Within the hour, the women were cleaned, dressed and packed. Xena stowed their gear in the trunk of the red Mercedes and the pair headed back into the city to pay a visit to Jarrod, who had liberated Argo from its space in the turnpike truck bay. The three chatted for most of the morning and well into the afternoon, the large African keeping them updated on Calladosi’s adventures in the love department. As the coked-up blonde with the impressive, albeit store-bought, assets had predicted, she was in the Mafia lord’s bed the next night, reaping the benefits of his bottomless pockets, if not his somewhat questionable sexual prowess.
Portadoni and his crew were, apparently, laying low for the moment. Jarrod had intercepted several telephone conversations between Calladosi and his underling, who appeared to still be smarting from the beating he and his men had taken at the skilled hands of the Equalizer.
Of Magasee there was no sign, and this worried Xena, though she didn’t let it show. Calladosi had made no move to contact his hired assassin since the bugs were planted, which could mean one of two things. Either the assassin had been taken out of the picture, by Calladosi or an enemy, or he had been given carte blanche on this mission. The warrior was betting on the latter. Xena vowed to keep her eyes open and her ear to the ground. Magasee was more dangerous than Calladosi and all his goons put together and it would do her well not to forget that.
As dusk began to paint the winter sky in dulcet hues, Xena called a halt to the visit, suggesting that she and Sara move on if they were to find a half decent place with a kitchenette so she could have her promised home cooked dinner.
Smiling, Sara reluctantly arose from her comfortable chair, anxious to cook something good for her friend but loathe to end the wonderful visit. Despite their somewhat less than comfortable start, Jarrod and Sara had warmed to one another over the course of the day and Sara could sense a budding friendship between herself and the gentle man.
With hugs and promises to get back together sometime in the near future, Xena and Sara, together with the liberated Argo, set off to find suitable accommodations for the evening.
Sara brushed her hair back with one hand, glancing around the motel room. The meal was difficult enough to make in a normal kitchen let alone in the tiny corner the motel deemed a "kitchen unit". The inn seemed to suffer from a lack of taste throughout the whole room as well. Whoever decided that industrial green made a good color for the walls had to be either visually challenged or insane. The stand in one corner was too small to be called a desk and too battered to be called a table. Perhaps ‘refugee’ would be the best description. Of course, the laptop Xena had left sitting on the table looked tremendously out of place, it's glow from the screen only highlighting the chips and gouges littering the ancient finish.
The threadbare bedspreads covering the two twin beds were a deeper green. Some might term it forest green. If they never saw a forest, her mind whispered but she pushed it down without thinking about it. She muttered under her breath about the tastelessness of motels and turned her attention back to the lamb, stirring it carefully as she added more spices. She wanted this to turn out perfect and it was hard to do when all she had to work with was a two burner stove, some linoleum counters bravely hanging onto life even with whole chunks missing and a sink that looked like it was left over from Armageddon. Even the water from the faucet carried a rusty hue that ensured that she would be drinking either bottled water or soda. In fact, the only good thing was that the unit was a corner one and the one next to theirs was empty. There was no worry about hearing or being heard. Thank God for small favors, I guess. After this morning’s little fiasco, I could use a good night’s sleep. We both could.
Because this particular motel was situated in the heart of the city and, as such, not a choice location for the warrior, Xena had left a short time ago to scout the area. As Sara rose up from the small oven, her protected hands grasping the glass baking dish, Xena eased her way inside the cramped quarters, taking in a deep, appreciative inhale of the savory aroma that greeted her nose. "Smells delicious."
Smiling, Sara turned to greet the tall woman, the froze. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, perhaps a strong sense of deja vu, or perhaps remnants of this morning’s dream filtered into her conscious mind. Whatever the reason, Xena’s clothing seemed to transform itself into the leather and armor the young woman had seen in her dream. She blinked twice, but the vision didn’t right itself and the shock of the sight before her caused the hot glass dish to slip from Sara’s numbed fingers, splattering her feet and legs with sharp glass and hot food.
In a flash, Xena was across the cramped room, squatting at Sara’s feet and picking up the lethal shards of glass, tossing them into the garbage can which took up almost half of the space in the tiny kitchen. "Sara? Are you alright?"
"Wha-? Oh, yes, I’m fine. I can’t believe I did that! Of all the stupid . . . ." Looking down at the woman crouched at her feet, Sara was gratified to see that the warrior had regained her normal clothing. What in the world just happened?
Looking up, Xena smiled as she continued to clean the mess the young woman had inadvertently made. "Accidents happen. Go on into the bathroom and get out of those clothes. You didn’t get cut or burned, did you?"
"No. My clothes protected me. I just can’t believe that happened. Here, I’ll help you."
"No, that’s alright. Just g’wan and get changed, and soak those jeans in some cold water so they won’t stain. I’ll take care of this."
The kitchen was once again clean by the time Sara came out of the bathroom, dressed in a clean pair of jeans. "I’m sorry about dinner."
"No problem. We’ll just order room service."
"No. I promised you a real home cooked Greek dinner and that’s what you’re gonna have. I’ve got enough left over lamb mix for a new meal, but I’ll have to go back to the store and get some more grape leaves. You wanna come with me?"
Tossing the rag back into the rusted sink, Xena nodded. "I don’t want you going out unprotected. Especially not in this part of the city." As she went for her keys, Sara stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Could we just walk? The store’s only a couple blocks away and I could stand to stretch my legs a little."
With a shrug, the warrior acquiesced. "Don’t see why not. Let’s go."
As Jimmy bulled the Olds around yet another sharp corner, he sighed. He and his partner had spent the past four days searching the same pathetic two mile stretch over and over and over again without luck. It was obvious to him that the bitches weren’t in this area and he was wasting his time. Time which, in his opinion, could be much better spent with a Tequila in his hand and a blonde between his legs. Being trapped in a car for eighteen hours a day with a certifiable psycho wasn’t helping his nerves any either. Biting back a frustrated expletive, he swung the tank around yet another corner to begin the boring circuit yet again.
"Hey, Jimmy, I’m bored shitless here. Why don’t we screw this driving around the block crap and hit one of them titty bars up on Market, huh?"
"And have the Boss use our balls for paperweights? You’re bugshit, Frankie, I swear."
"Just a suggestion, Jimmy. We ain’t seen nothin for days. Besides, my ass is gittin sore. C’mon, whaddaya say, huh?"
"Oh fa Christ sake, Frankie. Just keep your damn eyeballs open. We’ll be done in a few hours."
"Then can we go to the titty bar, Jimmy? Huh?"
"You’re an idjit, Frankie. A certifiable, four D idjit."
"Helllooooo, Mama! Look, Jimmy! Lookit that fine piece of ass!"
As Jimmy followed his partner’s pointing finger out the passenger side window, his eyes widened. "Jesus fucking Christ in a Jeep, Frankie, ya did it!"
"Did what, Jimmy?"
"You found em! The Di’Maglione bitch and her fucking protector!"
"I did? How do ya know it’s them, Jimmy?"
"Ya know of any other little blondes walkin around with Amazons taller than you are, ya stooge?"
A malicious grin twisted Frankie’s lips. "Nope, sure don’t."
"Alright then. Here’s the plan. I’ll drive around the corner there and drop ya off. You make like a rat and stick to the shadows. I’ll go around the block and park the car and flash my lights at ya. When you get the signal, stalk em. Got it?"
"Whaddaya want I should do with em, Jimmy?"
"The Boss wants Di’Maglione kept alive, so don’t go shootin’ out yer asshole."
"What about the tall one?"
"Boss says she dies. But make it quick. We don’t wanna get caught."
"Ya can count on me, Jimmy!" As the car slowed, Frankie jumped out, slipping into the shadows cast by a gaily striped awning.
