The Five Times Leo Valdez Almost Died and the One Time He Did

The Argo II

WARNING! Suicide attempt and depression and angst and stuff don't read if you can't.
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Happy and dried eyed, seemingly content with life. That's how Percy found him when he went to change shifts with him. That's not how he was a couple hours before that, however.

It was a dark night out. The ship was flying in the air just high enough so that they were too high up for anything in the ocean to reach them but just low enough to see through the fog that was starting to make its way in. Leo's head was swimming with thoughts. They were on their way to Greece and the quest was setting in motion. All seven of them were on the ship, off to reach a new land in hopes of finding the Doors of Death and defeating Gaea. Despite so much going on, Leo couldn't get his head out of the gutter. All that kept replaying in his mind were the failed attempts at a life he tried to have when he was little. So many things had gone wrong and he was starting to wonder when something would go right, if ever.

A thought flashed through his mind. His mom. Eight years now. It's been almost eight years without his mom; half of his life. Eight years since he's ran into someones arms for a big hug. Eight years since he had someone to hold him when he was sad and listen to him when he wanted to talk. Eight years since he's had someone to love him unconditionally no matter what happened, no matter how badly he messed up. Now she was gone and it was all because of Leo. He blamed himself for everything that happened that night. The fire, the smoke, the burning, it was all his fault. His mom died at his hands.

Leo shook his head trying to get her out of his mind. There was no point of thinking about it, he couldn't change what happened. And every time he thinks about her it just makes him depressed. So Leo searched around in his brain for a different topic to think of. Unfortunately the one that came up was just as bad as his mom.

His foster homes. All of the running away and abusive parents and throwing and hitting and drinking. It was like it never stopped. He did have one nice foster home though, but it was short loved. A great family, nice, kind, actually cared about Leo. And then one night he lost control of his powers. It wasn't as bad as his mom but it was bad enough to send Leo running off again in fear of hurting someone else he cared about. Which brought up another memory.

Living on the streets. It was almost as bad as the foster homes. It was dirty, he slept in some weird places and went for days without eating because he had little to no money. He was constantly scavenging for any food he could possibly find and get his dirty hands on. Bullies and gangs where everywhere. Always getting pushed around and money taken from him, money that he desperately needed. And then one day the government decided they had had enough of him. He had run away too many times, they wanted him out of their hair. So, they marked him as a troubled kid and shipped him off to Wilderness School. It was about the luckiest brake he had gotten since his mom died. He was still bullied by other kids and getting up at 3 in the morning to run a mile sucked but it was worth it once he met Piper.

Piper. Even at Wilderness School she was stunningly beautiful, with short, choppy brown hair and eyes that seemed change colors. She appeared at school one day after Leo had been there for about 2 months. The 2 months without her hadn't been the best but Leo had had worse. He joked and laughed and marked himself as the class clown to avoid getting beat up as much as possible. There were still a couple though, who found time to go out of their way and push Leo around and tease him. They teased him for being short, they teased him for not having any friends to hang out with, some even teased him for being Mexican. The insults were endless but Leo didn't really mind. He would rather have people calling him names than empty beer bottles being thrown at him from his foster dad in a fit of rage.

One day Leo wasn't feeling particularly well emotionally and wasn't in the mood for being name called. Plus, his bullies had struck a nerve- his mom. They mocked him, said to go home to his mommy. When Leo's usual smile turned into a scowl they knew they had hit him where it hurt. So, of course, they continued. They teased him endlessly. "What happened to your mom, huh? Did she leave you? Decide you weren't worth the trouble? She probably hated you, who wouldn't? I wouldn't want you for a kid." And that was just half of the things they said. Leo was getting fed up with it, he could feel anger boiling up inside him. No his mom did not leave him. No, she had died, because of Leo. For once in his life, Leo felt on the verge of tears because of a couple of bullies. And then he saw a glimmer of hope- Piper.