John could not get back to sleep. He tossed and turned for another half hour before he dressed himself and started down the stairs. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost ran into Daisy on her way up from the kitchens.

"I'm so sorry Daisy I wasn't minding where I was going."

"It's no trouble Mr. Bates." Daisy checked a window, "You're up far too early."

"Couldn't sleep." John shrugged, "I needed to stretch my legs, maybe get myself a cup of tea."

"That always helps me." Daisy made for the door and tried to rearrange the bucket and sheet in her hand but it slipped a bit but she only just caught it.

"Let me." John stepped forward to open the door to the landing, effectively blocking Daisy's view with his larger frame.

As he pulled the door open he saw Anna at the end of the hallway. He stopped as he saw what she was doing. Anna, Lady Mary, and Lady Cora were moving a body through the hallway. He leaned into the door as they turned a corner and allowed them to disappear before he opened it fully for Daisy.

"Sorry. It caught a bit on the carpet."

"I'm always telling Mr. Carson but he says the carpets are perfect and it's my imagination." Daisy smiled at John, "Maybe he'll listen to you Mr. Bates."

"I'll make sure I tell him." John nodded to her, "I won't keep you any longer."

"Thank you again for your help Mr. Bates."

"My pleasure Daisy." John waited for her to make her way toward the other bedrooms before he walked down the hallway where Anna had disappeared.

"She didn't do it you know."

"Geez!" John put a hand to his chest as Aphrodite, sitting on the bannister over the gallery and taking a file to her nails seemed completely unbothered, "Must you?"

"It's more fun." She examined her nails, "But I say again, she didn't do it."

"I wouldn't have thought otherwise."

"Just making sure," She filed at one of her nails hard for a minute before blowing on it. "He died of a heart attack."

"And you know this how?"

"You're not the only person I'm trying to push toward love." Aphrodite looked at him, "I tried to get Mary to be a little less interested in that man because, let's be honest, he's a tool."

"A what?"

"A wanker."

"How do you know that?"

"I tend to see the tears of broken hearts as well as the smiles of the whole." Aphrodite turned to face him, still perched on the bannister. "He was too caught up in his physical attraction and need to release that he missed the inconsistent pitter patter of his ticker. Serves him right, dickhead."

John shook his head, "You are a surprising individual."

"Aren't I just?" Aphrodite smiled at him, looking pleased with herself, "Go offer your help to Anna. She needs someone to talk to right now I think."

"I agree." John paused, "Why do you want me to see her right now?"

"Because she's just had a traumatic experience. Not as traumatic as Lady Mary, granted, but Anna needs someone to talk to about it. I think you need to make sure she knows you're on her side." Aphrodite patted his shoulder, "Be there for her. She needs someone in her corner who won't fail her."

"I'll never fail her."

Aphrodite snapped her fingers and pointed at him, "There's the attitude I like. Keep up that feeling and she'll be eating out of your hand."

John raised an eyebrow, "Is this what you do all the time?"

"Of course. What else would a goddess of love do?"

"I guess I just assumed you might have another job."

"Nope. This gig is on fire. Just like your suit." John immediately turned to check his coat but Aphrodite laughed. "It's an expression. Like, 'your suit is tight'."

"I've been meaning to adjust it but I haven't had the time."

Aphrodite sighed, "Never mind. Point is, I like your suit and you better hurry before Anna has to sneak back upstairs and get dressed."

John made his way down the hallway, ducking back a moment as a flustered Lady Grantham walked past, muttering to herself. Lady Mary followed not long after that, wiping furiously at her eyes and sniffing. He counted five before emerging to see Anna leaving a room and hurrying toward him. She was so lost in thought that she almost ran into him and he had to put a hand out to catch her when she backpedaled.

"Mr. Bates!" She looked up and down the hall, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question but I think I saw my answer." He pointed at the room, "Are you alright?"

Anna held her arms in her short-sleeved nightgown. She shivered slightly and John removed his coat, wrapping it around her almost on instinct. She pulled it close to herself and she practically shrunk in the largeness of his coat.

"Thank you, Mr. Bates."

"My pleasure." He wanted to say something else but felt he should keep himself silent.

When Anna did speak her voice was as small as she looked in his coat, "Did anyone else see?"

