9

MEG'S heart was in her throat and she tried to ignore the pounding of the rush of blood in her ears as she lingered near where she had left Hercules last. Though there was a small part of her that was looking forward to seeing him again, despite her trepidation towards what Hades was demanding of her, there was another part that hoped Wonder Boy did not show. She did not want him to get hurt by whatever Hades was planning.

Though her Lord had sworn that everything would be fine as long as Hercules remained out of his path, she could not help but feel uneasy at her part in his scheme to be allowed to leave the Underworld and live on Mount Olympus with the other gods and usurp Zeus.

Meg carried the bowls of their food as carefully as she could, and nearly groaned in dread when she spotted the sight of Wonder Boy himself standing with his winged beast of a horse that for some reason or other, did not seem to take kindly to her. But it cared for Hercules, Meg could see that much.

She could tell by the way the demigod touched the jaw of the cantankerous animal and how the horse seemed to respond to his soothing words and enticement of what looked like an apple.

Probably for good behavior so it doesn't bite me, Meg thought bitterly to herself.

"Careful," Meg called out, hoping her voice sounded jovial enough and Hercules turned at the sound of her voice and let his hands go from around the beast's neck. She flinched as she almost saw the sky in his eyes.

Despite her promise to herself that she would never love another man as she had loved Adonis again, Meg was still quick to admire and hated herself for it.

Meg slowly approached with the bowls of a hearty-looking stew the Theban farmer had given her after spotting her coming out of the temple.

"He looks pretty cranky, has your horse been fed at all since you and Shorty touched down in Thebes?" Meg snorted as she moved to stand beside Wonder Boy, shifting the bowls of stew to balance on one arm while stretching a hand towards the ornery horse.

The winged Pegasus flicked its ears back and snapped at her, retreating a few paces.

"Meg, I-I'm glad that you came, I-I was just, uh, calming Pegasus down, trying to get him to settle. He…doesn't take kindly to strangers," Hercules stammered, his voice holding a slight stutter to it, likely from nerves, as he gingerly rubbed the back of his neck as a faint pink blush speckled along his cheeks.

He flicked his gaze towards the bowls of soup she held balanced on her arm and moved to take them from her. He motioned towards a stone bench nearby and thought that more appropriate than sitting on the ground.

"Uh, would you like to sit down?" he asked, his words clumsy and blunt.

Meg had to stifle a small smile as she nodded without speaking and noticed Wonder Boy nearly dropped their dinner due to his nerves as he turned to head toward the bench. Thank Zeus he never spilled a drop, though.

She would give him credit where it was due, he could be charming, albeit in a clumsy sort of manner.

"He's yours then?" Meg asked, flicking her gaze towards the beauty of a white-winged horse and despite its magnificence, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes to it. The beast, in turn, did the same and stamped a hoof on the ground in agitation and shot her what she presumed was a withering look of mistrust.

Hercules paused, partly glad Meg was speaking more than just a few words to him and seemed to be warming up to him and partly because he was warmed by her voice. He was reminded of butter melting on warm baked bread.

But it took him a moment to realize she was speaking about Pegasus. "He, is, well, sort of. Pegasus was my father's," he answered after a pause, unsure how much he could tell Meg of his status as the son of Zeus, and motioned with a click of his tongue and a tug on the bridles to pull an unwilling Pegasus forward closer towards her. Though Pegasus wasn't having it and fought Hercules nearly every step of the way until Hercules relented out of frustration and let him go. Pegasus thankfully never wandered too far though Hercules had quickly learned the horse was the mischievous type not long after Zeus had sent Pegasus with him.

He was beginning to lose count of the numerous occasions whenever they would stop by in a city, and even today, a fruit cart owner marched over angrily towards him and Phil, for Pegasus had stolen three apples from the unhappy man's cart and it had taken Phil smooth-talking the man to calm him down.

Once the street stall vendor realized he was talking to the hero who had saved the city of Thebes from that vicious Hydra, his attitude significantly improved. Pegasus began to trot off, but Hercules would not let him go just yet.

"Don't stray too far, and no stealing, Peg!" the demigod warned. Despite his efforts to sound serious, a hint of amusement could be heard dancing in his voice.

Pegasus snorted by way of response as he walked off without looking back. Hercules smiled to himself, amazed at how expressive the horse could be sometimes. When Pegasus had gone off to Zeus only knew where, Hercules returned his attention back towards Meg, grateful that they were alone. He wanted to get to know her better, as a person, without anyone else or anything around.

Meg took a tentative bite of the meager stew that had been prepared for her and it was a few moments of silence while they ate.

