Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

15 - Crockpot Body Ass Bitches

If they hadn't been in the middle of a battle, Via would've pulled out her trusty old iPod, scrolled until she found her angry playlist, and blasted "Fuck You" by Lily Allen at the Fates for making her go through another near-death experience. She was willing to bet that Leo would completely understand and even assist her by grabbing her iPod for her.

Unfortunately, she was too busy trying not to die on the spot.

"Stupid Germani," she grumbled, as another wave of blood-loss-induced nausea crashed over her. She would've endured the embarrassment of heaving into a bucket in front of Leo if she felt like she'd survive it. But her stomach contracting would only force out yet more blood, and thus she could only force the queasiness down.

"You're okay," Leo said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than Via. "You're good, you're tough. You got this."

"Thanks, Leo," she said. She hadn't meant to sound as sarcastic as she did, but being impaled tended to remove one's filter.

Leo sighed. "Sorry, I just... I don't know what to do. I'm useless when it comes to fixing people."

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not expecting you to know everything." Via said.

There was a short silence, during which Via realized just how exposed they were now that the fight had been taken inside. There was a crash, followed by several screams, and Via began to feel more and more vulnerable by the minute.

"Leo, I think we should move somewhere else," she said anxiously.

"What?"

"We're sitting ducks here. Unless Lit comes back soon, we're going to have some dearly detested guests."

"Okay, I'm no medical expert, but I really don't think moving is a smart idea for you right now."

"I can promise you, as a medical expert, that it's a better idea than waiting around to be murdered."

"But Lit said —" Leo scowled suddenly, and Via realized that he hated taking Lit's orders, but he was doing it for her. "Lit said that we should stay here so you don't bleed out."

There were more shouts extremely close by, and both Via and Leo jumped, staring wide-eyed at each other in alarm.

"They're right fucking there," Via hissed, trying to stand up. "We need to leave. Now."

"Yeah, we gotta go," Leo agreed hastily. "Come on, put your arm around — okay." He hoisted Via up, wrapping his arm around her waist and securing her arm around his shoulders. Via tried to ignore how close Leo's face was to hers and focus on surviving. This was so stupid; she was literally dying and she was distracted by their physical proximity. You're getting weak, she scolded herself.

"There's a back exit there," she said, pointing with her free hand to the back wall of the med bay. "They probably won't —"

"Ah, there you are!" said an unfortunately familiar voice from behind them. Via tensed at the sound, not wanting to turn around. She had to, though — it was stupid to turn your back on your enemy.

Commodus was dressed in shiny gold armor, with an equally shiny gold sword in a sheath on his waist. He was flanked by two Germani, one of whom seemed to have been one of the victims of Leo's fire.

"Commode Man, I presume," Leo addressed the emperor. His tone was light and casual, but Via felt him shaking slightly, leading her to believe that he wasn't as unbothered as he made himself seem. It seemed to be a normal thing for him: lightening up the situation to make him look and feel less vulnerable and disadvantaged than he really was. Leo wasn't a medical expert, but he was definitely good at bluffing.