Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 14

Peter

Peter thought he had seen it all after becoming an Avenger. There was the constant bickering between Rhodey and Mr. Stark, Clint hanging out in dark elevated areas, and Vision refusing to understand the meaning of privacy and personal space—not to mention all the villains they fought with strange names and costumes. Peter had witnessed Steve Rogers' shield defy the laws of physics in person, seen the king of Wakanda dressed up as a cat, watched Wanda wave her fingers and move things with her mind. The footage from the Chitauri invasion of New York never left his head, nor did Ultron's robots.

But watching two teenagers fight a lion-headed-goat-bodied-snake-tailed monster with swords and then seeing water attack the creature for no reason until finally, it exploded into gold dust? That was definitely one of the strangest, and Peter could tell that Mr. Stark was at a loss for words, too.

"Uh, Annabeth? What's the plan?" Percy asked his girlfriend, smiling sheepishly at Peter and Mr. Stark.

Annabeth sighed and her sword vanished. So did Percy's. "We do what they say. There's no point trying to hide anymore. Besides, if Echidna's right about the future—"

"But how do we know they're the ones on our side and not hers?" Percy interrupted.

"A gut feeling," Annabeth responded.

"I hate those." Percy pouted. "But I trust you."

Peter had no idea what the two of them were talking about, and he was fairly certain that Mr. Stark didn't either, but the billionaire hid it well.

"You two are coming back to the compound with us," Mr. Stark announced, stepping closer to the two of them. "And I want to do this fast before you have the chance to sabotage us, so—"

Before anyone had the chance to react, Mr. Stark grabbed the back of Percy's shirt and took off into the air. They were hundreds of feet away in seconds, but Peter could still hear Percy's aggressive cursing that would make any sailor proud.

Peter turned to Annabeth who was frowning in the direction they had disappeared to, although there was a hint of worry on her face. "His uncle is not going to be very happy about that."

"I guess that means I'm taking you to the compound." Peter tried to sound friendly, but he was very wary of this girl. Everything he had learned about her and her boyfriend made him nervous, and the look she was giving him did not help that feeling.

"Lucky me," Annabeth said sarcastically. She closed her eyes and seemed to give herself a silent pep-talk before moving closer to Peter and putting her arms around him. "If you drop me or do anything other than take me to Percy, you will regret it for the rest of your life—which will be very short."

Peter gulped. "Yes ma'am."

~

When Peter and Annabeth finally made it to the compound after one of Peter's most challenging journeys of all time—Annabeth simultaneously held on to him so tightly he couldn't breathe while at the same time tried to touch him as little as possible, which made things very difficult—they found Mr. Stark, Rhodey, and Percy waiting outside. Mr. Stark and Rhodey were staring at the ground where Percy was completely sprawled out and muttering praise for the earth. Peter could have sworn he heard Percy say, "I still hate you Gaea but thank the gods land didn't disappear when we defeated you."

Annabeth detached herself from Peter as soon as they touched the ground and stumbled over to Percy, pulling him to his feet and gathering him in a tight hug, which he returned eagerly. The two of them whispered to each other and Peter tried not to overhear, but with enhanced senses, it was hard to do. He couldn't help but wonder what Percy meant by, "The entire time I thought Zeus would kill me," and what Annabeth's reassurance that "Poseidon would never let him" meant.

"Are you two done?" Mr. Stark asked, sounding bored.

The two of them separated but remained holding hands and faced Mr. Stark, Rhodey, and Peter. "Lead the way," Annabeth said.

Mr. Stark brought them to the big conference room to begin questioning Percy and Annabeth with the entire team. They all knew a bit about the situation, but most of them still seemed surprised as Peter, Mr. Stark, and Rhodey entered the room with Percy and Annabeth in tow. Even Fury was there looking confused since he knew the least of what was going on.

"Are you Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson?" Vision asked calmly as Percy and Annabeth took the seats farthest away from everyone else. They nodded.

"Stark, remind me again why you brought two civilians that look like they're barely adults to your top-secret compound?" Fury said, looking exasperated.

"Because they're not just civilians. They have powers. And I want to know what they are," Mr. Stark explained.

Fury looked around the table as if trying to find someone as confused as he was. "I'm a man that doesn't like not knowing things, so someone tell me what is going on right now."

Rhodey launched into the whole story of meeting Percy and Annabeth on the bridge, following them and investigating them, interrogating them, and finally taking turns watching them. Percy and Annabeth looked outraged at everything they had found out about them and kept trying to interrupt, but Rhodey just plowed on and they seemed to resign themselves to the fact that they wouldn't get to speak until later.

Peter took over to explain what he and Mr. Stark had witnessed during their watch-shift an hour ago. "So they were just hanging out in Central Park, right? And then this weird creature came out of nowhere and attacked them, it was like part lion, part goat, and part snake all in one, and it breathed fire! Mr. Stark and I thought we would have to save them, but then they pulled swords out of nowhere and fought the thing, and at one point some water from the lake attacked it, and then when they killed it, it disintegrated into gold dust. That's when we knew we needed to find out what was going on, so we brought them here, and then we ran into you guys and now we're here."

Fury thought for a moment, stroking his chin. "Okay, I'll admit, I'm intrigued. What's up with you two? And you better tell the truth, because you won't like what happens if you don't."

"Could we get names really quick?" Percy asked. "I'm getting tired of calling you 'pirate' and 'red guy' and 'metal arm dude' in my head."

Fury glared, Vision frowned, and Bucky chuckled, but everyone introduced themselves all the same. Then Fury said, "Talk."

Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other. Percy shrugged. "Last chance, Annabeth. We could make a run for it. We could take them."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No. They know too much at this point, and we'll need them as allies. Besides, they must all be clear-sighted mortals to be able to see everything, that's probably why they're all heroes, too."

Percy nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Do you want to start?"

Annabeth took a deep breath and faced the room. Peter, Mr. Stark, Rhodey, Clint, Steve, Natasha, Vision, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Fury, and Carol were all staring at her expectantly. Peter's nerves tingled at the prospect of finally finding out who these weird teens were. So many ideas—both half-formed and fully-fledged—bounced around his head, but none prepared him for when Annabeth finally spoke.

"We're demigods."