Menoikeus pushed open the door to Megara's room just as the young couple jumped apart. "Thought I'd find you two in here…" He looked exhausted, and he leaned on the doorframe to watch the two of them scramble to become presentable.

They hadn't even done anything, much to Megara's disappointment, but she still succumbed to Hercules's second-hand guilt. Now that their survival was assured, she kept wanting more of Hercules. But while she'd overheard the secrets of pleasure relayed to her older cousin, she didn't think anyone had availed Hercules of the same. Or maybe he knew how good she'd be and had some kind of farm boy hero morality that wouldn't let him have any fun.

"We didn't do anything, Sir!" Hercules hopped away from Megara as if she'd burn him. "I swear, I'd never do anything to hurt your sister. She's too important to me."

Menoikeus studied Hercules for a long, silent moment before saying, "She's a wily one. Don't ever fool yourself and think you have her figured out. We may never learn all her secrets, and I've known her since the day she was born."

"Oh… yeah, that's right…" In a rare moment of mischief, Hercules smirked at Megara. "What was Meg like when she was little?"

"No! Don't tell him!" Megara protested, but she had already seen how her older brother had brightened at the question.

"She was so cute," he gushed. "Of course, as a twin, the Megs together were the cutest. They would get confused and pull each other's hair and just lie there screaming and pulling each other's hair. They always had their little secrets after that. It was almost their own language, but they turned it into sass. But they split around eight when Megarion couldn't stay in the gynaikon anymore."

"We always had someone to practice our lines on," Megara said, though she couldn't look at her boyfriend anymore.

"And Meggie would always scare off nobles who thought they could talk to her like she was any other little girl. Grown men would always complain to me about my baby sister."

"You make me sound like an unholy terror."

"You're clever, and you pay attention. That and standing your ground make you formidable. This house is full of opinions. When… I become king… I will always ask for your advice. I'd be more than a fool to ignore your counsel."

"Will Father even allow you to become king?"

"He has to, doesn't he?" Hercules asked. "Athena said he would be. Your father wouldn't oppose the will of a goddess, would he?"

Megara and Menoikeus exchanged skeptical looks.

"He always told Oedipus that he preferred to be an advisor," Menoikeus ventured. "Perhaps that holds true even now."

"You will be a better king. It should always have been you and not the others."

"You may be right."

"I am."

"You see what I mean?" Menoikeus addressed Hercules.

"Yeah… she even convinced me to let her stay on the battlefield. I still don't know why I did that."

"Because I fulfilled your basic needs to feel loved and significant, meaning you couldn't refuse me when I wanted to prove my love for you. I didn't want you to argue, and you didn't because I picked the shortcut to convince you. Now I'm proud of making you keep me with you instead of sending me away to watch and worry."

"Er… wow… You sort of… you analyzed me and picked apart my weaknesses?"

"You needed to understand right away, so I cut to the most important argument. That way, we could get through the conversation quickly enough to survive. And we did! I promise we're exactly the same in one way: we only use our powers for good."

Hercules watched her for a moment, which drove her anxiety up.

"If she scares you now, it'll only get worse."

"No, I'm not scared. I've decided that in a crisis, it's important to know what to say. I usually freeze up or second-guess myself. Meg knew exactly what to do and how to communicate it to me, and I appreciate that." He offered her his hand. "I hope you didn't think I'd abandon you."

Megara clung to his hand and let him pull her into his side. "You're the first person I can think of that wouldn't."

"Oh, come on," Menoikeus rolled his eyes. "Come with me, kids. Reputation-wise, Meg's already a bit… ruined. But we can't make it worse by leaving you alone in a bedroom. Come to the dining hall; we're regrouping there. If you want to be part of this family, Hercules, you might as well come along and help us make some important decisions."

"Uh… you want… want me to help you make decisions? Important ones?"

"That's what the man said." Megara tugged him along. "Don't worry. You're allowed to be the muscle of this operation and back up whoever you think makes the best points."

"So… you?"

"It's cute that you assume it's me, and it is. But let's at least hear the others out."

Haemon and Megarion were already waiting in the dining hall, conveying what had happened to Ismene, the younger sister of the deceased cousins. She was a nervous wreck, wringing her hands and restraining tears. Her dress was a soft dove grey, and she had a dark cloak over her hair. She bowed her head until Hercules and Megara arrived with Menoikeus, and then the tears flowed. "I'm so glad you survived, Meg. You shouldn't have been out there… We've lost so many people already. I thought if I stayed back here, we might wait it out together."

