Five Times Reyna met Leo…
…And the one time Leo met her.
~...~
When Reyna had first met the Repair Boy she didn't really 'meet' him. In fact, he was possessed by an Eidolon and was firing on her home at the time. She, of course, didn't know about that little detail, so of course, she was understandably furious. He was destroying her home, how could she trust the Greeks? Of course, she didn't blame Percy, he was trustworthy (surprise, surprise) she could see that spark of loyalty to Rome in his eyes, that gratefulness to Lupa that she had trained him, even though he already knew how to fight.
But she also feared the Repair Boy, she had no idea why she felt like she could trust him with everything, her life, her secrets, maybe even her heart, and she had a hard time squashing down that little flicker of warmth in her when he had looked at her with a smile, it was so similar to the time Jason and Percy had looked at her, but so different. So much… more, but he would leave and break her heart, just as they always did.
So, it was then that she vowed to never like him, the Repair Boy… to bad that destiny had a strange way of working against her.
~…~
The second time was when they had met in Greece. Literately. Gaea had decided to give her a little ride half way around the world and she ended up almost drowning in the ocean. Somehow, the Repair Boy had found her and carried her back to the ship. Jason had told her that he had refused to leave the room until he and Percy had to knock him out (that wasn't true, Percy had said, they had to drag him, not knock him out). He was still asleep by the time Reyna had woken up.
"I've never seen him this way." Jason had told her and she looked at him in confusion.
"Really? But why would he stay awake for me?" She had asked in surprise. Jason just shrugged and she could tell he was as baffled as she was.
Percy had said that he might know what it was, he might, with his eyes warm but tired eyes, not only physical as well, but mentally (he had seen the horrors of Tartarus, him and Annabeth both). It was as if he knew what she was going through at the moment. (She hated feelings sometimes, really hated them.)
She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter what the Repair Boy did for her, she hated him. Unfortunately she couldn't help but feel delight in the fact that he did seemed to care for her, just a little.
~…~
The third time she had ran into him when he was fixing Coffee at six AM. He had dark circles under his eyes and he seemed to be yawning every two minutes. She had to raise an eyebrow, despite her usual cold, empty, emotionless façade. But then, it seemed like he was tearing it down, like he was with her heart, thawing it with his flames.
(Fire and water should not mix especially fire and ice.)
Of course, she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you up so early, Repair Boy?" She was most certainly not concerned about him. Not at all. Nope. She's a hero of Rome, and she wasn't concerned.
Okay, so maybe just a little.
The Repair Boy looked up in surprise and smiled warmly. Not one of the big cheeky grins that he wore usually, and the ones she was used to seeing, but a smaller, more serious, smile. It seemed to be more real than the grins for some reason. "I stayed up all night fixing the engine, reina. Why are you up this early?"
She rubbed her arms, her eyes staring out to the distance. "Nightmares." She admitted softly. "I can't sleep after I have one. Never have." Leo nodded understandingly and reached into the cabinet, pulling out a small box full of packets of something. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Hot Chocolate, Flame Boy?" She asked, not loftily but genuinely curious. Leo shrugged and smiled lightly at her.
"Whenever I feel down or upset, it always makes me feel better." He explained as he tore open a packet and dumped it into a cup before he filled it with milk and popped it into the microwave. "Also, never use water when making it. It makes it taste terrible."
She smiled at him, very slightly, and the microwave dinged. Leo turned around, pulled it out, then turned around again to face her, that strange sad but warm smile still on his face, and placed it in front of her, a warm smile on his lips. "Thank you, Flame Boy."
Leo chuckled and shrugged, looking surprisingly confident and she wondered why he was acting so strangely, but she couldn't help but… like it, and feel strangely elated for some reason. "What for, Warrior Queen?" He asked and took a sip of his coffee. "After all, you don't need me." She saw the flash of bitterness in his eyes but she didn't say anything.
She drank hot chocolate much more after that.
~…~
The fourth time she met Leo, he was glaring bravely at the giant who stood in front of them, blocking their way to Percy, Annabeth and Jason, all three of whom were fighting some kind of demented air-bound Jellyfish. Reyna wasn't quite sure how it stayed in the air, but she was sure she did not want to know. If Percy's face was anything to go by (it was a mixture of a fish and a squid), she knew that whatever it was, it was bad.
