Author's note: The following scene takes place after Nemesis told Hercules Evander was Ares’ son and before Iolaus confronts Nemesis about lying to his best friend...
Iolaus strode through the darkening woods, left hand tightly gripping the carrying straps of their newly filled waterskins. As he approached the camp he was sharing with Hercules, Nemesis and Evander, he couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the events of the recent past. *Herc’s a father again!* He grinned, recalling the look of pride he hadn’t seen on his best friend’s face since Hera had killed his family. From past experience, he knew the son of Zeus would make an excellent father.
That thought led to another. Iolaus was certain it had been Evander who had lifted him off the ground several times. Of course, Evander wasn’t talking. However, the hunter knew that none of Hercules’ other children had displayed such godly talents at any time during their short lives. Why had Evander been so blessed?
Almost immediately, Iolaus answered his own question. It had to do with Nemesis and her having once been a god herself. Again, Iolaus smiled. If what Evander had done so far was any indication, then they were in for a real handful raising the baby demigod.
*I don’t think I want to be around when the little guy hits the terrible two’s or those rebellious teenage years! I wonder if his powers will increase as he gets older, like Herc’s strength increased when he hit puberty?*
A rustle of bushes snapped Iolaus’ mind back to the present. Quickly, he shouldered the waterskins as he paused, waiting to see who or what had caused the disturbance. He breathed a quick sigh of relief when he spotted Hercules in a small clearing, looking up at the sky, his mind obviously elsewhere.
"Hey, Herc," the hunter greeted so not to startle his friend, something he had done, only once mind you!, in the past with not-so-favorable results.
Hercules lowered his head, nodded at his partner. "Iolaus."
"Is everything all right?"
"Um, yeah, I was just thinking."
"Nemesis? Evander?"
"Both."
"You still feel for her, don’t you?"
Hercules was silent a moment, then replied, "Yeah, I guess I do."
Iolaus smiled. "I envy you, pal. A beautiful woman. A son. I’d say you just about have it all."
Hercules snorted. "Not quite, my friend."
The hunter furrowed his brow in confusion. Something wasn’t making much sense here and Iolaus, being Iolaus, needed to know what was going on. "What do you mean? Herc, what’s wrong?"
Hercules sighed heavily before stating softly, "Evander’s not my son."
"What? You mean--"
"Nemesis lied to me."
Iolaus shook his head as he tried to understand. "Why?"
Hercules looked up and stared into the darkness around them, unable to met his friend’s eyes. "I guess she thought I wouldn’t help if I knew who Evander’s father is."
The blond hunter stared at the bigger man in surprise. "You wouldn’t help? Of course you would! It’s what you do best! Why wouldn’t you help her, or Evander?"
When Hercules didn’t answer, Iolaus’ curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "Did she tell you who Evander’s father is?"
"O-oh, yeah."
Iolaus waited a beat, waited for Hercules to continue. When the other sandal wasn’t dropped, he prompted, "Anybody I know?"
"O-oh, yeah."
Another long pause, then, "Herc, you gonna tell me or not? C’mon."
Hercules finally locked gazes with the smaller man. Iolaus could see the pain reflected in his best friend’s eyes as he answered simply, "Ares."
In that one word, Iolaus could hear pain, sorrow, betrayal and longing; the sum of which hit the hunter to the core of his being. Bad enough his friend had lose the newfound family he longed for, but to have it turned over to his hated half-brother, the God of War, was almost too much to bear.
"Herc, I-I...I don’t know what to say," Iolaus stammered.
"That’s a first," Hercules commented with a slight, but strained, laugh.
The hunter smiled slightly at the remark before commenting matter-of-factly, "So that’s who she was running away from."
"Yeah." The son of Zeus stepped away from his life-long friend, pausing to stare through a break in the foliage at the sky. The droning of night insects was the only sound for a few moments; then Hercules admitted, "It’s not Nemesis’ lying to me that hurts so much."
Iolaus instantly knew where the conversation was headed. He quickly bridged the distance between them and put a comforting hand on the taller man’s shoulder. "I know you always wanted to start another family someday."
"I think I’m finally going to get a second chance, then suddenly that’s taken from me, too."
"You’ll get that chance again."
"I wish I had your confidence."
Iolaus moved to stand in front of Hercules, the movement attracting the demigod’s attention. "Well, how else am I going to be ‘Uncle Iolaus’ again?"
Hercules laughed. Iolaus smiled, a smile that slowly faded when his friend turned away with renewed defeat. "She didn’t have to lie to get my help, Iolaus. Why did she lie to me?"
*And get your hopes up?* the blond added silently, feeling Hercules’ pain as his own. Though Hercules had asked the same basic question Iolaus had a few minutes previously, the demigod’s ‘why’ and Iolaus’ ‘why’ required two different answers, and Iolaus was unable to provide the answer his friend required. Aloud he replied, "I don’t know, Herc. I guess she had her reasons."
There was a moment’s silence, then Hercules turned and stated, "Well, whatever the reason, she and Evander need our help. We’ve got to keep Evander out of Ares’ grasp."
The demigod’s sudden change in the topic of conversation didn’t fool Iolaus but, for Hercules’ sake, he let it slide. Inside, however, the hunter was seething, more than a little bit peeved at Nemesis and her lie. How dare she hurt his friend like this? Once he got the chance, he was going to let her know just how much she’d hurt him.
But, that would come later. "And how do you propose to do that?"
"I’m not sure."
"Wonderful."
"Not up to the challenge?" Hercules teased, walking back through the thick foliage.
Iolaus followed, grimacing. "Not when it concerns Ares, I’m not."
Yeah, well, I can’t say that I blame you there," the son of Zeus answered. He smiled, then gave his best friend and partner a comradely slap on the shoulder as the two made their way back to camp...
11/11/98
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