chapter three: hey, does anyone know what the hell is going on

Being the son of Jupiter, Jason Grace has been in enough insane, dangerous, mind-blowing, freaky situations to write an autobiography that is ten books long. He should probably consider the title for his eleventh, because there is no way in Hades that whatever all of this is,isn't going to warrant at least twenty chapters.

Looking around the crowded room that they're now sitting in, Jason can't help but feel cheated. He had honestly felt like the peace and calm they had experienced after dealing with Gaea was going to last more than four months. So, correction: he feels cheated and like a complete idiot. He should have known it was too good to last.

Piper shoots Jason a wan smile before turning back to look at the people in front of them. Her hair had started out in a stylish bun and now looks like a little bird's nest, which Jason knows is going to lead to a lot of frustrated cursing in Greek when she detangles it. Leo is sitting on Jason's other side, noticeably trying to not fidget. His eyes, though, are glancing all over the place, from the room they're in to the weird costumed people...things around them.

Jason chances a look Percy's way, and manages to catch his eye. His friend looks like he's in pain, a tightness around his eyes and slight crease in his eyebrows that looks foreign on Percy's usually relaxed features. Percy gives Jason a look, like 'can you believe this?' and 'why me?', and Jason is grateful to see he's still able shoot Jason sardonic looks, despite his discomfort. Jason grins wearily back; neither of them has any clue as to what exactly has happened in the last twenty minutes, or what to expect going forward. In past instances, at least they had prophecies or oracles giving them some inkling of what to expect and prepare for. They're one hundred percent prophecy-less right now, and Jason can't believe that he's actually missing one.

Jason shifts slightly in his seat, trying to re-orient himself. Everything feels weird and uncomfortably different, like when he sleeps with a pillow that's not his or uses a brand-new towel that doesn't absorb water well and leaves your skin still feeling damp.

Annabeth is next to Percy, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Out of all of them she looks the most focused and alert, but Jason knows her well enough by now to know that she's good at putting on a mask and hiding her feelings. Nico looks similar, but he's less studious and more irritated looking. (And again, Jason knows him well enough by now too to know he's also good at keeping things hidden behind that expression).

"So. You have no idea who we are or how you got here." The guy with the blue emblem (print? symbol? brand logo? Jason has no clue), repeats evenly. Jason can already tell he's the leader of this group, and an incredibly trained fighter if the way he walks and holds himself is anything to go by.

The room, which looks like a sitting room, has seats and couches arranged in a sort of semi-circle. The weird people are sitting across from them; there's the one with the blue stripes (Leader Guy), the tattooed guy whose hands are really strange, (Tattoo Guy), and a girl with red hair (Red Haired Girl). The two other teens who had arrived just as the fighting began had disappeared as Jason and the other demi-gods were led towards this sitting room. (Jason does feel slightly bad now for the head wound on the smaller guy, and he assumes that they left to get that treated).

Behind the three young adults is the girl with the lasso and the three other guys...people...creatures (?); the kid who'd moved faster than Hazel's horse, the dude in the blue body armor who'd vouched that they had been telling the truth, and the green person who had transformed into a tiger. It would have shocked Jason a lot more if he wasn't friends with Frank.

Frank...Hazel. Jason has no idea what's happened to his friends or if they're even alright. Hazel had been almost unconscious, lying on the ground convulsing in pain the last time Jason had seen her. With all the chaos that's happened, he hasn't really had the time or mental space to consider what happened to them. It's terrifying to think about it now.

Jason surveys the costumed people in front of him, trying to figure it out; Jason has never met people with abilities and powers like the ones these people have displayed who weren't either demigods or somehow related to Greek or Roman mythology. There has to be some connection.

"We have no reason to lie about this." Nico replies. His shoulders are curled in on himself and his skin is a shade paler than usual.

There's a weird tension in the air, like they all know one wrong word could bring them right back to fighting, and that no one actually wants to do that. It gives Jason a small bit of hope that these people are good, or at least want to get some answers as much as he does.

