The hunter stayed in the shadows where he had come from, his cold yellow eyes fixated on the river bank. His mistress had summoned him some time before – time was immeasurable down here in Niflheim – and delegated to him a task of utmost importance. Moments after receiving his orders, he set off for the plains, his senses attuned to his prey like a hunting dog to its quarry. He tracked his prey across the desolate lands of Niflheim, not that the hunter noticed, it was after all, his homeland, a terrain he was used to hunting in. Furthermore, its shadowy grounds provided sufficient cover for him when he needed it. He followed the trail left by his prey diligently, knowing that there was no need for him to rush when there was nowhere to run on Niflheim. He always caught up to his prey eventually. The bodies of the wolves were long gone, turning to dust that mingled with the ashy ground, but their stench remained. He touched the ground, inhaling deeply, the scent of blood and sweat permeating his olfactory system. Yellow eyes gleamed thirstily at the prospect of a hunt, and the hunter set off again, quickening his pace as the distance between him and his prey closed.

Now, standing under the cover of spindly branches splayed out above his head like skeletal fingers, the hunter watched and waited. His grip on his weapon tightened, remembering his failure at securing his prey. In all the missions that his mistress had entrusted him with, this was the first time a prey had escaped him. Never before had a prey escaped his grasp. They ran, yes, that was expected, but futile, nothing could outrun the hunter, and he always caught up to them in the end. All things considered, the hunter was efficient in his hunt, and when he cornered his prey, they wailed and screamed as he slit their throats, silencing them forever. They were easy to track, and even easier to kill, and he returned to his mistress with victory in his bag.

Naturally, he expected this hunt to be the same.

The trail was easy to follow, his prey not even bothering to hide the tracks, but when the hunter finally cornered his prey – in a matter of speaking, because the open field was hardly a conducive place for cornering – and moved in for the kill, his prey did something unexpected.

He fought back.

Of course, other victims had fought back too, if punches that seemed feather light against the hunter's skin could be called fighting. But no, this prey had fought back with all the ferocity of a seasoned warrior. The hunter, called so because of what he was meant to do, felt his inner beast awaken. The slumbering beast beneath ragged cloth and stretched skin rearing its head at the prospect of a true hunt.

The hunter had expected to come out top, naturally, since that seemed to be the recurring pattern in his quests. His prey had stood on equal ground against him, even managing to push him back, but ultimately, the hunter emerged victorious. And when the hunter had gone in for the kill, he remembered the feeling of sliding a sharp blade through flesh and cartilage, when his prey had thrown one last card, gambled, and won.

The hunter, for once in his existence, had experienced shock, his yellow eyes displaying the emotion for all to see even as his body dissolved into black mist, a bone-deep cold spreading throughout his body. When he had regained his senses enough to reform his body again, he found himself appearing where their last battle occurred. The hunter scanned the horizon with dispassionate eyes, gaze landing on a darkened patch of ash. He cocked his head to one side, interest gleaming in yellow eyes as he picked up the trail, tracking his prey to the river bank, where ash turned into water. There he waited until now, having no desire to deal with the parody of hunters that called themselves draugar. He waited by the river bank, knowing that his prey would cross back eventually. One with such a strong fighting spirit would not succumb easily to the useless corpses. And even if his prey fell to those creatures, he would still retrieve the wayward soul and bring it back to his mistress.

The hunter allowed his black lips to twist into a mimic of a smile that went unseen behind his mask as he leaned back against the tree, his weapons strapped across his chest and back covered by the shadows and by his cloak. He had no doubt that his prey would cross back. And the hunter would be waiting for him. His mistress would not accept failure after all.

And neither would he.

Percy tightened his grip on Loki as they fell into the water, the bland, grey landscape replaced immediately by solid darkness. The water was so black that it seemed as though he had merely closed his eyes instead of jumping head first into ice cold water. If it hadn't been for the oily feeling against his skin, which was exactly how the water felt to him – and it was so so wrong for water to feel like that – he would have thought that he'd been knocked unconscious. In response, Loki gripped his hand as well, a gesture of trust and a source of comfort in the strength of his hand. The water was as black as the void, sparking an unfounded fear in him, and dark to the point where Percy couldn't even see his hand if he waved it in front of his face. But he didn't need to see to navigate his way across, and he tugged on Loki's hand, pulling him closer. He felt the god still and hesitate for a moment, before a warm arm slipped across his waist, his own arm sliding across the other's back. The two of them – remaining silent through an unspoken agreement – placed one foot in front of the next, slowly but surely walking forward. Percy felt the weight of the water press down on him, its oily touch making him recoil and nearly lose his hold on his power that let them remain dry.

