Disclaimer # 1: I am fully aware that the movie with the same title exists (on DVD); this story was born out of that movie but took a turn to AU where it would reside with no intention of coming into a conflict with the original creation.
Disclaimer # 2: This story is a pure fiction. I don't know the real people involved; anything they do and say in my story has nothing to do with the actual lives of those people.
Note # 1: The story is divided into 3 books. Each book consists of several chapters.
This is Book II – Tripolis (Susa, Ecbatana, Babylon).
A/N - Thank you, my wonderful friends, who read and commented on the chapters that I already posted. My special regards to those who commented for the first time. It would be also wonderful to hear the thoughts of those who read the story but didn't voice their opinion yet. Thank you all.
Vicinity of Susa, 324 BC
"Are you sure if we leave now we'll get to Susa before the darkness fall?" Jared asked one of the guards.
"Yes, that's what the locals say; I told them we're the king's special envoys, they won't dare to lie to us."
"We should go now then," Jared turned to Damian, "the end of the road is close. When we join Alexander, half of our worries will be gone and we can think what to do next."
"I say we stay here for the night," contradicted his friend, "we rest, our horses rest, we'll leave tomorrow morning and arrive at Susa at midday, fresh after good night sleep and without worrying about getting lost in the darkness."
Jared shook his head in a negative motion. "No, we should continue, I can't wait any longer. We are not going to get lost, why are you so worried?"
"I am not worried, I am tired. You pushed us all the way from Siwah, we got no rest, we look like shit and we smell like goats. And all for what? To get to Susa a couple of days earlier? After all the delays you caused in the past?"
Jared chose to completely ignore the accusation. "What was in the past, remained in the past. We are in the present now. If we can get to Susa today, we have to. I thought you were used to that sort of travel."
"Yes, but that was to save people's lives." Damian shrugged his shoulders and resigned to the fact that he would spend the rest of the day on the road.
"We are going to save people's lives," confirmed Jared jumping onto the horse, "two of them for sure and I hope many more." He took off without looking back quite confident that Damian and the guards would follow him.
It was true what Damian said. During their journey Jared pushed relentlessly to go forward. But desire to be at Alexander's side was just a half of the reason. Another one was that wearing himself out to the point of complete exhaustion was the only way for Jared of stopping the unpleasant thoughts from invading his mind. Of course, it was his problem, Damian didn't have a guilty conscience, and guards were just guards. But nobody complained so far. Damian's way of life made him impervious to those challenges long time ago and the guards, soldiers first in Philip's and then in Alexander's army had the endurance of the gods.
But on this last leg on their journey even the all consuming tiredness and fatigue weren't enough of the barrier to stop the unpleasant thoughts from taking a full control of his mind. Not being able to overcome his sudden urge, Jared freed his left hand to feel the remaining stones safely stored away in the hidden pocket of his tunic. From the initial gift of Neil on that far away farewell party for the movie only half was left, enough for two bracelets. The other half successfully transferred him and Damian from Siwah in 21st century A.D. to the 4th century B.C.
Jared still remembered the chill that run through his body when he saw what the gift box contained. He was in such a shock that Colin literally had to drag him away to nearby coach giving some lame excuse to Jared's reaction. Those first days after receiving the present were still very vague in Jared's mind. He remembered boarding the plane and coming home. He remembered the constant urge to throw the damned stones away and accompanying fear of loosing them somehow. That fear was constantly waking him up in a middle of the night and Jared had to make sure that the stones were still there. But he welcomed those waking moments because they took him away from the nightmares that haunted his dreams almost every night. The images of the past and the present existed together in some surreal realm inhabited by historical personages, actors who played them in the movie and people whom Jared met in his life.
One night it was real Herostratus setting Academy Award building on fire when Anthony Hopkins was invited, another night it was Alexander killing Gary Stretch with a spear, then Jonathan, dressed as king Henry VIII instead of Cassander, was killing Colin's sons; Angelina Jolie as Olympia was hiding poisonous snakes in the bed of the real Hephaistion only to be killed by Brad Pitt in the image of Achilles who came to revenge the death of his descendant's beloved. As the days went by, the horrors didn't stop. Almost weekly Alexander's army, sometimes led by the king himself, sometimes by Colin, massacred the fans who came to attend his band concerts, Philip of Macedon and Val Kilmer competed in drinking themselves into stupor, and a guy whom Jared had no difficulty to recognize as a real Bagoas constantly tried to get into bed with Oliver Stone and Colin and when for some weird reason he succeeded to do both, Francisco Bosch was trying to sell the incriminated tapes to the top tabloids.
