Percy knew that progress was made in centimetres and inches, not miles and kilometres. Yet despite that, for the first time since the clean up had begun, he was actually beginning to see that progress. “You know hermano,” he said wiping beads of sweat from his glistening brow and pulling off the thick work gloves he’d been wearing to haul rubble, “I think that we’re actually starting to make a difference here, our hard work is really starting to pay off.”
Leo passed over a water bottle to Percy, as he had been to other volunteers who had been helping him. Leo had been down moving things with them all, not wanting to seem like he was just directing and not working himself. “It is! It’s looking a lot better than when we started this morning. I’m proud of this group, they worked really hard.”
Watching Leo and his team of volunteers curiously, Cat barked orders in Latin and set her own Legionnaires to work before crossing to the edge of the lot and watching him for a second long before speaking. “There’s still a lot more work to do…” despite the fact that she was talking about a lot, she got the feeling that Leo would understand that she meant more than just the recovery of the city.
“A lot of work, but it’ll happen quicker than we know,” He told her brightly. There was nothing that was going to stop his roll. They had to have someone to constantly remind them of the positives or else people were going to be discouraged. “Hard work will make all the difference, Cat.”
Leo knew there was a lot of work to be done, but he was up for the task. He had to be if the city was ever going to heal. He had to figure out what to do about the whole situation, or at least part of it. The rebuilding and the damage was likely going to take months to change physically, but he knew that to make people feel as though change was coming, he had to make it look like it was. He was volunteering with a group to clean up the damage on a lot. “It’s already looking so much better,” He said brightly.
Wally nodded, grinning. “Oh yeah, you did! I uh, I forgot about that. Silly me.” The blush crept up on his face quickly, but it wasn’t that embarrassing. “Oh yeah? Sounds interesting. What do you have down so far?”
“I’ve painted quite a few people here, don’t worry about it. Your’s wasn’t weird or anything and at this point, I’ve seen so many people naked it doesn’t matter.” He shrugged,“Community gardens, centers for those who lost their homes, a way to help business restart.”
“Leo Karavadra?” Wally had come up behind the man, holding a package. “Hi, Wally Robinson.” He put his hand out. “I have something for you, from a girl named Andrea? Said how she was affected with one of the curses and that, well, I guess it kinda scared her into not properly giving people some thanks and what not. Asked if I could give it to you.” His eyes fell down to the drawing in the man’s lap. “Did I interrupt something important?”
Leo’s eyebrows went together, taking the package from Wally. “I remember you. I did a painting for you. The one for your roommate.” Leo had painted quite a few people, but he tried to remember everyone. They were all important. “Not really. I’m just trying to imagine New Rome after this. What we’ll have to do to make it better. Safer.”
Things were starting to look up. She didn’t know if it was the sun beaming down on the pair of them, whether it was the cool lake water lapping gently at her toes as she read a good book or maybe it was the presence of Leo. Either way she was happy. Looking over at Leo’s sketch, she slipped a card which she’d been using as a book mark back into her place, and snapped her book closed. “We can make things better than they once were.”
“The bar is pretty low for that,” He teased, before looking over at her. “Want me to design us a house? I’m no architect and I have no idea how engineering works, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting.” He could see it now, a house that didn’t have wings, where people could actually yell across the place and others in the house could hear them.
It was a strange thing, to have your career path change so drastically. Leo knew he was still an artist, he would still love to create, but there was something about being involved that made him feel useful. He was slowly beginning to see the two paths come together, as he sat on the banks of the lake, sketching his ideal New Rome. He let out a quiet sigh, looking at the edge of the lake. “There’s so much to rebuild.”
Nico watched Leo silently as the other spoke of his family possessing too much money and his being aware of it. As the other spoke of helping the Greek cause and fighting blatant discrimination, Nico raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn’t say anything until the other had finished, correcting Nico’s statement that it hadn’t been abandonment. “Families can be… troublesome.” He stated simply. “My uncle attempted to kill my sister and I when I was… six or seven years old. My father repeatedly attempted to murder my cousin, and another of my cousins is quite literally God of War.” He kept details vague - letting Leo attempt to figure out which of the Big Three went where; and which cousin that Hades had attempted to kill. “But regardless, families remain your blood.” He commented lightly. “It is … difficult to go away from them, or watch them leave you.” There was a slight note of dejection in his voice which betrayed personal experience in that category, but Nico moved on swiftly. “All that matters is that you have chosen to side with the Greeks against oppression and persecution, even going against your own family.” He fully turned to face the other, giving him a scrutinizing look for a moment. “I appreciate that.”
Nico’s story left Leo with furrowed eyebrows until he reached the part about the God of War. “For a moment I thought you meant your human uncle and I was genuinely concerned. Gods make families even more difficult. If it makes you feel any better, my mother is also my great grandmother and great times 4 or 5 grandmother. Which is... Really gross when I think about it for too hard.” Leo tried to avoid thinking about his family tree, since when he did he discovered even more Gods who were already in the tree having kids with their descendants. It honestly grossed him out quite a bit. “It is. Even through everything, I miss them. Family is always family, at least to me. It was hard, walking away from them, but it had to be done.” He nodded, agreeing that that was the most important thing. “Too many Romans stood by and just watched it happened. I wasn’t going to be on the bench any longer, not when I could help.”
Nico regarded the new arrival over his shoulder at the words that were spoken. He recognized the man - one of the Karavadra children. He had been vaguely aware of them through somewhat knowing their father in Roman high society when he had served as Ambassador of Pluto and a member of the Senate. “Such as yours?” He asked rather guardedly. With the curses having so recently ended, Nico was not feeling particularly warm towards Romans he did not know - which kept him limited to Jason and Hazel, in all honesty, given the incarceration of Reyna and Frank. It was nothing personal: it was simply his naturally aloof personality reasserting itself.
“I know of your family, but not well enough to know which of the children you are.” He informed the other somewhat bluntly as he turned fully to face him. “Or how you came to abandon your family to side with the Greeks.”
Leo looked over at Nico with a serious face,“Yes such as mine. When I turned sixteen I brought myself a yacht. I’m well aware my family has too much money.” Too much power too, he wanted to say, but if he was going to get into politics it probably wasn’t the best idea to tell people that. No need to make them have reasons not to trust him anymore. “Leo, the eldest,” He looked at Nico fully now, attempting to judge how he should respond. “I’ve been helping with the Greek cause since it began in New Rome, I always believed in it. I left because I don’t believe in the blatant discrimination that was happening, that is happening. I’m fighting in my third war against my family for this. My siblings are adults who made their own decisions, it wasn’t abandonment,” He told him, repeating what Bobbi had told him so many times. He still believed he could save them, fix what mistakes they made, but they were adults now. He couldn’t save everyone.
