Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League (or Percy Jackson and the Olympians for that matter).

So, longer chapter than I expected, but here we are at last.

Curse of Hades

Only an hour ago, Erik McCaffrey had had a cocky smile despite being in police custody. The young man had been brought in for questioning due to his suspected involvement in a matter of missing children, but he'd given them nothing, merely citing that his father (a business tycoon) would have him out before long. True enough, the timely arrival of a high priced lawyer had forced them to reluctantly let him go. Arrogantly dismissing the police on his way out, he'd stepped into the back of a limousine with his lawyer and popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. However, the two of them soon got drowsy and passed out.

When Erik woke up he was alone, in a dark room, and tied to a chair that was bolted to the floor. A lightbulb dangling overhead illuminated his immediate surroundings while leaving most of the room in shadows. He instinctively struggled against his bindings, but his arms and legs were secured tightly. "What the hell?"

"Hello, Erik…"

The young man quickly looked up at the sound of the deep, distorted voice coming from the shadows, but couldn't see anyone. "Whoever you are, you just made a big mistake. I-" The bundle at his feet caught his eye, and he saw it was a grey uniform and chauffeur's hat. He looked at it for a moment, before putting the pieces together. "The driver… you son of a bitch! I'll have your head for this! You'll rot in jail for the rest of your life! My father will make your life a living hell! You'll never…" Erik trailed off at the ominous sound of slow, heavy footsteps approaching, until Spartan emerged from the shadows. He wore a new outfit consisting of dark clothes suited for the cold weather, boots, and his usual utility belt, cape and helmet. And on his chest was a symbol of a medal with a storm cloud and lightning bolt.

Spartan stood silently at the edge of the ring of light, towering over his captive in a way that made him feel very small. His helmet and blurred face added to his menacing presence, making Erik gulp nervously. "Wait… I've seen you on TV. You're that vigilante… Spartan. What do you want with me?"

"Does the name Alexis Smith mean anything to you?" Spartan asked as he slowly circled around him. "Jeffrey White? Mark Johnson? Albert McCoy? Jane Taylor? You see, someone in this city is kidnapping children. Nancy Taylor was found dead with a high concentration of ATP in her body close to where her sister was taken. ATP is a powerful knockout drug not available on the street, and only three companies stock it. The company you manage for your father is one of them, your inventory is wrong, and one of your security guards is dead after recently making a substantial deposit to his bank account." Spartan stopped right in front of Erik and looked down at him. "Now-"

"I don't have anything to do with that!" he protested. "He was stealing from me, and obviously whoever he was dealing with double crossed him. You can't pin this stuff on me. The cops couldn't prove anything, so you can't do shit to me, asshole! And if you don't fucking let me go, my father will-"

Spartan interrupted the tirade of bluster and false bravado when his fist suddenly shot out, connecting with Erik's face hard enough to knock a tooth out and make him spit blood. He then grabbed him by the chin with one hand and squeezed hard enough to make him uncomfortable. "Don't interrupt," Spartan said in a curt, no non-sense tone. "I had a conversation with your dead guard's co-worker last night. I know you paid them to look the other way. He couldn't tell me who took the drugs, so I'll ask you." He removed his hand from Erik's chin to allow him to answer.

"I-I don't know who took the drugs, I never met them in person." Although his helmet hid the gesture, Spartan rolled his eyes in annoyance at this amateur attempt to deceive him, then leaned down, grabbed two of his victim's fingers and casually broke them. "AHHHHH! You son of a bitch! You're dead! My father-"

Spartan muffled his cries of pain by clamping a hand over his mouth. "Understand this, boy… Your threats mean nothing. Your father's wealth and power mean nothing. I need information, and you're going to give it to me. If you refuse, I will hurt you. If you lie, I will hurt you. The only thing that will help you is telling the truth. Now, who took the drugs?" He let go of Erik and stood up to full height, looking down at his captive.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell." Erik took a deep breath, trying his best not to move his broken fingers. "A woman approached me a while back, looking to buy ATP under the table. She offered a bunch of cash so I arranged for my guys to let her take it." He winced and grimaced in pain for a moment, then continued. "But… Lenny got too greedy for his own good and tried to extort money out of her, so she killed him."

"The woman… who is she?"

"I don't know."

Spartan leaned in close to look directly in his eyes (though it was hard to tell with his face blurred). "I'm very good at knowing when people are lying to me. And you, Erik McCaffrey… you are not a good liar. What do you know?"

"Really! I'm not ly- AHHHHH!" Erik started screaming again when Spartan broke two more of his fingers.

"That makes four," the vigilante pointed out in a detached manner, as if it meant little to him. "I know far worse ways to hurt you than mere broken fingers. If I have to go through the other six, I will show them to you. Again… What. Do. You. Know?"

"Sh-She was middle aged, maybe five feet, brown hair with grey in it, round glasses." Spartan's hands hovered over Erik's unbroken fingers, prompting him to think fast. "And, and, and… she works for the mayor! Lenny, my security guy she killed, he said he heard her talking on the phone, something about the mayor getting on her back about being late with her paperwork. That's all I can remember! I swear to God! Please don't hurt me again!"

Spartan's hands stayed in place for a moment longer as Erik began to cry in fear and pain. Fortunately for him he pulled back, apparently deciding that Erik was in fact being honest. The sound of someone clapping slowly was heard from the shadows. "Well done, Spartan," a woman congratulated, her voice calm and controlled.

"Anything else, Lady Shiva?" he asked, his attention still on Erik.

"Just one more thing and we're finished with him."

