AN: You are all going to hate me.

ALL OF YOU.

Well maybe not all...

Don't worry I'm not abandoning the story, or anything else like that. What I am doing is being really strict on the questions. The answer was Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches, burnt cookies and Cool-aid.

That being said. All those who just put peanut butter sandwiches DON'T COUNT. Nor do peanut butter and Jam- so close! Not even if you specified mouldy sandwiches.

That being said, and please don't hate me, the winner is Jess411, congratulations, have donuts, and please review the character. (O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)

Dakota is coming, never fear...

1: are you on your phone or laptop, (or other) while reading this?

2: what's your favourite month?

3: Do you have a pet?

Allons-e

In which Leo meets an odd sort of Roman...

Benny, Harvey and Jo visited a lot, over the next fortnight. There was a policy at the orphanage that an orphan could only be adopted if the orphanage had known about the people who wanted to adopt them for the minimum of two weeks. This also allowed for background checks, ect.

By the time the two weeks were over Leo was all set to leave. He had been beaten up again, and was about to snap at the bullies and set them on fire- mortals or not. Then he began to feel uneasy about one of the care workers. Not Liz, but a new one, who had arrived just before Leo. Her name was Serephone, AKA Sally, and it felt like one of her legs was made of metal or something, though it didn't look to be.

Leo thought she was a monster. He didn't know which one though, he thought he remembered something like her in the battle with Gaia, but he couldn't remember the name. Plus, it didn't seem like she had realised he was a half-blood, as she was equally mean to the entirety of the home. Leo had heard Liz complaining about her, but apparently she had been one of the careers at another orphanage, which was closed down because the boys in it kept disappearing, as if they were eaten in the night. Of course, Leo wasn't blaming Serephone for it at all...

Either way, Leo was leaving the next day, and since he was leaving, he could off her ASAP now. If he was accused of killing her, he could manipulate the mist- now that he knew how, and he was leaving the orphanage anyway. He could always explain to Jo and Harvey that Serephone was a monster anyway.

He was trying to figure out how to catch Serephone off guard, so he could send her back to Tartarus, hopefully for a prolonged stay, when the door bell opened. He stood up from his seat on the snooker table and poked his head around the door to the hall. He thought that it might be Harvey, who had promised to pop round today to help Leo move his stuff from the room to the Miles's apartment. Miles was the surname of Jo Harvey and Benny, and though they had offered that he take their name, Leo had politely refused. He didn't want to lose anything else his mom had given him.

It wasn't Harvey though. It was a policeman with a boy of about fourteen, who looked remarkably drunk. The moment Leo saw the boy; it felt like a big red warning light went off in his brain. Danger, stay away, not one of you.

From the way the boys' eyes snapped up to meet with his, he felt the same way, and his eyes narrowed. What was he? He didn't look act or feel like any of the monsters Leo had ever encountered, and he had met rather a lot of those. In fact, he had disciplined air, as much as possible when he was drunk- or at least acting it. He felt a little like... Like Jason!

Roman. The boy was a roman demigod, and he was a Greek one. This was going to end as badly as a grenade in a shopping mall. Why was he even here? Did he know he was a demigod? By the way he was grabbing at his forearm it seemed so; as if his tattoo was already burnt on. But if he had already been to camp Jupiter, what was he doing here? Unless he had been sent to do something special- but there was nothing special at this orphanage, except Serephone, and Leo.

Leo gulped- he hoped it was Serephone that the Roman had been sent after, but somehow, he was never that lucky.

The policeman was by now almost finishing his talk with Liz, who nodded and frowned in the right places, and then the policeman left and the roman was standing next to Liz, with the door slamming behind him. Half drunk or not, Leo suddenly felt a little threatened by the guy. Roman guy turned his head to stare at Leo, his eyes harsh and glinting. Leo got the impression of a wolf about to strike as he meet the cold eyes look for look.

The roman seemed surprised by that, as if he had expected Leo to back down or run away. Maybe Leo would have retreated had he actually been 12. But he had been through a war where he had fought giants. Suddenly one stare, intimidating though it may have been meant... Wasn't that scary. Leo saw a flash of respect dart through the wolfish eyes, before the cold look returned. So that's what was going on. The Wolf glare. Jason had told him it was a look that every roman learned from Lupa. It was directed at enemies as a warning or challenge, and was usually hard to stand up to. Of course when Jason had whispered this in his ear, it happened to be with Reyna giving him said glare.

Liz interrupted the staring contest with a grin, tapping the roman on the shoulder. "So Dakota, did you actually drink your weight in kool-aid, or was it just an expression?"

The roman- Dakota- looked a little thrown off at that. He probably wasn't expecting Liz to be so forward and friendly. He stumbled a reply that sounded a little like "Well... Yeah... I... Kinda...Yeah I did."

