Megara was so bewildered by all that had happened in the past hours– at least, she thought it was the same day?– that she'd forgotten her fear of heights. With Hercules's arms firmly anchored about her waist, it didn't matter how quickly Pegasus soared back to Thebes. She leaned back against his chest and grinned like she was back on the cheer squad.

He'd chosen her. With a carefree immortal life on Olympus to gain, he'd tossed it away for her. Although she had to wonder about his priorities, there was no doubting where she ranked.

Thankfully, after a brief scan of the citizens who swarmed the spot where Pegasus landed, Megara did not notice anyone who might recognize her. Hercules hopped off Pegasus, running to embrace an elderly couple.

"Meg! Come meet my parents! I mean– y'know. The other ones!"

Ah. The ones who'd raised him. In a way, hadn't he chosen them, too? Megara smiled at them, uncertain how to approach them or what to say, but then Hercules wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed her close to him. Maybe she needn't say anything at all.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Meg. Hercules has told us so much about you!" said the woman. Her eyes sparkled in a way that reminded her of Hercules, the same way Hera's had. Hercules could truly be said to have four parents. How curious.

"Ma, Meg's really particular about giving people permission to use her nickname," Hercules said gently. "I'm sorry if I didn't mention that in my letters."

Concern flashed across the woman's face, and she blushed over her faux pas. "Pardon me. Let me introduce myself. My name is Alcmene, and this is my husband, Amphitryon."

The elderly bearded man tipped his floppy shepherd's hat with all the rustic gallantry afforded to him.

Megara nodded to them both. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Megara wrapped an arm around Hercules's waist and gave him an appreciative squeeze. "It's not a problem. I have to thank you for taking care of him for so long so I could meet him. Anything I should know now that I'm responsible for him?"

"Positive reinforcements," Alcmene nodded. "He's always looking for someone to tell him he's been a good boy."

"I think I can manage that." Megara had to hide her wicked smirk. These were his parents.

"She's too good to me!" Hercules gushed.

Thankfully, it didn't seem that Hercules or his parents had noticed anything nefarious in her expression or tone. He'd definitely gotten the innocence from somewhere.

In her quest to avoid eye contact with people who'd probably never had kids of their own because they didn't know how sex worked, Megara glanced up at the sky. Though daylight was yet to fade, it was clear for all to see that Zeus was at work among the stars. He formed stars in his hands and stirred them into a swirling sphere of light.

Megara patted Hercules's arm, and whispered, "Look, pointing toward his celestial father's handiwork.

The stars found their new stations in the sky, forming the distinctive shape of Hercules standing proudly with his cape flapping behind him. Part of him was eternal, no matter what he'd sacrificed to be with her. She could take some comfort in that for the time being.

Hercules strode through the crowd at the outskirts of Thebes, with Megara under one arm and his earthly mother under the other. Pegasus, Phil, and Amphitryon walked close behind him, and nobody dared stand in his way. No matter how many people he encountered, he never forgot to keep her close.

They'd formed an instant parade with the people following Hercules through the rubble of the city. Despite the damage the Cyclops had done, she recognized that it hadn't gotten past the outskirts. She cast her eyes toward the ravine and the river below. What would become of that massive corpse? Was it her fault it was there outside the city? Would all of Boetia suffer now?

If she had ever believed in the dynastic curse upon her family, this only reaffirmed her suspicions that she should spend the rest of her existence paying her debts to the cosmos. For so long, she'd been the puppet of a single god pitted against all others. Maybe the Olympians could forgive her for that and for taking Hercules from them, but could she forgive herself?

How many times had she questioned her inertia while working for Hades? She had been good at what she did. Had she been less efficient… Hades would have tormented her, even thrown her into the Vortex just to fish her out again to start over. There had never been an option. Still. She couldn't shake off the guilt.

Her steps slowed under the weight of her thoughts. When she stumbled, Hercules halted, turning his full attention to her. "Careful!" he caught her before she could fall, and scooped her into his arms. "Is it your ankle again?"

Her withering heart overflowed with his affection. "No, no… I was only thinking."

