Hey guys. I know, it's been far too long since I've updated. School and life has just been a bit hectic. I'm gonna try to update again this holiday, but I can't promise anything. Sorry in advance.
Any place that I have used in this story is a real place, I've just used google maps to help me out a bit. So if any details are off or wrong, it's because a) I've never been, and b) I've likely changed it for the sake of the story.
Anyway, that's about all for now. This is probably the longest chapter that I've written for this book, so I hope you're all appeased for now. Thanks.

-

The blood ran cold in his veins.

No.

No, this couldn't be happening.

How... How had they even found him?

For a few terse moments he couldn't formulate the words to speak, mind going blank in his panic. "Where are you?" He finally forced out, knuckles turning white from pressure at the grip he had on his phone. It was a miracle the crappy little thing hadn't broken in his grasp just yet.

"The-Our safehouse. The one in Hell's Kitchen." Will answered, his words almost slurring with his clearly audible exhaustion. "Please, we-he needs help. Please Percy."

Hell's Kitchen. Really? He felt the sudden urge to slap himself in the face and scream his aggravation to the world. Hell's Kitchen. He had been. Right. There. If only he had been able to stay a day longer, if only... He exhaled through his nose sharply, pushing that thought away for now. There were more pressing matters than kicking himself for his mistakes at the moment.

"I'm on my way, Will. Try to stay calm until I get there." He didn't wait for an answer on his behalf, instead ending the call and slipping the device into his pocket. Wanda was watching him quietly, as she had been doing throughout the call, her eyes wide with unveiled confusion, but her expression determined. Hopefully she would understand his urgency. "Wanda, I have to go. My friend is-"

"I know. Where are we going?"

He paused, shooting her an incredulous look. "We...? You're not going anywhere, I am." He turned on his heel, quickly moving back down the hallway again, heading back towards where he had left James-Bucky. Bucky and Steve.

"Excuse me?"

He didn't look back at her, despite hearing her footsteps travelling after him and her unamused tone.

“You heard me, Wanda. This is my issue, I'm not going to let you throw yourself into danger for no reason.” If this was all true-which he was sure it was-this meant that Hydra, or whoever was posing as Hydra, had taken Nico. Will wasn't the type of person to lie or turn traitor and he knew it, so it had to be them. No one else would know about his connections to him. But even so, anyone who was even seen accompanying him may be in grave danger. He wasn't about to let that happen to Wanda, not after everything that she had done for him.

Her hand grasped his arm and yanked him back with more force that he had originally thought her capable of. She fixed him with a hard look, quirking her eyebrows. “Don't be stupid, Percy. I'm not going to let you do this-whatever it is-alone. It's clearly serious, and if you think I’m going to make you handle this alone, you're clearly dumber than you look. And besides, do you really think you could convince Steve to let you go anywhere without backup?”

She… had a point there. He pursed his lips, frustration welling up inside him like a storm. Why was she making this so hard for him? He wanted to protect them from his issues, but she was making it almost impossible for him. As would the others, he was sure.

“Just-fine.” He finally concluded, a huff of air leaving his lips and a frown darkening his expression. “Gods, you're persistent.”

A smile lit up her face despite his words, looking victorious. “I know. Now let's go get Steve. I'm sure we can convince him to let us go.” She started walking again, leaving him to hurry after her this time.

Once again, he realized that she was right. It wasn't like Steve would just be willing to let him leave all of a sudden without a valid explanation, after all the trouble they went through for him. And more than that, he would need T’Challa’s permission... And a jet or something to get him back to New York. That was probably going to be the hardest part actually, now that he thought about it.

“Steve.” Wanda's voice pulled him out of his anxious thoughts and he immediately noticed Steve walking down the hallway to them. How had he missed him coming? He was really off his game lately. “We need your help.”

Noticing the serious looks on their faces, the super soldier slowed down in his footsteps and looked at both of them in turn, a frown creasing at his eyebrows. “What's wrong?”

