The quiet forest sounds were interrupted by the sound of running. The leaves crunched under the runner's shoes and the sound of another person running could be heard not far behind. The first person tripped and fell. Panic flashed in the eyes of the runner. He was closing in. Getting up the runner began in another direction hoping to escape him.

"Come back here bitch. You owe me," came the yells from the man in pursuit. "I didn't spend all that money on you just to have you wimp out."

She kept on running looking for anything that might help her. A person house or any type of light she head towards. She caught sight of a fence and headed towards it. Her heart pounded in her chest and she was breathing heavily as fear kept her running.

She ran towards the gate and found that it was locked. She could hear that he was closing in on her now. She turned back to the gate and began to rattle it. She could see a house down the driveway and she took a chance.

"Help me," she screamed.

"No one's going to help you now," a voice said from behind.

Fearful green eyes locked on the figure of the man she was running from.

"I spent good money on dinner, entertainment and now you owe me, it's that simple," the man said advancing on her. "I didn't spend all that money not to have you. I will pop that cherry bitch," the man said grabbing her by the hair. The girl put up a bit of a struggle, but was powerless against the man.

He grabbed her shirt and ripped it open. "There, that's better," he said still holding her hair and her groped her breasts. She screamed but received a slap across the face.

"Shut up bitch," he said and then ripped her bra open.

She was terrified as she went numb with what was about to happen to her. He was going to have her and there was nothing she could do. She was fearful for her life.

Throwing her down her ripped her skirt open then stood up. He began to unbuckle his pants and she knew what was going to happen.

Suddenly the man was sent flying with the impact of another body.

"What the fuck," the man said as he got up. His fun had been interrupted and now someone was going to pay for it.

"So you like to pray on young woman, try me on for size," a man said. He had black hair, and long sideburns, he looked normal, average height, and quite muscular. The only thing that was different was the fact that he had knives coming out of his knuckles.

She looked at that and fainted.

"Freak," the man said then charged the man.

With a quick punch the man was down and out cold.

"Logan is everything all right," a man in a wheelchair said as he came to the gate.

"I'm fine Charles, but we had a guy that tried to force his way on a young woman," Logan replied. He wanted to throw the man for what he saw the man do. He reached down and tried to cover the young woman the best he could and gently picked her up.

"Cerebra detected that she's a mutant," the professor said. "Take her inside and have Jean look at her."

"You go it Professor," Logan said heading toward the house.



Jean walked down to Rogue's room and knocked on the door. A sleepy Rogue opened the door.

"Sorry to bother you Rogue but I need to borrow some clothes," Jean said. That got Rogue's attention. Jean was taller than she was.

"What," Rogue stated when her brain clicked to what Jean had said.

"A young woman was almost raped outside the institute, fortunately the man ran into Wolverine, but her clothes were pretty torn up," Jean said explaining the situation.

"Oh, sure," Rogue said bringing back a shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Thanks," Jean said and headed back to her room.

She walked into the room and noticed that the woman was now awake.

"Hey," Jean said not wanting to startle the woman. Green eyes tracked to her and watched cautiously of her moves. "Here I brought you some clothes."

The woman then realized she was in a bed, and was covered by a blanket. The strange woman then walked out of the room to allow her some privacy. She went over what happened. She had gone on a date with Ben, after had asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

The meal had been good, and so had the movie, then he wanted her to 'put out' for his expenses. When she had refused he got violent so she ran. She remembered the house, Ben catching her, him ripping her clothes off, and then another man had appeared with knives in his hands, now she was here.

She put on the clothes and went out in search of answers.

Walking out she met the same red head woman that given her the clothes. The woman asked if she would follow her and then maybe some answers could be given.

She walked into a large room where there was another man, wearing sunglasses which she thought was odd, the same man she had seen that had rescued her earlier and a bald man in a wheelchair.

"Come in and have a seat," the man in the wheelchair said in a soothing voice. "My name is Professor Xavier, or Professor X as everyone calls me, this is Scott," the man she did not know said hello, "Jean Gray," the woman smiled at her, "and you have already met Logan" he said pointing to the big man she had seen earlier who gave a grunt.

