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

Author's Notes: This is the third installment to my 'Hero' series. All POSITIVE comments are welcome. Negatives I will simply ignore. Send your thoughts to startrek@ellijay.com.

We were all sitting around laughing at Dan's really bad jokes, when Mr. Henderson walked over. Thinking we're in for a lecture, everyone stood or shuffled around in their seats. "Guys," I'm the only woman, besides Doris at the register, that works here. "We are kinda slow today, I think we might close early." We all blinked. Very rarely does he close during the week for anything. He was a strictly 9-5, five days a week man. None of us were about to complain.

"When?" Dan asked.

"Uhhh." He looked at his watch. "Everybody get what you need done today now. We'll close in a hour. We all got up and moved away.

"Mr.Henderson?"

"Yes, Cody?"

"Mind if I stick around and work some new items onto the shelf?"

"I'll help you." Kyle piped in.

"Alright, you guys close up." I was trying to save for Mason's birthday present. It was a ring with a matching pendant. I'll take all the hours I can get.

Everyone left at two. Kyle and I worked side by side, managing to get quite a bit done.

"My wife has been on me to get that yard cut." he chuckled. "I hate yard work." I smiled at him as I wiped the dust off of the top shelf.

"Wanna take a break? I'm gonna call Mason."

"Okay. Meet ya back here in five?" I nodded and headed up to the desk.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are ya?"

"Okay." she yawned. "Working. You?"

"We closed early, but I stuck around."

"You coming home soon?" she asked.

"I might. Don't know."

"It's getting dark out."

"Yeah?" I inquired. I turned around and looked out. Sure enough the clouds looked ominous. "Wow." I commented. The sun was just out an hour ago.

"Oh Cody..."

"What?"

"We're under a tornado watch until six."

"Ahh I'm sure it's just a precaution." I shrugged off. I continued to watch the weather as we conversed. The wind was beginning to pick up.

"Cody, please come home."

"I really want to finish this stuff before I come home." I sighed.

"Please." Oh her best defense. She pleads very well.

"Okay, okay. I'll see if I can convince Kyle to pack it in."

"Thank you, Baby."

"Give me thirty minutes okay?"

"Be careful."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you. Bye.

Mason has been overprotective lately. My back has caused me to lighten my work load. Now I have to see a chiropractor. Seems I did mess up my back in that car accident. It doesn't bother me as much as it bothers her. Kyle was leaning causally on the counter. "Let's call it a day."

"Whatever you say, Boss." he teased, chucking his soda can in the trash can.

We both stepped outside. "Whoa." Kyle said as a hard gust of wind almost knocked him over. "Must be one hell of a storm coming up. I'll see you tomorrow, Cody. Be careful going home."

"You too. See ya." I stepped back in. Checking visually to make sure all the lights were off, I then set the alarm. A flash of lightening shot across the sky, startling me. Kyle drove past me as I locked both dead bolts. I turned around and glanced up and down the street. I noticed there were very few cars moving along the street and even fewer people walking around. The deli across the street was also closed. Another gust blew debris past me. I zipped up the front of jacket and headed around the corner to my truck. Glancing once more at the sky, I got in. I switched immediately to the local station on my radio. I flipped on my lights and backed out.

The wind was whipping around me, getting stronger. I drove slow and managed to stay on the road. So far our area was still under a watch. Suddenly I wanted to get to Mason to make sure she was alright. She's terrified of storms. As though it couldn't get worse, it began to rain, hard.

I have been plastered to the living room window since Cody hung up, waiting. I cursed as I saw the rain begin. 'Cody is an excellent driver.' I kept telling myself. 'She'll be okay.' Nothing was going to make me feel better until she walked through that door safe and sound. The noise of the television suddenly going off made me scream. Great. Power's out. I needed to calm my nerves. Suddenly feeling parched, I got up from my vigil and went into the darkened kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a soda. I popped it open and took a healthy chug. "Oh that's better." I whispered. As I took another drink, I heard a thump. I froze. Taking a deep breath, I began to move back towards the living room. I watched the front door, listening. I looked to my left. "AHHHHH!!" I screamed. I jumped back.

