FADE IN

On a street in Rome. Xena and Gabrielle are walking down the street, facing the camera. The street is crowded, lively and colorful; everything seems to have an air of prosperity. As they walk, Gabrielle looks around, obviously very pleased by what she sees. Xena pauses as they pass a food stall and makes a quick purchase, then runs to catch up to Gabrielle.

XENA:
     Wait up! Here--honey-covered figs.

She offers a fig to Gabrielle before popping one in her mouth and licking her sticky fingers clean.

GABRIELLE:
     Thanks. (she nibbles on the fig diffidently) Since when do you have such a sweet tooth?

XENA:
     Since Darion. That kid is a bad influence on me, you know. For the past three days all I've been able to think about is getting really good honey-covered figs once we got to Rome.

Gabrielle sees six acrobats beginning a performance in the middle of the street and stops to look. Xena stands behind her, stuffing figs into her mouth watching as one of the acrobats goes into a handstand and arches her back so that her body is in a backwards loop with her feet dangling in front of her face.

XENA (unimpressed):
     I can do that.

GABRIELLE (rolls her eyes, with affectionate irony):
     Oh yeah...maybe five years ago. (She chuckles as Xena glares at her in mock outrage. They resume walking; Gabrielle looks around, evidently more and more thrilled by what she sees) Who would have ever believed that a Roman emperor could do all this? Look around, Xena. I haven't seen a single beggar since we entered Rome. It's thriving under Nero.

XENA (inspecting a coin the fig merchant had given her as change):
     Something tells me Agrippina has something to do with it too. Take a look.

She holds the coin up for Gabrielle's inspection. The camera zooms in as she flips it to show Nero's likeness on one side, Agrippina's on the other.

GABRIELLE (laughs in disbelief):
     An emperor sharing power with his mother! I don't think Rome has ever seen anything like that before!

XENA:
     Rome has never seen anyone like Agrippina before.

GABRIELLE:
     Now that they've got an empire to run, I wonder if they'll even have time to see us.

CUT TO

Inside the imperial palace. Xena and Gabrielle wait in the atrium. Agrippina and Nero enter arm in arm. Agrippina breaks away from her son and strides over to Xena, grasping her by the arms.

AGRIPPINA:
     Xena! I didn't know whether to believe it when I'd gotten word that you had entered the city. I hope this is a social call, not business.

XENA:
     Gabrielle and I just thought we would see how you were getting along.

NERO:
     Excellent! You'll stay here as our guests. Gabrielle, I hope you will honor us with one of your stories after dinner tonight.

AGRIPPINA (gently scolding):
     Xena and Gabrielle are here as our guests, Domitius. They shouldn't have to work for their supper.

Nero glares at his mother. The air is thick with tension until Gabrielle clears her throat.

GABRIELLE:
     Oh, I think I could be persuaded to tell one or two--

NERO (nods grudgingly):
     No, no. My mother is quite right. You're here as our guests. (he forces a smile onto his face to alleviate the tension then reaches out to squeeze Gabrielle's elbow) We want you both to take advantage of our hospitality.

XENA:
     We've already experienced it--out on the streets. You and Agrippina are to be commended. It looks like Rome is really flourishing under your rule.

NERO:
     Thank you. It may not be terribly modest of me to say so myself--but I do believe that Rome has entered a new era of domestic tranquility.

CUT TO

A semi-dark room. A middle aged Roman man--obviously a nobleman by his dress--seizes an unseen assailant by the arms. There is a momentary struggle but he is clearly no match for this person. He stumbles backwards a step and is hit in the temple with an ornate brass candlestick. He sways, then crumples to the floor face first. A dark pool of blood spreads around his head on the marbled floor.

The shot of him laying there on the floor gradually becomes lighter and lighter until it is apparent that it is now morning.

Off-camera, the sound of the door opening is heard, followed by footsteps. A pair of feet in sandals and the hem of a white dress come into view. The person stops abruptly. A shrill, loud female scream pierces the silence.

CUT TO

The lavish atrium of the house, decorated in marble and gold, with rows of male and female busts on pedestals, and a square pool at the center. A crowd of slaves is milling about the atrium, the low, nervous buzz of their voices filling the air.

Several important-looking men, clad in white togas lined with purple or red, enter. They are led by a tall, broad-shouldered man in the uniform of a Praetorian guard. They stop.

PRAETORIAN:
     Where is he?

Shaking in fear, a man of about forty in a brown tunic and pants, with blond hair and a curly blond beard, steps forward and points to a door. The Roman officials and the Praetorian walk silently toward the door and go inside.

The camera pans over several worried-looking slaves.

SLAVE #1 (a young man):
     The master's been murdered--and they have no idea who did it.

SLAVE #2 (a middle-aged woman):
     You know what that means for all of us.

The camera pans to a slender, slightly built dark-skinned young girl in a green dress, her curly brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looks terrified. A woman's hand reassuringly squeezes her shoulder as we:

FADE OUT

END OF TEASER