Note: Having run out of new ideas, I find myself still haunted by a story I had thought not to tell. First, there already are other versions of how the stupid cruelty of season five could have been resolved. And, second, it is painful to remember that season, and all the blinding heartache and anger it generated. However, this story just won't go away. Iolaus wants his own version told, one more true to the myths, less grandiose, perhaps, than being cast as a Guardian of the Light, but one that is more in keeping with his Ancient Greek heritage. In deference to his insistent urging, I find I can no longer resist setting down this tale of how it might have been.

And, of course, since this is his version, references are made to earlier tales he's shared with me, Children of the Sea, Labour of Love, Be Careful What You Wish For, Spirits of Heroes, I Miss My Friend, and One Day, in particular! And, as always, I must thank Pythia for her endless patience and wondrous imagination. Without her, I couldn't have done Iolaus' tale justice!

To place yourself in the season, this episode picks up after Hercules confronts Dahok in Sumeria. Zanathustra does not appear in my version of events. Hercules, Nebula and Morrigan have traveled to Greece and have now been battling Dahok, and his army of zombie priests across the Peloponnese from Sparta to Mycenae, where this story picks up the thread.

* * *

Chapter One: Out of the Darkness

"HADES!" he shouted furiously, long past tired of being ignored, having had it with guilt, finished with grief and sorrow, done with frustration, and now just plain blazing mad, "SHOW YOURSELF! NOW!!!"

The God of the Underworld rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth with exasperation. It had been months of what seemed like endless pleading, then bargaining, followed by whining and moaning escalating from cajoling through ranting to demands…and, now, he was daring to command?

"Enough!" Hades growled, wheeling to leave his private chambers, "I've had a lot more than enough of this!"

But, Persephone grabbed his arm, pulling him back, her eyes wide with appeal as she urged, "Don't be mad at him…he can't help it. He's suffering such pain. Please…just listen to him. Don't…don't hurt him anymore than he's already had to endure."

Hades stood rigid in the grip of her hand, narrowing his eyes as he gazed into hers, wanting to resist but unable to deny her anything when she looked at him like that. Taking a deep breath, he tried to leash in his indignant rage, tried to find some measure of calm.

"HADES!" he shouted again…now daring to beat and kick upon the impregnable sealed door to the God's private chambers!

That tore it.

Hades pulled away from his wife's insistent grip and whirled to face the door, waving a hand to make it disappear, leaving the warrior who had been pounding upon it to stagger awkwardly into the dark but opulent quarters.

Driven beyond even his notable reserves of sardonic calm, Hades strode forward and grabbed the unwelcome intruder by the vest, hauling him close, as he snarled, "If you don't shut up, and I mean NOW, I will personally dump you into the Lethe! Do you understand?"

Iolaus opened his mouth to remonstrate with the god, but at the look in Hades' eyes he managed to stop himself before it was too late. A dunking in the Lethe was the one thing he couldn't afford, and by the expression of unbridled rage on Hades' face, he was one step away from oblivion. Because, that's what it would be, if he couldn't remember…he might as well not exist at all.

And he had to exist.

This was too important.

As Iolaus struggled to fight back his almost mindless, desperate fury, Persephone moved in again, laying a calming hand on the rigid arm that held the warrior captive. "Both of you…stop this nonsense!" she ordered them, tired herself of the endless wrangling.

With a muttered oath, Hades almost tossed Iolaus away as he turned and paced to regain his patience.

Iolaus flashed Persephone a brief glance of heartfelt gratitude, then licked his lips. He had to make Hades listen…had to win his help before it was too late.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he choked out, not in the least bit apologetic, "I know I'm nothing but trouble. But, please…you have to listen to me."

Sighing, the God of the Underworld turned to face him, hands on his hips, a long-suffering look on his face.

"What is it this time?" he seethed, still fighting his own anger.

"You have to let me go back," Iolaus replied, hands out, desperate appeal in his eyes.

Hades shook his head as he lowered it and rubbed the back of his neck. "We have had this conversation, too many times. You're DEAD! You've been dead almost a year. When are you going to accept that what happens back there no longer concerns you?" he demanded, sighing with the futility of arguing with this very determined mortal soul.

"Maybe when my body stops walking around KILLING PEOPLE!" Iolaus stormed back, all pretence at calm reason gone. "Dammit, Hades…Dahok is using me to do unspeakable, horrible things! I can't stand it! I have to stop him!"

"YOU CAN'T STOP HIM!" Hades raged back. "He has the power of a god…you are just a mortal…a dead mortal! He's not using you, he's using what used to be your body. There is nothing you can do except lose your own soul in a battle you can NOT win!"

"Then, help me!" Iolaus pressed, not backing down.

"It's not within my purview to interfere in the choices mortals make, or in the evils they must face…even if I wanted to," Hades replied wearily for the umpteenth time, looking away from the righteous, blazing demand for justice in the eyes that stared him down.

"Dahok won't stop with controlling all of humanity. He wants it all…you must know that!" Iolaus cried. "When he's done with mortals, he'll go after the gods. Help me before he's too strong…if not for the mortals he's torturing…then for yourself," Iolaus' eyes swept the room and he was seized by what could only be called, 'divine inspiration', as he added, "and…and Persephone!"

Hades raised a fist in exasperation, ready to blast Iolaus all the way to the Lethe to end this mad, hopeless, endless confrontation, but Persephone called across the silence, "Don't!"

"Bah!" he spat out, whirling away, standing with his rigid back to the both of them, his arms crossed in anger.

"Hades…" she began to cajole, but he raised a hand in warning, still refusing to face them while he bit his lip in thought. "Leave me," he ordered with a dangerous growl.

Iolaus would have persisted, but Persephone took his arm and practically dragged him from the chamber. Once they'd stepped into the hall that led to the throne room, the door between them and Hades reappeared, sealing them out.

Iolaus turned to Persephone in desperation. "Please…you have to make him listen. I know what I'm talking about…I know I'm right!"

Frowning thoughtfully, she took him by the arm to lead him away to her private garden. "Walk with me," she directed. With a last frustrated look at the impregnable door, he sighed and nodding, fell into step beside her. If he couldn't convince Hades, then maybe he could convince her.

As they walked down the long marble corridor, lit by flaring torches in wrought iron wall sconces, Iolaus' thoughts returned to the scenes that had driven him to such desperation. Though the god had long since come to regret the gesture, Hades, in an effort to appease Iolaus' persistent, dogged need to know what was happening to his best friend, had given him free access to a window that allowed him to view the reality of the world of living beings. For weeks now, Iolaus had been watching his own body terrorize Nebula and everyone else he came into contact with, lying to people, calling forth an army and laying siege to one Greek city state after another. With growing horror, he'd watched his hand kill innocent people and one city after another fall to the demon who had taken on his dead body.

And, he'd watched as Hercules tried to stop…that thing. Watched the grief and despair, the horror that blossomed on his best friend's face every time he had to fight a being that wore the face of his best friend…more, which conjured up the voice, the touch and gestures, the expressions of a lifetime friendship to torture the demigod.

Gods, Iolaus couldn't stand it. He'd seen Hercules pass up one opportunity after another to kill the creature, not able to bring himself to do it. And, now, Hercules with Nebula and the woman he'd brought from Eire, Morrigan, were exhausted, taking a momentary respite before resuming their doomed resistance of Dahok's attacks. The demon's next target was Corinth. At that point, Hercules would be caught between defending his brother, Iphicles, and his city…and striking a death blow to someone who in his mind was only too clearly still some vestige of his best friend. Iolaus was terrified that Hercules would hesitate again…and be killed. Terrified that Iphicles and all their friends in Corinth would be destroyed.

By him.

By his hand, commands uttered in his voice.

Iolaus was almost mad with terror and helplessness…and fury. He couldn't just stand around here, on the Other Side, while his body did such terrible things…wreaked such horror on the mortal world. Couldn't just watch his best friend face such despicable evil alone. Most of all, he was sick with the idea that Hercules would hesitate once too often, and be killed, by his hand. This was his fault, all his fault. If he'd taken even a split second to think before diving in front of that blade, to throw something to deflect it, or to push Nebula out of its path…anything, this wouldn't be happening now. He'd reacted, driven by a desperate, unthinking, instinctive, urge to save another life, a life he loved…and had unwittingly unleashed the voracious god of chaos and destruction, giving Dahok the freedom to work his demonic will.

He had to do something to make this right, had to battle that demon for his body…had to help Hercules destroy it, whatever the cost. He could not exist for all eternity with this inexpressible burden of guilt on his soul. But, nor would he take the easy way out. The Lethe was there, could make all this easy for him. But, he didn't deserve 'easy'. This was his responsibility…the evil was being done by his hand.

He knew what he had to do…what he'd told Hades countless times needed to be done. He had to get back to the world and move back into his body…distract Dahok from inside, grapple with that horrific mind and give others time to bring the demon down…destroy him utterly, if that was possible. Consign him back into the ether, if it was not. Dahok needed a body to wreak his evil will, and Iolaus had to help take that body away from him.

But he couldn't do it alone. He'd prowled all over the Other Side, looking for some rift, some pathway or portal that could let him escape back into the world. He'd followed the paths he'd trodden with Hercules in the past, or had heard Herc had used when coming here on his own. But…Hades had them all covered. There was no way through from this side, not unless Hades let him go…transported his soul to the battlefield. Gods, he hated being trapped like this, dependent on the will of another. So, he'd ranted and raved, argued and challenged, demanded and pleaded, did everything he could think of to wear Hades down, to convince the god of what needed to be done. Pushed as hard as he knew how.

And had gotten exactly nowhere.

Once they arrived in the perfect garden paradise Hades had created for her enjoyment, Persephone moved to a marble bench under a blossoming cherry tree and sat, drawing Iolaus down beside her. As she took his hand in hers, her eyes filled with compassion as she tried to win the truce her husband had been able to attain. "Iolaus…you must let it go. Hades is right…there isn't anything you can do. I know you're suffering… you've become almost famous as the only soul in the Elysian Fields who cannot find any peace…but your battles are over."

Iolaus shook his head, swallowing hard, unable and completely unwilling to accept that. Pulling away from her, he stood and paced as he tried, once more, to make her understand. Maybe she could convince Hades if he couldn't. "Look…Dahok is worse than anything you can imagine," he tried to explain, again, an expression of disgusted, sick loathing crossing his face as he remembered, "I've seen his true form. Felt him, his…his being…as I left my body and he settled into it. In that moment, it was like I was a part of him." Iolaus shuddered with the memory.

His voice a little unsteady with the power of those memories, he continued, "He overwhelmed my senses and everything that he is, has ever been, everything that he desires blazed into me. Persephone, he is destruction, chaos, call it whatever you want…I just know he'll stop at nothing to win…and when he does, there won't be anything or anyone left!"

Studying him, moved by his passionate certainty, Persephone believed him, but she frowned as she protested, "But…what can you, a single mortal soul, do to stop him? Iolaus…he will swallow you up, make you part of what he is…your soul would be lost forever inside that evil. I know you think Hades is being unreasonable…but he's just trying to protect you. He will not sacrifice your soul to that monster!"

"I could fight him…try to distract him…" Iolaus argued back, turning to face her, arms out in desperate supplication. "I have to do something to help. Hercules," his voice caught, and he had to swallow against other sorrows, another kind of pain, before he could continue. "Hercules is trying to fight him alone. Oh…I know Nebula and Morrigan are trying to help him…but it's not enough. Dahok will destroy all of them."

"You don't know that," she tried to reason with him.

"Yes…I do," he replied hoarsely, his voice aching with his helplessness.

His shoulders slumped as he sighed, an expression of profound sorrow settling over his features as he sank back onto the bench beside her, his face turned away. They sat in silence for a long moment, and then he murmured, his voice aching with hurt and longing, "Why hasn't he ever come…?"

When she just closed her eyes and turned her face away, having wondered the same thing herself, many times, he continued, his voice lost in misery, "I…I know he couldn't get me back, not this time. It was my own act that caused my death. But…we could have at least seen one another. And then he'd know that abomination walking around in my body is no part of me! He could be free to do what he has to do to finish this. But…I can see he's confused, hoping maybe, if I am a part of that monster, he can still get to me. But, he could get to me here…if he'd only come. I…he feels so guilty, and he hurts so much…I want…I want to tell him it wasn't his fault." His voice faltered, dropping to a murmur, as he asked, "Why doesn't he want to see me? Do you…do you think part of him despises me for…for being dumb enough to have finally gotten myself killed? For letting him down. For letting Dahok into the world?"

Persephone shook her head wordlessly, but he didn't see her gesture of compassionate empathy.

His eyes rising to the illusion of a clear, blue sky, feeling utterly lost and alone, Iolaus shared his deepest, most profound sorrow, both for himself and his best friend. Hercules had yet to fully grieve in acceptance of Iolaus' death…and until he did, neither of them would know any kind of peace. Sighing with sad reflection, he said softly, "You know, he's never once really wept for me. Rage, horror, frustration, denial, …I've felt all that, heard his pain. But…it's as if he refuses to let go, to weep…and move on. Or…maybe he has moved on…maybe he never needed, or wanted, to shed tears of grief…maybe I'm the one who can't let go. Everyone else in the Elysian Fields has felt the healing that the honest tears of their closest family or friends bring to ease the grief on both sides of the chasm between life and death. But… Herc hasn't…he must still be so angry… he really must hate me…."