The lifting of the various curses on the Greeks and Romans had been something of a personal relief to Nico di Angelo given that he had spent quite a bit of time as a decaying and collapsing zombie-like being. People already had enough of him to be afraid of without his literally falling apart. He’d lost his skin more times than he cared to think - honestly, thank the Gods for Wally and his potions - and now deeply desired to leave the entire fiasco behind him… and make the Romans suffer for the curses he remained convinced they had started.
Chewing at his lower lip, he stood at the edge of the Greek encampment, eyeing the large Roman villas that surrounded the lake, curious which of them would be the most opportune target for a mission of vengeance. He wasn’t particularly feeling charitable to the Romans - even though they had had people affected by the curses as well - because, after all, he had been literally falling apart. Folding his arms tightly over his chest, he glanced down at the Stygian Iron sword fastened at his waist before looking back towards the homes along the hillsides.
“Sneaking up on me isn’t usually a smart idea, you know.” He commented simply to whoever had been approaching him from behind.
Leo had to begin his attempt at networking. Percy and Annabeth were on his side he was rather sure. Jason would have been, had the man still been around. He could count on some of the former centurions around the Greek camp to support him as well. Yet, he still had a few people he needed to befriend. Yes, it seemed a bit underhanded to think of friendship as a way of getting ahead, but he supposed he was going to have to start thinking that way.
Nico di Angelo might not be the most well liked person around, but he was respected. People knew of him. So when Leo saw the man looking over the villas, he knew this was a good time as any to come up. Leo laughed,“I wasn’t trying to sneak up. I just saw you up here looking over the Villas. Kind of ridiculous that some of the families here have most of the wealth.”
Kol scratched at the back of his neck with a slight frown, why did they always send the ones with no experience to help him out? Though he supposed he did have some experience, metal work wasn’t far away from what he was doing. Glancing around his work area Kol frowned a little more having not fully realised how much of a mess the place probably looked from outside eyes. “Think you could sort through those swords? Find the ones that are worth saving and which are beyond repair. I can show you how to melt the metal down.”
Leo wasn’t sure what he did before he was cursed, but he got the idea that it was usually just helping out. He, also, had the feeling that these people didn’t trust him anymore. As though aging backwards would make him run to the Romans with all their information. “Sounds good to me. I, apparently, left the Legion recently, but I used to help some of the younger kids with their weapons. Let me tell you, some of those young first members go way to hard and end up damaging their weapons badly.”
Leo and Bobbi spend an evening celebrating the end of the curse, looking toward the future, reminiscing about the past, and enjoying each other’s company.
TW: Drug Use, Alcohol
Sneaking away from Cat’s safe house really wasn’t what Leo pictured himself doing after getting his curse broken. Yet, he was excited to see Bobbi at his actual age, rather than being six. He’s pretty sure he made some pretty embarrassing comments about how pretty she was when he was thirteen. Quietly he went back to their rooms, smiling softly at Bobbi when he saw her. “Hey, love. I hope you’re as excited that I’m back to my regular age as I am.”
The past month had been perhaps the most surreal. Having a younger Leo about had been fun for Bobbi for a little bit, but it had quickly become difficult to think of Leo as her boyfriend and future life partner when he was thirteen and trying to hit on her slyly. Though amusing, a small part of her had begun to despair that they may never be able to fix things and when she had left Leo had been himself again, but there had been no time to talk as her shift at the field hospital had already started. As he finally returned to her, she stood and reached forward playfully grabbing his crotch and then laughing. “Thank the gods Greek, Roman and whatever else that you’re finally back, I’d had enough of the curious case of Benjamin Button for a life time.” Leaning forwards she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in close for a kiss. “I’m over the moon you’re back,” she said running a hand over his facial hair with a happy smile.
The past month has proven quite a few things to Leo. One of the most glaring was that Bobbi was one of the most important people in his life. Of course, he had known it before, but now it had been proven. He honestly wasn’t sure how he could’ve in love with someone as much as he was with her. “I can say that I’m also happy leaving it behind,” He told her happily. While things were hard, and likely to get harder, Bobbi still made him happy. “I want to do something nice for you. We haven’t gotten to do anything nice in a while.”
Smiling gently, Bobbi existed in ecstasy and bliss for a single moment. Basking in Leo’s presence and the fact that everything was going back to more or less normalcy. Or at least how they had been a month ago. “I am over the moon to have you back to normal,” Bobbi replied with a pleased smile. She cathartically ran a hand over his facial hair once more before taking a step backwards and slipping onto the bed. “Well I’m not against you doing something nice for me, but you don’t have to. Having you back to as normal as we get is more than good enough for me.”
Leo’s eyes slide closed as she ran a hand over his face. It was good to be back with her, even if the information that Cat had given to him was weighing on his chest. He wasn’t sure if he should tell Bobbi, it was Cat’s secret, one she was convinced would hurt Bobbi and everyone else if people found out. It would probably be better if he just let it go. He took her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm. “Do you remember when we used to watch the stars on the roof when I could sneak back out to you? Do you want to go find some nice food and drinks and just pretend we’re not in the middle of a ridiculous war where I was a child for a while.”
Bobbi smiled wistfully and thought of all of the things that she and Leo had gotten themselves into when they were in high school. She remembered getting high with him, her eyes had been so red that her brothers had snuck her to her room and convinced their parents to eat their evening meal outside so that she could keep her sunglasses on. The first time she’d gotten drunk had been with Leo and she’d experimented with several different drugs with him. With Leo there she had always felt safe. “Of course I remember,” she replied with a bright smile, “I’ve actually got something that might be perfect for that.” She pulled out her medical bag and rummaged through before pulling out a small pill box with a slightly stale bud of weed in it and her old weed pipe. “We had this leftover from your birthday, so all we need now is some food and drink.”
Leaning down, Leo pressed a kiss into Bobbi’s forehead. “You’re brilliant you know that, right?” He asked grinning, before offering her a hand to stand back up. “I know just the guy who can get us drinks. Some people started making their own alcohol and I didn’t tell anyone about the whole operation, so I’m pretty sure I can get them to give us some for free.” He looked around, trying to think of anything else they needed, he grabbed a blanket, folding over his arm. “Now let’s find some food and talk about the good old days like old people.”
“We didn’t finish it all and I thought that I would save the little that we had left for a proverbially rainy day, mainly because it never rains here without someone approving it first.” Bobbi packed their supplies into a small rucksack and set off after Leo. “Well, I guess you have to try everything at least once. So this will be my first try of toilet hooch.” She giggles and embraced the warm Californian air as they crept through the darkness. This was a welcome difference to how she had felt even a day ago. As the stars glittered into existence slowly, one by one, Bobbi found herself feeling better than she had in a few months. “It’s nice to have you back,” she said slipping her slender fingers through his, “I missed you.”
“I kind of wish it rain here more often. I like the rain,” Leo said, almost wistfully. He certainly felt as though he did his best work in the rain. He wished it would rain more now… Now he could use that peace more than ever. There was something fun about sneaking around at night that he had forgotten about. “Toilet hooch really isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to seem, I promise.” He squeezed her hand as he led her to the little operation he had found before. “I know I haven’t been myself for a while and I’m sorry.”
