To Riordanlover16- Yes, she does! Leoisa FTW! XD

Leo went back to work on a full stomach, Jessica's pancakes almost rival to her bacon sandwiches. She had kicked him out after one joke — "Oh my gods, how have you been? I haven't seen you since last year!" — and sent Louisa with him for laughing.

Bunker Ten lit up as they walked in. Buford clattered over, his miniature hologram of Coach Hedge screaming.

"GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH UPS! COMB YOUR HAIR! THE COW SAYS MOO!"

"Happy New Year to you too," Leo said happily, patting the table's surface. Buford blew steam and scuttled off.

"You'll never take Coach off him, will you?" Louisa asked bemusedly.

"And take away his voice? Do I look like a sea witch to you?"

"Mmmmm…"

"That was rhetorical, shut up."

Leo had much work to do. He had two banks and a phone shop awaiting plans for new security systems, a local school wanted him to install various accesses and aids for their disabled students and a dozen or so orders for new prosthetic limbs, one of which was for a child of eight. He was trying to work out how to make it grow with the recipient while still retaining strength for use and its comfortability. Children grew quickly, he had discovered, much to the chagrin of their parents and their parents' bank accounts. He needed to make something adaptable and long-term, something that would not need replacing in five minutes and something that would not cost (heh) an arm and a leg.

"Stop it, stop it," he told himself, patting his cheeks in reprimand.

"Stop what?" Louisa asked. She had made herself at home on the neighbouring desk, leafing through a pile of blueprints and sketches. Bradley was looking too, encased in his sling and wriggling his wriggles. "None of these look like my ship," she frowned. "Where's my ship?"

"I haven't done it yet."

"Why not?"

"You never paid for the express service."

"There's an express service?" She looked up to see him tapping his forefinger on his lips. She shuffled the papers, hiding him from view. "Bradley says you're a cheeky bastard."

"That doesn't sound like my Bradley," Leo mused. "He'd never use such vile language."

"Yeah, he would. He said 'that Papi of mine is a fuckin' cheeky bastard 'n' Mama needs to kick him in the dick'." Leo's hand appeared at the top of the blueprints, pulling the papers down. Bradley beamed at him, almost smacking Louisa in the jaw in his excitement.

"See?" Leo gestured at the tot. "He would never say that. He's Team Leo. Ooh, I'm going to get him a T-shirt that says 'Team Leo', let's bring that back."

"Nah, fuck off. Team Lou."

"Nah." Leo shook his head and returned to his workstation.

"Can I help with any of this?" she asked. She tipped her head this way and that at the plans, scrunching her face. "Not that I really understand it, but I can pass you tools 'n' shit."

"I'd rather you didn't pass me shit. Food is preferable."

"Food turns into shit," she countered in a mutter. Leo snickered.

"I'd still rather the food, if that's OK." She huffed and spun in her seat, examining everything she had dumped on the desk. Her sketchbooks, finally being used again, and a myriad of pencils and colours. Toys for Bradley, bright colourful things that rattled or jingled or crinkled. The pile of snacks they had managed to sneak out in the baby bag, the last of the Oreos and Pringles, some KitKats, and some more Louisa had found in Leo's kitchenette in the Bunker's living space. Fonzies galore and bottles of water and juice, stashes of cookies and Mars bars and one random, rather sad looking banana.

Bradley kicked, hands swiping at the air in that adorable, clumsy way he had developed. Louisa picked one of his toys, a floppy brightly coloured octopus. Each leg had a different pattern and feature, crinkling or rattling or squeaking.

She watched as Bradley reached for it, batting at it, fingers curling on nothing a few times. He burbled and dribbled, trying again and latching onto a leg that rattled. Another amateur grab and he secured its head, directing the smiling face to his mouth and dribbling some more.

He was three-and-a-half months old now. According to their books, he was developing his hand-eye coordination, amongst other things. Louisa had been thinking of setting up the play mat Leo had brought, the one from the shopping spree she had spent the entirety of thinking he had robbed a bank. It had two arches over it, making an X, from which hung a multitude of rattles and spinning things and shiny mirrors. The books had said this would help him and give him a bit of freedom to play.

They had also said something about 'tummy time'. She and Leo, after a bit of Googling, had tested Bradley with this, lying him on his front on her bed. He had looked most baffled at first, still kicking. Leo had remarked he would make a fantastic swimmer one day, to which she had nodded.

