Chapter XI

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Leo knocked again, "Look, Will, I really am sorry. I just want to talk to you and I feel like a really big idiot standing here and talking to your door. . . Also. . . It's kind of cold out here." He waited a few seconds, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "Okay, that was a complete lie, it's actually quite balmy out here. Balmy. . . That's a weird word, don't you think? Will I am running out of things to say. Me. Leo Valdez." He banged his forehead against the door in frustration, then recoiled with a slight cry of pain, "That door is a lot harder than it looks. . . Don't do that." He waited again. "That was supposed to make you laugh, by the way. I hope you appreciate that I'm going to have a large bruise on my face because of you." He sighed, "Please open the door. I will. . . Scrub your cabin or something. . ." Guilt started building up in his chest. "I think you hate me now and I can't blame you. This is all my fault, and I really do feel bad. I'm not just here because someone told me to come. . . Although quite a few people did urge me to. . . But that's not the point." He leaned his forehead against the door, supporting his entire weight with his head as he struggled for words. "I wasn't thinking. . . and I didn't mean to hurt Nico. I know it was stupid, I've done enough stupid things to know when I've messed up, and I screwed up big time with you and Nico. I hadn't even seen the kid smile before you two started dating and he now he smiles all of the time. . . Well he used to." He checked his watch, still leaning against the door. "I've been standing here blabbering for ten minutes straight. You must be annoyed by now, I've been told that I'm really good at that, and I'm not going away until y- AAH!" he fell foreward as the door swung open, landing right on top of Will. They landed with a loud CRASH! On the floor. Leo rolled off of the other boy, "Ow. . ."

Will rolled his eyes and sat up, "What do you want, Leo?"

Leo propped himself up on his elbow, "You really should check to see if anyone is leaning against your door before you open it." He got to his feet, shaking his head like a wet dog.

"Maybe you shouldn't lean on my door." Will said, obviously annoyed.

"Fair point. Look, Nico never said that it's over, right? He probably just wants to talk, you should go over there."

"Don't you think I've tried? I went to him right after he ran off, he broke up with me, okay?" He looked down, tears forming in his eyes.

Leo took in this news disdainfully, "Oh, Will, I didn-"

"Just go." He turned his back to Leo and pulled his knees into his chest. "There's nothing you can do, Leo. You can't fix everything, when it comes to people you can't just tighten a screw or replace a part and solve all of your problems. Some things are just broken."

Leo stared down at Will's mop of blonde hair, trying to think of something to say.

"I said, go,Leo. He burried his face in his knees, looking like his entire world was breaking apart underneath him.

Leo took a step back, hesitating, then turned around and left, shutting the door softly behind him. He jogged down the steps as Carter ran up from the direction of the Hades cabin, where everything within a three-foot radius of the building was dead or wilting.

"Any luck with Will?" He asked hopefully.

Leo shook his head, "Apparently Nico broke up with him." He said, guiltily, his eyes resting on the gloomy little cabin.

"No, he wouldn't even talk to me." His eyes followed his gaze, "And I don't think he'd talk to you either, he's pretty pissed at both of us, and for good reason."

A lightbulb went off in Leo's head, and he whipped around to grip Carter's shoulders, "YOU'RE A GENIUS!" He turned and bolted toward the forages, leaving a very confused healer in his wake.

"Did I say something?"

Leo burst through the door, "I NEED ONE OF YOU TO TALK TO A SLIGHTY TERRYFING, ANGRY ITALIAN!"

Around ten Hephaestus kids paused their work to look up at him, some of them turning off machinery and lifting their face shields. "What do you want, Leo?" A short, redhead asked.

"Why does everyone greet me like that? How about a simple, 'Hey Leo!' Or, 'It's good to see you, Leo!' Or, maybe even, 'How's it going, Leo?'?"

"Because usually when you burst into a room you're either here to talk our ears off or you need something." A tall blonde said, leaning over the counter on her elbows.

"Okay, fine. I'm trying to get Nico and Will back together and I need your help."

"Oh, you do now?" Blondie raised a grease-smeared brow. I seriously need to memorize all of their names. . . Leo added that to his mental to-do list, make serious repairs to the Ares cabin, fix up the toilets the Stolls sabotaged, repair a relationship I destroyed, and learn and memorize all of my siblings' names. Easy. . .

A boy's voice broke into his thoughts, "What's the plan?" Leo actually remembered this one's name, Trevor.

"It's actually quite simple, at least right now. . . but it might get more complicated later-"

"Of course." Leo glared at the speaker, who just so happened to be a very well-muscled, very tall, guy that he knew as Curly, because of his hair. Much to Leo's relief, Curly didn't resort to any drastic measures (like slamming him over the head with the hammer he was currently holding) and just shut up.

"We'll call it Operation Solangelo, wh-"

"Wasn't that the name of our last operation?" Shortie asked.

Leo sighed, "Yes, we'll call this one. . . Operation Solangelo Jr., now if we can continue without further int-"

"That doesn't make any sense." A new voice piped, Freckles, Leo thought without looking at him.

