talltree-writes

[talltree-writes]

We’re Going on a Trip

Fandom: PJO and MCU

Summary: The annual school trip has rolled around and the teachers have been keeping it oddly quiet. When they finally announce it, Peter’s heart sinks— just once, could he have a normal field trip? Coupled with the stress of having Percy Jackson, a relatively recent addition to the Avengers, on the trip, Peter is dreading Friday. 

Genre: fluff, irondad and spiderson, avengers fam, someone give Percy a break

Pairing: Percabeth is there 

Warnings: Cursing, Character typical injuries, Nightmares

Author’s Note: I keep forgetting this account exists, so I forgot to cross-post from my Ao3. Anyway, I’ve had this done for months, but haven’t been fully happy with it. It’s part of a series of one shots that I’m apparently only updating once a year... oops. Anyway, here’s this

“Class, as you know, the science department takes one field trip together every year. This year, I am excited to announce, Mrs. Pruta’s marine biology class, Mr. Looves Physics class, and our Chemistry class will be the first group to tour the newly reinstated Stark Tower this Friday. Now, Stark Tower was intended to close around this time last year, but Mr. Stark…” Peter tuned out whatever Mr. Gray was saying. 

Stark Industries? Really? The big annual field trip that he looked forward to every year was to the building he spent most of his time in anyway? He’d been on that tour already, given to him by the head intern herself once his Stark Internship turned from a cover story to fact. 

****

After Peter was shot, the Baby Monitor Protocol automatically called Mr. Stark, who demanded that Peter come straight to the tower to get patched up.

Unable to use the medbay that was still under construction, Colonel Rhodes set up his makeshift OR in Mr. Stark’s lab. With no anesthetic, as they did not have any of the stuff that could knock out a super soldier or enhanced human, Peter allowed his eyes to wander as Rhodey pulled the bullet from his leg and stitched him up. His eyes caught on an unsolved problem scribbled on a chalkboard.

Once Rhodey had finished patching him up, Peter hopped off of the table and limped over to the  chalkboard. He scanned his eyes over it, looking for the issue, for why it was unsolvable to the smartest man Peter knew. Finally, his eyes caught on it. “Hey, Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah, kid?” Mr. Stark came to stand behind Peter. 

“You forgot to balance the chemicals. Just redo it from there and your answer should be… this.” Peter picked up a piece of chalk and finished the problem after doing the calculation in his head, writing the answer on the bottom. 

Mr. Stark double-checked his work, marking his own calculations to the side. When he came up with the same answer, he turned to stare, astounded, at Peter. “Kid, that was a graduate-level problem, and you just solved it.” 

Peter shrugged, “You just needed a fresh set of eyes. Besides, I’ve studied ahead. How else could I have created my web fluid?” 

“Yo-wha- studied ahead?” He sputtered. 

Peter shrugged again, as if he hadn’t just admitted to knowing graduate level science and math at a high school age. “I was bored, so I read ahead and looked stuff up. When I finished our book, I moved on to the next, and then the next, and suddenly I found myself reading research essays and then I guess I could do this stuff. I didn’t know it was that advanced…” He blushed at the end. 

Mr. Stark stared at him again for a minute before speaking. “How’d you like to help me in the lab sometimes? Let’s say once or twice a week for now, and then we’ll see where it goes.” 

Eyes round as saucers, Peter met Mr. Stark’s gaze “Work in your lab… with you?” A pause as it sunk in. “Yes! Mr. Stark, yes! I’d love to!” 

“Great! You start Monday. You’ll be getting your first paycheck from Stark Industries in no time!” Mr. Stark clapped Peter on the shoulder.

If possible, Peter’s eyes got bigger. “P-paycheck? You’re going to pay me for working here?” 

Mr. Stark chuckled. “Of course, Underoos! Stark Industries doesn’t have unpaid interns anymore. I recently realized that minimum wage isn’t even a viable income, so why should I expect my hard-working interns to live off even less. I need them to be focusing on their work, and if they don’t know where their next meal is coming from, they can’t do that. You’ll be a fully realized intern, with higher access, of course, so you’ll receive the same treatment. Of course, school must come first, or else your Aunt will kill me. But I expect that will be no problem.” 

“Th-thank you, Mr. Stark! Thank you so much!” 

Mr. Stark smiled fondly at Peter and said, “It’s no problem, kid, now go on home before your aunt gets worried.” 

Peter nodded and headed towards the window, pulling his mask down as he did so. He opened the window and waved as he jumped out, nearly giving his mentor a heart attack, as that move always does. 

As soon as he knew Peter was out of earshot, Mr. Stark said, “Hey, FRIDAY? Remind me to tell Pepper we’re paying all of our interns now.” 

When Rhodey just stared at him, Tony shrugged. “The kid and his aunt can barely make ends meet, but they won’t let me help them. If I can give the kid a little extra change and gain an employee, I should do it. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to put a huge dent in my wallet, anyway.” 

****

“Get these permission slips signed and returned to me by the time we load the bus on Friday.” Mr. Gray shouted as the bell rang and all the students filed out of the classroom. 

Ned caught up with Peter after grabbing a permission slip. “Woah, dude! This is awesome! We’re going to Stark Towers! Well I guess it’s not as awesome for you, since you work there and all.” 

Before Peter could remind his best friend that he worked there as well, Flash cut in. “Ha! How lame do you have to be to lie to your own best friend, Penis?” He jeered as he passed. “We all know you don’t actually have a job at Stark Industries. They don’t even accept applications until you’re a grad student, and even then, only, like, seven get it. No way that you, Penis Parker, have a job with Stark Industries!” 

 Peter glowered at Flash but didn’t deign to answer. Ned on the other hand, shot back “He’s not lying, Flash! And he’ll prove it to you on the tour! Peter knows Tony Stark personally!” 

Turning away, Flash scoffed, “Yeah, right. You’re fooling yourself if you think he’s not lying to you. We’ll all see on Friday how much of a liar he is.” 

As Flash walked away, Peter and  Ned turned back to their lockers. “God, I hate that guy. I can’t wait for you to show him he’s wrong. Hey! Do you think you can get Mr. Stark to show up? That’ll really give him a kick in the ass!” 

Peter shot a look at his friend. “No! You don’t understand, I can’t let Mr. Stark know I’m going to be there. He’s going to embarrass me! It’s one thing for people to know I’m an intern, it’s another thing for people to know Tony Stark is basically my father.”

Ned’s demeanor shifted. “Oh, yeah.” He perked up again. “At least you’ll have Percy! Mr. Gray said his class is in our group.” 

Upon hearing this, Peter slammed his head into his now-closed locker. “Shit. Percy. At least I have an internship. How are we going to explain him and his clearance? He’s not been released to the public as an Avenger yet. This is going to be an absolute disaster.” 

“Hey, maybe it won’t be that bad. It’s not like there’s any guarantee that all of the Avengers will be there.”

Peter brightened up. “Yeah, why would any of them be there? They don’t live there. And it’s not like Mr. Stark knows about the field trip. Why would he? He’s got a billion dollar company to watch Pepper run. And he’s an Avenger. He’s super busy, like, all the time, and he never knows what’s going on in his building.” Maybe this field trip wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

***

  The day of the field trip arrived and Peter was up well before his alarm went off. “Aunt May? Is there any way I can not go on this field trip?” He called from his bed. 

“Peter, this is the biggest field trip of the year, and you always look forward to it. Don’t let the minor possibility that Tony Stark will be there ruin your day.” She said as she stood in his doorway. “Besides, you’ve missed too many days while Spider-manning to miss another.” 

Having risen into a seated position, Peter collapsed onto his pillows with a groan. “But May, Mr. Stark is going to embarrass me!” 

May chuckled. “Tony probably won’t even be there. You know how many meetings he has. He’s a busy man. He most likely doesn’t even know about the tour today.” 

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m just nervous. I’m scared about my identity getting let out of the bag, not to mention Percy’s. God, if Percy’s gets out we’re going to have serious problems.” 

Walking back into the kitchen, Aunt May called over her shoulder. “None of that is going to happen!” 

Peter groaned again, but got up and started getting dressed for school. He brushed his teeth, and tried to brush his hair, before looking at the clock and realizing he was going to be late if he didn’t leave now. 

He grabbed a Poptart from his aunt’s waiting hands, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and was out the door a second later, calling back “Love you, Aunt May!” 

Despite everything, Peter was kind of excited about the field trip. Sure, embarrassment was inevitable, but he was about to see a bunch of floors of the tower he never saw when he was working there. Plus, the look on Flash’s face when he realized the internship was real would be priceless. 

He made it to the school just in time to see the kids start loading the buses. Peter jogged forward and moved into the back of the line he saw Mr. Gray marking roll for. Just as he was about to board the bus, Mr. Gray pulled him aside. 

“Peter, you and I need to talk for a second.” He said. 

Confused, Peter went along. “Mr. Gray if this is about being tardy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, honestly.”

Mr. Gray shook his head. “No, Peter, this is about the rumors you’ve been spreading around about you being an intern at Stark Industries. Now, we’re very lucky that we got this opportunity, but I don’t want you, or Mr. Thompson, to embarrass us with talks of this internship. And if the talk continues, I’m going to have to have a conversation with the principal about it.” 

Near tears, Peter couldn’t muster any words to counter his teacher’s disbelief. So he just nodded and got on the bus. 

***

Meanwhile, at the Jackson-Blofis residence, Percy sat snoring through his alarm clock, Annabeth curled beside him. Annabeth, who was visiting both camp and her boyfriend while on break, had started the night alone on the bed, but when a nightmare woke Percy up, she allowed him to crawl off the floor and into the bed. 

“Percy… Percy… Percy!”  He startled awake to the sound of both his alarm and his mother saying his name. “Percy, it’s almost time for you to go. Remember you have your field trip today.” 

Percy shut his eyes and breathed “Shit.” 

“Language!” His mom bopped his head and left him to get ready. 

Through everything, Annabeth slept on. Suddenly, Percy had a brilliant idea. “Wisegirl?” He gently shook his girlfriend. “How would you like to tour Stark Towers with me today?” 

Her eyes blinked open. “Will Pepper Potts and/or Tony Stark be there?” She mumbled, sleep still heavy in her voice.

“Probably. I can introduce you if you’d like.” Percy smiled at the girl next to him. His Wisegirl. 

She glanced at his smile curiously, more awake now. “You’re very smiley for this early in the morning.” 

“Just thinking about how lucky I am to have a girl like you”

She smiled back and a light pink dusted her cheeks, as if Percy didn’t say something like it every time they saw each other. “You sap. Now, c’mon, if we don’t leave soon, you’ll miss the bus and I’ll miss the train. 

“The train?” Percy said curiously. 

Sitting up, Annabeth tied her hair back. “Yes, the train. You didn’t think I’d be able to just join your field trip did you?” 

Percy pouted. “I thought maybe you could use your Yankees cap and sit on the bus with me.” 

“And what if someone else needs to sit next to you? I can’t just stand or perch or something.”

A devious smile crossed Percy’s face. “You could always sit in my lap.” 

A sharp intake of breath, a shove, and a thud later, and Percy was back on the floor, Annabeth laughing above him. “So I’ll take that as a ‘no’ then?” He asked. 

“I’ll see you at Stark Towers. After I take the subway there.” She stepped over him and grabbed her clothes. “Get up, Seaweed Brain, before we’re late.” 

Just then, Sally popped her head in the door. “Percy, what are you doing on the floor? You need to leave in 10 minutes!” 

Percy just groaned, but got up and started to get dressed. 

****

When Percy got to the school, he barely made it in time to catch the bus. His teacher shot him a sour look, but let him on nonetheless. He found a seat next to someone he didn’t know, and took out his phone to text Ned and Peter. 

From: Sea dude

To: Man in Chair, Geeker Parker

What’s the plan, gents

From: Geeker Parker

To: Sea dude, Man in Chair

Hope and pray we get out of this unnoticed. No chance your dad can help? 

From: Sea dude

To: Geeker Parker, Man in Chair

No… That’s not really how that works…

From: Geeker Parker

To: Sea dude, Man in Chair

:/

From: Man in Chair

To: Geeker Parker, Sea dude 

How does that work, anyway?

Before Percy could answer, he felt the eyes of someone on him, and looked up to see his teacher giving him another stink eye. He swiftly put his phone away. The ride was almost over anyway, so he just relaxed and focused on seeing his girlfriend again soon. 

Upon arrival, it took the teachers several attempts to calm the students down. Finally, when they did, they went over last minute rules. “Turn your phones off and be attentive, we’re very lucky to have this opportunity, and you’re a representative of the school. Please be on your best behavior, but don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the experience!” Mr. Loove said. 

It took forever to get everyone off the bus, as people kept stopping to stare at the top of the building. Percy didn’t know why, they saw it from their school every day, but he guessed one of the tallest buildings in New York was quite the sight up close. 

Inside, Percy caught Annabeth’s eye as she talked to the receptionist, trying to get a visitor’s pass. She shot him a smile before returning to her conversation. Percy turned his attention to Peter and Ned as they came over. 

“Dude, isn’t that Annabeth?” Ned asked as soon as he was close enough. 

Percy smiled. “Yeah, that’s her. She’s in town for a few days and I thought I’d invite her. I’m going to help her get her guest pass really quick, ‘scuse me, boys.”

He slid past the two towards the desk. Slapping an easy grin on his face, he approached the receptionist who was currently fighting with Annabeth. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but you aren’t registered for a tour today, so I canno- Oh! Hi, Percy!” She smiled and blushed. 

“Hey, Erin. I see you’ve met Annabeth, my girlfriend. I was hoping I could get here first so I could request a pass for her, but she beat me to it. Do you think you could-“ 

Before he could finish, he was interrupted, once again, by Mrs. Pruta. “Percy Jackson, please stop flirting with these two fine young ladies and return to the group so we can check in.” 

“Oh, you mean this lovely young lady, here? Annabeth, this is my marine science teacher, Mrs. Pruta. Mrs. Pruta, this is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. She’ll be joining us on our tour today.”  Percy grinned. 

Flaring her nostrils, as she always does when she gets mad, Mrs. Pruta said “I’m afraid we only have enough badges for the class and she hasn’t registered in order to get one.” 

Erin piped into the conversation “Oh, that’s quite alright. Percy’s clearance is permission enough to give her a badge. She’s fine to join you.” 

“P-Percy’s what?” She spluttered, but quickly recovered. “We will discuss this later, young man. Now return to the group.” She stiffly stuck one arm out in the direction of the congregated students. 

As soon as they got to Peter and Ned, they burst out laughing. “Did you see her face? I thought she’d seen a ghost!” Percy said. 

“‘P-Percy’s what?’” Annabeth mocked. Normally, Annabeth respected teachers, but this one put a thorn in her side. 

Annabeth’s face suddenly sobered up as she glanced down at her phone. “What’s wrong, Wisegirl?” Percy stopped laughing. 

“I just got a text from a certain messenger friend of ours with a specific message to give you.” She pulled out her phone and showed it to him. 

Mist falling today. Time to tell the world everything.- H

“Fuck.” He muttered. “I had definitely planned on having a few more months without people knowing.”  

Ned and Peter craned their necks to see the message, but Percy handed Annabeth’s phone back to her. “What’s up?” Peter asked, concerned for his friend. 

“The Mist is going to fall much sooner than we anticipated, and as usual, the gods have no explanation for us.” Percy explained. “I’ve got to get an emergency press conference together by the end of the school day.” 

Peter grimaced. He had never experienced the stress of a press conference, and hoped he didn’t have to. Ever. “Just tell FRIDAY after we go through security. She’ll notify Dad and set it all up.” 

Percy nodded silently. Then, they both came to the same conclusion at the same time. “FRIDAY is about to let the cat out of the bag, isn’t she?” He groaned. 

Solemnly nodding his head, he patted Percy’s shoulder. They were screwed. 

Resigned to their fate, the boys looked to the approaching figures. And groaned.

****

‘Crap.’ Peter thought, as he recognized the two women coming towards them. Lacy and… Shuri. He’s in for it now. 

“Welcome, students!” Lacy shouted to get their attention. “My name is Lacy Ames, and I will be your tour guide for the day. If you will turn your attention to me, I have a few announcements, some rules, and then some guest badges to hand out.” The group quieted, especially when they noticed the intern’s companion. 

Lacy continued. “First of all, Princess Shuri of Wakanda will be joining you on your tour today. Any words, Princess?” 

Catching Peter’s eye, Shuri smiled wide. “I just heard there was a tour, and I was bored. So I thought I’d tag along and learn a little bit more about where I’m staying for the next few weeks.” She subtly winked at Peter. 

‘Hell yeah two weeks of lab time with Shuri!” Peter thought. He and Shuri had met at an otherwise boring meeting and bonded over their love of science. After her show of force in the battle for Wakanda, she had been established as a Junior Avenger.  

