To all- sorry for the late chapter. I spent about ten hours collectively over the weekend staring at this chapter and the next, moving it, deleting it, changing it, rewriting it. I can see it in my head, but do the words want to cooperate? Nooooooooooooooooo :(
To Riordanlover16- I had no idea either, about the dresses. I had to Google necklines and see which one would suit Lou best :P Leo will figure out his business running method as time goes on, he'll be fine XD
To valdeznation- Does the spinning in circles help with the sickness or make it worse? XP I love writing Leo, there's so much more to his character and I want to play with it! I'm saying nothing more, no spoilers :3
"What are you workin' on? Can I see? Let me see!" Louisa huffed at him when he hunched over the project, shielding it and hissing at her. She was quick though, quicker than him; she pushed Bradley on him, knowing he would take the tot in a heartbeat and unwittingly reveal his work.
"That's cheating," Leo accused, then smiled because Bradley's hand was scrabbling for his face. "What, what, what do you want?" He asked, hoisting his boy up and splodging kisses on his cheek. Bradley gurgled and turned his head to drool on Leo's.
Louisa half-listened to Leo talking to Bradley in English and Spanish, telling him how wonderful and dribbly and wriggly he was. She was more focused on the sphere he had been constructing. About the size of a melon, perfectly round sans the tiny hinges on one side. There were rings on the top and bottom that clicked as she turned them.
She shook it, as though it were a Magic 8 Ball and could reveal answers. Leo snatched it back and held it out at arm's length behind him.
"Hey!" she protested. "I was lookin'!"
"You weren't looking, you were throttling."
"What is it?"
"Secret," Leo smiled wryly. He sniffed the air, then again at Bradley sat in the crook of his elbow. "Oh, you do wait to poop on me, I knew it. What happened to our wavelength, mijo?"
"You change him," Louisa suggested innocently. "I'll look after the thingamajig."
"You will not. Besides, it's your turn." With a pout, she took her baby back, muttering as she cleared away a space on the neighbouring desk. "Sulking will get you nowhere," Leo advised, only spurring further muttering.
He tinkered more with the sphere, refusing to divulge any details and even going as far as to feign deafness. Louisa didn't like this, standing behind him. She lifted Bradley over his head and dangled him in front of his face. She kept him there, leaning on Leo as she did, which did nothing to help him concentrate, moreso when she rested her chin on his shoulder.
Leo fiddled mindlessly with the sphere, aware of every square inch of warmth of her on his back, her arms entrapping his to keep Bradley suspended at eye level, her breath in his ear.
"Leo," she whispered, "Leeeeeoooooo."
"Leo's not here right now," he mumbled.
"My arms are gettin' tired." He tucked the sphere into his belt and took Bradley, sitting him on the desk. Bradley clumsily grappled for Leo's watch, attracted to the shiny. Louisa did not move, instead looping Leo in a hug from behind. "Leo. What is it?"
"Mine," Leo replied, battling to get his thoughts on track. Was she doing this on purpose? Did she know what she did to him?
Her hand flattened on his chest, palm over his heart. Leo forgot how to breathe, keeping his attention on Bradley, sweet innocent Bradley whose tiny fingers were plucking at Leo's watch as best they could.
He did not break. He did not give in to her, which she wasn't best pleased with, but he was very proud of himself. Not many stood their ground against Louisa and survived to tell the tale.
The grand opening had gone amazingly well, far better than even Mellie had anticipated. They were now nearing the end of their first week of business; Leo's greatest achievement these past few days had been installing a toy box for the kids in the waiting room. Teddies and Lego and trucks and books and colouring and dollies and Jenga.
Now things had calmed down, now things were underway and flowing smoothly under Mellie's watchful eye, he had time to work on his project.
The project he had perfected at Christmas, the plans always close at hand and guarded. Louisa knew about all his blueprints, except these.
Louisa did not appreciate this secrecy. She made it her sole mission to find out what he was doing, even going as far to recruit the Entourage as they went into the second week. Leo told none of them, strangely mute when they asked. There was the sphere, which none of them could open when Connor managed to get hold of it. Leo wasn't sure how he had succeeded in swiping it from his toolbelt, hurrying to snatch it back.
"What is it?" Connor demanded.
"Mine," Leo repeated.
"Alright, what about that then?" Connor pointed. Leo didn't turn his head, widening his eyes as if he had no idea what the other man was on about.
