Content: Could be classified as a Hurt/Comfort story. Moderate language. The story centers around a war/battle and does contain what some may consider extreme violence (PG-13), but it is not described in graphic detail. There is a level of subtext in this story, but I've tried to be as faithful to the series as possible, so there is no more subtext than what you would see on the show.

Spoiler Warning: Takes place between "The Debt I & II" and "Maternal Instincts" episodes of Xena Warrior Princess. You may want to watch the "The Deliverer," "Gabrielle's Hope" and "The Debt I & II" episodes if you have not already seen them, since several aspects of these episodes are directly dealt with.

Acknowledgements: This story would never have been possible without the help of my sister, Sam, whose thankless job (at least, that's what she thinks) it was to advise me in the ways of the Xenaverse. Since I am not as well scripted as she in all those simple little quirks of Xena and Gabrielle's, she chose to stick her nose in and nit-pick my entire story. But, if truth be told, if Ididn't have her to nit-pick my story, to urge me on and to be there when I call late at night just to ask: "Sam, does this sound right?" "Sam, do you think Xena would do this?", I wouldn't have a story to begin with. So, I need to take a moment here just to say: "Thanks, Sam." I would also like to thank my Dad, who is an excellent writer in his own right, for his great editing work and ideas that really pulled my story together and made it work.

I would love to hear from all Xena fans out there and am willing to take a little objective criticism, but please take into consideration that I am quite fragile and could crack under pressure. Drop me a line at jennygl@cajun.net.

Part 3

"NO!" Gabrielle screamed, braking free of Gaelen's grip on her and of the vision in her head. Quickly, she stood up and got as far away from Gaelen as she could. "No, that did not happen! I don't know how you're doing this, but you're a liar! You're making me see things that aren't true! Xena didn't kill him."

"Is that what she told you or just what you assumed?"

"She said she made him small again and that she didn't have to resolve her anger with murder."

"Xena lied to you."

"No!"

Gaelen rose to his feet and faced her. "Where's your faith now, Gabrielle? Where's your trust? By tomorrow, it won't even exist." Now Gaelen could feel hatred coming off her like waves of heat. Walking over to her, Gaelen stood face to face with her. Gabrielle attempted to turn away from him, but Gaelen grabbed her head with both of his hands and forced her to look up at him. His grip was so forceful, she was afraid he'd crush her skull. "Your faith and trust in Xena is grossly misplaced, Gabrielle. You have no idea what she is really like."

"Stop it!" she cried out, trying to break free but he was too strong for her.

"Or what she's is capable of doing to people when her rage motivates her. "

"Shut up! I don't have to listen to you!"

"No, you don't. You need only to see."

Suddenly, Gabrielle's mind became a flurry of images. She saw Xena…hate and coldness in her eyes. She saw the fierce warlord that was Xena, the one that was there long before Gabrielle had ever met her. Gaelen continued the vision of Xena and Ming T'ien and showed Gabrielle the moment she'd tried to avoid seeing, when Xena had murdered him. Then, other visions flew though her mind. Visions of Xena slicing and dicing her way through entire nations; visions of Xena killing innocent people, men who were only trying to defend their homelands; visions of Xena torturing those who didn't live by her code, who didn't follow her rule. Gabrielle had heard of this Xena from Xena herself, but she never wanted to see it. That Xena was never more real to her than it was in that instant. She'd never truly believed in that Xena until now. Gabrielle screamed. There was no worse torture in the world for her.

Just After Midnight

Greeger stood at the entrance to the cave, staring out at the night sky. For the first time that evening, Greeger experienced the peace of absolute silence. But, there was no silence from within. Inside he was screaming. He screamed for the loss of Phestia and his people's way of life. He screamed for the loss of his fellow soldiers. He screamed for the loss of Gabrielle. True, they had won the battle against the soldiers coming to kill them all, but they lost the war. Their lives were irrevocably changed, never to be the same. What moved people to do things like this? What made one person consider themselves so much better than others that they could just murder them and take what was theirs? He wished there was something he could do, some way to pay Gaelen back for all the suffering he'd brought on these people and all the suffering they would have to endure in the days to come.

Lost in his thoughts, Greeger was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Salea standing behind him, a soft smile on her face, but concern in her eyes. "Why are you still awake?" she asked quietly.

"Can't sleep," he said, turning back to the darkness outside.

"Still beating yourself up?"

He sighed heavily, but did not to answer.

"Nallos was right," she continued when he didn't answer. "These people are alive because of you."

"These people are still alive because of Gabrielle, not me."

"Greeger, listen to me. You had the wisdom to listen to Gabrielle instead of Nallos. Where would any of us be if you hadn't?" He did not answer. "But, you did listen to her and these people are alive now. We may not have a city to go back to, but we have our lives."

"And we cost Gabrielle hers," he added in anger. "I should never have let her stay."

"You don't really think you could have made her leave? She made her decision to stay, Greeger, and she knew what was at stake when she did. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself." She gave him a moment to the let the words sink in, allowing him to take her in his arms. From the way he held her she could tell he was drawing comfort from her. She stood there for a long moment scratching his back gently and snuggling against him. Presently she said, "Come on. You need to rest. We all do after today."

Greeger nodded, kissed her forehead, her nose and then claimed her lips tenderly. She responded willingly and hugged him tightly as their lips parted. "You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute," he whispered. She nodded, smiled and turned back into the cave.

Greeger closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He wished he could make himself believe what Salea was telling him. Unfortunately, by virtue of his position, he was compelled to take the blame. He was in charge; he was responsible for preserving their city, their lives and their way of life.

Only one other time had Greeger failed this miserably-the time he brought his army up against Xena's. She had begun taking smaller villages that surrounded her homeland of Amphipolis. Greeger's village, where he had been born and raised, was in her path of destruction. He was much younger then, but his skill as a warrior granted him the position of General. He had accepted her challenge with the firm intention of sending her and her army straight to Tartarus, but everything went wrong. He underestimated the woman that people were beginning to refer to as the Warrior Princess. She'd slaughtered his army just as Gaelen had. By some miracle, Greeger had been spared her wrath. He had been severely injured and taken for dead. A kindly old man had pulled his nearly lifeless body from the battlefield, cared for him and nursed him back to health. When he finally returned to his home village, he found that there was not much left to return to. Only the women and children had been left alive. The men had been shown no mercy. He saw all this from a distance, though. He never entered the village, ashamed that he had allowed that to happen. That day was the last day that he ever saw his home village. Now, it was as if those days were replaying themselves. It was all happening again. Only this time, he wasn't walking away.

Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts in the quiet night. "I can give you your glory back, Greeger. I can give you your revenge." Greeger looked up to see a figure standing outside the cave. In the darkness of the night, he could not make out who it was. Instinctively, Greeger drew his sword. Not wanting to draw the attention of the sleeping people, he walked out of the cave towards the figure.

"Who are you? What do you want here?" he demanded.

"You know who I am, Greeger. I'm the god you abandoned so many years ago." In the night sky, the clouds parted, allowing the light from the moon to shine down on this person before him. But, Greeger did not need the light to know who it was.

"Ares," he said, with anger and disgust in his voice, holding out his sword towards Ares' chest. He knew there was no way he could hurt or kill the god of war, but that wasn't his intention. It was a sign of disrespect, a sign that Ares could read very well. "Get out of here, you son of a Bacchae. We don't want your kind here."

"I would suggest you remove your sword, before I make you eat it," Ares said, with a dangerous look in his eyes. "If 'my kind' weren't here, you'd all be dead right now. I did you a favor."

"What favor was that? When you and the rest of the gods turned your backs while Gaelen destroyed our city?"

"For centuries, I protected Phestia in return for their worship and their respect. The army of Phestia had become a thing of legend. There wasn't a war or a battle that could penetrate those walls. Until the day you walked into town and slowly started to turn everyone against me. I didn't turn my back until you and the people of Phestia turned yours. You chose your own fate."

"I lost all respect for the god of war the day he chose to make Xena his victorious warrior. I prayed and I sacrificed to you to help me to defend my village those 'many years ago'. You talk about abandonment. You abandoned me that day on the battlefield and I've hated you ever since."

"Then, your own hatred destroyed Phestia. If the people had stayed faithful, maybe I would have and we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. Instead, I watched my temple empty day by day over the last ten years. And I watched my glorious Festival of War turn into a despicable festival of the harvest!"

"Being a farmer is a much more noble profession. I wish I had been one, instead of slaving for you."

"You may yet be, unless…"

"Unless what? What could you possibly expect me to do for you?"

"Go up against Gaelen one more time and I'll ensure your victory."

"Are you insane?" he laughed sarcastically. " Oh, I forgot, you're the god of war. Of course, you're insane."

"This isn't a joke, Greeger. I'm deadly serious."

"So am I! You are insane!" He pointed off into the distance to where he assumed Gaelen was camped. "At least he still has something of an army. I probably couldn't even call what I have left a platoon. And you want me to go back up against Gaelen? Even if you could ensure our victory, I don't trust you within an inch of my life!"

"Whether you trust me or not is not the issue. The issue is the future of humanity," Ares said with a look of warning in his eye.

"When did the god of war ever care about the future of humanity? The only interest you ever show in humans is what you can get out of them."

"I'm not going to stand here and argue with you on the finer points of my godship and how I decide to use it. You have no idea how powerful Gaelen is. He has to be stopped and I can't do it alone."

That was a revelation Greeger had not expected. He was surprised, but intrigued as well and hoped he could use it to his advantage "Are you asking me for … help?" he asked, almost smiling.

"If that's the word you choose to use … then … yes … I'm asking for your help," Ares said, his annoyance showing in his face and his voice.

"I'd rather watch you rot in Tartarus, you bastard. Good, brave warriors died out there tonight and you come to me for help?! Where were you when they could have used your help?"

"I was busy caving-in an underground tunnel, killing some of my best warriors so that you and your soldiers could get free in one piece!"

Greeger finally lowered his sword and stared at the wargod, dumbfounded. After all his years of cursing Ares, Greeger could not believe that he had actually done something so selfless. Of course, it was a short-lived sentiment. "Don't flatter yourself, Greeger. I didn't do it for you. I did it because I still need you alive. If you're dead, you're not much help to me."

"Then you might as well kill me, Ares, because there's nothing you can do or say that will convince me to go back up against Gaelen."

"I can't fight him alone. I need the strength of an army to fight him. You don't know this man's powers. You experienced only a taste of them on the battlefield. He's capable of much more."

Greeger remembered how Gaelen had lifted and thrown him several feet off the ground without so much as a touch. He hadn't allowed himself to dwell on that memory until now. Ares could see that he still had not convinced Greeger, so he tried something else, something that might just catch his attention. "What if I told you Gaelen was holding Xena … and Gabrielle captive?"

He smiled at this new tactic of Ares' and shook his head. "I'd say you're a liar. I watched Gabrielle fall to her death from the stone wall. There's no way she could have survived that. And as for that black-hearted bitch, Xena, she joined up with Gaelen the first chance she got. Not even Gabrielle could convince me that Xena left Phestia to try to stop that army. The whole idea is so farfetched it's ridiculous and I never took Xena to be that stupid."

"If my word isn't good enough for you, then, perhaps this will be." With a slow swiping arc of his arm, Ares created an image in the air.

