Percy tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, wanting nothing more than to leave. She tried to crane her neck to look around the corner, but unfortunately the Bludhaven Police Department was clearly built to keep visitors away from seeing the inner workings of the station. Percy could feel the other people in the waiting room staring at her as she shifted on the balls of her feet, and she wished they would stop. It was making her uncomfortable but the man at the front desk had not returned yet, so she gritted her teeth and stayed put.

After what seemed like forever, the man finally returned, and Percy's eyes immediately narrowed when she saw that he was empty handed. Seeing her face cloud, the man winced.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but your belongings are part of an ongoing investigation."

Percy waited for him to continue his explanation, but he did not.

"And?" she prompted, little harshly.

"And it is unclear when we will be able to release them to you," he finished.

Percy wanted to reach over and throttle the man by the neck, but she knew that would do her no good, so she tried to hold in her rage.

"Are you serious? The belongings you're talking about is my goddamn rent. Do you want me to be homeless?" she seethed.

She knew she was being a little dramatic. She had enough money in the bank to withdraw the amount of her rent again and not face any financial consequences, but he didn't know that. Plus, it was the principle of it.

"Mr...." Percy trailed off, trying to read his last name but the unfamiliar jumble of letters in that tiny font made her head spin, "Whoever you are, I want my money back. They didn't even successfully steal it so I don't get how it could be considered evidence."

The man looked pained and embarrassed. He opened his mouth, probably to give more excuses, when he caught sight of something over her right shoulder.

"What's going on here?" someone asked, walking up behind her and Percy whirled around at the sound of the new voice.

The man who had just appeared was about her height and had spoken with authority. He seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't pinpoint it. His eyes, who had first looked at the front counter staff, now turned on her with a curious expression.

"Officer Grayson!" the front counter staff member exclaimed, "Just a minor disagreement, nothing to worry about."

Percy gritted her teeth as the blatant attempt to minimize her issue.

"Actually, that's not true," Percy countered, "A few days ago, I was at a bank withdrawing money when there was an attempted robbery. The police took my withdrawal as evidence and now they won't return it."

Percy glared at the front counter staff during her last sentence.

"I remember that," Officer Grayson snapped his fingers, "You were the civilian who beat up one of the robbers, right?"

Percy startled. She remembered, at least, that the officer she gave her statement to wasn't Grayson.

"Word travels fast around the station," Grayson clarified, like he could read her mind, "And apparently your takedown was especially impressive."

He raised his dark eyebrows, the side of his mouth twitching upward.

"Self-defense classes and adrenaline," Percy casually waved off his unasked question, "Plus, I don't think toddlers are the most accurate storytellers."

Officer Grayson hummed in response, staring at her for another moment. Percy finally recognized him as the officer who let her know she could leave the bank. She hadn't paid much attention that day, but she took the time now to give him a quick glance over. He was definitely interesting, his features a roguish kind of handsome. Although he wore no evidence of it, he had an expensive look to him, and seemed almost too bright for Bludhaven.

Officer Grayson finally spoke, turning to the counter staff, "Denetsosie, get her things."

Denetsosie, she mused. No wonder her dyslexia went crazy. And to think, she had almost called him 'dentist', which would've been embarrassing...for him.

The man in question started to argue, but Officer Grayson cut him off.

"I'll deal with the guys in evidence. The case is pretty cut and dry so they should be fine without it," he reasoned.

Denetsosie relented and went back to get her envelope, leaving her alone with the blue-eyed officer.

They stood around each other in silence for a brief moment, before he broke it.

"That day at the bank, I heard Nightwing showed up," he began.

Percy picked her head up to answer, "Mmm? Oh, yeah, he did."

"What was he like?" Officer Grayson asked, and Percy wondered why he had.

"I didn't see him fight," she said, slowly, "But I guess he was pretty cool."

Her opinion on the hero went deeper than that, but she was reluctant to share that information with practically a stranger, no matter how nice he seemed so far.

The officer looked amused at her response but didn't press. At that moment, Denetsosie returned with a large plastic evidence bag and a clipboard. Without needing instruction, Percy picked up a pen from the counter and signed her name at the bottom of the form on the clipboard in an unintelligible scribble. After she handed the board back, Denetsosie gave her the beige envelope from the evidence bag, and wordlessly went back into the precinct with signed form.

