I'm back. This was meant to be up earlier, but life got in the way.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
WARNINGS: NONGRAPHIC MENTIONS OF ABUSE, RAPE, AND ABANDONMENT
The image momentarily went black before flickering back to life.
The screen displayed dark streets and a night sky with tall buildings on either side. The occasional car rushed past, and some creepy people lounged in the alleys.
Across the bottom, Manhatten, New York was spelled.
"Leo's been to New York before?" Percy whispered, shocked.
"Go to New York, and don't look back," Luke's voice played, although Luke was no where in sight.
"Voice over," Annabeth said. "If Luke told him to go there, that's probably why Leo would start there. After all, he has no where else to go except back to the Gerans, and you saw the note."
The others nodded, but the atmosphere immediately went from curious and confused to depressed as they remembered what the note had said.
Leo appeared on the screen, walking down the sidewalk and with his jacket huddled around him as he sped-walked past the alleyways.
"How old are you, kid?" A voice asked.
Leo turned, and the screen displayed a homeless woman with stringy brown hair and wrinkled skin and swallowed by a dozen coats.
"I'm ten," Leo replied, staying as far away from the woman as he could without stepping into the road.
The woman laughed. "Don't worry, kid, I'm not coming any closer the you want me to. I just want to tell you something.
"You're a little young to be out here by yourself, and you're obviously a runaway. I'm not going to tell you to go back or anything, but if you ever need a place to go, there's a street family.
"Street family?" Leo asked. "Like a gang?"
The woman shook her head. "It's not a gang. It's basically a band of runaways that stay together like a family. There are two parents that care for these runaway children like their own. Here."
The woman grabbed a paper out of her pocket and held it out to Leo, who grabbed it.
The symbol was simple. A circle with three vertical lines drawn through it and one horizontal line crossing them.
"They're called asfeli," the woman told him. "I think it means safety in another language. I don't know for sure, but either way, they're two streets over, and they'll take you in if you need it. Just look for that symbol and you'll find where they stay."
Leo nodded. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now, I suggest finding a place to sleep for the night. The streets of New York are not friendly after dark."
Leo nodded before running off down the street.
The image changed to display an old, worn down, seemingly abandoned shelter with a porch. Ratty blankets and towels dangled from the top of the porch to shield the inside. The symbol had been drawn on several of the covers.
Leo walked up to the shelter and called, "Hello?"
The blanket covering the entrance was swept aside to reveal a man with a goatee and dark brown hair. He was wearing a gray vest, blue jeans littered with holes, and a white table top, and a black hoodie was tied around his waist. He had an ear piercing.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Um, my name's Leo Valdez. There was a woman about two streets over that sent me to you," Leo explained, handing the man the paper with the symbol drawn on it.
"Aw, Rachel!" He smiled. "She used to be part of the family; she left a few years ago, and now, she sends people to us when they need help. I'm Cole, the father. What are you running from?"
"Foster care. First and third home were abusive; second home, my foster dad killed my foster mother and tried to kill me; and the forth one... long story," Leo recapped.
Cole nodded. "We're all running from something here. I ran from my dad pounding me every chance he got. The mother of the family ran from her mother forcing her into prostitution. Kids ran from abuse, neglect, rape, and everything in between. If you're running from the awful world out there, you're welcome here."
Cole stepped aside and allowed Leo to step through the doorway.
"Who's this?" A woman asked.
She was about 5'2, and her brown hair was highlighted with vibrant orange and lime green. She had a nose piercing and a stud in her eyebrow; she wore short shorts and a brown T-shirt torn nearly to shreds. A black jackets covered her shoulders.
"This is Leo Valdez, new member of the family," Cole stated. "Leo, this is Hannah. She's the mother of the family."
"Nice to meet you," Leo said.
Hannah smiled. "The pleasure's all mine."
"How many kids are here, anyway?" Leo asked.
"Seven, including you," Cole said. "Let me introduce you to a few of them."
Cole escorted Leo through several 'walls' (really, just more blankets), and he stopped beside three kids a little younger than Leo playing a board game.
"These are Natalie, Carson, and Natasha," Cole told Leo, gesturing to each child as he said their name. "Kids, this is Leo. He's your new brother."
The kids waved hello before continuing their game.
Cole lead Leo a little farther down before knocking on the wall beside a blue tent.
A girl around fifteen crawled out.
"This is Luka," Cole told him. "Luka, Leo."
"Welcome to the fam," the girl replied.
Cole walked a few more feet before rounding a pillar and tapping a boy of thirteen on the shoulder.
"This is Nathan," Cole said. "Nathan, Leo."
Nathan smiled. "You're gonna love it here, kid."
"And last but not least," Cole laughed, "Molly."
He gestured to a girl of four leaning against the wall, swallowed by tons of blankets. She peaked out, shyly, and smiled.
"She was abandoned by her parents a few months ago," Cole murmured. "One of our old members, Aria, quite literally stumbled across her. She likes to hide in the blankets because that's how she hid from creeps on the street. By hiding in garbage piles, towels, and such."
Leo nodded, smiling down at the little girl.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Molly. I'm Leo," he said, sticking out a hand to her.
