The Fallen Hero (Percy Jackson x Avengers Crossover)

11: Hackity Hackity Hack

Okay, so maybe it was illegal. 

But he was bored, and when Tony Stark was bored, bad things happened. Wars started, robots went rogue, and parties got crashed...the way he figured it, this was the least dangerous route. At least it was entertaining. And if he found something interesting enough, maybe he would try on his new prototype suit and head over to SHIELD HQ to check it out. 

Maybe.

"All firewalls are cracked, sir. Live feed is being transferred onto your main screen starting in 1 minute and 34 seconds...33...32..." JARVIS's pristine accent startled Tony and he realized just how illegal this was. 

He clapped twice. "Hey, JARVIS, lock the doors, will you buddy?"

Then he downed the green sludge smoothie he was drinking and spun around in his swivel chair to examine the files rapidly appearing on his holographic surrounding screen. 

"Eh," he murmured to himself, "why not?" 

He tapped on a SHIELD file labeled "Level 10" and spread his hands to zoom in on it. Inside the file were a couple thousand more files. Some were individuals, others places or occurrences. Still, Level 10 work...this had to be a personal record. And it had only taken him 13 hours to crack. 

Ha. Take that Fury.

"Yo, buddy-o, run through this file and gimme all their open cases."

"Yessir,"

JARVIS filtered through the open and closed cases, only giving Tony the ones that might interest him. Tony sifted through the ones that his AI had given him, hesitating when he reached the one on a chemical jail bomber. 

"Hey, this guy looks kinda familiar...any chance we've crossed paths before JARVIS?"

"Yessir, Mr. Stark. As I recall you and he had a run-in a couple of days ago, you attempted to capture him out of a Juvenile Detention Center, but he was deceased upon arrival. As were all occupants of the building at the time."

"Yeah..." Tony muttered, "does ring a bell...but why would the file read that the case is still open?" 

He expanded the file and started filtering through it. Most of what he saw was nothing new. He had been keeping an eye on this fellow for a while now, a testament to how bored he had been lately. But at the end of the file, he found a new video feed. He chewed on his lower lip and tapped the play button. 

The video fast-forwarded through the days preceding the attack. There was nothing abnormal there; a fight breaking out in the lunchroom, a couple of sick and depressed teenagers...

The feed slowed to 2x speed and suddenly Tony saw his guy depositing the bomb in a gas mask. The mask must have been faulty because he was the first one to go down. Chaos ensued pretty quickly after that, the whole center was going crazy. All except for one small room locked off in the infirmary. 

There were two doctors in there, stitching up one of the boys who had been fighting in the cafeteria the day before. The feed sped up to 3x and it showed the two doctors realizing the danger and panicking, leaving the boy to fend for himself. From his small movements, Tony guessed he was already infected, but for whatever reason he was still alive. It had been, what, a day since the doctors left? And somehow the kid was still alive. 

Everyone else in the building who had felt the effects of the bomb had died within minutes. 

The feed fast-forwarded a couple of hours and now the boy was getting up...nope, he was down again, flat on his face. 

Tony winced despite himself. 

That had to have hurt.

Then he was stumbling over to the glass of water the doctors had left on the table next to the laptop they hadn't bothered to bring with them. He made it halfway over to the table before his legs gave out on him, and it looked like he tossed something at the table, making the glass of water tip over and pour out onto the boy.