Leo scrambled after Percy frantically. The older boy was always so confident and perfect, not to mention taller. Every step Percy took, Leo had to take two. So, the repair boy was lagging behind.

"Come on," Percy urged Leo, swinging open the heavy door to the engine room, "I'm just here to keep you safe, I can't do any of the machine stuff."

"I'm trying, okay!?" Leo snapped, racing into the room and pulling tools out of his belt at lightning speeds. He began to mumble to himself as he figured out what the problem was.

"So?" asked Percy with uncertainty.

"Shaking the ship broke the intake manifold, I'm gonna have to take this whole thing apart to get it to it, and we don't have any spare manifolds to replace it. I'd build my own, but even if I got a full night's rest and was at my best, we don't have enough time if we want to keep the ship from making a crash landing."

Leo couldn't even begin to imagine what a crash would mean. The Argo II would be able to take the hit without being completely destroyed, but all their gear inside would likely be thrown everywhere and be lost or broken. Even worse if someone was still on the ship when it crashed… well that would be bad.

"What can I do?" Percy inquired, wanting to be helpful, but also a little panicked.

"I don't know."

"What?"

Leo bit his lip as he sank to the floor. "I don't know everything! There's no way we can get an intake manifold built before we're grounded. Since everyone's on the deck fighting, I can't land either, or they'll get thrown off. I should've just had more security for the ship. I should've known something would attack and damage the engine. It's too easy to break it. I-"

He cut himself off before he could confess to Percy how he really felt.

Like his heart was breaking, but it had been slowly ripping apart for so long, it was numb. He was just the Seventh Wheel. His brain was flooded with the vivid images of his mother dying in that fire. All the abuse he faced before running away from his foster homes because he couldn't take any more. Aunt Rosa was probably right about him after all.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be telling you how hopeless everything is after what you've been through with Tartaurus. I shouldn't complain."

Leo steadied his breathing and ducked his head between his knees, avoiding eye contact with his friend. Silently he tapped his fingers against his knees like they were piano keys.

"Woah," Percy said, wracking his brain as he tried to think of how to respond. Leo obviously needed a therapist friend sort of conversation, but was now the best time? They were kind of in a life-or-death situation. "Um, you alright, man?"

"Yeah," Leo sighed, his voice slightly muffled, "I'm fine."

"First off," Percy sat down and leaned against the wall opposite Leo. The room was tight, it was just the big engine then the door, but the two fit, considering how small the latino was. "I don't want your sympathy. About Tartaurus. I don't want to think about it, so you don't have to think about it. And I take it you don't want my sympathy either."

Leo blinked out an annoying teardrop that refused to leave his eyes, a surprised expression on his face. "What?" He lifted his head and lifted a hand to brush his dark hair out of his face.

"Look, I know you've had a rough time too. But you're tough like me. We can both joke things off."

"I guess," admitted Leo.

"I got kicked out of a lot of places too. So we've got that in common as well."

"You weren't kicked out of a family," Leo muttered, regretting it instantly.

"Not exactly. Paul's just my step-dad, you know? But I had a step-dad before him. Gabe wasn't much of a dad."

"I had padres like that."

"I've still got a couple of scars from what he did when I was younger."

"Oh." Leo said, realizing that Percy wasn't just talking about a lame father figure. Percy had the exact same thing happen to him that Leo knew all too well. "I had dads like that too."

Percy gave him a tight smile. "See? We're both tough."

He grunted as he changed his sitting position and continued. "Second, this is not your fault. You've saved our butts countless times. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you and your building skills for the Argo II. Nobody can blame you for the one time something goes wrong. It's okay if you don't know what to do. None of us know what to do!"

Percy paused and thought for a second. "Except Annabeth. She's bossy and smart."

Leo let a small laugh escape. Percy was actually a pretty cool guy to have a conversation with. Normally, Leo was too busy thinking about how battle-hardened and epic he was to realize Percy was still a kid like everyone else on board.

"Things have been hard for you lately. But you need to stop being hard on yourself. It'll make the whole 'save the world quest' thing a lot easier. Trust me."

"Voy a tratar. [I'll try.]" Leo mumbled, doing his best to believe the guy.

"So, what can we do, if we can't fix the ship?"

Leo let out a deep breath and got on his knees. "Steer into a safer crash landing. Get off the ship before we're caught in the crash. Defeat Gaea eventually. Demigoddy stuff."

Percy grinned. "Now that I know how to do."


I don't have enough braincells today to write an actual Author's Note, so I hope y'all enjoyed it and thanks. As usual, please review if you have the time. -Apollo