Percy's blood ran cold as everyone turned their attention to him now. Put on the spotlight, all he could do was look at each of them in turn, his jaw clenching and his body practically vibrating with the need to do... something. Anything to get out of this situation. This was not good, this was not good at all. It was bad enough that Stark was after him, but a group of four heroes, each with powers of their own, working together to take him down?  Especially with the state his shoulder was in?

Percy wasn't an idiot. He knew he that he was utterly screwed.

His gaze met with Steve's and he could practically see the gears shifting behind the clear blue eyes, his expression guarded, but apprehension and confusion shining through like a beacon. Suspicion laced his stance, but he didn't appear to be hostile. Not yet, at least. He counted that as a win so far.

"He barely looks over twenty, Stark." He responded, doubt clouding his voice. "Why on earth are you after a teenager?"

Tony's viser swung open, and he could see the still dark bruises and dried blood staining his face. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see both Wanda and Steve reel at the sight of his injuries. Percy inwardly winced, but for the sake of appearances, he looked just as collected as he had before. "For your information, Capsicle, I don't have to tell you shit."

Percy uncertainly looked towards the two of them in turns. Wait... They weren't going to work together to take him down? The rift between them must've been huge for Rogers to not even seem to contemplate helping him. The air between them fizzled and crackled with barely concealed anger and matching glares burned through each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Hell, even a butter knife would be able to slice through it. If he hadn't known better, he would be surprised that literal sparks hadn't started flying from the intensity. He had known that the Avengers had disbanded and there had been bad blood between them, but to this extent? What really happened in Siberia? All he knew was what had been in the very vague report that had been written up. And there had been little to no useful information anyway. Not even where Barnes was currently, which had, at the time, frustrated him immensely.

"I shouldn't be surprised though." Steve's even and rather cold voice broke through the momentary silence. "This isn't the first time you've brought a kid into a fight they don't belong in, and I'm sure it won't be the last." He seemed to aim this more towards the red and blue hero at Stark's side, who visibly shifted uncomfortably under the veiled insult to his mentor-type figure. That only confirmed Percy's suspicion about Spider-Man's age though.

"Excuse me?" Tony sounded-and looked-both affronted and pissed. "You don't get to say that to me, Mr. Patriarchy. He is not-"

"It's true though." He cut him off, eyes sharp and flashing.

"You know what, don't talk to me or my son ever again."

Even Steve hesitated at that, eyes widening fractionally, and Percy could tell exactly what was running through his mind. In fact, he was thinking it too-but doing a much better job at hiding his shock. After all, he'd spent years practising authenticity and poker faces.

But... Was this Spider-Man actually his son? The files on Stark had never mentioned anything about children.

Tony's lip curled and he rolled his eyes. "It's a meme, Captain Cold. What, you've really never been on the internet before?"

Percy almost imitated him and rolled his eyes at that. Of course he would joke around at a time like this. He shifted his weight to his back foot, sliding backwards smoothly, trying his best to be unnoticeable. Unfortunately though, it caught the attention of Stark's protege, who took a step forward.

"Hey, don't move!" He ordered, but his young voice sounded almost strained. Understandable. After all, it's not every day that you're in the presence of not just one, but three Avengers. 'Ex. Ex-Avengers'. His brain added in ever so helpfully. He froze immediately though, eyebrows drawing together in a slightly irritated frown at being caught out. He stared the kid down with one of the looks he had perfected. The one he affectionately referred to as his 'wolf glare'. He squirmed under the intensity, but didn't back down. Huh. Surprising.

"You heard the kiddo. Don't you even move a muscle." Tony agreed immediately, raising his hand to aim a repulsor at him. Out of the side of his peripheral vision he could see both Wanda and Steve tense. He gritted his teeth and shifted his narrowed eyes to look at Stark, who was giving him a withering glare, challenging him silently.

"Stark, don't do this," Wanda spoke for the first time, looking at him imploringly, "Percy has done nothing wrong, I'm sure this has just been some kind of misunderstanding-"

"Percy?" He interrupted, swivelling his glare to look at Wanda instead, his expression almost outraged. "You-You know this criminal?" He demanded, voice accusing and harsh.

Wanda's face hardened defensively. "I do." She countered evenly. "More than you do, I'm sure."

