Guest 1: Why does anything happen in a story? Short answer: because plot and drama. It will make sense eventually. Thanks for the review!

Guest 2: Thank you for your feedback. I agree with you on Charlie - as for Amaya, this is just a fun AU story where Amaya's back for drama. Thanks for the review!

Unknown (Greece), 2019

In a Greek village, a young dark-haired woman sat alone in the darkness of the local bar. It was officially closed and its owner lay in his bed, dead. The locals suspected nothing; this was such a small town, nobody believed anything eventful, such as murder, would happen. So when Periboea picked this bar to hold her meeting, no-one knew she killed the owner.

The door hadn't opened, but two women joined the Giantess. One wore a purple cloak while the other wore a business suit, each of them intriguing in their own right. Periboea smiled – Hecate and Apate had answered her call.

"You're here," she said. The goddesses greeted her and the three sat down at the table in the center of the bar. Periboea glanced around the room, expecting someone else to arrive as well. Yet, nobody else came. She turned to Hecate and Apate.

"Where is Hypnos?"

"He isn't coming today," Apate answered. She was annoyed. "He said he had other things to do." Sometimes, her older brother had the craziest idea that she could not talk him out of. Instead of fighting it, she allowed it to happen and hoped his actions did not negatively impact their work. But that did not mean she had to like it.

Periboea was just as irritated as Apate. She had called for the goddesses and the god of sleep. Yet, she too was not going to do anything about it. This meeting was not going to take longer than ten minutes and she did not want to waste time looking for Hypnos.

The Giantess turned to the women. Business needed to be discussed.

"How are you progressing with Constantine? Is he prepared yet?"

"He is not easily convinced," Apate answered with carefully chosen with.

Hecate nodded in agreement. "He would rather die than work for us." She was blunter.

"Does he know what needs to be done?" Periboea asked. If he did and still refused to work together with them, there was a high chance he would find a way to escape Hell, to find the Legends and to tell them exactly what they needed to do to stop the apocalypse. Periboea did not want that to happen.

"We'll tell him only when he is willing to work with us," Hecate reassured the Giantess.

Periboea nodded. "I see." She turned her attention from the goddess of magic to Apate. "Have you tried your charms on him yet?"

"Not yet," Apate admitted. "I was curious to see how far we could get him if I deceived him some other way."

After all, it may not have been necessary for Apate to do what she does best, and since he had not broken, Apate now had a better sense of what needed to be done to convince John. They needed to pay attention to the details. The trick with the demon, courtesy of Hecate, was not going to work a second time, so they would have to resort to some other trick.

Periboea did not like the answer. She rose from her seat and stared at Apate. The personification did not feel intimidated by the Giantess in her current human-size.

"We cannot afford to lose time," Periboea said. "I have all of the other ingredients, I just need Clytius' blood. Each day Constantine says 'no' is another day we could've been victorious. There must be something he is willing to fight for. Find that weak spot and exploit it."

Hecate stood up. "We will."

She turned her head to Apate, who rose from her seat as well, and nodded in confirmation. She would do what is necessary.

"Good," Periboea said, "Now go."

Apate and Hecate left the bar and Periboea on her own. She did not stay long; she walked out through the front door. Masquerading as a young woman of regular size, she reveled in walking around in the village without anyone knowing her power and her ideas.

They would soon know. Periboea was convinced Apate and Hecate would find the weak spot and that he would bring her what she needed. Then she could bring destruction to life and wipe out all life on the planet. For now, she had to be patient and returned to the Acheron River.

Waverider, time stream

It was barely four in the afternoon when the Waverider's inhabitants fell asleep. Fighting the Chimer had been tiring, though they had the time to recover in Zambesi. By all means, they should not be falling asleep at this hour. Still, within minutes, they were sleeping.

Nobody was spared. Zari and Nora had been discussing Ray while Zari showed her where she would be staying. Nora had been grateful to be sleeping somewhere else than the cell, though she knew she'd have to do a lot more than stuffing some dirt in a goat head to earn their trust. The two women just arrived when they both fell asleep; Zari made it onto the bed before drifting away.

Mick was in the kitchen, and his head fell on the sandwich he'd made. Sara was in the captain's office, sitting on the comfortable chair with a glass of whiskey in her hand. The glass shattered on the floor and Sara dreamt sweet dreams. Ray was in the lab, in an attempt to create a device that could locate the Giantess – Wally was helping him out. Wally slept on the floor, while Ray fell asleep on where he sat, using a pile of paper as his pillow.

Amaya and Nate were in their respective rooms. Amaya was settling back into her old room, while Nate was lying on his bed and reading a book on Greek mythology. Both were taken by sleep as easily as the others had been.

A bomb could drop and none of them would wake up. Later, they may claim they had the best sleep ever that one night. By the end of next week, they'll have forgotten this wonderful night – that was the power of Hypnos. Hypnos would rather they did not forget the one time he made them sleep well, but human memory was frail.

The god of sleep sauntered through the hallways of the Waverider. He'd left his sunglasses at home today, for what use would they have when everyone was already asleep? He praised himself lucky to have put some free time aside for these kinds of special occasions, when he decided to leave his residence in the Underworld.

He's observed John's dreams. He dreamt about many horrible events, though there were some bright spots. Some of those bright spots included the Legends, who were on a quest to stop the end of the world and its instigator, the Giantess. As such, it may be useful to see what John's allies were like – they would be prepared for the Legends if they showed up.

He linked himself with these mortals through their dreams. They were a tool to understand each Legend's psyche and set of powers and qualities. He also dissected the visions from their future – this was a piece of information they ought to have, too. Some of them were special, while others barely stood out.

