Oh, a lot of you were in the ballpark, and a couple of you guessed right!
Wonder who was right?
Time to find out!
I own nothing you recognize as canon.
XLIII
MARK
Mark was having a little spar with Lacy when Bobby rushed up.
"He's awake," the Athena legacy huffed. "He woke up a few hours ago!"
Mark and Lacy both grinned. "That's great," Lacy said. "Do Mom and Dad know?"
"Yeah, they're the ones who told me. They said the whole Valdez family will be coming out to Camp. They want to take Leo to the Bunker."
"Why there?" Mark asked.
"Dunno. I think it might make him happy…I hear he could use some cheering up."
"Whatever, let's go see him!" Lacy and Bobby began rushing away.
Mark stopped before he got too far. "Hang on," he said. "I'll go tell my parents! They'll be thrilled!"
The Jackson kids left, probably not even caring he wasn't with them.
Mark ran past a bunch of other kids, trying to get to the dining pavilion.
Turns out, word had spread quickly. Many campers were eager to get to the New Athens entrance, now, to see the awake legendary son of Hephaestus. He saw Nico already running through the crowd, his eyes wide with shock.
As he skidded into the dining pavilion, Mark noticed his parents eating with Frank and Hazel. Perfect.
"Mom! Dad!" he called.
The adults lifted their heads. He could see the pain in their eyes.
They were probably thinking about Leo, he thought. Perfect!
"It's Leo," he panted. "He's awake!"
Everyone was suddenly standing. Frank had nearly fallen over.
"When did he wake up?" Jason asked.
"Apparently, he woke up a few hours ago," Mark explained. "He'll be coming through camp to get to the Bunker."
All of the adults began to rush out, bumping against one another. Mark's parents scrambled to be first. Mark rushed out after them.
It was pretty easy to tell where Leo was. A huge crowd had gathered and surrounded him. Mark's parents shouted for the teens to move, Frank and Hazel pushing people out of the way. Mark followed, a little embarrassed at everyone staring at them.
Finally, he saw Leo.
The son of Hephaestus was in a wheelchair, looking pretty sad. A little red blanket was wrapping his legs—his paralyzed legs—gently. Calypso was pushing his wheelchair through the grass, and the children and teens were hovering nearby, keeping the crowds at bay.
The rocks that had crushed Leo had damaged his spine so severely, it had paralyzed him from the waist down. Tulio couldn't heal paralyzed limbs, and neither could ambrosia or nectar, so Leo would forever be bound to a chair.
The moment Leo looked at the Graces, his sad face erupted into a forced smile. "Hey, guys," he rasped. "Looks like the Super-sized McShizzle just became the Medium-sized McShizzle, huh?"
Piper broke into tears and hugged him.
"Easy," choked Leo. "I'm still recovering, here!"
"I'm just so happy you're awake, Leo," she cried. "And don't demean yourself!"
Leo hacked up a lung. "Geeze, Beauty Queen!"
She hit his shoulder. "I'm serious, Leo," she said. "Don't go all depressed on us because of this."
He looked down at his legs, pain in his eyes. "Pipes…"
Piper kissed his forehead. "Really," she said. "You're alive. For people like us, it's way better to be alive than dead."
He blinked. "B-But…"
Hazel kicked his wheelchair. "No. You're not allowed to be depressed."
Jason ruffled his curls. "You're still super-sized to us, pal. And we won't think any different of you."
Espie wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Papi…I don't like it when you don't smile. Can you smile again, please?"
Leo sighed. "Gimme a day or two, sweetie. I'll probably get over this—Hades, maybe I'll even laugh about it after a while—but…for now, it's still hitting me hard."
Tulio cleared his throat. "I'll give you a few minutes to get over it. Trust me, Papi. I've got something that will cheer you right up."
Leo cocked an eyebrow. "You keep saying that. If it's false limbs, you can forget it. I don't want to lose my legs if they're still attached—regardless of how dead they are."
Tulio shuddered. "Glad you said that, because that wasn't what I had in mind…"
Eventually, the group had dwindled to just the Seven and the legacies. When they were about to enter the Bunker, Espie insisted Leo put a blindfold on.
"Seriously?" the son of Hephaestus protested. "I'm paralyzed from the waist down, and now you want to make me blind?"
"See, Leo?" Calypso kissed him. "You're already making a comeback."
He grumbled as the blindfold went on.
Espie opened the door to the Bunker. Mark blinked. There, sitting in full view in the front of the Bunker…
…was another wheelchair.
