Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Above is a logo for someone's (don't want to spoil it) organization. I don't own the font, neither do I own the individual phoenix and snake/ouroboros symbol. However, I did edit them and also add the outer circle and the words, so I own the entire symbol as a whole, I suppose. Or at least the idea of the symbol... Anyways, on with the story! Time to finish CA:TWS! - Spathi

Steve's P.O.V.

Everybody in the room was startled, except for Natasha.

"Where did he come from?" he wondered.

The Sea Scorpion walked further into the room.

"You left this behind." he said, tossing Steve his shield. He caught it and stared at the vibranium disk in his hands.

"How did he get this? And why would he retrieve it? What is this guy's play?" he thought.

The Sea Scorpion also tossed Sam's original EXO-7 Falcon onto the table, and handed Natasha her guns and cuffs. Steve watched as the guns shrank down into her arrow necklace. He idly wondered how that had happened.

"Just wanted to drop by, get you a couple weapons. Natasha. I've got some shock disks for you. Oh, and this blonde, bob cut wig. Definitely not based off of a well-known British politician. Might be helpful. " A smile crept onto Natasha's face as she took the wig and the disks.

"Location?" she asked.

"Touching down at the airport in about an hour and a half. Sam, if you could put the backpack on, as well as these gloves." Sam obliged to the Scorpion's request.

"What are the gloves for?" Sam said. The Sea Scorpion tilted his head.

"Pretend that you're pulling a pair of guns from two holsters at your waist." he said. Sam did what he said, and two pieces of metal detatched from the torso straps, and attached to the wrist part of the gloves. They rotated and unfolded as he moved his arms away from him, and formed into two guns, sitting in his grip.

"Okay, now that's cool." Sam admitted. The Sea Scorpion brought out a tactical shirt and combat pants, and handed it to Sam.

"A parachute is attached to the back of the pants, in case you lose the EXO-7." he said.

"I've got one more thing for you." the Sea Scorpion said, turning to him. He held out a small, bronze object. Steve took it warily, and gasped once he realized what it was.

"It's her compass. I- This was on the plane. How-" he stuttered.

"I have my ways." the Scorpion replied. Steve tucked it into his jacket, and looked back at the assassin. Steve still didn't trust the man at all, but he thought that maybe there was a story behind the mask.

"Thanks." Steve said politely. The Scorpion inclined his head. He turned and handed fully loaded guns and extra clips to Hill and Fury, and then spun back towards him.

"Do me a favor, Captain Rogers?" he asked.

"What is it?" Steve asked warily.

"Sign these trading cards? They're vintage. Mint condition, actually. I'd like you to sign them for Agent Coulson. I'm going to give them to his best friend when I see her. I never met the man myself, but he meant a lot to Natasha. I heard that you were his hero. You inspired him to be the man he was, the ordinary man who stood up to a god, and sacrificed himself to help the world. So, I wanted to ask you to help me do a little something to honor him." The Scorpion carefully held a box of cards out to him. Steve was dumbfounded, but nodded anyways. Hill and Fury looked grateful, Natasha was smiling widely, and Sam stood in the corner of the room, respect for the Scorpion visible in his eyes.

Steve sat down, and started signing the cards, carefully making each one out to Phillip Coulson. On one side of the box, he wrote, "You were a great man, a true hero at heart. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.", signing the note with his initials. On the other side of the box, he drew a small picture of Phil brandishing his vibranium shield. Once he had finished, he handed the box back to the Sea Scorpion. Natasha handed the assassin a note which he also slipped into the box.

"Well, I'll be off. I've got some unfinished business to complete. And then, I'll be headed to the Hub." the Scorpion announced. Fury raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that?" he asked, a glint in his eye, as if the ex-director had an idea of the Scorpion's motives.

"Well, I've got the feeling that once Hydra pops out, the people over there are going to need some help. So, I'm going to the biggest S.H.I.E.L.D. base there is, other than the Triskelion." the Scorpion explained. Fury nodded his head slowly.

"How does he know about Hydra?" Steve questioned mentally as alarm bells went off in his head.

"Alright, then." Nick said. The Scorpion reached over to Natasha's shoulder, and grasped it briefly. They seemed to have a mental conversation. Then, the Sea Scorpion strode over to stand near the doorway.

"Natasha, don't forget what's in those cuffs of yours. There are two motorcycles outside. Don't worry, I stole them from the S.H.I.E.L.D. transport bay. If you need to get anything, or anyone, you should probably hop on one. For the rest of you, try not to die. Good luck." the Scorpion said. He disappeared seconds later.

"That guy doesn't stick around, does he?" Sam said to no one in particular. Natasha shook her head. They all sat around the table, and Fury pulled out a couple of pictures of Alexander Pierce. He stared at the pictures for a while before speaking.

"This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, 'Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.' See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues." Fury complained.

Natasha pointed out that they needed to stop the launch, and Hill brought out some small chips that could turn the carriers against each other if plugged in.

They argued a bit over whether they were going to salvage S.H.I.E.L.D. or not, with Fury eventually giving in and recognizing that Steve was in charge.

"Right, so we'll start by getting into the Air Traffic Control Tower. That team will consist of Sam, Hill, and I. From here, Hill can monitor the Insight helicarrier launch, and update us on it's progress. We can also patch into the PA speakers from there. I'll expose Hydra, creating a bit of chaos, giving us a chance to get some backup, and a window of time to get onto the helicarriers." Sam and Hill nodded.

"Now, Romanoff, I need you to get into that meeting with Pierce. Take control of it, dump all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files on the internet, therefore exposing Hydra's secrets as well." Steve continued. Natasha went pale.

"Dump all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files? Rogers, are you kidding me? That's- " she tried to argue, but Steve was tired of secrets.

"Dump it. All of it." Steve said in a flat tone. Natasha nodded miserably, and Steve averted his eyes, missing the sympathetic glances Hill and Fury sent Natasha's way. As far as he was concerned, it all needed to go. Hill spoke up next.

"Rogers, are you expecting Romanoff to stroll through a building full of Hydra agents and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who know that she's wanted? And how do you expect her to dump the S.H.I.E.L.D. files? You'd need two Alpha-level clearance eye biometrics in the system in order to bypass the system. I'm sure that Pierce wiped Fury's access." Fury smiled.

"And I'm willing to bet that he didn't wipe my backup biometrics. I've got the Alpha-level security clearance covered." he said smugly.

