Omg thank you all for your comments! I'm so glad you are enjoying the fic. I am also glad for the advice/criticism I have received. It truly helps and gives me an idea of what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. Plus it gives me inspiration of what to do next.

Also I do not own pjo or Avengers… otherwise I would be one rich girl.

Chapter 3: Hazel Takes an Unplanned Nap

Hazel gripped Arion's mane tightly, the world around them was a blur as they rocketed past. Hazel couldn't enjoy the wind or the passing scenery though, she was too focused on pulling the Mist around them. Normally she would have no problem with cloaking them, but with Hecate absent, the Mist was so much harder to hold together and took everything she had not to slip up.

She was exhausted and beginning to lose her grip when Arion slowed. Hazel lifted her head and studied their surroundings. Mountains and forests had turned to towns, then towns turned to cities. Orion ran across the Upper Bay, passing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, before reaching the Island of Manhattan. Towering skyscrapers surrounded them on all sides as they ran across the city. She spent the last of her focus to morph their forms to appear as a golden motorcycle and rider.

She had to shout to be heard over the wind. "Just a little bit further Orion! Come on boy!" Orion just snorted in response. He was doing fine, it was Hazel who was lagging. She had been up for at least 60 hours with no sleep or break. Hazel had been running point on getting as many demigods as she could back to New Rome where they were rallying their forces and protecting each other from the monsters. It took some convincing and bribery on her part, but they had managed to get Orion to be hooked up to a chariot to ferry the farthest demigods to Camp Jupiter. Orion was fine, he could run for days without break, but his rider, not so much. She had been controlling the fickle Mist to keep them hidden almost nonstop. Orion hoped that with this stop, she would finally get a break.

Hazel's grip began to loosen as she fought to keep her eyes open. She was so out of it, she didn't notice when Orion came to a halt. He tossed his head and knickered, startling her awake with a yelp. She shook her head to increase the blood flow then checked her surroundings. Tall apartment buildings and businesses were all around, but what really stuck out was the strange shaped building with a gigantic 'A' on its side. Hazel would bet her spatha that it stood for Avengers.

Hazel slid off of the beautiful horse and patted his side softly. "Thank you, Orion. You've worked so hard these last few days." She reached into her bag and pulled out a gold nugget the size of an apple that she had been saving for now. "Here you go boy. You can go now. Just try to avoid mortals ok? We don't want them to see you with the Mist acting the way it is."

He snorted as if to say, 'Obviously,' or, 'I'm far too fast to be seen by them.' She couldn't be sure though because, unlike Percy, she couldn't speak equine. She left the illusion around him that would hopefully hold until he was out of the city and watched him gallop off, dodging cars as if they were going at a snail's pace.

Hazel tiredly trudged forward. The sliding doors of Avengers Tower opened for her and, even in her sleep addled and old fashioned brain, she was incredibly impressed by the modernism of the building. She was no expert like Annabeth, but she knew it was an outstanding feat to design, and this was only the first floor. She glanced around and quickly located the two receptionists behind the front desk before, and made her way over.

"Excuse me ma'am?" Hazel's soft voice caught the attention of one of the women behind the desk. The girl was probably in her mid-twenties and petite. She tucked her short hair behind an ear and put on the typical 'customer service grin.' "Hello, how may I help you?"

"My name is Hazel Levesque." Ms. receptionist looked down at her keyboard and began typing in her information. "I have an appointment with Mr. Stark," she added, to which the girl did a double take from her computer. If she had anything to say about Hazel's age or haggard appearance (the lack of sleep definitely showed along with her wind tossed hair), or the fact that a young teenager was apparently there to see a billionaire. Maybe this sort of thing happened often at Avengers Tower.

A look of mild surprise appeared on her face before she managed to school it to a more professional expression. "Mr. Stark is expecting you." She stood and whispered to the other receptionist to man the front desk. "Follow me please, Miss Levesque." Hazel wordlessly allowed her to lead the way, too tired to ask where they were going. She knew she should have been paying more attention to her surroundings, just in case, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. It had been a rough few days.

They entered an empty elevator between two face trees. Hazel was a bit confused to see that there were no buttons to press for the floors when they got on. How were they supposed to go anywhere? As if to answer her unasked question, the woman spoke aloud. "Thirty third floor please, F.R.I.D.A.Y." Hazel jumped when the elevator moved as if it had heard them.

The ride was short with pleasant elevator music, and soon Hazel was stepping out onto the thirty third floor, following on the heels of the woman that, Hazel was only now realizing, she never asked for her name.

From what Hazel could observe, the floor was full of conference and meeting rooms. Some had glass walls that you could look right in at the business men and women planning and arguing over boards and projections. Other rooms were more private. The only way to see in was when someone opened the door going in or out. Reception lady took her to one room that seemed even more private than the others. This meeting room had a large keypad and hand scanner next to the locked door with no way to peek in. Just as they were nearing the locked door, it was thrown open with incredible speed. Hazel tensed up, hand going towards her spatha that was Misted invisible, preparing for an attack that never came.

