by Crystal Dawn
“Yes, Janice, I remember you,” Zeus said with a friendly smile.
“I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Yes, I am the luckiest man in the world. I now have a wife named Sierra.”
“You’re not the only god to tie the knot, are you?”
“No, Hermes’s wife is named Cherish. We also have a few couples that haven’t taken the plunge yet.”
“Must be something in the water,” Janice said snidely.
“I prefer to think love is in the air,” Zeus countered.
“I guess this would be the perfect time to mention your New Year’s Eve Ball. I was at the Halloween Ball and it was very exciting. Did anything permanent come of it?”
“Yes, Darius met his fiancée, Gypsy. They are very happy together.”
“Is it true she’s a kindergarten teacher? Any little gods on the way?”
“As far as I know, they don’t have any children on the way. I’m not even sure they are planning to have any right away.”
“I’ve heard you have Gemma Dennis assigned here. She’s an expert geneticist. Any particular reason she’s here?”
“When the military freed us, she was with the unit they sent in and she is still assigned here simply as a medical doctor. While I have also heard she is a geneticist, we have only used her as a general medical practitioner.”
“I would love to interview her sometime.”
“You’ll have to ask her, she doesn’t work for me.”
“Looks like our time is almost up. Once again we made a sizable donation to charity for this interview. I’m Janice and this is Zeus saying goodbye from Olympus.”
“Damn it, Janice! You got off topic and ran out of time. These are just mini interviews, you have to watch the clock,” a short female who was clearly upset, said. Janice just ignored her.
“Where is Gemma hiding?” Janice asked Zeus.
“If you’ve met Gemma, you would know she never hides.”
“Maybe next time, I can interview her? People are concerned for you and your men. Gemma can set their minds at ease.”
“Again, all I can tell you is she doesn’t work for me. I have no control over her.”
“Alright, I can see you’re sticking to that story. Let us know how the ticket sales go. We like to keep our viewers current since some of them came to the Halloween Ball. I hope I’ll get a ticket next time, too.” She looked at Zeus hopefully.
Zeus didn’t answer. The female was starting to get on his nerves and he might ask for another reporter or go to another magazine next time. It was something to think about. He was happy it was time for her to leave. He suspected she had been searching for more of a story than a big party hosted by gods would be. He had no intention of giving it to her. Relieved to be done with the interview and the reporter, he was ready to search for his mate and carry her to their room.
Doc, Cher, Hermes, and Sierra watched the monitor all picking up to various extents on Zeus disgust with the reporter. She had tried to hint that something unseemly was going on with no proof whatsoever. It was unprofessional, but not really a surprise. Hopefully she wouldn’t return.
Doc wasn’t surprised that reporters wanted to talk to her. She received calls and emails from them all the time. She had even gotten them before she was at Olympus because she worked on military projects that were classified. Tell someone it’s a secret and everyone wants to know what it is. How they managed to get her number or even more surprisingly her email address, had stunned her when it first started to happen. Now she knew that little could stop a dedicated and ruthless reporter once they scented a story. It was lucky for all of them that the inhospitable conditions around Olympus were one of those few things that could and to some extent had, stopped the media circus from coming to town.
“Ares and his males just arrived. He has asked for medical help, he has two wounded,” Hermes said.
Must not be too bad, he had said it like one might say pass the salt. Doc headed toward medical where Nioma was waiting to help. They would each take a patient to get them dealt with quicker and hopefully on their way to their own quarters. When patients stayed overnight, someone had to stay with them. She wanted to be with her mate but it wouldn’t be fair to stick Nioma with all the overnight care.
Ares escorted two of his males in and he looked disgusted. “Fix them up, Doc, so I can get to their punishment.”
“What happened to them?”
“This one,” Ares said pointing to the one with black hair and blue eyes, “decided it was a good idea to fill this one’s bed with fish while he was in it,” he added pointing to the blond Adonis next to him.
“How did that cause them injuries?” Doc asked.
“It didn’t, it was the fight that ensued between them over one’s lack of a sense of humor and the other’s ill advised choice of a joke.”
“Alright, so what do we have here?”
“I’m Aaron. Zotikos’s hard head messed up the knuckles on my fist,” he flirted outrageously with her and Nioma making it obvious he just wanted attention and didn’t care which female he got it from. Nioma took him over to one of the chairs so she could examine his hand.
“I’m Zotikos but you can call me Zot. I have a bump on my head but it doesn’t bother me. I also have a messed up finger. A fish’s fin was rammed up under the nail. It looks worse than it is.”
“Okay, Zot, let’s get you over here where you can sit down so I can examine your head and your hand.”
“Overgrown boys, that’s what I’m saddled with. I’ll leave them to you, Doc. You two better behave or I’ll knock your heads together this time,” Ares growled as he headed out the door.
“When did this happen?” Doc asked.
“Two days ago, our last day on that shitty boat,” Zot replied.
“Why did you bother with a practical joke when you were almost home?” Nioma asked.
“He’s been pranking us all the way home. He’s lucky Ares didn’t kill him, I’m sure he wanted to,” Zot shared.
