More Than Just Little Soldiers (PART 2)

CHAPTER 8: I THOUGHT WE WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO JUDGE PEOPLE BY APPEARANCE

Annabeth POV

I had not realized how horrible I actually looked until I was actually living in the Avengers' Tower. Percy and I were still awfully thin, with a gaunt frame and a look in our eyes. But once we went to the tower, it became a lot more obvious to me. Naturally, with Percy and I having the same physical appearance, we tried not to comment on it very much. In fact, Percy, which I love him so much for, always reminded me how beautiful I was whenever I felt embarrassed at what I looked like.

When we were in the tower, though, all we got were stares.

A lot of the people there, particularly the other Avengers who we got later introduced to, were rather, with a lack of a better word to explain it, quite mean to us. Steve, of course, was the nicest man in the whole world, but the other's couldn't really wrap their minds around our situation. For some reason, they thought that Percy and I claiming to be in the military from such a young age was an insult to themselves. They had just come out of a war, according to Tony Stark. They weren't about to take crap from a bunch of teenagers who claimed to have been through two.

The red haired lady, Natasha Romanoff, was the rudest of them all. Bruce Banner seemed intrigued at us and looked at us with a sad expression every time he sized us up, but Romanoff just glared at us each time. I barely exchanged two words with her, other than my name, but she seemed to hate me from the start. Percy too, I could see her watching him from whichever corner she was standing in. I could tell she was the defensive and suspicious type, and her expressionless face told me she was some sort of spy. That means she thought Percy and I to be some sort of threat to her, if she kept on watching us.

I liked that.

I don't appreciate being feared, per say, but if that Romanoff girl was going to be a problem for me, I have no opposition to fighting her either.

"How are you liking her here?" Steve asked about the fourth day we were staying there. Other than the basic interactions with the other Avengers, with whom Percy and I didn't really talk much with, Steve was the kindest one there. We continued to talk to each other about our experiences and situations. At some point, I knew we would run out of stories, but the tales would never end. Here are always memories and nightmares that can be shared.

"It's okay," Percy responded for me. "Still settling in, but it's definitely comfortable. And a lot more cozy and big than I'm used to!"

"Yeah," Steve said, laughing. "I was really overwhelmed when I first moved in here too. I didn't grow up with all of this either."

"I don't think they like me very much though," I told him. "Natasha definitely has something against me."

"I don't have anything against you," a female voice said from the corner. I jumped at the unnoticed sound and my heart rate suddenly spiked up and rammed against my chest. Percy also looked largely startled and placed his hand against my lower back, as if trying to ground himself. It didn't matter how much time it had been since we escaped Tartarus. We were still traumatized and jumped by the smallest of sounds.

I remember a time when we weren't like this.

"Natasha," Steve scolded, placing a name for the unknown source of the sound. "You know better than to sneak up on them."

"Why? " she said snarkily. "They can't handle a little bit of a scare?"

"If you knew what they could or couldn't handle, then you wouldn't be acting like this," he shot back, while Percy and I just stayed quiet.

Natasha just pursed her lips and didn't say anything. I locked eyes with her, staring into her cold, blue eyes, and refused to back down.

"I'm going to go train," she just said abruptly, and turned around to leave.

"Case in point," Percy sighed, once she left.

"No, don't worry about it, that's just how Natasha is. I've been working with her for a while and it took her months to finally warm up with me. I'd be surprised if she welcomed you this early itself."

I just nodded, but that didn't remove the unsettling feeling that resided in my chest.

Steve left us, shortly after that, to go over to the gym. No matter how buff Steve was, he always insisted on hitting the gym to go pound on some boxing bags. It honestly seemed like a good way to blow off some steam.

"Hey Steve?" Percy called out, as if reading my mind. "You mind if we join you?"

"Yeah, sure! Gym's right down here, just follow me."

The three of us walked in a comfortable silence down to the gym, where Steve lined up three boxing bags for each of us. He immediately went on his own and started doing his own thing. Percy, to my surprise, peeled off his shirt and went to a bag himself. He hated showing off his scars and usually wandered around wearing long sleeve shirts. The scars were difficult to explain anyway. But, this time, he either forgot, or decided it would be easier to box without the long sleeve shirt that restricted his movements.

I took a seat on the bench so that I could take a second to watch him. I hated how thin he still was, I could see all of his ribs poking out of the many scars that covered his skin. We both tried to learn to eat more, but our bodies were used to the years we spent in starvation. Percy, the loveable boy who I remembered could stuff stacks of blue pancakes in his face, now struggled to stomach even the smallest of meals.

Percy began to punch the bag slowly, testing out the durability of the bag and his strength. We both started to work out a lot, after the curse ended and our bodies started to physically heal. We needed to get our strength back up. Percy had muscle, it didn't show that much anymore, but the ab lines and bulked up arms were definitely there.

He got into the rhythm of boxing and started to let things flow. He mixed in a few kicks in between his series of punches. Even Steve stopped in the middle to watch Percy, staring in awe at his moves.

But Percy wasn't seeing us.

He started to furrow his eyebrows and settled a determined look in his eyes. His punches became a lot more rapid and vicious, as if he was attacking a monster.

This wasn't just a bag for him anymore.

"Percy," I shouted, hoping to get his attention. "Percy! You're okay, you're not there anymore!"

A few more punches later, and the bag flew off its hinges. It clattered over to the floor and the sand filling the bag spilled out from the top.

Percy was breathing heavily, staring at his hands that he soon brought up to his face to clench his hair.

"Percy, please, Percy, stop! Listen to me, listen to my voice," I cried desperately, stepping in closer to him, but still keeping my distance. As much as I hated to say it, Percy was dangerous when he got like this. I will never forget that day when he almost attacked me in his nightmares.

I tentatively leaned over towards him and gently touched his arm. He flinched back violently and backed himself against the wall, before lowering himself against the floor. I knelt down in front of him and tried to pull him back to reality. I shouted for Steve, who was just standing behind us, staring at us in shock, to go get some water. He ran off to get a glass while I sat with the fragile little soldier sitting in front of me.

"You're okay Percy, you're safe now," I murmured.

But my words were drowned out by his screams.