DISCLAIMERS:

Violent Content Warning: This story contains scenes of a violent nature.

Sexual and Alternative Content Warning: This story also contains scenes of a sexual nature between two women. This story is not for those under the age of eighteen.

Uber Warning: This story is an uber. The two characters are based off of the leading ladies of XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Author’s Notes: This is the third installment of my continuing story. You might want to read the first two before reading on. All POSITIVE comments are welcome. Negatives I will simply ignore. Send your thoughts to startrek@ellijay.com. 

Part 3

By: Teagen2

My heart was crushed. To the typical eye, I was crying because my leg was being tightened in a tourniquet to stop me from bleeding to death. I had watched them try to revive Gabby for several minutes before they loaded her in the back of an ambulance, while still trying to get a heartbeat. "Relax, Zena. Your going to okay." the EMT soothed. Relax! I don’t give a damn what happens to me! I came very close to screaming that when I was picked up off the pavement, leaving a puddle of blood behind. My aim had been true. I saw the white sheet covering Jenkins. A quote came into my head, ‘Good riddance to bad rubish’ Now where the hell did I hear that?

I was becoming numb all over. I heard the blaring sirens and the EMT’s talking to the hospital about me. The woman had her hand on a bandage on my thigh, the other hand on the exit wound directly behind it.

"Zena? Can you tell what day it is?" she asked. Who gives a rat’s ass what day it is! I answered, "Tuesday."

"Good. Who is the president?"

"Hillary Clinton." She caught my joke and laughed. "Am I still bleeding?"

"Yes, but you are slowing." she said, checking the bandage. "You may need blood when we get to the hospital though." I nodded.

I opened my eyes slowly. I was expecting to see the street where I fell, but I saw a blue sky. I felt grass underneath me. Suddenly, something came into my line of view. "Ahhhh." I was so startled, I sat up. It was a horse, a tan looking horse. "What the hell?" I said and then it licked my face. "Whoa." I stood up. No pain. I looked down. No gunshot wound. I heard a sharp whistle.

"Argo." The horse trotted over to...Zena? Except she was wearing a leather type get up. My mouth hung open as yet another surprise greeted my eyes......me. Well a blond, short haired, tattoed me. But me none the less.

"You have got to be Gabby." ‘Zena’ said with a smile.

"Who...who are you?" I asked stunned. "Am I dead?"

"I’m Gabrielle and this is Xena." she said, grasping hands with her companion. "And no you aren’t dead. Not yet."

"Xena?" I asked. I looked at her right bicep, no tattoo. This wasn’t my Zena, but the other me’s Xena.

"This is too weird." I said, running my hand through my hair.

"Come on you two." Xena said grabbing the horse’s reins and turning around. Gabrielle motioned for me to follow. Well what else have I got to do. She waited until I caught up before she began walking.

The two women led me into a wooded campsite. A fire was blazing with some kind of meat cooking on it. I noted to see only one spot to sleep. They must be lovers too. Oh well. "Have a seat Gabby." Xena said taking her own seat against a boulder. She opened her legs to let Gabrielle sit there. As the two settled, I asked. "Where am I?"

"Well, we call it the Elysian Fields, but I think the closest translation for you is Heaven." Gabrielle said.

"Then I am dead." I said sadly.

"No..no almost, but not dead." Xena said. "You’re kind of in between."

"Why?"

"You doubted yourself and Zena."

"I never doubted my love for Zena!"

"No not Zena, yourself." Xena continued. "You doubted you could ever be anything but a...punk." she smiled.

"I am a punk. Look what I keep getting myself into. Now its caught up to me, plain and simple."

"Nothing is ever plain and simple, Gabby." Gabrielle said. "What about that jewerly you bought for her?"

"Yeah, so."

"So. It meant a lot to her. That was a very unselfish thing to do."

"Yeah, I got her shot too. Aren’t I the perfect girlfriend?" They sighed simultaneously and looked at each other.

