Bucky Barnes had many questions, for himself and others. Despite his flirty nature with Percy and Tony, he felt lost and very small in the world when he wasn't being controlled. He didn't like being controlled, just the mere thought of going through that pain again made him want to throw up and cry all at the same time. He wasn't as talkative with the Avengers as he was with Percy Jackson. There was just something about the demigod that made him open up a bit, if only to tell him what a complete moron he was.

There was also the problem he had with Steve. The problem was that there wasn't a problem. His childhood best friend actively searched for him for so long, only to not even really react when he saw him sitting in the on the couch with two of his teammates. The punk just offered him a box of pizza- not the he didn't accept it, of course.

"Hey, Stevie," Bucky walked inside the kitchen to find his best friend making sandwiches for himself and Clint, who was sitting on top of the dining table.

Steve looked up, raising an eyebrow, "What's up?"

"When you first saw me, why did you act like everything was normal? You didn't even act like I'd run."

"Percy was next to you."

"So?"

The blonde gave him an unimpressed look that eerily resembled Tony's, "Do you really think Loki stayed here willingly at first?"

"It's called the Percy Effect," Clint chimed in happily, taking a bite out of the sandwich the super soldier offered him.

"That sounds stupid," Bucky deadpanned, crossing his arms.

The archer pointed at him with his food, "Yet you've been here for four days already and you have your own room."

His arms dropped to his sides, "...Shit." Bucky took off out of the kitchen, but not before stealing his best friend's sandwich right as he was about to take a bite out of it. He almost wanted to cackle when he heard the wounded noise that sounded behind him. "'xcuse me, uh, JARVIS? Can you take me to where Percy is?"

"Certainly, Seregeant Barnes."

Bucky couldn''t help but have a moment of stunned awe when the A.I. responded to him quickly, opening the elevator doors for him. If there was one thing that he never truly forgot, it was his love for technology. It was amazing to know that someone was able to create something so wonderful, to essentially give them their own life as if they were always meant to belong. "You're awesome."

"Thank you for your kind words. Shall I bring you down to the floor Mr. Jackson is on?"

"Yes, please. Is anyone else with him?"

"Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Mr. Di Angelo, and Maurice are currently with Mr. Jackson playing a card game."

"Perfect," Bucky couldn't help but give a small smile. "I've been meaning to give something to Maurice anyway."

Maurice, by far, had to be his favorite Avenger in the Tower. At first, Bucky wasn't sure if he really could consider the adorable Roomba as a superhero until he saw the robot eat Thor's shoe when the god dared to bump into him. Apparently, Maurice had also taken a liking to Bucky as well, following him around and nudging his leg carefully until he was picked up and allowed to cuddle with the shoulder. He was like a metal cat in a way and Bucky absolutely adored him.

"Percy Jackson!" Bucky stormed over to the man (after thanking JARVIS, of course), his eyes gleaming with his 'murder glare.' "Just how long have I been here?!" As he demanded answers, he crouched down and pulled out a small sheet of stickers, holding it out to Maurice.

Tony watched as the man interrogated his boyfriend as to how he didn't notice that he had been in the Tower for days already while putting any stickers Maurice pointed at with his tiny claw on the robot's body. It was disgustingly adorable.

"Just accept it, sweetheart," Percy said in what was probably supposed to be a soothing voice but reminded Bucky of a serial killer going in for the kill.

"There's no escaping it," Bruce decided to add, holding his Uno cards close to his chest as he peered down at them, making his glasses slip down the bridge of his nose.

Without even looking, the son of Poseidon pushed the scientist's glasses up while, somehow, placing down one of his Uno cards, "Skipped you, Neeks."

"Oh, good," The son of Hades sighed in relief. "I had nothing."

Bucky figured his questions weren't going to be answered anymore, so he decided to lay down next to Maurice and wait until the game was over so he could play too.

Later that evening, the soldier realized that he had backed down too easily and cursed himself for not trying harder. He knew, though, that it would all be for nothing because Tony had leaned over to say quietly to him, the genius' brown eyes taking in all the laughing faces around them, "Why would you want to leave?"

And that was that.

--

"Alright," The next morning, Percy pulled his cousin to the side before the son of Hades could join the others for breakfast. "I've let you rest last night. That's enough of that. Why are you here, Di Angelo?"

Nico pointed to the elevator, gesturing for his cousin to follow, "Annabeth wanted me to deliver something to you. She's been doing a lot of reading in Elysium- she never really stops, actually- and she told me to give you this book she came across. It's in the room your boyfriend let me stay in."

"Must be important," Percy acknowledged as he opened the door to the guest bedroom. "She never asks me to read anything. Greek?"

"Greek," Nico confirmed. "I'll have to tell her about Kronos, though."

"Don't," The son of Poseidon said, already opening the book to one of the marked pages. "At least not yet." His face was dark as he snapped the reading material closed. "We have a quest to go on."

The son of Hades nodded slowly, knowing better than to go against his cousin when he spoke seriously. Percy would just go on whatever quest he was planning alone. "Quests are always in threes."

Percy pulled out his phone, already dialing a number, "I have someone in mind."

The call connected.

"Peter Parker here."

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Words: 1,060

Song: Guns and Ships (Hamilton)

This chapter's pretty short but the next one is most definitely going to be long!

And that's all you're getting as a hint.

-- Yuki :D