Disclaimer : This was written after episode two of series two of Atlantis. So before episode three has even been on tv. So place it somewhere after episode two. =) Also, this is my first Atlantis / Jagoras fic, so be nice with me! ;-). Chapter two, which is also the final chapter, will be posted later this week.

Queen Ariadne has been taken prisoner by Pasiphae. She was abducted from Atlantis by Pasiphae's army, and now Jason has taken it upon himself to go and get her back. He tried to leave, in secret, during the night. But Pythagoras had heard him, and he and Hercules had joined him. So now they are on their way to find Pasiphae and her army. They know where she is supposedly hiding, but they have no idea if they will get there safe, or if they will get there in time, before Pasiphae kills Queen Ariadne.

The three men have just survived crossing a dangerous path, full of thieves and murderers, and they are now planning on hiding out in one of the caves for the night.

"Do you think it's safe out here?" Hercules asks, as he puts down his sword.

"Well, technically, the chance of…," Pythagoras begins, but Jason interrupts him.

"Safer than out there. At least if they try to follow us in here, we can see them come in."

"That is, if something isn't already hiding in here," Hercules says, and Jason shoots him an annoyed look. "What? I'm only saying what we're all thinking."

"Either way, we've got to leave before the sun rises, or the chance of Ariadne surviving will be even smaller," Jason says, quickly changing the subject. "I understand if you don't want to come with me, and it's okay if you want to go home. I would totally understand."

"We're not leaving you, Jason," Hercules says. "But, because you dragged us into this, I am going to make it your job to find us something to eat."

"Shh, what was that," Pythagoras says, and both Jason and Hercules keep quiet, and look over to him. "I thought I heard something," he says, but there's not a sound to be heard. Jason and Hercules start bickering about the food situation, and Pythagoras wants to gets up to see where the sound came from. But before he gets a chance to, he feels a horrible pain in his hip, and he looks down. There's a snake, biting him, and he just keeps looking at it, both in horror and in shock.

"No, I am not going… Pythagoras, why…," Jason begins, but then he looks over to his friend, and he notices the snake, biting down in his hip, and he jumps over, pulls it away, and kills it. Pythagoras is still looking down at his hip, in shock. "Pythagoras?" Jason asks, and he kneels down beside him, putting an arm around his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Hercules asks, as he comes over and joins them.

"I'm dying," Pythagoras then says, still staring down, and tears start forming in his eyes.

"What? What are you talking about?" Jason asks, now looking down at the wound, which are only two small wounds, which are bleeding, but it's nothing too bad. "You're not going to die from that."

"You've survived worse. Stop being a…"

"It's poisonous," Pythagoras says, and he finally looks up, straight into Jason's eyes. "I'm going to die."

"No, you're not. We won't let you," Jason says, and he looks up at Hercules.

"What do you need? What helps against the poison?"

"There are herbs, but… I only know where to get them back in Atlantis."

"Then I'm going back," Hercules says, and he starts getting his things.

"It's too late," Pythagoras says, and Jason feels that he is starting to shake slightly. "You won't make it there, and back, before I die. You should just leave me here, and go and find Ariadne."

"We're not going to let you die, Pythagoras," Jason says, but he feels that he is supporting him more and more already.

"Tell me what it's called, what it looks like, what it smells like, and I'll go out and look for it."

"It's dark outside…"

"I don't care," Hercules says, and after Pythagoras has explained it to him, he quickly grabs his things, and leaves.

"Go and find Ariadne," Pythagoras says, but Jason shakes his head. He gets up, and arranges some of their things, to make a somewhat comfortable bed for his friend. He then helps him to lie down on it, and checks the wound again. "How does it look?"

"Not great," Jason admits, and he flashes a small, nervous smile. "But Hercules will be back before you know it."

"Jason…," Pythagoras begins, but then he closes his eyes, and for a second there, Jason thinks he has already passed away, and he gets up and starts pacing around. But then he opens his eyes again, looking worse than ever. "Please go and find her."

