The Shadow of a Hero

Chapter 15

A/N: Two updates in two days, yay! Thanks for reading, commenting, and voting, it means a lot. Though warning, this chapter is slightly sad. 

Disclaimer: I'm not Marvel and I'm not Rick Riordan.

Will's Point of View:

Nico shadow travels away, leaving me to help the injured. It isn't long before Hawkeye shows up with civilians, some injured, others just shaken by trauma. I finish checking over a middle aged man that passed out because of this whole ordeal and move on to a blonde women. At first glance the only thing wrong with her is a shallow cut on her arm, but her eyes are frantic. "My boy, he was in the marketplace." She latches onto my arm when I get close enough.

"It's okay," I try to reassure her, "they'll find him." I glance a Clint who is listening to our conversation. He sighs in exhaustion and heads back out. "Wait!" I call after him, but it's impossible to hear anything in the chaos. After putting a band aid on her cut, I pull away from the mother's grip to reach my bow and arrows and run after him. I think I've been spending to much time with Nico, his recklessness is starting to rub off on me.

The market place is surprisingly not far away. I mean, I think it's what used to be the market place. There are scattered bits of burning canvas sticking out of the rubble. It was probably once lively, but now it's abandoned. There isn't any sign of a kid or Clint. I move on, picking my way around flipped stands and over up heaved sections of concrete. Then I glimpse a head of blond hair. Apparently I'm not the only one. A shield plane hovers over head but something feels wrong. The guns attached to it are pointed at Clint and they appear armed even though there aren't any robots around. I stare up at it, unmoving, trying to figure out what's going on. I can't put my finger on it. Clint has come out of a cellar way with a little boy on his back. He found the kid. That might be the best news all day. I look back at the plane. Surly it's here to help us get back to the shuttles. Instead of seeing a shield agent in the cockpit though it's a bot. "Look out!" 

I'm drowned out by the sound of bullets firing. They head right towards Hawkeye and the small child that never asked to be a part of this, what ever this is, a war? A battle? Maybe just a really big mess.  The bullets pelt the ground four feet in front of them. There's nowhere for them to go and I don't know what to do. I freeze. Sure demigods can fight with guns if they wanted to but most don't. We use swords and knives and spears. Nothing compared to the spheres of metal that are designed to rip through flesh.  They're done for. I'm about to watch my idol be turned into Swiss cheese. Being the hero that he is, Hawkeye covers the boy with his own body to the best of his ability but as a doctor I know it won't be enough. Then a streak of blue zips in front of the two, blocking the bullets with a wrecked car. It breaks me out of my daze long enough to notch an arrow and release. The plane veers off course and I know that it's going to crash. It's to late. 

It's times like this that people say time moves in slow motion, but that's not quite true. It's not the event that slows down, that's impossible, it's the instant reply your mind shows you over and over again. The first time I see Pietro fall to the ground is normal. The second time I see the force of each bullet as it tears through his muscles, veins, and flesh the moments before he settles on the ground in a growing pool of blood. Then it changes. It's no longer Pietro on the ground, but the people I couldn't save. It's Marcus Valeria, a son of Aries that  died after being stabbed in the back, it wasn't until later that we realized it was done by his own brother that had yet to be claimed. It's Macy Rowler, a daughter of Demeter.  She died during the Giant war. An earthborn attacked her with a club, whacking her on the head. Her heart continued beating but her eyes never opened. Eventually her heart couldn't continue on and fell still despite everything I triedd. So many I failed to save. If only I, if only I were, were fas, if only I were faster. No. I'm not letting that happen again. 

Despite the voice telling me that he's already dead, I run over to where Pietro lays. So many holes, so much blood, so little life, but he's only mostly dead and I can work with that. I place my hand on the wounded boy's chest and start to glow with a golden light. Medicine and bandages can't help him, but maybe the power of Apollo can. My hands keep trying to slip off with all the blood. His already faint heart beat gets slower. No. Please. Father help me. His heart stops. No. My glow gets brighter. I can bring him back. I have to bring him back.

  Bum bump. 

Yes. It's working though I don't know how long I can keep this up

. I'm already so tired. 

Ba bum.

 My energy reserves are draining but the heart beats getting stronger. Ba bump. 

Now I know how Nico feels after he uses his powers. I'm going to enjoy a nice long nap after this.

  Ba bump.

 Ba bump. 

He's going to make it I know he is. My hands slip and I fall on my back. Why can't I move?  "Will are you okay." The voice sounds far away. "Goodness, your bleeding Will." Why is Clint so worried? Pietro's going to live. I was fast enough. Black spots dance before my vision. I blink them away but my eyelids are heavy. I don't know why it just now clicks. I once head about how Nico tried to trade a soul for a soul. Why should it be any different for me. I can't bring a soul back to life without giving away one of my own and I only have one.

 "Tell Nico I'm sorry." It's difficult to force the words through my parched lips. "I'm sorry that I'm leaving him." Are those tears running down Clint's cheeks? I think he just now realized what Nico meant when he tried to warn the Avengers that we were more than just kids. We were bred to be fighters to the end, but now I get some peace. A break from being a pawn of the gods.

  Ba bump. 

Maybe Nico will visit me in the underworld. 

Bum bump. 

It'll be nice to have a friend that isn't dead. 

Bump. 

I stare up as the sun disappears behind a cloud. The whole world gets a little darker. 

Ba........................ Goodbye Neeks; I'm sorry.

A/N: ...sorry.