Yo! So Leo's about to get traumatized and Jason nearly gets traumatized too- thank the gods for Leo's quick thinking :D.
Replies:
Undeath9087: As always I loved hearing your theories- as usual I can't say anything to confirm or deny anything but honest you had a lot of pretty reasonable theories and logic behind it. It's always fun to watch people squirm when they realise all the different things I could do to cause angst- and there are so many- but also, angst opens the door to hurt and comfort so there's that at least.
The Official Clarrise: Sorry, not sorry, just wait until I get further in. And honestly I'm not sure I can lol- actually I can, there's gonna be some scenes that are super cute fluffy.
Black' Victor Cachat: My pleasure, and Leo is just an awesome badass.
There was a minor issue when it came to landing- Air Traffic Control didn't want to let an unscheduled helicopter land at Oakland airport.
Then they gave Piper the radio and she made short work of convincing them that it was an excellent idea to let them land- she was definitely getting the hang of using her powers- Drew was going to be incredibly proud Leo was sure.
And soon enough they were unloaded onto the tarmac and they all turned to Piper- because while Leo might have been voted leader, it was Piper who's dad was so messed up. Which meant Piper needed to decide what they did about him.
And it was Jason who asked the question they were all thinking. "What now?"
And Leo didn't envy her- Piper looked incredibly uncomfortable as her gaze flicked from person to person before she focused on her dad, biting her lip hard.
"First thing," she said. "I—I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."
Leo let out a breath- forge and dove. That was going to be an issue, they needed Piper. But he couldn't hold her choice against her. It was completely understandable after all, as horrible as it was for her to have to be in that position it was probably a choice Leo would have made.
"Of course." his voice was quiet and he gave Piper a sad understanding smile, "You look after him okay? We'll figure it out from here."
Maybe he could IM Nico and get him to bring Drew out- except no. No because Nico was currently grounded from Shadow travelling wasn't he? Ugh this was a mess and a half.
The protest, unexpectedly came from Piper's dad.
"Pipes, no. " Her dad had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders. But he stumbled to his feet. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't—"
"I'll take care of him," said Coach Hedge.
"You?" Piper stared at the Satyr, her eyes wide, startled.
"I'm a protector," Gleeson said. "That's my job, not fighting. "
He sounded a little crestfallen for a moment, but it passed quickly enough.
Then Hedge straightened, and set his jaw. "Of course, I'm good at fighting, too. " He glared at them all, daring them to argue.
"Yes," Jason said.
"Terrifying," Leo agreed, his lips twitching, "A rival to the great Grover Underwood if there was ever one. And he helped fight a bunch of things-" which made
the Satyr puff out his chest, a proud grin on his lips.
"I am aren't I. But I'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."
"And I will go with them." Calypso pulled away from Leo, giving him a faint smile. "I'm a good healer, I can help. As much as I wish I could stay with my Leonidas I'm not a fighter like he is- and I feel tired." and Leo couldn't help but notice that she did look paler than usual.
"But-" Piper's eyes shone with tears, "Dad-"
He held out his arms, and she hugged him.
Leo felt a rush of sympathy for her. It had to be hard- he wasn't sure he'd be able to leave his mom behind in her position. But Piper was stronger than him in a lot of ways, he knew she'd do it.
"Why don't we give them a moment?" Jason's voice was hushed, and Leo nodded and they moved to the other side of the tarmac- Hedge and Calypso staying closer so that they'd be able to hear when Piper needed them.
Leo and Jason stood a short distance away from the pilot so that they could talk privately too, and Jason gave Leo a worried smile.
"How are you doing? We're probably going to need to fight and you looked-"
"I'll be fine." Leo's voice was firm, "Whatever Calypso gave me it worked a treat. I won't lie I'm pretty sure I broke a lot of bones but it's fixed me up." mostly
anyway, he still hurt all over and he felt stiff, but it was nothing that he couldn't work through if push came to shove.
"Good because I think it'll probably get rough-"
"Because getting swatted like a bug by a giant isn't rough." Leo snickered and Jason's lips twitched.
"Can you believe we're alive?"
"Honestly? I'm still processing." Leo laughed. "But I've survived a war before, I figure I can survive this too."
"I'm glad."
"Huh?" Leo frowned, "Glad about what?"
"That it was you and Piper." Jason gave a small smile, "I'm sorry for how much trouble it's caused-"
"I feel like you're giving yourself way too much credit there-"
"But I'm glad it was you two. You're a good guy Leo- a little crazy but- I'm honored to call you friend. I don't think I've met many people like you."
"Jason, there aren't many people like me." Leo declared with a grin, clapping his hand on Jason's shoulder. "I'm unique my dude. But I get your point. You're a pretty great friend too by the way."
"And I meant what I said." Jason added, "You're a good leader."
"You're capable you know-"
"Yeah. Yeah I do." Jason's brows furrowed, "I'm sure I'm a good leader but I don't-" his brows furrowed, "I feel- I don't know why but I feel like it's because everyone expects me to be- not because I want to be."
"Well-" Leo blinked, "For the record no one's gonna force you to lead if you don't feel like you can handle it. But if push came to shove you'd do what had to be done I'm sure of it."
"Because my dad is Jupiter?"
"Because you're a decent dude." Leo rolled his eyes, "Listen, some people might put more weight on you being a big three kid than I do- I've met a lot of em, but I know you're a good person, smart, brave- ridiculously so at times. I'm pretty honored to call you my friend too."
"Thank you." Jason's lips twitched slightly, shaking his head, "It means a lot-" he paused, looking towards Piper again, "I think she's finished, looks like they're about to go." and Leo followed his gaze quickly, Piper was talking to Hedge and Calypso and there was a white gulf-stream taxiing up next to the helicopter.
