Percy led Loki down a winding hallway, coming up to a familiar nondescript door. He walked in confidently, while Loki lingered in the doorway, fingers tracing the walls as he entered the room, remembering the way Percy had lain on the bed, still and unmoving.

"Hey." Percy said softly, standing before Loki, "What are you thinking?"

Loki kept his eyes on the bed, his hand reaching out to find Percy's, "I'm thinking of how I failed you. Watching you fall to Amora, seeing your lifeless body on the bed..." he looked Percy in the eye, "I cannot even think of how lucky I am to have you standing here, before me, alive and well." He whispered.

Percy held his hand, intertwining their fingers, "I told you, that wasn't your fault. If anything, it was mine – no, don't say anything – it was mine for being stupid and naive. I trusted my back with the wrong person, and I paid for it. I'm glad that I managed to come back, believe me, and I intend to make the most out of my second chance at life."

Loki stared into intense green eyes, leaning down to press his lips against Percy's. Percy smiled into the kiss, then pulled away, ignoring Loki's noise of protest, "Come on, if we keep doing that, my father will be waiting the whole day. You need to wash up and change and we need to have an audience with the king. You don't plan on defying that are you? Cause you might end up drowning."

Loki scowled and yanked the clothes that Percy was holding out of his hands, marching into the separate bathroom. He stopped short at the sight of modern equipment decorating the interior. Truth be told, he was expecting something like Asgard's bath, a simple basin filled with water for washing one's hands and a larger tub for the individual to soak in. he wasn't expecting a shower head combined with a heater.

Where do they even get electricity to power up these things anyway? Loki wondered, stripping the clothes off him and switching on the shower. He sighed contently at the feeling of warm water cascading down his back. Jotun he might be, but he still preferred a hot bath over an ice cold dunk anytime. He smirked to himself, it was amazing how he could think of himself as a Jotun without feeling so disgusted with his own skin. Of course, it didn't take one clearing of his mind to completely change his view on the frost creatures, but at least now, without the pressure of the throne and impending war with said monsters, he could actually think properly and form his own opinions. Curious, he switched off the water and concentrated, pulling away the glamor that had concealed him for his entire life. He watched, slightly fascinated, as the glamor dissolved, blue skin creeping up his arm and his entire body. With only a slight hesitation, he walked over to the mirror that hung above the basin near the door, a stranger looking back at him. Loki swallowed, raising his arm, watching the blue man in the mirror copy his movement. He exhaled softly, turning his hands back and forth, observing the raised markings on his body curiously. He marveled at how he could look at his true form and not cringe, how Percy had changed him. He had accepted that he was a Jotun, but Loki wondered if his dark thoughts would ever come back to haunt him.

Oh he still felt anger alright, anger at Odin for lying to him. It wasn't the lying per se so much as what Odin encouraged silently. He could understand, to a certain degree, why Odin would keep his birthright from him, but he couldn't understand why Odin would allow him to grow up in a society which slandered Jotuns at every opportunity they got. What did he hope to gain by raising a Jotun child in a community who hated Jotuns? Loki remembered vividly the nightmares he got from stories the other warriors told about the frost monsters, how they struck down their soldiers, chewing off their limbs even when they were down, desecrating their dead. He remembered the warriors regaling their heroic tales of slaying the frost monsters, severing their heads from their bodies, and the sayings that mothers told their children.

'Behave now, or the frost giants will take you from your bed and have you for dinner.'

Loki snorted to himself. The Jotuns weren't like that. They seemed barbaric yes, their weapons were crude and unrefined, but their homeland was devastated beyond repair by Odin himself, could they be blamed for their hatred?

Loki sighed and reached into his subspace, his fingers brushing against a cold lid. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, firming his resolve. He would make things right, he swore that on his soul.

A knock startled him out of his skin, literally in fact, as his Asgardian form returned.

"Hey, you okay in there? You're taking longer than usual to bathe. You didn't like, drown in there did you?"

Loki scowled at the door, grabbing the towel off the rack, "I'm almost done, you impatient child."

"Child?" cried an indignant voice, "I'm like twenty-one!"

Loki smirked, pulling on the shirt and jeans that he was provided with, opening the door. "Compared to me, you are practically an infant."

