Steve's P.O.V

No one could sleep that night, everyone's mind on Percy.

No matter how hard I tried to think of something else, Percy's defeated face lingered in my mind, making my stomach sink and my eyes sting. I tossed and turned in my bed, never being able to fall asleep. A certain question came back to my head every few minutes:

What would happen if he didn't make it?

No. Don't even think about that. I chastised myself angrily. He will survive. No matter what.

By the time morning came, I had only had about an hour of sleep. It appeared the others were in the same predicament when I got to the kitchen. The air was solemn and gloomy, and no one talked to each other. The only sound that filled the air was the clinking of eating utensils against plates. After a while, I let out a sigh.

"All right, we need to address the elephant in the room." I spoke up, breaking the silence. "Percy." I paused, almost waiting for the teenager's sarcastic reply; Are you calling me fat? I felt like grimacing when he didn't, depressing realisation smashing into me like a punch. "We need to do something."

"Like what, Steve?" Bruce asked tiredly. Dark bags lay under his eyes and he leaned against his arm on the table. "There's nothing we can do. You heard Apollo, and he's a God."

"But Apollo did say that he would search for a cure." Natasha interjected. She probably looked the best out of us all; with her hair brushed, her clothes neat, and no visible rings around her eyes. In fact, her face was almost blank and it would seem she wasn't even grieving at all. But I knew her better, and I could see the pain hidden in her eyes.

"We've only got about two and a half days now." Wanda said quietly, her eyes glossy and red rimmed from crying.

"Well we have to do something."

~Time skip~

"What are we doing here?" Percy asked dubiously, looking around Central Park (A/N Because I don't live in America and don't know any other places). It was still morning, and there weren't many people around. Probably because it was a Wednesday. A cool breeze ran through the park, making Percy stuff his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. His skin quite pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes, but he looked relatively normal. Not like a deadly poison was running through his veins as we speak.

"To have some fun." Tony answered, sarcasm dripping off of his words. I gave him a nudge with my shoulder, sending him a pointed look.

"We're here because we all agreed that we need a day off." I said. Percy let out a sigh like breath as he exhaled, running a hand through his already messy raven hair. The action brought my attention to his fringe, where a streak of his dark hair was a faded silver colour. Huh I never noticed that before.

"All right. What are we gonna do?" He asked in resignation, knowing the real reason for this 'trip'.

"Well we're gonna play some games." Wanda said, smiling lightly. Percy raised an eyebrow, but didn't protest. Some of the over Avengers though made soft noises of reluctance, which I silenced with a glare.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Pietro grinned. Tony sighed.

"So what are we going to 'play' first, Oh captain, my captain?" He asked sarcastically.

"Everyone knows Tag, right?" I heard a groan come from Sam.

"Look man, I'm your friend and all, but seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." I gave him a hard look. "Now it's gonna be a little different this time. Powers and equipment are allowed, but because some don't have either, we will be paired into groups of two. When the first people catch someone, the caught people have to get another person. And so on. Thor and Natasha, me and Sam, Tony and Bruce, Pietro and Clint, Wanda and Rhodey, and Percy and Loki. Wanda and Rhodey will go first." I told everyone. They all nodded in confirmation. "Okay, give us a twenty second headstart. You may hide, run, use powers and fly. Got it?" Again everyone nodded. "Then go." With that, we all split up into our pairs and started running. Sam flew in the air above me as I ran. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Wanda and Rhodey chasing Tony and Bruce. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Pietro speeding along, while Clint jogged behind him with an annoyed look on his face. I couldn't help but smile in amusement at the rantings of the archer. I didn't see where Percy or Loki had gone, but I could see Thor tromping through the park. Natasha however was nowhere to be seen either. With a start, I looked behind me and saw Tony flying towards me. Wanda and Rhodey were gone, so I assumed they had caught the pair of 'Lab bros' as Tony called them. Bruce was nowhere in sight, so I guessed he might've given up and left the chasing to Tony. Not on my watch. I picked up my pace and I heard Sam fly in the other direction. Tony followed me, so I swerved through the trees. I ran faster at the sound of him behind me. I could practically feel him reaching out, about to grab my shoulder. I abruptly swerved left, shoes almost slipping on the ground at the sudden change of course. I heard Tony yelp as he crashed into a tree, which let out string of curses in Norse. I glanced over my shoulder, realising that Tony had landed on Thor. The God was frowning as he stood up.

"It appears I have been bested." He bowed his head at Tony, who I could tell was smirking under his helmet.

"Well done, Thor." Natasha said sarcastically, leaping down gracefully from a tree. I guess that's where she was. I hummed in surprise, taking this moment to escape. Sam caught up with me, flying overhead again.

"They're after Pietro and Clint now." He informed me.

"Thanks." I called back up.