Peter briefly thought he would escape the embarrassment of seeing his best friend in front of his classmates, but he was mistaken. Once Shuri had caught his attention, she called out to him. “Hey Peter?”

He sighed, but answered. He knew what was coming. “Yes, Shuri?” 

“Toss me my keys!” 

Peter, without a printer in sight, chose the next best thing. He threw his backpack at the Princess of Wakanda. 

“I said my keys.” She said, deadpan as the backpack flew past her. 

“I thought you said printer.” Peter shrugged. 

“Why the fuck would I say printer?” She disregarded the teachers’ looks. 

The two came together in the middle of the space and did an intricate handshake that involved feet, hands, and hips. They had developed it when they were bored after they had both been kicked out of an Avengers meeting because they were ‘only Junior Avengers’. As they concluded their handshake, they burst into giggles together,  until Lacy cleared her throat and shot a pointed glance at the shocked class behind them. She, who had retrieved Peter’s backpack, handed the bag back to him and gestured for them both to rejoin the group. 

With the class still sitting in stunned silence, it was easy for Lacy to regain their attention. “Now, for some rules. No touching, no yelling, no pushing, always wear these badges I’m about to give you in a visible spot, or you will be escorted from the premises, and, biggest of all, no bullying.” Peter shot a glance to Flash, or, well, the back of Flash’s head, since he was front and center and Peter was in the back again, doing his best to hide. 

“Now, as I call your name, please come forward and get the badge I hand you. Cindy Moon.” Cindy went forward and grabbed the white badge. “Eugene Thompson” 

“It’s Flash, actually.” He said, and winked at the Princess. Shuri looked like she might puke. 

On and on the list went until there were no more badges. Mr. Gray, who had been checking off his sheet as the list went on, spoke up. “Um, ma’am, I’m afraid a few of the students didn’t get one. Mr. Parker, Mr. Leeds and Mr. Jackson seemed to be missing badges.” 

With a bright grin on her face, Lacy said “Oh, they can just use their own. Happy, our head of security,  has a thing about not giving one person two badges at the same time. Boys, do you have your badges?”  

They all pulled them out, Peter and Percy’s a shimmering gold, Ned’s a bright red, much different from any of the guest badges, and even the badge hanging from Lacy’s lapel. 

Flash, upon seeing the difference, threw his hand into the air. “Miss, why are theirs different?” 

“Good question, Eugene. It has to do with the ranking system. We have five levels here at Stark Towers, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Alpha is the lowest ranking, and Epsilon is the highest. You all have Alpha clearance, which is clearance for guests and the press. Beta is for interns on the lower levels. These are usually our graduate interns, Gamma is for our R&D department and marketing, Delta is for our top scientists, who often get to work with Doctor Banner plus accounting and department heads, and Epsilon is for the Starks, their close friends or family, and the Avengers. Now, if you’ll follow me, I need you all to scan your badges here. Please make sure to remove anything from your pockets and put them in this bucket.” 

Peter, Percy, Ned and Annabeth filed to the back of the line. Lacy went first. “Lacy Green, Gamma clearance.” Everyone except the three boys, Shuri, and Lacy jumped. 

“Oh, don’t mind FRIDAY, she does that with everyone. She’s the building’s AI. She is the eyes and ears here and will detect anything that happens.” Lacy explained. 

Each time someone went through the scanner, FRIDAY announced their name and clearance, and each time, it spooked them. Peter wanted to laugh, but then he remembered how he reacted when he first spoke to FRIDAY. He was like a child on Christmas morning every time she spoke. 

Finally, it was their turn. When Peter went through the scanner, FRIDAY’s voice suddenly had a familiar Irish lilt. “Peter Parker, Epsilon clearance. Welcome back, Petey, I will alert Boss to your arrival.” 

Resigned to Mr. Stark finding out anyway, Peter calmly replied “Thank you, Fri. Will you remind him that I am here on a school trip, though?” 

“Yes, Petey. Mr. Stark said to have fun.” 

As he tried to ignore the stares of his classmates, Peter heard Friday say “Percy Jackson, Epsilon clearance. Welcome back, Mr. Jackson. I assume you’re on this field trip as well?” 

“Yeah, FRIDAY. Quick question, where are Tony and Pepper?” 

FRIDAY responded immediately. “Miss Potts is in a meeting until 1 and Mr. Stark is in his lab. Should I alert them to your presence?”

“Please. Could you also organize an emergency press conference for 3:45 this afternoon?”

“Yes.” A second of silence. “Boss has asked for an explanation.” She informed him.

Percy thought for a second. He wanted to remain under the radar, even if this information was coming out later that afternoon. “Tell him everything is going public today.” When she didn’t respond again, Percy assumed he got the message. 

Peter was thankful that most of the attention was off of him as everyone shifted to the bigger mystery. 

Percy looked around at the crowd of teenagers and smirked. “What, never seen someone talk to an AI before?” He confidently crossed to stand beside Annabeth, one arm around her waist, the other stuffed in his pocket. Peter was pretty sure only he and Annabeth knew how anxious Percy really was. He did well to cover up, but his smile was just too tense, his posture just too alert, he was nervous. 

Lacy smiled brighter and raised her voice slightly to grab everyone’s attention. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll begin our tour in the Avengers’ museum. 

As they walked forward, Shuri dropped back to walk with Peter. “I take it Percy is the new addition I’ve been hearing so much about.” She said quietly.

“Yeah, that’s him. His girlfriend, Annabeth, probably isn’t far behind, honestly. I’ve met her a few times and she’s brilliant, not to mention awesome at fighting. She reminds me of you, actually.” 

The princess studied the back of the blonde’s head. “I think she and I could learn a lot from each other.”

At Peter’s look of surprise, she laughed. “I’m not a man, you ass. I know that even with all of Wakanda’s advancements, technology, and knowledge, there are still things I don’t know. Annabeth and I have different backgrounds, so we’d obviously be familiar with different areas.” 

“So… you know about… them?” Peter hesitated to say anything incriminating around his classmates. 

She chuckled again. “Yes Peter, I know about ‘them’” she mocked. “I’m here to develop a new suit for Percy. He can’t battle evil forces in the world without some sort of protection.”

Peter nodded. The two fell into companionable silence as they listened to Lacy’s speech, following behind the students and occasionally whispering dumb comments or jokes until they stopped in front of an open doorway. “-and here we have our first stop, the Avengers museum. You will have 45 minutes to explore. Just remember the rules and we shouldn’t have a problem.” Lacy stepped aside to allow the students forward into the exhibit. 

The duo followed Peter’s friends as they wandered through the exhibit, the three young Avengers having already seen most of it. They stopped at each one so Annabeth, MJ, and Ned could get the information. “How long exactly are you in town?” 

“My brother plans to leave in two weeks, but I think I will stay longer. I will be finished with the gear Tony commissioned in little time, but I want to work with Percy and Annabeth on developing more weaponry, perhaps incorporating Vibranium. I have brought all of the materials I need and I suppose I can work with your rudimentary technology for a little while.” Shuri shot him a mirthful glance.  

Before he could respond, Ned called him over to see one of the new exhibit. “Dude, come over here! They’ve got a Spider-man exhibit!” 

Peter rushed over with a giggling Shuri close behind. What he found made his jaw drop. Behind a glass case stood two mannequins; one wearing a replica of his current suit, the other clad in his old pajama suit. To the side were facts about Spider-man and a small screen showing him in the middle of a fight. “Woah…” 

“Dude, does this mean Spider-man is officially an Avenger?” Ned asked. 

Peter kind of shook his head. “I guess. I wonder if Mr. Stark was ever going to tell me.” He trailed off in thought. 

“Once you had graduated and were ready to publicly become an Avenger is what he said when he told the rest of us.” Came a voice from behind them. 

The five jumped and turned around, coming face to face with a casually dressed Wanda. Peter’s face paled. “W-wanda, what are you doing here? I thought everyone was at the compound.” 

She gave him a sympathetic smile. “They were, and then Stark told them about your field trip and they all came back into the city to pop in. Even Steve was on board after he found out what that Eugene kid had been doing to you.”

Eyes shutting, Peter groaned. “I’m done for. This is it, I’m going to die.” Okay, maybe he was being a tad dramatic, but can you blame him? 

“I’m sorry, Peter, but I thought I’d give you a heads up. Stark is definitely making an appearance at some point, and it’s going to be big.” 

Before Peter could say anything, maybe a prayer to one of the many gods, Flash rushed over to get a glimpse of the Spider-man display, not noticing the civilian-clothes-clad superhero. He shoved Peter and Ned out of the way. “Out of my way Penis. You too, Dead. I need a picture with the Spider-man suit.” 

Peter shot Wanda a glance, and caught the tell-tale red cloud of her magic in her eye. He subtly shook his head at her. She didn’t need an assault, or, gods forbid, a murder charge on her hands. Instead, she took a deep breath and said, “I’m pretty sure bullying is not allowed in any building Stark Industries owns.” 

Flash turned, a haughty sneer already slipping onto his face, until he realized who spoke. Expression melting away, he gulped and started to back away. “Y-yes ma’am.” He scampered off before anything else happened. 

She sighed and looked back at the group. “I should probably go. But good luck today, you’ll need it. Especially after that little scene: Friday has orders to send any alarming footage straight to Tony.” 

At Peter’s swear, she gave him one last sympathetic look and ruffled his hair before turning to weave her way back through the exhibit to the private elevator. 

Running his hand through his hair, Peter turned to Percy, “Well… we’re fucked.” 

Percy laughed. “No, man, you’re fucked. They aren’t targeting me-- I’m not the one who lied about a bully. The only thing I have to deal with is a press conference at the end of the day and maybe some weird looks.” 

Annabeth snorted. “Only thing? Seaweed Brain, you don’t explain the whole gods thing well to new demigods, how are you going to explain it to the entire world?” 

“It’s a good thing I’ve got you here then, Wise Girl.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and tucked her into his side. “What better way to introduce the world to demigods than by introducing them to the children of prophecy.”

”You ass, you didn’t even ask.” She playfully shoved him. He widened his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip. She rolled her eyes. “But I guess I’ll help you.” He pulled her back into his side and kissed her head.

Suddenly, the class heard from the end of the room “It’s time to move to our next section, so if you would please all follow me.” Lacy led the group towards the public elevator. “We’re going to have to split into a few different groups. So I’ll go with the first group. Princess? Would you and Peter mind going with the second? And Percy could go with the third?”

Peter nodded, uncertain, his Spidey-Sense already tingling. He traded a glance with Percy; Lacy was definitely in on Mr. Stark’s plan.

The first group filed into the elevator, while the other two waited patiently. As soon as the doors closed, Peter heard a heavy scurrying in the vent, undetectable to anyone else. He shot Percy another look, this time glancing up to warn him of what was to come. 

Just as the vent opened and a leather-clad figure dove through it, Peter sidestepped. The man hit the floor with a “shit” and rolled over to reveal his face. The children around them murmured in amazement as they realized that the lump in front of them was the one and only Hawkeye. 

“Aw, Pete, how do you always hear me coming?” Clint moaned as he sat up. 

Peter froze. Was Clint trying to out him as Spider-Man? Percy stepped in “It’s because you’re loud, bird brains. It’s a wonder that you made it this far as a super spy.”

Eyes going comically wide when he spotted the source of the voice, Clint feigned surprise at Percy’s presence. “What do we have here, folks? Could this be my favorite junior Avenger?” 

Amidst gasps of shock, Percy grinned and held his hand out to help Clint up. “Are you saying I’m your favorite because Spider-Man kicked your ass in that accuracy competition?”

“You can’t prove that.” Clint said, folding his arms. “Speaking of, though, you need to work on your accuracy. Didn’t they teach you how to shoot a bow and arrow at that camp of yours?” 

Annabeth laughed. “Oh, they tried to teach Seaweed Brain. He managed to nearly shoot Chiron, who was standing behind everyone. They haven’t let him near a bow since.” 

Pouting, Percy mumbled, “I’m still better than both of you at hand-to-hand.

Eyebrows raised, Annabeth turned to Percy. “Really? You think you’re better than me at hand-to-hand combat?” She whirled back around to face the acclaimed archer. “Is there anywhere that I can prove him wrong before the end of this trip?”

Clint grinned a Cheshire-cat grin while the blood drained from Percy’s face. “I do believe there is, Miss…?” 

“Annabeth Chase” She stuck her hand out. 

Clint shook it, the evil glint still in his eyes. “Well, Miss Chase, I do believe that there is a stop on your little tour here that will take you to the Avengers training room. In fact, I’ll make sure of it. And I certainly want to be there when our dearest Avenger gets taken down.” 

“I really don’t think there’s any need for that, really. Wisegirl, you know I don’t think I’m better than you at hand-to-hand combat. In fact I know I’m not as good. There’s really no need to show everybody.” Percy panicked. 

At this point, the elevator returned and the second group loaded in, including Peter and Shuri, who had stayed quiet for most of the encounter. As Peter passed, though, he clapped his hand on Percy’s shoulder, “Good luck, dude.” Accompanied by a grimace. He’d only met Annabeth a few times, but he’s pretty sure she isn’t one to let a challenge like that go by.  

The doors slid shut on the group. Even though it was only a ten second ride (Stark tech did have its perks), everyone shifted uncomfortably in the barely-big-enough elevator. No one uttered a word until the doors opened again and spit them out onto one of the research and development floors. 

All of the students, and even Mr. Gray, were fighting for a position at the observation window to see what the lab ahead of them was working on. Peter and Ned hung out in the back, having already seen this floor, and occasionally worked on it themselves when the scientists needed some help on new tech. 

Moments later, the last group joined them, sans Clint. One look from Percy told Peter they had not seen the last of the archer, though. Upon the arrival of the rest of the group, Lacy continued her monologue. “Here we have one of our research and development labs. This is where we work on lower clearance tech, like new Stark phones, and interns work on solo projects. Mostly this lab is populated by the lower level interns who each have one or two scientists or higher level interns that they check in with.”

Peter froze, again. He forgot about check in leaders. Which wouldn’t be important, except that he himself is a check in leader, and his team works on this floor. In this lab. Not even Percy could get the attention off of him now. 

“Hey, Pete! Can you come check something out for me?” He heard a voice. Looking over, he saw Mikey, one of his team members. 

Looking to his teachers for permission, and taking it from their stunned expressions, Peter nodded once and silently followed Mikey through to the lab. On Mikey’s workstation was a little robot, designed to help people with arthritis in their hands do small tasks, like shoe tying or, hypothetically, writing and typing. 

Mikey pressed the On button, and they both waited for something to happen. Nothing did. “I can’t figure out what’s wrong. It was working fine yesterday.” He said, helplessly. 

“Calm down, let me take a look at the inside.” Peter grabbed a nearby screwdriver and unscrewed the back panel. Inside was a cross of different colored wires and motherboards and circuits and-- there. “There’s a tiny disconnected wire in the back.” Peter fixed Mikey with a look. “This is a simple mistake that you usually catch. What’s up?” He narrowed his eyes and asked “How much  sleep have you gotten recently?”

“Eight hours!” Mikey responded defensively. Another look from Peter and he amended his statement “In the last three days…” 

Peter placed a hand on his intern’s shoulder and began leading him toward the door on the other side of the lab from the elevator. “You know I can’t condone that as both your friend and your check in leader. For both the safety of this lab and your health, I need you to hit the barracks. There is no way that you can safely operate any equipment in this state, much less conduct experiments.” 

They reached the door, and Peter opened it. Inside there were three sets of bunk beds. Mikey nodded and headed for one of the beds, and Peter shut the door behind him. Turning back to Lacy, he said “Please continue the tour, I have something I need to do. I’ll catch up when I’m through.” 

Mr. Gray started to object. “Mr. Parker, this is highly against the rules, and how could you possibly find us or get around the building--” Peter cut her off. 

“Mr. Gray, it’s obvious you don’t believe me about my internship, but I have to call a group meeting right now for the safety of this lab. As for how I will know where you are, FRIDAY will tell me. I practically live in this building and I have a higher access level than our lovely tour guide. Now, if you’ll please excuse me…” Peter no longer seemed like the excitable and cheerful .

He turned around and called his interns’ attention. “Alright. I know not all of you are in my unit, but I think it’s time we do a lab wide check in. So, keep working, but I’m going to check on everyone.”

Clapping her hands, Lacy called everyone’s attention back to her. “While Peter does his job, we are going to continue on. Next, we’re getting a rare treat. We are going to go to the Avenger’s floors and get an exclusive look into the life of an Avenger.” Her eyes sparked with excitement, obviously she was just as excited for this as the children. 

As the words left Lacy’s mouth, Percy’s hand tightened around Annabeth’s. Concerned, she looked at her Seaweed Brain. His face was grim and he leaned down. “A lot of secrets aren’t going to be so secret by the end of this, I guarantee.” 

