Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

Before we get things under way I'd like to thank Qwerty for THE SWEETEST REVIEW. I am so glad you like the story and I will do my best to do it justice! Thank you!

So, this chapter is kinda emotion dense. This chapter is where things start going to shit. There's a lot of set-up's for future story lines and character development. Unfortunately, Hazel's still not here but she will be in the next chapter.

I'll warn you if you've ever been a victim of sexual assault there may be some triggers here.

(Immediately after that)

Leo stood, jaw open, frozen in place. In front of him a fiery explosion bloomed before him like a horrendous flower in a ring of thunder that left his ears ringing. The world seemed frozen for a moment of horrifying light and terror. As soon as the sound of the explosion died down his ears filled up with screaming.

"That . . . That wasn't supposed to . . . " he tried to talk but his brain seemed to have lost all intelligent function.

He turned and looked at Frank, but he refused to meet Leo's eyes. His face burning with shame. Suddenly, something occurred to Leo that filled his with so much anger he could barely see straight. He grabbed Franks uniform collar and yanked him down, so Leo could get in his face.

"You knew." he snarled "Didn't you?"

Frank didn't say anything, which was more then enough of an answer. Leo threw him down and ran for the door, yanked it open and dashed down the hallway without so much as a second glance. There was no time to be acting emotional or giving lectures. Not when people were burning.

Piper he thought Piper's down there somewhere

He reached a stairwell and leaped down them three at a time. Later he would think it was ridiculous. He had never been a hero. Never claimed to be. But goddamnit he had already lost too much to the flames, he was not losing his best friend too. He flung open the door at the bottom of the staircase and plunged into the fire.

He wasn't entirely sure where he was. He'd never been allowed in the women's ward. But he kept running. He followed the screaming voices of the wounded until he came across one girl trapped under a pile of rubble. She was moaning, barely conscious, but she was alive. Leo dug her out and picked her up in his arms. Bridal style, since she was too weak to stand. She looked, for the most part, uninjured. But her forehead was bleeding and the light in her eyes was dim. He skin looked unnaturally pale against her pitch black hair.

"Hey, stay with me okay?" Leo said, giving her a little shake in his arms "I'll get you out of here okay?"

"Zeethos." She muttered "Where's my brother?"

Zeethos was her brother? Then this must be Khione. Zeethos and Cal were always complaining about her, but Leo'd never met her. For some reason this hit Leo like a train, knocking all the wind out of him. This girl had a family. She wasn't a nobody who had no one to mourn them, like he was. She was someone's sister. Someone's daughter. And now she might die.

Leo listened to all the moans and screams and crying around him. He looked around at all the hot, orange, tongs of fire surrounding him. He knew he would survive, he always did, but how could he help so many people? His arms were already full with just one!

Then he remembered the last time he'd felt so helpless. The last time those orange flames of fire had taunted him. Now was not the time to feel weak. He could not afford to be so . . . so . . . human. Not now. Not this time.

He ran on.

Soon enough he came across a door with a sign on it that read 'Kitchen'. He heard a familiar scream from inside. His eyes widened and he kicked the door open.

The image that greeted him was one that would haunt his nightmares for a long time after everything was said and done.

There was Cal, holding Piper down on a table. Her prison jumpsuit was ripped open and her bare breasts exposed. Zeethos stood over her, naked from the waist down. His hands firmly on her thighs, a vicious grin on his face.

Zeethos looked up lazily when Leo kicked the door open. "Oh hey, Leo." he said casually, slowly. He was clearly savoring this. "You want some, man? I know you've had your eye on this bitch for a while now, right? Don't worry I'll leave enough for you."

Piper had started to cry. Leo couldn't move. This was like something out of a nightmare.

"It's my last night alive, man." Zeethos said "I'm gonna spend it happy."

As if on cue, that was when a gun shot sounded. And then Zeethos fell on the floor. Dead.

Frank Zhang jumped down from a rafter, sniper rifle in hand and a hardened expression on his face. He pointed the gun at Cal, who hadn't even had time to react yet."

