Hercules awoke with a start. He was standing in the middle of a dark, echoing chamber, alone. Drifting mist concealed the walls from sight. Iolaus was gone. Was he awake? Or was this another of those dreams that plagued him in recent nights. It certainly felt like a dream. A slight noise and the feeling that he was not alone made him spin round abruptly.

Ares.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and braced for an assault but uncharacteristically the god stood quietly, his muscular arms crossed across his black leather covered chest, a serious expression on his face. No sign of the usual smugness, no taunts even.

"It’s a only a dream, Hercules. A chance to say what you could never say in real life. To make things right. Your only chance." The god paused, dispassionately assessing the demi-god. "Tell the truth no matter how much it hurts you … or him."

"Him?"  Hercules was confused.

"Your brother."

That didn’t help the bewildered Hercules. He was already talking to his half-brother, wasn’t he? He ran a hand through his honey-coloured hair and tried to frame a question which would make sense.

"Ready?"

He gave the god an exasperated look, of course he wasn’t ready. He opened his mouth to say so but was distracted by the shimmering of the air next to him. A figure formed from the ether, red-gold hair, broad shoulders, sullen face. Iphicles.

Ah. That brother. He smiled, and moved towards him, ready to give him a brotherly hug of greeting but Iphicles was totally focused on Ares, glaring at him. He’d heard rumours of his brother’s involvement with the War God but had shrugged them off as impossible. Suddenly nothing seemed impossible.

"Why are you doing this to me?" The depth of pain in Iphicles’ appeal to the god surprised Hercules. What in Tartarus was going on here. It was certainly confusing enough to be a dream.

"You’re going to deal with this. No arguments." The god was tense, immovable, his dark, dark eyes fixed on the king. "Hercules wants to explain why he fucked you and then treated you like a piece of garbage."

Hercules drew in a sharp breath, ready to deny the accusation but one look at his brother’s tortured face was enough to silence him. He felt like he’d taken a sword blow to the gut. What good was stirring up the past like this? Was the god doing this to hurt him or did he think he was helping Iphicles? With Ares involved it could be either. Or both.

"Herc?" Iphicles’ unspoken question and the distress on his face made up Hercules’ mind for him. Truth.

"That morning….we…." Gods, it was hard to talk coherently about this. He swallowed hard and tried again. "The morning after that night we got drunk together at Mother’s house…." He had Iphicles’ complete attention. Now if only he could say it.

"The morning you woke up together." The god’s tone was neutral and Hercules appreciated the encouragement. Say it, say it, get it out in the open.

"I - I didn’t know what to do. I thought I was already in love with my friend, and then.."

"Then what?" His brother’s face was shadowed.

"Then I woke up next to you." He paused, corrected himself. "I woke up touching your warm skin, feeling you rubbing against me. I wanted you so bad."

"Really?" questioned Ares sharply. "You wanted HIM so bad? Did you know where you were, who you were sleeping with? You need to be precise or you’re going to make this worse. Who did you want?"

Iphicles recoiled from the harshness in the god’s voice even though it wasn’t directed at him.

Hercules’ face twisted. He scowled at the god as he lashed out. "What gives you the right to judge me, you bastard?"

Ares laughed, a dry humourless sound. "Nothing." Pointing toward Iphicles, he added "He’s the one who needs to hear this. I just want it to be the truth." For a moment the mask slipped and Hercules saw the depths of the black anger that Ares controlled, boiling and churning beneath the surface. He nodded stiffly, acknowledging both the spoken and the unspoken truths.

"I guess I didn’t know who I wanted. I just wanted to touch and feel…"

"You didn’t care who it was, you just wanted to fuck." There was definitely an edge of accusation in the god’s tone this time.

"Yes! For gods’ sake, I was just a kid. I woke up next to my brother and fucked him. I’m sorry! What the …" Hercules was getting defensive again.

"Why?"

Both god and demi-god glanced towards the hitherto silent Iphicles. He repeated his question softly, unaggressively, his eyes fixed on his half-brother’s face. "Why are you sorry, Herc?"

"Why?" he responded incredulously. "Because it was wrong: I was brought up to believe that you shouldn’t feel that way about your brother or sister. Because it was disloyal: I thought I was in love with one person and then I fucked you. Because I forced you. I’ve never done it again but it doesn’t change anything. I forced you."

