Sammy Leo time, ladies and germs! Maybe he's not the totally steady, totally superior and stoic Roman you all thought he would be?

Anyway, I'm tired, so if there's a mistake, maybe I'll see it in the morning when I wake up. For now, here's the new chapter!

I'll update Papi 2 asap, but I gotta finish that chapter without rushing it. In the meantime enjoy this and the Papi 1 Prequel stand-alone: Prologue Before the Prologue. /shameless plug

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize as canon. Kids/Teens are mine.


XI

SAMMY LEO

Sammy Leo Zhang tapped his fingers on the front rail of the ship. He tried so hard not to scowl as he thought of how Esperanza was spending time with Mark.

That stupid Greek was muscling in on his girl!

Okay, well, Espie wasn't really his girl. She wasn't anyone's girl, to be honest…except Leo's. She was definitely Mr. Valdez's little girl, and no one in the world would dare argue that point.

Sammy sighed. He knew he shouldn't be so possessive of Espie. Gods knew she wouldn't appreciate it, since she could definitely handle herself. But Sammy had been feeling things for the fire user since their first summer at Camp Half-Blood together. So seeing another guy chase after her kinda made him feel like he needed to let his inner-Mars out.

Every time he thought about Esperanza Valdez, his heart did a loop-di-loop. He wanted to confess his love for her so badly but every time he tried, he'd feel awkward and blurt something else out.

Prime example:

A few weeks back, Sammy had been determined to go right up to Espie and ask her out. When she had turned toward him, he looked into her chocolate brown eyes, got lost in them, and dreamily thought about what it would be like to kiss her. When she had finally gotten his attention again, he lost all sense and forgot his personal mission. He had blurted out some random fact about Hermes and his sacred turtle then ran away.

Crash and burn.

Sammy wished he didn't have so much of his father in him. He was extremely awkward when it came to girls—especially Espie.

He sighed and slipped his fingers through his mini afro—something he had managed to keep in light of the Legion's hair regulations. He argued that if females could have their hair the way they wanted it without it getting caught on things (usually), then so could males. The Senate didn't really like the idea, but he was going to keep his 'fro no matter what.

Icarus, the masthead for the Argo II, turned his head and looked at Sammy with intense sapphire eyes. Sammy tried hard not to shrink under that gaze. That thing freaked Sammy out for some reason. Icarus seemed friendly, like Festus, but there was just something about that bronze and gold dragon head that made Sammy feel tiny.

"What?" Sammy asked.

"What are you sighing about?"

Sammy Leo just about jumped out of his skin. He didn't expect an actual answer!

A chuckle sounded from behind him. Sammy turned and saw Tulio standing with a cheeky impish smile, chuckling softly at Sammy's expense.

The legacy of Mars scoffed. "Don't scare me like that, Tulio," he warned.

"It's rare to find you with your guard down," the demititan said with a shrug. "At least I didn't prank you. My dad might've done that. Espie, too."

Sammy looked away at the mention of Tulio's sister.

Tulio, being the smart-ass that he was, correctly assessed the situation. "Oh," he said. "Is this about Espie and Mark?"

Sammy let his head hang as he leaned against the railing. He felt Tulio's hand pat him on the back.

"You know Espie," he said. "She wants in on some action all the time. I mean fighting-wise, not…dating-wise."

"She didn't have to go with Mark," Sammy grumbled.

Tulio didn't answer to that. His hand disappeared. Sammy looked over and saw Tulio lean his back up against the railing with his elbows propping him up.

Tulio sighed. "Whatever happens, man," he said. "Just know that it's not gonna happen with you sitting on the sidelines. Espie hasn't given me any hints about her love life yet, but Mark sure as Hades has. The past few days he's been oogling over her privately and I'm feeling it even from the engine room. With his feelings combined with yours, you guys are giving me a stomachache."

Sammy blushed.

"Point is," Tulio continued. "You can't sit around and wait forever. Mark has Aphrodite blood in him. If he loves something—real or not—he's gonna go for it. You gotta take an initiative, bro."

