Chapter 1: Tears are the price we pay for the freedom we need
Summary: Set after Tower of Nero. Newly single, Leo is dismayed to learn that Nico is coming to live at the Waystation. It's all too much as Leo feels more and more unwanted, not needed, and unloved. There's nothing to lose when he tries to become friends with the son of Hades.
Nico doesn't want to be at the Waystation. He *wants* to find a way to Tartarus to help Bob. Why does he keep hearing the Titan? He'll stop at nothing to help his friend, with or without Leo's help. But, it looks like he's stuck at the Waystation (and in therapy sessions with Dionysus) until he's able to figure out a way to get to Tartarus.
What dangers await the pair of demigods and what will they discover about each other along the way?
Leo tinkered with the set of wires on the desk in front of him. His backpack lay open, spilling bits of metal, undone homework sheets, and a smattering of pencils and torn bits of paper. The upper bunk lay neatly made- pristine and militaristic. The bottom bunk- his- was a jumbled mess of a red blanket and matching pillow with mussed sheets.
He looked up at a knock on the door and smiled.
"Hey, mamaci-I mean, Cal." Leo smiled sheepishly and brought a hand behind his head, rubbing the back of it in embarrassment.
Calypso raised an eyebrow coolly. "Nice save."
Leo grinned. "You know me- Leo-the-Last-Minute-Savior-and-All-Around-Hero."
Calypso smiled softly and motioned at the bed. "Can I sit down?"
Leo smirked. "You have to ask?"
Calypso crossed the short distance and sat on the one available corner of the bed. Her eyes ran over the sea of blankets, and she smoothed her hands down her thighs: a nervous tick she had picked up sitting in her high school classroom.
"Hey," Calypso looked up at Leo's voice. "Is everything alright?"
She nodded. "Emmie told me to tell you dinner's ready."
Why would she be nervous about telling me that? Leo frowned. "Is that all?"
Calypso said nothing. She stared down at her lap, her hand moving to pick at the blanket. Leo set the wires from his project on the desk and moved to the bed. He sat beside her, but she shifted away so their legs weren't touching.
"Cal. What's up? What's wrong?" Leo felt a cold hard knot form in his stomach as she looked up. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears and, he noticed for the first time, she was slightly shaking.
"We need to talk."
"Cal, what-"
She held up a hand. "Let me speak, Leo."
Leo shut his mouth and mimed locking it shut and throwing away the key. Calypso didn't smile.
What could be so important? Calypso looked like his old social worker- when she had come to take him back to the group home after the latest stint with a foster family. Leo breathed in quick, shallow breaths, preparing for the worst.
Calypso took a deep and steadying breath. "Leo, I-when I was stuck on Ogygia, I always hoped that someone would stay with me. I never thought-" Calypso choked back a sob and tears began to slowly track down her smooth cheeks. "I never dreamed anyone would care about me enough to get me off the island."
Leo drummed his hands against his legs, which jumped up and down with nervous energy. Just get it over with already. I get it. You don't love me anymore. It was only a matter of time, chica.
Cal's hands twisted together in her lap, and her voice dropped in volume. "I love you, Leo. And...and I'll always be grateful to you for helping me- for caring enough to help me." She looked up at Leo. Her eyes were filled with a resolute sadness, painful but determined. "And I know you care about me- you might even love me as much as I love you but-"
Calypso trailed off. Leo licked his lips and tried to speak through a suddenly dry throat. He needed to hear her say it. "But what, Calypso?"
"It's not enough. For either of us. If we had normal lives-if I hadn't been stuck on that island and if you had been treated with any sense of decency when you were growing up...do you think we would have ended up together?"
Calypso tore her gaze away from the son of Hephaestus. "I'll always love you, Leo. And maybe down the road, we'll find each other again. But," she squared her shoulders and nodded her head as if to convince herself. "But we both deserve to see what's out there. To see if we couldn't both be happier. To have someone we know truly loves us. That it isn't just some machination of the gods and unfortunate circumstances."
