Xander couldn't help but smile at Cupid's reaction to riding in a car. The God asked a hundred questions and almost jumped out of his Nikes when Xander turned on the radio. He hit the preset for his favorite station just in time for the beginning of 'Arms Wide Open' by Creed.

Cupid listened to the song with his eyes closed, a half-smile on his face. Once the song had ended and the commercials started, Cupid opened his eyes. "I felt the same way when I found out that I was going to be a father."

"Really? Why?"

"Being a God doesn't make being a parent any easier. Especially when the baby is also a God. One with wings." Cupid went on to tell Xander about the time Bliss had gotten a hold of his arrows and proceeded to create havoc all over Greece.

Xander was in tears, he was laughing so hard. He managed to park in his space and put his head down on the steering wheel, trying to calm down. He finally drew a shuddering breath, and wiped his hands over his eyes. "Oh, man, now that was funny."

"It might be funny now, but it sure wasn't then. I mean, do you have any idea how hard it is to convince a man that he isn't really in love with his neighbor's cow? Those two idiots tried to kill each other, over a cow!"

Xander started laughing again, and finally managed to ask, "What happened to the cow?"

Cupid mumbled something.

"What? I couldn't hear you. I was laughing too hard."

"I said...The cow got caught in the cross-fire and died." Cupid groused.

Xander gulped in a lung full of air and tried to stop, he really did. But he couldn't help himself. The laughter just rolled out of him. Finally, Cupid had no choice, but to give in to it.

They just sat there in the car, laughing like idiots. Then Cupid really got Xander going, "The man? The one in love with the cow? After she got killed, he had a funeral for her. Buried her and everything." Cupid was gasping for air, "He, he, he picked all of his wife's flowers. And, and put them on the grave. They had to dra, drag him away."

Xander collapse back in his seat and howled, thumping his fist on the seat. "Oh God, oh God. Stop, please. I can't take any more."

Xander finally got out of the car, still laughing weakly. He went around to the passenger side and opened Cupid's door for him. He grabbed the God by the arm and hauled him out of the seat. Staggering, the two men went up to Xander's apartment.

Xander opened the door and waved Cupid inside. "Have a seat. Want something to drink?"

"Thanks. I am kinda thirsty." Cupid sat on the couch and was surprised at how comfortable it was. He looked around, the furnishings weren't extravagant, nor were there a lot of them. But it was a lot nicer than he'd expected.

Xander came back and handed Cupid a Coke before sitting in the chair next to the couch. He watched Cupid study the can for a minute before taking it back and opening it for him. He watched as Cupid took his first drink.

The God sputtered and choked. "What in Hades' name is this?"

"Liquid caffeine. Guaranteed to wake you up and put hair on your chest." Xander said with a smile.

Cupid sat the can down; "I don't really want hair on my chest. I like it the way it is."

Xander snorted, "No. It won't really put hair on your chest. That's just an expression." Xander studied the God for a minute before saying, "So. You were going to tell me about the Twilight?"

Cupid sighed, "I'd hoped you'd forgotten about that. What you read was right. That is what happened. They just didn't know the whole story. Have you ever heard about Zeus?"

"Yeah, he's the King of the Gods, right?"

Cupid nodded, "My Grandfather. And he was the King of the Gods. He tried to prevent the Twilight, and died in the process. Hera, my Grandmother, went insane with grief and disappeared. Everything went to Tartarus after that. Ares was the strongest, he tried to hold everyone together, but he didn't have enough power. Lots of Gods just winked out of existence. It was like they'd never been there. People I'd known for hundreds of years, friends, family, just gone." Cupid took a big gulp of the Coke and made a face. "Then, the ones of us left, started to lose our power. Ares sent us all back to Olympus and made us sleep, trying to save as many as he could. He stayed behind. If Joxer hadn't woken him up as fast as he did, my father would have died."

