A/N: Guess who's back. Back again. ...sort of.

I told you I had no plans to abandon this. I'm running off the high of finishing The Art of Seclusion and am trying to get back at this. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I struggled at first to write it (considering it took years lol) but I think it turned out well. It turns out rewatching Spartacus is stressful because you still hope it'll go differently and you know it won't, lol. Updates are not on any schedule because I'll post them as I write them.

Anything you recognize (particularly in the last scene) is not mine.
Please let me know what you think. Thank you!

Chapter Five

Cassia moved slowly, away from the others that she knew not, with Valeria bound to her chest. Many of the men were still drinking, singing loudly their joy in victory. Janus slept, protected in the room where they had slept hence and yet his absence made her anxious. She left him to his slumber as Valeria cried, demanding attention and comfort.

She bounced the child, humming softly as she kept to the shadows of the villa. She did not wander far, uncertain if Janus would awaken in her absence and in fear.

"You should not walk alone," a voice called out to her.

Cassia looked up at Spartacus walking towards her. "I have walked alone far longer than your fear for me would last."

"You are no longer in Capua," he stated as he stepped up beside her.

"The men are not in your trust?" She asked.

"Fear begets anger and joy can blind even those most trusted. Threats have already been made against you." Spartacus stopped, looking at Cassia as she shifted Valeria in her arms. They had stopped in the courtyard. The dead had been removed but the stains of their blood remained. "Do you hold regret for them?" He asked, watching Cassia as she looked around the courtyard.

"The dead have no need for regret or apologies. I hold no love for Rome and its people."

He stared at her for a moment before speaking. "You were a slave. There is none that would accuse you of such falsity."

She took a deep breath, considering for a moment what she would tell him. The man had yet proven just. "When I was a child," she said quietly, "I believed in the glory of Rome and its republic."

"What changed the course of your thought?"

"I was sold in repayment of my father's debt. I learnt the truth of those lies long after." Cassia looked down at the child in her arms, one of the remaining pieces of her dear friend left in this world. Valeria had fallen asleep. "Apologies," Cassia said to the man in front of her. "She slumbers and I will take what rest I can."

He nodded. "We move in the morning."

Cassia nodded and left.

Cassia walked in silence, following the mass of men that led south. Janus was walking next to his father, who kept the boy between them. They did not stay long in the villa the men laid siege to and the pace wearied both her and the children.

Janus spoke to his father in excited tongues as they continued onwards. They were surrounded, she realized, with the men and those they had thus far liberated. The presence of strangers did little to ease the tension that buried itself in her breast. She was not certain at how these men trusted them. Cassia had no faith in men, especially those she knew not.

"Speak your thoughts and see them scattered on the wind."

Cassia looked over to see Varro staring at her. "It is of no consequence." She turned away from him, focusing on her steps and the babe against her breast. There was no action he could take that would turn her thoughts. Experience was a cruel teacher but an effective one.

Aurelia had believed in the Gods, trusting them to lead her family on the path that would see them safe. Cassia did not hold that same belief. What Gods would have led her on the path her life had taken?

Varro sighed from his position near. "I do not ask without cause. Spartacus told me of your words with him and the concern for you. The threats against you continue still."

"The words I have heard against me have not ceased since my arrival. That they continue is of no matter to me."

"A threat against you is one against my children," Varro nearly snarled. "I would not have it taken lightly."

She stared back at him. "No harm will come to them while I remain at their side."

"Heat addles your senses! You spurn the protection offered with my presence-"

"I do not have need for your presence," she snapped. She grew more weary from the insistent demands against her, as though her choices held no meaning. "I would not part you from your children, but do not prattle endlessly. I have no wax to fill my ears."

His mouth fell open before he scowled. "Jupiter's cock, it is no wonder you remain free of a husband. Your words alone would drive to madness-"

"Hold your tongue," Cassia's voice was dark, stopping him before he could continue. "Before your words bear the cause of my leave." She picked up her pace. Janus released his father's hand and ran after her. She paused only to reach for his hand before continuing. She did not need to remain near those who would aim to wound with their words. She had had enough before her freedom. Her choices were her own.

As she gained ground, she found herself walking closer to Mira. The woman seemed to sense her presence and diverted her course to meet her.

"You are troubled," she said as she stepped next to her.

Cassia glanced at the other woman. "My thoughts do not cease on this journey."

"And yet still I press," Mira pushed. "The foundations of our friendship continue to grow if you allow it. Are you well?"

Cassia sighed. "I am. My choices continue to be questioned and I find it wearies me."

Mira glanced back. "Varro?"

Cassia scowled. "The man is enough to curdle the milk I carry for this babe. How he won Aurelia remains a mystery only the Gods know." She looked up to see Mira attempt to hide a smile.

"Spartacus calls him trusted friend. Perhaps the truth of him has yet to be revealed to you."

"I have seen enough," Cassia said. "My ears have heard enough. There is no trust to be found in such a man."

Mira frowned at her for a second. "A truth I do not see. The men in Spartacus's trust are held for a purpose. You may find yourself blinded without cause."

"I have cause enough." She paused for a moment. "Apologies. I do not mean to break our foundations on my thoughts."

"You have not," Mira confirmed. "I would hold your secrets as they are my own."

"If I held any, I would consider it." Cassia gave Mira a small smile, an attempt to comfort her words. "The heat sways me."

"As it does us all," Mira agreed. She looked down at the boy walking at Cassia's side. "Janus? Are you well?"

