Prologue: In time . . .

(A/N) Well, here's the prologue for my new fic, it was the winner in the poll. I can't wait for this, I love the Avengers and PJATO and I've always wanted to do one, and make a story that would do it justice. I seriously have a lot of hurt/comfort type stories. It's kinda freaky but I guess it's just the whole hero overcoming adversity thing.
WARNING: This story may be a bit darker than my other stories.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJATO or the Avengers, I wish! No seriously, I do…

The cacophony of battlewas something most war veterans knew. The discord and disarray was something everyone knew; and death in war was something those who experienced it knew. Most don't realize this but the world has always been in some form of war. Even back into the times of gods; titans; and primordials.

Percy could feel the vibrations hit every nerve in his body as the giant Porphyrion moved above him. That was nothing though, in comparison to what he felt when the vibrations hit his skull. 'So this is what a vibrating phone feels like…' He wondered oddly as he dodged another stomped narrowly. Most people would be screaming their head off at what was happening to Percy but not Percy; no he began thinking of himself as a cell phone. Mortal terror could do that to people…

Battles usually lasted hours, mainly because both combatants wanted to rip each other a new one, but when you're a demigod things always become worse. School tests become impossible, training somehow becomes lengthier and bad experiences always seemed to get worse.

Percy had been fighting for the last few hours with only Zeus and Annabeth by his side. The other gods had already tired out and the only way Zeus stayed strong and rejuvenated was because he drew strength from the sky, in other words every time he breathed it was like he just took a twenty minute rest. Unfortunately the same thing was happening with Porphyrion.

The only reason he was still fighting was because of desperation, in other words he was being his usual determined and stubborn self. Annabeth as always fought next to Percy with her excuse of never leaving him out of her sight.

They'd made it out of Tartarus with their sanity only barely in check. The only ray of hope in their own personal hell being the fact that they'd stood together. The things Percy had seen in there . . . they were the stuff that would haunt him for the rest of his days. He'd often heard that sickening laugh, and then he'd hear the whispers of pure insanity as the pit tried breaking his mentality. After the whispers came the moans of pain and then finally the visions.

Most visions portrayed Annabeth's death in the cruellest ways possible, others the death of his family, and also the destruction of earth as chaos reigned order. He was fighting for a lot of things but the last thing he was fighting for was himself. As far as Percy was concerned Annabeth and the safety of the world came before his pain.

He dodged another stomp and an arc of lightning heading dangerously close to his head. The others were all lying a safe distance all looking at the three fighters and willing their own injuries to heal as quickly as it could. They had all taken severe wounds, even the gods had been given a thorough pounding and where resting. Rushing in injured would only be tantamount to their defeat.

Percy and Annabeth both dodged again and sliced at Porphyrion's leg, it was very hard to miss from where they were. Zeus kept blasting Porphyrion with the master bolt and each boom could probably be heard from the people in the small Greek village nearby. They were fighting in Greece, right at the base of Olympus, and while Porphyrion might have been the last, he sure as hades was the toughest.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The Giant bellowed, his voice thundering throughout the now dust covered valley, "This is Olympus's last stand? Pathetic!" he stomped further towards the mountain as he picked up some stray boulder and threw it at Zeus forcing the king of the gods to jump out of the way, Zeus's with his lightning bolts had caused a distraction for the two demigods to move under Porphyrion with little hindrance, but now that distraction was gone.

Porphyrion saw the ant like creatures that had caused such damage to his tree stump size legs and attacked. Percy and Annabeth had for a second been distracted by the now absent booms of lightning hadn't noticed the giant hand coming straight for them. They were both smacked away painfully into the forest and soon both smacked straight into two trees and into a boulder that broke into rubble from the impact.

Zeus had seen both demigods leave fly into the forest and closed his eyes for a second, no matter what quarrel he had with his brother they were still a family and any child of Poseidon or Hades hurt while he was trying to protect them was unacceptable. The king of the gods stood, he dusted himself off and held out his hand for his master bolt to return, he locked eyes with Porphyrion and smirked, time for a real battle of strength . . .

