Ah, this chapter has been really difficult to write! I don't really know too much about legal stuff (especially the legal system) so please take what you read with a grain of salt. Plus, I am finally finished with college so hopefully updates will be more regular now. Thank you to everyone who faved or followed, and I hope that you enjoy the chapter.

Skyfir3S4kur4 : Heehee, I'm glad that you rant about your feels in reviews, it never fails to make me smile. I hate her as well (even though she is my character...). And I'm like with some of the stories that I read, so I'm glad to hear that you are so happy when it's updated. Thank you so much for your patience and consideration, and I will definitely keep writing (though hopefully more frequently now).

Elephantlover123 : Thank you, not just for your comments about the story but also for wishing me well in college. I'm sorry though that this update isn't very soon...

CrazyBlueOwl : Thanks, I'm happy to hear that you think my story is cool. And thank you for wishing me well with my college work :)

Melancholy's Sunshine : I now seriously can't stop imagining Hera in her crone form hitting the rich witch over the head with a handbag like the bad kitty lady in Madagascar :) And even if Nemesis doesn't get involved, the rich witch will definitely be put in her place this chapter. I'm glad that you liked my little pun, and I hope this chapter is as enjoyable as you think it will be.

Neon Wish Likes Pine Trees : I think Hermes especially will be verbally slapping her, though with Hephaestus discovering his sense of humour, who knows how this will turn out (oh wait, I do...)

Connwaer Heap : Thank you :) I seem to have put you on a real emotional roller coaster, making you laugh and then making you sad. But hey. if it cheers you up any, Leo's probably catching up with all the sleep he loses whilst inventing, so this new coping method is helpful in at least one way!

Sidda : Please don't feel like you need to apologise for being late to review. Seriously, I'm lucky that you review at all, and I'm the one who needs to apologise for being late. I hope that you insomnia wears off (I'm usually the other way around, going asleep at random hours instead of waking up at random hours). I also hope that your sister is being less of a brat now :) Leo could definitely build an iron man suit. And I don't know who I would use the Death not on, probably one of my primary school friends. She was kind of our little group's leader and she wasn't very nice.

A23 : Thank you, your review is so kind! I'm sorry that you've probably had to miss my work for even longer seeing as I haven't updated in ages :( Though I really appreciate you saying that I have talent. And I could never accept money for my Fanfiction seeing as it's always late and some chapters aren't as good as they could be. And I will keep writing for years to come, so feel free to stick around if you want to ;)

ZoethezanyIII : Hello again! I really hope the suspense hasn't actually killed you (seeing as I left you waiting for so long...)

Guest : I'm loving the pun :) And I'm happy to hear that you like my stories, even if you seem a little annoyed at the cliffhanger.

Mondmaedchen : I really liked that line, it's one of my favourites for this chapter so I'm glad that it made you laugh.

Ninjacook123 : Thank you, and I hope that the end of this section doesn't disappoint. I think that I will be doing Teresa next, that's who I'm planning to do anyway. And no, I haven't yet because I'm waiting for my sister to lend it to me :( And I have been really busy with college lately, but I'm done now so I'm feeling great and I'm ready to write, so thank you for asking! I hope everything is good with you to. And I really appreciate your willingness to wait. Plus, I love replying to reviews as you take the time out of your day to leave me such wonderful messages so it's only fair that I reply.

Dez : Thank you, and I will continue no matter how long it may take me (though hopefully that time will be reduced now that I have finished college).

Disclaimer : I could never hope to own these characters (except for my OCs). I also don't own any of the memes.


Whilst Leo subtly checked the room for discrepancies (besides the two Gods sitting on the sofa) in case this really was an alternate universe, Mr McLean decided to fulfil his duties as a host and offered to fetch drinks.

Hermes declined politely, whereas Hephaestus asked for a coffee with no milk. Leo couldn't help but wonder if Gods could get caffeine rushes, and how hilarious it would be if they could. One particular image of the Gods all literally bouncing off of walls had Leo stifling chuckles. Now probably wouldn't be a good time to laugh like a crazy person as he didn't think that the two Gods in front of him would appreciate such musings.

