A Game of Gods and Grit (PJO/MCU Crossover)

Chapter Four

Thor, at Percy's request, had returned to Asgard to fetch his leather jacket, which was in the possession of the dungeon guards and was days away from being demolished. It was a three-year-old jacket, adorned with patches, spikes and pins. It had been torn, burnt, you name it, but Percy had never had the strength to throw it out. His mom bought him that jacket- it was the last trace he had of her since before his supposed 'death.'

"That jacket has seen things," Stark commented as Percy put it on the table in front of them. 

"It's just... loved," he struggled to find the word, wringing his hands and cracking his knuckles. 

"AC/DC, good taste," he pointed out one of the patches on the arm of the jacket, just below the Bolivian Flag, representing his mother's ethnicity. "J.A.R.V.I.S, play my playlist, will you?" 

"Yes, sir," a British accent answered out of nowhere, whom Percy had found out was the accent of Stark's A.I butler. From the speakers above them, 'Back in Black' by AC/DC began to play, the familiar electric guitar chords filling the room. Percy smiled at this- he hadn't listened to music he actually liked since he had been arrested.

"So, kid, where are you from?" Stark asked, making plans on the paper. "Accent tells me you're an Earthling. New Yorker?" 

"Manhattan," he answered. 

Stark smiled at that and went to pat Percy's shoulder, who dodged having any physical contact with the billionaire. He'd always been wary of older men after Gabe had turned to stone. Stark raised an eyebrow and, confused, returned to his paper. "I'm from there, too." 

Percy remained silent at that. 

"I was thinking about making the jacket waterproof," Tony looked up. "Seeing as you're such a strong swimmer. As well as that, planting some communication devices and weapons in random places in case you're separated from that pen of yours. I've been meaning to ask, do you know about any of the technology used to make it?" 

Percy shook his head. "Belonged to my old teacher."

"You should let me look at it. I've been trying to create something like that for years." 

"No." 

Stark raised both eyebrows, then shrugged. "Fine." He unloaded some tools from a cupboard across the room, bringing them over. He and Percy spent the next hour or so making modifications to the jacket, with Percy occasionally explaining a pin or badge to Tony. 

"What language is that?" Stark asked, pointing out a word in Ancient Greek next to wear Percy's heart would be. 

"Greek," he replied. "It means 'Annabeth.' She's... someone very important to me."

"You speak Greek?" 

"And Spanish," Percy nodded. "My dad's Greek, my mom's Bolivian. I know some pieces of Latin, too."

Stark smiled at this. "Multilingual? Could be useful on missions." 

Percy shrugged, helping him cut a pocket into the side for communication devices. He cursed the billionaire for making him think of Annabeth. She believed he was dead, as did everyone else from his old life. He told himself it was better that way, that if they knew he was alive, Olympus would be thrown into chaos, but, sometimes, in the middle of the night, he'd feel her arms around him and he'd wish he could be with her again- for real.

*

Percy had gone to bed early again that night, leaving Loki and the team in the living room to discuss the events of that day. Loki had spent his day being checked by Banner in the infirmary, in the gym demonstrating his strength and, later on, with Stark, developing equipment and weapons. They'd worked to create a dagger that came armed with different poisons and could amplify Loki's magic- of course, he wouldn't be granted permission to it until a mission, but he was actually rather excited to use it.