Three times they had almost fallen into ambushes set by the Roman troops that sought them. It was pure luck that they had managed to avoid them, although the last occasion had been a close run thing and it had only been Autolycus's quick thinking that had kept them out of trouble when he had managed to start a small landslide in a ravine.

Now they traveled with even more caution, finding places to hide as soon as daylight threatened, traveling only as night fell, and stopping before dawn broke. They had by-passed the city of Volaterrae, and any other smaller villages that they stumbled across, not wanting to leave more of a trail than possible in the memories of the people that Brutus would be able to track them by. Even so, it was obvious by the reactions they got from the odd traveler that they met on the roads in the early and late hours, that their descriptions were widely known and recognised. So they had taken to traveling in the rough country and avoiding everyone and everything. The farther south they went, the more patrols they had had to avoid. They had taken an easterly route and followed the path of the Via Cassia, before striking back towards the west in an effort to try and dodge the insistent patrols that dogged them. As Autolycus had predicted, the further south they managed to get the more soldiers seemed to be deployed to find them. Their lives had become a difficult game of hide and seek with their freedom, and Xena's, as the ultimate prize. It was frustrating, wearing and very hard on the nerves.

More and more frequently, Gabrielle found her thoughts turning towards her captive friend. She was certain that she was alive, for if Caesar had wanted to kill her he wouldn't have dragged the warrior across the countryside of Narbonensis, nor would he have bothered with sending her to Rome for safekeeping. No! What worried the bard, and haunted her dreams, was the knowledge that the Roman would be doing his very best to destroy Xena's resistance and crush her will. Confining her, chaining her, tormenting her, all these things would be taking a toll on the Warrior Princess, weakening her ability to confine the darkness that battled for the dominance of her soul. Gabrielle prayed daily that her friend would find the strength to hold on to her humanity.

After eight nights of hard traveling, they had found a concealed crevice in a rocky valley wall. Pushing through the spiky bushes that hid the entrance, they had discovered a hidden rocky bowl that was supplied with cool spring water. Relief was evident in all of them, knowing that they had found their hiding place just in time to avoid a patrol that was crossing the area.

Autolycus, who had lingered around the bushes to make sure that their passage was covered, heard the soldiers speaking as they took a break close to where their quarry was hiding. He crouched silently and listened intently to all they had to say, not moving until the patrol was far down the valley and well away from where he and his companions were hidden.

Moving quietly back to where Gabrielle and Joxer waited anxiously, he gave them the signal that all was well and that they were likely safe enough there for the day. Gabrielle lit a small, well hidden, cook fire, making certain to use only the driest wood to avoid smoke, so that she could quickly throw together a bean and lentil stew, into which she added a few chopped, wild onions that she'd stumbled across as they traveled during the night, and some of their rapidly depleting stock of salt pork. They needed a hot meal to keep up their strength if they had any hope of reaching Rome.

As Joxer laid out their blankets Autolycus sat down on a rock and, using the soft tones that they had all taken to employing in their current situation, informed the others, "Looks like our soldier friends are looking for some other 'fugitives' as well."

"What did ya hear?" questioned Joxer showing interest.

Autolycus poked at the fire until Gabrielle slapped his hand away, "Don't, you'll burn the soup," she scolded, "Now answer Joxer's question. What's going on? What did you hear?"

"Yes mother," he grinned insolently at the small honey blonde, getting another slap for his pains. As she opened her mouth to scold him again, he held up his hands in surrender and said, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you." He expertly stole a biscuit from the food packs, earning himself a glare from Gabrielle who jealously guarded their stores, before starting with a question, "You know we've been wondering why so many patrols have been heading north, when they've been tracking us south?"

"Yeah," agreed Joxer, "We thought they might have thought that we would try to double back on ourselves, only we thought that they thought that we would think ...." He sank cross-legged onto the ground as the thief waved him down and into silence.

Gabrielle, shook her head to try and clear it from the babble and issued a soft command, "Quiet Joxer," before motioning Autolycus to continue.

Giving the other man an intent glare and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Joxer the mouthy!" the thief cleared his throat and continued, "Well it seems that the soldiers are after more game than just us, and from what they were saying, it looks like Iolaus and Toris have made it here and are looking to get to Rome as well. So," he said giving his mustache a brush with his index finger, a habit he'd picked up to show when he was being clever, "that means that Xena and Caesar are either on their way to Rome or are already there." He looked at the other two who watched him silently almost as if they were expecting him to say something else. Finally, to break the silence he asked, "Well what are you thinking?"

Gabrielle took a deep breath and forestalled Joxer when she replied, "This isn't going to make things any easier, is it?"