"That’s what I’m afraid of," Jimmy muttered, speeding around the block once again. This part of the city emptied out once the businesses closed for the evening and it was easy for him to find a place on the street to park. He parked, goosed the lights twice, and exited the car, slipping the .38 out of his shoulder holster as he did so.
As they started through the dark streets, Xena kept her pace slightly behind the blonde in front of her. She scanned the area around them constantly. There were so many shadows that could be more than just shadows and she wasn't about to let anything happen to Sara. Her eyes were drawn back to her ward briefly before sweeping the block again. When the rare car went past, Xena scanned for more than one passenger and any movement. Tall office buildings stood silent sentinel over the city block and any light shining forth was well muted by thick glass. She could just pick out the light spilling from the corner store two blocks away. The drive around the neighborhood earlier showed that the closest bar was over a mile away. The warrior wouldn’t have to worry about drunks unless they were driving. Off to her left, Xena’s ears picked up the distant hum of traffic from the freeway but it was too far off to be of any concern. This was as good a place as any in the city to hide for now. No neon meant less trouble. The motel itself was seedy enough to escape standing out and, even if it didn't, the neighborhood was quiet enough to make any trouble sound like a battlefield.
Keeping a step back, she allowed her eyes to watch the person in front of her. The way she walked, the toss of her head, the swing of her arms was all achingly familiar. In a way, it was sweet torture. Her heart ached with every second but it was an ache she could cherish. She would rather hold that pain inside that let go of the reminder. Still reminiscing, her ears picked up a sound from behind them. There were footsteps following and they were too careful to be coincidence. She stepped up next to Sara, her senses on full alert.
Sensing the sudden stiffness in the posture of the woman next to her, Sara slowed her steps. "What is it?" she whispered, turning slightly.
"Get down," Xena growled, pushing the young woman to the ground none too gently as she parted the folds of her duster and drew her weapon in one fluid movement. Whirling around and stepping back, the warrior straddled the prostrate woman as she sighted the barrel of her shotgun toward the quickly moving shadow headed their way.
Jimmy didn’t know what hit him as he was forcefully lifted off his feet, the hole suddenly appearing in his chest big enough to drive a truck through. As his head collided with the back of a dumpster, the world exploded into blackness and he slumped down to the ground, dead.
Before she could turn again, Xena felt the rip and punch of three bullets slamming into her arm, shoulder and back. Maneuvering quickly so that she was standing in front of her companion, the warrior snarled into the dark ahead of her. "This was a new duster, ya bastard!" She jerked the shotgun as two more shots went wild over her shoulder and off to the left. Taking a moment to aim, her eyes narrowed and she fired. The explosion of the shotgun was superfluous as she knew the man ahead of them was now missing at least half of his head.
Silence descended quickly and she listened hard. There were no running footsteps. Apparently there were only two assassins. The whole thing had taken only a few seconds but it wouldn't take much longer for the crowds to gather. Lights were coming on around them and Xena knew it was time to go. She turned back around to see Sara still laying on the pavement, her arms up around her head. Holstering her weapon, the warrior squatted down beside the prone figure, gently prying the tightly gripping hands away from the woman’s blonde head. "It’s alright. It’s over." When her companion made no sign of movement, Xena gently shook her. "C’mon, Sara. We need to get out of here before the police come."
Lifting her head, Sara nodded and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "That was too close," she whispered, her voice shaky. "Thank you."
Xena gave her friend a half-smile. "You’re welcome. Now let’s get moving."
Sara almost fell again as Xena pulled her into a run. Staggering and then finding her feet, she ran after the tall figure in front, adrenaline helping her to keep pace. They reached the hotel and Xena never slowed, running down the chipped, cracked pavement of the walkway and down past the clerk’s office.
"Oh geeez," Sara panted as she struggled to keep up with her companion’s long-limbed stride. "We would have to be at the far end." She had a glimpse of the clerk's surprised face as they pounded past the door.
They finally reached the room and Sara did no more than stumble inside and sit down, breathing hard, when Xena started tossing the few items she left out into cases, snapping them shut with sharp movements. She grabbed Sara's clothes and a bag and started pushing them in. The only garment the warrior used gentleness with was the green dress, folding it carefully and placing it on top. Sara felt a sudden lump in her throat that Xena would take that moment to do that. As the warrior turned, Sara's eye grew wide, noticing for the first time the bullet holes in the back of Xena’s duster. The young blonde immediately jumped up. "You're hurt!!"
"I'm fine." Xena answered without turning, "We need to move fast." Walking over to the laptop, she yanked the cord out of the wall and shut the screen down, grabbing it like a small briefcase and picking up the other two cases as well.
"Don’t lie to me, Xena. You’ve been shot."
"I told you I’m fine," Xena insisted through clenched teeth. "We don't have time for this now."
Turning with the cases in her hands, the warrior made her way to the door.
Sara took the opportunity to brush back the duster as her companion passed, reaching for the shirt beneath. "We'll make time. You can’t protect either of us if you bleed to death before we can get to safety."
"Damn it, Sara . . . ."
Xena’s comment was cut off by a sharp gasp of air as Sara viewed the tanned flesh beneath the bullet-riddled shirt. The young woman’s hand dropped nervelessly from the garment as she slowly backed away. "You're....you're not bleeding!!" her mouth worked soundlessly for a moment and she pulled her eyes away from the site of those bloodless wounds and look into Xena’s burning blue eyes, "Who are you?? What are you??"
Dropping the cases, Xena made to grab Sara as she flew past, but only wound up with a handful of air as the young woman backed up against the closed door, her eyes wide and rolling. "I’ll explain it all to you, Sara, I promise," she soothed, her voice soft and gentle. "But not right now. We’ve got to get out of here."
"Oh no," Sara protested, her sweat slicked hands gripping the doorknob in a futile attempt to get it open. "I’m not going anywhere with you. You just stay away from me!"
Halting her advance, the warrior brought her arms up, empty hands palm out. "I’m not going to hurt you, Sara. You’ve got to believe me. But we need to leave, right now. It’s not safe here."
"You’re right about that. It’s never been safe here. Not with you!" With those final venomous words, Sara finally managed to get the door open and she slipped through, running as fast as she could through the darkened passageways surrounding the motel complex.
"Godsbedamned!" Xena shouted, slipping out the door and slamming it shut behind her. Catching a glimpse of golden hair darting around a corner, Xena took off in hot pursuit. "Sara, wait! Please!"
"Just stay away from me!!" The demand echoed off the cement façade.
Sara ran so fast she was sure her lungs would burst with the exertion. She had no destination in mind except to heed the desperate get away that kept beat with her pounding heart. The vision of unmarred flesh beneath bullet-tattered cloth kept intruding behind her eyes and she fought back sobs of fright.
Running around another blind corner, her hurtling body rebounded off a thick, fleshy object and the young woman found her limbs quickly, painfully restrained as a large hand clamped itself over her mouth.
"Gotcha," her captor chortled quietly, dragging her from the walkway into the shadowed parking area and pushing her down behind one of the cars parked there.
Brief seconds later, Sara heard another set of footsteps thunder past her hiding area and she fought to scream out when a hard punch to her gut robbed her breath. A low voice sounded off to her left.
"You want me to go after the big one?"
"Yeah," her captor grunted. "Waste the bitch and meet us back at the warehouse. The Boss wants us coming back as a group."
"You got it."
The burly man pulled Sara roughly to her feet, his hand still clamped over her mouth. "Looks like your big bad friend wasn’t as much of a protector as you thought, huh bitch?" Laughing cruelly low in his throat, the man opened the door to the car they were hiding behind and shoved Sara in the back seat. "Now be a good little cunt and keep quiet or I’ll have to turn that pretty little face of yours into hamburger. Got it?"
As the man removed his hand, Sara took a deep lungful of air, ready to scream. Her words came out in a choked wheeze as a rock hard fist slammed into her belly yet again.
