Hello wonderful PJ readers!

I promised a lovely reviewer that when 'What Leo Found Out' reached 200 favorites (and, what?! 200!? That's crazy!) I would finally clear my schedule to write another Leo fic. I love this crazy little fire-cracker. He's a pleasure to write.

I cannot begin to describe how happy it makes me when I check my emails and people have favorited my stories or reviewed them! Even the view counts leave me in awe. I'm so touched when people add my profile to their favorite author's and alerts. If I could plant a love-struck 'MWAH' on all your wonderful faces, I completely would.

On a personal-growth note; I've re-read quite a few of my pj fics and I'm very conscious at the moment of my 'British-isms'. It's true that sometimes I find writing about American characters (set in America) a pain in the arse simply because I've spent my whole life saying things like 'mobile' instead of 'cell'. But I promise to check and triple check this time! If anyone spots any British-isms do please let me know and I'll henceforth banish them from future fics. (Same goes for spelling and bad grammar! Take no prisoners!)

Disclaimer – Woe to anyone who tries to take the jewel that is Percy Jackson away from the wonderful Mr Riordan. I would never be so crass.

So readers, read on! And I hope you enjoy x

Coincidence Comes Crashing Down

When a frigid drop of water dripped unpleasantly upon his arm, Leo lifted head with a miserable sluggishness, too weary to even brush it away. He puffed out a breath, which briefly warmed his folded arms, and surveyed his surroundings once more with heavy eyes. The damp, bricked underside of a bridge, aglow with his own firelight in the surrounding darkness, was little comfort against his t-shirt clad back. Sat upon the gritty, dirty ground, about six feet in front of him, where the ground dipped lazily, lay a large, chilly puddle of water that stretched pathetically out of either side of the bridge, joining larger puddles of rain water. He shifted closer to the middle of the wall, eager to pull away from the drizzle.

Nights like this were the worst, he reflected. Whilst the weather Texas was hot at best and mildly chilly at worst, he seemed to have the magical ability to pick those very rare nights where the weather resembled a goddamn Winter night in England. Bloody freezing, if he did say so himself.

Leo huddled his legs closer up to his chest, once more cursing the fact that he was so skinny and small.

He mulled over the fact that he never really had the chances to gain body fat. Well, he supposed it was partially to do with his metabolism, and hot damn if all the running around (away) he did, didn't burn off like a bazillion calories. (Ha, burn; what a pun, he chuckled.)

No, he thought, he didn't have a chance, especially not in this home. Leo sighed heavily, burying his head in his arms once more, refusing to look at his dwindling little fire.

Whilst the couple were nice (and oh, weren't they always) and clearly had experience with troubled kids (but seriously, troubled? What does that even mean?) their own particular method of 'dealing' with such children, well, needless to say, Leo found it lacking. And by lacking, he meant it totally sucked. With the charming (ha) father figure of the household being a former military man, he and Leo frequently minced words. And unpleasant words at that.

Now, Leo would be the first to say 'Hey, I'm the King of Running my Mouth, with side helpings of 'pain in the ass' and 'hell yeah I'm taking your toaster apart'' but this guy just wouldn't cut him a break. For ever misstep, not matter how small, this guy was on his ass faster than a starving fat kid on a twinkie, and he usually had a hellish punishment in tow.

He was no stranger to punishments; with a foster home repertoire as lengthy as his, he was well accustomed to the varying methods of 'dealing with Leo'. He'd even admit some had it down to an art form; this household in particular certainly seemed to.

Going to bed without dinner.

Urg.

Now, for any other kid Leo supposed this was fairly routine method of punishment. Negative reinforcement all around just seems to have that effect on kids; you do something wrong, you get punished for it, you don't do it again. Simple.

Leo got the basics of this, he seriously did, because hey, his Momma didn't raise him to be a badly behaved moron. But he just couldn't help himself. The more and more this guy struggled to stuff Leo's personality into a metaphorical tin can, the more he wanted to set the guy's neatly pressed socks on fire.

Oh, how he wanted to set them on fire. They were argyle.