“It took me some time to get enough fish together. We only had small nets, they only held one or two fish at a time.”
“Did it ever occur to you that you could have found a better use of your time than torturing your fellow gods?” Doc asked.
“There couldn’t possibly be a better use.” Aaron smirked and winked. “Unless it required spending time with lovely ladies like the two of you.”
“You two may go to your rooms now. None of your injuries are serious if you just take it easy until they have time to heal.” She gave them each a serious look. “It’s time for lunch now so we’ll follow you out.”
Once they were all out, Doc closed the door. She and Nioma watched the two gods walk away. “What did you think of them?” Doc asked.
“I like Aaron a lot, but I wish I didn’t. That god is trouble with a capital T.” Doc nodded in agreement, but all the gods had trouble as their middle name.
“That wasn’t really what I meant. With their healing at twice the speed of us regular humans or better in some gods, I’m surprised they weren’t healed by now or at least enough not to be concerned about the injuries.”
“Okay, I think you’re getting spoiled by not having many patients because you would rather do research. The injuries were probably much worse two days ago and are well on their way to healing now. Why don’t we get out of here so you can hunt down that sexy mate of yours?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Doc headed out with Nioma on her heels.
Hades sat at the table watching her approach. She saw that he had already gotten her plate for her so she and Nioma went in opposite directions. Doc went to sit by her mate as Nioma went to stand in line behind Aaron.
“What’s up with those two?” Hades asked. Their chemistry was obvious even to the most oblivious of the gods. Maybe they were just learning to pick up on it now that mating was becoming common.
“What you see, is what you get. I would guess that they a
re mates, but it could just be lust. When they know, we’ll know.” Hades nodded, he had enough problems of his own since he struggled not to anger his mate with his comments or actions. Gods in general didn’t understand females and she suspected he in particular was one of the most clueless. It didn’t matter, though because she loved him.
“Zeus still having that meeting after lunch?” Doc asked.
“Yes, I have a bad feeling that you and I won’t like what he has to say.”
“Why would you think that?”
“He’s already as much as admitted it to me and apologized for what he’s going to ask of us.”
“Another mission?”
“I fear that will be the case.”
“Maybe we could run and hide?”
“If we were any place but here, maybe,” Hades said with a smile. “At least we’ll be together and loving that part of it.”
“The together part, but so far none of those missions has been a load of laughs.”
They started eating, there was nothing left to say until the meeting where they would find out for sure what Zeus wanted from them. She picked at her food, her mind back in the past. She thought back to when she had first seen Hades. He had growled at her through the bars of his cage. He had looked as abused as anyone she had ever seen without body parts missing or fatal injuries. Starved, covered with small wounds, and one step away from death, she had feared she would fail him, fail all the gods in his cage that were so monstrously abused. She had incorrectly thought he felt threatened by her, but he had been attractive to her even in his horrible condition. Clean him up so I can kiss him! What a thought for a doctor to have, yet she had thought exactly that.
It hadn’t taken her long to realize hurting her wasn’t what he had in mind. She felt connected to him in a way that scared her but she also sensed he was meant for her, would never mistreat her or cheat on her. He would never be like her dad, once he mated, there would be no other for him. They had connected on the most basic possible level, but the bitterness her mother even now felt for her dad had rooted itself so deep inside her it tainted her nearly as much as it tainted her mom.
The view her mother had imparted to her about males, all males, had almost cost her Hades, her soul mate. He had wooed her slowly, sensing her confusion about how she felt about him. That hateful bitch Dee had been jealous, wanting a god in general and Hades in particular for herself. She hadn’t gotten him, but she had almost ruined the relationship that Doc and Hades had started to build, forever. Her fear and her distrust of men had made it so easy to do.
Maybe her dad hadn’t been what she had thought, maybe he had just never found his soul mate because he had never known one was out there. Most humans believed soul mates a romantic myth. Maybe gods weren’t the only ones who had one of the opposite sex that was meant for them and them alone. The mating call that the gods felt was overwhelming to them once they met their match, it was something she was sure could be predicted if she researched it more.
She looked at her watch, it was time to go to the meeting Zeus had called. The meeting room would be full of those in positions of leadership needed for whatever Zeus was about to discuss. All the top level leaders, gods and demons, were present with several of the second level and any mates. There was standing room only and not much of that.
Lu sat with Baal on one side and Asmodius, or Asmo as most called him, on the other. It looked like the demons would play an important role at this meeting because Lu usually attended alone. One of his top three rarely accompanied him, but never both of his top two. Maybe he had made a decision about taking over the small facility Zeus had offered him not long ago.
Everyone was finally there, and the doors were closed. Silence fell over the room as everyone speculated about what Zeus would soon tell them. He stood and cleared his throat before addressing the group.
