She could smell the fresh, cool air blowing in through a crack in the shutters to their room and decided to go outside to cool off.

 

The Inn was empty as she made her way out into the cool morning air.  She took a seat on a log in a secluded area of the yard and stared up at the night sky. It was cloudless and beautiful, and the stars twinkled like chips of diamonds strewn across rich velvet.  The air was exquisitely fresh, cooling her sweat-dampened skin.  It also cleared her lungs of the smoke of the nights fire.

 

“Hello.”

 

Despite herself Gabrielle jumped with a startled yelp as a dark figure moved in the bushes slowly toward her. It was still too dark to see but she recognized his voice and his general shape.

 

“Joxer.”

 

He cocked his head to the side and lifted an eyebrow, curious as to how she knew his name.  “You know my name.”

 

She was giving him that familiar look again, and the way she’d said his name…it was like she’d said it a hundred times before.  Unlike the last time they’d met, the feeling that he also knew her was almost tangible and her beauty in the moonlight was breathtaking.   Joxer wanted so much to reach out and touch her just to make certain she was real and not something from a wonderful dream.

 

“Sure I do.  You’re Poseidon’s champion.”

 

“Ah, of course.  Juice?”

 

He handed her a decanter full of a clear liquid that smelled something like freshly squeezed grapes.  “Don’t worry,” he said, grinning at her hesitation.  “I haven’t drunk from it yet.  It’s a clean decanter too.”

 

She took his offering and drank some of it down.  Like the night air it was cool and refreshing.  “That’s so good.”

 

“Yeah, I like it.  I like to drink the juice before it ferments. I think its better this way.”

 

“I would tend to agree.  You can enjoy it without becoming intoxicated.  I suppose it’s important for a god’s champion to always be alert for danger, huh?” 

 

“Indeed it is.”

 

They shared a few moments of comfortable silence as they watched the eastern sky begin to brighten with a new day.  The air was heavily perfumed with the spring flowers that were blooming all around and Gabrielle found herself missing sleeping under the stars with Xena.  After a few minutes of listening to the sound of the waking village, Joxer broke the silence.

 

“You like to watch sunrises?”

 

“No, not really”, Gabrielle admitted, slightly embarrassed.  “I love sleeping in.  It was just too hot in my room with the bed being close to the fire and Xena smothering me like she…”

 

“Like she…?”  He waited expectantly for her to finish. 

 

“Nothing,” Xena said, looking away sheepishly. 

 

“Watching the two of you I get the feeling you two are uh, more than meets the eye.”

 

“No.  We’re friends but not lovers.  Actually we only just met a few days ago.”

 

Knowing he was taking the subject matter into an area too personal for her to discuss with a stranger, Joxer backed off, much to her visible relief.  “I love watching sunrises myself.”

 

“Since when?“ She caught herself before she could say more. How easy it was to forget that this wasn’t the old days and this wasn’t the Joxer that had loved her so much he gave his life to save her.  The woman in the bed upstairs wasn’t her Xena.  This wasn’t even her world. 

“I sense you are a woman with a troubled mind…” Joxer left the sentence hanging, hoping she would tell him her name.

 

“Gabrielle. I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.”

 

“That’s alright. You know, you don’t look like one of Athena’s guards.”

 

Gabrielle became even more uncomfortable with his questions.  She felt perhaps like he was interrogating her, and she reminded herself again that she and this Joxer were complete strangers.  He didn’t love her the way the Joxer she’d known had, therefore there was no reason for him not to give away her identity to his god or Athena herself.  He sensed her hesitancy and smiled.

 

“I’m sorry. I have a tendency to question people.  I shouldn’t do that but you’re different somehow.  Would you think me too forward if I told you that I felt as if I know you?”

 

“I wouldn’t find that strange at all. You’d be surprised at the things I’ve learned.”

 

“A real-world woman huh?”

 

“That I am.  Though I’m loyal to no god in particular.”

 

“I can understand that better than you’d think.  Sometimes I tire of Poseidon’s petty cruelties myself.  I would have followed Athena but she doesn’t allow male Champions.”

 

Gabrielle found herself laughing. “Let me guess:  You’re an ambitious man and you’re not about to allow sexism to trap you in a dead end job?”

 

He began to laugh along with her, genuinely amused by her sense of humor and how well she had read him. The sense of familiarity was stronger and he was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable with it.

 

“That’s it exactly. I wouldn’t be able to rise above centurion.  Besides all that I wouldn’t look good in one of those silver skirts.”

 

“Legs too hairy?”

 

They begin to giggle, helpless to control their laughter.  This man had every quality in a man she’d ever wanted to see in Joxer, and she could feel a strange attraction tickle deep in her stomach. 

 

This is ridiculous, she thought, trying to shrug off the feelings that were arising within her.

 

“Gabrielle?” Xena’s sharp voice said from above.

 

Gabrielle looked up to the third floor window to find Xena looking down at them, and the Bard wondered how long she’d been there listening, and Gabrielle hated it when people snooped.  “Yes Xena?”

