All Manner of Sins

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the people who made “Troy” and to Homer, but he’s dead. I only own um, well, the other stuff.
A/N If you don’t like slash, don’t read this.


Hector could feel the nervousness radiating out of his brother as they rode out of the city. The army of Trojans parted and let them through. As soon as wer were in sight of the Greek army, the chariots left the front of the army and came to meet them. Hector noticed that Achilles seemed to be absent. Inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to face the Greek warrior yet. When the chariots were close enough, Paris and Hector dismounted and met Menelaus and Agamemnon.
Paris couldn’t hear most of what was being said. The blood was pounding in his head, and the sound of his own pulse drove all other sounds away. After what seemed like hours, Paris thought he heard his brother say, "No son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler." This cleared his mind quickly.
"Then every son of Troy will die," said Agamemnon.

Helen was watching all of this with great worry for Paris. She knew Menelaus was a good warrior. She also knew that he would most likely kill Paris. Then she would be forced to go back to Menelaus. She knew the Trojans wouldn't keep her once Paris was dead. It had been obvious, back on the boat, that Hector was angry with Paris for bringing her. She hadn't heard the argument, but she had seen the look in his eyes when he saw her. The way he stormed back on deck with Paris running after him. He would not hesitate to send her back. Yet, he had prevented her from leaving the previous night. He had consoled her in her tears and walked her back to the room she shared with Paris. She realized that the side of him that protected his country was at war with the side that loved his brother. She was brought back to reality when she saw the chariots head back toward the Greek army and leave Menelaus behind. He had accepted Paris' challenge.

"Make him swing and miss. He will tire." Paris nodded. Hector walked back to his army as Paris walked to Menelaus. Hector had to fight to keep watching as the battle started. It was obvious that Paris was not doing well. When he resorted to punching Menelaus, Hector saw the man spit out a tooth. But then he slashed Paris' leg. Soon Paris was lying on the ground, swordless. Hector knew that the best thing that Paris could do now was to accept his own death. And it looked like he was going to. But then he ducked Menelaus' sword and started crawling away. Hector had to prevent himself from stepping backwards away from his brother. Soon Paris' arms were around his leg and he was hanging on for dear life. Hector stood his ground as Menelaus approached.
"She's up there watching, isn't she?" said Menelaus, practically spiting out the words. "IS THIS WHAT YOU LEFT ME FOR?" he screamed, obviously at Helen.
"Stand back prince, or I will kill him at your feet."
"He is my brother." Hector knew the words sounded steady, but inside he knew that his brother was supposed to die at the edge of Menelaus' sword. He knew it, yet when Menelaus came after him, Hector couldn’t stop himself from pulling out his sword and plunging it into the other man. He helped Paris up and started running with him back to the army. But Paris broke off and ran to grab his sword. When he got back to Hector, the two men rode into the protection of the army. Hector sent Paris inside, then rode back out to meet the Greeks.

The Myrmidons had been watching the whole thing, since they had been forbidden to fight by Achilles. Achilles had joined them in enough time to see Paris cowering at his brother's feet and to see Hector stab Menelaus. When the two armies charged at each other, the reason why Troy had never fallen became clear to Achilles. The archers were shooting down most of the Greeks as they rushed toward the city, and the soldiers were taking care of the rest. Achilles then noticed a man cutting and hacking his way through the Greeks. He knew it had to be Hector. When he saw Hector engage Ajax, he was amazed to see that even if he went down or had his weapon knocked away, he could come back up fighting. And as much as Achilles respected Ajax as a comrade in arms, he couldn't help but feel proud for Hector when he finally defeated the giant Greek.
After Hector killed Ajax, he watched as Agamemnon and another man led the army in retreat. But when his men chased them, he stopped them, and told them to return to Troy. He told a soldier near him to inform the Greeks that they could come collect their dead.
"Would they have done the same for us?" the man asked him. Hector didn't reply as he rode back to Troy.