Following his parents' directions, Tobias had no trouble finding his aunt and uncle. Graham marvelled at Riptide for a few seconds too long; Tobias worried the hiding couple would be gone by then, but they were still sitting in Graham's basement. Tobias envied this basement- it was the ultimate demigod retreat. Leo and Louisa were playing foosball, so sure that they wouldn't be found, that they didn't even notice him hide behind the sofa.
He was just about to spook them when Louisa said, "I'm worried about that kid." Tobias froze automatically. Leo sighed, lazily scoring a goal.
"Me too." He agreed. "Did you ever find them that day at the mall?"
"Bastards got away. They went through an exit on the west side 'n' never came out the other side. Someone's helpin' 'em." There was a clatter as the ball hit the wooden field and swishing as the little plastic men started spinning. "I've been keepin' an eye on Luke, but he ain't got nothin' ta do with it."
"Sure?"
"The git's got his own thing goin' on. As far as he's concerned, those other two are still in jail."
"Why were they let out so early?"
"I've no idea, but they're either goin' straight back or to the morgue." There was a sharp cracking sound and Louisa cursed in Ancient Greek. "I keep telling Graham to replace this piece of crap."
"You do get aggressive playing this game though."
"I do not!"
"Competitive then." Louisa muttered something under her breath. "What are we going to do about Tobias?"
"Ohhh, I dunno. The kid's happy with that Claire woman, but... I'd much rather he'd live with us, just so I'd know he's alright." Tobias peered cautiously around the side of the couch. Leo was duct-taping one of the plastic men while Louisa walked circles around him and the game table. "What'd ya think we should do?"
"Well, how close are you to nabbing them?"
"Hard to tell."
"Maybe just keep an eye on Tobias where we can, invite him over from time to time. Tell him he's welcome whenever he wants. We've got that spare bed in the boys' room, if necessary. Poor kid would have to put up with Stevie and Chris. Pretty sure they've a man-crush on him. Is that possible at that age?"
"I dunno, boys are weird." Louisa turned the corner and Tobias ducked back into hiding again. There was a slight pause and he was anxious he'd get caught for eavesdropping. Thankfully, neither Valdez noticed anything. "What about Sally? He ain't met her yet, as he? I'm sure he ain't, but I don't think she knows what happened." Tobias frowned. How did Leo and Louisa know about it? Did Claire tell them? Chiron? Maybe they found out themselves. He shifted further behind the sofa as quietly as he could, pressing the back of his head to the material. Tightness was clawing at his chest, his heart pounding against his ribs like a jackhammer. It felt like it was a million degrees in this little corner, yet he was shivering. It took him a moment to focus back on the conversation: "... got to be him, ain't no-one else I know that could pull that off."
"He went AWOL though, remember?"
"What if he's come back then?" Louisa countered.
"Do you honestly think it's him?"
"No... I just... there's somethin' I ain't seein'. Somethin' ain't right."
"But in the meantime, we'll keep Tobias where we know he's happy and safe. You seen Claire's weapon of choice- no-one is getting past that mace."
"I know. I gave it to her. She thinks it's a baseball bat though."
"Oh, Lou. You sly cow."
"Thanks." There was suddenly a cooler fragment in the air, a faint buzzing sound.
"Hey, sis and Mr. Sis." Percy's voice grinned cheekily.
"Percy, we've been over this a thousand times, I am not-"
"Mr. Sis. I know you are. It suits you. FYI, Tobias is behind that couch." Louisa appeared almost instantly, leaning over the back of the sofa and frowning down at him.
"Kid, you've got some nerve."
"Hi." Tobias smiled sheepishly. He crawled out, standing and straightening himself down. His father's spirit smiled playfully. "I thought you were supposed to be helping me." Percy just hunched his shoulders.
"Annabeth's not here. She's, like, ninety percent of my impulse control. Speaking off, do you think sleeves are over-rated?"
"What did you do?" Leo sighed. Percy waved that question aside and smiled again. "OK, what do you want?"
"I want to see it."
"See what?" Tobias's eyes fixed on the red strip around Louisa's arm still.
"That." Percy said, pointing as his son swished the material from his aunt. "I believe he picks tonight's film. Attaboy, kiddo." Percy gave a double thumbs-up and vanished. Louisa said some choice words about her brother and glowered at Tobias.
"How long were ya there?"
"Long enough."
"Dammit, kid." She pushed her hair back irritably, one hand on her lower back. She started pacing again. Leo was leaning against the foosball table, watching expressionlessly. His eyes went from his wife to his nephew and then to the ceiling. His lips moved and then he looked back at the situation before him. "Look, Tobias," Louisa stopped and turned back to him, "ya heard what was said 'n' we ain't denyin' any of it. But I ain't havin' none of this listenin'-in business, ya hear?" Tobias nodded mutely. Leo moved forward, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. Louisa sighed, rubbing at her face. When she next spoke, she was a little calmer. "OK. Tobias, we're... we're just... we-"
"We're glad to have you back." Leo finished for her. "And after everything that's happened, we're just worried about something else going wrong. We only want to help." Tobias nodded again, looking down at his hands. Leo touched his shoulder warmly. "You are welcome whenever you want,we'd love to have you. I warn you now though, you're bunking with the gruesome twosome."
