Of Coming Back Home

"I've seen your face a thousand times
Every day we've been apart."

- Mama, I'm Coming Home by Ozzy Osbourne

Hades was pacing back and forth in his Underworld domain, irritation apparent on his sharp features. He had sent his daemons, Pain and Panic on a trivial and mundane job: as their master had been even more on the edge than usually as he returned back to his domain, the two minions were more than happy to do as they were told, scurrying away, tripping over each other.

And the reason why Hades had sent them away? He did not need his minions seeing him like this, so worked up because of a mortal woman.

The way she was all tangled up in his arms was etched to the Hades' retinas even when he closed his eyes. The way she looked at him with tenderness, longing in her eyes, the way her lips curled at a small smile even when she only mentioned his name…

Ugh, so despicable! She was just… So better than him, that oblivious yet strangely indestructible son of Zeus!

As she had pointed it out, he did not know himself why he had returned there once more and why she being with him bothered him to this level. Meg had seen straight to the core of the problem and it all infuriated him even more.

All these thoughts, occupying his mind, were driving him off the edge: why that simple-minded demi-dork out of all men there was? Why him?

(And why not me?)

Hades wanted to chase these thoughts away, but instead, he screamed out with rage and frustration, destroying with his fireball another piece of furniture standing on his way.

Then he gritted his teeth together as shook his head with irritation, trying to collect his resolution once again.

He needed to get his head back in the game, he needed to concentrate on the plot he was cooking up with Cybele. He needed no more distraction; no more listening to his urges, no more seeing her if he wanted to remain calm.

Just him, concentrating on his new plan.

And then, maybe, if he could do something about her at the same time, that would be a plus.

A big plus, indeed.

But at the moment, no more thinking of her: it was enough to throw him off his track and he needed no more of that.

"Pain, Panic; get your pathetic rears here! And when I say here, I mean like right NOW!" Hades yelled, his infamous temper already running short.

When his two minion fumbled in to the room, he paid no attention to their grovelling, getting straight into the point:

"Boys, I need you to find someone for me. And if you screw it up this time, I'll be sizzling your backsides off like bacon. Comprende?"

"Right on it, boss!" Pain assured, Panic nodding his head manically in agreement.

"Good. So here's the deal…" Hades was back on his track, doing the thing he did best: scheming.

The next morning, before the three friends started their journey to Thebes, Hercules exclaimed that he had something he had to do at the agora of Athens before leaving. As Cassandra was going to ride Pegasus with Hercules, she had agreed to meet Hercules at the agora.

Icarus would take his wax-wings, claiming that he had to test-fly his newest invention. He babbled on something concerning the altered wingspan of this particular model, but Cassandra didn't quite catch what he was telling them as she didn't listen to his long and rambling explanations.

So when Cassandra met Hercules at the agora, he was on a glaringly good mood.

"Why so chipper?" Cassandra asked, crossing her hands on her chest as he approached her.

"I wanted to find something for Meg. This is perfect," Hercules told her, a goofy smile on his face. Then he showed his hand: on his palm was resting a silver necklace with one, perfectly refined oval-shaped amethyst dangling from the dainty chain.

"It's the same color as her eyes," he told her, a dreamy look on his eyes.

"Well aren't you a romantic. If she's as sentimental as you are, then I'm sure she'll love it. Shouldn't we get going, so you may give it to your girlfriend?" Cassandra pointed out and Hercules eagerly agreed.

As they had agreed before, Cassandra rode Pegasus with Hercules as they journeyed to Thebes. As they finally arrived, they were starting to approach a huge villa. More like a mansion, Cassandra concluded.

"What happened to 'hero's always humble'?" Cassandra told Hercules with an amused look, who gave her a sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders back in return.

They landed near the entrance of the house and Hercules was already striding towards the door as her feet finally touched the ground. He certainly was in hurry to see his girlfriend.

'Fiancée', Cassandra corrected inside her own mind. She was curious to see this woman who had enthralled her friend so completely.

She and Icarus followed Hercules' steps as he hurried inside. Cassandra took notice of the lavish furniture and decorations inside: Herc had certainly done well with his hero business.

