"They're right behind us!" Autolycus yelled, trying to run and drag the other man along with him at the same time. "Can't you move any faster?" he demanded.

"I'm...trying...!" Joxer gasped out, struggling to keep up with the fast pace.

"All that junk you're wearing is slowing us down!"

"Armor! It's...armor!" he insisted breathlessly.

"I don't care *what* it is; it's gonna get us killed!" Autolycus snapped. "Gods! Why'd I ever let Xena talk me into babysitting you? I swear, once we get out of this, I'm not letting you anywhere near me again!"

For a few seconds Joxer looked absolutely crushed and Autolycus almost felt bad about his declaration, but then the young man stumbled. When he got his footing back his expression had changed. He now appeared utterly confused. Still running, Joxer looked around like he didn't have a clue what was happening. Then his gaze settled on the thief and no recognition shown there. Before Autolycus could question it, Joxer, his attention not focused on where he put his feet down, stumbled again. This time he went down, pulling the thief with him.

"You clumsy little...!" Autolycus couldn't think of anything bad enough to call him. Knowing it was already too late to escape, he pushed himself up and glared at the young man who just sat there looking around in bewilderment.

"How can *anyone* be such a screw-up?" Autolycus demanded.

"W-Who, me?" Joxer frowned at him.

"Yes, you! You see anyone else here?"

As if to answer his question, they were abruptly surrounded by half a dozen extremely big guards with very sharp swords who didn't look all that happy.

"Do you know what we do with thieves here?" one of the men, apparently the captain or something, asked rhetorically. "We cut off your hands -- *if* you're lucky!"

"How civilized of you," Autolycus muttered sarcastically, throwing his companion a dark glance.

Joxer didn't respond to that. He looked from Autolycus to the guards around them in shock. Then he swallowed hard. "O-Oh boy."

-------

//Since I started leaping through time, I've landed in some strange places, and even stranger situations -- but being escorted to an actual dungeon by men with swords and spears, pretty much tops them all.//

//It's not a movie set, I'm sure of that, and this is all too real to be a bunch of men playing "Dungeons and Dragons" for the weekend. That only leaves me with one other possibility. I've leapt into some time period in the distant past. But where exactly? And how did this happen?//

Sam put up no resistance as one of the guards shackled his wrists to the dungeon wall. Until he could figure out what was going on, he thought his best bet lay in just playing along. As always after a leap, he had gaps in his memory he couldn't fill, but already he could distinguish his memories from those of the man he'd leapt into. Not that it helped him. He knew they'd start to sort themselves out eventually, but at the moment they were too jumbled to make any sense of.

"Where are you, Al?" he muttered to himself. The shackles on his wrists and ankles were secured, and now the guard worked on the other prisoner, restraining him in the same manner, next to Sam.

"You'll be tried in the morning," said one of the other guards. He appeared to be in charge, maybe a captain or something. "Since we saw you trying to steal the jewels, it'll be a short trial. Maybe you'll be executed, maybe you'll just lose your hands -- either way, it'll be good entertainment for us." The man smirked. "Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks, but I won't be staying long," the other prisoner said pleasantly with a touch of sarcasm.

The captain snorted dismissively and left the dungeon, followed closely by the other guards. The sound of the door being bolted behind them echoed through the large chamber.

Sam didn't know what to do or say. The only source of information available was the green-clad man shackled next to him, but the man had been glaring at him constantly. He wondered if he -- or rather, the man he'd leapt into -- was responsible for their current situation.

"Too simple."

Distracted from his thoughts, Sam was surprised to see the other man standing away from the wall, free of his shackles and rubbing the circulation back into his wrists. "How did you do that?"

The dark-haired man looked at him with obvious impatience and maybe just a touch of disgust. "What'd you expect? After all, I *am* the King of Thieves." As he spoke, he smoothed out his mustache, then straightened his clothes -- which appeared to be made partially out of leather.

The King of Thieves? It sounded familiar, but Sam suspected it was a familiar term to the man he'd leapt into, not to him. "So, you're getting us out of here?" he asked hesitantly, unsure of how things stood.

The other man chuckled in disbelief. "Us? Hey, this is all your fault, you can get yourself out." With a shrug of unconcern, he turned and started towards the door.

It sounded like things were as bad as Sam suspected, maybe worse. But he couldn't let the man leave him here, not when he still didn't know what was going on. Suddenly a memory surfaced -- not one of his own.

"Auto!" he called after the other man.

"Forget it!" the thief called back as he examined the door.

"You can't leave me here!" Sam protested.

"Watch me."

He had to find a way. There had to be something that would convince this "King of Thieves" to free him. But what could -- this memory couldn't be his either. He was sure he would've remembered meeting a tall, intimidating woman in leather. "Xena," he said the strange name aloud.

"Damn!" The other man turned away from the door. "I'd be doing the world a favor if I left you here, but I guess she wouldn't see it that way."

"Um, no, she wouldn't," Sam agreed, wondering just who Xena was and what she had to do with all this.

Cursing under his breath, the thief walked back over to him, and working too fast for the other man to follow, had the shackles open in seconds.

"Thanks...Auto." These names were so different. And there were more in his borrowed memory: Iolaus, Jett, Gabby -- where *was* he?

"Whatever," the man grumbled. "Just stay behind me and don't touch *anything*! If you get caught again, I'm leaving you here!"

Sam just nodded, not knowing what else to say. He could only watch as the thief proceeded to open the dungeon door. Considering that the bolt was on the other side, it really was impressive to see.

"You know, I've always wished I could do that."

The familiar voice near his ear still surprised Sam, making him jump a bit. "Al!" he hissed accusingly at his friend.

