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Construction Site [Friday]

With the weekend upon them, Fraser's looking forward to a relatively easy day at the construction site. The temperatures have cooled moderately and it no longer feels like you're walking around with wet towel covering your face. Only a wet rag.

"Welcome back," he greeted. "Safety equipment, please. It's Friday and I know the weekend is looming. If you must take it easy, please so but do so safely. Let's keep this day quiet and efficient."

Fraser nodded and gestured them all towards the school.

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"A hidden talent," Fraser replied, shaking his head. "Barring lowering our esteemed colleague into the hole, I suppose I can go down there. I've had some rappelling experience and did train with the Inuits who used rappelling as a way of acquiring rather hard to reach food. It was amazing what one could find in places that others decided not to look. The Inuit believed that, whence having a difficult time finding food, the food would be all that more rewarding when caught and cooked."

"Very wise people, your Inuit," Harriet said when she realised he'd finally stopped. It took her a moment or two. "I wonder what they say about climbing into deep dark holes without any idea what's down there?"

"Fortune favors the bold? If you don't try you've all ready failed?" He paused. "Never run with scissors?"

"Look before you leap has always been a favourite of mine," she said. "But if you think that's what needs to be done, Mr Fraser, it's hardly my place to prevent you."

There might be just the slightest hint that Harriet thought this was not the greatest plan ever conceived.

"I would recommend you let us shine a light down there for you, at least. So you're not completely in the dark."

"A good idea," Fraser said and walked over to retrieve two high powered flashlights, a hard hat for himself and a long, long piece of rope.

The rope was tied around a piece of equipment that wasn't being used. Fraser managed to rig up a crude harness of sorts for himself and was then heading back over to Harriet and Hades.

He handed them each a flashlight. "I'll go down and see if there's any structural damage to the ground so we can determine if it can support a school. It shouldn't take very long."

Hades picked up a rock and tossed it in. It took a few long seconds before the sound echoed up. "You sure you want to do this? That's a loooong way down. I'm not a physician, but I know the dead and if you fell from that height? Dead. It'd be such a shame."

The words 'soul soul soul Mountie soul' were being repeated in his head over and over again to the tune of Cuban Pete. He found himself tapping his foot to the tune, stopped and straightened. "But yeah, suuuuure, we should find out what's down there."

Harriet frowned in disapproval as she carefully angled the light so Fraser would be able to see. "Now that's not going to help at all," she scolded. "Surely even the God of the Dead must have some decorum." Shaking her head at the immaturity, she called, "Is everything all right down there?"

"Thus far," Fraser called up, carefully making his way down the side of the hole. It was getting colder and damper and distinctly smellier. "I can't see anything just yet. I could really do with the benefit of flaming hair!"

"I'd love to help," Hades called back. "LOVE to, but it'd ruin my pedicure and I have a strict policy of..." Harriet Jones, Applied Ethics teacher was looking at him disapprovingly. Normally that wouldn't have made him blink twice, but there was something about her that made him trail off and lower his voice. "Not doing anything if I can help it." He paused and looked down. "Whatever." Hades disappeared and appeared at the bottom of the hole a moment later, looking up. "Nice socks," he called up.

"Good man! Err, God," she called after him, beaming proudly. The sock comment she decided to ignore, seeing as he'd done the right thing. "How does it look?"

A few moments later, Fraser dropped down beside Hades. The hole was more of a cavern, splitting out in four directions. He could see some walkways blocked by rocks.

A few feet ahead, there was a patch of smooth rocks, smoother than the ones that surrounded them.

"It's a cavern!" Fraser yelled. "With tunnels! And I'm sure your socks are nice as well!"

Hades took in a deep breath. "Smells like home, give or take a few thousand years. Go on, run along, do that 'exploration' you hero types do. I'll be here acting like a glorified lamp."

Calling himself a lamp reminded him of that movie about the true story of the Channel 4 news team and their moustached leader. 'I love lamp.' Well, at least Brick loved him.

Fraser shot one last ~~lingering!~~ glance at Hades before he headed for the assortment of smooth rocks. He could've gone down some of the open entrance ways but the smooth rocks were just so out of place.

He knelt down, just looking at them for a long moment. They seemed unremarkable save for the smoothness. They seemed to be arranged in a pattern that Fraser couldn't identify.

After a moment's decision, he decided to leave them alone. Of course, the cockroach on his boot had something to say about that and Fraser caught sight of the cockroach's shadow in the cavern wall in front of him. Of course, the shadow was a lot bigger than the actual cockroach and, later, Fraser would wonder if Hades' hair made things bigger and if that was a way of compensating for other things.

"What is that?" Fraser yelped, trying to skitter away from the cockroach and falling right into the pile of smooth rocks, obliterating their pattern.

You know that can't be good.

"Oh, do be careful." Harriet circled around the top of the hole, trying for a better look. She knew this was a bad idea, never mind one of them was a God. "Do you need me to come down?"

" no!" Hades yelled up. "We don't need you to come down. I don't know what the gods are like in the land of the tea and the home of the 'oh behave'," she couldn't give him that look from up there, "But I, Hades, god of the dead, Lord of the Underworld - UNDER-WORLD - can handle this." Content that he'd said his piece for now, Hades looked at Fraser. "Need a ride?"

Fraser stood up, kicked the cockroach off his boot and dusted his hands off.

"Back up to the top?" he asked. "If you can do that without dropping me, yes, I would like a ride."

"Going up." Hades reached out and put a hand on Fraser's shoulder. Without notice, they were suddenly back on the surface. "Level 1, sporting goods, lingerie and alien-induced rubble."

Harriet was standing at the top of the hole, arms folded, shaking her head at Hades in amusement. His little tirade was nothing when measured against a Member of the Opposition having a bad day. Now they could really carry on.

"I see you survived in one piece?" she asked, looking them over carefully.

"We did," Fraser said, glaring at Hades briefly. "His hair was quite the light in the darkness. I think he might have a future in lighting fixtures."

"This?" He jerked a thumb towards Fraser and spoke to Harriet. "This is the thanks I get. This is why I don't help mortals. Well, that and the smell, not really big on 80s hair or Jessica Simpson either..." He trailed off as he started to wander away from the hole and ~~his new BFFs~~ the two mortals.

"Well, I was very impressed," she called after him. And she sort of had been. Eventually. She'd never met a God before, at least.

"How about you walk with me to class and tell me what it's like being the Vice-Principal of such an interesting school."

Hades eyed her warily, then shrugged nonchalantly. It took talent to do that switch so that it actually looked natural. Or, well, as natural as it could on a blue-skinned, flaming-haired Greek god. "Yeah, sure, what the heck, let's roll."

"Excellent." She walked over and took his arm. So what if he was the God of the Dead? The etiquette still applied. "Mr Fraser, do be careful, please?

"I will," he said, nodding politely. "Thank you both for your help."

As Harriet Jones, Applied Ethics Teacher and Hades, God of the Underworld, made their way away from the construction site, Fraser called the foreman over. He order the caved in area cordoned off for safety reasons until a proper solution was put into place.

And then, Fraser walked away from the cave...

...but the cave wasn't entirely silent any longer.

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