Happy New Year, guys! I've got another chapter for you, as promised. Enjoy! - Spathi

If you are reading this on the first of January, please see the note at the bottom.

Percy's P.O.V.

Percy watched as May stepped out of Providence base in Canada with a duffel bag. She placed a phone call to someone, and then started walking. He followed her for several miles through the snow before she spoke out loud.

"I know you're there. Not sure how, but I can feel it." she said. Percy slowly stepped out from behind a tree, hands in the air.

"Now, talk. You said your sister sent you, but I only know a few agents who care about me enough, and fewer are female. Only one of those knows the moveset we performed in Alaska, and I'm sure she doesn't have any siblings." she stated flatly. Percy nodded.

"My sister is adoptive. She's been teaching me since I was ten. Once I was old enough, I started taking out HYDRA bases, terrorists, and the like. I gained quite the reputation. That's how the Black Widow and I know each other." May narrowed her eyes, and shifted her balance, ready to run or fight.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously.

"What do you know about your father?" he responded. She frowned at the non-sequitur, but responded anyways.

"I grew up thinking a man named William was my father. But he's my stepfather." she said warily. Percy was surprised that she answered at all. Most agents wouldn't say anything, especially not to someone with his reputation.

"I'm going to make a couple guesses about you. You love the cold. You especially love ice and snow. You also enjoy flying. You picked up French easily. You are diagnosed with ADHD. You are good at Latin. And you are a restless person, always wanting to do something." he said. He noticed May's fists clench.

"How do you know that?" she asked, voice carefully even.

"Because children tend to take after their parents." he said. Immediately after he said that, there was a bright flash, and May gasped involuntarily, dropping to her knees and clutching her head. Above her head shone an image of a gust of wind intermixed with snowflakes. Her eyes glowed a bright icy blue for a second, and frost spread across her hands. Her skin paled, and the winds picked up. And then, everything stopped. May knelt in the middle of the clearing, panting slightly.

"All hail Melinda Qiaolian May, daughter of Aquilon, the North Wind." he said softly. May raised her head, and stared at him. He noticed that there was now a thin ring of blue around her iris, which swirled around the edges of her eyes like an icy hurricane.

"Explain." she ordered. So, Percy spent a couple hours walking with her and telling her about the Greek and Roman gods.

"So, I'm the daughter of the North Wind. Greek and Roman mythology is real. I'm gifted now. And there are two camps of people like me, which I have to keep a secret. Oh, and monsters might chase me." she summed up. Percy looked at her.

"Essentially, yes." he responded. They kept walking in silence. After a while, May spoke up.

"How do I use my abilities?" she asked. Percy shrugged.

"I guess just focus and visually imagine using your abilities. They'll probably have something to do with ice and wind, so focus on that." he suggested. He watched as May took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She took another couple of breaths, and then, something happened. Percy watched in awe as May lifted off the ground, and just hovered. Ice appeared in her right hand. It expanded into the shape of a staff. She started twirling it around, switching it from hand to hand. She danced through the air, fighting invisible opponents. While she did this, she changed her staff to different weapons. It was fluid, the way she moved through the air, eyes still closed, as if she'd been doing it her entire life. And then, Percy noticed that she was also producing gusts of wind as she attacked. Percy had never seen anybody achieve that much mastery over their powers in such a short time. When she finally landed, she exhaled and opened her eyes.

"Well, you figured them out easily enough." he commented, shocked. May looked calmer, more settled. She didn't even seem winded. She gave him a small smile.

"I suppose I did."

"How much control over her emotions does she have? She's not like Natasha, who was trained to put them in a box. May recognizes them, and she can channel them. That's really impressive. Although perhaps the fact that she's been fighting all her life helps. And we are in the middle of Canada, in a freezing cold forest covered in snow. " Percy thought.

They continued to walk onwards. Percy paused after a while, thinking about something.

"Would you like to visit Quebec some time? Your father lives there." he offered hesitantly. May froze. She was silent for a while. Finally, she looked over at him.

"Yes. But in a couple of weeks." she responded. Percy nodded. They walked on for another  hour, making small talk. Once they got to the road, they stopped.

"I wish you luck, Agent May. Here's a drachma. Whenever you are ready to meet your father, make a rainbow with some mist, throw it in, and ask Fleecy to connect you to the Sea Scorpion in Long Island Sound. By the way, you can call me Alexios. Not my full name, but I'm trying to stay hidden." Percy said. May nodded.

"Thank you, Alexios." She shook his hand, and started walking down the road. He watched her until she disappeared. And then, he vapor-traveled back to his mom's apartment.

Arriving in his bedroom, he quickly changed into a t-shirt and gym shorts, and then sat down on the bed with a sigh. He picked up the sketchbook he kept on his dresser, and started doodling. Every day, he'd made it a sort of routine to sketch something that represented what he'd done. He started by making a rough outline of May dancing through the air. Then, he started adding details, from shading her eyes so that they glowed slightly, to the way that the snow circled around her as she moved. Drawing was something he could actually focus on, and he spent hours recreating the scene from memory. Finally finishing, he tossed his sketchbook to the side. He raised his arms above his head and stretched, groaning.

He stood, and walked out of his room and into the living room. No one was home; his mother was getting groceries, and Paul was at Goode, working. He gingerly stepped over to the piano he'd noticed when he'd first arrived, and sat down on the bench.

Percy stared down at the keys. Then, he raised his right hand, curled into a fist, extended his pointer finger, and pressed down.

Plink.

The high pitched noise rang out in the silence of the apartment. Percy glanced under the piano, seeing three pedals, and pressed down on the rightmost one. Then, he poked at another key. This time, the note started strong, and then started to fade, finally wavering to a stop.

For a while, Percy just pressed the keys, experimenting with the different notes and using each of the three pedals. He was confused about the difference between the one on the left and the one on the right, but elected to ignore it in favor of tapping out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

He grinned, and then ran to his room. He sat on his bed and opened his monster-proof, dyslexic proof laptop, pulling up sheet music. Then, the smile slid off of his face.

"Gods, I hate dyslexia. Couldn't it have just applied to letters? Why numbers and music as well?" he grumbled as he realized that the notes were floating around. He searched the internet for ways to help with his condition, and found an article that stated that video games helped with dyslexia.