Connor huffed at him, shooed him away. Mikey and Louisa had been exploring Bunker Ten in their attempts to figure out what Leo was up to. They came across a rather strange contraption, of which they were now sitting on top of it.
It was a cube, twenty feet by twenty feet, and it was made of sections that had Mikey dubbing it the 'Rubix Cube Supreme'. It was balanced on a smaller box, a podium, which left ample room about it for their investigations. Whenever they asked about it or were seen near it, Leo made excuses and wandered off. Every so often, Buford would clatter over and puff steam at them, whistling sharply.
"BRING IT ON, CUPCAKE!" His tiny Hedge challenged. "THE HORSE SAYS NEIGH."
Each square face was etched with symbols. Louisa had clambered all over, drawing the symbols out and grumbling to herself. Mikey was up on top with her, purely to feel tall but to also hold Bradley while she drew.
"What's he up to, mm?" he asked the tot, bouncing him on his knee. "I know he's told you, so now would be a good time to speak." Bradley gurgled, chewing on his fingers. Mikey pursed his lips. "Don't distract me with cuteness. I need answers!"
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
"Louisa, your child is roaring at me."
"Mm? Oh, yeah, he does that now."
"Feral goblin." Mikey scrunched his face. Bradley yelled— roared— again, delighting in this vocal endeavour. Louisa smiled, checking her drawing against the source.
"Done," she announced. She grabbed the nearest corner, shuffling over so she did not invade its lines. "You reckon it's a Rubix cube, yeah?"
"Very much so. Oooh," he said as she pulled on the corner and it clicked round exactly as a Rubix cube would. "Oh, look at us go, Lou. We're like Sherlock and Watson."
"Batman 'n' Robin."
"I'm Batman."
"Nah, you're Robin. You wear tights better than I do."
"That is true," Mikey laughed. She grinned and continued rotating the cube sections, shooing Mikey around as she did so.
"I don't understand," she grumbled. "What's he doin'? This is all magic, I've seen Harvey use stuff like this."
"Maybe ask him what they're for."
Seeing as Leo was not forthcoming with any explanations, it was the best they were going to get. None of the symbols were the same, so there was no matching anything up as one would on a normal Rubix cube. Was there a way to solve it? What would solving it accomplish? What was the point?
Harvey examined her sketches later that day, nodding.
"Yes," he said, "I gave Leo these."
"What? What are they for? Do you know what he's buildin'?"
"Sort of. These are all protective charms. Security, entrapment, defence." Louisa frowned. Harvey smiled. "That's all I know; he said he had something he needed to do and wanted my help, but he wouldn't tell me more."
"Asshole. Not you," she added hastily. He waved it away.
"You've called me more than enough swears over the years, Lou. Especially when I was your teacher."
"Yeah, well, you deserved that. Tryin' ta get me to do homework. Bah."
Things muddled even further when she arrived at the Bunker the next day and found Percy and Annabeth there. Annabeth was crouching, failing to coax Tobias out from under one of the workbenches.
"No!" He shook his head adamantly, clutching the toy ship closer. It was a tiny Argo II, with working oars and a miniature Festus that blew bubbles instead of flames. Estelle had wanted flames, but Mellie had advised they would not be 'child-friendly'. Bubbles had been the approved alternative.
It sailed on water and flew like the original, never getting more than five feet in the air. Leo had been testing it when the Jacksons arrived and Tobias had fallen in love with it, hopping about and squealing when Leo gave it to him.
Now, he was hiding under the table so he didn't have to share.
"You can't stay under there forever," Annabeth said. "What about snack time?"
"Boat!"
"You can have snacks and the boat, how about that?" Tobias scrunched his face up in thought. Annabeth smiled encouragingly, but what cinched it was Aunty Lou's muddied sneakers coming into sight. Tobias laughed and surged out, crashing into her shins.
"Look!" he demanded. "Boat! My boat! Bubbles!" He puffed out his cheeks and blew, tiny Festus peppering the air with glistening bubbles. He beckoned with one hand. Louisa knelt and he focused on his cousin in her arms. "Look, Braddie! Look at boat! No touch, only look!"
Bradley didn't want the boat, distracted by the bubbles. He was most baffled when he grabbed at them and came up empty-handed, kicking his legs in frustration.