"Ah, thank you," she said shyly to the man who just seemed embarrassed by having done what he did. "I'm Gabrielle."

"Can you tell me what happened, the police asked if I would get a statement form you," Professor X asked.

"You can do that," Gabrielle asked watching as the man nodded his head. There was something soothing about the man. "All right, Ben and I had gone out on a date, our first and last. He took me to dinner, a movie and then up to the point. When he began to make advances I asked him to stop and he got mad. That's when I ran, you know the rest," Gabrielle said making eye contact with the man who had saved her.

"Nothing but a bully," the man said with a grunt of distaste.

Professor X looked at the young woman in front of him. She was small, a little over five feet tall, green eyes, blonde hair and looked to be in shape. He wondered if he should broach the subject of mutant powers with her just yet. He decided to do that one alone and shut off the tape.

"Scott, would you get this over to the police station for me," he said handing a tape of Gabrielle's statement to the man. He took it and he and Jean Gray took off.

With a nod the other man got up and said his good night leaving the Professor with Gabrielle. It was a good thing he did not know the entire truth, he would have ripped the man apart. He hated it when something like that happened, but he was glad that he was there this time.

"Gabrielle, I have a question for you," Professor X said getting the young woman's attention. "I run an institute for specially gifted people; I know that you are one."

"Me," Gabrielle replied with a bit of shock. She was not sure what he meant and the professor continued when she did not say anything else.

"Everyone here has special abilities," he said wondering if she would make a connection.

"You mean mutants," she replied wondering what the professor had meant by his comment.

"Yes, I have the ability to recognize mutants, and provide them with a safe haven here," he said hoping that she would not run away.

"I don't have anything special," Gabrielle said. "If I did I would have used it to get away from Ben."

"Everyone's is different, for example Jean Gray had exceptional mental capabilities, and Scott can shoot lasers from his eyes, hence the sunglasses. Without eye protection his ability is unchecked. Logan has incredible healing abilities, and has been modified with a metal skeleton and claws." the professor said.

"Then I didn't dream that part," Gabrielle said.

"I think we can help you," the Professor said. "If you're willing."

Gabrielle thought about it for a few minutes. She had left home when her parents had started fighting too much, and now all she had was a small apartment and a no luck job. "Do you really think I have something?"

"Yes, it just may be hidden, perhaps it's mental and needs coaching," the professor said.

"I'll do it," Gabrielle said.

The next few days for Gabrielle were spent closing her old life and beginning a new one at the institute. She found that everyone was helpful, even Morgan, or Wolverine as some called him. She met Hank, a wonderfully funny man who was a brilliant scientist. They had hit it off as she enjoyed science and spent much of her time with him learning.

Her sessions with the professor were hard and they had yet to uncover any mutant abilities and she wondered if they were even telling the truth. She walked into the lab where she knew Hank would be feeling a bit down after the last session.

"I don't think I have any abilities," Gabrielle said as she sat down on a stool.

Hank glanced over and put down what he was doing. "Do feel so rejected, I didn't mutate until later in life. But the professor used Cerebra and it knows that you are a mutant."

"I know, I guess I feel useless," Gabrielle said and was cut off by Scott's voice.

"Hank, there's a mutant causing trouble downtown let's roll," Scott said.

"Can you finish this," Hank said watching as Gabrielle nodded her head and then he left. There was a small jolt when she heard that something was going down. She put it off to excitement.



The X-craft settled down not far from where the action was. The police were already running away from the scene to regroup.

"Everyone be careful, I sense a very powerful presence," the professor said.

The group made their way towards the disturbance. There were overturned vehicles, shattered glass and much more. Everything appeared to be straight out of a war zone.

Wolverine glanced around the corner and noticed a tall young woman with long black hair in the center of the street, and she looked angry.

"There appears to only be one professor," Wolverine said. The professor again told everyone to be careful, that this mutant would probable is unlike anyone they had ever encountered.

