The first time Leo returned to his last foster home to retrieve his belongings and smooth over his present whereabouts with the state, he really didn't want to bring Calypso along.
"I'm only going to pick up a couple of things," he protested when she told him she would accompany him.
"What things?" she asked, casually.
"Er…stuff." He didn't want to tell what he really wanted to check for was probably long gone. He'd lost when he ran away from the Mellucci's house but on the slim chance it was still there, he had to check "You, know, they're probably already packed into a mouldy box at the back of garage, it'll be a two second job."
"Then you won't mind if I come along." She shrugged, unperturbed by her boyfriend's defence. Leo's last foster home was back in Houston and the drive was long even in a magically tricked out SUV. Argus, the multi-eyed camp driver, offered to take them but he wasn't much for conversation.
Leo spent most the ride explaining to Calypso that the pop culture Connor Stoll had been shoving down her neck via TV wasn't all too factual. "Texas is home to men who ride horses and wear overly large hats and shoot each other over small offenses, is it not?" she asked, her brow furrowed as they began to pass the border into Texas.
"Sure. And we all wear chaps and talk like hillbillies." Leo replied, his expression still.
"Yes and the women wear very long dresses with low necklines and work in- what was it called…oh yes, saloons." She added and paused. "Leo, are we dressed appropriately for visiting Texas?"
Unable to help himself, he shrugged, casually. "Well I think we'll be fine but hell, if you wanna wear a low neckline, that is definitely Leo-approved."
The former goddess eyed him for a moment before scowling. "You're teasing me." She deduced flatly. "Is any of what Connor said true?"
Leo hid a smile. "Not really. It's pretty much like any other city except you might notice more of an accent. The family I was staying with was Italian though, so they'll have a different accent again."
Calypso sighed. "I feel this world is very strange." She mumbled, embarrassed. "I just wanted to know your homeland like you know Ogygia."
"I didn't mean to make you feel stupid." He said, awkwardly. "It's just- look, Houston hasn't really been home since my mom died. Don't feel bad, honestly I wouldn't even want to go back if Mrs Mellucci didn't have this stuff. I've also got to give her the paperwork from Chiron to smooth things over with CPS."
"Then you will return to Camp Half-Blood?" Calypso enquired curiously. "For good?"
"Yeah, I'll be an all-year-round camper like Annabeth was." Leo replied, imagining spending his entire year with his friends, in a place where he didn't have to hide or pretend. A whole year with Calypso in New York, with Piper and Jason and his half-siblings. It sounded pretty damn good to him.
Cabin 9 had revamped the Camp SUV since the Seven had come back and, surprisingly, its brand new speed feature was courtesy of a few children of Vulcan from New Rome. The 'exchange campers' as Chiron called them were pretty handy with an engine but Hephaestus' kids were working on their sense of humour. One war at a time, Leo decided as Calypso leaned her head into the hollow of his shoulder, peacefully awaiting their next stop.
Leo had told Calypso, in joking terms, a little about his various homes. He'd make a joke of how he was used to taking an elbow to the gut to get first shower or how he could sleep practically anywhere no matter how loud someone snored or how it had taught him to be always ready to go.
But Calypso was hardly an idiot. The moment they turned on to Leo's old street, she could sense how tense he became, how his face slipped into a sort of neutral expression and his fingers twitched frenetically. He had told her a little of how he met Piper and Jason, how he'd run away from this foster home and been caught in New Mexico. Part of her was impressed that he crossed such a distance but Calypso knew Leo would not have simply run without reason.
She desperately wanted to distract him but all her questions died on her tongue as Argus pulled up outside a rather ordinary suburban house. Silently, the couple left the car and Argus gestured around as if to say he would wait for them.
They walked side by side towards the front steps and just before Leo knocked on the door, Calypso slipped her hand in his. "I'm right beside you, hero." She breathed, seconds before the door swung open.
"What are you doing here, Valdez?" the middle aged woman before them growled, her eyes scanning the pair of them suspiciously.
"Mrs Mellucci, always a pleasure." Leo muttered, dryly. "I'm here to pick up my things. The state is moving me to New York."
Mrs Mellucci wore a pale green dress that did nothing to flatter her portly figure and her face was outlined in makeup that Calypso could hardly stand to look at for more than a few seconds at a time, it was so bright. Her accent was rich but sharp, the texture making her words pointed and slightly rude.
"New York?" Mrs Mellucci echoed, snappily. Leo handed over a file that Chiron had provided that would support his story and the woman snatched it from his grip. "Hmm…I can't say this isn't a surprise. Since you ran away like a little coward, I didn't think I would have to lay eyes on you again." She added, sending Leo a pointed glance. "It says they found a relative, no?"