"What?" the older man asked innocently. "Come on, Sam. This is Autolycus, the King of Thieves!" He motioned to the thief. "I read about him in mythology class -- at least I think I did. I was asleep most of the time so maybe I read it somewhere else." Al moved around to the other side of Autolycus, craning his neck to watch what the thief did. "I could've used a skill like that when I was younger. Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to sneak into the girls' dorm --"

"Not now, Al!" Sam cut him off impatiently.

"Is there someone else here, or are you just talking to yourself?" Autolycus glared at him again.

"Uh, just...talking to myself?" Sam tried with a smile.

"You got hit in the head one too many times," the other man said with a shake of his head, then he pushed the door open.

"Go with him, Sam. I'll find you outside." The door to the Imaging Chamber opened behind Al and he stepped through.

Sam followed the thief out of the dungeon, staying close as he'd been instructed. Autolycus apparently knew exactly what he was doing. In less than a minute he'd brought them to an open window without ever encountering a guard.

"How do you know where you're going?" Sam had to ask.

The thief looked at him like he was crazy. "Hello, idiot! We cased this place for two days."

"Oh. Well, I don't remember everything." That was certainly the truth. He'd gotten the impression that the man he'd leapt into wasn't the smartest one around, so hopefully his answer sounded in character.

"Now there's a surprise," Autolycus responded sarcastically. "Come on, we're outta here." He pulled himself up and through the window. "Try not to let that scrap metal you're wearing make *too* much noise," he called back quietly.

Sam had wondered what kind of clothes these were. It felt like a combination of cloth, leather and metal. Looking at it now, he knew he'd never seen anything like it before, but the thief had a point, it looked like scrap metal. Something pieced together, but for what purpose?

"Okay, okay! It's armor! Now let's go!" Autolycus hissed at him.

Armor? This leap got stranger all the time. Sam could tell they didn't have time for questions though, so he took the hand the thief offered him and let Autolycus help him up through the window.

"Now what?" he asked when they were standing outside what appeared to be a fortress or something similar anyway.

Instead of replying verbally, the thief grabbed him by the arm and began running. Well, that was a simple answer. Night had fallen and he could barely see anything, but again Autolycus seemed to know exactly where they were going. Sam stumbled numerous times but the other man just continued to pull him along. When they finally stopped, Sam felt ready to drop, but from what he could hear, the thief wasn't even breathing hard. Of course, being the King of Thieves, Autolycus probably had a lot of practice at running.

"We should be okay here," the thief said quietly, releasing his grip on the other man.

"I can't see a thing," Sam observed, trying to make out *anything* and having no success.

"The trees are blocking the moonlight, but we can risk a small fire. Stay here, I'll get some wood."

Not questioning the sudden impulse, Sam reached out towards the voice and grabbed hold of the first thing he encountered. It felt like a hand. "You're, um, not just leaving me here, are you?"

"Don't tempt me," the thief almost snarled in annoyance, yanking his hand back.

A few minutes later Autolycus had a fire going. Just big enough to provide some warmth in the growing chill of the night, it also gave them something to see by.

"I *had* some food," the thief said, sitting back on his heels and giving the other man a decidedly unfriendly look, "but since the guards took everything they could easily find on me, I guess we're going hungry tonight."

Sam couldn't say anything to that. He just sat down on the other side of the fire and didn't look at the thief. His borrowed memory told him that's what the man he'd leapt into would've done.

"I've been planning that job for nearly two weeks, and *you* screwed it all up!" Autolycus accused. "I've had enough! The next town we come to, I'm leaving you there!" With that, the thief stretched out on the ground near the fire. He spent minute or two trying to get comfortable, grumbling about "roughing it", then he closed his eyes and appeared to relax some.

Sam watched without comment. So far he'd managed to figure out that he'd leapt into a man who seemed to have a talent for making mistakes. Some of those were surfacing in his fragmented memory. Images of places and people he'd never known, and how they'd been so disappointed in him.

The door to the Imaging Chamber opened on the other side of the fire, near where Autolycus lay. Al stepped through, his attention focused on his handlink. "You're not gonna believe this, Sam," he said as the door closed behind him. "This is the strangest thing. Now, we haven't got it all figured out yet, but Ziggy's working on a theory and we should know something soon." Looking up from the handlink, he glanced around the campsite. "This is totally amazing," he said in awe.

"Just tell me what's going on, Al!"

"Oh, right." He turned his attention back to the handlink. "Your name is Joxer. He's in his late twenties, early thirties -- we can't get an exact age -- and he's a...well, actually, we're not really sure what he is. Anyway, the really amazing part is where you've leaped into."

"The Twilight Zone?" Sam guessed with a touch of sarcasm, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't disturb Autolycus.

"No, I'm serious here! This is even better than when you leapt into your great-grandfather." Al walked through the fire without seeming to notice it, making his friend wince. As many times as Sam saw something like that, he still couldn't get used to it. "You're in Greece, Sam."

"Greece?"

"Yes!" Al said excitedly. "Now, Ziggy can't get an exact fix on the date, but Caesar is emperor of Rome, so she's saying that it has to be somewhere in the last half of the first century, B.C."

"What!" Sam hissed, barely remembering to keep his voice down. "Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that I've leapt back in time to *ancient Greece*?"

"Yeah. We're not sure how it happened, but Gooshie has a theory about that. He thinks that the man you've leapt into has to be one of your ancestors. That's how it was possible the last time. He thinks -- are you listening to me?"

"Uh-huh," Sam responded distractedly. Ancient Greece? This didn't make any sense. Even if this Joxer turned out to be some distant relation, the connection had to be so tenuous...it just didn't make any sense.

"We're still trying to come up with more data on Joxer," Al continued.

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Well, right now he's huddled in a corner of the Imaging Chamber babbling in ancient Greek." He sighed in frustration. "Ziggy's translating for us. The guy thinks he's on Olympus and we're all gods." Al snorted in amusement. "Too frightened to listen to reason."

