Brothers

2016 Part Five

September 2016

Peter returns home from the Avengers' Compound smiling, he had passed Tony's test. He didn't need to be a part of the Avengers to be a superhero. As he walks into his room, he spots a brown paper bag on his bed from Tony. Inside is his new suit.

Peter walks around his room, he was glad to finally be back in his new suit, he pulls off his mask and smiles.

"What the fuck!" Aunt May exclaims behind him. Peter freezes and turns around slowly.

"Hi May, how are you doing?" Peter asks trying to stay cool.

"This is your Stark Internship, isn't it? Of course it is," Aunt May sighs, "How did this even happen? Why didn't you tell me!"

"I don't really know, remember in December when I got sick during the field trip, well I was bitten by a spider and I don't know, somehow I got powers, then Mr. Stark recruited me to help him fight Captain America," Peter rambles. "I didn't want to tell you because then you'd freak out, but I guess that probably wasn't a good idea..."

"No it wasn't, that's why you were sneaking out each night, wasn't it. And here I thought you were doing drugs or something awful, but you were just trying to help people," Aunt May says, then changes the subject, "Percy knows doesn't he?"

"Yeah," Peter sighs.

"I want you to feel like you can trust me Peter, I want to be in the loop from now on," Aunt May explains.

"Percy is Riptide!" Peter exclaims trying to justify his actions.

"What!" Aunt May exclaims, "Call him right now and tell him to come home right now." Peter gets out his phone and dials Percy's number.

"Hey Percy...how soon can you get home...no, Aunt May knows...we're having a family meeting...ok, see you soon," Peter hangs up, "He's going to be here soon."

A few minutes later, Percy walks through the door, "Hey May, please don't be mad at me."

"You both have been lying to me, for how long?" May demands.

"Since last December," Peter replies, "I just didn't want you to freak out, but now we're here and you know so there's no point."

"And you, Percy, how long?" May asks turning toward the older boy.

"I've been helping the Avengers since the Battle of New York," Percy replies looking at the floor.

"Four years! You've been a superhero for four years, and you didn't tell me!" May exclaims.

"I didn't want you to worry May, I'm sorry, I should've told you," Percy replies, "But there's more. My powers are genetic, they're from my dad and his family is super powerful. My mom's death, that was them, my uncle thought I stole something for my dad and killed her. I didn't tell you for your protection."

May looks at him in shock, "Oh Percy, I want you to be able to tell me anything." Percy nods deep in thought.

"Can we sit down, I'm going to tell you guys the truth, the real truth. You have to promise not to tell anyone, not the Avengers, not your friends, no one," Percy says walking over to the couch. May and Peter follow him and the three of them sit. "This is going to sound crazy, but how much do you know about Greek Mythology?"

"A little, I mean we covered it in sixth grade a little," Peter starts, "There are twelve Olympian gods, Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Artemis, Dionysius, Hera, and Demeter. There's also Hestia, Hades, and Persephone. There's also lots of monsters and heroes."

"That's actually pretty good," Percy says, "Well you know in the myths some of the heroes like Heracles and Perseus where children of the gods..."

"Yeah, they were demigods," Peter interrupts, "Wait," he pauses realization dawning on his face, "You?" Percy nods. "No way!" Peter exclaims.

"Hold up," May says putting her hands up, "I'm not following, what conclusion are we coming to?"

"Percy is a demigod," Peter says quickly, "Who's your parent? Wait no, I got this, it's Poseidon!"

"Correct," Percy congratulates, "I'm a demigod, so is Annabeth and all of my friends. The camp I got to every summer is for demigods. Everything else in Greek Mythology is also real, but there's this thing called the Mist which hides mythological stuff from normal people. You remember my friend Tyson from seventh grade? He was a cyclops, one of the nice ones and also my half-brother."

"I knew he only had one eye, I thought I was remembering wrong!" Peter exclaims.

"Peter, you are what we call clear-sighted, you can see though the Mist, which is sometimes hard for demigods to do," Percy explains.

"Why didn't you tell any of us this, and don't give me that 'it was for your protection crap'?" May asks.

"At first, I didn't want you to freak out and not let me stay with you. Then it was just easier, to not explain. I've been going on quests since I was twelve, been a major player in two wars, and I'm an Avenger. I never meant for there to be so many secrets, but they just kept piling up," Percy explains.

"Two wars!" May exclaims, "Perseus Parker you have some explaining to do!"

"Okay, you all better be free for the rest of the day because this is going to be a long story." Percy starts preparing himself for the long story, "It all started the day I accidentally vaporized my pre-algebra teacher..."

October 2016

"Promise you'll call?" May asks.

"Whenever I can, this isn't the first time I've been away from home for a long time," Percy protests.

"Yes, but this is the longest I'll go without seeing you in person," May replies wiping away a tear. Percy pulls her into a hug.

"You too Peter," Percy calls over to his cousin smirking. Peter smiles and joins them in their group hug. They pull apart and May sighs.

"I'm going to be alright," she mutters.

Percy slowly walks over the Annabeth, "Bye Wise Girl."

Annabeth smiles, "Don't die on me Seaweed Brain," she mutters before kissing him. Percy pulls her close to him and they embrace touching foreheads.

"I'll try not to, but you know me, I'm bound to piss off an evil immortal at some point," Percy says smirking.

"I'm going to miss you, promise you'll IM me everyday?" Annabeth says.

"You're starting to sound like May," Percy jokes laughing, but he stops when he sees Annabeth is serious, "Of course, I try to IM you everyday, but it might be every other day if I'm to busy."

Annabeth hugs him, "I can't lose you," she mumbles into his clothes.

"And you won't, I'll IM you when we land," Percy replies, "Now I need to go or I'm going to miss my flight." Annabeth slowly let's go and steps back.

"See you soon," Annabeth says as Percy walks towards the security line waving goodbye to May and Peter.