read94- that's so sweet of you! yes, the pjo fandom is getting SERVED with news lately! Stop I love the new girl reference!
Maryam Clarus- AHHH hi I remember you how are you! thanks so much for the nice comment made my day! And yes, max and rosie will definitelyyyyy have nico and rosie vibes, if you catch my drift.
And nobody asked, but after listening to taylor's new album 1000000 times I've decided rosie's song is you're on your own kid and leo's is mastermind!
"Another episode?"
Rosie and Apollo had been holed up in the shittiest hotel in Cincinnati for a week and a half, and to say she was going insane was an understatement.
On the bright side, they were getting through the entire show of Cheers.
"Yeah, sure, I guess," she muttered, nudging the remote towards Apollo.
"You alright?" He asked, looking over at her with raised eyebrows and a concerned look.
Every day, the two of them got up, bundled in heavy scarves and coats, got enormous coffees from Dunkin Donuts, and walked the city of Cincinnati. What they were looking for? A golden dragon streaking the sky.
But it had been a week and half without that, and no offense to anyone who lived in this city, but she was getting pretty tired of looking at it.
"Yeah, I'm good," she said, not lifting her eyes from the screen, Sam and Diane bantering on it.
"We told them Cincinnati," Apollo reminded her. "They'll be here."
"I know," she said, hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm just…restless."
"About…Max?" He said Max's name in an unsure tone, and Rosie didn't blame him. It didn't feel right to say it, to say it in the world where he was somewhere alive.
She gulped, suddenly wishing Apollo would just be quiet and watch Cheers. But ever since that phone call, her…friendship with Apollo had changed. She didn't necessarily merely tolerate him anymore. There…was a better understanding between the two.
"Yeah. That too, for sure."
"And it's not everyday your lover comes back from the dead."
Rosie couldn't help it- she grimaced at the use of the word lover.
"Leo's not my lover." He was a lot of things, and lover didn't seem to quite sum it up well enough.
"But he will be," Apollo said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
She sighed, lifting up the covers on her bed and crawling under them.
"Night, Lester."
"But, wait! I wasn't finished!"
She rolled her eyes, reaching for the nightstand lamp. The room plunged into darkness.
The next day was more or less the same as they always had been. They carried their steaming cups of coffee across the city, chatting as two neighbors would, exchanging what appeared to be silly pleasantries to any outsiders.
"Seriously. You've never seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off?"
"Rosemary, I told you, I'm a busy man."
"You've had quite a bit of time to accomplish it, Buddy."
Apollo opened his mouth to interject, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips. Instead, his jaw dropped further, as he pointed a shaky finger to the sky.
Rosie whipped her head around, seeing the very, very distant figure of Festus, disappearing from view as ducked behind a cluster of buildings.
"Oh my god!" She grabbed onto Apollo's arm. "That's them!"
"You weren't kidding about the dragon," Apollo said in a dazed voice. "Is that thing even insured?"
"Come on!" She started tugging his arm. "We gotta get the minivan!"
Apollo hollered at the tops of his lungs.
"Car chase!" He exclaimed.
The two of them ran back to their hotel, stopping when they reached the parking lot. The two flung themselves into their seats, Rosie as the passenger as Apollo buckled into the driver's seat.
"Could you go faster?" Rosie begged as they crept through the streets of Cincinnati.
Apollo winced, clutching the wheel harder.
"My car chase comment was a joke, Rosie, I still need to abide by the law."
"Lester, a snail passed us before."
"Did not!"
"That way," Rosie said, pointing to an upcoming left. "They're that way."
"I'm sorry, are you suddenly a Cincinnatian?"
"Will you just turn left?!" She exclaimed, her voice rising in pitch.
"I don't respond to threats-"
Suddenly, the glass windshield in front of them shattered, pieces raining down onto the dashboard.
Rosie yelped as Apollo slammed down on their brakes, the car jerking to a stop. The momentum launched her forward, as she went face first into the dashboard.
"What the-"
"Ow!"
"Rosemary!" Apollo yelped in her ear. "Are you alright?!"
She rushed back up, only for a couple of drops of blood to fall onto her lap. Her hand flew to her nose, only for it to come back bloody.
"Oh god, you're bleeding!" Apollo said in disgust.
"No shit!" She glanced over her shoulder. "What was that?"
"I think the gentlemen over there with the guns could tell you."
"What?"
Peering back over her shoulder, she could see a gaggle of what appeared to be Roman Soldiers. Their guns, luckily, didn't appear to be modern day guns- maybe some sort of dart gun? They had shot their windshield with them, whatever they were.
"What do you say, we get out of here?" Apollo said in a breezy but nervous tone, wringing his hands together with a shaky laugh.
