I almost made this a separate one-shot but thought it'd be fine here.

If you get the reference in the title, that's exactly the point. I had to alter some details in BoO to make it work.

Story #43: Leo Shows Calypso a Whole New World

Calypso didn't think she'd ever see him again and she wasn't even sure she wanted him. A part of her was prepped never to see him because that's always the case. A handsome warrior or fighter washes up on her shore, they fall infatuated or in lust or in love, and they spend time along her beaches and under the palm trees. They would gaze into each other's eyes and watch the sunset and sunrise. She'd think of their happily ever after. And sadly, his time on Ogygia would run out and he'd have to leave.

It's always the same story. Every man would look at her from the shoreline, regret strewed on their face. She'd hear the same words about returning for her and he would blur in her tear-filled eyes. She'd either nod solemnly or mutter an okay while holding back a sob to spice things up.

And then he was gone, leaving Calypso with a broken heart. She'd mourn his absence as the days pass, watching the waves crash and clouds soar overhead. Eventually, she'd be okay. Content, even.

Only for the cycle to repeat.

Until Leo Valdez washed up ashore and broke her table.

Calypso would pray to Kronos to speed the clock on this one, but no gods ever listened to her.

Many years and many men have come and gone, faces and words blur together like sand in her mind, but only Leo would be a truly memorable one in the coming centuries. But it could be because he's the latest arrival, the most annoying, the one who actually came back.

Even she didn't see that coming. Admittedly, she thought it was a sick joke from the gods who definitely forgot she existed.

But seeing him upon his mighty dragon fly above Ogygia made her heart flutter. She couldn't believe he actually stuck to his word and managed to return. He came back for her. She would leave her island.

Once she was sitting on Festus and they flew off in one swoop, she gripped onto Leo tight as he hollered in excitement. It'd be embarrassing if she fell off right where she started. Wind blurred in her ears as it hits her face. Her hair flies back and she finds herself holding on tighter, feeling his heart race. She's almost positive that he can feel her heart against his back.

"Got somewhere you wanna go?" Leo asked, slightly glancing back at her

Calypso hesitated. She didn't know where to begin. She only knows so much has changed over the decades after hearing stories of stranded visitors and their voyages. All the mysterious lands and conquered civilizations.

She looked back at her island: a small beige speck with green dots in the centre of a deep and vast blue. She's never seen it from this far up, getting smaller and smaller. Festus' tail unintentionally pointed at it mid-flight and she couldn't help but laugh. Tears that pricked her eyes fly from the corners and off her temples.

Never again.

"Aladdin's got nothing on me. So, what do you want to see?" Leo asked again.

"Show me everything," Calypso whispered in his ear, smiling, "take me everywhere. Where are you most comfortable?"

Leo sighed. "It's hard to get comfortable in a place when you don't know where you'll end up or how long you'll even stay."

Calypso nodded. She felt the same about Ogygia. "But you know a place."

Leo thought for a moment before training Festus to turn. Calypso held onto his suspenders tighter, watching the clouds swirl with their movement.

"You'll love it."

-o-

"Welcome to the Golden Arches."

Leo opens his arms as Festus swoops to the curb of the half-filled parking lot with minivans. He leaps off and holds out his hand. She gracefully takes it before stepping off onto the pavement, looking up at the lonely building with a big golden M on top. From the windows, she can see tables inside with families sitting and sharing food. On the other side are kids running around and climbing play structures.

Nobody's told her about this place before.

"We would use the drive-thru but Festus gets nervous around those," Leo says, walking her inside. He holds open the door and she saunters in first. "He says it's something to do with his tail wrapping around the building and possibly crushing it."

"I don't know what I'm smelling," Calypso whispers to him.

It's an odd scent. Something's cooking, something hot, but she can't say what. Glancing at people's trays and the bright menus above, she reads mostly burgers and fries. Her mouth waters as she steps closer, sensing Leo behind her.

"My mom would take me here on special occasions growing up," Leo tells her. "After she would fix a fancy car and get a big pay and tip. After she got to touch up a snazzy race car. We'd stop by here after she cleaned and closed up, still in her messy overalls and grease-stained shirt and shoes."

Calypso smiles softly. "What would you order?"

"My mom would want me to eat real food first but we'd end the night with McFlurries."

"A what?" Calypso raises a brow. "I've never heard of those."

Leo grins. "You're in for a treat."

His face drops when he sees a paper sign saying the ice cream machine is broken, and he only knows it says that because it's almost always broken. The only instances it was fixed were those times his mother would bring them. He found it to be a blessing, that her presence brought the machine back to life — just as she would with even the most busted cars.

"Hey," Leo says to the tired teenager cashier playing on their phone (and doesn't look up after he called). "If I fix your ice cream machine, can me and my lady get some free McFlurries?"

"Knock yourself out," the cashier says, waving a hand and still not looking up from her screen.

Leo glances at Calypso and shrugs as they walk behind the counter. The floors are sticky and the other teenagers manning the deep fryers and drive-thru don't seem to pay them any attention.

He crouches and opens the ice cream machine. Calypso peers over his shoulder, leaning over. She watches as he pulls out a screwdriver and a toothpick from his belt and starts poking at all the gears.

An employee taps her shoulder and she turns to see a small paper sleeve of fries. Calypso smiles as she thanks them, tasting the glorious fried and salty goodness Leo's told her about. She isn't sure why she got some fries but she won't ask.

When she looks back at Leo, he's standing and the ice-cream machine whirrs. That was fast. He turns around and holds two cups of white ice cream with black cookie specks in it.

"For you, my lady," Leo says, holding one out for her.

"For you, my rescuer," Calypso responds, holding out her fries.