Cupid slumped back into the cushions, "Once he was awake, he took himself and Joxer to Olympus and sealed it off. They've spent the last two thousand years trying to generate enough power between the two of them to keep us all alive."

"How do they generate the power?" Xander asked.

Cupid shrugged, "The first thing Ares did was make Joxer his consort, that makes him immortal. Joxer loves my father with everything that he is. That gives Ares power, just not enough. So, they fight. And I don't mean argue. I mean fight, with swords. Ares is the God of War. He gets more power from fighting than from anything else. I don't know how many times Joxer has died, trying to keep us all alive."

"Ares kills him?" Xander asked, shocked.

"Joxer is immortal, he always comes back. Dad told me that he tried to stop Joxer, but Joxer wouldn't let him. So they fight, and they've been fighting for two thousand years."

"But, there have always been wars, why doesn't Ares take power from that?"

Cupid snarled, "They aren't Ares' wars. No one fights in his name anymore. Dad told me that there is no honor in war today. If he were still in charge of War, most of the wars in the last two thousand years never would have happened. He told me about the World War II, that was just sick. Killing all those people, just because of the God they worshiped? Ares never would have put up with such a thing."

"Wow. So, why did 'The Way' want to get rid of him?"

Cupid laughed bitterly, "Believe it or not, one of the leaders used to follow Ares. She was a psychopath. She literally reveled in bloodshed. Ares was the only one who could keep her in line. Then she decided to head out on her own. She met up with this bard, annoying little girl, they became friends and then lovers. Xena was fine, for a while. Gabrielle actually managed to civilize her. But then Gabrielle found 'The Way'. The two of them started fighting for peace. It was a good idea, but they took it too far. It got to the point where everyone who disagreed with them was considered evil and had to be destroyed. It grew until it couldn't be controlled anymore and 'The Way' took on a life of its own."

"Why didn't Ares stop them?" Xander asked.

"Xena was one of my father's children, a demi-god. Ares might be the God of War, but he loves his kids. He'd never hurt any of them. He tried to make Xena understand, but she would only listen to Gabrielle. They tried to stop it in the end, once they realized that they'd been wrong, but it was too late. They were both killed by other members of 'The Way', but the damage had already been done."

Xander was shocked, "How many Gods survived?"

"Ares, me, Strife, Aphrodite, she's my mom, Apollo, Asclepius, Hephaestus, Hestia and Poseidon. Hades wasn't caught in the Twilight, he's the God of the Underworld and the people there keep him going. But he's trapped there until we can open Olympus back up. We aren't sure about Gaia or Hera. Ares is still looking for them." Cupid stared down at the floor, "Can we talk about something else? This is all really depressing."

"Oh, man. I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything, tell me about you."

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Everything." Cupid said, eagerly.

**********

"Giles," Anya said impatiently. "I'm serious. Xander is acting weird, and I saw him with someone day."

"Anya." Giles said tiredly, "Xander has always been considered weird. And he is allowed to have friends, you know."

"I know that. But the man I saw him with today wasn't human."

Giles immediately became serious; Xander had a history of attracting demons. "Are you sure? Was is a demon?"

Anya shrugged, "What else could it have been? It's not like it was a God or something."

*****

Xander paid for the pizza and even gave the delivery guy a tip. He pushed the door closed with his foot and headed back into the living room. After dropping the pizza on the coffee table, he went into the kitchen and grabbed some paper towels and a couple of beers.

He handed Cupid the beer and set the pizza box on the floor. He settled himself back on the floor and after handing Cupid a paper towel, he opened the box and pulled out a slice of pizza. He gave that slice to Cupid and took another for himself. "Okay, listen up. This is important. This," he said, gesturing to the pizza, "is pepperoni pizza, with extra cheese, of course."

"Of course." Cupid agreed.

"Now. The proper way to eat the pizza is point first. But be careful, you'll burn the piss out of the roof of your mouth. The sauce is way hot."

"Why don't you let it cool off then?" Cupid asked.

