Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Silent. It was to silent. Hermes hadn't broken into his house in weeks. He would be happy if Hermes hadn't left so suddenly. Hermes said something about his father needing him. But since Hermes seemed fine, Jay didn't question it. Him and Talya got alone time away from the god, so he was fine

"Jay?" "Mr Jalepeno? "JAY!"

Talya's voice snapped him out his haze. He looked up at his lovely girlfriend. Talya was looking down at him on the couch worried. "Have you heard from Troy? He said he was going to call, didn't he?" She asked, sitting next to Jay and caressing his hair. "No. He hasn't called yet." Jay murmured, out of it slightly as he leaned into his girlfriend's touch. Jay closed his eyes, a sigh of contentment exiting his mouth. He felt like he was going to fall asleep. He probably was, truth be told. He just laid there for a moment when he heard a knock on the door. Talya carefully got up, opened the door and screamed.

"HOLY—"

"Talya! What happened?!" He yelled, only getting a panicked jumble of words from her. Hearing the terror in her voice, Jay rushed over to see... Hermes standing in the doorway messily leaning against the frame, his shades shattered and falling off his face. The wings on his ears were all puffed and burnt messily. The merchant god was covered in some liquid. Ichor. God blood. He was covered in fresh burn marks also. And the wings on the gods back were... Cut clean in half. Oh. OH.

"Hi darlings‐..." Hermes managed to say through the ichor falling out his mouth, giving the duo a shaky thumbs up. "What the hell happened?!" Jay yelled, rushing over to inspect Hermes injuries, getting a whine out the god.

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"WAIT NO— IM SORRY WAIT–!"

"Enough, Hermes. You are hardly my son. Mingling with mortals?! IVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU DISOBEYING ME AND MY RULES!"

Hermes felt his heart sink. He was going to die. Well... He couldn't die, but he felt like he was. He closed his eyes before— He felt himself be struck with lightning. Everything hurt. His body was shaking and he felt like he was dying as he fell to his knees. Hermes pain only got worse as he felt his wing get cut in half. He needed to get out of here. He was suffering. For being Zeus' favorite, Zeus had no mercy for Hermes.

Hermes opened his eyes to see his half siblings Ares, Apollo, and Athena standing in terror. He was being used as a lesson. A warning for his fellow gods. And he hated it. All this for befriending Jay and everybody else. He needed to go back, to say goodbye one last t—

"You are not allowed here anymore. Leave."

Huh? Wait. He was being thrown out of Olympus?! Oh no oh no oh no— Where was he supposed to go?! Jay and Talya's? But he already put them in danger'-..! They could be hurt by his father but where else could he go? Troy's? Same case..!

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"I dont want to talk about it, okay darlings..?" Hermes managed to get out. Hermes was crying like a kid. He knew he was. He hated seeming vulnerable in front of the mortals. "Oh gods...  Hold on. We'll get you bandages" Talya exclaimed, rushing to the bathroom to grab her med kit she always kept at easy access.

As Talya and Jay tended to Hermes injuries, Hermes stared at the ground. He didn't know what to do. He was usually so arrogant but now... He was terrified. Jay gave the god a reassuring look before speaking. "Can you tell us what happened?" He asked, staring at the gods cut on half wings, now bandaged and went to grab Talya's hairbrush from the couch.

Hermes didn't answer, so neither of the duo pried him further. Jay began to brush his wings, eliciting a little coo from the god. "I guess I'm staying here for awhile." Hermes managed to get out. What. Oh. FUCK. Noooooo.... He didn't need Hermes here any longer. "What do you mean? Are you moving back in for a bit?" Talya asked, finishing up the bandages for Hermes' arms.

"Uh. I'm not going back to Olympus. So in staying here again! You get to be graced with my presence all the time again~ Isnt that great darlings?" Hermes exclaimed, trying to act like his usual self. "NO!" Jay audibly cried out, but he didn't complain further, knowing that in the state Hermes was, he shouldn't deny the god a safe haven.

Chapter Text

Hermes had woken up from a —surprisingly— good night's rest after what happened the day before. After a few seconds, he sat up. Sun shone right in his face through the opened window and he moved his hand to groggily cover his eyes from the light.

Apollo was mocking him, wasn't he?—or doing it on accident, Hermes wasn't sure— He stirred a bit more, what remained of his tattered wings fluttering slightly behind him.

He heard the sound of running tap water and chatter between Talya and Jay. Getting up from the makeshift bed on the floor, he grabbed the t-shirt and boxers Jay had let him borrow while they attempted to mend his normal clothes, and put them on.

Walking into the kitchen, Hermes stared at Jay and Talya washing dishes together. They seemed to be having fun. Who has fun during dish washing? Not most mortals, that for sure.

"Darlings, what are you doing?" Hermes asked, confused by the sight. "Washing dishes." Talya answered, handing Jay some clean dishes to put in the dishwasher to be safe. Jay nodded, opening the dishwasher and setting in the plate and cup.

"It's so early though, why right now and not later?" Hermes questioned, his head cocked subtly to the side. "It's 3PM." Jay answered, staring lovingly at his girlfriend, mostly out of it as he gave a short answer to the god.

"I slept in?" The god questioned, slowly recalling how tired he was after— "Yeah." Talya answered, snapping the god out his thoughts as she began handing a few utensils to Jay, who in turn snapped out of his little moment of admiration. "Oh, thanks for telling me darling." Hermes thanked, yawning a bit.

"Sleep good?" Jay asked as they finished up the last bit of the dishes, turning of the sinks flow and letting the bubbly water sink down the kitchen drain. Hermes nodded, still tired as he stretched his wings out, accidentally knocking a photo of Jay and the cast of EPIC in Ithaca, Greece of the wall.

"Im so sorry darling– Here, I'll pick it up—" Hermes kneeled down to pick up the framed photo. The glass had cracked and broken and the trickster god scrambled to clean it up. As he tried to pick up the scraps Talya walked over. "Its fine, things like this happen." She spoke sweetly, helping Hermes clean the mess.

