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Oh no...I just edited this chapter and suddenly its glitching too. I really hope its just down my end...but I'm really sorry if this chapters messed up. I can't find anyway to fix it....

Noooooo I spent 5 hours writing this chapter cause I kept getting distracted (so technically its my own fault.) AND NOW ITS RUINED.

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To hell with the plan.

If it wasn't for the stupid chloroform, they would all be dead.

Barely four minutes had passed, yet Will had already managed to awkwardly roll himself across the counter top, break two glasses, snag five of Clint's arrows and lodge them in the ice dispenser, kick Rachel in the head, whistle so inhumanly loud 7 more glasses shattered, and spike Nico's hair with the foaming soap from the sink. Clint had angrily followed his movement, picking up the glittering shards of glass that littered the floor on his way. He glared furiously over his shoulder at Tony, who was cringing at the thought of Steve marching out of the elavator any second now to scold them. I mean, sure, Steve was old...but he wasn't deaf. It wasn't like Will was taking the effort to be quiet with his horrendous singing.

What the hell had he done.

Tony backed up against the counter to avoid the pieces of glass that lay in broken shards around his feet. He dared a look at the other two children, who were sitting in a slumped mutual silence. He was almost positive Rachel was passed out; her chin lowered against her chest.

Quickly, he glanced over at Clint who was chasing Will around the living room with irritation; curses rolling off his tongue in rapid fire. Well, it looked like the archer had it under control. He wondered if he should continue on with the plan. They still needed answers right? He tried to steady his breathing, he needed to understand what was happening. To his nephew...and to himself. And this was the only way. He tried to grasp the energy and confusion that had built up in his head earlier. Wishing he could tame the whirling gears in his mind, most of which were running off delerium and lack of sleep. He wanted to believe what he was doing was right. Yet his doubts were slowly starting to rise above his brilliants...and he suddenly felt skeptical of his ideas.

He reached over and flicked Nico in the head. He had expected an immediate reaction, but it was as if Nico's movements were delayed. It took about 7 seconds for him to slowly lift his head, bubbles foaming in his dark hair. Even his facial expression took a moment to process, as if he had forgotten why he sat up in the first place.

"Hey kid...I need you to answer some questions. Okay?"

Nico stayed silent for a moment. Before he bent down and pressed his forehead against the counter. His damp hair falling to cover his shallow cheeks, wet with soap, blocking his face from view. And when he spoke, his voice was muffled, hidden in the sleeve of his sweatshirt. His tone surprisingly hard.

"Why?"

Tony bit his lip and sighed. He wondered if maybe the teen wouldn't answer his question drunk or sober. That would mean the whole scheme was just a big fail. Of course, he would have to at least try for some questions.

"Because you're going to help us cure Percy."

Nico laughed drily-hiccuping beneath his breath. Tony wasn't aware he said anything funny, but apparently, Nico thought otherwise. The boy seemed to hesitate-or perhaps he dozed off, but finally he spoke again.

"You can't cure somebody that doesn't want to be fixed."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "I feel like that should be quoted on a aestetic looking picture of trees."

Nico didn't say anything.

Somewhere in the hallway, a crashing sound ricashayed in the silence. Followed by angry cursing and a high pitched giggle.

Tony stepped closer to the boy, glass crunching beneath his feet.

"What do you mean by that? He can't possible not want to be fixed. Nobody would want to live in a situation like that."

Nico's head was still pressed against the granite. He yawned. "Maybe he doesn't want to live."

Tony slumped back against the counter and rubbed his temples. "Well maybe... But he won't leave kalliope, I can see that much. There must be someway to help him."

"We've tried everything your itsy bitsy brain can think of... But you don't know how much of his soul is fading. I can feel it...like right here." Nico lifted a hand and pointed to his temple. "He thinks he's making things worse for everyone, that he doesn't deserve to live." .

Tony decided to ignore the insult. "That's not true."

"Maybe but Percy likes to blame himself for stupid stuff-there's no way to change his mind."

Another crash sounded from somewhere far off. Rachel snored; slumping into the crook of her arm.

Tony sighed. "Look, I know you said that he had a broken soul or whatever-but please just tell me what happened to him?"

Tony didn't expect an answer. He didn't expect to learn the truth. But the boy flopped back down against the counter, a hiccup muffled by the cold stone. And he spoke.

The truth.