"Oh, Iolaus," she sighed, turning to again take his hand gently in her own, then reaching up to caress his cheek, offering the only solace she could. "You must know that Hercules could never hate you. If anything, he hates himself for somehow failing you, and can't bear to see you. It would mean that it was all true and real, the finality of your death, and he's still trying to deny it, believe that he can still get you back. But, he has no more favours to call in, no way to make a deal with Hades, and he must know that. And, now? I think you're right. Seeing your body, hearing your voice…it only tells him that there might still be a chance that if he can defeat Dahok you'll somehow be resurrected."

Iolaus frowned at her words. She wasn't making him feel any better. The thought that Hercules was eating himself up with self-hatred and denial, grimly hanging onto a desperate hope that he could somehow undo what had been done was worse than believing Herc hated him. Nor did he really want to think that Hercules might actually believe that he was still locked inside a body that had died and was now controlled by a demon. Though he'd seen the confusion in Hercules' eyes as he battled Dahok, Iolaus wondered how Herc could ever imagine that Iolaus was there, a part of that horror, and not be fighting with every scrap of his being to thwart the demon?

Besides, it didn't make any kind of sense…they'd seen each other since…since Sumeria.

"It kills me that he blames himself," he protested, unconscious of the oddity of a dead soul saying such a thing. "I tried, you know, when I first got here and for weeks afterward, to get Hades to let me see him, if only for a few moments. I was so scared he'd do something to get himself killed…he was behaving like a crazy man. Going to war with foreign gods, screaming at the Fates, cursing destiny, ignoring the peril he was putting himself into. And, he'd…turned away from helping people, so bitter and…filled with hopelessness. I hate that. I hate that I did that to him. That the memory of our friendship is destroying everything that he is." Iolaus swallowed against the lump of guilt in his throat. "Hades finally agreed to let me see him, giving me those few minutes in the cave in Eire," Iolaus sighed, looking up into the cloudless sky, knowing it wasn't real…that nothing here was real. "I tried to…to get Herc to understand that it was alright…alright to let go…to go on. Not to feel guilty or have any regrets…but it didn't help…not him…not me."

"I know," she murmured, gazing at him with profound sorrow for the pain his soul endured. Other souls learned to let go, learned to stop grudging the Fates their freedom in weaving the tapestry only they could design. But, not Iolaus. Whatever tied him to Hercules was stronger by far than any thread Clothos could spin… or Atropos cut. He might as well have been condemned to the miseries of Tartarus…he'd not suffer more there than he suffered in the Elysian Fields.

"I have to help him…there has to be a way," Iolaus sighed, frowning in furious thought. "There has to be."

"Maybe there is," Hades answered, startling them as he appeared before them. When Iolaus bounded to his feet, hope filling his eyes, Hades held up a hand, his gaze stern, as he warned, "I said, 'maybe'. And, if I decide it is absolutely necessary for you to become involved, you must be certain that you are prepared for the risks… you might well lose your soul, Iolaus, before this is over."

"I'm sure," Iolaus replied, needing no time to weigh the odds. He had to do whatever was in his power to do to stop Dahok…to save Hercules…nothing else, not even the fate of his own soul, mattered.

Hades gazed at him silently, then temporized, "Yes, well, as I said, 'maybe', 'if'. We'll see. Wait here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

The God of the Other Side vanished, leaving Iolaus once again frustrated to be left waiting, anxious to get on with it, and Persephone puzzled, wondering what her husband was up to now…what strategy he had decided to set in motion…and why. Though, she could guess.

Iolaus' reference to the danger Dahok might one day be to her would be more than enough to give her husband pause. Hades liked to pretend he was hard and cold, beyond the passions that drove other gods and mortals. But, she knew he loved her with everything that he was.

If for no other reason, he would intervene in this matter for her…to keep her safe. Always.

* * *

Hades flashed first to the dark, deserted cavern lost in a maze of caves, appearing on the edge of the deep well to the volcanic fires below. An eerie orange-red glow from the molten rock below pulsed and flared, illuminating the black pumice walls of stone, causing shadows to dance. He gazed at the remains, no more than bone and leather now, and shook his head at the vanity of gods and mortals. No one lived a completely risk-free existence…no one could expect eternity was their due, whatever their bloodlines. The God who dealt in death understood better than the others that even the gods could die if someone wanted to kill them badly enough. There would always be a way.

Dropping to one knee, he brushed the dry brittle bones aside and picked up the dagger which miraculously still lay there, forgotten and ignored in the drama and tumultuous emotion of succeeding events. Moving to the flare of light from the fires deep in the earth, he studied the blood-encrusted blade, chewing on his lip…deciding there were sufficient traces of hind blood left to meet the need. Securing the weapon in a pouch under his cloak, he again looked around the dim interior. Xena had killed Callisto here in a blaze of maddened fury, believing that her soul-mate, Gabrielle, had sacrificed herself to rid the world of her daughter Hope.

Xena had gotten off lucky in that skirmish with the evil daughter of Dahok. The Warrior Princess had gotten her best friend back.

Hercules hadn't been so fortunate.

Thinking about his nephew, the god frowned. He'd been surprised when the demigod had not immediately stormed his realm, seeking the return of his best friend's life. He'd waited, dreading the confrontation, knowing that this time there were no grounds to accede to Hercules' demands. But, instead, it had been Iolaus who had hammered at him constantly, worried about the demigod, wanting to intervene to alleviate his friend's overwhelming grief and guilt. Iolaus, driven by his own guilt and grief, had been upsetting everyone, unsettling the routines of the Other Side. Though the warrior'd had enough sense to try to keep his worries from Alcmene and Deianeara, the women hadn't been blind…and though they didn't understand what haunted Iolaus so, they, too, had begun to plead with Hades to do something to either give Iolaus peace or restore him to life.

Against his better judgment, Hades had finally capitulated to the ceaseless clamour and worked a deal with his Celtic counterpart, allowing Iolaus a brief reunion in the cave in Eire.

The God of the Underworld reflected on how carefully Iolaus had prepared for those few, precious moments…creating a simple ordinary scene of warmth, a campfire, an ambiance of normalcy and calm, doing his best to ease his friend's suffering with no thought to his own eternal grief. Over the years, Hades had come to have some appreciation of why his nephew valued this mortal, indeed treasured him. But, in those moments, watching Iolaus conceal his own utter devastation in order to console his friend, Hades had been touched as he rarely allowed himself to be by the heartbreaking bravery and selfless generosity of the mortal soul.

But, those early days had been nothing compared to the last month or so. Once Iolaus had realized Dahok had taken over his body, was using it first to torment and torture Nebula and was now killing innocent people who would not bow to his rule…and was a direct threat to Hercules, Iolaus had been increasingly adamant, verging on hysteria, that he be permitted to fight Dahok. Demanding the right to take his body back if only to see it destroyed so that the demon within it could be cast out. Yelling and carrying on, day and night, pacing in a frenzy of frustrated energy through the precincts of the Other Side when Hades refused his demands, unable to rest, to find any peace…well, it had been annoying and time-consuming, to say the least.

Sighing, Hades acknowledged now, to himself, that it had also been noble, evidence of a boundless courage even in the face of impossible odds.

But, the god had held Iolaus off, resolute, though he began to keep a closer watch on the depredations of Dahok as he found himself bringing more and more souls into inventory because of the evil creature's murderous inclinations. And, he'd heard rumblings that the Fates weren't happy. Indeed, there was a rumour that Atropos had gone to Zeus to warn him that this was the evil she had foretold that time years ago when Hera had cursed Iolaus to have never been born…the evil that might yet threaten the gods. It was said that the three old biddies were furious, and ceaseless in their efforts to battle the rot that had settled into the threads of their tapestry, shriveling and unraveling it even as Clothes worked tirelessly to spin new strands and Lachesis wore out her fingers, weaving them in to strengthen the pattern.

It was also said they were afraid because they were losing the war with the rot in their web of living thread.

Rumours like that unnerved the gods.

Still, the Olympians had all held back, as yet not directly challenged by the demon in the mortal's body. Hades had been wondering for more than a week now if they were collectively in some state of denial… afraid to take on what they didn't understand…frightened they might lose. Hiding their heads in the sand, remaining aloof as if this would save them. He had come to believe that they might wait too long.

The gods had watched, with the kind of fascinated awe with which doomed prey watches a swaying King Cobra, as the monstrous evil had unleashed an army of zombie like followers, to march into battle at his command… unstoppable except when destroyed. Those mindless creatures hadn't the wit or sensibility to know when they'd been wounded…just crawled on, killing until they were killed.

While Dahok laughed.

So Hades had sensed Iolaus was right before the restless, tormented soul had put the threat to the gods into words. This evil and treacherous being of ultimate and absolute destruction would not stop at a simple triumph over mortals. The demon was too arrogant, too full of his own sense of destiny. Today, when Iolaus' words had echoed his own assessment of the demon, had unconsciously underscored the warning of the Fates, and had clearly spelled out the threat that Dahok presented to Persephone, let alone the rest of them, Hades had finally decided he had enough reason to intervene.

Thinking about the knife in his pouch, he marveled again that no one else had ever come to retrieve it. Ares must not know where the remains of Callisto's body lay, and it was certain that little horror, Discord, didn't have a clue or she'd have raided the place long ago. Hades had known, as he knew all things about death, but he'd let it go, left it to molder here in the darkness. Oh, he supposed he could have used the weapon to make his own bid against his brother for ultimate power on Olympus, but he didn't really want it. Having to deal with the other gods and goddesses on a daily basis was more aggravation than he cared to contemplate. He'd made his bid, over the centuries, when Zeus' rule had seemed threatened, largely to keep characters like Ares from assuming more power than he could handle wisely, to keep a balance, not because he ever aspired to be the King of the Gods. He was content with his own domain, where he ruled supreme and unchallenged.

For a moment, he wondered if hind's blood would be sufficient to destroy this god…how could anyone know if it only worked on the gods of Greece, or if it had the power to kill all gods, everywhere? Chewing his lip, he reflected that if this didn't work, they might all truly be lost. All that would remain to them would be a collective action, all of the gods of Olympus united against the evil that was Dahok…but there was no guarantee that even if they could organize themselves to work together that it would be enough. Cynical and realistic as ever, Hades believed Dahok would tempt any number of them to fight amongst themselves, promising whatever it took, until they'd weakened their own power, decimated their own capacity to deal with him conclusively. Dahok would have them then…and would own the world, everything in, above and below it…or whatever such a blind force of destruction and chaos would have left to be owned, even by himself.

Too many questions…not enough answers. But the blade he now possessed was their best hope. Even if the blood did not kill Dahok, it might weaken him…and the thrust of the blade into the heart of the mortal body might be enough, if he were weakened, to drive him from the plane of life, back into the nothingness from which he'd come. The only question now was how to get close enough to the monstrosity to drive the blade into the body he wore. And, ah yes, a second question…whether to allow that brave mortal soul to risk his eternity to help in the reclamation of his body.

Cocking his head, as if listening, Hades honed in on Hercules' location. The thought of his nephew made him sigh, and reflect again at how the demigod had avoided confronting Iolaus' specter. And, now, Hades was quite certain, that in his capacity for endless hope, Hercules had convinced himself that Iolaus was locked somewhere inside his own body, enslaved to Dahok's will. In Hercules' view, it was no doubt simple… defeat Dahok and free Iolaus…save the world and get his best friend back in one bold stroke.

Well, Hercules was about to learn nothing was ever that simple…and that he would not be getting Iolaus back.

Not this time.

Atropos had cut the golden thread…given the fact that the mortal had managed to have his heart cleaved almost in two by that blade, she hadn't had much choice. Though, rumour had it, she hadn't been happy about it, believing that particular soul still had a part to play in the world of living men. Clothos had whispered as much to Demeter, while gathering wool for her spindle, sighing that Atropos had actually cursed at the time, muttering something to the effect that 'enough is enough and this time, Lachesis, you will not repair it!'.

It was said that the rot of their tapestry had begun shortly after the golden thread had been severed.

Everyone might have been a great deal better off if Atropos hadn't chosen this particular death to be irrevocable. Had she judged differently, one of the gods might have been moved to pity by Hercules' prayers and restored his friend to him while Iolaus' soul, so reluctant to leave, had still lingered in his body, robbing Dahok of the only thing he really needed. Without the shell of an empty body, one that held a warrior's heart, Dahok would never have been able to enter the world.

But, what was done, was done. The evil was now manifest in the world and had to be dealt with.

Sighing, the God of the Underworld vanished from the cavern.

* * *

They had first confronted Dahok in Sparta, the city state of austere and devout warriors, famed throughout the world. Where else to make the point that he was invincible? Sparta had fallen after less than a week of desperate battle, thousands of the finest warriors Greece would ever know destroyed by the mindless and seemingly endless numbers of priests Dahok had called from the hidden mountain caverns. Then, on to Argos, that fortress lasting less than two days, only this time, Dahok's minions moved on to also killing civilians, women and children. On to the north, they'd marched and the battle had been raging for three days outside of well-situated mountain fortress of Mycenae. But, the citadel had finally fallen, the evil, eerie demonic warriors pouring in through the Lion's Gate, and was burning now above them. Not a soul found inside the fortress was spared. Scores of Dahok's mindless creatures still patrolled the area, seeking yet more mortals to kill, while the main force moved on, heading north.

Over the past several weeks, Hercules had confronted Dahok time after time, being beaten and bashed for his trouble, flung about like a rag doll…taunted and tormented to be doing battle with a deadly horror that stalked the earth in his best friend's body. There'd been moments when Hercules had been certain that he could have killed Dahok, but the demon had called upon Iolaus' voice, showed him the desperate fear and helplessness in Iolaus' eyes, unable to believe that Hercules would actually kill him…and so the demigod had hesitated.

