Steve dodged another blast from the Gorgon, ducking behind a piece of derbies for cover. Seriously, what did Waller expect him - a mere human - to do against a monster from Greek Mythology?

He didn't actually mind being here, as it was one of the few chances he could be with Diana during the workday, but he would have liked it to be a situation where he could actually help.

The earpiece he was wearing dinged with an incoming message - the tone indicated that it was Watchtower.

"Trevor, do you need backup there?" Watchtower asked.

"It might be useful, as we can't even look at Medusa without turning into stone," he said. "Wonder Woman is handling it so far, but backup would be appreciated."

"Roger that," said Watchtower. "I'll see who I can send."

Before Steve could say anything more, he felt a crushing pain at the back of his head.

Then nothing.

There was a throbbing in his head.

Steve blinked, and the world around him swam. He lifted his hands to rub his eyes. The action sent jolts of pain down his body, which quickly faded away, leaving only numbness.

Uh oh.

Steve knew exactly what the feeling meant. He groaned. He had died again.

A quick check of his surroundings confirmed it. He was at the bank of the Styx. Charon was waiting, his arms crossed.

"Captain Trevor, it has only been a couple of weeks," said Charon in disapproval. "I had hoped that the wait would be longer this time."

"I hoped so too," Steve grumbled. "You can blame my luck for that." He rubbed his temples, trying to stop the pain. "Where's Diana?"

"She is still fighting the Gorgon," said Charon. "She will be arriving to pick you up soon enough. I shall send a message to you once she arrives." He got off the boat and went to a table at the corner. He picked up a gold drachma from the bag and pocketed it. "The supply is getting low," he said. "I shall inform Diana so that she might get more coins."

"When is the next boat?" Steve asked. He really hated waiting at the banks for the next boat. It was much creepier than the actual land of the dead could be.

Steve supposed that it was because of how people ended up here - a lot of them wouldn't have realised that they had died, and thus were very confused about it all. Steve himself had been through the same when he first started to resurrect - Charon had to explain things to him multiple times.

But that was years ago, and things were more routine now.

"About half an hour by your timing," said Charon. "You will not understand if I said so in mine. I shall call when the boat is ready for the journey."

"Alright," said Steve, slowly rising to his feet. It took some time for the world to stop spinning, and the remaining jolts of pain to fade away. There were times he wondered how he could still be affected by what had hurt him when he was alive after he had died. He had asked Hades, but it had something to do with the magic used to give Steve some form of immortality.

No such thing as a free lunch after all.

He did spend some time chatting with the shades while waiting, giving comfort to those who needed it. Many of them had been shocked to learn that they were dead, while others had known. Nearly all of them had yet to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer alive.

One of the shades who had accepted that she was dead was a ninety-five-year-old woman - she was only surprised that she had held out as long as she did.

"To be honest, my family and I have been expecting this for a while," said the woman, whose name was Ethel. "My family had been expecting this ever since my husband had died three years ago. But I held on as I wanted to see my great-granddaughter be born. They brought her to visit me just this morning."

This was one of the very few things Steve liked about the situation he was in. He got to listen to so many different people and hear their stories.

It was at that time that Charon called for the shades to enter the boat. He could hear the shades mutter as the tiny, rickety boat expand to fit everyone in.

"Do not touch the water," Charon warned.

It wasn't the Lethe, but the Styx wasn't pleasant either if the waters got onto you. Steve had learnt that the hard way.

They soon reached the opposite shore. The other shades got down from the boat and lead to where they would be judged. Steve didn't know how the judging was done, and he didn't have much of a desire to find out.

Both Hades and Persephone had told him that it would be better if he didn't know, and Steve knew that if both of them agreed, it really was better not to know about it.

Besides, there were other things that he could do while waiting for the rules of the Underworld to come and receive him.

He placed his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly.

Cerberus ran in, all three of his tongues lolling.

Cerberus really enjoyed it when Steve visited, as Steve was one of the few people who weren't scared of the dog and who would play with Cerberus.

Most of the people who worked in the Underworld had too many duties to actually spend time playing with Cerberus. Most of the shades were terrified of him. So when Steve started to pay regular visits, Cerberus became a delighted dog indeed.

It had gotten to the point where Cerberus answered more to Steve than to anybody else. There was nothing anyone could do about it, nor was anyone particularly inclined to change the way things were. But it did not stop Hades from complaining all the time about it; still being upset that a mortal had managed to steal his pet.

Steve figured that Hades would get over it in a century or so.

Despite his size, Cerberus was just like any other dog and loved to play. He didn't get many chances to do so, and Cerberus relished Steve's visits.

They spend some time playing fetch (with giant sticks and beach balls). Steve then trained Cerberus with some simple commands (seriously, how had no one thought to do this yet?). After that, Steve took Cerberus walking - and by that, Cerberus gave Steve a ride of his back as Cerberus patrolled the borders of the Underworld.

This gave Steve a chance to greet some of the shades that he was familiar with at Elysium and the Isles of the Blessed.

After the ride, Steve scratched behind all six of Cerberus' ears. In return, he received a thorough licking, and was quite drenched by the end of it. Steve was just lucky that he kept changes of clothes at the castle, though they were decidedly in Ancient Greek fashion.

"Welcome Captain Trevor."

