Zombee Monster Don't feel bad for wanting to know what happens next. :P Since I'm writing this story as I'm going along without much of an idea of what's going to happen except a few major points I'm kind of wondering what's going to happen, too!

Falloutkitten Aww, thank you! I definitely don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

Insane Mayonnaise Yeah, the pairing came as a surprise to me, too. In a way it actually kind of makes sense depending upon the situation. And thanks for saying my Caesar was spot on! I struggled with him a little bit.

Keep enjoying, folks!

P.S. HOLY GEEZUS! FINALLY ABLE TO POST THIS. Damn Error No. 2! Lol

Chapter 2
Contest of Wills

Morning came and found the unlucky courier curled up in a chair. Sleep had proved impossible after her "punishment," for she could not rest knowing the man who had harmed her was in the same bed with her. Every moment was like a nightmare she couldn't wake from. She ended up slipping quietly to one of the more comfortable chairs in the room and drew herself up there, eyes watching the slumbering dictator with malice. She found solace in playing elaborate murder fantasies over and over in her head; they didn't even have to end in her escape so long as he was dead and it had been painful. Eventually her thoughts of violence lulled her into what semblance of rest her mind would allow, releasing her from her bodily prison for at least the length of her slumber.

It was Caesar that brought her back. He hadn't spoken to her, or touched her, or was even awake. He had just moved in his sleep and her senses had caught the movement. Like a prey animal her instincts had gone into overdrive, allowing her a hypersensitive awareness of her surroundings. If she had known that this had happened she would have thought her pathetic spiral was complete, but like all the other times she had awakened due to some small noise or change in surroundings she was left confused as to her sudden wakefulness. Boone had never told her, although he knew, that what she called being a light-sleeper was really an internal fear response. He had never mentioned it because he had also realized that she had no idea that she was afraid. No need to bring it up if it wasn't a big deal, for he would always be there to protect her.

Or so he thought.

Anna rubbed the little crusts from the corners of her eyes and blinked at the dim morning sunlight that managed to filter through the thick material into the room. There had been the small hope that she would wake up back in her bed at the Lucky 38. The chance of that had been even smaller than her chance of ever being loved in return by her sniper partner. The one she had given her freedom for. Goddamnit. She always did this. Her father had called it the "too nice" disease, which most of her family had suffered from. They would give the shirts off their backs for others, especially if they felt that the person deserved it. Boone had deserved his life, Anna would not argue that, but once more her kindness had gotten her into a jam. This one she knew she would probably not escape from.

It wasn't long until Caesar really woke up and she pretended to be asleep again. For a while he seemed to ignore her presence, as if he had forgotten about her, but she knew that couldn't be true. She could hear him getting dressed and then moving around gathering some things together. Finally he walked to the door, but stopped and looked back. "I know you're awake." He said; his tone sounded tired, as if he hadn't slept at all. "Decima will be back later today. You have a lot of work to do."

Her eyes opened and she sat up straight. "What kind of work?"

"Learning our ways." He informed, and then added, lips actually quirking into a little smile, "Leaning how to not be such a pain."

How dare he! He was the one who took her prisoner, struck her, and then raped her, but yet she was the one who was a pain? Anna was so taken aback by rage that she couldn't find her voice until after he was already gone and by then it just felt idiotic to yell at an empty room. Instead she just let out a frustrated cry and punched the chair as hard as she could. Her hand would hurt for the rest of the day.

-X-

Decima arrived around noon to find Anna stretched out on the table with a book she had found stashed away in Caesar's personal belongings. It was the least he could do after what he had put her through – and what she knew was probably yet to come. If he got pissed off at her for going through his things then maybe he should have told her to keep out of them. She was just a lowly slave after all; sometimes you had to spell it out for them. Her mouth twisted into a malicious grin at her minor rebellion. Although his way of putting her in her place had been traumatic to say the least she was still quite determined to give him a hard time when it came to controlling her. She might have to find ways to be subtler about it perhaps; ways that didn't make him want to jerk her around or force himself on her.

Anna frowned at that last thought. It was highly unlikely that anything would change his desires toward her. She had been unable to ignore her observations of him the night before, and the one that had bothered her most was how much he had really wanted her. He had seemed like a starving man who had come across a feast of delights. The pleasure he took from claiming her body had been much more than purely physical, which spelled her certain doom she was sure. If he had just wanted her physically then she could hope that the newness of his conquest would eventually wear off and maybe he'd just stop altogether. If that happened then he could opt to make her just a servant and as belittling as that sounded to her she felt she could deal with fetching him things and taking orders as long as the threat of sexual advances had been removed.

