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Part 6

Chapter 6

Once Xe had redressed in the stiff, blood-clotted blouse she had discarded earlier, she turned back to the unlikely duo seated on the cot.

"Well, we know something's up," she stated matter-of-factly.

"How so?" Gabrielle looked away from the boy momentarily.

"We've still got lights. The hall is darkened and Ravi said that the other rooms are as well. I don't know what it means though." Gently stretching her arms above her head, she added, "I'm not so sure I want to stick around to find out either. That being said, let's get out of here."

The hall was still filled with shadows as the trio slipped through the door.

"Ravi," Xe paused long enough to gain the child's attention, smiling at the dusky face that tilted up to hers, "get Gabrielle out of here the same way you got in." She grasped Gabrielle's hand in her own, placing it firmly in the young boy's grip.

"What do you think you're doing, Xe?" Anger mingled with concern in the shadow-rimmed hazel eyes that darted across Xe's body, taking in shoulders slumped with fatigue and a stoic expression that almost masked the woman's pain.

"Exactly what the grandmothers sent me here to do. I'm protecting you."

Before Gabrielle could manage a retort, Ravi tugged on her hand, pulling her back down the dim corridor.

Xe carefully crept down the stairway, listening to the sounds of commotion from the floor below. Ravi had been correct, it was definitely men speaking, or rather yelling, but their words were indistinct and Xe wasn't even certain what language they were using; the men who had questioned her had been English, but the guard and the other brutes she had seen were locals, their speech broken and unsure.

If only she could find out who these people were, or who they were working for…

The stresses of university life and motherhood, nearly a world away, sounded like a gift from heaven itself as she struggled to make it down the dark stairs without falling flat on her face. Her mind flew in a thousand directions; Enki's face, the predominant feature of her thoughts, stood out, a blessedly pleasant contrast to the memory of her interrogation. She would have liked nothing more than to curl up on her ratty old couch in her minuscule house, reading story books and mythologies with her son; even a mother-son power struggle sounded more appealing than her current adventure. Trust the grandmothers to inadvertently plunge her right back into the sort of lifestyle she was trying to leave in her past.

Shaking her head free from thought of home, she focused on her present situation, her need to protect the grandmothers from this unknown and very dangerous entity that threatened their well being.

The door at the base of the stairs stood ajar and she listened intently to the rising voices. The hall itself was empty, the sounds coming from a room near her position by the stair. Slipping silently into an empty room crammed full of crates and boxes, she pressed her ear to a ventilation grate. Stilling her breath, she strained to make out the conversation being conducted in the next room.

"Any further questioning is pointless, she doesn't know anything."

"I disagree."

"She doesn't know anything! She proved that when she fabricated that ridiculous story about the stone being in the Delphian Oracle's temple when Zeus destroyed it. She was trying anything to stop the beating. If she had known, she would have said so at that time."

"Of course she knows where it is! The story was clearly her attempt to protect the girl. If we offer to release the girl, she may well give us the location."

"You'd let the girl go?"

"You idiot! Of course not, just how many times did Mother drop you on your head in your infancy? We would offer to let the girl go free and then continue with the interrogation. She wouldn't discover our dishonesty until she was returned to the cell, and by then it would be too late to save either one of them."

"If you beat her to death before…"

"Cease!" A loud crash filed the air, punctuated by stony silence.

Long moments later, the conversation continued.

"Uncle is due to arrive today, is he not? It was he who was sure she knew the location of the stone. Has it occurred to you that he's just trying to get back at Dr. Covington for earlier injustices?"

"It is because of her that he's spent all of these years in a wheelchair, Byron! Of course he wants vengeance. And Xena and Gabrielle, pardon me, Ms. Cadmus and Miss Baird, are his best attempt to exact his revenge. Those two old hags, what is it they call them…the grandmothers? They left him for dead. If it hadn't been for the locals who found him and nursed him back to health…"

"But they are innocents in all of this. Just as we ought to be."

"Smythe should be the name scholars associate with Aegean antiquities, Byron, not Covington and Pappas, and definitely not Cadmus!"