Once she had gathered her things to leave, Officer Grayson stuck his hand out at her.

"It was nice meeting you..." he trailed off.

Percy ignored the obvious attempt to get her name, choosing instead to simply shake his surprisingly calloused hand. He came off as kind and mostly genuine, but Percy had heard enough about the Bludhaven Police Department being corrupt to be wary.

"Nice meeting you too, thanks for the help," she said simply, sending him a small close-lipped smile before making her exit.

...............

Percy unlocked the door to her apartment, collapsing on the couch with her duffel bag in exhaustion. No longer tied down by a job, she had spent the last few days at Camp Jupiter, with Hazel and Frank. She hadn't participated in their Roman style training in a while, and she forgot how intensive it was. Her muscles burned pleasantly from the hours she spent lugging around armor and weapons that were deliberately heavier than normal.

Although she had spent a large portion of her childhood learning how to fight at Camp Half-Blood, her time at Camp Jupiter during the Giant War and after had altered her style to be an unorthodox mix of both Roman and Greek. She had already been quite unpredictable due to her father's nature, but now there were very few people who could successfully calculate her next move. Especially since Percy herself often did not know what she would do next.

Her phone buzzed distantly from somewhere in her bag, and Percy lifted herself up to dig around for it. After finding it sandwiched between her breastplate and jeans, she unlocked it.

Firelord Leo: the Suit is done! b ready for visitors omw now with sparky for fitting!!

That was unfortunate timing. Percy just wanted to sleep, preferably for three days straight. But on the other hand, she was genuinely excited for her costume.

She peeled herself off the cushions and went into the kitchen. She filled a glass of water from the sink and poured it over her head, letting it soak into her scalp for a second before drying herself off. Instantly, she felt better. She was still sore, but at least now she had the energy to keep her head lifted.

She heard a knock on her door. That was fast. Leo had probably almost reached her place before realizing he had forgotten to tell her he was coming.

As she walked over to let her friends in, she flicked her hand out, gathering the water from the floor and releasing it into the sink. Leo, Jason, and a large suitcase stood in the entrance of her apartment, and Percy greeted them before ushering them inside.

"I still can't believe you bet on when I'd quit my job," was the first thing she told them once they were all sitting comfortably on her couches.

Leo groaned, "Oh my gods, let it go."

"I will not," Percy retorted indignantly, "It was rude."

Jason observed them silently, and Percy almost forgot he wasn't involved. Almost.

"You too, Clark Kent," she added, "Don't think you're off the hook either."

With his handsome, 'All-American Boy' looks and his ability to fly, it was hilarious how accurate the 'blond superman' jokes were. They were even funnier considering the black-rimmed glasses that he wore for his near-sightedness when he wasn't fighting.

Jason shook his head exasperatedly, "One of these days, name dropping his civilian identity like that is going to lead to a disaster."

Percy waved off the warning.

"Okay, but once you see what I've made for you, you'll never be allowed to get mad at me again," Leo interjected, his knee bouncing up and down.

"Show it to me first, then we'll see," Percy responded, but she knew that he would be right.

"Close your eyes," he instructed to Percy and Jason, and they obliged him.

While they couldn't see, Leo unzipped the suitcase and pulled out the main body of the suit, holding it up.

"Open!" he said gleefully, and they did.

Percy audibly gasped.

The material of the suit reached up to mid-neck, and a small V was cut into the neckline for easier movement. It was sleeveless and stretched all the way down to the ankles. Overall, the suit was a sleek dark grey, but the sections over the obliques and inner thighs was black. In a muted sea-green color, the vague shape of a trident spanned the front chest. The left and right prongs extended out to edge of the shoulders where the color wrapped around to outline the arm holes. The handle of the trident stopped above the beltline, and the middle prong went up until it outlined the V and the rest of the neckline. As promised, there was no cape.

Percy swore there were tears in her eyes. She reached out and felt the material, Leo letting go of the suit so she could admire it properly. It was stiff, yet somewhat malleable.

