disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO. I do not own any characters. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is completely coincidental. (Unless it's a person from the book)

No flying horses were harmed during the making of this one-shot. Enjoy!

7 Seconds

"Leo!" Piper yelled furiously as she walked into Bunker 9.

"Sup, Beauty Queen?" Leo said grinning.

"Sup?" Piper said angrily. "Valdez, you're in big trouble,"

"Ugh, you sound like every orphanage lady I've ever met," Leo said, rolling his eyes. Piper groaned and flopped down on a bench.

"You're impossible Leo," Piper said. Leo sat down next to her. "What were you trying to accomplish?"

Leo had sent out a video scroll to the Aphrodite cabin. In the video, was a bunch of footage of Jason looking really tough while working on the Argo. Leo had even thrown in a typed message saying 'Don't let him get away' for extra measure. Leo smiled.

"How did they react?"

"Well, the whole cabin's been drooling over him, obviously. Drew's been flirting like crazy, wearing purple and everything," Piper said looking down at her hands.

"What does she think? She'll wear purple and then Jason will fall in love with her?" Leo said laughing.

"Well maybe not the purple, but he might fall in love with everything else," Piper said sadly. "Do you ever feel like Jason likes me, just for my looks?"

Leo looked at her carefully. Despite the fact that Leo was good at spotting pretty girls; he had never looked at Piper as one. He knew she was beautiful, but he saw her for her personality. That was the part of her he really liked. He had never looked at her as more than a friend, but lately his mind had started wandering off to strange places. If Jason had been a trick of the mist, that meant that Leo and Piper had been alone at Wilderness School. Leo was anxious to know what had actually happened. He had started wondering if he and Piper might have had a thing for each other. He doubted it though. Why would Piper like him? Jason had nothing to do with it.

Piper clapped her hands, jolting Leo out of his thoughts.

"Leo! Answer the question!" Piper said anxiously. Leo tried to remember the question.

'No. Jason likes you for you," Leo said, even though he wasn't sure of it himself. Jason had been pretty far off lately. Leo remembered the conversation they had a week ago.

"Leo, can I tell you something?" Jason asked. They were alone in Bunker 9.

"Nothing too hard," Leo said as he studied the blue prints in front of him.

"It's…about Piper." Leo looked up at this. He could tell this was going to be something sensitive. He nodded for Jason to continue. "I got this memory back, of a girl named Reyna. I'm pretty sure we had some kind of connection, and I'm not sure how Piper will react. I mean, I love Piper, but, what if Reyna is like Annabeth with Percy?"

Leo looked at Jason blankly. He had no idea how to respond to this kind of thing. "I guess…you'll just have to see how things balance out," Leo said after a while. Jason nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I knew that. I just needed someone to talk to."

"I'm always here," Leo said gently.

"Thanks Leo."

"Are you sure?" Piper asked.

"What?" Leo asked, confused.

"Are you sure Jason likes me for me?"

"Yes. You need to stop worrying about Jason so much, it's not healthy."

"I know, but-"

"No buts." Leo stood up and walked to a work bench. "We're going to prank Drew."

"How?" Piper asked. Leo could tell he had her attention.

"With a video scroll, some footage of Jason, and our creative minds." Leo brought out a small camera and computer. He started playing around and after a while he called Piper over. "See, I have this footage, but I need a voice behind it."

"How are we going to get Jason's voice?"

"Technology, my dear Beauty Queen, technology. I have Jason's voice recorded from somewhere else so I can play with it and have him say something completely different," Leo said pointing to different things as he talked.

"What's he going to say?" Piper asked. In response, Leo tapped a key and Jason's voice rang out.

"Hey Drew. I like the purple outfits, but I would love purple hair, baby," said a perfect imitation of Jason's voice.

"You really think she's gonna fall for that?" Piper asked.

"I don't know, lets find out." He got up and led Piper out into the woods. They walked to camp making small jokes. Once they arrived at the Aphrodite cabin, they placed the scroll on Drew's bed. It was getting late so Leo said bye and headed to bed. He fell asleep almost instantly.

