percy takes a test (which is never a good thing)

If Annabeth was being honest, she understood the Avengers concerns about Percy. He hadn't really given them a reason to trust his control yet. It WAS understandable. However, she was also Percy's girlfriend, and that meant that she was ready to fight an army to defend him. That is how she found herself in this situation.

Ω ♆ Ω

"He needs to be contained!" Nick Fury shouted.

"NO! He hasn't done anything wrong! All of his actions were in self-defense!" Annabeth countered.

As soon as the team had gotten back to the tower, they had found Director Fury waiting for them in the living room. Based on the scowl adorning his face, Steve had decided that they had to jump right into the discussion about Percy. Better to get it over with, he'd said.

"Guys..." Percy sighed.

Everyone either didn't hear him, or they were ignoring him.

"He is a threat to the city. Hell, he's a threat to the world!" Fury said.

Jason's eyes crackled with lightning, "My cousin is no threat to your world. He SAVED it!"

"Multiple times!" Leo added.

"It doesn't matter how many times he's saved the world," Fury said, "It matters if he is stable enough to be out with regular society."

He had finally stopped yelling at them, and was instead speaking in an even scarier tone: calmly. It was deadly.

"Don't talk about him like he's any worse than any of your special projects," Annabeth gave Fury the full force of her death-glare, "If this were truly about stability, you would be a hypocrite; with your 'Avengers.'"

Tony gave an indignant squake-like sound at that, but everyone ignored him.

"Guys!" Percy finally yelled, standing up from his position slouched against a wall.

"This is my life you're debating here! And I feel like that gives me a vote!"

Annabeth's features softened for the first time that night, and were replaced with guilt, "I'm sorry, Seaweed Brain."

"It's fine, Wisegirl. What is NOT fine is Director Fury making orders without even telling everyone here the full truth. He KNOWS who I am, WHAT I am. That should be reason enough as to why I'm let go," Percy said.

Steve turned to glare at Fury, "What was that?"

Fury finally seemed to be coming to the conclusion that his plan to lock up Percy would not work when he said, "I know that Perseus and his team are demigods. I know more about their world than you ever should, Captain."

"Why were we not informed?" Clint asked, finally putting in his input.

"It was need-to-know, and you did NOT need to know."

Tony snorted into his glass of whiskey, "That's bullshit and you know it."

It kept going on like this for at least another ten minutes, or that's what Percy thought anyways. His ADHD often made time a jumbled mess, so it wouldn't be a shock if he was wrong. But it did go on for some length of time, that he was sure of. It went around and around and around and around...

Pretty annoying, actually.

What finally ended it was Percy shouted, "ENOUGH! I'LL JUST SHOW HIM A DEMONSTRATION OF MY CONTROL AND WE CAN BE DONE WITH ALL THIS SKATA!"

All eyes turned to him (which kinda freaked him out just for a second) simultaneously.

"Works for me," Fury commented and promptly walked out of the room, "I'll be in the pool room when you're ready, Mr. Jackson."

Ω ♆ Ω

Percy locked everyone out of the room. He walked straight into the pool room and proceeded to close the door on Annabeth's face. It wasn't about him not trusting the Avengers and the Seven, it was more about him not needing their anxiety and frustration distracting him. He was confident in his abilities, but it still helped to be around calm things.

Fury was waiting for him by the pool in all his ominous glory.

Absently, Percy wondered how he was able to hold that scowl in place all the time. It must get tiring eventually, right?

"Mr. Jackson! Are you just going to stand there all day?" Fury spoke, startling him out of his thoughts.

"No, sir. I'm just wondering what you want me to do," he answered.

Smooth, Jackson, he thought to himself.

Fury clearly saw through him, but he ignored it. "Lift the pool water up and split it in two, then freeze one half while lowering the other into the pool."

Percy scoffed, "Are you kidding me?!"

The Director's scowl somehow got deeper, and he said, "I don't kid, Mr. Jackson."

"Would you stop acting like you're better than me? I already have issues with authority, you don't need to make them worse, SIR," Percy snarked back.

He knew that it was a risk provoking Fury, but he couldn't help it. Like he said: he has issues with authority.

It didn't even work, though. Director Fury just held his gaze with an unimpressed look on his face.

Rolling his eyes, Percy sighed, "Fine. I can try to do it."

Fury smartly took a few steps back from the water's edge as Percy prepared himself. It wasn't like he didn't think he could do it. He just knew that it would be draining and annoying. Plus, he hated how new people looked at him after they saw what he could do, even if they'd already seen a display of power. That's mainly why he likes to visit his mom as much as possible. With all the new campers they've been getting, it was becoming increasingly harder to find a peaceful time to himself.

The tug in his gut was welcomed now; letting him know that he was still human. Even if the tug was significantly lesser now, it was still a reminder that he was not some all-powerful god that some people thought him to be. He had limits.

The water did not slowly rise. It instead jumped to obey his will. A week ago, that would have terrified him, but now he knew that it was just the product of his powers growing.

With the water about ten feet above their heads, still holding the shape of the pool, he split it into two bodies.

It was much easier than it used to be.

If he was going to successfully complete the next step, he had to split his focus as well. He found solace in the fact that this part was difficult for him. He gently started lowering the right side of water while he focused on the molecules in the left side. He may act stupid sometimes, but he knew his water facts. Usually, you lower the temperature in the air enough to force the water molecules to connect, but he just compelled the molecules to connect, causing it to freeze.

In his mind, the process lasted forever, but from an outsider point of view like Nick Fury's, it took about five seconds. It was impressive.

But Fury didn't let it show on his face. He hadn't truly believed that Percy would fail his test, but it was protocol to test him. He had to be absolutely sure. It was his instinct to be skeptical.

"Good. I see that my work here is done. Don't make me have to do this again, Mr. Jackson," he gave a nod to Percy before promptly leaving the room and probably the building.

Percy wasn't sure whether to be shocked or grateful that no further discussion had to be done. Spoiler alert: he chose to be grateful.

No need to look a gift horse in the mouth. Just one look at Blackjack's pearly whites and anyone would agree.

"That's all?" Annabeth asked, walking in with the rest of the heroes.

"Yep. I guess he just wanted to make sure," Percy answered.

"How come he trusts a teenager more than he trusts us?" Tony remarked.

Natasha spoke, "Because you're on our team."

"Nice," Tony deadpanned.

"You're welcome," she gave a minuscule grin.

Jason broke in, "Can we just go get some sleep now? It's been a long couple of days."

"I'm all for sleep," Piper added.

Steve smiled at the tea

Steve smiled at the team's new additions (even if they weren't aware of their induction yet), "Yes. Go get some sleep, team."

Ω ♆ Ω