Chapter 5

I postponed the update to write a Dr Who fanfic (ao3) but, it was a fail soooo back to this fandom, hopefully, with more feedback...

The chapter is a bit of a filer so the girls can get closer and move to another place. Next chapter will be full of action! Let me know what you think!

Kassandra, Lara, and Sam spent the next couple of days exploring Phokis, searching temples, ruins, and tombs for clues or unknown artifacts, without success.

After checking the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia, it was clear for the women that whatever they were looking for wasn't in the area.

"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack and we don't even know what the needle looks like," Sam exclaimed in frustration.

"We know it's nothing common or Dr. Zuller wouldn't have sent us here." Lara paused, trying to come up with a new plan of action. She looked at Kassandra. "You said something about a cave in Andros? After seeing the steles, I'm sure the artifact is connected to them."

"I know you were hesitant about taking us there," Sam added. "But we're running out of options…"

"It's more like a forge…" Kassandra sighed. "I have things to do, I won't be able to…"

"We are aware," Lara interjected. She knew that, at some point, Sam and her would have to go on their own but they needed more time to figure out what to do.

The producer nodded in agreement. "The best way to get us out of your hair is to help us find what we are looking for."

"You are not a bother, I do enjoy your company but…" The mercenary trailed off, torn by the situation.

"Please, give us a week." Sam smiled sweetly.

"Alright." Kassandra heaved another sigh. "I will take you to Andros but for now, let's find a place to settle for the night."

The filmmaker whooped in joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The Spartan woman groaned. "Am I going to regret this?"

Sam chuckled as she gave the woman a side hug. "Probably."

They found a small cave to settle in for the night. As they were waiting for their dinner to cook on the fire, they heard noises coming from outside.

Kassandra stood up, instinctively reaching for her sword. Lara and Sam followed suit, listening intently until a growl echoed throughout the air.

Sam's eyes widened. "Is that…"

"A bear." Lara and Kassandra finished simultaneously.

"I thought the cave was empty." The archaeologist looked around for an exit but there wasn't any apart from the one they had come from.

"Not anymore," The mercenary declared as the bear finally appeared in front of them, ready to charge. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"On your own?!" Sam watched in awe as Kassandra surged forward toward the animal.

Lara drew her bow, ready to shoot but hesitated. She might be a good shot but Kassandra was so close to the bear that she could get hurt by her arrow. When the mercenary fell to the side and lost her sword, Lara saw an opening but it didn't look like the woman needed her help.

Kassandra rolled on the ground, avoiding the bear's claws before punching the beast right on the nose. She scrambled to her feet and reached for her sword in a swift move.

Sam and Lara gawked at the scene, jaws slack, eyes wide as their friend fought the bear like it was a regular occurrence.

Sam blinked. "She is…"

"Amazing," The Englishwoman breathed out, clearly impressed.

"I knew it!" Sam's smile grew wide. "I knew you couldn't be totally immune to her charm."

Lara scoffed. "I wouldn't say charm, but she IS skilled…"

The Spartan woman quickly got rid of the bear then turned around to check on her friends, a proud smile on her face. "See, I told you to leave it to me."

The producer rushed to her friend's side. "Are you okay?"

Kassandra nodded, sheathing her sword. "Lara just complimented me, how can I not? I knew you would grow fond of me."

The archaeologist chuckled. "Don't get any ideas."

"Don't worry, oh feisty one, I won't." The mercenary winked.

"You're bleeding." Sam reached for her friend's arm and inspected the bleeding craw marks. "I think I have something to cover it. Wait here." She walked toward the campfire and grabbed a little leather pouch.

"Oh, Sam, no need."

"Yes need." The filmmaker came back with a rag and gently wrapped it around the wound. "You two are reckless, someone needs to take care of you because you don't."

Kassandra watched her friend fuss over her injury in amusement. "Are you going to fight me, little woman?"

"Not everyone can be built like a Greek Goddess, but I have some skills of my own." Sam huffed.

The mercenary chuckled. "I don't doubt it." She glanced at Lara. "Your woman can be quite feisty too, it seems."

