Hi, gang! A little late, I was sick all last week and didn't get to start this chapter until Monday. It's nice and long, though, so hopefully worth the wait.

Thanks as always to all reviewers! Enjoy!

Feel it out again / Go and try to be a man when there's a gun to your head

The next few days passed without unexpected interruption, save for the commencement of the building project. On Thursday, Reyna ran into Jacklyn—a Fourth Cohort daughter of Vulcan who'd signed on to the project—in New Rome and asked her how it was going. Apparently, the day before had been spent on minor modifications to the warehouse that had been constructed south of the barracks to serve as a workshop, and that morning the team had begun to draw up a building and storage plan using Leo's blueprints of the Argo III. Jacklyn didn't hide how impressed she was by the designs; she outright told Reyna that she'd never seen blueprints so complex and yet so perfectly inclusive and practical. They didn't miss a detail. She didn't let it on, but that news relieved Reyna, giving her a sense of satisfaction. The better the job Leo and the other Greeks did, the more leverage she would have in justifying the chosen method to Octavian, who so clearly wanted someone closer to home to be in charge.

When asked, Jacklyn didn't have a solid estimate of how long the project would take. As they parted ways, Reyna made the decision to check in on the team the following morning and find out for herself.

Sunrise found her already up and about (she'd always been an early riser, even more so when she had a particular plan for the day). She was finishing reviewing some renovation proposition reports for one of the housing plans in New Rome and entertaining the thought of dropping by the warehouse when there was a curt knock on her office door—a formality, really, because the door opened not two seconds later to reveal the cool, smiling face of her boyfriend.

"Morning, Reyna," Octavian greeted her simply. As he strode into the room, Reyna's automaton greyhounds Aurum and Argentum, who'd been napping quietly on either side of her desk, perked up. Argentum quietly bared his silver teeth while Aurum gave a low, thrumming growl—their own return greetings to the former augur. With minimal gusto Reyna hushed them. She knew they shared a particular dislike for Octavian, giving their truth-favoring nature and his unfortunate habit of drooling lies, and if she was honest she didn't altogether regret the dim spark of nervousness that always entered her fellow praetor's eyes when he met the animals. She would never let them harm him, of course. But he didn't have to know that. It was always good to have even a small hint of leverage over him.

"Er… I see you're busy bright and early today," Octavian went on, halting his approach into the office and instead standing stiffly near the door. His expression was passive, but his eyes subtly darted from Aurum to Argentum and back to Reyna, who smiled innocently. "Unsurprising of someone with your work ethic."

Reyna lifted a shoulder, straightening the small stack of papers in front of her. "You know me."

Octavian hummed an affirmative acknowledgement. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Not much now, actually," Reyna admitted. With a little reluctance, she added, "I was thinking of dropping in on the building team to make sure they got started smoothly. I'm hoping they've got a timing estimate."

"Good idea," Octavian noted with a nod. "I think I'll go with you, if that's alright." He smiled at her, and she imagined his expression challenging her to say that it wasn't alright at all. She wouldn't, though. While she would naturally rather have gone alone, she didn't have a valid alternative immediately available, and she didn't want to risk unnecessary antagonism.

Instead she stood, rounding her desk and patting Aurum on the head as again he loosed a mechanical growl. "Of course it's alright. Are you ready now?"

Showing his teeth, Octavian took Reyna's outstretched hand. "Let's go."

-0-0-0-

Reyna saw at once what Jacklyn had meant about the team's having modified the construction warehouse. Additional structures had been built on either side of the oversized building, and part of the front wall had been torn down to make a wide, garage-like opening. Reyna and Octavian walked in through that entrance and came immediately upon piles of materials organized in towering stacks. Reyna saw sheets and sheets of raw Celestial bronze and Imperial gold, as well as ordinary steel and wood. Beside them were shelves of fasteners and high-tech-looking tools she couldn't place a purpose for. Behind it all, she could see an opening leading into a low-ceilinged room which appeared to be filled with more metals and equipment. There looked to be enough to construct the entire fleet and then some. Reyna was expecting to have to supply some of the materials, but none of what she saw seemed to have come from their storehouses.

