Hey guys! So this is the sequel to 'New Beginnings' and is the fourth installment in the series which begins with 'Closure'. Honestly, I have a newfound love for Percy/Tony dynamics. It is so fun to explore their relationship - platonically speaking. Either way, this is the first in the series that won't be a one-shot. It's not going to be very long, I'm thinking four chapters max. Either way, it was meant to be Tony angst with some light-heartedness but well, as you'll see, I got carried away. Nevertheless, I'm not going to spoil you guys so without further ado, proceed to the chapter!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember how I said in 'Closure' that this series wasn't related to FWOSLtW? I lied - I've decided that this takes place in the same universe. This whole series takes place after the end of the events of For We Once So Loved the World, and clearly, after Civil War. It is definitely NOT canon compliant since Thanos is already defeated in this universe. This series WILL tie in with the sequel to FWOSLTW.

Disclaimer: Seriously just no, I really don't own PJO or Marvel.

Tony fiddled with the flip phone that Steve mailed to him, the spark of anger igniting within him every time he looked at it. The man rubbed a finger over the screen, the plastic squeaking every time he clenched his fist too hard. Tony gave one last glance at the phone, then dumped it in the drawer, instructing FRIDAY not to open it under any circumstances. Steve Rogers had made his decision, Tony didn't need to rely on him. No, he may have helped turn in the evidence to exonerate them, but Tony Stark wasn't a saint. They had made their choices, and he had seen their true colors for what they were.

Family my ass, Tony thought viciously. He had given them everything – his time, his tower, his money. Everything he had done, he'd done for them. But at the first sight of trouble, they turned tail and ran, leaving him in the dust to pick up after them.

Well, he sneered mentally, this was the last time he'd do so. He hadn't cleared their names for them, he'd done it for himself. Tony could admit that he made a mistake when it came to the Accords – that he'd handled the situation wrongly. He could agree to fixing what he broke – far better than what Rogers did – but he was done cleaning up after the Avengers. He had the UN publicly renounce their criminal status, but their actions would forever be remembered in the hearts of the people.

On days where he was feeling especially vindictive, he'd even think that they deserved it. To feel the hate and anger he always received from the people they were meant to protect.

Sometimes Tony wondered if Steve thought he was an idiot. Sending him an untraceable phone was only effective if he didn't know where the rogue hero was. Tony had burned the letter after reading it, vaguely wondering at Steve's stupidity at sending him physical evidence of their contact. If Ross had found the letter… It would be a miracle that Tony remained alive.

The genius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

This was one whole clusterfuck right from the start.

The only good thing that came out of it was that he now had a new personal assistant in the form of one Percy Jackson.

Just the thought of that chased away his dark mood and made a mischievous smile curve on his face. "Hey aquaboy!" Tony hollered, knowing the kid could hear him, "Cancel all my appointments for today! This body needs to be nourished with some partying."

"No." a voice hissed from the doorway.

Tony swiveled around in his chair, the grin on his face faltering at the green-eyed demon stalking towards him. "You have an appointment with Mr Sachiko that you have canceled and rescheduled three times alone, there's about a dozen board meetings that you haven't attended at all for the past month, and there are at least twenty calls from Miss Potts that you haven't answered." Percy snarled, stopping right in front of Tony, "So no, you are not canceling anything today, you are going to attend your appointments even if it's the last thing you do."

Tony just blinked rapidly, "But I'm busy –"

"No."

"Rhodey's prosthetics need upgrading –"

"He said he doesn't need a new set of legs every two hours."

"I'm designing new things for SI –"

"Which is why you need to attend the board meeting to tell them what you're even designing so they can mass manufacture it."

Tony's mouth snapped shut. He tried the puppy dog face but Percy remained stoic, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at his antics. The inventor sighed and acquiesced, putting down his tools. He instructed FRIDAY to save all his work and brushed past Percy, grumbling all the while about demonic personal assistants who didn't know how to do their job.

Percy just smiled sweetly at him, "Well, you were the one who gave me this job, so you're stuck with me either way."

Tony sighed, "You are the worst personal assistant in the history of personal assistants. Ever." He groaned.

The demigod smirked, "Not my fault nobody else can put up with your crazy antics for more than a week. Or maybe I'm losing my sanity too." The teen said mournfully, looking to the ceiling in hope.

