Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus series, RR does.

Suggested listening: Avril Lavigne - Give You What You Like. Not really 'cause it matches the story sooo much, just 'cause it's become my new Leyna anthem. ;)

Inequity

"I-I'm sorry, I have to leave..." Her words were still resounding in his ears. He remembered her ungratified, yet determined, face as he felt his heart shattering into pieces tinier than the tiniest screws. Again. Was that the fourth, the fifth time that night? He'd already lost the count. And how much time had it passed since she whispered those few syllables into his ear? An hour? Half the night? It felt like ages. Ages of remembering and torturing himself with that repetition, sitting still in the same uncomfortable place. He wanted to make it work, he really did. But it seemed that love wasn't a machine the son of Hephaestus could simply fix when it broke.

Yes. Love.

He felt it was the right word to call that feeling. It wasn't just any other ice princess that wanted to kill him or a punkette that simply ignored him with a sharp glare... Or even a friend that was a former girlfriend of his great-grandpa. It was his girl, his Calypso. The one he actually wanted to become the knight in shiny armor for, just this one time in his life. The one he really, desperately wanted to stay by his side, only once but for good. Of course, none of them would have ever admitted it but... she felt it too... Right? Or was it just another misunderstanding of his?

X X X

Reyna woke up all of a sudden, feeling that something was not how it was supposed to be. Hearing Aurum and Argentum's quiet snoring (yes, automatons could snore, sometimes louder than one would expect them to be able to), she immediately understood what that was. She wasn't in her cozy little bedroom in CampJupiter, she found herself barely covered by her sheets in one of the Greek guest-houses for their "Roman friends". She sighed and gripped her forehead with one of her cold hands. Why did migraines have to come when they were the least expedient? She looked at the watch and decided that it was already too late to come back to sleep. She groomed herself (as neatly as she could with her head cracking into two furiously pulsating pieces) and left the cabin to eat an early breakfast alone, just like she liked it best.

She walked slowly towards the eating pavilion, her automatons pacing watchfully next to her legs, remembering all she'd been through in those past few months. Not all of her memories were good ones, in fact, most of them were that of comprehensive sadness, heart-breaking sorrow and choosing the ways better for her camp despite that even herself doubted them. The headache wasn't making the things any better as she went out of the trees and saw the place of her aim. Countless wooden tables and some litter on the ground were the only things visible as the dining pavilion was deserted after the last night's supper.

Wait. There actually was somebody there. One single person sitting still at the end of Hephaestus' kids' table. What was Leo Valdez doing there at such an early time? She approached him with proud gait, intending to go past him and to the table she'd eaten at the evening before. Why bother too much with the one that destroyed her home? Sure, it was an eidolon. But she couldn't dispose of the unpleasant chill she got whenever she looked at him. Like she was looking at some kind of mask, not Leo Valdez himself. She felt something big, dark and bitter deep inside of him and certainly didn't want to come in contact with that thing.

"Good morning, Leo-" she nearly gasped when he lifted his head gustily and she got to see his eyes. His disguise wasn't there. Just two deep, unseeing holes in place of the common, somewhat crazy glints in his eyes. That scared her. No, the praetor of New Rome scared? And because of what, some Graecus' despondence? She tried to get a hold of herself and let him be, but the holes seemed to be alluring her in their own, twisted way.

"Yeah, hey..." She heard him mutter as he lowered his head, hiding the decoy from her eyes. A few moments passed, her staying frozen in her place and him staring bluntly at the wood. No movements, no fingers' work, she noticed. So not like him. An unabashed little idea came to her, already weary from the pain, head. Now it had to deal with an inner conflict too.

"Go, investigate the darkness. That's what a good leader would do. Get to know your possible enemy!" the idea claimed.

"No. I won't do it" another voice answered.

"Why? That's what you should do!" the idea kept teasing.

"I... No. I have to protect..." the voice vacillated.

"What? What do you want to protect?" The question was left with no answer. She hesitated, rearranging her body mass to her left leg cautiously, but finally took the few steps and sat at the table quietly so that she was opposing him. He raised his head a bit, slightly furrowed eyebrows and a concealed question barely visible. She parted her lips and closed her mouth again, not knowing what to say. How did you start a normal, casual conversation? She'd almost forgotten that she'd done it in the past. Those days those were always the powwows, official meetings, not really the kind of talks a teenage girl should be having too often.