"Most of the vigilantes that don't have powers, their suits are made of Nomex," Leo started to explain, "It's a triple-weave Kevlar shell. It's flame-resistant, bulletproof, electrically insulated, light-sensitive, all that good stuff. The problem with it, though, is that it's not something any of us are used to. Even though you can move around in it pretty well, all the added capabilities make it a little bulky. And like half of the stuff, you don't really need."

"Being bulletproof sounds nice," Jason countered, but he was also looking at the suit in awe.

"For one, considering Percy's powers, the suit doesn't need to be flame-resistant," Leo said.

"And with all times you and Thalia have shocked me, I'm guessing I'd be fine without the electrically insulated part?" Percy asked, glancing over to Jason and then raising her eyebrows at Leo.

"Yep!" Leo confirmed, "So anyways, this material is something I made. Still a triple-weave with Kevlar and carbon fiber, but there's also some celestial bronze in there."

"How'd you manage that?" Percy gaped at him.

Leo shrugged, "There's already metallic fiber made with stuff like silver, gold, and aluminum, so I thought why not celestial bronze? Turns out, since it's stronger that regular metals, you can make the fibers much finer than usual and they won't break, which is how I was able to weave it in with the Kevlar."

Jason and Percy were both suitably impressed.

"Back to the actual suit, I got rid of all that good stuff I said Nomex usually has, and instead, your suit is magic proof!" Leo exclaimed, "The celestial bronze helps with that, but I also had Lou Ellen weave some protection charms into it. The suit is still mostly bulletproof, unless a bad guy has, like, a really big gun. It's still light-resistant to help you be stealthy, but that's also from Lou. I took out a bunch of the tech so that it's more breathable. Plus, there's some small pockets for Riptide, ambrosia, and whatever else you feel like carrying."

"Holy Hera, Leo," Percy breathed, while Jason nodded in agreement, "That is seriously..."

"There's still moreeee," Leo said, dragging out the last syllable of the word.

He reached into the suitcase and pulled out an assortment of items.

"This is your mask," he started, grabbing the suit from her, and replacing it with the mask.

It was a high coverage mask, like the one worn by her ex-favorite hero, Artemis. It was dark grey to match her suit and covered the jaw, nose, eyes, and forehead. The mouth area was left out, but the eye holes were protected by a thin white film.

"The film helps with seeing in the dark. Honestly, I would've left the eyes uncovered, but, ya know," Leo gestured to her face.

Percy understood. She'd been told many times, although she hadn't seen it for herself, that her eyes glowed when she used her powers, and sometimes even when she was just fighting fiercely. Many demigods' eyes did when they channeled their gifts. Leo's eyes sometimes seemed to dance like flames, Hazel's occasionally glittered like actual jewels, and Jason's flashed like the sky during a storm. For Percy, her friends told her that hers swirled around like a whirlpool. And even besides godly tricks, her eyes were an incredibly distinct color, and it was probably best she didn't leave them in the open in case someone met her and made the connection.

Next, Leo handed her two long fingerless gloves, that reached about halfway down the forearm.

"These are for your arms, same fabric as before. Protects your knuckles, covers the legion tattoo, yada yada yada," Leo explained, before presenting her with her shoes and some other fabric, "Compression shorts and sports bra for underneath. Lastly, tactical boots, made of light-weight rubber and designed to make those fancy superhero landings not destroy your ankles."

"You really thought of everything," Jason laughed.

"Go put it on, and then I'll show you your accessories and weapons!" Leo urged, handing her all the pieces of her suit, and pushing her in the direction of her bedroom.

Percy followed his instruction, closing the door behind her. After a few minutes, she emerged, walking out into the center of the living room, and placing her hands on her hips in a mock pose.

"Bro..." Leo and Jason started together.

"It looks awesome," Jason breathed.

"I'm a genius," Leo said, at the same time.

Percy laughed and looked down at herself. She didn't know exactly what she looked like, but the suit felt incredible. Moving her arms and legs around, she was delighted when the fabric moved with her with minimal resistance. She was also delighted when she put her mask on, and her vision was barely affected. The mask was skintight, so her peripheral vision was mostly still intact.

"Let's talk weapons," Leo started, "You can't use Riptide."

"I can't use Riptide," Percy agreed.