"So... how are you going to be helping me exactly?" Leo questioned. Hermes previous, easy-going smile instantly transformed into a more serious look.

"Well, as of now the matter hasn't actually reached a legal standpoint, despite its current publicity. The best way to deal with this would be to reach out to Lucretia now and make her understand that dropping this matter would be... prudent, shall we say ." That made a lot of sense to Leo, but didn't really coincide with what Hephaestus had said earlier.

"But didn't you say that you wanted to take custody of me?" He directed this towards his still uncomfortable looking father, yet it was Hermes who interjected smoothly.

"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm already working on sorting that out." Leo wasn't really sure how to take that, and his face must have shown his uncertainty as Hephaestus spoke up.

"Hermes has already gathered all of the evidence needed to allow me to take custody of you, he just needs to submit it. A little persuasion should quietly convince the courts to sign custody over to me without the need of any public spectacle." Leo had no doubt that "persuasion" really meant that Hermes would be using his Godly magic to influence the courts. Though that part of the statement didn't really bother him.

"What evidence?" The God of the forge hadn't exactly been the type of father who attended school plays or taught him to ride a bike or anything, and Leo had gotten over that, but it didn't exactly show a stellar parental record that Leo hadn't met his father until he was sixteen.

Surprisingly, his father's cheeks began to redden, and a Cheshire grin grew on Hermes' face.

"Oh, your father has been paying child support for all of his children ever since they were born." Leo's attention instantly snapped towards his father, as did his friend's.

"How? Why? How?" Leo spluttered.

"Some of my inventions tend to sell well in this world. I simply had to keep payments up." Hermes elbowed him.

"Actually, you got me to take care of the legal stuff, you just made the money." Hephaestus grumbled back that dealing with organic beings was troublesome. Leo tried not to take that as an offence as he often though the same thing.

"Anyway, I'll just call this Lucretia now and organise a meeting in, say, twenty minutes. That should give her enough time to organise herself, nut not enough time to be truly prepared for our visit." Hermes whipped out his sleek phone and tapped in Lucretia's number.

"Hello, is this Lucretia Narcissa? fabulous, you see, my name is Angel and I am the lawyer of a certain Mr Leo Valdez. Through your very overt use of social media I have been made aware of the claims that you have made bout wishing to take my client back in. I would very much like to meet with you along with the boy and his father." At this point, Leo could faintly hear Lucretia choke out the word "father" in a completely disbelieving tone of voice. Hermes smile turned sharp.

"Yes, actually, Leo's father is a close associate of mine. So, we will be meeting up in twenty minutes to discuss this matter with you." The rich witch began spluttering excuses, that she couldn't possibly meet up with them at short notice, she had very urgent business you attend to and she couldn't put it on hold .

"Oh, I'm afraid that wasn't really a request, Lucretia dear. You see, me and my associate are very busy men ourselves, and we wanted to get this matter sorted out as quickly as possible. Yet, if you are determined to prolong this experience in order to get more publicity for yourself, then I am sure that the media would just love to hear about your affair with a married man." Leo could practically feel the frost emanating over the phone as Piper gasped. Hermes sent the daughter of Aphrodite a wink, and Hephaestus murmured that Piper's mother had looked into the matter after Hephaestus had caught her on yet another date with Ares. Piper looked part thankful that her mother was helping, part ashamed that her mother was still fooling around with Ares whilst married.

"ARE YOU THREATENING ME?!" This charming wail was audible to everyone in the room, and Hermes face crinkled in distaste as his ears were directly assaulted by a sound that was akin to a very rusty gate being opened rapidly.

"Not at all, that would imply that I am only thinking of mentioning this knowledge to the press, whereas I am in actual fact stating that this will happen if you do not meet with us in..." Here, Hermes paused to take a look at his expensive watch, "Sixteen minutes."

"I WILL CALL MY LAWYER!"