Stepping back quickly, the man slammed the door shut and entered in on the driver’s side, starting up the car and driving quickly out of the lot, flipping his lights on only after they had headed onto the street.
Xena slowed her steps as she realized that she had quite probably lost her panicked friend among the maze of pathways that meandered through and around the sprawling motel complex. Slipping into the shadows cast by the tall building, she concentrated her senses, listening for running footsteps, labored breathing, tasting the air for the unique scent of panic. The night was still and the air tasted only of the nauseating oily smoke of automobile emissions and unwashed bodies. Stilling her racing heart, she listened again, cocking her head. A feral smile crept over her face. She was being tracked and the idiot was heading her way.
Coiling her long body in the shadows she waited, still as a statue, as the footsteps came ever closer. When her tracker came abreast of her, Xena leapt from the shadows, slamming her rigid fingers into the nerves of his neck. The man crashed to his knees, frozen in paralyzed rigidity.
Lowering herself to squat behind the man, the warrior leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I’ve just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You’ve got thirty seconds to tell me what your friends did with Sara or you die. Your choice."
The man’s eyes were wide with fright as he tried to get his paralyzed finger to squeeze the trigger of his gun. It was no use. "I . . .I don’t . . . ."
"Sure ya do. Now spill it."
"The . . .the warehouse! By the waterfront!"
Lacing her fingers in his long, dirty hair, Xena pulled the man’s head back, staring into his panicked eyes. "There are at least a dozen warehouses by the waterfront, you moron. Which one?"
"The cannery! Down by the docks! I swear it!" Blood streaked from his nose and he could taste it at the back of his throat. "P…please!"
"Oh, I’ll let you go, alright. But you’re gonna do something for me."
"A…anything! Please!"
"You go back to Calladosi and tell your boss that he just made a really bad mistake. Tell him that if he doesn’t back off, he’d better learn how to breathe underwater. Got it?"
"Y…yes! I’ll tell him!"
Grinning widely, Xena patted the terrified man’s cheek. "Good." Slamming her fingers back into his neck, Xena reversed the pinch, then put the man out with a blow between the eyes. Standing, she dragged him into the shadows then dusted off her hands, returning to the motel room at a fast jog and retrieving their valuables.
Within moments, Xena led Argo in a tire-smoking turn from the parking lot and onto the maze of streets that would lead her to her destination. Just hang on, Sara. The Calvary’s comin’ over the hill. Just hang on.
Inside the warehouse, Sara was kicking and struggling as hard as she could manage. She felt a quiet sense of satisfaction as her large captor grunted with each blow her booted feet managed to land on his shins. This did little to slow him down however as he walked past a table where three of his compatriots were sitting, playing cards and dumped her on a sack. "You son of a bitch!!" Sara cried out, immediately launching herself at him as he turned. Immediately her world flashed into red spots as he ruthlessly drove a knee into her already highly abused stomach. She curled in a ball and fought the urge to vomit.
"Lively little shit, ain't she Johnny?" one of the guys sitting at the table laughed.
"Lively enough to end up dead." Johnny answered. "Where's the fuckin' tape?"
Still laughing, the one who identified her captor as Johnny tossed him a large roll of duct tape. Sara was still gasping for breath when Jimmy leaned down and pushed her back onto the sack. Without speaking he knelt down and grabbed her legs, quickly wrapping her ankles with the tape. When he reached out and seized her hands, she was still hurting too much to resist and he was able to tape her wrists together just as quickly. Then, ripping off one more large piece, he roughly slapped it over her mouth.
Forced to breathe through her nose, Sara tried to slow down. Her stomach felt as if it was on fire and she briefly wondered if the abuse had ruptured something inside her body. Her eyes flickered around the room but the only door had the five brutes standing nearby. There was a window in the far wall but it was at least eight feet off the ground. The stale air was musty enough to make her nose itch and want to sneeze but if she took a deep breath right now, she'd probably end up screaming through the tight seal of tape on her mouth. She shifted a bit on the sack, fear beginning to make her shiver. Oh you've done it now, girl, she thought. You just stepped in the firing line and no one's going to pull you out now.
"You have any problems, Johnny?" one goon in the red shirt asked from his relaxed position at the card table.
"Nah, she stepped right into my arms." Johnny flashed a grin as yellow as it was crooked. "Was as easy as pie."
"What about Richard?"
"Sent him after the big one. He’ll meet us back here after he takes her out."
"Butch," red shirt seemed to be the leader of this group, "Grab the cellular and give the Boss a ring. Tell him we have Di’Maglione and ask him what he wants us to do with her."
As far as canneries went, the warehouse itself wasn’t very large, Xena noted as she pulled the Jag into the large, gravel strewn parking lot and parked under a tall lamppost with a smashed out bulb. Easing quietly out of the car, the warrior scanned the structure carefully, sketching and eliminating possibilities of entrance quickly as she approached the quiet building. Four cars were parked haphazardly around the structure and Argo had tagged them as belonging to Calladosi’s group, so Xena knew she was in the right spot. She spared a brief thought to disabling the cars, then thought better of it. The vision of Sara inside, in pain, convinced her that whatever guards were left alive after her rescue mission would be in no shape to pursue them for a very long time.
After carefully circling the entire structure, Xena was convinced that the only two areas of entry were the large steel door and the dirt-encrusted window almost eight feet up from ground level. Never being one to take the obvious path, Xena stepped back from the building slightly, then ran at it, squatting just slightly before hitting the rough wooden slats and catapulting herself upwards, ululating her battle cry.
As Butch reached in his jacket for the cellular phone, glass shattered from the window above and dropped down to the ground in lethal shards. Sara's eyes jerked upwards as she heard the piercing battle cry and watched as a figure dropped down with the glass, leather duster fanning out, looking almost like the wings of a large predatory bird.
Xena no more than hit the floor of the warehouse than she flexed and pushed off again, somersaulting over the men's heads, lashing out with one foot and sending the cellular phone flying across the room, then landing and spinning to face the men, hands held up and fisted. She grinned ferally. "Hello boys. Thought I’d drop in for a visit."
The five guards stood dumbfounded for a long moment. Red shirt's mouth worked without sound for a second and then he found his voice, "Who the fuck is this, Wonder Woman?" Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, he cocked his head at the intruder. "Blow the bitch away, you idiots!!"
Xena laughed with malevolent glee. "Is that any way to welcome a guest?" With one sweeping round kick, she snapped redshirt’s wrist, causing his gun to go flying, end over end, to land in one dusty corner of the abandoned warehouse. As the group’s leader went to his knees howling and cradling his wrist, Xena stepped forward to take two more on, grabbing the men by their shirt collars and colliding their heads against one another, dropping them to land in heaps at her feet.
Butch finally managed to grab his weapon from its holster and brought the barrel up, wavering, as he pointed it at the dark apparition who was gleefully stalking him. Tightening his finger on the trigger, he pumped two rounds into the warrior’s advancing body, his eyes bugging nearly out of his head as the bullets made their mark, yet did not slow down the woman one iota.
A soundless scream issued forth from the terrified man as Xena clamped an inhumanly strong hand on his wrist, forcing his gun into his own stomach and pulling the trigger.
Releasing the now dead gangster, Xena looked up at the fifth member of the squad, who dropped his weapon to the floor and held his empty hands above his head. "Please don’t kill me!" the man begged.
Shaking her head in mute disgust, Xena made her way back over to the struggling Sara, liberating a butterfly knife from her duster and slicing through the young woman’s bonds in seconds. Sara’s wide eyes stared at some point behind the warrior’s left shoulder and, without thought, Xena brought her booted foot up and back, kicking the approaching man squarely in the groin.
The redshirted goon went down quickly, cupping his injured genitals with his uninjured hand. As his head met the cold floor of the warehouse, the world around him went black.
