Summary: Piper had always thought of Leo as a little brother, but this was taking it a bit too far. Or, the one where Leo is eight again and the rest of the Seven don't know what they're dealing with.
Notes: This is a new thing I've been wanting to write for a little while. I'm not sure how long it'll be, but you can comment things you want to add, if you want. Be patient with me, school is a bitch. Enjoy, I guess.
Disclaimer: I'm not fifty, nor a male, so obviously I don't own PJO.
When they found him, he was completely still and silent. Which, Piper thinks, is probably why the search took so long.
Leo doesn't do silent. The number of times someone (namely Piper or Jason) has walked in on him talking to himself when alone, or even when others were there, is high. It sort of disturbs her, how often one of her best friends mutters things to himself. She wonders if he'll ever grow out of the habit. The way things are going, probably not.
Leo doesn't do still. There have been few times that Piper has ever seen Leo be completely still, and she hasn't liked any of them. After Leo came back from Ogygia, when he told the rest of the crew about what happened to his mom and how, and a few times that Piper's stumbled upon him so exhausted that he's worked himself into a coma-like sleep.
It's weird to ever see Leo not fidgeting. Unnatural, one might say.
There are a few other things that Piper knows Leo doesn't do. Eating dry cereal, not talking, sleeping regularly, not being able to tinker for long periods of time. The list of quirks that the boy had was extensive.
And being eight. Piper was pretty sure that Leo wasn't eight.
But that contradicted the fact that there was a tiny Latino sat on the desk in front of her.
He stared at her blankly, almost as if she weren't there. Piper prayed to the Gods that this wasn't actually Leo, because it was unnerving her. A child should be happy and just a little bit excited about everything, not staring with a dead look in his eye. Especially if that child was Leo, the bouncing, happy teen. There was no way Piper could see this child as being Leo, and it was probably impossible to be sixteen and suddenly lose half of your years anyways.
Who was he? A Hephaestus camper at the least.
But still, better safe than sorry... "Leo?" She whispered, not sure why it seemed appropriate but doing it anyways.
The only response she got from the kid was his eyes focusing on her for a split second before returning to the spot over her shoulder, as if someone was standing there. She turned her head to look, but saw nothing. Shaking it off and figuring that that was all she was going to get, she took a step forward, studying him closer.
The resemblance to the Leo she knew was uncanny, as he really did look like someone had decided to cause a gap in the timeline to put a little Leo here in Bunker Nine instead of her friend. He had the same skin color, elfish ears, and nimble fingers. The only things missing were Leo's cheerful, joke-telling personality, easy smile, and nervous energy. This kid sat so still and blankly you'd think he was a statue.
Now, to try and get this kid to follow her, or leave and bring the others here? A question for the ages.
Piper couldn't just grab the kid, because who knew if he would scream or something? Based on his previous actions, he probably wouldn't, but she'd rather not take the chance. She didn't want to leave, just in case he decided to run off somewhere, because even if he wasn't Leo he was a little boy, and if he did turn out to be, she didn't want to be responsible for him getting hurt or lost again. So she was stuck.
The option of asking him to come with her didn't hit Piper until a few minutes later, and she almost started cussing herself out. Then again, she hadn't woken up too long ago, so her brain was slow. She did, however, smack a palm to her face, muttering something about needing coffee as soon as possible.
"Hey, buddy." She refrained from calling him Leo- who knew if he actually was or not? "Are you hungry or anything? We can go get some food, and we can meet my friends if you want."
Piper tried not to put too much charm speak into her words- kids had always seemed to know when she was using it on them. Considering that it didn't work on Leo's youngest brother Harley, who was nearly ten now, she was fairly sure that he'd be in the same range.
To her surprise, the little brunet simply nodded and slid off of the table, still looking up at her with the same dead expression. Something about it gave her chills, but at the same time, she felt like she'd seen it before. Piper still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the nameless boy looked so much like Leo. But it couldn't be him, Leo was sixteen.
Then again, with the Gods and the capabilities of the Mist, she shouldn't be surprised.
Maybe it was some sort of prank, maybe it wasn't. But Piper wasn't going to let this kid out of her sight, just in case.
The door to Bunker Nine closed with a soft thud behind them, and the boy looked back. His eyes flicked over it as if he were evaluating something or watching someone intently. Then he shivered and moved a little closer to Piper, trying to keep her pace. She slowed some, glancing over her shoulder at the shelf of rock that was fading into morning mist as they walked farther down the path.
