Iolaus and Toris had made good time in getting from Lugdunum to Massilia. They maintained their disguises, keeping their beards and making sure that their hair was consistently coloured. No one gave them a second look. They were nothing like the pair of men being diligently searched for by the legionaries. Once they had reached Massilia, they had decided to take their horses to a trader. They were going to need money for a ship's passage and their funds were not plentiful, besides which they had no further use for the animals.

"How good are you at trading?" the small man asked Toris as they walked through the streets.

Toris shrugged., "As good as the next man, I suppose," he answered.

"Well then," smiled Iolaus happily, "you better leave me to do this. I'm a pretty fair hand at it and we're going to need as much as we can get for these two animals of ours."

Toris glanced over his shoulder at his mud flecked sweaty horse, "I'd suggest that we clean them up a bit before we try to sell them. We'll get more if they don't look like they've spent almost a moon of hard road travelling."

His smaller companion, looked back at his own gelding and stopped momentarily to pat the beasts neck, "You're right. A good wash down and some time spent with a curry comb should increase their value by as much as thirty dinars. He looked over at Toris with a smile, "Hey, I thought Amphipolis was sheep country, since when do sheep herders know anything about horse trading?"

"We breed sheep," grinned Toris dryly, "We don't advocate cultivating the brains of them ... we leave that to the city boys of Corinth."

"Ha, ha! Very funny," responded Iolaus with good humour, "Have you got any idea just how much like your sister you are?"

"What did you expect?" retorted Toris, pulling his horse along at a walk as he realized that they were attracting attention standing still in the busy street, "Who do you think taught her all she knows?"

That had the smaller man spluttering and choking as he tried to find a suitable reply to the offhand remark. Finally he managed, "Oh, I just can't wait to tell her that one," he smirked as he caught up to Toris, "It's going to be great to see her reaction to that," he laughed.

More soberly Toris added quietly, "I'll just be happy to see her. Safe, well and away ... from where she is," he added cautiously.

Iolaus nodded his approval of the sentiment and the careful wording of it. It seemed, at last, that Toris was beginning to guard his tongue and passions. It would help keep them out of trouble if they didn't have to worry every moment about what someone might overhear them say.

They found their way to a stable and paid the owner a couple of dinar's for the use of his facilities and another five for some oats for their tired horses. They then spent the next two candlemarks cleaning up the animals, and curry combing them until their coats shone in the warmth of the early afternoon sun.

"That's about as good as we're going to get them," grinned Iolaus after he dunked his head in the horse trough to wash off the sweat he had worked up and cool himself down. He shook his long curls to get rid of some of the excess water, before pulling his patchwork vest back on, "We'd better go and find ourselves a horse trader, so we can set about getting a passage to Rome."

"The stableman says that there's a dealer about four blocks over. He also said that he's a fair man, not like some of the others in the city," Toris told him, "I've sold the stableman, here, the tack. He said it looked fair quality and he needed some for clients who want to hire his horses. He gave me sixty dinars, which is pretty fair for their condition and the fact that they're used goods."

"Well at least it's some towards our fare. Now if this trader's as good as you've been told, we should make enough from the horses and some to spare," grinned Iolaus. "What's the name of this trader?" he asked.

"Calumnus," answered Toris, "If you're ready, we might as well get over to him."

The pair led their mounts, using some old rope halters supplied by the friendly stable owner, and soon found Calumnus's place of trade. While the shorter man got down to the business of selling the animals, Toris cornered a young man and engaged him in some careful conversation.

"My friend and I have to catch a ship, and we were advised that you were a fair man to deal with," began Iolaus.

"Aye, well most people would say so," agreed Calumnus amicably.

"What's you top offer for these two horses," encouraged the short man, "they're good animals and you can see that they're in good condition."

"Weeell," answered the horse trader sucking his teeth as he looked at the pair of geldings, "I might go as high as seventy five dinars for the pair."

