After the riot debacle near central park Athena had slipped Sam's card into her pocket and ignored it until her shift was over. She was exhausted and needed sleep. If he had to stew for a handful of hours over the fact that he'd slid off without getting her number then so be it. Athena had crashed the minute she laid down on her bed and slept for twelve hours straight. It was a very good thing that Frank understood how tiring her other job was and gave her time to recuperate before asking her to work. Only once she was sufficient awake did Athena set herself to the task of calling Sam and teasing him mercilessly for neglecting to get her number.

"I guess he wasn't quite as sober as he thought." she said with a laugh as she dialed cell phone number indicated on the card. It rang a few times and went to voice mail as Athena stood before the stove in the kitchen of her small apartment to make some lunch/breakfast. It was technically her first meal despite being after noon.

"Hi there Frosty. I hope you haven't forgotten about little old me! Especially since you forgot to get my number at the park yesterday. It's enough to make a girl think you were leading her on! If you don't call back, why I'll just have to find some other needle fearing hero to get coffee with."

She left it at that and ended the call right as the water for her noodles boiled. A glamorous brunch indeed.

It took Sam five hours before he noticed he had forgotten something important. After the riot he went back to the mansion and was exhausted from the tussle the fires and everything else he had been dealing with lately. He could have wandered the mansion but decided it best not to draw more attention to himself due to recent events. So after making a sandwich and scarfing it down Sam headed to see Doc who things were still awkward with. The man looked at his knee and as he unlocked his door he picked up his phone and looked for the number he forgot to get. ”Damn it.” was all Sam had to say before he decided he’d worry about tracking down the medic with poor bedside manners and the nice chest later.

Sam took two steps into his room before he fell forwards and sprawled out face first on his floor. A second passed and before Sam could get up and move to the bed Bruno decided it was a good time to lay down. The dogs head laid on his shoulder while his cat decided to curl up in between the two. ”Guess I can stay here…” Sam said to the two before he started to drift off as well.

Four hour nap and a charged phone later Sam got the voice mail and it hit him he never got Athena’s number again. Luckily though he managed to give her his card one she put to use. Listening to the voicemail Sam smiled when she dubbed him frosty. Wasn’t the most original name he heard but it was still better than Sammy or snowball. Once the voicemail ended Sam looked down to his phone and then to Cammie who was staring at him waiting for some attention, ”Yeah looks like I’m calling her.” Cammie meowed and then Sam started clicked the recent call list and entered Athena’s number into his saved contacts.

The phone rang once then twice and then Sam was starting to suspect a game of phone tag was in the making. However, on the third ring he heard her answer, ”Pallas Athena?” Sam asked knowing it was she, ”Frosty here glad you called me back. Didn’t hit me that I didn’t get your number until a few hours ago…. So yeah, you should have stopped me before I took off I was still a tad drugged from that needle you stabbed into my neck….” he realized he was rambling a bit then stopped only to add again, ”So coffee, free tonight?” Sam asked feeling hoping the short notice wouldn’t have been too much.

Some twenty minutes later Athena was finishing off the last of her brunch when her phone rang. She'd left it in the kitchen where she'd put it down after making that call so, dish in hand, she stood and walked in to pick it up. Sam's voice came over the handset calling her by the goddess she was named after. A coy smirk drifted onto her lips. Clever man.

"Speak and the goddess may answer." was her serious sounding reply.

He hadn't noticed that he'd forgotten to get her number until hours later apparently. Following that particular statement he mentioned the needle to the neck. Athena couldn't just let that slide so in the empty space he left when he seemed to realize he'd been rambling a bit, she struck.

"Well the neck was the easiest impromptu target given the situation. It would have been awkward to attempt, say, a shot to your rear with all those people around. I thought the neck was a decent compromise."

She grinned unrepentantly as she scraped the remainder of the noodles into the trash and began washing the plate. When he finally got around to asking her to coffee Athena decided to take pity on the poor man.

"Of course. It just so happens that I've got the rest of today off. Meet you in a couple of hours?"