"Well, that still leaves the question of how Romanoff plans to get into the meeting." Hill pointed out. They look over at Natasha, who was now wearing the blonde wig, and looking down at her phone. The sound of a woman speaking was coming from the device. Everybody waited another couple seconds for Natasha to respond. Steve watched as she tucked an errant piece of hair behind her ear, and something yellow sparked for a millisecond.

"Oh, I don't believe I'll have any trouble." a different voice said, and everybody did a double take as Natasha looked up. Councilwoman Hawley sat before them, albeit in Natasha's clothes.

"Romanoff? What the-" Sam exclaimed. A small smile spread across the Black Widow's borrowed face, although her eyes were still tired and full of stress.

"Scorpion left a photostatic veil in my cuffs, as well as a voice imitator. If I see a picture of someone, I can take their face, and the imitator allows me to mimic the tone of anyone I hear. That's why he brought this wig, and two motorcycles. And it's also why he added Hawley's location to my phone." she said, showing them her phone. A little dot was moving towards the airport.

"She's about to arrive at the terminal. I'm going to need to intercept her. And take her outfit. And bag. And anything else she's brought with her. So, pretty much everything that I can get my hands on. I'm actually going to need to leave now, if I want to get there in time." she continued, standing up. Steve watched as Natasha pulled off the wig, and deactivated the veil.

"Wish me luck." she called over her shoulder as she hurried out of the room.

"Well, that takes care of that." Maria commented, staring at the doorway Natasha had disappeared through.

"That Scorpion guy is really helpful. If we were in a play, he'd be the guy that moves things around in the background, setting everything up so that we can do our jobs. Seriously, it's like he has an intuitive sense for what we need. Weapons? He'll just pop in. Disguises? He's got that. Military technology? Oh, he recently just randomly stopped by the ex-director of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret bunker and picked some of that up. He'll be at your door in ten minutes." Sam said, shaking his head disbelievingly.

"The question is, how does he know?" Steve mused out loud. Sam gave him an odd look, and Fury and Maria exchanged glances. They clearly knew something. Steve clenched his fists. He hated when people didn't tell him things.

He went outside to prepare for the battle, reminiscing about his childhood with Bucky, specifically a moment after his mother's funeral.

"I'm with you till the end of the line, pal." The line played through his head on repeat, stuck in an endless loop. Steve closed his eyes as grief washed over him. Sam's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"He's gonna be there, you know?" the other man said.

"I know." he replied shortly. Sam sighed.

"Look, whoever he used to be, the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop." he commented.

"I don't know if I could do that." Steve said truthfully.

"Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you." came the reply.

"He will. Gear up, it's time." Steve responded confidently.

"You gonna wear that?" Sam asked, gesturing towards his outfit.

"No. If you're gonna fight a war, you gotta wear a uniform." Steve called over his shoulder as he ran off into the woods. He needed to make a quick stop at the Smithsonian.

Percy's P.O.V.

"Wait, you want to do what?" Sadie and Carter stared at him in shock.

"I want to create an organization comprised of people that have been rescued from government operations, such as S.H.I.E.L.D., the CIA, or the military. Of course, they're going to be given a choice, unless they've been declared dead or have nothing to return to." Percy said.

"And how exactly do you plan to make this organization? And what will it be called?" Carter asked. Percy grinned.

"Well, it will be called C.H.A.O.S., and I got that idea from your uncle calling me an agent of Chaos. That stands for Combative Hyperconscious Auxiliary Operatives Sector, and the idea of the agency is literally to help and rescue people. Oh, and provide backup. I'll need your help to create some enchanted coins, but I do have enough information to build it up. And in terms of running it, well, I led the Greco-Roman camps for a while, and I've got some people who are experienced at that sort of thing."

"It's a support group?" Carter questioned.

"Yes, but please don't call it that. Gods, when you put it that way, it sounds like a gigantic group therapy thing. You know, where you talk about issues or traumas you have?" Percy complained.

"What I want to know is how you came up with words that fit with C.H.A.O.S. so fast. For example, hyperconscious?" Sadie commented. Percy laughed.

"I had some time to think about it while I was fighting some evil mortals to retrieve some items that some friends needed. And also while searching through the wreckage of a plane from the 1940s in the middle of the Arctic." he responded. Carter frowned.

"Wait, when was this?" the magician queried.

"Oh, well, I left Brooklyn House twice in the past 24 hours, right? Once before you two showed up, and once right after we convinced your friends that I was trustworthy. The second time I left, that's when I fought some evil mortals and went to the Arctic." Percy explained. Carter glanced at his sister, who shrugged.

"Okay, then. Back to the matter at hand. You want to us to enchant some coins? To do what?"

"I'm going to need tons of them. Each coin need to be able to return to a specific person, so when they focus on the logo of the organization, they will automatically teleport to a certain object." Percy clarified.

"What does the logo look like?" Sadie put in interestedly.

"Well, there's a thick outer circle, and centered within that is the ouroboros symbol. The ouroboros, which is a snake biting its own tail, symbolizes the cycle of nature. Creation out of destruction; life out of death. The snake is keeping itself alive by constantly bringing itself to the brink of death, all in an eternal cycle. Provided the snake is also growing in length at the same rate that it eats itself, that is. A phoenix flies upwards with spread wings centered in the ouroboros. The phoenix symbolizes life, rebirth, healing, and is similar to the ouroboros in that it also represents the cycle of nature. The phoenix dies in flames, and is reborn, over and over again." he described, drawing the logo as he detailed it. Carter and Sadie looked suitably impressed.

"Wow, you really thought about it, didn't you?" Percy nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose I did. So, can you help me?" Carter and Sadie glanced at each other.

"I think we can." Carter said. Percy smiled.

"Great. I need to speak to some people. I'll be back in a couple hours or so." The Kane siblings nodded, and Percy vapor-traveled to the Empire State Building. He argued with the guard, acquired the key-card, and rode up to Olympus. Percy went to the throne room, and entered slowly. The Olympians turned to him. He bowed to each Olympian, and then knelt in front of Poseidon.

"Father." he said.

"Percy. Stand up, my son. What brings you to Olympus in the midst of a council meeting?"

"I am setting up an organization which works to eliminate threats, and I am here to request help in building the main base." Percy summarized.

"An organization? What for? And why should we help?" Zeus boomed.

