Title: Knowledge.
Author/pseudonym: Voracity
Email address: bookwrecker@yahoo.com
Rating: a very tame g
Pairings: nick/derek/philip
Fandom: xover: hercules/ptl
Other website: Voracity.tripod.com
Disclaimers: do you think I own them? can I have some of what you're on?
Summary: the boys find out what's going on.
Warnings: mpreg. Not beta'd yet.

Strife finished his dessert and put the glass back down, smiling at his missed uncle. "So, whatcha been doin'? No one's heard from ya in ages."

"Reading recently," Ares said tiredly. "These new wars have nothing for me." He leaned back in the comfortable chair, looking his nephew over. "Are you going to watch over the triplets again?"

"As much as I can," Strife agreed. He grinned. "Unless you want to, that is."

"I might help," Ares agreed. He glanced around his house. "I've taken the block off for *you*," he said quietly. "You and the rest of the kids actually. I... I kinda missed you guys recently." He smiled as Strife's grin got brighter. "Go play with your triplets. They've got to figure out that they're pregnant soon, Godly given ones run faster."

Strife popped himself on the forehead and left, after zinging his uncle with his powers. He landed in an armchair off to the side of the three men, and the woman that lived with them in the house.

"So, what you're saying is that you three have all been ... taken by something that's not from this world?"

Derek nodded, not looking at her. "He said he was a Got."

"It was Strife," Philip said quietly, making everyone look at him. "I asked," he said with a shrug.

Derek groaned. "I made sure it wasn't Cupid." He glanced at Nick, who wasn't looking at anyone. He reached over to touch the taut leg, earning a flinch. "Nick, I know that you're having some heavy thoughts right now, but we've got to pull together on this matter." His colleague shifted away from him.

"Nick, relax," Philip said, trying to calm him down. "Nothin's changed. He's a *God*, Nick, there wasn't any way for you to have refused him." His friend looked up at him. "Really, not even I could refuse him everything."

Nick got up and left the room.

Derek looked at Philip, and they both looked at Alex. "I need you to research anything that we have on the Greek Gots, Alex," Derek said calmly. "I want to know the possible ramifications of this event."

Philip snorted. "I need to get back to that book he gave me. If I can authenticate it, then it'll put a whole new spin on the Church." He stood up and swayed, quickly sitting back down. "Or maybe not," he admitted.

Alex hopped up from her seat and walked over to check him out. "I want to do some blood work, the computer can run it for us." She looked at Derek, who nodded. "I'll go get the syringes and I'll get Nick first. You two sit there." She jogged out of the room, heading for the state-of-the-art lab the Legacy had in each of its houses. She gathered what she needed and headed upstairs to Nick's room, tapping lightly on his door before walking in. "I need to pull some blood, Nick."

He looked up at her. "Okay," he said quietly, shifting so one of his arms were free. "Alex, I'm really dizzy," he whispered once she was beside him trying to find a vein.

"Philip is too," she admitted. "That's why we're doing the blood work. Are there any other physical symptoms?"

"I'm hungry," Nick complained. "It's like a ravenous little beast in my..." His face went white. "Are we infected with something?" he asked her, staring into her eyes. Alex had never been able to lie to him, not after she had almost killed him.

"Not as far as I can tell," she assured him. "And I doubt a Greek God would implant a Hell Beast into you, Nick. You'd kill it." He laughed weakly as she got the blood drawn. "Okay, that's it," she said as she put a bandaid over the site. "Want to go downstairs?" Nick shook his head. "Okay. Stay in here, I'll have the butler bring you something to eat." She gave him a quick pat on the arm before she took his blood and the rest of the collection materials down to draw from Philip and Derek.

Alex walked in and smiled when she saw Philip was asleep on Derek's shoulder, getting one in return from her boss. "Blood work time," she said quietly, coming over to sit on the table in front of the couch they were sharing. She drew Derek's first, not wanting to disturb Philip. By the time she was done, Philip was almost awake, but he wasn't going to fight her on the needle; the former priest had never liked needles. She stood up, taking everything back to the lab with her to input it.

***

Alex sat up as the computer beeped, opening the new message to look at the test results. She got one line down and her mouth hung open. She blindly groped for the call button, hitting it a few times once she found it. She looked up at Derek as he ran in, pointing at the screen. "You're pregnant," she said in awe.

Derek stared at the screen, blinking hard. "That's not possible," he argued. "I'm a man." He looked toward the door as it opened to admit Philip. "The computer's gone out again," he complained. "It said we're pregnant."

Philip handed over the book he was reading, then came over to search the results.

"So it was Strife?" he asked after rereading the few paragraphs in the personal journal. He looked up at Philip, who didn't look very happy. "Can we trust this source?"

"Yes," Philip sighed. "She got pregnant from Ares. It was decreed," he explained for Alex's benefit, "that any God who slept with a mortal, or demi-god, would become pregnant. No matter what." He glanced over at Derek, then upstairs.

Derek swore and tossed the book back, running up to find Nick. The young man had never even considered the thought of sex with another man, much less the fact that he might get pregnant. He walked into Nick's room and stopped, watching him nap curled around his bedtray. He smiled as he walked over to take the full tray, putting it beside the bed. "Nick," he said softly, sitting beside him to wake him up slowly. "Come awake, Nick, I need to talk to you."

"Humph?" Nick muttered as he opened his eyes. "Wha's wrong, Derek? You look pissed." He glanced around his room. "I just had the strangest dream."