“It’s boring,” Bobbi agreed as they made their way through the Greek fortifications and up to a hotel that had been raided a dozen times before being abandoned. “I like the unpredictability of a thunderstorm it is refreshing not knowing what the day will bring but knowing that the worst that could happen is a light July shower rather than a death or injury of someone that you care about.” She wished she hadn’t said anything and immediately tried to brighten the mood. “Well toilet hooch will have to do, as long as it is strong I couldn’t give less of a shit.” She smiled for a moment before running a hand through her curly hair. “There’s a small bakery tent that throws away all their crusts, it sounds stupid but they’re just round the corner and the crusts almost taste like chips….” she shrugged and smiled reassuringly at him. “You can’t do much about a supernatural curse, but I forgive you either way.”
“If we can stay here, we want to stay here, can we get a place outside of here? Maybe in Oregon or something, where we can go and experience rain and unpredictability together?” Leo asked, sounding a bit wistful. It sounded like a dream, having a home in New Rome, but somewhere that they could escape to as well. Somewhere that their possible future kids could experience a mortal life. He squeezed her hand,“The war is going to be over soon, I promise. I have a feeling that both sides are over it now.” At least Cat had been. He slipped into the operation, speaking with one of the kids there with a small smile, before being handed a bottle. He went back to Bobbi,“Let’s go get some crusts then.” He shook his head,“No, I mean I haven’t been me for a long while. Since February.”
Pausing, Bobbi wondered how to tell Leo about her cabin in Hawaii. She’d bought it to build credit, the mortgage had been tiny and it had been a nice getaway. “I don’t know about Oregon, but I’ve got a small cabin in Hawaii, very remote. No wifi or anything. One year I got a huge cash gift from some wealthy heiress who’s granddaughter had a blood clot in her frontal lobe. It was a miracle she survived but I invested in this tiny cabin. We could go there… one day.” She smiled at the plastic litre bottle that had once held mineral water and was replaced with toilet hooch of a questionable colour. She moved away from the operation and down to a bakery that had sprung up in a bombed out pizzeria, apparently the pizza ovens were all but perfect for baking. “The sooner things get back to normal the better,” she said quietly, “everyone needs time to rebuild, this city needs time to heal.” She smiled sweetly at the proprietor and took a small brown bag full of various crusts. “What roof do we want to get on top of?” she asked curiously, before shrugging and nodding. “I know. But no one has and you lost everything. You lost your home. You lost your family. You lost friends. People you cared for died. You did that and I don’t care if you say it wasn’t for me, it felt like it was for me. I couldn’t blame you for being a bit out of sorts after that.”
Surprised, Leo looked over at Bobbi, before a smile blossomed onto his face. “Are you telling me that you have a safe house in Hawaii?” Though, she might not see it as a safe house, Leo certainly did. Somewhere that no one else knew about in a remote area, brought with cash, it was a perfect safe house. “We need time to heal. There’s going to be tension if we’re allowed back in. I intend to make sure that people see me going out and accepting those who fought against us. People are going to need to see that… People might need to see you do it too.” He knew that that was going to be hard for people, going back home when your neighbors had fought against you. He was going to need people on both sides making an effort to make amends. “See, Boob, you're not the only person who has a safe house. I have one too, one with a perfect roof to view the stars from.” He took a few moments to gather his words, because she was right. He had done a lot of what he had for her. “It wasn’t just for you, don’t get a big head.” He teased lightly. “It hurt for a long time, being on the other side of this war when my family wasn’t with me. That’s what made me feel the worst. I let it get to me, probably for too long. I wasn’t active the way I should have been. I could have helped a lot more than I did and I regret it.”
“I have a holiday cabin in Hawaii,” Bobbi replied, “I refuse to call it a safe house…” she smirked at the thought that her tiny two bedroom cabin was a safe house. It seemed ridiculous but she guessed that there was little else to call it. Especially if you had been a demigod you’re entire life. “I didn’t move here to waste my life, I moved here because I wanted to start my life within this city. Although it is the only place we can live. But I intend to make this work, I’m a Doctor. I’ll treat Romans and Greeks, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to get this place back to somewhere that we can all live peacefully in.” Smiling gently, she held out an open palm. “Lead the way then,” she said quietly, before laughing at his comment. “I know I’m hot enough to make someone abandon his family and friends for me,” she leaned in and kissed his cheek, “I’ll make it worth your while, don’t you worry.” She paused. “You’re far too hard on yourself, you couldn’t make them trust you and you can’t expect yourself to just adjust straight away. I don’t blame you for what happened and to be honest if it had been any different then I would’ve been concerned for your well being.”
“I’ll call it a safe house for you then. You might not have known you were a demigod until this year, but you thought like one.” Leo joked lightly. There were certainly things about the two of them that were different because of their childhoods and he found it endlessly interesting. “We’re going to be in for a long haul fight, but I know you’re ready for it.” He smiled mirthlessly,“I’m not really ready to be fight for rights again. Feels a bit like the sixties again. I’m going to try to get old friends to make an effort to understand other people.” He groaned, though there was humor in it,“Am I somehow going to end up in this whole thing by becoming a politician or something?” He didn’t think he was quite manipulative for the job, but maybe that would make him better at it. Leo began to lead them to his safe house, though he specifically made it a long and windy walk to make sure that anyone following them would have trouble following. “Sometimes my well being is second to everyone else’s. I just wish I had pushed to be more involved. I wish people didn’t see me and think Karavadra. If we ever get married, can I take your name?” He asked, half joking.
“I was thinking about the reasonable rates and the tax deductibles, I didn’t know that demigods were so interested in fiscal responsibility.” Bobbi smiled and tried her best to enjoy the winding walk through the city of New Rome. It wasn’t exactly the most direct route but she knew that he would be doing this to protect them. Despite his siblings abilities and high ranks within the Legion, Bobbi had never forgotten the ferocity that she had first seen him fight when someone had made the mistake of trying to take things too far. Three seniors had got their asses handed to them on a platter and even though they weren't an item Bobbi had fallen for him then and there. “You would be a good and honest politician, that’s definitely something that this city needs. But if you don’t want to be a politician then you don’t have to be. You can be whoever and whatever you want. Stay at home and paint all day for all I care, neurosurgery is very well paid.” She squeezed his hand affectionately before sighing. “You need to stop being so hard on yourself, but if you want to become a Trueman then I know that my parents would love to add you to the ranks of our proud family.”
