Boston09: great chapter! I didn't know Theron could turn into a fly though, well he's a titan I guess lol. oh and doesn't Chaos not being able to tell Theron left the void kinda make Chaos seem less powerful, well less powerful then the most powerful being in the universe should be? / All immortals can turn into every animal. And the Chaos part is explained in this chapter.

Managed to write a pretty long chapter... and hopefully its satisfactory.

Chapter 10 - Critical

Pallas' eyes were wide as he skidded to a halt beside Ouranos. "He's an idiot."

"I am aware of that," Ouranos replied calmly. "Perhaps you have news for me of his whereabouts?"

"No," Pallas said shaking his head. "But the portal was used."

Ouranos nodded slightly. "Very well. Thank you, grandson."

Pallas hesitated. "You're not going to do anything? He broke the rule."

Ouranos raised an eyebrow. "I cannot interfere," he said, a smirk forming on his lips. "And neither can you. He is on his own."

Pallas smiled slightly and nodded. "Alright," he frowned slightly and looked down at what Ouranos was looking at on the earth, and his eyes widened as he saw the burning forest beneath them and the unconscious body of his cousin lying in the flames. "That idiot," he growled out.

"Kronos," Krios said as he tapped Kronos' arm. "Look up," he said pointing up to the night sky, and Kronos frowned as he saw the meteor falling to the ground. "It's not a meteor," Krios murmured, immediately starting to run towards where he estimated it would land. Kronos quickly followed, manipulating time around them to move faster.

"How far is it?" Kronos asked.

Krios shrugged slightly. "Looks like it'll land somewhere in Oregon. We'll find out when we get there."

Kronos frowned as he watched the meteor crash into the ground, a loud boom echoing around, and he saw flames flickering amongst the trees. He swore under his breath and pushed himself faster, overtaking Krios as he manipulated time. He shot into the forest, narrowing in on the not-a-meteor. He frowned as he skirted a clump of trees which were burning up and entered a clearing. At least I was a clearing after all the trees had been knocked over. A furrow several feet deep had been carved out like a crazy Primordial had taken a knife to it, and it was shining gold in the moonlight.

Krios skidded to a stop beside Kronos, uttering a short curse as he saw the devastation. Kronos crouched down and ran a finger through the gold, studying it for only a split second. "It's ichor," he said grimly as he stood.

Krios paled. "What? But there's so much," he breathed.

Kronos frowned, scanning the trench. He jumped down into the furrow, uneasily approaching what he guessed had been the 'meteor'. He unsheathed Backbiter, unaware of whether it was a friend or foe. Kronos reached out and turned it over, revealing a face so familiar he thought he was dreaming for a split second, and then Krios cursed beside him.

Kronos sheathed Backbiter. "Krios, get Hyperion and Apollo here now," he ordered as he started trying to get the cloak off his son.

Krios immediately flashed away, and Kronos swore under his breath as his gauntlets came away covered with ichor. He tore them off and threw them out of the trench before continuing. He summoned his scythe in dagger form and cut away the cloak, his fingers slipping from the slickness of the ichor on his hands.

It took several tries, but he eventually managed to get Theron out of the cloak and tossed it behind him, uncaring of where it landed. He frowned as he scanned Theron, noting the various injuries he had. He grimaced before leaning forward and starting to saw away at Theron's leather armour, wary of hurting him. He glanced up at the fire approaching and slightly hoped that Krios wouldn't be long. Kronos slit Theron's bracers down the middle and took them off him, throwing them onto the ichor saturated ground even as he reached for Theron's leather cuirass, digging the point of his dagger into the leather and dragging it down to the bottom of the cuirass. He then cut it at the shoulders, forcing the leather apart and cutting the front from the back before carefully bringing his dagger to cut through the undershirt Theron was wearing.

"Kronos!" Krios' voice shouted as Kronos started on the lower part of Theron's leather armour.

"Over here!" Kronos called, not even looking up from his work.

The roaring of the flames subsided as they were forced back from the trench by Hyperion, the Titan drawing them all into himself and clearing the way for Apollo and Krios. "How is he?" Krios asked anxiously, squatting down beside his brother.

"Not good," Kronos said shortly, wiping his hands on the jeans he was wearing and only managing to make them even more gold than they already were from his kneeling in the ichor flowing beneath him.

"I can see that," Krios noted. "I mean has he stirred at all?"

"No," Kronos said. "And I don't particularly think it would be a good idea for him to wake in this condition."

"You just found him like this?" Apollo asked with a frown.

Kronos nodded and threw the last pieces of Theron's leather armour behind him. "I'll probably go into shock once I have nothing to do," he admitted as he studied the now uncovered form of his son.

Apollo moved forward, running his hand along Theron's chest. "At least four ribs fractured," he murmured. "Two of them compound," he said, skimming over the two ribs protruding out of Theron's skin, "and it feels like the rest are greenstick or simple." He frowned as he caught the small trickle of ichor dropping from Theron's mouth. "A punctured lung…" Apollo trailed off as his fingers hovered over a section of Theron's chest in front of his sternum that looked like ichor was trying to burst out of his chest. He grimaced. "And his aorta's torn." He glanced at Theron's limbs. "Right femur has a closed fracture."