Leo's hands fell still and his leg stopped bouncing. There was a roaring in his ears that wasn't there before and his chest was tight. He felt sick. And there it is. Little Leo, the Repair Boy. Good for a joke and some quick wit. There when you need him to fix something. Not worth much else. Third wheel with Pipes and Jason. Seventh wheel, even, with the actual Seven. Spare parts.
An ugly laugh wrenched itself from Leo. "Right. So, you need to see if there's something better out there. You won't have to look hard."
Calypso's face twisted with misery. She shook her head vigorously, her caramel-colored braid swinging with the force. "That's not true, Leo! And that's not what I mean. It's just, we've been fighting so much and-I think some time apart would do us both good. I...I don't make you happy anymore, Leo." And when she looked at him again, Leo saw that Calypso meant what she said in the way her gaze softened, the way her eyes urged him to not hate her for too long once she walked away. "I want you to be happy...and I want to be happy too."
Leo sat unmoving on the bed. He felt quiet and numbing despair creeping up over his heart. It was like every time before. His Aunt Rosa was abandoning him all over again, convincing his family that Leo was "El Diablo" and screaming at the social workers to take him away, almost ravenous in her eagerness to be rid of him. He felt the blank chill of the foster families- the better ones, at least- who saw right through him and hadn't noticed for days (almost weeks) when he had run away in Houston. He saw the curling lips of his foster mother Teresa, who had been eager to keep him in her home, under her thumb: another pet to destroy and abuse.
And as the feelings swelled inside, the same despairing thought settled into his mind: Why doesn't anyone want me?
"Leo?" Calypso's voice was full of worry. She reached out a hand to touch the son of Hephaestus, but he shrugged away from her touch.
"Please just...just go. Okay?" He didn't need her pity.
"But Leo, I-"
"Look, I'm not- I'm not mad or anything. I would really like to be by myself just now. Alright? Please? I have a lot of work to do on the security system for Jo and Emmie." The words fell from his numb lips. And it wasn't exactly a lie- he did have a lot of work to do on the security system. He just wasn't going to touch it any time soon. Leo just needed the former goddess gone.
Calypso nodded after a moment and stood. She crossed to the door and looked back, adding quietly, "I'll ask Emmie to save you a plate." She lingered in the doorway, hesitantly looking back. "I'm sorry, Leo." Voice hitching on the last word, Calypso walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.
Several hours passed until Leo could stand the rumbling noises and gnawing hunger in his stomach no more. Moonlight cast a gentle glow throughout the Waystation as Leo cautiously stepped through his door.
Earlier, both Emmie and Josephine had stopped by, knocking on the door and asking in empathetic voices, "Are you okay? Would you like some dinner?"
They left after Leo had called cheerfully through the door, "I'm great! Just working on something that will blow your minds!" He threw down the mess of wires when he heard their footsteps retreating. The "project" was nothing more than an excuse to be left alone.
But now, the Waystation was asleep. Emmie and Jo had retreated to their room after tucking in Georgina. The rest of the inhabitants were in their rooms or out on patrol. Leo wasn't on until the next day. With Calypso.
He made his way toward the kitchen and grabbed the plate of cold veggie stir-fry and tempeh bread before making his way back up the stairs. He climbed past his room and up to the roof-top terrace that held the garden. Peaceful, quiet, and still: it was the one place Leo felt he could just think. Not work. Not pretend. Just be Leo and think.
The night air caressed Leo's face, the cool breeze sending pleasant shivers across his skin. The son of Hephaestus lost himself in the gentle crescendo of the night: crickets chirping in the fading summer heat, the far off sounds of cars driving, the breeze playing against the yellowing leaves of the fruit trees on the terrace.
So lost was Leo that he barely registered the sound of footsteps falling on the stairs. Whoever sought out the solitude of the roof-top garden was at the door and beginning to turn the handle when Leo finally noticed. Panicked that Calypso was behind the door (or any other number of possible well-wishers come to check up on him), Leo dove to the ground. Holding his empty plate and a fork, Leo army crawled until he was hidden behind large eggplant vines.