“How do you think my family owns this much of the city? Fiscal responsibility is almost as important as knowing how to kill a man by the age of thirteen.” Leo teased, though there was truth to that statement. He had known how to kill someone far too young. He shrugged,“I realized while I was with Cat that we’re going to need people that’s willing to look past, well, the past. I let other people take control because I thought they would be able to do what I wanted to get done. I’m realizing that I might need to take it on instead.” He would love to sit and paint all day, yet he wasn’t sure that he would be happy or content doing that anymore. Not when he had the option to change things. “I don’t want to always be know automatically for my who my dad is. I do worry that my siblings will think that I’m ashamed of them if I change my name though…”
“Someone should tell Percy about fiscal responsibility because his Jeep looks like it has seen much better days and from what I hear he is meant to be one of the better demigods,” Bobbi giggled gently and then things suddenly got very serious once more. She didn’t know what to say to Leo. He had always been one to sit back and allow others to take control. The laid back nature of her boyfriend was one of her favourite things about him. But maybe he needed to change. “Leo,” she said quietly, thoughtfully, “you will eventually discover what the right path in your life is. You will eventually find out the true path that you should walk. Whatever that is, I’ll be here to make it happen. I’ll support you through everything you could possibly need.” She laused and looked upwards at the stars beginning to glimmer in the sky, “They want you to be happy. Even if I don’t approve of their methods and their motives. But they will understand.”
“Percy in a lot of ways is an outlier when it comes to demigods. Let’s not base everything off him or else we’d have a lot of young demigods thinking they could fight gods and win.” Leo said with a smile. Percy was someone who Leo respected immensely. He was sure he couldn’t have done half of what the other demigod did and he had been born into this life. “I’m not a general, but I spent so much of my life on the sidelines, I thought that’s where I belonged. I thought it was easier that way. I can’t do it anymore, Bobbi. I can’t hide what I think for the sake of things being easier.” He finally went to a house and unlocked it, pushing it open for Bobbi. “Stairs lead up to the roof.” He shrugged,“I know they’ll get it, or I hope they will, but I don’t want to alienate them further from me. From us.”
“If even half of the things that I’ve heard about Percy Jackson are true, then of course he is an outlier.” Bobbi had gotten to know Percy well, spending a lot of time looking after them both after they’d rescued Annabeth. But there was a goofy look in his eyes that didn’t seem to line up with everything she’d heard about him. “But the fact of the matter is that you are your own breed of demigod, a demigod that will do a million more wonderful things. Whether you’re a fighter or a politician. You’ll do great things for this city and I will be there to see you do them. Your past doesn’t define you. It might shape your next steps, but you decide what you will become.” She frowned and shrugged. “Unless there is something you want to tell me, I don’t think that this is something you have to worry about just yet. Besides, talk to them. Maybe they won’t care.” Striding up the steps she made her way towards the roof.
“Considering I once heard that he meet the Christian God, I can tell you half things you’ve heard about him aren’t true.” Percy Jackson was a humble and heroic person, which made Leo that much more glad that he was so involved in Bobbi’s life. He wanted her around people who could protect her as much, if not better than he could and Percy and Annabeth could protect her so much better than he could. “People will watch us very carefully if I end up going down that path. I’m going to be more serious now, but… I think I’ve been getting more serious lately anyway. I can’t promise our lives will be the same, but hopefully they’ll be better.” He hoped at least that he could shape the world into a better place. They all deserved a better world. His sister deserved a better world. “Listen, if we ever get engaged, it’s gonna be because you asked. So I think I’ll wait on asking them about my last name.”
“Enough talk about Percy, tonight is about you and me and celebrating the fact that you’re back and able to speak without your voice breaking,” Bobbi beamed and slipped a hand up the rails of the stairs as they slowly but surely made their way to the terrace at the top of the roof. “So long as there isn’t a risk of explosions on a daily basis, so long as there isn’t people getting stabbed by other demigods then I am more than willing to put myself under the microscope. Other than a cocaine habit that I developed in my penultimate year of college I have nothing to hide.” She was partially joking. “But let’s focus on ending this war, and before that we should definitely focus on enjoying ourselves tonight.” She moves across the terrace and slipped onto an air conditioning unit. “What? You think I’m going to buy you an engagement ring?” she asked with a bright laugh.
“Don’t want to talk about your brother in law anymore? Tragic,” Leo teased lightly. As the terrace came into view, Leo thought about how one day he wanted to have a home with Bobbi, one where he could set up a couch for them to watch the stars whenever they wanted. “If they can look past the fact that I was a huge stoner for the last twelve or so years, they probably won’t be bothered by your coke issue.” He said looking at her lovingly. “I’ll probably have to smoke way less.” Though he wasn’t sure that was a bad thing. He’d been smoking for so long that, until recently, he wasn’t sure what he was like sober. “We’re here to celebrate, you’re right.” He took her hand brushing over her ring finger. “I think I’d like one, but I’d obviously get one for you as well. I just think you should be the one to ask, when you’re ready.”
“I’ve been reading a book called “Famous demigods and who their parents were” and you would not believe the number of children of Athena that are successful, which in turn makes it weird to think that thirteen of my brothers have been world leaders,” Bobbi smiled gently, “but what is even weirder is knowing that my actual sister Annabeth is really related to me.” She laughed and shrugged. “You never know, it might win you the younger vote, they might like having a cool stoner to vote for…” she smirked and nodded gently, “there is only so long you can smoke that much for,” she agreed. She sat against that roof, staring up into the sky and tried to decide when she would be ready. “We will have to see what happen then…” she replied unscrewing the top of the bottle of hooch and sniffing at it, it didn’t smell of anything other than fermented fruit but she didn’t know what else she had expected, “I don’t think I want to try this first.”
“Of course, you’d find a book on that. Anyone interesting?” Leo said with a little grin. It did sound genuinely interesting, he had to admit. Maybe he’d borrow it sometime soon. “Guess now is as good a time to start being less of a stoner as anytime. I might see what other people say about the idea before I jump head first, but I do think on this side we need some to represent us.” He couldn’t think of anyone else who was willing to do it. Percy had too much to do on his own, something with Annabeth. He grinned at Bobbi, taking the bottle from her and sipping. His face screwed up slightly, then he laughed. “It’s not the worst I’ve had.”
“There was Harry Houdini who is a child of Hermes, Laverne Cox is a daughter of Aphrodite and George Washington was a son of Athena,” Bobbi shrugged, “I’ve got it back in our room if you want to find out about some more semi famous demigods.” Swallowing, Bobbi fiddled with her hair and twisted it around her finger. “You shouldn’t rely on everyone else to make decisions for you, if you think this is the right thing to do then you should do it. Fuck what they think. The more people like you that stands up for something right the better. That’s why you’re the real hero. At least to me.” Taking the rancid alcohol from her boyfriend she took a mouthful of the hooch and winced as it burned the back of her throat. Swallowing she made a face and frowned. “You’ve had worse than this?” she coughed.
