Demigods: At Midtown (A Percy Jackson and Marvel crossover)

24

Scott followed a boy who'd introduced himself as Conner Stoll towards cabin 11. He felt he should probably be freaking out, but he'd been through a lot, from dealing with the police to being ambushed by a shrinking suit and giant ants, so he'd gotten pretty good at accepting the weird and wonderful and moving on without thinking about it too hard. 

"So, is your name just unfortunate or is it..."

"Actually linked to Hermes being the god of thieves? I'm surprised more people don't ask, actually."

"And?" Scott pushed the boy - his half brother, cool, he'd always wanted a brother - for an answer. What? He wanted to know.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a cool coincidence, or maybe dear old dad has a sense of humour. As you might be able to tell, he likes to get around," Conner gave an awkward grin as he held open the door to Scott. "Welcome to the family. The very, very big family."

Indeed, the cabin was almost bursting at the seams with people, all young enough for Scott to be their dad, mind you. It was so busy and loud and chaotic that nobody noticed them in the doorway at first. There was no way Scott was actually related to all these people.

Something was bothering Scott that wasn't to do with half-godly siblings or absentee playboy godly father, though, and he figured out what it was just in time to grab Conner's wrist as he sneakily withdrew his hand from Scott's pocket, wallet and all. Scott hadn't even felt Conner touching him, and he had no idea what had tipped him off that he was being robbed other than an uneasy sense. Was it some kind of godly superpower manifesting? Because if so, awesome!

No, wait, his new brother had just tried to rob him. Not awesome. He snatched the wallet back and pocketed it securely. Conner was staring at him, not apologetically, but with surprise. "How did you do that?"

Scott choked back a laugh. So this was how it was going to be, okay. "Hang out with enough thieves and you learn to mind your valuables, kid."

"You're actually a thief?" Conner asked, sounding starstruck.

"Well, not anymore, but-"

"Wait, Con, who's this, and did he actually catch you pickpocketing him? Nobody catches a Stoll," the girl added for Scott's benefit, seeming impressed.

"I'm Scott Lang," Scott introduced himself with a friendly smile. Turns out the cabin wasn't as oblivious to their entrance as he'd thought because immediately the room went quiet enough to hear a pin drop. His smile faltered.

"Sorry," the girl said. "Did you say... Scott Lang?"

Slowly, Scott nodded. A ripple of whispers went through the room. "Is there a problem?" He asked, trying not to sound nervous.

"No," the girl said blankly, staring at him. "I just thought surely I misheard, because surely I'm not in presence of the great Scott Lang."

The room burst into whoops and hollers and Scott was completely taken aback. How did they know his name? Why did they seem so excited to meet him? Only the most die-hard Avengers fans had heard of Ant-Man, and not even they knew his civilian name.

Scott didn't realise he was being mobbed until another camper was pulling him out of the crowd. "Sorry about them," he said. "You're kind of a role model in this cabin. I'm not sure what you do exactly, but I've heard the Hermes kids say your name enough times to recognise it."

"Wait, what do you mean 'Hermes kids'? I thought everyone in the cabin was..."

"No, although a lot of them are. Cabin eleven is a sort of halfway place for campers who haven't been claimed yet, because Hermes is the god of travellers and believes in giving shelter to those on the road. So it gets busy in here sometimes, as you can see."

Scott nodded dimly, still processing that a cabin full of his siblings thought of him as some kind of celebrity.

Conner was back with a wide smile. "Scott, come on, I'll show you to your bunk. Most newbies have to sleep on the floor but Cecil said he'd give up his bed for you. And Mr Lang sir, I want to say now that it's an honour to be your brother and I'm very sorry for trying to steal your wallet."

"It's okay," Scott said, pushing through the haze of confusion long enough to pull out his wallet again, using all the tricks he'd learnt from a year of online magic classes to squirrel his money and bank card up his sleeve unnoticed. He displayed the remaining contents of the wallet - some taco vouchers, receipts and a photo of him with Cassie. "There's not much worth stealing in there anyway." Hero worship or not, Scott had indeed hung out with enough thieves to know it was best to establish yourself as not worth robbing early on.

"Is that your daughter?" The girl from earlier was peering at the picture. "I'm Julia, by the way."

"Yes, that's Cassie." Scott smiled at the photo, then frowned. Cassie was a descendant of a god, like Bruce and Tony were. Did that mean she was in danger? Julia seemed to read the thoughts on his face.

"She'll probably be okay,"she reassured him. "Hermes doesn't produce the most powerful demigods, so his legacies are usually safe enough to live normal lives."

"Can you tell us the stories?" Conner was stood eagerly at his elbow. "Please, Scott."

"Which stories? I have no idea what's going on here, guys."

"Your Stories, Mr Lang! Mastermind cyber thief and cat burglar, stealing from the criminals to give back to the innocent," Conner said with a dreamy look, and suddenly Scott understood. These kids had been isolated. They'd heard about him, maybe when everything went down in the news about Vistacorp, and thought he was some kind of hero - a thief who was a hero, a goal that they could achieve. And yes, he knew he wasn't a role model, knew these kids shouldn't be looking up to him, but this feeling was a first for him, and he felt a need to protect them from the harsh reality of the world in the same way he'd tried to protect Cassie. 

Scott was halfway through his retelling of how he'd robbed Geoff Zorick (he'd had it coming), just about to tell them how the millionaire's car had ended up in his pool, when the door burst open and a dishevelled Steve Rogers stumbled in. "Scott!"

Immediately, Steve's path was blocked by all of Scott's new siblings. "Who are you and what do you want with Mr Lang?"

Steve looked at them. "I'm Captain America."

"Shiny," Scott heard someone whisper, looking at the star on Cap's chest.

"Look, 'Captain America', I have no idea who you are or why you're here so-"

"Guys, he's a friend, let him though."

The children parted and Steve, bewildered, walked towards Scott. It was a strange inversion of their first meeting, where Cap had been an untouchable hero and Scott had been eager to please. Now, Scott was imbued with self-confidence and had all the power, and Steve just seemed desperate.

"Are you... okay?" Scott asked when he got a good view of the Captain's expression. He looked traumatised.

"I don't know," Steve admitted. "I went to my cabin- it was so pink, Scott - and they were everywhere, one of them wanted me to sign a shirtless poster she had of me, but I was right there and she's my sister and ninety years younger than me and they all wanted to touch me and know about my love life-" Steve broke off, shaking his head. "One of the guys told me this cabin was a place campers could stay if they didn't have a cabin - right before he asked me to sign his cologne. I can't go back there, Scott, please."

Scott glanced at Conner, who raised his eyebrows. "It would be a bit of a stretch of the Acceptance Policy, seeing as he's already been claimed, but a friend of Scott Lang is someone worth stretching the rules for."

Steve looked at Scott, surprised. "They've heard of Ant-Man?"

Scott shook his head with a small smile. "No, just some stuff I did before I met you guys."

And if the surprise and respect in Steve Roger's eyes wasn't worth the wait, then nothing ever would be.

A/N: I know I said every other Sunday but I feel bad for the super long hiatus and I had a chapter ready, hope you didn't mind :3