Xander acted like his usual self throughout the Scooby meeting. Cracking jokes and generally making an ass of himself. He didn't know whether to be happy or pissed that no one had noticed that his jokes were forced and more than a little sarcastic.

'Nope. Being ignored is of the good. Don't want them to know. They'd find a way to dick things up for me, sure as shit.'

As soon as Buffy and Willow started talking about classes and their professors, Xander knew he could leave without raising suspicions. "Hey, boys and girls, or should I say girls and guy, I'm gonna head out. I have to be on the site early tomorrow and I need to get some shut eye."

"Okay, Xan." Willow said, absently; too busy discussing school politics to pay much attention to her oldest friend.

Xander slipped out the down and headed across town. With a little luck, he could get some more work done tonight and still have time for a nap.

**********

two weeks later

**********

Xander heaved the last stone out of his way and grinned. The statue was even better than he'd hoped it'd be.

White marble gleamed in the light cast by the Coleman lanterns he'd placed throughout the cavern. The life-sized statue was of a man with short hair, carrying a bow with a quiver of arrows riding on his back. But it was the wings arching back from wide shoulders that really caught Xander's attention. They were beautiful. He used to dream of having wings. Big, strong wings that would allow him to fly away. Far, far away, from everyone and everything.

A momentary feeling of regret made his smile fade. Over a month had passed since he'd first stumbled across the mostly buried statue while scavenging around in the tunnels the cyber-demon Adam had used as his headquarters. Since that day, he'd spent every spare moment of his time clearing away the debris enshrouding the pale form. And now, it was done. He didn't really have an excuse to come back here anymore.

Looking over the statue one last time, he noticed the heavy dust that coated the figure. He grinned happily. It would take weeks to get the statue looking like it should.

As Xander finally left the caverns for the night, on Mount Olympus, for the first time in two thousand years, a God stirred.

**********

Xander was only listening to Anya with one ear. Lately, her demands on his time, not to mention his body, were getting annoying. And now she'd been bitching and moaning for over an hour about how they didn't spend enough time together.

Xander jumped when she smacked him across the back of his head. "You're not listening to me, Xander! I said, I want to know what you're doing with all your spare time. You're not spending it with me."

"Anya," Xander replied, tersely. "We have sex almost every night. What more do you want from me? It's not like you actually want to go out with me and do anything."

"Sex is fun." Anya whined. "Going to the movies is boring. Why would you want to go out when we could be having orgasms?"

Xander rubbed his hands across his eyes. He was tired and he had a headache, he didn't really feel up to dealing with her right now. "Anya, there's more to life than orgasms. There's talking, actually getting to know each other."

"What are you talking about? We know each other." Anya stated firmly, her shrill voice making his headache just that much worse..

"Anya?" Xander asked, quietly. "When is my birthday? What's my favorite food? What do I want to be doing five years from now?"

Anya's mouth opened and closed several times, making her more than vaguely resemble a stranded fish. Xander waited patiently, he knew she couldn't answer, she'd never bothered to ask. He watched as her embarrassment finally turned to anger.

"Fine! If you don't want to have sex, then I don't want to see you anymore!" Her back stiff, she stomped out the door and out of his life.

Xander felt a pang of regret, but pushed it away. He knew their relationship was going nowhere. It was probably better to end it now, before it got really ugly.

Now I'll have more time to finish. Where did I put the stuff?

Xander collected the cleaning supplies he'd purchased; buckets, cotton rags and soft bristle brushes, putting them in a box along with a couple gallons of water. He grabbed his back-pack and headed for the cavern.

**********

Cupid drifted, not awake, but no longer sleeping either. He could feel something soft ghost across his face. Gentle movements that were as calming as they were arousing. He struggled to break the hold the Twilight still had on him. But it wasn't enough. Exhausted, he gave in and let the touch soothe him.

*********

Ares stopped the practice session he and Joxer had been engaged in. He could feel something tugging on his senses. Something long lost. "Come on!" He yelled at his consort. "We have to hurry!"

They sped down the deserted streets of Olympus, and literally burst through the door sealing Cupid's temple. Ares knelt on the floor next to the bed where Cupid lay, and watched as his son struggled to break the compulsion of the Twilight.

He felt Joxer's hand on his shoulder and covered it with one of his own. "He's starting to wake up." Ares said, quietly.

"How?" Joxer asked. "Does he have worshipers again?"

Ares sent his thoughts out, trying to find the one linked to his son. The blaze of emotion rocked him to his soul. It was the same thing he got from Joxer, every day. Total dedication and worship. The God of War looked up at his consort; who would have thought that the mortal every one ignored and ridiculed, would be strong enough to save his God from the Twilight? Ares smiled and pulled Joxer down for a kiss. "Just one. But that's all he needs. Let's go find him."