Percy raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Wow, didn't know you were a closet pedophile."

Loki frowned, "What?"

"Never mind," the demigod said, shaking his head, "Come on, we need to meet my dad."

The two of them found themselves in the hallways again, walking down deserted corridors as they made their way to the throne room. Percy nodded to the guards outside the huge double doors, smiling slightly at them and receiving one in return. They pushed the doors open, allowing the god and demigod entrance. When they entered, Loki moved to kneel before the king of the seas, but Poseidon stopped him before he could even get halfway down.

"You do not need to kneel before me Loki, I owe you too much to care about trivialities such as that." The sea god said, gripping Loki's shoulders tightly. "You gave me back my son, at a high risk to your own health, I would not ask you for more."

Loki bowed his head, "It would not do for me to disrespect you my lord, you have graciously granted me asylum here –"

"Nonsense." Poseidon cut in, his eyes twinkling mischievously, "I suppose I might have to allow you to move in permanently soon yes?"

Loki and Percy stared uncomprehending for several minutes, before Percy jerked out of his stupor and shouted, "DAD!" his face turning red.

Loki coughed into his fist, turning away as well, a faint blush on his cheeks. "Well, my lord, was there anything in particular you wanted to talk to us about?" he said, attempting to change the conversation,

Poseidon smiled in the way that let Loki know that he wasn't going to let the subject go that easily, "Well, I suppose the first order of business would be for you to get this back." he said, facing Percy, handing him a familiar silver sword.

Percy blinked and grabbed it gingerly, memories flashing through his head. Loki, standing beside him, gripped his shoulder, squeezing it.

Poseidon gave his son a wane smile, knowing what was going on in his head. He continued, "The second order of business is for you both to go to Olympus to meet the council. From there, we'll see how it goes."

"That trip might need to be postponed for awhile." Triton announced, appearing suddenly in the throne room, his shoulders rigid with tension.

"Triton?" Percy blinked, "What's wrong?"

The heir to the throne of Atlantis inclined his head to his father, saying, "Your friends are in trouble, and by trouble, I mean chitauri, Thor and possibly monsters kind of trouble."

"What do you mean by chitauri and monsters?" Percy yelped.

"What's wrong with my brother?" Loki demanded at the same time.

Triton blinked, "Right, I forgot that you both don't know." He looked at Percy first, "Your friends, as in your Avengers friends are searching for one of the gems, and well, they found it. Problem is, so did the chitauri."

Loki cut in angrily, "You haven't answered my question, what is wrong with my brother?"

Triton gave him a solemn look, "He's currently under the chitauri's control."

Loki's eyes widened and he stumbled back, "What?" he breathed.

Triton nodded, "He's under their control, you'll have to break the spell. One of our own has been holding him off, but now that he's attacking your friends..." he trailed off.

"Shit, they won't want to attack him at full power." Percy finished.

Triton nodded, and the two brothers looked at Loki, who was still stunned into silence. Percy walked over to him and touched his arm lightly, "Don't worry, we'll get him back."

Loki nodded, hissing under his breath, "That pathetic cretin will pay for what he has done."

Percy looked at Triton worriedly, but Loki turned his fierce gaze on the sea prince, "Where are they?" he snarled.

"San Francisco, Mount Othrys."

Tony, Steve, Bruce and Nico stood in a line, their backs to the pathway where they would have to ascend to Mount Othrys. The chitauri floated on their vehicles, while Thor hefted his hammer, thunderclouds gathering above them. Nico hissed, "I thought Thalia was supposed to deal with him, what the hell is he doing here?"

"Stop talking about Thor like he's our enemy!" Tony retorted, his voice distorted by the suit's speakers.

"Technically speaking," Nico drawled, angling his sword in front of him, "He doesn't actually know who we are so he's kinda our enemy."

Steve frowned, "He's right Tony, we can't afford to hold back. Thor is strong enough to withstand our blows, but you have the highest chance out of all of us of actually surviving his attacks."

Tony sighed, "I knew I should never have told you guys about that one fight." He rolled his shoulders – as best as he could – and aimed his repulsors at the god. "Well come on Point Break, we're wasting daylight here."

The Other smiled behind his visor, lifting his hands up. The three mortals plus one tensed collectively. When the hand fell, several things happened at once.