When they had finished, Meg smiled softly and managed to force her voice up from her throat.

"You saved Thebes today, Wonder Boy. You made them feel like you're someone they can finally count on. A hero to be proud of," she tried to praise him.

"I hope so." Hercules' face was uncharacteristically worried. "To prove my worth as a hero is the only way I can be with my real family." He hesitated, unsure whether or not to tell Meg the truth. He wanted to lie and would have kept it from her, but something within him felt wrong. He swallowed down hard past a lump in his throat and with the air of forcing himself to admit something unpleasant, he spoke the truth. "I uh, there's something about me that I think you should know, Meg. There's a reason why I'm...different, why I'm stronger than most men in Greece," he stammered, blushing slightly. "The truth is... I'm…a demigod."

"I know. You're Zeus's son," Meg answered smoothly without thinking. Hercules' eyebrows rose in surprise and a slight kernel of suspicion flicked to life behind those sparkling blue eyes of his.

Only when it was already too late to take back her words did Meg realize she had accidentally let it slip she knew.

"Y-you know?" he stammered, his mouth going slightly slack in surprise. "How? I'm not exactly telling everyone…" He trailed off, confused.

Meg let out a small nervous laugh and nearly retched the soup she'd just eaten as bile rose in her throat that she was left with no choice but to swallow. She could not bring herself to look into Hercules' questioning blue eyes as she wildly looked away from him and wracked her brain for a quick response.

"Your goat, Phil," she blurted out, again without thinking. "Ah, I heard him boasting about 'Zeus's boy' earlier, just after you killed that—that thing." She shuddered and scrunched her nose in disgust as images of the vicious Hydra flitted through her mind as well as the lingering shrieks of the beast as Hercules had killed it still continued to ring in her ears.

Her nervous smile promptly disappeared when she caught sight of a familiar pale green figure peeking through the posts of the marble columns of the temple behind where she and Hercules sat and above them.

Every muscle and fiber in her body became tense as she recognized the lovely young Gorgon spying on them. She stiffened and wondered if Hades had put Medusa up to this. The moment she locked eyes with the Gorgon, Medusa cringed and left as if Meg had just thrown a dagger or an arrow at her.

Hercules, sensing Meg's attention was temporarily drawn to something that was behind them, turned around to see what had her so captivated, but only saw an abandoned temple. Turning his attention back towards Meg, he awkwardly cleared his throat and was relieved when the young woman turned back around to look at him.

Perhaps it was selfish of him, but now that Hercules had Megara alone with no one else around, he wanted her and her attention to himself, at least for the moment. He coughed once to clear his throat and ran a hand through his wavy auburn hair nervously and thought of a question to ask her.

"H-Have you always lived in Thebes? Do you have any family here?" he asked, frowning slightly at the way Meg blinked upon hearing his question, raising her eyebrows. Hercules did not know why he was so nervous about what Meg's response might be, but he had already asked the question and he wanted Megara's honest answer.

"I have," Meg answered apprehensively, wondering why he was asking and asked Wonder Boy as much. "Why do you ask this?"

Hercules paused, taken aback. "I want to get to know you better, Meg," he answered, looking at her confused as though he'd thought it had been obvious.

Meg blushed at the intense scrutiny of his gaze and looked away.

"Careful, Wonder Boy," she warned him in a husky voice. "You may not like what you find out."

He blushed.

"I think I'll be the judge of that, Meg, thank you," he smiled bashfully. "So, do you? H-have any family here, I mean?" He watched closely for Meg's reaction.

"No. I live here with my master. I have no family left. No parents. I was an only child, I never had any siblings. If I have any aunts or uncles, I don't know them, my parents never spoke of their families or their past."

Hercules smiled. "I-I see." He was not quite sure why he felt so relieved at the knowledge that Meg was alone in Thebes.

He could not understand why it was that he felt a twinge of jealousy at the fact that there was possibly another man in her life who held her heart. He wondered if it was the thought of someone other than him having such an intimate connection with Meg.

He'd never put much stock into women or the possibility of taking one for a wife someday.

But tonight, however, sitting so close on the stone bench as he was to Megara right now, staring into her lavender eyes that threatened to hold him captive and talking with her, he thought…perhaps…with her, married life here on Earth might be wonderful. His cheeks burned and he could not let himself finish the thought, lest he gives too much of himself away too soon.

"And is there…someone special in your life? A—a man?" he asked innocently, unaware of how much his question wounded Meg just then and cut her deeper than any sword or arrow straight to the chest ever could. His question seared her heart and made her fingertips go numb.

