PART 8
Trilby hesitated a second when he heard the clicks. Now for the hardest part of the afternoon; checking out bungalow 11 for the Sheriff. He finished banging on the door he was at and looked at the other bungalows. He could see Gabrielle looking back at her partner behind the dumpster. When she stood up and headed for the door, he did also and met her. They both stilled and listened for noises from the room. Hearing nothing, he held up the key, she nodded. He slowly turned the door knob and nudged the door open. The stench that wafted out made both of them turn away gagging.
"Breathe through your mouth, it will help with the odors," Gabrielle muttered as she dug through the medical pack she took from the clinic. "Here, rub some of this on your upper lip, it will help," she suggested holding out a tube of menthol rub and then handed Trilby a mask used for noxious situations and pulled hers on.
Making sure he was set, she swung the door open. With the curtains closed it was hard to see anything, until the door swung open enough to let the late afternoon sun stream across the bed. The body cuffed and tied to the bed was thrown into stark relief against the darkness. Gagging again, Trilby turned away from the sight and made it to the edge of the bungalow before loosing his stomach contents.
Gabrielle reached around the door frame feeling for the light switch. Turning on the lights helped fill in the dark corners but showed the extents Callisto had gone to while terrorizing the man. His service weapon on the night stand would have been an easy reach if he hadn't been cuffed to the head board. His trousers were shredded from the knees up to his crotch as if she had played tic-tac-toe. His toes were all bent at odd angles, either broken or dislocated. Gabrielle stood gazing at the corpse while unconsciously picking up the service weapon and slipping it into her waist band. Her anger at the inhumane torture was growing exponentially.
Gabrielle could tell the man was dead but she went through the motions of feeling for pulses at the carotid and listening for breath signs with the stethoscope. By the time Trilby was able to step into the room again, she was pulling the sheet over the corpse's face.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing we could do for him. Rigor is starting to set in so he's been dead for close to 3 hours. With the heat in the room it could have been earlier than that, but we would have had to get to him a lot earlier than now."
"I want that woman. He shouldn't have had to suffer like this," Trilby whispered. He pulled the sheet back before Gabrielle could stop him. The look on the Sheriff's face was hard to look at, pain and terror etched lines across his forehead and the tendons in his neck.
Gabrielle reached up to Trilby's shoulder to offer some comfort. When her hand came into view, she saw the ring glowing through the gloves. Staring at her hand she slowly pulled the glove off trying to understand why. Both Xena and Callisto weren't near were they? Her ring didn't glow unless…she looked at the Sheriff's body with a look of horror. The crystal shards wouldn't charge unless together or one of them died. Callisto knew they were both coming after her, would she take the chance and hide her shard so Xena and she couldn't take her back? If so would she hide it in the room or …? With her stomach turning over, Gabrielle moved her hand closer to the corpse. It definitely got brighter and the idea that Callisto hid the shard in the corpse would be fitting.
"Trilby, would you call the State Police office and let them know they are needed immediately along with the coroner," she asked as she tucked her hand in her pocket. She needed to get him out of the room some how so she could examine the body closely.
"Um, why don't you use the phone in the office, we don't want to contaminate any evidence."
He nodded and left to follow Gabrielle's suggestion, still in shock from seeing the dead Sheriff.
Looking back at the corpse, Gabrielle took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Pulling the sheet down farther she took note where the stone grew brighter. Just to be sure, she walked around the room with her hand out watching the crystal. No where else did the glow increase except over the corpse.
She unbuttoned the shirt and saw the bloody undershirt but couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. Lifting the undershirt she looked for a mark or cut but saw nothing. The crystal was definitely brighter. Pulling the glove back on she gently ran her hand over the skin trying to find a cut. Finally, her fingers dipped into a thin vertical slit along the midline. Body fluids just about erupted from the slit. Gabrielle slid her hand into the corpse. Not feeling anything finger deep, she slid her hand further in feeling for any foreign objects. As soon as she was wrist deep, she felt her fingertips nudge a rigid mass.
Gently feeling along the mass, she could quickly tell it was a dagger. She pulled the dagger out
and gazed at it. Callisto's dagger! Now they could really stop this madness and return everything to normal.
