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#but yeah big 3 kids are op. look at nico go. and this is just physical abilities not including stuff like Annabeth being smart
aroaceleovaldez · 11 months
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non-exhaustive list of canon powers Nico di Angelo either has shown or is heavily implied to have:
Shadow-travel
Manipulation of shadows/darkness (also possibly use of shadows as a pocket-dimension a la Magicians using the Duat in The Kane Chronicles)
Becoming intangible/shadows
Complete control over skeletons/bones (dead or alive, including summoning, reanimation, and/or changing shape of them) and being able to sense their presence
Summoning, reanimating, commanding, and dispelling the dead/undead (Skeletons, zombies, ghosts, etc & varieties) and being able to sense their presence
Ability to understand/communicate with the dead/undead and potentially other beings of the Underworld
Inherent complete comprehension of Latin
Ability to perceive the usually unperceivable/possibly look upon a deity’s true form without repercussion (at least moreso than the average demigod, though possibly is restricted to chthonic beings) (ex: Tartarus, potentially also interacting with his parents, etc)
Interacting tangibly with ghosts (implied to be a Ghost King thing rather than a Hades/Pluto thing)
Partial or complete immunity to different effects of the Underworld/things within (can consume food/drink of or in the Underworld without repercussions, effects from the Lethe wear off over time instead of being permanent like usual for mortals, etc)
Astral projection/”Walking in dreams”
Dream manipulation and projection (Sending dreams to others, etc.) (presumably includes sharing/projecting dreams with others) alongside inflicting sleep upon others even from a distance.
Illusions
Manipulation of emotions/aura that inflicts specific emotions on others (ex.: radiating fear/death onto enemies)
Projection of emotions and memories onto others (can be so forceful it causes physical damage like a shockwave)
Geokinesis (all forms but also specifically generating black marble) (presumably also specialized control over precious gemstones & non-paper currency)
Temperature manipulation (seemingly only lowering temperature)/creating frost)
Control/manipulation of souls, including living beings (ex: ripping out Bryce Lawrence’s soul)
Perceiving/reading/judging of souls (most likely also a Ghost King thing over Hades/Pluto thing, but possibly both)
Converting living into dead/undead, aka instakill (ex: disintegrating monsters to bone with one touch)
Lowering or manipulation of own vitals (breathing, heart rate, etc)
Death Trance/pseudo-hibernation (possibly also general control over states of consciousness at least for self, in combo with control over vitals & dreams)
Sensing death (impending or when it occurs, sometimes receiving dreams/visions of it occurring)
Able to sense other children of Hades/Pluto (potentially also other chthonic beings in general/able to identify based on sense alone) and also just living beings in general, such as mortals (possibly via souls).
Improved navigation underground/in the Underworld and ability to traverse restricted or normally unnavigable parts of the Underworld
Enhanced strength/abilities when in the Underworld
Inherently unnaturally quiet (possibly able to silence sound on a designated target)
Hiding/shielding self from being perceived (seemingly related to shadows/silence)
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sparkraptor · 2 years
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Bolthor (1)
The Bolthor system was an unassuming one – a dull red star with four unremarkable chunks of rock orbiting it. Bolthor IV had once been a Dominion Outpost, when this sector had been the frontier a century ago – but as the Dominion had continued its steady march across the galaxy, it became instead a welcome depot in a sector that was largely void.
The station had expanded to cover a large section of the planet, the docking stations spreading out across the unrelentingly red landscape filled with a thousand different ships. Overhead the spacedock winked in geosynch orbit for vessels to big to make planetfall.
Kio ran the shut down sequence in the back of his head as the docking tube clamped to Birdie’s underside. “Atmospheric pressure equalized, opening hatch. I’ve already sent word to station ops for an unload team,” he said with tight professionalism. Mason had been more introspective since he’d returned to the flight deck, but Kio was still wary.
When Mason grunted an acknowledgement, Kio continued: “It’ll be nice to get some greasy street food and stretch my…”
“No.” Mason said, sitting back in his seat.
Kio swiveled in his own. “Uh?”
“You and Luca are going to clean the cargo hold.” Mason steepled his fingers. “I want it spotless.” He paused, then leaned forward again. “Like toothbrush in the floor seams spotless.”
“Mase…”
“Listen. I know why you did what you did.” Mason started. He stared off at the mechs and space-suited crews working outside the ships beyond. “I know you both meant well. But it was still wrong.”
Kio snapped his mouth shut. That calm was Archer’s doing, he knew immediately. The sex hobo was good for his boss. “Yeah. That’s. Fair. I. I suppose you’re going to want me to tell Luca he can’t go?” Kio said with a heavy sigh.
Mason gave him an evil little smile. “Got it in one.”
“Ah, Goddamnit.”
