Disclaimer II: No sexual content but plenty of subtext. The violence is no more graphic than that of an average episode, so don't worry about it.

Spoiler Warning: Events and/or characters from various seasons--including the fifth--may be present within the boundaries of this story, so read at your own risk!

Timeline: Takes place an undetermined amount of time after Succession, but before a certain revelation in Animal Attraction.

Part 2

CHAPTER 15

Gabrielle cleared her throat.

"I realize this is all kind of hard to believe, Jordan..."

Jordan shook her head. "Actually it explains some things I've been wondering since I met you--like how a woman could end up in the middle of New York City without knowing the name of the place. And why your clothes looked like something from TV."

"I do still need help though," said Gabrielle. "From both of you. I have to find the Chronos Stone if I'm to have any hope of getting back to Greece. Is there anything you can think of? Some place the Stone could be that we have not yet looked?"

"If it landed in the same alley you did then it was most likely picked up by someone off the street," Jordan offered. "I know a couple of fences..."

Cecrops shook his head. "You can't go out there. There are people looking for you."

"You mean my old gang?" asked Jordan. "The Daggers?" She nodded. "I know. We used to be pretty tight until I got into a serious argument with Hel. She and I fought for leadership, and she whupped my ass. It's a good thing we used to be friends, though, or Hel might have killed me on the spot." She sighed. "As it turns out she did the next best thing and put a death sentence on my head. Hel said if I was ever caught in Dagger territory again, I would die. Guess she tried to make good on the threat, and the two of you must have gotten caught in the middle. Sorry about your place."

Cecrops shrugged his shoulders. "I can always get a new apartment. Right now, we have to figure out how the hell we're going to be able to go outside without someone seeing you. Gabrielle, chances are, you and I are on the hit list now too."

"I know," said the bard. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Jordan frowned. "I'm a little surprised Hel bothered to send people after me at all."

"What do you mean?" Gabrielle asked.

"I've been hearing things recently. Stories. Rumors, really." Jordan lowered her voice. "Word is, there's a new player in town. A major high roller who's offering weapons to the highest bidder. Spec is that he wants to see a fight between the Daggers and their arch-rivals, the Shadows."

Gabrielle's face fell. "By the gods. War profiteers? Even in this day and age?"

"The more things change," said Cecrops. "The more they stay the same."

Jordan nodded. "In this neighborhood, you can get just about anything if the price is right." She arched an eyebrow. "Speaking of which...I might be able to find your Stone. But, it'll cost you, and there will be some major-league danger involved."

"Danger for who?" Gabrielle asked. "Me?"

"No," said Jordan. "Me. I know some people, who know some people, and I can probably call in a favor or two and ask around about the Stone." She sighed. "The problem is, the longer I remain in their territory, the greater my risk of being caught by the Daggers."

Gabrielle shook her head. "Then don't do it. I don't want anything happening to you because of me. We'll just have to find another way, that's all."

"I may have an idea," said a voice. A woman was approaching the table.

To Cecrops she resembled Xena somewhat, in the most general sense. Similar height and build, blue eyes, but where the warrior's jet-black hair was long and hung freely across her supple shoulders, the newcomer's hair was even longer, in an almost painfully tight ponytail, and the most stark white-blond color. In contrast to her pale hair, the woman--who appeared to be no older than Jordan--was clad in black from head to toe, a headband and boots completing the mostly leather ensemble.

"That is, if you'll actually show up this time."

Jordan started. "Tayna?" She stood. "Oh geez, Tayna, I'm sorry. I just...I..."

Tayna shook her head. "Save it. Right now, you've got bigger problems." She sighed. "Ling put a price on you and your friend's heads. Five thousand dollars, each."

"Five?" said Jordan. "I was hoping for at least ten."

Gabrielle leaned close to Cecrops, and whispered. "Is that a lot?" He nodded.

"Damn it, this is serious, J!" Ignoring the two of them, Tayna slapped her hands on the table. "Your life is in danger! Don't you understand?! Ling wants to make damn sure she gets you before Hel, and she's got the capital to back it up!"

"Hel's already tried," said Jordan. "Do you really think Ling will fair any better?"

Tayna shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not, but do you really think you're indestructible, J? You'd better be, if you want to survive the next couple of days."

"I'm not worried," Jordan assured her. "Now come on Tayna, let me introduce you to some new friends of mine. This is Gabrielle..." She paused to consider her next words. "...and Ce." They both nodded, though he was clearly not too pleased with the shortening of his name. "Guys, this is Tayna Snowe. You could call her Lings' lieutenant, and my..." Again, she hesitated.

Tayna crossed her arms, and frowned. "Date?" she offered. "Who, by the way, resents the hell out of being stood up the other night. Would it have been too much for you to call and let me know you were okay? I was scared to death. I thought..."

"I know." Jordan stepped closer. "I'm sorry." She touched her brow to Tayna's, and then motioned for her to take a nearby seat, which she did. "It was unavoidable, I swear. The Daggers..."

"Attacked you," said Tayna. " I know. We had someone in that area, who reported seeing your two friends here step in to help you." She turned to Gabrielle and Cecrops. "I want to thank you both. If it wasn't for the two of you, I might have lost Jordan." She stroked the brunette's cheek. "And I don't know what I would've done without you." She sighed. "Which is why I've got a van waiting outside. To take us..." She paused, her gaze falling briefly on Gabrielle and Cecrops again. "...all of us, to a safehouse outside of town. Ling should be too busy the next few days to notice."

Jordan frowned. "Wait. Busy? Why, what's happening in the next few days?" Tayna lowered her eyes. "T, what is it?" She clasped the other woman's shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Geez, it's all going to hell Jordan." Tayna shook her head. "The truce is over. Word on the street, is Ling and Hel are both gearing up for all-out war."

"Damn it." Jordan shook her head. "Okay, look. If I go, you're coming with me." She interrupted Tayna's protest with a finger to her lips. "No, T, I'm serious. There is no way in hell I'm going to leave you stuck in the middle of a gang war. If I go, you go. If you stay, I'm staying. Period."

Gabrielle cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt, but regardless of whether one or both of you leave or not, I can't. There's still something I have to do here. Something I have to find."

"What could possibly be so important?" asked Tayna. "Your life's at stake here. I don't know how the two of you got caught up in the middle of this, but you're here now. Ling and Hel know about your involvement, and they're going to make sure you two go down too."

Cecrops shrugged his shoulders. "Trust me, I'm not worried."

"That's fine," said Tayna. "Do what you want. My only concern here is Jordan." She turned, her blue eyes pleading. "I'll go with you, but we have to leave now. Sooner or later, Ling is going to realize I'm gone, and I think she's starting to get suspicious about us."

Jordan glance at Gabrielle, and sighed. "All right, we'll go. But we have to make one stop first."

CHAPTER 16

Outside of the Red Dawn restaurant, sat a black van.

Its engine was off and the side door was open. Tayna led Jordan, Gabrielle and Cecrops to the vehicle, but her face fell when she looked inside.

"That's strange. Mako was supposed to be driving for us."

Jordan, Tayna, and Cecrops heard a familiar sound--an automatic pistol being taken off safety. Gabrielle's reactions were slower, she hadn't been expecting danger.

"Looking for me?" A young Asian woman dressed all in black, emerged from behind one of the tall plants on either side of the restaurant doors. She had a gun in her hand. "Sorry about this T. Nothing personal, you understand, just business. Ling gave me orders to keep an eye on you and to report in if I thought you might be sneaking off to see your girlfriend." She smiled. "Looks like I'm gonna get a big bonus on this one. Got a traitor, a spy, and two busybodies who didn't know enough to keep their noses out of Shadow business." She gestured with the gun. "Now T, drop your piece. Slowly."

Cecrops, who was--understandably--not too threatened by the weapon, crossed his arms. "Young lady, has it ever occured to you, that you're outnumbered here? As I see it, there are four of us, and only one gun. Do you honestly think you're fast enough to shoot us all?"

Mako shook her head. "Probably not." As she said that, three more identically black-clad women emerged from various hiding places...behind the other plant and the van, respectively.. They all carried the same type of gun as she did. "But who said I was alone?" She smiled. "Now come along quietly, all of you. Ling wants to have a word, especially with you, Tayna. She's very disappointed."

"I'm crushed," said Tayna. She frowned as two more girls stepped out of the van she had personally taken from the Shadow lot. "All of this firepower? For little ol' me?"

Mako nodded. "Whatever." She glanced to Cecrops. "You. Big guy. Word is, you took some pretty serious hits without slowing down. What's your secret?"

"Clean living," he replied drolly. "And a strict, lead-free diet."

Mako carefully took aim with her pistol. "I figured body armor. Kevlar maybe." She shook her head. "Not that it really matters. Ain't no armor on Earth gonna protect you from a penetrating, hollow-tipped round at close range, going right between your eyes."

Gabrielle stepped forward. "Didn't Ling say she wanted us alive?" She was stalling, of course. She had no idea what sort of instruction the gang-leader might have given.

"You? Yes. Jordan and Tayna, definitely." Mako smiled at Cecrops. "But him? Not on your life. See, Ling does not like men, period. They only have one use as far as she's concerned, and that is only when a woman is ready to have a child of her own. Not before." She shook her head. "No, he's all mine. Ling does not want to have anything to do with him, but I have an idea or two in mind."

Cecrops' face tightened. "You'd better not be talking about what I think you're talking about, little girl, or so help me..."

"What?" Mako motioned at him with the gun. "What? You'll bleed on me?" She practically snarled. "You are just lucky I won't do you in public."

"Or private," Gabrielle mumbled. Not, it seemed, quietly enough.

Mako turned, her face going from bemused to angry. "What's this? Blondie got a mouth? Come on, speak up so the rest of the class can hear."

Gabrielle looked the girl up and down and shook her head. "Oh please." She crossed her arms. "What can you possibly know about class?" Again, she was bluffing, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Since her sais were currently out of reach, in the bag on her shoulder. Besides, she did not like the idea of anyone getting caught in the crossfire, or hurt from a stray bullet.

"You little bitch!" Mako raised her pistol, and aimed it at Gabrielle's head. "So, maybe I get less if I bring you in dead. At least I'll be bringing you in."

Cecrops took a step forward, but paused when several guns turned his way. He wasn't afraid of being shot, of course, he knew they couldn't kill him. They could, however, delay him enough that Gabtrielle would die anyway, and there didn't seem to be anything he could do to stop it.

