Catch Me If I Fall (PJO/Avengers Crossover)

25

TW: I hint at abuse in this chapter regarding Percy's old Stepfather, Gabe, so if you're triggered by that kind of stuff, just skip the TW part :)

As it turns out, life in Stark Tower, which had now actually been renamed Avengers Tower, wasn't that bad. He'd only been here for two days, and of course, the height of the place left Percy feeling extremely anxious and on edge, but he had to admit: he was the happiest he'd ever been since the night before he left Asgard, which was a good year ago. Right now, he was chilling on the sofa in the main living room, flipping through the news channels. The main story at the moment was actually about him, and the amount of controversy that came with Percy being on the Avengers.

One of the channels was actually going over his entire criminal history, and showing videos of the stuff he'd been up to these past few years. It seemed that, despite the fact he was cleared of all charges, people still wanted to see him put behind bars.

Steve had joined him at this point and sat beside Percy just as the dreaded footage of St. Louis Arch being blown up began to play on the TV. Percy couldn't help but laugh as that happened, making Steve raise an eyebrow.

"How did you even survive that?" He couldn't hold back the smile. "You weren't immortal back then!"

"Nope," Percy snickered, shaking his head. "Being a son of Poseidon sure does have it's perks."

"What even is this? A documentary about you or something?"

"Two hours of a bunch of middle-aged snobs discussing how I shouldn't be on the team because I'm a," he made quotations in the air, still grinning, "'danger to society'."

Steve couldn't help but laugh at that. Percy was, no doubt, very intimidating. In fact, he was put on edge every time he made eye contact with the kid- but it was very clear that Percy was dangerous unless he absolutely had to be. That was when he noticed Percy tense up and, almost instinctively, have his hand slide slowly to his right pocket, clutching something inside. He was staring at the TV, which Steve turned his attention too as well.

"And, of course, there's the disappearance of his former stepfather, Gabriel Ugliano," a voice narrated over an image of a guy in his mid-to-late forties, who looked as though he regularly indulged in chocolate cake. He was bald, other than three black hairs which were combed over his forehead- probably trying to look sophisticated but to no avail. "Yeah, just months after Perseus had blown up the arch and been supposedly kidnapped, Gabriel disappeared mysteriously. They closed the case about two years later and he's presumed dead."

Percy's breath quickened, and he stood up abruptly. "I'm going to go see Loki. Later, Cap," he put on a clearly fake smile before walking away as fast as he possibly could without looking suspicious, leaving Steve to ponder on what had unsettled Percy so much, and what it had to do with his presumably dead stepfather.

Once Percy was gone, Steve stood up and made his way to Tony's lab, where the billionaire and Bruce Banner were talking about space physics or something. He cleared his throat, catching the attention of the two geniuses.

"Hey, Cap, what's up?" Tony asked.

"I was wondering if S.H.I.E.L.D has any files on Gabriel Ugliano," he said, taking a few steps forward and folding his arms. "Perseus' former stepfather; he seemed very on edge at the mention of him. I want to know why."

"Huh? Sure," Tony shrugged and sat down, raising his voice a little to talk to J.A.R.V.I.S, his A.I butler. "Hey, J.A.R.V.I.S? Can you  check S.H.I.E.L.D's files and radars for any mention of Gabriel Ugliano?"

"Yes, sir, just give me a few moments," the Artificial Intelligence's British accent said.

"Can you describe Percy's actions and body language when he thought about his stepfather?" Bruce took out a notebook from one of the drawers and, as Steve spoke, he scribbled some words down.