Greeger stared transfixed, for within the image he saw Xena chained and beaten. Blood and bruises covered her face and body. If what he was seeing was true, there went his first theory. Then, the image changed and he saw Gaelen choking Gabrielle. Pained to his heart by the vision, he reached forward to help her, but the image vanished. Greeger looked at Ares, questions in his eyes.

"Now do you believe?" Ares asked.

"If that bastard…"

"The little brat is fine. She just made him angry. Don't worry, he doesn't have any intentions of hurting her."

"Then, what are his intentions?"

"That's been the question of the day. I don't really know."

"I thought you were the god of war…"

"I am! But, not even the god of war knows everything. The most I know is that he's moving east. I don't know much about his future plans except for the fact that Xena figures highly in it."

"What does he want with Xena?"

"He wants a killing machine. He wants to take away the warrior in her and turn her into a monster."

"I though she already was one."

"Oh no. What you came across before was only the warrior. You cannot imagine the kind of devastation Xena would cause if she became a monster. With her at his side, Gaelen would rule the known world in no time. Believe me, I almost did."

"If all he wants is Xena, what does he need Gabrielle for?"

"The monster is not truly a monster until its first kill."

Greeger grew cold at the thought. If Gabrielle was truly alive and in Gaelen's clutches, he had no choice but to assist Ares. "Okay, I'll lead my few soldiers back into battle, but I want you to know this. I do this for Gabrielle. Not for you and certainly not for Xena. She can rot right beside you in Tartarus for all I care. If you want to save Xena's hide, you can do it yourself, because I won't help you."

"You're overlooking something, Greeger. If you go in only for Gabrielle, she'll fight you tooth and nail before she'll let you leave Xena behind." Greeger's shoulders drooped. He hung his head and sighed irritably. Understanding Greeger's reaction, Ares added, "I know, I know. I haven't the slightest idea what those two see in each other either, but they're inseparable."

Irritation showing clearly on his face, Greeger, nevertheless, got down to business. "What's the plan of attack?"

"I'll scout out the area, but we wait until dawn."

"Why dawn? Why don't we get this over with now?"

"Because, Gaelen doesn't intend to implement his plan until dawn. He won't be expecting an attack and most of his troops will be unarmed. We catch him when his guard is down. One other thing you should know about him."

"What's that?"

"Gaelen has a very powerful mind. He has the ability to read the mind of other mortals. For some reason, he can't read my mind."

'Probably because you don't have one, ' Greeger thought, unintentionally mirroring the thoughts of Gaelen from the day before.

"It probably has something to do with my godhood," Ares said thoughtfully. "Anyway, I believe I can shield the mind of you and your soldiers from him, but I haven't tested this theory yet. Tomorrow will tell."

"And if you can't, he'll know we're coming. He'll slaughter us all and Gabrielle while he's at it. Then, he'll have his monster."

Ares stepped forward and stood face to face with Greeger. "I said I would ensure our victory and I will. Gaelen may think he's powerful, but he's nothing without me."

Greeger had Ares' determination, but he did not have his confidence. He knew that Gaelen wanted more than just to rule the known world. He wanted to destroy it. Greeger remembered the words that Gaelen had spoken to him: "You are a low form of life that scurries about on this planet with no purpose to your pathetic existence. That's why I'm going to do you all a favor and exterminate every one of you. " Gaelen had spoken to him as if he were a higher form of life and stood in a position to judge them, to decide whether or not they had the right to life. Obviously, Gaelen had decided they should all die, or be exterminated, as he put it. But, besides loosing his warrior princess, Greeger could not understand why it was so important to Ares to defeat Gaelen. He knew it had nothing to do with the 'future of humanity'. Ares cared little for humanity other than what he could get out of them. Perhaps tomorrow's events would answer some of his questions. That is, if he lived long enough to ask them. Just then, the crackling of twigs and rustling of bushes drew Greeger and Ares attention to the woods around them. Greeger raised his sword and Ares drew his own.

"Someone's coming," Greeger whispered.

"Whoever it is better be ready to fight," Ares said readying himself.

Ares and Greeger watched with apprehension as a figure emerged from the forest that surrounded the cave. The clouds parted once again, lighting the figure as it approached. To their complete surprise, the figure was no warrior waiting in the forest to deal one last deathblow. They both lowered their swords and breathed a sigh of relief as they stared upon the figure of a young child.

Gabrielle awoke to the rushing of a cool breeze across her face. She took a deep breath, smelling the cool, clean air that blew in from the open tent. Despite all, it promised to be another beautiful day. She wiped away new tears that fell from the corners of her eyes and sat up on the cot to stare out at the beginnings of a new day. Gaelen was no where in sight, but that was all right. After last night, if she never saw him again it would be to soon. Her head still hurt. Gabrielle rubbed at her temples, unaware of the bruises that had formed there. She tried to rub the pain away but, try as she might, she could not rub away the images in her mind. All night she tried to clear her mind of what Gaelen had shown her. She barely slept.

Some images in her mind were so disturbing they wouldn't leave. Her mind kept returning to them repeatedly. Gaelen had forced her to watch through her mind's eyes as Xena murdered a band of Amazon warriors. It was something that had happened long ago, Gabrielle knew that. In her mind was the vision of some woman named Alti. She had somehow influenced Xena to kill them, but it didn't take away the horror Gabrielle felt watching Xena do it.

Nevertheless, Gaelen had gotten what he wanted. He had drawn up feelings of anger and hate from deep inside Gabrielle. She hated that Xena for what she was and for the things she had done. She was incensed at Gaelen for making her see, in vivid detail, many of the horrible things Xena had done in her life. His plan, however, had not been a total success for she now understood Xena's shame. Hearing Xena's stories of her old life had made an impression on her, but actually seeing them had given them greater reality and meaning. That Xena had the strength to turn away from all that, to become a better person, made Gabrielle love her all the more.

There was only one drawback-Ming T'ien. Gabrielle had always believed that when Xena said she'd "made him small again", it meant she'd left him in disgrace. Gabrielle had responded to that belief, saying: "Your not killing him made you exactly what Lao Ma wanted you to be. " Xena hadn't said anything to dissuade her from believing that Ming T'ien was alive. She simply let her believe it to be so. Apparently, Xena couldn't let Gabrielle know that she had disgraced herself. She had momentarily lapsed back into her hatred and allowed herself to be motivated by it. Gabrielle felt for Xena, and maybe even understood why Xena reacted in anger and killed Ming T'ien. But, she could not understand why Xena would lie to her. Why couldn't she tell me the truth? Gabrielle thought. Just then, a shadow fell across her. Gabrielle looked up to see Gaelen enter the tent.

"Perhaps…this is simply my point of view; you don't have to follow it if you don't wish to…perhaps you could get the truth out of Xena, if you decided to tell the truth yourself. Have you ever heard the phrase 'The truth shall set you free'? Think about it, Gabrielle. It just might."

Gabrielle understood exactly what he was talking about, but she was given no time to respond. Gaelen quickly grabbed her arm, yanked her to her feet and brought her outside the tent. Outside, Gabrielle saw that all of Gaelen's troops had gathered around the two tents. They watched her with interest, as if she were about to put on a show for them. Barleus stood among them, anger written plainly across his face. Gabrielle remembered what Gaelen told Barleus the night before: "First thing tomorrow morning, you will report immediately to Xena. " Did he bring her out here to witness this change of command? To show her that Xena really had returned to the business of war? Gabrielle would never believe it unless Xena told her to her face. Gaelen leaned over and whispered, "You wanted to see Xena so badly? Here she is." To the guards outside the tent, he commands: "Bring her out!"

As the two guards entered the tent, Gabrielle felt her stomach tighten nervously. She had no idea what to expect when they brought Xena out. Gaelen still held her arm tightly; otherwise she would have run into the tent herself to stop this agonizing wait. If she could only be alone with Xena for a moment, maybe…

The words died in her mind and her stomach dropped when the guards emerged, dragging Xena by her arms into the open circle formed by the tents and the warriors. All her armor was gone and so were her boots. She had been savagely beaten, like nothing Gabrielle had ever seen before. The guards dropped her to the ground like a heap of garbage. She tried to get up, but couldn't. Gabrielle's eyes filled with tears at the sight of her best friend hurt so badly. With a desperate longing to rush to Xena's side, she reached out, struggling against Gaelen's grasp. "Xena!" she called out. Then looking to Gaelen with pleading eyes, she said, "Let go! I have to go to her!"

Gaelen yanked on her arm and drew her close to him. "Not until it's time," he hissed through clenched teeth. Gabrielle continued to fight, but Gaelen kept her in place. "Guards, help her up," he said disgustedly. Gaelen watched Xena closely, with his eyes and with his mind. So far, he'd sensed nothing from her besides a dull rage…and pain. She was hurting, that was obvious. But, he got the feeling she was still controlling a part of herself. Controlling her rage, maybe, to a certain extent? Trying to keep herself from loosing control over her emotions? That wasn't what he needed. He needed those emotions to be exposed and raw.

The two guards returned to Xena's side to help her to her feet. Though unsteady, she shoved them away, refusing their assistance any longer. She looked out at the crowd of warriors who stared back at her in silent curiosity.

"Men!" Gaelen said for everyone to hear. "Barleus has stepped obligingly down in rank to make room for your new commander. Xena! The Warrior Princess!"

His shout was followed not by warrior cries, but by murmurs. How could this beaten mess lead an army? Gaelen was not concerned. He expected this reaction from them. What he had in mind for Xena would bring them around soon enough.

High up above in the trees, no one saw…or even sensed…the two men concealed in the dense foliage. Actually, it was one man and one Olympian god. Greeger watched with concern the scene that was playing before him. He was happy to see that Gabrielle had been unharmed, but not so happy with the situation. He saw how worried she was for Xena. She was looking with a broken heart upon the battered body of her best friend. Greeger, on the other hand, only saw the same cold-hearted eyes he remembered from long ago. He could not imagine a Xena that had chosen a life of good, now using her warrior ways to help people. He knew, however, that Gabrielle believed this. "Xena is a different person now, " she had told him the other day. "She came to Phestia to help you and your people, not to fight against you. " Until Gabrielle saw the truth for herself, he would go with her instincts.

"Good. It's working. He doesn't sense any of you." Ares said, smiling.

"How can you be sure? Maybe he's just bluffing," Greeger replied.

"I know when someone's bluffing. My do-gooder brother is the King of Bluff. He's so easy to read, it's pathetic."

Watching the scene below intently, Greeger asked, "If that's true, why do I always hear about Hercules kicking your ass?"

Ares took his eyes off the action below for a moment and turned dangerous eyes in Greeger's direction. "What you hear is wrong. Stories of Hercules are always exaggerated."

Greeger was still intent on what was going on below and failed to see the boiling anger in Ares' eyes, so he answered, "True, but the ones I hear about him kicking your ass are always pretty detailed." With angry eyes ablaze, Ares began to work up a ball of fire to hurl at Greeger for his insolence, when he was distracted by a shout.

Greeger recognized the man who had attempted to kill him while he was down. The man stepped forward from the crowd and entered the circle. Even from his vantagepoint, Greeger could see the anger and frustration in the man's eyes.

"Do you really want this to lead you?" Barleus shouted, pointing at Xena. "This bruised and beaten woman who can barely stand on her own two feet! Is that what you want?" Barleus was playing a dangerous game and he knew it, but if he must die let it be defending his honor rather than being made a laughing stock before the men he had commanded. The crowd of warriors shouted in unison: "NO!" Greeger and Ares both expected to see Gaelen cut him down, but strangely he did nothing.