"Oh?" He scoffed, hand drifting down slightly to his side without noticing. That was a good sign, at least. If she could distract him for long enough, then maybe he could make a wild dash for it. Then again, was the risk worth it? He couldn't tell just yet. He'd need to wait a bit longer to get all of the information necessary to calculate the risks. "Please, do tell me what a murderer could have done to gain your favour."

He could feel the two others look at him again and he could practically see his chances of escaping dropping. He knew that if he met their gazes, he would find confused and stunned faces staring back at him. That's exactly why he didn't look, instead keeping his defiant expression towards the millionaire. Oh, sorry. Billionaire.

He would never admit that he didn't actually want to see their expressions, only because of how they would make him feel though. He would not feel guilty about his past. Being a murderer was never his choice. He had accepted that a long time ago. And honestly, when he finally realized it, it had felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest at the time. Now he only did what he had to do to survive. Survive or die, after all. That was what he had been taught. And god help him for saying this, but their training was what kept him alive all those years. But then again, they were the reason that he had had to live on the run for so long as well.

But now, with Stark throwing it in his face like it was nothing, anger flared up inside of him like a tidal wave, and he had to clench his fists in order to keep them from flying and causing even more damage. He definitely didn't need that right now.

"I'm a good judge of character." Percy's anger dwindled at that, and he couldn't help but give the Scarlet Witch an apprehensive look. "I trust him."

'Trust? She... She trusts me?'

Stark seemed to be as much at a loss as he was. "Are you insane?!" He sputtered incredulously, glancing between Wanda, Steve, Spider-Man and Percy in turns, looking positively scandalized.

"Perhaps." She agreed with a shrug of her slender shoulders.

Steve stepped forward, his big frame and blank expression making an almost intimidating picture. "I don't know who this kid is-" Percy fought the urge to wrinkle his nose at the term. He was most definitely not a kid. But, he ignored it and kept his attention on the Captain. "-but if Wanda vouches for him, then I do too."

Percy's heart stopped for a moment, his throat constricting with something he couldn't quite identify at the moment.

What.

Was he serious?

The two super soldiers exchanged looks again, and he was almost stunned by the sheer determination that he was met with. He was serious. He really was serious. Steven Rogers; Captain America himself, was willing to stand up to Tony Stark for him. Him. A nobody. A criminal. A murderer.

Why?

"You're not taking him, Stark."

'This... was definitely not what I was expecting.' And by the darkening of Stark's expression, he wasn't either.

"Well," He started off, voice low. "I guess we've come to an impasse again, Rogers." His tone had a dangerous edge to it that made Percy's spine tingle and his skin crawl. His viser snapped shut again.

"I guess we have." Percy tensed as all four of the super-human's shifted into fighting stances, his stomach dropping.

On one hand, two of them were willing to protect him. On the other hand, two were willing to do practically anything to capture him... Or kill him, depending on their orders. 'Greeeeaaaat.' The sarcastic voice in his head drawled. He really didn't know what to do as they all stood silently on the street, waiting. Unmoving and suspicious.

What he did know however, was that he had somehow managed to stumble into a war between two of the earth's mightiest heroes.

And he had no idea what to do.

He had been created, trained, mercilessly beaten until he was nothing but a shell of his past, his mind deadly sharp and his body a weapon of mass destruction. He had done impossible things. He had survived deadly situations. He had infiltrated top secret organizations. And all of that had been easy in comparison to the current moment in his life. His usually infallible mind came up blank. He'd never been in a position like this before. Should he... Run? Should he stay and fight? His eyes flitted towards the kid standing next to Stark and his resolve weakened. He definitely couldn't fight a kid. 'And to think I've taken down governments before...'

His choice was made for him though when the sound of a blast reached his ears. Barely a microsecond later he was ducking and scrambling away, narrowly missing being hit. Tony launched himself at him, but was intercepted with a tackle that nearly bowled him over entirely. With him being distracted by the super soldier, Spider-Man immediately took his place, shooting a string of webs from his wrists.

Percy weaved to the side and behind a parked car, avoiding the seemingly endless barrage behind his makeshift shield for now. Was that stuff coming out of him?! He let out a slightly relieved exhale when Wanda ran at him, throwing her hand out and sending out some sort of red energy that slammed into the kid and sent him flying down the street. He winced automatically at the hit, but he landed in a crouch on the ground. He lifted a hand up and shot into the air again, swinging down the street and towards him Wanda. He didn't seem to be injured or hurt from where he stood, which was good.

"Snap out of it, soldat! He's your enemy!"