All the others had seen Percy and Annabeth fly off into the forest, and where silently hoping that both were okay. Poseidon had been craning his neck, trying to see where his son had been smacked off to.

"It's no use Poseidon…" Athena sighed.

"No" Poseidon said with a little more force than necessary, "My son just escaped from the very definition of hell, I will not have him die yet." Poseidon tried sitting up but his left knee that had ichor streaking it didn't want to hold his weight.

"Sit Poseidon, there is no benefit to what you are doing." She said calmly but Poseidon could just see the tears threatening to leak out.

He'd forgotten it hadn't been Percy alone in Tartarus, but no Athena's daughter had been there too. He'd mostly forgotten because of the timing. Percy's disappearance, the war that had now nearly drawn to a conclusion, but now when they had their moment of respite the gods he'd finally focused on others. He also mentally kicked himself for such conceited thoughts; they both had children who seemed to be in constant peril.

He turned to where Zeus was giving his all to the giant Porphyrion; his brother seemed to be fighting with mad fury to aid him. He then looked towards the woods where his and Athena's children where, 'Please be safe son, you deserve better…'

"My gods…" Jason gasped as he saw his father from the Greek side battled the giant. He'd witnessed every moment of the battle in awe. He hadn't realised that Percy was so strong, he'd seen the way that both of them fought, Annabeth and Percy seemed to feel where each other was rather than see, they both fought like demons. When he saw them fly off into the small forest near the valley he winced and made sure to keep his attention on his Father. Favouring that rather than trying a futile endeavour to stand and help seeing as his Achilles tendon was totally sliced, he wouldn't be walking for a while.

Bodies were strewn everywhere, it actually sickened Nico. Something his cousins argued was impossible. He looked away from the battle between the god and giant, mainly because he didn't want to see the aura of those dying to fizzle out. War had done this; war had killed these demigods, a war that no one but Gaia wanted, and the same woman who had imprisoned him. The son of Hades wanted to kill her but where would that leave them? Gaia was the physical incarnation of EARTH. Killing her would be the same as causing the apocalypse.

He favored turning his attention to his cousin's location. He could feel something in those woods, something . . . unnatural. The forest seemed to radiate a power only someone from the house of Hades would know, 'Be safe Percy, Annabeth.' He thought to himself as he tried moving his injured shoulder a bit, 'You both deserve to survive this, you both deserve peace.'

Percy opened his eyes and felt for the first time in months at peace, he looked up and saw the thunder clouds gathering everywhere. Where was he? Memories of his past few months came back a little too sudden for Percy's taste. He swivelled his head to the side, groaning at the slight pain, he searched his surroundings for Annabeth and found her, but something he saw felt wrong. It occurred to him that Annabeth seemed to be lying too still.

He basically leapt up, and moved towards her trying to ignore the slight pain he felt from his own weight. Like it or not going through two trees and a boulder will hurt you. When he reached her knelt down next to her and noticed the puddle of blood. Almost frantically he moved her so that she was lying on her back. He felt for a pulse and felt it. Almost crying in joy he didn't notice Annabeth's pale face.

"Annabeth, come on, wake up." He said and the only indication he received was the slight hitch in her shallow breathing. "Come on Wise girl, I need you to wake up." He said with more force this time. His dread had begun rising again.

Her eyes fluttered open and she croaked out a "Percy…"

"I'm here, I'm here, tell me what's wrong."

Annabeth vaguely moved her arm to her side and that was when Percy's saw it…

On her right side, Percy's opposite side there was a knife protruding from her side. Percy had been so caught up he hadn't noticed it. "Oh gods, no, Annabeth, you're not dying on me!"

She spluttered out some blood from her mouth, "No use…"

"No, tell me, tell me what to do!" he said frantically shaking his head, this was not happening, not his wise girl, "Come on, you're the smart one! Let me help you!"

She shook her head vaguely, "No use," she said "Blade already going through…ribs." He breathing was becoming shallower; her face had gone even paler as her hands became colder."

"No, you can't, I need you…" he whispered lowly to her; and she moved her hand to his cheek and stroke it, "Please, I can't lose you." He said gripping her hand tightly.

