Wildfire (Leo Valdez x OC) (1)

Never trust monocles

I was hanging from a chain, which had wrapped around my ankle. I could see Piper below me lying on the floor in pain, her foot was pointing the wrong way. My vision was blurry from pain.

Then I heard Jason's voice somewhere below, echoing through the building. "Piper! Where's Piper?"

"Ow, bro!" Leo groaned. "That's my back! I'm not a sofa! Piper? Anwen? Where'd you go? Who screamed?"

Piper looked up at me. Her face paled. "Here," she managed in a whisper.

I heard shuffling and grunting, then feet pounding on metal steps.

I felt dizzy, my blood was rushing to my head. I saw Jason and Leo reach Piper's side.

"You ok...?" Leo said, before seeing her foot. "Oh no, you're not."

"Thanks for the reassurance," Piper groaned.

"You'll be fine." Jason said, but he sounded worried. "Leo, you got any first aid supplies?"

"Yeah." He said. As Leo began taking materials from his tool belt he turned to Piper. "Where's Anwen?"

She pointed up at me. I saw the boys pale as they saw me. I waved. "Help, please."

They just stared. "Hello? Guys!"

Jason shook himself. "Uh, Leo you keep Piper here, I'll get Anwen."

He flew up to me. "Hi," I mumbled.

"Oh gods." He said. He looked like he was going to throw up.

"It's not a pretty sight, is it?" I mumbled, grimacing.

He didn't reply, instead he began untangling the chain from around my ankle.

My leg was going numb and I felt like I was about to pass out. Piper and Leo were just staring up at us. When he finally got the chain undone, Jason lowered me to the ground and sat me next to Piper.

"Jeez..." Leo muttered.

I looked at my foot. It was twisted at a sickening angle, but what was worse was the bone sticking out of the side of my ankle. "I don't think you can fix that one very quickly." I mumbled. They all stared at me.

"How are you so calm about this?" Leo asked, incredulous.

"Well, I don't see how panicking would help." I said, wincing. "Just fix Piper's ankle, hers will just need a splint, and give her some Ambrosia."

"But – " Leo began.

"Just fix Piper's ankle." I grimaced.

I sat against a shelf as they fixed Piper's foot. My vision swam in and out of focus. My legs and arms felt like they were full of lead, although the arm covered in ice was already numb.

"What happened to the dragon?" Piper asked. "Where are we?"

Leo's expression turned sullen. "I don't know with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible wall and started to fall." Leo pointed to the logo on the wall. "As for where we are. Closed car plant, I'm guessing we crash landed in Detroit."

"How far is that from Chicago?" Piper asked.

Jason handed her a bottle of water. "Maybe three-fourths of the way from Quebec? The thing is without the dragon we're stuck travelling overland."

"No way," Leo said. "It isn't safe."

"He's right. Besides I don't think me or Anwen can walk. And four people – Jason you can't fly that many across the country by yourself." Piper said.