Title: Amor vincit omnia

Summary: AU. When Gregorius, a Servant for an influential Senator, is thrown into the life of Nikolai, the greatest gladiator in Rome, their lives and the Roman society around them are cast into turmoil. Nick/Greg slash.

Warnings: Suggestions of dub-con, swearing

Disclaimer: CSI is not mine, neither are the chapter titles

Chapter 9/10

Chapter VIIII: Death Smiles at Us All

Nik ran through the grounds of Senator Atwatus' compound. He ignored the fights going on around him, dodging weapons and bodies as they collided into his path. He knew Atwatus would have taken Greg to his cell; it was the only place Atwatus' twisted mind would take Greg to teach Nik a lesson.

His cell was surrounded by Legionnaire fighting Legionnaire, man fighting man. Nik pushed his way through, his heart stopped at the sight of the wall collapsed in, a single canon ball resting in the rubble. The sounds of metal on metal, of men shouting in anger and grunting in pain, drowned out around him. A singular thought occupied his brain, so large that there was no room for anything else, no room for his senses to work, for his synapses to connect with his body. He stood, frozen to the spot. Greg could not still be in there, he would be dead.

Nik collapsed to his knees when a body rushed into him, he snapped out of his stupor and pushed the body away.

Greg… Nik scrambled forward, searching through the rubble on his hands and knees. He pushed rocks out of the way until he could see the cell floor. There was no sign of anybody beneath the rubble, no sign of blood, a weight lifted off Nik's shoulders and he let out a heavy breath, Greg must have gotten out. He knew he should have trusted Sara to get Greg to safety, but when it came to the most important thing in his life there was nothing he could trust but his own eyes.

He sat in the rubble revelling in the knowledge that Greg was still alive, he didn't want to rush off into the fight, he was tired of fighting, all he wanted to do was sit and be happy. He was finally free and all he had done since gaining his freedom was fight and run, some freedom this was turning out to be. Freedom had meant peace to him, it had meant living a simple life where he could just be him, be alone and be happy. He now knew that happiness was tied to Greg and he wasn't about to give up on everything he had worked for, sacrificed for. They were both getting out of this Goddamn mess and they were going to live happy, long lives together!

Nik jumped up off his knees and ran into the crowd, he fended off those that attacked him with an ease and grace that came from determination. As he reached the central courtyard a sharp grunt caught his attention. One soldier was fighting men off in their dozens, with a ferocity he had only seen in animals.

"Ecklius!" Nik shouted.

….

Greg, Archie and Sara hid down the side of the baths. Archie had been caught by a flailing weapon in the heat of the fight. They had sought cover while they found their bearings.

"We need to go through the central courtyard in order to get to the kitchen tunnels." Greg informed Sara.

"Ok, you two go that way. I'm going to head back out through the back entrance, we need more men to defeat Ecklius, I'm sure I can round up some of the Senators personal guards to help, none of them would be happy being ruled by Atwatus away." Sara said, her voice breathless from the tense atmosphere, yet she had a firmness that empowered Greg with confidence in her words. "Stay safe."

Sara ran from their sides and out of view.

Archie peered around the building to look out into the crowd. "We can do this. I really wish I'd brought that rock with me, at least we'd have something to defend ourselves with."

"What good would a rock do?" Greg challenged.

"I could throw it at someone."

"Sure, you could throw it at someone, and then you'd be out a rock with dozens of men still waiting to kill you." Greg really couldn't understand why having a rock would help, besides the fact he only had one usable hand, one, pretty small, rock between the two of them wouldn't go very far. They were better off keeping out of the way and hoping no one noticed them.

"At least we'd have that one throw of the die, it's better than nothing." Archie calmly explained his reasoning, sometimes Greg wished he would show his anger instead of being so understanding all the time, it was easier to argue with, not that he needed anymore encouragement at the moment.

"No, because now at least we know we're defenceless, we're prepared for it, with a rock we'd think we were safe, so we'd be unprepared for when the rock's gone and we have nothing!" When he was scared, Greg liked to deflect in order to keep his mind occupied from the thinking about what he was scared of. He knew he was doing it now, he knew there was no need or reason to argue with Archie, but he couldn't stop himself, once his mind had latched on to a subject that successfully distracted himself, he ran with it, put blinkers on and couldn't see anything else.

