AN: Long overdue, and kinda short, but better than nothing right? Anyway, time to find out what Leo's been doing these past few days! He needs more love.

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Chapter 4: Of Leos and Adventures (Plus a Bad Idea or Two)

Friday

12:30pm

49 hours, 30 minutes before the wedding

When they first drove through the streets of San Francisco, well, Leo knew there would be no avoiding some exciting times in the throes of exploration. Just call him Leondiana Jones; he was ready for anything. Forget the wedding for a little while. He was going to let the city point him in whatever direction it saw fit.

He just didn't realize how far those adventures would take him. (And no, "How Far I'll Go" definitely did not start playing in his head). He wasn't the most preparatory of people - he thought on his feet and sometimes didn't think at all (don't you just love ADHD?) - but he'd at least looked up a few places to visit. Of course, he ended up only visiting one of them. For a few minutes. Until he got thrown out.

But more on that later.

Never one to stray from adventure, Leo was pretty much out the door right after they got to the inn. He went upstairs, put his things away, and left just as Hazel and Frank went out the back and everyone else went to their rooms. Well, except Percy. Nobody expected him to leave the water anytime soon.

Now Leo, stood on a bus with a bandanna over his forehead to stop the sweat and a distant look in his eyes as he contemplated mechanical improvements to make this thing go faster so he can get the hell away from all these strangers, let it all slip away. He was out here for some classic Valdez adventures. Maybe it was a little lonely, but he'd grown tired just like the rest of them (he wasn't a machine) and understood their need to settle down. He just felt like he had a bit of energy left in him.

So he jumped off the bus at the next stop, ready to let the smoggy city air fill his lungs and random strangers yell at him on the streets. First on his list was the Exploratorium. He was a mechanic at heart, but physics and other endeavors in the field of science were fascinating to him. He and Annabeth often held conversations on such topics, and he was glad to have someone who understood the difference between structural integrity and structural efficiency (here's looking at you, Jason). However he would appreciate it if Annabeth stopped using big words that don't actually relate to science.

He decided to leave some space between him and his destination. He wanted to walk through the city a bit instead of just seeing it through the window of a bus or rv - really take in the sights. Unfortunately, he didn't think about the distractions that would meet him along the way, and just how easily distracted he was. Fortunately, he was dead set on going to this Exploratorium. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans.

The city was impressive; his mind got caught on analyzing the building structures, but the beauty managed to slip through, especially when he walked through a park and saw the sky meet the sea in the distance. The trees and flowers were in bloom around him, spilling a strong fragrance into the air to battle the smells of the city. He couldn't help but miss the smell of motor oil and metal, but that was more a comforting smell than a good one; it reminded him of his mom.

He took a deep breath. Come on, Leo, he thought to himself. Adventure awaits.

With determination in his stride and an ever-present smirk on his face, he set off with renewed vigor towards his goal.

That's when things stopped going according to plan.

He must've taken a wrong turn (though how that happened was a mystery), because the park quickly turned into a labyrinth of back alleys. Graffiti adorned the walls, and a dripping sounded somewhere in front of him.

A shiver crawled up his neck; he wasn't sure why, because he'd been in worse places before, but he couldn't shake the feeling. His paranoia was justified when he heard several voices mutter around the corner.

He snuck up to the wall and pressed against it, not wanting to be seen. But he did want to see, so he slowly peeked his head around the corner. He hoped no one would notice his mop of curls.

In the next alley was a group of three men standing around each other, talking in hushed voices. But Leo could still hear them - at least, for the most part. He couldn't make out everything they said, but what he could was loud and clear.

"We get the cargo… move it… won't notice… if he does… hide the… bury... no evidence."

Leo pulled his head back so fast he thought he'd get whiplash. What did he just hear?

As he struggled to get his heart to beat at a regular rate and his lungs to stop heaving, another voice piped in, and he felt like he had to look again. It was the same three people, but now he realized one of them was a woman. Her voice rang out amongst the normal city sounds.

"...what they deserve."

Leo couldn't believe his ears. He needed to get out of here. But just as he made to leave, the fates wrung their hands, scissors at the ready, and Leo tripped over a trash bag.

His blood instantly started roaring in his ears. The sounds behind him came to a crashing halt, and Leo saw his life flash before his eyes. In one fleeting instant, he was faced with a choice.

He could stay still. Maybe they'd just think it was a cat, and wouldn't come looking. Or they could decide that they weren't in a private place anymore, and come his direction looking for a new one. Or, he could run. But then they'd hear his footsteps and know it was a person, and they'd catch up to him in the unfamiliar alleyways.