She gulped, fumbling to release her buckle.
"Best idea you've ever had."
The two of them slammed their car doors behind them, sprinting down the congested street.
A car swerved out of their way, honking its horn angrily.
"Rosie, look!"
Apollo was pointing up ahead, towards a building that appeared to be an office. Employees in business casual were streaming out onto the street, looking confused. They were all peering straight up, at the plumes of smoke coming from the windows.
Fire-guy's doing, no doubt.
She grabbed onto Apollo's arm, pulling him towards the building, rolling her eyes at his reluctant look.
They pushed against the throngs of people coming out of the building. Inside, a loud fire alarm was blaring, as the lights flickered.
Apollo cringed and covered his ears, saying words to Rosie that she couldn't hear.
"What?" she exclaimed.
"Where are they?" He yelled over the alarms.
She hesitated, glancing around the floor, which was relatively deserted. They had to be here, right?
"Let's check the stairs!" She yelled back to him, beckoning him to follow her to the stairwell.
The further they traveled up into the building, the louder the alarms seemed to get. Along with that, a hazy layer of smoke was in the air, making her eyes water.
They charged through the door to the second floor, the bright fluorescent lights making her vision even worse.
A door slammed not too far from them, and Apollo and Rosie both stopped, aware they weren't alone.
And then two figures appeared out of the smoke, almost dreamlike.
"Come on, Bing!"
A boy, no more than ten or eleven, sprinted past, nearly falling on his face on the slippery tile floor. She heard the distinct noise of hooves before she could make out the features of a satyr on the boy's tail. Was that a Santa hat on the satyr?
Rosie's heart nearly leapt out of her chest.
"Max!"
It took her a second to realize that those words came out of her, that she had called out to her brother the same way she had four years ago, when she had lost him.
Max skirted to a stop, the satyr nearly colliding with him from behind. The two of them nearly whipped their heads around in unison.
Max's eyes met her, and for a brief second, she was met with confusion.
Confusion. That hurt, she realized- that while her image of Max came flooding back to her, her own brother didn't recognize her.
Of course, that image was now being altered. Because six-year old Max wasn't standing in front of her. He was taller now, she realized- much taller than she had anticipated. He still had his same signature brown curls, though- that had not changed. It was Maxwell Reiger, through and through
The brief second seemed to be endless, as she decided he had to be the first one to speak. Rosie had too much to say, so many questions and comments and tears waiting to come out of her.
Max blinked, and that second was over, as he barked one phrase at them.
"Leo's expecting us."
With that phrase, he started running again, disappearing into the smoke.
The satyr shot them an apologetic smile, nervously fidgeting with his glasses.
"Maxwell has a concussion," he said, as if that would somehow clear things up. "But, hi, I'm Bing! I've heard so much about you, Rosie! Leo's best friend! And-" He broke off, giving Apollo a confused look. "Percy Jackson?"
Apollo scoffed. "That's Lord Apollo to you."
Bing let out a laugh, looking over at Rosie. "Your….friend? Your friend is funny."
"Yeah, he's a jokester," she said, shooting Apollo a look after he jabbed his elbow into her stomach. "You're…?"
"Bing!" He gave her a tight handshake, surprisingly nonchalant for the alarms and smoke around them. "Satyr and friend to Leo and Max! I'd love to get to know you two more, but as Max said….Well, follow me."
Bing sprinted off, and after giving Apollo a shrug of her shoulders, ran after Bing.
"Wait, Rosie! Do we really think-" Apollo stopped with a groan and charged after her.
"So we were on a seniors cruise, right?" Bing was panting as Rosie jogged alongside him. "And- get this- brainwashed dancers-"
"Did you all cause this fire?" Apollo called out from behind them.
"No!" Bing said, aghast. "Well, okay, yes- indirectly. Festus got a little trigger happy at the sight of mortals- smoke galore. The mortals were getting a little too- man, I am out of shape- interested in us, so Leo did cause a fire but he said he could get the sprinkler system back on- Speak of the Devil!"
There he was, balancing haphazardly on a step stool, holding a flame up to the ceiling.
Leo.
Tears were in her eyes- whether it was from smoke or from seeing both her formerly thought to be dead best friend or her formerly thought to be dead brother in the span of five minutes…she wasn't sure.
He looked over at her, and grinned.
"Quite an entrance, huh, Freckles?" He called out. "What do you say, at least eight out of ten?"
"Fire-guy. What are you doing?"
Leo laughed, and she felt herself blush. Why did she feel awkward around him? This was her best friend for crying out loud. She hoped her nose wasn't still bleeding.
"I swear the sprinklers should be on by now."