He didn't know why, but he just knew that he could not let a drop of water touch them. He stumbled again, the water swirling around him like it had a mind of its own, angry and annoyed that there were souls that were escaping it's wrath. Percy felt the grip on his waist tighten, crushing him against a sturdy chest. He hugged the other god tighter, squeezing his eyes shut and willing them to stay dry for just that little bit longer, drawing strength from the strong arms that encircled him.

They trudged forward together, silence ringing in their ears. Percy felt it when they reached the other bank, the slowly receding amount of water before him and the increasing rage at which the blackened liquid screamed in his ears. Drawing on the reserves of his strength, Percy hugged Loki and launched the both of them upwards, using the water to propel them to the surface.

They emerged gasping for air that they didn't really need, a reflex action from being underwater for so long despite the fact that they were able to breathe. Percy flopped onto his back on the ashy ground, his chest heaving with exertion while Loki collapsed a little more gracefully, the sinister magic corrupting the water having affected him as well. They both lay there for awhile, just concentrating on getting their energy back. When Loki moved to get up, Percy groaned, lifting his head up to give Loki a puppy dog look, "Oh my gods, can we stay here for awhile? Please? I think my legs are noodles."

Loki rolled his eyes at his companion's theatrics, "You may remain here if you wish, but becoming a chew toy for the wolves are not on my to-do list."

Percy groaned again, his head flopping backwards on the ground, raising a hand in the air, "I hate you." He grumbled.

Loki smirked, grasping his hand and pulling him up to his feet, his mind caught up in the moment, "No, you love me."

Percy blinked, as did Loki, who was stunned at what came out of his mouth. "I – I didn't mean that." The god tacked on hastily, his mind back-pedaling rapidly, "Just, it is something that I've heard mortals say before so –"

Percy smiled, his eyes twinkling with laughter, and it was the worst moment in the history of worst moments that even surrounded by death, all Loki could think about there and then was how beautiful the demigod looked when he smiled. The Percy that he knew was a hardened warrior, attractive in his neutrality and his smoldering anger, but this – this was a side that Loki had only glimpsed of before, when they were surrounded by the ocean and the marine life and Percy let his guard down enough. This was the side of Percy that he heard about, the carefree boy who was loyal to a fault and would stop at nothing to help his friends.

And the only thing Loki could think of was, dear Norns, he is beautiful, and I am unworthy.

It was that sudden thought that saved his life because he had to turn away from the boy, and in that instance, sharp emerald met dirty yellow. He felt a sudden pressure in his ribs, on the left side of his chest. A sharp gasp escaped him and he stumbled backwards, feeling Percy latch onto his shoulders. Distantly, he registered someone screaming in his ear – who was screaming? Why? There wasn't any danger, was there? – but the sound was muffled and seemed far away. He blinked sluggishly, his reaction slowed for unknown reasons even as his mind screamed at him to move.

The bright yellow eyes flashed in his mind at the same time the pain hit. He doubled over, eyes dropping immediately to his side where a thick, gleaming silver shaft had pierced him, grazing his ribs. He fell to the ground, a hand moving up to his side to grasp the metal, a pained hiss escaping him as his fingers skimmed the body of the arrow embedded in him, waves of pain coursing throughout his whole body.

Loki squeezed his eyes shut, his face contorted in pain. There was no way a simple arrow could have caused that much damage – he was a god, he didn't fall to a simple arrow – and the god cursed, feeling as though his nerves were on fire. Poison, his mind supplied helpfully, as though he had not already figured that out. The diagnostic didn't help one bit, he clenched his teeth, riding out the waves of pain. At the back of his mind, he knew that this was the figure that Percy had been talking about, the one who had hunted him and slit his throat – Norns, didn't that hurt thinking about it? It was the only time Loki was ever glad that Percy was already dead – and he knew that it meant that the boy was in danger, but he could barely even think straight, let alone try to get up and help him.

Loki sucked in a breath and closed his hand around the arrow shaft, the cold from the metal seeping into his fingers. He squeezed his eyes shut and yanked the arrow out in one swift movement, grunting as pain exploded in his side, his vision going white. The god clamped a hand on his side, feeling wetness underneath his hand. He didn't need to see the wound to know that it was bleeding severely, or that if he didn't heal it soon, he would probably bleed out. Loki knew all these facts, but he wasn't going to leave Percy behind, not when he had already come so far.

He grit his teeth and stood up shakily, his back hunched over as he scanned the field for signs of the hunter and Percy. Not for the first time since he began his quest, he cursed Hela for inheriting his tendency to toy with others. Because only she would summon a hunter to hunt the demigod who he was seeking to bring back to life. Loki spotted the two of them several meters away, grappling with each other on the dust covered ground. he knew that Percy could hold his own in a fight, but this was a hunter summoned by Hela herself, he was a killing machine in his own right and had the multitude of skills to back him up. If he had his memory, Percy might have been able to fight on equal footing against the hunter using his skills accordingly, but he didn't have them. All he had were his instincts and muscle memory to rely on, not enough for a fight against a literal killing machine.

