Leo woke up all at once. His head was pounding. But other than than he was miraculously fine.

If you consider being tied up in a class room with an unconscious footballer and a Beauty Queen who was bleeding out while trapped in school being held hostage by a crazy murderous gang, being "fine".

Then yes, Leo Valdez was completely "fine".

The pain in his head dulled. His mind took inventory of the room automatically. How many times had he'd been knocked out and tossed into a random room tied up?

Unfortunately more than once.

What? It was the only way that the authorities could keep him in one place sometimes.

Leo took a deep breath. The desks were spread out like people had shoved them around in a haste to get out of the room. Backpacks were carelessly tossed every which way. Notebooks were left open on last nights homework page. Piper let out a shuddering breath. Leo could see her doing her best to put pressure on her wound. Her shirt was dark with dried blood and her eyes were squeezed shut like if she kept them like that everything would go back to being normal.

Jason shifted. Leo could see a lump forming on his forehead. It looked like someone had somehow thrown a brick at him.

Back behind Leo was the yellow metal box. He recognized it as a dangerous chemical storage box. He must be in a chemistry lab. The heavy doors were locked with a padlock so there was no way he'd be able to get into them. As helpful as they might have been. Leo could just see himself tripping and spilling acid all over himself.

To his right Leo could see the leg of a desk, a teachers desk. Leo pushed his arms against the tile floor sliding himself towards the desk. Teachers always had useful stuff laying around, right? Piper didn't seem to hear him moving around. Her face was taunt and pale.

Worry wedged itself into Leo's mind and he tried to keep it cool. Was she okay? What if she died? Leo swallowed hard. Piper and Jason were weird, some of the weirdest people he knew, but Leo never wanted them to die. They were kinda almost like his friends.

Leo scrambled behind the desk pressing his back against a filing cabinet and forcing himself into a semi-crouching position. The handle poked into his back uncomfortably. He could see all of the papers and chemical reactions chart. The teacher must have been grading papers because Lee Fletcher got a C on his test. Leo's eyes checked over everything. Anything that could be useful. A stapler, a hole puncher, a tape dispenser, a mug with pens, a name plate with the title Ms. Hecate-

Leo stared at the last thing. A decorative glass paperweight with two twin torches.

He hoped the teacher wasn't that attached to it. He flung himself forward and landed on the table clasping his hands around the paperweight. The stapler and metal 3-ring hole puncher tumbled to the ground with a loud clattering sound.

Piper's eyes snapped open, "Leo!" Then she gasped in pain.

"Don't move, Piper." Leo advised, "I'll be right there."

Leo pulled himself off the desk. His crossed feet slid from under him. His head slammed backwards, hitting the metal chalk tray. The paperweight crashed to the floor.

"Shit!" Glass shattered, spraying all over Leo.

"Leo! Are...you okay?" Piper whimpered.

Just then the door slammed inward almost hitting her.

Leo kept his head down watching under the desk legs. Three more people had entered. Leo watched two huge sets of shoes shuffle across the floor towards the student desks. They had to be about size tens. Easily big enough to step and crush his head. Leo swallowed hard, he almost didn't want to look over to see the other

"I can't believe we got the boring jobs!" The first voice complained. It was nasally, like he had a stuffy nose. Unfortunately, that didn't make him any less terrifying.

"Speak for yourself! I like these IceBreakers!" Another voice just as nasally replied. There was a terrible screeching as the student desks were shoved to the sides, "And this gum! It's cinnamon!"

The third figure said nothing. They're shoes tapped impatiently against the floor by the door. Leo kept his eyes on those ones, afraid that the silent figure would somehow be able to peer over the desk and see him. His hands moved quietly towards the nearest big glass shard. He twisted his wrist driving the shattered edge into the side of the duck tape. Every second ticked by impossibly slow. Leo was sure that if they didn't hear the sound of him timidly cutting the duck tape (which was way harder than the TV shows made it look), they'd hear he heart pounding on his rib cage. Cold sweat trickled down his neck.