That would give her plenty of time to get cleaned up and something suitably stunning picked out. Sure it was just a first date but Athena loved to knock 'em out on the first try.

Sam held his tongue when she said the neck as the best spot for the needle, even if she was right it didn’t mean that Sam liked it any better. He would have been fine with no needles involved and just the cleavage he was easy like that. ”OH yeah? Lucky me then!” Sam said grinning to himself as he crouched down and gave some attention to Cammie who was weaving in between his legs purring up a storm. ”How about the one south of central opposite side of the park where the riot was, despite everything happening I still think they have the best view of the park.” Sam waited for conformation from Athena before he nodded his head adding, ”Look forward to spending time with a goddess. See you there!”

After the time and location was decided Sam looked at the clock and decided it best to not think too much on it. Just go about the day as normal as possible for Sam, which meant two private lessons on how to disarm someone wielding a knife without getting stabbed, feeding and walking Bruno, spoiling Cammie his cat, giving Drew more paperwork and then finally grabbing a quick bite of a piece of toast. After all that the time was near enough for his date with Athena to become something to occupy his thoughts, which in hindsight probably wasn’t his best calls.

After practically kicking down his own door and twenty minutes of cleaning himself up Sam left via his own window and used an ice slide to get all the way to central park. Normally not a mode of transportation he’d take before a date but he was running a few minutes late as is so a flashy entrance if she saw it was better than nothing. Which also sucked because it had been a while since he had taken his bike out.

The coffee shop was in site and the edge of central park was coming up fast on him so instead of crossing the street with the ice slide Sam hopped off and landed on his feet near the sidewalk. From there he walked to the coffee shop. Sam mentally did a checklist of everything on his person and including his clothing he was in such a hurry he had to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.

After the phone call Athena took the time to clean up after her lunch. She had plenty of time to get ready for her date and from her apartment it wouldn't take long to get to the cafe Sam had mentioned. Just a short ride on the subway, followed by a few minutes of walking. So Athena took her time getting showered and dressed. Since it was a first date she kept the outfit simple with a low cut top and jeans. Athena smirked as she grabbed her phone and purse. It simply wouldn't have felt right to avoid showing off entirely.

The subway ride was dull. There were plenty of other riders but nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The worst she had to deal with was a couple of guys that wouldn't stop staring and really that was just normal. So with little fanfare Athena arrived at the coffee shop and waited. Being a punctual sort of person she had arrived only a few minutes early. Therefore she let Sam have those few minutes and a couple to spare before declaring him late.

The table she'd chosen allowed her an excellent view of the door and so she'd kept an eagle eyed watch on it. Sam had to show up some time and if he didn't...well she knew where he worked in order to express her displeasure. Thankfully he wasn't too late, though Athena could hardly stop herself from arching a brow in his direction.

It was another five minutes before he entered the coffee shop opening the door and striding in looking around for the black hair with white streaks or was it the other way around? He didn’t really know however looked for the two colors on the head of hair before he finally spotted her sitting in a clear line of sight from the entrance, which he just used. Spotting her already raised eye-brow Sam couldn’t help but smile thinking he was already going to hear a quip about his being late, which was alright with him. So far Sam liked Athena’s quips.

”Traffic?” Sam asked wondering if that was an acceptable excuse while he pointed up into the air with one of his index fingers implying there was traffic in the sky. ”Got held up with one of my students.” Sam then looked to his phone before adding again, ”Not too late though.” putting his phone back into his pocket he finished closing the distance between himself and Athena. ”Hope you weren’t waiting too long for me…” Sam looked from Athena to the chair across from her then pointed to it and then grabbed it and sat in it not giving much time in between him pointing to the chair and him sitting in it.

Not off to the best start running late but then it wasn’t the first time he was running late and with his jobs he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be the last. Though on occasion he got lucky and arrived early. Today wasn’t one of them. ”Ever come here before?” Sam asked curiously looking around the little coffee shop. ”Never been but I heard the atmosphere was nice and the cups are usually very strong.” his eye shifted around the room only to find it quickly scanning about only to stop at Athena in her low cut top.