He sighed heavily, the chill of the damp night creeping around him. He could mock his unsympathetic caretakers as much as he wanted, it didn't change the fact that he was an orphaned, fourteen year old runaway who was sitting under a bridge in the dark. His mother would be horrified if she could see this. Leo tore his eyes away from his little fire; just the sight of it made his insides turn unpleasantly.

Leo knew in the morning he'd get caught. Mr and Mrs Military would spot his un-slept in bed at some point; they'd search the house for him, order the other foster children to comb their street (where they would very half heartedly call out his name). But when they don't find him they'll call the police. The police would track him down sooner or later (probably later because really, he didn't exactly belong to anyone or belong anywhere) and he'd be returned. He and Mr Military would argue more, Mrs Military would shake her head in exasperation and the other children would –

Well, they'd probably make him just as miserable as they always seemed to.

And if they didn't find him, he'd no doubt be forced to return when he ran out of food and money.

The life of a runaway orphan, who has crazy fire powers, was never simple.

Leo buried his head back in his arms, shuddering against the sharp wind that breezed through the tunnel. However much he disliked this home, his foster parents weren't bad people, their way of parenting just didn't allow personalities (i.e. personalities riddled with ADHD) like his any way of flourishing. Any time he tried to be useful, he usually messed up somehow, any attempt he made at being friendly, was usually scorned or questioned. Particularly with the other children.

He'd come to realise pretty quickly that when dealing with other foster children, it was dog eat dog. You didn't do something for another foster kid unless you got something out of it. Leo supposed this was a form of detachment that was typically due to the fact that they had lost parents; the last thing you wanted to do after losing someone that close to you was form attachments. To love someone so much and for them to leave... Leo knew he probably contributed to textbook psychology theories regarding loss and parental attachment, but damn if it hadn't been painful enough the first time…

Foster children he'd encountered expressed such feelings of angst in many different ways, but the ones in this home… They seemed to have a special scorn reserved just for him.

Now, usually, he was very good at keeping under the radar. Dorky enough to get picked on, but useful enough (in regard to fixing skateboards and game stations) to not warrant a picking on. He was content to fly under the radar, he preferred to talk and talk and talk (because, come on, he was still ADHD) and not have anyone really listen. If they listened, they cared. And that was the last thing he wanted, and, a tiny part of him chimed sadly, expected.

But in this home the five other children housed in Mr and Mrs Military's tender loving care not only had no patience for him, but they seemed to have a special dislike for him. They were four older, taller and angrier boys than he. Their favorite hobby; pick on Leo.

He clenched his eyes shut tightly; just the memory of it made him want to curl into a ball.

The television screen had turned fuzzy right in the middle of Friends (heaven forbid) and they had called him downstairs to fix it. It seemed that though his ability to fix things had once left him untouched, this group had no such intention. Personal handy man and personal punching bag.

Great.

He'd trudged downstairs and as he began to try and find the problem, it seemed they had decided he would be much more entertaining than another Friends rerun. Crowding him against the appliance, they had begun to push at his shoulders, insults of a very unorigional caliber were thrown at him and he tried to ignore it. He tried so damn hard to but they just wouldn't let up; pushing and shouting, stupid Mr and Mrs Military were nowhere to be found, he'd panicked.

A tiny flame flickered at his fingers and with it, Leo's heart turning cold like ice.

The flame snuffed out of existence a moment later, but the damage was done. They'd seen and oh, how they reacted.

Of course, he knew he needn't worry about them telling adults. They could tell as many people as they wanted that Leo was a mutant pyromaniac or whatever; who would believe that was true? Anyone told would listen to their story and think hey, a kid fiddling with television wires and the other kid's saw a spark of light? The last thing anyone would believe was that Leo could shoot goddamn fire out of his fingers.

Plus, it was common knowledge that if all four boys put their brains together, they might have one functioning brain that had an IQ higher than 30.

No, it wasn't the thought of being caught that stung his eyes with tears, it was the accusation. Leo knew that the mocking words thrown his way, freak, useless, stupid, were just that, words. Meaningless unless he gave meaning to them. But the last one thrown his way, before he'd shoved them out the way and run upstairs, grabbing his meager belongings in preparation for a quick departure, struck him so deeply that the memory of it made him want to be sick.

Brett, the biggest, ugliest and stupidest of the three had decided that today was the day he was going to start using all three of his IQ points to make a connection.