Suddenly the one of the Monsters rammed a desk to the side hitting Piper. Leo watched wide eyed as she screamed out in agony. Leo bit his lip to keep from crying out for her.

"You hit her, Torque!"

"No I didn't, Sump!"

They both rushed to her side. Their heavy feet shaking the ground roughly, they both completely disregarded Jason's unconscious body. "We've got to help the pretty girl!" Piper grimaced, but Leo wasn't sure if it was from pain or the idea of the huge almost inhuman guys being near her.

"IDIOTS!"

The third person spoke scaring Leo so bad he almost dropped his glass. It was a woman! Her size was huge, but her voice was definitely feminine. Leo breathed out a shaky breath. The woman stomped her feet shaking the mug with pencils off the desk. Leo pulled himself aside just as it crash to the ground spilling sharped writing utensils and deadly projectiles of ceramic.

"You're suppose to be terrifying!" The growled, "Stop acting like pussy cats! No wonder you two buffoons got placed on desk duty. You're witless! Brainless! Disappointments!"

"Please..." Piper whimpered.

The woman roared. She yanked Piper off the ground by her neck. Piper wailed out in pain. Leo twisted his glass blade harder splitting through half the duck tape, loosening his wrists even more. He drove his teeth into his lip in his desperation.

"Don't you dare go looking for pity from me, rich girl! I ain't going to be giving it! I'm Ma Gasket! I'm the Last of the Cyclops gang! I alone shot up a dozen more girls your age!"

Leo bit his tongue so hard he drew blood. The Cyclops gang? That group had been arrested years ago...so long ago. Leo could feel anger spark in his chest. They were the reason no one would hire his mom. They were the reason....

The reason she was dead.

Ma Gasket dropped Piper and with her arms bound, Piper couldn't help but land on her gunshot wound. Piper screamed. Leo could picture this giant woman grinning down at her enjoying her pain.

But when she spoke, Leo couldn't believe how calm Piper's voice was. She was collected, if anything, and her tone didn't shake, "If I die, I'll be worthless to you freaks."

Torque and Sump laughed so hard they knocked over a one of the desks. It crashed to the ground missing Jason by a hair.

"It's not all about you, Pretty girl." Sump snorted.

"You were just a bonus." Torque added.

"How much did Daddy pay last time to keep you safe? One million? Two?" Ma Gasket mused. Piper turned so pale she blended in with the tile floor.

"Last time...?" She whispered.

"Yes, Of course!" Ma grinned, "Did you really think your father just sent you cross country on a whim? He paid thousands to keep the Monsters away from you! See how well that turned out for him? The Great Tristan McLean sending his daughter as far away as possible, just putting her in more danger!"

Leo froze for a second too long. Tristan McLean? Like the actor Tristan McLean? Piper was his daughter? Then he shook his head. Did it even matter? While they were all stuck in here they were all dead. Leo tried to break the duck tape again he had barely a centimeter left....if he could just pull his hands apart....

Snap!

Everyone's head's turn towards his hiding spot at the sound. Leo's breath caught. The glass shard tumbled from his finger tips. Oh Damn. Leo shoved himself out of the way with seconds to spare as the teachers was kicked into the space he'd been hiding. The rush of air blew Leo's hair back. It hit with so much force the metal chalk tray broke off the chalk board clattered to the ground.

For a second the Monsters just stared at him.

"Hi." Leo managed, then he scrambled to rip the duck tape off his ankles.

"GET HIM!" Ma Gasket growled.

"Leo!" Piper gasped.

There was no way he could possibly get the duck tape off his ankles before Torque and Sump broke his neck in their meaty fingers. His nails picked at the edge of the tape and ripped it up. Torque had palmed a knife from his belt, and the blade glittered menacingly.

The chair came out of no where. It screeched into Sump, tumbling him into Torque. Torque barreled into the tile floor, his knife sliding away, and Sump landed heavily on top of him. Leo didn't have time to look around for where it came from, he ripped the last off his legs discarding it to the side. Sump struggled to get up. Torque was unconscious.

