Note: I'm not even sure why or where this idea came from. I blame fanfiction, but anyway, I saw an opportunity for another hella ship for Leo and I jumped on it. The woes of a multishipper. Also, I've always imagined Leo having an accent. Oops.

Breaking Facade

Chapter 1

Drew Tanaka was many things. She was pretty, beautiful even, and contrary to popular belief, she was smart. But she was also broken.

There was no fixing her - her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. She'd swept the wreckage under the rug and refused to acknowledge it; pain was easy to deal with if it couldn't be felt - but she could feel it. Try as she might, she just couldn't numb the ever present ache of loneliness that lingered in the back of her mind. It haunted her, much like a ghost who refused to leave. She felt it in everything she did and these days, she always did everything alone. Ever since Piper McLean returned from her quest, she had no one, though, now, she suspected it had been like that all along.

They weren't even trying to hide it either. It was clear that her siblings wanted nothing to do with her. They never talked to her in the cabin. When it came to meals, they all crammed to one end of the table, leaving her to be the odd one out. She'd hoped at least one of them would still treat her like a human being and not a diseased monster, but she was wrong. Her family had completely written her off.

She couldn't say as she blamed them, however, as the reality was, she would have done the same thing if she were in their positions. But she wasn't, not until just recently, and she absolutely hated Piper for it. She found herself in a position she swore she'd never let herself get into. She was Drew Tanaka, self-proclaimed as the most beautiful person at the camp. She should be in charge; it should have been her sitting at that end of the table with her sisters crowded around her. But it wasn't.

There was no other way to look at it; she fucked up. She fucked up big time, and there wasn't a soul in the camp that was sympathetic to her. The only reason she stepped down was because she knew she had no choice. Either way, be it a fight or not, Piper would have won. She had all the requirements that were needed to challenge her for the position of leader of the cabin. This wasn't something she could change - rules were rules and Chiron wasn't going to bend them, especially not for her.

She'd been ousted by the new girl and she hated it.

She stared down at her plate. Being the daughter of Aphrodite had it's advantages aside from just being pretty. She didn't have to watch what she ate or how much she ate; no matter the quantity, she never gained a pound. That kind of blessing came in handy when she was exceedingly hungry, but today, she had no appetite. The just smell of food was making her feel nauseated. Instead of eating, she sat there and listened to the chatter around her.

Every once in a while, she'd hear bits of a conversation. It tuned in and out like a radio station in an area of bad reception. Some were more interesting than others, but none of them really held her attention for long. Then, she picked up on someone's voice.

It's owner was unmistakable with the slight Texan/Hispanic accent that he had. Even more so when he started talking a bit too quickly, the excitement evident in his tone, and he slipped into Spanish. This cabin mates had to stop him because only a couple of them could actually understand him. Picking on his voice wasn't exactly difficult; he could be obnoxiously loud, especially when he was cracking one of his stupid jokes.

She glanced back at him.

Leo Valdez was waving his hands around while his siblings laughed hysterically. She didn't see the humor in it, but there was likely some sort of inside joke among them. She couldn't help the pang of jealousy that slipped into her being. The Hephaestus cabin, as unbelievable was it was, was the most family like cabin out of all. None of them outed any of the others, and Leo had given them several reasons during his time at camp to do so. He was almost as good as screwing up as she was.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew his type well; the happy-go-lucky class clown who took every opportunity he could to make someone laugh. People like him were always easy targets, especially for people like her. And he was a boy, a straight teenage boy, and she was a pretty girl. He was almost too easy of a target.

Drew shook her head. She needed to get herself together. Get back on the map and do what she did best - break hearts. She wasn't going to let the Dumpster Queen drag her down any further than she already had. To do that would be to admit total defeat, and Drew Takana did not like to lose, especially at her own games.

It was perfect. He was Piper's best friend and the easiest target in the camp. But as easy as he was, she needed a plan. She was no daughter of Athena, but when it came to breaking hearts, she could make a pretty effective plan. He was easy, but she knew he wasn't stupid. She couldn't just walk up to him and ask him out - it'd be much too suspicious. No. She'd have to play it slow. Lead him on for a while and then when the time was right (when she got bored), she'd drop him like a lead weight and scout of her next victim.

She was a child of Aphrodite; breaking hearts was what she did best. And it seemed to be the only thing she could do right.

She turned back to her plate and studied it for a long moment.

There was a game of Capture the Flag tomorrow due to the head counselors' relationship, the Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabins were in an alliance. They'd be on the same team, which was an advantage on her part. She knew Piper would put him on guard duty. Trying to grab a flag when there was a wall of flames blocking your path wasn't an easy task. She just had to find some way to convince Piper to let her stand guard as well, although that shouldn't been too difficult. As long as someone capable was there, she doubted Piper would care what she did, so long as she didn't get in the way.

For once, being the outcast had it's benefits.

She'd have to play her cards carefully. If she didn't get it right the first time, she'd screw it all up. She'd never get another chance.

When Chiron dismissed them, Drew was the first one out of the dining pavilion, leaving behind her untouched plate. She had a plan to formulate. Instead of heading to the fire pit, like the rest of camp, she slipped into the shadows and started into the woods. She wasn't as prissy as people thought she was; Drew wasn't afraid of a bit of dirt. In fact, as a child, she was always playing in the dirt, bringing her father worms and other things she'd managed to catch. He wasn't too pleased with the 'presents' but she was. She'd worked hard for them.

