The shadowed alleyways of Thebes were so familiar to Megara that she had forgotten they could make Hercules uneasy.
"What's got you so nervous? Afraid the goat man will pop out of a garbage heap?"
"No, not him. But someone. Are you… always back here?" Hercules asked. "You know these places aren't safe. You should move if your home is in the area."
"Safety is an illusion. You can guard anyone, and they'll still die of something. Fate is inevitable." So was hers. She knew better than to fight for a different outcome, but maybe it was her own misunderstanding that had caused her to believe in this outcome. The gods wouldn't be wrong, but she could.
Either way, she kept a lighthearted smile on her face. This was her last day beholden to Hades, no matter what else happened. As long as his orders aligned with what she wanted to do anyway, why not enjoy it?
"I'd never be comfortable with someone I loved living somewhere where it was easier to hurt them."
"Good thing nobody loves me then!" She said it with a laugh until she saw the deeply concerned expression on his face. "Don't worry about it, Wonder Boy, I'm joking. Come on." It would be in the little touches. She set her hand on Hercules's arm and lightly brushed her fingertips along his skin. "I've been thinking. Maybe I should be your public relations advisor so Phil can focus on training," Megara gestured to a goofy-looking billboard with Hercules's face on it that peeled out above the rooftops framing their alleyway. "He's got no taste."
"I'd love it if you worked with me," Hercules settled an arm around her shoulders, a protective and bracing gesture that made her head spin. His scent and warmth commingled to make her job of seducing him that much easier. "Then maybe if you worked with me, we could find you a spot in the mansion. I could see you every day and make sure nobody hurt you."
"Ugh, but then you'd have to put up with my attitude every day! I'm great in small doses, but that would drive most people insane."
"I've never been like everyone else. Your little comments make me laugh. The way you see the world is so different and interesting. I'll never get tired of that. You'd make every day special."
His words had a strange power to make her heart ache. Even through the pain, she found a smile. "It's too bad Phil hates me. Otherwise, the only obstacle would be quitting my current profession."
"What's that?" He asked a bit too quickly. "I mean, what do you do? I've always wondered how you're able to appear wherever I am. I'm not complaining at all! You can turn any awful day into one I'll remember forever."
"Mostly, I avoid my job," Megara replied with cold laughter. "I'm a bit of a negotiator, sometimes a scribe, and I do odd jobs."
"Some of that sounds like what I'd picture you doing, but you're not an errand girl. You should be in a palace somewhere that's as beautiful as you are, and people should do whatever you want every day. You have the best ideas, anyway."
Megara disguised her surprise that he'd picked her out as a princess as watching an intersection for insane teenagers. She gestured for him to follow her into adjacent shadows before speaking again. "Nobody's hiring for queen around here, but thanks for the idea."
"I'm hiring for anything that'll get you out of the situation you're in right now." He blocked the passage ahead with his bulk and asked in a heart-rending tone, "What will it take, Meg?"
"There's nothing you could do. My current boss would never let me go."
"Why not? How did you get in trouble? Please tell me what I can do." She hadn't expected him to kneel before her. "I know some things. But I don't know how I can help. I need to help. It's what I'm literally built for."
"You can't get me out of trouble, Wonder Boy. I am trouble. Don't be so dramatic about it. Today is a good day, and it's about you. We can get some food before we catch whatever the theater's doing. It's not that big a deal, but I have to take my freedom where I can get it. I'd rather not spend my time with you thinking about what's waiting for me when it's over." Though she'd spoken with the intention of saying whatever it took to get him off the trail, her words rang true.
"What if I could stop what's waiting for you?"
"You can't. You have me all to yourself, and we can talk. But you'll get dirty on the ground like that."
Reluctantly, Hercules returned to his feet. He placed his arm firmly around her waist and steered her along as if he knew where they were going. "It's OK if you're not ready to talk, but I worry about you, you know? Even when you smile, you seem a little sad. It's not right. You deserve real happiness. If this job you have is making you miserable, let me know so I can help you."
"There's nothing you can do, but thanks for the offer." There were a few things Hades might accept, but there was no way she'd put that thought in Hercules's head where it didn't belong.
"I mean it." He squeezed her hip. "If it helps you actually enjoy life, I want you to have it."
"Thanks," she said again through a tight-lipped smile. "But don't bother. We're just going to have a fun night, and neither of us have to worry about our jobs, deal?"
He watched her face. It seemed at first that he might argue, but he nodded reluctantly. "Where are we going?"
"My cousin always raved about this place where she said people would just let her eat without drawing tons of attention. I figure if they're discreet, you could actually have some time to yourself without a mob descending on you."
"If you're there, it won't matter where we go. I'll follow you anywhere."
Megara quickly turned away from him so he wouldn't see the guilt overshadowing her face. "First stop, Niobe's Grill." She offered him her hand, which he took so fast it startled her. His hand was so warm, and twice the size of hers. It should have frightened her how he dwarfed her, but despite the fact she was his secret enemy, it did the opposite.
