Heya peeps, this short fanfic happens in between P.o.P and D.H.L… it's the same deal as the others, I don't own Hercules (Unfortunately) but I do own Persephone and other original characters and places that pop up during this short story…

I take things from both the film and series and remember, Disney twisted myths to create their storylines so I am tweaking some to make them fit the feel of Hercules…

Little hint: if you haven't read P.o.P you might get confused later on… enjoy and please review.. And please vote on my poll or you'll make the imps cry x x

Godly Wife Insurance

Chapter Five:The Dilemmas of a Blazing Little Devil

Hades sighed as he left his parents house, Erebus had ordered him to go and make peace with his wife.. but not before giving his youngest son a lecture on marriage, on how it was all about compromise and respect..

Ahh, there was that little word…

The 'R-Word' had been drummed into his flaming head from a young age… Respect others and they will respect you…. If you want respect you have to earn it… A little respect goes a long way.. Erebus was full of these little sayings.. Sheesh, he shoulda been the God of Philosophy! Hades rolled his golden eyes meaningfully… not that the message hadn't sunk in of course. When Hades had first met Zeus all those centuries ago when he'd come to the Underworld recruiting his brother 'Aidenous' for the Titan War, Hades had respected him.. once he'd got over the shock of discovering that he was adopted and his parents had been hiding it from him for sixteen years.. but still, he had respected him. At least he had until he discovered what kind of god Zeus really was… loud, boisterous and rude, plus he had the brains of an idiot and would have just barrelled into Titan battle without even thinking.. just like his yutz-of-a-son Hercules..

It had been Hades who'd spent most of his time just sitting and watching the Titans as they went about their daily business, studying them, learning, memorising their routine and discovering their secrets, then strategizing on how best to take them down with a little chessboard of figures. The teen godling wasn't particularly interested in bonding with his new 'family'.. he just wanted to get this stupid war over and done with so he could get the hell out of there… war just wasn't his thing..

The few times he'd been forced to spend time around his 'family' had been torturous… Zeus apparently didn't like the fact that the fiery god just liked to sit in silence, watching his siblings around him… observing them through a distant expression, never really taking part in their conversations or antics. But then Zeus had never really understood the fiery god. When Hades spoke he was a fast-talker, able to charm or wheedle anything he wanted out of whoever he was addressing, but why? Because he'd taken the time to really know them first, but not by talking to them… No, no, no, talk was cheep.. talking led to questions, questions led to lies… This was why he liked to sit and observe his siblings..

Next after Zeus was Hestia. She liked to think she was everybody's mom, still did today, she'd sacrificed her own childhood to help Gaia raise her two sisters. As a result, she chose to remain a Virgin Goddess so as to make up for her losing this section of her life… Ah dear sweet Hestia.. Hades had no issue with her, in fact Persephone's fussing of him during their time together was very reminiscent of how the Goddess of Hearth had fussed over him during the Titan War… ensuring he ate regular meals, making sure he had clean chitons, keeping the place neat and tidy… and Persephone had inherited Hestia's curvaceous figure too, result!

After her came Poseidon or 'Po-Po' as he had been nicknamed by his own adoptive mother Thetys and the name had sort of stuck. Unlike Hades, he'd always known he'd been adopted but he loved living in the ocean… careening around on a make-shift scallop-shell surfboard, riding the waves or spooking his sisters with strange and creepy sea creatures. Most of the time Poseidon was easy going.. just as well since he had to mediate many clashes Hades had gotten into with Zeus.. but when his temper was flared he could hold a grudge for days. Out of his two 'brothers' Hades liked him better, even if he did speak in nautical terms and insist on being known as Captain of the Seas.. he smelt strongly of brine but was ok in small doses, when he wasn't regaling you with one of his little 'sea shanties'..

Then came Persephone's mother, Demeter, Gaia's progeny. She was the one that Mother Earth herself had picked to carry on the cycle of life. Sweet-natured and peace-loving, Hades had never had a problem with the Goddess of Nature.. except when he and Persephone were dating but that had calmed down now.. of course Demeter had her interfering moments, especially when it came to her little sister, but she was always kind to Hades. Sometimes she'd sat and watched the Titans with him while growing some long plants to shield them from view, even though Hades was invisible at the time.. but the gesture was sweet all the same…

Hades shook his flaming head roughly before his thoughts could wander onto his estranged wife, then the fiery god suddenly stopped walking and frowned as he came to the final 'sibling'… Hera.

