A/N: This was for ShutUpPercy 's 15k celebration writing contest. It's a HoO fanfic about Leo and Piper, platonically. I didn't win.

Piper woke up to a loud boom that made the windows of the Aphrodite cabin rattle. She took a quick moment to check what time it was- 11:23, then told the kids in the Aphrodite cabin to stay inside.  She quickly grabbed Katropis and raced outside.

People were gathering in front of the big house. It looked like something had crashed into the porch, but there was so much people and smoke Piper couldn't make out what it was.

A satyr that Piper didn't know ran past. "Aliens!" He screamed. "Run for your lives!"

Piper shook her head and managed to make her way to the front of the crowd, right next to Chiron, who had his bow pulled tight and pointed in the direction of the smoke. Soon she could make out a heap of celestial bronze, half-broken and melted in a few spots. Somebody was sitting on top, doubled over and crutching their ribs.

The person slid down to the ground, coughing and barely able to stand. The smoke began to clear a little, and Piper could make out a scrawny figure with curly hair and a soot-covered face.

"Leo?" Piper asked, bewildered. Leo had been dead. For two years.

Leo stood a little straighter and gave a painful smile. "Hey, Pipes. Sorry about the grass."

"Leo!" Piper repeated. She ran up and gave him a huge hug, ignoring the fact that she would become covered in oil and soot.

"Ouch, ok, I have enough broken ribs already," Leo groaned, trying to push away.

Piper took a deep breath and stepped back, while Chiron lowered his bow. "Where have you been?" He asked.

Leo shrugged. "Well, I was dead for who knows how long, then I actually had to get back here, and monsters weren't helping at all."

Piper thought it was strange how casually he mentioned he was dead, like it wasn't a big deal. It had been for everyone else.

The pile of celestial bronze began to move with a loud screech, making a few campers scream. The half-melted face of a dragon appeared and nuzzled Leo's shoulder.

Leo rubbed the dragon's head affectionately. "Hey Festus, we made it home at last."

Festus made a strange whirring noise in reply.

Leo looked around the camp. "Speaking of home, where's the rest of the crew?"

Piper's happiness suddenly dwindled. "Leo, it's been two years."

Leo's face fell. "So, are they all..."

Piper looked around at the huge crowd. "It's really late," She said, lacing charm speak into her words. "Why don't you all go back to sleep?"

Everyone except Chiron began to leave, including Leo.

Piper grabbed his arm and laughed. "I wasn't talking to you."

Leo looked at her and shook his head like he was trying to wake himself up. "I guess I'll have to get used to that again."

Chiron trotted closer. "Do you guys want to talk alone?"

"Yes please," Piper said. "Come on, Leo, let's get you to the infirmary."

Leo shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"Really? With broken ribs? No you won't," Piper said, pulling him along the path. Leo protested and mentioned doing repairs on Festus but Piper didn't care. He had just come back from the dead, but he still looked only half-alive.

"So, everyone... everyone died?" Leo asked, his voice low for some reason.

"No, not everyone." Piper answered. "I'm still alive. Percy and Annabeth are at college in New Rome, Reyna is ok, and Jason is in the infirmary. I swear his head is a brick magnet."

"What about Hazel?" Leo asked slowly.

Piper decided to stop walking and let go of Leo's arm. "After you... died, Hazel, Frank, Will Solace, and Nico went on a quest to figure out how to bring back the oracle of Delphi and help Apollo. Apparently they got mobbed at Delphi. Nico tried to shadow travel all of them out but... he was tired."

Leo looked down at the ground. "How long ago was that?"

"They left a month after Gaea was defeated, but Nico didn't tell us until six months after that."

"Wait, so Nico survived?" Leo asked.

Piper frowned. "We think so. There was a note signed by him found on the door of the Poseidon cabin, but we have no idea where he is. He's probably really upset"

Leo nodded. "I can't believe they're all... Gone."

Piper gave Leo a moment to process the information. He didn't cry. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

Leo sighed. "Right. Ok, I want to say hi to Jason." He began walking, and Piper followed.

They reached the infirmary and Piper led Leo to Jason's bedside. Jason was sleeping peacefully, a bandage wrapped around his head.

"Why's he sleeping?" Leo whispered.

"It's almost midnight, who wouldn't be sleeping?" Piper said.

Leo laughed softly. "That's a good point, sorry."