Only when Meg slowly lifted her gaze to look at him and Hercules could see the lady had gone as pale as a ghost did he realize that he had just said something wrong. Meg grew sullen and quiet as the color drained from her face, and yet she made an odd noise of dissent through her nose. She tried to laugh her pain away as she looked away.

Hercules stammered. "Forgive me, Meg, I—I didn't mean to pry," he apologized, stumbling over his words.

Meg blushed and granted Hercules a sad but forgiving smile, but her face flushed with anger as visions of Prince Adonis's chiseled and handsome face flitted through her mind's eye just then. She feared this ghost of a man was a memory she would never be able to be rid of. Meg lowered her eyes, suddenly shamefaced and bashful.

Hercules followed Meg's gaze to the ground. He thought she was going to clam up and refuse to speak, but she surprised him when she spoke, though her voice was hushed and barely above a whisper.

Had he not already been intently listening for her answer, he'd have missed it.

"I thought I was in love once, but…it didn't work out." Ashamed, she let her hands fall to her lap and she nervously began to fidget with the gold bangles on her slim wrists.

Hercules nodded, trying his best not to look at her out of fear of causing Meg even more embarrassment.

"What happened?" he asked dryly, suddenly not sure he wanted to know and he was unsure why he found himself getting jealous over some nameless and faceless stranger having Meg's heart.

Meg acknowledged his question with a slight nod of her head, causing Hercules to flinch. He could feel the young brunette's pain even in that gesture.

"He…left me for someone prettier than me. Someone younger. He broke my heart into a thousand pieces the day he left and threw it back in my face," Meg answered and let out a bitter chuckle just then. Meg's eyes widened as she realized she had just spoken of Adonis to another living soul.

She did not know why she suddenly felt the need to be open and honest with Wonder Boy, even if she would come to regret it later. But now, she felt that it was only right, somehow, to bring up her past.

She wanted Hercules to know that she was over that smug arrogant bastard who had nearly destroyed her faith in all men. She was over Prince Adonis, though she still carried the scars of resentment he'd left behind when he left her for her.

"Adonis, he…I thought that he might…" Meg tried to explain, but her tongue suddenly felt like heavy clay in her mouth and her heart hurt just saying his name. She could not even find the words. "I was a fool, to have loved him, to openly trust him."

Meg lowered her gaze to her lap and shook her head, grinding her teeth in annoyance as she wished the images of Adonis's face would leave her imagination. Hercules remained silent for a moment as he contemplated what Meg had just told him. He pictured the beautiful treasure that was Meg's heart and love. How could anyone possibly refuse her love and hurt her so badly?

For the first time in perhaps his life, Hercules felt his blood boil in anger and he wished he knew what this Adonis looked like.

He wanted nothing more than to beat the man within an inch of his life for hurting her. He did not like seeing Meg so sad.

It ate at him, tore him apart. He wanted to see her smiling at him. His muscles were starting to ache with his almost feverish desire, this burning rage now flooding through his veins, to cut Prince Adonis in half.

Hercules had not even realized that his fingers had curled into shaking fists as he stared down at his sandals.

Meg, however, did notice. He exhaled a shaky breath and it took him a great deal of effort on his part, but Hercules was eventually able to let himself relax and his fists unfurled slowly.

He kept his focus fixed on finding Meg's stricken face. Gently, without thinking or even caring how it seemed, Hercules reached up to caress Meg's cheek and wipe away the single tear that was trailing down her cheek, escaping from the edge of her eye. It broke his heart. Hercules looked at him with so much affection brimming behind those baby blue eyes of his, that it stole Meg's breath from her lungs. She could not even breathe, much less move at all.

"No, Meg, don't talk about yourself like that, you're not a fool, far from it," Hercules muttered gently as he brought his eyes to hers. "This…Adonis, he was the fool, not you, Meg, never you," he proclaimed, his decision and opinion of Meg's former lover already formed in his mind. "Nothing could possibly make a man a bigger idiot than to walk away from holding you in his arms."

His blue eyes seemed to burn a hole right through Meg and almost extended their reach to her very soul. Hercules was stricken with the sudden desire to kiss her. Right here, right now, at this moment, he wanted it.

But all he could do was stare as his courage failed him, in the end, and he could not manage to kiss the girl.

Meg swore she felt her heart stop beating as she was overcome with a wave of guilt as the emotion crashed down on her with such pummeling force like a tidal wave. Hercules had listened to her tale of unrequited love and had not laughed at her. He seemed to only want to ease her pain and encourage her, to make sure she was fine.

