"Of Volcanoes and Curses"

Part I

Leo was being irrational. He knew it. He had no reason to be thinking the things he was thinking or feeling the things he was feeling. And even though Calypso kept looking at him with hurt shining in her eyes, he couldn't quite bring himself to care.

When the two of them had landed in Camp Half-Blood two days before, everyone had rushed to greet them. There were tears, laughter, slaps on the back, one really hard punch from Piper, but all-in-all, everyone had been ecstatic that he was back – and except for the rest of the crew of the Argo II - dumb-struck that he had a girl with him and even more shocked to hear that she was "The Calypso." Somehow in all the melee, however, he had noticed a look that he couldn't quite understand pass between his girlfriend and her former flame. It hadn't been much of a look, only lasting a couple of seconds, but he had seen it. And when Percy had quickly given her a cordial greeting before quietly and quickly leaving the scene, he had noticed Calypso frown. Percy and Annabeth had been keeping their distance, in a manner of speaking ever since, especially in regards to Calypso. No one really understood it, but Leo did know that he was getting sick of it.

Since no one was willing to speak of whatever was going on, he had managed to imagine a whole host of reasons why it was going on, and none of those reasons were making him happy, especially one reason in particular.

Though he and Calypso had never had an explicit conversation about it, Leo had heard about Odysseus's encounter with his girlfriend. She was a Titan who had been around for a few thousand years, and she had a bad habit of falling in love with hot guys. So, even though The Odyssey was a one-sided account of what had happened on Ogygia, Leo figured there had to be some truth to the whole thing. Not to mention, she was frequently visited by the gods down through the years. He wasn't dumb enough to think that they were coming to tell her about the outside world just out of the kindness of their hearts. So, sure, he wasn't harboring some idea that his girlfriend was still a virgin after all this time, despite her solitary confinement.

However, no one had ever said anything about there having been anything physical between Percy and Calypso, but based on how weird everyone was being, Leo was beginning to think that there probably had been, and that made him burn with jealousy. So after two days of awkward encounters and silence, he went in search of his girlfriend. It was conversation they would have to have sooner or later, anyhow, so they may as well get it over with. He found her at the edge of the woods having a conversation with some tree nymphs. One of the nymphs saw him approaching and giggled. Then she hugged Calypso and rushed off into the woods with the other nymphs following in her wake. Calypso laughed and turned around, linking her arm in his.

"Looking for me, hero?" she asked with a grin.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I kinda was. I wanted to talk to you about something."

She gave him a calculating look. "Sounds serious. What is it?"

They had come to a stop just outside the arena. Leo released Calypso's arm and turned to face her. He took a deep breath and fought a blush. "Did you and Percy ever sleep together?"

Calypso looked confused. "Well, there was only the one cave, Leo. You know that. So, yes, we slept in the cave together. Why?"

Leo had to laugh. He often forgot just how much Calypso did not know about the modern world. Sometimes she blended in just fine, and then other times, this kind of thing happened. His laugh was short-lived, though, because as funny as it was, he really was jealous and angry about the whole thing. He just wanted the truth out in the open so they could all move on with their lives.

"No, Calypso, that's not what I meant."

She shook her head and furrowed her brow still confused. "Then what do you mean?"

"What he means," answered another voice from behind them, "is did you and Percy ever have sex?"

"Way to be blunt, Annabeth," called Leo as Calypso's eyes widened in understanding.

"No!" she answered quickly. "We never did that. He was not on my island long, and most of his time there, he was unconscious or too weak to even walk from the cave to the garden without having to rest."

"Well, you did something. Made out, played strip poker, or something," he concluded.

Annabeth had her arms crossed listening to the conversation. Leo was a little miffed by her intrusion, but he figured she had just as much right to know about what had happened between Percy and Calypso as he did. So he didn't say anything to her.

Calypso reached out and grabbed his hand. "We never made out, never even kissed, unless you count the one I gave him on his forehead just before he left, and we did not play strip poker."

She got quiet at the end of her statement, and Leo could tell that something was not quite as true with that statement as she was trying to make it sound.

"But there was something you're not telling us." It was Annabeth who spoke, again. "What did you see each other naked by accident or something?"