"Don't you do it!" Tayna hissed. "Or I swear..."

Mako shook her head. "Shut up, Tayna! You are in no position to give me orders anymore!" She started to squeeze the trigger, a cocky smile on her face.

CHAPTER 17

Suddenly, a silver shape came whistling through the air and struck the barrel of Mako's gun, slicing clean through it like so much tissue paper. It rebounded off the side of the van behind her and came back, striking the gun a second time and knocking it out of her hand. As the discus sailed back the way it had come Mako, and everyone else on the street, turned.

The chakram returned unerringly to the one who had thrown it. A leather-clad figure just flipping off of a fire escape. The raven-haired, blue-eyed warrior woman with a sword and a frighteningly fearsome sneer on her face, who was wonderfully familiar to both Gabrielle and Cecrops.

"Xena!" cried the bard, not caring who heard this time.

The warrior's unexpected appearance didn't go unnoticed by Mako and friends. As they turned to respond to this new, obvious threat, Jordan and Tayna both lunged forward. They were unarmed, but their fists more than made up for the lack of weaponry--they disabled two of the other girls before they even knew what was happening. Together, they took down a third.

Chuckling, Xena did a backflip off the fire escape. As she came down she brought her feet up, and kicked two of the three remaining Shadows right in the chests. They were both knocked backwards, with incredible force, and didn't get up again. The warrior landed effortlessly in front of Mako, who staggered back into the waiting arms of Cecrops.

"Say goodnight, Gracy!" He grabbed Mako by the collar and slammed her face-first into a nearby wall. As he let go she slid to the ground, unconscious and bleeding from the nose.

Xena almost dropped her sword as her and Gabrielle's eyes met. They stared at one another for a moment, while Jordan and Tayna slowly approached Cecrops. They all looked on as Gabrielle shrugged her bag aside and raced into Xena's waiting arms--the two of them enveloping one another, in a crushing embrace neither of them ever wanted to break.

"By the gods," the bard said quietly. "I missed you so much."

Xena kissed her friend on the forehead, the cheek, and her lips even brushed the bard's. "I missed you too, Gabrielle. I can't tell you how good it feels to hold you."

They just stood there, their arms wrapped around one another, and heedless of the curious stares from the various passers-by. Jordan and Tayna just looked on and smiled but it was Cecrops who finally got the duo's attention by stepping forward and clearing his throat.

"Excuse me ladies?" Xena turned, her eyes widening slightly as if she was seeing him for the first time. "I hate to interrupt, but we'd better get out of here. Before the cops show up."

"Good point. Come on!" Tayna climbed into the van, followed quickly by Jordan, and Cecrops. Xena was, understandably, hesitant to enter the unfamiliar contraption. Until, of course, Gabrielle took her hand--after which she probably would have walked straight through the gates of Hell. Again.

The warrior tensed somewhat at the roar of the van's engine, but Gabrielle comforted her by sliding close and putting her arms around Xena. Jordan, naturally, sat in a front seat by Tayna, while Cecrops came to sit near his friends. They all looked at each other.

"Who wants to be first?" Cecrops asked, finally breaking the silence.

Xena sat in silence, her face expressionless, listening as Gabrielle described what she had been through in this time period. The two men in the alley and the woman she'd saved from them. Jordan coming to her aid. The surprised of meeting Cecrops. Then there was the imminent threat of the Daggers and the Shadows and her continuing search for the Chronos Stone.

"In other words, a fairly normal day," said the bard. "All things considered."

Cecrops then took his turn. His words were more of a history lesson though, as he tried to help the two of them come to term with what had happened in the thousands of years since their time. How much the world had changed, and yet how much of it was still very much the same.

He told them about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, how it was considered by many historians to be the greatest civilization in history. Greece, unfortunately, usually came in second, at best. He also explained how history was a very fickle practice--how it was often written, and rewritten, by the victorious, whomever happened to be in power at a given time.

Their lives, as well as the lives of everyone and everything they had known was, for the most part, thought to be nothing more than a myth. Centaurs, dryads, bacchae, and even the gods themselves were attributed to nothing more than the legends of a primitive people. Even the greatest of heroes such as Perseus, Jason and his Argonauts, Ulysses, were just names, stories to be casually bandied about, and treated as little more than fairy tales. Even the best of the best, the demigod Hercules, was not considered real, he was only a mythical entity whose name had virtually become a part of the culture.

"No one believes in us?" Gabrielle asked. "And Greece has been forgotten?"

Cecrops nodded. "I'm afraid so. That is the main reason I've become a historian, to help people remember the past I grew up with." He sighed. "Unfortunately, until fairly recently--in a historical sense at least--most cultures would not even acknowledge the role women played."

"Like Xena?" asked Gabrielle.

"And you," said Cecrops. "You are important too, Gabrielle. Maybe, even more so than Xena." He glanced at the warrior, but she only nodded. "To put it bluntly, warriors are a dime a dozen. History remembers only a few of the greatest, and then merely because of people like you. Bards. The original historians. If it wasn't for the people who wrote the songs and the poems and the scrolls, the majority of people in this time would never know about Jason and the Argonauts, or the battle of Troy, or Hercules' labors. And even if wasn't for a certain set of scrolls, found in some cave in Macedonia about fifty years ago, I doubt anyone would've ever known the name Xena: Warrior Princess. Much less that her likeness, and yours, would be made into one of the most popular television series in the world."

Gabrielle smiled. "You hear that, Xena? We're both famous."

"Terrific," said the warrior. "Can we go home now?"

"Not without the Chronos Stone. We..." Gabrielle's arched an eyebrow. "Xena, how did you get here? Did you find another Chronos Stone?"

"Not exactly," said the warrior. "I made a deal with an old friend."

"What old friend would have the power to..." Gabrielle's eyes widened. "Oh Xena, you didn't?"

The warrior nodded. "I had to do it, Gabrielle. It was the only way to find you."

"What?" said Cecrops. "Who?"

Gabrielle looked over her shoulder at him. "Ares."

"The god of war?" asked Cecrops. "How did you get a favor from him?"

Xena shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said before...we're old friends." She turned to Gabrielle. "I can send us both back. All you have to do is take my hand."

"I can't." Gabrielle pulled away. "Not yet at least. I have to help Jordan and her friend."

"Why?" the warrior asked. "Their fight, whatever it's about, doesn't involve you..."

The bard frowned. "Actually, it does. They tried to kill me and Cecrops too, and I owe them for that." She leaned back against Xena. "I intend to see to it they collect."

Xena half-smiled at her friend. "You're starting to sound more and more like me every day."

"I try," said Gabrielle.

CHAPTER 18

Jordan sat low in the passenger seat--with her feet resting on the dashboard, and her hands clasped behind her head. She was, for the most part, watching Tayna, but every so often her gaze would drift off to one side or the other, and soon she realized they weren't headed out of town. They were, in fact, going more inwards toward the warehouse district.

"T?" She dropped her feet and turned. "What's up? Where are we headed?"

"To a Shadow storehouse," Tayna replied. "To grab some supplies." She glanced over her shoulder. "See I wasn't expecting so much company. I brought enough for the two of us to be comfortable for a while, but it sure as hell won't spread to three whole other people."

Jordan nodded. "Look, T, I'm sorry about all this. I know it wasn't the weekend you had planned..."

"No," said Tayna. "It's not. I was hoping for candlelight and soft music, not a battle royal." She shook her head. "Look, as long as I'm here with you that's all that matters. If your friends want to tag along too, that's cool. I'm sure we can find some alone time."

Jordan smirked. "You bet."

Once in Xena's arms Gabrielle was finally able to relax enough in this new time to feel safe, and she soon drifted off to sleep. The warrior held her close, and briefly considered taking them both back home--despite of her friend's protests to the contrary.

But she knew Gabrielle would never forgive her if she did so.

The bard was able to make friends with an ease that amazed the jaded warrior. She trusted people--once to a fault--until such time as they proved themselves unworthy of that trust, and as a result she was often ready and willing to help people who were all but complete strangers to her. And if she thought Jordan needed her help, then by the gods she was going to get it.

So Xena resolved to stay in this new time and to be there for her friend, despite the fact she'd made up her mind about this place within minutes of her arrival. She hated it.

But there was a fundamental truth she had come to understand a long time ago.

Whatever Gabrielle wanted, Gabrielle got.

Some time later, the van came to a stop in front of the Jupiter Storage warehouse--a dilapidated, two-story structure which looked like it had been abandoned for years. The protective fence around it was rusted away or actually missing entirely in several places, including the front gate, the windows had all been boarded up, and there were waist-high weeds and grass all over the place.

Jordan and Tayna strode around to open the rear door of the van for Gabrielle and the others. Warrior and bard were side by side as the five of them approached the warehouse.

"This place is a dump," said Jordan. "Are you sure there's anything useful here?"

Tayna nodded. "Trust me. Ling picked this place specifically because of how it looks. It was condemned a year or so ago, but a computer error kept the demolition order from going through. Officially, this place no longer even exists, so we can use it without fear of being discovered. So you see, big-city bureaucracy works in our favor sometimes." She smiled.

As Tayna was reaching for the doorknob, Xena's head jerked up. "Wait." Her eyes narrowed as she turned her head from one side to the other. "We've got company." As her hand started to drift toward her chakram, the sound of multiple guns being cocked came from all around them.

There was movement on the roof--several young woman in Shadow clothing staring over the edge. Others came from either side of the warehouse, while still others emerged from the building itself as the front door opened. All twelve of them were well-armed. Two fifteen or so year old, dark-skinned girls stepped apart as a tall, muscular Asian women stepped out of the warehouse.

Tayna frowned. "Ling."

"Of course." The leader of the Shadows walked in circles around her lieutenant. "You seem surprised. Did you really think you were invisible? That I would somehow be unaware of what my second in command was up to?" She shook her head. "I've been aware of your relationship with Jordan for years. It's just never been a real issue for me...until now, that is. I am disappointed Tayna. I had such high hopes for you, but I can see now that love has made you weak." She sneered. "I could probably forgive your betraying me. Here, though, you have not just hurt me. You've turned your back on your sisters. You have abandoned everything that the Sisterhood of Shadows stand for."

Tayna shook her head. "Oh please. You're trying to sound so high and mighty, but don't forget just who it is you're talking to. I know you, Ling. You don't care about anyone but yourself. And the Sisterhood, as you call it, doesn't stand for anything. We just get together to trash the city, and to wage pointless wars with the other gangs. We're just a bunch of thugs, pure and simple."

