Gabrielle threw one or two anxious looks at the stern countenance of her best friend’s features. Her normally striking, bronzed good looks appeared pale and wan in the torch-lit streets, and she was sure that she detected a faint flicker of pain in the tall woman’s eyes as she strode wordlessly along. "Xena? Are you alright?" she ventured in a soft whisper that she knew the warrior would hear.

Looking down at the anxious bard’s face, she quirked her lips into what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "I’m fine Gabrielle. I just want to put as much distance between us and here as possible." She turned away to hide the flare of pain in her eyes as the wound in her shoulder throbbed with agonising intensity.

Biting her lip, knowing that something was wrong, the young woman tried another direction, "Xena? Did you get hurt in the fighting?"

The warrior sighed deeply. She couldn’t lie to her bard, but she knew that her friend would worry about the injuries she’d received, especially the deep wound in her back, "Just a few nicks and scratches, Gabrielle. Nothing that won’t keep until we get to the ship and are safely out of here." She could tell that her answer hadn’t satisfied the bard, but she was beginning to feel light headed from loss of blood and she couldn’t spend any more of her rapidly dwindling strength to convince her friend. "I’m fine Gabrielle," she repeated herself, "Let’s just concentrate on getting out of here, huh?"

They were close to their destination now, so the concerned bard accepted her partner’s answer, but promised herself that she would attend to all of the wounds that the Warrior Princess had garnered, just as soon as they were safely on the ship. - The others can take care of getting us out of here. She’s hurt and she needs attention ... even if she’s not ready to admit it. -

When they reached ‘Wave Dancer’ all was ready to cast off for a swift, darkness shrouded, trip down the Tiber and out into the open sea. Once aboard ship Xena pushed herself through the cluster of Amazons to where Autolycus stood. Without preamble she questioned, "I was told that someone brought some slave children here. Is that true?"

"Hello to you too, Xena," quipped the thief.

"Just answer the question Autolycus," she growled with a flat intensity that warned her temper was on a slow burn.

The King of Thieves swallowed knowing that it wasn’t a good idea to get the Warrior Princess riled, and answered, "That healer, Patroclese? Well he brought about fifteen or sixteen kids down here shortly after sundown. He guessed about what was going on and he said you wouldn’t leave Rome without them. We’ve got him and the kids down below. We thought we’d better keep hold of them until you guys turned up and let us know what to do with them. That healer fella wants to head back to Caesar’s. Should we turn him loose now?"

The raven haired warrior tiredly shook her head, "No. Caesar would kill him for what he’s done and I won’t have his blood on my conscience. He’s too good a man for that." Now satisfied that the children were safe, she allowed the battle tenseness that had gripped her to relax, and immediately felt the intensified effects of the wounds she’d taken. Her words began to slur slightly as she said to the thief, "Make sure he’s kept on board, Autolycus. We’ll take him back to Greece and find him some employment worthy of him." She began to sway a little, dizzy from loss of blood, drained by exhaustion and nervous tension. She turned to her criminal friend and smiled a lopsided grin as she said, "It’s good to see you again, Autolycus," before she crumpled in a heap into his surprised arms.

Xena missed all the concern that her unheralded collapse caused. Gabrielle had shouted out in alarm as she saw her partner fall, while Autolycus clutched at her to prevent her from hitting the deck. Within heartbeats, Toris had moved to her side and had lifted her carefully into his arms.

"Is there somewhere I can take her to attend to her injuries?" he demanded with calm authority.

Gabrielle gave him an approving look, - He sure has matured through all of this, - she conceded as she patted his back lightly and gave him a grateful look.

"Take her to my cabin," instructed Nebula, "Ephiny can show you the way." The Regent nodded a quick agreement and started for the companionway trailed by Toris, with his precious burden, along with Gabrielle, all the other men and a coterie of Amazons. "Hold it," broke in the pirate, "You can’t all go down there, it’s far to small. Autolycus, you go get that healer and tell him to come up on deck. Take Curly and Joxer with you .. there’s all those kids to entertain and I think the healer’s going to be tied up for a while. The rest of you make yourselves useful up here."

"Damn it Nebula, we’re not nursemaids," protested Iolaus loudly.

She levelled a steely glare at him, "You are as of now, Curly, someone has to do it," she growled dismissively. "Herc, I’ll need your help. I want to get ‘Dancer’ well away from here as soon as possible."

