Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 35

Annabeth

"Jackson, this is exactly what they want," Fury began in a placating tone.

But Annabeth knew that nothing anyone could say would change Percy's mind. From the moment Sally said that Paul had been taken, she knew Percy would go after him. There was no other option. Annabeth also knew that there was no way she would let him go alone.

"I don't care!" Percy roared. "They took my step-dad. I'm gonna make them pay."

"Percy, we know this is hard, but you have to think about the bigger picture," Steve said. "If you go, you'll be playing right into Echidna's hands. This is what she wants. She wants to fight you today, in Manhattan. We have to fight her on our terms, not hers."

Annabeth could tell that Percy wanted to blurt out the prophecy. He wanted to tell them that he already knew how this fight would end and that it couldn't be avoided. Annabeth still refused to believe the worst, but she couldn't deny that the fight would happen today. They couldn't postpone it any longer.

Percy refrained from revealing the prophecy, instead growling, "I. Don't. Care."

"Look, I don't know you very well, Percy, but you have to listen to us," Coulson said. "If we go now and lose, Echidna and HYDRA will be unstoppable. No one will stand in their way and millions will die. We cannot play right into their hands. We have to be smart about this."

"Do you know what my fatal flaw is?" Percy said. "Personal loyalty. I would sacrifice the world to save a friend or family member, every time. Maybe that makes me vulnerable, but I don't care. I will never stand by and let someone I love be hurt if I could do something to save them. Now someone take me to Manhattan before I run there."

"I'm with him," Annabeth said, putting a hand on Percy's shoulder. He smiled at her gratefully, but she could see the anguish in his eyes. "Paul doesn't deserve to be caught up in this. We have to save him. Besides, I think most of us already knew that we wouldn't be able to push the fight until tomorrow. We knew this was coming. And if we go, we can help minimize casualties from the power outage, maybe even try to fix it. Percy and I are going."

As their friends moved closer in solidarity, she added, "I think most of the demigods will be joining us. Will you?" Annabeth asked the Avengers.

They all exchanged glances. Fury looked like he wanted to strangle Percy and Hill was glaring at him; Tony's face was expressionless; Bucky, Wanda, and Carol were shaking out their fists in preparation of a fight; Rhodey and Steve looked torn; Clint was checking his arrows and Nat was loading her guns; Vision was staring intently at Percy; Peter was watching Tony while Sam was watching Steve; Daisy, Elena, and Mack looked ready to fight; and FitzSimmons and May were studying Coulson, who was looking at Percy.

Steve finally stepped forward and considered Percy and Annabeth and the massive force of demigods, satyrs, nymphs, and Cyclopes behind them. Annabeth was having trouble reading his expression and couldn't tell what he was thinking. After a moment, he said, "Avengers. Assemble."

Percy breathed a sigh of relief and Annabeth squeezed his bicep reassuringly while their friends behind them cheered. Immediately, everyone raced around the compound and the surrounding tents gathering weapons, armor, and emergency provisions. Will was running around like crazy trying to round up all the nectar and ambrosia he'd brought, along with various bandages and medicines. FitzSimmons were doing the same, but they operated more like a well-oiled machine. Harley was prancing about distributing weapons as people started loading into the various vans they'd come to the compound in. Annabeth, Percy, the Hunters of Artemis, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and the Avengers piled into three Quinjets. Percy was so tense that he didn't care about flying, especially since the flight wouldn't be very long. Fury still seemed angry whenever he glanced at Percy, but he and the other apprehensive ones had accepted that there was no stopping this.

As the vans and jets set off for the Empire State Building, Annabeth's heart thumped wildly in her chest. This was it. They'd been preparing for days and felt more than ready, but she was still nervous. What if Echidna and her army had something they hadn't planned on? They had no idea what kind of monsters she had on her side, and they'd never really fought her, Phorcys, or Keto one-on-one before. They were immortal, it wouldn't be an easy fight.

And there was also HYDRA. Annabeth was worried about their forces coming after the demigods. Very few demigods wielded weapons that could harm mortals, even if they wanted to. They trained to kill monsters, not people. They had no qualms about disintegrating empousai and dracaenae and all the other nasties that go bump in the night, but actual humans? It was hard enough fighting other demigods when Kronos invaded or during the brief skirmish between Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. And even though HYDRA was undeniably bad, they were human. If Annabeth came face-to-face with one, she didn't know that she could seriously hurt them, even though they would have no trouble doing the same to her.

Annabeth hoped the Avengers would do their part. They were used to fighting humans, especially HYDRA. Many of them were former soldiers, they'd spent good chunks of their lives fighting their own kind. As long as the monsters came after the demigods and HYDRA went after the mortals, they would be okay.

But she was worried that the monsters would be tempted by the Avengers. They usually went after demigods because of their scent and hatred for them, but there was the possibility that they might not be able to resist the vulnerability of mortals. Most of their mortal allies wouldn't be able to fight back, and even though they could all see the monsters, that wouldn't help them very much. Annabeth made a mental note to instruct the demigods to pair up with a mortal, just in case, so they could watch each other's backs and take out the enemies the other couldn't.

The Manhattan skyline appeared in the Quinjet's front window and Annabeth's breath caught. It was time.