Chapter Text
Before he even opened his eyes, Leo felt tremendous pain radiating from his ribcage. With every breath he took in or let out, a new wave of overwhelming ache came over him.
His lids fluttered to a too-familiar sight. The infirmary ceiling seemed to stare down at him like it was saying oh, you again.
Leo tried to pull himself up, but any movement meant more pain. He didn’t remember why or how did he get here, or how he scored a possibly broken rib. At least that was his guess, but Will would surely lecture him about what exactly was wrong with him as soon as he saw Leo has woken up.
There were curtains all around the bed, leaving only a small gap showing the rest of the room. Leo could see the back of Kayla’s head while she talked to another patient, a small cart full of food by her side. His stomach turned at the thought. If breathing was so difficult, eating was going to be a nightmare.
Leo heard the door swing open, accompanied by someone’s triumphant scream.
“We have morphine!” It was Will.
Through the gap in the curtains, Leo saw Kayla turn to her brother with an excited smile.
“Thank the gods. This ambrosia shortage is gonna be the end of me. Go drug Leo before he wakes up,” she said, going out of Leo’s view.
Moments later, Will opened the curtains. Leo greeted him with a goofy smile.
“I’m awake, but I’ll take the drugs. What happened?” he said with an effort. Speaking was even worse than breathing.
Will laughed with visible relief on his face. “You know, I knew you would wake up sooner or later, but I always fear one of you just won’t wake up one of those times. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“That’s an overstatement. I think my body is trying to kill me.”
“You have four broken ribs and we’re out of ambrosia,” Will explained, “Some wild monster attacked the nymphs and burned most of the trees. Mr. D is in the process of getting us a supply from Olympus, but we have too many people in pain to wait. So, we stole morphine from the mortal hospital.”
Leo tried to laugh, but it turned into a cough, ripping his insides apart.
“You, stealing? You’re getting corrupted.”
Will prepared the syringe, pushing the air out and then tapping on it to make sure it was all out. He disinfected a patch of Leo’s skin and waited for it to dry.
“I do what I have to do. You don’t even have it that bad, poor Jason fractured his fucking skull. He would be dead if he wasn’t a demigod.”
Jason.
Leo felt like he had only just woken up. He remembered Nico and Percy falling down from the sky, their hard landing, and the wounded pegasus. And no sight of Jason.
“Jason!” he fully sat up, forgetting the pain and the medicine that was just gonna get administrated to him, “Where is he? Is he alright? Is he alive?”
Will’s strong palms held Leo down, a tired expression on his face. He sighed and moved the curtain to their left.
Jason looked like shit. He was partially covered in a blanket stained with what Leo assumed to be dried blood. His whole face was bruised and swollen, a tight bandage wrapped around his head, leaving only a few strands of blonde hair peeking out, and a cast over his left leg, with a big “Piper” written in a heart with a pink marker, probably left there by his girlfriend. The cheek facing Leo was ripped open from the corner of his lips and neatly stitched.
“He’s alive. I don’t know about alright. Leo, do you remember what happened?”
“No,” he said, eyes watering at the sight of his friend in pain.
Will sighed. “They got beaten up pretty badly on their quest. They went against Ate and she made them fight each other after she and her monsters already had their go at them. From what I gathered Jason struck her with lighting and they managed to get away, but yeah, it was bad,” he sat on the edge of Leo’s bed, hiding his face in his hands, “It was really bad. Percy and Nico flew on a pegasus that was also hurt and barely made it here, but they’re the lucky ones. Jason was flying on his own and at some point, he fainted mid-air. Somehow you managed to stand right where he crushed, hence your ribs got crushed.”
“Shit,” Leo said, avoiding Will’s eyes, “I’m sorry, Will.”
Will chuckled, but tears were filling his eyes. “It’s fine. It’s just that… I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“How’s Nico holing up?”
