Wildfire (Leo Valdez x OC) (1)

Who is installing traps in mansions?

We would have died five times on the way to the front door if not for Leo.

First it was the motion-activated trapdoor, then the lasers on the steps, then the nerve gas dispenser on the porch railing, the pressure-sensitive poison spikes in the welcome mat, and of course, the exploding doorbell.

Leo deactivated all of them, it was like he could smell the traps, and he knew exactly which tool to pull out of his tool belt.

"You're amazing, man." Jason said.

Leo scowled. "Yeah, amazing. Can't fix a dragon, but I'm amazing."

"Hey I didn't mean -"

"I wonder what the maintenance guy thought when he was asked to install all this stuff." I said, deciding to change the subject quickly.

Piper turned to me with an arched eyebrow. I shrugged.

"Front door's already unlocked." Leo said.

Piper turned back to the door in disbelief. "It is? All those traps and the door's unlocked?"

Leo turned the knob. The door swung open easily. He stepped inside without hesitation.

Before Jason could follow, Piper caught his arm. "He's going to need some time to get over Festus, don't take it personally."

"Yeah," Jason said. "Yeah, okay."

Jason stared into the house for a moment before turning back to Piper. "Piper, I know I was in a daze back in Chicago, but that stuff about your dad – if he's in trouble, I want to help. I don't care if it's a trap or not."

Piper sighed. "Jason, you don't know what you're saying, please – don't make me feel worse. We need to stick together, come on."

Piper ducked inside.

"Together." Jason muttered. "Yeah, we're doing a great job of that." He said, walking into the house.

Are you sure they aren't dating? The owl said in my mind.

I don't think they even know at this point. I said, following the others into the house.

My first impression of the house: dark.

From the echo of our footsteps, I could tell the entry hall was enormous, maybe even bigger than Boreas's penthouse. Huge windows lined the walls and were seperated by life-size metal statues.

As my eyes adjusted, I saw sofas arranged in a U in the middle of the room, with a coffee table and a large chair at the far end. A massive chandelier glinted overhead. Along the back wall stood a row of closed doors.

"Where's the light switch?" Jason's voice echoed around the room.

"Don't see one." Leo said.

"Fire?" I asked.

Leo held out his hand, but nothing happened. "It's not working."

"What? Your fire's out? Why?" Piper said.

"Well, if I knew that –"

"Okay, okay." I said. "Chill. We need to figure out what to do."

"Explore?" Piper said.

Leo shook his head. "After all those traps outside? Bad idea."

Jason looked around the room. "Leo's right, we're not separating again – not like in Detroit."

"Oh, thank you for reminding me of the Cyclopes." Piper's voice quavered. "I really needed that."

"It's a few hours till dawn," Jason said. "Too cold to wait outside. Let's bring the cages in and make camp in this room. Wait for daylight; then we can decide what to do."

No one had any better suggestions. We rolled the cages containing the storm spirits and Coach Hedge inside, then settled in.

Thankfully, we didn't find any poisonous spikes or whoopie cushions on the sofas.

Leo didn't seem in the mood for making more tacos, plus, he didn't have any fire, so we settled for cold rations.

After a while Piper curled up on a sofa and fell asleep, leaving me with Jason and Leo, again. Except this time, it was very, very, awkward.

We sat in silence for a while before I couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright! I'm too tired to deal with this."

The boys turned to stare at me in stunned silence.

"Uhm, what?" Leo said.

"You two are literally gonna drive me insane." I said, rubbing my temples. "When we were in those sewers you guys talked like best friends, because you are best friends. But now? You guys are sat in awkward silence, and frankly Leo being quiet is scaring the hell out of me."

Leo snorted. Jason just looked perplexed.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to sleep, and you two-" I glared pointedly at the two boys. "Make up!"

I walked over to the sofa next to Piper, where the owl was currently sat, and I lay down.

As I drifted off I could hear Leo say: "How does she just pop out with the most unexpected things every time?"

I smiled.

Hi, so this is a pretty short chapter, and took longer to post than usual. I don't really have much of a reason for this other than lack of motivation. However, I am pleased to say that the planning for the Piper x fem!OC is complete, I just need to start writing. (And think of a name, it's proving surprisingly difficult).

Other than that, I don't have much to say. I do have a question tho. If Leo's fire powers don't work in the mansion, then can he be burnt while in there?

That's all from me, I hope you are having a good day and if not then I hope reading this made you feel better, even just a tad.

Bye from Corgi :)

P.S. (feel free to skip) Just a reminder that all characters (apart from Anwen) belong to Rick Riordan, this is merely a fanfiction based of the Heroes of Olympus series.