Emboldened by this, Barleus walked over to Xena and grabbed her arm just above the elbow. "I say we show Lord Gaelen what we think of his new recruit! Death to Xena!" The warriors shouted in agreement.

"No!" Gabrielle screamed, straining against Gaelen, but his grip was too tight. Barleus turned toward Xena, still holding her arm and took hold of his sword handle to draw it and perform the deed himself. In the blink of an eye, Xena twisted her left arm around his, snapped it at the elbow and slammed the heal of her right palm under his nose. With a shutter, Barleus crumbled to the ground unconscious. The warriors cheering him on were silenced. Xena stood before them now, her footing sure, her eyes clear and her face determined. The mightier of the two had been proven. One warrior stepped out from the crowd, and held his sword in the air and began shouting, the rest quickly following suit: "Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena!"

Gaelen laughed, knowing quite well that this show of strength would insight his warriors to recognize his wisdom and unite them under their new leader. Gabrielle still fought against him. The last time she heard that shouting of Xena's name, Xena had reveled in it. It seemed somehow to ignite the flame of her warrior's heart. Even now, Gabrielle could see a smile spreading across her bruised face.

Greeger had heard that familiar shouting once before, too. After she had defeated his army, he remembered lying injured and dying, hearing her warriors shout out her name. Ares, on the other hand, didn't know how to feel. It had been a while since he'd heard warriors shouting Xena's name with reverence. He felt pride in it, but at the same time, he felt jealously, because it was not at his hand that Xena earned the respect of the warriors.

Gaelen saw it also. He sensed pride coming from Xena and he saw it on her face as well. Now was the time for the final show down. It was time for Xena to decide what side she truly wanted to be on.

"Now it is time, Gabrielle!" he said above the shouting. Taking a step forward, he threw Gabrielle to the ground at Xena's feet. The warriors' chanting stopped. All watched with interest as the scene unfolded. Gabrielle looked up from her place on the ground into Xena's battered face and wanted to cry. Her face was black and blue, covered in dried blood from a gash across her right eyebrow. Xena looked at Gabrielle through hooded eyes as if she didn't even recognize her. The gods only knew what she had been through, that her mind could be in as bad a condition as her body. Recognizing the danger, Gabrielle got to her feet slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves. "Xena, it's me. It's Gabrielle."

With that Gaelen stepped into the circle and asked, "Do you remember her, Xena?"

Xena looked between the two of them. She looked confused, as though she didn't understand what was happening. In his gloved right hand, Gaelen held Xena's sword, while the other hand rested on the handle of his own sword at his waist. "She's your enemy, Xena."

Gabrielle watched Xena look at her in suspicion. "Don't listen to him, Xena. He's lying."

Gaelen grabbed Xena's hand and placed the handle of her sword in her palm. "She not your friend. She wants to keep you from fulfilling your destiny. Remember, you own this world. She wants to take it from you." Xena's face hardened. "She wants to destroy you, Xena. Kill her."

Xena raised her sword and placed the tip of at Gabrielle's throat, but Gabrielle refused to raise a hand in defense. She held in her heart utter faith in Xena and believed that she would never kill her. If she did, so be it. Life without her would be meaningless anyway.

As soon as Xena's sword was raised, Greeger was ready to command the charge. He moved to get down from the tree, but Ares held out a hand, "No, not yet."

"Are you crazy? What's it going to take, for Gabrielle to have her neck sliced open?"

"Gabrielle's still alive. If Xena wanted her dead, she'd be dead already. Xena has to decide whether she's going to be on Gaelen's side or on ours. We don't make a move until Xena does."

"And what if her move is towards Gabrielle?"

"Once again, Greeger, you're underestimating Xena. The fact that she's hesitating means that she doesn't fully trust Gaelen."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Then, we kill them all. Xena included."

Gaelen watched the sword slightly tremble at Gabrielle's neck. He looked over at Xena, and even though the look on her face was a deadly one, he sensed uncertainty in her. Her eyes danced between expressions of rage and concern. "Why do you hesitate, Xena? If what you are feeling is anxiety over losing your friend, don't bother. She doesn't care about you."

Gabrielle, too, could see that Xena was unsure about what action to take, and that meant that the Xena she knew was in there somewhere. With the right words, Gabrielle knew she could bring her out. "I do care about you, Xena. You know I do. Just look in his eyes and you'll see that he's a liar."

"She calls me a liar, Xena, while she lies to your very face!" He walked up behind Gabrielle and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Every day of her life she lies to you, Xena, to make you forget the day that a child named Hope disappeared from your lives." Xena's eyes look in confusion at Gabrielle, seeming unable to comprehend what Gaelen was trying to tell her. She did not remove the sword from Gabrielle's throat.

"Shut up!" Gabrielle hissed at Gaelen, but tears filled her eyes as well as sadness and guilt as she looked at Xena and shook her head. "Don't listen to anything that comes out of his mouth, Xena. He's trying to trick you!"

Gaelen was filled with a sudden sense of fear and it was coming from Xena, though it was quickly smothered over by rage. Although the rage showed clearly in her eyes, Gaelen was apprehensive. Fear and rage were not necessarily incompatible, but why the sudden mixture of these two powerful emotions?

Xena brought the sword closer to Gabrielle's throat, lifting her head and watched a tear roll off Gabrielle's cheek and onto the sword. It glinted in the light of the sun as it came up over the hills.

"She lied to you that day, Xena. Every word she spoke was a lie." Though apprehensive about what he'd sensed from Xena, Gaelen felt sure his next words would have the desired results. "Gabrielle never threw that child down the gorge. She did not kill her. Did you, Gabrielle?"

The look on Xena's face was one of disbelief. She looked from Gabrielle to Gaelen for more answers. Gabrielle closed her eyes and tears ran freely down her face, but she refused to answer Gaelen.

"Why don't you tell Xena what really happened. Tell her how you betrayed her trust in you."

"Get your hands off me!" she demanded shrugging Gaelen's hands off her shoulders. He removed his hands at her request, but remained near watching Xena's face harden as she stared back at a defiant Gabrielle. Gabrielle stood bravely with Xena's sword dangerously at her throat, preparing to face Xena's anger. She hadn't wanted Xena to ever know what happened that day, but she realized that if she didn't tell her, Gaelen would. She would not give him that satisfaction. "I only did what I had to, Xena. I had to protect her. So, I laid her in a basket of straw and grass, and floated her down the river." Gabrielle's heart sank at the look on Xena's face. There was disbelief, what she thought was a brief flickering of sadness and then anger. The look of rage in Xena's eyes terrified her, but she stood her ground and kept telling herself that Xena would never hurt her. "I'm sorry if I lied to you, Xena, but I couldn't let you hurt Hope. She was just a child, my child, even if she was capable of the things you said she was."

Gaelen could see the rage boiling in Xena eyes. With a growing smile he said, "She betrayed you, Xena. Kill her!" With a look of satisfaction he watched Xena's blade move against Gabrielle's throat, the point indenting her skin.

Still reaching for the right words to bring out her Xena, Gabrielle said, "Go ahead! Kill me, if that's what you feel like you have to do, but don't do it thinking I wanted to hurt you, Xena. You know that I would never deliberately try to hurt you. You're my best friend, Xena, and I love you. No matter what happens here today, I always will." Gabrielle felt the sword leave her neck and for a moment she felt relief … until Xena's face contorted into an ugly rage and her mouth opened in a warrior's scream. Gabrielle suddenly felt her feet slip out from under her. Her butt landed on the ground ricocheting intense pain up her spine. As if in reaction, the back of her head hit the ground with such force that her vision began to swim and she felt dizzy. When she blinked her eyes clear, Xena was standing over her with her sword raised into the air, ready to send it ramming through her chest. Gabrielle's eyes widened in horror.

Gaelen's eyes widened in glee. He'd felt Xena's rage take over her feelings for her friend. She reacted exactly as he knew she would. He'd watched her knock Gabrielle off her feet and then stand over her with only the instinct to kill. Gabrielle meant nothing to her now.

As fear set into Gabrielle's heart, so did acceptance. If she was going to die, she would rather die by Xena's hand, not anyone else's. They would see each other again soon and then all would be made right. Gabrielle closed her eyes and prepared to meet her fate.

From their vantage point in the tree, Greeger and Ares watched as the scene unfolded itself. Greeger had produced a bow and arrow just as Xena had turned on Gabrielle, but Xena was too quick for him and his aim unsteady. There was nothing either one of them could do.

Gaelen watched in fascination and pleasure as Xena's sword descended lightening fast towards Gabrielle's heart. That's when he sensed a sudden change in emotions. She still felt the rage, but this time it was directed at him! It didn't take long for him to figure out that she had deceived him. He could see into her mind clearly now and realized everything that she had done. He had barely enough time to react when Xena's sword changed direction and came rocketing towards him. Just in time, he lifted his own sword to deflect the blow, the force of it nearly knocking him to his feet. Backing up with his sword outstretched before him he stammered, "How did you…" wondering how it was possible that Xena had hidden all her thoughts from him.

"I have many skills!" she growled through clenched teeth. She came at him again and their swords met.

Sensing a sudden change, Gabrielle opened her eyes to see Xena attacking Gaelen. She smiled with relief and happiness, but was reserved. She knew she would still have to face the consequences afterward.

Ares smiled excitedly, as his warrior princess began to do battle with Gaelen. Greeger could only watch dumbfounded. It had happened so quickly, he was still trying to figure it out. Ares slapped Greeger's arm, grinning. Greeger was still confused. "You see, I told you!" Ares laughed aloud. "Never underestimate Xena! Now we attack!" He did a back flip off the tree and landed on both feet and yelled, "Attack!"

"Wait! What in Tartarus just happened?" Greeger grunted as he worked his way down from the tree, anxiously watching Gabrielle get back on her feet. The warriors around her were standing around in confusion, not sure if what was happening was supposed to happen. They knew their Lord Gaelen had something planned for them, but was it this.

As it turned out, the soldier to whom Gaelen had handed Gabrielle's staff had liked the feel of it and decided to keep it. She caught sight of him standing near by and he was, of course, holding it plain as day in his left hand. At that moment, she heard a dozen or more cries of attack which added to the confusion. Taking advantage of the situation, Gabrielle grabbed her staff from the warrior's hand to his surprise and he quickly tasted its fury. Gabrielle took him down with one swipe across the face.

Xena heard the approaching soldiers as well, but had no time to concern herself with them. She had two tasks before her. To kill Gaelen and get her chakram back. She swung the sword towards him and he blocked it. Xena felt the pain from her broken ribs shooting through her body, so she closed her mind off to it. She couldn't fight Gaelen if she concentrated on her pain. It was a skill she'd taught herself many years ago.

Now that he could read every thought in her mind, Gaelen knew he had been tricked. He'd never wanted someone dead as much as he wanted Xena dead at that moment. He would take her head, chop the rest of her up into little pieces and feed her to the dogs. In his rage he decided to fight Xena on her terms, instead of using his power to dominate her. She was beaten down, weak and in pain. He would best her in no time.

If Ares had been around to hear those thoughts, he would have told Gaelen the same thing he told Greeger. That he was underestimating Xena. Instead, he was in the middle of running across a clearing with a band of soldiers, ready to make war. Greeger had caught up to him just as they met up with the sparsely armed warriors. The soldiers fought fiercely with the power of the god of war to back them up. Some of Gaelen's warriors, when they realized they were fighting against Ares, fell to their knees to do obeisance to their god. Ares showed his former warriors no mercy when he beheaded them where they knelt.

