Leo cursed as he tried fixing the engine of the ship. It was his fault. He shouldn't have opened that stupid fortune cookie! Now two of his closest friends were in a place worse than hell and it was his entire fault!

Leo shouted in anger when his next attempt to fix the engine failed.

"Leo," a soft voice said, causing Leo to jump.

Leo spun around and his eyes met with golden ones. Leo sighed, relieved it wasn't someone else. "Hazel, what are you doing here?"

"You haven't eaten for two days." Hazel told him, walking closer to Leo. "I'm worried about you. Everyone else is worried about you."

"I'm fine." Leo muttered. He knew she was just trying to make him feel better. Leo was the seventh wheel, and all the others knew it too.

"No, Leo, you need to eat." Hazel said determinedly. "Come on, we're having lunch right now. There are tacos, your favorite." Hazel smiled at Leo, trying to persuade him.

Leo shook his head stubbornly. "I need to fix the ship. Annabeth and Percy are in-" Leo took a shaky breath. "Hazel, it's my fault. I opened that fortune cookie!"

"You had to so you could save our lives!" Hazel exclaimed. "Without the fortune cookie we would be dead. Annabeth and Percy aren't dead. They can survive. But we need to help them."

"Yeah, so that's why I need to fix the ship, so I can't take any breaks."

"Leo, you can't fix a huge ship without having eaten for two whole days. Come on, for me."

Leo looked at Hazel and reluctantly said, "Okay. But only for ten minutes!"

"Okay, for ten minutes." Hazel laughed softly, making Leo's heart melt. He loved her laugh-wait, no. He can't. He can't fall for Hazel! She has a boyfriend!

Hazel grabbed Leo's hand and dragged him out of the engine room and up onto the top deck, to the kitchen.

Everyone was in there (except for their two friends in Tartarus).

Piper was the first to notice them and smiled brightly. "Leo! You're here!" She stood up and hugged Leo.

Leo hugged her back weakly. "Uh, yeah. Hi."

Jason grinned at Leo. "Bro, you've been in the engine room for two whole days! I felt like I haven't seen you in ages!"

Leo sat down and the smell of food overcame him. "Pass the tacos."

Leo ate about ten tacos, but don't blame him. He hasn't eaten in two days!

Everyone was talking, but not about the quest. No one felt like bringing up where Annabeth and Percy were. It hurt too much. Besides, they all knew what they had to do: go to the House of Hades, get Annabeth and Percy out of hell, and win the war.

Leo finished his last taco and stood up. "I'll get the ship finished in a few hours." He resisted the urge to say hopefully.

"Leo, why don't you stay and talk for a while? It'll help clear your mind." Hazel said gently, pulling Leo back down.

"I can't. I need to finish the ship." Leo protested, but he was still too weak from lack of food and sleep.

"No, you don't." Piper ordered, charmspeak threaded through her words. "You need to talk like you normally do, make jokes, eat some more, and then sleep."

Leo tried protesting, but the thought of sleep made him crack. "Fine."

For the next hour Jason, Piper, Frank, Hedge, Hazel, Nico, and Leo shared stories about recent quests. Finally Leo couldn't stand it and felt his eyelids droop. Leo didn't even bother to try and stay awake. He just drifted off to sleep.

His dream was horrible. It was a complete recreation of his mother's death. The whole thing, but instead of looking at eight-year-old Leo, he was watching his mother die.

After that atrocious memory all Leo saw was black. It was completely silent except for a few words whispering and hissing in his mind, "You will always be the outsider. The seventh wheel."

"Leo, wake up!" A new voice echoed. Leo lifted his head and saw Hazel looking at him, her eyes full of concern. They were the only two in the room. The others must've gone off to do work or something.

"Yeah?" Leo said groggily, trying to get the dream out of his head.

"Leo, are you okay?" Hazel asked gently.

"Yeah, why?"

"You were saying that you were the seventh wheel."

"Oh. It was nothing."

"Leo, you can't take what Nemesis said to heart. It's not true."

"Is it?" Leo suddenly got angry. He didn't need anyone to take care of him. He didn't need charity. "I sort of am, Hazel! You can't deny it! There are seven of us. One person has to be the leftover wheel. The useless piece of equipment. And that's me!"

Hazel looked shocked at Leo's outburst. "Leo, that's not true. You're never going to be alone."

"Well I want to be." Leo snapped. Then he looked down at his hands muttered, "I'm sorry. It's just…my dream…I watched her die."

Hazel immediately knew that Leo meant his mother. She never knew exactly how she died, but Piper told Hazel that Leo felt like it was his fault when it wasn't.

"Oh, Leo." Hazel hugged Leo. "I'm so sorry. But I'm sure that's not what happened. Gaea just wants you to think that's what happened."

"It was too real." Leo shook his head.

"I know. But it'll turn out good soon. Don't worry." Hazel reassured him.

But all Leo could here were those words: the outsider. The seventh wheel.