"Hey, guys," a voice behind Reyna welcomed them, and she turned to see an eighteen-year-old Vulcan legacy named Uriah standing there and leaning on a long-handled sledgehammer. He was dressed in work clothes with his dreadlocked hair tied back under a black bandanna. "What brings our praetors here this morning?"

"Just checking in," Reyna answered as Octavian's eyes scanned the wide, open work area. "Is the project leader around? We were hoping to get a status report."

"Yeah, he's here," Uriah responded. He stood up straight and peered over the heads of three passersby. "Working near the bellows, I think. I'll go hunt him down, if you wanna wait here."

"Thanks." Reyna nodded as Uriah swung the sledgehammer over his shoulder and jogged off around the supply stacks. She turned to see Octavian eyeing the numerous sheets of gold and bronze metal, an almost suspicious gleam in his gaze. Reyna felt her jaw tighten. He'd better not accuse the builders of obtaining that material unlawfully—assuming, of course, that they'd hadn't obtained it unlawfully. Reyna shook her head. She wasn't about to jump to conclusions. She had to be the positive thinker to counter Octavian's negativity. At least one of them needed to work for cooperation.

When Leo approached them a minute later, he'd barely smiled and opened his mouth to say hello before Octavian pointed a thumb at the supplies and asked (in a good impression of simple curiosity), "Where did all this come from?"

Leo followed his gaze, dark eyes sweeping the stacks of sheet metal. He too was dressed in work gear—a set of dark gray coveralls was unzipped to the waist and tied loose above the tool belt around his hips, and the sleeves of his grease-stained, once-white T-shirt were rolled over his shoulders, baring his arms. He stood in the edge of a patch of sunlight streaming in through the open section of wall, and somehow the layer of sweat on his arms reflected the light and gave his skin an interesting, fiery sort of glow.

Shaking her head, Reyna stepped out of the sunlight and into the shade. She was starting to feel a little warm herself.

"My dad's forge," Leo answered Octavian's question nonchalantly. Attention regained, Reyna felt her eyebrows jump as she remembered—after the Giant War five years ago, Hephaestus had rewarded Leo for his key help in the battle against Gaea with unlimited access to the forges of the gods. It hadn't even occurred to her that this would be where they obtained their materials. It made her feel a little odd to think that the gods themselves were basically funding Camp Jupiter's potential war efforts.

Beside Reyna, Octavian's eye briefly twitched as he stared at Leo. This helped to relax Reyna a little. It wasn't every day she saw Octavian actually get jealous of someone—his own immortal ancestor barely even knew he existed.

"You should see it there," Leo went on, glancing in apparent admiration at the material and seeming not to notice Octavian's green gaze. "It's epic. They won't even miss all this. So I hear you guys are after the game plan?"

"Yeah, if you've got a few minutes," Reyna agreed.

Leo grinned. "Anything for our fabulous hosts. This way." He jerked his head and waved an arm, inviting them to follow him deeper into the warehouse. He led them past the supply store area and along the back right wall of the warehouse to a long, metallic table set up near what looked like a huge covered furnace that seemed to power a gigantic set of moving bellows along the back of the room.

"These are the blueprints we drew up yesterday," Leo informed the praetors as he stepped up to the table and indicated the sheets of technical drawings spread across its surface. Reyna looked over the nearest one, but the markings were beyond her understanding. She could see the outline of a warship, but beyond that it was… well, Greek to her. "They're modeled after ours back home, with a little less focus on aesthetics and more on battle practicality. They'll be smaller than the Argo III, but the more defensive outfitting won't really mean a difference in speed. I figured you'd want tougher over faster."

"Good call," Reyna muttered with a nod, glad he seemed to have well considered his client. She chanced a glance at Octavian to see a sort of begrudging satisfaction on his face.

Standing up straight, Leo set his hands on his hips and said, "All told, we're estimating about nine to twelve months for completion. We've got more than enough materials for a dozen of these babies, so no delays expected there, which will help."

