(This chapter contains five sentences each for: Jay/Neil, Jay/Theresa, Archie/Atlanta, Archie/Jay, Archie/Theresa, Jay/Atlanta, Herry/Odie, Herry/Neil, Odie/Neil, and Jay/Cronus.)

X.x.X.x.X

– 1. Jay/Neil –

#01 – Package
Neil says it's just clothes because it's believable, and smirks because Jay would never guess the surprise he's got planned.

#02 – Obscure
Not many people know he actually hates loving himself so much—yes, he's beautiful and talented and a perpetual good–luck charm, but his vanity has hurt himself and others on more than one occasion, and it makes loving somebody else that much harder, because isn't the point of love to put someone else first?

#03 – Skeleton
Jay's very bones feel live with heat and electricity; he's not normally so reckless but right now they both need this, each to feel the other and know they aren't alone—and besides, with Neil's luck on their side, no one will find them here.

#04 – Nurse
The tenderness with which Neil tends to him is touching, even if he does insist on color–coordinating Jay's bandages to his outfit.

#05 – Domino
Neil can hardly believe it, and feels even more proud of himself than usual: he has finally found a method of relaxation that even Jay can't relate back to their fight against Cronus.

– 2. Jay/Theresa –

#06 – Thaw
At first he just sees her like he does any of his other friends, albeit a very pretty one; it takes a long while for him to start thinking a little more about the "pretty" part, and even longer to figure out why he does—and even longer than that to warm to that idea.

#07 – Waves
Theresa, on the other hand, finds that her stomach shivers pleasantly the very first time she lays eyes on him, and those shivers come back every time she looks into his eyes and sees the ocean and forever.

#08 – Burglar
They lay on stolen time, snatched moments, fleeting hours together; when will this be over, they be normal again?

#09 – Frame
Maybe it should have occurred to them that sooner or later, Cronus would try using the mortal world to fight them with, but it was too late to shut the barn door now that the horse was gone, a woman dead, Jay in prison, and Theresa suddenly thrust into the role of leading a conflicted team to prove his innocence.

#10 – Carpet
When it was all over, they all stayed in the city—how could they leave, with all they had here?—and for Jay and Theresa's part, they bought a house and spent the first day inside it laying on the carpet and staring at the ceiling and talking about everything that lay ahead.

– 3. Archie/Atlanta –

#11 – Insect
Consider the birds of the field—the words leap to Archie's mind as he watches the butterflies flutter through the air, and though he doesn't know why (he's never been especially religious), he considers, and for some reason he thinks of Atlanta and smiles.

#12 – Mentor
He's never had a father, hasn't had a mother since he was five, hasn't ever had something he could call a sibling or a mentor or a real friend, but he's starting to realize she comes frighteningly close to filling the empty role of hero.

#13 – Spirit
It's that energy and vibrancy that he loves about her, and even though it stings when she turns him down, it's a part of her own spirit, and regardless of the fact that he's not happy, he could only be angry about the fact that she doesn't want to answer; one of the things he values above all else but has seen too rarely to truly expect is honesty.

#14 – Wax
There is no moon tonight, but the chill in the night air and the rustling of the wind through the trees merely adds to the excitement of their game.

#15 – Trash
She, on the other hand, does have a family—a father and two brothers, both older than herself—and Archie has no idea what they're going to say when they meet him for the first time.

– 4. Archie/Jay –

#16 – Womb
It is dark and warm and comfortable—Archie feels safe here, and the realization is so surprising and so frightening to him that he leaps away as though burned, muttering some excuse or another, and runs, leaving Jay to stare after in confusion and hurt.

#17 – Burn
There is a dark, unappealing mark running the length of Jay's lower arm, and when Archie catches himself feeling that protectiveness, he doesn't understand it, and doesn't want to.

#18 – Flash
Authority is hard to exercise over Archie for anybody, even Hera and the other Gods, but for Jay, it's never been much of a problem, and it is that respect that serves as Jay's foundation for being the first person Archie has gotten really close to in a very long time.

#19 – Anima
It's the soul—the one part of a person no one can ever touch, so Archie thought, and it doesn't occur to him that somebody already has, or that the poetry he's reading and the thoughts of souls make his mind go suddenly in the direction of one boy in particular.

#20 – Gamble
Archie is never the type to lay all his cards on the table too readily, and Jay fears a relationship because all his attentions must lay on their fight against Cronus, so for now, unknowingly, it is both of them that lie in wait.

– 5. Archie/Theresa –

#21 – Statue
She's so virtuous and heroic and naïve; she's the kind of person that they build statues of, and he's the kind of person that gets into fistfights in alleys.

#22 – Perfume
The scent of her perfume is feminine and flowery and sweet and probably more expensive than some cars, but despite himself Archie likes it, and Theresa laughs when he buries his face in her hair.

#23 – Wine
We were drunk, he wants to say, or else it was a mistake, but he can't, because he knows it would be a flimsy excuse and she deserves better than flimsy excuses—so he kisses her again.