Jared tried to interfere but for some reason he wasn't allowed to participate in his dreams. He had no idea how to stop these nightmares but he firmly decided that he was not going to share them with those few people who could relate. A few times he thought of telling Shannon of his recent experiences because he was sure that Colin, Oliver and Deirdre would understand but each time he decided against it. He took a few roles that his agent found for him but the new people and the new personages joined the crazy world of his nightmares and he decided to stop acting at all. He threw himself wholeheartedly into music and committed all his time to his band. His talents and dedication brought the band from obscurity to fame but his nightmares continued.
Not that Colin and the others didn't try to reach out to him. But Jared kept them off, somehow hoping that this ostrich behavior will help him and that all his nightmares will go away one day. He couldn't bring himself to think about the possibility of going back to Alexander's period and at the same time he was horrified of throwing away the opportunity to see the king again. Whenever these thoughts started to form in his mind, he chased them away, but the thoughts, like Harpies, returned.
He ignored all the communication attempts from his friends making one excuse after another. However they didn't give up. Taking turns, Colin, Oliver and Deidre showed up at his concerts and at the events that he attended but all was of no avail. Jared managed to play this game for almost six years, when one night he received a call from Colin who threatened him with giving up their secret to Shannon, their mother and the whole world.
"Why now?" without much interest asked Jared.
"Because. We meet tomorrow at 7 PM at your place. Don't even think about disappearing. I am serious."
"OK," somewhat surprised with his own answer said Jared. "We'll meet once and that's it."
The reunion didn't start well and very quickly escalated to the level that possibly none of them expected. They shouted at each other till their throats became sore. Colin and Jared exchanged blows and Oliver, trying to pull them apart, got his share too.
"I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere." Heavily breathing said Jared. "I have no desire to be a lab rat again and you have no right to demand that of me. I don't give a damn about those stones. I don't give a damn about Alexander and Hephaistion. I don't give a damn about you either. Get out of my house and never show your face to me again."
"Why, Jared, but why?" her eyes red from of crying and lips quivering in desperation, asked Deirdre. "Only you can go. There should be some meaning behind this, some purpose."
"Because I don't want to. Because you can't make me to. Because there is no meaning and no purpose. Now, leave or I'll call the police."
"You are going to call the police on us?" in utter disbelieve asked Colin. He winced and touched his head; he was sure that he would have a huge bump tomorrow in the spot where Jared fist landed.
"I will if I have to. Now leave."
"Think again, Jared." Oliver said seriously. "You didn't even explain yourself. I can't understand, and none of us can, why you refuse to go, why you even refuse to discuss it without exploding?"
"Because there is nothing to discuss. It's you who refuse to understand. Please just leave. Here, I'll make it easier for you." Jared left the room and came back a moment later bringing the familiar box. "Here are the stones," he deliberately rudely shoved the box into Deirdre's hands, "have fun."
There were no goodbyes, no hugs, no kisses. Just the lonely sound of the shut door. The door that, Jared thought, was closed forever.
But 'forever' only lasted for several hours. After all those years it was the first night when Jared didn't have any nightmares in his dreams. Nightmare has visited him in the hard reality in a form of the phone call from Oliver. The director coldly informed him that there was a car accident, Deirdre was dead and Colin in serious condition in the hospital.
Oliver was thoughtlessly staring at the medical equipment that quietly hummed doing its job. He heard the door opened behind him and knew that the approaching steps weren't those of a doctor or a nurse.
"How did it happen?" Jared asked quietly.
There were millions of harsh and cruel words that Oliver wanted to tell to the singer but what was the point? Instead, rather tonelessly, he said, "Colin dropped me off where I asked him to and drove away to take Deirdre to her friend who lives outside the city. I don't know what went wrong but Colin's car went off the road and hit a concrete well or something. Deirdre was killed on the spot and Colin is only alive because the driver of the passing car happened to be some military surgeon who used to treat wounded under the abnormal circumstances and he had some medical stuff in his car. He was able to keep him alive until the emergency vehicle arrived. The doctor says his injuries are serious but he is going to pull through."
And so the vigil started. Jared basically relocated to the hospital leaving only once to attend Deirdre's funeral. Colin's family came and one of them was always in the hospital. Oliver visited almost daily. When Colin regained consciousness, he looked at Jared silently but said nothing. Colin's relatives were rather surprised by Jared's presence and Oliver's frequent visits but they had other things on their mind and didn't ask too many questions. Jared dreaded the moment when he and Colin would be left alone but it didn't happened until one day when he returned from the cafeteria and discovered that Colin had no company. He slowly closed the door and approached the bed maintaining, as difficult as it was for him, the eye contact.