"Well we can use Iolaus then," the demi-god told her, "You know he’s a good sailor."

"True enough," agreed the pirate, rethinking her dispositions as she remembered just how good a sailor that the blonde warrior was. "Alright Curly, you got a reprieve."

"That sucks!" grumbled Joxer, as Autolycus gave him a shove towards the companionway, knowing that they needed to get Patroclese to Xena as fast as possible.

"Sure it does, Master of Morons, but unless you can sail this ship, I guess we get babysitting duties for a while," growled the thief.

As they disappeared below they could hear the coordinated chaos required to get the ship underway. Autolycus led Joxer forward to where Patroclese and the slave children had been lodged in the ship’s mess. They found a happy bunch that laughed and played together, free from the restriction of their positions within Caesar’s household. The exception to this was Patroclese himself who couldn’t stop himself from reflecting upon his likely fate once he returned to Caesar.

Autolycus moved over to the young physician and touched his shoulder lightly to attract his attention, "You’re needed in the captain’s cabin, Xena got hurt in her escape .. I think they need you to patch her up."

"Damn, can’t she ever stay in one piece for more than a day at a time," he muttered getting swiftly to his feet before swearing again, "Damn! I didn’t bring any equipment with me."

"Don’t worry," Autolycus assured him, "I’m sure the ship has it’s own medical supplies. Just go and fix her up .. oh and I think there will probably be a few Amazons and maybe a demi-god and his sidekick to take care of too."

"A demi ... what?!" exclaimed Patroclese in surprise.

The King of Thieves grinned, "Oh, you’ll see. Now hurry, they’ll be waiting for you." He watched the healer scurry off and then turned back to the room to find half a dozen young children bouncing on Joxer, laughing at his Amazon attire.

"The things I do for lo ... hem," he coughed stopping his soft mutter as he took Patroclese’s place in the recently vacated chair.

Toris had carefully laid his sister on the swinging box bed that was suspended from the roof beams of the cabin. Gabrielle had tried to insist that he go back on deck, but now that he’d finally found Xena, there was no way that he was letting her out of his sight until he knew that she was going to be okay, - Mother will kill me if I don’t take care of her. She’s only just got her back after far too many years of disowning her, and I won’t let either of them down again ... ever! -

Gabrielle shook her head as she watched Toris remove himself to the other end of the cabin where he turned his back to give the bard and his sister some privacy. - He is so stubborn! Just like .. like, she is! - She turned back to the warrior and wondered just where to begin. As the entire muscular body was covered with blood it was difficult to decide just what was Xena’s and what belonged to the soldiers she had fought.

Sighing, she muttered to herself, "Well, I guess we better strip that clothing off and wash you down so that we can see what the problem is." She turned back to the silent man behind her and asked, "Toris, do you have a knife that I could borrow, and could you then go and get me a bucket of water .. she needs cleaning up so we can find what needs to be fixed."

"Here," said the intense, dark haired man as he handed over his dagger, "I’ll be right back."

As Toris headed for the door, Gabrielle began to dextrously cut away the blood soaked garment and peel it from her friend’s abused body. When the tall man reached the doorway, it was opened by the blonde healer, who gave Toris a wide eyed nervous look, before hurrying over to the bard, shaking his head at the sight and quietly asked, "What’s happened to her this time?"

"Not sure yet," answered Gabrielle continuing with her task. "There was a lot of fighting ... she always heads for the thick of things."

The healer gave her a small reassuring smile, "Don’t worry, she’s tough .. and she’s been hurt far worse in the past."

Gabrielle bit her lip before replying softly, "But how long can she keep recovering from injuries that mortals were never meant to bear?"

Patroclese turned back to the motionless body of his patient and began to wipe away as much blood as he could with the tattered remains of the clothing the warrior had worn, "We really could use some wat ..." he began, but was interrupted by the return of Toris with two buckets full of the requested liquid, along with Iolaus who carried a small chest, that contained the ships medical supplies, and a large bundle of cloth.

"Thought you’d be needing these," he told them as he put his burdens on the cabin table and resolutely averted his eyes from Xena’s naked body.

"When I’ve finished with Xena, you might want me to take a look at that wound you’ve got," Patroclese told him gesturing to the gash across his stomach.

"This?" he questioned with raised eyebrows, "Nah! It’s just a scratch. Cut myself worse shaving."

Patroclese shook his head as he returned to his inspection of Xena’s wounds, "Warriors!" he intoned. "I’ll check it when I get through here .. you don’t want to get it infected."