#24 – Reflection
Anybody'd tell her it was nuts (her father springs to mind) but when Theresa looks at Archie, she can see a little bit of herself buried under that hard outer shell—a joy waiting to be felt, a love waiting to be given.

#25 – Take
What does she have to do to convince him that she wants to be on his side, she wants to fight his battles, she wants to kiss and hold him, that it's all her choice, and that honestly, if she didn't want to there wouldn't be a damn thing he could do about it?

– 6. Jay/Atlanta –

#26 – Magic
They are both, in their hearts of hearts, warriors, and always have been; when they fight together, back to back, it's almost unreal in its power and grace.

#27 – Fragment
It's good, Atlanta thinks, that she's so strong, that nothing inside her is hurt, because it has taken her this long to convince Jay that it's okay to cry, and he needs a place for the pieces to fall.

#28 – Cats and Dogs
A little piece of Jay feels guilty—he and Archie are such close friends, and he knows how the other feels about Atlanta—but he can't change the fact that she chose him, and when they have nothing else in the world but each all the others, it really doesn't take long for Archie to forgive him.

#29 – Hum
Atlanta hums in her sleep—the realization is so charming and so cute to Jay that despite how tired he is as well, he can't help but stay up just a little bit longer to listen.

#30 – Flinch
They spar together up on the roof, sweat and adrenaline and the rush that comes when she finally pins him down, and she kisses him before she can help herself.

– 7. Herry/Odie –

#31 – Rush
It doesn't occur to Odie through the rush of blood to his head or trying to still the persistent wiggling his hips insist on doing, but who would have thought there were other things Herry would as eagerly eat as food?

#32 – Jester
Odie might have something of a teenage-hormone-induced temper, but honest to goodness he can't stay mad when Herry takes it upon himself to make him smile.

#33 – Haven
He sits, hard at work on his computers, while his much larger companion sits on his bed, legs folded and studying homework he will inevitably end up needing help with; they don't speak, because they don't need to—this is their safe place.

#34 – Dusk
Their enemies are near impossible to see in the dying light; they are surrounded and know it, but still Herry does all in his power to keep Odie safe.

#35 – Chord
A little bit of Odie's internal bitterness is driven away when Herry says he was raised by his grandmother, and slowly he starts to realize he's far from the only one in this team with an unusual family unit.

– 8. Herry/Neil –

#36 – Indulgence
It's the peace lent by a warm summer day, the sunshine on Neil's face and reflected in his eyes and Herry can't help but grab him by the shoulders and kiss him.

#37 – Freezer
Herry just rolls his eyes and rubs the moisturizer onto Neil's shoulders, chuckling at the complaints of the havoc cold weather wreaks on the poor blonde's skin, grumbling when Neil insists upon returning the favor.

#38 – Passage
Neil's hand is small and soft in his, starkly opposite to the hard and winding road they live, and Herry, simple, easy soul that he is, likes the contrast.

#39 – Coast
Many other differences though he and Herry have, Neil thinks with a smirk, they both have in common the uncommon ability to look fantastic in swimwear.

#40 – Keepsake
To Neil's great pleasure, Herry puts it on his keyring, and fingers it for luck every time he starts up his truck.

– 9. Odie/Neil –

#41 – Morbid
"Relax, Odie," Neil says, looking over his shoulder as he just so happens to put his foot someplace safe, "I'm a walking good luck charm."

#42 – Shipwreck
Odie grumbles about their lack of a ride home, and Neil grumbles about the fact that he's going to miss his appointment at the nail salon, and in general there's a lot of grumbling, but they can at least both be grateful that they have each other.

#43 – Socks
Even his socks are fashion-conscious, thin fabric with black and goldenrod embroidery, and Odie can't help but find it endearing, especially when that's all Neil has on.

#44 – Sand
They both have sand in unpleasant places, but it was worth it to be warm and writhing under the sun, dark skin a contrast to light and blue eyes never leaving brown.

#45 – Coin
It is before Odie learns never to play a coin toss against Neil, but he doesn't forget after that.

– 10. Cronus/Jay –

#46 – Guile
Cronus's smile, his laugh, cuts into Jay like a knife, the pain bittersweet—and the worst part was that the immortal knows it, and he uses it.

#47 – Eyelash
They look into each other's eyes and each tries to figure out what is in the mind of the other; Jay sees amusement, and Cronus isn't sure what he sees.

#48 – Drive
The five heroes have finally beat Cronus, but for Jay, it isn't over—not when he can't resist asking for passage to Tartarus, and slipping into the cell, and letting himself be thrown down, pain and pleasure as the Titan takes out his imprisonment on the most agonizingly intimate way on the mortal.

#49 – Net
Jay's eyes flash with fear and anger and even indignation all at once—"you didn't kill me."—and Cronus just laughs it off, like it was a silly concern—"you're too much fun to kill."

#50 – Destination
It is all they can do to watch as Cronus rises up over the Earth, and while the other six are imprisoned or on the run, Jay he keeps chained to his throne, spitting constant threats and trying constantly to escape but, the Titan notes with a cruel laugh, still resting his head on the arm of the regal chair when he tires.