“Recovering. In his cabin. I don’t know exactly what happened, but he won’t look me in the eye. I don’t know. Ate is a fucking bitch. She ruins men, you know? And I trust Nico, I do, but I have no idea what went down on their quest and I’m just spiraling. And I feel so useless here, we have so many hurt people and I cannot do anything really, everyone is in pain and they’re not getting better as fast as usual and I am a failure and a disappointment, and even if I can help with the wound,s the quests destroy people, you know? There is so much pain and suffering and trauma and I can’t do anything about the nightmares or the pain or the emotional turmoil, theirs or my own.”
Leo had no idea what to say to that. Will never opened up to him like that before and he clearly needed to talk. So Leo didn’t say anything, he just moved his arm slightly and intertwined their fingers. Will gave him a weak smile and pulled the curtain behind him, so no one else could see them. He held on to Leo’s hand while his face got all puffy and wet with tears.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from. I guess I’m just really scared about everything now,” he said, finally wiping away his tears, “Totally unprofessional behavior.”
“Dude, you’re like, sixteen. You don’t have to be professional,” Leo reassured him in between coughs, “Hey, can I have some of that morphine?”
Will laughed and looked at the long-forgotten syringe on the small table next to the bed.
“Sure. It’s not that much tho, only enough to help you through the pain.”
“I’ll take it.”
***
Two days later Jason still hasn’t woken up. Without nectar or ambrosia, his injuries were taking a toll on his mortal body, and while Will was reassuring everyone it was better for him to be unconscious as it helped to focus his energy on healing and also spared him some of the pain, everyone was worried sick. Piper was by his side most of the time, to the point where Will and Kayla had to threaten her with a complete ban if she didn’t go take care of herself. Percy was visiting a lot too, crying and holding Jason’s hand while whispering apologies. Annabeth tried to explain to him that what happened was not his fault, but Percy was consumed by guilt. Will put him on some antidepressants as a precaution.
Leo didn’t feel better. He also felt the consequences of the medicine shortage, especially after the Apollo cabin ran out of the small morphine supply. He got Piper to bring him some things from the bunker, so he could at least be productive while on bed rest, putting together syringes for the medics. They all looked like hell, overworked even more than usual and starting to lose hope that things will get easier.
Nico came to the rescue around noon. He appeared in the door barely solid, his skin transparent, highlighting all of his wounds and bruises.
“Hey, I’ve got it,” he said weakly, holding up a big jug of nectar. Given the markings, it was clear he has made a trip to the underworld to get it.
“Nico!” Will screamed at the sight, dropping the bandages he was preparing for another patient. He ran toward his boyfriend, taking the vessel away and helping him stand straight. “What did you do? Lay down, you idiot. Did you shadow travel? Gods, Nico. I can’t… You can’t do this.”
“I’m fine. Give it to Jason, he needs it.”
Will huffed but did as he was told. The other healers quickly noticed the delivery and rushed to get some for other patients. Leo was given his share by Will just after he poured an obscene amount into Jason’s mouth, humming a quiet hymn in hopes to accelerate the healing process.
It was truly a godsend. Leo could feel his pain fainting away and when he pulled up his shirt, the swelling was gone and the bruises looked paler already. He took a deep breath - almost comfortable now.
He looked over at Nico passed out on the bed closest to the entrance. In the state he was in it was foolish to shadow travel at best, deadly at worst. But it was normal for Nico to do that, to put others' well-being above his own. Leo just wished he didn’t have to do all the stupid and dangerous things to help his friends.
Next bed over, Jason groaned, quickly catching Leo’s attention.
“Thank the gods, you’re awake,” Leo sighed.
“I wish I wasn’t. Is this what Tartarus feels like?” Jason said weekly, turning his head to look at his friend.
Leo laughed. The pain in his chest was gone.
“I’m glad you’re alive. You owe me a barbeque party.”
“Sure, let me just grow my bones back together first.”
***
After everyone got fed nectar, Will and his siblings started to check people out of the infirmary. It started to get quiet and at some point, only Leo, Nico, and Jason were still in their beds.
Jason quickly went back to sleep, wanting to get through the healing process with as little consciousness as he could get away with. He managed to calm down both Piper and Percy who came in crying as soon as the news of his awakening reached them. Nico was also sleeping, he didn’t wake up since delivering the nectar. Will was pacing by his bed, muttering curses and accusations of Olympic size stupidity.
