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Chapter Text

Hera’s little hero was hurt. Very hurt. His current foster mother had just finished hurting him so much that he couldn’t walk, could barely talk, could only curl into a little ball in the closet and cry.

Perhaps Hera had miscalculated.

She sent him to homes like this with a purpose– it made him stronger, for he would need to be strong, the fate of the world depended on it.

But… this might have been too far.

With his muffled sobs echoing in her ears, she sent earth’s healers with their loud, shiny cars to Teresa’s house, alerting them of little Leo’s presence in the closet. When they arrived, Leo curled further in, their assurances falling on death ears as he cried and cried in terror. 

Alright, Hera had definitely miscalculated.

She watched Leo recover in the hospital, his body regaining some of its strength. This was supposed to be the part where he got back up.

But Leo never did. He stayed in the hospital bed, letting the nurses fuss over him, even though normally he would be up and out the window as soon as he could limp. But Leo didn’t seem to be planning to get up at all– all he did was watch the adults tending to him with weary eyes. 

And Hera started to worry that Teresa had done more than break his bones. She worried that Teresa had gotten further in, and broken Leo’s spirit.

This world was getting dangerous for Leo. Monsters were stirring, and in his current state, Leo would do nothing to fight them. 

Hera needed him up and moving, ready to fight back, and safe.

So she sent him somewhere where she knew he’d get support. 

Chapter Text

Leo didn’t want to be here. 

He didn’t know these people and he didn’t trust them. They acted nice enough, sure– but he’d fallen for that before. 

They had three kids, Eugene, Mary, and Freddy. Eugene was quiet. Mary acted like a normal kid. Freddy had wide eyes and a crutch and flinched at loud noises. He was clearly being abused. Leo never heard anything, but he knew that grown-ups could be quiet when they wanted. 

Victor and Rosa acted kind and sweet and did everything right, but that wasn’t enough. Leo was certain that he was too far into the system– he’d never get into a good house, just places that got worse and worse. He’d blown any chance he had of somewhere nice and was now descending deeper and deeper into the pit of vipers. 

He had told Victor and Rosa that he wanted space and they had listened, so for the first few weeks he stayed up in his room, coming down for food and nothing else, storing up energy bars in his backpack, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Now school was starting. 

Smile, Leo, he told himself, make jokes. Laugh.  

But for some reason, he couldn’t. 

All he could think about, walking down the halls with his fingertips barely showing from his too-large ( safe ) hoodie, was the noise. It was so loud. There were so many people. Boys who were twice as tall as him shoving each other into lockers, girls pushing past him with their laughter echoing in his ears, teachers telling him to put down his hoodie, kid, put down your hoodie, are you even listening–?

Oh. They were talking to him. Leo pulled down his hoodie and pretended he didn’t exist. 

Freddy nudged him– how long had he been besides Leo? “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Leo mumbled. He didn’t have anything against Freddy, in fact, he kind of felt bad for him, but Freddy would want nothing to do with Leo– in the foster system, you look after yourself and nobody else, because nobody else will ever look after you. None of Leo’s foster siblings had ever wanted to be around him. The only one who’d actually tolerated his presence was a kid his age, who’d been running away since he was five and had taught him how to really run away and stay safe while doing it. Nobody else liked Leo. Some of them had hurt Leo. Freddy would want nothing to do with Leo. 

“Okay,” Freddy said, his fingers playing with his hoodie zipper. Freddy was nine, like Leo, and small for his age, but Leo was even smaller. 

Leo kept his head down and went to class.

And that was his new strategy–keep his head down and go to class and not draw attention, not ever. He didn’t have it in him to joke around. With all the noise around him, he barely had it in him to not burst into tears. 

His strategy worked wonderfully for all of half the day, until recess. How was he supposed to keep his head down and go to class during recess? 

Leo prayed the other kids wouldn’t ask him to do four square or tag or something. He didn’t want them touching him. He didn’t want anyone touching him. His ribs still ached from Teresa and his heart still ached from everything else. Quick, look busy.

Leo hurriedly scanned the playground, taking in the screaming kids and crying kids and teachers trying to keep order. Freddy was there, sitting on the curb, drawing, his nose scrunched up in concentration. 

Leo didn’t want to bother him and risk making anything worse. 

But he knew that teachers targeted kids who were alone, so maybe, if he sat near Freddy, nobody would bother Leo, either. 

“We don’t have to talk,” he promised as soon as Freddy looked up. “I just don’t want to play with anyone right now.”

Leo sat down half a foot away from Freddy and pulled out his math book, his shoulders unwillingly hunching up. He tried to pretend Freddy wasn’t there but it was really hard to do because what if Freddy was glaring at him or disgusted with him or tolerating him but secretly wanting him to leave–?

“That’s algebra,” Freddy said, “right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah,” Leo said, his hands covering it a little more. It wasn’t actually his book– it was a high school book that he’d nabbed from lost and found that morning, and had been working through it in the back of class since then, just to do something. He was about a quarter done. 

“Wow,” Freddy said, impressed. And then he added, “did you know the origin of algebra can be traced to the Ancient Babylons? And also, Ancient Babylons had bride auctions.”

Leo stared at him.

Freddy shrunk in on himself and muttered, almost too quiet to hear, “sorry.”

“Bride auctions?” Leo repeated incredulously, almost speaking over him. “Seriously? Just like– ‘and that’s fifty dollars from the man in white, here’s a wife!’”