"On now, Lucretia dear, you don't want to do that. Or I might accidentally let slip about a certain offshore account..." Hermes trailed off very deliberately, and for a minute or two all was silent.

And then the God of messengers beamed.

"I'm glad that you are seeing thing my way. We'll be there in thirteen." Hermes tapped to end the call, and everyone in the room stared at him in awe.

"Now that," He stated calmly "Was fun."

"That was awesome!" Leo enthused. The other demigods nodded and Hermes laughed it off, just as Mr McLean returned, looking a little baffled.

He handed Hephaestus his coffee after apologising for the delay. Apparently the coffee machine had broke down twice before working flawlessly.

Hephaestus sipped his coffee and ignore the pointed glare that Leo shot his way.

Hermes waltzed over and shook the movie star's hand.

"Thank you for letting us into your wonderful home Mr McLean. Harry, Leo and I will be going now. Goodbye Piper, Jason." Hermes waved casually, and Leo followed dazedly, also turning to wave at his friends as they called good luck to him. Hephaestus knocked back his coffee before catching up.

From behind the door, Leo could just make out Piper's dad asking what had just happened, and if that man had just chugged steaming hot coffee as if it were a milkshake.

Leo snickered, and then remembered what Hermes had called Hephaestus.

"Harry, seriously? One of the most common names ever." Hephaestus actually shrugged.

"I thought it was quite... magical." Leo didn't think he would ever get used to his father actually having a sense of humour. Hermes was also snickering, and then Leo noticed that something was missing from the God's image (could this possibly prove his alternate reality theory?).

"Aren't you meant to carry round a staff?" He was pretty certain that Annabeth had said something about a staff called a caddy, cadmium, cad something, that Hermes always dragged around.

"Oh, yeah. Martha and George were fighting again so I'm putting them in time out. They're are acting as my phone for now." At that, the Macarena began blurring out of the God's pocket, and he frowned and mumbled that he thought he'd put that on silent.

"You have the Macarena as a ringtone?"

"Why not?" Leo really couldn't think of how to explain just how weird that was, and so he simply shook his head. That was when a certain hitch in their plan occurred to him.

"How are we going to get past the reporters?" Hermes pearly whites flashed at him.

"By being invisible of course!" Leo grumbled at that as they exited the mansion. As they crossed the gravel driveway, Hermes explained that the mist was covering them and that the paparazzi wouldn't realise that they had gone past at all.

It worked and they successfully snuck past the stupid leeches camped outside off the imposing gates.

Leo was then confronted with one of the sweetest rides that he had ever seen.

A black limo with flame decal, shining in the sun and Leo was almost salivating as the engine called out to him from underneath the bonnet.

Hephaestus smiled at his expression (well, Leo thought it was a smile, it could also be that Hephaestus was holding in a sneeze as the look could pretty much be either).

"That is one hot ride." Leo purred, and Hermes nodded. Hephaestus kind of looked bashful at the compliments to the limo.

"It isn't exactly a ride that could pull the sun, but I am happy with it." Leo agreed. As they piled into the limo, Leo didn't even question how they were going to make it to Lucretia's in the ten or so minutes that they had left of Hermes deadline.

This machine was made by his father, it was obviously going to be a speed machine.

And Leo was right, what followed was one of the most harrowing, yet exhilarating experiences of his life as they raced through streets and (at some points) the air.

They reached Lucretia's self indulgent manor with two minutes to spare.

Leo was impressed. Very impressed.

They clambered out (or, Leo clambered out and Hermes gracefully exited and Hephaestus jerkily almost fell out) and Hermes rang through using the bell by the gate. They were granted permission to enter by one of Lucretia's many house staff, and they strolled in with Hermes in the lead.

The trio were informed by yet another employee that Lucretia was waiting for them in the conservatory.

The walk through the mansion had Leo remembering his time here as a child.

Sliding down the banisters with Anwen, babbling away in Spanish with Serenity, playing pretend games with Hope and cuddling up to Liberty after they had had a nightmare.