Tony threw his hand up in frustration and walked away.

Three and a half weeks after Percy became Tony's personal assistant – because no, he was not going to be the man's chauffeur thank you very much – the teen had a newfound respect for Pepper Potts. It must have taken a hell lot of patience on her part to put up with Tony Stark's patented brand of craziness. Percy had the advantage of being Tony's friend, and therefore had a contractual obligation to tolerate his quirkiness. Well, better than Rhodey's blood pact to fulfilling every duty known to man when handling Tony Stark because of his best friend status.

In the first week alone, Percy had had to pull Tony out of the lab ten times. Each with increasing difficulty. He was thankful for the introductory course material that Pepper had given him – it wasn't a joke, there was even a powerpoint slide and everything – which helped him realize when the genius was merely being stubborn and refusing to emerge aboveground to eat and sleep like a normal person, and when Tony was stuck in a frenzy. When it was the latter, Percy knew better than to disturb him, even though it was a tad unhealthy for the man to keep working non-stop. Now that there weren't any more Avengers, Percy had thought that the engineering frenzy should have died down, but on the contrary, it seemed as though Tony was busier than ever. He had dozens of projects for SI lined up and the projects for Rhodey's prosthetics stacked on top of that.

The only time Percy had ever worked with Tony had been all those time ago in battle. Frankly, the first time he caught Tony working for twenty four hours straight sent alarm bells ringing in his head until FRIDAY told him that it was normal. Percy wouldn't be Percy if he allowed his friend to suffer so he dragged the genius out and fed him.

Honestly, it was like taking care of a pet. A very high maintenance pet.

But still, even with the extra stress that came from just trying to get Tony Stark to eat, Percy enjoyed his new job. It wasn't as though his old one was horrible, it was just that – he'd been fighting for his life since he was twelve, and although he knew that wasn't as horrible as some other demigods (Annabeth), he still felt tired. He was immensely tired of fighting and while as a SHIELD agent he had done some good (hopefully), he still wished to stop. This – being Tony's personal assistant – it was different. A good kind of different. It was stressful as hell yes – that was a prerequisite for dealing with the abovementioned man – but Percy enjoyed it. He'd never been an organized person, at least not like the Athena cabin had been, but he could learn, and Percy loved being able to do something other than hold a sword. He reveled in being able to help Tony find his footing and stand up from the hand he'd been dealt with. If anything, Percy knew how it felt when life kept dealing you a shitty hand time after time.

So yes, Percy was happy. Happier than he had ever been since he lost everything in the Chitauri invasion.

But just because he was happy, didn't mean that everyone else was.

Percy knew that Tony missed being Iron Man. Missed stepping into the armor where he felt invincible. He had caught Tony glancing at the blueprints for the suit many times, his eyes flicking towards the panel where the suit was kept behind.

"You know," Percy said conversationally, looking curiously over Tony's tinkering, ignoring the way the inventor's eyes snapped back to his work quickly, picking up a solder that lay beside him, "if you wanna be a consultant, you're gonna end up jobless."

Tony squinted, a mask covering his face as his hands steadily soldered two pieces of metal together, "And why would you say that?"

"Let's see," Percy hummed thoughtfully, "of all the Avengers, there're only you, Vision and Rhodey left. Vision has vanished to the ends of the earth, and Rhodey isn't going to be an active Avenger any time soon." he said, wincing slightly, "That leaves you, and if you tap out to become a consultant, there aren't gonna be any Avenger to consult, hence, you'll be out of a job."

Tony hummed uncommittedly, reading between the lines easily, "You want me to be an Avenger?"

"You already are one."

Tony switched off the solder, placing the metal in a bowl of water to let it cool, "There are no Avengers Percy. At best, I'll be a consultant to whoever's in charge of world security, just like I was to SHIELD. So no, I won't be jobless, sorry to disappoint."

"And can you sit back?" The ex-agent challenged, "Can you lean back and enjoy the view when the world goes to hell? I've seen you stare at the suit when you think nobody is looking. Can you really sit around fiddling with your thumbs when the next bad guy comes into town?"

"Well what else can I do?" The scientist demanded, dropping the tool with a loud clatter, "I'm one man kid, I can't – literally – fight off an army on my own. Flattering that you think I can, but I can't. I'm just one person Percy. Besides, I can't be an Avenger when I'm more likely to create the next bad guy than help stop him!"