"We can’t tell you this unless you believe it. Until you do, your stuck with us." Xena said.

The ER was crazy. They cut my clothes off and she tried to take my chain. I reached up and grasped her hand. "Leave it." I said, not wanting to be without the gift Gabby gave me. She hesitated for a minute and then I saw she was going to let me keep it. I had two IV’s in each hand. One was fluid and other was blood.

"I want to know about Gabby, Captain." He had dropped by to see as soon as I was given a room.

"She...is on life support. She’s not breathing on her own. They have the faintest of pulses." At least she wasn’t dead as I previously thought. "They are worried about possible brain damage. She could have mental problems from the lack of oxygen to her brain. Since she has no next to kin, claiming her that is. Janet doesn’t want to have anything to do with her. They are going to hold her on support for thirty days. After that...." he trailed off.

"I am her next of kin." I took a deep breath. "Captain, Gabby is my girlfriend. We have been lovers for several weeks." He looked at me and smiled.

"I was always wondered why I could never turn your head." The captain figures himself quite the lady’s man. "I don’t know if you can do anything, but I’ll look into it for ya. Off the record, can I say something that might upset you?"

"Sure, everyone else has." I sighed.

"Zena, you have to think of the future here. Gabby is in terrible shape. She may not pull through this. Wouldn’t be more practical to let her go?" I held back the tears as I recognized his meaning. "She’s suffering and you don’t know what kind of shape she will be in if she does recover."

"I would love her no matter what." I said sternly.

"I know, but will she be able to live a life like that?" My first reaction was anger, but his words did make since. I love her more than my own life, but could she live with a crippling disabilty?

"Think about it, Zena." He turned and started to leave, "Oh, take all the leave time you can stand okay?"

"Thanks."

"So. I thought Heaven would be...different." I said quietly as I sat next to Gabrielle. She was writing with a feather looking thing.

"Well, to be more accurate its our heaven." she smiled and looked over to Xena, who was grooming Argo a few feet away with her back turned.

"Yours?"

"Yeah, we created it. When we were alive, this is what we did. We traveled the roads, went where ever the wind blew us." It seemed to me, she was slipping into a memory. With a smile like that, it must be a happy one. Is this what Ze sees when I smile? I hope so.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She placed her ‘scroll’ as she called it to the side.

"Did you two...die together or at different times?"

"We died together. We were jumped by a band of Ares’ goons. One of them shot Xena through the heart with an arrow. She was..." Her face contorted with pain. She started to cry. "trying to protect me when one of them shot an arrow at me. She caught that one, but she didn’t hear the other one coming.....until it was too late." I could tell by the glazed look in her eye, she was reliving a scene in her mind. "I pulled her head into my lap. Both of her hands were gripping the shaft. I remember her body twitching and the blood coming from her mouth. When I saw the light leave her eyes, I turned to the man who shot her and said, ‘Kill me! You can’t kill her and leave me alive! Finish it!’ The last thing I remember was this sharp pain in my back." She was openly sobbing now.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to....."

"Its okay." she smiled. "After all these centuries, it still hurts. Weird huh?"

"No. Its not weird."

"Gabrielle." We both looked up to see Xena striding towards us. "Love, what’s wrong?" She took a seat next to Gabrielle. She reached for Xena and without words, Xena knew what was wrong. "Shhh. I’m right here." I suddenly felt like a third wheel. I got up and started moving out towards the waterfall I had seen earlier. I felt Xena’s eyes on me as I left, but she didn’t try to stop me.

A cane. I can’t believe I’m 29 and walking with a cane. Well, its better than crutches I guess. My leg is killing me as I walked, or rather limped, down the corrider to the Intensive Care Unit. I took a deep breath and walked in. "Hi, how can I help you?" the young nurse asked.

"Umm. I was wondering if I could see Gabrielle Taylor."

"Are you family?"

"She’s my girlfriend." I expected a wide-eyed look or a ‘huh?’, but instead I got,

"But your not immediate family."

