Chapter 46

So, I had intended to update 'Premonitions'…but I kept having scenes from this story playing over in my head the past few days….and knowing my luck, I would wind up stalled in the middle of the next chapter for the other story if I didn't at least try to work on this first.

Now, to quickly recap the ending of chapter 45….

"Thank you, William. Now, I must go see a man about some revenge."

Alecta calmly walked out of the church in the direction that she came; her calm exterior was just that, a façade. She was trying to stay as calm as possible and keep her thoughts clear so she could approach the situation without being too overwhelmed by her emotions. She knew what she had to do and she knew she had to do it now.

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"Master Aaron, you'd best come wif us. If we don't get you back in one piece it'll be our ends."

"She wouldn't…? And more to the point, how do all of you people know us?"

"Aye, she very much would. We are her friends. Our cause has been her cause for centuries. But when it comes down to protecting those that she cares about, she will not accept failure….not from anyone. And everybody knows you and the others. We've known about you for a long time."

"How?"

"That's not important just now. All will be explained in its own time."

"William? Is that your name?"

"Yes."

"I want some damned answers from somebody."

"You're a man used to getting his demands met. Alecta, as you've come to know her, is equally stubborn. You are a mortal man. She is a war goddess that is nearly 8,000 years old; albeit she is currently trapped in a mortal body….but not for long. You've never seen what she is truly capable of. We are her friends and we are more afraid of her than we are of you. So get on a horse with one of us and let us take you back to the palace as we were instructed. If you don't, you won't be likely to live long enough to get your precious answers." William arched an eyebrow at Hotch; this man must have been the Aaron Hotchner of the 12th century. Aaron couldn't argue with the man; they were equals in height and weight, and they physically favored one another. But, knowing the little that he did about knights and the training that they were likely to have gone through, Aaron knew he would be no match for William in strength. So, choosing his battles, Aaron hoped on the back of William's horse and allowed them to escort him back to the palace; the other nights that were in their party kept lookout as they travelled the back roads.

The men were dressed in more updated clothing; but still a group of men on horseback? That was liable to draw too much attention if they took the main thoroughfares.

Once the party was ensconced in the palace, the doors were closed quickly behind them.

"Where's my momma?" Rachel asked, meeting them in the courtyard. Simon and Raphael were with her.

"You must be the girl." William replied.

"Where. Is. My. Mother?" Rachel was really not in the mood for small talk.

The Sultan came out of the palace to join the others, Michael was with him. Some of the reinforcements that had already arrived began filing out into the courtyard as well; Atila, Alexander, Hydarnes….the seven travelers that Hotch had met originally.

"What is going on? Templars?!" The Sultan seemed a bit angry at the ideas that Templars were in his domain.

"Settle down old man, they are on our side. She called them." Selim stepped forward. "William, send some of your men…."

"Yes of course,' William then turned to some of the knights that had come with them and gave them the instructions to get to their posts.

"Where. Is. My. Mother?" Rachel repeated slowly, becoming angrier by the moment.

William stepped forward and bowed to her briefly, 'When they got to the church, the one that held the staff, they were too late. Oh, the staff is save, I assure you. But the priest and his people had been slaughtered. Nothing could be done for them. She left out saying she was going to even things up….she was out for revenge."

"So it begins." Raphael turned so quickly that a cloud of dust stood in his wake as he disappeared. Rachel tried to run for the doors to exit the courtyard and therefore the palace but was stopped by Michael.

"Not so fast little bird. Where she is going is not for you. She is going to die…."

"I have to help her!" Rachel struggled against him, knowing it was a vain hope….mortal girl, Archangel; this was not a struggle in her favor.

"No! This has to happen. She must loose these mortal bones of hers to become her true form to be as she was meant to be; if she does not you will all certainly die."

"How will we know if this actually works?" Rossi asked, Alecta's mother with her face buried into his chest crying her eyes out.

"There will be a sign. There will be no mistaking its meaning."

"What sign?" An agitated Immogene spoke up finally coming from where she had been attending to the weaponry.

