By The Gods!
Disclaimer: I've been in something of a Hercules: The Legendary Journeys/Xena: The Warrior Princess mood recently and so this came to mind and this will be crossing over with those two shows. Also got a little inspiration from a comment Naitch03 made in his recent author's note so thanks for that Naitch! Also I never really got to see the whole Twilight of the Gods thing that happened in Xena so with that, Zeus was brought back by the One God in order to ensure his Pantheon didn't try to kill Xena's daughter Eve. And to provide proper understanding in what the Twilight meant for them.
Oh, and I own nothing but what you see here.
Summary: There was more to Robert Queen then anyone knew.
A figure long thought to be dead watched a scene take place from a location unseen by anyone and long thought to be a myth in the modern age. The scene he was watching was of his daughter Thea Queen as she practically chose to ride off with a devil in disguise known as Malcolm Merlyn. The figure may not be her biological father, but he was far more of a father then that damned fool she's with now! And he always will be far more of a father then he ever will be as far as he's concerned. Even if he did have a few issues here and there during his mortal life. Some of which his wife liked to harrass him over ever since she made her own return to their home. Taking a look into the future courtesy of the Fates who'd gone into other ways of watching over the lives of mortals after Gabrielle destroyed their loom, what he saw was something he did not like where his little girl was concerned, nor did he even really like what he saw for his son and those with him. Frowning for a moment as he contemplated his next move, he decided he'd do it anyway and would deal with the consequences later.
He snapped his fingers after a quick talk with one of his sons, causing the limo his daughter and Merlyn were in to teleport them to Olympus with lightning and thunder erupting all around them. Though they appeared in the courtyard rather than in his throne room and startling those of the Gods and Goddesses present of their sudden appearance. Thea was the first to get out, followed by Malcolm with the driver choosing to stay inside as he feared for his own life more than his boss' and the girl he had with him. Thea and Malcolm looked all around them in wonder, though Malcolm was strongly tempted to grab his weapons in case of a possible attack. He didn't think this was Ra's' doing nor his daughter's brother's doing either. A man suddenly appeared before them in a flash of light, stunning the two as neither of them had ever seen aything like it before. The newcomer wore a studded all black leather outfit with a dark goatee and short dark hair with an earring in one ear and gauntlets on his forearms and boots to complete the look.
He looked rather menacing as well with an angry look on his face and somehow having a ball of fire in one hand as well. "YOU DARE TO STEP FOOT ONTO OLYMPUS MORTALS!?" He bellowed out as he reared back his hand that contained the fireball to launch at them. Thea feared for her life greatly then and looked to Malcolm in support who had quickly made the driver in the limo open the trunk from his front seat and got out his bow and arrow.
"Hah! Your bow and arrow will do you no good here mortal!" The man proclaimed and Malcolm was going to test that theory anyway while others including his daughter looked on at the scene.
Before he could fire the arrow however, another man appeared from atop the steps behind the black leather wearing man. This man seemed strikingly familiar however but both Thea and Malcolm knew it couldn't be who they thought it was. And from what they could see of him, he appeared to be wearing a finely made suit as well. "ARES! STAY YOUR HAND!" He bellowed out as he came down the steps.
The rapidly approaching man made the eyes of both daughter and father widen in surprise, for the man was none other than Robert Queen! Or at least someone who strongly looked like him anyway. I don't know who this man thinks he is, but wearing the face of my old friend is something I do not care for! Malcolm thought angrily while Thea was near tears at the sight of the man who she had believed to be her father for so long and even still thought of him in that way despite their being no blood between them.
"But father! These mortals dare to trespass on Olympian ground without invitation!" The so called Ares protested in annoyance.
"But nothing! I am aware of this as I am aware of all that goes on Olympus as you well know!" He responded, some days like today made the man grateful that the One God had chosen to bring him back to life in order to ensure Eve's continued existence. Even though dealing with his wayward children and grand children had given him one Hell of a headache, he managed to succeed in the mission given to him by the One God and ensured that they did not try anything to regain what they were meant to lose. Though there was still some out there who worshipped the Greek Gods, among other Pantheons.