Xander gave him the 'Duh' look, "Cool off? Where's the fun in that? Pizza should only be eaten two ways. Really hot or stone cold. Nowhere in between. Now, watch carefully." Xander took a bite, pulling the pizza away from his face and letting the cheese pull out in strings. He broke the strings with his finger and shoved them in his mouth. He chewed quickly and took a drink of beer. "Now, you try."

Cupid copied Xander's moves exactly. "This is really good." He mumbled with a mouth full of cheese.

"Yep. Food of the Gods. Oh, this is the good part, watch, Dick Dirkins is going to see the monster for the first time."

Cupid watched, fascinated by the cop's reaction.

'Big guns. We need big, fucking guns.'

"What's that other guy's name again?" Cupid asked.

"Rutger Hauer. He's totally cool and someone I, personally, wouldn't want pissed at me."

"No shit." Cupid said.

**********

"No. Curly is the guy without any hair."

"Why is his name Curly when he doesn't have hair?" Cupid asked.

Xander shrugged, "It's a joke."

"Oh. I used to know someone named Curly, actually, his name was Iolaus, but Mom always called him Curly. He had hair. Curly hair."

"Then Curly was a good name for him."

**********

"Wait, wait. Let me see if I have this right. First it was Ms. Fisher, but she was actually a giant bug that wanted to eat you. And you went out with an Incan Mummy that killed people by kissing them. Then you started hanging out in utility closets with Cordelia, who was the 'Shopping Queen', but you screwed that up by kissing your best friend Willow after you'd both been kidnapped by a Bacchae, sorry, vampire. Then, you lost your virginity to a Slayer named Faith, who was actually bad, and she tried to kill you. Then, you met Anya, who used to be a demon, but isn't any more, but all she wants is sex and doesn't even know when your birthday is. Did I get that straight?"

"Yup." Xander said quietly from his position near the couch.

"And after all of that, you still like girls? Why?"

Cupid wasn't quite fast enough to dodge the pillow Xander threw at his head.

**********

Cupid picked Xander up from the floor and helped him into his bedroom. He tucked him into bed after removing his shoes. "Good night, Xander. I had fun."

"Me too." Xander mumbled. "Don't have to work tomorrow. Come over?"

"Sure. Get some sleep." Cupid bent down and kissed Xander's forehead.

Xander smiled, already asleep and dreaming.

**********

"I still haven't found anything, Mr. Giles." Tara said.

Willow shook her head, "Neither have I."

Anya pouted, "There has to be something! That guy wasn't human!"

Giles rubbed his forehead, they'd been looking for hours and found nothing. "I don't know what else we can do, Anya."

"Simple." Buffy said. "We keep an eye on Xander, when this guy shows, we grab him and beat it out of him."

*****

Xander clawed the phone off the hook while trying to get the blankets that were wrapped around him undone. "'Llo." He croaked.

"Hey, kid. Guess what?"

"Oh shit. Mike? Am I late?" Xander asked worriedly.

Mike laughed, which just made Xander's head hurt worse and he groaned. "Look outside, kid. It's raining like a bitch. Ed told me to contact everyone; we're off for the rest of the week, with pay. Be on site at seven on Monday."

"Cool. Monday. Seven. With pay."

"Xander, are you okay?" Mike asked.

"Had to explain." Xander mumbled.

"Explain what?"

"Why Curly doesn't have any hair."

"Oh." Mike actually started to giggle. "Had a few too many, huh?"

"Uh, huh."

"Go back to sleep, Xander. We'll see you Monday."

"'Kay." Xander dropped the phone on the floor and put his pillow over his head. But it was hot, too hot. Realizing he still had all his clothes on, he got undressed under the blankets and threw his clothes on the floor. Mumbling happily, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

**********

Cupid made sure to check the hall outside Xander's apartment before he materialized. He knocked on the door and heard movement on the other side. He waited a couple of minutes but the door didn't open. He started to knock again when the door opened under his hand. He took one look at Xander's bloodshot eyes and pushed him back into the apartment, stepped inside and closed the door, quietly.

