Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 2

Peter

When Peter Parker arrived at the Avengers compound to train with Mr. Stark, he never thought this was where he would end up a few hours later—standing on the Williamsburg Bridge with genius Tony Stark and Air Force Colonel James Rhodes and trying to stop a HYDRA agent that had a prototype copy of Loki's scepter. And now they had just lost a civilian.

The blonde-haired girl Peter was holding back cried out as the black-haired boy, Percy, tumbled towards the water below. He struggled to hold her back as Mr. Stark launched himself over the side of the bridge, disappearing from sight.

"Iron Man will get your friend, I promise," Peter told the girl, hoping he was right. A fall from this height would be near fatal.

The girl's heart beat rapidly, the sound pounding in Peter's ears. She clutched his arms, but it didn't seem as frantic as he expected. Her friend, possibly her boyfriend, had just fallen to his possible death, but she was barely shaking. Peter suspected that that was only because of the explosion that had knocked her off her feet earlier, not her friend's predicament. His "spidey-sense" tingled, putting him on edge. Why did he feel like this girl was hiding something? And why did she and the boy look familiar?

The sound of Mr. Stark's repulsors grew louder and he shot back into view, an unconscious wet figure in his arms; Smith, the HYDRA agent. But there was no sign of Percy.

Mr. Stark deposited Smith to the ground without a hint of gentleness, where Rhodey grabbed him and confiscated the scepter. "Where's the kid?" the Colonel demanded.

Mr. Stark opened his helmet and his face said it all, his eyes drooping. "No sign of him. I—I lost him."

The girl still barely reacted. Peter heard her heartbeat form a steady rhythm, like she was calming down. How? Why?

Peter let go of her and she slowly got to her feet. Rhodey started walking away with Smith, heading for the police cars that had just pulled up on either side of the bridge. Mr. Stark approached the girl, his nanotechnology suit retracting back into the housing unit on his chest.

"What's your name?" Tony said with surprising gentleness.

"Annabeth," she choked out, but it sounded forced. Like she was acting distraught, instead of feeling it. Her gray eyes were strangely alert. Who was she?

"I'm gonna keep looking for your friend, but you might have to prepare yourself for the worst. Does he have family nearby?" Mr. Stark asked.

The girl, Annabeth, nodded. "I need to go talk to them, I need to—"

"Spider-Man, get her to a police officer so they can take her statement, get her looked at, and bring her home," Mr. Stark instructed and Peter nodded.

While Mr. Stark went to help Rhodey take care of Smith and go back to looking for Percy, Peter herded Annabeth towards the police cars. He left her beside one of the cars, turning to call over an officer. After attracting the attention of one, he faced Annabeth to try to keep her calm, but she was gone.

Peter spotted her about fifty feet away, running with astonishing speed after recently being attacked. Annabeth was heading back into the city, away from the police. Peter frowned, his sixth sense screaming at him.

"See you at the compound, Mr. Stark," he said into his earpiece.

Before Peter could second-guess himself, he shot a web and swung after Annabeth.

~

"Is he here?" Annabeth's panicked voice reached Peter, where he was clinging to the wall outside the apartment she had led him to. The open window allowed him to hear everything inside easily, even without his enhanced hearing.

"He just got back, he said you would be here any minute," a new female voice said, a bit older.

"Annabeth!" A boy's voice shouted.

"Percy!" Annabeth called and Peter froze.

Percy? The guy that just fell off the bridge? How did he get here before Peter and Annabeth—how did he even survive the fall?

Feeling it necessary to see what was happening, Peter launched the little drone on his chest. It buzzed forward about twenty feet before turning around and facing the window. The screen inside Peter's mask showing the drone's video feed zoomed in on the window, revealing a sight that confused Peter even more.

In a simple living room with a couch, armchair, coffee table, and television mounted on the wall, Annabeth was hugging the boy from the bridge. He was dressed in the same clothes as before, completely unharmed. He wasn't even wet! How was that possible?

Another woman stood in the room, smiling at the two of them. She had long brown curls and was dressed in a black skirt and a white blouse, like she was preparing for a night out. She was much older, but Peter observed similarities in looks between her and the boy.

"Thank the gods you're all right," Annabeth said, pulling away from the boy.

Gods? Peter thought.

"Of course. That fall was nothing. Are you okay?" Percy asked her, examining her wounded arm. His green eyes were shockingly bright.

"It's nothing some ambrosia won't fix, but we'll have to be careful. The police will be wondering where I went, and where you went. I'm glad you're okay but you shouldn't have just disappeared like that! They'll think you died, or—"

"It'll be fine, the same thing happened to Magnus but he turned out okay!" Percy insisted.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "He died, you know that's different. I'll figure something out or the Mist will take care of it, just lay low for a few days."

"Yes, ma'am." Percy saluted her and she chuckled and hit his arm.

Peter was so confused. What did Percy mean by "that fall was nothing"? What was ambrosia? Who was Magnus, how did he die and "turn out okay"? What was the Mist? Who were these people?

"Will you two be all right babysitting Estelle tonight? I have to go meet Paul," the older woman said, and it was then that Peter noticed the wriggling bundle in her arms.

"Of course, Sally," Annabeth said.

"You could never keep me from my baby sister." Percy made funny baby-faces as he took the bundle from the woman, Sally. She must have been his mother.

"Stay safe, dear!" Sally called as she opened the door to the apartment and left.

"Take the bathroom, clean yourself up," Percy suggested to Annabeth. "I've got her. Do you have ambrosia or do you need some of mine?"

"I'm good, thanks." Annabeth kissed Percy, confirming Peter's belief that they were dating, and left the living room.

Percy softly bounced the baby, humming under his breath. Peter recalled his drone, but he could still hear Percy start singing "Under the Sea" to his sister. Peter stayed for a moment longer before leaping off the wall and making his way back to the Avengers compound.

Mr. Stark needed to hear about all of this.