"It's always been said that the sky will turn red, like blood, and then it will go quite dark. The sun will be blotted out, as if with ink. It will be that way for a short moment….and then you will see her."

Michael looked at Rachel, knowing that she was much like her mother, he tied her wrist to his to keep her with him so she wouldn't try to take off to help. And since the tether was of his making, there was no breaking it unless he did it himself.

"Really?" Rachel looked at him incredulously.

"You have your mother in you in all ways. She would want you safe. What else am I to do?"

"And I want my mother alive. But we can't all have what we want; can we?"

"Look, I don't pretend to know how you feel. I can't pretend to know. I've never been where you are now. That was not my….I have never had to live as a mortal does. But, what I can say is, that the mother that you adore now, is even more special than you could ever understand in one lifetime."

"I understand it just fine; it doesn't make it any easier for someone like me to watch her die in front of me though. We've been through thick and thin together. She went hungry so I would have food to eat. She slept on the floor most times so I could have a bed. You're right; you have no idea what I'm feeling right now." With that, a very bitter young woman turned her face away from one of the most powerful entities the world will ever know and sat beside him on a bench in the courtyard of Topkapi Palace not uttering another sound until she was able to see her mother again. She stared at the fountain, watching the water as it fell and rose again. The others that had gathered were all talking over what they would need to do. Atila left quickly to mobilize his men and get the elephants into their correct formations. Hydarnes had made his way to get his 'Immortals' in gear, ready to expect anything. Alexander followed suit to get as many of his men as he could prepared.

"How's the work coming on the Sarmatians?" Selim asked the Sultan.

"Mac helped me with that…."

"And?"

"It's going to be a coin toss. We've done everything we can to get them here, but it's rather like pulling teeth. They are still burning yet from the whole 'Roman Empire'…thing." Mac announced.

"They'll be here,' Radar chucked in his guess.

"What makes you believe so strongly my good man?" Raphael wasn't as sure as Radar seemed to be.

"Because, the Sarmatians hate the Romans. Alecta….well Anat slaughtered a few and ate them….You know what they say. The enemy of my enemy is my friend; or some such silly thing as that." Simon was heard to say.

As everyone continued to talk and question everything, Rachel was watching the fountain. She needed to calm her temper. Michael was right when he said she was like her mother in most every way that mattered. If she didn't get her temper under control, rein it in, she felt as though she might explode. She needed to save all of that energy for later. As she watched the water, little by little it began running red, until soon enough the water that cycled through the fountain actually became blood.

"Um. Guys. Michael." Rachel began to try to get everyone's attention, she started to yank on the cord that Michael had tied them together with. Everyone stopped and looked, actually paying attention to what was happening.

William and whatever men of his that were left in the courtyard knelt down on one knee, saying quick prayers for whatever was about to happen. Radar ran into the palace to see to the children, to make sure their guard was ready.

"Master Aaron, get inside…" Simon tried to make him see sense.

"No. I wait for her."

"Raphael has gone to bring her back….please just go inside."

"No." Hotch was firm on this point.

Just as Michael had said would happen, the sky began turning red. Soon the red was the thickness of blood, it looked as though it would drip and fall on you if you had been there at any minute. The sun was being blotted out….little by little, not only did the sky become red as if with blood but the sun, too, was being stolen from them it seemed.

A new 'person' came to them, beating on the door, yelling to be let in.

Those in the courtyard opened the door carefully to see who might be there.

There was but a man, but he brought them a message, if only they would let him in so he could deliver it. The door was opened further for this man to enter.

"Say it man, what is it that is so important." Selim became a little frustrated with this….straggler.

"It has all been for naught. She has failed in her efforts."

"You're sure of this?' William asked, scarcely able to believe it.

"There were too many of them, she could not….it was a bloody fight to the death."

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Alecta had walked three miles to the spot where she knew the enemy would be. It was an old abandoned building in the old part of the city; the old architecture, arched doorways, the filigree work over the windows in the courtyard. That's where it went down….that lovely old, overgrown, long forgotten courtyard.

