Percy Jackson hated this.

He hated all of it. The pitied looks, the hushed whispers, the way camp changed. Annabeth wasn't here anymore, there was nothing here for him.

Grover was off being lord of the wild. Jason was with Annabeth in the underworld. Nico rarely talked to him. Hazel and Frank were at camp Jupiter. Piper was with her dad. Leo was exploring the world with Calypso.

Everyone had something, some bigger purpose they were meant to fulfill. A dream they had to follow.

Everyone except him.

His dream had died, been buried with the grave engraved with the name Annabeth Chase. His dream had chosen rebirth.

His dream would never happen.

And he hated himself for it.

So that's how he ended up here, isn't eh situation he had worked so hard to avoid. He had lead two lives, he had to know it would catch up with him eventually.

Chaos had helped him, but there was something wrong in his tone; a warning. Percy had seen it, he just chose not to care.

But maybe this was the warning. Maybe this was how it was meant to be all along. He would fall in love, he would do everything he could for the world.

But when he needed help? The world wouldn't lift a finger.

It was sick, it was twisted, but it was true. How it was always meant to be, right? 'As long as we're together'.

Those words tasted like acid in his mouth, and it made him feel cold. 'As long as we're together'. So much for that.

He thought he had escaped the life of losing who he loved, but it occurred to him that he never had. Both lives had made him lose everything.

Percy recalled the day he started this life perfectly, when chaos had 'helped him'

"Are you sure about this, Peter Parker?" Chaos asked, right before he was about to go through with it.

Peter saw a glint in his eyes, one of mischief that made him worried, but he needed this too much to care. "I lost her. He stood by and watched me lose her. I don't want to live this life anymore,"

"Then you will have new memories—as will the rest of the world I'm sending you into. You will remember both lives, but you will be living as a different person with a different name. You will just look the same,"

"What will my name be?"

"Percy Jackson."

So there he stood, remembering everything he had pushed from his mind. He had hated his life, thought anything would be better than that.

Percy looked out the window to the familiar view that had somehow been unchanged. He knew this view, he knew what it meant.

Stark tower had the best view in the city, and Percy had basically free access to get in. There was only problem about the view.

It belonged to the one person he hated more than anything.

"Hey kid." Tony Stark stood in the doorway, leaning on the big archway. He walked forward and stood next to Percy, patting him on the back. "You always did love the view, huh?"

Percy flinched at the touch but shook it off, not looking at his ex-mentor. "What do you want, Mr Stark?"

"Kid, I missed you,"

"Don't call me kid, Mr Stark." Percy walked away, brushing his shoulder against the billionaire. "You don't deserve it."

"I always called you kid." Tony joined Percy, but Percy just walked away.

"No." Percy didn't look back, he just turned away. "The guy who called me 'Kid' was like a father to me. He was a good man, the best actually. And now he's dead."

Tony tried not to show how much that hurt him, but he had gotten good at not showing emotions, especially about this subject.

"You would've died,"

Percy walked away and back to the window, trying to avoid Tony Stark at all costs. The same thing he had been doing for three years.

"But instead she did."