Greeger fought through the warriors to get to where Gabrielle was fighting. She was being attacked from all sides, but was aptly fighting them off with her staff. He admired her skill with the staff, another attribute she credited to Xena. She had learned well though and that stick could become a deadly weapon in her hands. While Gabrielle's back was turned to fight off one warrior, another was coming up from behind her. So, Greeger rushed to her side and quickly took care of the attacking warrior. Gabrielle turned when she heard someone behind her, only to see Greeger taking out another one. Gabrielle was elated when she saw him, because she thought he'd been killed. The last thing Gabrielle had seen of him was his battle with Gaelen. So happy were they to see each other that, in the middle of the battle, they found a moment to give each other a hug.

"Are you okay?" he hollered above the sounds of battle.

"I'm fine. I think…" she was about to say that Xena was the one who needed help, but she saw a warrior coming up from behind Greeger. At the same time, he saw one coming up from behind her. "Look out!" they warned each other, switching places to battle the attackers. As they turn to face each other, Gabrielle sees Ares involved in the battle, but didn't take the time to see who he was fighting. "Ares!" she said with a sneer, raising her staff defiantly.

Greeger placed a hand on her staff and lowered it. "No, don't." he said with a half smile. "Believe it or not, he's on our side."

"Ares? Yeah right. When Tartarus freezes over."

"It's true. Just look who he's fighting."

To her surprise he was actually fighting against Gaelen's warriors and she saw what he did to those who realized that he was the god of war. So, he was on their side, yet by her standards beheading men knelt before him in worship was still cruel. Of course, even Ares couldn't hold a candle to Gaelen's black heart. Could it be that he came here to rescue her and Xena? Was there a heart underneath all that gusto for war and bloodlust after all?

Before he opened his eyes, Barleus heard the sounds of battle. Feet trampled by him. He felt blood trickling from his nose and tremendous pain in the arm Xena had broken. Hearing her war cry pierce through the morning air, he sat upright and saw her battling Gaelen. He couldn't believe it when he saw Gaelen fighting her with a sword. Around the men, he'd always chosen to use his powers. Why didn't he use them on her? He saw Gabrielle and that bastard Greeger next. They had turned in response to Xena's war cry. Perhaps he couldn't kill Xena, but he could definitely kill one of them.

Gabrielle and Greeger had turned when they heard Xena's war cry. It split through the air like a lightening bolt. They watched as Xena flipped through the air over Gaelen and met him from behind. Gabrielle knew Xena was seriously hurt and that she may need the attentions of a healer, but there was no stopping this fight.

In the second that it took Xena to flip over Gaelen, he was ready for her when she landed behind him. Her thoughts had returned to him clearer than ever and he was able to counteract her every move. He brought his sword behind him and blocked the blow of her sword. Gaelen turned to swipe at her midsection and she jumped back. The next thing he knew, her fist was in his face. Gaelen stumbled backward, but came back with tremendous force. Their swords met and slid along each other as each fighter tried forcing the other to yield. Gaelen gained the upper hand by jabbing his hand into Xena's broken ribs. The pain was more than she could block out of her mind and she fell to her knees. His blow to her midriff knocked the wind out of her or she would have cried out from the piercing pain. She heard Gabrielle cry out to her.

Gabrielle tried to watch the fight between Xena and Gaelen, in between fighting his warriors. When she saw Xena go down, she quickly swiped her staff across the face of the warrior she battled with and called out Xena's name. Greeger turned when he heard Gabrielle's cry and saw Xena go down. He watched Gaelen kick Xena in the face just as she fell to her knees. This time she fell to the ground, but she wasn't finished yet. Xena kicked her legs out, knocking Gaelen's feet out from under him. He fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Xena was jumping back to her feet when Greeger noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Barleus was coming at him with a dagger. In one swift move, Greeger spun around, kicked the dagger from his hand and came back around to land one armor-clad fist in his face. Barleus was once again down for the count. "That'll teach you to sneak up on me, boy!" He picked up Barleus' dagger from off the ground. "I'll holding this for you 'til you learn how to use it."

Barleus writhed in pain. The fall had not only pined his broken right arm beneath him, but Greeger had punched him in the nose, right in the same spot Xena had. He wasn't sure, but he thought it was broken. He muttered incoherent curses at them both, but Greeger walked off laughing. At that moment Barleus felt Gaelen's presence in his mind. Barleus could hear Gaelen's voice in his head saying 'Take command. You know the plan. ' Barleus looked up and saw Gaelen falling to the ground.

Xena jumped back up to her feet and stood over Gaelen. There was just one more thing she needed to do before hacking the bastard to pieces. He had something of hers that she wanted back, her chakram. With her foot, she took the chakram from his belt and flung it into the air, catching it with practiced skill. With a murderous sneer, she swung her arm up in an arc, ready to separate his head into two pieces with it. "Xena! No!" she heard Gabrielle call to her. She wanted to ignore Gabrielle's pleading voice and just start cutting this bastard to pieces, but she couldn't. She was angry with Gabrielle at that moment, but she knew her for what she really was and in Gabrielle's eyes this was a defenseless man. Her gentle heart could never condone killing anyone, not even Gaelen, under these circumstances. Xena's vengeful heart, on the other hand, told her 'Kill him! It doesn't matter what Gabrielle thinks anymore. She lied to you! It would serve her right, after what she did. ' The chakram was raised, she was poised to kill and she wanted to kill him with all her being, but her love for Gabrielle won out. If Gabrielle considered it wrong to kill this scum, then she wouldn't do it.

Gaelen continued to lay there and watch Xena. He could feel her fighting with her emotions. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to slit his stomach open and show him his entrails. He laughed because she couldn't do it, even though she wanted to so badly. "What's the matter Xena? Gabrielle's conscience getting the better of you?" Xena looked down into his laughing face with disgust. "Why do you let her control you? You want to kill me, Xena. Do it! Don't listen to her! Feel your rage and strike me down!" Xena knew he wanted her to attack him in anger and try to kill him. He would fight back, of course, and try to stop her…if he was fast enough. It would be enough for him, though, if she would just give in to her hatred. He was still trying to control her emotions and make the killer he wanted. But, Xena had fought him until now. She wasn't about to give in to him just as his defeat was so close at hand.

Barleus, at that moment was getting to his feet unsteadily, cradling his broken arm. He called out to the warriors. "Retreat!" catching Xena's attention and giving Gaelen the chance he needed. So, Xena didn't want to kill an unarmed man? This might give her a little incentive. He raised up his legs and with both feet together he rammed the soles of his boots into her stomach. Adding a little of his own power into the kick, Gaelen sent Xena flying.

Barleus' call for retreat had caught Gabrielle's attention, too. So, she didn't see Xena flying through the air. Around her, Gaelen's warriors were retreating. They broke off from the battle and ran into the surrounding wooded areas in all directions.

"That's right! Run!" Ares called out to the retreating warriors. "Tell the rest of them what happens when they defy the god of war!" Ares raised his sword in the air and shouted: "To victory!" Greeger and the rest of his soldiers raised their swords and their voices in victory. However, the victory was oblivious to Gabrielle. She saw Xena hit the ground on her back and heard her cry out in pain even above the sound of the shouting soldiers. "Xena! " she screamed.

Gaelen had regained his feet. He heard Gabrielle's cry and saw her running towards her wounded friend, but the last thing he wanted was Gabrielle in his way. However, killing her was not important to him anymore. He no longer wanted her dead. What he really wanted was to kill Xena. Gabrielle would only hinder those plans. So, Gaelen mustered up a little power, outstretched one hand in Gabrielle's direction and sent her flying backwards in the other direction.

Gabrielle felt her feet lift off the ground and felt herself fly through the air. She didn't know exactly how it happened, but here she was. Then suddenly, she stopped…in mid-air. She saw Gaelen, his arm outstretched, and realized in astonishment that it was he who'd sent her flying. She saw the confusion and fierce anger on his face, his eyes directed on someone behind her. Looking back, she saw Ares. His eyes were shooting daggers in Gaelen's direction. His arm is up in the air, as well, holding Gabrielle there with his own power. With a curled lip he said, "Leave the brat outta this! It's time you deal with me."

This was the first time Gaelen had seen Ares since they'd spoken in the tent. He had no intention of being loyal to Ares and fully intended to betray him, even destroy him. Ares however had beaten him to the punch. "Ares!" he hissed, but Ares simply disappeared before his eyes. Still not fully convinced that Ares is any kind of a god, Gaelen was surprised by this unusual vanishing act.

Ares disappearance left Gabrielle to fall a half dozen or so feet to the ground. She barely noticed it because Xena was still her first concern. While Gaelen's attention was diverted, she tried once again to run to Xena's side.

"Where are you, Ares? Come out and fight," Gaelen said, looking all around, his sword ready. "Let's see how quickly I can best a god." The next thing he knew, there was a tap at his shoulder. When he turned, the only thing he saw was Ares' fist. It hit him square in the jaw and he stumbled backwards, but not down.

"Not doing too good so far." Ares laughed and beckoned Gaelen with both hands. "Come on. Let's see what you've got."

"More than you think!" he responded in anger. With a side stepping motion he penetrated Ares' defenses and landed a punch dead in Ares' face then kicked and sent him flying. Ares landed on the ground a few of feet away. Wiping his lip and realizing this is going to be a good fight, Ares got back up on his feet, ready for more. "Oh, so you want to play rough, huh? I'll show you rough." Ares jumped and sent himself flying back through the air towards Gaelen. He tackled him to the ground and they began grappling with each other fiercely.

Gabrielle finally made it to Xena, who was just trying to sit up. She was obviously in pain and having difficulty breathing. She fell to her knees at Xena's side and placed a careful arm across Xena's shoulder. "Xena!" she said breathlessly. "Are you okay?" There was still anger in Xena's eyes when she looked up at her, an anger that only deepened when she saw Ares fighting Gaelen. Her rise to her feet was obviously very painful for her and even though Gabrielle felt she should remain still, this was not the time to argue about it.

"I'm fine," Xena said with a grimace. "Gabrielle, get my sword."

"Xena, no. I have to get you to a healer. You're hurt. You're in pain."

Xena turned a look so cold and angry toward her it sent a shiver through her body. "Gabrielle…I said get my sword," she commanded.

With that Gabrielle's anger began to flare. "You're already hurt, Xena," she said defiantly. "And badly, from what I can tell. If you go out there again, you'll only make it worse. I won't help you do that, Xena! If you want your sword, you're going to have to go out there and get it yourself."

Xena's face turned hard. She turned from Gabrielle, yanking her arm out of her grasp. Walking a couple of feet forward, she stopped when her sword was at her feet. With enormous effort, Xena bent over and picked it up, the pain she was fighting showing itself clearly on her face and body movements. However, she quickly blocked the pain and went back into battle without another look at Gabrielle. Gabrielle could only watch with tears in her eyes as Xena walked away from her. There was nothing she could do to stop her. She could only try to defend her if she got seriously hurt.

Ares and Gaelen were in the middle of trading punches, when out of nowhere there heard the Xena war cry. They looked up in time to see a pair of bare feet, one landing in Gaelen's face, the other in Ares'. They both fell the ground, surprised.

"Xena!" Ares protested angrily, getting to his feet first. Gaelen rose to his feet as well, his gaze intense as he watched Xena closely.