"Um, Al? I'm speaking English," Sam pointed out in confusion.

"No. Actually...you're not." The other man punched a few buttons on the handlink and looked over the results. "It's a bit confusing and we're still not sure how it happened, but you're speaking Greek. Ziggy's got it worked out so I hear you in English. It's almost surreal, Sam," Al said reflectively, looking down at his friend. "It's kind of like being 'inside' one of those old kung fu movies. You know, the ones that were dubbed, so the lips weren't in sync with the dialogue?"

Sam nodded. Watching the other man speak, he noticed the same effect. "So, why am I here?"

"We don't know that yet," Al replied apologetically. "Ziggy's working on it though. She said something about needing to research some sort of scrolls." He shrugged. "But until we find out, you'd better stick with the King of Thieves there. This isn't exactly the most peaceful time in history. You don't wanna get caught in some war or something."

"Autolycus doesn't like me," Sam pointed out. "How can I--"

"That's not true."

The quiet voice drew both mens' attention to the thief who now sat up.

"I...didn't mean to wake you up," Sam apologized hesitantly. "I just need to talk to myself sometimes." He hoped that worked as an explanation.

"It's okay. I, well, I do it too, sometimes," Autolycus admitted, brushing his dark hair back from his forehead. Then he stood and walked around the fire to where the other man sat. "Look, Joxer; I was really upset earlier," he explained as he sat down next to Sam. "I didn't mean some of the things I said."

"Looks like you can work this out," Al said as the door opened behind him. "I'm gonna go and see what Gooshie's come up with. I'll check back later." He stepped through and the door disappeared.

"I know you don't mean to screw up," Autolycus was saying. "It's not your fault. I just...I get angry and I don't think about what I say. It doesn't mean I don't like you. I do. Okay?" He looked so uncomfortable as he spoke, like he didn't want to talk about this.

"Okay." Sam nodded, smiling a bit. Al had a point. He didn't know anything about where he'd leapt into, or why, and he needed to stay with the thief until he figured that out. He had to keep on the man's good side. "So, are you still going to leave me at the next town?"

"Guess not. But only if you promise not to interfere with any more of my robberies."

"Sure, Auto."

"Good. Remember that and we'll get along fine, kid." Autolycus smiled back at him and dropped an arm around the man's shoulders.

"Kid?" Sam's eyebrows went up.

"Well you're a lot younger than me." The thief chuckled.

Joxer may have been younger, but Sam guessed that he and the other man were roughly the same age.

"Let's try to get some sleep. I wanna start out early in the morning," Autolycus said as he released the other man and moved to put out the small fire before laying down.

After a moment's hesitation, Sam lay down next to him. Immediately he saw the advantage of lying close to someone. Lying close to each other, they could share their body heat. It made things more comfortable.

-------

The sound of birds chirping woke him. At first he couldn't remember much and he felt too comfortable to want to move anyway. Then the sensation of arms around him awakened his curiosity. He'd gotten used to finding himself in awkward situations when he leaped into another body, but he knew he hadn't just landed in this particular one. So why didn't he remember going to bed with someone?

His memory still full of holes, he nevertheless tried to remember what he'd done before going to bed -- on the ground. That brought a frown to his face, and stirred up a recollection of the strange events of last night. Dungeon, escape, Ancient Greece -- and the King of Thieves. Well, that explained just who had a hold of him here, but not why.

"Um, Autolycus?"

No response. Okay, he could deal with this. Sam tried to pull out of the other man's grasp with no success. The guy had a firm grip, and he slept pretty deeply.

"Auto," he said with more volume, nudging his elbow back into the man's chest. Finally he got a reply, sort of.

"What'samatter?" the thief muttered near his ear.

"You're holding me," Sam pointed out.

"S'okay, babe," the arms tightened more, "y'r husband won't know 'bout it."

That did it. This time he shoved his elbow back hard.

"Hey!" Suddenly awake, Autolycus let go and pulled back, rubbing his chest. "What's your problem?" He glared at the other man.

"Nothing, *babe*. Want to check and see if my 'husband' is back yet?" Sam returned the glare with uncharacteristic petulance. It took a moment for him to realize that the personality of the man he'd leapt into, Joxer, just put in an appearance.

The thief frowned, then looked thoughtful for a few seconds before understanding entered his expression. He chuckled with amusement. "Right. Sorry 'bout that, Joxer. It's just, well, you know how it is," he hesitated, looking at the other man speculatively, "then again, maybe not. Anyway, you wake up in enough strange beds--"

"With enough strange wives," Sam put in with a slight grin.

That speculative look again, then a slow nod. "Yeah, sometimes. Look, why don't I go get breakfast, huh?"

"Okay, Auto." Eager to drop the strange conversation, Sam got to his feet at the same time as the other man. Watching as Autolycus walked off into the trees, he worked at stretching muscles stiff from sleeping on the ground. The thief returned a short while later, before the other man could start to worry too much about whether or not he'd been abandoned. Breakfast consisted of a few questionable looking berries and Autolycus' excuse of "Hey, what do I know about nature?" So they set off for the next town on an empty stomach.

They occupied the rest of the morning with talk about what they'd do when they reached the town, or at least Sam let his companion talk about it. He figured that just listening might get him some information on what brought him here. Of course if Al would show up that would help to, but he couldn't do anything about that but wait.

"A bed," the thief commented. "That's what I really want. A nice, big, soft bed. Clean, crisp covers, room enough for me and at least two other people to stretch out on. Oh, and food. Have to have that. I think I'll start with a roast duck."

Sam couldn't help grinning. This "King of Thieves" had to be one of the more...unique people he'd met and he had no doubt the man would get everything he wanted, and probably wouldn't spend a dime -- or whatever currency they used here -- to obtain it.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want when we get there?"

