A Race Against Time

Hercules hurried back towards the outskirts of Corinth with Iphicles in tow. The King was a bit battered and shaken from his struggles when Ares had first captured and imprisoned him in a cave outside the city limits. He somehow had known Hercules would find him, and that the ten burly soldiers of Ares elite guard holding him there would be no match for his demigod brother. Iphicles was tired and getting winded, but did his best to keep up with his brothers' frenetic pace. He knew that Hercules was desperate to get back to Iolaus and make sure that he would be all right.

Hercules had hated leaving his friend back there with Caduceus. The physician was highly skilled, so that wasn't the concern. He wanted to be there to help tend to Iolaus' wounds and to assure him that everything was fine between them. 'Gods, Iolaus, you were right and I was so stupid not to listen to you. I'm so sorry...' Hercules thought as he nearly ran down the path leading towards the castle gates, slowing up briefly to let Iphicles catch up.

Iphicles saw the worry etched all over Hercules drawn and uncharacteristically pale features. On the way Hercules had quickly explained to Iphicles what had happened since the festival. Iphicles had listened intently, especially as Hercules recounted how the duo had split up in anger. "Hercules, look, don't worry. Iolaus will be all right. He'll forgive you, because after all, he's your best friend, right?"

"I hope so, Iphicles. I said some rotten things to him and stalked off mad. I know he was only trying to protect me like he always does. Like a broth...." Hercules stopped short next to the castle front gate, turning abruptly to search his brother's face for the reaction to his last statement.

"Yes, Hercules, he is like a brother to you and you're lucky to have him. And after what you both just went through for me, I appreciate even more what being a true brother means." Iphicles smiled and gripped his brother's shoulder, then gave him a push towards the door. "Now get in there and tell him that all three of Alcemene's sons have some catching up to do with each other."

Hercules and Iphicles strode quickly into the throne room. Hercules looked around anxiously and spotted the blood on the floor where he'd left Iolaus unconscious, but in Caduceus' capable hands. Several servants already were busy making repairs to the broken furniture and scorched walls that had taken the brunt of numerous fire bolts from an angry Ares. At that moment, Caduceus rushed headlong into the room waving his arms frantically at Hercules and Iphicles.

"It's not my fault! I only left him for a minute...he was so badly injured..I went to get more help....I didn't know it would happen...poor Iolaus.. He's, he's gone. I'm so sorry."

Hercules' jaw dropped as he processed what he just heard. "Gods no, he can't be dead. I can't have just saved one brother but lost another…." Without warning, his legs unable to support him, the demigod abruptly slid to the floor. Iphicles ran to his side and stood, not knowing what he could possibly say or do that would help. Hercules sat unmoving, staring wordlessly up at Iphicles.

Caduceus looked from Hercules to Iphicles still flustered, then asked, "Forgive me my King, but shouldn't Hercules be out there trying to find him and bring him back here? He needs medical attention right away. I can't have my patients running around out there, you know. How are they supposed to heal?"

Two heads jerked up abruptly as the physician ranted on. "Wha... what did you just say?" Hercules roared, causing Caduceus and Iphicles both to jump back several feet. Hercules was actually shaking as he jumped to his feet. Caduceus saw both extreme anger and confusion in his face, and backed away even further from the demigod.

"I said, please go find your friend," Caduceus stammered. "Iolaus somehow got up and left while I went to get my herbs and potions. From a few past experiences, I know he hates taking my medicines but....." Before the physician could complete his sentence, Hercules was bounding out the castle door and racing up the road.

Iphicles stood there trying to comprehend all the events of the last day, and found it all a bit overwhelming. He looked for a chair to sit down and spotted the crumpled parchment on the floor. He picked it up and upon reading it, his heart sank. "Oh no, Iolaus," he muttered. Iphicles hand shook slightly as he thought of the absent hero. The parchment was stained with blood. "Once again you've stepped in to help me, my friend. You don't think about yourself, you just do it. I've never forgotten what you did to save me on Golgoth, not once but twice. You were willing to risk almost certain death, by sand sharks and then, by the hand of Ajax and his men. I never understood why you did it. And to think how I used to treat you when we were children." Iphicles frowned, laid the parchment down on the table and stared at it. "You SHOULD hate me, Iolaus. By the gods, I hope I have the opportunity to treat you better as a good friend from now on."