Seeing the prompting look Wanda had given him, he cleared his throat and spoke up. “I need to get back to New York as soon as possible.”

Confusion overtook the concern on his face. “What? Why?”

“I…” He hesitated. Should he tell him exactly what was going on, or be vague about it? The truth would come out eventually, but he wasn't sure if there was time to unpack all of his issues right now. “A friend of mine; something happened to him. I really need to get back before it's too late.”

Steve watched him silently for a few moments, his conflict visible in his far too expressive eyes. “I'm not… I don't know if you can go back right now, Percy.” He answered him honestly. “We can talk to T'Challa about it, but I'm not sure he'd be happy with you leaving. Not right now, at least. Tony is still after you, and Ross has got to be suspicious by now. It's probably safest if you stay here.”

Thaddeus Ross.

Why was his name so familiar to him? Probably because he knew that he was the one in charge of the Accords that had split the Avengers apart, but... It seemed like more than that. It was like he had known that name before all of that. Like a distant memory that he could taste on the tip of his tongue, but couldn't get to. Maybe that was for the best though. He could save prying into that train of thought for later.

“You don't understand, Steve.” He blurted out, hands clenching into fists at his sides. “He's… He's in danger. I have to go help him, or he's going to…” The words died on his lips. Nico would die. And it would be his fault. There was no motive for anyone to take him, after all. He was the reason for his abduction, and he could be the cause of his death. “Look, you can try, but you can't stop me from leaving. I have to go.”

There was silence for a few tense moments, but then the super soldier nodded once sharply. “All right, then let's go.” Relief flickered through his body like a cool wave of water, soothing the anxious panic that had been burning in him as he had waited for his plans to be rejected. He followed the other two as they made their way through the maze of rooms and passages, somehow finding himself in a large, spacious room where T'Challa stood, talking to another woman that he didn't recognise. The king looked at the trio as they entered, quietly cutting the conversation he had been having to pause at the sight of them. Steve wasted no time, cutting to the chase quite abruptly. “Is there any way we can borrow another jet right now?”

A frown tugged at T'Challa's eyebrows at that, confusion flickering through his dark eyes. “What for?”

“I have to get back to New York.” Percy said, taking a step towards him.

No one spoke for a few moments, just letting the words hang in the air a bit awkwardly. “And… Why is that exactly?” He asked, his skepticism far too audible for his liking. He couldn't help but wince slightly at his hesitation.

“I… My friend's life is in danger.” He eventually continued, deciding to go with the truth finally. “There are some people that are after me, and they got him. I need to get back as soon as I can and find him.” Maybe this was going to come back to bite him in the ass later, but hopefully it would convince T'Challa enough to let him go. Nico's life was more important than his uncertainty about his revealing identity and his past completely. “I can tell anything you want to know later, but right now I have to get to him.”

Something he couldn't quite identify entered the king's eyes, and he looked almost... Satisfied...? Percy couldn't quite tell what it was, but it made him a bit uneasy. “You don't need to explain anything to me just yet, Perseus Jackson. Or should I call you Maelstrom?” He jolted at the sound of his full name, eyes going wide. How...? Did Natasha tell him already? “Wakanda has some of the most advanced technology in the entire world. Did you truly think your identity wasn't going to be brought to light eventually?” Despite being shell shocked by the revelation, he couldn't spot anything different about his expression. He wasn't… He wasn't threatened by him? Scared? Angry or furious perhaps? No… He didn't see any traces of that on his weirdly relaxed face. Percy... Didn't quite understand. But the king gave him no time to express his confusion or disbelief, instead he continued on smoothly. “You don't have to worry though. We'll talk more when you return.” Ah, there it was. The slight edge to his tone. The veiled warning that he had better come back and not just run off. Not that he was planning on doing so. He turned his attention to Steve barely a second later though, folding his arms behind his back. “My aircrafts are always available for you, Captain. I'll let them know to ready one up for you.”