"No, she doesn’t have any. Please?" She smiled at me.

"Okay, I’m sure its fine. Come with me." We walked past several other patients before we came to her. Despite the paleness in her skin, she looked remarkably good for what she has been through. "She’s doing good." She pointed to the heart moniter. "Her heart is beating pretty strongly now. She is off support, but we are watching for any internal bleeding. Her injury wasn’t very severe. We have no clue as to why she stopped breathing. The bullet exited through her back. Yet, she hasn’t woken up. Talk to her, maybe she’ll wake up for you. Who knows."

"Thank you."

"Sure." She left us to our privicy. I reached down and tenderly kissed her lips.

"Hey, Gabby." I said quietly. "Some week, huh? They said I could go home today, but I’m not going to. Not yet." I sat down in the chair beside her. "Boy that sure was a kick in the pants, Jenkins I mean. The captain says that he paid Allison to get rid of Big J and frame you for it. Guess he wasn’t all that smart. What I couldn’t figure out was were he got the bills to pull it off. That’s where the Switches came in. He promised to turn the other cheek to their business if they bribbed him a bit. When they heard Allison was leaving the HC’s, they wanted her. ‘Inside’ info on the Hell Cats I guess. When you went to West Town, I guess he got scared that you were on to him. I shouldn’t have keep the war from you. I should have told you the minute I knew something wasn’t right. I’m so sorry."

If I wasn’t in the pickle I’m in now, I would think this place was paradise. The fall wasn’t all that big, but it emptied into a beautiful lagoon surrounded by shade trees. The sun was setting behind me, but I knew I would be safe here. Zena’s words were playing over and over in my head. She obviously was talking to me, rather my body. I can’t believe she’s apologizing to me. It wasn’t her fault. I just wish I could tell her that.

I heard footsteps behind me. She didn’t bother to hide them. "Can I join you?" I turned to see Xena, armorless, standing behind me.

"This is your world, not mine." I said sadly, gesturing for her to sit. "I’m sorry if I upset Gabrielle. I didn’t mean to."

"Its okay." she smiled as she sat. "You didn’t do it. She’s just.....sensitive." I nodded in understanding. A silence passed over us as I contemplated the woman sitting next to me. She was strong, that much was certain. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No." I smiled. "I miss Zena. I know she’s worried about me. How do I get back?"

"Well, you have to believe in yourself. Gabby you have a beautiful spirit, just like Gabrielle. I see that a darkness is in you too. Don’t let it consume you. I did.

"A long time ago I was a warlord. I killed innocent people just because they were in my way of getting my destiny. Someone finally got through to me and I was able to turn around, but if Gabrielle didn’t come along I don’t know what I would’ve done."

"What is my darkness?"

"Your doubt in yourself. You are not your aunt. " I looked up at her suddenly, but she continued. "You are stronger than any of those women that lived around you. An old friend once said, ‘If you believe in something strong enough, it will happen.’

"What will happen?" She sighed heavily.

"In your future, Big J....wins. She forces you into doing something stupid and Zena is forced to do something that will crush her."

"What?"

"Watch you die." she said quietly. "Her officer...shoots you after you try to kill another police officer. He has no choice."

"Why was I shooting at a cop?"

"I can’t tell you that. Just call this a..devine intervention." she smiled. "This is the closest you come to death before that happens."

"So you’ve been watching us? For how long?"

"Time has no meaning here, Gabby. But keep in mind, if Zena kills you, she also kills the love in her heart for you."

A bright white light flashed in front of my eyes. I opened my eyes. They were dry. I saw a tiled ceiling. I heard a steady beep off to my left. Gods, I feel sore. I suddenly realized, I was back in my own body. With some effort, I was able to turn my head. Zena was looking straight ahead. Her chin was resting heavily on her fist as she idly played with the head of a cane. "Zena." It took all of strength to whisper that one word. She all but flew out of the chair.