 

“What are you doing?” 

 

The jealousy in Xena’s voice was painfully obvious and it wasn’t lost on Gabrielle that that Xena’s behavior must have made her look like a liar to Joxer.  After all, she’d just finished telling him there was nothing between her and Xena of a romantic nature and now Xena was acting like a lovesick schoolboy.  Gabrielle tried but she was just unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. 

 

“I’m just talking to someone Xena.  Why are you up this early?”

 

Xena looked at Joxer with a mixture of jealousy and anxiety.  For all she knew he had already told Athena their whereabouts and her former lover had sent assassins to kill Gabrielle.

 

“Come upstairs.  Now.”  Xena’s voice left no room for argument so Gabrielle looked back at Joxer, somewhat apologetically.  This woman was proving to be radically different from her Xena, what with the way she barked orders to her instead of asking.  Gabrielle began to feel as if she were being smothered by this Xena. 

 

“I’ll be right up.”  Gabrielle lay a hand on Joxer’s arm, surprised by the hard flesh beneath.  Yes, he was definitely a different man from the Joxer she’d known.  “Enjoy your sunrise Joxer. Perhaps we’ll meet again.”

 

“I hope we do.  And Gabrielle?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I get the feeling you’re a woman of truth and honor.” 

 

He had indeed sensed her fears that Xena’s behavior had made her look like a liar, and he wanted to soothe her fears.  What a man this Joxer was.

 

Gabrielle smiled and left him there to watch the sunrise as she went upstairs to deal with Xena.  She didn’t know what path her life was going to take but it promised to be a rocky one if this Xena was going to be in it.

 

******************************

 

“Are you out of your mind?” Xena yelled when Gabrielle arrived back in their room.  She realized Joxer was still below their window and quieted her voice.  “He’s Poseidon’s Champion and he’ll sell us out to his god in a heartbeat.  Trust me, I know him.”

 

“How well do you know him?”  Was that jealousy Gabrielle was feeling in the pit of her stomach?  Ridiculous.  She wasn’t going to fall for this Joxer any more than she had the man from her own world.

 

“Well enough to know I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.  He’s a womanizing bastard so stay clear of him.  I’ll try to find a horse that can carry Gabrielle and Callisto so we can head move on.”

 

“I don’t think Joxer will tell on us Xena.”

 

“You said you knew him from your world.  Remember one thing:  He is not your Joxer.  He belongs to Poseidon.”

 

Gabrielle watched Xena storm out in her new leather pant outfit.  It went with her personality but it also served not to remind her too much of her Xena.  She shook her head at the situation she’d gotten herself into and hurried next door to wake her younger version and Callisto.

 

******************************

 

The Innkeeper tenderly reached inside the safe and pulled out the purse that held his profits from the day before, trying desperately to avoid cutting himself on the blade that was pressed dangerously close to his throat.

 

“Hurry old man,” the thief whispered.  The Inn’s inhabitants, mostly consisting of temple guards from Poseidon and Athena’s own champion, were beginning to arise for the day.  The Innkeeper was surprised at this thief’s ambition.  It either meant he was crazy or he was desperate to steal with that much protection in the Inn.

 

“Where’s the rest of it?”

 

“That’s it.”

 

“Liar!” The thief pressed the knife into the Innkeepers throat again.

 

“I swear.  That’s all I have.”

 

“I’m gonna start cutting until you tell me where the rest of the money is.”

 

The thief replaced the gag over the Innkeepers mouth and slashed twice at his substantial belly.  The pain must have done something to clear the Innkeepers mind because he remembered Xena’s gift.  Something of a freebee get-out-of-trouble card with Athena for being nice to her champion.

“Athena,” the Innkeeper mumbled under his gag.  “I ask for you help in the name of your Champion Xena…hey, that rhymes.”

 

“What in Tartarus are you mumbling about?” The thief asked, yanking the gag off the Innkeepers mouth.  He never saw Athena appear behind him.

 

“Who has summoned me?”

 

The Innkeeper sighed in relief as Athena appeared.  “I did my goddess.  This man is trying to rob me.”

 

“Really?”  Athena said, giving the thief a wicked grin.  The mood she’d sank into since finding that Gabrielle’s presence was destroying her world had left her depressed.  The chance to dispense a little quick justice was just what she needed to lift her spirits.  Besides, this Innkeeper had mentioned Xena, and wherever Xena was, so was Gabrielle.

 

“Come here my child.”

 

The thief shook in fear from head to toe as he slinked his way over to Athena like dog that knew a spanking was coming.  “Yes, goddess? I can explain, really-“

 

“Shhh.”  She cupped his chin in one hand and looked deeply into the thief’s eyes seeing his life in a detail greater than his own memory could allow.  “You have killed many innocent people for nothing more than to satisfy your sick desires.  You’re a menace to society.  A threat to my other children.  I cannot allow you to live.”

 

“But…but…” The thief tried to pull free of her grasp. When that failed he made a useless attempt to escape by running his dagger into her mid-section, with no effect of course.

