Hey guys,

I know I've been really slack updating and stuff on my other stories, but now it's a new semester and all new classes, so I don't have any work that I have to catch up on. I should be able to update once a week at the least.

This is just a little sweet story about my friend Beccy and the well-known Leo Valdes. I know there are a lot of these but Beccy really is the perfect match, she is funny totally up herself, definitely a daughter of Apollo, cause of her perfect voice and is completely against me writing this story, but my other friends and her little sisters are giving me lots of ideas to write so it's ok. Let me know what you think.

Leo is of coursed stressed from building the Argo two and is skipping out on heaps of sleep. So what is a grumpy sleepless Leo - hes a Leo no more. So his friends decide he is in great need of a vacation of sorts. Just a quick nip into New York to pick up some supplies, But Demigods can't go to the toilet with out something going wrong let alone the middle of New York...

Beccy: I am ssoooooooooo against this.

Ally: Are not. You love him.

Beccy: Hey you guys do to.

Ally: Yeah, but we love him, you're in love with him there is a difference.

Ally: signing off

Beccy: I hate you.

Ally: No you don't.

Now I've got two minutes before I miss my bus so I'll love you and leave you to read my story...

LEO'S POV

"Argh!" I growled, and then kicked the motor that I was working on out of frustration.

"Did that help?" questioned Nyssa, the only other person present in Bunker Nine. It was late evening, and our only source of light was a couple of flickering candles that I had lit just before.

I sighed. "Not really," while I rubbed my sore foot. I was tired and hungry and the motor simply refused to work. We only had two months left to work on the Argo II and we still had tons of work to do. Cabin Nine, Jason, Piper, occasionally Annabeth and a couple of other volunteers stayed up late every night in the camp workshop to get it done, but I was in here every night till early morning getting no more than 4 hours sleep a day, and there still seemed to be no progress.

She looked at me sympathetically. "You know, we could survive for a few weeks if you need a break. Being the leader of this task must be pretty stressful." You don't say? But I still let her continue. "A little quest or something. Nothing big, just a vacation to help you loosen up."

I raised an eyebrow at my half-sister. We'd grown pretty close while building the Greek warship, and she sometimes showed her nicer side. But generally, her nicer side wasn't as practical as her tough side.

Nyssa caught on to my scepticism. She sighed and her face hardened. "Look, you're not much help when you go around kicking the boat we are trying to build to a very close deadline. Besides, you aren't funny when you're stressed," her voice softened again, "and your jokes are really the only reason the rest of us haven't given up."

I was genuinely touched by this rare display of affection from Nyssa, but I still couldn't see the useful side of this idea.

"Thanks, but the chance that you'll get anything done without me is little to none." As soon as I said it, I winced. I hadn't meant to sound nasty, but it was the cold, hard truth of the matter.

Nyssa was surprisingly, slightly more forgiving than suspected. "See what I mean? Without your sense of humour to brighten our time, we don't have any motivation to keep going," she stopped and thought for a moment. "You know, it's really sad that we rely on your abysmal jokes to get us through."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny." I said sarcastically. "And anyway, where am I supposed to go? What'll I do, just walk straight out of the barriers? I might as well jump out of a plane flying 1000 metres high with no parachute. I'd have a better chance of surviving that" I tried to argue.

"You'll be more use when you've calmed down. I don't really care where you go. Go ask Chiron. Maybe you should take Annabeth with you. She could really use something to take her mind off Percy for a while," she paused. "Come to think of it, take Piper too. She's breaking things faster than we can repair them." I sighed. "Fine, I'll go ask Chiron now."

So I trekked the long distance from Bunker Nine to the Big House, where Chiron was no doubt worrying about the coming events, quests prophecies, rubbing my arm along the way.

As I walked, I mulled over my problems. Now that I think about it, I had been making jokes less often. That was a sure fire sign something was wrong. [See what I did there] I just needed some- how had Nyssa put it? - Some motivation to get through all the stress. Something to keep my mind off the importance of the task I had to lead.

When I reached the big house, I knocked tentatively on the door. To my surprise, Chiron answered immediately and ushered me in. We sat down near the fireplace in the main room and Chiron launched right into the conversation.

"I've been expecting you for a while now. You certainly took your time, didn't you?"

I glared suspiciously at the centaur. "You mean you planned it all along?"

"Nyssa planned most of it. She said you were way too stressed. I've noticed that you sometimes don't even attend the other activities, which are compulsory if you want to survive as a half-blood. You need a break, just a few weeks." He was mostly rambling to himself now, smoothing down his hair and stomping his hooves irritably. "Annabeth should come too. She won't want to go, though. She'll want to continue looking for Percy. But she's had much more experience on quests than you have, and it would be a good idea to send her along with you, to keep you out of trouble."

"Nyssa said I should take Piper along, too. She's being causing a bit of stress in the workshop."

Chiron nodded thoughtfully. "Good idea. Piper's a lovely girl, but not exactly the greatest with her hands. And my commendations to Nyssa for telling you. What a brave girl."

"I'm not that bad!" I argued.

Chiron raised one eyebrow at me. "Leo, recently you have been known to burst into flames when stressed. It took a courageous person to suggest a change of plan to you. People have been trying for weeks but have been a bit worried about catching on fire. They need you, Leo, but your growing temper isn't helping."

I was about to disagree when I realised that I really was getting stressed more often. With a sudden revelation I said, "I really need this break, don't I?"

Chiron nodded at me sadly, like a parent nods at a child who finally realises that Santa isn't real or their Hogwarts letter isn't coming.

I sighed. "So what will I do on this quest?"