"Gabby!" she smiled. "I was so worried about you." Two tears fell from her eyes. "I love you so much." Our reunion was interrupted by a nurse and a doctor.

"Zena, stop babying me. I’m fine."she said as I helped her up from the couch. They released Gabby from the hospital two days ago and she’s already restless. Of course, she yells at me when I don’t use my cane to walk, but after I get rid of this limp I’m clear for active duty. Actually, I’m clear for desk duty now, but I hate paperwork. I’ll leave that to the busy bodies in research.

A knock on the door stopped our potential good hearted nagging at each other, at least for the moment. "I’ll get the door. You stay here." I said and moved to see who was there. When I opened the door, no one was there. I looked down to see a playing card at my feet. I picked it up. It was the King of Hearts. I looked around cautiously, but no one was here. "Gabby, do you know what this means?" I walked into the living room. Her eyes flickered in recognition for a split second.

"No...I don’t know. Where did you get that?"

"On the porch." I motioned. She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and turned and walked into the bedroom. Something told me she knew something about this card.

I awoke to an empty bed and no limp in my step. My leg was still sore, but seemed more flexible than before. After dressing, I went into the living to see Gabby on my computer. "Hey, Baby." I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her neck. "What are you up to?"

"Nothin’." she said quietly. "Posting another story." With that, she rose from her chair. As opposed to the last few days of being in bare feet and shorts, she was dressed in her loose jeans, tanktop with a flannel shirt, and sneakers. "I’m going out." she said sternly.

"Where?" I asked.

"Just something I have to do."

"Sweetie, you shouldn’t be out when your...."

"Don’t say it, Zena." she cut me off. She had uncharacteristically raised her voice to me.

"I’m fine." She turned and left. I was rooted to my spot for a moment. What the hell was wrong with her? Oh, well. I walked back into the bedroom and redressed in my work clothes. Might as well earn some money today.

I was cruisin’ for trouble. I knew it the minute I stepped into Giller. I saw Xena’s face and she wasn’t happy, but I’ll be damned if I let Big J ruin the one good thing in my life. "Hey..LB." I saw her sitting on a bench with those little goons she always hung with.

"Yo, Little G!" She stood and hugged me, but I didn’t hug back. I held up the card. "Oh shit." she whispered.

"Where’s Big J?" I said sternly.

"Why?" I didn’t answer. "Hey, don’t be goin’ and doin’ somethin’ stupid Gabby."

"My business, Tate." Using her real name, brought out the child in her eyes. "I can’t let

her do this."

"What are you gonna do?" I turned and walked towards my old home. I walked in to find

Panther and Big J sitting on the couch. I wiped my palms on the side of my carpenter jeans.

"What the fuck do you want?" Panther jumped up. Big J motioned for her to sit down. With a smirk, she turned to look at me. I held up the card in my hand.

"Suicide King. Death at the door of royalty." I recited her motto for killing. "Is it mine or Zena’s?" She laughed.

"You know the answer to that." she smiled.

"I won’t let you do this." She raised her eyebrows in amusement, before standing. She stepped into my face.

"Just exactly what are you gonna do to stop me?" She heard the sharp click as I released my switch blade knife. She didn’t see it until it was posed at her throat.

"And just what are you gonna do with that?"

"Cut your fucking throat."

"Yeah right. You ain’t got the goods to do that." she sneered. I was aware of Panther’s gun at my temple, but I ignored it. Now, Little G you have three options. Put the knife down, we kill you and Zena. Put the knife down and we kill just Zena. Put the knife down, you do me a favor and we kill nobody.....What’s it gonna be?"

"You forgot option four." I increased the pressure on the blade at her throat. "I kill you, then Panther kills me."

"Then I kill Zena." You still loose Little G." Panther said.

"You won’t get outta here alive if you don’t do what I say." She slowly moved the blade away from her throat. I knew I was beat.

"Fuck you." A punch across my face was her answer.

