Daughter of Wine

Jason

We find Leo at the top of the city fortifications. He's sitting at an open-air cafe, overlooking the sea, drinking a cup of coffee and dressed in... wow. Time warp. Leo's outfit is identical to the one he wore the day we first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Jeans, a white T-shirt, and an old army jacket. Except that jacket burned up months ago. 

Piper nearly knocks him out of his chair with her hug. "Leo! Gods, where have you been?"

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge grins. Then he seems to remember he has a reputation to protect and he scowls. "You ever disappear like that again, you little punk, I'll knock you into next month!"

Frank pats Leo on the back so hard it makes him wince. Even Nico shakes his hand. 

Hazel kisses Leo on the cheek. "We thought you were dead!"

Leo musters a faint smile. "Hey, guys. Nah, nah, I'm good." His expression seems lost as he looks between us. "Where- where's Calli?"

I blink, just now realizing she hasn't come rushing to greet him. I turn and see she's standing a few feet away from the happy reunion, watching us as if she's watching a movie. She looks so unsure, uneasy, and unlike herself that I'm worried Leo won't recognize her. 

The two of them stare at each other, like they're playing the world's most ridiculous game of chicken, waiting to see who will move first. 

Finally, Leo stands from his chair and walks over to her. Calli looks like she wants to bolt, but she doesn't. She lets Leo wrap his arms around her, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she hugs him back, her legs giving out below her. 

Suddenly, Calli stands, shoving him away. She raises her hand and gives Leo a solid, loud slap across the face. 

"Ow!" He complains, rubbing his cheek. "What was that for?"

"Boludo! Que MIERDA estabas pensando desapareciendo así?" Calli starts yelling in Spanish, waving her arms around frantically. 

Leo laughs and wraps his arms around her, quieting her with a kiss. 

The two of them sit down at the table, Calli's arm wrapped tightly around Leo's, as if she's afraid he might disappear from the cafe table. 

Something is off with Leo. He won't meet our eyes. His hands are perfectly still on the table. Leo's hands are never still. All the nervous energy has been drained right out of him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness. 

As the others grab chairs from the nearby tables, I lean in and squeeze my friend's shoulder. 

"Hey, man," I say. "What happened?"

Leo's eyes sweep around the group, then settle on Calli. He turns back to me, and the message is clear: Not here. Not in front of everyone.

"I got marooned." Leo says. "Long story. How about you guys? What happened with Khione?"

Coach Hedge snorts. "What happened? Piper and Calli happened! I'm telling you, these girls have skills!"

"Coach..." Calli shifts uncomfortably. She hasn't really talked about what happened with Khione, but she hasn't really talked about anything. Her face reddens more, and I realize she's embarrassed. "It was mostly Piper. I was frozen." 

Hedge begins retelling the story, but in his version Piper and Calli are kung fu assassins and there are a lot more Boreads.

As the coach talks, I study Leo with concern. This cafe has a perfect view of the harbor. Leo must have seen the Argo II sail in. Yet he sat here drinking coffee, which he doesn't even like, waiting for us to find him. That's not like Leo at all. The ship and Calli are the two most important things in his life. When he saw us coming to rescue him, Leo should have run down to the docks, whooping at the top of his lungs.