Chapter 243
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Xena heard about the success of the latest rescue operation. They had brought back the clone of Mary Jane Watson who seemed to have the same powers as Hydro-Man. Sela and Jacen remained in Hell, but they seemed to be leaning towards being allies of their respective loved ones in Antarctica. The heroes had brought back a number of former borg drones, giving them sanctuary, and hopefully they could give some useful intel. But Xena was always nervous that some of her former enemies could come for her, and she was right to be afraid. Brutus, the former right hand of Julius Caesar, a mand whose death Xena was partly responsible for, approached her alone in Antarctica.
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Brutus: Hello Xena.
Xena: Are you here to "try" and kill me.
Brutus: First I'd like to ask you a question. Ares is allied with Caesar, but he gave me some intel recently. Given that he's allied with my enemy, I'm hesitant to take this information at face value.
Xena: When dealing with Ares, that's usually a good rule of thumb.
Brutus: But you would know, and I think you'll tell me the truth. Caesar's messanger told me that, shortly before I killed him, he was planning to give me Gaul. As a reward for my loyal service, or perhaps as a bribe so that I would not opposse him. You told me that Caesar was planning to have me murdered in Gaul, that it was too risky to have it done in Rome. So when he told me he wanted to march into Gaul, I thought you were telling the truth. Tell me the truth now, was Caesar planning to have me killed?
Xena: No, but I could not let him have absolute power, not with the power of the empire.
Brutus: And you knew you could never get close enough to kill him, so you manipulated me into doing your dirty work.
Xena: He would have eliminated you eventually.
Brutus: So you claim.
Xena: You claimed that he would never betray a friend, but you were standing by his side when he gave the order for Crassus to be beheaded.
Brutus: Yes, an execution you arranged. Which led to civil war for Rome. And you seemed to have no problem having so many good roman soldiers killed.
Xena: Because they were threateing to bring their war to Greece.
Brutus: I was a fugitive because of your actions.
Xena: You could have lived as a fugitive, you didn't have to start aother civil war.
Brutus: I still say Rome would have been better with me as leader, not Marc Anthony.
Xena: And would you have executed every last foot soldier from his army?
Brutus: Yes, as he would have done to my soldiers. I heard about your impersonation of Cleopatra, how you claimed she was leading Egypt towards democracy. She was more of a despot than most of my emperors.
Xena: I was never fanatically devoted to honesty, I figure democracy was the best form of government, at least when compared to other forms.
Brutus: Fair enough.
Xena: Are you here to kill me?
Brutus: I am willing to accept my share of responsibility for these wars, for my actions. But you should take your share of responsibility.
Xena: You're right, I do bare some responsibility for those wars. I'm sorry. But if you're here to hurt me, or Gabrielle, just remember what I once defeated the persian army.
Brutus: You delayed one squad, long enough for the greeks to rally the country against the rest of their army. I know that myth, people exxagerate like that for a good story. Anyway, to answer your question, no. Now that I've heard your apology, I'm returning to my army. And i'm willing to do the honorable thing and warn you, others are coming, some far less noble than myself. Those who still hold grudges against you even after all this time.
Xena: Thanks, I figured as much.