"No…" Archie shook his head, "Oh forget it, we're arguing over a hypothetical situation. Let's go." Greg would have to remember to thank Archie later; he would have carried on arguing for however long Archie countered it.

Archie reached behind him to grab at Greg's wrist.

"Hey watch it!" Greg winced when Archie connected with his injured wrist.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, me too." Greg said sincerely.

They walked tentatively into the open. Part of Greg wanted to walk out there as though he didn't have a care in the world, to hold his head up high with the confidence of a Senator. He'd always wanted that ability, to look like he owned the place, like he knew he was important. Nobody would attack them with that air of invincibility. He knew it wasn't possible for him, though, he was too rational, too realistic to block out the potential danger they were in. He needed to stay alert so that he could run away from the danger, not walk straight into it because he was blinded by his own invincibility.

Greg led the way through the crowds in the smaller courtyards around the Senator's peripheral buildings; they made it to the edge of the central courtyard before stopping and taking a deep breath to compose themselves.

Fierce fighting raged ahead of them, men being slain and left to die on the intricate cobbled floor.

"Are you ready?" Greg asked Archie, he hoped the fear he felt wasn't reflected in his eyes.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"We've got to run for it!" Greg said as he took off into a cautious sprint.

"Right behind you." Archie said, his eyes darting left and right to keep alert of their surroundings.

Greg weaved through the mass of fighting Legionnaires.

"Watch out Archie!" Greg shouted as he ducked under a flying sword heading straight for his head

"I'm good." Archie assured him from behind.

Greg blinked away the sweat that had trickled into his eyes, the tension hummed through his body but he stayed focused on the path ahead of him. Two Legionnaires had ditched their weapons and were fighting hand to hand on the floor. Greg swerved around them.

"Greg wait!" Archie called.

"What? We can't wait!" Greg called without looking back.

"It's Nick! He's right there, fighting Ecklius!" That got Greg to stop; he froze in his tracked and looked around.

Nik was six feet away engrossed in a sword fight with the General. Greg stepped closer to get a better view of how Nik was fairing. His heart leapt into his throat at the sight of blood on Nik's arms. He rushed forward a few last stepped and breathed a sight of relief when he saw there were no visible injuries on Nik to account for the blood.

In his daze Greg hadn't noticed Archie stand beside him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"We should go." Greg said without tearing his eyes away from Nik. "I'll only distract him, and I have no way to help him."

"Yeah." Archie agreed with the same resigned voice that Greg had.

Archie tugged on Greg's shoulder when he didn't move.

"We're going." Greg confirmed as he turned to resume his previous course.

"Greg!" Nik shouted, the sound of his voice penetrating deep into Greg psyche.

"Nik." Greg spun back around on his heel.

"Get out of here, G!" Nick ordered, while blocking Ecklius' sword before it could connect with his knee.

"I'm going…" Greg was thrown back to the ground when a searing pain gripped his shoulder and thrust him to the cold, hard floor. He grunted in agony.

Greg's heart thumped in his chest as he looked down and saw an arrow protruding from his shoulder. In the distance he could hear Nik screaming his name and Archie yelling in surprise. The world muffled around him when his hand came away from his shoulder covered in blood. "Oh Gods… hurts." He threw his head back and clenched his jaw to ride through the pain.

Archie hovered over him, not knowing what to do with his hands.

"Tell me he's alright Archie? Tell me!" Greg could hear the clash of metal as Nik continued to fend off Ecklius. "Talk to me!"

"I'm fine." Greg attempted to say, but his voice was too quiet to carry.

Archie put his arm under Greg's neck to raise his shoulders off the ground. "I've got you." He reassured. "I'll get him out of here Nik, he's going to be fine."

"Hurry! Go now." Greg could hear the desperation in Nik's voice and he wanted nothing more than to take it away.

Archie helped Greg to his feet, they both swayed when Greg stumbled from the dizziness that overwhelmed him as he stood.

