Chapter 1 – A trusted friend

"Annabeth's chest filled with liquid hydrogen. She felt like she might shatter into a million frozen pieces. ´You're lying,' she said. ´Leo would never-`

"Leo wished he could invent a time machine. He'd go back two hours and undo what happened. Either that or he could invent a Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine to punish himself, though he doubted it would hurt a badly as the look Annabeth was giving him."

-The Mark of Athena

On a rare occasion like this, the engine room of the Argo II was quiet. There were no machines humming, no clicking and creeking sounds. Most people might find this silence relaxing, but Leo thought of it as rather uncomfortable. It has been half an hour since the ship landed and Jason, Piper and Percy went searching for their cranky camp director, Mr. D… Or at least his Roman counterpart. This gave Leo the opportunity to fix some of the damage that had been done to this masterpiece of a ship. Unfortunately, it also gave him time to think.

If anyone had told him that his life could get even more messed up a few month ago, he would have laughed. His resume had already been a mess before he knew that he was the son of some ancient Greek god. But then he was claimed by Hephaestus and went on a quest with his two best friends to save his psychopathic babysitter, the goddess Hera, from the wrath of Gaia and her favourite son, the king of giants. Then he spent months building this wonderful warship while nearly having a burnout (pun might be intended). And finally, he managed to use said warship to attack the city of New Rome, declaring another war between Roman and Greek demigods and most likely ruined the chance of any alliance between them.

Just thinking about all of this made him want to crawl into a corner and hide away for all eternity. Alternatively, he maybe could still build the "Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine". A sigh escaped his lips. And a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Bronze bulls!" Leo shouted and spun around, only to be met with the interrogating gaze of Annabeth. He totally forgot that the scary blonde was in the same room, helping him to get the engine running smoothly again. "I've been calling you but you didn't react." She simply stated matter-of-factly. Her intelligent grey eyes studied his face carefully, her brows furrowing in the process. "Are you okay?"

Behind her, Leo could see his own reflection in a bronze surface. His hair was a total mess from running his hands through it every so often. His expression was grim and somewhat anxious, his pupils contracted. He reminded himself of a cornered animal, ready to take flight at any moment. Instantly he put on his usual impish grin.

"Of course! Working on the ship that will get us to our insanely dangerous quest and probably impending doom, that's exactly how I like to spend my afternoons! The only thing that's missing are some snacks."

"You still feel guilty about the attack on Camp Jupiter and don't know how to deal with it." Annabeth concluded completely ignoring what he just said. Leo made a surprised sound like he had been punched in the gut, but quickly recovered. "Yeah, I just happened to start the next American Civil War, but that's no reason to feel guilty, right? As long as I don't steel anyone's favourite candy, it's fine I guess."

Somehow his attempts to lighten the mood with sarcasm didn't have any effect either. Annabeth simply crossed her arms, staring down into his eyes. Of course, she didn't just have to be scary as Hades, but also quite a bit taller than him. And his best defence, namely sarcasm, didn't seem to keep her at bay one bit.

"I understand how you feel. But I truly believe that it wasn't really you who launched the attack. That you didn't do it voluntarily." She sounded genuine, like she really didn't accuse him of any wrong-doing. "I think that you're a good guy, a friend that I can trust."

At this point, Leo felt so uncomfortable that he needed to turn away, return to keeping his hands busy with what he could do best: Fixing mechanical things. He began to wonder if social awkwardness was a trait all the children of Hephaestus inherited from their godly parent. He knew how to deal with machines, metal, wires, even chemicals… But people? They kind of scared him.

"Do you only say this, to somehow keep team moral up? Because you know that we are stuck together for better or worse?" Leo said, for once not beating around the bush with a witty remark. If he always said what he was thinking, people might start avoiding him altogether, but in this situation, he wanted to be honest for once.

"No, I mean what I said. Over the years, I've become good at reading people. And since we spent so much time together building the Argo II, I got to know you a little, even if you try to hide a lot behind humour and sarcastic remarks. You're a hard worker and care a lot about your friends. You spent so much time and effort into building this ship, even though you knew this quest would bring a lot of hardships. You didn't even know Percy, but still did everything to get to him in time."

Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder again and squeezed it lightly. The gesture felt gentle and reassuring. Leo didn't dare to look into her eyes. "I am grateful that you helped me to get Percy back. And I am glad to have you on our team." She squeezed his shoulder one more time, then turned away to continue working on some machinery at the other end of the room.

Before she was out of earshot Leo said "Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." His voice was kind of coarse, as if he might start crying if he got any more emotional.

"You're welcome."