"You've got to be kidding!" returned Iolaus, happily getting into the routine of offer and counter-offer, "we got almost that for the tack we sold. Now seventy-five dinar's each would be a fair price."

"I don't know where you come from, son, but the horses there must be worth their weight in gold if you think that these two would get you anywhere near that amount," he stroked his chin consideringly, "I'll give you eighty-five dinar's for the pair."

"Calumnus," retorted Iolaus in well acted disbelief, "I was told that you were a fair man. You know that these two animals are worth at least one Hundred and forty dinars as a pair."

Toris half smiled to himself as listened with half an ear to the bargaining while he engaged the apprentice horse trader in conversation, "Have you been with Calumnus long?" he asked, more as a way of opening conversation than in any real interest.

"Only about a moon or so," grinned the lad, "My Da knows Calumnus and arranged an apprenticeship with him for me. Up until then I lived on a farm outside of the city. It's cleaner there, but not as much fun." He glanced over at his boss and Iolaus, "You're friend's pretty good at this."

Toris gave him a quick smile, "He enjoys a challenge," he agreed. "Being new in town, I bet you've seen some things that you didn't on the farm."

"Oh yeah. The city's so full of people and so busy, there's always things going on, and there's so many soldiers about. I kinda wish that Da had let me join the Legions, but he didn't want any son of his being a soldier, so I guess I'll just have to settle for being a horse trader," he scuffed at the dirt beneath his feet.

"I heard that there was a unit of the VIIth in the city," mentioned Toris casually, hoping that the youngster, with his interest in the military, would have noticed something.

"Too right," agreed the lad. "The seventh are about the best fighting force around. They're Caesar's own, and crack troops to boot. I saw that maniple come into town and they'd got three prisoners with them. They kept the public well away from them, so I guess that they must be pretty important, but they didn't look like any of those Gauls and one of them was just a girl ... though she must have been ill 'cause she was being carried on a litter."

Toris tried to suppress his concern as he heard about there being three prisoners, he calmed himself and asked as casually as he could manage, "What made you think that they weren't Gauls?"

"Oh, just that they looked too well dressed. One of them looked like he was quite a dandy. The other one was dressed in leathers, you know like maybe a fighter, but he didn't look like any fighter I've ever seen before," answered the youth.

- Damn! - swore Toris to himself. - It can't be anyone else. How in Tartarus did Brutus manage to get his hands on them, I thought that Autolycus was far too canny for that! -

He looked up as he heard Calumnus and Iolaus spit on their hands and clap them together to seal the deal. The shorter man went off with the horse trader to get the money they'd agreed upon, while the young apprentice led the horses away, leaving Toris to sit in gloomy silence.

"Hey did you see that," laughed Iolaus when he reappeared, clapping his companion on the shoulder, "Guess I haven't lost my touch. We got one hundred and twenty dinars for the pair, and what with your sixty and the loose money we've got kicking around, we should have enough dinars for the passage and some to spare for once we get to Rome." While he was talking, the short man suddenly became aware of Toris's moody silence, "What's the matter?" he questioned quietly.

His companion refused to answer until Calumbrus had returned with their money and bid them a cheery 'Good-day', then Toris stood and pulled Iolaus along in his wake, out of the traders yard, until he could find a quiet spot to speak where he was sure that they wouldn't be overheard. They settled for a dark, dank alleyway that smelled as if it doubled as a cess pit, where Iolaus's impatience finally got the better of him and he demanded, "What's up Toris?"

Xena's brother looked at him, his blue eyes showing worry and uncertainty, - A combination not usually found in his sister, - Iolaus noted as he waited for his companion to speak.

"That apprentice I was speaking to," Toris began and waited as his friend nodded his head for him to continue. "Well, from what he's just said, it looks like Brutus managed to pick up Autolycus and Joxer."

"Gods in Olympus!" swore Iolaus in frustration. "Is he sure ... I mean are you sure ... I mean, " he ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "I don't know what I mean. Just tell me what the boy said."