"W-who's there?" Erik called out. "Wadda you mean 'one more thing'? I told you everything I know."

Sandra Wu-San (aka: Lady Shiva) came out of the shadows like a wraith, dressed in a sleek black and dark red outfit, a sword hilt sticking out over her shoulder, and a look of cold indifference on her face. "Oh, but you're guilty of worse things, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're-"

"Bethany Cornwell…"

Erik sucked in a breath at the mention of this name. "No… She wanted it, she threw herself at me. They acquitted me. I didn't do anything wrong!" Erik panicked at the sight of the two vigilantes standing before him and started pleading with them. "Please! Let me go and I'll give you whatever you want! I'll do anything! I'll pay you whatever you want! I'll turn myself in! Please don't-"

Noon the next day, Lauren stepped out of her car in front of the mayor's office where police had been called about a murder. "Decker," her partner (a bald man with a short grey beard) greeted her once she was clear of the crowd.

Lauren greeted him politely as she followed him into the building. "What've we got here?"

"Victim's name is Patti Taylor, 53 years old, found dead in her office. A young intern found the body and started screaming. When security came she'd passed out." The two of them soon arrived at a small office where a CSI was examining the woman's body lying on the floor. "Cory, you got anything yet?"

"Markings on the victim's throat seem to indicate she was killed by a leopard blow. That's a maneuver that involves folding the first two joints of the fingers inward and striking with the fore-knuckles." The young man looked up from the body to see the two detectives giving him strange looks. "I'm a big martial arts fan. Anyway, if you'll look here…" Lauren kneeled down to look at the thin red line on the side of the woman's neck that the CSI was pointing at. "You'll see that the killer held a knife to the victim prior to killing her."

"Is there anything missing?" Lauren asked.

"Can't be sure yet, but her purse hasn't been touched," her partner said. "Phone, cash, credit cards and jewelry are all there, so I'm thinking it wasn't a robbery."

"Hmm… Nothing stolen, no sign of forced entry or struggle, killed barehanded with a single precise shot, and no other sign of injuries besides the one from the knife. Whoever did this, I'm thinking it might've been a professional. But, if she just wanted her dead, why bother threatening her?"

The grizzled detective looked at Lauren in confusion. "Wait a sec… 'She'? What makes you think the killer's a woman?"

"Huh?" She looked at her partner and blinked in surprise for a couple seconds before recovering. "Oh, right. Well, judging by the size and spacing of the markings here, the killer didn't have big hands, so I'm thinking it was probably a woman."

The young CSI pulled out a magnifying glass for another look at the site of impact on the victim's throat. "Good eye, Detective. Yes, it's quite possible the killer was a woman. Or, at least, a man with small hands."

"Maybe you should be forensics instead," Lauren's partner joked. "You could do Cory's job better than he does."

"Moving on…" Lauren insisted. "What else do we know about the victim?"

"Let's see here…" The veteran detective muttered to himself as he pulled a notepad out of his pocket. "She worked for the mayor's office for 30 years, no known enemies, she was friendly, got along well with her co-workers, lived alone, divorced, no kids… and that's about it for now."

"What about-?" Lauren was interrupted when her phone started ringing. She gave a quick glance at the number and excused herself to take the call. "Hang on a sec." She stepped out of the office for a couple minutes, and when she walked back in she had a peculiar expression on her face.

"What's going on?"

"You know Erik McCaffrey? That guy we suspected of being involved in the missing children case?"

Her partner nodded at this. "Yeah, daddy's lawyer got him off the hook, but then he was kidnapped right after he left the station. The lawyer claimed their driver drugged them both, then ditched the limo and took McCaffrey."

"He's dead," Lauren said flatly. "A homeless man found his body in an abandoned building. He was tied to a chair in a dark room and had four broken fingers, like someone just snapped them. I think he was being interrogated, and my gut's telling me she was too."

A heavy silence reigned in the room as they looked at the dead woman's body. "You think they were both involved?" Lauren's partner spoke up.

"Maybe…"

"Well… if your hunch is right, and in my experience they usually are, then that means someone else is tracking down the missing kids."

"Someone who doesn't have a problem dropping bodies," Lauren specified. "We need to call whoever's in charge of the missing children case, do a background check on the victim here, and look for known associates. If we can figure out who she was working with, we might be able to find the kids and catch our killer."

"Excuse me, Detectives?" The two of them looked at the entrance to see a uniformed officer, an older woman with a stern look on her face. "I just wanted to let you know the intern's come around. She's ready to talk."

"Thank you, officer…?" Lauren's partner looked at the woman with uncertainty.

"Alecto."

"We'll be with you in a second. Lauren, why don't you go with her, and I'll see what else I can dig up on the vic?"

"Sure."

The blond woman followed the officer to another room where a medic was looking after a short young woman sitting on a chair, wrapped up in a blanket like a hot dog. "Hi," she almost squeaked out at the sight of the detective.

"Hello. What's your name?"

"E-Emily."

"Emily, my name's Lauren Decker. I just need to ask you a few questions. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes."

"Did you know Patti Taylor well?"

"O-Only a little. I've only been here for six months, but she seemed like a nice older woman. Sh-She always smiled and said thank you when I brought coffee. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do such a thing to her."

"Did you see anyone unusual or suspicious come in before she was killed?"

"I-I don't know about suspicious people…" Emily began hesitantly. "But… a woman walked in this morning. Sh-She said that Patti had dropped money at the grocery store and she wanted to return it to her. She didn't know her name, just that she worked here and what she looked like. I-I told her where Patti's office was, and then I got back to work."