Ares, Aphrodite, and Celesta were the primary three however who had more of a role in the lives of mortals, which sometimes annoyed the other Gods and Goddesses but did nothing to go against it as they had no desire to face the wrath of the One God. Ares growled loudly at not being allowed to do away with the trespassers, and much to the continued shock of their guests, he allowed his fireball to dissipate into nothing. "Just where the Hell are we!?" Thea asked fearfully while inching closer to Malcolm.
"Thank you my son, and as for your question my dear, you are here at Olympus, home of the Greek Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses." He said kindly to her as he walked up to his little girl and the fool who dared try to be her father.
Thea looked at him confusedly for several reasons, one of those being that he looked so damned much like Robert Queen. "That's not possible, they aren't anything but stories and myths!" She protested while Malcolm aimed his arrow at the man.
The man laughed, though it wasn't meant to be in a mocking way. "I assure you my girl, we are very real." He assured her with a smile and then looked at Malcolm with a frown on his face.
"Why don't you put that away before you get me angry? And I warn you now, you will NOT like me when I'm angry." He warned the man and several of the watchers could be seen nodding their heads in agreement to that.
"I'm thinking not." Malcolm replied in a no nonsense tone of voice.
The man before them sighed in slight annoyance before vanishing the bow and arrow with but a thought. Making Malcolm become very surprised while wondering how the Hell it happened. "You think me to be a robber of Robert Queen's face, but I am not a robber at all. I AM in fact Robert Queen, or to be more precise, Zeus, King of the Gods." He informed the two, and showing that he didn't look to be joking at all about it.
"You can't be Robert Queen, that man is dead." Malcolm protested angrily.
"Oh but I am old friend, I truly am him. Though I must admit that had you not set about my death, I'd still be living my mortal existence with out even knowing a single thing of my true self until I died of natural causes or some other such." The reason for this had been due to a bet Zeus and Hera made together to see if whether or not while as a mortal with no memory of his true self if he could be a faithful man while mortal. Athena and Hercules would remain on Olympus to rule in their place until they returned. Of course, ultimately he failed to win the bet and per the terms of the bet, Zeus would have to do whatever Hera asked of him within reason for the next one hundred years.
Remodeling Olympus was one such request she'd made so far much to his annoyance and he knew more was to come that he was sure he definitely wouldn't like. Thea was having trouble believing what she heard cause then that would make Ollie a freakin' half God! And holy crap did that make her shiver at the thought of what he'd have done with Godlike power even as a half God back before the Island. But still, this had to be some kind of trippy hallucination right? Maybe one of those weirdos in masks did something without her or Malcolm knowing? Zeus could see the doubt on his little girl's face and decided to do something about it. "I see doubt upon your face daughter, when you were 9 years old and you'd won second place at an archery competition, I allowed you to shoot an apple off my head when we returned home as a way to show that you should have won first place." He told her with a proud smile on his face, making Thea tear up as NOBODY outside of the family knew about that as it'd been their little secret that not even mom and Ollie knew about.
And before she knew it, she found herself running into his arms with Malcolm looking on very unhappy. "I don't know what kind of lie you are trying to pull here, but Thea you can't fall for it!" He implored, desperate to keep her from this fraud's clutches and so as not to have his plans ruined.
She looked at him with tears coming down her face. "That was no lie, it was all true."
Zeus smiled smugly at Malcolm after that, pleased that his little girl had finally seen the light so to speak. "She may not be my daughter by blood, but she is STILL my daughter!" He proclaimed while clearly challenging the other man to deny it. Though he would fail as will his plans to rule the League of Assassins!
"If you truly are Zeus, then even you have to have rules about interfering in the lives of Mortals." Malcolm challenged, hoping he had the man there.
Zeus laughed at his futile attempt. "For the most part yes, but I was not about to let your plans ruin what remains of Thea's innocence. Nor destroy other lives."