Kronos struggled to decide whether he should be worried or not. He settled for feeling irritated. "I'll take him back to Othrys," he sighed. "To his room. Think you can… acquire some medical equipment?"

Apollo nodded, not even going to argue with Kronos and say Theron should be in an actual infirmary. Hyperion and Krios moved to pick up Theron as Apollo gave them a warning. "Try not to move him too much, we've got to move quickly to stabilise him. Otherwise he will die."

Kronos nodded slightly as he helped his brothers, the three of them easily managing to support Theron. Kronos flashed them all into Theron's room and they lowered him onto his bed, taking care to not move him too quickly.

"We need to get the ichor off him," Krios murmured.

Kronos hesitated slightly before nodding. "Can you get Poseidon, Krios?"

Krios nodded, quickly flashing out. Kronos stared at Theron for several moments before he exhaled and slumped down onto the edge of the bed. "What happened to you?" He murmured, brushing some of Theron's hair from his face, the onyx strands starting to stick together. As Kronos moved away slightly, Theron stirred, his head turning a fraction towards his father. Kronos tensed, his eyes widening as Hyperion shuffled closer. Kronos hesitantly tried to brush some of the drying ichor off Theron's face, and his son muttered one word under his breath, one word that immediately made all that remained of Kronos' sadness flee and complete relief took over. "Father," Theron had said.

Kronos smiled, feeling his eyes start to water as his relief struck him full force. "I'm here," he choked out. "I promise you, son. You're not getting away from me ever again."

"Tried," Theron mumbled. "I… I tried."

"I know," Kronos murmured. "You did well. I couldn't have asked for a better son."

A small amount of ichor trickled out of Theron's mouth, streaking down the side of his face. "Hurts," he breathed, his eyes still shut.

"It won't hurt for long," Kronos assured him. "Apollo will fix you up."

"Hey," Krios said, sticking his head inside the room. "I've got Poseidon here."

Kronos nodded slightly. "Bring him in, and where's Apollo?"

"Here," Apollo said as he came in after Poseidon who was staring in shock at Theron.

"Wha… how?" Poseidon asked incredulously.

Kronos frowned at Krios. "You didn't tell him?"

Krios shook his head. "I didn't have time."

"Theron?" Poseidon breathed, his eyes wide.

"Doesn't matter," Apollo said shortly. "I might have left it too late. We need to get started." He moved towards Theron, filling up a needle as he continued. "Since he's apparently awake, none of you can let him go to sleep. He won't wake up if he does. I'm giving him anaesthetic, because he'll have to be awake when I operate."

"Operate?" Poseidon asked sharply.

Apollo sighed. "I'm not repeating," he warned as he stabbed the needle into Theron's jugular and pushed down on the plunger. "I don't care how you do it, just keep him awake."

Kronos nodded and positioned himself beside Theron. "Have you heard what's happened recently?"

Poseidon smiled and sat on the bed on Theron's other side. "Do you know Kronos is allowed on Olympus now?" He asked. "Though Zeus hides whatever dangerous items he can."

"I knew it," Kronos hissed, frowning at Poseidon.

The god grinned. "Hermes and Apollo have also taken to hiding whatever food they can. Kronos eats like it's the last meal he'll ever have."

Kronos watched as Apollo cut open Theron's chest, Poseidon still blabbering on beside him about the first things that came to mind. Apollo picked up a hollow rod with one hand while he held Theron's aorta steady with the other one. "One of his ribs went straight through it," Apollo murmured to Kronos as he grimaced. "This could hurt, Theron, even with the anaesthetics."

"You know Kronos and Rhea are still refusing to have a kid?" Poseidon asked with a grin. "They say they've got enough running round."

Theron's mouth switched up into a slight smile, even as Apollo snapped his rib back into place. Apollo quickly slipped the rod into place inside Theron's aorta to help it to stay open and not completely collapse. He then started healing the aorta with nectar.

"Apollo," Kronos said anxiously. "His lung."

Apollo glanced towards Theron's head and cursed when he saw his blue tinged lips. "Hyperion, come over here and keep putting nectar over the aorta," he ordered, the Titan doing so immediately. Apollo frowned as he turned his attention to Theron's lung. "Pneumothorax," he breathed, his eyes widening. "His lung collapsed."

He summoned another needle and stabbed it into Theron's chest, pulling back on the plunger and drawing out the air from Theron's chest. "Poseidon, I need you to keep doing this. Kronos, keep him awake," he snapped as he sensed Theron start to drift off.

Kronos leaned towards Theron. "Son, have you forgotten about Styx and the twins? I'm sure they'd love to meet you. When you aren't invalid, of course. Krivon's like you, but even more reckless. Callisto is the one with the head who thinks things through. I'm guessing you know what their domains are," Kronos smiled. "Though they're having trouble with the monster part of the powers. Chase tried to give them some pointers, but that's different than having someone actually teach them."

