1 MONTH LATER

Berkeley, California

"Welcome to Alberto's, ma'am. What can I get for you today?"

"Come on, you know me by now. I'll have the usual."

Percy sighed and tapped Frappuccino on his register before tiredly saying, "That'll be three seventy-nine."

The woman, who happened to be a regular customer, handed him a five and he handed her change before saying, "Next."

The regular walked away and behind her in line, a familiar girl with blonde hair stepped up.

"Welcome to Alberto's. What can I get for you today?"

"Yeah, um … I'm looking for someone. He might work here. He's about six-foot-one. Lean, but strong. Tousled black neck-length hair. Good tan, especially now that he lives in California. And most importantly, very handsome."

"You were always very descriptive, Annabeth," Percy replied to her cheekily before trudging over to his manager. "Hey Lenny, I'm gonna take my break."

"Yeah, go ahead."

Percy folded his apron and walked over to his locker to leave it in there before taking a booth with Annabeth

…

"So … how are you liking your new job so far?" Annabeth asked before taking a sip of coffee.

Percy sat back in his seat. "Well … I don't got bad guys trying to kill me, so that's a plus. And this coffee shop keeps me very busy. But, I've only been here like a two weeks so far."

"I think two weeks is enough time to get a good look of the place."

Percy shrugged. "Maybe."

Annabeth sighed before replying. "You miss your old one?"

Percy chuckled. "I was a spy, Annabeth. I mean ... it was cool."

"Why'd you go for that? You don't want a degree?"

Percy shook his head. "Fighting is all I've known, Annabeth. Even before I went to camp ... I didn't really know what I wanted to be. And then I got roped into that world of craziness at the age of 12. Kronos ... Gaea ... and then HYDRA. Looking at it, it's all I know. I'm not sure ... I'm not sure what to do when I'm not fighting. At least then I was just a kid. Now, I'm an adult. And I gotta care of myself somehow."

"You can work towards your future. Our future."

"You have a future. You've set it in stone that you want to be architect and you're busting your ass to get there. I respect that. But me," Percy said, raising his hands and motioning to himself. "What am I really supposed to do? I work here, in a coffee shop because it keeps my hands busy. You think I wanna be another day in a classroom?"

Annabeth grimaced.

"I knew once I got out of high school, I was done," Percy finished with a small chuckle. "You know Leo thought I would study fish or the ocean or something like that." Percy scoffed and shook his head. "Fish Boy sometimes he called me."

There was a moment of silence before Percy proceeded. "But no. My future is kind of blank right now. But ... I'll be there for you, Annabeth, and I'll support you. And whatever I end up doing … it's what I end up doing, you know. There will still be us. You, the architect, and me."

Annabeth grimaced. "It's kind of worrying to hear that. You really don't know what you want to do?"

Percy shrugged. "Like I said, you carry on. Get your degree. Become the modernist architect you want to be. I will support you the whole way."

Annabeth pursed her lips but she decided to let it go for now. "So what exactly went down back in January? You never went into detail about what happened."

Percy chuckled. "That's because a lot happened and I thought I told you about it. You already know SHIELD turned to be, you know, the bad guys. What else do you need to know?"

"What about after that? Anything interesting after SHIELD fell?"

Percy tapped his chin. "Well … Natasha did have this hearing at Capitol Hill and she basically told off the committee like the badass she is."

"Really? What'd she say?"

"How they weren't going to put any of us in a prison because the world needed people like us."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Wow. That takes guts. Especially to say that to the government itself."

"Oh yeah. She said and I quote, 'If you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me,' and walked off. That was a mic drop right there. Boom," Percy said, imitating dropping said mic.

"Anything else after that?"

Percy shrugged."Not much. I basically just said goodbye to the crew and left."

"And then you came to California."

"To be with my wonderful and smart girlfriend."

"And now Percy Jackson's future lies mysteriously blank."

Percy motioned to the whole coffee shop. "But hey, maybe someday I'll be the manager of this fine establishment. And then I'll be the one telling the guys to make coffee and not being the one making it."

Annabeth smiled. "Hey! That's a start. You could do that instead of sitting down somewhere, wondering what future you have."

Percy laid back in his booth. "Huh ... you're absolutely right."

"Of course I am."

"You got me," Percy said with a laugh before checking his digital watch. "Well … my ten minute break is about up, so … I better get back to work."

"See you at home?" Annabeth said as they both stood up.

"Yeah," Percy replied and gave her a quick kiss.

Annabeth smiled at Percy before waving goodbye and leaving the shop. Percy put his apron back on and got back to work.

Truth be told, Percy didn't mind working here. Sure, he missed some aspects about being a spy. But he certainly didn't mind keeping himself busy brewing coffee for the customers. Percy just knew he wouldn't survive being in another classroom in his lifetime. His future was just one big question mark at the moment.

Percy didn't really know peace. And even in peaceful times, he wasn't sure what his purpose was. Especially now that he was an adult.

If Percy knew something about peace, though, it was that it never lasted. He knew that at some point he would be called upon again. And that was okay. When that day came, Percy would be ready.

But until then, it was time to serve this customer his caramel macchiato.

And that's it for this story.

You know, I've seen a lot of fanfics where Percy grows up and becomes an oceanologist or something along the lines of that and I personally always thought ... well, I could never see Percy becoming that. Percy is not okay with being in a classroom and that's okay. I know some people like that, got right into the work business after getting out of high school and they manage to get by. People who were the jack-of-all-trades kind, master of none. People who did a little of everything and didn't really know what they actually wanted to be.

What did Percy like to do as a kid? Well, he never got much of a childhood. He's been fighting all of his life, it's all he's known. So it makes the question of his future a difficult one.

Well, that's all I have to say. This story is finished but a third of the series is definitely coming. Hell, I even got the name for it. I'll call it Percy Jackson: Sokovia's Fall. It'll divulge right into the events of Age of Ultron, so stay tuned for the next sequel.

That's it. See you guys in the next one.