Hellfire

15: Father's Day

FIFTEEN

Jason and Leo had been through a lot together. They'd flown on Festus the dragon all across North America to free Juno. They'd sailed on the Argo II from New York to San Francisco. They had fought giants together, defeated Gaea together, and been on several more quests after the Giant War together. It wasn't hard to believe that Jason and Leo were undoubtedly best friends.

Yet, Jason had no idea how to comfort Leo right now.

He was standing beside Leo as they sailed. He didn't think Leo knew where they were going. Percy had told him to go north. It was their best bet, Jason decided. The angels had clearly set up base in the North Pole. He doubted Percy had actually blown up the entire pole. The son of Poseidon wasn't that strong.

After giving Leo those instructions, Percy had pulled him aside. They'd exchanged words for only a minute before splitting up: Leo going to the control room and Percy heading downstairs. Heavy silence filled the ship. Jason hadn't moved from his seat until Piper and Hazel pushed him. "He needs a friend," Piper had hissed.

Jason didn't know what to say. "Hey," he'd said when he walked in.

Leo nodded, letting a wire helicopter fly out the window. He pulled more screws and bolts from his tool belt and began fiddling again. After the war, Leo had stopped making little gadgets and toys every two seconds. Jason didn't know why, but he wondered if it had something to do with Leo's death in the Giant War and his time on Ogygia with Calypso.

"Cool chopper," Jason said lamely.

Leo shrugged. "Not as good as the one I made that day in Dallas. Remember that one?"

Jason nodded, remembering their quest through Texas to find one of Camp Half-Blood's harpies, who had gotten lost on a trip to Camp Jupiter. Ella had come with them, as well as Percy. The three of them had left a path of typical demigod accidents through Texas before they found the harpy. Leo had spent most of the trip making toy planes and helicopters.

"Yeah, that was great. Ella chased it all around the city and Percy had to get her." Jason laughed. "Man, he was mad at you."

Leo nodded. "He took my tool belt, so I burned all the hair on the back of his head clean off."

Jason winced. "Ouch." He'd forgotten about that.

Leo looked out at the horizon, playing with the screwdriver he was holding. "Yeah. The good old days. Death by macaroons, harpy races..."

Jason put his hand on Leo's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "About your dad."

Leo glanced at Jason. "I'm sorry about yours." He turned back to the horizon. "I don't know. My dad and I... Not exactly runner-up at the Father-Son Conventions. Still. He's a good guy. Probably my favourite god."

Jason forced a smile. "You're biased."

Leo ducked his head. His curly hair fell into his eyes, which Jason could see were wet. He looked away instantly, not wanting Leo to think he couldn't cry in front of Jason if he needed to. Jason felt extremely uncomfortable. This was Piper's thing, not his. "It's harder because he's next," Leo mumbled. "I mean, we all knew it could happen to our parents. Hazel's dad was first. I didn't like Pluto, Hades, whoever, on principle. That guy's done some shady stuff. But I didn't exactly have a jumbo popcorn in my hands when he... You know."

Jason nodded. It had been extremely hard watching Pluto die. He knew he'd been his uncle, but Jason found it difficult because Pluto was a god. Gods weren't supposed to die. "Yeah, I know."