The child rubbed one of his eyes and nodded as he yawned.

"He is falling to slumber," Mira said, looking up at Cassia. "I would offer my arms to assist."

"Gratitude," Cassia nodded. Mira bent over before lifting Janus into her arms. The boy wrapped himself around her before resting his head on her shoulder. Cassia cannot help but smile softly at him. She brushed a hand across his curls. Her choices had led her to these children and she could only hope that they would lead them all to safety. "I pray that we survive this," she said softly.

Mira smiled lightly at her. "As do we all."

Varro awoke at the noise.

It was not uncommon to hear the men lost in their drink, cheering at another victory. The only thing that kept Varro from joining was his children and the ire that the woman caring for them seemed to draw to her. He had been warned twice now by Spartacus and Crixtus. The thoughts that drove the others to joy would also cause them to strike at an easy target. The woman he had attached himself to presented one simply from her features. Her refusal to partake in any celebration did not help endear her to the others. He would not fault her for it. Not when her only thoughts remained on seeing his children safe.

This noise was different. Someone was calling his name.

"What is the cause?" Cassia asked, pushing herself up on the bed. He was struck suddenly by the image she presented. Her hair was tousled and she broke his gaze to quiet the children at her side. It was not the first time he had seen her as such, but something had changed. Perhaps it was loneliness, the absence of Aurelia, that twisted his sight.

"I will discover the source," he said, pulling back on his own thoughts. He stood quickly, dressing and arming himself. "Await my return."

She scowled back at him. "I will prepare if the gods take you."

"Pray they disappoint," he quipped before seeking the cause of the disturbance. The woman frustrated him to no end. Despite the moments where they came together, a truce that sought to be broken as easily as the waves among a shore, she still remained as hard as the stones Rome is built upon. Every moment where he pressed forward, in an attempt to learn the woman, she resisted. It drove him mad.

He found the small crowd quickly.

"What madness occurs?" He asked as he got close.

"One we freed made attempt on Spartacus's life," Crixus said as he stepped up next to him. "Spartacus wishes to let him live."

"Live?" Varro looked at his friend. "At what cost?"

"Training. He has known nothing but slavery. The strength of such a tether not easily severed."

"Perhaps never to be so," Crixus replied as he continued to pace. Varro crossed his arms, watching the moment play out. The former slave in question was bound.

"And if we take his life?" Agron asked. Varro could not find fault in the question. He could not trust his children to be safe if they were surrounded by those willing to risk their lives to kill their trusted leader.

"What message will that send to those who wish to join our cause?" Spartacus snapped.

"That they best be agreeable."

"We're Romans, then?" Spartacus asked. Varro tried not to take insult from words not meant for him. He had forsaken his life as a Roman the moment he followed Spartacus in his plan. His country was filled with faults and he had only borne a small brunt of it. He could not blame the choice laid at Spartacus's feet, nor could he walk from it. The man had saved him in more ways than one.

"Commanding through fear and threat of death?"

Varro stared at Spartacus for a long moment. "You are certain of this course?"

"Have trust." His brother in all but blood smiled at him. "I would divert the anger to the proper recipients."

"If he makes attempt again, I will make sure he joins his fucking dominus," Crixus laid the threat at the man's feet as he hit him.

Agron leaned back to sit next to Spartacus. "And how do you propose we train this wild little dog?"

"As Batiatus had Doctore train me," Spartacus answered.

"And that turned out so well." Agron got up and left the room.

"Take him," Spartacus commanded. "We start as the sun rises."

Varro waited as the other men left. Crixus sent a look towards Spartacus, filled with meaning but did not linger.

"Are we to train all who would make attempt on your life?" Varro asked, grinning to soften his words. "Do you expect the Senate to join?"

"I expect they will fall," Spartacus replied. "On our blades."

"You continue to surprise." Varro moved forward and clasped a hand on Spartacus's shoulder. "It is good you yet breathe."

"And you. I wonder that the woman you keep at your side will one day make certain of her threats."

"Ah! While the Gods favour you, they have cursed me with Cassia."

Spartacus laughed. "If cursed, they would not have found you."

"I continue to suffer. Do you not see how she glares at me so? It is as if she expects to set me on fire or curse me herself." Varro grinned. The woman did glare and it was as sharp as one could be, but she softened as well when the children were involved.

"A task she has not yet had in hand. Mira holds belief that Cassia held judgement on you prior to arrival."

"She has said such things herself," Varro nodded. "When we first met."

"Then you must seek to change the course of her thought. It does your children no favour to have their father at odds with her."

Varro made a face. "Your words hold true, though it is a task of no ease."

"Those worth doing seldom are." Spartacus smiled at Varro. "Go, return to your children. Your woman may already be preparing to leave if she believes we are under threat."

"Not my woman," Varro corrected. Spartacus was not wrong. Cassia seemed ready to flee at any sign of trouble and did not hesitate to leave his presence the very moment they argue or demand that he relieves her from his presence. "I will find you as the sun rises."

"Good. I would have you help train them...if you yet survive her wrath."

"A curse!" Varro repeated with a laugh.

Spartacus motioned him forward. "Go! Take your curse with you."

"I fear it awaits my return," he jested.

Spartacus waved him off. Varro left without another word. Though they jested about the woman, Spartacus's words held truth. Varro needed to make a proper truce with the woman. One that would allow him to learn her so that she might be less inclined to take his children from him. She cared for his children well and was trusted friend to Aurelia. She deserved his respect for that alone.

[tbc]