***I originally started writing this story after reading The Burning Maze for the first time, but finally went back and finished it more recently. Piper and Leo's friendship was one of the things I liked best in Heroes of Olympus, so I wanted to try to bring that to this story as they process the immediate aftermath of what happened to Jason. Warning for one or two uses of mild profanity (where it seemed to fit the characters and situation). As usual, all characters and flying automatons belong to Rick Riordan, I'm just borrowing them for a bit. Thanks for reading!***

PIPER:

As the plane carrying Apollo, Meg, and Jason taxied to the runway and prepared for takeoff, Piper drew a shaky breath and turned to Coach Hedge, Mellie, and Leo. She couldn't watch the plane take off. She couldn't watch him fly away. It was all she could do to keep her composure right now.

"You all set, McLean?" Coach Hedge asked, gruffly but kindly. Behind her, Piper caught the roar of jet engines revving for takeoff and her breath hitched.

Focus. "Actually, Coach, would you guys mind meeting my dad at the restaurant? Maybe pick up a box of donuts to go?" Piper glanced at Leo. "If you're serious about accompanying us to Oklahoma, can I hitch a ride with you and Festus, Repair Boy?"

The ghost of a smile flickered over Leo's face. "Fo-shizzle, Beauty Queen." His voice sounded flat and forced, like hers, but she appreciated the effort.

"Great." Piper scanned the directions they'd created by looking at an atlas, since Google maps, like every other type of technology right now, had gone haywire on them. "Why don't we meet back up with you guys in Needles, off route 40, just before the Arizona border? How long will it take you to drive there?"

"About four or five hours, I think," Mellie said, bouncing Baby Chuck on her hip. "Unless the Pinto breaks down."

"Not a chance," Hedge rumbled. "She's in perfect condition."

Leo coughed, but wisely didn't say anything.

"Great," Piper said again, wondering why she kept using that word when everything had never been less great. "Then we'll meet you there this evening."

"Look for the bronze dragon," Leo advised. "Hard to miss."

She half expected the coach to give them a hard time about being unsupervised or something, but Hedge took a long look at their faces and his expression softened. "Alright." Then, with a brave attempt at his usual manner, he added, "See you in Needles, cupcakes. If you're late, it'll be fifty push-ups." Mellie rolled her eyes, but patted both their cheeks, her hand soft as a gentle breeze, before heading to the car with the coach and Baby Chuck.

"Same old Coach," Leo said as the Hedges pulled away.

"Some things never change," Piper replied. Then the irony of her own words bounced back and hit her like a punch to the gut; she almost doubled over from the pain. To keep herself on her feet, she looked at Leo, whose eyes were still rimmed red and who had a melancholy look she'd never seen on his face before as he watched the Pinto turn the corner onto the road. "Gods, Leo. I can't believe you're here."

He blinked, then looked at her, as if the words took a moment to process. Then, he smiled sadly. "Yeah, me either. Couldn't wait to see you guys again. I just wish—" He gestured helplessly at the spot where the plane used to be.

Just like that, they both broke down again. Piper couldn't help it; she'd been holding it together as best she could over the last few days, since she'd fallen to pieces that night, but seeing Leo and Festus reminded her with piercing clarity of their first quest and of the days on the Argo II. Those might not have all exactly been fun, but there had been good times. And it made the pain and sense of loss a hundred times worse.

A warm metal nose nuzzling her arm helped Piper get a grip. Festus nudged her arm again, his head tilted to the side, studying her with those red jewel eyes that somehow looked concerned. Piper dabbed her eyes with her sleeve, then hugged the dragon's snout and placed a kiss on his metal nose. "I'll be okay," she told him, though at the moment it felt like a lie. "But it's good to see you, buddy."

Leo had also gotten somewhat of a grip on himself. He pulled a handful of tissues out of his tool belt and passed several to Piper, which she took gratefully, before blowing his own nose. "Shit, hermana. What do you say we get in the air before someone yells at us for blubbering on an active taxiway?"

Almost like old times. Leo sat in front, steering Festus over the sprawl of downtown Los Angeles. Piper sat behind him. And behind her…behind her was nothing but cold wind. She tried hard to block out the memory of leaning against Jason's warm chest as they flew through the night sky from Quebec City on their way to Chicago (with an unscheduled stopover in Detroit).

