The Secret Singer

                                                    ~One moth previous~

Leo was alone, and in darkness.

Not really that second part actually. There was a light on the ceiling of the Waystation, that was shedding a dim light across the room, and it was still light outside even through the sun was about to go down, but that didn't matter.

His next few hours he'd thought he'd be by himself and get to contemplate life, or build a slide, but someone had other plans. No, Leo couldn't get more than a hour of peace before Nico di Angelo popped out of the wall in front of him.

The emo little asshole laughed as he walked towards him. "Nice to see you too, Valdez."

The son of Hades wore his usual black attire, black T-shirt and jeans with silver jewelry decorating his ears, neck and hands, but he seemed to carry himself differently. More confidence in his stride and the usual black cloud around his head seemed to have lifted. Did he and Solace get engaged? If so, Leo demanded to be Nico's groomsmen and wedding planner.

"What's the pleasure of getting to be graced by your presence, Prince Darkness?" Leo asked in a mocking tone, standing up to greet his friend.

Nico held out his hand and Leo brought him into a bro-hug.

"I have a job for you peasant," the ravenette told him as he pulled out from the embrace.

Leo gave him a smirk, "What? Are you getting married and you need Mc. Schizzle to plan it out?"

Nico's face reddened but he rolled his eyes. "No. An actual job you will get paid for."

"I'm listening," Leo replied raising an eyebrow in interest.

Ghost boy took a quick breath, and Leo tensed a bit. He had noticed some things about Nico in the time they had gotten to know each other, and one of them was that a quick breath in probably meant he was about to share something he didn't tell a lot of people. Either that, or he was going to kill someone. Leo really hoped it was the first option.

"I. . . I have a job," Nico started, playing with his skull ring like he did when he was nervous.

"Wow," Leo said sarcastically, lightening the mood so Nico didn't feel pressure to talk seriously. So he wasn't dying yet, perfect, it wasn't much fun the first time around. "You're almost as talented as Percy Jackson."

The joke worked and Nico smiled a bit and let his hands drop to behind his back. "I. . . I'm a singer."

Leo felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hair line. He blinked a few times, trying imagining Nico di Angelo as a singer. He had enough material from his trauma to make some real bops, but picturing him as a celebrity on news channels, waving and smiling, seemed strange. He wasn't one for attention. Well, positive attention. Nico loved negative attention because in his words, 'then people won't ask why you broke their neck'.

"And, I'm going on tour," Nico continued. "Not a big one, but I have performances in Oakwood for a couple weeks and I need someone to make a stage for it, so I thought you might like to help me. And get paid of course."

A couple of things "light bulbed" in Leo's brain.

1. Nico was a good enough singer to go on tour
2. He hasn't told many people about this
3. He wanted Leo to build his stage
4. Leo needed to make a demigod-safe phone so he could listen to Nico's music since he seemed to be pretty trendy

"Wait. You want me to build your stage?" He asked incredulously.

"No. I was going to ask you to ask Calypso," Nico sarcastically corrected.

"Blah, blah, blah! For real though?"

"Yes," Nico sighed, probably regretting his choice to ask Leo in person. "I want you to put a bunch of wood together and make it able to hold my weight and the weight of my band. And, if you do this, I'll give you green paper Americans decided to call money."

Leo couldn't believe it. Nico trusted him to build a platform for him to preform his music on and he would get paid for it! Calypso would be so happy he got some extra money to pay for stuff.

Calypso. . .

"Hold on," Leo held up a finger and Nico slouched into a tired position. "How long will this take? Calypso might get worried something happened-"

Nico seemed to consider the question. "As long as it takes you. Probably not very long with your skill. I can also shadow travel to Calypso and Josephine and-"

"Won't Will be mad?" Leo teased.

Nico looked at his shoes at the mention of his boyfriend.

"Nico?" Leo asked. "Is something going on between you and Will?"

"No!" Nico looked back up at him. "His great and everything's fine except. . . I haven't told him about the job yet and I just. . . feel bad."

"Oh."

Nico shuffled a bit, uncomfortable. "So, you'll do it?"

"Yeah!" Leo smiled, letting the awkwardness go. "Let me grab my stuff."

"Alright," Nico nodded. "I'll give you ten minutes."

"Is that a threat Death Boy?"

"Maybe, Iron Man."

***

                                                ~Seven days later~

Leo loved his new job. He was almost done nailing everything together, ignoring the lunch break he had been given to finish, deciding to paint it the next day. He had made the planes with Nico on the first day and then got all of the supplies the next day so he could build on the third day. It was weird not working in Cabin 9 or the Waystation but he would miss the place.