Leader Guy gazes at him for a moment then nods slowly in agreement. It's incredibly disconcerting not being able to see his eyes behind the white lenses of his mask.

"I'd like to ask a question now," Piper speaks up, looking at him directly (as directly as she can). "Did you bring us here?" Her words are explicit, and Jason can pick up on the charmspeak carefully layering each word. Piper's magic is so strong that Jason feels compelled to answer, even though it's not being directed at him.

The guy shakes his head. "No."

Piper frowns and Jason can feel her body tense up beside him.

"Um, okay. Do you know who we are?"

"Never seen you before."

"Do you know who brought us here?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

Piper looks at him and then at the others. They all look just as lost and confused as Jason feels. And despite his uncertainty, Jason can't help but feel in his gut Leader Guy is telling the truth. (Not to mention he'd have to be pretty powerful with some magical abilities to resist Piper's charmspeak).

"Fan-freaking-tastic." Piper mutters sarcastically under her breath.

Annabeth narrows her eyes and now Jason can clearly see that she's not just confused and worried, she's also really pissed. "This had better not be another one of Hera's brilliant ideas to save the world again." She snarls. "No, seriously, I've had it."

"Ditto." Leo says darkly.

Jason sees their hosts look slightly taken aback, either from the mention of the Greek goddess or the ire with which they say her name.

Nico's scowl becomes more prominent. "Same."

"Hera?" Red Haired Girl glances at Tattoo Guy then back to them. Her tone makes it a question, an invitation for them to expand on Annabeth's comment.

Percy rubs his temple with two fingers, slight grimace crossing his face before being replaced with an unsure expression. "Not really her style though, sending all of us together, and, you know, with our memories. Maybe it was Zeus?"

Jason shrugs. "Or Hades?"

"It wasn't," Nico says immediately. Jason doesn't bother questioning his conviction.

"Ares?" Annabeth suggests, but in a way that communicates to them that even she doesn't actually believe that.

The girl with the gold 'W' across her chest steps forward, looking at Percy then Jason. "Wait, back up. What does my dad have to do with any of this?"

"Your dad?" Jason and Piper say at the same time.

"Hades?" Annabeth asks, blinking.

Leo stares. "You're dad's Ares?" He rubs his shoulder and mutters, "that would explain the ridiculous strength."

"What is it with the Roman mythology obsession?" The kid with the orange hair remarks.

The blue guy standing next to him rolls his eyes. "It's Greek, dude."

"Like Poseidon?" The green kid asks. "Like Aquaman's father?" He looks at Tattoo Guy, who rubs his forehead.

"We are definitely making them do that quiz later," He says, sounding slightly annoyed. The red-headed chick nods.

"Definitely. And maybe one every week."

Percy starts. "Wait, what about Poseidon?"

"No," Lasso Girl says irritably, shaking her head. "Zeus. My father. Why did you bring him up?"

Blue Guy stares at Green Kid. "Uh, Aquaman's father isn't Poseidon, bro."

Leader Guy pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, really?"

"Oh my gods, they talk right over each other just like we do." Leo observes in awe.

Percy rubs his temple again. "Aquaman?" He shakes his head. "Wait, go back. Your dad's Zeus?"

Jason stares at her, her words finally sinking in. Okay, blond hair, blue eyes and I think I saw her flying earlier. He's not sure how to feel; the only other child of Zeus Jason knows is his sister. Part of him kind of feels excited at the idea of meeting step-sibling, the other part of him kind of hates it.

Leo groans, looking at her. "Great," he says. "This is probably because of you."

"Me?" She repeats, baffled.

Leader Guy leans forward. "What do you mean? Why mention the Greek pantheon?"

"We're probably here because Zeus, or Jupiter, whatever, was probably being a jerk, no offence, Jace, and he didn't claim you when you were thirteen, and that probably caused some sort of crisis, because when does it not, and who knows what he's gonna do-" Leo babbles off, losing Jason in a lengthy explanation of diverted parentage, child neglect, the world ending, and Hera acting like the world's biggest tool.