"Hardly anything that comes out of his mouth does." Curly stated.

"Do you guys want to help or not?" Leo asked, exasperated.

"You still haven't told us your plan." Blondie pointed out.

"That's because you guys keep interrupting me." Leo let his gaze, which probably wasn't very intimidating at all, travel over the assembled demigods pointedly, so far only three of them hadn't said a word, an average-sized girl with auburn hair, a boy who was a little taller than her with mischievous green eyes, and a boy who was considerably taller than both of them with slightly more pointed ears than his. Rusty, Greenie, and Elf. When no one said a word, he gave a small, satisfied nod and continued. "Right now, all I need is for someone Nico doesn't want to kill to talk to him, simple enough?"

"What are we supposed to say to him?"

Leo sighed, "Just tell him that Will feels terrible, that he's moping in his cabin and he hasn't smiled since he ran off. Tell him that me and Carter feel terrible. I don't know just tell him that we all feel terrible and we just want them back together."

Greenie regarded him doubtfully, "And if he won't speak to anyone?"

"Then I'll come up with something else, but we have to at least try. Are you guys in?"

They all had a silent conversation that lasted about three seconds and consisted of mostly serious glances and swift nods, then Trevor looked up at him, "You have yourself a team."

Leo grinned triumphantly. "Okay, spread the word, the more people we can get involved the better." Leo turned his attention to the girl sitting on the counter, "Rusty, can you be in charge of that?"

She looked around to make sure he was talking to her, "My name is Tilly. . ."

"Right, Tilly, look I give everyone nicknames, like secret agen--"

"Rusty?" She cut in with a look of scandalized disbelief.

"Your hair is reddish brown, not that it looks like rust, but rust is usually described as being reddish brown-"

"So is dried blood." Elf threw in.

Leo gave him a "Not helping" look then smiled at. . . Taylor, was it?, "Look, that's unimportant, everyone in this room has been given a nickname," Greenie opened his mouth to say something, "Even if they aren't aware of it. But will you?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Leo grinned, "Great! Which one of you is the best at talking to people?"

Blondie pointed to Shortie, "Definitely Stephanie."

Leo looked to the ginger for confirmation, and she nodded confidently.

"Okay, uhm, while she talks to Nico, Rusty, and whoever she chooses to go with her, will inform everyone of Operation Solangelo Jr."

"And what will you be doing?" Curly inquired.

"I will be coming up with a backup plan, and also telling a few people about the current plan. Remember to use Zedlav if the need ever arises, and that will be all for today's meeting." Leo turned and pushed the door open, heading out in search of Carter.

"Leo!"

He turned around and beamed at Calypso, "CALLIE!"

She jogged up to him, "I've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been?"

"In the forges attending to important business, have you seen Carter anywhere?"

"Yeah, I think I saw him go into the infirmary, what important business?"

Leo started off towards the infirmary, "Just come with me and I'll explain everything to you both."

"Okay. . .?" she rushed after him and followed him into the building.

After a few minutes of asking around, they found Carter in an empty room, lounging on the bed and eating a sandwich while he read a book. He bolted upright as they entered the room, throwing the book and hiding the sandwich behind his back. He relaxed as soon as he saw who it was. "Please don't tell anyone I was slacking off."

He hurried across the room to make sure his book was okay, examining it thoroughly before blowing out a sigh of relief.

"What're you reading?" Leo asked, trying to see the cover.

Carter held it up, "Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo, it's the last book in The Grisha Trilogy."

Yeah, that's an actual book, it's sitting on my lap rn, and you guys should seriously read it.

Leo walked foreward and took the book, looking at the cover, and opened his mouth to say something, but Calypso cut in, "I'm guessing you didn't drag me all the way here to listen in on your book club?"

"Oh, right! I came here to tell you about Operation Solangelo Jr. The first step is getting Nico to talk to someone, and from there we can figure it out, but I need you to spread the word."

"Yeah, of course!" Carter said enthusiastically, "Anything to get my OTP back together!"

Calypso blinked, "OTP? Sol. . . Angel?"

Carter sighed, "Being isolated on an island for thousands of years has its downfalls."

Calypso glared at him, "Ya think?"

Annnnddd I'm stopping there because Idk how to continue rn and it's already been long enough since I've updated and I don't want to keep you waiting longer! Nanansnzajjz I'm really sorry, this chapter kind of sucked royally and I'm sort of kind of contemplating deleting the entire thing. *sigh* I have a definite respect for those fanfic writers who do amazing updates like every day, I aspire to be like them. HEY! I HAVE A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION NOW! :D

MALEC LOVERS, READ BELOW!

Me, @littleduckwrites, and @Wilico_Solangelo are writing a Malec fanfiction, it's going to be on @MalecFTW if you want to read it! Neeks (@Wilico_Solangelo) is going to be writing smut in it, but there will be smut warnings so you can skip it if you want! :D