Annabeth’s stomach dropped. She knew he wasn’t just referring to their secret. That was coming out today anyway. He was talking about Peter’s. Percy and Shuri exchanged concerned looks. Poor Peter. 

As they filed back into their groups, Percy was approached by Flash. “Hey! Jackson!” Percy turned to Flash with an unimpressed gaze. “Uh, I mean, Percy,” He amended. “What the hell is going on with Penis? What did he do to get all of this stuff?” Flash still didn’t believe Peter? Gods almighty, this boy was dumb. 

Percy sighed. “Eugene, Peter works here and he works closely with the Avengers. He got all of that by working hard and studying harder. Get over your jealous bullshit before it bites you in the ass.” 

His teacher snapped “Language, Mr. Jackson. We are guests here and you will not be the reason we get thrown out.” She turned away, making no comment on Flash’s behavior. 

Incredulous, he turned to Annabeth. “I hope she realizes that they aren’t going to kick me out. And that, technically, I could kick her out… right?” 

Annabeth just shrugged. “For all the knowledge your school claims to have, your teachers are pretty stupid.” 

The second group, chaperoned by Shuri, entered the elevator, which left Percy with his class. “FRI, you’re getting all of this footage of Eugene Thompson on film and voice recording, right?” Percy asked, once the doors had closed on Flash’s group. 

The Irish A.I. responded. “Yes, Mr. Jackson. I have already sent the footage to Boss. A Code Spider-Baby has been set in place. 

Percy sighed, once again. Code Spider-Baby meant that the Avengers were mad. And when they were mad, it didn’t end well. “Remind the Avengers that murder is not only immoral, but also illegal.” 

A moment passed. “Boss says that intimidation is not.” 

Percy had no answer. Intimidation of a minor was probably immoral, but there was no stopping protective-father Tony Stark. 

The elevator door dinged as it opened, allowing the third group in. They closed once the last person had filed in, and automatically took them to their destination. Floor 47. Fuck. 

Floor 47 was the Avengers training floor. The door opened and the group rushed out when they saw the set of adults standing there waiting for them. 

None other than Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanoff, and a smirking Clint Barton stood waiting. “Now that everyone is here, let’s begin. Today we’re going to teach you some self defense skills. We’re going to split into groups and cycle through stations. But first, how about a few demonstrations?” 

The class cheered, drowning out the ding of Peter’s arrival. They did not, however, drown out Natasha. “Glad you could join us ребенок пауk.” The class turned around as he entered. 

Peter’s stomach dropped when he saw the glint in every super adults’ eyes. The Captain’s voice boomed as he exclaimed, “Peter! Percy! Why don’t you come help us?” He phrased it in a way that was definitely not a question. 

Resigned to their fate, the two trudged forward. Steve had a shit-eating grin on his face as they made their way to the front. “Why don’t you two choose your own partners?” 

Clint spoke up at this moment. “How about Steve, Annabeth, and Peter, versus Percy, Bucky and Natasha?” 

“What about you?” Annabeth questioned, walking up to join the group, grinning widely. 

Clint grinned innocently. “There’s six of you and that perfectly matches up. Adding me into the mix would only complicate matters.” 

A cough that suspiciously sounded like the word coward came from Bucky’s general direction. 

Rolling his eyes, Peter asked “Full capacity?” with the hint of a grin on his face. The whole class faded from his consciousness. 

Smirking, Natasha replied “Full capacity.” 

Steve called out to FRIDAY “Please activate operations PH2O and PW.” Part of the floor opened up to reveal a large salt-water pool. Parts of the wall and roof came outward. 

The five Avengers and Annabeth squared off. Natasha and Peter faced each other, Percy and Annabeth shared grins across from each other, and Bucky and Steve shook hands before stepping a few feet back from each other. 

“Fight!” Clint called from his place amongst the crowd of children, a place he knew he wouldn’t get dragged into the fight. The group converged at the same time. 

Despite the clash of super soldiers on the far end of the room, the Midtown high group focused on their classmates. Percy and Annabeth were blurs that no one could tell apart as they produced weapons from seemingly nowhere. As the two whirled around in a deadly waltz, Percy’s energy seemed to be flagging. The students watched as he stepped into the pool and seemed to gain his strength back. Slash. Jab. Clang. Their weapons moved with renewed vigor. As they watched, a tidal wave encased both of their legs and lifted them into the air. 

Peter, meanwhile, jumped into action, facing off against the deadly assassin with calm grace. He flipped over her as she struck a low blow to his legs, missing him by half an inch. He whirled around when he landed to face her and brought his leg up in a high kick. Natasha grabbed his standing leg and flipped him on his back. Before she could do anything else, he shot a web at the roof and pulled himself up to stick to the protruding piece of ceiling. He smirked as Natasha looked up at him. “Come down here, ребенок паук” She said in a sing-song voice. 

“You said full capacity, I’m just using my full capacity.” He teased. 

She rolled her eyes and pushed a button on her wrists. The class gasped as the Black Widow fired at their classmate. “Hey!” Peter cried as he leaped from the ceiling to the floor, where Natasha was ready to intercept him with her widow’s bites. She started to swipe at him and he double tapped his watch face. “Karen, activate gauntlets.” Instantly, the nano-tech of his suit wrapped around his forearms. He intercepted the Widow’s Bites with his suit covered arms. He didn’t hear the gasp of his classmates. 

They continued their fight until Natasha had him twisted with his back to her and a knife she grabbed out of nowhere to his throat. They both panted from the exertion of their fight, before grinning. Natasha released him from her hold and he twisted around. “Where did those come from?” She asked. 

“They came from adaptation. Last time we fought, you electrocuted me with those things. I adapted my suit to cover only parts of my body, just like Mr. Stark’s.” He grinned that grin that made the Avengers all fall in love with him in the first place. 

Natasha rumpled his hair and pulled him into a hug. “Brilliant job, ребенок паук.” 

Around them, the other duos came to a stop as well. Annabeth had her drakon-bone sword poised at Percy’s heart, his sword clattering to the floor far below them. Steve and Bucky both stilled with a shield at one throat and a dagger on another. 

The room was still and quiet; a pin could drop and everyone could hear it. Percy and Annabeth’s critiques of their fight as they descended from the water column broke the silence. The students gaped as it lowered them to the floor before calmly splashing back into the pool. 

“Ok, what the fuck?” Flash yelled, a small amount of pure terror glimmering as he looked back and forth between the two students. No teacher reprimanded his language. 

Steve traded a look with the rest of the Avengers. “Now would be a good time to remind you about the non-disclosure agreements you all signed.” He said. “I think we might have to allot a little bit more time to the question and answer portion of this tour.” 

The other Avengers in the room, including Peter and Percy, nodded their heads and they led the group back toward the elevator. The ride in each group was tense and awkward. No one knew how to process the information. Percy and Peter? That girl, Annabeth? What were they? Even Flash was silent. 

Finally all three groups had been corralled into the very same room Percy’s press conference would be held in only a couple of hours later. Silently, the group of Avengers in the tower filed onto the stage, minus Percy and Peter. Nat led the pack, followed by Clint, Steve, Bucky, Tony, Bruce, T’Challa, and Shuri brought up the rear. 

The room sat in silence until Tony said “So who has questions?” Every hand went into the air. 

Tony pointed at one hand in the crowd, and Betty stood up. “Are Percy and Peter Avengers?” 

A pause, before “Is everyone’s question about Percy and Peter?” Tony asked with an exasperated sigh. Everyone but Annabeth nodded their heads. 

Another sigh. “Alright, lets get those two up here, then, to answer your questions.” 

Peter and Percy both made their way up to the small stage. The other Avengers gave them space up front. Only Tony remained, acting as a mediator for the two teens. 

Every hand shook with earnest, trying to get called on, but Tony gestured for Betty to ask her question again. “A-are you two Avengers?” She stuttered. 

The two looked at each other, and Percy saw the anxious look on Peter’s face, so he spoke for them. “Yes.” He said simply, not expanding on the matter until he had to. 

Tony pointed to another hand. Abe stood up. “Uh, Percy, how could you do that stuff with the water? An-and fight like that?” 

Percy took a deep breath. Now was the time. “I fight like that thanks to five years of training with swordsmen far more experienced than I, and obviously, my beautiful girlfriend. I could do that stuff with the water because…” He took a deep breath . “Because I am a demigod. I am half god, half mortal, and my godly parent is Poseidon.” He smiled bravely as the group burst into disbelieving chatter. 

Tony whistled loudly  to draw their attention back. Immediately, hands flew back into the air. Peter’s stomach sank when Tony gestured to someone within Flash’s vicinity, and Flash spoke up. “How come you let Penis Parker and Pussy Jackson into the Avengers? Just because Jackson is supposedly some freak hybrid doesn’t mean he should be in the Avengers. He’s probably never done anything. Not to mention, Penis is some wimp loser. You need someone like me. I’m brilliant and I kick major ass.” He finished smugly, not aware of the glares from the stage, and the single pair of eyes being restrained behind him by a pretty pissed Ned. 

Not letting either boy try to de-escalate the situation, Tony Stark leaned forward, and said in a deadly quiet voice “What did you say about my sons?” 

The grin dropped off of Flash’s face. “S-sons?” 

Tony took on a manic grin. “Oh, yes. Sons. Not only do I know what you just said, we know everything you’ve said within this tower. Now, usually I’m above threatening minors. Usually. But due to your actions today, I think you deserve it. If you ever, and I mean ever, insult, ridicule or diminish in any way my sons, I will personally call every notable university in the world and get you blackballed from admission. And I promise Eugene, you will never, ever have a job at Stark Industries, or any worthwhile company in New York.” 

Flash, much to Peter’s surprise, did not back down. “But what’s so special about them? Penis, especially. He’s not worth anything.” 

Tony went red in the face, and Clint had to hold Natasha back, her weapons drawn already. The other Avengers seemed to be stifling anger as well. “Not worth anything? Buddy, let’s get something straight: Peter Parker is worth everything. Far more than you will ever be. He is the kindest, smartest, most humble and giving person I’ve ever met. This kid is smarter than you, smarter than me, hell, this kid is smarter than Bruce Banner. Not only that, but he would also give anyone the shirt off of his back if they asked him for it. But he’d never brag about it to anyone. You know how I know this kid is the best of his generation? Because not only is he brilliant, he could also boast about his position on the Avengers, but he doesn’t. He could have been like me, and told the whole world who he is, but he didn’t. Now, I think it’s time he does.” Tony finished, leaning back and gesturing to Peter, who stood a little taller after hearing everything Mr. Stark said about him. 

He took a deep breath and tapped his watch face twice. “Karen, activate Iron Spider.” The nano-tech creeped swiftly over his skin until the full Iron Spider suit encased him. The class gasped as they realized who their classmate was. 

“No!” Flash cried, outraged. “There is no way Puny Parker is Spider-Man! This has to be some kind of trick! Penis could never do what Spider-Man does!” 

The marine biology teacher crossed her arms. “Mr. Jackson, Mr. Parker, I think enough is enough. Please apologize for this silly prank and get down off the stage. I don’t know how you pulled this off, but I will be having words with Principal Morita when we return. Now get down.” 

In a flash, Tony’s wrath turned on the teachers, who had clumped together. “And you lousy lot call yourselves teachers? Are you so dense that even after everything you’ve seen today, you still don’t believe them? Percy Jackson and his girlfriend have saved this world more times than me! Peter Parker has saved my ass too many times to count.” Tony looked over the disbelieving eyes of Flash and the teacher. “Alright, you know what? You all signed a non-disclosure agreement, so if you leak anything you’ve seen or heard here, we’ll know it was one of you, and our lawyers will bury you in so many lawsuits, you won’t be getting out of them for decades. Now get out of my tower.” He said sharply. No one moved. “Now!” He shouted. 

Everyone jumped up and filed out of the room as quickly as possible. The last person was Mr. Gray. “Percy, Peter, you heard the man, come along.” 

“I will be keeping them with me. You’ll find I’ve been listed as a guardian for both of them.” Tony said with narrowed eyes. 

Mr. Gray nodded and scampered from the room, leaving only a single, blonde-haired girl sitting in her chair. Percy hopped off the stage to go talk to her. He pulled her to a standing position and into a hug. “Think that was good practice?” He asked. 

She chuckled. “I think most of the attention was on Peter, but yeah, good practice.” 

Tony Stark approached. “And who do we have here?” He asked. 

Percy straightened and grabbed Annabeth’s left hand. “Tony Stark, I’d like for you to meet my amazing girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. Annabeth, this is Tony Stark.” 

Tony smiled and extended his hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Chase.” 

“All good things, I hope. I’d love to get you opinions on some of my designs.” Annabeth shook his hand. 

Natasha approached. “You must be Annabeth. Percy never stops talking about you. You’re a spectacular fighter. We should train together sometime.” She winked before walking off again. 

One by one, each of the Avengers introduced themselves. “After what I saw today, I think you would be a valuable member of our team.” Steve said with his Mr. America smile. 

“Ok, but first, the cat’s got to come out of the bag. That goes for a couple of things, I think.” Tony’s face was steeled in determination. 

Curious, Peter turned to Mr. Stark. “What’s the other thing?” He asked. 

“That’s a surprise. Peter, go put on the suit that’s in your room. Percy, the same goes for you. Annabeth--” 

Natasha cut Tony off. “Annabeth can borrow something of mine.” She smiled. Annabeth lit up at the opportunity to talk to the superspy more. 

Tony nodded. “Then that’s settled. We’ll tell the world what it needs to know in an hour and a half.”

****

The crowd of reporters talked animatedly. The Starks were about to announce something big, and no one had an inkling what it was. 

In the antechamber off to the side, Percy paced nervously while Peter sat with his knee bouncing. Percy felt bad for him; at least Percy knew what he was about to announce. Peter had no idea what he was doing here. Mr. Stark hadn’t told him anything.

Annabeth grabbed Percy’s hand and squeezed it comfortingly. “Percy, we’re going to be fine. It’s just like telling a group of new campers.” 

“You’re right. They’re just a bunch of unclaimed new campers who don’t know what they are. With cameras. And a lot of questions. Oh gods, I can’t do this on my own.” Percy’s eyes started looking panicky.

Annabeth grabbed his face and turned it towards her own. “That’s why you’re not alone, Seaweed Brain. You have Peter over here, you have Tony, and you have me. And if we have to, we can Iris Message Chiron and he can help explain. It’s okay.” 

Percy nodded and took deep breaths. Then Tony walked into the room in a tailored suit and his signature glasses. In his hands were two small boxes. 

Tony went immediately over to Peter, who had his head in his hands, covering his ears from all the noise of the reporters. “Kid, I got some things to help you.” He opened the smaller of two boxes. Inside sat two earpieces, like the ones singers and performers wear onstage. They were smaller, though, less perceptible. “They block out all of the useless noise and help you focus on the noise you want to. And these,” He opened the second box, revealing identical glasses to the ones he wore, “just look cool.” When Peter just stared, he thrust the boxes into Peter’s hands. “Take them. They’re yours to keep. Use them whenever you need them.” 

Peter gingerly took the boxes. “Thank you, Dad.” He hadn’t meant to say it , but he paid no attention to Tony’s reaction as he fit the earpieces into his ears and put on the glasses. Immediately, he sighed with relief, quickly followed by a gasp of surprise as the glasses turned on. Analytics scanned across his eyes. He realized that Karen had been programmed into the glasses, and that he now had her at any time he wanted. He got up and hugged and a still-stunned Tony, who slowly hugged him back. 

They embraced for a moment before Tony’s watch beeped. “It’s go-time, kids. You guys wait here until I announce you. Peter, you’ll know when to come out.” He winked at Peter. 

Tony opened the door and stepped out and up onto the stage. “Welcome, everybody, to this press conference. Today we have a few announcements from a few different people, including one from me. So without further ado, allow me to introduce our newest Avengers, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase.” 

The pair traded glances. When did Annabeth officially become an Avenger? They stepped out the door and into the hoard of flashing lights and screaming reporters. They walked up to the podium set up with a dozen microphones, ready to capture their truths. 

Percy cleared his throat and everyone settled. “Hi, everyone, my name is Percy Jackson and this is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, and we are demigods.” The crowd jumped into a frenzy, shouting questions and snapping pictures. 

Tony came back to the microphone. “Everyone calm down and raise your hands like civilized people. Thank you.” the crowd calmed slightly. 

Annabeth pointed to a blonde haired reporter. “What do you mean by demigod?” 

“We are the product of relations between gods and mortals. We are half god or goddess and half mortal.” She answered. 

Pointing to another sandy-haired reporter. “Who are your godly parents?” 

Percy answered. “I am the son of Poseidon and Annabeth is the daughter of Athena.” 