"Nine to twelve months?" Octavian repeated with a light scowl. "That seems a little extensive."

Leo arched an eyebrow. "Have you ever built a full-scale warship?" he asked rhetorically. Octavian lifted his chin and looked down his nose at Leo, but the son of Hephaestus didn't seem bothered. "A little background—the Argo II took me six months to finish. The Argo III took five, and it's got more under the hood than any working machine you'll find anywhere. These ships are smaller, yeah, but there's also twelve of them. And rushing is what causes mistakes—deadly ones, in this case, considering what it is we're building. Ask anyone who knows—getting these things done in under a year would be hugely impressive, and I'm still telling you we can do it. Man, I figured you guys would be ecstatic. Don't tell me you had no idea what kind of job you were asking for here."

"We are… ecstatic," Reyna assured him a little awkwardly—she wasn't sure she could ever remember a time when she'd been 'ecstatic'. That being said, though, if what he was saying was true (which she found she had no trouble believing), then his time estimate really was very good news. Reyna rather thought Octavian's problem with the prospect stemmed more from the Greeks' extended stay than from the delay until the fleet was operational.

"We're glad to hear you've got such a good handle on the project," she went on in a firm voice, tapping her fingers against the blueprint in front of her. "It seems we were right to count on your experience."

Octavian coughed to cover up a scoff, which Reyna noticed regardless—and so did Leo, judging by the frown that angled his features.

"Right indeed," Octavian said a second later. He gave Leo a polite smile. "I've got some things I need to take care of, but thanks for your time. It's good to know how serious you are about making sure everything is done correctly. Now we can all rest assured that you and the others are working your hardest. And of course, you're welcome here for as long as it takes." He looked down at Reyna and took a step closer to her, setting a hand firmly—possessively—on her waist. "I'll see you later, okay?" he said, before leaning down to press his lips gently to hers. A simple goodbye. She tilted her head toward him and lightly touched his arm, feeling a distinct lack of pleasure or satisfaction at his touch. Just like always.

When Octavian left, Reyna turned to give Leo an apologetic glance and found him staring after the other praetor with a scowl on his usually-smiling face. "He's a real piece of work, isn't he?"

"That's one way to put it," Reyna agreed wryly. "But he does mean well. This whole thing was his idea, after all. He cares about the legion, he just… He's hard to read sometimes."

"That's something you two have in common," Leo pointed out. With a small frown, she glanced absently his way, considering this observation. As he ran a hand through his messy hair, Reyna's half-focused eyes followed the formative curve of his uncovered shoulders, his darkened skin damp with sweat from working in the enclosed, heated environment. Blinking, Reyna caught herself and looked away, again feeling warmth somewhere under her skin—for the second time in the past few minutes. What was it about this guy's arms that grabbed her attention like that?

Well, there was one obvious answer—she was a perfectly normal woman enamored by certain features on men. And it certainly didn't help that her boyfriend was the exact opposite of everything she found attractive in guys—pale, lanky, unexpressive. And here was Leo, practically a new face, given than she hadn't seen him in years. He was Octavian's counterpart in basically every way, inside and out. It made sense for things like that to distract her more now that she was confined to the dysfunctional relationship she had. She would just have to ignore those annoying distractions in the coming months if she didn't want to jeopardize her working partnership with her fellow praetor.

"I gotta tell you, though, I never really expected it," Leo went on when Reyna didn't respond, and she let Octavian slide from her thoughts as she returned her attention to the present. She gave Leo an inquisitive look and he explained, "You and him. Or, you know… anyone and him."

Oh, like you know us so well? Reyna thought somewhat defensively—though in defense of what, she wasn't sure. He was right, after all. Octavian didn't really seem capable of actual affection. Lifting a shoulder and taking a few casual steps to the side, she replied, "Well, I'm sure you've heard this, but it's pretty common for praetors to end up romantically involved. We work closely together, get to know each other and all that." Her staple answer, the one everyone expected and understood.