" You’re my brother, Iph and I’ll always love you - but I shouldn’t, I mean I don’t feel comfortable desiring you." He heard Ares grunt at his almost truth, but the god let the evasion slip by this time.

Ares walked away from his confrontational position before Hercules to stand in front of Iphicles. Gently he wiped a single tear from his lover’s cheek with his thumb and cupping his haunted, vulnerable face in both large, callused hands. Demandingly he pulled Iphicles’ face closer to his and kissed him, at first gently, then with more passion.

Hercules watch, unable to speak. He now knew that his two half-brothers were involved but to see them display affection towards each other confused him. Made him feel hollow. He pushed away the emotion, not wanting to investigate the reasons why. Don’t go there. He desperately wished Iolaus was here.

When Ares finally released Iphicles, the king was breathless, his face flushed. Glancing at Hercules guiltily, Iphicles’ face reflected his confusion and growing arousal. He reached out once more towards the dark god, tracing a patterns of desire on his tanned skin. Ares leant into the caress, then slipped behind Iphicles’ back, arms encircling the king’s waist. He regarded the demi-god from that position.

"Show him how sorry you are."

Ares spoke again in that dispassionate manner. Somehow Hercules knew it wasn’t an order but a suggestion, one made to help his brother, not further the antagonism between the sons of Zeus. But how ? Hercules stared at Ares blankly, shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. The god’s dark gaze bored into the confused demi-god.

"Suck him," he ordered throatily. "Show him just how bad you feel and how good he deserves to feel."  His eyes flicked down to Iphicles’ groin and back to the demi-god’s startled blue eyes. "You _know_ how long you’ve wanted to do this. You want him. Take him."

Hercules hesitated, torn. His eyes flicked back and forth between Iphicles’ apprehensive face and Ares’ harsh visage. His distrust of the god, concern for his brother, confusion about his own feelings swirled through his mind. His body wanted to comply even as his mind screamed how wrong it was. Eventually one thought coalesced from the maelstrom. Ares was well known for his jealousy. Why would he want to share his lover with a man he hated unless he honestly believed it would help? He decided.

He sank to his knees before Iphicles, eyes downcast. His head level with Iphicles’ groin, he watched wordlessly as the god’s hand nimbly unfastened the lacings of his lover’s brown leather trousers, slipping inside to caress his stiffening cock. Iphicles gasped, whimpering as Ares drew his rigid organ out into the cool air, tightening his grip on the king’s torso possessively with his other arm.

"Take him in your mouth."

Hercules obeyed, circling the head with his tongue before engulfing it with his warm, wet mouth as Ares withdrew his hand. He heard his brother cry out at the sensation and felt pride, love and lust mingle into a desire to please. A quick glance up showed Ares sinking his teeth into Iphicles’ neck, grinding his pelvis against the  king’s tight ass. His own cock hardened in response, aroused by the erotic sight before him.

Grabbing Iphicles’ leatherclad legs for balance he sucked on the length of his brother’s hard cock, trying to express without words how he regretted the path not taken, to give pleasure where before he had only given pain. He utilised every trick he knew to heighten sensation, laving his balls, lashing the cockhead with his tongue, giving him as much pleasure as he could stand.

He felt Iphicles tense, near the end and doubled his efforts, pulling him deep into his throat as his brother convulsed, thrusting his cock into Hercules’ avidly sucking mouth, crying out with the intense pleasure of his orgasm. He felt Iphicles’ legs tremble and prepared to support him but Ares was there before him, pulling him erect and supporting him until he could stand on his own.

Hercules settled back on his heels, quietly watching the men before him, marveling at this never before seen gentle side of Ares. He was still a pain in the ass when it came to war but he definitely cared for Iphicles. Perhaps more than Hercules would ever be able to express to his brother.

Ares inclined his head at Hercules, acknowledging his efforts. There was a rare touch of respect in his eyes as he swung the panting Iphicles round to face him, capturing his complete attention with a deep kiss. King and god disappeared in the gloom as the mist closed in. Hercules found himself losing contact with his surroundings, melting back into the dream, with a deep sense of contentment despite his aching cock. Back to the real world and his own love.

Iolaus was certainly in for a surprise this morning.
 

End