It took a few minutes, but Bradley worked things out. He managed to get his hands beneath him and push up, lifting his head and shoulders. He beamed at this new development and at them, clearly proud of himself.

According to the books, he was progressing as he should. The kicking and wriggling was on par with his age, his torso and leg muscles developing nicely; he could stand on his feet provided one of them held him up. He had yet to figure out how to roll over from 'tummy time', though the books informed it could happen at any point in the next month or two.

There was one thing Louisa was quite looking forward to. He had already begun to babble, odd gurgling noises and 'bah's. What she really wanted to hear though, what she couldn't wait for, was his laugh. It could, said the books, be at any time now. He was learning how to be social now, how to interact with the people he recognised.

What would make him laugh for the first time? Stupid faces and sounds were out, most often eliciting one of his radiant gummy smiles, but no laugh. Annabeth had told her what had made Tobias laugh for the first time and she had tried that— Percy had been tearing up leaflets, unwanted advertisements in their mailbox, and Tobias had squealed with giggles.

Bradley hadn't, taking the scraps and trying to eat them instead. It had cost her a good few minutes and much exasperation battling to unclench his hands, the paper only getting soggier and soggier. Leo hadn't helped, recording the struggle on his phone and snickering.

With the soggy remnants of the leaflets in mind, Louisa kept Leo's plans well out of reach. Bradley didn't seem to notice, content with his octopus. Lizzy had got it for him for Christmas and it had quickly proven to be one of his favourites.

"Baaahhh," Bradley said, gnawing on the octopus's plush head.

"Ba ba black sheep," Leo picked up, "have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full." He glanced over at Louisa with an expectant smile. Louisa floundered.

"Sheep."

"One for the master, one for the dame. One for the little boy that lives down the lane. How do you not know 'Ba Ba Black Sheep'?"

"I know 'Humpty Dumpty'."

"Prove it."

"No, fuck off," she muttered. Leo grinned mischievously and turned back to his work. "Asshole."

"Bah!"

"Ahaha, he's telling you off. Ah, nuggets." Leo stooped to collect the tower of papers he had inadvertently swept to the floor. Louisa tipped her head.

"Is that everythin' you've got, all your orders?" she asked. Leo nodded, muttering under his breath as he shifted sheets around. "Why don't ya get a folder for 'em or somethin'? Organise 'em properly?"

"What I really need," Leo said, sitting back up on his stool, "is a secretary. I'm getting way more orders than I thought I would."

"I could help."

"With your track history with phones?" He arched an eyebrow. "I'd have better luck with Buford." Louisa stuck her tongue out and he smiled.

"Alright then, smart-ass. Why don't ya get Mellie ta help? She's good at all that secretary stuff."

"That is true." Leo drummed his fingers on the desk in thought. "Yeah, that might work. I'll ring her."

"See, I am good for somethin'. Fuck your phones."

"Hey. My phones let you play Pokémon Go without monsters hunting you down."

"Yeah, but I ain't got a shiny Ponyta yet, so fuck your phones."

Leo shot her a rude hand gesture and stalked off to ring Mellie in peace. Louisa pinched the top of the octopus's head, searching for a dry-ish patch. She shook it playfully, dancing the legs over Bradley's face. He grabbed at it again, three of the legs squashed in his chubby fists and hurriedly rammed in his mouth, lest the beastie escaped.

Leo returned twenty minutes later, grinning. He planted a loud kiss on Louisa's temple, hugging her about the shoulders.

"You," he said, "are a genius. Mellie can start tomorrow."

"You," she flicked him in the chest, "are welcome."

"Any idea how to draw up an employee contract?"

"Not a fuckin' clue." She shook her head. Leo pouted and repeated the question to Bradley. Bradley looked at him, delighting more in gnawing on his toy and hands than whatever Papi had to say.

Leo shrugged.

"Google?"

"Google."

With Mellie came Coach and Chuck. Chuck, in human years was about ten now. In satyr years, that made him five. He roared at Festus at the gates, swinging his junior cudgel in challenge. Festus roared back and Chuck scurried to hide behind his mother's skirts.

"He's only playing!" Leo assured hastily, running out as Coach squared up to the dragon, boxing at the air. Festus snorted flames and Coach jumped back.

"Watch it, cupcake. I ain't too old to make scrap out of you, no sir!"

"Gleeson, we are here to work," Mellie reminded him patiently. "Why don't you… check on Leo's defences?"