"Um, well, I can't afford anything." The guards had taken Joxer's money and weapons before tossing them into the dungeon, so Sam had no means of purchasing items.

"Forget about it. I'll take care of it," Autolycus promised.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure." The thief draped an arm casually over his shoulders. "So whaddya want, kid?"

For a moment Joxer's personality asserted itself and Sam couldn't help the goofy yet grateful smile that came to his face. "That's real nice of you, Auto, I mean, after last night and everything."

"I told you that wasn't your fault," the thief reminded him.

Nodding, Sam dropped the subject and thought about what he'd appreciate the most once they reached civilization. "A bath," he decided.

"A bath?" Autolycus snorted. "Hades, I was planning on tossing you in one anyway. The Gods know you need it. What else?"

"Yeah, and you smell like a pile of roses yourself," the other man retorted under his breath.

"I heard that." The thief smirked. "So give, what else do you want?"

"Different clothes." Sam didn't know where that came from, but he felt that Joxer wanted it.

Autolycus frowned at him. "Why? What's wrong with yours?"

"You don't like them." What the hell. Joxer seemed to want to take over so Sam let him for the moment, examining this strange personality that tried to merge with his. "You said all that stuff about my armor last night and I guess you're right, so maybe I just need to get rid of it." The sheer depth of insecurity Joxer had made Sam wonder what happened in this man's past to make him like this.

"Joxer," the thief stopped, pulling the other man to a halt beside him. "Look," he said seriously, "what I think isn't what matters. You like that stuff so keep it. If you want I'll even have it polished or something for you. Okay?"

Sam nodded. The words comforted Joxer's personality as well. "Then, I just want a bath, and something to eat."

"No problem." Grinning, Autolycus pulled him along again.

The sense of almost comaraderie persisted between them even after they reached the town late that afternoon. It turned out to be a fair sized place at least. Plenty of places to get lost in which seemed to make the thief happy enough.

Autolycus steered them towards the most crowded place he could find, instructed Sam to wait beside a building for him, then disappeared into the crowd. He reemerged a scant few minutes later looking very pleased with himself. "We're in business," he said quietly as he reached the other man. "Let's find a nice place to hide out for a couple days."

"You just stole money from someone, didn't you?" Sam regretted the words as soon as he spoke them. He objected to theft but apparently Joxer didn't, not if he traveled with the thief. Protesting now would sound very strange.

"A lot of someones. Why?"

"No reason, just hoping no one saw you." He shrugged. It sounded like a bad excuse but hopefully the thief would expect something like that from Joxer.

"Of course no one saw me. I *am* the King of Thieves," Autolycus pointed out.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a smile. "So where are we staying?"

"Come on." The thief didn't answer, just took hold of the other man's arm and pulled him along yet again. Sam didn't much care for this being dragged around bit, but Autolycus obviously liked to be in control so protesting would only cause an argument.

They ended up at an inn that seemed rather nice, at least he thought so. He didn't really know how good inns should look in Ancient Greece. This one had floors and they were relatively clean. The patrons in the tavern on the first floor seemed a decent sort, nothing rough looking about them.

"This is nice," Sam commented as they found a seat at one of the tables and waited for a tavernmaid to notice them.

"It's okay," Autolycus replied disinterestedly. "There's better ones in town but we have to keep a low profile."

"Oh." Deciding not to get into that subject, Sam looked around the half empty tavern, studying the people.

Things certainly were less clean and bright than what his own century looked like, but it didn't seem too primitive either. In some respects things here were even better than in his great-grandfather's time. At least here some of the basic concepts of medicine were in use, like hygiene.

But the place felt so completely foreign to him. He didn't really have the background to live as Joxer, even for a few days. He didn't think he could learn what he needed to know fast enough either. There were just too many ways to slip up. He'd managed so far because he'd let Autolycus do most of the talking and because he hadn't had to interact with others. But now they were in a populated area and he couldn't avoid it for long. He just had to hope, and maybe pray, that he didn't do something that ruined Joxer's life.

The dimly lit tavern became momentarily brightened by the light from the imaging chamber as it opened and Al stepped through. Cigar in hand, he glanced around the room with raised eyebrows.

"Gives a new meaning to 'atmosphere'," he muttered to himself sarcastically. Then a tavernmaid passed close by, bodice low cut, revealing ample cleavage. "Hello." Smiling, he started to follow her.

"Al!" Sam called out.

"Yeah, all right," he called back reluctantly. Looking longingly after the woman, the hologram started back towards the table his friend sat at, passing through more than one person on his way.

"See someone you know?"

The question got Sam's attention and he realized his mistake, but it also gave him a way out. "Um, I think so," he said to the thief beside him. "Look, order for me, okay? I want to go check and see if it's who I think it is."

"Sure." Autolycus shrugged.

Getting up, Sam caught Al's gaze and nodded towards the door, then headed that way. Once outside, he stopped and waited. A few seconds later the hologram walked through the nearby wall.

"Where have you been?" Sam demanded quietly, mindful of the people still going in and out of the tavern.

"Sorry, we're having some trouble with Joxer. He's finally convinced that he's not on Olympus, but now he thinks he's dead and in Tartarus." Al shook his head. "He keeps trying to run away, Sam, but he never gets more than half way across the room before he trips over his own feet and knocks himself out. Gooshie can't figure out what his problem is."

"That's not good," the other man agreed, trying to keep calm so he didn't look like a crazy man, screaming at thin air, "but did you figure out how and why I'm here?"

With a sigh, the hologram began punching buttons on his hand link. "Ziggy hasn't come up with anything on the how, but she thinks she's figured out the why."

"Well?" Sam prompted when his friend didn't say anything more.

"It's about Autolycus, the King of Thieves," Al announced seriously. "She's pretty sure about that, but the rest is kind of...fuzzy. According to history he died this year, Ziggy says it'll be sometime in the next few days."

