(continued)

With a sigh, Iolaus looked back at the three crosses. This was the way it should be. Hercules wasn't supposed to be around when it happened. Whatever it was ....

"Stranger," a voice called.

Iolaus watched a man approach him, followed by another. They held clean linens in their arms and an official looking scroll.

"My name is Joseph of Arimathea and this is Nicodemus." he indicated his shuddering friend, "We have been given permission to take down the body of our lord but we cannot do it on our own and the soldiers refuse to help. Will you help us?"

Iolaus bowed his head, "I'm an old man. I doubt I can be much help." Then he nodded and sadly smiled, "Of course I'll help you. Do you have a place to bury him?"

"He will be entombed." was the reply.

It was as it should be.

Iolaus followed the two men to the cross.

*****

Hercules was as close to panicking as he ever was in his life.

He was gone. Everyone was gone. Even the bodies hanging crucified on the crosses.

"Iolaus!" he shouted, looking from his left to his right and back again. The sun had finally come out. That was a blessing on its own. If Iolaus was hurt and laying somewhere at least he wasn't cold. "Iolaus!" He threw the bag which held bread and fruit to the grass.

Hercules ran from one hill to the next until finally he saw a cloaked figure sitting on a patch of grass beside a gently flowing creek. He recognized the cut of the cloth - Greek - and sighed. It was at times like this that he wanted to shake his friend and ask him what was going on in that head of his.

Relieved, the demigod trotted to hooded figure. "Iolaus, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No." was the reply. "I just .. just needed to be alone for a minute."

Concerned, Hercules saw the terrible thorn-crown laying beside Iolaus on the ground. "Are you all right Iolaus?" he asked him from behind, "What are you doing with that .. that ..." travesty is what he wanted to say.

"I helped some men take his body down and this fell from his head. I don't know why I didn't let it fall to the ground ... but I caught it in mid air."

Hercules saw Iolaus push his hand out from under his cloak and flex his fingers. There was something odd about Iolaus doing this but it wouldn't register until minutes later what it was. Narrowing his eyes, Hercules listened carefully.

"Some of the thorns poked into my palm. His blood was on them ..." Iolaus voice trailed off.

"Are you all right, Iolaus?"

"I've never felt better, Hercules."

And with these words, Iolaus slowly stood, turned around and gently tossed his hooded cloak off of him.

Hercules gasped and all feeling left his legs. He crumpled to the ground into a sitting position and took in deep breaths as he stared up at his friend.

There stood Iolaus, in his prime, his golden hair drinking in the sun as if it was created just for this purpose. His body was young, tanned and well muscled. He was the same man that helped Hercules battle the hydra, the minotaur, Echidna and The Enforcer. And that smile which had wooed many a beautiful young maiden was also present.

"H...H .. How?" Hercules stuttered uncontrollably.

Iolaus looked down at the thorn crown and back at the sitting Hercules, "He wasn't an ordinary man." was all Iolaus could come up with.

"And neither are you." came a different voice.

Hercules stood shakily as he and Iolaus watched a figure, clad in white robes, materialize.

They knew him.

"Michael?" Hercules whispered.

The Michael who, years ago, had tested Hercules by freeing The Four Horseman. The Michael who gave Iolaus back his life.

"You remembered." and he smiled radiantly at both men. He then looked at the restored Golden Hunter, "I told you, Iolaus, that you would be judged a second time and you have. You are too great a hero in this world to be brought back to us so soon. Hercules does well on his own but he needs an anchor which is what you have always been to him. Without you in his future he might just stray ..."

"He would never ..." Iolaus began, preparing to argue something different.

"You compliment each other." Michael corrected himself, "The history books will always remember Hercules as being the strong man and hero he is but there will also be stories written of you, Iolaus. Perhaps under a different name or even no name at all, but you will make your mark and continue to do so for the rest of time. Watching over you, as you will him, will be Hercules ... for eternity."

Iolaus blinked his confusion, "Are you trying to tell me that I'm ..."

"Through the blood of The King of Kings you have been made immortal, Iolaus. Hercules had his test and, in a sense, you have had yours -- and you passed. The Light wants you - both of you - to go and continue to do his bidding. Iolaus and Hercules will be heroes for all time. The world needs you here and now and forever."

"But that man," Hercules queried, looking up and over the hill. "He died. There had have been more to his life than what we've seen."

Michael couldn't prevent a chuckled, "That man will go down in history as one of the most influential people ever born ... and reborn."

"Than he's not really dead." Iolaus hazard, "He's an immortal as well?"

"You can say that." Michael closed his eyes for a moment reverently then opened them quickly, "He will live on in the hearts of man forever because of the sacrifice he has made." Michael took in the heroes' puzzled faces with another smile, "In time you will come to understand, my friends, but for now you must live on and do what it is you do best. Save lives, be an example, love, be good, and live on ... and serve mortals the best way you can ...."

Then Michael, his voice fading with his last words, disappeared.

