A loud buzz jolted him back to reality. He blinked, his blood-red eyes scanning the room searching for whatever was making that loud, and by now quite annoying, noise. Looking down, he noticed the blue glare from his phone screen. Three missed calls. 'ah shit.' Hades sighed as he dialed his inbox and heaved the phone up to his ear. 'First message, left today at 19.52pm: Hi boss. Just a quick call. I wanted to confirm the plans for tomorrows charter meeting. Call me back when you get a chance. Bye.' 'ah… must reply to that one. She can get pretty crabby if I ignore her for long.' Hades chuckles as he adds 'call Hecate' to his to-do list. 'Next message, left today at 20.00pm: Yoo hoo! Big brother… You can't avoid me forever. Family brunch tomorrow is mandatory, remember?! You better be there. I order you.' 'ugh.' He rolled his eyes as he deleted the message.

'Final message, left today at 23:20 pm' Hades looks up at the clock. 23:30 pm. He'd only just missed this one. As he listens, a small soft voice begins. H-hi… It's me. I mean, Its Persephone.' A cold sinking feeling rushed through his body. It was her. Why would she be calling him? What could she possibly want? 'Look, I know its getting late… and I really don't want to bother you but I… could you...' There's a long pause. 'y'know what, never mind. I'll see you Monday. Bye.' The phone line cut dead. Hades panicked. He could sense that something was wrong. Something in her voice was off. She didn't sound like her usual self. Instinctively, he hit re-dial. He didn't have a plan. He didn't know what he would say. He just needed to make sure she was ok.

'h-Hello?' Her voice flowed through his ears like fine music. His throat tightened at the sound. His mind raced with anxiety. 'H-hi. You called? Did you need something?' He coughs and loosens his shirt collar trying to sound breezy. 'I h-hope I didn't interrupt anything. I sh-shouldn't have called.' Her voice sounds weak. There is a slight wobble to her words. It almost sounds like she's been crying. 'Persephone, is everything alright?' He probes softly. Sensing the tone in her voice, he sits upright in his black leather office chair, resting his elbow on the table. 'yeah, I'm f-fine… I just…'

'No, you're not. I know fine and you don't sound fine.' Hades shuffles in his chair. 'Well, It's almost midnight, I'm alone and I'm a total disaster.' She stifles an anxious laugh. 'Eros convinced me to come out for drinks tonight to say sorry for what happened at the party. I was having a good time… I don't know what went wrong. One minute I was fine and the next it felt like someone's hands were around my throat. Like the walls were closing in around me. I got scared so I left and now I'm just…walking.' The thought of her wandering the cold dark streets of the underworld alone filled him with a dread that gripped him by the chest. Hades spoke with urgency. 'Where are you now? I'm coming to get you. You shouldn't be alone right now.' He took a deep breath to steady himself.

'erm, I'm not sure where I am.' She laughs 'Good Gaia, I'm pathetic.' He hated hearing her talk about herself this way. To him, she was perfection. 'Believe me, you're far from pathetic, what can you see?' He wracked his brain trying to imagine where she could be. 'well, in front of me there's a gym and to the left, I can see what looks like a garden with a fountain in the middle.' Like a lightbulb had gone off in his brain, he stood and pulled on his jacket frantically, scooping his keys up in the process. 'I know where you are. Stay there. I'll be 5 minutes. I'm coming.' Ending the call and rushing out of the door, Hades felt an urgency he'd never felt before. He had to get to her. He needed to hold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be ok.

Slamming the door of the car and turning the key to start the engine he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He was flushed and breathless. He had to get it together. He couldn't let her see him so undone like this. His foot hit the gas peddle and it barley lifted until he reached the park. As he brought the car to a stop he looked out of the window, his eyes frantically searching. He swung open the driver door and stepped out into the bitterly cold night air, turning the collar of his jacket up to shield himself from the wind. His eyes wandered the black abyss for any sign of her. Heart pounding, he circled to the front of his car, stepped onto the pavement and into the park in search of the dainty goddess.

'Kore' He called out softly as he glances upwards to an old iron bench, on which a small pink mass was huddled. Slowly, he moved towards her, removing his jacket as he did so. Taking a seat on the bench next to her, he draped his jacket over her shoulders. 'You're freezing. How long have you been out here?' he said, sounding more adjetated than he intended. She took a deep breath. He could see she was visibly shivering so he stretched his arm around her and pulled her close. 'About an hour. I guess I've not quite adjusted to how cold it is here yet. Th-thank you.' Tugging on Hades' jacket and pulling it across her body, Persephone slumped sideways, resting against him couldn't believe that he was sitting next to her. That he'd found her. 'I'm sorry… I'm such a mess.' A deep shame burned in her chest and a single tear escaped her eye. She hated people seeing her like this: so weak and broken. Lifting her chin upwards with his fingers gently, Hades brought her gaze to meet his. 'well, I guess that makes two of us then.' He smiled warmly, giving her a little squeeze. 'C'mon lets get you somewhere warm. Where do you want me to take you? I could take you home or to Artemis' or… well…' He fumbled in his seat, releasing her from his gaze. 'C-could I just come back to your place? I just feel like hiding from the world for a while.' She almost pleaded. Hiding from the world, especially with Hades for company, sounded like her idea of heaven.

