Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.

So to get back into the writing spirit, I've decided to write a companion to my hit one-shot "Facade". I hope you like it. It takes place very, very shortly after Leo and Percy's talk aboard the Argos II. Obviously, this is slightly AU as this didn't happen and the Argo II was chased out of New Rome.

This, as per the last one, is not a slash. It is merely a friendship focusing story. Even though there are more of these out, I figured it's good to flex my creativity again and get writing. So please enjoy and no flaming! Thank you!

Percy couldn't get enough of the wide-open, sparkling blue sea. The wispy breeze that would settle among the deck of the ship, the salty-sea air that would surround him in a bubble of peace, even the soft crash of the waves against the ship's hull. No matter what it was, Percy couldn't get enough of it.

That's why he wished he was at sea, and not stuck inside the Roman Camp still.

"Leo, how're we looking?" Percy called down the maintenance shaft. A few clanks were heard before Leo poked his head into sight at the bottom of the latter. His face, elf-ish features and all, was smudged with grease, oil and what seemed to bear a strikingly resemblance to ash. He grinned, despite his obvious condition and quickly scampered up the latter.

When he reached the top, Percy was forced to take a step back as he got a large whiff of the sweat son of Hephaestus. Percy just blinked and did his best to not cough or gag aloud out of respect for the work-man. He just pounded his chest once and grinned to bear the smell of hard-work. Leo, on the other hand, scarcely noticed the smell- or his condition.

As he put away his tools he'd pulled from his workbelt, he replied. "Well, we're looking fantastic on the ship's condition. Festus isn't reporting any issues and it seems like we'll be able to run on full power once we're ready to go."

Percy smiled genuinely.

"Excellent; hopefully, that's soon." Leo grinned roguishly.

"Can't wait to have Annabeth all to yourself, hmm?"

Percy blushed a violent shade of red, his mind reeling. In honesty, a part of his mind was glad for that fact that he'd be able to have Annabeth to himself and no one would bother the two of them as everyone did now- but that wasn't the primary reason.

Well; it was, but that was beside his point.

"Shut it, Valdez," Percy grumbled. Leo just laughed, clearly unaffected. "Just, are we ready?"

Leo wiped an imaginary tear away and sighed lightly at his laughing fit. "Yeah; we're set. I want to run a few more diagnostic tests, though."

"Great. Let's get those finished and get this on with," Percy said with his trademark grin.

He could almost taste the salty air.

"Well..." Leo began, his smile vanished. "I'm all set here. Why don't you go find Jason, though?"

Percy flashed Leo a confused look, to which Leo merely shrugged at. The pyro wouldn't be the one to divulge Jason's secret or thoughts- that was a talk that was to be reserved between the two sons of the Big Three. They had a power talk they needed to have settled. So Leo just gestured to the floor above them where a faint sound of combat could be heard.

Percy sighed to himself; there was no such thing as an easy day, was there?

"Right, well... good luck, lemme know if you need anything?"

Leo grinned again. "You know it, Captain Jackson."

Percy rolled his eyes but his smile returned faintly as he walked toward the combat room. In his mind, he tried to play out several reasons he needed to seek out the son of Jupiter. Besides the fact that they were both fairly powerful demigods- a fact upon which Percy didn't really care about- he knew that a talk was long overdue. They needed to settle a few things- such as the leader, any differences as the basic spokemen for their respective camps, and, above all else, the plan for this quest.

Yet, no matter what scenario Percy played out, he found that none of them really ended positively- somehow, he felt, some sort of fight would break out.

Percy sighed as he arrived at the room- the metal door tightly clamped closed as Jason's cries could be heard from outside loud and clear. Whatever the son of Jupiter was fighting- be it an imaginary enemy or a punching bad made from Drakon skin- he didn't want to end up having to mimic such sounds.

Not bothering to knock, the impulsive son of Poseidon opened the door to the workout room and closed it behind him, his trusty pen Riptide tight in his hand. It didn't take more than a second to spot Jason as he wailed on a training dummy, spearing it in several vital areas as quickly as a hummingbird's flap. He moved with grace and lightning fast speed- two puns, Percy realized, that would result in him most likely getting speared as well.

"Hey, Grace!" Percy called above Jason's racket. The teenager, apparently not hearing the door open, swung his gladius at the startling voice, which made a resounding clang as it collided with Percy's drawn Riptide. The son of Poseidon grinned as Jason scowled.

