All in a Days Work {Darius}

[Zoe Harris]

There was nothing like the feel of a good bike beneath a girl to make everything else seem irrelevant. Zoe adore the hum of horsepower pouring from the Ducanti's motor and the way it handled like a fine tuned instrument in the hands of a professional musician. With her slightest movement, it adjusted and obeyed her every command.


Which was good since the pace she and Darius set was enough to give even the baddest biker heart palpitations.

At the crazy speed they were going, the slightest mistake would have left them smashed like bugs against the pavement. Or at least would have had they been human.

Yeah, there were definitely perks to being immortal.


On a fairly level stretch of freeway, Zoe gunned the motor and swept around Darius to take the lead. They'd played leap frog for the last half an hour but their exit was coming up and she needed to let him know. With a swift cut in front of him, she flipped her blinker and started to ease down her speed. The exit ramp came up fast but the goddess didn't even hesitate as she took the turn and barreled down on to the street below. A few horns blared at them but Zoe simply laughed as she weaved in and out of the cars stuck in a traffic jam.

Thank The GODS for bikes.

Finally, reaching Rodeo, she turned to the south and headed through a few alleys until she reached the spot she was looking for. It was directly behind one of the more famous nightclubs in Hollywood and it looked like the body might have been dumped there intentionally. Thank God a supernatural had found it before the humans. THey'd managed to avert a disaster and cast a "no see" spell over the scene before any hue and cry could be raised from the mortals. Thank the Gods.

There were already a few bikes parked there and Zoe recogized Brom right off. So the wolf had sent his brother out to check on things, had he? Figured. He'd want to know as much as possible about the death and his brother was the natural choice to send. Brom might be the less intense brother but he was no slouch in the intelligence department either.


"Yo, Brom!" she called out, dismounting the bike and pulling the helmet off. Giving her long hair a shake, she let it cascade down her back and then plunked the mask down on her seat. A quick, warning look at Darius that told him to behave was the only concession she gave to her companion as she strolled forward to give the huge wolf a knuckle

bump."I got it from here. Why don't you head back to Wulf and tell him I'll let him know if I figure out anything. I'm sure you got better things to do then stand around here."

Grinning, the dark haired shifter gave her a wink and playfully grinned. "Now Zoe, you know I live to serve beautiful women. Could be that I'm content to hang out here and watch your pretty ass. You know.. Make sure you don't get yourself killed too."


Arching a brow, Zoe rolled her eyes. "Yeah.. and I've got about as much of a chance of becoming the Virgin Mary too... YOu know I'm way to much woman for you to handle Fenrisulfr. You prefer big breasted barbie dolls who have the IQ of an ant. Anything more is a threat to your male ego."

Barking out a laugh, Brom slapped the goddess on her shoudler and turned back to his own bike after nodding at Darius. "Your loss, goddess. Your loss. If you don't need me then.. I'll leave you two to play."

That said, he mounted the bike and zoomed out of sight. Sighing, the chocolate haired beauty shook her head and then turned to face the scene. Time to get to work.

"Come on, Iceman... We've got work to do!" she declared, pacing down the alley to where the body lay in a complex mirage of circles."Damn... It looks as if someone were just taking out the trash and the poor sap was part of it. Who the HELL would have the clout to do this??" she pondered out loud, treading the outside barrier. Power fairly danced from the fields of energy that rose from the various symbols. It made a shiver run down Zoe's back and she could practically feel the evil reaching for her. "Shit... this is SOOOOOOO not good." she muttered under her breath.

[Zoe Harris]

Darius:

Just because she was a freaking daughter of the Gods didn't mean that she couldn't lose an arm or a leg! And then there was the whole 'if I get run over by a truck and then heal, people might freak out' deal that would definitely draw attention into places that didn't need it. Hell, he'd been out of the loop for Gods knew how many centuries and he still knew that!

It was with this mindset that Darius jerked the key out of the ignition and hefted himself off the bike. He frowned at the building that loomed over them and the large man that Zoe waved to when he finally made it to the door. Damn, he wouldn't get a chance to lecture her just yet.

Nah well, there was just the house. At night. And maybe some silk bindings for her arms--FUCK.


The look she gave him was met with a scowl and the demi-God had to physically shove his hands into his pockets, to stop himself from flipping her the bird. That look practically screamed 'down boy, down!' and it made his newly freed teeth grind together. He'd have to learn which was a friendly command and which was meant in the Mistress' manner, he thought to himself as he practically stomped toward the bar and took a seat. He just couldn't be sure if she were telling him to behave because this was her friend's place and he was a surely bastard, or if she was TELLING him to behave.

