Calypso strode to the center of the room, pulled out a pistol (where did she put that thing?) and shot the sprinkler over her head, causing a cascade of water to pour down and soak everything in the room. Fortunately, this included the fires. Unfortunately, this included Leo. The expressions of the original occupants made up for it, though. They stood, mouths agape, staring at Calypso, with water dripping into their eyes. One of those priceless "oh, why didn't we think of that?" moments. Leo would have laughed if he didn't notice something just then.

"Wait. Percy?"

"Oh. Hi, Leo. How's it going?" He offered a weak wave, his hand still up from earlier.

"Jason?"

"Uh… Hey, man. What's up?"

"What?!"

"I thought you would have known what that meant, Leo. Well, I'll explain it to you. It means-"

"No! I mean. Yes. Wait, no. I mean… What?"

"You've already said that," intoned Percy helpfully. Calypso looked like she was trying really hard not to facepalm.

"What? Why are you… Who are you… What are you… WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?"

"Umm… A chemical fire?" said Percy. "Well, it was a chemical fire." The blond girl next to him ran a hand down her face.

"No! You! Him! Calypso! Agh!" Leo pointed at each of them in turn and then threw his hands in the air and screamed to emphasize his point.

"I'm not getting you, man. You know, you were a lot more coherent the last time we spoke."

"Yeah," said Jason. "Maybe full sentences would be a little helpful? Just a little." He pinched his fingers together to illustrate just how little.

Leo began making unintelligible noises and gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Hey, Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we broke Leo."

"Really? You think so?"

"Not sure… Seems like it though."

At this point, Leo had given up trying to get the two resident idiots to understand his bewilderment and turned to the others in the room, making the same gestures and hoping one of them would understand his (incomprehensible) explanation of his predicament.

"Why… Who… How… Help… Augh!" Percy gestured to continue encouragingly. "What is me? I mean. Where are this? I mean. What?" The world was spinning and he was feeling nauseous. He was going to puke.

"Bro, that's the third time you've said that."

Leo screamed and fainted.

When Leo woke up, he was sitting in an infirmary bed with a circle of faces surrounding him. He screamed (again). He internally wondered how many times he would that, then decided he would scream as much as he needed, thank you very much. Percy and Jason perched at the foot of his bed, and several other people had pulled up chairs. (To watch him sleep? These people were getting creepier by the second.) A gruff-sounding older man in a baseball cap declared Leo "mostly undead - good job, cupcakes".

Percy and Jason cheered. "Sleeping Beauty awakes!" said Percy.

Cupcakes? thought Leo.

"Whew! We thought you were concussed," said Jason. "You hit your head pretty hard on the floor."

His vision swam. It was too soon for this. Leo groaned and flopped back down, covering his face with the pillow. Though the fabric, he heard a girl chastising the two boys.

"We told you not to say anything. He's gone through enough without you two idiots adding more stress. Shut up."

Someone cleared their throat, and Leo remembered. He sat up and took the pillow off his face. He looked around for Calypso. He found her standing in the corner of the room, the shadows giving her a mysterious and kind of creepy look. He bet she did that on purpose. One of the other girls followed his line of vision and startled a little, gesturing for Calypso to come over. She peeled herself off the wall and walked up to the edge of the bed, near Cupcake Man.

Seemingly uncertain of what to say under the circumstances, she paused for a moment, then asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Just peachy. Apparently I'm not dead." Keep up the smile keep up the smile keep up the smile. He would not allow himself to break down. Or puke. Or scream. Wait, nevermind. He would scream if he needed to.

"Wonderful," she said apathetically.

"No need to be too enthusiastic, Sunshine," Leo muttered under his breath.

Pretending she didn't hear him, she carried on. "Do you want to know why you're here?"

This was sounding awfully like an interrogation. Leo nodded slowly, slightly unsure. What if they were evil and were kidnapping him so they could use him as a human sacrifice to commence world domination? Leo decided he was watching too many movies. He would stick to watching one at a time from now on. (Okay, maybe two at a time. He was a busy man.)

The blond girl near Percy spoke up. "You've been recruited as a spy," she said bluntly.

"A… spy?" Leo was beyond confused. He was bewildered. Flabbergasted. Some other long word that meant the same thing. Did this mean it really was one of those movies? If so, did that mean he got to beat up bad guys? (He really hoped he got to beat up bad guys.)

"The higher-ups said we needed another agent. Preferably a mechanic, since we need better tech. Our old tech just doesn't do our missions justice. We did some research. A man was in the area and had no family ties. Nothing in the world except a small mechanic shop in the outskirts of a big city. If either the shop or the man disappeared, there would be no questions asked. Maybe he moved. Maybe he got a different job. No one was close enough to him to notice he was gone. Sound familiar?" On second thought, he really didn't want to beat up bad guys.

"What? You can't just pluck me out of my old life and drop me into this! What if I don't want it?"

"Too late," said a quiet girl with wiry cinnamon hair. "You've been recruited and this is your life now. Trust me. You'll come to accept this life and move on past your old one."

"I don't even have a choice?" Leo was angry. These people uprooted him from the only thing he had known since… Since that day, and they expected him just to play along with their stupid games? "No. You know what? You can take your spy business and bring it somewhere else. How old are you guys anyway? None of you could be over twenty! Is this some kind of game? Who do you think you are? The FBI or something? What right do you have to say what I will do with my life? What are you ge-"

"Leo!" Calypso slammed her hand down on the table. He startled. "Stop being so selfish! This is bigger than that! Bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than all of us! The orders came straight from Olympus! She will destroy the planet, and if we don't do something, we might as well be dead! We are the only reason there hasn't been a third World War, Leo! You might not understand right now, but you will soon. This. Is. Bigger. Than. You." Her eyes were wild.

"Whoa, slow down, lady. Olympus? What are we in now? Some kind of mythological storybook? A fairy tale? Let me tell you something. This is the real world. I don't know what you've all been on if you're really believing in this delusion, but you just kidnapped me to tell me that some Greek gods gave you some stupid orders, and I'm beginning to think you all belong in an asylum!" But something niggled in the back of his mind. Who was "she"? What was that World War thing about?

Calypso burned red, whether from anger or embarrassment, Leo couldn't tell. A girl Leo hadn't payed much attention earlier now spoke up. She was pretty, and looked oddly familiar. "Leo… Olympus Agencies Secret Intelligence Services is the company we work for. OASIS. Our branch was drafted from several different locations across America and around the world. This isn't the FBI, Leo. This is way bigger. Olympus is global, though we are currently centered in America. We are fighting against an unnamed terrorist group. All we know about them is that they seem to be completely global, each member having a different ethnicity and coming from a different country. They seem to answer someone called "Mother". This leads us to believe that the leader of the group is female."

Her words were a minefield, but her voice was soothing, like balm. Leo calmed down a little and sank back into the pillows. He crossed his arms. "And what does this have to do with me?" Terrorists were a distant thought to Leo. He didn't care for them. They never bothered him before, so why should he be involved now?

The answer left him reeling. "Leo… I thought you knew. She was the one who murdered your mother."

Leo threw up.

A/N: Um so yeah. Cliffy! The next few chapters might be a little intense in comparison to the earlier ones? I'll try to get back to the lighthearted tone from Chapter 1 eventually? I don't know... Meh. Read, Review, Edit! Or something. No flames please. I live in Canada. It's too cold for flames. Again, leave me ideas and things. (Man, this chapter has a crappy title. I don't even know anymore, guys. I just don't.)

Merry Christmas!

EDIT: I fixed the formatting! Yay! Also a few edits, but they don't change the meaning of anything, so... Meh!

~Yumi