THE WATER WAS really cold. Not that Percy really minded. It was invigorating.

He took another step into the bay. He'd been a little shocked to learn that they were in Ontario. It hadn't crossed his mind that they'd left the country, but here they were. Coulson had taken him up to the Hudson Bay, about a ten minute flight from the base. He looked over his shoulder—yep, the Director was still there, watching him. The guy was really interested for some reason.

Percy took a deep breath and dove in. He still hadn't quite gotten over his old fear of drowning, but it was a lot more manageable now, at least. He allowed the water to soak him. The cold seeped into his bones, and he felt like a living ice cube. He swam deeper.

A few small fish were the first to notice him. They swam excited circles around him.

Hi, he thought at them.

Hi! Hi! Hello! Hi! the fish said back.

I need to talk to my dad, he implored. Can you help?

The fish chittered and sped away.

He propelled himself further into the bay. The bottom was probably only a hundred or so feet down. He'd have to get closer to the open ocean if he wanted to find actual help. He kept his eyes peeled for more wildlife he might be able to ask—fish didn't have the best memory.

He came to a stop about twenty feet down when he felt like he was far enough. He closed his eyes and extended his consciousness out into the water.

Please help. Please. Anyone.

         He stayed there, suspended in the cold, for what felt like forever until a ripple in the water told him to open his eyes.

          Before him was a rather terrifying nereid.

          Not terrifying as in scary. He just jumped a little when he first saw her.

          She looked like she was carved directly from a glacier, cold and spiky and ice white. The water around her faceted like it too was freezing, but it couldn't quite get there.

He shivered.

My lord, she addressed him curtly.

Oh, you don't have to do that. . .he thought. Just Percy is fine.

She nodded. Just Percy, your father is busy.

Whatever it is can wait, he insisted. It's an emergency.

Many things are emergencies. She opened her mouth wide, exposing dozens of icicle-like teeth, and vacuumed up an innocent fish swimming nearby. Some more important than others.

Percy scoffed and propelled himself past the unhelpful nereid. You have no idea, he spat.

Wait, Just Percy, she called after him. It is in your best interest to wait.

I've already waited too long, he snarled. Go away if you're not going to help.

He swam further and deeper, the ocean scenery rushing by him until he was far enough out that he wasn't totally sure which direction he came from. All around him was just blue for as far as he could see. The surface was far above.

Percy clenched his fists, squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.

DAD!!! POSEIDON!! GOD OF THE SEA!! ALSO EARTHQUAKES!! EXPERT FISHERMAN AND SAILOR OF BOATS! FATHER OF HORSES AND THE KRAKEN, PROBABLY!! IT'S YOUR SON! PLEASE HELP! 911! SOS! EMERGENCY!! DAD! DAD! DAD! DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DADDADDADDADDADDAD—

"Holy Hera, will you quiet down!"

          Percy's eyes flew open.

          His father had appeared in front of him, looking a little worse for wear. He was wearing armor—that was odd—and he was carrying his battle trident. He had dark bags under his eyes. He looked the way Percy felt: tired and sad. "What? What is it? What's the emergency?"

          "It's Annabeth. She was taken," Percy choked out. "Please, you have to—"

          "Taken?" Poseidon interjected. "What? Where?"

          "Kidnapped! I don't know! That's why I called you!"

          Poseidon's eyes softened. "Percy, I don't know where she is. I'm—"

          "But you can find out, right?" he asked, desperate. "You're the god of the sea! Someone has to have seen something—"

          "I doubt that," Poseidon sighed. "I'm dealing with a small rebellion right now. Most of the population is near the palace."

Percy felt the tiny shred of hope he'd been holding on to disappear. His heart sank, and his body was numb.

"But I'll send word out," Poseidon added quickly. "Through the entire ocean. And Olympus. I'll tell the Olympians myself." He set a hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'm sure she's not far. She'll be found. Have faith in her."

Percy shoved his father's hand away. "You tell the gods that if I don't find her within the next three days I'll come up there and rain down hell if I have to rip the gates open myself," he spat. If he wasn't so angry, he would've realized that his dad was only trying to help, but the apathy in his voice was enough to set him off. He didn't even care. She was just another demigod to him.

Poseidon furrowed his brow. "Son, I'll do what I can—"

"This was a waste of time," Percy snapped. He turned away and willed the currents to bring him back to shore. He heard Poseidon shouting after him, but he only sped up. If his dad wasn't going to offer any real help, he was better off trying to find Annabeth himself.

          He shot past a reef and through a startled school of fish that chittered with excitement like paparazzi. The scenery became more familiar the further he went, relieving the worry that he might be going the wrong way.

          A shark watched him as he got closer. ?? it said, looking at him quizzically.

          Move, Percy scolded it, wanting to get back as soon as he could.

          :( , said the shark as Percy swam by.

          Finally he found the shore. His head breached the surface, taking in sunlight and air that was only marginally warmer than the water. Director Coulson was still standing on the beach where Percy left him, staring out into the open sea.

          Percy willed himself dry and stepped out of the water. The energy the sea had given him made him antsy, like he should be doing some serious monster fighting right about now. He channeled it into anger, at his dad, at the world, and at the poor son of a bitch who had taken Annabeth and had no clue what was coming.

          Coulson regarded him warily, noting his dry clothes and the anger in his expression. "So, how'd it go?"

          Percy didn't look at him. "When we find her it won't be because of him," he spat. "Piece of shit."

          The ground rumbled almost imperceptibly and quieted, which only angered Percy more. He growled and turned back towards the waves. "Coward!"

          He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Coulson, who looked concerned.