There was nowhere to hide. So his last (and most stupid) option was to walk right up and confront them.

He had charm. He also had acting skills, and though the quality of those skills were debatable, he could play a convincing "¡No hablo Inglés!" At least… he thought.

He wasn't sure if it was the impulsiveness, the fear, or the sound of footsteps moving (okay, it was probably that last one), but Leo went for the third option. It wasn't his proudest moment.

It felt like longer, but it was only a few seconds before Leo was met with three scary people surging toward him. He forced a charismatic smile to lips and prepared himself for what was to come.

"Who are you?" One of the men stopped in front of him, the others standing behind in a crossed-arm backup, and Leo suddenly felt very small under his towering figure. It was like he was straight out of the movies - muscular, big brow, mean face. Leo needed to make his game plan now. Charm, or no hablo Inglés?

"¿Uh… me llamo Leo?" Damn. Why didn't he give them a fake name? Stupid. He upped the charm a little, and laid the accent on thick. "Nice city, eh?" Okay. Charm and no hablo Inglés.

The man looked back at the others, as if to ask "What do we do about this weirdo?" He ran his eyes over Leo's small frame, frowning, and asked, "What are you doing back here?"

Leo gave a small laugh. "City people is slick, no?" He raised his hands to gesture, and scrunched his face as he mimicked a city slicker. "'We have... parches de… elbows! Y - y - big apples! Come here, waste money!'"

Over the span of a few tense seconds, the man went from fixing Leo with a scrutinizing gaze to throwing his head back in a laugh. The others followed suit, and though Leo was very, very confused, he joined in as well.

When the man calmed down - was that a tear? - he pointed a finger at Leo. "I like you. You're funny."

Leo let out another quiet laugh. "Sí, sí… Muy gracioso."

The man took a step closer, and Leo had to fight his instinct to step back. His body settled for a gulp instead.

"I'll tell you what. Get out of here, and we can forget all about this."

Leo took on a serious expression. "Oh, yes," he said. He nodded as though the man's words were the most important thing in the world (which, right now, they kind of were), and finished with "I leave."

The man hummed his approval, and smiled. "Good."

Leo decided not to waste any time following the man's instructions.

When he managed to get far, far away from whatever part of the neighborhood he'd found himself in, and got the flutters of his heart to subside, Leo came to the conclusion that he'd had enough adventure for one day. He couldn't stop the small voice in the back of his mind that was calling him a quitter, but when he made it back to the inn's safety, he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Jason was the first person he spoke to after his return. The group - minus Hazel, Frank, and Percy - were sat around a table in the restaurant, and the couple of the weekend came down from their nap. Jason took a seat next to Leo and looked over at him. After a few seconds, he scrunched up his face.

"Dude… You look like you've seen a ghost."

Leo sighed. "Ghost? Nah. ¿Gente aterradora del asesinato? Sí."

Jason looked confused, but he'd experienced stranger from Leo. "Okay.."

"Never mind." Leo pulled his tools out of his pocket to fiddle with. "What's up?"

Jason started telling him about the inn's nice rooms, and Leo could (almost) forget the afternoon's events.

Well, so much for classic Valdez adventures.

But tomorrow would be another day.

Saturday

5:45am

37 hours, 15 minutes before the wedding

Leo slipped out of the inn just before the guests arrived, and he was pretty sure nobody noticed him leave. He was glad. He'd do a lot of things this weekend for the sake of his best friends' love, but he didn't think greeting the elderly could be one of them. Especially not with how that went last time.

So he went back into the city. He felt good about having a fresh start, like today would be the day he did something fun in the city of San Francisco. He was a little apprehensive given what happened yesterday, but he'd gotten out of there alive, hadn't he? Besides, he still wanted to go to that Exploratorium. He'd just have to ride the bus closer this time.

Oh, when would he learn?

He began to doubt if he really knew where the heck he was going, because even despite the map in his hands, he managed to get himself turned around. Again. His navigation skills may not have been perfect, but they were usually a lot better than this.

It wasn't until Leo, face buried in his map, trampled over a lady's tulips and got sprayed with a hose that he decided to abandon the Exploratorium. He deflated slightly in disappointment, but maybe they'd all be able to stop there on their way out the city. Now, though, he was faced with a bit of a dilemma. One that his stomach quickly settled for him.

"First stop: food," Leo said to himself. He wondered how close he was to the pizzeria on his list of places to visit.