~~
They could still hear Luca’s desolate wail as they made their way into the massive tunnels that comprised the bulk of Bolthor Station. Instead of the soft green moss that helped produce and clean the air on their ship, the corridors were luminescent with brilliant green algaeplate amongst the neon directional signs.
Mason had logged their haul into the station-net, clocked the shipping company’s cleanup fee in their account and opened up the rest to the competing scrap bidders whose shops comprised an entire level below.
Nico clapped a heavy hand on Mason’s shoulder. “Are you…” he made a face as Ben joined them wearing a shirt that said “DILF” on it. “Are you ok?”
Mason looked a little startled, then nodded. “I mean. No. But Yes. Sort of. Thanks Nic. You guys go do our shopping – and get some junk food for the chain gang up there.”
“Luca gave us a list.” Ben said, lifting an eyebrow at the scrolling list on his datapad. “Believe me, he’s got junk food covered on here.” Beside him, Nico nodded grimly.
Mason looked around for Archer. The monk had kissed him, said he’d be back soon, then vanished into the mass of travellers, scrappers and long-haulers. He sighed, then patted Nico’s hand. “OK. I’ll ping you guys when we’re sorted here.”
As he watched Nico and Ben retreat, his comm pinged. Mason’s momentary rush dimmed a bit when he saw it was just the winning bid on their scrap. He tapped an agreement, and released the loader drones to destination with a sigh.
Then another ping, and this time he smiled. [Meet me in the level 3 food court in Tower 2 <3 A]
~~
The food court provided panoramic views of Bolthor’s iron-red desert under the crimson sun. Mason found it dreary but for some long-haulers, any planetary surface was a novel delight, and he wandered through, sipping a blue-green smoothie while groups of spacer kids took selfies in front of one of the windows, looking for his monk.
He found Archer at a set of tables near a taco stand, chatting with a broad shouldered, dark woman. She wore a coat with a strangely huge fur collar and had the most striking blue eyes he’d ever seen. From the tattoos peeking out at her collar and sleeve, Mason found himself wondering if she were Dolani as well. Archer glanced up, and there was a little smile on his lips as he inclined his head towards Mason.
The woman stood, looked him over from head to toe, then clapped him on the shoulder with enough force to put Nico to shame. “Captain Knight!” She said cheerfully as he bobbled his smoothie. “Captain Nala. I cannot thank you enough!”
“I. You’re… welcome?” Mason looked to Archer for some sort of context but the monk only chuckled.
“Cousin, I’m going to grab some lunch for us. Do you want any?”
“No, no. I need to get back to the Sarasin. But I will speak with you dominja for a moment, captain to captain.” She nodded at Archer, then back at Mason. “My thanks are for putting that cousin in my path, Captain.”
Mason suddenly understood something. Cousin – not in any relation sense. She *was* Dolani. He considered briefly, thinking about what Archer had told him. “I guess this was where he was needed?”
“AH, he said you’d understand. Yes. We lost our.” She paused. “You could call her our chief medical officer. But she was more than that, you understand.”
“A bit.”
“Good. Good.” Nala looked thoughtfully out at the ruddy landscape. “I won’t bore you with the details, but the Sarasin lost a few good people to the Pangaran Flu. An infected passenger.” She sighed. “Ship’s been deconed, everyone else is clear, but there was death on my ship. It leaves a stain in the energy. We finally made arrangements to head to Neruda to pick up a new …medical officer. But We didn’t have any one to cleanse the ship, to sing for the dead. That would’ve been Kit’s job. Now we have Archer to cleanse it for us before we get there. I didn’t expect the universe would give us a traveler, but we always trust.”
Mason tried to hide the concern on his face. “I… see. That’s. I’m glad.”
Nala patted his arm. “He will be safe as houses to there. And…” she reached up to her furry collar. It suddenly blinked and Mason almost screamed.
(An Other, like Harvard)
“Thank you, Dirc.” She patted the collar as it spit out a small square of ceramic and crystal. She pressed it into Mason’s hand. “There. Your Birdie and the Sarasin are sisters now. The transfer of a Traveler from one to another is a solemn affair.”
Mason turned the comm chip over in his hand, then laughed as he saw archer returning. “He did say that Dolani families are just dinner guests who couldn’t escape fast enough from being adopted.”
Nala laughed again. “You DO understand!”
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finiteuniverse13 · 3 years
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Clay Spenser; Son of Poseidon
Together with @jayhalsteadfan-2417, we made a wonderful AU spawned from me Really, Really liking the idea of Clay with a 7-foot trident.
Clay (& Percy)
Clay is a son of Poseidon – but was only claimed after the events of PJ&The Last Olympian.
Clay’s trident is stored in a bullet necklace because if riptide can be a pen and a dragon can be a suitcase, a sword can be a bullet necklace.