But that wasn't the case. He had enjoyed her on a level that was more than just the body could offer. Replacing her body with someone else's wouldn't be an option. Caesar found an attraction to something deeper than her appearance or the mere fact that she had once been his enemy and now his slave. Decima's words came back to her strongly at this point. She had told her that Caesar was interested in her for more than just her beauty. Goddamnit. She hated it when other people were right. Decima had been right about angering the man, too. Anna didn't know if she would have done things differently knowing what she knew now, but she would certainly give the slave girl her dues when it came to knowing the Legion's leader.

If only Anna could figure out what made her so attractive, so worthy of Caesar's attentions, then perhaps she could endeavor to change it and make herself less appealing. Maybe she could force him to lose interest in her. For a moment that seemed like a plan, until she thought of the distinct possibility that maybe he didn't even know why he wanted her so badly. And if he didn't know she certainly was going to have a hard time figuring it out. This was going to take awhile and until then she would have to suffer through his chauvinism, his ego, and, much to her disgust, his libido.

I hate my life.

"Good morning." Decima said. The little dark-haired girl smiled at Anna. She had a small bag with her, which she placed on the edge of the table.

Anna closed the book and scooted off the table, a hiss escaping her as she realized she had moved too fast and had aggravated the pain between her legs again. She thought that by morning she'd feel better, but he had really worked her over. It would be a few days before the ache was fully gone.

"Are you all right?"

"No," Anna snarled, "I'm not all right." She sat down in one of the chairs by the table and pressed her hand against the pain, hoping the warmth of her hand would help it go away.

Decima bit her lip, her eyes telling the realization she had just had about what must have happened. "He was rough with you?"

"Rough, she says!" Anna barked. "No, rough is what happens when someone gets a little carried away. Try rape. That's what happens when a man decides to force you to do what he wants and makes you feel every bit of it fucking ten-fold!" She felt the tears welling in her eyes already. Just talking about it was bringing it back to her like it was happening all over again and she didn't want to remember that. Her hand lifted to furiously wipe them away, turning her head to the ground.

"What happened?" Decima sat down next to her, placing a consoling arm around Anna's shoulders as she tried not to break into another sobbing fit like she had last night. Anna refused to let him turn her into a quivering mass of fear. Slowly she began to tell Decima about what had occurred when Caesar returned. By the expression on the other girl's face she slowly began to wonder what her thoughts were on the issue. When she had completed the story Decima sighed. "Anna, I told you to be careful."

"So I'm just supposed to let him do whatever? I'm going to turn off everything there is about myself overnight and become this humble, pathetic little shell that he can order around?" Anna was blown away by how Decima saw the world. If a man had done something like Caesar had done to her back where she had grown up he would have been strung up to a tree and hanged. It wasn't right. She didn't even care if it was acceptable in the Legion because it still shouldn't have been right anywhere.

"No, I'm not saying becoming someone else. I'm still who I was. You don't seem to see that life here is the same as life everywhere else. Its rough around the edges and a little more brutal, but the same kinds of things that served you out there can serve you in here. Try giving him a little respect."

"Respect! Why the hell should I respect him?" Anna was almost screaming. Her tone wasn't exactly hysterical, it was more challenging, but the rage she felt bubbled up through her words and threatened to take her over. "What has he done that's so amazing? I don't give a shit if he has a thousand armies, the only thing he's done is perfected the art of mass murder and I'll be damned if I give one ounce of respect to that man! He's a goddamned monster and I'd sooner slit my own throat than bow before him!"

Decima gave a great sigh and stood up. "Okay, I was going to do this later, after I gave you your haircut, but I think you really need to get out of here. If you feel up to it I need to take you on a tour of the Fort so you get to know your way around."

"I'm not just going to be stuck in here all day?" Anna pretty much thought the rest of her life was going to be spent in Caesar's tent grudgingly doing his biding.

"I thought you were supposed to be sharp-eyed or something." Decima cracked. "Did you not notice that slaves walk around? We have work to do just like everyone else and they don't have time to hold our hands and constantly boss us around. They give us our tasks and we get to them. My master told me Caesar wished for me to help you out and so when I was finished with what he had for me I came to you. If Caesar doesn't have any special orders for you I would assume you are allowed to go wherever you want, so long as they're not off limits to women or slaves."

Anna thought for a moment. Really she hadn't wanted to get to know anything about her captors, but it was a necessary thing, and she did want to get away from here for a little while. She took a pair of sandals from Decima's hands when she brought them out, explaining that they were her size. They were simple little thong sandals, but they were comfortable. "Okay. Lead the way, oh teacher of mine."