Autolycus looked a little surprised at the question and shrugged his shoulders as he answered, "Well, no ... but we're hardly any worse off, now are we?"

The bard stirred the soup absently, "Gods! why does everything have to be so difficult!" she muttered, before looking back at the thief, "Can we find Iolaus and Toris ... before the soldiers do I mean?"

Shaking his head, Autolycus nibbled on his stolen biscuit as he explained, "Too dangerous. Too impractical."

"Why," asked the blonde, who would have liked to have the other two men with them ... especially Iolaus, with whom she always felt a comforting bond.

"Because," returned the thief.

"That's not an answer you know," the bard told him softly.

"Alright. If you insist," came the huffy reply, "If we go looking for the others we're just putting ourselves into more danger, giving Brutus more chance to pick us all up. Now I'm not sure about you, but spending several painful years as a guest of Caesar is not on my top ten list of things to do. Besides the fact that if we do get snagged, we're just going to put Xena right back in the same fix she was in before I got us out of their clutches."

"You got us out of their clutches?" snarled Gabrielle in pique, "Who was it that managed, against all the odds, to get a fire going so we didn't freeze to death, as well as fixing your arm and his head!"

Autolycus looked at her in utter disbelief, "That's all very well, miss-I-was-taught-by-the-Warrior-Princess, but you never would have got the chance to do that if I hadn't got those chains unlocked so we could get off that boat. Besides which if I hadn't blocked that cave entrance, the light from your fire would have given you away, and you'd be sitting right now in some dungeon in Caesar's palace."

"Egotistical thief!" snapped back the bard.

"Irritating blonde!" snarled the thief.

"Purloiner of peoples personal possessions!"

"Bardic brat!"

"Um, guys" broke in Joxer, "Don'tcha think your being a little bit childish," he swallowed as he added, "and loud?"

"Shut up Joxer!" they growled together while glaring at each other.

A moment or two lapsed before a frustrated Gabrielle spoke once more, in substantially quieter tones, "He's right you know."

"Well that's a first," grumbled Autolycus moodily.

"Hey!" objected the other man.

"We can't let our nerves and frustrations get the better of us," continued the bard, trying to convince herself as much as the others, "We're just under a lot of stress at the moment and we need to calm down, for Xena's sake." She let out a long breath as she finished.

Autolycus crunched through the rest of his biscuit as though chomping on nails. The argument had sprung up out of nowhere, and Gabrielle had been right ... frustration, tenseness and fear, was getting to them all. He replayed the little spat in his mind and a wry grin edged onto his face as he said softly, "Purloiner of people's personal possessions. How in Hades did you come up with that?"

Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders and grinned back, "It's a gift. It's what bardic brats do."

"Um, sorry about that," he apologised.

"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have called you an egotistical thief," she replied.

"Well I'm glad you two have made up," interrupted Joxer, using his I-am-an-adult voice, "I was pretty well ready to give you two kids a good hiding,"

Autolycus looked at Gabrielle.

Gabrielle looked at Autolycus.

They both looked at Joxer.

Then at the pool the spring made.

Then back at Joxer.

"Uh, guys," said the wannabe warrior in a worried tone, as the pair stood and advanced on him, "Uh, don't do something that I'm gonna regret," he pleaded as they grabbed an arm and a leg each, "Hey guys!" he tried again a note of panic creeping into his voice as they picked him up and advanced on the pool, "This is not acting ..."

'SPLASH!!!!!!'

He sat up and spat a stream of water out of his mouth onto the rocky edge of the pool, before finishing what he'd been saying, " ... responsibly or maturely."

When he hauled himself out of the water, he was not happy about having to strip off all the wet leather again .. although at least the sun would dry it out while he slept. He wrapped a blanket around his skinny frame and sulked as he sat on another one waiting for his meal. At least the bout of silliness had helped clear the air between them a little bit, although Joxer was certain they could have found a way that hadn't involved him in getting a soaking.

For the first time in days, the brooding, fear laden atmosphere had lightened and the meal was eaten with a touch of friendly banter that even nudged Joxer out of his sulk. However, when they had eaten their fill, and before they settled to get some much needed rest, they knew that they needed to discuss the options raised by the news that Iolaus and Toris were behind them.

"You're certain we can't go back," asked Gabrielle more to herself than anything else.

"Far too risky," Autolycus reiterated. "Besides, since we're all going in the same direction, we've got just as much chance of bumping into each other, as we'd have if we went off looking for them."

"I suppose that's the logical way of looking at it. It's just ...."