Freddy grinned, revealing a missing front tooth. “Yeah. They also sacrificed their babies.”

“Same,” Leo said. Freddy giggled, and Leo felt a bit more like himself again. 

Leo sat in the back of math class, trying desperately not to fall asleep. His math worksheet was boring– just basic multiplication and division, not even worth completing, so instead of using his worksheet he began folding it into a cool paper airplane that could make it clear across the school with half a swish. He’d finished the algebra book already and was sorely missing it. 

He glanced at the clock– it had only been three minutes, and they had twenty minutes to finish the sheet. How was he supposed to survive this class for a year?

The next day, at recess, Leo sat next to Freddy again. It was impossible to miss the way Freddy’s face brightened at seeing him, and Leo smiled a little, feeling warm inside. Maybe Freddy really did like him.

“What are you drawing?” he asked.

Freddy grinned and showed Leo his notebook. “Batman and Robin.”

“ Batman?” Leo repeated incredulously. He’d never heard of the guy. “What kind of name is that?”

“I think it’s cool,” Freddy said.

Leo looked at the picture closer. “Is that really what he looks like?”

Freddy nodded. “It looks really scary at night. He can blend in with the shadows. How have you not heard of Batman?”

Leo shrugged. “I don’t keep up with the news, I guess.”

“Huh,” Freddy said. “Well, Batman is–”

And for the rest of recess, Leo didn’t have to say a word. 

Leo quietly fidgeted with his things in the back of history class. He smiled with satisfaction as the electric circuit in his desk sparked through the wire and made the disk rumble around in Leo’s desk. A mini-roomba. Leo was so proud. 

“–Leo!” said his history teacher, and Leo flinched back into the real world. No, no, he had promised himself to stop doing this! He hadn’t even realized he was doing this!–

“Um, yes?” he asked meekly. 

“Can you remind the class what Napoleon’s influence was on France?” the teacher asked.

He sat up a little straighter and said, “um, isn’t Napoleon an ice cream?”

“You’re popular today,” Freddy observed as the fifth person nodded to Leo and Freddy when they walked down the hall. 

“Made a joke in history class,” Leo mumbled, folding his piece of paper in on itself. “I guess people liked it.”

“Cool.” Freddy watched Leo’s hands move swiftly across the paper. “What are you making?”

Leo attached the rubber band to the spine of his creation and let it loose. The paper bat flitted to life, flapping halfway across the playground before it lost momentum and fell to the ground. “That.”

Freddy gaped– “That’s so cool!” –and Leo allowed himself to smile. 

“Make a robin,” Freddy begged. “Please make a Robin.”

See, here’s the thing: Leo was determined to do better this time. He knew what the teachers said, without fail, at every other school– he’s smart, but needs to apply himself. He can’t sit still. He doesn’t speak up in class. He speaks up too much. He jokes around too much. He makes fun of teachers. He makes fun of everything. He needs to settle down. He needs to apply himself. He needs to work harder. 

This time, he was going to work harder. He'd apply himself for real. At the very least, he was going to stop fidgeting. Stop making a scene. Stop complaining and asking when class would be over. And also –now that he didn’t feel like crying every five seconds– he was going to pay attention in class. 

So Leo fixed his eyes on the dry-erase board in spelling. He followed along as she talked about words like mnemonic and pterodactyl and pneumonia and scissors. He wondered why people tacked on those random letters at the beginning– did they just do it to sound more important? Or was it because of some sort of shift between languages, when words adapted from, like, Latin to English, they kept some things and changed others? 

“Leo!”

At the very familiar cry, Leo sat up straight, training his eyes harder on the board. But he’d been watching it the whole time– why couldn’t he remember any of what was said?

“Sorry,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. 

Science was probably his favorite class. At least in lab he got to have a little fun. His teacher taught them how to make putty and stuff.

But Leo kept finishing faster than the other kids, which meant his mind would start wondering. Which meant his hands would start wondering. Which meant trouble.

His hands wondered right over to the benson burner, and Leo accidentally started a minor fire.

“Somehow, you weren’t hurt,” huffed the school nurse. Story of his life. “But you’ve got to be more careful.”

“It was just a benson burner,” Leo mumbled, trying not to cry. “Can I go now?”

“To the principle’s office, yes,” the nurse said, and Leo stiffened, all thoughts of his mom and fire going out of his mind. 

Because if they were calling the principle, then next they’d call– 

They’d call–

Chapter Text

Rosa power-walked through the school, trying to wrangle her expression into something pleasent. She didn’t want to scare Leo.

But when she walked into the principle’s office, it was clear the damage had already been done. Leo looked two inches tall in the giant chair in the principle’s office, hunched in on himself, tears swimming in his eyes. He glanced at Rosa as she came in, and his breath hitched. He turned away, but not before Rosa saw the tears trickling down his cheeks.

Usually Rosa had a better affect than Victor when it came to calming down kids– Victor was harmless as a teddy bear but, well, big. Leo seemed scared of everyone. Rosa marked that down for future reference.

For now, she just sat in the other chair and asked, “what happened?”

“Leo here has been acting up in class for a while now,” said the principle, who Rosa had never liked. Leo shuddered in his seat. “He never sits still, he barely answers questions when called on, and he spaces out repeatedly. It’s never been enough to warrant an official visit, but now his teachers are pointing out that he’s not even doing the basic schoolwork.”