Wolverine stepped into view and was blown backwards before he could say anything. He hit the wall hard shattering it.

Kurt popped in behind the woman hoping for surprise only to find himself immobile as the woman turned around. Her ice blue eyes seemed to be as cold as ice as she turned to him. Kurt could not move nor could he use his abilities.

Hank and Kitty ran to see if they could help Kurt. The woman turned her head and they were blown back and joined Wolverine.

Storm decided to try a thunderstorm to see if she could distract the woman away from Kurt. The woman again seemed to know what was coming and from where, with a glance she looked at Storm who was hit by a bolt of lightning and she fell to the earth.

The woman was about to attack Kurt when she noticed something else. Kurt heard her say something about 'you' and ran off. Kurt knew that the woman was not talking about him as she was looking somewhere else.

Everyone slowly got up from where they were. Kurt popped back in beside the professor who asked if everyone was okay. They learned that Scott and Jean Gray had been under attack by lightning the entire time forcing Jean to erect a shield that prevented them from joining the battle.

"This is most disturbing. She seemed to attack us all at one, even masking herself from me without effort," the professor said. He had spent the time trying to get into the woman's mind without success. This was not good, especially if she was working for Magneto.

"Back to the institute," he said as they all climbed back on board the ship and took off.



Gabrielle learned from Hank the next day about their defeat by the powerful mutant woman. She was in awe at the way the woman seemed to handle herself and the power the woman had at her command boggled them all. It was like this new mutant had the powers of them all, like Rogue could.

"Is there any idea as to why the woman was doing it," Gabrielle asked.

"No, there was not," Hank replied.

He was just about to answer when there was another call, this time to a museum. The same woman had broken in, and stolen only one thing.

The group wanted to go, but the professor knew that they would only be defeated by the powerful mutant and told them to stand down for now. They did not like this but knew that they needed a plan against the woman.

The professor glanced at what had been taken. A broken piece of metal from the ancient Greek exhibit was missing. It did not seem like anything important, but it was the only thing missing.

Gabrielle walked in and noticed what was missing. Something inside her stirred, but not enough for her to know what it was. The piece of metal was familiar to her somehow. She studied everything about it; the scientist had been puzzled over it. It was a half circle with the outer edge sharp. If it was a disc it would have harmed the thrower as well, and was not an effective weapon.

There was something about the metal that intrigued her. That was when she saw the picture of the woman who had stolen it. She was tall, about six feet tall, long black hair and Kurt said she had blue eyes. She stared at the picture for a while.

"See anything," Hank said snapping Gabrielle out of her trance. She glanced at the clock and realized she had been staring at the image for the past hour, yet it seemed like only a few seconds.

"Ah, no I don't," she replied a bit embarrassed at having been caught looking at the picture so long. Hank did not say anything. Gabrielle had been looking at the picture the entire time he had been in the room. He thought that she might have known who the woman was, but from Gabrielle's response the woman did not know.



"Security breach, security breach."

The warning startled Gabrielle awake as the siren went off indicating that the house was under attack. Hank had told her that the security system was elaborate, and was made to keep out other mutants. She wondered what set it off.

Thinking about what Hank had said she figured that it was a couple of teenagers having fun not knowing what was happening. The other thing was they really were under attack by some mutants.

She quickly grabbed some clothes and ran outside her room to see if she could help out. Walking outside she was passed by Rogue and Kitty. They were dressed in their X-men uniforms. She went down the hallway in the same direction that Rogue and Kitty had. She could begin to hear the sounds of a conflict and wondered if she was making the right decision in heading toward the conflict.

She rounded the corner carefully as she heard the conflict die down as several loud voices could be heard. They were telling their people to stand down.

She carefully looked around the corner to the large entrance room. The door looked like it had been ripped off its hinges, but otherwise the house looked to be in good shape. She could see Scott, Jean Gray, Rogue, Hank, Kitty, Kurt, Morgan, and the professor on one side of the room.