Turns out, he wasn't that far. He managed to find it without nearly as much hassle as the Exploratorium, though his stomach was growling loudly by the time he walked through the doors. It must've been around seven o'clock by now. Leo was a little surprised the place was already open.

The place was small, but welcoming. The warmth and smell of cheesy goodness that drifted from the kitchen certainly contributed, but even without it the restaurant had a visual appeal. It was traditional: red and green checkers, simple decor, everything you'd see in a place that primarily serves pizza and burgers.

There weren't many people there. Employees walked between tables and a young couple enjoyed their breakfast, but other than that there was no one except Leo. He hadn't expected anything different.

"Can I help you?"

Leo whirled around. There was a girl right next to him; she looked to be around his age, with calmness in her stance and an apron around her waist. Leo put on his best smile.

"Depends. You got a phone number?"

The girl looked decidedly unperturbed, voice flat as she said, "Excuse me?"

Well, she sounded a little bored, but Leo could win her over. He had that special Valdez charm.

"I need to make a call to one of Heaven's angels."

The girl rolled her eyes. Simple flirting was usually seen as pretty harmless despite the 'Soulmate rules,' especially in big cities. This girl probably got hit on a lot. With the way she called for the owner (he identified him by his name - it was the same as in the restaurant title) so calmly, like this was just another part of her day, Leo figured that yeah, this had to happen often.

"Are you disturbing my daughter?" Leo should have been thinking about something else - anything else - but all he could do was wonder why this girl called her father by his name. His last name at that.

"Uh…" In a lower light, Leo might think that this was the same man he'd talked to yesterday. He definitely held himself the same way. And was the same height. But the light was just fine, and Leo knew this was someone he'd never seen before. "No, sir!" he said. "I just thought someone should tell her how dashing she is."

Okay, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. Leo blamed his mouth. Running off before his mind once again.

"That's enough," the man said forcefully. He grabbed Leo's arm, and with a tug began to drag Leo through the building.

"Aw, come on!" he protested. "I didn't mean anything by it!

The man didn't listen, and in a few moments, Leo was being thrown out the back door.

Leo stumbled out onto the pavement, just barely managing to avoid a face-plant (he face-planted people who deserved it, not himself) as a cry of "¡Oye!" left his lips. With a loud SLAM!, the door was closed to him, and Leo was left with nothing but a sore arm and the burning image of angry eyes in his mind.

He kicked a rock. Esto es estúpido. Until he got over his sulking, he didn't quite notice where he was - an alley behind the shop. Why the owner threw him out here and not out front was beyond him, but he figured it must have had something to do with the dumpster right in front of his face.

Leo sighed. Back alleys and stinky hovels were nothing new to him. He took a seat against the brick wall with almost no hesitation, letting his head fall with a muffled bump. He didn't feel like going back to the inn just yet - he's Leondiana Jones, dammit! - but he didn't know where else to go. Restaurant owners clearly didn't appreciate his charm, and frankly, San Francisco had some shifty activities going on within its city limits. He felt sort of… lost.

Turns out, he was exactly where he needed to be.

A rustle sounded to his left. A clinking closely followed - cans and bottles, perhaps - and then a huff. Leo thought it was a cat; after all, a city like this was bound to have strays rooting through their dumpsters. But then he heard a strange, rhythmic thumping, and decided there was only one thing that might make a noise like that.

The tail - the culprit of the noise - was the first thing he saw when he walked over. It was short-haired and yellow, and thump thump thumped against the metal bin. He saw the dog just after, sniffing through the trash as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Leo had never really been someone who liked animals. But he was definitely someone who made big decisions without really thinking them through first, and that's been tried and proven. So okay, maybe what he did next was a bad idea, and maybe what he did after that was impulsive. But he was glad he did it.

"Hey boy!" he called. The mutt barely noticed him, though perhaps his tail slowed down just a tad. Leo took a second to run his eyes over the dog; he looked like some sort of lab, but his fur was too long and more gold than yellow. Leo would've thought golden retriever, but the fur was too short and too yellow. He had to be some sort of mix then.

Such things were trivial, however, when Leo took in the skin-and-bone frame of the poor animal, as well as the peculiar lack of a limb. His heart sank. He wondered how the dog ended up here: forced to search through a dumpster for his next meal. Leo had been there. He wouldn't wish that on anyone, even a dog, and now, rather than sinking, his heart went out to him.