"You're so kind darling, Jay's lucky to have you." The god answered, eliciting a offended but joking gasp out of Jay. "Sure is." Talya responded as she tossed the broken glass into the bin.

"You hungry or anything, Hermes? We could order some takeout." Jay spoke with a annoyed smile. "Takeout? Jay darling, I'm flattered you want to go on a date with me but think about how your lovely Talya feels—"

"NOT THAT TAKEOUT—" Jay screeched, his face red. Hermes didn't think humans could make a sound that high pitched. "He ment food. Takeout is food you can order from a restaurant or fast food place and eat at home." Talya explained causing Hermes to let out a gasp of interest.

"Oh! That makes more sense. Sure. Get me some." Hermes smiled before flopping and onto Jay's couch.

"Where from?" Jay asked, staring down at his phone and picking it up. "Good question, get me your favorite, just make sure it is fitting for someone like me~" Hermes leaned against the couch playfully, blowing a joking kiss at Jay.

Jay just stared in disgust and confusion at the gods antics before speaking. "I could kill for a milkshake right now. And chicken nuggets-... We're getting McDonalds. Love what do you want?" Jay asked his girlfriend. "Oh I'm good, just some fries." She answered

"You sure? I can get you more if—"
"Jay, It's fine."

Hermes watched the couple's cute moment before opening his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. He wanted to tell them what happened, why he was in such a bad state yesterday, why he was moving back in with the mortals, how he feared Zeus would hurt them like he hurt him, but all that exited his mouth was a shaky whimper. He felt useless. So... Powerless...

"You okay?" Jay asked, stepping towards the god. "Oh. Yes darling! Im great! Giddy even." Hermes responded, smiling very silly.

"Okay..?" Jay sighed before sitting next to the god and beginning to order food on Doordash. Hermes peaked over the mortals shoulder before speaking.

"Did you send my clothes to that clothing repair you told me about?"
"Yeah."
"And my shades?"
"You can't get those repaired— We can buy you new ones."
"Oh. Okay. Thanks darling."

Talya giggled a bit at the god and her boyfriends short conversation before she spoke up. "Hermes, what happened yesterday?" She asked and the god immediately looked up at her.

"I dont want to talk about it—"
"But you have to. It's better to say it now than never say it at all, right?" Jay retorted, gripping the gods wrist. Hermes pulled his hand away with a whine. "Right, burn marks... Sorry." Jay apologized. Just as Talya and Jay were about to try and pry a bit more, the food arrived.

Talya got the good from the door and carefully tore open the bag. She took out some fries for herself, aswell as Jay's milkshake and chicken nuggets. She then grabbed another thing of fries and a small Sprite

"I didn't exactly know what you wanted, so I just got you fries and a Sprite —" Jay apologized to Hermes, who just smiled. "Darling it's fine." He spoke as he took a sip of the Sprite and almost spit it out.

After a moment he swallowed the drink. "Why is it bubbly?!" Hermes asked in confusion. "It's carbonated. You're drank carbonated stuff before why are you reacting like this now?" Jay asked in a confused annoyance.

"I didn't expect it to be bubbly—" Hermes explained before taking another sip. "Tastes good though, great choice darling, you weren't a daffodil when getting me this!" Hermes exclaimed, doing his stupid gremlin giggle as Jay face palmed and took a sip of his milkshake.

The next few hours were pretty boring. Troy came over and they all watched Ice Age together, Hermes cried for some reason. Now, they were all chatting on the couch.

"Troy, darling, it's so nice to see you again." Hermes smiled, Troy sighed in a bit of annoyance before speaking. "Good to see you to..." He said through gritted teeth. It's not that they didn't get along, Troy and Hermes were close, Hermes was just really annoying sometimes.

Hermes extended out his wings round stretch, hitting Jay right in the face Troy spat out some water. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR WINGS?!" Troy exclaimed, immediately jolting up to get a closer look at the sliced and bandaged mess that used to be Hermes' wings.

"Long story." Hermes answered, letting Troy inspect his wings. "I'd rather not talk about it, darling." He added before closing his eyes. He had already passed out in a matter of seconds... Getting brutally attacked by your father for befriending mortals makes you exhausted.

"No wonder he was being weird, he's hurt..." Troy sighed, sitting back down. "He won't tell any of us what happened." Jay explained shaking his head in annoyance. "Yeah... It must've been terrible." Talya added, staring at the god before turning to her boyfriend and Troy.

"If he's going to tell anyone, it's bound to be one of you two." She added, causing Troy to nod.

They had to be the ones to get Hermes to talk, or he never would. And they didn't know how they would.

Chapter Text

Hermes didn't know why he had been having nightmares. Talya suggested it might be something like... PTSD? That's what she called it? Hermes didn't think that was what it was though. The god woke up in a cold sweat, tattered wings wrapping around him as he buried his face into his knees. He didn't need these. Not now. Not ever.

He eventually stood up, walking to the door of the room he had been staying in. His hand shakily gripped the doorknob, opening it and walking into the dark hall. Step. Step. Step. Each step, Hermes contemplated what to do, but he ignored his regrets as he ended up at Jay and Talya's bedroom door.

Jay stirred awake as he heard a noise. He sat up in the bed and looked around. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his eyes landing on Hermes, who was standing beside their bed "Hermes..?" The musician asked, his voice groggy from having just woken up. He didn't need this right now. "Is something wrong? Why aren't you where we told you to sleep?"

"... Nightmare. I know. It's childish and I shouldn't have nightmares being a god and all— Dont mock me for it or I'll tear out your tongue and—" Jay sat up in the bed, shifting to look at Hermes better. He chuckled slightly, trying to be quiet so he wouldn't wake up his girlfriend. "What? You think you being a god makes you immune to nightmares?"