For one, the magic of a pen elongating into a sword ruined the whole stealth thing. And for another, her sword wouldn't even work on mortals. Not that she planned on using it to kill, or even maim, but in battle, it would do her little good to use a weapon that phased through her opponent.

"And that is why, I present to you..." Leo said, as he pulled out a long sheath, with straps that showed it was meant to be worn across the back, "Well I haven't actually named it, but here it is."

Percy gingerly took the weapon from him. The sheath itself was beautifully detailed, and so was the hilt of the sword inside it. It had a leather wrapped grip and the pommel was made of celestial bronze. She slowly pulled the sword out of the sheath. She could hear Jason whistling in appreciation in the background, but Percy froze.

It had a leaf-shaped blade, like Riptide, and the weight of it felt extremely familiar. But the reason she had stopped short was that the blade was two different colors.

"It's half celestial bronze, half—"

"Steel," Percy whispered, and Leo looked confused at the sudden change in mood.

"Yeah, high carbon steel, but what—" he started to ask, but Percy cut him off.

"Luke," she said, wetting her dry lips, "He had a sword like this, called it Backbiter."

"Oh," Jason said softly. He and Leo had both heard the stories from the Titan War.

Percy stared at the new sword with conflicted emotions.

"I can rework it," Leo offered, easily, "Seriously, I'll figure something out."

It was true that Luke had betrayed them at first, but Percy also knew that despite everything, he hadn't been truly evil, just extremely misguided and blinded by rage. He had sacrificed himself at the end, and that counted for something. Percy herself didn't condone killing, especially mortals, but she knew, in terms of evil, some mortals could be on par with the monsters that hunted them down. And she would need something that was capable of defending people against them.

"No," she decided, "I'll use it."

"You sure, chica?" Leo looked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm naming it Σωτηρία," Percy said, smiling a little, "Soteria. She's the spirit of safety and deliverance. Plus, it's also an epithet for Lady Persephone."

Leo and Jason both approved of the name, agreeing that it was poetic to repurpose Luke's sword design for protection, rather than destruction.

"Next!" Leo called out again, and Percy wondered how many more things he had made for her, "Flick your wrists out."

Percy obliged and was alarmed when a dagger shot out of each of her arm bands. Instinctively, she caught them by the handles before they could go any further. She brought them closer to her face to examine them. Both daggers were made of entirely high carbon steel, with hilt designs that complimented her new sword.

"These are gorgeous," she mused, "How do they work?"

She passed one to Jason, who had held out an outstretched hand, for him to take a closer look.

"Lou's magic. They go back inside if you flick your wrists inwards. Also, if you're holding them, nothing happens, but if they leave your possession for too long, they'll automatically disappear into the arm bands again," Leo explained.

Accurate to Leo's word, the dagger that Jason was holding suddenly disappeared from his grip. Percy experimentally flicked her empty right wrist, and it appeared in the same manner as before.

"Leo, this suit is the best thing I've ever seen and I'm going to kiss you," Percy said in a very serious voice.

"Please don't," Leo responded quickly, taking a step back, "But you can thank me in the form of a popcorn machine or snow cone maker."

"You could make better versions of those yourself," Jason pointed out.

Leo pouted, "It's the thought that counts."

Percy laughed at her friends. "Anything you want, it's yours. I'm literally in your debt forever."

Leo beamed with pride at the compliment.

"Bro, seriously, you have outdone yourself," Jason insisted, "I want one."

Percy nudged Jason in the side.

"For real? You could actually be a blond superman," Percy suggested, grinning.

"I was joking," Jason said, rolling his eyes, "I don't think I'd have time, between my lectures and all the papers I need to grade. You're so lucky you're unemployed."

Percy promptly soaked him with water from a nearby glass and laughed at his expense when he had to remove his glasses from his face to wipe off the droplets.

"By the way, Perce," Leo began, "Did you think of a name yet?"

Percy had thought about it, a lot. Over the last few days, she had cycled through so many water-related names, Greek-related names, and weapon-related names, before the right one finally came to her.

"I decided to call myself..." she paused dramatically, and only continued once her friends were suitably annoyed by the interruption.

"Perseus."

The room was silent.

"What?" Jason asked, incredulously.