Suddenly, she felt the Repair Boy yank her back behind him, and she was about to shout at him angrily, when she realized why he had yanked her back. She would have been killed if he hadn't. She turned to look at him, shocked and he smiled grimly at her, his eyes were way too serious for her liking.
"I'm sorry," she thought she heard him whisper and a pillar of fire separated her from him. Her eyes widened as she realized what he had just did and she screamed at him in Latin watching as he ran to the giant, ready to meet certain doom.
~…~
The last time she had met Leo had been after the war with Gaea had ended. But instead of celebrating with everyone else, like she assumed he would, he instead had come here, Bunker Nine. Camp Jupiter had been trashed when Gaea's minions (she had adopted Leo's term for them… unfortunately) had raided them, and no one really wanted to go back to fix it back up, or at least, not yet. He looked up, his gaze surprised, then he smiled gently at her, the smile that seemed to be just for her, and she returned it warmly, stepping around the countless scrolls and blueprints for upcoming projects that may or may not be completed, and may or may not be entirely safe.
"We won," she said simply but truthfully. There were no more words needed. The Repair Boy, now Hero, nodded, his gaze surprisingly serious, but then they had changed, all of them.
"Yeah," he said softly, almost as if he was afraid to believe it, or like he was in a trance. "I can't believe it's over…" he murmured quietly. She stepped up to his side so that they were shoulder to shoulder. Neither knew what an impressive image that was, Greek and Roman, fire and ice, standing next to each other. The Flame Boy smiled slightly at her, and held out his hand. She didn't hesitate, she trusted him with her life and he with his, she gently clasped it with her surprisingly smooth and slender fingers. He smiled gently his eyes soft. "I want to show you something."
Reyna chuckled slightly, shaking her head somewhat; her newly cut her falling over her shoulders. It was too short to braid, but long enough to pull back. Leo had said it looked prettier down. "This is not that one time when you took me to the masthead and scared me half to death with Festus?" She asked, her eyes shining with amusement. The Repair Boy chuckled slightly and shook his head.
"Nah, this is better."
Reyna looked doubtful, but followed him anyway, not letting go of his hand. The latino elf was practically bouncing and soon his excitement was contagious as he lead them deeper and deeper into the bunker. He pressed his hands over her eyes and she sighed, but willingly let him lead her blindly into the cave.
He removed his hands and she opened her eyes, expecting some great, precious treasure. Instead, all she saw was a piece of paper. "Uh… Leo?" She questioned, turning to the Latino who was grinning at her with gleaming eyes. "What is it that you want to show me?"
The Repair Boy rolled his eyes, the exhilaration not at all gone from his eyes. "Look at it."
Reyna exhaled heavily and walked over to the table, and bent over the paper, frowning as she looked at the lines and the arrows on the bottom right corner. "It's a map of the United States…" she said in confusion. Leo nodded, not at all put out and she raised an eyebrow, looking more closely at it. Her gaze almost instinctively traveled to Kansas, and she frowned and stared at the handwriting that was clearly Leo's. Camp Olympus. "Leo…" She murmured, swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat. "What?"
Leo bit his lip, suddenly anxious. "I know it's not perfect, but I don't want this to happen again… besides, Camp Jupiter is pretty much nonexistent and this one is close to it." She shook her head, fighting back tears and laughter and he looked anxious. "Hey, we could always name it something else, or move it, or we could always rebuild Camp Jupiter or-"
"You wonderful, amazingly idiotic Flame Boy and Repair Boy, I freaking love you." She said half sobbing, half laughing. Leo looked confused, then he blushed slightly and she threw my arms around him, still laughing and crying uncontrollably. "It's perfect." She whispered in his ear, and then she kissed him.
~…~
The first and the only time Leo had needed, to meet her, the Ice Queen, was when she had made it all the way to Greece, courtesy of Gaea, and survived. The strange feelings of protectiveness and heart stopping fear had confused him, but he nonetheless had carried her back to the Argo II, his heart beating a mantra of please don't be dead, please don't die. He felt something change in him, as if he had found my purpose, finally.
He cared for her, barely leaving her side, but eventually Percy and Jason had forced me to sleep (he was grumpy about that.) but he vowed that he would change things for the Greeks and Romans, for the better.
He just didn't know until later on that Reyna would be at his side every step of the way.
Author's Note: Dedicated to Stormfire76, because she's awesome and I promised her a LeoxReyna fic ages back... it didn't exactly turn out the way I planned it :3.
I hope you like it! ...reviews are welcomed. ;)