Leo Joins the Bat Brigade

A 'Harmless' Prank Gone Wrong

A/n: Hey guys! Sorry for making you wait for an eternity... College classes have been kicking my trash. Hopefully, I'll get to write more over the summer to make up for it. :)

It was once said that smart people learn from their mistakes and that even smarter people learn from other people's mistakes. If so, Leo must have been the most educational idiot on the planet, because while he may not have learned his lesson the first time, he surely put himself in enough trouble because of it to discourage anyone else from following in his footsteps. That is... anyone except a certain pair of Stoll brothers. Both of whom were currently both instigators and fellow partners in crime during this next conquest for chaos.

"Annabeth is so gonna kill me..." Leo uttered to himself as he stood before the finished product of a half hour of labor *cough* vandalism *cough*. Conner and Travis stood on either side of him, still holding their remaining cans of magic-infused spray paint, cackling like those cliche witches in old Halloween movies.

"Don't worry little man," Conner said, flipping his can, "we'll make sure she never finds out about this."

"Not too sure that's possible, dude." Leo exhaled. "This is bound to be on the news."

He turned to face them both again, ready to tell them that he shouldn't have gone through with it, only to find that they were no longer there. "Traitors." Leo pouted. They were his only ride out of the city this time. He should have known not to trust them to get him back to camp. Leo grumbled quietly to himself as he kicked at a rock, making his way out of the alley to try and hail a taxi.

"Where do you think you're going?" A familiar gruff voice calls out from behind, making Leo cringe slightly with guilt.

Leo made a painstakingly slow turn on his heel to face the deadpan expression on the Gotham Knight's face, the nervous smile plastered on his face growing more profound by the second. "Uh... Hi, Mr. Bat... sir?"

~~~

Leo ran a hand through his tangled locks again as he stared at the clock across the room. After Batman had caught him hanging around the now bright pink Batmobile, he had almost immediately taken him into the police station where he was questioned and the fact that he had no parental supervision or living relatives that would take him in was brought to light. It wasn't as if Leo was surprised about that last bit. They had all turned against him when his mother had died, why would that change now? Batman had said that he would make some calls and left the room, yet to return.

Leo removed his hands from his hair and instead used them to cover his ears. He didn't want to hear what Batman was telling the police. It just made the pit in his stomach deepen with every word. How was he supposed to get out of this mess? Festus wasn't there to get him out of this one. He didn't have a way to contact the camp, since the police had confiscated his phone. He wasn't all too sure that anyone at camp would come to get him anyway. They probably didn't even notice that he was gone.

Leo watched as Batman and the police seemed to reach an agreement, for once completely silent, his eyes burning as they followed the man exiting the building until he was gone. Leo let out a shaky breath and hung his head in defeat. There was no way out of this. He had screwed up big time.

His thoughts were interrupted a while later by a man in a suit stumbling into the room. From what Leo could see, he appeared to have dressed and arrived in a hurry, if the exaggerated breathing was any indication. As the man approached, Leo was able to make out more details. His hair was slightly messy as if he had been previously wearing a hat and his eyes- wait a minute. Leo knew those eyes. This is the guy who squashed his sandwich the other day at the park!