Bliss peered over the edge of his crib, grinning when he saw his father asleep in his bed. "Daddy!" Bliss squealed happily.

Cupid stretched and rolled out of bed without actually waking up. He plucked his giggling son out of his crib and tucked him into bed with him, hoping against hope that he'd be able to get a couple more hours of sleep.

Bliss, however, was wide awake and ready to play. And as much as he loved his Daddy, he wanted his Xanner. And he wanted him now. Tugging on his father's hair, Bliss asked, "Where Xanner, Daddy?"

Cupid, still not awake, reached out, searching for the mental presence of his lover. Finding him, Cupid answered his son. "He's at Grandpa Ares' with Joxer."

Bliss was out of the room and streaking through the sky in an instant.

*****

Faith, sensing, more than actually seeing, movement, ducked. And just in time. A small cannon ball with wings shot through the air right over her head and slammed into Xander's chest. The air in Xander's lungs was expelled with an explosive gasp. Faith reached down to grab the thing that was attacking Xander, but Ares stopped her. "It's all right, Faith. That's my grandson, Bliss. As you can see, he's very, very fond of Xander."

Bliss was bouncing up and down on Xander's stomach, preventing him from actually getting any air back into his lungs. Joxer, seeing his cousin's predicament, scooped the baby godling up and gave him a hug. "Hey, Bliss. Give Xander a second, okay? He still needs to breathe."

Bliss stuck his fingers in his mouth and stared anxiously at his friend, "Xanner okay?" he whispered.

Joxer laughed, "Yes, Bliss, he's fine. See? He's not blue any more."

Xander gave Joxer and Bliss a weak grin and using the edge of the table, hauled himself to his feet. Turning his chair upright, he sat down and reached for the baby. Bliss hugged him tightly and buried his face in Xander's chest. "Sowwy, Xanner."

"Hey, don't worry about it, I'm fine. You hungry? You can share my breakfast with me."

Bliss nodded eagerly and squirmed around in Xander's lap until he was facing the table. Then he froze, not recognizing the woman standing next to his grandpa.

Xander, feeling Bliss go stiff in his arms, decided introductions should be made before the baby turned into a statue. "Bliss, this is Faith. She's mine and Joxer's cousin. And she works for Ares now."

Faith nodded and waved her fingers at the baby, but staying out of reach. She could face down any sort of demon and not flinch, but babies scared her to death. Not to mention the fact that this baby had wings.

Bliss smiled at her shyly, then stuck his fingers back in his mouth. Xander tugged the fingers free saying, "You can't eat if your mouth is full of baby fingers. Do they taste good? Is that why they're always in your mouth?" Xander grabbed the damp little hand and mimed chewing on it. "Ummm, yummy. I think I'll have baby fingers too."

Bliss erupted into giggles, trying in vain to pull his hand away. "Xanner! No! My fingers." Snagging a piece of toast with his other hand, he shoved it into Xander's mouth. "Toast is better. Eat toast."

Everyone started laughing and Bliss giggled, bouncing in Xander's lap. "So this is where you took off to. Warn me next time, okay?"

Bliss held up his arms when he saw his daddy, "Asked you. You said my Xanner was here so I comed to say hi."

Cupid groaned and shook his head, "I gotta learn to quit talking in my sleep."

Xander grinned at the God of Love, "Oh, I don't know about that. I like it when you talk in your sleep. You say all kinds of interesting things."

Cupid grinned and leaned down to give Xander a kiss, only pulling back when Bliss started to fuss. "Morning."

"Morning." Xander croaked out in a strangled voice. Xander looked up and saw Faith staring at him in wide-eyed disbelief. Xander could feel the flush creeping up his face, "Uh, Faith, this is Cupid, God of Love, Bliss' dad and uh, he's uh, wellhe'skindamyboyfriend," Xander finished in a rush.

Faith looked Cupid over, then gave Xander a smirk and two thumbs up. Cupid grinned and sat next to Xander, "Thank you. It's always nice to be appreciated."

Xander groaned and buried his face in his hands. Bliss reached out and patted his Xanner on the head, "You okay, Xanner? You face is really red."

Xander just groaned again and everyone laughed. Except Ares. Watching his new Champion, he winced. She made all the motions of laughter, and her delight with Xander's embarrassment was easy to see, but the only sound she made was a weak rasp as air rushed over her damaged vocal cords.