Malcolm tensed up at that. "I have no idea what you are talking about, now hand me my daughter and return us to where we were." He demanded, making Zeus and even Ares laugh at his attempts to be intimidating.
"I'm a God Malcolm, lying to me is pretty much damned useless." He told him with that smug smile still in place.
Enraged, Malcolm charged at the man who would dare to steal HIS daughter, only to nearly fall onto his face after losing his balance when his old friend and Thea teleported behind him. "Hah! Allow me the pleasure of ending this mortal's existence." Ares requested while having formed another fireball between his hands and looking at the Merlyn man with a menacing expression.
"No Ares, his punishment is mine to do." He told his son sternly, making the War God to sulk away, unhappy that he'd been denied his fun.
Malcolm scoffed at the mere notion of punishment, as he truly doubted his old friend could do a damned thing to him. Such was the unfortunate part of having egotism on his part. "Malcolm Merlyn, for the crimes against me, my family, Frank Chen, and for the deaths of 503 people including your own son in the Undertaking of the Glades. I HEREBY SENTENCE YOU TO AN ETERNITY IN TARTARUS!" Thea's eyes widened at that, as she was a little familiar with the meaning of what that name represented.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" The sentenced man bellowed, and pulling a dagger from inside his coat, he charged at his old friend returned from the grave, only to be swallowed whole by the ground beneath him with but a flick of Zeus' outstretched hand.
"And good riddance to bad rubbish." Zeus said spitefully, content in the fact he finally got not only his revenge for what the man had done to him and as well as his family, but for the lives lost in the Glades along with Frank Chen.
Thea could hardly believe what she'd seen and pulled away from her long thought to be dead dad. "But… But Ollie said you died!" She cried out.
He looked at her sadly, though gladdened his son hadn't told her the real truth of his 'death'. Something he wished hadn't of happened as he had wanted to make up for the mistakes he'd made as a mortal man. But perhaps at least now that Thea was here, he could start on that path to redeeming himself as he already was where his wife is concerned. "And so I did Thea, but that was my mortal self and I will explain it properly soon. But come, let's go inside so that you can meet the family." He told her while wrapping an arm around her, something she didn't fight him on surprisingly enough.
The two started to walk towards the steps and as they passed, Zeus spoke briefly to Ares. "Terrific job by the way son. Couldn't have done it better myself." He proudly told his son, making Thea look at the two men in slight confusion.
Ares freed up one hand to buff his nails on his top with a smug grin on his face. "I still got the touch." He said with a proud grin on his face.
"I am SO confused right now." Thea muttered as they kept going and causing her dad to chortle.
As they walked on and leaving Ares where he was, he looked at his small ball of fire and bounced it in his hand for a short period of time before stopping and looking at it in a contemplative way. "Ya know, maybe I should quit playing around with fire. Wouldn't want to get burned." He paused at that and looked up into the sky to think about it some more. Then looked back down at the fireball.
"Nah." He decided while shrugging his shoulders and kept playing around with it and wondering if whether or not he should go bother Xena in whatever corner of the world she's in right now while acting as someone else.
After making their way into the temple of the Olympian Gods, Thea looked on in amazement at everything she saw. Boy, talk about high profile style around here. She thought to herself.
"Hera! Come out and greet our guest already!" Her dad called out with a smile on his face.
"Oh keep your pants on already and quit with the yelling!" A hantingly very familiar voice called out teasingly as the owner of said voice came into view and making Thea's eyes widen in shock.
"M-mom!?" She cried out startedly before promptly passing out from everything finally being too much for her.
Luckily her dad still had an arm around her so she didn't have a fall to worry about, though he did look on in concern at her before giving his wife a mild glare. A glare she absolutely wasn't bothered by at all. "Oh dear." Was all the woman could think to say as she hadn't thought to anticipate her daughter's reaction to seeing her in addition to her father. Zeus could only snort at that and got a glare aimed at him in return for it.
Author's Notes: And here we are with this bit of fun! I do plan to do a follow up to this in the future, not sure it'll ever be a full on story though. Hope you all enjoy and look forward to your thoughts!