Jason opened one eye drowsily. "This is a weird dream. Is that Leo?"

"The one and only! But this isn't a dream, buddy," Leo said, a big grin on his face.

Jason shot up in bed. "Leo! What- Where- How?" He groaned and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Calm down," Piper said, pushing him back down into a laying position.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Leo asked, looking concerned.

Jason's eyes glazed over. "Bricks."

Leo gave Piper a questioning look. "Ok?"

Piper shrugged. "It's a long story. He's been in here for a few weeks now."

"Sorry, man. This must be hard," Leo said to Jason.

Jason's eyes were still glazed. "Bricks."

Piper waved a hand in front of his face. "Jason, you can stop thinking about that."

Jason shook his head out of the daze. "Sorry I'm not myself, Leo. I got a little banged up. But anyway, you're alive? Where were you?"

Leo shrugged. "Well, I was dead for who knows how long, then I actually had to get back here, and monsters weren't helping at all."

"That's the exact same thing you told me," Piper said. She suddenly realized how rehearsed it sounded. Leo was hiding something.

Leo looked at the ground. "Right, sorry. I'm going to New Rome tomorrow."

"Why?" Jason asked. "We haven't seen you in two years and you're leaving?"

"I have to tell Annabeth something important," Leo answered.

"And what's that?" Piper asked.

Leo shrugged. "Nothing much."

Piper raised her eyebrows. "Then how is it important?"

Leo struggled to answer and ended up staring intently at a vase of flowers on Jason's bed stand, not saying anything.

"Leo," Piper said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What is going on?"

Leo sighed. "While I was gone I went to Ogygia and rescued Calypso."

Piper was confused. "Isn't that a good thing? Where is she?"

"Well, at first it was good, but..." Leo covered his face with one hand. "There was a curse that she would fall in love with anyone who landed on the island. Once we left, she realized she didn't like me at all."

Piper's heart sank. The rejection must have been hard on him.

"Percy left Ogygia and Calypso for Annabeth. Calypso is pretty jealous of their relationship." Leo said.

"So you want to warn her?" Piper asked.

Leo grimaced. "I need to warn her. Maybe 'Pretty jealous' was an understatement. She swore Annabeth would die on the river Styx and everything."

"We can leave in the morning," Piper said. "Right now you need some serious rest."

"You're going to come with me?" Leo asked, sounding surprised.

"Why wouldn't I?" Piper asked, confused once again.

Leo shrugged. "Jason's still here."

"I wish I could come with you guys," Jason said. "But I think she's rather go visit New Rome than sit here and watch me snore."

"And besides, Annabeth is my friend," Piper added.

Leo smiled. "Ok then. It'll be good to have some company. See you in the morning, Pipes."

Piper smiled. "See you then."

Piper was waiting at the porch of the big house. She had told Chiron where they were going and had a backpack full of supplies. Nectar, ambrosia, bandages, and extra daggers in case she lost Katropis.

She saw Leo coming in her direction, and to her surprise Festus was walking next to him, looking brand new and his polished bronze hide shining in the sunlight.

"Hey, Pipes. I fixed our ride!" Leo said when he arrived.

Piper frowned. "Did you get any sleep at all?"

Leo shrugged. "I might have dozed off for ten minutes. It doesn't really matter."

"Yes it does," Piper said.

"When I was getting back here, there wasn't any time to sleep at all," Leo said, folding his arms. "I've gotten used to it."

Piper shook her head. "Then get unused to it. That's not a good habit."

Leo just grunted and began climbing up onto Festus. Piper got herself situated on the back of Festus right behind Leo, just like old times.

Leo patted Festus on the head. "Ready buddy? We're going to Camp Jupiter. Let's go!"

Festus made a whirring noise in reply, flapped his wings, and took off into the air.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, except for the noise of Festus's mechanics. The scenery below went past in a blur of green and brown.

"Are you ok?" Piper asked. Leo had never been that silent before.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"You aren't taking care of yourself at all, and you're quiet," Piper answered.

Leo shrugged. "My life could be going better."

"Was leaving Calypso hard?" Piper asked.

Leo nodded. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up so much. I guess I'm too sizzling hot for all the girls. Maybe I'll just marry Festus."

Festus made a groaning noise like he didn't want to think about it. Piper laughed.

"And now half my friends are gone," Leo continued. "They're never going to know I'm still alive. I was looking forward to seeing them again."