A grateful smile adorned Steve's face at his words and he dipped his head. “Thank you. Oh, and if Sam comes looking for us, please tell him where we've gone for me. The same with Bucky.”

“Of course. Now go, your friend needs you.” He all but shooed them away. Percy didn't need a second chance, immediately turning to Steve expectantly. And, as he had hoped, he started leading them once again without further prompting. He knew that they must've had many questions for him, but they were keeping their curious thoughts to themselves. For now, at least. He counted his lucky stars for that.

He would've gotten lost within the first few minutes of traversing through the far too complicated palace. He was honestly lucky that he had a guide of sorts with him, otherwise he would never have found his way out. Or, not easily, at least. But sooner than he had realised, they were already at the entrance and heading towards the hangar. It still surprised him at how easily they had all given in and just let him go so willingly. Were they always this trusting and giving? Or was it just with him? That in particular didn't make sense to him, but he chose not to think too hard on that. Not now. Not with Nico being such a pressing matter right now.

He caught sight of Wanda giving him a small, reassuring smile as they approached the same jet that he had arrived in only yesterday. He couldn't quite find it in himself to return the smile however.

• • •

Percy shuddered as the aircraft finally landed with a soft, almost unnoticeable bump against the ground. That flight had been far too long and far too tense for him to even consider relaxing. The longer he took to get to Will, the longer they had Nico for. Not for the first time, he found his mind cursing himself for being so far away during all of this. If only he'd stayed just a day longer...

Almost as if sensing his thoughts, a hand placed itself on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Looking up, he realized that the reason was probably because of the dark frown that had settled over his features while he had been lost in his own mind.

“He's gonna be alright, Percy. We'll find him.” Steve murmured, his voice warm and comforting.

He let out a long breath, finding himself nodding his agreement. Yes. They were going to find him. They had to. He didn't know what he would do if they didn't. “Yeah… Thanks, by the way.” He said, gratitude shining through his eyes. An emotion he had been feeling a lot of lately. “You guys really didn't have to do this for me, but… But I'm grateful that you did.”

“Of course.” Steve flashed him a smile, a look that seemed just so natural and normal on his face. He'd never have thought so until he met him, but now he couldn't imagine him without that soft, warm look on his face. “We look out for each other.”

Percy still didn't quite understand that. He didn't think he ever would. His past training was far too embedded deep within his bone weary body for him to ever truly do so. But for now, he just accepted it with about as much gratitude as he could express in his own-if not a bit minimal-way.

“So where exactly are we going?” Wanda finally spoke up, reaching her arms far in front of her as her way of waking her limbs back up. It had been a long, quiet flight; none of them talking or moving much. He wouldn't be surprised if she had fallen asleep for the duration of it, in fact.

“A safehouse.” He answered, looking around at the buildings surrounding them slowly. The area was familiar, seeing as he had been to the safehouse before-albeit, a long time ago. It shouldn't take long for him to jog his memory. “I have to check in with another friend and see if I can figure out where they've taken him.” He eyed the sign that had the street name written on it in bold, remembering vaguely that he was in fact in the right place. He started walking, assuming that they were going to follow. “It shouldn't be far.”

“Do you know who took this friend of yours?” Steve asked, taking a place at his side as they walked. He could see Wanda doing the same on the other side of him, keeping pace evenly.

A grimace twisted his mouth downwards. “I think it may have been Hydra.”

“Hydra?” Steve repeated. He sounded shocked, but... Dubious at the same time. “It can't be.” He shook his head, sounding entirely steadfast in his claim.

Percy blinked. “Sorry?”

“It can't be. Hydra was taken down years ago. I made sure of it.” He looked at Steve, his confusion slowly morphing into unease. If Hydra was finally destroyed... Then who had been hunting him down? Was it actually SHIELD? He'd always known it had been a possibility, but one that he had always thought was the least likely. Always put to the back of his mind instead of looking into. Had that been another mistake on his part?