"Where did you go, Iolaus? WHY did you go?" Caduceus was startled by hearing his King blurt out his thoughts and he did not know what to say to him. Iphicles obviously appeared quite distressed about the hunter's disappearance.

Iphicles wandered over to the throne room door and peered off into the distance. "Hurry, Hercules. Bring him back here. Hurry."

He didn't think it would be this hard, walking that is, he'd been hurt this badly before. Injuries were something you live with when your partner and best friend is a monster beating, warlord defeating, full-fledged hero, he thought wryly. Well, Iolaus, he told himself, that's gonna change now. He trudged on very slowly, each step bringing new meaning to the word 'pain'. He guessed from the sun's position that he'd traveled for about an hour, but he wasn't exactly sure. He knew he needed to keep going, but as his last bit of strength left him after the reality and finality of his leaving Hercules set in, Iolaus could not move another foot. His injured knee finally failed him, causing him to pitch head first to the ground.

Iolaus lay there for a while before willing himself to sit up against a convenient nearby boulder. He tried to breathe slowly and deeply, trying to better focus his thoughts and ignore the pain. When he could think a little more clearly, he assessed his current situation.

'Well, Iolaus. You're in the forest all alone, with no weapon and no water. You feel like a hydra sat on you, you have no food, and you can't walk anymore. Hercules doesn't know where you are and probably wouldn't care anyway. Iolaus, how do you always get yourself into these situations?'

He laid his head back against the rock, as he no longer tried to hold back tears of frustration and pain. Iolaus didn't think he cared any more anyway.

"Well, maybe it's because you care so deeply about your friends and your family, Iolaus."

Iolaus' eyes flew open and at first, he recoiled defensively at the voice, until it quickly dawned on him that it was Hercules!

"Herc! What are ya doing here? I mean I'm glad to see you and all but how did you find me and is Iphicles ok and what happened with Ares and...?" At that point, Iolaus broke off his nervous torrent of words with a wracking cough, as he did his best to catch his breath.

Hercules knelt down next to Iolaus and felt his forehead. "Well, Iolaus, thankfully you don't have a fever, so it must be just your normal babbling." With a grim smile, he looked down at his friend, quickly noticing his obvious injuries and marveling at how the man had gotten this far in such a state. But what broke his heart is that Iolaus now wouldn't look at him.

"Well, my friend, your old hunter's tricks weren't working very well. It wasn't too hard to track someone who's dragging a bad leg like yours." Hercules concern grew as Iolaus moved his injured leg and grimaced as he grabbed his obviously swollen knee.

"Iolaus, why did you leave? Don't you know how dangerous that was? I need to get you back to Caduceus. Iphicles is worried about you too. Iolaus, I'm so sorry I had to leave you back there, but Ares was holding Iphicles, and Aphrodite and I had to rescue him."

Iolaus raised his head slightly, but still couldn't bring himself to look at Hercules. "I'm so glad Iphicles is ok, really Herc. I wasn't thinking. Of course, you had to go save Iphicles. And I'm really sorry about what I said to you about being a better brother and all. I had no right to say that and those other things, they hurt you, I know. I don't know why I say things sometimes, but... All I know, Herc, is that I've never lied to you about our friendship. I'm proud you are my friend. I would never use you or deceive you. Please believe me," he whispered.

Herc smiled at him and gently grabbed his forearm, noticing that he'd just discovered yet another of Iolaus' injuries, thanks to Ares. He knew Iolaus so well. Always apologizing when things went wrong, even if they weren't his fault. And Iolaus had always found it difficult to believe that Herc and Alcemene thought of him as family. Well, Herc, he told himself, sometimes you made it difficult for him to believe that too. You've said some pretty insensitive things to him over the years, haven't you?

"Look, Iolaus, let me tell you something. It was hard to hear some of the things you said. But there was some truth there too, Buddy. Iolaus, you are both an honest and honorable man. You don't have a deceitful bone in your body. I know you only wanted to protect me. After everything I said to you, you still came back to save Iphicles and me, didn't you? And besides, you were right about Ares. My judgment was blinded by the fact that I just didn't want to believe anything bad about Iphicles. And I was angry that you didn't seem to have that problem. I thought you and Iphicles were friends."

"I know, Herc. First, I had no right to be jealous or angry. I'd had some really bad dreams since we left the festival. A lot of them involved Iphicles and some things that happened when we were kids. They really aren't important now, but somehow, I guess I started to believe them, said some really horrible things to you, and well, you know the rest."

