If anyone asked him, Leo would say these had been the longest two days of his life; a very eventful life at that.

Losing Percy and Annabeth to Tartarus had taken a toll on everyone on the ship, and the morale had already been low when the monsters started attacking them relentlessly. They were barely able to move the ship forward without something jumping on deck, trying to take them down.

"We can't keep this up much longer" Leo panted, wiping sweat from his forehead. Moving around the heavy canons to shoot off the heavy boulders the mountain monsters kept throwing at the ship AND keeping the ship flying and on track was quickly draining his energy, and without Annabeth on board there was no one else who could fly the ship. He'd been awake and fighting pretty much the entire time, could've been going the whole 48 hours they've been fighting if not for the occasional charmspeak from Piper ordering him to take a nap. "We have to find another route"

The mast had been blown to smithereens by a boulder while Nico was on the crow's nest and the son of Hades had taken quite a fall, but he was resilient enough to sit back up and get the splinters out of his arms. Overall the ship was damaged, the path impassable, and the crew exhausted; even Coach Hedge had ultimately passed out after trying to hit the boulders back with his baseball bat.

Hazel sighed, wiping away the blood falling into her eye from the gash on her forehead. "If we're far away from the mountains we should rest. We're no use dead on our feet" In truth she just wanted Leo to step away from the helm and take a long rest. She knew the monsters were most likely being attracted to the ship by her and Nico's presence, and she felt guilty Leo had taken the brunt of the attacks. There were just too many monsters who hated the Underworld.

Festus turned his massive head around, creaking in the language only Leo could translate. He sighed, relieved. "Festus says we're far enough. There's no monster within our range" with that he dropped to the ground, sluggishly palming the control panel until hitting auto pilot. "We'll float in place for a while, but we need to get back on track soon"

He kept grumbling even when Nico made his way to sit next to him, pulling Leo's arms over his shoulders. Even when angry and tired, Leo couldn't find it in himself to deny the newest member of his pack the much needed affection he asked for. Nico didn't even like physical contact at all, but he was still tired from being in a coma inside the vase at the hands of the giants, and the non-stop fighting the past two days had left him in a zombie-like state where he was ruled mostly by his instincts. And they said he wanted a hug, right now.

Hazel leaned back against the panel next to them, running her hand through Leo's curls absentmindedly. "You should go to bed. Nico and I can keep watch up here while the ship's not moving"

"I don't want to leave you alone" Leo muttered, fatigue slurring his words. "I can stay here, no problem. I'll just…close my eyes…a second" he fell asleep as soon as he finished the sentence, his head falling against Nico's shoulder.

Hazel quickly bent down to pick him up, Nico hurrying to help her seeing how Leo's arm was already conveniently slug across his shoulders. They silently made their way down towards his bedroom, careful of not waking up the others even as they most likely slept through the entire last attack, they were so drained.

After making sure Leo was tucked in tight enough, they made their way back up to the deck, watching how the fog that had surrounded them up until now rolled back, letting the first rays of sun of the day warm them up.

"We can't keep idle for long" Nico said. He had moved to sit on a bundle of rope by the wall, feeling tired and knowing the shadows would be more energizing than the sun for him and Hazel. "We have to figure out how to reach Greece"

"Maybe we could water down the ship?" Hazel suggested, even if the idea made her a bit green in the face. She and sailing were not good friends.

Nico shook his head. "We can't navigate or keep sea monsters at bay, not without…" He choked on his words a bit. "…without Percy"

She couldn't really explain it, but it seemed to her that Nico was blaming himself for what had happened. Since they left Rome with the Athena Parthenos, he had closed off to everyone and had been, second to Leo, the one who'd spend the most time fighting monsters and pushing to keep them moving forward. Leo had told her, in a rare moment of peace, how Nico had felt he could've pulled them out of the pit, how he almost went back by himself to try once more, how he didn't want them to go through what he'd gone through in Tartarus, even if Percy and Annabeth had each other.

