The goddesses Hecate and Apate did not wake up John to torture him. They had not planned on allowing him to wake up until they had found a way to convince John to help them out with the Giantess' plan.

Eventually, the two had come to the same conclusion, agreed to the plan and decided to wake John up. Still, they needed Hypnos to do so, for their personal magic and powers were not stronger than the urge to sleep. It took them two hours to convince the god of sleep to come over and wake up John, though he was grumpy and wanted to let John sleep for much, much longer. He did not wish to tell them what had happened.

And John woke up, the two women standing close to him and Hypnos had already left, having 'better things to do' – besides, his sister and niece had this, they did not need his help. John's limbs were sore from not being able to exercise and sleeping so much. Still, he stood up – he no longer paid attention to his chains – and glared at Hecate and Apate. They had planned something, he was sure of it.

"So, what'll it be?" John asked them. "Who are you going to torture today?"

"We will not hurt you," Hecate responded with a blank expression on her face. There was little room for interpretation. But John equated these ladies with the demons he had encountered and fought in his life and he jumped to the worst conclusions; why wouldn't they torture him? It's in their blood.

"So you've found someone else," John responded. He tried to prepare to see someone he cared about – or a demon disguised as that someone – being tortured in front of him. Yet, Apate shook her head.

"No," she said. "We will not deceive you. We only came to ask for help."

"Yeah, of course you are," John said sarcastically. Only asking for help… He was not easily going to fall for that. that help probably included doing something foul and bad and evil, something even he could never agree with.

"Why do you always have to be so suspicious?" Apate asked. Her tone suggested the question was genuine; it sounded like she did not fake interest. She had folded her arms and looked at the warlock. "We just ask you to help. No lies, no hiding our plans."

"We are helping the Giantess," Hecate said.

John rolled his eyes and let out a big sigh. Of course. He could have guessed that beforehand – why else would they have kidnapped him and brought him to hell? They were definitely not doing some demons any favors, otherwise they would have shown up. This was a purely Greek problem and as far as he knew, the one person who would have him kidnapped was Periboea, who probably needed one mortal to help her out.

"We have been providing her with what she needs to create a new kind of Giant. The kind that is capable of destroying the world," Apate explained. "The Giantess only needs one final ingredient to bring it to life. What is a Giant or any living creature without blood?

The implications were gruesome enough for John to suspect that these ladies were not just a goddess and whatever the hell Apate was, but that they possessed the same thoughts as many demons had. John shook his head once.

"I'm not going to get your Giantess some blood," he said. "The Giantess has blood. Why doesn't she get some herself?"

"She had," Hecate said. "She needs blood from two Giants."

"Aren't you even going to do it for a trade?" Apate asked. A knowing an annoyed grin spread across John's face and he glared at them.

"I knew it," he said, "I knew you wouldn't be able to pass up a chance to attach a condition to this."

"You'll find that you will agree to this deal," Hecate said. A smug grin came to her face. How arrogant she was, how sure that he would be working with them instead of actively going against them. He would have to burst their bubble.

"I won't bite," he said, equally as certain about the things he would and wouldn't do. Apate tilted her head.

"So you don't want Astra to go home?"

Her words shook John to his core. Hearing that name triggered his memory and it brought him back to that horrible night in Newcastle. He did not care about how he appeared before Hecate and Apate anymore; a sour expression appeared on his face, one of shock and sorrow and fury, because how dare they bring up Astra. And through all this, only one word escaped his mouth.

"What?"

"That's the deal," Hecate said. "You help us and we will personally make sure Astra leaves Hell."

"She is dead and we can't change that," Apate added, not breaking the eye contact she had with John. "But we can move her from Tartarus to Elysium, to heaven. It will make her afterlife all the more pleasant. Don't you want to save her, John?"

Yes. That has always been his answer. No child should ever be confined to the depths of Hell and suffer, especially not because of someone else's fault. John would have rather he was dragged to hell instead, so Astra lived. He had once told Sara Lance, if Mallus had truly been able to bring her back, he would sacrifice her and her entire team without a second thought. Likewise, standing there, sacrificing the Legends' precious time to beat the Giantess was worth it; working together was not a stretch too far.

Then why did this feel so wrong? He had this gut feeling that there was something fishy about this deal, though he wanted to believe this with every fiber of his being. That pesky feeling was the only thing keeping him from resolutely stating what would have otherwise been a clear-cut answer.

"This offer won't last long," Hecate reminded him. "What'll it be?"

No more doubts. John made a decision to ignore this gut feeling. If it was right – well, he had often not listened to his gut feeling anyway, often with minor to catastrophic consequences that he could deal and live with. If it was wrong, Astra would at least leave Hell and go to a calmer place. She would not live, but going to heaven was the next best thing John could offer her.

"Where do I find this Giant?" John asked, defeat and determination in his eyes.

"Not in Hell," Apate said and John breathed out in exasperation. Shit. That would make finding a Giant a hell of a lot more difficult than he first anticipated. Apate continued: "We cannot take their blood while they are in Tartarus, and no living souls can enter. You will need to go back to the world of the living and find a Giant there."

"Alright," John and he pulled at his chains. "Let's get this over with."

He may be working with these evil women now, but that did not mean he had to like it. as much as he wanted to save Astra, he did not plan to work any longer than was absolutely necessary.

Hecate lifted her hands and pointed her palms to the chains. She pronounced an unfamiliar spell in Ancient Greek and the chains that had bound him disappeared in a purple mist. John rubbed his wrists for a little while he marched towards the exit. Yet, as he passed the two women, Hecate placed a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"One more thing," she said and John turned his head to the goddess of magic, wishing she would hurry up already so he could hurry up. "A Giant can only be defeated by the combined effort of a mortal and a god." Hecate moved to place her other hand on his other shoulder. "I hereby name you my champion. May your magic and determination be strong enough to kill a Giant."

John stared at Hecate with an indifferent, borderline bored look as she spoke.

"Are you done?" he asked flatly.

"So impatient," Apate said, shaking her head. Damn them, they were taking their sweet time. So long as they weren't going to hold his hand and guide him through every step, John would be a happy man.

"Apate will bring you back home," Hecate said. "She will give you a location, which you can use to track the Giant." The goddess handed her something that looked like a pocket watch. But it was no pocket watch; and if Gary Green hadn't shown John one beforehand, he would not have known what it was, either.

"Where'd you get this?" John asked, taking the time courier from Hecate's hands, seemingly admiring the advanced technology.

"Off the wrist of a dead Time Bureau agent," Hecate said bluntly. John took this answer at face value; Time Bureau agents, if they were some as incompetent as Gary comes across, could very well have died in the line of duty, leaving behind their time courier as they passed on to the next life in the Underworld.

"Good luck, John," Hecate said. "Do not come back empty-handed." John paid no attention to the threat in the last sentence and instead followed Apate out of the cage he had spent the last few days in. The way out of the Underworld was a long uphill climb, but he eventually stepped back into the sunlight and onto the soft Greek grass. Apate was nowhere to be seen; John was alone back, back on Earth again.

The hunt for the Giant began.