by Gideon Mills
If that was what we had to do, I hoped not. Samantha might not actually want to bed Fleur, but from the look in the woman’s eyes, and the way she was licking her lips, that was all she was thinking about. It was strange for me to not even register as I stood in the room. Typically, everyone saw me and knew I was the hero Ares, or a God.
Fleur cleared her throat. “Samantha, we need to talk. My partner, Ares, and I.”
It was then that she saw me for the first time. “Oh, yeah. The big lug. I thought he lost his powers.”
“Nope,” I said. “Still got them. I’m not a Paragon like the others.”
That didn’t even impress her, but that was okay with me. Though still not what I was used to.
“Nice,” Samantha said. “White Angel, did you want a drink? I have pretty much anything you would want.”
“I’m good,” Fleur said. “Like I said. We need your help.”
Samantha smiled. “I can’t believe that the White Angel is asking for my help. So epic.”
I knew that many of the Paragons were celebrities in their own right. This was the first time I had seen it in person. It reminded me of the gladiators back in ancient times. They were heroes, and people chanted their names. One is still known and talked about to this day, Spartacus, who was super popular. While some back then hated him, he did well. I respected what he achieved.
Samantha was talking Fleur's ear off, not letting the White Angel get a word in edgewise. “Can I please take a picture with you?”
Fleur glanced in my direction; I could tell that she wanted my help. “You can’t post any pictures of us here. Can’t tell anyone that the White Angel was here,” I said.
Samantha frowned. “That’s no fun. I get to meet my hero, the person I look up to the most, and I can’t even tell anyone.”
“Maybe once this is over you can,” I said.
That seemed to cheer the influencer up. “Once the fight with the government is over. Not easy,” Samantha said. “Fenrir and President White are super powerful.”
She went on a long talk about them, and into a depth that I hadn’t been expecting with the way this conversation started. Samantha might act like she was just about partying and celebrity gossip, but she had a brain. One that she had been hiding and masking with her looks and attitude.
“All that is true,” Fleur said. “But Ares and I have a plan. One that needs you, and anyone we can get to post against Fenrir. To make the people see that Paragons help. Do things to save the world, not harm it.”
Samantha smiled. “I know you said you don’t want me to post about you being here, but I think that will actually help.”
“How?” I asked.
“Make the two of you look normal, part of the regular people. That is something that Fenrir will never be able to do. It’s what makes people like me so much.”
It was hard to argue with her since she had a lot of success on social media. Not just one, but across most of them she had a large audience, and she hadn’t done much that I could find to account for it. She didn’t act or sing or do any of the normal celebrity things these days. She was one of those “famous for being famous” people. She didn’t even have a wealthy family to account for it.
“Ares and I need to talk in private,” Fleur said.
Samantha nodded. “Okay, I’ll go get some of my post ready. Let me know, and I haven’t said it already, but I’ll help.”
Hearing that was nice, and helped me relax. This was just one part of the plan, and one I suggested. It still made me nervous, and it didn’t take away the fear I had of us failing to defeat Fenrir, let alone Hera.
With Samantha in the other room, we huddled close together. “That was interesting,” I said.
McGarrett laughed. “I thought you were going to have a heart attack. The way you looked when she all about Fleur.”
I shrugged. “Not used to being the one ignored. Strange, and I kind of liked it as it went on.”
“Not the first time I have had a person react that way,” Fleur said. “But been a while, and I thought she’d be all about Ares. Look at the man, or God.”
“I am stunning,” I said, in a teasing manner.
“Anyway,” McGarrett said. Even though he wasn’t in his police uniform, he still had the presence. “What do you think?”
“She’s smart,” Fleur said. “And has knowledge in an area we don’t.”
“All true.” I hated not having this knowledge, and I needed to learn about it. Maybe I should have kept up to date on social media in Olympus, but I wasn’t sure how long it would last. It might be around for the long haul.
“So?” McGarrett asked.
“What do you think?” I asked him. “You are one that has more experience in this area.”
McGarrett laughed. “No one has experience in this area.”
That was probably true, and why we were all flailing for ideas on how to win. How to get out of this mess that I made.
“I think we do it,” Fleur said. “Let her take the lead in the social media part of winning this battle.”
“I do too,” McGarrett said. “Most people these days get their news from social media. It’s the best way to spread the story we want.”
“Then we go with it,” I said. “Just nothing too risqué.”
Fleur raised one eyebrow. “Me? Risqué, never.”
For some reason, I found it hard to imagine. With the way she was in the bedroom, there was a chance that I could ask her for some fun pics or videos. Though just for me. For others, I had no doubt she would never share.
25
Behind the Scenes
After agreeing to move forward and have Samantha take charge, we called her back to the living room. The woman was midway through getting ready for pictures, with putting makeup on and doing her hair.