"They were too," Piper said.

Leo didn't reply, sending them back into silence for a few minutes. Then he screamed, startling both Festus and Piper.

"What's wrong?" Piper asked, shaking him.

Leo took a few deep breaths and sat up straight. "I almost fell asleep, that's all."

"So you screamed?" Piper asked.

Leo was silent for a few moments. "Falling asleep... It feels like I'm dying all over again."

Piper thought for a second, then wrapped her arms around Leo's chest.

"What are you doing? Leo asked, tensing.

"Try going to sleep now," Piper said. "Don't worry, I'll take care of Festus for a while."

"Festus can take care of himself," Leo said.

"All the better, then," Piper said. She started to hum a tune, and soon Leo's breathing had slowed down and his muscles relaxed. Piper continued to hold him so he wouldn't accidently fall off or anything.

Eventually, Piper woke Leo up for lunch, which was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. As Leo ate, Piper noticed he seemed to have more of the old energy she remembered him having.

"How close are we to Camp Jupiter?" Piper asked.

Festus creaked and descended a bit. Piper looked down and saw a city spread beneath them.

"That's probably San Francisco," Leo said. "We can't be that far."

Soon enough, the camp and New Rome appeared, but it was obvious something was wrong. Legions were racing forward in formations, about to reach a huge mob of monsters.

"What's going on?" Piper asked.

"I'm not sure. But it doesn't look good at all," Leo said.

Festus began to spiral downward to land in camp. His feet hit the ground with a soft thump on the grass. Piper climbed off as soon as they landed, anxious to find out what was happening.  A small girl in full Roman armor ran past.

"Wait!" Piper called after her.

The girl stopped and turned around. "What is it?"

"What's going on?" Piper asked.

The girl shrugged. "Some Titaness named Catipso or something is attacking with a group of monsters." Then she ran off towards the battle.

"Calypso?" Leo said, surprised. "How did she know Annabeth was here?"

Piper shrugged. "Why would I know? Come on, we have to find Annabeth." They ran off towards the battlegrounds.

Piper and Leo found Reyna, Percy, and Annabeth at the back of the battlefield, leaning over a map.

"They have about twice as many monsters as we have people," Reyna was saying. "Also, Calypso has some kind of protective spell on them that we can't figure out."

"Calypso is a powerful sorceress," Annabeth said. "That's probably her main strength."

"I don't get it," Percy said, his arms folded. "Why is she even doing this? It isn't like her."

"Actually, in the Odyssey and other myths, Calypso is portrayed a lot differently. She held Odysseus captive against his will for seven years, and didn't act like the girl you and Leo described at all," Annabeth said.

Leo popped up behind them. "Did somebody say Leo?"

Percy screamed and almost fell over. "Leo- what? You're alive?"    

Leo nodded. "It's a long story. Listen, you can blame me for this attack because I set Calypso free, how can I help?"

"Do you know what Calypso's motive is?" Reyna asked.

Leo laughed nervously. "Yeah, she wants to kill Annabeth."

Percy turned to look at Annabeth. "We're never going to get a break, are we?" He asked.

Annabeth shook her head.  "I guess not."

Piper looked over Annabeth's shoulder at the map. It had somehow been enchanted to show what was going on live, with little purple dots for the demigods and multi-sized red dots for the enemies. "Where did she get so many monsters?" Piper asked.

"More baddies who want to kill us," Percy explained, which wasn't much of an explanation.

"Do we have a plan?" Piper asked.

Reyna shrugged. "The easiest way to do this would be to take down Calypso first, disable the protective enchantments she has on the monsters that's preventing us from killing them. But she has herself surrounded by those monsters, so we can't get to her without killing them first."

"I could try to charm speak her," Piper said.

Reyna nodded. "But we'd have to get you there first."

"Festus could fly to her to Calypso," Leo said.

"We have eagles, Valdez. Don't you think we would have tried that already?" Reyna asked.

Leo frowned. "What happened to the eagles?"

"We aren't sure, it's hard to tell from here. They suddenly went unconscious and fell," Reyna answered.

"Well, Festus is a machine," Leo said. "I don't think he can go unconscious like that."

"What about you?" Reyna asked. "You can go unconscious."

Leo looked at Piper. "It's worth a shot, right?"

Piper nodded. "If we do get hurt Festus can get us out."