"What Leo means," Annabeth interjects, looking at Leo then back to the others. "Is that it's entirely possible that one of the gods or goddesses has...transported us here for reasons we don't know, maybe because of you."

Lasso Girl stares at them, baffled.

"We didn't plan for this," Jason says. "Trust me."

Tattoo Guy raises a hand, a clear single for the other teens to not speak up. He must be part nymph or related to some water deity or creature because that is definitely webbing between his fingers, the type Jason's seen on ducks. "We're getting there, but maybe this will all be easier to work out if you start from the beginning."

"Right." Leader Guy says, leaning back a bit. He looks more at ease now than when he first arrived, but then again, he can afford to be. Jason knows they're badly outnumbered, and if the three new people sitting in front of them have powers or fighting abilities like the others, then getting out the room...house...cave, whatever, is going to be much, much harder than getting in.

Percy shifts, locking eyes with Jason then glancing to Nico and Annabeth.

"Wait, so Poseidon and Hades brought them here?" The green kid whispers, but it's quiet enough that they can all hear him.

"No, they're saying Zeus did. Who's Wonder Girl's dad, so isn't that a little bit awkward." Speedy kid replies.

The blue insect guy shakes his head. "No hermano, that's not what they're talking about." A pause. "No, it's not. No, it's not!"

Leo leans over to Jason. "Is he okay?" He asks, and then adds something in Spanish that Jason doesn't understand.

"Blue, Beast Boy," Leader Guy says sharply. The two settle down.

Tattoo Guy inclines his head towards them. "Please then. Tell us how you got here, and who you are." His tone is honest and he has a distinct accent and way of speaking that Jason hasn't heard before.

"Or what you are," Speedy kid mutters. The blue insect dude elbows him in the side.

The demigods look at each other; Piper is twisting a strand of hair around on a finger and trying to fit it back into her bun-turned-birds-nest, and Leo is tapping his fingers on the side of the couch. Nico looks as closed off and pale as ever. Annabeth and Jason look at Percy, the three of them communicating without words.

Jason nods, shrugging a shoulder. "Well. It can't hurt."

Percy and Piper give him a look.

"Well, I mean. I hope."

Percy turns to the strangers in front of them, sighing and easing back into the couch a bit. He looks at them honestly. "How we got here…well. I have no freaking clue."

(\M/)

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It's been a long week. Between integrating back into the team, his work in Bludhaven, grieving the loss of a friend- his teammate, practically his brother- dealing with his actual brother and Bruce and that whole emotional mess, spending time with his family, and getting together with Babs outside of the team, Dick has a full schedule. Most of the time it oscillates between 'man, life is good' and 'this is actually the worst'. And six new teenagers dropping out of nowhere into his cave is an added item on his already incredibly packed to-do list that he's basically run out of room in the margins.

It's only Tuesday. Dick thinks to himself.

Dick remembers when Tim had shown him his planner some time back and all the different ways he kept track of things with his meticulous color-coded highlighters and Pilot G-2 .7 black ink pens. Tim had encouraged Dick to try using one, and Dick had, he'd really tried to stick with it, but it just wasn't him; taking the time to outline his week isn't the way Dick lives life. It's all one event, situation, moment after the other, most planned or executed on the spot or an hour before. Spread your wings on the way down, and all that.

The kids, who really can't be much younger than himself but man, Dick feels old sometimes, are staring at him with alternating expressions of confusion, worry, and apprehensiveness. They're doing a good job at appearing strong, but Dick has seen that face too many times on civilians he's helped, other heroes, even himself in the mirror, to read right through it.

"Why don't you start from the top," Dick suggests gently. "And maybe with names."