Toris explained tersely how he'd questioned the lad, and just what he'd said about the two men prisoners he'd seen, as well as Gabrielle being carried on a litter, "Damn!" swore the smaller man emphatically, "It certainly sounds like a description of Autolycus, so the other one has to be Joxer." He banged his fist on the wall angrily, "I swear I'll rip Brutus' heart out if he's hurt Gabrielle in any way."

"We're not going to do a lot of good standing around here," put in Toris moodily. "We better get down to the docks and see if we can get a passage for Rome."

"You know, Autolycus and Joxer getting captured, might have been part of the thief's plans. You know, work at getting Gabrielle out from the inside. I might not always appreciate The King of Thieves, but I guess I should admit that I've never seen a lock he can't take," Iolaus muttered trying to convince himself that things would be alright.

"C'mon, Iolaus," encouraged Toris, feeling a need to be doing something, anything to work towards getting Xena free, "Let's get down to the docks and find a ship, huh?" he suggested, "We might be able to find out down there when Brutus and the others left."

Iolaus considered the suggestion for a moment, "You're right," he agreed, "I'd like to know just how far behind them we are, anyway."

They boarded their ship that evening. It was a coasting vessel that would take many days to reach Rome, calling in at several ports along the way to off-load goods and passengers, and pick up more. It cost them forty dinars each for the passage, and it was the only ship they could afford.

Iolaus fumed quietly, while Toris was a deal more vocal about it, "We're already nine days behind them," he snarled as he paced around in the small cabin that he and his companion were sharing for the voyage, "And what about those rumours about that storm? They could have been caught in it and gone down without a trace."

The thought really worried the tall man. He knew that it would free Xena from the responsibility of worrying about the bard in the hands of Caesar, but he realised that his sister would be very badly effected by the loss of her closest friend. He wasn't too sure what, exactly, it would do to her, but he was sure it wouldn't be pretty. He kicked impotently at the bunk Iolaus was sitting on.

"Hey!" snapped his friend and, when Toris didn't respond he said again, "Hey?"

"What?" snarled Toris angrily.

"Just calm down, alright?" soothed Iolaus using his hands to emphasise his words, "There's nothing we can do until we get to Rome. We can't just go tearing ourselves up over what might happen, or might have happened. Right?" He stood and gripped Toris's right shoulder, "Right?" he repeated.

"Right," agreed his friend reluctantly, sinking onto the bunk that he'd claimed.

Iolaus sat down once more and forced himself into calmness. He was far more worried than he'd let on to Toris. His brief show of emotion in the alleyway had been quickly buried under the steely resolve to get them out of Massilia to a place where they could be of use to somebody. The trouble was, the whole time, a face framed by honey blonde hair, with green eyes and an impish smile, kept forcing it's way into his thoughts as he worried what might have been wrong with her and if she was still safe.

His concerns had been slightly mollified when he'd managed to get the information about when Brutus's ship had sailed. The person he'd questioned remembered seeing Gabrielle and the other two, standing on the docks surrounded by soldiers, "Pretty young thing," the old man had said, "Can't understand why a slave like her was surrounded by such a strong guard though. Had everyone talking for days, that did."

Well at least he knew she was well when she had left Massilia. He'd felt his heart lighten at that news. He wasn't sure how he'd let the young bard get so under his skin. - It's a stupid thought anyway, - he told himself, - I'm far too old for her. I'm just worried for her like an older brother would be. - He glanced at Toris who sat brooding opposite him, - Just like my friend over there, - he decided. - God's how are we ever going to endure this voyage? We're both as strung out as a harp and the time stuck on this tub is not going to make things better. -

The trip, in all events, proved to be uneventful and totally mind numbing for Toris and Iolaus .. which wasn't perhaps a bad thing. The ship, grandiosely named the 'Queen of the Waves', was a pot bellied scow that moved hardly faster than the pace of a snail. Well, at least, that was the opinion of its unimpressed and sour tempered passengers.