Sam gasped, taken by surprise by the fear that shot through him.

"You okay?" the other man asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Al," he assured his friend, ignoring the strange looks he received from passerby's. "It's not me, it's Joxer. Auto means a lot to him. They're friends."

"Yeah," the hologram nodded in understanding, smiling slightly at him.

Sam took a deep breath, pushing Joxer's personality back, trying to concentrate on his own emotions and thoughts. "So, is that what I'm here to stop?"

"Ziggy says there's a ninety percent chance of it," Al agreed, "but she doesn't have any information on how he died."

"It could have something to do with what he does. He may be the 'King of Thieves', but he'll still be punished as a common criminal if he's caught. We've seen that already."

"True. I'll have her check into any famous thefts that were recorded around this time. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Okay. I have to get back before Auto comes looking for me. I'll try to keep an eye on him from now on."

"I'll see if Gooshie can't get Ziggy to speed up the search. Watch your back around here, huh, Sam? It's weird." Al looked around and shook his head in disbelief. "How'd they ever live without central air?" he muttered as the door to the imaging chamber opened.

Sam heard his friend leave as he went back into the inn. Autolycus still sat at the table but now two mugs of ale were there as well.

"Beginning to wonder if you were coming back," the thief said casually, sipping at his ale as the other man sat down. "Did you find your friend?"

"Yeah, but he had to go," Sam replied, picking up his own ale and taking a drink. He almost choked on the strong brew. He couldn't recall the last time he'd had something that strong. Putting it down, he sat back and waited for whatever his companion had ordered.

Dinner proved to be good enough. Well cooked and tasteful at least. Conversation stayed to a minimum which suited Sam just fine. He needed to think about this situation and observe what he could. Or at least he tried to. He had trouble concentrating with Autolycus watching him so closely.

"Something wrong?" he finally asked halfway through the meal, worried that he'd done something too far out of character for Joxer.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," the thief replied thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Ignorance seemed the best way to go.

"Forget it," the other man smiled slightly. "Stay here, okay? I'm gonna go take care of a room."

Sam watched him as he got up and went to find the innkeeper, going back to eating when the thief vanished from sight. Autolycus could be so friendly one minute, and totally aloof the next. A strange man, but a likable one too. No doubt he'd be mourned if he died so young. Although, when he thought about it he supposed the thief really had made it to old age for this time period. That didn't mean he could let Autolycus die though. No, he'd do what he could to stop that.

"I got us a good deal."

The voice and the hand on his shoulder startled Sam, but he smiled as the thief sat back down. "That was quick," he commented.

"I'm good," the other man shrugged with one of his self-satisfied smiles, his hand remaining on his companion's shoulder. "They'll have a bath waiting when we get up there. You can go first."

"Um, thanks." Sam smiled back, then went back to his meal.

"No problem." The thief dropped his hand and returned to his own dinner.

The room turned out to be nice. Two windows providing a good cross breeze, clean and a large, comfortable bed just like Autolycus had wanted. "So...," Sam looked around, "where am I sleeping?"

"Here." The thief gave him a strange look as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Oh, right." Sharing a bad wouldn't be unusual here. It saved money and provided heat in the cool nights. He'd just have to get used to it. Of course the warm bath sitting on the floor in front of the bed pretty much took Sam's mind off everything else. "That looks wonderful," he said, starting to pull off Joxer's strange armor, then he stopped, frowning at the other man. "Are you sure you don't want to go first?"

"Nah, you go ahead," Autolycus replied, stretching out on the bed.

Smiling gratefully, Sam finished taking off the armor, then went to work on the clothing beneath it. Finally naked, he stepped into the warm water and with a happy sigh, slowly sat down, letting it relax him. "This feels so damn good," he almost moaned, letting his head fall back against the back of the brass tub.

"If you're gonna sit there until it gets cold then maybe I'd better share it with you after all."

"Huh? Oh! Sorry. I'll be out of here soon." He hadn't meant to be thoughtless, but not having running water to refill the tub was a bit on the new side to him. Grabbing the soap and washcloth that were left for them, he set about scrubbing the dirt from his skin and hair. As he bathed, he swore he could feel eyes on him, but when he looked up he always found Autolycus lying on his stomach, staring out one of the windows.

A few minutes later he finished. Standing up, he used the thin towel the innkeeper provided to quickly dry off enough to step out of the bath. "All yours," he said, wrapping the towel around his waist. Bathing in used bath water didn't seem sanitary to him, but he supposed it would cost more to have fresh water brought up, and even a thief wouldn't want to overspend.

"Thanks." Autolycus got off the bed, pulling off his clothes.

Looking down at his own -- at Joxer's clothes, Sam realized something. "Is there someplace to get this cleaned?" He asked, nudging the filthy pants with a toe.

"I can see if the innkeeper's wife and daughters do laundry too," the thief answered as he bathed. "If not though I can just find you some new stuff. If you want."

"Okay. Thank you." A quick smile at his companion, then Sam went over to one of the windows to see what he could of the city in the fading light.

For a few minutes he just stood there watching, noting the architecture, the people that passed below, sometimes the smell when the breeze didn't blow fast enough. Not too bad really, as far as premodern cities went.

"Hey! Wanna toss me that towel?"

Turning away from the window, he frowned at the thief. "Um, what am I supposed to wear?"

Autolycus sighed. "Knock off the modesty and gimme the towel. I've already seen everything you've got."

"Oh." Sam could feel himself blushing as he pulled it off and tossed it to his companion. He didn't feel embarrassed, but that's how Joxer reacted. He turned back towards the window, feeling a bit more comfortable not facing the other man. He heard the sound of splashing, then nothing -- until a hand gently grasped his arm, making him gasp in shock.