Nico drove his sword into the ground and twisted, directing his power into his voice, calling out, "Serve me!" The ground cracked open and skeletal soldiers climbed out, each wielding a bone-like sword.

Thor growled and thrust his arm forward, Mjolnir sent on a deadly path towards the humans standing on the ground before them.

Steve braced his shield in front of him as he saw the silver hammer cut through the air, with Bruce moving to stand behind them, near the path, a small dagger in his hands that Nico had given to him for self-defense.

Tony yelped and dodged out of the way of a stray chitauri blast, sending him even further away from the grounded group, watching in horror as their teammate attacked with intent to kill.

Steve put his shield up, hoping that the hammer would bounce off it, but just before it did, a bright green light flashed in the area, followed by a metallic clang as the hammer was smacked away.

Blinking the spots out of his eyes, Steve peered over the edge of his shield, his jaw dropping at the sight. Loki stood in a half crouch in front of them, an ebony staff held horizontally in front of his chest, a fierce look on his face. But that wasn't what had Steve and everyone staring in shock, no, their eyes were focused on the figure beside him. The lean figure with a mop of unruly raven black hair and a gleaming silver sword.

Nico's eyes widen, his own sword lowering as he whispered disbelievingly, "Percy? How – ?"

Said demigod turned back and grinned at his cousin, his ocean green eyes softening slightly, "Hey Death Breath, I promise, I'll explain everything later."

Nico just nodded mutely.

On the other side of the field, the chitauri commander hissed, not believing the sight of the demigod standing there. From the smirk playing on the godling's lips, his annoyance and shock was evident outwardly as well. The Other hissed again, its hands gripping the rails of the hovering ship tightly.

"Kill them all!" the chitauri commander hissed, and the chitauri flew forward as one, chittering excitedly at the prospect of blood.

Loki snarled, glaring murderously at the Other, "Percy, take the chitauri, I'll take my brother."

Percy nodded, "Get Thor back, we'll handle all the chitauri."

Loki glanced sharply at Percy, having caught the double meaning, but the boy looked unrepentant, and Loki hissed in frustration. His brother or The Other?

His decision was made for him when Thor recalled his hammer and charged at him, a roar erupting from him. Loki scowled and ducked under the head-on charge, spinning his staff and swinging it into the small of the thunder god's back. Thor grunted and pitched forward, righting his balance and whirled around, Mjolnir swung in a deadly arc. Loki stepped back to avoid having his head taken off, lunging forward while Thor followed through with the movement, leaving his body wide open for an attack. Loki slammed the blunt end of his staff into Thor's chest hard enough to bruise, sending the elder god flying backwards. He stepped back and waited for Thor to get up, unsure of how exactly he was supposed to remove the spell.

Hit him over the head? Loki shot down the idea as soon as it popped into his head. No, Thor was too thick-headed for that. He frowned, the only other option was to pin the god down. But since he was all over the place and freakishly strong... Loki sighed, looking over at his brother who was picking himself off the ground. Well, he mused, at least Thor's current mode of attack is brutal assault.

While Loki dealt with Thor, Percy regrouped with Nico and the three avengers, all of whom were staring at him in shock. He scowled and whacked whoever he could reach, calling up water and solidifying it into ice around them to prevent the chitauri from taking advantage of their shock.

"Guys? In case you forgot, we're kind of in the middle of a battle here, could you like snap out of it?"

"Yeah well don't blame us, its not every day you see someone come back to life! And I'm the son of the god of dead!" Nico said defensively, scrutinizing his cousin.

Tony flipped up his face plate, "Okay do you and Coulson have like a secret community where you guys just pretend to die and come back to life?"

Percy groaned, "Can we do this later? Loki is out there alone and if the chitauri turn on him then he's dead, so can we please just handle the damn situation?" he shouted the last part, making the three avengers jump at the volume of his voice.

Steve nodded, cutting of any protest that his teammates were going to raise, saying simply, "It's good to have you back Percy."

Percy smiled, shocking all of them, "You have no idea how nice it is to be alive again." With that, he melted the ice, the water swirling around him like a protective cloak. The chitauri wasted no time and charged at them while they were still unprepared. Percy snarled and twisted his arm, the water shooting forward towards the chitauri, solidifying into shards of ice that pierced through the aliens' armor. Bracing themselves, the avengers launched their own counter attack.

