A/N Hello! Terribly sorry for the long absence, but, I had exams...and now I don't! So, in celebration, a little Leo-fic, set around the time that he was working super hard on the Argo II. Enjoy!
Nyssa's POV
Nyssa was starting to think that Leo Valdez was a machine. She hadn't seen him set foot outside of Bunker Nine in over three weeks, and she was pretty sure the only thing he'd eaten in the last 48 hours was a ham sandwich that she and a couple of their siblings had force-fed him. She understood the dire need to get the ship built, and she respected his dedication, but this? This was suicide.
Nyssa woke up to Harley bouncing on the foot of her bed.
"What do you want?" she groaned, sitting up.
"Nyssa! It snowed!" her younger brother shouted, and received a number of groans of complaint and even a pillow to the head from the rest of the Hephaestus Cabin.
Nyssa bit back a laugh and allowed Harley to drag her out of bed. She managed to force him into a coat and a hat (she wasn't really sure if demigods caught colds easily, but she wasn't about to find out the hard way) before he pulled her outside.
Christmas time at Camp was always beautiful. Nyssa didn't know why a camp full of children of pagan gods celebrated an essentially Christian holiday, but it involved eggnog, snow and mistletoe, so no one was really complaining. Apparently, Chiron (in Mr. D's absence) had let snow fall within Camp's boundaries, and now, the entire place was covered in a sheet of pristine, sparkling white. Nyssa gave it about half and hour before the demigods lay waste to the landscape.
"Let's play!" shouted Harley, already packing a snowball.
Nyssa was about to relent when her thoughts drifted to a certain pyrotechnic, who was probably holed up in the Bunker, banging away at a hunk of metal.
"Let's get Leo," she suggested. Harley's eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically. He absolutely adored Leo. He dropped his half-formed snowball and went running towards the woods, leading the way to Bunker Nine.
When they got to the Bunker, Nyssa and Harley were greeted with loud curses. In Spanish. They followed the noise and found Leo at the back of the cavern, punching a blueprint.
"Uh...Leo?" Nyssa tentatively asked, just as he set off into another string of Greek and Spanish curses.
Leo jumped and whirled towards them, abruptly breaking off. His hair was smoking and his shirt looked charred.
"Nyssa! Hey," he shot her a grin before noticing Harley, "Hey, Harley. What brings you guys here?"
Nyssa blinked, "Leo, what's wrong?"
He looked at her, confused, "Nothing's wrong, why?"
Nyssa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I see. So you curse pieces of metal into the depths of Tartarus often?"
Leo blushed, "Um...no. No, not really. It's okay though. No need to be alarmed."
Nyssa wasn't buying it, "Uh huh, sure. Now, if you're done trying to lie to me, what is it?"
Her brother sighed, "It's nothing. The measurements for parts of the plumbing system were off by a bit, so I'll have to redo that, and we really can't afford another setback, and,"
"Shut up," she cut him off, "It's not a big deal. What is a big deal is that you haven't eaten anything but a sandwich in the last two days and its been a good month since you've seen the sun. You need a break, Valdez."
Leo gaped at her, "A break? A break? Didn't you hear me? We're behind schedule as it is, and you want me to take a break?"
"Yes. You're no good to anyone dead, Leo."
He gave her an incredulous look.
"Leo! It's two days to Christmas! And it snowed! You have to come play with us!" Harley put in, grinning.
Leo gave him a small smile, "I wish I could buddy, but I'm kinda busy right now."
Harley pouted.
"Valdez, you either come with us now, or we get Mark and Jacob and Ed in here to get you out," Nyssa threatened, "I don't care if we have to drag you kicking and screaming, you're spending Christmas with us, not a bunch of blueprints."
Leo glared at her, but she glared right back. Finally, he relented with a sigh.
"Fine," he mumbled, "Harley, you can get going, alright? I'll be right behind you."
Harley grinned ecstatically before giving Leo a big hug and running out of the bunker.
'I don't get why it's such a big deal," Leo told her as he changed his shirt into something a little less...burnt, "How does it matter what I do for Christmas? As long as the ship gets done, who cares?"
"We care," Nyssa replied.
"Why?" Leo looked truly perplexed, which broke her heart a little. How long had it been since this guy had someone take care of him?
"Because, idiot," Nyssa started, wrapping an arm around his waist as they walked to the door, "We're family, and that's what family does."
Leo looked at her with soft, vulnerable eyes, "It's been a while since I've had one of those," he said softly, "Forgotten what its like."
"Don't worry," she hugged him a bit tighter, "We'll remind you."
Leo slung his arm around her shoulders and, for the first time in months, his smile reached his eyes.
A/N Aww...little bit of a Nyssa/Leo brother/sister moment there. As always, do let me know what you think. Prompts, requests, characters with requests, so on and so forth are always welcome. Reviewers get virtual kisses and cookies! Much love :*