"You'll never…lose me." She struggled saying as she locked her eyes on her seaweed brain, "We'll be together again…in time."

Tears now began falling down his face as he looked at her, why was fate so cruel? Why couldn't they be left in peace? What did they ever do to deserve this?
Percy nodded slightly, he had to make this easy on her, "yes," he promised, "Always."

She nodded and smiled, but it wasn't her usual smile it seemed fading, going back into the background of life, "Tell my parents, sorry." She said and Percy nodded, that was now number one on his goals in life list, "And Percy . . . I love you…"

The body Percy held then went slack and the grip of her hand in his was gone. "Annabeth?" Percy said shaking her body slightly, "No," he shook his head and them looked up at the sky and roared, "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Zeus was tiring, even if he could rejuvenate himself through the air, it was limited. "What's the matter, king of Olympus?" Porphyrion said; making it sound like the worst insult, laughing slightly but his breath was shallower. "Are you tired?"

"No." Zeus said but in his mind he was thinking, hades yes!

"Well then come at me again, it sure is amusing!"

"I will tear you-" Zeus stopped; there was a roar you could hear coming from forest. Suddenly any birds left from the forest scattered and flew away.

"Porphyrion also stopped and shifted his huge body to the forest in curiosity, "What was that?" he asked with a tilt of the head.

There was a tense pause where every person's attention was directed at the forest. Then all hades broke loose. With a deafening roar Percy barrelled straight into Porphyrion shoulder first. The king of the giants fell as Percy decked him, everyone's eyes almost popped out of their heads, there was only one thought going through their minds, 'What the . . . ?'

Athena though did notice one thing, 'Where's Annabeth?'

When Percy tackled Porphyrion he instantly began delivering punches, he fought and beat the crap out of Porphyrion with a mad gleam in his eyes. Through the delirious battle frenzy there was only one thing he thought of 'This…thing killed Annabeth.' And then there was the only thing he wanted, Revenge.

The giant smacked Percy off with a hand and stood up his body causing the earth to shake. As Percy landed Zeus felt the ground building over him until he was stuck in the ground. Zeus could faintly hear the laughter of Gaia, "Try defeating my son now!" he heard her whispering mentally as Zeus watched in growing fear Porphyrion stalked over him.

Percy landed and caused a crater; he barely noticed it and soon was up again, roaring to the skies. He took out riptide and used the water in the air to vapour travel away. He would have been surprised by the ability but his sole focus was on the defeat of Porphyrion. He slashed wildly and made a long gash on the behemoth's knee.

He vapour travelled then to Porphyrion's head and stabbed him in the right eye. Everyone, Zeus included, watched in astonishment, Poseidon couldn't help but feel the surge of pride, none of his children since Theseus had done that. The giant roared and tried smacking Percy again but Percy was too fast and had already vapour travelled to his stomach and made quick, precise jabs with his words at Porphyrion's stomach.

And so on it went for twenty minutes; Percy would attack quickly, vapour travel away, and then attack somewhere else. Soon though his fatigue began building and he realized he'd have to end this.

He flashed a safe distance away and focused on the stormy weather, suddenly the clouds grew darker, thunder began rumbling as a side effect to what Percy was doing, and then it began raining. Percy made tornadoes of about thirty feet and made hail form in the area of the giant. Porphyrion was getting cut up from the ice shards and the tornadoes would always throw him back into it when he walked out.

The giant was near toppling but still stood, Percy remembered Annabeth's words to him, Together again…in time. Well, now seemed perfect, he had the perfect idea for how to deal with this behemoth. He looked at Zeus who stood on the opposite side of the storm looking back at him with prideful curiosity. Percy vapour travelled to Zeus and quickly cut Zeus out of his own personal muddy prison.

"Send me up." Percy said/Ordered and Zeus took a step back at the tone and glint in those raw, stormy sea green orbs.

"What do you plan, demigod?"

Send me up, and then when the time's right, give it all you got."

Zeus frowned at the boy's demands, "How will I know when the time's right?"