"You're right," Max said flatly, re-emerging from behind Leo. "There they go."
"Alright, Maxipedia-"
"Leo Valdez, enough of the shenanigans!" Apollo snapped from beside Rosie, crossing his arms.
Leo's face fell, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Er…" He looked back at Rosie. "Do we know him?"
Apollo let out a noise of protest.
"Do we know- I'm Apollo!"
Max raised his eyebrows. "Apollo is a teenager?"
"He has his learners permit and everything," Rosie said nervously, giving Max a wink.
Max gave her a blank stare back.
Bing fell to his knees, dramatically bowing over and over again to Apollo.
"Lord Apollo! It's so nice to meet you!"
"Apollo?" Leo said, squinting at him. He shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Give them your legally given name," Rosie said, elbowing Apollo in the stomach.
Apollo winced. "Please don't make me say it."
"Apollo."
"Fine," he grumbled. "Lester Papadopoulos."
Leo let out a surprised yelp of laughter, quickly covering his mouth.
"You know, it really suits you, Apollo."
"I'm still not getting the teenager thing?" Max supplied.
"New skin care routine, perhaps?" Bing offered.
"Ain't no skin care that does reverse aging, Bing," Leo said with a shake of his head.
"Leo, I'm a bazillion years old, tell me I don't look sixteen too."
Rosie felt like her head was spinning watching the three of them- Max, Leo, and Bing- interact. They seemed comfortably intertwined with one another. It reminded her of how she had been back in the old days- her, Leo, Jason, and Piper.
It was familiar and jarring all at the same time. She pushed away a ugly flash of jealousy that she felt.
"As much as I'd love to stand here and swap skin care secrets, perhaps we should skedaddle out of the burning building?" Apollo suggested.
Rosie snapped her fingers, suddenly remembered that they were chased.
"Soldiers!" She blurted out, getting blank looks from Leo, Max, and Bing. "We were getting followed by Roman soldiers."
"There's always a catch," Leo said, hopping down from the step stool. Rosie noticed Festus carryon behind him. "Shall we?"
"May I point out there's five of us now? And four seats on Festus?" Max asked.
"Yeah, we're gonna draw names," Leo deadpanned.
"Leo!"
"Relax, Maxipedia!" Maxipedia. "Old Festus has a couple of tricks up his sleeve. Onward!"
Max rolled his eyes, grabbing Festus carryon and leading the charge forward. Apollo flashed a worried look at Rosie before reluctantly following Bing.
She started following the group too, but suddenly had her elbow grabbed by Leo. He didn't say anything for a second, just gave her a look that completely unnerved her.
"You're staring," Leo observed with a grin.
It's not everyday a man comes back from the dead.
"You have stubble."
There it was, on his face, after years of teasing him that he could never grow a beard. It wasn't much, but it was there, scruffy. She wanted to run her hand along it, to feel it.
She refrained.
"Aw, shucks, it's glorified peach fuzz."
"I like it- it's distinguished," She said, grinning at him. "It's Leo meets George Clooney."
"It's Leo's belt with his razor was stolen, apparently," he said, amused as he glanced at Rosie's waist.
"Guilty as charged."
"Thumb wrestle for it?"
"Are you kidding, have you seen this thing? It's worth more than a thumb wrestle."
"Death match?"
"Much more our speed."
This felt normal, more like them...not awkward.
Leo ran his thumb over her elbow, softly stroking back and forth.
"I didn't think Max would be so tall," she whispered in a hushed tone, even though Max was long gone and wouldn't hear her.
"He's a good kid, Freckles. Snarky, but isn't that the Reiger way?"
"I want to hear everything. Seriously, everything."
"Same to you. Where are you and Apollo headed, anyways?"
"Indianapolis."
"We about to race some cars, Freckles?"
"Something like that." There would be time for explanation, later. She gave him a hard shove on his shoulder.
"Ow!" He said, rubbing his shoulder. "What was that for?"
"That's from Harley."
Leo laughed. "I miss that little psycho."
"He misses you." She took a pause. "I missed you."
"I really missed you," Leo said in a low tone, getting closer to her. She took a gulp, realizing he was leaning in, his thumb brushing her cheek-
The sprinklers above finally kicked in, and Rosie let out a shocked yelp as she and Leo were doused. She took a nervous jump back.
"Yeah, that oughta do it," Leo said, letting out a nervous laugh. "We should probably go- the others will be waiting."
"Yeah. Yeah," she said, feeling her cheeks heat up. "We should."
"We'll talk, okay?" He said, giving her elbow a light squeeze.
"Of course."
"It's good to see you, Freckles."
She smiled at him.
"Right back at you, Fire-guy."