"I said I've seen all of you, Jox. Didn't say I didn't like it." Autolycus sounded unusually serious, and shock stopped Sam from saying anything now as the other man turned him around. "I do like it." The thief pulled him close, sliding an arm around his waist. "I like you. A lot."

"Autolycus," somehow finding his voice, Sam started to protest, only to be cut right off.

"I know I never let on or anything, and I didn't mean to hurt you, but it's not easy for me to say...this stuff. You know?"

Problem. Big problem. And not just Autolycus. Joxer's personality picked that moment to put in an appearance and show its enthusiastic approval of what the thief wanted. Suddenly Sam found himself leaning into the embrace without meaning to -- and finding that the other man hadn't bothered to put anything on.

"Joxer," Autolycus said the name with a sigh, running the tips of his fingers down the man's cheek.

Trying to think past what Joxer wanted, Sam focused on getting out of this without offending the thief. But before he could say anything, fingers tilted his chin up and Autolycus kissed him. Gently at first, but when no resistance came, more deeply.

Joxer's personality was presently doing the equivalent of backflips from sheer happiness, Sam, however, had managed to keep his reaction down to a controlled panic. He had another man's tongue in his mouth, an arm around his waist with a hand slipping lower. He had to get out of this! But Joxer had other ideas.

Suddenly Sam felt things *shift* as Joxer's personality started to merge with his own. He *really* didn't need that now, but he couldn't stop it either. Joxer had waited for this for a long time and he didn't want to stop. Arms moving around Autolycus' neck, he returned the kiss hungrily.

"Oh, yeah," the thief muttered, pulling the other man up against him.

Sam heard himself moan and knew something wasn't right, but he couldn't think of the problem either. He didn't want to think anyway, just wanted to lose himself in whatever the man he loved wanted to do to him.

His eyes snapped open. He didn't remember closing them but that didn't matter. He knew the problem! Joxer's at least, and that pulled him out of it. He turned his face away from the thief's kisses.

"Auto, no." Pushing at the other man's shoulders, he tried to get some distance between them -- doing his best to ignore how aroused they both were.

"C'mon, Jox." Autolycus kissed his shoulder.

"No," he said firmly. "I can't." Sam had control back now and he meant that, for both him and Joxer.

"Why?" the thief demanded, looking at him without letting him go. "You want to."

"I know, but...I can't." He looked away uncomfortably.

"But why n--" Autolycus stopped speaking abruptly. "Look at me, Joxer," he said in a level tone.

Sam met the thief's gaze. Worry set in when the other man's eyes widened in shock.

"You're in love with me." Not a question, a statement of fact. As he spoke, Autolycus released him, stepping away.

Joxer loved him, but Sam didn't so he couldn't answer. Still, his silence seemed to be all the other man needed.

"Fuck," the thief cursed under his breath.

"I...can't just sleep with you, Auto," Sam tried to explain what Joxer felt. "I can't be just another good time for you. You understand?"

Autolycus glared at him. "What's wrong with you, huh? Where do you get off falling in love with *me*? Don't you know what I'm like?"

Sam nodded. He saw what the thief thought of himself, but he'd also seen enough over the past day to know the other man's true personality. "You're a good man. I mean, you don't want people to know that, but you are."

Apparently Autolycus didn't want to hear the truth, couldn't deal with it. He didn't say anything, just grabbed his clothes off the floor and began pulling them back on, regardless of how dirty they were.

"Where're you going?"

No answer. The thief just dressed quickly and stormed out the door.

Sam had a delimma. He wanted to go after his companion but something -- maybe Joxer's instincts -- told him that would only make things worse right now. But he needed to make sure Autolycus stayed safe too. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly the door to the imaging chamber opened, saving him from having to make an immediate decision.

"Where's Autolycus?" Al asked as he stepped through, looking around with a frown, then he saw his friend and his eyebrows went up. "Isn't it a little drafty in here, Sam?"

Not bothering to respond, Sam just pulled a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around himself in an impromptu toga. "I have a problem here, Al," he said, slumping down onto the bed.

"I'll say," the hologram chuckled without much humor. "You aren't gonna believe this, and I don't wanna know how you're gonna handle it either. Gooshie finally got Joxer to tell him a few things and it seems that the guy's in love with Autolycus. Now, well, I'm sorry about this Sam, but Ziggy is saying that there's an eighty seven percent chance that you're *also* here to get these two together."

"I know."

"This has to be a real shock but -- what?" Al took the cigar out of his mouth and looked at his friend closely.

"Joxer's in love with him but apparently Autolycus just wants his body," Sam explained blandly.

"And, uh, how exactly did you figure that out?"

He just looked at his friend.

"Oh." Al suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Um, Sam, are you saying that you and the King of Thieves...you know...?"

He shook his head.

"Thank god," his friend muttered in extreme relief.

"No," Sam clarified, "but it was close. Joxer's personality is strong, Al, and he wants Autolycus."

"You're kidding me, right?" the hologram almost pleaded.

"He doesn't want to be used though," Sam continued, ignoring the other man's theatrics, "that's what stopped it. He wants to be loved back and Autolycus can't deal with that." Standing up, he walked over to the window, looking out into the darkness. "I can try to save Autolycus' life, Al, but this...I don't know if I can do this."

"Hey, I don't blame you," his friend quickly assured him. "The problem is, Ziggy thinks this is connected to his survival somehow."

"Did she find anything else on him?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Maybe; we don't know. She got access to something called the 'Xena Scrolls' and she's looking through that now. Gooshie's standing by to tell us the minute she has something."

"I guess there's nothing else I can do right now, unless Autolycus is in danger?"

Pressing a few more buttons, Al waited a few seconds while the handlink beeped and chirped to itself, then he shook his head. "The 'King of Thieves' is sulking down in the tavern," he said with some sarcasm.

