Percy Jackson One Shots and Short Stories

#62 - The Avengers (AU) (Part III)

Chapter 62 - The Avengers (AU) (Part III)
published: Monday, 13 July 2020

Added characters:
Happy Hogan: Beckendorf
Bucky Barnes: Nico di Angelo
Yinsen: Chiron
Peggy Carter: Luke

—*—

The red silhouette on Percy's visor was starting to fade into a much duller colour.

JARVIS rattled off numbers in his head that made Percy's heart clench fearfully — his suit's heating wouldn't be enough to withstand the cold at this rate. His teeth started to chatter about two seconds into the dive, but Percy continued to propel himself down to grab Annabeth.

Come on, you made it out of a wormhole. You can swim a little.

Percy tried his best to ignore the fact that he was surrounded by water — trapped by it, almost — as he accelerated, arms out to grab Annabeth by her arms.

Her eyes were shut, lips bluer than the sky when he finally nabbed her about three meters from the surface.

They exploded onto the surface with a Percy gasping, his skin crawling and feeling like the cold would never ever leave his veins.

"Cap!" Percy spluttered as his faceplate flipped up and he laid Annabeth out in front of him. "Cap!"

Wracked gasps escaped Annabeth, as she shook uncontrollably, eyes fluttering deliriously as her pupils rolled underneath.

"JARVIS!" Percy almost shouted.

"Cold water shock response, sir," came he British accent. "Sir, you need to calm down. It will only last for one to two minutes, assuming she hasn't inhaled any water."

Percy's heart hammered against his ribcage, matching Annabeth's rapidly increasing heartbeat as she jolted on the icy ground.

"It's not stopping!" Percy ripped the gauntlet off and pressed a hand to Annabeth's cheek, the only exposed part of her. "Holy shit, she's freezing."

"You need to warm her—"

"I know! I know!" Percy snapped. "I don't exactly have a lot to work with here, do I?"

Like a lightbulb going off, an idea slipped into Percy's brain, and before he could fully comprehend how stupid it was, he was stripping off the armour and slamming it onto Annabeth's limp figure.

"JARVIS, turn on heat settings to the max. Redirect all power from the thrusters," Percy panted, pulling through helmet off and setting it on the ground.

The armour was already readjusting itself to close around Annabeth. It was a little big on her, considering that Percy was bulkier and taller than her, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Seconds felt like hours as Percy waited with bated breath.

Her chest heaved, partially reassuring him that she was at least breathing, but worrying because of the continued hyperventilation.

"It's not working!" Percy said frustratedly, after about twenty seconds. "JARVIS, what's her temperature?"

"Nearing 35 degrees."

Percy frowned. "What? But—that's fine! Why is she—" Percy cut himself off as a whimper escaped her lips, a shudder rippling through her body, even inside the suit.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped wide open, panic flashing in them as she sucked in a choked gasp.

Percy's own legs were starting to go numb from the continued exposure to the cold, but he shoved that out of his mind.