Iolaus shuffled his feet a bit. "Ummm .. I gotta get up topside. Herc and Nebula need every experienced sailor we’ve got to get us out of port and away from here before the Romans realise just what’s happened."

"But ... but I have to get back on shore. I have to return to Caesar," stumbled Patroclese, suddenly uncertain about being there.

Gabrielle laid a gentle hand on his arm, "Patroclese .. you have patients here. They need your help more than you need to give yourself over for Caesar to punish."

The healer looked at her, his eyes filled with pain and indecision, "But ... I should ... I betrayed his trust." He hung his head in dejection.

"Maybe," agreed the bard knowing that the man wasn’t looking for absolution. He needed to work through what he perceived as a failure in himself, and realise that what he had done was for the greater good. "But you’re a healer. It’s your task to save lives .. not take them. Caesar would have killed those children out of spite. From the seeds of what you see as your betrayal, many lives will flourish .. is that so wrong?" she questioned him.

"Maybe not," he admitted morosely. "I’d do it again .. but I’d always planned on accepting responsibility for my actions. I meant to return to my Lord and beg his mercy."

Gabrielle wanted to tell him that Caesar had no mercy for anyone who crossed him, but she could tell that Patroclese did not believe that. Her hatred of Caesar robbed her of the words she should say and left her with those that she knew would not help Patroclese understand that his leaving was for the best. It was with some surprise, therefore, that she heard Toris speak.

"You know, some say that if you save a persons life that you accept responsibility for them. I’d say there was a whole group of children on this ship that you’re responsible for, and who are going to need you .. your familiarity and your leadership .. to get them through the coming time where their whole world changes." Startling blue eyes bored into the healers as the raven haired man asked, "Where are you going to be of more use? With those children, and maybe tending to the sick in Greece, or gracing one of Caesar’s crosses in their place?"

Patroclese held the other man’s stare for some moments before he swallowed convulsively and dipped his head in acknowledgment of Toris’ words, "You could be right," he conceded shakily, "but anyway, for now, I have a patient here who needs me and maybe some more besides her," he finished in a far more certain tone, pushing his concerns to the back of his mind as he concentrated on his patient. He had turned back to helping Gabrielle clean the blood from Xena’s body, to reveal the assortment of injuries that she’d collected, when a sudden thought struck him. As he continued to work he asked intently, "You’re her brother?"

"That’s right .. I am," agreed Toris with a wry smirk.

The healer drew a breath, "You know what I did?"

"Yes," agreed the tall, dark haired reflection of the Warrior Princess.

"Then why do you care what happens to me?" demanded the young physician. He looked up from his task as the other man failed to answer.

Finally Toris replied, "I don’t." His eyes flickered to his sister’s face, "But she does .. and I’ve learnt to trust her judgment."

Patroclese bobbed his head in brief, nodded agreement, before returning his full attention to his patient, "Nothing much to show on the front here. She’ll need a few of stitches in this one," he indicated a gash on her thigh, " and a couple in that cut over her brow, but other than that it’s just nicks and scrapes. Nothing to cause her to pass out at any rate. Let’s turn her over and clean up her back."

Where Xena had been laying on the cot, the bedding was heavily stained with fresh blood. Working quickly, Gabrielle and Patroclese cleansed her skin of the congealing mess and revealed a four inch gaping gash that cut deep into back below her left shoulder.

"Artemis!" breathed the bard as she watched blood pumping sluggishly from the wound.

"We need to deal with this quickly," the healer said brusquely. He wadded the bundle of cloth he was using and pressed it firmly over the wound. "Keep pressure on here while I sort through that medical chest and see if it’s got the things I need," he ordered Gabrielle who nodded her head placing her hands where he indicated.

Patroclese crossed swiftly to the table where the chest sat, lifted the lid and started sorting through the contents, grunting with surprised approval at what he found there. He uncorked a flask and took a careful sniff, unable to suppress the gasp of amazement as he identified it as a very rare, very expensive, liquid that cleansed and protected wounds far better than the utilitarian vinegar wash that he was more familiar with. He carefully re-corked the flask and laid it with the other supplies he was going to need.

Having made his selections he returned to the cot, aware that the icy blue eyes of Toris had been watching everything he did. It made him a little uncomfortable to be under such close scrutiny, but he didn’t detect any hostility from the man, just simple curiosity in what he was doing.

