The car was as silent as a grave, the two occupants turning their own thoughts in their head as the scenery blurred past them. Tony took the wheel, not letting up on the pedal as he sped across the state to reach his friend. When they left, Tony had been deciding between the Acura or the Ferrari, and decided to go with the former instead of the latter for its speed and dark color. Steve sat in the passenger seat, Tony's Iron Man suit in his lap. Much like his Mark II, this one collapsed in form as well, making it easier for him to carry around. He didn't want a repeat of the Helicarrier incident where he had to run to where his suit was kept in order to put it on.

Tony combined the Mark VII and the Mark II together, his hands sporting the bracelets that allowed the suit to track him and align to his body while remaining in its compact form when he wasn't using it. For now, the Acura was a two-seater, so he had Steve hold on to the suit, with the Captain's own shield on his lap as well while he drove. For once, the speed that he was going at garnered no complaints from his passenger. Slightly worried at the silence coming from the other man, Tony risked a glance at his team leader, carefully keeping an eye on the road as well. He nearly swerved off the road when Steve spoke up.

"Keep your eyes on the road Tony."

Tony huffed and grumbled, a hand on the wheel, "This is what I get for being concerned." He eyed Steve again, who was leaning against the window, gazing at nothing in particular. "Hey Cap," he said, making Steve turn to him, "Something wrong?"

Steve made to shake his head, but stopped mid motion. He hesitated for a moment, while Tony pretended not to notice his hesitation, giving him time to collect his thoughts. "Do you think I've made the right choices?" Steve asked quietly.

Tony hummed in response, tapping his fingers lightly on the steering wheel. "I don't know if what you've made were the right choices per se, but what I do know is that we all trust you in your decisions."

Steve sighed, frustrated, "Why? What gives me the right to make the decisions? What gives me the right to leave people behind to die to save ourselves? How can I say that this person deserves to live and be saved and this person doesn't deserve to?"

Tony bit his lip, "The thing is Cap, you can't save everyone." He said, smiling bitterly, an encouraging voice and flashes of blood brought forth in his mind, "I know that from experience. You're not deeming anyone worthy of living or not, you're just trying to save the people you can."

"But if that means sacrificing others? What then? I don't have the right to decide who lives and dies, who gets rescued and who doesn't."

"What brought this on Steve? You've never shown any doubts before, why start now?"

Steve leaned his head back, closing his eyes, "I failed as the team leader. I sent you and Thor to Afghanistan first, which almost got you killed and it got Thor under their control. Loki was right, without him, all of us would be dead, killed by two mindless chitauri impersonating as our pilots. I sent Percy on a suicide mission with the one person we cannot trust, I practically gave him to our enemies on a silver platter, and now he's dead and the chitauri are back on Earth. I left Bruce in the midst of the enemy because we had to run away. I left the millions of people in New York behind because we weren't strong enough to fight back!" Steve shouted, gripping his head as he breathed heavily, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Look Cap," Tony started, "We both know that I suck at this moral and ethics thingy that you saints have," he counted it as a win when Steve cracked a smile, and continued, "but even I know that everything that happened wasn't your fault. If anything, it was all of ours. We weren't paying attention, we became complacent, and the enemy took advantage of our distractions. Percy – Percy's death wasn't your fault." Tony sighed, feeling the guilt that accompanied the thought of the kid's death, "He knew what he was going in to, he knew that it was dangerous. We just didn't figure out that the trap was meant for him alone. The chitauri and Amora knew how to trap him, you didn't know, so it isn't your fault. And Bruce?" Tony snorted, "I'm pretty sure the big guy would smack you for even thinking like that."

Steve remained silent, digesting the words that Tony had thrown to him. In the years that he had come to know the genius, he had realized that his initial impression of the other was completely and utterly wrong. He had thought Tony Stark to be a vain, arrogant man who knew nothing of the concept of friendship and teamwork. Shamefully, he had realized that he had compared Tony to Howard, expecting him to be the same as his longtime friend, looking for someone who didn't exist. Only after a particularly tedious battle did Steve and Tony finally sit down and talk. Steve learned more about his friend in that one talk than he did in the months that they had been living together. He had been so angry when Tony had screamed at him, saying that Howard was not worthy of being a father, and he had shouted right back, wanting to defend the friend who supported him alongside Peggy. He felt guilty for judging Tony on his behavior when he found out that Howard wasn't the man he thought he was, having lost a close friend, he poured his life's energy into finding Steve, studiously ignoring his son who had only ever wanted a father's love and attention.

