Percy Jackson-Leo's Return.

The Broken Joker

I was still awake when the sun came up, then when Annabeth did.  The events weren't too far apart.
   "You should be asleep."  She chided me.
   "I wasn't tired."  I used as a weak counterattack.  She rolled her eyes and grabbed her clothes.  She slipped on her shoes so her heels were sticking out of them and ran out the door towards the Athena cabin.  I wished we'd talked more.
   I quickly slipped on an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and some jeans and tennis shoes (almost exactly what Annabeth had been wearing yesterday) and went out for another lonely breakfast.  I was more than surprised when I sat down and saw Annabeth move over next to me.  she had brought her plate and cup, which made it clear that she meant to stay.  Why she was doing this all of a sudden was beyond me.
   "Are you okay?"  I asked.  Something must be wrong if she's breaking all the rules and staying by me.
   "Yeah, why?"  She frowned.
   "Nothing."  I said quickly, but she didn't buy it.  I started eating my blue pancakes to avoid any further questioning.  She made her plate make blue pancakes as well, so I just looked at them with my mouth full.
   "What?"  She asked, taking a bite of the pancake.  I gave her a suspicious look.
   "Not that I don't love your company, but why do I have it?  Exactly."  I didn't want to drive her away.  I had to admit this was nice, and I hadn't spent time with her at all since last summer, and we were both a little too shaken up to really do anything.  Annabeth sighed.
   "Rachel saw me last night, too.  Except she wasn't the Oracle of Delphi, but she did say something that sounded like the information was from a prophecy.  She said 'The Joker is broken and the Hero is sad.  The one that seems best is the worst, and the one that seems the worse is worse than you think.  The Hero needs the Joker.' then she walked away.  That obviously wasn't the prophecy because it doesn't rhyme, but still when she said 'hero' I thought of you and thought maybe you might be in trouble soon.  I told Chiron and he said he would let me stay close to you.  I haven't told anyone else anything."  I stared at her until I was so still my leg started to vibrate.  I shifted position and sat on one leg, playing with my fork.  Annabeth was the least ADHD demigod I'd ever seen.
   "Okay... so you think YOU"RE the Joker then?"  I tried to piece together.
   "Gods no!  Leo for sure.  But I'm still worried.  And that part about the Joker being broken, what if Leo broke an arm or a leg or something?"  She paused, "And about the Hero being sad.  I want you to be happy, and I know I make you happy because you make me happy."  She was right, and just knowing that made me feel better.  We were looking into each others' eyes when everyone stopped talking.  I thought maybe they were staring at us, but when I turned around I saw what they were all looking at.  There was a lone demigod walking down the hill.
   He looked about my age, though it was hard to tell because he was wearing a baggy navy blue hooded jacket with his hands in his pockets and his head ducked so you couldn't see his face under the pulled up hood.  He was too tall to be Nico, but he was slumped down like him and wearing dark jeans that hid his shoes like Nico sometimes does.  It couldn't be Leo, don't ask it just couldn't, and there was no way this might have been a Hunter of Artemis.  This was definitely a dude.  I don't know how I know, I just do.  I had no idea who this was.
   I got up to get a better look, and I could swear I saw dark brown eyes meet mine for half a second before flashing back to the ground.  I felt like I knew him somehow.  He walked slowly down the hill and towards my table.  The crowd parted for him, and once he got to me, I could see why.  You could tell he was buff even with the jacket.  He could easily overpower any of us, or all of us.  I looked up and met his eyes.  I could see pain and fear in them, like a fire that had seen too much for their age, and every detail was locked into them like a constant warning. He pulled a hand out of his pocket and slid off his hood.  I could feel everyone's hearts beat faster as my eyes widened, trying to take it all in.
   "I heard you're looking for a broken joker, and I could use a good fixing."  He said, his expression unchanging.  I couldn't believe my eyes.
   "Leo?"  I asked, unsure if I had used the right name for the right person.  I got a single nod in return, along with a collective gasp from the crowd.  Leo didn't crack a joke, or a smile.  If this was our Joker, we were in trouble.
   "Yeah, we need a Joker, a Broken, and a Hero."  I said, still in shock.  I also feared my life a little.  I felt like if I said something wrong, he would pummel me, or set me on fire, or both.
   "If you hadn't noticed, I'm not the Joker.  Or the Hero."  He looked at the floor for a minute, standing so still it made my brain hurt and I had to do his fidgeting for him.  He glared daggers at me, though it looked like that was his nice face.  He reached for my arm and I thought he was going to flip me over, but he just pulled me into the Poseidon cabin, mostly because I was next to it and it was completely deserted.
   "I see you heard the prophecy.  I'm not even going to ask where from, or what all this,"  I waved my hands gesturing to his body, "is about."
   "I've been fighting for my life for the last year.  I broke after two months on the streets killing any monsters that found me.  I made some good friends who got me food and money.  Then I told them about everything and they thought I was insane, so they left.  I started making my way here.  I had to walk, no one would pick me up as a hitchhiker.  I was in Utah three months ago."  He explained, looking at the floor like he was reliving it all.  I was a little scared of him, still.  Until he said,
   "I''m the Broken.  The Broken Joker."