Leo lept to his feet, Ma Gasket screeched.

"Torque!" Sump yelled, his face turned an ugly firetruck red. Leo grabbed the broken chalk tray and swung it around, like a base ball bat.

"Swing-batter, batter-Swiiing!" Leo yelled. He drove the bat into Sump's massive head, the sharp corner cutting into his hand. The metal vibrated on the connection and Sump hit the floor with a thud and didn't move again.

Two Down. Leo swallowed hard.

Piper was gaping at him, through her tears and agony, and Ma Gasket was staring at the two in shock.

"My Boys....You...You son of a bi-"

Leo swung his makeshift bat at her in a fury. He kinda took it personally when people said that. Ma Gasket snarled then she reached one giant hand out and caught the beam. Leo's arms jerked at the sudden stop. Ma Gasket ripped it from his hands and tossed it behind her. It hit the closed door with a metallic ring that echoed in the classroom.

Leo stumbled back.

Ma Gasket pulled a gun out of her holster. It happened so fast Leo didn't even think to move. Two shots. A double bang. Leo froze. He counted to five.

No pain.

"You...." Leo looked at the woman incredulously, "...missed?"

She wore a cruel grin.

"Leo!" Piper screamed.

Jason groaned some type of warning. Leo hadn't even known he was awake. He probably kicked the chair that save Leo's life a few seconds ago. Not that Leo had much more time to process that.

Two bullet holes. Both broke through the heavy doors of the dangerous chemicals box. Leo was tossed forward unexpectedly. An explosive boom rocked the room. Pain flared in his side as Leo landed on another desk and tumbled off it. Smoke singed his body, curling off his clothes. Twisting into the air.

The doors banged open breaking off the hinges. Containers spilled out. Dark blue and clear liquids flowed onto the ground.

Ma Gasket toward over him. Leo groaned. "You alive?" She growled. She grabbed his neck hoisting him into the air. Leo flailed around, wrapping his fingers around the nearest thing he could grab. A half full container of some clear liquid that had been rolling on the ground. He swung his palm around flinging the liquid into Ma Gasket's face.

She screamed and dropped him. Leo landed on his knees coughing for air. The huge lady tumbled back into the chemical box and knocked half of the containers onto herself. Her skin started to bubble and blister. The metal shelve broke hitting her it the head. She was knocked unconscious, and the room was suddenly silent. Except for the bubbling sound of something eating away Ma Gasket's face.

Leo took a deep breath listening for a second, and crossing his fingers that no other monsters had heard the screaming or explosions and cared enough to come and check it out. There were no pounding footsteps and gun popping pellets. It was eerily quiet. Like standing in a graveyard.

Leo hoped this would actually be his final resting place.

That would suck.

"Leo...." Piper whispered, "You're...on fire...."

Leo cursed throwing off his jacket and stomping on it. With the amount of smoke he was smelling right now he hadn't even noticed. He stared at the flickering dying flares, swallowing hard. His jacket.... He tried not to think about the last time he was in a fire. It hadn't been fun. He'd barely made it out running.

He'd hadn't stopped running since.

Running from the fire. From the police. His mother. The pain. Everything.

Leo picked up Torque's knife. He walked over to Piper quickly. He breathed out slowly. "Try not to move, please." He said, and he pressed the blade to the duck tape and it alarmingly cut very easy. Leo managed to free Piper in a couple minutes. Her face was paler than before and she was burning with a fever. Her shirt had more red than before.

She let out a breath, shakily and laid back against the floor.

Jason let out a moan from across the room. Now Leo scampered over to him, the welt on his forehead was pink but the swelling was down. Leo assumed that was a good thing.

"Jason, man, you okay?" Leo asked, kneeling next to him.

He snorted. "I think the real question is, Are you? Didn't anyone ever tell you chemical explosions are bad for your health?"

Leo hadn't thought he could've laughed but somehow he did. He twisted the blade and the duck tape snapped right off Jason. He sat up with another moan, bringing his hands to his head, like he got a head rush. Jason managed to peel the remaining pieces of tape off his bare arms wincing.

