"So, like… do you have a way to send me back?" Thalia asked after thanking him for cutting her free from Olympus. She looked hopeful. Cautious. Definitely not eager to hang around any longer than she had to.
Nathan scratched his cheek. "I mean, I got here flying. I could carry you—drop you off at the nearest city?"
Thalia's expression shifted immediately to horror. "No, no, no. I'm not flying anywhere."
Nathan blinked, then snorted.
'Right. Fear of heights. Forgot that detail.'
"So… you wanna walk out of the Grand Canyon?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Thalia gave him a look. "Can't you just woosh me back? You summoned me here with that freaky power, right? Do another woosh."
She even did the hand gesture.
Nathan looked deeply unimpressed.
"Nope. That transformation isn't exactly... stable. I'm not risking turning into Space Jesus again just to play delivery service."
Thalia frowned. "Don't you have any transformation that can teleport?"
"Oh, sure. Two, actually. One needs a ton of power to open portals, and the other can only teleport myself. So, unless you're planning on being fused into my spine, those won't help much."
[It is suggested that you do not reveal information about your transformations so freely.]
Raphael chimed in, the voice crisp and ever-disapproving.
Nathan mentally winced.
'Right. Classified superhero secrets. My bad, Raph.'
But then he sent a thought across.
'You got a better idea? How do we get her outta here without triggering a panic attack or hiking a hundred miles?'
[Knock her unconscious and carry her using the Homelander transformation.]
Nathan paused.
'...Seriously?'
[It is efficient.]
'Fair enough. There's a reason you're the Lord of Wisdom and I'm just the guy with the glowy wristwatch.'
Out loud, he said, "Alright, I've got a plan. Just gotta wait for the Omnitrix to recharge. Few minutes."
To pass the time, Nathan pulled out a bottle from his Traveller's Bag and took a swig. It tasted like chilled lemonade. Refreshing.
"Want some?" he offered, holding it out to Thalia.
She took it and drank, visibly relaxing. "This is actually amazing. Why do you have lemonade in your apocalypse adventurer kit?"
"Hack if I know," Nathan muttered. "The bottle's magic. Gives you what you need most. Emotionally or physically."
Thalia raised a brow. "So one time you were emotionally in need of lemonade?"
"No. One time it gave me cough syrup. I spat it out. I wasn't even sick."
She laughed. "That bottle needs therapy."
Nathan smiled slightly. The quiet moments like this—the awkward calm after chaos—were underrated.
"So," he asked, watching the Omnitrix's slow blinking, "what's your plan now that you've dumped the world's most dysfunctional divine family?"
Thalia leaned back against a sun-warmed rock, eyes distant but not haunted. "Honestly? No idea. I've been running since I was a kid. Olympus was just another leash."
She paused, then continued more softly, "I'll probably visit Percy and Annabeth. They're in school now—trying the normal life thing. Maybe I should too. Or maybe I'll just become a wandering magician. Mist won't hide me anymore, and I still have my powers. Might as well own it."
She smiled as she talked, the kind that came with weight lifted.
Nathan checked the Omnitrix. The dial pulsed green.
Time's up.
He stood. "Cool plan."
Then, with no warning, he transformed into Homelander—the red cape fluttering behind him like a flag of dominance.
Thalia turned just in time to see him raise a hand.
"Wait—"
Chop.
She crumpled to the ground, unconscious but unharmed.
Without a word, Nathan scooped her up in one arm and launched into the sky. A sonic boom echoed behind him as he rocketed across the country—heading for New York.
As Nathan landed in the garden of his house, he didn't bother hiding it. With Raphael blocking all cameras and the world already used to all kinds of supernatural chaos, one more flying man carrying an unconscious girl wasn't even worth a shrug anymore.
"Oye, you kidnapping girls now?" Jessica called out from the porch, arms crossed, lips curved in a teasing smile.
"Yup," Nathan grinned. "Since you're the superheroine, I figured I'd play the supervillain."
He carried Thalia inside and gently placed her on a guest bed.
