A/N: Her comes another chapter!

Chapter Eight: 25 Years Ago: Unexpected Surprises

Zeus

Holding my breath, hanging upside down in a water tank, I looked out at the audience beyond the glass as they watched me with bated breath.

Everything underwater seemed to move slower.

My blond hair floated around me, drifting into my eyes, as I contorted the bones in my hands, working on making my hands narrower and slipping them free of the handcuffs behind my back. I then began to fold myself in half to reach up to where my ankles were locked into a set of stocks in the ceiling of the tank.

Once I finally reached my ankles, I pulled a thin, metal rod out of the waistband of my swimming trunks.

Some people see lock picking in escapology as cheating, but it takes a very skilled person to focus on picking a complicated lock, without breaking the pick, when having been underwater for a bit.

My chest was beginning to burn. I realized that it took longer then normal to get my hands free. Shaking that thought away, I tried to focus on the lock.

With a soft click, inaudible underwater, my right foot came free. I then turned to my left foot, getting that free as well, before working on the lock to the top of the tank.

My vision faded for a moment. I dug my nails into my arm, bringing my attention back to sharp focus. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Thalassa take a step forward, but I shook my head. I only needed to hit two more pins—

Snap!

That noise would be inaudible to me as well, but it echoed hollowly in my mind. The lock pick. My only lock pick. It broke. I turned and showed the snapped pin to Thalassa. Her eyes widened, and she sprang towards the tank, pulling a set of key's out. My vision began to dim. I dug my nails into my arm again, sharpening my senses again.

If I fell unconscious, I would start to breath again. Which means there would be water in my lungs.

Thalassa got an emergency hatch in the side of the tank open, and the water, carrying me along with it, spilled out. As soon as air hit my face, I gasped for it, coughing as I was slammed in the face with some of the water. Lights, smells, and noise suddenly assaulted me, and I felt Thalassa wrap her arms around me, pulling my head into her lap. I squinted my eyes open to look up at her to find worry, fear… and anger? In her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I closed my eyes, just nodding as I breathed.

Once I felt okay, I sat up, smiling weakly at Thalassa, before standing, turning to my audience. They had been talking worriedly up to this point, but fell quiet when seeing me stand. I pushed my sopping bangs out of my face and bowed, before accepting a microphone from Thalassa.

"Not one of my most stunning escapes," I admitted, to the amusement of the audience. "I will be here all week though. Thank you, and good night!"

My words were met with thunderous applause as I bowed yet again, and the curtain closed. I shut off the microphone and took a deep breath.

That was the closest call I ever had…

My lackluster performance had been in the show room of the Garden Lotus Hotel, who had also given Thalassa and I a suite. I stepped out of the bathroom, having just finished my shower (yay, more water!), pulled on a pair of pants, and walked over to the window, rubbing a towel over my hair in an attempt to dry it.

The streets of Los Vegas always stayed lit up, making night into a neon day.

"Oh, you're out of the shower," Thalassa said from behind. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing her come into the room.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"What happened tonight?" Thalassa asked, coming over and wrapping her arms around me. I shook my head, putting a hand over her's.

"I couldn't focus. It took me too long to get out of the handcuffs, so I was already out of air by the time I got to my ankles. I was starting to black out and panic slightly by the time I got to the lid," I explained. Thalassa nodded slightly, giving my a squeeze, before letting go. I turned to watch her walk over to the bed and sit.

"Zeus… I think… we should stop these shows," she said after a few minutes of silence. The suggestion came so out of left field, I staggered.

"What?"

"They're too dangerous," Thalassa said, looking up at me. I stared at her for a few minutes, thinking about that.

"So then what? How will we make money to support ourselves?" I asked. Thalassa shook her head.

"I don't know. Maybe your dad will—"

"My dad can't help us," I said, cutting her off and turning to the window. "All of his money is going towards his treatments, remember?" I gripped the window sill, thinking about my dad.

He'd been diagnosed with Stage 3 Brain Cancer after he started acting erratically and collapsed in court last week.

"Well, we're smart. We'll figure something out," Thalassa said, standing. "But you shouldn't be doing such dangerous stunts!" Her voice rose. I scowled, turning.

"Alright, fine. How about we go crawling back to Magnifi then, hm? Maybe he'll support us!" I shot back. It was a cheap blow, but I was frustrated, upset, and tired.

"You know we can't do that!" Thalassa snapped.

"Oh, well I thought since we were just throwing out stupid ideas—"

"Excuse me for being worried about you!" Thalassa yelled, cutting me off.

"Well, excuse the hell out of me for worrying about how we should support ourselves!" I exploded.

"We can find something else to make money! You're just unwilling to give up escapology because it gives you an adrenaline rush!" she yelled.

"You know damn well that's not the only reason!" I yelled. "But you are a performer yourself!" I pointed out. "You know how this goes! You knew I was an Escape Artist even before you started dating me!" I shouted.

"Well, maybe I grew up!"

"Thalassa, what the hell is going on with you!?" I finally demanded. "You've been like this for the last week! You've been swinging between emotions! You've been demanding all these different things of me! And now this!?" I sat heavily on the desk chair in the room, my head in my hands, finally feeling defeat. "I can't deal with this. Especially not on top of finding out that my father is dying."

Silence fell over the room, more complete and oppressive then when I was in the water tank. Finally, after what was probably only three minutes, but felt like years, I looked up.

Thalassa's arms were wrapped around her stomach. She was starring at me, her face sad… and apprehensive.

"I… I'm pregnant," she suddenly blurted out. I froze, staring at her, my mind refusing to comprehend the words.

"W-wait… what?"

"Zeus… I-I'm pregnant… and I'm scared… and after tonight…" she trailed off, sitting on the bed and burying her face in her hands. I stood and quickly walked over, sitting next to her and wrapping my arms around her.

"Hey, hey…" I said softly, holding her close against my chest. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said. We'll figure this out. I… I won't do the dangerous stunts. I'll sign a contract with one of the stage magician's here to bring in more money. Something…" I said, trying to calm her down.

"I-I don't want you… to give up… escapology…" he sobbed into my chest.

"I know," I said. "I'll just tone down the more dangerous stunts. Okay?"

"O-okay…" she said, hiccupping.

It took two weeks, but I finally found a successful magician who would take me on as a guest performer. The following months went by in a blur of shows, doctor appointments, visits to Dad, and late-night odd food/cravings runs for Thalassa, all coming down to three in the morning, November 4th, 2004.

I came out of the bathroom, finishing my shower after a late night show, to find Thalassa, nine months pregnant, sitting up in bed, clutching her stomach, gasping.

"Thalassa!?" I said, darting over. She looked up at me, her eyes wide.

"W-we need… to go to… the hospital…" she said between gasps.

"Wait, what!?"

"We need to go to the hospital!" she snapped before gasping, holding her stomach. "The baby's… coming!"

"Oh crap!" I gasped, quickly throwing on a pair of pants and a hoodie. I then scooped Thalassa up, and ran out, thankful that the hotel we were at had a private car service.

Five hours later, Thalassa and I had a beautiful baby boy, eight pounds, three ounces. He had a dark brown tuft of hair, and my wide, dark brown eyes.

"He's beautiful," I said with a warm smile. Thalassa nodded in a agreement, tired, but ecstatic.

"Yes. What should we name him?" she asked. I fell quiet, watching him as he played with one of Thalassa's braided pigtails.

"How about Apollo?" I finally suggested. Thalassa smiled warmly.

"I like that," she said, snuggling him. "Hello, Apollo Justice."

A/N: Yes, Apollo's birthday is November 4th, 2004. I've decided this.

Apollo's an adorable baby, hehe.