Warriors || Leo Valdez [2]

13

Alex climbed out on deck and heard Percy say, "Wow."

She had to agree. They had landed near the summit of a forested hill. A complex of white buildings, like a museum or a university, nestled in a grove of pines to the left. Below them spread the city of Atlanta-a cluster of brown and silver downtown skyscrapers two miles away, rising from what looked like an endless flat sprawl of highways, railroad tracks, houses, and green swathes of forest.

"Ah, lovely spot." Coach Hedge inhaled the morning air. "Good choice, Valdez."

Leo shrugged. "I just picked a tall hill. That's a presidential library or something over there. At least that's what Festus says."

"I don't know about that!" Hedge barked. "But do you realize what happened on this hill? Frank Zhang, you should know!"

Frank flinched. "I should?"

"A son of Ares stood here!" Hedge cried indignantly.

"I'm Roman... so Mars, actually."

"Whatever! Famous spot in the American Civil War!"

"I'm Canadian, actually."

"Whatever! General Sherman, Union leader. He stood on this hill watching the city of Atlanta burn. Cut a path of destruction all the way from here to the sea. Burning, looting, pillaging-now there was a demigod!"

Frank inched away from the satyr. "Uh, okay."

"This conversation is a train wreck" Alex whispered to Leo and Percy who chuckled, but Percy promptly stopped smiling when he heard Leo laugh. He turned to him and seemed to size him up. 

"Anyway," Percy said, "let's try not to burn down the city this time."

The coach looked disappointed. "All right. But where to?"

Percy pointed toward downtown. "When in doubt, start in the middle."

After the three had left, Alex turned to Leo who was staring at her already. 

"Why does Percy hate me?" he questioned.

"He doesn't hate you Leo... I guess he's hurt that you know me so well and he doesn't" Alex sighed. 

"Well there was a reason you ran away though, one he chose to ignore." Leo looked away. 

"He was ten" Alex defended her brother. "Don't blame him"

"You're right" Leo turned back to her, "I blame that asshole step father of yours. I swear if I ever meet him I'll-"

"Turn him into a statue using Medusa's head and sell him to afford an appartment?" Alex raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "That's what mom did"

The two looked at each other before bursting out into laughter. Alex had missed it, missed messing around with Leo. The past few months he had been busy in building the ship and barely had time to sleep, let alone spend time with her. And she hated it. She knew it was selfish, but she missed Leo. 

"I missed you" She voiced her thoughts softly after they had calmed down. 

"I missed you too Ariel" Leo smiled, but Alex frowned. For a second he panicked thinking he had said something wrong, then she hit him with a playful expression. 

"Ariel? really?" 

"Yes really" He grinned back. 

Alex nudged him and he pulled her into a hug. "You know I really did miss you, even though you're annoying" He mumbled. 

"You're the annoying one, I'm the gorgeous one"

Well you're not wrong there is what Leo wanted to say, but he pulled away and cleared his throat. 

"Listen, I need to tell you something" His expression was absolutely serious which worried Alex. 

"Leo, are you okay?" 

"Yeah, but seriously though... when you were- you know- dead, something did happen. And I wanted to apologise for it, but it never seemed the right time to tell you" 

"You're scaring me Leo, what happened?" Alex frowned.

"I- I kind of..." Leo sucked in a deep breath, she deserved to know. He blurted it out- "I kind of kissed you"

Alex wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. She blinked slowly, and then again, but the words didn't seem to register. 

"You wha-?" She managed, barely breathing the words out. 

"I'm sorry, but I thought you were dead. And I don't know why I did it but I did and now... oh gods, Lex, I'm really a sorry" Leo rambled. Alex wasn't sure how to respond. 

When she didn't say anything, Leo panicked again. Awkwardly he lied, "I need to- go... fix something in the engine room"

"Leo- wait" But he didn't listen, he bolted down the stairs leaving Alex above deck.

She cursed herself for not taking the chance to tell him about her feelings, but she touched her lips absentmindedly, as if it could bring the feeling of his lips on hers. 

---

Annabeth and Alex were trying to cheer up Hazel and Violet with funny stories of their adventures, when Frank stumbled down the hall and burst into her cabin.

"Where's Leo?" he gasped. "Take off! Take off!"

The girls shot to their feet.

"Where's Percy?" Annabeth demanded. "And the goat?"

Frank grabbed his knees, trying to breathe. His clothes were stiff and damp, like they'd been washed in pure starch. "On deck. They're fine. We're being followed!"

Annabeth pushed past him and took the stairs three at a time, Hazel and Alex right behind her and Frank trailing, still gasping for air. Percy and Hedge lay on the deck, looking exhausted. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky, muttering, "Awesome. Awesome." Percy was covered with nicks and scratches, like he'd jumped through a window. He didn't say anything, but he grasped Annabeth's hand weakly as if to say, Be right with you, as soon as the world stops spinning. Then he saw Alex and gave her a small smile.

Leo, Piper, and Jason, who'd been eating in the mess hall, came rushing up the stairs.

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. He didn't even look at Alex, which hurt more than she realised. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled again.

"Followed by what?" Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to strangle him, Alex knew she didn't like anything that didn't make sense. "That makes absolutely no sense. Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate style, and ran for the helm.

Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. Annabeth manned the aft crossbow, with Alex by her side. They saw no sign of pursuit by whales or otherwise, but Percy, Frank, and Hedge didn't start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.

"Charleston," Percy said, hobbling around the deck like an old man. He still sounded pretty shaken up. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Jason said the name as if it brought back bad memories. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"

Frank unzipped his backpack and starting bringing out souvenirs. "Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe. And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs."

Annabeth forced herself to stay calm. "How about you start from the top-of the story, not the backpack."