"No, 'cause that's got to be a worse disguise than Clark Kent," Leo agreed with Jason's sentiment.

Percy had said the name with the original Greek pronunciation, pehr-SEH-fs, rather than the more modern, PER-see-us. The 'f' sound was feather light, and just barely noticeable.

"Actually, it's perfect," she countered, "Mom said that's what she would've named me, if I had been born a boy, because he was one of the only heroes that got a happy ending."

"And it means destroyer, or avenger," Leo hummed, "That's not bad actually, strikes just the right amount of fear."

"You don't think they'll figure out you're a demigod?" Jason asked, skeptically.

Percy shrugged in response.

"Nobody's gonna think about it too hard. No one believes Artemis is actually the goddess Artemis," Percy offered, "Plus, I'm a girl. Perseus was a guy. Who would even make that connection?"

"Anyone from our world who sees the trident on that suit," the son of Jupiter argued.

"Monsters don't interact with the mortal world so they wouldn't know. And if it's demigods, that's probably a good thing. If they're in danger, they'll know who they can trust," Percy explained back.

She knew she had a good point there, and Jason finally agreed.

"I do like the name," he assured her, "I was just worried, but I think you're right."

"Thanks, Sparky," Percy smiled at him, "It took me forever to come up with."

"Also," Leo interjected, "Before we release you into the wild, you should probably know a few things."

"Hit me," Percy said.

"One, if you ever get caught up with someone who tries to use a power inhibitor collar on you, it won't work."

"Really, why not?" Jason asked, the topic intriguing him.

"Those things are meant for metas. They suppress that bit of DNA that give metas their powers. For us, it's different. Since the gods don't have DNA, our powers don't come from a genetic mutation. It's like they're gifted to us at birth, sort of. It's just a part of who we are, so the collars don't have anything to suppress in the first place."

"Damn, that's good to know. How'd you find that out?" Percy questioned.

Leo shrugged. "Never underestimate an Athena kid's motivation to learn."

Percy decided to just leave it at that. Athena kids were scarily ambitious. "Anything else?"

"Two, you probably already know this, but I'm just reminding you. You're gonna have to switch up your fighting a little. I don't think that many criminals are gonna come at you with blades," Leo stressed.

It's not that Percy's first instinct was to kill, but she had grown up fighting to survive, not to win or incapacitate. Sure, at camp, they held sparring sessions and tournaments where maiming earned you (mild) punishment, but most of the real-world experience she had was gained by slaying monsters. She was extremely good at fighting, and deadly on the battlefield, but she needed to practice holding herself back. And she'd admit, her hand to hand was good, but could still use some work. The way Annabeth had put her on her ass more than a few times proved that. Percy mentally groaned at the thought of asking her best friend to spar with her. She loved training sword fighting, but that love didn't extend to practicing hand to hand combat.

Outwardly, Percy nodded to show she had understood Leo's point. Then, she clapped her hands together.

"Let's get this schist started."

...............

Percy slammed her knee into the ground and winced in pain.

"Fuck, this schist is hard," she complained to herself.

She, Jason, and Leo had spent the rest of the day together in a closed off section of the park. Leo had tinkered on the grass beside them, while she and Jason sparred with each other so she could practice moving around without a weapon in her hand. After they had both won a few matches, and were tired out, they had gotten dinner at a nearby Italian place, catching each other up on the latest demigod gossip.

Apparently, Piper had recently started talking to a new woman but wouldn't tell any of them who she was because 'they'd scare her off', Nico and Will were thinking about adopting—Percy had asked if they meant a kid or a pet, and her friends looked at her like she was crazy, so she never got clarification—and Katie had somehow formed a friendship with Gotham's Poison Ivy, who she'd met on a date with Travis to Wayne Botanical Garden.

Bidding her friends goodnight, she'd decided to take her new suit out for a spin and try to become comfortable navigating the city.

Which brought her to her current situation, practicing the famed superhero landing pose.

She'd seen it countless times, heroes flipping in the air to land gracefully, front foot firmly planted into the ground and a hand extended out for balance. The heroes with powers made a fist, letting their strength bleed out to form a small crater.