"Can you describe this woman for me?"

"Well… I think she had brown eyes, blond hair, and she was kind of tall. I-I don't remember much more than that. I thought she was just being a good samaritan. D-Do you think she killed Patti?"

"I'm not sure yet," Lauren said. "Could you point her out to me if you took a look at the security cameras?"

"I can try." The thin stick of a girl shed her blanket and walked with Lauren to a security guard's workstation. There they watched footage from earlier in the day as people went back and forth. "Th-There, that's her," she pointed at a tall blond woman walking into the building. They continued going through the footage, until they came upon a later image of the same woman, pulling a phone out of her pocket and talking to someone as she walked out the door.

One could almost see gears turning in Lauren's head as she looked at the image and the time it was from. She thanked Emily, advising her to speak with someone if she needed help, and quickly walked away to find her partner, whom she found talking on the phone. "What is it, Decker? You got something?"

"Our killer's not working alone."

Late that afternoon, Hector and Sandra were in the next step of their investigation. With the information Sandra had gotten from Patti, they knew that she'd been working for a man known only as 'The Dollmaker'. Although Patti had never seen or talked to him, her partner in crime (and high school acquaintance) Doug Whaley had met him in person, since he was the one who would deliver the children to him. So, while Sandra discreetly followed Doug around town, Hector disguised himself as an employee from a cleaning company (complete with uniform, makeup, fake beard and moustache) so he could walk into Doug's apartment building without arousing suspicion from the other tenants.

As Hector searched through Doug's desk, he found a hidden compartment in one of the drawers, inside of which was a journal. His 'other' phone suddenly started to vibrate, and when he picked it up he saw an incoming call from Sandra. "Yes?" he asked, keeping his voice down.

"Doug Whaley's dead," Sandra said bluntly.

"… How?"

"He was at a restaurant and choked on his steak."

Hector mentally cursed this stroke of bad luck. Originally he and Sandra had hoped to keep an eye on him until he led them to the Dollmaker, or failing that, interrogate him as they'd done to the others. "Anything else?"

"I did manage to grab his phone and wallet in the confusion and leave before anyone noticed. I suggest you finish up on your end and get out before anyone walks in on you."

Hector looked out the window down to the street, where he saw Lauren and a grizzled old man step out of a car. "Copy that. I'll meet up with you later so we can compare notes." Hector ended the call and quickly grabbed Doug's laptop, journal, and a bunch of papers, which he dumped into the bin of the cleaning cart he'd brought with him. Giving the place one last quick look over to be sure he hadn't missed anything important, Hector walked out of the apartment, locked the door behind him and made his way to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened he saw Lauren, the other detective, and a old woman carrying a set of keys. "Scuze me," he muttered, bowing his head a little and moving his cart to let them pass.

"Mister Whaley seems like a perfectly nice man," the old woman said as they walked past him, heading towards Doug's apartment. "Not sure what you expect to find, but the warrant checks out, so I guess I have to let you in."

"Hey, you!" Hector glanced down the hall where a blonde woman with a bob haircut and an angry look on her face was calling out to him. "Yeah you, cleaning guy. I'm talking to you."

"I'm sorry, but I really have to go." Hector stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the first floor, but she ran and put her arm out in time to stop the door from closing.

"Uh, excuse me!? How dare you ignore me like this? Do you have any idea who I am? I could have you fired. I…" Despite his efforts to placate her, the (very unpleasant) woman went on a self-entitled rant, demanding that he clean her place for free as compensation for the previous guy's 'horrible job'. Hector stuck his head out into the hallway and saw the old woman unlocking the door to Doug's apartment and allowing the detectives to enter. Feeling pressed for time, he grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her into the elevator, hitting the button to close the doors behind her. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? How dare you!? Forget fired, I'll have you arrested! You…"

Hector focused his considerable willpower on ignoring her as the elevator went down, at the same time positioning himself to block her access to the buttons so she couldn't actually do anything. When they reached the bottom and the doors opened up, he looked out and saw that the hallway was completely empty. Before the woman knew what hit her, Hector slammed her head into the side of the elevator, dropping her like a sack of potatoes, then grabbed his cart and left her lying there, with the doors hiding her from view as he walked away.

Cassandra was at home sitting on her bed, her butterfly necklace glowing with a soft green light, and an image of her mother's true form standing next to her (with the faces of a maiden, mother, and crone). Cassandra pointed at a deck of cards on her bedside table. The package opened up and they flew out one by one, until the full deck was floating in front of her, row by row, with her looking at the back of the cards. The fake Hecate looked at the cards, until held her hand out, causing the cards to float into her palm. Once the cards were gathered in one stack, she wiggled the fingers on her free hand, producing green sparks, then slapped her hands together. When she opened up her hands a second later, only one card remained. She flipped it over, revealing the ten of spades, which she revealed to her mother's image.

"No."

Cassandra gave her a look of surprise. "What? But I was sure that was the one. I sensed it and everything."

"I'm afraid you got it wrong." Cassandra let out a loud breath, frustration evident in her expression. She flicked the ten of spades, which embedded itself in the wall. "That won't help," Fake Hecate said, giving her a stern look.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Cassandra waved her hand, summoning the cards back from the package and pulling the ten out of the wall, repairing the dent it left with a quick spell.