          "Come on," he said. "Let's get back to base. Check in on the tracking process."

          Percy didn't say anything, but he allowed himself to be led back to the Quinjet.

♆

          "Do you think he's all right?" Fitz asked the room as he looked through files on the Holotable. "He's really...really...uh, he's—"

          "A bit unstable?" Simmons interjected, not looking up from her work. "It's to be expected. He's just lost his girlfriend."

Daisy sorted through her own work, looking for something—anything—they could use to find Mack and Annabeth. She remembered how fast Fitz deteriorated when Simmons was accidentally sent to another planet not too long ago, hoping for Percy's sake they'd find them faster than they found her.

She was sick with worry for her partner. Annabeth too, of course, but she'd only known the girl a few days. Mack was suddenly swept up into a world they'd just found out about, probably terrified, and from what the demigods told them, probably close to death. She prayed his stitches were holding up.

Daisy typed in a few commands, letting out a cry of frustration when they yielded no results. "Where the hell are they?"

Simmons sighed. "I wish I knew." She rummaged in one of her drawers. "All we can do now is try to figure out how to find them."

"That is much easier said than done," Fitz said, annoyed. He trashed yet another blueprint. "Not helpful," he grumbled.

Simmons stopped. "Wait. Daisy," she whispered, sounding hopeful. "Didn't she have a cell phone?"

Daisy nodded. "A flip phone. Yo-yo found it on the floor under Mack's stretcher."

Simmons' face fell. "Oh." She went back to work. "Did you look to see if she left any notes or anything? Something that could point to where she was taken?"

"Not yet," Daisy admitted. "I was going to have Percy check when he got back. I don't want to invade her privacy like that."

"I—I suppose that's fair enough." Fitz zoomed in on the blueprint he was looking at, then sighed and trashed that one too. "What happens if we—if we don't figure this out?" he asked quietly.

Daisy blinked, trying to keep her composure. "Then they die and we never see them again," she choked out. "We're figuring this out if it takes years."

Fitz nodded solemnly and pulled up another blueprint. Suddenly he jumped back, startled.

          "What is it?" Simmons asked.

          Fitz regained his composure. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Incoming call from the...from the Director."

          "Answer it!" Daisy jumped up from her computer.

          "I'm going to!" Fitz protested, waving his hand to clear the desktop. "This is the Bus."

          Coulson's face peered back at them from the pilot's seat. "Quinjet to Bus. Agent Phil Coulson speaking. Anything on your end?"

          "Not yet, sir," Simmons spoke up, unable to hide her disappointment. "I suppose nothing from you, either?"

          Coulson looked over his shoulder at the dejected teenager. "I don't think so. He says he was able to get word out, but he's not happy. I don't think his dad was as helpful as he was hoping for."

          There was a beat of silence before Daisy said anything. "Sir, we found Annabeth's cell phone. There might be something on there that could lead to—"

          "There isn't," Percy interrupted. He got up from his seat and approached the cockpit. "We don't keep anything important on those."

          Daisy raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

          "They're like a monster beacon. We only use them in emergencies because having backup is better than dying. We lose them constantly." He ran a hand through his hair, stress etched into his face. "They're basically burners."

          "Well, there goes that idea," Daisy muttered.

          "Any more ideas?" Coulson asked, sounding hopeful. Daisy hated to burst his bubble. She opened her mouth to reply.

          "I've been trying to track any e—equip...equipment Mack might've had on him, but seeing as he was...he was in hospital, the chances are pretty low," Fitz speculated. "I might be able to s—slap something together, if I had anything to...anything to go on."

Percy looked deep in thought. He took his pen out of his pocket, twirling it around his fingers. "What if..." he said, then started over. "Annabeth has her dagger with her. Do you think..." he trailed off.

Fitz furrowed his brow, paused for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "The metal."

Coulson took his eyes off the horizon to look at him. "What about it?"

"The dagger," Fitz said excitedly. "From what we know, the m—metal is very rare. We could—"

Daisy gasped, locking eyes with him. "We could scan the earth for it. We'd find everything with a similar makeup—"

"I still have the specs." Fitz gestured back to the holotable. "Everything about it—the chemical makeup, the molecular—molecular structure. We could...we could start immediately."

Coulson looked at Percy. They all did. Daisy knew what this could mean for him. He'd mentioned his family earlier—a small camp of kids like him. If they did the scan, SHIELD would have the location of pretty much every demigod on Earth. It was a tough choice, she knew. Even when she had been with SHIELD for a while, she'd found it hard to disclose information about other Inhumans. Percy'd only been with them a few days.

Percy pursed his lips. His expression darkened as he looked down at the pen in his hands.

He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Yeah. Do it."

★

lol remember a few chapters ago when i said i was bored at home with nothing to do. how naive i was back then. anyways, i hope quarantine is treating you well. i'm drowning in course work because the end of the semester is only two weeks away—AAH!! but i managed to finish this chapter because i appreciate you guys so much and it was high time. big thanks to everyone who's been reading and commenting! i love hearing from you guys. i'll be starting a new project! the story is in its early stages, so if you want to receive updates from me, feel free to follow!
if, by chance, you like this story and you have somehow NOT read Wanted by JustAnotherGirlmcg , you HAVE TO. it's amazing! it's actually what inspired this book back in 2016. also her oneshot book makes me feel a lot of things.
anywho, my question today is: have you done or tried anything new since quarantine started? i've become a fan of the whipped coffee that's all over the internet. it's helped me get through my lectures :)
as always, thank you for your support. i love you guys! see you next chapter!!
love,
cajoling

4/27/20