Chapter Text
Sunday, November 28th
11:43 AM
St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NY
The funeral was nice, all things considered.
People spoke; Tony didn't recognize any of them. Their words were warm; painting a tale of bravery and kindness, leadership and determination. He never introduced himself to anyone; how would he? As a friend through work ?
He barely noticed when people started leaving. Others stayed, drifting around like they were lost. In a way, Tony supposed, they were.
He tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling. It was a beautiful place for a funeral; the columns stretched high above his head, forming arches graceful on either side to meet the other ones. The stained glass windows were tall and wide, and the light shining in made a rainbow on the intricate floors. The pews were dark, polished wood, forming perfect rows and lines.
It wasn’t a bad place to be laid to rest, Tony supposed.
He lingered for a moment longer before leaving---he had sat himself in the very back, away from people’s eyes. The last thing he needed right now was to be recognized. Nobody heard him go.
The walk was fairly quick, only five blocks north, but Tony took his time, hands stuffed in his pockets. It was cold today, the clouds a dreary grey that covered the sun like smog. Nonetheless, the city was bustling. A woman passed by, swinging a young girl in her arms. Two teenagers were holding hands, smiling at eachother like they were the only thing that mattered. A young man walked by, walking a fluffy black dog, smiling---
Tony looked away.
Mrs. O’Leary hadn’t really been the same since...since everything. Half the time, she was in the tower, curled up in a ball. Sometimes people watched her---Percy’s cousins had done most of it. Even when she was there, the tower felt painfully silent without her owner.
Peter still came by, two times a week. Often more, though. Tony never objected---the company was nice. He was worried about the kid, it would be strange not to be. But Peter was doing his best---he went on patrols, to AcDec meets, to hang out with Ned. On day’s Tony felt like he couldn't breathe, Peter was there with a smile and a question about one of his projects.
Tony walked into the lobby, giving a wave to Lee as he passed. The secretary nodded back, a halfhearted smile on his face. Tony had been the one to tell him about Percy and the mission, and ever since then, they had been...not friendly, but the two acknowledged each other when they could.
He took the elevator up, greeting FRIDAY. Pepper was sitting on the couch, reading over something on her StarkPad. She looked up when he walked in. “How was the funeral?” She asked softly.
Tony toes off his shoes. “It...fine, I guess. Pretty.”
She nodded understandably, and patted the couch cushion next to her. Tony sat without protest, and she wrapped an arm around him. He leaned into the embrace.
Tuesday, November 30th
2:57 AM
Stark Tower, NY
BARF was coming along nicely.
Tony had been working on it with single-minded determination. He stayed up late, woke up early. (Percy wouldn't have approved.) He tweaked this, scrapped that, changed things and started over, re-designing and creating.
He truly had been on the fence about whether or not he would give the tech to Wakanda, to Barnes. But...ever since he saw what that serum could do, ever since he realized that what happened to Percy could’ve happened to anyone, even someone as young and innocent as Peter…
It had given him a new outlook. Everything of that serum had been destroyed; all of the research was on paper or offline to prevent hacks and leaks. (Charts and notebooks can't stand up to a category five hurricane, a freak lightning storm, a 9.6 earthquake, an EF5 tornado, and a flash flood, if you were wondering.) But Tony still wanted everything like it erased; the Winter Soldier program was long gone, but it still left victims. Tony could help at least one of them, so he did.
He was pretty close. A few weeks, maybe a month, and he would be done.
The real question was what would he do after?
Thursday, December 2nd
9:25 AM
Midtown School Of Science And Technology, NY
Peter had never been more thankful for school.
And that was saying a lot; he loved school. It was simple, it was easy, it was boring. (Especially now that Flash didn’t bother him anymore. Percy really did always look out for him.)
Peter needed some boring.
He had been so excited, so anxious for his first Avengers mission. He wanted to prove himself, wanted to help Mr. Stark, wanted to be better, it was new and interesting and he couldn't wait.
It was strange, how much had changed in such a short time.
“Hey, dude. Partners?”
Peter startled, turning to face Ned. “What?”
His friend raised a brow. “Partner project. You and me?”
Shoot, Peter hadn’t been listening to Mr. Harrington. What was the last thing he remembered…? “Yeah.” He looked down for a second, then back up at Ned with a sheepish smile. “What on?” Ned raised a brow and rolled his eyes, but explained nonetheless.
Ned was a good friend like that.
Across the room, MJ gave him a concerned look. He did his best to give her a convincing smile in return.
She didn't look like she bought it.
