A/N: I'm still sick, have to go to the doctor next wednesday, but I'm writing properly again, so that's a plus. I'm no good at writing smut, so I'm just skipping those parts for the time being, sorry for all you perverts out there who wanted some hot godly action. :)

Big thanks to Em for the lovely reviews. They really help me to keep going when I'm feeling sick or insecure about my writing.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the hope that one day my paranoia about copyright will let up and I can just leave the disclaimer out when it isn't necessary.

7.

"well, first we'd need to make sure everyone is here and everyone is, well...everyone. It wouldn't do us much good to discuss our plans for getting rid of the doppelgängers while there is a doppelgänger in the room," I say, shrugging and taking the papers from Pollo, sorting them out and putting them on eight different stacks, one for each person.
"well, we know you're you. No doppelgänger could ever hope to be as awesome as you," H says, making me smile, even though I was supposed to be angry with him.
"maybe, but you can't really base your entire observation on 'she's awesome'," I say.
"maybe not, but remember what we talked about before, about feeling it here, but not here?" Pollo asks, pointing at his head and then his heart.
I nod.
"well, I feel it here, both for you and for Hermes. You?" he asks.
"same for me. Then again, the three of us have been here, together, all this time, so it would've been pretty hard for a doppelgänger to take one of our places without the other two noticing," I say.
The others look at us questioningly and I shrug.
"our hearts know when the person we're looking at isn't actually the person we care about, even if our heads don't," I explain.
"before, when I looked at H, or at least at the doppelgänger of H, I felt anger and annoyance, nothing else. But when I look at the real one, there's love. It's the simplest – and probably the least reliable – way of knowing," Pollo says.

"so when I look at Zeus and I feel love, that means he's real?" Juno asks.
I think about that for a second, but not because the question is a difficult one to answer, but because, now that she no longer needs to hide it from me, she suddenly started calling Jove Zeus.
That's going to get really confusing really soon, especially if everyone suddenly decides to start using their 'real' names.
"well, as far as we know, he doesn't actually have a doppelgänger...yet," I say eventually, focusing on the problem on hand and ignoring the naming-issue for now. "so he's cool, I guess. Though it probably wouldn't hurt to check every now and then if he still remembers little things that the doppelgänger couldn't possibly have found out about. The name of his first pet or something like that."
"maybe we should just create a codeword or something," Mina suggests. "when someone knows that word, they're the real one."
"that's a horrible idea!" I yell, startling everyone.
"no offense, but seriously, horrible idea," I say, forcing myself to be a little calmer, shaking my head.
I hurry to explain when everyone looks at me questioningly, and Mina a bit insultedly.
"I've seen movie after movie after movie where they tried that one and in every single one of those movies the bad guys found out about the codeword and started using it as well, eventually even – while pretending to be the real ones, and being believed to be the real ones because they knew the code-word that only the real ones were supposed to know – changing the codeword behind the real guys' backs, so that when the real guys tried to use the old codeword, they were believed to be the fake ones... It always ends up in a big chaos where nobody trusts anybody anymore, not even themselves. And then everyone dies a horrible death or gets locked away in an asylum for all of eternity. So anyhow, passwords: BAD idea! No offense," I say, getting more exited with every word I speak as I realize I'm currently in one of those movies.
Awesome.
Mina chuckles, no longer insulted, and shrugs.
"guess I didn't watch the same movies you did," she says. "are there any movies with this kind of situation in them were the good guys won?"

"uh...no," I say. "they all die a horrible death or get locked away in an asylum for all of eternity. Always. That's the fun of those movies. They're supposed to be scary and confusing and 'blood and gore' and all that. Although there are some movies that have a kinda happy end, those usually end with just one or two people surviving the whole ordeal and I'm kinda hoping we'll find a solution where all of us survive, with our collective sanity still intact, or as 'intact' as it ever was, anyway."
"what solution did they come up with in the movies where just one or two of them survived?" Mina asks. "maybe we can use those solutions and just modify them a bit."
I laugh and shake my head.
"usually it's just the one person. They'll end up trusting no-one and just kill every single person they meet. Then they walk out alive because both the good guys and the bad guys are all dead. The ones where two people survive are usually when two people have been together from the start, never leaving each other's sight for even a second and they team up to...well, kill every single person they meet until only they remain. And those movies usually end in 'suspense' with them looking at each other suspiciously or hiding a weapon behind their backs when they're walking towards the other person or something, so you know they're going to end up killing each other anyway after the movie has already ended," I explain.
"well, I vote we don't use that solution," Jove says and I raise my hand, voting with him.
Soon everybody has their hand raised, so we start looking for another solution.
"Mina?" I ask when I suddenly think of something.
"yes?" she asks.
"how come you just had the worst game-plan in the history of ever? Aren't you supposed to be 'das wunderkind' or something? And while we're at it, why did you bring the attention to 'what are we going to do about the doppelgängers' while we were supposed to be making sure there are no doppelgängers in our midst before we started on that? Seems like you made two stupid mistakes in a row. So either you're having a really off day or this is about to turn into one of my movies, where everyone looks at everyone else suspiciously, because no-one seems to be acting the way they should," I say, feeling increasingly exited at the prospect.

