"Grunting at me doesn't make it untrue." I was standing firm on this. "You never would have suspected her. She's the perfect choice. The important thing is to de-program her." I stopped and looked at him. "You can de-program her right?"
Zeus doesn't lose his aura of composure often, but I was seeing him agitated. "What am I going to tell her father?"
"Do you have to tell him anything?"
"If it were Dylan, wouldn't you want to know?" Hmm, he had a fair point there.
"Yes," I sighed and crossed my arms. "So, who are her parents?"
He threw a grim look at me. "Ares is her father."
"Oh, for fuck’s sake!" I yelled and threw up my hands. "Could this situation get more impossible?" I was frustrated and off-kilter. Nothing seemed to be going my way right now. I briefly wished that Lyssa had finished the job. Then I wouldn't have to deal with an angry God of War, a nightmare Goddess and all of her batshit crazy kids.
"Grace, I think that you're taking this too personally."
I turned on him with a look of incredulity. "Do you think?"
He sighed at me. God, I hated when he sighed at me. "Grace, I understand that I ask much of you. I know that you feel unprepared and that you've walked through Hell during the last few months. If it weren't so important, I wouldn't ask."
That deflated my anger. "I know. I used to wish for excitement. The lesson here is to be careful what you wish for."
He nodded. "Indeed."
"Well, you need to tell him and I want to be nowhere in the vicinity when you do."
"Fair enough," he replied. "I don't think that it will be that difficult to get him to cooperate. He should be grateful that she wasn't taken and let me do what I need to do to wipe Lyssa from her mind."
I nodded. "You didn't answer my question about Drew. Was he affected?"
"I was going to check on him but when I went looking, he wasn't anywhere to be found. That's what brought me back here." He smiled ruefully at me.
"Yep, your kid's a rebel."
"An idiot rebel," he groused. That made me smile. Yeah he was an idiot. The gods only knew what was going on with my head.
"Go, check him out. I'm exhausted and yes, I know I've had weeks of sleep but I just feel like I'm dead on my feet right now."
"All right. Get some rest and I'll check back in on you in a few hours."
"Wait!" He stopped mid-stride and waited for me to continue. "Can you de-program Hope too?"
"No, I don't think that I can. I'm sorry, Grace." He looked sad but I wanted him to know that it was okay.
"I know." I nodded sleepily and sprawled out against the cushion. I was asleep as soon as my eyes closed.
I awoke to someone brushing the hair from my forehead. My eyes blinked open sleepily and Heph's hazy form came into view.
"Well, hello Walking Disaster," he said with a smile.
"Hello back," I mumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be on the other side of the quarantine door?"
"Aren't you supposed to be mostly dead?"
"Yeah, I guess I am." I stretched out and adjusted my body so I could look at him while we talked. It should have occurred to me that I had bed head, bad morning breath and eye boogers, but when I was with Hephaestus none of the surface issues seemed to matter. Did it mean that I didn't care enough to worry or that with us it simply didn't matter?
"It simply doesn't matter," he answered for me.
"Oh." I blushed. I guess putting up the mental shields should be the first thing I do when I wake up. "You mind readers have got to stop probing me."
"From what I hear, probing is fun."
"You're so funny. Who knew?" I replied with snark. I rolled onto my side and propped my head in my hand. "So, what's up?"
"Just checking to see if your status had changed to mostly alive instead of mostly dead."
"…and probing my mind."
"And probing your mind," he laughed.
"So what are you really doing?" I asked with a smile.
His eyes narrowed before he gave me a smile that I couldn't interpret. "Staying in the race."
"There is no race," I replied.
"Isn't there?"
"No. I'm not sure what kind of competition you two have going on but I'm not a prize. Honestly, I'm not a prize that either of you actually want. Find something else to have your testosterone wars over." It was stated calmly, but I could feel my blood pressure start to rise as I said the words.