Thursday, December 2nd
3:55 PM
Stark Tower, NY
Peter and Tony walked down the hall in silence, their feet echoing. Peter broke it first.
“I don’t want him to miss Christmas. He wouldn't have, either.” Peter mumbled.
Tony wrapped him in a one-armed hug. “I know.”
The somber mood followed them for the rest of the day.
Saturday, December 4th
7:21 AM
Stark Tower, NY
Tony opened the door to the medbay, his head absorbed in the blueprint on the StarkPad, not looking up.
He leaned against one of the tables by the door, putting the finishing touches on a digitally rendered circuit when he saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up, startled.
Percy stood in front of him, right in the middle of the medbay like he shouldn't be anywhere else. Tony was pretty sure his heart stopped. Was he hallucinating? Because if that's where he was at, mental health wise...
But the more he looked, the stranger it got. This wasn’t Percy---this man was taller, with smile lines and hair greying at the temples, his skin weathered and deeply tanned. But other than that, he looked exactly like his son.
(Because who else could he be? Percy had mentioned how alike his dad and him looked.)
“Hi?” Tony tried, more than a little weirded out. How the hell did he get in here? Not only did he not have access, but FRIDAY should have said something.
Percy’s father smiled. “A pleasure to finally meet you, Anthony.” He stuck a hand out.
Tony blinked a few times, then shook it. “Uh, it’s Tony. Nice to meet you too. How...how did you get in here? No offense.”
The man smiled. “Percy learned his tricks from somewhere, you know.” His voice carried a somber note to it. “Though I can’t take credit for everything---far from it, really.” Tony’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Chances were, Percy had to get his powers from him. The mutant gene, if that’s what Percy had, was more commonly passed down from parents of the same gender as the child---father to son was more likely than mother to son.
“Right. Do...do you need anything?”
The man shook his head. “Just a minute of your time.” He fixed Tony with his gaze, his eyes just a startling as Percy’s. “Percy seemed quite fond of you when we spoke.” He turned his head. “I see, now, that that faith was not misplaced.”
“I...thank you.” Tony’s voice was rough, and he looked down. “I’m glad I got to meet him.” He said honestly.
Percy’s father nodded. “He would be glad to hear it.”
They stood in silence for a moment, eyes both cast to the floor. Then, the man gave him one last smile and walked to the door. Tony’s eyes followed him, so he did a double take when he just... disappeared.
He faded into mist, and Tony was hit with the scent of sea air. It reminded him of walking down to the lobby that warm July day, finding Percy there with a dog and a duffel bag, who smiled at Tony and made him laugh for the first time in forever.
He shook his head.
Tuesday, December 7th
1:06 PM
WSC Headquarters, DC
Tony clicked his briefcase shut, straightening his tie.
He walked with purpose, the latest victory with the Accords fresh in his mind. Graves had tried something again---he always did, but Tony was well equipped to handle it.
“Stark.”
Tony looked up.
“Ross.” He greeted cooly. He gave the man a nod, which he returned, and then they both kept walking their separate ways.
There had been a few survivors to tell the tale of the ambush. Ross, Johnson, and his men had been in an envoy, going towards the site. Johnson’s team was already there---the Captain just went back to escort the new people and debrief Ross.
Then, landmines blew, and the shooting started. Two of the almost 40 soldiers survived, though one was still in the ICU. Two, plus Ross, unfortunately. The man did have a thick bandage, a sling, and a slight limp, though, to remember the occasion.
Johnson’s team, who had been left at the site, were completely slaughtered.
Tony got in the car, pulling out his phone. Rhodey and him were going to meet up for lunch soon---he tried to focus on that instead.
Annabeth’s chin rested on his shoulder, her arms tight around him.
“I’m glad I get to see you again. I’m sorry it’s this soon.” She whispered.
When Percy woke up, he was staring at something bright.
He turned his head to shy away from the light, eyes closing once more. There was a warm hand on his forehead.
“Perseus?”
Percy cracked an eye open. “H’y, Dad.” He murmured.
Poseidon smiled at him. “You know, this is the second time Apollo has had to pretend to be a mortal doctor in four months, right?” Percy’s mouth curved into a smile. His dad swept Percy’s hair off his forehead. “You, Perseus Jackson, are the reason I’m going gray.”
This time Percy outright laughed. He immediately regretted it---his chest felt like someone was jumping on it. He was fairly sure he had heard Tony use that exact line on Peter when he did something dumb.
Percy sobered up and swallowed. “What happened?” His voice was soft.
Poseidon gave a deep, weary sigh, and scrubbed a hand across his face. “Truthfully, I’m not fully sure. What I do know was that I felt you die, Percy.”
