"So, you're taking me where?"

"An old friend. Well, not exactly a friend. The sister of a friend." He sounded a little tense. "She's got a shrine in Sparta."

I kind of lost track of our trip. I do know he didn't just blink us there. I don't know why. It didn't take too long, though. I don't think it did, anyhow. I didn't really notice anything until he put me down to open a heavy wooden door. It looked like the back door of a temple. I've snuck through one or two of those before. Inside was a homey little room, with a pair of low, wide couches and a hearth. Wood had been laid in the hearth, but it wasn't lit. Strife set me down on one of the couches. It was long enough to stretch out on, and comfortable enough to sleep on. Better than most places I've slept. I watched, blearily, as he paced around the small chamber. He looked nervous. I wondered why.

But when SHE stepped into the room, I didn't think anything at all.

She was a goddess. She just couldn't not be. Tall . . . even for a man, she'd be tall. Her skin was dark, so deep a brown that the abstract black tattoos covering her body were difficult to make out. The pale gold of her eyes, and of her close-cropped hair, was a stunning contrast. She was naked, like an athlete in the Games, and muscled like one. Oh, and the wings . . . they weren't fluffy and white, like Cupid's, but sleek-looking, speckled brown, gray, and cream. A hawk's wings, not a swan's.

"Nike," Strife chuckled a little, uneasily. "You're looking well."

She looked at him, stern and calculating. "Strife. You little weasel." She laughed then. I think it was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. "Last time I saw you, you were putting snails in my sandals."

He fidgeted like a little boy. "Aw, Nike, that was five hundred years ago!"

"Might as well have been five days. I don't think you've grown up half as much as you should have." She was still smiling, though. "Why should I do you any favors?"

"Come ON, Nike!" He was whining, and sounded maybe eight years old. "Me and your kid brother, we were like," he held up two fingers pressed together "this, doesn't that make us... well, something?"

"You know what it makes us, Strife? Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She was shaking her head a little, but she was still smiling. I hoped that was a good thing. "Anyway, when's the last time you hung out with Zelos?"

"Ok, so we kinda grew apart... he got all serious an' shit. But, hey, old times sake, y'know?"

"Old times, my ass." She reached out and grabbed him by the hair, holding his face inches from her own. "This is the first unselfish thing I've ever seen you do. Of course I'll help you out, you little twit." She gave him a quick shake before letting go of his hair. Then she turned to me, and my breath just stuck in my throat. Sky and cloud, she was impressive! "So, you're the magician that's given Our Strife a backbone."

I blinked at her. I know, somewhat less than brilliant, but I was having a bad day.

"Well, I'm Nike. You can stay here for a while, but don't be any more hassle than you can help, or you'll wish it was Discord that had ya. Ok?" Her friendly grin took most of the sting out of her words.

"Um. Yeah, of course. Thank you."

She turned back to Strife. "Manners! Why didn't you tell me she had manners!" She shot a look at me. "If you can teach some of those to him, I'll consider us even, girl." She glanced at the wooden door we'd come in through, and narrowed her eyes a little. The door blurred and vanished, leaving only a smooth stone wall. "I'll leave you guys alone for a bit, but she is to get some rest. REST, you hear me?" With that, she was gone.

Strife sat down on the edge of the couch I was lying on. "I knew I could count on her."

"You knew, huh?" I left it there, though. No need to remind him he'd been all but pissing in his shiny black pants a few minutes ago.

"Ah, Nike's cool, she's a little intense, that's all."

"Intense, yeah." I lay back. The couch was really comfortable. I didn't exactly feel like sleeping, but I didn't want to move, either.

Strife stroked my face with the back of his hand. He looked so serious now, not at all what I was used to from him. He looked away. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have pissed Ares off. If I hadn't done that he probably wouldn't have let Discord go so far." He looked almost as if he might cry. What the fuck? "I'll get you out of this as best I can, and then I'll leave you alone. I'll try and keep Ares off your back. I won't let Discord get at you."

"But....I mean, that's not..." Shit shit shit. What was going ON here? "I..." I looked at him. This was hard. This was really hard. Why the unholy fuck was this so hard? "I want to see you again."

He stared at me like I'd started spouting prophecy or something, and for a moment I was afraid he WOULD cry.

Then he kissed me. Not a deep, wet, sexy kiss, but a soft, gentle, tentative kiss. Nobody had ever kissed me like that before.

Honest.

He just sat there for a long moment, staring at me, stroking my hair. When he eased his hand inside the waisband of the cheap trousers I was wearing, I reached for him, but he pushed my hand away.

"No. Just... rest." At least he was smiling again. I lay back, a little cautiously. "Nike made us promise you'd rest, remember?" His thumb brushed my clit, and I moaned a little, spreading my legs a bit wider. "I never said I would rest."

He slid two fingers inside me, and I automatically started pushing up against me.

"No," he shook his head, slightly. "You're supposed to be resting."

Resting. What-the-fuck-EVER. But when he started grinding his thumb on my clit, and thrusting his fingers at JUST the right angle, I forgot to sulk. Shit, he was good with his hands! I lay back, relaxed, and let him touch me. I didn't have a choice...whenever I tried to DO anything, the little prick smirked and told me to 'rest'. I couldn't keep still for long, though.

"Ahhh... coming..." Yeah, I know, I'm just a bundle of eloquence. Fuck you.

Strife's eyes never left my face as I shuddered through an explosive climax. Then he kissed me on the forehead. "Now I think you should rest some, for real."

"I can't sleep. I've hardly done anything BUT sleep."