Title: Flickering Flames

Fandom: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: Ace and Gael are mine, Ebony and Jacoby are my friend's and everybody else belongs to the god Rick Riordan

Warnings: slash, fluff, smut, self-harm (mild in what we've written), bullying, abuse...a lot of other shit

Main Pairings: Ace/Leo, Ebony/Gael

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth, Jason/Piper, Frank/Hazel, possibly some Chris/Clarisse hints

Summary: A month before the Argo II is scheduled to leave, another Roman appears at Camp Half Blood. A legacy named Ace puts ripples through the camp, and one son of Hephaestus can't seem to keep his eyes off the visitor which puts Jason on edge as he watches the two boys; his best friend and the boy he's thought of as a brother for years.

Authors Note: So, this is a fanfiction I started out writing on my own but one of my friends has since started helping with and added her own characters...We don't really know where this is going, so enjoy!

The blonde hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. His red eyes were hard with strain and frustration. His body rocked with excessive energy. This should be easy, he'd done it several times before but it was different somehow.

"Just do the flip." he muttered into the frosty, early morning air, "Just flip! Come on, Ace! Just do it!"

He hesitated for a few more seconds before pushing himself off the ground. He sprang forward, right hand hitting the ground to propel his body further. Instead of landing on his feet, he landed on his back with a thud.

The roman legacy lay there, breathing deeply and cursing to himself. He didn't move, staring at the setting sun.


Long Island sunrise in Spring was met by year-round campers rushing to breakfast, the sparkle of the Golden Fleece woke its guardian dragon, and three demigods made their way to the Big House basement.

Inside lay a blonde boy with a deep tan on a cot brought down from the infirmary. His eyes were closed, but it was plain he was far from asleep. Chiron sat in his wheelchair next to the boy, watching him

As the trio entered the room, their mentor turned, "Good, you're here. I thought Jason would want to be involved in this.

Jason wasn't paying attention as he was focused on the boy before them. He'd paled slightly, and walked over to the cot. At his name the boy had opened his eyes to reveal dull red pupils staring up at Jason. When he spoke, his voice was slightly raspy, "Hi..."

"Ace, what are you doing here?" The other Roman asked gently. The rest of the world had disappeared to them.

Ace had to think for a minute before answering, "I ran away...Dad tried to make Garum."

"But...oh." Jason sat on the edge of the cot, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No really." Ace shrugged, "I just ran. I didn't mean to end up here...I can leave. It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. You can't just kick him out!" Jason glared at the Greeks around him and Ace. For the first time, it really felt like Greeks vs. Romans, and the Romans were at a disadvantage.

"We aren't going to, Jason, but we have to approach this carefully." Chiron stated, "Of course, Ace is more than welcome to stay here."

Leo hadn't been paying attention, but piped in then, "No demigod left behind, right?"

The centaur laughed, "Something like that."

The blondes looked at each other in a silent debate, but in the end the red eyed boy muttered, "I'm not a demigod..."

"But...you're from Rome?" Piper asked, staring at the intruder.

To save the boy from having to, Jason jumped in with the general explanation, "Ace is a legacy of Rome. His parents are demigods."

Silence hung in the air for a minute. Ace's gaze was focused on his hands sitting in his lap with Jason's hand on his knee. Finally, Chiron came over and set his hand on the teen's shoulder so he looked up, "You're welcome here, Ace. Jason will show you around, and we'll figure out where you'll sleep after your tour."

Jason helped Ace off the table, and he winced. Leo came forward, kneeling to look at Ace's ankle, "Burns. Were you attacked by something?"

The Roman didn't answer for a minute before muttering, "A chimera...I think."

"I can get Will." Piper offered, leaving with Chiron at Jason nod.

Ace sat back down on the table, fiddling with paperclips. That just made Jason smiled, while Leo was lost again as he looked at Ace's eyes. They were firepits, and just as expressive. When Ace had first seen Jason, there had been flames of joy flickering behind them. Now the flames were extinguished to leave only cooling embers.

"Leo?" Jason asked again, pushing his friend's shoulder.

The firebender pulled out of his trance, "Sorry, what?"

"I was saying how Ace could help with the Argo II." He looked concerned but didn't ask the other boy.

Leo turned back to Ace, but carefully avoided his eyes, "You build?"

"Some." The legacy muttered.

"Ace is one of the best in the legion." Jason ruffled the older blonde's hair, and Ace smacked him upside the head.

