Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:37:46 -0600
From: J Wolfstone <argouru@gmail.com>
Subject: Sons of Sparta, Book 3 - Chapter 20

Sons of Sparta - A Story of the Spartans, Book 3

(inspired by the story 'Spartan' parts 1 through 4)

by argouru

Note: All credit for the creation of the Spartans and Amazons, as well as
the Spartan mythos belongs to the author 'CF', to whom I owe special thanks
for his allowing me to write about these incredible people.

WARNING: Portions of this installment of the series includes a section
regarding mental illness.


20.


They couldn't resist being sexual in the morning, though, unable to resist
their cases of morning wood, yet still sticking with mutual masturbation.
Anything more intimate would require more time and privacy that they could
get here at the house and time to work towards becoming loose enough to
avoid severe pain for John.  They showered and ate breakfast with the
family, Fred casting sly glances at them from time to time.  After that, it
was time to head to their respective jobs and Steven and Fred to school,
while Ash and Will went to do their home schooling lessons.  Henry left
reluctantly, but promised to come over on Friday night and also invited
John to come spend the night on Saturday, which the human eagerly agreed
to.

Once he was gone, John's heart aching to see him leave, he got dressed in
the plain tan robe that was the standard uniform for temple employees who
weren't priests, the priests wearing robes of white, and met Sam out on the
front porch.  The human yawned hugely as he reached his father-in-law's
side.  "Long night?" the Spartan teased gently with a grin.

"No," John replied simply.  "We went to sleep quickly, but fooled around
some this morning before we got up for the day.  If we had done it last
night, I'd have never gotten enough sleep and would be dead on my feet
right now.  I wouldn't have minded, though...  The great thing about zombie
sex is that you can always make more holes to fuck."

"Wh-h-h-ha-ha-ha-t-t-t-t?!?" Sam exclaimed in shocked amusement, laughing
so hard he could barely speak.  He took several moments of laughing before
he could recover and speak properly again.  "Ah John," he said with a grin,
placing a fatherly arm around the human's shoulders.  "We're going to get
along just great as in-laws!"

With a smile, he led the way to the side entrance to the temple...



Working at the temple was an interesting, yet pleasant, experience.
Everyone was polite and respectful towards him.  He was surprised to learn
that nearly half of the temple staff was comprised of Spartans or human men
who were bonded to a Spartan.  There were some women, both human and
Amazon, as well but nowhere near as many as there were of men.  Sam soon
put John in the care of a Spartan man named Walter, who he explained was
the secondary priest under Sam himself, who was head of staff.

"Right then," Walter said, surprising John with his British accent.  "Are
you a worshipper of Lord Apollo?"

"I came here a few times recently...  Before the...  Accident," John said
timidly, too embarrassed to admit what had truly happened.

"Yes," Walter said sympathetically, then sighed.  "I feel it's only right
to tell you that I and the rest of the upper clergy know your
circumstances."

"How?" John asked, feeling shocked and wondering if every single last
fucking person on the whole damned planet knew about him by now.

"The Head Priest took the senior priesthood and senior staff into private
meeting and told us.  He felt it would be better for us to know should any
difficulties arise and rumors persist.  But we practice discretion and
won't banter on about your past.  We're not the sort to gossip."

"Alright," John said, feeling uncomfortable and not very reassured.  "Well,
I'm not really all that active," John lied.  In truth, although he had gone
through the motions before, he had never truly worshipped at all.  He still
wasn't sure if he should or not.  He wanted to be able to worship because
he wanted to, not just because he felt like he owed the god, even though he
did.  It was that if he were in the god's position, he would want to be
worshipped because the person in question wanted to, not out of a sense of
obligation.  To do otherwise would be insulting and John was still sorting
out his feelings on that.