"Stay out of this, Ares!" Xena shouted, her sword drawn, ready once again to do battle with Gaelen. "I don't want your help. This is my fight!"

"Good," Gaelen said with a satisfied grin. "Frankly, Ares was beginning to bore me."

"Pick up your sword, Gaelen," she demanded of him.

"Oh, that's right," Gaelen said sarcastically, his eyes still on Xena as he stooped to pick up his sword. "We can't be fighting an unarmed man, can we?" Xena almost didn't allow Gaelen the chance to pick up his sword before she attacked, her sword meeting his with a clash.

"Fine," Ares said to Xena as he vanished from sight.

Xena spun around, never having heard or saw Ares exit, and caught Gaelen's sword as he tried to undercut her. Everyone, including Greeger and his soldiers, watched the battle between Xena and Gaelen. Gabrielle returned to Greeger's side and watched with him. He turned to see her sad, tearful expression and his heart went out to her. "Should we help her?" he asked.

"No. This is her fight. She's on her own now."

Xena and Gaelen fought with swords for several minutes with Xena constantly gaining the upper hand in the fight, until finally Gaelen had had enough. With one swipe of his hand, Xena's sword was gone. As it had the first time, the sword seemed to jump from her hand with a life of its own. Only this time, it flew through the air and landed several yards away. Xena turned back to him with her eyes wide. Seeing his arm swing out and thinking he was going to hit her, she attempted to duck, but didn't get the chance. She suddenly felt his hand closing around her throat, cutting off her air supply. As she choked, she realized that his hand was no where near her throat.

Using his power Gaelen lifted Xena into the air. She felt her feet leave the ground. Something had found its way into her throat and was constricting itself tighter and tighter. She clutched at her throat to fight it off but there was nothing there to fight. An unseen force was hanging her by the neck. She tried to stay focused and think of what to do, but she started to feel lightheaded.

Gabrielle watched with fear as Gaelen seemed to pick Xena up without even touching her. By the manner in which Xena was holding onto her neck, Gabrielle could tell that she was choking. Somehow, Gaelen was choking her to death. She didn't know how, but she did know one thing. Having disappeared a while ago, Ares was obviously not going to interfere in any way, so Gabrielle realized she would have to stop him or Xena would die. Gabrielle raised her staff and threw it at Gaelen like a javelin. It caught him in the middle of the back and bounced off. Caught by surprise, it interrupted his control over Xena and she fell to the ground, gasping for air. Gaelen fell to the ground as well, his breath gone from him, pain shooting up and down his spine.

Xena got up onto her knees, grabbed her sword and shuffled over to Gaelen, who was still writhing. She was not going to let him live, no matter what Gabrielle thought of the way she killed him. Xena lifted the sword, but Gaelen unexpectedly stretched out a hand and shot Xena backwards as if she'd been shot from a cannon. Though in terrible pain that he knew had been caused by Gabrielle, Gaelen got to his feet, grabbed her once again in mid-air and rocketed her towards the trees. Gabrielle watched in horror as Xena smacked right into a tree. Gaelen picked her up again and threw her at another tree. Her side slammed up against this one and her ribs exploded with so much pain that Xena screamed. Again, Gaelen grabbed her and began to sling her towards the other side of the clearing when he heard…"Gaelen!"

With still Xena in mid-air, Gaelen turned to see Ares just coming into view. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he saw what was in Ares' hand. It was the power that Ares had stolen from him and combined with his own. His first time to experience abstract fear, Gaelen angrily screamed, "NO! "

"Catch!" Ares said, putting all his force into it and threw the fireball at Gaelen. It radiated a greenish-hue and crackled with mini-lightening bolts. There was no outrunning it. It hit Gaelen directly in the chest, blowing him backward so fast and so hard, he was gone from where he had stood in less than a second. In that instant, his power over Xena was broken and she began to fall to the ground. Gaelen's body rocketed back into his tent as though a stiff breeze had just blown in. Just before Xena hit the ground, Ares stopped her descent and laid her gently down, then he disappeared.

Gabrielle ran to her, tears in her eyes and fell on her knees next to Xena's battered body and sobbed. She looked horrible. The gash over her eyes was bleeding again and fresh bruises had begun to form over the old ones. Gabrielle was not sure she was still alive, so she placed her hand on Xena's chest to feel for the beating of her heart, and her cheek to her nose to see if Xena was still breathing. Thankfully, she was still alive, but she was still seriously injured. Xena needed a healer, but where would Gabrielle find one? Suddenly Xena opened her eyes and grabbed Gabrielle's arm, trying to speak.

"Don't try to speak right now, Xena," Gabrielle sniffled, smoothing the hair from her face. "You'll be okay. I'll take care of you." But, Xena continued trying to say something. Her voice barely reached a whisper and Gabrielle could not make it out. So, she lowered her ear over Xena's mouth. In a very low, harsh whisper, Gabrielle made out the words, "Make sure he's dead." With that Xena passed out as Gabrielle stared down at her with troubled eyes.

Inside the tent, Ares flashed into existence. He stared down at the body on the ground and shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. What a sorry end this is for you. And to think you thought you could best a god. I pity you. You and I together could have made a perfect team, an indestructible force. But, no, you thought you could gain that status on your own. Not here you can't."

Ares stared down at the body on the floor, which could scarcely look back up at him. Gaelen couldn't speak and could barely move. His body still crackled with electricity. Ares watched Gaelen's hand, which had rested at his side, slowly work its way to his belt. He fumbled with a small triangular object finally working it free.

"That's right," Ares said smugly. "Go back to where it is that you came from and don't come back. If you do, you'll have me to contend with. There's enough filth on this earth without having deal with you as well. Have a nice trip." With that, Ares faded in a spectrum of light.

Gabrielle summoned Greeger and they both went to the tent. Cautiously, Greeger sidled up to the tent's entrance with Gabrielle close behind, staff in hand. Greeger pulled the tent cloth aside and peeked inside. Instantly, and to Gabrielle's surprise, Greeger pulled away and backed up. He looked white.

"What is it?" she asked nervously.

"See for yourself."

Gabrielle looked at the tent entrance, then back at Greeger. "Is it safe?"

"Perfectly," he said, the pale shock on his face slowly turning to anger and frustration. Still hesitant, Gabrielle pushed aside the tent cloths and entered the tent carefully. She stood stock-still at the sight before her. Gaelen was gone. Furniture was knocked around and there was a skid pattern on the ground, indicating where he had come to a complete stop, but he was nowhere to be seen. She heard Greeger enter behind her.

"He's gone," she said, shocked.

"Yeah, I figured that one out all ready."

"But where? Where did he go? Where could he have gone?"

"All good questions, Gabrielle. Unfortunately, I can't answer a one."

"Xena's not going to like this," she said, with a grimace.

"No, I can't imagine anybody liking this. If he's still alive…"

Gabrielle turned to him with wide eyes. "Don't say that. He can't be. Not after what we saw happen to him. No one could survive that."

"You're forgetting, he's not just anybody. He's definitely not like you and me." With a huff he turned and walked out of the tent, leaving Gabrielle alone.

Gabrielle turned back to the tent and looked around. On the ground was the shape Gaelen's body had made in the dirt floor. She remembered the last evening, when she had struck a nerve telling him that no child was born with the evil existing in his heart. She'd implied that his mother and father had been killed, and causing him to feel such evil for other people. Something in what she said had clicked, made him remember some deep, dark part of his past that he desperately wanted to avoid bringing back to mind. Perhaps like Xena and Callisto, he'd suffered a troubled childhood, triggering his evil revenge. A part of her asked, "Why do you want to find cause for what he does? He's evil. That's all you need to know. " Another part of her recalled what she had told Xena some time back, "If I believe that, how could I ever forgive him? " Gabrielle felt pain for herself, for Xena and she even felt pain for whatever may have happened to Gaelen at some point in his life. She knelt to touch the ground where his body had been when a spark of leftover energy reached up from the ground and zapped at her hand, causing her to gasp and recoil in fear. The fear rose up into Gabrielle's heart and she quickly left the tent.

One Week Later

A cold wind blew into the cave, making Gabrielle shiver. She propped herself up on one elbow and stared at the ashes left of their fire the night before. Winter must be coming with cold air like that, she thought. But, she liked the way the air felt. It began a cycle that seemed to renew the earth. Things would die, but come spring everything could begin anew. She longed for that time, as the last couple of weeks had been very hard on her, and Xena. Speaking of Xena, Gabrielle turned to check on her. As she did, her mind began to review the last couple of days.

Xena had begun to do much better since yesterday morning. But, during the week, she'd suffered immensely with fevers, nausea and terrible headaches. Gabrielle had suffered right along with her. Thank the gods, though, that there was a healer among the Phestian people. Otherwise, Gabrielle didn't think Xena would have made it. Xena had taught her some medicinal skills, but not enough to deal with Xena's wounds.

Salmoneus had been ecstatic to see Gabrielle and Xena the afternoon they had returned to the caves. More so Gabrielle, because apparently Greeger had told everyone that she had died in the battle at Phestia. She could never remember being so excitedly received as she was by Salea and Salmoneus. It had been a tearful and joyous reunion followed by tales of the escapades they had encountered. Out of all the things that Gabrielle loved, she believed that homecomings were one of the best.

Xena had remained unconscious from the moment she passed out in the clearing to well into her healing process. Only yesterday morning had she returned to what could be called "real" consciousness. The days before she had been in and out, her speech incoherent. After the healer, named Hymenaus, had taken care of Xena's most serious wounds, like her broken ribs and the gash above her eye, Gabrielle had wasted no time in getting her cleaned up. Though many of the people offered to help, Gabrielle spent the rest of that afternoon looking after Xena herself, carefully cleaning the dried blood from her face and the dirt from her body.

For some time, she had noticed a young girl sitting off to the side, simply watching as Gabrielle took care of Xena. At the time, Gabrielle had just assumed the girl was curious about the woman who many of the villagers were now praising for her actions on their behalf. However, when Gabrielle took a small break to get something to eat and drink, she returned to find the girl trying to wash the dirt and grime from Xena's hair. Gabrielle's first instinct was to stop her, her mind thinking, on a more primal level, 'Taking care of Xena is my job. ' She realized, only later, that what she felt at that moment was something akin to jealousy. She knew it was ridiculous to be jealous of the girl. She was only trying to help out, Gabrielle guessed. But, the girl was not the one who lied to Xena, was she? Because of Gaelen … no … because of herself, Gabrielle now had to face the possibility that Xena, in her anger, would turn against her. It was a real possibility that Gabrielle could barely stand to think on. Would Xena ignore Gabrielle and show more favor to this young girl, all because Gabrielle had been untruthful? It was hard to imagine. Hadn't Xena forgiven her for her betrayal in Chin? If Xena could forgive her then, Xena would forgive her now. If not, then all they'd fought for was lost and Gaelen had won.

Gabrielle had knelt down next to the girl and tried to talk to her.

"Hello," she said softly. The girl, though, didn't look at her or respond. It made Gabrielle feel very uneasy, but she pressed on. "My name is Gabrielle, what's yours?" Her only response was to dip a cloth into the bucket of water Gabrielle had been using and use it to wash out the dirt from Xena's long hair. It was as if the girl didn't even see or hear her. Gabrielle placed a hand on the girl's arm and asked, "Are you all right?" The girl cringed from Gabrielle's touch, her face a mask of fear. Strangely, the girl still did not acknowledge her presence and Gabrielle quickly withdrew her hand. As if the danger had passed, the girl calmly went back to washing Xena's hair.