"Hey guys, didn't the freak's mom die in a fire? Man I bet it was him. Haha did you kill your momma Valdez? Sucks for you loser!"

He swallowed heavily, suddenly overcome with a shivering, dizzy, cold feeling that had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with trying not to throw up.

"SONOFA-"

*Splssshhhhhh!*

Leo whipped his head up, eyes wide, heart pounding loudly. The loud curse echoed in his little tunnel and the water splashed at his feet. He peered out into the darkness, into the still rippling waters, holding his breath.

For a moment, everything was still. He released a slow breath, trying to listen over the hard pounding of his heart.

An arm wielding a sword shot up out of the water. Holy –

"AAAHHHHHHH!"

Leo scrambled back furiously, chanting 'ohmygodohmygodohmygod' as the strange figure seemed to rise up from the puddle like Frankenstein off the table.

The dark shadow of a body walked closer, waving his arms at Leo; it was talking, but Leo couldn't hear it over the chattering of his own teeth. He covered his face with arms; let this thing to what it will to his body, but for the love of god leave the face alone.

"Don't kill me!"

"What? I'm not gonna kill you. And geeze, would you be quite!" The mysterious figure hissed, sounding a lot like a…. teenage guy.

Leo peeked up through his arms, peering up at the body looming over him. Dimly lit by Leo's flaming jacket, he could see the teen pressed tight against the tunnel wall, clearly listening into the darkness. He had very dark hair. When a low grumble echoed out into the surrounding park, the boy's shoulders slumped and he exhaled heavily. He looked at Leo, who was, embarrassingly, still cowering with his arms covering his face.

"Uh… you can get up now. It's going away." Leo blinked and lowered his arms, face the picture of shocked confusion.

"It's… what? What's going away?" He squeaked.

"You didn't see? I thought that was why you were hiding, and why you shrieked."

"I – hey! I didn't shriek. I…. screamed a very manly scream. And the only thing I saw was you waving a sword in the air."

He looked to the teen's hands and spied no sword. In fact, all he could see was a –

"Wait, where's your sword?"

"I don't have a sword. Why would I need a sword?"

"But… you said something was out there."

"I did? Yeah, uh, just, bullies. Yeah, bullies from my class. No need for a sword."

"Bullies from your class? It's the middle of the night."

The older teen looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat. Leo blinked, only now noticing the teen was wearing faced jeans and a thick jacket, except his jeans were torn in places. Leo supposed that was a fashion statement of some kind, but the jacket was torn in places as well; he wondered if the guy maybe just couldn't afford new clothes?

"Yeah, I'm on a class trip and I'm supposed to be where we're staying. But I'm obviously not there thanks to the…. Bullies."

Leo crossed his legs and narrowed his eyes at the pen toting boy.

"So you're on a class trip, got chased by bullies and you… have a sword."

"Uh… no I don't. I have a pen." He waved the ordinary ballpoint in the air.

"Yes. You do. As in an actual sword, I saw it. But now it's a pen." Leo shuffled closer, trying to get a better look at this pen. The older teen laughed awkwardly and shoved the pen in his pocket.

"Ha, yeah, well, a pen… that's a sword…. That'd be something huh."

"But I… I saw it." Leo insisted desperately.

"I did land on a pipe, I grabbed it, maybe you saw that."

Leo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 'Maybe.'

The stranger sighed heavily and seemed to slump in on himself; Leo could see the dark circles under his eyes from here. In fact, he looked as thoroughly downtrodden as Leo felt. Casting a considering glance at his meager fire, he moved over and gestured for the other boy to sit for a minute. He looked confused for a moment, before smiling crookedly and slumping down the wall to sit on the gritty floor.

The stranger rolled his head over to appraise Leo with sharp green eyes. He stiffened slightly, far too used to such evaluating glances from foster parents, social workers and other children. A period of silence followed before the other teen quirked another small smile and held his hand out to Leo, inviting him to shake.

"So, fellow tunnel dweller, what's your name?"

Leo eyed the hand before warily taking it and shaking (and silently adding a 'holy crap' at the strength in the guy's grip).

"My names Leo…n. Leon. I'm Leon. Friendly neighbourhood runaway."