"Let me know if there's even the slightest chance he's in danger. I'm going to bed." Sam walked back to the bed, pulling off the sheet as he went.

"Yeah. Night, Sam."

"Night, Al," he replied tiredly, stretching out on the comfortable mattress, pulling the sheet over him. The sound of the chamber door sliding announced that his friend had left.

The light from a nearby lantern still gave the room some dim illumination but he didn't make a move to put it out. When Autolycus did come back he wanted the thief to have some light. If he came back.

-------

The bright light of the morning sun woke Sam, shining directly in one of the windows, onto his face. With a grumble of protest he turned over, trying to block out the light, but he knew he wouldn't get back to sleep.

He didn't get up either. He felt comfortable just lying there, staring at the wall while he let his mind drift. Thinking about anything except why he'd leapt here. He could do that for the rest of the day and be happy.

But then he had the sensation of being watched. Unable to ignore that, he pushed himself up he looked around the room. He didn't have to look far.

On the end corner of the bed, one leg tucked beneath him, the other dangling over the edge, sat Autolycus, watching him almost expressionlessly, looking like he hadn't slept all night.

"Auto? Are you okay?" Sam frowned at the other man in concern.

"How long have you been in love with me?"

The question didn't quite surprise him, but he had to try and sort through what he could of Joxer's memories to answer. "A long time," he finally replied with a slight shrug. The memories were too vague for him to come up with something better.

The thief regarded him silently for a few more moments, then he looked away with a sigh. "I got you some clean clothes. Get them and your other stuff together and take off, okay?"

"What?" This wasn't good.

"You heard me." Getting off the bed, Autolycus went over to the small table against the back wall and picked up a pile of what looked like clothes. "Here," he tossed it at the other man. "Just be outta here when I get back." With that, he walked past the bed and left the room, not quite slamming the door behind him but coming close.

For a minute or so Sam just sat there wondering what to do now. Everything just went so wrong. How could he keep an eye on the thief if Autolycus wouldn't let him stay around?

Forcing himself to get moving while he thought it out, he pulled the sheet aside and swung his legs to the floor. Sorting through the plain brown clothing he found pants and started to put them on. He'd get dressed and ready to leave because that's what the thief wanted, but he wouldn't go anywhere before they talked. He had to try that much at least.

As he pulled the pants up over his hips, he noticed Joxer's armor still laying on the floor. He didn't want to wear it but carrying it would be too difficult. Maybe he could find a horse or something to transport it, assuming things didn't work out here.

"Love bites, huh?"

Startled, Sam turned quickly on the bed to face whoever spoke. In a window sat one of the strangest looking men he'd seen. Pale features exaggerated by the black leather outfit he wore, ears decorated by numerous silver earrings, what almost looked like *safety pins* pierced his clothes, a thin, wiry frame and that hair...black and spiked up in a truly weird style; this man went beyond strange.

"So what happened?" the man went on before he could say anything. "Auto bang ya then kick ya out?"

Sam didn't know what to make of the other man or what he said. The sight of the imaging chamber opening distracted him though. Al stepped out not far from where the man sat in the windowsill.

"Morning, Sam." Dressed in a bathrobe and slippers, he still had a cigar in hand as he looked at his handlink. "Good news on those scrolls Ziggy was checking out."

"I don't understand," Sam said to the man in black leather, having to ignore Al for the moment.

The man rolled his eyes. "Did Autolycus fuck ya then tell ya to kiss off or what?"

"Who's the weirdo?" Al looked at the black leather and safety pins with an expression of disgust.

"Who are you?" Sam asked for them both, for three of them actually. Joxer never saw him before either.

"The best thing that's gonna happen to ya here." The other man smirked. "See, Auto's tossing ya aside, but I'm gonna help ya."

"It's just a misunderstanding. We'll work it out," Sam insisted.

"Yeah, right. Ya don't get it, dude. Autolycus just wanted to boink ya, now he doesn't need ya anymore. You'll be better off hanging with me."

"Nothing happened!" He couldn't help the outburst; this man got on his nerves. "I don't even know who you are anyway so why would I go anywhere with you?"

Hoping off the windowsill, the other man walked over to the bed and dropped down on it. "'Cause I know my way around and I'll bet you don't," he replied, his expression suddenly serious, pale blue eyes focused on Sam.

The sudden nearness of the man and that unwavering expression made Sam uncomfortable. Grabbing the new shirt Autolycus provided him, he started pulling it on. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage fine on my own."

"Offer?" The man's eyebrows rose slightly and he smiled in a way that could almost be called...predatory.

"Uh, Sam, I think you wanna get out of here now," Al said, motioning to the door.

His friend had to agree. He wondered how fast he could make it off the bed and out of the room because he had the feeling that he'd found his way into a dangerous situation. Suddenly the door opened.

"Joxer, I told you to--" Autolycus came to an abrupt stop just inside the door, his words cutting off when he saw the two men.

"Hey, Auto. What up?" The pale man smirked at him.

"Joxer, come over here," the thief said quietly, very seriously, never taking his eyes off the man in the black leather.

Grateful for the intervention, Sam quickly got off the bed and walked over to him. He gave Autolycus a questioning look, but received no response.

"What do you want, Strife?" the thief said to the man on the bed.

"Strife?" Sam frowned, looking at Al who still stood near the window, observing the whole situation. The hologram shrugged and punched a few buttons on his handlink.

"I wanted to see ya, Auto," the man in black leather said conversationally, stretching out on his side, propping himself up on one elbow. "I was, ya know, hanging 'round when I heard something I couldn't believe. I mean, I thought ya were smart and all but I gotta say, if what I heard's true then I was wrong."

"What'd you hear?" the thief prompted warily.