"To rescue and support. If the organization succeeds in its purpose, there will be many benefits. For one, it will protect all demigods, as the agency works to extract people from harmful situations. This would include sending an agent to collect demigods and bring them to the base, where they can be briefed on their heritage while remaining safe from monsters. It would also include making sure the government does not gain interest in them, as they always do with powered or people who are nontypical in some way, and covering up any abnormal incidents in ways that the Mist alone cannot. A second benefit would be that because there are many threats rising, both mortal and alien, the organization can develop and provide countermeasures to these threats because it has more resources, more knowledge, and isn't facing any problems of its own. We can work with materials that mortals cannot and access information that isn't available to normal humans. And because the agency works from the shadows, there's no danger of retaliation, nor is it restricted by any laws because it operates on a different level than the mortals do. The last benefit that I will mention is that the organization aids in the preservation of the Earth. This is helpful to Olympus because Earth is your domain. With the Asgardian Thor's arrival on Earth, whether it be in his alien aspect or not, the existence of life on other worlds and galaxies has essentially been confirmed. As there could be several threats arriving from space, keeping the Earth's inhabitants safe is important so that if there is any trespass from an unwelcome race, Earth is in good condition to defend itself." Percy reasoned. He looked around at the Olympians, who all seemed to be impressed with his sound logic. Poseidon had a proud expression on his face, Athena was slightly shocked, and Zeus was nodding his head thoughtfully.

"You put forward good points. However, I would like to point out that you mentioned that the agents would retrieve demigods, as well as work with materials that mortals cannot. How will you recruit agents and ensure their loyalty?" Zeus questioned.

"Well, in terms of recruiting, most demigods will be completely ineligible because I want to keep them out of this. And no matter who they are, they must be over the age of eighteen. But there is only one test that each agent will have to pass. This will tell me whether they are trustworthy or not. If a demigod over the age of 18 passes the test, claimed or unclaimed, they can join. Percy replied.

"Only one? And what is that?" Athena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They must have sacrificed everything for a cause." Percy said. There was complete silence for a minute. Then, Hermes spoke up.

"Can you elucidate?" the messenger god queried. Percy took a deep breath.

"For most of the agents, that will mean that they were willing to die for their cause. But for an extremely small number, that might mean that they did something no one else would have had the strength to do. This is why many of my initial recruits will be from S.H.I.E.L.D." the son of the sea clarified.

"Why is that? And how would you know if they were willing to die?" Poseidon asked.

"My sister and I have realized that the evil organization Hydra has infected S.H.I.E.L.D., placing dozens of sleeper agents inside the agency. They were not destroyed during World War II, unfortunately, and they've grown in power since then. Natasha is going to force Hydra into the open by the end of today, so the traitorous agents will most likely start to kill off true S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. I'm going to the Hub later, and I'm going to prevent the deaths of as many agents as I can, provided they don't decide to join Hydra. Once the assault is over, I'll give the agents the choice of returning home to their families, or continuing to protect the world." Percy responded.

"Why would the agents stay?" Zeus rumbled.

"If an agent stays, their family receives full financial and medical support. And I'll do the absolute best I can to make sure no agent dies. Not a single one. Besides, in a couple years, the organization will probably be at least somewhat known. Not publicly, like S.H.I.E.L.D., but perhaps known by its name, reputation, and purpose. Then, the agents can reach out to their families by secure methods of contact, but won't be able to see them in person until they retire. At that point the agents will swear by the Styx to not reveal any information about the organization itself, although they can tell people that they were in the organization at their own risk. They'll always be able to access the base though, but only in emergencies, such as either them or their family being kidnapped for information. On the other hand, not joining the organization will mean that their memories will be altered by a short-term memory potion so that they do not remember the existence of the organization at all. Then, they will be returned to the place they were rescued from, or if that's too dangerous, a safe place near that area." the demigod answered.

"You also mentioned that the agency operates on a different level than the mortals do. How is that?" Athena questioned.

"Although the mortal agents will remain unknowing of the mythological world, all of the agents still work for an agency that will often handle things beyond mortals. It deals with all threats, whether they be mythical, otherworldly, or mortal. Also, all of the agents are technically dead, with there being very few exceptions. And mortal laws don't apply to people who are dead." Percy explained.

"Well, it seems you've thought this through carefully. We will build your base. Do you have any plans laid out?" Zeus decided. Percy grinned. He'd drawn up some blueprints after he learned from Natasha that S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to fall, and he was very proud of them. He'd listened to Annabeth's rants about architecture over the years, and after he'd learned to forge from Tyson, he'd drawn up a lot of plans for weapons. Designing a base had been harder than designing weapons, but using what he knew about architecture because of Annabeth had helped, allowing him to create an aesthetically pleasing design that was functional and artistic. He took a small cube from his pocket, and placed it on the ground, watching as it expanded into his laptop. He'd found that feature while frustratedly trying to figure out how to carry the device without it interfering with his fighting. He showed the designs and his notes on what else he wanted in the base to Athena.

"These are surprisingly well detailed, Perseus. I must commend you for that. And the materials are well chosen. I think... yes, that would work." the wisdom goddess said as she inspected the blueprints. She snapped her fingers, and the laptop appeared on Hephaestus's lap.

"I think the fastest way to do this is for Hephaestus to build a smaller version of this, and then for us Olympians to scale it up." she suggested as the blacksmith god looked through the designs.

"I would agree. Give me about an hour?" the god said, before disappearing with the laptop.

"An hour?? That fast?" Percy asked, amazed.

"His domains include craftsmen and technology. When he really tries, he can build anything in a ridiculously short amount of time. Luckily for you, it looks like he's really trying." Hermes commented.

One hour later, there was a golden flash of light as Hephaestus popped in.

"I'd move to the side, Perseus." the god suggested. Percy did so, and suddenly there was a large flash of light. Percy's eyes widened in amazement.

"From your reaction, I'd say that you like it." Hephaestus said. Percy smiled gratefully and glanced at the Olympians who all looked shocked. Hermes let out an appreciative whistle.

"That's an interesting design." the messenger god said.

"It can maneuver through both air and sea, and it has full camouflage capabilities. It will automatically dodge large projectiles, simply contorting its shape, like you wanted. It also has a gravity spell and perception spell so that no matter how the base is positioned, everyone in the base will be completely undisturbed. Not to mention, it runs on solar, lunar, and hydro-electric power sources, and flies using magic. And the tail can fire bolts of energy. I'll need the council's help to furnish the inside, but all of the rooms and built in weapons are there. It should be finished soon. Just give us another hour." Hephaestus said with pride. Percy bowed low to the god, a huge smile on his face.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you sooo much." he chanted. He thanked the Olympians profusely as well, and then went back to Brooklyn House. Upon arriving, Carter rushed over to him, and chucked a small bag and a large plaque towards him. His sister trailed behind him.

