Percy Jackson of Young Justice

Chapter 2. We Kidnap a Guy (Sorta)

Richard 'Dick' Grayson, or Nightwing as he was also known, was having a great day. He had stayed the night at the manor in order to use the bat-computer to finish a case he had been working on, and woke up in time for Alfred's legendary pancakes, as well as some brotherly bonding with Tim. His relationship with Bruce still wasn't at the point it had been during his early Robin days, but it had improved greatly since Tim had moved in and he realized that life was short and his brothers deserved to be loved (even if he had learned that particular lesson the hard way).

After polishing off perfection on a plate, Dick Zeta'd to Mt. Justice and started pulling up old files in search for anything his most recent algorithm may have picked out as suspicious. Something had indeed been flagged, and just a few lines into the case he called for all available members of the Young Justice team to meet him in the briefing room.

•••

When Dick had woken up that morning, he didn't expect his day would be spent following a guy his age with a rap sheet longer than his arm. The guy, Perseus Jackson, either had a thing for blowing things up or the worst luck in the world for getting caught in so many explosions. There had been multiple nationwide manhunts for him, starting at the ripe old age of 12.

There were even conspiracy theories about him. The dude was 18, for God's sake! (He did check out a few of the theories, actually. Some were pretty funny. One guy on Reddit was convinced he had somehow caused the Mt. Saint Helen's eruption a few years back that had come from nowhere and left geologists scratching their heads.)

Regardless, he explained the mission to the original team, minus Aqualad who was away on royal business with King Orin. The algorithm that Dick had designed also noted the target's schedule and found a small opening where he would usually be available and walking alone through New York City. With that, the team suited up and set off.

•••

Nightwing watched from the roofs as Perseus Jackson strolled through a secluded alleyway, occasionally glancing around in light paranoia. It was suspicious, but also fair, given the fact that he was actually being followed. As Jackson reached the halfway point of the alley, too far from either opening to make a break for it, Nightwing signaled to his team to move in. They all dropped down in sync and surrounded Jackson.

His head immediately shot up and his muscles tensed. Interesting. He definitely had training, if the way he had reacted to the surprise of being surrounded was anything to go by. There was a spark of recognition in Jackson's eyes, but he didn't relax his stance beyond his hand, which stopped twitching for his pocket. He most likely had a weapon in his right jean pocket, then, but didn't see the Young Justice team as a significant enough threat to pull it out.

Nightwing was stuck between being grateful that their job wouldn't be harder and insulted they weren't deemed worthy of needing a weapon to be dealt with. Whatever. His mistake.

Dick had been expecting a multitude of possible reactions, and with the way Jackson had immediately gone into a fighting stance lead him to believe things were going to get ugly. So when Jackson slowly raised his hand, waved, and said "uh, hi?" In the most confused voice Nightwing had maybe ever heard, his jaw nearly dropped. Of all the ways to respond to the protégés of the justice league surrounding you, politely greeting them while looking like a lost puppy was not expected.

"Perseus Jackson. You have been involved in multiple suspicious circumstances around the globe. Come with us peacefully for questioning." Nightwing said, mentally giving himself a pat on the back for how professional and commanding he sounded. Batman would be proud. A small voice in the back of his head whispered. It sounded suspiciously like his 12 year old self who cackled in the face of danger. Shut up. He told himself and refocused into the conversation to hear Jackson's response.