His sword is in a bracelet that Percy gave him and that Charles Beckendorf forged to make magical.
Clay and Percy doing hand to hand combat together.
Clay showing up at Sally’s apartment to see Percy and he is super tired and wants to nap.
Sally, Annabeth and Percy being the ones waiting at the end of deployment.
Clay calling Sally “mom”.
Clay interrogating Paul when he and Sally started dating.
Clay helping campers with their homework.
Clay helping with the Prophecies and giving tips for combat situations.
Jason Grace being mistaken for Clay's brother.
Campfire and Clay has a good singing voice.
Clay has a room in Sally’s apartment, and he stays over after deployment.
Percy and Sally showing up after Clay’s deployment, so he has someone there.
Clay calling Percy “little bro”.
Clay and Percy having movie nights and fall asleep on each other.
Clay and Percy fighting monsters together.
Someone picks on Percy and clay finds out when Percy comes home covered in Bruises and cuts.
“Percy what the hell happened; I need names now”.
Clay showing up at Percy’s school for a sibling day.
Clay causing a tornado.
Clay and Percy video chat while Clay is on deployment.
Poseidon having to be like "yeah so I also broke that 'no Big Three kids' rule that other time too" to Zeus
Clay showing up to help with Gaea.
Clay, showing up to battles with a celestial bronze sniper rifle: I'm not here to mess around!
Clay helping kids get to Lupa when he was stationed in Cali.
Clay comes back covered in gold dust.
Clay using a trident in a battle.
Percy meeting Ash Spencer
Sally meeting Ash Spenser. She'd kick his ass into the next century.
Percy staying over at Clay’s apartment.
Clay meeting Annabeth and ribbing Percy about her.
Clay is an overprotective older brother with Percy so when quests come up, he volunteers to help him out a bit.
Clay getting various SEAL teams to check up on quests to make sure they're all alright.
Clay being Percy’s guardian when Sally and Paul go on their honeymoon.
Clay’s in the arena at camp as soon as the sun comes up and trains for hours on end.
Cerberus (3 heads) is protective of Clay.
Clay at the campfire and is leading different songs around the fire.
A long op (like Mexico) in a monster-infested area and every couple of days Clay grabs his trident and sword and goes monster killing for a couple hours.
One time Clay was stressed out he accidentally flooded the dining hall.
Clay teaching Percy tricks and techniques with water manipulation and vice versa.
Clay finding out about Percy getting kidnapped and going missing.
Percy showing up at base covered in blood and dirt from a battle with a hydra.
Percy and Clay sword fighting in the base’s gym.
Poseidon showing up and both drop to their knees.
Percy and Clay going fishing with Jason. And a sea monster shows up and It Goes Down.
Clay runs out of monster bullets and instead starts going wild with his trident.
"I'm out of ammo! Going, uh, trident?" "Trident?" a Trident flies through the air and lands in the chest of an approaching monster, turning it to dust "Bravo Six has gone Trident, understood".
Whenever Clay is bored, he does fancy spins with his trident and scares everyone around him.
Clay looking calm but behind him a water fountain explodes.
Clay’s bunk is across from Percy’s at camp.
Clay’s bunk is a "borrowed" hammock from his cage on base.
Clay and Percy both love to kill the minotaur. They each have one of the horns of the same minotaur.
Clay’s hangs in his cage on base.
Clay runs out of bullets and just yeets a trident across the battlefield.
Clay wasn't claimed during his time at camp, so he basically adopted all the Hermes/unclaimed kids.
The Stroll twins go between him being their older brother or "Uncle Clay".
Clay graduating Green Team and going straight to Olympus to tell Poseidon.
Clay putting Ares kids in their place when he is at camp.
Bravo with Demigods
Blackburn is a son of Athena.
Blackburn and Clay having conversations in Ancient Greek.
Clay dragging Bravo to camp for a day.
Trent and Jason nearly pass out when they see the lava wall.
Nico would LOVE Cerberus.
Cerberus is a descendant of Cerberus.
Bravo watching a game of Capture the Flag.
Bravo and Blackjack
Clay comes in with a blue lunchbox and nobody makes fun of him in case they invoke Sally's wrath.
Clay having blue cookies in that lunchbox.
Clay swearing in Ancient Greek on the battlefield with Bravo.
Percy has a swimming competition and Bravo go and watch him.
DEVGRU adopting Percy as their little brother's little brother. Aka Little Brother2
Percy having a father-son relationship with Jason.
Jason and Ray giving Paul parenting tips.
Clay and Percy playing video games together.
Percy and Emma meeting and Percy is protective of her.
Clay Causing an earthquake with Bravo team.