"We can talk if you want," he said, standing in the center of a ruined agora with adoring fans of all descriptions hovering close to watch his every move. Still, he only had time for the woman perched on his shoulder, and it made her all the more self-conscious.

"Not here!" Megara waved her hands to make it all go away. The attention, the possibility that some of her former subjects would recognize her, the heartache waiting to reemerge at any moment.

"When we get to the villa, then," he said, nodding as it was decided, then whistled for Pegasus.

Megara's stomach twisted. "We don't have to fly there. I can catch up with you."

"Catch up? I'm not letting you out of my sight!" Hercules settled her on Pegasus's back. "Ma, Pop, I'll meet you there, ok? Or I can send Pegasus for you."

"We brought a cart into town, and it's close by," Hercules's mortal father assured him. "You take the little lady to the villa, and we'll see you soon."

"Thanks." Hercules hopped onto Pegasus' back and kneed him in the sides so they could take off.

Megara winced, waiting for the churning fear, but it wasn't so bad. They glided over the rubble of her ancestors' city. Cadmus would curse her if he knew what she'd done with his legacy.

"Something's bugging you," Hercules said into her ear.

Megara gestured at a billboard that had once borne a mosaic advertising Hercules's athletic sandals. "Hard not to think that this is all my fault and I shouldn't be here." She'd meant that she ought to have left Thebes in shame, but she could feel Hercules' pulse pick up in the veins bulging from his arms.

"You deserve to be here. This was not your fault. Besides," he kissed the top of her head, "it's just as much my fault as yours, if anything. I did this because I cared more about you than anyone else. If I hadn't been so selfish, or if I hadn't panicked… This might have ended some other way. But for now, nobody needs to know that. All they need to know is that I've found the love of my life, and whatever you choose to say about yourself to anyone is up to you."

"I'll hold you to that. But I was thinking I should try to find a place to stay for the night. Before the celebrations get too crazy, I mean."

He twitched against her back. "Stay?" he repeated. "I thought you'd want to stay with me. I don't want you off in some taverna. You know what Thebes is like. People are crazy here, and if they think they've seen you with me?"

"Oh!" Megara was glad that she wasn't facing him so he couldn't see her eyes widen. Did he know how that sounded? Probably not. She'd better keep it light, or she'd freak him out. "Well, it is a mansion. There's plenty of room if that's what you want."

"Well, I thought… maybe you'd stay in my room?"

For only the second time in a day, her breathing stopped. She seemed to have miscalculated. "Your room? Are you sure you can handle that?"

"Eh… not really, but I also don't think I can sleep if you're not within arm's reach. I'm pretty sure I'll wake up multiple times tonight worried you're not breathing."

"Oh, then… in that case, maybe I should keep you up all night. Then you'll have to fall asleep!" What was the matter with her? Didn't she know how that sounded?

Hercules made a wheezing noise behind her. She let him have the dignity of not looking back to see what was going on with his face.

She patted his thigh in what she hoped would be a gesture that helped him relax. "I only suggested I might stay somewhere else because I didn't want to impose."

"How? By letting me be with the woman I love? That is… I mean, I thought you'd… Unless you don't want to stay with me? I don't want you to feel obligated."

"It's not that, I promise!" She scratched his thigh to get his attention back from the clear dead zone behind his eyes. "Wonder Boy, I didn't want to presume I could stay with you in your mansion. I'm used to figuring things out for myself."

"Right, and I don't want to force you to change too fast. I know you've been through a lot and… full disclosure, I talked to Thanatos because he helped me into the Underworld. I know… a bit more than you've told me. But I'll respect your privacy until you're ready to share."

"The less you know about them, the better," she blurted out.

That startled him all over again. "Oh, okay then," said the man with two sets of equally adoring parents.

"Listen, before we get there… I just wanted you to know we can take this whole relationship as slowly as you need to."