"That bag automatically refills itself, so you've got an unlimited supply of the coins you wanted. And the plaque is the anchor for the coins. You can hang it up somewhere." he said. Percy beamed at her.

"That's great!" he exclaimed. Sadie chucked another bag at him.

" This is also self-refilling, and it contains pieces of metal that are like beacons. If you give one to someone, it will turn into something representative of what they care about, and they can put it somewhere safe. Thinking ad hoc and picturing that object will immediately transport them to that object. So, if they give it to someone as a gift, they can always reach that person, no matter where they are." Sadie explained. Percy surged forward and hugged her briefly.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how helpful this is." He turned and gave Carter a hug as well, and then checked the time.

"I owe you guys. But I've got to go somewhere right now. I'm on a short time limit. Thanks, guys!" he said apologetically as he backed up. He saw them wave as he mist-traveled away again.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She trailed at a safe distance behind the black SUV and the vans full of security guards following it. They were driving on a private road, bordered by She counted six armored vans, arranged in two columns of three. An idea hit her. It was crazy, but if she timed it right, it just might work. She gunned the engine of the motorcycle slightly, bringing her slightly closer. Then, she carefully took her hands off of the handlebars of the vehicle, and aimed her wrist carefully at the back of the black SUV. She deployed her grappling hook, watching as the claw easily sank into the metal. Immediately, the windows of the six vans started to roll down. She wrapped the rope around the handlebars of her motorcycle, and sped forward. By the time she'd almost leveled with the two vans closest to her, several men were aiming guns at her. She activated the gloves on her cuffs, brought her wrists together, and shoved outwards. The expanding wave of energy blew the six vans clear off the road, having the added bonus of the EMP wave shorting out both the cars and any communication devices the guards might have.

On the other hand, it also launched the SUV Hawley was in forwards as well. The back wheels of the SUV came off the ground as it skidded down the road on the front two wheels. Natasha and the motorcycle were launched into the air. As she flew through the air, she focused, trying to manifest her adoptive father's blessing. A red aura flickered around her, and she jerked the rope of the hook backwards as hard as she could, causing the SUV's back wheels to land on the ground as the entire car suddenly jerked backwards. It rolled to a stop as she retracted her grappling hook, angling her motorcycle so that she landed on back on the ground smoothly, swerving to face the slightly smoking SUV. She turned off the engine, and hopped off the motorcycle, sauntering over to the passenger side of the car. She was still glowing red, so she decided to grab the door handles, and rip the doors straight off the side of the vehicle. A terrified Hawley sat inside, while the driver pointed a shotgun at her.

He fired, and the bullets simply ricocheted off of her skin, although they did do some damage to her outfit. Natasha smirked evilly. Now, the driver looked about ready to scamper into the woods. She leisurely reached forwards, and plucked the shotgun out his hands, tying it into a knot, and tossing it to the side. She laughed darkly, and leaned in towards the driver, who fainted dead away. Then, she turned to Hawley.

"Your clothes, please." she said in an immaculate British accent.

10 minutes later, anybody on the private road would have seen the strange sight of what appeared to be Councilwoman Hawley riding a motorcycle away from the wreckage of several cars. Natasha pulled out her phone, and arranged for a limousine to pick her up at the edge of the city.

Soon, she found herself stepping out of the car at the Triskelion. As she and the other members of the World Security Council walked through the lobby, Pierce showed up.

"And how was your flight?" the man asked in a slightly flirtatious tone. Natasha fought to keep an extremely disgusted expression off of her face. There were so many things wrong with that. For one, both he and Hawley were married. Whether Pierce's wife was still alive or not didn't matter. Also, that was just gross. Natasha plastered an extremely fake smile on her face.

"Lovely. The ride from the airport less so." she quipped.

"Sadly, S.H.I.E.L.D. can't control everything." Pierce said knowingly, a look of sympathy on his face. Natasha really wanted to whack him with her purse. And then smash his face into the ground. Several times. But she restrained herself.

"Including Captain America." Councilman Rockwell jumped in. Natasha mentally rolled her eyes while Pierce sent the man a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"This facility is biometrically controlled, and these will give you unrestricted access." Natasha looked dubiously at the pins, but was the first to reach out for one. She didn't trust anything that came out of Pierce's mouth. However, she had no choice but to go along with whatever he said. Eventually they went up to a room from which Project Insight could be monitored. Pierce handed everyone a glass of champagne.

"I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth, and some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way." Pierce started.

"I know I would have. And then, I'd have run him over." she agreed mentally, keeping a benign expression on her face.

"Finally we're here, and the world should be grateful." Everybody raised their glasses, and started to drink. Natasha was trying to figure out how to avoid drinking the possibly poisoned champagne when Steve's voice came over the intercoms.

Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It has been taken over by HYDRA. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The S.T.R.I.K.E. and Insight crew are HYDRA as well. We don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won't end there.

If you launch those helicarriers today, HYDRA will be able to kill anyone that stands in their way. They must be stopped. I know I'm asking a lot. The price of freedom is high; it always has been. But it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not.

"Nice speech, Rogers." she thought.

"You smug son of a bitch." Rockwell said, his eyes hard, and his face stony. He practically oozed outrage and disbelief.

"Arrest him." Councilman Singh commanded to the three agents who walked through the door. One pulled out his gun and aimed at Singh.

"I guess I've got the floor." Pierce said. The man started to walk around, thinking deeply. Natasha heard Sam and Steve fighting for their lives through the comms. She inched closer to Pierce. If she could just get a little closer...

Pierce glanced out the window, and spoke.

"Let me ask you a question." he said to Singh.

"What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were gonna drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution?" Pierce asked, handing the councilman another glass of champagne.

"And you could just stop it with a flick of a switch. Would you? Wouldn't you all?" he questioned.

"Not if it was your switch." Singh snarled, throwing the glass of champagne on the ground. Natasha watched, impressed with the man's courage. But she kept her muscles coiled, ready for her window of opportunity. It was coming any second now.

Pierce sighed, and one of the Hydra agents handed him their gun. Pierce raised the gun and aimed it at Singh.