"Thank you." He said simply, turning the words in his head and firming his resolve.

Tony grinned, "Good to have you back cap! Don't know about you but I don't think being mopey suits you. Besides," he added, his face growing serious, "We're almost reaching the big apple."

Steve nodded solemnly, "We'll drop some blocks away, I don't want to be trapped in a car if the chitauri decides to attack us from above. We can make our way to the building on foot, it'll give us time to identify whether Bruce's new – acquaintances are on our side or not."

Tony gave him a lazy smirk, "Aye aye Captain."

Bruce stood in the shadows nervously, peering out from his hiding place every few seconds or so, only to be pulled back violently by an irate demigod. "Will you just stay back?" Nico hissed, his dark eyes flashing, "I'll know when they arrive. If you keep heading out like that the chitauri will find you!"

Bruce ducked his head sheepishly, but stood his ground, "Those are my friends out there, you can't blame me for being worried for them. They don't even have the protection I do!"

Nico stared at the meek scientist for a moment longer, then sighed and nodded, "I know how you feel, but we can't risk drawing the chitauri to our location. That would only make things worse for your friends. You have to trust that they can protect themselves."

Bruce nodded mutely, accepting the compromise for what it was. He carefully peered out from behind the wall, narrowing his eyes when his ears didn't catch the sound of Tony's car. He figured that Tony would choose speed and inconspicuous over bright and flashy - even if it meant going against his very own personality - which meant that he would be picking the Acura, the fastest car he had in his garage. But he didn't hear it, nor did he catch any sight of it, and that was worrying him. What if they were caught on the way here? It would be easy for the fliers to pick them out from above. He bit his lip nervously, maybe they met with a delay or something? Or maybe they didn't even make it out of the house at all –

"Stop thinking so loudly." Nico grumbled, playing with his ring as he leaned against the wall, shrouded in shadows so only his eyes were visible. It would have scared Bruce into changing into the Hulk if he hadn't been used to the demigod's antics. As the son of Hades, he naturally kept to darker places and wore darker clothes to blend in with his shadows, the darkness a perfect cover for scaring the wits out of people. Bruce shot him a glare nevertheless, for what he said, "I'm worried, okay?"

Nico rolled his eyes, the movement almost going unnoticed, "They're fine." He insisted, "They probably decided to abandon the car or something. I mean, in a city where everyone is hiding, a moving car might just be a little obvious."

"And meeting at the Empire State Building isn't?"

Nico raised an eyebrow, "Hey, I told you, it's where Olympus is, the gods are there, its literally the safest building on earth right now."

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Yeah well, I think being outside America is safer in general." He added dryly.

Nico snorted, his lips quirking into a half smirk – a shadow of his usual smile, but then he hadn't been the same since he felt his cousin slip away from him – opening his mouth to reply when he felt something on the edge of his senses. He narrowed his eyes and sat up straight, his fingers stilling against the wall, the shadows curling underneath his fingers. Bruce noticed the sudden change in his companion, and tensed slightly, waiting for Nico to respond to him.

Nico stretched out his senses, combing the area for any sign of what set his instincts off. In the years that Percy disappeared from the demigod world, he had perfected the ability to sense living things. Ironically, it was Percy who first helped him to realize that he had this ability. By Percy-logic, if he could sense when people died, he could sense when they were alive, though at the time, they had used it to figure out where their enemies were during the war. He trained though, and soon it became easier to pick out specific life forms like his fellow demigods from say the multitude of mortals they were surrounded by. It was why he was so attuned to his cousin's life force, and when Percy had – gone – it hit him so hard that he couldn't breathe.

Nico shook his head, clearing his mind of the memories, focusing his power. He blinked and cursed, shooting to his feet immediately, with Bruce clambering up behind him, "Di immortales! The chitauri are back!"

Bruce looked at him worriedly, "Do I – do I have to call the other guy out?"

Nico shook his head, "No, too dangerous, we don't know when you can change back and while it is a larger group than normal, it shouldn't require the Hulk."

Bruce nodded, "Where are they?"

Nico cocked his head, stepping out from their hiding place, twisting his skull ring, "Heading this direction that's for sure, I think they sense the power in the building, they've been focusing most of their attacks on the building."

"And we're the only ones out here and I can't transform." Bruce sighed, pushing his glasses up, "Can this get any worse?"