Seeing Salea, Gabrielle went to her for answers."Salea, who is that girl?" Gabrielle asked, indicating to her where Xena lay unconscious. "I don't think I've ever seen her before."

"Neither had I. I don't believe she's from Phestia. Greeger said he found her in the woods on the night after the battle. He said she looked dazed and he couldn't get her to speak. Still hasn't spoken a word since that night." Salea squinted her eyes and walked closer to the girl.

"I tried to talk to her," Gabrielle told Salea, "but I don't think she heard me. It's like she's somewhere else. And she was terrified at my touch."

"Yeah," Salea said absentmindedly, watching the girl. "Yeah, she's been like that ever since we found her. Won't talk; won't let nobody touch her. I don't even know her name. So, I've been calling her Gabby."

Gabrielle smiled at the kind gesture, but said nothing and continued to watch the girl.

Salea asked, "What's she doing?"

"Washing Xena's hair. I don't know what it is, but she seems to be quite taken with Xena."

"Yeah, I've noticed that, too," Salea said, smiling. "Hasn't taken her eyes off her since they brought her in."

Afraid to frighten the girl, Gabrielle had let her stay and help. She had been quiet the whole time, but that hadn't stopped Gabrielle from talking to her, though. She'd spent the rest of the afternoon telling the girl about her many adventures with Xena. Meticulous in her work, the girl had Xena's hair gleaming by the end of that evening.

There was also a young boy, about the age of five, named Kyleus. According to Salmoneus, the lad had stuck to him like glue practically from the first moment he laid eyes on him. Kyleus seemed to annoy Salmoneus at times, but to Gabrielle he was a riot. She delighted in hearing his heroic tales of how he helped Salmoneus to "beat up the bad guys." Salmoneus had introduced them soon after they arrived.

"He made me tell him all I know about you and Xena," Salmoneus laughed. "Now he can tell the stories better than me." Kyleus had impressed Gabrielle because of his genuine concern for Xena's recovery. He'd given Xena a kiss on the cheek and told Gabrielle: "That'll make her get better." He was a sweet boy and an interesting storyteller. Gabrielle thought that he would probably make an excellent bard someday.

Had Xena been conscious during all this, she probably wouldn't have appreciated all the attention nor for so many people to see her so weak. However, these people appreciated what she had tried to do and what she had finally accomplished. Before long the people slowly began to leave and go back to their village. When news of Gaelen's defeat had reached the caves, the people had cheered with happiness. Greeger had decided not to tell them of Gaelen's disappearance, just that they had defeated Gaelen and his army had scattered. A day or two of checking and making sure that Phestia was safe had passed before they began gathering their belongings to start their pilgrimage back to their home. Salea and Salmoneus had offered to stay behind to help Gabrielle with Xena, but she declined. Hymenaus would stay with her for a while, until Xena was well enough on her own. Xena's fever had finally broken the previous morning, and Hymenaus had decided to leave before sundown once he was sure that Xena's fever was definitely gone. Ever since then, Xena had been doing much better. Gabrielle marveled over Xena's ability to heal so quickly. She just wondered how long it would take for Xena to heal herself emotionally.

Gabrielle sighed over those memories, as she turned over to check on Xena, glad now that it was all over. To her surprise, Xena was no longer beside her. In fact, she was no longer in the cave. Looking around, she saw that Xena clothes and armor were gone as well. Having an idea where Xena may have gone, Gabrielle grabbed a blanket and left the cave to find her. Working her way through the brush, she soon came to a small lake just a couple of miles from the caves. Just as she thought, Xena was there. Her clothes and armor were spread out on a couple of tree branches nearby. She was bathing, as if washing herself clean of the things that happened.

Relaxing in the cool water, Xena sensed a presence behind her. Turning quickly, she noticed that it was only Gabrielle standing at the edge of the lake. Gabrielle smiled softly and said, "I woke up and you were gone. I figured you might have come here. I've been here a couple of times myself. How do you feel?"

Xena didn't offer any smiles to Gabrielle, which hurt her. She guessed in a way she probably deserved it, but it didn't stop it from hurting. "Better. Thanks," was all she said.

They were the first words she had spoken since the previous morning. She had regained consciousness for a short while but spoke only to inquire about Gaelen. Having passed out before it all happened she was still in the dark. It was hard for Gabrielle to have to tell her that Gaelen had simply disappeared and was nowhere to be found. She wasn't sure if Xena heard or understood her correctly. She had seemed confused and then had slipped into unconsciousness again. "I brought you a blanket to towel off with when you're ready to get out," Gabrielle said, but there was no response. "I'll just leave it right here," she said, sadly and turned to leave.

"No, don't go. I'm coming out," Xena said, turning toward the bank. Her wet hair was slicked back and clinging to her back as she stepped out of the water. She crossed her arms across her chest, shivering against the cold air. For the first time, Gabrielle saw the damage she had suffered. Though they were beginning to fade to a brownish-yellow color, bruises covered Xena's body. Gabrielle covered her open mouth with her hand and looked in shock up into Xena's eyes.

Xena froze at the look on Gabrielle's face and suddenly felt very self-conscious, something she didn't usually feel. "Stop staring at me, Gabrielle, and give me the blanket before I freeze to death," she said firmly.

"I'm sorry, Xena." Realizing what she had been doing, Gabrielle quickly wrapped the blanket around Xena's shivering frame. "I didn't realize how badly…I'm sorry…Are you sure you feel okay?"

"I'll be fine. I guess I wasn't expecting it to be so cold this morning." Xena's legs felt weak, so she sat down on a downed tree log and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. Gabrielle sat down beside her. Xena looked over at her and saw that her expression hadn't changed. Gabrielle was horrified at the sight of what Gaelen had done to her. Xena spoke reassuringly and said: "Gabrielle, I'll be fine. They're just bruises. They'll go away."

Gabrielle softly touched Xena's side where her ribs had been broken and asked, "What about your side? How does it feel?"

"It's feeling much better. It's just a couple of broken ribs, Gabrielle. They'll heal. I'll live. Stop making such a fuss over me. You know I can't stand that."

"I'm sorry. I just want to make sure that you're okay."

"You don't have to be sorry," Xena said tolerantly, raising her eyebrow with a sideways glance at Gabrielle.

"Then you don't hate me?"

Xena closed her eyes and hung her head. One sentence ran itself through her mind: "Gabrielle never threw that child down the gorge. " She felt that old familiar anger ignite in her, so she tried to snuff it out. She wouldn't respond to Gabrielle's question, because it didn't deserve an answer. Xena decided to stand up and walk a ways from her before she said something she would regret. She began toweling herself off with the blanket, then reached for her clothes.

Gabrielle didn't know how to take her silence. That scared her. She had to have clarity. Silence would only drive her mad. "Xena…" she said imploringly.

Xena slipped on her tunic before putting on her leathers. "I don't want to talk about it, Gabrielle. Drop the subject," she said briskly.

Xena wasn't surprised when Gabrielle stood and said, "No, I will not drop the subject. We have to talk about this, Xena. There's no point in bottling it up and acting like it never happened."

Turning to face her, Xena grabbed her leathers, met Gabrielle's eyes and asked, "Why not? That's what you did."

That felt like a slap in the face, but Gabrielle accepted it. "You're right. That is what I did. I should have told you, Xena, instead of letting it go for so long. I know that. The gods only know what could have happened. But, I was afraid of losing you, Xena. I still am. The longer it went the harder it became to say anything. The possibility of having our friendship crumble because of grudges, anger and hatred was more than I could bare."

"I don't hold a grudge against you, Gabrielle," Xena said with a sigh, the look on her face serious. "I heard what you said out there. You only did what you felt you had to do and I don't resent you for that. It's just that…" She had been trying desperately to hold back her emotions. Now, she could feel them coming out. She was tired of not being in control of herself, tired of this weak feeling inside. In an attempt to hide those things, Xena turned away from Gabrielle and faced the lake. "I trusted you and you lied to me." There was a trembling of emotion in her voice that Xena didn't want to hear.

It was time for Gabrielle to hang her head. Gaelen was right. She had betrayed Xena's trust in her. It was a horribly selfish thing to do and that wasn't normally like her. "I'm sorry, Xena," she said with a quivering lip. "There's nothing else I can say, but that I'm sorry. I know that no words can ever change what I've done or erase the hurt that I've caused you. I don't expect them to." She couldn't hold the tears back any longer. They rolled from her eyes and down her face. "I am so sorry," she sobbed.

Xena turned to face her and saw the tears streaming down her face, and the sadness in her eyes. The look on Gabrielle's face jerked at Xena's heart and she could feel tears forming in her own eyes. She recalled that day in Gaelen's encampment when one of Gabrielle's tears had rolled off her face and onto Xena's sword. More than anything in the world, Xena knew that Gabrielle had never meant to hurt her. There wasn't a vindictive or mean bone in Gabrielle's body. How could she not forgive her?

Hold out a hand to Gabrielle, Xena was relieved when she took Xena's hand with both of her own. With compelling tenderness and compassion, Xena took Gabrielle into her arms and held her tighter than she ever had before. Hers were the eyes filled with tears now. Leave it to Gabrielle to bring out the sap in her. Kissing the top of her head and dropping tears in her hair, Xena said tenderly, "Oh Gabrielle, I will never have a truer friend than you, you know that. I'm the one who should be asking for your forgiveness anyway."

Still holding onto Xena, Gabrielle sniffed back her sobs, looked up at her and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because if it weren't for me, Gabrielle, you would never have had that child. Those things that happened to you would never have happened. And you would never have felt that you had to lie to me."

"You know, Gaelen tried to lay the same thing on me. He tried to tell me that all the bad things that happened in my life would never have happened if I hadn't left my home to travel with you. Maybe…in a way…that is true, but I chose my own path, Xena. You didn't choose it for me. I shudder to think what my life would be like if I hadn't chosen to follow that path."

"Probably pretty boring, huh?" she smiled, always feeling a little awkward when Gabrielle became mushy.

"Yeah, you can say that again," she agreed, smiling through her tears.

Xena's expression once again became serious. Gabrielle's confession deserved a confession from Xena in return. Coming to that conclusion was easy; it was going about it that was difficult. "That's not the only reason I need your forgiveness, Gabrielle," Xena said. Gabrielle watched Xena trying to formulate the words in her mind and form them on her tongue. "I stand here accusing you of betraying my trust … when I've done the same. Gabrielle … I … "

"You don't have to do this, Xena. I know."

Xena's mind suddenly flashed back to her ordeal with Gaelen that first night in the tent. He had filled her mind with visions that weren't real. Gabrielle had been among those visions. Something Gabrielle had said now echoed in her mind: "I'm not as stupid as you often think I am, Xena. I figured it out all by myself. "

"What do you mean, you know?" Xena asked, curiously. "Know what?"

"About Ming T'ien. I know what happened after I left."

Xena broke from Gabrielle's embrace and backed up, suspicion in her eyes. Could this all be another vision, or the remnants of one? What was going on? "How do you know about that?" she demanded, her eyes full of suspicion, her expression hardening.

Gabrielle didn't quite understand what to make of the strange expression on Xena's face but she hoped to keep things calm by keeping her voice soft and compassionate. "It was Gaelen. I still don't know how he did it, but he made me see things. He made me see in my own mind what happened."