You broke up with him, said a snide voice in the back of her head.

That doesn't mean I didn't love him, she told it fiercely. And he was still one of my best friends.

"So, could you tell me again what happened? Maybe in more detail this time, since we've got a while." Leo's voice sounded shaky, but maybe that was just the wind. "Unless—sorry, Pipes, unless you don't want to talk about it, which is totally fine."

"No, it's okay," she said hurriedly. "You deserve to know. Actually, I want everyone to know." A hard edge entered her voice. "I want everyone to know what Caligula is. And that Jason—Jason was a hero. Right to—to the end."

As best she could, she told Leo exactly what had happened, starting with a couple weeks ago, when she and Jason had gone into the Burning Maze and he'd received the prophecy from the Oracle, who told him that either he or Piper would die if they faced the emperor.

"I didn't believe it, though," she said bitterly. "Not really. Usually something works out; there's almost always a way to survive."

"To quote Hazel," Leo said hoarsely, "'Not always.'"

Piper managed a laugh that was half sob. "Gods, I miss the Argo II days."

"Betcha never thought you'd say that. So, Jason gets this prophecy, but doesn't tell you what it's really about until you show up at his school with Apollo and Meg. Sounds like what he'd do, to try to protect you. Then what happened?"

So Piper continued, telling him about sneaking onto the emperor's bridge of yachts, being captured by and then defeating the pandai, then splitting up to search the ships, Jason and Meg going after the emperor, while she and Apollo went after the shoes.

"And that was the last time I saw him until after we were all captured and dragged in front of Emperor—" Piper called Caligula several unflattering names, but it didn't make her feel that much better. "And you know what's really stupid? I don't even remember what the last thing I said to him was. Probably something dumb, about the quest."

Leo glanced back over his shoulder. "What would you have said?"

"If I'd known?" Piper shrugged. "Probably something slightly more meaningful, like 'you're my best friend,' or 'I still love you,' but it doesn't matter now. Anyway, so we split up. We got the shoes. Then Apollo and Crest and I were captured by the stupid horse."

"Captured by a horse? And who's Crest?"

"Crest was a pandos, one of the emperor's bodyguards, but he betrayed Caligula to help us out. He—he died bravely, buying Apollo time by distracting Medea."

Leo turned around so fast he nearly fell off Festus, who banked sharply with the sudden jerk in his reins. After righting the dragon, and himself, Leo asked, "Medea?"

"Medea," Piper spat. "She was working for Caligula, too. He recruited her to do some spell where she could take the essence of Helios, the old sun god, and whatever divinity remains in Apollo's mortal form and use it to turn Caligula into the new sun god."

Leo's nose burst into flames, but the wind quickly blew it out. "Any idea where she is now?"

"Tartarus, hopefully," Piper said matter-of-factly. "Since I stabbed her in the back and some dryads dumped her in lava."

"Huh. Well that should do it."

"Yeah. Anyway," Piper shook her head, "back to—to that night."

Her memory got a little fuzzy after the stupid horse slammed her against the wall, but she remembered most of what happened once she woke up in the throne room. Even despite her injuries, she could remember Jason blowing up the venti, destroying the ship, then summoning Tempest and going sword on spear with the emperor. And, painfully clearly, she recalled Caligula spearing him in the back. That moment had given her instant flashbacks to Ithaca, but this time, she hadn't been able to help him. She hadn't been able to decapitate the emperor like she had Michael Varus. All she could do was watch Jason fall.

At that point, she couldn't continue. She just leaned forward, resting her forehead against the back of Leo's purple t-shirt. The same color as the one Jason had worn the first day she'd met him. The same color shirt he'd worn battling Enceladus and freeing Hera, when Piper had been able to use her voice to call him back from the dead. But that had been when the Doors of Death were open. This time, she didn't sob. But tears trickled down her cheeks and she couldn't seem to stop them. Not that she tried that hard.

Leo reached back and squeezed her shoulder, but he didn't say anything. She thought she heard a few sniffs, but with the wind in her ears, she couldn't be sure. It felt nice, though, to share the pain with someone who could understand it.

"How'd you get away?" he finally asked.

"Tempest," Piper croaked, still leaning against him. "Jason's final order. He told the ventus to get Apollo and me off the ship."

"Not Meg?"

"Crest flew her off."

