Leo Valdez

After the call with Calypso, I took a few seconds to breathe and stop steaming (no flames came out, thank gods) before walking back to August's room, where I saw his dad coming out of his room, his mom also standing in the door.

"Wh- oh, sorry." I apologized. "I'm not interrupting a family meeting or anything, am I? If so, I can just... Go back in the room."

"No, Leo, you're okay," Mr. Sanchez insisted with a smile. "Things just sounded like they were getting intense, so I was going to check if you were doing okay. Everything going as okay as they can be?"

Letting out a long breath, I nodded.

"I'm kind of irritated, but it's fine," I promised the mortal family. "As fine l as it can be, all things considered. Sorry if you heard any of that, I was hoping that there wouldn't be any arguing, but..."

I shrugged, still feeling kind of weird and sad about the break up, even if I know that it's probably for the best.

"Now I don't have to worry about it, I guess."

Augustus' parents both gave me smiles, trying to comfort me without overstepping any boundaries.

"I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself," but that alone was a sentence that would've made me tear up if I had any more emotional availability in me tonight- especially since it came from August's dad, and since I don't even have a relationship with my dad... "I didn't hear most of the conversation, just the tail end of it. It seemed like a stressful relationship, just... Based on what I heard."

Exhaling, I nodded my head.

"It was more out of convience than anything," I confirmed. "It's a long story, but it was basically doomed from the start. I don't know if I want to spend the rest of the night recounting my messed up relationship, though. I think I'd rather do anything else, actually."

Reminding us they they were just a holler away if we needed anything, Mr. And Mrs. Sanchez dismissed themselves from their son's bedroom.

On the bright side of things: Augustus had a whole movie set up ready to go with a ton of blankets and pillows on the floor, popcorn, and two Dr. Peppers.

"Sorry that that took so long," I apologized (which I've been doing a lot since I got here- I still felt guilty about almost burning his neck). "I was just going to tell Emmie and Jo that I wouldn't be back for at least a few days, but then Cal overheard and... I'm sure you heard most of it."

"Yeah," August frowned, patting the spot next to him for me to sit down. "No offense, I've never met her, but she sounds like she sucks. It's probably a good thing you broke up."

"It wasn't going to last." I partially agreed. "She mostly just thinks that all men are stupid, and while I understand that it's because a lot of the men in her life did suck... She was still really mean. Sucks that I won't be able to go visit the others without having to see her as well, but we'll figure that out when the time comes."

I paused, glancing at my closest mortal friend.

"You're not seeing anyone, are you?"

"Me?" August asked as if there was another person in the room. "No, I'm not... Definitely not seeing anyone. People here kind of suck when it comes to that, so. I'm hoping to go to school out of state after I graduate so it'll be better."

"So it'll be..."

I looked at Augustus, raising an eyebrow, because that statement was suspicious as hell.

"Are you...?" But I wasn't sure if I should say gay or bi or queer or what, so I didn't finish my question.

"Gay?" He finished for me, nodding his head. "Yeah. I'm not out at school, or to my parents, actually, because I don't know how they would feel about it, but... I don't know, based on the fact that you called who I am assuming is a lesbian couple, I'm kind of hoping that I was right in assuming you're chill."

I smiled, nudging August with my elbow.

"You're right, they are lesbians- they almost fostered me, that's why I called them. They were the last people I stayed with." I confirmed his suspicions, seeing him smile in return. "so I am chill, but I'm also bi. Are you out to anyone then?"

"Just a few friends who are also in the community- it's a relatively new realization, though." He insisted, thinking to himself for a moment. "I like, just thought I was asexual for a while, and then this last year I ended up having this stupid crush on some straight dude that I go to school with, because who else would I like, right? When I can just develop crushes on straight dudes?"

"No, because it's the worst!" I agreed with him, reflecting back on those six months between freeing Hera and leaving for Greece. "not long after we met, I had a crush on one of my best friends-the one who just died, and it was painful because he was like, in love with his girlfriend. I moved on before he died, obviously- I was dating Cal by then, but... It was low-key hell. His girlfriend also ended up being a lesbian so..."