"So you don't think that Captain Awesome truly loves you?"
"I know that he doesn't. I just can't tell if this is some kind of ploy to make me spare Hope's life, an attempt to beat you in a competition or if Lyssa is controlling him."
"You think so little of yourself, Grace."
"I'm being realistic. Look at what has happened over the last few months? Wouldn't you have doubts?" I raised an eyebrow and waited for a response.
He moved toward me and I shot my hand up in panic. "Jesus! Stop! I can't take another one." Then I started to hiccup uncontrollably.
"Shut up," he whispered and gathered me into his arms. My body spasmed against his chest with each panicked hiccup. "Why are you so hung up on him? Is it because he's girlishly pretty?"
I wanted to laugh at that, but couldn't. God, I hated hiccups worse than crying. There are moments in life where you are certain that you've gotten past the emotional mess of being, and the focus of your path becomes clear. This wasn't that kind of moment. This was me backsliding into the emotional girly Grace who couldn't figure out what the path was.
Killing the bad guys had become easy. Living my life with purpose was getting hard. You hear women threaten all the time that they're going to become nuns. There's a reason for that. Most of us cannot comprehend emotional complexities without making them so twisted and unrealistic that it drives us insane.
"I should have told you from the moment I saw you that you were beautiful," he said quietly.
"You should stick with Walking Disaster, Heph. It's more appropriately descriptive. Beauty is only the surface. This body and visage in front of you is new. A year ago I was fat and dowdy." I shrugged against him and started breathing normally again. "Sometimes I think that men don't stop and look at what’s inside. They get distracted by the surface and stop there."
"I don't think that is necessarily true," he responded and sounded a little irked. That made me smile against his chest.
"Of course you don't. Now push off. I'm tired of all of this nonsense. Tell me what's going on around this place. I feel so out of touch. Have you seen Dylan? Is he okay?"
"Whoah! So many questions! One at a time." He released me and sat on the adjoining chair. "First, Dylan is fine. The blizzards have stopped, which is good. "
I sighed. "I wish I could just cocoon that kid and keep him protected from all of this. How difficult is it to have a Mom who keeps getting nearly killed on a daily basis?"
"The only way you're going to keep him remotely safe is to do to him what Diana did to you. I'm sure that isn't something you're interested in."
"You would be correct. It's going to be harder for him, but in the long run he'll be better off for this experience." I paused and thought about what I'd just said. "I hope."
He shook his head at me and smiled. "Yes, he'll be better off in the long run for this experience. Think of it as teaching him survival skills early."
"Yeah, because playing Halo and feasting on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is entirely too tame," I responded dryly.
"Think of all of the adventure those kids are missing," he countered.
"Think of all of those kids who are going to live because they don't have psycho-bitches chasing after their moms. Speaking of psycho-bitches, how is Hope doing?"
His face twisted into a grimace and he scowled. "She's moved into negotiation mode. She'll tell us everything we want to know about Hypnos if we spare her life."
"We already know everything she knows about Hypnos. No deal." My voice and words were hard. I knew that, but I didn’t care.
"Adonis knows that I have her in the Forge."
"I know."
"Really? And how is that?"
"Modern surveillance systems are the bomb."
He had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I. Yeah."
"Uh huh, I thought so. Okay, let me get up and dressed. A shower would be super too." I stood and looked at him with expectation.
"What?" He asked with innocence.
"Gotta get dressed, showered. You gotta go."
"It's not like I haven't seen you without clothes, Grace."
Yeah, that made me blush. "Well, I wasn't conscious for it so GTFO. Go check on my kid. Tell him that I'm awake and I want to see him. Let's see if he can pull it together enough so I don't freeze my ass off." I grinned as I said it but secretly, I was hoping to not have to put my snow gear on to visit my kid.
"Fine," he sighed.