For some reason, a small glint of amusement brightened Leo's eyes as they swept over Reyna in a vaguely critical manner. "Right," he said, sounding as though he were playing along with a joke. Maybe he didn't believe her weak argument, but to her relief he didn't challenge it either. "Well, as much as I'd like it to be, it's not really my business."

Reyna gave a wry half-smile and breathed out through her nose, unable to keep from thinking that she'd kind of like it to be his business, too—if only to have an out from her stifling commitment to Octavian.

"Just don't let him keep you down." Leo gave a rueful smirk. "He seems to have that effect on people."

"Don't worry about me," Reyna promised dryly. "I can take care of myself."

"No doubts there. Doesn't mean surprises don't happen, though."

Reyna rolled her eyes, prompting Leo to chuckle lightly. She was about to wrap up the conversation and get going when suddenly his gaze slid over her shoulder and his grin vanished instantaneously as he blurted, "Hey, whoa—!" over the sound of an odd metallic creak. He jumped forward surprisingly fast and snatched Reyna by the shoulder the instant she felt a sudden burst of heat from behind her. There was a roar of fire and the air grew blindingly hot for a split second before Leo yanked Reyna forward and twisted around her, causing her to stumble against him as he used his own body as a very effective heat shield.

The temperature dropped a few seconds later to the repeated sound of metal hinges and Leo let go of Reyna, who released her breath in rush. What had just happened?

"Dude, I told you about this," Leo said behind her, in the closest thing to an angry tone she'd so far heard him use. She spun around to see him facing away from her, toward a stricken-looking teenage boy she didn't recognize who was hurrying toward them. Probably a Greek. Leo (who, Reyna noticed, looked completely unaffected by whatever fiery burst had just assaulted them; not even his clothes were charred) waved a hand in a circular gesture and added, "Clear coast before you open the furnace. That's rule number… Well, it's up there."

"Sorry, sorry," the kid insisted, glancing at the huge, metal blast door not far from where Leo and Reyna stood. "Won't happen again. I swear."

With a scowl, Leo shook his head and turned to grab Reyna loosely by the arm, leading her a safe distance away from the oversized furnace. "If it wasn't me standing there…" he muttered dryly, shaking his head. "Anyway, sorry about that. Izzy gets a little overzealous sometimes. I warned him to pay more attention, but you know… Maybe I'll assign him some long-term task that's nowhere near any dangerous equipment." He paused with a frown and looked thoughtfully around the warehouse. "If I can find some non-dangerous equipment…"

Reyna gave a half-hearted chuckle in response, waving away the issue. She took an unconscious step back from Leo, aware of the tingle in her arms where he'd held onto her a moment ago. Frustrated, she distracted herself from dwelling on it by contemplating the irony of what had just happened—a freak accident seconds after his claim that despite personal skill, surprises still happened. If he hadn't been there to absorb the escaped flames with his immunity to fire, she'd probably be a blackened crisp about now. She glanced at the ceiling as though asking the Fates, Really? Do you just love proving me wrong?

"I should get out of here before I'm turned into a pile of ashes," she said with a rueful half-smirk. "Thanks for the save."

"Don't mention it." Leo grinned, and as contagious as his friendly smile was, Reyna found herself returning it without a thought.

"I'll check back in with you guys in a while," she decided. Had she thought about that ahead of time? And should she have said 'we'?

"Looking forward to it."

So am I, she realized as she waved goodbye. Strange, considering she'd almost just gone up in flames. But still, undeniably, it was true.

-0-0-0-

As it turned out, the wait between meetings with the building project leader wasn't as long as Reyna had expected.

Later that night, she was sitting in her office, Aurum and Argentum dozing on either side of her desk, when the small fountain she'd installed in the room's corner to keep contact with Camp Half-Blood (it had taken her a while to get used to Iris-messaging, but after a while she'd been forced to admit that it was a rather useful form of communication) lit up with an incoming message. She stood up in interest and strode toward it, plucking a Greek drachma from the base of the fountain and tossing it into the light, where it vanished in a shower of sparks. A few quiet seconds passed before a familiar voice suddenly spoke over the soft trickle of water, picking up mid-sentence like a TV set being turned on.