"Sure, my great-great-aunt-something or other. The reunion was chick-flick worthy, I swear. Look, I'm just here for my stuff." Leo pressed, impatiently.
Mrs Mellucci's eyes swung towards Calypso who felt compelled to introduce herself. "Hello, Mrs Mellucci. I am Cal-"
"Did you get her pregnant?" she interrupted, rudely and Calypso felt her jaw drop.
Leo, on the other hand, didn't look surprised at all. "No. She likes me for my stunning good looks and unsinkable charm. Imagine that."
"Stay away from him, girl." Mrs Mellucci blustered on, shaking her head. "He's a rotten egg this one, marcio fino in fonda-"
"I'm here for the stuff I left behind. Now are you going to let us in or what?" Leo finally snapped, glaring at his former foster mother.
The woman sniffed but let them in, grudgingly.
Calypso hated to admit but the house was rather nice, if a little rundown in places. There was a family photo on one wall, of Mrs Mellucci and two children, a boy and a girl and a bloated, ugly man. There were no photos of Leo anywhere.
"You have a lovely home." Calypso felt compelled to say though Mrs Mellucci seemed uncaring of anything she had to say.
"Your things," Mrs Mellucci sneered. "Are in the closet upstairs. Do not make a mess, boy or you'll be sorry." With that she waddled off into what seemed like the kitchen.
"Poutana." The word slipped from her lips in shock. "I-I'm sorry, but that woman-"
"Trust me," Leo muttered as he moved toward the stairs. "The Spanish version is not so different. C'mon, it'll be this way."
"I don't understand." Calypso whispered as they came to the closet Mrs Mellucci had described. "Why would they take on orphans if they are such ugly people?"
Leo sighed as he switched on the light and came face to face with piles of neatly stacked linens and blankets. "They get a cheque from the government for every kid they take care of and this place can house four at one time. The Whale likes the cash flow."
"The Whale?" Calypso repeated, raising a brow while Leo checked for his things.
"Her husband. He's even fatter than her." Leo grimaced. "Worse temper too."
"Oh ew, you're back." A nasally voice commented from behind the pair. The girl was like a horribly emaciated version of her mother; bright make up, hateful gaze and clothes that she could have done better without.
"Oh Lisa, light of my life, did you miss me?" Leo mocked with a hard grin.
"Eat shit and die, Valdez." The Mellucci daughter snorted. "Mom told me you ran away from the Freak school in Nevada too. Do you even know how much trouble you got my dad in when you left?"
"Watch how you speak to him, girl." Calypso warned, unable to help herself.
"Don't bother, Sunshine, she doesn't have enough brain cells left to understand you. The hairspray burns them all up." Leo waved a hand.
Lisa Mellucci squawked unattractively in reply. "I don't care who this skank is but I'll tell mom if she does anything." A vicious grin spread across her face. "In fact, maybe I'll tell mom even if she doesn't."
"Original." Leo commented with a snicker. "Where's your brother huh? Did he get wedged in the doorway again from eating too many Twinkies?"
Lisa cast daggers at the pair before storming off, her cell phone in her hands.
"I like this family less and less with each one I meet." Calypso muttered and Leo silently agreed.
"Ahhh, here it is." He cheered slightly, pulling out a sad looking cardboard box from the back of the closet marked in hasty scribbled letters. He unfolded the top and poked around a small selection of magazines, a couple of tools, a small metal lock box and a few clothes that hadn't fit in his bag when he'd run away. "Looks like it's all here." He noted, pleased.
"Were you expecting it not to be?" Calypso asked before wondering if that was a very real possibility for some homes.
"Nah, just expected Greg and Wyatt might've taken stuff they liked." At her uncomprehending look, Leo explained further. "They were foster kids at the same time as me. I told them if I didn't come back, they could have whatever they wanted. It was all stuff I didn't need anyway."
"They were your friends?" Calypso asked, buoyed slightly. If Leo had found friends here, surely it was not too terrible.
"Not so much friends as allies." Leo tried to describe. "We used to cover for each other at school or hang out when we got locked upstairs. They were cool guys."
"Were cool guys?" a boy behind her chimed in, mockingly. "Don't I deserve more than that?"
"Wy, hey man, how you going?" Leo smiled, standing and meeting the boy for a handshake.
"Eh, same old, same old." The boy was thin, thinner than Leo even but very tall. What stood out most to Calypso however was the slight yellow discolouration on his cheekbone. "And who is this beautiful lady? Tell me she's not with your sorry ass."