“Why would Hydra be after you though?” Wanda finally spoke up again, raising an eyebrow as she looked to him for answers.

“It's… A long story.” He answered her rather dismissively. Still trying to avoid the truth for as long as possible. Even if he knew it was going to come out soon anyway. Call it a habit, if you will. “I'll tell you about it later.” Maybe. “But right now, we're here.” He stopped in front of a rather dilapidated one story house. The windows that they could see were all smashed or broken. Some from the outside, and some from the inside, as he noticed by the uneven amount of broken glass that littered the sidewalk. The white paint was chipped and charred, especially around the doorframe and the windows.

His hand automatically reached for his gun, only to find his fingers grasping on thin air. He gritted his teeth, frustration once again making its place in him when he realized that he had left everything that he currently owned back in Wakanda. He really was getting rusty. And one of these days, that was likely to be his downfall.

He walked towards the door, casting wary glances at the other two behind him. They both seemed to understand his silent signal and both tensed, falling into defensive positions on either side of the doorway. He curled his fingers around the door handle, pausing when he heard a voice inside.

Wait. Make that two voices.

His eyes narrowed. The voices were too muffled to hear the words or to determine whether or not one of them was Will, but he could definitely identify the fact that there were two people conversing with each other. One of the voices hushed the other and they both fell silent immediately.

Taking that as his cue, Percy shoved the door open with about as much force as he could muster without breaking the whole thing off of its hinges. Furious green eyes darted around, fingers unconsciously flexing at his sides, his body prepared to call upon his power at any second if need be. But instead of enemies, he found a scene that he wasn't exactly expecting. Will sat on a chair at the piece of broken up furniture that used to be a table, face smeared with hastily scrubbed away dust and old remnants of dried blood that had obviously tried to be cleaned some time earlier. Next to him stood a man that he could not identify in the slightest. A man, dressed in all red and-most peculiarly-wearing some type of helmet that covered his eyes and had two small devils horns poking out from them. He was looking directly at him, despite him not being able to see his eyes through what should've been the helmets eyeholes. It was... disconcerting, to say the least. And definitely weird.

“It’s you, oh thank god.” Will breathed, sitting straight up. He did so with a wince and moved a hand to his side, clearly nursing some kind of wound that Percy couldn't see beneath his shirt.

“So this is the friend you were talking about.” The red clad man commented, before shifting his sight past him and towards Steve and Wanda. “You didn't tell me he was bringing guests.”

“I didn't know.” Will responded, relaxing again in his seat when his pain became a bit too much for him.

“Who is this?” Percy asked, still watching the other man cautiously and not making a move towards his friend. One could never be too wary, after all.

“People call him the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. He's a hero in these parts.” Will answered, looking towards the man with a small, if not exhausted smile. “He helped me, Perce. I probably would've bled out if not for him.”

The man turned his head towards him slightly as he spoke, his lips-the only visible part of his face, tilting downwards slightly. “I still arrived too late though. By the time I got here, they were already gone.”

“Still. He found me hiding in the wreckage of this place and helped me patch myself up.” Will glanced at his companions curiously, eyebrows raising slightly. “Is that... Captain America?” He asked, a slightly awed tremor to his voice. The superhero gave him a tiny smile and a small, awkward wave.

“It is.” Percy didn't let his guard down, but still approached Will slowly, keeping an eye out for the unknown man that the medic spoke so highly of. Will was generally a pretty good judge of character. So if he trusted him... Then Percy would tolerate him. For now, at least. “Now tell me exactly what happened. And try not to leave anything out, okay?”

Will, bless his heart, did try his best to be as informative about the attack as he could be. But Will had never been a violence kind of guy. The way his hands trembled and his eyes went glassy as he spoke was a clear indication of that. It's not to say he can't hold his own in a fight, because he definitely can. Percy just knew him to be one of those people who always wanted to take the peaceful route when possible.