"Uh… how do I put this?" He watched the city below them for a moment, worrying his pouting lower lip. "You're not the one doing any pressuring and pushing, and I'm a little nervous that you're accepting stuff I offer you because you feel obligated. Because of the um… incident. You don't have to! Not that… I don't want you. But–"

"No! No, I just didn't know how to process it. I still can't even believe this isn't an elaborate hallucination. But I remember you tried to use a marriage contract to buy me out of that thing with Hades. I couldn't talk that much at the time, but I still accepted. Now that I don't have to ask permission from anyone, I can offer myself to you on my own behalf. I'd marry you tonight if I didn't think it would be too abrupt."

"You would?" His smile shone so brightly he may as well have restored his godly aura.

"How else do I lock down the most eligible man in all of Greece? Though I'm afraid, I have no dowry. I just thought you were the one who might need to ease into all this. I'd hate to make you uncomfortable."

"I don't need a dowry when I have you! Besides, I'm the one who asked you to corrupt me…" Hercules assured her, then he bent to kiss her while Pegasus descended toward the villa.

Megara's stomach flipped over the more Pegasus angled downward. It felt like falling, but then there was the solidity of Hercules holding onto her as if she were the most important thing in the cosmos. It made her cling to him even more. The one bright spot that held it all together. For some reason, no matter how foolhardy, he wanted her.

Pegasus touched down in the courtyard of Hercules's villa. The impact jostled them, pressing them deeper into their kiss.

Hercules pulled back with a dazed grin.

In the distance, a crowd chanted his name.

"You're going to let them in?" If it were up to her, she'd get the tour of his home between fevered kisses while she tested the limits of how far she could get him to go with her. But Thebes deserved to celebrate their hero. They had so much work ahead. It was good to begin the work with a public festival.

"Yes, but not yet." Hercules hopped off Pegasus and lifted his arms to collect her.

Megara gratefully slid into his arms, kissing the tip of his nose when she was level with him. While he was still stunned and gasping, she wrapped her legs about his waist for stability and kissed him full on the mouth.

Pegasus made horsey gagging noises behind them, but Hercules didn't care. His hands were on her back, and one curved under her to hold her up at his level. He walked backwards until he reached a column, and leaned back against it while he continued to kiss her.

Between kisses, their hot breaths comingled as they gazed at one another in adoring wonderment. How incredible that no horrors were waiting for them, and no hideous fate hovered over their heads. Blessed by Olympus, freed from curses and contracts, Megara poured all her joy into passionate kisses. If not for the impending party, she might have taught him a few more steps in the corruption journey.

Instead, the distant cries of adulation drew her attention.

"If you don't mind, before this party gets rolling, I'd like to find the nearest baths and get cleaned up. I smell like death."

A shadow crossed Hercules's face. He rubbed her back softly and traced the curve of her leg rather than let her go. "Oh, sure, I could…" he blushed, clearly considering whether to invite himself along. "I'll show you where they are."

"You don't feel like maybe you might need one, too?" she asked, fluttering her lashes. "You've fought so many monsters… Would you like a chance to change into your party clothes?"

Hercules stammered a few half-formed words, but she'd already gotten the message.

"I'll figure it out myself. You can stay out here to greet your guests." Reluctantly, Megara slid out of his arms and let her sandals hit the ground. On the way down, she marveled at the power of his body, radiating heat. She'd have to explore that soon. In depth.

"Oh, Meg… ya don't have to go, yet, do you?"

"If I want to be ready for when everyone gets here… and not look too shabby. I'm supposed to be your girl now, right? I can't show up at your party covered in dust and…" she gestured at her bloodied dress, but chose not to speak the word aloud as it might hurt him.

"Right…" he whispered. He stroked her cheek. "Go get comfortable. Don't rush. Only join us when you're ready." He only let her go after a kiss to her forehead, and a one-armed squeeze. "It's near the back of the house. Follow the colonnade, and you'll find it. I hope it's not too much of a mess. I'm usually in too much of a hurry when I'm in there."

"We'll have to fix that, won't we?"

Hercules sighed dreamily. "Anything you want."

As much as she'd prefer not to leave his side, Megara blew Hercules a kiss and sauntered toward the back of the villa as he'd directed. Once she was out of sight, her confidence dimmed.