AN: I don't own PJO/HoO, though it's my fondest dream… *swoons*. This is an F story, not A (F and A share this account, so I always specify). Please leave a review or follow/favorite.

They couldn't believe it. Leo Valdez was dead and gone, killed in the explosion that had destroyed Gaea. They had burned his burial shroud and made Nyssa new head counselor, filling in the gaps where Leo had once been.

Of course, his friends still hoped, deep down, that the son of Hephaestus had somehow survived. But when they had asked again, Nico just shook his head.

It was the moment everyone had dreaded-clearing Leo's things out of his room underneath the Hephaestus cabin. It felt like admitting that he wasn't coming back, grinning and laughing and telling them some far-fetched story about how he had survived.

Nyssa lead the seven into the Hephaestus cabin, biting her lip. Harley waited by Leo's bed, looking like he was trying not to cry. His siblings missed Leo, too.

"His room below has his stuff." Nyssa said weakly. The new head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin had asked his friends to go through Leo's things for her-she thought they should be the ones to do it. Nyssa pressed a button on the headboard and the bed sank into the floor. "C'mon, Harley. Let's go back to the forges."

Harley nodded, sniffling, and they left the seven on their own.

Nobody wanted to say anything, so they climbed down in silence.

Leo's room was mostly as they had expected-cluttered and messy, just the way their ADHD friend had left it. There were blueprints on the walls, tools and bits of metal on every surface, and odd items on the shelves.

The seven nearly broke down in tears when they saw the collage of photos on one wall-it was Leo with the seven, and a lot of people they didn't know.

"Who are all of these people?" Annabeth asked, motioning to a photo in the very middle. It showed a younger Leo grinning and waving at the camera, surrounded by a bunch of grinning kids. They were all rugged, dirty, and tattered, and had the wild look of animals. But Leo seemed perfectly at home. "Leo never mentioned them, did he?"
"No, he didn't." Piper said. "I don't recognize most of these people, actually."

"Leo never really talked about his past," Percy said sadly. "I guess there was a lot we didn't know."

"Yes, there is." A gravelly voice came from behind them. They all jumped and spun around, some of them drawing weapons. It was a large lumpy man wearing grease-stained overalls and muddy workboots. He fidgeted uncomfortably. He inclined his head to Percy and Annabeth, like they knew him. "Hello, again."

"Lord Hephaestus." Annabeth said politely. Percy nodded, looking a little annoyed to see the god. But to everyone's surprise, Jason snarled at the god, his grip tightening on his sword.

"Oh, so now you're here! About time! Where were you when Leo needed you, huh?" Piper grabbed his arm and he calmed down a bit, but her eyes flashed. She was daring Hephaestus to say the wrong thing, like; make nice or I'll sic my boyfriend on you.

"I know I'm here too late." Hephaestus sighed, looking miserable. It was hard to stay mad at the big awkward guy-he sounded honestly sorry. "But I'm going to help you not be."

Before anyone could say anything, Hephaestus waved his hand and a movie screen appeared, hovering midair behind him. He stepped out of the way, and with another wave of his hand plush armchairs appeared behind the demigods. "Sit down." He said uncomfortably. They did, a little uneasy.

"I keep an eye on all my children." Hephaestus explained. "Make sure they're safe. Get them to camp, claim them as soon as I can, that type of thing. I don't like them getting hurt."

Percy nodded. Even before he made the gods swear to claim their kids, Hephaestus had always been good about it. His kids were only ever unclaimed for a couple of days.

"I watched Leo especially. He is… special, from a young age. I don't think you all know him quite as well as you think you do, and I want to help."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "You're talking about him in the present tense."

"Oh, um, I am?" Hephaestus said, looking guilty. "Sorry. I'm not really used to…" He motioned all around him, taking in the demigods and his son's room. But the daughter of Athena wasn't sure that was it. "Anyway, I put together a track of some of the important things in Leo's life. It's all the things you don't know."