“I’m shocked by literally none of those. I heard that Kesha’s got some Iris legacy. Not a child of, but I think maybe grandchild?” Leo there were a lot of rumors about demigods, though he didn’t listen to many of them. There were only so many time he could hear the rumors about Beyonce before they were too much. He nodded,“So you’re ready then to be watched by everyone? People are probably going to drag us down… My father is probably going to drag us down. I’m sure someone is going to assume that I’m just a puppet and you’re really in control. I wish I went to college suddenly. If you tell me you don’t want that life, I won’t pursue it.” He couldn’t ask Bobbi to risk her life and the little peace she had for something that could be in the end a pipe dream. “I party in Portland where everyone’s trying to make their own IPAs. I’ve had way worse than this.”
Smiling Bobbi nodded along and grabbed a crust of bread. Chewing on it thoughtfully, she had to admit that despite their lack of supplies and despite the fact that they were still in a war, Bobbi wasn’t sure that there was a thing that she would want to change. “I’m far from ready,” she replied honestly, “but I’m a doctor that has treated Romans and Greeks alike, I want to open a new hospital when this war is done, one that is staffed by Romans and Greeks and nature spirits alike, that’ll be much easier to do with a politician for a boyfriend and let’s not even mention how good it’ll look. It won’t be as easy of a life as I would hope for but when has that ever stopped us before?” Taking an easy life wasn’t for her. She didn’t think it was really for Leo either. “Ok ok,” she smirked, “that sounds like you win.”
Leo took a piece of crust for himself as well, though he just broke it in half, playing with the pieces a bit. When had this ever been part of the plan? He wasn’t supposed to be the politician in the family. He was supposed to be the lazy artist. “It would be a really good public project for people. No one is going to go against a new hospital. I’m sure we could find backers who have enough money to make it possible and better.” He was sure that if it became a public matter, if it gained support, families in New Rome would feel obligated to be apart of the project to make sure they stayed in good standing. “I’d like to open a support center for those in the war, for those who lost people or their homes. Figure out some housing options for those who lost everything but aren’t looking to go back into the Legion.” He took a long sip from the bottle, before passing back to Bobbi. “I’m going to need to get new ties and more suits.”
“Frankly I don’t care if it looks good or not, when I worked at the other hospital in New Rome it was clear that there wasn’t enough resources to go round and after a war there will only be more of a need for a new medical center,” Bobbi shrugged and bit her lip thoughtfully, “not to mention a need for a counselling service. I’m sure I need it and I’ve barely been on the front line for very long…” she shrugged and chewed on a crust for a second, “This city has so much potential and this war gives us a chance for a clean slate. But we’ve got to take that chance. If we can get rid of the almost autocratic nature of your so called democratic senate and we could actually get people who can effect change then we really stand a chance.” She paused. “I’ve seen your passion for helping marginalised groups, you could make a difference and don’t forget, the Karavadra name carries a lot of weight and you could use that to your advantage. Plus if your siblings could back you, their contacts could really help.” She smiled and leaned against his chest. “You look good in a suit and tie, so I’m not complaining.”
“The Greeks will certainly need someone to take care of them. Even if the war ends, I’m rather sure people are to be declining service if we don’t put laws in place against it.” Leo had a lot to think about. Too much to think about. “We need to change how the government works here. It’s completely ridiculous how hard it is to break into the political structure here if you aren’t in a large family name. I hope that people are frustrated enough with the war that they’ll be looking for a change. I could work with frustration.” He wrapped his arm around her, feeling vaguely guilty that this was supposed to be a celebration and he was talking politics. “I’ve got their connections and a good amount from my art. You have no idea how many rich people I used to sit with for hours to get their portraits done. I know secrets about these people that even their best friends don’t know.” He already had a few old customers that he could think of contacting later. There were plenty of people who stayed “neutral”, though was silence against injustice neutrality or just silent support of the injustice? “I’m gonna have to get you a nice dress for when I announce that I’m going to get into politics.”
“It seems so strange to me that we are from two different people groups, who would know that there could be such an invisible and meaningless difference…” Bobbi was about to make a comparison to the racist of the world but decided that it was a wasted analogy. “But if we are able to eliminate the social and political gatekeeping that the New Roman society has developed over several hundred years of paranoia and what seems to be stagnation, then we have a real chance to build a demigod utopia where people can live in a society that doesn’t threaten them because of who their parents are. The Greeks are hardly innocent either.” She has heard plenty of ignorance and prejudice from her own people and it made no sense. They fought this war in the name of tolerance, necessity and a need for survival. It didn’t help anyone to spread more hate. “See. Even if you didn’t know it you were networking, or at least that was what my mentors would call it when they allowed their patients to take them drinking.” She laughed and smiled. “I retain the right of power of veto, but your taste is pretty mature so I’m sure you’ll pick something beautiful.”
“It’ll be a fight to have people even see it as gatekeeping. We overuse the word tradition, so now everything we do we argue is traditional. No one is innocent in this. We have all done things that have helped this war. We just need people to see this and start healing from it.” Leo didn’t even know where to begin to get into politics. He certainly couldn’t come out of this and just automatically run for senator. He’d have to start gathering people’s trust. He had his siblings, he hoped at least, he had Percy and Bobbi. Rather big names in this. He’d have to gather support from other people as well. “I’m going to need to find a way to appeal to people our age, on both sides. Maybe convince them that traditional isn’t the way we should go. I can hopefully get my art people to donate to your center. Obviously, I’ll invest as well.” If they opened a center up, it would hopefully become a beacon of hope. He had enough money to get a good chunk of the payment out. “Anything on you is beautiful, but I’ll make sure it is very beautiful to match you.”
“This societal rift that has been created will only be fixed once we stop looking to the past and focus on the future,” Bobbi replied with a slow sigh, “we have to be the change that we want to see. But my concern is that even after the war has finished things might not change. I would just loathe to see more unnecessary bloodshed and this war isn’t over. I know Cat promised you it would finish soon but wars have lasted for years.” She sighed nervously and pulled out her pipe, slipping the weed into the bowl and feeling in her pockets for a lighter. Finally pulling one out, she struck the flint and held the flame to the bowl before taking a long draught on the pipe. The earthy smoke travelled up the pipe and down her lungs, a few moments later and she exhaled the cloud of smoke before passing the pipe to Leo. “Maybe we can stop talking about the future for a bit and focus on the now,” she said leaning further onto him.
Leo took that pipe from her, then stole the lighter from her hand. “Yeah, I’m sorry. You know how I get with an idea. I just keep going until it either happens or someone tells me to stop,” He said with a grin before taking a hit from the pipe. After a few moments, he exhaled. “Tonight’s for celebrating the end of the curse. For celebrating us and all the shit we went through to get where we are now.” He kissed the top of her head, passing the pipe back to her. “Can’t believe I got so lucky to have a girl like you fall in love with me back. I’d probably still think I couldn’t do anything if it weren’t for you.” Bobbi had always had faith in him and it was incredibly special to him. Especially since it sometimes felt like his family believed in him just because they were obligated to.