"I think I've heard of that place, but I never had anyone to go with, except Phil… And Phil kinda prefers to eat the crockery."
"I'm sure any of the half-a-dozen bimbos I saw wandering around your place today could've gone with you." She wasn't looking at him, but his shudder went through their joined hands.
"No thanks. I'm glad I get to be with you."
She cast a brief glance at him over her shoulder. "You actually mean that, don't you?"
"Of course, I do." He squeezed her hand. "You're a special person, Meg. I'm so lucky you found me today. It's been… a rough week. I would've loved a letter from you, but this is better."
Her brow twitched. "What was it this week? The chimera out near Mycenae or the boar man of the Cyclades?"
"Aw, neither of those was a big deal. It's more… personal stuff."
This was the key to her freedom. Her stomach flipped with guilt, but she repressed any signs that she was going through a personal crisis of her own. Nausea right before dinner would kill the mood. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She knew he'd keep talking no matter what she said, but she felt better in offering him a way out.
"Maybe not." He blushed, looking down at their hands and flexing his fingers against her palm. "But I'd like to hear about your problems…"
"When we've had a chance to sit down, and we know people aren't listening in."
"You don't have to…" he sighed. "Nobody's really supposed to know if there's something bothering me. Phill says–"
"Shh, don't talk about the goat man. He'll put me off dinner." A mostly real smile illuminated her features. "I'm different, right? I don't care what you're supposed to do. Just be yourself. This isn't the right place to chat, but when we're there, I promise you can say whatever you want. Deal?"
"Deal!" Hercules replied with a bashful chuckle.
She turned her back on him and led him down through the winding back streets of Thebes toward an outcropping that overlooked the bay. "Here we are." She nudged him with her arm pressed against his. "Now, do you think you can hide long enough for me to tell the host that I've got a VIP guest who needs him to be discreet?"
Hercules glanced around, evaluating their surroundings for anything that could conceal him. "Uh… yeah!" he ducked behind a group of storage jars lined up along the restaurant's walls.
"I'll be quick," she promised, quashing her urge to giggle at his ridiculous predicament.
True to her word, it took moments for the restaurant owner to accompany her back out to find Hercules and usher him in through a back door. Multiple times on the way, the man did a double-take to make sure this was the real Hercules, but there was no mistaking him for anyone else. He settled the couple into a booth he assured them a prince and Princess of Thebes used to meet up in, then drew the curtains over the entrance. They had a view of the sun sparkling over the bay, but nobody else in the restaurant had any view of them.
"This is great!" Hercules leaned over the ledge to view the water. "Thanks for bringing me here, Meg!" He sat across the table from her, but his legs were so long there was no avoiding how much space they took up under the table.
"Wait until you've tried some of the food. Then, you'll really have something to thank me for." Megara opened the menu and searched for the best wine. Normally, she'd want a clear head on the job, but just this once, she'd take the extra gifts of Dionysus to get through it. "Do you like red or white?"
"Uh, either's fine, except… Phil says it's bad for me, so I haven't really…"
"Ever?" Her eyes gleamed. "We're getting my favorite, then."
"Oh! Well, okay, yeah! What do you like?"
Megara gave him a smile she knew would do things to him. "I like it red," she purred and brushed her foot against his.
A vibrant wine stain blush spread across Hercules's face. "Oh… you uh… you do?"
"I think I'll have a sweet red tonight. You'll learn to love it, I'm sure."
"I trust you."
Megara felt her smile soften. He had no idea what he was saying.
He cleared his throat and shifted uneasily in place. "You should probably just recommend whatever's good. Phil makes me eat all kinds of healthy foods… don't get me wrong, I can literally eat twenty pounds of meat every day, no sweat, but…"
"You don't ever eat just to enjoy the food. It serves a purpose. But tonight, everything is different. I'm spoiling you rotten. To me, it sounds like you've been sorely deprived of the privilege."
Hercules had no coherent response to that, but he rested his hand on Megara's. Tears were welling up in his eyes.
Instinct made her fingers twitch toward freedom, but then she saw the hurt in his eyes. She set her free hand on top of his and gave him an apologetic smile. "It's not your fault. I'm not used to… I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You didn't. The people who got to you first hurt me. I mean, because you're hurt already and… I must've surprised you, huh?"
"Yeah, but we're both fine now, aren't we?" She brushed a thumb across his knuckle and felt him shiver. It didn't take much to reach him. Maybe it was because he was already reaching for her.
The first course of their dinner, a lemon and caper soup, arrived. Hercules put polite distance between them, but he still had his eyes fixed on her. Once they were alone again, he spoke up. "Meg, I have a question, and please don't take it as an insult, but I have to wonder… Have you always been so neglected?"
"Not always!" The defensive statement had left her open, as did her attempt to deflect by attacking the soup.
Something changed in the light that shone from Hercules's eyes. "You mentioned you don't have friends, and I promise, you can share mine. I can't stop thinking about how isolated you are. It's all right if you don't want to explain why, it doesn't have to be like that. Galatea and Medusa think highly of you. They told me to remind you they're hoping to see you again."