"We were kinda stuck at the Grand Canyon," he explained as he adjusted her head on the pillow. "She's afraid of heights, so I had to knock her out to fly her out."
Jessica snorted. "No need to explain, bebé. Just don't forget about me when you're bringing other girls home."
Nathan chuckled. "Forget you? I like my lungs intact, thanks."
Jessica winked. "Good answer. Keep 'em coming."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're in a good mood today. Something happen?"
"Yup," she said, stepping into the room with a bounce in her step. "You know how I've been doing the whole superhero gig for a while now? Well, today I got approached by this guy—Nick Fury. Looks like he stepped out of a spy movie. Bald, eyepatch, talks like he's chewing gravel."
Nathan blinked. "Oh, that guy."
"Apparently he works high up in the government and wants to build a superhero team. Said he's keeping an eye on people like me. If I work with him, maybe I won't have to keep hiding my face or running from Hydra."
He smiled, but his mind drifted elsewhere.
'Yeah… SHIELD is practically marinating in Hydra agents right now.'
Still, Raphael had advised patience. Exposing Hydra after the Battle of New York would cause maximum damage and give the Avengers an early sense of purpose.
So Nathan just said, "Sounds like progress."
A few minutes later, they headed to the bedroom—both of them needing a long, hot shower. One thing led to another, and the shower turned into something far steamier than originally planned.
---
About half an hour later, Thalia groaned softly and opened her eyes, wincing at the dull ache at the back of her head.
"That fucker… well, at least I didn't have to experience flying," she muttered, sitting up slowly.
The room was unfamiliar—clean, cozy, definitely not a hotel or hospital. She got to her feet and crept toward the hallway, moving with cautious steps, instincts still sharp.
She spotted what looked like a kitchen and headed that way, suddenly aware of how thirsty she was… until her ears caught a strange sound.
Rhythmic. Repetitive. Human.
She slowed down, frowning as she stepped closer to the bedroom next to the kitchen.
And then it clicked.
Her eyes widened, and her face went red.
"Are you kidding me?" she whispered to herself, backing away quickly.
Inside the room, Nathan had already sensed her movement the moment she woke up. His magical awareness covered the house like a sixth sense—but he was far too occupied with his "ongoing, in-depth research into the origin of humanity" to do anything about it.
Raphael didn't even comment. Probably out of professional courtesy.
Thalia, now thoroughly embarrassed, decided it was best not to disturb two people clearly enjoying themselves. Instead, she made her way toward the garden she'd glimpsed earlier through the window.
Fresh air.
Distance.
Sanity.
All very necessary.
Nathan stepped out into the garden, freshly showered and lazily toweling his hair as Jess trailed behind, still drying hers with a grin that hadn't quite left her face. The evening sun painted the sky in golds and oranges, and the air held that calm post-rain energy—a moment of peace before New York remembered to be noisy again.
They spotted Thalia by the far corner of the garden, leaning on the railing, her arms crossed loosely as she watched the sky. Her jacket was back on, her spiky black hair catching the breeze. She turned when she heard them, blinking once—and immediately looked away, a faint red tint brushing her cheeks.
Jessica raised a brow, catching it. She didn't say anything, but her smirk faltered for a second as memory caught up with her. Right… that was definitely within earshot. She cleared her throat and straightened her posture a bit more.
Thalia looked anywhere but at them.
"Hey," Nathan called, breaking the tension. "You're up. Feeling alright?"
"Neck hurts, ears scarred, but I'm alive. So I guess that's a win," Thalia muttered with a smirk that didn't quite mask her embarrassment.
Jessica, hands behind her back, gave a casual smile. "Sorry about… the noise. We weren't expecting guests."
"I figured," Thalia said dryly, not looking at her. The silence that followed was thick but not hostile—just awkward. And kind of funny.
Nathan decided not to let it drag on.
"You eaten yet?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
Thalia hesitated. "Uh… no. It's getting late anyway. I was gonna head out."