"Now, do it again, and try not to let yourself be distracted." Cassandra nodded, and threw the cards in the air, taking deep breaths and concentrating as they fell into place. She waited as her mother's image looked at the cards, until one of them blinked yellow. This time, even though her senses were drawn to that card, she felt a flicker of magical energy from the one below it. Again, she gathered the cards in one hand, wiggled her fingers, and slapped her hands together, making them all vanish except two. She set both cards on her bed, stared at them for a few seconds, then pointed at one of them, causing the nine of spades to flip over. Fake Hecate smiled and nodded, but before Cassandra could pat herself on the back, the sound of someone knocking at the apartment door was heard.

"Coming!" she called out as her mother's image disappeared and her necklace stopped glowing. Standing on the other side of the door was Scarlett, and Vladimir behind her.

"Hey, Cassandra!" the little girl greeted her excitedly.

Scarlett's good mood and bright smile was infectious, so that Cassandra couldn't help but smile in return. "Hey Scarlett. What brings you guys here?"

"Mom's working late, and Vladimir said he was gonna look after me, but he totally forgot he had a first aid course tonight." Cassandra looked at the Russian man, who seemed a little embarrassed by this.

"So… I realize this is kind of last minute," Vladimir began. "But I was really hoping she could stay with you for the evening. I promise I'll make it worth your while."

"Well, can't say no to an offer like that, now can I?" Cassandra replied jokingly.

"Thanks, kid. You're a lifesaver. Say, where's your brother anyway?"

"He's not here right now. I think he's out getting groceries or something, but I'm pretty sure he won't mind if Scarlett stays over."

"Alright then. I'll let Lauren know about this so she'll know where to pick up Scarlett. Thanks again." Vladimir dropped a bag with a few of Scarlett's things, bade her to be good to Cassandra, then said goodbye and was out the door.

"Hey, can we play Life?" Scarlett asked a moment later, pulling the board game out of her bag. "I've got the game right here."

"Sure thing. I just need to text my brother to let him know what's going on. Why don't you set it up for us?"

"Okay!"

As Scarlett placed the board game on the table and got the pieces out, Cassandra quickly typed a message for Hector. "Vladimir dropped off Scarlett, said Lauren's working late, but she's going to pick her up later. I made the excuse that you were getting groceries or something. Don't take too long."

Back at Sandra's motel room, the two vigilantes were reviewing the evidence they'd gathered. Hector had opened up Doug's laptop and was looking at e-mails, bank records, personal files, notes, etc, while Sandra was going through his journal, papers and wallet. "This is… tiresome," Sandra declared as she closed closed the journal and set it down on the bed. "It feels like we've been at this for hours with no sign of progress."

"It's easier when you can punch your problems in the face, isn't it?" Hector remarked casually, eyes fixed on the computer screen. "Unfortunately we can't interrogate or threaten our way out of this situation, so we need to be patient."

Sandra pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "That does not make this any more amusing."

"There must be something that can point us in the right direction. Doug's made several deposits to his account in the past few weeks. Put together, it's more money than you'd expect for a man of his means."

"How does that help us? We already knew he was corrupt."

"Yes, but maybe we can learn something from his spending habits."

"All I've learned from looking at his receipts is that he liked stopping at the same convenience store late at night. And unless he's hidden something between the pages, I don't see anything in his journal that's any use to us either, regardless of where you found it."

Hector paused in his typing, a pensive look on his face as he entertained the thought that'd just popped into his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his special glasses, which he tossed to his companion. "Try looking at it through these. Just hit the button on the side."

Sandra obliged, putting on the glasses and tapping the button, letting out a "Hmm…" as she looked at the journal. She then took out a knife and cut a hole in the back of the book, revealing a hidden key with "025" inscribed into it. "What do you suppose this leads to?" she said, holding up the key as she took off the glasses.

"Good question. Can you pass me one of those convenience store receipts?" Hector took the piece of paper she gave him and looked at the time of transaction and the store's location, then turned his attention back to the computer. He searched for the address on the receipt, and looked at a map of the surrounding area until he found something a moment later. "There's a storage facility not too far from this store. Unless Doug was an insomniac who craved liquorice in the middle of the night, I'd say it's worth a look."

"That was careless of him," Sandra remarked casually. "Still, given how secretive he was about this key, I agree it's worth investigating."

Before Hector could say anything, he was interrupted when his phone alerted him to an incoming text. He took a few seconds to read the message, then stuffed the phone in his pocket, got up and put his coat back on. "I'm afraid you'll have to check out the storage facility by yourself."

"And why is that?"

"Because if I don't go home now, certain people might ask questions, and I'd rather not take any chances. Let me know if you find anything." They nodded at each other politely, then Hector turned around and walked out the door.

Lauren had a pensive expression on her face as she sat behind the wheel of her car late that evening, heading towards Hector's apartment. She and her partner had spent hours at the station, working with the detectives in charge of the missing children case. Lauren had explained her theory about their killer tracking down the missing children, and that she was working with someone. They'd discussed how during their visit to Doug's apartment they'd found that several of his possessions were missing, and also mentioned the statement/rant they'd gotten from one of the tenants (named Karen) about the cleaner who'd knocked her out. This lead them to the conclusion that the cleaner was the killer's accomplice, and that he'd been through Doug's apartment.

Although the thought that they'd gone right past him without knowing did irritate her, that wasn't what bothered her the most. As they were trying to figure how to move ahead (since Doug was dead, and therefore they couldn't question him), one of the other detectives had made a joke about sitting back, letting the killer do her thing and following the trail of bodies until it led them to the missing kids. As a police officer she knew she should stop the killer regardless of the victims' crimes, but as a mother with a young child she could understand the sentiment, which left her feeling conflicted.