"Hon, I'm back!" Hercules announced loudly.

It was silent for a moment, but soon enough they heard an echo of delicate footsteps. Then a slender woman rushed into the room and into Hercules' waiting arms. He enveloped her into his arms, spinning her in the air and placing such a longing kiss on her lips that made Cassandra feel she was intruding a private moment between two lovers.

As the pair pulled away from each other and Hercules placed her back to the ground, the woman finally took notice of them.

"Oh! I didn't know we had company!" she claimed, giving Hercules a meaningful look.

"Sorry hon, these are my friends, from high school, Cassandra and Icarus," Hercules introduced them, giving her a sheepish grin.

"Herc has told us a lot about you," Cassandra told her, studying the woman before her. She was slender, yet curvy in all the right places, her long, rich auburn hair cascading to her waist. Her features were delicate, yet somehow exquisite: she had deep, violet eyes unlike any other person Cassandra had ever met. Her eyes truly were like amethysts, just like Herc had described them. Her movements were graceful and purposeful and the way she moved reminded Cassandra of a graceful feline.

She could see why Hercules had been raving about her looks, even as a woman Cassandra could safely judge that she truly the most beautiful woman she had seen, both mortal and immortal women accounted for: her beauty seemed almost surreal. Yet there was something familiar about her, yet Cassandra couldn't quite put her finger on what it was-

"Exaggerating, I'm sure," she told with a small smile on her face, her voice husky. She gave Hercules another knowing look before offering her hand: "I'm Meg."

"Cassandra," came her reply as she reached for her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Herc has told me about the two of you. So you're the psychic one?" Meg studied Cassandra.

"Unfortunately, yes," Cassandra shook her head.

"I can only imagine," Meg gave her a dry smile.

Icarus had been keeping himself busy studying everything surrounding them, still awed by every little detail in the room he was standing in.

"Ick…" Hercules tried, feeling a bit uncomfortable that his other friend hadn't even greeted his girlfriend.

"So, you're the inventor?" Meg placed her hands on hips, obviously amused as she studied the mop of unruly black hair, dashing around her atrium, taking all the details in.

"A creaton!" Icarus suddenly exclaimed as he pointed one finger upwards, reminding Hercules much of his father, Daedalus. Suddenly he seemed to take notice of Meg.

"So you, my fair lady, are the keeper of my friend's heart! Icarus, at you service!" Icarus suddenly darted at her, bowing dramatically and kissing her hand.

First Meg glanced incredously at Herc and Cassandra and after they shrugged, she laughed melodiously.

"You're adorable," she was able to huff out between her laughter.

"See! I'm adorable!" Icarus pointed victoriously with his finger at Cassandra, who in return simply rolled her eyes.

"I have now reached a conclusion that I like her. She's a keeper!" Icarus exclaimed to Hercules with a happy smile on his face.

"You're certainly the best of Herc's girlfriends," Icarus then turned his focus back to Meg.

"Oh, am I? He hasn't told me about his other girlfriends," Meg now had a mischevious glint in her eyes.

"Oh! Well, once he dated Medusa, then he dated this girl for few days, who then left him for Ajax, he also had crush on Helen, who turned out to be his half-sister, the list goes on and on! Ooh, and then he made a woman out of clay for the Aphrodisia dance! Poor guy, I really thought he was gonna end up alone. But then you came along, proving all my fears wrong," Icarus counted Herc's previous relationship failures dramatically as he wrapped his arm around Meg, vividly motioning with his hands as he spoke.

"Thanks, Ick", Hercules huffed, not ready to share all of those stories with his current girlfriend.

"Herc had such bad luck with girls at high school, you don't even know half of it! How have I prayed that Herc would someday experience even a little taste of what a true love-story has to offer: a love-story like the one of Cassie and moí, Zeus and Hera, Dido and Aeneas…" Icarus started to dramatically list the famous pairings as he tried to wrap his other arm around Cassandra, much like he had just done to Meg.

"Personal space, Icarus!" Cassandra pushed him quickly away.