“They came without warning. One moment Nico and I were eating breakfast, and the next thing I know, there were windows breaking and tear gas was filling the room. Then came the flash bangs and frag grenades. They weren't trying to be careful, that's for sure. There were…” He paused, eyebrows furrowing as he fought hard to recall exactly. “There were eight of them. None of them wore anything distinctive that I could identify them by, and none spoke. They all had the same black combat gear and wore helmets. If I didn't know any better, I would've guessed them to be some kind of SWAT team.” He grimaced, hand automatically pressing onto his side again. “They had assault rifles. I don't know what kind though, I'm not good at identifying that kind of thing. Nico and I tried to defend ourselves with whatever weapons we could muster up, but we weren't a match for them; of course we weren't. We didn't expect it, we couldn't even prepare for an attack.” His voice caught in his throat and he took a moment to gather himself, clearly still extremely shaken up. “We did what we could against them, but they overwhelmed us quickly. They... One of them had some kind of tranquilizer gun. They shot Nico down and took him. I… I couldn't even do anything about it. Then they just left again. They didn't care about me at all. They were only after him. Not long after that, Daredevil found me, delirious and half dead from blood loss, and helped me.”

Percy's expression softened fractionally and he knelt at his friend's side, resting his hand on his knee in the only act of comfort that he was able to provide at the moment. “Will, you did what you could.” He said quietly, catching his shining eyes, bright with unshed tears, with his own. But unlike him, his eyes shone with a quiet rage. “I'm going to find him. He's going to be alright.” And whoever did this would pay.

Will nodded slowly, looking like he was a decade older than he truly was in that moment. Again Percy regretted ever dragging Nico into his messes. Despite not having contact for nearly two years, he had still been at risk. And he should've known that. Should've kept an eye on him.

“Percy,” Will started, worry dominating his usually gentle, kind face. “Whoever these people are, they're trained well. They were in and out in a matter of minutes. They were good. You have to be careful, okay?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “I'm always careful.”

Will snorted at that and shook his head, a relieved sort of amusement finally cracking its way through his hardened yet agitated expression. “Yeah, yeah, smartass. Just... Just be more careful, okay? These guys... I've got a bad feeling about all of this.”

Percy stood up, glancing towards ‘Daredevil’ unconsciously. The man was like a shadow, just standing there in silence, watching them all from those blank eyeholes of his helmet. How was he seeing through them? “Can I borrow your laptop?” He asked Will, tearing his gaze away from the supposed ‘hero’ to look at his friend again. Steve and Wanda remained near the door, looking around occasionally and keeping an eye out for him. Not for the first time, he felt grateful for them having his back.

“Yeah, of course.” Will started to push himself to his feet, wincing deeply as he did.

“No-stay right there. Just tell me where it is.” He stopped him before he could get too far, seeing the pain etched across his face and the tense line of his shoulders.

A minute smile of thanks tugged at his lips as he slumped down in his seat again. “It's-It’s in my room.”

Percy nodded and quickly made his way through the debris and broken furniture that littered the once pristine house. As promised, his laptop lay on his desk, already powered up. Good. Less time wasted. He took a seat at the swivelling office chair, fingers immediately flying to the keyboard.

It may have been a while since he had needed to hack into anything, but the skill had still remained with him. Breaking into the network was a piece of cake, compared to what he had needed to do in the past.

It's strange how many people don't even realize how much is caught on security cameras. Ranging from traffic cameras to store security footage, no one can hide from the cameras that sat in plain sight. Not even him, though he had once tried hard to avoid them at all costs. He had quickly learnt that it was impossible to do so, and so simple that people barely ever thought to look through it. If the men were anywhere in the area, he would know about it.

So that's what he did, skipping through all of the footage that he could get his fingers on of the past few hours. At some point Wanda had come to join him in the room, taking a seat on the bed, but never once speaking up. She understood the severity of the situation, and so didn't interrupt his work. And by the time he had found what he was looking for, a headache had started to form from staring at the screen for so long and Wanda was almost dozing off.