Ling gritted her teeth. "I'll let that go. This time." She turned. "Bring them inside."

As the other Shadows started ushering them toward the warehouse, Xena leaned close to Gabrielle. "They are out of position," she whispered. "We could take them easily."

Gabrielle nodded, having noticed the same thing. "Not yet. The close quarters ought to provide us a better opportunity, and the others more cover."

CHAPTER 19

Inside, there were eight more Shadows, including Mako, for a total of twenty.

Even Xena knew the odds were rather stacked against them, especially since she--unlike Gabrielle--didn't know the capabilities of the weapons they carried. The warrior was not worried about herself...after all she'd already died, and she knew what the future held for her spirit. She also knew Cecrops' immortality basically guaranteed he, alone, would come out of a conflict unscathed, so he was not really a consideration. Plus the other two, Jordan and her friend Tayna, they meant nothing to the warrior.

But Gabrielle, on the other hand...Xena shook her head. She had not journeyed thousands of years into the future, as the bard had explained to her, just to lose her friend now. Even if it meant surrending her own life the warrior was determined to see Gabrielle home. As she heard the woman called Ling beginning to speak, it occured to the warrior that she understood her words...in fact, ever reuniting with Gabrielle she seemed to understand everything everyone was saying. Until that very moment, she had merely assumed Gabrielle and Cecrops were speaking Greek. She wondered, though given their circumstances only in passing, what it was about her friend that allowed this newfound comprehension.

"Ling, since we're on your territory and playing by your rules," Jordan was saying. "I'll defer to you. How the hell did you know where we were going to come here? Tayna didn't know until a few minutes before we arrived. How could you have been expecting her?"

"It's simple," said the leader of the Shadows. "I knew, from Mako, that you were coming to get Jordan, so it was easy to figure you had some sort of a rendezvous planned. When you ended up with three extra people along for the ride, I guessed you were probably ill-equipped, and would need to stock up on supplies. This is the most logical place, because it's so out of the way."

Tayna nodded. "I always knew you were a crafty one Ling. Or is that devious?"

"Who cares?" said Ling. "The only question you should be worrying about at this stage is exactly how I'm going to kill you all." She shook her head. "There are so many fine choices."

Xena gritted her teeth. "If we're going to do something, we should do it now," she whispered. "While they are so preoccupied with one another."

"I know," Gabrielle replied. She glanced around the warehouse, to get a better idea of their surroundings-- something Xena had, no doubt, already done.

The warehouse was a shambles...crates and sacks of one sort or another all over the place, nothing seemed to be in any particular order, there was miscellaneous trash and debris scattered about, as well as glass from one of the windows having been recently broken. There were three doors that she could see, two of a normal size and one large enough to drive a van like theirs through. Up above she also saw a complex web of metal, a catwalk which led to yet another door yet which had no obvious access anywhere in the warehouse--so she assumed it could only be reached from somewhere outside.

'Close quarters, plenty of potential weapons and cover,' the bard said to herself. 'This should be perfect. If I can just...' She turned to Xena in order to alert the warrior to her findings, only she was no longer looking at her--the warrior's attention had moved elsewhere. Xena was now glaring at the same door they had come through just moments before. Once again her hand began to drift toward the chakram, which told the bard it could mean only one thing. 'Trouble.'

Seconds later the door burst inward, admitting women of varying ages and ethnicity's. Two dozen of them in all, carrying automatic weapons and bearing the now-familiar colors of the Daggers, the arch-enemies of the Shadows. The two gangs aimed their weapons at one another.

Then came a bruised and battered Mako, and behind her a tall, leggy, dark-skinned woman.

While she was unarmed, and her physique was that of a warrior past her prime, the newcomer did seem to command attention to herself without saying a word. There was just something about her, a presence, which put even the warrior princess a little on-edge.

"Hello, ladies."

After a moment, Jordan frowned. "Hel? How did you find us?"

The leader of the Daggers rested her hands on her hips. "If you must know, we followed her." She nodded at Ling, who's face contorted with barely checked rage. "We couldn't find you, but we figured she would be able to find Tayna, and through her...you."

"So you knew about us too?" Jordan asked. "I thought we kept it a secret."

"Not a very good one, I'm afraid." Hel shook her head. "Ling, we have a problem here."

The leader of the Shadows crossed her arms. "You think?"

"I'm here for Jordan," Hel continued. "Not Tayna. Or you. Unless, of course, you want to make something of it. In which case, I'm ready and willing to throw down with you."

Ling nodded. "Actually I'm glad you're here, Hel. It saves me the trouble of having to track you down so I can kill you later." She gritted her teeth. "I'm sick of these cat and mouse games. It is time we settled things between our two factions, once and for all! Don't you agree?"

"Surprisingly," said Hel. "I do. But one thing--no weapons? Otherwise, these new HK's we just got in will end the fight in about three seconds."

Ling shrugged her shoulders. "Fine by me. Hand to hand, ladies!"

Both gangs reluctantly put aside their various guns, and pulled out small knives or brass knuckles. Except for Ling and Hel, who took a few steps back, the others drew closer to one another. This left Xena, Gabrielle and the others out in the open, and with a way out.

"What should we do?" Cecrops asked. "Leave? Or stay and watch?"

"Neither," said Jordan, whose face was paling. "We have to find a way to stop this."

Tayna nodded. "I know. But how?"

"Why?" Xena asked. "They're not our problem anymore. Let's just go."

"I've still got friends among the Daggers," said Jordan. "So does Tayna with the Shadows. We don't want to see anything happen to them if we can help it."

Tayna nodded. "It wasn't supposed to come to this. The Daggers and the Shadows are always at odds with one another, but until recently it's never been this violent. Ever since some new guys started supplying both sides with weapons, for a big profit, it is as if Ling and Hel went crazy with power. Each believes their gang is the toughest, and so they want to prove it with...this."

"What can we do?" asked Gabrielle. "We're seriously outnumbered." Not that that necessarily mattered to Xena--she had personally seen the warrior princess hold off nearly an entire Persian army by herself, with a little help from some carefully laid traps and a badly wounded bard.

Xena shook her head. "It's too late now, anyway."

With a collective roar, the two groups of women lunged at one another. Fists and blades lashed out, filling the air with screams and trails of blood. The fight was on.

CHAPTER 20

Xena and Cecrops took a step back from the fight--waiting to see what was going to happen--while Jordan and Tayna waded right into the middle of it. Gabrielle started forward too, but when she realized her friends were not joining in she turned, shaking her head.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"This isn't our fight Gabrielle," Xena replied. "We should stay out of it."

The bard shook her head. "No!" She grabbed her sais out of her bag and tossed it aside. "I can't." Without waiting around to see if they would follow or not, she charged into battle. Two young women, one a Shadow and the other a Dagger, came at her from either side. She ducked their knife swings and drove the handle of her sais up into their stomachs, doubling them both over.

Cecrops gritted his teeth. "Does this feel as wrong to you as it does to me?"

Xena nodded. "We're missing something. I just wish I knew what."

Unnoticed by anyone on the floor of the warehouse, the door leading to the catwalk so high above opened, and someone walked slowly out on to the metal grating. Though the figure was mostly hidden in shadows, it could just be made out that the build and movements were those of a confident, muscular, adult man, and he was holding something in his hands...the Chronos Stone.

"So," he said under his breath. "You are here." His eyes were focused on Xena. "How fortuitous. You will be able to witness my return to power on a firsthand basis."

Below, Gabrielle finished with her first two opponents, and turned to find herself being kicked in the face by another Shadow. As she stumbled the bard's eyes scanned up her attacker's body, and she realized it was someone she had seen before.

"Mako!" The woman who had led the attack against them outside the restaurant.

The Asian twirled a knife in her hand. "Last time that butch, leather-wearing friend of yours came to your rescue." She sneered. "But who's going to help you now?"

Gabrielle reared back, and drove her boots hard into the taller woman's stomach--forcing all of the air out of her lungs at once. "Who said I needed any?" She rolled to her feet. "You really shouldn't judge people on their appearance. It can be so deceiving you know." The bard easily countered a rather clumsy punch, which left Mako open for a knee to the stomach. "And sometimes, they're right on track." One swift sai blow later and the ganger was flat on her face, unconscious.

Jordan and Tayna fought back to back, countering each swing of a knife or a pair of brass knuckles, but as yet unable to use any offensive moves of their own. They were outnumbered, and while both demonstrated a great deal of fighting abilities the fact they were unarmed, and in such close quarters, seemed to be working against them. Neither seemed able to get a decisive edge over their opponents. They were only able to knock out a single ganger each, and two others quickly took their place.

Gabrielle stumbled as someone struck her in the small of the back, but fortunately it was a pair of metallic knuckles and not the blade of a knife. Bruised and angry she turned--ducking another swing from the girl in the process--and punched her in the face with the handle of her sai.

'If only I could get them to listen to reason,' the bard said to herself, as another three girls, both Shadows, came charging at her. 'But once again, brute force wins the day.'

Xena watched the fight unfold with a curious expression on her face.

It all seemed familiar somehow. And it wasn't just the fact that gangs in this modern time seemed to be as stupid and territorial as those from her own time in Greece either. Two rival bands of women vying for their freedom, for control of an area...the warrior's eyes widened.

It was the Amazons, all over again.

Years ago, by her own reckoning of time--millennia ago from here--the Amazon Nation had been a united force that threatened to overwhelm all of Greece. No one had ever seen warriors, before or since, who were as fierce and determined to achieve victory. But eventually an internal power struggle, headed by two young sisters--one of whom deviated from the worship of Artemis, matron goddess of the Amazons, to follow the teachings of Ares, the god of war--tore the once mighty nation apart. Numerous factions cropped up all over Greece, each following their own creedo, and so they were no match for the combined forces of the Centaur nation, which very nearly destroyed them.

'By the gods, I knew I'd seen this set-up somewhere before!'

Xena started to look around the warehouse. She felt a tingling sensation in the base of her neck, a familiar sense of danger. It was somewhat weaker than usual, but unmistakable.

CHAPTER 21

Cecrops had spent the better part of all the centuries he had lived, trying to avoid conflict. Not that he was afraid--far from it. But people were more perceptive and curious than ever, and someone who did not age or get injured or ill was bound to be noticed. He knew full well the scientific community, particularly from the government, would have loved to get their hands on an immortal.

