Saving Time - A Caleo Story

Arrival to 21st Century 3x1

Leo didn't feel comfortable in his own skin anymore.

He knew this trip would change him and that he would never be the same person he was when he began. However, the fact that he had, consciously, taken a life was starting to root in his brain. Long forgotten insults and abuse screamed at him when he was younger were unlocked and he was going down in despair and depression.

He was a monster, he knew that now.

Only Father Time knew how long he stayed in silence, in the darkness of his room, being consumed by those thoughts. When the knock was heard, he was startled, almost jumping from his seat. He immediately retreat back to his shell and ignored the insistent door. Even when the knocks turned louder and were accompanied with threats.

"Leonidas Valdez, if you don't open this door now, I'll ask Lang to break it down for me!" The mental image of Lang- whose body didn't seem to fit his gentle nature -breaking the door and towering over him gave Leo the chills and the enough motivation to open the door and find the last two people he expected to see.

"And who were you expecting?" Rachel argued with his unasked question, walking inside his room without even waiting for permission. Calypso, however, was more polite and waited for him to invite her inside.

"By all means, please come in." Leo replied sarcastically to Rachel, but stepped aside to let Calypso in. Both girls seemed to agree on something because all the lights were turned on simultaneously. "Great God! Turn them off or dim them, woman!" Leo complained, covering his face.

"For you to go back to your pity party, I don't think so." Rachel contradicted him, crossing her arms. Leo took a long look to her former girlfriend and noticed that, besides being angry, her eyes were red and you could see evidence of crying on her cheeks.

"How do you know I wasn't silently contemplating what to do next?" Leo retorted, earning a mock gasp from her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. I-like-to-think-in-the-dark!" Yep, Leo didn't need some kind of measurement to realize she was angry. He knew she was extremely sarcastic when angry. "And you won't say anything?!" A second later, Leo realized that Rachel was talking to a muted Calypso.

"I think you're not letting him talk." Calypso answered, trying to hold the stare of her friend. Leo, however, saw that this won't end until Rachel got some answers. Sighing in defeat, he sat down and confessed.

"Fine! I'm hiding, happy?"

"Ecstatic." He got the sarcastic reply, but the anger went away.

"How could you bear stand next to me when I had two people killed?" His eyes grabbed Calypso's, seconds later that he did the slip.

"Listen, Leo. Hitler was a necessary kill." Rachel started, ignoring the silent by-play of her friends. "Had I done it, or- heck, you didn't pull the trigger! That Nico fella did! And you hate him?" Leo frowned.

"No, I don't-"

"Then, you should not feel remorse." She grabbed his hands, making him pay attention. "And about O- Octavius... it were the Nazis that killed him... you didn't pulled the trigger either..."

"But we took him there..." He tried to justified the lie they had told Rachel. However, Rachel was taking none of that.

"No one forced him to go down there. It might have been yours and Will's plan, but he wasn't dragged down there..." No, he only ran away when he thought we would be discovered and probably spilled his guts to the Nazis before we took care of it... Externally, all that Leo did was to sigh.

"Don't expect me to go back to my non-sense attitude with a snap. It will take a while..." Leo finally compromised, making Rachel smile for the first time in a long time. She hugged him and Leo got Calypso's eyes from over her shoulder. She simply nodded and smiled softly, mumbling a quiet 'thank you'. Leo nodded back, feeling better that he could help.