It's okay to be saved once in a while too

Percy slung his backpack over his shoulder and waited at the bus stop. Goode was a few blocks from his Mom and Paul's apartment. He wasn't waiting for long when a certain Peter Parker ran out of the building and towards the bus stop where Percy stood. Percy nodded greetings toward him, "Sup man," he waved his hand a little.

Peter smiled, "Thank goodness I didn't miss the bus again."
The two boys began talking and before long the bus appeared. They talked about the two high schools and how Percy had gone to Goode before taking a long vacation with his father to Greece and all those other places.
On the way to their separate schools they talked about popular and common things, Percy was a little behind the times. They began talking about what music was all the rage and Percy snorted upon hearing some of the new 'latest craze' songs.
Percy's stop was first. As he got up he waved goodbye to Peter and descended down the steps, stopping in front of Goode High School. He glanced back briefly once, but the bell rung, so he hurried inside.

***

Peter watched Percy leave the bus and walk to the welcoming gates of Goode High School. Percy was nice, he decided.
Peter looked at the school more closely as the bus pulled out of the lot, it seemed like a Goode place. Hah! He made a bad pun.
Peter grumbled and shook his head at his own stupidity. Brushing a hand through his hair he- Ack! He forgot he used hair gel this morning and totally just messed it up.
Peter was in the process of fixing it when the bus arrived at his stop.

Pete wasn't done fixing his hair, but had no choice but to dart off the bus. His bag slung precariously on his shoulder, he fell into a dead sprint towards the school. His hands were still on his head and he probably looked like a nut job.

He made it to the AcDec, Academic Decathlon room and put his bag down. He took a proper moment to fix his hair. Ned was there, he was chilling with MJ. Real quick Peter told them about the new boy living next to him and how he was mysterious, but Peter believed him to be trustworthy. You could tell how much he loved his mom. Yeah, that seemed like a poor point to go off of, but it seemed strong.

Pete said his goodbyes to Ned and MJ, then headed to his first period. All day he couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious black haired boy named Percy Jackson.

***

Percy was sitting through his English class. He was tapping Riptide at a ridiculously fast rate. Everything he read went in one eye and out the next. They were learning about poetry. Poetry, honestly? There was something about it that made it so darn hard. Maybe the fact that it was already meant to make sure you couldn't understand it.

Some of it stuck with him though. Percy found it much easier to listen to it than to try and read it. One of them. One of them was about death, by someone named Mary Elizabeth Frye.

"Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there; I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sun on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in

the morning's hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight

I am the soft starshine at night

Do not stand at my grave and cry:

I am not there; I did not die."

It made Percy think. He knew Bianca had moved onto Elysium. Zoë was in the stars. Silena and Beckendorf were together. And this poem, it made him feel it. Rebirth. That was the path a lot of them chose. They were gone, but they were alive again.

Percy took in a deep breath and released it slowly. He was going to email Annabeth tonight.

***

Peter sat at the lunch table with Ned. They were watching other students walk by. Peter had begun to notice people more. He realized that he had started analyzing people, like an old friend of his once did...
He was thinking about the Jackson-Blowfis' apartment. It was a lot like his own, small, but quaint. It didn't have a piano in one corner of the living room, that's for sure.
Peter couldn't play the piano, but when he was little, he would sit on his Uncle Ben's lap and they would play a few dischorded notes until Aunt May came over and showed them how it was done.
A small smile came to Pete's lips as he remembered their family orientation. The world worked in strange ways. Pete had lost so many.
He took a shaky breath and instead thought back to sitting with Percy's family. They were nice, that dinner was nice.
Peter stirred his peas around and looked at the woven bracelet that adorned his wrist. It was the only piece of jewelry he wore, even under his spidey-suit.
He sighed and went back to watching the other students, wondering how invisible he was to each and every one of them.
***

Percy was at swim practice. He was in his swim trunks chilling on the bleachers. He had done 10 laps around the pool with ease. Now he was taking a break, the chlorinated water dripping off him. His hair hung in his eyes.
He sighed, it wasn't easy to communicate with his mother since he couldn't have a phone. Too many monsters, too strong a scent.
Percy stood, forming his jaw. Then he walked around the pool and dove in. He didn't come up for air as he propelled himself through the water.
Ever since Tartaurus he had been struggling even more with concentration. His mind flicked from thought to thought, never slowing down. It was getting annoying.
Percy realized that he had been under water for at least a minute. He broke for air and noticed some of his team mates staring.
He shrugged it off and got back out, grabbing his towel. He went to go change.

Already back at Goode for less than a week and people were back to pegging him as strange. At least they hadn't realized he fell into the troubled category as well.

***

Peter was on the bus going home when an explosion happened. Some super villain was causing trouble. He excused himself from the bus and ran to the nearest alleyway.
Spider-Man swung out of the alley to face Venom.

Venom threw a hot dog cart at Peter, he caught it with webs and threw it back. It was a simple game of catch. Neither side was getting anywhere.
You can imagine Peter's surprise when the Lizard lept at him and tackled him. They hit the ground and the air was knocked from Peter's lungs.
Lizard was about to bash in Spidey's head when something stopped him. A boy. A teenage boy.
Peter hadn't realized how close the bus had been to Percy's school, Goode. And he was pretty sure he was hallucinating when a boy without a shirt came to save him.
The boy was dripping wet, seemed like he had run barefoot over to the action. Spidey could see his feet, they were dirty from the city streets.
Peter couldn't concentrate. The fall made him hit his head. All the weight of the Lizard that was crushing his chest was suddenly gone. Pete wasn't sure how.
He looked up as a face came into his field of vision. The boy, the boy was none other than Percy Jackson.