Loki hissed in pain and frustration, narrowing his eyes at the hunter as he called upon his magic.

The hunter straightened up from his reclining position against the tree when he felt the black lake's magic ripple. Yellow eyes narrowed as he scanned the surface of the water, it wouldn't take long for someone to emerge from the other side of the veil that separated the draugar from the rest of Niflheim's inhabitants, and he had a feeling that it was his prey was coming back. If he could, he would have reeled back in shock when the water exploded outwards, spitting out two figures instead of one. The hunter narrowed his eyes, one was most definitely his prey, the other he didn't know, but the second male was most definitely still alive. The hunter's yellow eyes flashed dangerously, it wasn't hard to put two and two together, and his lips curled back behind the mask, showing sharpened incisors. He hissed at the thought that someone dared to try taking a soul out of the realm of his mistress. No one did that and got away with it. Oh the soul may have been returned to its body, but his mistress always claimed it back in the end.

The hunter drew out his crossbow, a black body with a simple trigger at the bottom. He loaded the weapon carefully with a deadly arrow, one that would kill a man within seconds, taking aim at the second figure standing in the distance. In the split second before he touched the trigger, the figure turned around and looked right at him, seeming to register the danger that was head their way. The hunter allowed the figure to glimpse into his own eyes, and his finger touched the trigger, launching the arrow forward. He watched impassively as flew through the air faster than the eye could track, sinking its metal teeth into flesh. It didn't matter that the arrow didn't bury itself in the figure's heart, because the man was about to become a permanent resident here anyway.

The hunter saw his prey grab the now kneeling figure on the ground, panicking and calling out his name, and he saw his chance. The hunter tucked the crossbow back and took his sword out, launching himself across the plain at his prey. The hunter was not as fast as the draugar, but he was faster than any mortal and even most of the gods. Within seconds, he reached his prey and flung him away from the kneeling figure with a hand, paying no attention to the wounded individual as he stalked forward, eyes on his prey only.

That was his first mistake.

The hunter swung downwards, his sword connecting with a hastily constructed dagger. The hunter twisted and shoved, sending the dark haired boy sprawling backwards onto the ground. Percy did a reverse tumble and rolled to his feet, bringing his crude weapon up to defend himself as the hunter lunged forward, aiming for his throat. He ducked under the swing, intending to get within his attacker's guard, but hopped back almost immediately as the hunter switched to a backhand grip and slashed upwards across his chest.

Percy hissed as the thin sword drew a line of blood across his chest, crouching and sweeping his leg around. As expected, the hunter jumped to avoid the swing, and Percy narrowed his eyes, using his powers to push the hunter back. The man – he seemed like a man – stumbled back from the invisible blow to the chest, giving Percy the split second opening he needed. The demigod charged at the hunter, slamming him into the ground. They both rolled across the ground, Percy getting in some hits. The hunter snarled behind his mask, strong hands forcing Percy's arm down on the ground as he straddled his prey.

That was the second mistake.

Percy bucked, trying to throw off the hunter, but the inhuman figure was too strong. He bared his teeth aggressively as yellow eyes neared his own green ones, the amber narrowing fiercely. The hunter leaned back, one hand reaching behind him to retrieve his other sword that lay horizontally across his back, the other pinning both of Percy's arms down. He didn't check behind him, assuming that he was alone with his prey. The hunter definitely wasn't expecting it when he leaned back to finish off his prey and a gnarled staff protruded from his chest, tendrils of green fire spreading out from the point of contract.

The hunter jerked, yellow eyes growing wide in shock as the staff twisted in his chest, the edges of his body dissolving into black mist. Percy took advantage and broke free of the hunter's grip, scuttling backwards in shock as the body dissolved in front of his eyes. The black mist dissipated to show Loki hunched over where the hunter was a second ago, his eyes drawn with lines. The god slammed his staff into the ground, sinking almost all the way down to his knees as he tried to keep his weight on his staff.

"Oh my god." Percy whispered, scrambling to Loki's side, his hands hovering over the god's shoulders, unsure if he should touch him or not. "Oh god, Loki – shit, are you okay? I mean, that's a stupid question, you're obviously not okay, I meant, do you need help –"

"You are rambling again." Loki said tiredly, wishing to do nothing more than curl up and go to sleep, but knowing that he couldn't leave Percy here. He looked up at Percy through his lashes, "Perseus, we need – we need to get out of here. Now. I can get you out, but are you willing to come?"

