Kat stumbled back into the wall, and slid down to the floor. It felt like someone had her heart in their fist, and was slowly squeezing until it turned to putty and squished through the fingers. Someone had stolen her lungs. Hooks pierced her skin, and tugged at her spine.

Two soft knocks came at the door before it opened. Natasha slipped inside, and settled down beside Kat, wrapping her arms around the girl and pulling her close. "Oh, malyshka." She said softly.

Kat froze in the embrace, tried to push her reaction away. It was stupid. She shouldn't have freaked out. This should have been obvious. That odd, empty feeling she'd had? The one where it felt like something important was missing? It was so obvious...

"Let it out, malyshka." Natasha said, "I've got you." 

And the dam broke. She sobbed. It was as if she cried hard enough, the pain would go away. Natasha rubbed circles into her back, and began to sing. Her voice was gentle, though it had an unused quality to it. Eventually, as Kat cried herself out, she listened to the songs and distracted herself. The rocking helped.

"Are you feeling better?" Natasha whispers after she finishes a song.

Kat sniffled. She didn't know if she was better. She didn't know if she would be better. Instead, she gave Natasha an answer that she knew for certain: "I love you, Auntie Tasha."

Natasha softly smiled, though Kat couldn't see. "I love you too, my little kukla."

Kat thought for a moment. "I like malyshka better." She said, her voice muffled.

Natasha looked down at the back of her head. "Oh, you do?"

"Yeah. Kukla sounds like coo-coo. I don't need to be extra crazy." She sniffled.

Natasha chuckled. "You don't even know what they mean." She said lightly.

"Yeah I do." Kat frowned, slowly retreating from Natasha's shirt.

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "So what do they mean?"

"Well, 'baby girl' and 'doll'." Kat frowned, her voice still weary from crying. Something felt off, but she couldn't quite place it.

Natasha tilted her head. "How do you know what they mean?"

"They're just... Words?" Kat said, confused.

Natasha paused for a moment. "Russian words."

Kat and Natasha sat in silence for a minute. "You were singing in Russian, weren't you?" Kat asked slowly.

Natasha nodded. "I was."

Kat was silent for all of five solid seconds. "How the Hades did I understand Russian?" She blurted out.

Natasha laughed. "I don't know. But Percy did have a... Nightmare, once. He thought he was a Russian that he'd killed."

Kat looked like she smelled sour milk. "What?"

"It was odd. But he fully spoke and understood Russian for a bit after he woke up." Natasha said.

"...So somehow I know Russian now?"

"Perhaps."

"Huh."

~~~~~~

Clint heard the crying, and followed it to the bathroom. He slowly opened the door to find Natasha cradling Kat. Clint gave her a questioning look, and she shook her head, still singing. Clint silently backed out, closing the door behind him. 

When he turned around, he nearly walked into Loki. The god gave him a questioning gaze, and Clint thought he saw genuine concern. He shook his head, and walked away. Not hearing Loki follow him, he looked over his shoulder. The god was frowning at the bathroom door.

"What?" Clint said quietly in a slightly teasing voice. No, he wasn't friendly with the god, but he sure as hell could give him a hard time. "Don't tell me you actually care."

Loki didn't look at him when he responded. "I might." The prince replied casually. He gracefully turned and walked past a stunned Clint.

~~~~~~

After Natasha had helped Kat make herself presentable again, the goddess sat on her bed that she didn't particularly use. Across from the foot of the bed, there was a dresser. Kat smiled at the bouquet sitting atop it.

It was ridiculous and overly large, but somehow still looked nice, and Kat loved it. After the prank she'd pulled on Loki, Clint had called Tony to tell the tale and share the video. Tony had been so proud that he traced the call to find the address, and had sent her flowers.

Kat got up off the bed and walked over to it. She felt the petals, and the leaves, and smelled the roses. How he got blue and purple ones in there among the red, she didn't know. Did roses grow that colour, or were they dyed?

Kat closed off her mortal senses, and focused on the water. To her delight, she found that she could still feel the bouquet in front of her. And if she stretched her senses further... Laura in her room working, Clint and Natasha downstairs in the kitchen... Further out, and Loki was sitting on the grass, leaning against a tree. 