Tony flew into the air, drawing several chitauri away from the hoard with his jeering, his morale lifted tremendously at the return of his friend. He blasted a few of them into alien goop, twisting and turning around in the air, causing them to crash into one another. Steve threw his shield, watching the vibranium disc cut through the air, bouncing off the aliens and returning to his hand. He ducked behind his trusty shield as one alien fired at him, running and slamming his shield into the chitauri. He jammed the shield into the chitauri's wrist, twisting violently, sending the alien gun clattering away noisily. He turned and delivered a powerful kick to the alien's chest, not bothering to see where it landed on the ground with a loud crunch.

The Captain let his shield fly again, himself taking down several chitauri before he jumped and caught the shield on its return journey. He stayed close to Bruce, even though he knew that the scientist could more than take care of himself in a fight. They didn't want the Hulk to make an appearance, even if there weren't any humans around to see. Several times he found himself fighting back to back to Tony and Nico, the former firing his repulsors at his shield, using it to wipe out a line of chitauri around them, while the latter protected his back with the shadows that surrounded him at all times. Truth be told, it terrified Steve a little to see a boy – never mind that he had seen a war already – fighting in a manner that only battle hardened soldiers fought.

The only person that Steve never fought with – surprisingly – was Percy. And when the captain found a break in the fight, he scanned the surroundings for any sign of the other demigod. He saw Percy in the middle of the street, quite a ways away from them, facing off with the chitauri commander, a hurricane whipping up a storm around him.

Where Steve had wanted to step in to give Percy a hand, he paused at the look on the demigod's face, reluctantly stepping away from them and turning to his own battle.

There were several kind of battles, the ones that you fought for your loved ones, the ones you fought for honor and pride, and the ones that you fought for yourself. Steve, as much as he hated letting a friend fight a battle on his own, knew that Percy's fight with the chitauri commander was for his own closure. The commander had done unspeakable things to the demigod, and Steve would not take away the chance for Percy to find closure from the horrors he went through under the chitauri's hand.

Percy's eyes sought out The Other's almost as soon as he dropped the ice barrier, feeling hate and anger surge through him at the sight of his tormentor. The Other grinned behind his mask, revealing yellow teeth stained with dirt, blood and who knew what else. "Foolish demigod," the commander hissed, pointing a crooked finger at Percy, "I know not how you survived, but I will rectify that."

Percy grinned and bared his teeth, crouching down slightly, his sword angled outwards, "Bring it on motherfucker." He growled, leaping forward, silver gleaming in the sun.

Percy snarled and leapt at The Other, his sword arcing through the air gracefully. The Other shifted backwards, Percy's sword cutting through thin air. The chitauri changed its footing and lunged forward, Percy twisting and bringing his sword up, their weapons clashing against each other, their faces close enough that Percy could trace each disgusting contour on the commander's wrinkled face. He narrowed his eyes and pushed back, the two fighters separating momentarily. Percy twirled his sword and parried a downward attack from the Other, allowing the chitauri's long weapon to slide off the flat side of the silver blade, exposing the alien's side.

Percy knew, at the same time that The Other did, that a single opening would be fatal. He dragged his sword across the chitauri's side, falling into a roll instinctively as his blade passed through metal and flesh, the commander's staff swinging into the space where his head was.

The Other screeched in pain and anger, leveling the staff at Percy's chest, a spell exploding from its jagged tip. Percy yelped as the spell sent him flying backwards, colliding painfully against a street lamp. He crumpled to the ground, pain radiating from his back.

Gritting his teeth, he rolled sideways, another blast taking out said street lamp. He gestured, the water freezing the Other's feet.
The Other slammed it's staff against the ice encasing it's feet, breaking it completely, while Percy got up to his feet in the few seconds that the chitauri did that.

The chitauri was exuding a killing aura, and Percy felt a grin spread across his lips despite the pain in his back. The Other screeched and lunged at him, staff glowing with magic. Percy stood his ground, letting the chitauri come to him. He darted to the left at the last minute, blocking a blow to his side. He slid the sword down to where the chitauri held his weapon, twisting the sword violently, sending the staff clattering to the ground. Percy moved in for the kill, but the Other was not a commander for a reason, and his hands grabbed Percy's wrist, yanking it, throwing the demigod off balance. In the same movement, the Other dug his claws into Percy's side, slipping between his ribs.

