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

Chapter 13: Steve

Steve was doing not well, to say the least. Everything that he had just seen... 

Steve only had one word to describe it: What. Nothing made sense. He could've sworn that the man who had just broken into his tower, his home, had been none other than his old best friend Bucky Barnes. But that couldn't be true.

Bucky was dead.

As much as he hated to admit it, falling hundreds of feet through the air wasn't something you walk off. No one could survive that. 

But his face... it had looked so similar to his friend he had left behind long ago. Even his voice, though he had spoken little, gave Steve flashbacks to the old days, when it was just him, Bucky, Peggy, and Howard Stark. Sometimes, that war seemed so much easier than what he faced every day as an art of his new life. Supervillains, outer space monsters, gods, all of that seemed to be far too much for Steve's brain hardwired for traditional army missions.

The man that had faced him a short few moments ago didn't seem like the guy Steve had left in the past all those years ago. He was cold, calculating, and definitely not  friendly. Basically the opposite of the Bucky Barnes that he had spent endless days with. Plus, even if he had survived the fall, Bucky would be ancient by now. A grandpa.

Then he remembered Zola. Bucky had been given that super soldier serum... was it possible he survived the fall because of it? But why did his friend not recognize him at all?

On top of his existential crisis for his long lost best friend, his new friend was missing. Percy Jackson was gone. 

He hadn't known the kid for very long, and had trusted him for even less than that, but a missing person was no small deal. And now Cap knew that Percy was even a hero in his own right. He had saved the magical Greek world at least once according to the kid and Thor, and doing that nearly on his own (as far as Steve knew), as a teenager, was a new level of impressive. He had massive respect for Jackson.

He was also scared for him. Steve knew that the kid could handle himself—he'd seen enough evidence of that by far. But there was only so much one person could take, especially someone who had already been through so much. Steve had previously scanned his file, and what he saw made him concerned about... a lot. Disappearances, kidnappings, possible deaths... all of it seemed far too gruesome and traumatic for a child.

He had seen the way Percy tensed up when Peter mentioned Jason's name, and how he had avoided answering specific questions about what actually happened to him. Kids weren't supposed to have to feel like that. They were supposed to have fun, go to the mall with friends, date around. Have all the normal experiences everyone should have.

But he supposed demigods didn't get that privilege. God, his heart ached for the kid. 

And on top of on top of all of that, the team was angry at him. During the fight, Steve had told them to not hurt Bucky (if it really was Bucky), scared that it would drive his former friend further away than he already was. He knew that it was stupid, that Bucky wouldn't spare him (seeing from the way he had changed so much), but he couldn't bring himself to hurt the old buddy he had loved so dearly. 

"Rogers," Stark growled. "What the hell was that?"

Everyone was attempting to recover from the beat down of their life. All of them were dazed, battered, and bruised. Except for Bruce. He had run out before the fight had really begun, straining to get Hulk to come out instead of remaining dormant. He had told the team that he knew he would be useless without the other half of him, and he didn't want to get in the way. Unfortunately for the Avengers, Hulk didn't feel like coming out when they needed him.