And, because he'd hesitated, more thousands of people had died.

Hercules had reached the point where he didn't know who he loathed more. Dahok for his wanton, murderous cruelty, or himself, for not having the strength to destroy…his best friend. It was crazy, part of him knew it. Iolaus was dead, gone…but what if he wasn't? What if Dahok was holding him hostage and in killing the demon, Hercules destroyed Iolaus along with him. Gods…how could he do that? Take that risk? The terrible dilemma, being torn by the need to both kill and save, was ripping his soul apart, bringing him to the edge of madness. It had reached the point when he'd run out of options and couldn't stand it much longer. Too many had died. Dahok was growing too strong. He had to choose…and, sickened by it, he knew what choice he was going to have to make.

Hercules knew he had to end this, and end it now.

He thought he might kill himself when it was over and pray for oblivion.

Because he wanted no part of an eternal awareness, whether alive as an immortal, or dead as a soul locked in Tartarus, that he might have saved the one person who meant everything to him and, instead, had killed Iolaus, one more time.

And now, they were in the midst of another fruitless confrontation in which Dahok was taunting Hercules by telling him about how the demon had gotten Iolaus to join with him to make the world a better place specifically by having godly powers to do the things that needed to be done. Hercules had encountered the demon in a wide meadow below the ramparts of Mycenae and knew as soon as he'd loped into the clearing that the demon had been anticipating his arrival.

"Ah, Hercules," Dahok had greeted the demigod, standing in his white robe as if his garment made his hideous filth something clean and pure. His tone was rich and mellow, reasonable if a trifle sorrowful, as he encouraged, "Come let us talk quietly for a moment in the midst of all this madness."

"I have nothing to say to you, Dahok," the demigod had snarled, looking around the landscape, wondering if this was the moment to attack the demon and try to defeat him one more time.

Dahok sighed and shook his head as he continued, "I simply wanted to tell you about Iolaus, about how he came to give me the right to use his body…and why he joined with me to change this world."

"Iolaus would never 'join' with you," Hercules spat, his eyes blazing at the insult to his friend.

"But…you're wrong, and if you'll listen, I'll explain," Dahok insisted, and when Hercules remained silent, trying to contain his anger and think clearly, the demon continued. He told a story about how he had met with Iolaus and laid out his plans…had shown Iolaus how he could use greater powers for the good of humanity. His tale revealed how he had tormented and tempted Iolaus with the power of a god, including tricking the warrior into condemning a still innocent man to death, hurtling from a narrow foot-bridge into a deep river gorge, to save a family the man might have killed. The demon painted powerful images, the scenes flashing before Hercules horrified eyes, up to the moment when Dahok revealed how Iolaus had clasped his hand in final, desperate agreement.

Hercules jerked his head away from the images, not wanting to believe the demon. "You must have tricked him," he stated, his voice hoarse as he stared the demon down. He knew he shouldn't listen…should in fact attack the monster, destroy it. But…he couldn't. Afraid that Iolaus was trapped inside that creature, and would be killed, he could not bring himself to take that last final act.

"Do you have so little respect for your friend's instincts and intelligence, Hercules…or are you jealous that he has abandoned you to join forces with me? Or is it simply that you cannot believe Iolaus would have the wit to act on his own, without your lead. After all, you are the hero, aren't you, and he was only your loyal follower. You know he'd have been nothing if not for you," Dahok taunted, his eyes glittering, his tone sarcastic.

"That's not TRUE!" Hercules shouted back, his voice ringing with intensity, hoping somehow that Iolaus could hear him, would know he still believed in Iolaus' decency and courage. "Iolaus is the best man I've ever known. A hero. My hero! I don't know what his life would have been like if he'd never met me, but I do know that my life would never have been the same…he never 'followed' me. Iolaus was my partner, my equal and my inspiration. I WILL NOT listen to you demean or diminish him! If you have him in your power, it is not willingly, I KNOW that…he is a hostage to your appalling and horrific powers. He'd stop you if he could."

With that, furious and sick at heart, Hercules had wheeled away, to join Nebula and Morrigan in a small glade at the edge of the forest. They'd been watching, listening, with varying degrees of disgust and empathy. Breathing hard, Hercules brushed by them, his jaw tight, fury and helplessness in his eyes.

Morrigan and Nebula silently watched Hercules as he leaned back against the trunk of a tree, exhausted, bruised, bleeding from scrapes on his arms and chest. Neither of them had ever seen him look so ravaged before. Wearily, he'd closed his eyes as he tried to shut out Dahok's taunting words…tried to block out the sound of the only voice he really wanted desperately to hear.

'Gods, Iolaus,' he prayed to his friend as he'd never prayed to any god, 'I can't stand this…can't do this… please, show me another way…I need you.'

"Come on, buddy," the creature called from the clearing not far from the small glade where they'd taken refuge, knowing they were there. Called in Iolaus' cajoling tones, "I know you miss me! It doesn't have to be this hard, Hercules. Why do you keep fighting me? Join me…and together, we can fight the gods, like we've always done. Only, this time, we could destroy them all! C'mon, Herc, whaddaya say?"

Hercules bowed his head and shook it, not bothering to answer. The voice might be Iolaus' but the words were not any that his best friend would ever utter. Instead, he again grappled with how to defeat the creature without killing it. Having deluded himself with an unquenchable hope that there might still be a way to get Iolaus back, he'd convinced himself that Iolaus' soul was captive, somewhere inside, and he couldn't risk murdering his best friend. Believing Iolaus was still somehow there, in his body, was better than what he'd feared for months…that Iolaus was lost, forever and irrevocably. He might finally have found a way to get Iolaus back…if only he could find a way to destroy Dahok while sparing the body he wore.

But, he just couldn't figure out how to do it.

And, he was honest enough to know he'd run out of time, even if he wasn't quite ready to admit it.

"You canna' give in to him, Hercules," Morrigan hissed, impatient to be done with this, to kill the evil thing while it was close, not more than two hundred yards away. Before they had to once again chase it over this wretched dry country of endless mountains and rugged hills. Before Dahok killed anyone else.

"I'm not giving in," the demigod replied wearily, rubbing his forehead, pushing his hair back as he stood away from the tree. He was pale, haggard…broken.

"Well, you're not doing much to stop him, either, I have to say!" she countered, wanting to fortify him…they'd need his strength to win this final battle with the demon. "He's an abomination… and we have to destroy him."

"No," Hercules replied, his voice dull and hopeless, belying his words, still not ready to concede, "there has to be another way." But, there wasn't…he knew it in his broken heart, in the depths of his ravaged soul. He was going to have to kill…but his mind again flinched away, unable to face the task ahead.

"What other way?" the Druid of Justice demanded hotly. "You've seen what he can do…he's killing people by the score, his army of zombie priests killing hundreds, maybe thousands…and why? Because you can't bear to damage that precious body…."

"Enough!" Hercules rounded on her, tired of her lack of understanding, of her constant nagging that he should just kill the creature and be done with it. Tired of the fact that she clearly had no empathy for the fact that he might also be murdering the best man he'd ever known. "I know what he and his army are doing! Gods, they've already taken Sparta, Argos and Mycenae…and now they're marching on Corinth! My brother is the King there! I want to stop Dahok as badly, more, than you do. But, I can't risk…"

"Hercules," Nebula cut in, her voice and face strained, burdened by the grief of what she felt she had no choice but to counsel now. "I know you loved him. I loved him, too. Gods, he died for me. But, Iolaus is DEAD. That thing out there isn't him. Morrigan is right. We have to destroy him before it's too late."

"You don't know that," Hercules protested, the strain of hope and despair warring for dominance in his voice. "You don't know that Dahok doesn't have Iolaus there, with him, held hostage…."

"If he's a helpless hostage, won't he be hating this, wanting it to be over?" Morrigan interjected, her tone hard. She didn't want to hurt Hercules, but she had to make him see sense. One man's life could not be worth this cost, no matter how decent or good he had been. "Yer fine friend would no doubt welcome death at this point. And, if he's not helpless, then he deserves to be destroyed along with that terrible demon that's wearing his skin."

"Iolaus would never allow this if there was anything he could do to fight back!" Hercules thundered at her. "You never knew him…you have no right to demand…."

"Rights, is it?" she sneered, her eyes flashing. "And what gives you the right to stand back while that thing kills innocent people? Face it, Hercules, either your friend is dead or he soon will be…as soon as we figure out how to kill that beast in his body. I say, kill the body and the beast with it."

His gaze shifting from Morrigan's contemptuous gaze to Nebula's haunted one and then to the ground, he shook his head, not wanting to hear them, not wanting to acknowledge that they were right. Horror blossomed in his breast as he clenched his fists. Gods…how could he do this? Not knowing….

"Settle down, all of you," intruded a cool voice. "You don't yet possess the weapon you need to take down a god…and that's what Dahok is, for all that you call him a demon. Nothing that would kill a simple mortal will destroy him."

They wheeled in shock to see the black-cloaked god observing them with a disdainful glance. But, before Hercules could demand to know why Hades had appeared, Dahok, vastly amused by the dissension he was causing in their ranks, called out again, this time using his own deeper, more mellow voice, "Hercules, tell you what. I'll make you a deal. Give me your body and I'll release this one back to Iolaus. You could save him, Hercules. Isn't that what you want most…to save your best friend?"

The demon lied smoothly, with no compunction. He didn't know where Iolaus' soul was…only where it wasn't. And, he sure wasn't holding the warrior's spirit hostage…it was the body he'd needed, not the soul. Once Iolaus' body had conveniently died, his soul had served no purpose except to vacate the vessel that the demon needed. And, once he'd finished with this inferior body, and removed the power that kept it whole, the empty vessel would corrupt quickly.

But, by then it wouldn't matter.

He would have a far superior body and as for Hercules' soul? It could go wherever it wanted…but there'd be no room, or need, for it any longer in the body it currently wore.

"What do you say, Hercules? Do we have a deal?" he called again, smiling coldly, knowing he driven the demigod to the point where such an option might well be irresistible. The fool was arrogant enough to believe he might triumph in a battle of wills for the control of his strength.

"Hercules! You can't do that!" Nebula and Morrigan had shouted together, horrified and appalled.

But, Hercules had only stiffened at Dahok's words, ignoring the women, his expression distant and thoughtful. This was a new offer…and one he was prepared to consider. He could save Iolaus and fight Dahok on his own turf, with his spirit and mind, not just his strength…hold the demon back from absolute power, destroy him from the inside.

It might work.

Hades had heard enough. Dahok's words more than confirmed Iolaus' assessment and the Fates' dire warnings…and the god didn't like the speculative look in his nephew's eyes. It was time for Hercules to face the cold, hard, facts or he might give in to Dahok's ploy. "That's it," he said, moving in too quickly for the distracted demigod to react. Grabbing Hercules by the arm, Hades growled, "You're coming with me."

The two warrior women, one a Queen and the other a Druid, gaped as the stranger and Hercules vanished.

"And who the divil might that grim fellow have bin…and where has he taken Hercules?" Morrigan demanded, whirling on Sumeria's tall and imposing ruler.

"Damned if I know," Nebula replied flatly, frowning. Bracing her hands on her hips, she blew out a disgusted breath and looked away, heartily sick of it all. The horror of seeing Iolaus' body used this way. The perpetual grief of hearing his voice and knowing it wasn't the man she loved. The haunted look on Hercules' face, understanding that it didn't begin to convey the suffering in his heart. The death that had surrounded them for weeks now. The helplessness of not being able to stop the demon from desecrating her lover's body, using it to kill and maim, terrified that Iolaus was still there, somewhere inside, tortured by what he couldn't control…destined to die again, once they found a way to destroy the demon.

Nebula hated it…all of it.

And, this mouthy little harridan from Eire wasn't helping any.

'Justice,' the Queen thought disparagingly as she turned her gaze back to Morrigan. Nebula wondered what this woman knew of justice, for all that it was her domain back on her northern, misty isle. If there'd been any justice in any of this, it wouldn't have been Iolaus' body that Dahok was wearing.

With a shaft of terrible guilt, Nebula knew it would have been hers.

* * *

"Hades! What are you doing? I don't have time for this!" Hercules railed at his uncle, furious to have been pulled away with no choice in the matter…just when he'd been given an offer he'd seriously considered taking.

"Make time," Hades replied coldly, as he waved at someone behind the demigod's back to draw them forward.

Caught by his uncle's action, realizing for the first time that his uncle had brought him to Persephone's Garden in the centre of Hades palace temple on the Other Side, Hercules stiffened at the way the god was looking past his shoulder. The demigod didn't want to turn around, didn't want to know…didn't want to face the end of all hope…or the reality that had haunted his thoughts and dreams for almost a year.

Iolaus…dead. Locked forever on the Other Side.

"Hercules?" The warm, so familiar voice was almost tentative as it cut across his thoughts and touched his tattered soul.

"No," the demigod whispered, bowing his head, closing his eyes against this no longer avoidable truth.

Iolaus' voice. Here, on the Other Side. Not in that body. Here. Iolaus was here…dead. Irretrievable. He had nothing to bargain…no debts to trade. If he'd had any means by which to rescue Iolaus from Elysium, he'd have come here long, long ago in the hope of finding him here. But, he hadn't anything, any way, and so he'd avoided this final truth, unable to face it and finally convincing himself that Iolaus had never been here, but was still locked within his body, still accessible, still capable of being restored to life.

But, he wasn't. And now Hercules knew it. It was all he could do to remain standing, to not fall to his knees, finally and utterly defeated by a fact he couldn't change. Iolaus was dead…forever gone.