She stood there, yelling, calling the bastards to come and get her; she was taunting them. Many answered the call; most hung back, one was foolish enough to go so far as to give the 'fatal' blow. He was overzealous, young (in comparison to his comrades), brash…..brave, completely foolish in every way that matters. He drew his sword and ran her through.

Once the sword had been buried into her gut, she looked at the young man, smiling, and then laughed heartily in his face as she pulled her own sword from its scabbard. The young man began backing up; as he stepped away from her, Alecta pulled his sword from her body, chuckling.

With both swords now in her possession she began to step closer to the young man.

"BOO!" She yelled at him; he tripped over a crack in the paving stones on the floor of the courtyard, this caused him to fall to his knees in a failed attempt to keep his balance.

Once the man was on his knees in front of her, her eyes lit up even more than before.

"You know there was a time when men fell to their knees out of willingness. There are so many things I miss about the old ways." She looked around the courtyard seeing all of the others that had gathered, the ones responsible for the slaughter in the church; she watched them watching her. She knew they had been afraid to come near her, they were afraid to kill her. She placed the two swords that she held in a crisscross angle, the young man's neck between them, resting momentarily against the young man's shoulders.

"Look at you all,' she spoke to those gathered. "Afraid of a woman….Cowering in your shoes. Shaking. Your little lamb here, the only one that had any sort of conviction at all. It almost makes me sad that he has to die for them." With that she pulled the swords together suddenly, with real gusto; the young man's head rolled to the ground.

Turning around, spattered in the blood of the young man she just killed and some of her own, Alecta laughed at the others that were watching.

"You lot better get right with whatever God you believe in; because, I am about to send you to meet them."

And that's how it started. It took her only a matter of forty-five minutes, an hour at most, and she had wiped them out. Walking out of the courtyard, Alecta….or Anat as she had become….was met by Raphael, he would be with her on her quest back to the palace. Until she had regained her full power she would be weak, and nearly helpless….her mortal body had lost a lot of blood, and the fight that she just put herself through surely didn't help a damned thing. As she came out of the courtyard back onto the streets of Istanbul, she wiped a bit of blood that had managed to splatter on her face with her fingers, licking some off of her thumb; she smacked her lips as if trying to identify the taste, and finding disdain.

"Hmm. Greek; only marginally better than Roman."

"That's actually disgusting you know that."

"Oh Raphael, calm down. I won't go all dark side if they don't force me to. It was just an observation."

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Raphael had used his capabilities to get them to the palace quicker; they stopped at the path that led directly to the palace, allowing Alecta to walk up the rest of the way carefully.

Inside the courtyard of the palace there was a blinding light that flashed before them all; the door blew open almost off of its hinges, some of the people standing closest to the door were toppled to the ground. As those that had fallen began to try to get up and right themselves, they looked around and there she was.

"Oh, look. It's Judas,' Alecta said with her hands on her hips, tilting her head to one side. Suddenly she drew back and threw one of the swords she carried; end over end it flew until it buried into the man's chest.

Pulling the sword out of his chest Judas returned her greeting, 'Are we going to be at this all day?"

"Why are you here, filling their heads with lies?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about."

"Trying to make them believe that I was dead….you know….permanently…..That wasn't you?"

"What can I say, the other side pays well."

"So it seems. You've been a naughty boy. But no matter; there is something I would like you to see. If you would kindly follow Loch-Na….I will come along with you. I want to see your face."

Judas turned, albeit wearily, to follow the large man as indicated. Alecta followed behind slightly.

"Where are you taking him?" Selim asked in a 'stage whisper'.

"To the menagerie. The lions are famished." Alecta smiled in a deviant manner as she passed by Selim and the others.

"Did I just hear her right? Alecta is going to feed him to the lions?" Reid asked with a slight edge to his voice.

"Not Alecta….Anat is going to feed him to the lions. But don't worry. He won't suffer….much."

