Aquaman? Whoops, Wrong Universe: A Percy Jackson Marvel Crossover

Chapter 4: Tony

Tony and Peter walked out of the room, leaving Percy behind in his chair looking dejectedly at the ground. Tony was wildly conflicted. On one hand, the evidence was towering. Hell, he could've made a paper mache sculpture out the sheer amount of suspicious sightings of the kid. On the other hand... he was just a kid. Could he really have done all of that?

The pair came to stop in a small room riddled with pieces of Tony's many Iron Man suits strewn across tables, chairs, and any other available space. Tony supposed he wasn't the cleanest person ever. Eh. Who cared?

"Mr. Stark? I-I don't think Percy did any of that stuff," Peter said, falling into step behind Tony.

Tony sighed. He really did love the kid, but it would be a whole lot easier if Peter wasn't roped into this. His opinion was far too subjective, what with his friendship and all. 

"Listen, kid. I know you like the guy. But facts don't lie. There's no chance he wasn't at least somehow involved in the plethora of things I just listed off. You're a smart kid. You should know that too." The truth was, Tony still couldn't be sure of himself. When he saw Percy, he saw himself. Getting blamed for all sorts of things around the house by his father. Always becoming the scapegoat.

No.

Tony pushed aside his feelings and focused on what mattered: the cold hard facts. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time was coincidence for one or two incidents. But after a few more things go wrong, and one supposedly "happens" to be there, then there's definitely something deeper going on than happenstance.

"But you don't know him, sir. He's a great guy!" Peter protested.

"It doesn't matter that I don't know him. What matters is that this kid has been in far too many places when things go haywire. He's either complicit or he knows something he's not letting on to. Either way, he's dangerous. And now that he knows we're onto him, what'll stop him from causing more damage, even more publicly?"

Peter looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut and looked away. It made Tony feel a little guilty. Just a little. 

"Listen. I'm gonna call Fury. You can... I don't know. Try to get something out of Jackson. He'll trust you."

"Okay, Mr. Stark," he said, trudging out the door.

Tony patted his back and turned away while he walked out of the room. Tony picked up his phone from his pocket, scrolling through the hundreds of contacts, trying to find Nick's profile. He was just about to tap the icon to call him, when a thought stopped him in his tracks.

What if Peter is right? There's no telling what Fury could do to get information. But he's a kid. Fury can't be  that harsh, right? 

Tony shook off his doubts, and let the phone ring. It only took a few seconds for Nick to answer.

"Stark? What is it?"  Fury asked.

"Nicholas! So glad you picked up."

"Don't call me Nicholas."

"Listen, buddy—"

Tony could almost sense his eye roll from wherever Nick was.

"—about Jackson."

"Yes?"

"Peter. He brought him here."

"He what?" Fury said incredulously. 

"Peter brought Jackson to Avengers Tower."

Nick was silent for a few moments, trying to take in the shocking information.