"…to wait, I know, but we have to tell him! He's our best friend! Who even knows when we'll see him again?"

As the video feed flickered to life, the person onscreen turned to face forward and Reyna recognized the smiling face of Piper McLean. The daughter of Aphrodite was practically glowing—beaming from ear to ear, her multi-colored eyes bright with excitement. If possible, she looked even more beautiful than when Reyna had last seen her about a year previously, her highlighted brown hair longer but still cut in uneven layers that somehow perfectly complemented her thin facial structure. One look at her expression, and Reyna suddenly had a feeling she knew exactly what the purpose for the call had been.

"Hi, Reyna!" Piper greeted her with an enthusiastic wave, the beaded bands around her wrist clicking together noisily. "How are things?"

Reyna offered a small smile, amused. "Things are good," she answered as, possibly at the sound of her name, another familiar face stepped into view from Piper's left.

"Hey, how's it going?" Jason asked with a warm smile.

"Same old," Reyna said, feeling a calming rush of relief at seeing her best friend's face. "What's going on with you guys?" She directed the question at Piper, though she made a point to raise her eyebrows knowingly at Jason. Unnoticed by Piper, he winced and nodded sheepishly, causing Reyna to hide a smile. So he finally did it. Took him long enough; it had been over a month since he'd left Camp Jupiter.

"Lots, actually," Piper replied brightly with a glance at her boyfriend. "So… This may be a weird request, but is Leo around? I didn't know how else to get a hold of him."

"He's probably working, but I can send for him if you need him."

"That'd be great, thanks."

Piper looked like she was having a hard time not blurting out the news she so obviously wanted to share, which Reyna found a little funny as she signaled them to wait and turned to stride out of her office. She paid a quick visit to Marietta next door—her First Cohort assistant—and sent her to track Leo down before returning to her own office to assure Piper and Jason that he was on his way.

"So what's this about?" she asked them while they waited, feigning ignorance on the subject.

Piper rounded at once on Jason. "You have to let me tell her."

Jason gave an awkward smile. "Sure, just… not yet, okay, wait 'til Leo gets here." Piper rolled her eyes dramatically and Reyna shrugged in nonchalance.

They only had to wait a few minutes, during which they swapped updates back and forth and caught up in general happenings. When a knock on the door interrupted the conversation, Reyna voiced a greeting and Leo let himself in, dressed much the same as when she'd seen him earlier that day but considerably dirtier.

Reyna jerked her head toward the fountain and started to explain, "You've got a call…" but was distracted when out of the corner of her eye she noticed her automaton canines perk up at the new arrival. She started toward them with the intention of silencing them (they were always a bit suspicious of first-time meetings), but to her surprise they didn't bark or growl. As Leo snapped the door closed, both greyhounds strode purposefully up to him and nudged his legs with their metallic noses, looking perfectly comfortable—almost as though they'd known him for years.

He glanced down at them and grinned. "Aw, I've heard of these guys," he said, dropping to one knee to rub their shiny necks. "I thought they didn't like people."

"They don't," Reyna agreed, a little baffled. "So what are you?" Leo laughed at the sort-of joke, and that coupled with the clear affection with which her dogs were regarding him made Reyna smile. "Anyway, as I was saying, there's a call for you. From Camp Half-Blood."

"Really?" he asked, standing up straight and making his way over to the fountain in front of which Reyna was waiting. "From who—ah, hey, guys!"

"Leo, hey!" Piper seemed to jump a bit when he stepped into her line of sight, her smile growing wider. "How's the project going?"

"Fine," he responded with a shrug. "Uneventful first couple days."

Reyna chewed her tongue, wondering about his use of the word 'uneventful'. If getting stabbed in the back fell under that category for him, she'd hate to see what would qualify as an eventful day.

