"Most interesting…" Cronus thoughtfully stepped down from the cliff overlooking his spy pool. The image of Neil gently kissing Theresa's forehead replayed over and over in his mind. "Maybe that fool is beginning to realize it's possible to love more just than himself." He furrowed his brow as he walked toward the main hall. The dark shadows engulfed his figure greedily when he walked into them, weaving through the fabric of his tunic. Even once out of them, they seemed to latch onto him pleadingly, but filtered out as the faint light cast over him again.

The giants, who had been idly standing around, sulked back at the entrance of their master, and watched with horror as the slivers of shadows removed themselves from him; he was thinking. They stood silently, watching him pace the room then finally settle into his chair. He looked at them and rested his chin in his palms. Expecting a mouthful of complaints, they stood fidgeting and uneasy, but heaved a sigh of relief when he grinned deviously and stood back up.

"This will prove to be most interesting." His audience nodded blankly, then looked at each other, hoping for answers. "I think it's time we went to see our young friends."

\\

"Who's up for an early morning run?" Jay stood patiently in the hallway, expecting at least one of his teammates to dash out of their rooms with jogging suites and bright smiles. He waited a moment. Not even a sound. "Guys?" Odd. I thought at least Atlanta would be out by now.

He walked over to Theresa's door and knocked. "Wanna come for a run?" he called through the closed door. Again, not receiving an answer, he opened it. She was fast asleep. "Theresa?" He shook his head. Better not even bother. She's a heavy sleeper.

He closed the door quietly and walked to Odie's. "Hey Odie, feel up to a-"

The door swung open suddenly, catching him off guard. Odie stumbled out and groaned, his eyes only half open. "Sorry, man," he started. "I was up pretty much all night playing my newest game. Count me out." Before Jay could protest, Odie was in the bathroom running the water.

Surprise, surprise.

Next, he walked to Herry"s room and opted to open the door without knocking. He peered into the room, unable to see anything. "Herry," he called into the darkness. He could hear him mumbling something in his sleep, but couldn't make out any of the words. Deciding to wake him up, he walked in and instantly regretted it. His foot step into something soft and mushy.

"What the heck?" Looking down, he strained in vain to see what he had stepped in. Fingering the wall for the light switch, he flicked it up and looked around. His mouth fell open.

"Herry, what they heck were you doing last night!?" Cake was smeared all over the side of his bed stand and the floor. A look of disgust overtook Jay's face. "That's disgusting, man! You're going to have to clean this up real soon. Preferrably before Athena's O.C.D. 6th sense kicks in and she stops by for one of her 'visits.'" He grabbed a Kleenex, hopped out, wiped his foot with one last unpleased expression, and then turned to Neil's room.

Before he stepped in, he scanned the floor thoroughly. Relieved to find that it was in its usual, spotless state, he walked towards the bed. "Neil, are you going to come on the run?" He bent down and shook his shoulder. "Neil, c'mon, get up."

"What is with you people and ruining my amazing dreams," he wined sleepily as he turned his back to the impatient leader. "Go away."

He shrugged. Oh well, I'd rather not have to put up with his grouchy, morning mood. I bet Arch will be up for a run. He walked out, shut the door and strolled casually towards Archie's room. Knowing he was a heavy sleeper too, he opened the door and walked up to the bed. "C'mon, Arch. Time for a run!" He groaned and pulled his sheet over his head.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"7:00 am."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"C'mon, you of all people have got to want to go!" Stubbornly, he grabbed his pillow and swung at Jay, then placed it too, over his head.

Why isn't anyone getting up? Was there some sort of party I didn't know about last night? He stood for a moment in thought. I guess that would explain the mess in Herry's room. He knew just what to do in a situation like this.

"Okay, Archie. I hope you don't mind if me and Atlanta go together then." He walked out of the room, leaving the door open.

"Hey Atlanta, ready for the morning run?" He could hear shuffling coming from the other side of her door. He waited a moment. He grinned when he heard Archie get out of bed, too.

"Sure, Jay," she stepped out in her light jogging suite with a bottle of water in her hand. She looked around, confused. "Hey, where's everyone else?"

"Oh, I don't think anyone else is coming. I guess it's just you and me," he replied, directing the last bit more towards Archie's room than to Atlanta.

"No, wait!" Came a muffled voice from Archie's room. "I'll be out in a minute!" Jay laughed lightly and sighed. Works every time.

"What's so funny?" Atlanta asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing." Within a minute, Archie stood before them in his jogging suit. He shot Jay a look that said, 'nice try,' then smiled at Atlanta.

"Are we set to go?"

"We are now," Jay replied with a satisfied smirk.

