Hello everyone! It's nice to be updating a new chapter. :)

Just a heads up: I don't know why, but I've always been slightly conflicted about who Leo should be shipped with. I don't really like Caleo, though there's been some of it in one of my stories, and Leyna's okay, but nothing special. (To me) So here's the deal: No concrete shipping for Leo. There will be slight hints of Leyna in this chapter, though, and a couple of hints next chapter of Caleo. But nothing official. If you want to see romance, you're going to have to imagine it. If you want to focus on other things, be my guest and ignore the hints entirely.

Also, I apologize for the lack of Solangelo in this chapter. There will be a lot in the epilogue, though, so look forward to that.

Leo's POV:

Dear Perseus,

If you ever want to see your cousin again, you will come to the Dumpster's behind your local supermarket alone on August 1.

Any friends, adults, or police will result in your cousin's death.

I hope we understand each other.

-G

"We have to do something," Thalia said for the 65th time that day.

The note had arrived earlier this morning, and nobody had done much since. The couldn't alert the police, because then Nico would be shot. But they couldn't just do nothing, either. This had resulted in all of them debating for ages but not actually doing anything productive.

"Like what?" Piper asked. "We don't know where they are. We don't know who they are. And most importantly, we don't know what they want."

"They want me," Percy said flatly. Leo jumped. Since receiving the message, Percy had been moping around. "They want me, and they're using Nico to get me. It's my fault he's captured. I should go."

"And then what?" Annabeth wheeled in on her boyfriend. "Percy, they won't honour their agreement. If you go, they'll kill both you and Nico. Do you think anyone could stand that? Do you think I could-" Her voice cracked.

"I agree with Annabeth," Jason said. "Going alone is suicidal."

"Doing nothing is suicidal," Percy snapped. "Getting help is suicidal! Everything here is suicidal, okay? Except staying here and doing nothing, but then Nico will die! I already lost his sister. I can't let him die- I owe that much to Bianca."

Bianca.

Leo had never met the lady, but he'd heard the story. Percy and Bianca had both been kidnapped by the serial murderer Kronos. They'd attempted to escape, and only Percy had made it out. Wait a minute...

Leo stood up. "Eureka! I'm a genius! Guys, listen!"

"What, Leo?" Annabeth asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

"The Kronos Incident was in the newspapers, right?" Leo said excitedly, waving his arms around. "That means a lot of people know about you, Percy. What if the person who kidnapped Nico was a friend of Krono's, and they want revenge? Now, if they read the newspapers, they would know that Bianca died and could probably assume you feel guilty about it. Maybe they assumed that taking her brother would ignite some sort of protectiveness in you, and that you would come!"

A second of silence. Then two. Three.

"Leo," Piper said, "That is actually a half decent guess."

"I'm great at guessing!" Leo agreed. "Very useful on science tests! And history tests! And-"

"We get the point," Thalia snap. "You complete half of your tests by guessing."

"What, you don't?"

"Guys," Annabeth said, her tone of voice making it very clear that she expected attention. Everyone turned to look at her. "Lets stay on topic. As much as I hate to admit it, Leo has a point. I suggest we check it out."

Annabeth took out her favourite laptop and set it on the desk. Fingers flying over the keyboard, she speed-typed Kronos Titan relatives in Google's search engine and clicked the first result.

"What does it say?" Jason asked warily.

Annabeth hesitated, reading some of the article before answering tensely, "Well, first it gives a lot of information about Kronos himself. His birth date, place of birth, and stuff like that. But here-" She scrolled down, "It starts talking about his family and friends. Apparently, he had a lot of siblings."

"I remember that," said Percy, nodding slowly. "I think he and that Atlas guy were related. Didn't most of them end up in jail, or something?"

"They did," Annabeth confirmed. "The rest of his siblings -all females, by the way- Theia, Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys, and Phoibe (A/N: I left out Rhea because I imagine her as Krono's wife and that would be extremely awkward if they were siblings in modern day America. Though it's not really important to the plot)didn't know about the whole thing, though his wife, Rhea, knew some parts. She got off with a smaller sentence, though, because she helped people escape in the end."

"I remember her," Thalia said. "She seemed nice."

"Wonder what she did to deserve Kronos, then," Leo muttered. "Guy's a psycho."

