Check it out! I'm alive! Okay, sorry for taking so long. This has actually been done for about 2 weeks now, but I've just been too busy to upload it. Also, no one is sending in reviews/questions and it makes me unhappy.

Lucy ran into someone. She apologized as she backed up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry—"

She looked up at the man. He was tall, his pale skin contrasting against black hair and a black suit. His dark eyes watched her intently.

"You must be Lucy."

She frowned. "How did you know that? Who are you?"

He smiled, but his smile was off, as if he was enjoying thoughts that would disgust another person.

"I believe you know my nephew."

She tilted her head curiously. "You mean Harry?"

"Is that the name he goes by nowadays?" He seemed amused.

"You're his uncle," she mused quietly, "so you must be..." She gasped as she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Hades."

He smiled his strange smile again, leaning in.

"Ah, so my nephew is right. You're a smart little girl."

Lucy backed away warily. "What do you want, Hades?"

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Clever, perhaps, but also very impudent. You are a mortal, I suppose. I realize my nephew is more lenient with proper respect, but you should know that among us, you are to be extremely respectful. After all, we are gods. You are merely a mortal that has caught a god's fancy. Although," he added, "I can hardly blame my nephew. You are rather attractive."

She frowned, stepping back slowly.

"I think I'll be going now."

He held out his palm and she halted suddenly.

"I think not, actually. I would rather like to talk to you some more."

"I don't think Hermes would like that..." she said slowly.

He rolled his eyes. "Please. Is my dear sweet nephew here at the moment? I believe not. Do you know where he is right now? No. He could be anywhere right now. In another woman's bed perhaps?"

He smirked at her shiver.

"No, I don't believe you," she said firmly.

His grin dropped away from his face.

"Hermes wouldn't do that."

"And why not? He did it plenty of times before you. What is so special about you that would make him change his ways?"

"I don't know, Hades, but I do know that he has changed, and I trust him."

She said it with newfound conviction, a slight smile on her face. "You can't change that with your words."

And with that, she broke his spell, turned, and walked away. He stood still, shocked. No one had ever broken his spell before. Who was this girl?

Lucy walked away, deep in thought about what had just happened. It was her first encounter with another god, at least that she knew of. The meeting had left her feeling odd and slightly queasy, and she wondered if every time she met a god she would feel like that. Why didn't Hermes make her feel queasy? Well, at least not like Hades had. Which also led her to wonder, why had Hades been there in the first place? Hermes had told her enough to know that most gods didn't occupy the mortal world often. So he must have been there for a particular reason.

Her phone rang and she picked it up.

"Yes?"

"Hello Luce."

"Hermes!" She was only slightly surprised to learn he had her number; he'd probably gotten it off her phone when she wasn't looking.

He laughed over the phone. "I'm in New York."

"Where?"

She looked around, half-expecting him to appear out of nowhere.

"I'm at my office."

"What?"

He laughed again. "I have an office here, yeah. It goes along with my cover, and it's part of my delivery system."

"Oh." Somehow he always managed to surprise her.

"Would you like to come up? You're right there."

She looked up at 30 Rockefeller Center. "You work at 30 Rock?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't normally ask you to come up but it's really busy right now. I'd still love to see you though." For some reason, every time he said 'love,' her heart skipped a beat. She pushed it from her mind.

"Okay, sure. What floor?"

"The fifty-third."

The elevator ride up was awkward; her jeans did not match up with the pressed suits of the businessmen occupying the elevator as well. She got off at the fifty-third floor in relief, only to find a flurry of young men and women rushing around. She approached the large main desk warily. The girl at the desk looked up and smiled.

"Oh, miss Lucy! It's very nice to meet you. Lord Hermes is in his office. He told me to tell you to go back when you get here."

She nodded and thanked the receptionist confusedly, wondering why the receptionist had recognized her on sight. She found his office (considering it was marked 'Hermes,' it wasn't too hard to find) and knocked on the open door. He looked up from his seat at the desk and smiled.

"Lucy!"

He stood to hug her. She noticed, before he crushed her in a hug, that he was wearing much more formal clothes than she was used to seeing on him; a charcoal gray suit, crisp white oxford, and green tie made him look oddly professional.

"Sorry about making you come up here," he apologized when he had seated her on a tall chair and returned to his.

