Fire and Ice (A Leo Valdez fanfic) [2017]

Chapter 4: Piper ❤

"YOU MISS HIM," JASON SAID. It wasn't a question. 

Piper was sitting with Jason on the roof of the Zeus cabin. She nodded. "Of course I do."

"Me too." Jason pushed his glasses farther up his nose. "I still can't believe it. He couldn't have given up so easily." He stared down miserably. "Sometimes I think if I was there, with him, I might have been able to give him the cure."

"You know you couldn't have." She had done the same thing-- relived Leo's final moments over and over, trying to think of a way she could have prevented him from doing what he did. 

"I know. Still, I wonder."

"Do you think he's still alive? Tell me the truth." Piper put a touch of charmspeak into her words.

Jason's shoulders slumped as he answered. "No."

Piper tried to keep the tears out of her eyes. "I want him to be alive," she said, "but I don't think it's possible. I think Nico's right."

The sky immediately proved her wrong. A huge bronze dragon flew down from the sky and landed on Half Blood Hill. Piper squealed with surprise and happiness. Jason whooped, grabbed Piper's waist, and flew her to the ground. Piper hit the ground running and sprinted to the top of the hill, where Hazel and Frank stood, dumbstruck.

Festus landed in the courtyard in the center of the camp. Leo Valdez slid off his back, grinning. "What'd I miss?"

Piper tackled him with a hug. Then just as quickly, she punched him on the shoulder, so hard that he stumbled backwards.

"What the Hades were you thinking? You'd sacrifice yourself so that none of us would die? Did you ever think about how we would feel, you idiot?" Piper yelled, shoving him so that he stepped back.

Leo grinned. "Sorry, Beauty Queen."

Piper burst into tears and hugged him again. Jason attacked Leo next, crushing him in a hug of his own. "Dude, let me breathe," Leo protested, but he didn't try to escape Jason's hug. 

"We thought you were dead!" Jason said, letting Leo go.

Leo shrugged. "I was, for a while."

"What?" everyone else said.

"Festus gave me the cure. It's awful stuff, but I guess being alive is worth it."

"You guess?" Hazel laughed.

"I love that dragon," Jason said, smiling, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which, I'll need to make some repairs on said bronze dragon," Leo said. "His leg is messed up. I wasn't sure if he'd make it back."

"We've got to tell the others!" Hazel said. "I'll tell Nico, he's in his cabin. Frank, go get Percy and Annabeth from by the lake. Piper and Jason, one of you tell Cabin Nine." She raced over to the Hades cabin. A moment later, she screeched. "Ew! Guys, take a room!"

Piper smiled, remembering that Will had walked into the Hades cabin a few minutes before. Her boyfriend would soon be collecting five drachma from his clueless friend.

"So, what happened with the battle?" Leo asked.

"You defeated Gaea," Piper told him. "We won."

"That was still incredibly stupid," Jason said. "Even though you saved the world."

"All in a day's work. Actually, I killed the world. Gaea, you know. I'm glad that worked out-- that plan was a little iffy. Speaking of which, what happened with the screaming fireball?"