"Huh." he thought. He reached for a Lotus Casino Card.

Two hours later, he had a gaming controller and was playing a first-person shooter on his laptops. Apparently, it would help him focus on things so the words wouldn't move so much. Percy was enjoying himself, but he'd wanted to learn how to play the piano, not play video games. He shut off the game, and brought his laptop over to the piano. He sat down with a determined expression. If he couldn't read the notes, then he wouldn't read them at all. He'd just have to learn to play by ear.

He opened up his laptop, found a piece of music, and pressed play.

"It's...peaceful. Relaxing. Definitely better than fighting monsters. It also makes me feel kind of sad and hopeful." he thought as he listened to River Flows In You by Yiruma.

He spent several hours listening to the song, replaying it, and piecing the song together, note by note. He barely even glanced up when Sally and Paul finally arrived home, instead playing through as much of the song he'd figured out, and then hitting play on his computer to hear the next note. Natasha called him to Avengers Tower briefly, so he made a quick stop, and then returned to the piano.

By the time he'd finished the song, he'd been playing for nearly twelve hours.

"Well, at least I've figured out where most of the notes are, and I've also memorized one song." he thought as he practically fell off the bench. His mother appeared suddenly and dragged him over to the couch, where he sagged to the side.

"Honey, you've been working on that for hours. You must be exhausted." his mother said concernedly. He groaned.

"I'm just going to sleep now." he muttered, and then slumped sideways, passing out.

Bruce's P.O.V.

He snapped back to the forefront of his consciousness suddenly, finding himself sitting on the floor of the gym, looking straight into Natasha's green eyes, which were narrowed in concern.

"-want to do next, Robbie?" he heard. He frowned in confusion.

"Robbie? Who's Robbie? What just happened? How did I get here? I was literally just outside?" he wondered.

"Bruce?" Natasha asked.

"Um, yeah, that's me. Seriously, what just happened?" he answered. His companion was silent for a couple of minutes, scrutinizing him carefully. Then, she spoke up.

"Bruce, I think you have dissociative identity disorder." Natasha said bluntly. He gaped at her.

"Dissoci- of course I do! I've got a big green angry alter ego from an accident!" he exclaimed. Natasha shook her head.

"I don't think that the Hulk formed because of the accident. I think that he turned big and green because of the accident. I'm almost positive that the personality named Hulk has been around since even before you were gamma irradiated. And Robbie, the personality I just talked to, says he's been around since then, too. Robbie's an extremely terrified little boy, by the way. He refers to the Hulk as his big brother personality. According to Robbie, the Hulk was just a protector before the accident. But the serum somehow magnified the personality and combined with the gamma rays to create the Hulk. Oh, and you've also got one more personality. Robbie calls him Joe Fixit, which I have a feeling has something to do with your father." she explained.

"What the actual Hades? You're telling me I've got three alternate personalities?" he whispered, glancing at his hands as if he could catch a glimpse of them in his palms. Somehow, all three were familiar to him.

"Yes." she answered, her face a mask of stone.

"Can you... you said you talked to Robbie? Did he tell you how he developed? I know DID is generally caused by severe trauma." he tried. Natasha reached out and grabbed his hand, a sad smile on her face.

"Always the doctor, aren't you, Bruce? He didn't tell me anything, but the way he acted..." she trailed off, and he looked up to meet her gaze again, searching her eyes and finding mixed emotions shining from them. There was anger, not directed at him, as well as deep pain.

"Bruce, what do you remember about your mom?" Natasha probed gently. Bruce coughed.

"She was warm and kind. She loved to work with her hands and would try to fix everything around her. Even people. So, when the guy I thought was my father at the time started drinking a bit too much, she stuck around, trying to pull him out of the hole he was sliding into. He never realized I wasn't his son; my mother and Hephaestus had met while they broke up for two months, and I was conceived then." he started.

"And she remained that way as you grew up?" she pushed.

"Yeah, she was great! She never changed, although-" Bruce cut himself off as he struggled to remember something.

"I can't- what- I don't seem to have any recollection of her after the age of seven." he frowned.

"What's the last thing?" Natasha queried.

"Well, there's three memories that keep coming up. But they're all hazy. One is from when I was a toddler. I remember a hand brushing against my cheek. There's also another blurry memory of sparks and machinery. And the last one... it's almost completely fogged over. Just feelings of intense fear, a splash of red, and then simple rage." he recalled, dread pooling in his stomach.

"I think those three memories are each embodiments of your personalities, Bruce." Natasha suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. But what was the cause?" Bruce questioned.

"I'm sure you'll find out eventually." she assured. Bruce sighed, and got to his feet. He held a hand out to Natasha, who took it and used it to pull herself up. They walked out of the gym, and headed to the common area of the tower. To their surprise, there were several people already there. All six Avengers, as well as Sam Wilson and Pepper Potts stood in the room.

"Where have you two been?" Tony asked.

"The gym." Natasha and Bruce chorused. Everybody stared, and Bruce wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was in the gym, or that he and Natasha spoke in unison that was weirding them out. Tony snorted.

"Bruce, you were in the gym? What would you, a man of science like myself, do in the gym?" he questioned disbelievingly. Again, Bruce and Natasha answered at the same time.

"Exercise, duh. It's not rocket science." they deadpanned. Tony sputtered, Steve smiled, Clint snickered, and Thor simply kept watching in interest. Pepper and Sam stood awkwardly to the side, also observing the proceedings.

"I know you two have been spending a ton of time watching old movies with each other, but that's just weird. Don't you guys find it weird?" Tony said, recovering.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!" Bruce crowed in an old Hollywood accent.

"You're mocking me. You can't mock me. Pepper, they can't mock me." Tony whined, looking over at his girlfriend, who shrugged helplessly.

"Frankly, my dear, we don't give a damn." the scientist and spy snarked together, changing the first person singular to a first person plural in order to fit the situation better. Everybody burst out laughing at Tony.

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" the billionaire joked in a high-pitched tone to Natasha, apparently assigning the role of dog to Bruce. Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead." she started.

"Make my day." Bruce finished. He surreptitiously switched on the 'Fury' program, and watched in satisfaction as Tony paled.