"Clint has disappeared somewhere. So has Natasha." He told me. "And now Thor is cursing Pietro. Pietro is running circles around him. Literally." I felt myself crack a smile at that, slowing to jog. "And now Thor is holding out his hammer, shouting something. He looks angry." Sam continued, watching from the air. "He's gonna slam his hammer on the ground... Aaaaand he did it." I could feel the mini earthquake it caused even from this distance, bending my knees to stay steady on the shockwave. "Pietro's down. He's been tagged." He paused. "Aaaaand they've seen us. Run. Run now." I started running, Sam taking off. Damn. I'd never be able to match Pietro's speed. I cursed silently, weaving through the trees. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, seeming to have slammed into something invisible. Percy became visible from beneath me, eyes wide in surprise. I'm sure my eyes were big too.

"Well hi there." Percy smiled lightly, Loki appearing just a few feet away. He used an invisibility spell. I realised.

"You mewling idiot." The god rolled his eyes as I pushed myself off, helping the teenager up.

"Sorry." I apologised. Percy looked behind me and his eyebrows rose slightly.

"Incoming." Without needing to look, I knew Pietro was coming. I dashed out of the way, Percy doing the same thing. Loki however raised his arms, a green glow surrounding him. Moments later about a dozen Loki replica's filled the area. Pietro skidded to a stop, looking around in confusion. All twelve Loki's smirked and folded their arms in sync. The real Loki though, was running the opposite way, Percy at his heels. I took this time to continue running as well. The sound of an arrow whistling through the air caused me to look up, where Sam was flying. He swore as the arrow erupted into a net, covering him and his wings, and causing him to fall to the ground in a tangled heap. Pietro sped towards him, touching him on the shoulder triumphantly. Sam let out a string of curses as I walked over, helping him to get free of the net.

"Percy and Loki are the only ones left." I informed him as he stood up. "And they aren't going to be easy to catch."

~Time Skip~

It turns out they were impossible to catch. With Loki and Percy as a team, we were forced to admit our defeat after a good half an hour of fruitless attempts. Which, of course, Tony had to rub in our faces. So the game was finally finished, with Percy and Loki as the winners.

"What flavours do you all want?" The young woman at the counter asked coolly, obviously trying hard not to show how much she was fangirling at the sight of us. After a long time of debating, we all decided to go get some ice cream.

"Three vanilla," I started, which was for myself, Clint and Bruce. "Two rocky road," Tony and Pietro. "One mint," Loki. "Three chocolate," Sam, Natasha, and Thor. "Two caramel," Wanda and Rhodey. "And one of anything... Blue." I sent Percy an amused look at the last one.

"A-All right, y-you can take a seat. I'll bring them to you in a moment." She said, looking awestruck. Tony smiled and handed her some money.

"Thanks." He said, turning and walking to a booth. We all followed him.

"B-But this is too much!" She protested weakly, seemingly going to faint.

"Keep the change then." Tony waved a hand dismissively. We all took the seat on either side of the long bright red booth.

"So is everyone having fun yet?" I asked, smiling. The others nodded, a chorus of,

Yeah's and Surprisingly's coming from a few of them. "Told you." I said.

"So what are we doing next?" Wanda asked curiously.

"Well... That all depends on Percy. Whatever he wants to do." I answered, looking at said boy. Percy looked down, tapping his fingers on the table as his thought.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Well think about it. It's your choice." I looked up as the girl came back, carrying a few of our ice creams.

"H-Here you are." She stammered.

"Thanks." I smiled as we accepted the cold dessert. Soon the others arrived as well, and everyone dived into their food. The others started chatting lightly, everyone looking happy and at ease.

Until Percy dropped his spoon onto the table with a strangled cry, bending over and clutching at his stomach.

"Percy!" Everyone froze, looking over him worriedly. His teeth were gritted, eyes shut tight. He was breathing shallowly, his hands clenched into fists.

"Percy?" I asked quietly, everyone silent. After a few moments, he slowly straightened up again. A drop of sweat dripped down his temple, his skin paler than before. He smiled weakly at us, the circles under his eyes even darker.

"I-I'm all right." He said shakily. Wanda put a hand on his shoulder in concern.

"You don't look all right." She contradicted gently.

"Well I'm okay now." He assured us, picking up his spoon again. "Please, don't worry about me."

"But we are. What happened?" Bruce asked softly. Percy shrugged, cleaning the spilt bubblegum ice cream on the table with a tissue.

"I don't know. I just felt this... This burning sensation coming from my stomach." He said dismissively. I glanced at Bruce, seeming to come to the same conclusion I had. He was underplaying it. "Let's just continue having fun." He interupted my thoughts.

"All right." Natasha said in agreement to Percy, giving us all pointed looks. "What do you want to do next?" She asked him. The teenager pondered it for a few moments as we finished our ice cream.

"Well..." He started, chewing on his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe we could... Go to the beach?" He asked hopefully. I looked around the table, and seeing no objections, I nodded my head in agreement.

"To the beach it is."

~Time Skip~

Everyone collapsed onto their beds at the end of the day, all tired out, but happy. The rest of the day had been spent at the beach, playing volley ball games, swimming, and sun tanning. And no one could be happier.

Was that about to end?

Hello everyone. Here's the update I promised. Sorry it's so late, I've kinda been busy with exams... And life... Anyway, I'll try to update this again as soon as possible. I hope you enjoyed the little filler chapter.
Bye for now, puny mortals~