Tower of Secrets

Steve Rogers

Disagree with me all you want, nothing is more awkward than walking in on two teenagers who happen to be in love.

I should've known what I was walking into when I stepped into the kitchen. I could've done recon and asked Jarvis to show me footage of what was going on.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, could've prepared me for the sight my eyes were about to behold: Annabeth had a blue handprint on the side of her face and I watched in horror as the blond grabbed a handful of flour and flung it at the raven-haired teenager. It flew everywhere.

"What happened?" I asked cautiously.

An aggravated Annabeth turned to me. "This-this boy happened! Tell Steve what you told me!"

"Everything is better blue," Percy deadpanned. "She agreed with me."

"So, what did you do?" Annabeth pushed.

Percy gave me a lopsided grin. "Well, my hands were already blue from mixing in the food coloring just before kneading the two doughs together, so I painted her face blue. I think you saw her immediate response."

Annabeth just groaned. "I'm gonna go clean up. Seaweed Brain, you get the flour in a bowl and let it rise in there. When I come back, We'll start adding toppings."

Percy turned to the designated bowl and let out an unintelligible noise. "How did you manage to get flour everywhere but the bowl!" Alas, his love was already gone.

"Hey, kid," I finally greeted.

He visibly tensed. "I told you already: I'm not a kid."

I sighed. "Why?"

He turned to me, having finished his tasks. He seemed hesitant to say anythinf about the matter. "I've seen things; I've done things."

I leaned in. "What sort of things?"

He met my eyes and shook his head, his eyes slightly glossy. "Annabeth and I shouldn't even be sane right now."

I'm sure I gaped at him. I could tell he wasn't a fan of my gawking, too. I decided to change the subject before I pressed too much. "So, what're you making?"

"Pizza."

"How do you even make the dough?"

"I'll have to give you the recipe later," Percy sighed. He rubbed at the nape of his neck sheepishly. "So... This is gonna sound stupid."

"Shoot," I smiled.

"Okay, so I'd never actually heard of the Avengers until Annabeth told me via IM a while ago," he admitted. I was a little shocked, but he pressed on. "While the whole alien attack thing went down, I was out dealing with family issues. Anyways, I figured out Pete is Spiderman--that one was fairly obvious. Frankly, I have no idea who the rest of you are."

I took me a solid second to process his rambling. "You want me to tell you about all the Avengers?"

He nodded. "Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble?"

"Let's start with Wanda, then," I decided. "She's also known as the Scarlet Witch. Her powers run along the lines of  telekinesis. She also, as I'm sure you've noticed, has telepathic abilities as well."

"I was wondering how she tried to, like, look into my mind," Percy commented.

"Thor is the god of thunder," I explained. "Tony is known as Iron Man, he basically has a robotic suit that he fights in. Nat is the Black Widow and Clint is Hawkeye, they're both assassins, but Clint specializesin archery. Bruce turns into a green muscular giant named Hulk when he gets angry. Then, I guess there's me. I was injected with a super soldier serum and then my plane crashed and I was frozen in ice for seventy years. I go my Captain America."

Percy shot me an understanding glance. "I have a couple friends that are out of their time, too."

I was surprised, to say the least. "S-seriously?"

"Yeah," he elaborated, "Nico and Hazel. There was also Bianca, but-" his voice cracked and he regather himself for a moment. "Bianca didn't survive a-" he shook his head.

"How old was she?" I asked. I was almost afraid to hear the answer, but Percy met my eyes, glassy green ones on blue, and gave me the hard truth.

"Twelve."

My heart skipped a beat. The world spun for a second before I regained my focus. "Twelve?"

"I promised Nico I'd protect her," Percy mumbled guiltily.

"It couldn't have been your fault," I said, trying to sooth him. He just shook his head.

"I was older than her. I should've been able to protect her."

"How old were you?" Goodness, that was another question I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer to.

"Fourteen," he muttered after a moment. He closed his eyes and somehow I knew he was rewatching the death in his head. "I was fourteen years old when I failed her. Annabeth had been kidnapped and she was one of the people helping me rescue her."

I didn't know what to say. I knew Perce had dealt with some crazy situations in the past, but this? This was almost too much. My mind wondered and I imagined a fourteen year old Percy Jackson blaming himself for a death he surely had no power over.

He wiped the tears that had formed at his eyes and took a shaky breath before standing up as though nothing had happened. It was almost scary at how quick he managed to put all those horrid emotions down and comtinue on. It look effortless. Like he did it all the time.

He turned back to the food on the counter and set the oven to 200° C.

Annabeth came back in, not a moment later. The blue handprint still on her face, albeit faded slightly. She looked ready to hurl an insult at her boyfriend, but she glanced at my face amd realized we had just been discussing something difficult. "Percy, what were you talking about while I was gone?" she asked softly.

Percy sighed, momentarily redropping the act before picking at back up again. "Bianca. Don't worry, I-I'm fine."

The blond girl looked at me and shrugged, like What can you do? She walked up behind Percy and threw hers arms around him, planting a kiss on his shoulder. He turned with a small smile and placed a kiss of his own on top of her head. They seperated and started to grab cheese and other toppings.

"So, I should've mentioned earlier that Rachel told me that De-her friend, um Daphne, has been wanted to come over," Annabeth commented.

Percy hung his head. "Not again. You don't she, um, wants to talk to her about me?"

"Fingers crossed that isn't the case, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth commented. "Hopefully the conversation is about the future. The far, far future."