Author's Note: This takes place at the beginning of Hercules and Iolaus’ journeys together. It has no plot and doesn’t really go anywhere. Just two friends, together...
This story is not intended to violate any copyrights held by MCA, Universal Studios, or Renaissance Pictures concerning Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. This story is for fun and no money was made from it.
“Herc?” Iolaus was lagging behind, like a little boy about to do something really foolish.
“Yes, what?” Hercules knew that tone. The “I’ve got a question but I really feel awkward asking” tone. “Ask your question, Iolaus. I’m waiting.”
Iolaus quickened his pace, catching up to Hercules.
“Herc, have you ever thought about your mother and Zeus? I mean, your mother is beautiful and sweet and I love her, you know that. But she just doesn’t seem the type to attract the attention of a god. She’s not flashy or loud or...” Iolaus hesitated, not knowing how to continue.
“Easy? Easy, is that the word you’re looking for, Iolaus?”
Iolaus turned bright red and stammered, nervously.
“Yeah, I guess. Well, have you?”
Hercules stopped, shrugged and scratched his head.
“Not really. She’s my mother. I’ve never thought about her like that. I mean, I’ve never thought about what would make her attractive to anyone, much less a god. I’ve always thought she was beautiful, but most of her beauty is on the inside. I think Zeus was attracted mostly to her strength, her goodness, her convictions in her beliefs.”
Iolaus smiled. “Your mom’s cool, Herc. I wouldn’t have survived my childhood if she hadn’t been here.”
Hercules was well aware of Alcmene’s contributions to Iolaus’ upbringing. Iolaus’ father was a stern taskmaster who beat Iolaus on a regular basis. His mother was not a strong person. She went along to get along and was terrified of her husband.
It wasn’t until Skorous had almost beaten Iolaus to death and Iolaus had sought refuge in the only safe haven he knew that Alcmene had appointed herself foster mother and protector of the boy. She fought for Iolaus as she fought for both her own boys, stood beside him, loved him without question and gave him a home to come to when he needed it.
“You’re her third son, Iolaus. You know that. She loves you as much as she loves Iphicles or me. You know that.”
Iolaus grinned. “I do.”
Hercules knew that Iolaus took great pride in Alcmene’s devotion to him. It was that devotion that had kept him out of prison for thievery and gotten him into the Academy. While Iolaus hadn’t realized it at the time, it was the best thing that ever happened to him.
“Guess someone knew something when they put us together.”
“Guess so,” Hercules agreed.
They camped beside a fast moving stream and Iolaus sat patiently on the bank, his fishing line in the water. Hercules had made a fire and was unwrapping the wild onions and mushrooms he’d found in palm leaves to lay on the hot coals when the fire burned down. They would go very nicely with the fish Iolaus was sure to catch. As if in answer to Hercules’ thought, Iolaus hauled in his second trout, a big one that would almost feed Iolaus by itself.
“Here, Herc. Clean these two and I’ll catch a couple more. Should be enough, think?”
Hercules caught the fish Iolaus tossed to him and nodded.
“Should be. The fire’s almost ready.”
Iolaus caught two more trout in rapid succession and pulled his line in. He helped Hercules finish cleaning the fish and wrapped the fish in palm leaves, with the few of the ground herbs he carried in his carry sack.
“Won’t be long. I’m starving,” Iolaus sighed, sitting close to the fire.
“Me, too,” Hercules agreed.
It was good to be with Iolaus again. Since Hera had taken his family, Iolaus had become more important to Hercules than he liked to admit. While Iolaus still had his forge and still did his blacksmithing, Hercules had noticed that Iolaus always jumped at the chance to go on an adventure with him. Hercules knew, eventually, Iolaus would be at his side again. Iolaus had too much adventure in his soul to be content with the forge. Maybe, if Ania and his son had lived, but alone, Iolaus would soon tire of the boredom.
“Cold?” Hercules asked Iolaus as he noticed his friend move even closer to the fire.
“No, not really. It’s just the warmth is inviting. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed life out in the open, a big sky, a good fire, good friends.”
Hercules took a deep breath and forged forward.
“Well,” he said. “You’re always welcome to come with me. I like having you with me, covering my back. Also, I eat a lot better when you’re with me.”
Iolaus snorted.
“Eat better, huh? I don’t see how you keep from starving to death when I’m not with you. Yeah, and how do you keep from getting lost all the time? You have no sense of direction. Never did!”