Nico looked at him sharply, "Don't –"

"Hey Brucie!" a sing song voice cut in.

"– say that." Nico finished, rubbing a palm over his face. The two of them turned to see one Tony Stark striding towards them, a huge grin on his face, Captain America following grimly behind him.

Tony reached them first and gave Bruce a pat on the back, one step away from an all out hug, before turning to Nico, giving the demigod an appraising look, "Hey, you're the one who was with uh, Percy. Right?"

Nico tilted his head, remembering a group of mortals surrounding his cousin when he found his mother's body beneath the rubble. He looked at Steve, then back at Tony again, "I remember him," he said, nodding to Steve, "but I don't remember you."

Tony's face fell, "Oh come on! You don't remember me? I have the most memorable face ever!"

"Tony," Steve admonished, "You were probably wearing the suit at the time."

"The faceplate was off!"

"Doesn't matter, it was a shining red and gold suit, not exactly the same as the shirt you're wearing now." Bruce chipped in.

Steve turned to Nico, his blue eyes sorrowful and guilty, "You know Percy right? I – do you know about –"

"Yes I do." Nico cut him off, turning away from the group, "My cousin is dead," he missed the way the three avengers flinched, "and we have a group of chitauri coming in." He pinned them with a glare, "I suggest you either hide or bring out your weapons." He said coldly.

No sooner than the words came out of his mouth, a chitauri shriek was heard, and a second later, its signature plasma bolt hit the ground before them. Tony stumbled back, dropping his suit to the ground as it unfolded, while Steve quickly retrieved his shield from his back, holding it out in front of him, protecting his other two team mates while Tony suited up. He glanced at the dark haired boy beside them, slightly shocked at the sudden appearance of an obsidian sword. Steve narrowed his eyes, Percy had a similar sword, only it was silver, and the agent – it was easier to think of him as an agent rather as a member of their dysfunctional family – had a tendency to use daggers and blades instead of guns. He shook his head, now was not the time for distracting thoughts.

The wave of chitauri fell upon them, and Nico was like a deadly assassin. He struck quickly and precisely, his Stygian sword slitting the throats of the chitauri and absorbing their life force, causing them to crumple to the ground. He threw up a shield of darkness in front of Bruce, not wanting the other human to get hurt in crossfire, while shadows dragged the airborne aliens to the ground where they remained trapped in his grasp. He held his hand up and several shadows made out of darkness shot out from the ground, spearing the aliens through. He ducked and slashed, cutting into the alien behind him, his left hand punching said alien in the face. The demigod whirled around and cut the hand of a chitauri off, causing it to drop his weapon. He thrust his sword forward, the blade slipping through the armor easily, destroying the alien's internal system. He pulled the blade out again and set it on another path of death and destruction, his mind filled with cool anger at the thought of these creatures murdering the one person in his life who meant the world to him.

Nico snarled and drew the shadows to him, disappearing from his spot and appearing behind the aliens. He stretched out a hand, and tendrils of darkness bound them, while a huge dome of darkness covered the group of about twenty chitauri or so. With a sharp grin, he clenched his hand, and within the dome, spikes of darkness impaled the chitauri in all directions, their pain-filled cries cut off almost immediately.

Steve, who had been keeping an eye on Nico, felt his own eyes widen in shock. Naturally, he saw the chitauri heading at the boy at full speed. And obviously, he didn't know said boy's name. "Hey!" he shouted, trying to get the other's attention, "Behind you!"

Nico heard the cry and felt the chitauri, he whirled around, the shadows drawing him in, but the blade was heading towards him too quickly –

A silver arrow pierced the chitauri's wrist, another hitting the blade, causing it to shift to the side as Nico fell back into the shadows, the fatal wound only a shallow cut on his shoulder as a result. Several more arrows sprouted on the alien's body, and by the time Nico emerged from the shadows again, a scowl on his face, the alien was doing its best impression of a pin cushion.

The remaining chitauri stopped and stared at the side of one of their own mimicking a silver porcupine, giving Tony the chance to land behind Steve, while Nico, standing in front of the wall in front of Bruce, took one look at the arrow riddled chitauri and sighed.

"Heh, boys, what can you do without us girls huh?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "I don't know, maybe we'd actually get the job done?"

A figure landed in front of him, a smirk on her face, "You'd be imitating the headless horseman now if it weren't for me death breath."

