GhostFire: the Light in the Dark (Leico Fanfic) (completed) (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: Leo

Hey y'all! Please keep in mind this is my first ever PJO/HOO fic but all pointers are welcome. Thank you! Don't forget to comment and vote!
.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
Leo pounded on the door to his mother's workshop. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to open the door. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the woman he feared to see, Gaea. Leo refused to let her win, so without using his best judgement, he set himself, and the building, on fire. Each and every memory of the different foster homes flew through his head, his worst nightmares being brought back to life. His vision cleared as he was brought back to the present, where the whole of the crew laughed at him as he dangled of the edge of the Argo II. No matter how much he called, they all refused to help him. His hand slipped and he fell to his demise thousands of feet below him.
Leo suddenly jerked awake. He was drenched in sweat and crying. He pulled himself out of bed and stumbled his way up to the deck, curling into a ball at the bow of the ship, near Festus' head. Leo continued to cry, hoping the shadows of the ship would keep him hidden, but being Leo, someone of course noticed him.
"Leo?" the dark figure asked.
"Yeah?" Leo replied, quickly wiping the tears from his eyes.
"You okay? You seem upset." Leo then recognized the voice: it was Nico.
"Me? Upset?" Leo forced a laugh. "C'mon, why would I be upset?"
"'Cuz you fell asleep." Now that hit Leo hard. His breath caught in his chest and he subconsciously started tapping SOS in Morse Code. ... --- ... His fingers continued tapping, even after Leo had calmed down. Looking up at Nico, he said, "Nightmares. Insecurities. And so much pain. I mean, I try to hide it, yah know, 'Laughing through the tears'? Well, sometimes- I just can't hold myself together sometimes, like right now. And I'd watch out, when I'm emotionally compromised, I tend to catch on fire."
With that, Nico backed up a bit. "So... you wanna talk about your nightmare?"
"I dunno man," Leo said quickly.
"Talking can sometimes help," he said moving to sit on the railing of the bow. "I sometimes think that if I had had someone to talk to, somewhere to go, after Bianca had, you know, I think I wouldn't be the same, for the better."
"Bianca?" Leo asked, hoping to get an answer from the usually quiet boy.
"Yeah. She is- well I guess she was- my sister. She joined the Hunters of Artemis, and then she di-died on a quest with Percy. When he gave me the news about it," Nico let out a soft chuckle, "I kinda exploded on him. Left a crack in the earth by the dining pavilion at camp. I was 10 I think: but I didn't care I ran from that place, from everyone. From then on it's just been a, for lack of a better word, struggle. I'm already an outcast 'cuz of my dad, and then add on the facts that I talk to more dead people than living and I push everyone away. Life kinda sucks for the Son of Hades."
"I, uh, I lost my mom when I was young."
"Really? Never would've guessed," Nico replied.
"Yeah, she, uh, she was in the shop one day with me and, uh, she forgot something in the back, so she went to go get it. The door locked and things toppled inside and I heard her scr-scream and then there was no-nothing. Then Gaea showed up, because why the Hades not, and thre-threatened to, uh, 'break my soul' or something. I tried to set her on fire but I s-set the building on fire. I k-ki-killed my own mom." Leo was crying again. Sobbing actually. "And my family turned against me a-and I ran fr-from six foster homes. Wh-what person runs from six fo-foster homes?! Weirdos, that's who!"
Completely unexpectedly, Nico moved to sit next to Leo and wrapped a comforting arm around him. Leo Continued crying lightly, as Nico began to console him.
"You didn't kill her Leo. She was dead before the fire started. I, uh, I talked to her." Leo turned to face Nico, a surprised but interested look on his face.
"Um, if we land soon," Nico continued, "you can talk to her. I can call her, uh, Ghost and you can talk to her. If you want, of course." Leo stared at Nico in shock.
"You would do that? For me? Me of all people?"
"Why not?"
"I torment you! I tease you and mock you and make fun of you! You hate me!"
"No I don't. I don't hate any of you guys. You're just... er... alive! Yeah, you guys are all alive and I'm much better with the dead than the living."
"Oh... But sense we're going home, I think no one will mind a nice and relaxing break. You know, sight seeing, architecture. Nobody'll mind."
Nico nodded, pulling his arm from around Leo's shoulders, going back to the distance kid before they had had that conversation.
"Hey Nico?"
"Yeah?"
"I never got to say thank you. If it weren't for you and you're timing and fighting skills and instincts, I'd be dead. Gaea was about to lash out at me, since I was on fire and she couldn't really hurt me, but she started to flash the images of my mother and she replayed her de-death. I froze. Everyone else didn't know what was happening, but I was so, so out of it. If you hadn't arrived then, she would've ki-killed me. So thank you."
"Ah, it was nothing."
"Dude, it was my life."
"Still nothing." Leo lightly punched Nico as both boys began cracking up.