“Math, especially, is a problem,” said the lady in the other chair, who Rosa recognized as the math teacher, Mrs. McIntire or something like that. “In the other classes, he can be engaged if called on. But in math, he never even picks up the worksheet.”

“And not only that, he’s also been playing with other student’s things,” said the principal. He lugged out a thick algebra book, probably high school or college level. “We found him scribbling in this earlier– it’s one of our intern’s, she lost it a few weeks ago. He’s written all over the pages, and now it’s unusable.”

“Leo has so much potential, he’s just not applying himself,” said Mrs. McIntire. 

The principle nodded. “We think we should consider disciplinary actions–”

They said it all so fast that Rosa had a bit of whiplash, but next thing she knew, Leo was bolting out the door. 

Rosa caught up with him quickly, finding him curled up underneath the water fountain crevice, crying and trying to muffle the noise. 

“Cariño, are you okay?” she asked, crouching next to him. 

Leo just flinched away and curled in on himself further. “I– I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Rosa said soothingly, but Leo didn’t seem to even process that.

“I’m sorry, I swear,” Leo said with a hiccup. “I didn’t– didn’t want to cause trouble. I really, really tried to sit still and pay attention in class, but I just–” his breath hitched on a sob. “I can’t–”

“Leo, sweetheart, it’s okay,” Rosa promised. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Stop lying!” Leo hissed, then flinched. “S-sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Rosa insisted. “I promise, Leo, I’m not going to touch you. I’ve never hurt any of my children.”

“Yeah?” Leo said, suddenly angry. “Then what about Freddy?”

Rosa blinked. “...What about Freddy?”

“He’s always so jumpy!” Leo said. “He’s scared of everything and he’s crippled! Don’t tell me you and Victor didn’t do that!”

“I– we didn’t,” Rosa said, bewildered. “I promise we didn’t. That was his biological father that did that.”

“But he’s been with you guys for years,” Leo said angrily. “Why isn’t he over it?”

“Well– well, Leo, healing doesn’t have a timetable,” Rosa said, because that was one of the first things she’d learned herself. “That’s not how it works. It might take Freddy his whole life to fully recover. I think having a new kid may have set him off a little. And also, for the record, he’s doing much, much better now than he was then.”

“But–” Leo fought back tears. “But why would you– I– nobody else–”

Leo paused, pressing his lips together, and didn’t continue.

“Leo, I promise, nobody in my house will lay a finger on you,” Rosa swore. “We haven’t so far. Ask Mary and Freddy and Eugene and they’ll tell you that we never have. Our records are spotless. We don’t hurt children, Leo.”

“But I’m me,” Leo whispered. “I mean– nobody likes me. I’m so far in the foster system that I just keep getting lower, because they give the good homes to new kids who actually stand a chance.”

“I think you deserve a second chance,” Rosa said, settling down against the wall. 

“I’m way past second chances,” Leo mumbled.

“Then you deserve a third, or a fourth, or however many you need,” Rosa promised. “Leo, we don’t have to go back now. We can go home if you want. But I can tell there’s more to the story than just what you’ve told me, so if you would like to present your case to the principal, I will make sure to back you up. It’s up to you.”

There was silence from Leo’s little hiding place.

And then he was crawling out, his hands fidgeting, his eyes red.

“We can go tell him,” he mumbled, and off they went. 

“I didn’t mean to not pay attention,” Leo whispered, all eyes on him. “It’s just so hard. But I try, I do, every day, and I just–”

“You just don’t seem to be applying yourself,” said Mrs. McIntire. “I mean, are you really trying? In math, you’ve never completed a single worksheet.”

“It’s just so boring,” Leo whined.

“I know a lot of kids think math is hard, but really if you–”

“It’s not hard!” Leo cried. “I already know all this stuff! It’s boring!”

“–keep up with the– I’m sorry, what?” said Mrs. McIntire.

Leo sniffled, crossed his arms, and said nothing. 

“...Even excluding math,” the principle said, “if you were really trying, Leo, you wouldn’t be making such a mess. I mean, fidgeting is one thing, but all those trinkets you leave lying around? The benson burner? And you were scribbling all over that math book.”

Leo mumbled something, and Rosa leaned closer. “What was that, dear?” 

“I said I wasn’t scribbling,” Leo repeated louder.

The principle and math teacher glanced at each other, confused, and Rosa suddenly had a suspicion.

“Grade the answers,” she said.

“What?” the math teacher replied.

“Grade it. The textbook.” Rosa gestured to the book. “I just want to check something.”

“Okay…” the math teacher said, raising her eyebrows but obligingly opening the textbook. There was a tense, silent two minutes while she worked through the first problem. When she finished, she frowned and did it again. Then she graded the second problem. Then the third, Leo getting more antsy with each minute that passed. Rosa tried to entertain him by quietly playing sticks with him, and he beat her easily. 

“Where did you get a copy of the answer sheet?” the math teacher blurted out in the middle of their third round. 

Leo froze, stick game forgotten. “Huh?”

“The questions.” she tapped Leo’s answers, written in crooked, bright blue letters. “They’re all correct.”

Leo nodded, confused. “I know.”

“So where did you get the answer sheet?” the math teacher persisted. 

Leo glanced at Rosa, shrinking down in his hoodie and looking like he didn’t know what to say. (Rosa was proud of him for looking for help.)

“Give him a question,” Rosa said, gesturing to the chalkboard. “A complicated one, yes?”