He flinched at the all too recognizable voice that popped up into his mind, eyes instantly starting to dart around and mind working once more. This was suddenly a very familiar situation. Danger, people coming after him, and no weapons on his body. He'd done this before. Many times before. He knew that he had to get out of there before things got worse. Assess. Counter. Escape. The words burned through his mind like a brand, a survival instinct that had been ingrained in him throughout the years kicking in. His gaze tracked the bigger of the threats currently-Stark, who was fighting brutally with Steve. The kid was still being dealt with by Wanda. No reinforcements. No need for countering immediately. Final step. Time to escape.

Tony managed to place a well aimed kick on Steve's chest, sending him crashing back and slamming into the side of a car. He pointed his repulser at Percy once again, but this time he saw it coming. He knew what to do. His preparation to avoid and counter the blow was entirely unnecessary however, as Wanda's magic crackled through the air and slammed into Stark before his suit could go off. It sent him staggering to the side like the suit was malfunctioning, his repulsor dying down momentarily.

He caught her eyes, her expression unwavering but slightly strained. "Percy, go!"

So he did.

He fled down the street, leaving the fighting behind him. He'd had enough fighting for a thousand lifetime's after all. Running was not cowardice, he knew that from years of experience. Better to run and get to live another day. Then again, he'd also had enough of running as well. It seemed as though all he had been doing was running, fighting, and then running some more. 'Well isn't life just great?' He thought to himself tiredly. The sound of fighting behind him slowly faded away, making way for the more relaxing noises of blaring car horns and bustling civilians, completely oblivious to the things going on around him. An odd thing to be comforted by, but Percy didn't care. He was quite surprised though, that people hadn't started to notice the... Altercation going on far behind him.

He never slowed his pace, but he could feel his heart start to gradually stop pounding like a jackhammer in his chest and his breath to come a bit easier. Soon this would all be over, and he would be able to live a normal life again. Well, as normal as it could get with him. His eyes scanned around, mentally thinking of a way to get out of the area. Maybe if he made it back to the park, he could use his powers to travel again. But, even if he was touching water, it would still be a risk. After all, he'd already vapour-travelled thousands of miles across the earth barely an hour ago. With another person, in fact. He didn't know if he'd even manage to make it anywhere beyond the city without collapsing again.

The sound of a slightly familiar whirring and a thruster filled his ears, sending a lurch of dread through him. He glanced up, fully expecting to see Stark flying above him. Instead, he saw a man wearing red goggles and mechanical wings. He turned midair and landed on the ground a few meters in front of him, having to run a few steps because of the momentum. Percy skidded to a stop, frowning warily as he watched the man in front of him, his wings folding in to a backpack type device.

"Hey! You're Percy, right?" He could feel a jolt of unease run through him at that. Did he work for Stark too? The man took his silence as an affirmative though. "I'm Sam. Cap sent me to help you."

Percy relaxed slightly out of his defensive stance, but his hard expression never dropped. Sam... Sam... Oh, Sam Wilson. Falcon. Now that he looked at him properly, he could recognize him vaguely. Most likely from the files he had hacked into long ago. He had been apart of the Avengers. He sided with Steve. He was safe for now.

"Follow me." The ex-Avenger turned on his heel and started walking quickly, before glancing over his shoulder and realising that the green eyed boy wasn't following him. "Unless you want me to carry you, of course."

Percy couldn't help but scowl at that. "No." He started following him though, matching his brisk pace evenly and ignoring the curious side glances that he was given.

"You know, you kinda remind me of someone..." He trailed off, looking forward again.

"Oh?" He deadpanned, simply indulging him for the time being. His eyes flitted around slowly, trying to think. While it was kind of Sam to help him just because Rogers had said so, he knew that he still had to find a way to escape his current allies at some point.

"Yup." He nodded his assent. "He's tall, dark, and melodramatic as hell."

Percy let out a slight huff at that. Melodramatic? Him? He didn't know whether to feel insulted or amused. "Well thanks." He muttered mutinously under his breath, earning him an amused grin in return, much to his surprise. "Where are we going anyway?" He finally asked, risking a glance over his shoulder. He knew that he had lost them a while ago, but still. He didn't know if Iron Man would come flying out of nowhere again.

"To safety." He said with a shrug. He too was scanning his gaze around attentively, his hand resting on the gun holstered at his side. "We're close now."

"Close to where?"