"Now then, the chain of authority goes like this: Lord Apollo, obviously,
then Head Priest Sam Apolloson, then myself as Secondary Priest Walter
Samson (no relation to Sam or his sons, mind you), Then Ranking Priest
Nathan Connerson - Spartan and Ranking Priestess Leanne Sheihook - Amazon,
then my partner Dennis Makenridge - human, who serves as head of public
relations for the temple, Keith Williamson - Spartan, who is head of
security, the rest of the priesthood and the head cook Trevor Smithe -
human, as well as the rest of the staff, including you, report to us.

"Now, we need to see what type of skills you have, so for the meanwhile,
we'll have you act the role of general assistance, which means that you
basically help out wherever extra assistance is required.  As a member of
the temple staff, you'll have to undergo some weapons training should any
difficulties arise.  The head Priest prefers all temple staff who have the
talent for it to have at least minimal training with swords, so Kevin will
work with you an hour each day until you're proficient with a blade."

John kind of liked the idea of learning swordsmanship and brightened
somewhat at that.

"For now, however, let's set you up helping in the kitchen," Walter said,
leading the way into the hallway off the side of the main entrance.  As he
went, the Spartan gave John the tour of the temple, stopping finally at the
kitchen.  "Kevin? I'd like you to meet John Williams - human, who's joining
the temple staff today.  Kevin Mitchellson is a Spartan who is filling in
as head cook while Trevor is out tending to his gestating partner."

"Nice to meet you," the blonde-haired Spartan said, shaking his hand
firmly, John returning the greeting awkwardly from not being used to
meeting people.  "Good, we've been a bit short on hands ever since Jane
retired and Kelso moved to Texas," the man said with a smile.

"Yes, I figured this would be a good starting place for John and you'll
need the extra help for tonight," Walter said, looking suddenly solemn.

"Yeah," Kevin said, his smile faltering, then he forced it back into place
with a nervous air and looked to John.  "You know anything about cooking?"
he asked.

John shook his head.  "Just the bare basics," he admitted weakly.

"Not to worry, you'll pick it up.  We'll start you off slowly," the Spartan
said kindly.

"Dad Walter, there you are!" a boy said from the doorway.

"Ah, John, I'd like you to meet my youngest son Dennis Junior.  Jr., this
is John Williams - human, Henry's partner."

The boy looked confused.  "But I thought Uncle Henry d-"

"What do you want, Jr.?" Walter interrupted quickly, cutting off the lad's
protest when he realized what the boy had been about to say.

"I need help with my English lesson.  Since you're English too, I thought
you'd be the best person to ask for help."

Walter sighed.  "Son, the English language and English people are two
entirely different things," he said tiredly.  "I thought you understood
that well enough by now."

"Sorry," the small boy said, hanging his head.

"Go to my office and I'll be there shortly," the father instructed gently
and the boy left without another word.

"Right then," Walter said with a forced smile which John didn't understand
the reason for.  "I'll be off.  You know where my office is should you have
any concerns." With a nod, the Brit left john in the care of the kitchen
staff.

"Okay," Kevin said.  "We'll have you start simply with peeling potatoes,
but first, we'll need some supplies.  Hey Ralph," he called out.

"Yeah?" a tall, redheaded man who looked Spartan said, looking at them with
interest.

"We need potatoes and cooking oil for the fryers.  Help John here get the
stuff."

The man walked over and shock John's hand in a near bone-cracking grip.
The human winced from the Spartan's strength, but said nothing.  "Nice to
meet you," he said.  "You Henry's partner?"

"Yeah," John answered, trying hard not to cradle his stinging hand.

"Nice to meet you.  My dads say I should get to know humans more, so that's
why they had me come work here.  They wanted to be closer to the temple
anyways."

"Get to know humans?" John asked, starting to follow Ralph out of the
kitchen.

"Yep, my dads are both Spartan and we lived and worked with other Spartans,
mostly, so I'm not that familiar with humans like you." They reached the
supply room.  "You grab the oil, I'll get the potatoes, okay?"

"Sure," John said, as the Spartan grabbed several sacks of spuds.  "How
much oil will we need?" he asked.

"Just grab a whole case," Ralph said casually.

