TRIGGER WARNINGS- THIS FIC WILL INCLUDE ABUSE, DEPRESSION, MURDER, DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND SIMILAR THEMES. PLEASE BE WARY WHEN READING

Hey guys. Yes, I know. I ditched the story. I'm sorry okay? I'll try to post more regularly from now on.

EXCITING NEWS

I recently got an Ao3 account, and I've started cross-posting some of my work on there. Please go check that out, it's under the same name. I'm still trying to figure some stuff out on Ao3, but I'm hoping I'll work it out.

I just wanted to say, someone left a comment on one of my Ao3 works saying that I wrote it with an AI. I did not, and will never, do that. Please don't make silly accusations with no proof. This person also called me some names. Don't. Just don't.

TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER, CIGARETTES, SMOKING, IMPLIED ABUSE

I don't really know what I'm going to do with this fic, but I'm hoping it goes well. Any ideas, please leave them in a review for me! Hope you enjoy, I love you all so much and stay safe besties!

Leo was sitting under a bridge, wearing all black and looking exhausted. He had a single backpack next to him, and he looked to be about 13 in this memory.

"Why are you on your own? That looks like a really sketchy area," Jason asked, sounding concerned.

"I was running from Social Services, I wasn't too worried about whether the place was sketchy or not as long as I wouldn't be found," Leo said casually.

He had taken out a sketchpad from somewhere- Jason didn't know where, but he had started drawing something. He couldn't see it all that well, but it looked like he was drawing a girl. Jason decided not to pry. At least not until he got a chance to ask Leo about it.

When you looked at him more closely, Leo was very skinny. He had bags under his eyes, and there was a cut along his forehead, as well as a bruise on the side of his face. He was clutching his bag close, and his eyes darted around warily.

Jason's heart broke a little to see his best friend looking so beaten up and afraid. He silently vowed to pay more attention to the Latino from now on.

Just then, an older woman walked up to him. "Hey, kid, you look like you've had a pretty tough time," she said. "You need something to take your mind off it?"

She slipped something out of her pocket and into Leo's line of view- a small white stick that looked suspiciously like a cigarette.

Leo eyed it warily. He seemed to be fighting an internal battle.

"I've got no money," he said eventually. His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't had anything to drink in days. Which, to be honest, he probably hadn't.

"You look like you need this," the woman said. "Just don't snitch to the cops and send any potential customers my way."

She held out a hand to help him up. "I'm Marian."

Leo eyed it warily for a second, before grabbing her hand and pulling himself up. "Leo."

"Nice to meet you, Leo," Marian said. She handed him the cigarette and showed him how to use it.

"You shouldn't have been smoking," Annabeth said.

"Yeah, but I'd just escaped from a terrible foster home and I needed to take my mind off it," Leo defended himself. "Besides, I'm immune to the smoke either way, so it doesn't really affect my health."

"Really?" Percy asked. "I didn't know that. That's actually really cool."

Leo flashed him a brief grin, before turning his attention back to the screen.

Leo took a cautious drag from the cigarette and coughed out a cloud of smoke. He made a face. "Tastes terrible," he grimaced.

"Yeah, but the taste distracts you from the shittiness of life," Marian reasoned.

"Good enough for me," Leo said, and took another puff, blowing out another smoke cloud.

A pang of sadness tugged at Jason's heartstrings. Leo shouldn't have had to be so desperate to forget about his life that he was smoking at such a young age.

Marian stared at him for a few seconds, a saddened expression on her face. "Ya know," she said suddenly, "I got a friend who could set you up with a street family to take care of you."

Leo frowned. "Street family?" he repeated. "Like a gang?"

Marian shook her head. "Nah, they ain't a gang. They're a bunch of runaways, like you from the looks of it. They take in people that need help, like a family. They live near Cherry Lane (totally made-up place. If it exists, weird coincidence). If you change your mind, say Marian sent you. They'll trust you."

Leo stared at her, his expression a mixture of confusion and gratitude. "Thanks," he said.

Marian smiled at him. "Anytime," she said and walked away.

The screen faded to black.

"That was surprisingly wholesome," Percy said.

"Yeah, Marian was awesome," Leo said fondly. "She helped me out a lot later in life."

"Why did you run away?" Piper asked curiously.

Leo shrugged. "Just basic reasons."

Jason didn't miss how he had seemed to dodge the question.

All of a sudden, the screen turned on yet again.

Leo was very young in this memory, maybe five years old. His mother was holding his hand, and they were going to the park.

"Mami, ¿podemos traer helado?" (TRANSLATION: "Mommy, can we get ice cream?") Leo asked.

"Of course, mijo," Esperanza promised. "But you need to go play first. Wear yourself out a little so that the ice cream makes you feel even better."

"Okay!" Leo chirped happily, and he ran off to join a group of kids playing at the roundabout.

"You were so cute as a baby," Hazel squealed.

"Careful, Goldie, or Frank will get jealous," Leo teased, causing her to blush.

"Oh, shut up."

Esperanza chuckled as she watched him enthusiastically introduce himself, and join in on their game. She sat down on a bench, and watched them play for a while.

Suddenly, Leo ran up to her, smiling hugely. "Mami, come, I want you to meet my new friend!"

"Ok, mijo," Esperanza laughed. She allowed herself to be dragged over to the roundabout by Leo.

"This is Elena," Leo introduced her.

"Lovely to meet you, Elena," Esperanza smiled warmly, kindness in her eyes.

Elena smiled shyly, and waved.

"Mami, can Elena come with us to get ice cream?" Leo asked, hope shining in his brown eyes.

"We need to ask her parent first," Esperanza said. "Why don't you go meet her parent and then I can talk to them? Then we might be able to get ice cream for the pair of you."

Elena and Leo ran off together to her mom without another word. Esperanza smiled to herself, and the screen faded to black.

"That was a really nice memory," Piper said, smiling.

"Yeah," Leo said wistfully. "I never really saw her again. I wonder what happened to her."

Annabeth sighed. "As much as I loved that last memory, we should probably talk about the one before it."

Leo winced. "Yeah, I figured." He sighed. What do you want to know?"

"How old were you in this memory?" Frank asked.

"It was just before I turned 13," Leo said.

"How did you know that you wouldn't be affected by the smoking?" Percy asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Leo bit his lip. "Um, I didn't."

"So you were smoking without knowing it wouldn't affect you?" Annabeth said, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, basically," Leo said.

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

Leo shrugged. "Like Marian said, it distracts you from the shittiness of life. At that point in my life, I needed that."

"What made your life so bad that you resorted to smoking?" Jason asked. Then something occurred to him. "Actually, scratch that. Answer this instead- how did you get so beaten up?"

Leo's face darkened, a shadow which Jason had never seen before passing over it. "Next memory."

This only increased Jason's curiosity- and also his concern. "But-"

"Next. Memory," Leo practically growled.

The screen turned on.