"So how did," Leo cleared his throat, "how did you get the—the body?"

"Tempest again. I sent him back for Jason. I was so sure he would be alive, that we could heal him." Her voice broke again. "But when Tempest brought him back, to the beach under my house where we all were, it was too late. He was gone."

They flew in silence for a while longer after that. Behind them, the sun was beginning to set, turning the western sky into a riot of orange and red, like flames, which Piper was not in the mood for. But ahead of them, the eastern sky was a cool purple and blue, with the moon, a pale silver sliver, just rising, and a single star pinned to the sky.

More stars had appeared by the time Leo spoke again. "Hey, so, maybe none of my business, or I misheard, but did you say you would have told Jason you still loved him?"

Piper stiffened. Uh-oh. "Um, yes."

"Okay," Leo said carefully. Piper bit her lip. Why, oh why, was he choosing now to be perceptive? And how had she let that slip? Probably because it had been so nice talking to a friend, a real friend she'd known more than a few days. Talking to Leo was easy, even if she hadn't seen him in months. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"

"Not exactly." Piper sat up straight, wrapping her arms around herself. "We actually broke up. A couple months ago."

She half expected a reaction like when she'd revealed Medea was back, but luckily, this time Leo kept the dragon flying straight. He did twist around to look at her, eyebrows raised. "Seriously?" When she nodded, he said, "I can't believe Hazel didn't say anything."

"She doesn't know," Piper muttered. "Nobody knew. With the way communications have been messed up, I haven't had a chance to talk to her or Annabeth or any of our other demigod friends in weeks. The last time I saw them," she tilted her head, trying to remember, "must have been just after Christmas, when we all got together. And Jason and I were still together then."

"Makes sense. Dang, Cal and I just missed the Christmas party by a couple weeks." Leo did a good job trying to sound like his usual self, but when he looked at her, his face was full of concern. "What happened? I mean, not trying to make this harder, but I thought you guys were pretty head over heels."

Piper took a deep breath. It hurt, especially now, after what had happened, but she told him basically the same things she'd told Apollo, about how she'd been struggling after the war, trying to find her footing, find her identity, figure out who she was and what she wanted. Then she told him a few things she'd hadn't felt comfortable sharing with the former Olympian, but didn't mind telling one of her best friends. Finally, she finished up, saying, "Things were a little weird after we broke up, but we were still friends. I mean, he was still my best friend. And I still love him." She couldn't put that in the past tense because it wasn't past. Then, not sure why she felt so defensive, she added, "Just because I broke up with him doesn't mean I didn't love him. It doesn't mean I'm not devastated."

"I know, Pipes," Leo said quietly. "I know."

A sob bubbled up her throat. "And I thought—gods, this sounds arrogant—but I thought he'd be there. I mean, not like I thought he'd be sitting around pining for me or something stupid like that, but I just never pictured not having him in my life." Angrily, she wiped her tears away with the heel of her hand, then took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Leo. I shouldn't be putting this all on you, especially when you just found out. He was your best friend, too."

"Yeah. Gods, that past tense sucks."

"This all sucks."

"Got that right." Leo exhaled heavily. "But you don't have to apologize to me, Beauty Queen. This is what friends are for."

Impulsively, Piper leaned forward, hugging Leo from behind. He gripped her hand at his chest with his free hand, almost too tightly. His voice cracked as he said, "Damn. I just wish I'd gotten to see him one more time."

Piper pressed her face against Leo's shoulder, which was shaking. Festus gave a low, keening cry that echoed over the vast emptiness of the Mojave Desert below them.

They landed about half an hour later at a park in Needles, California. Piper was too tired and drained to worry about what mortals might think; besides, she had full trust in the Mist's ability to change their appearance into something mortals could process. She and Leo slid down from the dragon.

Leo stretched. His eyes were bloodshot and there were wet spots on the shoulder of his shirt courtesy of Piper's tears, but he managed to give her a smile. "Think the others are here yet?"

"Doubt it." Piper glanced at the large clock tower in the square. "It only took us about two hours to get here. Driving will take them almost five, so we've got a little time."

"Cool." Leo scanned the area, which contained several restaurants, their windows glowing with warm yellow light. "Want to grab some dinner?"

Piper didn't have much of an appetite, but since she'd only eaten a tiny bowl of oatmeal today, she figured she should probably force herself to have some food. "Sure. Your choice."