Pushing Faith into a chair, he took the seat next to her, his characteristic scowl on his face. "I think we need to wake up Apollo first. I want him to look at Faith."

Cupid quirked a brow at his father, "I think Asc would be better, Dad. He's not so..."

Ares folded his arms across his chest, "What? Obnoxious? Arrogant? Full of himself?"

Cupid grinned, "All of the above. And he's just as good as Apollo on most things. Besides, you know how Apollo is about Titans."

Joxer cringed, "I forgot about that."

"What? Forgot about what?" Xander asked curiously.

"Apollo hates Titans," Ares said with a shrug, "but he is the God of Healing. He'll do his job and keep his mouth shut or I'll pound on him for a while."

Bliss' eyes went wide, "Titans? Where Titans? Titans bad. They kill us?" he asked worriedly.

Xander plucked the little god out of his father's lap and hugged him against his chest. "Bliss! No! The Titans aren't going to hurt you or anyone else. I'm a Titan. So is Grandpa Joxer and Faith. We wouldn't ever hurt you."

Bliss looked up at his friend, then looked at his friend, just now seeing the changes. "oooohhhh, Xanner. You changed. Why you change?"

Xander threw Cupid a panicked look and the God of Love chuckled. Putting one finger under his son's chin, he gently turned Bliss to face him. "Bliss, Xander has always been a Titan, but his powers were asleep. Now they're awake. He's not really any different than he was before. He's still your Xanner."

"Uh. I wonder..." Joxer said.

"What?" Ares asked, used to the quirky way his mate's brain worked.

"If being Titans is the reason we were able to wake you up."

"Possible," Ares muttered, "it would explain a lot. Thousands of my warriors prayed to me for days and it didn't break through the Twilight. And we both know how many people have prayed to Cupid over the years." Ares' eyes went distant as he tried to remember something he'd read years ago. "I think we need to check the archives. There was something about the return of the Titans, but I can't remember exactly what it said."

"It says...'When Olympus falls silent, search out the Titans, for they alone can restore the balance.'"

Everyone jumped when the booming voice came out of mid air. "Hey! Granddad! You know about this? And how are you talking to us anyway?" Xander asked.

"Of course, Xander, I was there when Cronos wrote it. He was the Titan of Time, you know. He had visions occasionally and he always wrote them down. I'm just surprised that you've read anything Cronos wrote, Ares. I thought Zeus destroyed the Prophecies of Time." Crius chuckled, "Cronos had some fairly nasty things to say about his son, if I remember correctly. And as for my voice, I am the Titan of Violent Change, Xander. I control the wind and it carries my voice wherever I command. Even out of Tartarus."

Xander grinned, "Am I going to be able to do that?"

"Yes. Of course. Actually, that's why I'm speaking to you. I was wondering if you, Joxer and Faith were ready to come visit. The rest of the family wants to meet you. And the sooner we can start on your training, the better."

"Wait a second, Crius, I need to know what the rest of the prophecy said. Is there a way for the Titans to wake up the rest of Olympus?" Ares demanded.

"Yes. But it won't be easy. And it will take a great deal of power. That's why it's so important for these three to be trained. If we can't awaken the rest of Olympus in time, Dahak will win. And no one, mortal, Olympian or Titan wants that to happen."

"Agreed. What to you need from us?" Ares asked quietly.

"For now, try to find that piece of the prophecy that you read before. I know the basics, but not the details. And Hades has requested Cruetus and Strife come to Tartarus, too. Since Dahak escaped, things down here have gotten out of control."

"I'll see to it, Crius. Thank you for everything you're doing. I'm sure we wouldn't have been so generous if the situations had been reversed."

Cruis' voice was curiously gentle, "I think we've all forgotten one very important thing, Ares. Despite everything, we are still family. Not a happy one at the moment. And I doubt that many of the breeches can be repaired between us. But there is no reason why we can't at least try."

Xander reached for Cupid's hand at the same moment Joxer reached for Ares'. "I think a lot of the repairs have already begun," Ares said with a smile at his consort.

Xander grinned, "I always wanted to be a repairman." "What?" he demanded when everyone groaned.

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