"I couldn't leave my man out there when Athena gave me such pretty armor," Megara said. "But don't worry. We've had the best possible outcome from that battle. I don't see any reason to be so anxious. They won't be back to hurt either of us anymore."

Ismene's eyes widened, and then she looked down. "You don't think they'll haunt us?"

"I know they'd want to," Megara said. She led Hercules to the couch beside her and gave her cousin a hug. "But don't worry about it so much. We know how to get rid of ghosts in this family, or else this palace would be uninhabitable."

"Yeah," Ismene tried to laugh, but a sob escaped through the sound. "I wish that was more reassuring. I never want to see either of them again, even if they're incorporeal."

Guilt coiled in Megara's stomach. She couldn't remember ever having an honest discussion regarding the situation with her brothers. How long had she been too focused on her own pain and fears to reach out to her cousin, who was possibly more isolated than she was?

There was no reason to continue that pattern.

Megara took Ismene's hand. "I think we need to remember that we're all a family. I've always been a bad influence on my sisters, apparently, but they're still letting me talk to you. We can try to be real friends now. We don't even have to worry about getting ordered around anymore."

"I wouldn't say that. Your parents are still alive."

"They're much slower than your brothers and twice as old. I'm sure we'll get along in spite of them."

"I love our little talks," Megarion said. "It's how I feel connected to this family."

"Don't even pretend you don't need the humor to survive," Haemon said.

"Where's Antigone?" Megara asked him. "She'd normally be here counting Ismene's tears and telling her to cry harder."

Ismene nudged Megara. "Leave her alone. She's going through more than me. She actually liked them."

With a derisive noise, Megara checked the door to ensure Antigone wasn't about to join them. "That just shows she's got rotten judgment. We should all pitch in and get her a medal."

"Be careful with that. We might pick an award for you, too!" Haemon said. "Maybe an award for the least practical hairstyle."

The room erupted with laughter, but Megara was busy combing her hair through her ringlets and glaring at anyone who laughed. Her foul expression did nothing to restrain anyone's reaction, and Haemon seemed to think it made his joke even funnier.

What irritated her most was hearing Hercules join in. Her look worked on him, at least.

"I'm sorry, Meg, I only laughed because everyone else was laughing. Your hair is beautiful." He joined in playing with her hair, and he tucked a tendril behind her ear.

"Laughter is the only way to get through days like this," Menoikeus said. "Nothing's personal, Meg, and we all appreciate how bold you are with your signature style."

"I see all of you have something to be happy about today." Antigone darkened the doorway to the dining hall, wearing a fully black outfit with a black veil. "Come on. Tell me what's funny."

Nobody wanted to answer that except for Megara.

She stood up despite Ismene grasping her arm. "Tigs, if you don't come down off your high horse, I'm going to feed it a carrot and make it get down on its knees to eat it."

"That one was too elaborate!" Antigone snapped. "If you're going to insult me, at least make it make sense."

"Here's one for you: Stop trying to make us feel bad that only the worst people in the family are dead. Their boneheaded nastiness could've killed all of us today, and you'd still make it all about those losers. Get a grip, get a life, and for the love of all that's holy, get over yourself."

Hercules was watching her; she saw him from the corner of her eye. She couldn't turn to see, as she would have to turn away from Antigone, so she didn't know if he was admiring her or thinking of how insane she was.

Antigone bundled her black himation more tightly around herself. Her glare flitted around the room until it landed on Hercules. "You. Interloper. What are you doing mingling with family business?"

"I'm… well, I…" There was no misinterpreting the look of "help!" on that face.

Megara hopped onto the dining couch so she could both block the view of Hercules and also look down on her cousin. "Don't you dare question why my boyfriend is here! He's the hero who helped turn the tide of today's battle, the one that almost took down all of Thebes and which your brothers caused. Hercules isn't going anywhere. I'm going to marry him someday, so get used to him."

She heard Hercules gasp behind her but didn't turn as it might undermine the conviction of her words.

Antigone turned away then. "Enjoy yourselves, you selfish sods. You'd better just consider, though; you all have each other, and my father's line has ended." She stalked out of the room then and slammed the door behind her.

Hercules took Megara by the hand and supported her waist to bring her down to sit on the couch beside him. "Not going anywhere, huh? We're going to get married?"

"How else does someone get to be a consort?"

"No idea, but I just liked to hear you say it."

"Wait 'til my parents get here. I'll say it even louder."