Kat laughed. There was so much, everywhere. Eventually, she let it go, and was back in her room.   

Her thoughts drifted off. The hand tried to grab at her heart again. She angrily shoved it away, but it didn't disappear. She wasn't Percy! Gods- Fates- Damn it! She wasn't Percy! What could she do to prove that?

The face in the mirror was so much like Percy's. She had jeans and t-shirts like Percy. She talked like Percy, she knew. She thought like Percy too, for hell's sake.

And then Kat came to a conclusion. She needed help. And she never thought that she would be asking this person for help.

So she sent up a prayer. "I could really use some help... Aphrodite."

She closed her eyes, readying herself for everything to go wrong. When things didn't, and she felt a brief flash of power behind her, she opened her eyes. Through the mirror, Kat saw the goddess sitting on her bed.

Aphrodite was smiling. It was more a friendly smile than a pitying or predatory one. "Hello darling."

"Uh, hi." Kat said. She was wondering if this had been the smartest thing to do.

"You called?" Aphrodite inquired.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did." Kat said. She took in Aphrodite's appearance. She had expected the goddess to look like Annabeth, and was surprised to find that she didn't.

"I thought I'd save you the pain." Aphrodite said, like she could tell what Kat was thinking. "I can choose to look a certain way."

"Oh." Kat nodded. "That makes sense."

"Beauty ideals change, after all." Aphrodite hummed. "So, darling. What do you need?"

Kat didn't know how to explain. "I'm not Percy." She said eventually.

Aphrodite nodded as if it made complete sense. "I see. I can't change your emotions." She said seriously, but then gained a smirk. "But I can give you a makeover. After all, your appearance reflects your self." 

Aphrodite stood, and walked over to Kat. Aphrodite was wearing a maroon pantsuit, though the blouse had a very, very low neckline. Her hair was black and curly, and her eyes a deep sapphire. Kat felt a bit out of place next to her.

"We could start by doing something with your hair. Hmm. What if we add some color?" Aphrodite suggested. 

Kat tilted her head, and looked in the mirror. "Yeah. That sounds good."

Aphrodite smiled. "What color? How much do you want to change? What style?"

Kat gave Aphrodite a struggling look. "How much? What style?"

Aphrodite sighed. "Okay." She gained a determined, thoughtful look. "Okay. You know how gods can't just willy-nilly mess with each other?"

"Like teleporting?" Kat asked.

"Yes, like teleporting." Aphrodite nodded. "Now, I want you to let me use my magic on you. I won't do anything without your permission."

Kat gave her a long, hard look. Eventually she nodded. "Okay. How do I let you do... Whatever?"

"When you feel me reach out to you, don't push back. Let me do my thing." Aphrodite said.

"Sure." Kat said, and closed her eyes.

It wasn't a moment later that she felt Aphrodite's magic. Her instincts began to push the other goddess away, but Kat pulled back the defenses and let Aphrodite do what she wanted. Kat felt like her... Existence?- was exposed.

Next thing she knew, Aphrodite's magic was gone, and her physical body slapped Kat's arm. "Don't do that!" The goddess almost shrieked. Kat's eyes snapped open in surprise, and she watched the goddess take a few steps back and sit on the foot of the bed.

"Do what?" Kat asked, alarmed.

Aphrodite fanned her face with a hand. "Whooo! Oh, oh dear."

"What did I do?" Kat asked again. 

Aphrodite looked up at Kat's face. She had almost a look of awe, and it startled Kat. "You... Gods can't share their power. But you... You can. That is... Extremely... You be very careful with that, darling."

"I don't know what you mean." Kat said.

"Normally, gods can't share their power. But you can. You can lend some of your power to another. That is incredible. But you have to be careful, because if you give someone access to that kind of power, they can do a lot of damage. And to you. Giving them access to your core is essentially putting your life in their hands, as well as a nuke." Aphrodite said, eyes still wide.

"Oh. Wow. That's complicated." Kat blinked.

"Just make sure that no one uses you, do you understand?" Aphrodite said, her voice commanding.

