TONY PoV

My stomache is in knots. I never want to see him in pain like that again. And the hardest part is trying to stomach that he's been through worse.

He isn't crying out. He's holding in his cries of pain. And all I can feel is guilt. I know, that logically, it isn't my fault, but I have to feel like it is. It is, because I didn't do anything to prevent it.

Nevermind that I didn't know he existed! I should have been there for him. I'll be there now. That's a promise. I'll do everything I can to be there for him.

So I stomache it. I swallow the bile and wait. I absently notice the others become aware of Percy's nightmare, but I can't take my eyes off him. I can't afford to miss anything anymore.

The others leave, I assume. Bruce finishes, and together we prop up his weight and help him walk to the captain's quarters. We ease him onto the bed, and I reluctanly leave him.

The others had found a kitchen of sorts. I ate something. I'm not sure what it was, Steve gave it to me. He'll probably know what it was.

I don't sleep very well. When I do doze off, that's all I can manage before a nightmare of my own taunts me. I give up at four something in the morning.

I find something to eat. I think it's the same thing as before. What Steve gave to me. I clean up the mess I made, and find myself on the upper deck.

His whimpers of pain resounding in my mind. The guilt. The hollow pain in my chest.

I watch as the sky begins to lighten. It's a quiet world, and I listen to the waves hitting the hull.

I attempt to drown out the memories of his pain with the simplicity of the ocean around me.

Someone sits down next to me. I startle. It's Percy. We don't talk. For some reason, I feel the silence is a truce.

The sun begins to peek above the horizon. We watch for a little while more.

Then Percy breaks the silence. "Would you like to watch from below?"

"What do you mean?"

"From under the water. It's a weird experience, but I like it." Percy says, his voice calm.

"How would I be able to stay...?" I wonder.

"I can form a bubble." Percy says, his voice still quiet.

"....Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." I accept his offer.

He flashes me a small smile, and with his eyes all sleepy looking and half closed, he looks like a normal teenager. Though an early riser.

He climb up and stands on the railing, and gestures for me to join him. Wary, I try to climb, and graciously accept his help in staying balanced through the ordeal.

Percy places a hand on my shoulder. "We're going to jump in at the same time. Hold your breath at first, otherwise it'll be really disorienting." He warns.

I place my hand on his shoulder, and we manage to jump at the same time. I place my trust in the kid.

I hold my breath as I feel the waves engulf my form, but they seem to pass over me. An odd feeling.

"You can breathe now." I hear Percy say, his voice incredibly peaceful.

I open my eyes, and cautiously take a breath. All works just fine, which is incredibly strange. I decide to just accept it for the moment.

A sunrise from under the water is... well, serene. The light passes through the water, and it looks... The only way I can really describe it is like a moving magic painting.

"Do you do this very often?" I ask, my voice a whisper, unwilling to cut through the serenity.

"Whenever I get the chance."

We're quiet for a little while longer, before I have to interrupt.

"Why don't you like me?"

He sighs. "At first, I didn't really care, all I could think about was my mom. And then I was agitated that you wouldn't let me leave. That wore off, I could see where you were coming from with all that. But you had this big arrogant persona. Arrogant people tend to be dangerous. They get you killed."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, okay. Let's give this guy a name... Alazonikos. Now, you go on a quest with Alazo here. He's arrogant, and it's super annoying. Then you get into a big battle with an enemy boss. He's over confident in his abilities, and it gets you in trouble in the fight. Wether it be solving a riddle, battle strategy, or combat skills, he messes up and you pay for it." Percy says. "Sorry, that was kind of long and stupid."

"No, I understand. But did you think I would get you in trouble?" I worry.

"It was always a possibilty, Tony."

There is quiet. Then I have to ask another question. This one is burning my insides with anxiousness.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you... Dammit. I don't know how to frame it." I sigh, and try a different approach. "I realized something pretty recently. I should've been there for you when you were growing up. I was wondering if you'd give me a second chance? Give me a go at being your uncle instead of some shitty billionaire?"

He's going to say no. Please don't say no. He's going to freak out and I'll drown here, all because I-

"You want to be my uncle?" Percy asks, surprised.

"Well, yeah. I understand if you don't want to..."  I start rambling.

I risk looking over at him, and he has a slight frown on his face. Shit, shit shit...

"Aren't you already my uncle, though?" The question is said innocently, but after a second, his frown turns into a small smile.

Relief floods through me. The little shit. He knew exactly how to say that sentence. That's my second chance. My relief is replaced by a light giddyness.

"Thank you." I tell him. He nods. "But, why?"

"I believe in second chances. Or redemption. Why did you stay with me after the nightmare?"

"I couldn't leave. I started actually thinking, you know, with feelings."

He gives a light laugh. I look over and see some of the seriousness fade for a little while. I realize he made a bubble for me, but not for himself.

"Where's your bubble?" I ask.

"Oh. I don't need one. And the water helps with the pain." He says.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you." I look away.

"You didn't help me?" I can hear the frown in his voice. I don't answer. "Bullshit."

I look up in surprise. "What?"

"You woke me up. You shocked me with your glove thingy."

"That wasn't anything, really..."

"Cut the crap. In those nightmares, I can die. What happens to me in them, it happens in the real world. Don't tell Annabeth." His voice drops.