“Found them.” He murmured; the first words he had spoken in nearly an entire hour. That caught Wanda's attention immediately. She leaned forward in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what he was seeing. A group of eight men dragging a limp figure out of an SUV with tinted windows and towards some kind of building. The unconscious man had a sack of sorts over his head, but Percy knew immediately who it was. He could identity that aviator jacket anywhere. He had been the one who had gotten it for him, after all. It was definitely Nico.

He paused the feed, zooming in on the corner of the grainy image and squinting. Half of a word was visible. ‘Fairyt’. He pulled up a tab, going into maps and trying to search up any type of business that may have begun with those letters in the area. There was only one thing that popped up.

“Fairytail Lounge.” He frowned, reading over the description quickly. A gay night club. Why would they take him there? Was it some kind of cover for a base of operations of sorts? Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. He quickly memorised the route and then shut the laptop down, finally standing up. He winced slightly, his legs stiff from his inactivity. “Well, I've got a lead. It's the best I've got, so we should go.”

Wanda immediately sprang to her feet, once again looking wide awake within a matter of seconds. “You know, I should be more concerned than I currently am that you know how to hack.” She commented dryly, pulling an almost amused eye roll out of him. “I guess it just adds to how mysterious you are.”

“Mysterious? No. I prefer to be called... Cryptic. Oh, or maybe enigmatic.” She snorted and shook her head at that, following him as he left the room. He followed the sound of quiet conversation to find Steve and Will sitting together, talking with each other quietly. Daredevil was nowhere to be seen. He must've left at some point. Both blond's looked up when he entered the room, falling silent quickly. “Ah, you must be done. Daredevil left already. He said that you guys would be able to handle it without him.” He explained. He was disappointed about that fact, if he was reading him correctly. Which he was sure he was. But barely a moment later he replaced it with a look of quiet hopefulness. “Did you... Find anything?”

“Yeah, I've got a lead. I believe they took him to a nightclub a few blocks away.” Bold of them not to take him far from the scene of the crime. But then again, he didn't understand quite a few things about them or their reasoning. Why kidnap Nico in the first place? Why not kill Will when they had the chance? Why not be more careful about where they were heading? He just didn't know enough, and it made him all the more uneasy.

“Then we should go.” Steve stood up, expression turning into one of determination; a look that he was becoming weirdly used to at this rate. “The longer we take, the more danger your friend is in.”

“He's right. You should take my car to get there quicker. It's parked right outside.” Will dug in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, before tossing it over to Percy. “Oh, and I thought you might want these too.” From his other pocket he produced three small earpieces. “I… I don't know if you need them, but just in case.” He gave one to Steve and another to Wanda as they passed him, then threw the final one to Percy. “They're pretty easy to use.”

He caught the keys with one hand and the earpiece with the other, curling his fingers around them and flashing him a grateful half-smile. “Thanks, Will. This is helpful.” He placed the small, pale coloured device snugly in his ear, pressing the small button on the side to activate it as he did. A soft beep rang in his ear quietly, then went quiet again. He watched as the other two put them in place as well, another small ‘beep’ appearing, indicating that they were connected. “Testing?” He asked, looking to the others for confirmation.

“I can hear you.” Steve's dual voice came in through the earpiece, and from his mouth himself.

“Me too.” Wanda established, her voice splitting in two as well in a weird, slightly discomforting way.

“Great. Then I think we're good to go.” He made a move to the door, only to be stopped by Will's call.

“Percy,” He started. And when he looked over his shoulder to see him, he could see the worry shining through his face. “Remember, be careful... And thank you.”

He only dipped his head once in acknowledgement, before disappearing through the front door. He never had been any good at accepting gratitude. Never knew what to say or how to react. Anyways, Will could thank him properly when they actually had Nico back again.

As promised, the car was parked out front and he quickly got to work on unlocking it and taking his place in the driver's seat. Not to any surprise, Steve took the passenger seat, and Wanda sat in the back of the car. And before long they were driving to the destination that he had memorised.