"Hey." I moved away from the hands. "Shhh. Its me, Baby." The hands that gripped my forearms did feel familiar. It was Cody. "I'm sorry I scared you." she smiled. I came in from the garage." I let out the breath I was holding. "The wind is really bad out there. I put our cars inside." She was wet almost from head to toe. "Hey. You okay?" She felt my trembling.

"Yeah." I said shakily, before punching her solidly on the arm.

"Ow." She rubbed the spot I just connected with. "I said I was sorry."

"I know. I'm sorry." I smiled. "Just had to hit something."

"Try something not so near to me next time." I chuckled. She glanced around. "When did the power go out?"

"Just before you scared the shit out of me."

"Alright. Point taken." She moved away from me into the bedroom.

She reemerged wearing her sweats. Come on." She led me to the window seat and we sat. I placed myself between her legs and leaned back. We watched the torrent of rain as it came down. You could not even see the street light that was fifteen feet away.

"I'm glad you're home." I snuggled into her warmth.

"Me too." she said quietly. "If I didn't come home then, I would have been stuck in town...with Kyle." she added. We both laughed softly. We were both startled as the electricity returned. She stood and we moved to the couch. "Hey...cartoons." Cody smiled. I grinned. I flattened myself on the couch, with my upper body lounging on Cody's semi upright body. I snuggled my head into her breasts and yawned.

I was just about to fall asleep when I heard a sharp beep. I opened my eyes and watched another weather advisory of the tornado watch scroll across the bottom. I felt Cody's hand rhythmically stroke my back, lulling me to relaxation. A thunder burst shook the entire house. Now I was wide awake. "Cody..."

"Shhh." She knows I hate storms. I could hear the force of the wind above the T.V. I resettled, but did not relax. Feeling my tension, Cody suggested we turn in. We both decided to sleep in our sweats, just in case.

I don't know how long I slept until a noise woke me. I sat up disoriented. "Hey." She pulled me back down. "It's only the wind, Baby. It knocked over the ladder against the house."

"Cody, I'm scared." I admitted.

"Its okay. We're alright." she reassured me. "Just relax." I turned over into her embrace, placing myself within her arms, the only place I feel completely safe. The wind still had not diminished. I knew that she had to be worrying too. She just would never admit it to me. I no longer heard the sound of rain pummeling the roof. My heart stopped as another burst of powerful wind beat against the house. I heard a crash. I think it was the chairs on the back porch that struck the house.

I did start to relax a bit by thinking about something else. My favorite distracting subject was the first time I laid eyes on Cody and then when she took my virginity. I smiled at the vision dancing over my closed eyes. I was jolted from that vision when I lost contact with Cody. I opened my eyes and saw her getting out of bed. I lifted my head. She turned around and kissed my forehead. "Keep thinking about whatever's making you smile." She whispers. "I got to go to the bathroom." I blushed at her observation. With Cody gone, I was wide awake, once again bombarded by the sounds of a storm. She returned none too soon. She started to get into bed, when she suddenly changed her mind.

"What is it?"

"I'm just gonna take a look." I tossed the covers off of me. Placing my sock clad feet on the floor, I padded over. As she bent slightly, pulling the shade back, I placed a hand on her back. She moved the shade enough for me to take a look too.

We could not make out much. Our bedroom window faced our backyard. I noticed that the chair that normally would obstruct our view was gone. No lights were on. We both turned, thinking the same thing, to the digital clock. It was blank. No power again. We turned our attention back to the window. There were tree limbs down in our yard that were blown haphazardly from a tree. The heavy charcoal grill was blown onto its side.

"Cody." I tapped her shoulder. "What's that?" I pointed. I could just make out a tiny shadow huddled under the legs of the overturned grill.

"Don't know." We both focused on it. It moved! "Oh shit." she breathed moved away from the window.

"What?" I followed her as grabbed a flashlight. I followed her to the backdoor.