Louisa glanced over. Leo and Percy stood by the giant cube, though had fallen silent at her arrival. They were watching her, smiling sweetly as she met their gaze.
"What?" she asked warily. "Oh, don't tell me you told Percy 'n' not me. That's not fair!"
"Percy's part of my plan."
"What plan?"
"Never you mind," Leo replied airily. He shushed her when she started to ask, hiding behind Percy when she glared. "Hey, what's that over there?" He pointed off in a random direction. She did not fall for it, watching him clatter away into the safety of the Bunker depths.
Instead, she looked to Annabeth.
"Do you know the plan?"
"I do."
"Are you part of it?"
"No. I'm not allowed." Here, she shot Percy a look. Percy smiled sheepishly.
"Can I not be worried about my darling pregnant wife? My clever beautiful Wise Girl?"
"Mmph," Annabeth said, turning away. Louisa could still see her face though. She was only pretending to be annoyed, rather flattered and pleased by his care. Seeing her looking, Annabeth put a finger to her lips.
Tobias growled at the ship, poking the sails and the oars, turning it upside down.
"Mammy!" he protested, stomping his foot. He pushed the ship at her and waved his hands over his head. "Make fly!"
"I'm sorry," Annabeth tipped her head, "what was that?" Tobias stared at her, biting his lip.
"Make fly pretty please, Mammy."
"Much better," she nodded. There was a switch on the bottom, she showed Louisa, that flipped the tiny boat between water and air. It was already in air mode, so all that was needed was to crank the tiny handle on the mast. The boat began to hum and when Annabeth righted it, began to float upwards, oars at work. Tobias clapped and jumped happily. He followed it eagerly, blowing imaginary bubbles alongside Tiny Festus's real ones.
"How come he gets a ship before me?" Louisa muttered. "'N' how come you lot know the plan 'n' I don't?"
"Because you'll want to be involved," Annabeth replied simply, "and Leo doesn't want you to."
"Why not?" Louisa frowned, hurt. "I can help, whatever it is."
"He's keeping you safe, Lou."
"But—" Annabeth raised her hand.
"Let it play out," she advised. "You'll see. Not too far, Tobias!"
She had to wait another week, another agonising week of being shushed and shut out and saddled with many failed attempts at distracting her, before she found out what was going on. In that time, she saw Jason, Hazel, Frank and Piper examining the cube. Nico had arrived at Jessica's one day to check up on her. Mikey got the girls together on the Friday for lunch, each one of them deftly changing the subject whenever Louisa brought up this secret project.
It was getting on her last nerve, was on her last nerve.
Was she not good enough now, was that it? All her training, all her hard work to get back to a strong, fit state and they didn't want her help? Was it because of what she did to Percy? It was, wasn't it? She had nearly killed him and now they didn't trust her with a sword.
She couldn't argue with that, not sure if she should trust herself either. Sometimes she could summon her sword without issue and other times, her hand was a stranger to the weapon wielded since childhood.
The chatter at lunch washed over her. About Tobias and Bradley and the new baby, about Piper's up-and-coming line of work, about gods knew what else; the more her thoughts clamoured, the less she heard. She went home with a sleeping Bradley, feeling sick and shaky.
She didn't sleep much that night. Partly Bradley grizzling and hungry, partly too loud a mind to settle. She needed to know what they were up to, why they were being so evasive. Something was going down, and soon. She just needed to be there when it did.
Which, helpfully, was two days later.
Both mornings, she had left Bradley with her mother and Harvey. There was a small café across the road from the Bunker. She sat in its window, nursing a hot chocolate and watching the gates.
Yesterday and today, she saw her friends. Leo and Coach were at the gates to meet them, one welcoming, the other jabbing with his cudgel to make sure they hadn't gone 'soft' in their old age. Percy was there, without Annabeth, Piper and Nico, Jason, Reyna, Hazel and Frank.
The gates were sealed when everyone went inside. A sign had been placed on it yesterday, bordered by red. She had not been over to read what it said, not with the cameras on a swivel and the laser guns primed. They didn't know she was here and she wanted to keep it that way; she would never get answers otherwise.
She waited most of the morning. Had to order more hot chocolates and some breakfast to appease the staff— bacon sandwiches here couldn't hold a candle to her mom's.
She sensed rather than saw the change first, peering out the window cautiously. The sky had clouded over, grey smudges of undecided weather. Trees bristled in a harshened wind. She knew what was coming even before the shadows started to move.