Lauren tried to set these thoughts aside when she arrived at Hector's apartment building, having been notified by her boyfriend of the arrangement earlier. She took the stairs up to Hector's place and when she knocked it was Cassandra who answered the door. "Hey, I'm really sorry I'm so late."

"That's okay," Cassandra said reassuringly, stepping aside to let her in. "Scarlett's always fun to look after. She fell asleep half an hour ago, so we carried her to my room."

"Where's your brother anyway?"

"I'm right here," Hector spoke up, stepping out of his workshop. He had an old shirt on him, his magnifying eyeglasses were on his face, and he wasn't wearing his earring. "I was just working on a pet project."

Lauren looked at him for a couple seconds then chuckled. "It's funny, but those make you look like the mole man from that Disney movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire."

Hector pulled his eyeglasses up on his forehead and looked over at his sister, who was sporting a wide grin. "Yes, I've heard."

"Well, I don't want to impose on either of you any longer, so I'll just take Scarlett and go. Thank you so much for taking care of her." Cassandra showed Lauren to her room where Scarlett was peacefully curled up on the bed. They managed to rouse her enough to trudge over to the door and get dressed to go outside, though she was still drowsy so her mother simply carried her to the car. As she buckled her into the back seat, Lauren looked at her daughter dozing off, looking so innocent and peaceful. She smiled and leaned down to kiss her daughter's forehead. "I love you, my little rose."

Once Lauren and Scarlett were gone, Hector checked his 'other' phone, then grabbed a few things and got dressed to leave. "You're going back out already?" Cassandra asked as she watched him.

"I have to go. It's important."

"Is it the kind of thing I'm not supposed to talk to anyone about?" Hector nodded in response. "Does it involve Spartan?" Another nod. "Are you doing anything… questionable?" Silence. "At least tell me it's for a good reason."

Hector walked over to his sister, gently placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her with a gentle expression. "I'll answer all your questions once this is over, but for now, don't think too much about it. Okay, Cass?"

"You promise not to keep anything from me?" Cassandra asked, holding out her pinky finger.

Hector smiled at this and grabbed her pinky with his own. "Promise. I am going to be back late, so I expect you to be asleep when I return. Got that, munchkin?" Hector playfully ruffled her hair, prompting her to swat at his hand and roll her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Good luck."

Some time later, Hector met up with Sandra in her motel room again, shaking some snow off of himself and hanging his coat up. "What did you find?" he asked in a very business-like manner.

"This," Sandra said, holding up a USB key for him to see. "It seems Doug Whaley was paranoid about his dealings with the Dollmaker and secretly recorded one of their meetings. I didn't learn anything about Dollmaker's location, but his character… well, you should see for yourself."

Sandra plugged the USB into a laptop and opened up a file. The recording showed a van and truck parked in a warehouse, with several shipping containers in the background. Doug Whaley (a middle age man with short brown hair and wearing glasses) waited by the van while a large muscular man stepped out of the truck. The latter was bald, wore an apron, and the most notable feature was a creepy doll mask with a crack running down the face. Hector remained eerily silent as the recording played, his face a stone mask. The only sign that betrayed his feelings was the way he slowly clenched and released his fist at the sight of children being dragged into the Dollmaker's truck. Despite his anger, Hector paid attention to the Dollmaker's behaviour in particular. Once they were finished, Sandra looked at Hector like she was waiting for him.

"He's… childish," Hector spoke after several second, relaxing his hands. "The way he talks, saying that he wants to 'protect the children from the monsters' and 'preserve their innocence', the mask he wears, calling himself Dollmaker… it's like he's a child in a man's body. I believe this… Dollmaker… has some major trauma in his childhood."

"A fair point," Sandra noted. "But the fact that he was victimized as a child isn't enough in and of itself. We'll need more if we're going to find him."

"I know. If I watch it again, maybe I'll see something I missed." Hector took a moment to set his emotions aside before watching the video with a purely intellectual mindset. This time he noticed a gleam in Doug's glasses as the man in question happened to glance towards the cabin of Dollmaker's truck, though the angle of the camera didn't show what Doug himself saw. "There's something reflected in his glasses," Hector stated once it was done.

"What is it?"

"I can't get us a clear picture without better equipment than this thing," Hector said, indicating the computer they were using. "I can, however, send this to a friend of mine who can do it for us." Hector then typed a short e-mail, which he sent off along with the video to Agent Parthenon.

Two minutes passed in silence.

"I assume your friend is good with computers and that this e-mail won't be traced?" Sandra spoke up.

Hector snorted derisively at this. "He's the greatest hacker I know."

Another two minutes of silence.

"Is he even awake at this time?"

"Probably."

Another minute passed.

"Perhaps you should call him," she suggested, her expression suggesting that she was beginning to get annoyed.

"Alright. I need a rainbow." Hector noticed his ex-mentor's expression change from annoyed to confused (which for her amounted to raising an eyebrow) and explained: "The goddess Iris can send messages, but I need a rainbow in order to communicate. If you can draw one, then that works too."

"Unfortunately I lack the colours to do so."

"Hmm…" Hector looked around the room for a moment, trying to find something useful. "Do you have a small mirror and a flashlight?" Sandra slid off her bed and dug through her bag for a few seconds until she pulled out a compact mirror and a flashlight. Hector grabbed a bowl sitting on the counter, dumped the plastic fruits and filled it with water from a kettle. He then took Sandra's mirror, opened it up and placed it in the bowl, instructing her to shine the flashlight into the mirror at an angle, causing a rainbow to appear on the opposite wall. From there he took out two coins and held them against the artificial rainbow. "Great Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept this offering and let me speak with, but not see, Agent Parthenon. And please, give him a wakeup call if he should be sleeping." The coins were absorbed by the rainbow which formed a white static screen. Through it they could hear the sound of snoring, soon followed by an air horn, though it wasn't loud on their end.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Eugene/Agent Parthenon exclaimed suddenly. "I was just resting my eyes."