They ended up at a small tacqueria on a side street. Festus, who was probably bigger than the restaurant, had curled up for a nap in the town square. Piper hoped the Mist disguised him as an overlarge squirrel or something. Her veggie quesadilla smelled good, but the food tasted like sawdust to her and she had to really focus on chewing and swallowing. You need energy, she chided herself half-heartedly. You need to eat.

Leo, meanwhile, inhaled his carnitas tacos. He did pause before moving to taco three to say, "It's weird, isn't it, not having Jason here? Like, at dinner. It's throwing me off balance."

"Me too," Piper agreed. "It was always us."

"Us is my favorite people," Leo said with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Piper's heart twisted. At this point, it was practically wrung out. She took a deep breath and forced a smile. "What about Calypso?"

Leo's smile became a bit more real. "Okay, yeah, she makes the list too."

"Tell me about her."

"Are you sure?"

"That we could use a change of topic, just for a while? Yeah, I'm sure."

So Leo told her about his formerly immortal sorceress girlfriend. He talked about waking up after the fight with Gaea "feeling slightly char-broiled, which was a new one for me, but luckily Festus administered the physician's cure. Uh, sorry about tricking you guys, by the way. Especially you, Pipes."

"Yeah, you should be, you jerk," she said with no real heat, smacking him on the arm. "But I guess I forgive you."

"Gee, thanks." They shared a smile, then Leo continued. "Anyway, I made another spectacular landing on Ogygia. This time, Festus crashed and threw me off, so I literally fell at Calypso's feet."

"Oh my gods." Piper actually laughed. She couldn't help it.

"Yeah, I am super smooth." Leo explained how they left, then spent the next few weeks flying around trying to escape the Sea of Monsters. "At least, that's how long it felt like to us. But then, you know, we finally land at Camp Half-Blood, thanks to my little bro Harley and this amazing signal device he made that caught Festus's attention, and I learn it's freaking January. But apparently time flows differently in the Sea of Monsters. According to Percy, anyway."

Piper had been picking at her food again, but now her head jerked up. "You saw Percy?"

"Yeah." Leo's face darkened briefly, reminding Piper that Percy Jackson had also once been stranded on Ogygia. Her revelation must have shown on her face, because Leo's expression lightened and he shook his head. "We're cool. He and I and Calypso all talked and, uh, it's cool. I mean, a little bit awkward, but otherwise, all good."

"That's just a weird situation," Piper said sympathetically.

"Yeah," Leo said again. "But he apologized to Cal for not checking on whether the gods' kept their promise. And said he's glad we're happy. Pretty stand up guy."

"Did you see Annabeth too?" Piper really missed her friend. One of the hardest things about the communication issues had been not being able to talk to Annabeth.

But Leo shook his head. "Apparently she was in Boston. Some kind of family emergency. Percy was pretty vague, not sure he even knew exactly what was going on."

"I think she has a cousin and an uncle up there," Piper remembered. "I hope everything's okay. Of course, gosh, that would have been almost three months ago, right? Who knows what's happened since then."

"Dang, you're right," Leo said. "Hope they're still okay, and everyone else up there at camp. This not being able to communicate is a colossal pain."

"I've felt really isolated," Piper admitted. "Especially with everything happening with my dad. But I guess that's the point."

"Probably." Leo had finished his tacos and was taking his last bite of rice. "What's going on with that? I didn't really catch everything at the airport because…you know."

Piper gave up on the rest of her quesadilla. She took a deep breath, then dove into the explanation about her dad's financial troubles, which, thanks to Apollo, they now knew were being caused by the evil emperors. "It's been awful," she admitted, "mostly seeing what it's done to my dad. All these people he thought he could trust just completely betrayed him. He took it hard. But," she hesitated, then said truthfully, "I'm not mad to be leaving LA. I know it might seem crazy, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to going to Oklahoma. To just living a relatively normal life for a change."

"I get it," Leo said. "Hard to believe, but I'm excited to stay in Indiana and go to high school. Especially since Calypso will be there. And Emmie and Jo, who run the Waystation, are great. I feel like I'll be able to settle down for the first time since…gods, I don't even know. I mean, Camp Half-Blood was the first place I've felt like I belonged in forever, but it also felt temporary. We always had the quest hanging over us."