The two boys moved quickly, rejoining the others as Hedge and the flight attendant got Pipers dad onto the plane. Calypso was hugging Piper tightly when they reached her, and she gave Leo shaky smile when she pulled away from Piper.
"You be careful boys. Leonidas- and look after my friend, you hear me?" that made Piper smile and Leo grinned.
"As you say sunshine." he hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek before she climbed up the steps into the plane as Coach Hedge came back out to say his goodbyes. He gave Piper a hug and glared at Jason and Leo. "You cupcakes take care of this girl, you hear? Or I'm gonna make you do push-ups. Especially you Valdez- I know what your lot are like. So I expect you to take care of them, including Grace."
"You got it, Coach," Leo said, a smile tugging at his mouth.
"No push-ups," Jason promised, clearly resisting the urge to laugh.
Piper gave the old satyr one more hug. "Thank you, Gleeson. Take care of him, please."
"I got this, McLean," he assured her. "They got root beer and veggie enchiladas on this flight, and one hundred percent linen napkins—yum! I could get used to this. "
Trotting up the stairs, he lost one shoe, and his hoof was visible for just a second. The flight attendant's eyes widened, but she looked away and pretended nothing was wrong. Leo wondered if that was the mist working- most likely. It really was useful.
As the plane started moving down the runway Leo saw that Pipers eyes were filling with tears and he gave a sad smile, elbowing Jason, who moved quickly, surging forward and hugging Piper tightly, letting her press her face into his chest as he sobbed, and Leo retrieved some kleenex from his toolbelt, holding them out when Piper managed to pull back.
Which was probably for the best since the helicopter pilot was already looking uncomfortable, like she was starting to wonder why she'd flown them here.
The last thing they needed was for her to call security and get them all arrested.
"Thank you guys." Piper's expression was a familiar one to Leo, "I-"
"No need." Leo held up a hand, "I get it. And Jason probably does too right Jase?"
"Yeah." Jason nodded, a slight smile on his lips, "Yeah I get it. We should probably get out of here. We need to figure out where the Wolf House is."
"That we do." Leo had a thoughtful look on his face before he grinned, "You said Hera told you Thalia should know, right?"
"Yeah, yes she did-"
"Then I think it's time I taught you how to send an IM." with that he was grabbing his friends arms and dragging them into the airport quickly- it was easy enough to get past security with Piper's charmspeak- and it was easier still for Leo to get a flashlight and a prism from the giftshop inside.
Soon enough they headed out to the carpark and they found a spot that was fairly out of the way and Leo carefully set it up, shining the flashlight at the prism just so, so that a rainbow was shining on the wall, and he fished a drachma from his toolbelt before tossing it at the rainbow and taking a breath, "Oh Goddess accept my offering. Thalia Grace at Camp Half-blood."
As always the mist shimmered, and Leo snorted- Thalia was in the Zeus Cabin, clearly making the most of the fact that she had it to herself, with Luke.
And Leo really was going to need brain bleach to get rid of the sight of Thalia straddling a shirtless Luke who was sat on her bed, kissing him rather heatedly- though he at least managed to cover Jason's eyes before he could see his sister making out and probably on the way to doing more with her boyfriend.
Which of course made Jason yell, "What the- Leo what are you doing?" as Piper let out a choked gasp- which turned into laughter when Thalia quite literally fell off of Luke's lap with a yelp, and Luke jumped so high Leo thought he was going to hit the ceiling.
Leo almost fell over from laughing so hard as Thalia whirled to glare at them.
"What the Hades do you think you're doing Leo- Wait!" her eyes widened, "Leo! Oh gods are you guys okay?"
"We're fine." Piper managed, trying to calm her laughter.
"I'm currently blind." Jason's voice was annoyed, and he slapped Leo's hand down, "What was that about Leo."
"Nothing." Leo gave an innocent look, "Just saving your poor brain-"
"You are so weird sometimes."
"Oh gods." Thalia's face went red, and Luke flopped back onto the bed, grabbing one of the pillows, possibly to try and suffocate himself from the humiliation of being seen making out like that. "Uh, thanks Leo. You guys are really fine? What's up?"
"We needed some info, Hera sent Jase a dream." Leo explained, "And we need you to help us figure out where she's being held."
"Ugh, of course Queen bitchface wants my help." Thalia rolled her eyes before calling, "If you kill yourself I will leave your body there Jackson-"
"Fuck you Grace." Luke's voice was muffled by the pillow.
"So." Thalia focused on them. "What do you need to know?"
"We need to know where the Wolf House is. Hera said it was my starting point."
And Thalia's face went deathly pale, her eyes going wide.
"The-" her breath caught and she suddenly looked like she wanted to cry- as if she was lost inside of a memory.
"Thals?" that came from Luke who rememoved the pillow from his face, sitting up to look at Thalia- and Thalia shook herself, swallowing hard.
"It was the last place I ever saw you. That last trip. The park. Jack London. Do you remember-"
And Jason looked as if he'd been shot- he stumbled backwards, face pale even as Piper grabbed his arm to stop him from falling over.
"Dude- dude are you alright. Do you recognise that-"
"I do." Jason's voice was soft, "I do. We need to get moving- gods-"
"Wait- Jason-"
"We don't have time Thalia." Jason gave his sister an apologetic smile, "I'll see you later. I need to go. Leo can you-" and Leo swiped his hand through the rainbow to cut off the call.
"So. Are you gonna tell us where we have to go?"
"Sonoma Valley. Not far. Not by air."
"Right." Leo took a deep breath, "Well, let's get back to our pilot friend and hitch a ride again shall we?"