On the other stood several others, one woman looked a bit like Kurt, a man who was looking right at Morgan, Gabrielle figured that the two men did not like each other. Another man with white hair that looked bored, another one playing with a lighter, along with a couple of others.

The one that got her attention was the man dressed in red and black with the strange helmet and was talking with the professor.

"What can I do for you tonight Magneto," the professor said in such calmness. It was something that struck Gabrielle strange, that the professor would always be so calm.

"There's a new powerful mutant, I think that you have already tangled with her," Magneto said watching the professor carefully. He had seen the woman had defeat the X-men without breaking a sweat.

"Yes, I am aware of her," the professor said. "I take it that she refused your offer," the professor stated watching as Magneto's eyes gave away the answer to the question.

"She's a danger to us all, I overheard her saying something about the time of the conqueror is at hand," Magneto said not giving away that they had been defeated as easily as Xavier's group had.

"Time of the conqueror," the professor said thinking it over. "That makes no sense to me."

Gabrielle turned away from the conversation thinking about what she had heard. Something struck deep inside her at the words 'time of the conqueror'. She was not sure why the words would affect her. She walked back to her room in a bit of confusion.

""Xavier, did you hear me," Magneto said wondering if his old friend was even listening to him.

"I'm sorry Magneto what did you say," the professor said as he silently thought about what he had felt from Gabrielle. Something was going on with the young woman.

"I said that perhaps until this threat has ended we should join forces for now," Magneto said. He knew that there were a few from both sides that opposed this thought, like Sabertooth and Wolverine, but he knew that it needed to be done. This woman was a threat to his idea of a new world.

"I believe you're right, but I don't think that our combined might is enough to defeat this new threat," the professor said honestly making everyone there protest.

"We don't need them," Sabertooth growled getting a response from Wolverine.

"Enough," Magneto yelled ending the conversation. "We WILL work together on this mission, but only this one Xavier."

"But of course," Xavier said watching as the group left the room.

"Professor you don't really think that we need their help," Kitty asked with concern in her voice.

"Actually I do, I think that with their help we might stand a chance, but Rogue will be the one that will have to do the heaviest fighting," the professor said look at Rogue.

"Why me," Rogue asked as they all looked at the professor.

"With Magneto's help we might be able to create enough of a distraction for you to get in close enough to touch this woman. With her powers you should prove to be able to counter her while we all attack," the professor said unveiling a plan.

"That might work," Hank said. "We won't have much time to subdue her."

"And Rogue, you will have to deal with power unlike you have ever experienced in your life," the professor said.

"I'll try my best," Rogue said.

The group went off to bed with Logan and Hank working on getting the door back up. Meanwhile the professor went back to his study to think about everything. This woman was obviously on some sort of mission, but what, and why. He wondered what the phrase 'time of the conqueror' meant and how much time they had.

He also got the feeling that Gabrielle had something to do with everything as well. So far she had shown no mutations at all. Hank thought that she was a wonderful young woman, so did everyone else and he told the professor that he thought the woman's power might be her likeability. The professor was not as sure about that, but did not rule it out.

The professor also realized that in order for his plan to work they needed to know where the woman would attack next. There was a lot that they did not know, and that would hinder their efforts to find out where the next attack would take place. The only thing that he was certain on was the woman would head to Greece soon.



The museum guard walked along his path. It was the same routine night after night. The job was boring as he walked along. Sometimes he wished that something would happen, but then he would just as quickly dismiss the thought. He would rather have it boring than exciting. Exciting could be dangerous and he was not really willing to risk his life over some artifacts.

A noise off to his right got his attention and she grabbed his radio. He tried unsuccessfully to radio in to his fellow guards. Something was jamming him from contacting the others. He quietly crept to the ancient Greece exhibit and glanced around the corner.

There in the middle of the room was a tall woman with long dark hair. Her head swept around and looked right at him. Her eyes seemed to shine with a blue color as she held a piece of metal in her hands.