"Daisy was behind me on the stairs but I think I blocked her view." John waved his hand toward the servants' stairs, "Perhaps I could accompany you back up to your room so no one sees you."

"I wouldn't say no to the company."

They walked as quickly as possible, while staying quiet, back up to the door to the women's quarters. Anna removed John's coat, passing it back to him as she put her other hand on the knob. She shuddered a bit as she took a deep breath but met his eyes.

"Thank you, again, Mr. Bates. Not many would've done what you did."

"Not many would've had the chance." He held his coat, using it more to occupy his hands than anything else. "I do hope, if you ever need anything in future, you'll come to me. We are friends, after all, and friends help one another."

"They do, don't they." Anna put a hand out but withdrew it, as though doubting her intentions.

Regardless of what they might've been, John took her hand. She gasped a little as he bent to kiss the back of it. He made sure his eyes never left hers, even after he released her much smaller hand. They stayed staring at one another until the sound of a keys rattling on the other side of the door had them both jumping to action.

John hurried down the stairs as fast as he was able, keeping his cane from clacking on the stairs and giving him away as the voice of Mrs. Hughes came from above.

"Anna, you've got a chill. What are you doing up so early? Nothing nefarious I hope."

"No Mrs. Hughes, I had a cough and went for some Epsom salts in the kitchen. I'm much better now."

"Good. We've still got guests in the house who need us at our best."

"Yes Mrs. Hughes."

John shook his head, wondering how the unshakable Mrs. Hughes would react when she discovered the body of one of those guests in their room, very dead. He smiled a bit to himself, though recognizing the macabre situation, when he thought of the gasket Mr. Carson would blow about the indignity of someone dying in the house. John just thought of the traumatized Lady Mary and the shivering Anna.

"They're made of finer stock."

John grabbed the bannister as his step caught and he saw Aphrodite leaning in a doorway, checking over her jacket. "What?"

"You were just worried about the constitutions of poor Lady Mary and your dear Anna." Aphrodite replaced her coat, "They'll be fine."

"I wasn't worried and she's not my dear Anna."

"But you'd like her to be."

"That's not the point."

Aphrodite closed her eyes and shook her head, "Please don't tell me we're about to have the same conversation twice in one day." She opened her eyes to John's tight jaw, "I knew you old British men were 'stiff upper lip' and all that but I didn't think you were dense. I just thought that was breeding."

"She can't be mine."

"Ugh!" Aphrodite dragged her fingers over her face, "She can be."

"Even if I thought I was good enough for her, which I don't, there's still the not-so-small matter of me being married."

"What if I could solve that for you?" John narrowed his eyes as Aphrodite nodded, "What if I could find your wife and get her off your back for you… metaphorically speaking?"

"How could you do that?"

"At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am a goddess. So it's not a strain on the membrane to think I can't find someone if I want to. I happen to know a few other people in my particular field very good at delivering messages and all that."

"But you're the goddess of love, little 'g' or no." John insisted and noticed Aphrodite didn't seem to grasp his underlying meaning. "My wife is incapable of love."

"That's bullshit." John gaped at her and Aphrodite waved it off, "Everyone feels love. True she doesn't feel it for you and the closest you two ever got was a lustful, almost violent affection but there's still a grain of love somewhere in her cold, black heart. It may be self-love but I happen to know a man who's the expert in that I can consult if need be."

"And you'd go to that sort of trouble to help me?"

"I go to this sort of trouble to help anybody." Aphrodite waved her bracelet-covered arms, "It's what I do. Y'all mean a lot to me and I happen to like doing what I can to help humanity."

"So this is just a day's work for you?"

"Sort of." She leaned in conspiratorially, "Though I admit I happen to be rooting for you a bit stronger than I root for other people but don't tell them. I hate to inspire jealousy."

"What?"

"You're my favorites, don't tell the others."

"Somehow I don't believe that."

"I'm a changing person. Trying to turn over a new leaf as it were but you can believe what you will." Aphrodite shook herself out, "Just keep an eye on Anna will you?"

"I won't do anything else."

"Not what I-" Aphrodite sighed, "Forget it."

She vanished and John finished his trek downstairs for the tea he intended to grab almost two hours ago.