"Runaway?" The stranger raised a brow. Dammit. Leo cursed himself; what's the point in giving a false name if you're just going to announce you're a runaway anyway? He gave himself some slack though, he didn't exactly look like a stay-at-home kid right now.

"Well, not exactly a runaway. But not exactly a... not-runaway." The teen didn't answer immediately, but his calculating eyes narrowed slightly. Leo got the impression that this was a guy accustomed to not letting on that he knew too much.

"Okay then, not-runaway-Leon, nice to meet you. And in such a charming place too."

Leo huffed out a chuckle,

"It has its benefits," Ha, like he would have said that an hour ago. "And you are?"

The older boy pursed his lips before answering,

"Percy…. Johnson. Friendly neighborhood…. Nothing really, since this isn't my neighborhood. I'm just a guy running through the park."

"Who also falls in puddles an- Wait. You aren't wet."

"Excuse me?"

"You fell in a puddle, but you aren't wet. How are you not wet?!"

An awkward silence stretched between them and Percy's eyes were wide. He gaped for a moment, before swallowing and, with a look of deep seriousness said,

"Waterproof clothes."

Leo opened his mouth ready to call 'Bull!' but closed his mouth. Percy's face was set in stone and he knew he wouldn't get an answer. Maybe he was dreaming. Maybe he'd fallen asleep in the cold and was having a weird hallucination/dream thing; he'd like to think his subconscious could come up with something cooler than this though.

"Okay. Hey, shouldn't you go back to your hotel or whatever? You said the bullies were gone."

Percy bit his lip and looked out into the darkness, he shook his head slowly and shot Leo a small smile.

"Better not chance it. You mind if I crash with you for a while?"

Leo's shoulders slumped a little in relief. Even though people tended to seem ten times more dangerous when it was night time and he had runaway, Percy's company was distracting him from his angsty pity party. The other teen had only been there for about ten minutes, but Leo (who prided himself on being a good judge of character – sometimes) could tell there was a calmness about him. He radiated a gentle, good humour that not only let Leo knew he was safe, but also had the effect of brightening his dingy little tunnel a bit more.

"No, that's cool. Mi casa es su casa right?" Percy chuckled and settled himself against the damp wall.

"Thanks."

They sat together and traded small talk about the weather, about how stupid this park looked, what Percy's class trip was about (which, Leo recalled, he never did fully explain) and Percy started asking things. Just normal stuff, like what Leo liked to do as a hobby and if he liked high school.

Leo was particularly thrilled when Percy confided that his grade point average was pretty poor because of his severe dyslexia; finally someone to sympathise with him! Percy had shaken his head with a grin when Leo happily told him about how he just stopped caring and read out exactly what he saw. Leo knew this was just another way to be the class clown; he'd rather they laugh at him for acting out than for being stupid.

Gradually, the sick feeling started to leave Leo's stomach. He stopped worrying about the police finding him, about being returned to the foster home, talking to Percy was helping him forget the ugly words that had been spat at him earlier that evening. In fact, he felt happier than he had in a long, long while.

Even when he started running his mouth, like he usually did when he got carried away, Percy listened. He even had the decency to look interested in what Leo had to say. It had been a long time since anyone listened to him like that.

When they fell into amicable silence, Leo checked his watch; it was nearly 4:00am. Percy had been with him for nearly three hours and Leo was reasonable sure the bullies were long gone. He knew that Percy knew that, had probably known for a while, but he couldn't bring himself to mention it, less he prompt Percy to leave. Selfish though it was, he liked having the older teen there. When out on the streets there was always safety in numbers, but apart from that, Percy was a welcome distraction to his otherwise completely dismal situation.

He knew that Percy would eventually have to leave (especially when he spied the tired circles under his eyes) but for now, just for a moment, he was happy to have someone to talk to. Even if he never saw the guy again, he was happy to have spent at least one runaway night with another person. Being alone at night and on the run was an all around terrifying experience. Leo wasn't stupid, he knew there were seriously dangerous and sick people out there, but in the moments before he decided to run, things just seemed so hopeless. Those moments when he felt filled to the brim with uselessness and loneliness and worthlessness, that all he could think about doing was running until his legs couldn't carry him anymore.