"Can I sit here?" he asked.
"Yes," quietly said Colin and looked away. Jared sat on the bed desperately searching his mind for some topic of conversation but it escaped him; then he heard the door opened. He turned around and saw Oliver coming in with an unknown man. Oliver asked Colin how he felt and gave a silent nod to Jared.
"Let me introduce you to somebody," Oliver said to Colin and turned in the direction of the stranger. "This is Damian, he saved your live."
"I've heard you're doing well," smiled the surgeon and taking the spare chair straddled it resting his hands on the top of the chair's back. He definitely wasn't one for formal introductions and official handshakes. "I am sorry about your friend. There was nothing I could do for her. She died on the spot. Do you know if they found that pick up truck that hit you?"
"No," Colin shook his head. "I didn't pay any attention to that car until it slammed into us and then it was too late; nobody came forward so far. I owe you my life. If there is any way I can return the favor…."
"You don't owe my anything," smiled the surgeon. "It's my job. I am glad that I was passing by. Otherwise, you know, it's quite desolate part of the road, and in the middle of the night. You lost a lot of blood, your injuries were severe, and you wouldn't last long without any help."
"I guess I got lucky. I wish the same was true for Deirdre. She was a very close friend. A very close friend of ours," and Colin sadly looked at Oliver and Jared.
"I understand," nodded Damian. "Oh, I almost forgot, I have to return this to you. I found this box in your friend's hand, she was clutching it. I was afraid it would get lost in the confusion and took it to give back later. Are those your friendship bracelets?" Damian gave the box to Colin and genially smiled.
"Friendship bracelets?" asked Colin with surprise opening the box and looking in bewilderment at the familiar stones. "How do you know that the stones form bracelets?"
Damian shrugged his shoulders. "It's magnetic hematite, right? Or some fancy jewelry with microchip or something like that inside? I don't know. When I opened the box for the first time to see what's inside, the stones just went around my wrist in four bracelets."
"The stones formed into four bracelets on your wrist?" incredulously asked Colin.
"That can't be," said Oliver and came closer.
Damian, having no idea what the problem was, took the box from Colin's hands and turned it upside down above the wrist of his right hand. The stones snaked down from the enclosure and made it into the four beautiful bracelets one near the other on the surgeon's wrist.
"See," said Damian oblivious of the expression of stupor on the faces of the other three men. "Do you mean you didn't know?" He looked at Colin and then realized that something was wrong. He turned his head first to Jared and then to Oliver. "What did I do?" he asked, confused.
"May I?" Colin stretched his hand pointing to the stones.
"Yes, yes, of course," hurried Damian, sliding the bracelets down from his wrist and giving them to Colin.
Colin collected the stones in the cupped palms of his hands and said, "It's not hematite and there are no microchips or anything like that inside. It's called obsidian and see," Colin put the stones on the blanket and held his wrist over them. Stones, obviously, remained in place without any movement. Then Oliver bent over and repeated the movement with the same result.
"Believe us," said director, "you can try it with many people, the result will be the same."
"Eh, so why only me?" uncertainly asked Damian.
"Not exactly only you," said Colin, "so far it's you and two other people. Jared is another one."
"And your friend who died was another?" asked Damian.
"Deidre? No, she wasn't another one," answered Oliver.
"Who is the other one and what's the story?" inquired the surgeon with an unhidden interest.
"I will go," suddenly said Jared, "I will take him and go."
"Take me? Where?" asked Damian. "What are you talking about?"
"Deidre's death suddenly convinced you?" Colin asked angrily. "Why don't you wait till all of us die?"
"Colin!" reproachfully exclaimed Oliver.
"What? Don't you dare to take his side! We asked him, we begged him, we tried to convinced him in all the ways possible! He wouldn't listen!" Colin pointed the accusatory finger at Jared. "And now, when Deirdre is dead, he graciously agrees to go. You know what? We don't need you anymore. We have Damian. You can crawl back to your hole and stay there for the rest of your life. Get out of my room. I don't want to see you here!"
Jared stood up, upset. His lower lip trembled. "I cried my eyes out when Deirdre died. How can you say that I wanted her dead? Do you know what I went through since my return? I didn't want to involve you. I didn't want your life to become as miserable as mine!"
"Calm down, calm down," Oliver tried to pacify both actors, "Deirdre's death is none of your fault. Only the driver of that car is to blame. Colin, you can't get distressed like that. You are still recuperating."