Jumping back up to her feet, Xena turned and spied the two men she had earlier knocked out staggering back to their feet. Grabbing one in a headlock, she used him as a lever to vault up and slam her feet into the chest of his partner, sending the man halfway across the warehouse.
The coward who had dropped his gun used the distraction to slip around behind the now standing Sara. The young woman spotted him out of the corner of her eye and, desperately looking around for a weapon, spied an old push-broom lying less than a foot away from her. Grabbing the broom, she brought it across her body like a baseball bat and slammed it into the approaching man’s midsection, watching in satisfaction as his legs buckled and he hit the floor with a wheezing grunt. Dropping the broom, she reached up and ripped the tape from her face. "OWWWWCCCHHHHH!" she screamed, slapping her hand against her stinging face.
"You’ll pay for that, bitch," her stalker grunted, staggering back onto his feet and raising his gun, reversing it at the last second to send the grip crashing into her unprotected skull.
Sara collapsed in a heap on the burlap sack, unconscious.
"Gabrielle!" Xena shouted, her internal rage sending blooming red roses dancing across her vision. Twisting her grip, she broke Johnny’s neck without thought as she turned and began to stalk the man who had harmed her companion.
Without speeding up, she crossed the few remaining feet and seized the gun, twisting it out of his grip and throwing it aside. The man paled, sweat tracing lines down his face, "Wh...Who...Who are you?" he stuttered.
Still smiling, Xena reached out and grabbed him by the throat, turning him around and forcing him back until his back reached a wooden support beam. "Your worst nightmare." The warrior suddenly unleashed a rapid succession of blows to his stomach, his ribs and his chest. His face erupted as she broke his nose and then his jaw. He was rapidly reaching blackout when she turned around, quickly reaching behind her and grabbing him around the head. She flexed and arched and snapped his back in one move, letting him drop down to the floor with a thud.
Shaking her head, she felt her vision clear and then focus on the limp figure of Sara laying on the ground. Running to her companion, Xena dropped to her knees, checking for a pulse. Feeling the heartbeat still strong, she released her breath in a sigh of relief. Slipping both arms underneath the unconscious woman, she stood up, carrying her gently, cradling the young woman close against her body. She turned and walked out of the warehouse, kicking open the door with one foot and headed back towards her car. Time to get the hell out of Dodge and take care of this one.
Xena spun the wheel and the tires screeched in complaint as the car skidded into the space outside the motel room. The door was open almost before the car stopped moving and the warrior vaulted over the hood, her hand snatching the handle and swinging wide the passenger door. She reached in and easily picked up the still unconscious blonde, holding her close as she nudged the door shut and walked quickly to the room.
Glaring at the rusty lock, a low growl formed in the back of the warrior's throat and she lifted one foot, snapping it sharply against the door. The lock broke with a rain of rust-stained flakes and the door swung back hard enough to bounce off the wall. Shouldering her way inside, Xena carefully laid Sara down on the bed, checking her heart rate before moving to the bathroom and wetting a washcloth.
Sitting down beside the inanimate woman, Xena gently wiped her face down with the cool rag. Turning Sara’s head slightly, she carefully probed the wound made by the gun’s solid grip. The skin was slightly abraded, but the wound wasn’t deep enough to require anything more than a thorough cleansing, which Xena proceeded to do, taking great care not to injure her companion further.
Remembering how Sara had clutched her abdomen when standing, Xena carefully pulled the young woman’s shirt up, exposing the tanned flesh of her belly. Sara’s abdomen was surprisingly toned. Xena ran careful fingers along the warm flesh, pressing here and there to ascertain if there were any underlying injuries beyond the severe bruising that was beginning to create sunburst patterns over the muscled expanse of her friend’s skin. Satisfied that there was no internal damage that she could detect, the warrior gently replaced the shirt before moving back to sit at the edge of the bed, tenderly grasping Sara’s limp hand in her own and using her other hand to brush the damp tendrils of hair from the young woman’s cheek. "C’mon, Sara," she crooned in soft, low tones. "It’s time to wake up. You’re safe now. C’mon. Wake up."
Sara's head moved with the motions of the fingers brushing her face and a low groan escaped her lips. Groggily, she lifted a hand toward the side of her head. "What the hell?" she lamented as her fingers brushed the lump forming under her hair.
"You took a helluva knock there." Xena told her softly, watching carefully.
"I guess so," Sara murmured, blinking away the darkness. Ruefully, she rubbed the spot and opened her eyes. The groggy look slowly vanished as memory returned and her eyes grew wider as panic rushed in. "You!"
"Now, Sara. . ." Xena began as the woman started to back up, stretching out a reassuring hand.
"Don't touch me!" Sara's shoulders hit the wall but her legs kept working as if she was going to push herself up to the ceiling. A cramp hit suddenly and the young woman doubled over in agony, her arms clenched over her abdomen. "Oh God, make it stop!"
Getting to her knees, Xena reached across the large bed, grasping Sara by her heaving shoulders.
"Get away from me!" the young woman shrieked through clenched teeth. "Oh God it hurts!"
Releasing Sara but not moving away, Xena’s voice became stern. "You’re not making this any easier, Sara. Your abdomen has been badly bruised and your panic is just making things worse. Try to relax and take some calming breaths. The cramp should loosen more easily that way."
Jade eyes flashed as they met the warrior’s compassionate gaze. "Alright," she grunted out, attempting to straighten her convulsing body. "I’ll relax just as soon as you get off the bed."
Nodding, Xena eased herself off the bed, walking over to an overstuffed chair and slipping down into it. "Alright, I’m away, see? Now calm down and breathe through the cramp."
"I’m breathing already! See??? Goddamnit that hurts!" Short, sharp breaths gave way to deeper, longer ones as the cramp began to slowly subside. Massaging her bruised belly, Sara was finally able to straighten her body fully up against the far wall. She remained tense, however, ready to bolt with the slightest provocation.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah," came the grudging response.
"Good." Slowly, the warrior stood, grabbing the empty ice bucket that lay on the table next to her. "I’m gonna grab some ice for your head. Stay here until I get back, alright?"
"Like I have a choice in the matter."
Arching an eyebrow, Xena left the room quietly, ice bucket in hand.
The minute the warrior was out the door, Sara tried getting up again. Her head felt like it was going to explode and she kept a hand against the wall for support. Her other hand kept the damp cloth against her head. Tottering a bit, she managed about three steps before the room started spinning. "Damn, damn, damn," she hissed. Staggering back to the mattress, Sara sat back down with an explosive sigh which did nothing to soothe the pain in her belly. Like it or not, she was stuck.
The door creaked as Xena reentered the room. One glance was all she needed to know that Sara had tried to move. And that same glance told her the outcome. "Getting dizzy when you stand?"
Sara jumped at the sound of the voice and moaned, "Oh Jesus. I feel like the morning after a New Year’s Eve party." She tried to keep an eye on the other's movements but things were wavering. Sounds were unnaturally loud. She could hear every clink of each ice cube as Xena dropped them into another cloth.
"Here." The voice came from right in front of Sara and she managed to focus enough to realize that Xena was crouched down, holding out the ice pack.
A sound suspiciously resembling a mouse squeak came out of Sara's mouth and she tried to jump backwards. The only thing she managed to accomplish was to send another bolt of pain through her head.
"Sara," Xena went on patiently, "I'll explain anything you want. But you can't keep jumping around with that head wound. You’re only making things worse for yourself."
Scooting back to lean against the wall once again, Sara put the ice pack against her head and closed her eyes against the pain in her body. After a long moment, she opened her eyes again, focusing on the woman seated across the room from her, studying the lanky form. Oh well, if I’m gonna be trapped in this room with that . . .that . . .thing, I might as well get some answers. "So," she managed to grit out, "Explain. Tell me why you don't bleed."
"I'm immortal," was the dry response.
"You're what??" The ice pack came off the spot but was quickly replaced when the throb quickened.
