The New Avenger

Stories

Peter's POV:

Like his mom will never find out about his secret. Like his mom will not notice the change in her son. Yet even as the thought crosses my mind I realize she might not. When we love someone we become blind, and there is no doubt that Sally loves Percy. So will she see? Is it fair for me to make her see? Is it fair for me to obstruct her seeing? Is not telling her obstructing her seeing? I just don't know!

Percy is looking at me strangely. As if he's challenging me, asking me whether or not I'll keep his secret. Asking me to, daring me not to. So I meet his challenge.

"Tell me where you were. Why you were gone." I think that's a reasonable request, but the look on his face shows that he doesn't.

"My life is my business. So keep your oversized nose out of it." He sneered.

"Whoa dude! Calm down. If it means that much to you don't tell me."

Percy shakes his head like a dog and blinks a couple of time, "Sorry, I just kinda freaked. That was totally unfair. Um, any other way for you not to tell my mom about my little issue?"

Percy's a strange guy, one moment he's super nice, accommodating and a genuinely fun person to be around. But then he changes, a darkness comes over him. Then his words are razors, slicing into your skin. Not so bad at first but it leaves a scar on your wrist and its as if you put it there yourself, because the words are what's already in your own mind. Then he's unpredictably. Except for one thing, you can be sure that his words will make you bleed.

"What comes over you? First at the gate, when we'd just met. Then when you and your mom and Paul were at my place. And just now. You were different. So what happens?"

"Would telling me that make you not tell my mom about what happened?"

Knowing why would help. Knowing the reason behind stuff is always good. For all I know maybe I'll learn a little about his past this way. But it isn't enough. "Percy, I just want to know what happened to you."

It looks like he's fighting with himself but finally he says, "You might want to sit down." then sighs.

Percy's POV: (I'm sorry, I'm a horrible person for changing in the middle of a chapter...)

   What can I tell him? All I know is that it has to be believable enough for him not to tell my mom about my little episode. The truth is they almost never happen anymore. At first I got them almost every day. Now though, I'm pretty good. But stress can bring them on. So all I need is a low-stress environment . That doesn't solve my current predicament. Truth be told its probably good this happened, people at school are bound to ask questions. So this can be a kind of warm up. Maybe I've been spending to much time with Annabeth, because my brain has formulated a pretty amazing cover story with ease. So as we sit down on a park bench I'm ready for the questions that are sure to come.

"Ok," I start "so my dad left before I was born, got on a ship and never came back. So for the first 12 years of my life it was just me, my mom and this jerk called Smelly Gabe." I anticipate his question before he even asks, "He was this guy my mom married, a total idiot." I shudder, remembering all his little 'man secrets'. There were the easy ones, like getting him gambling money, and there were the hard ones. Like the times he would beat me up when he was drunk. He said he was 'teaching me how to fight' but we both knew that wasn't true. It truly was all for my own good, but that didn't make it any easier. 

"Anyway, when I was 12 my dad showed up. He was in the Marines." I tell the lie so well that I nearly shudder at my own power. What kind of person can lie so completely right to someone's face? Me, apparently. "He couldn't stay, he could never stay." That part at least is true, the bitterness in my voice doesn't have to be faked.

"For the last several years I've gone to visit him in the summers. Well, kind of. I'd stay at whatever military base he was stationed at, go to whatever summer programs they had and that kind of thing." You can tell that he isn't buying it. But he will.

"My mom was never allowed to know what base we were on. Well," I corrected myself, "Sometimes she could know. Sometimes she couldn't. They places where my dad lived, they weren't always safe. So maybe it was better that she didn't always know. One day last summer I went off the base, even though everyone told me not to. I was sick of sitting around doing nothing. A seventeen year old can only sit around in a small, overheated apartment doing nothing for so long.  So I figured, how bad can it be? It was one of those places that it is recommended that you don't take family. But my dad was never one to follow rules. I was born, wasn't I? Where was I, oh yeah, I went off the base. We were in a middle eastern country, but that's literally all I'm aloud to tell you about the location. As I was walking around the town a masked man started shooting, everywhere. I fell to the ground, trying not to be noticed. But he, he wasn't just a shooter," I let my voice crack, "he was a suicide bomber.

"The next time I woke up I was in so much pain I could hardly move. I was still laying on the ground where I'd fallen, who knows how long earlier. Finally, someone noticed me. They said they'd take me back to my home. And that's when I realized something, I didn't know where home was. I guess I must have hit my head. So then the man asked my name. But I couldn't tell him. So he took me to his home, a few towns over. He and his family nursed me back to health. But I still couldn't remember anything. So for months I tried to find out who I was. When the family I was with moved to a new town, thousands of miles away I went with them. Because I had nowhere else to go. Finally, months later I started to remember who I was, that my name was Percy, that I lived in New York. But it wasn't enough. It took a long time. And it would have taken a lot less if I'd never left the area. But I messed up. It got set right in the end. But what if I'd never remembered? What if I had been killed and no one ever knew what happened to me? What if I'd never been able to come home?" I make my eyes un-focus, so it looks like I'm a thousand miles away. Peter is buying it. Like I knew he would.

"I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't know. But why didn't you want me to know?" Peters still trying to be skeptical.

"Well, I was stupid. It was my own bad choices that got me into the whole mess in the first place. And I was ashamed. Also, well, sometimes talking about can bring on one of my episodes." Well, that is, the real story can.

"What are your episodes?" 

"Its a flash back but I hardly get them anymore. Really, I'm completely fine." I give him a trade-mark smirk. But I make sure to lie a little worse, because no normal person would be fine after that. Now I'm waiting with bated breath, to see if he really bought it. Its the moment of truth.

"I wont tell your mom what happened."

And I almost let myself smile.

A/N

Incase that was confusing, it was all fake. Its Percy's cover story. Hope you thought it was ok. I wasn't a huge fan of it myself... Please give me some advice, I need it! Otherwise, just leave me a hi or something, I don't want silent readers!