Sam tired not to crack a grin in her direction but did so recalling her method of distracting him before drugging him. ”So, do you usually meet up with guys the day after you drug them? Or am I just one of the lucky few who gets an audience with the goddess?” Sam asked giving her a mock bow of the head throwing one of his hands up when he called her a goddess.

Athena's eyebrow remained raised as Sam made his way over to the table and gave his excuse. She withheld a snort this time.

"Traffic? What did you get surrounded by a flock of planes?"

She nodded at his more reasonable excuse. He did work at a school in addition to the heroic tomfoolery so it made sense that he might be delayed by a student. She'd forgive him his lateness this time. Not if he made it a habit though.

"Not too long, no."

Athena shook her head in response to his follow up question. She hadn't been here before. When she had coffee it was either at home or from the pot at work in between runs. Sometimes she thought her circulatory system had adapted to run on caffeine instead of blood.

"I like a good, strong...cup of coffee."

The pause was important, if only because it amused her. Athena managed not to laugh at Sam's display but she did smirk in return.

"No, usually they throw themselves at my feet in worship. Just be glad my parents didn't name me Artemis or we wouldn't be here today."

Athena threw a benevolent look Sam's way as he played the worshiper. It was only fitting.

”Here I thought you only had a father, Zeus. I was under the impression he thought of you then you climbed out from his skull or something like that.” Sam said quirking his eyebrow again as he leaned in closer to the table a bit. The only Greek mythology he knew about the monsters, gods and goddesses were from the things he read in the Iliad, Odyssey and one or two others. It was an interest to him not a big one but one that allowed him to read a book or two without stopping halfway through. ”No, I’m glad I’m not here with an Artemis pretty sure if you were you would have tracked me down long ago.” Sam said making it known he had a little knowledge on the subject.

”I’ll be sure to order you a good, strong… cup of coffee then.” Sam said smirking to her after making the similar pause she did a few moments ago. He wasn’t entirely sure why the pause was there but he’d figured it come to him in a bit if at all. ”So,” Sam was about to continue on with conversation when he spotted the waitress walk up to the table.

“Hey, how’s it going today? What can I get for you two?” the peppy waitress asked as she seemed to be ready to take off and fly into space, must be one of the perks working at a coffee shop. ”I’ll have a coffee, black.” Sam nodded in Athena’s direction, ”and the goddess would like a good, strong… cup of coffee.” Sam made sure to put the pause in there as well before lifting one side of his mouth into smirk. “Alright, two coffees then! I’ll be back with a menu and your drinks.” Just as sudden as she had come in she was back off using the caffeine to propel her.

Sam made sure to keep his eye on Athena when the waitress was walking away for obvious reasons. ”So, I didn’t give you and your co-workers too much work did I hectic day.” Sam said lifting his eyebrow giving her a mildly shocked look to emphasize it.

Sam deserved a bit of credit for knowing some of the legends at least. Athena just grinned at him.

"Well, that's what he said but I think it was just a cover up for yet another affair. You know Zeus, couldn't keep his toga on."

Athena let Sam handle the orders. While she was perfectly capable of ordering for herself, she saw no need to interrupt and do so when he was willing handle it. Instead she just smirked as he kept up her little joke and stayed quiet until he asked whether he'd given her and her colleagues too much work. She shook her head and scowled out the windows.

"I doubt it. As busy as it is I suspect you couldn't have caused all of it. If you had then I'm afraid I'd have to do something rash."

While she was no hero, eliminating someone causing that much havoc for her was self interest and not heroism. Given how easily he'd thrown himself into battle to save others though, Athena figured him for a hero type. Hero types didn't do that. Athena's thoughts wandered. Today would be all the rest she got before she had another shift at Frank's. Hopefully things would calm down soon and she wouldn't feel quite so ragged. 

"What about you Sam? All those heroics haven't worn you out too much?"

