When in Rome - Pt 2
I’m going to go ahead and apologize for this chapter. I think its pretty boring as its a filler chapter. I’m sorry :( but trying to cut it down just wasn’t working and didn’t feel right. The next chapter will be much more exciting!(hopefully)
Leonard x Jim
Teen for violence
2,590 word(s) of plot and story development
Warnings: None in this chapter
Part One
Jim stood firmly planted in the sand, head on a swivel as he glanced at the crowd as they continued to cheer, and watched their surroundings, not knowing what might happen next. His hand lay protectively and reassuringly on Leonard’s shoulder as the other continued to catch his breath and gathered his bearings, still trying to figure out what was going on.
Jim and Leonard’s heads both snapped up at the same time when they heard a loud creak just to their left. Jim’s eyes narrowed as he stared into the dark, barely lit doorway. Leonard made to get up and grab the shield again but he couldn’t make his legs cooperate. Leonard decided to stare angrily into the darkness instead, sweat and blood trickling down his brow.
After what felt like forever to both Jim and Leonard, a man holding a spear and dressed in traditional Roman style garb, stepped out of the darkness. Jim instinctively placed himself between the man and Leonard, wiping his sweating hands on his pants before quickly picking up his sword from off the ground and holding it halfway in the air in front of him.
Leonard tried to grab at Jim’s pants, trying to pull him back but Jim just shook him off and stood his ground, continuing to glare at the man. The man only used his spear to point at the dimly lit doorway and said “Come”.
Neither Jim nor Leonard moved a muscle at the man’s words. The man then simply walked out from the doorway, slowly and non threateningly, yet Jim didn’t lower his guard. As the man approached and made his way behind them, Jim moved with him, always placing himself between the man and Leonard, despite the others protests of still trying to grab Jim back.
“Go.” The man said again as he lowered his spear and pointed to the door, yet made no other moves.
“Jim, maybe we should, what else are we going to…” Leonard whispered quietly to Jim, seeing no other choice besides fighting but the man was obviously not threatening them and they were exhausted. Jim’s eyes darted to Leonard for a split second, he was bleeding and tired. Jim wasn’t fairing much better, but if the man tried something, he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
When the man made no more moves but to keep pointing at the door, Jim eventually lowered his sword before dropping it into the sand next to Leonard’s shield. Jim backed up slowly, not taking his eyes off the man, and stood beside Leonard once more.
“Come on Bones, lets get you up.” Jim said as he put his arm underneath Leonard’s shoulder and helped him out of the sand and to his feet. Jim glanced back at the doorway and slowly started inching his way toward it, still keeping himself between the man and Leonard. Jim kept his arm around Leonard, helping him walk to the door. Jim knew Leonard had to be tired when the other didn’t protest at the assistance.
Jim led them through the doorway, slowly, still on high alert for anything amiss. The only thing he got was the door slamming behind him, causing him to hesitate, making the man behind them jab him in the back with his spear to make Jim keep walking. Jim hesitantly kept walking them both down the dimly lit hallway, after giving the man behind them a stern glare.
“You’ve done well. The Emperor is pleased.” The man holding the spear said quietly as they rounded a corner.
“Emperor? Who are you? What do you want with us?” Jim fired off as the man finally broke the silence. He was hoping for answers but didn’t really expect the man to answer any of his questions, and it was quickly confirmed when the man just laughed at his confusion as he stopped them in front of a large door.
“Inside.” The man said, nodding in the direction of the open door. Jim didn’t bother arguing and shuffled himself and Leonard inside the door. Jim sat Leonard down gently on the straw floor. Leonard groaned softly as he slid to the floor, landing with a soft “thump”.
“You alright Bones?” Jim asked as he took Leonard’s face into his hands, looking the doctor over, his stark blue eyes full of concern.
“I’m fine Jim, but your hands are filthy. No telling what kind of germs are in this place.” Leonard groused as he slowly pried his head from Jim’s grasp. Jim rolled his eyes, amused as he put his hand on Leonard’s leg and hoisted himself up. Jim walked around the fairly small room, no windows, only tall wooden walls with the door they walked in, the only means of escape. Jim sighed in frustration, continuing to look around for something, anything to give him a clue.
