A/N: Hi all, Tinian I'att here, I am so sorry we've kept you waiting 19 months for a new chapter, and I hope you find the wait was worth it. Enjoy.

Chapter Three
The Plan

"Come on," Jessica called once her gang left the brownstone.

"Where are we going?" Aaron demanded sullenly. He was still angry with Jessica for not letting him hit Theresa.

"We're going to find someplace to crash," Jessica snapped, fed up with Aaron's attitude.

"Why don't we just stay here?" Nat whined. "I'm tired."

"All right," Jessica agreed, smiling sweetly, "and then you can explain to Cronus how we got captured. Assuming, he comes to rescue us, of course."

Nat didn't bother to respond. She just turned away from the warmth and comfort the brownstone offered and headed down the cold rain-drenched street.

"Well, what are the rest of you waiting for?" Jessica barked. "Get moving!"

Reluctantly, the others hurried after her.

As they walked, Ariane and Nat kept up a never-ending stream of complaints, they were cold, they were wet, the rain was ruining their hair and clothes, they were hungry, their feet hurt. For nearly twenty minutes, they whined and moaned about everything.

Finally, Jessica couldn't stand it anymore.

"Enough!" she snarled, whipping out Jay's xiphos and stalking toward them. "If either of you makes one more sound I promise you'll be sorry!"

Ariane and Nat backed away from Jessica, their eyes wide with shock.

"We'll be quiet," Ariane squeaked.

"Not another sound," Nat promised.

"We should've stayed at the brownstone," Aaron grumbled suddenly.

"What did you say?" Jessica demanded turning to face him.

"I said we should've stayed at the brownstone," Aaron replied.

"Oh really," Jessica responded. "Then perhaps you'd like to go back?"

"Why shouldn't we go back?" Aaron argued. "The brownstone has everything we need, warm beds, food, even a television. I can't think of a single reason we shouldn't turn around and head back right now. Who's with me?"

He looked around, clearly expecting an enthusiastic response from the others. Instead, he received a collection of baffled stares, seconds before Jessica's fist connected with his face.

"What is your problem?" Aaron exclaimed from his new position on the ground.

"You are," Jessica spat back, "you and that empty space between your ears."

Furious, Aaron climbed to his feet and pointed Atlanta's stolen crossbow at Jessica's head. The rest of the group fell back while Jessica remained unmoving Jay's xiphos clutched tightly in her hand, waiting to see what he would do next. A heartbeat later, she had her answer when Aaron rashly decided to fire on her. Jessica easily deflected the bolt, sending it caroming off her blade and into the ground at Ariane's feet.

"Hey, watch it!" Ariane yelped jumping backward.

Aaron continued firing his stolen crossbow at Jessica, using his super speed to try to prevent her from deflecting the bolts. Unfortunately, running so fast made it difficult to aim accurately. Eventually, he was too tired to continue.

"Are you ready to listen now?" Jessica asked. "Or would you prefer to continue acting like a moron?"

"If that was acting it was an Oscar worthy performance," Olivia remarked snidely.

"Can the comedy," Jessica snapped, shooting Olivia a withering glare.

Olivia merely shrugged as if to say, Hey, it's not my fault you don't have a sense of humor.

Turning back to Aaron, Jessica continued to vent her anger at his disrespect for her position as leader.

"Were you paying any attention to what I told the blonde bimbo before we left the brownstone?" Jessica demanded fiercely.

"I am NOT a bimbo!" Nat screeched.

"Or does the possibility of being captured amuse you?" Jessica continued, ignoring Nat's interruption.

"Captured?" Aaron scoffed. "By who?"

"Whom," Olivia corrected automatically.

"What?" Aaron snarled.

"Captured by whom, not who," Olivia clarified.

"Whatever," Aaron muttered waving a hand dismissively. "The point is if all you're worried about is those wimpy do-gooders all we have to do is tie them up and lock them in the basement. Problem solved."

"Is that right?" Jessica responded.

"Yes it is," Aaron confirmed.

"Well, it sounds like you have everything worked out," Jessica conceded. "Perhaps we should go back."

Aaron's eyes widened in surprise, after all her earlier protestations he'd never expected Jessica to give in so readily or completely. He was so convinced he had won that he never noticed the small vindictive smile on Jessica's face.

"What are we waiting for, let's go!" Aaron declared.

Everyone started to follow Aaron back in the direction of the brownstone, talking excitedly about its various amenities.

"Oh!" Jessica suddenly exclaimed, pulling everyone up short.