"Got it, Sam," Al walked towards his friend, looking at the handlink as he went. "Says that Strife is -- wait a sec, this can't be right." He hit the side of the link and it made a few chirping sounds.

"Heard ya were gonna knock over Unc's temple," the pale man continued. "Ya know how he feels 'boutchya so that's like, a totally whacked idea, don'tchya think?"

"I know what I'm doing," Autolycus replied.

"Ziggy's insisting this is right," Al said, stopping next to Sam. "There's only a couple mentions of Strife anywhere in Ancient Greek literature, but they all agree that he was the God of Mischief." Lowering the handlink, he shrugged again and placed his cigar in the side of his mouth.

"The God of Mischief?" Sam repeated aloud in disbelief.

"Took ya long enough." Strife smirked in his direction. "Kinda slow on the uptake or what?"

"Leave him alone," Autolycus said. "You found out what you wanted, now get out."

"Oooh, aren't you forceful today." The supposed god smiled at the thief coyly. "But I don't have everything I want. Didn't expect to find him here, ya know." His pale blue eyes shifted to Sam and his smile turned predatory again.

"I told you to leave him alone!" Autolycus ordered.

Strife sat up, his expression turning serious. "Watch it, Auto, I don't go for mortals telling me what to do, not even you. 'Sides, ya told him to get lost, didn't ya? Makes him fair game to me."

Right then Sam saw an opportunity to turn things to his advantage. It was a risk, but it seemed to be his best option at the moment. "Well, where did you want to go?" he asked hesitantly, trying to sound like he'd actually consider the idea.

"Sam, what're you doing?" Al spoke at the same time as Autolycus.

"Joxer, are you crazy?"

"You told me to leave," Sam reminded the thief. "I don't know where to go and he said I could come with him."

Strife watched without saying anything, his expression still serious. Autolycus looked at him for a few moments, then at Sam. "All right," he gave in, "you can stay with me."

"Good move, Sam," Al congratulated his friend.

The god giggled then, a high-pitched noise that made the others wince. "Like that's gonna last! I know ya, Auto and there's no way you can deal with this."

"You never knew me, Strife. Now is there something else you want?"

"Nah, but I'll be around." Sliding off the bed, Strife walked back over to the window. "You're gonna screw up, Auto, and I wanna be here to do the 'I told ya so' thing."

"He's right, Sam," Al spoke up as he took the cigar from his mouth, getting his friend's attention. "Tomorrow night, Autolycus is killed when he tries to rob the God of War's temple. Ziggy found it in one of the Xena Scrolls. But that's not all." Glancing at his handlink he gave Sam a worried look. "It also says that the day after Autolycus' death, Joxer kills himself."

A flash at the corner of his vision distracted Sam. He looked over at Strife -- only to find him gone. "Where did he go?" he wondered aloud.

"Hades if I know," Autolycus grumbled. "Hate it when he does that."

"Thanks for letting me stay."

"It doesn't mean anything so don't go getting ideas," the thief snapped at him. "I don't know what that psycho wants with you but I wouldn't leave anyone to him. That's all it is, all right?"

Sam nodded, knowing Joxer's sadness at that pronouncement showed in his expression. "But...I don't understand. It sounds like you and Strife were--"

"It's not like that," Autolycus interrupted, looking away as he ran a hand back through his hair. "Me and Iolaus messed with Discord a while back and that little jerk got it into his head that he was actually *grateful* to us. He's as much a pain to Iolaus as me, won't leave us alone. He teases and he'd probably jump into bed with me if he thought I was interested, but I'm *definitely* not." The thief shuddered dramatically.

"Autolycus, is what he said true?" Sam ventured, hoping that by keeping the other man talking they might have a chance to work out a few problems. "I mean, about you robbing the God of War's temple?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why? It has to be dangerous so why are you doing it?"

"Look, I met up with a couple old acquaintances last night and they have a good plan. I don't normally work with others but these guys have always been okay. What I don't get is how Strife found out so fast."

"What's so important that you have to risk your life like that?"

"My reputation. The King of Thieves should be able to get in and out of anywhere. This is the best challenge I've had in a long time."

"Your *reputation*? How could you--" Sam cut himself off before he could say something that would offend the thief. It sounded stupid to him, but obviously it meant a great deal to Autolycus and in this time period maybe reputations were more important. "Isn't there another way?" he asked. "Someplace else you could rob that wouldn't be so dangerous?"

"What is your problem?" the thief demanded. "You didn't do this when we broke into that fortress!"

"I'm worried about you! I don't want to see you get hurt -- or killed."

That headed off Autolycus' temper. He sighed in frustration but his tone sounded much calmer when he spoke. "I'm the best, Joxer. I know what I'm doing and I'll be fine."

"It's not working, Sam. He won't listen. He's ego's bigger than...than..." Al stumbled in his search for a word.

"Yours?" Sam supplied.

"Very funny," the hologram glared.

"What?" Autolycus frowned.

"I said fine," Sam covered his slip. "If that's what you're set on doing then fine."

"I'm glad I have your approval." The thief said sarcastically as he walked over to the bed.

"You don't."

"Huh?"

"I don't approve, but if you won't listen then there's nothing I can do. I'm going down to get some breakfast." Sam grabbed Joxer's boots from the floor and pulled them on.

"Joxer."

He looked up and saw Autolycus watching him with a troubled expression. "What?"

"I...I just...," the thief hesitated a few moments before continuing. "I'm gonna get a couple hours sleep, then I have to meet with my partners. We'll be using this room so you might want to be elsewhere, you know?"

Sam nodded but he had no intention of staying out of the way. He wanted to meet these "partners" of Autolycus'. Maybe they could be convinced to leave the thief behind or something.

With the boots on he walked out into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind him. He'd left Joxer's armor behind, both for comfort and as a reminder to Autolycus that he'd be back, soon.

-------

__________________________________________