Tony Stark stood there grinning like a mad man. "Hazel! Great to see you again!" He waved her in and dismissed the nice receptionist who seemed a little starstruck being in the presence of the Tony Stark. The door swung shut behind Hazel and Tony pushed her towards a seat at the head of a large conference table. That was when she realized that they weren't alone. She really needed some sleep. Not being at the top of her game would get her killed. Captain Rogers and a curly haired, nerdy looking man sat across from her. She wondered why the man was here. She had never met him before and, though he was seemingly harmless, she wasn't about to share the information she had with just anybody. That was too dangerous.

Hazel was pulled out of her thoughts when Stark loudly collapsed into a chair near the others. "Alright, let's get started." He motioned towards the unknown man. "This is Dr. Bruce Banner, another member of the Avengers."

Dr. Banner smiled shyly, his body oozing awkwardness as he leaned over the table, extended a thin hand for her to shake. Hazel hesitated but, if Captain America trusted him, she'd take his word for it- for now. She met him halfway and took his hand, allowing a small, yet tired, smile to caress her face. "Pleasure to meet you Doctor."

"Are you okay, Hazel?" It was the first time Steve had spoken since she entered the room. It seems he had spent that entire time observing her, noting her exhaustion and bruises that were poorly hidden under her sleeves from the day before when she had rescued a demigod from a wind spirit. "You look tired."

Opening her mouth to deny it, Stark ultimately beat her too it with his fast mouth. "Cap!" he scolded, "You don't tell a lady she looks tired."

"Learn that from experience, did you Stark," teased Banner. Hazel was beginning to like this man.

He waved as if shooing Banner's comment away. "Pepper may or may not have mentioned it," he admitted nonchalantly. He turned towards Hazel and squinted, studying her, and then gave a small laugh. "Heh, Cap's right, you do look like you pulled an all nighter or two, and don't even think about denying it kid."

Hazel felt the fight leave her as she accepted the fact that, no, she wasn't alright. Everything came crashing down. Her vision and hearing blurred. The chair was soft and inviting and the room was quiet. All she wanted to do was to let morpheus carry her away to the world of dreams.

She didn't know how long she had drifted off for before an incessant noise made her head pound. Raising her head, she didn't know when it had fallen, she blearily looked for the source of the noise. All three men were crowded around her. Steve was supporting with both of his hands on her shoulders her so that she wouldn't fall out of her chair, and Tony and Bruce were the ones making all of the racket.

"Come on Doc, what's wrong with her?"

Bruce had his head down taking her pulse. "I'm not that kind of Doctor Tony. Her pulse is rather slow, though."

A moan left Hazel's lips causing all of the men to look up from their hunched and crouched positions. "Could you two be quiet? I'm tired."

Her eyelids fluttered shut again. Steve cupped her face in his large hands to keep her steady and looking at him. "Hey, hey. Don't go falling asleep on us again." His voice was strong and steady, his hands were gentle. Seeing her still pretty unresponsive he continued, "You came here for a reason," he reminded her. "Tell us what's wrong."

One word floated past all others in her brain. A name: "Hecate."

"Hecate?" asked Steve sharply. "That's the name the girl Andy told us." She was going to respond when the electronic lock on the door clicked open. Hazel leaped to her feet, instincts and pure adrenaline taking over as she gripped the hilt of her spatha. Her sudden movement caused both Bruce and Tony to jerk and lose their balance. Steve was startled but had no problem keeping his balance. It wasn't called super serum for nothing.

The door swung open and Hazel was expecting monsters to swarm in, screeching and clawing. Instead two mortals stood in the doorway, observing the two men on the floor, the crouched super soldier, and the curly haired teenager with her hand on a sheathed sword. One mortal was a muscled man with military cropped hair, and the other was a woman with short, blood red hair.

Taking a few steps forward, the man whistled. "What did we miss?"

The red head sashayed into the room, ignoring the weapon and taking a seat. Hazel noticed that she moved like one of Reyna's dogs; smooth and graceful, and ready to kill in an instant. "I don't know who the kid is, but Fury needs us." She hesitated, looking and Hazel before continuing cryptically, choosing her words. "There have been a bunch of strange sightings around the world."

Tony and Bruce had, at this point, pulled themselves off of the ground. Doctor Banner sat down in the seat next to the one Hazel had leapt from, carefully watching the girl. Meanwhile, Steve stood and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Hazel jerked away, not expecting the touch. "Sorry," she muttered before sitting back down. At least she was awake now, running off of adrenaline.

"I think," said Tony, pulling out a bag of dried fruit from his pocket and began to munch on the snack, "our little sword-swinger here was about to enlighten us on that."

The red head turned towards Hazel, eyes narrowed and intent. It felt like she was staring directly through her soul. Hazel stared back. She had quite literally died. One scary mortal wasn't going to shake her up. "Are they good?"