"…Cleopatra and Caesar, Psyche and Cupid, Narcissus and… Himself," Icarus kept going with his list as if nothing had even happened. Meg shared a quick glance with Hercules: both of them were obviously fighting to control their emotions and not to burst out laughing.

"Did Herc tell you that I was literally the first woman he encountered on his way from Phil's island to Thebes?" Meg quickly smirked at Hercules.

"That's our Herc, falling for the first woman he encounters!" Icarus exclaimed as if it was a positive thing.

"Really?" Cassandra arched an questioning eyebrow as she looked at Hercules.

"Hey! She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen! I didn't stand a chance!" Hercules shrugged.

"Oh, going back to the matter of Herc's previous girlfriends, I have been thinking about Herc's high school days. Care to tell me more?" Meg gave Hercules a devious smile as she encouraged Icarus to continue.

"Oh, now would I! Grab a drink and maybe a snack sister, this is gonna be a long, LONG story…" Icarus replied as he guided Meg towards a sofa.

"Oh Gods," Hercules muttered as he covered his face with his hands.

"We have unleashed a demon: it's the Icarus who will never shut up!" Cassandra muttered to him as they followed Meg and Icarus.

Nevertheless, they had a fun afternoon and then an evening: they shared stories, memories, few goblets of wine and some good food. Hercules especially enjoyed connecting with his old friends and seeing that they enjoyed Meg's company as well.

The evening was over all too soon and as Hercules retrieved to the bedroom he shared with Meg, he quietly took off his own clothes and scooted close to her.

"I missed you," he whispered to her, burying his face in her hair.

"I missed you too. So how was Sparta and Athens, I presume it was a good trip?" Meg drowsily asked as she moved closer to him.

"It was good. Tolling for the work part, but I was glad to meet Cassie and Ick in Athens. I'm happy that you met them too. You guys seem to get along well," he told her.

"Glad to hear that. And they do seem really nice. But I'm most happy of you coming back," Meg confessed to him quietly.

"Me too, I'm happy to back here with you. Oh! I almost forgot," he told her, quickly getting back up and reaching for his tunic. He took something from the pocket, handing it out for her.

"It's for you," he told her, a small, almost a timid smile playing on his lips.

"What is it?" Meg asked, a bit amused as she reached for whatever he had in his hand.

She felt something cool and light and as she looked at her hand, she saw an necklace: a single, oval-shaped amethyst was dangling from it.

"It reminded me of you, it looked the exact same color as your eyes," Hercules told her.

"Oh, it's beautiful. You shouldn't have, you were only gone for one night," Meg felt touched, even more so then she probably should have. She had received many pieces of jewelry as a princess, but this felt much more personal, much more private than any of those gifts had ever felt.

"I know. I just… I never really have bought anyone tokens from a trip like that. I never really have had anyone to buy things like that in the first place. I just… Wanted to do it," he explained honestly and she felt her heart breaking just a bit for him.

"I will cherish it. Thank you," Meg told him, brushing his gift gently before placing it carefully to the nightstand beside their bed.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead and whispered to her: "I love you, hon."

"Love you too, Wonderboy," came her sleepy reply and Hercules himself fell asleep with a contented smile on his face.

-A/N: I'm back with another update! And a big thank you for the feedback of my previous chapter: you guys really seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. You guys rock!

So according to Hercules: The Animated Series Meg had never met Cassandra, which I thought was such a shame, because I really wanted to see the two of them banter at each other. I think Cassandra would eventually really like her, so I'm super-excited to get them to meet each other. Yas!

Guest 1: Awww, thank you, your review(s), really made my day! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying this that much! Here's another chapter!

Guest 2: I'm so happy to hear that, here's another chapter!

Nutmeg: Yay, so happy to know that you're still enjoying this, here's more to read for you!

Guest 3: No worries concerning that, Hades might have his own ideas, but we are certainly not headed to that direction. ;)

OMG: I agree with you one hundred percent! And I'm super happy to hear that you think I have captured the way Meg speaks, I try my best to maintain the characters as plausible as possible