Percy coughed, bringing his knee up against the other fighter's chest plate. The both of them separated again, Percy hunched over slightly, his hand on his side.

The Other retrieved it's staff, a slow cackle emerging from it's throat.
"Foolish demigod," it hissed, "It is suicide to challenge me. Surrender and you will be granted a quick death."

Percy scoffed, "A quick death? Because that is so encouraging. I feel so motivated to surrender now."

The Other hissed in annoyance, pointing it's staff at Percy. "Prepare to die demigod scum."

Percy grinned, "You're not the first to say that, but just a heads up, the others who told me that are the ones who are in Tartarus now."

The two of them leapt at each other again, spells and water colliding against each other.

Loki jumped back, Thor's wide swing missing his abdomen. He brought his staff around in the same movement, the longer reach allowing him to hit Thor's wrist with its wooden body. The thunder god grunted and fumbled with his grip on Mjolnir, when the hit connected, something that made Loki frown. Thor never ever fumbled with Mjolnir, not unless someone had broken his wrist or cut it off, it was how firm his hold over the silver hammer was. This only served to remind Loki that his brother was under the thrall of the chitauri. He spared a microsecond to look at Percy,who was having his own battle with the Other. Loki felt his heart clench in fear, the chitauri commander was a sly fox and cunning as hell, he would use every dirty trick to gain an upper hand over Percy.

Air displacement by his ear reminded him of his own battle and why he could not help Percy. Loki turned and stepped forward, his eyes widening at the last moment as he realized that Thor's hand was empty. He moved, but couldn't get completely out of the return trajectory of the hammer. Mjolnir slammed into his back as it returned to its owner's palm, sending Loki flying to the ground. He grunted as he felt several ribs crack from the force, sending tendrils of his magic to the area to numb it slightly. The god lifted his eyes just in time to see Thor raise his hammer to the sky, the clouds darkening in response.

Loki grinned, "This just shows how much you are not my brother." He growled, leaping to his feet just as a huge lightning bolt descended from the sky. Thor thrust his hammer forward, the electricity shooting towards the god of mischief. Loki just smirked and held his staff horizontally in two hands at eye level, the bolt striking his staff, spreading across it and encasing his hands. Loki gritted his teeth as the crackling energy spread across his hands and his arms, feeling the tingle but not experiencing any burns on his arms. He grinned at the amount of energy he held within his hands, directing the flow of energy to suit him instead of against him.

He looked up, seeing a shocked expression on the thunder god's face, his blue eyes widened comically. He hid a grimace, sorry about this brother, he thought to himself, before condensing the energy in his hands, throwing it back to Thor twice as quickly. The condensed ball of electricity flew through the air quicker than the eye could see and struck Thor in the chest with all the power of a fully charged lightning bolt. The god was blown backwards as the compact ball of energy exploded. Loki threw an arm in front of his face, shielding himself from the blast.

Smoke filled the area, and several minutes later, he saw Thor stagger to his feet, having been stunned by the electricity coursing through his body. His silver armor was cracked in some places and scorched where the lightning had impacted against his chest. Loki strode over to the swaying god, and with a tight smile, he shifted his balance, dodging the half-hearted blow towards his head, twirling his staff and swinging it like a baseball bat against Thor's head. The staff connected with a loud crack, and Thor crumpled to the ground, Mjolnir falling out of his hands. Loki looked down at his brother, sighing heavily. He cast a sleeping spell on Thor just in case, and bent down to sling his brother's arm over his shoulders, intent on bringing him to regroup with the others. It wouldn't do for the chitauri to get his brother before he could remove the spell trapping his mind.

Picking up the hammer was just an afterthought.

Percy skidded backwards, panting harshly, blood dripped from his arm where the Other had sunk his claws in. The commander was laughing at him, but his physical state was no better than Percy, who had given as good as he got. He growled and twisted, water hardening to ice as they surged towards the chitauri. The Other merely let loose a blast that exploded against the ice on contact.

That was the first mistake.