It was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. Though it brought the phrase “putting my face on” to my head. It fit so perfectly, and she didn’t need to do this. There was no denying Samantha was an attractive woman, and didn’t need to layer on the makeup like this.
“What have you decided?” she asked.
“You know a bit more about social media than we do,” Fleur said. “We’ll follow your lead, but you can’t post anything until tomorrow.”
That would allow us to get back to the city and hide safely away.
“I can post pictures with the two of us in them?”
I cleared my throat. “I know I’m not White Angel,” I said. “But I need to be part of them too.”
The influence nodded. “Fine.”
If I didn’t have confidence in who I was, that might have hurt me. But I was Ares, the God of War. Some random female on Earth wasn’t going to knock me down a peg. She wasn’t into me, and there was nothing I could do about that.
Samantha led us back to her photo area. My jaw dropped at what I saw. One wall was a green screen, and the other was where all her makeup and clothes hung. Her photos were fake and staged.
I shouldn’t have been shocked, but it made my skin crawl just knowing that the lady wasn’t remotely who she said she was.
“Are all your photos taken here?” McGarrett asked.
“No,” Samantha said. “I’ve had to resort to this, since when I’m out, I get photobombed too much. I’d spend three hours trying to get one photo. It was draining. Not what I want, but the only way I can get decent photos these days.”
I felt terrible that she wasn’t being allowed to do her job when she was in public. Though this still felt like a lie, and one that I didn’t like being a part of. But we needed all the help we could get against Fenrir.
“What do you need from us?” Fleur asked.
“This might take a while,” Samantha said. “I’m assuming you want various photos posted over days. To build up your cause. To make the people see you as human, but worrying about the life of those around them.”
“That sounds very much what we want,” Fleur said.
“A
nd I can assume you won’t be back every day to take more pics.”
That would be out of the question with all the work we had to do with Fenrir. Not to mention, I didn’t want to spend more time being smuggled in and out of the city.
“Correct,” Fleur said.
“Then we have to do several wardrobe changes.”
Samantha was right. This was going to be a long and tedious event.
I turned to McGarrett. “We might want to inform Lincoln that this is going to take a while.”
McGarrett nodded. “Yeah. This won’t be fun.”
After what felt like a lifetime—which was saying something for me—we had all the pictures we needed. The number that Samantha took with Fleur had to be way more than she would ever need, but Fleur let her.
I was in far fewer, and for once was okay with that. The hours dragged on, and I was more than ready to get back to the hideout and plan the next phase. For me, I hoped it was finding Stan.
Lola should be able to find the man, and I knew he had to be alive. I just knew it. He was a fighter and a survivor.
By the time we got back to Lincoln and his truck, the sun had already set.
“About time,” the gang leader said. “This isn’t freaking Uber.”
I laughed. “Sorry.”
The man shrugged. “Just saying, I got shit I need to do, and waiting around for you all day ain’t part of the plan.”
“Like I said, I’m sorry.”
“We’ll make it up to you,” Fleur added. “I would really like to talk business with you.”
She was up to something, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Knowing the Walker in her, she was looking to make some money. Not that I would blame her since money ruled the world. At least she went about it ethically.
The ride back to the city was much better. The back of the truck was still cramped and bumpy, but Lincoln had at least cleaned it out. No more urine odor to make me want to vomit. Going across the bridge took nearly two hours. How the people in the city ever got anything done in this traffic was a mystery.
By the time we finally arrived back at the hideout, my body ached, and I was ready for bed. It had been a very long day. Though we had to inform Lola of everything that happened today.
We had made sure to not take any devices that might be able to track back to Lola. It was hard being out of contact with her, but needed.
She rushed to us as we entered the building. “On my lord,” Lola said. “You had me worried sick.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It couldn’t be avoided,” Fleur added.
Lola nodded. “I’m sure, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
Fleur and I went into great detail on our day. It was a long story, and Lola appeared to be blown away by it.
“When will the photos start?” Lola asked.
“Tomorrow,” Fleur said. “Then continue at random intervals to keep my father and the authorities at bay.”
That had been very important to both of us. We needed to make sure that Fenrir didn’t know where we were. Though I worried about Samantha and the risk she was taking, Fleur was convinced that her father wouldn’t harm her. She might be put under surveillance or even tested to see if she was a Paragon, but nothing more.
I hoped she was right, since it would eat at me if her helping us got her hurt in any serious way.
26
Progress
The next day I woke up refreshed but missing Felicity. I hoped she and Athena made it back soon. Most of all, I hoped that we got rid of Fenrir. We needed the people behind us to make that happen.
Today was going to be the start of that. Samantha was only one part of it. Lola had been hard at work too. She was a computer wizard. Lola found a way to contact millions upon millions of people with text messages and emails promoting Paragons. Showing them doing good, and not just those of us in New York.