Some of the others followed Alecta (as they still preferred to refer to her) to the menagerie; Hotch walked by her side. As they reached the menagerie they were greeted by the lions. There were 10 of them and they came walking up as a group to meet Alecta and her friends. The male lion that had been at the head of the group knelt forward on his front limbs almost as if he was bowing out of respect. Alecta bowed to him.

"Your majesty,' a deep rumble was heard to come from this lion.

"And to you,' Alecta replied.

"Wait….' Reid was already confounded. "He's not supposed to be able to speak."

"Correction. You're not supposed to be able to understand it." Alecta smiled at him. "Are the others making ready?" She turned to the lion, Maahes.

"Yes as a matter of fact."

"Maahes, I brought you a little something."

"A gift, you shouldn't have."

"Bring him." Alecta commanded. "I didn't have to go to any trouble. He sort of fell into our laps."

"Judas!" Maahes growled as he said the name.

"I thought that you and some of the others would enjoy him."

"I have no palate for traitors and turn coats. But he will not go to waste."

"What do you mean you have no palate?" Morgan asked.

"They leave a bad taste in my mouth. The last one I ate gave me a touch of food poisoning. Put him in there for now." Maahes swung his head around to indicate the large cage. "Then hoist it over the pit. If he tries to run he won't get far."

After walking through the menagerie a bit they came upon a huge gorilla that lumbered over and handed Alecta clean tunic to put on.

"It was made special." He explained as he handed it over.

Reid deciding to go along with this if he had no other choice asked, 'What do they call you?"

The gorilla looked back at Reid before he turned to go; a mischievous look crossed his face if ever there was one, "They call me Ishmael."

Alecta couldn't help the laughter that escaped her then, 'You've been waiting almost your whole life to use that line haven't you love?" she ran the palm of her hand across Ishmael's jaw.

The gorilla shrugged a bit, his eyes never losing any of their spark as he turned back to his original plan to get back to work.

"Damned Melville. That book is his absolute favorite. Tell me you brought him a new one so he will stop quoting Moby Dick." Maahes grumbled.

"We'll have to see later."

They walked around the menagerie a little more, seeing the elephants that they had in the collection that belonged to the palace. Same as the lion Maahes; as they came to the entrance of the elephant habitat, the beasts stopped whatever they had been doing and turned to see what the disturbance was. Then, as they made their way further into the habitat, each of the pachyderms knelt forward on at least one of their large forelegs. As she and her group of friends, followed by the lions made their way through the habitat they came to a huge bull elephant, there was a purple velveteen blanket that draped his back and it was trimmed in silver that just glittered.

"Rajah, my dearest friend.' This time, Alecta bowed to the elephant first, a warm look of admiration in her eyes. "I wish you could join us again on the field. The battle won't be the same without you."

"I am old. War is for the young."

"What am I?"

"Age is different for us than it is for your kind."

"Yes, I know. You forget who you're talking to."

The elephant extended his trunk, swiping it in her face, 'It happens to the best of us, age."

"I still don't care for it,' she stamped her foot. For all of her 8,000 years, she couldn't stop the mortal child from making an appearance.

"No worries, I will be here, taking care of the palace….guarding everything in it, and everyone. That is an even more important job. Is it not?"

Alecta looked over her shoulder seeing the children come running out, all of them…her kids, Jack, Henry…Rachel was holding the twins, and Sasha carried Umut.

"You might be right my old friend. But I still wish you were able to be out in the field with us. There was nobody better."

"I wish I could be there. You know I lived for the battle." Alecta nodded as the old Rajah spoke.

She walked up and hugged onto his trunk, wrapping her arms around it, as he lifted it up with her attached; she flipped her legs over, turning so she was seated correctly on his back. Rajah began to walk around, leading them out of the menagerie. Alecta laid down, her head resting on top of his; he raised his trunk and patted her on the back as they walked. Her hands stroked the tops of his ears.

His trunk swept over her left side, and she giggled, 'That tickles."

The old elephants head twisted from side to side as if he wanted to laugh.

"You old devil, you."

As they came back to the front of the menagerie they saw Judas trying to get out of his cage.