But the former lost mariner's indifference to the battle raging on around him ended the second something shattered against the back of the head. He never saw what it was, and the wound regenerated--bloodlessly of course--nearly as fast as it was inflicted, yet it still hurt. His eyes growing taut, angry, Cecrops slowly turned to face the wide-eyed young woman who had apparently thrown the offending object.

She paled considerably as he started toward her.

Meanwhile, Jordan was holding her own in between two Shadows, having already taken out two members of her old gang by herself.

Tayna, however, seemed to be having difficulty with a particularly large, muscular, ebony-skinned woman who had come at her with a knife. She managed to disarm the taller woman easily enough, only to receive a fist to the stomach for her troubles. As Tayna fell to her knees, gasping for air, the woman loomed over her with a pair of brass knuckles on her hand.

"You're pathetic!" the woman grumbled. "Why did Ling ever choose a nobody like you for her lieutenant, anyway?" She started to bring her fist down, only to have her wrist caught and hoisted in the air. She looked up to see Jordan glaring at her.

"Leave her alone bitch!" Jordan headbutted the other woman, stunning her, and then finished her off with a swift kick to the face. "She's mine!" She helped Tayna to her feet, and stroked her cheek. "Hey...I'm sorry it took me so long."

Tayna shrugged her shoulders. "You were busy. I understand."

Gabrielle crouched down and swept the feet out from under one of the girls who had come charging at her from different directions. She drove her sais up, hilts-first, into the stomach of another, and then kicked the third one right in the chest hard enough to knock her off her feet.

But as the bard was getting to her feet she sensed movement behind her, and turned just in time to prevent the brass knuckles from directly striking the back of her head. They did still graze her temple, however, and she still went down, but at least she was conscious. She saw, through tear-filled eyes, a redheaded woman in Shadow clothing standing behind her with a smug look on her face.

"Nice try, little girl."

Gabrielle twisted her body around and wrapped her legs around one of the redheads ankles. She twisted in one direction and then the other, and the young woman--unable to compensate--lost her footing and fell flat on her back. The bard elbowed her right in the chest as she began to rise, and then reclaimed her sais as she got to her feet and shook her head.

"Better watch who you're calling little," she said under her breath.

Xena could not stay out of the fight for long either.

The warrior had been standing apart from the others, minding her own business and trying to pinpoint the source of that familiar sensation of danger she was feeling. All of the sudden, someone punched her hand in the back, though given her breastplate it must have hurt them more than her. She turned slowly, to see a girl of Gabrielle's age or less, with long black hair, wearing the colors of the gang called the Shadows. As Xena expected, she was nursing a hand that was likely bruised, despite the brass knuckles.

Xena lashed out, her fists moving faster than the girl's eyes could follow. She pulled her punch at the very last moment, stopping just shy of actually breaking the girl's nose. Even so, she was thrown off her feet and tumbled back-first over a crate, not to rise again. The warrior shook her head, but no sooner did she begin to lower her hands that she was struck again--this time with a left hook that actually connected with her cheek, and jerked her head to one side.

The warrior struggled to control her temper. This was not Greece, these weren't her people, and she knew they could not withstand--nor did they truly deserve--the vengeance which usually came with drawing either her sword or her chakram. Instead she turned and gave her attacker the 'touch', a sudden impact of pressure points at the base of the neck which rendered the young brunette helpless. She fell to her knees, shuddering, barely even able to breath, with a trickle of blood running out of her nose as the warrior stood in front of her and crossed her arms. She arched an eyebrow.

"Listen to me very closely," Xena said. "I have cut off the flow of blood to what laughingly passes for your brain. In thirty seconds you will be dead, period, unless you can promise me, and mean it, that from here on out you will give up this lifestyle and find something more meaningful to do." The girl's eyes started to roll back in her head. "Better hurry. Time's wasting."

"I...I...p-promise..." the girl gurgled. "Now...p-please..."

Xena's hands darted out once more and the girl was free. She slumped forward, not quite unconscious but in no condition to be moving again any time soon. The warrior realized she would probably go right back to what was was doing before, without even missing beat, but at least she wouldn't be able to harm anyone else for the time being. That would have to be good enough.

Xena returned her attention to that feeling of being watched she had sensed before. There was someone in this place staring at her, someone she knew, and it was not Gabrielle or Cecrops. It was more than a feeling, it was a presence...and back in Greece, it usually meant she was about to be visited by one of the bothersome denizens of Mount Olympus. She frowned.

Something, perhaps the thought of being observed from on-high, made the warrior raise her eyes. A shape on the catwalk above caught her attention, and she realized there was someone watching the fight. Someone who did not want to be identified, hence the way he or she was cloaked in shadows, and someone who likely thought their perch unreachable given that there didn't seem to be any access to it. But the warrior had long since come to know that appearances could be deceiving.

Xena's only worry had to do with Gabrielle, as she wondered if the mystery observer had one of those new weapons that allowed them to kill from a distance, much more efficiently than bows or even crossbows. The things called guns, which were loud but deadly. The warrior was not certain even she would be able to avoid such a fate, if one of those weapons was trained on her.

Even a few such doubts did not deter her, however. As long as Gabrielle was at her side, Xena was certain she could take on the whole world and win. No doubt about it.

CHAPTER 22

Cecrops grabbed a crowbar, used to open crates most likely, and reached for the collar of the girl who had thrown something at him. She whimpered as he jerked her off her feet, and tears poured down her cheeks as he drew back the crowbar as if to strike her.

"P-Please...please...d-don't..."

Cecrops shook his head. "Trust me. You're not worth it." He tossed her, and the crowbar, aside. "Not by a long shot." As he was turning away from her, someone stabbed him.

A short, pale-skinned blond thrust a rather large knife deep into his stomach, a particularly painful wound that would certainly have killed anyone else. "You little..." He ripped the knife out of his stomach--enabling his immortal metabolism to complete the healing process which had actually begun as soon as the knife was introduced to his body in the first place. "My favorite shirt!" He backhanded the girl...sending her head over heels into a wall. "And that hurt!"

Temporarily without anyone to fight, Jordan and Tayna took the brief respite to look around. Members of both gangs were sprawled all over the warehouse, some across crates or on the floor, many laying facedown in pools of their own blood.

"What the hell is going on?" Tayna asked. "If they'd been using guns, at least the massacre would be over by now. Why are they doing it this way?"

Jordan shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense. Hel and Ling aren't stupid. If they wanted everyone to throw down hand to hand like this, there has to be a reason. But what?" Something caught her eye. "Hey! Is that...it is!" She grabbed Tayna's arm, and pointed. "Look!"

Out of the line of sight of most everyone else, behind some crates, Ling and Hel were standing very close to one another. They weren't fighting though, or even arguing--they seemed to be having a perfectly normal conversation in the middle of a heated battle.

"Son of a bitch! It was a set-up!" Tayna shook her head. "The whole damn thing!"

Jordan nodded. "They must be trying to wipe both gangs out. But I still don't get it. Why?"

"Why don't we ask them?" Tayna offered. "I'd love to hear an explanation for this."

"Sounds like a plan," said Jordan. "Lead the way."

Gabrielle leaped straight up as one of the women she was fighting used a crowbar, trying to sweep her feet out from under her. As she landed she swung her sais, bringing one into contact with each side of the young woman's head, knocking her senseless.

"This is pointless." Contrary to how Gabrielle presented herself she was not a warrior--she fought because she had to, not because she enjoyed it. "Maybe Xena was right."

The warrior had strongly suggested they not get involved in this rivalry between two gangs. She insisted it wasn't their fight, and none of their business, but because of her friendship with Jordan the bard didn't heed her friend's advice. Now, she wondered if she should regret that decision. Life, any life, was precious, even an enemy's was worth fighting for but still...this was wrong. Women were being hurt, maybe even killed, all around her, and for what? For territory? For profit? For glory?

Gabrielle looked around. She needed to talk to Xena. Only the warrior was not where she had left her. She was, the bard finally realized, approaching some crates at the back of the warehouse. "Xena!" The warrior's eyes turned her way momentarily, and she smiled, then gestured. The bard looked up at the catwalk she had noticed earlier, and saw someone standing there. "No." All at once she knew what Xena intended to do, and just as quickly recognized the inherent dangers of such a maneuver. "Xena, no!"

The warrior heard her friend's plea, even over the roar of the other combatants, but she made a conscious effort to ignore it for the moment. What she intended to do would require precise timing, and she could not afford being distracted at a crucial point.

Xena stepped back, took a deep breath, and then all at once surged forward. She charged up several crates as if they were a makeshift staircase, then as she got to the top and the crate there began to tumble she gave a throaty cry and propelled herself high into the air.

The warrior almost, but not quite, cleared another, higher stack of crates some distance away. She twisted her body around and rebounded off the crates there with her hands, then used the resulting momentum to go back and up at once. She flipped head over heels, her fingers just grazing one of the bottom support struts of the catwalk which was now only a scant few inches above her.

Xena's resulting grip was tenuous at best, but she managed to hold on long enough to pull herself over the

and fling herself face down on to the catwalk. The warrior lay there for a heartbeat, or two, in order to catch her breath, but started to move again when she felt and heard footsteps approaching. Someone kicked her as she was getting to her hands and knees, and she fell on to her back.

"Very impressive, Xena." The voice was different, gruffer somehow, but she recognize the intonation, and the rhythm, almost immediately.

CHAPTER 23

Ling and Hel stood face to face behind a stack of crates, their heads close together so they could speak at a normal level without being overheard. They had believed they were also out of sight, but moments later they both realized they were wrong, as Jordan and Tayna came at them from opposite sides. While they did try to fight, the element of surprise proved to be too much for them to overcome, and they soon found themselves with an arm twisted up behind their back.

"It's time we had a little chat," Tayna said through clenched teeth.

Jordan nodded. "So who wants to go first?"

"I'm not telling you a damn thing," Ling hissed.

"Me neither!" said Hel.

Jordan and Tayna glanced at one another, and then shrugged their shoulders.

"That's just fine by me," said the brunette. "I am sure the Daggers and the Shadows would love to find out their leaders are working together to wipe them both off the map."

Tayna nodded. "Hey, let's go tell them right now." She jerked Ling's arm. "I'll bet they wouldn't mind us getting in the middle of their pointless fight." They started to drag the two gang leaders out from behind the crates, but both of them twisted and fought against it. "Problem?"

"I'll tell you what you want to know," said Hel. "Just don't make me go out there, they'd tear me to shreds if they though I'd sold them down the river."

