There's some more angst in this chapter, but of a different kind. And before any Percy lovers kill me, I like Percy and think that he and Leo could be great friends however, I also think that apart from Frank, Percy is most likely to argue with Leo. So there will be a small section in Percy's P.O.V. If you hate this then tell me nicely and I won't do it again, it just helps this chapter out. Italics mean memories. And Leo will be able to do some of the acrobatic tricks associated with freerunning in this fic. And thanks to any faves/follows and my lovely beta Pseudorific.
Neon Wish : Yay :)
RoseAmy13LunaGinny : And now some more angst.
Rainbowchameleon : I know! Nico hides behind a façade of uncaring or anger and Leo hides behind his humour.
HowlingRain : I hope that I don't disappoint then.
ObsessedwReading : The feels are so strong that even Leo recognizes them (Blood of Olympus).
Disclaimer : I own the plot, not anything that obviously belongs to Rick Riordan.
Leo's P.O.V
Sweat trickled down Leo's arm, but he refused to stop. In fact, he barely noticed the innocuous drop of water. He was too caught up in his training. His body flowed to a certain rhythm as he sent intense bursts of flame at the practice dummies in the training room. He was trying to keep his mind off of what had happened but every time he got his mind of the subject, a flicker of fire would get too close to one of his straw "allies". He had been there training for hours, but that clearly hadn't been long enough. Leo renewed his efforts, wincing as the memory danced through his mind again tauntingly, and straw "Jason" got slightly singed.
"Damn it!" He yelled punching the floor and ignoring the small cuts and the blood that welled up from them. Blood also ran from a ragged gash on his stomach that he had hastily bandaged before making his way to the training room to let of some literal steam. He deserved the wound anyway, he'd been so stupid. His eye was also smarting, and he ground his teeth in an effort to distance himself from his memory, using the pain in his aching muscles to try and focus on the present. He began his sequence again after fixing up some of the most battered dummies. The scene replayed in his head though, no matter what he tried. He crumpled to the floor, hands gripping his hair as he recalled the morning's events.
After the beating that the ship had taken over the last couple of weeks, it was no surprise to Leo that he needed to stock up on some more supplies to fix it. Annabeth and Percy had been chosen as his lucky babysitters *cough* companions as it wasn't really safe for anyone to go alone and they hadn't had their Leo duty (as he had affectionately named the way they watched over him on their brief missions ashore) in a while.
They made their way through the small town in a deceptively casual way, though Percy clutched Riptide in pen form (and wasn't that sword just the neatest thing ever, Leo was sincerely tempted to try making a weapon like that), Annabeth had her dagger tucked out of sight and, well, Leo was a walking weapon, but he kept his tool belt tightly wrapped around his skinny hips just in case.
All of the items had been located with relative ease, and Leo knew that their luck couldn't last. And he was right. A horde of monsters swarmed them, and there was no way of contacting the ship. Leo quickly pulled out his trusty hammers and began bashing away at monsters, occasionally throwing a small ball of flames at a particularly tricky enemy. That was why it had all gone to Hades.
One of the more daring monsters had managed to sneak up on Leo, and he threw himself into a hasty back flip to avoid it's razor claws, a jet of flames arching from his fingertips as he landed solidly on his feet. Unfortunately, the monster was nimble enough to dodge, and Leo watched in horror as his flames seared Annabeth's arm.
It wasn't a horrific burn, but it was enough for Annabeth to lose some of her concentration, resulting in a painful slice across her upper arm. While her defences were low, another monster attempted to sneak up on her, and Leo leapt in front of the claws. A nauseating tearing sensation swept through his abdomen. Eventually, they won the battle and the monsters were dispelled back into the dusty air of Tartarus.
Black spots slid across Leo's vision, and he momentarily doubled over, arms instinctively trying to stem the flow of blood. He straightened up, just in time for a fist to make it's way into his eyes. Leo collapsed to the floor, agony radiating from his stomach. Percy loomed over him, an intimidating scowl on his face that rivalled the one Leo had recieved after blowing up the Romans.
"Percy!" Annabeth's voice was admonishing, but Percy's overprotective rage was too strong.
"Are you so stupid, Valdez, that you can't tell friend from foe, or have you always lacked that skill?" Leo tried to convince himself that Percy was just angry, that he wouldn't imply that he still thought Leo was a traitor because of the Eidolon incident, yet the words still stung.
