Looking in the mirror for the fourteenth time, Thea tried again.

"So, Josh, I'm actually this re-incarnated Greek deity and the guy you saw last night was this Titan who’s trying to kill me – no, too blunt. He'd never believe it."

Shaking her head, she tried to think of something else to say.

Waking up early, Thea had been standing in front of her mirror for the last hour trying to figure out what to say to Josh. So far she'd come up with nothing that sounded remotely believable.

"So Josh," she said to herself in the mirror, "have you heard of the Greek gods? Well, funny story – no, no!"

She scrunched up her hair and sighed in frustration. There was no way this was going to end well.

Her door opened and Hermes poked his head in. "What are you doing? All I can hear is you talking to yourself. You're not going mad are you?"

She twisted her hands. "No, I'm trying to figure out what to say to Josh. He rang last night and said he's coming by this morning for an explanation and I don't know what to tell him."

"You don't have to tell him the truth, Thea. Just make something up."

"How can I tell him the monster lion that nearly killed us wasn't real?"

Hermes shrugged. "I can call in a favour and get his memories wiped."

"What, no! I can't do that."

"Well, what if you distract him so he forgets about it?"

She snorted. "Like it's possible to forget about a lion almost killing you."

A knock sounded at her front door and she jumped.

"Okay." She started hyperventilating. "I can do this."

Smoothing her hair back down, she tugged her jumper lower. Hermes walked over when she still didn’t move, and pulled her out towards the door. "Good luck, Peaches."

He went around the corner, staying out of sight, and she opened the door, completely unprepared. Josh  looked as angry as he had sounded on the phone last night. His face was set in stone, eyes guarded.

"Hey Josh," she said weakly. "Come in."

He stepped inside, but only enough so she could close the door.

"Would you like a drink -"

"No, I'm fine." he interrupted. "Did you sleep?"

She was touched at his concern, considering  how mad he looked. "I did, thank you. Are you all right?"

"Yes and no. I'll be better when you tell me what the hell happened last night."

Her arms curled protectively around her front. "Right...last night. Well I'm still unsure how to explain, it's going to sound crazy -"

"Humour me."

She swallowed. "Okay, well first of all, do you believe in God?"

"I believe there's something greater than all of us out there."

"What about Greek Gods?"

"Like Zeus and such?"

"That's right."

He began to look sceptical. "Is this going somewhere, Thea, or are you just giving me religious education?"

She took a step back from the harshness of his tone. "It's going somewhere. I guess it all started the night Shae was killed. Those two guys that attacked Shae and me, they weren't exactly human, so to speak."

His eyes flashed and Thea knew she was failing to convince him. "And why weren't they human? Are you trying to tell me they were Greek Gods or something? Did you hit your head last night?"

"No, I didn't! I swear I'm telling the truth. -"

"What about the lion, Thea? I may have hit my head but I still remember seeing it. Any normal girl would have been screaming. You weren't even going to run, as if you were bloody expecting it to show up."

"I wasn't expecting it to show up exactly, but I knew something might attack me."

"Like these, 'Gods'" he said using air quotations."

"Titans," Thea corrected before she could think.

"Titans," he muttered.

"Josh, please you have to believe me. I know it sounds insane, I didn't believe Hermes at first either -"

"Who is Hermes?"

"I am." Thea stiffened as Hermes appeared, wrapping his arm around her waist, his head resting on against her own. Her eyes widened as he placed a kiss on her neck. "You must be Josh."

Josh's face was thunderous. "I thought you said he was just a friend, Thea?"

"He is - please Josh!" she cried as he turned and threw open her door. Thea struggled to break free of Hermes grip but he refused to let go. "Let me go, Hermes! Josh please, I can explain!"

Josh stared at them, his eyes on Hermes arms around her waist. "It's looking pretty clear to me right now. Why even agree to go out with me, Thea when you're with him? Just what are you trying to prove?

"I'm not with him!" she shouted. "He's one of the Gods I mentioned and he can prove it. Hermes, show him."

"Show him what?"

"Show him that you're a God so he'll believe me!"

"Thea -"

She elbowed him. "Do it!"

Sighing, he moved them from her apartment to the walkway outside her front door behind Josh. He spun around, eyes wide. "What the fuck?  How did you -"

"It's like I was trying to tell you. And I can do this -" She quickly sent a burst of wind his way, causing his hair to blow.