The math teacher realized what she was implying. “There’s no way Leo did all these problems. He can’t even finish a worksheet!”

“Just do it,” Rosa insisted, squeezing Leo’s hand for encouragement.

The math teacher glanced at the principle, who nodded. She sighed and pulled out her phone to find a textbook question, then wrote it on the board: solve for 2x-y=8 and x^2-7x-18=y.

Sighing again, she began to write out the multiple choice answers.

“x=10, y=12 and x=-1, y=-10,” Leo piped up before she got to the first one.

Rosa grinned.

Mrs. McIntire whirled around in shock. “How did you know that?”

“Well–” Leo faltered, then continued, “I mean, you just need to give the numerators the same base in 8x/2y, so if you make it 23 instead of 8 then it’ll be the same thing but with the right numerator, and then you can. You know. Rewrite it the right way.”

The teacher’s jaw dropped. She turned back to her phone and hurridly pulled up another math equation, this time just reading it aloud. “A group of friends decided to divide the $800 cost of a trip equally among themselves. When two of the friends decided not to go on the trip, those remaining still divided the $800 cost equally, but each friend’s share of the cost increased by $20. How many friends were in the group originally?”

Leo had to think about it for a second, his legs kicking since they didn’t reach the floor. “Ten.”

The math teacher sat down, hard. 

Her mouth opened and closed for a few minutes, until finally she said, “you’re smart?”

Leo shrugged, shrinking in again. “I don’t know…”

“Why didn’t you say that you knew the answers?” the principle said. 

Leo looked ready to cry. “I don’t know…”

“Never mind that.” Rosa smiled warmly at Leo. “You’re a little genius, Leo, you know that?”

Leo shrunk in further and mumbled, “thanks.”

“I think we’re done here,” Rosa said, standing and gently guiding Leo out.

“So… would you like to talk about this at a later date?” asked the principle, half-standing as well.

“No, I think we’re done here,” Rosa repeated, glaring at him. “Permanently. I’m withdrawing.”

Leo and Freddy whispered to each other in the backseat as Rosa cruised down the road, trying to calm herself. Within a few minutes, Freddy had Leo smiling, then giggling. He was a good kid. 

Upon realizing they weren’t heading home, Freddy perked up. “Where are we going?”

Rosa smiled to herself. “Well, I was thinking of dropping by the grocery store, but maybe we could go somewhere else…”

“BRAUM’S!” Freddy shrieked, taking his cue from the game they’d played for years. “Please, Rosa? Pleeeeaaase?”

And so Leo and Freddy sat on a bench outside Braum’s, racing against their ice cream to eat it before it dripped. Freddy was an expert at it, but Leo got bored with that and began biting his ice cream cone in as neat a line as possible. Rosa made a mental note to take him to a doctor. She was almost certain he had ADHD.

Leo mushed his mouth into the ice cream, then gave Freddy a big grin, sending him into peals of laughter. Rosa smiled. They would all be just fine. 

“He was so scared, Vic,” Rosa told her husband later, in the quiet of their room.

“Mm,” Victor murmured, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m sure you did fine.”

“I think I did,” Rosa replied. She sighed warily. “The poor kid. I don’t know if he’s ever had anyone to trust.”

“He’s got us,” Victor mumbled against her neck.

Rosa’s eyes watered. “But does he know that?”

Victor pressed her in closer. “He will.”

Leo stood outside their room, head to the door, tears streaming down his face. Parents always talked after things like this happened. He wanted to hear what they would say.

He’s got us, Victor had said. Leo had liked him, against his will, since the beginning. He was big and funny and cheerful, and there had been times–when Leo was in that strange confusion, unsure of if they hit Freddy or not–that Leo had wanted them to be friends. But there had been times that Leo had wanted other families to be friends, too.

He’s got us. Parents always talked after things like this happened. But Leo had only ever heard– do you think we can keep him? Are we ready for this? Should we send him back? –or worse.

Nobody had ever been this ready for him. This unquestioning support…

Leo’s heart flip-flopped inside of him, and all of a sudden that desperate urge to run, run, don’t let anyone close turned over on its head, and he ached to have someone hold him. It had been so long…

Leo’s fingers twitched on the doorknob. They wouldn’t hurt him. They’d care for him. Could he stay for them?

He was so tired of being on the edge. Before he could change his mind, Leo opened the door and went in.

Victor blinked awake as a little bundle shot into their bed and climbed between them. There was a moment of confusion where he tried to figure out which kid it was before he realized, with shock, it was Leo.

“Hey, bud,” he murmured, instinctively tossing an arm over him.

Leo shrunk in against his side. “I’m sleeping here tonight,” he announced, as if daring them to say otherwise.

Rosa, after a moment’s surprise, melted against him and kissed his forehead. 

“Of course you are,” she said, and smiled at Victor over Leo’s head. 

Victor smiled back. Sometimes trust was easier than he expected.

Chapter Text

Leo knelt over his backpack that he kept deep under his bed. It had everything he needed– duct tape, toothstuff, and a spare change of clothes. It was his runaway backpack. It used to have this old necklace of his mom’s, but Theresa took it away and Leo had never found it.

Leo added a copy of his prescriptions and files for his ADHD. (Leo had never heard of ADHD before Victor took him to the doctor and he got diagnosed with it, but once he understood it he wanted to cry. It made so much sense. Victor and Rosa hurried to tell him that he wasn’t broken and he wasn’t stupid, but there was no need because Leo felt nothing but relief at the fact that his inabilities were out of his control, his fidgeting wasn’t an active choice, and his wondering wasn’t his fault.)