Even though his face was down-turned, Leo could still see Percy's silhouetted against the glaring sun and Annabeth clutching her scorched arm. The sight of burnt flesh (despite the wound not being serious) made Leo gag, bringing painful memories of both his mother and his nightmares. However, Percy wasn't done yet.
"Your flames have hurt enough people, haven't you got them under control yet." Leo felt himself flinch. Percy's tone was filled with annoyance, and even though Percy didn't realise just how accurate his statement had been, Leo's head fell further. He heard Annabeth (who knew a rudimentary version of his mother's death unlike her boyfriend) audibly gasp and his shoulders drooped.
Percy was right. Leo had hurt enough people with his flames, and he needed to get them under control, fast. He was a danger, a liability, no wonder they all had to babysit him whenever he left the Argo, he had already started one war, they didn't need him starting another.
Leo was on his feet in a flash, swaying slightly.
"You're right. I'm sorry." He choked out, before sprinting away, unaware that he had left his friends staring at a shimmering, rustic puddle of blood.
As soon as Leo had gotten to the ship, he began cursing himself in every language that he knew. Now Percy probably saw him as a coward instead of just an idiot. He had raced through the ship, stopping only to bandage his wounds and grab a painkiller before he made his way to the training room. No one had spotted him, and Leo knew that they would never think to look for him in the training room, Leo did most of his training at night when he couldn't sleep. Clearly he hadn't done enough if he was still making the same rookie mistakes.
That had been a good few hours ago, and no one had found Leo. He stood up, stifling the sobs that threatened to break out of his mouth. Once he had gained some semblance of calm, he restarted his motions, throwing in a few of his favourite flips and tricks that he had learnt for freerunning.
The pain in his stomach reached excruciating levels mid-flip, and Leo came crashing to the ground painfully. He groaned as cartoon Festus' flew around his head. Damn, he'd cracked his head hard. Suddenly, he felt cool hands probing his head gently, and his eyes came into focus on the sight of Nico Di Angelo, who's mouth was set in a grim line.
"As impressive as that display was, what in the name of my father possessed you to carry out a stunt like that while wounded?" Nico's words were so cold, Leo could almost see frost coming from his mouth.
"I was training." He muttered defensively. Nico's face twisted even more.
"We've been searching for you for ages." Leo was happy that his friends would even bother to search for him, but his mood plummeted when he realised that Percy was probably searching so that he could point out a few more of Leo's flaws, and maybe use him instead of a straw dummy to practise cool sword tricks on.
"Sorry." He grumbled, and he was sorry that Nico and the others had wasted their time searching for him. He was certain that they had more important things to do than search for a runty brat of a demigod who was too scared to face up to his friend's well deserved wrath.
"I guess that I've got to take you to the infirmary, again. I'll go fetch Percy, Grace or Zhang" Nico said, and Leo flinched.
"Nah, I'm fine here." Leo really didn't want Nico to have to patch him up again, and he really didn't want to see the burn on Annabeth's arm again. It made him sick just thinking about it. And thinking of the dark look in Percy's eyes made him feel like scum. So yeah, staying in the training room was looking incredibly attractive to Leo at that moment.
Unfortunately, life had decided to ignore Leo's opinion once again, and a wave of pain sent him into the deep black pit of unconsciousness when Nico tried to move his shirt to get a look at the wound.
Nico's P.O.V
Nico almost passed out himself when his friend's eyes rolled back into his head and his body slumped bonelessely, a feeling that was compounded when he saw the injury in it's full glory.
The wound was weeping and dark tendrils of purple poison were creeping up Leo's tanned chest from the site of the injury. Nico stared for a few seconds, stupefied at how Leo had managed to do any training, especially the flips and stuff, with this infecting his body.
Nico wished that he could move Leo safely, but they were the exact same height and Nico wouldn't risk Leo further by attempting to carry him to the sick bay. He ventured out as swiftly as he could in search of Jason or Frank. Percy could probably help, but Nico had seen Leo blanch at the mention of Percy, and by Percy's own admission they had had an argument earlier.
Nico was incredibly lucky as a few seconds into his search, he discovered Grace and McLean who had also been scouring the ship for their Latin friend.
"Any sign, Nico?" Piper panted out. Nico nodded.
"Hurry Grace, his injury's worse than Percy and Annabeth thought." To give the other two demigods credit, right after the last word left his mouth, they were all sprinting towards the training room.
When they arrived, Leo was sweating and panting, choked Spanish words leaving his lips every now and again. Jason and Piper went white, and Nico felt the colour drain from his own skin.
