Duncan helped Sarah settle into the seat of the airplane. Her color was better and she could stand and walk under her own power, but he knew that she was still weak though she would not show it to him. "Feeling better?" He asked as he sat next to her.

"Yes, thank you." She said quietly as she reached out for his hand.

"What happened?"

Sarah shook her head slowly and felt a dull numbing ache there as she did so, but it was not like before. It did not feel as though someone had sliced through her skull with an axe any longer. "I had a headache when we got off the plane. It just kept growing worse and worse, until I felt sick to my stomach and like my knees were going to give out."

A headache. Silently he remembered her telling him, only yesterday, of her becoming addicted to pain killers because of headaches. "Why didn't you tell me?" Duncan asked softly as he gentle squeezed her hand.

"I didn't want to worry you. It was only a headache." She explained weakly. Yes, Duncan, only a headache. Don't worry, I've had millions of them old boy. I'm all right. Yeah, sure she was.

"Only a headache? Do you know often Immortals get headaches?" Duncan whispered in her ear. "Damn near never."

"Oh," she said gently and then turned to look at him, "Gimmie a break, huh? I'm still kind of new at this."

Duncan lightly kissed her forehead, it was cool once again. "You tell me if anything like that happens again. Right away. All right?"

"OK," she muttered.

The seat belt light came on and soon the airplane began to taxi down the run way headed toward Athens. Sarah did not sleep this time, she stared out of the window at the cities below as they flew over them. As they passed over their heads, Sarah wondered what the people down there were doing? What were they like? Were they singing? Dancing? Happy? Sad? Did they look up to see her flying over them? Sarah looked back over her shoulder to see that it was Duncan who had fallen asleep this time. She did not wait for the flight attendant, Sarah rose and took the blanket and pillow from the overhead compartment and covered him with it. She tucked the pillow gently behind his head as she kissed his lips.

Duncan had not lied when he said the exchange of power didn't hurt him, but it had drained him, she could see that now. His face was pale, he looked like he hadn't slept in a week. How long would it last? How soon would he be able to regenerate his own power? Sarah laid her head upon his shoulder. "You won't have to do it again," she whispered as she held his sleeping hand, "I promise, Duncan. Never again will you have to hold me up."

Sarah reclined the seat a ways and stared out of the window at the passing clouds as she held his hand. Soon they would land in Athens. Soon they would part ways. He would not even remember her. That was for the best. If he didn't remember he wouldn't come looking for her or his son. Sarah closed her eyes at that thought, it was cruel of her to keep his child from him, to take away even the slightest memory that such a child may even exist in this world. If he didn't know then it couldn't hurt him. Sarah brought her freehand up to rest over her own heart, it beat rapidly with fear beneath her breast. The talisman glowed low and warm under her blouse. The power held inside began to radiate outward, Sarah felt it enter her hand and wind its way up her arm. It rushed headlong upwards over her head, making it tingle and swim. There she directed it down her other arm and into Duncan's hand, hoping to replenish some of the strength that he had lost to her.

As the energy coursed from the talisman through her body and into Duncan's, Sarah sat back and wondered just what had happened to her back there in the bathroom? What had it been? She had told the truth about how her addiction to the pills began. There had been times in her life when Sarah would get monster headaches much like that one, sometimes they had incapacitated her for days while she lay in a darkened room with a cold rag upon her head, swallowing down any pain killer she could find. The pain had been the same, always the agonizing pain of someone splitting her skull with an axe which could last for hours and was always followed by the strangest sensation that the same person who had split her skull was now trying to pull something from the bloodied dripping gray matter of her brain.

Migraines, the doctors had called them when she was nineteen and offered her a prescription for Darvesett, refillable as many times as she liked. Sarah had gratefully accepted the small white paper from the older man's hand. That's not what they were and she knew it. Migraines were not accompanies by voices. But the pills helped and so her long association and addiction to prescription pain killers had begun.

Sarah had not had one of those headaches in almost two years, why should she start having them again? Why hadn't her new Immortality made them go away? If this was as unusual as Duncan alluded to it being, then what was wrong with her? How long would it last? Would it grow stronger or weaker? If it did grow stronger, how would she survive without him? How would their son survive if his mother was so feeble that she could not care for him? As persuasive as her arguments were with herself, she was still determined to go through with her plan. She would take care of everything. Some how. She would.