"It's not a problem," she smiled. "I wanted to see you."

He nodded, looking a bit worried and preoccupied. Lucy frowned. She'd never seen him like this before.

"How are you, Luce?" He still looked preoccupied, but he was making an effort to appear unworried and it worried her.

"Fine." She had decided not to tell Hermes about her encounter with his uncle, suspecting he would just get angry and do something he'd regret.

"Right. Lucy," he looked up and sighed, and she instinctively knew he was coming to the matter that concerned him. "I need to ask you a favor."

She hadn't been expecting that at all. He'd never asked her for anything except abstract concepts, like forgiveness or understanding. Never. So what did he so desperately want now?

"What?"

"I've been..." His brow was furrowed, something heavy obviously pressed on him. "Gods can appear in any form they want, you know." He waited for her to understand. "Even another god's."

"Wait." She still didn't understand what was on his mind, but this was an interesting development. "So another god could...look like you?"

He nodded, seemingly relieved that she had connected his words. "I don't want...it's not that I don't trust any of my family." At that he looked up briefly, as if he was simply placating any family members that may be listening.

"But I would feel so much more comfortable if...if I knew that no one would be able to...take advantage of you because you thought they were me."

"How would you know?" She was confident that she would know the difference between Hermes and someone else. He was different. There was no mistaking him.

He held out a bracelet. It was thin and gold and looked like it weighed nothing.

She looked at it curiously.

"What's that?"

"We call it Προσδιορίστε, or Identify. It recognizes the one who makes it. Here, touch it."

She reached her hand out to touch it; it was warm.

"It gets warm when its creator is within 50 meters. Otherwise, it stays cold."

"So you made this one?"

He nodded. Lucy understood what he wanted from her.

"You want me to wear it. And it will get warm if you are really you. So I know if you're actually you."

He nodded in relief, obviously happy that she wasn't making a fuss.

"Well." She sounded oddly dissatisfied, which bewildered him.

"What's wrong?"

She sat back in the chair, folding her arms across her chest. "When you asked for a favor, I thought you were actually going to ask me for something. I didn't think you were going to give me something else."

He frowned in confusion. "So you're mad that...I gave you a present?"

"Yes!"

He was torn between laughing at the absurdity of the statement and trying to figure out how to make her happy again.

"But Lucy, I didn't make this as solely a present for you. It's for my peace of mind." He tried to communicate what he couldn't say out loud: the uncontrolled desires of his family and their willingness to do anything to satiate those desires.

She seemed to comprehend what he was not saying.

"Fine." She took the bracelet and slipped it on, feeling the warmth of the band against her wrist.

"Is that the only reason you wanted me to come up here?"

He shrugged, looking a bit more like himself now that he was more at ease. "I can't simply want to see you?"

"I've never come here before. To see you at your work. This is your work, right?"

He nodded. "This is my New York branch. I was here when I met you."

"How many branches do you have?"

He thought, unconsciously frowning. "20 or 30 I think. I'm not sure."

Her eyebrows raised incredulously. "Wow. That's a lot."

"I have a lot of messages to deliver."

"Hm." She shifted in the chair and he realized she felt uncomfortable in his office. He stood and moved to the chair next to Lucy's.

"You don't like it here." It wasn't a question. It was a fact. She shifted again, not looking at him.

"It's nothing."

"Tell me," he said firmly.

She still wouldn't look at him, instead playing with the warm bracelet.

"It's just my dad used to work in an office like this, and when I had to go to his office..." She trailed off.

He pulled her closer, onto his lap, and she disappeared in his embrace. He shut the door quietly, keeping his assistants' prying eyes out of their business.

She sighed, melting into his arms.

"We always end up like this."

"Are you complaining?" He teased her, murmuring into her hair.

"No," she said. But she was. She loved his hugs dearly, but she wanted something more. Something that he wouldn't give her.

She sat up, looking at him. "Hermes..."

When she stayed silent, he prompted her with a "yes?"

She looked down, playing with the bracelet in her lap.

"I know you don't want to tell me, but...why won't you...I mean, why don't you ever..." She blushed as she tried to word her frustrations.

"Kiss you?" He felt a sinking sensation in his heart as their path finally began to narrow toward the point he dreaded.

She nodded, blushing furiously and refusing to look at him. He leaned closer, close enough to whisper in her ear.

