Leo woke up slumped over his worktable with a lug wrench pressing into his cheek.
It took him a minute to realize he was in Bunker 9 - he must have fallen asleep while working. "Ah, hell." Leo cursed, sitting up and unsticking the wrench from his face. He stretched and looked around him, noticing that the taco box from the night before was sitting on the ground at his feet. Funny, he'd almost thought that Willa was just a dream.
Willa.
Leo had never really noticed her before. She was already at camp when he, Jason and Piper arrived for the first time, but he didn't know her name and he was too busy to find out, what with the quest and all. And then he was building the Argo II. And then there was the war.
And then there was Calypso.
"Dammit!" Leo growled. He hated waking up to thoughts of her. They were too painful in the morning, when he was still vulnerable from sleep. He instead filled his thoughts with corroded wires and lug wrenches, only half-succeeding. The ever present reminder that Calypso rejected him still nagged away in his mind.
Leo kicked at an empty can of oil and watched with satisfaction as it flew across the room and hit the wall with a clatter. "Ha." Leo said to no one in particular, then jumped.
Someone was knocking at the door.
"That you, Willa?" he called. "Didja bring me any more - oh. Hi, Piper."
Leo couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as Piper poked her head into the Bunker. "Willa? You mean that Apollo girl?" she asked, stepping inside and giving Leo a hug.
"Yeah. She brought me tacos last night." Leo said, patting Piper awkwardly on the back. This was unusual for Piper - she wasn't really the huggy type. "What's wrong?"
Piper widened her eyes. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. It's just, um... well, Jason and Percy and Annabeth and I are all going to take Hazel and Frank to Montauk for the two-year anniversary of when they started dating. It was Percy's idea. And we wanted you to come, too, but Chiron said that he wanted you to stay here. He said he thought you needed to be by yourself a little while longer. If you wanted we could probably sneak you out of camp, but -"
"Piper." Leo said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder and trying not to feel horribly dejected. "It's fine. Enjoy yourselves, and tell the lovebirds I said congrats. I'm just going to stay here and work on a few projects."
Piper's eyes were filled with regret. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah." Leo said, voice cracking a little. "Besides, you'll probably want to do couple-y stuff and I'll just be the seventh wheel."
"Oh, Leo." Piper said tearfully, pulling him into another hug. "I'm so so so so sorry."
Leo shoved her away good-naturedly. "Ah, get out of here." he choked out, managing to sound cheerful.
Piper gave him one last regretful smile before slipping out the door. As soon as the heavy rock slid back into place, Leo slumped to the floor and put his head in his hands.
Willa stood outside of Bunker 9. In her hands was a box of barbeque and hush puppies - god, the crap the other campers had given her about that. Especially from Ally Pierce, Apollo Cabin's very own Regina George.
"You know what they say, don't you, Willa?" Ally had inquired nastily at lunch after Willa had filled a styrofoam box with barbeque leftovers. "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Or are you using some other way to get to Leo and you're just pigging out on the food when no one can see?"
"Back off, Ally." had been Willa's oh so witty reply - but she hadn't had time to come up with anything better. "I'm just trying to help a friend out."
Ally had widened her eyes innocently. "Help him? With what? Unzipping his pants?"
Willa stood up abrubtly. "You're such a bitch. He's just been through a hell of a war, and probably hasn't eaten in days. He's alone and depressed, and you're giving me shit about trying to help him get through one of the worst times of his life? Classy, Ally, real classy."
Ally had been speechless, something Willa had been proud of at the time. But now, as she stood outside the Bunker, she just felt embarrassed. She had just called one of the most influential people in her cabin a bitch in front of the whole camp. And what if Leo found out? She didn't want him thinking that she was trying to get him to fall for her. She wasn't even attracted to him.
Well, maybe just a little.
Shaking all thoughts of obnoxious bitches and tiny crushes out of her head, Willa raised her hand and knocked on Bunker 9's door.
"Come in!" Leo called, and the heavy rock doorway slid open smoothly. "Oh, hi, Willa."
"Hi." Willa said, stepping into the warmly lit bunker. Leo was sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Do you realize that you have wire in your hair?" Willa teased, grinning at the copper wires entangled in Leo's curly brown hair.
Leo's hand flew to his hair. "Oh. Uh - yeah, didn't you know it's a fashion statement? All the Aprhodite kids are doing it."
Willa laughed. "I guess I didn't recieve the memo."
"Geez, Willa, get with the program." Leo said, grinning. "So. Did you bring me-"
"Food? Yes." Willa interrupted with a smile, showing him the styrofoam box she had been hiding behind her back. "Barbeque and hush puppies."
"Yes!" Leo crowed, standing up abruptly and rushing over to where she stood. He grabbed the box, grining wildly at her. "You're awesome."
"I know." Willa replied, smirking, then bounded up a flight of stairs to a balcony reaching over the bottom floor of the Bunker. "This place is awesome."
"I know." Leo said, smirking just as much as Willa.
Willa laughed, climing up onto the balcony railing and swinging her feet.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, with Leo working on his corroded sphere and eating, and Willa looking around in awe at her surroundings. Bunker 9 really was amazing.
"Anything I can do to help?" Willa asked after a while.
Leo looked up from his tinkering and thought for a second. "Well, you could wrap the bronze coils-" he began, then abruptly stopped as a lump grew in his throat. He turned away. "On second thought, maybe I'll do that myself."
There was a barely audible thump as Willa hopped down off the railing to stand next to him, and suddenly she was taking the bronze wire from his hands gently. Her eyes were sympathetic and her smile was warm, and Leo felt a little better. "Someday," she said, putting her free hand on his arm, "You'll have to tell me why you get so sad when you talk about things like bronze coils. Okay?"
"Okay. Sure. Yeah." Leo said, looking away.
a/n: Leo, my poor baby.
sorry for sort of switching POVs on you. it might be a bit confusing, but hopefully you get it.
thanks so much for all the positive reviews, everyone! keep 'em coming. PLEASE.
also, please don't favorite without reviewing. i'd really like to know what EVERYONE thinks!