“Jim, stop. We’ll figure it out, but for now come over here and rest.” Leonard said softly as his eyes followed Jim around the room. Jim stopped for a moment and glared at the wall in frustration. As much as he knew Leonard was right, at the same time he didn’t want to admit defeat and continued to check the walls in vain.
“Jim…” Leonard said more sternly this time. Jim heaved a heavy sigh and admitted defeat for now and made his way over to Leonard and slid his way down the wall next to him. Jim rested his head on Leonard shoulder and let out a small huff. Leonard chuckled and patted Jim’s leg as he laid his head on top of Jim’s ruffled hair.
The two of them ended up dozing off, for how long neither of them knew. They were both startled awake when the door to the room creaked open loudly. Leonard and Jim’s eyes snapped open just in time to see another man being shoved roughly into the room, landing face first in the straw. They both stared from the man to the soldiers until one soldier came in carrying two trays and plopped them down next to Jim and Leonard.
The soldiers left as quickly as they came and both men were stunned for a few moments before Leonard got up slowly, sore from the earlier fight, and made his way over to the man. Leonard knelt down next to the man and checked his breathing and his pulse.
“You with me?” Leonard said loudly as he smacked the mans face a couple of times. That’s all it took for the man to come around. His eyes flew open as he scrambled up to his feet, knocking Leonard on his ass in the process. Jim was over Leonard in a flash, not sure what the man was going to do.
The man calmed down quickly, finally getting his bearings and realizing that he was outnumbered. Jim and Leonard both retreated back to their side of the room, not taking their eyes off the man.
“Easy you two. You’ll find no trouble with me. Best to save your energy.” The man said as he slid himself down slowly against the wall on the opposite side of the room, exhausted and still bleeding from his various wounds.
“Who are you? What is this?” Why are we here?” Jim said quickly, he wanted some answers and this guy was going to give them.
“As for who I am, that’s unimportant, but who we are is the same. Noxii.” The man answered with a grim smile as he held his bloody arm closer to his chest.
“A what now?” Leonard asked, arching an eyebrow, halfway looking from Jim to the mystery man for a clue.
“Noxii, basically slaves or criminals used for fodder in gladiator events, lucky us.” Jim replied with what almost sounded like a scoff, like he was offended.
“As for the what and why, I think you can pretty much figure that one out. You seem to be pretty smart.” The man spoke once more, closing his eyes as he finished his sentence. Jim let out a small bark of a laugh, a little from the humor, but mostly from nerves. This was going to be a tough one to get themselves out of.
“And don’t even think of trying to escape. They’ll find you, they always do. No one has escaped and survived. Your best chance is to stay here, fight and hope you survive and earn your freedom.” The man added in, peering over with one eye cracked, as if reading Jim’s mind.
“Might as well get some rest, the two of you are going to need it.” The man suggested as he made to lay down on the hay lined floor, trying to get comfortable and closed his eyes.
“What the hell do we do, Jim?” Leonard asked quietly, still trying to take in this whole situation.
“We play the game. If they want a show, well give them a show.” Jim said simply, shrugging his shoulders, as he too lay down on the hay floor, glancing at the trays the soldier dropped off earlier. There was a little bit of bread, cheese and grapes on each tray. Jim dug in hungrily and offered Leonard some cheese.
“Oh good, another one of your death defying schemes. I can’t hardly wait.” Leonard let out a small sigh as he took the cheese without another word, not realizing till now how hungry he had become.
Jim went to offer the wounded man some bread but he refused. Jim shrugged and sat down next to Leonard as the other ate some of the grapes. Jim finished off some of the bread before curling up on the floor, exhausted. Leonard followed soon after and curled into Jim. It doesn’t take either of them long to fall fast asleep.
Jim and Leonard were woken abruptly when the cell door was flung open and soldiers marched in and they were both roughly lifted into the air and onto their feet.
“Hey!” Jim shouted as they were being manhandled, trying to grab his arms out of the soldiers grasp. Leonard grumbled some obscene, choice words as he fought back slightly against the soldiers. The soldiers didn’t care and ushered them both unceremoniously out into the hall.