Steve turned around and saw that Persephone was was waiting for him. He bowed to her. "Greetings Lady Persephone." Hades and Persephone were always formal. Even with Steve, who practically lived here part-time.

Persephone inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Hades would be upset,"

"When is he never upset when I come down here?" Steve said. "It usually means that he lost the bet. By how much did he lose by this time?"

"By a mere two days," Persephone confirmed. "So please do not mind if he is a little testy with you." She turned. "Come with me, I need some assistance in my garden. And remember-"

"Don't eat or drink anything," said Steve. It had been drummed into his head so many times, especially at the start. It was, after all, one of the long-standing rules of the place. But it had never been a problem for Steve - he never felt hungry or thirsty when he was in the Underworld.

Well, it could have been because he was dead.

Soon, the two of them reached the palace, where Hades was waiting. The Lord of the Dead sighed when he spotted Steve. "Captain Trevor, couldn't you have waited a couple more days? Then I could have finally won against Persephone."

Steve chuckled. "This is how many times Persephone has won in a row?" Steve knew the number, but he couldn't help but needle Hades about this. That was what family was about, wasn't it?

"Fifteen," said Hades, the corners of his mouth turned down.

"I'll try to stay alive longer next time."

Hades shot him a mild glare. "Do not make promises that you will be unable to keep Steven Trevor. It is unwise." He turned to Persephone. "I suppose you would be needed Captain Trevor's assistance in the gardens?" At her nod, he turned to Steve again. "I have a lot of work to do. I shall see you again when my niece comes to pick you up. And Captain Trevor, perhaps you should change first."

After a quick change of clothes, Steve spent the rest of his time in the Underworld helping Persephone in her garden. She had quite an extensive one, which probably helped her during the months she had to spend here.

He had asked her about it once.

"I no longer mind spending a few months with my husband now," she had said. "While I do have my duties, they are not as extensive as my husband's. The garden helps me keep busy. And it also serves as a lesson to those who can see my garden - that life can thrive even in the harshest of conditions if one takes time and effort to cultivate it."

The tasks for today was trimming the plants, watering them and checking to see that they were growing correctly.

"So, how are the other gods doing?" Steve asked.

"Their reformation is going smoothly," said Persephone. "Hera would be the first to reform. She did want to see her daughter married."

And hadn't that been a surprise when Steve had first found that out. It hadn't been Zeus and Hippolyta who had created Diana, but Hera and Hippolyta. But knowing that Hera was the goddess of marriage and families, it wasn't too surprising in hindsight.

"And the others?" Steve asked, but there was one god in particular that he was worried about.

Persephone had guessed what he wanted to ask. "It will be quite sometime before Ares even starts to reform," she said. "You will not have to worry about him for at least a few decades. His allies - like Circe - would need to be kept an eye on, as they might attempt to speed up the process."

"Good to know," said Steve. He returned to watering the plants. He was sure that either Persephone or Hades would inform Diana of this; they needed to make contingency plans.

The pair of them continued to chat while they gardened. Steve caught Persephone up on the news with the Justice League, and Persephone demanded to know when Steve and Diana would have children. After all, she needed to have grand-nieces to spoil. Hades and Hera had demanded the same apparently. "Although there is really no rush," Persephone reassured him. "Immortals figure time differently. 'Soon' for us might be a few decades. You will learn in time."

By the time they had finished gardening, Diana still had not returned. It seemed that it was now the Underworld was progressing at a much slower pace that the mortal plane - although Steve had been here for a few hours, barely a few minutes had passed in the mortal world.

The constant shifting of time was annoying, but there was nothing to be done about it. At least Steve had died when the time in the Underworld was slower than the mortal plane and not the other way around. Luckily, that had happened only a couple of times, and the Justice League had managed to cover for him.

The last person that any of them wanted to know about Steve's resurrection ability was Amanda Waller. There was no telling what she would do with that information.

Persephone had his rooms prepared for him, and Steve retired for the night. He wondered just how long he was going to stay here this time.

It was early next morning when Steve received a message - Diana had arrived at the River Styx.

Steve quickly dressed in his own clothes - which had thankfully been laundered over the night - and went to the entrance hall to meet with Diana.

Diana flung herself at him the minute she spotted him. "Steve! I'm so glad that you're okay!"

She pulled slightly away, an upset look on her face. "I really wish you'd be more careful Steve. I know that you can resurrect, but I still worry."

Steve gently kissed her. "I can't promise that I'll always be safe, Angel, but I shall do my best."

"That's all that I ask," she said.

"By the way," Steve asked. "How long has it been since I died? How much trouble will it be to smooth things over without Waller finding out?"

"Quite simple really," said Diana. "Superman took you to the tower almost immediately. He was the first one on the scene after Watchtower called for help. We managed to convince everyone that you had a concussion; you have the rest of the week off. So it wouldn't matter how long you'd been gone - it's only been a few hours anyway."

"That's a relief," said Steve. "How did you even get Waller to approve my leave for five days?"

Diana smirked. "I have my ways," she said lightly.

Steve really didn't want to know what 'ways' Diana had used to persuade Waller. But if he got a long weekend out of it to spend with Diana, he wasn't going to question it at all.

"Come on Angel," he said. "Let's head back home."