"Good idea, love. Your stuff had better be up to scratch, Valdez! Mr. Fancy Pants now, are we? I'll make sure you're not getting too big for your britches." He nodded seriously, stroking his goatee. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "How'd I get to those lasers on the gates? They look fun." Mellie cleared her throat and Coach suddenly remembered he had a job to do. "Come on, Chuck. Let's see if we can find something else that blows up."

"Yeah!" Chuck agreed excitedly, bouncing over to take his father's hand. "Go boom!"

"Go boom!" The pair hurried off. Mellie sighed, rubbing her neck. Leo grinned.

"I'm glad some things never change." He stepped aside and motioned at the door. "After you."

"Oh, very gentlemanly, Leo. Lou must have made quite the impression on you."

"What are you on about? I've always been gentlemanly." Mellie smiled politely, outwardly in agreement with him, though her eyes twinkled bemusedly and Leo knew she was teasing him. He blew a raspberry at her and commenced with the tour. "I've got some empty rooms near the front that I thought could be overflow for storage, but I might change them into offices."

"You need a reception area," Mellie said. "Somewhere your customers can come in and see the work for themselves. And some way for them to get past the gate without being lasered to death."

"Yeeeah, that might help. You've done all this sort of thing before, haven't you?"

"With… slightly more maniacal bosses, but yes."

"OK, so… are you calling me maniacal?"

"I would never."

"You are!" Leo gaped. "Ooh, we're going to get on just great."

Mellie was a godsend. By lunchtime, she had organised his paperwork and order forms, placing them in three separate folders— red for big companies, yellow for small companies and blue for private clients. She had drawn up a calendar so he could see which orders were due when and was now filling in a diary for him with dates to match and all the customers' contact information. She had also made mention of organising a reception/waiting area for customers, an office for herself, a website and social media pages for the company and a nice staff area. She predicted, if Leo's sales continued to increase, he would need some extra hands to employ and, therefore, some nice, secure contracts with nice, secure wages, starting with hers.

Louisa, after laying Bradley in his pram for a nap, stayed out of the nymph's way, watching in fascination. She had been joined at some point by Coach and Chuck, both chewing on grass. Coach was mightily impressed by Leo's defences and even more so at all the fun things going on in the Bunker.

Buford hustled over to greet the origins of his hologram.

"IS THAT YOU ALL GOT?" Tiny Hedge screamed. "BENCH PRESS THAT SUCKER, LET'S GO!"

"He's still got that?" Coach marvelled. Louisa leaned forward.

"Are you cryin'?"

"Got dirt in my eye, is all."

"Sure," Louisa smiled. She noticed Chuck staring up at her, his face screwed up, eyes narrowed. His horns hadn't come through yet and he almost passed for human in a pair of camouflage dungarees and boots. "Why are you makin' a face?"

"Momma says you're Big Three. You don't look like Big Three."

"No?"

"No." He shook his head adamantly. Louisa raised her eyebrows at Coach, then at the young satyr.

"Alright," she said. "How about I drop-kick you into the Pacific 'n' leave ya for the sharks ta eat?"

"Pfft, I'm not scared of sharks." He waved it off, as if she had said fairies. "What else you got?"

"Chuck," Coach intervened, "play nice. Lou!" he yelped as she scruffed his son, hoisting him to eye level. "Play nice!"

Chuck met her gaze defiantly, chin tipped up. Louisa smiled crookedly.

"I like this kid," she said. "He's got nerve. What d'ya want then, what's Big Three?"

"Something cool," Chuck insisted. "Do some lightning."

"Nah, that's Jupiter."

"Zeus," he corrected. "Raise the dead."

"That's Pluto." She shook her head. He sighed heavily, impatiently, and folded his arms.

"That's Hades. What can you do then?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes!"

"Really reeeeaaallllyyy wanna know?"

"Yes yes yes!" He nodded madly, fists clenched in excitement. With a jerk of her hand, she had him upside down, catching him by the ankle. She lifted him higher still, maintaining eye contact.

"Son," Coach said carefully. "She's Neptune's kid."

"Poseidon!" Chuck corrected. Coach shook his head. "Oh, wait, you're a Roman."

"Yep."

"Hmmph. What can you do?"

Louisa didn't answer and he whined in protest. Coach picked up the demand, mouth twitching.

