Disclaimer: I'm just a fangirl, unfortunately. This means I'm not involved in the ownership of the Heroes of Olympus series. Or Marvel, nor DC comics. Same goes with the song "Secrets" by One Republic. I can dream, though. :/

A/N: Thank you all so very much for the birthday wishes and especially for your patience! *high-five* Without them, I would've already given up on this, so again: thanks a lot. *blush* I've only managed to whip up a bunch of one-word prompts for this chapter (twenty of them, to be exact) , but next time, hopefully I'll have a real chapter to submit.

Warnings: Mentions of blood, Gaea being creepy, near-death, and death. (Fun, right?!) I'd like to think these aren't too OOC, but if they are, please. Please. Please. Point it out.

Sorry, one last thing: No slash is intended, but if you like slash, I suppose you could see things like that if you really wanted to. *shrug*

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Warm:

Frank decided that rainy days were the worst. It was freakin' cold out, even with Percy keeping the falling droplets from hitting them with a shield made from the offending water-and honestly, he wasn't surprised when Percy began shivering. Out of them all, though, Leo seemed to have the worst time dealing with the cold-he couldn't even conjure any fire, not even a wisp of smoke. It was a strange sight, watching Leo shiver and his teeth chatter as he gripped his army jacket, even though he was practically a walking furnace.

Wait…a "walking furnace"? Frank inched closer to the Hispanic boy. Not close enough to make things uncomfortable, just near enough to be able to sense the waves of heat radiating from the smaller demigod.

Huh.

Maybe having Fire Boy around wasn't quite so bad.

Scrapbook:

Looking back on his life in a blur of colorful pages and faded photographs, reading the neat scrawl of Hazel's handwriting from many-so many-years ago, Leo knew that he wouldn't have wanted it to go any other way.

Colors:

Among the desolate gray he found himself surrounded by, the only other colors he saw in the world were the ones he held closest: flashes of vivid orange and majestic purple.

Chess:

There was a single detail that Leo understood about the game of chess: things never went well for the pawns.

Intimidate:

"Sorry, Leo," Piper smirked. "But you're just not intimidating." She held back a chuckle at the agitated look Leo shot up at her. He crossed his arms, suddenly frowning with thought.

"It's my height, isn't it?" He deadpanned, with a roll of his eyes.

"Considering the fact that I'm, like, three-four?-inches taller, that would make sense. So, yeah, that's probably why."

"Gee, thanks, Beauty Queen, for rubbing that in."

Piper smiled warmly, retort flying out without a thought. "Anytime, Repair Boy."

Regret:

"Oh, Leo, Leo, Leo…when will you learn?"

"Wha-what? What're you-?" He stopped mid-sentence, watching how her lips curled up into the most twisted grin he'd ever seen, sadistic amusement lacing every word she purred into his ear.

"Poor, sweet Leo. Don't you see it?" Her disgustingly beautiful form grew, moving closer as if to engulf him, making him squirm and shake under her cold stare.

He felt no regrets about choosing to join Gaea-this way, he knew that his friends were safe and that was all that mattered to him.

Siblings:

"Say it!" Shane had a thick arm wrapped around Leo's neck, gently enough to keep from choking him, but definitely firmly enough to keep him in place. "Say 'Marvel comics are better than DC's'!"

"NEVER!" Came the passionate reply, strained slightly by the arm around his throat. "I WON'T DO IT!"

"Fine. I can wait all day like this, if I have to. But you will say it. Eventually."

Shane smirked, messing up Leo's curls and tightening his grasp on his "captive", who huffed at him in response. Nyssa just rolled her eyes in the background.

Secrets:

"This," Leo said, holding out…something to her, "Is an 'ear-bud'. You connect them to MP3s-you remember what those are, right?" Hazel nodded, willing Leo to continue. "You connect the ear-buds to the MP3, and put this part in your ear, so you can hear the music." The girl took the ear-bud from Leo, sticking in between her fingers, examining it. "You wanna try it out?"

Hazel nodded with a tiny grin. He stuck one of the earbuds into his pointy ear and motioned for her to do the same. She silently obeyed, marveling at how surprisingly comfortable the little device was.

"Sorry, I don't think I have anything on here you'll familiar with." Leo apologized sheepishly, tapping on his arm nervously. Hazel shrugged, brushing back a tinge of sadness easily.

"It's alright. I didn't think you would. But I'm sure you've got something on there I'll like." She offered, not wanting to upset Leo over something so petty.

His free hand held up what she assumed was his music player and pressed a wide, flat button-the "play/pause" button, she remembered from their lesson last week. She suddenly heard a distant click and then there were a few painful moments of quiet.

The first thing she heard was a strange noise, something energetic and soothing all at the same time, sounding in a steady rhythm. Her eyes drooped closed, eyelashes brushing her cheeks as she absorbed every note, awe building with each newborn beat.