"So he had really shitty luck it sounds like," Augustus commented, which was true. When things came down to sheer luck, Jason usually lost- but would win if a plan was needed for something.

I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. He did."

"We don't have to talk about him if you don't want to," August insisted, which was a bit of a relief to hear. "I'm sure you've spent a lot time this week thinking and talking about him with the friend that knew him before you came to Houston."

I smiled.

"Yeah, even earlier today I was talking to my Tio about it," I confirmed his suspicions. "I'd love any sort of distraction from that entire side of my life, if we're being honest. It's been such a long week. And year."

"Well, then it's a good thing I have an entire bowl of popcorn and a movie ready to go." My mortal friend said, putting the popcorn bowl in my lap. "I assume that because of how much you've been travelling, you haven't seen any movies in the last year, so we have a lot to catch you up on."

•••

I fell asleep on Augustus' floor during the third movie we were watching at around 2:30 in the morning, and woke up a couple hours later, still leaning against Augustus, who looked like he was struggling to stay awake, looking at something on his phone.

"Hm? Oh, hey," August whispered. "Is my shoulder a good pillow?"

Sitting up, I yawned and nodded.

"What time is it?" I asked, seeing it was still dark out. "Have you slept yet?"

"No, but that's because I have awful insomnia," he told me. "I was texting Alex for a bit, but they went to bed, so I was just hanging out. It's like, 4? I didn't want to scare you awake again by moving. Where did you want to sleep? You can sleep in here, on the couch, or in the spare room."

"I'm fine in here, if that's okay with you."

"Of course, that's why I offered." Augustus insisted, setting his phone down. "Do you want to..." He hesitated before finishing the question. "do you want to sleep down here or up in bed?"

"In... I mean, I'm okay with either," I began, trying to figure out how it would work if I said bed. "Bed or floor, I don't care either way. Would you be on the floor if I said bed, though?"

"I mean, unless you're comfortable with sharing a bed, I'm okay with whatever."

Debating my options, I did know one thing: I hate sleeping alone.

Not that I always need a person to sleep with- when I was on my own traveling, it usually meant I kept Festus active just so I didn't feel... Alone.

"Um, a bed would be nice- I don't mind sharing." I decided, hoping August didn't find it weird. "You're sure you don't mind? After what happened earlier, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to keep your distance like, physically."

"Leo," and August putting his hand on top of mine was only extremely intimidating for my bisexual ass. But I also seemed to mean a lot, because it was the same hand that almost burned his throat to ash earlier. "Shit happens. I know you- you wouldn't hurt somebody on purpose. And you wouldn't come here if you didn't mean well. Sure, it made me jump, but you don't scare me, Leo. Your hands were like, really warm, though. Do you run warm?"

"Do I... I mean, I usually run cold," I admitted, because it was true- unless I'm on fire, I run cold. It's like, my body's way or compensating for the heat of the flames. "But sometimes my hands get warm. I like, don't have the body fat to run warm."

"You are a twig," August agreed, helping me up and smiling at me. He was cute, I had to admit. "Well, okay, a branch- the wind wouldn't snap you in half or anything. I... I like, still can't believe you're here."

I smiled back, crawling into bed with one of my oldest friends.

"Well then it's a good thing I'll be here all night for you to process it," I pointed out. "Or morning, I guess? The sun will rise in like, an hour."

The mortal boy chuckled, turning his head to look at me again, moving a curl away from my face, causing my heart to skip a beat.

Get a hold of yourself, Valdez. I told myself. You guys aren't lesbians, you're not going to start making out like 12 hours after reuniting for the first time in years.

"Sorry," August apologized. "It was blocking the view."

I raised an eyebrow.

"The view?" I repeated back to him. "If you want to cuddle, Augie, you could just say that."

"Leo, you literally just broke up with somebody, I would never try to influence or convince you to cuddle with me on the same night you broke up with your partner."

"Okay," I countered. "But what if I wanted to cuddle because I like physical affection? I don't know if I can overstate how much that relationship was made out of convience rather than like, genuinely liking each other. The only thing we ever did was argue like an old married couple, and I don't even like to argue with people."