The demigod winced.
The God of the seas continued. “Whatever that man, ” he spat out the name like it was a curse, “gave you, it made you lose control of your abilities. You would have burnt yourself out if you had kept going---nobody is meant to use that much power.”
He gave Percy a sad look. “I spoke to Thanatos. You did die---but somehow, not fully. The closest thing Apollo and I can guess is that you stopped your own heart, Percy. You stopped your own heart, but kept yourself alive with your powers.”
Forget his powers, that gave him a heart attack. He didn’t remember that at all. To be fair, though, everything was pretty much a painful blur at that point.
“It was probably a defense mechanism.” The words seemed to pain his father as he forced them out. “You were hurt, and wanted it to stop. So you just…” He trailed off.
“That...fuck, that actually kind of makes sense.” Percy whispered. He looked up at his dad. “The guy...he was using me as a test subject, like Emma. It...it hurt, and I…” Percy bit his lip.
“There was this big brick building at the compound. When we first went there for the mission, I didn’t know what it was, but I just didn't like it for some reason. So I avoided it, I couldn't figure out what it was for, but I just hated it for some reason.”
His dad leaned forward in the chair.
“I figured it out after I...after I died. They dragged me out there, and…” He blinked away a sudden onslaught of tears. “It was an incinerator, dad. That’s where they burned all the bodies. All of the mutant kids, the army personnel who had been watching over the site, the other demigods . There were more, the Doctor said there were---his most effective test subjects, actually.”
His dad had gone pale, but Percy wasn’t done.
“I...I remember the feeling of burning. It sucked , and they had done that to dozens of kids. And I just freaked out. I killed those people, dad, I used their own blood against them, and then I kept going---” Percy choked off.
His dad didn't speak, just leaned forward and gave Percy a hug. Percy leaned into it and tried to ignore the wet feeling in his eyes, clinging to his dad like he was 12 again.
When Tony pulled into the garage, Peter in the passenger seat, FRIDAY immediately connected to the speaker. “Boss, get to the medbay. As quickly as possible.” Tony and Peter shared a look, then ran.
The elevator had never felt slower.
Shit, what was wrong? Could Percy be seizing, be flatlining? He hadn’t visited him since after Tony had met his father---he had gone straight to DC. They matched each other step for step as they ran down the hallways and then into the medbay. Tony grabbed the curtain and yanked it open.
Percy Jackson was sitting up, legs crossed, looking directly at him.
“Hey.”
Tony blinked, and suddenly Peter was speeding towards the mercenary, launching himself at him and wrapping his arms around his neck. Percy let out a small oof, but hugged Peter back. Tony waited a second before coming to Percy’s side, tugging both him and Peter into an awkward, three way hug, Peter accidentally elbowing him in the face.
He wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Once all the hugging was done, Tony pulled up a chair to his bedside. Peter remained stubbornly attached to Percy’ side, and the mercenary scooched over to make room for him. “What's today?” Percy asked suddenly.
Tony looked away for a second, before taking a deep breath. “December 7th. It’s been almost a month. We...we weren't sure if you were going to wake up. When we found you...Percy you didn't have a pulse.”
Percy looked down. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, his brow furrowed. Tony took pity on him and continued. “You...missed a bit. Uh, some of my amendments got signed into the Accords.” He offered.
“We won an AcDec meet---it was so cool! We crushed the other team.” Peter added in. Percy smiled at him.
“Captain Johnson's funeral was on the 28th.” Tony said softly. Percy’s head snapped up. “I missed it?” Tony nodded, biting his lip. “I went. It was beautiful.” The mercenary leaned back, a slightly guilty look on his face.
In the silence, Tony took a moment to look at Percy. His face was pale and drawn, his cheeks sunken in and his eyes ringed with dark bags. But he was alive , he had woken up, and that’s all that mattered.
They were all quiet for a second before Peter spoke up. “Okay, can we, like, stop avoiding this? Because obviously there was something the two of us missed.” He said, gesturing between him and Tony.
The engineer fought a smile at his bluntness. Peter seemed to realize what he said, because his face turned pink. “Uh, no offense.”
Percy let out a short laugh. “None taken. But, it’s, uh, a long story.”
Tony leaned forward and shrugged. “We have time. Start from the beginning---the very beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”
Percy raised an eyebrow. “I don't think we do have time for that. This whole thing starts at the beginning. Like, the beginning of everything.”
Peter gave him a confused glance. Tony looked similar. “What?”
Percy’s signature crooked grin appeared on his face. “Tony, what do you know about the Greek Gods?”