He took a step back. "Jesus Christ."

"I know it's hard to believe, Josh..."

In a rush, she explained it all from the beginning. From seeing the Titan's in the bar and everything up to last night's encounter with Atlas. She left out all the moments between her and Hermes though. Hermes still had an arm around her waist and no matter how hard she tried to fight him off, he refused to let go. Every time she pushed, he pulled her closer so she stopped.

Josh ran a hand through his hair, eyes still disbelieving. "It can't be real, I must still be concussed," he muttered, "Look, Thea if you're seeing this Hermes, then fine, just come out and tell me straight. Don't make up lies -"

"She's not lying, man. Did you see not see what we just did?"

"Probably an optical illusion or something or the morphine's making me see things." He was looking anywhere but at Hermes and Thea.

Thea could feel herself beginning to get hysterical. "Josh, it's real! How could we move like we did? It's all real, I'm telling you!"

He shook his head and her heart sank. "Sorry, Thea I don't know what shit you're in the middle of right now, but I'm not sure I'm ready to believe it. I think you're having some sort of breakdown after Shae's death. I know some people you can contact who might be able to help; I'll get one of the officers at the station to send them to you." He glanced scornfully at Hermes’ arm on her waist.  When you're feeling better, call me."

Walking out her door, he slammed it shut.

Thea watched the lock chain rattle, chest lancing with pain.

"He's not much of a cop is he?" Hermes muttered, hands still on her waist. "Aren't they meant to help damsels in distress?"

"He just got fed a story that sounds like bullshit and you were aggravating him by hanging off me." She elbowed him and he moved away. "Of course he's going to react like that. He thinks I'm lying to him. Hell, even I thought I sounded like a crazy person."

"He refused to even accept your powers, Thea."

"He's just in denial," she whispered, sinking to the floor. "So was I when it first happened."

"Well, it's done with now. Time to get back to training."

"Not today, please? I just want to be alone."

There was a moment of silence and then, "Alright, Peaches, just for today. Come on, you can't sit there all day moping."

When she didn't move or respond, Hermes sighed. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and under her knees, lifting her up. Too numb to argue, she let him carry her back to her room. He placed her on the bed and she grabbed his arm as he pulled away. "Why did you have to aggravate him?"

“I thought it might be a good distraction, and I wanted him to hate you. It's safer for him, Thea, if he doesn't get involved in all this.

"Also," he added quietly, "I don't like sharing."

She wasn't sure what that meant and turned away, curling into a small ball. Hermes leaned over the bed, brushing her hair from her face. "Sorry, Peaches. I know I screwed things up."

"It doesn't matter. It's better this way, right? Now he'll be safe, just like you wanted."

He didn't respond and she didn't hear him leave but once the door was shut she let herself go, crying at losing something she never really had to begin with. Why did these Gods have to come and mess up her life? Nothing had gone right since they'd come.

Sleeping fitfully, Thea wasn't sure what time it was when she opened her eyes. The room was dark, but the faint tinge of orange outside her window told her it must be close to sunset. Climbing off the bed, she had a quick shower to try and wake herself up.

As the water hit her face, she reasoned with herself. She'd only been on one date with Josh. She shouldn't feel this bad. She had been crushing on him since she met him, but their first date had been nothing like she had expected. There was no fireworks, no spark. Thea had always believed in two people needing chemistry to work. She thought she had had that with Josh but now she wasn't so sure. Looking back on her feelings she felt that her crush was just that; a crush and nothing more, which hurt. His reaction to her story and powers had certainly hurt more, but she rationalised that he must have been in shock and Hermes was right; it was safer if he didn't get involved. It was dangerous enough just for her. She couldn't risk Josh getting hurt or killed because of her.

Thinking of Hermes, her mind wandered back to that morning. Though she'd been trying to fight him off, she'd felt comfortable with his arms around her. It had felt safe, like she belonged there. Then his sweetness when he brushed the hair from her face and apologised – she'd been numb at the time but thinking back on it, it was a pleasant gesture and her heart fluttered.

Realising the dangerous path her mind was taking, she turned the hot water off,  gasping as the cold water hit her, immediately distracting her. It was too crazy to be having thoughts of Hermes making her heart flutter.

Turning the water off, she got out and dried off. Once she was dressed, she walked out to get a drink. Hermes was sitting in his usual spot, watching, The Walking Dead. He glanced up as she entered. "Hey, how you feeling?"

She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "Fine."

"Are you hungry? I was thinking of ordering pizza."

"Sure, whatever you want." She felt Hermes eyes on her back, but she couldn't meet his gaze. Her feelings still hadn't sorted themselves out and now she was scared to look at him.

"Are you still pissy because of what I did this morning?"

"Yes and no. I know, in your own sick twisted way, you were only trying to help. I'm just frustrated –my life has gone from bad to worse since I met you."

Sitting on the couch, she tried to ignore the eyes burning into the side of her head and focused on the zombie battle happening onscreen.

Hermes wasn't one to be ignored though. "I have a question."

She sighed. "Ask away."

"If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

The question surprised her but she knew her answer immediately. "The Inca ruins in Peru."

He laughed. "You didn't even need to think."

She watched as Daryl Dixon stabbed a zombie through the head. "I've always wanted to go there. My dad proposed to my mum there."  

"Are your parents still around?"

"No, dad died in a car accident when I was a kid and I lost mum in the Boxing Day tsunami. She was in India; it was an early Christmas gift from me. I was sixteen and had no other family so I was emancipated and I've been on my own since."

The episode was just starting to get good when the TV turned off and Hermes stood up. "Where are you going?" she couldn't help but ask.

"We are going for a trip."

"Seriously? I'm really not in the mood Hermes."

He pulled her up and wrapped an arm around her. "Trust me, Peaches."

The living room faded and she closed her eyes, feeling dizzy after eating nothing all day. Hermes placed his hand on the back of her head, moving it gently so she rested against his chest. Her heart pounded but she found she didn't want to move away. She wanted to wrap her arms around him but stopped herself.

"We're here, Thea."

He stepped away and Thea opened her eyes.

They were in the middle of the Inca ruins.

"Oh my god," she whispered. The sun was just setting and she could see the outlines of stars beginning to twinkle in the sky. Everything was green; even the steps leading up the old ruins were covered in grass and moss. The old stone glowed orange and she reached out to touch a wall, afraid it wasn't real. The rock felt rough against her fingers, cool and moist from the air.

Hermes was watching her as she turned to face him. "Why did you bring me here?"

"You said this was where you wanted to go. I know you're still upset about Josh so I thought this might make you feel better. It was either this or watch you mope around the apartment for the rest of the night."

Her belly fluttered and she turned away finding it harder to fight off her growing feelings. It didn't help when he kept being sweet. "Why do something nice for me when you don't like me?"

"You're right, I don't like you," he said bluntly. "But I'm finding that's slowly changing with each passing day."

Too scared to ask what he meant by that, she walked away, losing herself in the ruins. It was amazing to think her parents had been here so many years ago and promised to love each other for the rest of their lives. Climbing the old steps, she stumbled on the wet rock and Hermes grabbed her elbow. "Thanks."

"What would you do without me, Peaches?"

"Why do you have to call me that? It's really annoying."

He grinned. "Don't you think you just answered your own question?"

"You're never going to tell me, are you?"

"Nope."

Reaching the top of the stairs she sat down, watching the sky darken. The large valley was silent, save for the light breeze passing through the long grass. Everything felt perfect and she closed her eyes, enjoying the peace. Hermes leaned down, taking a seat beside her and she suddenly felt awkward, her moment of peace shattered.

"So, did you ever hang out with any of the other Gods? The Mayan ones, for instance?" she asked, the silence between them suddenly unbearable.

He laughed. "No, they worshipped their own Gods. We don't interfere with other Gods and their followers."

"How many Gods are out there?"

"More than you can imagine. Just be thankful you only have to deal with us; we're bad enough as it is. Some of them out there are nasty pieces of work."

Thea glanced around. "They aren't hanging around, are they?"

"No, the Mayan Gods left this earth long ago. Many left when their believers began to fade away. Other Gods rose to power and took their places."

"Like Gaia?"

He nodded. "I guess that's a good example. The Elder Gods have been gone for a long time and most people these days only know of Zeus and the other Olympian Gods."

They fell into silence again and Thea asked him something that had been burning on her brain. "So, Atlas is your grandfather?"

"That's right."

"What curse did Zeus place on him?"

It was after the Great War between the Titans and Gods. Many Titans were sent to Tartarus with Cronos but there were a few who were given different punishments. Atlas was given the task of holding the Earth and stopping it from touching the sky."  

She recalled the glowing blue globe. "Does that ball in his hand have something to do with it?"

Hermes shifted, moving closer and Thea's heart stuttered. "That sphere represents the Earth. He must always carry it. You saw how it turned black? Atlas was using it to manipulate the Earth's gravity. He's known as the Titan of Astronomy and gravity is the only element he can manipulate to his will. He normally never uses it for fear of facing Zeus' wrath. It would seem that he no longer cares, however."

"He said that Cronos and the Titans would take their place on Olympus?"

Hermes nodded, eyes dark. "It seems Cronos is still after his old seat of power."

Thea poked his arm, thinking of Zeus and tried to lighten the mood."Are you all related in some weird way? I mean Zeus is your father, right?"

"I think you need to understand that back then there were no rules except the rule of power. Things were more...carnal, so to speak. Basically everyone screwed around with everybody, mortal and God alike."

"So, do you have children?" Thea asked, her throat dry at the thought.

"I do, but we don't see each other as family. Many of my children were born mortal and their lives ended a millennia ago. Zeus may be my father but I don't see him that way. To me, he's just another jerk who sleeps around with everything that breathes."

Thea grinned. "So Apollo got his womanising ways from Zeus too?"

Hermes chuckled. "That about nails it on the head."

"You Gods are messed up."

"Don't I know it," he muttered.

The sun had set and Thea looked at the stars. The air was cool on her skin but for some reason, she didn't feel cold. "Shouldn't I feel cold right now?"

He ran a finger along her arm and Thea shivered which had nothing to do with the weather."No, I'd say your growing more in sync with your elements. They're protecting you from the cold, just like they'll protect you from heat."

"That's pretty cool," she said breathlessly.

"I guess it would be to you."

She glared and he smirked. "Do you feel better?"

"Yes, thank you, Hermes." Her tone gentled. "This was wonderful."

Standing up, Hermes pulled her to her feet. "I think we better go. We need to start getting organised to leave. Have you asked your boss for more time off work?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I'll go in tomorrow and ask him, I'm sure he won't mind." Looking up at him, she lost herself in his blue eyes. "What about Josh?"

He stepped closer, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his other hand resting on her lower back. "He'll be safe, Thea. If he got involved in this, it would be dangerous and he could get killed. Not all the other Gods are as nice as me and if they felt that Josh was becoming a liability, they may just get rid of him themselves to avoid any future conflict."

She raised her eyebrows. "They aren't as nice as you? Are you implying that you're nice?"

He grinned. "I'm as nice as they come, Peaches. I brought you here, didn't I?"

Pretending to be indifferent, she turned her head away. "I could have come here when I learn how to fly -"

Her throat closed over and she grabbed onto Hermes, shocked to find they were floating high above the ruins. "Bloody hell!"

Hermes laughed, both hands moving to her waist. "Well, if you want to come here again, I guess we better start practising."

Rising higher, they stood in front of each other and Thea tightened her grip on his shoulders, too scared to think about his hands on her waist. He leaned closer, lips brushing her ear. "Don't be scared, Thea. This is a part of you. Embrace it and the fear will fade."

She closed her eyes, trying to make the fear go away. It was easier said than done.

"Ready?"

Panicking, she opened her eyes. "No, I'm not -!"

Hermes released her before she could finish and she screamed, falling towards the earth below. The sky was completely dark now and she fell fast, the air roaring in her ears. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the air around her, not wanting to die. Her eyes scrunched tight and she felt herself calm as an instinct inside her took control. The roar in her ears began to lessen and hesitantly, she opened her eyes when everything went quiet.

She was hovering in mid air, legs curled up to her waist. Breathing heavily, she glared at Hermes who lowered himself down to her level, grinning at her panic.

"You prick!" she shrieked, trying to hit him. "How could you just drop me? What if I had died? You stupid jerk!"

Hermes grabbed her flailing arms and pinned them behind her back, crushing her front against his. "You're flying aren't you?"

"Yes," she grumbled, trying to move her head away from his.

"Then stop complaining." Letting go of her right hand, he kept hold of her left, entwining his fingers with hers. "Come on, we're flying home."

"That will take all night," she protested.

"I didn't say we would be flying slow, did I?" They started rising higher, her skin tingling as his thumb traced back and forth on her skin. "Time to learn how to fly like a God, Peaches."