There wasn't a moment that she didn't awe him...or worry about his well-being when she was fighting. She was deadly, that's for sure. He watched as she slammed the officers into the ground, barely blinking an eye at their efforts to stop her. Feriah was one he wasn't sure to be wonderous or afraid of her.

"Is there anything else you want to try?" she asked the men, walking around the damage she had created.

"Aren't women supposed to be dainty?" one uttered under his breath.

The back of her heel landed in the middle of his back, a pained yelp escaped him as she leaned over him, "I'm far from dainty."

Hercules stifled a laugh that built up in his throat. Oh, how he wanted her to meet the others and see what was before her, yet it was too soon and with it, she seemed more admit to finishing the task at hand. Moving from his spot, he ventured down towards the open gym as she spoke with all the men below.

"You all have no idea what you are getting into. These people have more methods of killing you than you all have in just sitting around." she proclaimed, "If I don't get you fools where you can defend your country, then what good are you to it?"

"You are approaching them wrong." Hercules stated.

Her green eyes sharpened at him, "How so?"

"You have to get them where it appeases them the most."

"And that would be, oh good King of Laziness?" she sneered at him, giving a sarcastic bow.

And there was her lazy hit for the third time that early week. Since meeting and pairing up with her, it had been quite religious from her to hear a lazy spat about himself, one that he soon was going to silence away if she kept it up. He straightened himself up as he stood before her, giving a knowing smile.

"What appeases most men?" he asked.

"Food, alcohol, sex-"

Hercules cut her off as he pressed his finger to her full lips, one he imagined his own on.

"Alright my Greek brothers, if we do not get where we need to be, these beasts that sit within our great land will not only crumble us but destroy what we love most. There will be no vineyards, no farmlands of tobacco, no familiar dishes to fill us or women to love us. There will be nothing but a barren land we once called our own. Now boys, do we want that?"

A set of cheers filled the air as they all began their training from Feriah, more determined than earlier. Hercules smiled at her, watching as she raised her brows and shook her head at them.

"True men you all are."

"Why do you say it like that?"

"As they say, a way to the man is through his stomach, once you fill that appetite you can get him elsewhere. Of course, that elsewhere is mostly back where he was first born from." she snickered, "Spent nine months within it and the rest of your lives doing whatever you can to get back in it."

"That is not all of us?"

Feriah whipped around to meet eye to eye, "Alright then, your number of lovers?"

Well, she hit hard and low. Not that Hercules wouldn't tell her the truth, he knew she didn't know the dreams and meanings behind them or that he was a nation. Yet even he was smart enough to never, as some would say, kiss and tell. But he wasn't going to let her go so easily.

"If memory serves me well, it's about ten or so, giving my rogueish years."

"More than one sloppy seconds that most women don't want to deal with." she sauntered off.

"Sloppy seconds?"

"You heard me."

The sly minx, "Now hold on a moment, you are judging a past you aren't even clear on and yet think all are the same no matter the circumstance."

"I judge, for the number of men that truly think like you said are higher than the one that you think you are." she snapped back, "Ten lovers you said, that is more than most want to think about and more of a reason to run in fear. A man that hasn't dedicated his heart to anyone and yet lays willingly with anyone screams what his true nature is."

Now she was just being cynical, "I may have had a wild past, it does not mean that I don't value the greater good of people."

Feriah spun around once more, her face only mere inches from his own, "I speak what I say for it is what I see and know. You do not put effort into anything that is done. It is a facade that just keeps the president off your ass and your government happy as you lay around and look at women's asses all day long along the beaches and more. I have watched you multiple times to understand what kind of man you really are."

"You really think you know everything don't you?"

"I know plenty with what I am working with." she nodded at him, "I point out a brothel to them and they'll be dogs at the ends of their chains howling in need."

Hercules laughed at her, he couldn't help it really. She was a spark that couldn't be put out no matter how hard you tried to snuff out the flame. And she really could burn down Greece if she wanted to, well, he'd let her in reality. For he really knew Feriah.

