Takes place after BoO. Leo's going back!

I don't own Percy Jackson. Or the Terminator, which I reference.

GENERAL POV

It was difficult to rebuild a fire breathing metal dragon; even more difficult to hide it in the center of a busy intersection. But what was the hardest was standing in the clump of trees staring at the entrance to Camp Jupiter, trying to decide whether or not it would be safe to go over to the guards and request entrance to the camp he had nearly destroyed.

Leo sighed and glanced over at Calypso, who had her hair pulled back and her fingers lightly intertwined with Leo's. She smiled at him, her eyes sparking mischievously. "Go. I know you want to see your friends, make sure they're okay."

With a sigh, Leo nodded. "Yeah, but the last time I was here I kind of tried to blow up the camp. I'm sure that they won't be too excited to see me here again."

Calypso squeezed his hand gently, sending a shiver up the boy's spine. "Weren't you the one who came up with the plan to save the camps and the earth?"

Leo flushed. "Well, yeah, but still. Terminus will probably blast me to rubble."

Calypso laughed, a gentle sound that carried across the intersection. "Leo, just go. It will be all you talk about if you chicken out."

Leo grinned at the girl. "You totally like me."

The goddess rolled her eyes and pushed Leo away lightly, a mock scowl on her face. "I so do not. Get out of here. I'll watch Festus," she said, gesturing to the dragon behind her, which was curled up as tightly as possible to avoid being seen.

Leo glanced back at Calypso once before straightening his tool belt, stepping out of the tree coverage and directly into the line of sight of the two sentries positioned at the entrance.

He hadn't gone more than five steps before the one on the left broke ranks and began sprinting towards him. Leo flinched and flexed his fingers, ready to pull out a hammer and throw it if he was attacked.

The figure flung himself at him and Leo fell to the ground as the guard wrapped him in a choke-hold. No. Wait. It was a hug.

Leo blinked and leaned back, pulling the helmet from the guard. Curly dark hair fell from the metal and revealed bright gold eyes and a tear streaked face.

"Hazel," Leo said, a grin splitting his face. "Geez, way to bruise my body."

Hazel merely burst into tears (for a second time, apparently) and wrapped him in a tighter hug. Leo gave a small smile and pulled the daughter of Pluto to her feet for a proper hug, the two remaining silent for a moment.

When she finally pulled away, she studied Leo and then slapped him in the face. Stunned, the son of Hephaestus could only stare at her. "What was that for?" he cried.

"For making us think you were dead!" Hazel yelped, her eyes sparking indignantly. "Gods, Leo, Frank and I were crying the entire way back!"

Leo flinched and glanced away, rubbing his neck. "Sorry. I kind of crash landed. Had to repair Festus…again."

Hazel's gaze softened and she glanced behind Leo, a smirk working its way onto her lips. "Did you find her?" she asked, tugging Leo towards Camp Jupiter.

Leo grinned and blushed violently, looking at his feet. Hazel gently punched his arm and smiled. "I'll take that as a yes. Come on. Frank's inside teaching an archery class to a couple of second graders."

"And probably trying not to get killed," the second guard said, removing her mask to reveal Reyna. She nodded to Leo, a gentle smile on her face. "Good to see that you aren't dead."

Leo flinched but said nothing, which didn't go unnoticed by Hazel. She led him into the tunnel and stopped just inside. "Leo, are you okay?"

The teen pursed his lips and glanced down at his shoes. Hazel tilted her head and studied him for a long time. "How did you survive the explosion?" she asked softly.

Leo winced again. "I didn't," he finally murmured. "That plan I told you and Frank about…it worked. Festus managed to inject the potion into me before he hit the ground."

Hazel grimaced and pulled her friend into a tight hug. "I know it's hard," she whispered. As she pulled away, the girl pecked him lightly on the cheek. "I'm just glad you're alive now," she said, putting a gentle hand to Leo's cheek.

Leo smiled and they continued towards the camp. "Do the kids at Camp Half-Blood know you're alive?" Hazel asked, pushing the door open into the camp.