"There it is!" she thought, springing into action. She kicked Singh in the rear end Spartan style, causing him to stumble to the side. Pierce's eyes snapped to hers as she grabbed his wrist, socking him in the eye with her other hand. She hurled an electroshock disk at one of the Hydra agents, then ducking under Pierce's arm, grabbing his gun and whipping it like a Frisbee at another Hydra agent. She thrust her palm into the last agent's face, shoving her knee into his stomach, and then sweeping him so that he crashed onto the ground on his back. The Hydra agent she threw a gun at rose to attack her again, but she simply grabbed his wrist and slammed his face into a nearby table. The agent she'd swept to the ground also tried attacking her. She spun around him so that they were back to back, elbowing him in the kidney, and then grabbing his shoulder to sweep him again. She took the agent's gun, standing from her crouch to face Pierce, who had a hand up to his face, cradling his swollen cheekbone. She pointed the gun at him.

Everybody stared in confusion. She raised a hand to her temple, and deactivated the mask and voice emulator.

"I'm sorry." she said as her voice returned to normal. She peeled off the mask and tossed it to ground, reaching up to take off the wig as well.

"Did I step on your moment?" she asked, her face blank. The slightly horrified look on Pierce's face made her cheer internally, but there was a triumphant glint in his eye that she didn't like.

She had Councilman Yen keep the gun trained on him, while she moved over to the computer.

"What are you doing?" Rockwell asked.

"She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet." Pierce answered.

"Including HYDRA's." she pointed out.

"And SHIELD's. If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden." Natasha paused to glance at Pierce.

"Well, duh. Although Percy managed to pull some of it off, so that's not true." she thought. Pierce took her glance as hesitation, and moved forward slightly.

"Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are?" he pushed.

"Who I am isn't the secret I'm worried about the world seeing. Gods, I hope Percy managed to at least pull the files on the Avengers, as well as the weapons in development." she thought

She looked at Pierce with a blank expression, her eyes cold.

"Are you?" she responded.

"Alpha locked." crackled over her comms. She continued typing, hearing gunfire and explosions as she kept hacking.

"Bravo locked."

"Two down, one to go."

She kept working. Silence filled the room.

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order. It takes two Alpha Level members." Pierce tried.

"Don't worry, company's coming." she replied, noticing a helicopter land on the helipad outside. Fury stepped out, striding confidently down the walkway outside. He paused just after he walked through the doors for dramatic effect, the wind blowing his trench coat so that it billowed around his feet. Natasha mentally snorted. She finished hacking the system while Fury and Pierce exchanged "pleasantries". Then, she walked over, pointing a gun at Pierce.

"Retinal scanner active." the computer said. Pierce smirked triumphantly.

"You don't you think we wiped your clearance from the system?" he asked.

"I know you erased my password, probably deleted my retinal scan, but if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary..." Fury removed his eyepatch, and Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"You need to keep both eyes open." the ex-director finished. The two men scanned their eyes.

"Alpha Level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed." the computer chimed.

Percy's P.O.V.

He paced in front of the doors to the Olympian throne room, from behind the doors of which intense golden light shone. D.C. was in chaos, and Percy really needed that base. After a little while, the doors finally opened.

"Perseus! You are already here." said Hermes. Percy ran past the god into the throne room and stopped in his tracks. A massive structure was suspended above the currently roofless throne room.

"It's amazing." he breathed.

"You designed it." Athena pointed out.

"But I never could have imagined... the craftsmanship, and the size- it's more than I'd hoped for." Percy defended himself, rather dazed. He snapped out of it.

"I really need to move fast. The battle's already started. My apologies." he said as he ran towards the nearest wall. The Olympians watched him, confused, until Percy leaped at the wall, and started scrambling up, using his powers and traction to gain purchase. Once he reached the height where the roof used to be, he jumped, and sent a rope of water at the bottom of the structure. He swung upwards and grabbed onto a ledge, then quickly making his way to the top of the ship, where he knew the only access point was. Managing to enter the structure, he sprinted to where he knew the control room would be, marveling at the interior design as he ran. He dashed over to the controls, and turned the structure on, his fingers flying over the controls.

Back on the ground of the throne room, the Olympians watched as the base began to rise. Suddenly, the three turbines turned so that they were perpendicular to the ground, and the base shot off. As it headed off into the distance, the camouflage mode turned on, and it faded out of sight.

"It is interesting that he designed it so that it looks like a gigantic stingray, Poseidon." Athena commented.

Bird's Eye View:

"Well, he's my son. He's a child of the ocean. What did you expect, something that looked like a plane? He hates planes!" Poseidon chuckled. The other gods and goddesses soon started to laugh as well.

In the corner of the room, the image of Percy's smiling face faded away into mist without anybody noticing it.

"Well, I suppose the golden apple never falls far from the tree of the Hesperides. Not if Ladon can help it." he thought contentedly. He turned and stuck the large circular plaque he'd gotten from the Kane siblings behind the main controls. C.H.A.O.S.'s logo shone brightly in polished silver.

"Looks pretty good." he said to himself. His surroundings glowed, and a note popped up in front of him.

You never told us the name of your organization, nor the logo, Perseus. Now, your logo is emblazoned all over the ship. It's even on the patches of the tactical uniforms and business formal suits located in every bedroom, as well as the C.H.A.O.S. issue hoodies, sweatpants, t-shirts, and pajamas, all of which are pretty much indestructible, and therefore serve as comfortable body armor. Aphrodite had a field day making those. You've also got a ton of C.H.A.O.S. memorabilia, as well as a lot of high tech black vans. None of the latter have the logo on them, though. I'd always thought that that was a bad idea. Oh, and your files and vehicles from the bunker have been moved on base as well. And Ares gave you a ton of weapons. He also supplied all of the weapons in the defense system. You'll find a couple more surprises as you explore more, but you're busy right now, so have fun with that later.

- Hermes

Percy grinned at the note, and then put on his Sea Scorpion gear. It was time for him to pay a visit to the Hub. And also kick some Hydra podex while he was at it.

Steve's P.O.V

"Charlie Carrier's forty-five degrees off the port bow." Hill said over the comms. He heard two gunshots.

"Six minutes." Steve ran as several Hydra agents chased after him. He was rather outgunned.

"Hey, Sam, I'm gonna need a ride." he yelled into his comm.

"Roger! Let me know when you're ready." A missile flew towards him, and Steve flung himself off the edge of the helicarrier.

"I just did!" After several seconds of freefall, Sam caught him by the arm, grunting. They flew up and landed on the helicarrier they hadn't put a chip in yet.

"You know, you're a lot heavier than you look." Sam joked.

"I had a big breakfast." he returned. Suddenly, he saw a flash of metal, and felt a heavy impact in his stomach. He managed to grab the edge of the carrier as he fell off.

