All Aboard!

Chapter 14

"Thanks for staying with me and for not letting the rest of the crew see me like this."
Leo had come out of his stupor and was slumped against the back of the chair.
'It was nothing, the crew need not harass you until you are ready to tell them your story.'
"Would you like to hear it?"
'Only if you are willing to share, I would not pressure you into telling me about your past.'
Leo leaned forward and took Nico's hand.
"It's ok, I want to tell you about it." Leo took a deep breath and Nico stroked his hand gently with his thumb.
"So my mom was a mechanic and she'd take me to the shop with her to keep her company. She'd put me on the bench next to her and explain how she knew what was wrong and how to fix it. When it was quiet she would take me to the kitchen and teach me different recipes from her family so that I could cook just like her. One day she was busy working on a particularly difficult part so I had gone to the kitchen to make us some lunch. Somehow the oven had sprung a leak but I hadn't noticed so when I turned it on it sparked and threw me back against the wall. When I came to there was a fireman standing over me and..."
Tears had started running down Leo's face so Nico took his free hand and wiped his cheeks.
'It's ok Leo, I understand.'
Leo lunged forward and hugged Nico like his life depended on it. Nico stiffened at the sudden contact but he brought his hands up to stroke Leo's back while he calmed down.
'I think you have shared enough for one night. Get some rest and I will come check on you in the morning.' Leo nodded his head against Nico's shoulder then lay down on the chair. "Thanks again, for being there for me."
He closed his eyes and was asleep within seconds.
'Thank you for sharing.'
Nico whispered as he got up.

"So we're headed for Spain? That's mostly smooth sailing from here, might get a little tricky the closer we get to the Mediterranean but we'll work that out when we get closer." Percy had listened to Michael's tale and had immediately started drawing up a route on the map. Jason and Michael had watched him work and were now calculating the speed they would need to cross that distance. 'Tell Clarisse it's full steam ahead! If she keeps us on a steady course we'll be able to navigate the tricky bits by daylight.' Michael ran below deck to relay the message.

"Full steam ahead you say? Finally! I've been wanting to open this baby up for days! Call Frank, tell him I need a second pair of hands."
'Ahem, I think you will find that you already have a second pair of capable hands right here!' Lavinia walked into the room behind Michael holding her hands up, palms front and grinning. Clarise rolled her eyes. "Are you going to listen to me this time or are we going to have another shampoo incident?"
'How was I to know it was not a single use phial!? I promise to follow your every instruction without question!' Clarisse sighed before resigning herself to the task at hand and showed Lavinia how to open valves and speed the engines up.