But none of it was his fault, and she knew he knew it, so there had to be something else bothering him if he was so stressed out he'd ask for a hug.

Hazel dropped her face in her hands, rubbing her eyes as she thought. If only we could get some help, she thought. Please help us, even if you don't want to see me, help us reach Greece, Dad.

Not as soon as her prayer had crossed her mind, she heard a loud whinny echoing through the air.

When Leo woke up, his first thought was where am I?

The sight of his room was so unfamiliar, for a moment he thought everything had been a dream and he'd been relocated to a new foster home. Then everything came back to him and he groaned, burying his face in the pillow beneath him.

How long had he been asleep? He couldn't go to bed, not while there was a ship to sail and a world to save. He hoped the others weren't mad at him for laying down so long.

As he made his way out, he noticed all the other rooms had their doors open, empty of their occupants. He could hear their voices coming from the dining room, and all of a sudden he remembered how hungry he was.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the room was the pile of sandwiches on the table. The second thing he noticed was the huge horse standing next to it, eating out of a pile of gold nuggets. Leo quickly reevaluated his life and his choices, walked past the horse and proceeded to the food.

He didn't notice the others sitting around the table until Piper's hand rubbed his back, startling him into realizing they were all looking at him, smiling. He would've said something but his mouth was full at the moment.

Piper saved him by guiding him to a chair and sitting next to him, letting him keep stuffing his face while she explained the situation. "Hazel just came back from land. Arion came to pick her up and took her to meet Lady Hecate"

"'ecthe?" Leo asked through a mouthful, pausing to chug down the glass of juice that had been Frank's up until he snatched it. He swallowed all down and spoke again. "Where?"

"I don't know" Hazel answered from the other end of the table. "Arion led me there on his own, and there was so much mist around…I don't even know how we made it back" she patted the horse's mane as he munched on the gold. "She told me a lot of things, about me and my mom. She said I could manipulate the mist. It was so…surreal"

"She told Hazel how to reach Epirus" Frank continued. "With all other routes discarded, our only choice is to fly through a secret passage through the Apennines and towards Bologna, where we'll find, uh, dwarves?" He turned to Hazel, who nodded. "Dwarves in Bologna, and they'll give us a treasure that'll help us. Then towards Venice. From there we have to cross the Adriatic Sea to reach Epirus"

"And get Percy and Annabeth back" Nico said. He had been sitting between Hazel and Frank, who in turn was next to Leo; so at seeing him so serious Leo didn't have a problem in picking up one of the sandwiches and stretching his arm in front of the Alpha, pushing the food insistently against Nico's mouth. Nico looked at him with a constipated face, but finally complied and opened his mouth, letting Leo slot the bread in with a satisfied hum.

Jason stood up and ruffled Leo's hair. "Fill up your tank and then we'll take off again; don't worry about anything. Festus will drive and we will keep watch" He leaned down to rub his chin against Leo's hair. "You've worked too much, take your time"

Leo reciprocated the nuzzle from his Alpha and resumed eating after he'd left. Piper landed a loud kiss on his forehead before following her mate, and finally Nico who hesitated before nuzzling his cheek and running off. Frank and Hazel had stayed behind, and Leo suddenly felt self-conscious about the ketchup on his chin and the OJ moustache over his lip. He picked up a napkin and rubbed it frantically on his face. It came back black and he flinched; he must've been dirtier than he thought. He must be smelling terrible, for sure.

Hazel stood up to sit on his other side, effectively caging him between her and Frank. Oh gods, Leo was freaking out. He really, really didn't need the Alphas seeing him like this; dirty and too hungry to care for his manners. He briefly thought about running off to go take a shower and then come back to finish filling his stomach, but the temptation of the bowl of chili appearing in front of him won at the end. He snatched the spoon Frank was holding for him and buried his face in the bowl.