Even if he hadn't missed the rich witch, or the stupid, fanciful lifestyle, he had pined for his the others.

Speaking of the others, he spotted them up on the first floor, waving at him and giving him thumbs up. Anwen especially was waving like a maniac.

He gave them a thumbs up as well, to show that he was all right.

Then they reached the conservatory, and Leo talk a deep breath before entering the witch's lair.

Lucretia was perched on one of the many chairs in the conservatory, in front of her least favourite table (Leo internally chortled at the intentional slight), smile glacial. Hermes bounded into the room, and Hephaestus slunk in behind him.

As Hermes reached the iceberg, he stuck his hand out professionally, and smiled winningly. Although his charms only thawed the ice queen slightly, he at least got a formal handshake from the rich witch.

Leo joined them at the table and, after a moment of hesitation, Hephaestus came as well.

Leo watched as Lucretia's eyes coloured with distaste, and found himself irrationally defensive. He knew that his father wasn't exactly a model (to put it lightly) but Lucretia had no right to look at him like that when he was actually a decent pers... and now Leo was defending his father. Alternate reality confirmed.

The messenger God got straight to business.

"You are going to give up this ridiculous notion of taking Leo back." Lucretia snorted, but leo could tell that she was shaken, not just from the conversation earlier but also from Hermes' no nonsense demeanour. As a somewhat attractive, very wealthy woman, Lucretia was used to commanding respect and being fawned over. She was definitely out of her element here.

"Why are you so invested in taking him in now?" Her voice could have caused frost on Grecian fire. Hephaestus looked her directly in the eyes, a rarity for the rather introverted God.

"I could ask the same of you." He retorted coolly. Lucretia scrambled for a response to that, as Hermes whispered "ooh, burn".

"If it's about Mr McLean, I can tell you now, he's not interested." Leo stated, a smidge gleefully. Lucretia whirled on him.

"What would you know of love you stupid wretch? Your father didn't care enough to take you in when you were little. No one loves you!" Leo reeled back from that. He knew that it wasn't true, his friends and siblings and Calypso all loved him, but the remark touched a little too close to his old fears that he was unlovable.

That was when Hephaestus rose, his presence instantly becoming darker and more domineering.

"Never speak to my son like that again you pathetic quisquilian* peasant! I could not take him in due to the nature of my job, yet right this very moment papers are being sorted to legally bind us. Now don't presume to know about my son and whether he is loved or not!" Lucretia cowered in her seat, and Hermes looked torn between being impressed by the other God's uncharacteristic outburst, or amused by the whole situation.

Leo was conflicted, but the warmth in his heart could not be denied. His father had essentially said that if it wasn't for the fact that he was a God, he really would have been more involved in Leo's life.

"I-I..." Lucretia stuttered before Hephaestus' enraged voice overrode hers.

"If that is not a promise that you will drop this matter at once, and formally state this on all of your stupid websites then I am going to be very angry."

"Very angry!" Leo had to chime in.

"But-but..." The rich witch trailed off, and Hephaestus sighed, before leaning forwards slightly.

"But nothing! Your measly fifteen minutes of fame are over. I will no longer tolerate you exploiting my son for your own benefit. I would also suggest taking better care of your other charges. My son is fond of them, and I expect them to be happy. Understand?" Lucretia finally nodded meekly, curling up into herself and looking so pathetic that Leo felt some small ounce of pity for her. His eyes travelled to the two Gods, to the triumphant glee and wrath in their eyes, and realised with a start that he was the only one feeling sorry for her.

He shouldn't really be surprised by this, they were higher beings after all. Even if they were becoming more involved with their children, they were still above humanity.

Now it was Leo's turn to sigh.

"I think she gets it." The Gods turned to him and nodded. They departed then, silently, and Leo glanced back as they lest.

Lucretia was snivelling in her chair, shoulders quivering and arms wrapped around her knees.

Leo ran a hand through his hair.

"Lucretia." Her watery eyes latched onto his.