"I'm not leaving you behind."

"If you stay here, I fear you may never see her again. Pasiphae won't let her live," Pythagoras says, as Jason kneels down beside him again. "Go."

"No, I'm not going anywhere," Jason says, tears burning in his eyes. "Just go and get some sleep. And when you wake up, Hercules will be back," he says, and Pythagoras wants to object, but the poison that his killing his body, is making him too exhausted to even speak.

"You're still here," Pythagoras says, when he wakes up, and finds Jason still sitting beside him.

"Yeah, I told you I wasn't going anywhere, didn't I?" Jason says, flashing a smile. But Pythagoras can see how troubled he is, and he sighs.

"It's okay, Jason. You're in love with Ariadne, and I know that she means more to you than I do. Besides, I am going to die, whether you are here or not, and you can still save her."

"That's not true," Jason says. "She doesn't mean more to me. You and Hercules, you both mean just as much to me as Ariadne does."

"We don't, and that's okay… I…"

"What? What were you going to say?" Jason asks, and Pythagoras flashes a small smile.

"Since I am going to die, I might as well tell you now. I have got nothing to lose anyway. I ehm… do you remember the day you came to Atlantis?"

"Of course," Jason laughs. "How could I forget?"

"When you, well, when you pretty much fell into my life, I… well, you changed our lives."

"Sorry about that," Jason says, a smile on his face, and Pythagoras can't help but smile.

"No, in a good way. Hercules, well, he's still a drunk, but he isn't a useless drunk anymore. I've never seen him fight for anyone before… And I've come to care deeply about you, Jason."

"I care about you too. Don't tell Hercules, but you're my best friend, and that's why I'm not going to let you die," Jason says, and Pythagoras smiles. But it's a sad smile.

"I don't mean 'caring about' in that way, Jason," he admits, and Jason looks away, and there's a long silence. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I think so," Jason says, and he looks back up at his dying friend. "Really?"

"Really," Pythagoras admits.

"I had no idea… does Hercules know?"

"Yes, and he keeps making fun of me for it, and he has used it to blackmail me into buying him wine," Pythagoras says, and Jason can't help but laugh. Then there's a silence, and Pythagoras feels guilty for telling Jason, because now he will always be walking around, knowing that their friendships was never what he thought it was.

"So you are really in love with me?" Jason eventually asks, and Pythagoras almost starts laughing, but he isn't even sure why.

"Yes," he admits, and before he knows it, Jason has kissed him. But then they hear someone clearing their throat, and they both look up. Hercules and Ariadne are both standing there, both looking shocked, Ariadne horrified, Hercules mostly just amused.

"We weren't, this isn't, we didn't…," Jason stutters, and he quickly gets up to his feet.

"Then what were you doing?" Ariadne asks, still looking horrified. Jason can't think of an excuse, and he flashes a panicked look at Pythagoras.

"It ehm, it's an ancient ritual, where, when one is dying, their friends say their goodbyes, by giving them a kiss. It's actually very interesting, because it represents…," Pythagoras quickly lies, but then he faints, his eyes rolling backwards, his face falling sideward.

"Did you get the herbs?" Jason quickly asks, and Hercules nods, and hands them to him. They go over to Pythagoras, and Jason puts the herbs on the two wounds, while Ariadne goes to mix some of the herbs with some water, for Pythagoras to drink.

"Come on, Pythagoras," Hercules whispers, when their dying friend doesn't respond to the herbs. Ariadne comes over with the water, hands it to Jason, and Jason gives it to him, raising his head to make him swallow it.

"He can't die," he says, his voice breaking, tears making his vision blurry. He is still confused about what had just happened, but he pushes it aside, and focuses on trying to keep Pythagoras alive. But Pythagoras doesn't respond to anything, and after a long time, they give up. All they can do now is stay with him, until the end.

"It's starting to get light outside," Ariadne says, after she has checked, to see how long they have been here. Pythagoras is still breathing, but his body is burning up, sweat dripping down his face, and his breathing is shallow. They don't expect him to stay alive for much longer. "If they are looking for me, they will find us soon."