The hunter finally dared to look up at Hercules, praying that the demigod would somehow understand that he didn't mean much of what he'd said to him. Somehow, he found the strength to continue.

"Herc, I could hear myself saying all those terrible words to you, but I couldn't stop myself. It was like they were coming from someone else and I hated myself when I said them..."

Iolaus' voice trailed off until it was barely a whisper, and he slumped back against the rock, holding his painfully throbbing arm. Hercules stared at him for a few moments, mentally kicking himself for not having listened to his friend, allowing Ares to gain control of the situation back at the castle and seriously injure the hunter. And the promise he made to Alcemene popped into his head once again, except now it was clearer to him that the promise was meant for Iolaus as much as it was meant for Iphicles.

'Iolaus, remember when I mentioned that I saw that woman at the festival that looked like my Mother? I said I didn't think it upset me then, just made me a little sad. But then, I started having dreams about failing Iphicles as a brother. I remembered something Mother told me the day she died. She said she was so sorry Iphicles wasn't there so she couldn't say goodbye to him. She asked me to get closer to him, visit him more, and well, be more like a brother to him. I don't think I've done a very good job of it though. Why wasn't I there for him? Iolaus, you mentioned your dreams. Well, right after the festival, I started having them too. And they were all about failing Mother and Iphicles. I could hardly think about anything else. I'm sure Ares was behind the nightmares, Iolaus. He set us up once again, didn't he? Although he must have had some help from another god, maybe Morpheus. Everything was too vivid. Too painful. Ares isn't that creative."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Iphicles, I mean Ares taunted me about my nightmares when I met him in Mycenae. Look Herc, stop beating yourself up over this. I'm sure Iphicles didn't expect you to be around all the time. And I'm sure he knows how much he means to you now."

"You think so, Iolaus? But look, we're together all the time and how often do I even tell you how much I appreciate you or tell you what you mean to me?" Iolaus opened his mouth to protest, but Hercules continued.

"I have two wonderful brothers. They both mean more to me than anyone in this world. Please say you forgive me for what I said to you and for what I've failed to say to you all these years..." Hercules choked on this last sentence and hung his head, unable to continue.

"Hey Herc, look, we both said some pretty ugly things that we didn't really mean." For emphasis, he punched Herc in the arm, forcing him to look at the hunter. When he did, he saw Iolaus grinning at him. When Iolaus grinned at him like that, Hercules could never stay upset or angry for long. He shook his head in exasperation and found himself chuckling.

"Yeah, Iolaus, we both said some stupid things, and who but your brother would forgive you when you say those kinds of things, right? So now, will you please let your brother get you back to the palace so he can look after you?! Besides, Iphicles said that all three of Alcemene's sons have some catching up to do, and we'll do just that once we get you patched up."

Iolaus looked at him in shock, then amazement. His whole face lit up with new life and energy. And the 'old' Iolaus sparked back to life.

"Sure Herc, let's get going, but Um...on one condition."

"What's that Iolaus? Anything you say. Really."

"Will you stop with the brother bit already? Gees, family. Can't live with them, can't live without them."

"Well, Iolaus," Hercules countered. "Actually, I could really live without one brother - Ares."

"Yeah, Herc, I guess I'd call him the black sheep of the family, so to speak. Hey, I made a joke. Funny one, wasn't it?"

"Sure, Iolaus. Anything you say. You're a really funny guy. Let's go, Buddy. Um... Ah, I think I probably ought to carry you. You're in pretty lousy shape right now and..." Hercules stopped short as he noticed Iolaus glaring menacingly at him.

"Herc, I swear, even if it takes all night for me to get there, brother or no brother, there's no way you're gonna carry me all the way back to Corinth."

Hercules knew better than to push the hunter on this and offered his hand to Iolaus, who grasped it and painfully pulled himself off the ground. The two heroes set off slowly back toward Corinth, one limping badly, the other holding him up whenever he stumbled. And a few minutes later, when Hercules noticed that Iolaus could go no further, he gently picked him up and started down the path toward Corinth.

From just their outward appearances to those they passed along the way, no one would ever have thought them to be brothers. But they were indeed brothers, in every way that counted.

THE END

DISCLAIMER

No overwrought demigods or Golden Hunters with a self-esteem problem were permanently harmed in this story.