"Done," Apollo announced as he leant back, and almost as an afterthought he snapped Theron's leg back into place. Kronos frowned, realising that at some point while he was talking Apollo had also set the rest of Theron's ribs and healed the incision in his chest.

"Open your eyes," Kronos suggested.

There was several beats of silence, and then Theron took a deep, shuddering breath as his eyes slowly opened. His eyes met Kronos', and a weak smile formed on his face. "I guess I should have given you a warning before dropping by?" He said hoarsely.

Kronos choked out a laugh. "Damn you, son. Someday you'll be the death of me."

Theron started to get up, but Apollo was quickly there to stop him. "No," he said firmly, "you're going to stay bedridden until you're completely healed."

"But that's unfair," Theron whined.

"Well," Kronos said, a smirk forming on his face, "you're still grounded."

Poseidon snorted at the expression on Theron's face. "It's good to have you back, brother."

"What do we do about the others?" Krios asked from his position by the door where he was making sure no one walked in on them.

"No visitors," Apollo said firmly. "I think it's best if we keep it a secret until he's healed."

Theron's expression fell slightly. "How long?"

Apollo frowned. "It should be a few weeks. We'll have to rotate round on watch to make sure nothing else happens." He sighed at he looked at Theron. "Poseidon, can you wash him off?"

Poseidon's reply was to make the sink in an adjourning room explode. Theron spluttered, glaring at Poseidon as water dripped from his now soaked hair. "That was uncalled for," he growled.

Poseidon just smiled and started making his way to the door. "I've got to get back to Atlantis before anyone starts to wonder where I am."

"Hyperion, can you stay with him while I get cleaned up?" Kronos asked as he stood up and stretched. "I feel like someone's dropped a bucket of paint on me."

"How do you have so much ichor, Theron?" Apollo asked. "I would have thought you'd have died long ago if you'd lost that much ichor," he said gesturing to the ichor covered bed. "You should clean that."

"I'll do it when I get back," Kronos said dismissively before flashing out.

"I'd better go," Apollo mused. "I've got several injured beings in the infirmary."

Krios nodded. "We'll stay," he said glancing at Hyperion.

Hyperion settled down on Theron's bed, ignoring the ichor staining his clothes. "So, Chase, huh?"

"He's a good kid," Theron said firmly.

Hyperion raised an eyebrow. "I never said he wasn't. I'm just interested."

Theron sighed, staring up at the ceiling high above him. "Yes, he is the son of Theia and I," Theron took a breath. "Hyperion? Do you hate me?"

Hyperion frowned. "I once thought I did."

"And then?"

"Then you faded," Krios spoke. "And we realised that even though you're a brat sometimes, you're still our nephew, and it just isn't the same without you."

Theron smiled slightly. "I missed you all," he murmured.

"Me too, brat," Hyperion said with a slight smile.

Theron snorted. "Charming," he remarked, though Hyperion saw that he suddenly seemed wary.

"What?" He asked anxiously.

Theron swallowed. "Sunlight," he stated.

Hyperion faltered and realised that the sun had come up and was only inches from touching Theron. "How exactly did you get here?"

Theron hesitated slightly. "There's a portal in the Void that brings us here. You have to be allowed down by Ouranos and Chaos, but they didn't know I snuck out. It's Ouranos who brings us back when the sun touches us."

Hyperion slowly nodded. "You said you have to be allowed out?"

Theron's eyes widened. "They wanted me to come here," he realised.

Hyperion grinned. "I doubt Ouranos is going to drag you back there if they allowed you down in the first place."

Theron uttered a long line of profanities in the Old Tongue, ignoring Kronos when he re-entered the room. "Well," Krios smirked, "we'll be going."

The door shut behind the two Titans and Kronos sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why is it that we're meeting again with you once again almost dying?"

Theron shrugged, wincing slightly as he did so. "It's a gift," he said simply. Kronos shook his head and snapped his fingers, changing the sheets of the bed to clean ones. Theron raised an eyebrow. "Mother has you house trained."

Kronos scowled at him. "Very funny, son," he said with a completely straight face.

Theron grinned. "Before you wouldn't have even thought about changing sheets on a bed."

"You'll find a lot of things have changed," Kronos murmured.

"Well," Theron hummed, "I've apparently got several weeks."

Kronos chuckled and took the hint, settling down on the bed beside his son. "Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning's usually a good place," Theron said, his voice slightly muffled as he pressed himself into Kronos' side. Kronos seemed startled for a split second, but quickly slipped back into the position they had been in countless times in the past – Theron having his head buried against Kronos' neck, and Kronos resting his head on the top of Theron's with one of his arms going to sleep underneath him. Not that he'd tell his son that, as Theron would try to move, but the position was comfortable for Theron, so Kronos put up with it.

They had been talking for less than ten minutes when Theron had fallen asleep, and Kronos silently swore that he'd always protect his son. Never again would they be separated.

I hope that's good enough for you all... a little bonding going on between Theron and Kronos... Chaos knows they deserve it.