The gates opened and out came her friends, her family, armoured up in gear she hadn't seen before, wielding their respective weapons and shields. Nico stepped forward in pitch-black armour, poking a pooling of shadows with his sword. The Stygian Iron absorbed the darkness, as wont to do, the remnants curdling and shooting away.
The shadows coalesced in the middle of the road, rising and twisting to form the shape of a man.
Not a man.
A dryad.
Louisa's cup shattered in her hands, crumpled, lukewarm hot chocolate trickling onto the table. Popadom spread his arms and she could hear his voice through the glass, taunting, clear, cold. She was oblivious to the waitress rushing over to clean up, to check if she was hurt.
"Does Louisa not dare to show herself?" the dryad crowed.
Hazel wrung her hands and flung them out. The unfolding fight vanished in a vortex of Mist.
"Ma'am? Ma'am, let me see your hands." Louisa stared at the waitress. A young girl, light brown hair pulled back in a braid. Pale blue eyes wrought with concern. She had mopped up the spillage and now held her hands out for Louisa's. Palms up, fingers gently flexing in encouragement, come here. "Let me see," she urged kindly.
A ringing in her ears. Louisa shot to her feet, startling the poor girl and herself, the café swirling and blotting about her. She braced herself on the table, knuckles down. Why couldn't she breathe? What had happened to the air in the room? Where had it gone?
The waitress was still there, still talking to her. Hand outstretched for her attention, then leaning down to catch her eye. What was she saying?
Louisa shook her head, more a couple of twitches than conscious movement. She saw nothing beyond the window, nothing past the pale, stricken face she later realised was her own. Is that what fear looked like on her?
She was out the door. How had she got there? Didn't matter, she was outside. It was cold outside, January inching closer to February. She sucked in a breath, the cold filling her chest with a thousand prickles. Shouting behind her, the waitress still trying to help. Another breath, trembling.
A millstone round her neck, legs buckling and stiffening as she staggered haphazardly forward. She was in the road. Horns blared and flared, dashing her head with a cacophony of static and rage. She stumbled into the Mist, through it.
She saw little at first, little beyond the mass of shadows and Mist fighting for supremacy. She staggered on, clawing her way through. A roar ahead, a flash of orange. The eye of the storm greeted her, yanked her in, right into a warzone.
There was her brother and Jason, fighting Popadom head on. Both armed with swords and a fury unkempt. One slashed at the shadows writhing to consume them while the other darted in to attack the source.
Nico and Reyna stood back-to-back, taking down rising swells of shadowy forms. Shapeless voids blustering and grappling for them, for the others. None surpassed Nico's Stygian iron, vacuumed into the blade. None escaped Reyna's skill, cut down long before their target.
Frank over there, guarding Hazel. She had her head bowed, eyes closed in concentration, fists together. He swept between creatures, stomping and bellowing, liquid-like in his transition. Hazel needed to keep her magic going. Without her, the shadows would treble, would overwhelm. It was his job to make sure she could.
A roar again, overhead. Festus, circling and blowing fire at the vortex, combatting any wayward shadows. On his back, Piper, singing through a megaphone. Louisa did not know the song, but it wrapped around her mind, nestled down into her bones. She wanted to sleep. Sleep for a long time, forever. Gods she was tired.
"Lou! What are you doing here?" Leo appeared. His hair was on fire, a sizeable mallet in hand. She swayed and he grabbed her by the elbow, tucking his arm around her. "You're not supposed to be here!" He reached into his belt, producing a set of ear defenders. He wrangled them onto her head, Piper's song instantly muffled. Louisa blinked, stirring. He too was wearing defenders.
"What's goin' on?" she demanded. "What is this?"
"It's all under control!" Leo assured. "You need to—"
"There she is!" Ice washed through Louisa's veins, what little breath she had recovered wrenched from her in one fell swoop. Her fingers were iron on Leo's arm; he side-stepped, placing his back to her, placing himself between her and the nightmare sauntering towards them.
Luke.
Backbiter gleamed gold and bronze, flashing with shadows and flame, sharp as ever. His smile at Louisa revolted into a sneer at Leo. "Move aside, son of Hephaestus. This does not concern you."
"You won't get her," Leo defied. "Not while I still breathe."
"That is easily remedied."