"If it involves you and the exercise equipment, it's not a dream," Philip said from the doorway. He closed the door behind him after walking in and sat down on the foot of Nick's bed, handing over the papers he carried so the younger man could see the results for himself.

"Guys, this isn't possible. We're men. Men can't get pregnant."

"Shh," Derek said, pulling him into his arms. "That was my feeling. We'll have the bloot work redone this afternoon, all right?" Nick nodded, pulling back to look at him.

"Well, Strife is the God of Mischief," Nick sighed, getting free and standing up. He grabbed a bagel off the tray and headed into the bathroom. "Be right back and then we can go."

"Alex is driving," Derek called after him. He looked at Philip. "Where are we going?"

"Alex is calling her gynecologist. She's used to dealing with the odd cases," Philip said quietly. "Derek, what if we are?"

"Then it's going to be a hellish birth," Nick noted as he walked out of the bathroom and out of his bedroom.

Philip saw Derek's smile and nodded. "He's right," he said as he followed his friend out of the room and down to the front of the house.

***

Derek looked at the doctor in shock as he received the news he hadn't wanted to hear. "We are?"

"You are," Alex's gynecologist said gently. "How, I have no idea, and frankly I'd rather not know if you wouldn't mind." He smiled at his patient. "I knew telling you I dealt with strange cases was going to cost me sleep."

Alex snorted, but she was smiling. "This is nothing, Doctor Moreth. Really, this is nothing."

He shrugged. "If you say so." He looked at the three men again. "For the obvious reasons, we're going to have schedule you for a caesarian section. How far along do you think you are?"

"It's a.... gifted pregnancy," Alex told him. "I don't think they're going to last the full nine months."

"I would guess six, but you're sure?" he asked, looking at her. "Gifted by what?"

"That would come under what you didn't want to know," Philip said gently. The doctor glared at him.

"If you must know," Nick said, sounding peevish, "we were accosted by someone calling themselves a God."

Doctor Moreth shook himself. "Okay. Whatever. How fast do you think this is progressing?"

"It happened this morning," Philip told him.

"I would assume that we're having the children either tonight or tomorrow," Derek said, looking at the other two men. "Alex, would you please go get Nick something to settle his stomach?" She got up and left them alone. "How bad is it?" he asked the doctor.

"Do you want me to lie?" He got glared at by Nick. "I won't be able to put you into a hospital for the deliveries. If you go at the same time, you're pretty well screwed because I don't know of another doctor that I trust to help me and not let this get out to the press." He saw Derek relax some. "Even if I wanted to tell everyone, no one would believe me." He smiled at Nick. "What you're feeling is normal, Mr. Boyle. It should go away in the equivalent of another month's time. At which point, all of you will feel ravenous. I'd suggest you follow that urge. With the rate the children are growing, if you're right about their conception date, they're going to need the food." He stood up. "I can go get you a diet sheet, but your bodies will tell you what you need most."

"Cravings," Philip said, nodding. "I've met a few women who had them."

Doctor Moreth smiled down at him. "Yes, and now you're about to have some too." He walked out, coming back a few minutes later with the bag of food Alex had bought for them. "All right, try this diet tonight. I'd suggest that you eat at least double what's on there. As for the delivery...."

Philip grunted, cradling his stomach. "Soccer player," he mumbled. "Great one by the feel of 'im."

Nick reached over and rubbed Philip's lower back for him, trying to help with the pain.

"Well, it does look like you're progressing nicely," Doctor Moreth said, then he cleared his throat. "I think we should get you all home before you burst out of your clothes." Nick looked up at him. "You've probably noticed they were getting tight, but they're going to get *much* tighter within an hour or so," he told him. He gave them a fatherly smile when he saw the repulsed look. "It will come back off. I promise you'll have your figures back again." He patted Derek on the shoulder to get his attention and got a brilliant smile instead. "Go home, boys. I'll be out in a few hours, after I find another doctor to help me." He got triple nods and watched them walk out, Nick eating some of the food as he walked. Doctor Moreth shook his head and looked at the chart. "How do I record this?"

***

Derek opened the door for their doctors, smiling at the confused looking one in the back. "Welcome to my home," he said quietly, waving them into the sitting room off the foyer. "We're all in here." He sat down beside Nick; he and Philip had been trying to keep Nick calm for the last few hours, and it was starting to show on all of them.

The last doctor looked around the room, then down at Derek. "I'll need somewhere sterile to work in."

"We have a lab space," Alex said, bringing drinks in. "I can show it to you. I've already got our gurney set up in there." She led the way out, stopping out side the door to look at the strange man. "You're not demonic, right?" she asked quietly.

He chuckled but smiled at her. "I'm nothing near demonic, dear. Strife asked me to come watch over the fathers for him." He pointed at the door. "Shall we? I'll need to see what I can do to help make the C-section safer."

She let him into the lab and watched as he looked around, confused at why he was touching counter tops. "Are they going to go together?" she asked finally. "If you think they are, we have a pool house and it's got a shower. I can bleach there until it's germfree."

He looked up at her, then nodded. "It may be for the best. Show me?"

She nodded and led the way out to the pool's changing area and shower room.

***

Alex watched as first Nick grunted and rubbed his stomach, then Derek did, then Philip moaned in pain. "I think it's time, guys," she said quietly, standing up to help them out to the room where the surgery would be done.

TO BE CONTINUED.