There was only one word to describe Hera during the Titan War. Annoying. The Queen of the Gods came with her own set of dramatics that had convinced Hades into thinking she was either emotionally imbalanced or she just liked being the centre of attention. Frankly, he didn't give a damn about her theatrics and her stupid little crush on Zeus just confused the flames off him… what in Tartarus did she see in that guy? Wherever Zeus went.. there was Hera, practically gawking at him like some silly-sex-starved nymph.. Whenever she was with Hades all he heard was 'Zeus is this' and 'Zeus is that' until the fiery god flared red yelling at her to 'just shut up already' then she'd run off crying to the first person she saw wailing about 'how beastly' he was being to her.. A few millennia later and she hadn't changed a bit.

Hades rolled his eyes and picked pace again, walking faster than before, irritated now… How the hell was Hera able to give advice on marriage when her own was such a flaming disaster story? Zeus had had his affairs, that was no secret. Everybody knew about them. Tartarus! Even the mortals had gotten wind of them somehow… but Hera never spoke about them, she locked it all away, dishing out her petty little wrath on her husband's mistresses or their pathetic little offspring.. Then instead of dealing with the actual issue, like a sane and rational god would, she'd keep up the pretence of married bliss…

Eh, hellooo, loony-party-of-one... sanity calling! What is Bolt Boy gonna learn from that? Bubkis.. at least my Sephykins had had the gumption to leave me.. Hades thought bitterly, even though he hadn't technically cheated on her.

Then suddenly Hades stopped in his tracks, golden eyes wide with dread at the thought that immediately followed this one.

Seph, with marital issues… Hera, Goddess of Marriage… Hades gulped feeling nervous now… Aww no… …No way… Seph wouldn't… She wouldn't seek solace.. from Hera! Would she?

'Hades!' A panicky voice suddenly came from in front of him, slightly out of breath. The fiery god's unfocused eyes suddenly snapped onto the fluttering green object in front of his face.

'Thank the Fates…' Panic wheezed in relief causing Hades to blink and glare irritated by this interruption.

'Not now..' Hades suddenly intoned brushing passed him, not even registering that this was the imp that was supposed to be on the surface with his wife.

'But sir…' Panic sounded alarmed now spinning around and following his flame-haired boss who was now marching quickly back down the path. '-this is important!'

'Not as important as what I'm doin' now..' Hades snapped back irritably, stupid damn imps never learned did they?

Panic suddenly paused, hovering in mid-air confused before dashing after Hades.

'Uh, pardon my rudeness sir but uh.. what are you doing now?'

'Well Panic..' Hades gave a small irritable sigh. '-first, I'm gotta get rid of this annoying imp fluttering by my head.. and then, I'm gonna go win ma wife back, ya catchin' the jist?'

Panic actually dropped out of the air in shock at these words. He was going to go see… The green imp gasped, his bug-eyes widening in fear… Persephone was sitting in an inferno of angry flames, his boss would be imploded on sight for sure!

'No you can't!' Panic cried out, holding an arm out in a halting gesture… amazingly, it worked. Hades stopped instantly in his tracks…

…and flared a brilliant shade of orange at the imp's words.

'Now you listen to me ya little putz..' Hades snarled in an angry snarl, whipping around to Panic who was now shaking nervously. '-don't you ever tell me what I can and can't do… ya got that!' He roared before swivelling back around and trying to calm down… he was not disappearing to his wife's grove in a hissy fit of orange flames.. that would go down like Atlantis City.

'But sir… you don't understand..' Came Panic's whiney voice.

Hades' flames burned more violently… Dammit, this imp was only making it worse!

Panic carried on determined to warn his boss even though he knew he'd get flamed now whether he spoke or not… besides, he had to try.

'-you can't go to Miss Persephone right now because-' He was cut short of what he'd been intending to say by a massive wave of red-hot fire which swept him up and smashed him into the black wall behind him, flattening him into a charred pancake.

A now bluish-grey skinned Hades sighed happily, nothing calmed him down like a little bit of minion torture. Then the fiery god whisked out a bottle of Old Spice, splashed a bit on before sending it back to it's home in a whirl of smoke, he then vanished in a curl of smoke to go schmooze the missus..

Panic groaned slumping down the wall, leaving behind a perfect scorched-imp stencil on the wall… he blinked several times before continuing feebly as though Hades were still there.

'-she's gonna orb your flaming head off..' He sounded before closing his slightly open eyes and falling unconscious.

Pain and Neurosis were just finishing off the tally count of souls so they could turn in for the night when a burnt and smoking Panic finally flopped down beside them. Both the chubby pink imp and the yellow skinny imp looked concerned.

'Whoa..' Neurosis sounded, taking in the state of the thin green imp. '-what happened to you?'

'Hades..' Panic responded wearily.