Glancing over his shoulder, Leo added one more thing– a little teddy bear. He had gone to Bonkers with Freddy and Eugene today (Mary, at twelve, said she was too old). Eugene went straight for the play tunnels, which Freddy watched with a sour look, so Leo dragged Freddy over to the arcade and showed him how to hack it and win all the prizes. After thirty minutes they walked out with more stuffed animals than they could carry. Freddy was beaming and Leo was smiling pretty hard himself. 

The prize Freddy had been most fascinated with was a set of matching Batman and Superman teddy bears, so of course they’d blown three dollars playing the claw game until they got them. Freddy had Superbear and Leo had Batbear. 

All the other stuffed animals went on their beds, but Leo put Batbear in his backpack. He wasn’t planning to run away, not at all, but something was stopping him from relaxing completely. And if he did run away… he wanted to keep the memories. 

Mary gave him an awkward smile when he wondered into the kitchen. Rosa told Leo privately that people Mary’s age were going through a lot and Mary was stressed, so Leo had avoided her at first. He sometimes wanted to offer to help with her math, but didn’t want to come across as arrogant. 

So instead, he’d ask for her help.

“What are you making?” he asked, annoyed by the fact that though he was just three years younger than her and half a foot shorter.

“Taco stuff,” Mary answered. “The meat, right now.”

(She’d been very self-sufficient before she was fostered, Freddy said. Apparently that’s why she was fostered.)

Leo stuck his head over the counter. “Can I help?”

“Sure,” Mary said with only a little hesitation. “Are you old enough to be near the stove?”

Leo snorted. “Of course.”

Mary arched an eyebrow. “That’s exactly what you would say if you weren’t old enough.”

“Shut up and tell me what to do,” Leo said, grinning. Mary grinned back, and they worked together. 

(Victor declared their tacos the finest he’d ever tasted, which made both Leo and Mary feel condescended upon but secretly pleased.)

Leo grew a little older at the Vazques,’ let Eugene teach him video game stuff, helped Mary with math, and listened to Freddy rant about superheroes. And he gradually decided that this time, there was no need to keep his runaway backpack at backup. Maybe, this time, he’d stay. The idea was foreign to him, but not unwelcome.

He hadn’t quite gotten around to unpacking the backpack when he went to bed one night, Freddy talking cheerfully across the room from him.

“I wish I had superpowers,” Freddy chattered to Leo. “If you had one, what would it be?”

“I don’t want superpowers,” Leo said shortly, and Freddy gaped, sitting up in bed.

“Why not? They’re awesome!”

Leo shook his head. “It’s dangerous. How would you control them?”

“Superman and Batman can.”

“How do you know they always could?” Leo said. “What if Superman, like, accidentally took down a building before he figured it all out?”

“I doubt Superman did that,” Freddy scoffed. “He’s too smart.”

Leo humphed and rolled over, closing his eyes and listening to the rain patter-patter and pretending to sleep. If he was busy enough, sometimes he could forget about his own little power, that he hated so much. But it always came back to haunt him in the dark. 

Hera watched as Leo fell asleep, his little foster brother slumbering across from him. She frowned. Now she had the opposite problem– her little hero had grown too comfortable.

It was time for Leo to move on.

Hera barely flicked her finger, but that was all it took. Leo’s pillow caught on fire, and Hera watched with satisfaction as it began to spread, enveloping Leo and his bed, licking at the walls. 

That would get him out.

Freddy blinked awake, sniffing the air. It smelled like smoke.

Turning over sleepily, he glanced at Leo’s bed.

And shot awake. Leo’s bed was on fire. Leo was on fire.

“LEO!” he screamed, rolling out of bed with a thud . 

Leo shot up at once, and looked down. His eyes went wide– “no, no, no, no–” –and he fumbled out of bed, still on fire, grabbed his backpack from under the bed, and sprinted for the door. 

“Leo, wait!” Freddy cried, scrambling for his crutch and limping after him. “You’re on fire! Leo!”

“Fred?” Victor burst out of his room like a sleepy mother bear. “What happened, what’s wrong?”

“Leo’s running away!” Freddy cried hysterically. “And he’s on fire! And our room’s on fire!”

As Mary peeked out and Eugene stepped into the hallway, Rosa and Victor in silent agreement split up. Rosa grabbed the fire hydrant from her bedroom and went for Freddy’s room, and Victor ran out after Leo.

“Leo!” Victor pleaded, running after the kid down the street. It was raining, and his socks soaked up in the dirty puddles. “Wait up!”

Leo didn’t pause to look back, only running faster down the neighborhood and out towards the woods, never pausing or slowing down. Victor chased him all the way, breathless but refusing to give up.

Leo faltered at the edge of the forest, glancing back. He looked brokenhearted and defeated and not the slightest bit injured. 

“Bud, whatever’s happening, we can work through it,” Victor promised, walking to him slowly, arms held out as if to calm a skittish animal.

Leo shook his head and said, just barely heard over the rain, “I’m dangerous.”

“We can work through it,” Victor repeated. “I promise. Don’t strike out on your own, Leo.”

Steam wafted off Leo in gentle whisps. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I– I’m sorry. You’ve been nothing but good to me.”

Victor saw tears slipping down Leo’s cheeks. He took a step forward, and Leo stepped back, disappearing into the forest.