"I see dead people." the inventor whispered. Now, everybody in the room looked confused. They seemed especially concerned when Tony started a one-sided conversation with seemingly no one. Bruce watched Natasha saunter over to Sam Wilson, and imitate Ingrid Bergman.

"Play it once, Sam." she said in a pleading tone.

"Uh, what?" he responded.

"Play it Sam. Play As Time Goes By." she elucidated. Sam still looked confused, but Steve was nodding his head in recognition.

"Casablanca. That was the last picture I saw before I went into the ice in 1943. Although I did catch up on some recently." he commented.

"Really? Why don't you whistle it, then?" Bruce suggested, an idea forming in his head.

"Whistle As Time Goes By?" Steve clarified.

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." Natasha quoted. Steve's eyes lit up.

"To Have and Have Not! I watched that one after I woke up." he exclaimed.

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Tony suddenly yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. Bruce deactivated the 'Fury' program while everybody turned to stare at the billionaire.

"What?" Tony asked defensively. Bruce shook his head in amusement.

"Why are we here?" he said instead of answering the question.

"Oh, I didn't call you guys here. That was Thor." the inventor replied, gesturing at the Norse 'god'.

"I seek to bring Loki's scepter back to Asgard." Thor said bluntly.

"Why didn't you just bring it back the first time?" Steve asked.

"At the time, it was thought that Loki's power had come from his own magical reserves. We recently realized that the scepter was the true root of his power. I must return home with it, in order that we might find out what makes it so powerful." Thor explained. Natasha frowned.

"Hydra has it. They've probably got tons of bases around the world. How do you propose we find it?" she pointed out. Thor grinned.

"We shall hunt down every Hydra base, and destroy them all. Until we find the scepter, we will wreak destruction upon their forces. On our quest to retrieve the weapon, we will strike a terrible blow to their organization." Thor replied, spreading his arms widely.

"I'm not opposed to that idea." Steve commented. Bruce could understand that. He knew Steve absolutely hated Hydra. One by one, all of the Avengers agreed. Sam agreed to help as well. Pepper kissed Tony on the cheek and walked out of the room.

"Right, so where do we start?" Clint wondered. There was complete silence. After a while, Tony spoke up.

"Hydra revealed themselves about a month ago. We have little to no information about their workings." he said.

"I've got an informant who probably does. But you have to promise not to freak out when he comes here." Natasha said slowly. Tony frowned.

"Why would we do that?" And that was the exact moment that someone literally appeared in the middle of the room.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She'd called Percy because she knew his organization would have the best information. C.H.A.O.S. ran like a well-oiled machine, managing to stay completely off the radar while also gaining more information from missions than S.H.I.E.L.D. ever had, although that might have been due to Hydra infiltrating it. In any case, Percy would probably know where to start.

Unfortunately, the Avengers broke their promise and panicked upon his arrival. Clint nocked an arrow, Thor hefted his hammer, Steve readied his shield, Tony called his armor, and Sam pulled out a gun. Bruce took a definitive step back.

"Seriously?" she complained. Everybody who'd switched to combat mode shot a sorry-not-sorry glance at her, and lowered their weapons.

"Thank you for the warm welcome. Now, what did you need?" Percy snarked.

"Information on Hydra." she said immediately. Percy took out a metal cube, and tossed it on the ground, where it transformed into his laptop. Tony looked as if he wanted to steal the computer and reverse engineer it.

Percy sat on the floor, clicked through several files, and then pulled up a map. He inspected it for a minute, and then turned to Widow.

"There's a lot of weird activity in Europe." he said.

"Exact list?" she queried.

"It's going to be a place with a Cyrillic Alphabet. My sources caught sight of a plane with that type of writing on the side. The thing is, there are a lot of languages with Cyrillic alphabets. However, suspicious movement has been detected in 9 countries. So, check Russia, Bosnia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Sokovia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Ukraine. Oh, and no organization in their right mind would study a dangerous weapon with a large amount of power in the center of a city. I'd check remote areas with thick forests for cover from satellites. I wish you'd tell me what you're looking for, though." Percy clarified. Natasha snorted mentally. Percy knew full well that she was looking for Loki's scepter. She also knew that he had friends from the Nordic Pantheon looking into it as well. But his words were intentionally phrased to make sure that the Avengers wouldn't get mad at her.

"Thank you, Scorpion." she said.

"No problem, Widow. I'll keep sending you updates." he replied.

"What's the catch for the information?" Clint asked suspisciously. Natasha sighed internally.

"Excuse me?" Percy turned towards Clint.

"No informant gives out that much information without a catch. Either there's something we owe you, or it's fake." Steve backed Clint up.

"I don't ever withold information from Natasha. I owe a lot to her, and I'll never be able to repay that debt. This is the least I can do." Percy responded coldly. She mentally applauded her brother for the answer. It was a good way to shut down the conversation, without also raising more alarm bells.

Just as Percy moved to leave, he spun around and faced Steve again.

"I hope you were able to use those files from Kiev. Maybe they guided your way a bit. You face a hard path, Steven. The old buck better be worth it." he quipped before disappearing. Steve stared after him in shock.

"What did he mean by the old buck? And guiding your way?" Tony wanted to know.

"He returned Peggy's compass to me. And he's been showing up randomly since just after we found out about Hydra. Since then, I've been trying to find the Winter Soldier. He's my old friend, Bucky Barnes. I got some files from Kiev about what they did to him. I guess the Scorpion is implying that he's the reason I got them." he admitted. Clint frowned.

"I have so many questions, but I'm only going to ask one. The Sea Scorpion likes to pun?" the archer said. There was no reply.

"Oh, can you ask him how he did the thing with the computer? He said he never witholds information from you, so he'll definitely tell you. That would be so useful for storing the suit." Tony commented.

"I've asked. The answer is magic." Natasha responded.

"So, he does withold information after all." Clint said.

"No, he doesn't. I know he has a contact that knows some pretty interesting people. I also know that Loki was capable of magic. So it's not exactly a stretch." Natasha defended him.

"How do you even know him?" Steve pressed.