Cupid put one hand on Xander's head, "I'm not as good as Asclepius at this, but I think I can help." He sent a brief surge of power through his hand, completely eradicating Xander's hangover.

Xander grinned, "Wow, thanks. I think I'm going to live."

"Cool." Cupid grinned. The power he'd used was repaid tenfold by Xander's heartfelt thanks. "So. What did you want to do today?"

Xander shrugged, "We could hang out, or go to the mall or something."

Cupid fidgeted, "Um, I have an idea, if you'd be willing."

"What have you got planned?" Xander asked, curiously.

"Would you like to come to Olympus? I could show you around and you could meet Bliss."

"Olympus? You want me to come to Olympus?"

Cupid frowned at the incredulous tone in Xander's voice. "Sure. Why not? I spent the day in your home, now you should see mine. That is if you want to. We can stay here if you'd rather."

Xander grinned, "Oh no. You're not getting out of this, Flyboy. Olympus, huh? Cool."

Cupid held out his hand, "Hang on tight."

Xander took Cupid's hand in his and they vanished.

**********

Buffy knocked on Xander's door, when there was no answer, she used the key she'd gotten from Anya. She looked around the apartment, but Xander was obviously gone. She called Willow. "Is he at work?"

"No." Willow said, "It's raining too hard. He's off until Monday."

"Well, he's not home and his car is still here. I guess we're going to have to wait. I'll meet you back at the Magic Box."

**********

Xander staggered when the 'trip' was over. The room spun so he closed his eyes. He was glad he did when he felt his stomach begin to heave, Cupid's strong hands grabbed his arms and helped him sit down before he fell down. A cool cloth was placed on the back of his neck and a soft said, "Here. Try to drink this. Trust me, it will help."

Xander took the goblet and drained it. The icy cold water hit his stomach and made it stop moving. He cautiously opened his eyes to see a stranger crouched in front of him. He had dark hair, fair skin and dark brown eyes. He looked enough like Xander to be a relative. "Hi. I'm Joxer. Welcome to Olympus."

Xander smiled shakily, "Hi, I'm Xander. Nice to meet you."

Joxer patted him on the shoulder, "Traveling the way the Gods do takes a little getting used to."

"It took you almost ten years, as I remember." A man with dark hair and dark eyes, dressed all in black leather walked into the room. He walked up to Xander and pulled him to his feet. Laying one calloused hand on his head, he whispered something under his breath.

Xander immediately felt like his old self. "Hey, thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm Ares. I want to thank you for saving my son, and my grandson. I owe you a debt I can never repay, if I have it, it is yours."

Xander shrugged and smiled bashfully, "Glad I could help."

Ares threw an arm over Xander's shoulder and led him over to a group of chairs. "So, what can I do for you? Money? Power? Your own temple?"

Xander flashed a look of desperation over his shoulder. Cupid immediately got the hint. "Uh, Dad? Where's Bliss? I wanted Xander to meet him."

"He's right over there sleeping." Ares said, pointing to a large pillow lying on the floor. A large empty pillow.

"Dad, he's not there."

"What?" Ares closed his eyes and searched for his trouble prone grandson. "Oh, shit. He's trying to wake Strife up again." Ares vanished in a flash of light and Xander let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Cupid. Your Dad's cool and he's got that whole leather thing going for him, but that was getting a little intense."

Cupid grinned, "I know." Cupid suddenly got very serious. "He means it, you know. If there's anything he can do for you, he will."

Xander looked at Joxer, pleading for help. The older man laughed, "Cupid, give it a break. Go show Xander around. I'll keep your father busy for a while."

"Thanks, Joxer. Come on, Xander. There's tons I want you to see." Cupid led Xander out of the temple and Joxer settled in to wait for his lover and their errant grandson.