Hercules picked up a stick and tossed it at Iolaus. The hunter dodged the projectile easily and grinned at Hercules.
“Bad aim, too. Gods, Herc, how do you survive on your own?”
“I rely on the compassion of strangers,” Hercules answered in a solemn tone.
“You’d have to.”
Hercules hesitated before plowing on.
“I wouldn’t if you’d come with me. I know you don’t really like being a blacksmith and, now, really Iolaus, what is holding you back?”
Iolaus pursed his lips and scratched his head. Nothing, really. Why did he hesitate to join Hercules full time?
“I don’t know. I’d like nothing better but I made promises. I guess I feel an obligation to keep them.”
“Ania would never hold you to promises you made to her. She would want you to do what makes you happy.”
“I know. Its just, I guess I’m not ready to give it up yet. When I give it up, then I’m admitting to myself that she and the baby are really gone.”
Hercules understood how Iolaus felt. He had felt much the same way when he lost his family. It was almost as if to not say it out loud would not make it so.
“Well,” Hercules said. “When you’re ready, I’ll be here. We’ve always been better together than apart. I know my mother worries about me a lot less when you’re with me.”
Iolaus smiled. He knew Alcmene considered him her third son and he had always thought of her as a surrogate mother. She had been there when his own mother had failed him. She had stood beside him when he was caught stealing and almost sent to prison. It was her intervention that had gotten him into the Academy. His life might have been totally different if not for her.
“Someday, Herc. But right now I need to be where I am.”
“I can wait.”
Adventures. Iolaus sat watching Hercules sleep and thinking about when they were boys and had spent hours in their meadow, dreaming of heroics and being heroes. But always together, always at each other’s backs. When had that dream changed?
It never really ended. It was put aside when Iolaus met Ania in the marketplace that spring day. He had been taken with her from the start and in love with her after the first hello. They were together for a little over two years. Iolaus had told her, after two miscarriages and a still-born daughter, that if he had her, that was all he needed. But she was determined to give him children and a fourth pregnancy had produced a son. It was a hard birth and Ania had lived only long enough to hold their son.
Iolaus had tried to be both a father and mother to his son and was just beginning to get the hang of it when the baby took sick and died. Iolaus had held his grief inside, holding it close to his heart. He never shared it with anyone, not even Hercules, and had found his own healing acceptance by himself. That was why, when Hercules had lost his family, Iolaus had been devastated by Hercules’ rejection. Iolaus never rejected Hercules when Ania and the baby died. He took comfort in the presence of his best friend. But his acceptance had come from within. He realized that, in his own way, he was stronger and, perhaps, wiser than Hercules.
Dawn came damp and cool. Iolaus had fallen asleep sitting by the fire and awoke curled in a tight ball beside the long dead flames. He stretched stiffly and thought, not for the first time, that he was getting too old for this. He looked at Hercules, who lay on his back, sprawled out and still sound asleep. Iolaus grinned. Hercules looked for all the world like a very large little boy, with the innocence of a child. Iolaus would have been surprised if he knew that Hercules often watched him sleep with the same thoughts, how childlike and innocent Iolaus looked when he slept.
Iolaus got to his feet. He stretched broadly and walked over to Hercules, giving him a gentle kick in the side.
“Wake up, Herc,” he said in reply to Hercules’ mumbled protest. “Its past dawn. I want to get going, so we can get to Thebes by tonight.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go away!”
“I’m going to catch breakfast. You better have a fire going when I get back if you want any.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go away!”
Iolaus retuned later with two quail he had managed to snare and four trout. While he preferred to use a line to fish, he had watched Hercules and his rock throwing technique and unbeknownst to the demigod, could now match Hercules rock for rock in the knock-um-in-the-head school of fishing.
Hercules did have a fire going and smiled appreciatively at Iolaus’ catch. They sat in silence, watching their breakfast cook. Each thought how good it was to be here, together.
“Well, Herc, after we visit your mom, where to?”
Hercules turned the quail on the spit, trying not to let his shocked surprise show.
“Anywhere at all, Iolaus. Anywhere you want to go.”
***So, it indeed came to pass that Iolaus of Thebes became known as Hercules’ staunchest ally and most trusted friend. Sometimes, legends can start in the simplest of ways, and, like Topsy, just grow.
The End
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