"A lot of unfair stuff happened to him...honestly. Imagine fighting for your life everyday. Well...maybe not everyday, like every other day. And seeing so many people you know die without saying goodbye. So many innocent people." Nico's voice had gone flat. "Being with someone since you were 12, walking through literal hell for them, finally starting a family. Only to have her ripped from you, torn from you like a bandaid. A really sticky bandaid. You know, like the ones at a doctor's office that really hurt to pull off."

Tony knew that Nico couldn't possible see him with his face buried in his sleeves, but he nodded anyways. He knew how it felt to blame yourself for somebody's death. And he couldn't even begin to imagine what it felt like to have your significant other killed. Even though him and Pepper were going through a rough patch in life, he still wouldn't be able to handle her death. It would tear him down from the inside out.

"How?" He muttered numbly.

"Annabeth and some others..,." He paused for a second and Tony suddenly recognized the raw pain in his voice. "Including my sister. Were out scouting, they were attacked outside of camp borders. They couldn't fight against so many monsters, exspecially Annabeth who was still weak from labor. They had to drive all the way back to camp with what was left of their bodies...we needed to wrap them up and burn them. Even if all that was left was an arm. Percy didn't understand, he prayed for days, pleading to the gods to make them come back. To make it okay. But it wasn't okay." Nico seemed to be fighting back a sob. His shoulders shook heavily.

Tony felt suddenly sick. He pressed his palms into the counter to stop the sudden shock of dizziness. He registered the fact that the boy had said monsters and gods. And his brain finally clicked.

"Wait-do you mean Norse monsters? Like from other dimensions or something?"

The boy finally seemed to look at him straight in the eyes. His black obsideon gaze unfocused and slightly empty, only laced with pain and sadness. In all the twist and turns of life, Tony had never been able read someone as well as he could now. Deep in the boys mind lay the truth of what he was thinking; Wtf are you talking about?

"No...monsters from greek mythology. We are demigods duh."

If Nico had said those words at any other time, Tony would have been freaking out. Unfortunatly, at this moment he had absolutely no time to react to this information.

Because right than and there, Will decided to crash the party. He bolted through the room like a maniac. Sliding across the floor in his socks, (he must have ditched the sandals). Only stopping at the counter to grab Nico shoulders and shake him.

"Help me! He's trying to kill me. Neeky, If you ever loved me-go turn him into a skeleton or something."

Nico looked startled. "Okay...I don't think I can do that-but okay."

Tony didn't know what to do. It was a rare situation where his mind wasn't processing correctly. What exactly was going on? Greek mythology? Um, no thank you. I think we have enough going on without more gods in the picture.

In the confusion, Will was still freaking out.

"He's trying to shove boxers up my nose."

Tony turned around quickly, his mind racing at a 100 miles per hour. What did he say Clint was doing?

The assasin had slipped into the room unoticed. Slowly he was trying to creep up behind Will, his hands clutching a mustered yellow pair of underwear. His brow was creased in concentration, his eyes set on the back of Will's head.

But Nico noticed him.

"Those are some ugly boxers."

Clint cursed as Will screeched loudly and scrambled away from him

There was a flurry of movement in which Tony could not keep track of the events going on. It involved a lot of kicking and curses, but his mind was wandering else where and he couldn't understand what was occurring in front of him. In the end, the assassin managed to latch a hand onto the boys arm and pull him into a loose choke hold. Pressing the boxers into his face, and covering both Will's nose and mouth. The boy flailed wildly for about two full minutes of awkward silence, before he slumped back in Clints grasp. He was clearly still straning, but his movements were heavy and weak. Soon he lay completely still in Clint's arms. The archer set him, rather angrily, to the floor.

"What did you do to him?" Nico struggled sloppily off the stool and tripped to the floor beside Will. He placed a hand to his neck as if checking for a pulse, though Tony was positive his fingers weren't in the right place.

Clint gave an irrated shrug. "Just knocked him out."

Tony raised an eyebrow, trying to calm himself. Information kept swirling in his mind. "With what exactly? Becuase i don't think it was just the stench of the boxers-no matter how disgusting they are."

Clint quickly grabbed his snapped arrows from the ice dispenser and sighed. "It was chloroform from the lab. I grabbed the closest thing to pour it on, which happened to be these boxers from the rag bin."

"Thats illegal."

Clint glared. "What else was I supposed to do? He was running everywhere destroying YOUR TOWER. You did absolutely nothing to help as I recall."

Tony glared. "Actually I got us the information that will help save Percy."

Clints jaw dropped. "No you didnt."

There was a pause as the elevator beeped.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN HERE?"

Oh crap.

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1950 words