Kayla was going over Leo’s chart, making sure there were no side effects or other issues they missed in the chaos. She gave him a quick physical, just to be on the safe side, and he was almost free to go.
“I just need Will to sign in on this,” she said, “and you can go. But no heavy lifting for at least a week, also no forges or fire, we can’t be sure if your lungs didn’t suffer more than we thought. Minimal physical activity, light walks at most, drink a lot of water, and all that. You know the drill, Valdez.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He laughed.
Kayla went over to Will to get his approval, leaving Leo alone. He was relieved to leave, especially since the last few days were so intense. He didn’t even know what day of the week it was - he just hoped it wasn’t a Friday, his therapist would be worried if he missed a session.
Leo was ready to have a good summer. A better one than last year, at least. Hopefully without any more dangerous quests, vengeful goddesses, or near-death experiences. A demigod can dream, right?
No, this summer would be good. He would spend time with his friends and they will all be happy and healthy. They would eat strawberries straight from the fields, have bonfires on the beach, play capture the flag with Nerf guns, and get into normal teen trouble, not “The gods love torturing their children” trouble.
Leo was so focused on his vision of a nice summer he didn’t notice Will standing over him until the boy cleared his throat. The usual warmth was slowly returning to his gaze, banishing the stress and fear of the last few days.
“Hey, would you mind hanging in here for a couple more hours? It says here you were given some mortal painkillers this morning and I’m not sure if they won’t mess with your antidepressants. Just to be on the safe side, you know.”
Lego shrugged. “I don’t mind. Don’t really have any other plans.”
“Great!” Will shoot him a smile. “I have to go take care of something, but Kayla is gonna stay right there if anything happened.”
“Can I do anything else to help while I wait?” Leo asked, hoping to at least be useful if poor Kayla had to be stuck with him as the only conscious company for a while.
“I don’t think so. Just relax, read a book or something. Oh, wait!” Will made his way over to Nico and took a portable gaming console out of his pocket. “Knew he would have it. Play some games, he wouldn’t mind.”
So Leo did. While Will left to do whatever he had to and Kayla sterilized some tools in the back room, he tried to determine the best settings in Mario Kart. Round after round, he lost to one of the other characters. He wondered how much Nico had to play to get so good at it - every time he showed Leo, he obliterated the competition.
Quiet game music filled the room. Leo tried to focus, but the game started to bore him after a while. The bright lamps buzzed above him, the crickets were starting to play their song outside, and the metal instruments Kayla was cleaning clinked on the table. The bed was too hard one minute just to get too soft right after. Leo wished he could shower, he could smell his own body odor and it was not pleasant. With only baby wipes to keep him clean in the infirmary bed, he could use a good scrubbing. July heat and many, many meds were not helping his case. He became overly aware of the sweat clinging to his body.
“Kayla?” He called out. “Do you think Will will be mad if I go shower?”
The redheaded girl peeked out of the back room with a grimace.
“There is no shower here,” she just said, like it solved his problem.
“I know, I know. I could just go down to my cabin really quickly and be right back. I can smell myself and I think it’s worse for my mental health than any side effects could be.”
“No can do, Valdez. The boss said you stay put, so you stay put. He was right, with your mental health history it’s better if you’re here.”
Ouch, Leo thought. He knew Kayla was well-informed about the health of all campers, but he didn’t realize she really paid attention to his troubles in the last year. He was here enough that it was only logical, but still, they didn’t know each other that well and it was just weird that she knew all the intimate and embarrassing details about him.
Another person that he made trouble for. The girl was just as stressed and overworked as Will and Leo just sat there in a bed, not doing anything remotely helpful and just using up the supplies that were so spare. He knew he didn’t deserve them and that others would make better use of them. Like Jason, sleeping right next to him. His friend was a hero, he was more worthy of the care and help that got wasted on Leo.
“I think he kept me here as smelling salts to wake Nico up,” he mumbled, “I’m building you a shower as soon as I get out before I land my sorry ass down here again.”
Kayla laughed, now leaning on the doorframe with a metal cup and a rag, polishing the dish.
