"Dang it!" Jason tries turning the key one more time. The car engine gives a feeble rumble before sputtering out. Piper is sitting shotgun, her brow furrowed with concern as she peers down at the computer in her lap. Her purple painted fingernails gently tap the trackpad as she scrolls through a list of nearby repair shops. Jason sighs and leans back in his seat, running a hand through his blonde hair. This is the third time this month that their ancient car has broken down, and the expensive cheap stakes at the repair shops leached them of all their pocket change. Piper's face relaxes and she sit up straight. Jason leans over her shoulder, looking at her computer screen.
"This one's perfect! L&C's Repair Shop. Good service, low prices, local, family run, good reviews, ama-"
"Piper, I get it. Just call them please." Piper smirks and pulls out her phone. Carefully, she punches in the numbers glowing blue on her computer screen, remembering at the last minute to switch it to speaker phone. It rings for a few seconds before a boy's voice, maybe 4 or 5, comes on.
"Hello and welcome to L&C's Repair Shop. I am the amazing Sammy Valdez, master of mechanics, mistro of machines, minister of-"
"Shut up Sammy!" A female voice yells off to the left of the phone. There's a muted scuffling sound until the female voice returns.
"My apologies for my brother's behavior. My name is Esperanza Valdez, assistant at L&C's Repair Shop. How may I help you?" Jason is shocked. It can't be-he died right in front of their eyes. Piper's eyes start to tear. Jason tries to speak, but finds his voice stuck in his throat.
"Um, hello? Is anyone there?" Piper can't hold in her tears any longer. They fall down her face and she sobs-long, heart broken sobs. Jason holds her and tries to say something re-assuring but he can't get past a huge lump in his throat. He rubs small circles on her back and Piper burries her face in the crook of his neck. The voice on the other end of the phone is muffled.
"Dad, the lady on the phone is crying." The phone is once more passed to another faceless person.
"Hello?" a familiar voice asks.
"Leo?" Piper whispers. The phone is silent.
"Beauty Queen?" the voice is soft, almost hoarse. Jason gives a sigh of relief as Piper breaks down into tears again and hands the phone to him.
"How's it going Repair Boy?" Jason asks with a grin on his face.
"Sparky? You're there too? Oh my gods, guys, I've missed you so much! How's everything?" Leo's voice is full of its former mirth and warmth. The words seem to flow out of his mouth like a cork pulled out of a wine bottle.
"We're doing well. Thanks to you, we won the giant war. Octavian is dead, Nico and Will Solace have been really buddy-buddy lately, Percy and Annabeth graduated college a couple years ago, and Hazel and Frank are living in New Rome. Pipes and I just got a new apartment in Manhatten. What have you been up to?"
"Well, I crashed on Ogygia and rescued Calypso. Then Festus flew us here, this neighborhood, where we started our business and our family. You've already met the twins, Sammy and Esperanza. They've been quite a handful." Leo and Jason laugh, and Jason's glad to be with his best friend again. Piper calms herself and takes back the phone.
"Ok Zombie Boy, could you get out here to our apartment complex? Our car just broke down. We live on 16th Street, the big gray building at the end of the block. You can't miss it." Jason can feel Leo's grin through the phone.
"Be there in a jiffy. I'll give your car a Leo Special, no extra charge."
"Just no jetpacks. Or rocket launches. Or elephants. Or giant Greek warships. Or-" Leo laughs.
"Got it Pipes. Bye guys."
"Bye Leo."
"Don't you dare light our car on fire!" Jason hangs up and the two sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"So..." Jason begins. What do you say after you found out one of your friends that died was alive? Piper puts a hand over Jason's, who still hasn't let go of his death grip on the joystick.
"Relax Jason. He's happy, we're happy, and that's all that matters." He smiles at her and releases the joystick, favoring to hold her hand.
"Yeah. Okay." Jason squints at the cerulean sky out the dirty windshield, adjusting his glasses so that he can see more clearly.
"Pipes, do you see that?" She gives a a short nod. They unbuckle their seat belts and climb out of the car, the couple's eyes still trained on the sky. The brown dot in the sky is getting progressively closer, and when it finally comes into focus Piper and Jason cheer. Big smiles are frozen on their faces as a bronze dragon touches down in the street across from their car. A latino climbs down from the dragon's neck and starts walking towards them. Piper and Jason run up to him and envelop him in a giant hug. He pulls away, a trouble maker grin on his face.
"Miss me?"