There's a moment of silence as everyone processes the Queen's words and then blue fire bursts from the shadows of the room. Rose barely has enough time to shiver as the temperature in the room plummets before Hades is stepping out of the darkness. Despite her complicated feelings about the man (and her still simmering rage), she can't help but feel relieved to see the King of the Underworld. As manipulative and stoic as the god could be, he was still probably the best chance they had at defeating the domineering woman.

The wrath on Hades' expression was unmistakable, a deathly pallor appearing on his face as he stepped through his portal. With every step, Rose watched in muted awe as black plate mail seemingly melted onto his body, blue fire flickering around the edges, lighting up his pale eyes in an eerie manner. A great, spiking crown formed on his head, a massive, two-pronged spear materializing as he took his last step into the center of the room, looming across from the intruding goddess like the specter of death he so truly was.

Hera regarded Hades like one would regard a particularly troublesome cat.

It was….less than reassuring.

"Hera." Said goddess raised a brow at the low tone, crossing her arms over her chest and settling back on her feet. "How did you get in here? Why are you here?" Rather than be intimidated, Hera laughed, the tone more biting than jovial.

"Such a temper, brother. You act as if the warding you put up was supposed to keep me out." Hades gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he glowered down at her. Hera just rolled her eyes before continuing. "I think you've gotten rather slow in your old age, Hades. Who was it, again, who taught you magic?"

The temperature dropped another several degrees.

"Watch your tone, sister."

All of the fake laughter disappeared from Hera's face.

Magic, wild and teal colored burst from her skin, lighting up the room and increasing her already impressive aura to one that was almost smothering in intensity. On either side of her, Steve and Bucky were nearly vibrating with tension, both trying to quietly maneuver the blonde behind them- a move that Rose was stubbornly fighting.

Like hell am I letting them try and shield me from a literal divine showdown.

I'm the one with the fucking magical shield!

Besides- I owe this bitch a punch to her cotton candy canoe for trying to kill my boyfriends and me.

That wasn't Hera.

..What?

It laughed, remember? "Hera? You think I'm Hera?"

If that wasn't Hera…then who was it?

That was the main question, wasn't it? Who was attacking them? Why were they attacking them? Why steal artifacts from across the world?

Any other questions were cut off when Hera spoke, voice thundering and echoing through the room unnaturally.

"No- watch your tone, brother. Have care to whom you speak, you petulant little mutt. I am your Queen, and you would do well to remember that." Hades glowered at her, the expression coming off more petulant than Rose thought he meant it to.

"You forget that I am just as much of a King as you are a Queen-" Hera cut him off with a derisive laugh, brows furrowing as she sneered up at him.

"Oh please- do we look to be in that depressive shithole you call a kingdom? This is admittedly a rather dull crowd, but they don't resemble the pitiful shades you call subjects. Your attempts to appear impressive may work on godlings and that poor girl you've suckered into your bed, but I know you." She stepped forward, invading Hades' space and knocking the god back a step. "You're still the same, pathetic little weasel you were when Zeus forced you into guarding Tartarus." The Queen of Olympus gave him a sharp smile, the gap in her teeth just peaking from behind her lips. "The only difference I can see is that you still had your balls then. My niece appears to have them well in hand now."

Oh shit.

I kind of want to clap.

I hate her, but I also kind of want her to step on me.

In the most respectful way possible, of course.

Any further verbal evisceration is cut off by Natasha's voice, deliberately cool and even in the otherwise heated atmosphere.

"You didn't have to break through the warding." Rose glanced back at the master spy, lurking just out of eye sight on the edges of the room. The red head was standing deceptively placidly, the only hint of her watchfulness appearing in the corner of her eyes- eyes that were firmly locked on Athena's flat expression. While none of the eyes in the room visibly moved, Rose felt the attention of the room's occupant's shift, zeroing in on the reborn Goddess of Wisdom. The pastel haired woman tilted her head at the attention, hand idly tracing the purple owl burnt into her hip. Undeterred, Natasha continued. "You were invited in."

