Just Not Ready (A Female Percy Jackson/ Avengers Crossover)

XVI

Please read the note at the bottom. Or don't. It really isn't that important.

Tony Stark, despite being furious about his niece's sudden re-disappearance, was very good at handling his anger. He had gone to meet Steve, to discuss their next move and ask for help in finding Percy again, since he'd done it once before.

Sam knew Steve and Bucky were going to a Siberian Hydra base and he'd told Tony in hopes it would help. So, Tony flew to the base and found the super soldiers.

Then he saw the video of The Winter Soldier murdering his parents and he lost it. And Steve knew which burned all the more. Of course, he knew that there were more important matters at hand, but Tony couldn't contain his rage and attacked the duo initially.

After a bit of fighting he got to thinking though. 'This isn't why I'm here. I have a more important goal than my dead parents. My living niece is out there somewhere and these guys can help me find her. That's my goal.'

The energy repulsors on his gloves glowed bright pointed in Steve's direction for a moment longer before they powered down and Tony lowered his arms. Steve and Bucky shared a confused glance before taking defensive positions and preparing to get back into the thick of it. They must have thought he would attack again because he had good reason to.

"Wait!" Tony said, shocking both super soldiers yet again. "My niece, Percy. could you find her again?"

"Already found her! You and your team arrested her along with everyone else!" Bucky said. Steve seemed to be listening intently to what Tony was saying, which wasn't surprising because that's a very diplomatic-captain america type thing to do.

Tony shook his head. "She disappeared from her cell several hours after arriving at the prison."

"You're kidding." Bucky let out an amused snort and then huffed in annoyance. "Well, if that girl knows anything, it's how to disappear."

"Tell me about it." Tony muttered then stepped forward. "Point is, my parents are dead, but my niece isn't. I can still save her, protect her."

"She hasn't needed saving for a long time." Bucky said, an expression of regret falling over his face for a moment, which Tony didn't miss.

"She's my only family left. You should know that, Barnes. I just watched proof of you murdering my parents." Tony knew this was his only chance to find Percy. "You'll never be about to undo that, but you can make up for it now by taking me to Percy."

Bucky was unsure whether or not he could trust Tony, but Steve stepped forward before Bucky could voice his concern and extended his arm to Tony.

"You know I care about her like family too. We'll help you track her down again." He spoke, without even hesitating, indicating that Bucky could trust Tony Stark. "Just stop this, Tony, please. We can't be divided like this anymore. As a team, we are strong. All of us, that means the whole team."

Tony didn't take Steve's outstretched hand but instead pulled him in for a hug. "But I still don't trust your assassin friend over there." He whispered.

And so, they got to work. They had a team to assemble.

----

Percy's quest had hit a bump in the road, a few actually, metaphorical and literal.

The car broke down first, so the three demigods decided their only option was to continue on foot on the side of the road a long ways away from Philadelphia, their destination. The hot sun beating down on her face made a long shadow that stretched tall behind her.

The boredom was excruciating and the heat even worse. Percy could find nothing of interest to focus on. The forest to her right was too dense to see through, the road to the left, too empty to watch. Even the horizon and everything standing between her and it was just so barren and empty that she just couldn't find any point of interest.

Percy kicked a small rock forward, it skidded to a stop in the dirt up the road. She tried to let her mind wander, but couldn't think of anything to think about.

Another grumbled complaint left the younger of her companions. He'd been doing this the entire walk, driving, not only Percy but Conner also,  insane. Percy's eyes flicked up to the sky, then her head tilted upwards. She looked up at the cloudless sky. Great, more of nothing to look at.

Looking down again, she watched the ground as she kicked dirt and rocks to keep herself mildly entertained, if you could even call it that. She ended up focussing on one specific stone, that she would kick a foot or two then catch up to it and kick it again. After another long while she lost interest and watched the completely unremarkable tree line.

More unnecessary complaints from Nate and some time later, Conner couldn't take it anymore.

"Lets hitchhike or at least take a break. This kid is driving me up the wall and I'm exhausted."

"Yes please!" Percy agreed immediately, the exasperation in her voice unintentional. "I'm so bored."

So they went and stood by the side of the road, but after a while Percy noticed that no cars were on the road. Actually she couldn't remember the last time she had noticed a car drive by. She quickly looked to survey her surroundings. Eerily, she found that there was still nothing as far as the eye could see in either direction. There wasn't so much as trash on the ground.

Conner was sitting on the ground drawing in the dirt with a stick and Nate was next to him tossing a rock up and down. Neither seemed the least bit aware of what Percy was noticing. 

"How long have we been walking, Conner?" She tried to keep the worry out of her voice.

"Um... I don't know. More than a couple hours. Your phone died a while ago so I've got no time keeper."

"This feels wrong. Do you remember the last time we saw anything-people, rest stops, cars? Come to think of it, was there anyone else on the road when the car broke down?"

Conner scrunched his eyebrows and shook his head. "I don't remember."

"There couldn't have been because we would have asked for help." She turned her gaze back to the skies. Still no clouds, and the hot sunshine still painted her cheeks. "Has the sun even gone down at all?"

"What the hell are you on about?" Nate suddenly asked.

"I don't know. It's just wrong. There should have been someone driving on this road by now! We should have come across something anything by now!"

"I'm still a little confused."

"Yeah, explain it again but with more of an explanation and less exclamations." Conner added.

"I have no idea what's going on, but we aren't where we should be. It's like we are somewhere else besides the real world." They just looked at her more confused than before. "This is getting us nowhere. Look, we seem to be somewhere outside of time, like in an illusion or paradox or something." More confused looks. "I don't know what it is, but we are stuck. There is nothing on this street, not even speed limit signs. There are no people or buildings or even anything noticeable enough to stand out. We have made no progress since after we lost the car, if we even made any with it."

"Oh shit. This is bad." Conner said.

"You think?"

A/N  Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I honestly have no idea where to take this story and am facing issues with finding inspiration. I'm winging it at this point. If you've got any input, I'd totally love to hear it. I'd also like to know your thoughts on the romance because I could take this in a great many different directions and it would be awesome to know your general opinion. Thanks for reading.