Paul and Sally are busy and Jason shows up at Parent's Evening
Jason is a good uncle and is proud of Percy.
When Percy's dyslexia is bad he sends a photo of the textbook and Bravo sends a voice message of them reading it out loud.
Trent helping with his Health homework.
Percy asking ray and Jason for date ideas.
Percy showing up at base coved in blood and freaks out Bravo.
Trent would probably cry with joy when he discovers Ambrosia being a quick heal thing for Clay (and Blackburn, but that’s way less likely).
Brock would Lose His Mind meeting those metal guard dogs that Reyna has.
Bravo rocking up to the battles and helping.
Bravo meeting a monster on an op and Clay summons his weapons and just Goes To Town killing this monster.
Clay just YEETS a trident at some Tango and bravo has their jaws on the ground.
Percy and Clay basically doing adoptions for the orphaned half-bloods in the SEALs.
He introduces orphan half-bloods to various service members who can't/won't have babies but want children and/or want to adopt.
Percy Iris Messages Clay after a nightmare and Clay is out with Bravo and they all hear him crying.
Bravo can all see through the mist so they know about the monsters.
Bravo at Camp Half-Blood and hanging out in the Poseidon cabin for the nights, Percy has a nightmare and wakes them by accident.
Percy and Clay practice fight manoeuvres together and Bravo watches them train together.
Bravo leading “In the navy” at the campfire and trying not to crack up.
Younger campers asking for stories and bravo tell one's that are highly edited for security reasons.
Clay teaching Bravo campfire songs during deployment.
Bravo making tributes to various gods/goddesses of war/strategy before going on an op.
Blackburn and Clay racing up the lava wall.
Bravo stumble upon an entrance to hell and Clay is pulling them out.
Clay goes "Oh yeah, the Amazonians run Amazon" any nobody can tell if he's joking or not (he's serious)
Annabeth and Blackburn being Wholesome Sibling Goals.
Clay takes on a cyclops and gets smashed up a little bit and Bravo is panicking.
Bravo has monster-killing bullets for any situation that happens.
Sally bringing Bravo blue food for BBQs.
Clay comes to base one day covered in dust with a minotaur horn in hand going "You will not BELIEVE the day I'm having”.
Blackburn just hands him some Ambrosia because Clay got a little cut up.
“My baby brother started another war so you guys wanna help out?“
Trent getting a monster killing RPG
Metal has Ares' blessing.
Ares appears and everyone kneels except for Metal and Percy, Percy because he's Percy Jackson and Metal because they're bros.
Trent is Will’s mother’s brother.
Stuck between "MY NEPHEW IS A DEMIGOD? " and "YOU HAD A CHILD WITH A **GOD**????".
Blackburn and Clay sword fighting
Clay fighting Hercules in the arena while Bravo watches.
When Clay's sad Bravo does their best at blue pancakes to cheer him up (it normally end in disaster)
Brock loves O'Leary.
Percy having a group of uncles that have his back when he needs it.
Trent teaching Apollo kids medical procedures.
Bravo & Half-blood friendships:
Frank and Sonny
Annabeth and Lisa
Trent and Will
Mandy and Piper
Sonny and Leo
Lisa and Hazel
Metal and Clarisse
Ray and Chiron
Lisa and Reyna
Reyna and Jason
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spinningsidetable · 5 years
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Gentleman: 1/3
Pairing: Octavian/Leo Valdez (leotavian)
Warning/Genre: Genre/Warning: AU, No Godly Parents, Spy Shit, Action Movie Parody, Non-Linear Story Telling, Admittedly Unhealthy Relationship, Descriptions of Violence, Dubious Consent Smooching, Sexual Situations,"Humor"
Rating: Mature
Summary: Leo has worked for the Agency for awhile now, the guy in the chair helping Agents save the world and all that, but now it seems like an actual supervillain is enamored with him.
(Notes: I'm condensing this, so long story short and all that, this isn't meant to be a healthy ideal relationship, it was born entirely out of American action movie tropes. I'm going to trust those reading this are adults and able to tell reality from fiction.)
“It’s the perfect plan!” Leo exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the blueprints in front of the group. “I know it’ll work. Because, I mean, I came up with it. When have my plans ever gone bad?”
Jason and Piper exchanged a look, as did virtually everyone else in the room, including grunts in the background working on machinery.
“I…well, let’s spitball some other thoughts, maybe?” Jason spoke slowly, as though he didn’t want to spook a small animal. Or, small Leo that was.
“Right! Let’s maybe revisit that miniature drone idea?” Piper offered, looking to some other people behind her who seemed to catch on and began nodding animatedly.
“Oh- oh, yeah! The drones!”
“That’s a good idea!”
“Great job, Leo!”