"Why should I not tell her? And what kind of nightmares are those?" I demand.

"The kind of nightmare where your soul- or whatever- is dragged into the Pit, so someone can get back at you for escaping. Don't tell Annabeth because she can't help me any more than what she's already doing. I don't want to make her feel guilty."

"What the fuck?" I breathe the question, rhetorically.

"Annabeth and I escaped the uh, 'hell' part of the underworld. It's where all the monsters reform when they die. Even the gods don't go there." Percy shares.

My fists clench. "Why? Why did you have to do that?"

"We had to stop Gaea from rising. We fell during part of our quest." Percy explains, his tone going hollow, burying the emotions so he can tell me.

"Quest? Fell?" Two words catch my attention. I mean, Gaea is a big one, but I can figure that out myself.

"A quest. We get a prophecy, and stuff happens. We fell into the Pit."

"Do you remember the prophecy?" I wonder.

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
to storm or fire the world must fall,
an oath to keep with a final breath,
and foes bear arms to the doors of death."

Chills crawl down my spine and travel through my arms and to my toes. I don't even know what all of it means.

"Seven? Did all of you make it?"

"We aren't sure. One of us is unacounted for, but we don't think he's dead."

That's good, I think. Better than what my mind thought up. "How old is he?" I ask, stressing the present tense.

"Fifteen. Leo is fifteen."

I let the subject drop. I don't want to push him. "When did Annabeth tell you I shocked you awake?" I ask suddenly.

"Um, she didn't?" Percy says, somewhat sheepishly.

"Then how..?"

"I've been shocked before. I recognized the feeling, and you had something tech-y on your hand, so I figured."

"You were coherent enough?" My jaw slacks.

"Yeah. I should get Will to give Bruce a  crash course in patching up demigods." Percy adds.

"Will?"

"Yeah. He's head doctor at camp." Percy elucidates.

"Oh. Why would he need to teach Bruce?" I wonder.

"Ugh. Don't get me wrong, Bruce is a great doctor, I think, but for mortals. For demigods, he's too slow."

"Too slow?" I raise my eyebrows. Bruce seemed pretty capable earlier.

"Yeah. He's all 'okay, this is gonna hurt' like yeah, no shit sherlock. I know it's gonna hurt. It already hurts. Just get it fucking over with. 'on three' I don't care about 'three' just do it!" Percy vents, throwing his arms in frustration through the water.

I can't help it. I laugh. I worry that I've just offended him, but he's only shaking his head with a rolled-eyes face.

"You are one of a kind." I tell him.

"Thank you. I think I'm quite known for that among the gods." Percy smirks.

"Oh, and why's that?" I ask, embracing the lighter atmosphere.

"Because I don't kneel to them. Unless I respect them. Which is a very few."

"I kinda felt how strong Poseidon was... And he wasn't using much of his power, was he?" I share my thoughts.

"I kinda think that when he shows up to be all fatherly, he isn't necessarily the all-powerful Poseidon. I think he just lets himself be a father, but he can't dismiss his godliness."

"That's interesting... So that was barely any of his power, right?"

"Yep." Percy pops the 'p'. "How did it feel?"

"Well, kind of like if the air was waves...?" I don't know how to describe it.

"Ahuh. Around Zeus, it sometimes feels like he's just holding you in place, thousands of miles above the ground, ready to drop you at a moments notice. That's just what it feels like, but your feet are firmly on the ground." Percy shares. "And around Hades, it's like the shadows want to take you somewhere. It's a pull, a tug. not necessarily in a bad way, just, a 'be cautious' way. If anything, the calling of the shadows is kinda scarier than the threat of falling. Because it isn't a threat. It's powerful enough to be an invitation that isn't afraid of a decline to the party."

"Wow." I blink, trying to absorb the information.

"Don't compare gods' power. I didn't really mean to, but I think I'm mostly safe at the moment." Percy adds quickly.

"That's refreshing." I comment, absently.

He laughs. It's good to hear it.

The atmosphere is disturbed when a huge-ass shark shows up. I'm two centimeters from screaming when Percy talks.

"Hey."

I look at him, trying to keep my pants clean, and he's just chilling.

"Nice to meet you, Wendy." He says cheerfully.

There's a pause, and then he looks over to me. "Oh, sorry. Wendy, this is my mortal Uncle Tony. Uncle T, this is Wendy, a great white shark. You don't have to look so freaked. She won't eat you."

I'm suspended in the second-before-you-lose-all-your-shit moment.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Wendy. He's not used to this stuff yet, I hope you forgive him."

'Wendy' leaves.

"Was that a great white shark?" I squeak out.

"Yeah. She has a name, you know. Wendy." Percy scolds lightly.

"Wendy. Did you- did you just talk to a freaking great white shark?"

"Yeah. You doing okay over there?"

"Um." I swallow. "what the fuck."

He laughs. A loud, free laugh. "I can talk to fish. They like me, because of my father. They can make excellent company at times. Though, they do have a habit of calling me 'lord'."

"So, you just became friends with a great white shark named Wendy?"

He nods. And for now, everything is okay.

A/N

To SirenTheShapeshifter who requested that they become closer, I hoped this lives up to your expectations.

Side note: I just had my 15th birthday party, and like, two people gave me entire gift bags full of candy and I have like zero portion control, so RIP me