"Our getaway vehicle, of course. I hope you're fit, 'cause we're about to climb a lot of stairs." He turned into a large parking lot and led the dark haired teenager to the emergency staircase situated towards the middle.

"I'll be fine." He promised shortly, fighting the urge to slam Sam's head into a wall and sprint away. He didn't like this. He didn't like having to rely on people for survival. And he definitely didn't like how open and friendly he was being. What was with team 'Cap' and trusting random people they meet? Didn't they know any better? He just let out a long, drawn out sigh and followed him up the staircase, taking them two at a time.

What Sam had promised to be a lot of stairs were only five levels of them. Five. He could probably run up them in just over a minute if he wanted to. The bird themed hero was huffing slightly though by the time they made it to the top. "I told you."

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his lips without meaning to. "Yeah, you sure did." He humoured him. Why not? He was helping him, after all. He pushed open the door leading to the top floor of the lot and the two of them stepped out.

Percy blinked a few times at the sight of a large black aircraft taking up multiple parkings spaces. The roof itself was empty of other cars, which he supposed was either smart, lucky, or both, since no civilians would be able to see it then. His eyes raked over the jet like vehicle as he walked towards it slowly. He'd never seen anything like it. With its triangular shapes and circular angles, it looked far more advanced than anything that he had ever seen before. Even Quinjets had nothing compared to this.

Sam seemed to catch his undoubtedly surprised look because he chuckled and headed towards it. "Pretty cool, huh?" The bay door slowly swung open with a soft hiss of air, revealing an almost luxurious interior. Odd, seeing as it was obviously a fighter aircraft. Sam didn't hesitate in stepping aboard. Percy took a little longer to enter though, his body tense and his mind whirring with possibilities. This could be a trap. And if it was, he probably wouldn't be able to escape once aboard. "The Royal Talon Flyer. Courtesy of one cat obsessed man." That caught his attention, from where he stood at the entrance, still not going inside just yet. Cat obsessed? What?

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to talk about a king like that." A feminine voice reminded Sam, who was busy taking his goggles off.

His blood seemed to stop in his veins when the speaker leaned out of her chair to look towards the two of them. Intense green eyes met his own a few seconds later, the sight of her face sending an electrifying jolt through his body. While her hair had changed and had been dyed blonde from it's previous brilliant red colour, he could still identify her immediately. Natalia Romanova. Or as most people currently knew her, Natasha Romanoff. Ex-assassin from the Red Room. Someone that he had only met a few times, but each time had been unpleasant for the both of them.

But, for once in his life, Percy could thank his lucky stars. She didn't seem to recognize him. Her eyes flickered over his face, then shifted back towards Sam, her expression never changing. He let out the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding, finally stepping forward and into the jet uncertainly. He'd definitely have to keep a wary eye out on her. Just in case. After all, if you let your guard down for even a second, you could be dead moments later. He knew that better than most.

"King?" He asked, finally speaking up again. He made sure to keep his tone sounding curious instead of the usual demanding, almost interrogating way he spoke when he wanted to know something. There was nothing that would trigger Natalia's suspicious more than that at the moment. Natasha's? Natalia's? He almost shook his head to dislodge the questioning thought. He didn't need to be focusing on what to call her.

"Mhm." Sam hummed in agreement, looking out the aircraft and over the parking lot, as if expecting someone. Oh. Steve and Wanda, of course. This was their 'getaway vehicle' after all. "T'Challa's actually a pretty chilled dude. You know, when he's not trying to arrest you and your friends."

T'Challa. King of Wakanda. Black Panther.

Oh god this was all going downhill so fast. He should've known better than to help Wanda. He should've abandoned her, threat or no threat. That was the start of the trouble, she was the start of her trouble. Well perhaps not the very start, but still the cause of the mess he was in now nonetheless. He ran his fingers through his windswept hair. Maybe now would be a good time to just disappear-

"Natasha, start liftoff!" All three people in the jet flinched at the voice that shattered through the air, turning to look at the source. Steve and Wanda were sprinting towards them as if hell itself was hot on their heels. The vehicle hummed to life under his feet immediately and he automatically leaned a hand against the wall to remain steady as the jet shifted. Steve reached them first and leapt aboard with ease. Closer up, Percy could see cuts and bruises littering his body. The sight made him want to wince. This was all his fault. He peered out of the slowly closing bay doors at Wanda, silently willing her to run faster. Without thinking he reached out, his other hand gripping onto the edge of the opening.