Augustus chuckled as I shimmied closer, putting my head back on his shoulder, where it belonged.

"You're too much, Leo Valdez," August responded, resting a hand on my back, making me smile. "In the best way possible, of course. I missed you more than you'll ever know."

"More than I'll ever know?" I asked in return. "you flirt, are you trying to get me to fall in love with you or something?"

"I mean..." He said, I think half as a joke. "Is it working?"

But only half.

I buried my head in his neck, feeling the blood rush to my face.

"You're too attractive for it to not work."

Pipers going to lose her mind the next time we talk.

•••

I dreamt about fire that night.

It started where a lot of my dreams have started historically: in the shop. Just like the night it happened, I was sitting in the break room of the shop, a drawing and some pencils sitting in front of me on the table.

By now, I've forgotten what I drew the night of the actual fire— it got burned up and it was never finished. But tonight the drawing was of a yacht that was equipped with Greek fire cannons. 

I've never actually designed a yacht before, though, so I don't know why—

"Leo?"

No.

No, he can't be...

Looking up, I was faced with my best friend sitting across from me.

With Jason Grace.

"Leo, oh my gods, you're here!" The son of Jupiter said, flying around the table to give me a hug. "I've been looking for you ever since I died, man, how... We're you stuck in judgement or something? How did I get in before you did? And is your... Is this your mom's old shop?"

"Was I... Yeah, it was... Yeah. It's her shop."

"That's such a cool sanctuary, man," he told me as I realized what he had assumed by being able to come into my dream. "I was so confused when I got here at first and you weren't here because it's been a while since the battle and... Weird stuff is happening again. Piper's a lesbian. Apollo is mortal right now. Nico's been dealing with really bad PTSD, but he's dating Will now, so I think it helps. I am worried that he'll be down here next, though."

"I..."

I looked down, blinking back tears.

This isn't how I wanted to see him again.

"I know."

"But how...?"

Choking down my grief, I returned my gaze to my best friend, wondering if this was really him or just my brains desperate attempt at giving me a proper goodbye.

"I'm not dead, Jason," I broke the news to him, and I can't properly articulate the guilt that washed over me when I saw him pretend not to be let down by the fact. "The spell that Asclepius gave me worked, it..."

I lost the rest of my sentence.

"I was only dead for maybe 5 minutes," I figured. "Not long enough to make it to the underworld. And I... I ended up back in Ogygia, so I was able to rescue Calypso and it took us so long to get back to New York, it was ridiculous. When I got there, Apollo had only been ther for like a day or something, so I saw everyone there, and then we went to Indianapolis with Apollo and eventually Meg joined us and... And I went to Camp Jupiter with Festus to warn them about the attack that was on the way, and I figured I'd surprise you and Piper, so I flew south and..."

I closed my eyes.

"And they were loading your casket onto a helicopter to bring you back to Camp Jupiter so they could have an official service for you." And as I got to that point in the story, Jason's expression dropped. "I... I was pissed. I was... I wanted to be shocked, and I couldn't be after Piper told me what happened. She's fucking destroyed, man. I mean, we all are, but... We weren't able to go to your service, and I mean, I hate services anyways, but Piper... She's been trying to support her dad because he lost everything to the Triumvirate. And now both of them are like walking corpses."

"And you're...?"

"In Houston." Naturally, that answer shocked Jason. I teared up. "Yeah, I uh... I helped the McLeans move and figured that since I was close enough, I'd visit my mom's grave. I've never been to it, and that way I could tell Sammy that I met Hazel and that she's okay and that I'm... Alive. And while I was there, my uncle Rico and my aunt Rosa and their two kids showed up, and I guess instead of blaming the fire in me, Rosa just told the family that I also died in the fire, so..."

"So...? Are you staying there? What about Calypso? I'm sorry that I never got to meet her. I guess I will one day now, but..."

I sighed.

"I... Don't know." I answered. "I kind of want to, but it's hard. Rosa and I got in a fight, but Rico, my cousins and I went to my grandparents house and I lost it multiple times while I was there and it was so overwhelming that I ended up asking about a childhood friend of mine— his name is Augustus, but I usually call him August or sometimes Augie, so that's where I am now. I accidentally fell asleep earlier and he woke me up and my instincts kicked in and I almost burned his neck, but he still insisted he wanted me here, so..."