"Oh, we can't have that,' Alecta sat up and stood on Rajah's head and he raised his trunk up, wrapping it around her waist and set her on the ground. Once she was firmly on her feet and Rajah removed his trunk from her, she stepped closer to the pit over which Judas dangled. She knelt beside of it and touched her finger to the surface; flames shot up, apparently whatever the liquid was that was contained in the pit was flammable to say the very least.

A cheetah walked by, smacking his lips, 'Barbecued traitor on the menu tonight; haven't had that in ever so long."

"Tiger! Well, it's a gift to you from Maahes."

"Gift? He only lets me have it because he has lost his taste for the traitors. I am not so fickle."

Judas began yelling for her, 'You can't leave me here. You wouldn't dare!"

Alecta walked forward and tossed a leather pouch into the cage, Judas caught it.

"Make sure to pay the devil his due when you meet him again…..30 pieces of silver was it?"

With that she made her way back on top of the elephant, blowing a kiss to Judas as they left the menagerie.

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"Mommy!" Sofie and Emma both squealed.

Alecta looked at her two daughters, 'Yes my darlings?" She knelt down on one knee to be closer to their level.

"Mommy, that elephant talked." Emma was close to her mother now, speaking in a stage whisper.

Sofie was busy keeping one eye on the giant.

"But of course it talked, what did you expect?"

"But mommy, IT. TALKED." Emma said again, trying to make her mother understand.

"Yes indeed. You should hear what the gorilla had to say; or the lion for that matter. Watch out for Ishmael, he will talk your ears off if you let him."

"Hey!"

"Yes, and mostly about Moby Dick." Maahes interjected as he walked through the courtyard, making his way to a fountain to take a drink.

Sofie's eyes got huge, 'Oh mommy! It's just like in that book you read us before…."

"The Jungle Book?"

"Yes. This is so cool mommy! Can we keep them?" To say that Sofie was excited was the master piece of understatements. She was as giddy as a child at Christmas; her voice was squeaking from the level of excitement that came from her.

"Only if they think it is alright. I would love for you to get to know them. But they are quite special, so you need to ask their permission."

Sofie was almost vibrating with happiness and excitement; this was not a surprise. Between the two toddlers, Sofie was always the more excitable and dramatic; Emma was usually quiet and thoughtful to a fault. Every once in a while they seemed to switch traits but it was rare.

So, vibrating from the excitement that she felt at hearing animals speaking, Sofie made her way to the fountain carefully, quietly. She paused to give Maahes time to take his drink. When he was finished, he turned and looked down at the little girl.

"Yes Sofie?"

"Mommy said that the animals here are special, and that I have to ask if it's ok….."

"If what is ok?"

"Can we….I want to….Can we keep you?" She had been looking down, afraid of what the beast might think of her question; but she had the tiny bit of fortitude to raise only her eyes to see what his reaction might be.

"Little Sofie, we wouldn't have it any other way."

The little girl gasped and smiled, throwing her arms around the old lion's neck.

"Mommy….we can keep them?" Emma asked carefully.

"Emma, we are friends with your mother, have been for cen….for a very long time. And we will be your friends until we die." Rajah told the girl. Emma ran to Rajah and wrapped her little arms around his trunk in much the same way as Alecta had before.

Ishmael walked over to Sasha and saw that she was holding the baby Umut.

"What has he been named? Where are the baby's parents?"

"He is named Umut; his mother wanted his name to mean 'Hope'."

"Where are his parents?" Ishmael questioned again.

Alecta hung her head, tears springing to her eyes, 'They did not survive the attack on their café. It all had to be burned."

"Damn him." Ishmael's anger at the 'strange diplomat' as Vlad had been known was strong.

Mehmed came back out into the courtyard after having made a check of some of the men and the weaponry. "Just leave him to me. He and I have a score to settle. You and your lot will have enough to worry about…."

"Yes. Speaking of which, should we not make sure that everyone has some form of supplies to counteract his kind? What did we raid churches for?"

