Just to clarify, all thoughts are italicized. I don't know if I spelled that right, but my spellcheck isn't saying anything, so I'll assume I did.
Les go.
Piper was getting restless. Leo could tell.
Well, I mean, I guess all demigods are restless, but Piper was Leo-level restless right now, which is not a good thing.
Oops, I broke a narration rule. Ignore every time I say I, ok?
"Leo, are you done yet?" Piper asked. Leo shook his head.
"No, Pipes, I need 5 more minutes," he answered. Piper sighed and looked around bunker 9. She did not think that when Leo asked her to help him out, that she would just be standing here.
"Alright, finished!" Leo said, hopping down in front of her. Piper stared up at Festus the Dragon.
"There's literally no difference," she said. Leo tsked at her.
"Upon closer inspection, Mrs. Non-Believer, you will see that Festus now has:"
He paused for dramatic effect. Festus focused on a certain spot in the room, and lights like lasers shot out of his eyes.
"Laser eyes!" Piper exclaimed. Leo proceeded to whoop and laugh with glee.
Jason burst into Bunker 9, followed closely by Percy and Annabeth.
"Leo! There's trouble," Jason said, all out of breath. Percy was exploring the Bunker, having not actually been inside it yet.
"What kind of trouble?" Leo asked, grin leaving his face.
"Dude, there are five giant rainbow cats outside," Jason said. That was enough to get Leo to move.
They all ran back outside, and to the beach. Leo gasped when he saw the cats Jason was talking about.
Leo ran up to the black one and put his hand on it. He focused for a little bit, finally hearing something; but it was not Morse Code.
"Who are you? Where are we?" she asked. Leo started gently stroking the giant cat, calming it down.
"My name is Leo Valdez. This is Camp Half-Blood," he thought. He could feel the cat relax.
"How did you get here?" he asked it.
"I'm not entirely sure, but please, can you see if my paladin is alright?"
Leo had no idea what a paladin was, but he stepped back, allowing the cat to stand up. All of the surrounding campers, including Chiron, backed up. Except for Leo.
Black moved into a standing position, then crouched down and lowered her ramp. Leo walked calmly inside, keeping his eyes open for any sign of danger. What he saw, however, had him rushing about.
"Holy schist," he said. He ran up to the unconscious body, checking immediately for a pulse.
"Apollo cabin! We need medics!" Leo shouted over his shoulder. Yes, there was a pulse, but it was very faint, almost not there.
Leo thought there would be a stronger pulse in his other arm, but there was no pulse at all. Actually, come to think of it, Leo could hear the inside of his arm. It was almost as if-
Will and a couple of other Apollo kids rushed inside, picking the unconscious dude up. As Leo exited Black behind them, he turned to the other cats. He reached out with his mind, connecting to them the way he connected with machines.
"Hey, are you guys ok?"
"We're fine, but how are our paladins?" asked the blue one.
"I'm not sure. Can I board you guys and check?"
All of the other lions agreed to let him onboard. Except for red. Leo tried to ignore their conversation as he helped the Apollo campers take the guy out of the yellow lion.
"Red, come on, he's trying to help!" argued Yellow. Red would not relent.
"How do we know we can trust these guys?"
"Because, they're helping us!" said Green.
"This doesn't mean- "
"Enough!" said Black, stepping forward and facing the other lions, which freaked the campers out.
"We have no choice right now. These strangers may be the only ones able to save our paladins. Besides," she turned to Leo, who was waiting patiently to enter Red, "The scrawny one has a true heart."
Red growled a little bit, but finally crouched down to let Leo enter. He wasted no time in getting this paladin out of here, but Leo couldn't help thinking that he's seen this guy somewhere before.
He brought the lions to the Apollo cabin so they could watch over their paladins. Will checked their pulses, consulted his Nico, and let the lions know that the paladins would live. However, they were not allowed to exert their bodies, which meant no training, running, stretching, arguing, and pretty much everything else the paladins normally did.
Red chuckled.
"I bet Keith will be happy about that," she said.
Leo led them into Bunker 9, and they seemed to get along with Festus great. Piper, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth all joined them in there, watching as the most powerful weapons in the universe played with a 60 ft. Celestial bronze metal dragon named happy.
"Where do you think they're from?" Annabeth asked.
"Definitely not around here," Piper answered.
"Leo, how can you understand them?" Jason asked. Everyone looked at him. Even the automatons, unbeknownst to them.
"I'm not sure," he answered. "I assume it's because I'm a kid of Hephaestus, but none of the others seem to be able to hear what they're saying."
"Like when you talk to Festus," Piper said.
"Kind of, except Annabeth understands him, too," Leo said. Annabeth frowned.
"No, I can't."
"Yes, you can. You speak Morse Code, right?"
Annabeth nodded, then understood.
"So, you and Festus have been communicating through Morse Code this entire time, and I haven't realized it?" Annabeth asked. Leo nodded.
"Wise Girl didn't realize something? Oh, no! It's the end of the world!" Percy said, but Annabeth kissed him.
"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she said. Blue let out sound that sounded like a cat whistle, then played an audio she had secretly recorded of Lance shouting at Keith and Acxa to "get a room." This caused Percy and Annabeth to blush as everyone else burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Leo calmed down a bit when he realized that he recognized that voice. He couldn't remember it at the time, but this realization caused his laughter to die, killing everyone else's.
"Leo? What's wrong?" Piper asked.
"Hey, Blue, do you have any more recordings of that voice?" Leo asked. He knew his friends were curious, but he had to make sure this was the same person he was thinking about.
Blue searched her memory and found another one. The paladins had been having what they called a "Slumber Party," with Allura. It had been held in the lion's hangars as a way to keep them company.
Leo listened closely to the audio that was playing.
"Shiro, what are you doing?"
Blue decided to show them the recording, too, so now they were watching the guy from Black sneak up on someone they didn't recognize.
"Nothing, just coming over for a second," Shiro answered, a wicked grin on his face.
The other guy started backing up slowly, but Shiro tackled him before he could get too far.
"Lance, come on, help me out!" Shiro called. The guy from the red lion ran into the video, holding down the unnamed guy.
"Sorry, Keith, but Shiro's the leader!" Lance said, pure joy written on his face.
Leo's heart stopped. So, it was him. He knew he recognized that joyful Cuban boy.
It was Lance McClain.