Having experienced the visions Gaelen was capable of and knowing Gabrielle had also been under his power, she knew what she was about to hear. Though her heart seemed to be melting within her, the expression on her face softened and she asked, "What did you see?"

Gabrielle cleared her throat, and said uneasily, "I saw you … kill … Ming T'ien." The look of shame on Xena's face broke Gabrielle's heart. She would rather have taken a beating worse than Xena's than to see her humbled this way. Moved with compassion and wanting to ease the pain she was seeing, she said, "I think he thought showing me that would make me hate you. But, I could never hate you, Xena."

The shame on Xena's face turned to anger. She remembered how Gaelen had used her own memories against her. He was able to read her mind, though she could not understand nor explain how. What kind of power did this man have that he could pick up even her past memories of what had actually happened between her and Ming T'ien and place them in Gabrielle's mind. Xena shook her head in frustration and turned to slip on her leathers.

Gabrielle, unsure of what her silence meant asked, "Xena? Are you okay?"

"It just enrages me, Gabrielle. Why is he doing this? Every warlord I've ever been up against always wanted something. With Gaelen, there seems to be no reason for what he does. Why is he moving east and slaughtering villages on his way? He's moving east for a reason. What's his destination? What is he trying to accomplish? The real question is what does he want? What does he want from you and from me?"

"I asked myself the same questions," Gabrielle said thoughtfully.

"What he did to you is almost the same thing he did to me. He somehow read my mind and used my own memories against me. He made me relive all the horrible things that I'd done. Just like you, he made me see things. I still haven't been able to figure out whether the whole thing was a dream or a hallucination or … I don't know what. But, you were there, Gabrielle. You were trying to make me kill you, taunting me. There was such hatred in your eyes and in your words, it made my blood run cold. I realize now that it was Gaelen making me see those things, but it was so real. He wanted me to hate you…to kill you."

"Why?" Gabrielle asked Xena in confusion.

"He wanted a monster. Someone he could control to do his slaughtering for him. I guess he thought that if I could kill you at command, then I would kill anyone."

Gabrielle thought back to the night of the battle in Phestia. She hadn't understood why, out of all the people there, had Gaelen singled her out to live to be his prisoner. Xena's last sentence made her understand Gaelen's game plan and how he expected things to play out.

Xena saw the perplexed look on Gabrielle's face and asked, "What is it?"

"He knew everything about me before he even laid eyes on me…"

"From me. At least, from my mind. I never once spoke of you."

"He knew my name, Xena. He knew about Callisto, about Perdicus and about Hope. He knows about how close we are. Xena, he said that he sensed we are soulmates and that we were meant to walk the earth together. That's got to be why he wanted me to hate you, and why he wanted you to hate me. He knew that if he could break that bond between us, he could get you to kill me. I was his test subject. I was bait."

"Gabrielle, I don't understand. Why does that surprise you? Didn't you realize that's what he was trying to do?"

"No. I mean I knew he was up to something-showing me those things about you, wanting you to live a life of war and death. And he scared me with those things, Xena. He terrified me. But…he reached out to me…" She saw confusion and suspicion in Xena's eyes. "I know how it sounds, but it's the only way I can think of to explain all the things that happened that night. He exposed a part of himself that I don't think anyone has seen for a very long time."

It was so like Gabrielle to look beyond a person's evil and try to find a reason behind it, but Xena could not see the point. The man was a cold-hearted murderer. What more could you possibly need to know? "Gabrielle, every word that comes out of his mouth is a lie. You shouldn't believe anything he tells you."

"That's just it, Xena. He told me nothing. It was the things that he did, not the things that he said. Did you know that he has the ability to heal?"

"Heal? What do you mean?"

"During the battle, I fell from the stone wall, through the roof of a building and broke my leg." Gabrielle watched Xena look at her legs in confusion. She could just image what was going through Xena's mind. "It was badly broken. The bone had broken through the skin. I was bleeding. I know I would have lost my leg … but Gaelen healed it. All he did was touch my leg and he healed it completely."

Xena wasn't one who believed in many of the fanciful tales that some people dreamed up. Not that she didn't believe it was possible for someone to be healed in such ways. Lao Ma had proved that to her when she healed Xena's damaged leg. Nevertheless, there was something about Gaelen and healing that just didn't fit. On the other hand, who was telling this story? The conviction in Gabrielle's eyes was all too familiar. This wasn't something she'd just make up. It was amazing though, considering the trouble Gaelen went through just to hurt people. "I'm sure it must have been an extraordinary experience, Gabrielle, but believe me, he didn't do it to be kind. It was a means to his own ends."

"I know that. Except there was more. When I could no longer feel anger towards him, I began to pity him. That infuriated him. He did not want my pity. I tried to understand what could cause someone to have such evil in their heart, because I told him no child is born like that. Not even Callisto was born evil. She was eaten up with revenge and hate. I wondered if something similar had happened to him. He tried to trick me by telling me some sob story about killing his father when he was a boy because his father had killed his mother. But, behind his lie, a saw a truth. When I tried to push the issue, he lost control." As Gabrielle remembered, a shiver ran through her. "I thought he would kill me."

With concern Xena asked, "What did he do?"

"He tried to choked me to death. I really think he wanted to, but for some reason he couldn't do it."

"He wouldn't do it. Like you said, Gabrielle, you were bait. He couldn't afford to kill you." Xena faked a deadly look, when she added: "And he knew that if he did, he wouldn't have seen the morning."

Gabrielle smiled and was relieved when Xena smiled back at her. "Well, whatever…I'm just glad to have you back." Gabrielle went to her and they hugged again.

"It's good to have you back, too. You have no idea how hard it was trying not to think of you. That was worse than all the bruises and the broken ribs." They separated from their hug and smiled at each other. Xena turned and began putting on her armor. "It's good to have my armor back, too! I'm assuming I have you to thank for that."

Gabrielle proudly holds her arms out in a gesture of presentation and said, "Who else?" Xena returned the gesture with a nod and a gracious smile that suddenly faded and became a deadly warrior's glare. In a flash she had drawn her sword and made it ready.

In cold terror, Gabrielle spun around expecting to see Gaelen standing behind her. To her surprise and great relief, it was only Greeger. "Oh, Greeger. It's you," she said, placing her hand over her heart. "For a moment there, I thought…" She stopped, puzzled by the look in his eyes. She had seen a look like that the day that she first met him, an old anger burning in his eyes. He'd never told her the details behind his hatred for Xena, only that she'd defeated his army many years ago. From the way they were glaring at each other Gabrielle feared that those old feelings may result in a confrontation between two people she cared very much about.

Considering what she had just been through, no one could blame Xena for being over cautious, but she didn't know this man. Though obviously, Gabrielle did. She gave Gabrielle a quick sideways glance and asked, "Gabrielle, you know this man?"

Gabrielle opened her mouth to introduce them, but Greeger interrupted her. "Of course, she knows me. The question is, do you?"

Xena looked curiously at the tall man standing before her, and no, she didn't know him. Yet, she expected that somewhere along the way, she had touched his life like she had so many others. "Should I?" she asked.

"By your code? Perhaps you shouldn't," he said, his voice cold. "My people were nothing more than an obstacle in your way, just like the people of Phestia were to Gaelen."

This had to be someone from a past battle, but she didn't like the comparison. At her worst, she had never been as ruthless as Gaelen. "What are you talking about?" she sneered.

Gabrielle feared a confrontation, so she stepped up and laid a hand on Xena's arm. "Xena, this is General Greeger of the Phestian army." She could see that Greeger's statement had not gone over well with Xena and her sword was still raised in his general direction. So, she added, as she gently lowered Xena's sword with her fingers: "And my friend."

Xena allowed Gabrielle to lower her sword, but not without first giving her a stern look of warning. There was a hatred in this man's eyes that Gaelen would have relished, but it only made Xena angry … and sad. She'd seen that look in people's eyes before, people she had hurt in so many ways. People like Iolaus, Callisto, her son Solan, Boadicea and now this man named Greeger.

"Does the name ring any bells?" he asked, contemptuously.

"I've battled with hundreds of Generals in my time," she said, sheathing her sword. "What makes you so special?"

"Maybe the name Lotheria will jog your memory."

Xena's rigid expression softened. She remembered that battle all too well, one of her most brutal raids on the villages surrounding her homeland of Amphipolis. It was at the time when Xena had begun to loose sight of the reason she had become a warrior in the first place. When she conquered simply to conquer, to gain the power and wealth that would enable her to move on to bigger and better conquests. Lotheria had been a small city, much smaller compared to Phestia, but they had an excellent and well-trained battalion of soldiers and they had fought well. Of course, in the end, Xena's army had won out. She and her army had killed every man in the regiment. There wasn't a man standing after it was over. At least, that's what she had thought. "You commanded the Lotherian army?" she asked, though knowing what the answer would be.

Greeger nodded, pride gleaming behind the anger in his eyes.

"They were excellent warriors. They fought well."

"Yes, they did," Greeger said, his voice is quivering, barely containing his anger. "But you slaughtered them anyway."

Putting up her defenses again, she said through clenched teeth, "It was war. "

Greeger didn't buy it. He shook his head, disagreeing. "It was carnage," he said calmly.

Xena pursed her lips together in anger. She wanted so much to respond and defend her herself against this accusation, but deep down she knew there was no excuse for the horrible things she had caused to occur that day. In frustration, Xena turned away from Greeger.

Gabrielle watched Xena with concern. She knew Xena felt remorse for all the horrible things that she'd done in her past, but Greeger didn't know that. Gabrielle didn't expect Xena to plead her sorrow or beg forgiveness. She reserved those moments for people she was extremely close to, like her mother and Gabrielle. But, if she didn't say something, Greeger would never be able to accept her for who she was now, a good person who had risked her life for the lives of his people.

It had taken much courage for Greeger to approach them this way. A week ago, when the battle with Gaelen had finally ended and Xena had been carted unconscious to the cave, Greeger had kept his distance. He'd only gone back to the caves at Gabrielle's insistence, not because he really wanted to. Back at the cave, Xena had been all anyone could talk about. It was Xena this, Xena that. They took care of her, looked after her and made a general fuss over her. He was lucky he got a plate of food that day. So, it wasn't long before he'd gathered up a couple of men and headed back for Phestia, telling Gabrielle he was going to survey the damage and begin taking care of the dead. What he couldn't tell her, was that he could no longer stand sharing the same space with Xena. He could sense, though, from her expressive eyes, that she knew his real reasons. From that moment, he hadn't set foot back in the cave. He'd come back mainly to check up on Gabrielle since the healer had returned to the village. He wasn't sure of Xena's progress, but he was determined in his heart to confront her. She had changed to some degree, that much was obvious. It wasn't only Gabrielle's words that made him believe, it was the things he'd seen and heard about her, what she'd done for his people. It was in the story of one young girl.

Xena couldn't shake her hatred of being humiliated this way, but then she could not honestly deny any of it. Still she was a warrior and was suffering injured pride. That, of course, was a damaging attitude and no one knew it better then she. Giving way to stubbornness she spun around and faced Greeger. "So, what? You come all this way to kill me or something?"

"That was the idea…," Greeger said, watching Gabrielle's wide-eyed look in his direction, so he quickly amended his statement and added, "…at first. But, on the way over here, I decided it would probably be safer for me not to make an enemy out of Gabrielle." He watched Gabrielle's look of shock quickly change to a half-smile and a 'You-can-say-that-again' expression. "So, I changed my mind."