Hades moved off to join Persephone, to draw her a little away. They'd get nowhere until these two men had found some way to bridge the chasm of guilt that yawned between them.

"Herc…don't shut me out like this!" Iolaus insisted, moving forward to take his buddy's arm and turn him around.

But, Hercules flinched away, leaving them both frozen, locked in their emotions. The look of shock and infinite hurt on Iolaus' face as he stared wordlessly at Hercules' rigid back pulled at Persephone's heart, but she could also feel Hercules' pain. She thought she might weep for them both as she felt Hades' grip on her arm tighten. Glancing up at him, she read anger in his eyes. He'd expected more from his nephew… the mortal's soul deserved better.

Finally, an eternal moment later, Hercules took a deep breath and turned slowly, his shoulders slumped, his posture one of abject defeat. Lifting eyes reddened and glistening with tears to Iolaus' tortured gaze, the demigod sighed heavily, then murmured, "I…I didn't want to believe…"

"What? That I'm dead? Gods, Herc…you saw me die! And…I told you in the cave that I was really dead, for good this time. What? You'd rather think I'm part of that monster?" Iolaus interjected, hurt, angry. "You could have easily found out, you know…you could have come to see me."

Hercules swallowed hard and looked away, shaking his head again as he lowered his gaze to the ground. "I couldn't come until I had a way to get you back…I couldn't face you…" he replied, his voice distant, haunted by the unendurable despair he'd carried since that terrible moment when Iolaus had left him, and he'd felt the massive chill of death sink into his own soul.

Iolaus rubbed his hands up over his face, through his curls and then dragged them back down his cheeks again as he tried to get hold of his emotions. But, he wasn't having much luck. Seeing Herc like this was tearing him apart. And, he was carrying his own devastating burden of guilt and grief. He'd been waiting for Hercules to come to see him, to at least visit if not fight for his return, for almost a year. And, he'd convinced himself that Herc hadn't because, when you got right down to it, the demigod had to be furious that his friend had sacrificed his life. He should probably count himself lucky that Hercules hadn't just slugged him for having caused all this trouble.

But, now was not the time to deal with any of that. There were more important things at stake.

Licking his upper lip, Iolaus finally replied as calmly as he could, "Look, we can have a guiltfest later. Right now, we've got to deal with that monster. I want him out of my body, and I want to stop him from hurting any more people. So, how're we going to do this?"

"'We' aren't going to do anything, Iolaus," Hades informed him, drawing back into the conversation. "I have decided that I will not allow your soul to be put at risk."

Iolaus rolled his eyes as he threw up his hands, turning in a small, frustrated circle. Pointing at Hercules as he argued with the god, he blurted out angrily, "All my life, he insisted on protecting me, ending up in an agony of guilt and anger when he couldn't. And, now, you want to protect my soul. What do I have to do to convince you that neither of you have that right or responsibility. It's my own fault that I'm dead…and it's my soul, my choice…and my body we're talking about, in case no one has noticed. So, I repeat, how are we going to do this?"

"Iolaus," Hercules moved to intervene, Hades words having broken through his daze of pain. Iolaus' soul was at risk? Gods, 'dead' was more than bad enough… 'oblivion' was inconceivable!

But, Hades raised an imperious hand, drawing both of their attention. "Look, just settle down…this might not be all that difficult," he counseled in his austere, remote way. "Hercules, I heard Dahok make you an offer that would let you get close to him. Once you do, you can kill him with this." The God of the Underworld drew the dagger from his pouch and held it out to Hercules.

Both heroes recognized the knife Hercules had pounded into the stone balustrade at Ares' Temple two years before. Iolaus whistled softly then muttered wryly, "Well, that oughta do it."

Hercules cut him a quick glance as he moved forward to take the weapon from Hades, staring at it a moment, remembering what Iolaus had gone through to get it…how he'd saved Alcmene's life from Callisto, and his own, before he'd even been born. Nodding silently, he secured it in his vest. Now that he knew Iolaus was not trapped within his body, there was nothing to restrain him from destroying Dahok. Perhaps, if the Fates smiled upon him, the demon would also kill him and he'd finally be released from this unendurable pain.

"Wait a minute," Iolaus challenged, frowning as he worried over Hades' words and the look on Hercules' face. "What did you mean that Herc could get close to Dahok…what offer? And how close? Hercules won't get any second chances, you know."

Hades gazed at Hercules as he replied, "Dahok has offered to exchange your body for Hercules' body…and has promised that you would be restored to life if Hercules agrees."

"What? Is that possible? No, wait, it doesn't matter…no way!" Iolaus protested, looking from the God to his friend.

But, the look in Hercules' eyes said only too plainly that he would still consider the deal… if it was possible. He looked toward Hades, one brow quirked in silent enquiry.

But the God shook his head. "No, it is not possible. Dahok lied to you, Hercules, to gain your willing agreement to cede your body to him…when he is finished with Iolaus' body, he'll simply discard it without a moment's thought. He hasn't the either the power or the inclination to bring Iolaus back to life."

The demigod swallowed and looked away, sagging a little as yet another bleak hope was crushed, returning his gaze to his friend when Iolaus sighed with relief, "Well, that's good." Catching Hercules' look of surprise, he clarified, "I mean, not good that I can't get my life back…but good that you won't be tempted into such a stupid deal."

"Alright, then, that's settled. Come, Hercules, I'll take you back and you can…" Hades broke in briskly, wanting to get this over with.

But, Iolaus cut him off…which he'd taken to doing with annoying regularity throughout this last sojourn on the Other Side. "Uh…not quite. I don't like the idea of Hercules doing this on his own. Dahok is more powerful than anything we've ever gone up against. If he senses that Herc is up to something, or fights back, I gotta tell you, Hercules won't stand a chance. That monster's just been playing with him…letting Herc believe that he has the strength to resist that power. But, believe me, Hercules doesn't…and if Dahok gets control of his body, we'll be up against something none of us wants to think about."

Setting his irritation with the aggressive little mortal aside, Hades nodded thoughtfully, "Fair point. I assume you also have a suggestion…it seems you always do."

"Well, yeah…I do," Iolaus replied, avoiding Hercules' eyes, keeping his gaze locked on the god. "We need a distraction, so Herc can do what he has to do. No one else will be able to get close, without alerting the demon, and his zombies can restrain an ordinary mortal…but a ghost might be able to sneak up on him."

Hades frowned heavily at the idea, knowing exactly what Iolaus was suggesting. The intrepid little soul seemed to be determined to risk all that was left of his essence. But, before he could reply, Hercules pulled his friend around to face him. "What are you talking about?" the demigod demanded, certain he wasn't going to like it.

Iolaus' gaze was clear, resolute, as he replied, "It's my body…I can slip back in…distract him long enough for you to…to kill him." Both were only too conscious that they were talking about Hercules burying the knife in his vest into Iolaus' body…and now Iolaus was planning to be there, inside, when he did it.

Horrified by the idea as he realized now what Hades had decided to prohibit Iolaus from doing, shaking his head in numb denial, Hercules protested, "No, Iolaus…it's too dangerous. What would happen to you when I kill Dahok?" But, then, another grim, desperate hope captured his thoughts and he turned to Hades, inexpressible longing in his eyes as he asked, "Unless…Hades…if Iolaus was in his body, and the hind blood kills the demon… wouldn't he, Iolaus I mean, still have a chance to live?"

Both of them turned to Hades for the answer to that question.

The god squeezed the bridge of his nose. What was it with these two? They both seemed to think that Iolaus could wander in and out of the Underworld, in and out of his body…in and out of life, virtually at will. Sighing, he had to concede he held some of the responsibility for that. "What do you imagine, Hercules? That you could just scratch Dahok's arm and the hind's blood will do the trick?"

"Well, yeah," nodded the demigod, a little diffidently. Not sure why Hades made it sound so stupid. Why couldn't it work?

"No way!" shouted Iolaus, now that Herc's intentions were clear…he'd thought his friend had simply been asking if Hades would allow Iolaus to live again, a kind of exchange for ridding the world of Dahok. But, Iolaus knew a superficial wound, however fatal it might eventually prove to be, couldn't be fast enough… they had to be sure that Dahok, and the body he wore, was dead, period, full stop.

The quicker, the better.

"Look, even if it's only a pretense to get close, Herc will have conceded his body to Dahok. If that monster has any time at all, he'll fight Hercules, move into his body and whatever effects of the hind's blood in my body might have on him will be lost," Iolaus argued. "Dahok will be armed, too, you can bet on that! If he takes over Herc before the hind's blood gets to him…it'll be game over. We can't risk that!"

"Hmm," Hades mused as he pondered the dilemma, causing Iolaus to flick Hercules an 'see, I told ya!' expression, which the god wiped from his face by asking wearily, "And you, Iolaus, do you think you would just trundle back here as soon as Hercules sticks it to Dahok?"

Iolaus shrugged, "Sure, whatever, why not?" He hadn't thought much about it, in all honesty…but nor did the possible dangers sway him from his steadfast commitment to stop Dahok. He'd faced the prospect of what this might ultimately cost and he had accepted it. But, he didn't want Hercules to realize what the price might be. Not yet. Not while such an appreciation of the risks might compromise Herc's determination to act…to do what had to be done.

But, Hades' question spurred Hercules to demand, "What could happen to him? What did you mean earlier that his soul could be at risk?"

Ignoring Hercules as he studied Iolaus while he considered the risks either way, Hades' eyes narrowed as he shook his head. No soul deserved oblivion…and this particular soul deserved a whole lot better than that. Finally, he responded, holding Iolaus' eyes with his implacable gaze, "If you were quick, you might make it out. But, we don't know if the hind's blood will utterly destroy Dahok or only weaken his hold on a body that is once again irrevocably rendered incapable of life, which," he added, shooting a quick glance at the demigod, "Hercules, is why you must deal a death blow." Hades once again sought and held Iolaus' steady gaze, as he continued, "If the poison doesn't work instantaneously, Dahok will no doubt be in a furious rage. He'll want to make someone pay for getting in the way of his grandiose schemes…he's likely to drag you along with him into the void."

"Don't worry, I'm quick," Iolaus assured him cockily, waving off the possibility of not being quick enough, not wanting anymore details of what might happen, not at least so long as Hercules was there to hear them. Well, actually, even if Herc wasn't there, he wouldn't want to hear the details. If it happened, it happened. Knowing what it would be like, worrying about it in advance, wouldn't help anything.

"Drag him where?" the demigod asked, not to be put off. His chest was tight with anxiety, his throat thick with fear for what his friend was proposing to risk. 'The void'?

"Down into the abyss of oblivion…an endless fall to nothing," Hades replied starkly, not surprised to see all the blood drain from Hercules' face at that horrific prospect.

"An endless fall, huh?" Iolaus mused into the silence, then grinned as he shrugged, "Well, how bad could that be…it's the landing that hurts!"

Hercules swatted him, unconsciously reverting to old and dear habit, eliciting a startled, 'Ow!' and a giggle…that went straight to the demigod's heart. Shaking his head at the predictable response, Hercules turned to Hades. "Since my partner doesn't seem to grasp the simple fact that the risk is unacceptable, why don't we just leave him here to think about it while you take me back."

Iolaus' grin vanished as if it had never been. "Partners work together, Hercules…or is it that you've just forgotten that you ever had one? The gods here know, you sure haven't bothered to check up to see how I was doing. You've never even bothered to weep grieving tears for me, not once…I guess maybe I never deserved them. Or, maybe, you're just plain happier with your new partner, Morrigan, and you figure she'll be all the help you need," he challenged, his voice cold, knowing it wasn't fair, beyond caring at that point. He was not about to let Herc take this monstrous risk alone. "Well, she won't…and if you try to do this on your own, you'll only make things worse."

Hades winced when the demigod visibly paled, cut to the core by the harsh words. But, Hercules had been pushed too far. Rounding on Iolaus, he shouted, "Morrigan has nothing to do with any of this and you damn well know it! What do you want from me? This is about you pushing me into a position where I'm forced to drive a knife into your heart…not your 'body's' heart, Iolaus…yours. Because you want to be in there, fighting with Dahok, when I do it. Knowing that I might not just be killing you again…but that I might destroy everything, every last thing, that you are. How can you even begin to suggest that? Dammit, Iolaus, I dragged you into this mess…even if you didn't help by leaping straight into it! It's up to me to do what I can to fix this, to not hurt you anymore than I already have…I will not allow you to be part of this!"

"Oh, so here it comes, the 'it's my fault but you're stupid,' routine," Iolaus shouted right back. "Allow me? Who are you to decide my fate? 'Leapt straight into it?' Yeah, I guess I did. But, you'd have done the same thing before you just stood there and watched Nebula impaled by that blade, don't try to tell me you wouldn't have! And you'd be just as determined as I am now to make this right, if you were stuck here instead of me! As for 'dragging me into this mess', that's just plain garbage…but you sure haven't done much to try to get me out of it."

"That's not true!" Hercules raged. "I did everything I could to get you back…everything! I would have given my life if that would have made any difference!"

"Everything but come to see me, to try to bargain with Hades!" Iolaus slammed back. "Oh, I know it would have been useless. But, do you know how long I thought it was because you really did blame me, and hated me for letting you down? And, then, when Dahok took over my body, how often I've wondered if you blame me for that too, because I practically gave it to him?" Iolaus stormed, all the pain of the last long months pouring out as he shouted up into his partner's face. "Dammit, Hercules. How could you abandon me like that, to face that guilt alone?"