A dark hair reporter stood up with no prompt. “What good do you bring to humanity? Why shouldn’t you be subject to tests or wiped out completely? Do you pose a danger to us?” 

Percy took a deep, calming breath, then launched into their story. “Our kind has spent centuries fighting monsters and wars. In the past few years, myself, Annabeth, and several other brave demigods fought multiple primordial beings that tried to take over the world, resulting in tolling wars. We’ve been key characters in those  wars and history in general, and you would be amazed to find out how many historical figures were demigods. We don’t pose any kind of direct threat to the mortal world, we’ve been saving it for centuries. Next question.” 

A curly haired reporter stood. “What benefit do you bring to the Avengers?” 

Annabeth took this question. “We are skilled fighters who train from the time we discover our identity to now. We have demigods who have been training constantly for ten or more years. We also have knowledge of and weapons that can kill monsters” 

The next question came from a raven-haired reporter. “How many of your kind are there?” 

“Fewer now, thanks to the last couple of wars, but our numbers grow every time a new demigod child is born. There are many kinds of demigod, Roman, Greek, Norse, and probably more that we don’t know about yet. Annabeth and I are Greek, but we have friends and family from other pantheons.” 

Annabeth leaned forward to speak. “This will be the last question, thank you.” 

The final question came from a reporter up front. “Why tell us now? You’ve kept the secret for so long, why now?” 

Annabeth answered. “We’ve kept our secret for so long thanks to something called the Mist. It’s a veil between the mortal world and our own. Unfortunately, I received word today that the Mist will finally fall at any moment, and we wanted to make the world aware on our terms.” 

There was a flurry of movement as the reporters tried to ask more questions, but Tony, once again, stepped forward. “That will be all for this segment of the press conference.” The two filed off, disappearing back to the antechamber. They both breathed a sigh a relief that it was over, even if the effects of everything they just announced would last for the rest of their lives. 

Onstage, they heard Tony calming down the crowd. “Now, I have an announcement, myself. For this, I’d like to bring out my personal intern, Peter Parker.” 

Peter braced himself and stepped into the room, hesitant smile on his face. Mr. Stark was standing at the podium and gestured for Peter to join him. “Ladies and gentlemen, and those who identify as neither, I give you my heir to Stark Industries!” 

Whipping his head around, Peter came face to face with a beaming Tony Stark. Him? Heir to Stark Industries? Surely Mr. Stark didn’t mean it… He glanced back toward the crowd of reporters and gave them a brave smile. 

“Peter will not be taking questions at this time. I’m afraid he just received this news as well. Thank you everyone for coming today, this now concludes our press conference.” Tony led the dazed teenager off the stage.

They entered the antechamber and Percy clapped him on the back to congratulate him. Tony didn’t stop in the antechamber, he led Peter all the way to the elevator and then into their lab before either of them talked. 

“You ok, Pete?” Mr. Stark finally asked. 

“Ok? Mr. Stark, I’m in shock, I’m overwhelmed, but yes, I’m ok. I was just given the most prestigious honor I could ever imagine. Your heir? I mean… wow. Although this means I’m going to have to triple major or something. I was already going to double major in chemical and mechanical engineering and now I’ll probably need to add business so I can run the other side of things… Unless you’re leaving that half to someone else, of course, then please disregard everything I’ve said--” 

Mr. Stark cut him off. “Pete! You’re rambling. It’s just you, but don’t worry about anything just yet. You’re not taking over tomorrow. You’ve got time.” 

Peter took another deep breath to calm down, then turned to Mr. Stark and pulled him into another hug. They both melted into each other. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

Mr. Stark buried his head in his kids shoulder and smiled. “You’re welcome, kid, you’re welcome.” 

[talltree-writes]

I Didn’t Mean to Fall // Ineffable Husbands

Gabriel and Beelzebub try to pit Aziraphale and Crowley against each other by revealing some old information. 

Genre: fluff, a little angst, f2l, 

Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley (Ineffable Husbands) 

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2.2k

Author’s Note: This has been sitting in my docs since a few months after the show came out. I think I was going to try to write it all out in a formal style, but I like this better, honestly. There are most certainly many fics with some of these same tropes, but I just really like them. I have not read the book (yet!!), so if something is wrong in regards to the written canon, I’m very sorry. 

-Basically Gabriel has seen what’s going on  and he’s here to sow discord for C/A

-Aziraphale is in his bookshop organizing his shelf of first edition poetry books

-In comes gabriel, smug little grin on his face

-Obviously he startles Zira because baby boy is no longer under Heaven’s thumb and doesn’t expect a visit from the archangel 

-“Aziraphale! So good to see you.”

-Zira just frowns at him because he knows the opposite to be true

-Gabriel just goes on

-He’s here to stir up trouble

-“Listen, why don’t we talk in the back, we have some private things to discuss”

-He grips Zira’s shoulder a little to hard in order to tell him it’s non-negotiable

-They get to the back and the smirk becomes a hard grin

-“I hear you and the demon Crowley have been getting pretty cozy”

-Zira, stunned, can only think ‘We successfully hid our friendship for 6000 years and they only find out once we no longer work for them?’

-But he says

-“Crowley is a friend, yes” 

-There’s no point in hiding it, after all, both Gabe and Beezlebub saw them at that air base

-Gabriel’s smile falters for a split second

-He wasn’t expecting that

-But he can work with it

-“A friend, really?” 

-He levels a gaze at the other angel 

-Zira’s not about to admit it right then and there,

-So he looks at Gabe likes he’s lost it and says yes

-“There have been whispers, Aziraphale, that there is much more between you and the Fallen… that, perhaps, you’re even in love with Crowley” 

-Aziraphale’s heart drops into his stomach

-‘How could he know? He hadn’t told anyone, had never written it down, had never even expressed anything to Crowley?’

-“I am not in love with Crowley.”

-Gabe raises an eyebrow

-“If you say so.”

-He shrugs and starts for the door. 

-But then turns around to look at the barely-concealing-his-shock angel

-“You know, She always intended for you two to be together.”

-Aziraphale became confused. Very few angels had intended mates, it was one of the few things She allowed them to choose for themselves. 

-She usually only had intended mates for...archangels  

-Gabriel took advantage of the moment of confusion 

-“Oh? He hasn’t told you who he was before the fall?” 

-Aziraphale’s mind flashed through all of the times he had brought the subject of the Fall up, and Crowley had gotten a distant look and changed the subject, or said “I didn’t mean to fall” or brushed it off

-Then he thought of the few clues that Crowley had given him over the years. One in particular stook out. Alpha Centauri.

-He hadn’t made the connection when Crowley was screaming it at him (to be fair, they were in quite the stressful situation, and were both focussing on the Antichrist) 

-She wouldn’t have entrusted the creation of an entire system to just any angel 

-Only an archangel would hold that power

-There were only two archangels who fell

-Lucifer, obviously, and…

-Raphael

-Raphael, who was never mentioned again after the fall

-Raphael, who’s loss hurt almost as much as Lucifer’s 

-Raphael, who had never spoken out against Her

-‘I didn’t mean to fall’... 

-Aziraphale’s face lights up with recognition 

-Gabriel sees this

-“I could never figure out why he Fell. Perhaps it was all apart of your beloved ineffable plan”

-Shoots a final grin

-And leaves Zira to his thoughts 

-Meanwhile 

-Unbeknownst to Crowley or Zira, Gabriel had gone to Beezlebub, who was also salty about being shown up by Crowley, and colluded together to throw them off and pit them against each other

-Crowley has a recording of Much Ado about Nothing playing as he reads along

-(He’s trying to surprise Zira with some knowledge and quotes and the last time he’d seen/heard anything pertaining to it was when the bard himself was alive)

-The recording scratches to a stop

-“Crowley…”

-Crowley froze, he hadn’t heard that voice since the Apocalypse that wasn’t

-Feigns nonchalance 

-“Beelzebub! To what do I owe the displeasure?”

-He doesn’t work for Hell anymore-- he doesn’t have to refer to anyone as Lord -unless he wants to 

-“I have heard rumors of you… consorting… with the Angel” 

-Crowley knows exactly what angel they’re talking about 

-(obviously, it’s his angel)

-“Which angel would that be exactly? I’m told Heaven has a whole host of them.”

-“The angel Aziraphale, of course.”

-“Oh that angel! No, I’m afraid we see each other as little as possible. Really only meet to discuss our mutual operative”

-“Are you denying that you see each other every day?” 

-Crowley didn’t know how or why they kept an eye on them. He thought that they would keep even less surveillance on them as they were no longer agents of Heaven or Hell. Apparently he was wrong

-“Our mutual operative has been having issues lately. We’ve been discussing, at length, whether or not the operative is worth keeping on either side. The goody-two shoes, of course, thinks we should, since the guy is such an imbecile that he maintains a perfect level of good and evil. I, obviously, no longer see the point in it, as we no longer work for either side. The sooner we dismiss him, the sooner we can go our separate ways.” 

-It hurts to refer to his angel as anything other than absolutely wonderful or to even pretend that every moment he spends with Zira wasn’t the most fulfilling thing in his life since… well, since he became a demon. 

-Beelzebub, knowing the truth, doesn’t buy it. 

-“Drop the act, traitor. Both sides know of your little friendship. I just thought you should know that the angel is being informed of your… former self as we speak.” 

-Crowley’s brain, and therefore, his mouth, stopped working

-He had spent so long attempting to keep his former identity concealed for so long. 

-He had never met his intended mate, and even though he knew he loved Aziraphale, he didn’t know whether or not his meeting Zira was apart of the Ineffable Plan, or just superb luck

-Then, he realized something Beelzebub said

-“Have you been in contact with the other side?”

-Beelzebub goes silent. Crowley is afraid he had disconnected the conversation

-He forged on anyway 

-“You have, haven’t you? I’d wager you’ve been in contact with the head halo himself. Tell me, have you told Gabriel of your former identity? I’m sure he’d love to hear that his intended is not only fallen, but, in fact, the prince of hell, themself.”

-When there was no response, instead the voices from the play filtering through his speakers, he knew the other demon had heard him. And he was definitely scared.

-Nonetheless, Crowley was also terrified. If Aziraphale knew, it could change how the angel thinks of him. An archangel? Fallen? It was practically unheard of. Sure, Lucifer himself had fallen, but no other Archangel had uttered any kind of alliance to their brother.

-His own falling had been a separate, private affair. He had approached God Herself (back when God still held audiences with her children instead of sending them straight to the Metatron), and innocently brought his questions before her. When he could bring himself to think about the occasion, he thought he recalled an air of regret and sadness in Her throne room. Almost as if She didn’t want to make him fall. Though, he supposed She’d be loathe to see any  of her creations become her enemies.

-Truth be told, he’d never understood why he fell. His questions had never been drastic, and not nearly to the extent She allowed Lucifer’s to get to. But perhaps any questions were grounds to fall after Lucifer’s rebellion

-At any rate, he had to get to the bookshop to explain everything to Aziraphale. His musings on Her decisions could wait until his next drunken pity party 

-He grabbed his jacket and miracles himself into the Bentley

-He speeds his way through London to the Soho-based bookshop. The lights on the first floor were dark, and for a second, he thought that Zira was out and about. 

-He parks around the corner anyway and got out to walk to the front door. He had no idea if Gabriel was still there

-He got his answer when he spotted the front door open. He went back around the corner and peeked to see a smug looking Gabriel step out of the shop

-Figuring both sides already knew, and they therefore had nothing to lose, he approached his former brother

-“Gabe! What a coincidence to run into you! I assume you’ve just come from telling Aziraphale my former identity. I’m sure you can imagine how grateful I am for sharing an incredibly personal piece of information with someone else without my permission. But how could I return the favor? Hmm… Did you ever meet your intended?”

-Gabriel froze

-Crowley continues

-“No, I suppose you didn’t. After all, your ceremony came after the Fall. Suppose they had to cancel it, then. Must have sucked, knowing your mate fell, but not knowing who they were. Almost as much as never knowing who your mate was in the first place. I, of course, knew, because I told them. But you already know this, y’know, since you were supposed to tell mine. Now that you’ve revealed information that was truly none of your business, I shall return the favor. I assume neither Michael, nor Uriel, have been ballsy enough to tell you who your mate is.”

-He didn’t receive an answer, but continued anyway.

-“You are familiar, of course, with our mutual companion, Beelzebub.”

-Silence

-“I’m sure you’ll be pleased to finally know who your mate is. Now if you would please fuck off and stay out of our lives, we won’t meddle in the matters of heaven and hell- especially your love lives.” 

-He pushes past his former brother into the shop. 

-“Angel?”

-No response 

-He heads into the back 

-“Angel?”

-He finds Aziraphale sitting, pensively staring at the wall 

-“...Angel…?”

-“Is it true?”

-Crowley knew what he was talking about, there was no use beating around the bush 

-“Yes”

-“Why wouldn’t you tell me? Things could have been so much different. Were you ever going to tell me?”

-Aziraphale looks up with a pained look 

-Crowley takes a deep breath 

-“Eventually… when I accepted what happened.”

-“It’s been 6000 years! Didn’t you think I deserved to know I was your intended?!”

-That stopped Crowley in his tracks. 

-“You- you’re my intended?” 

-His eyes are blown wide with shock

-Now Zira is confused

-“Yes… I thought that’s what we were talking about. You didn’t know either?”

-“Angel… I thought we were talking about me. I never found out who my intended was. I mean, I had hoped it was you, but I was never sure.” 

-“How did Gabriel know?”

-“He was assigned to tell you.”

-Zira’s face scrunched up.

-“I can’t imagine Gabriel being the deliverer of such happy news.”

-“He wasn’t always such an emotionless prick. I’m afraid losing one’s intended in the Fall is rather jarring to an angel. And a demon, to be honest. Beelzebub hasn’t been the same since they fell.”

-“Were they someone’s intended?” 

-“Believe it or not, they were Gabriel’s. Obviously, their name wasn’t Beelzebub, but Anabiel and Gabriel were supposed to be very happy together, in fact every archangel was very happy with their intended until they fell. Only Lucifer, Gabriel and myself were left to have our intended ceremonies.”

-Aziraphale got a thoughtful look 

-“Don’t you think it’s odd that half of every intended couple fell?”

-Crowley shrugged

-“I’ve been thinking about it for years, and I can’t come up with anything concrete.” 

-Zira muses for a second. 

-“It’s not worth thinking about, Angel. It all depends on several hypotheticals of what was happening in Her brain this whole time. Something neither of us are privy to.”

-“No, I suppose you’re right, my dear. Besides, I think other matters are slightly more pressing.” 

-Crowley raised an eyebrow at his angel

-Who rose 

-“What matters, Angel?”

-“The matter of our relationship, my dear, and how it progresses from here.”

-“...Oh”

-Soft BoiTM becomes super anxious 

-“Of course, if you would like to remain friends, that is okay. I do vaguely remember some archangels who kept their relationships platonic, and if that is what you wish, I will gladly-”

-Crowley stands up quite quickly and hugs his angel 

-“Aziraphale, I would like nothing more than to create a life with you, together as mates. Romantic mates.” 

-When Aziraphale’s smile lit up the entire room (literally, he was allowing some of his ethereal form to slip through the veil), Crowley had to shield his eyes

-But when the light dimmed (with a sheepish look from the still very excited Aziraphale), Crowley allowed a genuine smile to alight onto his face

-Now, here’s the thing about Crowley and smiling

-Aziraphale can count on two hands the amount of times he has seen a genuine smile when Crowley was sober

-He smirked, or scowled, sometimes he would let a grin pass

-But rarely would he truly, genuinely, smile

-But this was the best one Zira had ever seen in all of his 6000+ years

[talltree-writes]

It’s Warm and Real and Bright // KTH drabble

Taehyung comes home after a stressful day at work, and you’re just the person to calm him down. Well, you and Rapunzel. 

Genre: Fluff, absolute tooth rotting fluff, 

Pairing: Taehyung/(F) Reader

Warnings: mentions of alcohol? That’s it, I don’t even think there’s cussing 

Word Count: 683

Author’s Note: I wrote this in about 20 minutes because it’s soft hours rn. I actually wrote it for my friends (partially because I felt bad about not finishing their longer pieces), but they said I could post it. Anyway, enjoy.

Gif is not mine!!!!

By the time Taehyung came home, take-out in hand, you were already in your pajamas. 

“I’m sorry I’m late, love. Things were… hectic today. But I have dinner! As promised.” He gave you a bashful grin. 

You smile back at him, just glad that he’s home, as you walk over to where he’s toed his shoes off. You press a soft kiss to his lips as you take the take out container from him. “This is perfect. Thank you, Taehyungie.” You carry the takeout bags to the kitchen. “Do you want to eat while we watch something?” You call over your shoulder, already grabbing utensils and plates.

