Here I go again with another story. Marvel's my new fandom just months ago, after reading fanfictions about Tony Stark and Loki. My OTP! Frostiron. And soooo, I decided to make my own. With my favorite fandom. Anndddd… I hope y'all like it! I'm so excited for Age of Ultron on May!

Happy Birthday to ME!

UPDATED: 03/24/2015: Song and Chapter Title. Nothing much.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Avengers.

"We think we've climbed so high
Up all the backs we've condemned
We face no consequence
This is the beginning of the end."

Beginning of the End, Nine Inch Nails

Chapter 1: The Unnoticed Stares, Hidden Gazes

It started last week.

With the Giant War finished, monsters were temporarily silenced these days. It was safer (as safe as a demigod's life can be) to say and to stroll along the streets, at least. So this day, Percy had chosen walking over taking a cab to their apartment, hoping for some peaceful walk.

As he walked now, he could feel the stares, accusing him of something he didn't even know he was doing. Could sense the tension in the air, thick as a wall, making his shoulders hunch protectively closer. Could feel paranoia clouding his mind, closing him in, making him feel faintly claustrophobic. He thought he saw a shadow flicker in the dark alley on his left. He fidgeted with the bag strap on his shoulder, concentrating on just walking. Easier said than done.

The tension in the air broke when a woman's scream shattered the near-silence. Without even considering what he was about to do, he broke into a full sprint, running towards the direction of the scream, shoes thudding into the pavement as he ran. Four or five blocks ahead, his mind supplied helpfully.

He arrived at the scene, breathe even as he skidded to a halt. Just a typical New York crime, he thought wryly. Two robbers, face hidden beneath a crude mask of black cloth with holes for the eyes. One man had the victim in a headlock grip, while the other shorter man held a knife to the woman's chin.

"We'll do it nicely, sweetie," the man holding the knife said in a sickly sweet voice. "No arguments, no hassle. Give us the bag, or you'll only harm yourself."

The designer bag, which been held tightly in the woman's hands, was held even closer to her body. Defiance burned fiercely in her eyes. "No." Her voice was steely calm. "I won't." Then she smiled coldly. "At this point, I'm sure someone must have heard me, right?"

The woman's luck must be rotten if Percy wasn't there, because even no one in that street heard him, save for the demigod. He chose that moment to interfere.

"She's right," said Percy leaning against the wall. Three heads snapped to meet his gaze, and she ignored the disappointed and panicked look the woman sent his way. "Now, how 'bout this. You drop the knife, or I swear you'll harm yourselves instead."

The men laughed nastily, throwing their heads back. Percy tried to suppress an eye roll. Clearly, they haven't met him. He met the woman's eyes briefly, and her eyes said, Run, you silly boy.

He sent a message of his own, eyes flashing: But I'm not a boy anymore. I can handle this just fine. He sent her a reassuring smile to calm her.

The man holding her tightened her grip, making her gasp in surprise.

The back of Percy's neck prickled, and he whipped his head around, expecting to see someone watching them. However, the alley was dark, and there was no one in sight but the four of them.

The woman gasped again, but this time it was more from pain, bringing back the demigod's attention. He nearly missed it, but in the limited moonlight and artificial light, it glinted: a thin line of blood, fresh and bright against the woman's neck.

He felt something come alive inside him because no, no one will be harmed in his watch— and he drew out Riptide from his pocket. He uncapped it and just for a moment, he saw his sword flicker into a baseball bat.

The men stopped short for a moment, hesitating, probably wondering where did that freaking bat came from and Percy took the distraction as an advantage. He charged, elbowing the man holding the woman to the ribs, making him wheeze in pain and release her. He clubbed him in the head with the pommel of his sword. One down.

The man holding the knife tried to stab him in the gut, but he sidestepped the blow easily and sent the knife flying to the wall with an expert flick of his sword, where it bounced and clattered to the ground, well enough out of reach from the man.

The man was easily taller and bulkier than him, and chose that moment to underestimate him. Either the man was ignorantly stupid or he had a really big ego, so confident of himself that he will be able to take down a demigod. Not that he knew, of course.

