He was just the seventh wheel. He always knew it. Whether they were saving goddesses or destroying monsters or saving the world he was the seventh wheel. Everyone else had people who cared. Girlfriends and boyfriends, people to go to when they were alone and needed a friend. Him? He only had himself, and the company of gears and machines. They never noticed his pain. The fact that he slept less and less, spending most of the time in his cabin, or in Bunker Nine, or the Argo II or the forges. They noticed once in a while of course, how could they not? But most of the time it was just him. Him and his thoughts. "You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel." It summed up his life completely. He was entirely alone. He didn't have any family, and his friends never noticed him. He was simply the joker boy, the one who joked around when times were tough, and the one who built things to get out of tricky situations. They took advantage over his smile and attitude, assuming nothing was wrong. But of course it was. They never realized his true emotions. They didn't notice he was loyal and faithful to all of them, choosing to let himself die rather than put himself in danger. They were grateful and sad of course, after he risked his life to save Gaea, but even then they didn't realize what his true feelings were. And after he came back, Calypso in tow, they were happy that he had come back, and glad that he had finally found someone who truly loved him, but they never realized he was still going through so much emotional pain. Guilt over his mother's death. Guilt over breaking open Nemesis's fortune cookie. Guilt over Festus being destroyed. He was that extra person, not the smart one, the charming one, the loyal one, the tough one, the leader, or the quiet one. He was the person who had to resort to humor to hide his true feelings, the one who tried to make light out of a dark situation so no one saw his pain. If you asked any of his friends what his background was like, his childhood friends, his old enemies, they wouldn't be able to answer. Because he hid his past. He hid his past than ran. Always running, moving, staying ahead of his problems and concerns. Never looking back. He was just the seventh wheel. And his name was Leo Valdez.