"You aren't the worst person I've met, even if you are pretty self absorbed and conceited. Just... just try to actually get to know some of the kids you've taken in. Who knows, you might even enjoy looking after them"

With that last piece of advice, Leo left the room. The two Gods were waiting for him in the hallway. Both appeared a little confused, but Leo didn't feel up to explaining what he had done.

It was at that moment the others came racing down the stairs.

Hephaestus told him that they'd wait in the car, and it was such a dad thing to say that Leo secretly added it to his "this is an alternate universe" checklist.

Anwen reached him first and near bowled him over with the force of her hug. The others finished the job for her, knocking both teens over and causing them all to sprawl out on the floor in a mildly uncomfortable heap.

"I take it that you're not coming back to live with us then" Leo glanced at Serenity questioningly, and she giggled.

"You wouldn't be smiling if you were." They all joined in with her laughter as they resituated themselves so that they were all touching Leo in some way, but they weren't all tangled together.

Hope was draped over his shoulders, leaning on him gently. Anwen's hand was in his hair, carding through it comfortably just like she used to when Leo had had a nightmare. The girl had some sort of freaky nightmare sensor, almost always knowing when one of the had woken up from a bad dream. Liberty's head was pillowed in his lap, her dyed purple hair spread out in a fan around her head. Serenity was leaning up against his shoulder, somehow managing to avoid Hope's arms.

Finally, Dream's hand rested tentatively on his knee, as if doubting whether or not she should be included in this moment.

Leo sent her a reassuring look, and her worried look relaxed as she scooted closer.

"I missed you guys." A chorus of voices echoed that sentiment, and Leo nestled closer to his siblings. Because they were siblings, just like his cabin mates. Even if they weren't connected by blood.

"And you are going to keep in contact this time mister." Anwen wagged her free hand in his face faux menacingly, almost taking out Serenity's eye as she did though.

This lead to a few minutes of immature pushing and shoving until they were all laughing to hard to continue.

"I promise that I will." Leo eventually wheezed out. Anwen nodded approvingly.

Their attention was diverted by a hesitant cough from behind them.

Lucretia stood near the door of her conservatory, tugging on her sleeves in a way that made her look years younger, puffy eyes only adding to this effect.

"If... if you would like to choose a movie, I suppose we could watch it together this evening." They all gaped at her. Leo had truly hoped that she would take his words to heart, but this turnabout was a lot sooner than expected. Everyone just remained static for a moment or two, and Lucretia's expression fell ever so slightly.

"I, erm, understand if you don't want to." Her gaze drifted away from the group, and Leo nudged the all and mouthed "she's trying". Shockingly, Anwen was the first to take this olive branch.

"I'm up for watching the Lion King." She offered. Lucretia turned back to them, and there was a small spark of hope in her eyes.

As the others started arguing, Leo slipped away to join Hephaestus and Hermes in the car.

He entered on the tail end of a conversation it seemed, and neither God noticed him at first.

"Zeus and Hera are probably still annoyed at you for trapping them both, again." Hermes pointed out, and it suddenly dawned on Leo how exactly his father had convinced the other Gods to let him intervene.

"You trapped them again to help me?" He blurted out with thinking. Such a butch, hairy man shouldn't be able to resemble a deer in the headlights so much, but somehow Hephaestus managed it.

"Umm, the forge is calling me!" The fire God disappeared and Leo gaped at the spot that he had previously occupied.

"Did he just..."

"Yup." Hermes seemed completely okay with that awkward departure, so Leo decided to just ignore his father's weird ways.

The limo cruised in mildly comfortable silence. For about five seconds. And then Hermes remembered that he had left his phone on silent and got straight back to work.

It pulled up outside of Piper's mansion in a handful of minutes. Just before Leo left, Hermes glanced at him with a smirk.

"Your father's limo may not pull the sun, but it serves nice popcorn." He chucked a bag to Leo, and Leo climbed out. The limo disappeared as Leo tried to decide if Hermes was implying that even though Hephaestus wasn't brilliant at being a father, he did try, or if the God was being literal because dam that popcorn was delicious.

