Healing

Chapter Six-Secrets Revealed

*Percy's POV*

Bucky's voice is carefully kept composed and calm. He always keeps Paul in mind when he's upset with me and never wants me to be afraid. But that just makes me feel guiltier. I sit on the stool he hands me and he sits too.

"I had another dream last night," I admit and his frown deepens. "Releasing energy helps them to fade or at least not be as potent." A heavy sigh shakes out of his chest and he raises a shining hand to run over his dark hair.

"Why didn't you come to me, kid?" The inclusion of kid is a good sign. Better than my full name.

"I'm sixteen and still running to my dad from nightmares? I don't want to be weak-"

"Who said you were?" He combats and my fingers raise to fiddle with the ends of my curls while his blue eyes burn into mine. "Most everyone in this tower has gone to someone after a bad nightmare. Including me. Including Tony." Tony nods behind him but still stays noticeably silent. "You can always come to me. You've got to know that, kid." After a deep breath, I nod. "Good, now this," he waves a hand to the screens. "you really should have told me about."

"I know. I'm sorry." My voice is soft and quiet, but Bucky doesn't seem that upset. Not with me, at least. His jaw clenches and I can see him weighing two options in his head.

"It's okay. I understand and after all...I think I asked too much of you." My brows furrow and he moves a bit closer to me. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a few years now, but I've been waiting for the right moment. I guess that's now." He takes a steadying breath. "The truth is that we got a hit on your blood a long time ago. When you were little. It was alien, that much you knew, but I didn't tell you everything." My eyes widen.

"You know what I am?" I ask incredulously. As far as I knew we'd been searching for years with no luck. Bucky nods and seems encouraged by my interest.

"We found out that your race was a lot like Thor's. You came here a long time ago and humanity thought you were gods from what you can do. Your mother was among the first that came. We're not sure how she knew you'd exist. Seers maybe, or maybe it was one of her abilities, we don't know. But what we do know is that she spread your story around the ancient Greeks until it became a myth. The story of Demeter and...Persephone." He explains and I struggle to follow, struggle to understand.

"I'm a Greek goddess?" I ask and Tony steps to the side so he's more visible.

"Alien, technically, just mistaken for a goddess." He butts in and I huff, looking back to Bucky.

"And you all knew this? Knew this and kept it from me? Why?" I ask, emotions quickly rising to roil in my belly.

"Because the story doesn't end with Persephone living happily ever after," Bucky says and I pause just long enough to let him explain. "It ends with Persephone getting kidnapped and dragged to the underworld by Hades." He tells me and I wait for a beat.

"You didn't tell me all of this because of a legend," I repeat slowly.

"All the legends about Thor and Loki are true, Percy. I didn't want to risk you. I thought that if you didn't use your abilities that maybe that would hide you. Give you a better chance of being overlooked." He explains and I nod slowly.

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me. Did you think I still would have still broken your rules, your rules about constraining part of myself in a straight jacket, if you told me this? It actually would have given me a reason to stop rather than just your word!" Angry tears start filling my eyes and I just hate that I cry when I'm upset so I get angrier. I don't wait for an answer, I stand up and walk out to him calling my name. I walk up all the stairs, to my room, and pull out my mythology book from high school, then throw it at Bucky's head the minute he arrives at my door. He catches it and looks back up at me as I grab my bag and start repacking.