She tentavely stuck her own out of the pile of fabric and shook Leo's hand.
"Well, I'm going to leave you to get acquainted with your siblings," Cole smiled. "See you later."
"That's... kind of sweet," Annabeth stated. "I don't exactly agree with the street family thing, but I thing it's a sweet thing to do."
"I remember that street family," Percy smiled. "I used to walk past them on my way to school."
Percy's grin dropped so suddenly, Annabeth jumped.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"I just remember what happened to the street family," he whispered. "You'll have to see for yourself."
Annabeth didn't like the sound of that.
The image changed to display an abandoned skate boarding park. The pipes were old and rusty; leaves had collected at the bottoms of the ramps. This place hadn't been used in a long time.
Nathan and Luka were standing alongside Leo beside one of the pipes.
"We're going to start relatively easy," Luka told Leo. "Free running is fun, but it's also a delicate art and requires a lot of practice. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of hospital visits."
Luka stood directly in front of the pipe before sprinting forward.
She pushed off with her feet a foot from the pipe, and her fingers wrapped around it, so that she was in a handstand. She didn't hold it long, though; she pushed off with all her strength, did a somersault in mid air, and landed on her feet.
"No way," Jason muttered. "I've known people that have trained for decades, and they couldn't do that, but these kids look like they expect Leo to get it on his first try."
Leo took a deep breath before following Luka.
He did pretty well, actually. He pushed off with his feet and gripped the bar with his hands; he remained in a shaky handstand for thirty seconds before pushing off. Leo managed the somersault, although it was not tight and he flailed his arms a little towards the end. Leo's feet connected with the ground, and he stumbled back and fell on his back.
"Not too bad," Frank said. "I couldn't do that on my sixth try, much less my first."
Nods of agreement responded to his statement.
The screen displayed several of Leo's free running attempts on several different occassions. By the last, he was an expert.
The image settled on the hideaway where the street family lived. All of the kids, except for Molly, were sitting in a circle around a deck of cards.
"Got any threes?" Natalie asked.
"Go fish," Leo replied.
"Le... o."
The kids turned to see Molly, out of her cocoon of blankets, staring at them.
Words scrawled across the screen:
Molly only comes out of her bundle to eat, and even then, she wears a blanket wrapped around her head like a sha, displaying only her face. Molly has never spoken. Many thought she didn't know how; Cole had to ask around for her back story.
Molly pointed at herself, and the kids appeared perplexed before Leo smiled in realization.
"Of course you can play," Leo told her, scooting over to make room. "We'll start over and deal you in."
Molly sat down and watched as cards appeared before her.
The image changed.
At first, nothing looked different. The kids were still playing a card game (although it was Uno this time), and Cole and Hannah were standing behind them, watching the kids with the affection of parents.
"Cole Macksha?"
Cole turned, and a man in a gray suit glowered at him.
"Yes?" Cole asked.
The man sighed before forcing Cole to turn around and fishing hand cuffs from his pocket.
"Cole Macksha, you're under arrest for stealing, shop lifting, and robbery. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..." The man droned on.
Words scribbled across the screen:
Cole had to steal to help the children. He stole food and clothes along with other things, such as jewelry, to sell in exchange for money to buy necessities. Cole didn't like stealing, but when you're on the street, it's necessary.
The man's partner, a younger man with dark hair, stared at the children.
"You're all going to have to come with us," he told them.
"Kids, SCATTER!" Cole shouted.
The cards were dropped to the floor, and children ran in every direction. The second police officer caught two (Natalie and Carson) before they'd gone two feet.
The first policeman shoved a hand cuffed Cole to the ground and grabbed Hannah, Natasha, and Nathan, wrestling them backward.
Luka raced out of the shelter with the second policeman on her tail, and Leo picked up Molly and ran for dear life.
"Leo!" Molly sobbed.
"I know, Molly," Leo panted, sprinting at top speed and weaving through the streets. "It's all going to be okay."
Leo raced into an alleyway and found himself at dead end.
The cop's footsteps were hurriedly approaching.
Leo took a deep breath before dropping Molly into the dumpster and hopping in after her.
"Molly, hide!" Leo hissed.
Molly and Leo burrowed into the trash bags, completely covering themselves in them until not one strand of hair poked out.
All was silent.
A cop raced into the alley.
"I could've sworn they ran in here," he muttered before unclipping his walkie talkie from his belt and speaking into it. "I called for back up. They're watching the criminal, the woman, and the kids. Did you catch the girl?"
"I've got her," a garbled voice responded.
"Good. I lost the two young ones. They're only about ten and four; they'll turn up when they get hungry enough," the cop sighed before leaving the alley.
"Leo," Molly whimpered.
Leo unraveled himself from the trash bags and helped Molly stand. Together, they climbed out of the dumpster.
"Leo?" Molly repeated, tears of fear streaming down her face.
Leo sighed. "Don't worry, Molly. I'm going to take care of us. I promise."
The screen went black.
There wasn't a dry eye in the room.
I know there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, but the main purpose is to show the seven the memories. There's some dialogue, but there isn't a lot of it until Leo wakes up.
Next chapter will be about Molly and Leo on the street and what happened to them.
Thanks for reading.