"When he was younger, I helped him out of a tight spot. Because of that, he thinks he owes everything to me." That wasn't true, but the truth could be stretched in that way. Technically, Percy had helped her out first, but he swore up and down that if Natasha hadn't taught him, his life would have been a lot harder. Of course, the true reason why they never witheld information from each other was because they trusted each other the most out of everybody else.

"Huh." Everybody was silent for a while, before Tony spoke up suddenly.

"Alright! J.A.R.V.I.S., I need you to find those suspicious movements that dude mentioned. I'm going to go downstairs and tinker. The rest of you, do whatever you want." he called as he walked to the elevator. Natasha shrugged, and walked over to a window, opening it.

"Nat? Why are you opening a window?" She ignored Clint's question, looking downwards at the street. The sun was on the other side of the building, so the tower cast a gigantic shadow on the ground below. She climbed onto the sill.

"Lady Natasha! I do not believe that you can fly." Thor boomed. She glanced down at the shadow again, and turned back towards the assembled Avengers.

"I'll be fine." she said. She stepped backwards off of the sill.

"NATASHA!" Steve yelled, but she was already falling through the air. As she fell, she focused on her shadow powers, weaving shadows so that she was surrounded by them. By the time she was level with the ground, she was already slipping into the shadows, focusing on Percy's mother's apartment.

Her world turned dark and cold, and everything faded away. She felt a sensation similar to the one she'd just experienced while freefalling. Wind rushed past her, even though that was impossible. And then, she tumbled out of the shadows, and landed on a couch in the apartment. To her surprise, Percy was passed out on the other one. She caught sight of Sally making her way over to her, having been startled by her sudden appearance, but her eyes drooped closed before she could see anything else.

"Hope the other Avengers don't get too concerned..." she thought as she drifted off into the realm of Hypnos.

Percy's P.O.V.

He yawned and sat up. Surveying his surroundings, he noticed his sister lying on the couch opposite him, a rather peaceful expression on her face. He smiled, and stood up. Glancing at the clock, he realized he'd been asleep for about 9 hours, and it was now nighttime. His parents were sound sleep. Looking back at his sister, he reasoned that Natasha would have had to arrive at least 30 minutes after he did, so she'd been asleep for at most 8 hours and 30 minutes. He got a blanket from the closet, and spread it over her. He could feel that her emotions were calm, which meant that she wasn't dreaming. Percy was pretty glad about that; he knew she really needed the sleep.

Going over to the piano again, he decided to try to learn other songs. He was more used to the keys, so it would probably be easier for him. This time, he decided to learn a song from a ballet. He eventually decided on the iconic Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, and started doing exactly what he had done earlier: he reconstructed the song note by note until he could play it completely. Learning the song took a lot less effort than River Flows In You. He suspected it was because River Flows In You probably wasn't the easiest song to start out with, and so after he'd learnt it, his ability to play by ear had increased a lot. By the time around four hours had gone by, he'd memorized it, and Natasha was waking up.

"Percy? Are you playing the piano?" she asked.

"Maybe?" he replied.

"When did you start doing that?" Natasha wondered.

"Oh, about 24 hours ago. I'm not very good." Percy responded. His sister raised an eyebrow, which sent a very clear message: It's only been 24 hours, and you say you aren't good.

"Message received and understood." he deadpanned, and Natasha smiled.

"So, how'd you get here?" he questioned.

"I jumped out of the window and shadow traveled upon impact with the ground." Natasha said flatly. Percy's jaw dropped.

"Are you crazy? You could have died!" he exclaimed. Natasha shrugged.

"It was fun." she commented in an unconcerned tone. Percy stared for a couple of minutes.

"Natasha. Do I need to be concerned?" he finally queried in a firm tone. Natasha shook her head.

"Then I won't push. Just be careful, okay? I don't want to lose you." Her features softened, and she nodded, pulling her brother into a hug. They sat in silence for another couple of minutes.

"The team really doesn't trust you." Natasha said softly. Percy knew she was talking about the reaction he had garnered with his appearance as the Sea Scorpion at Avengers Tower.

"They have no reason to. Bruce would, if he knew that I was the Sea Scorpion. But it's best for him to only know about me being your brother. There are too many complications that come with that identity." he reasoned. Natasha sighed.

"I know. Still, I don't like the way they treat you. I hate not being able to do anything about it." Percy sighed as well.

"I'm sure they'll lighten up eventually." he assured her optimistically. She shrugged in response.

"Mom's having a baby." Percy suddenly mentioned.

"What?" Natasha whisper-yelled, knowing that Sally and Paul were still asleep. Percy grinned broadly.

"I found out yesterday." Natasha's face lit up.

"I hope it's a girl." she said excitedly.

"Same here. Oh, maybe we'll get to name the baby!" Percy realized. Natasha smiled widely, and Percy had a feeling that if Natasha had been a different person, she would have squealed like Aphrodite at that moment.

"If we do, I call the first name. You get the middle name." Natasha responded.

"I'm fine with that." Percy agreed. Suddenly, Natasha's phone started ringing. She accepted the call, gestured for Percy to be quiet, and put the call on speakerphone.

"Nat? Where the hell are you?" Clint's voice demanded.

"Jeez, Barton. Can't I slip away to my private apartment once in a while?" Natasha asked, rolling her eyes.

"Not without telling us first." Steve said.

"The idea of a private apartment is that it's a place that I can go without being followed for once. If I told you guys that I was going, one of you would definitely follow me."

"Only to ensure your safety, Red. What if you got into trouble?" Tony put in.

"I can handle myself, Stark. And I am very well-prepared for that possibility." Percy knew that was true. The two of them had safehouses all over the world, stocked with everything they might need. They also had vehicles planted in certain spots of New York in particular. And of course, they both had their powers.

"You jumped out of a window, Natasha." came Bruce's voice.

"It's easier to get around unnoticed that way. I didn't feel like making my way through a crowd, so I took a shortcut." she defended herself.

"It matters not. We shall be attacking a Hydra base within the hour. Bring your comrade, as we have found it to be heavily armed." Thor boomed. Just as protests broke out from the other Avengers, the call cut.

"Looks like we're going to bust some heads." Percy commented, activating his outfit and turning towards his laptop.