Percy reeled back, "What – you mean – you could have taken me out all this time? Even when we were in the draugr's land? So what was that all for? Why did we have to risk our lives – your life to get out of there? Risk the water to get out and risk the hunter to get out? What was all of that for?" he shouted, a pinch of guilt stabbing him as he watched Loki sink even further to the ground in pain. But he felt played by the god, that there wasn't any need for them to go through so much in order to get out. "Why would you play me like that?" he asked, "Was it funny to see me without my memories? Was it a joke to you? Why –"

"Do you trust me Perseus Jackson?" Loki interrupted his tirade, turning exhausted emerald orbs to him. Percy stopped short at the question, blinking rapidly. Finally, he saw, he really saw, the god's condition. He was holding one hand to his side, blood seeping through his fingers steadily, the normally pale face turning whiter by the minute.

"I –"

"Do you trust me?" Loki asked again, albeit more quietly, removing his hand from his side to face it palm up, a mirror image of the first time they met in the chitauri's homeland.

Percy stared at the blood painted hand for a few seconds, his mind turning in circles as he asked himself the question. In the end, he couldn't find an intellectual answer, and so, like the first time he met Loki – albeit he didn't know that – he placed his trust in his instincts and placed his hand in Loki's own.

Loki smiled thinly and drew upon his reserves of magic, green light swirling around them and transporting them away.

Not a second too soon as the hunter reformed, snarling angrily at the empty space where his prey was. He wanted to continue hunting his prey down, but his mistress appeared in a swirl of magic, placing a bony hand on his shoulder. "Enough my precious hunter, your mission is completed."

The hunter turned to her inquisitively, "My lady, I have not yet reaped the boy's soul, allow me to continue my mission, I will not fail to bring him back to you."

Hela smiled, "That was never the mission in the first place my dear hunter. Let them go. They've earned their freedom."

Loki felt his gut squeeze uncomfortably for several seconds as his spell brought him through space, gripping Percy's hand tightly. The moment Percy's hand disappeared from his own, he started panicking, the adrenaline rushing through him allowing him to pick himself up from the floor, disregarding the gaping wound in his side. He felt his eyes widen at the sight of the demigod's room in Atlantis, and he nearly went into a fit at the obvious lack of one Percy Jackson with him.

At least, until he realized that there was a glowing blue-green orb in his hands.

Loki didn't have time to wonder about the orb because at that moment, the door practically crashed open, sending three gods tumbling into the room. Loki stared gobsmacked as Hades picked himself up gracefully and meandered over to him, his dark eyes reassuring as he held out a hand for the orb that was floating above Loki's palm.

"You have done your part," the dark god said, carefully extracting the orb from Loki, "Now we will need to conduct the spell to return my nephew back to life."

Loki handed the orb numbly over to Hades, who rushed over to Percy's still body on the bed, letting the orb hover above the boy's unmoving chest. Indistinct murmuring filled the room as Poseidon joined his brother in casting the spell, acting as the spell's anchor while Hades tried to encourage the body to accept the soul once again. Triton gripped Loki's arm tightly, partially to comfort himself and partially to steady the other god, who looked as white as a sheet in the dim lighting of the room.

As he watched, Triton prayed to whoever gods prayed to that this would work, that his brother would return alive and whole. It had been barely a week since his brother had died, and already his presence affected the people so thoroughly, as though they could sense that their shining beacon of hope had been extinguished. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed to retrieve the mortals and keep an eye on them while they worked on locating the gem, he would have sought out Amora and ripped her skin from her bones for even touching his brother. In the privacy of his mind, he felt that the bitch deserved worse than that for such a cowardly move. Not even Kronos had resorted to such underhanded means, and all of Percy's enemies had at the very least respected him as a warrior if not hated him for foiling their plans one time too many.

Poseidon felt it when Loki appeared in Atlantis, having altered the protection spell to allow Loki to get in without a fuss – he knew how important it was for the god to be able to get to his son's body quickly. The moment that happened, the king of the sea had sent Delphin to contact his son while he himself immediately went to the Underworld to look for his eldest brother. After the giant war, the gods grew closer than they ever were before, much like a true family, and Poseidon found a new camaraderie with Hades that he had never known they could have. Their relationship with Zeus was marginally better, since the arrogant wart refused to change much, but Poseidon found himself connecting more easily with his older brother as compared to his younger one. He didn't show Nico the scorn that Zeus did to other god's children, finding that the domain restriction was a stupid rule, and in return, Hades grew to like Percy as well, not that anyone could really escape Percy's charm. There was actually a bet on how long it would have taken Kronos to fall to Percy's charm and whether they could win the war that way.

Poseidon, knowing Hades' paranoia, had taken the first step and opened his domain to him, shocking his brother with his gesture of trust. And little by little, his brother eventually extended the same courtesy towards him regarding the Underworld as well, giving him a free pass through his domain. Poseidon had never been so grateful for that as he appeared in Hades' main palace, bellowing his brother's name across his hall. The god of the dead had come out looking affronted and annoyed, but one look at the sea king's face had him hurrying to Poseidon's kingdom instantly.

Hades entered the room he now knew by heart, the sight of his nephew's body still affecting him after all this time, spying the Norse godling in the corner of the room, his pale face standing out.