"What are you doing?" He asked, somewhat angrily as he turned his back to the intruder to his training. Percy shrugged; not caring Jason couldn't see. He had already managed to get into the fight he said he would try to avoid. "I could have killed you."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no offense, but no, I don't think you would've. Or could."

It was silent a moment before Jason started chuckling. Instead of slicing the dummy as he'd originally intended, the son of Jupiter merely stashed his Gladius away before he looked at Percy with a taunting smile.

"I totally could have."

Percy frowned.

"No, you couldn't have."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Jason scowled. "Real mature; is there something you needed?"

Percy, having forgotten his main reason for seeking out Jason, nodded once. He took a breath to settle his mood and smiled gently.

"Yeah, actually. We need to talk."

Jason grunted. "Aren't we doing that now?"

Percy shrugged. He brushed a strand of his midnight black hair from his eyes and studied Jason for a split-second. He was toned, well-built and arguably about the same height as he was. His blond hair was a striking difference from Percy's own raven hair, and his eyes were a sky-blue. Surprisingly, they were slightly different from Thalia's electric-blue, as his were lighter.

Yet they both shared a similar hardness that sometimes made them a bit unbearable. Percy knew why everyone looked to him as a leader; it was his easy-going attitude and general spontaneity that made him ideal to be followed. Uptight and serious leaders were sometimes hard to follow, although they tended to be slightly more reliable.

"We are, but it's not about what we need to talk about," Percy said with a small smirk, unbothered by Jason's sarcasm. Jason made no noise as to stop Percy as he merely raised his Gladius again and prepared to attack the dummy.

Percy, seeing as how he had no reason to stray from the topic, dove directly in. "You're scared."

Jason scoffed as he lowered his sword. "Scared? Of what?"

"Me."

Jason turned and studied Percy for a moment, a frown on his face. Percy didn't smile nor frown, he just looked evenly at Jason and continued. "You don't like this competition for power. I don't blame you... I hate it, too. We're two demigods- two sons of the most powerful of the gods. But, dude, you don't need to fear me about being a challenge. I'm not going to challenge your power or try and power over you."

For a moment, the two were quiet as Jason looked at Percy oddly. Finally, he conceded. "Okay; fine... I admit it. I was... nervous. When I heard you were praetor, a task that took me quite some time to achieve, in just a few short weeks, I was stunned. You were Greek, yet managed to win over Reyna- not an easy task. More than that, I heard so many stories about you... you fought Kronos- and basically won. How was I supposed to figure you wouldn't be some egoistical maniac?"

"Why didn't you just... ask?" Percy asked lamely. Jason, however, sighed and sat down on the gym mat. He reached for a bottle of water he had on the floor and doused his head with it, his blond hair flattening to his head.

"Pride. Envy. Name it. You're like, a legend, Percy. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you're the guy everyone knows about- the one the young kids want to be. You just seemed like someone who would outclass me. No offense, but Poseidon isn't known for modesty, either," Jason said. Percy burst out laughing, surprising Jason.

"None taken! You're totally right; my dad can be a show-off, but it's kind of cool," Percy said, a faraway look in his sea-green eyes. Jason vaguely wondered what he was thinking, but before he could ask, the sight was gone and he was back to the present spot. "But I'm sorry; I didn't know that it was so... you know, imposing. I'm not really the hero they make me out like, though. I'm just a regular guy... well, demi-guy. My friends are the heroes."

Jason smiled faintly; leave it to a Greek to be modest.

No, Jason decided, it wasn't just because he was Greek. It was because... he was a good person.

"Whatever you say, Percy," Jason said easily. The pressure on his chest, as well as Percy's, had faded with the chat as they felt a mutual respect fall into place as the two regarded each other as equals. Percy just flashed his trademark grin.

The Argos II suddenly shifted and both teens were jostled in their position. Percy sighed aloud.

"Guess I better check and see what Leo broke now..."

Jason grinned. "Right, that's a pretty good idea. Good luck."

Percy just sighed and shook his head visibly as he began to walk to the door. Before he got there, however, he paused and turned to look at Jason one last time. A thought occurred to him- one he couldn't ignore. With a smile, Percy shouted.

"Hey, Grace!" Jason turned around, confusion on his face. "Thank you; for taking care of my friends."

A smile spread across Jason's face. "No problem, Jackson. Thank you, too."

"It was nothing," Percy said before he walked out the door. The second it closed behind him, he said to himself, "what is family for?".

Just because him and Jason were supposed to hate each other, and were power-rivals, didn't mean they couldn't be friends. After all; they were all still demigods. And everyone had to stick together, despite their differences.

That's what families do.