"Its Mrs. Strickland's dog." She grabbed her red poncho, slipping into it. Unlocking the door, I opened it. The force of the wind was enough to blow me over if I wasn't holding onto Cody. With the door open, we could see the amount of debris blowing around.

"Don't go out there!" I yelled over the howling.

"I can't leave her out there." Cody reasoned. Mrs. Strickland owned a cute, but moody terrier. Cody whistled sharply. I shined the light on the dog. She was about twelve feet away. "Come here, Lady. Come on girl." The dog's ears switched, but the poor thing wouldn't move. Cody forced my hand off her shoulder. I had her in a death grip and didn't realize it. Cody bolted into the yard. She flattened herself to the ground to avoid a tree branch. She crawled the remaining distance to the dog. She picked her up with one arm, stood against the wind and made a dash for me. I got out of her way and slammed the door shut as soon as she was in. She dropped Lady and shook her hand. "The little shit bit me." I couldn't stop the laugh. "Oh yeah. Ha Ha." she drawled.

The dog followed me over to the window as I moved back into our bedroom. I pulled shade back. The color drained from my face. My breath ceased. "Cody." It came out as a whisper. "Cody." Again a whisper. "CODY!" I screamed reflexily.

"What?" She bolted into the room. She joined me at the window. Her hand gripped my shoulder. She saw it too, a funnel cloud. "Come on, Mason!" She grabbed me roughly pulling me away from the window. The whole house was shaking. She stopped long enough to scoop Lady up with her other arm. "GO!" She shoved me down the hall. I heard the sound of glass breaking. This was really happening. "Get in." She shoved me into the only room in the house that didn't have a window, the laundry room. Closing the door, she placed the ironing board across it to brace it, having no way to lock it. I was shaking like a leaf. Cody grabbed a towel and blanket from on top of the dryer. The wind was so loud, that if Cody had screamed something, I probably wouldn't have been able to hear her. She handed me the dog, who was shaking just as much as I was. I watched as Cody threw the towel into the far corner. A loud boom exploded from outside. She yanked me into the corner, coaxing me to face the corner and sit. The towel shielded me from the cold vinyl on the floor. She bent my head down. I felt one arm come around my right arm, holding my middle, and her other arm was placed across my head, protecting me. The blanket came with her arms. She gripped me tightly as a huge roar could be heard on our right. I was crying. I couldn't help it.

Suddenly, there was no sound. It went from enormous sound to deafening silence. All that could be heard was my uneven breathing and the whimpers of the dog in my arms. Several seconds passed before Cody moved, releasing me from the cocoon. "Mason." she breathed. "You okay?" I was able to nod my head. She tested her muscles slightly before standing. I continued to shake, but Cody gently helped me stand. All I could make out was her frame in the darkness. She bent down and picked up the discarded lantern flashlight. She knocked it with her hand and it blinked on. I followed the light as Cody surveyed the room. She moved to the door and I followed, still holding Lady. It took her a moment to unwedge the ironing board from across the bottom of the door.

I really was scared to see what might have happened outside of our bunker. I felt a small breeze as she opened the door. We carefully stepped out into the hall. Everything, with the exception of a few knocked over items, was undisturbed. "Come on." Cody took my hand and I put Lady down on the floor. She followed behind us as we went back into our bedroom. We noticed the crack in the window, but at least it wasn't broken. A tree branch was lying against it. I followed behind as we checked the rest of the house. The small window in the kitchen was broken out. "Careful." I look down and see splintered glass on the floor. "I'm going to put a blanket over it for now. We'll clean it up in the morning......Hey." She turned to me. I was still shivering.

"I'm cold." She pulled me back into the bedroom and wrapped me in several blankets.

"Try and rest." she whispered before placing a kiss on my lips. "Its over."

We awoke at first light. Changing into jeans, we gathered up Lady to take her home. When we stepped out of the front door, we saw just how much damage the storm had done. Trees were down in the middle of the street. Cars smashed in their driveways. I'm sure ours would have been damaged if Cody hadn't put them in the garage. We started down the sidewalk and gasped. The next house over and the one after that were completely destroyed. The path the twister took was very obvious, right between our neighbors' houses. "Holy shit." was all Cody could say as we got closer to them. I clung to her arm like a lifeline. This is definitely not going to help with my fear of storms. Mrs. Strickland was standing outside of one of the downed houses. She saw Lady tailing us and began yelling.