Motioning for Gabrielle to remove the cloth, Patroclese again cleared the area, around the wound of the crimson flow and, taking a long metal probe, began to feel about inside the gash for any debris that might cause infection once the wound was closed. As he worked he felt Xena begin to writhe against the pain and he called urgently to Toris, "Hold her shoulders down, I think that I felt a piece of metal in here."

With Xena firmly held, he began to probe once again and slowly eased out a sharp slither of the sword blade that had caused the damage, along with some tiny shreds of fabric from the garment she’d been wearing and a fresh gout of blood. Gabrielle sponged away the mess allowing Patroclese clear sight of the wound which he continued to inspect and probe until he was certain that all of the loose particles had been removed.

Wiping his sweat beaded brow on his forearm, the healer then reached for the flask and liberally dosed the gash with the liquid inside. The cleansing fluid stung like fire causing Xena, even in her unconscious state to buck like a wounded bull and utter an ear splitting scream. It was only her weakened condition and the full strength of all three of them as they threw their weight onto the warrior’s thrashing form, that kept her from doing any more damage to herself.

When the Warrior Princess settled down once more, Patroclese gave a weak grin, "That stuff stings like wildfire, but it’s the best cleanser I know of and it should make sure that there’ll be no infection. Guess I should have warned you two, though, that it might affect her like that."

Gabrielle scowled a little, "It might have been nice to know before we had to fight her. I kind of like to prepare for something like that."

"Sorry," shrugged the healer. He busied himself with preparing a needle with a piece of thread and proceeded to stitch the wound together with sixteen very neat and precise stitches that pulled the gash closed and stemmed the flow of blood to little more than a very weak trickle.

While the healer was busy with the stitching, Gabrielle took soap and a cloth and carefully washed away all remaining traces of blood from her back, revealing for the first time the livid white lines that cross-hatched it from the floggings she had received whilst in Caesar’s hands. A small, sharp intake of breath drew Patroclese’ attention away from his sewing, in time to see the look of outrage that flared in the bards eyes and was echoed icily in the warrior’s brother’s.

Not quite knowing what, if anything, he should say, the healer turned back to his work and offered quietly, "She’s lucky .. they should heal without hardly showing at all. Most men I’ve seen beaten like that had hard raised scars proclaiming their punishment to the world .. that’s if they survived the experience. Truly, I’ve never seen anyone with her ability to heal so fully and quickly."

"I know one other person who does," muttered the bard, thinking of a certain demi-god as she ducked down to rinse out her cloth. But when she didn’t elaborate, neither of the men cared to press her.

Patroclese finished with the stitches and dusted the wound liberally with a herb mixture, "I’m going to have to bandage this, it’s still seeping a little and I want to keep it clean. I’ve also got a few stitches to put in on that cut to her leg and I want another look at the one above her brow. However, before we turn her onto her back, I want to clear these soiled blankets off the bed and put fresh linen on."

It was quickly decided that Toris would lift his sister, while Patroclese held a thick pad of cloth to the wound, "Careful," he warned as the bigger man straightened, "Don’t break any of those stitches."

While the two men tended to Xena, Gabrielle stripped the ruined bedding off the cot and rummaged around the cabin until she found some replacements in a chest tucked into a corner. She quickly remade the bed, before laying a large piece of sailcloth over it to protect it from soiling whilst they finished their work.

Toris laid his sister back down, and once again Gabrielle used soap and water to finish the cleaning process, whilst Patroclese tended to the lesser wounds. When the stitching was completed, the healer carefully bound the injured shoulder and gashed leg, before they finally settled her, as comfortably as possible, under the sheets and blankets.

The bard allowed a tender smile creep onto her face as she gently brushed some stray wisps of hair out of her friend’s eyes, "When are you going to learn to take care of yourself," she whispered too softly for the others to hear.

"I should go and see to anyone else that needs me," Patroclese said as he packed up the medical chest. "If you could help me with these things," he motioned at the chest, cloth and water buckets to Toris, "then I would be grateful. Gabrielle can watch over Xena for a while, and you can perhaps relieve her in a couple of candlemarks so that she can get some rest. It might be a while before Xena rejoins us ... she lost a lot of blood."

Toris nodded his assent and picked up the buckets and the cloth bundle, preceding the healer out of the cabin door and heading topside hoping to see the lights of Rome fading in the distance behind them, for the repairs to Xena had taken well over a couple of candlemarks, he estimated.