Everyone turns to look at Mina, who looks decidedly uncomfortable, but doesn't respond immediately.
"also, why did you seem insulted by me telling you your idea was a bad one? I only just met you and even I know you're never happier than when someone disagrees with you on something, because that means you get to go into an all-out debate to prove how you are right and the other person is wrong," I continue before she can even think up a response.
Several of the others nod and Mina is still silent.
"this is stupid," she says eventually.
"so I had a bad idea, it's not the end of the world and it's definitely not undeniable proof that I am a doppelgänger. In fact, if we are going to turn into one of your movies, this would be the moment where I mention that if you were a doppelgänger, it'd make sense for you to accuse someone else of being a doppelgänger, to throw the suspicion off yourself," she says.
I laugh.
"oh, I am loving this! I am smack in the middle of my all-time favorite kind of movie," I say happily, bouncing excitedly on the cushions of the couch, making Pollo and H chuckle and mumble something about no doppelgänger being that awesome or that weird.
"anyway, so you said you never watched those movies, but then you know enough about them to make a sarcastic remark about an overused trope in them? What's up with that? Did you see those movies or didn't you? No matter. More importantly, why would I try to 'throw the suspicion off myself' when I was never a suspect in the first place? Actually, by calling you out, I only succeeded in drawing attention to both you and myself, which would be pretty stupid, considering before now, everyone was already convinced I was the real me," I say, making an beckoning gesture with my hands.
"the ball's on your court, wunderkind. Now gimme a good one!"
"you are entirely too excited about this," Alex – the brother, not my son – says, but I see a suspicious glimmer in his eyes that tell me he's enjoying this as much as I am.
"I love, love, love psychological horrors," I admit. "which is weird, considering I'm not a violent or a sadistic person at all, but whatever."
Mina sighs.
"fine, let's go back to the start and ask everyone meaningless questions to determine if we're all real or not. Though questioning you wouldn't do us much good, since we know next to nothing about you," she says.
"that was not a good one, that was boring," I say, a bit disappointed, and I stop bouncing.
I was really hoping this would turn into the 'everyone suspects everyone' kind of situation that make psychological horrors so awesome.

I sigh deeply and shrug.
"fine then. Pollo?" I ask.
"how many ladies were sitting at my table the day we met?" he asks.
"that doesn't count. Even I know the answer to that, since I was there," Dio says. "you were sitting there with three of them."
I laugh and shake my head.
"wrong!" I say happily.
"there weren't any, they were all bimbos, not ladies," I say, making Pollo laugh and nod.
"H?" I ask.
"how many times did I invite you over to my place the day we met?" he asks, making me laugh again.
"that's a tough one. Let me see," I say, thinking back to that day.
I'd just spent a wonderful evening with him when I got up to leave and he asked me to let him take me to some nearby playgrounds instead of leaving so sadly all by myself.
When I refused, he asked if I'd accompany him to one more bar then, which I also refused.
Then he asked me, a bit annoyedly, if I wanted to go have hot sweaty sex with him in the park, since being polite obviously wasn't getting him anywhere, which I also refused.
After that I went to my hotel, alone.
"huh," I say.
"see, she doesn't know the answer," Mina says, sounding like she'd already won the fight.
"I just realized you actually didn't invite me over to your place. The playgrounds, another bar and the park, but never your place. I always just remembered it as 'you inviting me over to your place and me refusing'," I say, completely ignoring her.
"would you have gone with me if I had invited you to my place instead?" he asks, running his fingers over my arm and staring at me with so much adoration in his eyes my heart – how cliché – actually skips a beat.
Literally.
Wow, that's kinda unhealthy, isn't it?
I smile and shrug.
"probably not, although, if I had known that this was your place, that might've changed the game we were playing in its entirety," I admit.
He chuckles and leans down to kiss me.
"I guess I'm glad I didn't invite you over to my place then," he says, kissing me again and again until I sigh happily and lean into him.
"I rather like this game we're playing."
I don't respond, just staring at him, my brain turned to mush, until Jove clears his throat, probably to get our attention, and I sigh and pull away from H.