"Zeus, Jupiter, has the sky," he said, "and Hades, Pluto, has the Underworld. Can you remember what Poseidon has? Neptune?"

"He's got the sea!"

"Yes, he does," Coach smiled. "But you know what else he's got?"

"What?"

"He's got powers that can breach the other two." He spoke in a low murmur, as if telling a ghost story. He spread his hands, bowing his head to keep his son's attention. "Storms that can tear the sky apart far more ferociously than any lightning; hurricanes and earthquakes that can rip up land and destroy cities; and tsunamis so powerful they can wipe all trace of life in a few— short— moments."

Chuck stared at him, agape. He glanced sidelong at Louisa, pointing a finger at her in silent question. Coach nodded. "You gotta watch out for this one, my boy. Be glad she's on our side."

Chuck had nothing further to say. Louisa flipped him right way up and set him down, crouching before him.

"Happy now?" she asked. Chuck frowned, wary. "Ya want me ta tell you a secret? A Big Three secret?" He nodded, inching closer when she beckoned. He got close enough, teetering on his hooves in earnest to hear. "Only the bravest of satyrs," she whispered, "find Big Three kids. 'N' only the best satyrs get to be our friends."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You know Grover, don't you?"

"I love Grover!"

"So do we," Louisa smiled. She poked him in the tummy, making him giggle. "Somethin' tells me you're very brave."

"Momma says I'm like my daddy!"

"I bet she does," Louisa smiled as Coach puffed out his chest proudly. "Your daddy is one of the best satyrs, did you know that?"

"I did!"

"Are you gonna be one of the best satyrs?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Then let's go, cupcake! Catch me if you can!" She tagged him and dashed away. Chuck bleated and scrambled after her, chasing her out of the Bunker and into the grounds ringing it.

Leo watched from a window in soon-to-be-Mellie's-office. Louisa zigzagged this way and that, hiding behind trees and popping out with a 'BOO!' Chuck yelled in challenge each time and sprinted in her wake with renewed vigour.

"Oh," Leo laughed as Louisa jumped over the charging satyr and hurried away in the other direction. Chuck kicked off his boots and fake feet, much faster on his hooves, but still not fast enough.

"What's going on?" Mellie asked, standing beside him. Chuck tackled Louisa's leg, koala-ing her shin.

"Got you!" he exclaimed, muffled through the glass. Louisa put the back of her hand to her head.

"I have been slain!" she declared and toppled over dramatically, star-fishing on the ground. Chuck scrambled up her leg, sitting astride her stomach. Louisa lay unmoving, eyes closed, head dramatically lolled to the side. Chuck poked her twice.

"Victory!" He punched the air with both fists.

"Deception!" Louisa snatched him up, holding him straight up and making him screech. Chuck growled and kicked. She went cross-eyed and groaned. "Braaaaaiiiinnnnssss."

"No!" Chuck kicked at her arm. "No zombies!"

"Satyr brrraaaiiinnsss."

"Noooooooooo!" Chuck broke free, though Leo had a sneaking suspicion Louisa had let him go purely to chase him again. She staggered after him, dragging her feet, and raised her arms in typical zombie fashion.

"Brrrraaaiiiinnnnssssss!"

"He'll sleep well tonight," Mellie remarked as the pair went beyond sight, Chuck's squeals and shouts quietening with distance. "Now, I'll be making digital copies of your calendar and diary so you can access it on your phone and computer. I'll set reminders for you too… Leo? Leo. Leo! You're not listening."

"I am listening."

"What did I say then?"

"You said I'm not listening."

"What did I say before that?"

"I don't know, I wasn't listening." He grinned lopsidedly. Mellie sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm listening now, honest." Mellie was unconvinced, crossing her arms. Her eyes narrowed. "What?" Leo said. "I can't help it, I'm ADHD. Is it always going to be like this?" he asked as her expression remained unchanged. "Maybe I should have put a clause in your contract— no judgy looks."

"I'm not judging."

"You're judging."

"I'm not."

"You are!"

"I'm not, I am thinking."

"You're thinking about judging me. Why are you even judging me, what did I do? I only missed that last bit, I've been listening to everything else." Leo, when she didn't budge, decided to mimic her stance and look. "Yeah, yeah. Two can play that game."

"Is working for you always going to be like this?"

"And worse," he confirmed. Mellie sighed, arms finally dropping. "Now, can you repeat that last bit? I have no idea what you said."