Despite the initial fighting and distrust, Dick is pretty convinced they're telling him the truth. After years of reading the mood of an audience, the other members of Haley's Circus, Bruce for heaven's sake, Dick is pretty confident in his ability to judge a person's character, and his gut is telling him the same thing Kaldur did. (He wishes Cass were here, because a judgement from her would seal the deal, but she's still in Japan with Kate organizing things with Hiro). Between his own opinion, Conner's verdict, and Jaime's scarab, Dick doesn't think his concern should be whether or not his uninvited guests are going to try and kill them, but rather what to do with them now that they're here, and more importantly, how to get them back.

His proposal is met with more hesitant nods and then the guy who Dick knows is their unofficial leader speaks up. "Percy," he says. "Percy Jackson. This is Annabeth." He motions to the girl sitting next to him, the one with blonde hair and grey eyes. She reminds him a little bit of Artemis.

"Leo," the other curly haired kid cuts in. He hasn't stopped fidgeting the entire time they've been sitting down and Dick quickly shoves the memory of another boy who could barely keep himself still to the back of his mind. "Uh, son of Hephaestus and all that. Sorry about the fire, man."

Bart waves it off. "S'all crash no worries."

Kaldur looks at Dick with his eyebrows raised. He turns back to the kid. "Son of Hephaestus?" He repeats.

"You're demi-gods." Babs says. "Aren't you. Sons and daughters of Greek gods and goddesses."

Cassie steps forward. "No way."

Bart is looking from Cassie to the others. "Hey, does that mean you're like, related or something? Distant cousins twice removed?"

"I am so confused." Gar whispers.

"No you did not tell me that." Jaime scoffs, throwing a hand in the air. Then, a second later, "no you didn't!"

Annabeth nods slowly in confirmation, like she doesn't want to give them this information but knows that the cat is basically out of the bag and halfway across the street.

The other girl of their group sits forward. "Yes, we are. I'm Piper, by the way. This is Jason and that's Nico." The blond guy sitting next to her nods his head politely. Dick looks over at the kid who's been the quietest in their group; he has a slight scowl on his face and reminds Dick of an old photo of Bruce Alfred showed him years ago, taken during Bruce's childhood.

"It's all a pretty long story," Jason says when it's clear Nico isn't going to say anything.

"Maybe start with the beginning." Babs encourages.

"Everything that can go wrong does and it's worse for us than anybody else in the world." Percy states blandly. "That basically sums it up."

Annabeth gives him a sort of half smile. "The Greeks did invent tragedy."

Babs grins at that and Dick holds back a laugh because hey, they can relate.

"Okay I can't anymore," Leo slaps his thighs, talking right over Annabeth. "Who are you people and what the hell is going?"

"Finally," Nico mutters. "Somebody asking some practical questions."

Leo continues, pointing to Kaldur. "Are you a fish? A water sprite, or like, a mermaid? I mean merman. Are those gills? And I'm sorry but you," he points at Gar. "You're green."

Dick actually has a pretty good idea what's going on. From Barbra's glance in his direction, he knows she does too.

"Kaldur's not really a fish but he can swim faster than one." Bart states, looking like he actually believes he's being helpful. "And Gar is green because he's related to Miss Martian!"

Nico looks physically pained. "Not those questions."

"You're right," Kaldur nods his head. "We should also introduce ourselves so that we can perhaps draw some conclusions about all this," he waves a hand as if to encompass, well, all this. "I am Kaldur."

"I'm Impulse!" Bart interjects, zipping forward. He freezes, and Dick can see the same hurt he's feeling flash across Bart's face before he grins sheepishly. "I mean, Kid Flash. That's me."

"Nightwing," Dick says, carefully putting those feelings away and watching the teen's faces closely to see if they recognize any of them. He doubts it, not only because he's pretty sure his hunch is correct, but also because even someone from their world shouldn't know the members of Young Justice because, covert operations.

"Red Tornado to Cave. Do you read me?"

The automated voice echoes through the Cave's sound system, causing everyone except for Dick, Barbra and Kaldur to react slightly in surprise.

