Breathe Into Me (Valdangelo/Ghostfire/Leico)

Aphrodite sat in her seat, swinging her legs. The gods were having another one of their boring councils. She twirled a golden lock around her finger absentmindedly. For lack of any other options, she dug out her magic mirror and peered into it hoping to find someone in the mortal world who needed a little help in the love department. Suddenly something popped up. She gazed intently at it. Perfect.

*

Leo Valdez sighed, leaning back against the old grease-stained chair. Running a hand through his unruly curls, his gaze wandered absentmindedly around the room. He just couldn't focus on anything these days. He didn't want to tinker, eat, sleep or talk. The last surprised him because usually he couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. He wasn't happy, sad or angry either. Just lonely. Always lonely.

Whoop-De-Doo!

The front door swung open. A customer. (What he was thinking when he installed that sound, we'll never know.)

He groaned softly and put down the jumbled mess of wires he had been toying with. He really hated mornings. Nevertheless, he plastered (what he hoped was) a friendly smile on his face, and went out to see who it was. Ten minutes later he walked back to his work table, wiping his hands on a rag. All Old Man Jenkins had wanted was an oil change, easy.

He'd barely sat down when he heard that obnoxious cry again. He was used to this. Everyone in town seemed to want things fixed before 7 o'clock, or normal waking hours. Leo had no idea why but it didn't bother him at all, rather, he was grateful for it. Working was a great distraction against the nightmares. Even the word sounded sinister. The falling ones were the worst. Every morning, he'd wake up screaming. Probably waking up half the neighbourhood as he laid there, sweating and gasping.

Self-pitying time's over, Valdez. Let's get to work. He thought, dragging himself up again.

*Much Later*

Waving away his last satisfied client, Leo locked the door behind him and flipped over the sign with a relieved air. Another day was finished. Although he loved working in the shop and wouldn't have traded it for anything, taking breaks never hurt.

The latino whistled happily, turning around to go upstairs when...

*Crash*

"Sorry!"

He caught himself just in time, narrowly avoiding a most undignified faceplant in the floor.

"Oh, zat's fine." A raspy voice spoke behind him. It was tainted with, a French accent?

The old crone behind him sighed.

He stared at his new guest, certain everyone had left already. Still, he pulled a smile (if somewhat confused) on.

"Uh, can I help you ma'am?" He tried politely.

"You are a sculptor as well as a mécanicien, no?"

How did she know? No one was supposed to know. His eyes almost popped out of his head.

Then the boy regained his composure, studying his guest with new eyes. She wore a simple black shift that stretched to the floor, dotted with holes. A thin shawl was thrown over her bony shoulders, and the threadbare headband tying her graying, matted hair back had definitely seen better days. She was gently fingering (no dirty thoughts) a porcelain dove hanging over her heart. He hadn't noticed it at first glance, but now he couldn't believe it had been there all along. The tiny bird appeared to be fluttering its wings with an incessant fervour.

"How did you know I sculpture...?" Leo tried then failed to conceal the bewilderment in his voice.

"Call it a guess. You see, my son has... recently pazed. But he loved art more zan anyzing, particularly statues." Her eyes shone brightly as she remembered.