Wrapping himself around you from behind, he tucks his head into your neck and sighs (in relief or exhaustion, you’re not sure). “Yes. Can we watch Tangled please? I just need some good Disney to melt my brain.” He murmurs, holding you closer. 

“Absolutely.” You set down the plates and reach up to run your fingers through his hair. He melts against you at the soothing motion, leaving you to take on a lot of his weight. You chuckle as you stumble forward, his larger frame too much for you. “Hang on, bubs. Let’s eat some dinner, first.” 

He nods, taking back his weight and stepping back to fix himself a plate. You each serve yourself (probably more than you can handle) and shuffle to the couch. As you turn on the movie, Tae scooted closer to you on the couch, cuddling as much as he could while still being able to eat. As you ate, he’d hum the songs, and you were both finished eating by the time the outlaws began to sing about dreams. 

Already in a better mood, he started to sing along. You giggled, and joined in. Discarding his plate, he wrapped an arm around you and rocked you both side to side, the volume of your singing growing until you both dissolved into giggles at the end. 

From there, you both sang along, until some noise from the street distracted you. As Rapunzel and Flynn entered the kingdom, you got up to look out your window at what might be happening. Down in the street, a couple of kids had probably gotten some of their parent’s liquor and were laughing as they occasionally stumbled. The kids all filed into a diner down the street and their noise followed them. 

“Oh!” You gasped as you looked up at the skyline, eyes immediately following on the Eiffel Tower lit up against the starry night and the dusky city lights. “Bear, come here.” You didn’t look away as you spoke. The two of you had just moved recently, so you weren’t exactly used to the area. What you were the least used to, though, was the view.

His feet padded softly across the floor as he came over, once again wrapping his arms around you. He placed his chin on your shoulder and gazed out at the view. 

“I’ve seen it before, but, wow, it’s so pretty!” You whispered softly, as if anything louder than the movie playing distantly behind you would break the spell. 

His deep chuckled rumbled from his chest into your back, and his breath tickled your ear as he whispered. “That’s what I think every time I see you, angel.” 

You blushed and leaned back into his chest. Behind you, Rapunzel began to sing as she lit the lantern, and the two of you gently started to sway to the music, still gazing out your window at the view. Slowly, as the song progressed, you turned in his arms and gazed up at him, humming along to the voices and wrapping your arms around him. 

Still swaying, Taehyung brought his forehead down to lean against yours. “I love you, my angel.” 

“I love you too, my winter bear.” You broke the contact at your foreheads to rest your ear against his chest. The fuzzy sweater he’d worn that day was soft against your cheek, and his steady heartbeat was comforting as you continued to sway, even as the music faded. 

[talltree-writes]

Art History, Philosophy, and Scientific Periodicals // K.NJ

Y/N is a senior in college and works part time at the library near her apartment. RM is the leader of the powerful Wings gang. Despite knowing his dangerous reputation, Y/N can't help but be interested in the sweet man who borrows vastly different books and talks with her for hours.

Genre: Fluff, slice of life, mild angst? (there's a brief fight between reader and her brother), f2l

Pairing: Kim Namjoon/(F)Reader 

Warnings: Reference to sexual assault (it doesn't happen, but it's implied it could have), swearing, guns (make an appearance, but they aren't used in the story), fighting 

Word Count: 7.2k 

 Author's Note: Inspired by Close to You by hollyhomburg on Tumblr (I just checked, and I think she might have deleted, so if anyone can find a link, that’d be really cool!). A really cool concept that I obviously enjoyed, haha! Also I intended this to be a little warm-up piece that was maybe 2k, but uhhh, that obviously didn't happen (it was still a bit of a warm up, it was just a warm up that lasted about 2 weeks...) 

Photo isn't mine!!

-Kim Namjoon had always intrigued you.

-You had seen him for the first time at the local library you worked at part time, earning a bit of cash to help pay for the last bit of tuition that your scholarship didn’t cover.

-It wasn’t the best location, but it was close to you, you enjoyed most of the people who came, and most of all: you loved books. And, well, the enigma of a man who came in during your shift didn’t hurt

-Namjoon stood out in most ways from the normal visitors.

-For one, he checked out odd combinations of books. Usually, the books were philosophy or art history combined with a scientific periodical, often adding a book on a certain language (it changed every once and awhile), or one on music theory or history.

-Secondly, the man, with his blonde hair, piercings, leather jacket, and copious tattoos were far cries from most of the library’s usual visitors

-Lastly, he always came alone. Most of the regulars at the library brought someone at least occasionally, a child, a wife, a friend, someone. But never Namjoon.

-Curiously, instead of finding what he needed and either occupying one of the couches or arm chairs in the back, or even simply taking it home, he always sat at the table closest to your desk

-After a while of reading, he’d ask you a question or bring up a topic. Sometimes your day, or your classes, sometimes he’d ask what the oddest thing someone had checked out was, or, on particularly slow days, he’d leave his books and come sit on the counter next to you, where you two would chat about your lives or philosophy or mythology or art.

-He checked his books about thirty minutes before your shift would end, flashing you a dimpled grin and tucking his books into the beat up backpack he always had before waving on his way out.

-Now, you weren’t dumb. You knew Namjoon was RM, leader of the Wings, and that you should absolutely be scared of him. He sold drugs, he threatened people, hell, he killed people.

-But he was also Namjoon, the dork who showed up at the times he knew it would be slow (street reps were important), the dimple-cheeked guy who teased you about your love of dramas (before secretly confessing to enjoying a few himself). He was the guy who would help you put returned books away before he left, laugh brightly at your dumb jokes or confused face or ruffle your hair affectionately when you did something cute. He was the guy who made butterflies flutter in your stomach and your heart thump wildly.

-So, against all logic, you couldn’t muster up any fear for him.

-However, you did fear your walk home

-Normally, you went unbothered, but that didn’t change the fact that you were walking through a bad area of town at night. You carried a small switchblade and pepper spray just in case.

-One night, everything had been going normally. You had finished closing up the library, waving goodbye to your coworker as you both set off in different directions.

-For the first half, everything seemed normal enough. You stopped at a small shop on your way, grabbing a few essentials that your brother had asked you to get before continuing on your way.

-A few of the street lights were out ahead of you, but you shrugged, it happened sometimes, and would probably be fixed in a few days’ time. Still, you were more cautious as you walked, conscious of the shadowy alleyways along the street.

-You palmed the small blade in your sweatshirt pocket, tensing as the area around you grew darker. Just a few hundred feet, you reassured yourself. Just a bit more and you’d be back in the light, in safety.

-A few feet from returning to the light, you were passing an alley when the shadows started shifting.

-Before you could react, foreign hands reached out to grab you, pulling you towards them. You screamed as loud as you could, but a hand wrapped around your mouth, another pressing something sharp into your side.

-“Shut up, bitch.” A man hissed into your ear.

-You whimpered as he dragged you backwards, the point of what you assumed was a knife digging further in, a silent order to comply. His hot breath in your ear sent spikes of fear through your body, and you felt tears drag down your face.

-The sudden cock of a gun forced both of you to freeze.

-“Let her go. Right. Fucking. Now.” A familiar voice commanded. Your eyes widened when you looked up and saw Namjoon standing at the alleyway entrance.

-The hands on your body shifted, and for a moment you thought he might let you go, but your heart fell when the hand at your mouth just shifted down, grabbing the knife from his other and bringing it to your throat. Your captor arranged your positioning to where you were acting as his unwilling shield, any shot your savior tried would risk your injury.

-You saw Namjoon’s gaze shift slightly to the area just behind you, and you heard another gun cock. “He said let the girl go, asshole.”

-Slowly, the hands around you released and you stumbled away from him, towards Namjoon who already held an arm out to catch you.

-You buried your head in the chest of the familiar man, one of his arms holding him to you comfortingly.

-“L-look, I didn’t know she was your girl. I-I just wanted a little fun. I’m sorry”

-You gulped at his implications, burying yourself impossibly closer to Namjoon.

-The other guy with a gun growled “It’s not fun if she isn’t willing, you piece of shit.”

-“JK, take care of this guy. I don’t want to see him around here any time soon.” You felt the rumbling of his voice through his chest.

-The arm holding his gun lowered, reaching back to shove the weapon in his waistband. He lead you out of the alleyway and back the way you were going. Faintly, you wondered how he knew, but were still too in shock to think too much about it.

-It wasn’t until you were standing outside a well lit shop that your emotions finally hit you.

-Honestly it’s not pretty.

-We’re talking snot, tears, all of it.

-But he just hugs you to his chest and rubs your back, letting you cry away your fear and horror before you got home

-“It’s going to be okay, you’re safe now. I won’t let that happen again.”

-You realized he was whispering soothing things to you and you just gripped his jacket tighter.

-Finally, after you had cried yourself dry, he leads you into the store, nodding once at the owner, and telling you to get some candy

-He left you to choose, always being careful to stay in your sights, and to keep you in his. He wandered to the drinks, grabbing two bottles of water and, after a moment of hesitation, a chocolate milk.

-The two of you met at the counter, you with a bag of assorted mini chocolates and him with his drinks.

-You started to take out your wallet to pay for all of the items (afterall, he saved you, you kinda owed him a lot) but he beat you to it, throwing down a few bills and telling the owner to keep the change.

-He gathered up your purchases in one hand, grabbing yours with the other.

-Outside, he offers you your choice of water or chocolate milk and gives you your candy.

-You choose chocolate milk, because you haven’t had it in forever and it just seems so comforting

-It is, in fact, very comforting and you smile a little at his thoughtfulness

-As the two of you walk, you don’t do much talking. You’re still pretty rattled up from the alley, but you offer him some of the chocolate from the bag you’ve put in your sweatshirt pocket. He doesn’t accept, and you just shrug.

-You don’t realize that he actually really wants some chocolate, but he refuses to let go of your hand and his other hand has water bottles in it.

-He forgets he’s carrying a backpack and can just put them in there, because wow you’re really pretty and distracting and your hand is so small and delicate and soft and he will absolutely Not be letting it go until he has to

-Eventually, you speak up.

-“Thank you, by the way. For the chocolate and for the… alley. I’d have been in much worse shape if you hadn’t shown up.”

-Your voice is quiet and scratchy from crying, but he catches every word, always so very aware of you.

-He shrugs, as if saving you was a given. “I don’t want to see you hurt. Especially like that, no girl should be treated like that.”

-You squeeze his hand again in thanks.

-You idly chatter to each other, but he seems a little more distracted, scanning the area.

-He glares at several people. Some cross the street with their head ducked, others pass with glares of their own. If they glance at you, Namjoon’s hand tightens around yours and pulls you closer.

-When you get to your apartment building, he only hesitates about walking to your door a moment, encouraged by your hand tugging him along with you.

-Honestly, you’d kind of forgotten his hand was wrapped around yours, only becoming conscious of it when he would squeeze it.

-He doesn’t squeeze it when you start to drag him into your building

-At your door, you look back up at him and send him a shy grin.

-“Thank you, again, for saving me. And for comforting me, and walking me home, and… yeah. You didn’t have to do most of that and I’m really grateful.”

-His eyes are soft and tender as they meet your gaze, nothing like the man who aimed a gun at someone not 45 minutes ago.

-“I’ll always do my best to protect you, Y/N. I re-”

-He was cut off mid word by your door swinging open

-“Y/N! Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?” Your brother’s gaze zeroed in on your red, puffy eyes and the small dribble of blood on your throat caused by the small cut the knife had made. You hadn’t even noticed until now

-Namjoon had. Namjoon was going to help you clean it up when you got back to your apartment if you let him.

-Namjoon, assuming the guy was your boyfriend, dropped your hand quickly and cleared his throat

-You really hated the lack of warmth honestly and had to stop yourself from reaching for it again

-Your brother’s eyes shifted to the large man standing in your doorway, noting his appearance and drawing his own conclusions

-“What the fuck did you do to her, you son of a bitch?”

-Namjoon was ready to knock your “boyfriend” out for insinuating that he’d ever lay a hurtful hand on you but you stepped in between the two guys first

-“What-- No, Jordan, he saved me. Someone attacked me. I’ll tell you the whole story later, but I’m fine now, and that’s mostly thanks to him.”

-Your brother’s jaw clicked shut and stayed tense. His words were clipped and cold, almost as if he didn’t believe you.

-“Well. Then, I suppose I should thank you. (Y/N)’s safety is very important to me.”

-Namjoon’s voice was equally as tight in his response.

-“It was no problem. I’d hate to see her hurt, too. I should head out, though. You guys have a good night.” You glanced at his retreating form curiously. You had seen RM, the gang leader, you had seen the Namjoon from the library, but you’d never seen this version. This one was standoff-ish, and nowhere near the passionate and boyish guy you knew.

-It unsettled you a little.

-Your brother gently gripped your forearm and pulled you into your apartment, shutting and locking the door firmly once you were both inside.

-He met your eyes with a searching gaze, but waited a moment before speaking.

-“You can tell the truth now, did he hurt you?”

-You recoiled in shock. Namjoon? Hurt you? Sure, you knew who he was and what his reputation was, but you felt safer standing next to Namjoon than almost anyone else.

-“No, Jordan, he didn’t hurt me. I know him, he wouldn’t do that.”

-You made to turn away and go to the bathroom. You wanted to shower and wash the last few hours off your body. But your brother wasn’t done.

-“Wha- Know him? (Y/N), do you know who that is? How in the everloving fuck do you know him?” He practically shouted

-You shushed him, conscious of your nosy neighbors and the thin walls separating the apartments.

-You rolled your eyes, though. “Yes, I know who he is. That’s RM, formerly known as Rap Monster, and he’s my friend. He comes into the library a lot during my shift and we talk.” You bit back a soft smile at the thought that he might be back tomorrow.

-Your brother sees this though-- he’s way too good at reading you

-“No, absolutely not. You cannot be friends with him. He’s dangerous and I don’t trust him or his gang members.”

-He crosses his arms and stands straight, as if the extra inch and glower will force you to conform.

-But you weren’t 14, and he wasn’t your father.

-Anger washed over you, and you nearly forgot about your nosey neighbors and the thin walls.

-“Jordan, I am not a child! In fact, I am a fully fledged adult woman who can make choices for herself! Now, I have been getting to know Namj-- RM for a few months now, and I’d like to consider us friends. Not to mention, he and one of his gang members just saved me from a rather fucked up experience, so I’d be pretty damn grateful for him right now. Tell me, though, how exactly would you stop me from being friends with him? I met him at the library, you know, the place I work? Are you going to make me quit my job too?”

-You’d started to say Namjoon, but figured he didn’t want too many people knowing his real name.

-“I know you are not a child! But you’re my baby sister, and I promised to protect you always. I’m grateful he saved you tonight, but maybe you should consider quitting. You only need a few more credits to graduate next spring, maybe you should focus on finishing up and looking for a big internship, you know?”

-You glared at him.

-“Oh yeah, because we can really afford to lose my income.”

-He didn’t have a leg to stand on and he knew it. But he kept going.

-“Ok, so maybe it would be tight for a while, but if it got too bad you could get a new one, maybe closer to campus, just until you could start using your degree.” His voice started edging on desperate, but you just rolled your eyes and turned your back.

-“I’m not quitting my job or avoiding RM, end of story. Now I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. I’ve had a long night and I just want to move on.” You, once again, started for the bathroom.

-Your brother stepped forward and caught your arm again, his touch gentle despite the argument you’d just had, and when you turned his eyes were soft and concerned.

-“What did happen tonight, (Y/N)? Are you okay?”

-You swallowed and nodded. “I’m okay now. A guy grabbed me as I was walking and dragged me into an alley. He had a knife and a hand over my mouth so I couldn’t do much, but RM and one of his guys threatened him and he let me go. RM took care of me and brought me home.” You gave him what you hoped was a reassuring smile. Honestly, you were still pretty rattled by the whole experience.

-His eyes searched your face again, and your expression must have been convincing, because he just nodded and let you go.

-“Get some rest.”

-“Thanks”

-The next morning, your brother was up and gone before you, as usual, but he had prepared breakfast before leaving for work. There was a note left on the counter beside it.

-‘(Y/N), I’m sorry about last night. Have a good day and call me if you need anything.’

-You smiled a little at his apology.

-The day dragged on; you had one class in the morning that ended around 11 and your first afternoon class started at 2, so you used the time between to get a headstart on homework. You usually tried some at the library, but got distracted by Kim Namjoon more times than not.

-Your shift at the library started like any other. You saw some regulars, some people just there on a whim or because they needed a reference. You checked books out occasionally, checked them in when you needed to, but all around, had a quiet shift.

-When Namjoon walked in towards the end of it, though, you were surprised. He’d been there yesterday, and he didn’t usually come one day after another-- even he couldn’t read the books that fast.

