Prisoner Of The Spandexians (Leo Valdez Meets The Avengers)

Life Stories

We sat around the table in the morning. The others were telling life stories. I tuned out, not wanting to know their deepest secrets, when Clint waved his hand in my face.

"Yo! Valdez! Are you there?" He asked loudly.

"What?" I asked. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We asked you about your back story. We hardly know anything about you. It's only fair you tell us." Tony said.

"Fine, but if I skip over a year, or keep a fact to myself, don't ask. It's better not to, also I'll have to write down names of things, as some names literally have power." I warned, before pulling a pen and paper from my tool belt.

"So I guess my life story starts with my Tia Callida. She was my babysitter, she realized I had fire powers, and literally put me through life threatening tests from the time I was one to the time I was five. For example, she tested my fire immunity by putting me in the fireplace to sleep. Also when I was little, I drew a blueprint for a flying warship. That's important remember that. What happened when I was eight is the worst of it all, though." I took a shaky breath, "My mother and I were in the machine shop. We were about to leave when she forgot something. She went inside and the door slammed shut. I tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. Then someone behind me said she couldn't hear me. I turned around. There was a lady in earthen robes. She told me that the Fates would not allow her to harm me physically, but she could break my spirit. I got scared, and caught fire. The lady disappeared. My mother didn't make it out." I let them take that in before continuing, "I ran from foster home to foster home, the sixth time I ran away, I nearly made it to Mexico. I was sent to the Wilderness School For Troubled Kids And Delinquents, where I became friends with Piper McLean and Jason Grace. They became a couple, and I was the third wheel. One day on a field trip to the Grand Canyon Jason got Amnesia. Piper believed him, I didn't. We got to the view of the Grand Canyon, and Jason went to talk to Coach Hedge. Then a storm hit, a class jerk Dylan, was holding the doors open for kids along with Piper. Then after everyone except me, Jason, Piper, Coach Hedge, and Dylan were outside, the doors slammed shut. Dylan started to transform into a storm spirit. Jason suddenly flipped a coin and it became a sword, he was shocked at the natural instinct, but then fought Dylan. He got Dylan to retreat, but Dylan took Coach Hedge with him. Then a couple of teens came, and took us to a camp, Camp Half-Blood." I was cut off by Natasha.

"Half what?" She asked.

"Half Greek god, half human." I said, and their shocked faces were funny, so I proceeded to explain the camp, the first quest, the Argo 2, and all of the ensuing dilemmas, then I got to the hard part. Being forgotten.

"After dying, rising from the dead, saving Calypso, and the world, you would think they would care." I said sadly, "but in the end, they blew up Festus, my only true friend, forgot about me unless they needed something to build, and I was the seventh wheel. I eventually bribed Hades into telling them I was dead and leaving, once and for all. Then I built that shack, and you guys came after me. You know the rest."

Tony whistled, "that's quite the back story." I smiled weakly.

"You wanna teach me how to spar like a Greek? That would be handy during missions!" Clint asked.

"Sure!" I said perking up, and we headed out.