Biting back a few choice curses, he just grabbed a bottle before the bartender could say anything and chugged down half its contents.


"She'll pay later," He said, pointing at Zoe. Then, when she finally turned back and beckoned for him to join her, he calmly got up and followed her outside. Where he proceeded to gape and jerk back at the blast of power that emenated from the markings on the ground.


"What the in HADES is that?" He growled, holding up a hand as if to ward off the vile aura seeping into his own. "And why does it make me wanna grab a butter knife and go after Granny?"

Zoe:

Well, wasn't THAT just the million dollar question of the day?

"I gaurentee, Hades had nothing to do with this and that question is what we are here to answer, Captian Obvious." came the snarky reply even before she'd had time to think about her answer. "And any move to go for that sort of thing?? You better be preying that you've made nice to whatever god you pray too cause I'm going to kick your ass three ways from Sunday."

Giving the other demigod a look, Zoe moved closer to the circle and knelt down. For once, there was no joking in her manner nor any sign of sarcasm. Her demeanor was cold steel and her mind was focused completely on the job before her as she searched for clue around the circles. Careful to leave the lines untouched, the dark haired goddess raised a hand and gentled felt the barrier.

"Holy hell... If I'm not mistaken... This is some ancient sort of black magic... It steals powers and energy forces in exchange for the sacrifices soul....."

Following the flow of magic down to a particular symbol, Zoe frowned and a perplexed look crossed her features. "I'd swear I've seen this writing somewhere before... Only.. its been a long time..."

Leaning further down, the dark haired beauty was so intent on the sketchings that she didn't realize how close she was to the field of energy until sparks suddenly flew around her.

"SHIT!" she hissed, throwing herself backwards and away just as the inner layer of spells turned a nasty orange and began to expand. "SHIT SHIT SHIT!! EVERYBODY BACK!! ITS GOING TO BLOW!!" she shouted out, scrambling to get to her feet. "ITS BEEN BOOBIE TRAPPED!!!"


As far as a warning went, it was a bit late in coming. Still swearing and trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened, the greek goddess felt the heat of the coming blast fill the air behind her.

Glancing around wildly, she saw that the others in the area where already diving for cover but she wasn't going to make it. On some level, she knew that the imminent explosion was going to pour a magical poison out with its destruction so instead of making a futile dash for safety, she turned and faced the malevolent force. Pulling on the powers granted to her by birthright, she worked to build a bubble around the fiery charge.

"Come on, baby.... " she muttered out loud as she worked, knowing she had mere moments to contain the damage. "Just a little bit more, baby ... thats it...Come on... COME ON!"

Just as she was pulling the final shield into place, the bubble burst. Detentating with a tremendous force, the spell whiplashed around the protective barrier until it found the weakest link. Finding the flaw, it poured straight at the goddess struggling to contain it and hit her full force. Without her own protective shields, Zoe was flung backwards in a fiery ball of magic even as the rest of the bubble collapsed inwardly leaving nothing but a blackened mess behind.

[Zoe Harris]

Muttering a 'dammit' under his breath, Darius continued to scowl at the magical circles drawn all over the alley. That crap was really starting to make him want to vomit, and the feeling was definitely not appreciated...nor was the fact that he was secretly hoping Hades DID have something to do with it, so he could watch the other Demi-Gods hunt his hairy ass down. Yeah, he knew Zoe was being a smart ass, but still...who could besmirch him some blood feud hatred?

"Look, I'm so happy that you're going down memory lane here, but isn't magic supposed to disappate?" He asked, taking a few steps toward her, eyes never leaving the shining pattern. "I don't think you should get to close, Zoe. What if it's still aciva--AW, C'MON."

He just KNEW this crap was going to be more annoying than it looked. Instinctively, Darius began to crouch down to protect himself, but catching sight of little Cupid practically giving the glowing sigils the evil eye, he was back up and leaping toward her with a curse. Of fuckin' COURSE, she wouldn't have the brains to protect herself. Why not? She was technically a God, right? Stupid, arrogant, hard headed--

BOOM.

The explosion rocked him back on his heels and before the fire could reach him, he fazed out of the mortal plane and into the one between their world and that of the dead. The ghosts with too little energy to manifest gave him a wide berth as he materialized in it; instead seeming to enjoy the light show back in the alleyway. He cursed again, good and loud, when he 'saw' Zoe fly backwards and moved back into normal reality just as she was ready to hit the ground. Catching her about the shoulders, so she wouldn't knock her head on the pavement, he cradled her in his lap.