"Hey!" he shouted louder. He reached out a hand to touch the dog's back, and was met with a sudden snarl and flurry of teeth. He stumbled back, eyes wide and trained on the animal, waiting for the next move. It wasn't a particularly aggressive "attack." It was more like a "this is my food, leave me alone" warning. Leo didn't blame him. Out on the streets, there was little a stray could call theirs, and a dog like this was sure to be wary of people.

Okay then. Leo would have to gain his trust.

Again: big decisions, little thought.

Dedicating himself to his newfound goal, Leo took a seat on the alley floor and leaned up against the wall once more. The dog was back to eating (or looking for food, at least) and didn't take any further notice of the Latino. Leo was content with the dynamic, but he began to wonder just how long this might take. All he really wanted to do was get the dog to trust him enough to get close, then maybe he could get him to follow behind as he found a food vendor and bought the dog a full meal. He would get the food and come back, but he couldn't be sure the dog would still be there, and with how little he knew about the city, he didn't know how long it might take to find suitable food.

A few minutes into the process, Leo started to get fidgety. He shouldn't have expected any less; moving was in his blood, and that meant patience was a fickle thing. He was truly glad to have found friends who knew the same troubles: Percy, Annabeth, Jason… Especially Percy - though not as strong as Leo's, his traits had the most effect out of the other seven.

He let the thoughts slip away with the twiddling of this thumbs. As he watched the dog move from an empty, overturned pizza box to a paper-wrapped who-knows-what, Leo found his hands migrating to his pockets. Spare parts and tiny tools always found a way to fill his pockets just enough to be noticeable. Even without his toolbelt - which he stopped wearing in public thanks to quips about its strangeness from multiple friends - he had enough on him to keep his hands and brain occupied.

This was something that quickly brought his mind to Nico di Angelo. The two didn't hang out often, especially not alone, but there was a companionable and understanding silence between them on the rare occasion. Nico never said anything about the toolbelt (though Leo could never be sure about his thoughts). Despite their conflicting personalities - Leo sarcastic, Nico more serious - the Latino never felt as though he was being judged. It was as if Nico understood what it felt like to be different, which he undoubtedly did, and saw Leo's difference, and didn't do anything about it except to offer support through action instead of words.

There was one time Leo could remember the silence being broken. He was building something or other, and Nico was… reading? He couldn't quite recall; what the Italian had said was the most prominent part of the encounter, and Leo was pretty sure he wouldn't forget it for a long, long time, if not forever. What Nico was doing while he said it wasn't important.

Nico was a lot different back then. Maybe that was part of the reason his words resonated so deeply with Leo. He hardly talked, he didn't touch anyone but his sister (not that he engaged in much touch now), and he was still in the closet, deathly afraid of someone learning his secret. He was a lot more relaxed when he finally came out to them as gay - which they knew Reyna had something to do with but not what - but Will Solace was a large factor in Nico expressing himself more openly. Back then, Nico hadn't met him yet.

It started out as a conversation. Leo had muttered to himself about having to fix his invention again, and Nico had said, "How many times have you had to do that?"

It took Leo a second to realize Nico was talking, then another to interpret what he said. "Too many." He paused for a moment. "I might just throw it out."

"Don't." Leo looked at him, and seeing that, Nico looked away.

"It's broken."

"Everything's a little broken. Doesn't mean it never works. Where would you be if you tore down a house every time the roof leaked? It's still protecting you from the weather, it just… needs a little help." He looked down at the tools in Leo's hands, and despite not saying anything else, Leo knew exactly what he meant. It's easy to throw something out. It's harder to keep working on it, and find a way to make it better when it feels like there is none.

Leo's inventions were everything to him. When he was sad, they made him happy. When he was scared, they made him feel safe. When the wrong thoughts grabbed hold of his mind, they wiped it clean like a slate so that all he focused on was what he did with his hands and where each of the parts in front of him went.

When Leo pulled out of his thoughts just enough to notice the silence, he then jumped out of his thoughts, because what did that silence mean? Well, his answer was sitting right in front of him.

The dog had finished his perusal through the trash, and fixed Leo with an unwavering stare. Leo wasn't sure exactly how long the dog had been sitting there, or how long he had been sitting there, but it didn't seem like the dog was going to leave anytime soon. He watched Leo as if with intent. Maybe he did have intention - could he be asking for help? Leo quickly shoved his tinkering in his pocket.

Leo's hand reached slowly towards the animal. He didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier, but then, he had kind of sneaked up on the dog. He just needed to use a bit of caution. The dog didn't look angry, or dangerous from what Leo could tell. Not that he really knew how dogs behaved when they were either of those things. He just used what little he did know and hoped for the best.

