Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus.

Frank didn't know what to make of the elfish, hyperactive son of Vulcan.

From what Frank could see, he was a curly-haired Latino on the short side, and it seemed like he constantly had a smile on his face. Not a regular, friendly smile, but the kind of expression a mad scientist would make before beginning his latest experiment. That sort of made sense, considering he was, from what Frank had heard, the mastermind behind the huge bronze trireme looming over New Rome. But, besides the slightly jumpy look in his eyes, Frank couldn't find anything threatening or out-of-the-ordinary with his appearance.

So, he was good with his hands? The floating ship was pretty impressive. It was huge, casting a large shadow over Camp Jupiter, and even from the ground, the dragon masthead looked scary; it looked alive. But that wasn't it either. Having a talent for mechanics and engineering was common among most children of Vulcan, similar to how Apollo's descendants were gifted in music and medicine.

No, Frank realized with a start that the reason why he had taken a sudden interest in Leo Valdez wasn't for just any reason, but because of the pained look that had crossed Hazel's face the moment she had laid eyes on him. It was like she had seen a ghost (and he had a feeling that Hazel was pretty experienced in that department). He would see the look appear every time Leo Valdez was within viewing distance: on the video scroll, when he climbed the down the rope ladder from the Argo II, even when they were finally reunited with Jason, he could see the pain hidden under her smile.

Despite the diplomacy that the Roman and Greek campers had agreed to, Frank was going to get to the bottom of this. No one made his girl upset and got away with it (of course, Hazel wasn't really his girl, but that was besides the point). It was time to have a little talk with Leo Valdez

It was one of the hottest days Camp Jupiter had encountered that summer. The Greeks had only arrived a few days prior, and, everyday since, Percy, Jason, and Reyna had been arguing with Octavian because, for some reason, he was convinced that the Greek campers were only here to defeat them and take over the camp. For a guy who could read prophecies and potentially see the future, Frank thought, Octavian could be pretty short-sighted.

The debating had been heated since the moment they landed, but the praetors, along with the rest of the Senate, agreed that the it was too hot and they would reconvene the next day.

Passing the Pomerian Line into New Rome, he could hear some of the kids in town at the lake, splashing and giggling.

"Hey, Terminus," Frank called to the godly marble statue.

"Frank Zhang, if my senses are correct, which they always are, you decided to leave your bow and arrow back at the barracks today?"

Frank raised his arms in an I surrender manner. "Yup, I'm clean."

"Very good."

He passed the Senate House and then stopped a few paces to the left. He had reached his destination. When he looked up, he saw the massive bronze trireme glowing in the beating sunlight. He had to squint because the light reflecting off the hull could probably blind someone.

Frank hadn't had a chance to actually get on the boat, what with the chaos of the Greeks suddenly entering camp, but he let his curiosity (and his vexation with Leo Valdez) lead him there. He took hold of the rope ladder hanging off the side and climbed his way to the top.

On the deck of the Argo II, he saw a few campers in orange T-shirts. How they could just lounge around up here without dying of a heatstroke beat Frank. His eyes scanned the few faces looking for a familiar one.

At the bow of the ship, he could see Leo leaning with his arms against the railing. He had on the same orange T-shirt as everyone else, and the tool belt that he always seemed to be wearing hung around his hips. Frank made his way over.

"Hey."

Leo started at the voice behind him and turned. "Oh, hey! You're that son of Ares! The one that can change into different animals, right?" Leo's animated expression mirrored the fascination he felt. "I was talking to Percy and he said he saw you transform into an elephant! Dude, that is so wicked!"

From far away Frank had thought Leo was pretty harmless, but up close, he got an uneasy feeling. He half expected Leo's head to start spinning around his neck.

"Uh yeah. I mean, I guess-"

"Dude, can you, like, turn into a T-rex? That would be so cool!"

"Well, I've never actually tried-"

"Those giants wouldn't know what hit them if we had a freakin' dinosaur on our side!"

Before Leo could interrupt him again, Frank spoke up.

"I'm Frank. You're Leo Valdez right?"

Leo flashed him a grin. "The one and only," he said smoothly. "Son of Hephaestus, builder extraordinaire, Supreme Commander of the Argo II," he said, placing his hands on his hips like he was posing for a photo. "So did you need something? Or were you looking for Jason, because I thought I saw him sneaking off with Piper somewhere-"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

At this, Leo looked slightly stunned. "Oh, cool. Usually, the only time people ever talk to me is if they need me to fix something. So, shoot."

Honestly, Frank didn't know what to say next. Hey, why does Hazel always freak out every time she sees you? didn't really sound like the best way to start a conversation. Instead he said, "Uh, this boat, it's pretty cool. Did you design it?"

"Sure did." His smile stretched from ear to ear. "I came up with the idea when I was five years old."

It was Frank's turn to look stunned. "Five? You've known you were a demigod for that long?"

"Uh, well, not exactly." Leo scratched his head, trying to think of a way to explain. "I guess, you can say I have a little history with some gods. But I only found out my dad was Hephaestus last winter."

He nodded in acknowledgment. "So, you've been living with your mom until you found out?"

Frank realized a little too late that he shouldn't have asked that question. The smile on Leo's face disappeared without a trace, the vibrant light that was in his eyes seconds before dimmed considerably.

"No. She-she died when I was eight."

In the back of his mind, Frank really wanted to not like this kid. He had obviously been making Hazel upset for the last few days. But upon hearing what Leo had just said, Frank wished he could hit himself with the hammer hanging from Leo's tool belt. How was we gonna fix this?

"Oh gods, I-uh, I didn't mean-I'm really-"

"Hey, it's cool," Leo said, looking down at the deck of the ship. "It's not like you knew or anything."

Frank could hear the pain in Leo's voice as he spoke. He came up here planning on getting to know Leo better, maybe find out if he had some kind of connection to Hazel, but this was definitely more than he had planned on learning. He knew he had to amend it somehow, so before Frank could stop himself, he spoke up.

"I'm really sorry. I understand." He rushed the words out, and then took a breath, "My mom died too."

Leo lifted his head back up and met his eyes. They shared a look and Leo gave a small smile of understanding before he coughed in an attempt to ease the moment.

"So, is this your first time on the boat?"

Frank was glad to see the happy expression was back on Leo's face.

"Yup. I don't know why it's taken me so long to take a look up here."

"How about the Supreme Commander of the Argo II gives you the grand tour?" he said, his voice mischievous and his smile reaching up to his eyes.

"Yeah, sure." Frank returned the smile.

As Leo animatedly described the control panel (Was that a Wii controller? And a keyboard?), Frank decided that maybe Leo wasn't all that bad. Sure, he had more energy than the kids from both camps combined, but he didn't think he was a bad guy or intentionally hurting Hazel. He laughed as Leo blasted the sound system and freaked out all the campers resting on the deck.

Leo was definitely a character, but maybe the two of them could even be friends.

AN: Wow, it feels like I've been on a writing whirlwing these past few days. So the idea for this story came to mind a while ago, but I never really had the inspiration to write anything. I actually love Leo's character, and after I read Son of Neptune, I thought Frank and Leo interacting would be really interesting. They have so much in common, but can also be polar opposites.

I'm almost sure this is gonna end up being a two or three-shot depending on what I can come up with. I can't say I'm totally satisfied with it, but I'll just have to see where it goes.

I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are welcome and appreciated!

xoxo Cherie