"What about you go to Manhattan and buy the parts you still need for the Argo II? It would save money, it would prevent confusion for the mortals having to deliver it, and it would be good to have you in a workshop to relieve some stress."

I shrugged. "That sounds easier than I expected."

Chiron shook his head gravely. "You need to be very careful. Manhattan is a gold mine of monsters and it could be very dangerous, especially with Gaea rising."

"I'll be fine."

Chiron pursed his lips. "Hmm. Well, just remember that there's a reason Annabeth is coming with you. Speaking of Annabeth… be careful what you say. She's been more sensitive than usual since Percy vanished." He looked sorrowfully out the window towards the Athena cabin. "Well, off you go, then. Go tell Piper and Annabeth that you leave in the morning."

"Can I steal the Beauty Queen, please?" I asked as I sauntered in to the workshop. Everywhere people could be seen working and repairing different parts of the Argo II. Now it actually looked like a ship which is always a good thing.

"No, no, I'm busy helping," complained Piper, sawing madly at a piece of rotting and unusable wood. She really had no idea what she was doing. Behind her I could see the pleading eyes of all the other campers to take her away. I was surprised that even Jason needed a break from her.

"Come on Pipes, you've been working really hard, you could use a break." Jason said sweetly as he patted her on the arm.

"Yeah, heaps of help," called out a camper from the back.

"You could use the break," said another.

"Please?" begged Jake Mason.

"Fine!" Piper said as she walked towards me.

When we got outside, I started to explain the situation, but Piper cut me off.

"What is this about? Is it your quest?" she whined.

"Does EVERYONE know?" I said, exasperated. When I realised that I was starting to steam, I took a deep breath in and calmed myself down. "Yes, it's about the quest. Chiron said that you should probably come as well as Annabeth."

"I can understand Annabeth, but why me?"

"Oh, um…" he didn't want to hurt Piper's feelings, so he said whatever first came to his head. "He said I should bring a, err, close friend," Leo decided.

"Oh." Piper said doubtfully. "Why not Jason?"

"Well, uhh… Annabeth needs some comfort… you know, with her boyfriend gone and everything… and you're better at girl stuff than Jason." Piper didn't look convinced, so I groped my brain for more ideas. "And Chiron said that… umm… I would need you and Annabeth together to keep us safe. You know… women's intuition," I said, hoping flattery would work.

"Oh, okay," she said happily. Thank the gods. Piper then proceeded to grab my wrist and drag me along with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To tell Annabeth that you've finally agreed to go on the quest," Piper answered.

When we softly knocked on the door to Athena's cabin, not really wanting to wake anyone up, Annabeth answered.

"What do you want?" she asked. She had bags under her eyes but the usual tear marks weren't there, which I took as a good sign.

"Leo's agreed to going on the quest," explained Piper. "And I'm coming too."

"And why did you feel the need to tell me this?"

Piper hesitated. She obviously didn't want to see Annabeth angry- I couldn't blame her. But she took a deep breath and said it anyway. "Chiron said that you're coming too." She held up a finger as Annabeth began to argue. "He said that you need the break. You're stressed and frustrated and you really need a break. Get some built-up tension out."

The glare Annabeth gave the two of us was enough to make Coach Hedge cry, but surprisingly, she closed her stormy eyes and took a deep breath. Then she opened them and tried for a smile. It looked more like a grimace.

"Okay. I'll come with you."

"Oh, thank the gods," Piper said with a big grin on her face. "I would have killed myself before going alone with him." She gestured in my direction. What are they talking about other girls would beg me to come on this quest with me. I'm loved by one and all.

After the girls finished giggling, Annabeth asked, "So, where are we going, anyway?"

"Just to Manhattan to pick up the parts we still need," I said. "Should be a piece of cake."

Annabeth stopped smiling then. "Don't be so nonchalant. It could be very dangerous. Need I remind you why Piper and I are coming too?"

I could tell that they were insulting me even if I didn't know what nonchalant meant, but I still couldn't tell them why they were actually coming for their own good. Before I could retaliate, however, Annabeth sighed.

"Okay, I'd better go pack. Bye, then. See you in the morning." But before she could shut the door in our faces Piper stuck her foot in it.

"No, you don't. We'll see you at dinner. You can't possibly skip another meal." Piper said in an extremely charming voice.

"Hey! No charm-speaking me. I said I'll go on the quest, now can you please leave me alone for a while?" And she closed the door in our faces.

I felt ready to explode, she can't just slam the door on our faces we are trying to help her. But Piper put a hand on my arm. "Just remember that she lost her boyfriend. She'd do anything to find him. Besides, I'm a daughter of Aphrodite. I think I know more about love than you do."

Since Piper was admittedly infinitely more experienced when it came to matters of the heart than me, I said goodbye and lumbered to my cabin to pack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the campfire later on that night the spirits were higher than they have been for a while, which was always good to see. The Apollo cabin started the camp songs and the flames where at least ten metres high and bright orange in colour. Everyone knew that they were three months away from setting sail to camp Jupiter, finding Percy and possibly even picking up the other four children of the prophecy.

Twenty- two s'mores and a sore throat from singing later, I trudged tiredly off to bed. Despite my worries about how my friends would do without me, I felt more excited than I had in days. Something good was going to happen on this quest. I could just feel it.

I just want to wish Beccy a happy Birthday – Because its today and shes going to kill me for uploading this story. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY

After rewriting it 50 thousand times Beccy finally finds it acceptable to publish the next chapter so it won't be long before the next chapter comes out.

Let me know what you think

This is Ally signing off