Leo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I thought we already established that he had EMP devices set up around the perimeter of the base, so we can’t get in any drones, micro or otherwise.”
“Oh,” Piper’s face fell. “Well. Maybe underwater drones? I’m sure Percy could-“
Percy was sitting up on a desk behind Leo and shook his head very animatedly, throwing up a big NO with hand signs.
“Right, so, my plan is the best.” Leo said slowly, looking around the room. “Right?”
Piper bit her lip and looked pleadingly up at Jason. Hero Jason. Crime fighting, evil syndicate breaking up Hero. Leo’s best friend since freshman year of high school, Jason.
“It’s just…we’re worried about you, Leo.” Horrible liar, Jason.
“It could go wrong, really quickly.”
Leo rolled his eyes, tapping the laser pointer in his left hand against the desk. The whole presentation with slides had taken 25 minutes.
“He’s never hurt me before, Jason, come on. You know this is our best chance to get in the compound and plant the virus. This is the only way we can save those congressmen!...Or was it senators this time?”
Leo hadn't really cared one way or the other, only skimming through the documents. All he knew was he hadn’t, and wouldn't, vote for the guys.
“Is it though? Is seducing a supervillain really the best way?” Grover asked, slightly nervous. Then again, a lot of secret agents tended to have a nervous or paranoid disposition.
Leo threw his hands up, exasperated. “In this specific situation?! YES! Look, like I said, he’s never hurt me. Come on guys, I’ve always just been…the repair guy, the guy in the chair. But, this one crazy asshole seems to be in love with me, so let me do the super-secret spy shit for once! Instead of Jason, or Reyna, or Percy!”
“…But he’s not in love with you.” Annabeth said, frowning, before being shushed and chided by about five people. “What? He’s not.”
“Uhhh,” Leo paused, before he laughed incredulously. Were they all crazy? Had they met the guy?
“Yes, he is? He’s tried to capture me like…fifteen times now? He calls me all sorts of pet names in like…so many different languages? He poured me a glass of wine from the 1700’s for fucks sake!”
There was complete silence, besides a nervous cough by a soldier in the back.
“…What?”
“Don’t…you think, maybe…that’s a little suspicious?” Piper asked, her voice going down to calm soothing mode. “That the bad guy would target…you?”
Leo frowned, glancing down at himself and back up. Rude. “Why?”
“Because you’re a weak link,” Reyna huffed finally having had enough. Jason hissed something at the female captain, looking more like an upset bird more than a 6’2 blond superman.
“Shush, Grace. Look, you’re Jason’s friend. Which means you have more information on him than anyone else besides Piper. You’re also in charge of our engineering and online resources, which means taking you out of the equation is important. Plus, you probably have connections to virtually every world leader, through your contacts at the Agency. He’s not going to chance taking Piper again, not after the first time he tried to kidnap her, Jason nearly brought down half a mountain.”
The first time Jason had met Piper, the girl had discovered for herself a secretive plot to kidnap and use major film and media stars. She had broken into a closed off building she suspected was involved, high up in the alps and ended up captured. Jason (and a whole team, but mostly Jason) had been sent in to extract her. The lovestruck blond idiot fell head over heels, nearly cost them the mission, if it hadn’t been for Piper’s quick thinking. She had been part of the group ever since.
Reyna looked Leo up and down, unimpressed. She’d led a black Ops group for over half a decade now, and Leo never seemed to give proper distance and caution to herself and her team. The engineer had gotten himself high clearance just from being associated with Jason Grace. It wasn’t like he underestimated her, or treated her poorly, but the kid lived in a bubble of his own creation. Everything was at least partly a game to him. Leo was either often dangerously flippant or damn near suicidal. Or, that’s what it seemed like. If he wanted to be an Agent, he’d have to learn now. He couldn't continue to assume he and Jason could buddy cop their way through things like a bad B movie.
“You, Valdez? You’re the easy target. You have no romantic affiliation. You’re not physically strong enough to stop him; and you’re apparently extremely gullible for a smart person.”
Jason was pinching his nasal bridge by the time Reyna had finished speaking, while Piper was looking resolutely anywhere besides Leo.
Leo blinked, and opened his mouth, before closing it. “That…That’s not. No, he’s…he tells me he’s-”
“Attracted to you? No offense, but you’re far from the most attractive man on this vessel. You’re not even the most attractive gay short man in this room.”
Nico, behind Reyna seemed to connect the dots, and frowned. “Was that a compliment or-“
“Look, Leo, we appreciate the offer, really.” Piper pushed Reyna to the side slightly, shooting her a look. “But, we…should probably look for …other options, okay.?
“I’m bi,” Leo said hollowly. “I’m not gay.”