She pushed the thought aside. Her father was gone. There was no use in remembering useless memories; there was no use in wishing she could go back to the simpler days, when her world was one backyard wide and her father was the center of the universe. She found it laughable how easily the blissful ignorance of childhood was shattered.

She was only ten when her father died.

Nothing was the same after that.

She trudged through the woods with her heels in her hand. Chiron had explicitly stated that those kinds of shoes weren't appropriate for camp, but she, nor the rest of her siblings listened. Mud squished beneath her feet as she tromped through the woods. The Hephaestus cabin weren't the only ones with a secret place in the woods, though in their case, it wasn't much of a secret anymore.

Off in the distance she could see it.

A worn rope ladder hung from a big oak tree, swaying gently in the breeze. Above it, almost perfectly camouflaged in the tree was a tree house. If someone didn't know what they were looking for, they'd easily pass it without noticing. She'd discovered the building completely by accident during her first year at camp. Since then, it had become a hideout for her, a place where she could go and get away from everyone. It was old, she knew that much from the worn floorboards and deteriorating walls, but it held steady after all these years. Most of her stuff was in there; the stuff she didn't want the others to see. She'd moved it there after she caught a couple of her siblings snooping through her things.

When she reached the ladder, she effortlessly threw her shoes through the window. Her sisters would have had a heart attack at the thought of someone throwing a pair of Louis Vuittons through a window of a dirty tree house. She didn't care; she didn't even like them. They were a present from her one of her siblings, and she wore them was because they were the only shoes she owned that matched her current outfit.

But that wasn't the only reason; it was Silena Beauregard who had given them to her for her fourteenth birthday. They used to be her favorite pair, but now, their glittery pink color was one she'd come to associate with the pain of betrayal.

With the skill one wouldn't think a child of Aphrodite possessed, she scaled up the ladder and into the tree house. Everything was exactly where she'd left it. In one corner was a stack of romance novels and empty journals waiting to be filled. On the wall above them were pictures, mostly of her and her father, though there were a couple of her and Silena.

The truth was, Drew had loved Silena. She'd been like that perfect older sister, pretty and kind, with a huge heart and a bright smile. Then she betrayed them; she betrayed the camp, she betrayed her and as much as she despised her for it, she couldn't bring herself to get rid of the photos. They were a part of her past, the one she desperately wanted back. It hadn't been easy after her father died, but Silena made it bearable; she was that supportive sister she'd always wanted. But just like everything else in her life, so it seemed, she was taken away from her.

Across the room, there were several empty bottles of sake scattered about. Chiron was adamant about the no alcohol rule in camp; even Dionysus's kid was forced to adhere to that rule, but Drew was not a rule follower. And there, in her secluded sanctuary, he'd never know. Even if he did find out, it didn't matter. The worst he could do was throw her out of camp, and that would be a blessing if she ever saw one - there was nothing left for her there anyway. Her idol, her siblings, and her status had been taken from her. She was no longer Drew Takana, head councilor of the the Aphrodite cabin and the most beautiful girl in camp. She was Drew Takana; that bitch, or that tramp, depending on who you asked.

She reached for one of the empty journals and grabbed a pen. She wrote down the first part of her plan and then sat there for a while, debating on what to do next. It needed to be as convincing as possible and every action she took had to make little room for suspicion. She had to get on his good side first, lower his guard. Only then could she take the big step and ask him out. That was the easy part. Faking the role of caring girlfriend and trying to school her emotions when he got to be too irritating was going to be the difficult part; Leo Valdez could probably turn Mother Teresa into an axe murderer.

She'd give it a few days, maybe a week at most, before she initiated the actual plan. A little flattery, a few bats of her eyelashes, and she'd have her plan in motion. She was confident that it would work. How could it not? She wasn't stupid; for all his flirting and joke cracking she could tell he'd never been in a relationship; that he was third wheeled by Piper and Jason. She was a daughter of Aphrodite; reading people was her specialty.

Drew couldn't help but smile. It was almost too easy.

Satisfied with her plan so far, she tossed the book back into it's place and retrieved her shoes. The sun had already set, granting her the cover of darkness she'd need to slip back to camp undetected. Everyone else would still be at the camp fire which gave her the perfect opportunity to get to the showers and clean herself off before anyone could ask her where she was.

Monsters were stirring in the woods. She glanced constantly over her shoulder and placed a hand on the blade concealed beneath her jacket; she knew better than to go into the woods unarmed, but there were some things in there that took more than one person to bring down. She was fortunate enough not to run into any yet, but she wasn't going to push her luck. She was almost running by the time she broke through the trees.

In the amphitheater, the fire was still burning and the horrible warble of the campers rang through the night. She couldn't help but wince. There were a lot of kids at camp who could sing, especially in the Apollo cabin, but a lot of them couldn't and they always seemed to overshadow everyone else with their ear splitting wailing. Then again, when it came to the campfires, none of them actually took it seriously. She wasn't sure if it sounded worse at a distance or while sitting in the middle of it.

As she neared the cabins, the deafening sound seemed to die out. The sing along was over and the campers were returning to their cabins for the night. She swore under her breath and sprinted the rest of the way to the place she shared with her sisters. By the time they all returned, she was in the shower, humming happily.

Tomorrow she would begin the initial stages of her plan. She couldn't keep the smile off her lips, even when she exited the bathroom and plopped down on her bed. Her siblings were used to her moods, but some of them cast her uncertain glances as she went through her nightly routine, still humming. She was thankful none of them said anything - she'd have to come up with an excuse and she didn't have one.

With the scenario in her mind, she went to sleep with a smile on her face.

Leo Valdez wouldn't know what hit him.