Ares and Joxer followed the link and found themselves in a cavern. A tall, dark haired boy was painstakingly cleaning a marble statue of Cupid. Ares looked at the boy, and then at Joxer. The similarities were amazing. With a gentle touch, Ares put his mark of protection on the boy. He didn't want anything to happen to his son's salvation. The God of War and his consort went back to Olympus and opened a scrying mirror to keep track of the young man. This could be interesting.

**********

Xander shivered, he felt something touch him. He whipped his head around but didn't see anything. With a shrug, he went back to his task.

Xander brushed every speck of dust off of the statue, beginning at the top and working his way down. Once he'd reached the pedestal, he found a small metal plate set into the stone. There was only one word.

EROS

"Huh, guess you do have a name." It sounded familiar somehow. Looking at his watch, Xander realized he was going to have to quit for the night. He put away all of his cleaning gear before blowing out the lanterns. Holding a flashlight in one hand, he ran the other down the edge of a wing. "Night, Eros. I'll see you tomorrow."

**********

Xander went to the library as soon as he got off of work. Deciding the internet would be the fastest way to get the information he needed, he logged onto one of the terminals and started to search. He had his answer in seconds.

**********

Eros: also known as Cupid
Cupid, the God of Love, was one of the lesser members of the Olympian Pantheon. The son of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and Ares, the God of War, Cupid was considered to be the most beautiful of all the Gods. He even outshone Apollo, the Sun God. Being the son of War, he was also a skilled fighter and was prone to creating mischief. Legend has it that Cupid shot one of his arrows at Helen of Troy, thus starting the Trojan war.
Cupid carried two different kinds of arrows. Golden arrows that caused the victim to fall in love with the person they first saw after being struck. He also carried lead arrows that caused hate. Even the other Gods were susceptible to Cupid's arrows.
Cupid fell in love with a mortal woman, Psyche. They wed and soon had a son, Bliss. The baby also had wings and his image is usually the one used to represent Cupid.
Psyche proved to be unfaithful so Cupid divorced her. He took his son and went back to Olympus, vowing to never trust in a woman's heart again.
In later legends, Cupid was most often associated with his cousin, Strife, the God of Mischief. Several legends briefly mention the two being lovers.

**********

Xander closed out the files and shut down the computer. He gathered up the notes he had made and went back to his apartment to change before heading back to the cavern.

**********

Using the water he had lugged into the cavern, Xander began washing the rest of the dust from the statue, talking to the silent God the entire time. "Well, Cupid. Sorry about your wife and all. That had to suck. I kinda know how you feel. Every relationship I've ever had has gone bad. Anya had to have been the worst. Don't get me wrong, the sex was good. Hell, the sex was great! But she didn't love me, I'm not even sure she really liked me. Think I could get you to use one of your arrows for me?"

**********

Cupid stirred restlessly. He could hear a someone speaking to him, telling him he understood how Cupid felt. He could feel cool water on his face, cleaning the sleep from his eyes. He managed to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was his father, Ares, leaning over him. He could see his lips move, but couldn't hear what he was saying. He could only hear the soft voice whispering in his ear. He tried to speak, but nothing happened. The young God became agitated when he realized he couldn't move. A sudden rush of power swept through him and he sat up in his bed. Then he vanished.

Joxer looked at Ares, "Where did he go?"

Ares laughed and picked up Bliss. As soon as Cupid woke up, Bliss also began to stir. Hugging his grandson, he turned to smile at Joxer. "He went to Xander. It looks like we might have company soon. We should get this place cleaned up. But first...Hi, Bliss. How's my grandson doing? Are you hungry?"

**********

Xander was so busy staring at Cupid's face that he wasn't paying attention to his hands. As he ran the wet cloth down the side of the neck and over the shoulder, one of the stone arrows in the quiver pricked his finger and a single drop of blood landed on one of the wings. Xander stuck his finger in his mouth and started to laugh. "I really hope that wasn't one of your lead arrows, Cupid. My life sucks bad enough as it is."

"Why does your life suck, Xander?"

Xander dropped the rag and whipped around to see who was standing behind him. Xander's eyes almost bugged out of his head. His eyes went from the statue to the 'person' and back again. "Uh, Cupid?"

*****

Xander fell back against the statue, his mouth hanging open. He tried to talk, but his brain was numb. He could only stare. The 'man' standing before him was identical to the statue he was leaning against, but he was so much more. Flesh and blood instead of cold stone. His hair was blonde and he had dark eyes. Xander's eyes slid down, Cupid's chest was bare, the muscles hard and gleaming in the dim light.

Cupid smiled, "It's okay, Xander. I won't hurt you. I just want to thank you for setting me free." Cupid said as he slowly moved closer.

"Uh, free? You mean the statue?" Xander stammered.

