Sometimes They Win (Female Percy Jackson/ Avengers Crossover)

chapter 52

Neutral pov

The funeral was short. There were tears, but not as many as there were at the wake. All in all, the bright cloud free sky seemed to be ironic for such a mournful occasion.

Percy Jackson, stood with Tony Stark behind her who was resting a comforting hand on his niece's shoulder. Peter Parker stood closer to the casket that was being lowered into the ground. He was next to Mr. Stacy. The boy was crying profusely. No other Avengers came because none of them really knew Gwen Stacy besides Wanda, who was not very fond of the girl.

Percy looked at the Stacys with deep regret. They weren't looking at her, but instead at the casket of their daughter. They were both sobbing and crying, for obvious reasons.

The wake had been particularly heartbreaking. The worst part was when Mrs. Stacy walked up to her daughter's corpse and looked at her. The dead girl had small cuts from the glass, but had been cleaned up in the funeral home. They had dressed her in a white gown. It kind of resembled a nightgown, Percy noted, which was quite fitting since the girl was never going to wake up. The more she thought about it, the sadder she got. The girl's mother kneeled on the kneeler, praying for her daughter to have safe passage to heaven. Percy had checked the underworld to find what happened to the young lady and found she had chosen rebirth. When the middle aged woman stood, she smiled sadly at her daughter and leaned in to press a tearful kiss to her head. Soft words were whispered to the deceased daughter, something along the lines of "Goodnight, baby. Sleep tight. I love you." Percy couldn't hear this, but found herself crying more at the pain Mrs. Stacy was in from her daughter's death. The mother rested a hand over her daughter's hands, which were folded over her still chest, and reluctantly pulled away and made her way back to her husband. Percy didn't remember Mr. Stacy's last encounter with his daughter.

Peter didn't do much when he went up to her. He keeled for a moment, faking prayer, and then quickly departed from her. Wade didn't approach the corpse, but he came. Percy went up to her, but didn't pray, didn't speak, and didn't make any move to physically touch Gwen. She walked up and looked at the corpse.

It was a quick funeral. White roses were placed on the polished wood of the coffin. The eulogy was spoken. The people listened intently and she'd a few tears for their dead loved one.

Peter felt guilty. It was unbearable because his girlfriend, who he had been planning to break up with, was killed. He could've listened to Percy or he could've taken the front seat, but he chose not to. The worst part was that he knew Percy was probably right, given her track record for bad things happening, and he, blinded by jealousy, ignored her. He had the ability to stop it, but he didn't. Peter was still in the state of mind where he would blame anyone who he could to feel less guilty, so he blamed the person who he felt was truly least at fault here. He blamed Percy. He hadn't made eye contact with her since the accident and she hadn't with him. They were both angry at each other as well as themselves.

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Graduation was quick and boring. Nothing too memorable, in Percy's opinion. She walked up to the stage, took her diploma, shook a few hands, and walked back to her seat.

By the time of this event, Gwen's death had been old news and life had returned to normal, if you set aside the crippling guilt that weighed on both Percy and Peter and even Wade. School had returned to normal for the most part. They replaced Gwen as Valedictorian, and put a Devon Nolan in her place. It would have been Peter if not for his spotty attendance record. Percy was glad it wasn't him and so was Peter. She didn't need to be forced to listen to him talk about great opportunities and he didn't need the added weight of himself replacing Gwen on his conscience.