Catch Me If I Fall (PJO/Avengers Crossover)

22

Percy grunted in pain as he began to feel a hot, searing pain in his side. He clutched the source of the pain, and his hand came back drenched in golden ichor. He winced before stabbing a few more Chitauri, trying to shake off the dizziness that came from his new wound.

"I can close it!" Natasha's voice came from Percy's earpiece, making him jump. "Can anyone hear me? I can shut the portal down!"

Percy felt as though the weight of the sky had been taken off his shoulders. "What are you waiting for?" He almost smiled at the thought of this battle being almost over.

"Do it!" Steve's voice yelled.

"No, wait!" Tony was speaking now.

"Stark, these things are still coming," Steve argued.

"I got a nuke coming in, and it's gonna blow in less than a minute," Tony's voice came, and at this Percy felt his stomach tie in a knot. Still clutching his side, he stabbed another Chitauri in the heart. Tony spoke again, quietly this time. "And I know just where to put it."

He vapour travelled away from the last ten Chitauri, knowing he wouldn't be able to take them down without another few injuries, and found himself leaning against a wall, taking deep breaths and trying not to show he was in pain. He ripped his t-shirt sleeve before carefully stopping the wound from bleeding any more. With another breath, he looked up and saw Tony steering a nuclear bomb towards the portal in the sky.

"Stark," Steve said through his earpiece. "You know that's a one-way trip?"

Percy hadn't known Tony Stark for that long; only about an hour, but he felt as though the world was ending when he realised what Stark was doing. He held his breath, hardly able to move- whether it was because of the pain or the worry is something that Percy would never know.

It felt like every second was an eternity. Time seemed to go still. Percy felt sick. "Come on..."

Then he saw the portal begin to close with no sign of Tony. He gritted his teeth. "Natasha, what are you-"

Then the Chitauri in the streets went still, and Percy saw a shape fall from the now just closed portal, and in a moment of relief, he realised it was Tony. He laughed, feeling again as though the sky had been lifted from his shoulders. As Tony came closer to the ground, however, Percy realised that he wasn't slowing himself down. He lost his smile and vapour travelled to Steve, who seemed to also have been shot, and Thor, who was getting ready to fly up and grab Tony.

Then, without any form of warning, Banner in the form of the Hulk jumped out of nowhere and caught Tony, both of them crashing to the ground. Percy, Thor and Steve rushed towards them.

"No, no, no," Percy dropped to his knees, as did Steve, and both of them began checking if Tony made it. Percy felt no pulse. He stood and turned his back to everyone, biting his lip.

That's when he almost jumped out of his skin because of The Hulk roaring. He turned around just in time to see Tony's eyes snap open and for him to start panting as though he'd just ran a marathon.

"What the Hell?" Tony looked around as Percy's face broke into a grin. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Steve looked at the sky, and then back and Tony, smiling too. "We won."

Tony, clearly exhausted, brought his arm up. "Alright. Hey, alright," he breathed. "Good job, guys. L-let's just take a day- have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

Percy laughed a little, whereas Thor looked back at Stark Tower. "We're not finished yet," he said, making Percy lose his smile. He'd have to see Loki again.