Nico scowled, "I would not tree face."

That seemed to be the cue for the chitauri, and at once, they started attacking again, their attacks renewed. Thalia turned to them and smirked, raising her bow and firing off several arrows at once, taking them out immediately, her grumpy cousin heading off in another direction to reduce the number of aliens.

When the aliens had crowded her enough that her bow wasn't the most effective weapon, she grinned and dropped it. She twirled the mace canister challengingly at the chitauri, narrowing her eyes at them, this is for you kelp head, she thought, charging at the aliens. She spun the spear in a tight axis around her body, gutting the aliens surrounding her. She followed through with the movement and slammed the butt of her spear into a chitauri's throat, crushing it, thrusting the sharp end in the other direction into the soft flesh of another chitauri, taking two of them out with one shot.

Thalia twirled her spear casually, deciding not to use her shield at this time. She didn't know if these creatures had enough brain to be scared by the gorgon's head or if they were even affected by it. In any case, it left her with a free hand, and more dexterity to wield her spear with. She remembered clearly the day when Nico called her and told her that Percy was dead. She remembered laughing in his face, punching him in the shoulder and telling him to stop joking. When he had only grown even more somber and his eyes had a suspicious sheen to it, she felt her heart stop, the reality of the situation hitting her so hard she could barely breathe.

When Percy had left three years ago, Thalia was furious at him, she didn't understand why he would leave all of them behind, and why he would leave Annabeth behind, proving to all and sundry that the Hunt was right, and boys couldn't be trusted. But after several stuttering conversations on the Annabeth's part and insistent questioning on her mistress', she found out the reason why he left.

And boy was she mad.

She couldn't believe that her uncle would have done such a thing. Her own father she knew would sacrifice a mortal for the gods' survival, but Poseidon? She didn't dare to believe that he was capable of such a cold-hearted thing. Not when he was the same god who visited Percy constantly just because he could, even when it was against the laws. Not when he was the same god who allowed her in his domain because he didn't think that it was practical for a demigod to be unable to travel in another god's domain just because said demigod's parent was annoying. Not when he was the same god who always made it a point to arrive with a present on Percy's birthday, on Nico's birthday, on her birthday. (And not even Zeus knew when her birthday was.)

She had screamed and raged at Nico, hurling lightning and hurricanes at her cousin until she ran out of steam, collapsing to her knees at the thought of Percy. Nico had stayed with her, silent in his grieving, a stark contrast to her own outburst. She hadn't cried that hard when her mother died, and she cursed his name, hating that he had made her care. Memories of her fights with him rose in her mind, and she chuckled to herself when she realized how many times they had clashed over trivial things. What she wouldn't give to bring back those days. Before the war, before Tartarus, when he still smiled without any shadows.

Thinking of Percy now – how dare they sacrifice him on an altar? – made her blood boil. He wasn't supposed to die, he was Percy Jackson! He was like a cockroach, he was supposed to get up and laugh it off, reassuring them that he was still alive and saying stupid things. He was a hero, he was supposed to have a happy ending wasn't he?

As angry as she was, she cut and slashed at the chitauri, their chattering fueling her growing ire. Thalia spied Nico at her side, a silent shadow reaping the lives of the aliens, and she called out a warning, "Nickky get the hell out of the way!"

Nico turned stunned eyes at her, before his gaze landed on her blood soaked spear. His gaze hardened and he vanished into a shadow, two tendrils of darkness grabbing Tony and Steve by their waist and dragging them into the shadows as well. The three of them appeared by the wall of darkness that Bruce was behind, Steve crouching in defense while Tony sputtered at the rough treatment. Nico eyed his remaining cousin who was standing in the middle of the hoard of chitauri, the aliens closing in on her.

Tony felt his eyes widen, "Whoa shit, we should help her out man!"

Nico shook his head mutely and dragged him back when he moved forward, saying, "You'll only get in the way."

The two avengers looked at him worriedly, but Nico ignored them in favor of watching his cousin, his shadows ensuring that they didn't run headlong into the fray.

Thalia grinned when she felt Nico move the mortals out of range, twirling her spear confidently. She smirked, "Let's see how well you do when a storm comes." Her electric blue eyes flashed as she raised her spear, thunder roaring in the sky above.

A bolt of lightning tore from the sky, slamming into her spear, her weapon crackling with electricity. "Eat this assholes!" She snarled at the chitauri, releasing the lightning from her spear, the single bolt splitting into several thousand smaller ones, the electricity spreading across the whole hoard of chitauri, burning them instantly.