"What's wrong?" Ariane asked, a little nervously.

"Oh it's nothing," Jessica answered breezily. "I'm sure Aaron's already worked out a plan to deal with her."

"With who?" Aaron asked, then, casting a sidelong glance at Olivia he hastily corrected, "I mean with whom?"

"Why Athena, of course," Jessica replied her eyes wide and her face the very picture of innocence. "You didn't forget about her, did you?"

It was a brilliant piece of work flawlessly executed by a master manipulator. Jessica had carefully led Aaron along, letting him think that he was winning, while giving him just enough rope to hang himself. Now she'd made him look like a fool in front of everyone, but that wasn't enough.

"You did forget about the heroes' immortal baby-sitter, didn't you?" Jessica pressed. Anyone else would have been content with the humiliation Aaron had already suffered, but Jessica refused to be satisfied until Aaron admitted his folly for everyone to hear.

"Yes," Aaron grumbled. Much as it galled him to admit it, he knew Jessica wouldn't let up until he did.

"Well then, I guess we won't be returning to the brownstone after all," Jessica announced, "unless, of course, someone else has a bright idea?" The look she gave them as she said it made it clear that anyone who did have an idea would be wise to keep it to themselves.

When no one offered any suggestions, Jessica gestured for them to follow her. With a chorus of frustrated sighs and several dirty looks sent in Aaron's direction, Olivia, Ariane, Aaron, Taylor, and Nat started to walk away from the brownstone once again.

"Hey, wait a minute where's Helen?" Nat asked.

She got her answer a few moments later. There was a terrific crash accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. Everyone turned to see Helen standing in front a broken convenience store window.

"What?" she demanded when she noticed everyone else staring at her. "I'm hungry and since we're not going back to the brownstone I might as well get something to eat here."

"She's got a point," Olivia muttered. "We might as well grab something to eat while we have a chance."

All eyes turned to Jessica and everyone tensed waiting to see if she would voice an objection. She didn't. She simply gestured for them to go ahead.

Everyone climbed eagerly through the broken window, careful not to cut themselves on the jagged glass. They spent the next few minutes happily browsing the shelves and by the time they left, they were heavily laden with chips, candy bars, soda, bottled water and anything else they could carry. Spirits high, they continued on their way and only a short time later they finally found a place to stop.

It was an abandoned apartment building scheduled for demolition, but still holding up well enough to make a decent temporary hiding place.

"This'll do it," Jessica declared when she saw it.

If anyone had an objection, they were smart enough to keep quiet about it. Besides, by this point they were all too tired to care.

It was no problem getting into the building it was simplicity itself for Helen to break the flimsy lock on the door.

"All right," Jessica announced pointing to Olivia. "You're supposed to be the brains so use your smarts and pick the best place for us to crash."

Olivia rolled her eyes. This is ridiculous, she thought. Just because I'm smart doesn't automatically mean I can pick the safest apartment for us to use.

Wisely, however, she kept her mouth shut, choosing instead to lead the gang into the building and look for a suitable place to stay. Ultimately, she chose a first floor apartment with no windows facing the street that might betray their presence. She had no idea whether it was more structurally sound than the other apartments, but it seemed like a good choice.

Everyone soon settled in to eat their stolen snacks and before long, an almost festive atmosphere prevailed. Then, perhaps because he was bored and looking for a little after dinner entertainment or maybe because he was just vindictive, Taylor decided to stir up some trouble.

"Hey Ariane," he called.

"What?" the blonde haired girl asked, looking up from where she was snuggling with Aaron.

"Did you know that your boyfriend hit on Theresa?" Taylor inquired.

"He did what?" Ariane snarled.

Aaron had just enough time to shoot a look of absolute fury at Taylor before Ariane shoved him away and started pummeling every inch of him, she could reach.

"Ow, hey lay off!" he protested trying to get away from her.

Finally, Aaron managed to extricate himself from beneath Ariane's flailing fists. He didn't get far, however, before Ariane snatched up her stolen Hephaestus Whip and tangled his legs in it. Aaron crashed heavily to the floor and Ariane walked slowly toward him while he tried frantically to free himself. There was a murderous gleam in Ariane's eyes as she drew steadily nearer, which heightened Aaron's desperation.

"You miserable, two-faced, lying, cheating…" she howled, as she got closer.

"Baby, please just give me a chance to explain!" Aaron pleaded.

"You really think you can explain your way out of this?" Ariane demanded. "You snuck around behind my back and hit on another woman! How would you like it if I hit on…on Taylor!"