Lara laughed wholeheartedly. "You have no idea!"

"Hey! I'm standing right here!" Sam gently glared at them as Lara and Kassandra both laughed.

The Englishwoman looked at her wife with soft eyes and a gentle smile. "It's one of the reasons why I love you." She wasn't one for big declarations of love in public but she was aware of the tension that had lingered between them due to her jealousy and she wanted to make sure Sam knew, without a doubt, that she loved her.

The producer fought a smile, glad to see Kassandra and her wife were finally getting along. "Yeah, yeah, don't try to smooth-talk your way out of this one!"

Kassandra chuckled. "We should eat, then rest. We'll leave at the first light of dawn."

Early the next day, the three women reached the Adestria and soon, they were on their way to Andros.

As the ship sailed away, Sam leaned over the small wooden rail, ready to vomit. "I don't feel so good…"

Lara was standing next to her wife, caressing her back in a soothing manner. "It takes some time to get used to, I think."

"Really?" The producer groaned. "Because I feel like my organs are moving with the waves." She gulped. "I love you but please, tell me it's not just me?"

The archaeologist chuckled. "It's not just you."

Noticing Sam's state, Kassandra moved away from the helm of the ship to join the couple. "First time on a ship?"

Sam shook her head. "No, but usually, it doesn't move that much."

"I was like you the first time." The mercenary squeezed Sam's shoulder in comfort. "You'll get used to it."

"When?" The filmmaker whined.

"After a couple of times." The Spartan woman smiled sympathetically.

"Oh God…"

"How long until we reach Andros?" Lara questioned, her hand still tracing comforting patterns on Sam's back.

"I need to make a quick stop first." Kassandra pointed at an island on the left. "It won't take long."

Sam slowly turned around, holding Lara's arm to keep herself steady. "Business or pleasure?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Sam!"

Kassandra frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

The Englishwoman noticed her wife's smirk and quickly put her hand in front of Sam's mouth. They had shared their information about Kassandra's special person and she knew her wife was ready to play cupid. "Behave." She felt Sam's smile on her palm before pulling her hand away and looking at Kassandra. "Why do you need to go there?"

"It's nothing you have to worry about." The mercenary waved it off. "You can wait for me on the ship."

"Oh no, I won't spend more time than necessary on this ship," Sam stated, more than happy to take a break from their navigating.

20 minutes later, the ship was docking at a small port.

"Where are we exactly?" Lara questioned.

Kassandra smiled. "Welcome to the island of Seriphos."

Sam rushed past them and jumped on the dock, taking a few steps before kneeling down to touch the ground. "Dryland, I've missed you!" Lara and Kassandra joined her, laughing at her antics. "I didn't puke." She smiled proudly.

Lara smiled at her. "I'm proud of you."

"I would have made you clean up if you did," The mercenary said with a straight face.

The producer snorted. "No way, I'm too charming!"

"Not enough for me to clean up your mess!" The tall woman winked at Lara, letting her know it was all just for fun.

The filmmaker gasped as she stood up. "I'll remember that!" She pouted like a petulant child.

"I'm sure you will, prinkipissa." Kassandra chuckled, ruffling her friend's hair teasingly. "Now, let's get on our way." She set off toward a small path on the side.

Lara put her arm around her wife's shoulder. "I would have cleaned it up for you."

"And that's why I married you, sweetie." Sam grinned.

"Because I offered to be your maid?" The Englishwoman pretended to be offended.

"No silly, because you're my ride or die, girl." The producer kissed her wife's cheek before following Kassandra.

Lara and Sam followed Kassandra for a while, enjoying the scenery until Lara couldn't keep her question to herself. "Can you tell us why we're here now? I don't like following people without knowing why. My track record proves that most of the time, it doesn't end well."

"Do you trust me, Lara?"

"I do," Lara paused before adding. "At least you gave us enough reasons to but people I trusted betrayed me in the past…"

"Is it bad?" Sam jumped in. "Is that why you don't want to tell us?"

