The Jackson Enigma

We are Family

By the time Fury sent the guards, Jackson was long gone. He was left pacing, muttering curses under his breath. The kid worked for his family! How could he not see it? When he tensed at the mention of his parents, when he told Fury that they would come after him if he kidnapped him. How was the kid so smart? He was looking over his parents file, looking for anything suspicious, but Sally and Paul were clean. No criminal record at all. Was the kid just messing with him? It was a possibility, but Fury doubted that was the case. His father. He turned to the Avengers who were in the room with him.

"Did he mention anything about his father? His real father." Bruce nodded his head, raising Fury's suspicions.

"Tony said we could have taken him by force and he said, "Maybe. Even if you did manage to, my family wouldn't be happy with you." When Tony said his mother and stepfather, he said he didn't say them. The Natasha asked if it was his father and he said his father's been lost at sea since he was baby. She then asked why he didn't say he was dead and the kid said because he thought he was alive and that he was going to comeback one day." Fury took in the information, rolling it over in his mind.

"Did he say anything else?" Tony nodded, butting in. Fury groaned internally.

"Yeah, I told him after seventeen years, his dad's dead, having been dead for a long time. Then he said, "It's genetic." The kid thinks he can feel that his dad is alive because they're related." No, Fury thought, Jackson isn't stupid, he wouldn't believe something like that. There must be another meaning.

"Jackson isn't stupid, that much is evident by the situation we're in right now. He wouldn't believe something like that, it's not logical. There has to be another meaning, something he knew we wouldn't catch, at least, not right away." Fury replayed that sentence in his head over and over again, trying to make sense of it, find the hidden meaning he knew was there. It's genetic. What was genetic? He was related to his father, that was genetic. His father's been lost at sea for seventeen years, by now he's dead, but Jackson thinks he's alive. Why?

Fury considered the different perspectives. From their perspective, Jackson's father is dead, or supposed to be. Even if he was alive, there's no way to trace him. He was a fisherman, but there are no records of him. To be fair though, they didn't know his name to know if they had any records on him. From Jackson's perspective, his father is lost at sea, but definitely alive, and he's coming back someday in the future. Why does Jackson think he's alive? There's no way he survived. The sentence came back, 'it's genetic.' Fury's brows furrowed in confusion. Suddenly Bruce snapped his fingers.

"It was right here all along! He wasn't just trying to confuse us, he gave us the answer. 'It's genetic.' His father's been lost at sea for seventeen years right?" At everyone's nod, he continued. "Exactly, which means he's supposed to be dead." Banner looked at them expectantly and Fury sighed, irritated. Why can't geniuses just give straight answers? Tony sat up in his seat, seemingly understanding what the doctor was getting at.

"You mean..." the doctor nodded furiously. "It was in front of us the whole time, everything! Look, guys, this kid's father is supposed to be dead, and that's it, that's the answer. He's supposed to be dead. When Jackson blew up the arch and fell off, he was supposed to be dead. When the kid said that, he was answering our question. His dad was supposed to be dead, he himself was supposed to be dead. It's genetic. Jackson doesn't just think his dad is alive, he knows his dad is alive."

§§§ MEANWHILE §§§

Up on Olympus, the gods and goddesses were arguing per usual. They were all involved in their little squabbles, the noise so loud, bits and phrases could be heard all the way in the throne room. There was only one goddess who always sat quiet, never engaging in any of the fights. She was quiet and attentive, probably noticing more than Athena did. She sat at the hearth tending it and nurturing it, preferring it to her throne. She sat farther from the other Olympian gods- who weren't present at the moment, thinking about who knows what. Therefore, she was the only one to notice when Perseus Jackson walked in.