He would never admit it, but the sight of the orb in Loki's hands lifted Hades' mood immensely, and he quickly retrieved the orb from the other god, directing his power to start the spell as he motioned for Poseidon to join him. He recognized Triton standing with Loki at the back of his mind, the two young gods gripping into each other tightly for support. Hades could only pray to the Fates that they would allow Percy to come back like the prophecy implied he would. Otherwise, the backlash might be just too much for the other three occupants in the room to handle.

Loki blinked sluggishly, fighting against the increasing spots in his vision, wanting to make sure that he hadn't failed in his quest. This was their only chance, and he hoped that the Norns hadn't played them. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask Percy, so many things he wanted to say but had not dared to until it was too late. He would never forgive himself if he never got to say what he wanted to say to Percy. Loki watched, his breath caught in his throat as the orb slowly descended into Percy's body, spreading out until it encompassed his entire being.

The light died down, as did the murmuring, and the four gods waited with bated breath for any sign that the spell has worked. Minutes passed and Poseidon's shoulders seemed to slump minutely, while Hades placed a comforting arm on his brother's shoulder. Triton's grip on Loki's arm relaxed, his eyes wide and hopeful as he stared at his brother.

It was only when Percy took a deep shuddering breath that Loki choked out a laugh, his side flaring in agony as it agitated the forgotten wound. He grinned and allowed his vision to turn black, the sounds of hopeful laughter turning into alarmed shouts as he collapsed to the ground.

The first thought that entered his brain when he woke up was this has happened far too often for my liking. The second was where am I? He groaned and shifted on the bed, the soft material beneath him adjusting to his movements as he tried to sit up. He hissed in pain as he jolted his side, a hand flying to where his wound had been, his fingers finding the soft material of bandages.

"You shouldn't do that, it might aggravate the wound in your side." A voice piped up from beside him.

Loki turned and hissed in surprise, scrambling – or at least, he tried to while laying horizontally on the bed – backwards against the headboard. Sitting by his bedside, his face wiped clean of all emotion, was a very much alive Percy Jackson.

Loki blinked rapidly for several minutes, not a word being passed between the two of them, "Perseus?" he whispered, not daring to raise his voice for fear of dispelling the apparition.

"I'm not going to disappear you know, and I thought I told you to call me Percy."

Loki nodded, heaving himself upright, ignoring Percy's disapproving frown. "I take it that the spell worked?"

"Obviously," Percy drawled, tapping his fingers against his leg, "If it didn't, I wouldn't be here. That, and I have to thank you." He looked at the god, "If you hadn't gone down to find me..." he trailed off.

Loki shook his head, "It was my fault that landed you there in the first place, if anything, it was what I should have done."

"So you did it out of some form of sense of duty?" Percy asked, his eyes curiously blank.

Loki hesitated, "No, no I did not just do it because it was the right thing to do, I did it because I wanted to."

"Because we're in a relationship?" The demigod posed the million dollar question.

Loki cringed, that had admittedly not been one of his finest moments. "Did you think that I would forget it once I came back?" Percy demanded, leaning forward, "Did you hope that I would forget about what you said? Or did you think that I would run straight into your arms?"

Loki flinched and shook his head, "No – I – I did not think of all those. I needed you to trust me –"

"And that is so much better!" Percy shouted, raising his hands. "What gave you the right to play me like that?" he asked quietly, his mask cracking to show the hurt reflected in his sea-green eyes. "Why would you use me like that?"

Loki hesitated, he wanted – he yearned – to talk his way out of this situation, like he always did, but something in his gut told him not to screw this up.

His silence was one second too long though, as Percy sighed and stood up, making his way to the door. "If you won't say anything then I won't too, we'll just pretend that that never happened. I hope you recover quickly."

Loki jolted, "Wait!" he blurted out before he could stop it. Percy paused in the doorway, not looking back.

Loki licked his lips, taking it as his chance to speak before their relationship was damaged beyond repair. "Percy – no, Perseus Jackson, I find that I cannot stop myself from speaking, I need to tell you what has been on my mind before I lose yet another opportunity." The god took a deep breath, seeing Percy turn his head and looking at him, he took it as a good sign to continue. "I do not know when, nor do I know how, but somewhere along the way, I have fallen in love with you." He said, looking at Percy straight in the eyes. He was rewarded with a miniscule look of surprise, "I only wished that I had told you earlier. When I saw what Amora did to you... I felt as though my heart had been rendered in two. It was only then that I realized how foolish I was to wait, and I honestly thought that I had lost my only chance."