“So, what's the plan?” Steve finally spoke up, his voice coming from both sides of his head. Once again he was reminded of how weird it was to hear someone's real voice and their disembodied voice speaking at the same time.

“Uh…” He paused for a moment, unsure of how to answer that question. He honest to god hadn't thought that far. “We should get in and split up to cover more ground.” He finally formulated the shadow of a plan in his mind. Despite it being an impromptu one. “We have to search the place from top to bottom. He has to be there somewhere. And if not, then there has to be at least some sort of clue as to where he could have gone.” He saw Steve nod out of the corner of his eye, and so assumed his plan was relatively good, despite it being so basic. “Nico is pretty short, about 5’6 in height. He's got black hair, dark eyes, and an pale, olive skin tone. He'll probably be wearing a black aviator jacket with a fake fur lining on the collar. If anyone sees him, contact me immediately.” He could see the both of them nod their agreement.

He parked as close to the Fairytail Lounge as he dared, leaving the keys in the ignition and the doors unlocked. He had a feeling that no one would try their luck in trying to steal or rob the car. Call it intuition... Or knowing that another hero-or anti-hero, he had no idea-was somewhere nearby, watching over the area. He left the car, feeling a bit comforted at having both Wanda and Steve at his side. He didn't know what he would do without them, in all honesty. They were a silent, yet constant support in his otherwise insane life that he had never realized he'd needed. And wanted, despite him only knowing them for a few days now. Not that he would ever say any of that out loud.

“This is it.” He murmured, glancing between the two of them as he came to a stop in front of his destination. A muffled, steady beat pumped from behind the closed door of the club, and above them flickered a large sign that blared the words ‘Fairytail Lounge’ in bright pink neon lights. No one stood at the door guarding it or anything, so he simply opened it, assuming that he could just enter.

Immediately he was assaulted with an odd mixture of darkness and bright flashing lights that changed colours erratically and without any warning. He grimaced and slipped into the nightclub, eyes trying to adjust between the two clashing sides of light and darkness. There were no windows or anything leading to the outside the club, besides the door, so everything was in pitch blackness, despite it still being day. The only thing that lit up the place and the sinuous bodies that danced and moved along to the almost deafening music was the disco lights that punctuated through the darkness. He looked over his shoulder, managing to make out his companions through the multicoloured lights that occasionally passed over them. He saw a nod from Steve, and then a reassuring smile from Wanda, and pushed his way through the draping decorative curtains, starting to weave his way through the party that was raging like it was already the middle of the night.

He slipped through a pair of dancing guys, cringing when hands trailed over his chest and arms intrusively as he did so. He just ducked his head and pushed through, trying to keep an eye and an ear out for any odd behaviour. It was just unfortunate that his eyes had to keep adjusting to a different sort of light every other second and the music thumped louder than his own heartbeat. He could feel his skin crawl unpleasantly and the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

There was just something inherently wrong about this place.

Eyes flashed in the darkness, hungry and cold. A mass of bodies writhed like snakes together, twisting and reaching. Shadows stretched out to tug at him with clawed, jagged fingers. Bright lights blinded him with their fluctuating pulses. Both fighting for dominance in a way that made his head hurt. He could feel the sweat dripping down the side of his face and his mouth starting to go dry.

He swallowed in an effort to get at least some moisture back down his scratchy throat; trying in vain to get some respite from the overwhelmingly thick feeling of his blood moving sluggishly in his veins and his head that had started to pound unbearably in time with the pulsating music. It was too much. Too loud.

It was too loud.

He reached a hand up, shielding his squinted eyes as best he could as he shoved his way through the rest of the mainly guy filled dance floor. He shuddered as he finally managed to get through. He tried to push the rising panic down with a frustrated noise-not too unlike a snarling beast, and managed to do so to some extent, much to his own relief. He could still feel it curling and sitting heavily somewhere deep within him, waiting to resurface again. But for now, he was able to get ahold of himself.

