H&M: After a Long Day (locked to Gabrielle) (NC-17)

[iolaus_dw]

Who knew that repairing and sanding floorboards could hurt more than fighting a hydra?

Iolaus had been on his knees most of the day, hard at work on the flooring to the derelict building that would house Herculaneum. Almost a third of the surface had to be replaced with new wood, which required measuring, cutting, fitting, then more sanding until not a single threat of splinters remained. The sun had already set by the time he looked up from his work and realized it was too dark to continue.

It wasn't until he started walking back to the hotel that he began to understand exactly how stiff and sore he was. He'd used muscles today he hadn't used in a long while (especially his bruised knees). His chest ached as bruised ribs only recently healed protested a day's worth of stretching and bending with little respite.

Reaching the door to his room, he fumbled the key from his belt pouch. Gods, he was tired! And he'd glady fight a dozen hydras for a long hot soak inthe bathing tub.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stand a bit straighter as he opened the door. No sense worrying Gabrielle.

Comments

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"No kidding?," he said, bemused. "So, we just keep going? Dozens, maybe hundreds of lives? And we keep meeting the same people, over and over again? Huh. How about that. I'll bet that keeps the Fates pretty busy!"

Absently brushing a strand of damp hair from her forehead, he seemed to be looking beyond her. "Wonder why Michael never mentioned that to me," he murmured, thinking aloud. "Must have been one of those need-to-know things."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

"Not the same people, just certain ones that are bound to us..." Gabrielle's eyes grew large as what else Iolaus said finally sunk in. "Michael? Blonde with black wings, Archangel Michael?"

She cupped his cheeks once again, this time to hold his head still while she searched his eyes. "You met Michael? The only way I know that you can see him or meet him is through death. What happened, Iolaus?"

It didn't matter that he was sitting in front of her, and it didn't matter that she herself just came back from the dead. It tore at her soul that he had died.

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Iolaus had been thinking aloud and so was startled by her reaction to a comment he thought only he would understand. And by her distress, he suddenly realized that the rumors he and Hercules had heard of Xena and Gabrielle's deaths were far closer to the truth than either had credited.

Reaching up to gently place his hands over hers, he returned her gaze and confirmed, "Archangel Michael. Definitely blonde but no wings. Well, not that I ever saw, anyway, and I was there for a while." In fact, he'd been made a Guardian of the Light . . . until he'd betrayed it to warn Hercules of the Reckoning.

She'd asked what had happened, meaning his death.

Dahak happened, he thought, wincing at a sudden flash of remembered pain.

"It's ancient history," he continued aloud, wanting to disspell the fear and anxiety in her eyes. What good would it do to describe to her the agony of his death? It would only cause her unnecessary anguish that he would spare her, if he could. "The important thing is that I'm back and I'm here. With you. That's all that matters."

It was not lost on him that she knew Michael and how that meeting must have come to pass.

"You?" he asked softly, searching her gaze. "We heard stories, Herc and me. Stories from Rome, that said Ceasar . . ." He moved his hands from hers and suddenly wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. "Gods, Gabrielle! We thought that's all they were. Rumors. If I'd known . . .!"

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle held Iolaus tight, not wanting to think that he had also experienced death and had gone on to the Light. She and Xena were brought back through Eli and Iolaus had already said he'd not heard of him. Curiosity was there as to how he was returned to the living, but at the moment all she cared about was that he had been brought back.

"Do you remember when I said that I stopped fighting and that my inability to do violence almost got Xena killed? That was true, but I didn't mention it did get us killed." She pulled back, only a little bit so that she could look into his eyes. "Caesar captured me as bait for Xena and of course she came to rescue me." Her lips curled into a sad smile, "She's always rescuing me, it's one of the reasons I am learning different weapons and increasing my skill."

She would spare him the details of how very close hell came to winning the eternal battle with Xena as its warrior. "Eli, the one I told you about before, was able to bring Xena and I back. Not before meeting Michael, of course."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"Oh Gabrielle." So many emotions warred within him; anguish that she had been made to suffer such a terrible fate, sadness at the self-recrimination in her voice as she blamed herself, and relief and gratitude to the mysterious Eli who had returned her to life.

"Then thank the gods for this Eli of yours giving you back your life." He knew how hard it must have been for Gabrielle to call to mind those painful memories. How could he do any less? "And that's the second thank you I owe Michael."

"Gabrielle . . . the last time I died . . . the most recent time . . . it wasn't the first. It's happened before. The first two, Hercules found a way to bring me back." He gave a little laugh. "Helps to have Hades as an uncle, I guess. Especially when your best friend keeps getting himself killed."

"But the last time . . ." Dark images of the recent past flooded his heart and mind, causing him to look away from her, afraid of what she might see. "The only reason I'm here now is because Hercules never gave up on me. If not for him, I'd never have entered the Light. Or betrayed it."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle's heart and soul clinched at the pain in Iolaus' voice. If she could take it away she would, but all she could do was comfort him. Gently, her hands that had cupped his cheeks forced Iolaus to turn to look at her. "Xena has died at least three times. Well, you know of one time. I've died twice myself. I think it's a hazard of what we do."

Her eyes searched his, guessing the betrayal of the Light was what he was hiding from. Gabrielle took a deep breath, calming her racing heart before she told him more of the story. "You're not alone in the betrayal of the Light. I didn't betray it, but I would have. I would have done anything to get Xena out of hell. She took Callisto's sins on her own and allowed her to rise to the Light. Callisto."

That still caused anger in Gabrielle despite her forgiving her enemy. "In order to defeat Xena who had become a demon, I had to become an angel. Michael told me that the only way for the Light to win was for me to cut up Xena." This was a confession she'd never told anyone, not Xena and not Eli. "I agreed, but I wasn't going to. I would have betrayed and sacrificed the Light for Xena." Gabrielle drew a shaky breath. "I didn't. Eli brought us back to life before that could happen, but it doesn't change the fact that I would have."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Gods of Olympus, thought Iolaus as he listened to her words and saw the mix of emotions in her eyes. He recognized so many of his own feelings in her anger and pain and regrets.

Taking her hands in his, he gently clasped them to his heart and said, "So would I, if I'd been in your place. You listened to your heart, Gabrielle, and refused to abandon someone you love. And 'would have' betrayed the Light is not the same as actually doing it."

Closing his eyes, he fought to find the courage to tell her about true betrayal. It was time he knew the truth. It was time he spoke about Dahak.

"Gabrielle--"

"HEY IN THERE!" shouted a voice, muffled by the bathroom door and the hotel room door and punctuated by heaving pounding. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THERE, STARTING A YACHT CLUB? I'VE GOT NIAGARA FALLS COMING DOWN MY WALLS AND CEILING!" More heavy pounding. "I'M CALLING THE MANAGER!"