Loki looked down at his hands, "You asked me why I went down to Hel to save you, my answer is because I love you. You were the very first person to trust me, to look past my faults and see what little good there was in my heart. You showed me how I could care for others, you showed me that there were other things worth my time than anger. We were in the same boat, both of us lied to by our parents, yet you found it in your heart to forgive, to restrain yourself from falling into the darkness. I never had that kind of restraint, and it was and is something that I have admired you greatly for. Perseus Jackson, you saved me from the darkness that colored my world. If it hadn't been for you, I would have walked the path that others expect of me, instead of creating my own destiny. I would have become a monster, drenching myself in the blood of others for nothing more than pure amusement."

Loki clenched his hands, biting his lips, "These hands are stained with the blood of innocents, every crime that I have committed are red on my ledger, red that I cannot hope to wipe out. I can only hope you will forgive my cowardice and accept me for who I am." He murmured, slumping on his bed as he finished his speech, not daring to look up. When he heard the door slam shut, he closed his eyes, his heart squeezing painfully.

It shocked him to the core when a warm hand covered his own clenched ones, his eyes opening in shock to see ocean green ones staring right at him, their faces so close that Loki could feel Percy's breath on his face. "Coward?" Percy murmured, a humorless smile crossing his lips, "You're far braver than I am Loki, so much braver than I am."

"What?" Loki breathed.

Percy closed his eyes, "I thought," he whispered, "I thought you used me for your own gain. I thought that you didn't feel the same as I did, and that you only said those things in Helheim because it was the only way to get me to believe you. And when you said earlier that you said that we were together because you wanted me to trust you –" he broke off, biting his lips uncertainly.

Loki brought a hand up and cupped Percy's face, "No." he said firmly, "No. I would never do that to you. I thought that you didn't want to think of us together in that way, that was why I said that I only did it to gain your trust. I hoped, in Helheim, that we could be together, but I thought that it was a futile hope."

Percy barked out a laugh filled with relief, "Seems like we have to work on communication eh?" his chuckles died down as he looked at the god, "So are we good?"

Loki looked at him amusedly, though he was still rigid with tension, "That depends, what is your definition of good?"

Percy smirked, "Silly god," he sighed, "I'm saying yes to you, you idiot."

Loki blinked, "You mean – ?"

Percy flicked him in the forehead, "It means that I'm amendable to the fact that you're asking me to be in a relationship with you. That is what you're asking right?"

Loki hastily replied, "Yes of course, I just thought –"

"That this would never happen?" Percy supplied helpfully.

Loki grinned and pulled Percy towards him, pressing his lips against the other's, both their eyes slipping shut contentedly. They separated for air, a wide smile on Loki's face as Percy buried his face in his shoulder, the mop of unruly black hair tickling his neck. "That should have been our first kiss." Loki whispered.

He felt Percy smile against his collarbone, "We can make up for lost time." The demigod said, smiling cheekily up at him.

Loki smirked and leaned in, but Percy pulled away, "Nuh-uh, not now, you need your rest you idiot. You have a hole in your side and your system is weakened by the poison. That was stupid by the way, you should have taken care of yourself first."

Loki pulled Percy back towards him, nuzzling the demigod, "I was more worried about you."

Percy smacked him in the arm, but didn't move from where he leaned against the god's chest, "Idiot." He said, "I would have been fine. Now sleep, you need it."

Loki smiled and leaned back onto the bed, Percy tucked under his arm.

When Loki next woke up, he found Percy lying beside him, curled up in a fetal position at his side, using his arm for a pillow. For a moment, Loki stared at the demigod in shock, having thought that it was all a dream that his poisoned system cooked up to satisfy his inner desire.

"It's not a dream you know... I'm really here." Percy said, yawning hugely as he blinked sleepily up at Loki. "And before you ask if I can read minds, no I can't, you said it out loud. That, and your face practically screamed the question."

Loki nodded once before settling down in the soft bed, "I still cannot believe that this is real." He murmured, curling his arm tighter around Percy.

"Well believe it, because you're stuck with me now." Percy said, grinning at him before the smile dropped off his face, the demigod becoming serious.

"One thing though," he said, Loki blinking at the sudden change in tone as Percy moved to balance his weight on his arms, staring at the god, "Don't ever use my feelings as a means to an end. Alright? I mean it. If you plan on doing that, we shouldn't be together. I don't think I could stand being used again." He said, whispering the last part.

Loki tilted his head to one side, his eyes softening at the hushed tone, "I understand, and I promise – no I swear on the Norns that I will never ever use your feelings as a means to an end, not if it means hurting you."

Percy's eyes grew wide, "You didn't have to do that! Why would you –"

"Because you are more than worth it." Loki responded.

Percy smiled, "You're cheesy." He said, leaning upwards for another kiss, which Loki happily gave him.

This time, their intimate moment was broken by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Both parties jumped apart, Percy jumping so far back that he would have fallen on the floor if Loki hadn't reached out and grabbed him.

"Triton! Haven't you heard of knocking?" Percy shouted indignantly.