"No, it's nothing like that I..." Kassandra sighed, slowing her pace. "I met a little girl a few seasons ago. She was working alone in a clay pit so I felt the need to check up on her. She wanted some help to craft some goo-werry, as she called it, for her friends. So I did help but when I went to her house I realized her friends were made of clay…"

Sam smiled. "I think it's cute."

"It was, until Khloe told me her dead mater had made her promise to live her life and make some friends. I guess, she took it the wrong way, she had no one..."

"Oh no, poor thing," Sam said sadly. They had run into a few orphans since they arrived and every time, her heart broke for them. Social services weren't a thing yet. It wasn't perfect in their century but at least, it provided children some shelter. Here, they were left to fend for themselves.

"What did you do?" Lara inquired.

"I couldn't tell her it was wrong, I could break her heart," The Spartan woman answered sadly. "I came back the next day and she was crying because the rain had taken away her friends. I felt bad."

"I would have done the same thing." The archaeologist admitted, trying to comfort her in her choice.

"Me too." The petite woman hooked her arm with Kassandra's in a silent gesture of support. "So, we're here to see her?"

"Yes." Kassandra squeezed Sam's hand with a grateful smile. "I didn't want Khloe to be alone. People in her village thought that she was cursed so I found her a nice family. I try to visit her now and then."

"That's so sweet." Sam cooed. "Why didn't you tell us from the start?"

"I don't know, I didn't want to look…"

Sam arched an eyebrow. "What? Human?"

"It doesn't matter now, we're here." Kassandra motioned toward the farm in front of them and detached her arm. She pushed the fence door open before looking around, her smile growing as she spotted the girl playing with a toy.

Khloe turned around as she heard footsteps, her face lighting up as she recognized her friend. She stood up and ran toward her. "Kassandra!" She jumped into her arms.

"Chaire, little one." The misthios settled Khloe on her hip. "How are you?"

"I missed you."

"I missed you too." Kassandra kissed the girl's forehead before putting her down.

"I made some new friends!" Khloe said excitedly, taking her friend's hand as she started walking toward the neighbors' house. "You need to see them!"

"You did." The Spartan soldier smiled. "Real ones or…?"

"Yes!"

"That's good."

Sam watched the scene with a soft smile on her face. "She's good with kids. I know the type, tough on the outside, soft on the inside." Lara opened her mouth, ready to make a comment but then Sam added. "I hope I'll get to see you as a mom someday." She kissed her wife's cheek lovingly before going to say hi to the little girl.

Lara smiled to herself before following Sam. Maybe Kassandra was right, Sam and her might not be perfect but they were perfect for each other and at the end of the day, their love was what mattered to her the most. No matter the hardship, as the long as she had Sam, she knew it would be alright.

After visiting Khloe, the women sailed toward Andros. Before long, they arrived on the island. Lara looked around, they were on a beach, surrounded by trees and rocky hillsides, nothing out of the ordinary for a Greek island. The couple followed Kassandra down a sandy path.

"How did you find this place?" Lara questioned as they approached the forge.

"A friend of mine stumbled into it during one of his travels," Kassandra answered, stopping in front of the massive rock door.

Sam put her hand on the long crack on the wall. "It looks sealed shut, how do we get in?"

The mercenary smirked. "With this." She grabbed her spear and put it in front of the door, watching it open.

"Impressive." The producer smiled before looking at her wife with a pout. "I wish I had my camera."

"I know, love." Lara chuckled. "But we would look even more out of place." She then turned to Kassandra. "How do you want us to do this?"

"Uh…" The Spartan woman scratched her neck, unsure. "Maybe you could just hold my hand so, uh, the forge can see that you are with me?"

The archaeologist frowned. "Is it sentient?"

Kassandra shrugged. "I don't know but I don't want the Gods to strike you down because you are not supposed to be here…" She offered her hands for her friends to take. Lara and Sam looked at each other before taking the woman's hands.

Sam glanced at their hands before giggling. "Oh my God, it looks like the start of a Youporn video."

"Sam!" The Englishwoman turned bright red.

The mercenary looked at Sam in confusion. "What is Youporn?"

"It's where you can watch people have sex with someone, or people or even things sometimes." The filmmaker tried to explain.

"Oh…" Kassandra paused before smirking. "Well, I had a night with twins that started like that."

