**Author's note: I was debating on whether to finish this fic or write more, but I decided I didn't want to end off the story without having Leo speak about his own backstory (c'mon, Nico literally spilled everything about his life, he deserves the same from Leo, no?) and... I also wanted some more awkward stuff. So yeah, this chapter is more on the humorous side of things, because who doesn't love humor and embarrassed demigods? So yeah, funny stuff! Enjoy!

P.S. I may not update for a few days after this, because well... things and stuff happen so yeah. And someone mentioned something in the reviews about Nico summoning Leo's mom? I would do that later, but I'm not 100% sure on Esperanza's character. Ah, I'll figure out something for you guys! And be sure to leave me a bunch of suggestions so I know what you guys want more/less of! Your feedback has been wonderful so far, thank you so so much!**

At some point, Leo took Nico's advice and woke up Hazel, Frank, and Coach Hedge to man the ship and be on lookout, while he just crawled into his room. He didn't think he could sleep since his head was pounding with so many thoughts, but as soon as his body hit the mattress he was gone.

"Leo." Nico knocked on the door, at sundown the next evening. "Leo… are you, um, decent?"

"What?" Leo asked in a daze. He fell asleep so quickly, it hadn't even occurred to him to take off his tool belt. "Yeah, yeah, not like I'm naked. Get in here." He chuckled.

"Sorry for waking you up. Seriously, I love sleeping. But Jason and Piper just left, and Hazel told me to come wake you up." Nico grasped Leo's hand and tried to pull him out of the bed, but since he was so weak, he ended up losing balance and falling forward onto Leo. "—gah!" His landing wasn't too rough, but the impact still forced the wind out of his lungs and sent him into a coughing fit.

"Gross!" was Leo's first reaction, before he realized that Nico was probably in serious danger of choking. "Oh, sorry," he added, before rubbing his back. Eventually, he quieted down and relaxed, laying down still on top of Leo. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered in a hoarse voice, "I'm used to this by now. It still hurts, though."

"Just relax. Whenever a machine malfunctions, I try not to toy with it for a little while. That works all the same with humans, right?" Leo chuckled. "You can stay here as long as you want—…oh."

"What?" Nico asked, but he could hear the door opening.

"Oh, gods!" Hazel's eyes widened and she began to fan herself, almost tempted to back out of the room. "Nico! I-I-I told you to just wake him up! Not… Not this! Gods, what are you two doing? I didn't even know you guys… felt like that…" she muttered, heat rising to her face.

"Uh, Hazel, th-this isn't… gods, you really think I'd ever…" he trailed off, feeling his own face begin to heat up as well. "And with Nico?!"

"What do you mean?" Nico asked in a weak and small voice, somehow still not catching on.

"Nico, what I'm saying…" Hazel fanned herself even more, and she was sweating now. She realized it wasn't totally because she was flustered—no, it was because Leo had caught fire. "Oh my gods! Nico, your jacket is on fire… Leo, you're smoking!"

"Why, thank you—crap, crap, crap!" Leo hurried to push Nico off of himself, before the kid got any burns too serious. The bed was okay—he made most the things in his room flameproof, but he kept a sprinkler system attached to the ceiling just in case. He hit a button on the wall, and soon all the flames were totally out and everything was back to normal.

Yeah, not really.

Nico was sitting on the floor, hacking from smoke inhalation, while Hazel just looked absolutely horrified and drenched. It took her a second before it occurred to her to help Nico, and she pulled a small bottle of nectar from her pocket, handing it to him while rubbing his back.

"…Uh, in case you're still wondering, Nico just fell down on top of me. We weren't…" Leo trailed off, clearing his throat uneasily.

"Leo! Now's not the time!" she exclaimed, still flustered and disoriented, as Nico doubled over and groaned, feeling like his lungs were caving in. "Um, go wake someone up! Just do something, he's—he can't breathe!" Hazel scrambled to get up, but Nico just grabbed her hand before she could get up and do more.