"Seems like it." Natasha agreed from behind him. He grinned excitedly, and handed Natasha a bar of ambrosia.

"Stuff it in your mouth just before you shadow-travel." he advised, and she took the godly food with a nod. She took a large bite, stepped backwards, and disappeared. Once she was gone, Percy brought out another bar of ambrosia. He stuck it in his mouth, focused on the roof of Avengers Tower, and vapor-traveled just as he bit down.

Upon landing, he pocketed the rest of the ambrosia, and glanced over the edge of the roof to where the Quinjet was parked. Natasha walked out of the building.

"Your friend isn't coming?" Bruce asked.

"I'm sure he'll be around." Natasha said, unconcerned. She walked past them onto the jet, and Percy took the opportunity to vapor-travel to her location.

Natasha was completely unsurprised by his sudden appearance. She gestured for him to hide under a bench.

He complied just as the rest of the Avengers boarded. Clint closed the ramp, and prepared the plane for takeoff as the other Avengers strapped themselves in. The plane shot into the air smoothly, and Percy stayed in his hiding place with no problems.

After 30 minutes, he was bored out of his mind. A heavy rain had started, and the plane was getting cold. Clint switched on autopilot, and joined the rest of the Avengers in the main area. Suddenly, Percy had an idea.

"Lord Zeus, could you by chance have lightning flash right outside of this plane?" he prayed. About 10 seconds later, there was a gigantic bolt of lightning arcing through the sky accompanied by a large boom, and the lights on the plane flickered while the plane dipped slightly. Percy took the opportunity to roll out from under his hiding place, and lean against the doorway leading to the cockpit.

"Thor, can't you do anything about this storm?" Tony complained.

"It's not his, so it's out of his domain." Percy spoke up. The Avengers whipped towards him in surprise. Natasha flashed a discreet thumbs up at him.

"Ah, Natasha's friend has joined us. He is right; this storm is not of my control, and so I cannot affect it." Thor thundered.

"Where the f-" Tony started to exclaim.

"Tony!" Steve interrupted.

"Did you come from?" the billionaire finished.

"You're the genius. You tell me." Percy replied, clasping Tony's shoulder briefly before turning away.

"That was weird. You guys found that weird, right?" Tony sputtered.

"So, tell me about the Hydra base we are busting."

"It's in Russia, and it's big. Probably a research facility." Steve volunteered.

"Good to know." Percy replied as he took a seat next to Natasha. He idly noticed that Bruce sat on her other side.

"It'll be a while before we get there, so I'd get comfortable." Clint suggested. Natasha shrugged and closed her eyes. Percy pulled a blanket out from under his seat, and spread it over her. He pulled out some earbuds, and began to play music. After a while, Natasha slumped over sideways, falling asleep on Bruce's shoulder. Percy arranged her sleeping form so that her head lay in Bruce's lap, and her legs were draped over his own lap. Bruce looked slightly uncomfortable, but didn't protest.

"She's more comfortable when you're around." the scientist remarked. Percy inclined his head, and then put his earbuds back in. Bruce did the same with his headphones. Over the next several minutes, he watched as Bruce drifted off slightly as well, leaning over his sister slightly. The next several hours were uneventful. The rest of the Avengers alternated between quiet conversations, glancing at him warily, or taking naps.

Percy felt very relieved when they finally arrived. Natasha might have taught him how to keep his face completely blank, but that didn't stop him from feeling extremely awkward. Natasha stirred, slowly opening her eyes, and sitting up. Everybody started getting ready for the raid.

The Avengers had neglected to tell him any plan that they might have come up with. They didn't even bother to give him a comm unit. So, he decided to wing it. When the ramp of the plane lowered, Percy edged closer to the opening. It was snowing heavily outside. Tony powered up his suit and shot off, but not before Percy had grabbed his armored ankle.

"What the hell are you doing?" the armored hero yelped as the duo flew through the air, Percy hanging on for dear life.

"I'm hitching a ride. Just do whatever you were planning to. " Percy yelled back. Tony flew over the base, and Percy let go, dropping lightly onto the roof. He took down the six men aiming anti-aircraft guns at the Quinjet in a flurry of movement, and then looked around. He noticed a metal hatch with some sort of locking mechanism on it. Percy wrapped some water around his hands, and proceeded to rip the hatch out of the cement, revealing a ladder leading downwards into the base. He jumped into the hole, tucking into a roll upon impact. He glanced around, finding that there were no cameras.

Suddenly, he noticed a guard reaching for a switch that would set off an alarm, so he pulled a knife out of his belt and threw it with deadly accuracy into the man's throat. The man froze, and dropped to the ground.

Percy knelt by the guy's body, and took the outer layer of his uniform, as well as his pants. He also took the man's helmet. He used water to clean the floor and uniform of blood, and then made a hand out of the water to carry the man's body up the hatch and onto the roof. Percy quickly put on the uniform over his tactical outfit, and then proceeded to walk through the halls. He could hear gunfire and people shouting, which told him that the Avengers had decided to go for a direct attack. Nobody batted an eye at him as he walked through the base, and he quickly found his way to the control room. There were several men there, watching feeds of the raid going on outside. All of them had their backs to him. He went over to the nearest Hydra soldier, and rammed his katar through his chest, covering his mouth. He deposited the body on the ground gently, and then silently ran over to the next soldier, breaking their neck. A soldier turned around, and saw him. Percy pulled out a gun, and shot him in the chest. The resounding echo caused the rest of the men to turn around. Percy hurdled a desk, grabbing a chair and throwing it at the nearest guy. He ducked under an incoming punch, flipping the man over his head and brutally slamming the guy's face into the ground. The next guy slashed at him with a knife, and he grabbed the knife with his impenetrable gloves, crushing it, and backhanding the man in the jaw. He leapt into the air, and took down two men with a scissor kick, landing, and immediately dropping low to sweep a third man off of his feet. Once he'd taken down all of the men, he turned to the control panel.

The first thing he did was launch some missiles. He targeted several different sides of the base, and pressed fire. Then, he shut off the cameras, and disabled the security system. After that, he walked out of the control room. A couple seconds later, the base shook as explosions rocked the walls. He heard a group of soldiers just around the corner, and summoned some water, fashioning it into a long, extremely sharp blade. He stuck the blade out and swung just as the soldiers turned the corner.