"But judging by the fact that you're literally bouncing and I haven't seen a smile like that since the Cheshire Cat," Leo told Piper wryly, "I'm guessing you're the one with the news here."

Piper shot a glance to Jason, who sighed and inclined his head, before turning her grin back to Leo and Reyna. "Guess what?" With a high-pitched sort of squeal, she lifted her arms and brandished her left hand in front of her, proudly showing off the white-gold-plated, triangular-diamond ring encircling her finger. Grabbing Jason's arm with her free hand, she said unnecessarily, "We're getting married!"

"Awesome!" Leo noted with a wide grin, leaning forward to check out the ring. "About time, huh?" As he stood up, he shot Reyna a sideways glance that told her wordlessly that he'd been expecting this just as much as she had. Maybe Jason had told him ahead of time, too. Or maybe he just knew the couple too well.

"We're keeping it kind of under wraps for right now," Jason added hastily, sliding an arm around his fiancée's shoulders. "I want to get some things figured out before this becomes a big deal."

"Aw," Leo complained sarcastically, "you mean I can't tell everyone I know? You don't know how hard it'll be sitting on gossip this juicy."

Piper swatted at the air as though imagining smacking Leo on the arm. "Well, it's hard for me. I convinced him to at least let me tell you, told him I've never kept anything from my best friend and I'm not about to start now."

"Gee, Beauty Queen, I'm honored." Leo put a hand to his chest and mimed wiping away a tear.

For some reason, Piper fixed him with a sly sort of smirk. "Not as honored as you're about to be." She elbowed Jason in the side and ordered, "Tell him!"

Jason shot her a wounded look before turning his eyes on Leo. "It might be kind of early to say this, but you're gonna have to forgive me 'cause it was a really easy choice to make. Leo, uh… I want… I mean, if you're okay with it…" Piper elbowed him again—harder—and with a cringe he got out, "I'd like you to be my best man."

Leo's sarcastic grin faded. He may have been expecting the first announcement, but this appeared to have snuck up on him. "What—really?"

"Well… yeah," Jason said lamely. "Like I said, it didn't take a lot of thought. So… will you do it?"

"Of course," Leo promised, genuine smile suddenly back in place. "Gives me a chance to show you up at your own wedding. I'm all over it." Jason laughed, seeming to relax a little.

"And Reyna," Piper took over, "you're okay to be a bridesmaid, right? We want Frank and Hazel in the wedding party, too, but Jason won't let me tell them yet." She rolled her kaleidoscope eyes again, but Reyna was still stuck on the first part of that statement.

"Me?" she repeated with a frown.

"Of course you," Piper said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, you'll be getting invites as soon as we get everything set. Shouldn't be too long, I mean, I already basically have the whole thing planned out. You know, assuming this guy doesn't drive me crazy with this whole secrecy thing."

Leo pointed a finger at her. "I think you mean, assuming you're not already crazy."

"Says the guy who's not comfortable unless he's covered in grease stains," Piper shot back with a smirk. "Anyway, I really wanted to share the good news. We won't keep you any longer."

"We'll be in touch soon," Jason promised with a smile, and they both waved as the picture fizzled out and disappeared.

Leo shook his head in amusement. "Soon as I saw her face, I knew that's what she was gonna say. She's been itching for Jason to pop the question for months, leaving him all kinds of hints and stuff. I figured it was only a matter of time, with them living together now."

"He's been planning it since before he moved last month," Reyna replied conversationally, deciding that there was no point in keeping that fact from the open. "He was probably just as excited as she was, just a little different about showing it."

"Ain't that the truth." Leo turned to face the door, but his path was blocked by Reyna's automaton dogs, who were still looking up at him with clear interest. With a grin, he reached down to pat their heads, prompting Aurum to give a friendly yelp and Argentum to tilt his head sideways for easier access.

Maybe they like how he smells like motor oil, Reyna wondered wryly, eyes absently following the movement of Leo's shoulder and arm muscles. She had never seen her dogs take to someone so quickly before. He did seem to have a way with machines, from what she knew and heard tell of. Apparently automaton canines were no exception.