John bent his knees, took the case of gallon jugs of cooking oil and
lifted...  Or tried to, at least.  The case weighed a ton! He struggled,
but could barely lift it.  Gasping with effort, he could barely raise it an
inch before he had to drop it.

"Come on," the Spartan said.  "Quit goofing around and pick it up."

"I can't," John panted.  "It's way too heavy!"

"Come on!" Ralph scoffed.  "It can't be more than a hundred pounds at
most!"

The human stared at him in shock.  "I can't lift that much!" he protested,
stunned by the Spartan's attitude.  "What are you? Crazy?"

Ralph sighed explosively.  "How weak are you? Alright fine! I'll get the
oil, you get the potatoes!" Rolling his eyes with disgust, the Spartan
easily lifted the case of oil and left the store room, shaking his head
sadly at the human's weakness.

Fuming with shame, resentment and jealousy, John grabbed as many sacks of
potatoes as he could possibly lift and followed the man with extreme
difficulty, sweating and grunting with effort, determined not to let the
Spartan show him up too much...



That afternoon, Keith took John to the armory and into a small practice
area at the back.  "Now," he said, "What, if any, martial arts training
have you had?"

"None, really, but I watch lots of action movies and like playing fighting
video games," John said helpfully.

The Spartan's face fell.  "I hate to break it to you, but a real fight is
nothing like what you see in the movies and games.  A real fight is fast,
ugly, brutal and usually over in seconds.  Sorry, but it's obvious that you
don't know the first thing about fighting."

"I can take care of myself!" the human protested, resenting the Spartan's
smug tone and not realizing the patronization of his instructor was purely
the product of his wounded ego.

"Really?" Keith said with interest.  "Alright then...  Put your money where
your mouth is."

"What?" John asked, taken aback.

"Try to hit me," Keith said.  John hesitated.  "Well come on," Keith added,
getting slightly impatient.

John saw that the man was serious, so readied himself.  *I should make
myself as small a target as possible,* he thought.  *Make it as hard for
him to hit me as possible.  But which way should I face?* he debated.  *I
should have my stronger side to him.  If he's right and fights end quickly,
I should have my stronger side to him.*

Keith watched the wheels in the human's head turning.  *Good, he's thinking
this through.* The human turned to his left, then made a fast quick jab.
Keith blocked the blow easily, but was surprised at both the human's speed
and at his innate knowledge of understanding the concept of not
telegraphing his blow.  John struck a few more times, making fast motions
with his fist and not keeping his arm in any one place for long.  *Good, he
knows that I might try to grab his fist or arm as he strikes and is
compensating for it.  Pity his stance is so sloppy, but we can work on that
well enough...*

He let the human try for several minutes, using his superior reflexes to
evade the blows easily, but only thanks to his Spartan-borne battle skills
and instincts.  If he had been human, John would've struck him several
times by now and he'd be much the worse for wear from the human's blows.
*He favors his right side far too much, though.  Clearly he's obsessively
right handed.  I'll have to break him of that habit...  It's a real
liability.* He saw John starting to get frustrated, yet trying hard not to
show it.  Remembering what he had been told about the man's past, Keith
called a halt before the human's pride became too battered.  He decided to
be kindly, rather than cruel as he was to the more cocky-minded of his
students.  He could tell that John was both hurt and mad at himself for not
landing a single blow.  *Better he learns that nothing is fair in a fight
now, though.  A false sense of pride and success could get him killed when
he underestimates someone.*

"Not too bad," he admitted.  "I've trained worse.  We'll start you off with
a more serious lesson tomorrow, but for now, let me show you what you
could've done better."

He then showed the human how to adjust his stance for better stability and
showed him the best places to attack a person.  An hour later, he felt that
John had the makings of a great warrior...  He certainly had the instincts
of one.  He sent the man on his way, worried slightly at the curt tone of
the man's voice.

John walked away, feeling very bitter inside.  *No matter how hard I tried,
I couldn't lay a finger on him...  Man I suck at fighting.  I must look
like a real idiot to him.  Maybe Ralph is right...  I am a weakling...*

He remained in low spirits for the rest of the day, horribly disappointed
with himself at his dismal performance...



