Dick was frustrated. Blue's was nearly impossible to track down. Sure, he found the manufacturer but he couldn't seem to trance the company, let alone find a recipe. When he finally comes up from the cave, he sees that Percy looks to be as frustrated as him, sitting at the dining table with papers and books strewn around her, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail with a pair of reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. There was an empty mug and plate beside her, what must be the remnants of her breakfast.
She had a series of notebooks in front of her with scribbles in them, illegible to him. All of the papers and books had the same type of writing and when he looks closer, he sees that none of it is in English. He had no clue what the hell it said, he couldn't even figure out what language it was.
"You look as frustrated as I feel," He says, causing her to look up blearily, pen trailing across the notebook.
"What's got you frustrated?" She asks, lifting the pen from the page and looking down at them, rearranging them.
"I'm trying to find something for a friend but it might not have existed for all I can find about it," Percy snorts at that, trying to rearrange the papers into somewhat organized piles.
"Oh, well good luck with that," Percy says, going back to scanning the books as if looking for something in them.
"What are you doing? That looks like a lot for some light reading," Dick says, pulling up a chair and taking one of the books, flipping through it while trying to make sense of the strange language.
"Pretty similar to you, trying to figure out some stuff for some friends. It's complicated though, I have no clue what to do," She says, sighing.
"Can I help?" Dick offers, although he didn't know how.
"Nah, I've got it. It's just going to take time. Can I help with your problem?" Percy offers, turning her attention to him.
"No, but thanks for the offer. You want anything from the fridge?" Dick asks, opening it.
"Toss me a string cheese?" Percy asks, turning.
Dick reaches in and grabs on, tossing it to her. She catches it with a smile and goes back to her work, becoming absorbed in it again. Dick smiles, looking at her. She seemed different, happier. He was happy, looking at her. It was high time she was happy. Even though she looked stressed, Dick could tell she was happy doing whatever it was she was doing.
Grabbing his own snack, he heads back to the cave, determined to find Blue's.
******************************
Andy flashed into the cave, looking around until she found the team in the training room. She watches them for a moment before hanging up a sheet on the door and making her presence known, a stack of files in her hands. She had painstakingly translated them to English and organized them, compiling the information into easy-to-read and understand plans. She did her best to make them as simple and as easy to follow, but she wasn't convinced the team would go along with her training plan.
"Andy! Hey!" Megan calls and Percy smiles, waving at her.
"Can everyone come here?" Andy calls, her voice carrying.
The team gathers around her, listening to what she has to say.
"From what I've seen, you all have some areas that you do really well in and other areas that could use some work. I've created individual plans for training that are tailored to each of you. You each have a file that I'll give you. It contains an analysis of you, your strengths and weaknesses, and your training plans. I've also included somewhat of a nutrition guide, what you should try to eat whether it's more protein or greens or whatever. I'm not so concerned about what you eat though, I'm sure you all know how to eat by now," Andy says, passing the files out to everyone in the room, even Kaldur who frowned when he got his.
"Yes, Kaldur, even you," She says, stepping back and allowing them to read through them, watching in amusement at the horror that crosses their faces as they skip to the training schedule.
"This will kill us!" Garfield cries out, frowning.
"That is a toned-down version of my training. And that's only to start. As you progress, I'll be making adjustments here and there. You don't have to do it by any means, you don't have to do all of it but consider it. This is meant to create dramatic results in a short time period. If you don't think you can handle it, just let me know and I can rework it," Andy says, hands on her hips, face calculating.
"What do you do?" Conner asks, concerned at his schedule.
"I've hung up my typical workout routine on the door. I'll tell you what, if you can manage my routine for a week and pin me in a fight, I'll call you proficient. Otherwise, I would stick to what I gave you," Andy says, a smile on her face.
She watches in amusement as the team flock to the door, shoving each other as they attempt to get a good look at the sheet of paper. Percy can tell the instant each of them sees it, turning to look at her dumbly.
"There is no way you do this," Artemis says, glaring at her.
"No, not recently. But that was my old training schedule, I've added a few dozen flights of steps a day typically. What, you think I look like this by slacking off?" Andy says, motioning to her body.
Looking at her, the team could see that she was well trained. They had noticed that she was rapidly gaining muscle as if she was recovering from something. The team thinks back and wonders how they didn't notice it before. When she first became Tidal, she was extremely skinny and while she had muscles, they weren't incredible. But now they could tell she was getting tougher, stronger. Which is incredible given the short period of time that had passed.
"I'm sorry," Artemis says, surprising the rest of them.
"It's fine, a lot of people underestimate me and my capabilities. I've spent years training to get to where I am today and in those years, I've spent hours and hours each day. I would get started on the training though, without it there's no way you'll beat me," Andy says, moving towards a weight lifting machine, putting on more weights than the team thought she could handle.
They watch in astonishment as she starts doing reps, face scrunched up in focus. Even Conner was a bit concerned and he had lifted semi-trucks. The team shake themselves out of their stupor and get to work, looking over what Andy had given them. They were all green just looking at it, let alone trying to do it. But they wanted to get better and it was kiddie stuff compared to what Andy did. And they knew that she wasn't just bragging or bluffing, there was no way they would beat her without more training.
**********************************
They were dead, D.E.A.D. They had done the training Andy gave them for the day, but they weren't sure if they would be able to move, let alone do it again tomorrow. At least looking forward in the schedule, it was going to be less intense than the first day. But as they watched Andy run laps around the room, they started feeling incredibly impressed by her. She was a monster and thankfully not one of the ones that attacked them. And when she said it was a toned-down version of her training and when they saw her current training schedule, they didn't understand how it was possible for her to have that much power.
They watched as she slowed down before stopping, starting to stretch. She was sweaty and her face was red, but she seemed happy.
"Good job guys, I know it was intense for a first day, but you did really well," The grin she had on her face, the praise she gave them made all their aches and pain worth it. Them letting her train them was making her happy, so they would put up with it. She deserved to be happy.
YOU ARE READING
Lost Hero
FanfictionAfter the wars, after all the people she lost, Percy was tired. She was done with the mythical world, all she wanted was peace. So she returned home to her mother's apartment. But she couldn't stand the looks she was given by her mother, the pitying...