“Well, your sorry ass would do better making us a tub. Sometimes the campers can’t really stand after they’re hurt and I agree that people who stay here for longer should have the luxury of more than baby wipes,” she said, making her way over to him. “I’m used to smelly people, don’t worry. All sorts of gross things here.”
“Tell me a gross story. I’m so bored,” Leo sighed, changing his position from sitting up to lying on his back.
“How gross?”
“Do your worst.”
She laughed. She had a nice laugh, Leo noticed. It was never nervous or forced, she laughed with her whole face, reaching her eyes and wrinkling her freckly nose. If the demigod life let her get old, she will always look happy with wrinkles like that.
“Okay,” she said, looking up at the ceiling, trying to remember something to tell him. “Okay. So, it was last summer. This kid, James, Athena’s kid, just made it to camp. He was very young, I think seven or eight. A few nights in Annabeth brought him in, saying his ear is hurting. And you know, ear infections are very common, so I sat him on the bed, got some tools, and looked in.” She made a dramatic pause.
“Something tells me it wasn’t just an ear infection,” Leo said, scrunching his face, bracing for some gross description.
Kayla laughed again. “It wasn’t. There was something under his skin, on the inside of his ear. I thought it might have been a cyst or something like that. Will had more experience so I called him over and he cut it. And then, to the horror of everyone, hundreds of tiny, almost transparent spiders spilled out of the poor campers ear.”
“Holy Hades,” Leo looked at her in shock. “How did that happen?”
“Sometimes spiders crawl into human ears and lay eggs there,” she shrugged, “It took us weeks to stop finding spiders everywhere.”
“Poor kid. And Athena’s one at that? Must have been traumatic,” he thought back to a time when there was a spider on Argo II and Annabeth wanted him to burn the whole ship there and then.
“Lots of scary things happen here. Better to turn them into a funny story than to dwell on them.”
“What happened to the kid?”
Kayla’s eyes darkened. “Dead. Empousai attacked as he was coming back for this summer. He and his dad almost made it to camp, but they both… you know.”
“Shit, sorry.”
“It’s not like I knew him. I just saw him that one time. But you know how it is. Most of us are not making it past twenty,” she turned her gaze toward Jason, stood up, and checked his temperature with the back of her hand. “I’m gonna get him some more nectar. Maybe he’ll be one of the lucky ones to make it to adulthood, he’s a tough guy.”
Leo looked up at the ceiling. He was about to turn 18. Or maybe he already did? He had no idea what day it was.
It wasn’t important, a day is just a day. Even if he had the courage to ask his friends to celebrate this year, they had too much going on, with the boys recovering from their gods' forsaken quest, lack of medical supplies, and who knows what else. This was no time for celebrations.
Jason, Nico, and Percy surviving their quest was gift enough, Leo thought. If he only got one wish, that was it, for his friends to stay alive. As badly beaten up as they were, at least they weren’t dead. Yet.
A wave of anger rose inside his chest, similar to the one he felt when Rachel gave the prophecy at the end of June. He never wanted to hear another one again. Prophecies led only to pain and suffering. It was a miracle this one didn’t lead to death.
Why couldn’t the gods fight their own battles? Haven’t they done enough by bringing cursed children into this world? Destined to never be normal, never be happy, never belong. An endless cycle of quests, pain, and mourning their losses.
What did the little kid from Kayla’s story do to deserve not only for his biggest fear living under his skin but then getting killed along with his dad? Did Athena even care about it, about her child and former lover dying? Did she know he had died? Did she ever acknowledge him more than just claiming him?
Leo thought about his own father. He assured him that he was watching over him and all that, but Leo didn’t think it was actually true. It was actually easier to believe that. If Hephaestus didn’t see his suffering and didn’t help, it was just ignorance. If he was aware of it all and still did nothing, it was plain malice.
But gods were all assholes, weren't they? Maybe it would be better if some angry camper just overthrew them one of those days. Make a new world order where kids don’t have to die.