"Abandon you?" Hercules gasped, the fight gone out of him at the naked agony in Iolaus' voice and eyes. "Abandon you?" he repeated, his voice cracking, "Iolaus, I've carried your memory with me every moment of every day. But, I have not been able to mourn you, weep for the hopeless loss of you, because I can't face the fact that you're dead and I can't do a damned thing to change that fact! I'd give anything to get you back again. Anything."

"So…you really would have given in to Dahok," Iolaus glared at him, his suspicions confirmed. "How dumb is that? It's not enough that I fell for his tricks, you were going to risk letting him have you." Turning to Hades, Iolaus snapped, "You see? I can't let him out on his own. He's crazy! Dumb demigod. And you're going to trust him to do this on his own? I don't think so."

Hades was grinning, no, actually chuckling, as he gazed from one to the other.

"Hades! This isn't funny!" Hercules snarled, wondering how much of what Iolaus had said he'd really meant, and how much had been to draw him to the point where his buddy could appeal to Hades that they didn't dare go through with this without his help.

Wiping a hand over his face to restore some semblance of decorum, the god replied, "Perhaps not, but it's nice to see him yelling at someone else for a change. Hercules, you have no idea the problems Iolaus has been creating ever since…"

"Who cares about your problems?" they both snapped simultaneously, then turned to look at one another, and realizing that Hades had just pulled their chain, they each blew out a brief, chagrined chuckle, a little self-conscious at how predictable they were. At how much they still reacted the same way, thought and felt the same things. And how each of them, always, would be prepared to risk anything to assure the safety of the other. Hercules reached out and pulled Iolaus toward him, into a brief heartfelt hug, as he murmured hoarsely, "Gods, I've missed you."

"Well, I see everything seems back to normal," Persephone observed, deciding it was time to join the discussion. "So…what have you decided?"

"As normal as a demon running around in my body killing countless people, can be," Iolaus muttered as he pulled away from Hercules, sobering as he again focused on all that was at stake.

"Oh…I count them," Hades observed, but absently, as he frowned, weighing the options. If Hercules' deception failed, he still could possibly align the gods to fight Dahok collectively. They'd be fighting the added strength that Hercules' body would give the demon, but that fact might actually be enough to convince the others to get engaged. Might. But, that 'might' was enough to sway him toward his instinctive responsibility for safeguarding any soul, let alone this particular soul, in his domain. Implacable once again, he shook his head. "Iolaus, I take your point, but…it's too great a risk to your eternal soul. Hercules will have to do this alone."

"NO!" Iolaus roared his protest, but the god waved it away as he moved toward Hercules to lay a hand on his shoulder. The two heroes exchanged a long look, Iolaus' eyes full of fear for his friend, and frustration at being left behind…Hercules' gaze relieved to know his friend wouldn't be risking his soul.

Iolaus was still crying out, "Don't do this, Hades…don't leave me behind!" when Hercules and Hades vanished.

Iolaus felt like he might explode. This was wrong! They were making a terrible mistake. Dahok would figure it out, and he couldn't let that happen. He had to help. He was the only element of surprise they had, the only thing Dahok wouldn't be suspecting or guarding against. Without him, it was only too likely that the demon would defeat Hercules, and in defeating him, would destroy all that he was to take over the demigod's body. Sick with fear, furious with helpless, Iolaus shook his head, his fists clenched. He could not let that happen!

Wheeling on Persephone, he reached toward her and begged with all that he was, "Please…you have to take me there. They don't know Dahok like I do…they haven't felt his power. Dammit…it's not just Hercules! It's everything and everyone…you have to help me do this!"

Persephone studied him thoughtfully, moved by his desperate, agonized plea. She knew Iolaus was no fool, nor was he given to suicidal missions for no good reason. But, he'd risk everything for Hercules… however he might say it was for the world. But did that matter? He was truly terrified, certain that Hercules was going to his doom…and if Hercules was lost, so might they all be. She decided she believed him…believed he was right and Hades had been wrong to leave him behind. But… "Iolaus, it's your soul that you're risking," she reminded him quietly, her voice full of compassion. "We both know you haven't the strength to break away from Dahok once you engage with him."

"Like I said, 'my soul…my choice'," he replied grimly, determined. "I'll take my chances. Just…just get me there."

If something went wrong, something he could have prevented by being there, she knew his soul would never know any peace. Nor, ultimately, would the world…or the gods. Though Hades had decided to protect his soul, as was his responsibility and commitment, she had no such accountability. She cared for Iolaus in her own way, but when weighed in the balance of the future of the earth and the gods, one mortal soul was worth the sacrifice, if sacrifice it must be.

Pale at the decision she was making, but resolute, she nodded slightly…and held out her hand.

* * *

"Well, it was nice of ya to come back, Hercules…and did ya have a nice vacation?" Morrigan demanded sarcastically, her relief at seeing him boiling over into anger for the fear she'd felt.

"They say a change is as good as a rest," he replied evenly, ignoring the venom in her words and voice, understanding her better than she sometimes understood herself. "Morrigan, Nebula…this is Hades, my uncle. He's just given me a way to destroy Dahok."

Nebula looked from the god to Hercules. "And…Iolaus?"

"Dahok doesn't have him…he's on the Other Side," the demigod replied quietly, looking away from the pain in her eyes. "I'm sorry…there's no way to get him back."

Nebula nodded tightly and looked away, trying to find some solace in the fact that at least Iolaus was out of this…safe, or as safe as he could be.

"So…you'll kill him, then?" Morrigan demanded. "How?"

"By giving him what he wants," Hercules replied. When the women started at that, he smiled at them reassuringly, as he urged, "Trust me."

But, Hades, looking past Hercules' shoulder toward the demon stiffened, seeing what the others had not seen.

Persephone and Iolaus had just appeared on the far side of the clearing behind the demon, out of his line of sight, careful not to attract his attention, less he could see them though mortals couldn't. "Damn it," Hades cursed, with feeling.

"What?" Hercules demanded, then turned to follow his uncle's gaze. "NO! You have to get them away from here!" he ordered, whirling back to face the god. 'Oh gods, what's Iolaus going to do? Please, not this…not this…' Hercules thought with a rising panic. How could he attack Dahok if it meant putting Iolaus at risk…not only his life this time, but his soul?

"I can't, not now…not without potentially alerting Dahok that something is going down," Hades murmured, shooting an icy glare at his wife for having defied his will. She held his gaze calmly, believing with all her heart that this was necessary.

"Send who where?" demanded Nebula, looking from Hades to Hercules, then out through the trees that gave them modest shelter…seeing only Dahok in the clearing beyond. Morrigan, though, also a demigod, could see what the mortal Queen could not. Tense, wondering what the apparently real Iolaus and what must be a goddess were doing there, she turned her attention back to the drama playing out in their little glade at the edge of the forest.

Ignoring the women, Hades turned to Hercules, knowing the stakes had now risen so high he might not be able to trust his nephew to carry out his role…and so he threw the full measure of the impossible choice at the demigod. "You'll have to go on…there is no other choice. The longer you wait, the more havoc that demon will create, you know that! The bulk of his army has already reached the walls of Corinth, and that city along with her King will fall before the next dawn comes."

"But, Iolaus…" Hercules hesitated, horrified to know it was his hand that could very well condemn Iolaus for all of forever…but so many other lives, his brother's life…gods, how could he do this?

"Iolaus has quite clearly already made his own choice," Hades responded coldly, though part of him respected the courage it took to face eternity locked in the embrace of a horrific and enraged demon. Sighing, he continued, "You know him better than I do. Now that he's here, do you honestly think he'll hesitate to take that demon on, whether or not you play your part?"

Hercules squeezed his eyes shut at that too perceptive question…and shook his head. He knew only too well that Iolaus would forge ahead, attack Dahok, with or without him. For a moment, a blind, searing moment, he felt a surge of fury, and something he wouldn't acknowledge to himself that Iolaus had put him in this impossible position…hate. How could Iolaus do this to him? How could he willfully condemn Hercules to the act of possibly destroying everything that either of them were? Because, if killing Dahok ultimately ended up costing Iolaus' soul, Hercules knew he'd turn the hind's blood dagger on himself. Numb, horrified despair swamped the hate, burying it, leaving only devastation in its wake.

Time was dragging on. And the demon had become increasingly impatient, weary of waiting for Hercules to make up his mind to accept his offer. So, he'd decided to add a little more incentive. If Hercules wouldn't trade for his dead friend, maybe he could be persuaded to save two who still lived. Distracted, his victims had let their guard down, allowing Dahok to maneuver a considerable number of his forces to surround them. As Hercules struggled with what he had to do, Dahok flicked a bored hand, and dozens of his zombie priests swarmed into their small clearing, surrounding them, and they were caught in a desperate fight for their lives.

"Surrender now, Hercules, and I'll spare their lives!" the demon shouted above the noise of sudden battle. "Call it a bonus for choosing to get your friend back!"

Hades couldn't intervene lest he alert Dahok that another power had entered the war against him. But, he also thought that this attack might well work to their advantage, making it even more convincing when Hercules appeared to capitulate. It was, after all, exactly what the demon had no doubt hoped when he'd launched this attack. Nebula and Morrigan were both fighting with a grim desperation, lashing out with swords, while Hercules tossed zombies with a blind rage, almost grateful to have something on which to spend his fury and fear. But, there were too many, and the women were overwhelmed, Nebula tripped to the ground, a sword poised over her heart and Morrigan caught from behind, a blade at her throat.

Hades shoved through the mass of mindless men to grab Hercules by the arm and pull him back. "Surrender now, while he's gloating, expecting it! You'll never have a better chance," he ordered the demigod, his voice low, intense. "If you don't, he'll kill them, Corinth will be the next to fall…and Iolaus will attack him alone."

Hercules' harried gaze took in the hopeless situation in the glade then turned back to his uncle, knowing all his choices were gone. His face gaunt, a ghastly look of sick awareness of what must be done and done now, he swallowed, driven to the brink of madness, a lost soul screaming out with a voice made wretched by utter desolation, "ENOUGH! Spare them and I will…submit to you."

The sword and knife pulled back from their hostages, but remained too close for comfort. Hercules held Hades' gaze a moment longer, as he begged with all he had left, "Help him if you can." Then, he turned and walked from the clearing, toward the monster in his best friend's body. His gaze was bleak with empty hopelessness as he looked past the demon's shoulder and saw Iolaus moving stealthily toward Dahok's back.

Neither hero dared to look into one another's eyes, but Hercules could see a look of grim satisfaction on Iolaus' face as he prepared to launch his attack, and he shuddered with wordless, anguished terror. Why did Iolaus feel he had to do this, take such terrible risk? 'Doesn't he trust...?" thought Hercules in desperation…and a new measure of defeat. Why would Iolaus trust him? Hadn't his arrogance gotten his friend killed? The demigod felt more of his heart splinter away, more shredding of a wounded soul.

Dahok stood with a sword in his hand, holding it across his body like a scepter, as he smiled broadly in approval of the demigod's decision and his all too evident spiritual and physical devastation. "Very good, Hercules," he congratulated the hero, his voice rich and mellow with malice, "you have finally made the right decision."

Hercules shifted his gaze to the demon's eyes, letting him read what he would of the blind despair that tortured the demigod's soul. With every step closer, Hercules' mind shrieked to him that he had to do this, that he had no choice…but his heart was breaking and his soul shrank away from the task at hand.

Tilting his head a little as he wallowed in the satisfaction of this victory over the demigod, Dahok directed him imperiously, "Come…kneel before me."

But, all was not as it seemed…it never was with Dahok. He was a god, with godly powers, and he could sense something was wrong. Hercules was not yet utterly defeated. No, the demigod was going to make one last play, intending to strike. The demon could almost smell the terrible, grim anguished determination that kept Hercules on his feet and moving forward. 'Well, let him delude himself for a few moments more,' thought the demon with malicious enjoyment, shifting his sword to be ready to make an immediate killing blow. Hercules had made a bargain, and so long as Dahok finished this before the demigod could resist, the bargain would hold…a willing sacrifice into which he could move.

Hercules faltered for a half step, his face haggard and gray, holding the demon's attention on him as his hand come up to rest over his heart, as if it was being torn from his breast…as, in fact, it was. Iolaus was now standing directly behind the demon, ready to make his move. Bowing his head, despising himself for his inability to watch his friend merge with Dahok, Hercules moved forward and dropped to one knee, directly in front of the demon, his motion covering the movement of his hand down into his vest where he grasped the hilt of the knife.

Dahok laughed in triumph, shifting to thrust his sword into Hercules' breast before the demigod could have ever completed his own attack…and Iolaus stepped forward, merging with him, his soul raging against the beast, striking with ultimate surprise. Inside the dimension of his mind, Iolaus leapt upon the horrific demon's back, scrambling to wrap his arm around the startled creature's throat, and set about throttling it.

Dahok shrieked at the completely unexpected attack, furious to have been surprised by something as puny and pathetic as a mortal soul. It was but a moment of lost concentration, less than a second of distraction from his focus upon the demigod…

But, it was enough.

Hercules screamed, a tormented, tortured cry of an enraged soul driven beyond the bounds of endurance, his heart shattering as he plunged the blood-encrusted knife into the body in front of him, straight into the heart… Iolaus' heart, while his other arm knocked Dahok's sword flying from the demon's loosened grip.

Catching Iolaus' body as it collapsed, dragging it into his arms, frenzied with fear and horror at what he'd just done, he screamed to his best friend's soul, "Get out of there! NOW!"

He had to know! He had to know before he let slip the last slender shreds of sanity that he had not destroyed Iolaus' soul.

* * *

Iolaus had felt the demon shudder at the deadly assault of the blade and was already moving, twisting away to slide from the monster's back, to try to make his escape.