Wonder Boy's compassion and empathy gave Meg reason to hope that perhaps not all men ought to be written off entirely. Maybe, in a good man like Hercules, there was still hope.

Hercules, for his part, knew if they sat here on this bench a moment longer, he would lose whatever small shred of self-control he still possessed and kiss her.

He wanted nothing more than to feel her lips move against his in a kiss, to feel for himself if they were as soft and ripe as they looked. Hercules was sure he could make Meg love him if she would just give him a small chance.

He watched Meg in silence, watching him, and he thought there was a spark flicking to life behind those haunting lavender eyes of hers as he held her in his gaze. Hercules prayed to Father and any other God in Olympus who might be hearing his plea that it was not his mind playing tricks on him. That it was not simply what he wanted to see.

Hercules sighed heavily and reluctantly pulled away, not wanting to take advantage of Meg in her current vulnerable state, and hastily rose to his feet, almost stumbling.

"Y-you look tired, Meg. It's been a long day, and I'd hate for you to get in trouble with your master if he realizes how long you've been gone," he awkwardly stammered. It was a shockingly casual statement, coming from him, considering the previous nature of their conversation had been intense.

Meg let out a little breath she did not realize she had been holding and jumped up from the bench and brushed the skirts of her dress a bit, relieved to be saved from herself.

"Y-yes, I-I h-have to go," she stammered. "You should try to rest too, Wonder Boy, it's not every day Thebes gets a new hero. I'm sure they'll be calling on you for every little thing in the next day or so," she told him, slightly teasing, enjoying watching him squirm. A cool breeze flowed through the air, yet neither made the move to back away first. It felt cool and refreshing.

Hercules took in a hitched breath as he stared enamored back at Meg. It was odd for him to make a connection with another person, let alone a woman this fast, but he was grateful that he had. He hoped to see Meg again very soon, perhaps even tomorrow if he could get Phil to go easy on him and let him out of training early.

"W-well, u-uh…thank you, Meg, for…for eating with me." Hercules felt as though his head was starting to spin from all the blood that was rushing to his cheeks the longer he looked at her. He really needed a moment. "I uh, should be going now." Hercules took a step back but was almost tripped by the hem of his long blue cloak. "Oh, uh, I will, uh, see you tomorrow evening, maybe if you can sneak away for an hour if your master lets you, or if Phil lets me off training early, or um…g-goodnight, Meg!" Hercules stammered.

Meg held back a faint chuckle as she watched the strange but endearing demigod trip over not just his words, but himself as well. Meg quickly pressed a hand over her mouth as the beginnings of an affectionate smile snuck its way onto her face.

Hercules groaned to himself, embarrassed at the spectacle he was making of himself in front of such a beautiful woman and he hastily flipped the hood of his cloak over his head as he began to make his way back toward where he and Phil had set up their camp. But Meg could have sworn Hercules looked back.

Meg watched Hercules go until his silhouette completely vanished from her line of sight. The wind began to pick up without warning, causing a few of her curls to fly into her face. She huffed in frustration as she tried to tuck a few stray strands that had come loose from her ponytail throughout the day back behind her ear.

As Meg was placing the last pieces of her hair back into place, her eye caught the site of a temple off in the distance, different than the one she'd met Hades in. Her hand stayed by her ear as she stared at the proud structure.

It was said that if you called upon the gods for their help within a temple, they would show themselves. Only one god in particular flitted through her mind's eye at that moment. Only one god from Olympus she wanted to talk to.

Zeus.

She wondered if Wonder Boy's father would show, if the god would listen to her at all about Hades. A pang of worry wormed through her at the thought of what Hades would do to her if the god were to learn she'd spoken with Zeus.

"I—I couldn't. It's too risky." Meg quickly clamped a hand over her mouth as she tried to silence her thoughts. "I could talk to him though, but what would I say to him? And would he even believe me if I talked to him?"

She started to restlessly pace a small line back and forth, a nervous habit of hers whenever she was thinking about something. Meg let out a frustrated sigh as she stopped, shifting her weight to rest entirely on her left leg. She huffed and crossed her arms below her wildly pounding heart.

Oh, gods, she could not even believe she was entertaining the idea. Meg toyed with her bangles.

"Gods, I can't believe I'm doing this," she moaned, her gaze lingering on the temple. "Ugh, I really am a stupid woman," she moaned. Her mind was made up, her decision made, as Meg's legs began to move at their own pace, a brisk walk, as she began to make her way towards the temple of the gods.

The shadows from the clouds followed her, and in the shadows lurked Medusa…