"Being alive since ancient Greece should, that's what I think darling." Hermes answered, his wings clinging to him like a sloth to a tree. "Well, it doesn't. Nobody's invincible, even the gods, you're proof enough, aren't you?" Jay smiled, looking at Hermes with a sympathetic expression. "You want to sit on our bed, or do you want to go back to yours?

"... Can I sleep with you guys..?" Hermes asked as he sat down. He felt so much like a child. He was the god of speed, messages, trickery, thievery, so much more... He was supposed to be atleast sort of powerful. Jay was slightly surprised, but he didn't mind. He could understand not wanting to be alone after a nightmare.

"Sure. I don't mind" He commented, shifting over as far to the side as he could. He moved on the bed to give Hermes room to lay down beside him. Hermes laid down, making sure to give Jay and his girlfriend their own room. He may be a little flirty but he never wanted to make Talya and Jay uncomfortable.

Jay went back to being comfortable, burying himself into Talya's shoulder before pausing, looking back up at the god. He sat up properly and gave Hermes a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You don't have to worry about giving us space you know. We don't care if you are closer. We don't mind. You're a friend."

"... Thank you darling." Hermes had to hold back a smile "Mhm. Of course" Jay sighed, before laying his head back down on his girlfriends stomach. He looked over at Hermes. "Try to get some real rest this time, okay?" "I'll try, darling."

"Do you want me to stay up with you for a bit? To help you fall asleep I mean?" Jay asked, his voice soft and reassuring. "No it's fine-... I don't want to wake Talya up on accident..." Hermes answered sheepishly, staring at the blankets. "She's a heavy sleeper, don't worry" Jay reassured, knowing that if Talya was truly asleep, there was no way he and Hermes would wake her up unless they were practically shouting in her ear, and Talya would DESTROY him if he was.

Hermes merely nodded, stretching out his tattered wings and almost hitting Jay right in the face. Despite them being cut in half, they were large. Jay wondered how Hermes could hide them with the mist for so long. The musician chuckled and moved his head back, narrowly avoiding the wing. He had almost forgotten about the damage Hermes' wings had gone through. They had looked pretty broken and bloody from the injuries. But the god was clearly still in pain from the injuries, since he had let out a small wince when he moved them.

"Night Jay..."
"Night, Hermes."

Rays of sun hit Talya's eyes and she opened them, only to close them again as they immediately started watering as the smell of smoke filled the air, coming from somewhere near the kitchen. "Jay... whats going on...?" Talya mumbled, burying her face into her pillow. "That's not me." Jay explained.

Both of them got up and went to go find the source of the smell. Hermes set a burning pan in the sink, pouring water on it. "Jay and Talya are going to kill me... Get a grip Hermes!"

Jay came around the corner into the kitchen, rubbing his eye sleepily, other hands clinging to Talya's waist. "What's going on-..." He froze in the doorway when he saw the mess in the kitchen. He was speechless for a moment before he could find the words. "What the hell..?"

"I tried to make breakfast." Hermes explained. Talya walked over and grabbed the burned pan from the sink. Her and Jay stared at the mess of charcoal that was supposed to be eggs. "And you're banned from using the kitchen" Talya spoke. "No-! Talya darling please!" Hermes began to whine.

"Nope. We aren't letting you end up burning our entire kitchen down just because you can't cook anything. No more using the kitchen, at least not without our help" Jay added. "But Jay!!"

"And don't you use the 'Jay' on me. I'm not letting you burn down our kitchen anymore" Jay spoke, giving Hermes a serious look. While the god's pleading did make him want to cave, he knew it would be dangerous[No pun intended] to let him use the kitchen again on his own. "You're such a daffodil!"

"You're just upset that you can't use the kitchen anymore" Jay scoffed, crossing his arms. That was his final word on the subject, and it really was for both his and Talya's own safety.

Chapter Text

Jay and Talya were on their couch, snuggled up together. They were watching that new lion King movie. They were interrupted when Hermes burst out of his room, holding his phone and wearing an excited look. "Jay! Talya! Invite Troy over! We should bake cookies!" Hermes exclaimed, smiling widely.

Talya sat up some on the couch, looking over at Hermes. "Cookies?" She said, sounding interested at the prospect of baking with the god. "Yeah! We should make chocolate chip cookies!" The trickster god added, clapping his hands like a excited little seal. Talya adored Hermew, he was like her son.

Jay chuckled, finding Hermes' excitement over cookies adorable. He sat up as well, shifting his position to look at the god "And why should we invite Troy over? We can make cookies just fine on our own, and it's not like you have to make cookies just to hang out with him you know..." He quietly murmured.

"I want Troy to bake with us! It's that or I burn down your kitchen!" Hermes exclaimed before doing his stupid dolphin giggle. Jay sighed. He knew that there was no way out of this, and he didn't want to risk having Hermes in the kitchen alone. "Fine, we can invite Troy over so you can bake" He caved in, unable to say no to the god's pleading.

"Yay!" Hermes spun around a bit before rushing into the kitchen and preheating the oven. "Do we have the stuff?" Jay got up and entered the kitchen behind Hermes, Talya sitting back on the couch with a smile. He sighed. "We probably do, it'd be bad planning if we didn't. Did you at least look for it before you started preheating the oven?"

"Uhhhhhh. No? Anyway. Call Troy over! We're gonna bake until you mortals drop!" Hermes smiled, striking a stupid pose. Jay sighed. He knew that wasn't going to end well if Hermes had actually not checked before turning on the oven. But he didn't say anything about it. He just rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone

"Fine, I'll call Troy. But don't touch anything while I'm on the phone, yeah?" He begged. "Oki doki, darling!" Hermes exclaimed as Jay called up Talya. Suddenly, Talya heard a noise from outside the window and Hermes immediately tensed, "What is it?" He asked, watching as Talya grabbed a broom.

Talya's head was turned at the sound, both her and Hermes all stressed. But she didn't answer Hermes' question, her eyes instead locked on a tree outside of the window. She slowly got up and started walking over, broom held high in her hand. Hermes watched as Talya opened the window, holding her broom high as she prepared to hit whatever it was. They both stared down at a baby bird. "Oh, it's just a little guy!" Hermes exclaimed.