Before any of the demigods could protest that of course we know Leo! he disappeared. The movie screen flickered to life, and a fuzzy image appeared on it.

"Where's this?" Frank asked.

The image focused on screen. It showed a small cozy kitchen-it didn't look super nice, but it was clean and neat, and obviously owned by someone kind. Standing in the kitchen was a small boy, around six or seven. He was latino, and had dark curly eyes and hair. He was barefoot and wore dirty overalls.

Words appeared on the bottom of the screen in white: Houstan, Texas. Below that, and smaller, was Valdez Family Apartment. On the right-hand corner of the screen was the words; Leo's Age: six.

"That's little Leo?" Hazel asked, breaking into a smile. Her friends couldn't help smiling as well-little Leo was… well, little Leo. In a less sad situation, Percy and Jason might've taken photos to tease the elf with later.

Then they remembered that he was dead.

"He looked exactly like an elf when he was little!" Piper laughed.

Little Leo was turning the knobs on the stove. A blue flame flickered to life under the burners, and Leo stared at it, transfixed.

Suddenly, a woman came into the kitchen, and Leo switched the stove off before she could see what he'd been doing.

The woman was tall and willowy, but still looked strong. She was latina and had long dark hair and big kind brown eyes. She wore baggy jeans with patches on the knees, dirty sneakers, a flowy white t-shirt, and a clean brand-new looking army jacket. She was a pretty woman, but there were bags under her eyes and her shoulders were tensed. Still, she broke into a smile when she saw Leo.

"Is that Leo's mom?" Jason asked.

"I think so," Frank said, remembering when Leo had told him about his mom. He ached a little to see the woman that had meant so much to Leo.

"Leo, there you are!" The woman said. As she spoke, small words in white popped up over her head; Esperanza Valdez. The name flashed away again after a moment.

"Her name?" Annabeth guessed, then added, "Yeah." To answer her own question.

Esperanza scooped Leo up and tickled his stomach, making him giggle. "I have to go to the store, mijo. Will you be OK here for a few minutes without me?"

Leo nodded vigorously. "I'll be good, mama."

"Okay. Thanks for being such an angel, mijo." Esperanza set Leo down again, and kissed the top of his head. Then the left the kitchen again, calling, "See you soon!"

"I'm not so sure it's a good idea for her to leave Leo alone when he's so young," Jason said nervously. He was worried for his friend. "Leo could get into lots of trouble in a few minutes.

As soon as his mother was out of the room, Leo hurried back to the stove. He flicked the stove on expertly and turned the dials all the way up, like had had done it many times before. He glanced over his shoulder at the door, then reached up slowly and stuck his tiny fingers into the blue flame.

"Yeah, definitely not a good idea." Piper agreed, watching her friend. "If that were any kid but Leo…."

"Those fingers would be toast." Percy agreed.

Leo stared into the flame, waving his hand back and forth. The fire didn't seem to bother him at all. He had been standing like that just long enough for the demigods watching to get bored, when Esperanza came back in carrying grocery bags, and screamed.

She dropped the groceries and they spilled across the floor as she raced to Leo and yanked him away from the stove. She cradled Leo with one arm and reached up to quickly turn off the stove again.

"Leo! What were you doing!"

"It's okay, mama." Leo assured his mom, trying to squirm free of her protective grasp. "The fire doesn't hurt me. See?" He held up his hands, wiggling his totally unharmed fingers.

"I feel bad for Leo's mom," Frank laughed. "It must have been nuts to raise him."

Esperanza stared at Leo's hand in amazement, then blinked and shook her head. "Oh, mijo. Promise me you won't play with the stove again."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to get hurt. It didn't burn you this time, but it might next time. It's not safe, okay? Promise no playing with the stove?" Leo hesitated, but nodded.

"Okay, mama. I won't play with the stove."

