by Gideon Mills
Over in the corner was McGarrett. “You’re in luck,” I said. Felicity perked up, and when she spotted McGarrett she saw why.
“Janet is here, yes.” Her tail whipped around like a happy dog, and we walked over.
McGarrett stood as we neared. “Ares,” he said and nodded. “Felicity.”
Janet remained seated but took in Felicity. “So you’re the newest member.”
“I am,” Felicity said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“And I you.”
They started to compare notes as McGarrett, and I talked.
I told him about what Athena and Lola learned, along with everything else we had, and our conclusions.
McGarrett got more and more agitated as I continued to tell about Reign and Elric. It was clear that man didn’t like them and wanted them out of the way. He wasn’t the only one. All this was making the real mission harder. McGarrett was a good man, and I respected him deeply. As I did for most of the men and women that put on a uniform, whether it’s a blue one or fatigues.
“I can’t believe that man.” McGarrett leaned on the edge of the table as I stood in front of him. “Why would he do that?”
“A means to an end,” I said. “Get all the non-Paragons to hate them. Work them up into an anti-Paragon attitude.”
McGarrett rubbed his chin. “That makes sense. Strangely.”
“It does,” I said. “The man is cunning and vile. Yet, I can admit he’s smart and knows how to get what he wants.”
McGarrett nodded. “I won’t argue that, but I hate the man.”
“Me too.”
Today might not have been all that productive with the stakeout, but seeing McGarrett was nice. We walked over to the bar and ordered a beer. Some of the craft beer the bar just got in.
I was a bit surprised by that development since it wasn’t that type of establishment, but we both risked it. Going back to the table, Janet and Felicity were both talking their heads off.
“You won’t believe it,” Felicity said. “She was part of the team that took down Johnny Flash.”
I shrugged.
“Really,” Felicity said. “That’s all you react.”
“I don’t know who that is. Wasn’t here until recently.”
“Well,” Janet said. “Johnny Flash was a Paragon that had a gang robbing banks. Fancied himself an outlaw.”
Felicity took over. She was clearly giddy just talking about it. “They robbed a bank a day, for ten days. The whole city was in a panic. The newspapers were talking about it nonstop, and the TV. It was crazy.”
“It was an intense time,” McGarrett said. “In fact, that is the case that led to the formation of the team I was on.”
Now he had my attention. “How was he caught?” I asked.
“At first, we didn’t realize how they were picking their banks, but I found a pattern, and we predicted the next one.”
That didn’t surprise me at all. This was Janet, and like Lola she was a top-notch computer person. Janet had earned my respect, and if I didn’t have Lola she would be my go-to computer person.
“How’d that lead to the formation of the Paragon Unit?”
McGarrett set down the beer. “We were already working with Paragons. Had them register their names to be heroes, and we thought, what if we could have some working for us?”
“You didn’t have them before that?”
“No,” McGarrett said. “This was what, ten years ago?”
Janet nodded. “Yes. Both of us were really new to the force, and those cases made our careers.”
McGarrett smiled. “And introduced us to each other.”
Not only were we getting a history of the Paragon force, but the history of them. That was really interesting, and I enjoyed it. While I might not ever get married, it was a great thing and I loved to see a happy couple.
“Nice.”
We stayed for as long as we could, but we had too many things to do. Reign and Elric weren’t going to just disappear on their own.
16
The Talk
Having a few drinks made me a little tipsy, and I found myself back in my room. It wasn’t long before Fleur arrived to see me.
“I see you had an eventful day,” she said.
My head was throbbing since I hadn’t drunk that much in a while. “If you say so.”
She laughed. “I see Gods can’t hold their alcohol.”
“I can when I’m drinking normally.” My tolerance was at an all-time low, and part of me was actually pleased with that. Being a drunk right now would get in the way. I had to focus on the tasks at hand.
Fleur walked over to me with purpose and kissed me. Her gentle lips pressed against mine, and so did her body. Her firm, toned body felt incredible. She really had one of the best bodies in history. Even better than Helen of Troy and Aphrodite. She would have caused countless wars in ancient times. Men would have battled for her over and over.
She pulled away. “You okay?”
“Today.” I had trouble getting it out and talking about it. I was embarrassed by it. Yet, I wanted it too. I fell for the kin, and now I had to tell Fleur, and Lola also. “Felicity and I on the stakeout.”
Fleur put her finger on my lips, to keep me from talking. “You like her. Want her like you like and want Lola and me.”
I nodded.
“Lola and I are both aware,” Fleur said.
“And?” I was anxious to hear what she said. What Lola thought of it the matter. This wasn’t the first time I’ve wanted this many women, but it was the first time I loved them. That it wasn’t just sex for me. I stood tall and tried to be the God that I was. “You okay with it?”
Fleur smirked. “We both like Felicity and like you. We are okay with it.”