'...Of course. If you're sure.' He'd have taken her anywhere. Hell, he'd have sat on that bench all night if it meant he could be in her company. He stood slowly, reaching his hand out to offer her some support. With her hand in his, she heaved herself from the bench and they walked back to the car. Hades held the passenger door open whilst she climbed inside. 'Comfy?' he asked. 'Very' she smiled.

Within minutes, although it felt much longer, they had arrived back at hades' smart, glass-walled townhouse. Persephone loved it here. It was modern, yet classic at the same time and matched Hades' personality perfectly: tall, dark and gorgeous. She'd grown quite fond of the underworld during her time working for Hades and was mesmerized by its quiet beauty. Being the goddess of spring she didn't see darkness very often. It was a welcome change and one which tended to mirror how she was feeling these days. Exiting the car, Hades rushed to the door and put his key into the lock. A few turns and the door flung open. He ushered her in and removed his jacket from her shoulders. 'Warm enough?' he asked. Persephone nodded gently. She looked down at her feet and then to the tight black bandage dress wrapped around her petite frame. 'I really don't know what I was thinking wearing this.' She gestured to her outfit with a distasteful look on her face. 'It's just not... me.' Hades took a second to really drink in the vision in front of him. As out of character as it was for her to wear something like that, he couldn't help but admit that she looked incredible. Each fold of the soft fabric clung to her curves in all the right places. Her hair long and flowing and her make-up soft and delicate, just enough to highlight her beauty. The sight of her was enough to take his breath away. 'I think you look beautiful in whatever you wear.' The words fell from his lips before he had the chance to stop himself. She smiled bashfully at him. 'You can borrow something if you'd be more comfortable?' She nodded thankfully and followed him through to his bedroom. Opening the glass doors carefully, Hades pulled a crisp white shirt from his closet and held it up to her. 'Here, how's about this?' 'Thank you. It's perfect.' She smiles as she takes the shirt from him gently. 'I'll give you some privacy. You need something warm. How's about some Tea?' Remembering her reaction the last time he offered her coffee, he decided tea might be more up her street. 'Chamomile works wonders... or so I've heard.' Hades chuckles and looks down at his feet, a little embarrassed. He tries to puff his chest in an attempt to regain his masculinity. 'Thanks, that'd be great.' Persephone smiles as she turns to watch him leave the room.

Kicking off her heels and unwrapping the dress, she breathed deeply, adjusting to her new surroundings. Standing in her underwear, she gazed at the space around her. Smart yet inviting, she'd never been in here before. She ran her hands across the soft cotton sheet draped across Hades' king-sized bed, subconsciously wondering what it would feel like against her bare skin. Slipping on the shirt and buttoning it up almost to the top, she took a minute to compose herself. The shirt was cozy and smelled just like him. Breathing deeply, she inhales the scent as if it were a drug she just couldn't get enough of. She padded across the soft black rug and out of the room. Along the hall joining the bedroom to the living areas she could see a framed picture of Hades and his family: Zeus and Hera with their gaggle of children; Poseidon and Amphitrite and their little boy and then Hades standing alone to the side of the picture. She couldn't help but sense the loneliness and the longing in his expression. Stroking the glass carefully with her fingers, she moved across the hall, reaching the kitchen where she could see Hades was waiting. She hopped up onto a sleek breakfast bar stool as he slid a steaming mug towards her. Persephone pulled it towards her, inhaled its warmth and took a big sip. Armed with a mug of coffee, Hades joined her, sitting across from her at the breakfast bar. 'So, do you wanna talk about what happened tonight? From what you said, I'd sounded like you had a panic attack.' He said, taking a sip of his coffee. 'I get them all the time.' He admits and then sighs. 'really?' she enquires, surprised at this admission. Hades nods. 'I've been told that the first step to conquering them is to find out what's causing them.' The pair make eye contact for a moment. 'well... something happened to me a little while ago and... ever since, I've had these little moments where I feel as if the wind has been knocked out of me. I can't breathe, I can't move. I'm frozen.' Reaching out his hand, Hades places it over hers. 'You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to or if it's too painful. But I'm here if you need to talk. You can tell me.' His thumb strokes across her hand softly and they meet each other's gaze. 'I think now's the right time...' she starts.

It was finally time to tell someone: to tell them what Apollo did.