Talya sighed and set her broom down as she saw the bird. It was just a small robin, not something dangerous or out of the ordinary like she thought. "Oh, it really is just a baby bird..." She mumbled under her breath. The bird wasn't injured or struggling, it was just sitting there and looking at them curiously.

"Im sorry for worrying you. I just wanted to make sure we were safe..." Hermes sighed. Talya turned back from the window with a concerned look at Hermes. "No, don't worry about it, I don't blame you for worrying" She said, before looking a little more worried "You need to be more careful though. It's not just us that we need to worry about being safe, we need to worry about you too you know. I mean, it's not as if you aren't family now" "Huh..?" Hermes murmured, staring at her in disbelief.

Talya crossed the kitchen and stood in front of Hermes. "Well I mean... obviously you're family now! What, you thought we wouldn't consider you a part of our family once all of this happened?" She asked, gesturing around them to what she assumed he knew she meant by "this". Hermes laughed a bit before breaking down sobbing. He looked like a mess as he fell to his knees, whining and gripping his shirt. Talya wanted to comfort him, but she knew he deserved to cry.

Talya knelt down in front of Hermes as he knelt on the floor. She didn't say anything, letting Hermes cry. She knew he needed to let his feelings out and cry for a bit before she could offer him any type of comfort. She remained close to him though, remaining silent. Hermes wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled a bit. "I'm sorry... Jay's probably off the phone with Troy by now..." Hermes murmured, getting up and acting casually. Talya knew that Hermes was just pretending to act fine.

She could see that he wasn't going to be comfortable with more of the conversation anytime soon. So she dropped it for now and stood up as well "He probably is. I mean Troy won't get here for a bit, but Jay's probably done calling him at this point" As they walked back into the kitchen, Jay and Talya began to talk like usual. Talya and Hermes both just didn't talk about what happened. They didn't want to stress Jay out. Hermes cared about him to much for that. And so they sat there, waiting.

Chapter Text

As soon as Troy got there they began baking. Hermes and Troy didn't exchange any qctuwl conversation besides saying hellos and how are yous. Hermes snuck a bite of the dough. Jay and Troy were rolling their eyes as Hermes kept snagging cookie dough from each of them. They both looked mildly annoyed, but Talya chuckled as she watched. She thought it was adorable that Hermes was so excited and happy about baking

"Hermes, for the nineteenth time, that is the cookie dough. Stop eating it or you'll spoil your appetite" Talya exclaimed, ruffling the gods hair. "But it's good!" Hermes exclaimed as he grabbed some chocolate chips and snacked. Troy chuckled, shaking his head a bit. "It's even better when it's actually baked into cookies, you know" He said, as he pushed the bowl of dough and chocolate chips out of Hermes' reach so he wouldn't eat any more of it.

"Troy you daffodil how dare you!" Troy let out a small laugh at Hermes' reaction, amused at the way the god pouted when he took the bowl of dough away from him. "Hey, you can eat the cooked cookies after they're done baking, deal with it. We're not letting you eat all the dough" Jay added, shaking his head before they began to cut the dough into circles.

Hermes watched them bake, swinging his leg. He stared back out the window. The bird was still there. He could have sworn he knew that type of bird. He remember that one time him, Athena, Aphrodite, and Ares went birdwatching in hopes of having family bonding, that Athena kept telling them about the birds and what they were...

Jay noticed Hermes staring out the window, watching the bird perched in the tree. He looked from the god to the bird a couple times before speaking. "Are you... are you okay? You've been staring out the window for a while now." He asked, setting a hand on his shoulder. Jay raised an eyebrow. He had a pretty good guess of what Hermes was thinking about, but he didn't say anything about it. He just leaned back against the counter behind him

"Thinking about anything in particular, or just thinking about random stuff?" Jay asked. "I know what kind of bird that is... I don't remember what it's name is though." Hermes dismissed, smiling at the little bird. Jay chuckled slightly. He pushed himself off of the counter he was leaning against and walked over to the window. He looked at the bird for a second before turning back to Hermes. "It's a robin, or at least it looks like a robin from what I can see."

Hermes stared down at the bird before paling and covering the window with the curtains. "Right, uh... Let's get back to baking..!" Jay's expression shifted at Hermes' reaction, a look of concern taking over his face. He walked over to the god and put a hand on his back. "You sure you're okay? What's going on, why'd you cover the window? The bird isn't going to suddenly break in you know."

"it's nothing, darling—" Hermes exclaimed. Jay's expression hardened. He knew that Hermes was lying, or at least hiding something. He didn't let up though, he kept his firm gaze on the god. "Yeah. That's a lie. It's obviously something, what is it? Whatever it is, you know it'd be better to tell us. Please, don't try to hide stuff now, especially if it's something you need to talk about"

"... I need to tell you what happened the day I rushed here..."

Chapter Text

Jay just stared at Hermes in a mix of shock and disgust. "He. What..?" Jay almost threw up, but he couldnt. Not now. Hermes needed his support. "Im booking you a therapist-" Jay hugged the god tight, getting a gasp from Hermes. "Darling Im okay I promise I-" "No. You need therapy. Go back to Troy and Talya." he gently shoved Hermes back to the kitchen.

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Hermes stared out at the person in front of him, tensing in the chair. He didn't need therapy, he was fine. "Cant you just stay, Jay? I don't know this person and-" "No. Hermes, please just talk to Eclipse, they're your therapist for now." Jay walked out the room, leaving Hermes with this complete stranger. He was already hugging his knees.

"Okay. I'm Eclipse, I got my PHD yesterday lmao." Eclipse smiled before tossing Hermes one of those really good Japanese circle candies he didn't know the name of. "So. Explain everything." They added, letting Hermes talk about what happened, writing stuff on a clipboard. "Mhm." Eclipse nodded. "I keep having random moments where it just all comes back to me in a flash- I cant stand any form of lightning storm." Hermes explained, slowly moving his head from his knees to open the wrapper of the candy and pop it into his mouth.