"well, since the people in suspicion are me and Mina and I've just proven myself before two witnesses who were not suspects, that leaves you, wunderkind," I say, looking at Mina. "and might I say that no matter if you are a doppelgänger or not, I am severely disappointed by your inability to turn this into the 'every man for himself' that I was hoping to see."
"hmm, but you yourself said that you three had been together all this time and that no one of you could've been replaced without the other two knowing about it, right? And you said you didn't suspect Hermes or Apollo because 'you still felt love for them'. And they didn't suspect you for the same reason. But you never actually said anything about the possibility that all three of you could have been replaced and you're just absolving each other of suspicion and we're just going with it because 'if three people say the same thing, it must be true'," Alex – the brother – says."besides, if you were a doppelgänger, it would make sense that you'd want everyone to suspect everyone else, because that would be the easiest way for you to act however you damn well feel like acting – which you would need to do, since you don't have enough information about the real winter-girl to act like her – without us thinking too hard about it, since we'd all be too busy suspecting one-another to pay much attention to you."
Now everyone is looking suspiciously at Mina, me, H and Pollo, and Jove is also regarding Alex – the brother – himself with a suspicious eye.
"yes, yes, yes! Now that's what I'm talking about!" I yell, happily bouncing again, making Pollo, H and Alex – the brother – laugh.
"but, sadly, as much as I'm enjoying this, I am now – for whatever reason – extremely turned on, so I want to hurry up and end this game so I can grab either one of my boyfriends – or both, I haven't decided yet – and get back to my room," I say, making everyone laugh.
"so let's end this now: there is one thing I want to ask and everyone here should know the answer to my question, so that'd make this easier. Gods are immortal, right? So do they heal faster than us mere mortals do?" I ask, mostly because I have an idea that might help, but also because I'm still trying to figure out this whole god-thing, though I don't fully believe it yet.
With the doppelgänger-business going on, I don't have the time to really ask the questions I want answered about the god-thing.
Everyone looks at me in confusion and then they nod, even Alex – my son – nods.

"and these doppelgängers, would they also be immortal? And if they are, would they heal as fast as you guys would?" I ask.
They think about it for a second.
Mina, Alex – my son – and Dio shrug and the others shake their heads, albeit a bit hesitantly.
"well then," I say, reaching out and grabbing Mina's hand before she can react, slamming it down onto the table and stabbing it with one of the pencils that were on the table.
She screams and everyone tries to help her, but it's already too late.
Her hand is bleeding and it's not healing from what I can see.
"keep an eye on that wound, see how long it takes her to heal it. If necessary, stab yourself to see how long it takes you to heal. If she's decidedly slower at healing than the rest of you, she's probably a doppelgänger. If not, then she might be the real Mina or doppelgängers might be immortal as well, healing just as fast as you guys do. Either way, that'll give us another piece of information that might come in handy," I explain when everyone looks at me in horror, anger and confusion.
"now then," I say, getting up and turning to face H and Pollo.
"I'm going to go upstairs. Whoever is fastest in following me,..." I say, leaving it at that and going for the stairs.
As I suspected would happen both of them get up at the same time, running after me.
I'd already decided I'd let them try to teach me how the whole three-way-thing works, but no reason I can't at least make them work for it, right?
Downstairs I can hear Mina – I have already decided in my mind that she is the fake Mina, because there is just too much evidence against her, which is the only reason I don't feel guilty about stabbing her like that – cussing up a storm and trying once more to put the suspicion back to me by telling them 'I'm getting away' and 'I'm conveniently taking the other two with me', but my little experiment has everyone intrigued enough that they don't try to stop me or come after me and they all keep monitoring Mina instead.
Right before I'm about to close the door to my room, the other two are already inside, arguing about who was here first, I can hear her saying something about needing fresh air, but no-one is willing to let her leave their side until that wound has completely healed.
If she is not immortal, or she is, but she doesn't heal as fast as a goddess would, that could take a while.

"we should do this more often," I say, smiling as the feeling slowly creeps back into my toes.
They went numb about halfway through.
I wasn't complaining at the time, so I'm not complaining now, even though it stings a little.
"yeah, we definitely should," Pollo says, also happy as he can be.
H just grunts as an answer.
He took most of the 'damage', since I was still too nervous to take the attention of both of them onto myself, so while H spent all his care on me, Pollo and I both spent all our time on him.
Now Pollo and I are both feeling completely rejuvenated, but H is completely spent.
"are you angry?" I ask, poking H until he turns to look at me.
"why would I be angry?" he asks tiredly, looking confused.
"because I bullied you," I say, shrugging.
I couldn't help myself.
The excitement I'd felt in the living room was still running wild inside of me and I had to direct it somewhere, so I used it up on him.
I actually turned this into some kind of weird game where I tried to decide if H was the real Hermes or not by performing all kinds of 'tests' that I'm pretty sure have absolutely nothing to do with the doppelgängers.
And of course Pollo went right along with it, I don't think there's anything he wouldn't go along with if I asked him to.
H asked us to stop several times, begged us even, but I decided I didn't feel like it, so I didn't.
H blinks a couple of times, like he can't believe what I just said and then he just laughs and shakes his head.
"you are so innocent," he just says, smiling sweetly before falling asleep.
"what did he mean by that?" I ask Pollo, but he also just laughs.
"I love your innocence. It made all this so much more interesting. Wouldn't have been the same if you actually knew what you were doing as you were doing it," he says mysteriously before pulling me into his arms and pulling the blankets up over the three of us.
"we're spending an awful lot of time in bed," I notice and he laughs again.
"yeah, but then again, it has been three months since H and I were last together, it has been over a year since H and you were together and you and me together is still so new and fresh. Put all that together and you get the best kind of honeymoon," he says.
"the one with three people that doesn't involve any marriage?" I guess and he nods, grinning widely.