He was going to miss seeing all musicians. They had the sickest outfits and the coolest tattoos. He was gonna miss the crew members and their juicy gossip. Getting to talk and interact with mortals was strange and fun.

He was also going to miss Nico and his singing.

The first few days he worked, he had almost dropped a drill hearing the Son of Hades' angelic singing. As the days went on though, it became part of the daily rhythm. Nico would practice his song sets and Leo would hum along when he knew the chorus and nod his head with the beat.

"Hey, Leo," McCassy called from behind him, making him jump a bit.

Leo added the final smack to really get the nail into the wood before walking over to where McCassy was standing with a clip board, leaning against the wall.

Leo would also miss McCassy. She was funny and seemed to enjoy joking with him and coming up with cunning retorts. She had a good hand for wood work and her singing voice was incredible. He would have to add her to his 'to listen to' list.

McCassy was something called 'aroace' (Leo was pretty sure Reyna had said once). He didn't really get what it was, but he was sure it meant he would have to worry about her falling in love his amazhang self.

McCassy gave him a grimace as she looked him up and down. "Where's your shirt?"

Leo gave her a sly smile and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Too hot for one of those, love."

Her face turned red, "I told you I like British accents ONCE!"

Leo chuckled. She had mentioned in a conversation about five day ago, that she thought boys with British accents were 'aesthetically pleasing'. So, naturally, he teased her about it by using British slang whenever he could.

"Anyway," she continued, changing the subject. "Nico's running late and we need to check the sound system before Jake goes home."

"So?" Leo asked, wiping his hands on his orange overalls.

"I need you to sing into the mic," She gesture to behind Leo, where Nico's black microphone was laying.

"What?!" Leo had never sung in front of other people. Well, he had but it was in a joking way, not like, actually trying.

McCassy sighed, "I need you to sing into the microphone over there that Nico left when he took his lunch break."

"Why can't I just talk into it?"

"Because talking and singing are two different things. Just sing a song you know and we'll make sure everything is working."

"But. . . I suck at singing!"

"Then I guess I'll have something to tease you for," McCassy smiled unashamed of the embarrassment she was about to put Leo through.

She walked up to the sound booth where Jake was sitting, looking at all the buttons and things, and Leo slowly walked over to the microphone. He picked it up and tried to casually sit on the edge of the stage.

'What if they make fun of me?' Leo thought. 'What if they realize that I really am not Mr. Mcshizzle and just Dr. Dufus?'

McCassy gave him a thumbs up from the sound booth and Leo took a deep breath. He had thought of one song he had always loved whenever he heard it playing on the radio and decided it would be his best bet.

Leo took a deep breath so his voice wouldn't shake, and started to sing.

I love it when you call me senorita

I wish it I could pretend I didn't need ya

But every touch is ooh-la-la-la

It's true la-la-la

Ooh, I should be running

Ooh, you keep me coming for ya

His voice echoed through the room and he looked down at the ground as he sang, waiting for McCassy to tell him to stop, or for someone to yell at him.

Neither of those things happened so he kept going.

Land in Miami

The air was hot from summer rain

Sweat dripping off me

Before I even knew her name la-la-la

It felt like ooh-la-la-la

Yeah, no

Sapphire and moonlight

We danced for hours in the sand

Tequila sunrise

Her body fit right in my hands la-la-la

It felt like ooh-la-la-la

"I'm sorry everybody."

Nico's voice came from the door on the other side of the room. Leo jumped and looked at him walk towards the stage with a stack of papers in his hands. Nico's head was down, making sure none of the papers fell, he didn't even notice Leo until he came within two feet of him.

"I was writing about an idea you gave me McCassy," he was saying, just looking up from his sheets to take in his surroundings. "I was thinking. . ."

The singer looked around and seemed to realize something was off.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Leo," McCassy breathed, making both Nico and Leo look up to her in the sound booth. Her and Jake both had their mouth's gaping and eyes wide. "Leo was just showing us his hidden talent."

Nico gave him a questioning look and Leo shied away at the sudden attention.

"I mean," he laughed, trying to break the weird tension in the air. "Singing isn't a hidden talent. . ."

"You can sing?" Nico asked, not in a mean way.

"Well, I mean. . ."

"Do it again," McCassy told him. "Sing again."

Leo looked between his two friends. He was used to people teasing him and joking that he was bad at everything, well, everything except mechanics, he had never been. . . praised for something. Especially not something like singing.