She pulled the undershirt back down, pulled the shirt back down and moved the sheet to cover the mess. In the bathroom, she ran water over the blade and examined the crystal that glowed in the close proximity of her ring. Wondering if she could pry it out of the setting, she didn't hear Trilby re-enter the room.
"Agent Petros?"
Gabrielle slid the dagger into a back pocket and stepped out into the room.
"The State Police are rushing a unit up here along with the county coroner. They asked we don't touch anything."
"Of course, I was just washing up," she explained as she pulled the gloves off and moved to the doorway.
"Have you heard anything from Agent Hausmann?" Trilby shook his head which didn't surprise her. "Let's lock up here and you wait for the State Police and I'll go look for Agent Hausmann. They couldn't have gone too far, the suspect's car isn't in the parking lot."
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The sun had set and the twilight faded quickly into darkness. Lightning bugs, crickets and mosquitoes started to appear with annoying results. The two stood listening for any disturbances to indicate the direction Xena and Callisto had taken. Slapping at a mosquito on her arm, Gabrielle tried to feel for her partner. The old trick wasn't working or they were too far away.
"Hmph, Agent Hausmann did say she would detain the suspect and meet us back at the Sheriff department's holding cells. How about I take a quick trip around the bungalow and then we head back there?" Trilby suggested. Gabrielle nodded, still trying desperately to hear or feel anything. The deputy moved to the back of the bungalow to look around. Gabrielle pulled the dagger out and again examined the crystal.
"How can I get the pieces together if I can't get them out?"
Tapping the flat of the blade against her palm it came in contact with her ring and she saw the crystal flare. Spinning the ring
on her finger over, she cautiously touched both crystal shards together. The flare that erupted caused her to close her eyes and turn her head. Finally Gabrielle was able to clear the spots from her eyes and saw that the crystals had separated from the settings and formed a larger gem which now rested in the palm of her hand.
"Ah so we do have to join the shards. Xena where are you now?"
A sudden stab of anger ripped through her psyche causing Gabrielle to clutch her head. Xena was broadcasting extremely strongly for her to feel the emotion this far away. Or maybe they weren't that far away. Slowly turning in a circle, she could tell which direction to go.
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Xena watched Callisto cut through the hedges and stepped away from the dumpster with a deep breath. She pulled off the light weight jacket she had been wearing all day mainly to conceal the Glock in the holster at her back. She didn't think Gabrielle knew she had it, not that it mattered, but being without a weapon was a little unnerving to her, and she knew Callisto had weapons en mass on her personage. The Glock gave her the choice of not having to engage in close combat if need be.
Her quarry continued along the back side of the hedges as Xena shadowed her. Trying to gauge her destination, she saw they were headed to the deserted parking lot of the local non-denominational place of worship. The hedges ended and Xena hung back watching Callisto saunter out into the open space.
"Time to take her down," Xena muttered as she pulled the Glock and stepped out into the open space.
Callisto stopped, cocked her head and twirled around. A smile bloomed when she made eye contact with Xena. Even the drawn weapon pointing at her head did nothing to diminish her smile.
"So we finally meet, again, for a little fun and games. Xena, I'm so disappointed with that crude piece of plastic in your hand. Don't you want to limber up with a little personal contact?"
"No not really. What I want is to stop this stupid game. It's time to go back." Xena kept the weapon trained on Callisto as she edged out farther from the hedges. Callisto turned her back on the weapon and started walking away.
"Oh I don't think that's going to happen. I know you're not going to kill me, you don't do that to unarmed opponents," she spun around.
"You don't think so huh? You didn't think I would let you slip into the quicksand to die and you certainly didn't think I would really bury that Hind's Blood dagger in your gut in the Halls of War."
"Hmm, you might have a point there. But you have to admit you enjoyed watching me slip under the quicksand and I know you practically climaxed burying that dagger in my gut. Almost as much fun as I have killing those "innocent" look
-a-likes of yours and blondie's, don't you think?"
At the last comment, Xena froze. Realization hit with the last comment. The similarities between some of Callisto's victims, herself and the bard started falling into place.