**********

Cupid led Xander to the stone balcony surrounding Olympus. Xander looked down over the rail. And down and down and down. There wasn't an end in sight, it looked like the world just dropped away and disappeared. He reached back and grabbed Cupid's hand to hold himself steady. He never really noticed that he didn't let go when they went to look at the fountains.

Xander gawked like a tourist. Every where he looked there were huge temples, fountains decorated with gold and jewels and marble statues. Flowers bloomed everywhere, one scent blending into the next. It was perfect, too perfect. For his entire life, Xander had heard the sound of cars and people. Here on Olympus, it was eerily quiet. There weren't even any birds singing.

Cupid seemed to know what he was thinking. "Before the Twilight, there were Gods everywhere. There was always a party going on somewhere." The God of Love pointed to a large open gazebo. "Every day, the Muses would sit there. They would play the most perfect music, sing songs so wondrous it made mortals cry. And they would dance. They all wore robes of different colors. When they danced they looked like flowers swaying in the wind."

He pointed to the large fountain in the middle of the central square. "Zeus and Poseidon used to sit there and argue for hours. Over anything and everything." He smiled sadly. "See the marks on the stone? That's from the wheels of Apollo's chariot. He used to race Hermes for fun. They always tied, but they never stopped." Cupid shuddered and forced a smile onto his handsome face. "Would you like to see what it was like then?"

Xander nodded, but didn't say anything. The sadness in Cupid's eyes made him want to cry.

Cupid tugged on his hand and they went into the largest temple. They ended up in front of a large silver mirror. Cupid passed his hand over the mirror and a picture began to form, it showed a vastly different Olympus than the one Xander had seen today.

Beautiful people wearing elaborate robes wandered through the streets, laughing and talking. They sat there for hours, Cupid pointing out the different Gods and telling stories about them. Finally, he let the picture fade.

"I'm sorry about your family. Is there any way to wake up the others?"

"If we can get worshipers for each of them, maybe. Some may not be strong enough to fight the Twilight any more. I know Dad has been working on it for a long time."

Xander climbed to his feet and pulled Cupid up with him. Trying to cheer up his friend, he smiled and said, "Let's go talk to him. Maybe we can help."

**********

Cupid was opening the door to Ares' temple when a streak of golden light shot through the door and hit Xander in the chest. The impact tore his hand from Cupid's and knocked him down. Xander shook his head, trying to clear his vision and saw what had hit him.

A little boy, about two years old, with curly blonde hair and huge blue eyes sat on his chest. The little boy bounced in place, the white wings sprouting from his back flapping lazily. Xander got a good grip on the squirming body and sat up. "You must be Bliss."

Bliss grinned and gave Xander a sloppy kiss. "Grawnpa said you woked me up." Two very sturdy arms latched around Xander's neck. "Me no sleep no more."

Cupid helped Xander get back on his feet and tried to take Bliss, but he just wrapped his arms tighter around Xander's neck and screeched. "No! Me no sleep!"

A very flustered Ares came out the door. "Oh, good. I was afraid he'd gotten away again." Ares pushed his lank hair off his forehead, "Come on, Bliss. It's bedtime."

Bliss buried his face in Xander's neck and howled. Xander awkwardly patted him on the back, trying to avoid his wings. Xander turned the power of his puppy eyes on Cupid and Ares, "Can't he stay up for awhile? I just got to meet him."

Ares looked at his son, "There is no force in the known universe that can stand against puppy dog eyes." Joxer, leaning against the door jam, laughed and then turned his own pouting eyes on Ares. Ares shuddered. "See what I mean?"

*****

Xander got situated on one of the many pillows scattered on the cold marble floor in front of the huge fireplace. Bliss, refusing to go to anyone else, was still wrapped in his arms. The youngest God of Olympus had a new hero. Anyone that could prevent the dreaded bedtime was to be cherished.

Cupid took a seat next to Xander on the pillow, while Ares and Joxer chose to sit cuddled together in Ares' huge chair.

