memory (hiatus)

Chapter 40: Secret Sibling Service

Aphrodite wrapped the straightener in a plastic bag, then shoved it down the front of her dress, adjusting the folds of her dress till it was only a light bulge. 

"This is the only weapon I have at the moment," she said when she saw Piper's wide-eyed look. 

Piper supposed that made sense. Her knife was confiscated, so all she had were her instincts and a bunch of makeup. Maybe she could throw powder in their eyes? Brushes at their faces? Attack them with hairbrushes? 

They weren't really ideal weapons.... but they would have to do. She shoved them the tight waist of her dress. 

"Okay, so, can you explain now?" Piper said, putting a hand on her heavily weapon filled hip. 

Aphrodite sighed. "Okay, don't freak out."

Piper was starting to freak out. "Um... why?"

Aphrodite nervously fidgeted with her dress. "Well, let's just say that I got one of the guards to help us, and we have to pretend to be fancy rich people at a gala."

Piper nodded. "Why did you think that would freak me out?" 

It was pretty usual protocol of things they did all the time. 

Aphrodite looked uncomfortable. "Well, you see, the guard is-"

"I'm here." A teenager about Piper's age, dressed in a black suit, with a gold gun handle peeking out of his pocket, walked up to them. At first Piper didn't see it. But then she did. The eyes, the hair, that jawline....

Piper put a hand over her mouth. "No way. Is that-"

Aphrodite took a deep breath. "Piper, meet your brother, Michael Varus." 

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Leo's POV:

Before Leo woke, his mind was fixated on the past morning, when he'd learned of several secrets about his father. 

After breakfast and laser-pointing, Thalia, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason went off to the respective sets of their parents. The rest of the group started doing their no-school routine, which frankly, had happened a lot. 

After helping clear the dishes, Percy started doing laps to practice for the swimming meet coming up soon, which he would hopefully be able to attend. Hazel started experimenting in the one modern room in that creepy house, pausing only for a small snack. Frank was actually doing homework, something that they were all probably supposed to do..... but Leo wanted to hold off till Annabeth made them do homework. 

Leo, himself, was in the garage, working on Festus. For some reason, Festus was still coughing up black smoke, and still not working quite right. Leo hated it when things didn't work right. 

It was there that he found the files. He hadn't been looking for them, but they'd caught his eye immediately. In an otherwise drab assortment of his usual tools, the bright red folder had stood out. 

He'd taken them off the shelf, and found.... a lot. It had been all sorts of things. Photos of mini-Leo wrecking havoc all over the place. Beautiful photos of his mother, black and white. And then, photos of some other woman. Leo didn't recognize her, but he recognized the man standing beside her. 

His dad looked happy in the picture, his beard actually cleaned up, his dark eyes full of love, as he stared at the woman in the picture. 

But what hurt the most was the outfit. Yeah, the outfit. It was stupid, but Leo recognized it. That same pair of overalls and blue shirt was the same outfit in the only family picture he had.