"We really need to talk about setting up a schedule for you" Frank laughed, pushing back Leo's curls so they didn't get into the food. "You need more breaks than any of us, really"

Leo froze for a second at the touch, but he was far too hungry to stop for long. His face, however, flushed steadily, and he could feel his ears start to smoke when Hazel stood behind him, pulling his hair back and tying it up in a little bun with a spare hairband from her wrist. There were still some shorter curls escaping and curling around his face and ears and the Alphas started flushing almost as bad as the Omega.

Finally emptying the bowl and pushing it away, Leo stood up from the table and walked around Hazel towards the door. "I…I think I'm good now so" He pointed towards the hallway "I'll, uh, go take a shower, haven't really cleaned up for a while so, be right back" He backed away, tucking one of the runaway curls behind his ear. He flushed even more at the thought of the little bun still on and the tip of his nose lit up with a small flame. He gasped and put it down quickly, rushing off towards his room.

Frank sighed, watching him go while Hazel brought her hands to her face. Leo was indeed in dire need of a bath so his hair had a lingering smell of ash and sweat, but it still kept his own scent underneath it all and she was damned if she didn't enjoy it as much as she could. After a while they filed out towards the deck where everyone else was keeping watch, Festus easily navigating the ship through the mountains.

"There you are" Jason said when they were on sight. He was looking at them with suspicion, a frown on his lips. "Where's Leo?"

"He's taking a shower" Frank answered, and took a step back immediately after Jason's eyes shot open, electricity sparking in his hands.

Hazel stepped in front of him, hands held up. "He said he was a bit dirty after everything these past days, that's all" What the hell was Jason thinking?!

Piper, bless her, put her hands on Jason's shoulders and held him in place. His hands stopped sparking and he looked at her with a pout. "Come on, even Leo would like to clean up after so long. It's just a shower"

Jason kept pouting, and crossed his arms across his chest to look like the world's tallest baby. "Fine. But!" He pointed towards Frank and Hazel. "I'm keeping an eye on you two" He made the finger motion for 'I'm watching you', and walked off to where Nico was looking out.

Piper sighed and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head at him. "Sorry about that guys" she told Frank and Hazel. "It seems he had a talk with Leo a while ago and now he's made it his life mission to be suspicious of everyone on this ship"

Well, she thought to herself, that's not exactly true. Truth was, Jason had singled the Alphas out and was keen on acting as vigilante. 'To protect Leo's virtue!' he'd say. Jason hadn't told her what exactly his talk with Leo had been, but apparently Leo was insecure about something—someone, and Jason took his job as Leo's Alpha serious enough to make sure whatever was bothering his Omega wouldn't become an issue.

Still, no idea what that had to do with Frank and Hazel…and if she secretly did, well, that was her friend's business to work out.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it" Hazel waved her off, and Piper gave them a double thumbs up before leaving to join Coach at the helm, where the satyr had been trying to smash every button to get them to go faster, none the wiser that Festus had blocked the panel until Leo was back.

"'Don't worry'?! He was gonna zap me!" Frank shouted-whispered, a tremor going through his body.

"Oh, just turn into an eel or something"

It didn't escape them what had triggered the reaction though. What exactly was Jason mentally accusing them of if he almost went off at the mention of Leo taking a shower?!

It was only a few minutes later when Leo emerged from below deck, squeaky clean and looking more refreshed than ever. Hazel noted he had her hairband wrapped around his wrist, and her face lit up in delight.

"So, how's everything going up here?" He asked loudly, making sure his voice reached all the way to the helm where Piper was standing. Jason was by his side in a flash, looking him over critically and even picking up his hand to sniff at his wrist. Leo shook him off. "Dude"

"What? Just checking on you" He said. Leo rolled his eyes and turned around, and Jason leaned in to sniff subtly at the back of his neck, nodding to himself in satisfaction at whatever he found—or rather didn't find.

Leo, non the wiser, made a beeline for Nico, who was leaning dangerously to peer down the ship. Nico felt a hand grabbing the neck of his jacket and pulling him back, frowning as he turned to see Leo holding onto him.