Victor ran on, but never found Leo. Of course he didn’t find Leo. Hera had slipped Leo back to his own realm, far out of reach from the Vasquezes and their little sanctuary. Leo had grown strong enough to fight again, but Hera couldn’t let him get too attached. Jason was more important. Leo needed to be willing give up his life, and if he believed he had a happy home to come to, he might not take the chance. 

Chapter Text

Leo wasn’t an idiot. He knew he wouldn’t survive this quest.

Jason thought they both could make it. Jason was hopeful and optimistic. Jason thought they might be interpreting it wrong. 

Jason was an idiot. Leo knew better. 

But if Jason knew what Leo was planning, he’d never let Leo go through with it. So Leo played along, and the two of them agreed that they’d do their best to both survive. 

Jason would hate Leo for lying about this. But Leo would be dead anyway.

At least, that was his original plan. Everyone who cared about Leo –Piper, Percy, the whole group– cared about Jason more. The only people who maybe liked Leo more than Jason were his siblings back in his cabin, but they’d get over it. They had other people. 

If Jason died, so many people would be crushed and broken.

If Leo died, sure, it might be hard for a little, but they’d get over it. Leo was under no delusions that he held a special place in anyone’s heart. Leo knew that nobody really cared about him– at least, he wasn’t first place in anyone’s heart. He doubted he was in many people’s top 5, even.

And then he met Calypso…

And it wasn’t– it wasn’t just that she loved him (though she did, Leo knew she did, she said she did).

It was that she insisted that other people loved him too. 

Which was ridiculous– she didn’t even know Leo’s other friends.

But Calypso was a healer. And she said that Leo was sick– not of the body, but of the mind. She said that Leo didn’t have a good grip on his relationship with relationships. She said Leo’s view was tainted, and until he fixed it, he’d never really find love. 

It was kind of haunting. Really creepy. And annoyingly accurate, at least, Leo thought so. It felt right, in a scary sort of way.

Calypso said she was scared to fall in love again, on that island. Scared it wouldn’t be real. And honestly, so was Leo. After what she’d said, he– he didn’t know if he should be–falling in love like that. He wanted to, gods he wanted to. But. If he couldn’t even stay with a family, how could he stay with anyone else?

If Calypso and Leo were to ever be a couple, it wouldn’t be until she was off the island and he knew how to… fix himself.

But she did love him, platonically, she’d told him so, she’d said die if you must, but live if you can, because you are loved by me and I am willing to bet you are loved by many others, even if you don’t see it . 

She said all that, and Leo knew she believed it, so he tried to believe it too, and, well, that got him thinking…

He’d had a lot of bad foster homes. He’d had some good ones, too, though. And always, he felt an urge to leave, to go, because he wasn’t wanted. Always, he pushed them away. And always, he figured that was the end of it.

But if Calypso was right about Leo not realizing when he was loved, then maybe… maybe it wasn’t.

He thought back to his favorite house, to the only house that had ever felt somewhat like a home, to the only house that had gotten a lick of his flames. Victor hadn’t seemed scared of him. He hadn’t looked at Leo like a freak. He’d called Leo son, and he’d promised they would figure it out. 

And, honestly, Freddy would be thrilled to have a brother with “superpowers.”

Leo left because he was dangerous.

But he could control himself now. If he wasn’t dangerous anymore, then… then…

Leaning against the railing and watching the waves shift beneath him, Leo allowed himself to dream. Talking with Freddy, playing video games with Eugene, meeting whatever new kids were in that foster house now. If Leo finished this quest, maybe he could come home.

So Leo made up his mind. He would sacrifice himself. He would take Jason’s place. He would die.

But he would come back.

There were too many people he’d be leaving behind otherwise.

Chapter Text

It was raining, that night, when it happened, and Leo’s thoughts kept returning to when he’d run away from the Vasquez family. They had been the only foster home that never gave up on him, and the only home that had a hint of his secret. Other people had been nice, but none of them had cared like Rosa and Victor. Leo could think of no other home that would be willing to take him, sparks and all.

He could stay at Camp Half-Blood all year. The thought bit at him. They were all equal there. Leo just wanted someone else making the tough choices. Just a bit, just for a little. 

Argo II was parked at a sandy beach. Piper and Jason had gone into the city to get supplies, Percy and Annabeth were guarding the ship, Frank and Hazel were on break below, and Leo had stepped off the deck, thinking.

It was… a lot. Seeing them all together, happy. It made Leo ache for something he’d never had, and that made him think of the Vasquez family, for some reason. Everything did, right now, so close to the end. Leo shivered. He was going to die, and he was going to do it with nobody who cared for him. The Vasquez family had probably forgotten him, by now. He doubted they’d care if he died. But he never forgot them. 

Piper and Jason came back from their walk, and Leo nodded a greeting to them as they came up.

“Nearly set the engine room on fire, so I decided to come up here to cool off,” he explained when they asked. 

“You looked very angsty,” Piper said, offering for him to duck under their umbrella. “Don’t get sick, okay?”

“Yes, Mom,” Leo muttered. He had gotten sick once, and Rosa had watched over him and made him soup and the soup made him cry. The wind was picking up, but they set off again. There was never time to rest, least of all for Leo. Leo would rest when he was dead, and that would be pretty soon.