As soon as he was gone, I stripped and headed to the bathroom in the Lab to shower. A quick check in the mirror showed a few new scars. The nanites generally repaired all damage, leaving me in the same shape I was when they took over my body. I'd have to ask Zeus if they were weakening because as much as I loved the thought of sporting some badass scars, the one at my throat was disturbing - the less I had to look at it, the better.
I was showered and re-dressed in fifteen minutes. There were some things that you just didn't lose, regardless of your station in life. My ability to get ready in a flash was like a superpower, but better. I twisted my hair up into a knot as I walked back into the sitting room. Zeus was sitting on the couch, shoulders hunched and staring off into space.
"That is not a good look for you. What happened?"
"I told Ares. He's not pleased."
"You knew he wouldn't be," I said as I sat down next to him. "What did he say?"
"He was going to bring her here for a supposed meeting to confront my inability to lead our people."
"You said was. That doesn't sound promising."
"As I was leaving, she came back to their home and collapsed. She heard us and fell into some sort of coma. I can't wake her and I can't reach her mind."
I rubbed his back trying to give him comfort. "You couldn't have known."
"I could have and should have. The meeting regarding my ability to lead was a farce but perhaps it's something that needs to happen. I should have seen that coming. I'm – I'm simply not at the top of my game anymore. I miss your mother."
"I know you do. If we could get a moment's peace, I'd go and look for her."
"Her counsel has always been wise and her humor helps diffuse situations where we seem to flounder."
I just nodded. I didn't know her well enough to comment on that. I wanted to know her well enough. I simply didn't feel like I had enough time to go searching for my Mother right now.
"What if I could give you time?" He asked.
"Oh my God! Would you people stay the Hell out of my head?" I exclaimed.
"Oh. Sorry," he said without sounding apologetic at all.
"How do you give me time to find her? Last I checked we have a Psycho trying to free his Mommy. We have my sister who needs a good killing. We have natural disasters happening all over the World, but they aren't actually natural. Really Zeus, where is the time?"
"Okay, how about you open a Rift and I'll go find her?"
"Yes, because having a bunch of Hunters running around without a leader is such a great idea. I want to find her. You must know that I do. But now, it's just not the time."
"But it will be soon." He nodded with a surety that I was almost afraid of.
"Yes. It will be soon. Let's just get this mess taken care of." I stood up and walked toward the door. "Okay, I got a kid to calm down."
"Wait. You're going out?"
"Yep, things to do, buddy - if you want me to find my Mom."
"I feel strongly that you need a bit more time to recover. I'm concerned about some changes to your body."
"Oh, the new battle scars? Yeah, I was going to ask about that." I stopped, turned around and crossed my arms. "Are my nanites failing?"
He looked nervous. "Oh my God, they're failing?!" I exclaimed.
"No," he ran fingers through his hair and I was reminded of his son for a moment. "No, they're not failing. It's just that the genetic manipulations your mother made haven't been entirely reversed, so they're working against some pretty complex programming."
"So this is just another reason I need to find her." I sighed.
He looked at me suspiciously. "You're taking this all in a very non-Grace-like way."
I shrugged. "What can I do? I think that I've reached the point where nothing surprises me anymore. If it wasn't this, it would have been something else. What is the downside of this?"
"Well, every time you use your powers, you strain their abilities. They are meant to work with Alancean genetic code. Because they think that you are partially human, they have to work harder. There’s a possibility they could burn out and stop repairing your damage."
"So, I use my power and I become mortal again. That sounds like a serious bummer, dude."
"I feel like you are jesting with me but I can't tell." His eyes narrowed.
"Nope, it really sounds like a serious bummer because I'm about to cause all sorts of fireworks with my power." With that, I turned around and took my leave. It was time to get down to business.
Chapter 26
"So what's up, chicken butt?" I asked loudly as I walked into my son's room.
"Mom!" He yelled and jumped up to hug me. I caught him in my arms and squeezed him tight against my chest.