"No. From the Twilight." Cupid said, now only an inch away.

Xander gulped, "Twilight?" He squeaked.

Cupid nodded, "Twilight." He then closed the scant distance between them and slid one arm around Xander's waist, and wound his other hand in Xander's dark hair. "Twilight." Cupid whispered, right before his lips closed on Xander's. The boy's mouth was sweet and warm. Cupid couldn't get enough. He kissed him again and again, until Xander seemed to wilt in his arms.

Xander gasped when Cupid finally let him come up for air. But all that did was pull the smell of Cupid's skin into Xander's mouth. It smelled like musk and sex. Xander shivered in Cupid's arms. His legs felt funny, he wasn't sure he was going to be able to stand up any longer.

Cupid materialized a wide, low bed and carried the boy over to it. He gently laid him on the soft sheets and followed him down to wrap himself around Xander's body. He'd only planned on saying thank you and offering to do his 'savior' a favor in return. The plan had lasted only as long as it had taken him to see what Xander looked like. The boy was gorgeous, but it soon become obvious that this was no 'boy', but a man. Young, but still a man. And once he'd kissed him, Cupid had to have him.

Xander's heart was pounding and his head was swimming. He was burning up; tiny prickles of heat danced on his overly sensitive skin. Cupid's hands were everywhere, stroking, teasing, learning. Xander couldn't get enough air into his lungs, but breathing seemed over rated when Cupid's tongue darted into his mouth. Xander groaned and arched up into the hot body next to his. The feel of a hard erection pushing into his hip broke the sensual daze he was drifting in.

Xander jerked back so hard he fell off the side of the bed. He managed to get his hands under him and scuttled away from the man reclining on the bed.

"Xander? What's wrong?" Cupid asked, with a frown on his face. "Did I hurt you?"

Xander numbly shook his head, 'No'. "Then what's wrong? Don't you want me?"

"You...you're...I'm...You're a guy!"

Cupid smiled, "Actually, I'm a God, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Guys don't have sex with other guys. Real men don't anyway. Besides, I like girls. Not guys. No way, no how. Not me."

Cupid knew he'd been asleep for a while, but that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. "Men don't have sex with other men? Why not? And since when? Men have always had sex with other men."

Xander climbed to his feet and brushed off his clothes, "Only sissy guys have sex with other men."

Cupid burst into laughter, he tried to stop when he saw the angry expression on Xander's face, but he couldn't.

Xander headed for the opening to the cavern but Cupid stopped him before he could leave. "Wait, Xander, please. I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing at the idea of only 'sissy' guys having sex with other men." Cupid finally got his giggles under control when he saw the wounded expression on Xander's face. "Honestly, I wasn't laughing at you. Xander, do you know who my father is?"

Xander shrugged, still embarrassed, "I read that he was Ares, the God of War. Why?"

"Would you say he was a 'sissy guy'?" Cupid asked.

"Huh? No! No way. I'd never say anything like that. I don't want to be hacked into tiny pieces with a dull sword." Xander said, emphatically.

Cupid materialized a couple of chairs and sat in one, "Xander, please, have a seat. I won't touch you if you don't want me to. I promise."

Xander perched carefully on the edge of the chair, acting like he expected it to bite him in the ass.

"Xander, would it surprise you to know that my father has always had male lovers? And has had a male consort for the last two thousand years?"

"What's a consort?" Xander asked timidly.

"It's basically being married, but a consort has a lot of power. Joxer is kinda like Dad's right hand. They share everything."

"Wait a minute," Xander said, suspiciously. "If you've been asleep all this time, how do you know they've been together for two thousand years?"

Cupid shrugged, "Dad told me."

"When?"

"A couple of minutes ago." Cupid smiled, "There are lots of benefits to being a God, you know."

"I guess. But that still doesn't change the fact that I like girls, not guys. We are so not going there."

Cupid raised his hands in supplication, "Okay. Okay. You don't want me; I understand that. But, can we at least be friends? I owe you, probably more than I can ever repay. For my life and my son's."

Xander blushed, but it was a good kind of blush. "Yeah, I can do that." Xander looked down at his watch and cursed. "Crap, I have to be at work in a couple of hours. I gotta get home." He collected his things and started to walk out of the cavern. "Uh, I'm come back tomorrow, will you be here?"

Cupid smiled gently, "Just call my name. I'll hear you and come."

"Okay. Right. Uh, see you later."

"Goodbye, Xander. I'll be waiting for you." Cupid disappeared in a flash of light, along with the chairs and the bed.

Xander shook his head, "I'm losing my mind."

*****

Cupid flashed back to Mount Olympus and went to his father's temple. He scooped up Bliss from his place on the rug in front of the fire and hugged him tightly. After reconnecting with his son, he sat down on a cushion on the floor, Bliss happily lying in his lap.

