Between the battles: Heroes of Olympus one shots

Run

Little Leo stood besides a social security worker. They were on the front doorstep of his only relative's house, and Leo wanted to run. Run anywhere, anyplace, just keep ahead of the memories. No, he couldn't think. Not of the night, the night she died-

His mom smiled down at him. He had brought her the right sized lug wrench before she even asked. "You are my little mechanic, mijo. Your father would be proud...

No. Don't think, don't remember. Leo watched as the social security worker, he had told him his name, but he didn't remember, knocked on the front door. Leo heard footsteps, and he heard the door lock rattle, and open. Why hadn't the door opened, that night, the door hadn't opened...

NO! Leo ran to the garage door. His mom. His mom was inside. Something was wrong. He pounded on the door, almost breaking the doorknob, but it wouldn't open. Why couldn't he open it? That's when he heard the voice "She can't hear you"...

No. It's in the past. He couldn't dwell in the past. He needed to move. He needed to run.

The door opened, and Leo took a step back. His aunt Rosa appeared, with his cousin Raphael peeking behind her. Aunt Rosa's eyes widened, the narrowed. She looked to the social security worker, then back to Leo.

The social security worker stepped forward, and said "Are you Rosa?" Aunt Rosa glared at him and stiffly nodded. "We spoke earlier. May we come in?" Aunt Rosa's glare deepened, but she stepped aside and motioned for him to go past. The social security worker stepped inside, but when Leo tried to follow, Raphael blocked his way, and shoved Leo back. Leo stumbled off the step, and fell backwards, landing on the concrete walkway. He looked up, stunned, as his cousin leered at him, and he saw his Aunt Rosa smiling behind him. Leo's palms stung, just like when he worked with his mom, and he would get his hand stuck in the engine-

Leo's mom smiled down at him, freeing his caught hand. "You have to be careful Leo, a mechanic needs both of his hands. Leo smiled at her through his tears, and she pulled him in for a hug-

Run. He needed to run. But then he saw the social security worker. looking through the doorway, and heard Aunt Rosa saying "He just tripped coming up the steps, he was always dreadfully clumsy, always breaking things, hurting people." Hurting people. He hurt his mom. She was gone. It was his fault. He killed her. No, don't remember-

"MOM!" Leo screamed, desperately banging on the door. His voice cracked, "mom". Then he heard the voice. He turned around, and he saw her. He saw through her. "Tia?" His voice was horse, he wasn't thinking straight. The woman spoke, he barely heard her. He couldn't remember what he said. "Leave my mother alone!" Then it happened. His hands caught fire. Flames consumed everything, the fire-

The social security worker was offering his hand to Leo, Leo took it. He looked at his hands, they were scraped and bleeding. Leo wiped them on his jeans, stained with oil, as always. His hands stung as the oil soaked into the cuts, but Leo ignored it. He deserved it. His mother, his beautiful mother-

His mother was telling his about his dad. "He was the best mechanic I ever met. He always knew which tool to use, which part was not working. You are just like him, just as good. He would be so proud"-

Leo stepped up the step again, keeping a fearful eye on his cousin and aunt. They let him pass because he social security worker was watching, but as Leo passed Raphael stuck out a foot and tried to trip him, but Leo avoided it. This time.

Rosa lead them into the family room, where her husband and other family members were waiting. He tried to smile, but he hadn't smiled in so long, he barely got out a grin. He smiled all the time before. He joked, and laughed, and his mom, she would always laugh with him, encourage his smiles-

"Oh Leo," his mom laughed. He had just cracked a joke. She ruffled his hair, and he grinned and jumped around, a limitless ball of energy. He started singing a silly song in Spanish, and his mom started singing along with him. Her voice was clear and sweet, and she helped Leo sing, and she came behind him and picked him up, swinging him around to the beat-

Leo realized everyone was staring at him. "Umm, I'm sorry, what?" Leo's voice was small and afraid. Aunt Rosa rolled her eyes, and spat out "We asked you what happened that night. You know what night."

Leo coughed, and started out "My mom-" His voice broke. His eyes filled with tears, but he furiously wiped his sleeve across his face to hide them. "She went into the workshop. The door slammed, and it locked. I tried to open it-"

Rosa cut him off. "You tried to open it, it locked on its own. Stop lying. You started the fire. You killed Esperenza. You are a diablo, a devil child. I never want to see your murdering little face again!" Her voice rose with each word, and with each word, Leo's spirit sunk. She was right. He killed his mom. He started the fire. It was his fault. He-

Fire was raging around him. Leo screamed , he couldn't find his way out. Flames were everywhere. He ran through the fire, trying to find her. "MOM!" He screamed, desperately, but he heard nothing. He collapsed, sobbing, "mom". He heard shouts, sirens, but none of that mattered. His mom was gone. Gone.

He stumbled out of the family room, sobbing. Aunt Rosa was still screaming at him, the social worker trying to calm her down. He collapsed against the wall, trying to breath.

She was gone. Forever. He would never do repairs with her again, never sing with her, never laugh with her, she was gone. He doubled over, sobs wracking his body, it hurt, it hurt so much, she was gone.

His mother wrapped her arms around him, and kissed his hair. "It's alright mijo, everything always fixes itself in the end. You can help that. Now, are you ready to try again?"

He would never see her smiling face, feel her loving hugs, hear her beautiful laugh, she was gone. Gone.

He was frustrated with a project. He wanted to give up, but his mother came over. He explained his trouble, ending with "It's impossible it fix! It's completely unfixable!" His mother smiled and swept his curls out of his bangs. "Nothing is unfixable mijo. Always remember that."

It was his fault, his fault. It was his own fault. He had lost control, she had told him not to, but he did. It was his fault, he didn't listen, she warned him, he lost control. Fire wasn't a tool, it couldn't fix anything. It destroyed, it broke everything down, it killed his mother. No. He killed his mother. He killed his mother.

"Oh mijo, nothing is ever so bad it can't be fixed. Just find the right tool, your greatest asset, and it will be alright. Don't give up."

He couldn't breathe, there were sharp stabbing pains in his chest, like his heart was breaking. She was gone, that's why his heart was breaking, it hurt so much. His head was pounding, she was gone forever. His eyes would never be dry again, she was gone forever.

"Leo, listen. You can do anything, just try hard. Never give up. You can do it, just don't give up."

Leo's arm was jerked up, his aunt Rosa was dragging him down the hallway, still yelling at him, calling him a devil child, cursing him, wishing he didn't exist. He stumbled behind her, still sobbing his heart out. The only thing he couldn't fix. She was gone. Aunt Rosa threw him out the door, he collapsed on the steps. She was gone.

He heard the social worker yelling at Aunt Rosa, Aunt Rosa screaming back. Why were they yelling, it didn't matter. She was gone. Why were they fighting, what was left?

Leo couldn't take it. He stumbled off the step, and started running. The shouting was now directed at him, Aunt Rosa screaming to never come back, the social worker telling him to wait, they could figure things out. It didn't matter. She was gone.

With every step, Leo pictured himself getting farther from the workshop, farther from the ashes, ahead of the guilt. Keep ahead of the sadness. Keep ahead of the pain.

Run

*******

Ugh. I don't DO sad. This depressed me.