"Sounds like PTSD." Eclipse remarked calmly, tossing him another one. "PT... What now?" Hermes blinked. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most commonly found in people who went to war, victims of gun violence, or... In your case, a variety of child abuse." Eclipse rested a hand on Hermes' shoulder and he flinched. "Sometimes you get reminded out of no where, and other times, it happens because of a trigger sound or word." They added, setting down there clipboard. "In your case, it would be the sound of thunder and the sight of lightning."

"... Is there any way to fix it?" Hermes asked, slowly calming himself. "PTSD isn't something you can fix or truly get rid of, but you can try to work with it. Adjust your life and accept your trauma as something that cant be forgotten, but can be worked with. I could find you some good noise cancelling headphones to buy for storms, or you could get some psychotherapy." Eclipse explained.

"That's great darling." Hermes hit his head on the table. "Hey hey- Don't hurt yourself." Eclipse set a hand on the gods head. "Do you wanna color something? I have coloring books for my younger clie-" "Yes." Hermes immediately opened his hands like a grubby toddler as Eclipse handed him a coloring book and crayons.

Without even realizing, Hermes' session wit Eclipse was done, and he ended up going home with Talya and Jay. "How was it?" Talya asked, smiling at the trickster god. "Great. If the therapy the other gods gave me had way more candy and coloring books I would've never left Olympus to hang with you guys and got myself into this mess."

"That's offensive" Jay joked. "Sorry." Hermes apologized with his stupid little dolphin giggle. He had a new family now, people who loved him for who he was, and he wouldnt trade them for his place in Olympus back. The faint sight of a owl didn't even catch his eye.

Chapter Text

The goddess of wisdom sighed, reverting from her owl form and turning to a mourning dove in a tree. "What do you think we should do?" Athena asked the dove, whom was the love goddess in disguise. "We could just let him stay." Aphrodite answered, turning into her normal form. Athena instinctively covered her eyes, refusing to see her fellow goddesses naked form.

" What are you suggesting? We can't leave him!" Athena screeched. Aphrodite rolled her eyes, applying some lipstick in a hand mirror "Answer me this,, Athena, when was the last time Hermes let any of us this close?" She asked, gesturing around them to Talya, Jay, and Hermes inside the apartment talking about something Athena couldn't hear.

" That doesn't matter, we have to bring him back! Father will be pissed if he learned Hermes is still consulting with mortals after his punishment for it!" Athena reasoned. "We need to bring him home! Tell him he can get his godhood back if he leaves, then bam! He's back. Issue solved. Iris doesn't have to do everything for him." . . "Oh I'm sorry Athena! What it seems to me is he has found home HERE!" Aphrodite retorted, spreading her legs in a lewd manner that Athena instinctively threw a cloth to cover her up. "He's not let me or Apollo preen his feathers in thousands of years?! Not even when he's run himself to be fucking ragged!" Aphrodite shifted her eyes back at the mortals who had been brushing the gods tattered ear wings and chatting.

"If he's happy here, then so be it. We shouldn't make him have to go back to us if he doesn't want to." Aphrodite smiled smuggly. With that they both took one last glance at the scene before them. "Then that's it then. Just make sure father does not find out, I fear for those mortals if he does." Athena shook her head solemnly before her and Aphrodite flew off in the forms of the owl and mourning dove.

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"Say... Let's make a deal, prince." The god of tides spoke, staring down at Ithaca's prince. "You become immortal, my spy for thousands of years to come, and I don't drown your precious little kingdom." Telemachus gulped at that, staring at the ground. 

'But why should I? In the end, everyone here will die.' He wondered, hands tightening on his chiton. And then, he made his decision. "Fine. Just leave my kingdom alone." Telemachus spoke.

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"MICO?" Jay asked over the phone, snapping the other out his haze. "Oh, yeah? How's Hermes holding up after... Y'know?" MICO asked, setting down the phone as he grabbed a glasses wipe and cleaned his lenses. "The whole Zeus thing? Oh. Yeah uhm... He's doing good." Jay answered, his voice filled with it's usual joy. "But we gotta go, talk to you later man." Jay explained. "Okay. Talk to you tommorow." MICO answered. "Hold on— We didn't tell—" Talya was cut off by MICO hanging up.

Chapter Text

Hermes doubled over, sobbing like a mess and covering his ears. Jay patted him on the back, Talya stood at their side, trying to get Hermes' noise canceling headphones Eclipse got them, and Troy defended him, standing infront of the god. Lightning struck and Hermes' sobs only got more frantic.

"Son." Zeus spoke, his voice booming and echoing like thunder. "Here's the deal, I could kill these precious mortals, or you could come back to your home. Either way, you never see them again, but wouldn't you rather them be alive?" He asked, a smile on his face.

That snapped Hermes out his PTSD attack from the sheer shock he felt. Home? Olympus was not his home. It didn't have Talya or Troy or Jay. "NO-..! These people have been better to me in a few weeks then you've been over a thousand years!" Hermes yelled, gripping his newly repaired fur coat.

Zeus putting his hand up, only to be startled by a scream. "TALK TO THE SMOKE BOMB, BITCH!" A voice yelled. Then. There was smoke, and the group of four were being rushed away from Zeus, the smoke clouded their vision, so they couldn't tell who it was at first. Then, without even realizing, they were outside the building Hermes went to therapy in. "Is anyone hurt?" The voice of Eclipse asked, stepping towards them. "Thank's for saving them, MICO." Eclipse turned to the person who had helped them escape. Oh. It was MICO!