"Being handled,' Oona called from the area where one of the chapels had been located. "I've got people loading holy water into vials, dividing up the strands of garlic that we can get our hands on, as well as the unleavened bread. Others are checking the 'hunting kits' and the silver bullets, etc. to make sure that's all a go."

"Thanks for that. And I'd ask what Ivory is up to, but…."

"That's like living in Siberia and asking if it's going to snow today…." Immogene laughed.

"Quite so."

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Alecta had gone into the 'war room' where they had the map of the battle field on the floor and the pieces strewn all around in different areas showing where the great generals had been planning to send their men; she sat at the desk going over the papers, trying to get some sort of tally of just exactly what she had at her disposal. It looked really grim actually. She wasn't sure how, but it was grim.

The Persian 'Immortals' stayed 10,000 strong in the field at all times. With that being said, there was the original 10,000 plus 15,000 more that were waiting to step up and take their spots if there was a need for it. Even at a total of 25,000 men the Immortals were still out numbered at the very least 4 to 1.

Alecta had only been able to pull down 350 Sarmatians; not nearly enough to come close to the other side's cavalry which numbered somewhere around 1700.

The other side had between six to 10 ships on the water already and were likely to acquire more as time went on. Alecta was still waiting on Themistocles to show up with his navy if he was ever going to make it.

The animals in the menagerie were going to protect the palace and the precious cargo within it to the death as a last line of defense.

Alecta sat at the desk, holding her head in her hands as she looked down at her papers. If she was a religious sort of soul she'd be praying for aid by now.

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"Alecta, we have riders coming!" Raphael yelled so loud that he could wake the dead.

She made her way back out into the courtyard grumbling about how she so wished to be able to safely walk her beloved city.

"Riders are coming Mom,' Rachel repeated Raphael's earlier warning in a quieter tone, seeing that Alecta was at her side anyway.

"Let us pass; we bring an offering for her majesty." A rumbling voice could be heard from outside the gate.

The Janissary that had been guarding the gate looked to her for approval, which she gave with a quick nod of her head.

The heavy doors that made up the main gate to the palace swung open, creaking in age as they did so.

Four riders entered the court yard, one with a…package wrapped in a shroud being dragged behind his horse.

The rider on the pale horse that had been dragging the package dismounted and cut the portion of rope that had tied one end of the offering to part of his saddle; then he pulled whatever length of rope was left over his shoulder and dragged it over to Alecta.

"Oh my God, I have never been so happy to see the four of you as I am in this moment. We are in need of your unique talents. Although if you even think of pulling a stunt like last….."

"No my darling not again; not like that. As a matter of fact, me and the boys have brought a….peace offering of sorts."

"Oh well, you know how I love presents."

The rider on the red horse dismounted as well, 'This is really more like a sacrifice."

"Even better. Do you know how long it's been since anyone has made a sacrifice to me? Centuries; it's been centuries."

"Well, hopefully this will make up for at least a few of them." The rider on the black horse came down as well.

Only one rider stayed atop his mount, the one on the white horse. Alecta looked up at him.

"Eager to start your work, are you?" The rider made motion as if bowing to her, silently.

Reid's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, Rossi''s too for that matter, when they realized who they were looking at.

"Very well. I want you to set up a night raid; you know, like the good old days. Infect them. Do your worst."

Again, the rider on the pale horse merely bowed to her and turned to go galloping off into the horizon. As he galloped off he seemed to be joined by other riders that appeared out of nowhere.

"What did you just….?" Reid was trying to catch up to what was going on.

"By day break the enemy camp will be crippled; at least temporarily. God only knows what he will give them this time."

"This time? How many times have you ordered germ warfare?" Morgan sounded a little unsettled.

"We dabbled with the plague a few times, but it was too unpredictable, so I got out of that business….."

"Dabbled in the Plague?" Rossi asked incredulously.

"Yes. The Bubonic Plague. It was harder to control than some of the other diseases had been. And, after that little faux pas that wiped out nearly half of the population of Great Britain and Continental Europe, I distanced myself from it."