She drummed her fingers on the table and lolled her head back. She lifted at a scraping sound as the five other chairs at the table were pulled away. She smiled at the two women, two of the men, and tried not to make eye contact with the last man. One of the women, with arms thicker than the scrawny man next to her, spoke first.

"What's this all about Aphrodite? I'm busy trying to get distantly related family members to not think about starting a war with one another."

"And I'm trying to keep suffragettes out of prison." The other woman eyed the occupants of the pub, "Though I rather think we could do with a few more of them in here."

"Athena, Artemis, lovely to see you both." Aphrodite turned to the scrawny man, "And thank you for taking time away to help me Hermes."

"You said you'd put in a good word for me with a friend of yours," Hermes adjusted his glasses, "I'm busy trying to inspire a tech boom in Silicon Valley right now and I can't just pop back here anytime you want me to so this better be worth it."

"This is the first favor I asked for since you delivered letters between Victoria and Albert so please give me some credit." Aphrodite turned to the man with skin that seemed to glow slightly, "I'm surprised to see you here Apollo. Still getting your tan on?"

"Gotta stay fit." Apollo winked at her before taking his own scope of the pub, "Though there's not much sun for that here, which explains the plethora of delicate complexions."

"It doesn't matter." Aphrodite turned to the last man, "Nice of you to come Hephaestus."

The last man, more solidly built than Apollo with arms thicker than Athena's and holding an ornate cane nodded, "Thought I could be of some assistance."

"And you can." Aphrodite turned to Hermes, "I need you to find someone."

"Who?"

"Vera Bates. Irish woman, wife of John Bates, and is somewhere in the British Isles."

"Not a lot to go on."

"You once found someone in the darkest jungles of Africa with nothing more than a description. At least you have a name this time." Artemis spoke up, "What do you need us for?"

"I need her to realize some things and I need your help for that."

"Like what?" Apollo snorted, "Can't see someone like her being too interested in what we have to say."

"She needs to focus her otherwise malignant energies on something more constructive."

"Like?" Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Can't say I'm going to be of much use since I'm the goddess of chastity and she's obviously not in the mood for that kind of help. Adulterers rarely are."

"Then get me the proof I need that she's not been true to her wedding vows."

"Weddings and marriage are more Hera's thing and," Artemis made a show of looking around, "You didn't invite her."

"I also didn't invite Ares because I don't want this to turn into a personal war between a bitter, selfish woman and the man who married her." Aphrodite tried not to look at Hephaestus. "You're the people I need."

"So Hermes finds her, Artemis finds the proof of her infidelity, and we," Athena pointed to herself, Apollo, and Hephaestus, "Do what, exactly?"

"I need you," Aphrodite pointed to Athena, "To speak to her first. Try to help her see reason when I get some divorce papers to shove in her face. Exceeding wisdom and all that."

"Why not try to get them to live happily ever after?" Apollo leaned back in his chair, winking at a man across the bar who hurriedly looked back at his own drink. "They are married after all."

"Not all marriages are made for the right reasons and some people shouldn't be together." Aphrodite saw the way everyone's eyes at the table dart toward Hephaestus. "She needs someone who's not John Bates."

"Then what do I do?" Apollo rolled back his shoulders, "Can't really see how the god of light and music is really going to help unless you want some mood setring."

"Since I didn't actually invite you I don't have anything for you to do." Aphrodite made a face, "Why are you here anyway?"

"Him," Apollo jerked his thumb back to the guy at the bar, "I think he's kind of cute and I wanted to get a closer look."

"Then by all means don't let us keep you." Athena rolled her eyes, and Apollo left the table, joining the man at the bar. "How soon do you need this done?"

"I'd like them to be divorced before the war breaks out."

"Worried something might cock it all up?" Hermes scanned the menu before blinking and a bowl of chips appeared before him.

"I'm worried that she will try to claw her way to something if there's profit in it for her and I'd rather not let that happen." Aphrodite focused on Athena, Artemis, and Hermes, "This marriage needs to end as quickly as possible."

"Well we never were very good at keeping people together." Athena stood, "I'll try and talk some sense into the woman but I don't hold out much hope. She's a nasty one and I've met some people lately."

