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It took a while for anyone to register that Gaea was, in fact, defeated. No, really. For real. She wasn’t going to stay dead, just like Kronos hadn’t stayed dead, just like every monster in the Pit didn’t stay dead, but for now she was. Some demigods thousands of years down the line would maybe have to deal with her, assuming the Olympians were still in charge, but right now, for the rest of their lives and the lives of everyone they’d ever love, Gaea was not a problem.
The thought blew Leo’s mind most of all. He’d died defeating the Earth Mother. Genuinely, truly, felt every atom of his body be rend from itself in a massive explosion that managed to also kill a primordial being kind of dead, and he remembered every agonizing second of it. Granted, he’d had a little get out of jail free card in his back pocket, so he didn’t stay dead, but that wasn’t quite as comforting of a thought as it sounded on paper.
After his little stunt, he returned to Ogygia, just like he promised, and rescued Calypso, just like he’d promised. They’d… tried the whole globe-trotting adventure couple thing, really they had, but they couldn’t make it stick. Calypso had more than 4000 years of life to catch up on, she wanted to chase every whim that came to her mind, unturn every stone now that she wasn’t trapped on her island and for the first time in his life Leo just wanted to go home. He knew what was waiting for him, who was waiting for him, and he longed for nothing more than to just heave a deep sigh and let the waves of life wash over him instead of trying to outrun a tsunami.
So, they parted ways. It wasn’t quite as sad as Leo had assumed it would be, in all honesty. He’d expected tears and a screaming match and vicious words because he and Calypso both were too proud to do anything by halves or give an inch. Instead, they’d run into the Hunters of Artemis, Thalia had threatened to turn him into a stoat again (he was pretty sure that was her version of being friendly, but he kept to himself to avoid testing that theory) and Calypso had gotten on like a house on fire. Afterwards, the night the Hunters were supposed to leave, Calypso sat him down and looked at her hands, folded in her lap, radiating guilt.
“I’d like to go with them,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”
Leo waited for the anger, for the hurt, at least, but he just heaved a deep sigh of relief. “Okay.”
Calypso blinked at him in complete and utter shock. “Okay?”
“Yeah.” He felt himself grin and he leaned forward and took her hands in his. “I didn’t bust you out of one prison just to be your warden in a second one. I wanted you to be happy, Caly, and this looks like it would make you happy.”
Calypso’s eyes did actually fill with tears then, but she was smiling so wide she looked dizzy with it. She flung herself at him and hugged him so tight he forgot how to breathe. She’d never hugged him like that in all the months that they’d been traveling together. Only one person had ever managed to hug him like that other his mamá, but he wasn’t here, so Leo just hugged Calypso back and pretended.
“Thank you,” Calypso whispered to him. “Thank you for understanding. You are the greatest hero I have ever met, Leo Valdez.”
“Back atcha, Calypso,” he smiled into her shirt.
The next morning, Leo got on the back of Festus, alone this time, and saw Calypso standing there in her brand new silver Hunters parka. “See you later, ladies.”
“Bye, Leo!” Calypso called, waving and grinning like the sun. Leo waved and grinned back at her.
“Tell my brother I said hi, Stoat Boy,” Thalia ordered. Leo ignored her.
Without any grand ceremony, Festus spread his wings and took off into the sky. Once they leveled, Leo felt his heart thump in his chest, almost painful in its joy. “Alright, buddy. Take us home.”
It took another two days of hard travel, but soon Leo was soaring over the Long Island Sound, and Camp Half-Blood came into view. As soon as he landed, Leo was all but swarmed with people all eager to welcome him home, but there were only two people he wanted to see.
The first was, of course, Piper. She came in like a bottle rocket, screaming and crying and shaking him by the shoulders before she covered his face in kisses then slugged him in the arm. She shouted at him a bit for worrying her sick, then told him she loved him, slugged him again, and kissed his cheek one more time for good measure. She was equal parts furious and overjoyed and exactly what Leo needed.
Then came Jason. He’d stood by and waited patiently through Piper’s theatrics, then stepped forward and pulled Leo into a hug so tight he forgot how to breathe, just like Leo knew he would. His arms held Leo together when he threatened to shake apart in front of everyone and didn’t mind at all when Leo pressed his face into his chest hard enough to bruise them both. He was warm and solid and everything that Leo wanted.
“I missed you,” Leo whispered, only loud enough for Jason to hear.
“I missed you, too,” Jason replied, just as quiet, as he squished Leo directly into his heart. “More than you know.”
After that, things didn’t return to normal, exactly. The world had changed and they had changed right along with it, so returning to baseline was little more than a fantasy. Instead, they built a new normal right on top of the ashes of the old, brighter and stronger than ever before. The first thing Leo had to do to build this new normal was getting up to date on the new gossip, most importantly, the state of his two best friends.
“Wait, you two aren’t dating any more?” Leo gawked. “I thought you were, like, planning your grandkids’ playroom with her.”