"It sounds as if Uncle is not alone in his quest for vengeance…"

Smythe. Xe tried to place the name. Nothing came to mind but at least she had a name to work with. There was something else, something about the voices, a dim familiarity she couldn't place. Trying to ignore the unceasing, fiery pain of her back, she straightened from the wall and turned to exit the room.

She saw the box only a moment before it toppled to the floor with a reverberating crash. All conversation ceased as cries and shots rang out through the hallway.

Adrenaline egged Xe on as she bolted up the flight of stairs, blessing the providence that knocked out the power supply and plunged all into darkness. Relying on Ravi's hurried description of the floor plan, she breathed a sigh of relief when she surged headlong into daylight on the roof, only slowing her pace to vault over the railing. She slid haphazardly down the railing and landed with a heavy thud in the alley below the half-ladder. The sounds of shouting high above her forced her legs into a sprint until she ended up in the bustling crowd of the market.

The street was filling with people forced outdoors by the citywide power outage and Xe pushed her way through the milling crowd. She stopped meters from the airport entrance, gasping for breath and noticing, for the first time, a searing pain in her shoulder. Before she could investigate this new pain, a host of gratefully familiar voices filled her ears.

"Xe's gonna kill you herself once she finds out you're here."

"Well dear, we couldn't very well let you both disappear without coming to investigate." Mel patted Janice's shoulder as the other elderly lady watched Brie intently.

"You're sure that you're okay, Brie? You wouldn't be fool enough to try to pull the wool over my eyes now, would you?"

Gabrielle glared at her grandmother. "I'm fine, I've told you that already. It's Xena who's hurt…badly." She looked around the street, trying to decide on the best place to wait for the missing member of their group.

"Miss?" Ravi's quiet voice drew all eyes and refocused them in the direction the child was pointing.

Xena, alive, but most certainly the worst for wear, stood among the throng of people. Her complexion was rapidly becoming more pallid and she only met Gabrielle's gaze for a moment before crumpling to a bloody heap on the pavement.

Hushed voices mingled with the roaring confusion in Xe's fuzzy understanding. Nothing seemed to make sense. The vague awareness of pain gnawed at her unfocused thoughts but nothing solid materialized. She knew that she kept fading in and out of consciousness and although her eyes remained shut and she remained quiet, the other people in the room seemed aware of her changing state of awareness too, halting their whispered conversation periodically.

Slowly, very slowly, Xe sorted through the events of the past few days. Once she had managed to catalogue her experiences, filling in the blank places in her memory with assumed periods of unconsciousness, she concentrated on forcing her eyes open.

Gabrielle perched on the edge of the chair nearest the bed, listening to the soft conversation Gran-Mel was having with the doctor. Xena would be fine once she awoke, he assured her. The bullet had passed through her shoulder and she had lost a great deal of blood from both the gunshot and the trauma to her back, but she would suffer only scars.

She would suffer only scars, Gabrielle thought solemnly, but how deep would those scars be?

She allowed memories to flood her thoughts again, as she watched the steady rise and fall of her comrade's chest.

Xe stood at the summit of the highest of Messene's ziggurats, eyes closed against the brilliant rays of a deepening sunset. It was their last day in Messene, the last time Brie would see Xena Xandria until she would reappear in Macadonia, years later, angry with her parents and their strong-arming techniques. But on this evening, she was content, at last at peace with her life.

The reenactment of an ancient civilization had been Gran-Mel's idea, a way to build up the waning interest in classical archaeology. It had gone well, their audience of students and the general public still lingered, inspecting various aspects of the site and speaking with those who had taken part in the performance, still dressed in costumes of a time long past.

Xe had been the star of their production, the regal Hestian priestess; a role in stark contrast to the child she cradled in her arms. The baby gurgled happily at the splash of colors created by the sunset as his mother gently swayed back and forth, humming an old lullaby from her childhood.

Gathering up her skirts, Gabrielle ascended the steep steps, slowing when she reached the top to admire both the sunset and the lovely picture Xe and the baby created.

Xe's gown billowed around her legs and danced about her shoulders in the gentle breeze that blew across the platform, swirling dust and yellow pollen in the golden evening light.

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah, it is." Xe shifted her son to her shoulder and the baby grinned toothlessly at Brie, his eyes huge and already full of mischief as he snagged a fistful of his mother's hair, shoving it into his mouth.