"Let her go. Now!" he ordered

Cal just stared. Dumbfounded. "Zee? He dead?" no one said anything. "You killed my brother!" he bellowed.

Frank took a step back. You could see what he'd just done had hit him. Cal let go of Piper and charged at Frank. Frank was to far taken aback to react.

Fortunately, Piper was there and he didn't have to. She grabbed a frying pan from above her, hanging on the ceiling so fast you'd almost miss it and slammed it into Cal's skull. Cal's eyes rolled up into his head and he fell to the floor. Out cold. (Yes, she actually knocked his out with a frying. That actually happened.) Then Piper hit him again. And again and again. She was screaming and crying and beating Cal senselessly.

Eventually Leo had to say "Piper, that's enough."

Piper turned to him sharply, her pan raised. Tears and mucus streaming her face. Her hair was everywhere and her eyes shone with pain and emotion"You said if I did what you said they'd leave me alone! You said I'd be safe!" she screamed. Her voice choked with emotion.

Leo couldn't speak for a moment, finally he managed "I know, Piper. I never -" then she dissolved into a crying fit. Leo felt like someone was strangling him. He wanted to go to her but he was still carrying Khione, plus he wasn't sure she'd want anyone touching her just then.

It wasn't until the sound of a support beam cracking came that they all remembered they were still in a burning building. Now wasn't the time to be think about sadness. Leo needed to do something.

"Zhang." he called. Frank, who'd been starring at Zeetho's body the whole time, started. Leo handed the unconscious Khione to him. He wasn't sure when she'd lost consciousness, but she was still breathing. "Get her and Cal out of here." he instructed.

"I swear I never meant for this to happen." he chocked out before having a coughing fit on the smoke.

"Just get them out of here. I'll see if there's any more I can get out before the place comes down." Leo went to go

"Wait." Frank grabbed his shoulder "I can take a lot more then just them. Get as many as you can rounded up in one place and I'll play taxi and get them out."

"How're you going to do that?"

"There's no time to explain. Just go!" Frank ran off

There was a hesitation when Leo and Piper were left alone together "Piper, you know-" Leo tried but Piper cut him off

"Let's just get on with this." she grabbed a fire extinguisher from under the sink "If I'm lucky I'll be dead before the nights done and I can forget all this."

The next . . . actually, Leo was never sure how long it was. Only that it was a blur of running around in a panic. Finding barely alive bodies in burning heaps. Helping them up, and running them back to the kitchen. If he'd been anyone else he would've died a million times doing some of the stunts he pulled that night. But he wasn't anyone else.

He was Leo Valdez, the one and only. He wasn't hurt be fire. He knew when to dodge falling rubble. He could see ways of solving problems. He was going to survive because that is what Leo Valdez freaking does. He adapts. He moves on. He cracks jokes to hide the pain. And he endures it. He will always struggle and fight but in the end he walks away. And he survives.

Getting into the place was easy enough, Luke thought it was the getting out that would be the trouble. He had to be make sure no one saw him or they'd defiantly stop and question him as to why he was hauling two coma-patents to the elevator.

To solve the problem, he decided to cut the lights. Just the lights, of course, no way he'd risk all the important life-saving machines on that floor. Still, it caused quite a panic. That combined with just plain darkness meant he could get away with just about anything. He had a gun with a silencer in his pocket, too, in case things went south. But that was a last resort only.

He ran down the halls of the hospital wearing infa-red goggles in the blackness and pushing a stretcher. Not that he needed them to find the room at this point. He'd made the trip so many times it was practically muscle memory.

Luke came in and turned on a flashlight. In one bed lay Percy, and in the other . . . was nothing. The sheets were pulled back and no one was inside the bed. The window five feet from her bed was thrown open and a chill breeze drifted in.

Nononononono! This was not part of the plan! Where was Thalia?

"Hey! What are-" a voice said behind him

Luke didn't even think. He slammed the butt of him gun into the man's head and he passed out cold, blood trickling from his forehead.

