DAYLIGHT ↬ leo valdez x reader

20. TAKE ON THE WORLD

"Y/N, you've got to come too." Leo patted me on the back, and I frowned.
"No, I don't?" I replied uncertainly, gulping as everyone's eyes averted to me. "I'm meant to stay in the sickbay Leo, it's probably best if I don't come with.
"No!" Coach Hedge finally decided to involve himself once again. "I'll do my shift in the sickbay; you can go off with the special kids." Coach grinned and shot a cheeky thumbs up to Leo, who rubbed his neck in obvious embarrassment.
"If you're sure." I shrugged. What was Coach Hedge gesturing to Leo for?

"Anyway," Frank said, clearly anxious to change the subject. "The museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason, you said there were two?"
Jason's smile faded. "Yeah," he said. "The other place is called the Battery—it's a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there...with Reyna..." He glanced at Piper, then rushed on. "We saw something in the park. A ghost or some sort of spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, glowing and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling—she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself, and sure enough, it spoke to her."

Everyone waited. "What did it say?" Annabeth asked.
"Reyna wouldn't tell me," Jason admitted. "But it must have been important. She seemed...shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that."
"The rest of us girls can go then." Annabeth said. "Piper, Hazel and I." Both nodded, though Hazel looked nervous. Piper's eyes flashed defiantly, like anything Reyna could do, she could do. "So that's settled."
Annabeth turned to Leo, who was studying his console, listening to Festus creak and click over the intercom. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"
"Good question," he muttered. "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us—long-range radar, still not in sight."

Piper leaned over the console. "Are you sure they're Roman?"
Leo rolled his eyes. "No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they're Roman! I suppose we could turn the ship around and fight—"
"Which would be a very bad idea," Jason said, "and remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

"Or I've got another idea," Leo said. "If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would overtake us, and things would get complicated. Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning—"
Hazel started to protest, but Leo raised his hand. "I know, I know. Nico's in trouble and we have to hurry."
"It's June twenty-seventh," Hazel said. "After today, four more days. Then he dies."
"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We still should have enough time to reach Rome."

Hazel scowled. "When you say should have enough..."
Leo shrugged. "How do you feel about barely enough?"
Hazel put her face in her hands for a count of three. "Sounds about typical for us."
"Okay, Leo. What kind of decoy are we talking about?" I sighed, ready to hear what idiotic idea he had.

"I'm so glad you asked!" He punched a few buttons on the console, rotated the turntable, and repeatedly pressed the A button on his Wii controller really, really fast. He called into the intercom, "Buford? Report for duty, please."
Frank took a step back. "There's somebody else on the ship? Who is Buford?"

A puff of steam shot from the stairwell, and Leo's automatic table climbed on deck. I had never seen Buford during the trip. He mostly stayed in the engine room – Leo was convinced that Buford had a secret crush on the engine. I met him briefly on my tour of the Argo before we set sail though. He was a three-legged table with a mahogany top. His bronze base had several drawers, spinning gears, and a set of steam vents. Buford was toting a bag like a mail sack tied to one of his legs. He clattered to the helm and made a sound like a train whistle.