"Didn't you?" Jordan loosened her grip somewhat. "So what's the deal? You kept talking about honor and unity, so tell me...what price is your sisterhood really worth? Who could have possible had enough money to make you turn your back on the Daggers?"

Hel sighed. "Oh please, it had nothing to do with money. I have more than I could ever spend." She shook her head. "No, he offered me the one thing I've never been able to get my my own. Power. Real power. And I'm not just talking about having a gun in my hand. I mean real power."

"Power? Are you serious?" Ling tried to pull away from Tayna, but found her grip too strong. "He told me he could make me rich behind my wildest dreams. Money, gold, jewels, anything. Tax free, and enough so I could live comfortably for along time to come."

Tayna shook her head. "Let me see if I've got this straight. A complete stranger comes along offering you an impossible future? And you just believe him? That's insane!"

"Maybe," said Ling. "But I have a feeling this guy could really pull it off."

Hel nodded. "The only requirement he set was that we make the Daggers and the Shadows go at it without using guns. Strictly hand to hand." She shrugged her shoulders. "It seemed bizarre to me, but for everything he was offering, I was willing to agree to just about anything."

Jordan glanced at Tayna once more. "Are you buying any of this?"

"Not really. But I think the Shadows and the Daggers may want to hear it anyway."

"No!" Hel and Ling both broke away from their captors with a sudden rush of strength, no doubt fueled by the fear of having to confront their gangs.

Jordan and Tayna were both caught off guard as the two women jumped them.

Across the room, Cecrops punched a young, dark-skinned girl moments before she would have put a knife in his chest. He had been stabbed several times during the course of the fight. Not because any of them were better than he, but mostly because he knew he was in no real danger and so he kept allowing his attention to wander. At one point, he saw Gabrielle moving away from the fight.

"Hey! Gabrielle!" He shoved two Asian woman, who were trying to beat one another's heads in, aside and approached the bard. "What's going on?"

Gabrielle pointed upward. "Look."

Cecrops raised his head, and saw Xena climbing over the edge of the catwalk. There was someone else up there with her, but he could not tell who it was.

The warrior princess lurched to her feet, and took a step back.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here? This entire mess just reeks of you...Ares."

The man who strode out of the shadows of the catwalk looked, indeed, just like the Ares she knew, and yet there was also something indescribably different about him. His gait was slower, more measured than usual, and there was a fire in his eyes she had not seen there in a long, long time. His silky black hair was streaked with gray, making him look almost distinguished, and his beard had been reduced to a very closely-trimmed moustache and goatee. His clothes, too, were reminiscent of those from Greece--leather pants, boots, and a leather vest over an tight, sleeveless white shirt which clearly divulged his still impressive physique. Xena's eyes narrowed when, in his hands, she saw the Chronos Stone.

"What do you think, Xena?" Ares spread his arms. "Have the centuries treated me kindly?"

Xena shook her head. "I don't get it, Ares. How can you be here? Cecrops told Gabrielle the gods died off when humankind stopped worshipping you."

"It seems your friend Cecrops, whoever he is, was misinformed." Ares crossed his arms. "You see, mortal worship is not necessary for our existence, but it does effect on our powers. When mortals stopped following the Greek pantheon, there was a dramatic shift of energy across Mount Olympus. Zeus and Hera decided the Twilight had finally come, and headed off into eternity together. Some of the others...Hades, Demeter, went with them, Poseidon and a few others followed later. Eventually, only a handful of my family was left, and I left my home Olympus for what turned out to be the last time. I have been on Earth ever since, with only my immortality to show for having ever been the god of war."

"What about your hair?" Xena asked. "Since when do immortals go gray?"

Ares sneered. "Just a personal preference. I happen to think they look great on me."

"Why are you doing this, Ares?" Xena nodded toward the women below. "Since when does the god of war get involved in a petty gang conflict?"

"I'm not a god anymore," he said through clenched teeth. "And that's part of the problem. In order to fuel my powers, I need mortal energy. I used to draw some of it from Mount Olympus, and the rest from mortals both as they worshipped me and as they fought in my battles. Now the power of Olympus is denied me, as is mortal worship, so I must the best I can with what is left."

Xena frowned. "You're forcing these women to fight one another? Kill one another? Just so you can build up your energy reserves again? What kind of a monster have you turned into?"

Ares shook his head. "Nothing has changed, Xena. I'm the same as I ever was, I just tend to be a little less direct about it than I did back in Greece. The only way I can absorb energy from mortals fighting, is when it is from a battle in which I am personal involved."

"But you're not," said the warrior. "You're standing up here and watching."

"True," Ares replied. "I also discovered that when I fight myself, I lose some of my energy. So I decided it made more sense for me to get the mortals to do all of the fighting for me, and that way I could just reap the benefits. As long as they are fighting hand to hand, they do not die too quickly, so there is a great deal more raw energy around for me to pull in." He smiled. "And just so you know Xena, I'm not forcing anyone to do anything. The Daggers and the Shadows were more than willing to cut each other down to size long before I ever came along. I just convinced their leaders now was the best time."

Xena drew her chakram. "Forget it, Ares. This ends now. I am not going to let you play with peoples lives in this time period, any more than I did in my own."

"Oh really?" The former god of war cocked his head. "How, exactly, do you propose to stop me, Xena? In case you've forgotten, I'm still immortal."

Xena shrugged her shoulders. "But like it or not, you aren't indestructible any more. And as I once said to Callisto..." She raised the chakram. "How'd you like to spend eternity in five pieces?"

CHAPTER 25

Jordan was somewhat taken aback by the sheer ferocity of Hel's attack.

As the Daggers leader battered her with a series of rapid-fire blows she was just barely able to counter--or avoid outright--the brunette recalled, too late, that Hel was once a professional fighter. She had competed in a number of different tournaments, and won most if not all of them, before being finally banned for violence and unsportsman-like conduct. Afterwards she went on to form the Daggers, and maintained her position as leader by taking on, and defeating, all challengers.

'Oh crap!'

Jordan blocked several more punches, just barely, only to be felled by a kick to the stomach that she never even saw coming. It brutally drove all the air from her lungs at once, staggering the brunette, who fell to her knees and clutched at her stomach, gasping.

Hel sneered. "You know Jordan, you're good." She slapped her former lieutenant, hard. "Very good." She did it again, even more forcefully this time. "In fact, I would even venture to say you are almost as good as I am." Another slap, only Hel had to reach out and grab Jordan to keep her from falling over. "But, of course, you know what they say about almost." She entwined her fingers in Jordan's hair, jerked her head back, and punched her square in the face--and this time, she let her fall. "It's not good enough!"

Jordan lay crumpled at her feet, all but unconscious.

Meanwhile, Tayna was only having slightly better luck with Ling.

While the leader of the Shadows had no formal training in combat--unlike her former lieutenant, who was working on her black belt in karate--she possessed a natural agility and strength which still made her one of the best fighters in the entire gang. Her standing as leader was one of honor and discipline than power--they followed her because she was the smartest and the most capable leader, not simply because she could defeat quite a few of them in a fight.

But now, as Ling threw a series of punch that she was only just able to counter, Tayna came to understand just how tough her former leader actually was. Every blow she landed rocked her to the core, and even some of her near-misses were quite painful. The only thing working in her favor, was the fact that Ling seemed to be angry, and that was affecting her ability to fight more than she realized.

'If only I can get her to lose her temper,' Tayna said to herself. 'Maybe Ling will make a mistake.' One of the first, and most important, lessons from karate was that anger clouded the mind. Turned inward it was an unconquerable enemy, which could be used to advantage in a fight.

Cecrops shook his head. "This is crazy. What is she doing up there?"

"I'm not sure," said Gabrielle. "But I do know Xena never does anything without a reason."

In this instance, however, she was worried about her friend. Someone else was on that catwalk, which was obviously what had drawn Xena up there in the first place. But there were some weapons in this time period which even the warrior princess might not be able to contend with, especially if whoever she was facing was any sort of fighter in their own right.

"Be careful," the bard said under her breath.

Ares shook his head. "It doesn't have to be this way, Xena. It is my destiny to fully, finally, rule this world as the god of war. And you can be by my side. As my warrior Queen."

"You're just as deluded as ever," said the warrior princess, who held her chakram ready. "Besides, it's not like you're really in a position to rule anything. You're not the god of war any more, remember? You're just a step removed from being a plain old mortal like the rest of us."

"Maybe." Ares lifted his head and Xena saw a faint silver glow emanating from his eyes. "But I can feel a change coming. The first of the women below has begun to die, and their lifeforce flows into me. The more I absorb the stronger I will become." His eyes were definitely a bright silver now, even morso than Callisto's and Velasca's had been after they consumed ambrosia. "Soon, I will have enough to recreate my sword, and with it...my godhood!"

Xena own eyes widened slightly, as she finally realized the extent of Ares' machinations. She knew Ares' power was tied to his sword--when it was stolen by Hades and given to Sisyphus, the god of war temporarily lost all of his powers. Something similar must have happened following the Twilight, though Ares managed to keep his immortality this time. If he succeeded in getting his sword back, it would likely allow him to tap directly into the primal force that was Olympus, and restore Ares to the very pinnacle of his power. And the people of this world would not have a chance against the god of war.

CHAPTER 26

Tayna cleared her throat.

"Come on Ling, you may as well give it up. We both know you can't beat me. I am the best fighter among all the Shadows, that's why you picked me as your lieutenant."

"You have a very high opinion of yourself," said Ling. "And a low one of me."

Tayna was surprised Ling was managing to hold her temper so well. Usually, she exploded when even the smallest thing went wrong, which--to be fair--it hardly ever did. But there was one topic she knew could get to her once and former leader every time. "Not really. Let's face it, Ling...if I hadn't quit when I did, I could have taken over this entire organization inside of six months. Maybe less." She smiled. "And it's about time the Shadows found out what having a real leader is like." A part of her--admittedly a very small part--didn't enjoy saying such things, since until recently she had considered Ling to be an honorable woman and a very capable leader. Now, of course, she saw the truth.

Ling's face grew red with rage. "That's it!"

Tayna ducked as she threw a punch, then grabbed Ling's arm before she could retract it. Before the leader of the Daggers knew what was happening her former lieutenant had twisted her arm around and forced it up into the small of her back. Ignoring the pain it caused her trapped arm, as well as her back, Ling rotated her body and punched Tayna in the face with all the force she could muster.