The dark haired woman sighed. "If you would calm down, I could help you with that." Seeing Sara’s narrowed eyes, Xena continued, "If I was going to harm you, do you think you could stop me? Besides," Xena went on with the slightest hint of a smile, "you owe me."
"I owe you?!"
"Yes. You owe me," Xena reiterated coolly. "I decided on what I want in payment for this job."
"And what might that be?"
"I want you to listen. To me and to what I’m about to tell you. You don’t have to believe me, but you do have to listen. If you still want to leave after I’m done, I’ll call a cab for you. Sound fair?"
"How do I know you’re telling the truth?"
"You don’t," Xena replied simply. "And believe me, after I’m through telling you my story, I’m sure you’ll think I’ve gone off the deep end. All I can do is give you my word that what I’m about to tell you is the absolute truth. It’s up to you whether to believe me or not."
Sara studied the woman for a long period of time, weighing her options. "Fine. I’ll listen. But I’m warning you, this had better be good."
"Well, I’m no bard, but I’ll do the best I can." Situating herself more comfortably, Xena took a deep breath, let it out, and began her tale. "The things I told you about my life the other night are true. All of them. What I didn’t tell you was that all those things happened nearly three thousand years ago."
Forgetting the pain in her head, Sara threw down the ice pack and started off the bed. "Ok, that’s enough. Call me a cab, Xena. I’m outta here."
"Wait," the warrior ordered, holding her hand up. "You told me you would listen."
"If you think I’m gonna waste my time listening to that load of crap, you’ve got another thing coming, Xena."
"Sara, I won’t make you stay, though I have every right to. But I thought you had enough courage not to run to the hills over something you didn’t understand."
That stung worse than the cut on her head, and the young woman halted her escape from the bed. Letting out a grouchy sigh, she picked up the ice pack and replaced it over her wound, settling back against the wall once again. "Fine. I’ll listen. I can’t very well talk you out of your delusions so you’d better just spill them so I can get out of here."
Xena nodded and settled back, crossing one long leg over the other. "As I was saying, those events happened nearly three thousand years ago. After my village was attacked and my brother Lyceus was killed, I went on a sort of rampage. I formed an army with some of my kin from Amphipolis and we approached neighboring villages, offering to teach them how to set up defenses and defend themselves, for a price. Those who accepted my offer paid tribute and were protected by my army. Those who resisted . . .well, they didn’t get off so easily. My intent was to establish a buffer zone around Amphipolis to protect what was left of my family. Things went well for a time, but eventually overland battles began to become a bit of a bore for me, so I stole a ship and took to the seas." Pausing a moment, Xena took a sip of tea from the mug which was sitting on the battered table to her right. Cradling the thick ceramic mug in her large hands, she continued. "It was there that I met two people who would have a hand in shaping what I was to become and though I take full responsibility for my actions, they each provided a spark. One betrayed me and fueled my rage into hatred and the other unwittingly gave me the tools to become the best in my newly chosen profession."
"What profession is that?" Sara asked, intrigued despite herself.
A bitter half smile twisted the warrior’s lips. "Murder." For a long moment, the room was silent as Xena gazed down into the dregs of her tea, scenes of horror playing through her mind. "The one who betrayed me was a young Roman nobleman who I had thought to ransom for a pretty sum, ensuring my dominance of the Grecian seas. I seduced him with my body, he seduced me with his words. Words of conquest and destiny." The smile came again, more sad than bitter, the smile of a young woman whose dreams had been dashed just short of fruition.
"What was his name?"
"Caesar."
"Caesar? Julius Caesar?"
"Funny, that’s exactly how he introduced himself when we first met. Julius Caesar, yes."
"So you’re trying to tell me that you were Julius Caesar’s . . .girlfriend." Sara’s tone easily conveyed her scoffing disbelief of the story.
Which Xena chose to ignore. "I thought so, at the time. But I was young and foolish, easily swayed by his pretty words."
"What happened?"
"He crucified me."
"Crucified?? As in Jesus Christ, Good Friday crucified?" Despite herself, Sara looked over to where Xena’s hands rested on her mug.
Catching the look, Xena obligingly held her hands up, palm out. "No holes."
"Yeah, that’s right. You’re an ‘immortal’. No blood. No holes."
"I wasn’t crucified like that."
"What do you mean?" the young woman asked.
"They bound me to the cross with ropes, hemp ropes. I can still remember the smell, the sharpness of the raw hemp as it wound around my arms and ankles." Her eyes took on a faraway gaze. "Caesar took pity on me and ordered one of his men to break my legs. It was a pain I can remember to this day." Her voice trailed off again, lost to the memory.
"What happened?" Sara asked, voice hushed. Wait a second here. You’re actually starting to believe this load of bull? Puh-lease, Sara. Save your money. The Brooklyn Bridge is next.
The warrior’s gaze returned to the present. "I was rescued. By a friend. She took me to a healer who set my legs. When Caesar got wind of my ‘escape’, he sent his soldiers after me." Blue eyes turned dark with remembered pain. "My friend took an crossbow bolt meant for me. She died in my arms."
"Gabrielle?" The name was a bare whisper stirring the currents of the calm room.
"No. Her name was M’Lila. She was a young Egyptian slave girl from Western Gaul who had stowed away aboard my ship. She had amazing battle skills and in exchange for allowing her to live, she taught me those skills. She died protecting me."
"Then what happened?"
The darkness in Xena’s eyes turned to blackness as a feral smile overspread her full lips. Sara felt a sharp bolt of terror shoot through her. "I killed them all."
"My god."
"And I didn’t stop killing for a very long time. For ten years, the land ran red with the blood of my enemies."
"Who were your enemies?"
The sneer widened. "Anyone who stood in my way."
Wincing against the death in that dark gaze, Sara flattened herself against the far wall. "Xena, you’re scaring me."
"Am I? Good. I should scare you. This Xena is as much a part of me as the ‘hero’ you’ve been worshipping the past several days. The great Warrior Princess. Unbested by mortal or god."
Sara swallowed against the dryness of her throat. "Warrior Princess?"
"My title in those days. One I wore with pride. My name was used to scare misbehaving young children."
"Who . . .who gave it to you?"
The feral mask shattered at the innocent question. Black eyes turned to blue again, tears welling up from their depths. "Lao Ma. My mentor. My friend. My . . . ." A lone tear slipped unnoticed down an angled cheek.
"Did you kill her too?"
"No. I did far worse. I disappointed her." A half smile formed, full of self loathing. "I threw away everything she taught me, everything she had hoped for me to be." A mirthless laugh followed. "She thought she could tame the beast. She was wrong."
"Did you go back to killing?"
"Oh yes. I killed and killed and killed. Innocent villagers, whole armies of fighters. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the rage that consumed me, the lust that filled me." Xena looked down at her white-knuckled hands. "And then one day, something happened."
"What?"
Xena turned to the blonde, the smile on her face was breathtaking, "I met Hercules."
"Hercules?" Sara issued a derisive snort through her nose. "Oh Xena, I’m sorry but. . .Hercules?! Half-god son of Zeus, hero of Sunday morning cartoons Hercules?"
"Yes," came the patient, if somewhat exasperated reply, "that Hercules."
"Well, I must say that you’ve pretty much cornered the market on delusions of grandeur, Xena. First Caesar’s girlfriend, then confidant of Hercules. This just keeps getting better and better."
"We weren’t friends at first. I made the mistake of seducing his friend Iolaus, thinking to drive a wedge between the two. I wanted Iolaus to bathe his hands in Hercules’ blood which would remove the last stumbling block to the pursuit of what I believed at the time to be my destiny."
"And that was?"
"To rule the world."
Forgetting her pain, Sara threw back her head and howled with laughter, tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks.
