Bad Blood

"Gods if I have to sit on another council today I just might fucking murder someone," Zeus grumbled aloud as he watched the horde of hellraisers take their leave. This meeting, thank the heavens, had been relatively short. More of a check in between Ares and Hades' men to see how training was progressing. Of course Zeus had been at the wrong damn place at the wrong damn time and Ares roped him into sitting in.

He stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders. He needed a drink. Zeus exited Hades' meeting hall and headed for the office. The likelihood of Hades being there was slim, especially with Dark and Poseidon still missing.

It's not like Zeus didn't care that his brother and Hades' lover... girlfriend... whatever the hell...were missing, he just knew they were both more than capable of taking care of themselves. What he was really concerned about, and what Hera had echoed in her misgivings that morning, was that they were somewhere they *wanted* to be. That was infinitely worse than them being in trouble, as bad as that sounded.

Hades was a powder keg staring at a flame. The last thing any of them needed in the middle of this war was him losing his entire shit. He was one of the strongest weapons they had. Zeus pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked across the field between the palace and the dorms. He'd seen Poseidon watch Angel, and though he often pretended he didn't, Zeus had seen him watching Dark even more intently. And he knew Hades and Poseidon had already fought it out over her right before the involution.

"Highness" was uttered by several maids who curtsied as he passed. The hellraisers called him "King Zeus and went to a half knee, bowing their heads. One thing he rather enjoyed about being in his brother's home was the conduct of his employees. They were above reproach with their etiquette and decorum. This was something he'd be instilling his own guards. They were respectful enough but a bit too lazy when it came to their responsibilities and it showed. Though he'd never tell Hades his guards were better or risk never hearing the end of it.

Zeus strode through the halls and to the office door, reaching to pull the door open just as he heard cursing and a loud thump. He threw the door wide and startled at the scuffle he was walking in on.

"YOU FUCKING SWINE!" Hades spat, locking Poseidon's head with his elbow, "I WARNED YOU ONCE!" Coeus and Hyperion were standing in the corner near the entrance to Hades' private office, arms crossed, looking like all they were missing was a bag of popcorn for the show. Zeus arrived just in time to see Tantalus portal out.

*Fuck*, Zeus closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself. He supposed Dark and Poseidon had been a bit too cozy for Hades' comfort after all. Now wasn't the time to try and get all the details.

"I swear we didn't do anything," Poseidon gasped, "At least nothing that mattered!" Hades growled, tightening his hold until Poseidon's neck crunched.

Without a hesitation, Poseidon wrenched his brother's arm away from his neck and flipped him over using his back. Hades crashed into the office meeting table, splitting it down the middle. The sound of wood fracturing and items crashing into the floor could probably be heard from down the hall and it was going to cause unnecessary panic.

Zeus took a breath and stepped into the fray, heading towards the titans.

"What the holy hell happened?!"

Coeus shrugged with a shit-eating grin, "Hell if I know but I won't complain. I've been bored for centuries." Hyperion snickered, nudging his brother with his elbow, "And they call us hot-headed..."

Hades threw himself up by his legs, landing gracefully on the balls of his feet, then tackling Poseidon into Nyx's desk. He dragged the sea king up by his tee shirt, "THAT WAS MY ONLY GODSDAMNED RULE! YOU-YOU- FUCKING WHIRLPOOL!" He roared, slamming them both into the wall whose facing slid to the floor. Poseidon kicked him across the room.

"Really? You insult about as well as you keep a girlfriend, brother," Poseidon groused with a chaotic smile, ignoring the cracks all over his mouth.

Hyperion and Coeus were howling, clutching their sides as they tried to calm themselves, "A-a *whirlpool*!" Coeus wheezed, "I might be fucking crying right now." Even Zeus snorted by accident, choking on his own spit, "Can both of you calm down? This is hardly the time for this," he put his palms out between their heaving forms, acting as peacemaker while he moved to block the door. But neither man was paying him any attention.

"Fuck you," Hades said pointedly, and was off the floor and smacking a fist into the side of Poseidon's temple in a blink, "I know you're fucking *lying*! I know you as well as I know my damn self and I *know* that guilty godsdamned look!"