Hector cleared his throat. "This is Spartan."

"Spartan? Just a sec." The sound of a can being cracked open, chugged, then set back down was heard through the screen before Agent Parthenon spoke again. "Alright, I'm back. I take it this isn't a social call, and that you're with someone who doesn't know my identity, given the lack of visuals."

"Correct." Hector glanced back at Sandra out of the corner of his eye. Despite the magical communication rainbow, and the fact that she was being excluded, she didn't seem concerned, merely standing in place with the flashlight. "I sent you a video of a meeting between two child traffickers, and one's wearing glasses. Partway through you'll see a reflection in them, so I need you to get me a picture of what he's looking at."

"Got it. Shouldn't take long." Hector and Sandra were silent as they heard the video playing again, accompanied by the sound of Agent Parthenon typing at a keyboard. "There you go," the son of Athena declared eventually. Hector clicked on the e-mail containing his reply, opening up two photos. One showed a doll sitting on the dashboard of the Dollmaker's truck, while the other was a closeup, showing them a logo with two faces, one a boy and the other a girl.

Hector frowned at this, recognizing the logo and what company it belonged to. "Thank you, Agent Parthenon. You've been very helpful."

"You're welcome. You need anything else?"

"No thanks. I'll take care of the rest," Hector assured him.

"Alright then. Later, Spartan."

Hector turned away as the rainbow disappeared and began typing at the computer. Sandra removed her mirror from the bowl, dried it off and put it away, then sat down on the other bed, silently watching him work. "I have our target," he said once he was finished, closing the laptop and looking over at Sandra. "Are you ready?"

Armed and dressed for the occasion, Spartan and Lady Shiva were on motorcycles heading towards the Dollmaker's presumed location. While Shiva had her own ride, Spartan was still working on his, so he'd stolen one for the occasion. Neither of them said a word as they zoomed down the highway, minds focused on the task at hand. Finally they arrived in an abandoned town, a layer of snow covering the ground and rooftops. Parking their bikes in the middle of the town, they got off and went on foot from there. "So, care to explain what a ghost town like this has to do with the missing children?" Shiva asked as they crept past dilapidated buildings.

"That doll the Dollmaker had in his truck was made by a company called Schott's Toy's," Spartan explained. "The town was wiped out by floods three years ago, but the factory's still intact." The two of them came to a tall wooden fence with holes in it that surrounded a large factory. A broken down sign on the roof read: 'ott's To'. Spartan pried one of the boards off, leaving enough room for them to squeeze through. "The original owner of this place was a man named Winslow Schott, a psychopathic killer notorious for victimizing children."

They reached one of the factory's broken windows and flipped it open, jumping into a large storage room with racks that almost reached the roof. They pulled out their own lights and looked around, though all they saw were creepy half finished dolls, a tiny shoe, broken toys, and a few rats scurrying about. "Twelve years ago Schott was sent to prison by the testimony of his son and primary victim, Anton." Spartan stopped for a second to open a rusted metal door that was stuck, though he put his shoulder into it and pushed until it slowly gave way. They walked down a set of stairs into a wide open room, with the moon providing some illumination through the broken windows. "The son eventually took over the business and ran it until the floods came."

"It seems the apple didn't fall far from the tree," Shiva remarked as they spotted a table with medical supplies, tools, a bloody saw, as well as bones, fingers, blood, and an eyeball.

Spartan remained silent, walking past the gruesome sight to the cages arranged in rows. He kneeled down and aimed his light at the cages, revealing the children trapped inside. A little boy grabbed the bars and looked at the dark warrior with eyes wide open. Several more followed his example, watching and waiting as Shiva joined him. "Where is he?" Spartan asked one of the older children, speaking softly despite the effect of his helmet. "Where's the one who did this to you?"

A light-hearted voice answered, coming from the other side of the room. "You're worried about the little ones?" A light turned on in the next room, revealing the Dollmaker standing in the doorway. The children gasped in fright and retreated to the back of their cages. "Don't be. You see, I love them more than you could ever know."

"Schott," Spartan said in a voice completely devoid of emotion.

"Anton Schott died when he was a little boy," he replied as he stepped forward, sounding almost sad. "When the monster took away his innocence. I'm not Anton. I… am the Dollmaker. And I've done everything in my power to help the little ones survive…" He began pulling on a chain pulley, which opened up several hatches in the wall from which dozens of small forms emerged. They wore ragged clothes, grotesque doll masks and acted like mindless beasts, hissing and snarling at the two vigilantes. "… in this sad, cruel world."

Shiva and Spartan stood still as the tortured puppet children moved to surround them, with more dropping down from beams up above. They calmly put away their lights and drew their swords, with Shiva pointing hers at the psychotic villain. "Anton Schott or Dollmaker, I don't care what you call yourself. You will pay for your crimes."

"Protect me, children, as I've protected you." As one, the Dollmaker's minions obeyed their master's command and charged at Spartan and Shiva, causing them to split.

