The Reluctant Hero

That Admiral Dude

A/n:
Trigger warnings.

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"So, what do you idiots think of the media-splosion about that Admiral dude?" Ella asked as she slid onto the cafeteria chair, putting down her tray of plastic chicken and lumpy mash. Percy tensed infinitesimally.

Chris blew a stray strand of hair out of his face and stabbed his peas with a cheap, plastic work.

"I respect what he's done; a lot of people are alive right now because of him, but we don't know anything about him. I'm not trusting anyone if I can't see their face, don't know their name or haven't met them myself. We barely know anything about him and I'm not stupid enough to trust a stranger. Though what the media has done with the question of his life is disgusting: they turned it into a publicity grab for crying out loud." He huffed and chewed his peas, glaring at the table."I'm sure he could be a great guy, but I just don't know enough about him to trust him."

Matt cleared his throat awkwardly, but nodded in acknowledgment.
"Yeah. You've gotta respect what he's done, but I don't know how I feel about him. I definitely wouldn't kill him though." The peaceful teen wasn't comfortable choosing a stance without more information and didn't like pushing his opinion onto others. Ella had no such qualms.

It hurt Percy to hear his newest friends debating how trustworthy he was, but he understood where they were coming from. He wouldn't trust some stranger wearing a mask straight off the bat either, especially with his upbringing, and it was nice to hear they a weren't 'kill-voters' as the media had dubbed those who voted for his death. And there were a lot of them.

"I think he's awesome." Ella grinned around her food, her pink lip gloss sparkling. Percy smiled warmly at her comment. "Ma and Pa hate him," she carried on, a force of nature in her own right, even when sitting next to the God of Natural Disasters, "but I think he's totally great. He's strong, he's willing to put his life on the line for strangers and he's totally hot." She laughed and Percy tried not to react to her words, internally groaning; he could practically hear Tony's laughter. "And anyway, y'all saw Stark' s press release: the Avengers trust him."

"But does that really mean we should trust him?" Chris argued, checking his watch to see how long they had before their next lesson. "They saved our lives, I'm not forgetting that, and they still do, but does that really mean we should agree with everything they say?" There was no aggression in his tone- Chris was just making the point.

"No, but we should trust them." Ella wasn't going to back down as she voiced her opinions. "They can trust him, so I think we can."
"And your suddenly loving him doesn't have anything to do with your parents hating him?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow. Ella laughed in response, the sound ringing around the table.
"Maybe a little bit," she conceded, "but it's not the only reason - not even the main one."

Chris swallowed his potatoes before speaking.
"Either way, whether we like him or not, we need to know more before we can trust him. I respect what he's done and what he's trying to do, but I think I'm going to wait to trust him." Chris had learnt early on to be cautious with trust. "Though, from what we've seen so far, he looks like he's a good person, with a horrendous past." Percy ran his hands on his lap, trying to stop his fists clenching.

"I agree." Said Matt.
"Yeah," Ella sighed, "I guess you're right. What 'bout you, Perce?" She turned her shining green eyes to the quiet teen. He considered his reply carefully.
"I think I agree with Matt and Chris too, we'll have to wait and see, but...but I don't think we should've let him die." Percy grimaced at the idea, unconsciously bringing a hand to his chest.
"Killed him more like." Ella muttered.
"Still." He insisted. His friends nodded.
"We'll wait and see."