I doubt Leo will be thrilled at that, Mark thought.
Tulio ran over to the chair and spread his arms wide. "Okay, Papi," he said. "You can look, now!"
Leo removed the blindfold. When his gaze rested on the chair, he frowned. Mark almost laughed—his frown was more like a Grumpy Cat frown.
"Ooh," Leo said with fake enthusiasm. "Another wheelchair. I'm so relieved that you're reminding me of my condition…"
Tulio rolled his eyes. "Get in."
Leo blinked. Then, he looked down and gripped his armrests, making his knuckles turn white. His lower lip trembled.
Mark understood immediately. He turned to everyone nearby. "Why don't we, ah, look at that awesome tree over there?"
Bobby looked confused. "Why? I wanna see the—"
Annabeth smacked him. "That tree sure is interesting," she said, playing along. "We should check it out for a few minutes."
Mark and Annabeth herded the group away. He was suddenly thankful Annabeth understood what Mark was trying to do. Poor Leo didn't want anyone to see him struggle. He was still too weak from his recent coma to lift himself out of his chair.
Let him have his pride, Mark decided. He needs to get it up again.
He heard Leo groaning and whining in protest as someone—probably Sammy Leo, who hadn't joined the tree-watching group—lifted him into the new wheelchair.
Eventually, Leo called, "You guys can come back now."
They turned around. Leo was situated in the new chair. Calypso was just finishing wrapping up his legs. Leo himself looked pretty embarrassed.
"Thanks," he whispered.
Tulio bent down and patted an armrest. "C'mon, Papi. Stretch out your mechanical senses! I promise you'll feel better."
Leo sighed and gave his son a pained smile. "Fine."
He let his fingers brush against the metal of the chair, closing his eyes in concentration. Within seconds, his eyebrows shot up and his eyes opened. He looked at Tulio with a hanging mouth.
Tulio beamed. "Huh? Huh? Do ya like it?"
Leo opened and closed his mouth, but no sounds came out. He turned his attention back to the chair and pushed on the armrest. A panel opened up. Leo pressed a few buttons and suddenly the wheels of the chair turned sideways. The spaces inside the wheel closed, shining bronze in the light. A slight hum filled the air as the chair lifted up and began to hover. Another panel opened, revealing a primitive joystick and a couple more buttons.
The chair's armrests changed into little bronze dragon heads. The sides of the chair had flames painted on the sides. A pillow popped out of nowhere and situated itself behind Leo, making him more comfortable.
Leo looked absolutely thrilled. With his chair now floating, he was back to his original height.
"I…" he tried. "I…I love it!"
Tulio smiled. "I knew you would. Of course, this is only a prototype. I kinda rushed it, but I've got the blueprints if and when you want to make changes. Just 'cause your legs don't work, doesn't mean your arms can't. I figured working with a hover-chair might be easier than with a wheelchair."
"Flames!" Zac exclaimed. "The flames!"
Tulio nodded. "Oh, yeah. The flames were Zac's idea."
"And the dragons were mine," Aria said proudly.
Leo began to tear up. His smile was genuine this time as he grinned at his children. Espie was the first to hug him, knowing exactly what he wanted. The others followed suit.
Mark and his group stayed back, watching on in joy as Leo's happiness returned. He cried happily, stroking his children's hair and backs.
"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you so much…!"
Piper finally walked over. She took Leo's hand in hers. "Welcome back, Leo."
Leo hesitated a moment, like he had forgotten anyone besides the Valdez family was there. Finally, after a moment, he grinned up at her. He looked relaxed and happy, just like he had before all the Atlas nonsense began.
"Thanks, Beauty Queen," he said.
They all group-hugged. Mark got squished between Sammy Leo and Espie, which would have been awkward a month ago, but now they had settled their differences. He was genuinely happy for the couple again.
Leo sniffled, his face etched with a permanent smile. "I'm glad to be back, guys," came his muffled voice through Jason's shoulder.
"I really am."
A/N: Not done! Still got some things to write out, so hang in there! Andy makes a comeback, Leo adjusts to disabled life, Saspie may have a moment, and for the last chapter I may do a time-skip. 'May' being the key word here. I'm still planning it out.
Before you ask; Yes, Leo will stay paraplegic. Sad, I know...but it will stay that way.
And he didn't feel it before, when he woke up, because he was still having 'ghost feelings'. He had thought his legs were fine until he felt them with his hands and found out that he couldn't feel his hands, nor could he move his legs.