Calypso looked towards the ground. "No, it was not an accident, and Percy never saw any more of me than you have. I did, however, see him without his clothes."

Leo took his hand back and turned away. He could smell the smoke coming off his arms. He took a deep breath, trying to not burst into flames.

"It's not what either of you think," Calypso pleaded. She sounded close to tears. "I had to see him naked. He was dying. I was trying to save him. It was all medical, and he wasn't aware it was happening. He wasn't even awake."

Leo turned back around. He knew Percy had been to Ogygia, but he had never heard the story of how he got there, but judging from how pale Annabeth had suddenly become, he guessed it wasn't any better than his story.

"How...how bad was it?" Annabeth asked in a whisper. Her voice was shaking.

Calypso closed her eyes and shuddered. When she opened her eyes, again, they had a haunted look about them. "Save yourself the pain, Annabeth. Even Percy does not know. He never asked, and I never told him. I have never seen injuries as bad as what he had when he landed on my island."

Leo pulled a couple of springs and wires from his tool belt and began fiddling with them. "I wasn't in great shape when I landed. He couldn't have been much worse." It was a statement, but it sounded like a question.

Calypso met his eyes. "Percy told me he was blasted out of a volcano, Leo. When he landed...he barely looked human. He was bleeding everywhere it seemed, struggling to breath, most of his clothes had burned off of him, but what few bits were left had fused with his melted skin. He had several broken bones, a deflated lung, a horrible concussion, and burns on over 90 percent of his body. I spent three days just trying to keep him alive and stabilize him. I couldn't even move him from where he landed during that time because he was so fragile. And if it weren't for the fact that the water helps heal him, he probably wouldn't have made it."

Annabeth looked about ready to collapse, but she managed to speak again. "How did you heal him? He looked nearly perfect when he came back."

Calypso sighed. "It wasn't easy. Like I said, I spent three days straight just trying to make sure he kept breathing. When the tide started to come in and washed up on his feet, I realized it was healing him some, so I dug a trench from the water all the way around him to keep it continually on him. Once he was stable enough to move, I got him in my cave and on the bed. I had to get what was left of his clothes off of him to try to heal his skin. It was horrible. He was unconscious but would still cry out in pain and lash out as I tried to remove it. It took nearly a whole day just to get it all off of him.

"At last, though, I was able to start repairing his skin. It was like weaving, trying to grow new skin for him and make it connect to the old. I made it as seamless as possible. Percy later told me that he was surprised at how normal it looked. All-in-all, he was unconscious for a solid week, at least. I spooned nectar, broth, and water down him during that time to give some sustenance. And once he woke up, he was still unable to do much for several more days. He would tire easily and was too weak to stand or work for long periods of time. He eventually was able to help me a bit in the garden, but he still had to take frequent rests.

"But about me seeing him naked, once I finally healed his skin and clothed him in the new clothes I made for him, I never saw any more of him than his face, arms, and feet, so neither of you have anything to be jealous about. I promise."

Annabeth had turned to face the arena wall. She was hugging herself and rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Leo actually felt a little nauseous. He shoved the contraption he had been building into his tool belt. Then, he shook his head and looked at his girlfriend. She had tears in her eyes and looked like she still expected him to break up with her. He walked over and pulled her into a tight hug. "Hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that way. I trust you. Forgive me?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "Of course, idiot." He gave her a chaste kiss and pulled back to see Annabeth standing awkwardly off to the side waiting on them.

Calypso stepped back from him, and Annabeth looked up. Then, she walked over and put her hand on Calypso's arm. The girls looked at one another for moment and seemed to come to some kind of understanding. Then, Annabeth simply said, "Thank you" before turning and walking towards the lake.

Leo wrapped his arm around Calypso's shoulders. "Well, that's one awkward conversation out of the way. What should we do now, garden girl?"

She quirked her eyebrows at him but didn't comment on the name. "How about a tour of the famous Bunker 9, fire boy?"

He laughed outright. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

She put her hand on his face and smirked at him. "No, but it was the nicest." Then she pulled him down into a searing kiss, and any lingering jealousy he might have had evaporated instantly as he pulled her close and kissed her right back.

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A/N: Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, HOO, or The Odyssey.