Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As the sun fell down and the cabins settled down for the night, Leo found himself resting on his lovely -and very comfortable- boyfriend, Jason, his hands running through Leo's curls.

Piper, who was basically a sister to him, had taught him how to manage his dark brown, tangled knots, making them much easier to work with.

Bunker nine was warm today, Leo's pyrokinesis being the main reason for this. No matter what, he was always above 100°F (37.8°C). Jason however, was always freezing. They were like fire and ice.

Looking up at his partner, Leo admired Jason's short, blonde hair, his azure blue eyes -shining as always- and his baby blue glasses that rested gently on his nose.

Holy Hephaestus, he was beautiful. Hadn't he always been?

By far however, Leo's favourite thing about Jason had to be his hands. They were so calloused yet so soft, so scarred yet so gentle. They were kind and would never hurt Leo. Unlike the other hands he had been dealt in his life.

Suddenly, Leo's body tensed, a sick feeling brewing in his stomach. Gods, he hated this feeling. It normally only happened when he was alone, back on the Argo II. Those long...dreary nights in the engine room, trying to ignore the thoughts of his old foster homes.

How lonely he was in the engine room of the Argo II, everyone else sleeping peacefully while he was trying to stop crying in fear of waking them all up. That was the day he made sure the engine room was completely soundproof. He hated bothering his friends.

Leo's mind flashed back to his childhood, the never ending running he did. He could never breathe, not really. He was on his toes daily. While other kids his age were worrying about getting to the swings first at recess, he was wondering if he was able to eat the next day.

His train of thought was cut off by Jason's hand freezing in place in his hair.

"Leo, my love, are you okay?"

"Im fine superman. Why?" Leo shrugged it off, using the nickname that came so naturally to him.

"Your eyes looked sad, do you want to talk?'

"Its nothing important Jason, dont worry."

"Leo, you're shaking, and your hands are sparking. You seem really worried. Please, what's going on?"

he was what? looking down at his hands, he noticed the small, white flashes happening ever so often. He quickly shook his hands, burying them into his fireproof jeans.

"Its really nothing Jason."

"Leo, please. I can tell when youre lying. Besides, it seems like its really bothering you. I want to help please."

"....are you, you wont judge me, right? Like you won't start laughing in my face and tell me im overreacting, right?"

"Of course not." Jason spoke, moving one of his hands to gently hold Leo's.

"..have I ever told you about my childhood?"

Chapter Text

“...have I ever told you about my childhood?”

“not really. all that i know is that you ran away six times when you were in the foster system. your last foster mother was called Teresa and she…oh..”

Leo winced at the mention of Teresa. Gods, he hated that woman.

“She..?”

Jason's face contorted into one of concern and worry, his hands subconsciously rubbing leos.

“She was really, rough.. gods, im so sorry leo, I didn't think,” Jason stammered near the end, his emotions catching him off guard.

“Its not your fault Jace, you didn't know.”

“I should've.”

“Im good at hiding it.”

“You shouldn't have had to hide it.”

“I didn't want to bother you with another one of my problems Jason. You were already dealing with a lot. The whole war with Queen Dirt Face was hard for you.”

“You committed what was basically a glorified suicide at the end of it to save us all. If the war was hard on anyone, it was you.”

Leo shrugged, shaking his head.

“It wasn't that hard,” Leo said, looking up at Jason as he fiddled with some scrap metal. “Besides i shouldnt act like i had it worse, everyone else suffered as well. I shouldn't make it all about me.”

“You aren't making it all about you Leo. You're just acknowledging that it happened to you. Please Leo. You worked nonstop for eight months on the Argo II with basically zero help.
Me and Piper had to drag you out to force you to actually take care of yourself. You didn't even have your own room in the Argo, you slept in the engine room!”

Leos face turned into one of surprise.

“You knew?” He spluttered out, sitting up in front of Jason.

“Of course I did leo.”

“But, but how? I never told anyone and i slept way later than you all.”

“do you remember that night that you woke up in the infirmary?”

“that was you? I thought, i thought i just sleep walked! Why didn't you say anything?”

“Because I didn't need too Leo. You were passed out on the floor, I wasn't going to leave you like that, besides I couldn't sleep. I might as well do some good.”

“thank you.”

“always.”

“...do you want to know about what, what Teresa did?”

“If you want to tell me leo, its your decision.”

“I mean, I'd rather have you know if that's okay..”

Leo's demeanour had completely shifted from his normal joking and laughing. He was more quiet now, more careful with his words.

“She was alright for the first few days. Not caring, definitely not loving but she was nice. Most likely just to get social services off of her back. Then when they stopped coming, she, she got bad. Real bad.”

“It started out with just shouting at me for, anything really. Forgetting to do the dishes, sitting on the couch, simple things like that. I didn't think much of it, it was better than some of my other foster parents.”

“She went slowly though, so slow I didn't notice when she started hitting me or locking me in the basement. I passed out a lot, mostly from lack of vitamins. I started going weeks without food, days without any water. I remember once she.., she..”

Jason softly rubbed Leo's hands, his fingers gently brushing over Leo's scarred, rough knuckles.

“You don't have to keep talking my love, especially if you're not ready to.”

“No, no I want to. It's just, it's kind of gory."

“I don't mind,” Jason spoke comfortingly. “Whenever you're ready.”

“Once she, uhm, she didn't let me drink anything for a while. I was about to pass out from not drinking anything, I was so thirsty, my throat was craving for anything, just relief.”