Leo woke up to Piper calling his name. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as Piper came hurtling in.

"Leo!"

"Hey Piper," Leo said through his sleep.

"Have you seen Drew?"

"Yes Piper. I woke up at 5 in the morning, and snuck into the Aphrodite cabin to look at Drew, then went back to sleep."

"You have to see her," Piper insisted as she pulled Leo out of bed.

"Can I change first?" Leo said, looking down at clothes.

"You look fine!" Piper said as she pushed Leo out the door. Leo stepped out into the warm sun. Piper took his hand and pulled him to the sword fighting arena.

"Drew's sword fighting?" Leo asked in confusion.

"No, Jason is, and Drew is showing off her fabulous new hairstyle." Leo laughed. He hadn't seen Piper this happy for a long time. She seemed like her own person, not Jason's shadow.

"Look!" she said once they had arrived. Leo saw Jason talking to Drew. Or, Drew talking to Jason. Jason just looked like he wanted her to leave. But Drew wasn't a normal Drew. Her hair was bright purple, with dark purple streaks. Her hair was loose, and was puffing out a bit. She looked ridiculous. Leo laughed.

"What's she saying?"

"I don't know, let's go closer and see," Piper said. They crept forward and hid behind a bush.

"So, what do you think of my hair?" Drew said as she puffed it up more.

"It's…lovely," Jason said awkwardly. "Um, can I get back to my practice?"

"The highlights match the shirt you wore when you first came to camp!" Drew said, ignoring Jason's request.

"That's…awesome. I love it," Jason said. It was obviously fake.

"I thought you would," Drew said as she placed a hand on Jason's shoulder.

"Did you?" Jason said as he took a step back. Drew took a step forward.

"I did," Drew said. She put her other hand on his other shoulder, and pulled him into a kiss. Leo heard Piper gasp. Jason pushed her back and walked away. "5 full seconds before he pulled away. The purple hair is definitely working," Drew said as she flipped her hair and walked away.

"Wow. That's desperate," Leo said through his laughter.

"5 seconds. Did you hear that?" Piper said.

"Pipes come on!" Leo protested, but Piper wasn't listening.

"5 whole seconds!" Leo couldn't take it. He got up and left. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he had to get away. He hated the idea that Piper was losing herself to Jason. Why couldn't she just be her own person and forget about Jason sometimes? It was starting to annoy Leo. He kept walking and found himself in the forest. He walked for a bit more, and found a clearing. It was beautiful, with flowers growing all around. The light seemed to hit it perfectly, and it practically sparkled with beauty. Leo walked to the middle and felt the warm rays of the sun hit him.

"Leo." Leo spun around when he heard his name. He saw Piper standing at the edge of the clearing. She looked beautiful with the sun hitting her. She walked towards Leo. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Leo said through a forced smile. Piper wasn't buying it.

"Leo?"

"Piper."

"You're hiding something. Tell me what you're thinking about."

"I just don't want you to disappear!" Leo burst out. He bit his lip. That was not at all like him.

"Disappear?"

"You're losing yourself to Jason! Why can't you be your own person? You don't have to worry about Jason all the time." Leo ran a hand through his hair. This definitely wasn't like him. Piper looked like she had just been slapped.

"Do you really think I'm that clingy?" Piper asked. The worry in her voice was obvious.

"Piper, I'm sorry. You're not clingy, that's not what I meant." Piper looked down at the grass.

"I know what you meant. You're right," Piper said. She looked at Leo and gazed steadily at his eyes. "The thing with Drew was hilarious." She laughed.

"We could have fun with that," Leo said dreamily. Piper laughed again. Then she leaned in and kissed Leo gently. When she pulled away, she was blushing. She turned and walked out of the clearing, turning back once to wink at him. Leo sank to the soft grass and looked up at the bright blue sky. There was only one thing on his mind.

A full 7 seconds.

Just a quick little one-shot! Please Review, I love your comments!