He'd been stuck in Bunker 9, slowly killing himself.

Okay, sure, it's good place to be for a boring mechanic like me, but I wasn't here for that. I was running away from my problems, friends and my family. Those friends knew what happened, what seemed so long ago...

Time Set: 4 Days Ago

We were walking down the streets of New York, taking in the view of the bustling city.

"Isn't it nice here, Leo?" Calypso smiled gently, making his insides slowly melt.

"Yeah, but it's better now that you're here Sunshine." he winked, using one of his many pick-up lines on her.

She nodded, but changed the topic. "Remember that minor god I was friends with, Eros?"

I felt a little annoyed she was talking about him again, because they went through this a ton of times but he nodded. "Yup. What about him?"

"Well, we were going to hang out after this and-- Oh, there he is!" she squealed.

A young man, about the age of 17, was leaning on a car. His dark hair was tousled perfectly and his warm brown eyes watched all of the admiring fangirls.

"Eros!" she ran at him, letting go of his hands.

"Hey, Cal!" he grinned, and hugged her warmly, making him feel a tad jealous. (and suspicious, that, too).

They looked into each other's eyes, and he suddenly kissed her. She didn't hesitate to answer.

He felt tears clog his throat, but he managed: "I thought I could trust you."

Calypso looked at him and snorted. "Wrong choice, buddy. We're over."

He ran away and zoomed past the buildings, and stopped by Percy's apartment and crumpled on his doormat like a scrawny Latino freak.

Percy opened the door and look surprised to see Leo. "Dude, I thought you'd never make it!" his face suddenly turned into concern. "You okay, man?"

He sat up, fixed his face as much as possible and grumbled: "Feelin' great."

"Look, dude, I'm not much of a people person but it doesn't take a genius to figure out you're not okay. We gotta tell the others, okay?" Percy put his hand on Leo's shoulder in a reassuring way, but it didn't help.

He threw off Percy's hand and yelped. "No, don't! Please, don't!"

He raised his hands in a surrender gesture. "Dude, your mood swings are killing me. We gotta tell the others."

He pushed Leo in the door and said. "Leo's here, and somethings wrong."

"Where's Calypso?" asked Annabeth, completely oblivious to what Percy said.

"Oh, yeah! I wonder where's Calypso? Maybe she's with her new boyfriend after she kissed him right in front of me!" he snapped at Annabeth, and it was like time stopped.

New boyfriend? Calypso? Those words did not belong in a sentence together.

"Leo... are you okay?" Piper said, choosing her words carefully.

It was only Percy's strong hands that were keeping Leo from running away.

He smiled drily. "Feelin' great.

Jason guided him toward one of the extra chairs and sat him down. "Leo, we're your friends. Tell us what happened."

He cracked a smile. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides, I'm awesome by myself and Leo don't need no girl!"

They laughed, and started joking around with each other.

He had a great time, really. Percy's mom, Sally, was awesome. But his mind was in two places: the past and the future.

So after all that wick whack, he claimed that he had something to be done at camp and locked himself in Bunker 9. So soon had they realized their mistake and they started trying to break in. Which really sucks. Bad enough they'd make sounds that'd scare away the toughest warriors, worse their screaming my name.

One day, while he was working on a particular project, the floor of metal went inside out like aluminum paper.

He screamed and pulled a hammer from his tool belt.

Hazel appeared from the floor. "Leo!"

She tackled him in a hug, forcing him on the ground.

She stood up, half-carrying him in the process. "Sorry."

He suddenly felt physically and mentally exhausted, so he almost stumbled.

"Percy, get help in here! Leo's not doing so good!" Hazel screamed at the top of her lungs, then he blacked out.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. It's not a good idea. I might get bad dreams or whatever. But this one time, he didn't regret it.

His mother's ghostly form appeared in front of him. "Hello, mi mijo."

He jumped back. "Mama?!"

She put her finger on her lips. "Shh. Be quiet, mi mijo. The other gods might notice."

He stayed quiet, obediently not making a sound.

"But you can talk to me." she said after a while.

"Awesome!" he said, grinning.

She smiled. "I'm not here just to visit you. I have to tell you something. You shouldn't push your friends away, it will hurt you and them at the same time. Also, about that Calpyso chick," her face contorted into one of disgust. "punch her in the gut for me.

He smiled fondly. "Okay then."

Then, as he woke up, the light was a little too bright for his liking.

"Oy, can someone turn the light down? Cause I swear it's doing some serious shi--!" a hand was clamped over his mouth then slowly removed.

Still disoriented from the meet-up with his mom, he almost swore again. "What the fuuu-- heck?"

Hazel hugged him tightly. "Leo, you're alive!"

He awkwardly wriggled out of her embrace. "Uh, yeah... alive."

Annabeth shouldered Percy, and he started saying: "Leo, we're super sorry we were being such bad friends."

"Sorry." everyone said, overlapping eachother's voices.

"Um, would you... forgive us?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, duh. You're my friends." he said, laughing.

"That was... easier than expected. Thought we'd have to do something to make it up for you." Piper said.

"Saving me from rotting is more than I could ask for. Thanks, guys." he said.

Before they could speak, Leo said: "Oh, one last thing? Punch Calypso in the gut for me."