Maybe sooner than he thought, because the storm didn’t abate. Thunder roared and the air turned electric. Leo scurried around the ship, tightening strings and checking on Festus and thinking again of the Vasquez family. It had been storming just like this before he met them, although last time he’d had steady ground beneath his feet.

Lightning flashed and hit the sea, less than a hundred feet away. 

“I can’t control it!” Jason yelled, his voice faint over the storm. “We need to land!”

“Land where!?” Leo screamed back. “Jace, we’re too far out from the shore!”

Lightning hit blindingly close and lit up the world around them, and Leo felt every hair on his neck rise up–

And then, suddenly, it was calm. Too calm. The sky was clear, the wind was still, and they were hovering over either a very small beach or a very large lake.

“What in tartar sauce?” Leo murmured, squinting through the streams of water running down his face. The Argo II hovered peacefully, and his crewmates looked just as stunned and drenched as he did.

“Uh… did we just die?” Frank asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

“The afterlife doesn’t look like this,” Annabeth replied, mopping her wet hair out of her eyes and scanning the ground below. Nobody was down there, probably all driven away by the cold.

“I’m gonna find out where we are,” Percy said, stepping off the railing. “Nobody do anything till I get back.”

“How are you going to–” Annabeth started, but Percy had already backflipped off, diving down into the water below. 

“–Get back up?” Annabeth finished with a sigh.

“Showoff,” Leo muttered.

“I’ll get him when he surfaces,” Jason promised.

“Ooh, you should wait a little before you do that,” Leo said, joining Jason and Annabeth at the railings. “Make him squirm.”

Annabeth snickered, and the six still on the boat looked out to the landmass surrounding them. 

“We’ve definitely teleported somehow,” Jason said. 

“Um, yes,” Hazel replied, looking like she was trying to be polite but secretly thought he was an idiot, “we’re in the middle of a city.”

“Not just that.” Jason looked troubled. “I think this is America.”

Annabeth bit her lip. “We can’t afford this setback.”

“It’ll be fine,” Piper assured. “If we teleported one way, I’m sure we can do it the other way.”

Leo, for his part, was just looking out. This place tickled his brain. He was pretty sure he’d been here before. 

“There’s Percy,” Frank said, and Jason neatly flipped off, soaring down to grab him and bring him back up.

“The fish didn’t recognize me,” Percy said as soon as he was on deck. He looked distressed at the fact. “They weren’t friendly at all.”

“Did you figure out where we are, at least?” Annabeth asked.

“I did,” Percy said, just as Leo recognized the Liberty Place skyscraper.

“Philedelphia!” Leo exclaimed in unison with Percy. 

Percy raised his eyebrows. “Uh, yeah. How’d you know that?”

“I’ve been here.” Leo leaned over the railings, staring out the avoid the gaze of the others. His heart beat quicker at the dread and anticipation of possibly, maybe meeting the Vasquezes again. “When I was like, ten.”

“Philedelphia?” Frank repeated incredulously. “What are we doing in Philedelphia?”

And then things got even weirder.

“Guys, do you see that?” Piper asked, pointing out into the distance. There was a red speck, growing closer.

Jason squinted. “I don’t see anything.”

Annabeth leaned closer. “I think that’s… a person.”

And indeed, as the speck enlarged, Leo realized it was a man in a red suit flying towards them.

“Place your bets,” Percy said with a ragged grin. “God, monster, or greek legend?”

“My money’s on god,” Piper replied, cocking her head.

“Greek legend, I think,” Annabeth said.

“I’ll go for monster, then,” Percy said.

The man flew up to them and faltered at the edge of their railings, and Leo found himself a few inches away. The guy was totally jacked and looked like he could sip peanut butter.

“Greetings, aliens,” he said, looking just as lost as they were. “Uh… permission to come aboard?”

For a second, nobody responded, too startled to say anything.

“Sup,” Leo finally replied, before things got awkward. “I’m digging the cape, man. Yeah, come aboard, what ho. Hey, settle a bet–what are you?”

The man floated up and setted down gently. With an awkward smile, he said, “Honestly, I don’t really know.”

“Well, a general idea at least,” Percy prompted. “You know, are you gonna grow fangs and rip our throats out?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” the guy said.

“Not even a little?” Percy hedged.

“Sorry. No.” 

“Dam,” Percy muttered, defeated.

“Just admit defeat,” Piper teased, then faced the guy and asked with wide eyes, “so, are you, like, a god?”

“I don’t think so,” he replied apologetically, and Leo and Piper exchanged surprised glanced. Either this dude could resist charmspeak, or he seriously had no idea what species he was.

“So I win the bet by default, then,” Annabeth established.

Percy put his hands on his hips. “That’s a false premise.”

“Do you even know what premise means?” Annabelle teased.

“Guys,” Jason interrupted, and nudged his head at the guy still standing on their ship. “Focus?”

The guy laughed. “It’s okay. Anyway, I just wanted to see what you guys were doing here, if you were planning to invade my city or anything, because it is under my protection, you know.”

“...And you are?” Hazel asked, hand on her hip.

“Captain Marvel,” he said, and Leo would have laughed if not for the glint of danger in his eye. “Protector of Philedelphia. And you?”

They all exchanged glances, waiting for someone else to speak.

“We’re the heroes of Olympus,” Jason eventually said, and Leo would have laughed at him too, but Jason managed to make it sound kinda cool. “And we’re protectors too. So don’t worry about us–we just need to figure out how to get back home.”