"That was such a bad idea, Cupid," He grumbled, eyeing the burn wounds on her body. Hopefully, her inhuman heritage would have her healing in no time. "Wake the hell up so I can berate you, dammit. C'mon...Zoe, open your eyes...

Well, THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS! Those words were the first ones that rang through her brain when she made sense of Darius's voice. Bad idea? No kidding? She hadn't figured THAT one out for herself when she'd been the receiving end of a magical fireball. Keeping those thoughts to herself though, Zoe groaned and opened her eyes. For a moment, she only saw a kaleidescope of colors before they readjusted and brought her demi-gods face into focus. The concern on his face made her wonder just how badly she'd been hit but the sound of approaching people was what really brought reality home. "Shit.." she got out in a smoky whisper. "Can't... let them.. See us..."

In an effort to push herself up, Zoe felt the world shift around her and fell back into Darius's lap. Pain wracked her body and she knew that it was going to take some doing before she'd be able to shimmer them out of here. Son of a bitch. This was just what she DIDN"T need. That left only one option. Glancing upwards, Zoe sighed. "Darius, your going to have to flash us out of here... I will heal but I need time to recharge. Can't you take us both? If not, we're in a mess load of trouble..."

As she waited for his response, the shouts and pounding footsteps drew closer. Taking a quick evaluation of her injuries, Zoe knew that they werent fatal but it was always harder to heal from magical weapons. She desperately needed some downtime to pull everything back together and figure out just what kind of spell it was that had hit her. It definitely wasn't anything she was familiar with, that was for sure.

And that meant... She was going to have to call her parents.

Oh Happy Happy Joy Joy.

A curse of his own escaped his lips, but it was more in relief than in distress. It was like someone poured a cool bucket of water over his overheated self, when those familiar eyes opened up to peer up at him. It was obvious that she was in pain, but he knew she'd live...and the utter elation that he felt surprised the living hell out of him. Okay, so there was the fact that, if she died, he'd go back to Hades...but this went a bit beyond the normal 'yay, I'm still free!' feeling. He was not amused.

Finally, after a minute of staring down at her with utter relief on his face, the demi-god realized what she was talking about and cursed again. "Yeah, I can flash us out of here; just hang onto me and...hold your breath for a moment." Ignoring the sound of pounding feet getting closer, Darius closed his eyes and willed them into the In Between. Like sliding through oily water, he managed to bring the both of them and with a little grunt as the effort caused his head to throb, he hefted her up into his arms.

"Alright, you can breathe again," He informed her, moving away from the firemen and human bystanders that hurried onto the scene. If any one of them touched them, they'd feel a blast of cold air and for Darius and Zoe, it would feel...nasty. Like an uncomfortable tingle in places where no tingles should be able to go. So, managing to zig zag around most of the crowd, he trotted across the street, ignoring the spectral forms that littered the world between reality and true death.

Crossing the street was a tad tricky, as cars lined up bumper to bumper in order to see the fiery scene, but he managed. And when they reached an alleyway down the block, he let go of his old on the ghostly world and flashed them back into reality. Gently, he set her down near the back, where they could rest for a moment without being seen. He could get them both back to her place using his 'reaper powers,' but he wanted to make sure she wasn't about to keel over on him again.

"How are you?" He asked, looking her over with a scowl. "You just HAD to go poke at the big, glowing sigil, didn't you? You could've gotten your head blown off!"

She was going to have the mother of all headaches. As Darius carried them to safety, Zoe closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping her head from exploding. Although she was a goddess, she still could be injured and unlike most.. She didn't heal instantly. This episode was definitely going to leave a mark and her brain was still trying to take in all the ramifications of what had happened. Zoe was no stranger to magic or supernatural powers by whatever had made that... It was something out of her experience level. This was one that was going to have to go to the big guys and she was in no condition to deal with whatever attitude they copped with her at the moment.

When they were finally out of the gathering crowd and Darius set her down, Zoe tried to get herself together. Unfortunately, having taken the force of the magical blast, she felt as if someone had run over her with a mack truck. She was going to need to rest and recharge before she dealt with an logistics. When Darius began to harrange her, she merely opened her eyes and looked at him before closing them.