"Easy boy," he calmed. The dog remained still, so Leo decided to lean forward just a bit, and kept his hand beneath the dog's nose but high enough so that he knew where it was.

When Leo's fingers touched the dog's chest, the animal's mouth fell open so quickly that Leo thought that was it. He'd be mauled by a dog in the back alley of a restaurant thousands of miles from home.

But he was just panting. His tongue lolled over his jaw; it looked like he was smiling. Even his eyes lit up. Leo felt a bit of tension leave his shoulders, and a smile came over his own face. "Hey friend!" As if the dog knew what that meant, his tail started swishing behind him.

Leo laughed. He didn't quite know why, but a sense of elation flowed through him. He'd made a friend.

Leo got to his feet - not too fast, not too slow - and patted his legs in invitation. "Come on, boy! Come on!"

The dog looked at him, closed his mouth, and titled his head in a universal "What?" gesture.

Leo groaned. "You have to at least know what that means," he said.

The dog tilted his head the other way.

"Alright, fine. I'll figure something else out." He couldn't help but smile again when the dog did. "You're a good boy," he said. "Is that the problem? You're too good to hang out with Bad Boy Supreme?" The dog closed his mouth again.

Leo faltered. He didn't really know what to do. He'd been relying on the dog understanding his body language; he even tried to move in one direction, but the dog had only stood up, moved forward a step, and sat back down. He tried to stop his frustration from showing, but he could already feel it festering. He just hoped he didn't make the dog upset.

He took his tools out of his pocket again to vent through his hands. The moving sculpture seemed to appear on its own, then Leo took it apart and put it back together again. When he did it the second time, he realized he had an audience.

The dog was staring at him. Again. Well, not him per se, but his hands. Leo decided to test something, and when his hands started moving again, the dog's eyes snapped to them. He grinned. This was something he could work with.

He set himself to making something he could move with a remote (after all, he never left home without his trusty remote control). The dog's eyes never moved from his building, and Leo felt a little less lonely than he usually did when he worked.

When he finished, Leo held up the completed product with a small flair. The dog didn't seem to appreciate if, but hey, he's a dog. Perhaps Leo could train him to appreciate the delicate intricacies of dramatic effect. He did seem to appreciate Leo's new creation at least, because his tail gave a small wag when Leo showed it to him. The movement was a little uncertain though, like he didn't know yet whether it was something he should be excited about.

The demonstration was what really got his tail wagging. Leo placed the object on the ground - a little dreidl-shaped helicopter - and after the dog gave it a little sniff, Leo was ready to get it moving. He swore, once that animal saw what his machine did, that little piece of metal wasn't the only helicopter around. The dog's tail started wagging a mile a minute, and when he jumped Leo could see his skin spread thin over his ribs. His determination to see this through to the end only grew.

"Alright, buddy! You're a fan of engineering, then. Come on, let's go get some food in you." Leo instructed the machine to move forward.

His new friend followed behind it happily, eyes watching the whole time. He hopped just a little on account of his missing leg, but he seemed to get around just fine, even though his tail wagged so hard it threw him off-balance. Leo laughed. "You're real happy for a starving, three-legged stray," he said. He thought for a minute. "I'm gonna call you Festus."

The dog barked in joy, and though Leo would like to believe it was because of his newfound name, it was more likely to have been in response to the helicopter's quiet beep boop.

Leo laughed again. "Yup. Festus it is."

oOo

They ended up at a wiener stand just outside one of the parks, and Leo bought four to share between them. He didn't know what kind of condiments a dog could have and what would make them sick, so he bought them all plain with a bun. Festus took two (but Leo paced him) and half of Leo's second one when he pulled the irresistible puppy-dog eyes.

The two of them spent the rest of the day playing with sticks and machines (the ultimate dog toy combo) in the park, enjoying the fresh air and wide open fields.

And gods damn it, if this didn't make Leo's decision making back even farther into the dark corner of his brain.

"Hey buddy," Leo called to Festus as the sun climbed to the top of the sky and bathed the city in a bright warmth. "I have a pretty cool rv." Festus looked up from a particularly interesting patch of dirt, and smiled at Leo. The Latino's heart leaped. His decision was made, no matter if his heart took control over his head. "What do you say we go home?"

Festus wagged his tail.

AN: I know, it could probably be better. Sorry. I'd really like to hear your thoughts though :)