Leo sighed. Kayla returned to her chores after feeding both Jason and Nico more nectar, so he was alone again. He knew nothing technically stopped him from going out, but he didn’t want to upset the medics. He could deal with the boredom for some more time.
He heard some hushed voices from outside. He wasn’t sure what it was - either a prank, a surprise visit, or an attack, but he would take anything at the point, just to stop the unbearable boredom. He pulled himself up to a sitting position and waited anxiously for whatever the evening was gonna bring.
To his surprise, Piper kicked the door open, carrying a cake topped with burning candles. Behind her came Will, Percy, and Annabeth, grinning ear to ear.
“I’ve heard we have a birthday boy in here!” Piper shouted, luring Kayla out of the back room. She was smiling too.
Leo looked at his friends in shock as they made their way to his bed, singing the birthday song. Even after they finished, he was just staring at the cake that was handed to him, candles dripping wax on the frosting.
“What?” he asked, looking at them confused.
“It’s the 7th of July,” Will explained shyly, “And according to your chart, you’re turning 18 today. Happy birthday, Leo. You made it alive another year.”
As Leo realized what was happening, tears filled his eyes. He covered his mouth, trying to stop the violent sob he felt trying to escape. The last time someone even acknowledged his birthday, it was his mother, one decade ago. It was just the two of them and some store-bought cupcakes then. Now, he had friends standing over him, their smiles slowly turned into combined worried-confused expressions.
“What?” he repeated, his voice breaking down.
Percy chuckled. “Come on, man! We’re celebrating! You’re of age!”
Leo kept crying. “What?”
Piper moved the cake and sat next to him, embracing him in a hug, careful around his ribs. Soon after, Annabeth and Percy joined from the sides, and Kayla and Will after them. Leo kept sobbing.
“You guys…” a loud sniffle, “You guys got me a cake?”
Laughs all around him. Percy gazed at the cake, candles burned down completely, a pool of colorful wax hardening on the top, the chocolate letters spelling “Happy birthday, hot stuff!” completely covered.
“Yeah dude!” he grinned. “Of course we did. It’s your birthday, wipe down the tears!”
Will passed Leo a tissue from the bedside table. He blew his nose and dried his tears, but his face was all red and puffy now.
“What?” he said for the fourth time to the amusement of everyone.
“Just eat the cake!” a scream came from the bed on the other side of the room. Nico woke up and was now making his way over to the group.
Will turned to him. “Di Angelo, I would slap you if it wasn’t for Leo’s birthday. Stop trying to move in with your father permanently by risking your life, you idiot!”
Leo laughed at that. “Come on, let it go, Will.”
“That’s right! It’s his birthday, so he has the final say,” Nico said, pushing through to Leo and giving him a fast hug. “Can I have the cake too?”
“Yeah,” whispered Leo, whose eyes started to water again. He could not believe it. All those people were here for him, to celebrate his day. His friends, mostly in one piece, took the time of their day to come and be here with him. They embraced him as he was. Not only with all his problems and imperfections but also while he looked and smelled worse than a garbage can. How did he get so lucky?
Annabeth took a handful of spoons wrapped in colorful napkins out of her bag and gave them out to everyone. Percy kissed her temple softly and whispered something into her ear, making her blush. Piper looked at Jason, still sleeping on the next bed over, and briefly touched his hand. The only thing that would make this moment better for them was if he was awake. Will and Nico also let themselves intertwine their fingers, even if Nico looked a little uncomfortable with the affectionate gesture.
Leo looked at all his friends again. Twelve months ago he was curled up on the floor in a dark, empty bunker, desperate for any acknowledgment at all, desperate to stop being so lonely. Now, he had all those people around. He opened up to them and they accepted him. Cared for him. Loved him. And he loved them back.
Kayla put the cake back in the middle of his bed, spoon ready to dig out all the chocolate goodness from below the hardened wax. Everyone else prepared for eating too, scattering around, some sitting on the edge of the bed, the others on the floor. Everything was perfect, Leo thought. His friends were perfect.
“Wait!” Piper interrupted, “What about the wish? The candles went out!”
Leo smiled at her. “No need for a wish. I have everything I could ever dream of right here, right now.”