"Tell the world that the conqueror is near," the woman said as her eyes shone brighter. "The world will bow to Xena, Ares' Chosen!"

The guard was flung back as energy waves crashed into him from the woman and the room was bathed in an intense light as she vanished from sight.



"Charles, it seems like our new mutant struck again," Logan said to the professor. The professor looked up as he was handed a report. The woman had robbed another museum and stolen something very much like that last piece of metal.

"A guard saw the entire thing," the professor said thinking about everything. "Gather the team, and notify Magneto that we are headed to see him then Greece. I have a feeling that she will go there next. Oh and have Gabrielle join us this time."

"Is that wise, she could be hurt," Logan said. He had come to like the small woman.

"Yes, her power might just be to have everyone like her, we could use that," the professor said.

"All right," he replied and left the room.

A few hours later the professor, Scott and Gabrielle were in the guard's hospital room. The guard had still not recovered his sight from the intense light, but doctors said that there was no damage, and that his sight would return in a day or so. They wanted to keep him for observation and a possible concussion.

"Hello John, my name is Professor Xavier," he said to the guard.

"Professor X, yes my cousin talks of you often," John said.

"Your cousin," the professor said wondering who his cousin was.

"You call her Kitty," John said.

"Oh, if I had know I would have brought her up with me," the professor said. "I'll ask her to come up here; in the mean time will you answer some question for me."

"Sure, you want to know about the woman in the museum. Not much I can tell you," John said. "I heard a noise, my radio was jammed and she knew that I was there. She looked right at me with glowing blue eyes. She said something about the time of the conqueror and Ares' Chosen."

"Thank you," the professor said not sure he like what he had just heard. Ares' Chosen, they would have to get to Greece fast. He had a bad feeling about it all.

Kitty walked into the room and the professor left with Scott and Gabrielle to allow her some time alone. He told her not to take too long that they needed to get going soon.

"Anything wrong Gabrielle," the professor asked on the elevator ride down.

"I don't think so professor," Gabrielle said. "I just felt something when he mentioned Ares' Chosen, like I knew that already, or I know this woman some how, I don't know," Gabrielle said with a shake of her head sending her blonde hair swooshing back and forth.

"It is a puzzle, and I'm afraid that it might only get worse," the professor said as they got out of the elevator.

They did not have to wait too long until Kitty joined them and they left for Greece.



"Any sign of our prey," Magneto said to his others. They had received word from Professor X that the woman was probably headed to Greece and perhaps to a temple of Ares, if any remained.

The reports came back negative and he began to think that his old friend had given him false information. He quickly dismissed that thought. For as long as he had known Xavier, the man had never lied to him, mislead him a little yes, but never lied to him.

The message he had received from Xavier had implied that the man was worried about this woman. He thought the same thing. She had managed to nullify his effect on metal, and had thoroughly whipped his group with the same ease she had done to Xavier's X-men.

He was walking back and forth when a black jet settled down in the field across the way. So the X-men were finally here, he thought to himself. He watched as they got out of the jet. He knew them all except for on small blonde. Must be additional help, not like he did not bring along his own help as well Magneto thought to himself.

"Xavier," he said as the wheelchair came up to him.

"Any news," Xavier asked a bit worried that they were running out of time.

"No, nothing," he replied.

"This is not good," Xavier said more to himself than to anyone listening to him.



The tall dark haired woman walked into the cave. She held the two pieces of curved metal in her hands as she walked further into cave as she had been instructed. The two pieces of metal began to glow a bit creating some light in the dark cave.

She came to what appeared to be a dead end. She merely looked at the rockface and then began chanting like he had taught her to as she joined the two pieces of metal.

The metal began to glow brighter and brighter until they illuminated the entire room. Then the rockface fell away and opened a large chamber as the light died down. In her hand the metal had fused and was now a circle, a weapon, her weapon.

"Xena," a dark haired, muscled man said as he approached her.

"Ares," the woman replied.

"Come my Chosen, we have a world to conquer," he said with a smile.

