Leo knew that when you walked on on someone cutting their wrists you should try to stop them. You definitely should not turn around and walk the way you came. But that's what he had done when he had seen Nico, alone in his room.
Leo's brain had just shut down. He couldn't remember turning away but a few minutes later he had found himself climbing up the stairs back to Hazel and his friends. He had stopped, the realisation of what he had seen hitting him. He had swore and punched the wall in frustration. He had to go back and talk to Nico. Leo whose main method of communication was humour, who preferred machines and computers to most people knew it was his responsibility to go back and help Nico.
So he had, rather ineffectually he had to admit. Leo had been grateful when he walked back in to see Nico lying on the bed, no longer slitting his wrists. He hadn't mentioned what he had seen and he didn't think Nico knew. He hadn't asked what Nico's problem with Percy was; it was none of his business and if Hazel didn't know then he doubted Nico was very ready to talk about it. Percy had refused to say anything about it and apart from a few curious glances no one had pushed it.
But Nico had been as cold as ever, obviously hiding something from Leo. But he had seemed stable enough so Leo had left him. And that had brought up even more bad memories than before. He couldn't help but be reminded of Calypso but of course her and Nico where amazingly different. Still, the reminder was painful enough, small as it was.
But he had done what he had always done. Kept walking, kept on smiling.
He had been smiling when he got back to the group, most of them chatting together. Percy sat silently frowning, holding Annabeth's hand. Occasionally she squeezed his hand and looked concernedly at him but he only smiled sadly back.
He had sat down and laughed with them, trying to forget about Nico and what he had seen. When Hazel had quietly asked him how Nico had been he had lied and said fine. She had looked doubtful but Frank had passed her a drink and she smiled fondly at him, completely forgetting about Leo. He had been okay with that, he was used to it.
Then everyone in the lounge had been herded into the freezing dining room and served the meal. It was supposed to be a sort of curry but it was about as spicy as a wet dog in Leo's opinion. The best thing about the cruise was the Argo itself. The ship was like a giant beast with the passengers crawling inside it. Leo had always felt a connection to machines in a way that no one else did, almost understanding machines more than people. They were much more logical and didn't do anything stupid or cruel.
The plates had been cleared by the quiet, barely noticeable kitchen staff. Leo found it funny how most people ignored the staff, as if they were invisible - unless they made mistakes. The other night one poor guy had dropped a plate of soup, causing some of it to splash onto Drew T, one of the many evil brats on the ship. She had thrown a massive tantrum, yelling that the server had ruined her Gucci bag. She had only stopped when Piper, who Drew had hated since Jason had gone out with her, walked over and poured water on the girls head giving the shocked server a chance to escape. It had been a pretty funny moment; especially as Piper had coldly said, "Maybe this will help to wash out the stain" just before pouring the glass onto Drew's carefully styled hair.
Just remembering the incident made Leo chuckle but it had made Drew a very angry enemy of Piper and her friends. It was lucky that Drew was as stupid as she was spoiled, which was very. She tried unsuccessfully to get back at Piper but she didn't have the brain space to do more than critize Pipers worn ski jacket. And seeing as Piper didn't care at all about fashion and was dating the guy Drew liked she could not care less. Anyway they had bigger things to worry about. Percy and Annabeth had gotten in a fight with a boy called Kronos who, along with his sister Gaia, had decided that they were going to personally get back and ruin Percy and his friends lives. Gaia also particularly hated Leo as he had "accidentally" set her bag on fire after she had tried to hit Hazel.
Gaia and Kronos were as cruel as they were ugly, also a very, but they were also quite smart. They also had a loyal army of dumb but brawny followers, nicknamed the Monsters, had been easily convinced that Percy and his friends were their new punch bags. All in all, it was pretty much war between the two groups. A bunch of the monsters had beaten up Grover so Leo had rigged the coms system in their rooms to randomly play Justin Bieber in the middle of the night. In return they had chased down Leo and Tyson (who only got away due to their expert knowledge of the ship and it's engines) but then found all their clothes in the swimming pool, courtesy of Percy.
Neither side told Chiron or Mellie and definitely not Coach Hedge who was still in the habit of carrying a baseball bat round the ship. His megaphone had been discarded after a trick of Leo's had caused it to make his voice sound like he had inhailed helium every time he used it. Permanently. Leo had been in massive trouble about that one but it was worth it to see Coach Hedges face turn bright red as his squeaky voice yelled angry orders out of the megaphone.