His teeth flashed behind a his own smirk and he shifted in his chair slightly, ”I’m curious to see what your definition of rash is…” Sam said lowering one of his eyebrows to stare at her. If she could casually walk up to someone, distract them, and then stab them in the neck with a sedative he wondered what rash was considered. Sam’s hand slowly went up to the area she had stabbed him with the needle and he rubbed it, ”On second thought… I think it might be in my best interest if I don’t see that.” Sam let out a slight laugh as he shifted in his chair again this time leaning forward towards Athena and the table.

”I do try my best to keep the chaos down to a minimum though.” Sam said shrugging casually, ”Just some people don’t like to behave as well as others.” Sam smirked, ”I’m sure you see that all the time in your line of work though.” Sam might have fallen under the category of not behaving accordingly to the Medics his first interaction with Athena was good proof of that.

Shaking his head slightly and pointing towards the peppy waitress who was behind the counter bouncing up and down as she was filling two cups of coffee Sam let out another small laugh, ”I’m on a caffeine diet.” Sam said nodding his head before looking back to Athena, ”Some days are worse than others, but I seem to manage alright. Never been big on normal sleep schedules.” Sam said simply enough even as a kid he had trouble sleeping it was due to either a guilty concisions or a busy schedule that didn’t allow him to take time to sleep. Something it seemed he hadn’t outgrown. ”Thinking I get a little over six hours of sleep before something happens or I’m needed.” Sam said not mentioning that those six hours haven’t been consecutive sleep but rather several naps throughout the day.

”So Athena,” Sam spotted the waitress heading back in their direction with the drinks, ”Where you from? I want to guess Olympus but I could be wrong.” Sam said with a slight smile as he sat back as the menus and cups of coffee were placed before them.

She smirked for a moment before chortling with amusement at Sam. Apparently her swift maneuver with the needle was one he hadn't forgotten yet and didn't want a repeat of. Athena's lips settled into a smirk again as the laughter calmed.

"I'm quite sure that our definitions of rash do not match in the slightest, hero."

If pressed Athena might grudgingly admit that she was grateful to those foolishly heroic sorts that saved the day from time to time. They had their place after all. Athena just didn't approve of it since heroics were foolhardy and dangerous by definition. Perhaps there was some envy of the courage, or idiocy, it took to throw oneself into danger for another involved but that was neither here nor there. It didn't matter in the least.

"I see the results, true enough. I'd be out of a job if they bothered to think about it though so I suppose I'm grateful."

A small frown appeared as Sam described his sleep schedule. Six hours and caffeine wouldn't be good for him in the long term. Hopefully that would change after this particular crisis was over. She banished the frown as the topic moved on.

"Well, you're close. In the same country at least. I was born in Athens. I suppose I ought to be grateful I wasn't born in Sparta or you might be talking to Ares."

”I don’t think Ares would really be my type. I saw the movie 300 and well, I’d feel a little emasculated.” Sam said pointing to his stomach trying not to laugh, ”Put me to shame.” leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table he leaned in slightly as he continued, ”Greek huh?” Sam had been that way a few times but he was never there for long. A good portion of the time it was an airport or to grab a boat so he could head elsewhere but he did see a lot of pictures of the Parthenon once.

”Parthenon as beautiful as the pictures lead me to believe?” Sam asked curiously raising his eyebrow in her direction. ”Never really spent any time there.” Sam said a little disappointed in himself, ”Done the hero gig and traveled quite a bit before I before I lived here.” Sam said trying to be pretty vague about his time before the mansion when he did some not so nice things for some not so nice people.

”When did you move stateside?” Sam asked curiously hoping to keep the majority of the conversation on her before he added quickly snapping his fingers and leaning back again, ”And you’re welcome for the constant work. I’ll be sure now to keep it as easy for you as I can.” Sam added with a slight teasing tone.

"You, emasculated? Perish the thought. Nike or Eris then. Can't go wrong with the goddess of victory or the goddess of discord." After a moment's thought Athena's nose crinkled up in distaste, "I'm quite glad I was born in Athens. Though even Athena had her warlike aspects."