Percy kept his face in a stony mask, the one he had used for the last three years before Loki had – quite literally – appeared in his life. Now he wasn't Percy Jackson, he was Agent Jackson, a highly qualified agent of SHIELD, with sets of skills that made him terrifying to his targets. He never revealed his feelings to his opponent and he never expressed his thoughts either. He remained silent, not responding to any of the jeers and taunts thrown at him by The Other save for a slight tensing of his muscles. His focus was completely on the battle, and he noticed every slight movement the chitauri commander made, something which saved his life several times when the other tried to feint an attack.

The Other stepped forward, ice shards crunching beneath its armored feet as it walked towards him. For the first time since they started fighting seriously, Percy allowed a smile to grace his lips. The Other narrowed its beady eyes, but Percy had already launched into motion. His form blurred as he ran towards the chitauri, the alien shifting forward to meet his blow. Just before their weapons connected, Percy smirked and vanished, the alien commander startling at the sight of his opponent disappearing.

Impossible! The Other snarled to himself, whirling around to search for the demigod, He does not know magic!

Percy grinned and manifested directly behind the chitauri, his blade slipping through the alien's back and emerging in front, "Did you miss me?" he hissed in the Other's ear, twisting the blade further. He drew back and kicked the commander in the back, throwing him off his Olympian silver sword. The Other snarled and held an arm across its abdomen, shifting backwards.

"Foolish child, you will regret this!"

Percy grinned dangerously, "Make me." He hissed, stepping forward to deliver the final blow. The moment the sword came into contact with the chitauri's neck, the Other disappeared in a flash of magic, and Percy cursed out loud at the lost chance.

Percy growled as the chitauri commander fled cowardly, turning to see if his comrades needed any help. As it was, it seemed that they did. His eyes widened as he saw a chitauri creep up behind Bruce, who was busy guarding his team mates' backs and dealing with any stray alien that fell behind Steve and Nico's line of skeletal defense.

Percy clenched his sword tightly and stepped into the puddle of water, his body dissolving into mist. In a split second, he disappeared and reformed between Bruce and the weapon aimed at his back, catching the blade on his own, pushing it upwards to divert its course. In the same movement, he moved back, his back pressing against Bruce's, who had turned around in shock, pushing him back. The chitauri chattered in surprise, and Percy took advantage of the opening and lopped its head off immediately. He turned back to Bruce, who was staring at him in surprise, both hands gripping the dagger tightly.

Percy took one look at his stance and sighed, "Remind me to give you a crash course in holding a weapon to defend yourself." He reached over and plucked Bruce's left hand from where it covered his right, sliding the dagger out of his hand and flipping it around such that the blade faced the scientist. He grabbed Bruce's right hand and wrapped it around the hilt, tilting his hand such that the blade now faced out in a reverse grip.

"There." He said, "Hold it like that, it's more stable that way. And you can easily cut your opponent down without losing your grip on the dagger."

Bruce nodded mutely, and Percy hung back, surveying the situation. Nico, Steve and Tony were handling the chitauri hoard quite well, but these weren't like the mindless ones who invaded New York before, these were smarter and knew how to use tactics to their advantage. Nico's skeletal army gave them quite a good defense, but the dead were just that – dead. They couldn't think for themselves and only attacked in one manner, whilst the chitauri could adapt to their styles. A number of soldiers had already returned to the underworld, if the piles of bones scattered across the area were any evidence.

Percy narrowed his eyes, his ears catching Bruce's soft mutter of 'What are we going to do now?', his mind whirling with plans and ideas as a red and gold blur flew past them. Tony, while a good flier, was outnumbered in the sky, and Steve could only fight so many aliens at one go. Percy pressed his lips together, time to bring in the reinforcements, he thought.

He put his hand to his lips and whistled sharply – slightly surprised that Mrs O Leary didn't appear – gaining the attention of his friends and the chitauri hoard. In the second that the fight stopped, he shouted, "Follow me!" And turned on his heels and ran for his life, pulling Bruce alongside behind him. He heard Tony curse and follow, felt Nico grab Steve and run after him, and the noisy chatter of the chitauri as they broke out of their reverie and starting chasing them.

"Where the hell are we going? JARVIS says visibility up there isn't good, we won't be able to see them!" Tony shouted, flying directly above them.