"Ah, you didn't see it until just now? How delicious. Yes Xena I've been killing your descendents all along. I'll keep doing them until…"
"YOU BITCH!!"
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Following the emotional vibes Xena was broadcasting led Gabrielle to the parking lot. She could hear the murmurs of a conversation but not the words. As she came around the corner Callisto's taunts of "killing the look-a-likes" hung in the still night air.
Centuries of frustration, anger, hurt, pain and hate burst through Gabrielle's mind. Her vision clouded over with red as she screamed out her emotions.
"YOU BITCH!!"
She pulled the weapon from her waistband, pointed it at Callisto and rushed forward until she had the muzzle at her forehead. Neither Xena nor Callisto had moved, so shocked by Gabrielle's appearance and shout.
"You will not get that chance anymore Callisto," Gabrielle growled.
"Ho, look who grew claws, the little kitten has grown up," Callisto purred and actually leaned into the weapon.
"Go ahead, pull the trigger. You can't do it or you would have already. We both know you "care" too much to do …"
A shot rang out. Callisto glanced down at her shoulder in surprise, watching with fascination a red spot that started dripping down her chest. She looked back at Xena in shock as she slipped down to her knees. Gabrielle stepped back and lowered the weapon.
"I didn't say anything about killing you. You're going back with us. Xena I need your necklace."
Still in shock Xena put her weapon away and pulled her necklace off. She handed it over.
"I found Callisto's shard buried in the Sheriff's gut. When my ring and her crystal touched, the shards joined. I believe all we have to do is add your piece."
Callisto screamed and started to lunge away. Gabrielle stepped back as Xena caught Callisto, clenched her fingers around the shard and gem and wrapped an arm around Xena's waist as she pinned Callisto to the ground. A flash of green was the last either of them saw …
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Groaning, Xena lifted a hand to rub her aching head. Cracking an eye open, she sat up in shock. Brown leather gauntlets with metal scrolling adorned her forearms. She glanced down and saw a bronze breast plate over dark brown leather. A moan from behind distracted her. Spinning around she saw Gabrielle laid out on a pink chaise lounge. PINK CHAISE LOUNGE??? Looking down, she saw she was sitting on a pink fur covered ottoman.
"Xena?"
"Yeah?"
"Where are we?"
"Uh, Aphrodite's I think,"
"Why?"
"Good question. APHRODITE!!"
Pink sparkles and rose petals floated down as the Goddess of Love appeared.
"Sweet Pea, Warrior Babe! I'm soooo totally rocking happy you're back. Like
, the Old Man has been on the rag since you left. And Ares? You'd think he had lost his best sword." She leaned over the chaise lounge to draw Gabrielle into a kiss. Xena stopped her from fondling the bard too much with a hand on her arm.
"What do you mean? We left? What are we doing here? What is going on?"
"Chill Warrior Babe, we can both share Sweet Pea. I've been sooooo missing the love vibes from you two." She kept an arm around the bard and squeezed.
"Aphrodite, what are you talking about?" Gabrielle asked as she pulled her down to the lounge. She shot Xena a "back off" look and turned back to the goddess. Xena huffed, folded her arms and stepped back.
"Ok, here's the short version; Callisto was off bopping around time causing some major negative happenings; you two were sent off to bring her back. You did, the Old Man has her totally trapped in the middle dimension and things are so rocking back to normal."
Xena looked at Gabrielle, she looked back.
"How long did all this take?"
"In our time, nothing but a sec, once everything was back to normal."
"And how is it we don't remember anything?"
"The Old Man took care of that. You did get a reward although I can't tell you what it is, at least not yet. Like your world is soooo about to change," she said with a pout.
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EPILOUGE***Three months later****
Gabrielle woke to a horribly upset stomach again. She groaned, rolled over and barely made it to the bushes lining the campsite before loosing her stomach contents.
"Xena, where's that ginger tea?" she moaned as she stumbled back to the bed roll.
"There's a pot on the fire. Bring me a cup also would you?" was the reply from the other side of the campsite. Xena appeared wiping her mouth and sank on the bed roll.
"Some reward, both of us pregnant at the same time. Thanks a lot Zeus."
FINI
September 07