"I'm leaving tonight with Father." The young girl turned to look down at the site behind her, her father and grandmother stood a distance away, obviously arguing.

"Don't worry, they're not talking about you."

Surprised that Xe could know her concerns, Brie spun back around. "How do you know?"

"Because they're talking about me, or rather Ea."

Brie looked again at the baby, Xe still faced the sunset and its rapidly dimming glow. "Why would they be talking about Ea?" She walked around to stand in front of Xe. "Can I hold him?"

"Sure." Smiling, Xe handed the child to the girl, marveling at how much she was growing up. Already thirteen and still so inquisitive, still so damned adoring of her idol…"Gran-Mel failed to mention to your father that Ea had ever been conceived. He's concerned you might start getting ideas into that crazy head of yours."

Brie shook her head over her father's foolish, over-protective streak, wondering if he would ever learn to trust her. She was a teenager after all! She returned her thoughts to the drowsy baby she held. "How old is he now?"

"Nearly six months."

"You know, you never did explain his name…" she hinted, wanting to delay their return to the ground regardless of the darkening landscape.

"I forgot…Ea was a Mesopotamian god, the son of Anu, the sky god. He was also called Enki and Nudimmud and had control of the underground sweet waters and of powerful magic. He ultimately became master of all the Mesopotamian gods, even his father, Anu." Xe smiled and brushed a gentle finger across the baby's smooth brow.

Brie grinned up at Xe, "that's some reputation for such a tiny guy to live up to."

Xe arched an eyebrow, "you should try being Xena for a while."

"Hey."

Gabrielle returned her thoughts to the present, reaching out to take Xe's hand as she lifted it from the bed.

"You were smiling," Xe murmured, "I'll take that as a good sign."

"Seeing those eyes of yours is an even better one," Janice said, walking across the room to stand next to Gabrielle. "How do you feel, girl?"

Narrowing her eyes at the elderly woman, Xe growled, "You really don't want to know. I thought I left you two with Enki…in Georgia?"

 "He's with Lyall, Dear. Safe and sound." Mel stepped away from the doctor and cupped Xe's chin in her hand. "We promised to bring him Mommy home in one piece. I fear we've failed in that respect."

"I'm still…in one piece. Albeit a mangled piece…but still holding together." The pain that had been a blessed vagueness was regaining strength and Xe fought to ignore it.

"I'll get you something for the pain." The doctor left the room, oblivious of Xe's denial.

"Gran-Mel, does the name Smythe mean anything to you?"

"Smythe?!" Janice swiveled to look at Mel, an old fear and understanding filled faded hazel eyes. "Where did you hear that name, girl?"

"It can't be, Janice. He died a long time ago, when we first met."

Xe related all that she had over-heard, listening in turn to the grandmothers' tale of Smythe's demise.

"I remember that story." Gabrielle refused to relinquish her hold on Xe's hand.

"So do I…now. I need to get out of here."

"No!"

The unanimous chorus failed to stay Xe's movements as she sat up, she decided to use logic to persuade her protectors. "You admitted me under my name, right?" All heads nodded. "They know who I am, they know I'll need medical attention. Even if they aren't aware of the gunshot, they are aware of…" she allowed her voice to trail off, silence filling the void.

"Miss?" Ravi stepped out of the corner he had occupied since they arrived.

"Ravi, my favorite thief! I guess I owe you even more now, eh?'

The child blushed over Xe's attention and shook his head. "No, Miss. I'm glad I could help you."

As she began to formulate a means of repaying the little boy, a thought came to her. "Ravi, do you have any family?"

"Just Altair."

"Who's that, your mother?" Janice glanced back down at the child.

"No, Altair's my little sister. She was named for our mother though..."

"Where is she?" Worry ate at Mel's reserve, now that she knew Xe was more or less safe, her concerns could focus on other matters.

"In our alley."

Xe smiled suddenly, at last forming a plan. She couldn't help the grandmothers yet, but she could help this child. "You see? Now I have to get out of this place."

 "And why is that, Dear."

"Because there's a little bird who's waiting for her brother, and I have a plan."