The next day, Henry stood in the department store, wincing at the price
tag.  *Why do these things have to be so damned expensive?* He wondered,
laying down and noticing that his feet were left dangling off the end of
the item in question.  *Not to mention short! Who do they build these
things for, anyways? Midgets?* He sat up and looked around, but all of the
beds were of the same length.  He sighed with disappointment.  *I wish
someone would design beds with Spartans in mind.  Not to mention tall
humans.*

He got the help of a sales associate, opened a credit account and purchased
the bed.  Fortunately, he was able to snag a delivery time for the
following evening.  He walked back out to the car, then stopped and glanced
at it, seeing it for the first time in a long time.  *I guess I should
trade this in,* he thought, looking at his Mini Excel, which was a
two-seater glorified attempt at a cross between a hatchback and a sports
car.  *There's no way we can fit a baby seat in there safely.*

He snorted with reluctant humor.  He had styled his life in the attempt to
remain a bachelor forever.  *Yes, that worked out lovely, didn't it?* he
thought to himself sarcastically.  Now he was automatically planning for
his future with his partner and their sons to be.  *Assuming all goes well,
of course.* He had to be practical.  There was no guarantee that his sons
would be alright until the last week of gestation.  *Well, the Mini has
always been a pain to keep up anyways.  If it wasn't for the good gas
mileage I'd have dumped it long ago.  Well...  Maybe I should hold off
awhile.  John's still getting used to me and I don't want to look like I'm
practically forcing the sperm right out of him.  I mean I'm not even
Emergent yet!*

Sighing, he got in and headed back to work as his lunch hour was almost
up...



John entered the altar room nervously, feeling horribly vulnerable as he
strode nude into the room.  Never having felt that he was much to look at,
he felt rather ashamed of being nude in front of everyone.  The loaned
sword strapped to his hip felt incredibly awkward to him and knowing that
the blade inside the scabbard was as sharp as a fresh razor did nothing to
ease his nervousness.

"You alright?" Nathan, the third ranking priest of the temple asked, his
long brown hair pulled into a ponytail and a frown of worry in his goatee
covered face as he asked the human about his nervousness.

"I'm...  Fine," John answered nervously.

"Don't worry," Nathan said with a kindly smile.  "You don't have to do
anything except say the responses, draw the sword and kneel.  I'll walk you
through the motions and signal you silently when it's time, okay?" John
nodded silently, not looking very reassured.  "Are you alright with taking
part in a service?" Nathan continued nervously.  "I know you're not
Apolline."

"It's no big deal," John said with a self-conscious shrug.  "I'm not really
one for religion..."

"But you work in a temple," Nathan teased with a grin of amusement.

"Like I said, religion is no big deal," John said again.

"But..." Nathan said lowly, shocked by the human's behavior.  "Lord Apollo
helped you! He brought His son Lord Joshua all the way here from England
just to heal you! Don't tell me you don't believe in Him after all He's
done for you!"

"I do believe in Him," John replied.  "It's just that I'm not sure if I
want to worship Him...  Or any god, for that matter."

"Why not?" Nathan asked sadly.

John's gaze lowered to the floor.  "I'm used to being on my own," he said
solemnly.

Nathan felt pity at the deeply buried pain in John's voice and changed
subjects slightly.  "Are you alright in being a part of this, though?"

John looked up as the first of three bulls was moved into the altar room
from the back entrance and placed at the altar, its eyes drooping heavily.
"What's wrong with it?" he asked Nathan.  "It looks like it's out of it."

"We drug the beasts beforehand so that they don't suffer.  Our lord is
sustained by lives taken or given in His name, not in their suffering."

"What do you mean by 'given'?"