They walked out of the cave and with a wave of her hand ancient warriors rose up from the ground. They had ancient weapon, such as swords, but they would not be destroyed easily. Within moments a large army had appeared.

"Let's go," Ares said with a smile.



"We need to go," the professor said suddenly startling the rest of the group. "Whatever she had to do she has done."

The rest were about to try and get some answers from Xavier when reports of a skeleton army invading a nearby city was heard. This had to be the work of the new mutant. She was bent on conquering the world.

They made their way on board the jet and took off headed towards the battle. They learned that the local law enforcement officials appeared to be powerless to stop the invading army, and that the invaders were skeleton that were lead by two mysterious figures, one a tall woman, the other a tall man, both dark haired.

They landed on the outskirts of the town. They had gone and helped join in the battle against the skeletons. There were many who did not like mutants, but did not bother when they were helping them out.

The group tried where they could to help, but the skeletons were tough to defeat, and they just kept coming.

Gabrielle tried to keep out of the way helping people where she could. She would drag injured people into safe areas while keeping out of the battle. The problem was with so many attackers she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would have to defend herself. She found a piece of wood that she hoped would help when she needed it.

Hank and Scott were busy battling when they saw it happen. Gabrielle had gone to help a small child when she was cornered. There was nothing either of them would be able to do as they could not get away from their opponents.

Gabrielle saw three of the skeletons close in on her. She raised her staff in defense and waited for them to attack.

Hank watched as something happened to the young woman. He noticed her eyes glow with a green light as the skeletons attacked. Both were surprised when with one hit from Gabrielle and the skeletons collapsed and did not get up.

Gabrielle in her surprise failed to notice another one behind her as it attacked her. Hank almost fainted from shock as the moment the skeleton hit her it disappeared in a cloud of dust. He wondered what type of power this young woman had and why it had not surfaced until now.



The woman could feel that something was wrong. There was a challenger in the city that needed her attention. She had felt some of her army taken out easily.

Ares noticed the look and wondered what his Chosen was thinking.

"Anything wrong," he said.

"Yes," she said as she took off for the disturbance. Ares shrugged his shoulders and took off after her to see what was going on.



The group had now backed up to a few city blocks. The professor was trying to locate the mysterious mutant so they could attack her and perhaps end this threat when she arrived at the site.

The professor sent out a telepathic message to the other that the target had arrived and to attack. The combined forces of Magneto's group and the X-men attacked. Again it was without luck as the woman countered anything that they could do.

Rogue had tried several times to get close to the woman but without success. The woman could attack them all without pause. Nothing they did seemed to work.

The woman was looking around, one of these attackers had dared attack her, and she would make sure that the person paid for it. So far they all seemed weak. She glanced around and noticed a small woman that was in the shadows. That must be her. She formed an energy ball and hurled it at her.

Gabrielle watched as the tall dark haired woman that intrigued her fired a large ball of fire at her. She knew that she would not be able to run from it and threw herself to the side and covered herself up.

After a few seconds when nothing happened she opened her eyes. The woman was floating there with a look of shock along with the others.

The professor had watched as the fire ball shot towards Gabrielle. What he had not expected was for the fire ball to just vanish when it hit Gabrielle. Everyone seemed shocked at that.

The woman got mad and energy waves bust forth from her. The building crashed down from the force of the waves. The skeletons were blown away and the Xavier's X-men and Magneto's group found themselves hanging on for fear of being blown away.

The professor looked up and realized that Gabrielle was standing up and not a hair on her face was moving. Somehow she was unaffected by the outpouring of energy that the woman was giving out.

The woman stopped when she noticed she was not having an effect on the blonde woman. She would try something else. She then went right up and grabbed the small blonde who now seemed unafraid of her.

Gabrielle had watched as building crumbled around her and people blown away but she had felt nothing. Something was happening to her that she was only beginning to understand. Images came to her mind of the woman in front of her.

There was a flash of the woman cradling her when she was hurt, protecting her from harm, and of her dying. That part sent a stab of pain through her.