But, Iolaus had realized somewhat to his shocked horror when Hercules had struck the blow, they'd all forgotten one thing when they'd talked about this plan, perhaps because they'd all come to think of his body and his soul as separate, unrelated entities.

He'd not just merged with Dahok, as if Dahok was the body and he was somehow separate. It was his body, and he'd become fully whole when he'd entered. Able to see and hear.

Able to feel.

And the blade in his heart was killing him.

The burst of sharp, sudden, horrific pain had left him reeling. The suffocating, raging, fire of it ripped through him, just like the last time in Sumeria. It took his breath away, dominated his thoughts, almost impossible to ignore. He felt a kind of panicked desperation that had nothing to do with knowing he was already a ghost, where dying again didn't matter a damn, and everything to do with his body fighting the assault, fighting the death that was stealing over it. Adrenaline pumped through his system, muscles contracted against the pain and the reality of extinction, lungs heaved for air and everything in him fought the letting go of life.

He heard Hercules shout at him, the demand to 'get out of there' and in his muddled sense of who and what he was, a dying body, a soul struggling to escape annihilation, he almost giggled. Every other time he'd felt like this, Herc had ordered him not to let go. But, the pain was too much and the urgency to escape Dahok too great for him to focus on much of anything but the need to keep moving.

Too slow…like moving through molasses. The light was fading and he couldn't see. Shaking his head, telling himself it was the physical illusion of his body dying, he forced himself to keep moving. It didn't matter which direction so long as it was away from the beast.

But, the beast that was Dahok, maddened by fury, and by the terror that pulsed through him at the burst of fire in his own being, reached out with fearsome claws to grab hold of the mortal soul that was slipping off its back, as he roared at Iolaus, "What have you DONE?"

"DESTROYED YOU, you freaking bastard…just like you destroyed me! DIE DAMN YOU!" Iolaus shouted back, triumphant, even as he squirmed desperately if ineffectually, kicking out and beating at the claws with his fists, trying in vain to get away.

Dahok's grip on his soul got tangled up in Iolaus' perceptions with Hercules' grip on his body, both holding him, one that he wanted to escape and one that he wanted to cling to, and the pain was raging ever more furiously through him bearing with it a sense of overwhelming weakness and futility. Gasping, as he had never gasped on the Other Side, breathing not being something he'd done in a while, he gritted his teeth, grim with determined effort to not let go of who he was…to not be lost in oblivion. 'You're dead, dammit,' he told himself to focus his efforts, 'the pain doesn't matter…fight!'

Weakened by the poison of the hind's blood that coursed through him so long as he was merged with Iolaus' body, the ugly creature that was Dahok staggered, dizzy and off balance. He could feel a void opening, as if at his feet…all four of them. The light of the mortal mind around him was rapidly dying from the lethal blow to the body that nourished it, slipping away into eternal darkness. Confused, believing for the first time the impossibility that he might die, the beast's grip slackened and Iolaus managed to pull away.

The warrior staggered and stumbled away gasping harder for breath as his body fought for life. With a sense of fractured time and place, disoriented, wanting to live and knowing he was already dead, confused, he only knew he had to get away from the demon. Lurching up, he staggered forward again, feeling as everything in him was dragging him back, holding him in his body, slowing him down.

This was the only time he'd actually tried to die, tried to escape a body he'd always held onto with everything that was in him and his own will to live held him inside. It was instinctive and irresistible… he'd had a lot more practice with holding on against all the odds than he'd ever had in letting go. Memories pulled at him, distracting him further and he could feel Hercules' grip around him tightening.

'Gods,' he thought when that awareness burst in, again bringing focus, 'I've got to get away from this monster!'

If he didn't, Hercules would never recover from what he'd had to do. If he didn't, he'd be the instrument of destruction…crushing all that was Hercules, driving him mad, driving him to his own death.

He had to get away! And, he tried again, lurching forward, feeling the pull of the void opening behind him. Tried desperately to put distance between himself and the flaying, furious monster that he'd come to destroy.

But he couldn't get away fast or far enough.

"NOOOOO!!!!!" shrieked the huge demon, lunging forward to snag Iolaus' leg, hauling him back. "NO! You've done this! You've ruined everything! I damn your soul for all eternity! You never were anything…now you're NOTHING!"

The demonic creature began to slip backward, into the void, dragging Iolaus with him. Terrified now at the aspect of an eternity clasped to the breast of this vengeful horror beyond his worst nightmare, Iolaus struggled with desperate fury to escape Dahok's grip. Everything in him focused upon survival, and, as his body died around him, his soul was able to bring more focused effort to the grim business of clawing his way back from the edge of oblivion. Snarling with determination, lunging forward, scrambling for something to grip, to hold onto…

…and his arm was clasped by another. Startled, Iolaus looked up into the darkness that now surrounded them, and saw the shimmering image of Hades leaning back with all his might, his powerful grip locked around Iolaus' wrist as he tried to pull the hero away from the demon.

Iolaus' soul belonged to him and he'd be damned if he'd let him go.

Dahok had slipped completely into the vortex that whirled in the void, a terrible dark funnel to nowhere, held at its brim only by his relentless grip on Iolaus' leg.

Iolaus felt himself being stretched, torn, between the two awesome powers…and could feel both grips slipping. Head down, twisting to lunge forward, reaching up with his other hand, he fought to grab more firmly onto Hades. But…the angle was wrong, the reach too far…and all he grasped was vacuum.

He felt Hades being dragged toward the rim of the pit, the god's feet slipping forward under the strain of the powerful sucking vortex into which Dahok had fallen. It was no good…Hades didn't have enough strength or power to defeat both Dahok and the vortex that reached out for them. The creature of chaos and destruction had not been destroyed by the poison, only weakened and distracted long enough for the body that had been his refuge to die around him, leaving him lost again in the terrible ether of nothingness. But, the body he'd occupied had died, and the poison it held was no longer a threat to the demon. Though he'd lost the power to walk the earth, his terrible strength was undiminished, reviving even as the body died.

Hades slipped again, closer still to the edge of the now howling vortex that Iolaus could feel pull at him as he half slipped over the rim. If Hades lost much more ground, the vortex would have him, too. The warrior's spirit struggled with the knowledge he was going to lose. Hades couldn't save him. He couldn't save himself. He'd gambled and lost…and now was the time to pay the price he'd said he was willing to accept.

It hadn't been part of the bargain to take another being with him.

Iolaus closed his eyes, felt a terrible, sinking, hollowness as he accepted the horror of his fate, then looked up at the God of the Underworld, crying out, "You can't help me…let me go before he takes you, too!"

Hades' eyes bored into his, and it was an awesome sight. A fire burned deep within them, a passion for life that left Iolaus feeling as if he'd never known what the will to survive had ever meant before. The God of the Underworld, the god who was death, understood life, and the precious treasure that it was, as no other being ever could. And, he knew its ephemeral, transient, vulnerability…but the soul was eternal, and this soul was his!

As Hades looked into the clear, blue eyes, so steadfast and courageous in the face of an inexpressibly wretched fate, so selfless in their insistence that he should not be lost, the god was staggered by the gift of life that was being urged upon him. Hades, the god most mortals feared and despised, was in Iolaus' estimation worth saving, worth the sacrifice of his own mortal soul, though it meant there'd be no hope of any kind of survival for himself. In that moment, that fleeting spark of time, Hades felt a surge of passion like a father feels for a son for this courageous, never defeated, soul, a surge of respect and an all consuming desire to protect and save this one, this single one, from the eternal void. The god recognized the love of life that he had thought he alone truly knew within Iolaus…recognized that Iolaus also loved life so well he'd never risk taking it from another, not even to save himself from extinction.

In that blinding moment of recognition and identification, Hades committed himself irrevocably to this struggle at the risk of his own soul.

"NO!" the god roared in defiance. "I will not let you go…you WILL LIVE! Fight, dammit! FIGHT!"

His eyes wide, stunned to realize this god was prepared to go the distance with him, even if the distance was forever, Iolaus stared at Hades, inexpressibly moved and shocked to the core of his being. Then, when he felt Hades slip again, sliding ever closer to infinite horror, Iolaus swallowed and nodded, a pact to the finish. Flashing the god a bright grin of complicity, of defiance in the face of annihilation, he lowered his head to renew his own desperate fight for survival. Kicking madly back at Dahok, he scrambled with his free hand for a purchase on the edge of the vortex, willing himself to lurch forward, to resist the force that was trying to rip him away.

Hades grinned wildly in the mad joy of this union of wills, and felt the force of his commitment, his determination surge through him with an almost blinding power beyond anything he'd known before…and then Iolaus heard him actually laugh, as if in unexpected triumph!

The warrior's soul didn't know that his final words had done what nothing else had. His final act of selflessness had tipped the balance, and Hades' response in refusing to save himself by losing Iolaus' soul, had demanded an answer.

Another's powerful grip took hold of Iolaus' flailing arm, inexorably drawing him back from the edge, lending irresistible force to Hades' own desperate and determined effort. The vortex pulled upon the demon, dragging him down, overpowering in its immensity, forcing his grip to slide along Iolaus' leg to his boot…and then off as he screamed in eternal rage while he plummeted into the void.

The sudden release sent Iolaus careening forward…and he laughed in giddy relief to know they'd won even as he found himself alone in the silent darkness of his lifeless body. In no hurry to return to the Other Side, Iolaus rested a moment inside the mortal remains of what he'd once been, savouring the bittersweet triumph of the last victory he and Hercules would ever achieve together. Marveling that he'd been rescued by the unassailable power of not one but two Olympian gods united in the quest to save his soul. Hot damn!

Now that the terrible terror and effort to simply exist was past, and the exhilaration faded, Iolaus again became aware of time and space. He could feel the weight of his lifeless body, unresponsive, but no longer in pain. And though he was in a place of total darkness, as if suddenly struck blind, he could still feel and hear, albeit dimly and indistinct, as if at a distance.

He could feel Herc's arms crushing him tight against the demigod's body, more tightly than he'd ever been held when he'd been alive and could have been hurt, but there was no pain, just a sense of…desperate longing.

He could feel the warmth of tears on what had been his face.

He felt a vague pull and release in his chest…heard the sound of Hercules voice, the cadences of anguish and horror, if not the words themselves.

And…he could hear the sound of Hercules weeping, as if all the world had ended and all hope was lost, the demigod's the last soul left, bereft, lost…forever inconsolable.

* * *

Consumed with helpless fear for his friend's soul, the demigod didn't notice that, as Dahok's attention was given fully to his mad bid for revenge, his zombies had pulled back, their eyes sightless as they turned stiffly and returned to the caverns deep beneath the earth from which they'd come.

Hercules hadn't known what was happening when Iolaus' body had begun to convulse in his arms just after it had collapsed from the death blow he'd struck, only that some horrific battle must be underway inside.

'Oh gods, no!' he'd thought, realizing that Iolaus hadn't made a quick escape, and must be engaged in a desperate fight for freedom. It was terrible to watch…screams, garbled, in the contrasting tones of the battling monster and warrior, lips twisting in painful effort to make the words, painful moans of defiance, the single word, 'die' the only one understandable to Hercules. The demigod's whole attention was focused, the whole of his will and being, on watching his friend's face, feeling Iolaus' convulse as his soul fought the evil that was trying to steal him away forever. The warrior's body went limp as the soul inside prepared to accept his fate, and Hercules groaned softly…but then, Iolaus sighed again, a thin cry of warning and sacrifice. His body flinched again in Hercules' arms, impossibly, given he'd stopped breathing moments before and the body was already dead.

Suddenly, Iolaus' shuddering body lost all animation, lying completely still in the demigod's arms…all vestige of life bleached away, the battle for his soul evidently over.

And all had gone silent in the meadow.

Silent but for the terrible, aching moan of grief from the demigod who, in his mindless horror, had crushed his friend's lifeless body to his breast as if he could draw Iolaus inside and share of his own life force.

As soon as they'd been freed by the departing zombie priests, Morrigan and Nebula had raced to stand behind him. Silent tears now streamed down the Queen's face as she again stared at the reality of a blade buried in her lover's heart. Morrigan was pale, her own heart aching for the man she loved…unable to find the words that could ever ease his pain.

Desperate to know, sick with fear, Hercules raised his head and sought Persephone's gaze knowing she would have the answer to the question that consumed him. "Is he…is he safe?" he whispered hoarsely, his tear-filled eyes begging her to tell him Iolaus' soul hadn't been lost.

Kneeling, she brushed the blond curls away from the now peaceful face and nodded, lifting her head to smile gently at the demigod. "Yes…he's safe."

Hercules' lips trembled as unconscious tears spilled onto his cheeks. Lowering his head, he drew Iolaus' body up against his chest, his chin resting on his friend's curls, shuddering with both profound relief and renewed, anguished, devastating loss. "Why?" he groaned, his voice thick with grief. "Why won't you give him back to me? Hasn't he earned the right to live?"

His voice cracked, his eyes squeezed shut against the memory of what he'd had to do. They could all say what they might want about the fact that this was only a demon he'd killed. But, it had been Iolaus' living heart that had been pierced by the blade he had driven into his best friend's body. Trembling with self-loathing, his gaze shifted to hilt of the weapon rising from the fatal wound. Crying out in inarticulate agony, he was unable to bear the hideous blasphemy of the sight of it. The horror of seeing that the knife he had wielded had cut through the old wound, a savage imitation of the blade thrown by Gilgamesh, devastated him completely, sundering what little purchase he still had upon his sanity.

Cursing, consumed with blinding rage, he violently ripped the knife out of Iolaus' body and threw it away, his arm falling back to cradle his friend's lifeless body again tightly against his chest.