I dressed in my standard attire these days, jeans and a shirt with some sort of character on it. Today the shirt was from a game with a character that had ties to Greek mythology that I had never heard of. He was pretty badass with his blades of chaos. I needed something like them, but they just weren’t all that practical in a fight. Well not a fight that I would be in.
Leaving the room, I arrived where the magic happened. The magic of solving our problems. For once, I was the first one here and went over to one corner of the room, where they had set up a single-serve coffee machine, and small fridge. Since I arrived, Lola had gotten me food I like to snack on. Not that they understood my choices.
Today I made a cup of coffee and a bowl of Captain Crunch. To me that was a great breakfast and one that would give me the fuel I needed to start the day. I didn’t care how childish one might think the cereal was.
Ten minutes later, Lola walked into the room. She had on a form-fitting blouse that showed me just how amazing her body was. Not that I didn’t know already, and she wore a short skirt that let her legs out. As a man I appreciated the outfit. Some might think it's wrong to stare at a beautiful woman, but I wasn’t one of those people. Now catcalling was something else entirely.
She walked over to me and eyed my meal. I was eating and leaning against the counter. Taking in a large spoonful of the cereal.
“I don’t understand how you aren’t fat.”
“I’m a God,” I said between bites. “All calories are equal to me.”
Lola rolled her eyes. “I really wish that was the case for us mere humans.”
I shrugged. “Sorry.”
I finished the cereal, took her into an embrace. Her floral scent filled me, and her body pressed against mine helped relax me. With Felicity and my sister gone I had been overstressed. They needed to get back, and we needed to arrest Fenrir.
Fleur entered a moment later. “Morning,” she said through a yawn.
Looking over Lola, I saw that Fleur didn’t look like she had slept well at all. None of us were getting the rest we needed. All pushing ourselves to the limit to solve this job.
“Morning,” Lola said, and disengaged me. The hacker went to her computer station and started it up. “Looks like the first photo is out. Wow, you weren’t kidding.”
I walked over to her. “About what?”
“Samantha having the hots for Fleur.”
It was when I saw the picture on social media that I knew what she meant. The way the influencer was looking at Fleur said ‘I want to devour you.’
“Oh, wow,” Fleur said. She was next to me now. “She really has a look in her eyes, but that is a great picture of me.”
There was no denying that. Fleur looked amazing. I, on the other hand, looked like a disinterested douche bag. I didn’t like that one bit.
“Look at the response,” Lola said. It was still early, but it was getting a lot of likes and comments. Reading through them was proof that the people were happy to see Paragons being shown in a positive light, and were relieved that they’d gotten out.
Samantha was right that they needed to see Fleur and me as people. That was something we might be able to get some of the other Paragons to do, and we could too. Create our own social media and post. Show them how we were just like them.
It was some food for thought at the very least.
“I didn’t get to tell you,” Lola said. “But I talked to Ryder and Thorn yesterday.”
Both of them were Paragons in other cities. Ryder had helped with Reign, or more importantly, Elric and his crew. Thorn was down in San Antonio, fighting the good fight.
“And?” Fleur asked.
“They were able to talk to some local officials,” Lola said. “Thorn being a super solider and not technically a Paragon has been out and talking. He’s using his military contacts to help sway. His old General, while not a fan of Paragons, has been listening.”
“That is good,” Fleur said. “We need all the help we can get.”
It was that way for over a week. With us being mostly holed up in the hideout, and not
being able to leave. Samantha’s campaign was in full force, and the others were reaching out.
For once, the media was shifting and showing both sides of the world. The good with the bad, and that was okay.
The local news showed the vile ThunderBolt fighting me and then showed me fighting Elric. This time painting me in a positive light, but also reminding everyone that it was Paragons I was battling, and that they needed to be controlled. Not allowed out to harm us. To kill everyone.
It made me sick to think that people actually believed that rubbish. Mako was hard at work with Lola in creating a campaign for political movements.
That was our real phase two, now that we were starting to get the general population to see that Paragons weren’t the problem.
One of the things that was still being played up over and over was my fight with the anti-Paragon units. The video of the men attacking me played over and over. It was one of the most viewed videos on social media in history, and the fastest to get there. As I watched it, it was painful to witness.
The more I watched myself being attacked, the more I understood what Lola, Fleur, and Felicity went through. It was a disgusting act. I had little doubt that the video was doing just as much good as Samantha and the others joining her. Which had been an unexpected surprise.
All across the world on social media, people were joining the fray and posting pictures of heroes saving the day. Or of Paragons just out having a meal. Not harming a person, and living normal life.
This was all going well, but a slow process. As good as we thought we were doing, it had no effect on the government so far. The mayor of the city had her hands tied, and even though she wanted to help, she was forced by the federal government to submit all the registered Paragons in New York City.
27
A Friend in Need