“Oh, thank Zeus,” Captain Marvel said with a sigh, dropping a few inches lower in relief. “I really didn’t want to fight anyone today. I can try to help you get back, where are you from?”

“Hell,” said Percy.

“Your mom,” said Leo.

“1942,” said Hazel.

“Uh, Canada,” said Frank.

Annabeth pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’re supposed to be hovering over Europe, right now.”

“Yeah, in a giant storm and everything,” Leo added.

“Oh, word?” said Captain Marvel. He leaned against the railing thoughtfully. “I bet you came through one of the interdimensional rifts.”

“The what now?” said Leo in amazement, right as Annabeth said, “really!?”

“Yeah,” said Captain Marvel with a grimace. Annabeth and Leo glanced at each other, delighted. “Black Adam’s been playing with stuff that he shouldn’t. I’m working on it. Uh, I can get you back to where you came from… it just might be a few days.”

“Can you get us back at the same time we left?” Annabelle demanded.

“Sure, no prob,” Captain Marvel said.

They looked at each other in surprise. Things usually weren’t this easy.

“Do you need help?” Jason asked, straightening to his full height. 

“I have some teammates who can help me, but thanks,” Captain Marvel replied easily

They all looked at each other again, trying to decide if they trusted this guy.

“Mind if Piper and Jason come along anyway?” Annabeth said, settling the matter for them. “Trust me, they can help you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Captain Marvel said with a shrug. “I have to do some… things, but I can come find you at around seven and we can scout him out. Or you can find me, I’ll be in Central Park.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Annabelle said with a firm smile. “See you then.”

She phrased it as more of a command than anything, so Captain Marvel nodded, saluted, and zipped off into the distance. Leo blinked at how fast we went.

“Why us?” Piper asked, turning to Annabeth.

“He can fly and you can charmspeak,” Annabeth replied. “Seems the safest bet.”

“So what now?” Frank asked.

“We need to set down.” Jason scanned the ship. “The Argo was damaged in the storm, right, Leo?”

“What?” Leo tore his eyes away from the city. “Yeah, yeah.”

If they were in Philedelphia… could he visit them? Did they still live here? Would they want him? Would they even remember him? Leo was desperate to know and terrified to find out. 

“We can just set down on the edge of the water,” Leo muttered. “Our cloakings should work just fine, even if the mist doesn’t.” 

He and Harvey had made camouflage for the ship, back at Camp Half-Blood. Nyssa had rolled her eyes and said it was unnecessary, because the mist could cover them anyway.

“Who’s the idiot now, Nyssa?” Leo muttered as he pressed the button to activate their cloaking panels. “Ya’ll go check out the rest of the ship, see what we need to fix. I’ll set it down.”

The others scattered off, and Leo focused on settling the ship. The wings were definitely a little injured, and Rosa and Victor and Freddy could be just miles away. 

“Leo?”

Leo flinched. He hadn’t realized anybody had stayed on deck.

“Yeah, Jace, ‘sup?” he replied, going for casual.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked. He had always been too sharp. “You said you’ve been here before.”

“Yeah, yeah. Uh…” Leo turned back to his console, busying himself and pretending he had stuff to do. “Just one of my foster homes was here.”

Jason’s voice had an edge to it when he said, “if someone hurt you, I’ll–”

“No,” Leo interrupted quickly. “No, it’s not like that.” he took a steadying breath. “Kind of the opposite, actually.”

Would they welcome him back? 

Did he want to be here? 

Leo had never decided if he wanted someone, after his mom died, at all.

Jason had stepped up besides Leo at the console. “Do you want to visit them?”

“Yes,” Leo burst out before he could stop himself. “I mean, no. I mean–I don’t know. I just–I don’t know.”

Leo hated when he got like this, stumbling and faltering and nowhere near the way he wanted people to think he was. Jason and Piper were the only person who could manage to get under his skin and realize what he was actually thinking. That was why Leo couldn’t bear for Jason to die and himself to live. It would just be too horrible, to lose the person who really knew him.

“The stables are fine,” Annabeth said, stepping up onto the deck. “And Frank said the medbay’s intact too.”

“That’s all?” Leo said, turning and trying to refocus his mind. 

Annabeth grimaced. “It looks like our cannons are pretty damaged.”

“The bedrooms are turned over, but nothing horrible,” Hazel reported, stepping up beside her. “How long will it take us to fix this?”

“The cannons?” Leo tapped his feet, glancing at Annabeth. She was thinking about supplies, he was thinking about time. “A day.”

“More, depending on how long it takes to get supplies,” Annabeth added.

“But we just need regular stuff, sheets of metal, that sort of thing,” Leo finished.

“Leo and I will get them,” Jason said, startling a shit out of a Leo.

“What about meeting with Mr. Marvel?” Percy asked.

“Frank agreed to do it instead,” Jason replied. Leo tried to glare at Jason without getting anyone else to notice.

“I did?” Frank said. “I mean, yeah I did. I love… fighting and stuff…”

“Works with me,” Piper said after a moment of eye contact with Jason. “You guys get going, then.”

“We will.” Jason grabbed Leo’s arm, and Leo yelped as he tossed them off the boat and onto the sand.

“I know what you’re doing,” Leo hissed as they marched into the city. “You’re trying to get me to meet up with the Vasquezes.”

“Just giving you the opportunity,” Jason replied under his breath. “Want to take it?”

Leo sighed, his nerves already frayed. “Yes.”