Storm [LAMS demigod AU]

John

Trigger warning: death mention, weapons, violence mention

A/N: Yes Alex calling John 'Sunshine-y' is a Magnus Chase reference if ya know ya know :)

John wished that he was dreaming.

He wished that he could wake up safe in his bed to find that this whole quest had been nothing but a crazy dream.

Actually, no, that was a lie.

He wished that he didn't exist at all, that everyone who thought they knew him had just been having a mass hallucination and one day they would just come out of it and realize that John Laurens had never existed in the first place.

Thomas and the Voice had based their entire plan around the fact that John was unimportant.

He was nothing more than a pawn in their game of chess, a tool they could use and then discard once he'd served his purpose.

They'd wanted him to kill Alex because Alex was important. The Romans would rally around Alex, would rush to avenge his death and wreak havoc on those who had been responsible for it.

John Laurens had always felt inferior to the other demigods. He had no powers, had no exceptional skills. He'd always felt like a lame demigod, the kind of demigod who was overshadowed by the more awesome demigods who were powerful and badass and generally better than John in every way, shape, and form.

It was one thing to feel inferior.

It was another thing to have someone base an entire scheme on how inferior you were.

It was another thing to have everyone know that you were inferior you were, to have everyone know that you were unimportant and irrelevant and that the only reason they kept you around was to make the camp look better by showing "hey, we take lame demigods too!"

Alex had tried to comfort John, but it hadn't worked.

Alex didn't understand.

He was perfect.

He was a leader. The Romans looked up to him.

He had crazy storm powers and a flying pegasus and a fancy purple cloak and badass golden armor. He had flawless eyebrows and beautiful silky hair that always looked perfect no matter how much wind and rain they'd flown through.

Alexander Hamilton was perfect.

And John Laurens was anything but perfect.

John didn't want to be bitter towards Alex, but he couldn't help it.

Thomas' comment had been the nail in the coffin, the straw that broke the camel's back.

John had been struggling with feelings of inferiority for years, and Thomas confirming that John was unimportant and inferior had somehow managed to make him feel a million times worse.

He wasn't mad at Alex for telling him. If someone was saying that kind of stuff about him, he would want to know.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

"John."

"Yeah?"

John and Alex were flying on Hector.

John was sitting behind Alex, his arms wrapped around Alex's waist. His golden armor was icy cold against his skin.

"Don't worry about what Thomas said, okay?"