“There is only one verified facility location left to hit and a couple that aren’t verified that we will save for later. The verified location is the one in Motuo County, China. Apollo will handle that mission but we have two other places, one a suspected lab and the other a possible imprisoned god that we need to deal with immediately. The god may be seriously injured and we need a doctor and one of our top leadership to try to rescue him before it’s too late.” Zeus looked directly at Doc and Hades with a nod. “They’ll need to leave directly after the meeting. The plane is being readied with everything needed as we speak.”
“Who are you sending with us?” Hades asked.
“Four gods, Dione, Erebus, Zot, and Aaron. The location is in the US and near a major city, Chicago. You’ll have to make it a surgical strike, no back up. No one will know what’s going on so don’t get caught. In and out, take no chances and prisoners are optional.”
“John Wayne style, I can handle that,” Hades said. He had been watching a bunch of movies that Doc and her sister’s called classics. Many of the old westerns starred John Wayne. Recently they had started showing old world war one and two movies as well. The old action flicks called to him and he had learned to enjoy popcorn. Not just eating it either, he was skillful at hitting targets with it.
“The suspected lab is in Mexico and Hercules will pick his team for that mission. This will also need to happen quickly before they abandon the lab and destroy it. There is supposed to be some information there that will be helpful to us. I need everyone to start preparing for their assignments right away.”
Some of the group disbursed since he had dismissed them but the top level leadership stayed. “There is one more location on our list. It is in the swamp in Louisiana but we’ll have to work with a local as a guide. I’ve already spoken to her, I need a volunteer to head up this mission.”
“I’ll go,” Eres said quickly. “What kind of facility is it and when do we leave?”
“I don’t know what kind it is, it doesn’t have any details which concerns me, but you leave as soon as possible. Gather a team and prepare to go. Be careful, the whole thing seems sketchy at best, but we can’t turn our backs on possible gods in need.”
“Right away,” Eres said as he stood up and hurried out the door.
“I’m concerned with so many out on missions that someone might try to attack us here,” Sierra said.
“Me, too but what choice do we have?” Zeus asked.
“The hotline can be a wonderful tool but it can also be a weapon used against us,” Cherish observed.
“What do you mean?” Zeus asked.
“All they have to do is call in a false lead to lure our teams to their location and attack them. If the lead sounds good enough and the alleged captives in enough danger, what choice will we have?”
“I see your point, but you’re right about our choices to. We can’t take the time to investigate thoroughly for fear our brothers will be hurt seriously or moved where they will be lost to us.”
“I feel very uncomfortable about Hades’s and Doc’s mission. I don’t feel too good about the other’s either. I wish there was someway to give them an edge.” She snapped her fingers sending the sound through the room. “I’ve got it, we have some new surveillance equipment that came in yesterday. It should help.”
“Anything that can help them is appreciated.”
“We’ll take anything we can get,” Hades said. His mate’s safety was too important to take chances with.
Now that the meeting had run its course, Cherish and Hermes escorted Doc and Hades to the armory. Cherish dug a neat mini sized gun out and handed it to Doc.
Doc looked at her in shock. “What am I supposed to do with this little bitty thing?”
“It’s not a gun. It’s the latest in taser tech and it’ll take down anyone in front of you. It’ll take down more than one attacker. It’s just a little surprise if you get overwhelmed.” She handed Hades some goggles. “These may give you an advantage. They are night vision, heat, and have telescopic lenses so you can see for miles. I hope it will make a difference.”
“I t
hink it might,” Hades said as he clutched the goggles like he thought someone would take them away. Doc pocketed the taser gun. It could make all the difference if they were surprised by Origin soldiers.
Cher and Hermes left and Doc and Hades went to pack. Doc would admit she was tired of missions but she would do her part for the gods who were now her people. Now that Zeus had sent Way and Apollo on a mission, she started to worry that they would be okay and to feel guilty about sending Way where she might be harmed. The idea had seemed so good until it was implemented and she had time to see the possible consequences.
Never faint of heart herself, she still felt the need to protect her sisters from any possible danger. She had worried about Way the most since Gus had died leaving her broken hearted. She hoped Apollo could snap her out of it and get her back to living life instead of just watching the days go by. Now that they were forced together, Doc was worrying and second guessing herself more with every moment.
Inside Hades’s suite, she began to pack. “Hey, Babe, if you pack fast enough, we might have just enough time for me to poke you with my happy stick,” Hades said swiveling his hips and smiling.
Doc didn’t answer, she just packed what she needed in record time then turned to see if he was done, he was. They moved quickly for each other fearful every moment that someone would knock on the door or call them on the radio. They quickly stripped, wasting no time. Doc jumped into his arms needing him to make her forget everything but him. Not an easy task but she was sure he was up for it. They fell onto the bed in a jumble of arms and legs.
Quickie was the word of the day as he kissed her lips and his hand worked down to her thighs. He slid his finger in and moaned when he felt how slick and ready she was. He used his hand to guide his throbbing cockhead right to her waiting slot. He slid in easily since she was so ready for him. She was hot and tight, wrapping her legs around his hips to help pull him against her even tighter. He eased in and out a couple times to be sure he wouldn’t hurt her before he moved faster and harder. She was screaming at him that she wanted more, so he gave it to her.