Triton smirked lazily, waving his hand, leaning against the doorway. "If you lovebirds are done...smooching, Father is looking for you."

Percy turned beet red, scowling at his brother. Loki on the other hand, looked at Triton inquisitively, but the other god merely shook his head and said "Later."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Percy shrugged and tugged Loki's hand, "Come on, I'll get you some clothes to wear. Unless you like togas?"

Loki's lips twitched in amusement, "It seems that borrowing clothes from you is becoming a trend now." Nevertheless, he followed Percy out of the room, the demigod giving his brother one last glare before they both moved out of the room.

Triton smirked to himself as he was left alone in the room. He pulled out a brand new smartphone – courtesy of Hermes – from his inner pocket, tapping rapidly on the screen.

Placing the phone to his ear, he waited until the other party picked up, "Apollo, you owe me a hundred drachma, they got together last night."

Tony and Bruce were furiously comparing wavelengths and graphs and typing into the computers that they were provided with while Steve flipped through a list of places that the gem had appeared before. Tony had requested – read, demanded – a list of locations that the gem had been in, in hopes of finding a pattern. What he expected to find was a specific location with perhaps a graph or two depicting the strength of the energy output or input and maybe a few other details such as the frequency of energy fluctuations. What he got was a list of places that the gem had been in.

Literally.

" – Los Angeles, Alcatraz – Alcatraz? Why would it be in a prison? – Um, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Mount Saint Helens – didn't that volcano blow up a few years ago? I thought it was huge news. – and uh, Saint Louis." Steve rattled off, scanning the list that was given to them.

Tony groaned, "That is not helping. That is seriously not helping. I don't need a list of places damn it! I need frequencies, graphs, energy levels, that kind of thing! What good is it telling me that the gem is in Vegas?"

Bruce patted Tony's shoulder comfortingly, "Well, at least we can confirm that all these are places that have been touched by Greek influence."

Tony groaned again, "That doesn't help any! It doesn't even narrow anything down! There's got to be like a million places that have been touched by Greek influence!"

Steve sighed, "We have to work with what we have Tony, no point complaining. Bruce, how is the search coming along?"

Bruce shrugged and leaned back, "Well, we'll know in a few. I modified the scanner we used to search for the Tesseract, instead of detecting gamma rays only, I modified it to detect a wider range of frequencies. Similarly, if we get a hit like the Tesseract, then we'll be informed."

Steve nodded, thinking of when Tony and Bruce had said something similar on the Helicarrier when they were looking for the Tesseract. Tony on the other hand, had grumbled non-stop about annoying gods who thought that they could order mortals around like they were slaves. Steve was almost afraid that the genius would get fried by the next second.

Soon enough, the device pinged, and all three of them leapt forward to the computer, Bruce dragging his fingers across the screen, bringing up the latest findings. "We've got good news and bad news."

"What kind of bad news?" A new voice cut in.

The three mortals turned to face Triton, who looked better than he had in the past week, as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Well," Bruce started, sharing a look with his friends, "The good news is that we found a possible location that the gem is in."

"And the bad news?" Triton asked nonchalantly, as though no bad news in the world could put a damper on his newfound happy mood.

Tony gave the god a suspicious look, but answered him nonetheless, "The bad news is that we only know which state it's in. And it's in San Francisco. Do you have any idea how huge that place is – are you okay?"

The moment the words San Francisco came out of Tony's mouth, all of Triton's good mood flushed down the drain, his body becoming tense. "San Francisco, are you sure?" The god asked tersely.

Tony and Bruce shared a look, the genius shrugging, "Well yeah of course we're sure, I mean, okay, it's like a 95% chance that it's in San Fran and we can run more tests if you like –"

"No that's fine." Triton cut in, running a hand through his hair, "Get some rest, I'll tell you when you leave." With that, he disappeared, leaving the three mortals staring at the empty space.

"Well..." Tony began, gaining the attention of the other two avengers, "Maybe he's having that time of the month?"

"Tony!"

Triton scrubbed a hand over his face. To think that barely an hour ago, he was grinning at the sight of Percy and Loki being all flustered and winning the pool Apollo and Hermes had started yet now... Triton sighed, of all places, why did it have to be San Francisco? Of course he knew where the gem was. San Francisco might be big to the mortals, but there was only one place where the gem could be. Well it could have been in the Roman camp, but Triton didn't think that was likely, what with Lupa and Terminus both in the camp. Triton sighed again, disappearing into mist to find one son of Hades.

"WHAT?"

Triton bit back yet another sigh, "I'm not repeating myself." He said sternly.

Nico groaned, "Damn it, I know what you said, I heard it, but I'm working on the believing part. I mean, do I really have to?"

Triton smirked, "Yes you do, think of it as a road trip why don't you?"

Nico gave him a flat stare, "A road trip. Really? That's best you can come up with? You call me going on a quest with three mortals who have no idea what they're walking into a road trip?"