"I wasn't going to fall" He said.

Leo shrugged, moving his grasp to Nico's wrist. "Not risking it kid"

Nico pouted, but went back to looking out, letting Leo hold his wrist. "We're almost out of the mountains. Bologna is visible from here"

Leo grinned, forgetting all about what he'd just say to Nico and lifting half his body over the railing. The three Alphas on the ship gasped and rushed to hold onto his shirt, pulling him back as well. Leo looked back at them. "Okay, that's just excessive"

"You were gonna fall!" Frank exclaimed, pulling him back a bit more for good measure.

Whatever Leo was about to retort with was cut short by Piper's scream and Coach's shout, and when they turned towards them, they saw what looked like two dwarf monkeys jumping on their direction, Piper and Coach tied up behind them.

"What the fu—" Leo couldn't finish when one of the monkey monsters snatched his tool belt and jumped down the ship, laughing shrilly all the way down. "Hey Give that back!"

The other monkey had finished taking everything loose it could take and followed the other. Jason and Frank were already untying Piper and Coach when Leo ran towards the helm. He took over control from Festus and hurried the ship forward towards Bologna. They had some fuckers he needed to catch.

The monkeys that had robbed them, or rather kerkopes, had lead Leo on a wild chase through the city until he finally caught them and recovered all his stolen stuff, and even other things the thieves were holding. One of them was a book with a golden cover they couldn't read, but that the dwarves had told him was taken from a minor god in Venice. So they took it as the treasure Hecate had told Hazel about and, after threatening the god's address out of the thieves, Leo sent them to bother the Romans in New York. He would've loved to see Octavian's face at the sight of those two wreaking havoc in his lines.

Their way to Venice promised to be a peaceful one, so Leo let himself relax and allowed Coach to play with the control panel—safety locked, of course—while he went down to the mess hall to just lie down in one of the couches, think of nothing for a while.

The room was already occupied, with Hazel sitting on a couch, Nico leaning into her as they looked through the book they had taken from the dwarves; Frank was sitting on the other one, fixing the string of his bow. Leo made his way to sit on the free spot next to Nico when the boy lifted his legs to place them on said empty spot. If Leo didn't know any better he'd say the little shit did it on purpose. Swallowing the nerves creeping up his throat, Leo took a seat next to Frank, bringing his knees up to his chest and curling up in the little space left by the huge Alpha, who shifted a bit to give him a more comfortable spot, looking at him apologetically. Leo smiled at him reassuringly, waving it off. It didn't take long until the rhythmic sound of Frank's bowstring being tested and Hazel and Nico's voice trying to read the book aloud lulled him to sleep.

When he woke up, the screens on the wall showed the stars shining over Camp Half-Blood, and the dinner table had disappeared in place of a roaring fireplace. Leo stretched with a groan and his arm caught on a blanket covering him. He also noted through his drowsiness a pillow had been slotted between his head and shoulder.

Looking around, he noted Nico was gone, but Hazel and Frank had remained in their spots, playing a game of chess that was placed on Buford the table. Frank's body heat seeped through the blanket and if Leo didn't have fire running through his veins he would've found it and the combination of fireplace and blanket unbearable, but it was actually very comfortable to him. He noted his legs were still up towards his chest and how they felt a bit cramped. He stretched them out like a waking cat and the movement attracted the Alphas' attention.

Frank turned towards him first, seeing how he was the closest, and brushed Leo's curls away from his face to see him better. They'd gotten long through the trip; he'd have to ask Piper to trim them a bit.

"Good morning" Frank said, voice soft and sweet as if not wanting to wake up Leo fully. Leo couldn't help the sweet scent that emanated from him, he was too pleased with the situation.

He hummed, rubbing his eyes. "How long was I out for?" He asked.

"It's still afternoon, you slept a little over an hour" Hazel answered, looking at him from her seat. When Leo's happy scent reached her she cooed at it, leaning forward.