"Well, if you didn't come here to kill me, what did you come here for?" Xena asked angrily, hands on her hips.

"For years, Xena, I've hated you. I've spent many sleepless nights trying to think of ways to hunt you down and kill you."

"Well, that's good. I know a hundred more right behind ya'. Is that all you have to say?"

"No!" he said, his nostrils flaring in anger. "If you'd shut your trap long enough, I might be able to get the rest out!"

Xena's eyes closed to half slits and she approached Greeger with deadly determination. Greeger didn't flinch. There was no hint of fear as he met her steely gaze with his own fierce scowl. Gabrielle stepped forward and put a hand on each of their shoulders, calming them both with her fearful, concerned eyes. "Okay, you two," she said. "Stop this. You'll never resolve your differences by fighting. You have to talk. Shouting, hollering and threatening each other is not be the best way to go about it." She glared at the two of them until Xena's steely gaze and Greeger's scowl began to melt away.

"Gabrielle's right," Xena said, backing away. "Say what you have to say."

"Yes, Gabrielle is right. I've come to trust her like I would one of my best soldiers."

Xena could tell from their expressions that they shared a mutual respect and admiration for one another. It didn't cause Xena to feel jealous, as if Greeger were taking her best friend away, and Xena didn't sense any feelings of romantic love between the two. Rather it seemed to Xena that Gabrielle had gained a big brother. If Gabrielle could trust and admired this man, then he must be a good man, a man Xena could trust as well.

After so many years of hating, Greeger found it hard to find right the words. "That's why I believe her when she tells me that you've changed," he managed to say. "You're not the blood-lusting warrior I knew twelve years ago. If you were, you would have killed me way before I ever had the chance to tell you to 'shut your trap'. But, I admit, it has taken me some time to see that. That's why I sort of felt the need to test your resolve first. The Xena I used to know would have rammed a dagger through my heart just for saying that, or at least tried too," he said with a teasing grin. Xena thought it best not to reply verbally. She knew her eyes were saying enough. Greeger continued, "I didn't want to believe Gabrielle at first. I didn't know her then as I do now. She told me you were here to help the people of Phestia, but when you disappeared I began to believe that you were working with Gaelen. I realize now that wasn't true. I came here to say that I was wrong about you, Xena. Before, where I saw a murderer and a butcher, I now see a courageous warrior, willing to give her life for the sake of others."

Gabrielle smiled, happy that Greeger was able to put away the past and face Xena as his equal and not his enemy. Xena, on the other hand, seemed uncertain of how to react. She was cautious and reserved as she said, "So, you've suddenly had a change of heart, is that it?"

Greeger's expression became serious again. "Don't misunderstand me, Xena," he said, meeting her eyes squarely. "I will never forget the day you wiped out my army. I still wake up in a cold sweat every now and then when I dream about it. I'm sorry, but I'll never hold a special place in my heart for you; but I can put those days behind me and learn to respect you for who you are now. So, call it 'a sudden change of heart', if you will. Over the last several days, all I've done is try to begin rebuilding the city and think long and hard about you and what you did for Phestia and for its people. At first, all the praise you got from the people enraged me, because I had failed so miserably trying to protect the city. I realized, of course, how pointless that was after a while. It suddenly hit me, that a woman, who had once nearly taken my life, now saved it along with a hundred others. I owe you my life, Xena." Greeger pulled his sword from its scabbard and placed the blade in the ground at Xena's feet. "Our fight with Gaelen is far from over. I would consider it an honor if you would allow me to stand with you and fight."

Xena looked down at the sword at her feet, then back up at Greeger. She was stunned at this man who had once hatred her enough to want to kill her, and now wanted to fight at her side. She was not one who easily put aside such feelings; so she could not believe after all she'd done to him that he would want to have anything to do with her. She didn't deserve this from him. She did not deserve this man's respect. "Pick up your sword." She paused for a moment as Greeger retrieved his sword, a frown of concern sweeping across his face. "There are a lot of things in my past I've done that I'm not proud of. The battle at Lotheria is one of them. I know I can never bring back the lives of those men and that no words could ever replace them, but … I regret that it ever had to happen. I would have been honored to fight along side those brave men. They fought like true warriors."

Greeger nodded his head, silently accepting Xena's apology for the incident. "Are you willing to accept my offer?" he asked.

"If Gaelen returns we will need all the help we can get. He'll use this disappearing act as a means to gather a stronger army together. I'll need the force of an army to defeat him the next time we meet."

"I can gather enough men to make up the beginnings of an army, but we will need to recruit more."

"Once the word about Gaelen begins to spread, I'm sure the surrounding kingdoms will send in the recruits. But, for now this will have to do."

"So, what do we do now?" Gabrielle asked.

"Now, we help the Phestian's bury their dead and start their lives over," Xena responded, as she looked at Greeger, a hint of apology in her voice.

Greeger nodded in acknowledgement. "We've taken care of most of our dead and some families are already starting to rebuild. The good thing is, we still have our crops. We'll have plenty of food once winter sets in."

Gabrielle spoke up, "That's wonderful. At least no one will go hungry."

"The only thing left to do is take care of the nomad village," Greeger added.

Gabrielle suddenly remembered the nomads. Their bodies were still lying out on the ground in their burned-out village. She felt terrible having left them like that, but she and Xena had been so rushed, at the time, to get to Phestia and warn the people that they didn't have time. She remembered Xena saying that they would have to come back to take care of the dead. What a horrible task that was going to be.

"We can build a funeral pyre for them," Xena said.

"That reminds me of another reason I came, Xena," Greeger said. "There's a young girl back in the city who has been asking to see you."

"She made it," Xena smiled.

"Yes. I found her myself, in the woods. It was the dead of night and I thought she was an intruder."

"Who?" Gabrielle asked.

"How is she?" Xena asked Greeger, temporarily ignoring Gabrielle's question.

"She wasn't talking for a while," Greeger said, "but you can't shut her up now. I made the mistake of making some unsavory comments about you, and if her mouth had been a lethal weapon I'd be dead."

"Excuse me!" Gabrielle asked annoyed. "Who are we talking about?"

"Your nick-namesake," Greeger grinned.

"You mean the girl Salea was calling Gabby?" Gabrielle asked and Greeger nodded in response.

"Actually, her name is Tianna," Xena said, smiling.

Gabrielle looked at curiously and asked, "How do you know her?"

"I wasn't the only one Gaelen was holding captive. She belonged to one of the nomad families. I don't know why he took her or what he planned on doing with her. All I knew was that I had to get her out of there."

Gabrielle thought back once again to her first meeting with the girl … Tianna. That's why she had connected with Xena so quickly. Xena had saved her life. "How did you free her?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena stared off into the distance as she remembered what she had to do that night. "I had to pretend to kill her by pinching a nerve that made her unconscious, at the same time, making it look as if I were breaking her neck." Xena saw the shocked look in their eyes and nodded her head. She'd hated even to have to pretend to kill a child. It disgusted her as much as it shocked them. "I know. It's a lot easier to say than it was to do."

"Tianna will be okay now," Gabrielle said, placing a hand on Xena's arm. "She's with people who'll love her and take care of her."

"But she'll never have her family again," Xena said sadly.

"I wouldn't worry about her," Greeger said coolly. "She shed her tears, but she's strong ... and a big help. She's been helping taking care of the children while the women work. They've readily accepted her into the community."

Xena nodded, but still felt sad for Tianna. She wished she could have gotten there in time to stop Gaelen. If only they had gotten up a couple of hours earlier. If only they had not decided to make that stop for breakfast that morning. If only. If only. So many if onlys.

"Well, I'll lead the way back to Phestia, if you two are ready to go," Greeger offered.

"Don't worry about us," Xena said. "I can find the way. Gabrielle and I will be right behind you. I'm sure you'll want to get started on the journey to the nomad's village as soon as we get there."

"Okay, fine. Whatever. Just don't be too long. Got somebody else over there who wants to meet you so bad, she can taste it."

Xena wondered, by the time they got there, if she wouldn't have gobs of people crowding around just to meet her. Actually, it kind of worried her. She didn't like that kind of attention. "Who?" Xena asked.

"Ah, just a friend of mine. Her name's Salea." He heard Gabrielle snickering, so he asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," she grinned mischievously. Greeger eyed her suspiciously, not trusting her answer, but turned around anyway and left.

"What was all that about?" Xena asked, after Greeger had left.

The grin having not left her face she said, "Greeger and Salea are a lot more than friends. It just kills me the way they don't admit it to each other. It's all innuendo with those two."

"Huh … love," she said, shaking her head. Gabrielle smiled, but Xena could tell her mind was already on something else. Xena sat back down on the log to put her boots on. She looked up at Gabrielle and waited for the question.

"Xena? Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," she said, smiling to herself.

"There's something I just don't understand. You told me Gaelen can read our minds. If that's true, then how is it you were able to deceive him and make him think you were going to kill me, or make him believe you killed Tianna?" She pointed a stern finger at Xena. "And don't say you have many skills!"

Xena laughed, then looked up at Gabrielle, her face sober. "It's an old trick I learned from Lao Ma. The human mind can be a very powerful organ if we allow ourselves to use it to its fullest potential. Gaelen has a very powerful mind. I don't know where he gained this power, but he knew nothing of Lao Ma's techniques. She taught me how to clear my mind … to shut it off from everything and everyone. I simply closed my mind off to him."

"But what about Tianna? Couldn't he have read her mind and realized that she wasn't really dead?"

"I'm sure he could have, but she had basically shut her own mind down, in a way. And too, he was so centered and focused on me, on my mind being closed off to him, that I don't think he even noticed. There were times when I could feel him trying to get back in, but I pushed him out. I guess I was lucky he never figured out what I was doing. I think if things had been allowed to go on long enough, he would have eventually figured it out. Despite his other rather obvious flaws, he has a remarkable mind. That's why I know he's not finished here. We'll be seeing Gaelen again."

"If we do, I'm sure we'll be ready for him next time," Gabrielle said confidently.

"I'm sure we will," she said with a small smile, trying to mirror Gabrielle's confidence. Xena was quiet for a few seconds. Then she looked back up at Gabrielle, her face and eyes taking on more personal expressions. "Once this is all over, Gabrielle, we're going to have to sit down and have a long talk."

Gabrielle nodded in understanding and said, "About Hope. I know. I know, Xena." Gabrielle was sad that it had to be brought back up, but she knew that Xena would eventually want to resolve the issue.

Slapping her hands on her knees, Xena rose to her feet, wincing a little at the pain in her side. It was almost as if that small bit of conversation had never happened. "Well, let's get moving. There's a lot to do before Gaelen does come back."

"When do you think that will be?"

Looking off in the distance as if looking for him, Xena said, "I wish I knew." She turned back to Gabrielle and smiled, "Come on. Let's go to Phestia. We have a lot of cleaning up to do." They set out on foot back to the cave to gather their things, before heading back to Phestia. "Speaking of Phestia…I thought I told you to leave there before Gaelen's army attacked."

Gabrielle smiled, nodded her head and wrapped her arm around Xena's waist, "Yep, it is definitely good to have you back."

They walked along a wooded path spotted by dots of the brightly shining sun. A cool breeze blew through the trees and the birds sang. Gabrielle smiled happily as she walked with her staff in her left hand and her right hand at Xena's waist, taking in the clean scent of the air.

"Are you going to answer my question or what?" Xena asked.

The End

For Now

Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was not as badly damaged in the creation of this story.