A moment of silence passed before Luke spoke "Uh-oh."

He grabbed Percy and his heavy ass and loaded him onto the stretcher and made a run for it.

To say the girl standing in front of them was frightening was like saving it'd been a little warm in Bedrock tonight. She stood erect, with her shoulders back, her arms crossed and her expression hard as stone. She wore a black cat-suit, red lipstick, and her black hair in a braid over her shoulder. Her piercing black eyes seemed to stare into you're very core, pinpointing any weaknesses whatsoever. Even if Leo hadn't been running around all night he probably would've had to catch his breath.

"What. Happened." she demanded

Bedrock sat as a smoldering lump of rubble behind them. A group of medical helicopters had showed up towards the end there and the survivors were being treated. Plenty had already taken off to get them to the ER. Now they were left with a passed off Hispanic girl interrogating them about why the fuck everything blew up.

For a moment nobody spoke. Then, surprisingly, it was Frank, who was still getting oxygen from a tank, who spoke up. "I didn't know about the bombs." he said

The girl raised an eyebrow "What bombs?"

Frank might've looked confused if he wasn't so busy trying not to pass out "Didn't you know? The Wolf House never send orders unless they know all variables."

"What bombs?" she repeated "What do you mean the Wolf House? What orders?"

Frank tried to respond but he was really having trouble breathing now. He started hyperventilating and pressed the oxygen face mask against his mouth. The girl signed like this was a big incontinence.

"Um, maim," Leo said "I can probably fill in the blanks. See, I was a prisoner here. Frank called for me to be brought into an interrogation room and made me a deal. He explained to me all about Wolf House and how he'd been sent under cover to keep an eye on things. He told me he was acting on orders from one of his superior at the Wolf House. Anyway, I'm a bit of a guineas when it comes to technology and he wanted me to hack the prisons cells and collars and deactivate them remotely. Setting everyone free. But just after I deactivated the collars, an explosion went off. Several, actually, I believe they were designed to set the building on fire, rather then damage the building itself. Otherwise the building would've collapsed much faster then it did."

Piper didn't say anything, but she'd started giving Leo the evil eye. Which made him feel a hell of a lot worse because he knew she blamed him. He couldn't bear to look at her.

"Interesting." Reyna said, her gaze fixed on Frank "Well discuss this further when you're in better health, Agent. For now could you tell me who gave you these orders?"

Frank hesitated for a bit. He still had the face mask up against his face and was breathing pretty hard. He looked like he was in so much hell Leo almost felt sorry for him. Instead of answering he just pointed to one of the black helicopters not to far from them. Sitting in the doorway was a blond guy about Leo's age with rugged good-looks and a scar on his upper lip. He was talking quietly to a girl maybe sixteen years old with black hair. She was wearing a hospital gown and a jacket that was clearly way to big for her and was barefoot.

They both seemed pretty invested in their conversation and barely noticed the rescue scene in front of them. The girl went and touched the inside of his forearm tenderly. Like she was worried it'd hurt him.

"No." Reyna said quickly "You must be mistaken."

"I'm not." Frank insisted "You can check the phone record."

"The Wolf House did not order this. There's no way Jason would act solo without consulting the Senate."

"Well I wish someone had thought to tell me that before everything went to hell!" Frank snapped

Reyna raised an eyebrow and he backed down. Then her expression softened a degree. "If you really were just following orders, I suppose the senate can't punish you too harshly. But this will be investigated. And I want you to be very certain it was Jason before you make that accusation to the Senate. For right now, let's get you back to N.R." she waved Frank off and he went to lay down.

"What's going to happen to him?" Khione asked (Yeah. She's been there the whole time.)

"He'll be taken off active duty while the Senate investigates and decides what to do. There will probably be a trial for him to defend himself." Reyna explained

"Why should he get to defend himself? He's a murderer!" Khione shouted

"Khione-"

"He shot my brother! He killed him!"