At the end of his visit, he came to Nate. His book had fallen from the bed and he looked peaceful. At first, Hypnos was barely impressed by the man who could turn to steel. Then, he saw Nate's vision; Hypnos recognized those stairs and the silver river Styx laying at the bottom. This information intrigued the god of sleep, and he smelled an opportunity.

He took the poppy that was attached to his suit and sniffed it once. Looking at his victim, he dropped the poppy. Its aroma would spread around the room soon; Nate did not stand a chance. A grin spread on Hypnos' face.

"Sweet dreams." Nate was unaware of the danger he was in. He was not going to be aware of anything at all anymore. When the Legends woke up, they would find Nate in his bed, no longer asleep. They may say it's a heart attack, but the true reason would be unknown: extreme peace, a heart beating so slow and lungs barely taking in oxygen anymore. This disjointed team will have lost one of its own and that may be enough to throw them off long enough for Periboea to gain that last ingredient she needed.

But now, for the finishing touch…

"Don't touch him." A female voice spoke from the other side of the room. Hypnos turned his head. As soon as the woman came into view, he sighed in exasperation. What was she doing here?

"Phil!" he exclaimed, feigning happiness. "How nice to see you again."

The woman did not take the bait. She stayed in her corner and Hypnos saw her clearly now. Phil had not changed much – she still wore a sober black dress and her short white hair was tucked behind her ears. Unlike him, she had allowed herself to appear older. The wrinkles on her face repulsed him, but he was most disgusted by her disappointed look.

"Couldn't you have come here some other time?"

"This seems to be the perfect time, little brother," Phil responded. She stepped out of her corner and approached him. "You don't have to follow the Giantess. It's not too late to leave her side."

"Who says I want to leave?" Hypnos said. He shook his head in disbelief – the audacity! "The way I see it, you're one of the few of us who's not on board with the Giantess."

"Thanatos isn't helping either," Phil gently reminded him. the mention of his twin brother struck a nerve.

Hypnos scoffed. "Of course he's not, he's always the neutral one. He couldn't pick a side even if he wanted to."

"And is that so bad?" He had spoken as if Thanatos had somehow wronged Hypnos. Yet, if memory served, Phil always remembered Thanatos speaking highly of his brother. Hypnos must have missed that.

"Not picking a side is being an enabler," Hypnos responded. "It's watching and not doing anything. That is not honorable." He stared directly at Phil – she, too, was enabling her siblings, who were actively trying to do something.

"And what you're doing is so honorable," Phil said and she glanced at the young man he'd wanted to kill. When she turned to him again, the disappointment had made place for worry and her tone was more gentle. "Hypnos. Why are you following the Giantess's orders?"

There was a brief silence, but Hypnos soon spoke.

"They take me for granted. At the end of the day, I come for their comfort. It has become so common, they no longer think about me. But when the time comes for someone to die, Thanatos swoops in and demands attention." The bitter look on his face made way for a euphoric smile, relating to what he has yet to say. "Once Periboea succeeds, the roles will be reversed. Death will be more common than Sleep, who will be welcomed with open arms if they have a couple of minutes to sleep in their free time. They will be grateful for me; I will demand the attention instead of him."

"So you take out your jealousy on humanity," Phil summarized Hypnos' thoughts. Moments of silence followed. And then.

"You were good once."

Hypnos did not like that phrase. "We are personifications of abstract concepts. We don't need to be good or evil. We're neither and both at the same time. We can do whatever the hell we want, because people will still sleep and die, regardless of our moral compass."

"You will not hurt him," Phil said calmly. His next act would determine how far he had gone and she could see it with her own eyes.

A grin appeared on his face. "Watch me."

He reached out to Nate's forehead and Phil did not stop him. When he made skin contact and attempted to force Nate into a deep sleep he would never wake from, his hand sizzled and burned. Hypnos instantaneously pulled his hand away and shouted once. The palm of his hand was red and burnt to the first degree. That was not supposed to happen.

"What the—"

"They are not as disjointed as you give them credit for," Phil explained. She folded her arms and watched Hypnos. "The individuals on this ship have gone through a lot together. They are not a team of strangers, but they are best friends. They love each other as a family would. This gives me enough authority to protect them from the likes of you. No-one with bad intent shall touch them until they face the Giantess while they are aboard this ship."

Hypnos slowly looked at Phil again. This time, he glared more furiously as her than he had ever done before.

"Traitor," he spat. Phil was not worried about his behavior. If anything, she was used to her family treating her like that and describing her using that specific word.

"I'd rather betray my family than watch the world be destroyed," she stated. They may be siblings, but she would not hesitate to take steps to take him out for the well-being of this wonderful world.

"Do they know?" Hypnos then asked. Phil did not answer and Hypnos drew his conclusions. "Of course they don't. You should take a page of my book; announce yourself. I'm sure they'd be glad to know you're on their side."

"Take a page out of mine," Phil responded, "Leave them alone."

Hypnos shook his head. "You're a bitch."

"And you an idiot."

Hypnos took a moment to glare at Phil one more time. Then, he walked out of the room and returned home to the Underworld.

Philotes turned to the sleeping young man and checked for a pulse. Despite the protections she placed, he may still be hurt somehow. It was a normal pulse, and nothing suggested that Hypnos did permanent damage. Nate was fine.

Philotes walked to the door, too, but she turned to Nate and watched him contemplatively. She only had limited knowledge about him and his fate – she had listened in while the Legends shared their visions. The Legends all had an Olympian that claimed them, all but one. She could fill that slot.

But it could wait. There was no hurry. Phil exited Nate's room and returned home as well.