"Aw," Leo muttered with a frown, sinking to his knees and narrowing his eyes at Argentum. "Sounds like the wiring on somebody's phonetic synthesizer is misaligned."

Reyna blinked. "What?"

"His voice box is busted."

"Oh." She bit her lip as, to her slight surprise, he slid his hands around Argentum's silver teeth and pulled open his hinged jaw, peering down his throat. Argentum had been far less vocal than his brother for the past few days, but Reyna hadn't considered it overly much. "I thought he'd just been quiet lately."

"Don't worry, it's an easy fix," Leo assured her, releasing Argentum's jaw and looking up at her. "I can do it right now, if you want."

"Here?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, no." Of course it wasn't a problem, just unexpected. In the past, whenever Reyna's dogs malfunctioned, she would have to take them to one of the Vulcan descendants' workshops for repairs. This was certainly easier. "Thank you."

Leo smiled. "No big." He patted the floor beside Argentum and the automaton obediently sat back on his haunches, growing otherwise still. Then he slid his hand along Argentum's long neck until he located the hatch just above the dog's front shoulders, shortly below his jaw. He whipped a flat screwdriver from his tool belt and pried the hatch open, revealing a mess of colored wires beneath it.

"Have you… worked on automatons before?" Reyna asked. She knew she shouldn't be nervous, but these animals were more important to her than only a few actual, living humans. She'd hate for something to go wrong.

Eyes trained steadily on the wiring as he picked through strands with a set of needlenose pliers, Leo smirked. "I rebuilt a sixty-foot automaton dragon from scratch a few years ago."

Reyna's eyebrows shot up. "A dragon?"

"Yup. He's kind of like my masterpiece. He doesn't like being cooped up at camp for too long so I try to take him out whenever I can. I'd have brought him here—he's faster than the Argo III, you know—but he can't carry more than about five people at a time."

"Wow," Reyna muttered. "I'd kind of like to see him someday. Sounds impressive."

"You probably will," Leo pointed out. Reyna hesitated, unsure what he was implying, until he explained, "Jason and Piper's wedding will be in New York, right? You'll have to go out there. Trust me, he's definitely worth checking out."

He launched into further explanation, technical jargon about the dragon that Reyna didn't really understand, so instead she leaned against her desk, nodded like she was listening, and allowed half of her consciousness to wander. She looked at Argentum, frozen stiff as Leo fixed him up, and at Aurum, lying on his belly beside the two with his golden tail wagging lazily back and forth. The two animals despised trickery. It was the reason they still, to this day, held a grudge against Octavian. For them to accept Leo so fully upon first meeting him told Reyna more about him than any number of personal conversations ever could. And somehow, it made her glad.

"That should do it."

Reyna snapped back to attention. "That was fast."

"Told you it was an easy job." Leo snapped the hatch on Argentum's neck back into place and the dog relaxed as though coming back to life. He let out a few experimental barks, sounding good as new. "There," Leo observed with a smile. "All fixed." Argentum raised an arm and pawed at Leo's chest, barking again in gratitude.

"Thanks again," Reyna said as Leo stood up and backed toward the door, both automatons rushing to say goodbye first. "Guess you're handy for more reasons than one."

"You'd be surprised," Leo responded with a sideways glance and a grin. "I'd better get going before they lock me in. See you later, Reyna."

"'Bye." And with that, he dodged around Aurum and Argentum and disappeared from the office.

As soon as he was gone, the dogs returned their attention to their owner, giving her friendly yelps as they approached her from either side. She set her hands on their heads and smiled, still oddly warmed by their behavior. "I know, I know," she told them. "I like him, too."

Strangely enough, she meant it.

"And besides, the Bible bids us return good for evil."
—Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Alrighty. The next chapter I do already have partly written, so hopefully I can get it up soon. I'm going away next Thursday for a long weekend, though, so no promises. I can promise you that the next chapter is where the ball actually gets rolling, so to speak ;) Look forward to it.

How 'bout a review on your way out? Later days, all!

-oMM