Hera didn't deign to look surprised.

Hades, by contrast, looked like he'd been stabbed.

"Minnie…" Athena hissed at the apparent nickname, some of the first actual emotion Rose could ever recall seeing appearing on her face.

Pure rage.

"Don't call me that! I am not your pet- your guard dog!" The dark skinned woman barred her teeth, eyes glowing lavender as every muscle in her body tightened in outrage. "I am not the child you stole from her home! Some wide eyed waif desperate for any iota of affection or understanding you could grant her!" Rage fizzling out (or, perhaps more accurately, being concealed again), Athena relaxed back on her feet, lavender fading back to gold as she scanned the room. "I am the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare- and I can tell when parts of a puzzle don't add up." There was a small pause as the room digested the decisive statement, then Wanda was speaking up, the scarlet color of her own magic smoldering warily around her.

"This is not the same woman from the dig sites." Pietro shot his twin a small frown, gently questioning her assessment.

"She could have shapeshifted, yes?" Wanda pursed her lips, lifting one of her hands and letting her powers out to play, red smoke drifting almost lazily between her fingers.

"Even if she could change her shape, she would not be able to change the color of her magic. It is…" She trailed off, struggling to put into words what she only really understood based off of feeling. Apparently tired of being "left out", Hera butted into the conversation, voice imperiously amused.

"It is the soul made physical, little witch." The Queen raised a lazy hand, mirroring Wanda's own, before lighting it up with her own unique teal color, little sparks of gold fizzling at the edges as she waved the digits teasingly. "I could change my form a thousand times, but the color and feel of my magic would remain the same." She clenched her hands on the final word, magic fading out as she finished grimly. "This color can only be changed when it has been tainted by darkness- and even then, it would take something truly terrible to blacken it."

Rose thought of black eyes and screaming shadows, and had to forcefully swallow back the nausea building in her stomach.

What the hell is trying to kill me?

If it was Shaggy we'd already be dead by now.

.Seriously? Some sort of demonic creature with an actually black soul is trying to murder me, and you reference an ancient meme?

Ruh' Roh'.

I'm starting to think Darwinism was probably right to try and kill me off so many times.

"Just because Cersei Lannister here doesn't have the same 'sparkle fingers' going on, doesn't mean she isn't involved in this mess." Hera turned her full attention to Tony, a peculiar mix of irritation and fondness flashing across her face as the billionaire continued. "It wouldn't be the first time the villain of the week smiled in our faces while laughing maniacally behind our backs." Sensing that he might actually have someone on his side, Hades piped in, voice laced with accusation.

"It also does not mean you weren't responsible for the Titans being unleashed upon us. You were very noticeably absent when the dust had settled, sister." Hera grit her teeth, arms crossing defensively as she skewered her brother with an irate glare.

"Tell me, brother, how far have you traveled since you found your sweet little flower again?" Hades shifted uncomfortably, noticeably silent under with weight of her implication. The dark haired goddess scoffed at his nonresponse before continuing. "Just as I thought. I knew the moment that Kore died that you would be utterly useless once she was found again. I would have taken all of the tokens from you had the fates not stated you needed two of them. As for your other baseless accusations?" Rage and a terrible, aching loss crept onto her face, a single hand coming up to grasp at the front of her gown. "I am the Goddess of Women and Motherhood. Tell me, what possible reason could I have for murdering my children?" Her grief all but smacked Rose in the face, resonating up against her soul with a sharp, weeping clang so profound it almost brought her to her knees. Bucky felt her shudder and placed a steadying hand against her elbow, using her momentary weakness to tentatively maneuver her somewhat behind the two super soldiers before speaking, voice low and purposefully benign.

"Women kill their children for a lot of different reasons. Money. Power. Their new boyfriend. Hell, some of them just get bored." Hera pursed her lips, faintly nodding to acknowledge the truth of his statement before refuting its implications.