"Because your brother was trying to put his dick in me while Bedrock was on fire!" Piper intercepted "He deserved what he got!"

Reyna made a noise like someone had punched her in the gut "You . . . were raped?"

Piper looked like she suddenly wanted to crawl under a rock "No. But they tried to." she managed "Her two brothers, Cal and Zeethos. Cal, who's flipping huge, he held me down and-

"That's alright you don't have to tell me." Reyna said hurriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her tone adding a silent I won't make you relive that

"Khione go lie down." Reyna ordered

"I don't-"

"Go."

Khione didn't look happy about it, but even after only five minutes it was obvious you didn't argue with Reyna. So she headed off.

Reyna took a breath and scanned the situation around her. "I'd like both of you to come back to headquarters with us. You're testimony could make or break Frank Zhang's future." She said

Leo wasn't sure how he felt about that. True it seemed Frank had been a victim here, just following orders. But Leo could never pretend he wasn't biased on the matter. Frank was a solider, just doing his job, Leo could get that. If his job hadn't gotten so many people killed and hurt. If his job hadn't resulted in his best friend being almost raped on a kitchen table. If his job hadn't made him go through Hell. Again.

"Maim you don't want that. I'm way too close to this to not be a biased source."

"Yes, I think that's true." Reyna said "But so is everyone. Besides the Senate would never hear of you not coming in."

Leo was too tired to argue with her and just agreed to come.

"Well I'm not." Piper said "I'm going home to my Dad."

Reyna hesitated, then asked "Are you sure that's the best idea? The MRD will be trying to round up the escapees as soon as they can. Your parents house will be the first place they'll look. You may be putting him at risk. I'm sorry, I don't think it's a good idea."

"So what's going on?" Jason had appeared behind Reyna, the black haired girl holding his hand

Reyna looked irritated "Oh good. Now you decide to do something."

Jason looked hurt "Um, sorry? I got a little side tracked."

Reyna let it drop and filled Jason in on the damage to the prison, Frank and Leo's involvement, and how the rescue had been going so far. Just about everyone had burns to be treated and broken bones that needed to heal. Leo seemed to be the only one unscathed and he knew he could collapse from exhaustion any time now. Not to mention the lifetime of nightmares ahead of everyone there. She said the only reason the rescue team had had so long undisturbed was because something had caused the MRD communication systems to crash. That probably wasn't a coincidence, she said. She didn't mention that his name had come up, or what'd happened to Piper. She probably felt that it was Piper's own business who knew about that.

"Anyway, Piper insists on visiting her Dad. But I don't think it's a good idea, not unprotected" Reyna concluded

"Then put me in protective custody or something." Piper argued "I'll do you're testimony after I see my father."

"I could take you." Jason offered "I've got to take Thalia back to New York pretty soon anyway. It's no big deal."

"I can't wait to see Luke and Annabeth again. You're gonna love them." The girl promised him

Reyna gave Jason a look and they seemed to have a silent conversation. Leo was about 96% sure it boiled down to this 'Crap, I'm in trouble.' 'Yes you are. But I won't call you out here.'

Reyna didn't look like she liked that idea any better, but eventually said "Alright, I suppose if you're alright with that. But-"

"Like he said, no big deal." Piper cut her off and then marched away

Jason got this look like well that was weird "You can cover for me for a few days, right Reyna?"

"Sure, just be back by Friday."

"What's Friday?" Jason asked

Reyna didn't say anything but he gave him a look until he clapped a hand to his forehead "Oh! Right. Dinner. Sorry."

Reyna gave a half hearted smile and said in Spanish "Eres un idiota. Me recuerdan por qué te dejo introdujo su pene en mí?"

"What?" Leo said a little too loudly

Reyna's eyes looked horrified "You heard nothing." she said

"Wait. No, seriously she does that a lot. What did she say?" Jason asked

"I am not translating that." Leo said

A moment passed. Then Thalia "Oh my God. Things are going to be so different now. I've got a lot of catching up to do."

Ugh, that ending could've been so much stronger. But, yeah.

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