I'M BAAAAACK!

Didya miss me, you guys? I know Fangirl2017 did. She PMed me asking if I was home and to please update.

Well, here it is, Fangirl2017. And I had fun on my trip, thanks for asking.

My next ten reviewers get an advertisement for one of their stories in my next A.N., so REVIEW!

Disclaimer-Mirror mirror on the wall, will I ever own PJO at all?

Mirror-AOB, you are a fangirl, true, but PJO will never belong to you.

Me-Darn. Will I get a different answer if I ask the number eight ball thingy?

Mirror- No. Get writing.

Me- Geez, bossy.

Annabeth P.O.V

"Hey! Her again!"

Six demigods pointed at the image of the two nine-year-olds grinning and shaking hands. Leo was watching it with a small, happy smile on his face.

"Yeah. She was my best friend." Leo explained. Annabeth noticed the 'was' in there and noticed that his smile had slipped a little, but it flew out of her mind when the next memory started.

Leo and Anni came sprinting into an alley and promptly collapsed against the wall, Anni clutching at a stitch in her side, Leo cradling his wrist to his chest. They sat there for a second, breathing hard, before Anni pulled herself up a bit to poke her head around the corner. Leo pulled his wrist away from his chest to examine it.

"All clear." Anni sighed. "Stupid jerk." She turned to Leo. "How's the wrist?"

"He grabbed my arm and twisted it." Leo explained, examining his wrist critically. He flexed it and winced. "It's not that bad, but it hurts when I do this." He added, flexing it to the other side.

Both kids were dirty and lean. Anni's blonde hair stuck out all around her head, and there was what looked like a Jolly Ranchers wrapper and a piece of napkin tangled in her hair. Her jeans were filthy, worn at the knees, and frayed at the cuffs. She was wearing an old pair of sneakers.

Leo wasn't much better. His hair was trash free, but he was wearing a ratty yellow T-shirt with a smiley face on it. The shirt was streaked with grime and several rips showed in the fabric. He was wearing a hoodie that seemed to be several sizes too big for him: the hem almost reached to his knees and the sleeves had been rolled back multiple times so his hands could show. His jeans and sneakers were in about the same state as Anni's. Both kids still held their backpacks, though they seemed to be much fuller then they had last time they had been seen. Anni's black eye and the scratch along her cheek were gone.

Anni reached over and took Leo's wrist, pressing firmly with her thumb in different places, examining his face for signs of pain. When none showed, she grinned at him and let him pull his wrist back.

"You'll be fine." She told him. "You're Leo-freaking-Valdez." She reached over to lightly punch him in the shoulder before turning to retrieve her bag. "Come on, show me what you got."

Six quizzical faces turned towards Leo, who sighed.

"This was a couple months after I helped her escape. We had been living on the streets ever since. We had just stolen something from some guy's store: he always had a cart of 'fresh produce' for a reduced price out front. It was anything but fresh: it was the produce from inside that hadn't sold well and so he put it outside. We just snatched stuff and ran. He nearly caught us this time, that's all. But because we were basically just grabbing stuff and running, we never saw what the other got."

Anni dug through her bag, holding up things like carrots and apples, before stopping and turning slightly red.

"Leo?" she said, sounding suddenly timid. "Do you, um, remember that guy we talked to a couple of days ago?"

Leo looked up from his bag. "That weird teenage gang kid? Whats-his-name… Nick?"

"Yeah, him."

"Yeah, I remember him. Why?"

Anni blushed a little more but defiantly thrust her hand into her bag and removed a box, which she tossed to Leo.

It was a box of Marlboro cigarettes. Leo's eyes widened so far they resembled dinner plates.

"You actually did it!" he gasped. "When?" Anni looked relieved that he wasn't yelling at her and settled herself from a crouch to her knees.

"Earlier, when we stopped by that gas station. Some clerk left it on the counter, so I just grabbed it as we left." Leo looked a little worried, still looking down at the cigarettes in his hand.

"Do we really have to do it, Anni?" he asked. Anni nodded, her face serious.

"We need protection, Leo. And he said if we got him cigarettes he would give us protection. I don't like it either, but we need somewhere safe to sleep if we are going to stay out here. All this food is our first meal in days. Face it, buddy, we need Nick."

Leo looked at the box for a second, then grinned and tossed it back to Anni.

"Your right. As always." Anni grinned and stood up, swinging her bag onto her back and holding out a hand to help Leo up.

"I'm always right, bird brain. Figure that out. It'll make life so much easier."

She slung an arm around Leo's shoulder as he got up. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and together, laughing like best friends will do, they left the alley.

On a more serious note:

Guys, I need prayers for the families of the police officers killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge. Let's stop this madness before it gets any worse! ALL LIVES MATTER!