Leo Valdez X Reader

Chapter 9 (Y/n)

I face-planted into my bed, pulling the covers around my ears.

So not only was I about to lead a group of people into a massacre, but we were now going to go in through a corrupted and crumbling system of tunnels that played mind games. I now held the life of a child in my hands.

I barely had any training; it's a miracle I had survived the trip here and almost hadn't. And now, because I was 'special,' it meant fighting for my life with strangers.

I closed my eyes, seeing the look of anger on Leo's face as he stormed off. I couldn't blame him, though; his little brother had just been roped into a death sentence. I huffed, closing my eyes and trying to drift off.

But what's sleep without nightmares?

~Dream(TW: hints of abuse) ~ 

I could see him, his grin sour. He'd just gotten home from work at the bank. The bottle slipped from his hand, shattering against the tiled floor, and I rushed to clean it up before someone got hurt.

I watched his shadow tower over eight-year-old me like a bystander outside my body. His foot collided with my shoulder, and I felt my body hit the glass. My thigh burned again, and I heard the crunch of glass as I landed on it with all my weight. The sound played itself on repeat in my brain. I watched my blood spill out and spread across the alcohol, wrapping around every little piece of glass it could find and turning it red. I watched the kitchen door open, and my aunt, bruised and exhausted, walked through it. She put her groceries down and scooped me up in her arms. Smoothing my hair and examining my leg. Her watch suddenly went off, and I saw her look at the time. She nearly dropped my body back on the floor as she grabbed her bag and ran out the door to grab Robin from daycare.

My memories skipped to later that night, where I sat on my makeshift bed in the dark. Using the moon as my only light source, I used a pair of plastic tweezers from Alison's toy doctor kit to pull the shards from my leg. Tears swam down eight-year-old me's face as I dug into the cuts, looking for glass.

~Dream End~ 

I woke up panting; my hair was plastered to my forehead.

My adrenaline was spiking, and I practically flung myself out of bed. I needed to get up. My ankle felt a lot better, so I abandoned the crutches.

I didn't bother changing, quietly walking out of my room and into the hallway to the front door. There, leaning against the frame, was Seymour.

Great.

I stared at his sleeping face.

Who puts a leopard head on guard duty?

I walked up to the door and carefully turned the knob. Just as I did so, a low growl emanated from behind me. I turned slowly to see Seymour, his eyes open and very much awake. I came over and knelt by him.

"Hey, buddy. I just need to go on a walk."

His growl transformed into a purr as I stroked his muzzle.

"Please? I'll avoid the harpies." I held out a leftover cookie from dinner, and he snatched it up.

"I'll be okay, buddy." I heard him whine, but the cookie seemed to win him, and he let me slip out.

As soon as I put on my sneakers, I took off running. I needed to clear my head.

I ran as fast as I could, keeping to the shadows. This had been something I had done as a kid. Running from my problems. Sometimes literal and other times mentally.