"Tis' true that I was not always a good mother- but I did love them." She trailed off, the very faintest trace of tears clinging stubbornly to her eyes. "My family was made up of violent, deformed little monsters- but they were my family." Visibly steeling herself, the goddess straightened up, regality and rage settling back over her features like a well-fitted mask. "Hebe, my youngest, was little more than a babe when she was ripped apart- still far too young and far too weak to make a token for herself. I will never even see a shade of her again, and the loss was almost too much for me to bear." She bared her teeth in a facsimile of a smile, teal eyes flat and dark with rage. "I have comforted myself with the thought that, when the time comes, my sons and I will tear those wretched bitches limb from limb. Their dying screams will be the last lullaby my babe never got." The brutality and earnestness of her threat hangs in the air, the tangibility of her rage and grief wiping out any lingering suspicions that Rose had about the dark haired goddess' involvement.

Natasha (and some of the other Avengers) was not quite so easily convinced. Her gut was telling her that, while Hera was most likely not involved in the Titan's release or the attacks on the Compound and dig sites, the goddess was deliberately leaving something out. She might not have been outright responsible for the deaths of her children, but the guilt hidden in her eyes spoke of something deeper.

It could have been survivor's guilt- but Natasha seriously doubted it. Rage was definitely more of her style.

Sammy, half-wielding a metal chair while shielding a green-tinged Bruce, latched on to the most informative part of the Queen's threat.

"'Bitches'- so there's more than one person involved." Hera blinked for a moment, seemingly shaking off the heaviest of her emotions, before locking eyes with the retired soldier. Something like recognition passed over her face before she shook it off, lips curling in a dry smirk.

"Not people, little spathí. More than one god." She raised a hand, halting any questions before she finished her statement. "And, not just that- tis' the same gods as before…and with the very same goal." Hades tensed at the revelation, face and eyes paling in shock.

"That's impossible- everyone died Hera!" He paused, mouth pursing in contemplation as he eyed his sister warily. "Unless you're implying that there are Ascended I am unaware of…" Hera rolled her eyes, sharing a conspiring glance with a blandly amused Athena.

"Dear brother, of course there are Ascended you're 'unaware of'." When he gave Athena another betrayed look, Hera rolled her eyes again. "Please- of course she hid things from you. You kidnapped the child and trained her as a weapon. Then, you used her and the little godlings to shield your flower like glorified meat shields. It's a miracle that they all haven't been killed under your brilliant guidance." Steve and Bucky both tensed up on either side of her, the news that there were more gods than they were aware of shocking the both of them while sending a lightning bolt of trepidation down both of their spines.

One unsupervised, confused god was terrifying to contemplate.

How many were they missing?

Tony, always willing to be the spokesperson, tried to get the conversation back on track.

"That's all very interesting- and by interesting I mean pants-wettingly terrifying- but I'd like to get back to the 'Q and A' part of this impromptu meeting. Are you saying that there are 'godlings' running around trying to open a hellgate so they can unleash your apex Monster-in-Laws?" Hera pursed her lips at the assessment, mouth quirking in sarcastic amusement.

"As entertaining as that description is, it's also emphatically wrong." Sammy, still half-heartedly brandishing her stool, piped in, cinnamon colored eyes dark with contemplation.

"You're saying they never died." Hera nodded, eyes glinting with something like pride.

"Very astute, little spathí." Hades shook his head in denial, mouth titled with stubborn confusion.

"No- I saw it, Hera. Everyone died." Bruce, now back down to his "natural" skin tone (though his eyes still had the faintest glow of green around them), finally decided to add to the conversation.

