Leo, once again, couldn't sleep. It seemed to be a recurring event in his life as of late. However, he was pretty sure this had a lot less to do with regular insomnia, and a lot more with the events of the day. He sighed, slumping in the seat of the Argo II control room. They weren't technically going anywhere, maintain just enough speed to keep them afloat, so his presence wasn't technically required. But what was he to do? Try to sleep and remember the terror he felt when Nico and Piper had returned with the two heroes unconscious? When Piper told him what had happened and he felt the panic gripping his heart as he realized that not even Percy Jackson was immune to possession? Yeah, no thank you. Better to just stare out the window until the sun came up and they could make some kind of plan. At least he was sure Percy wouldn't come to boot his ass back to bed, and then did his very best not to remember why he couldn't. What he hadn't taken into account was someone else coming to boot his ass back to bed.
"You should be sleeping." Frank's voice said from behind him.
"Look who's talking." Leo replied exhaustedly as he turned to face Frank, dressed in pyjama pants and a t-shirt, and also Hazel, which, why was she awake? She was standing slightly behind Frank, dressed in a lilac nightgown that made her look like a flower goddess, ephemeral and out of this world. And come to think of it, that t-shirt was hugging Frank's body pretty nicely. Especially around the shoulders and upper chest. He shook his head. Why exactly was he noticing these things about people in a very happy relationship? Hello? Hello, brain? Are you home? What the hell are you doing? "Why are you two awake?"
Frank shrugged. "Why are you?"
"It's nothing." At the couple's incredulous looks, he shrugged. "Nothing anyone needs to worry about, anyway. Just… demigod jitters, I guess."
"That's cute, how you think we're gonna fall for that." Hazel smiled kindly, but there was something firm in her voice. Something that told Leo he wouldn't get out of this so easily.
He decided then that he didn't even really want to try. "I just… the events of today… I mean, I thought I'd only gotten controlled because I was weak-minded, but if even Percy got possessed, what chance do I have to improve that? How can I be sure I'm ever safe? I could get possessed at any time, and who knows what might happen next time I do."
"Leo… you can't think like that." Hazel said, firmly. "Percy getting possessed proves that it's not about weak minds, it's about the fact that it's something we can't control. Percy didn't stop because he was suddenly able to fight it off, no matter how much more heroic that story would sound. Percy stopped because his friends stopped him. He has people to watch his back, and so do you." she said, unconsciously mirroring her brother's words. "We might not have met very long ago, but we're in this together, right? We've got your back, Leo. Whatever happens, we'll deal with the consequences together. As a team. As friends."
Leo swallowed, just to make sure he wouldn't start bawling like a baby. He'd never really had friends before, and even Jason and Piper had become his friends out of circumstance. They hadn't chosen it from the beginning. But here Hazel was, telling him she had chosen him. They both had. He nodded, looking away to maintain his composure. "Yeah… you're right. Thanks." He smiled weakly, gratefully, and Hazel grinned back.
"Great, friendship, can we please go to bed now?" Frank asked, which was weird, since Leo could swear the question was directed at him, not at Frank's own girlfriend. Which, again, why wasn't Frank talking to his girlfriend about going to bed? Unless she had made him come here, which is why he was asking Leo? It was 3 a.m., he really didn't have the processing power to try to get through all the implications of that.
"Yes, of course, dear." Hazel answered, grinning brightly. "Leo? You coming?"
"I think I'll stay up for a bit longer," and he half-turned towards the console, before turning back. "But thanks. That helped. A lot." He cleared his throat, turned fully towards the console and threw a "Good night" over his shoulder.
And immediately yelped when he suddenly found himself airborne. "Nope, my girlfriend will never let me hear the end of this if you're not also in bed like the rest of the people here." Frank said as he hoisted Leo higher up on his shoulder, like he was weighing less than a sack of potatoes, which…
"Do I even weigh anything to you?"
"No, it's like holding a couple of grapes." Frank answered without breaking his stride out of the control room. And then he turned left instead of right.
"Uh, Frank? You overshot. My room is the other way."
"So you can sneak out after we leave? I don't think so. You're sleeping in our room tonight, so we can keep an eye on you. And no, we're not taking no for an answer."
Leo pouted, but he couldn't help but be touched. The concern was sweet. And also hot, because, hello, getting manhandled by a big, muscular guy. Really, might as well relax and enjoy the ride. A couple minutes later, he was thrown in the middle of the bed, with Hazel on one side and Frank on the other, coincidentally, the side of the bed closest to the door (psh, like it was a coincidence and not a way to block an escape attempt). And with the two of them snuggled around him, Leo had no chance of wiggling out and making his way back towards his silent vigil. As he started to try to make sense of all this, and what it all meant, he didn't even notice when his mind went quiet and he fell asleep between the two warm bodies of his friends.
And in the darkness, Hazel smiled.
It seemed insomnia was meant to plague all residents of the Argo II, because 3 a.m. also found Annabeth and Piper wide awake, laying side by side on the bed in the dark room.
"You asleep, Annie?" Piper whispered.
"Nope. And I'm guessing neither are you." she answered, and then had to shield her eyes as light flooded the room. She turned to look at Piper after a couple of seconds in which her vision adjusted, blinking tiredly.
Piper was sitting up, having reached to turn on the light, before sighing and turning to look at Annabeth.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Annabeth asked as she also sat up.
"Do you really need to ask? The boys almost killed each other and I was sitting there uselessly just watching it happen. When it all came down to it, I couldn't stop them. I couldn't do anything. Jason would have died if Nico hadn't intervened, and then what? Everyone would have been afraid of Percy, the Romans would have never trusted us after this, the entire quest would have fallen apart, Gaea would have risen and we would have all died in the end because we would have never been able to win this war!" she said, getting more and more worked up the longer she talked.
"Hey, hey, calm down." Annabeth shushed her, grabbing her face gently and forcing her to look her in the eyes. "None of that happened, and you wanna know why? Because you were there. You were there to slow them down. Maybe you couldn't stop them completely, but nobody is blaming you. You saved their lives, Piper, because you kept them in check long enough for Nico to arrive and help. Nobody could have done what you did. Because of you, none of that happened, and neither will it, because we're better prepared than we were even a day ago."
"But it could have happened."
"Anything could have happened. Anything could happen at any given moment, we're demigods, that's the way our life works. But if we were to get stuck on what could have happened, we will never appreciate what did or didn't happen. Percy and Jason are safe. We're all safe for the moment."
"I guess that's true…"
"And hey, I should actually thank you."
"What for?"
"You saved Percy."
"No, I didn't. If anything, I saved Jason."
"I don't mean his life. You saved more than Percy's life. You saved his conscience. If he had managed to kill Jason, he would have never forgiven himself. At best, he would have left the quest. At worst, he would have tried to fight Gaea alone, and I'm afraid he wouldn't have come back alive. You saved my best friend, Piper. You're the best girlfriend in the world."
"Is that what I am? Your girlfriend?"
"If you'd like…"
"I would. I would like to be your girlfriend, Annabeth Chase."
Annabeth smiled and pulled her into a kiss, reaching up to turn off the light. And in the cover of darkness, they found comfort in each other.