-Even more surprising, he didn’t even go look at the books. Instead, he sauntered over to the desks, settling himself next to you. His grin showed easy confidence, but his eyes were guarded in a way you hadn’t seen in months.

-“You doing alright?” He asked

-You shrugged. You’d kept your mind preoccupied enough today, but you’d be lying if you said it hadn’t affected you.

-When a classmate had run up to catch you after the lecture to get last classes notes, you’d noticeably jumped, your heart rate increasing far more than if it had been a normal scare

-You kept checking over your shoulder as you walked to class, despite knowing how safe your campus was and the fact that it was broad daylight

-You really weren’t looking forward to the walk home tonight

-“I’m still spooked, but I think that’s a little justifiable given the circumstances.”

-He bit his lip, looking like he was trying to figure out whether to ask something. Something must have won, because he asked

-“Are you walking home alone again? I mean-- is your boyfriend coming to get you or are you going by yourself?”

-You cocked your head. Boyfriend? “What boyfriend? Is someone telling people that he’s my boyfriend?”

-Now it was his turn to look confused.

-“The guy last night at your apartment? Jordan or whatever, wasn’t he your boyfriend?”

-You stared at him for a second, trying to gauge whether he’s joking or not. “Jordan? You mean my brother?”

-A look of shocked understanding took over his face briefly. “Your brother, oh. Okay. Cool, cool. That’s cool.” He had never been this awkward, and you had to bite back a smile.

-But when a bright smile broke through his guarded eyes, you let your own loose.

-Namjoon stayed for the rest of your shift, helping you shut everything down and walking out with you.

-You expected him to wave and head off on his own after you locked up, but he stood for a second.

-“You never answered my question about whether you were walking home alone earlier.”

-You’d thought about calling your brother, really, you had, but every time you had the opportunity to do so, Namjoon did or said something that distracted you

-He didn’t know he was doing it, of course. How could he know you were thinking of calling your brother to bring you home after your shift?

-“Oh- um, well no. I don’t. I can call my brother, though, and he’ll come get me.”

-“But you’d still have to wait for him to come get you, right?”

-You shrugged, already opening your phone. “Yeah, but it’s fine. I’ll just wait here or at the shop down the block.”

-“I mean, I could just take you home.” He shrugged casually

-This man is absolutely not casual in his head, he is freaking the fuck out

-He has his bike, which he doesn’t bring to the library most of the time

-Mostly because that’s kinda conspicuous

-But also because he’s been trying to work up the nerve to ask to walk you home for a while

-But today he figured you might not want to walk

-You glanced up at him. “I don’t want to inconvenience you. It’s a long walk.”

-He shot you an easy grin, “I wasn’t proposing walking. I have my bike.” He gestured to the parking lot where a motorcycle sat

-Your resolve is already pretty low. The walk is long, and you’d have to wait for your brother and then do the walk yourself, and you’d honestly rather just get back home and go to bed

-So you nod and follow him to the barely lit lot

-He hands you the helmet hanging from the bars, and when you shoot him a questioning look, he shrugs

-“I’d rather I get hurt than you, and I don’t have another helmet.”

-He’s definitely buying one for you like tomorrow

-You put on the helmet and slip onto the seat behind him, loosely wrapping your arms around him

-He smiles a little at the feeling of your slim arms around his waist and kicks on the bike.

-Now, you’d been on motorcycles before, and you knew what it sounded and felt like. But that didn’t stop you from jumping a little and tightening your grip around him

-You feel the rumble of his chuckle as you cling to his back, only really relaxing once you had gotten on the streets.

-Truth be told, the way home wasn’t that long when you drove it.

-The ride came to an end far too soon. He walked you to your door again, and outside your apartment, you hesitated.

-You had been talking all throughout the end of your shift, but you didn’t want it to stop. You wanted to keep talking, about the books he reads, about his life, about your life, about everything. You were incredibly interested in the enigma standing before you and just wanted to figure him out.

-“Do you want to come in tonight?” You offered, very hopeful.

-He glanced at the door with an odd look. Almost as if he wanted to just as much as you did, but was nervous or scared.

-Which is odd. Because he doesn’t get scared.

-Right?

-RM, leader of the most influential gang in the city, hardly rivalled and with numbers unknown, didn’t get scared of going into a girl’s apartment right?

-He didn’t get scared of overprotective brothers, or of not being enough for them

-Not at all

-Apparently, he does.

-Because he shakes his head, and says “I don’t think your brother would appreciate it.”

-He shoots you a smile, and heads back down the hall.

-You slip into your apartment and frown at your brother, who’d obviously been listening.

-“What did I tell you about him, y/n?”

-You glare and shake your head at him

-“And what did I tell you? He’s a good guy, he was just bringing me home.”

-You brush past him and towards your room. He was always like this with guys, which made sense, but didn’t mean you had to appreciate it.

-You showered and ate dinner, but otherwise stayed in your room doing homework. Your classload the next day was light, so you could sleep in

-When you woke up the next day, Jordan was already gone, but today he hadn’t made breakfast or left you a note.

-‘Message received, dickwad.’ You thought, moving to grab a cup of coffee.

-Both your classes were after lunch, so you studied all morning, until you got a text from a friend in your art history course who wanted to meet up and study, since he’d heard you had a quiz that day.

-You agreed, and got ready, getting to a coffee shop near campus by 11:45, 15 minutes earlier than you had agreed, but you didn’t care much.

-Soonyoung got there early too, and you both quizzed each other on paintings and their years and artists. The quizzes weren’t exactly hard, they were just a lot of memorization

-You went your separate ways for your first classes, yours a basic bio course that you’d been putting off, and his some advanced math class for his major.

-Both classes passed as normal, and you felt you did well on the quiz, which was largely due to the studying and warning Soonyoung had given you

-You both walked out together, smiling and talking, and he offered to go with you to your job

-He needed some reference material for the paper you’d just been assigned

-And you were both from the same area

-You’d just met at the campus cafe earlier so you could study longer

-He also has a big ole crush on you

-Has for like a year

-Mans literally took the class to get close to you

-You have 0 idea and just think he’s a really good friend

-It’s kinda because you’re very focussed on this really nice gang leader who reads art history and philosophy books paired with scientific periodicals and articles.

-Agreeing, you both head to the bus stop, chatting just as easily all the way to the library

-That is, until you get there and see a familiar figure walking from the parking lot, a motorcycle parked among the few cars

-You notice that there are two helmets now

-And one of them is your favorite color

-Something you’d told him months ago when you were playing a silly 20 questions game to pass the last hour of your shift

-And he’d obviously remembered, or just gotten lucky and guessed

-The smile automatically lands on your face

-He very rarely comes at the beginning of your shift, he’s a very busy man, afterall.

-“Oh shit, y/n, RM’s here.”

-You haven’t stopped watching the tall man, and his gaze hits yours, and he waves, a smile starting to grow before it lands on your companion.

-He tries not to assume again, because last time he’d assumed your brother was your boyfriend

-“Yeah, he’s here pretty often.” You look over at Soonyoung in time to miss RM’s glare at the boy.

-Soonyoung, who hasn’t missed the glare, glances at you. “I’ll stay until he leaves.”

-He’s determined, and you can see it, and before you can tell him that you’d literally never been safer than when Namjoon was around, you’re walking in the doors and you have to go clock in.

-Soonyoung goes to look for his references, very obviously keeping an eye on RM

-Unfortunately for him, the references he needs are a few aisles away from him, so he can’t watch him forever, and, about 30 minutes later, he’s alarmed to see RM leaning against your desk, laughing and grinning

-You’d dissuaded his fear before he’d even voiced it this time

-“Soonyoungs’s not my boyfriend either, you know.” You’d said as he’d approached with the same guarded look. “He’s just a friend who needed a few references for a paper our professor assigned”

-He’d brightened again, and decided to try and play nice

-Even if the guy is a rival

-Soonyoung thinks he’s making inappropriate advances because you look a little scandalized, but he can’t tell that you’re also laughing at the smiling guy in front of you

-Your friend slides in, all cool confidence, doing everything he can to edge between Namjoon and your counter.

-“Hey, man, what are you doing here?”

-You watch as the smile slides quickly from his face and is replaced by the expression he wore when he’d seen your brother-- expressionless, mildly intimidating, cold.

-“I’m getting a book and talking to y/n. What are you doing here, Hoshi?”

-One glance over Soonyoung’s shoulder told Namjoon that you had no idea about your friend’s gang affiliation.

-Soonyoung, who didn’t want you to find out this way, but was determined to protect you, regardless, stood his ground, “Y/N and I are friends and I came with her.”

-He doesn’t want RM to know where you go to school, that could open up a whole world of trouble.

-RM looks Hoshi up and down, before cracking a smile. “Ok. I guess I’ll just go look at my books over here.”

-He doesn’t want to start a fight in the library, but oh boy does he want to start a fight with this guy

-So he’s making it very clear that he’s not intimidated

-He doesn’t expect Soonyoung’s next words

-Neither do you, honestly.

-“I think I’ll join you.”

-This man is trying not to scare you, but he’s gotta get the point across to the Wings boss that you are Off Limits and Protected™

-You watch, astounded, as your two friends go off together

-You still haven’t really put the connection together that Soonyoung is in a gang

-Why would you, he doesn’t necessarily look like a gang member.

-He’s pretty delicate looking, and he doesn’t have a lot of piercings or tattoos like Namjoon, and he’s never done anything or given you any sign that he might be affiliated

-You go back to your work though, occasionally glancing at the guys

-Namjoon is facing you and catches your eye to send grins

-Otherwise they glare at each other over their books

-You’re getting more and more confused

-What had happened?

-They both stay to the end of your shift-- neither leaving before the other

-So they both end up helping you close up

-Soonyoung fails to notice how RM knows what to do and has obviously done it before

-They both wait for you to lock up, staring at each other and daring the other to leave.

-When you turn around, their gazes don’t move. “Ok, I think I’ll leave you two to get a room…”

-It’s mostly a joke, but you still brush past them

-It’s a joke because you’re not ready to walk home alone yet

-And you were really hoping the second helmet meant that Namjoon was going to take you home again

-And you got paid that day so you were kinda hoping you could pay him back with a quick dinner

-The joke snaps them out of it and Namjoon reaches out to (gently) catch your arm

-But Soonyoung doesn’t like that

-“Get your fucking hands off her!” 

 -He shoves Namjoon and steps between the two of you 

 -But now RM is mad 

 -This is the second guy who assumed he’d ever hurt you 

 -And that’s pretty offensive given that he’d literally let you run a bus over him -When i say the guy is whipped 

 -The first was your brother, which he excused. Brothers are allowed to be protective 

 -But this guy is another gang member and has tried to stake a claim on you that he doesn’t have any right to 

 -Back off, Hoshi, you’re going to scare Y/N.” 

 -Namjoon keeps his voice level because he really doesn’t want to scare you, especially given the events of the other night 

 -A glance at you would reveal that you’re really not scared, you’re just confused 

-“Soonyoung-” 

 -You don’t get to finish your sentence because the fucker interrupts you 

 -Now you’re kinda mad 

 -“I’m just trying to keep her safe. She didn’t appreciate your flirting earlier, so just catch the fucking hint, asshole.” 

 -He turns and grabs your arm this time. “Y/N, let me walk you home.” You just look at him. This man just made a lot of presumptions about your life without talking to you and you don’t really appreciate it. 

 -“Actually, Soonyoung, RM is my friend, and I don’t like what you’re implying about him.” 

 -You’re kinda glaring 

 -Namjoon thinks you might be referring to the part where Soonyoung said he was flirting 

 -He was definitely flirting 

 -He’s a had a huge crush on you for a while 

 -He’s still angry at Hoshi but now he feels a bit like a kicked puppy too 

-Oh well 

 -More emotion to take out on Hoshi 

 -But then you’re really glaring when Soonyoung pulls you closer 

 -“Y/N, that guy isn’t the kind to defend. You don’t know him, not really. 

 -Let’s go, we can talk more on our way to your apartment. 

 -He’s never been to your apartment 

 -And you don’t necessarily think he’d do anything 

 -But you kinda get a weird feeling about him going there. 

 -You wiggle out of his grasp and step towards Namjoon 

 -“No, Soonyoung, it’s fine, you go on.” 

 -Soonyoung is very determined not to leave you with RM 

 -“Y/N, c’mon, let’s just go.” 

 -He reaches for you again 

 -“I’m pretty sure the girl said no, Soonyoung. Go on home, and tell the other Diamonds that she’s officially under Wings protection.” 

 -Namjoon’s voice is pretty deep, and he puts his hand on your shoulder 

 -Which means he feels you flinch when you hear about the Diamonds 

 -The whole interaction makes more sense 

 -And you know why Namjoon called him Hoshi earlier 

 -But damn are you pissed that he didn’t tell you 

 -You step closer to Namjoon, bumping into his chest, when Soonyoung steps closer to you again, his face very apologetic and obviously trying to make amends. 

 -You’re not afraid of him, he can’t hurt you when literally the scariest gang leader is standing right there and just blatantly said you’re under his protection  

-But you definitely don’t want him to touch you right now 

 -He looks a little hurt but backs off. 

 -You put your hand on Namjoon’s and turn your head up to look at his face 

-“Can you give me another ride home?” 

 -The look he returns to you fills your heart. It’s so tender, damnit. 

 -“Of course. Do you want to go wait by my bike?” 

 -You nod and start to walk toward the parking lot. 

 -That is, until Soonyoung yells very angrily 

 -“Oh! I see! You’re RM’s whore, that’s how you got Wings protection-” 

 -The fool doesn’t even finish the sentence before Namjoon is shooting his fist out to meet Soonyoung’s jaw 

 -The fight breaks out quickly, and you stand shocked for a second 

 -Obviously you had seen fights before 

 -But Namjoon, no, RM, is absolutely wailing on Soonyoung, who looks like he’s reaching for somethi- 

 -A gun 

 -He’s reaching for a gun 

 -And you look up at the security cameras 

 -And you really don’t want the police asking you questions 

 -Especially because you must seem very familiar with two guys who have gang affiliations in the footage 

 -You also don’t want Namjoon to get hurt 

 -Like you really don’t -So you start screaming at them 

 -“Stop! Jesus fuck, both of you, just stop!” You try to move in to pull one off the other, but a poorly aimed limb hits you instead (you’re pretty sure it was Soonyoungs, but you can’t be certain). “RM! Soonyoung! Stop!”

 -When you spot the gun, your screaming becomes a little more frantic. 

 -When you said you wanted to return the favor, you didn’t mean patching him up after a fight 

-“RM! RM! Stop! Soonyoung! Stop!” 

 -Neither seem to hear you, and you can’t get in to pull one of them off the other, so you try something else. 

 -Honestly, it’s a longshot 

 -And you’re hoping you don’t hurt either of them 

 -Because you’ve got some heavy books in there that could give them a concussion 

 -But you just need to shock them enough to get them to stop 

 -You throw your bookbag at them 

 -It hits both, thankfully, so they both get distracted 

 -They’re still locked in the same positions, but now they’re both staring at you, their chests heaving 

 -Your chest is as well, but that’s out of panic more than exertion 

 -“Both of you, stop it. I don’t need the cops at my door asking me questions because I openly interact with you and you kill one another. Nope, no thank you.” You take a deep breath because now that shit seems a little de-escalated, your heart needs to calm the fuck down. “Soonyoung, go the fuck home, and don’t ever talk to me again. Return your books during someone else’s shift, don’t talk to me during class, just, don’t ever fucking talk to me again. I’m no one’s whore.” You glare at him with every ounce of anger in your body 

 -Which, to be fair, is a whole lot 

 -He lied to you, didn’t listen to you, didn’t respect your boundaries or when you told him no, and then called you a whore. 

 -“Y/N, look I-“ 

 -RM, who has let him go and moved to stand in front of you again, opens his mouth to say something but you beat him to it 

 -“I said go, Hoshi.” 

 -He tosses one more glare RM’s way before turning around. He walks off and for a second neither you or Namjoon move. 

 -Then you let out a sigh of relief when his form disappears around a corner -Namjoon immediately turns to you, hesitantly reaching out a hand to cradle your face and check if you’re okay 

 -“I’m fine.” He still looks at you, very concerned. “Really, I’m fine. I’m not the one who just got into a fist fight.” 

 -You start scanning your eyes over his face. You couldn’t see much in the low light, but you caught a cut by his eye, where the skin was darkening already. 