Percy ran non-stop, shouting back, "Just trust me! When I say so, Tony and Bruce head left, Steve and Nico you head right!"

"What is that supposed to mean you stupid barnacle?" Nico hissed, turning behind them every once in awhile to check if the aliens were gaining on them.

"Barnacle?" Percy cried out, affronted, "Did you just call me –" he ducked, a shot missing his head, " – a freaking barnacle?"

"Not the damn point here!" Tony yelled at them, flipping around in the air to fire his repulsors at the chitauri. Their increased pitch and volume and sounds of crashing told him that his blasts found their mark.

"Just trust me!" Percy hollered, feeling his lungs burn in the thinning air and the uphill climb. As they ran, the mist grew thicker and thicker until Tony took to using his thermal sensors to keep an eye on Bruce, while Nico stuck to Steve's side as they ran. Soon enough, they couldn't even see each other, and from the panicked sounds behind them, neither could the chitauri. A minute later, when Bruce felt as though his lungs were on fire, he heard Percy call out, and felt Tony's metal gloves grip his arms and the ground leave his feet as they moved left, according to Percy's command.

Nico and Steve swerved to the right, nearly tearing the ground up in their change of direction. Nico cursed Percy, he didn't know what the other boy had in mind but it was something that was bound to be dangerous and idiotic at the same time. Nonetheless, he trusted Percy, even if he didn't know what the other demigod had in mind.

Percy called out to his friends and felt as they moved off, doing as he told them too. For a moment, he felt touched that despite being unable to see in this mist, they trusted him enough to direct them to where they would be the safest and the most useful. He continued running straight, gathering some of the mist in his free hand. Despite it being unnatural, it was still water, and it coalesced in his open palm. Barely a few steps later, he iced the ground beneath him and did a baseball slide, a thick, meaty object passing over his head harmlessly. In the same movement, he directed the water into a tendril, coiling around a juicy red apple and plucking it straight from the tree. He twisted on the ice and stopped, sensing the chitauri arriving in the clearing. Percy manipulated the water in the air and the mist cleared enough for him to see them, and he shouted, "Catch!", throwing the apple towards the aliens. The lead alien reared back in surprise and caught the apple out of instinct, fumbling with it for a moment before inspecting it silently, as if waiting for it to blow up.

At the side, Tony, Bruce and Steve all frowned in confusion, while Nico's eyes grew wide, and he hastily pulled Steve even further back, their backs touching the trees that lined the outskirt of the clearing. Percy, who stood behind what seemed like a giant tree in the middle, near the flight of stairs that led upwards, smirked, straightening from his crouch.

He waved a hand, dissipating the mist to reveal a stirring dragon, a stirring hundred headed dragon. "Ladon..." He drawled, "Lunch time."

Ladon's hundred heads swiveled to the chitauri holding the apple, it's huge, scaly body uncoiling from the tree trunk. Two hundred beady eyes stared at the hoard of chitauri, all of whom suddenly looked nervous, their alien instincts telling them that this was a very, very dangerous predator. Percy's lure had them right before the tree, while he used his power – and Nico's as well – to create an impenetrable barrier of ice and darkness behind them, blocking off their escape route.

All at once, the calm broke, and the chitauri leader threw the apple at its fellow alien, but Ladon was faster, striking like a coiled snake, several of his jaws snapping at the lead chitauri, tearing it to pieces almost instantly. The other chitauri scrambled and tried to run, some firing their guns at the dragon, but Nico and Percy jumped into the fray, deflecting the blasts and cutting down any chitauri they could reach. The three avengers just stood stock still and blinked rapidly, watching in undisguised awe as two demigods and one dragon took down the hoard of chitauri effortlessly.

Percy cut and hacked his way through the mass of bodies, making his way to Nico, making sure to stay away from Ladon. He didn't know if the dragon knew that he was the one who stole that apple but it was safer to stay away. He remembered all too well the poison in his claws.

Those aliens foolish enough to challenge the enraged dragon were quickly cut down with a powerful strike from Ladon's paws, his muscled tail slamming into some of their midsections, sending them tumbling from their hovercraft. Within minutes, the chitauri hoard was all but decimated, though having a dragon that had a hundred heads probably helped in taking down more of the aliens. When the fight was over, and all the chitauri were either dead or in pieces, the entire clearing fell silent, their black blood coating the ground of the clearing.