Tony and Steve stared, slack-jawed at the display of power before them. Thor had been impressive with his lightning, but he didn't have the finesse that this girl did, being able to control where the lightning struck. The chitauri crumpled to the ground, their bodies fried to a crisp. Thalia relaxed her stance, looking at the bodies smugly. It didn't satisfy her anger, but it made her content with the knowledge that she had reduced the numbers of the people who killed her cousin. No one harmed her family and got away with it.

No one.

Nico walked towards her cautiously, not wanting to get fried via electricity if he could help it. Thalia and shock-filled punches were common occurrences. "Thals." He said softly.

She lifted her head, smirking slightly, "Nickky."

Nico scowled, "Don't call me that. Why are you here?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, "How rude, if I wasn't here, you'd be dead or shish kebab." She sighed, "Lady Artemis sent me here, she said that it's better for me to stay here than to remain with the hunt and appear only when that hammer god appears. Easier for me to engage him in combat."

Nico resisted the urge to face palm, "Hammer god..." He sighed, looking back at the three avengers, the wall of shadow disappearing to reveal Bruce, who stepped out cautiously. "Come on," he murmured, ignoring Thalia's look of distaste, "Let's go introduce ourselves."

He walked back to the avengers, who were standing defensively and gestured to Thalia, "This is Thalia, she's my cousin. I'm Nico."

Steve nodded at Thalia, then at Nico, "I'm Steve Rogers, but you should already know that. This is Tony, again, you probably already know that."

Tony raised a hand, looking at Thalia, "When you say that you're his cousin... Does that mean –"

Thalia crossed her arms and glared, taking pride in the way the genius flinched, it seemed like Percy's infamous death glare had influenced her as well, "Yes," she snapped, "Percy's my cousin as well, and yes, I know damn well what happened to him."

Steve pressed his lips together, guilt welling up in him, "Look, miss, we're sorry –"

"Cut the crap Captain," she spat, turning to face him, "I may not know what the Hades he was doing as a field agent, but I sure as hell know that he was assigned to you heroes." She sneered at the word, "You were supposed to look after him and you let. Him. Die." She ground her teeth together, glaring at the supposed heroes of earth standing before her. Percy had done so much more for this planet than any of them even did, and none of them knew it. Before they were even heroes, Percy had already saved the world, he had sacrificed so much for people who didn't even appreciate what he did.

And she said as much.

"Percy has done so much for this planet, more than any of you can ever comprehend, you don't even measure up to him at all! He didn't deserve to fucking die! You were supposed to look after him, you look after your members don't you? Or is that some avengers only exclusive?" She barked, watching as Steve's face shuttered and he looked away. Thalia knew her words had hurt, because she was aiming for it. She wasn't like Nico, who was quiet in his opinions, nor was she like Percy, who was too ready to forgive others. No, she was hot-tempered, her words were aimed to do maximum damage and she knew it. It was why the three of them worked so well together after all, because they complemented each other.

Tony stepped forward with a glare of his own, "Look here lady, this isn't Steve's fault alright? You think any of us wanted Percy to die? You think we would have sent him to his death willingly? He may not have been an avenger but he was one of us! So watch what you say because none of us would sacrifice him, least of all Steve!"

Thalia's body crackled with electricity and she stepped forward, as did Tony, but Nico cut in, stopping their tirade, "Enough!" He shouted, glaring at them both, "Shut up both of you – Thalia don't give me that look. Fighting amongst each other isn't what we need now. You think Percy would want us to fight over him like that? He's our family Thals, but he's also a part of theirs." He swallowed harshly, "What we need to do now is to focus on our mission, which is finding the damn gem. Not play the blame game."

Thalia clenched her fists tightly, then released a breath, "I'm not apologizing for that." She muttered, turning away.

Nico shook his head, "I didn't think so. Gather round, I'll take you back to the base."

"What are you?" Steve spoke up, having remained silent throughout Thalia's accusations.

Nico smiled thinly, "We'll explain everything once we get to the base. Now gather round and maintain physical contact with each other and anything you wish to bring."

He grabbed Thalia's and Bruce's hands, with Bruce holding on to Steve and Steve holding on to Tony who in turn held on to his suit. Nico looked at their surroundings one last time before the shadows surged up and swallowed them whole.