"Maybe she got brainwashed into marrying him," Piper suggested. "Or he threatened her with a gun."

"What about his parents, Annabeth?" Jason asked, steering the topic back on track. "You didn't mention them."

Annabeth scrolled down some more. "Lets see...His parents were Ouranos, an ex-con -apparently criminal mids run in the family- and... Gaea."

Everyone was silent. Leo didn't even have the heart to joke about the Greek names (Seriously. He liked mythology and all, but this was crossing the line. Who calls their kid Ouranos unless they wanted that person to get bullied to death?) like he normally would. Finally, Jason said, "So that's our culprit, then?"

"I wouldn't say culprit, since we don't know for sure," Annabeth replied. "But it's highly probable, considering the whole 'G' thing and all."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Percy snapped. "Nico's in danger. We need to find him, now!"

"Not so fast, Kelp Head," Thalia retorted. "We can't just go charging in there. It's crazy-"

"Every option is crazy!"

"Well then it's double crazy!" She yelled. "And I don't want my cousin to die!"

"I'm not going to-"

"SHUT UP!" Piper screamed, and they did. Leo gaped. He'd never seen his friend so angry. "Look, guys, this really isn't helping. At all. So here's what I suggest. We have until tomorrow to save Nico and Will. If this G woman really is Krono's mother, she probably already knows Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia. I say me, Leo, and Jason pretend to go grocery shopping to check out the area Gaea set for the meeting. It might give us a heads-up of what's going on, even the smallest clue could be helpful. Besides, it won't look weird since we usually walk back that way, anyways. Does that sound okay?"

"That's my girlfriend," Jason said proudly, staring at Piper in awe.

She blushed. "You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to say that."

"Well, I think it's good," Annabeth mused. "Makes sense. Alright, we'll do that."

"Great!" Leo cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Amazing thinking, Beauty Queen! I give all the credit to me."

"And how, exactly, do you deserve the credit?" Thalia asked.

"'Cause I'm Leo, obviously," Leo said. Thalia opened her mouth to say something, no doubt going to praise his awesomeness, but Jason cleared his throat and she shut it.

"Um, guys? Maybe, you know, since we're doing Piper's plan and all, we should actually leave and do the plan?" he suggested.

"Right," Piper said sheepishly. "C'mon Leo, lets go."

"Be careful," Percy warned them. "Gaea's obviously dangerous, since she kidnapped my cousin. Make sure it isn't too obvious you're looking at the grocer's. Act normal. And make sure that you're on guard, but don't look like you're in guard. Don't give anything away! And-"

"Calm down, Water Boy," Leo said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Percy scowled at the nickname, given to him by Leo because of Percy's love of swimming. "We'll remember, no need to get so worked up when you're not even going."

"That's what bothering me," Percy muttered. He looked really stressed, and Leo felt for the guy. He'd been through a lot. His cousin had died at the hands of a crazy psychopath, and now they were looking for the guy's mother because his other cousin had gotten kidnapped. Leo made a mental note to look out for Jason -not that he didn't already, but if Percy lost another one of his few nice family members, the guy was going to die of guilt. And he'd look out for Nico, too, even if the pale-skinned boy had always secretly creeped him out a bit.

"C'mon guys, lets go," Piper called, and Leo turned around to exit the room, "Bye everyone!"

"Bye!"

"See you."

"Good luck!"

"Don't die!"

The last comment, made by Percy, sent shivers down Leo's spine. Somehow, despite the kidnapping, he had never really considered the possibility that someone would die on this 'scouting mission'. After all, Gaea wouldn't kill someone in broad daylight, right?

Right?

Leo tried to pretend he hadn't thought that, instead focusing on appearing normal, blurting out the first thing he thought of. "So, are you looking forward to the school year?"

Wait, what? Had the just said that? Okay, now that was just lame. And totally un-Leo like. This whole thing was messing with his head. Judging from the expressions on his friend's faces, he wasn't the only one who thought so.

Jason looked like he'd been slapped. "Leo? Did you just willingly talk about school?"

"Hey, don't look so shocked," Leo retorted. "I can be serious when I want to…ish. Anyhoo, aren't we supposed to, you know, appear normal? Normal kids talk about school and stuff, right?"