The next day, all reporters had dissipated and the news appeared disinterested. Lucretia had stayed true to her word and remarked on social media that everything had been sorted out.

Leo filled Piper, Jason and Mr McLean on what had happened (giving Mr McLean the edited, non-Godly version of course), and then it had been time for the demigods to head back to camp.

When they entered, it was difficult not to notice that the camp was in chaos as the Stoll brothers had a massive lightsaber duel going on.

Leo groaned in dread, and instantly ran to his cabin in the hopes that one of his siblings would be there to explain what in the name of Hades they had done.

He tumbled through the doorway, and Nyssa was there helping up in an instant.

Before she could ask him anything, Leo put a hand up to signal that he wanted to speak first.

"Stolls...Lightsabers...what?" He managed to pant out. Nyssa expression was terrifying. Oh we just asked them for a few annoying prank ideas, nothing serious.

At Lucretia's mansion

The phone rang and Lucretia picked it up reluctantly. She was making more of an effort with the children, and she didn't want to be on the phone too long.

She answered the call, but before she could say anything a voice blared out "AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA" Frowning, she hung up. That had to have been a prank call.

The phone rang again, and Lucretia once again picked up, praying that it wasn't another prank call.

"I'm never gonna give you up." Played over the phone. Brow furrowing even more, Lucretia ended the call.

And the phone rang again. Biting her lip in frustration, Lucretia swore that if this was another prank call, then she wasn't answering the phone again.

"Mmh what cha say." Muffling a scream of frustration, Lucretia muted her phone.

That was then the TV started.

On Mount Olympus

Apollo smirked at his Godly half brother while they (and a few of the other Olympians) lounged around the throne room.

"Angel, really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow sarcastically. Sadly for him, Hermes shrugged off his sarcasm and returned the smirk with a mischievous smile of his own.

"I was going to call myself cherub, but I didn't think that sounded serious enough for a lawyer." Apollo laughed as Artemis rolled her eyes, muttering disparaging comments about men under her breath.

"Though I must inquire as to why you actually materialised yourselves when this matter could have just as easily been settled from up here?" Aphrodite's eyes sparkled playfully as she asked this, filing her nails as if to pretend that she wasn't really paying attention to this conversation when in actual fact she had just been waiting for the opportune moment to embarrass her husband.

Just as she had expected, Hephaestus appeared rather flushed, hands tinkering away with some random contraption on his lap.

He mumbled some vague, non-specific answer as Hermes grinned evilly.

"Oh, I mentioned that myself, but Hephaestus was oddly set on going down ourselves and attending to the matter personally." Tiny flames erupted in the fire God's bushy beard, much to the other Gods' delight.

"So, is it actually possible that you care about your children, organic beings who, despite being created by you, are not machines?" Athena rolled her eyes at Aphrodite's teasing.

"Haven't you interfered on behalf of your daughter as well? Though of course, your contribution was mostly impractical fashion choices." Aphrodite's blazing eyes honed in on the Goddess of wisdom.

"Well I didn't send my daughter off on a quest that had already killed many of my children." The Goddess of beauty smiled sweetly as Athena bristled.

Before the squabbling could descend into an actual fight that would undoubtedly drag all Gods present in, a quiet voice piped up from the hearth.

"I think it's sweet that you are interacting more with your children." All eyes swivelled to the previously unnoticed Goddess of the hearth. Hestia was absent-mindedly turning over the coals as she beamed up at the others.

All other Gods present shifted as they realised that Hestia was probably delighted that they were getting in contact with their children more often.

Although they all felt a slight pang of guilt over all of the children they had ignored or refused to help over the years, none would admit to it.

And if they all privately swore that they'd try to do better in the future, then that was certainly none of each other's business.


* basically meaning trash/waste of space

Well, I can only apologise once again for my long absence, and pray that this extended chapter somewhat makes up for it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter so I hope that you get equal enjoyment reading it. Next up will probably be Teresa, so I will see you then.