Leo Valdez- Learning to Live

Chapter 5

Hey. I really appreciate the comment I got. It was too kind! But, yeah. Thanks.

I don't own anything.

Frank was confused.

His thoughts raced even faster than his legs as he and Hazel searched the forest.

Surely this wasn't real, right? Maybe the others were playing a practical joke on him. It had happened before. Oh yeah, he bet they'd find Leo, alright. They'd find him ready to throw a pie in his face or push him into the lake or something.

Right?

But the way Jason had sobbed... It was too real. Either Jason was a better actor than Frank thought, or something really was wrong.

Frank tried to remember the last time he saw Leo. Sure, it had been a few weeks, since Frank was at Camp Jupiter a lot of the time, but Leo had been just as obnoxious and loud as ever. Maybe Frank didn't know the boy all that well, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn't suicidal.

Wasn't it?

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden scream. He skidded to halt, finally noticing what Hazel had already seen.

As Hazel slid off his back and rushed to the figure lying on the ground, Frank changed back into a human, turned away, and threw up.

Leo was paler than Frank had ever seen him. An ever-growing puddle of blood pooled around him, and ugly gashes ran up and down both of his arms. What disturbed Frank the most, however, was the gentle smile on Leo's face. Frank felt dizzy at the sight.

"-nk! Frank! FRANK!" He suddenly realized that Hazel was yelling at him. She was leaning over Leo, pressing her hands against one of the deeper cuts.

"Take off your shirt!"

"I- what?" 

Hazel huffed in frustration. "I need you to take off your shirt and rip it into strips right now," she ordered.

Finally understanding her intentions, Frank quickly did as she asked.

Hazel worked with a tightly controlled panic, taking strips of cloth from Frank and tying them securely around Leo's arms.

When they had done the best they could, Hazel turned to Frank.

"We need to fly him to the infirmary as quickly as possible, but be careful!"

There was no time to say anything else. Frank nodded. There was just enough room in the small clearing to transform into a dragon. Hazel pulled the limp Leo onto Frank's back and held on tight. A million thoughts going through his head, Frank burst through the trees and started the flight back to camp.

Perhaps it was Leo who was a better actor than Frank had thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven demigods sat around a table in silence.

Nico was angry. He had been suspicious that Leo was hiding something, but he never expected it to be this bad. He wanted to find whoever had made Leo feel this way and punch them in the face.

Noticing his boyfriend's anxiety, however, he settled for placing a comforting arm around Will's shoulders. The medic was staring at his hands. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to get all the blood out from under his nails. It bothered him to no end.

Hazel was in a similar predicament. Blood stained her dark skin. Leo's blood. It just wouldn't wash off. Frank, sensing her distress, was curled up in her lap in the form of a kitten.

Percy was slumped over on the table and had his head buried in his arms. At times, the other demigods could see his shoulders softly shaking.

Sitting next to the crying boy, Annabeth was sure her brain was broken. She usually analyzed any situation that caught her off guard until she could understand it, but it simply wasn't happening this time. She could not reconcile the Leo she knew with the pale, bleeding boy Frank and Hazel had carried into camp only a few hours earlier. One of the happiest people she knew wanted to end his own life. How could she analyze that?

Piper sat quietly, alone. Two people that she cared about most in the world were in the infirmary. Jason, thank the gods, would soon be as good as new. But Leo? A tear rolled down her face. Would he ever be good again? Had he ever been good in the first place? She wasn't sure anymore.

Seven demigods sat around a table in silence. Though each one's mind was traveling different places, a few common threads connected them all.

Is this my fault?

Could I have prevented this?

Why?

And, perhaps the biggest question of them all:

What do we do now?

So that's a little shorter but I'm fairly pleased with it. Leo will probably wake up next time, which will be fun.

Although I am getting close to the point that I had planned through, so I might have to start brainstorming.