I was happy to hear it. This talk couldn’t have gone any better than this. I had feared how she and Lola would react. The door to my room opened with both Lola and Felicity walking in.
“You talk to him?” Lola asked.
Fleur nodded.
“Good,” Felicity said. She appeared even happier than she did this morning or afternoon.
She walked over to me and patted my ass. “I can’t wait to get a good look at that.”
“You will,” I said.
Before we could start another person entered the room. Athena eyed us all and smiled. There was no doubt she could tell that I was about to get them all. She wore a look like she didn’t care that she was about to be the biggest cock block of all time.
“We need to talk,” she said.
I groaned. “Now?”
“Yes,” she said. “You and I need to talk alone.” She emphasized the last word.
Now it was the girls’ turn to moan, but they departed the room, reluctantly. I was disappointed that I wasn’t going to get to taste sweet Felicity right now. I had been fantasizing about her for too long. I needed that little taste fulfilled.
With the door shut behind them, I turned to my half-sister. “What is so damn important?”
“I had contact with our uncle.”
That was vague and intrigued me. The Gods could be a mysterious group, and what they actually wanted might not be easy to figure out. “Which one?”
“Poseidon,” she said.
The God of the Sea and Horses. There was more to him than that, but I liked to think of him as the sea-horse God. “How did he contact you? Is he here?”
“Not here, but I talked to a horse in Central Park today.”
I could just see that happening. Athena in the park talking to a horse and everyone around her just staring at the crazy woman. There was no doubt that Poseidon wouldn’t let the humans hear him. Only Athena would be able to do understand the horse. They had a bond since she was a Goddess of Warfare and loved horses. My sister was definitely different from many of the other Gods and Goddesses.
“So what did he say?” I hoped that was pure in what he wanted, and would do something to help defeat Here. The two weren’t the best of
friends, but they never openly opposed each other.
“That Hera and Zeus have been fighting more and more. No one buys that I just left. It was believable when you did, but not me.”
“Dad finally questioning the old hag?”
“To a certain degree, he is,” Athena said.
I wasn’t sure if this was good news or bad. If Hera felt threatened by Father, she might push up her timetable. If Father actually figured it out, he might take matters into his own hands.
“What do you think is going to happen?” I asked.
Athena was silent for a while. Standing still as a statue, again. I groaned and waited for her to think this out. I’ve lost track the number of times she had done this to me. The minutes dragged on and on. The chance to rekindle the foursome with the girls was getting less and less likely.
Hopefully, they had some fun without me. I wasn’t opposed to that, and if they did, I made a mental note to tell them I was okay with it. It would make for some great fantasies for me when I wasn’t with them.
I had a feeling that might happen sooner than I liked. If this war ramped up faster than I wanted, it might make us all have to split up and fight multiple battles.
“I think,” Athena said. “That if Zeus and Hera continue to fight, the other Gods will be forced to pick sides. That a war will start on Mount Olympus and spread to Earth.”
That wasn’t good. If that happened, Hera might still get what she wants, and Father would never forgive himself. Never forgive me. It was me that started this whole thing.
“We have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I said.
“There is nothing we can do about it,” Athena said. “Poseidon will do what he can, but Hera and Zeus never really listen to him.”
“I know,” I said. “We have to make sure that we stop this end at least.”
“Agreed.”
17
Planning
The next morning, I thought about missing what had promised to be one of the best nights of my life. After having the talk with Athena, I had no longer been in the mood. That was saying something, since I was almost always ready to make love to Fleur, Lola, and now Felicity. Sex might be my biggest weakness these days. If I were in a game, it would say strengths that were nearly unlimited, but under weakness, sex, and fire.
Letting it go, I dressed in my room and got ready for the stakeout today. Fleur and I had the first shift. Felicity was going to run some other errands for us. Lola was staying in today as well. I was happy about that. While I trusted Athena to keep her safe, I felt much more secure with Lola back in the hideout. As far from Elric and his team as possible.
We really didn’t know enough about them. They were truly unknown to us. While we had their names and powers, that was all we had. What I needed to know were their motives. If it was just money, or if it was more. If they enjoyed hurting people, or just did what they had to to survive in a world created by Eris and Reign.
All that mattered, and not having the information made me uneasy. Part of me just wanted to give up on the stakeout and the rest. To rush into the fight with the man and his gang. Not that it went the best for me the first time around. Elric and his time bubbles were an issue. Add in a gang member that can teleport and one that could charm people. Make them forget the details of the robbery. It was a combination of all that which made them formidable.
As I exited the hallway and into the main area of the secret lair, I found Lola already hard at work. I still wanted to call it a Batcave or Arrowcave. Give it a special name, but I refrained from doing so. Fleur was dead set against it, and I was going to honor that. Even though it was such a fun idea, and would give the place some character and a better way to refer to the area.
Lola looked up at me as I neared her. Like always she was hard at work, and adorable. I was one of the luckiest Gods. “There you are, sleepyhead.”