"Head Priest Sam gave his own life to Lord Apollo for the sakes of his
partner and their son Henry.  He sacrificed himself for them.  That death
nourished our god and in return, Lord Apollo gave him back his life that he
could be here for his family.  We would never sacrifice a human or fellow
Spartan or even an Amazon to our lord, only animals...  But the sacrificing
of a person, especially one that is done by the choice of the one whose
life ends, is the single most powerful form of nourishment Lord Apollo can
receive.  But it is a grim and rare thing, as well as one we would never
do," Nathan said, not wanting to upset the human by admitting the
possibility of such a thing during Rites of Confirmation, even if it had
been permitted for him to speak of such a thing to one who knew nothing of
the Rite itself.

"I wouldn't want to be charged with murder either," John said thoughtfully.

"It's not that," Nathan said, giving the human a serious look.

"Then what is it?" John asked, feeling confused.

"Lord Apollo is fed by death, but He also values life.  He is a warrior who
would cut down His enemies in battle, but for the life of a person to end
is a very grave thing...  Something that Lord Apollo acknowledges.  He
never takes death lightly when it’s the life of a person that
ends."

John nodded, taking that in.  "Is there anything else I need to know before
the Rite gets started?"

"Just make sure you've prepared yourself for this mentally.  There's going
to be a LOT of blood!"

John wasn't too worried and took part in the worship, although he didn't
actually pray with everyone else, but rather knelt silently while the
others prayed.  Fortunately, he was able to use the sword properly without
hacking himself to pieces by accident.  When Sam's swords ended the life of
the bull by slitting the beast's throat and simultaneously piercing its
heart, he blanched at the vast amount of blood gushed forth, covering the
head priest.  He turned to the worshippers, covered in the dark fluid that
had been the beast's lifeblood and for the first time, John was scared of
the man.

*Whatever I do, I don't ever dare make him mad!* John stood there, staring
at his father-in-law, for lack of a better term, and trying hard not to
tremble with fear...



By the end of the week, John no longer knew how to feel.  Part of him truly
loved working at the temple, but being surrounded by beings who were so
much better than him made the human feel resentful.  He chided himself,
feeling ashamed.  It wasn't the Spartans' fault he was so inferior.
Feeling uncertain, he decided there was only one thing he could really do.
He began to work in suppressing his inadequacy as much as possible in hopes
that he could learn to fake being ordinary around the Spartans without
making them uncomfortable or coming off as a bigot, which was the last
thing he wanted to be.

What was more, he didn't want to hurt Henry's feelings, not to mention
those of his hosts...  *My new family, I guess,* he thought, feeling even
more guilty that he wasn't more grateful to the people who had taken him
in, even if they were obligated to do so because he was bonded to a member
of their family.  He then felt ashamed of that thought too, knowing it
wasn't the truth.  *What's wrong with me? I'm cured of my depression.  I no
longer hit myself and I don't have attacks anymore.  So why do I still
treat myself like shit? This is my life now and I'll just have to try to
enjoy it.  I've got a stable home, a decent job, people who treat me nice
and a great guy who loves me, so why am I acting like something's still
missing?* He sighed with disgust at his behavior and tried to throttle down
his negative feelings.

The one thing that made him feel better was knowing how much Henry loved
him.  Even now, he could feel that love for the man who he was bonded to
infused into every fiber of his being.  For Henry's sake he had to get
control of himself and not let his inadequacy overpower him.  The last
thing he wanted to do was hurt the feelings of the man he wanted to spend
the rest of his life with.  Henry deserved better than that.

John was eagerly awaiting Henry, his overnight bag packed, and he found
himself pacing the living room nervously, eagerly looking out the window
every time he heard a car engine.  Sam and Daniel watched him with knowing
smiles from the kitchen doorway, seeing the obvious sign of a very strong
partner-bond in the man's behavior.

Suddenly, a condom package bounced off of John's head, making the human
look up the stairs from where it had come, frowning with annoyance as he
rubbed his head self-consciously.  Seeing this, Daniel snarled in rage and
charged up the back stairs.  Footsteps of someone running came through the
ceiling, accompanied by hard, rapid footsteps and Daniel pounding on a
wooden door.  "Open this door right now, Fred!" Daniel bellowed.

"I was only joking," Fred's muffled voice answered.