And, finally, he wept uncontrollably, lost in the pain of his deed, with the bitter agony of the loss he'd known since Sumeria.

"Be at peace, Hercules," Persephone whispered softly, wishing she could heal his pain…understanding that no words, however sincerely offered, ever could.

He choked on her words, wretched, enraged, spitting back, "Peace? There is no peace! Only…." But, words failed him. There were no words to describe the agony of loss he felt, would always feel.

Hercules couldn't bear it, not this time, not any longer. The loss was too great…as fresh and raw as those terrible, ugly moments in Sumeria had been…as overwhelming as it had been every moment since. Except this time, his hand had wielded the blade, driving it with all his strength into Iolaus' heart, killing him. Inconsolable, he knew he would never stop grieving, never be whole again. There was nothing anyone could say, not even Iolaus, that would ever heal the gaping wound in his soul.

She sighed as she gently touched his bowed head, then she stood away from him, sincerely wishing that she did have the power to ease that pain, to make right what had been a terrible wrong.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears in her own eyes at the magnitude of such unendurable and unquenchable anguish. "Truly sorry…."

It was not her gift to give.

Atropos and Hades had both decreed…Iolaus was not to be granted another reprieve.

Scarcely having felt her touch, Hercules hugged Iolaus to him, as if he'd never let go…weeping with the misery of a soul that knew itself to be lost and forever lonely, the tears still rolling unchecked down his face. Unaware and uncaring of anything and everything else around him, he let the world drift away. This was his world, shattered beyond repair, his heart ripped into shreds, his soul in twisted tatters. He didn't have the strength to go on anymore. For what? His head bowed over his friend's body, he sank into despair, into a darkness of being that he had no will to struggle against, spiraling into a nothingness from which he'd never return…for he had no desire for anything but oblivion.

Until he felt the cool ephemeral grip of a small, once strong hand on his shoulder, and heard the warm cadences of the voice that had resonated in his soul for almost the whole of his life. The demigod's mind paused in its steady, methodical, unraveling of his sanity as he listened. "It's alright, Hercules," Iolaus consoled him.

When Hercules didn't respond, as if he hadn't heard, Iolaus frowned, feeling a deep flash of anxiety. But for the tears that slipped down his gray face, and the distant low, eerie keening of a lost soul, the demigod might have been carved of stone.

'What the…?' Iolaus thought, anxiety deepening to an icy surge of fear. He raised his voice as he squeezed the demigod's rigid shoulder as hard as he could, calling sharply, "Herc? Do you hear me, buddy? I'm here…you're not alone."

Nothing else could have drawn him back, nothing but that voice and the sharp naked fear that echoed in it. Stunned, like a man in a trance, Hercules lifted his head, confused. Iolaus was dead. How could he hear him now? Dead. Iolaus was dead. Must be going away now…leaving him. But, the voice…had to answer. His gaze locked on the face of the dead man lying in his arms, swallowing hard against the thickness of his throat, he rasped in a bleak, empty voice, "I will be…alone. You're only here…here to say…good-bye…."

Iolaus' eyes narrowed as he searched the ravaged expression of lost helplessness on Hercules' face, and he shook his head as he replied with firm deliberation, "No, Hercules…no. I'm not leaving. I'm staying."

The demigod frowned, trying to understand, trying to make sense of the words. Iolaus was dead. He'd killed him, almost annihilated him. "Staying?" he repeated, confused.

Iolaus dropped to one knee beside his friend, nodding as he answered, "Yeah…staying. As in never going back to the Other Side…that is, if it's alright with you."

Iolaus was staying with him? Not leaving…? The words burst through the numb horror, stripped away the fog of madness. Afraid to believe, but desperate that it be true, a shudder of hope swept through Hercules' body as he lifted tear-blurred eyes and turned to face the man he so longed to see, to hold in his life. Iolaus smiled gently at him and squeezed his shoulder again as he said quietly, reassuringly, "I'm not going to disappear, Herc…I'm not going anywhere."

Blind relief and hope flared in the demigod's eyes, then confusion washed over him again as he looked from the image of the man kneeling beside him, to the body still lying in his arms. "I don't…I don't understand…" he stammered, his grip on sanity still fragile. Looking back at Iolaus, he shook his head, "You're…you can't stay…gods, Iolaus…." But, his voice cracked, unable to continue. Iolaus was dead. The evidence was in his arms. "Hades will take you…bbback…" he finally managed to stammer, the pain of it in his voice and eyes, in the bleak, haggard expression on his face.

"Not this time," Iolaus said quietly, looking up past Hercules toward Persephone and Hades who had just appeared at her side. "Not this time."

Morrigan had gasped when Iolaus had first appeared, believing at first it was the specter of Dahok, then realizing quickly that of course it was the poor spirit of the warrior, come to say good-bye to his friend.

But, his words didn't make sense. What did he mean he wasn't going?

Nebula had heard the gasp, saw and heard Hercules speaking with Iolaus, but she couldn't see warrior's spirit. Not having the power of a god, she could not see a soul that had not manifested to her. But, she felt her heart twist, knowing he was there, and felt grief at not being able to see or touch him. "What's happening?" she murmured, her throat thick with sorrow.

"The spirit of Iolaus says he's not leaving…and Hades, is it? Well, he's just shown up and is standing by a weeping goddess, just over there," Morrigan whispered out of the corner of her mouth, then cut a quick look up at the Queen.

Nebula swallowed and shook her head, trying to take it in, knowing that something profound was happening. Something that did not truly concern them, and that they had no right to be intruding. She knew, better than Morrigan ever could, what these two heroes had meant to one another…and would always mean. She cocked her head back toward the glade where they'd rested earlier. With a quick look back at Hercules, seeing the way he regarded Iolaus, the flare of hope, and the way Iolaus looked at the god, with determined defiance to remain with his partner, Morrigan knew Nebula was right. Whatever was to be resolved here might effect the two of them, but was it was out of their hands. Nodding, she turned and followed Nebula back toward the trees.

Oblivious to the women, or the turmoil they were feeling, turning back to Hercules, Iolaus studied his friend, and realized Hercules was gripping his body as if he was never going to let it go, his knuckles white, his muscles rigid. The flicker of hope was fragile in the certainty of unendurable pain that shadowed the demigod's eyes. Hercules was just staring at him, confused, uncertain, lost in endless misery. With a shaft of fear, Iolaus realized the demigod had almost shut down on them, retreating into some terrible abyss of horror…he been pushed too far and they'd almost lost him! Gently, his voice strong and reassuring, Iolaus said, "You can let the body go, Herc…I'm not in there anymore."

The demigod was dazed, shocked by the horror of the day's events, still numb from having had to wield the knife, still reeling from the terror that even his friend's soul might be lost, and steeped in the despair of having borne unendurable loss for almost a year. He'd have fought, if there'd been a chance, fought Hades, made a bargain…but he had nothing to offer that Hades wanted. There was nothing…nothing he could do…that Iolaus could do. Sick with the realization that his flare of hope had no grounds, that Iolaus was dead, would remain dead, looking down at the body in his arms, Hercules found he was afraid to let go. Afraid that when he did, Iolaus would disappear. "I…can't…don't want…" he choked, shaking his head.

Squeezing Hercules' shoulder more firmly, knowing his grip was but a shadow of a mortal's touch, a compassionate sternness in his voice, Iolaus repeated, "Let it go…I don't need it, and neither do you. It's alright…everything's going to be alright. Trust me Herc."

'Trust me.'

The words echoed in the demigod's mind, words from the one being he had always trusted with his heart and his soul. Nodding a little, shaking with the effort, he laid the body on the ground and sat back on his heels. Afraid, taking a shuddering breath, he looked back at Iolaus and almost collapsed from the relief of seeing that he was still there. Swallowing, he took another shaky breath, pulling himself tentatively back from the brink of madness.

"That's it, easy, it's okay," Iolaus soothed. "You're going to be all right."

Not understanding, clinging to his trust in his best friend, Hercules looked from Iolaus to Hades and back again. "What's…what's going on?" he managed to ask, not sure he was ready for an answer that would shatter what was left of his soul. If Hades took Iolaus now…well, maybe he'd be merciful and take both of them.

Hades had been listening and watching silently, still unsettled by the feelings he'd experienced moments ago. This soul, this single most annoying soul, who caused more trouble than ten thousand souls, had come to represent the distilled essence of life in the god's mind. That infinite moment, when he'd known Iolaus was prepared to let go, to save his life, and when he'd decided that he would risk it all too, to save the courageous and selfless spirit, haunted him. In that moment, when he'd willed Iolaus to live, he'd meant it with every fiber of his being. In meaning it, he'd done something even he didn't understand, because it had never been done before.

He'd barred the gates to the Other Side to this soul.

Iolaus could never return to that realm.

But, nor was he alive in any traditional sense…he was still a spirit, a specter, a disembodied soul.

The God of the Underworld sighed as he struggled with how he was going to make his explanation…this body wouldn't do and he didn't have another one to offer. The body on the ground was beaten and bloodied, used up. If it had been left alone, lived an ordinary life, it might have lasted another fifty or sixty years. But, it had been dead for almost a year, held intact only by a force of unbounded evil…and it was corrupted by that evil. It could not be restored to what it had been, a vital, living man.

Hades knew that…and hearing Iolaus, he wondered if somehow that soul didn't know it, too. 'I don't need it any more…let it go', Iolaus said. Hades hoped he meant it. For once, the god felt at a loss, unsure of what to do, how to resolve this situation. So, still he waited…and watched. When Persephone laid a hand on his arm, turning to him as if to speak, he covered her hand with his own and shook his head, his gaze never wavering from the heroes.

"What's going on?" Hercules repeated, straightening his shoulders, needing an answer.

Iolaus stood and looked around at the beauty of the earth, it's greens and hues of gold and brown, at the sky, infinite in its blue immensity. He could smell the trees, and the clover growing around them in the meadow, feel the soft breath of wind on his face and the warmth of the sun. This was real…not the illusion of perfection in the Elysian Fields…this world was real. Turning back to Hercules, he replied clearly, firmly, "I'm not going back to the Other Side. This…this is what I want. The only 'Elysium' I want to know. I'm staying here."

Hercules both frowned and smiled tentatively at the same time, his expression mirroring the conflicting thoughts that were tumbling in his mind. Turning to Hades, expecting the god to whisk his best friend away, he appealed to his uncle that both he and Iolaus could have their fondest wish…that Iolaus would be allowed to live again. "You can't take him…not now…not after this. You have to restore him to his body…his life."

But, before Hades could reply, Iolaus cut back in, "I don't want it."

"What?" Hercules asked, struggling to focus, to understand.

"The body…I don't want it. I won't return to it," Iolaus replied, an expression of distaste, even disgust, crossing his face as he regarded the white-robed corpse on the ground.

"But…" Hercules tried to argue…how could Iolaus stay if he wouldn't go back into his body? The demigod frowned and shook his head, wondering if this was some kind of dream, or if he really had lost his mind and this was but an illusion of impossible hope. It all seemed fragmented…nothing made sense.

"And I'm not going back to the Other Side," Iolaus emphasized, shifting his gaze to Hades, his voice and eyes hard with stubborn determination, in case Hades didn't believe him.

"Alright," Hades replied mildly, surprising the heroes and his wife, who had all expected an argument. As he gazed at Iolaus, his expression veiled, he wondered if he should tell the warrior soul that he could not return to the Other Side, even if he wanted to…not now, not ever. Sighing, he supposed he was going to have to…though how he'd explain it was beyond him. He really didn't want to admit to anyone that he'd created the dilemma himself, however unintentionally.

"Alright?" Iolaus repeated, then grinned wildly. "ALRIGHT!" he shouted, punching a jubilant fist into the air.

Beginning to really believe that he'd somehow been granted a reprieve, that this was all real, not some delusion born of a broken spirit, Hercules smiled then, too, though not quite as jubilantly, not yet. Iolaus was still a ghost. Turning to Hades, he asked again, just to be sure, "So…this means you'll restore his body to life?"

Once again, before Hades could reply, Iolaus jumped in. "Herc, I told you I'm not going back into that thing!" he stated emphatically with an expression to match.

"'That thing'?" Hercules repeated, his voice rising in anger as he stood finally to face his best friend's ghost. Nobody used that tone about Iolaus…nobody, not even…Iolaus? What in Tartarus was going on? "That 'thing' is your body. A perfectly good body…one you used to be fairly satisfied with," Hercules protested. Shaking his head, trying to understand how Iolaus thought he could stay without his body, afraid his buddy's stubbornness could blow it all apart, he demanded, "Are you crazy? Do you think we can just go to the market and pick out another model? How are you going to stay if you don't have a body?"

"It's not my body, not any more. It's Dahok's body! Herc…I saw what those hands did, murdering innocent people…kids. I heard the lies that mouth told…to Nebula, you…the world, for pity's sake. And, that face…everyone who sees that face will see a monster, a demon of chaos and destruction…exactly what I see when I look at it," Iolaus replied, his voice tight with loathing. "How can I wear that thing again knowing all that, remembering all that? I hate it." He looked away, repulsed by the dead thing lying on the ground at Herc's feet. "I won't do it. I won't go back in there. Ever."

"Iolaus," Hercules began, trying for a reasonable tone, to calm his friend, but his buddy wasn't having any of it.

"NO!" Iolaus cut in, wheeling to face him. "NO! Hercules, do you really want to look at that…see the scar where you plunged in a knife to kill it every time you look at me? No…that body would haunt us worse than any ghost. Burn it."