"Come on!" He near yelled, his voice taking on a more authoritative tone without him even noticing. Wanda grabbed onto his hand and he heaved backwards, pulling her inside just as the jet lifted off of the ground and started moving. She almost doubled over, panting tiredly and her breaths coming in great heaves. The door slid closed and he let go of the killer grip he had had on it.

"That was... That was too close."

"All right everyone, time to sit down and strap in. We've got a long flight ahead of us."

Percy patted Wanda's shoulder absentmindedly, as if reassuring her, then moved away to sit down on one of the luxurious, yet futuristic looking seats. He frowned slightly at the much too comfortable chair, shifting around. In his experience-well, what he could remember of it-travelling by plane wasn't always pleasant. Majority of the time he had used fighter jets to get to and from missions, and those journeys were never enjoyable.

He squeezed his eyes shut and clutched at the belt tied securely around his waist with clammy palms. The shuddering and shaking plane around him made his stomach lurch and a sick feeling rise up in the back of his throat. A soft, almost keening whine escaped his mouth, unnoticeable to all but one person. A barking laugh erupted from right next to him, making him flinch and open his eyes in a slight squint to see what the cause of the noise was. The man next to him, his handler at the time, was grinning from ear to ear, eyes alight with a vicious amusement.

"What's wrong, soldat? Afraid of a little height?"

He snapped his eyes open, a rush of flashing memories passing through his mind. He lifted a hand to his nose, thankfully not feeling anything yet.

He could remember hating that particular handler with every single fibre of his being. More so than the others. Especially when he had gone running to his supervisors all too eagerly to tell them that their 'perfect weapon' was afraid of flying. That following week-or month, really. He couldn't exactly tell how much time had passed by, but every moment had been truly awful anyway. Every single thing about it. He'd been forced to relive his terror over and over and over again, until he finally thought he was going to break. Wiped so many times that even his primal fear had been washed away along with his memories. The one thing he had been petrified about his entire life no longer even affected him. The anchor that kept him human destroyed. None of his fears ever lasted long, in fact.

And neither did that handler of his.

He tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder, quickly glancing over to find Wanda frowning at him, something akin to concern pinching at her features. "Are you all right?"

His eyes ran over her form for a few seconds, an eyebrow raising at her appearance. Her clothes were scruffier and dirtier than usual, and she had a few bruises already forming. "I should be asking you the same thing."

She rolled her eyes, buckling herself into the seat next to his. "I'm fine."

"If you say so." He shifted in his seat again, copying her and strapping himself down. The gentle rocking of the jet didn't faze him at all.

Those... flashbacks, memories, whatever they were, were happening much more frequently lately. Perhaps Hydra's-or S.HI.E.LD's-hold over him had finally been broken. He wouldn't dare test that theory however.

"Where are we going anyway?" He asked out loud for everyone to hear.

"Wakanda, of course." Steve answered him simply. "You'll be safe there. We all will."

His heart sank.

Oh no.

Wakanda?

The jet curved to the side, causing his fingers to automatically clench tightly against the arm rests and forget about his problem for the time being.

"Steve? We have a problem." Natasha's voice broke the comfortable silence that had hung over them. "We've got a tail."

Percy turned his seat to look towards the Captain, watching quietly as he ran his hands over his face. "Can you shake him?"

"Probably not. After all, this is Tony."

"Well... Try, at least. We can't let him follow us. Try get us into the clouds." He suggested. The Royal aircraft tilted upwards and sped up, trying to lose the ex-Avenger.

The sea eyed boy swung his chair back around again and closed his eyes. If Tony caught him... He didn't know what would happen. But he couldn't let it happen. He allowed his focus to expand outwards and into the clouds around them. He could feel the familiar tug in his gut and he grasped onto the feeling.

"It looks like a storm is gathering." Percy could hear the blonde woman's frown in her words alone. "That's weird, there were no signs, no warnings, nothing."

"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. Steer us into it. Maybe it will mess with his radars."

His eyebrows creased together, concentrating intensely on getting the storm to become stronger. He started to hear the rain hitting the window and the wind pick up. The Talon Flyer shuddered violently at a particularly strong piece of turbulence. Then again. Thunder cracked in the distance like the weapon of an angry god smashing down onto the earth. He could feel a gaze burning through him, but he didn't dare to open his eyes in fear of breaking his hold over the sudden storm.

"Hold on, everyone. This is going to get a bit bumpy."