Annabeth and Reyna looked at each other.

"It's the best plan we've got so far," Annabeth said.

"Go for it," Reyna said. "But be careful."   

Piper and Leo said a quick goodbye and raced back to Festus, who was laying on the ground and seemed to be asleep.

Leo rubbed Festus between the ears. "Hey buddy, ready for a special mission?"

Festus opened his eyes and got up, letting out a puff of smoke from his nostrils. Leo climbed up onto him and Piper followed, then Festus took off into the air.

"Already Festus, remember that gal named Calypso? We need to find her," Leo said.

Festus flew in the direction of the army of monsters. Calypso was somewhere in the center, according to Reyna.

"There she is," Leo said, pointing to a teenage girl in full battle armor. She had her arms out in front of her and her eyes closed, and it looked like she was muttering something.

She suddenly opened her eyes and glared at us. "Leo! You dare come here?" She raised her arms, and a blast of energy came zooming towards us, more felt than seen. Piper felt it make impact right in front of her, causing a huge dent in Festus's side. Leo slumped forward and almost slipped off Festus, but Piper grabbed him.

"Festus, get away from here!" Piper yelled.

Festus groaned and flew away from the battle, then landed in a field on the other side of Camp Jupiter. Piper slid off his back with Leo in her arms and laid him on the ground. His nose was bleeding and his eyes were rolled back. Piper checked his pulse, which was thankfully still going, and quickly pulled the canteen of Nectar from her backpack and drizzled a little into his mouth.

"Leo? Wake up," She said. She checked his pulse again. It was already fainter than before. Piper couldn't lose him, he just came back, she had already lost so many friends. It wouldn't be fair. "Leo," She began, weaving charm speak into her words. "Please wake up."

Leo groaned and cracked his eyes open. "My brain feels like it's being wacked with a gold bar wrapped in lemon."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Piper let out a deep breath and pulled a tissue from her backpack for his bloody nose.

Leo tried to sit up. "That went well. Ready for round two?"

"No," piper said. "It didn't work. You can't get hurt like that again."

"Yeah I can," Leo said. "We've got to do this."

"We'll find another way," Piper insisted.

Leo shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'm not that important."

Piper's eyes widened. "What did you just say?"

Leo looked shocked, like he didn't mean to say it. "I, well, you've got Jason to get back to, Annabeth and Percy have each other, but if I die, there won't be any heart break, okay?"

"What are you talking about? Leo, is that why you sacrificed yourself last time?" Piper asked.

Leo nodded his head slowly.

Piper shook her head. "Leo, you don't have to have a girlfriend to be important! You broke my heart last time you died. Everyone was sad. I love you just as much as I love Jason."

Leo gave her a confused look. "What?"

Piper laughed. "Not like that, exactly. But you're like a little brother to me. You're family."

Leo sighed and looked at the sky. "I really messed up these past two years."

"I agree," Piper said. "So don't make the same mistake."

Piper heard footsteps behind her and turned around. Percy, Annabeth and Reyna had come.

"The enemy force is retreating," Reyna said. "Are you ok, Leo?"

"I'll be fine," Leo answered. "What happened?"

"When you went over with Festus, Calypso had to take a moment off her protection spell to attack you," Reyna explained. "It gave us enough time to lower the number of monsters. Then we reminded Calypso that she wasn't making a very good first impression for the gods and that they could send her back to Ogygia at any time."

"What about her oath?" Piper asked.

"Turns out the wording was a little strange," Annabeth said. "She swore I would die a horrible death, but she didn't swear she'd kill me."

"So... That's all?" Leo asked.

Reyna nodded. "That's all."

That night, Camp Jupiter had a feast to celebrate their victory, and Leo's return, of course. Reyna, Annabeth, Piper, Percy, and Leo all sat at one table in the mess hall as invisible servants brought them food.

Percy stuck his finger in the whip cream on the top of his Sunday, and almost licked it off.

"Percy, why won't you use a spoon?" Annabeth said.

Percy stopped with the whip cream almost in his mouth, smiled, and then smeared it down Annabeth's nose. She shouted, grabbed a napkin and wiped it off, then chucked it in Percy's face, making everyone nearby laugh. Piper had almost forgotten the sound of Leo's laugh, and it was wonderful to hear it once again.

As the six of them sat there, laughing, Piper couldn't help feeling her group of friends was closer to being complete again.