"Ohhh my baby." We watched as the dog ran to her and she scooped up. "You miss your mommy huh?" I glanced at Cody who had a small grin on her face.

"We found her in our backyard." I volunteered. "Just before the tornado hit."

"Oh thank you, Girls."

"Its Cody you have to thank." I smiled.

"Thank you, Cody."

"No problem. My pleasure...Come on, Mason. Let's ride into town." I nodded and we headed back to the house, listening to Mrs. Strickland's thanks until we were out of earshot.

Mason was still terrified. I don't blame her. Seeing just what Mother Nature was capable of was enough to scare anyone. I lifted the garage door and backed my truck out. Mason got in and we headed for town. The destruction was not as bad in town as it was out of town. I headed straight for the hardware store. I could tell many businesses will be closed for awhile. Henderson's was almost unscaved. I found my boss inside. "You alright out there, Cody?" he inquired.

"Yeah. I just need to get a window. That okay?"

"Sure go ahead." I walked with Mason to the back and retrieved the one I needed.

"Are we staying closed, Sir?"

"Yeah." he sighed. "Kyle lost his house last night."

"Oh gosh." Mason commented.

"Yeah. He's going to be staying with his sister for awhile. Doris was hurt. She got hit by some debris, but she's okay." I listened to all of this as I rang up my order and placed the money in the register. "I'll call you when I decide to open okay?"

"Sure. Whenever's fine by me. Just give a ring."

Mason helped me settle the window pane into the bed of my truck. Wrapping it in a blanket to secure it, we were all set. I turned around and leaned against the side of my truck bed. "Cody?" I looked over. "You alright?" I sighed.

"Just thinking."

"About?"

"How lucky we are." She nodded in agreement. "Why is it we're only replacing one damn window and Kyle lost his whole house?"

"Don't know. Could have easily been the other way around."

"I guess." I said quietly. "Come on. Let's get this window put in."

We spent the day clearing debris out of our two yards. In the backyard, we found items that didn't even belong to us. A chair, table umbrella, and a hammock. I recognized them as Tommy's down the street. After delivering them, we worked on putting the window in. "Mason, you're very helpful." I said as I worked. "Maybe you should consider a career in hardware sales." She laughed. It's good to hear that again.

"Nah, I'll leave that to the experts." I smiled at her. "I'll call Jamie."

"Hey." I said, trying to sound offended.

"I'm kidding. Your the man..errr woman." I grinned.

It was after a bit more work that I realized Mason was once again quiet. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Come on."

"Why am I such a coward, Cody?"

"What? You are not a coward." I said sternly. "What makes you say that?"

"I am too. I have been my whole life. I was a coward with my parents, with Debbie, with this storm." she gestured.

"Hey. Anyone who said they would've have been scared last night, is a liar."

"You weren't."

"Oh yes I was....I was scared for you." She looked at me. "I was scared we were going to lose everything we had. Of course I was scared. But you know what?"

"What?"

"Even if we did lose everything, as long as we lived, we would still be okay." Mason smiled.

"I agree with that." She reached over and kissed me softly on the lips. "We were really lucky weren't we?" she asked.

"Yeah we were." I glanced towards the disaster next door. The funnel had passed just fifty feet away from our home. "Mason, don't try so hard to be brave. Let it come."

"Well I don't need to be." My eyebrows raised. "Every time I need a hero, you are there for me."

"Likewise." I smiled. We took a moment to gaze at each other. I still feel the way I do when I first saw her. "From six to two, I am a mild mannered hardware store manager. All other times, a hero." I puffed my chest out in my best superman pose. "I think I can handle that." I walked over and wrapped my arms around. "You're mine too ya know." She smiled. "Angela Lansbury." I chuckled. Just as I suspected, I got a slap on the arm.