Ever since he laid eyes on her and started observing her from afar, he had gathered so much about her. How she operated, how she moved and what she thought. Yet with it all, and getting personal with her, he dug deeper into her before she even realized it. He saw the hurt laying in her, the past that haunted her, the dreams that confused her, how his mother would try and push her towards him and what she needed to do yet she kept placing walls up over it, doing whatever she could to drown it away. But he was tearing them down, little by little. Each time he spoke with her, he would just lightly tap on that wall, watching as tiny pieces ebbed away to show him the real Feriah he knew laid under that tough exterior.

"Anything you want to add, Kaptan tembel?"

"Still going on about me being lazy?"

Feriah let out a hearty laugh, "Of course! I haven't seen you really lift a finger since I got here."

"I have done a lot more than you think, you just haven't seen me."

"Oh yeah, prove it."

Prove it? Oh, now it was game on for him. He felt the smile creep upon his face as he looked down at her, "Alright then."

"Where the hell are we going, Hercules?" she demanded as he lead her down a path from the road.

"Just follow me, you'll see." was all she got as he continued forward.

This was just ridiculous now. Since their spat in the main training facility, he was headstrong on proving something of himself. She knew he could do things, but God did it take a nuclear bomb to make him move. She thought the boys were lazy at times, this man beat them all and now he was trying to prove himself or something. Heaven knows why.

"Could you just tell me what you are up to?" she asked, "You know, should I worry about what I'll see? Maybe prepare for a battle? Attempt to save my life before you sell my organs on the black market?"

Feriah ran into him with an oomph, looking up to see him glaring down at her, "What?"

"Really, black market?"

"Hey, how do I know? Bad shit happens to tourists in places like this, it's a logical fact."

"You live too much on TV." he said continuing on.

"Oi, there's proof of it everywhere. Tourists go missing more than locals at times, they still haven't solved that American case of the girl going missing in Aruba or somewhere over there. There, that's proof."

"If I wanted you dead, I would have done that by now."

Now that set off alarms, "And how do I know that you won't now?"

"Because I haven't shut your chattering up." he noted, "Easier to kill someone that is quiet than one that never shuts up."

"Are you telling me I talk too much?"

She heard him smile as he scoffed a laugh at her. That slinky man, he was warping her worry into entertainment for himself as she spoke to him. Dirty, clever bastard.

"Alright you win." she sighed, "I'll shut up."

"Too late now. We're here."

Looking before her, she felt her breath hitch in her throat. There laid the most breathtaking beach she had ever seen, it's crystal clear waters shimmering in the sun as the water lapped at the rocky beach. The small inlet that gave way hid them from the eyes of the mass majority farther down, it was amazing.

"The hell are we, Hercules?"

"Anavissos." he replied, heading to the water's edge, "Not one of my favorite spots but one that I do enjoy here and there to see my land."

"See your land?"

"Yes, I do take the time to see what is happening within my nation." he smiled, "Also showing you that I'm not lazy."

Feriah leaned her head back as she felt the sun beat down on her tanned skin, "Really, is this what this is all about? All because I called you lazy? I'm sorry, but visiting a beach isn't going to prove much to me, you're going to have to..."

She trailed off. She couldn't help but do so. There was no way that was real, it couldn't be. She had watched him for the last two weeks within the training room and running paths she made the men take, he was lucky to place one foot in front of the other, it's why she called him lazy for he proved it no matter what he did.

Yet there he stood, his shirt removed from his body as the sun glistened off his olive skin, his hair flaring out with the wind as his green eyes observed the water before him. What took her off most, was the muscles that claimed his body. So defined and sculpted, like a Greek god had descended down before her, fuck the demi-god himself why not. There was so much to him that she was blind to it all and yet wasn't sure what to take in first of him. But of all that claimed her mind, was where the hell was he hiding it?

"Feriah?" she heard him call to her.

She finally made contact with him, his brow up in curiosity of her as she stood there no doubt gawking like a mad woman.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"The fuck?" was all she could get out.

"Excuse me?"

"That."

"What?"

"That." she raised her hands towards him.

"What?" she watched as he looked around him.