"I said open this door!" Daniel shouted.  A moment later, the crashing of
wood heralded the older man literally breaking in the door to get at his
son.

Hearing this, John began to panic, flashbacks to his mother and her
boyfriend fighting, screaming and breaking things came back to him.  This
was far worse, however.  He was still new here and if the Spartans decided
to attack him, the human knew he'd stand no chance at all in protecting
himself from them.  He backed into a corner instinctively, turning pale and
beginning to tremble violently in terror.

"A joke is only funny a few times!" Daniel shouted at his son.  "It's not
funny when you torment people relentlessly with it! Knock it off already,
Dammit!"

Sam looked up at the ceiling with a sigh of suffering.  Daniel had been
having a stressful week at work and clearly hadn't been meditating enough.
Sam sighed and went to apologize to John, but was shocked when he finally
noticed the state the human was in.  "John?" he asked in shock, seeing the
man nearly catatonic with fear.  "John? John? Hey! Hey, take it easy!
Nothing bad is going to happen!" he said, holding out a hand in pleading
and edging his way towards the man slowly with a look of deepest pity on
his face.  "John...  Don’t be scared, okay? We won't hurt you."
John looked at the Spartan like a deer caught in headlights.  "Damn...
Daniel!" he shouted up the stairs.  "Stop shouting this instant!"

"What?!?" Daniel shouted back furiously, coming out to the top of the
stairs.  "Look! I'm tired of that boy going on and on-!"

"Be quiet!" Sam said, pointing at John.

Daniel turned angrily to the human and was shocked speechless at the look
of terror the human was giving him.  Suddenly, his fury turned to horror
and he rapidly descended the stairs.  "John? No, no, no, don't be scared!
I'm sorry," he said, holding out his hands pleadingly.  "I'm sorry if I
frightened you.  Honestly...  Look, I'm sorry.  I've had a bad week at work
and haven't been meditating enough to control my instincts.  John, I'd
never hurt my children.  I took out all of my anger on the door only.  I
could never live with myself if I hurt my children.  We're family.  I love
my family and would never hurt them no matter how much they piss me off."

John shook his head.  "Families always hurt each other," he said, shaking
his head.  "All they ever do is scream and hate and break things," he
forced out in a trembling voice.

"No, John, no," Daniel said gently, grief choking his words.  "We aren't
like this all the time.  We aren't like those horrible people who beat you
all the time." He stopped as John shook his head sadly.  "What? What is
it?"

"They never actually beat me," the human said softly.  "They beat each
other up, but every time they did, I either hid or escaped from the house
until it was safe.  I knew I wouldn't be strong enough to protect myself,
so I avoided them as much as I could in those times.  The only times I was
ever hit was spankings when I did something I knew was wrong.  I wasn't
ever physically abused.  They only said hateful things to me.  I never gave
them a chance to do anything physical."

"But still," Daniel said.  "I never meant to scare you...  We're not like
those horrible people you grew up with, I promise.  I would never actually
hit my children no matter how angry I get.  Each of my children, whether
borne of me or of Sam, are the most precious things in my life.  Children
are too special to us to ever hurt them.  I was only screaming and broke
his door, but I'd never ever get violent with Fred no matter what."

"It's true, John," Fred said, coming down the stairs and looking horribly
guilty at seeing the slowly fading terror of his brother-in-law.  "I know
I've been pushing it, but I'm only doing so because I'm jealous of you and
Henry.  Besides, I actually want you guys to enjoy being together, so
that's why I'm always forcing condoms off on you guys.  It's half joke and
half wanting you guys to be safe and happy together."

"I'd still like to know where you're getting all of these from," Sam said
grimly to his son, picking the package up off the floor.  "The Ramrod?"
Sam said with shock, reading the advertisement on the condom wrapper.  "And
what are you doing in a leather bar? You're not legal to go into bars until
you're eighteen and you know it! Up to your room right now, Fred! You're
grounded!"

"But Dad Sam-" Fred protested.

