Always The Prey (PART 3)

Chapter 11: What On Earth Is Happening

Natasha Romanoff POV

I have no words to explain the situation. Quite literally no words.

All of a sudden, we own five demigods, each of them that have a scowl on their face as they were fitted into a bland uniform with their number stitched onto the right shoulder area. All of a sudden, the Avengers now own two of their very good friends who have shock collars on and power dimming cuffs that must be worn 24/7.

So, yeah, exactly.

I have no words.

We brought the demigods back to the Avengers compound, each of them not letting their facial expression change as they were placed into a new environment. I couldn't let it pass, though, how the three new ones, Nico, Clarisse, and Will, had immediately started scanning the building, memorizing each hallway, exit, and window.

They were almost as bad as me, and I was a trained child assassin.

Fury said that more SHIELD soldiers would come in and station themselves around the floor within the next couple of days. Stark tried to fight it as much as possible, and finally got two whole floors (the main ones where we eat, hang out, and meet) without any supervision. He said, and I quote, "We have Romanoff, we don't need your lousy men in black staring at us."

We got all of them up to the living room, when we finally decided to stop and talk.

"Oh my gods guys, I'm so sorry about all this, I didn't know it would escalate so far ahead!" Tony explained, giving both Percy and Annabeth a hug. They smiled, unable to return the hug because of the horrid cuffs.

"Wait what? How do they know you both?" the boy all dressed in black, Nico, asked.

"This is the place we were at before, that helped us with our panic attacks and stuff after, um, that place," Annabeth responded.

"We're a team called the Avengers," Clint started to explain. "That's Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. The lady with red hair is Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, I'm Clint Barton, also known as Haw—"

"Holy shit you're Hawkeye," Will exclaimed, his eyes looking unnaturally bright. "Oh my gods, I'm Hawkeye's prisoner. I think I can die happily now! Oh my gods. Can you sign my cuffs?"

What the heck?

What is wrong with these kids?

"Will," Nico chidded. "Don't embarrass yourself in front of your hero."

"You're one to talk Neeks," Will retorted. "See that guy over there? That's Captain Freaking America."

Nico turned fifty shades of red. He was the exact replica of a tomato.

"Uh. I–" he squealed out.

"It's nice to meet you!" Steve tried to say, breaking the awkwardness by sticking out his hand. Nico looked like he was going to faint.

"Oh my gods," he started hyperventilating, unable to see the super soldier's eyes. "Oh my gods."

"He was born around your time Cap," Percy explained to the confused Steve. "You were his first ever hero. He's practically in love with you. He even has your poster up in his cabin."

"Oh my gods Kelp Head, don't tell him that!" the boy hissed, trying to shove against the older teen.

"Let's focus for a second," I said, breaking the whole weird conversation we were having. "Are the cams off Tony?"

He nodded, confirming that no one should be able to hear our conversations.

"I understand that there was a registry showing all of your powers?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we had to list our godly parents and our powers," Annabeth said. "We're no longer citizens and we're being sold apparently."

"I don't know why SHIELD is acting like this, but I want you to know that we are on your side. Tell us the issue and we'll help you."

The three new ones eyed us suspiciously, still weary about us. That was natural, of course, because they were the ones in handcuffs and we were not.

"We can trust them guys. They're our friends," Percy said. Everyone relaxed at his voucher for us. Clearly his words meant a lot to this group.

"Okay so we have this situation..."