"Steve!" Sam yelled. Steve heard some commotion, and then spotted Sam dropping through the air. He panicked for a minute or so, relaxing when he heard Sam's voice on the comms.

"Cap? Cap, come in. Are you okay?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, I'm here! I'm still on the Helicarrier." he replied. He climbed back onto the helicarrier.

"Where are you?" he wondered.

"I'm grounded, the suit's down. Sorry, Cap." came the reply.

"Don't worry, I got it." he reassured. Then, he ran off. He managed to make it to the control center of the helicarrier, only to find Bucky blocking his way.

" People are gonna die, Buck. I can't let that happen." There was no reply. Bucky just stared at him.

"Please, don't make me do this." he pleaded. Bucky didn't move. Steve suddenly hurled his shield at his childhood friend, and Bucky easily blocked it. They fought back and forth for several minutes. Bucky's metal arm was stronger, and he was a better fighter, but Steve had always been scrappy. He managed to open up the targeting system, and was just about to put the chip in when Bucky attacked again. They grappled for a few seconds before they both fell over the railing, landing on a platform below. The chip slipped out of his hand.

Steve sprang to his feet, and continued to exchange blows with Bucky. Eventually he managed to pick up the chip again, only for it to fall out of his hand once more. Steve kicked Bucky off the platform, and jumped down. Bucky engaged him again, first shooting at him, and then forcing a knife into Steve's shoulder. Bucky dove for the chip, but Steve ripped out the knife, and dashed over, lifting Bucky into the air by the throat, and then slamming him down. He tried to make Bucky drop the chip by hyper-extending his arm. However, Bucky wouldn't let go, so Steve broke his normal arm, and then wrapped an arm around the Winter Soldier's throat.

Eventually, Bucky went limp, and Steve leaped to his feet, grabbing the chip and rushing off.

"One minute." Hill said over the comms as he swung himself up onto the second platform. Suddenly, Steve's leg flared with pain. He collapsed, but got back to his feet. He climbed up to the control center platform, and used the railing to support himself as he staggered over.

"Thirty seconds, Cap!" Hill said urgently.

"Stand by." he replied, face tight with pain. A blinding pain went through his stomach just as he was about to plug the chip in, and he collapsed again, his stomach bleeding heavily. He knew he had to hurry. He used his arms to haul himself upwards, managing to plug the chip in at the last second.

"Charlie locked." he gasped. He leaned back against the cool metal.

"Okay, Cap, get out of there." Hill commanded.

"Fire now." he responded. Unless there was a miracle, he wasn't getting out of this one.

Natasha's P.O.V.

As she walked away from Pierce's dead body and boarded the helicopter, she saw the three helicarriers begin to fire at each other. She reached out to Percy, sending him a simple one word message.

"Now."

Percy's P.O.V

When he got the signal, he'd been making his way through the Hub silently, ambushing Hydra agents about to kill those of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s they'd captured. He gave every agent he saved from certain death a coin, whether they were injured or not. He told them what to do with the coins, and they disappeared, one by one. Just as he'd turned a corner to glance into the control center of the Hub, his sister mind-messaged him, and he vanished from the spot.

He landed on the Bus, and immediately took cover in the shadows, using the mist to hide his presence. He spotted the person he was looking for immediately. Phil Coulson was pointing a gun at her, a normal one. In his other hand, he had an I.C.E.R. Leo Fitz watched from the other side of a wall of glass, and Skye leveled a I.C.E.R. at his target. They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion. His target had an almost trapped expression on her face.

"- who could repair your body, a technician who could reprogram your brain, and a specialist to help me put you down if it had to be done." She paused, glancing at the floor, and Percy wondered what they were talking about.

"But I didn't do it for Fury. I did it for you, to protect you! I - You mean a lot to me. A lot. To hear you were dead... you may not believe me, but that's the truth." Her voice was raw, almost breaking. Percy looked sadly at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He could hear in her voice how much she cared about Coulson.

"And I have nothing to do with the Clairvoyant or this Hydra threat we're up against. Hopefully this helps prove that." she continued. Percy kept listening to the confusing conversation as the agents intercepted a signal from some guy who had planes chasing after him. Percy watched as Coulson absentmindedly put an ICER on the table, keeping the real one trained on the demigod he was looking for. He wasn't sure if Coulson had meant to do that or not as he was pretty sure the agent wouldn't shoot his friend with a real gun. Either way, things weren't looking good for the woman with the hated nickname "The Cavalry". Coulson listened to a transmission from the guy from the other plane, and then glanced at the woman he was pointing a gun at.

"Styx!" he thought.

Percy acted, but he knew he couldn't stop the bullet. He weaved the mist to make it look like Melinda May crumpled to the ground from an ICER while quickly dashing to her side. She was breathing hard, eyes wide and disbelieving, trying to staunch the bleeding with her hands. The bullet had hit her in the stomach, and at such close range, did a lot more damage. He grabbed her and dragged her behind a car.

"You're-" she started weakly, coughing up a bit of blood, but Percy cut her off.

"Later. We need to fix this first." he said hurriedly. He extracted the bullet from the agent's wound with his water powers, simultaneously focusing on healing her. Once he had cleaned out the wound, he pulled out some nectar and ambrosia, trickling the former over the wound, and making her eat the latter. To his relief, the wound started healing, but not fast enough. He thought for a second before having an idea. He summoned some water, and concentrated hard. It started freezing, but slowly. He covered her wound with the rapidly cooling water. The second it touched her, the water froze completely. Percy checked the wound after a couple of minutes. The ice had closed the wound completely. There was a nasty scar, but she was alive. May raised an eyebrow, wiping a small amount of blood away from her mouth.

"You're the guy I fought on the aircraft carrier. You knew all the moves to a very specifically choreographed fight that I only shared with one person. Why did you save me? And how?" she asked.

"My sister sent me. She's an agent you know. She's also the person who taught me that moveset. Technically, she's not supposed to know that Coulson is alive and has a team, but she found out, so here I am. I came here to tell you something, but now doesn't seem to be the time. I'll explain everything, including how I healed you, at a better time. Promise. I'll be checking in on you discreetly every couple of days. Once you are completely alone with no bugs or anything, I'll show myself. Now, come on. I cast an illusion so that your friend thinks he shot you with an ICER, but I can't keep it up forever." he replied in a rushed tone. Something flickered in May's expression. Percy knew what it was. Hurt.

"Phil shot me." she muttered, her voice edged with pain.

