You guys know the drill: I don't own PJO or HoO. All rights go to Rick Riordan. Blah, blah, blah and all that junk.

~Lucky

It didn't take very long for Leo to realize that he was surrounded.

Of course, anyone with eyes could see that the police had caught up to him. They were on all four sides of the park that Leo had taken refuge in for the past week. One officer talked into a walkie-talkie, probably calling for back-up. Yeah, because the inhabitants of six squad cars wasn't enough to catch one neglected eleven year old.

Because escaping was most certainly out of the picture, our young protigist plopped down on the lawn and crossed his arms like a bratty little kid that wouldn't move. Why? Because he was a bratty little kid that wouldn't move.

When one of the officers moved cautiously toward him on the lawn, like a dog creeping up on a rabbit, Leo just sat there and smiled like the psyco he was. Yes, Leo had decided to embrace his inner psycotic nature. But that's beside the point. The point is that the officer was now standing directly in front of our stubborn little friend, ready to take custody of him and throw him in another care home. Yeah, that was gonna happen.

(As you may have already noticed, Leo holds a very special part of his heart open for sarcasm.)

"Hi, Leo," The officer greeted softly. Oh, so they were playing the 'friend' game again, huh? Well, Leo knew from experience that these guys most certainly were not his friends. "I'm Officer Daygo."

Leo lifted an eyebrow. "Daygo? Like, Peanut Butter Jelly Time?"

Officer Daygo blinked. "I- um, no. Listen, Leo, we're gonna take you back to Texas to your Aunt Rosa, okay?"

Leo coughed. Then coughed again. PB&J backed up a little. Nothing like a little fake sickness to get people away from you.

"I got-" He forced himself to hack up saliva into the grass. "-Sore throat, sorry."

Officer Daygo curled his lip and swallowed. "That's okay. Why don't you come with me? We'll get you some cough medicine, okay?"

Cough medicine my Aunt Rosa's huge, mumu covered butt. You ain't got no cough medicine, buddy.

"I-" I wonder if I can make myself barf on his shoes... "It's more than... than a sore throat. My stomach hurts, my head hurts, my arms hurt, my legs hurt, my chest hurts. I think I'm gonna..."
He gagged. Officer Daygo sprung away from him.

"O-okay, Leo, if you need to throw up, that's okay," You can bet your shiny badge I'm gonna throw up. All over you. "I'm going to call the other officers, okay? We can take care of you."
If Leo was going out, he was going out in style. Meaning he'd make his internal organs come out to traumatize these cops. Would that include yacking all over the pretty lady cop who just hauled him into the squad car? If he was lucky.

"I need to barf!" He wailed as the car sped down the highway.

'Officer Evez' as she'd introduced herself, shot him a glare from the rearview mirror. "There's a bag back there. Use it."

"No! I need fresh air!"

"We'll be at the station in a few minutes."

So Leo Valdez did the only thing he could think of. He screamed.

"Hey! Shut up! Stop- shut up! Stop screaming!"

"I need to barf!"

Officer Evez snarled as she yanked the squad car over to the side of the road. She pulled his door open.
"You have two minutes to retch as your annoying little heart desires. Use it wisely."

Leo grinned. "Why thank you."

Though it wasn't planned before the car had pulled over, Leo noted that the fence lining the highway would be an easy obstacle to scale. Evez was a good ten feet away- he could get a good head start if he ran now.

He glanced back at the officer, who watched him with a careful eye. Did she have a taser? She did. Huge misadvantage on Leo's part. But the question in consideration- would she use it on a physically challenged eleven year old?

Only one way to find out.
Dang. That sounded seriously cool. He should've said it out loud so the whole world could hear his awesome ninja thoughts.

"A minute left, kid," Officer Evez warned.

Leo bent down like he was going to barf. Then he snapped up and made a running leap that landed him halfway up the fence. Evez yelled something behind him, but the only thing he could make out was the buzzing of the vibrating fence. Or maybe the buzzing of a taser. He'd never know.

Just a little tip: If you ever need to jump over a fence in Arizona, watch out for cactuses. They hurt like... nevermind.

But it would take more than a cactus stuck to his heel to make Leo stop, because the scent of freedom hung in the air. He could hear Evez behind him, shouting at him and calling the station, but he would be gone by the time they got there.

Now all he had to do was find some food, as he'd yacked up the little he had in his stomach.

Do you know what you should do? You should review! If you were paying attention, you'll know that those sentences rhyme! But that doesn't matter.

/R/E/V/I/E/W/!/!/!/

~Lucky