"The best you can do is enough." Aphrodite stood too, shaking all their hands but waiting a moment for Hermes to brush his on his jeans. "This couple is worth the effort."

"I should think so. You haven't asked for help in decades." Hermes took his bowl of chips and winked at her, "I'll find her."

With bright flashes the three of them disappeared, leaving Aphrodite and Hephaestus alone at the table. She put her hands together, rubbing her thumbs a second before smiling at him, "You look good."

"I hope so. I've been making weapons for people convinced they need to prepare for the greatest war the world has ever seen." He shrugged, "Your boyfriend would know all about that."

"He's not my boyfriend anymore."

"But he was your lover."

"I really hate that term," Aphrodite shuddered, "It just sounds so gross."

"Well it might not be the love you're trying to inspire in this couple but it was something." Hephaestus put an arm across the back of his seat as he sat sideways, "I think your son Eros would describe it as erotic love but then he usually sides with his father."

"I asked you here for your help."

"Yes," Hephaestus scoffed, "You always come to me when you need something. I'm the one you crawl back to."

"I'm not crawling."

"It's a metaphor." Hephaestus sighed, "What do you want?"

"Your perspective." Aphrodite made sure Hephaestus looked at her, "He's a lot like you, you know."

"Is that what this is? A pity game?"

"No," Aphrodite shook her head, "They belong together."

"And we didn't?"

"I was young and stupid then. What did I know about what really matters about love?"

"What do you know now?"

"That's not fair." Aphrodite let out a breath in exasperation, "I'm doing the best I can, trying to understand what deep love is, and I think they're the perfect people to teach me."

"So you're helping them to get pointers?"

"If that's what you want to call it." Aphrodite took Hephaestus's hand and made sure he was looking at her. "I've been doing this a long time and I'm not perfect at it. Being the goddess of love doesn't mean you have any idea what you're doing but I see it in them. I can recognize that."

"What does it look like?"

"It's…" Aphrodite stared into the corner a moment, trying to find the words. "I saw the way her face lit up the moment she laid eyes on him. She saw a future in that moment she'd never allowed herself to consider before. And he saw something worth living for. For two people who've suffered enough they finally see a light at the end of their tunnels."

Aphrodite almost laughed, "I've never seen anything like it."

"Not even Victoria and Albert? Or Wilbur and Barbara? Or-"

"Not even them." She realized she was still holding his hand, "I want to make this right for them. They deserve this happiness."

"Do we?"

"Maybe." She shrugged, giving a half-smile, "Maybe if I can get this right then I'll know how to love better."

"Love who better?"

"I deserve that." Aphrodite released his hand, "But I would like to think I could learn to love you better."

"Because he reminds you of me?"

"A bit."

"Then speak to his need to protect her from everyone else." Hephaestus captured Aphrodite's attention, "Make sure he knows she's worth more than anything and he's all she ever wanted. If not then he'll always doubt that such a beautiful woman loves him truly. He'll doubt it forever anyway but make it easier to bear."

They sat in silence for a moment before Aphrodite felt the lightest of brushes against her bare arms as Hephaestus stroked his finger down the line of bangles. "You still wear them?"

"How can I not?" Aphrodite played with them a moment, "They were made with love by someone who loves me."

He smiled, "Speaking of…" He took a ring out of his pocket and put it on the table between them. "I still have it."

"And I have mine." She dug in the necklaces at her neck and held out a plain band on a plain chain. "For all the jewelry I've owned this is my favorite."

"That's how you help him realize he's all she wants." He took the ring in his fingers, running his thumb along it. "Constant displays of affection and concern. It'll help them realize what they mean to one another."

"Thank you." Aphrodite put her hand on his and they stayed that way for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"I need to go." He took the ring from the table and put it in his pocket. "Lots to do since Athena's not really had a good run of trying to get people to not kill one another. Your boyfriend's better at encouraging them to fight."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Well, whatever he is, he's a dick."

"Yes he is." Aphrodite smiled up at Hephaestus as he stood, taking his cane, "Thank you again for coming."

"I'll always come when you need me." Hephaestus kissed her hand, "I wish you luck with these two. I've never seen you talk about anyone with this much adoration."

"You'd feel the same if you knew them."

"Maybe I already do." He winked and vanished, leaving Aphrodite alone in the pub.