AN: I don't own PJO. And thank-you everybody who's reviewed, favorited, or followed. I really appreciate it, seriously.

On the screen, Leo was trudging along a highway in bright blinding sunlight. He was much taller and dressed differently, so a lot of time had passed. Whenever a car passed he held up one thumb, but nobody stopped to give him a ride.

The words on the screen read, Leo's age: twelve. Instead of the detailed location that was usually written in the other corner, it just read Somewhere in rural Texas.

"Why doesn't it have a city name or at least a county or something?" Nyssa asked.

"Maybe Hephaestus isn't sure where Leo is. Maybe Leo isn't sure." Piper said, staring sadly at her friend as he trudged along on the screen.

Leo coughed loudly and violently, and he sounded parched. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a half-full water bottle, taking a deep drink from it. He shoved it back in his bag and kept walking. But suddenly he stopped, staring at something about a half-mile from the highway.

It was a two-story farmhouse, but it looked abandoned. The paint was peeling off so you couldn't tell what color it was, the front door was hanging on one hinge, the windows were grimy, and the porch sagged. The lawn hadn't been mowed recently, if ever, and the corn growing in fields around the farmhouse was yellow and dead.

Leo eyed the farmhouse warily, glanced at the long highway ahead of him, and shrugged. He swung his legs over the metal barrier and clambered down into the corn fields. Leo walked through the fields, shoving the cornstalks out of his way. He finally reached the farmhouse and looked up at it-from this angle, it looked intimidating and frightening.

"That place looks like somewhere that would be haunted in a movie." Percy observed.

Leo climbed the steps and squeezed past the crooked door into the house. He breathed a sigh of relief once he was in the sheltered darkness of the house, and dropped his bag on the floor with a thud.

A whimper came from the next room. Leo's head whipped to the side, and his hand flew to the pocket of his army jacket.

"The owners of the house?" Annabeth wondered.

"If someone lived in the house, wouldn't they at least have the door fixed?" Hazel said, shaking her head. "Maybe it's just someone else looking for shelter for the night, like Leo."

"Hopefully. It could be a monster." Frank reminded them.

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade.

"Where did he even get that?" Piper demanded. "He shouldn't be carrying one of those!"
"He might need it for protection, Pipes," Jason said sadly. "He lives on the streets. Leo had it worse then any of the rest of us did, and we had a lot of crap happen to us. And we never even knew." He sounded angry.

Hazel nodded, looking miserable. "I died. But at least I had my mom and Sammy… Leo's all alone most of the time, and he's only twelve years old."

Leo gripped the knife in one hand as he tiptoed towards the door to the kitchen silently. He carefully reached the door and leapt through, the knife raised to attack any potential enemies there-but it was empty. Leo lowered the knife.

The whimper came again, and a "shh!". Leo still held the knife, but he crept to the large kitchen cupboard and threw the doors open. Two kids were crouched inside. "Ahh!" One of them screamed.

The other one shouted, "Please don't kill us!"

Leo looked panicky for a moment, but turned and tossed the knife down on the kitchen counter. He held up his hands in a placating way. "Don't worry! Unarmed! I won't hurt you!"

The two other children stayed crammed in the kitchen cupboard. One was a smallish girl, only half Leo's height (and he wasn't exactly tall). She had round rosy cheeks and a innocent face, big dark brown eyes, and blond hair in pigtails. She wore pink overalls and a white-shirt, though those were grimy and torn. She was the one who had been whimpering.

The other child was shorter then Leo was by about six inches, and a boy. He had tangled blond hair and the same large brown eyes, but instead of overalls he wore dirty jeans and a sweat-stained blue t-shirt. They both stared at Leo in fear.

A name appeared over each of their heads; Jamie Webber for the little girl and Thomas Webber for the little boy. Thomas Webber eyed Leo for a minute, then leapt out of the cupboard. "He's not so big!" Thomas exclaimed. "You aren't scary." He told Leo, almost accusatory.

"Hey, I'm the king of scary. Why were you in the closet?" Leo asked curiously.

"We were… none of your business!" Thomas said, flushing.

"We were hiding." Jamie reported, still crouched in the cupboard. Thomas reddened even more.

"Well I won't hurt you." Leo said, sitting down on the counter. "How about you guys tell me your names? Mine's Leo." He talked calmly in a friendly way, slowly relaxing Thomas.

"I'm Thomas. This is my little sister Jamie." Thomas said, pointing to Jamie, who was still sitting in the cupboard. "How old are you?"

"Twelve." Leo said smoothly. "How about you two?"

"I'm nine." Thomas reported. "Jamie's six."

Leo's face darkened, and he looked sadly between the siblings. "Why are you guys here on your own? No parents?"

"We have parents!" Thomas said defensively. "The social services people said we don't, but they're coming back for us. I know it."

"Oh," Leo said, nodding understandingly. "I understand. Of course. I have no parents. So you two are on your own, huh? For how long, do you think?"
"Six months," Jamie said softly. It was only the second thing she had said, and Leo nodded again.

"That sucks." Percy said. Annabeth sighed.

"Seaweed brain."

"Just making an observation! It does suck."

"You two look hungry." Leo observed. "I think I have enough for all of us in my bag."

Thomas shook his head, but he clearly wanted the food. "We don't need your help."

"Alright, alright," Leo held up his hands in defeat. He went into the living room and found his backpack, coming back in with it and setting it on the counter. He pulled out an apple. "You sure? Picked this on the walk here. It's fresh."

Thomas shook his head again, but Leo skirted around him. He bowed in front of Jamie, offering up the apple. "Your majesty," He smirked. Jamie giggled and took the apple. "And for his lordship," He pulled a granola bar out of his bag. "Not as good, admittedly, but-"

"That's good." Thomas interrupted. "Thanks." He stuck half the granola bar in his mouth at once. Leo grinned and found another granola bar, which he kept for himself.

"That's so sweet," Hazel said. "He doesn't have anything, but he still shared with these kids. That's so… Leo."

"It's really nice of him." Piper nodded, smiling.

"So you guys planning on sticking around here until your parents come back?" Leo asked curiously, looking at the younger kids out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes." Thomas said proudly.

Leo nodded. "I'm seeing one flaw in that plan, Tommy. There's no food here, you'll starve. How about coming with me to the city? Tyler?"

"You're going to Tyler?" Jamie asked. "That's where we're from."

"Then how about going home?" Leo said, raising a hopeful eyebrow at Thomas as he considered it.

"I guess we could." Thomas said, finishing off his granola bar. "It might be nice to travel with someone older."

"Yes!" Jamie cheered, and she scrambled out of the cupboard. Leo grinned.

"Okay, niños, grab any stuff you have, and let's go." Leo said. "We're out of here."

That memory flicked off as well.

"So while he was on the streets with almost nothing, Leo took in two younger kids as well?" Jason marvelled. "Is there anything he didn't do?"

"Doesn't look like it," Piper grinned. "I wonder what else he's done. And what happened to Thomas and Jamie." The smile slipped from her face.

"I'm sure they're okay." Percy said nervously.

"Then why did Leo never mention them?" Annabeth challenged.

"We can't jump to conclusions." Nyssa said, finishing the conversation. "We'll just have to wait and see."