Both men stared at the space he had occupied for a few moments before they turned to look at one another again.

"I thought the age of miracles was over." Hercules whispered. "I can see I was mistaken."

Iolaus smiled and looked down at the grass thoughtfully, "I think this is just the beginning of a brand new age of miracles, Hercules. And we are a part of it -- you and I."

"You and I together, Iolaus."

"Friends until the end ..."

"... of time."

*****

Epilogue:

He leaned over the railing of the ship, his face held upward, and allowed the chilly breeze to buffet against his skin, twisting his already touselled hair and massage his senses. Iolaus eyes were closed as he thought about all he had witnessed, felt and experienced while in Judea.

As rewarding as it was to be granted his prime and immortality Iolaus could not stop feeling a profound sadness over what he was not able to prevent. Michael's words had been comforting but the image of that crucified man - the one with the eyes that looked right through him into his soul - would not leave the restored warrior. He looked down and lifted his hand, staring at the palm where the bloodied thorns had pierced his palm.

Hercules came up beside Iolaus and leaned, in the same manner as his friend, over the railing and looked into the waving water. He knew what Iolaus was thinking about.

As they walked from Judea a few days ago, thoughtfully going over all that Michael had said, they came upon Joseph of Arimathea. He and a few others were carrying the body of that poor man - Jesus - wrapped in linen, to a cave to be entombed. Hercules and Iolaus hadn't meant to follow them to their destination but it seemed, for some strange reason, appropriate.

Joseph did not recognize Iolaus, now that he had grown younger, and Iolaus seemed content in letting him stay oblivious. In reverence, Hercules and Iolaus waited for the men to place the body in the cave then, when all had vacated, Hercules took it upon himself to rolled a large and very heavy stone in front of the opening. If the followers were impressed by the demonstration of strength they said nothing. It was almost as if they expected it.

A woman, Mary, sobbed and respectfully lay flowers at the front of the tomb. Then, nothing more to be done, Hercules and Iolaus parted company with the grieving followers of "the Rabbi", as Joseph called him.

"I've got some news. You can take it for what it's worth." Hercules said to Iolaus as they stared down at the dark water their ship was cutting through. "One of the mates told me he heard a story just before we left Judea about a man who was crucified and buried in a cave-tomb. A large stone had been rolled in front of it ..."

"That sounds like our Rabbi." Iolaus commented and again closed his eyes.

"Odd thing is, they say the tomb was disturbed. When one of his followers came back to the cave, after a day or two, his body was missing."

Standing straight and upset, Iolaus ran fingers through his golden hair and frowned, "Some people have no respect. Hadn't he been through enough in his life! Did they have to go back and violate ..."

"No wait, you don't understand Iolaus. The stone ... it had been rolled away. That huge stone that I covered the cave with ..."

"Yeah, the one you were having so much trouble with. I remember ..." Then Iolaus focused, "It would have taken a lot of men or soldiers to move that thing after you had sealed it."

Hercules nodded, "But that isn't the strange part of the whole story." Hercules treaded carefully, " That man ... Jesus ... Some say that they have seen him. That he is somehow ... not dead."

"He's arisen?" Again, Iolaus turned to the water in thought. A small part of him wanted to tell Hercules that it was just a story and the whole idea was impossible. But he knew it was more than possible. Who better than Iolaus to understand the power of The Light, its mysterious ways, and what it wanted from mankind?

It had a purpose.

The men stood still, silent for quite a few minutes, absorbing the situation.

Then Iolaus turned to his friend and smiled, effectively changing the subject. "How am I going to explain all this to Clarin?" he asked.

Hercules chuckled, "I know. It's going to be a shock for him. A month ago he had an aging and ailing father and now the man who created him could be his brother. A very healthy looking brother I might add."

Hercules and Iolaus laughed, unrestrained. It had been the first time in a very long time for both and it sounded strange to their ears.

Then the smile faded slightly from Iolaus lips. His son, the young farmer with two feet planted very firmly on the ground, was going to have to do a lot of accepting. The one thing Iolaus had always wanted was for Clarin to use his imagination ... to believe in monsters and miracles. His son hadn't ever really fought him on it, listening to Iolaus stories - his adventures with Hercules - with a grain of wonder and skepticism. But now ...

Ah well, this is a situation Clarin and I will have to work through when Hercules and I get home ...

Again, as if reading his best friend's thoughts, Hercules placed a hand on Iolaus shoulder. They were going home and for the first time in his life Hercules was comforted by a thought that had always weighed heavily on his mind in the past. Death was not an issue and never would be again ...

Iolaus was alive and well ... and he would be with him forever.

"Let's eat lunch, Herc." Iolaus said and turned away from the railing.

Hercules nodded, happy to see his friends appetite hadn't diminished an iota either. Then he looked up into the clear blue sky. Quietly Hercules said: "Thanks." to Michael or whoever else was listening.

Hercules and Iolaus moved down the stairs into the dining area of the ship.

**You are very welcome.** HE answered.

THE END

March 2000.