"I am Calypso and I am certainly with Leo." She remarked, linking her hand with his.
The boy tilted his head back, mock-painfully. "Oh, now I know the world is coming to an end when pyromaniac Valdez gets a girl like you. I'm Wyatt, beautiful girl."
Leo laughed, the first real laugh Calypso had heard since they'd exited the car. "So how's life here? Who'd they take on when I left?"
"We had a girl for a while. The Whale tried to sell the state that they could take on an extra kid here since you were away but it only lasted a month before they worked out you had run off." Wyatt explained. Calypso thought back to what Leo had said about each child adding a pay check from the government. "The Whale had to do some major ass kissing to explain why he wanted more money for five kids when he was only really paying for the needs of four."
"Does his car still scream 'fat ass' when he turns it on?" Leo asked slyly.
Wyatt burst into laughter. "Oh man, he's taken it to the mechanics four times since you left and they can't figure out what causes it. He's still pissed off about it."
"I remember." Leo said with a tiny wince and stroked a thin scar just below his jaw. "So where's Greg?"
"Ran away about a month after you left." Wyatt shrugged. "Jodie went with him."
He let out a low whistle. "Seriously? Well, more power to 'em."
"Yeah. You're all getting out, you bastards." Wyatt commented with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"How long have you got now?" Leo asked and Wyatt smiled slightly.
"Five months and seven days until sweet eighteen." He sighed. "Guy at school told me his dad's been looking for an assistant in his pawn store so I figured what the hell, it's a start."
"Sounds great," Leo replied and clapped him on the shoulder. "I better get going before the Whale makes it home. Take it easy, huh?"
"You too, man." Wyatt smiled again at Calypso before disappearing into one of the bedrooms nearby.
"He seems…kind." Calypso noted, quietly as Leo picked up the box.
"He was a friend for a while." Leo admitted, though he looked pained. "You know, when I first found out everything about my dad, I thought maybe Wyatt was a son of Hermes."
"Oh?"
"Guy's a kleptomaniac. Can't help himself, he hoards everything. That's why I was surprised he hadn't taken stuff from my things." Leo explained with a sigh while they walked downstairs.
"Where do you think you are going, boy?" a stout, balding man growled as they entered the front foyer again. Behind him, his wife tapped her foot with a look of self-righteousness in her eyes.
"As far from here as possible." Leo countered, testily. "How you doin' whale?"
"Disrespectful little bastard," Mr Mellucci snarled, his great belly trembling. "And who's the girl? Are you bringing whores into my house?"
Leo's face turned to stone. "Don't call her that."
"He tells me she is not pregnant but ha! Why else would she follow him around?" Mrs Mellucci sneered, hatefully.
"I'm in love with him. Is that not an acceptable reason?" Calypso's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Does she know about all the incidents, boy?" Mr Mellucci goaded with beady eyes. "You're a liar and a vandal, Valdez. That is all you will ever be."
"Leo is a hero," Calypso retorted before Leo could say another word. She stepped forward so quickly Mr Mellucci stumbled back a step.
"He's a bully! And a coward!" the Whale snapped back. "He only ever brought misery on this house, that's why he ran away!"
"Watch your tongue, you insolent pig," Calypso growled, the air crackling in response to her temper. "Or I will shut your mouth for you."
He spluttered. "Are you threatening me?"
"Threats are often empty, Mr Mellucci. I assure you, mine are promises." She added with a hiss that seemed to put fear in the back of his eyes.
"Get out of my house, you little puttana!" Mrs Mellucci screeched.
"I told you not to call her that." Leo growled, looking as though he wanted hammer a few nails into the Mellucci's thick skulls. Calypso was all in favour of that plan until she realised that the Melluccis were waiting for him to act out, their face coated in greedy anticipation.
"Leo, let's go. They are worms that do not deserve to lick the gods shoes, much less care for their children." Calypso soothed with one more piercing glare to the couple. Without another word, the pair left, leaving a muttering, seething Mellucci household behind.
Leo trampled a superb rose bush as he walked towards the waiting Argus with relish. "Mrs Mellucci wins prizes for them in the town garden show every year." He explained sourly as they made it to the SUV.
Calypso paused with a thoughtful glance and waved her hand over the household. The roses curled up from whatever magic she cast, turning blackened and rotten like the woman who tended to them. "She will never grow anything ever again." She added in a vicious tone.
Eyes wide, Leo yanked her into the car and attacked her mouth with passion. "Gods above, I love you, woman." He muttered as Argus rolled all thousand of his eyes and kicked the car into gear.