Her former lieutenant stumbled, losing her grip, while Ling abruptly realized her arm had been pulled out of its socket. It hurt enough to bring tears to her eyes, but she did her best to put the pain aside for the time being and lunged at Tayna once more. The other woman saw her coming, however, and stuck her leg out--a manuever which, under normal circumstances, would have been laughable. In this case, blinded by pain and off-balance already, Ling was unable to avoid the outstretched limb and tripped, falling flat on her face into a crate of what appeared to be spare parts for guns. There was a loud crack as her head struck something not even as forgiving as the concrete floor, and she did not get back up.

Tayna brushed herself off, and looked around to see how Jordan was doing. She found the brunette flat on her back--not quite unconscious but unable to defend herself as Hel stood over her with a crowbar, ready to finish their conflict once and for all.

"No!" She raced toward the Daggers leader. "Leave her alone!"

Hel turned as Tayna was approaching, and with a smile growing on her face she swung the crowbar. It cut right across the ex-Shadow's chest, tearing open her shirt and the flesh underneath. She stumbled and fell, a gush of blood spilling all around her as she collapsed.

Cecrops and Gabrielle both heard the cry Tayna gave as she was brutally struck down, but he was the only one who turned to look. He first took notice of the fact that the fighting had lessened--most of the Shadows and Daggers were equally beaten and bloodied, many were dead and others were dieing. Those few who still remained on their feet, were hardly in any condition to fight any longer. Most of them were tending to their wounded, while others seemed to be seraching for the door.

It took a few moments more for to Cecrops finally realize who had screamed. Jordan's friend Tayna lay in a pool of her own blood, and the gang leader known as Hel stood over her with a bloody crowbar clutched in her hands. From his vantage point Cecrops could not tell whether Tayna was still alive or not, but he did see Jordan beginning to stir. That drew Hel's attention.

'She'll never be able to defend herself like this,' Cecrops said to himself. Hel was only seconds away from a killing blow with the crowbar, and he made a snap decision. Leaving Gabrielle to her worries, for the time being, he rushed off to help someone he hardly even knew.

Gabrielle was hardly aware of Tayna's plight, or the fact that Cecrops had left her side to help her. At that moment, she was more worried about Xena.

So much so, in fact, that Gabrielle finally decided she could not simply stand by and watch, waiting to see what was going to happen. Knowing she could never duplicate Xena's agility, she looked around for a door, as there had to be access to the catwalk somewhere outside.

'Hold on Xena,' the bard said to herself. 'I'm coming!'

The warrior princess could literally feel the power building within Ares.

From her previous encounters, she knew all too well how dangerous he was as the peak of his strength. As the god of war, without Zeus or any of the others around to curb his destructive tendecies, he would be much more difficult to beat than ever.

"How pathetic is this?" Ares asked. "You've traveled thousands of years into the future to stop me, and for one of the few times in your life...you have failed."

Xena arched an eyebrow. "By the gods you're as deluded as ever, Ares. I'm not here for you. I didn't even know you still existed until I ran into you. I'm here for Gabrielle." She smiled. "By the way, I just wanted to thank you again for your help. In getting me here."

"What are you..." Ares' silver eyes widened. "Of course! It's been so long, I'd forgotten, but you came for a favor. You wanted me to send you through time after Gabrielle." He rested his head in his hands. "For the love of...me, I brought you here myself. Damn!"

Xena realized Ares was distracted, however briefly, and chose that moment to launch an attack. "Fate is a real bitch sometimes...and so am I!" As the once--and future, if he had his way--god of war started to lift his head, she threw her chakram as hard as she could.

Ares' puffed out his chest, and allowed the weapon to strike. The impact staggered him, he even stumbled back against the side of the catwalk, but it did not visible damage either to his clothes or his chest. He didn't even seem to mind being struck, and instead he began to laugh.

"You see, Xena? Already, the first vestiges of my godhood are returning!"

The warrior caught the chakram upon its return arc and gritted her teeth. If Ares had already regained his invulnerability, he would be that much more difficult to defeat. None of her weapons would be of much use against him, and the longer she waited the tougher he would become.

"What's the matter, Xena?" said Ares. "Have you finally realized just how hopeless the situation is? In the past you've only managed to beat me, because I allowed you too. Because, as my sister Aphrodite once said, I had a thing for you." He smiled. "But those days are long gone, warrior princess. I've had plenty of time to consider the mistakes of my past and number one among them...is you! You have always been my fatal flaw Xena. My Achilles heel. The chink in my armor. The..."

"Thorn in your side?" Xena offered. "Or maybe the fly in your soup?"

Ares chuckled. "You may as well forget it, Xena. You can't get to me anymore. I'm over you." He held up the Chronos Stone, which glittered in the light of the warehouse. "And soon, when my godhood is restored, I will use this little gem for the final stage of my plan. You know, it's funny. If not for Gabrielle, I would've had to be content with only what little power I could glean from this lowly gang fight. But thanks to the two of you, the Chronos Stone can be used as a vessel for my godly energies, to replenish me at will! And, as an added bonus, I can even travel across time and space! Imagine all of those battles I can participate in, again, to steal the power of the ages! I will be the ruler...of everywhen!"

CHAPTER 27

Hel both heard, and felt, the approach of thunderous footsteps, and turned to see that huge black man who was hanging out with Tayna and her friends.

She did not know--or care--who he was. Except that he was attempting to interfere in what she considered to be her own, personal business. And that he was storming at her in a most precarious fashion, one she was sure she could take advantage of when the time was right.

As Cecrops got closer--too close to stop in fact--he reached out his arms to either grab Hel or else try to strike her down. Instead, the leader of the Daggers merely raised the crowbar she was holding, and allowed the big man to virtually impale himself on it. His face contorted in pain and his body shuddered violently, as his own momentum drove it through his torso and almost out his back.

Hel released her hold on the crowbar, and stepped away from Cecrops as he fell to his knees. She seemed to take no notice of the fact he was not bleeding. Rather her attention was on Tayna, who was bleeding from the hideous wound she had inflicted.

"It's all your fault." Hel gritted her teeth. "Before you came along, Jordan was one of the fiercest fighters I had ever had the pleasure of working alongside. She was absolutely ruthless, but you poisoned her mind and her heart with your preachings of love and peace and commitment."

Cecrops slowly rose behind Hel, who failed to notice him at first. His shirt was shredded, revealing much of his bare, muscular--and completely healed, of course--chest, and he now held the crowbar in his hands. It had hurt, a lot, not just the wound but the removal of the weapon. He briefly considered striking Hel with it, before she knew what was happening, but that just wasn't satisfying enough.

The leader of the Daggers started, as she heard someone behind her clear their throat. She turned, her face growing paler as she looked up, and up, into the enraged face of Cecrops. He was on his feet, he didn't seem to be hurt at all, and worst of all he was holding a crowbar she had recently used...on him. Knowing she was in a great deal of trouble, she raised her hands and tried to back off.

Cecrops, however, had other ideas. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed Hel by the collar, then lifted her level to his own face. "I ought to kill you," he said through clenched teeth. "There is not a court in this country that would convict or blame me." Hel frantically shook her head. "On the other hand, if I were to let you live, you could always come back and try to finish me off one day. Though, I hope, you've figured out by now that is not possible?" Now, she nodded. "Good. Then listen very closely, because I'm only going to say this one time." He took a deep breath. "You will leave this area--hell the whole state, and never, ever, return. Otherwise, I'll hunt you down you and finish what I started here today. Do you understand me?" She nodded. "Good." He dropped her. "Then go. Now!"

Hel scrambled to her feet, and raced out of the warehouse as fast as her feet could carry here. She wanted no part of a man who apparently could not be killed.

Cecrops shook his head as he watched Hel scurry away, then went to tend to Tayna and Jordan. As he did so he glanced over his shoulder, and noticed Gabrielle was not where he had left her. He could only assume she had gone to help Xena.

"Good luck," he mumbled. "If she needs help, we're all in trouble."

Xena's main concern was the Chronos Stone.

If what Ares was saying was true, his powers came from the absorbtion of outside energy. If he succeeded in reforming his sword, then as a god he would have an endless sourse of power to draw from, but until then his abilities would be limited. His energy supply was finite.

The Chronos Stone, however, threatened to change all that. With it he could, quite possibly, do everything he was threatening to do, and so much more.

"Forget it, Ares!" Xena raised her chakram. "I'm not letting you go through with this!"

Ares chuckled. "How do you propose to stop me? With your chakram? Please Xena, you know as well as I do, your toys can't hurt me!" His eyes burned with silver light.

"Except for one thing," said Xena. "Who said it is aimed at you?" She threw the chakram faster than even Ares' senses could follow, and the deadly-accurate weapon struck the base of the Chronos Stone. It knocked the crystal right out of his hands, while the chakram returned to hers.

"No!" Wide-eyed, Ares scrambled to catch it before it fell off the catwalk. Just when it appeared he might actually get his hands on it, Xena leaped into action once more. The warrior spun around and kicked him in the chest--staggering the once-god. He fell back against the door, his face a mask of rage, while the Chronos Stone fell over the edge of the catwalk and out of sight. "Xena!" He whirled, tendrils of electricity crackling around his eyes and fingertips. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

After a moment, Xena shrugged her shoulders. "What I always do...pissed you off."

Before Ares could react, or attack, the door he was standing in front of burst open to admit Gabrielle. The bard had obviously used her shoulder, and her full bodyweight, to force the lock, and the resulting impact of the door struck Ares and staggered him again--forward, this time. He hit the railing of the catwalk right at a midpoint of his body, while momentum doubled him over and pitched him off the edge. It was likely that he would fallen, had Xena not come to his rescue.

The warrior grabbed one of the once-god's feet, though it took all of her strength to keep him from going the rest of the way over. "This...must be...your lucky...day..." she said through clenched teeth. Xena glanced pver her shoulder, and smiled. "As for you...nice timing."

Gabrielle smiled back. "I do try my best." Peering off the catwalk, she finally got a good look at the figure Xena was holding. "Hey, is that really Ares? What happened to him?"

"Time waits for no man," said Xena. "Or god." It felt as if she was starting to lose her grip and she turned to her friend. "Would you like to give me a hand here?"

"Oh. Right." The bard put her sais aside, and went to help.

While hanging there, thoroughly humiliated as far as he was concerned, Ares happened to catch a flash of something green from the corner of his eye. He twisted his neck and saw that the Chronos Stone had landed on an open crate, which seemed empty except for a whole bunch of packing peanuts. As a result, the Stone's

surface appeared to be undamaged, which meant he still had a chance.