"I know. You feel responsible for us being here," his brown eyes surreptitiously examined the bard and saw a young woman torn with concern, "but we're grown men, Gabrielle, and we made our own choices. You and Xena are our friends, and friends stick together. If I was in trouble, I know both of you would do your best to help me. In fact I remember a certain bard trying to free me from a chain gang," he said with a smile ticking the edges of his lips.

"Not very successfully," she laughed and then shrugged, "I know, I know, I'm just worried ...." she trailed off.

"What? About Xena?" smiled Autolycus, and then spotted her about to form an angry protest. He moved quickly next to her and draped a brotherly arm across her shoulders, "She'll be alright, Gabrielle. You know she will. She might be uncomfortable, and even in pain, but if anyone can cope it's her," he turned her despondent face towards him so that he could look her in the eyes, "And we will get her back ... that's a promise."

After so long of trying to be brave, the bard finally gave in to her need to cry and she sobbed into the thief's shoulder as she allowed the anguish and terror and guilt that she was somehow responsible for the whole mess to finally come out. Autolycus just sat holding her, gently smoothing her hair and making soft soothing noises as she cried herself out.

Joxer watched all of this from his seat on his blanket. He felt an irrational jealousy that Autolycus should be the one to offer comfort to the bard. Although he knew that Gabrielle viewed both him, and even to some extent the thief, as brothers, he couldn't stop himself from loving her. She was his great romantic passion. The unobtainable bard that he longed to make his own. Feelings he knew she didn't and would never return. A fact that scalded him to the very heart and soul. He turned his eyes from the scene and forbade the tears to form. Finally, Gabrielle, exhausted but far more relaxed, had lay down on her blankets and drifted off to sleep, joined shortly after by Joxer on his own bedding, while Autolycus had taken the first watch.

Since that day, they had continued to try and work their way south, though they continually found their path was being pushed more southwest by the heavy patrols that they dodged as they cautiously pressed on. Increasingly they were herded away from the 'Via Cassia', towards the margins between the 'Via Aurelia Vetus', and the 'Via Clodia', both of which also ran directly into Rome.

For most of a night they had scrambled through rocky gullies interspersed with noisomely fragrant marshes as the slipped past patrols or hid silently while soldiers passed them by. It was dangerous and intensely difficult to make any headway through the ring of troops that was getting thicker and thicker the further south they managed to go.

It was rapidly approaching dawn when the trio stumbled into a steep, down sloping, gully looking for somewhere safe to wait out the day. They were tired, irritable and had hardly managed to make any forward progress during the night at all. They knew that there was a patrol somewhere too close behind them and tracking them by torchlight, but as they struggled along the rocky ravine they had a bit of luck, or to put it another way, Joxer's bad luck gave them a place to hide in.

They were about halfway down the crevice when the 'warrior', who was traveling at the back of the group, gave a sudden low yelp that was almost immediately cut off. Gabrielle turned around and hissed, "Joxer," keeping her voice down, knowing that there were searching soldiers in the immediate vicinity.

She turned back up the gully, searching the dark ground for signs that her friend had fallen and knocked himself unconscious. She almost jumped out of her skin when Autolycus clamped a hand around her mouth and whispered close to her ear, "Someone's coming up the ravine."

"Son of a Bacchae!" she swore softly, "And I've lost Joxer."

"Oh great, just great," muttered the thief as he cast worried glances behind him, "The master of mayhem strikes again. I'm telling you Gabrielle ...."

"Hey guys," whispered a disembodied voice.

"Joxer?" answered the bard looking round vainly searching for him.

"Over here," the voice came again.

Autolycus zeroed in on where he thought the words were coming from and moved hesitantly over to the gully wall hands out before him. As he got close he could feel a covering of some kind of springy vine, but as he began to move along it a hand shot out and pulled at him.

"Whoa!" he cried softly as he found himself being swallowed by the vines.

Gabrielle, having seen the thief disappear, guessed that there must be some kind of hole that was hidden effectively by something. She crossed to where Autolycus had been standing and before she had time to utter a word, two pairs of hands grabbed her and hauled her into the enveloping blackness of a surprisingly large cave.

"Hey, cut that out," she warned them as she landed in a tangle of limbs with the two men.

"Sorry, Gab," grinned Joxer, "but you need quite a pull or a shove to get through those vines, and it was just easier to do it that way."

It was pitch black in the cave making it impossible for them to see each other, but over by the vine wall, the eerie cast of the moon allowed them to see something of the ravine outside. "Well," sighed the bard, "we can't light a fire or a torch," she said quietly to the others, "It would be sure to be seen." She turned her attention towards where she guessed Joxer to be standing, "How did you find this place?" she questioned.

"Well we warrior types, have many skills, ya know," he answered importantly.