The woman stopped just as she grabbed her. A feeling of such loss overwhelmed her. Shaking her head she reached for the blonde again and picked the woman up. She wanted to throw the woman across the street, but for a few seconds she hesitated.

Gabrielle watched as scenes played themselves out in front of her. Then a name came to her. All she had to do was call out.

The woman had gotten her wits again and steeled herself to finally destroy the woman in front of her when the woman spoke.

"Xena," Gabrielle said putting all the emotion she had into it. This was her soulmate.

Xena stood still for several minutes as the chaos died down.

"What's going on professor," Kitty asked as they watched the two women.

"A mutant to control a mutant," the professor said. The others looked at him for a few seconds like he was crazy. The reason that Gabrielle's powers had not made themselves know was because she was a counter to a powerful mutant, to protect the world from this tall dark haired mutants powers.

Gabrielle reached up a hand to stroke Xena's cheek and was pulled into a hug by the taller woman.

"Gabrielle," Xena said as she was flooded with memories.

"NO," a voice said from above them. "This is the last time you interfere blondie."

"Ares," Xena said with a bored tone. She knew who she was now. Ares attacked them with all the force he had. Xena brought Gabrielle with her out of harms way. "It's over Ares, go back to your home."

"Never," Ares said as a sword appeared out of nowhere and raced to attack.

He brought the sword down but found it blocked by Xena's chakrum and the sword flew out of his hands.

"Give it up Ares, now that we are together again, I have the power to destroy you," Xena said now knowing that Ares was never a god, but a powerful mutant. She could now counter his power with her own.

Ares looked at Xena for a few seconds then realized that she was right. With a final vow that it was not over he vanished leaving the group alone.

"Well it seems that you saved me from Ares once more my bard," Xena said looking fondly down at the blonde. She was always the one to save her, sure the smaller woman needed her for protection some times, but she provided a mental protection against Ares seductions.

Xena looked around at all of the destruction she had just caused and wondered if Gabrielle could still love her after all this, and after all this time apart. She looked at the smaller woman who walked up to her and gave her a hug. She could feel a different type of power coming from the smaller woman and it enveloped her as well.

Gabrielle knew that when Xena had looked around at the destruction that had been caused that the taller woman regretted what she had done. Gabrielle knew that she had to reassure Xena of their love for each other. With a hug she let Xena know her feelings and she could feel the tremendous power that Xena had. Gabrielle concentrated hoping that she could do this and willed the city back to normal.

The professor and the x-men watched in shock as the rubble and ruin of the city was fixed right in front of them. The two women seemed to glow from the power they were putting off.

"Professor, I want to thank you for your help," Gabrielle said facing the man. "I am going to be going with Xena though, my destiny lies with her, and it always has."

"Are you sure you want that Gabrielle," Xena said giving the smaller woman a chance like she always did.

"Yes, my path is intertwined with yours, you know that," Gabrielle said looking back up at Xena.

"Just giving you a chance," Xena said glad that her bard was back.

"What will you do," the professor asked.

"The world isn't ready for mutants of my power yet," Xena said. "I think we'll settle down and live in peaceful area and just live for us," she said looking back at the blonde and saw her smile.

"I think your right, the world is still trying to adjust to mutants like us, one with your power would be seen as a threat by some, if you are ever in our neighborhood drop by," the professor said hoping that he would see them again.

"We will professor," Gabrielle said.

"Shall we my bard," Xena said extending her hand and led Gabrielle off. "So where do you want to go?'

"How about Alaska, it's not bad up there during the summertime, or perhaps Calgary, or Seattle or Hawaii," the group could hear Gabrielle say as they walked away.

"What do you think Charles," Logan said as he watched them.

"They are in balance with each other Logan, together they are stronger than they are apart," the professor said.

"She was a fool," Magneto said then with one last look at the tall woman walked off with the rest of his group. "Until next time Charles."

"Yes until next time," the professor said a bit sad that his friend/enemy failed once more to see the big picture. "Let's go home everyone," he said as they began to board the jet to head back home.

The End?