Bobbi exhaled a mouthful of smoke before smirking and shrugging gently. “I’m not telling you to stop, I’m just telling you to take a break for the rest of the evening.” She smiled brightly and lay against his chest, settling into his muscular torso and wrapping an arm around her. Reaching out she grabbed the pipe off of him and sucked down a large hit of the pipe and she reached for the bottle of hooch before taking a somewhat hesitant swig. “I’m planning on doing more than celebrating the fact you’re back. I want to really enjoy the fact that I have my Leo back in my life…” she winked at him and settled back onto him and swallowed some more of the hooch, beginning to feel more intoxicated minute by minute. But right now everything was perfect and she couldn’t care less. “You didn’t get lucky, you were just yourself,” Bobbi replied with a smile, “that is what I fell in love with, that is what I love about you. You are what I want. But you can do literally anything you want, with or without me.”
Leo grinned down at her, feeling content in the moment, the most content he had felt in months. Getting stoned and drunk with his girlfriend under the stars was such a perfect activity for him. He tilted his head up to the stars, wondering if his little brother was looking up at them too, the kid was a huge star nerd afterall, before shaking the thought away from him. Tonight was about Bobbi and Leo, not about anyone else. He let out a laugh, grinning up at the stars,“We can stay here tomorrow if you want. Really enjoy each other while we still have the time.” He took the bottle from her and sipped from it. “Do you remember what you said to me when we first met?”
Bobbi had been through so much since she and Leo had gotten together. College. Medical school. Placements. Residency. But nothing had been quite like this. Living through a war with the most important person in her life was quite unlike anything she could have possibly imagined experiencing. As she wrapped herself in his embrace, Bobbi thought of everything that they had been through together and she smiled. Maybe things were as far from perfect as they had ever been, but at least she had the love of her life to make things feel better. “As long as I am with you I don’t care where we are and how long we are there for,” she paused and curled up closer to him, puffing on the pipe once more, “you make my world turn and I don’t know what it would be without you. Believe it or not you made everything better. Even if you think you weren’t yourself, you kept me going.” She paused and shook her head, although of course she remembered. “What did I say to you?”
There had been moments where Leo had thought of the what ifs: What if he had gone to New York? What if he and Bobbi had been together this whole time? He wouldn’t change what they had now though. It felt poetic that after so much time they were together again. It felt right for them. “I’m going to take you out to that little cabin one day and we’ll just be there together.” His throat got tight with emotion and he pressed a long kiss into her hair. “You kept me going too, my love. Whenever days were really bad, I always knew I’d be coming home to you and that made everything okay. I feel safe with you.” He grinned at her, he loved telling people about this. “You said, ‘Hi, I’m Bobbi! And I’m going to be the lead neurosurgeon in the nation one day.’ I thought you were the coolest person I had ever met. I’m pretty sure I started to fall for you then and I just didn’t know it.”
Bobbi shifted and settled into his chest once more, chewing on a thick and rather stale piece of bread crust. Yet despite that she couldn’t help but enjoy everything that was going on. Leo was so incredibly perfect for her. “That sounds perfect and one day we will be able to enjoy the most perfect holiday that I have ever experienced because it will just be you and me and anyone else that we want there,” she paused and smiled brightly at him and shrugged, “is that not exactly what a relationship is for, aren’t we meant to keep each other going through the toughest times?” It was a rhetorical question that she didn’t need answering. “I wasn’t lying either,” Bobbi said with a bright smile, “I am one of the top neurosurgeon in the country and I plan to be one of the top neurosurgeons in the world one day, but that will have to wait until we’ve overhauled the health system and political hierarchy of this city.”
“If we go a lot, it’ll be like we’re having a mid life crisis, but fun!” Leo joked. He was pretty sure he was going through his mid life crisis at the current moment anyway. Though, it didn’t feel exactly like a crisis. More like a really bumpy, fun rollercoaster. “You weren’t lying. You’re gonna get there really soon.” He couldn’t believe how brilliant she was sometimes. She was truly a master of her craft. “I used to think about what you said a lot when you were in New York. I missed you, of course, but it felt right knowing that you were doing exactly what you sought out to. It made it easier for me to go out and really pursue art, even though I didn’t have formal training. I realized that if you were determined enough, you could get almost anything done from you.”
Well and truly high and drunk, Bobbi couldn’t help but feel like she was back in high school and skipping lessons with Leo to do something that her parents wouldn’t approve of. It didn’t matter to them that she was valedictorian and that she’d gotten a full scholarship at NYU, and a plethora of other prestigious schools. “For my whole life I have wanted to achieve something that I knew others couldn’t, neurosurgery was hardly the easiest thing to master, but the more that I read and the more that I learned the more determined that I was. I missed you so much. And I did everything I could to use a string of Andrews to fill the void that you left in my life, but even when the Andrew asked me to marry him, I realised that I didn’t want to marry him but it gave me the motivation to work, believe it or not I actually used it as an excuse to avoid him, even though I never realised it.” She paused for a moment and shrugged. “But with you I don’t want to be separated from you, even for a second longer than necessary.”
“I hope you know that you are genuinely the most brilliant person I have ever had the honor of knowing,” Leo told her, pride filling his chest. Bobbi was truly brilliant and she made him want to strive to be more than he was told he could be. She made him want to know what he could achieve. Without her, he was sure he would still be happy sat in the backseat of things. “I’m not going to lie, when you say that about Andrew, I’m secretly please. I don’t like that you weren’t happy, but I gotta admit that I’m happy that I make you happy.” He pressed another kiss onto her head. “We won’t be separated again, I promise.” He hoped it wasn’t just a drunken promise. “We’ll always be there for each other.”
“Well I am glad that you think that I am one of the most brilliant people that you know,” Bobbi replied with a giggle, “I would say the same thing to you, but I know you don’t need your ego inflating anymore. All I will tell you is that your paintings have kept me up for nights, especially when we weren’t together.” Shifting against him once more Bobbi settled into her stoned and drunken stupor. “I was with Andrew because it was easy, he was successful and he was everything that you could’ve wanted. But he was boring. He didn’t challenge anything about me and I wasn’t even particularly convinced that he would have been with me if it didn’t suit his career needs…” she trailed off for a moment and shrugged, “but I am glad that you’re back in my life, you’ve always made me happier than he ever did, if that makes you feel better.”
“I mean to be completely fair, I earned that ego through,” Leo laughed. “This sounds vaguely creepy, but I have so many paintings of you. My best ones are of you.” He thought back to his long ago conversation with Maia about a painting she found of Bobbi. She had known from just a quick look that he loved whoever the woman was in the painting. “I never dated anyone after you. I tried, but I kept comparing them to you. I ended up just having a bunch of booty calls,” He grimaced,“You probably didn’t want to hear that.” He grinned,“Is it vain if I say it does make me happy? I like making you the happiest.”