Leo shrugged off the blanket to recover some mobility. He pointed at it and the pillow. "Was this you guys?" He asked, uncharacteristically shy all of a sudden, and unable to hide his flush with Frank's hand still brushing his hair back from his face in a gentle petting motion.

Frank hummed. "You started shivering in your sleep. We didn't want to wake you so covering you up was the next best thing. That and the fire" He said the last part apprehensively, avoiding looking at it directly, and Leo remembered how Frank's life depended on a piece of wood not burning up and how he avoided fire as much as possible.

And yet here he was, very cozy next to someone who could flame up at will.

"You didn't have to" Leo said softly, letting himself be daring and placing his hand on Frank's leg. The son of Mars stilled at the touch. "The fire, I mean. I know you don't like it"

Frank shrugged, letting his hand fall to the back of Leo's neck. The Omega's eyes fluttered at the touch. "I can bear with it. It gets really cold up here" But then the fire crackled and Frank flinched, hand unconsciously reaching for Hazel who Leo knew was holding onto his firewood.

Leo shook his head and willed for the room to make the fireplace disappear and return the table to its original place, seeing Frank's shoulders drop in relief. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable because of me. Friends don't do that"

The other two perked up at the words. "Friends? Really?" She looked really happy, and it made Leo smile.

"Well, yeah…at least I'd like to think we are?" He looked down at his hands fidgeting with the blanket. "I really like you guys…"

Hazel stood up and skipped to kneel in front of him, holding his hand in hers. "We really like you too, Leo" she beamed up at him and Leo had never felt as comfortable and happy as he did in that moment, at least not since his mom's death. He was surrounded from every angle by warmth and soft touches and a calming scent coming from the Alphas was wrapping around him like a second blanket. He almost forgot for a second they were in the middle of a war.

A growl ripped through the air and they turned towards the door where Jason and Piper stood, the Beta stepping in front of her boyfriend as Jason's eyes focused on Frank and Hazel.

"Hey guys, we're reaching Venice" She said, smiling at their positions but mostly at how Leo flushed all the way to his ears.

"Cool! Cool cool cool, great" Leo gently let go of Hazel's hand and stood up, straightening his rumpled shirt and clearing his throat. "Thank you, we'll be right there. Come on Jay, let's check this place out!" He snatched Jason's hand and pulled him along, quickly taking him away from Frank and Hazel.

Piper watched them go, amused beyond belief. "Now I see what he meant" she said to herself. She looked back at Frank and Hazel, who looked dejected at Leo's departure. His scent still permeated the room and it told Piper more about the situation than she could ask about. "You two should come up soon, too; I'm sure Leo would want to have you around more often"

Frank perked up. "You think so?"

She nodded. "I know he seems like he likes being alone, but the truth is he's had trouble making friends all his life" she bit at one of her nails, looking out into the hallway. "He's afraid of people thinking he's annoying, so he runs away to his inventions. He's always said machines are easier to understand than people" that and he didn't have to worry about machines kicking him out or dumping him, how every person since the death of his mother to the day he arrived to camp did. But she didn't need to tell them that part. It was something Leo could tell them when he was ready, if ever.

Hazel crossed her arms, huffing. "He's not annoying. He's energetic. There's a difference" Frank nodded in agreement. Maybe at the beginning he had thought Leo was a bit too much, but getting to know him better had revealed a collected, caring side of the boy he knew was as much part of him as his hyperactivity. Leo was a puzzle whose missing pieces they were willing to find.

Suddenly a crackle interrupted the silence and Leo's voice could be heard through the ship.

"Guys, get your butts up here, this shit's crazy"

Hammering away at a wooden plank, Leo wondered how the others were doing down in the city.