"He was distracted. He thought it was an ICER. Don't blame him." Percy assured her. May nodded, but he knew that a part of her still felt betrayed. Her eyes fell on the bullet he had dug out of her. She picked it up, inspected it for a second, and then tucked it into her pocket. She lay down where the mist-May was and closed her eyes just as Percy's illusion lifted. He watched as the other agents picked her up. Satisfied, he disappeared, heading back to the Hub.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She felt a wave of concern come through the sibling connection Percy and her shared, and she assumed that something must have happened to May. Trusting her brother to handle it, she scanned the collapsing Triskelion for any sign of Sam.

"Please, tell me you got that chopper in the air!" the very man she was looking for yelled over the comms.

"Sam, where are you?" she asked, her eyes straining to catch sight of him through the falling debris.

"41st floor, north-west corner!" came the reply.

"We're on it, stay where you are." she responded.

"Not an option!" Sam yelled. A second later, Natasha saw him freefalling above them. Fury tilted the helicopter so that he fell in, his momentum slamming him against the other door and dislodging it. It fell about 35 stories into the river below.

"41st floor! 41st!" Sam complained.

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building!" Fury snarked sarcastically, his tone as sharp as the feeling of salt on a wound.

"Hill, where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?" Natasha asked Hill through her earpiece.

"Negative." Natasha's blood turned to ice.

From then on, everything was a blur. They found Rogers on the riverbank, barely breathing. The world reeled in shock from the information dumped on the internet. Natasha saw with some relief that nothing important about her teammates had been leaked. However, her mission files were another story. The day after the entire debacle, she found herself on Capitol Hill, facing a council of people.

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" a committee member asked. Natasha laughed internally. She'd been telling lies her whole life. Not that she was planning on lying right now, but the question was ironic.

"I do." she said lightly. They started asking her question after question.

"Why haven't we yet heard from Captain Rogers?" was one of her favorites.

"Because he just got out of the hospital after almost drowning." she thought. What came out of her mouth was quite different.

"I don't know what's left for him to say. I think the rock in the middle of the Potomac made his point fairly eloquently." she said with her signature dry wit.

"Well, he could explain how this country's expected to maintain its national security now that he and you have laid waste to our intelligence apparatus." the councilman said.

"What are you talking about? You have Tony Stark dealing with terrorists, and S.H.I.E.L.D., while being an American organization, was definitely not limited to America. If that were the case, it wouldn't have bases all over the world, because that would be trespassing. Your intelligence apparatus is still the CIA. Also, were you paying any attention to the fact that Hydra was infecting the agency?" she wondered.

"Hydra was selling you lies, not intelligence." she said pointedly.

"Many of which you seem to have had a personal hand in telling." another councilman returned. Her fingers twitched involuntarily.

"Touche. I know I've got red in my ledger. And Hydra is going to pay for making me add more. Although I wonder how many of them trusted Alexander Pierce to the point that he was able to influence their decisions. Probably most of them."

"Agent, you should know that there are some on this committee who feel, given your service record, both for this country and against it, that you belong in a penitentiary, not mouthing off on Capitol Hill."

"First of all, I'm not an agent anymore. Second of all, thanks a lot. Also, a penitentiary wouldn't hold me as long as I could contact my brother. And of course I'm going to mouth off. It's been a stressful couple of days, and I'm at the end of my rope. So screw you, councilman."

"You're not gonna put me in a prison. You're not gonna put any of us in a prison. You know why?" she said in a slightly vicious tone, raising a challenging eyebrow.

"Do enlighten us." was the reply. She scoffed.

"Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we helped make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it. So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me." She turned on her heel and walked out, mentally patting herself on the back for coming up with that flawless response. Cameras flashed, and news reporters clamored to get her attention. She walked past them all and hopped into her car, driving home to change her clothes to more comfortable ones.

She picked up a file folder from her cabinet, and grabbed a notepad and a pen. Then, she walked out the door and drove to Arlington Cemetery. She stopped by Phil's empty grave, crouching next to the tombstone. She took out Zvezda, and had the tiny spider tunnel down and place a demigod phone in the grave, which had her personal number and Phil's location on it. Through Zvezda's eyes, she noticed a flash drive, but decided to leave it alone. Putting Zvezda back into her pocket, she engraved an hourglass, an ankh, and an arrow facing down towards the grave on the side of the tombstone. She then drew an hourglass on a piece of paper and wrote a small note:

May,

Look for me in Washington D.C., above an empty space, on the side of a tombstone face.

She drew an arrow from the hourglass to the word me, and then folded the note. She pulled out a drachma, and prayed to Hermes, asking the god to deliver the note to May discreetly. Then, she walked over to where Steve and Sam were, a man in a hoodie walking away from them. Steve moved towards her as she approached.

"You should be honored, that's about as close as he gets to saying thank you." she quipped.

"Not going with him?" Steve questioned.

"No." she said.

"Not staying here?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I blew all my covers, I gotta go figure out a new one." In a manner of speaking, that is. She still had many covers, but she wanted to just enjoy life as herself for a while. No Natalie Rushman attitude, no Agent Romanoff front, no Aunty Nat facade. That meant hanging out with Percy and Bruce.

"That might take a while." Steve said.

"I'm counting on it." she said lightly. She pulled out the file she'd brought from her house.

"That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." She'd actually just had the folder in her house from when Percy and her had researched the Winter Soldier, but Steve didn't like Percy at all. So as far as he knew, Kiev was where she got her information. She handed Steve the folder.

"Will you do me a favor? Call that nurse." she suggested.

"She's not a nurse." he deadpanned.

"And you're not a SHIELD agent." Natasha replied.

"What was her name again?" he asked tentatively.

"Sharon. She's nice." she responded. She gave Steve a light kiss on the cheek, and turned, walking away.

"Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread." she warned without turning back around. She got into her car, and drove home. She needed to pack up her things. Then, she was going to take a road trip back to New York. Safety, technology, and luxury awaited her there. Not to mention old movies with Bruce and a really nice bed. She found herself actually excited for once. New York was going to be great.

Percy's P.O.V.

He wandered through the Hub aimlessly. More accurately, he crawled through the vents of the Hub. The cameras had been restored, and Percy didn't have enough energy to mist travel from the middle of Death Valley all the way back to his shiny new base. Saving exactly 1000 S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from death was tiring. He'd sent each of them off with a C.H.A.O.S. coin. And he'd stupidly sent the last one off with the entire bag of coins, so he had none for himself.