"As for Calypso," I continued. "you didn't miss much— we broke up earlier today because I don't think she actually likes me and that she just wanted me to get her off of Ogygia. She's staying at the Waystation and was kind of pissed when I told her I wanted to try and give my family a chance again so... I ended things. I'll try to stay in Houston, whether I stay with my grandparents or with Augie's family, and if it doesn't work... Who knows what I'll do. I just need to stay somewhere for longer than a week right now, I'm... So fucking tired."

"Aw, Leo," Jason responded, taking in the story of our ships passing in the night, never actually meeting. He gave me a hug from the side, and I didn't know if I wanted to scream at him or I wanted to break out in another fit of sobs. "I'm sorry that things didn't work out with Calypso— I remember you telling me about Augie, though, he seemed cool. It was nice, just being able to pretend like I was a normal kid. I assume you haven't seen Thalia then?"

I shook my head.

"Not since you died— I saw her at the Waystation before I left. She's probably going to beat you up whenever she dies. You were her only family, dude."

Jason shrugged.

"She still has Annabeth," the son of Jupiter reasoned. "But she probably will beat me up— though I'm sure Piper will do it first. She has every right to be pissed with me after the shit I pulled. The battle went okay, though."

Jason paused.

"Well, as okay as any battle can do— some people died, but our friends are still alive. Apollo and Meg survived." He corrected himself. "Dakota, the son of Bacchus who was drinking fruit punch, passed. He filled me in on what happened. Apparently Frank almost died, but pulled through, and Caligula and Commodus are officially gone. So Lester and Meg are on the way back to New York to deal with Nero. Camp Jupiter is rebuilding. Communications should be back to normal, too, so I'm sure you'll hear about what happens in New York without me having to appear in your dreams to tell you."

"Yeah..." I responded as the finality of this conversation set in for me. "How's Elysium?"

He smiled.

"It's... Nice." The Roman demigods reassured me. "It'll be nicer when you guys get here, but this older demigod, Luke, befriended me. He's Greek, I think Percy and Annabeth would've known him? He definitely knew Thalia because he approached me after he heard my last name. He hasn't said much about it yet, but I also haven't asked. He's... Alone usually. There's a few demigods he talks to that are a little older than me, but that's about it. I think he misses somebody that hasn't died yet."

"Maybe it's Thalia," I suggested. "Maybe they were friends or something before he died. Thalia would be what? Like 20? How old is he?"

Jason shrugged.

"It's hard to tell," he said as I could smell a trace of smoke start to overwhelm me. "I... I have to go— it takes a lot of energy to pop into dreams, especially on accident, but I'll... I'll see you again, right?"

Despite the heat, Jason's question lodged an ice pick in my heart, causing me to freeze..

"Y..." And despite everything I've done in battle, I was afraid to make any promises. "Yeah. One day."

He smiled, and I wanted to smack him for being able to do that at a time like this.

"You'll get through this, man," he promised me, and as Jason put his hand on my shoulder, I could no longer feel it. "You'll find somewhere where you feel like you belong. Just don't rush to make that here, okay? Take your time."

He paused, his body starting to smoke like he was about to turn into a bolt of lightning.

"I have all the time in the world to wait for you guys."

And then the fire started on the other side of the table, engulfing Jason Grace almost instantaneously.

Usually, in my dreams, I would run out of the shop at this point in time. The memories and my muscle memory would take over and, despite being immune to flames, I'd run out.

But after saying goodbye to my best friend for what I'm sure was the last time, I found myself unable to move.

A small part of me hoped that, by staying, I'd get to see my mom. That she'd run out from the room she'd been working in and I'd get to see her and speak with her one last time. To her face.

Instead, I sat at that table until it disintegrated into a pile of ash and the flames surrounded me, lightning up the night sky in the middle of Houston, Texas. There were no cops, no fire fighters, and no signs of any other living (or dead) being in the vicinity.

Just me among the piles of ash.

I didn't like that dream.