Chapter Text
“Leo,” Nico said exasperatedly. “Didn’t I tell you not to move from your location?”
Leo was confused until he remembered—The Bus was a flying vehicle that was constantly moving. Therefore, he couldn’t do what Nico said.
He tried to speak. Amazingly, his voice decided to work this time.
“Nico, I’ve got a job that requires me to travel. I can’t just not.” He silently decided not to tell Nico about what his job entails. You never knew who could be listening.
Nico looked startled. “I hadn’t considered the possibility that you had established yourself where you are. Speaking of which,” he squinted suspiciously. “Where are you?”
Leo smiled, smugly, as if he was about to say something that would blow Nico’s mind. “I’m in a different universe.”
If possible, Nico looked even more astonished. “That’s… possible?”
He nodded. “Of course. I wouldn’t say I’m in another universe if it wasn’t.”
Nico just stared hard at him.
“Okay, maybe I would!” Leo finally burst out. “But not in a situation this serious with only a limited amount of time!”
Nico nodded, satisfied. “Do you have any way to come home?”
Leo hesitated. “Did he really want to go home, where he’d be the seventh wheel? No. But on the other hand, he had Calypso there. But he’d be in constant danger from monsters. But he was in plenty of danger here.
He finally spoke. “Let me get back to you on that.” He said.
Nico agreed and the dream faded out.
Leo woke up scared.
This had happened a lot since his time at HYDRA, but he was afraid to tell anybody. Afraid he’d be locked up like a criminal or ostracized and marked insane. It wasn’t fair to his family, he knew. They would support him unconditionally, but his messed-up brain couldn’t seem to accept that fact. And the paranoia and the urge to kill, destroy, raze was getting stronger and stronger every day.
He was in the lab, one day, when it all came to a boil. Someone had come up behind him, unintentionally startling him, and he snapped. He surged toward them and slammed them against the wall, arm across their throat and teeth bared.
When he saw that it was Mack, his grip faltered, but he just steeled his nerves and pressed harder.
“Le…o,” Mack choked out.
Vulcan heard footsteps behind him and whipped around, only to be met with the barrel of May’s gun. He snarled.
“Calm down,” she said softly, as if she was talking to a wild animal.
He just widened his snarl and growled.
Before he could lunge at May, he felt a prick in his neck and everything went dark.
He woke up to straps around his ankles, wrists, and waist, a familiar scene. He struggled, twisting this way and that, trying to get out of his restraints. He growled animalistically.
Arms pushed him back down when he arched off the bed.
“Calm down!” Coulson ordered.
Vulcan just writhed harder.
“Let me out!” He screamed.
He heard sobbing in the corner. He whipped his head in that direction to see Jemma crying. He bared his teeth at her. He lunged toward her and he heard a rip as his restraints broke. When he tried to get up, he felt cold rush through him and the world faded out.
This time, when he woke up, he had metal restraints on. He just laid there and stared at the ceiling.
“Leo?” Skye whispered cautiously. He stayed silent.
“...How are you doing?”
He didn’t move.
The dialing of a phone sounded, and then Skye’s whispered voice spoke. “Boss? Something’s wrong. He’s not doing anything. He’s just… staring.”
Phil Coulson’s tinny voice floated toward his ears. “Back up, Skye. Slowly.”
He heard her clothes rustle and her footsteps back up.
“Do not turn around.” Coulson said. “Reach behind you and open the door. Step out.”
She did as he said.
“Close the door behind you and lock it. I’ll remotely activate the sedatives.”
He felt the cool rush of drugs go through him and the forced sleep came on him.
“Valdez!” Nico called.
Vulcan twirled around and started toward Nico.
Nico looked confused before his eyes widened and he started to back up.
“Leo? What happened?”
Vulcan began to run to Nico and jumped, tackling him. He pinned him to the floor, but Nico was more skilled and rolled out of his arms.
“What are you doing?” His voice floated from somewhere Vulcan couldn’t see.
