More Than Just Little Soldiers (PART 2)

CHAPTER 19: MULTIPLE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM

Clint Barton POV

I think we're all in the position where we're going to act like what just happened did not just happen. But the thing is, they don't know that I know what they know.

They want to talk about it.

They're just waiting for someone to bring it up.

"Ahem," I coughed at the table, where all of us were eating lunch. It was a silent meal, which itself was annoying. I have, on some level, ADHD according to Natasha and my wife. I honestly don't even know what gave them that impression.

Percy side eyed me from his side of the table and Natasha kicked my leg.

"Shut it," she hissed under her breath so that only I could hear.

"What?" I asked, twice as loudly. Where was she getting at? Women, I'm telling you. Feisty, assassin-level trained, red heads in particular.

"Do you need anything Clint?" Annabeth asked. She was sitting across from me and to the left of Percy.

"Yeah, could you pass me the, um, potatoes," I asked slyly.

"We don't have any potatoes," Percy replied bluntly, squinting his eyes at me.

"Oh, sorry, did I say potatoes? I meant the chicken."

Annabeth handed me the bowel of chicken and then didn't give me one single glance after that.

I tried to stare at the other members of the team and get them to look at me with my means of telepathic communication, but none of them would get the hint. Like honestly! I always know whenever someone is looking at me from behind. What's up with these people?

Tony and Bruce were in a very in depth conversation of things that I wouldn't understand and Thor was animatedly telling Steve about some things on Asgard. Percy and Annabeth were just talking amongst themselves, quietly and reserved, while Natasha just silently judged me from behind.

"Okay, I'm done with all of this. Can we all please talk?" I exclaimed, exasperated at my fruitless attempts.

"Talk about what?" Annabeth asked innocently. Percy snickered at how wide her eyes had gone. He knew something and that made me suspicious.

"What? Annabeth, we have to talk," I said, putting emphasis on the last word and weirdly waved my arms around.

"Clint, I already got the talk and I don't need it from you," Annabeth responded, still sounding so unbelievably innocent.

What?

What talk is she talking about?

"Wait! No! Annabeth! What? Not that talk! I meant we need to talk!"

"And what do we need to talk about Clint? Because I should let you know I've very committed to Percy and, frankly, you're old. I'm not into married people anyway," Annabeth responded, her lips curled in thin to repress the smile.

Oh my god.

"Oh stop it Annabeth! You're just avoiding the topic! We need to talk about what just happened yesterday with your mother."

She grew silent after that and Percy held onto her hand.

"I'd rather not discuss that," she said back, her voice returning back to normal. Okay, at least we're serious now.

"Annabeth, what happened yesterday with your mother was cruel. She and no other god deserves to treat their children that way, especially if they force you to endure all of the trauma that you told us about. And I'm sure there was much you left out. What I'm asking is that you tell me as much as you possibly can, about your experiences or others' because I'm trying to build a nationwide secret trail of safe houses for demigods," Tony blurted out. Oh, so that's what he was doing all those late nights in his lab.

"A nationwide secret trail of safe houses for demigods?" Percy repeated, asking for more clarification.

"You said that many demigods run away from their homes and are forced to live on the streets, sometimes during quests as well. Or maybe they're fighting a monster and have run out of supplies. I'm trying to build underground safe houses for demigods that, with your help, can be stocked with supplies that they may need. I'm still trying to figure out how to secretly carry this out without anyone knowing about it."

"That's—" Percy started to say, before cutting off. "That's very kind of you Tony, thank you, but I'm not sure how great of an idea that is."

"What do you mean? Obviously I'm sure there are some design flaws, but I've been doing most of my planning at the prime time of 3:00 AM in the morning."

"No, what I mean is, it never seems to work out whenever demigods and mortals mix together. There's a reason that our worlds are separated."

"That's true," Annabeth jumped in. "I mean, we have a few safe houses. Some of the good demigod parents volunteer to act as a safe house. They have a glowing delta symbol on their door that can only be seen by demigods so they know the place is safe. Percy's mom's apartment, for example."

"Okay, I'll hold this off for now and keep on thinking, but I don't want to fully let this go. We should keep on talking so we can figure something out."

The two nodded and looked gratefully at Tony for all his help. Annabeth then finally turned towards me.

"I know you mean well Clint, but the relationship between a god and their child was never one to be good. Percy is one of the luckier demigods, that his father actually pays attention to him at times. The rest of us lay ignored. Some unclaimed and die without even knowing of their parents."

Everything about being a demigod made me feel sick to the stomach. This wasn't just some cool adventure with awesome powers that I had initially thought when they revealed themselves as demigods. This was a harrowing fate that almost always led to an early and violent death.

Percy started to recount a memory as a faraway look entered his eyes.

"The first war that I led was when I was fifteen years old. It ended on my sixteenth birthday. A friend of ours, Luke Castellan, had joined sides with Kronos because the gods never cared. His mother went insane and he was forced to run away. He found camp, but was ignored by his parents once again. Other demigods felt the same and they also sided with Kronos. Luke eventually became Kronos' host and we fought. I handed him the blade that he used to kill himself with. Many friends of mine had died during that battle. Yet, with all of the casualties and the whole reason for the war itself, the gods never learn. I was promised godhood after the war, but I rejected it and forced the gods to promise that they would claim their kids and pay more attention to them."

"But that's the thing about the gods. They don't give a damn about their promises. We just take on their punishment when they fail to fulfill them. The gods never learn."