"That. That!" she exclaimed, "That, all of that!"

"Feriah, I'm lost." he said, "What am I looking at?"

"You, you idiot!" she said coming closer and pointing to his body, "Where the fuck did all of that come from?"

She watched as Hercules looked down upon himself, finally realizing what she was stating, only to burst out in laughter at her.

"This isn't funny, where the hell have you been hiding that? I'm lucky to get you to move a foot in the gym yet here you stand with a full six-pack that could put bodybuilders to shame."

The man's laughter grew louder as he gripped his sides and it was taking all Feriah had not to let him have it, "Oh come on, it's true. What more do you want from me?"

Finally, he calmed down, "Nothing really, that was good. If I would have known that taking my shirt off and showing you I work out would have stopped the lazy comment, I would have done that ages ago."

"Haha, yes I get it, you're entertained." she crossed her arms, "Now tell me what's the point of coming here?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" he said as he moved closer to the water, his pants meeting his shirt.

"For the love of God, if you're going to strip freaking warn me, the last sight I want is your bare ass."

"I highly doubt you would look away from it if it was." he stated, slowly trudging in the water.

"What are you doing?"

"Come on Feriah, we're wasting daylight." he replied back.

She stood there dumbfounded, unsure of what to say or do. Well, it didn't help she was looking at him almost naked as he stood in the blue water in just his black boxer briefs that hugged that marvelous ass...Feriah mentally scolded herself for thinking that way. Yet she was still confused as to what he was doing.

"You coming?" he called back as he quickly moved and dove into the water.

Oh, now she knew, "You're joking right?"

She waited for him to pop up, yet there was no sign of the man. Panic started to well up in her, the fear she knew too well off. Slipping off her shoes and removing her t-shirt, she prayed she would see him as she traveled lightly on the rocks before her. She felt herself shiver as she looked at the water in front of her, swallowing the fear that was slowly consuming her. Ever so lightly, she jumped to the rocks. Lightly making her way out in the water as she looked for him. How on earth did he just disappear?

"Hercules? Hercules please, this isn't funny?" she called out, jumping to another rock, "Come on now the game is done. Come out now."

She was answered with the waves crashing into the rocks, making her grip on the hard pieces slick as she tried to gain balance. She knew it wasn't too deep there, that didn't bother her, it was other things that did.

"Hercules, now. This is serious, come out now!" she called out again, "Hercules, please!"

Suddenly she felt her grip loosen and the water engulfed her, her body weightless as she tried to grasps onto something solid. That was it, it came flying back to her. She could feel the icy water hit her, the painful shock that came with it as the choking smell of blood and decay claimed her. Panic became her as she flailed around, hoping that something would come in her grasp. Something wrapped around her, hauling her away from her struggle just for the rough feeling of the rocks to rest under her hands. She dug her fingernails into the hard material, doing whatever she could to escape the hell that was owning her mind. Breaking through the water, she coughed up what she had swallowed, finally taking breaths of air as she pulled herself upon the rocks.

"Feriah!" she heard Hercules behind her.

She wasn't given a moment to gather herself as his hands grabbed her waist, spinning her around to face him, yet all it did was send her into a panic.

"NO!"

She watched as Hercules recoiled from her, his hair slicked back from the water as his face was full of worry. She blinked it all away, everything that was flashing before her eyes of those wretched days, yet something told her to hang onto him, that he could help her out of it. Without thinking, she reached out to him, wanting to feel his hand within hers and wonder if it was true. Finally, his fingers entwined with her own, a subtle calm claiming her as she felt him come closer.

"That's close enough." she got out as she felt his knee beside her thigh, "Close enough."

"Are you ok?" she felt him brush back the wet strands that hung in front of her face.

She peered up to see those dazzling green eyes she liked so much on him, those same eyes in her dreams even, "Yea, now I am."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Don't tell me nothing Feriah." he stated as he got closer.

"Didn't I say that was close enough?"

"And I asked what happened."

"It doesn't concern you."

"It does when you almost drowned in front of me."

