I'm keeping this long AN up for future reference. So, unless I specifically mention you, PLEASE READ:
To all my faithful and polite watchers (IE: Chris, PercyJacksonOracle, Cats, SilverWing, Datfangirl, Awesomest Person, Awesome as Annabeth, ArtemisApollo, and many others who are perfectly fine) Please disregard this message. This is not directed at or for you.
Let me just say this to all of you who have nothing better to do than to tell me to update or write faster: FUCKING EXCUSE ME FOR BEING AN ADULT AND HAVING A FUCKING JOB! Yes, I have a life outside of Fanfiction, unlike most of the little teenagers that post on here (not that I'm complaining, I love some of those stories). My 12-hour shift job kind of gets priority over this, especially since I am not allowed to bring my computer or use any of my personal things besides notebooks and sketchbooks at work.
I DON'T UPDATE BECAUSE YOU TELL ME TO. I DON'T WRITE THINGS BECAUSE YOU TELL ME TO. THIS IS MY STORY NOT YOURS. SHUT THE FUCK UP.
If you want something to happen, there's this neat thing called 'logging in and posting your own story'. As I said before in a previous chapter, I am not taking requests about who or what to put in this already planned-out story.
You annoy me greatly and make me want to NOT update because of your whining at me to update. I don't care if you make a big review and then put a 'please update' at the end. I can handle that. What I can't handle is a review with nothing but UPDATE or telling me what I should write for later in the story.
And if you say, 'You're rude. I'm gonna stop reading now' well then consider this: 'WRITE FASTER' or 'YOU NEED TO UPDATE ASAP' or 'YOU SHOULD WRITE THIS/ADD THAT' is just as rude. If you unfollow because I am telling you to be patient (in a rude way, I admit) then that's your loss. Not mine.
In the end, there is only one fact:
This is my story—with Rick's characters, yes, but still my story.
*ahem*
Now, on to the story.
This is more of a Leo chapter than anything. Some people put me in a bad mood, so in return you get a filler chapter with a semi-angsty Leo.
So there. :(
EDIT: I fixed something about the angsty-Leo. I had forgotten it actually ran with canon, so thanks to a guest I have fixed it! :)
As said before: I own nothing you recognize as canon. Kids/teens (Sammy and Leo excluded) are mine.
XIX
SAMMY VALDEZ
It took a while for Leo to wake up again. By that time, Sammy had been filled in completely on the situation with the missing adults. Other-Sammy had given him a black key with a diamond-encrusted end. The moment Sammy touched it, the key hovered in midair and words appeared over it:
The Daughter of Death who has lived twice,
Must be saved by past, present, and future alike.
The blonde woman, whose name was Annabeth, had announced that this clue was pretty obvious in nature; Sammy was past, Leo was present, and Tulio was possibly future. All three of them looked almost exactly alike.
Other-Sammy had protested that he was 'future', to which Lacy and Jason agreed. Other-Sammy had both Sammy and Leo's names, and was as much a presence in Hazel's life as the Valdezes. Tulio didn't impact Hazel as much as he had. Sammy had to agree with that.
So, 'Past' and 'Present' had been found. 'Future' was To Be Determined. Whatever the case, they would have to work together to save Hazel.
Tulio was still 'driving' the ship, Hazel's key pointing the way in his hand. Sammy didn't even want to go near the boy while he was waving his arms around like a lunatic. All that work to drive a ship seemed counter-productive. Tulio seemed like a nice enough lad, but Sammy didn't want to get accidentally smacked in the face.
Meanwhile, after Leo had woken up and gotten used to the weirdness that was his bisabuelo being on the ship, he realized that he had been turned into a teenager—much like Pluto had done to Sammy.
"Pluto must have done that," Bobby noted.
"But why," Leo whined. "I was fine the way I was! I had stubble, clothes that fit…I HAD MUSCLES!"
He made a show over his loss, flailing about in an over-glorified way. The others rolled their eyes, but Sammy just laughed. His great-grandson had his sense of humor!
Eventually, he dropped his overalls completely, revealing almost-too-large blue boxers.
"The return of Blue Bottom," Jason said with a smirk.
"Stuff it, brick lover," Leo spat. He turned around and faced the control center. "Tulio! Imma need some extra clothes!"