"Hold on, what's going on?" Jay asked, confused as fuck. "Look, we saved your life, don't thank us, we don't have much time." MICO explained. Hermes tackles him into a hug. "Oh, darling, it is so good to see you T— Wait. Why are you here? Aren't you ment to be in Toronto?" Hermes asked, his ear wings slightly fluttering. "I came as soon as you guys and then Poseidon told me what happened." MICO explained, smiling a bit as he fixed his glasses. "Wha? Okay. Why is Poseidon involved in what's happening to—" Troy was cut off by Hermes speaking, "I think you owe everyone a explanation. They're confused, they don't know what's happening, Telemachus."

MICO just sighed. "I'll explain everything, but we need to go, asap." He explained. "Our best bet would be to get to New York to see Tiresias and Mason." He added. Tiresias? He got to see his favorite blind prophet? After what Zeus did, Hermes hadn't visited! He smiled at the thought of the prophet's face.

"Hermes?" Troy's voice snapped him out his love struck haze. "OH- Yes darling?" Hermes smiled at him. "We have to go to New York. So... Plane's are off the table, I doubt we could go by boat..." Talya murmured. "So a car it is then?" Troy asked. "Mhm. But my car is a 5 seater, there's 6 of us." Eclipse answered. 

"I don't mind staying behind." Troy offered, only for Hermes to kick his knees. "No! We're all going." Hermes answered, kicking as hard as he could. "Stop it, Hermes," Talya commanded with a smile. "Okay mom..." Hermes crossed his arms before continuing. "Honestly, commanding around q god is a level of hubris that—" 

"You called Talya mom—" Jay interrupted. "What? No I didnt me—" "Do you see me as a mother figure, Hermes?" Talya asked. "No! Darling I ment it sarca—" "No you ment it like you see Talya as your mom!" Troy mocked. "Why did I chose to look like you..." Hermes wondered, shaking his head in annoyance.

"Okay. As funny as this is, we don't have time to waste. Zeus will find us any minute." MICO explained. "We can borrow a car from a friend of mine." Eclipse answered, smiling as they stuffed a clipboard and pen into a bag. "What? I'm still being paid to be Hermes' therapist, aren't i?" Eclipse asked as they stared at them in confusion.

They waited for about 10 minutes before someone barged in. "Thanks for coming, Madison." Eclipse smiled. "Feeling like a girl or boy today?" They added as Madison tossed them the keys. "Girl. But that doesn't matter right now. You guys gotta go." Madison smiled. "The van's all yours." She added.

"Cya girl." Eclipse waved her goodbye. "She was quick." Troy retorted. "Mhm. I could go faster!" Hermes exclaimed. "Wait no please dont—" "And that was around the entire US!" Hermes exclaimed, not moving. "You didnt move—' Jay murmured. "I'm so quick you don't even realize." Hermes winked.

"On a cooler note... We get to go on a road trip!" Jay exclaimed, taking the keys from Eclipse. "Road trip!" Everyone cheered.

Chapter Text

Okay.

So... MICO didn't mean for this to happen. He didn't mean to get into helping a god exiled from Olympus. Years ago, He wouldn't have even meant to get himself involved with gods besides Athena in general. Hermes and Eclipse were getting stuff from the gas station, Jay was getting gas, Talya and Troy were talking to eachother about literal fritos, and MICO?

He was being yelled at by the god of tides in his mind.

" Telemachus!"

The god of tides yelled. MICO HATED his voice. His hoarse, cold, angry voice. MICO hoped the god would take a fucking drink of tea and fix it.

MICO sighed quietly, opening his mouth to speak in a whisper so Talya and Troy wouldn't hear him. "...Poseidon." He greeted, nails digging into his own thigh.

"Are you mad? Helping Hermes?! Zeus will be enraged, and I do not care what happens to you if he realizes it's you." 

The god scolded. MICO merely shook his head. He couldn't do this right now. Couldn't deal with the god. He had Hermes and the others to help.

"I know... I know... Can you just—"

"You are so fucking useless, Telemachus. A disappointment. No fucking wonder your parents didn't search for you."

MICO gasped quietly at that, his hand reached up to cusp his mouth. They didn't search for him? No! They definitely did. They wouldn't just abandon him like that. Right?

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he took off his glasses, trying to wipe them before Talya and Troy noticed. "MICO, you good?" Troy asked, turning to look at him. "What's wrong?" Talya added, obviously worried for him.

"Getting mortals worried about you? You're so fucking pathetic. You should fucking end it. Gods and Goddesses can't die, but 'immortals' definitely can. Go ahead, fucking kill yourself. Right infront of them. Run right into the road."

MICO jolted up at the comment. Good idea.. yeah... yeah he didn't need to exist— he didnt— "MICO?"

He immediately looked up at Jay, who had gotten back in the car from finishing pumping the gas. MICO quickly opened the car door and rushed towards the road. The god or tides was right. He didn't need to exist, all he did was cause problems and—

"OH—" Jay grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. "LET..! ME! GO!" MICO desperately tried to make the other let go.

◆----------------------◆

"Alright, that's enough." A voice spoke. Then. MICO was on his own. Quick thought? He hadn't been in one of these since—

"Athena!" MICO excitedly turned to see her. "Telemachus." She smiled at him and walked towards him, pulling him into a small hug. "You can't do this. It isn't rational. You're doing a good thing helping Hermes. I've been trying to convince the other gods into helping you're plan." Athena explained, her hand—or talons? Her hands had really sharp nails— carefully pet his back.

MICO began to sob, hiding his face in her dress-armor mix thingy. "Mentor.... I just... I just can't do this... I'm so fucking useless I can't help anyone and—"

"You know Poseidon is lying to you, don't you? Your father and mother had another son, sure, but they never stopped looking for you. Telemachus, you are loved by so many people. I can't help you convince my father to bring back Hermes' godhood without hurting everyone, and I can't convince Poseidon to not lie to you but I can try and help you. I cannot talk any longer, but I promise you, I will help you all get to New york." Athena explained, hugging him gently. Then— Quickthought was over.