"I need another story…something to get off my chest. My life gets kinda boring, need something that I can confess…" Hazel focused on the singer's voice, words blurring in her enchanted mind. "'Till all my sleeves are stained red, from all the truth that I've said. Come by it honestly, I swear. Thought you saw me, no, I've been on the brink, so-" Her breath caught in her throat, waiting to be released patiently.

"-Tell me what you want to hear, something that were like those years. Sick of all the insincere, so I'm gonna give all my secrets away…"

She opened her eyes, a bit hesitantly, exhaling sharply. Leo's head hung down, swaying with the lyrics. She shook his shoulder, willing him to look up at her. Their eyes met-golden colliding with chocolate-and nothing needed to be said.

Hazel was satisfied, so she let her eyes close again.

"This time, don't need another perfect line, don't care if critics ever jump in line. I'm gonna give all my secrets away…"

Understand:

Nico shot Leo the darkest glare he'd ever seen, finger pointed in accusation.

"You…you wouldn't understand what's like to lose someone you love!" The paler, younger boy spat onto the floor furiously, still staring at his unlikely companion.

Leo sat down next to him cautiously, making sure he left a decent distance in between them and looked down. He ignored how Nico's brow softened for half a second before furrowing once more with his usual scowl.

"You'd be surprised."

Shield:

Mimas drew closer, heat drifting from his very presence in monstrous waves. Smirking, the giant looked down at the seven as if he were studying an especially interesting insect. Leo stepped towards Mimas, hoping nobody heard it when he made an oh-so-heroic whimpering sound. The amused smile of the giant grew wider, crueler.

"You are the son of Hephaestus?" He asked slyly, focusing his gaze entirely on Leo now. "I must say, I imagined you…larger." Mimas inhaled intensely, and then fire-tides made from blue flames-erupted from the monster's mouth, blowing it their way effortlessly.

Jason and Frank held their girlfriends tightly, as they floated above and away from the incoming inferno. Percy and Annabeth stood helplessly, faces turning shocked when Leo jumped in front of them. The flames bounced off of him harmlessly, not even as painful as a mere paper cut.

The fire-user came forward again, this time angry instead of afraid.

"Bring it on, Ugly!" he charged, thin body ablaze.

Perfect:

The look on Mary-Sue's face was seriously creeping him out, to put it very mildly.

"Um, why exactly are you…uh, staring at me?"

She giggled in the most annoyingly perfect way possible.

"Quit being so modest, Leo! It's your eyes…they're just this beautiful amber color! It's amazing!" She chirped, wide azure orbs fluttering and pale skin turning a cute pink hue with a blush. She leaned in, almost like a cat cornering their prey, with her long curly auburn hair swishing in the gentle winds.

"Do you happen to be single, Leo?" She asked, a little too innocently.

Leo ran.

Someone that disturbingly perfect just had to be evil.

Truth:

To Leo, words didn't matter when it came down to learning about someone. With words, he knew, you could lie, and cheat, and twist reality into something morbidly imaginary. Truth could come out, too, he supposed, but after everything he'd seen, he realized he should automatically assume the worst and hope for the better.

Actions, however, did matter, he knew this as well. They-actions-are what reveal the truth, even when the words dare to do the opposite.

Anniversary:

"Leo?" A surprisingly soft voice manages to seep into his cabin, the voice he absently recognizes as Jason's. "It's half past one and you haven't come out of there at all today. You need to tell somebody what's wrong." Leo leans further into the mountain of pillows stacked underneath his achy neck and pulls the blankets around him closer, even though the room was the perfect temperature, as it always was. He finds he has no desire to do anything at all, not to eat, or sleep, or to even attempting standing up.

"Who said there was something wrong?" The comment comes out before he can process the words, but at this point, he doesn't really care.

"Nobody," Jason promises. "I just assumed so." His voice hardens, betraying some pent-up concern. "Did I assume right?"

Leo knows his blond friend doesn't intend to sound so frustrated, but he can't hold back a wince at the harsh tone behind the door-just not today. "Not feeling so good today. Probably a flu bug. I'm fine, okay?" It's not a complete lie-Leo has a horrible migraine coming on, and his stomach lurches with the ship. He feels hot and cold and restless and so very tired, but the issue is not to be blamed on an illness. He is not fine, and they both know it.

"You're sure?" There's a tap on the door, Jason making sure Leo realizes he's still around, still there if he's needed for whatever reason. There's an exhausted sigh-it sounds so gloomy, so "un-Leo-like", that it's frightening.

"No. I just don't want to talk about it now." Leo figures Jason doesn't deserve two meaningless lies all in one day. He curls into a ball underneath a mound of thin quilts, trying his very hardest to ignore the wave of nausea trying to make itself apparent.