Maybe it was just her fear rising to the top and kicking her subconscious into over drive which brought about the headache? The fear and uncertainty of living without Duncan again. Living alone. Sleeping alone. Even though she had not sent him away yet, Sarah's heart already missed him. How would she ever sleep without him again? Not curl up against the heat of his skin? Not wrap her arms around the strength of his body? No longer rest her head upon his broad chest? Who would keep away the demons which came in the night if he were no longer by her side?

At least this time she wasn't foolishly rushing into the arms of his rival in a totally screwed up attempt to keep Duncan from harm. This time she wasn't running to anyone. Nor was she running away. He was leaving and she would stand her ground and let him go. Were it any other reason, Sarah would let him stand and fight with her. There was no outside danger to either of them,. This time the danger came from within and there was no escaping it. No fighting it. No chance to win.

Sarah released Duncan's hand as the flight attendant came around and asked her if she needed something. Sarah replied that she would like a double Jack Daniels, no ice. The thought of all the Advil's she had popped while caught in the clutches of the brutal headache criss-crossed her mind but were soon dismissed. What did it matter how many she had taken? It was only Advil. It wasn't like the combination was going to kill her.

(Not permanently.)

Sarah sipped her drink slowly while she watched Duncan sleep on one side of her, and the lights from the darkened cities floating by below on the other. By the time she was almost finished with it, he began to stir beside her. Sarah knocked back the last of the deep amber liquid and stowed the plastic cup under the seat quickly. It was childish, she knew he would smell the alcohol on her breath and Jack Daniels definitely smelled different from champagne and orange juice, but Sarah had not stopped to think about why she was doing it. She never stopped to think of exactly why she was hiding things from him, she only told herself it was for the best and that she did not want to burden him, he had enough on his mind already. She must not be a pest or a bother.

"Hey, handsome." She whispered as Duncan's head turned toward her. "How do you feel?"

"With my hands." He quipped as he smiled a groggy grin at her. Duncan's eyes opened fully and he stretched in the seat. To his surprised he found that he felt very well rested and invigorated. "Fine," he said and smiled a more natural grin at her as he took her hand. "I'm fine. How long have I been sleeping?"

"About an hour."

"We must be almost there then." Duncan tossed the blanket off and sat up. "I'm hungry."

Sarah smiled wide, glad to hear that he had an appetite, always a good sign that someone was feeling well. "There's just about an hour left to the flight, do you want to eat airline food or wait until we land? I think they're still serving."

"I'm hungry enough to eat whatever they serve here." He said happily as his hands touched his rippled stomach and he flagged down the flight attendant. Duncan ordered the steak and cheese sandwich. Sarah raised an eyebrow at that, something of that sort normally had too much fat in it for him, he must be really hungry. Hungry he was, Duncan gobbled the sandwich down as though he hadn't eaten in days and then asked for another. The second he ate more graciously but he still finished every bite of it, going so far as to sop the remaining juices with the last bit of bread before popping it into his mouth and proclaiming himself full.

"My goodness!" Sarah exclaimed as she looked at his plate.

Duncan shrugged his shoulders and smiled wide as he patted his full stomach. Sarah chuckled at him.

The flight attendants came around with serving carts of coffee, tea and desserts for the first class passengers. Both Duncan and Sarah accepted a cup of coffee from him. Duncan watched as the man stared at Sarah while handing over the cup full of the dark steaming brew, there was something in his dark eyes which struck a bright bolt of terror in Duncan's heart. Sarah took the cup from his hand and said thank you just as nice as you please before he went on his way.

"I didn't see him before." Duncan commented as he moved in closer to her.

Sarah sipped the brew which was too dark and had already sat so long that it had begun to turn bitter, but it was warm and it had caffeine in it, two good attributes at the moment. "Me either. Must have been back there." Sarah hitched her thumb behind her at the coach section and she took another sip. She did not look at him.

"Must have been." He agreed in a voice that was more gruff than he would have liked for her to hear. Sarah had lied to him, he knew that because she refused to look at him when she spoke. She had seen him before. Why didn't she just say so? Duncan looked up to see that the tall man with the dark hair and green eyes pushing the serving cart was now a medium sized woman with short strawberry hair and stout legs. When had he left and she taken over his position? The flight attendant hadn't walked more than four rows away from them, surely Duncan would have seen someone come to relieve him or him walk away from his post. He looked back at Sarah who smiled slightly at him and then turned her attentions to the city lights below them.