When he had two feet firmly planted on the floor he turned to Nik and quirked one side of his mouth into a smile. "See, going to be fine." He knew Nik wouldn't be able to concentrate on defending himself if he was too concerned over Greg's safety, despite the white hot pain spreading through his shoulder he kept his smile firmly in place.

"I love you, Greg." Nik said when their eyes briefly made contact.

"He loves you too, Nikolai." Greg felt a knife at his throat and breath at his ear. Senator Atwatus held onto Greg tightly, pressing the tip of the knife into his skin.

"Let him go." Atwatus directed at Archie.

"You bastard." Nik seethed. Ecklius caught him on the side of his head with the butt of his sword while Nik's focus was distracted to Greg's predicament.

Archie reluctantly released his grip on Greg and stepped away. He looked at Greg questioningly, Greg shook his head, he didn't want Archie to try anything, neither of them knew what they were doing and they would only end up in worse trouble if they tried to take on Atwatus by themselves, he was trained, devious and dangerous.

"Nikolai, put your swords down and surrender, or I'll drain the blood from your boy."

Nik stilled but his swords lay resting in his hands at his side, he didn't drop them. Greg didn't want him to drop them; Ecklius would take the first opportunity he had for a kill strike. The General kept his sword raised and ready to pounce, his lips quivered with a sneer.

Killing Nik wouldn't win the battle for Atwatus but the Senator was petty and vengeful, Greg had seen it first hand when he'd flogged and beaten one of his advisors for leaking information to a competitor for his position on the Senate. Atwatus won the seat without ever knowing of his advisor's betrayal but once the advisor's actions became known he still punished the man in front of all the Servants to pass on the message that disloyalty wasn't an option. The twitch of a smile on Atwatus' face, that kept increasing every time the advisor screamed in pain, had etched itself on Greg's brain and whenever he saw the Senator the ghost of that memory masked his face.

Archie shifted nervously at Greg's side. Nik looked between the three of them, Greg could tell he was torn as to what to do. Greg was scared and was sure it showed on his face, he was torn to, part of him wanted to shout for Nik to help, to do something to save him, but the more overriding emotion was to keep Nik alive and hopefully himself in the process.

"You…" Nik started, his eyes glaring at Atwatus as he moved his weight from one foot to the other.

"If you take one step towards me Nikolai, it will only take one flick of my wrist and your boy will die!" Atwatus cut him off.

"Stop calling me that! I'm not a boy and I don't belong to anybody." Greg snapped, he couldn't take it anymore. If he was going to die then he wasn't going to be quivering and waiting for someone else to handle his destiny.

"Greg, are you trying to get yourself killed?" Nik's eyes were wide with fear and part of Greg knew he should listen and shut the hell up, but his mouth never did know when to stop.

"I own you." Atwatus sneered in Greg's ear.

"No you don't! You used me, and I'm fed up of it." Greg took a deep breath, he could do this, the anger had been building within him for months and he was finally at breaking point. "You used me for your own pleasure, you used me to intimidate Nik, which didn't work, you used me to punish Nik, which didn't work again and now you're using me to kill him! And it won't work!"

With one swift movement Greg used his good arm to grip Atwatus' wrist, twist around and stick Atwatus' own knife into his gut. He twisted the knife and gagged at the squelch of blood. His hand released the handle of the knife without him thinking it; Atwatus fell backwards and landed in a heap. He'd killed a man, he didn't feel the horror and guilt he thought he should and would feel if the worst ever happened and he took a life, he felt relief, he hoped to God Atwatus was dead and it was over.

The adrenaline rushed out of Greg and his knees fell to the floor. He swayed uneasily, his limbs heavy and limp.

"Greg?" Nik was at his side; his arms wrapped around him to stop him from falling further.

"Is he dead?" Greg asked.

"Yes, he's dead, they're both dead." Nik softly reassured him.

Greg looked over Nik's shoulder and saw Ecklius sprawled on the ground, Nik's sword protruding from his body.

Nik scooped Greg up into his arms. "I need to get you to Al."

"That's where I was going…" Greg said as his mind drifted.

TBC…