"Well that depends," Tony managed through a mouthful of dried bananas and blueberries. "Nat here is an assassin who can kill a man in six hundred different ways and Clint here can shoot a fly off of a wall from a hundred yards away." Both seemed smug and flattered at Stark's praise.

"That's not what I asked. Can they keep quiet?"

"We can," replied Nat, taking charge of the conversation. "And even if you didn't tell me, I have ways of finding out."

Well, with the way things were going everyone would know soon enough. "All right." Everyone who was still standing found a seat, Steve choosing the other seat next to Hazel.

"You mentioned a name earlier. Who is Hecate?" Hazel smiled bitterly at Bruce's question.

"How much did Captain Rogers and Mister Stark tell you?" The three new faces gave no response and blank looks. Great, she was starting from scratch. "Okay, so long story short, there is a supernatural force that covers the Earth called the Mist. Whenever something… supernatural occurs, it twists the perception of mortals so that instead of seeing, let's say, monsters, you will only see a large dog, or an extremely tall man."

"Wait, wait, hold on." Clint had to interrupt. "Monsters? Supernatural? What is going on here?"

"Believe me, it gets so much weirder," insisted Tony, thinking of the flying monster ladies he had seen. Clint groaned, massaging his temples. He hated weird stuff. His partner remained poker faced, silently following along.

The beginning of a headache pounded behind Hazel's eyes. All this talking was taking a toll on her. "I mentioned before to you two," she gestured to Tony and Steve, "that my parents weren't exactly normal."

Tony snorted as the others looked on curiously. "Yeah, how did you put it? Your mother was a witch and your dad has connections to the Underworld?"

"You're kidding right?"

"What!?"

Both Clint and Bruce spoke at the same time, not believing what they were hearing.

Hazel's mood improved and she laughed a little despite the shouts making her headache worse. Their expressions were just too good. Nat, however, had hardly even blinked. Whatever she was thinking, she kept to herself.

"That was the gist of it. Here's the full story." She paused, making sure she had their full and undivided attention before she began. "First of all, what do you know about Greek and Roman mythology?"

Confused expressions were all around. "They believed in a whole pantheon of gods. They loved tragedies and myths of heroes defeating monsters." To her surprise, and the other Avengers, Nat answered the question easily. "Hercules, Odysseus, Helen of Troy. There are many stories. I learned about it on a mission in a museum in Greece," she explained when she saw the faces of her confused teammates.

Hazel was impressed. "You are absolutely correct, except for one little detail." The scowl she got was the most emotion Nat had shown yet. She wasn't phased. "The aren't just stories."

"I'm sorry, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Tony was once again having trouble wrapping his head around the information this teenager was giving.

She nodded. "Back then, the stories usually started with a god, or goddess, having a child with a mortal… a human." Understanding flickered across their faces, the light bulbs going off in their heads.

"Hazel," started Steve. "Are you saying your dad was a…" He had a hard time finishing that sentence.

She straightened in her seat, the last of her energy keeping her from swaying. "My name is Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, also known as Hades, the god of the Underworld and the riches of the earth. I am a Roman Demigod. We fight the monsters and beings who threaten this world, but now Hecate, the goddess of magic and the Mist, was given up her duties. Mortals can now see the monsters that were hidden from them before. I am here to formally ask, on behalf of New Rome and Olympus, the help us protect the mortals of this world."

There was only silence. It covered the room like a thick blanket. Stark's jaw was moving but not making sound, at a lost for words for the first time since she had met him. It all made sense. The girl they had met the other day, Andy, had used terms like goddess and Underworld. Those monsters, Harpies, had called her a demigoddess as well. For some reason he hadn't given the comment much thought until now.

Clint had gone rigid, his brain attempting to process everything. Bruce looked calm and collected, but his fingers told another story. They were twitching at a rapid pace, as if typing on an invisible computer. The only other female, Nat, was a blank canvas, purposely hiding her emotions.

Steve moved his chair around to face Hazel and stared straight into her eyes, her golden orbs stared back. Those eyes, they were the exact same eyes he say so many years ago, except that they were hardened and exhausted now. When she had stated her heritage and purpose she had looked like a soldier.

She could no longer avoid Morpheus' call. The edges of her vision blurred and tunneled and her headache pounded as if a cyclops was beating her head with a club the size of a chariot. "Help.. protect… us," she managed to add before the darkness took her.

As Gravity did its work only one thing registered: Steve calling out "Hazel!" desperately. Her work was done. It was time to rest.

That was when the dreams started.

A.N. Thank you everyone for your responses, follows, and favorites. I just want you to know that I am willing to listen to prompts and suggestions. Also, I wrote this super late at night so if it doesn't make sense or if there are mistakes, that's why. If you want to see a villain or demigod appear, let me know. I am planning for another demigod to make an appearance next chapter so stay tuned!