"You call wiping out most of the population of Europe a 'faux pas'?" Emily sounded somewhat incredulous.

"I'm no less than 8,000 years old. I've done worse. Now, where was I?"

"Sacrifice?" The rider on the pale horse replied with a smile on his face.

"Ahhh, yes. What did you bring me this time?"

Jerking his head in the direction of the bundle that they had dragged with them, this rider led Alecta over where it was twisting and turning trying to get loose. With a knife, he slit the top of the material that had been used to wrap up whatever the package was, freeing the face.

"You!" Alecta hissed out.

"We found him quite easily. He was about to follow you from that airport in Russia. We captured him, played with him a bit….but thought we would leave his fate up to you."

Jack had gotten Hotch's attention and so, as a consequence, Hotch had gone over to see what the boy wanted. Henry had been playing with Jack and began getting JJ's and Will's attention as well. All three adults went to see what had the children so fascinated. Jack had picked up part of whatever it was and was showing it to his father when a voice along the battlements yelled 'INCOMING!'

Without a thought Alecta ran to them, wrapping her arms around the children, standing behind the adults, bracing for impact. Hotch, JJ, and Will braced themselves as well, not knowing what to expect.

Funny thing was, as far as they could tell, no impact ever came. They had covered their heads and ducked, but nothing ever happened. They began looking around and all they could see was black….shiny, inky black wings.

Before she moved, Alecta asked if everyone was alright. The boys were the first that answered that they were great. The adults began to answer one by one. It seemed as if everyone was all in one piece.

Alecta stood and set the children down on their own two feet, brushing them off in case a speck of dust remained. Then without thought she turned to finish her rant.

"Lex!" Jack got her attention.

"Yes, Jack?"

"Do that again!"

She looked at him puzzled, not sure why he was so excited.

"Mommy!" Emma pointed at Alecta.

Alecta looked at herself in a reflection in the fountain, turning with a mischievous smile, 'Oh yeah, that…."

When everyone else looked around there was debris where some sort of artillery shell had broken off part of the palace wall that had fallen where Jack, Henry, and their parents had been standing. They should have been killed.

Walking back over to Jack, Alecta wanted to know what it was that had gotten his attention in the first place.

"This,' he picked up the piece he had been showing his father and the others. Alecta knelt down, her wings dragging the ground, to see to the rest of the object. She gathered most of the parts in her hand, going through them as she stood.

"What is it Lex?" Reid asked, all the curiosity of a scientist getting the better of him.

"It's a….it's an Antikythera Mechanism."

"I thought there was only one in existence." Reid came rushing over to see it.

"Correction. There was one found with that ship wreck years ago. There are ever so many more out there that haven't been found yet."

"This one looks like it was still being used. How can that be?"

"It only means one thing.' Turning she looked for Raphael and Radar. "Where is Themistocles?"

"We haven't heard anything from him."

"This is his mechanism. I would know his mark anywhere." She began to get irritated at not being able to find her friend.

Suddenly there was a gust of wind and everyone looked around. Standing on top of the pile of rubble there was a young man, handsome and devilish.

"Hermes. If you're here…"

"Anat…..No time. Themistocles and his navy have been….Detained."

Handing the Antikythera Mechanism over to Reid with an order to care for it dearly, she began to make her way to the steps leading up to the battlements. She was wearing the red ankle length tunic Ishmael had given her; it flowed like water around her. Her wings were shiny and black, not a feather out of place, were longer than she was tall. The tops of them rose nearly two feet above her head. The tips of them drug the ground while crossing over each other in rest.

"Where are you going?" Immogene asked her.

"I'm going to…un-detain my damned navy."

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Post AN: So there's that. It seemed to take forever. I just haven't been feeling like myself lately; couldn't get in a real mood to write, was more in a mood to read fan fiction than to write it. I have been working on an update to 'Premonitions' as well, still haven't gotten it posted yet. Perhaps I can get on the ball. Hope that you liked this chapter, it's longer than the last few, so maybe it has made up for the wait. We'll see.