Spartan jumped back as a little girl with metal claws lunged at him, side-stepped another, grabbing it by the face with his free hand and slamming the back of its head into a stack of wooden crates. He jumped to the side when the claw girl came at him again, dodging several swipes and knocking her out with the flat of his blade. Another charged in a second later, this one with a spinning saw blade at the end of both arms. Spartan jumped clear over its head like they were playing a demented game of leapfrog, and before it could fully turn around to take another shot at him his magical sword flashed twice, cutting clean through the boy's metal arms. He followed up by kicking him hard enough to pick him off the floor and send him crashing several meters away.

Though she could easily have cut through the Dollmaker's slaves, Shiva held back for the sake of her mission. Even so, she proved no less skilled during this fight. Like some deadly ballerina she flowed from one movement into another, side stepping a clumsy punch from one of the human dolls, grabbing her arm and using her momentum to send her colliding with one that came up behind her. Another jumped off a stack of crates, aiming for her head, only for Shiva to pivot around the girl and smash the pommel of her sword into the back of her head, knocking her out before she hit the floor. The mistress of martial arts executed a handspring, dodging a boy with a knife grafted onto his arm and colliding feet first into another in mid-air in the process, then casually deflected the knife-boy's next attack and kneed him square in the face.

"I admire your restraint," Spartan said during a lull in the fight, standing side by side with his ex-mentor as the broken kids stood back for a moment.

"I promised to recover the children, and I stand by my words," she explained calmly, eyes sweeping over their enemies.

The moment was interrupted when two doll-children stepped aside, making room for a girl with her right arm replaced by a flamethrower. Spartan quickly summoned his shield and blocked the flame, while Shiva severed the fuel line with a precisely aimed shuriken, followed by Spartan charging straight forward and slamming into her with his shield.

Seeing that his minions were losing the fight, the Dollmaker turned tail and ran. Unfortunately for Spartan and Shiva, the remaining hostiles formed a wall cutting them off from their true enemy. "He's getting away!" Shiva called out.

"Give me your hand!" Spartan shot back, dropping his sword. Making the split second decision to trust him, she grabbed his outstretched hand, at which he spun her around, lifting her off the ground and using all his strength to throw her. Shiva flew over the doll-children blocking their way, rolled as she landed on the other side, and came up running.

While she chased after the Dollmaker, Spartan was surrounded by the rest of the villain's thralls. With no time to pick up his sword, he lashed out with fist, shield, and foot. Not wanting to prolong the fight, he tossed two doll-children that jumped at him, then as he dodged another he swiped his finger down his helmet's nose piece, which caused a mask to extend from his helmet, sealing off his face. He then reached into his utility belt and threw down a gas bomb, releasing a thick cloud. When it finally dissipated, Spartan was the only one left standing, with all the Dollmaker's minions lying unconscious.

With this done, he dragged his finger up his helmet's nose piece (retracting his gas mask), deactivated his shield and leaned down to pick up his sword. A little girl looked at him with uncertainty as he approached her cage, until he broke the lock with his sword. Setting aside his weapon, he opened the cage and kneeled down. "You're safe now," he spoke softly, holding a hand out for her. "I swear to you." Spartan was surprised for a moment when she rushed out and hugged him, sobbing into his chest, but then he gently wrapped his arms around her. "You're safe…"

Holding the girl in one arm, he picked up his sword and proceeded to free the other children from their cages. As the girl jumped down to hug one of the boys (possibly her brother given the resemblance), a bright moonbeam suddenly shone through one of the broken windows, creating a pool of light on the factory floor. Spartan placed himself between it and the children, standing on guard as the moonlight began to coalesce into a humanoid form. Several seconds later a young auburn haired woman with an otherworldly beauty was standing before them. She had a regal look about her, was dressed in a white toga, and carried a silver bow and quiver around her back. Seeing who it was, Spartan put away his sword and gave her a respectful bow, fist over his heart.

"Relax, warrior," the Olympian goddess spoke, holding her hand up. "I'm here at the request of my mother. I will keep an eye on the children until the mortal authorities arrive, and you… you will ensure the monster is punished."

"Yes, my lady." Taking a moment to promise the children that they'd be safe with the new arrival, he gave her a bow of his head and ran outside.

Spartan easily spotted the footprints that Dollmaker and Shiva had left in the snow, as well as the blood that followed, which lead him to the edge of the woods where Shiva was crouched over the Dollmaker's body, a bloody stain spreading across his chest. He watched in silence as she removed a shuriken from his leg and wiped it off on his pants before putting it away. "The children?" she asked calmly as she stood up, turning her attention to him.

"They're fine. One of my gods is watching over them."

"I see…" Hidden though his face may be, Shiva could practically feel him glaring at the Dollmaker's corpse. "Do you disapprove?"

"He deserved worse," Spartan spat out, his voice full of venom. He kneeled next to the corpse, pulled out one of his silver knives and cut the Dollmaker's shirt open so he could carve a message into his chest. When he was done he changed his knife back and put his hands together in prayer.

A few moments later, the faint sounds of incoming sirens was heard in the distance. "Time to go," Shiva announced. Spartan nodded at this and followed her back towards where they'd left their bikes. "Tell me… which god did you pray to just now?"

"Hades."

Sometime later, having been woken up by an urgent phone call, Lauren arrived at the old toy factory. Despite the place being outside her normal jurisdiction, her involvement in the case meant that she'd been asked to come. More than one police officer was horrified by what had been done to the children. Fortunately most of them, including Lauren herself, were able to keep their mind of the job. They brought blankets, some food, and did their best to keep the children comfortable while the medics were on their way. From talking to the children they were able to get an idea of what had happened, that being: A woman and a 'big man in black' with swords had fought against the kids who'd been 'changed', the woman had chased after the 'monster', and the 'big man' had freed them. The more confusing part was when the children mentioned the 'nice lady' who'd appeared out of thin air and stayed with them while the 'big man' went after his friend, then simply vanished when the police arrived.