Vulcan looked to find where he was, but Nico wasn’t there. He spun around to see him, but he was too slow and he felt something connect with the back of his head.
He found something at the foot of his bed when he woke up. A mechanical table was standing there, looking around the room.
Vulcan tilted his head, puzzled. What was the table doing?
The table approached the side of his bed. Vulcan's hand shot out, ready to break the table, but when he touched the surface of the automaton, he felt something moving underneath his hand. He looked under his hand, but didn't see anything moving. He pulled his hand back and the feeling disappeared. Vulcan furrowed his brows and then put his hand back down and the feeling returned.
Something clambered up the side of the table. A small metal dragon sat on his haunches on the table and stared up at Vulcan.
Was this some sort of trick by the enemy?
The dragon seemed to have no fear as it leaped from the table to the bed. It climbed over the sheets and made its way to his head. It perched on his nose and looked pleased with itself. Vulcan's eyes crossed as he stared down at the dragon.
"What?" His voice sounded robotic, mechanical like the machines he worked with.
The little dragon chirped at him brightly.
"What?" He asked again.
The table clanked at him.
The little dragon spurted fire at him. It didn't burn.
He looked wonderingly at the dragon. Was this normal for humans? He didn't think so.
One of the drawers of the table opened to reveal some drawings. The little dragon grabbed one in it's teeth and brought it over to Vulcan. What was he supposed to do with this?
At the dragon's prompting, he studied the picture that rested on his lap, as he was still restrained. It was a realistic drawing of a group of people, Vulcan among them. His arms were around two people, one with blond hair and one with brown hair. The brown-haired one had feathers braided into her hair. The blond-haired one had a little scar on his lip, the result of a stapler.
Vulcan paused. How did he know that? He shook his head and continued looking at the drawing. He looked like he was friends with these people. Were they the enemy before HYDRA got hold of him and improved him? They didn't seem to be opponents. If anything, they seemed like allies. This was confusing and his head hurt. Did the little dragon do something to him?
He glared at the bronze figurine accusingly.
“What did you do?” He rasped.
The dragon just tilted it’s head innocently. Vulcan huffed.
The pain in his head was getting worse. His head lolled to the side and the little dragon fell on the bed. It chirruped in alarmed concern. Vulcan’s head felt heavy and foggy.
One by one, his memories come flooding back and horror rushes through him. Oh gods. He had— He had attacked his friends. Tears spilled down his face. He deserved to be in these restraints.
The door slammed open and the team rushed in. They all stopped short when they saw the tears running down his face and his clear eyes.
“Leo?” Jemma said hesitantly.
Leo let out another sob and responded. “It’s me.”
Jemma started toward him but Coulson put a hand in front of her, stopping her before she got any closer. His eyes never left Leo’s.
“Sorry, Simmons, but I can’t let you near him yet. The programming may still be active." Phil studied Leo for a moment. "You know what? May, stay with him. I'm going to contact Stark for the use of his BARF technology."
Leo internally sighed in relief. Maybe this war in his mind would finally go away.
As Coulson walked out, May trained her eyes on Leo. He ducked his head, ashamed.
They stayed there in silence for a few moments before May interrupted.
"It's not your fault, you know."
Leo remained quiet.
"The only thing that could possibly be your fault is not telling us that this was coming on." She tilted her head. "How long was this coming on for?"
Leo hesitated, embarrassed.
"For a while now," he whispered.
May made a sympathetic expression. "I know I don't understand what you're going through. I know I have no right to say this. But, Leo. Leo, it's going to be okay. You'll be okay."
Leo's eyes burned with tears. He really needed to hear that. He leaned his head back and exhaled. He felt silent tears run down his face. He was so tired. He wanted to go home.
Leo tried to roll over on his side, an awkward position with his restraints.
Voice cracking, he spoke. "I want to go home."
Slowly, May approached him, hand outstretched. She reached out and put her palm on his hair, stroking it softly. He relaxed.
"I know, kid. I know." She whispered. "I know what you mean." She leaned her head on the wall and sighed, still scratching at Leo's scalp. "Life seems to like picking on you, doesn't it?"
