Hi! This is the first chapter of We're the Outsiders! This is set in modern day.

ALSO, I'M DOING ANOTHER POLL WITH SOME HALLOWEEN STORIES. PLEASE VOTE, AND DON'T WORRY, IT WILL NOT HINDER MY ABILITY TO UPDATE THIS STORY.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

WARNINGS: LANGUAGE, DEPRESSION

Flames soared high, smoke assaulting his senses. Yet, he forged on towards the screaming that originated near the back of the church, the sobbing of children.

"Pony, Leo, they're in here!" An African American boy with black eyes, covered in soot, shouted as he kicked down a door. The screeches grew louder but the sizzling and crackling of the fire almost drowned them out. "Calm down, we're going to get you out."

They raced in, dodging falling debris, and Leo saw a group of seven or eight kids, all under seven years old, standing against the back wall. The Latino punched a boarded up window, ignoring the pain that sparked in his fist.

A voice yelled, "Get out of there! Forget those god damn kids!"

The trio didn't pay any attention to the command. They lifted the small children and dropped them out of the window. Leo heard a yelp and assumed that one of the kids had bit the blonde kid that was with them.

The last kid was out and Leo grabbed his friends by the collars and tossed them out of the burning building. He vaguely saw a tall, muscular teenager slap the blonde's back, which had combust into orange hot flames, and the younger collapsed. A thump sounded as the boy hit the ground, unconscious. The black eyed kid stumbled and fell, coughing as he sat on the ground. The teenager knelt beside the African American child and began to shake him, pounding him on the back while casting brief glances to the blonde on the ground.

"AHHH!" A falling piece of timber hit his back and luckily, Leo didn't think that his back broke but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt like Hades. A snap scared him as pain rushed through his wrist like acid.

"Leo!" The teenager called and then hands were grabbing his shoulders and hauling the demigod through the window. "Damn it!" Then, the roof fell and everything faded to black.

*A month and a half earlier*

Leo strolled through camp, his hands fiddling with multi colored wires and small pieces of metal. He smiled his usual cheery grin whenever he passed people, but when nobody was looking, his eyes would become sad, haunted, and an expression of loneliness would cross his face. He'd tried almost everyone, but no one had the 'time' or the 'patience' to deal with him.

First, he'd walked in on Percy and Annabeth kissing with their clothes half on, half off. Now, he had a new bruise from Annabeth's shoe being tossed in his direction. Hey, it was their fault for not locking the door.

Second, he'd tried talking to Frank and Hazel, but they obviously didn't want him around. Leo hadn't taken the hint and eventually, Frank had yelled at him, saying that they wanted to be alone, and the Latino left. He now held a very colorful opinion of the son of Mars.

Thirdly, he'd heard Jason and Piper talking about him before he'd even walked up to them.

"Why won't Leo leave us alone? Doesn't he understand that we need space?" Piper had rolled her eyes and Jason had placed a comforting arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.

"I agree with you, Piper, but after all, we are his only friends."

Leo had stormed away. He'd tried his siblings, but they were so busy with their projects that they had brushed him off like an irritating insect. He'd made his decision. He needed to leave.

Leo skipped dinner that night to pack. He'd talked to a Hectate kid, Micheal, that hated him and would love nothing more than to see Leo gone. Mike had given Leo a bottomless backpack and had kicked him out of the cabin after he had told him, "Hope you get eaten by a monster, Valdez."

The Latino threw all of his clothes, a reasonable amount of food, a water bottle, a dagger, 500 dollars worth of mortal money and 100 drachmas (perks of being friends with the Hermes kids) into his bag. Then, he sat at his work desk and wrote on a small lined piece of paper.

Dear whoever cares enough to read this,

Ever since I was young, people hated my personality, my corny jokes, my pranks, everything about me. People used to tell me that someday my fire would burn out and I'd be left as a dull shell. Maybe that day has come, but I'm not sure. All I know is that if I stay, that statement will become reality.

I don't know where I'm going to go, but I can't stay here until I finally break. No one cares and I'm done with people pretending that they do.

Percy, Annabeth- I'm sorry for being a burden, for being an annoying pest. For always getting in the way. I hope without me here, you can heal from your ordeal without me constantly being insensitive. Goodbye.

Hazel, Frank- I'm sorry for reminding you of Sammy, Hazel. I'm sorry for hitting on your girlfriend, Frank. I'll get out of the way of your relationship. For what it's worth, I do want the best for both of you and the best thing for me to do is leave.

Jason, Piper- I'm sorry for being the third wheel in our 'friendship'. You're better together. Lightning superman and persuasive beauty queen, both strong and brave and clever. What am I? Nothing, just Repair Boy, worthless mechanic. With me gone, you'll be happy. Goodbye.

To my siblings- I'm sorry I failed as head councilor and brother. I can't be as good role model for Harley. Nyssa's a better mechanic than I am. Jake's the smart one. I put all of you and the entire camp in danger. I love all of you and I hope that your lives will only get better from here.

Leo Valdez (LV)

And then, Leo Valdez picked up his bag and left Camp Half Blood. For good.

Later that night, the Hephaestus Cabin filed in for the night. They laid on their beds, but Nyssa couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. After an hour of just staring at the ceiling, she finally sat up and that's when she noticed that Leo Valdez's bed was vacant.

That was odd. She stood and walked over to the head councilor's bed, where she found a note laying on top of the blanket. Picking it up, Nyssa read the words and the note fluttered to the ground. Then, she sobbed.

She cried and cried and continued to bawl even after a hand was placed on her shoulder. The paper was lifted off of the floor and out of her vision.

"Nys?" Jake whispered, but then, he jumped when Shane too began to weep. "Shane, what does it say?" He snatched it away from the younger and read it aloud. "I have to show this to Chiron." He left but everyone was too busy crying to notice.

Everyone tried to deny it, but they all knew the truth. Leo Valdez, brother, friend, hero, joker, was gone.

More of a prologue than anything, but next chapter, it starts to get more interesting.