Esperanza nodded in relief. "Thank you, mijo. Now c'mon, let's see if we can save any of these groceries…."

The screen went blank. "That jacket," Annabeth said, and her friends could see the gears turning in her head. "The jacket Esperanza was wearing, wasn't that the jacket that Leo used to-"

"Leo's army jacket!" Piper explained. "You're right, Annabeth! It must have been his mom's."

The screen turned back on, and the demigods quieted again.

(insert memories of Hera babysitting Leo when he was little here)

The screen turned off again. "Hera babysat him? And I thought I had it bad." Hazel said, looking surprised. "He never told me any of that."

"He didn't tell any of us. I mean, he mentioned Hera used to babysit, but we never knew any details." Jason said, motioning to himself and Piper.

Before they could talk any more, the screen turned back on again. "I guess Hephaestus has a lot of memories lined up for us," Piper mumbled, wondering what this one would be.

Leo stood by a car in the middle of an mechanic shop. He stared at it, holding a wrench in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. The words on the bottom of the screen changed to: Houston, Texas, Nuts 'n Bolts Mechanics, and Leo's age: seven. Leo wore dirty and baggy jeans and a way too-big white t-shirt.

Standing six feet behind Leo was his mom, dressed in overalls. There were a couple of other mechanics standing around her, and all of them stared at Leo like he was about to to a flip. All except Esperanza-her eyes were full of pride.

"Why aren't names showing up for all of those guys?" Percy asked.

"The name's are probably only for important people in Leo's life. Those men are just watching." Annabeth explained.

"What's Leo doing?" Frank asked.

On screen, Leo suddenly darted forward. He stood in front of the car's exposed engine, which was what Leo had been staring at. His hands flew over the metal, moving wire and adjusting parts. He yanked with the wrench and twisted with the screwdriver. It took him a few minutes, but finally he stepped back proudly and glanced back at his mom and the other mechanics.

"I fixed it!" He shouted happily.

"He fixed it?" Annabeth spluttered, shock. "He's seven! That's… incredible. I mean, I knew he was good, but that's crazy!"

Piper and Jason, Leo's best friends, beamed proudly. "Yeah. He was always great with machines." Jason said, nodding a little sadly.

The mechanics burst into chatter. Esperanza swept up her son and lifted him onto her shoulders. Even at age seven, he was still small enough for her to carry. The mechanics flocked around the engine, marvelling at Leo's work.

"All of us couldn't do that in three days!" One man laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Leo, that was amazing."

"Look, it's perfect!"

"There's nothing wrong with it now. I don't know how he did it, but he did!" The other men said, shaking their heads and examining the engine. Esperanza beamed, and Leo just giggled a little.

"You are so talented, mijo." Esperanza whispered, so that only Leo could hear. "You're going to do great things one day, I know it. I'm so proud." Leo smiled and buried his face in her dark hair.

Leo's friends were in awe. That was crazy. Frank and Percy exchanged a saddened look, though-Esperanza reminded them of their own mom's.

Just then, Nyssa's voice came from above. "Dinnertime, guys! Are you done?"

They quickly explained Hephaestus showing the memories, and the screen changed to show the words; I will show more after dinner, and tomorrow. Please tell Nyssa and Harley that they are welcome to watch with you. Nyssa immediately agreed to watch, and Harley agreed at dinner.

At the "seven table", a special table for the seven plus Nico and Reyna when she visited, (though not Nico's boyfriend Will, much to the couple's annoyance), the seven talked about Leo.

"It's funny some of the stuff he didn't tell us." Hazel said. She picked at her food. "I just hope there isn't anything too bad that Leo was hiding."

"I'm sure it will be fine, Hazel." Frank said confidently. But he wasn't so sure either.

AN: so that was chapter one! Thanks for reading! I have seen other stories like this, and I'm not sure if their authors will be mad that I used the same idea, but if you wrote a story like this and you want me to take mine down, PM me. Please leave a review or favorite/follow.