"Wait." McCassy disappeared form the sound booth and then reappeared, running towards Leo with her purple microphone in hand.

"I'll sing with you," she offered and pulled herself onto the stage.

"I don't know if Calypso would like that," Leo tried to joke.

McCassy ignored the comment and pulled Leo further onto the stage.

"Hey, this thing isn't done yet-"

"Shut up," McCassy told him. "Just sing, like you did before."

Leo gulped. Not because a girl (Calypso excluded) had willingly touched him without slapping him, but because was about to sing in front of people. People he actually knew. Strangers were fine, but this audience. . . not so much. And (though he wouldn't admit it), he looked up to Nico. He was powerful, as powerful as Percy Jackson, but unlike Percy, he wasn't shown for it. He didn't get thrown in the spot light and praised for his good deeds. He didn't step into that spot light either, instead, he stayed in the shadows and puppeteering form the backstage. He also somehow risked his life over and over for people who didn't care about him and was now a master at hiding his true emotions. He was a powerful dude and he didn't show it, he was good at keeping things secret that way, and that scared Leo.

I love it when you call me senorita

McCassy was singing, with a pretty good accent surprisingly. Leo wondered if she spoke the language or had any relatives who did.

I wish I could pretend I didn't need ya

But every touch is ooh-la-la-la

It's true la-la-la

Leo sang with her, adding his hesitant voice to her confident one.

Ooh, I should be running

Ooh, you keep me coming for ya

Leo sang the main part, with his voice growing stronger and more confident and McCassy did the background part.

All along I'll be coming for ya (for ya)

And I hope it meant something to ya (ooh)

Call my name I'll be coming for ya

Coming for ya, coming for ya, coming for ya

They ended their performance and looked to Nico who was frozen in shock.

"W-wow," he finally said. "I'd clap but my hands are full."

A clapping noise was heard from the back of the room and they all turned to see Jake, clapping in the sound box.

"Thanks," Leo called to the guy and he smiled back, giving them a thumbs up.

"That. . ." Nico stuttered. "That was. . ."

"Cat got your tongue, Shadow Boy?" Leo asked as he walked towards the end of the stage.

Nico's shock vanished and was replaced with the churning eyes of a child of Athena, filled with words and quips ready to use at any moment.

"You were really good, Leo," he said finally.

"Maybe you should think about singing as a career," McCassy told him, sliding off the stage. "You only live once."

Nico and Leo exchanged a looked before bursting out laughing.

McCassy gave them a weird look. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine," Nico wheezed, clutching his stomach.

"Yeah," Leo agreed, gulping in air.

"You only die once," Nico joked airily since his breath was being taken over by his laughter. "Better make it good."

"When I die," Leo started, taking in a breath so he could say the punch line. "I want people to say my life was fire."

Nico fell to his knees and Leo rolled off the stage so they were a heap on the ground, laughing and trying to breathe.

"O~kay," McCassy said, unsure of what to make of the mess the boys were in. "I'm just gonna-"

"Wait," Nico stopped her, pushing himself up from the ground. "I wanted to talk to you about this knew song idea I came up with."

"Alright, let's hear it."

"Okay, give me two seconds," Nico turned to Leo who now had his back against the wall of the stage and was wiping laughing tears from his eyes. "Leo, do you want to preform on stage at a show."

That got Leo right out of the laughing high. "Say, what?"

"I," Nico said slowly, like he was talking to a child. "Am inviting you to come on stage with me for one of my shows."

"You and me?" Leo asked, unsure if he was hearing right.

"And Piper."

Leo jumped to his feet, "Piper? Piper McLean, Piper?"

It had been at least a year since Leo had seen his friend. They had been brought together by Hera and her mind games, but they were friends still. Or at least they were the last time they had seen each other, which must have been Jason's funeral.

"Yeah," Nico told him. "She had told me a while ago that she used to like singing a lot, so I invited her to sing with me. I don't think she'll mind if you want to join us."

"Y-yes," Leo agreed, eyes wide and clearing his throat. "I'd love to."

Nico grinned. "Cool! I'll call Piper tonight and we'll meet to pick a day and some songs."

"Awesome!"

Nico turned to McCassy, "So, I was thinking about how you were saying there were almost no songs that weren't about romance and I was thinking about a song I could call If We Got Each Other and it's about my friend's mom, a future couple-"

Leo tuned them out as he turned back to his work. He picked up a nail to hack into the stage and imaged him on that stage, in front of a hundred screaming fans. The adrenaline and excitement coursed through his body as he finished his work and spent the rest of the day dreaming about the night to come.