"Quit that, Joxer, and just tell me how you did it?" she ordered.

There was silence for a few heartbeats as he tried to find a way to make it appear as something clever and cunning. But when it came right down to it, Joxer was a very honest sort of a person and he couldn't bring himself to lie to the young woman, even to make himself look better, - Well at least not sustain a lie, - he thought ruefully as he remembered the lies he'd told Gabrielle when her memories had been taken by Mnemosine. "I tripped," he answered.

"You tripped," persisted the honey blonde.

"And fell through that curtain," he admitted. "When I realised that you couldn't see where I'd gone, I thought it might make us a good base for the day," he added.

"That's okay, Joxer. You're right. It's perfect," she complimented him.

"Hush you two," warned Autolycus, "There's someone out there."

The three froze, listening with bated breath as they heard movement outside their haven. There was the sound of feet moving as quietly as could be managed on the rocky ground, and somewhat further away could be heard the unmistakable sound of metal jingling, a noise recognised by all three of the caves occupants as belonging to the equipment of patrolling soldiers.

As they continued to watch and listen, two men edged into view. They seemed to swap worried glances before looking back over their shoulders. To those within the cave it appeared that they were ready to sacrifice stealth for speed as they began to scramble up the gully at a faster rate. However, a noise ahead of them left the pair in little doubt that they were in trouble. They couldn't go back, they couldn't go forward and the sides of the gully were too steep to climb without making the kind of noise that would bring the patrols at the double. In frustration they looked at each other knowing that they were caught like rats in a trap.

Both men backed up against the wall of the gully and drew their swords, prepared to sell themselves dearly if they had to. The rocky wall behind them would protect them from attacks from the rear and, depending just how many men were in those patrols, they might even be able to fight their way clear of trouble.

As they braced themselves for the coming fight, both men suddenly felt hands being clamped around their mouths from behind, and their bodies were hauled back into, and beyond, the face of the ravine.

"Shhhhh!" ordered a familiar voice.

Toris and Iolaus tried to make out just where they were. The sudden blackness that surrounded them seemed to rob them of their reactions for the moment needed to become aware of the soft female voice beside them, "Keep quiet," Gabrielle told them. "We don't want the Romans to find their way in here."

Realising that they were with friends, the two men relaxed a little. Iolaus gave Gabrielle a delighted hug before turning his attention, with the others, to the vine curtain they had been dragged through to watch the passing of those that hunted for them. They edged cautiously closer to the vines and strained their ears to listen. As they waited they could all hear the heavy approach of soldiers coming up the gully following after the trail of Toris and Iolaus, and down following the tracks of Gabrielle, Autolycus and Joxer. They met, as could be predicted in front of the vine covered cave.

"Halt in the name of Rome!" ordered the officer in charge of the upward moving group, "State your business here."

"Is that you Leonicus?" questioned the officer in charge of the downward moving patrol, "Have you seen anything?"

"Oh it's you is it, Martinus," recognised his counterpart, "I was trailing those two men that have come south from Pisse. I can't have been far behind them, you must have seen them as you came down."

"I haven't seen them," the second officer denied shaking his head as he moved forward to stand with Leonicus, squinting up at the sky, pleased that the darkness was beginning to break, "I've been trailing that escaped slave and her two companions. They weren't that far ahead of me, but they seem to have a knack for disappearing just as we get close." He took off his helmet and wiped a cloth around the inside to mop up some of the sweat accumulated from a hard night's patrol.

Leonicus pushed back his own helmet and scratched at his short cropped hair, "Well the five of them can't have just vanished, Martinus. Well not unless they climbed the walls to this gully. They're pretty steep, more like a ravine in places. If you followed yours down, and I followed mine up, there must be someplace around here that they can hide."

"Well I dunno about that," returned his fellow optio, "This gully seems just about devoid of places to hide anything."

They were interrupted by a man in Martinus's command, "’Scuse me sir, but my brother and his wife live in Chalmis, that little village on the cliff above this ravine. He told me that smugglers used to use this gully and that they had some kind of cave about halfway up. Do you think that the runaway and the criminals could have stumbled upon it?"

That gave everyone pause for thought. The officers looked up at the sky and judged that they'd have light in less than a candlemark, "Alright men, spread out and be prepared for a thorough search of the area once we get enough light." He signaled a couple of men over and spoke with them in a low voice. Inside the cave, the five stood in miserable dejection. It was light enough to count heads and Iolaus calculated that there were close to a hundred soldiers out there. Once the sun came up and a serious search of the area started they were bound to be discovered. It was only a matter of time. If nothing else they were bound to send someone up to Chalmis and demand to be shown the whereabouts of the smugglers cave. He signaled to the others to follow him to the back of the cavern where they'd be able to talk in hushed voices without giving their location away, "Unless there's another way out of here, they're going to find us," he told his friends.