Xander stroked Bliss' wings gently, trying to calm his mind enough to ask coherent questions. He didn't want the God of War thinking he was an idiot. "Ares, Cupid told me that you've been trying to wake up the other Gods. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help."

Ares looked surprised, he'd met few mortals that actually wanted to wake up the Gods. "I don't know, Xander. I've been trying for a very long time."

"Dad? If we could get enough worshipers together, would that do it?"

Ares sighed, "No. It only worked for us because of the dedication Joxer and Xander showed us. Few mortals are capable of such selfless action."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked, curiously.

"It's simple really. Joxer's only concern was waking me up. He didn't do it for gain and asked for nothing in return. In your case, you spent every spare moment of your time working on that statue. You had no intentions of selling it or even showing it to anyone else. Most mortals would have been calling a press conference before the first stone was moved. The few mortals capable of totally dedicating themselves to a God already worship their chosen deity."

"Oh. Is there another way, then?"

Joxer jumped into the conversation at that point. "We think so. When Zeus died, the symbol of his Godhood was lost, but it still exists. If we can find Zeus' emblem, we can use it to create a new King of the Gods and he can command them to wake up."

Ares slumped back into his seat, "We've looked all over the world. I can't begin to tell you how many scrolls and prophecies we've read trying to find a clue to its location."

Xander grinned, "So, we find this emblem, you become King and everything will be cool, right?"

Ares shook his head, "First we have to find it. And I have no intentions of taking over the role as King."

Cupid was stunned; his father had lusted after Zeus' Lightning Bolt since he'd become the God of War. "Dad?"

Ares shrugged, "I've had a lot of time to think about it, Cupid. I really don't want to deal with it. All the backstabbing and politics? No thank you. Besides, once we wake everyone else up I'll finally be able to get back to work. The mortals need a God of War, more now than ever. I'll have my hands full. You wouldn't believe some of the weapons they have now. The mortals have become strong enough to destroy the entire planet." The expression on Ares' handsome face turned wicked, "I intend to show them the error of their ways, forcibly."

Joxer grinned at Cupid, "Your Dad has been itching to get his hands on the Joint Chiefs of Staff for years. Not to mention what he has planned for that lunatic in Baghdad."

Ares smiled dreamily while Xander choked back a laugh. He finally managed to calm down enough to talk, "So. We're talking research and more research. What we need is a G-Man."

"What's a G-Man?" Cupid asked.

Xander grinned, "A G-Man is a Rupert Giles, former Watcher and all around best research guy. The G-Man knows more languages and weird prophecies than anyone on the planet. And, I know where we can get one."

**********

Plans were made deep into the night, Bliss had long since fallen asleep, his head tucked under Xander's chin. The warm weight in his arms and the food Ares had made for them was making it hard for Xander to keep his eyes open. He slowly moved closer to Cupid until his head was resting comfortably on one broad shoulder. I'll just close my eyes for a minute.

Cupid looked down at the dark head resting on his shoulder and smiled. Xander and Bliss were both sleeping deeply. He hated to do it, but he didn't want Xander to miss work and possibly lose his job. "Xander. It's really late. I should probably take you home so you can get to work tomorrow."

Xander frowned, not really awake, "Ssshhh, baby's asleep. No work 'til Monday. Be quiet now."

Ares was hard pressed not to laugh at the dopey expression Cupid got on his face when Xander told him to be quiet. The God of War had to admit they did look good together, all three of them. The blonde baby cradled in Xander's arms and Xander cuddled up against Cupid.

Ares immediately began plotting. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that his son loved the young mortal. And Xander...he was halfway there already, he just didn't realize it yet. Yes, this would work out quite well. Cupid would finally get a mate he could trust, Bliss would have two parents and there were a lot of empty positions here on Olympus.

Now to find this 'G-Man'. For the first time in centuries, Ares actually began to hope that everything would be all right.

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