A/N: For those who are a few years removed from their Greek mythology, Hera was the queen of the gods, wife of Zeus. In addition to being the goddess of marriage and women, she was known for being vengeful and jealous. Although he doesn't know it, Spencer's vision of Sam as Hera is somewhat prophetic under the circumstances.

o O o

Something was definitely wrong with Sam. This was disconcerting, because when Sam was in a mood, she tended to do things without thinking. These things often led to no good – causing harm of either the physical or emotional variety. Even more distressing, her current state seemed to revolve around him. He thought back to the most recent incident…

Sam stormed into the Shay apartment Saturday afternoon and headed straight for the fridge. Yanking the door open, she quickly inventoried the contents. "Spencer, you are a god!" she called over her shoulder, pulling out a bowl of leftover chili. She started spooning it into her mouth without even heating it up, heading back towards the couch and dropping down beside him. "Would you believe," she started, waving the spoon around in the air, "that my mother who rarely ever even knows my whereabouts, roped me into participating in a PICNIC in our basement?"

Spencer looked bemused. "So… you had a picnic, and you're still raiding my fridge?"

"I use the word 'picnic' very loosely here Spence."

He looked at her inquiringly.

"Well, this new guy she's dating works in some restaurant or other, and he's all like – 'Ooh, let me make lunch for you and the girls,' and here I'm thinking it's going to be something good like – I don't know, just something good. But it turns out the guy is a VEGETARIAN, and I just spent the last two hours sitting in the basement chewing on celery sticks and something that looked suspiciously like grass some wild ponies would eat. I am NOT a pony Spence!"

Spencer nodded his head solemnly. "That you are not," he agreed. In fact, as she lifted the spoon in the air for emphasis, he had to blink. He cocked his head and looked at her. She wasn't Sam. This time he imagined her as the inspiration for Lady Liberty. He shook his head to clear it and shifted a little farther away from her. Decidedly strange.

She paused for a minute. "I'm sorry; did you want some of this?" She offered him the spoon – for a heartbeat he considered taking it.

"Umm… no thanks Sam, I….really have to get to the Groovy Smoothie before my coupon expires. " He jumped up and rushed towards the door.

This evidently didn't sit well with Sam. She dropped the spoon and leaped from her seat, her eyes flashing dangerously. 'Not Lady Liberty,' he thought suddenly, 'she's Hera.'

"I think I'll go with you," she'd said in a most deliberate tone. "A smoothie is always good after chili."

Of course, he'd been trying to get away from Sam, but crossing her suddenly seemed like a very foolish thing to do. With some trepidation, he had agreed.

Reaching the Groovy Smoothie, he'd only meant to be polite when he moved to open the door for her. Unfortunately, this only seemed to elevate her level of aggravation. Sam stepped in front of him and yanked the door open angrily, scanning the premises before entering. He wondered if he should just head for the hills before she –

"Spencer!" she'd called impatiently. "What did you want?" Sam stood at the counter tapping her foot.

"I'll…have whatever you're having Sam." That sounded like the safest answer.

"Two Blueberry Banana Blitzes," Sam ordered. T Bo started to offer her an onion on a stick but took one look at her face and thought better of it.

"Here you go Sam."

"Thanks T Bo. You're the man." She gave him a fist bump and moved to her favorite table. Spencer was still hovering by the door, considering the odds of success should he try to turn tail and run. 'Not good,' he thought, glancing at her again. Still Hera. So he sat.

Spencer watched her warily as she sucked the smoothie down. Maybe this would be ok after all; he could visibly see her blood pressure returning to normal with every sip. It must have just been the vegetables – Sam hated rabbit food. "Feeling better?" he asked cautiously.

She scanned the room again before nodding. "Yes, thank you."

The 'thank you' gave him pause; only then did he realize that SAM just bought him a smoothie. Sam never bought anything. There was definitely something wrong with her. Should he ask? It was never wise to provoke her, but if he failed to ask, he was walking blind. He would have absolutely no idea what might next set her off, and that seemed even more foolhardy.

"Sam," he'd started slowly, "I feel like you might be…upset with me about something. But I don't know what it is."

She looked at him over her smoothie, considering how to answer. MAYBE April would heed her warning and back off, making this conversation unnecessary. She didn't want to appear as though she was acting out of jealousy (although she was jealous,) and she definitely didn't want to appear like a lovesick schoolgirl. Spencer would never take her seriously then. Sam didn't like meddling in other people's romantic relationships, but she'd done it in the past when she thought her friends were making poor choices. April would definitely be a poor choice, but was now the time to point it out? No, she'd decided. She would wait to see what April did first.

"Sam?" he questioned again.

"You forgot to buy more bacon," she said with a shrug.