'I take it he didn't take the news very well..' Pain sounded worried.

'He never gave me a chance to tell him..' Panic replied turning to his best friend.

'So where is he now?' The pink imp suddenly flinched nervously as though expecting him to just walk in any moment now.

'On the surface..' Panic said slowly. '-seeing Miss Persephone..' He shook his head at the thought of what she might do when the young goddess saw their boss.

'But isn't that a good thing?' Pain looked confused by Panic's lack of enthusiasm for this.

'No!' He frowned. 'Hera came to see her and now she's really mad at him!'

'Hera!' Both Neurosis and Pain shared a look of surprise, they both knew this was going to be bad news.. They then turned back to Panic who was looking set.

'So Panic…' Neurosis sounded slowly. '-do you know why Hades and the Boss-Lady split up?'

'Yeh…' The green imp sighed heavily. 'The boss told Miss Persephone he had a back-up wife..'

'But that's gotta be a joke!' Pain sounded instantly and Panic nodded.

'Yeh… that's what we all thought too but Miss Persephone thinks he's serious and..' Panic sighed heavily before adding in a low mournful tone. '-so does the nymph he's teasing..'

'What?' Pain squawked out in alarm.

Panic briefly explained the events that had happened in the last four days to his two associates… they hung onto every word with wide shocked eyes. By the end of the story Pain's jaw had hit the floor in shock.

Neurosis merely smirked amused.

'See..' He sounded addressing Pain and jumping down from the chessboard on which they'd been sitting. '-I told ya they'd be getting a divorce..' Smirking slightly he poofed out in a little golden shimmer.

Panic frowned after him… what rubbish had that imp been saying now?

'Oh my gods…' Pain whimpered. '-it's true..'

'What..' Panic sounded swivelling his head around, shocked by how upset Pain was. The chubby pink imp was looking remorseful.

'Pain don't listen to him!' The green imp shot irritably, slapping his partner across the cheek. 'That bozo don't know anything.. if anybody can sort this out Hades can!' He declared causing Pain to look up as Panic stood stall and confident.

'You really think the boss can win her back..' He sounded doubtfully.

'Hey..' Panic sounded grinning. '-he's done it before, hasn't he?'

Pain blinked then remembered about the Adonis-issue that the two gods had gone through over a year and a half ago… Then a large grin suddenly crossed his wide face.

'Yeh..' He sounded bouncing to his feet cheerfully. '..Ya hear that Neurosis!' He suddenly bellowed shaking his fist to the whole room. 'The boss will win her back!'

Suddenly the disembodied voice of the yellow imp sounded dripping with sarcasm.

'Why… do I not believe you..'

'Cause your freakin' stupid!' Pain yelled back angrily then was seized by Panic.

'Alright, take it easy..' He sounded wary of the fact that Pain's face had turned an angry red colour. '-let's just get things sorted for when the boss get's back..'

'Ok..' Pain sounded and the two beamed at each other. 'It's good to have ya home Panic..'

'It's good to be home Pain..' Panic responded nudging him.

Pain nudged him back a little too hard so the green imp fell over.

'Hey..' Panic whined swivelling around and glaring at a grinning Pain. '-you did that on purpose…'

'Whatcha gonna do if I did?' Pain sounded smirking, enjoying the old routine..

'I'll get you back for that!' Panic snarled glaring at him.

'Ya better catch me first..' Pain declared cheerfully before grabbing his clipboard and dashing out of the throne room.

'Hey!' Panic sounded grabbing his clipboard and shaking it angrily at his pink partner, chasing him down the hallway yelling.. 'Get back here, I'm not finished with you yet!'

Little Notes:

Hey Everybody, I'm so glad my fans managed to find my stories when I moved them and to all the newbies who maybe checking me out for the first time.. Please review, I love hearing what people think and I get all excited when I get a new review (it's true!)… that's how much I love them!

Ok, I tried to keep the original six as close to the way Disney had them, but I do add a bit of my own idea for them too, and I hope you like Hades reminiscing about his past during the Titan War… every so often in my stories I'm going to be flashing little bits of Hades' past to help explain (my theory on) why he dislikes Zeus so much as it really is too long and complex to explain properly… but it does make sense, trust me!

Lol, I know it looks like I've written the imps out of this story but I haven't I promise, it's just the next few chaps are all about Hades, Seph and Minthe so I needed a nice tidy bit to leave the imps on for now… it's nice to have them back together eh?

See ya for the confrontation… how is Persephone going to react when Hades arrives on Sicily? Will she really orb his head off?

You just have to wait and see!

Lot's of Love… Ditzy x