The door creaked open. Leo saw two pairs of feet cross the roof.
"Why couldn't he have just called us? Why send a letter in the first place? We haven't heard from camp since Apollo was here last." Emmie's voice floated on the air, concerned but steady.
The sound of a hose being turned on piqued Leo's interest. He slowly peered over the planters holding the eggplants and saw Emmie and Josephine standing near the edge of the building. Jo had the hose, a thumb partially obscuring the water so a fine mist poured out of the open end. Emmie shined a flashlight over the water, waiting for a pool to collect underneath so a rainbow could form.
"I don't know, Em." Jo shrugged as she spoke. "Maybe Chiron thought we'd refuse? It sounds like things can get a bit hairy with the kid and his emotions. It said in the letter that he's having a hard time controlling his powers at camp when he gets tired or upset." Jo motioned to the faint rainbow that had appeared. "Do you have the drachma?"
Emmie pulled a golden drachma from her linen pants pocket.
"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept our offering." Emmie tossed the drachma into the mist, and it disappeared. "Chiron, Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.14, Long Island, New York 11954."
The mist flickered with multiple colors before the centaur appeared.
"Ah! I was beginning to wonder when you would call. How are things at the Waystation? Have you given thought to my proposal?"
Emmie spoke up first. "We would be more than happy to help out, but you neglected to mention several things. How long will he be staying?"
"Undetermined. Mr. D said that he needs to be...away. Being here, currently, is holding up his therapy. It has been that way for several weeks since..." Chiron trailed off, the sentence hanging in the air uncomfortably, several words left unspoken.
"Since the events with Nero?" Jo's voice guessed. "That was more than a few weeks ago. He's still not doing better?"
There was a slight hesitation before Chiron spoke again. "Although what he did at the Tower was, indeed, stressful, there are more recent events that have led to camp no longer being an ideal setting for him at the moment. He has a habit of ruminating and Mr. D would like him to come to stay with you at the Waystation. He knows some of the inhabitants there and would not mind a visit from the Hunters. He is close with Reyna RamÃrez-Arellano."
"That's good." Emmie's quiet voice was warm. "But we're just a bit concerned about some of the things you mentioned in the letter. Will he be safe here? Will we be safe? From the sounds of it, he has a hard time controlling his emotions."
Chiron rubbed a hand over his weary face. "He has had a difficult time. After being at camp for over a year, he has gained excellent control of his powers and emotions. But, lately, he's been having trouble sleeping. With the prophecy hanging over his head and with what happened between him and-that is to say, a change of scenery and community might be nice."
"Well," Emmie's voice was warm. "We do have a few available beds. He is welcome to one of the private rooms-although, when the Hunters come to visit, he may have to bunk with one of the others for a short time. Jo? What do you think?"
"I think it's what we're here for. Besides, it will be another hand to help out. Especially since we're shaking up the patrols a bit." Jo shook her head and sighed. "I wasn't looking forward to putting Lit on patrol with Leo since Cal requested a change. Those two boys seem to have such a hard time getting along."
Calypso doesn't even want to patrol with me anymore? Leo frowned. Anything else I should be aware of?
"Alright," Chiron sounded tired. "It's settled then. I don't believe you should have a problem with him pitching in and helping out around the Waystation. He's resting right now, but Mr. di Angelo will join you tomorrow once he has recovered. I've already paid special fare to have the Gray Sisters drive him to the Waystation."
Whatever small talk followed the agreement, Leo didn't hear. Nico di Angelo, the self-proclaimed Ghost King, would be living with Leo for the foreseeable future.
Great. Just great.
A/N: Really hope you guys have enjoyed this first chapter! I'm excited to be writing something that's not *quite* as heavy as my other works (which you should feel free to check out). If you enjoyed it, please take the time to comment, like, subscribe, favorite, etc! Thanks!