He threw a punch, clearly aiming for his head, and Percy dodged it. He can't stop it, he started to chatter. He didn't feel like attacking the criminal yet, he wasn't in the mood right now.

"'Cause seriously? I'm sick of these crimes. It's never-ending. You guys are always there—" he dodged another punch, "—and you can't even try something different." The man snarled and attempted to trip him, but his foot only found air. "Why don't you try something new?" He paused to appreciate the not-so-sloppy attacks from the man.

"Just get on with it now," the woman muttered impatiently from somewhere behind him.

"Oh, right." He turned to grin sheepishly at the woman, with a hint of something close to mania. He'd almost enjoyed the fight over there. "If you say so, my lady."

He whirled back to the expectant man, who looked offended at being dismissed so easily. He feinted to the right, and while the man focused on raising his defenses on his left side, he bashed the man's right side of the head with the flat of his blade.

He winced at the sickening sound as the man fell to join his associate in the ground. Percy turned back to the woman again, only to find her watching him with wide eyes. A thin trickle of blood was on her neck, the wound seemingly forgotten.

He hurried to her side, eyes fixed on her wound. She followed the line of his gaze and her eyes widened impossibly further, as if she only saw it for the first time. She opened her bag, and soon came up with a handkerchief, and pressed it to the wound.

He hesitated at her side, unable to think of what to do. So he came up with only an "Are you okay, um... miss...?"

"Potts. Pepper Potts."The woman smile reassuringly at him, and Percy felt his shoulders sag with relief. Then a frown appeared on Pepper's face, with a touch of curiosity. "How did you do that by the way?"

He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Just learned it… here and there." He deliberately changed the subject. "Do you uh, want a lift? Just to make sure you weren't robbed again."

"Oh no," she said, shaking her head but still smiling. "No thanks. I'll just call Happy. My boss had a driver but I stubbornly refused the ride and chose to walk home alone. Just to stretch my legs a bit, you know."

Happy, Pepper... did someone else have any more crazy name? "Oh." Percy nodded, and smiled more easily now. "So Miss Potts, see you 'round a bit then." His smile turned into a grin. "And don't let your guard down, with the other robbers around."

The demigod started to walk away, but stopped when Pepper (huh, cool name) called him.

"Wait!

He turned around, eyebrows raised. The woman blushed a bit, but continued on with her question in mind. "You haven't told me your name, mister."

He grinned, more teeth than a real smile. He knew names were a dangerous thing, but he felt like he owed this bit to Pepper. He bowed, waist deep and said, "Percy Jackson, at your service."

Then he was gone.

Somewhere in the darkness, a voice whispered in his comms, lips barely moving, "Subject identified. Name confirmed: Percy Jackson."

In the dark alleyway where the two men were still knocked unconscious and showed no signs of waking, a sleek black Ferrari skidded into a stop in front of Pepper Potts. The door opened, and Happy climbed out of the car, assisting her into the back seat.

"You shouldn't have done that," Happy admonished her. "There's a first aid kit just below your seat." He started the engine, and they strolled away smoothly, while Pepper searched for the said kit.

"I'm fine," she said, even as her hand sifted through the contents of the kit. "Just a scratch."

"Boss got drunk again," he started, just as Pepper finished cleaning the wound. "After five days of little sleep, JARVIS insisted he got some, and was rewarded by another nightmare instead."

"He's gotten worse, you know," Pepper said quietly, mostly to herself. Even as the engineer's actions had gotten obvious for them to notice. "Worse than Afghanistan. He locks himself in his workshop for days, running on lots of coffee. Eats when he's only forced to. And when he sleeps, well…" Pepper shrugged miserably. "He's barely even sleeping."

"You know, Pepper," Happy said suddenly, struck by an idea, "maybe he needs someone. And he's Tony Stark. You know he could take care of himself."

"Look at his job well done," muttered Pepper under her breath, but perked up as the idea fully sunk in. "He needs someone…"

Thinking furiously, she considered the options. Not her, he's used to her presence, and she's the CEO of the company. Colonel Rhodey was also unavailable; he's got duties and responsibilities…

"I know!" shouted Pepper triumphantly. "Bruce!"

Percy sighed as he shouldered his backpack once more, holding it securely close to him. So much for a peaceful walk.