"Look" a noiseless hoarseness escaped him, disturbing her train of thoughts "If you have nothing to do with me then... Could you just leave me alone?" he asked, not making any eye contact.

"What happened?"

It was hard to tell which one of them was more surprised by that question. Reyna's hand moved unconsciously to her lower lip and Leo made his orbs fully visible. His eyes were now a bit more lively, confusion clearly visible in them. She'd never cared about him before. The only few words she'd actually said to him were just cold clichés or angrily snarled out statements. Never once had she talked to him in something that could even be called... a soft voice? It suddenly reminded him of her tone, when she was scarring his soul with the fire even himself couldn't be resistant to.

"Nothing" he growled, wanting to be left alone once again. What would even a purpose of their talk be, he wondered.

She almost stood up. Almost. Until her sight caught a glimpse of what had brought her to that place. The darkness in its fullest was there once again. Even though she didn't want to admit that, she was kind of afraid of it, that was for sure. And, one of her most annoying traits she wanted to suppress, she'd always sticked to the things that scared her.

"I see that's not true" she whispered, even herself questioning what she was doing. Why was she doing that? It seemed that she wasn't the only one bothered by that question. Leo looked at her once again, clearly not knowing what was going on.

"Why do you even care?" he grunted.

"I don't know" was the only answer heard. They stared at each other in silence for a while, both examining the other one. Leo could see her self-confidence reducing, uncovering something he'd never seen in her before. Her eyes... He got the feeling that he'd seen them somewhere, more than just once. Something in him whispered to throw his emotions out of him. A tempting thought... But could he really do that to her? He was the dysfunctional one, why encumber other, guiltless people with his frenzy?

"She left..."

He didn't even know why he said that, a part of his brain decided about that unconsciously. Reyna's eyes widened a bit, as if she too was surprised with him opening up. She hesitated, not knowing how to guide the conversation next (how ironic, she was supposed to be able to guide people and she didn't even know how to talk with them in noncommittal situations). She remembered that when she had got to CampHalf-Blood a few days earlier, he hadn't been there. She hadn't asked anybody about it. Why would she? And then, the day before, he had arrived in the middle of the training grounds on his, now proficient, dragon with a girl sitting behind his back. She'd never seen him happier than in that one moment.

"The mask wasn't there..." a sudden thought approached her. He'd looked truly happy, he hadn't been faking, as his common jester side did. Was he talking about that girl?

"Well... But she'll come back, right?" she started, her throat a bit too dry "Why be so depressed when-"

"She won't come back" he interrupted her, maybe a bit too sharply. She furrowed her eyebrows, demanding that he had told her more. With the corner of her eye, she noticed the tension of his hands, now laying entwined on the top of the table. He parted his lips and moved his eyes from hers to the trees soughing in the distance.

"She chose justice"

He moved his eyes to look at her once again. A humorless smirk appeared on his face. "You probably think of me as of an egoistic bastard, right?" She didn't answer, her eyes burning holes in his. He chuckled darkly.

"What trash do I have to be in your eyes when I'd love to prevent her from doing the right thin-"

"No" she interrupted. His face grimaced in confusion. She took a deep breath, preparing to do something she barely ever did - open up to another person. It wasn't that she didn't have feelings, they just weren't important in her life. She was supposed to be always ready to guide the legion. No weaknesses came in count.

"I... I understand you" she said quietly, her heart racing like after a long run.

"There were... There are times when I think of how my life would look if Jason wasn't taken away... to save the world" she added. Leo thought he'd never seen a sadder face on another person (well, other than himself). He tried to swallow but his throat had suddenly become too tight.

"So..." he started croakily "You'd actually prefer the world to burn if it meant having him by your side?" She smiled joylessly.

"At times, yes. Even though I know it wouldn't be the right thing..." That had taken him aback. Were they really that similar to each other? The Greek Jester and the Roman Queen? He suddenly wanted to check that, to see if she'd really understand.

"I guess I'll tell you what happened then..." he said.