 -Otherwise he looked fine

 -You couldn’t see the rest of him though 

 -And honestly, if you saw the rest of him… 

 -You probably wouldn’t be looking for injuries 

 -Let’s be honest 

 -“Joon, your eye…” 

 -You reach your hand up to brush your fingers over the cut, and you don’t even realize that you’ve just called him Joon 

 -But damn, he did. He doesn’t realize it but he’s holding his breath, and he’s staring at you with wide eyes and oh wow he might be in love is this what love feels like? It has to be because he can’t be this excited about a nickname unless it’s from someone he loves 

 -A couple of other people call him Joon

-It’s not that complicated of a nickname 

 -But he doesn’t get this feeling when they call him Joon 

 -You notice that he’s staring at you after a second of him not saying anything and you give him a more concerned look “Namjoon are you okay?” 

 -He starts breathing again, but kinda only because little black dots start appearing in his vision and he doesn’t want to scare you 

 -“I-I’m fine, y/n. Um, what did you just call me?” 

 -You get shy 

 -You really hadn’t realized you said it, but Namjoon just seems so formal sometimes and you wanted to give him a nickname 

-Also you’ve been calling him Joon in your head for a while 

 -But only sometimes, not all the time 

 -Only when you were thinking about how cute his dimple smile is 

 -Or when you thought about that one time he hugged you -It was the day after your birthday a few months ago 

 -He’d found out because he’d come in on your birthday (he didn’t even want a book, he literally just wanted to see you) 

 -But you had asked your coworker to cover so you could spend the day with some friends and brother 

 -The official excuse was that you had a doctor’s appointment and it was the only time they could fit you in for a few months 

 -He’d been pretty concerned (and very disappointed) so he’d asked your coworker 

 -She worked the shift with you sometimes and knew the two of you got on well 

-So she just shrugged and said it was your birthday 

 -She figured he wouldn’t snitch on you 

 -Also she really wants you two to get together

-Because she can see how he looks at you 

 -It’s literally like you hung the moon 

 -This man goes out and panic buys chocolate and a little plushie that he thinks is really cute and that you’ll love 

 -You do. You love both 

 -When he gives it to you, you’re really shocked, though 

 -Because you didn’t know that he knew when your birthday was 

 -And you didn’t expect him to care that much 

 -You should have realized then that he was coming into the library just to see you sometimes 

 -You’re really shocked, though, and you kinda run into his chest and give him a hug 

 -And he just wraps his arms around you 

 -And it’s the nicest hug you’ve had in a while 

 -Because he’s so much bigger than you 

 -And his arms are so warm and gentle and strong and safe 

 -Anyway, so you weren’t really calling him Joon that often, right? Just whenever you thought about him... 

 -You step away from him and drop your hand, wrapping your arms around yourself 

 -“I called you Joon…” 

 -You’re silent for about .5 seconds before you start babbling 

 -“I’m sorry, it just kinda slipped out, but your name seemed so formal, especially since you just defended me again. I won’t call you Joon again if you don’t want me to, it could just be a one time thing if that’s what you want but I just- I- I’m sorry.” You finish lamely and look down, blush tinting your cheek 

 -He cradles your face tenderly, guiding your eyes back up to his. “Please call me Joon again, Y/N. There is almost nothing I’d like you to call me more than Joon. In fact, please forget you have ever heard any other name for me.” 

 -He gives you that soft grin you’ve only ever seen when he looks at you, and it’s your turn to freeze 

 -His eyes are sparkling with affection and mirth 

 -And his hand against your cheek is warm 

 -And are you crazy or is he moving closer? 

 -He’s absolutely moving closer 

 -Oh my god oh my god oh my god 

 -His lips are soft, and honestly, you’d hardly call it a kiss, more like a barely-there brush of lips 

 -There aren’t any of the fireworks or sparks you read about in all those romance novels

-But it raises goosebumps all over your body 

 -He pulled back just a little to catch your reaction, his eyes holding a little bit of anxiety about being rejected 

 -You blink up at him owlishly before raising yourself up to meet his lips with yours again 

 -You keep it soft, trying to transmit your feelings through the kiss 

 -You break away a moment later, smiling softly “Do you maybe want to go get some coffee or dinner or something? My treat.” You ask softly, aware of the bare amount of space between you 

 -He grins, straightening and taking your hand to walk towards his motorcycle 

-“There’s nothing I’d like more in this moment, Y/N.”

[talltree-writes]

Bloody Knuckles

David’s parents had always assured him his soulmate was a working girl.

They’d been noticing the bruises since he was little, showing up on places that didn’t quite make sense with the possible ways he could have hurt himself.

As he got older, he started to notice ones that worried him. Marks that seemed far to deliberate and far too well hidden to be accidental.

When he was thirteen, he was so covered in bruises and cuts that he begged to stay home from school every day for a month. Every time one healed, a new one took its place. When they finally started to heal, he found scars in their place.

They didn’t hurt, soulmate marks never did, but they were always there.

He didn’t believe his parents’ assurances that his soulmate was a working girl, not with marks like that. And not with the way he felt about girls. Or rather, the way he felt about boys. Not that they knew that, nor was he sure if they ever would.

Keep reading

[talltree-writes]

Requests!

Howdy, I sort of forgot about this blog immediately after creating it (which is why I only have one of my works up. oops), but I'm back and I realized that maybe people might like to know what I write for (I'm going to start posting my own work soon, I just have to get some stuff polished up and ready for the world to see)

So, here is a list of things that I will write! - Newsies: the Musical - Percy Jackson [PJO and HOO] - Irondad and Spiderson - Good Omens - BTS

I am open to any musical theatre requests, but since it's such a broad range of media, I can't guarantee I have the knowledge to fulfill the request.

Just send me an ask or a message!

[talltree-writes]

~Coming Soon~

In Shining Armor

Prince Yoongi x Female Knight Reader

Royal AU

“What’s your name?”

“Sir L/N, Your Highness.”

“You can call me Yoongi. I hate that ‘Your Highness’ shit.”

“You’re the crown prince. I must call you your title”

“What’s your first name, Sir L/N?”

“Y/N.”

“How do you like your post, Y/N?”

“Your Highness, with all do respect, I worked very hard to earn that title as not many women become knights. I would prefer it if you would address me as such.”

Nobody had ever spoken to Yoongi like that before, and while he should be offended and threaten to have her title revoked or sent away, he looks down at the cookie in his hand and smiles to himself. She’s feisty. He likes that.

[talltree-writes]

Tooth and Claw // M. Y. G.

Hybrid Yoongi x Fem. Reader

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Violence, blood, basically all the injuries that come with fighting and shit, death (but not a main character so no worries), I guess you could call it animal abuse since he’s part animal, reader almost gets assaulted

Summary: Predatory animal hybrids are rare and illegal in your society, but that doesn’t stop some people from rearranging the DNA of orphans and then selling them on the black market. Min Yoongi was one of those orphans who was “adopted” as a baby and turned into the monster he believes himself to be now. Because of his panther DNA, he is an incredible fighter and is feared in the underground fighting rinks his owner forces him to participate in. He has given up on living a normal, comfortable life free of violence and constant running from authorities that want to get rid of his very existence. That is until Yoongi meets you.

Author’s Note: I’m supposed to be finishing the first chapter of my Prince Au but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I had this idea and had to get it out. It’s barely edited and mostly written at some ungodly hours of the morning, but I loved the idea so I ran with it. Its on the long side so grab a snack! Um also, the ending is a little up in the air so if you want a part 2 let me know :) Enjoy! xx Linnie

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[talltree-writes]

New Recruit

Summary: Percy Jackson is just trying to return to normal life after the War, but when mortals start noticing things the Mist is supposed to hide, how will he keep his identity hidden? Especially with Peter Parker getting suspicious of him. 

Genre: Mild angst, but it’s mostly just Percy helplessly trying to keep his identity secret