"You can stay for dinner if you want," he offered, shrugging like it was no big deal. "I'll order takeout. Neither of us feels like cooking."
Thalia blinked at him, a little surprised, then glanced toward the city skyline. She didn't exactly want to impose… but she didn't want to wander New York with no cash either.
"Sure. Why not." She sat down at the edge of the patio. "I'm starving."
Nathan gave a thumbs-up and walked back inside to place the order.
Dinner came fast—some solid Thai food, all spice and steam and clinking utensils. The three sat around the kitchen island, but the air was just as tense as before. Thalia picked at her noodles, Jess focused very hard on her curry, and Nathan sat between them like a guy stuck between two radio towers broadcasting static at each other.
Occasionally, their eyes would meet—and immediately veer off like magnets repelling each other. At one point, Thalia almost knocked over her drink reaching for the chili sauce. Jess didn't laugh. But her mouth twitched.
Finally, after what felt like hours of chopstick tap-dancing, Thalia set her container down and cleared her throat. "Uh… could you book me a cab or something?" she asked Nathan. "Percy's place is in Manhattan. I should probably crash there tonight."
Nathan stood. "Nah, I'll drive you. Don't worry about it."
Thalia frowned. "You sure? Isn't traffic gonna be—?"
He was already walking toward the hallway. "Trust me. It'll be quick."
Ten minutes later, they were in the garage.
Thalia paused mid-step when she saw it. "...The hell is that?"
The Tumbler sat there like a small tank had fused with a sports car—matte black, angular, and completely out of place in a residential home.
Nathan tapped a button on his key fob and the canopy slid open with a sharp mechanical hiss.
"This," he said, climbing in, "is the car."
Thalia circled it once, eyebrows raised. "Right. Totally normal. Not suspicious at all."
She hopped into the passenger seat and ran a hand along the dash. "Feels like I'm in a movie set or a heist. If this thing starts climbing walls, I'm jumping out."
Nathan smirked, flipping a few switches. "No promises."
The engine roared to life, deep and guttural, making the floor vibrate. As they pulled out onto the quiet evening streets, the Tumbler moved like it owned the road.
Thalia glanced at the controls, then out the window. "You know, this is the kind of ride that makes people ask questions. And not polite ones."
"Good thing I don't answer many," Nathan said, eyes on the road.
Thalia smirked, leaning back in the seat. "Still. Beats the hell out of a yellow cab."
They drove in companionable silence, broken only by the occasional honk or the Tumbler's low rumble echoing through the street.
No tension. No music. Just city lights flashing across the windshield—and Thalia trying very hard not to grin every time they took a sharp turn like they were in a chase scene.
[Loki has come to Earth. He's in the SHIELD headquarters right now, trying to steal the Tesseract,] Raphael, who had been monitoring everything, informed him.
"Seriously, Raph, if it wasn't for you insisting, I'd go there right now and stop Loki before he does anything—stop the Battle of New York from happening altogether," Nathan replied to Raphael.
Yet he didn't show any reaction to Thalia, sitting next to him in the Batmobile.
A/n: It has come to my attention that people are quite upset that Athena used what was originally Nathan's and that it should not be possible etc.
I will clarify this, the Shop sells product and what happens after you've gotten is not something it brothers with, the things gotten from Shop are things other Shop holders and organisations's products, these are not all powerful or extremely secure. For example if Tommorow Nathan's Space Ring get's stolen, not just anyone can open it as it has security and ownership by blood etc, still if someone who has enough knowledge and powers about stuff, they can directly take things from it or even bypass the ownership. Hack even Acquired Card can be undone or undermined by reality Manipulators.
Next argument is that Nathan should have gotten it back. He tired, but did not find it, it's within the chapter. He could have asked the Olympians when he threatened them but he doesn't have enough control over Orion Transformation to actually stay there and demand things from them, or he wouldn't have minded looting the whole place down.
Lastly, things like this will happen, Nathan is not overpowered, this Multicross is full of extremely powerful people, he will face loses.