Thanatos's secretary, Patrice, scrutinized Damien's jeans and T-shirt in disgust. They had been arguing back and forth for about five minutes.
Damien asked, exasperated, "Can you please just let me know when he's available?"
She rapidly clicked through the months on the calendar on her computer. "He doesn't have any availability until June... three years from now."
Damien ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, I'm his son. Can I just pop on in?"
"Oh. Son? In that case here's the list of people allowed to just pop into his office." She popped her gum. "Oh, my apologies. It looks like his son isn't on the list. See?" She held a neon pink paper in front of his face.
Damien nodded, defeated, "...That's a blank sticky note."
"Exactly," she said between smacking her gum. "Move it along, kid. The answer is no."
Damien dropped his head, but he heard Loki's distinct voice, "Damien?" He looked up to see Loki behind him, holding two hot coffees. He smiled. "Hey."
"Thank god." Loki rushed up to hug him, but then couldn't figure out what to do with the coffees, so did a couple of double-takes until Damien took the coffees from his hands and set them on Patrice's desk.
She scowled.
Loki bent down and hugged Damien, and Damien hugged him back. Loki sniffed a bit. "I know you don't like physical contact."
"It's okay. Are you okay?" Damien asked.
Loki was still hugging him while sniffling silently. "I've been worried about you." Loki finally pulled away. He put his hands on Damien's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Damien said, with little conviction, "Yeah. Great. Never better."
Loki gave him a look. The mom-look. The one that chastises generations of youths without saying a word.
Damien sighed. "I need to talk to Dad. Is he available?"
"Of course he's available. Isn't he, Patrice?"
She started filing her nails. "Like... why do I even bother?" She blew a giant pink bubble.
Loki grabbed the coffees from off her desk and escorted Damien into the office.
"Look who I found loitering in the halls." Loki reached over the desk to hand Thanatos one of the cups.
"Damien!" Death rose to his feet, but cleared his throat and tried not to sound as elated. "Good to see you. Have a seat. Would you also like a coffee?"
"Only if it's decaf. I'm kidding."
"Oh good!" Loki exclaimed. "I became worried about your soul for a moment. Here." Loki produced a cup of black coffee for Damien.
Before Damien could even take a sip, Death said, "So, I know why you're here. You saw this." Thanatos slapped the newspaper on the desk.
"Uh... No. I haven't seen this. What is this?" He picked it up.
"I'd like you to read it."
As Damien's eyes scanned the page, his face pained with understanding. Damien knew that Grim Enterprises owned the major newspapers in the Netherworlds, and nothing goes on the front page without Thanatos's approval. "How did you know about the portal?"
"Victor told us," Loki answered. He stood next to Thanatos, whose fingers were steepled on the desk.
"Great," Damien said sarcastically. "I made it look like an accident. But, this says some big guy shut down the portal. Now, Alec is going to know it was me."
Loki grimaced, but Death waved this off as a minor detail. "He won't find out."
"Bet money," Damien said. "I made it look like rats ate the wiring. You do the math."
Thanatos narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of critical reasoning skills, did you really think I wouldn't find out about Alec's portal? Why didn't you tell me?"
Damien peered up from the paper, and they stared at each other for a long moment. Long enough that it was beginning to make Loki uncomfortable.
"I'm not here to argue," Damien finally said.
Thanatos retorted, "Then, why are you here?"
"Can you both please behave? Honestly. The fact that you two can't see you're exactly alike gives me an instant migraine."
Death and his son both took a centering breath.
Damien tapped a finger on the arm of the chair. "I... think I've been compromised. I think the Fates are fucking with me."
"How so?" Death asked, with a knowing smirk.
"I think they are going to kill Anna."
Death's brows came together. "Who's Anna? Ah! You mean Josanna. Victor is upset that you stole that girl."
"I didn't steal her. She's the one who told Vic that she never wanted to see him again."
Loki gave a satisfied Hmph.
Death glanced at Loki, hoping this had registered for him as well.
Loki gave him a small nod to indicate it had.
Thanatos turned back to his son. "What makes you think the Fates are planning her death?"
Damien didn't want to give out more information than was necessary. He didn't want them to know about the cottage in the woods, so he said, "It was something she saw... in the future."
Thanatos attempted to quell his son's fears by saying, "Damien, you know that girl isn't quite... all there?"
Insulted, Damien's eyes narrowed. "Neither am I."
"No, Thanatos, I think Damien has a point," Loki interjected. "I've heard the things she's said. She has magick or the gift of foresight."
"What was it exactly that she said?" Death asked.
Damien shrugged. "It's hard to explain. It's more of a feeling I had when she said it. She said that she had been to the future... and that future-me told her that she was dead in said future."
Thanatos was unimpressed, so Loki justified, "It wouldn't be the first time the Fates have used our loved ones like sheepdogs to herd us into the right direction. I'd say it's safer to assume she is compromised rather than Damien." Loki continued, but to Damien now, "Which is why you must be careful, Damien. Between everything going on with Alec and the Fates, and now this Josanna business... All I'm trying to say is there is a reason you came here. Do you understand?"
Death growled and gestured towards Damien. "Exactly. He is compromised."
"Assume we are all compromised," Loki snarled at Death.
Thanatos leaned back in his seat. "Way ahead of you."
Loki rolled his eyes, but Damien chuckled a bit before asking, "So... what do I do?"
"Wait," said Thanatos. "We wait."
Damien squinted. "Wait for what? For Josanna to die? For Alec to corner me? What the hell am I waiting for? No. Come on. You guys are gods. You've been fighting Fate for eternity. You have to have a better answer than that."
Thanatos snickered, then spat, "Such as? What might you suggest? Do you believe you can just eradicate them?"
In Death's defense, Loki added, "You, yourself, Damien, said they were quintessential to existence and would just keep coming back."
Damien thought on this. His eyes wandered off, unfocused. "Right... Which is why... you build a house away in the woods, away from everyone and everything, and just try to be happy in the five fucking seconds of quiet you get before the fucking world finds you and starts pounding on your goddamn door." Damien stood and shook his head. "I really don't get why I came here."
Thanatos stood and reached out to grasp at Damien, but it was too late. Damien had disappeared. He clenched his fist in the air and collapsed back into his seat.
Loki sympathized, "There was nothing you could have said."
"And now I'm back at square one with him. I don't know where he's gone, if he's-"
"I'm going to guess a house in the woods," Loki interrupted.
"Obviously! But, which world? Which reality?"
"Like father, like son, I suppose."
Thanatos hid his face in his hands, his nails digging into his forehead. "I just want him to be safe..."