"Yeah, I get it." Kat nodded, half understanding what Aphrodite was talking about.

"Okay. Back to the hair, then." Aphrodite said, looking for familiar territory. "This time, don't send me into your core, let me go around it."

They went through a few different styles, but Kat settled on the blue gradient. It was different, and a bit wild, and a bit graceful. 

"What about a tattoo?" Aphrodite suggested.

"A tattoo? What would I even get?" Kat wondered.

"Something pretty, special to you, makes you smile." Aphrodite provided. "A little bonus, you can change it later because it's magic and you're an all-powerful goddess."

Kat gave her a funny look. Aphrodite shrugged and grinned. Kat looked around the room for ideas or prompts, and then her gaze landed on the bouquet from Tony, and she felt a smile tug at her lips.

"There!" Aphrodite chirped. "Whatever you're thinking about now, that's it!"

"Okay..." Kat said. "So how do you make the tattoo?"

"Oh, that's all on you now, darling." Aphrodite said. "Here's how you do it: Remember the feeling of the magic when I changed your hair. Not my magic, the magic changing. Then, you picture the mark you want, where you want it."

Kat narrowed her eyes at Aphrodite, before looking closely at the flowers, trying to picture how she wanted it. Once the image was in her mind, she did as Aphrodite said. Her forearm tingled, and when she looked at it, she found it covered in the roses of the bouquet. The red, blue, and purple of the petals were faded, almost like it had been sun bleached, or was done in watercolor. A faint green hinted to the stems and leaves behind the roses.

She smiled. Kat held her arm aloft for Aphrodite to see, and the goddess 'ooh'ed and took Kat's arm into her hands for a closer look. Aphrodite's finger paused for a moment over a leaf. Tony had signed the card that came with the bouquet, and the simple heart and 'T' were transcribed onto the leaf.

Aphrodite nodded her approval. "Now that you know how to alter your self, let's get to this wardrobe of yours."

If anything in her room had been beach-themed before, it was nothing compared to now. Aphrodite insisted that Kat looked great in it. After Aphrodite felt satisfied with her work, she looked back at Kat. She frowned. "Something is missing... Jewelry!"

"Jewelry? Oh no, I'm gonna die." Kat said.

Aphrodite chuckled. "Well, if you get the jewelry, you can add it to your person. Infinite piercings without pain! I pity the mortals who have to suffer."

"Oh. Okay then." Kat said tiredly. This had taken a lot more time and energy than she thought it would.

"One last thing, darling." Aphrodite said, and gained a seriousness that Kat hadn't seen from her before.

Aphrodite conjured up a leather and bead set of bracelets. She didn't immediately reach for Kat's wrists, and instead Kat felt the other goddess weaving some magics. When the goddess finished the intricate magic, she held the bracelets gingerly. "My children don't always break hearts. Sometimes, it's theirs that break. I can't do much for them, but I can do this. If you decide to, when you put this on, one emotion towards one person will be trapped in this. The feeling won't completely disappear, darling, but it will fade a lot. And when you're ready to face it again, break the cords."

Kat delicately accepted the bracelets. "But why?"

"I felt your heartbreak before you called for me, darling. And what has happened to you... While I love drama, sometimes a good happy ever after is worth it." Aphrodite said sincerely, before her lips quirked up in amusement. "You should decide. Mr. Tall and Handsome is getting anxious."

"Wha-?" Kat asked, but Aphrodite had already left.

Kat stared down at the bracelets. The hand grabbed at her heart again. As tears pooled in her eyes, she debated to use them or not. It wasn't her that loved Annabeth; it was Percy, and that had carried over. It's not like she was going to jump in and take Annabeth from Percy. And by the Fates, she wasn't going to break them apart due to guilt over this.

She slipped the set onto the opposite arm as the tattoo, and focused on the hand at her heart. She felt it seize and slip away, only leaving her heart a little sore in it's wake. Her lungs didn't feel quite so small.

She brushed the tears off her cheeks, and slipped into the bathroom across the hall. After washing her face, she stepped back and looked in the mirror. And for the first time, it was Katha staring back at her, and not her brother's clone.

A/N

Did you expect that?