"But since when did we classify as normal kids?" Piper asked.

"True," Leo admitted. "Alright, so if we aren't going to talk about school -which I don't really mind, to tell you the truth- what are we going to talk about? I mean, it's not like we usually walk in silence."

They all proceeded to randomly tossed out topics on the table. Basketball, beaches, actors, cupcakes (Which made Leo really hungry), and movies. No matter what they discussed, though, Leo could never really concentrate on what they were discussing. His brain felt strangely alert, and he couldn't help wondering if Gaea's henchman were watching them, if they knew what his friends were up to, if someone was going to attack them at any minute. It got even worse when they reached the supermarket. Leo swore that he saw someone peeking out from behind the garbage bin. He wasn't the only one paranoid, either- despite the masks Jason and Piper were putting up, he could feel them stiffen as they got closer to the scene of Nico's kidnapping. Everyone was on edge, until-

"Jason?" A sixteen year-old girl with piercing black eyes and hair tied back in a single braid approached them. She looked surprised, like she hadn't expected him to be there.

"Reyna?" Jason's tone was friendly but slightly confused. Obviously, he had also not been expecting this. "Is that you?"

A grin split across her face, and she gave him a friendly punch on the arm. Piper scowled. "Who else would it be? Anyways," she stepped back a little. Leo noticed she also shot Piper a meaningful glance, and his friend relaxed, scowl instantly replaced with a tentative smile. "Aren't you going to introduce me? I know Piper already, but who are you?"

Reyna was obviously addressing him, but her voice had no disgust, just curiosity. Leo appreciated that. Most of the time, when it came to pretty girls, they talked to him as if he was something they'd just scraped off their shoe.

"Oh right," Jason looked sheepish. "Sorry about that. Leo, this is Reyna. She's an old friend of mine from my old school in San Francisco. Reyna, Leo is one of my best-friends here and a whiz with machines. I swear, the way he fixed my computer-"

"I get it, he's great with technology," Reyna teased. "Honestly Jason, you never change." Turning to Leo and Piper, she asked, "Has his skill with electronics improved or is he still hopeless?"

"Hey!" Jason looked offended, but Piper and Leo were outright laughing. It was no secret Jason wasn't the best when it came to machines. Leo could still remember how the guy had blown up a microwave at Percy's house. That had been hilarious (Though Sally begged to differ).

"They stayed the same, sadly," Leo told her. "I tried to tutor him, but-"

Suddenly, Piper stopped laughing, going quiet. Leo turned around, stopping mid-sentence. Jason asked, "What is it, Pip-"

He too, stopped talking.

Leo regretted thinking he was being too paranoid. When they'd met Reyna, they'd dropped their guards too low.

Turns out, there had been someone hiding behind the garbage bin after all.

Reyna frowned."Guys, what-?"

"Run!" Jason yelled, as a big burly dude charged at them. "You too, Reyna! Hurry!"

"What? Why? Jason Odysseus Grace, I swear-"

Leo grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the man, who was quickly gaining on them, not even dwelling on the fact that he'd just learned his friend's middle name, and it was Odysseus, of all things. "Just do it!"

"Are all of you insane?!"

"I'll explain this to you later!" Jason howled from in front of them. "For now, just run faster!"

Reyna picked up the pace, and Leo let go of her arm, mumbling a rushed apology. He hadn't felt this terrified since his mother's warehouse had burned down, killing her and almost doing the same to Leo...(A/N: This is an AU, Leo had no crazy fire powers. Therefore, he can burn) No, better not dwell on that now.

To distract himself from expanding more on that subject, he risked a quick glance back and immediately regretted it. The guy had obviously called for reinforcements, because now there were two of them. Both were so huge that people swerved to avoid them, screaming complaints and 'Watch where you're going!'s. They wasn't scared to plow into innocent bystanders, and to top it off, they were fast. On the other hand, his friends were not so intimidating, and had to continuously skirt around people exiting to store. At this rate, the henchmen were going to catch up to them, and then they'd be gone too, just like Nico.

Leo was not going to let that happen.

"Guys!" He yelled. "Go back to the others, I'll distract Thing 1 and 2!"