\\

Odie stepped out of the bathroom and rubbed his eyes. "What was I thinking? Three hours of sleep is not enough to function on," he mumbled dryly, relishing the feeling of the warmth coming from the bathroom. "As addicting as that game is, I'm not doing that again." He shook his head fiercely, causing his hair to poof out, then return to its normal size. Much better. When he turned to the stairs, he realized how unusually quiet the brownstone was. "Oh c'mon! Was I the only one that didn't go on the run?" He thought he had roughly heard Jay and Atlanta talking, but hadn't been able to hear anyone else through the running water.

He walked over to Herry's door and knocked on it. "Hey, Herry, you in there?"

"Yeah," came the tired reply. "Don't come in though. Just gimmie a sec."

"That's alright. I'll meet you downstairs. I'm gonna get me some coffee."

"Since when do you drink coffee?" He turned to see Theresa exit her room with her house coat in her arms.

"Since I decided it would be fun to stay up half the night playing video games. It works, all right. But I hate the way it tastes, and it cuts back on my chances of gettin' any taller." He shook his head sadly, sending tiny beads of water flinging through the air, then continued. "Why didnt you go on the run? Still not feeling any better?"

"No, actually. I'm feeling alot better. And no one woke me up for the run," she replied as she walked into the bathroom. "I'll meet you guys in a bit for breakfast. Gotta beat Neil to the hot water." Before he could say anything, the bathroom door had closed and Herry's opened. He walked out with a pail of dirty water and a cloth.

"Coffee sounds good about now," he said dryly as he closed the door.

"Oh, you're telling me," he placed a hand on his hip, loosing his saucy tone when he spoke again. "Hey Herry, do... you know how to make coffee?"

"No. Don't you?"

"Uhh… well…"

Herry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe that you of all people don't know how to make coffee! Don't you drink it all the time?"

"No!" Odie shot back defensively. "Only when I need it. And usually I just pick it up from a coffee shop. I guess we'll have to wait till Theresa is out of the shower. She knows how to make it."

Neil's door suddenly flung open and he poked his head out. "Theresa is in the shower?" Herry nodded his head and grinned.

"She beat ya to it, Neil."

"Oh, no. No, no, no! She'll take all the hot water! I can't have a cold shower!" He fell to his knees dramatically and grasped at his hair. "Do you know what that will do to my hair?" A faint laugh was heard from inside the bathroom amongst the running water. Neil narrowed his eyes. "Oh, it's on now."

"Hey Neil," Herry started, ignoring the blonde's outer torment. "I don't suppose you know how to make coffee, do you?"

"Coffee? COFFEE!" He stood, growling at Herry. "I'm at risk of placing my million dollar hair in one of the most compromising situations EVER and all you can think of is…" He paused, a mischievous smile overtaking his face. "Coffee? You want coffee, do you?" Herry and Odie looked at each other, then back to Neil and nodded slowly.

"What's the catch?" Odie asked suspiciously. Neil ran past them, down the stairs.

"Catch? Why, nothing at all. If you want coffee, then I don't see any reason why you shouldn't have coffee." The two teens at the top of the stairs looked skeptically at each other, then shrugged and ran down after the blonde. By the time they were down, Neil had pulled out the coffee mix and was reaching for the coffee pot. He walked to the sink, and flipped up the tap, but instead of putting the coffee pot under the water, he let it run.

"Uh, Neil," Odie began. "Are you sure you know how to do this?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm just letting the water cool," he replied smoothly. He filled the coffee pot, but left the tap running. Herry and Odie exchanged confused looks.

"Neil, why are you leaving the water running?" Herry scratched his head.

He ran back to the foot of the stairs and cupped his ear. "Wait for it, wait for it…"

"AAAAAUGH! NEEEEILLLLL!"

He patted himself on the back happily. "Am I good, or am I good?" He ran back up the stairs, leaving the two alone in the kitchen, water still running. Herry and Odie looked at each other and laughed.

"Boy, I am never stealing his hot water," Odie said as he turned off the water and placed the fruit basket on the table.

"Tell me about it. But hey, at least we got our coffee." He paused to look around the kitchen. "So… where's the sugar?"

\\

Neil stood smugly outside the bathroom, watching small streams of steam sneak out through the crack at the bottom of the door. Despite his better judgement, he had decided to wash his hair in the sink because he knew there would be no hot water left by the time Theresa was done. Normally, he wouldn't have settled for such low treatment on his million-dollar hair, but the fact that it was stealing more of the hot water that she was using justified it. After a moment, the sound of running water stopped and Theresa stepped out in her housecoat. Her hair was longer than usual and straight, being weighed down by the water. Noticing Neil standing haughtily, she gave him a swat on the arm.