"Oh come on! How many times – Ultron is not your fault Tony. And if it's the lack of Avengers you're worried about, you won't be alone for long!" Percy countered, "What makes you think that Rhodey won't put on the suit the moment he walks again?"

Tony stared at him, "How about," he said slowly, "the fact that there needs to be a moment when he can walk on his own?"

"What, you think Rhodey isn't going to walk again?" Percy questioned, a frown marring his forehead, "Tony, he's already walking without the help of the parallel bars! Yes, it takes him five times longer now to reach the bar from the couch but at least he's walking!"

"Not smoothly enough." Tony muttered under his breath, not intending for the comment to be heard.

Percy spluttered, "Not smoothly enough?" The teen ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, "Tony, it's been six months since Rhodey's spine was lacerated. Six. Most people can't even wiggle their toes after a year. Tony, what you've done is nothing short of a miracle, and Rhodey knows that. You've built him another set of legs, you've helped him stand again, you learned about the nervous system and how it works in practically a day just so you could discuss the next design with his doctors for Rhodey to regain full versatility!" Percy slapped a hand on the table, "Tony you've literally made an astonishing breakthrough in the community of paralytics, why can't you see that?"

"Because all I see is Rhodey falling thousands of feet from the sky!" Tony snarled. The genius turned to face Percy fully, "Every time I see Rhodey, I see his legs in a brace. I see the way he's unable to run like before, how he has to climb the stairs one by one when he used to take them twice at a time. What I see is the suit plummeting down thousands of feet with my best friend in it. What I see is Rhodey slamming into the ground hard enough to create a fucking crater. What I see is my inability to catch the two most important people in my life!" He shouted, panting heavily.

Percy remained silent.

Tony looked away, his nails digging into his palm, "What good is a hero who can't even save the ones closest to him? What use is an Avenger who only destroys the world?"

Tony closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look of realization on Percy's face. He didn't want to see if he'd lost another friend.

"I don't believe that."

Tony opened his eyes in shock. He looked at Percy, who was looking away, his jaw clenching. When the demigod looked back, Tony was stunned by the fierceness in the other man's eyes.

"I don't believe that." Percy ground out. "You're not a liability. Without you, there wouldn't have been any Avengers. Captain America may have led the Avengers, but without Tony Stark, the Avengers wouldn't even exist."

Tony recalled Natasha's evaluation – Iron Man: yes, Tony Stark: no.

"I'm not talking about Iron Man," Percy continued, "I'm talking about Tony Stark. Without you, there would be no Avengers. And not only because you provided the monetary and tech support for them. You're the glue of the team Tony, I could see that even with the limited time we actually sat around and talked."

Tony scoffed, "Some kind of glue I am if the team got ripped apart by me so easily."

Percy snarled in frustration, making Tony step back warily. The demigod forced himself to stay still and calm down. "That wasn't your fault. That's on Captain America. It's his fault for not listening, for running off half-cocked and playing right into the enemy's hands. He's the one who divided the team and forced them to take sides. Not you."

Tony looked at him carefully, "Why do you hate Ste-Rogers so much?" he asked quietly.

Percy looked away, clenching his fists.

"Kid? I made some serious mistakes too with the Accords," Tony continued in the same tone, "Why –"

"Because at least you're working to fix them!" Percy hissed, turning away from the genius, "You realized you made a mistake, and you're fixing it, you're trying to make amends, but that's more than I can say for Captain fucking America. All he's done is make everything worse for any super powered being out there. By running off and chasing after Barnes, he's only condemned all other supers because now everyone is going to think that we're liable to suddenly explode uncontrollably like that. Because of him, now the government will be clamoring for a tighter leash no matter what they tell the public."

"But there's more isn't it?" Tony asked gently.

For once in his life, the billionaire remained silent, waiting patiently for the other man to speak. In all the times he had hung out with the kid, Tony had never ever seen him so still.