"I'm not leaving him," Jason says, still holding his dying friend's hand, while Hercules is keeping his forehead as cool as possible.

"They will kill us…"

"Then go," Hercules snaps. "But we're staying with Pythagoras. Who, if you hadn't noticed, is dying."

"I am sorry," Ariadne says, and she sits down again. But then Jason feels Pythagoras' hand moving, and he is scared that this is it, his final moment. But he opens his eyes, looking straight at him, and he flashes a smile.

"Hi," he says, his voice sounding weak, but nowhere near that of a dying man.

"You gave us quite a scare there," Hercules says, and he gives him a sip of water.

"You nearly didn't make it," Jason says, still holding his friend's hand.

"I remember," Pythagoras says, still flashing that smile, and Jason can't help but smile. They give him a couple of minutes to wake up basically, but then they have to leave, to go back to Atlantis. Pythagoras can hardly walk, so Hercules and Jason have to hold him up. But eventually they make it back to Atlantis safely.

They are at the palace, a couple of days after they have arrived back at Atlantis. Ariadne had invited them for a feast, to thank them for rescuing her, or at least for trying. Because, as she had explained to them later, she had escaped, and had run into Hercules, who had been looking for the herbs for Pythagoras. So they have just had a feast, and Ariadne and Jason have just gone into another room, to talk in private. Usually it would have been considered rude, but now it had just given Hercules a chance to steal the last piece of chicken from Ariadne's plate, and for Pythagoras to look around the room, simply to satisfy his curiosity.

"I know that I said that I have to marry someone of royal blood," Ariadne begins, "But after having been kept as a prisoner by Pasiphae, after thinking that I was never going to see you again… it is you who I love, Jason."

"I love you too," Jason says, and he steps up to her, and grabs her hands.

"So I am willing to risk losing everything," Ariadne says. "I want to marry you."

"What?" Jason asks, and Ariadne looks hurt.

"I want you to become my husband," she tries again, but a silence is all that follows for a long time. "Jason?"

"I… I'm sorry, but I can't do this," he says, and he storms out of the room, back into the room where Hercules is still eating, and where Pythagoras is closely inspecting the walls.

"What is wrong?" Pythagoras asks, but Jason storms past him, out of the palace.

"I guess that we have got to leave now as well," Hercules says, and he gets up and he and Pythagoras quickly follow Jason back to their home.

"What happened back there?" Hercules asks, but Jason just shrugs.

"Do you want to be alone?" Pythagoras asks, and Jason nods, staring straight ahead. He is sitting on the balcony, his legs pulled up to his chest. His friends go back inside, and stay up for a little while. But eventually Hercules goes to bed, and Pythagoras joins Jason on the balcony.

"Ariadne wants me to marry her."

"Isn't that what you want?" Pythagoras asks, looking confused.

"It is, or I thought it was… I don't know…"

"Why not?"

"Because of what happened in that cave," Jason admits, and Pythagoras sighs.

"Nothing happened in that cave, Jason. You thought I was going to die, that is all. You are in love with Ariadne, and you have been, ever since you first met her. So go to the palace, and tell her that you will marry her."

"But something did happen in that cave, didn't it?" Jason asks, and his friend looks away, which in itself is an admission. "And I cannot just forget about that."

"Ever since you have been here, in Atlantis, who have you wanted to be with?" Pythagoras asks, now looking back at Jason.

"Ariadne…"

"Then marry her," Pythagoras says, and he gets up. "If you don't, you will end up regretting it. Don't mess this up over a kiss that meant nothing."

"But…"

"Don't," Pythagoras says, and he goes back inside, and to bed. When Jason goes inside a while later, both his friends are fast asleep, and he sighs, and goes to bed as well. He has decided to do as Pythagoras had told him, and to marry Ariadne. After all, he is in love with her, and he wants to be with her. Doesn't he?