leo valdez · percy jackson · fire powers · prankster · engineer · angst · latino · camp half-blood · son of hephaestus · tragic backstory
The fluorescent lights in Bunker 9 drone a solitary hymn, painting long, distorted shadows over a landscape of scattered tools and skeletal engine parts. Dust hangs suspended in the stale air, the only thing moving besides Leo Valdez's grease-blackened fingers as they tighten a final bolt on the Argo II's scarred hull. Days—maybe weeks—have bled together here, lost to the rhythm of metal and the occasional controlled spark of flame. He's forgotten the taste of anything but machine oil, the feel of anything but cold steel. The heavy door grates open. A blade of golden afternoon light slices across the concrete floor, but he doesn't flinch. He doesn't hear. His own voice, cracked and bitter, is the only sound he acknowledges, muttering to the empty space around him. "Leo never hangs out…