Home|| Leo Valdez

19

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They hit the roof of the largest warehouse and crashed through into darkness. Alex landed on her back an got the wind knocked out of her. Everything hurt and she was afraid she had broken something. 

But when she didn't feel too much pain, she tried to get up. 

"Leo! Jason! Piper!" She yelled, then breathed a sigh of relief when Jason engulfed her in a hug. 

"Ow, bro!" Leo groaned. "That was my back! I'm not a sofa! Lex, you okay?" 

Alex nodded and helped Leo up while Jason yelled for Piper. 

"Here" Piper whimpered. 

The three made their way in the direction of the sound. They found Piper on a metal catwalk that ringed the warehouse interior. 

"You okay...?" Leo asked and then looking at Piper's swollen foot that was pointing in the wrong direction he added, "Oh no, you're not."

"Thanks for the reassurance," Piper groaned.

"You'll be fine," Alex said.

Jason gave Piper a small smile and asked. "Leo, you got any first aid supplies?"

"Yeah-yeah, sure." He dug around in his tool belt and pulled out a wad of gauze and a roll of duct tape-both of which seemed too big for the belt's pockets. Alex knew he had taken the tool belt from bunker nine. It didn't look like anything special-just one of those wraparound leather aprons with a bunch of pockets, like a blacksmith or a carpenter might wear. And it seemed to be empty.

"How did you-" Piper tried to sit up, and winced. "How did pull that stuff from an empty belt?"

"Magic," Leo said. "Haven't figure it out completely, but I can summon just about any regular tool out of the pockets, plus some other helpful stuff." He reached into another pocket and pulled out a little tin box. "Breath mint?"

Jason snatched away the mints. "That's great, Leo. Now, can you fix her foot?"

"I'm a mechanic, man. Maybe if she was a car..." 

"Wait, what was that godly healing stuff they fed you at camp-Amb... amb-?" Alex suggested,

"Ambrosia, dummy," Piper said through gritted teeth. "There should be some in my bag, if it's not crushed.

Jason carefully pulled her backpack off her shoulders. He rummaged through the supplies the Aphrodite kids had packed for her, and found a Ziploc full of smashed pastry squares like lemon bars. He broke off a piece and fed it to her.

With that Piper seemed to relax, her contorted features eased into a smile and she hummed approvingly. 

"More," she said.

Jason frowned. "Piper, we shouldn't risk it. They said too much could burn you up. I think I should try to set your foot."

"Have you ever done that before?" Piper asked, Alex actually had so she answered. "Yeah, it won't hurt a bit, you relax"

Leo found an old piece of wood and broke it in half for a splint. Then he got the gauze and duct tape ready.

"Jason, hold her leg still. Piper- on the count of three-" Alex started. "Zero... One.." With that she set her foot. Piper flinched so hard she punched Leo in the arm, and he yelled almost as much as she did. 

"Ow," Piper said.

"Jeez, beauty queen!" Leo rubbed his arm. "Glad my face wasn't there."

"Sorry," she said. "And don't call me 'beauty queen,' or I'll punch you again."

"Also who the hell starts the count at zero?" Piper asked glaring at Alex. 

"You both did great." Jason found a canteen in Piper's pack and gave her and Alex some water.

Alex wondered where the were, she could hear the wind howling outside. Snowflakes fluttered through the hole in the roof, and after their meeting with Khione, snow was the last thing Alex wanted to see.

"What happened to the dragon?" Piper asked. "Where are we?"

Leo's expression turned sullen. "I don't know with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible wall and started to fall."

Leo pointed to the logo on the wall . "As far as where we are... " It was hard to see through the graffiti, but Alex could make out a large red eye with the stencilled words: monocle motors, assembly plant 1.

"Closed car plant," Leo said. "I'm guessing we crash-landed in Detroit."

"How far is that from Chicago?" Alex asked.

"Maybe three-fourths of the way from Quebec? The thing is, without the dragon, we're stuck travelling overland." Jason answered.

"No way," Leo said. "It isn't safe."

Alex thought of the woman in her dream and her weird earth like clothes. She looked at all her friends in turn and tried to imagine Piper betraying them, Leo leaving her and Jason as a monster. The thought was so ridiculous she forgot about Percy.

"He's right. Besides, I don't know if I can walk. And three people-Jason, you can't fly that many across country by yourself."

"No way," Jason said. "Leo, are you sure the dragon didn't malfunction? I mean, Festus is old, and-"

"Jason" Alex warned.

"No, let him continue. And I might not have repaired him right?" Leo said.

"I didn't say that," Jason protested. "It's just-maybe you could fix it."

"I don't know." Leo sounded crestfallen. He pulled a few screws out of his pockets and started fiddling with them. "I'd have to find where he landed, if he's even in one piece."

"It was my fault." Piper said suddenly.

"Piper," Jason said gently, "you were asleep when Festus conked out. It couldn't be your fault."

"Yeah, you're just shaken up," Leo agreed. He didn't even try to make a joke at her expense. "You're in pain. Just rest."

"Yeah, Pipes... if anything we can always blame it on the g words" Alex chuckled.

Leo stood. "Look, um, Jason, why don't you stay with her, bro? Lex and I'll scout around for Festus. I think he fell outside the warehouse somewhere. If I can find him, maybe I can figure out what happened and fix him."

"It's too dangerous," Jason said. "Stay together"

"Ah, I got duct tape, Lex and breath mints. We'll be fine," Leo said, a little too quickly, and Alex realised he was a lot more shaken up than he was letting on. "You guys just don't run off without us"

Leo took Alex's hand and reached into his magic tool belt, pulled out a flashlight, and headed down the stairs, leaving Piper and Jason alone.