Before he went back, he'd wanted to salvage some equipment. And now that he'd found several cabinets full of files that he'd stuffed into a S.H.I.E.L.D. issue duffel bag he'd stolen from a locker room, as well as filled several more duffel bags with as much weapons and scientific equipment as he could carry (six), Percy was having a hard time trying to sneak out of the Hub. Each duffel bag spanned from about the top of his head to the bottom of his torso, and he was moving through the vents by dragging them along in a line behind him with his feet.

"I feel like a caterpillar. A very large caterpillar armed to the teeth with weapons." he grumbled to himself.

He glanced down through a grate, and saw a Quinjet with an open door. He realized he was probably in the vent system by the hangar. Glancing around to check for anybody who could see him, he opened the grate, and slipped out, reaching back to pull out all seven duffel bags. He dragged them into the jet. He pushed all of his duffel bags into a closet, and then squeezed in after them, closing the door behind him. His plan was to wait until the Quinjet had landed, and then hijack the plane. He heard several people board the plane, and he sat, holding his breath. Luckily, nobody bothered to open the closet.

After the plane took off, Percy leaned back against the closet wall and relaxed. He only straightened up when he recognized a voice.

"Course is locked, ma'am." An agent said.

"Good. He's not telling stories now, is he?" Victoria Hand replied, and Percy cracked open the closet door so that he could peek through.

"You know what I'm thinking, Agent Garrett? I'm thinking the icebox of the fridge is a little too comfortable for you. Maybe we should put you a little deeper underground." Hand continued, and Percy looked at the agent she was talking to, Grant Ward, who seemed tense. His face was too blank, and Percy readied himself to take action.

"What do you think, Agent Ward? You shot the wrong Clairvoyant before. Care to shoot the right one?" Hand asked Ward. Ward took the gun, and stared at Garrett. Suddenly, he raised the gun, aiming to the left of Garrett, and pulled the trigger. Percy burst out of the closet, weaving mist as he went. Hand was frozen in shock, most likely because she couldn't comprehend Ward of all people being Hydra. She took a bullet to the stomach before Percy grabbed her and pulled her backwards into the closet, creating an illusion of Hand lying on the ground. Ward pulled the trigger another three times. Percy winced as he created a layer of ice around Hand's abdomen. He put a finger to his lips. Hand, pale-faced and hyperventilating slightly, nodded. He looked at the closet door and sighed. He knew he and Hand couldn't stay there, not with two Hydra agents outside the door. Of course, Percy could kill them, but he had a feeling that it wasn't his place.

"Screw it." he thought, digging out a bar of ambrosia, and stuffing it into his mouth. Immediately, he started to feel rather warm, the godly food giving him a burst of energy. He picked up all of his duffel bags, grabbed Hand by the arm, and vapor-traveled to the base. Hand looked around, taking in the 1000 S.H.I.E.L.D. agents milling around and patching up each others' injuries. She whirled on him.

"What the hell just happened? Where are we? What do you want?" she questioned him rapidly. Percy pointed at her stomach.

"Why don't we deal with that first?" he suggested, motioning for her to follow him. He moved to an empty cot, pulling out both a celestial bronze set of tweezers. He wanted to test if Hand was a demigod. If the tweezers passed straight through her skin because she was a mortal, he'd be able to easily extricate the bullet. If she was a demigod, he could heal her with nectar and ambrosia. He asked her to sit down, and then unfroze the ice, picking up the celestial bronze tweezers. The tweezers made contact with her skin, and he quickly pulled the bullet out, immediately staunching the blood flow with a towel.

"Hold that there, and press firmly." he ordered, sprinting over to a cabinet which he knew contained nectar and ambrosia. He ran back once he'd gotten what he wanted. Percy broke off a piece of the ambrosia, and held it out to Hand.

"Eat this." he commanded, and she shot a suspicious look at him that clearly said are-you-freaking-kidding-me-you-are-a-freaking-assassin-I-don't-trust-you-at-all.

"Just do it!" he insisted and she reached out and took the ambrosia, popping it into her mouth. Her eyes widened with surprise at the taste. He immediately handed her a bottle of nectar.

"Only drink a little bit." Percy said. He checked her wound, which seemed to be closing up.

"Huh. Looks good." he commented. Hand glanced down at her wound, and did a double take.

"What the hell is this stuff?" she asked.

"Godly food and drink. It generally tastes like whatever food you find most comforting." he explained. Hand frowned.

"Godly? Like Thor, and Loki? Asgardian?" she questioned.

"Hades, no. Thank the gods for that. I would hate to sound like I'm reciting Shakespeare all the time." Percy laughed.

"Then what-" Hand broke off as the image of a glowing pink dove appeared over her head.

"Congratulations, Victoria Hand! You are the daughter of Aphrodite." he announced.

"Ah-pho-who?" she asked, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Aphro, like the hair style. Di, as in time to die. And Te, as in would you like a cup of tea. Aphrodite. She's the goddess of love in Greek mythology. Oh, and by the way, the Greek myths are real. So are the Roman ones." Percy commented off-handedly.

"Back up, and start from the beginning." Hand ordered. So, Percy found himself spending several hours explaining Greek mythology in a side room.

"Wait, so who's my mother's father?"

"Your mom rose from the sea. Supposedly she was formed from pieces of Ouranos falling into the ocean after Kronos cut him up."

"That doesn't-"

"Yes, I know it doesn't make any sense."

"She can't have just-"

"I am completely aware that way Aphrodite was born is biologically impossible."

"And she's married to her-"

"Don't say it. I know that it's really strange. The godly family is pretty messed up. The second I realized that my dad and my evil great-grandmother somehow had a kid, I was like, Yup, not gonna think about it. Gods don't actually have DNA, so I guess for them, it's not weird. As for demigods, as long as you don't share a parent, you can date whoever you want." Hand was silent for a minute, before offering up another question.

"We have DNA, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Although to mortals, our DNA appears normal due to the Mist, but it's actually very different from normal DNA. I'm not sure how exactly it's different, but it is." Percy explained.

"Alright. Now where are we?" Hand questioned.

"Welcome to the Manta, C.H.A.O.S's base of operation." Percy responded, gesturing with his arms. Hand stared at him.

"Let's get everyone settled in. I'll explain more later." he said. He smiled in anticipation. There was a lot of work to do, but Operation Establish C.H.A.O.S. was off to a good start.

And we are finally done with the CA:TWS arc!!! In terms of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. timeline, we are now in between Episode 17 and 18 of Season 1. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you soon with the next update! -Spathi