"He was my idol." Percy said finally, his voice cracking a little. "I was the weird kid in school. I kept changing schools because of monster attacks – not like I knew it back then. I was scrawny, and the other kids picked on me." The teen snorted, "When you face bullies every single day no matter where you went, Captain America becomes the only source of hope and comfort. I didn't know about the gods, and I didn't care. To me, they were just stories – myths. But Rogers? He was real. We learnt about him in the museums, in our history classes. He was a real man who stood up against bullies even though he was half their size." Percy grinned humorlessly, not that Tony could see it, "Who wouldn't want a hero like that?"

He tilted his head, "I idolized him, wanted to be exactly like him. To fight bullies because they were wrong. It kept me going even when the bigger kids called me names. He was the thing that kept me going, that kept me fighting against my stepfather lost all his money in gambling and took it out on me." He said bitterly.

Tony fought to keep the rage down when the implications of what Percy was saying hit him.

"I was so happy when the news said that they found him alive – because it just made him all the more real. You have no idea how happy I was when I worked with you guys." Percy shook his head, turning back to face Tony, his oceanic eyes dark with rage, "And then the Accords happened. A leader acts in the interest of the majority," Percy hissed, "I learned that the hard way. Leaders are supposed to consider the welfare of their people, not to use their people for their own personal gains. Captain America didn't care about the civilians he hurt, he only cared about his friend. He didn't give a damn to the people he swore to protect because he wanted to protect his friend. He didn't care about how his actions would damn the rest of us, because nothing mattered as long as his precious Bucky was safe. I saw the feed of the airport. FRIDAY showed it to me. You asked him to stand down, you were begging for him not to rip the Avengers apart but he just turned and blamed everything on you."

Tony sighed, he had played out that particular memory in his head – and in BARF – countless times, trying to see if anything could be changed. "It was both of our faults kid, he tried to talk to me, but I didn't listen."

"No!" Percy snarled, a hand cutting through the air angrily. "I don't buy that bullshit. He had time to pick up so many people after the mess at Berlin, I don't believe he didn't have the time to contact you. He didn't trust you enough to tell you and made the Avengers fight each other. He didn't need to fight, he could have talked, and everyone knows that when Captain America wants to speak, you listen because he'll make you listen."

"So you want to know why I hate him? It's because Steve Rogers is a coward, and a selfish bastard who only thinks for himself." Percy bit out savagely, "He's a hypocrite who only knows how to preach and condemn the sins of others even while he absolves himself of sin."

The enraged demigod whirled and stalked out of the lab, stopping just at the door, "I grew up believing in Steve Rogers, not Captain America, but he's only turned out to be the bullies he always claimed to stand up against."

Tony watched him leave, swallowing down the lump in his throat. Well that explained several things, he thought. The genius chewed on his lip, eyes listing back to the gauntlet on his table. Sighing, he said, "FRIDAY save everything and lockdown the lab. I'm going to get a drink."

Please don't scream at me. *cringes* Honestly, this chapter ran away from me, but in a good way. I already had that Percy angst thought out, but I didn't know how to incorporate it. Seems like Tony does what he wants even though I'm the author.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! I wasn't planning on so much Percy angst I swear. It just - kind of happened. By the way, I know that in the movie, Steve didn't tell Tony because Sam said that Tony wouldn't be able to help them. But, consider the point that this is from Percy's POV, and he wouldn't know about that. I'm sorry about the Steve bashing here, I do understand his side of the story, because to me, in CACW, both of them were right and wrong. And communication was shit so yeah. But that being said, I was extremely disappointed with Steve in CACW. Not for protecting Bucky, but for how he handled everything. His actions in the movie sorely contrasted with what he was preaching in AoU, and it was so very hypocritical. Tony may have made some mistakes - but to me, he's also the one who actually tried to fix his mistakes (evident in the Raft).

About that line where Percy says that CA's actions damned the rest of supers? I believe that. Because Steve went on a rampage to catch up to Bucky - destroying several cars and the people in it in the process - and the fact that everyone saw him causing that havoc - it doesn't matter if he was having good intentions, the public would see that as him getting out of control. It wouldn't have been a problem if he was taking down a bad guy, but he was arrested in broad daylight in a very public area, and when he escaped with Bucky after the helicopter incident, his name was right there on the news. People are going to think that heroes are going rogue, they won't trust them anymore even if they need them, and I believe the public would be afraid of supers becoing uncontrollable too. Basically - X Men.

Anyway, sorry for the rant and thanks for reading!

Please leave a review on your way out! :)