“I was,” Jason admitted casually. He was laying on one of the Zeus Cabin bunks, lazily throwing a ball up in the air and making it dance with his wind powers for a moment before letting it fall into his waiting hands. “I loved her, and I thought we’d be together forever, but it didn’t work out.”
“And you’re… okay with that?”
Jason actually caught his ball and held onto it for a moment while he thought. “I mean, I was really upset and hurt at first, but the most important thing to me is that she’s happy, you know? If she’s happier being friends, then that’s what we’ll do. Honestly, I think I’m happier this way, too. Does that make sense?”
Leo thought about Calypso standing ankle deep in the snow of South Dakota, looking like her long life had led to that very moment. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“Besides, Piper’s been thinking about moving back with her dad the past few months,” Jason added. “She’s not really sure what’s gotten into him, but he told her that he wants to take a break from Hollywood for a while, so he can properly be there for her last few years of high school.”
“That’s really cool,” Leo said slowly, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “But you don’t think–”
“She took Coach Hedge to visit him a couple weeks before you got here to do a sniff test,” Jason reported. “Tristain McLean is officially monster-free. Piper said she figures he just watched one too many movies about workaholic dads abandoning their families or something.”
“Awesome. I hope that works out,” Leo grinned, letting himself relax properly. His eyes sparkled and he gave Jason a challenging grin. “Guess that means you’re stuck with one on one bro time with yours truly.”
Jason’s face softened with a fondness he only ever showed Leo. “You know, I think I’ll live.”
Leo felt his cheeks flush, though he couldn’t say why, exactly. He just grinned at Jason with breathless anticipation. “I think I will, too.”
After that, things just sort of… happened. They didn’t mean anything to come of it, but they spent pretty much every waking hour together. Jason was the single most important person in Leo’s life, and for the first time ever Leo was the most important in someone else’s life, too. It wasn’t deliberate, but it felt almost inevitable when Leo found himself laying on one of the bunks in the Zeus Cabin with Jason kissing him like he never wanted to do anything else.
“I love you,” Jason gasped, having still not quite figured out how to breathe while he was kissing Leo senseless. “Can I keep you?”
“You already have me,” Leo teased. “You were allowed to keep me before you revealed that you inherited your daddy-o’s smooching skills.”
Jason’s face twisted up in disgust at the mention of his father and he buried his face in the pillow beside Leo’s cheek. After a moment of mortification, he muttered, “I didn’t mean like that. I mean I want to keep you to myself.”
A frown puzzled at Leo’s mouth as he combed his fingers through Jason’s ever-lengthening hair. “Details?”
Jason was silent for a moment, just like he always did when he was parsing through the entirety of the English language (and maybe Latin, too) to find the right words. “I… don’t want to tell anyone we’re dating. I want to keep it a secret.”
Leo sort of expected to feel a surge of hurt or offense, and with anyone else he might have. However it was hard to feel anything but entirely adored with Jason’s massive body pinning him to the bed like an incredibly affectionate and effective weighted blanket. “Okay. Why?”
“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. He finally pulled his face out of the pillow, and the look he gave Leo was almost reverent. “I know it’s selfish, but I’ve never actually kept a secret before. Everything I’ve ever had or thought was always given to the Legion or shared with the world. I think I’d really like you to be something that’s just for me.”
Love and joy nearly made Leo’s chest cave. “Alright then. Secret it is.”
Jason actually looked a little startled, like he hadn’t expected agreement, but also very, very hopeful. “Really?”
Leo nodded and threaded his fingers in Jason’s hair. “Yup. I’m all yours. This relationship is offically a top-secret mission. Now get down here and kiss me, Mister Super Spy.”
Jason beamed like an over eager puppy and did exactly that.
As it turned out, Leo really really liked having a secret boyfriend. Not that their lives actually changed that much, of course. They still spent every waking hour together, just like before, but now they knew something no one else knew. Now they sat too close at the campfire and Jason flushed from more than just heat from the fire when Leo leaned in to whisper in his ear. Now they took long canoe rides together alone and got splashed by nereids pretending to be scandalized before they were also sworn to secrecy. Now they ducked behind cabins, giggling too hard to actually kiss one another. Now they let their fingers brush whenever anyone had their back turned just to call out into the silence I’m still here, I’m still yours.
Jason, for his part, had never looked happier in all the time that Leo knew him. He didn’t make it obvious, because despite his earnestness, he wasn’t one to wear his heart on his sleeve. But Leo saw it because he knew where to look. He saw the way Jason’s eyes went brighter, the way the scar on his lip twitched, the way he let his shoulders slump instead of holding them back in preparation to be called to attention.
Right now, though, Jason was anything but subtle. No, he was practically vibrating with glee as he bounded up to Leo. “I’ve decided to join the Blue Team for Capture the Flag.”
Leo’s jaw absolutely dropped. “Traitor. You know I got stuck on the Red Team. We’re always on the same team. What kind of boyfriend are you?”