Leo looked at the knife pondering it for a second and then shoved it in his pocket. So many things could go wrong with that. Jason jumped up and ran to Piper.

"Pipes...." He said quietly, his hand brushed back her hair like in those cliche romantic scenes. Piper weakly opened her eyes.

"Hey Jase." She whispered.

Behind them Leo rolled his eyes, trying to pretend like he wasn't worried about her too. Try to be optimistic. She was going to be okay. Leo frowned internally and said out loud "Piper, you aren't allowed to die. Got it?"

She coughed, "Got it, commander, sir!" She gave him a wry smile, but it was gone before Leo could feel good about it.

"That's Supreme Commander to you, McLean!" Leo said.

Piper grimaced at the sound of her last name. Jason and Leo shared a look of mutual understanding. they could ask about all that later. Honestly, Leo was slightly surprise Jason hadn't seemed to know. But with the way they'd been acting, anything was possible, wasn't it?

"Try not to move Pipes." Jason instructed, "I'm going to pick you up, okay?"

"Just... leave me... guys." Piper coughed. Leo shook his head.

"No way!"

"There are two ways for this to go, Piper," Jason said, "All of us get out, or none of us."

Leo didn't say anything , but the devil on his shoulder reminded him the latter was more likely to happen. He told it to shut up. Instead he focused on the gun. It had been Ma Gasket's, but it didn't seem like she was going to need it right now.

Leo picked it up and emptied the metal bullets into his pocket.

"You aren't bringing that?" Jason asked. Leo looked up to see him successfully carrying Piper bridle-style in his arms. Her head was snuggled into his chest.

"Have you ever shot a gun?" Leo asked.

"No."

"Than no. I'm not risking you or me shooting each other. Plus backlash hurts like hell, man." Leo tossed the gun away. He ignored the look Jason was giving him and pointed towards the door, "We should probably go. I'm not that good of a chemist, but I'm pretty sure the chemicals back there shouldn't be bubbling."

***

Leo almost died almost three seconds later. He opened the door to the classroom peering out into the empty hallway. The air was tense with silence, and Leo immediately felt threatened. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight. His palms were clammy.

"We're at the Science Hallway." Jason murmured in a low voice, "If we go that way we could get to the History hall." He nodded to the left, but then he turned to the right, "That way leads to the back staircase back to the lower level the band hall I think, which connects to the gym hall and there's a set of doors that lead to the parking lot---."

"Shhh!" Leo hissed. He pushed Jason back listening intently down the hall, "Someone's coming."

He turned back to open the classroom door they'd just come out of. The door wouldn't open. Panic raced in Leo's mind, making his moves a little shakier. "Why isn't this opening?" He hissed at Jason who turned a dull pale.

"Automatic lock." Jason replied swallowing like he was trying not to vomit, "All the doors in the school have it. It was a safety insulation to prevent, you know, this. The only way to open them is have a teachers key."

Leo had an arsenal of replies for that, most of which weren't exactly school appropriate. But he didn't get a chance to use any of them. At that moment the tapping of feet on the floor got significantly louder and three people ran around the corner.

Leo almost died of fright.

Then he noticed that none of them had guns and they all stopped short seeing them. The front most one was a girl. Or at least Leo thought it was a girl. She was huge like a gorilla or a professional wrestler. Behind her was a scruffy guy with sandy blond curls and a black eye. His hands were jittery like he was nervous. The younger girl beside him actually emitted a squeak, high pitched, and terrified. She had blond hair and designer clothes like one of the popular kids. Hadn't she been one of the girls squealing at Piper when he first met the Beauty Queen?

"Clarisse," Jason said, surprised.

"Grace." The front girl said, "Travis get one of these rooms open! The next patrol will be here any second!"

The guy didn't protest he grabbed the nearest door knob and flicked it in a couple of jerky motions. The door opened and the girl named Clarisse shoved the other two in. "Are you going to stand there and get shot, you idiots?!" She growled in a low voice, "Get in here!"

