Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

27 - Leo Becomes My New Therapist

"Are you sure you don't need to stay longer?" Nina asked as she handed Leo a small cooler filled with sandwiches.

"We're fine, Tia," Leo assured her.

Leo and Via had ended up staying an extra day to fully recover from the dracaenae attack (and for Leo to fix the window they'd broken while fending the snake women off). The three of them relaxed, watched TV, and played exactly one game of Monopoly before Leo realized Via was a "coldhearted capitalist shark" (Leo's words) and stayed away from the game ever since. Nina, who'd already experienced how ruthless Via could be at Monopoly for years, had expected the loss and taken it in stride.

They'd even planned to stay a third night, but that night, Via experienced another case of fading, making her intangible and rendering Leo unable to see or hear her for almost half an hour. Only Vada's doggy sense had been able to detect Via and reassure Leo that she was still there.

After that, the teens agreed that the sooner they got to Camp Half-Blood, the better. They'd decided to skip Philadelphia and fly straight to Montauk from Nina's house. Nina only made them stay long enough for her to pack a few sandwiches and snacks for the road. While she did that, Leo and Via dragged Festus out to the backyard to reactivate him.

Festus now stood in Nina's backyard, blowing steam and making grumpy clacking noises, annoyed at being compacted as a suitcase for over forty-eight hours. Vada, who'd been bewildered to see the huge metal dragon on her peeing grounds, remained inside, though Via could see the old dog looking on from her bedroom window. Her nose was keeping the blinds to the side so she could see out the window.

"Is there anything else you need?" Nina asked anxiously as Festus finally stood still enough to let Leo start harnessing Via to his back.

"Uh... How about adoption papers?" Leo joked, causing Nina to laugh. "Hey, I wouldn't mind becoming a part of this family!"

"I'm sure there are other ways," Nina said, shooting Via a wink when Leo wasn't looking. Over the past couple of days she'd gotten pretty good at gauging where Via was despite not being able to see her. Via blushed at her aunt's insinuation. She was positive that method of becoming part of the family was not going to happen, not since he'd friend-zoned her yesterday.

Leo, the poor oblivious boy, shot Nina a confused look. She just shook her head and waved him off. Via was tempted to stick her tongue out at her aunt, but Nina wouldn't be able to see it, so there was really no point.

"Thanks again for everything," Leo said.

"It's no problem, Leo," Nina told him warmly. "You're welcome anytime. Goodbye!"

"Bye!" the two teens called back. Leo jumped into his own seat, handing the lunch bag to Via, and Festus took off into the sky. Nina became a tiny dot on the small plot of land that was her backyard.

"I'm glad we went to your aunt's house," Leo said once they were at their cruising altitude. "You were right, I really did like her."

Via smiled. "It's hard not to. She's pretty amazing. But just wait until you meet my mom... Um, if that ever happens."

"You never know," Leo told her with a wink. "We might just have to take a detour to Texas on the way back!"

Via giggled at his enthusiasm. It was pretty contagious because she remained in a good mood for a while. Then she started to get bored. She could tell Leo was getting fidgety and restless too, but she wasn't sure what to do.

It was Leo who finally broke the silence and said, "By the way, I wanted to ask you something." His tone was kind of serious, making Via suspect it was about a certain kid-eating snake lady who'd sent dracaenae their way. She really didn't want to tell him about it, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that if Leo was going to have his ass dragged along in a cross-country road trip (well, technically it was more of a sky trip), he deserved some basic explanations at the very least.