Leo took a deep breath, his voice wavering slightly.

“I made the, very bad, mistake of asking her for something to drink. I practically begged her, crying and sobbing, telling her I'd do anything, I'd clean for hours, cook, whatever. I just wanted a drink.”

“She told me, if I was thirsty, I should, I should drink my own blood. Then she passed me a knife.”

Jason's face dropped, the colour visibly draining from his already pale face.

“...you didn't.”

“I'm sorry.” Leo said, curling up into a ball and gently rocking on the spot, something Jason had rarely seen him do.

Jason brought Leo in for a tight hug resting his head into his soft curls.

“Its not your fault Leo, by the gods its so not your fault. Im so fucking sorry Leo.”

“No, hey why are you sorry? Im better now, it doesn't really affect me.”

“You can't be serious Leo,” Jason spoke, pulling backwards to look at Leo's face. “You've had practically zero time to heal from it. Burying it deep down and not thinking about it doesn't count.”

“...im fine.”

“Love, you were really tense and worried a few minutes ago because you were thinking about her. Your hands were catching fire.”

Leo looked away, staring at the blanket. Was he really over it? I mean he'd thought so but now that he's thinking about it, he isn't. He's had so many panic attacks about her, about everything that's happened to him. He wanted to be over it but he wasn't.

Leo's face buried itself into Jason's chest, tears brimming in his eyes.

“..i want to be over it.”

“I know my love.”

“Why cant it be easy?”

“I don't know Leo, I wish it was easy.” Jason said, running a hand soothingly through Leo's hair.

“im sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I'm making it about myself, again.”

“Leo, look at me please.”

Leo looked up, his eyes full of tears, trying desperately to keep them in.

“Its fine to be selfish every once in a while. Besides, it's not your fault. It wont be your fault ever leo. You don't have to be sorry for anything right now.”

“It kind of is.”

“Did you ask for her to hurt you?”

“...no.”

“Then it isn't your fault. Simple as that.”

“..are you sure.?”

“I'm sure Leo.”

“Thank you.”

“Always.”

“...can I ask you something?” Leo said tentatively.

“of course my love, what is it?”

“can we, can we watch descendants again?”

“ill get some snacks.”

Chapter Text

“No- stop, get off,” Leo mumbled, covered in sweat. “Fuck- please get off, please-”

“...love? Wake up..”

“Please, I don't want it, I don't, get off of me!” Leo couldn't breathe, her hands were on him, touching what wasn't hers, biting on every piece of skin she could see.

He could hear someone calling, saying something, but they seemed eons away. They couldn't save him, no one could. He was stuck, trapped with her.

Her hands trailed down towards his abdomen, pressing on the sensitive skin there, making him tense up further, stifling a sob.

“Please, no more, it hurts.”

Her fingers slipped under the waistband of his trousers and he shut his eyes tight, tears stinging them.

“Leo!”

His eyes snapped open, revealing a very worried Jason laying on top of him. Instinctively, he pushed Jason off, shoving him onto the ground with a thud.

“Stop, get off of me!” His vision was blurry, the world spinning around him.

Jason took a deep breath and softly stood up, his hands raised up to his shoulders in surrender.

“Leo, it's me, Jason. I'm not going to hurt you.”

“No, no, piss off!” Leo stammered, shielding himself with the blanket.

“Leo, please look at me,” Jason's voice was calm, and extremely worried. “Im not going to hurt you. It's me, it's Jason. Do you remember me?”

Leo peered out of the orange and purple, checkered coloured blanket, one wide, fearful eye scanning his surroundings.

“Love, its me. I'm not going to hurt you. We're in Bunker 9, alright? We're just sleeping, nothing more. It was a nightmare, just a nightmare.”

The gears in Leo's head turned, Jason's face coming into clarity, his face leaving the confines of the blanket.

“Jace..?”

“Thats right, it's me Leo.”

Leo couldn't stop the tears rolling down his face, his cheeks red.

“I'm sorry, i didn't mean to hurt you, I-”

“No, it's okay, it's not your fault.”

“I'm sorry,” Leo repeated, hyperventilating. “I'm sorry I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…”

“Leo, breathe. I'm not mad at you. I'm just worried, I want to help you.” Jason said clearly, taking a step forward.

Leo tried to breathe but it came out wrong, his lungs gasping for air.

“can't-”

“Can I come closer Leo?”

Leo nodded, curling up into a ball, a nervous habit of his.

Jason sat down slowly, his hands falling to his lap.

“Leo, deep breaths, like this, alright?” He took a slow, long deep breath, gesturing for Leo to follow.

Leo tried again, focusing on keeping his throat from tightening. It was better, but not good enough.

“It hurts.”

“I know sweetheart, but you've got to try, please? It'll feel better in a moment.”

Leo's mind immediately flashed back to the island, how much it hurt when she pushed herself onto him, how she told him it would “feel better in a bit.”

His breathing worsened, his heart rate rising back up at the speed of light. He got up and stumbled backwards, away from Jason.

“Leo? Hey… what's wrong? Did I say something?”

“Stay away! I don't want it- I don't.. please,”

“Leo, I'm not going to do anything-”

“Stop it! Stop lying to me!” He shouted, his voice filled with fearful anger.

“Love, I'm not-” Jason's voice was softer now, more worried.

“Don't call me that!”

“Leo, calm down.”

Leo stumbled backwards again, his balance off and his head spinning faster than a helicopter propellor.

Leo tripped and everything went black.