"If I didn't know any better," Sammy said, looking up at Tulio, "I'd say you wanted your sister to go out with me."

Tulio smiled. "You're a great guy, Sammy. Maybe I'm being a little biased, but you'd make a better match for Espie than Mark."

"Biased how?"

The demititan shrugged. "You're my best friend. Mark's just a friend. I want what's best for my sister and you fit the bill."

Sammy smiled sadly. "But you can't decide for her. She'd kill you if you tried."

Tulio nodded. "Which is why I shall repeat my previous statement: Don't sit and wait for her to come to you. Show some of that Roman initiative, go right up to her, look her in the eye and tell her exactly how you feel!"

Sammy shrugged and let his head hang again. "I can't believe I'm taking love advice from a guy who handles non-humans all day…"

Tulio huffed. "'Scuse me for tryin' to be a good friend. You want I should get my dad? He's worse than I am at talking to girls that aren't Piper, Hazel, Annabeth or my mom."

Sammy laughed. "Point taken. But still…"

"…still I've gotta be the better choice," Tulio finished. "The only one on board with any possible good love advice just happens to be Espie's other suitor…"

The legacy of Mars groaned. "Don't say that…I'm up against a legacy of the love goddess herself in a contest of love…I'm gonna lose…"

Tulio patted him on the back. "You're a legacy of Mars. Mars/Ares kids don't back down from a challenge, right? Romans don't show fear in the face of battle, right?"

Sammy nodded. "Right on both counts."

"Then swallow that lump in your throat and confess to Espie when she gets back on board. Do it in front of Mark and show him who's boss!"

Sammy shook his head, deciding not to respond to that motivational speech. He looked over at Leo, who was currently checking one of the controls at the helm. The son of Hephaestus glanced at them. Sammy wasn't sure the man could hear their conversation, but he seemed to nod in understanding.

Icarus suddenly whirred his rotating teeth and faced the front again. Tulio perked up and looked over the figurehead.

"Get ready, big guy," he coaxed. "Cause here they come."

Sammy sighed and braced himself. He stood up straight and put on a happy face.

Mark was in the lead, holding onto the next key (which Sammy Leo couldn't see since it was still too far away). Espie followed at a slower pace, holding back a giggle. Annabeth took up the rear, helping an exhausted-looking Jason hobble towards the Argo II.

Mark pretty much ran up the gangplank and tossed the key to Leo as he passed the helm. "Give that to Sammy," he said quickly, running away to get back to the lower deck. Sammy tried not to laugh at the dark stain that was present on the legacy of Jupiter's pants.

Tulio and Sammy made their way over to Leo as Espie arrived. Tulio nudged Sammy, but the legacy of Mars shook his head.

"The key comes first," he stated. "I'll talk to Espie in a bit."

Tulio nodded and didn't press further.

Leo was holding up the key. From what Sammy could tell, it was shaped like a fist at the end. Which could only mean…

"Dad…" he muttered. "That's my dad's key! Give it here!"

The crew had figured out pretty quick that the legacies of the key owners were the ones that could activate the keys themselves. Espie (as an external fire-user legacy of Hephaestus) activated Leo's key, Bobby (as Athena's natural descendant) activated Annabeth's, and Mark (the only grandson of Jupiter) activated Jason's. It was a simple, obvious pattern.

If anyone could activate Frank's key, it would be Sammy, the legacy of Mars blessed by the god of war himself.

So why was it, that when Leo tossed Frank's key to Sammy Leo...

…the key did not hover and a clue did not appear?


A/N: Hm...how interesting.

Saspie: 9

Espark: 9

All tied up. I even got one for Boblio/Tulibob, for some strange reason xD No, there won't be any of that. Bobby and Tulio are just friends and will stay that way. I've kinda-sorta got a romance plan for Tulio, but I wanna toss ideas around in my head before I finalize it.

Anyway, got some protective Sammy going on here. And a somehow romantically-knowledgeable Tulio :D He may not experience love, but he sure as Hades knows what it feels like to other people!