Slice.

He dispelled the blade, and gingerly stepped around the mess, proceeding down the hallway. As he went, he took down each and every soldier he met, leaving a trail of red in his wake. He walked past a door, and then stopped, hearing voices speaking in Russian.

"She's here."

"Her enhancements seem to be quite effective."

"Yes, all of the footage we have of her work for S.H.I.E.L.D. is evidence enough."

Percy's blood ran cold. They had to be talking about his sister. He heard footsteps, and turned, seeing her walk down the hallway towards him, aiming a gun. He pulled off the Hydra helmet, and she lowered the gun, smiling. He put a finger to his lips, and gestured towards the door. She nodded, and switched her comms off, edging closer to listen.

"She did very well in the Red Room."

"Of course she did. We gave her an edge, and she learned to hone it. And then, she became the best."

"And she is even better now. All we have to do is reclaim her."

"The Winter Soldier as well."

"Better yet, she might be able to tell us about that mercenary."

"You mean the Sea Scorpion?"

"Yes. Imagine if we had him as an asset as well, working alongside the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier. They'd be unstoppable."

"He's not one of your creations, Ivan. How would you control him?"

"The same way I controlled Natalia and James. I would remake him. He would be made of marble. And then, I would take him to Madame B, and she will teach him what she taught Natalia and James."

"Do you think he needs such teaching? He is very effective already."

"Perhaps not, but practice makes perfect. And he and Natalia must both become perfect." Percy had heard enough. He kicked down the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we'll pass." he snarled as he burst into the room, Natasha behind him.

Natasha's P.O.V.

Out of all the people it could have been, it was Ivan Petrovich behind that door. The man who raised her and entered her into the Red Room stood before her, and she really wanted to wipe that smug smirk off of his face. Percy quickly crossed off the other men in the room before turning his gun on Ivan. Her brother glanced at her facial expression, and then handed her the gun. She aimed it at the center of Ivan's forehead.

"Natalia, it's good to see you again." Ivan said.

"I can't say the same about you, Ivan." she growled.

"Ah, Natalia, don't be like that." he replied in a wounded tone.

"I'm no longer your puppet. You cannot manipulate me." Natasha responded coldly.

"You've brought a friend. Tell me Natalia, what is his name?" Ivan turned towards Percy.

"If you do not know who I am, then you do not do your research well." Percy remarked.

"I do not know your true face, but I do know your name, Scorpion. Are you and my daughter together?" Natasha mentally threw up at the thought. She could feel Percy's disgust at the idea over their mental connection.

"No. I am not with Natasha, and neither do I have any remote interest in dating her." Percy replied firmly.

"And I'm not your daughter." Natasha added.

"But you are. You will always be my daughter, because I am your father." Natasha wished he would shut up.

"You are not my father. My father is long dead." she said.

"No, he is not dead. I was the one who met the Grand Duchess all those years ago. She was such a lonely, stupid girl, and it was all too easy to get her to fall in love with me. Whether you like it or not, I am your father." Natasha was shocked. Then, she felt more rage then she'd ever felt in her life. Anger rolled off of her in waves, and she knew that Percy was furious as well.

There was complete silence for a minute. Eventually, Ivan spoke up again.

"There is so much anger in your eyes. Tell me, Natalia. Are you going to kill me? Would you murder your own father?" he asked.

"I would not kill my father. But you? I'd snap your neck in a heartbeat." Natasha snapped.

"So you'll take your revenge on me, then? Torture me to death? Use everything the Red Room has taught you to make me suffer?" Ivan mocked. Natasha took a deep breath.

"No. You might deserve that, but I won't stoop to your level. You'll die a quick death by my hands." she stated calmly.

"And you, Scorpion? What do you think?" Ivan wondered, turning to her brother.

" Natasha's the one with a terrible birth father, not me. It's her choice." Percy shrugged. A dangerous expression briefly passed over Ivan's face. Natasha noticed that his hand was slowly moving behind his back. Before she could say anything, he spoke again.

"I'd hoped you would see reason, Natalia, but if you will not join me right now, I'll just have to approach you again at another time." Ivan sighed. He brought his hand forwards again, and threw something on the ground. Smoke filled the air.

"You've got to be kidding me. A smoke bomb?" Natasha thought incredulously as she pulled the trigger. There was a grunt of pain, and then a flash of light. When the smoke finally cleared, Ivan was gone, save for a new bloodstain right where he used to be.

"Dammit." she swore. The rest of the Avengers, sans Bruce, appeared in the hallway.

"You went off comms." Steve said angrily.

"We were trying to listen in on an important conversation." Percy said.

"About what, exactly?" the captain pressed.

"It's personal. A topic that I am very invested in." Natasha replied vaguely.

"That's specific." Tony said in a sarcastic tone.

"I'd prefer not to clarify." was her stiff reply. The Avengers left it alone after that, with the exception of Clint.

"Nat, what was that all about?" he whispered as everybody walked towards the Quinjet, where Bruce was waiting. Natasha sighed, and asnwered.

"It was about my past, okay? Just- I need to think about it." Clint nodded, and walked onto the jet. Natasha stopped short just as she reached the ramp. She'd had an idea.

"Guys, I'm going to stick around Russia for a little while. We aren't too far from Moscow, and I've got some loose ends to tie up." she announced.

"I feel like one of us should stay with you. Just in case you need backup." Steve suggested. The other Avengers agreed. Natasha groaned internally. She noticed that Percy had disappeared.

"Fine. Bruce, are you up for a field trip?" She chose Bruce for several reasons. First of all, she liked him. After spending so much time with him, she'd grown to care for him a lot. Also, he needed time away from the tower as well. He had to adjust to having DID, and that would be hard to do without privacy. And lastly, he was the only Avenger who was friendly with Percy, although he technically knew him as Peter Johnson, and not the Sea Scorpion. But as far as the Avengers were concerned, it was because Bruce wasn't tired and was the ultimate backup, especially since she could perform the lullaby with his alter ego.

"I'm game." he shrugged, stepping off the plane.

"You guys literally have nothing prepared. How are you guys going to do anything?" Clint questioned.

