Leo was bored. Like, really bored. Drifting between the groups of chatting demigods who were satisfied to spend their return trips to the states lying about was dull. Sure, Leo loved his little family, but he needed action, and gossiping simply didn't allow his busy mind to unwind the way that tinkering with a piece of work did. Unfortunately, he had nothing to do until the Argo II landed in New York. His ship was in perfect condition; the damage that it had suffered having already been repaired; and his two projects—rebuilding Festus' body and finding Calypso—required more room than the boat provided. So, he was stuck. Leo took this time to study his friends from where he was seated next to the starboard railing.

Jason and Piper had escaped to the crow's nest, now only their smiling faces visible from inside the basket, to do gods knew what. Piper's powerful charmspeak and her creativeness had finally allowed her to believe what everyone else already knew: that she was a valuable asset to their team and never a burden. Her wit, coupled with Jason's confidence in battle, made the pair a dangerous force to be reckoned with.

Leo sometimes imagined what it would be like if he were a son of Zeus or Jupiter; would he be as courageous and powerful as Thalia or Jason? In the end, however, Leo would never want to change to be just like them—he loved his skills, his quirky, quick mind, and had even accepted his faults. That didn't mean he couldn't admire his friends' attributes, though.

His eyes drifted to where Frank and Hazel had sprawled out on a blanket together, presumably cloud-watching, though to him it looked like Frank was more focused on Hazel-watching. Leo snorted a bit too loudly when he caught a glimpse of Frank's sick puppy-love face, but disguised it as a cough when said teen turned his gaze to give him a good-natured scowl. All was forgotten when Hazel noticed their little exchanged and bumped shoulders with Frank; just like that his attention was back to the girl beside him.

Leo could understand Frank's dopiness. Whenever Calypso crossed his mind he was sure the others could practically see cartoon hearts float around him. He missed her terribly and ached to speed up their journey back to Long Island, but had, out of politeness, slowed the Argo II down a few knots in consideration for Percy. He hoped that he would hurry to retrieve Annabeth's drachma so that they could get a move on.

Speaking of which…Leo noticed movement in his peripheral vision, and turned to see Annabeth emerging from below deck. She spotted him sitting beside the railing and made her way towards him. As she plopped down next to him, Leo noticed that her mouth was drawn into a tight frown.

"Hey," he said, trying to map her mood.

"Hi." Well, that wasn't helpful at all.

"Aquaman hasn't resurfaced yet?"

"Ah, no." Leo was happy to note that his little gibe had made her grin a bit, but it disappeared as quickly as it had manifested.

"It's a beautiful day," he rambled, trying to reassure her, "he must be taking his time to enjoy the weather. Or, rather, the water—t-the waves? The…fish? The—"

"Thanks, Leo," Annabeth interrupted, but now a genuine smile graced her face. She didn't elaborate, but Leo knew that she had guessed what he was trying to do.

"Anytime—hey, up for a board game? If I team up with everyone else we might actually have a chance of beating you." She laughed, and her eyes flashed in determination at the prospect of a challenge.

"Count me in." Leo got to his feet and reached down to help Annabeth up. As she grasped his hand, he happened to glance over the railing into the sea and spotted a head of black hair emerge from beneath the rippling water.

"Look, there he is now! I'm not sure how much help he'll be to our game team, so you can have him on yours." As she stood and peered over the railing as well, Leo congratulated himself on cheering her up, even if it was Percy's return that did the final trick. He was just turning to go scare Jason and Piper down from the crow's nest when Annabeth suddenly gave an outraged shout.

"Annabeth?" he question, alarmed by her outburst. "Annabeth, what's wrong?" She didn't answer, but instead merely pointed a shaky finger over the rail. Leo rushed back to her side to squint down into the water. What in the world…? There was Percy, but something was obviously wrong—instead of seeing him sporting a smug face holding up the lost drachma like he had suspected he would, the demigod appeared to be barely conscious, and blood was running down his scalp into his eye, obscuring his vision. Leo was also dimly aware of the fact that Percy was wet, which he found very concerning, considering the fact that he was a son of Poseidon and usually avoided getting soaked.

The sea rose around Percy as he weakly raised his arms in an attempt to propel himself onto the ship, but as Leo and Annabeth watched, the water to his left suddenly began to seethe. A giant, powerful spout abruptly shot upwards mere feet from Percy, causing him to lose his concentration. He crashed back down, submerging underneath the waves as the water from the spurt rained harmlessly down onto the deck.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, and if Leo saw that her eyes were shining with unshed tears he didn't comment on it. He knew that Percy and Annabeth were close, but he also understood that Tartarus had made them practically inseparable. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder; she glanced at him, and Leo was proud to glimpse the steely doggedness that he respected so much blazing in her fierce stormy eyes.

Percy soon resurfaced and looked up towards them on the deck, but his eyes were unfocused; it appeared as if he were looking right through them. The red on his face, which Leo assumed the water had washed away, was rolling down his face once again and showed no signs of slowing. Leo tried to ignore the way the water had begun to stir viciously a few hundred yards away from the ship and how it was clearly spreading closer.

"Listen," Annabeth practically whispered. Leo refocused his attention on Percy and noticed that his friend had cupped his hands around his mouth and was trying to say something to them.

"Did you hear what he said?" Leo asked Annabeth, hoping that her ears were better than his own.

"No," she murmured faintly, her face full of concentration and poorly concealed worry. She leaned farther over the railing and pointed to her ear while shaking her head, indicating to Percy that they couldn't hear him. He put his hands around his mouth once more, took a deep breath, and tried again.

"GET DOWN ON THE DECK!"

Two chapter revisions in two days—crazy, right? Thanks for the support:)