Piper screamed something back, probably about how that was a horrible idea and how she wasn't going to let that happen, but Leo ignored her and quickly reversed directions, turning left while the others ran forward. Waving his arms around madly, he hollered, "Hey, um, burly guys! Nothing to see over there! Come chase me instead!"

Nothing changed. He saw their eyes go over him, as if scanning whether or not he was worth dealing with. It took less than a second, and they didn't change their course.

Leo felt his blood boil. Okay, maybe he wasn't the most muscular guy, but give him a break! He could be vicious. He could be a worthwhile opponent. He wasn't just a skinny wimp that backed out of fights. Hecould hold those two off for his friends. No, he would.

Digging into his right pocket, Leo pulled out an sphere-shaped toy. Called the Archimedes Sphere, he'd made it himself, planning to use it to prank fellow students at Goode. Today, it'd have a much important purpose.

Adjusting a few wires, Leo pressed a button at the side, making it expand and basically form a little slingshot. Good, but he needed something to actually shoot...

Grabbing a bunch of rocks on the ground, Leo loaded the slingshot and released. The rock hit one of the men on the head, but besides a glare, Leo didn't really get any more attention.

He gritted his teeth. He needed something flashier.

This time searching his left pocket, he pulled out a yo-yo, a bunch of sticky notes, a string, an old candy cane, and...a box of matches. Leo gaped at that. Since when had he put that there? Ah well, it made things easier for him now. Fire was eye-catching, right?

Taking out a match, he hesitated. He could recall the...accident too well, flames leaping as they swirled around the burning warehouse. Leo could practically feel the memory creep up to him. He thought about it every day, after all. Fire was not something to be played with...

But if he didn't light the match, the chance of his friends being captured was too great.

That did it. Nobody was going to harm his friends if he had anything to do with it! Leo grabbed half of the sticky notes and lit them. Then he proceeded to place it into the slingshot and aim.

Steady, steady, there!

He let go.

Leo held his breath, watching as the flaming clump of paper flew across the ground and hit...right on Thing 1's t-shirt, which promptly set on fire. Cursing, the dude hit the floor, rolling around to get rid of the flame. Without wasting any time, Leo grabbed some more sticky notes and did the same thing, except this time it hit Thing 2's pants. Thing 2 yelped and grabbed his behind -bad move, since now his hands were burned. Leo quickly used the same tactic over and over again until he ran out of paper. Schist.

The guys, now not flaming, were slowly getting up from the floor where they'd been rolling like madman just seconds before. They were both facing him, and they didn't look happy.

Double schist.

For once in his life, Leo did the logical thing. He turned and ran, henchman following.

He sprinted in random directions, zigzagging down streets and corners. As he ran on, it became blatantly clear that the two men -whoever they were -did not know New York as well as he did. They probably had just gotten here, but Leo didn't really care. All he cared about was that it gave him an advantage, so he made sure to take shortcuts, duck down alleyways they hadn't seen before, and head to crowded areas. The guys were in shape, though, and somehow always managed to find him whenever he tried to disappear.

Finally, Leo managed to make it across a road before they did, light flashing red as his feet hit the sidewalk. Cars poured onto the road, and his stalkers got stranded on the other side. Leo took his chance and made a break for it, high-tailing out of there as fast as his feet could take him.

Panting, Leo turned the corner and ducked behind a bush nearby. No sign of either men. He relaxed. Mission accomplished. Now all he had to do was walk back to the others, and-

"Who are you, and why did you just destroy my plant?"

Leo turned slowly, coming face to face with a girl with caramel hair that smelled of cinnamon. Her hair was done in a braid, and her dark almond-shaped eyes were narrowed into a glare. He followed her gaze down to his feet, which were stepping on...damn it.

The Fates loved to torture him, didn't they?

Sorry if Reyna was OOC. I tried to make her nice. Too many stories bash characters just because others ship that person with another person who they ship with another person. Too clarify that confusing explanation, I'll give you an example. Some people bash Calypso and Rachel because they ship Percabeth. I've read a lot of stories like that, and while I get why people do it, I prefer to just have the characters in character. You can get Percy and Annabeth together without making others total jerks, you know.

Anyways, this is turning out to be longer than I expected. Forget what I said earlier, according to my new plan, there will be 13 chapters. o_o I really hope I can have this done by January!

LAST EDITED: 08/21/15