"You got guts. No brains, but guts." Panther hit me in the back of the neck with her gun. I dropped like a stone. She kneeled down next to me. "Now..if you don’t want to see Zena’s guts spread over the pavement, you’ll do what I tell you."

I was truly screwed now. There was no way Zena would not see me out here. Big J kept me within an arm’s length. "Go." she shoved me over to the car that had just parked on the curb in front of us.

"What’s up?" I said quietly. The Mexican in the car eyed me.

"Got any ten’s?" he asked. I nodded. He flashed his bill. The moment I took the money, I gave him the weed. As he pulled away, Big J said, "Get your ass over here." She shoved me onto the bench. "Your takin’ to fuckin’ long." She slapped me in the back of the head sharply. "You know better than that." I did know better. The slower I am, the greater the chance of being seen. Even if J let me go, Zena knows what marijuana smells like. I’ll have it all over me. Gods, I’m so fucking stupid!! I deserve whatever happens to me.

A red beamer pulled up. My heart was in my throat as I saw it was Burns, one of Zena’s veteran cops. He was clean. That could only mean one thing, a bust. However, I played it cool. I exchanged just as I had before. Except as he reached for the bag, I squeezed his hand and mouthed ‘help’. He winked at me. I pulled my head out of his window and I watched as he sped off around the corner. "What did I just tell you!!!" She elbowed me diliberately in my hurt side, bringing tears to my eyes. "One more fuck up and the deal’s off."

I received a call to go to Hurton Street. Hurton was where they were doing a drug sting. I pulled up to the van, cruiser, and beamer. Burns immediately came to my window. "Sarge, I need to talk to you." He stepped back so I could exit. His comrades looked a bit puzzled.

"What’s going on?" I asked as we walked to the back of my car.

"Your girlfriend’s dealing on Hurton." he said quietly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I said agitated. I was pissed. I started to move, when he grabbed my arm.

"Zena, she doesn’t want to be there. I saw it in her eyes. She said help when she stuck her head in the window. Big J was right behind her. She’s holding her there against her will. I’m sure of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was holding a gun on her and if you go charging around there, she’ll kill her for sure."

"I’m not leaving her there!"

"I say we just take’m down like a normal bust. Cuff them both, play it up. Then let Gabby go after J is gone." The other two officers Burke and Austin came over agreeing. "That way J thinks Gabby is in for it too. Collins is over on the next block if we need him." I nodded.

"Okay. Let’s do it."

I walked around to the corner and peeked over. Sure enough Big J was sitting on the bench and Gabby was leaning next to her. From J’s body language, she was upset about something. I’ll just have to give her one more thing to be upset about. I saw Burke give a wave from his position. I gave him the signal. However, he yelled out a little prematurely. "Police!" I saw J pull out her gun. She pointed it at Gabby.

"Give it to me!" She was referring to whatever it was they were selling. I saw Gabby hand over the drugs. As I neared, J took off, pulling Gabby with her. "Run!" I never chased Gabby before. She’s pretty fast. Her and J had a good lead on me. When Burke cut in front of them, the idiot pulled out his weapon.

"Down on the ground now!" It only forced them to seperate. Big J headed east and Gabby headed south. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind. I knew she had to be terrified. I caught up with Burke as he started to go after Gabby.

"Hey, you follow J. I’ll get her."

Gabby had a good lead on me, but even wearing my gunbelt I can move pretty quick. I thought it was over when we reached a ten foot chain link gate. "Gabby! Its me, stop!" She was surprising nimble. She climbed the fence, threw her legs over, fell ten feet onto the other side, landed on her feet, and was off and running before I even got to the gate. Something tells me, she’s done that before. It took me a few seconds to scale the gate and get to the other side. As I ran towards her, she was still in my line of view. I looked ahead and saw the exact same gate ahead, but with barb wire on the top. Gabby stopped and kicked it in frustration. This is as far as she could go. She hit again with her forearm. As I moved closer, she turned around. Gabby looked like a caged rabbit. She slid on her back, down the fence and sat.