"I know what you mean. It never felt like a permanent home."

"Exactly." Leo fidgeted with his silverware. "For the first time since I lost my mom, I feel like I have a real home to go back to."

"That's great, Leo." Piper reached across the table to squeeze his arm. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks." Before he could say anything else, the waitress came to clear their plates and drop off the check. Leo tried to grab it, but Piper beat him to it.

"No way, Repair Boy. I've got this one."

"After you just told me all that?"

"I can afford dinner!" Piper said. "Besides, this is going on a corporate card that goes straight to my dad's old agent, who was in on the whole scheme. He deserves to pay for our meal."

Leo grinned. "Well, when you put it like that…"

After leaving a very generous tip for the waitress, Piper and Leo walked back across the street to the park where Festus was still curled up, snoring gently, thin lines of steam drifting up from his nostrils. The sun had completely set, so the sky was dark blue and sparkling with stars. Piper was reminded painfully of a night spent on the rooftop of Cabin One, curled up with the boy she'd loved.

The desert night air was cool, so she and Leo leaned against Festus, grateful for the dragon's ambient heat. They were quiet for a bit, but it was the comfortable silence between good friends. Piper figured they still had at least an hour before her dad and the Hedges arrived—assuming, of course, that they didn't have to make any unscheduled stops, courtesy of the coach's Pinto.

Finally, Leo said quietly, "Think they've made it there yet?"

Piper didn't have to ask what he meant. "Probably. It's only about an hour and a half flight. There should have been a…a hearse waiting for them at the airport. I called ahead to set that up."

Leo swallowed hard. "Do you think—should we have gone?"

Piper wrapped her arms around herself. She'd been wrestling with the same thought. "I don't know. I thought about it, but…I just couldn't. That probably makes me a selfish person and a horrible friend, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't watch—" she blinked rapidly, unable to finish the sentence. When she spoke again, her voice was barely audible. "I couldn't say good-bye to him again."

Leo kept his eyes fixed on the sky, but he nodded.

"Our friends are there," Piper added. "They'll take care of him."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," Leo said. "Hazel and Frank are there. Reyna, too. He won't be alone."

Just like that, tears boiled up in Piper's eyes and fell down her cheeks again. Beside her, Leo swiped his forearm across his eyes and sniffed. She reached out and took his hand. He squeezed her fingers, hard. They stayed like that for a long time, looking west, towards Camp Jupiter.

Eventually, Piper asked, "How are Hazel and Frank? And Reyna?"

"They're good," Leo said. He squeezed her hand again, then let go, instead lacing his fingers behind his head as he leaned against Festus. "I mean, the battle was rough. They lost a lot of good people. And it was messed up because there weren't…there weren't a lot of bodies to recover."

A chill ran down Piper's spine. "What do you mean?"

"The army was kind of made up of zombies."

"What?"

"That was pretty much my reaction." Leo went on to explain exactly what had happened at Camp Jupiter, and by the time he finished, Piper was floored.

"That's—that's horrible," she managed to say.

"It was," Leo said grimly. "Actually, it probably would have been worse, but our boy Zhang is a beast. Literally and figuratively. He pretty much single-handedly turned the tide of the battle." He gave her a brief overview of Frank's shape-shifting marathon and how he'd wiped out dozens of enemies on the banks of the Little Tiber.

"Wow," Piper said, suitably impressed.

"Definitely not the same guy who iguana'd his way out of the Chinese handcuffs." A grin flitted across Leo's face and Piper managed a weak laugh. "Hazel was pissed though. Told him he was taking too many risks."

Piper braced herself for the gut punch she knew her own words would cause her, then said, "She just doesn't want to lose him."

"Sure. They seem pretty happy together. Just comfortable, you know?"

"I'm glad," Piper said, and meant it. "How's Reyna?"

"Terrifying as always," Leo said. "She was fierce during the battle. Just destroyed those zombies. They all said to tell you hi, by the way."

That made her smile. "I miss them." Then her smile faded as she remembered that Caligula was sailing north to attack. She shared this with Leo. "I hope they'll be okay. That's another reason I wondered if I—if we should have gone with Apollo. But it also…I don't know, it's hard to explain, but this didn't feel like my fight. Not the way going into the Burning Maze did. Or the war with Gaea. Does that make sense?"

