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The moment their eyes met, Love once again told herself she had to play her part to perfection. She had one shot- that was it, no second chances, and what was even more troubling was the fact that she could see no way out of such sticky situation. It was either her or that two faced bitch - she silently repeated in her mind as some sort of extra motivation, fully aware that if somehow her brother were to ever find out about her devious plan, not even Zeus himself could glue her torn body back together. ….

As much as she loved Ares, she was no stranger to how his mind worked. Treason was the one thing he didn't tolerate –and though in her opinion her actions did not completely fit the category, they were life menacingly close, and let's just say that for the headstrong Olympian, when it came to painting reality, the palette was limited to a stern black and white edition ….Well, mostly black – but definitely no grey areas there…

''Came to finish the job?'' the Queen continued, her voice barely holding back the disgust and anger she felt for him…- the perfect reminder for Aphrodite that despite her nervousness, the show had already started and she was standing right in the spotlight.

Truth be told, she had gotten away a few times with substituting her brother at a number of Olympian council meetings- when her presence was not requested- after all, but that had only happened because the moron was either blind drunk – after some badass orgy he had attended the previous night – or watching over Xena during some high risk battle that he couldn't possibly miss. On the other hand, this….this was something else entirely.

Although she could read her brother like an open book, she did have very little information about his relationship with the Queen and about the overall dynamics of it. Sure, Xena had filled in some gaps, but definitely not enough to cover three centuries of talking, fucking and laughing. She was walking on thin ice – that was more than obvious- and thus she only had her intuition to rely on- that and creativity being a must in her line of work

She just needed to think, do and say whatever he would do, she mentally concluded, unconsciously tightening her grip on the hilt of the sword.

''Relax Amytis. Had I wanted you dead, your corpse would still be rotting at the gates.'' she answered, throwing her rival a deadly enough glare to send right about anyone running for the hills. ''That's not why I'm here''. Dite stated, casually passing her by, making sure to maintain eye contact even when they were but an inch away from each other.

''Why are you here, then?'' the Queen insisted, and Aphrodite had to fight back that contemptuous smirk that was threatening to take over her lips the minute she once again detected the longing in her rival's aura. Yes, there was boiling rage, frustration, crushing sadness and even an ounce of primal fear present, but underneath all that she could distinctly feel the flames of desire scorching her from the inside out.

Aphrodite's eyes narrowed for a moment as if assessing her response, making sure to give the wretched woman before her a wonton once over before she unhurriedly headed towards the perfectly carved marble balustrade, and, as she bent over it a bit, she couldn't help wondering who had been the amazingly talented sculptor who had worked at embellishing that masterpiece.

''It kinda bothered me, you know ?'' she started her little speech, on her brother's absolutely identical tonality, taking a mental note on just how intrigued Amytis had become. ''….Three centuries of blissful sex and unearthly chemistry and you simply dropped everything we had like a nasty habit at the first bump in the road….''

''A bump in the road ?!'' she exclaimed, scandalized by his choice of words. '' Just so that we're clear….Are we talking about the same bump in the road for which you nearly beat Nabucco to death and strangled the life out of me ?!''the Queen growled in hysteric fury, her tone as harsh as the glare she was now directing at her former lover but still, her stomach lurched at the implication of his statement….Had she heard him right ? Did that mean that they still had a chance?

With a serial killer's cold hearted deliberation, the Goddess looked the witch straight in the eyes again, just to make sure she still had her hooked before she continued feeding her those poisonous breadcrumbs she was intentionally leaving behind.

Once she had picked up on that rapid change in heartbeat, she was almost ecstatic, for that could only mean one thing:her assumption had been spot on- using her emotions and the levrage offered by their still recent and distressing break up was the best way to go- the oldest trick in the book , but hey, whatever worked…

''The very same . Not that it mattered much whether it was her or some random wanabe, it's your reaction that kinda left me agape.'' Aphrodite explained turning around to face her opponent whilst still making sure to keep a casual enough pose just like she envisioned her brother would- half leaning against the ice cold marble that had an unexpected effect in calming her nerves.

''My reaction?''Amytis repeated in disbelief. ''And just what exactly was wrong with it, may I ask, cause I did bend over backwards to please you!" she hissed, pure hate gleaming in her eyes, nausea rising within her as the bitter memory of his repeated rejections found its way into her mind ….

He had humiliated her big time, the Love Goddess silently concluded, easily recognizing the pattern. Her reaction was only natural.

''I don't know about that …..Maybe you should have tried a different approach…''the Goddess cunningly hinted, swiftly observing how Amytis'face instantly turned into a mask of incredulity. Was he making fun of her? Was he there only to torment her? To mock her even more?

''Maybe you should leave, Ares!'' the Queen finally demanded, ignoring the daggers of self inflicted pain that were now stabbing her right through the heart. She didn't want him to leave, no, quite the opposite. His presence there could finally allow her to breathe properly for the first time after their last encounter.

''Maybe you should prove yourself.''

For a few seconds, no words were spoken, but the Goddess did have her undivided attention, there was no doubt in her mind about it. Obviously, she was thrilled with the outcome.

''Prove to me that you are actually worthy of my attention…''

''I don't need to prove anything to you .I am the Queen of Babylon!''the witch almost screamed in her lover's face, suddenly outraged by the nerve the Olympian had.

''Yeah….but you're not my Queen. You're a mere coward that hides behind the fabric of dreams….A spell here, a lame magic trick there, and here we are, desperately longing to melt into each other while some other woman is screaming my name both in battle and in bed….'' the blonde stang while her hand moved slowly down the Queen's chest, stopping torturously right above her cleavage, enslaving her senses, expertly playing with her mind and tricking her into wanting more- a delicious union the unspoken promise of which was lingering heavily between them…..''And yeah, before you even think about denying it, I know all about your little plot …''she made sure to whisper in her ear the last part, just for effect.

Needless to say, the Queen was dumbstruck. The instant she parted her lips to contradict his allegations though, she was met with a blunt, pungent enough line meant to discourage such unwanted behavior.

''Which failed, by the way …..''the Goddess added, getting ready to leave. '' 'Guess a mere mortal outsmarted you after all…

''Wait !'' Amytis suddenly stopped the War God, grabbing his hand. ''Where is she now ?'' she demanded to know, a hint of desperation in her voice. Taking a good look at him, she still couldn't tell whether he was being serious about it or not. He was nearly impossible to read.

''On some battlefield, teaching a bunch of wretched peasants a lesson….''

''Will you stay out of it ?''

If she were to do this, she definitely needed some reassurance.

''Why ? Do you want to get your ass kicked?'' the Goddess subtly challenged, praying to the Fates themselves for her victim to take the bait.

''Not kicked….Just slapped-later tonight.''she brazenly answered, letting her voice dip low, and to her unspeakable delight, she could finally see a flicker of lust in his eyes .

''We'll see about that...'' Aphrodite smartly retorted, struggling to contain her enthusiasm.

It only took a split second for the Queen to look away- that the War God was gone.

She was literally blind drunk with joy! Her heart thudded with so much force that she felt it was about to explode that very moment. Not everything was lost….She was going to end that mortal's life once and for all, and then, there would be no one standing between her and the object of her desire !

Too bad that over the moon as she was, she had missed completely the pink lightshow Aphrodite had unconsciously used to dematerialize from the place….