"We'd better see if there's a back door to this place then," offered Toris. "I'm not too keen on the idea of just standing around waiting for them to find us."

"Without a torch we've got little chance of finding another way out," put in Autolycus, "And if we lit one they'd just find their way in here all the faster." The thief took an educated look around the dark space, "Smugglers would have made sure that their bolt hole was well hidden. We could probably spend days looking for it and still not find it."

"So you're saying we should just give up?" demanded the tall dark-haired man with startling blue eyes, so reminiscent of his sister's especially when they sparkled with anger.

"Look! If they think that we're not going to cause them any problems, they might be lax enough so that I can get us out of anywhere they lock us up," he pointed out, "I am after all pretty good at what I do. What am I saying," he corrected in a pained tone, "I'm the best at what I do!"

"That's just why they're not going to be lax," put in Joxer, "Face it. Caesar knows what each of us is capable of and, besides anything else, as soon as they get their hands on us they're going to whisk Gabby off to somewhere where even Hades Legions couldn't get to her."

"Joxer's right," put in Iolaus, "So I figure what we've got to do is make sure that if all else fails, that she can get away. What I think we should do, is crash out of here. Me, Joxer and Autolycus will draw the soldiers attention, and as they concentrate on taking us, Toris can get Gabrielle to safety."

That pleased no one, and there were several hotly whispered protests before Iolaus got them to calm down saying, "One at a time, one at a time, and make it quick because we don't have long before they start searching."

"I don't like it, Iolaus. It's not right for you to sacrifice yourselves for me. I'm the one that got you into this mess, and it's me they really want. If I make a run for it they'll follow and you four could slip away and make a plan to help me and Xena later." she told him earnestly.

"It won't work, Gabrielle," he answered running a soothing hand down her arm, "Besides if we going to have any chance of getting Xena loose, we need to keep you out of Caesar's hands."

"But ...."

"No buts, Gabrielle. You know I'm right," the blonde man insisted gently.

"Well I think Joxer should go with her," Toris spoke up. "I fight better than he does, and it will buy more time for her to get away."

"Toris, my friend. I know that you're not going to like this, but you've got to go with Gabrielle for pretty much the same reasons. Xena won't put your life in jeopardy for her own. You're almost as big a prize as my friend the bard here," he said ruffling Gabrielle's hair as he spoke.

"That's nuts," snapped Toris angrily.

"But unfortunately true," repeated Iolaus. "Look it's almost fully light out there. We have to make our move now." He quelled the remaining grumbles with a stern look.

They moved back over to the cave entrance and noticed that the Romans were beginning to start to search. The hastily conceived plan of attack was for Iolaus to lead, being the only man, besides Toris, with a sword, and knock a couple of weapons free for Autolycus and Joxer to use. Once the soldiers had their hands full, Toris and Gabrielle were to slip out of the cave and head either up or down the gully, depending upon which route looked easiest.

With nothing else to be done, Gabrielle hugged each of the three men, trying to hide the tears that fell unchecked down her cheeks. She felt responsible for them, and she knew that Xena would too. It was only the knowledge that Iolaus was right about her own and Toris' importance to her best friend that made her accept the plan.

With one last look, the short blonde man leapt through the vines yelling at the top of his lungs, followed quickly by Joxer and Autolycus. Watching intently, Gabrielle and Toris could see that the noise and suddenness of the attack, caught the soldiers by surprise, allowing Iolaus to achieve his first aim, which was to secure weapons for his two compatriots.

All too soon though, the training and discipline of the legionaries slid into place as they began to close in on the three, using their shields as a form of barricade to surround their prey without causing injury. Seeing their chance, Toris grabbed the bard's hand and slipped out of the cave, intending to head down the gully. But no sooner had they edged their way out and around the milling mass, than they were suddenly borne down by a weighted net dropped upon them from above.

Toris fought furiously, aware that they had been negligent in not realising that the soldiers would take some precautions and set such traps in case their quarry tried to bolt. The mesh of the net, however, was strong and held both him and the bard secure until the legionaries were able to secure them.

Within moments the struggle was over. The men were disarmed and their hands bound tightly behind their backs, two men detailed to watch each of them, while Gabrielle had a leash attached to her collar and her hands tied in front of her.

The two officers, Martinus and Leonicus grinned happily. They would gain a reward from this and would rise in their commander's ranks. Things couldn't have gone better for them if it had all been planned, "Take them to Rome," ordered Martinus.