"I can't tell you right now. Not here, with all these prying ears. But tonight, I'll tell you. I promise."

She nodded again, still unable to meet his eyes. Her cheeks remained a bright pink. She slid off of his lap, suddenly extremely self-conscious and wishing to leave his presence as soon as possible. He picked up on her discomfort and, guessing as to the reason, showed her the door.

As she walked out, she looked up at him. They were so close, only an inch of air between the two bodies.

"Thank you." She took his hand for a chaste moment, but it was gentle and communicated what she could not.

She left, her fingers trailing from his. She only looked back once, glancing quickly over her shoulder. Her cheeks were still pink and she was biting her lip.

She opened her door and fell inside, leaning against it heavily. So much had happened. She was overwhelmed, cradling her head in her hands. The bracelet was now cool against her skin, revealing that Hermes was not present. What could he possibly have to say tonight? What would happen?

She dragged herself into her bedroom and flopped onto the bed, facedown. Her hand groped for her music, switching on a familiar, soothing song. She sat up and pulled out her sketchbook and drew. The minutes became hours and she was oblivious to all of it, wrapped up in her drawing. It contained all her emotions, everything she felt. It was her way of releasing all the pressure, something she'd learned back in that doctor's office. Only when the light began to fade did she look up and realize the time for confessions had come.

Her bracelet grew warm as she heard a knock on the door. The girl slid out of bed, forgetting her sketchbook behind when she went to open the door to the god waiting. He walked in, the awkwardness palpable in the air between them. They avoided contact as she offered him a seat in her tiny main room. The silence grew deafening before Hermes gathered the courage to speak.

"I promised I'd tell you why...I've been so careful around you."

She nodded.

"It's because...Lucy, you know those old stories, right? The ones about demigods?"

She nodded slowly.

"You know how they came about? Gods consorting with mortals?"

She nodded again, still not speaking.

"Well, that is always the result of a god and mortal...being intimate. Always. No exceptions."

She tilted her head, frowning. "But why is that related to what I asked?"

He looked at the shelves behind her; it had finally come to the point.

"I...Gods are very...impulsive. And passionate. And the way I feel about you...I'm afraid that if we kiss, I wouldn't be able to...control myself. And I don't want to do anything to you that I would regret."

He avoided her eyes, looking down at his lap as he admitted his weakness. The silence grew and he eventually peeked at her. She was staring at him, twisting the bracelet with a strange array of emotions on her face. There was a hint of embarrassment, vague disappointment, slight sadness, but a happiness shone from her face. It radiated from her eyes and smile. She moved to sit next to him and held his hand between hers, looking into his face.

"Hermes. I trust you."

Those simple words, meaning nothing from anyone else, meant everything from her. He knew she found it hard to trust anyone, especially men, and to know that she trusted him, even when he didn't trust himself, gave him the same happiness that Lucy held.

He touched her cheek, feeling the soft heat that warmed as she blushed and the light brush of eyelashes as she looked down.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't. I understand."

She leaned into his hand until she rested against his chest. He automatically wrapped his arm around her.

"Come away with me." It was impulsive and spur-of-the-moment, and as soon as he said it he regretted it. She stiffened for an instant and pulled away, looking at him with curiosity and surprise.

"What?"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter, I—"

"No, what did you mean?" she interrupted him.

"I...I have a house. For vacations. And if you want to—only if you want to!—we can go."

She thought for a moment, chewing on her lip.

"I have to work."

"I can compensate."

She glared at him. "You are not paying me."

"Well you can take vacation, right? Just a week?"

She bit her lip. "I guess. But when?"

"Whenever you want. It's always warm there."

"I have an exhibit coming up that I have to work on. But after that..."

"Okay, so when?"

"A month?"

He nodded. "A month."

"Will you come see the exhibit this time?" She looked hopeful and it hurt him.

"Yeah, I'll try."

He smiled at her, but she seemed to be able to see past the smile. There was no way she actually knew why he had that peculiar grief, but she saw it. She leaned closer to him and put her face to his shoulder. The girl twined her arms around his neck and breathed.

"I'm happy, Hermes. Just being with you."

Alright, just a heads up, but the next chapter marks the middle of the story. And the chapter after that, if all goes according to plan, will be the beginning of the end. I may go back and redo some of the first chapters, but who knows.