Gabrielle reached for the once-god's other foot, but when he felt her hands graze his boot he lashed out in sudden anger. His heel grazed the side of the bard's face and spun her around. Crying out, she stumbled and fell, while Xena's own face contorted with rage. If he was that determined to eat floor, the warrior would be more than happy to assist him. She let go of him as well.

Ares actually smiled as he tumbled head over heels toward the ground, and crashed down on top of a crate from a height equivalent to a two story building. The crate virtually exploded from the sheer impact, and the resulting rain of wood and packing peanuts enveloped the once-god.

Xena gave him little, or no, consideration after that however. "Gabrielle!" She dropped to one knee beside her friend, who was clutching the side of her face. "How bad?" she asked worriedly.

"I'll...live..." Gabrielle replied, her words a bit slurred from bruising. "What happend to Ares?"

The warrior shrugged her shoulders. "Gravity."

CHAPTER 28

Cecrops had seen, and received, a lot of injuries in his time...mostly during one of a few battles he chosen to participate in over the centuries.

Other people--normal, mortal people, usually died from wounds far less severe than what had happened to Tayna, and yet she was still hanging on, albeit barely. Of course, she had lost a tremendous amount of blood and was barely breathing, but it was nonethless impressive.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to help her either. He did know quite a bit of first aid--it was one of the skills he had studied most often during his multitude of lives all across the world--but because of the severity of Tayna's injury, he doubted even an actual medical doctor with an entire trauma team backing him or her up would be able to do anything more than make her comfortable.

"Hey, Cec!" He turned, to see Jordan beginning to stir. She was just sitting up, and had apparently seen he was crouching over Tayna. "How is she?"

Cecrops lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he said under his breath.

"No!" Wincing in pain, Jordan rolled over and crawled toward them. As she got closer she saw the wound across Tayna's chest, and all the color drained from her face. "Oh my God. Did Hel do this to her?" Cecrops nodded. "Where is she?"

"I..." Cecrops paused. It had seemed the right thing to do at the time. "She got away. Sorry."

Jordan shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "Isn't there anything you can do?" She reached out and gently stroked Tayna's cheek. "I don't want to lose her. Not like this."

"Believe me. Jordan. If I could somehow...share, my immortality with her, I would. I-I'm sorry." Cecrops' words rang hollow, especially to him, and as Jordan leaned down to kiss Tayna on the forehead he turned, a tear welling up in his own eyes. Movement above soon drew Cecrops' attention though, and he looked up as Ares came tumbling off the catwalk. It happened too quick for him to see who it had been, but fearing it was Gabrielle or Xena he rushed into the cloud of debris. Moments later, there was a pulse of light--and Cecrops came rocketing backwards. There was a smoldering ring of charred flesh in the center of his chest, an injury already starting to heal as he struck a crate and slid to the ground.

When the dust finally settled, the former lost mariner lay flat on his back, though still conscious, and Ares was once again on his feet. In his hands, was the Chronos Stone.

"You surprised me," Ares grumbled. "And made me waste some of my energy." His eyes glowed. "I'll just take yours, if there's any left, and we can call it even."

Xena and Gabrielle both heard, and recognized, a sound that most mortals would never be aware of if they were lucky. A crack of thunder and a sizzling of the air, which went along with the lightning-like powers of one of the Greek gods.

They went to the edge of the catwalk, and looked down. Ares was on his feet again, which wasn't much of a surprise. But he was also holding the Chronos Stone, which was. He had apparently used at least of his ill- gotten powers on Cecrops, who was sprawled out on the floor and smoldering.

Gabrielle shook her head. "By the gods, we have to help him!"

"Why?" the warrior asked. "He's immortal."

The bard crossed her arms and frowned. "Xena..."

"Okay, okay." Xena returned the chakram to her belt and then flung herself--seemingly haphazardly--over the edge of the catwalk. As it turned out she knew exactly what she was doing, like usual. One of the several stacks of crates she had used to get up to the catwalk in the first place happened to be right beneath her. She landed atop it and quickly hopped from one crate to another, back down to the floor of the warehouse. When she looked back over her shoulder Gabrielle was gone, but since she was not coming down the crates as well Xena could only assume she had gone back outside. "Ares!"

The once-god turned, a wry smile on his lips. "Xena. Don't tell me...friend of yours?"

"Leave Cecrops out of this Ares," said the warrior. "It's between you and me."

Ares arched an eyebrow. "Cecrops? Athena told me about him once. He's the one some mortals called the Lost Mariner, right?" He nodded. "Poseidon used to hate this guy. And since he's here I'd say all the stories about Athena giving him immortality were true." He turned. "As for you and me Xena, forget it. Like I said, I don't have to fight you anymore. You're just not worth it."

Xena sneered as he actually turned his back on her. "Don't you dare ignore me!" She slid the chakram off her belt and separated it into its two parts--a useful feature it had developed on the way back from Rome. "I was not finished with you, yet!" She stepped forward and plunged the two halves of the chakram into Ares's shoulder blades, burying the two weapons deep.

Ares grimaced as he felt the abrupt pain of the attack, but little else. "Hey!" He knew Xena well enough to realize what her next move would be--she would either flip over him and kick him or else she would use her leverage to flip him instead. Neither was preferable. "Get off!" A pulse of white light erupted from his back and struck Xena like a physical force. It lifted her off the ground and sent her flying back into a crate, where she slid to the ground and groaned. "Damn it, Xena! You made me..."

"Ares!" Gabrielle came charging one of the side doors. "If you want to hurt..."

The once-god shook his head. "Yeah, yeah." He gestured, and a wave of force slammed into Gabrielle, the bard was knocked off her feet as well. "Been there done that. I'm moving on." With all of his opponents out of commision for the time-being at least, Ares shoved the Chronos Stone into his belt and brought his hands together. "If only I had the energy to burn, I'd go someplace more private. But since I don't..." He needed to concentrate to reform his sword, he only hoped Xena and company would give him the chance to do so. "I'd better do this while I have the chance." He slowly parted his hands--and tendrils of energy crackled between the palms like miniature arcs of lightning. "Soon now..."

Ares was so focused on what he was doing, he failed to see someone standing up behind him. Two people, actually--Cecrops and Jordan. The former looked angry, his bare chest healed but still smoldering, while the latter latter's face was a merging of grief and rage. Neither seemed aware of the other, instead they both had similar ideas at the same time and leapt at the unsuspecting Ares. By chance, or perhaps last minute design, he hit low and she hit high, knocking the once-god for a loop.

"Ooof!" Ares landed flat on his face. "How dare you..." His words were abruptly cut off as Cecrops kicked him in the stomach--and while it did him little damage it did roll him over on to his back. Jordan proceeded to pick up the very same crowbar Hel had used on Tayna and viciously beat the once-god about his head and shoulders with it. "Stop it!" She rained blow after blow down upon him, with little result...expect perhaps to make him even angrier than before. "Enough!" Visible energy erupted from Ares' hands--battering Cecrops and Jordan, and throwing the two of them off their feet. "Play-time is over!"

"I agree!" Xena's chakram struck Ares in the face, preventing him from getting back to his feet before she could get over to him. "No more games!" The warrior jumped up, and tried to kick Ares--but he reached out and caught her right boot before she got too close.

Ares bare, muscular arms rippled, as he slammed Xena face-first into the ground. He started to kick her in the back, until a single sai struck him in the side of the head. The once-god slapped the second one right out of the air, and then extended his arm just as Gabrielle got close enough to strike. He grabbed the bard by the throat and effortlessly lifted her off her feet.

"I don't think any of you really understand what I'm saying. No more!" Though she continued to struggle, Gabrielle could not break his iron grip, and her face started to redden as she was unable to breath. "I am not in the condition, or the mood, to tolerate this crap anymore! You've ruined my plans again, Xena, and there is no more a fitting punishment in this or any other time, than for me to ruin your life by killing your friend here while you watch!" He shrugged. "Sorry Gabrielle. It's nothing personal."

CHAPTER 29

Xena's body was wracked with pain as she struggled to her hands and knees.

She was not about to allow Ares' hatred for her destroy Gabrielle, not so long as there was a breath still in her body. Her friend had been hurt too many times because of her, directly and indirectly, and she would not allow it to happen again. Doing what she could to ignore the searing agony of two broken legs, the warrior's face contorted in both pain and concentration lurched toward the once-god.

Xena swung her chakram. It sliced deep into the tendons of Ares' calf, and while there was no blood it did strike a certain nerve center she had been hoping for. He bellowed in pain, his hands convulsing so violently that he lost his grip on Gabrielle and the Chronos Stone both. The bard fell to one side and lay still, gasping for air, while the Stone dropped into her direct line of sight. With the last vestiges of her dwindling strength the warrior threw her chakram one last time.

It bisected the shimmering green crystal, and there was an explosion of shimmering white and green light which enveloped everyone in the warehouse. Part of it came from the Chronos Stone itself, but just as much of it was the immortal power of the once and future god of war, who had been using the artifact as a conduit for the energy he was absorbing from the combatants. The primal forces of nature twisted and warped as the impossible became reality and the past finally met up with the future, then the energy seemed to sheer off in two separate directions at once.

Moments later, it dissipated, revealing a very different scene.

Xena, Gabrielle and Jordan were all unconscious.

Cecrops was awake, alert, sitting up, and watching the only two people left standing.

One of them, to no great shock, was Ares.

The other, however, was Tayna.

Sort of.

Her injuries had been completely healed, as if she had never been hurt at all, in fact. Her clothing had also been restored, and her hair had changed from silky white to auburn-gold.

Ares' face fell as he looked her up and down. "I don't believe it. You did survive."

"You doubted I would?" Tayna asked, crossing her arms. "Brother?"

Cecrops frowned. "Brother? Don't tell me you're a god too?"

"I'm afraid so," said Tayna. "One who is very happy to see you, Cecrops."

His eyes widened. "Your voice--I thought it sounded familiar before, but I wasn't sure." Cecrops got to his

feet and approached her, slowly. "Athena?"

'Tayna' nodded. "It's been a few centuries, but yes, it is me."

"How can this be?" said Ares. "You perished on Olympus, with Zeus and the others."