“Leo, don’t make this into something it isn’t.” Jason exhaled sharply out of his nose. “You really don’t want to have a supervillain attracted to you. I get it, the guys weird, it's confusing…look, come on, let's brainstorm something else. I'm sure you still have half a dozen other ideas.”
“You…all agree with her?” Leo shook his head, as something in his chest clenched. Did they think so little of him? “You think he’s just…trying to get information out of me? Because I’m some…naïve, weak, loveless idiot?”
No one said anything more, so Leo laughed to himself. This was like all highschool and college all over again. “Okay, wow. Fine. Whatever.”
“Leo-“ Jason started, but Leo turned to leave the ready room.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just go back to engineering. You’re right, obviously, you’re always right, aren’t you?” The door slammed behind him.
“Fuck that,” Leo hissed, stomping down the small metal corridors on the aircraft carrier. He muttered to himself the entire way, ignoring the looks he got from seamen.
“So what if I’m not…Nico, or Jason, or Percy. Maybe I’m his type?” Leo had, as far as Leo knew, never been anyone’s type, but that didn’t matter. One girl in 9th grade described him as an over eager gerbil.
"Okay, so maybe Reyna has a point, I’d be useful to his evil schemes – but that just means I’m smart! Smart is sexy, right? That’s probably a kink right, like bibliosexual or something? He probably just appreciates my abilities on multiple levels! It’s not like he only became interested in me when he found out who I was in relation to Jason!” Wait, that’s exactly what had happened, wasn’t it? Leo stopped dead in the middle of a hallway.
“Oh god, she’s right, isn’t she?” Leo stewed in his own angst for a minute, before deciding to say fuck it and just return to his room. He continued to grumble, passing by some of the same soldiers who sent him increasingly odd looks until he reached his room.
“Of course, who would be attracted to Leo Valdez? I can’t even have a singular supervillain?” He slammed that door for emphasis too.
“Well, I may know of one. Hello, passerotto mio.”
Leo froze, he unfortunately knew that voice quite well, before turning cautiously. Sure enough, a young man sat on his bed, legs crossed in a very nice black suit. He was taller than Jason, but slimmer in figure, with a head of immaculate pale blonde hair. His tone was soft and casual, but his pale blue eyes were always intense.
“Octavian,” Leo said slowly. “How the fuck did you get in here?”
Octavian stood up, nearly having to crouch in the small rooms within the aircraft carrier. He held a hand over his heart, and sighed. “I searched for you in my soul, amore, and found you here.”
“Haha. Don't make fun of me. Okay, that’s bullshit.” Leo held up a finger and pointed at the ground. “I mean, here, in my room? In the exceptionally well defended aircraft military carrier in the middle of the fucking nowhere Pacific Ocean, without anyone noticing?”
Octavian smiled, which was always a bit disturbing, because he looked slightly (understatement) manic at times.
“Maybe I’m from an underwater civilization, like Atlantis; or, maybe I have private submarine, radar shielding… and I’m sorry to tell you this, but not everyone on this ship is so…sympathetic to your friends causes.”
Bad, that was very bad, really very bad news. They had turncoats, spies. Everyone on board was in danger. Leo needed to stall the man, as best as possible. Jason or Piper would likely come to check on him after a bit.
“That’s…got to be some really good radar shielding, to hide from this ship.” Leo said slowly, leaning up against the door.
Octavian walked closer. This man had toppled small governments, created rebellions, killed politicians and businessmen. “…Want to tell me how it works?”
“Oh, I’d love to, but I’m afraid my tech knowledge isn’t anywhere near as advanced as yours, lux vitae meae.” Octavian was close enough to smell his cologne. He smelled good, he always smelled good; Leo smelled like engine grease usually. Leo didn't know anything about cologne, but Octavian’s was never overpowering, it was the kind you wanted to lean in closer to sniff, next to their body.
“I can always ask my people for the tech details. If you’d stay with me until morning, I’d love to tell you over breakfast.”
“Latin this time?” Leo’s ears were heating up, and he fanned himself. “Boy, just jumping right to it, huh?”
A small smirk tipped up the corner of Octavian’s lips, “I’d be a perfect gentleman.”
Nervous laughter bubbled up in Leo’s throat. A gentleman supervillain. Ridiculous.
“That’s…great and all,” Leo stuttered over a few words. “But…the jig is up, you know. I’m…wise to you. If you think I’m some…weak link, you’re wrong.”
Octavian’s brows furrowed just ever so slightly.
“Yeah,” Leo nodded to himself, feeling mildly emboldened in the face of death. “I’m never going to tell you anything about Jason, or any codes, or anything about my machines! You can sweet talk all you want, but I’m not that naïve!” Yes, he was. Apparently. “You can drop the act, you’re not tricking anyone.”
“Tricking you?” Octavian repeated slowly. “With….sweet talk?”