Leo couldn't help joining Liz in laughing, even if it brought Dakota's attention back to himself. Liz looked in Leo's direction. "Hey Leo, I've got to go and sort out Katy's school project, would you mind showing Dakota your room. He's going to share with you tonight, and when you leave tomorrow, it's gonna be his room."

"Um, Liz, I'm not sure that's a good idea, perhaps you better... And she's gone."Leo sighed and eyed the roman carefully. "OK, this way, Dakota. If you're planning on stabbing me or any such thing, could you at least wait till we're where no-one can see?"

The roman stared at him; in what Leo thought was disgust. His hand was on the handle of the sword that he could see through the mist, and Leo gulped, his eyes on it. He lead the way to his room, and barely had time to breath before the roman was shoving him up against the wall, his arm pressing against Leo's windpipe, and his sword by Leo's heart.

Leo struggled to breathe as the roman stared at him, and his started panicking, how was he supposed to explain that he wasn't a monster if he wasn't allowed to breathe. He felt lightheaded. Then Dakota spoke. "Why aren't you fighting coward?"

Leo grabbed at the arm around his neck, and gasped for air as it was loosened slightly. "Cus..." He wheezed, "I don't wanna hurt you."

"You're a monster Tartarus spawn- you exist to kill demigods like myself. I don't know what you are- you must have a strong way with the mist- but I was sent to kill the monster here, and you fit the bill."

"I'm not a monster I swear." Leo could see the roman didn't believe him, he was drawing back his sword ready to stab him, and Leo panicked. He ducked at the same time as removing a hammer from his tool belt. Escaping the arm that held his neck, and blocking the stab at his heart, he spun away from the wall, his hammer in front of him, and the roman spun too. He slashed the sword again, neatly cutting the wooden shaft of the hammer in two. Leo raised his hand to protect his face, and felt the sword slice through his arm, red blood flowing down to stain the floor, in a crimson waterfall. Leo closed his eyes and waited for the blow that would surely kill him, absentmindedly realising that he now would have yet another scar on his arm.

He realised after about a minute that no blow was coming, and he opened his eyes to see the roman standing by the bed, his sword lowered, and staring at the blood puddle growing on the floor. Leo wondered how deep the cut was- to produce that amount of blood. Come to think of it, he was feeling a little light headed from blood loss. A low voice from the other demigod reached his ears.

"You bleed red. Blood- not ichor. You were telling the truth. I attacked you for no reason."

The roman looked distraught by the fact that he had attacked someone who was innocent, which made Leo happy; this was a roman who actually gave a dam. So many who followed Octavian didn't.

"The sword still cut me- proves I'm not mortal at least. Though for a Roman- You did act rather without thinking. Veni vidi vici, and all that."

"You say roman, as if you aren't."

"I'm Greek."

Dakota jumped at that, and brought his sword up again, then looked at the crimson carpet underneath and all round Leo. The cut in his arm still bleeding heavily. "Still not an excuse to attack you."

Leo grinned, "A reasonable Roman, that's an odd sort."

"I've already given you one wound Greek. Is taunting me wise?"

"My name's Leo, feel free to use it Dakota. I'll assume you're here about Serephone. I'm not exactly sure what she is. I know she had one metal leg, and teeth like a vampire. "

"Empousa, servant of Hecate."

"Oh, that explains a few things. If you're planning on killing Serephone, you're going to need bait. I'm volunteering. I can run fast, I've already got the blood to temp her with," Here he lifted up his arm, winching slightly at the pain in it. "I can also fight her- If you end up failing."

"I won't fail."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

After a bit more discussion and Leo hiding his arm, just in case they met any mortals while looking for Serephone. As they left, Leo noticed the pile of blood behind them on the floor, and suddenly felt very sorry for the cleaner.

It took about half an hour to locate Serephone in a mortal less room, and Dakota kindly pushed Leo in first, drawing the attention of the magic vampire. Her eyes immediately zoomed in on Leo's cut, ignoring the way Dakota slipped in and moved behind her. She approached him, her voice becoming serpentine. "Little demi-god, you sssseem to have cut your ssself, let me help. It won't hurt. I'll only drain you of your lifeblood." Then she lunged, and grabbed him around the neck, just where Dakota had pushed him against the wall. The bruises flamed up, and Leo sent Dakota a glance.

Just as the Empousa opened her mouth, she got a sword up her rear, and exploded into golden dust... This went all over Leo. Dakota grinned at him, and Leo scowled. "Get going Roman, and I'd advice leaving the back way."

"Why?"

There was a distant scream from the floor above, and Leo's name shouted as loud as possible.

"Because" Leo sent the demi-god a grin, "Someone's just found the pool of blood."

Just once, we have a non- PJO question.

What does Veni, Vidi, Vici mean?