"I said now, Mister!" Sam said fiercely.  Sulking, Fred trudged his way
back up the stairs.  "And someone clearly has been skipping his daily
meditations to control his warrior's instincts!" Sam added testily to his
partner.

"You're right," Daniel said in shame.  "I'll go meditate now...  John," he
said, turning to his son-in-law.  "I am so, so sorry that I scared you.
Please don't be afraid of me, not ever.  Please?" he begged with tears in
his eyes.

John, seeing the Spartan's sincerity, nodded, unable to speak.

"Have fun at Henry's.  And know that no matter what none of us will ever
hurt you." With that, Daniel headed up the stairs shamefully.

Just then, the sound of Henry's car pulling into the driveway came,
lightening John's mood slightly and easing his fear somewhat.  Henry let
himself into the house a few moments later to see the man he loved looking
pale.  "John? What happened? Are you okay?" He said, taking his love into
his strong arms and holding him tightly without hurting him.  "What's
wrong?"

Sam explained the situation as Henry held John close.  "John?" Henry said.
"You don't have to come over if you don't want to.  Don't feel obligated,
especially under the circumstances." He really wanted John to spend the
weekend with him and hated the idea of John not wanting to be around him,
but wouldn't make his partner stay at his place if the human was too scared
to be alone with him.

"No," he answered softly.  "I'll come over." He started feeling safer in
his partner's arms, then began to feel slightly resentful that he needed
protecting.  He was a man and therefore should be able to take care of
himself.  He buried that down quickly inside of himself to avoid hurting
Henry's feelings.

"John," Sam added.  "Please don't think that this was anything more than an
isolated incident.  We're really not like that all the time.  This is the
first and only time it has ever happened.  It WILL NOT happen again, I
promise you.  Please don't hold this against any of us."

John could only nod silently.  He left with Henry soon afterwards, the
Spartan holding him close all the way to his apartment until John began to
calm down and relax.

John went to the couch and set his bag down.  "Got any blankets and an
extra pillow?" he asked softly.

"You don't...  Want to sleep with me?" Henry asked, feeling hurt by that.

"Your bed's way too small for both of us," John said.  "I refuse to boot
you out of it."

Henry smiled with understanding.  "Come on, I want to show you something."
He took John's hand tenderly and led the way to the bedroom.

John looked at the new, king-sized bed with surprise.  "When did you get
this?" he asked the Spartan.

"It was delivered just the other evening.  This way we'll have plenty of
room to sleep together."

John looked at the bed apprehensively.  "Henry, are you sure you can afford
it? Beds are expensive as it is, but that thing must have cost a fortune!
You didn't have to bankrupt yourself for my sake!"

"I wanted to," Henry said, touched by his partner's concern for him.
"Besides, I just put it on credit.  I want us to be able to be together
comfortably.  That's all that matters to me.  Wanna try it out?" he asked,
taking John's hand and gently leading him to the bed.  They sat down
slowly.  "John, it's okay if you want to take things slowly and I want you
to know right now that it's alright if you don't feel ready for anything.
You always have the right to say no and I promise to obey and respect your
wishes on that.  I could never feel good knowing that you feel
uncomfortable or afraid or obligated or anything.  I don't own you in any
way and want for you to be able to enjoy being with me in any way at all.
And I don't just mean sex, you know.  I want you to feel safe and happy.  I
could never hurt you, John.  I could never stand it if you felt bad because
of me."

"I know...  I'm sorry it's so hard for me to feel comfortable with all of
this."

"There's no need to apologize, John.  None at all.  Are you feeling okay
now? You're not scared any more?"

"It just...  Brought back a lot of bad memories is all," John partially
lied, not wanting to hurt his Spartan partner by telling him just how
uncomfortable it was being around people who were so much more powerful
than himself.  He covered for this by lying down on the bed and pulling at
Henry's arm to bring him down beside him.

They held hands as they stared at the ceiling.  "Did Keith start training
you yet?" Henry asked.

"Yes.  He said I have a good deal of potential, but there's a lot I have to
learn and some bad habits I have to overcome."