It was nice to not spend the bitter midnight hours alone and helpless.

"Leon?" He blinked, torn from his thoughts, by the tired inquisitive tone.

"Yeah?"

Percy looked him in the eyes, face serious and calm.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I mean, you don't even know me, but when you said you were a runaway…"

Leo swallowed heavily. Percy was about to ask the question he'd been dreading since the boy got there; why did you run away? Why indeed. Well, he definitely didn't want to have to explain that. The other boy paused for a moment, as if carefully collecting his words.

"I guess I just… I know how that feels. The feeling that you just want to run and keep running until nothing can touch you. I'm not asking you to explain why, it's none of my business, just… if you need to talk about it, I know how it feels."

Leo sucked in a sharp breath and felt fire kindle in his heart. How could this guy possibly know how he felt? Granted, he clearly had troubling bully issues, but he was here, in Texas on a trip from New York. What parent would pay toward a school trip that's a five hour flight away? A damn good, rich one. Percy had even talked about his mother; he'd clearly sensed it was a sore subject for Leo, but Leo could see the fondness in his eyes. A loving mother, a home to return to… Percy was spending one lousy night out on the street because he was chased there. This was Leo's life.

"How could you possibly know how this feels? You don't know anything about what's happened to me."

It came out sharper than he'd intended. Although angry, Leo's fire was strictly something he could manipulate, he in no way had a firey temper. But the chill of the night had seeped into his bones and the coming dawn signified a new day of hiding and worry. Percy pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"You're right, I don't." He said carefully. "But I had…"

He closed his eyes momentarily.

"But I had a step-dad once, for a long time, and sometimes I would run away from him."

His temper extinguished temporarily under the influence of curiosity. His quick 'Why?' was out before he could stop it; feeling like a hypocrite, he sat silently once more. Percy looked troubled and folded his arms tighter around his chest.

"I was only a kid at the time, but I still tried to be brave, for my mom y'know? But during the first few years he used to scare me. He was big and loud and he used to shout at me all the time for no reason. As soon as my mom went to work, he used to start drinking. Sometimes when he did that, he's just fall asleep on his stupid face on the sofa, other times he wouldn't."

Leo watched Percy swallow heavily. As stifling as his foster homes had been, he'd not yet come across any that verbally abused him.

"It was one afternoon and he'd been drinking and I can't even remember what I did, but he slammed me against the wall and fractured my wrist. I told my mom I fell down the stairs in our apartment block. I was eight. And after that when I was left alone with him, I just started running away and hiding out in the day until my mom came home."

He tipped Leo a wry, sad smile.

"I don't know what's happened to you Leon, but I know what it feels like to be the little guy."

If this dude ever was the 'little guy', he definitely wasn't now (unless he was talking metaphorically…). Although he obviously wasn't built like a brick house, there was no doubt that Percy's height and broad shoulders worked in his favour. Percy seemed to decipher his skeptical look because he laughed loudly.

"Okay, past tense. Trust me, I used to be one helluva little guy. Scrawny and short. My girl best friend used to pick on my like crazy because of it."

"So there might be hope for me yet?" Percy grinned and nodded.

Leo tipped him a grateful smile but felt ashamed at his earlier assumption; who was he to gripe that Percy knew nothing about him, when he in turn knew nothing about the other teen. Percy didn't press him though, for which he was grateful, so really, he only had himself to blame when his thoughts began to verbally vomit out of his talkative mouth.

"I always run, like, from seriously everything. I hate the homes, I hate the foster parents and the other kids. Goddammit I hate being a 'trouble' kid, it just makes life so, sooo much harder."

"I-," Percy paused and blinked, as though what he had intended to say was yanked quickly from his mind. He shook his head as if to clear away cobwebs.

"Yeah, yeah I get the troubled kid part. Pretty much every school I've ever gone to has had major issues with me. Or I've had issues with them… usually with the school property too…. And the buildings…." Leo thought he heard him mutter something about demon math teachers, but let it slide.

"You don't exactly look like a trouble maker," That was certainly true; with how laid back Percy seemed, Leo found it hard to imagine him causing anyone trouble. He imagined someone punching Percy in the face and the guy would probably just shrug it off. No wonder he was getting chased by bullies.