 

“If I allow you to live, you will continue to harm those who are weaker than yourself.  I’m sorry but I’m afraid I’m going to have to put a stop to you.”

 

With one smooth jerk she snapped the thief’s neck and allowed him to drop to the floor. Next, Athena focused on the Innkeeper who swallowed over a lump of panic in his throat as Athena callously stepped over the thief’s body and focused on the wound on his stomach.

 

“That’s not too bad.  I can clear that up in no time.”

 

When the wound was healed, Athena captured the Innkeepers eyes with hers.  “You called for me in Xena’s name.  The only way you would have known to do that would have been if Xena gave you her favor when she was my champion.  When was the last time you saw her?”

 

“Last night my goddess.” Despite her gentle smile, the Innkeeper feared he would loose control of his bladder at any moment.  “She is staying with some friends on the third floor.”

 

“She’s here now?”

 

“Yes my goddess.”

 

“Thank you.”  Athena turned and stepped back over the body, then on a second thought, looked down at it. “You don’t mind cleaning up my mess do you? I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

 

“Not at all.”

 

With that, Athena faded away.  She had a blond home wrecker to kill.

 

******************************************************************************************************************************

 

Xena/Ares

 

The muted chanting of the Amazon sisters increased in both tempo and emotion as Varia’s body was taken from the preparation tent to the pyre for burning.  Xena had spent the entire day listening to the sisters preparing the stake at which she would be burned along with Varia’s body.  It was only fitting, considering she’d murdered the woman who’d been willing to leave her tribe in order to save her soul from falling back into the hatred and despair she’d been lost in before Hercules and Gabrielle had entered her life.

 

She knew these things mentally, yet she couldn’t help but feel as if she were a woman wearing a mask to cover her true face to the world.  She had shown these women nothing but a contrite spirit, but inside she seethed with hate and anger.  The only reason she was going to allow them to kill her this night was the simple fact that if she didn’t let them slay the monster, the monster would slay many more innocent lives in the name of her hate.  She just couldn’t allow that to happen.

 

“I have to end this.”

 

“Why?”

 

Xena didn’t even bother to look up at the sound of the one who’d spoken to her.  She wasn’t surprised he was here now, but she was a little curious as to why it had taken him over three and a half months to get to her.  There had to be a reason.

 

“What took you so long Ares?”

 

Ares reclined on a pillow that had been given to her by Cyane in an attempt to make her last few hours on earth at least moderately comfortable.  She’d refused to allow herself any small measure of comfort as a pathetic act of atonement for killing Varia and the villagers of Amphipolis.

 

“I was waiting for this to happen.”

 

“I figured you would. Opportunistic bastard.”

 

“I’ve come here to talk about your future.”

 

“I don’t have a future Ares.”

 

“You could.  You could atone for what you’ve done and I can help you.”

 

The look of incredulity on Xena’s face was almost comical so she forced a small grin to take its place.  “You know in Amphipolis they turned your temple into a stables.”

 

“Did they?” Ares said, wondering why she would talk to him about temples when they could be discussing her future.  A future with him at her side.

 

“Mmmm,” Xena said.  She knew how Ares felt about temples.  They were a status symbol and he loved them more than he let on.  Besides that, she wanted to get in one last dig before she died.  “Now it’s as full of shit as you are.”

 

Instead of angering Ares he let go with a genuine, full-fledged belly laugh.  “Oh, Xena.  I love you.  Even at the hour of your death you still find it within yourself to insult me.  What a woman.”

 

Suddenly Ares was off the pillow and in her face.  She tried to jerk away from him; startled by his sudden movement, but she only succeeded in hitting her head painfully on the supply cabinet she was chained to.  His breath was sweet, as the breath of all gods was.  It reminded her of the ambrosia he used to wave before her face in the old days when they’d first met and she’d pledged her loyalty to him.  She knew the taste of it, the power that he could breathe into her with every kiss.  It had always been intoxicating.

 

It was now, as his wonderfully dark eyes bore into hers.  That old feeling of half remembered love and desire flooded her loins and her chest, and had she been standing her knees would have bee made weak. He was like a drug she had been addicted too all her life, and only Gabrielle’s love had been able to keep her from using again.

 

“Now she’s gone.”

 

He was reading her thoughts.  She’d always hated that, but at this moment she found it strangely comforting.  “Ares, I will never call out to you for help.  You know that so why even try?”

 

“That’s one of the reasons why I love you.”

 

She feigned disgust when she really wanted him to take her in his arms and just hold her.  She wanted him to make this nightmare of the past few months go away, and she knew he had the power to do so. However to get him to do it would mean she owed him. It would cost her her soul.

 

That’s just it, she thought. I don’t have a soul.  It died with Gabrielle.

 

“I can give it back to you.”

“Get out of my head Ares!”

 

“I can’t.  I’m a part of you and you know that.  Xena you considered Gabrielle to be your soul mate.  I consider you to be mine.”