Poseidon spat a little blood out onto the floor and dropped his arrogant smile, "Okay, we kissed but that's it!" he slid around the room towards the doorway, "I knew you were going to be pissed about it so I just figured lying was better. I don't really know what happened. One minute we were fighting and the next... we weren't... And... I *might* have felt her up a *little*... like hardly even worth mentioning really... but then I accused her of using temptation on me and now I'm pretty sure she hates my guts so... no harm no foul?" He tried to laugh but it came out as more of a burst of air as he bolted past Zeus and into the hall. Zeus barely had a moment to gather himself before Hades was barreling into him like a bowling ball.

"Wh-" Zeus' body flew into the hallway wall. He could feel the spider cracks snaking up his back, "That's fucking IT!"

Lightning blasted out of him with a sonic boom. It flew down the hall and arched along the ceiling, sliding up the walls and across the floor. It had wound around both gods before Hades could even reach Poseidon again and sank them both to their knees. Zeus pushed more electricity out of himself, sizzling deeper into their flesh as they clawed and screamed.

"I SAID ENOUGH!" he roared, dropping the energy until it fizzled into nothing, "NOW GET UP! We can't be at each other's throats like this when Asteria shows up. This shit is petty and secondary to what's important. Who Dark fucks, who Angel loves, whose throat you're going to rip out... it's all SECONDARY to this godsdamned war! ACT LIKE IT!"

Hades leaned his head against the floor, panting. He put his thumb up, the only sign that he'd understood what Zeus had said. Poseidon shook his head and laughed, "Don't you get tired of acting like our dad?"

"Don't you get tired of acting like my child?"

Poseidon rolled his eyes but stood, reaching a hand out of help Hades up, "I'm attracted to her. I don't know who wouldn't be. But I don't want to hurt you. I officially backing the hell off, okay?"

Hades made slits of his eyes but he nodded and accepted his brother's hand.

"GREAT! Glad that's sorted. I need a fucking drink. You two idiots are welcome to join," Zeus turned to the titans with a smirk, "And my brothers can come too of course."

Hades snorted loudly, "Zeus made a joke! The world is officially ending."

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Dark watched CeeCee push open another tall door that confused her. Why the hell did the doors have to be ten feet tall? Nothing was that tall and she'd never seen a place with so many floor-to-ceiling doors.

The giant doors gave way to a surprisingly small room, cozy by castle standards. Dark spied a small fireplace along one wall and a large pool table near the back. Along the back wall was a huge bar that spanned from one wall to the other.

CeeCee started moving furniture around to make room for their table as if this were the most normal thing in the world. Dark was seriously struggling with the fact that she'd tracked these goddesses down for a real reason and now she was just shooting the shit so she could get everything off her chest. When the hell had she gone so fucking soft?! Poseidon was an asshole, so what? That wasn't even really news, he was always an asshole. The issue was the coiling pit of emotion in her stomach. She growled to herself as they magically set the table down in an open area and reassembled chairs around it.

CeeCee raided the bar and brought fresh cocktails over for each of them. Dark guzzled hers and with the flick of her magical wrist, Circe refilled it.

"I'll never get tired of that," Dark huffed a laugh, "I'm definitely not stopping until I'm on my ass this time."

Circe laughed, tucking into her own drink.

"Alright so give up the story, why the hell are you so comfortable in Zeus' castle and moving all his shit around?" Dark asked, already figuring the answer.

Circe gave a guilty sigh, "We've hooked up a few times over the years. It's not a big deal."

"It is if Hera finds out..." Thia groused suddenly finding the wall fascinating.

"She doesn't come to his private area and he doesn't go to hers," Circe informed them matter of factly, "We're fine. As long as he doesn't decide to host a boys night. And trust me those are like once in a millennium."

Thia rolled her eyes and pulled out a tin container and flipped back the lid, "I'm not above getting high and I feel like I need it to weather whatever the hell might happen tonight."

Dark gave her a wolfish smile, "Are you sharing, bestie?"

"Go ahead and get trashed," Thia joked, "There's no one here to see it. Just don't blame me when you're off your ass later."

Dark eyed the powdered pills greedily, "How many should I take?"

"Eh- three," Thia quirked, "You've had a shit few days." Circe laughed, palming four or five in her hand and tossing them back like candy. Thia glared, shaking several out for herself and taking them. Dark plucked her three pill shapes into her palm and Thia handed her the fresh glass of fruity cocktail. And Dark took it all with a few gulps.

"Let the games begin!"

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Author's note: Hey guys! So happy to be updating here. Just an FYI that I'll be updating this story as often as the inspiration strikes but at the very least I'll do once or twice a week and I'll be taking weekends off to rest <3 As always, feel free to tell me what you want to happen next! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo