Image after image flashed in Savine's mind as she drifted and it made no logical sense. Something else was not right; she could sense it with every ounce of her gut.

She died in the van and came too in a whole other universe that felt terrifyingly familiar.

Bastet felt familiar and she had no idea why. She felt like she completely lost her mind at that moment until Ash appeared and his presence calmed her right the fuck down. She didn't even ask why he was suddenly blue; she was too caught up with the simple fact that they were reunited.

And then she blacked out again… only to see the most bizarre of images of herself in a different place, another era with Sivan and other people she didn't know.

But the images of Ash wearing variously coloured chitons and armor with blonde hair rocked her the most.

What was happening?

"Savine?" She heard him say her name softly and the flickering images came to a brutal halt. Then it was like a lightbulb turned on in her mind. She slowly started to come too and she needed to breath, like really badly.

Ash jumped a little when he saw Savine's once lifeless body gasping for air and her beautiful hazel eyes gapping wide open. The brightness of the room stung her eyes a little and Ash moved to hover closely to block out most of it. He watched her eyes blink rapidly for a bit and he waited for her to get her bearings.

"You're not blue like an Avatar anymore," Savine slowly mumbled when her vision cleared and she could see him properly.

"And you're not blonde," she added and that was when she noticed an eerily paleness suddenly play havoc on his handsome features. He looked like he just swallowed his tongue.

"D'Alerian!" Ash backed away like lightning and spun on his heel to face another man in the room. Savine looked at the newcomer with long black braided hair in confusion and wondered how Ash knew him. He was a tad shorter than Ash and he had bright blue eyes that seemed to glow from across the room.

"I couldn't keep all of her previous lives at bay."

"Explain," Ash advanced to the D'Alerian's side and he glanced back her way with a pointed look.

"In front of the mortal?" His deep voice faltered a bit in surprise and Ash just nodded, looking a tad impatient.

"Ash?" Savine called for his attention and her voice didn't sound like her own. Gone was her usual confident and strong tone. She was particularly squeaky with nerves.

Ash's worried silver eyes flashed to her own and he quickly returned to her lying side on the gurnery. The metal bars of the bed drew Savine's attention then and she finally took in the room around them. They were in some makeshift operating room and she was wearing a green hospital gown.

"It will be okay, Savine." She released the breath she was holding in when Ash cupped her face and she leaned into his touch.

"I need you to trust me," his silver eyes comforted her a little with their sudden warmth and Savine reached to hold his hands with a little nod. Ash felt his heart pang when she reached out to hold onto him for comfort and support and he freely gave it. He had never seen her act so frightened and unsure like this before.

"D'Alerian, I will not repeat myself again," he warned low while he kept his eyes on Savine and the Dream-Hunter didn't argue with him much after that.

"I can't keep her first life at bay... you've made it impossible Acheron when you made her forget what really happened in Nashville. It's too close to home."

For the first time since he known her, Savine looked at him with a mixture of horror and disbelief when she heard D'Alerian mention Nashville.

"Savine, please hear me out before you draw your conclusions," Ash quickly pleaded and he didn't care if the Dream-Hunter saw him beg on his knees if he had to in order to get Savine to hear him out. But to his surprise, Savine didn't let go of his hands, in fact her grip tightened.

"Do it fast before I start to think we are all crazy," she breathed and Ash kissed her quickly in relief. He nearly choked when she didn't push him away either.

"Do you trust me?" He whispered for her ears alone.

How could she not? Where Savine's thoughts exactly. She was dead and for some reason, she wasn't anymore and that was due to Ash and whatever he was that was more than human.

But that was what trust was: trusting that part in someone that was more than what you could see and touch.

"I do," she whispered and Ash gifted her with a brief smile. D'Alerian straightened up when Ash turned his way again.

"No bullshit, no riddles, just tell me what I need to know to help her."

"You're not going to like it," D'Alerian warned.

"That's for me to decide," Ash fired back and D'Alerian sighed before he switched to another way of communicating...

"I did warn you."

Eleven thousand years ago…

The play was brilliant and everyone stood up to give the actors a standing ovation. Savine felt her cheeks grow sore from laughing and smiling so much. It was about a Greek hero who saved all of Greece from an invasion and fell in love with his sidekick, a fellow soldier who in the end revealed himself to be actually a princess. After the actors bowed and vacated the tiny stage, everyone started to leave the theatre but Savine stayed behind, this was one of her favourite times at the theatre. She enjoyed the quiet inspiration left after a great play, she wouldn't might becoming a storyteller. She also stayed behind for another reason and that reason related to a tall hooded fellow who also frequented the theatre. He sometimes sat in the royal box and when it was less crowded like it was today, he would sit near the front row with his brown hood drawn low.

Savine saw him nearly every time she went to the theatre these days and she wondered if he was someone important to the royal family considering he did have permission to sit in the royal box from but then again, he did not receive any special treatment. There were no servants and no one brought him food or drink. On a few rare occasions she had seen the royal family visiting the theatre, Prince Styxx and Princess Ryssa mostly, they had guards, servants and a banquet of food. The royal box would also be decorated with reefs and freshly plucked flowers.

Though, it didn't really matter to Savine if he was important in social standing, she mostly just wanted to get to know him so she could have a companion to visit the theatre with. From the few glimpses Savine has got of the stranger's face, he did appear to be quite young but still a few years older than her and he was quite tall, nearly seven feet tall.

Her younger siblings hated the theatre along with her twin, Sivan. He was more into fighting and training for the constant wars their kingdom got into with the Atlanteans. Her father, the royal scribe to the King of Didymous, used to join her at the theatre when she was a child but that soon drew to an end when he caught wind of her desire to become a playwright. According to him, daughters should only aspire to marry and run households.

Feeling inspired by the play to approach him, Savine took a deep breath. It was time to be courageous and seize the day.

"Here goes nothing and by Zeus… please don't let me have an accident." She then stood up and made her way up the stairs in order to approach the royal box. The hooded stranger noticed her straightaway and he seemed to bow his head even lower, as if he was training his shadow to keep him shrouded in darkness. Savine found his behavior quite antisocial and discerning but then she reminded herself of the heroine from the play. That princess had guts and so did Savine. Apart from being a theatre enthusiast and wanting to make friends, Savine was also quite accident-prone so when she reached the tops of the stairs, it was no surprise that her foot got caught on the ends of her dress and she fell face-forward. She fumbled to get her bearings but she wasn't quick enough and down she went. Her hands and arms skitted across the rough sandstone and ripped up her forearms, along with her knees. The blood trigged the tears as it always did and Savine felt angry at her herself for having two left feet. If her father got wind of this, he would ban her from sitting high up on the dias and she loved sitting up high. That was where the action was.

How was she going to explain this?

"Here, let me help you," A deep voice suddenly spoke but all Savine could do was stare at her grazed skin.

"I am so sorry for my clumsiness sire! I will get out of your way, I am so sorry," Savine kept her head down low and she bowed from the waist up before trying to crawl out of the stranger's way but the man was having none of it. He reached out to gently help pull her up by the elbows. Startled by the attention still, Savine kept her head down. She might have guts to approach others but she was also shy when she received attention. It was quite the conundrum and it was something she was trying to break out of. The man helped her to stand but the sudden change in position was too much for her legs, they buckled so the man lifted her up instead and Savine went wide eyed but again she was still too startled to mouth a sound. The man held her face to his clothed shoulder and she couldn't see his face while he powered down the stairs. She only realised who it could be when she glanced upwards. The hooded man in the royal box was gone.

Present day…

Ash shutdown the memory as soon as he recognized the hooded man as himself and he swallowed hard.

Savine knew him when he was human in her first life… fuck.

"Before you start with the threats that was the extent of what I saw," D'Alerian quickly pointed out and Ash shot him a stone cold glare. His face said it all: look any further than that and he was a dead man.

"How much longer until she remembers the whole thing?" Ash forced himself to stick to the facts. He will freak out later… much later.

"I can't say for sure but it will be slow, it depends on much she dreams or if she gets triggered."

"Get out," Ash ordered but D'Alerian stayed put.

"But Zeus-

"He won't find out," Ash quickly cut him off and D'Alerian looked at him like he was the insane.

"Did you seriously think I wouldn't recognize-

"I said get out!" Ash yelled and D'Alerian shook his head at him. Zeus had many children and he was unfortunately one of them like Savine.

"Tell anyone and you're dead," Ash warned low.

"I'm not that suicidal, Acheron. If she needs me, you get me straightaway, understood?" D'Alerian looked dead serious. When it came to family, he never fucked around and Savine was going to need all the help she could get.

"Why do you think I called you?" Ash replied and D'Alerian grunted a little before disappearing into thin air.

Bitter silence followed, which was unexpected. After Nashville, he expected another freak out from Savine. But all she did was stare at the spot D'Alerian once stood, looking quite shell-shocked.

"Savine?" He called to her softly and the paleness of her cheeks made him near her side once more but Savine didn't glance his way.

"Savine… look at me, please," he sat on the bed and obscured her view of the room, only then did she refocus on him with tears building in her eyes.

"I really am dead, ain't I?" She whispered and Ash quickly shook his head.

How was he going to explain this?

"Then I must be dreaming?" Her voice grew louder in a near fright and Ash tried to calm down her rapid heartbeat by stroking her sides.

"This is not a dream," he sighed and Savine pushed herself to sit up.

"I've lost my mind, haven't I?!" She started to shriek and Ash pulled her into his lap. He cupped her face and savored the feel of her soft skin.

"Then what Ash? What's going on here?"

Her fear feels like a knife stabbing his side, every shaking word she spoke like a whip to his back. The last beating he took from Artemis doesn't even come close to comparing to the pain he feels for putting her through this. But it was this or lose her forever. He just hoped that she didn't push him away after revealing who he really was.

Now, he was the one having the freak out. He hands started to tremble badly against her skin.

"Ash?" This time Savine said his name out of sudden concern and it was like her tall, brooding, Goth, sex-walking Ash vanished into thin air. Great fear and vulnerability that was larger than her own played havoc across his body as she watched him turn into a frightened child.

Closing his eyes, Ash slid down the gurney to sit on the floor with his legs gathered tight to his chest. That gesture alone spoke volumes. It reminded her of a little boy who was upset that he'd been banished to his room for something he hadn't meant to do. Seeing him like this pained her insides.

His fear yanked her out of her own and she followed him down to the floor. She reached to hold him but he quickly slid away to backup against the wall. His refusal of her touch, her comfort felt like a slap to the face and Ash felt like a bastard for doing that.

But it was better this way… their time was done. There was no way she will want anything to do with him after this but at the same time, he hurt. He didn't want to make Savine to fear him.

"I wanted to tell you who I really am," he forced himself to say so he could scrub away the hurt in her big hazel eyes. "But I didn't know how… but now I have too."

"No one ever likes me when they find out," he revealed in one of the saddest tones, Savine had ever heard that she finally let loose with the tears.

"Ash, please," she cried. "I have no idea what's going on right now but I can't bear to see you this way." Savine reached to touch him again and he let her because he was selfish. He let her caress his shaking arms while he continued to look worse for wear until he couldn't delay the inevitable anymore.

He hung his head in his hands. "I should never have touched you. What have I done? I will pay for this for the rest of eternity." The anguish in his tone tore right through her and she wondered why would anyone punish him for showing her such affection.

"You have… we have done nothing wrong," Savine said and Ash continued to hung his head in his hands.

"But I did, Savine… You don't know what it's like to walk through the world, always alone in every crowd. Everyone sees me, but no one knows me," he continued to speak with great anguish.

"I am not everyone but I want to see you, Ash," Savine gently encouraged him to look up at her again. "Show me, please," she pleaded and with an unsteady breath, he did because he couldn't say no to her.