"Yes." Leo exhaled heavily. "I thought the same thing but…but I think it's okay to take ourselves out of some fights. Helping Apollo get to Indy and flying to warn Camp Jupiter of the attack just felt right. I knew that was mine to take on. But this next battle…I don't know. Coming with you, then heading home, that feels like what I need to do, what my responsibilities should be right now." He glanced at her sideways. "Percy turned Apollo down flat when he showed up."

Piper frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently, according to our buddy Lester, he went to Jackson's apartment when he first landed in New York as a mortal. Wanted to recruit him to help with these trials. Percy said no. Said he'd made promises to his family and he wasn't going on any more world-stomping quests. Something about how Annabeth would kill him, too."

Piper smiled. "That's probably true."

"Sounded right to me. Anyway, I figure if Percy gets to say 'thanks, but no thanks,' so do we. And he still drove Apollo and Meg to camp and helped fight the giant statue that tried to kill everyone, so it's not like he was totally out of the game. I got Apollo to Indianapolis and stole him a car. You've done more than enough for him the past few days. And Jason…" Leo's voice trailed off. He cleared his throat. "Reyna, Hazel, and Frank are going to kick some emperor ass. We all made a great team in Greece because we knew how to play our parts. You and I played our parts, Pipes. I don't think we have to feel bad about that."

"Wow, Leo." Piper nudged him with an elbow. "When did you get so wise?"

"I've always been wise, Beauty Queen. People just don't usually notice because they're so blinded by my dashing good looks."

Piper snorted, then laughed when Leo wiggled his eyebrows. For a moment, everything felt normal. She savored that moment.

It wasn't too much longer before her dad and the Hedges arrived. The Pinto was making some suspicious clinking noises, but the coach insisted it was fine. Mellie pursed her lips, but didn't say anything. Baby Chuck was strapped into his car seat in Piper's dad's SUV, sound asleep, a waterfall of drool dripping down his chubby chin. Her dad was friendly when he greeted Leo, though there were a few small worry lines on his forehead, as if he was trying to remember what else had happened the last time they met, when Piper had given her dad a potion that wiped out his traumatic memories of being kidnapped by the giant Enceladus.

They decided to ride the rest of the way to the hotel with Piper's dad in the SUV. Leo compressed Festus into suitcase mode and, with Coach Hedge's help, loaded the dragon into the trunk of the SUV. In the interest of space, Mellie relented and agreed to ride in the Pinto with her husband.

"Now that is true love," Leo said as he buckled his own seat belt. In the seat next to him, Baby Chuck was still sound asleep. Mellie had said he'd probably sleep the rest of the way, but told them to pull over if he got too fussy.

As she buckled herself into the front seat, Piper glanced at her dad and asked, "Are you okay to drive, Dad? I can take a turn."

Her dad shook his head and squeezed her shoulder. "I'm fine, honey, but thanks for asking. Driving gives me something to focus on."

Piper understood that. She nodded, then exchanged a tired smile with her dad as he started the SUV and they got back on the road, heading toward the moon rising in the east.

LEO:

Their hotel was decent. Leo had his choice of staying in a room with the Hedge family or Piper and her dad. He went with the second option. Not just because of the baby, who Mellie said tiredly still woke up several times a night, but also because he remembered from the Argo II exactly how loudly Coach Hedge snored, interspersed with occasional goat bleats.

Piper and her dad took the two queen size beds, while Leo claimed one of those roll-in cots, which he was more than happy with. "Beats a Chicago sewer, right?" he asked Piper while her dad was brushing his teeth in the bathroom.

She smiled at him. He still couldn't believe how different she looked; her hair was shorter and choppier, and her mouth was still bruised. He could see where her lip had been busted. Every time he thought about Caligula hitting her, Leo had to fight down the urge to light his fists on fire. Between that and Jason…well, Leo wouldn't mind watching the emperor burn. Her eyes were the same, though, especially when a glimmer broke through the grief as she said, "I don't know, even the sewer had its moments. The tofu tacos were pretty great."

"Those are my specialty," Leo said.

They looked at each other for a moment. Piper had her knees pulled up to her chest, resting her chin on them. Quietly, she said, "I'm glad you're here, Leo."

"Me too, Pipes."