Xena reclined more fully in the chair, comfortably waiting the hysteria out. She was used to this reaction, it having happened on other occasions when she was forced to reveal her true heritage to others who weren’t in a position to understand. The facts of her life were beyond the pale. There was no denying that. But the fact that they were hard to believe didn’t make them any less true.
As roaring laughter slowed to isolated chuckles, Sara grasped at her abused abdomen and moaned. "I think your story is bad for my health, Xena."
"If that’s your way of asking me to cut this short and call you a cab, the answer is no. There’s a lot more to my story, and I want you to hear all of it."
Straightening herself out on the bed, Sara waved a negligent hand at the dark warrior. "Go ahead. Finish this sci-fi thriller of the week. I’m all ears."
"Well, since you haven’t read my name in any of the history books, it should be obvious that I failed in my quest to kill Hercules. When next we met, I went up against him one on one. He defeated me. By that time, I’d almost had enough of leading an army, and part of me wanted him to finish me off. He refused. He saw the same thing in me that Lao Ma and M’Lila had all those years ago. Something I couldn’t see in myself."
"And that was?"
"The capacity for goodness. I was so entrenched in the darkness within my own soul that I had forgotten that there could be another path. He helped me to find that path. I loved him for that and I always will."
Sara studied the profile across from her. As hard as it was to meet that sapphire gaze sometimes, she wished she could see Xena’s eyes. The things the woman was saying were unbelievable. But Sara had seen the bullet holes and the lack of blood. Could she actually be telling the truth?
Xena looked back down at her hands again, studying each line, each vein, flipping them over and back, rubbing them against one another, seeing long-dried blood coating them no matter how many times she tried to wash it off. "Hercules offered me a place with him. But this was one path I knew I had to tread alone." Blue eyes shut tight against remembered pain. "It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Everyone wanted a shot at me now that I no longer had my army around me. Innocent villagers, violent warlords, it didn’t matter. They all wanted a piece of the mighty Xena." Her own name was a curse in her mouth. The breathy laugh sounded again, full of self-mocking undertones. "They couldn’t defeat me. I was the Warrior Princess. But they tried. Oh yes, they tried." Her voice trailed off in a whisper.
"What happened?" Sara asked softly, drawn to the woman yet again through her pain, still only half-believing the outlandish tale, yet totally immersed in the emotions behind it.
"I just . . .gave up. I think, no I know, I wanted to die. I had so much to make up for, so much that even a lifetime wouldn’t begin to scratch the surface. All I could see before me were unending days filled with the horrors I had perpetrated on my homeland. All I could think to do was to go back home, back to the place where it all started. To return not as the warrior who had left, but the defeated woman I had become. To look into my mother’s eyes one last time and see all the guilt and horror I had dumped on her. To tell her I was sorry."
"Did you?"
"I started to. I found a place outside a small village. I stripped off my leathers and my armor and buried them with my chakram and my sword. I was ready to face the consequences of my evil. And then . . . ."
The room was silent for a long span of moments. The pounding in Sara’s head reached a crescendo again, then faded back slightly. She leaned forward, gently prodding. "’And then’?"
"I met someone." The warrior blinked, her eyes suddenly burning. She fell silent, forcing back the emotion that rolled over her like a tidal wave.
Sara looked at Xena’s face. The lines were strong, proud, and in pain. "You don’t have to tell."
Pale blue eyes turned on her and the smile was one of the saddest Sara had ever seen. "It’s okay. I want to tell. I think I need to." Xena took a breath. "From my vantage point in the bushes, I watched as a group of frightened villagers were herded by some slavers. At first, I told myself that it wasn’t my fight, that I’d given up." The smile turned then, it’s effect dazzling to the green eyes that watched the warrior. It lit the entire room with its brilliance. "That’s when this brave young peasant girl proceeded to teach me a lesson in courage."
"What did she do?"
"She stood up to those thugs, armed with nothing but her wits and her bravery, and offered herself in the place of the rest."
Sara snorted. "Doesn’t sound all that brave to me. I mean, the slavers had them all dead-to-rights, right? Why would they just take her and leave the rest alone?"
The dazzling smile became a lethal glare, which then softened. "That wasn’t the point. The point was that she didn’t give up. Even when the odds were impossible, she still tried. She still fought. I realized right then how wrong my thinking had become. I finally had an example I could try to live up to. I couldn’t let that wonderful act of bravery go unrewarded."
"So what happened? Didja kill all the bad guys and save the village?"
A corner of Xena’s mouth quirked up into a smile. "Something like that."
Sara returned the smile against the pain in her head. "That must have felt good. Having all those villagers thanking you for saving them, I mean."
The dark head shook in negation. "They didn’t thank me. The young woman’s father asked me to leave."
"But I don’t understand. You saved his daughter, didn’t you?"
Xena shrugged. "It didn’t matter. No matter what I did or who I saved, I was still Xena. A murderer."
"That must have been horrible! No wonder you wanted to give up."
"But I didn’t," Xena commented softly, a sad smile on her face. "She gave me reason to continue the fight."
In her mind’s eye, Sara could picture the brave young peasant girl who had, through her selfless, albeit foolhardy, actions, sent a renewed sense of purpose into a spirit broken down by savagery. "It was Gabrielle, wasn’t it," she whispered, as if afraid that speaking aloud would shatter the vision.
The warrior’s face lit as if the internal brilliance of her soul was exposed to the blinding light of a newly formed day. "Yes," she affirmed. "Gabrielle."
That one simple word was suffused with so much love, devotion and simmering passion that Sara felt a myriad of warring emotions course through her body upon the hearing of it. The first one she was able to pin down with any amount of accuracy was jealousy. Great. You’re jealous of a ghost. A three thousand years dead ghost, by the way. Or had you forgotten that part. Gentle tears slid down her smooth face at the realization that she would never hear her name spoken with such devotion by anyone. Gabrielle, I don’t know who you are, but you must have been one special person to have captured the heart of this wonderful woman and held it for so long. I just hope, wherever you are, you realize it. I know I would.
Before she had time to process her emotions any further, Xena resumed her tale. "I didn’t want her to tag along at first. She followed me. In fact, she saved my life." Blue eyes met Sara’s sympathetic gaze. "She saved my soul." The warrior sighed. "She became part of me."
"She sounds like a very special person."
"She was the most dear thing to me in all the world. She gave my life meaning again. She gave me joy and love. I might not have deserved any of those things, but she gave them just the same. To me. The Destroyer of Nations." Tears slipped unchecked down Xena’s proud countenance.
"You loved her very much."
"More than I could ever love anyone."
"Tell me a little bit about her?"
Xena’s smile lit up her eyes. "Well, you already know what she looks like," she replied, gesturing to her young companion. "Gabrielle was the most warm, compassionate, loyal person I’ve ever known. She was an outstanding bard and had terrible luck with men." At Sara’s surprised look, she continued, stifling a grin. "Every man she fell for wound up dead. We found it a bit morbidly amusing, at first. Until her husband died."
"Her husband? But I thought . . . ."
"You thought right. But it took a long time for us to admit our feelings to each other. Perdicas was her betrothed. He was a simple farmer, but when Gabrielle left to follow me, he became a soldier and fought for Troy." Xena consciously edited her tale, not wishing to suffer through yet another bout of laughter by admitting that she had entered into the war at the behest of Helen.
"That is so romantic," Sara commented dreamily.
"It seems that way, yes. But one of the things you need to do when you’re a soldier is to learn to kill without remorse. Perdicas couldn’t do that. So he gave up the sword, searched for Gabrielle, and when he found her, asked her to marry him."
"And she said yes."
"Not at first. But when he threw down his sword again in the middle of a battle we were fighting against a warlord and told Gabrielle he was going home with or without her, she accepted his proposal of marriage. They were wed the next day. And the day after that, he was murdered."
"Oh no."
"An enemy of mine made it her life’s mission to destroy me by killing everything I loved. She was trying to kill Gabrielle at the time, but I stopped her. So she turned her rage against Perdicas. She stabbed him through the heart. He was dead before he hit the ground."