She took a quick sip of her coffee and nodded.

"Greek by birth. My parents traveled quite a bit and so did I." with a quirk of her lips Athena continued, "I'm a citizen of the world I guess you could say."

Her eyes slipped from Sam's face to the background bustle of the cafe. Being as there was little going on worth her time Athena refocused on Sam as a small argument broke out at the counter over something trivial.

"Last I saw it, yes, the Parthenon is quite beautiful. It has been more than a few years since I was there."

Sam it seemed had spent some time abroad as well. However she got the sense he didn't want to talk about it. Athena was perfectly willing to oblige. There was no need to create trouble where none exists. Leaning back in her seat, Athena answered his next question as it came.

"When I was about 17. We, meaning my parents and I, ran into some trouble while they were studying something. They thought I would be safer here so they brought me home and set me up to live on my own before leaving again."

Athena took another sip of her coffee and endeavored to quickly forget about the incident that had brought her to The States. It was unpleasantness that was best left buried in her humble opinion.

"As long as you don't make a regular habit of showing up as my work I'll be content."

When she mentioned Nike was a goddess Sam immediately thought of the sports apparel commercials. ”So there is a goddess whose motto is ‘Just do it’?” Sam asked with small laugh he clearly only knew the big names of the gods and goddesses but that was to be expected it wasn’t like he lived in Greece at any point of his life or had a name of a god or goddess like the lady sitting across from him. ”She was the god of defense right?” Sam asked casually lifting his own mug to his mouth and taking a sip without bothering to check and see how hot it was.

”World’s a big place, Greece still your favorite place or did you find somewhere else more enjoyable to visit?” Sam asked curiously he had been all over and while some places had things the others did not for example he recently became a big fan of the north Canada and the artic, something about being able to control the landscape with little to no effort gave him a sense of control he never felt before.

With a silent nod Sam made note to travel to Greece at some point to check the place out along with the ancient sites. Sam also made note that Athena didn’t press him too much when he didn’t go into detail about his traveling. If he wasn’t already on a date with her Sam might have asked her out on one then and there.

”Was it an Indian Jones moment your parents had?” Sam asked trying to respect secrecy as well hoping he wasn’t making an inappropriate joke. ”We talking an ancient tribe of monkey brain eaters with the power to rip out your heart or we talking about,” Sam adopted his best Sean Connery voice, ”those damn goose stepping Nazis?” Sam asked finishing his impression with a sip of his coffee then adding, ”That was supposed to be Sean Connery if you couldn’t tell.” Maybe he wasn’t the best with impressions but that didn’t mean he didn’t try.

Letting out a small smirk and shaking his head, ”Wouldn’t dream about it but to be fair if I’m there first and then you show up I might have to say hello before running off. Don’t want to be rude.”

She shared Sam's laugh at Nike's expense. It was something of a shame that she lived on as the name of some brand of athletic gear. Only a small shame though and easily forgotten. Time makes fools of us all, as her parents were fond of saying. Athena cast about in her mind for some other place she'd visited that stuck out before she shrugged.

"Greece is just where I was born. Not necessarily my favorite place. Frankly I'm not sure I have a favorite place. It's the people that stick out in my memories, more than the places."

The question now was whether she felt like divulging her mutant nature. He himself was one and very public about it if his little display the other day had been anything to go by. Sam would likely understand all too well. After a moment spent chuckling at the thought of her father even attempting to use a bullwhip, Athena decided that her cowardice could take a hike.

"As amusing as the idea of my parents and I playing the Family Jones is, no. The group my parents were studying didn't take too well to finding out that they'd brought a 'witch' into their midst. The resultant game of 'Chase the mutant freak' made my parents figure that it might be safer for me here."

Athena resorted to silence and coffee instead of continuing. Such things weren't exactly date material. Since Sam had studiously avoided being anything more than vague about his own past Athena saw no need to be too straightforward.

"If I catch you as my work again you can bet I'll be keeping you still long enough to make sure you won't kill yourself."