"And, 'every school'? How many have you been to?" Curiosity piqued, Leo leaned closer attentively. Percy narrowed his eyes.

"Tell you what, I'll tell you how many schools I've been kicked out of, if you tell me how many foster homes you've run away from."

Leo swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling sweat forming on his brow. Percy wouldn't…. he wouldn't turn him in right? Would call the police as soon as he left? But as he searched the older teens face, he saw no maliciousness, just an open, honest curiosity. Leo was under no illusions to the fact that Percy was just sticking around to keep him company at this point; the bullies were long gone, but he suspected that Percy would have a problem with leaving a skinny little fourteen year old kid under a bridge at night by himself.

For that reason alone, he steeled his courage and prepared for sharing time.

"Five homes… including this one." He tried to ignore how hoarse his voice sounded. Percy nodded, a look of deep seriousness in his eyes, before a grin stretched his lips as though seriousness had never been there.

"I win then. I've been kicked out of eight schools."

"Eight!? Geeze what did you do?!" Seriously, because nothing short of criminal damage got you kicked out of that many. Leo, in his little rebel heart, couldn't help but be impressed.

Percy shifted uncomfortably and laughed,

"Trouble has a tendency to… find me."

"And latch on by the sounds of it." Percy laughed again,

"Yeah, that's, well, you're not wrong. I'm guessing you have a similar problem?"

Oh, this guy was crafty, Leo thought. He nodded ruefully, still not completely comfortable talking about his runaway life style; it wasn't exactly something he'd shared before. Of course the police tried to drag it out of him every time they caught him. At first they would be sympathetic; were the parents mean to him? Did they hurt him? Was he unhappy? Then when it became apparent that Leo had no other reason for leaving aside from just plain not wanting to be there, their sympathetic attitudes turned decidedly chilly. Especially when said foster parents would arrive at the station, worried, panicked (not for having missed him of course, but because they lost him) and not at work as they should be. Didn't that just put him in a wonderful light?

"Actually, I think I'm just trouble." he said quietly, recalling with a sick clarity his roles in his mother's death, the problems and attitude he always gave families that tried to help him.

He knew he was a troubled kid. He just hated to admit it.

"I'm sure that's not true." Percy said quietly. Leo scrubbed his hands through his hair, trying to dispel distasteful lump in his throat. He tried to ignore the burning in his eyes.

"No, I am. I cause everyone problems. I can't do anything right for anybody; the worst part is I don't even try."

Silence rang heavy in the air and Leo buried his face in his arms once again, misery swelling in his chest like a child's balloon. He felt suffocated.

"You did something for me." Percy said in a sure, hushed tone. Leo lifted his head to stare at the teen in confusion.

"What? What could – I met you four hours ago." Percy shrugged amicably.

"Yeah, but you let me hide out with you. Plus you're way better to talk to than the losers in my class. If you hadn't been here, I'd just be a kid sitting under a bridge. But now, I'm a kid sitting under a bridge with another kid. Socializing, see?"

Leo gaped for a moment. This was socializing? Huh. That was…. Cool. Percy was looking at him with a frank, honest look that left him reeling slightly, but not unpleasantly. It felt good to be acknowledged for once, for someone to actually listen when he spoke, someone who responded, someone who thought he was worth their time. Someone who maybe thought he was cool.

Though the sick feeling was still simmering in his gut, he felt better. He felt a moment of true validation – hot damn, maybe he was worth something. He felt a small, tired, but entirely genuine grin spread across his face and when Percy grinned back, he thought, man, maybe I'm not all trouble after all.

Time passed slugglishly from then on, but Leo felt he could have stayed here forever. It had been a long time since he'd felt such pleasant feelings; humour, happiness, feelings of worth and pride when he made the older teen laugh.

He had laughed almost endlessly when Percy, face ripe with a blush, had talked about his girl troubles. Whoever Rachael and Annabeth were… damn they sounded like a pair of characters. Percy was a better man than he if he managed to survive those two. Leo also couldn't help the feeling of giddiness that engulfed him. Was this was it was like to chat with the guys? That this cool stranger would share secrets like this, Leo felt pretty damn cool right now.