Glancing around, Leo shook his head. "No. It took a day or two to fix Festus, and then Calypso and I got off the island. We landed in Oregon and since you guys were closer I decided to bring Festus here first."

Hazel smiled brightly and fiddled with her armor. Leo wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders and gave her a side hug. "I missed you guys," he said softly, a lump growing in his throat.

Hazel glanced up at him. "We missed you too. Piper and Jason were devastated when we couldn't find you. The entire lake exploded because Percy was so angry. I'm glad none of the naiads got hurt," she murmured.

Leo winced. "I never meant to cause so many problems. I thought that out of us seven, I mattered the least, so if I died, it would be okay."

He was stunned when Hazel slapped him again. Her eyes flashed menacingly. "Don't you ever say you don't matter," she hissed.

Leo stepped back, startled, and Hazel relaxed a little. "Leo…you are so important you don't even know. Frank doesn't have to worry about dying anymore because of you. You're the entire reason we won against Gaea. Your ship was the reason we were able to even complete the quest. You…what's the word? You totally matter."

The boy chuckled and shook his head lightly. "You need to get out more," he laughed.

They stopped in front of the archery building and Hazel nodded to the door. "Care to go in with me? I'm sure Frank will be happy for the interruption. He isn't very fond of training second graders."

Leo snickered and, without waiting for Hazel, strolled to the doors and flung them open dramatically, nearly getting beheaded as an arrow flew just past his ear.

The archers inside stopped what they were doing and all turned to stare at him as Leo carefully plucked the arrow from where it had embedded itself in his jacket and studied it. He looked up, a light twinkle in his eyes, and searched the room until he locked gazes with the Praetor.

He wagged the arrow at Frank angrily. "Come on, Zhang. I got blown up by a dragon. It'll take more than an arrow to get rid of Leo Valdez."

Frank's bow tumbled to the ground and his jaw dropped. "C-Class dismissed," he whispered hoarsely.

The students filed from the room, one of them plucking the arrow from Leo's hand and grumbling at him, and Hazel made her way to Leo's side, tilting her head at Frank as the three were left alone in the room.

"Well, Zhang?" Leo said, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow, a devilish smirk filling his features. "You going to just stand there or-?"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Frank darted forward and wrapped the son of Hephaestus in a tight hug. Leo yelped briefly before relaxing and hugging back.

Frank pulled away just as quickly, punching Leo in the arm. He yelped and rubbed his shoulder gently, glaring at the two. "What is it with you Roman's and punching people who have just come back from the dead?"

"Gods, Leo, I'm sorry," Frank said, his eyes brimming with tears. "I just…geez man, you have no idea how hard it was to know that I could have stopped you from-"

Leo held up a hand. "Shut it, Zhang. I'm here now, aren't I? The plan worked. The earth is okay. And I'm back to annoy you. Isn't that all that matters?"

Frank raised an eyebrow and glanced at Hazel, a smile tugging at his lips. "Is that a trick question?"

Leo rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around the two, standing on his tiptoes to reach Franks shoulders. "I do need your guys' help though. Festus can't go any farther. Can I leave him here?"

"You want to leave a giant metal dragon in the care of us?" Hazel clarified, her eyebrows shooting into her hairline.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. Calypso needs to get to New York so that she can get a meeting with Zeus, and I need to show her how to get to New York. She wasn't exactly around for the turn of the 21st century."

"Or the twelfth," Frank noted. "We can keep an eye on Festus. How do you plan on getting to Camp Half-Blood though? I mean, the Roman's and Greeks are all good and buddy-buddy now, but it's not like we can just teleport you there."

Hazel tilted her head. "Or can we? The temple of Trivia is pretty crazy; and lately some of the sons and daughters of Trivia have been able to open portals there to Camp Half-Blood to get Jason and Piper through."

Leo held up his hands. "Trivia? Portals? What did I miss?"