"Di immortales" Jason breathed, before walking over to their fallen friend. Jason then proceeded to scoop Leo up into a bridal hold, careful to not agitate Leo's wound.
"Nico, will you go prepare the sick bay bed for me? Piper, you should fetch the others." Piper nodded, sending one last concerned glance towards Leo before darting off to alert the others to Leo's condition. Nico loathed leaving Leo like this, but he knew that Jason would take care of him and that the only way for Nico to help at that moment was to do as Jason asked.
He reluctantly ran ahead to the infirmary, and remained there anxiously waiting after laying out all the necessary supplies for healing a demigod. Jason arrived just a few moments later, and placed Leo delicately on the bed. The others toppled in after him. Everyone looked worried, but Percy looked sick.
"I didn't think it was this bad." His mournful tone snapped Nico's restraint.
"Did you even bother checking? What did you do Perseus Jackson?" Everyone stared at him in shock except for Annabeth and Hazel who were busy trying to remove the poison from Leo's system.
Percy's P.O.V
Percy couldn't bare the sight of Leo looking so... ill. His skin was almost bleached of all colour except for his cheeks which were flushed with high fevor (something intensely wrong for a son of Hepheastus who was immune to fire) and the wicked purple trails that had spread along his chest and were now making an attempt to mark Leo's throat. He thought he felt terrible, but when Nico whirled on him with all the fury of Hades himself, Percy felt the shame churning in his stomach.
"He burnt Annabeth." Percy's defence was weak to his own ears, and Nico looked even more incensed at the pathetic attempt to avoid blame.
"Did you give him a chance to apologise or even explain what happened?" Percy looked at the ground, and Nico made a noise of pure anger.
"When he wakes up you will apologise, but only when he wants to see you." Percy spluttered at this, but then he realised that maybe this was for the best. From the way Nico was acting, Percy had seriously hurt the Latino elf boy.
"Okay." He acquiesced. Nico looked a little shocked at the lack of resistance or reluctance.
"He deserves to rest before having to see my stupid face again. And he deserves to choose whether or not to give me a chance for forgiveness." With that, Percy left the room.
"Give me any updates on his status, I'll look after the ship." He called over his shoulder as he made his way into the corridor.
Nico's P.O.V
It was a harrowing few hours. Annabeth and Hazel slaved away over Leo in an effort to stabilise him whilst also trying to remove the poison. Finally, the girls stepped back.
"Is he okay?" He asked.
"The worst of the poison should be out of his system, but the after effects of detoxing the rest may last for a couple of days. He's going to have to stay in bed for a while.
"He's not going to like that." At Nico's statement, a furious yet somewhat tender look settled onto Hazel's face.
"Well he'll just have to put up with it for not getting this sorted straight away before it could do so much damage!" She declared. Annabeth ran a hand through her hair, and sighed.
"I'm going to go talk to Percy, let him know that Leo's stable." Everyone left in the room nodded, and Annabeth trudged out wearily.
"So who's going to stay to make sure that Leo's condition doesn't change?" Frank inquired.
"I will." They all looked a little startled that Nico had volunteered, except for his sister who simply smiled at him warmly.
"Nico can have first shift then. I'll take over in three hours, and then Piper can replace me after another three hours." They all nodded at Jason's plan, and the others filed out solemnly. Hazel hugged Nico swiftly before she left.
"I'm glad that you are friends." She whispered in his ear before dashing out to catch up with her boyfriend. Nico sat at Leo's side, not really expecting Leo to wake up considering all that he had gone through.
That's why, an hour and a half later when Leo twitched away, Nico almost ended up in his father's domain as a permanent resident. Leo's pain clouded eyes looked up at him.
"Is this room the official meeting place of our crappy past club, because we seem to spend a lot of our time in here?" Leo's joke was as weak as his voice, but Nico felt relief course through his body at the fact that Leo was even capable of making a joke.
It came crashing down on him then, the fact that his friend could have easily slipped into his father's realm that night. He didn't know who was more surprised - him or Leo - when he wrapped his arms around the sick boy.
"You scared the schist out of me." He remarked.
"Sorry." Leo's warm arms wrapped tentatively around Nico, and Nico decided that discussing whatever stupid thing Percy had done could come later, for now he was simply happy that Leo was alive.
So poor Leo is bedridden and Nico was really worried. And Percy was a bit of a douche, but that will be rectified. Overprotective Nico is a Nico that you don't want to anger. Feel free to tell me your opinion on whether or not I should occasionally add another P.O.V to this, and I'll see you next time.