Later, after the lights were out and Piper's breathing was deep and even, and her dad was snoring lightly, Leo was still lying in bed wide awake, hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. Finally, he gave up trying to sleep. Instead, as quietly as he could, he climbed out of bed, pulled his shoes back on, and slipped out the door.

He made his way to the hotel lobby, thinking he had seen—yes! In a small alcove off the lobby, there was a payphone. It had to be ancient, but Leo hoped it would still work. Communications might be down, but maybe the emperors weren't messing with technology this old. He fished a quarter out of his pocket, dropped it into the slot, and dialed the number Emmie had given him before he'd left Indianapolis.

"Please pick up…please pick up…please pick up," Leo muttered after every ring. Finally, on the fifth ring, when he was about to give up, someone answered.

"Hello?" A gruff voice, thick with sleep, said.

"Hey, Jo. It's Leo. Uh, sorry to wake you up."

"Don't worry about it. Everything okay?"

Leo tried to say yes, but the word stuck in his throat. Instead, he found himself saying, "Not really."

"Are you okay?" Jo asked, the urgency in her voice wiping out the sleep.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. And Camp Jupiter is okay, for now anyway. But, uh, when I got to Los Angeles, I got some bad news." He swallowed hard. "My best friend, Jason, he…he died."

It was the first time he'd actually had to say it out loud. The words hurt. Leo rested his head against the cool wall, eyes closed, clutching the old receiver. There was a long pause on the end of the line, then Jo said gently, "Leo, I'm so sorry."

"It was the emperors," Leo said, forcing the words out. "The third emperor, it's Caligula. Piper and Jason were helping Apollo and Meg retrieve something from the emperor's ships…I don't know, it's a really long story, but basically, there was a fight. Jason…he didn't make it out. Caligula," Leo practically spat the name, the way Piper had, "killed him. But Piper told me he died a hero. He helped make sure everyone else could get away."

Leo kept talking. It felt good to talk. Jo let him ramble on, occasionally asking questions or making comforting remarks. But mostly, she just listened. And finally, when Leo had talked himself out and gone quiet, she said, "Sounds like you've had a really rough few days. Where are you now?"

"I'm, uh, in Arizona somewhere. I think. With my friend Piper and her dad. And Coach Hedge, the satyr I told you guys about, and his wife Mellie and their baby. They're all on the way to Oklahoma. Moving there. Another long story. But I said I'd go with them. Should be just a couple days. Then I'm coming home." The word felt strange but wonderful to say, especially since he meant it.

"Well, we'll be here when you get back," Jo assured him. "Were you calling to talk to anyone in particular?"

"Not really," Leo admitted. "I mean, if Calypso was up…but if she's sleeping, I can talk to her later."

"Yeah, everyone's down right now. But I can have her call you in the morning, if you've got a number to give me."

"I don't know, I'm on a payphone, actually. Hold on." Leo checked and, sure enough, there was a number to call written on the front of the phone. He gave it to Jo. "If we can't catch each other in the morning, can you just tell her I'll talk to her when I get back? And, uh, I miss her and all that."

"Sure, Leo." Jo paused, then said, "And, hey, I know it might not feel like it right now, but you're going to be okay."

Leo felt choked up again. It was a feeling he was quickly getting tired of. But he managed to say, "Thanks, Jo."

They hung up shortly after that, but Leo's chest felt surprisingly lighter. It had been a very long time, he realized, since he'd just been able to talk to an adult like that and have them listen, really listen, to him. He hadn't realized until now just how much that was something he'd needed.

"Breaking curfew, Valdez?"

Leo jumped and cursed. He spun to find Coach Hedge standing in the alcove doorway, arms crossed. But the coach didn't actually sound mad. In fact, Leo noticed, once he mostly stopped having a heart attack, the coach's eyes were red-rimmed.

"Geez, Coach," Leo said. "How long have you been lurking there?"

"I'm not lurking," the coach said indignantly. "I got done putting Chuck back to bed, and I wanted a drink. Apparently the only soda machine is here in the lobby." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Then I heard you talking, so I figured I better see what's up."

"Just checking in with my peeps in Indianapolis." Leo managed a weak smile as he said, "Are you going to force me to tie a bell around my neck?"

Hedge snorted. "That was mostly for Jackson. Didn't want him trying to sneak around again."

