Lord Perseus

Chapter 23

Hi guys, I hope you're well. As you will almost certainly know, Ao3 is down right now. I'm absolutely distraught, and I honestly don't know how I will survive. I was in the middle of a really good Avatar (Cameron movies) fanfic, and now I'm can't bloody see what happens. Anyway, I thought I'd use the doen time to start a new chapter. By the time this gets uploaded, Ao3 will almost certainly be back up, and it would probably be months in the future. Enjoy!

NOTE: 

I honestly cant believe how long its been. I started this when the DDOS attack happened on Ao3, that was months ago! Honestly, its insane

Jaw POV

We need to get going. It's been a few days since Percy left to find rex , and the moods have been very low. Between Rex's absence and Scar's injuries, our confidence has been knocked. Strangely enough, Scar is the one holding up the best out of all of us. I'm being a coward, a pathetic one at that. He has no right arm, and he's still acting like a better leader than me. I know none of the lads have confidence in me. They all think Scar should be the one in my place, maybe even Scar himself, though he would never admit it. Their opinions are valid. I'm not the leader, I'll never command the sort of respect that Rex did. But my worth for this position matters not now because, like it or not, I've been put in charge. I've got to at least try and step up and be a leader that Rex could be proud of. I've got to repay his faith somehow.

Our goal is simple, continue what me, Alpha and Boom had been doing while the other 3, no 2, were gone. Take the fight directly to them. But in order to do that , we've got to get our act together and start moving now.

I walk unto Alpha's tent and see him busy at work on some metal contraption. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but he did mention he was building a new arm for Scar, so perhaps it's that. He looks up from his work and notices I've entered. Leaving his desk, he walks over to greet me.

"Hey man," He says. "What do you need?"

"I need you to pack all this up. We're leaving as soon as possible."

I don't hang around to hear his response. The walk to the other side of our makeshift base is very short, and I find myself standing in front of Boom as he plays with a hand grenade.

"We are leaving Boom," I say. "Start packing your things. Do me a favour and pack up Scars stuff as well."

Surprisingly, he doesn't complain and gets straight on with the task at hand. I smile at him gratefully and turn away to get find the other two. This will be the hardest conversation out of them all. Bullseye still hasn't said a word to anyone and has done nothing but sit and stare at the floor. I am worried about him. We all are. Percy may have healed his physical scars, but mental ones are a lot harder to heal. It isn't fair, nothing about what he had to go through is fair. He's young, so young,  even for a demigod, but that's just it, he's not even a demigod. He was in a bad situation before he met them and they took him in and tried to give him the family and brotherhood he deserved. Rex especially saw Bullseye as his little brother and had always been protective of him, at least as protective as you can be when you are apart of a group that goes around fighting monsters. For a long while, Bullseye had not really opened up to the rest of them, remaing in the cold and unfeeling work mode he had spent years of his life in, but Rex had seemd to get through to him quicker than even percy could, and Bullseye seemed to quickly grow attached to Rex, spending most of our social time when not going on Missions or training by his side. Now, combinig Rex's loss and going through the most harrowing thing in all his young life, i am worried that he will return to what he ised to be, if not more closed off and reculisve. 

I arrive at the largest tent of all, that would usually be Percy's if he was here, but was currently being used by the youngest memeber of our group for his recovery. I breathe deeply at the opening, collecting my thoughts. I needed to be strong and sure of myself, for both Bullseye and Scar's sakes. I push aside the fabric and walk swiftly and confidently through. Bullseye is sitting in the far corner, staring at the wall in complete silence. Scar is sitting beside him, also saying nothing, looking sideways at Bullseye's face. They hadn't noticed that i had entered, so i coughed to attract their attention. Scar looked up, meeting my eyes and smiling weakly. He glanced at Bullseye, then back to me and shook his head. I sighed and crossed the tent towards them. I walked around the bench they were sat on and crouched down in the tent's corner in front of Bullseye and looked at his face. Percy's healing had done the trick, as he looked healthy , even more healthy than he had before, as a matter of fact. But his eyes, they were different, haunted in a way that i can't explain. The light, that kind of human spark had vanished, replaced by a dull emptiness. I was in his line of sight, but it was as if he couldnt see me. It was like he was sleepwalking, his eyes were open but unseeing. 

"Hey buddy, how are you doing?" I ask slowly, making sure to keep the volume of my voice low, in an attempt not to startle him.

He doesnt respond and contiunes staring vacantly at me. There was no indication that he even heard what i said. I look over at Scar and he looks back at me, the concern on his face mirroring mine. He had seemingly entirely shut himself off from the world, which was not a good sign for his recovery. 

"Bullseye" i repeat "can you hear me?"

At his name, bullseye seemd to stir slightly. He let out a groan of what seemd like acknowledgement and blinked rapidly, his eyes coming into focus slighly more. I smiled and feel my spirits lift. It was not much, his was still dazed and barley responding, very clearly not fully present, but it was a start. 

"That's it, That's it. Alright, i need you to look at me, okay? Just look in my eyes, can you do that for me?" 

A few seconds passed, but Bullseye's did focus up and looked at me. I could see him as himslef again. He was clearly in a lot of mental pain and torment, but i could see him beneath it all. Scar laughed softly and clasped my shoulder in jubilation, i returned the gesture and flashed a smirk but kept looking at Bullseye. 

"What" 

My eyes widened and the smirk turned to an expression of shock. I felt Scar's hand drop from my shoulder and saw him stifle a gasp. The boy's voice had been croaky, as though he hadn't used it in years, and the voulume was like a whisper. It took a few seconds for it to register in my mind, but when it did the smile returned at once. 

"Yes Bullseye, you're handling this so well. Can you stand up with me?" 

I get up off my haunches and put out my hand. I don't know if he'll take it, he might not be ready for physical contact yet, but it was worth trying, more as a show of solidaity if not  anything else. I want him to know that i, as the acting leader, am there for him and will be by his side no matter what. Bullseye moved his head and looked at my hand,  then up at me. He was interacting with the world srounf him, so that was a very promising sign. He does not take my hand, but he slowly began to rise from the bench. He legs were weak and shook slightly as he got up, but he managed to stand up and straighten out his body. I smiled at him before turning to Scar. 

"Pack up his stuff, we're leaving"

Scar nodded, but looked hesitant. He looked like he wanted to tell me something and i had an idea about what it was. I give him a look telling him we would talk about this later. He walked off to the other side of the tent and began packing while i looked back at Bullseye.

"Lets go outside, the others are waiting for us." I smile at him encouragingly and began to walk towards the exit. I was happy to find him following me, slowly walking behind me. 

I opened the fabric enteranceway and ushered hum through it, before following him out to face whatever there is to come.