"Try it and you'll be sorry," Jessica growled.

"Come on," Aaron tried again, "you know you're the only girl for me."

"Yeah," Taylor chimed in, "and besides Theresa turned him down flat."

The look Aaron shot Taylor was almost as murderous as the one Ariane was giving him. At last, Aaron managed to free his legs and raced around the room at top speed while Ariane hurled insults and soda cans at him.

Then, whether because she was bored or because she was afraid, the noise would attract unwanted attention, Jessica decided enough was enough. She stuck out a leg as Aaron came whizzing by, tripping him and sending him sprawling to the floor. She watched with satisfaction as Ariane hurried over and delivered a couple of well-placed kicks to Aaron's ribs before climbing to her feet.

"All right, that's enough," she commanded, grabbing Ariane's arm and pulling her away from Aaron's prostrate form. "As enjoyable as all this is, it's time for us to discuss our plan."

"What plan?" Nat asked. "I thought we were supposed to meet Cronus in the morning, take him to the school, and use the pendant keys to give him access to the gods' hidden sanctuary so he can destroy them and the heroes in one fell swoop."

"That's right," Jessica answered, "but that's Cronus' plan, I said we need to discuss our plan."

"So what is our plan?" Olivia asked.

"First," Jessica began, "we have to get rid of Cronus."

"Why?" Helen interrupted. "I thought Cronus was on our side."

"Then you thought wrong," Jessica informed her. "We serve under Cronus' direction and at his sufferance. The moment we cease to be useful he'll destroy us to keep us from rebelling against him. He won't want to risk us becoming a threat." She paused for a moment to let her words sink in.

"What can we do about it?" Nat grumbled. "He's a god we wouldn't stand a chance."

"You're forgetting your history," Jessica admonished, "or at least your double's history. Think about it, we have something here that will allow us to take the powers of Cronus and all the other gods, something that will make us all-powerful."

"Really, what is it?" Nat inquired eagerly.

"Me," Taylor answered. Seeing the confused looks on their faces he rolled his eyes and sighed, "Don't you remember what happened with Theresa just a few months ago? How she used her powers to summon up a phantom that stole the gods' abilities and gave them to her? How she defeated Cronus and nearly destroyed Zeus in an effort to return to her normal life?"

"What does any of that have to do with you?" Helen scoffed. "You're not Theresa and I doubt she's going to agree to help us."

"I may not be Theresa," Taylor responded, glowering, "but I am her double. I have all her powers and all her memories. I can summon a phantom to steal the gods' powers for myself. Just watch!"

Taylor closed his eyes and focused, channeling his power. Within moments, a massive cloud of dark energy rose from his body. In most respects, it resembled the phantom Theresa had summoned, but it was larger and while hers had been purple, his was as black as a starless night.

He smiled maliciously as he set the demon-like projection drifting about the room, delighting in the nervousness it caused among the others. This went on for several minutes with Taylor occasionally sending his phantom swooping down at someone, eliciting more than a few shrieks.

Finally, however, Jessica grew weary of her boyfriend's antics and decided to put a stop to them.

"All right, knock it off," she snapped.

In response, Taylor sent his phantom diving at Jessica, but she just stood there and let it come at her, then, never flinching, she brushed it aside as if it was nothing more than a puff of smoke.

"I said, knock it off," she snarled.

Grumbling, Taylor reluctantly called the phantom back and within moments, it merged seamlessly with its creator. Satisfied, Jessica turned to address her troops.

"Everyone, get some sleep," she ordered, smiling wickedly. "We have a big day tomorrow."

Exhausted, this was an order everyone was happy to obey. Aaron got to his feet, and, arms wrapped around his injured ribs, shot a pleading look at Ariane. Ignoring him, she stalked across the room and stretched out near Helen, Olivia, and Nat with her back to Aaron. Sighing, Aaron picked out a spot for himself, as far from Ariane and her obvious hostility as possible, and lay down. Soon, everyone had settled in for the night and silence prevailed.

However, while everyone was quiet, not everyone was asleep. Taylor lay awake in the darkness, formulating his own plan, a plan that did not include any of his so-called teammates, not even his supposed girlfriend, Jessica. He'd teach her to give him orders. Daybreak would bring unexpected changes to the city of New Olympia and by day's end Taylor intended to leave no doubt that, he was the only one in charge on this team.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter and appreciated the bit of foreshadowing at the end. I promise they'll be another update soon.