Pairing: None

Warnings: Panic Attack, language, fighting, 

Word Count: 5.7k

Author’s Note: This is not canon compliant for anything post- Infinity War. I started (and finished lmao) writing this before Endgame or FFH came out. It’s also not compliant with anything post- Blood of Olympus. Also very sorry about the lack of warnings before, I’m still figuring out Tumblr formatting/etiquette. 

~~~~

Percy Jackson stood in the boys' bathroom at school when he majorly fucked up. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have been Iris Messaging Chiron in there, but it was the one no one ever used and it was during class anyway, so he figured it was perfectly fine. Until it wasn't.

Chiron listened attentively as Percy spoke. "Yeah, so I was thinking that this weekend I could teach some of the younger kids-"

"What the-?" Percy heard a voice behind him and quickly swiped through the mist and whirled around, already drawing his pen out of his pocket. Standing there, jaw practically on the floor, was Peter Parker, one of the Honors students at Percy's school. Percy put Riptide away.

Percy gaped for a second. What was he supposed to tell him? Did he play it off like there was nothing there, or did he fess up? He'd met Peter before, knew he wouldn't tell a soul if he was asked not to. But there was still the danger of a mortal knowing about Percy's world.

Before Percy could say anything, though, Peter shook his head and turned toward the door. It was then, when the light his face at a new angle, that Percy realized that Peter Parker had been crying.

He didn't hesitate. Whether he had seen something or not, there was something going on with this kid, and he was going to do his best to help him. He'd seen too many half-bloods look like this after the wars. "Wait!" He called out. "Are you okay?"

Peter stopped and hesitated, as if he wasn't sure what to tell Percy. Then, stiffly, like his body was acting against his will, he turned around as a fresh set of tears fell from his eyes. Percy inched closer and noticed the boy's erratic breathing and shaking body. A panic attack. Percy could definitely help with that.

Peter looked like he was going to run away, but his feet seemed uncooperative. "Hey, shh, it's okay." Percy said, keeping his voice calm in an attempt to calm the panicking boy. "Let's try some breathing exercises. Why don't you try to match my breathing?" Percy suggested softly. He breathed in deep and exhaled slowly, watching Peter try to do the same. "Is it okay if I put my hand on your shoulder?" He asked. He knew from personal experience that it was better to ask first.

Peter nodded, and Percy placed a hand on his shoulder and sat with him against the wall. As soon as they sat down, Percy slid his hand across the boy's back so that his arm was around him.

They continued the breathing exercises until Peter's breath slowed down. However, it wasn't until Percy felt him pull away that he removed his arm and spoke again. "Do you want to talk about it? I know that it sometimes helps." He offered. There was a moment of silence and Percy thought he had said something stupid. Who was he to barge into this guy's life and demand to know what caused a panic attack like that? But after another shaky breath, Peter started talking.

"Do you remember last May when the aliens invaded again?" Percy didn't know there had been a first time, but then again, Peter didn't know that he had been kidnapped by a goddess with a temporary split-personality disorder, so he kept quiet. "Something happened that I really can't talk about, but since then I've had pretty back attacks because of it."

Percy couldn't help be a little suspicious. Could he not talk about it because of how scarring it was? Or had he been told not to? Was he keeping some sort of secret? He dropped it though. No use stressing him out when he had finally calmed down. He'd just have to figure that out later.

After a few more seconds, Peter seemed to come to his senses. Looking uncomfortable, he spoke again. "Thanks for helping me, uh, Percy? That's your name right?" He asked, looking up at Percy with large, brown eyes. Percy nodded. "Oh thank God, that would have been really awkward it it wasn't. It was really nice of you to help me, though, especially since you're a senior, and I'm only a sophomore, and, honestly, I get the impression that most of you wouldn't have taken the time to do that for someone, especially an underclassman. You're really good at it though. Why is that, by the way? Do you have panic attacks yourself? It's cool if you do, I mean, not cool, but it's alright. I get it, obviously. But what were you doing when I walked in? What was that-"

Percy cut him off before he could ramble anymore. "Don't mention it, dude. I get it, and it sucks. I hope the rest of your day goes better than it has so far, but I need to get to practice." He couldn't let Peter get too far into his questions, and he was definitely remembering the Iris Message from earlier.

He quickly got up, making sure not to displace the younger student too much. Grabbing his bag, he pushed open the door and made his way into the hall. As he did so, the final bell rang, and he slipped into crowd, successfully hiding from the head poking out of the boys' bathroom. He thought.

Coming up beside his mortal friend, Charlie, at their neighboring lockers, Percy busied himself with grabbing the books he needed for homework and his gym bag. He heard the locker beside him slam shut while he was in the middle of shoving his Pre-Cal textbook in his bag and he anticipated the questions he was bound to have to answer. He may or may not have asked to use the bathroom 15 minutes before his Marine Biology class was over without coming back.

"So what was that?" Percy glanced over and saw Charlie's left eyebrow raised as he stood with his arms crossed.

Percy tried to play innocent. "What was what?"

Rolling his eyes, Charlie replied. "C'mon, man, are you okay? You were gone for so long that Mrs. Pruta was worried you had gotten sick or something."

Percy had done well at hiding the details about his life. It was for the best, the fewer people who knew about his world, the better. "Nope, not sick. I just helped out an underclassman and it took a little longer than I meant to. I'll talk to her on Monday. In the meantime, did you possible get the homework for me?" He shot his friend a hopeful grin as grabbed his bag.

"One of these days, I'm just going to let you suffer." Percy's face morphed into a pout. Charlie rolled his eyes again. "Read 13.4 and do the questions at the end by Monday morning. Turn it in online."

"You're too good to me." Percy grinned again. Charlie scoffed his affirmation.

They started walking toward the locker room. In the corner of his eye, Percy saw Peter glance his way, but head in the opposite direction toward the front doors. "So, what are you doing this weekend? Jacob, Ren, and I were thinking of doing something, and you should come. It feels like forever since we've all done something." Percy grimaced internally. Since he had come back, he'd spent as much time with his mom or at camp as possible, which left little time to hang out with his friends from school.

"Sorry, Charlie, I'm going back to camp for the weekend. They still need some help putting things back together." Which was true. They were still trying to get everything picked up after the war. Since it was the school year, most of the campers had gone home, plus the two wars had depleted their numbers anyway.

Charlie pushed open the door. "They ever tell you what happened?"

Remembering what Peter had said, Percy replied, "Uh, yeah, it was that alien attack from last year. It really did a number on the camp."

"That makes sense. I mean, I thought it only affected the city, but I guess any news about the country would be drowned out by everything else. Wonder why they wouldn't tell you that in the first place, though."

Percy shrugged. "I have no idea." After that, Charlie didn't have a chance to bring it up again. His attention was whisked away by the other runners as they started talking about something or another. Percy didn't really care. He grabbed his clothes and, as discreetly as possible, sneaked into one of the stalls to change. There would be too many questions if anyone saw his scars, and Percy really didn't want to relive them anyway.

He walked back in to the slam of locker doors and the laughter of his teammates. At his locker, he threw his other clothes in before joining the wave of boys headed toward the track to start warming up.

As Coach put them through drills, Percy allowed each footstep to help him forget the sophomore who saw his Iris Message.

Peter knew there was something up with Percy. For one, he had pointedly avoided nearly all of Peter's questions, secondly, whatever he had been doing in the bathroom when he walked in was definitely not normal. Besides that, Peter really didn't have any solid evidence that Percy was... abnormal, except for his intuition that said Percy had dangerous potential.

When Percy left the bathroom, Peter kept the tall, dark head in sight even as he kept his distance. This wasn't the first time Peter had to follow someone suspicious. He hid behind a set of lockers and tried to listen in while Percy was talking to his friend, but there was too much noise around him. When he started heading toward the locker room, Peter headed to the front steps with the kids who waited for their parents to pick them up and texted Mr. Stark.

To: Mr. Stark From: Spidey gonna be late today. could you look up everything you can on percy jackson? he seems okay, but theres something weird about him

To: Spidey From: Mr. Stark Yah ill let u kno wat i find

To: Spidey From: Mr. Stark b careful

Peter smiled at the last message. The two had developed something of a friendship since the Vulture situation, and Peter was even starting to look to Tony as something of a father figure, even though he would never admit it.

He waited in front of the school for a full three hours while the team practiced. Eventually, he moved to a nearby alley to change into his suit and wait on the roof for Percy. Finally, the entire track team filed out of the doors and started heading home, and Peter quickly caught sight of him.

As Peter trailed Percy, he got a call from Mr. Stark. "Hey, Mr. Stark! Got any news for me?"

"Yeah, kid." Mr. Stark responded, "I did what you asked and pulled up everything I could on this Percy Jackson guy and he's pretty interesting. First of all, his name is Perseus. Like, who even names their kid that anymore? Second of all, there is no record of a father. Like, none. He's not listed on the kid's birth certificate, there are no pictures of his oddly hot mom with a man around the right time. There's just... nothing. Oh, and he's been kicked out of so many schools it's not even funny. He even had a near miss at Goode when he caused some sort of explosion a couple of years ago. Not to mention, his ex-step-dad has been missing for six years and he's been the feature of a manhunt. He also went missing last year for a long time but was spotted in Europe a few times Kid, I think he's bad news. Keep an eye on him, he could be a threat."

From where he was perched on the edge of a building, Peter felt his Spidey-sense go off as a woman approached Percy. From his angle, he couldn't see what the older teen's facial expression, but his whole body tensed. Suddenly the woman launched herself at Percy, skin melting away to reveal a donkey leg and a metal leg. Her hair turned to flame and her already pale skin grew even paler. She honestly looked like a bad villain.

"Hang on, Mr. Stark. There's something happening with Percy. Someone or something just attacked him. I'm going to see if I can-" Just as Peter reached his arm out to shoot a web, Percy pulled a large bronze sword from seemingly nowhere. The two below began to fight in the middle of the city sidewalk while a crowd formed around them.

Peter's vision was doing crazy things. Sometimes it seemed like the woman was a normal lady, and sometimes she was a b-movie villain. "Peter? Pete? C'mon, kid, are you alright?" Mr. Stark's voice overcame the confusion in Peter's mind.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just a little confused. I'll call you back when I figure out what's going on."

Mr. Stark grunted his agreement. "Stay safe, kid." Click. The call ended and Peter turned his full attention to the duo below him. He crawled closer, clinging to a nearby building, until he could catch some of what they were saying.

Well, hissing, in the case of the woman. "I will have your blood, Perseus!"

Percy was fending her off with some effort, and through gritted teeth, said "Fat chance, Kelly! Braccas meas vescimini!" Peter had barely passed Latin, but he knew enough to know Percy had said something about pants.

Peter watched as Percy feinted right with his sword, and 'Kelly' fell for it, going to guard her left side. Meanwhile, Percy struck her right side and sliced clean through her abdomen. He watched in horror as the woman, instead of falling into two halves, she disintegrated into a golden dust that blew away in the wind.

Breathing heavy, Percy was finally able to glance around at his audience. "Shit." He muttered, bracing himself for the attacks. Instead, he was met with loud speculation.

"What was that thing?"

"Thank God he stopped it!"

"Who is he?"

"Do you think he's a new Avenger?"

"Maybe that's who Spiderman is!"

"Hey, kid, are you Spiderman?"

"No, you dumbass! Spiderman is up there!" The crowd turned to face Peter, and Percy took the opportunity to slip out and run for it. Spiderman settled the crowd as best he could before taking off after him. Maybe Percy wasn't a threat, but he certainly knew about one. Peter needed to call Mr. Stark back.

"Hey Karen?"

"Yes?" The A.I. replied.

"Call Mr. Stark back." There was a ringing in his suit and then-

"What did you find out, kid?"

As he ran across rooftops, Peter suddenly remembered that Percy was the fastest long distance runner on the team. "Only that Percy can fight and he knows about something that we don't. What do you want me to do?"

There was a moment of silence as Mr. Stark thought before he answered. "I'm looking at the footage from your suit, and I see what you mean. Bring him in. We need to talk to him, figure out what he knows, and maybe recruit him. I'll send Happy to your location to pick you two up. Oh, and I don't think I need to tell you this, but until we've made a decision about him, keep your mask on. We don't need him knowing about your identity if he's not trustworthy, especially since he goes to school with you." Another pause. "Good work, kid." He finished with a grunt.

The two hung up as Peter watched Percy check over his shoulder and slow down. As he did so, Peter slid down upside down on a web behind him. When he turned back around, Peter was right there, "Hi!" The older teen jumped back a foot.

"What the- where did you come from?" He exclaimed.

"The rooftops. Y'know, you sure were easy to sneak up on." Peter responded in an even tone. "Oh yeah, and after whatever that was that just happened, I'm going to need you to come with me. I have some friends that want to talk to you."

Percy immediately became defensive, hand edging towards his pocket, as if to pull his sword back out. "What kind of friends?" He asked, suspiciously.

"Woah, man, calm down. I'ts just some guys like you and me. They've never seen you before and they want to make sure you're on our side. Which, I mean, based on that fight, I'm pretty sure you are. But y'know, they want to check and blah, blah, blah." Peter shrugged, still upside down.

Obviously caught off guard, the look on his face told Peter that something was terribly wrong. "You saw that?"

Peter answered slowly, trying not to further panic the already nervous-looking Percy. "Yeah, everyone saw it. Didn't you hear what they were saying? They wanted to know if you were me or a new Avenger or something."

All the blood seemed to rush from Percy's face. He started muttering things; he spoke in such a low voice that Peter only caught some of it, even with his enhanced senses. "Shouldn't happen... the Mist.... something's wrong... gotta call Annabeth... have to figure out...' None of it made much sense to Peter who sighed and interrupted him.

"Listen, pal, we've got places to be. Superheroes don't like to be kept waiting."

"Superheroes?"

Peter continued to assure him. "Yeah, you know, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, those guys! They just want to talk to you and figure out what you're about."

Understanding crossed Percy's face. "Oh, those guys who got into that massive fight in Berlin a few months ago. Are you sure they're superheroes? They seemed to do more bad than good..."

"Yes I'm sure. They also happened to save New York a few times. And, y'know, the world."

Percy rolled his eyes and muttered "Haven't we all..."

Before Peter could reply, Happy pulled up in one of Mr. Stark's cars. Peter flipped down, detached from his web, and guided Percy to the car. "So Happy, the driver, is just gonna take us upstate, and then the Avengers are going to talk to you." Percy only nodded, guard up and features determined. Peter could already tell that, without a miracle, getting answers out of him would not be easy.

The car ride was especially awkward. Stilted conversation occupied the trip. With neither willing to give up too much information pertaining to their identities, talking consisted of questions and short answers.

The longer Peter sat near the guy, the more curious he became about him. There was something more to Percy, an air of both power and trauma that rolled off of him, similar to Steve or Bucky, and Peter wanted to know why . Why did he seem so powerful? Why did he know to fight like he did? Why was Percy so calm around a kid having a panic attack? Why, why, why?

After the awkward drive, the car pulled in front of the compound. Mr. Stark, Black Widow and Captain America were waiting out front. "Thanks, Happy!" Peter called as the two got out of the car. He was answered with a wave before Happy drove back to the garage.

When the trio saw them, Peter awkwardly waved, and Captain America turned to Mr. Stark, shocked. "This is the unknown we need to talk to? He's just a kid!"

"Rogers, you didn't see the footage. And it's less that is the unknown and more that he knows of the unknown. There's obviously a threat we haven't known about in the world, and he does." Natasha explained.

Percy piped up, a seemingly easy grin on his face. "I mean, I'll tell you what I can, but I'm really not supposed to tell anyone anything." If Peter hadn't been in the car with him, he wouldn't know what the smile hid. Percy was nervous. About what, Peter didn't know. Perhaps that he would say something that he didn't mean to, but maybe something else.

Mr. Stark responded, as if he wasn't expecting the kid to respond. "Uh, no. You'll tell us everything, and once you do, you can stop fighting whatever it is and let the big boys handle it."

Percy's smile grew. "We'll see." He walked forward, right between Captain America and Black Widow and entered the compound. Glancing back at the stunned trio, he asked, "So are we going to do this or...?"

Percy was terrified, and he had no idea why. Okay, maybe 'terrified' wasn't the right word. Nervous, anxious, paranoid. Maybe those fit better. And he obviously had no reason to be. He had faced monsters, gods and primordials and come out mostly okay, a conversation with so-called superheroes should be a breeze. He had made it five years without revealing his secret to mortals, he could go another 60 minutes. Sure, yes, absolutely. He could do this.

He could not do this.

He had only gotten in the car with Pete- 'Spiderman' because he needed to know how Peter Parker and all of those civilians had seen the empousa. They couldn't all be clear-sighted, which left no other option than something had happened to the Mist.

They led him to a small room, very similar to those interrogation rooms you see on T.V.. Spiderman was ordered to stay behind the glass, so Peter could assume it was double sided and he was watching from outside. None of the adults sat, so neither did he. They congregated around the table, Percy on one side, the trio on the other. The two men, Percy vaguely recalled the larger one from the detention videos they had started making him watch recently and the American history books Annabeth showed him, backed up to the corners of the room and allowed the woman to take charge.

"Have a seat." She gestured to the chairs. Neither of them sat. "Okay, let's start with the simpler stuff. What was that thing that attacked you in the street?"

Percy thought for a second about his answer. "It was a threat to me."

The woman smiled sweetly, "Listen, we're not going to get you in trouble. And we can keep secrets- we've all got them."

Percy kept his gaze level. "It was a threat to me and my friends."

The woman's face didn't change, and Percy supposed that she might have been trained in interrogation tactics. "Well, we'll come back to that. How do we fight them?"

"You don't need to. My friends and I can handle them. Besides, they're mostly only interested in us."

"What did you do to earn this attention."

Percy grit his teeth. "Nothing, we're hunted for who we are."

She tilted her head. "And who are you."

Percy's relaxed his features and forced his face into an easy grin; she was getting to him. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Okay, then, what are-" Percy must have been really unlucky. Because for the second time that day, he got an Iris Message.

"Hey, Kelp Head! Guess what?" Thalia questioned from her place on Nico's back. Despite the situation two had just put him in, he couldn't help but smile. Thalia and the Huntresses had been M.I.A. for the last few weeks, and he was relieved to see that she was okay.

So, even though the three adults were gawking at him and his Iris Message, he played along. "Hmm, I couldn't possibly know, Pinecone Face. It wouldn't happen to be that you'll be at camp for the weekend? That couldn't possibly be it."

"It most certainly be-" she started, but Nico interrupted.

"Percy, where are you?" His face was serious, like he knew that they had just screwed up somehow.

"He's at the Avengers compound, having a little chat." The scrawnier man spoke up.

Both of his cousins looked shocked. "You're doing what?"

Panicked, Percy quickly said, "I'll tell you about it later. See you this weekend!" And ended the call. Defeated, he sank into his chair. "So, you saw that, huh?" Letting the situation sink in, Percy let his head sink down. "What do you want to know?" He muttered into the table.

"Why shouldn't we have seen that?" The one from the history books asked.

Percy responded, picking his head up from the table, but not looking up. "There's supposed to be a force that keeps mortals like you from seeing our world. You can't all be clear-sighted, which means that something is wrong with it."

He continued, "What was that misty thing?"

"That was an Iris Message. My friends and I use it to communicate."

The woman leaned forward. "Why not just use cell phones?"

"They're like a flare to monsters. They're able to find us easier than just by using our scent."

"What kind of monsters?"

Percy leveled his gaze with her's. "How much do you know about Greek mythology?"

Stepping in, the scrawny guy asked, "Like, Medusa, and stuff?"

Percy winced. "Yeah, like her 'and stuff.' Just be careful with what names you use, they hold a lot of power in my world."

The woman took back over with an annoyed glance at her smaller companion. "You said these monsters track you by your scent. What makes you smell any different than us?" She asked.

He hesitated. This is what he had been trying to avoid, but knew the questioning would inevitably lead up to. He could lie, but he had a feeling the woman would know, but that left telling the truth or not speaking at all. He could tell the latter option would get him nowhere with this group. He had a feeling he could the two guys, but probably not the woman.

Percy took a deep breath. "Because we're children of the gods." He finally said.

The scrawnier man rubbed his temples. "So you're telling me you're Thor's id? And he just never told us that he and his god friends had kids?"

Percy froze. They knew Thor? "Not exactly... I'm the child of Poseidon. You obviously know the Norse gods are real, but the Greek, Roman and Egyptian gos are also still alive. Um... is there any chance that Thor is here, right now?"

The woman narrowed her eyes. "No, why? Do you and Thor have a past?" They were obviously going on the defensive.

Percy quickly explained. "No! I've never met him! But most gods of storms don't like children of Hades or Poseidon, or their counterparts. I don't know how he feels about us. But I've never met Thor personally." He sat back in his chair and contemplated the three in front of him. "You know, you never introduced yourselves. That was quite rude of you, actually."

The men in the back balked. "You mean you've never heard of us before?" The scrawny one asked.

"I mean, I've seen big guy over there in those detention videos and my girlfriend's history books, but that's it. Spiderman said you guys were superheroes and saved the world."

"So you're telling me that you've never heard of Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, or Natasha Romanoff until now?" The woman asked evenly. She didn't blatantly show her shock, but there was a spark of curiosity in her eyes.

"We were all in Europe at the same time, and I saw some news footage of what happened in Berlin, but otherwise, no. We tend to stay out of mortal affairs, and no one watches the news where I live. Most of the time, we're training." He shrugged. "I'm guessing you're Natasha, which leaves Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Now, normally I don't soak in everything Annabeth tells me, but I do remember her telling me about the super-soldier Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, and no offense, Mr. Stark, but you don't look like a super-soldier, which leaves Beefcake over here." Percy finished with a smirk on his face. If they'd done their research, they would know what he was like in school, which would mean they wouldn't think he was very smart. Well, just because Percy couldn't write a good essay didn't mean he wasn't smart.

Stark looked mildly impressed with his correct deductions and Natasha continued her interrogation. "Well, now that we know who you are, what can you tell us about how to fight these monsters? We'd feel safer trusting some professionals than a bunch of inexperienced kids to take these things down." She smirked back, thinking that she had the upper hand.

She did not.

Percy's features suddenly took a dark turn. "I'd say you're the inexperienced ones, Romanoff. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Stark rolled his eyes. "Try fighting aliens and reversing the effects of magic stones that killed half the population."

Shooting forward in his seat, Percy banged his fists on the table and stood as he said, "Try watching your friends die as you face off against not one, but two primordial beings because you're the center of two dumb prophecies. Try walking through literal hell with your girlfriend, where around the corner are more assholes you sent there three years ago. Try living a life where at any point, a monster you killed when you were 12 could come back and attack you again. Try that on for size, dickwad. Then tell me which of us is inexperienced."

Tony Stark, and Percy supposed everyone else, went slack-jawed, but he couldn't tell because his vision had gone red. He hadn't lost all of the friends he did just to be told that he was less experienced because he was a little younger. He'd for two wars for Hera's sake! He deserved some damn recognition. "Look, I'm on you're side if that's what you're wondering, but I don't appreciate being told I'm less experienced when you have a 15 year old in high-tech spandex staring at me behind the glass." He said, frustrated.

"How did you-" Stark looked incredulous.

"It wasn't hard. His voice cracked a few times in the car, and no one's voice craks that much except a guy in the middle of puberty. I figured Peter was around 15 or 16, so that was a bit of a guess, but you confirmed. And I've known it was Peter in the suit since he started following me at the school. Peter had already been following me around and when he suddenly disappeared and a spandex-clad kid took his place, it didn't take much to put two and two together." Percy had nearly completely calmed down. The subject wasn't his past anymore, which gave him a moment to calm his temper.

Stark huffed and crossed his arms, but didn't say anything. "Okay, so you know about us, and we know a little about you, but in order for us to trust you, we're going to need some answers."

"What kind of answers?"

"Some answers about your past." Steve was all business again, past the shock of Percy's ordeals.

Percy sat back in his seat. "What do you want to know?"

"Well first of all..."

Peter had no idea what do do with this new information. He supposed it shouldn't be that shocking, especially when Thor had been visiting a week ago. But Thor was from Asgard, an alien planet. Percy was from New York.

"...And if you remember that 'natural disaster' from a few years ago around the Empire State Building, that was me and my friends trying to save Olympus from being invaded by our collective evil grandfather inhabiting our friend's body." Percy explained.

Peter couldn't see anybody but Percy's facial expression, so he could only imagine the confusion Mr. Stark's face when he said, "Wait, Olympus, as in Mount Olympus? But I thought that was in Greece?"

Percy rolled his eyes as if he had had to explain this multiple times to many people. "It was, but with the movement of the spark of Western Civilization came the movement of Olympus. So right now it's above the Empire State Building on floor 600." Percy, at this point, had kicked his feet up on the table and was fiddling with a pen from his pocket. "Oh, and, uh, the Underworld? That's in Los Angeles."

Seeing the back of Cap's head shake, Peter could only imagine the shock he was going through, but before he could say anything, Natasha interjected. "What weapon makes you so special against all of these threats?"

"Now you people are asking the real questions." Percy grinned. "There are metals called Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold that only people from our world know about. The trick with these it that mortals are unaffected by it. But on the flip side, mortal metal does nothing to monsters."

Percy was having fun with this now that all of the cards were on the table.

"Jesus Christ, kid, who are you?" Tony exclaimed.

Percy took his feet from the table and wiped the grin off his face. "I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and savior of the gods twice over. I've done far more shit than you could have ever imagined, and maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be able to tell you about it one day. Do you need anything else, or can I go save my mother from the heart attack she's bound to have when she comes home from work and I'm missing. Again."

Tony uncrossed his arms as Cap stepped forward. "Yeah, we've got one more question," Cap said. "Care to join the Avengers?"

[talltree-writes]

Looking for new blogs to follow

New user so if you write/draw/post about any of the following, please like or reblog this -Avengers -Spider-Man -Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus -Good Omens -Broadway -Miraculous Ladybug -Avatar: The Last Airbender -Anne with an E