Daughter of Olympus - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

The Risk I Took was Calculated, but I'm sooo Bad at Math

"That's Concord," Jason points to the background view. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way, that's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."

"Jason?" Piper asks with excitement. "You remember something? You've been here?"

"Yes... no." His face falls. "It just seems important."

"That's Titan land," Hedge informs them. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."

"That's not quite true," Ara responds. "Annabeth lived here a while, it is true that it's packed... with monsters..." She tilts her head, deep in thought. Why is San Francisco packed with monsters?

"Hey, guys," Leo's voice quivers, he's starting to sink into the mud. "Let's keep moving."

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge takes off his shoes and hands them to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."

"Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez. But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper looks at Ara for an answer.

"A giant's not easy to miss," she shrugs, "let's keep going and—"

"Smoke equals fire," Jason points up: A thin gray column is rising. "We'd better hurry."

Ara, as usual, ends up at the head of the group. Hedge goes next, then Jason, Piper, and Leo in the back. The girl waits to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not eaten by anything.

Ara tries not to laugh when Leo gets to where she is. He's wearing the Ray-Bans Aphrodite gave him, the collarless shirt is dirty and he's rolled up the sleeves, he's sweating buckets and toying with scraps that he probably pulled out of his tool belt. Now he looks like himself. A more fashionable version, but it's definitely Leo.

"What's so funny?" He scowls at her.

"I think I should cut my mother some slack, you looking good."

Leo stops. "What?"

Ara pats his shoulder. "Keep moving, heartthrob."

The group hides behind a massive rock once they reach the top. Hedge is reluctant to join them. "I don't want to get my outfit dirty!"

"Satyrs," Ara scoffs. "They turn into idiots so easily... kinda like you, Valdez."

Leo elbows her, but it's a playful gesture. Ara looks ahead and studies the giant, they're supposed to be like a knock-off version of the Olympians, and if she had to guess, this one is either Ares or Hephaestus's counterpart, if the flames tattooed on his body mean anything. 

Enceladus reminds her of every monster she's fought. In short, Ara's going to die today.

"Okay," Hedge says quietly. "Here's the plan—"

 "You're not charging him alone!" Leo elbows him, not as gently as he did to Ara.

 "Aw, c'mon..."

Piper gasps and points with a shaky hand. "Look... Dad." The girl's father is tied to a post, he's not awake but doesn't look dead either, so that's something.

"There's four of us," Hedge urges them. "And only one of him."

"Did you miss the fact that he's thirty feet tall?" Leo scowls.

"Okay. So you, me, and Jason distract him. The girls sneak around and free Piper's dad."

They turn to Jason. "What? I'm not the leader, Ara is."