Laughing, Bobbi beamed. “You’re right,” she replied doing her best to stifle her laughter, “that does sound creepy. But it is touching that you think your best works of art are of me.” Bobbi had never been an artist and she’d never understood how other people could do it either. Whatever she tried to draw simply never came out the way that she wanted. But when your boyfriend was as fantastic an artist as Leo was it was hardly a concern for her. She simply watched him sketch or paint if she felt artistic. Shrugging, she sighed. “I’m not stupid Leo, I knew you hadn’t waited for me and I don’t think it would’ve done good for us to wait for one another. Everything worked out fine in the end and that’s what matters right?” She smiled gently and shrugged. “Besides I wasn’t as innocent as you probably think I was.”
“If my studio wasn’t destroyed, I’ll show you some of the pieces I mean.” Leo hoped that his studio wasn’t destroyed. He had so much work there that it would be truly devastating if they were all gone now. He knew there were worse things to lose, but it still felt wrong to lose all of those paintings. He had paintings there from when he was seventeen. “I knew you didn’t think that, I just don’t know if you want to hear about it. I didn’t have an emotional connection with any of them other than friendship. They never clicked like we did.” He grinned down at her,”Oh I know you’re not innocent.”
“Your studio wasn’t in the worst parts of the city, besides it belongs to the Karavadra family, I’m sure everything is more or less safe in there…” Bobbi felt the gentle pulse of Leo’s heart between his top and her ear. She sat in silence for a second, staring up at the sky and watching the stars twinkle in the distance. “I can tolerate so much, I think a general rule of thumb would be that if you wouldn’t want to hear about me doing what you’re about to tell me then I don’t want to hear it. So if you’ve secretly had an orgy with Charlie’s angels then I don’t really want to hear about how tight their assholes are.” Bobbi managed to keep a straight face for a whole second before giggling and shrugging. “That’s fine with me, they can keep not clicking as far as I care…” she smirked and leaned over placing a kiss on his neck. “You’ve experiences my lack of innocence first hand.”
“I didn’t buy it in their name. I don’t buy property under the Karavadra name. We already own so much of the city, we don’t need to own more of it.” Leo used a pseudonym for quite a few of his purchases. He couldn’t get away with his yacht being under a different name, but most of the rest was for someone who didn’t exist. He let out a startled laugh,“You’re telling me you wouldn’t want to know if I slept with Charlie’s Angels? I haven’t, but could you imagine me keeping that a secret from you?” He grinned down at her, pleased. “I’m pretty happy that none of them clicked too.”
Raising an eyebrow, Bobbi trailed a hand down his chest absently. “Well who knew that you were such an international man of mystery,” she said with a smirk, “apparently we are both the type to purchase properties in suruptious manners.” She smirked and settled back onto Leo, wrapping her arms tightly around him she couldn’t help but feel like everything was somehow slightly better than it had been before. Giggling, she settled against him and shrugged. “No I cannot imagine you keeping that secret from me, you would be far too pleased with yourself to not tell everyone that you could what you had done.” She smirked once more and took the hooch again, sipping at it cautiously.
“To be completely fair, I did that because I knew my dad was gonna be looking for me purchasing property. You brought yours with cash because you’re naturally paranoid,” Leo teased lightly. This was the most natural feeling in the world; holding his girl close to him and just watching the stars, talking about everything important and everything not. It was perfect in ways that he couldn’t describe. They were perfect. He let out a laugh,”As if you wouldn’t be pleased with yourself if you had fucked Charlie’s Angels. Who wouldn’t be?”
After a month of staying with Cat in her safe house, the curse has been lifted from Leo. The twins have a few moments to truly talk for the first time since the war began. No decision was reached, but perhaps some understanding was found between the siblings.
The moment the curse lifted, Leo was flooded with memories. Going from the mental state of a six year old to that of a 28 year old in less than a minute was so jarring, he almost passed out. Not to mention the feeling of his body suddenly going back to it’s normal dimensions so suddenly. Yet, the most troubling thing, was his relationship with Cat. He had needed her quite a bit lately and she had been there without a second thought. To make it worse, he had fun with her. He remembered why he loved being around his sister. He waited for her to come back at the kitchen table, it wasn’t right to leave without a word. When he heard the door opening, he looked over to it. “I’m better now. Don’t know what happened, but I’m back.”
Cat yawned as she made her way back to the cottage on the lakefront. The nights ordeal in the library had been eventful to say the least. She had passed Bobbi a few moments ago who had told her that she was heading home, to the Greek base. But she had said Leo was waiting for her. She’d beamed with happiness as she thanked her for helping them through this difficult time. So even though she wanted an extra long nap, she decided that a coffee would have to do. In the most ironic of circumstances she found herself longing for the curse to go on, because that would at least mean she got more time with Leo without the complications of the political mess that surrounded their lives. Stepping into the cottage, she closed the door gently behind them. “We managed to break the curse, wasn’t really me, Percy Jackson and Kolina Valla and that Wallace boy were the main perpetrators of that act of valor. But Bella and I helped.”
None of what she told Leo really surprised him. “I think he likes going by Wally,” He replied back. He didn’t know the guy, but he had seen him around the camp enough to hear of him at least. He shifted, his elbows going to his knees and his hands propping his chin up. He looked at Cat, face showing his worry and sadness. It was almost ironic that literal minutes ago he was carefree, nothing could touch him, and sudden here he was feeling far older than 28. He supposed leaving your family to fight on the other side of a war could do that to a person. “What now, Cat?”
Laughing mirthlessly Cat shook her head, sending her silky jet black hair cascading outwards before it came to a halt. “I don’t care what he likes to be called,” she paused for a second, “he has been a pain in my neck since this war started. Even Marcus Arcardi doesn’t come close to his skill as a magician, Valla did but then she defected.” She sighed sadly. She had been painfully aware that her father would realise she was hiding something here, and now Leo was better there was no reason to keep taking the risk that he would catch him here. Jefferson would take pleasure in dragging Leo back to Camp Jupiter in chains. Cat couldn’t let that happen. Even though she knew it was her duty to return a traitor to the prisons of New Rome. “You need to leave, sooner rather than later, father will catch on to us before long and I can’t protect you from him.”
Surprised by her comment, Leo let out a quiet laugh. “So you aren’t big fans of them, because they’re making the war harder to win?” There was nothing malicious to his voice, just curiosity. The laugh didn’t last longer, however, and his face went back to the serious mask that he had had before. He wrung his hands a little, a tick that he still held from childhood. Whenever he was in a high emotion situation, he’d play with his hands or something that he held. “I meant with us, Cat. What now, with us? I’m going back to the other side of the war. A war that if you win, means I’m never coming home. They won’t let me not after I left like I did. A war that if I win, you’ll be villainized for.” Not to mention that he wouldn’t want to come back, but he was sure she already knew this. Even if New Rome was his home.
