Okay, there seems to be a bit of confusion to how old Leo and Reyna are. Allow me to clear that up. They are about eight, nine, ten, kind of young.
To her credit, Piper was very calm when she woke up to find a scrawny, grubby dog and the homeless little boy and sitting at her kitchen table, sipping hot chamomile tea with her husband. In fact, the first thing she did was bring out a plate of assorted cookies and offer them to him.
Jason explained all he knew while Leo munched on a ginger snaps and oatmeal raisins, and finally Jason finished with, "So I brought him here, hoping you would know what to do."
Piper nodded thoughtfully. Then she looked at Leo.
"Leo," she asked gently, "Will you tell me what happened?"
He shook his head and looked at the floor where the dog was lying at his feet, snatching up any crumbs he dropped.
"Can't you tell us anything?" Jason groaned, annoyed.
"Don't pester him, Jason," Piper scolded. "Whatever it was must have been very traumatizing."
"All right," Jason muttered, running his hands through his hair, tiredly, "Can you tell us about the dog? Is he yours?"
"No, he's just a stray who followed me around," Leo said quietly, speaking for the first time. "His name his Festus," he added.
"You do realize that means 'happy' in Latin, right?"
Leo shrugged, and took another chocolate chip cookie.
"I'll bet you fifty bucks he just thought of that name just now," Jason told Piper.
"Shut up," she smiled, whacking him playfully on the shoulder. Turning back to Leo, she explained.
"I'm a therapist, so maybe if you told me what happened, I could help you figure it out?"
Leo hesitated, but set down the cookie he was about to take a bite out of, and nodded.
"All right," he said finally, "I'll tell you.
"You see," he started, "One day at the park where I hang out a lot, I made friends with a girl who I'd never met before. Then, when I was hiding from a police officer around the corner, I saw her leaning out of her window. So I climbed the tree outside and we talked in her room, and we did that almost every day this summer. But . . . she was sick and there was something wrong with her heart, so they would have to operate and give her a special medicine. When I found out, I made her warriors out of pieces of metal I'd found to protect her when she went away. I've been waiting for her to come back from the hospital, but," he sniffed and blinked rapidly, "but when she came back she said she didn't want to see me! I don't know what I did wrong! She was fine one day and now she's acting so strange! What happened?"
Piper wrapped both arms around him and he pressed his wet face into her shoulder.
"Shhh," she crooned, "You didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why she was acting weird, but it wasn't because of you."
Leo relaxed into her tight embrace. He could barely remember the last time someone had done this, hug and comfort him without restraint. He didn't mind when she squeezed him even harder, it felt good and she smelled like freshly dug earth and cinnamon cookies.
"We'll help you, Leo," you can ask us for anything," Jason promised.
"And of course, you can stay here as long as you need to," Piper added. Jason eyes widened, but she ignored him and continued, "We'll provide you with room, board, advice and help. Okay?"
The two grownups looked at him. He had fallen asleep on Piper's shoulder.
"Awwww," Piper cooed, "he's cute when he's sleeping."
"Never thought I'd see the day when Piper Grace was fussing over a little boy like a mother hen," Jason told her drily.
"Oh, hush." Piper rolled her eyes, but really she was pleased. She had always wanted a child, and Leo really was sweet.
All right! Now that Leo has a bit of support, maybe he'll get back on that horse and talk to Reyna again. If you review, I'll let you hold an ADORABLE sleeping little kid Leo on your lap for half an hour!