The sound of stomping footsteps could be heard echoing down the as more people approached. Jason and Leo ran into the room, Clarisse pulled the door closed as quietly as she could.

"Clarisse!" Leo whirled around almost tripping over somebody's tied feet. Everyone hushed the guy immediately. There were three more hostages in this room. Two guys, one with blonde hair and blue eyes and one with black hair and brown eyes, and one girl in the corner with dark red hair and freckles the color of artificial spray cheese.

The heavy set footsteps bounded along at an even pace the shadow seeping under the door. Leo let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. The entire room seemed to sigh in relief. Piper moaned in Jason arms.

"Oh My Gods!" the blonde little girl squeaked, "Piper!"

"Lacy..." Piper moaned back.

Leo brought out the knife he'd stolen and cut off the duck tape on the black haired boy. Clarisse hurried to help the other boy as well.

"That looks bad." The blond boy stated.

"Noo," The black boy replied sarcastically, "You think so, Fletcher?"

"Shut up, Yew!"

"Hurry up and get this off of me." Yew, the black haired boy commanded to Leo, "I think I can help her."

"You could barely pass your health class, Micheal!" The other boy snorted distastefully, " What makes you think you can-"

"Both of you shut up!" Clarisse spit at them, "This really isn't the time to be going at each other. In case you haven't noticed we are all going to die!"

Both boys glared at each other. Leo broke the last of Micheal's bonds and the older boy stood up abruptly and ran over to where Jason was placing Piper on a desk with Lacy's and Travis's help. Jason's shirt was stained dark with a bit of blood but he didn't seem to care he didn't leave Piper's side.

"This is fucking crazy." The other boy muttered, "What the Hell is even going on?"

Leo shrugged, "I wish i knew. But I've barely been in town for a full three days so I've got no clue."

"You're that new that broke Coach Hedge's lap thing aren't you? Man he was pissed about that." The blond boy twisted his wrists accepting Clarisse's hand to help him up, "I'm Lee Fletcher." He said, "That's Micheal Yew," And then he thumbed back to the red head girl who Clarisse had now gone to help, "And that's Nancy Bobfit."

"Leo Valdez." Leo said briefly, "By the way, you got a C on your chemistry test."

He looked confused but Travis cut him off before he could ask, "We have to get out of here."

"No flipping duh, Stoll." Micheal replied spitefully, "I thought getting shot at was so much fun the first time I wanted to stick around."

"Suck it up, Micheal." Clarisse snapped, "The only way out is getting shot at. All the rooms on the lower level are filled with monsters. There is no way we are just walking out the front doors. If we go, we go out this window and we run like our lives depend on it."

"Because they do." Jason added helpfully.

"I think I'm going to throw up." Lacy whimpered.

"Lay down and place a jacket you head, keep your head at a high elevation than your feet." Micheal said, not looking up, "You're lucky, Piper. This is a clean shot." He looked around for a second, "Fletcher can i have your jacket?"

Lee looked at his sports jacket, "No way, my dad would kill me!"

"I'm going to kill you." Jason threatened. Lee paled at the thought and dragged off his school colored sports wear and tossed it to Micheal.

"Piper, this is going to hurt." Micheal warned but Piper just grunted when he applied the pressure. Travis scavenged the discarded duck tape off the floor and the taped it around her keeping the pressure high without completely cutting off the circulation to her torso.

"Ugh..." Piper moaned.

"There's not anything more I can do even if i did have the appropriate materials. She needs a real doctor." Micheal shrugged, helplessly.

"Fifty yards." Leo said, staring out the window.

Everyone looked at him and he just pointed. The window with the blinds pulled up revealed the grounds of the school. He could see the huge crowd in the distance. Police vehicles, ambulances, parents, students, news reporters, just random people all at that distance. About half a football field away, but it looked farther. More impossible than anything Leo had ever seen.

"I can run that." Travis said, quietly. The light played tricks with his black eye causing him to squint.

"That's a long fall." Lee commented once again.

"Land on your feet," Micheal advised, "and after you land extend your knees-- it should lessen the shock."