"How awful!"
"Yes, it was. It almost caused Gabrielle to lose her blood innocence."
"Blood innocence? What’s that?"
"Things are different now. But back then, anarchy reigned. It was a rarity for someone in our line of work to go through life without killing anyone. And at that point, Gabrielle never had. It made her very special. She lived true to her ideals."
"’At that point’? Did she wind up killing someone at some point?"
"Yes, but not then. And that’s not a story I want to get into."
Sara nodded sagely, relaxing against the wall, her aches forgotten for the moment. "What else?"
"Well, she was an Amazon Queen."
"Amazon Queen? But you said she was a peasant girl!"
"She was. But when she tried to save the life of an Amazon princess, the woman gave Gabrielle all her worldly possessions before she died. That included her position within the Amazons. Some time later, the reigning Queen was killed in a challenge of succession by her adopted daughter. The Mask of the Queen fell to Gabrielle."
"Wow. How’d you feel about that?"
"I didn’t feel anything really. I was dead at the time."
"Dead?!?! But I thought . . . . But you said . . . . But . . . . Arrrgggghhhh!"
Xena chuckled, a rare sound for her, and threw up an arm. "Patience. We’re getting to that part of the story."
Sara muttered something under her breath, something even the keen-eared Xena couldn’t decipher.
"I’ll guess that means you want me to continue."
"Please do."
"Gabrielle and I were defending some townspeople from a cult when I was caught by a log trap and flung into a tree. I asked Gabrielle to take me to Niklios, a healer on Mount Nestos who had saved me when M’Lila released me from Caesar’s cross. I had been thinking about the past before I got hurt, and the head injury just sort of stuck me there. I relived the entire incident, from the first time I met Caesar to my slaughter of the Roman guards after M’Lila was murdered. Gabrielle went through hell bringing me up that mountain in the driving snow, half-crippled from a knife wound she sustained saving me. But somehow, in my confused state, I rationalized that if I just died there, on Mount Nestos, as should have happened ten years before, that all the carnage I had perpetrated earlier could just be erased somehow. So I just . . .gave up. I allowed myself to die without a fight."
"Well, if I were writing this tale, this would be the part where I’d put ‘The End’."
"Quite true."
"But since you’re here, talking to me, something must have happened."
"Have you ever heard of ambrosia?"
"Well, since I’m sure you’re not talking about the disgusting marshmallow fruity stuff my Aunt Helen serves at Easter dinner, I’ll assume you’re talking about the food of the gods. Right?"
"Exactly. The dead can hear the thoughts of the living, and Gabrielle made such an eloquent plea for my life that I had to go back. Ambrosia was my ticket out of Tartarus."
"What’s Tartarus?"
"The Ancient Greek equivalent of hell."
"Ahhh. So there really is a hell, huh?"
"For me there was. A fate I deserved for the crimes I had committed. I probably still do."
"How can you possibly say that? All the good you’ve done . . . ."
"Good doesn’t erase bad, Sara. My good deeds, then and now, can never bring back the lives of the innocent people I slaughtered." Xena was silent for a long moment, pondering her past as well as her future. Placing the mug of now cold tea back on the table, she continued again. "Anyway, with the help of some friends, Gabrielle was able to retrieve enough ambrosia to give to me."
"So that means you’re some sort of god???"
"No. Ambrosia only changes the living into gods. I was dead, remember. But it did bring me back to life. We didn’t realize until much later that it was a life that, quite probably, will never end."
That last part was spoken with such pain, such emptiness that everything clicked into place for Sara. Somehow, despite the fantastic assertions, she knew that Xena was telling her the truth. That realization both awed and saddened her. Sara had a genuinely compassionate nature, one to rival even Gabrielle’s, and the thought of this strong, independent woman, wandering through time, lost and alone, being pulled further and further from the only thing she ever wanted, brought streaming tears to her face. Not wanting to cause Xena further pain, but needing to know, Sara asked her final question. "What happened to Gabrielle?"
"She died." The words were clipped and brief coming from beneath a bowed head. The warrior’s long fingered hands were fisted tight enough to turn her knuckles white.
Sara felt her own heart aching in response. Sitting the icepack down on the bed, the young woman carefully stood up. The pain in her head had dropped down to a mere headache. She closed the distance and slowly wrapped her arms around the tall woman, leaning her head against a slumped shoulder, slightly surprised when Xena allowed the comfort. "I’m sorry."
"Not your fault."
"No, but I can still be sorry," Sara insisted, raising her head slightly. "I can be sorry it hurts so badly. And I can be sorry that I remind you of her so much."
Xena lifted her arms around the blonde woman, holding her for a long moment, "It’s not your fault," she repeated more gently. "And reminding me of her is never a bad thing. Just. . ." her voice faltered a moment and she breathed in deeply. "It’s just hard sometimes."
Pulling away just slightly to search the warrior’s tormented features, Sara felt Xena gather herself as if to end the embrace and pull herself back behind her mask of stoicism. The young woman responded in the only way she knew.
The kiss began as one of comfort, compassion and understanding. It quickly deepened into something more, however, as two souls met and merged, greeting one another once again across the vast expanse of time. Pulling back, Xena framed the young woman’s face in her hands, looking deeply into jade eyes. The soul who looked back at her through those eyes was known to the warrior as intimately as her own name. There was no mistaking the look of unending love and devotion. "Gabrielle?"
"Xena?"
"Gabrielle?!"
A sharp knock to the broken door dissolved the fusion. When Xena looked back down again, Sara’s slightly dazed eyes gazed back up at her, a look of faint confusion easily seen in their depths.
The knock sounded again and Xena shook her head slightly, gathering herself and gently guiding the young woman behind her with one strong arm. "Who is it?"
"Housekeeping, senora," came the heavily accented voice of a female from behind the door. "I come to change the sheets and towels."
Bending slightly, making sure to keep Sara behind her, Xena peered through the peephole. An Hispanic woman stood next to a cart filled with folded linens, her expression bored. "No moleste. Come back later."
"Si, senora. I come back later." Heaving a sigh, the woman grabbed her cart and pushed it up the cement walkway. The warrior could hear the sounds of knocking on the next door up. Staring outside, she noticed the light outside for the first time. I’ll be damned. I talked the whole night through.
"Xena?"
The quiet voice behind her reminded the warrior she was still protectively shielding Sara and she released the young woman, turning to face her. "Yes?"
"What just happened?"
For a moment, Xena was silent, pondering the possible ramifications of her companion’s question. "I’m not sure," she answered finally, truthfully.
"Either am I. It was so strange. One moment I’m here kissing you and the next . . . I don’t know." Blushing faintly, she lifted her head to meet Xena’s piercing eyes. "I didn’t exactly mean for that to happen but . . . I liked it." Her smile was shy as she abruptly looked to the carpeted floor.
Placing one hand comfortingly on Sara’s shoulder, Xena used the other to gently tip the young woman’s chin up, forcing their eyes to meet. "So did I."
"Really?" There was awe and some shock in Sara’s voice.
"Yeah. Really."
"Xena?"
"Hmmmm?"
"I believe you, you know."
At the warrior’s arched eyebrow, Sara blushed again. "No, not about the kissing part." The eyebrow arched higher, the blush deepened. "Well, yes, I believe that too. Oh hell, I mean that I believe your story . . .about your life."
Xena felt a crushing sense of relief wash through her with those words. "What convinced you?"
"Well, I pretty much believed you near the end, but when we kissed . . .I don’t know . . .this . . .this force just went through me. It filled me up. This trust just built up in me and I suddenly realized, I don’t know how, that every word you said was true." Sara shook her head. "I know I’m not making much sense, but I don’t know how to put it any better than that."