His story had begun quite a long time earlier, when Khione had sent him flying into the clouds on the way to the House of Hades. He told Reyna about his desperate landing on some island, which he had later learned was Ogygia, and about meeting the most annoying girl he'd ever met. He explained hurriedly how he had spent his time on the island and about (in that moments his voice broke a bit) his relationship with Calypso, as he'd learned the girl was called. He told her about his swearing to free Calypso from her curse and how he'd managed to do so by repairing Festus and the magic astrolabe of Odysseus.

"And then..." he said a lot quieter than the other parts of his story had been told "She told me she wanted to repair the unfairness on Olympus..." Reyna did almost not hear that sentence. Leo mussed up his hair and continued. He told her that, after his leaving, Calypso had started thinking about what she would have done if she had been free. With a sad smile, he explained how she had come to the conclusion of inequity the gods had created, judging the evil's supporters after every war.

"Why were the demigods able to get out unscratched and the children of the titans suffered even if their faults were smaller?" she'd asked herself.

"And then..." Leo continued his story, whispering "Hermes visited her. When he heard her thoughts, he told her that maybe she would have been able to right the wrongs if she had come to Olympus. Working for the gods, she would have been able to show them that not everyone associated with the titans has to be evil-" his voice broke, he didn't even try to hide that.

"And here I am, dumped by the girl I fell for too hard and took my time to save" he smirked bitterly. Looking at Reyna's expressionless face, he started thinking if he hadn't told her too much. Wasn't she smothered by his sorrow? Suddenly, she smiled dismally.

"Why do they always have to do the right thing, I wonder?" she said, a note of amusement present in her voice. Leo blinked in confusion. After a few moments, a quiet chortle escaped him. After another instant, he was laughing out loud, laying on the table, his shoulders moving repeatably with the sound. A shadow of laugh left Reyna's lips before she too burst into laughter. After a while, they were both wiping the cleansing, happy-sad tears, their faces red and lungs desperately seeking air.

X X X

Reyna woke up suddenly, feeling that something was not how it was supposed to be. Hearing Aurum and Argentum's quiet snoring, she immediately understood what that was. Her headache was gone. She went to sleep wanting just to ball up under the sheets with all her windows closed and occluded, and in that moment, she was perfectly fine. She also immediately understood why that was. Smelling the familiar scent of grease and oil, she opened her eyes and looked at Leo, who'd come back from Bunker 9 and, like usual, had come straight to the bed, not even cleaning his face earlier. She drew her finger to rub off a stain from his nose. He snored quietly and opened his sleepy eyes, feeling her touch.

"I'm sorry I woke you up" she smiled at him. He returned the smile.

"No big deal, mi reina" he strengthened his embrace around her and buried his face in her hair.

"Did you have fun moping the floor with Octavian today?" Reyna had a special praetorship those times - she was the constant legate of CampJupiter in CampHalf-Blood. She chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, but, you know, I think the screens are broken again..." she whispered, running her hand through his curls.

"Really?" he purred out "And why's that?" She smiled.

"Well, he seemed sort of... Excited and terrified and the same time... Not the cold Octavian he usually is..." she answered. Leo chuckled.

"That's because Rachel's gone to visit them... You know he can't resist her..." he chuckled again. Reyna smirked.

"Yeah, you're probably right..."

"G'night"

"Goodnight, Leo"

Falling asleep in his arms, she remembered that morning a few years earlier, when she had been hesitating whether to see what had been wrong with him or to simply walk away. She suddenly understood what one part of herself had wanted to protect then - her feelings. She hadn't wanted to face his darkness because she'd been afraid, she'd known it would drag the darkness out of her. And she'd been scared that he would leave her alone with all her anguishes detected. But he hadn't. He'd stayed, opening her up bit by bit, uncovering his pains in return. They understood each other better than anybody could and found soothing in each other that nobody else could give them.

"I love you"

He smirked.

"I love you too"

ZJeM, 07-09.11.13

From author:

T^T Written because I have a bipolar disorder when it comes to Caleo and Leyna.

I wanted to make it a "how they met - how they fell in love - epic kiss - etc. etc." story but 1. I'm too lazy. 2. I couldn't resist to make that move with doubling the "Reyna woke up" part. XD

Anyway, it's one of the longest things I've written, I think. O_O How did you like it? :D

THANKS FOR READING!