“Yup,” Leo popped the p, taking a step forward away from the door. He shoved a finger into Octavian’s chest, who looked down at it, amusement clearly growing on his face. It was a familiar look, like the first time they met.
“We both know you don’t have the hots for me. Look at me. I’m…not even the hottest short gay guy on the boat.” Leo faltered slightly, trying to repeat Reyna’s words. Would Octavian go after Nico next? Mitchell? Mitchell was kind of an asshole, so Leo hoped not. Octavian could do better- wait, he was a mass murderer.
“I see.” Octavian grabbed up Leo’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “Says who?”
Leo’s brain stopped functioning. “Buh, what wait? I-…everyone apparently?”
Octavian peppered kisses down his hand, to his fingers. “Ah, and who is everyone? When did this happen? You used to be so fiery, telling me you could never be with a man like me…Now, you believe I’m lying?”
“I-..I…” Leo’s eyes were focused on the pale hand around his own tan one. He still had dirt and grime on his hands, but that didn’t seem to matter. It never seemed to matter. In fact the more filthy Leo was, the more interested Octavian acted.
“They…told me my plan was bad…”
Octavian paused, looking Leo in the eyes. “Plan?”
“I…was going to offer myself up to you, seduce you, and then plant a virus?” Leo laughed, awkwardly trying to pull his hand back. “I’m guessing you would have just tortured and killed me, huh?”
Octavian’s eyes had dilated, and his head tilted just slightly to the side. “Seduced me? How so?”
Leo flushed. “Man, I don’t know. You know, I only have spy movies to go off of? I guess… wear something skimpy, get all up close and personal, but put off sex until I can drug you asleep? Something like that? Do they make poison lipstick, or is that just a TV comic book thing?”
Teeth nipped at Leo’s finger tip, just slightly, before Octavian answered in a rough voice. “If you think I would kill you for that, you’re very mistaken. And, while I can’t possibly object to you in less clothing, I find you quite seductive as you are.”
Leo looked down at his grungy white tank top and brown oil stained jogger type shorts. “Okay, now I’m really starting to realize how full of shit you are. Drop the act-”
He was cut off, by getting pushed against the door. Lips met his in a demanding kiss, while hips pressed against Leo’s stomach gave away the fact maybe he wasn’t so full of bullshit. Octavian was hard, not fully, but enough that butterflies in Leo’s stomach began to flutter. Leo’d never been with a man before, he’d barely been with a woman. He’d spent ages 16-23 essentially as Jason’s weird sidekick. They’d been trying to save the world for the last 3 years, and before that it was just crunch week, except if crunch week was 4 solid years. Any guy or girl around was attracted to Jason, or Piper, or Nico, or Percy, the list grew and grew as they met more and more agents.
Leo whined slightly, clenching his hands into the suit in front of him. Octavian was always such a good kisser. Leo found that out kidnapping 6#. Leo was properly distracted, playing tonsil hockey until something blasted him out of the moment.
An actual blast, that rocked the ship. The metal groaned, and creaked in a way that told Leo the ship was likely taking on water, a lot of it.
Octavian pulled back, lips flushed a lovely red, smiling like the cat that got the Canary. “Ah, well, that’s my que. You know what you said about drugging someone asleep?”
Leo paused, and frowned, and then realized. “Oh.” Ya valió madre.
In one of Octavian’s hands was a very small patch, that he had affixed to the back of Leo’s neck as he kissed him. Leo’s vision began to blur, and he felt the familiar sensation of blacking out. This was not the first time Octavian had used such a thing on him. Afterall, this was kidnapping number 16. Knock out patch was roughly kidnapping #9 which Leo didn't remember very well, besides laying in bed with a headache and Octavian massaging his temples. Leo had built up more of a tolerance since then.
“Sleep, petit souris.” Octavian’s voice became a garbled mush of noises. Leo mumbled something that sounded like 'you're French now?' before he stumbled and collapsed into open arms.
“Computers, computers,” Leo sang to himself, as he pulled out hard drives and wires. “Only an idiot doesn’t protect their computers!”
It wasn’t like it was Leo’s first time out or anything, him and Jason had already taken on some serious nasty pieces of work, but this was their first real mission together. Jason had been roped into the Agency a year and a half ago, but Leo was left sitting in an office. Of course, the Agency had excellent offices. Nice chairs, some nice pieces of tech, coffee stations. But, it was getting boring, just surveying cameras, talking to Jason and other Agents over comms. Leo had wanted action, so when some freak that called himself Octavian (real name unknown) captured a good sized law firm in the heart of New York city, he jumped at the chance.