◆----------------------◆

"YOU'E GOT TO BE KIDDING ME—" Eclipse hit their head in their hand as Talya and Troy explained everything. Hermes gasped and rushed towards MICO. Jay stared at MICO and tried his best to comfort him. 

"Telemachus, darling..." Hermes pulled him into a hug. "You owe then a explanation. You don't have to tell them now, but you need to soon," Hermes explained. "I know..." MICO sighed. They all piled back into the van, and Eclipse offered to have MICO talk to them since y'know, they're a therapist. But MICO refused. They all sat in silence for a bit of the drive, then MICO spoke.

"I have to tell you something."

Chapter Text

"... What do you need to tell us?"

Jay asked, looking at MICO, who was fidgeting with... something.

Hermes set a hand in MICO'S shoulder—to the best of his ability since he was sitting in the middle row, MICO in the back.

MICO adjusted his glasses and took a bite out of the chips Eclipse had bought him.

"I'm not... who I said I am."

MICO confessed. Eclipse stared, Talya spat out her drink, Troy dropped his bag of chips, Jay stopped at the side of the highway.

"Excuse me?"

Talya asked. Hermes, seeing MICO'S reluctance to continue, did it for him.

"Telemachus here is a but more then just his voice actor."

Hermes insinuated.

Troy was the first to process what Hermes was suggesting.

"YOU'RE TELEMACHUS OF ITHACA?!- HOW?! WHAT?! EXCUSE ME?! PARDON?! WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE—"

Jay cleared his throat.

"Uh. Troy, you're scaring him—"

"Sorry."

MICO sighed.

"I should have told you all I just— gods... I've been so stressed and I haven't been able to do anything right since we started this trip and—"

Talya cut him off.

"Dont say that."

"What?"

"You heard her, don't say that. You saved our asses back there with Zeus, you're as much of a hero as your father, MICO."

Jay commented, giving him a goofy smile.

Chapter Text

Mason stared at the person in his gaming chair playing...

A fucking dating Sim?

Okay.

He wasn't one to judge or question what people chose to play. 

But it was the person who was doing it.

Tiresias

The blind DEAD prophet.

Who also he voice acted.

And also decided suddenly that Mason was his roommate.

"I see visitors." Tiresias sat up and got out the chair, walking right into the wall.

"The doors to your left—" Mason murmured, helping the blind prophet to the front door.

Opening the door, Mason blinked. Jay, Talya, Troy, MICO, Hermes, and someone he didn't recognize stood there and spoke.

"Sooooooo... Can we come inside? We need uh... we're on the run." The person Mason didn't recognize spoke. Hermes clung to their arm, his ear wings flicking a bit.

"Uh. Sure, what's up?" Mason let the group of six in, Tiresias nodded.

"I see—"

"You dont, love." Hermes moved from the stranger's arm to curl up around Tiresias.

"... As I was saying, I see that Zeus had... Punished you, and now you all are on the run" Tiresias knew, letting Hermes cling to him.

"I shouldn't have got involved, but I wanted to help." Troy explained, smiling as Eclipse introduced themself to Mason.

"So, Telemachus and I need a tad bit of help." Hermes explained with a cat-esk smile.

Jay set a hand on MICO's shoulder and whispered something.

MICO gave a small nod.

——————

"TELEMACHUS OF ITHACA."

Poseidon spoke.

Shut up, MICO thought, deciding to ignore the fact the god was talking to him. 

"ANSWER ME, TELEMACHUS. Have you lost your mind?! Turn the trickster brat in and come back to me, or ELSE."

Poseidon commanded.

——————

"MICO?" Talya gave his shoulder a squeeze. 

He looked up and smiled.

The sun shone in from the opened curtains, and Tiresias quietly began to spew a prophecy. Hermes gave a nod and wrote it down on his arm. Jay moved to close the curtain, but Talya shook her head.

"This is the first ray of sun we've had since we started this trip, we should enjoy it." She gave him a little kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Jay."

Hermes stuck his tongue out and blew raspberries. "BOO DARLING! Save the sappyness for later!'

"Well that isn't nice, Hermes." A voice spoke.

Everyone turned to the source of the voice. Outside the window. "OH EW WHY YOU?!" Hermes screeched.

"That's not the way to treat the sun god, is it, Hermes?"

Chapter Text

"I'm here for telemachus, Athena told me everything. Not you, Hermes." Apollo rolled his eyes, clearing his throat.

"Okay, I have no idea what the hell is happening. Why is‐" Mason was cut off by Apollo flicking him in the forehead.

"Shush. Telemachus, Hermes, a word?" Apollo gestured to pull them aside–aka just into Mason's bathroom–.

As Apollo slammed the door shut behind them, Hermes pulled the other gods hair. Apollo turned to him and flicked him in the nose. Hermes was about to try to strangle the other when‐ "uh. I'm right here—" MICO murmured, wiping his glasses.

"Right. Sit." Apollo shoved Hermes onto the ground and gently sat MICO on the counter. "You know, Atlas died in battle. But he died begging me to find you and protect you if you lived. Your parents were distraught..." Apollo explained. MICO sighed and let out a small whimper.

"He was young. Fifteen. But he died protecting Ithaca. Died honoring you. And I'm here to uphold my word. And by extension..." Apollo sighed. "Hermes. Dionysus hasn't answered me yet, but we believe he'll be helping aswell."

Hermes gasped and smirked. "Admit it darling, you just love—"

"No kill yourself. As I was saying, We're afraid, but we've even managed to convince Hades, and he never took sides. I'm going to get Hermes his godhood back. And I'm going to protect you." Apollo gave MICO a short hug.

"And Hermes-... ugh. I know we dont exactly get along, but you're still family." Apollo forced Hermes into a hug aswell. "You're always my lil bro!" He ruffled Hermes' hair. "Gods, your feathers need pruning. First thing I'm doing when you come back."

"Touch me and I'll destroy all your plant lovers with a match and gasoline.'

"Fuck you."

"Who wouldnt~?"

"I am right here—" Mico interjected.