"Red Tornado?" Piper repeats blankly.

Barbra touches a finger to her comm. "Acknowledged Red Tornado, this is Batgirl, we read you."

All the demi-gods are staring at her now.

"Batgirl?" Leo says. "And I thought some of the gods had weird names."

"Copy that, Red Tornado. I'll take a squad down and get it handled." Barbra says after a moment of listening. "Batgirl out." She turns to Dick. He already knows without needing her to say it that thankfully, it's nothing terribly serious.

"There's an incident in downtown New York; the Injustice League has seventeen hostages and they're demanding the League hear and comply with their demands." Barbra says.

Percy mouths 'the Injustice League?' shooting Jason a look. The blond stares at him equally confused.

Dick can't help but actually groan this time. "Of course they are, I swear they never learn. Okay, take the three musketeers over there and Wonder Girl with you. Radio Spoiler with Beta squad and tell them to rendezvous with you."

"You got it, Boy Wonder." Barbra nods as she stands up. "Alpha Squad, let's move."

"Good luck," Kaldur says.

"Aw," Bart whines as he falls in step behind Barbra. "But I wanted to hear about how these weirdos teleported here and what god they're related to!"

"Uh, I'm Jaime. I mean uh, Blue Beetle." Jaime says as he turns to head towards the door. He smacks his forehead and Dick knows this is how Bruce must have felt looking at him embarrass himself years ago; fond and exasperated.

"Are you sure I shouldn't stay?" Cassie asks quietly, stopping beside Dick.

"Go with Batgirl," Dick responds, giving her a reassuring grin. "They'll need you for this one."

There's a moment where it looks like Cassie is going to try and insist she should stay, but eventually she nods determinedly and follows the others out. Atta girl, Dick thinks. He still has no clue how Tim landed himself such a girlfriend, because Dick will be the first to admit that while Timmy is a precious bean, he's also kind of a giant nerd and extremely passionate about correct food labeling and convincing Bruce to reorganize the Cave's filing system.

Annabeth looks at Dick. He can practically see the cogs turning in her head, pieces of the conversation falling into place. Her eyes narrow skeptically. "Are you guys with the government? A special ops sanctioned team that works behind the scenes?"

"What, like Mission Impossible or something?" Leo asks quizzically.

Nico raises an eyebrow, looking at Kaldur and Dick pointedly. "I think it's your turn to do the explaining."

"Right. We'll get to that," Dick says easily, carefully shifting one ankle over the over. His right is still swollen from where he sprained it a few days ago during patrol. "But first, tell me. Have you ever heard of The Justice League of America?"

The teens look at each other then back to him, expressions of confusion on their faces.

"The who of the what now?"

"Should we have?" Piper answers.

"Dude, what is with these names."

"Superman? Wonder Woman? Batman?" Dick continues. 'No's and more expressions of deepening confusion stare back at him.

"Batman?" Percy repeats.

Kaldur eyes him steadily and Dick can see comprehension start to dawn on his face. "What about places like Gotham City, Metropolis, Qurac, or Fawcett City?"

Jason frowns. "None of this sounds even remotely familiar. Why?"

"You're absolutely sure you've never heard of any of them?" Dick asks again.

"We're positive. Why, who are they? Why is this important?" Nico replies. He looks more nervous now than he did previously.

Kaldur sighs and rubs his forehead. "This just became a lot more complicated, didn't it?"

It's only Tuesday, Dick thinks to himself again. "Yup."

Percy sits forward, his body tense. "What do you mean? Why is it more complicated?"

Dick copies his movement, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know the why or how yet, but I think I know what happened." He looks at them, meeting Percy's concerned gaze. "I don't think you 'teleported here' like Kid Flash said. I think you're from a different universe and were pulled into ours."

His proclamation is met by tense silence, all of them staring at him in disbelief.

Finally, Percy flops back into the couch looking blankly at the ceiling of the room.

"I hate my life."

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