Percy smiled and looked at nothing in particular as he said, "believe me you'll know."

Zeus nodded, although hesitantly, "So what should I do?"

Percy looked at him squarely, "I can't fly, so I need you to go a few hundred metres above the giant and keep me save from passing out, then you have to drop me."

Zeus looked back at Poseidon, what would his brother think? He shook his head, "I can't."

"Uncle, if you don't, you can say goodbye to the modern age." Zeus was now between a rock and a hard place, his brother's sanity or his rule? The choice he would now make would be the choice to either make or break Olympus. "Uncle," Percy drew Zeus's attention from his internal battle, "If I die, I am where I want to be."

Zeus nodded, reluctantly, "If you survive nephew, please reconsider my offer."

Percy nodded, although he knew all too well what lay forward, he would never choose godhood, his wise girl was waiting. Zeus took Percy bended his knees slightly and shot straight up into the cold stormy air. Disappearing from the sight of everyone, Porphyrion was still getting pummelled with ice shards so he hadn't really noticed.

"Where's he taking my son?!" Poseidon screamed trying to look through the storm. His question went unanswered.

They flew up in the air and Percy could feel the air grow thin, Zeus went at supersonic speed and soon they were at al least five hundred feet above the giant, amazingly Percy could still breath. He took a moment of respite and his eyes locked with Zeus for a moment before he nodded. Zeus let him go.

As Percy went down through the storm for the last few seconds of his life he thought back on his past:

His mother…
Paul…
Poseidon…
Nico…
Thalia…
The Stolls…
Clarisse…
Chiron…
Silena…
Beck…
Annabeth…

The thoughts of those held dear and his memories of them causing him to tear up slightly, but reinforced his judgement. After this giant was defeated Gaia would go back to sleep from the tremors. Thunder flashed around him as he made his way, soon he made it to the under point of the cloud, moving almost as fast as the pace they went in.

He tucked in his body slightly and made a little more momentum, seconds before his impact with the wobbling giant Percy thought 'I'm coming wise girl…' Then came the second before impact and he slammed shoulder first into the back of Porphyrion, making both slam very hard into the ground from the momentum and also making a crater at least twice the size of the giant. Yet the giant king still lived even though it was the worst hit he had taken yet.

Zeus had stayed up after sending his young nephew on a plunge to his death, Percy had told him to bring his most mighty blow and so Zeus would deliver, in style of course. He took his master bolt and held it aloft then giving a small grunt he began channelling the electricity in the air to strengthen the blow. Zeus kept charging until he felt a sonic boom and the clouds parted to reveal the crater that housed Porphyrion and Percy.

Zeus kept up the channelling for a second until with a huge war cry that was probably heard globally he threw his master bolt with precision only he could achieve. When it impacted it had the effect of a nuclear bomb, in other words it made a huge explosion and a mushroom cloud formed.

"NOOOO!" Poseidon yelled, his boy was in there and was now most likely burnt to a crisp now.

Everyone looked at the now Olympus sized crater and to their amazement the giant king still lay there, but soon with a hiss he turned into sand and the sand fell and scattered on the earth to reveal . . .

Nothing.

Percy didn't know how he still lived, he felt cheated, why should he still live while Annabeth has to stay and wait for him? But those words Annabeth spoke: In time. They prevented him from doing the job himself, he didn't have a clue why but he just couldn't kill himself.

So he made his mind up that the only way he would be able to follow Annabeth's wishes were to do what she asked and then to try and live alone, in solitary for his life, because he couldn't live with others. Everything they'd do would remind him of her.

Percy looked at the dissolving body of the giant king and his eyes held that stormy tint in them again, time to follow Annabeth's last wishes, he vapour traveled away.

Three ancient women sat at their thrones looking down at the now finished war, they watched the son of Poseidon walk away curiously. "Our design is near completion…" the one on the right said.

"Now the champions of earth must assemble." The one on the left said to her sisters, the one in the middle still looked at Percy curiously.

Finally she spoke, "Do not fret young hero," she spoke with a soft smile, "The daughter of Athena will return . . . in time."

(A/N) So that's the prologue, enjoy!