Pepper Potts… he felt like he'd seen her name before. He frowned. With an almost a year gone, he wasn't able to catch up with the current events and happenings in his city New York. Participating in a war certainly didn't help matters.

Pepper Potts, Potts. Potts… boss… Pepper…

He stopped dead in his tracks. Pepper Potts, and her boss, Tony Stark. Iron Man. Right. One of the so-called "Avengers," who helped with the alien invasion that happened a year ago. Before he got by Her Holy Cow Majesticness, the queen of the gods.

Demigods had been strictly ordered to do not interfere with an enraged Zeus that came personally in the camp when he found out that a single child of Apollo tried to join the fight. He was barely spared by Chiron, who tried to reason with the king of gods that yes, it has been his entire fault, his foolishness, he should have tried to stop him, it will never happen again. Poor kid hid in the Apollo cabin in days, humiliated, and no one had dared to join the fight again, unless they want to face Zeus's wrath and to be incinerated by the Master Bolt.

And then there were whispers of Loki, a Norse god of mischief, a crazy murdering psychopath that led the invasion. There also had been an Avenger, also a Norse god, Thor, the thunder god.

Percy was not sure what to make of this alien invasion, so let it go. Now, it may as well come to back to haunt him again, with just a simple deed of saving Pepper Potts. Fate has a funny way of bringing a destiny to him.

He felt another prickle at the back of his neck, and turned just in time to see a shadow dart away from the edge of the roof of the building behind him.

Dread pooled his stomach. Had they been following him around all along? And… oh, Styx, had they heard him say his name out loud? He started walking again, quickening his pace, and tried to shake away the feeling of apprehension, and thought that he should have learned some time ago with Rachel that it wasn't a good idea to just introduce yourself to someone. He's sure he wasn't entirely successful.

"Tony." Pepper shook him, hard. The billionaire only shifted and managed a muffled, "mmph," before dropping bonelessly on the chair, sound asleep. Bottles she only knew too well surrounded him on the table, JARVIS' holograms still hovering on the air. She swept the empty space, shutting down screens and saving data.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Potts?" Tony's AI, JARVIS, asked. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Connect me to Bruce Banner."

"Affirmative. Connecting to Doctor Banner now…"

She raised her voice. "Dummy?"

The robot made itself known, mechanics whirring and arm making movements towards its creator.

Pepper smiled. "Go, now, get him a pillow and a blanket." Dummy seemed to know his creator's wishes, and became very fond and close to Pepper whenever she visited the tower.

She eased Tony into a more comfortable position, nose wrinkling from the smell of alcohol wafting from the man. Dummy returned, in its arm clutching a pillow and blanket as it smoothly rolled by. Its mechanism whirred and whined as it showed concern for its creator.

"He will be fine." Pepper wasn't sure if she was going mad, reassuring the robot while he will certainly not be fine. "Everything will be fine."

"Miss Potts? The call has been successfully connected."

Oh, right. She had almost forgotten the call. "Doctor Banner?"

There was a pause on the other line, and then the sounds of sheets rustling can be heard. "Yes, Miss Potts?"

"It's about Tony. Had he ever invited you to join him in the tower?

Bruce chuckled. "Yes, actually. He even said that I can have my own lab that I could use and an entire floor too. I… may have said that I will think about it."

"Please," begged Pepper. "Could you reconsider the offer? I had my duties as the CEO of Stark Industries. I can't look after him, he's having nightmares and he's not been eating again." She sighed. She knew she was babbling insanely now, all of her worries being poured into words, because this has to stop. "Just… think about it. Please, Doctor Banner."

There was a pregnant pause, silence as Bruce contemplated her words.

"Okay," the scientist said finally, and Pepper breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll tell Tony tomorrow."

"Oh, god, thank you, Doctor Banner!"

"Call me Bruce, Miss Potts." She could hear the smile in his voice, and felt her own lips curl into a beam.

"Then you may call me Pepper."

How's that for the first chapter? And tell me what you thought of the story! If it's too fast for you, well, the story have its own mind soooo, we couldn't do anything about it. *grins*

~BloodDarkerThanCrimson out.