I was tired and ready for this to be over. Even Gods got tired and drained from all the work. “It’s not that late.”
“No, but I’ve been here for a while.” It was clear she had been busy on the computer. She had numerous tabs open and was running programs. Some I recognized, such as her facial program. Others I had no clue, and even if she tried to explain it to me, I would have been lost.
“You look happy,” I said. She did look alive at her computer working hard. It was truly her environment. Seeing her in her natural habitat was great, and made me happy.
“I am, but would have been even happier if we could have finished what we started last night.”
I sighed. “You know I wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t you come find us after your talk with Athena.”
Fleur and Felicity arrived before I could answer and asked the exact same thing.
“I’ll tell you why he didn’t,” Athena said from behind us. I hadn’t heard her arrive in the area. “I told him that a war is about to start on Mount Olympus and spill down to Earth.”
Everyone’s eyes were on Athena with shocked looks on their faces. None of them appeared to truly believe or understand. “A war?” Fleur asked.
Athena nodded. “Yes. I know you have trouble truly believing Ares and me, but we are Gods. The rest of the Gods also exist.”
“I know that Ares truly believes he a god,” Fleur said. She had the proof of that from Zeke who had been able to tell I wasn’t lying to him. “But all of them, that’s a bit hard to wrap my head around.”
“Trust me,” Athena said. “I know it is. We’ve gone through this before.”
Not that I remembered, but that didn’t mean she was wrong. Then again, most of the times we came to Earth the last millennia they tended to take what I said with a grain of salt. Now that I think about it. Now I felt like a complete moron.
“What does that really mean?” Lola asked. “A war between the Gods, here on Earth.”
“It means that no matter what we do, we’ll have a battle that threatens to destroy the planet as we know it. That we need to make sure that we have a united force here. One to join Zeus and Poseidon against Hera.”
“If that is how it breaks down,” I said. “What if Father just lets Hera and the others fight.”
It had happened in the past before. He starts a fight and lets the kids and siblings fight it out for him. Then he swoops in and sides with the victory.
My father was a prick, and he could be one since he was the most powerful. For much of my life I attempted to be like him, but no more. These days I was doing my best to change and separate myself from him and my past.
“How do we make sure we have enough of a force to aid the Gods?” Felicity asked. Her voice was more pensive than normal. She looked scared, and I wanted to make sure she was safe and that those around her were safe.
“We get rid of the people that are trying to remove the Paragons,” Athena said. “We remove them, and then go forth and start an army of Paragons.”
It sounded like it was doable. Yet, I knew very well that we might not be able to even remove Reign. The man had connections beyond connections. Once we removed him, we still had Fenrir.
“Reign first, and Elric,” Lola said. “Then Walker.” She looked at Fleur. “I’m sorry.”
The White Angel shrugged. “Don’t be. I wiped my hands of my dad a long time ago. Even if he wasn’t hindering the Paragons. He’s a vile man and cares only for war.”
There was a history there, and I wondered what her father had done to her. Fleur rarely talked about her father, or even her brother. Even less was her mother, and I wondered what happened to Fleur to make her hate her family so much. There was the obvious of hating Paragons, but why. There had to be a reason, and maybe someday Fleur would tell me about it.
“He’s one that Hera will need,” Athena said. “The bombs made by Walker Consolidated will help her. She will want to kill all the humans.”
We let that hang in the air. It was a hard thing to accept that my own mother wanted to do a mass genocide of all the humans. She re
ally was the biggest monster of all the Gods, Titans, and other creatures. The ones people call myths, and feared. I had no doubt they would all be fighting on her side as well. My father had never been good to them, and they hated him for it.
The few we might be able to count on were the Cyclops, as they were under the protection of Poseidon and they did whatever he asked. The giants and more would be killing us. Then add in human technology fighting against us. We would need the biggest army ever created.
“We’re fucked,” Lola said. She had pieced together all I had been thinking, I’m sure. “We can’t beat Hera.”
“Sure we can,’ I said. “We need to act fast.”
“No,” Athena said. “Speed is important, but so is being smart about it.”
She was right, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier. “Fine, we’ll go stake out the pawnshop, and you go see if you can find the place that Elric is hiding out at.”
“Good,” Athena said.
“I’ll try from here too.”
18
A God?
Fleur drove over to the pawnshop. It was tense and slow. With the top down her red hair flowed in the wind. I watched her the whole way over, never taking my eyes off her marvelous face. Her deep eyes that appeared to be wrestling with something.
“You really are a God,” she said as she parked the car. The stench of the area rose around us. A mix of piss and shit. Along with rotten food, and who knew what else. The sun was up but blocked from view, and the dimness made the area appear more dangerous.
We had a view of the front door, and down the street. This wasn’t the place that I imagined having this talk when I dreamed of her and Lola accepting me for who I truly was. I didn’t want to have the conversation in this foul place.