Just Keep Moving (Leo Valdez x reader)

Sad Ending Part 2

I Deserved It

Bunker 9 was collecting cobwebs. He had left. He couldn't bear to stay so he  without a word. He had stopping cracking jokes and flashing smiles long before that. We watched his spirit fizzled out. Wet tears turned the embers of hope into cold, dead ashes.

Five years have passed since Y/N died. Four since Leo left. Three since Nico left. Two since we last had a sighting of Leo. And one since we had last heard from Nico. He was relentlessly trailing Leo because he felt it was his fault.
'If I had listened to my gut she'd still be alive. It's my fault, Will. Please just let me try and make up for it.'
The biggest mistake I had ever made was letting him go after Leo. Now he was missing too. Camp Half-Blood had lost it's appeal to me. The original exhilarating idea of a safe haven had been ripped away when Y/N died. The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous the idea sounded. No where was truly safe. Safety is a feeling not a state of being.

Nico and I had waited in silence till they had come back with grim expressions and tears in their eyes. "She must have tried to crawl out the window. The fall broke her neck." Austin choked out. Nico silently nodded, tears streaming down his face. "But that's impossible!" I stood up. "I was the last one to leave that room. She couldn't have gotten the keys! They weren't even in there! She wouldn't have been strong enough to break the bars! She can't be dead!" I ranted in denial.

"Is this some sort of sick joke!?" A new voice exclaimed. To everyone's horror Jason and Leo had walked through the infirmary doors as soon as I finished my sentence. I clasped a hand over my mouth as smoke started to rise off Leo. "Is it!?" He screeched, fixing all of us with a look of pure hatred. "Leo, we just found out and we were going to tell you-" Nico began. He was cut off by a fireball that seemed to be suspended in midair inches away from his face. Jason was holding his hands out in front of him, a look of intense concentration fixed on his face. The flame suddenly flickered out and Jason ushered Leo out the door again. We all stayed silent for a solid minute, listening to the enraged, indecipherable screams of Leo Valdez. I checked over Nico, asking him if he was ok. To my shock he only whispered three heartbreaking words:  "I deserved it." After that he ran out. I didn't see him for the rest of the week.

Looking back I realized now I should have gone after Nico when he dashed out of the infirmary that day. Maybe that would have stopped him. Maybe it would stop me from doing what I now needed to do. As soon as he heard the news, Leo seemed to go down the same path as his girlfriend. He became quieter and never seemed to sleep. A defeated expression permanently resided on his face. Eventually he left, apologizing to each of us personally. Telling us that we were great friends, but Camp Half-Blood didn't feel like home anymore. That he needed to "just keep moving" before the pain became unbearable. Jason and Piper had attempted to persuade him into going to Camp Jupiter. A malformed laugh had escaped the boy's dry lips. "I already destroyed that camp once. I'm trying to move on, not burn down a miniature city." It was the closest thing to a joke he had told in months. With heavey hearts and hot tears running down our faces we watched him cross the border. Festus had let out loud creaking noises that Leo seemed to understand. He ran back to his dragon one last time. I looked away. It seemed far more personal than I had expected.

A year had passed. No one had heard from Leo in six months. Nico had been begging for me to let him go. I used every stupid excuse to delay him. The day he left I had cried. The first Iris message came a few hours later. Nico was determined to keep in touch. "Since you're obviously a total wreck without me I guess I could Iris message you as often as possible..." Nico followed Leo's trail, eventually secretly looking after him. Then one day Leo vanished into thin air. Nico had lost him. Nico picked up a hint of dark magic at the scene. He began to track it. Though this was to my intense disapproval. The closer he got, the less frequent he messaged. After awhile they stopped all together. Chiron prevented me from going after him. Insisting the if I must go, that I had to train another medic for at least three months. That's exactly what I did. Now I had my bag packed and was standing at the border saying my goodbyes. Jason had pulled me into a full on hug at one point. Now I was leaving, going into the Strawberry Truck with Argus at the wheel. Soon we sped off as I went to see if I could bring back Nico di Angelo and Leo Valdez alive.

A/N: So what did you guys think? How would you all feel if I added on Leo's POV to this? I'm working on a happier ending I swear. I'm just not as good at that as I'd hoped. Thanks to everyone for reading this and sticking with the story!