"Well, if you change your mind…" Jason drifts off because he knows Leo understands what he's trying to convey.

"Yeah, I know." Thanks. Jason somehow sense the underlying message.

"Good." He responds, "Let me know if you need anything." No problem.

Leo doesn't protest when he hears Jason's footsteps fading away.

Darkest:

When the flames disappeared into the thin air, all become dark. And the ones who had once surrounded the fire were the ones most lost, most devastated, without their source of light.

Wounded:

It takes Leo a moment to register that he's been stabbed, his eyes turning wide as his murky mind starts to clear. He vaguely senses that his knees buckle underneath him and send him down onto the cold dirt. Pain courses through his body, making him groan and squeeze his eyes shut. Instinctively, Leo's shaky hands reach blindly for the gash, only to be stopped by smaller, smoother fingers.

"Don't touch it, okay? Just don't touch it." The voice is soft and soothing and so very convincing. Leo opens his eyes half-way tiredly.

"P-Piper?" Gods, is that his voice?

"Yeah," she whispers. "Just me." Her multi-colored orbs are moist, much to Leo's shock, and scared, but her voice stays calm and clear, although it is gentler than usual.

He feels the blood flowing down his side now and if it didn't hurt so much, he'd be disgusted. "'K-kay.' He grunts, trying to pry his fingers out of Piper's, although it's useless since her grip is too tight. He's about to ask where the others are, but the desire to black out is much more tempting. He can tell he's about to lose consciousness-

"-No, Leo. You can't pass out now." Piper says, leaning over him to reach his other side-the one where he was stabbed-to reach the injury. "You can't and you won't, you hear me?" Her free hand meets his side, pressing down on it, hard. The agony is unbearable now, and Leo simply wishes he could go ahead and pass out already. But he can't, because he's just not strong enough to resist Piper's charmspeak. He settles with a choked yelp, finding that trying to do anything other than that is far too exhausting. "See, you're doing good. Stay awake, and it'll be okay." She tells him, holding Leo's trembling hand in her own.

By the time the others arrive, Leo has already given into the darkness-not dead, but dying-and Piper, with tears running down her cheeks, just sits and grips his hand tighter every passing minute.

Haunted:

The color red used to be his favorite-

Scarlet flames burning away his mother, painful screams tearing from the depths of young Leo's raw throat and numbing his lungs…

Wet bloodshot eyes reflected in a crude, broken mirror. His fist, bruised and cut, backed up from the falling shards, shivering. His first night in his first foster home, defined by the number of tears in every wail…

Crimson liquid dripping down his side, an almost fatal wound that he figures is only karma for all the messes he's made when he looks back on it…

The ruby color blinding his vision right before he gives into the feral want-need-to destroy, destroy, destroy everything and everyone around, bestowing a portion of pent-of pain on those who deserve it no more than he had when he was eight…

-But now, it just haunts him.

Smile:

It's not Leo's jokes that make them smile-everyone knows that his jokes are cheesier than cheese itself, and that's saying something-but simply that he tries to lighten their burdens, even if it meant adding more weight on his shoulders. He'd just take it with a feigned smile and a sarcastic comment, anyways.

Memory:

Leo remembered the day after he'd left his handprints in the table surprisingly clearly. His mom-oh, bless her-she'd pulled him in close that morning, wrapping her toned arms around him. He distinctly remembered how he'd returned the embrace, inhaling her scent of grease and spice-an odd but comforting mix-as she kissed his forehead.

"Fire is in your veins, mijo. So no matter what you do with it…I'll always love you, my little lion." She told him, running her fingers through his dark, curly hair.

Prankster:

Leo just laughed and dashed off to the safety of the boiler room, leaving behind a raging shapeshifter, hilariously purple hair sticking up as he yelled, and said shapeshifter's flustered girlfriend, who was obviously trying to hide a giggle behind her hands.

Poke:

"POKE!" A shout behind him called, and then there was a finger jabbing his shoulder mercilessly. Jake rolled his eyes, turning to stare at his slightly younger brother.

"And what was that for?" He asked, rubbing his shoulder tenderly. Leo 'pffted' at him as if the answer was as plain as day, crossing his arms.

"Because I felt like poking someone and you happened to be the closest person. Get over it, Grumpy. Don't we have a ship to finish up?" Leo poked him again, gentler this time, and beamed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Captain Tool-Belt. Let's go." Jake replied throwing in a poke to Leo's arm for good measure. He rushed towards the door before Leo could say anything. Leo hadn't missed the tiny smirk Jake cracked on the way out and reminded himself to poke Jake again later.

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Twenty one-word prompts, just for you guys. *tired sigh* Review, favorite, follow-whatever floats your boat!

I'mma go to bed now…*yawn*