Have I ever mentioned that I wish I had a friend like Grover 'cause I do. Also- Luke is a good big brother but not infallible and my most recent chapter I wrote shows that- though to be fair all of these guys need serious help so I mean, judging him wouldn't be super fair.
Anyway, onto this chapter, I hope you all enjoy, Leo and Calypso have a necessary talk- I mean, she's gotta be feeling pretty scared at this stage. And next chapter has a much more light hearted scene that I loved- in which Leo saves Jason's poor brain and Piper just finds the whole thing pretty funny.
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Undeath9087: Oh I know it does- all of them have issues- some just have a lot more than others. As for why I decided to do it- I'll be honest, as much as this ship is endgame it would be unrealistic in my eyes for them not to have some issues- because the level of trauma here is insanely high and I think it's necessary for growth at this point because one side of the relationship is trying to have things stay as they were, and the other is just not coping with the situation and understandably decides that things would be better if they ended it- and I am being as vague as I can to try and avoid people figuring out what relationship it is. And I'm currently writing the MOA plotline, which is when the break up happens, so make of that what you will I would love to hear your theories.

Leo was in pain, there was no other way to describe it. He felt like he'd been hit by a bus- well, in his defence he had been hit by a giant so that was probably the same. And the weirdest thing was the fact that he could feel his bones healing- he was pretty sure that a lot of them would have shattered on impact.
Honestly he was probably lucky that it hadn't killed him- but he could taste nectar and something else- something sweet and familiar- he remembered the drink Calypso had given him when she'd cared for him after the whole volcano disaster, and when he opened his eyes it was like a serious case of deja vu because she was leaning over him just as she had over a year earlier, her hand gently stroking his cheek, and there were tear streaks on her cheeks.
He lifted his hand, wincing as he tried to fight through the pain of movement and pressed his hand to her cheek. "My cielo." he whispered the words, "You crying over me?"

"No." Calypso let out a teary huff, wiping her eyes quickly and shaking her head. "No you dumbo. I was considering how hard I'm going to hit you for scaring me once you're all healed up-"

"My type of girl." Leo let out a dreamy sigh as Calypso helped him sit up.

He grinned slightly when he saw his friends, who looked battered and drained, but alive, so very alive.

Piper gave him a grin, "You really are the great Flameo huh?"

"Oh yeah, I'm badass, but I mean, Jason's just as cool-"

"Yeah, remind me to never do that again." Jason let out a shaky laugh, "Still, Enceladus is dead so that's a win."

"We took that guy out with a boom pow-" Coach Hedge made kicking and punching motions and Leo laughed- which wasn't good because it made his ribs hurt and he winced.

"So what now?" Leo asked as he slowly stood up, Calypso sliding her arm under his arms to help him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder- the pain had gone from white hot agony to red hot- still bad, but he could fight through it."

The others didn't answer because then across the clearly Tristan McLean stood up and staggered forward. His eyes were hollow, shell-shocked, like someone who'd just walked through a nuclear wasteland.

"Piper?" he called. His voice cracked. "Pipes, what—what is—"

He couldn't complete the thought. Piper pulled away from Jason and ran over to him and hugged him tightly, but he almost didn't seem to know her.
And Leo knew looking at the man that he wasn't all there- he could see it in the mans eyes. He had too many memories, too much trauma his mind just couldn't handle. He was coming apart.

"We need to get him out of here," Jason said.

"Yeah, but how?" Leo asled. "He's in no shape to walk, and if we're being honest neither am I."

Jason looked up at the sky before he looked at Leo again, "I know you're hurt, but can you make a bull horn or something? I think Piper has some talking to do."

"Well that," Leo declared, a smile spreading across his lips, "Is just childsplay sparky." and it took him less then five minutes to whip one up using things from his tool belt- and within another ten minutes they had one of the helicopter's on the ground- a park service one, it was big enough for medical evacuations or search and rescue, and when Piper told the very nice ranger pilot lady that it would be a great idea to fly them to the Oakland Airport, she readily agreed.
The problem came in the form of Piper's dad.

"No," her dad muttered, as they picked him up off the ground. "Piper, what—there were monsters—there were monsters—"

She needed both Calypso and Jason's help to hold him, while Coach Hedge gathered their supplies. Leo was still in too much pain to do more than stand and watch. Fortunately Hedge had put his pants and shoes back on, so they didn't need to explain his legs- though Leo was pretty sure the Mist would have dealt with that anyway.

Leo could see how much pain Piper was in, seeing her dad like that, pushed beyond the breaking point, crying like a little boy. Leo didn't know what the giant had done to him exactly, how the monsters had shattered his spirit, but he was pretty sure it must have been real bad- it'd probably be for the best if they never found out.

And Piper did her best to sooth him "It'll be okay, Dad," and Leo could hear the charmspeak, hear the power in her voice, and he could see the tears in her eyes at the fact she was using it on her own father. "These people are my friends. We're going to help you. You're safe now. "

He blinked, and looked up at helicopter rotors. "Blades. They had a machine with so many blades. They had six arms …"
When they got him to the bay doors, the pilot came over to help, which gave Calypso the chance to duck away and grab Leo "What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"Smoke inhalation," Jason suggested. "Or heat exhaustion. "

"We should get him to a hospital," the pilot said. "It's okay," Piper said. "The airport is good. "

"Yeah, the airport is good," the pilot agreed immediately. Then she frowned, as if uncertain why she'd changed her mind. "Isn't he Tristan McLean, the movie
star?"