"Being a sore looser, are we?" She asked.

"I hope you've learnt your lesson." He stood, defiantly eyeing her. She eyed him back. Up until then, Neil had never noticed how unusually colored her eyes were. In all his years as a model, he had never seen such an uncommon color. Green gray? It gave him chills, but he wouldn't let her win the stare down over something like that. He could have sworn he felt his expression begin to soften, causing Theresa to give him a confused look, until a voice from down the stairs snapped them back to reality.

"Uhh..." They looked down the stairs to see Odie standing with his hands on his hips. "If you two are done staring at each other, you can come down for breakfast now." With that, he walked back to the kitchen shaking his head.

"Well," Neil sighed, "I'm hungry. So I'll let you off with a warning this time. Next time, you won't be so lucky." She shook off the weird feeling and laughed as she walked into her room.

"It's gonna' take more than a warning to chase me outta' this town."

"We'll see about that." Leaving it there, he walked down the stairs for some much deserved breakfast. Herry and Odie were sipping back their coffee gratefully and frying bacon. He walked to the fridge and poured the last of the orange juice into a cup. The smell in the air caught his attention as he sat down and eyed the greasy mess on the stove. I am not eating that.

"No eggs?" Neil had grown accustomed to eggs and toast every other morning, and today was no exception. Especially with the alternative on the stove.

"We have eggs?" Herry looked through the fridge, flipper still in his hand, and pulled out a carton of eggs. "I don't know how I missed 'em. Can't have bacon with out eggs!"

"I'll say. There's no way I'm eating that grease," he replied, making a face as he pointed to the stove. Herry simply shook his head and began cracking the eggs.

"Yeah, well that 'grease', is one of the best tasting breakfast items on the planet," Odie stepped in. He took a piece from the plate to demonstrate.

Theresa walked down the stairs just as Odie lowered the piece of bacon into his mouth. "Gross! I think you just ate more fat than you did meat!" She opened the fridge, trying her best to ignore the greasy smell polluting the air.

"I told you it's disgusting," Neil repeated breezily.

"It's just cuz' girls don't like greasy food," Herry pointed out as he sat down with a plate full of bacon, then handed Neil a plate with two eggs. Odie joined him, rubbing his hands together.

"Guys," she poked her head out of the fridge. "Where's the orange juice?"

"Oh, you mean this orange juice?" Neil pointed to the glass in his hands. Before she could respond, he finished it off and sighed happily. "Yeah, that was good orange juice alright."

She closed the fridge forcefully and turned to the cupboard. Pulling out an orange press, she looked back at him and stuck out her tongue. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I'm sure mine will be much better." She set it on the table then sat down. Taking two oranges from the fruit bowl, she set to work making herself the juice. For a few minutes, everyone was quite, either busy eating or thinking. Neil, who had finished his eggs, was thoughtfully staring at Odie's hair. He decided to break the silence.

"Odie, when was the last time you got your hair cut?" Odie gave him a blank look, then finished off the last piece of bacon, much to Herry's disappointment.

"Neil, please don't start wi -"

"I'm just asking," he interrupted. "Because I bet I could fit…" he paused to squint at him. "defiantly more than five oranges in there." Odie got up, a little disturbed.

"Man, I think you've lost it. You totally need a hobby." He placed the plate that had held the bacon in the sink, then walked to the fridge for something to drink.

Having Odie's back to them, Herry and Neil exchanged mischievous looks and nodded. Herry walked towards Odie innocently, pretending to look for something in the fridge. Neil grabbed two oranges and placed a finger across his lips when Theresa looked up quizzically.

"Jeez, Herry," Odie wined impatiently. "Give me some room here. I'll be out in a sec and the fridge will be all yours." Herry looked at Neil for a signal, which he received in the form of a nod, then jumped at the teen in the fridge, pinning him to the floor. Odie squirmed, but was unable to put up any resistance against the brawn holding him down. When he saw the oranges in Neil's hands, he panicked.

"No, no guys!" He cried desperately. "Not the fro! Anything but the fro!" His tortures simply laughed. Neil was just about to worm one of the oranges into his hair when a voice startled everyone.

"Odie! Odie pick up!" All attention turned to the demanding voice coming from Prm on the counter. Theresa, being closest to it, answered it.

"Jay? What's wrong?" Herry and Neil got off their victim and had gathered around Theresa to listen in. Odie lay on the floor, recovering for a moment, then got up, too. "We need you guys down town now. Cronus is causing some major problems."

"Problems?" They asked in unison.

"We don't have time for questions! Just get down here fast!" With that, the line went dead, sending the four heroes speedily out the door.