Cupid looked at his father and then at Joxer. "Start at the beginning, and tell me everything."

Joxer blushed, it had been two thousand years, but it was still hard for him to believe sometimes. "Well, it happened like this."

**********

Xander was more than a little pleased to discover that is was raining like crazy. After less than an hour of sleep, he was in no mood to go to the job site today. He called the foreman and was told that work was definitely off for the day, and probably the next. Xander hung up the phone and crawled back into bed. He was dreaming in seconds.

**********

Cupid's mouth hung open and he stared at Joxer in disbelief. "Let me get this straight: You told Xena and Gabrielle to go 'fuck' themselves, kicked out all the priests, locked them and the bimbos from Tartarus out of Dad's temple and talked to him until he woke up? And he's been awake ever since?"

Joxer shrugged, "Basically. I sang too. I think it was the song that did it."

Ares groaned, "Joxer, I love you. I have loved you for two thousand years. But, I have to tell you, I never want to hear that song again."

Joxer laughed, "I haven't even thought about it since you woke up." Joxer smirked at his stepson, "He keeps me too busy to sing."

Ares groaned and hid his face in his hands.

**********

Xander finally gave up and staggered out of bed. He glared at the clock. Three hours. Three lousy hours of sleep. He shuddered when his mind persisted in replaying his dreams in graphic detail. "A cold shower. That's what I need. A cold shower and I'll be fine."

Xander held his breath and jumped under the cold spray, a muffled scream bursting from his lips. He slowly got used to the stinging sensation and relaxed a little. Then his mind ambushed him again with a particularly vivid dream of Cupid on his knees in front of him, smiling up at him. Xander's cock developed a mind of its own and decided to wake up, cold water or no cold water. "Traitor." Xander muttered down at the rebellious piece of his anatomy.

He turned off the water and got out. After haphazardly drying off, he got dressed and headed for the library down town. If I'm going to be awake, I might as well be doing something.

**********

The library was almost empty this early on a weekday. Xander quickly got a terminal and logged on. He wasn't sure where to look, so he went back to the site he'd been on before, and there it was.

The Twilight of the Gods

Predating the rise of Christianity, the onset of a cult religion, known only as 'The Way' or 'The Light', the Gods people had worshiped for centuries were forgotten. Their temples and shrines were destroyed, their priests killed, and their followers subjugated. The conversion was brutal and accomplished with blood, much the same as the conversion to Christianity was accomplished. Many followers gave the appearance of converting, holding their rites and festivals in secret. But they too were gradually forgotten.

Priceless artwork, scrolls and libraries were destroyed in the name of 'The Way'; a religion supposedly based on peace, non-violence and the love of life. There is no way to calculate the loss to history and mankind that this religion caused.

Xander continued to read about 'The Way' and was sickened by some of the things that had been done in the name of 'Peace'. "Man, what a bunch of assholes." he muttered.

'Who's an asshole?"

Xander closed his eyes for a moment and prayed that he would wake up. When nothing seemed to happen, he opened his eyes and looked at Cupid. A very human looking Cupid. "Where're your wings?" Xander hissed under his breath.

"I hid them." The God whispered back. "Do I look okay? I don't want to stand out."

Xander looked over the lean form sitting next to him. Blue denim shirt tucked into faded jeans, and Nike high-tops. He was dressed like thousands of other people, but there wasn't a hope in Hell of him not standing out.

"What are you doing here?" Xander asked desperately.

Cupid shrugged, "Bliss is with my father and Joxer, and I said I wanted to be your friend. How can we become friends if we don't spend time together?"

"I told you I would be back tonight." Xander said.

"I was bored. Olympus is really boring at the moment. Now, who's an asshole?"

Xander decided to just go with it; there wasn't really anything he could do if Cupid wanted to hang out in Sunnydale. "I was reading about the Twilight and 'The Way'. Did it really happen like that?"

Xander swung the screen around, letting the God read the entry. A look of incredible sadness crossed Cupid's face. "Yes, for the most part. They left out a lot." Cupid rubbed his eyes. "Can we get out of here? I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Xander quickly shut down the terminal and led Cupid outside. "Um, where do you want to go?"

"Some place private, I don't want anyone overhearing us."

Xander thought about it for a minute, "Okay, let's go to my place. No will bother us there."

**********

Anya looked up from her coffee and saw her 'ex' boyfriend, Xander, getting into his car with another man. Anya looked closer, that man with her Xander wasn't human. "I knew it wasn't me! Some demon has him under a spell!" Anya hurried out of the coffee shop and headed for the Magic Box. She'd tell Giles and Buffy. They'd figure out who the demon was and kill it. Then she could start having orgasms again and Xander would forget all that nonsense about knowing each other. Why waste time talking when they could be having orgasms?

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