He lifted the veil from that night in Nashville and she remembered the woman who was getting attacked by two blonde men who had fangs and Ash saving the day by magically calling forth a dagger to stake the two vampire-lookalikes. She remembered how he put the woman into a magical sleep-state and she remembered how he reappeared in her path to do the same to her.

She then saw the most bizarre of things in third person. She watched how Ash took her sleeping form to another realm and several other people she didn't know rock up. Two were demons and Ash treated them like they were his own children. A dark haired lady that felt familiar then started to talk about she recognized her from a previous life.

The bizarreness of these visions played havoc on Savine's mind and she tried to shake them off but couldn't. The images playing out were too strong but when stopped strongly when Bastet appeared claiming to be her mother. There was no way Ash could've conjured that image from her previous mind trip. She shut up and took it all in then.

Ash's scared but handsome features reappeared after she watched him take her sleeping form back to the hotel in Nashville and she didn't know what to say except to ask questions while she still cupped his face.

"What are you?"

"I am a god, Savine… the last of the Atlantean pantheon," he finally revealed and Savine just stared at him. Well, that explained it oddly enough… right down to his billionaire status and well-guarded ways.

"Savine?" He repeated himself but again, Savine just stared back at him with wide but wet eyes.

"Did you hear me?" She just hummed in response and he figured to hell with it and he revealed some more.

"No one can know about Atlantis. They can't know about me, Savine. No one can ever know what I was there or what I am now. That's why I hired you to get the artifacts, but I can't let you expose me or anyone else. Ever." He growled that word through clenched teeth.

"Then why bring me back to life?" She finally spoke. Curiosity always got the better of her tongue and that was one question Ash never expected. Whatever she was would be gone and she would be reborn as a different being entirely, if she understood things correctly from that vision. She would've been a goddess with no memory of Ash and he in turn would have no memory of her.

"Because," he entwined his hands with hers, "I don't feel broken when you look at me."

Those words brought tears back to her eyes. "How could you feel broken?"

He rubbed his face against her palm and when he spoke, his breath scorched her skin. But it was his words that branded her heart.

"I was shattered as a child and thrown away, like a piece of trash no one wanted. But you don't treat me like that."

"But I did Ash," she quickly corrected him. "In the beginning, I avoided you. I am so sorry." Her heartfelt words and admittance to her wrongdoing made his hollow heart a tad lighter.

"You treat me like any other ordinary man getting on your nerves, Savine. You see in me the human bit and you touch that part of me. You make me feel whole and wanted… worthy."

Savine could no longer stand the physical distance between them and she pulled him close. Her tears wet his skin and his anxiety started to ebb away. She wasn't pushing him away but crying for him. Ash just savored the gentlest embrace he had ever received in his long existence.

"I love when you hold me," he whispered into her neck and Savine held him tighter.

"I love holding you too… god or no god, man or not, I do not care Ash," she kissed his forehead and all that fear she watched build up in his body finally dissipated. The slight tremor vanished and he let out a deep sigh.

As she continued to hold him close, she realised she was looking at and talking with the real him. He was completely exposed to her despite the fact that she had seen him naked before. This was an emotional nakedness and he had no defenses against her. No sunglasses or secrets to hide behind. He was completely vulnerable to her and something told her that he'd never been like this with anyone else.

"So…?" Savine leaned back to look at him properly and the tightness around her heart eased when she saw how much calmer he looked and Ash rested his forehead against hers closely with a curious sounding hum.

"I take it, I am no longer a cougar since you are an ancient Atlantean god, huh?" She pointed out with a playful glint in her eyes and her random observation made Ash let out a surprised laugh.

"I told you, I'm older than I look," he countered and Savine gave him a droll stare.

"You don't say." Ash couldn't help but smirk a little before getting back to serious matters.

"You are taking this better than I thought," he indicated and Savine let out her own surprised laugh.

"Would you believe me if I told you that when I was little, my brother and I would pretend we were in some fantastical island called Didymous that was near Atlantis?"

Ash tried not to react too much at that new piece of information so he opted to keep listening. He didn't know how much Savine knew of him from her first life.

