The Inner Circle (Percy Jackson x Avengers)

Chapter 5: The Sauna

Thank you guys for reading and I hope you're having a great one wherever you may be right now. Apologies for the lack of updates. Let's make it spicy.

The Winter Soldier and Twelve arrived back at the Hydra base alongside the other tac teams that had gone out with them earlier in the day.

The soldiers began unloading their gear and ammunition from the vehicles immediately while the Winter Soldier and Twelve walked to the training hall. Though they had only been out for a day, it was still Percy's first field day and it felt like it was more valuable than any day he spent within the base. The thrill of the adrenaline was something Percy needed to keep him stimulated. The fights with Winter were good, but he never went full out because it was training.

It was already dark, but they still had to undergo a debriefing with the higher ups. Winter walked in through the doors first, followed by Percy, and then their handler for the day. Dr. Cadley and the same group of men from earlier that morning were waiting for them to arrive.

One of the men in suits stepped forward. "Welcome back soldiers."

"Good to be back sir." Twelve responded.

The way they were all standing made it seem like a showdown of sorts. Dr. Cadley and the men were in a line facing Winter, Percy, and the handler.

"Tell me about the details of your field day, Twelve."

"Yes sir. We followed and ambushed the target, but he escaped through the sewers in the streets. So, we tracked him down and eliminated the target." Percy said. He was a little tired after being cramped into the van on the way back and also a little nervous because they didn't know if they were evaluating his field day.

"Good, this remains consistent with the notes from your handler." The other man said as he flipped through the pages of the file he had. "Dr. Cadley, why don't you give them a check to make sure everything is intact as we finish up the night here?"

Dr. Cadley put on his gloves and walked up to Twelve first. Cadley grabbed his arm and took his blood pressure and vitals.

"After seeing your performance for today, we have decided that you will be an operational soldier for Hydra. Congratulations, Twelve. You've done us proud."

"Thank you sir." Percy said.

"I don't believe he needs anymore sir." Dr. Cadley reported after giving Twelve a thorough examination.

"So, the serum has succeeded." The men in suits looked at each other as they scribbled something down on their papers.

Dr. Cadley nodded his head while looking at Twelve's body for a final time. "I believe so."

"What about the Winter Soldier?" One of the other men asked. "He's been out of the ice long enough now."

Winter twitched ever so slightly when they called him. The two of them made eye contact and Percy gave a miniscule head nod towards Winter. They were talking about the serums that had been the painful injections for Percy and the tortuous procedures for Winter.

"That depends on the reactions, but we have to wait another few weeks to confirm." Cadley reported as he moved onto doing the same examination on the Winter Soldier.

He examined the state of his metal arm and looked at the Winter Solider. "Did you lift a heavy weight with your arm today?"

"Yes." Winter thought back to how he had caught the metal shield earlier. It was quite heavy, especially during a fight, but it was manageable on his arm.

"Alright, we'll do some repairs to the rotator cuff wire before your next assignment." Dr. Cadley said as he gathered his supplies and went back to standing in his place.