"Other than feeling like I was the whipping girl for a nuclear explosion?? I'm fine and dandy. Ready to get right and party all night. Thanks for asking. And like I had any clue that stupid thing was going to do that. How may rings of power have you seen that explode like that? Normally, they just fall or have a nasty backlash that I'm immune too. I've never seen a boobie trapped one like that!"

Pushing herself upwards, the goddess winced and stumbled forward only to catch herself on Darius's arm.

"Son of a cracker snatcher.... I swear I"m going to find the asshat who cast that freaking spell and show him a whole new level of ass kicking. Not only do we have a demigod dead... but now we have no body, no evidence and humans on the scene. Whoever broke that seal was going to cause an explosion and it could have killed dozens of innocents. We were meant to SEE the body but not get near enough to it to gather any evidence... and that just royally PISSES ME OFF!"

Taking in a deep breath, Zoe reached up and rubbed her temple that was trobbing like a fiend. Damn it, she hated when something got the best of her but she wasn't going to be much good to anyone unless she took a time out. Glancing upwards, she gave a rueful smile before sighing. "Bet this wasn't exactly how you envisioned your first night out on the town, was it? I need to report in to Wulf about this or at least talk to someone who will before I can rest. This crap is serious stuff...."

The wan, pale look on her face made him instantly regret his hot words. With a grumble, irritated at the sudden surge of guilt and concern that washed over him, he shoved a hand through his hair and forced a deep, calming breath into his lungs. When she caught his arm, he immediately moved to help her up; supporting her with his shoulder as he bent down. At this rate, he'd be close enough to steal a kiss, one groggy part of his brain thought. It was instantly slapped into submission, but for a few seconds, he just couldn't stop staring at her lips. He'd call it shock later.

"Calm, Zoe," He murmured to her, awkwardly rubbing at her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. It had been so damn long since he'd been around anyone, save Hades and Persephone, that he feared he'd lost some of his social graces. Fighting the urge to take her by the shoulders and physically FORCE her to stay still, he listened to her ranting and frowned, looking out at the street in front of them.

"To tell you the truth, I was expecting something along these lines, yeah. They do involve you, afterall," He said, giving her a teasing little smile. When she mentioned reporting the incident to a superior, the expression vanished, instantly replaced by the same look of irritation that he always wore. "Yeah, like you have enough strength to stand up, let alone go see your boss."

He paused, eyeing her for a minute, then sighed and shook his head. "You could syphon some of my powers," He said quickly, before he could think better of it. Refusing to meet her eyes, he stared down at her stomach, rising up and down with each breath. "Hades used to do it sometimes, when he was fighting with his siblings, or wanted to piss me off. You could take some of my powers; it'd help you heal yourself and, or a limited time, 'flit' through the In Between and get to your friend's place twice as fast. You just...think it, and it'd happen. Since you own my contract, and all."

The mere thought of her weakening him had his shoulders tightening and his mind rebelling, but he forced himself to say the words. If this were Hades, he'd have hoped the explosion was ten times more potent...but this was Zoe. Something inside him wanted to help her; to see her up and about, mouthing off to him while kicking the crap out of some moron. The sight of her lying in his arms, bloody and weak, made him...hurt. In his chest.

It was all very strange.

har, Har, Har. Everyone was a comedian and she'd gotten stuck with a demigod with a rotten sense of humor.

Resisting the urge to give him a snarky retort, Zoe gave him a speaking glance before pulling herself upright. Instantly, pain swamped her body and she was forced to almost bend double once more. Son of a basket maker.. That freaking spell had packed a punch. Whoever had set it had known that another demigod or god would more than likely try to dissemble it. They'd known that leaving any evidence behind would lead to their undoing so they'd tripped it to self destruct. That so didn't bode well for their side.

And then Darius's words registered.

Turning to look at him, Zoe gave him her best "ARE YOU STUPID?" look. Seriously? What kind of girl did he take her for? Whatever gods or goddesses he'd been hanging with were definitely not the sort that had given him a good impression of their kind. Oh, wait.. Probably because that was HADES. Yeah, ok so maybe that explained it but Zoe never took from anyone and she wasn't about to start now. After centuries of making a point of standing on her own two feet, she wasn't about to start using other peoples powers just because she got a little magic burn.