Leonard and Jim both walked down the hallway, angry at being woken up so roughly. They were led to yet another room like the one they were in before when they first woke up.
“Fantastic.” Leonard grumbled as the door shut behind them with a loud click, plunging them both into darkness once more.
This time at least the two of them were semi aware of what was going to happen next. They both stood next to each other in the darkness, waiting for whatever would happen next. Both of them practically vibrating with tension as they counted down the minutes that felt like hours.
After what felt like forever, the door finally creaked open slowly, bathing the small room in bright light. The two of them tentatively made their way to the edge of the doorway, Jim being the first to peer outside. When his head broke the doorway, the entire stadium erupted into loud, raucous cheers.
Jim stepped out fully into the light and surveyed their surroundings, trying his best to ignore the cheers of the crowd. After confirming that the coast was clear, for now, he motioned for Leonard to follow behind him. When Leonard stepped out, the crowd only got louder.
While the two were still looking around them, noting obstacles and walls that were randomly placed, when suddenly the sound of more doors opening filled the air around them. Leonard and Jim immediately went back to back, looking in the direction of the doors that just opened.
The two stood together, neither moving a muscle. The air was thick with anticipation, both of them remembering their previous experience all too clearly. They both stood their ground as they watched numerous other men peek their heads out of their respective doorways, all looking utterly terrified.
“I don’t think they’re the enemy, Jim.” Leonard said as he glanced around, noting their behavior and the looks on all of their faces.
“I don’t either, Bones.” Jim stated flatly, eyes trained on one doorway that was still closed. “We need to find weapons, armor, anything.” Jim added in, looking around quickly, never taking his eyes off the door for too long.
“Over there!” Leonard shouted and nudged Jim with his arm, pointing over to where their previous days weapon and shield lay. Jim and Leonard rushed over and grabbed the weapons, and just in time too.
The last door finally started to creak open slowly. All the men that were still in the doorway ran out into the arena and scrambled towards Leonard and Jim, the only ones with any sort of weapon. The men scrambled around them, ducking behind whatever cover they could find.
“Maybe we should follow suit, Jim.” Leonard said a little nervous, holding his shield up as much as he could, glancing from Jim to the open door.
“In a second. I want to know what we're dealing with.” Jim replied, his eyes trained on the dark doorway.
The sound of hooves suddenly filled the arena as a big, black Andalusian came trotting out of the cell as a rider, dressed in light Roman armor, armed with a bow and arrow, egged his steed on into the arena.
The man suddenly stopped the horse as he saw Leonard and Jim standing out in the open. He quickly drew his bow and arrow and sent an arrow sailing in between the tiny gap that separated the pair. Leonard flinched and moved away, Jim stood his ground, glaring at the man as if daring him to knock another arrow.
“Come on you idiot! Get down! Do you want to be a shish kabob?” Leonard yelled to Jim as he grabbed him and forced him to take shelter behind a small wall closest to them. Leonard glared at Jim for a few moments, angry at Jim’s stupidity, but it soon went away, that wasn’t what was important right now.
“What do we do, Jim?” Leonard asked as the sound of the horses hooves hitting harshly and kicking up the sand, filled his ears, drowning out the shouts and cheers of the crowd.
“Simple, survive.” Jim answered easily while glancing around the wall, trying to size up his opponent, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
“I hope you have a plan, Jim.” Leonard replied as his grip tightened around his shield. Jim smiled in reply and gave Leonard a small wink. Leonard didn’t have a good feeling about this, but he trusted Jim. He had gotten them both out of similar situations, mostly intact.
Leonard shut his eyes for a moment and steeled himself. He let out a big breath and brought his shield up and placed it standing up in the sand.
“I’m with you Jim.” Leonard said finally as he brought himself up on one knee, his hand resting on Jim’s shoulder.
“I knew I could count on you Bones. Let’s do this.” Jim said, bringing himself up as well with a large grin on his face, careful not to stick his head above the wall.
“I’m so going to regret this.” Leonard mumbled as Jim went to move to a different shelter with a better view, and closer to the other men. Leonard reluctantly following suit, this wasn’t going to be pretty.
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