"I am fine," puffed Colin. "I was told I can go home tomorrow. Mom went to arrange the papers."
Jared silently went to the window and started to beat with his fingers the opening score of the 'Alexander' movie.
"Oh, I like that music," said Damian, happy to change the topic of the conversation though he still couldn't understand what was it all that about.
"Did you like the movie?" asked Jared turning around.
"I can't possibly say that I didn't with all of you in the same room," chuckled Damian.
"So, you didn't like it?" Oliver rephrased Jared's question.
"Yes and no. You can't fit the life of Alexander into three hours. It should have been a TV series or several movies. Then there was a chance of people understanding him better. And why did you drag Cassander into Asia?"
"I needed a villain."
"Oh, I thought those were aplenty even without him. But, don't take me wrong, in general, I sort of liked the movie, except for one small scene, but it was personal."
"Which one?" asked Oliver with interest.
"When Alexander came after the battle to visit the wounded; when he talked to that soldier who had to be given a mercy killing because he wasn't going to survive."
"You didn't like it because as a doctor you hate to see people die, especially that way, even in a movie?" asked Jared.
"No, because it so happened that once I had to do the same," rather grimly said Damian.
"The same?" horrified, asked Colin. "I thought that in the modern times…."
"What? Everybody can be saved?"
"No," Colin shook his head, "it's just…. I don't know…. You are in a military, right?"
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean?" it was Oliver's turn to ask.
"I started as a trauma surgeon in ER but after some five years I got bored."
"Excuse me?" Colin interrupted him in disbelieve.
"I know, I know, it's weird but I am not telling this to you in order to show off or something. I then joined Doctors Without Borders, went to the zones of war conflicts; the word got around, I was asked to go to the places that others doctors wouldn't. I liked the challenge of being able to save people's lives under the most gruesome and horrible circumstances with minimum of medical supplies or any kind of support. I got nicknamed Dr. MacGyver. But I also got accused of seeking thrills in other people's tragedies. They conveniently forgot the fact that I didn't create those horrors, I just try to help people who find themselves in a middle of it. Believe me, after everything I saw, I still get upset about every life I can't save."
"So, you would enjoy an absolutely unique challenge to test your medical ingenuity?" asked Colin.
"Enjoy the challenge? Yes. But I never enjoy the grim circumstances; I am just good at dealing with them. But I saw it all. I saw the horrors that you can't imagine. Absolutely unique challenge? Do you need a medical consultant for some disaster movie?"
"No," said Jared. "How can I describe it in a better way? It's more like a reality show but for internal use only, not for TV."
Colin managed a wry laugh. "Jared, you definitely have a way with words. Damian, it's really something unique. There is no insurance for the risk you are going to take. There is no monetary reward. I mean, there is no payment at all. I don't know how long it will take. I don't know what it will take," with each short phrase Colin's voice became more and more serious.
"All right, you picked my curiosity; what's it about?"
"Take a sit," Colin pointed to the same chair that Damian occupied previously. "You sure that you're OK with it?" and the actor turned first to Oliver and then to Jared. Both nodded in agreement.
They arrived at Susa when darkness started to descent on the city. It wasn't difficult to find out where Alexander stayed but it took them eternity to get to the palace. By the time they got close to the king's rooms, everybody was very tired, exhausted and almost at each others throats. After being told that the King has already retired and whatever news they have brought from the distant Siwah oasis they can relay to Eumenus in the morning, Jared lost his nerve and hit one of the bodyguards across the face. A moment later the infuriated bodyguard, his lips cut and nose smashed by the metal knuckles that Jared had on his fingers, had his sword at the actor's throat.
"Do you know what happens to those who attack the king's bodyguards?" he asked wiping the blood from his face.
"Do you know what happens to those who don't care to report to the king an assassination plot against his life? Envious of Pholotas' glory?" menaced Jared through the clenched teeth.
"We traveled in a hurry from Siwah," tried to explain one of the soldiers who came with Jared and Damian. "If you can't take us directly to the king, you better find somebody who can."
Beres, the commanding officer on duty of the king's bodyguards that evening, surveyed the newcomers. He wasn't happy at all that one of them was quick enough to strike first but he would deal with that later. He turned to another guard on duty, "Philoderm, go find General Perdiccas, and make it quick."
The guard rushed away to follow the order but was almost immediately intercepted by the said general who entered the room in a whirlwind. He didn't pay any attention to the more than usual amount of people present in the guards' anteroom and went directly to Beres. "Why wasn't I told that General Hephaistion arrived and went to see the king? Why you didn't stop him?"