Triton raised an eyebrow, grinning at the demigod's unease, "Why not? You could guide them there at any rate. Besides, only you and now Thalia know about the gem, and Thalia can't go because she needs to hold the fort here and wherever Arty wants her to be."

Nico sighed, "Fine. But if anything happens to them, I won't be held responsible. And that includes maiming. I'm tempted to do that to Stark by the way, he's annoying me to no end." With that, he disappeared into the shadows, intent on getting some sleep before scaring the life out of the mortals.

Triton just rubbed his eyes tiredly, since when had he become a mortal-god liaison? He shook his head and headed back to Atlantis, wanting to relieve some tension.

The next morning, three mortals plus one demigod set out on their grand adventure. Bruce and Steve both carried a duffle, while Tony glared at the innocent looking bag that was dangling from his fingertips, his compact suit in his other hand. Steve's shield was slung over his back, while Nico was dressed in his usual attire, with the exception of a chain mail under his black shirt. His skull ring was in its place on his index finger, his bangs hiding his eyes from view. "Enough," he barked, glaring at Tony, "We're leaving."

"And how, might I ask, are we getting to San Fran?" Tony sniped, "It's not like we can just take a plane there right?"

Nico smirked, his spirits lifting slightly, "I thought you'd never ask." He snapped his fingers, the sound echoing across the clearing.

Moments later, the shadows elongated, and a hellhound bounded out, startling the three mortals badly. Nico grinned and walked to meet the huge dog, who wagged her tail expectantly, a huge tongue lolling out from her mouth. Tony was screaming his head off at the back, with Bruce and Steve not far behind, though at least Steve had the mind to raise his shield. Nico ran a hand over the hellhound's snout, the overgrown dog licking Nick's face. Laughing, he pushed the hellhound away, "Down girl! I need you to do something for me."

He turned back to the three avengers, "Guys, this is Mrs O Leary, she's our resident friendly hellhound, the only friendly hellhound in the world. Girl, these are the avengers, and no, they're not chew toys understand?"

Tony stared dubiously at the gargantuan hellhound before them, his almond eyes wide and dilated, "How the hell does this answer my question?" He screeched.

Nico patted the hellhound's side, feeling her body heat seep into his hand, "She's capable of shadow travel as well, and she's going to take you to San Fran."

"What about you?" Steve asked, keeping his eyes on the huge predator before him.

Nico smirked, "Perks of being a son of Hades, I control the shadows too. Now get on, we'll have to move fast."

Tony swallowed nervously, inching slowly towards the hellhound. To her credit, Mrs O Leary just cocked her head to the side and knelt down on her front paws for them, not even moving when they clumsily clambered up her back. Her uncharacteristic behavior made Nico frown. It didn't escape his notice that she had acted more subdued after Percy's death. While she would still greet him with her usual saliva bath, she didn't boisterously attack everyone with that greeting anymore. Nico watched her behavior sadly, knowing that she had somehow sensed her master's absence. It was enough to make his heart clench, the thought of his cousin's death resonating in his body.

"Okay this is seriously the weirdest thing that I've ever done." Tony said once he was seated on the hellhound's back, staring at the black fur, unknowingly shaking Nico out of his depressed stupor.

"You might want to hold on to something, shadow traveling can be a bit...disorienting." Nico's voice travelled up to them.

Tony blinked, "Wait, what?" He shrieked and hastily gripped onto the hellhound's fur as she stood up, running head first towards a darkened tree. Three yelps were heard as the hellhound passed through the shadows with its passengers before the clearing fell silent. Nico laughed to himself, "Oh, that never gets old. Hmm, I guess I should have told them about the after effects..." He grinned and stepped into a shadow.

They screamed through the ride through the darkness, seeing nothing but feeling the wind whip past their faces. It was the rollercoaster ride from hell. They emerged from a shadow screaming their lungs out, until Steve whacked Tony in the back, effectively stopping him. Tony gulped in air, sliding down the hellhound to stand on wobbly feet. "Oh my god. Oh damn. I am never ever doing that again!"

Bruce nodded mutely, panting from the ride as well, his hands clenched together in an effort to keep his other self contained. Steve retained his composure, although his face was several shades paler than it should be.

Nico casually emerged from a shadow as well, grinning, "So how was it?"

Tony pointed an accusing finger at him, "You! You did this on purpose didn't you?"

Nico shrugged lazily, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now come on, Mount Othrys is up ahead."

"Mount where now?" Tony asked.

"I'll explain it to you on the way, come on."

"I think that explanation may have to wait," Bruce said, pointing behind them, "because we're about to have company."

Steve took out his shield, while Tony activated his suit and Nico twisted his ring, the three of them turning just in time to see Thor land several meters away from them, a hoard of chitauri hovering behind him, including The Other.