But she was used to the Roman way, where the minute she made contact, she'd roll to absorb the impact and come up standing. Unfortunately, she kept letting her bent back knee hit the ground harder than it was supposed to. Honestly, if her body wasn't naturally sturdier than a mortal's, she might have shattered her kneecap by now.

Briefly she was jealous of Diana, who had exchanged her powers to create lightening and control wind currents for an enhanced demigod physiology. All demigods were naturally faster, stronger, and more durable than humans, but Diana was on another level.

I just have to put more of my bodyweight on my back foot and tilt my knee out a little, so it doesn't touch the ground as much, she mused.

She stood up and stepped back a little to get a running start. Launching herself off the edge of the building to avoid the fire escapes, she hurtled down, and as the ground rapidly approached her, she tried to keep her own advice in mind.

Focus on the feet, tilt the knee.

Suddenly, everything was still, and she quickly took inventory of her joints and internally smirked. The bottoms of her feet and front hand buzzed a little but nothing hurt.

A sharp intake of breath made her pick up her head, her low ponytail sliding down from her back to rest over one shoulder. The end of it was tied by another elastic to keep it from separating.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The man who spoke was standing about 10 feet away, his face and attire illuminated by the low light directly above him. He had on ratty jeans, and an unmarked black hoodie, and was clutching a large white designer bag that clearly did not belong to him. He squinted at her, and Percy thanked the gods that she had landed in the darker section of the alley.

She picked herself up, discreetly stretching her wrists, and slowly strode towards him, not saying a word. Her silence unnerved the guy, who started to fidget. Once she was only a few feet away, he reached into his pocket and flicked out a switchblade, holding it up.

"Back the fuck up," he growled at her, shifting his posture so the handbag was out of her line of sight, "I'm warning you."

Once her body entered the circle of light he was under, he reared back. Percy was grinning at him in amusement, her hands clasped behind her back. She'd taken a quick glance in the mirror before she'd left and she knew for a fact that her suit was intimidating, especially with the long sword strapped against her back.

He swiped the knife diagonally, to try to cut across her chest, but she lazily sidestepped once, then again, the smile not leaving her face.

"I don't think that belongs to you," she teased him a little.

The next time he came at her, still maintaining eye contact, Percy unhooked her hands and brought them forward. Using her left hand, she jerked his right arm out to the side, extending the knife away from their bodies. She simultaneously twisted his wrist outward, making him drop the knife, and punched him across the face with her other hand. He howled, and after Percy let his arm go, he dropped the handbag and brought both hands up to clutch his bleeding nose.

Rolling her eyes, she reached down and snatched up the bag. Then, she grabbed his chin downward, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"I don't wanna see you again, got it?" she told him.

The hardness of her voice made him tremble a little and he struggled to nod under her grip. He was still fairly young, and she hadn't witnessed the actual robbery, so she had no choice but to leave him in the alley.

Percy backed up and disappeared around the corner.

After dropping the bag off anonymously at the police station, she decided to call it a night. She chucked her suit in the laundry—Leo telling her that her costume was machine-washable easily made the list of top 10 best moments of her life— and as she sat down on her couch and ate a second dinner to refuel, she rifled through the night's accomplishments in her head.

One: Learned how to scale buildings. This one came easily to her.

Two: Learned how to run across buildings roofs. This one, although a little trickier, was still fairly simple to get down.

Three: Mastered the landing pose. This is the one she was most proud of.

Four: Took down her first criminal. Not some kind of mastermind or super malicious villain, but it still counted.

Five: Successfully avoided Nightwing so she didn't embarrass herself on her first day.

Percy winced at the thought of Bludhaven's resident hero witnessing her first attempt at that landing. But, all in all, it was a pretty productive night, and the most she'd felt like herself in a long time. Scraping the bottom of her bowl with her spoon, she wondered what adventures the fates had in store for her next.

A.N. Happy Holidays!! <3

Did I just write 5000 words mostly about Percy's suit? Perhaps. Did I have fun doing it? Yes.

okay i can't draw so i traced this off an wonder woman jl war image and added percy's suit + some other corrections. didn't add a mask, but it's similar to yj arrowette's

Also, Dick's costume is the one from YJ.

Next chapter next week! Let me know what you guys think!