“A good one, I promise,” Jason said. Then he cupped Leo’s cheeks and kissed him which was a very bold move for Secrets McGee, considering they were just outside the forge instead of sequestered away in the Zeus Cabin. “I have a plan. Just trust me.”
“Okay,” Leo mumbled, which was a cheat because Jason knew that Leo’s brain stopped working for a solid thirty seconds after Jason kissed him for the first time.
“Great!” Jason reached down to squeeze Leo’s fingers and give him that one somewhat shy look that always turned Leo’s knees to liquid. “See you at dinner?”
“If you try to sit anywhere but my table, I will set your ass on fire.”
Jason’s eyes crinkled at the corners and he smiled so wide Leo could actually see the tiniest flash of his teeth. “Okay. See you then.”
And then he just trotted off with his metaphorical tail wagging a mile a minute, leaving Leo to just stand there and watch him go, wondering what, exactly, his grand plan could be.
If Leo was being honest (though he hated being honest) he was kinda useless for most of Capture the Flag, especially once it was deemed that Festus was not allowed to participate. He could help set up traps along the perimeter, but beyond that he was the definition of a non-combatant. He could fight, to an extent, but he wasn’t going to do it unless it was a situation where he was literally going to die otherwise. Capture the Flag was no such situation. Nyssa had pleaded with him, Sherman Yang had tried to intimidate him, but nobody and nothing was going to change his mind and make him pick up a sword.
Which meant that Leo was once again relegated to patrolling the least vital, most out of the way bit of the border that nobody would ever in a million years try to breach. He was alone, unarmed, and basically just lounging under a tree with instructions to at least point people in the wrong direction if they showed up. Nothing was going to happen, he didn’t have to do anything until the conch sounded, announcing if his team had won or lost, and that was just the way he liked it.
Then, a pair of heavy feet landed directly in front of him, and he sighed, not bothering to open his eyes. “Flag’s that way,” he drawled, pointing in a random direction. “At least I think it’s that way. I’ll be real with you, I don’t actually remember.”
“I’m not here for the flag.”
Leo’s eyes shot open and he startled hard. “Jason?”
Jason was, in fact, standing there, helmet tucked under one arm and grinning like he’d just gotten away with something. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” Leo demanded. “Shouldn’t you be, I dunno, flying around and summoning lightning on the front lines or something?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. At least, that’s what Annabeth told me to do,” Jason admitted casually. He dropped his helmet with more flippant disregard than Leo had thought possible of him and fell to his knees. He started prowling towards Leo on all fours, his grin now all bared teeth and wolfish delight. “Buuuut I had something else in mind.”
“Oh my god,” Leo laughed brightly, heat rising almost dangerously in his cheeks. “You joined the wrong team just so you could abandon your post and hunt down literally the least strategically valuable enemy and make out with him.”
“Mhm,” Jason hummed in happy agreement. He had managed to crawl on top of Leo and was happily kissing his face. “Always kinda wanted to try desertion.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Leo accused, grabbing Jason by the ears so he could move his head around. He used this power to finally kiss Jason properly. “You really are a traitor. I knew it.”
“Not to you,” Jason countered, turning his head to playfully nip the inside of Leo’s wrist before kissing it. “Never to you.”
“Yeah,” Leo said softly, giving Jason a look that probably would have embarrassed him if it were being witnessed by literally anyone but his favorite person on the planet. “Never to me.”
Jason nodded solemnly and returned the look with equal adoration. “Always yours.”
“Always mine.”
The rest of Leo’s Capture the Flag purgatory passed just like he’d expected, only he wasn’t bored and alone, he was being kissed stupid by his stupidly hot boyfriend, which was a much, much better use of both their time in his book. Annabeth, unfortunately, did not agree.
“That was the single most humiliating defeat I’ve suffered since I started playing this game at seven years old,” she seethed, jabbing her finger against Jason’s chest. “We were counting on you! What the hell happened?”
Jason just shrugged, not even having the decency to look even mildly repentant. “My bad. I just got distracted. ADHD, you know?”
Annabeth looked like Jason had just suggested that she go chew on glass. “You-You’re on KP duty for the rest of the month!”
Jason cocked his head at her like a confused puppy. “You’re not my counselor, though. I make my own schedule.”
Annabeth’s eye twitched and Leo genuinely thought she might actually hit Jason before she whirled around on her heel, muttering the most vitriolic Ancient Greek Leo had ever heard.
Leo hid his kiss swollen lips behind his hand and grinned at Jason. “She’s so pissed at you, dude.”
Jason just shrugged yet again, completely and totally unbothered. He smiled at Leo and offered his hand, eyes sparkling. “She’ll live.”
Leo laughed, loud and bright and just as unbothered as Jason. He grabbed the hand offered to him. “I suppose she’ll have to. Now, come on, traitor. We’re gonna go to dinner and you’re gonna give me your brownie.”
Jason kissed the side of Leo’s head, hiding his smile in the curls. They held hands until they had to go to bed.