LEOVALDEZ

Leo Valdez throws the small ball against the pale white wall. It bounces right back to him and he catches it.

He sighs and throws it again.

And again.

And again.

The boy with elfish features groans frustrated, still sitting on the floor.

He glances at the recording video camera in the corner of the room. "Helloooo? Anyone up there? Give me something to do! I'm going mad here with a freaking red ball, I'm not a child!"

Leo remarked, throwing the ball at the camera, harmlessly bouncing off.

Then he grabs the ball and stares at it for a few seconds. Studying it, trying to figure out what he could do to entertain himself.

"Ugh!" Leo shouted in annoyance. "I'm going crazy in here, don't you people understand!"

Suddenly his hand catches fire and the ball begins to melt. Leo only rolls his eyes. "Someone... anyone? I'm boooorrrreeeeddddd-"

The white door is opened and a tall man in a fire-proof suit, struts in. "Really, Valdez it's only been four days of no contact."

Leo extinguishes the fire and wipes the remains of the melted ball on the man's suit. "Yeah, that's like five days too many."

The man grimaced at his once clean outfit and scoffs. "We used to leave you in here for months without any human contact-"

"That was almost a year ago!" Leo throws his hands in the air. "You guys said you wouldn't totally isolate me anymore, stick to your promises-"

"We'll stick to ours when you stick to yours." The man says sourly. "You said, and I quote, 'Of course, no trouble whatsoever, absolutely.' and what have you done since then."

Leo rolls his eyes and leans against a wall. "Causing trouble and having fun are two different things-"

"I know that, but you obviously don't-"

"Can you stop interrupting-"

"I'll stop interrupting when you stop-"

"Men." A new firm voice diminishes the conversation.

"Ah." Leo smiles confidently and walks up to the young woman. "Ms. Chase, finally, I have a chance to talk to someone with intelligence."

"You are dismissed." She says, her voice like ice and her eyes sharp.

The guard nods his head to her respectively, then give Leo one last glare before walking out.

Annabeth Chase picks at her official name tag, and replies, "Yes I apologize for the whole "no contact" thing, we've been distracted of the late."

"Distracted?" Leo mocks. "You were distracted so you decided to leave with a ball. I'm not your pet."

Annabeth nods though clearly not paying attention as she glances at her phone.

Leo crosses his arms not satisfied. "And why did I have to change rooms? I was fine where I was at. This room, also, doesn't seem any different."

She purses her lips. "Yes, well, we've been having a security issue and we had to move you to a more secure area."

Leo perked up. "A security issue? What's wrong? A rebellion? Zombies? Aliens? Me from the future? Is someone attacking us? WWlll?"

He was all sarcastic of course, but Annabeth wasn't amused. "Just sit quietly and don't start any trouble, like burning things."

"That," Leo pointed out. "is probably not going to happen considering the fact that I just like setting things on fire."

Annabeth rubs her temple and interrupts Leo. "Just stay here."

"Where do you expect me to go? Did you guys install a pool? Can I use it? Maybe I could borrow your bikini-"

"Valdez..." Annabeth said, warningly. Which Leo totally ignores.

"Nah, you're not the bikini type. Maybe... Hey, do you just skinny dip-"

Annabeth turns around and starts walked out the door. "I'm done with this conversation."

"Wait." Leo gets serious and his voice drops. "I've been meaning to ask you something.."

Annabeth turns around warily and not totally convinced, searching his body for any signs of sickness or injury. "What's wrong?"

"I...I was wondering....." He bites the inside of his cheek and trails off.

"What is wrong? Are you feeling ill? Have you eaten all the food we've given you, or have you been skipping meals again?"

"No, I was just wondering..." Leo's face serious. "Have you any more balls to spare? Mine seem to be missing."

A moment goes by before relief hits her face and she starts to laugh but immediately stops as she gets information from her earpiece.

"Yes... What? No! Lock the entrances!.... Okay well then lock the exists.... Well then lock everything down! Yes... No of course not... That's idiotic, have you tried thinking before?.... Fine, I'll be right there."

She taps her earpiece and quickly walks out the door. "Leo stays in here, don't leave no matter what. Don't use fire. Don't talk. Don't look at anyone. Just don't move."

"What's going on?" He demands, confused and slightly nervous.

"Nothing." She says before slamming his cell door shut. Leo hears Annabeth lock it with her key card and he strains to hear anything else.

But everything is silent.

"What's wrong?" He mutters to himself trying to understand. Thoughts rushing through his head as he struggles to find a logical answer.

Could it be an attack? But why would people attack this place? Maybe it's just a practice drill. Maybe it's all a trick to shut me up and not cause trouble.

If it's not a trick, though, maybe I should be quiet. And not do anything.

Leo stares at the door for a long moment.

What if-

Suddenly the door opens again and a girl probably older than Leo steps in the room and stares at him.

He stumbles back, surprised.

The girl grabs his arm and pulls him out the door.

Leo roughly pulls his arm back.

He has never seen the outside of his cell, they aways put him to sleep and then moved him.

"What's going on?" Leo asks as another boy older than him pulls his other arm down a hall.

"We're rescuing you." The stranger says.

"Oh," Leo replies lamely still in shock of what's happening. "Rescuing me from what?"

The boy eyes him suspiciously. "This place. This prison."

"Oh."

"If you don't come with us now we're leaving you here, we don't have all the time in the world and I'm not getting caught because of your dumb ass." The boy speaks with confidence as if he's in control.

Leo hesitates. Memories run through his head, hopes and dreams resurface from being pushed away and discarded as unrealistic.

Lost in the moment, his body fills with adrenaline and he smiles wanting to take the risk.

Alarms loudly fill his ears and the boy looks stressed and yells for the girl to hurry up and to get the others. The loud sound rings through the halls.

Looking at Leo she returns his smile, clearly as excited as him. She grabs Leo's arm and pulls him close. She puts her mouth next to his ear so he can hear her over the alarms.

She sounds almost out of breath."We're getting out."