They talked until the sun began to peek up over the trees and it began to banish the cold, the drizzle seemed less so. Though Leo wasn't one for poetry or philosophy, the rising of the sun felt like a new beginning, made him feel like if the police found him, he might just be okay. His mother would be happy to see that in him again.

Leo's eyes had grown heavy and drifted shut before he'd even realised they were doing so. He vaguely recalled nodding slowly with a heavy head as Percy's voice seemed to grow quieter.

The contented feeling took root deep in his chest; it had been so long since he'd fallen asleep feeling okay.

0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0

When Leo woke, he was alone. And although he wasn't surprised, he couldn't help the small sense of disappointment that jabbed at his heart. He'd expected nothing less of course and was far from heartbroken, but he struggled to remember Percy's farewell through his sleepy haze. Leo roughly recalled a hand shaking his shoulder, a 'goodbye' and a 'good luck' and an 'everything will turn out fine, you'll see' and he couldn't help but believe them. He grinned, renewed faith filling him up from the tips of his toes; so what if he was a troubled kid!? No one was in charge of what was going to happen to him, but him.

He sat up and settled his resolve. He was going to return to the home this time, of his own free will too. He was going to apologise to Mr and Mrs. Military profusely, he would even sit down with them both and explain why he'd run. They weren't bad people, but Leo realised now he'd barely even given them a chance to get to know who he was. And as for the other guys…. He'd just have to suck it up. So what if they insulted him? Pushed him around? He knew he was going places and he decided to feel nothing for them but pity (pity they couldn't actually put their brains together to make one whole kindaclever person).

Leo took a deep breath and moved to stand, stilling when he felt something fall from his chest. He looked down and a grin split his face.

Percy's jacket.

It had clearly been placed over him carefully before the other boy had uttered his farewells. That was that then, Leo sighed, steeling his resolve. He felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest; in that shining moment when someone had decided he was worth sticking around for, if only for a while. It left Leo feeling validated and more clear headed than he'd felt in years.

He was going to go back to the home, he was going to try and be the bigger person and he was damn well going to figure out how to make himself get somewhere in life.

He pushed his arms through the jacket sleeves, tugged it over his shoulders and stood. Leo Valdez was ready to face the day.

0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0

Now, who can claim to understand the ways in which the universe chooses its moments? When fate might intervene? When that old fashion notion called destiny might rear its confusing head?

As even demi-god children come to know, not even the God's are immune to the mysterious workings of prophesy.

And so every meeting, every action and every consequence, be they remembered or forgotten, will eventually fall neatly into one another. They slip into place in the vast, incomprehensible web that is both large and tangled. There would be no hope for a single demi-god to grasp the significance of everything he does in the grand scheme of things.

And certainly in Percy Jackson's case, were he to know the importance of every seemingly inconsequential moment in his life….. well…. He'd rather not know at all.

For destiny is often forced to intervene when it comes to Percy Jackson; whether he likes it or not. He lives his life in a series of moments and fate is a keen mistress that keeps him on his designed path.

Thus, when Leo confided to Percy that he had ADHD and that he was dyslexic, something should have rung familiar. When Leo admitted that although his mother had died, he had never met his father, nor did he know anything about him, something should have clicked. When Leo looked into the fire and for a single moment his eyes became powerful and controlled, Percy should have recognised that look as the one that shone through his own eyes when by the sea.

Had fate not intervened in those series of moments, Percy may have made the connection; he may have seen a fellow half blood in Leo, he may have even taken him to Camp Half Blood.

But the universe works in mysterious ways and none of that would come to pass. No; Leo would soon be needed upon a bus that was to drive to the Grand Canyon, in the company of many other 'troubled' children.

And as we all know, Percy would soon be needed to do a great many things for a great many reasons.

But for now, he trudges back to his class, ready to receive a dressing down from his teacher and sniggers from his classmates after a long evening of monsters chasing him through the darkness. With Riptide (which, seriously, looked nothing like a pipe) nestled in his pocket and his mind spinning with monsters and Gods and prophesies and girls; Percy would come to forget this seemingly brief and random meeting.

Because what was one moment, one meeting, in a life so full of adventure and mortal peril?

Well, to Percy Jackson, who would many years later take his first steps upon the warship called the Argo II, they would eventually come to mean a great deal indeed.