"I have contacts, Clint. Besides, we've both been on the run before. We can handle ourselves, if need be." Natasha pointed out.

"Alright. Good luck, and don't freeze." Tony said. The Avengers waved, and then the Quinjet shot off.

"Where to?" Bruce asked.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, I see my brother walking across the street over there. We should probably start there."

Percy was in his Peter Johnson identity, and smiled broadly as she walked over. They 'caught up', and quickly drew up a map of contacts.

Several hours later, Bruce was off on a quick trip to a contact of hers, carrying a coded message. Meanwhile, the two siblings stood in front of a large grave.

"So, this is where your aunts, uncles, and grandparents are buried." Percy commented.

"Gods, it sounds so weird when you say it out loud." Natasha replied.

"It is pretty weird." he mused. They stood in silence for a while.

"Can we leave? I feel very awkward." Percy said after a while.

"Yeah, let's leave." On their way out of the graveyard, Natasha noticed a blond haired woman with icy blue eyes watching them surreptitiously.

"Heads up, we've got a stalker on our 4 o'clock." she thought to Percy while he commented on the weather. His eyes widened ever so slightly, which he covered by exclaiming about a strange incident that had supposedly happened to him the other day.

They walked onwards through the snow, and then turned into a less populated area of town. Natasha and Percy then stopped suddenly, and Percy said something about needing to go meet someone. They split up. She continued moving for a while. Eventually, she turned a corner into an alleyway, and immediately hid, using her powers. Sure enough, the blond lady entered the alleyway, her blue eyes flicking about the empty area. Natasha stepped out silently, situating herself behind the woman.

"Who are you?" she asked in Russian. The woman spun around in surprise.

"Hello! My name is Dorothy Underwood, but you can call me Dottie." she said in a perfect American accent, looking a bit too cheerful. Natasha recognized the name.

"Ah, so you're the Red Room operative that gave Peggy so much trouble." she realized. Dottie shrugged.

"What do you want?" Natasha questioned, keeping Dottie's attention on her as she saw Percy materialize in the back of the alley.

"Well, I just want to talk, that's all." Dottie replied innocently.

"Then talk." Percy said, a gun to her head, and a knife to the small of her back. Dottie stiffened, her eyes widening slightly.

"How-" was all she managed to stutter out before Natasha pulled out an I.C.E.R. and shot her. Dottie crumpled, and Percy vapor-traveled the three of them to the neighborhood of the contact that she'd sent Bruce to. Natasha surveryed her surroundings, and then quickly dragged Dottie's unconscious body over to the doorstep of the contact, rapping out the classic shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits pattern (da dadadada [pause] da da). The door swung open, and Bruce appeared, quickly helping Percy and Natasha drag Dottie into the house. Bruce and Percy proceeded to bring Dottie to the basement, while Natasha walked further into the house. Natasha's contact, an old woman by the name of Katerina stood in the kitchen. Natasha preferred to call Katerina Baba (an abbreviation for the Russian word for grandmother). The old woman was the first person to make Natasha feel safe and comfortable after she defected from the Red Room. She was the first to make her feel loved, and Natasha was very grateful for that.

Katerina was stirring a pot of borscht, which was a soup made of beef broth with a lot of beets. She smiled as she entered the kitchen.

"Natasha, it is nice to see you. How have you been?" Katerina said warmly, wrapping her in a hug.

"I've been good, Baba. How are you?" Natasha replied.

"I am still in good health. I only have a slight cough, but your boyfriend has given me something for that already. He's quite handsome, and he's a doctor. Congratulations on finding him." Katerina teased. Natasha groaned.

"He's not my boyfriend, Baba." she complained.

"He will be." Katerina retorted. Natasha sighed, and let the matter drop. She had to admit that she cared for Bruce in a way that wasn't strictly platonic, but she wasn't sure she actually had a shot. It seemed ironic, seeing as one of her strongest skills was seduction. However, Bruce wasn't a target. He was her friend, her teammate, someone who meant a lot to her, and he didn't deserve to be manipulated.

Just as she and Katerina had sat down with a bowl of soup, Percy strode back into the room, a lopsided smile on his face.

"I haven't officially met you yet." he commented to Katerina.

"Baba, this is my adoptive brother, Perseus Alexei Jackson, but he prefers either Percy or Alexei. Right now, he's going by Peter, because Bruce has only met him in that identity. " Natasha introduced.

"Well, young man, I am Katerina, but you may call me Baba, if you want." Katerina responded, a fond smile on her face. Percy beamed and sat down at the table next to Natasha. Katerina got him a bowl of soup.

"Where's Bruce?" Natasha asked.

"Oh, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome is downstairs. He'll be coming up shortly." Percy replied, using the description for most male actors in the forties. Katerina chortled, and Natasha glared. At that exact moment, Bruce appeared in the doorway.

"Ah, there he is." Katerina exclaimed, placing another bowl of soup on the table.

"Thank you." Bruce said. Natasha noted that his Russian was actually really good. The group ate in silence. Eventually, Percy spoke up.

"This is really good." he said.

"It's a classic recipe. I'll teach it to you sometime." Katerina responded. Percy looked delighted by the prospect. After they finished eating, they all put their plates in the sink, Katerina shooing them out afterwards despite their offers to help wash the dishes.

They headed downstairs to the basement, where Dottie was starting to stir.

"What was that for?" was the first thing out of the blonde-haired woman's mouth.

"Well, Miss Underwood, we have no reason to trust you." Percy replied.

"I suppose that makes sense." she sighed.

"Talk." Natasha ordered.

"First of all, I thought that you'd like to know what they did to you." Dottie started.

"Who's they?" Bruce wondered. Dottie giggled.

"The Red Room, silly. Anyways, the standard procedure is to inject all of the girls with a version of the super-soldier serum. It's not that great, but it's pretty effective. But for some reason, they decided to test out a different version on you. So you were the only one to get a certain type of serum, and look how far you've come." she answered. Bruce looked surprised, while Percy's face remained blank.

"I was aware of the serum. I wasn't aware of the fact that I was a test subject for a new one." Natasha commented stiffly.

"The other thing they did was mess with your memories. What do you remember?" Dottie pushed.