Lauren and another police officer walked in the direction that the children had pointed out as where the 'big man' had run off to. Despite some light snowfall, the footprints weren't too hard to follow. "Psychotic villain, mutilated cyborg children, assassin fighters with swords, and some woman that literally pops out of nowhere…" the officer muttered as they followed the tracks. "What the hell are we dealing with?"

"We think the woman with the sword is some kind of professional assassin," Lauren explained. "The man might be too, or at least an accomplice of some kind. The sick bastard that experimented on those kids is their target. As for the other woman… she might have superpowers, alien technology, or even magic for all I know." When they reached the edge of the woods, they found a body lying in the snow.

"Stabbed right through the heart," the officer remarked as looked at the Dollmaker's body. "Probably a sword, given the size of the wound. Considering what the kids told us, looks like your assassin's target. Hey, what's this? Looks like there's something here…" Slipping a glove over his hand, he moved the shirt aside so that they could see the words cut into the chest. "Okay. That's… creepy. Doesn't look like English though. Any idea what this means?"

"…"

"Detective?"

"…"

"Detective?"

"…" Lauren gave no sign that she'd heard him, since she had her head down and her eyes were unfocused, like she was lost in thought.

"Detective!"

"Huh?" Lauren looked at her fellow police officer and blinked in surprise for a couple seconds before recovering. "Oh, sorry. I… kind of spaced out there. What were you saying?"

"Do you have any idea what this means?" he pointed to the bloody writing in the dead man's chest. "Or what language it's in?"

"I think… this might be Greek," she said with some hesitation. "And that it was done after he was killed."

"So… our professional assassin is Greek? Why'd you suppose she did it?"

"I don't think she did. At least, I don't think she wrote this."

The officer gave her a puzzled look at this. "So she killed him, but her accomplice carved a message into him. What for?"

"I'm not sure, but I… have a theory." Lauren took a deep breath before she began. "I've heard about this vigilante who calls himself Spartan. He's moved around, fought a few super-villains here and there, and no one seems to know much about him. The main thing is he uses a sword, dresses like a Greek warrior, and his war cry is about fighting for the gods. Considering what happened to those poor kids back there, and if what the other children told us about him is true, I believe this is a curse, that he's asking the gods, or at least Hades, since in Greek mythology he's the one that rules the underworld, to damn this man to eternal torment. Or something like that."

"Huh… you know, I hope it's real. Bastard deserves to suffer for what he's done."

"Yeah…"

Having returned to the city and put the stolen motorcycle back in its place, Hector got a ride with Sandra to a discreet area not too far from his apartment. "Working with you has been… an interesting experience," Sandra commented as she dropped him off. "I'm pleased to see how far you've come."

"I'm glad to hear that," Hector replied in an even tone of voice. Although there was some tension beneath the surface, it was tempered with courtesy, and respect for each other's skill. "Thank you for bringing me in on this."

"Of course. Stay sharp. If we ever come to blows, I'd hate to kill you without you at least putting up a fight."

"In the spirit of honesty… if it comes to that, I will do what I must."

Sandra nodded at this, seeming not surprised by his words. "Goodbye, Hector Anderson."

"Goodbye, Sandra Wu-San." The two of them gave each other a short bow and parted ways.

Somewhere

A dark haired man in black robes was relaxing on the balcony of a great obsidian palace, looking down at the wondrous garden below. More specifically, he was looking at his wife, a beautiful blond woman wearing a dress with floral patterns. A small content smile graced his lips as he watched her happily tending to the garden. "Excuse me, my lord…" The man looked over at the vampire-like woman (pretty enough, but with bat wings, fangs and claws) who'd just arrived, and signalled her to approach. "I merely wished to advise you that our newest arrival has been settled in."

"Very good," he replied. "I trust you've prepared appropriate accommodations?"

"Yes, my lord. I must say, I'm looking forward to entertaining this one. It's a rare enough thing for the boy to bring someone to your attention like this. He must have truly hated him."

"Hardly surprising, given the nature of this one's crimes. The boy always did have a soft spot for innocent children." Giving his wife another glance to make sure she was occupied, he looked over at his associate and lowered his voice for good measure. "And what about your earlier assignment?"

"She appears to be doing well for herself, my lord. She's dedicated to her work, has a good relationship with a man, and loves her daughter very much. She may be experiencing strange things she can't explain, but she remains unaware nonetheless."

"Very good. You may go."

The vampire lady gave him a short bow and flew off. "What was that about, dear?" the woman asked as she rejoined her husband, placing a bouquet of flowers in a vase on a small round table.

The man merely gave his wife a reassuring smile. "Just a new arrival that was brought to my attention. Nothing to worry about, dear."

Hope you enjoyed it, please review if you have any comments, critique, etc...

A few things to say:

- In greek mythology, Leto was the Titan Goddess of Motherhood and protector of the young

- The Dollmaker seen here was an amalgamation of the character of the same name from the show "Gotham" and the movie "Batman vs Robin". The character himself was mostly based on the movie, while Hector and Shiva's investigation (up to the factory scene), was loosely inspired by the show.

- The character Erik McCaffrey was a nod at the villain Julian McCaffrey, from Lucifer season 4.

- The symbol on Spartan's new suit is basically the symbol of the gods from Disney's Hercules (type "Disney Hercules medal", and it's the first image that pops up)