"Trivia is just the Roman version of Hecate," Frank clarified as the three started toward the temple of Trivia. "And Jason and Piper have been going between the two camps to help set up alters for every god and goddess. A couple of Trivia's kids have learned how to open portals in the Mist, and they were teaching Hazel how to do it."

The two boys glanced over at Hazel and she shrugged. "I can try. No promises that I can actually get you into Camp Half-Blood, but I'll get you as close as I can."

"What about Calypso?" Leo asked, glancing towards the entrance of the camp.

Frank snapped his fingers. "Hazel may not be able to open a portal directly into Camp Half-Blood, but she can open one onto Mt. Olympus."

Leo looked at the girl incredulously. She shrugged. "There's a greater field of magic and energy around Olympus than the Greek camp. It's easier."

Leo nodded. "So how exactly is this done?"

Calypso squeezed Leo's hand and glanced from Hazel to the swirling, Misty portal. "And you're sure this will take me to Mt. Olympus?" the goddess asked.

Hazel nodded. "Yes. I'm positive."

Calypso nodded and looked at Leo. "I'll be back as soon as I wrap things up with Zeus. Try not to blow anything else up, okay?"

Leo rolled his eyes as Frank and Hazel chuckled. "Oh come on. I blew up your table one time!"

"And the camp," Frank noted.

"The ship," Hazel said, tapping her chin.

"Almost blew up the Argo 2."

"Oh, and that one time with-"

"Okay, I get it!" Leo said, interrupting Hazel. "I blow a lot of stuff up!"

Everyone laughed, and Calypso kissed Leo on the cheek. Before he could respond, she stepped into Hazel's portal and disappeared. Hazel let the Mist fall and she looked at Leo with a smile. Frank wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Leo shoved him playfully. "Shut up. So, Hazel, portal to Camp Half-Blood?"

It took a few moments, but Hazel finally thought she had the right portal. "I'll leave it open for like fifteen seconds after you go through, just in case there's a monster or something on the other side," she decided, spreading her hands out in front of her and allowing the Misty swirling vortex to grow.

Frank gently clapped Leo on the shoulder, grinning. "Don't go dying on us again, okay Valdez?"

Leo chuckled, shaking his head. "No promises, Zhang."

He stepped over to Hazel and kissed her on the cheek, very aware that if it looked bad to Frank, the boy could turn into a bear and wipe him out with one well-placed claw swipe. "Thanks, you guys," the inventor said, stepping up to the portal.

He put one leg through it and glanced back. "Remember, Festus is in the field outside camp. He likes motor oil and-"

Frank held up a hand. "Dude, we spent like three weeks with that dragon. We got it."

Leo grinned, pulled a pair of sunglasses from his tool belt, and stuck them on his nose, his expression growing serious. "I'll be back," he promised in a deep voice before giving a trademark Leo grin and jumping into the Mist.

Hazel raised an eyebrow, waited fifteen seconds, and then shut the portal. "What was that all about?" she pondered.

Frank laughed and wrapped an arm around her. "Man, we have got to get you to watch The Terminator."

When Leo's vision cleared all he could see was fire, and for a brief second he wondered if he was in one of his father's forges.

Until, of course, he heard a lot of screaming and the sound of plates smashing on the floor. He glanced around him quickly and realized with a start that he was standing in the fire pit that was in the pavilion at Camp Half-Blood, the one used to provide offerings to the gods.

Leo shook his head and stepped out of the flames nonchalantly, gazing around until his eyes landed on the four people he had just spent almost a month living with. His grin widened when he spotted the satyr with a baby in his arms standing with them.

"Well geez, guys," he said loudly, batting the flames out of his hair. "I guess I wasn't worthy enough to be offered to the gods. They sent me back. So much for-"

He was smothered in hugs before he could finish the sentence.

I'm really on a roll with Percy Jackson fanfic right now. Just ideas. So many of them. All over the place. Whoop!

If you hadn't had a chance, I'd love if you would read my story Fire and Water. It's about Percy and Leo.

I like Leo. It's fun to work with his character.

Review please!