Just Not Ready (A Female Percy Jackson/ Avengers Crossover)

IX

It had been forever since Percy had stepped foot on a beach. Or, at least that's how it felt. Come to think of it, she hadn't even gone swimming in a long time.

Her mind wasn't on swimming though as Flash's car pulled into the parking space where he planned to leave his car. She thought of her father and how everything here would remind her of him. The sand, the sea, the smell of the air; he was everywhere and she had a bad feeling she would see him again soon, as much as she didn't want to see him. Paired with this, she felt something pulling at her; something, maybe a longing for the sea, was  lightly tugging her toward the water, to what was once a place of comfort. Percy had a nagging feeling that she would return to Tommy different, or possibly not at all, depending on what happened in the next day or so.

When she climbed out of the car, she took one long deep breath and relished in the salty smell of the air. She was right. The air smelled like the sea, like Poseidon.

The group walked through the sand to find a nice spot to set out their stuff. Percy was torn somewhere between extreme comfort and discomfort, like a calm before the storm. Today would not go as she'd hoped. The demigod knew she would see something or someone today and she was almost certain it would be her father.

Everyone slipped out of whatever clothes they had over their bathing suits and applied sunblock to themselves. The girls, just like before, unfolded a few chairs and sat out to relax. The boys, also like last time, turned to go into the water. Wade turned, remembering Percy and how she adored being in the water last time. "Percy, are you coming?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna stay here." Percy said. "Thanks for asking though."

Wade got a confused look before deciding to just go to the water. Percy laid out a towel on the sand and laid out on it  on her stomach. She fell asleep pretty quickly to the peaceful sounds of the ocean.

Waking up was not as peaceful. She woke up to a warm hand on her back, shaking her lightly and the shouts of her friends. Quickly, Percy reacted by shoving the hand away and jumping back (not very gracefully. When she first landed on her feet her eyes went to the unknown person and proceeded to slip upon making eye contact.

"What do you want?" Percy asked coldly.

"To see you, Percy." He replied calmly, ignoring her angry attitude.

"What's the real, Poseidon?"

Before the god could answer his daughter, one of her friends called out. "Who is this guy?" Flash asked. Poseidon turned toward her friends and they noticed his bright sea green eyes immediately.

"I'm her father." He told the group.

"You have NO RIGHT to call yourself my father. You were never there for me, not even when I needed you most and I prayed and begged for you or anyone to come save me. Only a selfish bastard lets his only living mortal daughter endure brutal torture because he's bitter that she said she wanted a regular life." She paused. "Yeah. Apollo came to me the day after I got back and apologized for not helping me out. He said that you could all hear me, but weren't allowed to intervene because you said so. I might've forgiven you if you'd come to me before years had passed, but you waited years to come to me, so leave me alone."

"I'm sorry, Percy. I really regret it. You know my family and I can be. We're unreliable and bipolar and stubborn." He tried to make excuses, which pissed her off further.

"Stop trying to make it okay! I'm your daughter and there is no excuse for letting me suffer and not doing anything to help." Percy was livid.

"You're not seeing my side here, Percy. You know I'm not usually like that! I want to be your father. Come back to camp. They could really use your-"

"No, father. I'm seeing you and your side of things clearer than ever before. I'm only worth the effort of it will help your family and your cause." She developed a thoughtful look for a moment, before continuing in Greek so that the people around couldn't listen in to the coming rant. "And you are usually like that. From the day I was born, you never had my best interests at heart. You suggested my mother remarried to cover my demigod scent, which led to her death and lots of pain on my part. You stepped into my life for the first time when you needed me to get you out of an argument with your brother and you put my life in the line by entering my life. The next year's following this, you and your family exploited my loyalty until i had to go against my personal morals and lead a war; a war, might I add, against other family members and children who were also pawns of their parents. I was kidnapped by your sister and had my memories wiped to save you and your asses again." She reverted back to English. "Time and time again I risk my mind, body, and life for you and the one time I ask for help in return, you ignore me. Then, you have the audacity to crawl back and ask for help again. WELL NO! I'M DONE PLAYING YOUR PERFECT LITTLE SOLDIER, YOUR PERFECT LITTLE PUPPET! FIND ANOTHER KID TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF!" Percy flipped him off and angrily stormed off, with random people turning their heads to watch her go.

The rest of the group Percy came with quickly gathered their stuff and followed her out of the beach. She was already leaning against Flash's car when they arrived.

They drive home in silence Percy shed a few tears in the car. She didn't know if it was of relief or sadness or anger or disappointment, but she didn't really care because she finally got her chance to tell her father off for being such an asshole.

Later that night, the young adults went up to the boardwalk. It was clear that Percy had developed a lighter tone after a few hours. She was a much nicer source of company when she was happy; her anger and sadness usually have others reasons to fear.

It was different this time, Percy noticed. Where everything else on this trip was almost a duplicate of last time, the trip to the boardwalk was more enjoyable for Percy.

When they arrived, they first went to a food cart, where Percy got a funnel cake to split with Justin, as they both wanted it. They played games and no one was peer pressured into going on a roller coaster. In fact, nothing really interesting happened until they were leaving. They walked down a street toward the cars.

A guy was singing on the sidewalk and strumming lightly on a guitar. The thing that caught Percy's attention was their playing  Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles.

'Nah', she thought, 'there is no way that's Apollo. I already saw a god today and that's enough. This is just some dude playing a popular song about the Sun.'

Then he started playing Island in the Sun by Weezer. Percy knew then that this street performer was no ordinary street performer. It was the god Apollo.

She marched over to him. Apollo and her may be on okay terms, but two gods in one day was far too much to handle. "You couldn't have waited a day so I could get over the experience of seeing my father?!"

"Nope." He replied. "I'll meet you back at your friend's house. We need to talk."

She mumbled "fine" and then continued walking to the cars. For the second time today, she left her friends puzzled as she stormed away from a god.