Now it was there, tell him the truth or just push him off, "Feriah, I'm asking once more, what's-"

"I can't swim alright?!" she shouted, "I'm terrified of the water, big waters to be honest."

She looked back at the rock. Yes, the strong soldier that everyone knew was terrified of water. Positively terrified of even putting her toes in it, but when it came to helping someone, she would push it down to save lives. And yet here she was, nearly drowned doing what she did best.

"Why didn't you say anything?" a strange melancholy laying in his voice, "I wouldn't have done that if I had known."

Feriah looked at him to reply but found it lost in her throat. He looked positively horror-struck that he learned that as if he was beating himself up for hurting her even though he did nothing wrong. And now she felt like a total ass for making him feel this way now too. That was another thing that was puzzling her about him, he could make her feel things that she thought were non-existent in herself, dead at most yet here she was feeling hurt that she made him feel this way.

"Look, Hercules, it's not your fault, I didn't say anything about it and you didn't know." she said cupping his cheek, feeling the soft warm skin against her palm, "It's past now, let's just leave it there and do something else for now."

Those eyes looked at her with awe and worry, yet it seemed he wouldn't argue with her, at least just not yet, "Ok, we can stop giving one another heart attacks."

"Well, that's a good way to put it."

He smiled at her, "I have an idea."

"And your idea?"

"Come on, let's get to the car and I'll take you to it."

"Better not be another swimming lesson." she joked.

"If you want I can teach you."

Feriah giggled at him, knowing he was true with what he said, "I may take you up on it if you don't scare the fuck out of me. But what are we doing then?"

"You'll see." he said as they made it back to the car.

She waited, wondering what he was up to as the drove the winding roads away from the inner city bustle, listening to him explain the nation and lands before her, how many sites and places to see besides the ocean and what else she could gather while there in the country. In truth, she was getting quite comfortable in the nation, finding it more like a home than she originally planned, but she knew it wasn't that and that she would be back with the group at the base and taking out more of those scumbags that lived out there.

Finally, after a small tour of the land and places, he pulled in front of a massive home, one she couldn't believe existed.

"Where the hell are we?"

"My place." he parked the car.

"What?!"

"Yea, what did you think?"

Feriah gapped at the home, "Not this!"

Hercules chuckled at her, "Come on, you'll enjoy everyone within."

"Everyone?" now she was wondering what was going on, "You didn't mention others?"

"Government workers like me, mostly of other nations. Two of them are married and have their wives with them, so you won't be alone." he replied as he opened the large doors.

Feriah couldn't contain the gasp that left her, it was breathtaking. Marble columns as far as she could see just for gold and red hues of curtains and furniture came to view. Wooden floors accented rooms from the main lobby as a vast staircase disappeared above her, artwork of eras not her own scattered the walls as she took in everything she could.

"Going to make yourself dizzy if you keep it up." he said pressing on.

Feriah slowly followed behind, awed by the marvelous house that was his own, "Sure you're just government?"

"Quite sure." he replied opening doors to the outside, "And there they all are."

Feriah glanced outside to see three men sitting at the small firepit, chatting the slowly growing evening as one woman leaned against the one, her dark skin much like Father Jabari's yet she seemed more like a goddess with the trinkets in her hair.

"Don't worry, none of them bite." he noted to her, "Come on over and enjoy the company."

She watched as he made his way over to them, hearing them acknowledge him as they jumped back into the conversation. There was something about them all, something she knew that made her feel good. Either the event of earlier or her own intuition, they just seemed to, well, be like her and a strange comfort overcame her.

A small tap on her shoulder caught her off guard, making her turn around and see another woman behind her.

"Are you Feriah?" she asked.

All she could do was nod at her, yet the woman didn't seem to mind as she broke out into a large grin, "Oh yay! Finally, we get to meet the woman that puts Hercules in his place."

Feriah giggled at her as the woman took her hand, "I'm Habibah by the way. And I can tell you, you're going to love it with us."

Something about her, about the people around her, the home even, but mostly Hercules himself, made her words even truer as Feriah smiled at her. Yes, she had a feeling she was going to love the hell out of this place.