Chapter Text

I'm keeping this short and sweet, I'm losing motivation on this story.

I will try to update and finish it since it's almost over though.

Please check out my other two works i actually put effort into:

• Nerdy Prudes Dont Like Musicals
• Odysseus Jackson's Recollection of Heroes Of Olympus

I hope you understand♡

Chapter Text

"We're ready." Hermes told everybody who sat in the living room, now including all the Olympians(Excluding Zeus and Poseidon), Eclipse, Jay, Talya, Tiresias, and MICO.

"So what's the plan again?" Jay asked, a confused expression on his face.

"One of us goes out there, yells profanity about father, gets smited, he comes down, he talk it out, we bury the person who get's smited, we win." Ares explained.

"I don't want anyone to die- I love all these mortals-" Hermes whined.

Silence fell over everyone.

"Ill do it." Eclipse offered.

"What?" Everyone looked shocked.

"If I die, I die. I'm doing a good thing, aren't I?"

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Troy asked.

"Maybe I've always been."

"... I could do it." Talya offered.

"NO!" Everyone collectively screeched, mainly Jay, who immediately clung to her.

Hermes immediately hugged Eclipse.

"No. It cant be you, it cant be any of you, I-"

"Hermes. It's not that easy." Hepheastus reassured, setting a hand on the others shoulder.

Hermes tattered but slowly healing wings hit Hepheastus right in the face, knocking the other away.

"Hermes..." Eclipse gave the god a dumb little smile on their face.

"No please, darling, please-"

"Being your therapist has been awesome. Meeting you has been awesome, being devoted to you has been awesome- I've gotten do this. Okay?" They explained.

Everybody walked outside and Eclipse stood on the sidewalk.

"YOU STUPID SLUT OF A GOD! YOU'RE WORSE OF A PARENT THEN MY MOM, AND SHE'S A BITCH! GET YOUR USELESS ASS DOWN HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A REAL FUCKING MAN! OR ARE YOU TO MUCH OF A FUCK TO-"

Lightning struck. Everybody covered there eyes, Dionysus set a hand on Hermes' shoulder.

Zeus was there in a instant, and Athena cleared her throat, walking forward.

"Father, God King, I have a request." Athena spoke, hands in her lap.

"What." Zeus asked coldly.

"maybe you could let Hermes visit these mortals on occasions." Athena offered.

Zeus was about to scoff, but sighed. "Fine."

It wasn't that easy.

It couldn't be.

Eclipse couldn't have died just for THAT.

"Could you have done that the WHOLE TIME?!" Artemis screeched.

"I could have. I didn't want to though."

Hermes fell right onto the sidewalk and screamed.

"Hermes-" Jay murmured.

"Are you fucking mental?! We gathered a whole fucking group and you literally could have just went 'Hey, stop' and he would have LISTENED?!" Aphrodite screamed, gesturing to a Hermes who was screaming and crying.

"Lower your tone-"

"THERE IS ASH AND A DEAD PERSON FOR NO REASON"

Tiresias was led over to Hermes by Mason, he kneeled down and caressed one of Hermes' ear wings, which flapped slightly at the touch.

"None of you even know this mortal besides Hermes, why do you care? It's just one mortal, Hermes will move on."

"HOLD YOUR TONGUE ATHENA. LEST YOU WANT IT BURNT OFF-" Apollo screamed, being held back by Dionysus and Ares from lunging at her.

"I liked Eclipseee... They let me color during therapy... They gave me vEGGIE STRAWS-" Hermes sobbed into the blind prophets thigh, the latter's hands caressing his ear-wings.

"I know. I know. I foresaw that... Eclipse would not have survived much longer anyway. They defied fate to help you, that is will I have not seen in many."

"Because you don't seee" Hermes sobbed.

Hades carefully gathered up the ashes and glared at them. "They get denied a proper burial but... Ill make a bargain with Charon to let them cross the Styx. You will still get to see them one last time when you guide their soul to the underworld, wont you?" Hades reassured.

Hermes gave a shaky nod.

"I... Suppose you're welcomed back to Olympus." Zeus murmured begrudgingly.

Hera just watched from the sidelines with a strange expression. It was almost... smug.

That bitch of a step mom knew that Athena could do that from the start...

It was over.

But was it worth it?

Hermes didn't even like the other gods.

He barely knew Eclipse as a person but... He adored them.

But... At least Jay, Talya, and Troy lived.

They were safe, and it was finally over.

Chapter Text

Hello my stars!

So

I KNOW Hermes And Jay the Trauma Saga is Over but I just wanted to say, this fanfic and all your support was what got me to pursue writing more, and I am currently qriting a book called THE ABYSS!

I totally recommend checking out some of my other works to see how far I've come:

A Living Ember Of The Flame Of Life

Are You Man Enough?

Nerdy Prudes dont like musicals

Hyacinth|A Percy Jackson Oc Fanfic

3 of those are Team Starkid btw, lols.

ALSO ILY ALL SO SO SO SOOOO MUCH!!!

Hugs and Kisses from Memoire:3

Chapter Text

Hi my stars, sorry for another chapter despite the fanfic being complete, I know, I'm terrible:(

When I wrote Hermes and Jay, I was big into EPIC the musical, however, after about the 5th chapter, I lost all motivation to write. But I kept writing out of fear of disappointing my loyal and loving fans.

By the end of Hermes and Jay, I had lost all care for EPIC-I still listened to the soundtrack, but I lost all care for the fandom and characters and stuff.

It also has practically made me physically unable to write EPIC fanfics and nearly fanfics in general because I get so stressed about not living up the the expectation of everyone.

Dont get me wrong, the fanfic was a fun concept, but I hated it and I will NEVER be truly ready to write EPIC again.

And seeing all these bookmarks and comments being supportive made me SO STRESSED! I will not name who said this, but somebody said "fun idea. executed well" like...

NO???????????????

I love support and comments, but that fic mentally drained me. Sorry for ranting, ily guys

-Memoire