madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-aye aye captain [I CANT HEAR YOU]-

They were supposed to search for Piper together, but Leo had sprinted away the minute they'd gotten through the city fortifications. They were just too slow, so Leo waved goodbye and sped off along the little cobbled streets and up to the highest point of the city to get a good look at what they were dealing with.

It just so happened that the open aired café with grapevines everywhere and pastel umbrellas overlooking the sea was right where he needed to be.

"Leo!"

He whipped around from the banister and spotted Piper sitting at a white table with flowers in a vase and enough pastries to feed a roman army. He made an odd yelping sound he hoped no one had heard and rushed over to hug her, his chest hurting as the life was squeezed out of him by the daughter of Aphrodite.

"You're okay," he said, winded with shock and her strong arms. "You're okay!"

"Course I am," Piper breathed, and pulled him into another hug, her hands shaking against the blanket still tied around his neck.

Leo felt tears run down his cheeks onto her shoulder and he sniffed, wiping his nose. His voice was still scratchy and hurt his throat when he spoke. He might've hurt himself with all that smoke more then he thought he had. "I thought- I thought I'd lost you too and, and..."

"I know, I know," Piper mumbled, rubbing her eyes. They were red and puffy around the edges. She beamed, "oh my gods, Valdez, I missed you so much, Jesus."

Leo grinned back tiredly, feeling his shoulders sink with exhaustion. He could breathe now. He could take the tiniest of breaks because Piper was back now, and he didn't have to be on guard every second of every minute. Piper was back. He ran a hand through his hair, "what- where were you? Are you okay?"

He took in what she was wearing once they were seated at the table. Piper ordered him a hot chocolate after seeing the bags under his eyes and he stared at the cream-coloured skirt and matching sweater made of raw canvas or something along those lines. "What are you wearing?"

She waved his question away, stuffing a raspberry pastry into her mouth and speaking as she chewed, "I'll explain everything once everyone's here, they are coming, right?"

"Yeah," Leo said, "I sorta... ran."

Piper smirked and pushed a croissant in his direction, "dork."

"Shut up," he muttered, taking a bite. He didn't feel like food, but that might have something to do with the fact he'd eaten one meal's worth of celery in the last three days and his stomach was fighting back. He chewed it down quickly, fighting nausea, and watched as Jason panted like a fish out of water by the steps, hands on his knees.

Piper shot out of her seat once again with a grin, "Jase!"

That got him going, and Leo sipped his hot chocolate, watching the marshmallows bobbing up and down as Piper tried to swing Jason around in some sort of hug and ended up toppling them into a nearby pot plant as they yelled garbled things incomprehensible to anyone else. He rolled his eyes. "And I'm the dork."

Jason was wheezing at this point, and sculled Piper's latte when he sat down. Hazel bounced over and kissed Piper on the cheek, then squeezed her into a hug as well. "Gods, I've missed you, please don't do that! I never want to be the only girl on the ship ever again!"

"I'll try not to," Piper laughed, plaits swinging, and then hugged Frank. He managed to pick her up, and then they were all seated at the table while Coach began lecturing about proper flight safety and tried to stop smiling. Nico managed a weak smile, but he did look pleased that they had Piper back, and he let her order a coffee for him.