"That's nice of them." She tried to keep her voice light so she wouldn't trip over the fact she would never see either of them again. Even if she miraculously survived Hades's night of terror, he wouldn't let her go. There was no way Medusa would forgive her for her role in the apocalypse, and she'd tell everyone. If Hercules won, Hades would wipe her out, or let her rot somewhere in the Underworld. If Hercules somehow forgave her after all this… then what?
She'd hoped that the soup would occupy Hercules, but he had no trouble swallowing it all in one gulp. Then he was back to investigating her. "If you could do anything you wanted with your life, what would it be?" Hercules beamed at her with adoration as he spoke, leaning in closer. "Go on, I'd like to hear one of your biggest dreams."
Megara shook her head. "I'm no dreamer. My family learned a long time ago never to dream or hope. We focused on watching our backs, and somehow, most of us still got backstabbed, anyway."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Hercules brushed his fingertips along her cheek, making a blush trail appear in the wake of his touch. "If it's too sensitive a topic, I'll understand."
"The less you know, the better."
It was now that their second course, honey-glazed shrimp, with garlic cheese and roasted vegetables that garnished olive-stuffed chicken, appeared. Hercules was clearly excited for the food, but he never let it distract from her.
"What did you want when you were younger?" he asked her when the server walked away.
"Theater, actually. It's sacred to Dionysus, and he used to be our patron god… Before…" she shrugged and sipped at her wine. She couldn't reveal that she knew what Hades had done without admitting she spoke to him on a regular basis. "He's different now. Unreliable. We don't even call him by his proper name, any longer. That initially drew me to the theater, but it turns out I thrived there."
"Maybe I can talk to someone at the theatre, get you in on one of the plays they're putting on now. The theater's really exploded recently."
"Yeah, I can play a harpy, and whoever's playing, you can beat me up five times a week." She huffed at the thought of it but remembered to eat her chicken in small, rather than dramatic bites.
Hercules's own disgust with the idea put him off his shrimp. "That's not what I had in mind… We can have a new play. Maybe one about how I saved you from Nessus? I'll even show up to play myself!"
"Ugh, you want people to know about that?" she shook her head. "Not one of my best moments. I screamed like a little girl."
"It brought me to you." He hovered his hand over hers but reconsidered and went back to his meat skewers. "I'm grateful you were loud enough for me to hear from the sky. Sometimes I think of what that centaur wanted to do with you and…" He grimaced. His hand lowered to press against hers.
"Thanks for that," she shuddered. "Well… no, really. This way, I never had to find out how far he'd go. I never actually thanked you for that day. I was annoyed you'd seen me all vulnerable and thought I'd play it off instead of dwelling on it."
"No, no! I completely understand!" he scooted around the perimeter of the table to sit closer. "But just so that you know, I don't look at you any different because you were in trouble. Anyone can be in trouble sometimes. That's why I'm here. And… I'm here for you." He held onto her hand and lifted it to his lips for a light brush of a kiss.
A shiver went through her entire body. She closed her eyes as her heart raced within her. In the silence, she heard the telltale flap of massive wings.
"Phil!" Hercules gasped. "He's out looking for me."
"Shh…" Megara covered Hercules's mouth with one hand.
His eyes widened, gazing at her with something she'd have to explore later.
"We'll creep out that way toward the theater, and we can hide in a private box, OK?"
Hercules nodded, so Megara took her hand away. "Are you done?" Once he got her nod of confirmation, he scooped her into the crook of one arm, which pressed her close against his chest. They paused so he could tell the owner how to get in touch with Phil for payment, then carried Megara out of the restaurant.
She expected him to put her down once they were on the street, but the thought didn't seem to occur to him.
"Dinner was great," he told her quietly. "I want to bring you there every week and try everything on the menu."
In another life, yes. A thousand times.
But Megara was a level-headed woman. She knew better. "Of course."
Hercules set Megara down only so he could arrange for their tickets, which were apparently free to heroes. It was then she had a chance to see what was playing: Oedipus Rex.
It was a good thing Hercules couldn't watch as her blush withered away to leave a frigid pallor. She wrapped her shawl around her shoulders, but she'd bought it only to look slinky. It did nothing for the chill.
"Oh, I think I read about this guy in the Greekly World News!" Hercules looped his arm through hers and pulled her toward the entrance. He cast a grin over his shoulder at her. "But I'm sure you know way more than I do! You know so much more than me on lots of things."
"Yeah." Her voice was choked down into the root of her throat. Let him think that was the reason. "But you need to be educated. You're our hero, now, so you should know about your predecessor."
"Sure, if you say so. Let me know if you recognize any of the actors! Maybe we can introduce ourselves after the show, and you can be friends again!"
Megara's heart twisted at the thought of the one actor she hoped she never saw again. He probably wasn't in Thebes, anymore, but on the off chance he'd returned… "I'd rather just spend tonight with you. Maybe for a second date?"
Hercules grinned. "Or our third! Come on! Let's go sit next to each other for a few hours in the dark!" he winked with far more mischief than she'd given him credit for.