Tulio cocked an eyebrow. He looked like he was about to say something when Espie said, "I got something for you, Papi. Here."
She threw a bag at Leo. He looked inside and grimaced immediately. "Fuck. No."
"Ah, ah," Annabeth scolded. "Teenagers don't curse."
"This one does, dammit," Leo shot back. "I need to vent somehow, so it's either cursing or setting something on fire!"
"Go change," Frank said bluntly.
"But—"
"It's either that or you stay in your undies," Espie threatened. "'Cause Tulio ain't handing over a single article of clothing to you."
Leo grumbled. "Fine."
He stomped away, mumbling something about a marker.
Sammy shrugged and walked over to the railing. He watched the clouds swirling below quickly.
Ten minutes later, Sammy was still leaning on the rail. He had spaced out, thinking about Hazel and her family compared to Sammy and his own.
Sure, eventually he got to see a happy family, but the truth was that Maria had never really made Sammy feel complete. Sam Jr. and his brothers didn't fill that hole either. Sammy always felt out of place, even in his own family. The 'happy family' picture didn't come in until Esperanza had Leo. Okay, so the rest of the family (starting with Rosa, his least favorite grandchild) had shunned poor Anza for that pregnancy, but Sammy stayed by her side until the bitter end—literally. Maybe it was because he knew Hazel would be with Leo, or maybe Anza actually made him feel better. Maybe it was because he had finally let Hazel go in his old age. Whatever it was, that part of his life had been the best part after Hazel's moving to Alaska.
And hey, Leo had started up his own family—who looked a lot happier than the 'post-Sammy' Valdez family—so it hadn't turned out too bad.
Speaking of whom, little Leo heaved an exaggerated sigh behind him. Sammy turned and cocked an eyebrow at his wardrobe.
He was wearing really tight jeans, suspenders, and a white t-shirt that had TEAM *unreadable scribble* LEO scrawled across the front. For some reason, he wasn't wearing any shoes.
As if reading Sammy's thoughts, Leo huffed, "I had pretty big feet before. No one else has shoes in my teenager size."
"Not even Tulio?" Sammy prompted.
"He's got his mother's petite feet. And Espie—who does have my size—is the only girl in the world who owns one pair of shoes."
"What is scribbled out on your shirt?"
Leo grimaced. "Tulio just did a show in Vegas and got a bunch of free merchandise for it. Espie made me wear his Team Tulio shirt. I refuse to wear anything that doesn't say Team Leo."
"Team Leo?" Sammy smiled. "What on earth does that mean?"
Leo shook his head in amusement. "You wouldn't understand. It was kind of a friendship-bonding inside joke between me and Hazel."
Sammy smiled wider. "Glad to know you and Hazel became good friends."
Leo walked over to the rail and leaned up against it. Sammy returned to his leaning position.
"Me and Hazel had shared a vision of you telling me to find her. Y'know, when I was a baby," Leo explained. "I told her you said hello, afterwards, too."
Sammy closed his eyes and smiled. "Thanks. I knew you'd be a good stunt-double."
Leo grinned and bowed his head. "You're very welcome." He paused. "How's…how's Mom? Do you know?"
"She's happy in Elysium," Sammy told him. "Got her own shop. One of your half siblings visits there from time to time. A fellow by the name of Beckendorf, I believe?"
"Never met him, but he's a legend in camp," Leo said. "But he's nothing compared to me." He puffed out his chest. "I'm the most legendary son of Hephaestus ever!"
Sammy rolled his eyes. "Definitely my descendant," he noted. "Got my arrogance and everything."
"But at least we admit it."
The Valdez boys laughed.
After a few seconds, they fell silent and stared out at the horizon. Sammy glanced over and studied Leo. He frowned slightly in thought.
"Mind if I ask you a random question?"
Leo shrugged. "Random's kind of a trade-mark Valdez specialty. Shoot."
"From what I can tell, fashion has changed since I was a true teenager. Even in my old age it seemed that a certain article of clothing had fallen out of fashion. Yet you seem to like it."
"What article of clothing would that be?"
"Why suspenders?"
Leo fell silent.
Sammy asked again, "I mean, why choose suspenders when there are perfectly good belts? Even your son seems to prefer belts over suspenders."
Leo still hesitated, his expression grim and dark. "I…I don't like belts…" he mumbled.
"Why not? There's nothing wrong with them."