"How could I stop the Chiliarch?" was all that Beres could say barely suppressing his desire to express the ludicrousness of such a request.
"I should have been told earlier," Perdiccas insisted and surveyed the people around, "What is this crowd doing here? I don't want anybody who is not on duty loitering at this place. Don't they have any other things to do?"
"Yes, general, but these people came from Siwah to see the king. They are saying there is a conspiracy against the king's life…."
Perdiccas didn't listen to the end and went to Damian whom he mistook to be the leader of the group. "Who are you, what's going on? What conspiracy?"
Jared, guard's sword not at his throat anymore, couldn't resist the jibe, "Don't worry, Perdiccas, he is Alexander too."
"What?" the general turned around and faced the actor, not recognizing him at first after all those years, "What kind of the joke is that? How dare you to mock our king? Who are you?"
"I'll tell you if you promise not to ask me to repay the debt with the outrageous amount of interest," taunted Jared and outstretched his hand enough for Perdiccas to see the bracelets on his wrists, "remember those?"
Perdiccas stared in disbelieve at the bracelets, temporary robbed of his ability to utter a single word.
"That's impossible! By Ares' balls! You came back!" the general grabbed Jared in a bear hug almost crashing his bones.
"I hope you are not going to kiss me in public or something?" the actor joked.
Perdiccas threw his head back and heartily laughed. "No, I am not going to, but I know somebody who will! Damn! If I bring you to Alexander, nobody is going to give him a better wedding present!"
"Well, how about you do it now?" Jared asked.
"Now is not a good time," Perdiccas became serious. "Come, we'll talk."
"All right," Jared agreed. "How about I dismiss the guards who came with us from Siwah, I bet they are dying to get rid of me. And this is my friend Gavalos," Jared nodded in Damian's direction, "he'll come with us."
Perdiccas took them to the nearby room that resembled some sort of small private parlor and was about to ask his lieutenant to bring them some food and drinks, when Jared intervened, "I really need to see Alexander now. I am tired to death and I am afraid that I can fall asleep while sitting here."
"Have you really brought some information about the assassination plot?" Perdiccas asked knitting his brows.
"No, no, it was just a ruse to get through the guards."
"I advise you against such jokes. Many things changed since we met last time." Perdiccas warned.
"I am aware of that. What's the story with Hephaistion?"
"What do you mean?"
"Perdiccas, I am tired, really. You know what I meant. Since when do Hephaistion's visits to the king need your approval and supervision?"
"They don't need my approval and supervision but I am responsible for the king's safety."
"Perdiccas, please. Spare me this rubbish."
"Oh, well," the general shrugged his shoulders. "But some things changed, even between Alexander and Hephaistion. It's not a public knowledge, though. I am not sure if I can tell you."
"Perdiccas…."
"Don't 'Perdiccas' me. After all, I don't know you that well," the general mumbled sullenly.
"Well, then, just take me to the king," Jared stood up.
The general nodded in Damian's direction, "Who is he?"
Jared cursed and took a step in Perdiccas' direction. "I told you, I was tired. I told you I needed to see the king right away. Why are you making it so hard?"
Perdiccas didn't answer and turned away. Then he started pacing back and forth kicking the things around. "Why I am always in the middle?"
"You are not in the middle. What's wrong?"
"Alexander and Hephaistion have quarreled earlier today. Again."
"Why? What happened?"
"I have no idea. Something about this wedding, I think. Then they agreed that Hephaistion would come to king's chambers later today. Alexander waited but Hephaistion was late. Alexander got mad and ordered to bring Bagoas to his rooms. Do you know who Bagoas is?"
"Unfortunately. And?"
"Well, shortly after Bagoas came, Hephaistion showed up and, as you can imagine, he didn't like what he found. What I was supposed to do?"
"I don't know. Invite Roxana?"
"Ha-ha, very funny."
"All right. I think I can solve your problem. All you need to do is to take me to the king. I told you so from the very beginning. How about you stop procrastinating and do just that?"
"Can you show a little respect here?"
"I love you, Perdiccas. How is our friend Ptolemy?"
"Why do you ask?" Perdiccas asked suspiciously.
"I don't know, you seem unwilling to appreciate the company of an old friend."
"Ptolemy is not my enemy."
"Very clever." Jared enigmatically smiled. "I didn't say that he was, by the way. It's your interpretation of my question. Now. How about that visit to the king?"
"All right. You win. But I am not going to be responsible for your reception."