The demigod shook his head, not sure what to do or say. He understood something of what Iolaus must be feeling, but like it or not, his buddy had to have a body. Biting his lip, he held out a hand for peace, a gesture to ask that he be heard, the silent plea forcing Iolaus to hold his tongue. "Okay…I hear you," Hercules began. "And…I know how hard it would be." When Iolaus' head reared back, and his lips opened to protest, Hercules immediately amended, a pleading tone echoing in his words. Gods, he couldn't lose Iolaus now…not when he'd begun to really believe his friend was not going to leave him. "Okay, I don't know…but Iolaus, spirits can't stay on this plane without a body."

"Sure they can," his friend replied, his voice uncompromising.

"Well, yeah, they can…but after three days, your choices are gone. You'd be trapped here," Hercules reminded him, the need to reason with Iolaus helping him to push his own still lingering horror further away.

"Hello, ghost to demigod, haven't you been listening? You call it being trapped. I call it being free. Listen, I've spent almost a year on the Other Side and I know that it's not where I ever want to be. Don't you understand? Gods, you really are a dumb demigod. Dammit, Herc…I am not going back there, not knowing what that costs yo…" but his voice cracked and he had to look away. Iolaus had heard the pain, the anguish and agony, suffered it along with Hercules for all of the days of the past months. He was not going to put his friend through that again, not going to be helpless to reach out, to be there, to listen, to watch and warn, to help where and when he could. Swallowing, he shook his head, regaining control. "Besides," he concluded, his voice husky, "it's dead dull over there. Nothing ever happens. There's no where to go. Think of it as being stuck in a small remote village…I've visited, seen the sights and don't need to see it again."

Hercules was stricken by his best friend's words. Iolaus was giving up any hope of an afterlife in the Elysian Fields to ease his pain, to make it easier for him. Anguish knifed through him, followed by a profound weariness. He wanted so much to accept, knowing the hopeless, endless emptiness he faced if he didn't, but he couldn't. So, it was hopeless after all. He'd been a fool to hope he'd really be able to have Iolaus back with him. He'd give anything, do anything…anything but cost Iolaus the whole of eternity.

Sighing, Hercules moved to stand beside his friend, to reach out to grip his shoulder, but his hand closed on nothing but a cool bit of air. Startled he pulled his hand back, awkwardly, not realizing he could only touch Iolaus on the Other Side, then shook his head, ignoring the moment for now, to say with heavy sorrow, "Iolaus…I can't tell you what it means that you'd do this for me. I…I'm sorry you had to know what I felt…that it hurt you so badly. But, it's too much, can't you see that? You give me too much."

Iolaus stood with his head down for a moment, his hands on his hips, then looked up, his eyes beseeching, his own voice now sounding lost, "Don't you want me to stay? I mean, I know there's Morrigan…but a few minutes ago, I heard…heard your sorrow. I thought you wanted me…"

"Of course, I want you back! Gods, I told you I'd do anything to get you back!" Hercules exclaimed, cut to the heart by the look in his friend's eyes, by the broken sound of his voice. "But…not at this cost to you. That's not fair to you. I can't ask that!"

Iolaus' face cleared as if the sun had come out and he smiled. "Well, then, there's no problem. I don't want to stay just for you, Herc…I want to stay for me, too," he replied. Then, sobering, looking away over the horizon, he continued more softly, "I felt every bit as lonely and lost…as helpless, as you did. I hated it there. Hated being trapped. You know I can't stand being in a place I can't get out of. It's not that it's a bad place…it just isn't here…isn't with you. This is where I want to be."

Hercules gazed down at his friend, a thoughtful, troubled look on his face, wishing he could touch him, his eyes full of feelings his throat was too tight to express. Uncertain, he turned back to Hades to ask, "And this is really alright with you? You're not going to just zap him away?"

Sighing, Hades moved forward to join them, leaving Persephone to watch with a puzzled frown, wondering why her husband was being so agreeable to giving up one of the souls he guarded so jealously.

Stepping away from Persephone, smoothing his hair with the flat of his hand as he moved forward to join them, Hades studied them both for a moment, then replied in the tone of one making a solemn judgment, "Iolaus has earned the right to this decision. He clearly understands that it means that he gives up the right to return to the Other Side within three days and remain on this plane forever. Accordingly," he continued, facing Iolaus, "from this day forward, the Gates to Elysium are barred to you."

"Thanks," Iolaus grinned cheekily, actually quite delighted. Hades gave him a thin smile, a nod and turned to go, relieved. No one need ever know that he'd broken through his cynical, cold heart to the extent that he'd unleashed a power even he had been unaware of…a call to life so profound that the individual concerned could never again walk the halls of death. It wouldn't do his image any good… and the next thing you knew, everyone would be hounding him to make them immortal. He really didn't need that kind of aggravation, so he was more than content to allow it all seem to be Iolaus' own decision.

But, he paused when Iolaus reached out to grip his arm. "Hades," he said, his voice full, his eyes burning with a gratitude Iolaus knew mere words could never convey, though they needed to be said. "I'd have been lost without your help, I know that. I have a forever that is worth experiencing because you saved me from oblivion by fighting Dahok for possession of my soul. I will never be able to thank you enough for that…or for what you almost…."

But, Hades cut him off at that point. With a quick look back over his shoulder at Persephone and a glance at Hercules, he hastily laid a hand on Iolaus' shoulder, interjecting, "No need for thanks, Iolaus. Hercules here asked me to help, if I could…and you deserved it. You deserved all of what I did in there. So, let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

Iolaus studied the god and though he didn't understand, he nodded and murmured again, "Thanks."

Watching, Hercules frowned as he wondered aloud, "How come you can touch him and I can't?"

"Perks of being a god, Hercules," Hades smirked, turning away to rejoin Persephone. Turning back to face them, he said, "I'd tell you both to stay out of trouble, but I'd be wasting my breath." With a sigh and sly smile, he added, "At least now I don't ever have to worry any more about putting up with a soul who is far more trouble than he's worth…I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet!" With a nod of his head to Iolaus, his eyes sparkling with a rare mirth, Hades took his wife by the arm and they vanished from sight.

Hercules turned back to Iolaus, a tentative smile playing on his lips, the shadows in his eyes retreating as he finally dared to accept that the miracle being offered, as he murmured, "So…you're back."

"Yep, such as I am, I'm back," Iolaus nodded with a grin.

"Iolaus…I'll take you any way I can get you…" Hercules replied, his voice tight, his eyes glistening in the sun. "I missed you," he murmured, the whole of his suffering for the past year in his look and voice, then the demigod cleared his throat, grinning a little lopsidedly as he continued, "And, like Hades…at least now, I don't have to worry about you getting killed again!"

A peal of laughter rang out across the meadow, as Iolaus replied, "No…that's one thing you won't have to worry about anymore."

Hercules looked back at the body that had walked beside him most of his life, saved his life more times than he could remember. Iolaus might see Dahok, and so might the rest of the world, but he only saw a loyal friend and he felt a pull on his heart, a tightness in his chest. "And…uh…you're sure about the body…not wanting it?"

"Oh yeah, trust me, I'm very sure," Iolaus replied. "I know it won't be the same but we'll work things out."

"Yeah…we'll work things out," the demigod echoed turning back to Iolaus, desperately glad to even have the chance to try.

Morrigan had been watching from the edge of the trees and had told Nebula the two gods had vanished, leaving Iolaus standing with Hercules. Curious, they advanced tentatively, hoping that their presence wouldn't be an intrusion.

Looking past Iolaus' shoulder, Hercules saw them coming. He hesitated a moment, not really feeling up to facing what had to come next, then waved them forward. "I guess this is where we start working things out," he murmured with a quick glance at Iolaus. "Nebula and Morrigan are about to join us. I think Morrigan may be able to see and hear you, she's also half god, but Nebula won't."

"Right," Iolaus replied, turning to face the women.

* * *

The three deities lounged in the comfortable ambience of Hades' private chambers, sipping at golden chalices of nectar-laced ambrosia.

"You surprised me," Hades observed. "I'd never have expected help from you."

The god shrugged under the scrutiny, more than a little surprised at himself. Drawling as if bored by the conversation, he replied, "Yeah, well, he was just so damned noble, you know? And Dahok was scum…invading our turf, daring to threaten that he'd go after us next. I decided that I'd be damned if I'd let him have even the sorry satisfaction of taking the runt with him. I just reacted…what can I say?"

"Uh huh," mused Hades, not really buying it…so he let the silence build. That might have been part of the reason, but he doubted it was all of it.

Made restless by Hades' steady scrutiny, the god rose and paced over to the sideboard to pour more of the libation into his goblet. When he turned, the others were still staring at him. "What?" he demanded.

"What's the rest of the story?" Hades inquired mildly, lifting a brow…and waiting. The third deity hid a smile in his goblet.

"The rest of the story?" the god rolled his eyes, and paced back to his chair, sitting in it with his elbows on his knees, his goblet held loosely in his hands. "Well…it was pretty clear that you'd decided to hold on regardless of the consequences. And, that's fine…wouldn't worry me a bit if you'd slipped into that vortex. Except, well, somebody's got to look after the place down here, keep the Elysian Fields in good repair, you know, for the souls who earn the right…." Clearing his throat, he decided this was getting out of hand and he was beginning to sound a like a sentimental fool, worrying about the souls of vanquished warriors. And, if he wasn't careful, Hades would realize his nephew had also found the unexpected nobility of the god's soul irresistible, in the moment when Hades committed himself to Iolaus, heedless of the possible cost, compelling Ares to intervene. Assuming a certain glowering air, he added, "And I figured this guy," nodding at Zeus, with a dramatic shudder, "would likely have stuck me with the job. So to protect myself, you understand, I figured I'd better save your sorry butt." He sat back with a satisfied look that said very clearly, 'And you owe me big time!'

The two older gods laughed out loud, Zeus shaking his head as he jeered, "Ares, you are such a fraud. You did this so that the souls of your soldiers would be taken care of properly…you figure you owe them that. It's that 'code of honour' thing that you rate so highly. And, maybe, just maybe, because it meant saving your uncle's life…keeping two noble souls from the vortex…souls you deemed worthy of rescue."

Hades smiled thinly as he teased sardonically, "What would people think of the big bad God of War actually caring for the souls of the fallen brave? But, don't worry, kid…the fact that you're a big softy is safe with us."

Ares looked like he might very well explode. "I'm a softy?" he growled in exclamation, greatly offended. "You're the one who was about to give up everything for that runt! What is it with that guy?"

"You know the answer to that as well as I do," Hades challenged back, all trace of humour gone. "Maybe even better…he's always been one of yours. But…in any case, I find myself in the unusual position of having to thank you. You saved us both in there. He knows it. I know it. You know it. Thank you, nephew. I do owe you a big one."

"Well, so long as that's clear," Ares allowed, settling back and looking greatly satisfied as he began to consider how he might one day collect on the debt. But, then he scowled again as he added, "He knows some god showed up to help…he doesn't know which one. If either of you ever tell the little runt or that goody two boots sorry excuse for a demigod, I'll deny every word. I know he's your favourite, Zeus, but I have to say we just don't get along. The last thing I want is them figuring that I'm the least bit interested in their affairs, except in so far as they conflict with mine."

Zeus chuckled again, unperturbed by his son's glowering expression, as he replied, "Well, yes, I've made no secret of my preferences, but today, I must admit, I might have to reconsider." Lifting his goblet in a salute to Ares, he continued, "You did good today, kid, arriving in the nick of time. Real good. I'm proud of you, son."

"Like that's supposed to impress me?" Ares replied, rolling his eyes, snorting with disdain. Briefly, though his eyes glinted sardonically, both amused and pleased in spite of himself, but then he hid his pleasure again as he taunted Hades with a wicked grin. "So…what are you going to do about this guy wandering around as a spirit? You know it'll drive them crazy and Hercules will be after you to do something about getting him a body again. Mortals and demigods…they have no sense of the bigger picture, no clue as to how the future will play out. The trouble they get into? Goldilocks will come apart with guilt the first time he can't actually step in and fight beside the muscle man. And Hercules? When he realizes how his little buddy can't enjoy all the good things in life anymore? You wait…he'll be yelling for intervention in no time."

Hades shrugged. "Not my problem," he stated flatly, sipping from his goblet. He was not going to confess that he had indeed created this situation and leave himself open to demands to do something similar for one favourite or another of these two reprobates. The secret was his alone and he knew the value of discretion.

Zeus sighed. Ares was right. It was only a matter of time. Shaking his head, he answered thoughtfully, "I'll have to think of something, I suppose. You've seen what Hercules was like this past year, moping around, inconsolable…well, it wore on me…I thought it would never end! Frankly, I don't think I can stand much more if he starts up with the guilt and fixates on the cost to Iolaus, regardless of what that spunky little warrior says. I suppose I'll have to figure out how to make him fully mortal again. Though, not for nothing…Hercules will have to earn it."

Hades nearly choked. Mortal wasn't nearly good enough…mortal could die and then his secret would be out. Affecting a stern demeanor, he turned to Zeus, "Well, you'd better come up with something good. Iolaus made his choice and I have accepted it. He is barred from my realm. An ordinary return to mortal life won't be good enough…keep that in mind."

"Hmm," Zeus mused as if thinking about it, but he leveled a meaningful look at his brother, gazing deep into the god's eyes. The message was clear…if Zeus needed help with this, he expected his brother to make himself useful. The God of the Underworld swallowed and looked down into his goblet. Hades had just realized that he might have thought he had a secret…but Zeus clearly knew what it was. Shrugging, he took another sip from his goblet.

He supposed a certain omnipotence was one of the perks of being the King of the Gods.