"Stevie and Chris?" Tobias smiled weakly. "I think I can manage."
"Ya say that now." Louisa smirked. She patted him on the head. "Nice knowin' ya kid. Speakin' of though, we should go 'n' find 'em."
"We've still got forty-eight minutes left, so why not- OK." Leo relented at his wife's frown. "We need a new hiding spot then and for Percy and Annabeth not to tattle." Leo put his arms around them both. "This is nice though. Family time never hurt anyone. Hey, Tobias. Guess what?"
"What?"
"You're It." Leo and Louisa were up the stairs and out of the shop before Tobias figured out what the hell Leo was on about. He had never really understood childhood games and it took a while to place 'It' in the little knowledge he had of them. He ran after them, Graham helpfully giving a few directions, saddened at the thought that his life as a child finished the day he was first adopted.
"So, we've been looking for you for, like, ever... then this monkey butt finds you on his very first go? What a burnt waffle!"
"Stevie!" Alokia protested. "Be nice to Tobias!"
"No! I wanted to win!" Stephen looked to Tobias, mock sulking. "You stupid yellow marker that's been used to colour over something dark and now colours a really muddy yellow-ish brown! You white crayon! You absolute bagel! You stinking piece of candy left at the bottom of the Halloween bag! You odd sock! You-"
"OK, Stevie." Leo placed a hand on his son's head. "You're having a moment, we get it. Now apologise to Tobias."
"No!"
"Stephen." Leo warned. "We talked about this." Stephen fumed, shoulders hunched.
"Sorry, Tobias." He said quietly. "I just really wanted to win! I wanted to watch Friends!"
"That's not a film." Elsie pointed out.
"It's as good as."
"I was going to choose Batman." Tobias said carefully, brow raised at his strange-insult-creator cousin.
"Oh, boo! We've watched Batman already. Like, all of them." Christopher said dramatically. "What other superheroes do you like?"
"Um..."
"SCHOOL IN SESSION!" Stephen cried. "WE SHALL WATCH THE AVENGERS AND THEN THE SEQUELS AND THEN THE SPIDERMAN MOVIES AND GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AND HULK AND IRON MAN AND CAPTAIN AMERICA AND-"
"And every other superhero film we can find." Elsie finished for him.
"AND THE IRON GIANT!" Stephen added defiantly. His older sister rolled her eyes. Louisa gave a small smile and waved Stephen away to find the Avengers boxset. Tobias pressed his lips together.
"What's the matter, kid?"
"I've no idea what he's on about."
"Meh." Leo smiled. "You'll learn soon enough."
Tobias was absolutely hooked on these new brand of superheroes. He made a mental note to tell Claire. He was allowed to stay up to watch them while his cousins dropped off to sleep one-by-one. Leo and Louisa left them where they were, covering them with fleecy blankets. The pair themselves were curled up together on one end of the sofa, his arms about her shoulders and hers about his middle, her head on his chest and his chin on her head. They seemed completely oblivious to the others right now, Tobias wrapped in a blanket they had given him too. Stephen and Christopher looked so innocent asleep, Tobias was sure they weren't the same people.
Looking at them all now, happy and peaceful, Tobias thought about his parents. If they hadn't died, would it be them sitting there together with his own siblings asleep around them? Would he have been an only child? A small part of him hoped he wouldn't have been; he had always wanted a younger brother or sister, someone as close to him as the Valdez children were with each other.
He thought of Claire. And this Miles bloke. What if they ended up getting married? What if Claire had her own kids? Would she still want him around? Would she make him leave? If he did leave, he guessed he could live with the Valdezs, but Claire had been his mother for over five years now, she wouldn't just throw that away, would she? Sudden and inexplicable fear gripped him- he didn't want to leave Claire's, he liked living with Claire, loved having her as his mother. Leo and Louisa were his aunt and uncle, a sudden and surprising addition to the little family he had. He recalled a 'Sally' they had mentioned, several times now. Who was she? Leo's mother? Or Louisa's biological mother? Did that mean this 'Sally' was Tobias's grandmother on his father's side? Where was she? Would she be happy to see him?
"Hey, kid." Louisa called softly. Tobias startled, shocked and confused to see her beside him. "What's wrong?" He sniffed, suddenly aware he was crying. He hurriedly wiped at his eyes, but they had seen anyway. What did it matter? Louisa slid onto the armchair next to him, putting a caring aunt arm around him. "We're not that horrible, surely?"
"No." Tobias shook his head, offering a wavering smile. "I just... I was just thinking... how different things would be if... you know..."
"Yeah." Louisa sighed. "The Fates deal the cards they want us ta have. It ain't easy, I doubt it ever will be. Just keep ya chin up, kid, keep fightin'."
Just in case any of you were wondering, Louisa has sons in this story because the thing with Luke never happened. She was taken by Luke when she went with Percy and Annabeth on their honeymoon. If you remember, Tobias was about six months old then. In this, he was two months old when his parents were killed, so no honeymoon, means no Luke, means no Bradley, but also means no miscarriages or still-borns.