"No," Piper said. "He only looks like him. Forget it."

"Yeah," the pilot said. "Only looks like him. I—" She blinked, confused. "I forgot what I was saying. Let's get going." She paused, spotting how Calypso was half carrying Leo, "Is your friend-"

"I'm fine." Leo gave a fake jaunty grin, "I just fell over and I'm a bit bruised, nothing too bad."

"You don't look good- your skins very red-"

"He's fine." Piper's voice was firm. "He just has some sunburn."

And that seemed to do the job. And Leo was very glad for that because soon they were in the helicopter and Leo was able to sit down again- the pain was still easing, his body still healing- whatever Calypso had given him was doing a hell of a good job.

In any case Leo was very relieved to be in the air again as the helicopter took off, Calypso sitting next to him and grabbing his hand tightly, squeezing it as she rested her head on his shoulder, clearly very grateful for the fact that he was alive- he was well aware that the fall and impact could have killed him.
The pilot kept getting questions over her radio, asking her where she was going, but she ignored them. They veered away from the burning mountain and headed toward the Berkeley Hills.

"Piper. " Leo's gaze shifted to his friend as her dad grasped her hand and held on like he was afraid he'd fall. "It's you? They told me—they told me you would die. They said … horrible things would happen. "

"It's me, Dad." and gods but Piper looked like she was going to cry. "Everything's going to be okay."

"They were monsters," he said. "Real monsters. Earth spirits, right out of Grandpa Tom's stories—and the Earth Mother was angry with me. And the giant, Tsul'kälû, breathing fire—" He focused on Piper again, his eyes like broken glass, reflecting a crazy kind of light. "They said you were a demigod. Your mother was…"

"Aphrodite," Piper said. "Goddess of love. "

"I—I—" He took a shaky breath, then seemed to forget how to exhale.

Leo looked away after that- and he was glad to see that Jason wasn't watching either- he was gazing out of the door and starting down at the valley below.
Coach Hedge was chewing on the stub of his carnation, and for once the satyr didn't look in the mood to yell or boast.

Leo let out a slow breath, meeting his girlfriends eyes, and Calypso shifted, and they rested their foreheads against each others, Leo tangling their fingers together and raising their hands so that he could press his lips to his girlfriends knuckles.

"I love you."

"I love you too my heart and soul."

"I'm glad you came after us." Leo whispered the words. "I needed you. I really did. Even if I didn't realise how much, I needed you."

"And I needed you." Calypso stated firmly, "Hera stole you from me for a month, I couldn't bare the thought of possibly not seeing you again ever again after such a short reunion and mortal lives- they're so... they're so fragile."

"I-"

"It scares me at times." Calypso admitted, "It is worth it, to be with you. Of course it is but it scares me. Knowing that I could lose you-"

"I don't plan on leaving you." Leo's voice was soft and reassuring, "Gods Cal I could never do that. I will always do whatever it takes to come back to you."

"Your sister probably thought much the same-" and Leo flinched, blinking back tears.

"I think Percy accepted her death a long time before she died. I think she knew it was going to happen and she came to terms with it." his voice was incredibly soft, "She knew before she even went up there that she was going to die and she was ready. I'm not, okay? I'll fight every step of the way."

"I'll hold you to that."

"I'd expect nothing less." Leo pressed his lips to Calypso's cheek as they lapsed into a comfortable quiet, and Leo tried to block out Piper's hushed conversation with her dad as she tried to sooth him- Leo knew nothing she could do would help him that much. Not at this stage. Some people just couldn't handle the truth. It was sad but true- Leo knew how lucky he was. His mother had known the truth- and his mom and stepdad also both knew the truth.

They stayed like that, Calypso and Leo clinging to each other, right up until Jason tensed as they passed the hills into the East Bay. He leaned so far out of the doorway that for a moment Leo was afraid he'd fall.

He pointed. "What is that?"

Leo shifted, leaning over so that he could look down, but he didn't see anything interesting—just hills, woods, houses, little roads snaking through the canyons. A highway cut through a tunnel in the hills, connecting the East Bay with the inland towns.

"Where?" Piper asked, following Jason's gaze too.

"That road," he said. "The one that goes through the hills. "

Piper picked up the com helmet the pilot had given her and relayed the question over the radio. The answer wasn't very exciting.

"She says it's Highway 24," Piper reported. "That's the Caldecott Tunnel. Why?"

Jason stared intently at the tunnel entrance, but he said nothing. It disappeared from view as they flew over downtown Oakland, but Jason still stared into the distance, his expression almost as unsettled as Piper's dad's.

"Monsters," her dad said, a tear tracing his cheek. "I live in a world of monsters."

Leo winced, meeting Piper's pained gaze- gods but he felt sorry for her right now. It couldn't be nice realising that half of your whole world couldn't handle the other half- he'd heard other demigods talking about it- he knew Wills mom struggled these days- she'd never fully understood it until he'd come home with scars on his face, scars that no matter how faded they'd become over the years would never go away.

And he knew that Lou Ellens dad didn't even know that his daughter was a demigod. So as much as Leo wished he could figure out what to say, as much as he wished he could somehow fix it all for Piper, he knew it would never be that easy.

"You'll be okay."