Leo bowed his head briefly. When he looked up, he looked pained. "I'm sure you've guessed that I didn't have a nice childhood?"
Sammy nodded. With Esperanza in Elysium, Sammy assumed his other granddaughter Rosa had taken Leo in. Not exactly a fantastic motherly figure, though. Sammy did not like her in the least.
"Well…" Leo sighed. "After Mom joined you in Elysium, Rosa cast me out of the family. She sent me into the foster system without so much as a second glance."
Sammy made a mental note to ask Pluto to reserve a spot in Eternal Punishment for Rosa—just on a temporary basis, perhaps. I'll kick her butt myself for doing that to Leo.
"Anyway," Leo continued, "After a few run-aways—don't ask why, just know I ran away from all the homes I was sent to—I was sent to a home with a…highly religious woman. Her name was Teresa." He seemed to spit that name out with mild hatred. "She sensed something was wrong with me. I'll give you a hint; she somehow knew about my fire abilities."
Sammy winced. He didn't like where this was going.
"She thought the devil was inside of me and…" he paused, his face scrunched up in pain. "…and she believed the best way to get rid of it was to take her husband's extra-thick leather belt and…"
He never finished that sentence. Leo put his head in his hands and stifled a few sobs.
Sammy patted him on the back. He had no idea how to comfort Leo about this. Sure, Sammy had dealt with things like racism and war back in the day. But domestic abuse? Sammy hadn't experienced that first-hand. His parents never beat him unless he had done something extremely crazy.
"I…I still have scars on my back from that…belt," Leo whispered, his voice broken. His hand traced his lower back, and he winced as if a phantom pain came back to him. "That's why I wear either suspenders or overalls…"
Sammy nodded. "I'm sorry I asked."
Suddenly, arms wrapped around Leo from behind, making the son of Hephaestus yelp in surprise. Sammy blinked and smiled as Esperanza hugged Leo.
"Don't be sad, Papi," she said softly. "You've got me and Tulio now. And Mom. We're your family. Not those awful people."
Leo smiled and twirled around to hug his daughter. "I know. I'll be fine. Thanks, Espie."
Espie smiled. "Anytime, Papi. Feel better, 'kay?"
Leo gave a prize-winning smile. "You got it, sweetie."
She left to go talk to Tulio, who was watching the scene with worried eyes.
Sammy turned back to Leo, who was tugging on his suspenders subconsciously.
"I really am sorry," Sammy said. "I shouldn't have asked about the suspenders."
Leo shrugged. "Nah. You couldn't have known. Actually, I don't normally freak out about that. Must be the teenage hormones getting to me…I haven't gotten that emotional for years!"
Sammy clapped him on the back. "Being a teenager is hard, little Leo."
Leo nodded. "Yeah. It fuckin' sucks, bisabuelo."
Sammy frowned. "Cursing doesn't suit you."
Leo grinned impishly, another thing he had inherited from Sammy. "It does when I'm my proper age."
"Papi! Tatarabuelo!"
Both Valdezes turned towards Tulio (Sammy could not believe someone was calling him tatarabuelo, and tried not to be too excited by it). The key in Tulio's hand was glowing brighter and starting to point downwards.
"We've arrived," he announced.
Sammy and Leo turned around and looked over the rail. City lights were dim against the early morning sun. Various food smells assaulted Sammy's nose. The familiar streets gave him a huge sense of nostalgia.
"Wow," Sammy breathed out. "I haven't been to New Orleans in decades!"
A/N: *cue the Princess and the Frog music*
That belt-suspender idea actually came fromStronger Than the Hero's by Bluelightningbug, in which Reyna notices a scar from a belt when Leo is dangling by his shirt from Festus's mouth. I now strongly believe that it is possible one of Leo's foster homes beat him.
EDIT: I changed it from father to mother. Thank you to Pridewing for reminding me of Teresa! I had completely forgotten about her! :D
Still in a bad mood, but at least you got your damn update. Instead of sacrificing quality, I gave you unhappy Leo past. Deal. With. It.
Thank you to those who supported that gigantic Author's Note when it was a chapter. And to those who woke up or read their emails to find a full chapter and not just the note, I hope you read it. Because if it happens again, I will keep posting that note at the beginning of every goddamn chapter of every mother-fucking multi-chapter story I write. I back up my threats.