Leo nodded miserably. He clearly did not believe that everything was going to be okay. It was a foreign concept to him, everything being okay. Throughout his life, nothing had been okay. His mother died, he was put in foster care, the world started ending, he died, he managed to get a hypoxic brain injury, and now he managed to get brainwashed. He didn't live a normal life—he might never. But to have his mind invaded again… well, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Coulson came back in, phone to his ear.
"Yes, I know you're mad at me, Stark," he said, aggravated. "But this is not for me. It's for Fitz. You met him, remember? He was the one who had hero worship for you?"
Tony Stark's tinny voice echoed from the phone, but it was indecipherable.
"Please, Stark." Coulson pleaded. "What do you want in exchange?"
A moment passed before Coulson responded. He was clearly shocked at the request. "You want your intern to meet my agent?"
Coulson sighed. "It depends on him. If he doesn't want to, he doesn't have to. But either way, we get the BARF tech, agreed?"
He nodded in satisfaction and said goodbye before aggressively pressing the hang-up button.
"We've got it." He told May.
She looked at him suspiciously. "Who's meeting the intern?"
Coulson nodded toward Leo. "Leo, if he wants. If he doesn't, we still get the tech. And I'll ask him after the BARF does it's job."
Leo looked hesitant.
"You don't have to decide now," May assures him.
He goes through BARF. He goes through desensitization training. He goes through the whole process. It is torture, and almost as bad as being back at HYDRA, but at least he is with his friends.
(But he is not home)
He is scared to sleep. Despite going through the process to fix the brainwashing, he is still scared that he will attack Nico in his dreams. For weeks, when he sleeps, he does not feel Nico’s presence.
But one night, he does.
Nico is standing there, hand on his sword, warily eying Leo.
Leo slowly puts his hands up and Nico flinches and pulls his sword halfway out of its sheath. Leo’s breath catches.
“It’s okay, Nico. Remember the eidolons? Something like mind control happened to me last time.” Leo barely breathed as Nico’s hand slowly strayed away from his sword.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Nico asked guardedly.
Leo scrambled for a way to convince him. “Last time, I didn’t even know who you were. But there isn’t much I could say to convince you, is there?”
Nico shook his head. “But your eyes weren’t gold.” He pointed out. His hand wandered back to his sword.
“It was brainwashing through torture,” Leo admitted.
Nico looked horrified. “You were brainwashed? That’s completely different from mind control, Leo. Mind control is through a chemical, or a… or a device type thing. Brainwashing is through repeated torture. Leo... are you okay?”
Leo started to nod his head and then changed to shaking it. “Not really,” he said. “I’m getting better, though. I’m no longer under control, at least we don’t think.”
“‘We?’” Nico asked.
“Yeah. I’m working with an agency at the moment. I’m an agent,” he said proudly.
Nico stared at him. “You can be serious enough to be an agent?” He blurted out. His eyes widened and his hand slapped to cover his mouth. “I’m— I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”
Leo laughed. “So you do have a sense of humor. Nice to know.”
Nico cleared his throat, face flushed. “Back to business. Do you have any way to come home?”
Leo’s grin faltered. “I— I’m not sure if I even want to come home.”
Nico looked astonished. “Why not?”
Leo’s face slowly turned red. “I’m not treated like I’m stupid here. I built a dang flying boat, for god's sake! I’m not constantly being hunted by mythological monsters!” He quieted down. “I know that I made an oath, I do. But I’m happy here, I genuinely am. I’ll come home at some point, but I’ve got something to do here. I’ve got to live.”
Nico nodded, thoughtful. He scrutinized him. “Okay. Please be safe, Valdez. I don’t want to have to fish you out of that world’s equivalent of the underworld.”
Leo’s smile returned. “Alright. See you soon, then.”
Nico eyed him. “I will be checking up on you from time to time, okay?”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay.” He drew out.
They smiled at each other and Nico faded out of view.