Most of the bad guys and Agents fighting were in another part of the building; Leo wasn’t trained for any of that really, but he was trained to take down any computers, networks, and surveillance the dastardly bastard had set up. A couple Agents were at the look out, keeping Leo covered as he went to work. They were the strong silent type, probably, didn’t want to talk to Leo much. Because of duty, and honor. Definitely not because they thought he was annoying.
“You know,” Leo pulled out a screwdriver from his toolbelt, “you should really let me make some customizations to your weapons. Sure, they’re good, but they could be so much better.”
“I’m sure they’d appreciate the thought,” a voice said behind Leo. That was not Hank or Sam, Leo realized, and scrambled to his feet.
A blond man stood at the doorway, his body posture was relaxed, but his expression was anything but. Hank, one of the Agents, slid down the wall, throat bloody and flowing down his chest at an alarming rate.
Leo’s hands went cold, as he watched the man of the hour, Octavian, casually wipe arterial blood splatter off his cheek like it was jam.
Sam wasn’t as far gone as Hank had been, and he struggled to stand up to fight back. Octavian let out a gleeful laugh, before grabbing Hank’s gun and blasting Sam through the bottom of his chin and out the top of his skull.
“Oh, my god.” Leo whispered, stomach turning over. It wasn’t the first death he had seen, not the first dead body, but this was a small closet; Leo was right up close and personal. A piece of Sam landed on Leo’s boots.
“You…came! Octavian, sir, I was captured!” Leo gasped out, coming to his senses. “I’m so glad to see you! I thought those…Agency bastards would kill me!”
Octavian had taken a moment to grab up personnel information from the fallen Agents, but at Leo’s voice, he zeroed in on the shorter man. The same expression that had been on Octavian’s face when he killed Sam came back full force.
“Try again.”
Leo gulped, holding up his hands. “I’m the computers guy! I swear! They trapped me in here when I came to check on the servers they had already started to destroy!”
Octavian held up Hank’s gun and cocked it. “Last chance, pieni rotta.”
Leo momentarily forgot his fear as he full grimaced. “Yo, man, did you just call me a rotten penis? What even language was that?”
Octavian looked more amused, shrugging a shoulder, but tilted the gun back and forth in a lazy manner. “Tic toc, tic toc.”
Leo’s shoulders dropped, “what answer would keep you from blasting my brains out?”
Octavian actually seemed to think about it. “Well, you’re obviously tech savy, otherwise you wouldn’t be here - that could always be useful, however if you’re too high ranking you become a target – too low, I have no use for you.”
Leo grinned, clapping his hands together. “That’s like, so convenient, you have no idea! Because, I am, in reality, a moderately high level engineer! Like, perfect level of useful enough not to kill immediately! I’m so glad we sorted this out. In fact, you don’t even have to torture me!”
Octavian holstered the gun with a nod. Holy shit, had that actually worked?
“Good try. Now, who are you actually? We can have this conversation civilly.”
No, of course not. Leo snorted. “Well, aren’t you the gentleman.”
A crackle from Leo’s comms kicked in, as Jason’s voice came through. “Leo! You need to evacuate immediately! I repeat. Evacuate immediately!”
“Leo,” Octavian pronounced slowly, deeply, to the point it felt nearly invasive. “You’re Leo Valdez? I’d heard of you, of course, but I had no idea…”
Leo, tight lipped and clench jawed, lifted the comm to his mouth. “NOT A GREAT TIME, JASON. OVER.”
Then he turned back to Octavian. “Yeah, well, I’ve made a point to remove myself from anything trackable. Plus, the Agency didn’t want to let me off leash until today. Obviously, I'm just too dangerous. Five foot two inches of Rambo.”
“How is your first experience in the field?” Octavian asked casually, seemingly playing along.
“Oh,” Leo shrugged a shoulder. “You know. Started off okay, tons of bacon at the buffet, then we broke into this building to save a bunch of rich white guys in suits. Now, an even whiter guy slash possible supervillain is holding me hostage. Also, I’ve got brains from a guy on my shoes. It is what it is.”
Octavian’s expression, inexplicably, softened slightly from a 13 on the Murdery scale, to…maybe a 4?
“You amuse me, schattig mechanic. If we were under better circumstances, I’d love to take you out. Do you like Italian?”
“Why? Are you Italian?”
“Very possibly, or maybe not.”
“Well, you know, you’re kind of hot in a scary way, so I’d probably take you up on that. I get out like…never.” Leo questioned if he should be flattered or not, or what the fuck a schattig was. Didn't sound Italian. Something Nordic maybe?
“But, again, guys brains on my shoe.”
“You really seem stuck on the shoe thing.”
“Much like the grey matter on my shoe.”
“I’ll get you a new pair,” Octavian, stepped aside from the doorway as more men showed up. Not Leo’s men.
“But, first, I’m afraid little kiniun…you’ll be coming with me.”
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