"How early do you want to go tomorrow?" Duncan asked as he sipped from the over-brewed coffee and stared at the side of her head.

"I think we'll just take it as it comes." She turned to face him. "Is that all right with you?"

"Having second thoughts?" Duncan's voice was low and serious. "Not looking to rush this anymore?"

"Not really." Sarah could feel the sadness in her heart and the tears which wanted to well in her eyes. She bit them back and smiled for him, stroked his hand and veiled her eyes.

"To which?"

"Both." She whispered.

The seat belt light came on and the pilot told everyone they would be landing in ten minutes as the flight attendants came around to collect the last bit of cups and plates. Sarah cinched the belt around her waist and watched while Duncan rose and stowed the blanket and pillow in the overhead compartment before returning to his seat and belting himself in. Suddenly she wanted a cigarette more than anything else in the entire world. The nicotine monkey clamped down hard on her back as she drew in deep clean breaths attempting to soothe it for a while longer. She knew she was going to buy a pack of them and inhale greedily, just as soon as he turned his back.

Soon all were seated and the plane was landing safely on Grecian soil. They exited first along with the other first class passengers. Duncan took Sarah's hand and lead her through the plane to the exit door ahead. The male flight attendant was standing there saying good-bye to everyone and how he hoped they had a nice flight.

"Have a good time in Greece." The man said to an elderly couple.
"Thank you for flying with us." The man said to a woman with a small child.
"Hope your flight was enjoyable." The man said to Duncan as he passed by. Duncan nodded but did not speak, he hurried onward wanting to get Sarah off of the plane.

"Welcome home, sister." The man said in a low voice to Sarah.

Duncan froze in his tracks. The man reached out a strong hand and traced it along Sarah's hair as his green eyes shined wildly at her. Sarah made no move to be away from him. Duncan pulled on her hand. "What did you say?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"Welcome to Greece." The man said with an easy smile as though it had all been some misunderstanding on Duncan's part.

"Take your hand off of her." Duncan pulled on her arm again. Sarah stood her ground for a moment, silently staring up at the man with his hand in her hair.

"I meant no disrespect." The man explained. "It's just so beautiful, no?" He held out a large handful of Sarah's hand to the electric lights of the plane and allowed it to silently fan down layer by layer while sparks of fire and gold fluttered by his eyes. When the last of the silken strands had slipped through his hand, the man stepped back from her and made no further moves to touch her. "Finish what you started Champion." The man said cruelly.

Duncan pulled on her arm again, Sarah smiled at the man before following Duncan off of the plane. "Was that him?" Duncan asked as he hurried her away from the gate and toward the center of the airport. "Have I just met your Father?"

"No, that was Phobos." Sarah said in a matter of fact tone. "He Lords over Terror."

"Does a damn good job of it, to."He looked down at her to notice that her eyes were dreamy, she was following him but she was not watching where she was going with any conscious thought. Just blindly allowing her feet to follow wherever he lead her. "And who is he?"
"

My brother." Sarah's shoulders felt heavy. "Onya's brother." She had no idea why she knew these things but she did, she had recognized him immediately when he brought her the Jack Daniels. He had said nothing to her then, only stood back and watched her with Duncan. Ares had sent him to spy and report back on what she was doing. Who else on Olympus was doing what?

"So, I am meeting the family." Duncan sighed deeply. "Charming fellow." They stood together in the Customs Line waiting to be granted entrance to Greece. "Want to tell me about any of the rest of them? A little forewarning before the next family reunion?"

Sarah cast her eyes downward to the floor and bit her lip, slowly she brought her stare back to meet him. "Don't this. Not here." She said quietly. "We will talk about all of this when we get to the hotel."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Duncan warned.

"I expected no less."

Together they were granted entrance to the country and together they collected their bags from the carousel. Hand in hand they walked out of the airport into the rainy Grecian early morning. Duncan hailed a cab and Sarah handed the driver the brochure for the hotel to show him where she wanted him to take them and then sat back in the seat. She watched out of the window as the sleepy stone buildings passed by the taxi, the shimmer of the wet streets with the almost full moon glowing down upon them. Sarah wished it were daytime so that she could see more, remember the details for later. Soon enough the sun would rise and she would see and do all that she needed to before the full moon set tomorrow night.