Leyna week sort of just ended XD, so this is sort of overdue. This will be long. enjoy!

PART 2

Cold.

Reyna's skin tingled under the sharp chills of the icy breeze. The hyperboreans were bad enough. But the snow princess…

"Khione getting on your nerves?" An all too familiar voice chimed in. "Or should I say getting to your nerves?"

Shut up Valdez, now's not the time, Reyna thought as she gritted her teeth trying to concentrate on the battle. She could make out his curly hair in her peripheral vision, forming a mental image of him back-facing her at angle.

"You know, if you weren't so cold towards people all the time you wouldn't need me to spice things up for you, ya know.

And he talked about people getting on her nerves. She didn't need anybody. She didn't need him. Not to make her laugh. Definitely not to guard her back while fighting.

Okay, scratch the former. Reyna didn't like to admit it, but she liked it when Leo said something witty, or funny. Then again, that was it. She could fight alone. And this was the guy who blew up her home. She shouldn't trust him even if she needed help.

"Get lost, Valdez," she muttered. He did not hear it because a flurry of snowflakes swept past her, chilling her to the bone.

"Hello Leo."

The ice princess was flanked by two hyperboreans enjoying the lack of warmth radiating from her. Most people would have taken her brown eyes as warm – like malt chocolate, but Reyna only saw what she saw in her own eyes, a cold, empty abyss.

"I see you've found a new girlfriend after leaving me back in Sonoma. Sergeant of the Roman platoon huh? Good pick."

"It's praetor of the Roman legion," Reyna corrected. It pained her daughter of Bellona aspect when people couldn't use the correct army terminology.

"And she's not my girlfriend, jeez!" Leo responded, grinning madly. "She's as antisocial as you are. Why would either of you be my type, Khione?"

"I'm nothing like her," Reyna rebutted.

"So you do want to join Team Leo!" the latino responded.

Reyna groaned in exasperation. "You know that's not what I meant."

The snow goddess smirked. "Quarreling. I believe Percy and Annabeth once did that too, if you're interested in your chances with each other." Reyna lashed out at her on impulse. Khione knew exactly what irked her the most. She knew Reyna contemplated a steady relationship, someone to rely on. Reyna slashed at the goddess with her spear, but Khione simply glided out of reach, raised her hand and blasted them with cold air.

That's when Leo caught fire.

"Yikes!" Reyna yelped, as she almost got engulfed in the flames. "What are you, flammable?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he mumbled, then turned to the goddess. "New York too warm for you Khione? Or are you just too overwhelmed by how hot I am?"

Khione snapped her fingers. One of the hyperboreans breathed down on Leo. The flames around his body flickered and writhed, but refused to be extinguished.

Leo was ablaze with confidence (and fire). He clasped his hands into a finger pistol and starting jabbing in the directions of Khione's giant bodyguards, like a kid playing games, except Leo had real fire at hand. The hyperboreans took one look at their smoking blue skin, then glanced at Leo before turning to run.

Reyna was pushed to the ground. She turned over to see Leo waving goodbye – unaware of Khione's figure rising behind him.

"Leo look out!" She yelled.

The mechanic whirled around just in time to shield himself with a wall of fire. Unfortunately the impact knocked him backwards. He stumbled, tripped over Reyna's foot and fell onto her.

"Argh! Leo – ow! Ow! Your skin is burning!" Reyna scolded as she struggled to push Leo off her while trying not to scald herself. Leo just flashed her a smirk that said 'duh', before he slipped and fell over again. Reyna saw his face get closer and closer. She closed her eyes just before his forehead slammed against the side of her jaw.

"Idiot," Reyna muttered. He head was still replying Leo's face getting up close like a video feed. She pushed herself up, letting Leo's half-conscious body roll off her. She faced the snow goddess. "This ends now."

Khione laughed. Her voice was as sharp as an icicle. Cold wind came out of nowhere and tossed Reyna's cape about. Reyna had to raise her arms to brace herself against the gale.

Reyna realized she was pretty much hopeless. She had chased a goddess beyond the camp boundaries, without reinforcements, and the only person with a chance at frying the enemy moaning on the ground, probably unaware of his surroundings.

The wind was getting stronger. A snowflake landed on her cheek, burning as the frost spread across her face. Reyna couldn't defeat the ice alone.

She needed Leo. She needed fire.

Holy Hera, Leo thought, this is a bad idea.

They had seen him destroying their camp. Now the Romans would see him towing their unconscious leader into the Greek camp. Yup, Octavian was going to kill Leo on sight.

"Leo!"

Thank the gods; it was only Piper and Frank.

"Where in Hades have you been?" Piper yelled. "Jason mobilized nearly half the – whoa!" She glanced down at Reyna's unconscious form before looking back at him with wide eyes. "You are so not going in there. We forced the Romans out. But if Octavian sees you…" She wrinkled her nose and seethed at Octavian's name.

"Don't go by your farmhouse place," Frank said. "They've got scouts trained on that area."

"You mean the Big House," Leo corrected.

"Yeah," Frank replied. "Go the other way, behind your cabins, into the woods. There's a medic shelter there. Find Bobby – tall runner guy, dark hair – he's roman, but on our side."

"Got it," Leo said, thinking that it might be a better idea if Frank bought Reyna to Bobby instead. "Tell Jason I'm fine."

"You better be," Piper said venomously. "I want Octavian to be eternally disturbed with the thought of your living."

"Chillax, Beauty Queen," Leo said, trying to sound casual. Oops, maybe 'chill' was not the best word after what just happened. "Just because Annabeth's too PTSD to be some dangerous, crazy girl doesn't mean you have to fill in that role."

Piper's face said not funny, but behind her, Frank mouthed I know, right?

"Tell them I'm fine," Leo gulped, before Piper beat Octavian at the Kill Leo Valdez Game.

Reyna was heavy. Her praetor cape kept tripping Leo. It was as if she was determined to make his life hard even while unconscious. That was a shame, because at one point Leo incurred the weird thought of Reyna waking up grateful and all over him for helping her fight Khione (like a cheesy movie scene). Well, that's the way it should be, according to those blockbuster shows.

He found the tent in the woods just like Frank said. The guy called Bobby looked at Leo warily at first, but then told the Apollo kids to hand him some diluted nectar water to calm his nerves, so Leo guessed he was okay.

The medic tent also had an old CD player. Leo picked up the empty CD case and read the label. It was a collection of pop covers of old tunes done by an instrumental band. The track number said the current tune was originally a slow dance. Now it sounded like slow jazz.

He looked over at Reyna, imagining Khione's voice suggesting that they dance to the CD. He had tried to shake off the snow goddesses' ideas, but he had to admit, he liked it.