"Also you raising me from the dead, seeing you 'stake' two vampires, the disappearing man and you plucking an image of Bastet from my head also drove the point home."

"I do what I can," he tried to joke but failed miserably when Savine didn't laugh.

"Or, maybe we really are both crazy lunatics right now," she said in all seriousness because her logical mind still needed one more dose of convincing.

"Make my hair grow back," she dared.

"Okay." The word had barely left his lips before her baldhead started to feel warm. She sucked her breath in sharply at the sensation and eyed her regrown locks in wonder.

All of it.

Which meant she had a choice to make. Either he was telling her the truth or he was a very hot-looking faith-healer or they were both nuts.

She opted for the truth.

Okay, they definitely weren't nuts.

Ash was a god like many out there, vampires were real… along with Atlantis, she was actually a goddess cursed to live nine lives and she was still living out her ninth life.

What a day.

But that was only the beginning, she further realised and she stared at Ash.

"What happens now?" She prompted and Ash stroked her long black hair. He really did miss her wild mane plus he needed to touch her to remind himself that she was real and very much still breathing. His admiration for her taking all of this in stride has tripled. But then again, she was a thief and thieves had to be adaptable to their circumstances.

"I get the rest of the artifacts from Xander and Xavier so I can destroy them."

Savine nodded but continued to listen to his every word.

"And do whatever it takes to find your brother but firstly, I want to know who killed you so I can return the favour," Ash added with a determined frown.

"I don't like taking human lives. They're too short. Daimons, demons, immortals and gods . . . they're fair game. I don't tamper with humans if I can help it and I don't think it is a bunch of humans we are dealing with either, they have too many resources."

"Does that mean you're going to turn green err in this case blue… and go Hulk-Smash on their asses?"

Ash just looked at her with a mixture of amusement and unsureness like he again didn't know exactly what to do with her randomness.

"Don't diss the popculture references, bud. It's how I'm wrapping my head around all this god stuff."

Ash tried to not to laugh too much at her rationalising skills.

"And where do I come in with this plan?" Savine prompted and Ash caressed her cheek with a warm expression.

"I keep you alive."

"Eh… wrong answer," Savine corrected him. She didn't need to be kept in a cage and looked after by a fire-breathing dragon. She could take care of herself. She just needed to know what and who she was up against so she could adapt her skillset.

"I know you can take care of yourself," Ash murmured.

"I am literally like a cat now, Acheron. I have nine lives-

"Which you are at the end of," he interrupted sharply.

"I have skills!" Savine raised her voice in her defense and Ash forced himself to stand so he could get Carson to medically discharge her from the makeshift medical ward in Sanctuary.

"Which are I greatly admire and do hold in high regard." Savine smiled at his compliment, "but now are obsolete," and she quickly lost her smile with that comment.

"The only reason why that bitch got me was because she was a coward and shot me in the back," Savine stood up as well but Ash brushed her words aside by walking to the door.

"I am not a victim that needs protecting Acheron!" She yelled at his back and Ash stopped mid stride. He turned his dark head towards her and the sudden fiery look he gave her; seared her to the bone and rocked her emotions solid.

Then, he was kissing the ever-living daylights out of her mouth and he didn't hold back. She got it all: the darkness, the vulnerabilities, the sweetness, the passion and the power. She got the god and the man in that one kiss and it was beyond phenomenon. She also got a slice of that blue demon he could morph into. She felt the fangs with her tongue and she shivered in a warm, pleasurably way. In the darkest recesses of her sexual fantasies, she did hold a torch for vampires. Gary Oldman in Dracula, anyone?

That's why she always liked Ash to vampires. He had that same raw and deadly sexual allure.

She wondered briefly if he was actually a vampire and fed on blood due to the fangs because she never really saw him eat anything in the past.

Ash nibbled on her now swollen lower lip when she needed air and she gazed up at him with warm but lust filled eyes. He buried his hands into her thick black hair and threaded his long fingers through it.

"You are more precious to me now than you ever were before… why would I gamble that away?"