“I admire and respect him as an opponent sure, but his abilities are an almost unfair advantage that I don’t look forward to playing against.” Cat sighed gently and wished for a simpler time where she had time to think of people as people and not as opponents or allies. She paused for a moment considering her answer before continuing speaking. “Either way, what I call him in his absence is hardly our most pressing concern.” She fell into an almost uncomfortable silence as she tried to work out what to say next. “I’m not coming with you Leo,” she said quietly, “there is too much you don’t understand, there are too many people that depend on me and if I were to leave then things would only get worse…” She thought about the cult and thanked the gods that Leo had never gotten entangled in their web. “I understand the implications and the ramifications of this war, but you don’t get it. Everything I do, I do for a reason. You might not understand my reason but there’s a point behind my actions.”
Perhaps, Leo had never understood how much his sister seemed to take on until that moment. “I figured you wouldn’t come with me, but I feel like we’re missing something between us. I’m not a part of your life anymore.” He looked at her for a long moment, trying to figure out a way to convince his sister to let him in, but that never seemed to work before. She had been told for so long to keep things hidden, he couldn’t imagine that it was easy to go back from that. “Can you tell me the reason? Cat, I don’t feel like I understand you anymore and I want to. You’re my twin, my person, but you haven’t told me things. I have a feeling you haven’t been telling me things for a really long time.” He pause for a second, swallowing down a bitter taste before continuing. “I can’t promise I will understand everything you did, but I want to give it a chance. I want to give you someone to talk to again, because you’ve been stuck in your own head for a really long time.”
“Leo, I would love to be part of your life. But we’ve both made choices, decisions which have consequences. We can’t change that and we have to live with those choices…” Cat felt her eyes sting and knew tears were threatening to start welling on her bottom eyelid. “Leo I have thought about telling you the whole story a thousand time, but it’d be put you and Bobbi in more danger than you could imagine. It isn’t worth the risk that you’ll get hurt so that you can understand.” She paused for a moment, trying to clear the cluttered shelves of her mind and get some semblance of order back. “One day I will explain everything, but this isn’t the right time. But these curses have made it clear to me how untenable this war is, I have spent too much time amassing power to change things. But I became so scared of losing that power that I became the very thing I swore to change. We are very near to the end of this war and I promise you that in one way or another we will end this war.” She sighed sadly, the realisation had come to her as she had spoken and her iron clad resolution that she had been in the right and done the right thing so that Leo and Jax didn’t have to was beginning to crumble. Maybe Callum didn’t need to die. “I’m sorry Leo, but you’ve got to let me keep protecting you. It’s too dangerous for me to stop now.”
“Cat, it’s war. I’m going to get hurt anyway. I don’t want to say Bobbi will, but I know inevitably war will change her too. I’m fine with taking the risk. I should have taken the risk years ago and been more serious with this family.” Leo loathed to admit it, but his actions, or rather inaction, did nothing to help his family. Arguably he hurt them more than helped anything. He had began to regret that. “Help me help you with this. We can work together and end this. We need people on both sides to finish this. We might not be able to change things or fix them, but at least we can minimize the damage that we leave behind us.”
“Leo this is something that’s been going on since I was 16 years old, and father was a part of it and our grandfather and his grandfather.” Cat paused for a second almost scared to go further. No one person scared her, but the extended power of the cult was more than any single demigod or legacy could cope with. They were as old and as resourceful as the hills. “The risk is beyond anything you could possibly comprehend, you’re not the only one at risk either. These people won’t stop until you’re either dead or defeated. They won’t come after you either, they’ll start with Bobbi and then me and then Jax and then Bella and then Ella and then they’ll decide whether it is time for you…” she swallowed and for the first time regretted making her bed with the cult. Despite the power that had accrued under her name, she wished she could take Leo and Jax and Bobbi and move. They could go anywhere but with the cult watching them they wouldn’t last a week before their assassins found them. “Believe me Leo, if there was any other way then I would tell you right now.”
Leo watched his sister closely, trying to digest her words. She was in something deep, something bad. “So Dad and you are apart of it, is the rest of the family?” If Jax was in it too, Leo couldn’t imagine how he been so blind to see what had been going on in his family for years. “I imagine that you can’t just leave something like this…” He trailed off his voice wavering a bit as he thought of the implications of what his sister could be involved in. He thought briefly on how it felt a bit like a mob or something, but he didn’t think that those were really popular in New Rome. Though, it was turning out that he was apparently better than he thought he was at censoring what his family did from himself. “If you tell me, are you going to get hurt? We can leave this conversation as it is, if they will.”
Pausing, Cat took a deep breath and shook her head at Leo before she heard a crunch and the sounds of footsteps down the gravel driveway rang out. “Look, someone is coming and you need to go. Just keep out of this until the end of the war and I promise everything will be fine.” She rose from the kitchen table that they’d been stood around and rushed to the front door. Bolting and locking the door, she hurried back into the kitchen and threw Leo’s bags to him. “I promise that things are going to get better really soon, you’ve just got to trust me.” She shot him a promising look as the crunching footsteps reached her front door. “But father has found us and you really need to go.”
A crushing sensation hit Leo’s chest. He and Cat were going to be separated again. They would be on the other side of things again. It felt wrong. They had been with each other for so long. He didn’t regret his decision to side with the Greeks, not even for a second, but he did regret what it did to his family. His father would never understand, no Leo was just a failure to him, at least Leo assumed, but he hoped his siblings got it. Gathering his bags, he pulled Cat into a strong hug. “Get a burner phone if you can. I want to hear from you. He doesn’t need to know.” He went to the back door before looking at Cat for a long moment,“I love you, Sis. Even with everything, I love you and I always will. Don’t ever forget you have me. In this war, I know it’s easy to, but you have me. I love you, be safe.”
A loud knock came at the door and as Cat hugged Leo she knew that they were out of time. Jefferson would likely arrest both of them in the name of the senate. “One minute!” she shouted to the door before dropping her voice to a low whisper and moving to the back door. Cracking it open, she gave him a weak smile and ushered him out the back. “I love you too, wait until they’ve come inside and then slip to the bottom of the garden. There’s a little path between the hedges that leads out to the lakefront.” She paused for a second longer and heard a second rap on the front door. “I really need to go, don’t do anything stupid.
Cat: Yes. So far Martina and Brock are the only ones I've come in close proximity with. But there are reports of people being impacted by curses across the camp.
“You got an apartment, or maybe that was your studio. I don’t know. That’s actually how you and Bobbi reconnected, she coincidentally moved into the apartment next to yours.” He shrugged gently and nodded, “that is how it appears. If there is anything that I can do to fill you in then please let me know, actually, anything you need at all. Technically you’re family now.”
“What the fuck?” The words slipped from his mouth before he really thought of what he was saying. He didn’t like the idea that he had left so much behind, even if he hadn’t technically left. He just didn’t remember extremely formative things of his life. Which didn’t seem very fair to him. He wished he knew what he was doing and what was really going on in his life. “Anyway you can get my memories back? That would be pretty great.”