"I remember training in the Red Room. At the same time, I remember practicing to become a ballerina. I also have hazy memories of the Winter Soldier training me. But the one thing I remember clearly is Ivan Petrovich." Natasha replied.

"You remember more than all of the other girls. It must be that serum that they gave you. Perhaps it was too effective for their liking. But there's one thing I know about you that you don't." Dottie said.

"And what would that be?" Natasha questioned.

"You were married. I don't know the guy's name, but I'm sure you'd recognize his face if you ever saw him. Anyways, they killed him off to further your loyalty to the Red Room. Looks like that worked out well." Dottie said the last sentence in a tone dripping with sarcasm. Natasha felt numb. She had been married?

"Oh, in other news, the Red Room's been reconstructed since you took it down when you left." Dottie revealed. Natasha's eyes narrowed, and her fingers twitched.

"Is that all you know about it?" she queried.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm supposed to be dead, you know. I can't exactly just pop in and say hello." Dottie chirped.

"One last question. Peggy Carter." Natasha interrogated.

"Ah, Peggy. I quite miss her sometimes. She was so fun. The last time I saw her, she was about to deal with a woman with the power of the Darkforce." She shuddered upon saying the last word.

"What's the Darkforce?" Bruce wondered.

"The textbook definition is a form of unstable and powerful cosmic radiation made of pure negative energy. It's also referred to as Zero Matter. It's a very painful thing to be tortured by... Anyways, the most recent person to have any control over this was named Marcus Daniels. But I've heard rumors about there being another person."  Natasha frowned.

"Marcus Daniels was the name of Coulson's ex-girlfriend's stalker." Percy thought to her.

"I see. Well, I suppose we'll let you go now." Natasha said. Percy stepped forward with a blindfold.

They walked with Dottie to the Red Square, which was bustling with people, and then removed her blindfold.

"Go on, be free, little bird. Just don't cause too much trouble." Natasha joked. Dottie smiled and winked.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't." And then, the blond-haired woman melted into the crowd.

Bruce's P.O.V.

They decided to walk around Moscow for a while. Natasha caught sight of the Bosco ice-skating rink, and dragged Bruce and Peter over to it. Soon, Bruce found himself gliding along the ice, Natasha skating circles around him. Peter was in the corner slowly learning how, as he'd apparently never gone ice skating before. After a couple of hours, they left, and grabbed a bite to eat at a Teremok, where Bruce tried something called a blini. It was a thin pancake, and Bruce had it with some berries and jam. He also tried kvass, a Russian drink made from rye bread.

Later, they walked past the Bolshoi Theatre, which made Natasha stiffen for some reason. They went to the Moscow Zoo for a while, and then the Kremlin, finally going to Sokolniki Park. They enjoyed simply walking the trails for a while. Eventually, they sat down on a park bench, and just relaxed, watching the snow fall.

An hour or so later, they headed back to Katerina's house, the sun setting on the horizon. As they walked over the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge, Bruce started to feel like they were being watched. He could tell Natasha and Peter felt it too, although they kept up a cheerful facade. Bruce tensed, waiting for everything to go to Hades. Sure enough, it did.

"Look out!" Peter yelled, shoving Bruce to the ground. There was a muffled gunshot, and a spray of red. Peter clutched his side, collapsing to his knees. Natasha yelled in rage, and returned fire at the sniper, who fell into the river. Bruce crawled over to Peter and dragged him behind a car. He watched as Natasha punched a man so hard, he flew 10 feet backwards. She then proceeded to bound straight over a car. He realized that she was glowing red with the blessing of Mars. Bruce turned his attention back to Peter. He cursed mentally. The wound was on his left side, just beside his stomach. It was bleeding profusely.

"I think you just took a bullet wound to the spleen. You're going to need to get it removed, but you'll be more prone to infections." Bruce diagnosed. Peter dug into his pocket and pulled out a little bag of nectar and ambrosia. Bruce took the godly food and started administering it to the wound, first breaking off a piece of ambrosia and stuffing it into Peter's mouth. Bullets started peppering the car they were taking cover behind, and Bruce groaned, picking Peter up and running for cover.

Then, something exploded. Peter flew out of his grasp, and Bruce found himself hurtling through the air. He bounced off of a car, and landed hard on a windshield, breaking it. His back throbbed painfully. He saw Natasha rolling to her feet gracefully, a gun in each of her hands. Peter was collapsed by the edge of the bridge. He heard footsteps coming from that direction, and squinted, making out a shadowy figure striding through the rubble.

A man appeared, wearing an outfit similar to Steve's Captain America suit. There were a few small differences, such as the white fin-like piece of material protruding slightly from the top of his head, and the lack of the color blue. But otherwise, he looked like Captain Russia. He even had a circular shield that was completely red, with a white star in the middle. Peter struggled to his hands and knees, his side bleeding and a deep cut on his cheek. The latter was probably caused by flying glass. The man swung a heavy fist into the back of Peter's head, and the security guard collapsed back down.

"Who are you?" Natasha called. The man ignored her, instead bending over and picking Peter's limp body up.

"I asked who you were. And put him down." Natasha snarled, aiming her gun at the man.

"I'd listen to her, if I were you." Bruce yelled, sitting up painfully. His back complained insistently, but he got to his feet. The man threw his shield at them. It richocheted just as perfectly as Steve's throws always did, but this was definitely not Steve. The red shield hit Bruce in the solarplex, and then knocked the gun out of Natasha's hands. The man caught it and slung it onto his back.

"I am the Red Guardian. If you want your security guard back, you will not call in the other Avengers. Return to your childhood home, Natalia, or suffer the consequences." With that, the Red Guardian threw down a smoke bomb. There was a sound of a set of thrusters. When the smoke cleared, the Red Guardian was gone. And he'd taken Natasha's little brother with him.

So, Bruce is fine. Percy's the one you should be worried about, haha. He's got a cover to maintain, after all... See you next year with the next chapter! And make sure to leave a comment! If you've got any questions, ask away! - Spathi

Note: I'm starting a project entitled SIEBB Oneshots. The summary explains it a little more, but it's essentially a compilation of more introspective or fluffy or angsty moments that don't quite fit into the SIEBB universe.