Tempus fugit chapter three

"Where am I?! What is this place?!" He remembered now; she had the answers as to where she was. "Are you a slave for Commodus?!" She had gotten still now, and he was able to question her.

Her breath hitched and a tiny gasp escaped her lips. She flinched against the blade, starting up against it and drawing blood as it readily sank into her throat. She spoke fearful and meek, barely a whisper. "Latin."

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To say Casey was shocked was an understatement; it was a major understatement. Nobody spoke Latin anymore. She had only learned it because she figured it would help her become a better doctor – and it helped her cheat on tests… Now she was standing here, being held at scissor-point by some deranged Roman cosplayer speaking the one language she was fluent in, other than English.

What had he said? Where was he, what… was this place? And something about commodus. What was commodus? She couldn't remember. And how was she supposed to translate Iowa?

She closed her eyes for a moment to change her brain over a language before she could reply.

"You're in a country called… America" – she decided not to translate that one. "I found you wounded and decided to take you in and care for you as a doctor. And, I'm sorry sir, I didn't catch that last bit. Something about a commodus?" She hoped her translation was correct, and looked up at him eagerly to see how she did. Here was the test.

He blinked for a moment before he looked angry again. "America? I've never heard of a place like that! What empire are we in?! Do you not know who Commodus is?!" The scissor blade pressed deeper into her throat as he put emphasis on his angry words.

Casey tensed as the makeshift knife dug into her deeper. "Sir, I cannot answer your questions if you cut my throat. Please, can you ease up on your knife hand?"

The man did as she asked, releasing her entirely and stepping back away from her. He shook his head and put the blade on the table, his back to her.

With this, she rushed for a bandage, and just about grabbed one when he turned and lunged at her again. But he stumbled on one of his sandal strings and she found herself catching her patient/attacker. She stumbled, his full weight upon her, and they both fell to the floor. He was almost unconscious again, and she felt his head for a fever. It was still there. "Sir, we need to get you to the bed; you need your rest."

He dropped the scissor blade as she laid him down, pulling the covers up over him. She sat next to him and stroked his head softly, staring at his tired sleeping face. She found herself singing him to sleep with a lullaby. She wished she knew some in Latin, but all she knew were parts of parodies of Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday. So she found herself singing those, still stroking his hair.

Hey, I gotta show some mary sue characteristics sometime, right? Besides, the only counterbalances are that she:

's got a common haircolor

's got common eye colors

's not turned on to being held at knifepoint (this is a biggie folks!!)

's she's … well, okay, so she is attracted to Maximus (hey, who isn't)