Tower of Secrets

Percy Jackson

A/N "I SWEAR IF" was said by SilentGreekArcher and "here" was said by PichuIzzy

gotta say, the family dynamic was tough since there isn't a lot of them together

Staring into Peter Parker's maniacal and glazed over eyes instilled a dread in me that I hadn't felt in a while.

A few hours earlier, Annabeth had left. A few minutes ago, Natasha found me and explained that Mom and Paul were discharged from the hospital, and that she was going to take Estelle over and introduce herself to explain the situation. I would be allowed to join as soon as Peter was done with whatever her wanted to show me. He also had enlisted Mr. Rogers for whatever demonstration he had planned.

I was sitting next to the blond super soldier in a conference room, a grand table stretching out before us. Two glass rectangles were slid our way.

"Okay, I'm s're you two are w'nd'ring why I've called you h're," he slurred. Was he drunk or something? No, I couldn't smell any alcohol, and his metabolism would probably have burned through any hard drinks anyway. Plus,  he was still underage, and a bit of a goody two shoes. He wouldn't get himself drunk.

"Uh, yeah? What's up, Pete?" I gulped, terrified of what he had planned, but also knowing that my parents were waiting.

"Mr. St'rk n I finished the phones! L'k at all da features," he beamed, giving us both a half lidded grin. He was totally crashing from whatever caffeine he had consumed to help him push through the exhaustion.

"Where is Tony?" I found myself asking.

"Mr. St'rk went to bed," Peter mumbled, swaying slightly. "Imma sh'w you how ta use your phones."

Mr. Rogers gave Peter a small smile, standing. "You know, that sounds like fun, Pete. Why don't you go take a nap first? You can show us when you get up."

Peter stood still, as if taking time to register and process the spoken words. He nodded. "Yeah... kay, dude."

I snorted to myself. A fully aware Peter Parker would never called Captain America 'dude.' I was so going to tease him about it in the morning.

I excused myself as Mr. Rogers corralled Peter to bed, letting Jarvis know that I was heading to my apartment, but it was okay since Nat was still there. I checked the nursery area we had set up for my sister, quickly taking note that it had been cleared out. The assassin must have already come through.

I stood outside the white door, my knuckles raised to rap on the wood. I took a deep breath, smiling at the sounds of people moving around inside. Then, I knocked.

"Just a minute!" I heard Mom holler. As promised, the door was opened soon and I was met with fading browns curls, familiar freckles, and loving eyes. "Percy!" she exclaimed, giving me a hug. "Paul, Percy's here!" She stood on her toes, and I bent down to let her kiss my forehead.

"Hey, Mom. I've missed you, but things have been a bit crazy."

She eyed me warily. "How crazy? Your birthfather crazy? Ms. Romanoff said you got recruited into some program, but I haven't heard any specifics yet."

"It doesn't involve any of that. She doesn't even know." Our gazes stayed locked for a moment before she gave me a weary and affectionate smile.

"You coming in?"

"Course I am. How are you feeling?" I asked as I stepped inside, clicking the door shut behind me.

"It hurts, but there isn't going to be much scarring in any visible areas," she shrugged, wincing slightly at the movement.

"Just say the word if you need anything," I offered. She nodded gratefully, leading us to the living room where Natasha was sitting with Paul.

"Percy, how are you?" Paul greeted, standing. My eyes met his dark, framed ones in a silent conversation about just how much our visitor knew.

"Well, y'know. Got kidnapped earlier, I guess," I smirked, striding over to embrace him, not missing the way the assassin shifted at my wording. She really wasn't putting in much effort to disguise her feelings right then. "Saw Annabeth this weekend. We did some planning for next summer."

"I believe you mean that Annabeth did some planning and you chimed in while messing with her hair," Mom mused, finding a comfortable position on the furniture.

I gasp dramatically. "I'm hurt. You wound me, Mother."

She laughed before sobering up slightly, a sparkle of amusement still shining in her irises. "So, what's this about your kidnapping."

"He's training to be a-" Natasha piped up, ready to feed in whatever cover story she had cooked up. Unfortunately for her, I had no intention of letting my parents eat up her words.

"-an Avenger. Can you believe my horrible luck?" I finished.

"Horrible?" Natasha frowned before conceding to herself that, with the crap she went through as a superhero, it was bad luck. She still seemed a little miffed that I had picked up on the downsides so easily though.

"Those were the guys who saved New York from that alien invasion while you were... with you aunt," Paul commented. "It was crazy, Percy. Aliens were flying out of the sky."

I raised an eyebrow. It couldn't have been worse than the Giant War, not that they needed to know the details from that. The less my mom knew about the crap I had faced, the better. "Sounds wild."

"It was," Mom confirmed. "You're doing okay in school still, right? If this messes with you grades, I'll get you pulled out."

"Nah, I'm doing good right now. I got copies of my books that cater to my dyslexia recently, so I should be set."

"When can you come by?" Paul said.

"I was told during the weekends," I informed. "Which totally sucks considering how much time we're stuck apart otherwise." Wisely, Nat didn't bring that last bit up.

Mom put a hand on my leg, rubbing circles on my kneecap. I leaned into her motherly affections so she shifted to let me tuck into her side. "I've missed you, kiddo. Remember that I love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

A/N am I listening to salsa music whilst finishing this up? Uh...