"Not everyone." The scientist reached forward and ran a tender hand down the side of Sammy's arm, prompting the red head to lower the stool back down to the floor. Satisfied that he had her attention, he gave her arm a gentle squeeze, silently thanking the woman for her enthusiastic protection (as completely unnecessary as it was). Pointedly ignoring the gazes of everyone in the room (lest his blood pressure get too high again), he elaborated, tone blunt and factual. "You said it yourself. Some of them were 'obliterated so completely' that you couldn't find a body. It's entirely probable that someone might have used the confusion to escape." Hera scoffed, the sound slightly derisive as she bared her teeth.

"Not 'probable'- that is exactly what occurred. It is true that a few of the bodies were destroyed, but any idiot could have checked for residue. Only two bodies were completely absent, both of which were supremely adept magical users." She paused, deliberately making eye contact with Hades, silently communicating something to the God of the Underworld as she finished her revelation. "One of which was both born from darkness…and then tainted by it." Hades sucked in a sharp breath, shoulders noticeably tensing as her finally comprehended what the Queen was trying to communicate. Clint, crouched behind a still growling Darcy, decided to add his own two cents (much to his girlfriend's irritation).

"This is all very mysterious- but could you please elaborate a little? You know, for the people not a billion years old or with a dead God/Goddess nesting in their noggins?" Visibly irritated by the interruption, Hera glared in the archer's general direction.

"If I wasn't so sure your lover would shred this gown, mortal, I would take your tongue for your impertinence." Glancing between said lovers, Hera waved him off, the irritation fading the slightest bit. "As it is, I will allow it just this once. Count your good fortune that it is so terribly difficult to find a good tailor in this century, Huntsman." A combination of terrified and irritated (why did Tony get to be a snarky asshole and he didn't?), Clint gave her a short nod, resting a hand on Darcy's lower back in a futile attempt to get the brunette to quite her growling.

Rose was pretty sure that, despite Darcy's assertion that she wasn't a werewolf, the feral woman would be more than happy to do her very own rendition of "American Werewolf in London" if the other goddess so much as winced in Clint's general direction.

Hera looked just about as concerned by Darcy's aggression as she was by anything else (which was to say that she was more "mildly annoyed" than "appropriately terrified").

"The dark haired woman searching dig sites is Hecate- no doubt searching for key fragments in spots of concentrated magic." Darcy paused her growling, mind shooting back to the small, angular bit of metal currently under lock and key in Tony's lab.

"Key fragments?" Hera nodded at the feral woman's question.

"Yes- 12 in total. Combined together they open up the final gate to Tartarus, effectively unleashing the Titans once again." The goddess smirked, the tiniest amount of mischief lighting up her eyes. "Each piece is held by a guardian handpicked by one of the 12- though I might have played with a clue here or there, heavily implying that the creatures were guarding said fragments as opposed to say….keeping them." Darcy winced.

"Very 'Fifth Element' of you." When Hera just gave her a blank, unamused stare, the brunette backpedaled, doing her best to feign nonchalance. "Right- that was- carry on?" Silently despairing to herself at the idiocy of these "baby gods", the Queen continued, voice heavily exasperated.

"As I was saying…" She trailed off, features darkening grimly. "The other god is the one that I'm much more worried about. She's the leader of the so-called 'Bedlam Brotherhood'- a rather on the nose name for a cult, especially given her designation." She suddenly whipped around, darkened eyes zeroing in on Rose with a startling amount of intensity- almost like she was trying to communicate the same thing she'd said to Hades to her.

Rose was pretty sure she heard the airplane noise it made when the information went right over her head.

Disappointed, but not supremely shocked, the intensity in the dark haired goddess' eyes lessened slightly, voice sharp with repressed rage as she finished her revelation.

"The creature trying to kill you? The one who orchestrated everything? It's Eris- the Goddess of Chaos and Discord."

`~`~`~A/N`~`~`~

Surprise! Happy New Year! Finally got passed some of my writer's block, so I hope you guys enjoy! I missed hearing from y'all! Thoughts? Comments? Theories? Favorite lines/parts? Love you! Don't be afraid to drop a review!