They made calls at the ports of Forum Julii, Nicsea, Genoa and Luna, where the cargoes were unloaded and new merchandise shipped on board. The two men spent some time in each town, trying to get any information about Brutus's ship and the passengers it carried, but no one had heard anything. The little merchant ship, continued on it's slow way, in beautiful weather, with just the right windage for the craft to perform at it's best. It may have seemed like an eternal voyage to the two men, but they had, in fact, made reasonable time and on the tenth day, they stood at the deck rail of the ship, and looked into the harbour of Pisse, where they saw the battered hulk of a Roman Imperial Bireme.

"By Zeus's beard!" swore Iolaus, quietly, as his eyes lingered on badly damaged ship. The mast had gone, there were gouges along the oar ports where it appeared oars had sheared. Several timbers looked sprung and there was a constant stream of water be ejected from the ship as men bailed the craft out.

"Do you think that's the ship that they were on?" asked Toris, equally quietly.

Iolaus, considered, "We won't know until we can get ashore and ask some questions." He rubbed at his beard in an absent gesture that had become a habit, "But I'd be willing to stake our last dinar on that it is."

It seemed to take forever for the 'Queen of the Waves' to roll her unhurried way into the port of Pisse. The two friends had long since packed up their scant belongings, just in case they found what they were looking for here. They left their packs on their bunks, on the off chance that this wasn't the ship they had trailed, but if it proved to be the right one, they could grab their things at a moment's notice and take off.

"Where first?" asked Toris, as they clattered down the gangplank and onto the cobbled stone of the dock.

His shorter friend considered, "Let's just drift around the dockside taverns and see what information we can dredge up. We need to know if that's the right ship and, if it is, what happened to Gabrielle, Autolycus and Joxer." Toris nodded his approval and followed Iolaus down the street to begin the time consuming job of seeking out the information that they were looking for.

By the end of their perambulations, they had indeed confirmed that the Bireme was the one that Brutus had been on. The ship had, by all accounts, been very lucky to avoid being pounded into splinters on some rocks just to the south of the city. They'd been driven through the only gap in the reef and had beached in the cove beyond, the hulk had only been towed back to Pisse earlier in the day.

With everyone talking about the battered wreck of the ship, the two men were able to pick up plenty of information without really having to ask any questions. All they had to do was listen, as the hulk and it's erstwhile passengers were the main topic of conversation. Therefore, they soon learned that Brutus and his men had left the ship as soon as it had grounded, sending a sailor up the coast to alert the Pisse authorities about the wreck and demand reinforcements, in the name of Caesar, for the immediate scouring of the area to find three very dangerous prisoners that were being escorted back to Rome.

When Iolaus and his tall companion got back on board ship to collect their gear, it was all they could do not to pound each other's shoulders in glee at the thought of their friend's escape. However, it was not too long before a sobering thought took over.

"You know, we still don't know if they made it to shore," Iolaus pointed out, "I mean all we really know is that Brutus is searching for them. He may even have found them by now."

Toris thought carefully, "From what we've heard they jumped overboard to escape, when it looked like that the ship was going to hit the rocks. If the ship got swept through alright, it's a good bet that our friends did. Brutus obviously thinks so or he wouldn't have called out extra men to search."

Iolaus snorted in frustration, "Brutus is covering his ass. He's lost Caesar's second most valuable possession and if he doesn't turn up either a body or the live woman, Julius bloody Caesar is likely to crucify him ... literally!"

"How good a swimmer is Gabrielle?" asked Toris carefully.

The shorter man thought for a moment, "Good," he finally admitted, "she and Xena do quite a lot of swimming."

"Well then," tried Toris optimistically, "until we hear otherwise, we better work on the assumption that she and the others made it, and find them before Brutus and his soldiers do, or we'll be back to square one again."

Iolaus nodded his agreement, grabbed his gear and followed Toris off the ship, to start their search for their missing friends.