Xena’s smile was gentle. "I understand better than you think, Sara. And as much as I’d like to spend some time trying to figure out exactly what it was that made you feel that way, this isn’t the safest place for us to be right now."
"Let me guess. Another tour of the luxury motels of Philadelphia, right?"
"’Fraid so."
The early morning sun wove its way through tightly closed curtains, choosing to shine its slender beam on the whetstone grasped in Xena’s hand. Her sharpening chore forgotten, the warrior was studying the peaceful form of her young companion who was snuggled in a tight little ball at the very edge of the queen-sized bed. You’re in there somewhere, aren’t you, Gabrielle. It’s like you’re trying to tell me something through Sara, but I don’t know what it is. Let me see you again, my beloved, please. Just once more . . . .
Xena’s musings were interrupted by the chirp of her cellular phone, which she picked up before it had finished its first full ring. The warrior glanced amusedly at Sara, who grumbled and turned, burying her golden head beneath one large pillow. "Yeah?"
"It’s Jarrod, bluu jicho. I heard about what happened. I’m sorry."
"No need. I was expecting it anyway. Do we know who was responsible?"
"A little of both, I’m afraid. The two who ambushed you were from Portadoni’s crew. Apparently, they were circling the block for three days. They must have stumbled on you two by accident."
"And the ones who caught Sara?"
"Magasee."
The warrior snorted softly, mindful of her sleeping companion. "I thought as much. That group seemed a bit more well-spoken than Calladosi’s usual idiots."
"Yeah, well Magasee about melted his Boss’ phone lines late yesterday. He’s flying solo now. You’ll need to watch out. He’s a chatu, that one."
"And I’m a nguchiro. So that makes us about even."
"Nah, bluu jicho. You’ll always have the edge."
"Flatterer."
"I only tell the truth." The voice on the other end contrived to sound hurt, but failed. Then the tone became much more serious. "I’m coming to stay with you two until this is over, Xena."
"That’s not necessary. . . ."
"I know it isn’t. But I’m coming anyway. You’ll appreciate the extra set of eyes, especially after I tell you what else I heard this morning."
"And that would be?"
"It seems Judge Macalvie’s wife had a heart attack last night. He’s off the case. Judge Simpson has stepped in and his docket’s clear. In other words, the trial’s been moved up to the day after tomorrow. The DA called me this morning. He wants to meet with Sara today to go over her testimony. It looks like he’s intent on putting her up on the stand."
"Ok. We can work with this. What time’s he want to see her?"
"Three. His office."
"Not likely. I may just as well hand her over to Calladosi. No, you tell Mister District Attorney that if he wants to meet with my client, he’ll do it my way."
"You want me to set it up at another restaurant?"
"No. If Magasee manages to stumble onto this, innocent bystanders won’t bother him any. We’ll meet someplace private. Keep the honest folk outta the line of fire."
"I know just the place. Call you back when it’s all set up."
"Thanks, Jarrod."
"Anything for you, Allah a bluu jicho."
"Cut the crap. See ya."
"Sara. Sara, c’mon. It’s time to get up."
"Five more minutes."
"That’s what you said ten minutes ago, and ten minutes before that. Rise and shine."
Incoherent mumbling.
"Alright, you asked for it." The coverlet was quickly drawn back as long fingers teasingly probed the sensitive areas over Sara’s ribs.
With a yelp, Sara turned and sat up in one fluid movement, turning a deadly green glare toward her tormentor. "That’s not fair!"
Ice blue eyes widened in a look of mock innocence as a smug smile played over Xena’s face.
"Using your knowledge of Gabrielle’s anatomy against me is just . . .not . . .fair!"
"No, but it works."
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Sara scowled. "What was so all fired important that you had to wake me out of a perfectly wonderful dream, anyway?"
"Your friend Tom Franklin wants to meet with you. It appears the trial’s been moved up to the day after tomorrow."
"Does that mean I have to testify?" Sara’s already dry throat became parched with fear.
"It looks that way."
"I don’t know if I can do this, Xena."
The warrior smiled warmly, placing one hand on Sara’s shoulder. "Sara, in the time we’ve been together, you’ve been kidnapped twice, almost raped by a police officer, been shot at on a number of occasions, and survived a car chase through Valley Forge park. While that may not say much for my protecting skills, it does mean that, with all that you’ve been through already, getting up on the stand and testifying against Calladosi and his murder squads will be a piece of cake."
Returning the smile, Sara laid her palm atop Xena’s larger hand. "Xena, your protecting skills are perfect. Granted, if you weren’t so into playing ‘speed racer’ we might not have gotten to meet Officer Friendly, but if I hadn’t run away from you, I never would have gotten thrown in a deserted warehouse either. If it weren’t for you, I would probably be dead by now. You know that as well as I do."
"Be that as it may, you need to get up and dressed. The interview’s at three." With a fond squeeze to a warm shoulder, Xena backed away, allowing the young woman to rise from the bed and prepare herself for the day’s events.
As Sara stood under the shower’s stinging spray, lathering and rinsing her still aching body, she thought about the news she had just received. She found, to her great surprise, that she was of two minds about it. On the one hand, she felt a distinct sense of relief that the end was in sight. Running for her life had taken its toll on the young woman, and she bore the bruises and scars to prove it. It would be a relief to just stop running and breathe freely once again, no matter the outcome of the trial. On the other hand, however, she was sad. Because as soon as the trial was over, so too would her adventure with Xena end. And a very large part of her didn’t want that to happen. She had come to view the proud woman as a friend and noted, deep within her heart, that there was love there too. That damned kiss. It had brought out feelings that weren’t hers . . .yet. Somehow she knew this. Her feelings of love for the warrior were just burgeoning. But the glimpse she had received was of a love fully bloomed, a passion realized and embraced more deeply than anything she could have ever imagined. And though they were not her feelings, exactly, in some way they were. And that made her confused as hell. How can I back away now that I know what loving her feels like? How can I just turn away from that?
Turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, she sighed. She didn’t think she had much choice in the matter. Xena was the one keeping her at arm’s length. The kiss they had shared was spontaneous, borne out of a need for comfort. She didn’t think that the tall beauty would ever let her walls drop that low again. It’s like I’ve been given a glimpse into what my life could be, and I’m not allowed to go for it. Toweling off, she sighed again. This sucks.
Dressing quickly, Sara flipped on the exhaust fan to clear the steam so she could look into the mirror well enough to fix her hair. Standing tall, she watched as her face appeared through the slowly dispelling fog. She raised up a hand, placing it on the mirror, drawing a moist line down one side of her reflected face. "It’s you, isn’t it," she whispered below the rattling hum of the exhaust fan. "You’re a part of me somehow. Maybe not always, but sometimes. You come to me in my dreams sometimes. And when we kissed, you showed me what it’s like to love her, how it could be. Has my whole life been formed for these moments? When you step in and take control, showing me a love so great, a trust so deep that words can’t define it? If that’s so, then I willingly give up everything I’ve ever known if you’ll just come back to stay. I know that sounds foolish or, maybe, insane. But it’s true. You’ve shown me a taste of what life can be like for me, and I want more. Please come back, Gabrielle. Please."
"This is it. C’mon." Arm around the young woman’s shoulder, Xena led Sara through the thick steel door and down the maze of dark, dank corridors, caged dirty lightbulbs doing little to dispel the gloom. Turning left at yet another darkened intersection, the warrior entered a large room, barren except for one large table with several chairs sitting around it.
"What is this place?" Sara asked, looking around at the cobwebby walls.
"An old mercenary hideout that Jarrod stumbled on. We should be safe here. The only way in or out is through that main door. It locks from the inside."
"Oh."
Pounding on the door carried faintly back to the pair as Xena pulled out a chair for her partner. "That’s Jarrod with the DA. Sit tight. I’ll be right back."
"Uh . . .I’d feel safer if I came with you."
Xena quirked a lopsided smile. "C’mon then."