"Got it." Leo refrained from saying that he'd heard, through the ship grapevine, that the trip to the stables had mostly been Annabeth's idea. Why throw his friends under the bus? Or satyr's hooves. "So did you get your soda?"

"Nah. Everything was sold out. Apparently someone forgot to restock it. Pathetic," the coach said, although his voice was too tired to sound very frustrated. He studied Leo for a moment then, in a surprisingly soft voice, asked, "How you doing, kid?"

Leo heaved a sigh. "Honestly, Coach? I've been better. And I think it still hasn't really sunk in, you know?" When the coach nodded, Leo ventured, "How are you doing, Coach?"

The old goat gave a huge sniff. "I won't lie to you, Valdez. This isn't easy. I've been a protector for a long time; I've lost a few half-bloods along the way. And it hurts every time. But you kids," he wrinkled his nose and sniffed again, "you kids are special. Even if I wasn't originally assigned to pick up Grace. But all you kids on that ship—yeah, this one hurts."

"You did a great job, though, Coach," Leo offered. "Kept us alive all the way to Greece. And that wasn't easy."

"You're darn right it wasn't," Coach Hedge barked, a little of his usual swagger coming back. His expression softened a fraction though when he said, "But that was my job. And I was proud to do it."

"Thanks, Coach." Leo reached out and squeezed the satyr's shoulder. "We're going to be okay."

When he crawled back into his roll-out bed a few minutes later, Leo felt like he'd been slammed over the head with exhaustion. He dropped off into a fortunately dreamless sleep.

He managed to catch Calypso in the morning and talk for a few minutes, which made him feel better. She told him to stay safe on the road, and that she'd see him when he came home. Leo liked the idea of having a home to get back to, at the end of this trip. But he was glad he'd come with Piper, the coach, and everyone else.

Since he'd been flying Festus pretty hard, especially over the past week, Leo opted to leave him resting in suitcase mode. He needed the dragon in top shape to get him back to Indiana. So he joined everyone in the cars. He and Piper even spent half a day driving the coach's Pinto, after Leo spent an hour tuning things up. Despite the cloud of grief still hovering over them, the trip was surprisingly enjoyable. It was nice to just hang out. He and Piper spent their drive in the Pinto telling stories, reminiscing about the quest to free Hera, the days on the Argo II, and even about the Wilderness School (from what genuine memories had eventually returned). And, of course, they talked about Jason.

They also had a brief run-in with some monsters outside a gas station in the middle of New Mexico. But between the two of them, it didn't take long to send the monsters straight back to Tartarus.

Leo grinned as he slipped a wrench back into his toolbelt. "Still a great team."

"Heck yeah." Piper sheathed her knife, then raised her hand for a high-five and Leo complied.

Saying good-bye, when they finally reached Oklahoma, was tough. Piper's dad had run to the grocery store, and the Hedges were still staying in a hotel up the road, so it was just the two of them, standing on the lawn in front of Grandpa Tom's house. Piper ran her palm over Festus's nose, then gave him a quick kiss. "Bye, Festus. Thanks for everything."

The dragon squeaked and nuzzled her neck, drawing a small smile from Piper. Then, she turned to Leo and kissed his cheek. "Take care of yourself. And Calypso."

"Will do. You've got to meet her. Come up and see us at the Waystation soon. You'll like it."

"I will," she promised. "Just as soon as my dad and I get settled in here."

"Awesome." Leo grinned, then his expression turned serious. "You're gonna be okay, hermana. Toughest beauty queen I ever met." He held out his arms and, with a half laugh and half sob, Piper stepped forward and hugged him, hard. Leo kissed her forehead. "I love ya, Pipes."

"Love you, too, Leo." She sniffled and held on for a few more seconds, then gave him a final squeeze and stepped back. "Let me know when you get back. If the call will go through."

"Definitely." Leo swallowed the lump out of his throat as he climbed onto Festus's back. He forced a smile. "We'll talk soon. And there's only a couple months until summer break, right? Plenty of time to visit then."

"Sounds perfect."

As Festus spiraled up into the darkening twilight sky, Leo caught a last view of Piper, looking up and waving. He waved back before Festus broke through a low cloud layer and the ground disappeared. Pain pierced his chest. But as Festus pointed his nose towards the northeast, in the direction of the Waystation, the hint of a smile tugged at Leo's lips. It felt good to finally be heading home.