-X-

The man that was known as Caesar had traversed a proverbial wasteland in his lifetime, from a fatherless childhood, to a pointless stint among the Followers, and on to his rise to power in his creation of the Legion, and on his journey he had encountered many hardships and obstacles. The one he was currently facing was one of the worst. He had been forced to deal with unruly slaves before, but this was the first time one ever gave him pause – made him sit and think. He supposed that it was because, unlike all those other slaves, this one belonged to him and in belonging to him reflected upon him and his leadership capabilities. If he could not wrangle a smart-mouthed little girl into doing what he told her to then maybe his men would start to wonder if he had what it took to continue to lead his army.

This was a viable concern because he had already heard reports of talk, more like whispers, moving among the Legion about his leadership. Some of them felt he was getting too old to lead, which not only angered him for, despite his age, his intelligence was still fully intact and that was what had brought his army into its glorious being in the first place, but also because it aggravated a personal irritation he had been trying to hide for a while. He wasn't ancient, but he was aging. Fifty-five was a hell of an age to be in the wasteland, especially when one led a vast multitude of soldiers and slaves. It quite a feat, and it was stressful. Some thought that his Legate, Lanius, would make a better and more terrifying leader. He supposed this second bit was his fault for emphasizing power and fear over intelligence. If Caesar was not careful he would end up usurping himself for a new leader with his own words.

He thought that a new day would bring some kind of insight with the bright rising of the sun, like a cosmic light-bulb turning on in his head with the solution to his problem. Not only did he awake with nothing since the fiasco that was the night before, but also he felt as weary as he had been before he had slept. He didn't exactly regret his choice to go ahead and take the ex-courier against her will, especially because it had been one of the most pleasurable experiences he'd had in a while, but it also undermined his own plan concerning her. She was a strong-willed individual and he had hoped to win her over through diplomacy, not because he cared what she thought of him or even wanted her to like him, but mostly because it would be more beneficial in the long run. What was the point in having a slave like her if she was not going to be loyal to you? He might as well be sharing his tent with an assassin in that case.

Which, by the sound of her angry voice rising up from behind him, might not be that far off from the truth. None of what she had said came as a surprise to him, from the lack of respect she held, although he was a little disappointed she could not see what an achievement the Legion was, to her insistence that she'd rather die than pay him his dues. "Sir?" Lucius questioned, eyes flickering towards the noise.

Caesar just waved his hand in dismissal. Let her scream. "She was being rather difficult last night and apparently did not enjoy the lesson I gave her." He informed coldly.

Vulpes looked pleased at the sound of this, a smirk briefly appearing and then disappearing on his face. It was no secret he held a particular disdain for the woman. When they had first met she had managed to kill a few of his men as well as get in a decent amount of injuries on the Frumentarius. His pride had been the worst that was damaged however. Since then he'd wanted to get back at her for that. Caesar had no doubt that Vulpes was enjoying her captivity almost as much as he was. To see her come down off her heroic high horse and be forced into slavery must have made his lifetime.

A few minutes later Decima appeared, and his conquest not far behind. She didn't even look at him when she started to pass him. "Courier." He said. She froze in place and slowly turned her head to meet his gaze. When he had her attention he reached out and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She immediately dug her feet into the ground, trying to prevent him from pulling her over to him, but she failed. With his other hand he wrapped it around the back of her neck and brought her face to his level. "I know that you must still be a little sore at me for last night," he told her, and from the look of horror written across her features he knew she had to have thought his choice of wording was a bad joke, "but it was necessary. I am sorry."

No you're not. Her eyes told him as she yanked her arm out of his grasp and took a step back. For a few seconds they remained locked in each other's gaze. Apathy and Rage personified.

Decima was the one to break the silence, "my lord, I was thinking of taking her around to get to know the layout of the Fort, if that is ok?" She was a queen of diplomacy Decima was. Without having to tell her she had already taken it upon herself to try to be the buffer between him and his new acquisition. Not necessary, but thoughtful.

Caesar turned his eyes onto her and nodded. "That is an excellent idea. Oh, and make sure she eats." He had almost forgotten that Anna had not had a bit since before she reached the Fort before her capture, so that would make nearly two days with nothing in her stomach. The last thing he wanted was for her to grow weak from starvation.

"Yes, sir." Decima said. She took Anna's hand and guided her gently towards the exit.

When they were gone Vulpes addressed him, "why the apology if I may ask?"

Caesar smiled darkly. "You heard what she said. I'm a 'monster.' So I can either act out the part she's given me in that little head of hers or I can try a new tactic, one that will make her question her own judgments." It had been quite some time since he had been able to play a worthwhile mind-game.