"Uh.. yeah, you know what? Thanks for the offer.. Really.. Seriously.. thanks. However, I'm not exactly the sharing sort and I'll be a monkey's damned evolutionary auntie before I'll take anothers powers.Call me old fashioned but I prefer to work with what I got instead of relying on others. Besides, i wouldn't know how to work them even if I did." she said with a snort before shooting him a grin that said she wasn't insulting him but genuinely grateful for the offer. "How about this... You flash us home, I'll call Wulf and fill him in. If we're lucky, that will be enough and we can shower and spend the rest of the night eating pizza and watching old hollywood horror films. Sound like a plan? Sounds like a plan to me!"

Not that they'd probably get that lucky but it was worth a shot, right? RIGHT!

[Zoe Harris]

It was a hard battle, but Darius managed not to show the amount of relief he felt, when she declared syphoning his powers would be the last thing she'd do. He hated being weak around anyone, almost as much as he hated her uncle, and the mere thought of her draining his powers...it had been enough to drive him a bit mad. But he'd soldiered through it, determined to help his new friend in any way he could.

Now, if only she didn't give him a look that made him question his intelligence. Cue some major eyelid twitching...

"Fine. You're funeral," He muttered, turning away to mentally check his own batteries. It was always a bitch; moving through the In Between with another living person. When Hades had first shoved his boot up his ass, he'd taken away most of Darius' God abilities; locking them away in the same sfora/medallion that contained his contract. Thus, the ability to 'flit,' as Zoe so elegantly put it, had been taken away and replaced by a more professional ability. Because Hades wanted souls, Darius would be able to move in and out of the ghost world. Simple as that.
Darius: Now, taking a living, breathing person into said world and making sure they didn't die themselves? That was a bit trickier...not that he'd let her know it. Bah, he'd just do what she said and sneak off to an empty room and recharge. He'd felt worse discomfort before.

So, without further ado, he scooped her up in his arms again. "Take a deep breath, Cupid," He said with a little grin. Without waiting for her answer or for the elbow in the gut he was probably going to get, he focused his mind and 'flashed,' sending them speeding through the In Between and toward Zoe's house. They dodged various spirits and despondant ghosts still getting used to the fact that they were dead. Every now and again, a light would appear and scoop up one of the spirits, dragging them to either Heaven or Hell. Darius ignored them all, focusing on the familiar light of the goddess' home.


Once inside, he instantly flashed them back to reality and staggered a bit, muttering under his breath. He managed to make it to the living room and deposit her somewhat gently onto the couch, before plopping down onto a recliner next to it. Rubbing at his forehead, he eyed the still open pizza box and then turned his attention to her. "Fast enough for you?"

CONTINUED IN SHACKLES AND CHAINS

[Zoe Harris]

It was a hard battle, but Darius managed not to show the amount of relief he felt, when she declared syphoning his powers would be the last thing she'd do. He hated being weak around anyone, almost as much as he hated her uncle, and the mere thought of her draining his powers...it had been enough to drive him a bit mad. But he'd soldiered through it, determined to help his new friend in any way he could.

Now, if only she didn't give him a look that made him question his intelligence. Cue some major eyelid twitching...

"Fine. You're funeral," He muttered, turning away to mentally check his own batteries. It was always a bitch; moving through the In Between with another living person. When Hades had first shoved his boot up his ass, he'd taken away most of Darius' God abilities; locking them away in the same sfora/medallion that contained his contract. Thus, the ability to 'flit,' as Zoe so elegantly put it, had been taken away and replaced by a more professional ability. Because Hades wanted souls, Darius would be able to move in and out of the ghost world. Simple as that.
Darius: Now, taking a living, breathing person into said world and making sure they didn't die themselves? That was a bit trickier...not that he'd let her know it. Bah, he'd just do what she said and sneak off to an empty room and recharge. He'd felt worse discomfort before.

So, without further ado, he scooped her up in his arms again. "Take a deep breath, Cupid," He said with a little grin. Without waiting for her answer or for the elbow in the gut he was probably going to get, he focused his mind and 'flashed,' sending them speeding through the In Between and toward Zoe's house. They dodged various spirits and despondant ghosts still getting used to the fact that they were dead. Every now and again, a light would appear and scoop up one of the spirits, dragging them to either Heaven or Hell. Darius ignored them all, focusing on the familiar light of the goddess' home.


Once inside, he instantly flashed them back to reality and staggered a bit, muttering under his breath. He managed to make it to the living room and deposit her somewhat gently onto the couch, before plopping down onto a recliner next to it. Rubbing at his forehead, he eyed the still open pizza box and then turned his attention to her. "Fast enough for you?"

CONTINUED IN SHACKLES AND CHAINS