"That's good to hear," Henry said with raised eyebrows.  Keith rarely
praised anyone and to hear that he had done so showed that John must have
impressed him for the head of security to do so.  "Well Keith's a great
warrior, so if anyone can train you to be a force to be reckoned with, it's
him."

"Really?" John asked with interest.

"Well yeah...  I bet he won't rest until you can hold off a Spartan for a
few minutes one-on-one!" Henry said emphatically.

John fell silent at that, staring at the ceiling and imagining the
possibilities...



Sam sighed as he saw the broken door to Fred's bedroom.  "Man, he really
did a number on it...  You okay?" he asked his fifth son with concern,
thinking that it was a good thing that Ash and Will hadn't been here to see
the incident as they were away visiting their uncles Ryan and Liam along
with their younger cousins who still lived at home.

"Yeah," Fred said dully.

"Why are you sneaking into bars? If you get arrested, don't expect me to
come running to bail you out right away!" Sam said grimly.  "And what of
all things have you been doing there anyways? That's a rough crowd that
hangs out there and Spartan or not, you can easily get into trouble."

"I like leather sex," Fred said with a shrug.  "It feels nice and manly...
Lets me feel strong and sensual at the same time.  A warrior's kind of sex,
you know?"

"I know...  Your Dad Daniel and I do some of that sometimes too.  However,
you're doing it with strangers, aren't you? Lots of strangers too, aren't
you?"

"Sometimes..." Fred admitted.  "I have a few regular playpals, but there's
been a steady flow of new guys too."

"Fred...  You have to be more careful! Some of those guys don't play safe
and I know some of them are infected.  The last thing you need is to catch
something incurable.  You're not invincible, Son.  Please tell me that
you've at least been using protection every time."

Fred was shocked and hurt by that.  "Of course I have! I don't want to go
and get brittle or pozzed up!"

"But condoms can still break Fred, and top or bottom, you can get infected
either way."

"I know that!" the teenager protested.  "I want to have sons someday and I
don't want to run the risk of being too sick to have kids.  I'm careful Dad
Sam, really!"

"But the more often you sleep around the more chance you have of catching
something! You can't expect me to drag your Uncle all the way here from
England to fix you just because you screwed up!"

"Uncle?" Fred said in confusion.  "You mean Lord Joshua is my uncle?"

"Well, I'm an adopted son of Lord Apollo and Lord Joshua is His son, making
us adopted brothers, so yes.  However, your divine uncle isn't a walking
pharmacy or a medical backup for stupidity.  It's insulting to think of Him
that way."

Fred suddenly felt guilty, because that was exactly what he had figured.
Should anything go wrong, he had always thought that Dad Sam could pull a
few strings and Lord Joshua would come running to make him all better.  He
hung his head with shame.

"And what if someone gets violent? Not every leatherman is safe! There are
a few rare cases of violent leathermen, but it can still happen.  I'm very
open-minded and have done some leather play myself even before Dan, so I'm
not bigoted or anything, but there are a few nasty people who are in it
only for the power it gives them over other people.  All your Spartan
strength is useless against chloroform and lots of heavy restraints! Some
nut case could strap you down and knife you to death! Didn't you ever see
the movie 'Cruising'? And if you think that by dedicating your death to
your Grandfather Lord Apollo, assuming you get the chance that is, that
He'll be obliged to bring you back like He did with me, then think again!
Frankly, He would most likely leave you dead, grandson or not! To treat Him
that way is a terrible insult to His pride!  You may have divine relatives,
but you have no right to treat Them like a safety net! It's not only
sacrilegious, it's downright cruel!"

Fred felt his guilt grow stronger.  He had indeed always assumed that Lord
Apollo would protect him and if anything did go wrong He or Lord Joshua
would save him.  "Dad Sam...? May I be allowed to go pray in the temple?"

"Very well," Sam answered softly, seeing the look of shame on his son's
face.  "Go pray then return to your room.  You're grounded for a month once
you return."

Fred nodded in agreement, rose and began to prepare himself for worship...