At some point during his internal panic attack he lost the other two, but he didn't let himself dwell on that fact for too long. They were meant to split up, after all. He clenched his jaw, steeling himself. He'd done countless missions before. He didn't know why this one in particular was getting him so worked up. Maybe it was because of the fact that it was Nico.

Nico was the one getting hurt.

Nico was the one that could be dead for all he knew.

And it was most definitely his fault.

He forced himself out of his own head, trying to regain at least some smidgen of control over himself. He had to think of this as a regular mission. He had to push the thoughts of Nico out. He had to be mechanical and calculated about this.

He had to be Maelstrom for now.

Settling into the monstrous role that he had imposed upon himself was scarily easy. It disturbed him at how simple it was to cut off the side of him that felt. That cared. That worried. Or it would've, if he hadn't been so focused on his mission.

Cold eyes tracked over the area slowly, quickly settling on a sign that he hadn't previously noticed. Back rooms. As suspicious a place as any, in this place.

He made his way towards it, ignoring any calls or looks he received from party goers and waiters alike as he did. He didn't know where Steve or Wanda were, but that wasn't his concern right now. He pushed through the door that had ‘VIP Entrance Only’ labeled on a golden plate, taking no notice of it in the slightest. He stepped out into a long hallway, allowing the door to swing shut slowly behind him. The walls and floor shone a deep red from the coloured lights that dotted along the ceiling occasionally, barely enough to be considered good lighting, but still enough to allow his eyes to adjust easily. The end of the hallway opened out into another darkened room, a hazy man-made fog drifting through the air and hiding a lot of its contents from his view.

A few doors decorated the otherwise bland walls. They all looked the same. No numbers. No names. Nothing. Nothing at all to identify one from the other. Likely for a specific reason, but one that he didn't know.

His footsteps faltered at the sight of a guy disappearing through the fog, small in stature and wearing an all too familiar black jacket with a faux fur lined collar. He inhaled sharply, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure again.

Was it him?

Well, only one way to find out.

He walked down the hallway, eyes trained on where he had seen him last. It opened out into another large room. There was the same kind of lighting, giving everything a bloodied and mysterious look. A few people sprawled out over lavish red couches or moved lazily with the music on the smaller dancefloor. A select few sat at the bar, talking in pairs with bodies pressed together and lips locked. There was a weird vibe to the place that he didn't quite feel all that comfortable with. A sensual, yet ominous one. And the fog just made everything seem all the more out of place, and almost outlandish in a way.

He scowled through the haze of machine produced smoke, just managing to catch another glimpse of him. He immediately followed, hoping that his intuition was right.

“Percy?” He could hear someone saying his name in his ear, beyond the almost deafeningly loud music. “Percy... read me?” Was that… Steve? He automatically pressed a hand to his ear, trying his best to be able to hear him better. “We… him… me?” He cut out for a moment though, falling silent after a few crackles of static. That's not good news. Hopefully it was only a temporary problem.

A frown creased his brows and he quickened his pace when he realized that he had slipped into another backroom and out of sight. He knew he couldn't lose him. He pushed through the door that had just begun to swing closed again and stepped into the room.

He winced and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to get the spots out of them from the drastic change in lighting. This room was brightly lit up; a huge contrast to the other rooms that his eyes had already adjusted to. It made his eyes sting a bit and his head throb, but he pushed through it and opened his eyes again.

It was… An empty room.

“-ercy! Can... hear...?” He reached a hand up again, pressing the ear piece. Steve's voice was difficult to decipher in between the bursts of static, but he could just barely make out what he was trying to say. “We… him. We found Nico.”

His stomach sank and his eyes snapped fully open despite the almost blinding light.

They had found Nico?

Then who had he been following?

He jerked forward, stars dancing across his vision and a sharp pain bursting over the side of his head. His legs collapsed from beneath him a moment later. And the last thing he saw was the floor rushing up to meet him, before everything went dark.