Author's Note: Nico and Leo are going to get a bromance, just so you know. Also, I've been listening to Haunted by Taylor Swift while writing this and it's very fitting for the fic.

Hazel inched closer to Frank's warmth in the dark, damp hull. She felt sick, and not just from the rocking of the ship. The image of Leo as they left was still etched in her mind. He was fighting the monsters holding him back with tears falling down that impish face. His screams still rang in her ears, "No! No, come back! Please! You promised! You promised..."

Frank put his arm around her, successfully pulling her out of her memories, "It'll be okay. He'll be okay."

"Leo's going to hate us for leaving on him." The daughter of Pluto finally voiced her fears.

"No." Frank tried to assure her, "We'll have to work on things, but we'll get through it."

"I don't want him to hate us."

He tried to kiss her cheek, but missed in the dark, instead kissing her temple.

Meanwhile, Leo had decided that he hated the Mare Nostrum. They couldn't sail through the mountains because giants kept throwing rocks at them. The sea was in a constant storm that tore at the ship.

They needed repairs, but there was nowhere to land, or materials to make the repairs with. Jason and Percy hadn't slept in forty-eight hours since they were so focused on trying to calm the storm enough to keep it from completely destroying them. Leo had to hold the ship steady, and even Coach Hedge had retreated down out of the steady war.

Leo kept going even though the ship, his ship, was being torn apart all around them. He didn't care if she went under, as long as they got Frank and Hazel back first. It scared him how much he needed the couple. It felt like his chest had been ripped open to reveal the wiring and circuits beneath his heart. His heart, which was with them wherever they were, wasn't really his anymore. Those two had stolen it, and Leo wasn't sure if he wanted it back anymore.

A whirring sound from Festus that was almost lost in the storm puled Leo from his thoughts. He called to Percy and Jason, "There's an island coming up! I'm going to land!"

Neither demigod answered, but it seemed like the way got a little clearer. Docking proved easy. As soon as Leo maneuvered the ship into a bay, the storm died. With it's fall, Percy and Jason crumpled to the deck. They were still awake so Leo anchored before checking on them.

"We'll be okay." Percy assured him, half asleep.

Annabeth lead Piper, Nico, and Coach Hedge up top, "What's going on?"

"Welcome to Sicily." Leo answered bitterly, "It took us two days to travel the length a car could in a few hours."

Both girls had their boyfriend's head in their lap. It made Leo's chest ache to see them cuddling like that. He wanted Frank and Hazel to be back as much as he wanted them to want him. Accepting his own feelings for both of them only to have Gaea take them away was the worst blow of the war so far.

"We can't keep going like this." Annabeth stated, cuddling Percy to her chest.

"I know." Leo muttered, sinking to sit next to Jason and Piper, "But we don't have another way to Greece, and we have to stop Frank and Hazel from being sacrificed."

Nico's eyes glinted at his sister's name. His reaction over Hazel's kidnapping still scared Leo. The shadows had seemed to creep over them, his eyes flaring in fury, and Nico grumbled in a dark raspy tone, "You lost my sister."

Percy had tried to convince Leo that Nico was just scared of losing Hazel like he'd lost Bianca, but it felt like the goth boy knew something else was going on. He settled down some when Leo insisted that they both wanted the same thing; Hazel back.

"We need to find another way." Nico said softly, "There's going to be a fight, and we don't want both Jason and Percy out of commission."

"We'll be okay." Jason muttered, his eyes drifting shut, "After some sleep."

Instead of dwelling on their problem, Leo decided to go to a fixable problem, "We need repairs before we do anything else. If somebody wants to come, we can buy materials, and I can have the repairs done by morning."

"You should rest too, Leo." Piper suggested gently.

"I'll rest when things are right again." Leo stood, and watched Nico pull his Aviator jacket on.

"Lets go, Leo." The goth grabbed his arm, and pulled him into the shadows. They came out on a busy Sicilian street as Nico stumbled slightly. He hadn't tried shadow traveling yet, and the strain made him pale for a minute. In no time, he was back to normal though

He didn't say much as he followed Leo around the store. When they reached the check out though, and the pretty Italian girl asked something in Italian, Nico answered her flawlessly. The girl laughed, winked at Leo, and asked something else. To that, Nico just shook his head.

As they walked down the street, Leo turned to Nico, "What was that about?"

"The girl?" Nico glanced back, "We were flirting. Then she wanted to know if my boyfriend would be joining us."

"Your..."

Nico crossed his arms, "Yeah, apparently we give off that vibe. Which...brings me to something I wanted to ask you. Is there something going on between you and my sister?"

"Hazel? No...no, Hazel's with Frank." Leo shook his head.

"That doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing going on."

The fixer looked down, "There...I might like her, but she's with Frank and...I told him I wouldn't make a move on his girl."

Nico gave Leo a dark look, "You like him too, hu?"

"What?"

"You like both of them." The boy shrugged, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. A little odd, but nothing to be ashamed of."

"So what if I do? Nothing's going to happen with them anyway." A hand slipped into Leo's toolbelt without him meaning to. His fingers curled around the imperial gold tip of Frank's arrow. It was his only source of comfort, warm in his hand. The only piece of the couple he had left to hold onto.

Nico shrugged, "Never know, right?"

Before Leo could answer, he looked up to see a ten foot tall crab with a blue and green shell, and pincers bigger than the two boys. It was walking down the street casually destroying everything in it's path. Leo looked at Nico, "We should fight the crab, shouldn't we?"

"Probably." He answered, pulling out his sword.

Leo's grip tightened on the hilt of the arrow. He didn't have a weapon, but he had to help Nico fight the thing, "I'll go left, you go right."

"You don't-"

Nico didn't get to finish, before Leo rushed off to the left. He pulled out the arrow from his tool belt, and watched from around a corner while Nico rushed right in. The crab snapped at him, but Nico managed to roll under the claw. While the monster was distracted, Leo rushed forward, running right under the thing. He thrust the arrow into a chink it's armor. In seconds, Leo was covered in green dust.

He coughed, and turned to Nico. The goth was staring at him, panting softly, "What...?"

"I..." Leo didn't have an explanation. He hadn't thought about what to do. He'd just done it. The arrow in his hands was hot, making his palms sweaty, "We should get back on the ship before the mafia or something shows up."

Nico linked arms with Leo as they disappeared into the shadows. When they got back, Nico explained what happened while Leo retreated down into the engine room. He let his hands work without thought, occasionally glancing at the innocent looking arrow laying on Buford. Frank's arrow. It looked like a regular arrow. The shaft of solid wood with an imperial gold tip, and razor like fletchings. It matched all of Frank's other arrows, but this one felt different to Leo like a part of boy he wanted to love was there with it. Like a part of Frank was protecting him, helping keep him alive and fighting.