Thaw (MCU//PJO)

Chapter 10

"After I got Jason back to Olympus, I patched him up, made sure he wouldn't die on me. That was when he broke the news about all of you being alive," he glanced at the cast on Jason's leg, then pointed at it. "Safe to say, I got mad. That's how that happened."

"You broke his leg?" Leo banged his fist on the conference table.

"Fractured," Percy corrected.

"Same difference!"

"Not really," he explained. "See, a break is when-"

"Percy, they're the same thing," Annabeth interrupted him. Percy furrowed his eyebrows, his scars contorting again.

"Really?" He looked at her, and Nico thought she saw a flicker of nervousness in her eyes. He was glad to know he wasn't the only one unsettled by Percy's new face. He seemed to notice this, apologising under his breath and looking at the table sheepishly. Annabeth, almost communicating telepathically with him, gently touched his shoulder. At this, he looked at her slowly again, and she smiled. The room was silent, watching their non-verbal conversation. Nico thought he saw a thousand words unspoken in their eyes which they somehow understood. He shouldn't have been surprised- they'd been to hell and back together. He started to speak to her softly, and nobody could hear, but Nico thought he picked up the words: sorry, it hurts, speak and sorry again. Annabeth smiled and told him it was okay; she didn't care.

"So, our next course of action," Jason leaned forward on the table, looking at Percy with a twinge of pity on his face. "How are we going to get to Odin?"

"He seems to only listen to me when I kill a bunch of people," Percy shrugged, looking away from Annabeth. 

"We figured," Nico rubbed his temples. "That was really irresponsible, showing up to that gala, then killing all those people to get Jason back. Our fight is against Odin, not his people."

"It's the only way he'll listen-"

"You don't know that!"

"What do you think I've been doing since I found the gods dead, huh?" Percy's voice was rising now, wobbling dangerously. "Nico, I have been slaving away at trying to kill this man for three years," tears surfaced in his eyes, "three years! He doesn't listen unless you put pressure on him and as far as I can tell it's through murder. A lot of gruesome, horrific murder."

"It doesn't have to be. We can find another way-"

"I've tried everything," Percy's tone was defeated. "I've attempted it from afar, up close, across a room. I have more assassination attempts against him than more years all of you have lived put together. And he's still not afraid of me."

Nico rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Percy, I understand that you haven't been doing things our way these past few years, but if you want to cooperate with-"

"I never said I wanted to cooperate with you," he interrupted, stoic. "I'm glad to know you're all alive, but last time I checked none of you defended me when I was exiled. None of you tried to protest against Zeus," he paused, looking around the room. "And I see how you're all looking at me. Poor Percy Jackson, alone, looking like a monster. Well, maybe I am a monster," he leaned back. "But don't think for one second that it's anyone else's fault but all of yours."

Silence blanketed the room. Nico broke it with a sigh. "If you want to leave, by all means, there's the door." He gestured to it.

Percy slammed both hands on the table. Several people flinched, Annabeth leaning away when Percy smiled and stood up. "Gladly."

With that, he had turned on his heel and was gone.

"That went well," Frank raised both eyebrows.

"Annabeth, you should go after him-" Nico reasoned, and before he could continue Annabeth was already on her feet walking away.