"I hear you've been creating a ruckus with the weather around here lately. That's no bueno. Think of all of the butterflies you've killed off." I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his forehead, breathing in the scent of his hair.
"I was really scared," he admitted.
"I know you were. It's not an easy life we're living right now, buddy. I didn't want you to have to come to the realization that one of these times I might not come back. Because that sucks, right?"
He nodded against my chest and squeezed harder. It took me a moment to realize that he'd gotten strong. My little bubby was growing up. I was only a fraction of an inch taller than he was now. I felt like I was missing the big stuff.
"The important thing to remember is that I love you more than my own life. In the end I'm going to do what it takes to make sure that you survive. Whatever it takes."
"Do you think maybe you could stay conscious for more than five minutes?" I could hear the grin in his voice and I dug my fingers into his side and tickled him. He squealed with giggles as he squirmed against my assault.
"Yeah, I think I can stay conscious for more than five minutes, you dork," I laughed.
"Good cause, Mom, you're getting your a-s-s kicked a lot these days."
"I know right?" I grinned at him. "I guess I should have taken my training with Athena more seriously."
"Did I hear someone mention my name?" Athena breezed in through the door, grabbed me and took inventory. "Well, you don't look like you were dead."
"Oddly enough, I don't feel like I was dead either. I was just catching up with the kid. How have you been?"
"Well enough, I suppose. It would be better if someone who shall not be mentioned stopped throwing decapitated heads and three hundred pound men at me through Rifts." Her eyebrow rose at me and I struggled not to laugh.
"Whoever that person is, they are a huge jerk!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, she is." She hugged me and then stepped back. "I'm glad to see you up and about. Dylan, it's time for training, my friend. Suit up."
"Aww, Athena! My mom just got here." My kid could ace the guilt trip whine. Seriously, he could.
"Yes it appears that she has. However, if you don't want to get beat up as often as she does, you'll gear up so that we can train."
His face fell so I grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Hey! You and me – dinner tonight. Okay?"
That made him smile. "Yeah, that sounds great."
"Good. I have a few things to take care of, anyway. I'll see you around six. We'll grab some Thai food and you can catch me up on the guys."
He nodded excitedly. "I totally have to tell you what Alton did yesterday. It made me laugh so hard I farted!"
My eyes got big with feigned excitement. "Wow! That sounds like a pretty epic story!"
"It totally was," he went on excitedly.
"Tell me later. I love you!"
"’Kay," he called as he ran back into the bedroom portion of his suite.
"I don't remember being that young," I began, turning back to Athena.
She shook her head. "I came out looking like this. I was never young." I detected a hint of bitterness in her voice but ignored it.
"Well you look great." I smiled, pushing back the uneasy feeling that was growing in the back of my mind like a cancerous squid.
"Thanks." She smiled back.
"Well, I should get to business. Take care of the kid, would ya?"
"You know I will. I've never had a nephew before. He's fun."
"Yeah," I replied with an abrupt laugh. "He's a barrel of monkeys." I didn't wait for a response, I just teleported into the Forge.
Without preamble, I started talking to Hephaestus. "So I've got this uneasy feeling lately whenever I'm around Athena. Have you noticed anything weird about her?"
"Hello to you too," he replied dryly.
"Yes, yes. Hello. But do you get a hinky feeling around her? I think you probably know her better than anyone. I was actually surprised when I found out that you two weren't an item."
"We share the commonality of being different within the Community. That is all that it's ever been between us. I help her build her gadgets and she coerces me out of my hermit shell."
"I see," I said nodding. "Well that makes sense. Anyway," A change of subject sounded like a good idea. "How is our friendly homicidal prisoner doing?"
"The same," he said with a sigh. "She alternates between howling and trying to negotiate her way out of her prison. I didn't think anyone talked more than you do, Grace. I was wrong."
"Well it's good to know that it runs in the family," I rejoined sarcastically. "I think it's time for me to talk to her."
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