Frank, Hazel and Nico had volunteered to find the god owner of the book—Triptolemus, god of farming—and get whatever it was they were supposed to get to help them on their trip, even if that meant having to walk through the streets filled with weird monsters resembling furry cows. He'd stayed on the ship, promising Coach Hedge if they stayed to repair the mast he could nail everything he wanted with his bat. So he'd let him repair the railing where it had broken down while Leo worked on the mast, which required a bit more finesse.

"Hey kid, got anything else for me?" Coach approached him, beat up bat at the ready on his shoulder. Leo glanced behind him at the surprisingly clean job he'd done on the railing, and thought maybe he'd been a bit hasty in assuming the satyr would mess it up.

"Well, I'm fixing the crow's nest, you think you could shave the mast meanwhile?" He pointed at the tool lying next to the planks.

Coach nodded and let his bat down carefully, as if he hadn't just been ramming it down into some steel and wood. He got to work on the part closest to Leo. "So" he started. "When are those two finally gonna pop the question?"

Leo's hammer landed on his finger and he yowled, sticking it in his mouth in pain. "What?!"

Coach kept going like nothing had happened. "You know, the romans" He nodded towards the city. "They're taking their sweet time. When I met my Mellie I had her number in my hat before the day ended"

Leo had taken his finger out of his mouth and now his hand lay over his chest, right over where his heart was beating like crazy; was this satyr crazy?! What was he talking about! "What are you talking about?! They're my friends!" not that Leo wouldn't mind something more, but they were just now starting to like him! They said they really…really liked him…

"Oh please" Coach waved his hair dismissively. "Your hormones are all over the place. It's driving me crazy. I'm surprised they haven't started courting you yet"

Leo whimpered, the idea alone of the Alphas courting him reaching into something deep inside him. "Don't say that…"

Coach looked at him and sighed, sitting down in front of the demigod. He was way shorter than Leo but…he had a certain presence to him, something that Leo had never seen before; it made him feel safe somehow, almost like the father figure Leo never had. "Listen kid, I know what you're thinking. Back at the Wilderness School the kids were cruel to you-I know they were" He stopped Leo from protesting. "I saw it all the time, but I couldn't interfere too much and I'm sorry for that. I had to keep you and McLean low profile while I verified who you were. If I stepped in for you it would've been much worse, trust me"

"It's okay, it wasn't that bad—"

"No, it was" Hedge interrupted him. "They laughed at you and turned you away. Up until McLean arrived and you two connected, you were always alone. Didn't even have a family to talk to" Leo turned away, frowning. Coach patted his hand and Leo looked back at him, eyes shinier than before. "But you do now. You have brothers and sisters and friends; your own pack even! A bunch of little Omegas waiting for you back home"

Leo laughed. "Some not so little"

"Some definitely not so little" He agreed. He'd seen beforehand how varied Leo's pack was. "And you still think you don't deserve all this"

Leo heard the sob before he felt it, unable to stop the few tears rolling down his cheeks. It was true. All his life he'd been shunned, taken in only to be returned shortly after, bullied by family and strangers and never knowing a caring hand other than his mom's. When he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood and had realized he'd gathered a pack of his own, he'd hid away in his cabin for three whole days trying to keep down the panic clawing through his chest. He didn't want to get attached to this hopeful, wonderful kids only for them to realize how terrible he was and walk away from him. Having them tearfully hug him goodbye had both broken his heart and filled it up with a kind of love he hadn't felt in years.

And now he'd gone and taken it a step further, falling for a couple of Alphas who he was sure only saw him as a friend. He knew being a dominant Omega meant he was more likely to attract mated Alphas than anyone else, but he didn't dare raise his hopes; he couldn't stand having his heart broken like that. And with Coach feeding the idea of courtship to him, it was a fight with himself to not let it drag him into expectations he couldn't meet.

"Hey, come on" Coach shushed him, bringing him into a hug and rubbing his back. "Let it all out, kid, I'm right here"

And he did. Cried in silence against the satyr's shoulder until he ran dry and a weight had lifted from his chest.

He had some people to IM back in camp after he was done.