Piper returned, and handed Ace a cup of nectar. The blonde watched as the older's ankle healed to make sure everything went properly.

Twenty minutes after first entering, the trio left with Ace resting against Jason, his ankle still weak. As they walked, Piper was pulled away by some of her siblings. Leo had work to do, but didn't want to leave the blondes. Finally, he sighed, "I have work to do. Bring him by later, and we can show Ace the ship."

"...The ship?" Ace asked as Leo walked towards the woods.

Jason hesitated before answering, "Leo's building a trireme...to take me back to New Rome."

"...You need a trireme for that?"

Jason sat down on a fence overlooking the ocean, "Its more complicated than that, brother. Things have been weird since the Titan War. I think its time to end the separation between the Greeks and the Romans. We're all one family, right? Maybe...you're being here will make that easier."

The older blonde sighed, sitting next to Jason, "They're all staring at me...especially Leo."

"People like you don't exist here. Adult demigods don't exist here. When I noticed the difference...Chiron told me the life expectancy for a Greek is twenty."

"Then why fight?" Ace asked after a moment of silence, "If life is that hopeless, why not give up?"

"I don't know yet." Jason glanced over at him, "Anyway, tell me about back home. What's going on?"


"Welcome to the Argo II!" Leo's voice rang out strongly, echoing around the room, "She's designed as a peace ship, but don't let that fool you. Within seconds she can turn into a full fledged defense machine."

His audience wasn't listening much. Ace ran his hand along the smooth wooden banister, watching Festus creak at the passing campers.

"Ace...?" Leo asked.

"She's beautiful." The blonde murmured, "You built her?"

"With my cabin, but my design. She isn't done yet. Maybe another two or three months of work, but we're suppose to leave for New Rome in a month."

Ace was silent for a minute before straightening up, "Put me to work."

"What?"

"Let me help. Back home...its all focused on training or you could never make an automatic catapult work. I know my way around tools, just give me something to do!" The flames were back, flickering hope.

"You wanted to build an automatic catapult?" Leo asked, watching the bundle of excitement in front of him.

Ace nodded, pulling a sketchbook from his back pocket and filed through it, "I had it all drawn out and everything but Reyna said it was a waste of time..."

He sounded so disappointed..."Hey, Nessa!"

A girl came over, talking with Leo for a minute before leaving again. Leo smiled, handing the sketches back to Ace, "Build an automatic catapult."

The blonde stared at him blankly, "What?"

"You'll have to change the dimensions to make it fit on the ship, but I think it'll work."

Leo was engulfed by the trembling lithe boy, but it only lasted a minute before Ace pulled away again. The so un-Roman gesture startled the Greek. Over the past almost six months, Jason had never hugged him.

"Lunch is in a few minutes. You can start work after."

When Ace got to the dining pavilion with the Hephaestus cabin, Jason was talking avidly with Chiron. At the sight of the legacy, Chiron gestured him over, "We're disgusting where you'll be staying."

"...I thought I was staying here..." Ace looked up at him, arms crossed.

"He meant which cabin, Ace." Jason linked arms with the other Roman, "I was trying to convince him to let you stay with me."

"Its not proper, Jason." Chiron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Ace should stay in one of his grandparents' cabins."

A girl walked by. She was buff with short cropped brown hair, and brown eyes. Behind her trailed equally tough looking teens.

She stopped, glaring at the new arrival, "Who's he?"

Instead of letting somebody else answer, Ace did it for himself, "Ace Kindle, child of Rome."

"You shouldn't act so prideful of that around here." She stepped towards Ace, trying to be intimidating. It didn't work as Ace just looked bored at her, "So, child of Rome, is that it?"
Ace stared at her for a minute before answering, "I'm a child of Rome. My mother was a daughter of Vulcan, and my father is a son of Mars. I am a legacy of New Rome. Nothing else is needed."

The girl put her hands on her hips, "Mars, hu? Isn't that the Roman version of Ares?" Ace nodded, "We'll take him."

Chiron looked uneasy at the idea, "Clarisse, I'm not so sure..."

"I am not something you can buy." Ace glared at Clarisse, "You can't just claim me."

Jason nodded slowly, "I think you should stay with the Ares kids. It seems fitting under the situation. You need a bed, Clarisse if offering one."

The older blonde looked at the younger, before nodding slowly, "Fine."

He stormed off after the rest of the Ares cabin, ending up between two of the buffer guys. Ace looked tiny among all the bodybuilders.