"I’m sorry. I’m sorry." she said crying softly.

"Hey." I said quietly. "Its me, Baby. Its okay." I continued to slowly move towards her.

"I never do anything right." she cried to herself.

"I love you, Gabby. I know this isn’t your fault. Its gonna be okay."

I was so wrapped up in talking to Gabby, I never saw Big J come from the adjoining street. Suddenly, Gabby’s eyes grew wide. "ZENA!" I turned in time to see the butt of Big J’s gun come down on my face.

"I’ve about had it with you!" she screamed. "You’ll learn to stay the fuck away from niece." I tried to right myself. I tried to unholster my gun, but she punched me in the kidney. I went down again. "You fuckin’ pig." She kicked me in the ribs. I saw a blur fly towards me and tackle Big J. I rolled over, holding my leg and saw Big J wrestling with Gabby over the gun.

"Gabby!" Her anger was fueling her. Gabby nailed her hard in the jaw. She pulled Big J’s gun out of her waistband.

Grabbing her by the throat, Gabby waited until she opened her mouth. She stuck the barrel into her mouth and the pulled the hammer back. "Gabby stop! Don’t!"

"She tried to hurt you." she said sadly.

"I’m fine, Gabby. I’m okay." I used my forearms to crawl closer to her.

"She hates me. She never loved me!" she raised her voice. "I should blow your damn brains out!" she yelled at J, who was squirming under her.

"Gabby put the gun down, please." Burke and Burns ran up and stopped ten feet away, weapons drawn.

"Gabby, listen to me." I lifted myself and crawled on all fours right up to her. "I know you hate her, but don’t give in to the darkness." J was starting to choke. Part of me smiled at the thought of Big J choking on the barrel of her own gun. I heard Burke cock his gun. Without turning away from Gabby, I motioned with my hand for them to holster their guns. "Gabrielle, look at me." She did. "I love you." I whispered. "Don’t do this." She pulled the gun out of Big J’s mouth, but still had it trained on her. Without warning, Burke flew over me and tackled her. As she was tackled, she threw the gun away. Gabby immediately started to fight him. "Hey. Stop it, Burke." He punched her in the side. She screamed. "Get the fuck off her!!" I yanked him by his hair and flung him off of Gabby, who was holding her side.

"I’m sorry, Sarge." he apologized as I hovered over Gabby, pulling her into my lap.

"Shhhh. Its okay. Its over." Not getting a response from me, he helped Burns cuff Big J.

I was so tired when Ze and I finally got home. Hours at that damn police station is enough to drive a crazy man nuts. On the way home, I told her about the card and what I did. She was upset by the fact I lied to her more than anything else. After the day I had though, she cut me some slack. I took a quick shower, threw on a nightshirt, and jumped into bed. Zena joined me shortly after.

"Gabby, it me. Stop!" Was that Zena? I couldn’t risk it. I had to keep going. I scaled the fence and lept over it. I hit the ground running. Shit! I wasn’t about to climb over that wire. Damn it! I kicked the fucking thing. When I turned and saw it actually was Zena. I started to cry. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry." All my strength left me and I reluctantly sat.

I awoke so suddenly, I almost fell off the bed. Sweat made my t-shirt cling to my skin. Gabby was asleep on my chest, but now she stirred. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up at me. "That was how it was gonna happen." she said quietly.

"You had the same dream?" she nodded.

"Xena told me it was gonna happen. At the last minute, something told me to the gun in Big’s J mouth and not to point it at Burns. That’s what I did." She had told me about Xena and Gabrielle. I believed her because I would have dreams on occasion about them. It would usually be after a very stressful day or when I had a problem I had to work out. In fact, I had a severe headache the day I met Gabby. Something told me to go to work and not call in. I did and I met the love of my life. That little voice inside me is pretty helpful at times.

Continued..Part 4