Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 18

Peter

With Aunt May's permission, Peter spent the night at the compound with everyone else. She had given him her blessing to stay for a while since this conflict didn't seem like it would be finished soon. After everything Peter had learned that day, however, he had trouble sleeping. His mind was racing, working as hard as it could to rationalize this new knowledge and make sense of it.

On the one hand, it wasn't too surprising. Peter had witnessed alien invasions, fought people with abilities—heck, he had been bitten by a spider and developed powers he never could have dreamed of. Learning that Greek demigods were a thing wasn't too out of the ordinary for him.

On the other hand, this wasn't some isolated incident. There were two camps in the U.S. alone that housed dozens of demigods and legacies, along with satyrs and fauns and lares and nature spirits. Mount Olympus, the home of the actual Greek gods, floated above the Empire State Building.

This wasn't just a few random people, this was a hidden world; co-existing with the mortal one for thousands of years while remaining a secret. From Percy and Annabeth's stories, it was clear that their world was rarely quiet, and their lives were just the tip of the iceberg.

Peter wondered if he had ever encountered a demigod or god or monster without knowing it. Annabeth seemed to believe they could all see through the so-called Mist that hid their Greek/Roman-ness, but wouldn't they have noticed sooner if people with one eye were running around, or giant dogs with glowing red eyes? Or maybe the monsters were just good at blending in and only bothered with demigods instead of mortals.

If that was true, Peter wasn't complaining. He liked not being eaten, thank you very much.

After two hours of trying and failing to sleep, Peter made his way to the lounge and watched Supernatural with the volume on low. He got so caught up in the show that he didn't even notice a few hours later when he was no longer alone.

When he finally sensed the person sitting on the other end of the couch, it was too late to find something to cover his face.

"Relax," Percy said when he noticed Peter scrambling to hide his face. "We're working together, I'm not gonna tell anyone who you are. But just to be sure so I don't look like an idiot, you are the Spider-Man, right?"

Slowly, Peter released the tension in his muscles and settled down. Percy was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, but they looked a little rumpled. The room was dark, so only Peter's enhanced eyesight allowed him to see that there were faint shadows under Percy's eyes as though he hadn't slept well. Peter wasn't surprised, since there wasn't much other reason to be awake at four in the morning.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I'm Spider-Man."

"But what do people call you when you're not in costume?"

Peter hesitated, but ultimately decided to trust him. "Peter. Peter Parker."

"Well, Peter, your secret is safe with me, don't worry. You look only a bit younger than me, so I know what it feels like to be a part of something like this at your age. I can understand the need to protect those closest to you. I won't tell anyone who you are," Percy promised.

At those words, Peter let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Thank you. If anything happened to my aunt . . ."

"I get it." Percy nodded. "Hades used my mom to get to me when I was twelve, then Polyphemus took my best friend, then I lost Annabeth, then I thought I lost my brother and my best friend, and then when Kronos attacked, I was afraid for the whole city. Bad guys like using our friends and family against us."