"Blimey," Lara stared at them in disbelief. "You two are impossible."

Sam laughed at her wife's red-face. "Come on, let's go before Lara has a seizure."

They stepped inside carefully. When nothing happened, Kassandra let go of her friends' hands and kept walking toward the middle of the forge. Lara and Sam looked around in awe.

The archaeologist stopped in front of a stele. "It's the same symbols, and this light…"

"It's the same glow coming from parts of the floor and the walls." The producer pointed out.

"Lara, Sam, come here," Kassandra called as she waited in front of a mold in form of a spear. Once her friends were close enough, she started explaining. "I usually put my spear here." She held the weapon in front of the spear form hole. "And then here." She pointed at another engraving in form of a triangle. "I put the gold piece I used on you the first time that we met."

Lara stepped closer, studying the mold. "And it upgrades your spear?"

"If by upgrade you mean making it stronger, then yes."

"It doesn't look like anything we know," The Englishwoman stated.

"It looks like something from the future." Sam moved away to inspect the rest of the room. "And not even ours."

"It doesn't make any sense…" Lara sighed in frustration. The more they tried to figure out the situation, the more questions arose. "How can it be from the people from before?"

"And who are they?" The filmmaker wondered.

Kassandra shrugged helplessly. "I have no answer to these questions."

"Maybe a highly advanced civilization which disappeared..." The archaeologist took a guess. "All the steles, this place, and your spear, it all could be the remnants of it…"

"Lara." Sam motioned for her wife to come and take a look. "There are spots for different weapons. Maybe that's what we're looking for?"

The Englishwoman touched the mold with the shape of a sword. "Another weapon with the same powers as the spear. It could make sense…" She turned her attention to the mercenary. "Is there anything else you can tell us about this place?"

The Spartan woman shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Lara smiled at her despite her disappointment. "Thank you for bringing us here."

Sam squeezed her wife's shoulder. "At least we know a bit more now."

"You can take a moment to look around." Kassandra offered. "I'll wait for you at the door, keeping it open."

When Lara and Sam joined Kassandra at the door, the woman was talking in a hushed tone with Barnabas. The mercenary smiled at her friends as she folded back a parchment and gave it to the captain. "I have things to attend to in Athens."

"Then we'll go with you." Lara declared without hesitation.

"You can't."

The archaeologist frowned. "Why?"

"It's personal," Kassandra answered simply, motioning for Barnabas to go back to the ship.

"Come on, we're friends." Sam jumped in.

"I know." The mercenary said softly. "But I can't bring you with me, it's dangerous."

"We can defend ourselves," Lara argued. "I would love to see Athens. It was one of the safest places during the war at the time."

"From the soldiers maybe but threats come in all forms, politicians, generals, cultists... Besides, with the way you talk, people are bound to ask questions. I can barely fit in and I'm from here."

"Are you hiding things from us?" Lara questioned, turning suspicious. "You promised us a week."

The mercenary sighed. "It's about my family, I have to do it alone."

"What should we do then?" Sam knew Kassandra had her own things to do but she was also painfully aware that they needed the woman if they ever wanted to go back to their time. "We are supposed to stay with you, you're our ticket out of here."

Kassandra seemed to think for a moment. "I can introduce you to Herodotos. I'm sure he could have some answers to your questions and wouldn't mind staying with you."

Lara gasped. "Herodotos? The first historian?" She stared at her friend mouth opened.

The filmmaker chuckled. "Thanks, hun, I think you broke her."

"You know him?" The Englishwoman inquired with excitement. "Our history books are full of his discoveries."

"He's a friend of mine, yes," Kassandra replied, amused by Lara's reaction. "He was the one who told me about the ancient forge…"

"I…" Lara smiled. "It would be amazing to speak with him. We know so little about the man himself."

"Nerd!" Sam poked Lara's arm teasingly.

"It's Herodotos!"

"You're so cute." The producer smiled lovingly.

"It's settled then." The mercenary nodded. "I'll ask him to visit you." She started walking toward the ship. "We'll stop somewhere safe for you to stay while I'm gone."