Percy spotted the stolen apple and picked it up from where it lay on the ground, magically not crushed and not a speck of blood on it. He held the apple in his hands, temptation surging through him. It would be so easy to just take a single bite now, and he could be with Loki forever. He could do it, and they could both explore the world until kingdom come, learning new things and enjoying life together... A loud growl snapped him out of his stupor, and he tilted his head up, his eyes meeting two of the dragon's intelligent ones. He put down his sword slowly, all two hundred eyes observing his movement, before tossing the apple towards the dragon. One of its mouth snapped forward and caught the fruit in its jaws, eying him suspiciously before retreating back, coiling around the tree again. Not going back to sleep, but not hostile either.

As one, all of them heaved a sigh of relief, before Percy walked towards the avengers, still avoiding the reach of the dragon.

"So, what are you guys doing here? I mean here in San Francisco and so close to Mount Othrys at that."

Steve blinked and turned to Percy, "What do you mean, what are we doing here? We're here to retrieve the gem, I thought you knew that. It's why you came to help us isn't it?"

Percy's eyes widened, "There's another gem on earth? And it's on Mount Othrys?" He exclaimed, his eyebrows disappearing into his bangs.

Tony landed beside them, the suit retracting from his body, "You mean you didn't know before you came here?"

Percy blushed, "Well, er, about that – Loki and I – well, we kinda rushed here the moment we heard from Triton that you guys were in trouble so..."

"You didn't bother asking Triton about why we were in San Francisco." Bruce finished for him, sighing at the demigod's forgetfulness.

Percy nodded mutely, but Tony cut in, "You know, I believe you when you say you rushed here but Loki?" Tony raised an eyebrow, "You're telling me that that homicidal god rushed to our defense?"

Percy scowled defensively on Loki's behalf, but replied, "Well fine, maybe not you, but he was quite worried about Thor."

Tony scoffed, moving to say more when Steve interrupted, knowing that they could go on all day. "Enough, we need to retrieve that gem, time is of essence."

"What essence Cap? In case your eyes are failing you, there isn't any more chitauri around." Tony said, spreading his arms out, "All thanks to that dragon over there, good job by the way, uh, good dragon?" Ladon peered at him, huffing slightly before shifting. "Okay." Tony muttered, moving away from the temperamental reptile.

Nico shook his head, tugging on Percy's sleeve, facing the avengers, "We can't go up remember? We don't know if our status as demigods will affect the location of the gem."

Percy frowned and opened his mouth but Nico shushed him with an 'I'll explain later.'

Steve looked to Bruce and Tony, the three avengers sharing a look. The Captain sighed, "Fine, you two stay here, don't let anyone come up. We'll head up to get the gem."

Percy frowned at the thought of letting them go up the titan's home base alone but said nothing, instead, he motioned to the flight of stairs, "Head up those stairs, and continue going straight, follow the path and don't take any turns. You should see ruins at the end of the path, search the ruins." He paused, looking at Nico, who shrugged, "I don't know if you'll see it but, there might be someone trapped under something heavy. Whatever you do, whatever you think, don't listen to that man. Don't help him, don't listen to him, don't even acknowledge him."

"There's someone trapped up there and you're asking us to turn a blind eye?" Tony asked incredulously, but both demigods were firm.

Nico gave them a steady look, "We're serious, he's not someone who you want to mess with, nor is he someone you want let loose in the world. He's a Titan."

"And titans are more powerful than the gods." Percy supplied, the three mortals adopting shocked looks for the umpteenth time that day.

"Whatever you do," Percy said softly, "Just find that gem and get back here. And be careful."

Steve nodded, trusting Percy's instructions. His friend had no reason to lie to them after all. He made his way to the stairs, motioning for the other two to follow him.

Percy looked at his cousin and then at the dragon and back to his cousin again, "So... A heart to heart with a dragon who looks like he's considering me for dinner and supper?"

Nico scowled, yanking Percy towards the side, "Not the most dangerous situation you've been in. And you're not big enough for two meals. You have one minute to talk. So spill."

Percy sighed and settled himself down for the long talk.