"Guys?" Lacy whispered, "I'm scared. I don't want to die."

Leo looked around at them all. He doubted any of them wanted to die. In his stomach Leo felt a cannon ball form starting to ware him down.

"I'm not leaving." Clarisse said suddenly, "I can't. I need revenge. Silena...Damn it..." Clarisse swallowed hard, "She killed Chris. She shot him...And Gwen...I'm going to punch every fucking Monster in the face!" Her sadness turned to anger and she yelled that last part.

"They will shoot you Clarisse." Micheal argued, "They have guns, big guns."

"I don't care."

"I do!" Micheal's voice rose, "Do you really think Chris would want you to get yourself killed recklessly?!"

She looked like he punched her in the gut.

"Clarisse go with them." Leo suggested, "They are going to need someone to yell at them to keep moving. If you guys slow, even for a second, you will die. You guys are easy targets. The monsters will see you. And I've got a feeling they don't miss much."

Travis looked at him, "Aren't you coming with us?"

"If you stay here, You're going to die." Lee added helpfully.

Leo glanced back at the classroom door, "How many others are there?" He picked a forgotten Textbook up off a desk, "Who's going to help them if we leave? I'm staying. I can make that run faster than you guys can. But I'm not making it until every hostage is safe."

"That was the most noble thing I've ever heard." Micheal snorted "Don't die, Valdez. Okay?"

Jason and Piper shared a look, pressed Lee's jacket a little harder against her side wincing. She frowned, "I can't make that run."

"I'll carry you." Jason said. But Piper shook her head. One of her choppy brown locks fell in front of her face.

"I'll only slow everyone down. You go, Jason."

Jason rolled his eyes, "No way I'm leaving you here! Remember what I said? It's all or nothing, Pipes."

Lacy choked on a sob, and Lee put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Piper!" She cried, and flung her arm around her friend. Piper smiled sadly.

"Do me a favor, Lacy. When you make it out, Find Drew and punch her in the face, Okay?"

The younger girl laughed in her sob making a sound almost like a dying cat.

Travis tapped Leo on the shoulder. "Hey man...if you really are staying there's a trick to opening doors. The auto locks are in the knob, but they don't handle jerky twisting. If you do it fast enough, almost every single one of the doors here will open. My brother and I have tested it on every single door here."

"Uh, thanks." Leo said surprised, "I'll--

Suddenly everyone froze. A piercing scream broke through the air like a dagger. Terror filled Leo to the brim. A girl. Even Clarisse looked shaken.

"Finally."

Leo nearly jumped three feet in the air. His heart did jumping jacks in his chest trying to calm himself down. He'd totally forgotten about the last occupant of the room. Nancy Bobfit.

And the sight of her made Leo want to punch her. She was smiling. Smiling. Like something wonderful had happened. "Finally, that little b*tch got what's coming to her."

"What the F*ck!" Micheal yelled.

Nancy just smirked, "That was Hazel Levesque. Don't bother trying to save that pathetic waste of space. The world is better off with her just dying already."

"Shut up, Nancy!" Lacy snapped, "You're just mad because your sister died in the Westover incident and she didn't!"

Nancy ignored her, "No one will miss Hazel. You could just let her die."

Leo stared at her. He wasn't sure what the Westover incident had been -something about a mall?- But this girl sure was spiteful. Leo had been on the run when it happened. He vaguely remembered reading it on a newspaper. People had died.

People had died now too.

A rumble stated in his stomach. It rose up his throat and before Leo could stop himself, he started laughing. It wasn't a delighted laugh; more like a man-this-is-the-stupidest-thing-ever laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Nancy demanded.

"Did it ever occur to you," Leo grinned, "That we could've done that same exact thing to you?" Leo turned away and walked back towards the door with renewed energy, "Now if you excuse me, I've got some people to save."

He stepped out into the hall carrying the textbook only looking back once to ask Jason and Piper if they were coming. Jason carried Piper out after him.

For the rest of the students in the room that was the last time they ever saw Leo Valdez.