After dinner the group had dispersed, back to their rooms. Leo wasn't suprised to find that Nico was not there. As he began to make his way to Percy and Jason's room where he usually spent his evenings messing around with a bunch of scraps while chatting with Percy, Frank and Jason. Sometimes Annabeth, Piper and Hazel turned up. It was fun and less lonely than sitting alone in his room.
But tonight as he was about to knock on the door of their room he heard angry voices coming from round the corner of the corridor. Maybe it was his ADHD or maybe Leo just had a natural instinct to throw himself into whatever trouble he could find; a sort of death wish if you will. Whatever it was Leo had a natural instinct to throw himself into whatever trouble he could find. He stuck his head round the corner and saw Zethes and Cal standing over something. No, someone.
Zethes was a spotty pervert who flirted with anything female that moved, especially Piper much to her disgust and annoyance, and his brother Calais who was too stupid to say anything with more than two syllables including his own name. Literally, he couldn't say his name and instead called himself Cal. Leo felt a bit sorry for the guy as he wasn't really violent just dumb and loyal. But Zethes was a slimy git and Leo guessed he was probably beating some poor kid up as per usual. Only the other Percy had dived into the pool to pull out a quiet girl called Echo who had been shoved in by the pair and couldn't swim very well. Leo had no idea how anyone on the ship was supposed to get over whatever issues they had with bullied like Zethes, gaia or Kronos on board. They seemed to get their kicks out of torturing other people, probably small fuzzy animals as well.
Leo definitely had some sort of death wish as a moment later he found himself pulling Zethes roughly aside to reveal Nico DiAngelo glaring evilly at Cal and clutching his shoulder. Zethes swung round to face Leo, a sleazy smile on his ugly mug. "Oh, it looks like we've got a volunteer. Aren't you lucky Nico? Cal." He ordered his brother. Leo froze for a moment but then as Cal lumbered forward, a dumb grin on his face, he realised what was happening. He dodged round Cal and yelled to Nico, "Run!" He just hoped the other boy would have the good sense to follow him. Zethes and Cal chased them but fell behind quickly as Nico and Leo were much smaller and faster. They rounded a corridor only to be faced by a blank wall and ornamental end table. Nico swore loudly, cursing Leo. "Oi, give me a minute," Leo said, rummaging around in his yellow tool belt for what he needed.
Pulling out a small screwdriver he hoisted himself up onto the end table. Reaching up and muttering to himself he started unscrewing the two small screws on the air vent in the ceiling. Nico, realising what Leo was planning, whispered angrily, "Hurry up! I can hear them!" He was still clutching his shoulder and breathing heavily from the running. The last screw came loose and Leo shoved it into a pocket along with the screwdriver as the vent swung down, just large enough for Nico and Leo to fit through. He pulled himself up and swung himself round to extend a hand to Nico who had already clambered up onto the table, glancing behind him fearfully - expecting to see Cal andZethes run round the corner any moment.
Nico pulled himself up, with help from Leo and slammed the grate shut, holding it there just as Zethes appeared round the corner. The vent space was cramped, Nico and Leo both hunched over uncomfortably with their heads brushing the metal ceiling. The air was stuffy and hot and Leo's palms were sweaty already. He was pressed up against Nico and both of them were trying to breathe quietly. Zethes' voice echoed up strangly from the corridor, "Damnit! We lost them. They must have taken another turning. If we go back now we might find them. Come on Cal." The pair disappeared round the corner, rushing to catch the imaginary Leo and Nico.
The real Nico and Leo breathed a sigh of relief and Nico slowly let the grate swing down. The pair slid out and Leo closed the grate again, pulling the screws and screwdriver out of his pocket. Nico spoke up grudgingly, "Thanks. You know, for helping me. It was a kind of stupid idea but it worked. Thanks." Leo gave a half laugh as he reached up to replace the screws, "Yeah, it was pretty risky. But it wasn't that much of a gamble, I mean, there are a vents all over this floor - coming from the engine it was just a matter of getting ahead of them enough. And it's not the first time I've had to get into the ventilation system of a place. It's a really funny story actually," he turned his head to glance at Nico but the boy had already gone. Shrugging and frowning he shoved e second screw and screwdriver back into his tool belt and made his way to Jason's and Percy's where he had been headed originally. At least he had something interesting to talk about now.