"No, I'm fine," he wheezed. "Don't wake anyone else up." He examined a burnt hole in his coat—oh, he was going to kill Leo. This was his favorite jacket.

"Are you sure? I could… get Coach to make you some of that nature-healing stuff," she offered, but even she sounded disgusted at the idea.

"Gods, Hazel! Are you trying to kill him?" Leo asked, shaking his head. "Ah, don't worry about it! You can go to sleep, girly. I'll be good to your brother, and I'll try not to set him on fire again… No promises, naturally." He smirked mischievously, winking at Hazel.

"LEO!" the siblings shouted, while Hazel snatched a pillow off the bed and shoved it in his laughing face.

"But he's right," Nico said, "I'll be fine. You need to get some sleep." He weakly pulled himself up into a standing position, hoping she didn't notice that he was actually leaning on the wall.

"Will you really be okay? I mean, you'll have Leo, but that's not really much help…" She bit her lip, putting a hand on Nico's shoulder. He felt so delicate, as though if she touched him the wrong way or nudged him to hard, he'd fall to pieces.

"Not much help?" Leo pouted.

"Yeah, Hazel," Nico answered, ignoring Leo. He smiled halfway, before leaning forward to hug her. "Don't worry about me. I'm your big brother, remember? I should be looking after you."

She nodded and pulled him closer, holding him for a moment more before pulling back and gently pushing the hair out of his eyes. "I can't stop worrying about you, Nico. I care about you," she mumbled, still straightening out his mess of hair. "Make sure you take good care of him, Leo."

"Yes, ma'am," Leo saluted seriously, before letting a silly grin back onto his face. "Now get going, you're losing sleep here."

"Alright…" She backed out of the room and walked a few steps down the hall, before sprinting back in. "You're sure, right?"

"Yes," they both answered, rolling their eyes in unison. 'Since when were they so close?' Hazel wondered for a moment, but decided not to question. Other than Frank, they were two of the most important guys in her life. 'I'm glad they're friends,' she thought, smiling as she headed back to her bunk.

Back in Leo's room, the boys looked at each other. "Well, now that Hazel's out of here, guess we should get back out there," Leo offered, shrugging.

"Uh… yeah," he answered, but his head was spinning from coughing so hard, and his chest ached like it was hit by a boulder. He pinched the bridge of his nose, before exhaling and collapsing to the ground.

"Whoa there!" Leo jumped up, and knelt at Nico's side. "You okay there, buddy?"

"Chest hurts." Nico's breaths were shallow and short, since he wasn't sure his lungs could take much more. "Don't get Hazel. Needs to sleep."

"Ah, are you sure?" Leo wasn't exactly too knowledgeable on how to take care of other people, and he figured Hazel could deal with her brother much better than he.

"Yeah. Can I… lie down on your bed?" Nico asked, still struggling to breathe properly.

"Course you can." Leo lifted him up, delicately placing him on the bed. "I'll go get a canteen of nectar from the supply room," he offered, almost out the door before Nico shook his head.

"Drank enough. I'll burn up if I drink anymore," he explained, and one look at his face and Leo knew he was right. Despite how cold it was in the night, Nico's skin was hot to the touch and he was sweating. Any more god food would make him catch fire—again.

"Alright, then just water?" Leo asked, when Buford the table came walking in, with a glass of water on him. "Good boy, Buford! Here, Nico."

"Thanks." Nico gratefully took the cup into his hands, gulping down the water quickly. After the cup was empty, he let out a long sigh, sitting up in the bed. "I hate this," he finally said, and Leo was relieved to hear that his voice wasn't nearly as weak as it had been moments before.

"What? The bed? The water? Me?" Leo raised a brow.

"No, you idiot. I hate being so weak. Hazel's my little sister. I should be worried for her, not the other way around. I hate relying on people." Nico swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, still shaky, so Leo leaned forward and held out a hand.

Nico shook his head, pushing his hand away, insisting on walking by himself.