Silence is Golden (Percy Jackson AU)

Chapter 21- Jason

Jason was almost disappointed when he woke up. His head throbbed, his throat parched, some random lingering taste of burnt popcorn was on his tongue. He let out a moan, stirring the one other occupant of his room.

And it wasn't Piper.

Leo dropped his half finished creation of whatever on the tile floor.

"Jason!" Leo half yawned, half yelled. He wiped sleep from his eyes, and nearly bounding over to the bed.

"Leo?" Jason croaked. He rubbed his eyes. Why was everything blurry?

"Hey!" Leo said, "You okay?"

"Just brilliant." Jason replied. And the weird thing was, it was. He honestly felt better than ever. The pain in his head dulled to just a pinching feeling. He was alive. There was something else too, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What happened?" Jason frowned looking at Leo putting a hand on his forehead.

Leo laughed nervously, "We went to see a rather explosive movie at Movie theaters. You're lucky your sister showed up and saved you. The entire building collapsed."

Jason nodded vaguely. He remembered the explosion, and the blonde girl with the boy who'd run in run before. And the creepy girl with the unnaturally sharpened teeth that slammed his head ten times too many against that stupid counter.

"Wait, Thalia?" Jason's head snapped up, "Thalia was here?"

Leo made that nervous little laugh again, "Yep." Something about his smile, something oddly forced, told Jason he wasn't telling him everything.

"Leo..." Jason said.

Leo gave him a chirpy smile. "Look, man, I probably don't have much time before either Piper or Thalia barges in here, so I need to tell you something." Leo twiddled his fingers together, his foot tapping on the floor at an irregular pace. Was he nervous? "I wanted...to say thank you."

Jason frowned, cocking his head. "What for?"

Leo took a deep breath, "Back in that fire, if you hadn't told Piper to help me, I...wouldn't be here." Leo looked down at his hands, and Jason didn't bother telling him that if he hadn't pushed Jason and Piper out of the way they all wouldn't be there. "When I was seven my mom and I would spend hours and hours in our workshop messing around, fixing things. She taught me everything I know. And...I-I...it was an accident with a couple matches. She...left them out...told me not to touch them. I didn't listen."

Leo wiped away a couple tears, his head hanging low. Jason didn't know what to say. Leo continued.

"I can't stand fire. It reminds me of her. I swear...I didn't mean to. The doors got stuck...My mom got trapped. I miss her...I can't...I wouldn't fix your car...because she taught me how." Leo fell against the bed sniffling. Jason put a hand on his shoulder, as if trying to give him strength. He barely knew Leo, in retrospect, they probably never should've even met. But Jason knew, that somethings like exploding movie theaters, you couldn't go through without becoming friends.

Leo looked up at him sniffling, his eyes cascaded with the glow from the afternoon sun in the window so his irises almost looked on fire.

"Sorry," Jason said. "I didn't know. I didn't mean to push you."

Leo smeared his tears away. "I thought...I thought you should know. Before I..." Leo trailed off suddenly, standing up. A flash of nervousness in his eyes once again.

"Before what?" Jason asked, curiously.

"Nothing." Leo said, almost too quickly. His hand closed in his pocket, probably around that Dragon Statue. What had he called it...Festus?