Athena shook her head. "Dad sent me away, just before the Twilight. He wanted to be sure our history, the history of Olympus I maintained as goddess of wisdom, was preserved. I took a mortal form different from my normal one so people would not recognize me. As a result, I was trapped in that body when the Twilight fell. I wandered aimlessly. Immortal, but just as powerless as you. Over these centuries I have learned many things we as Olympians never fully comprehended my dear brother. About humankind, and my humanity in particular. Eventually, as eons passed, I gradually started to forget I was ever a god at all." She sighed. "The only constant in my life, was my endless search for one certain soul. Reincarnated time and again thoughout all the myriad cultures of this great world."

"Let me guess," said Ares. "Elanis?"

Athena shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? I like to stick with a winner." She glanced over at Xena, and then smiled.. "I learned that from you, bro."

"You've followed her spirit all these centuries?" Ares stared at Jordan for a moment, and realization came alive in his eyes. "And found her again...here and now?"

"That's right," said Athena. "I knew it as soon as I saw her the first time."

Cecrops cleared his throat. "Athena, there's something I still don't understand. When Hel hit you with the crowbar, you screamed. You were hurt, badly, and the blood..."

"You mean because immortals aren't supposed to bleed?" said Athena. "It's complicated. But the simplest explanation I can give you, is that for all intents and purpose I am...or was, mortal." She sighed. "Cecrops, I granted you immortality centuries ago, and it had remained intact, essentially, because you allowed it. Ares' search for power, his quest to reclaim his godhood, has given his life direction and thus presented him with a recurring focus for his immortality. All of my powers, however, dwindled...and, quite frankly, I was happy to see them go. Unlike most of my kin, I've never considered myself to be above mortals. Quite the contrary in fact. And living among mortals, becoming one of them, it confirmed my opinion about the human race in general--they are, at heart, a far more noble people than we."

She paused, perhaps to collect her thoughts. "Essentially, I lost the drive for immortality. I desired to be a mortal, fully and completely, and so became one. True I no longer age, but for all intents and purposes, I am otherwise human. I require food and sleep, and unfortunately it means I can also grow ill, be injured and for all I know be killed, or even simply...die."

"Then what happened?" asked Ares. "How did you come back?"

Cecrops nodded. "And why are you only telling us now? Didn't you recognize me before?"

"In truth," Athena replied. "I did not. At first. You must understand Cecrops, I have been mortal for all of these centuries, and I've done what I can to forget the past. The family and friends and life that I left behind so long ago. Sometimes, my memory fails me." She turned to Ares. "As for your question...it was you. You were using the Chronos Stone as a conduit. Filling it with some of your own energy, and infusing it with the primal force of Olympus as well. When Xena destroyed it, that power had to go somewhere...and because at heart we are both children of Olympus..."

Ares frowned. "Damn. Women. Always getting in the way of my plans."

Athena smiled. "We can be a real pain in the ass sometimes, huh?"

"I may have lost my chance at godhood this time," said Ares. "But, there is nothing stopping me from just going out and finding some willing participants to do this all over with again. Despite your declarations of a good and noble human race, the fact of the matter is the majority of them are greedy, bitter being who seek to subjugate one another for their own benefit. Their history, as you well know, is a long and blood one, and it will be a simple matter to find others who fit my needs."

"I could stop you," said Athena. "But I won't. Providing you do one thing for me, first."

Ares crossed his arms. "This should be interesting. What is it you want?"

"Your help," the once and, perhaps future, goddess replied. "Xena and Gabrielle need healing. My Jordan as well. We can do it, if we work together."

"Why would I want to help them?" asked Ares. "They're as responsible for my downfall as you. More so in Xena's case. She destroyed the Chronos Stone."

Athena nodded. "But they do not belong here. In this time. Every moment they are here, the fabric of time becomes more and more unraveled. If they remain long enough, it is very possible that the world as you and I know it will end, and something wholly different will be created." Her face fell. "Assuming, of course, this reality does not simply cease to exist for all of us. Immortals and mortals alike."

CHAPTER 30

Cecrops' eyes narrowed.

Ares' face paled.

Athena was, obviously, quite serious.

"The energies released by the destruction of the Chronos Stone have only made the problem worse. But, if we can only heal Xena and Gabrielle and get them back to their own time as soon as possible there's at least a chance the temporal rift simply take care of itself."

"What kind of a chance?" Cecrops asked.

Athena frowned. "Zeus forbade us from participating in or even studying time travel back in Greece so my knowledge is somewhat limited, but I'd say...fifty-fifty."

"I suppose those odds are better than nothing," said Cecrops.

Ares shook his head. "Not by much." He crossed his arms. "By the way, you're losing your touch, sis. You still haven't explained what interest any of this is to me. In case you haven't realized it...I'm not exactly one of the proponents of this worthless century. What do I care if time ends? Oblivion might be preferable to my not being a god any longer."

"You're missing the point, Ares." Athena sighed. "Your main concern is yourself, right?" She crossed her arms. "Then do this for your own benefit. Xena does not belong here, and as long as she is here your chance of regaining any of your former glory is almost nonexistent. I should think you would be glad to see her out of your hair, at least in this particular time period."

Ares stroked his beard. "Good point." He shook his head. "But if, and I emphasize the word if here, I were to help you...it would use up what little of the power I absorbed remains."

"So?" Athena rested her hands on his shoulders. "If you feel that strongly, you could always try something like this again. With Xena out of the picture, you might even win the next time." She smiled. "Just consider this whole mess to be a trial run. You know, ironing out the kinks. Think of next time as a challenge, which the Ares I grew up with would never be able to resist."

"You always did know me too well," Ares said under his breath. He sighed. "I'm in. But let's get this over with, before I wake up and come to my senses."

Cecrops watched as the two siblings came together and clasped hands. He had seen the power of the gods up close and personal more than once during his extended lifetime, though rarely was it ever for the benefit of mankind rather than that of the gods.

A pulsing white glow appeared around Ares and Athena's free hands. It flowed outward--encircling Xena, Gabrielle and Jordan, and causing all three of them to shudder. The power continued to go from Athena and Ares to the mortal women before them, and as their bodies grew stronger those of the once-god's started to tire. They were, after all, risking portions of their lifeforce for this procedure, which could turn out badly for all concerned if they were not careful.

"Can't...keep this up...much longer..." Ares hissed.

Athena nodded. "Just...hang on bro...we're almost...there..."

Their senses were attuned to the condition of the trio they were attempting to heal, and they were aware of each bone as it was knitted, each cut and scrape as they faded and the burns from the explosion as they were

replaced by new, clean skin. Xena was the most injured of the three, followed by Jordan, so not surprisingly it was Gabrielle who awoke first.

The bard sat up, slowly, as the shimmering white aura faded from her and the others.

Athena and Ares' arms dropped to their sides, and they leaned against one another for support. Soon, they would be back to normal--their natural energy supplies were already beginning to replinish themselves, one of the many benefits of being immortal. Their brief touch with their godhood, and the glimpse of their once and former glory, however, was once again out of reach.

"W-What's going on?" Gabrielle asked. "Ares, and..." Her eyes widened. "Athena?"

The once-goddess smiled. "Considering we've never actually met, I am flattered you are able to recognize me, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders. "Xena and Cecrops told me..." She gasped. "Xena!" The bard rushed to Xena's side as the warrior was beginning to stir. "Xena? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Gabrielle." Xena sat up. "What happened?"

"They saved us," said the bard, who pointed.

The warrior's eyes narrowed. "You?" She shook her head. "Both of you? Why?"

"It's a long story Xena," Athena replied. "One which, to be brutally honest, we really do not have time for right now. So, for once, could you just trust me and along?"

Xena lurched to her feet. "Don't give me orders, Athena. I am not in the mood."

"Neither am I," said the once-goddess. "You possess the power to return to yourself and Gabrielle to your own time, Xena. I suggest you use it, and now."

Gabrielle took the warrior's arm. "Maybe she's right. We don't belong here...and everything does seem to more or less be back to normal. So why don't we just leave?"

"Because..." Xena turned and glared at Ares. "...he's still breathing. And as long as he is, everyone in this time period is in danger. He did this once, he'll try it again."

Athena nodded. "I know. We'll be ready for him."

"That's right." Jordan, everyone realized, was awake and back to her feet. A bit unsteadily, she took a few steps forward and wrapped an arm around Athena's waist. "We will."

Athena licked her lips. "Elanis? Is it really you?"

"Yes, my goddess." 'Jordan' smiled. "I'm back." She took a deep breath. "We're back."

Ares rested his head in his hands. "Oh please. Somebody shoot me."

"Well, it looks like things are in good hands around here," said Xena. She threw an arm around Gabrielle and pulled her close. "Maybe is is about time we leave."

Gabrielle smiled. "I can't wait to see Greece again."

"Xena. Wait a moment. Please." Athena frowned. "I have to tell you something, and I doubt you--either of you--is going to like it." The warrior arched an eyebrow as the once-goddess cleared her throat. "This whole affair is my fault. It wasn't an accident that you and Gabrielle ran into those men on the road to Palamos, or that one of them happened to have possession of a Chronos Stone."

Once more, Xena found herself striving to control her temper. If not for Gabrielle's being right there, she wasn't sure she would have succeeded this time. "You?! You did this?" The once-goddess nodded. "Because of you, Gabrielle could have been hurt! Or worse! How dare you..."

"Take it easy." The bard rested a hand on her friend's shoulder in an effort to calm her down. It seemed to work, though just barely. "I think what Xena means to say, is...why, Athena?"

The once-goddess shrugged her shoulders. "A long time ago, and I mean a really long time ago, the Three Fates came to see me. Clotho spoke for them, as she tends to do, and told me that there would come a time when the Age of Gods would be ended. When the mortal world would be threatened by an evil of the past--a evil from within my own family." She glanced at Ares, who smiled knowingly. "She went on to explain that I would bear witness to this, but that I would be helpless to do anything about it, and that only two forces of light could be brought into play to battle this evil. Light from the past." She sighed. "As goddess of wisdom, I peered into the future, and I found her warning to be true. I also an image of the Chronos Stone, so I cast a spell to bring it into the hands of those who would save this future time. I had no idea, then, that it would be the two of you, or that the evil you faced would be my own brother."

"Unfortunately," said Ares. "My life's thread is as inexorably bound with yours Xena, as your own is with Gabrielle's. That is why we continue to meet one another, time and again, throughout history. Your spirit is inevitably reincarnated, it seems, with the express purpose of foiling my plans." He sneered. "Which is why I took the added precaution of hunting down and destroying your present day incarnation, and Gabrielle's. I thought it would be enough."

Gabrielle felt somewhat saddened to hear that, but then again, it was people she did not and never actually would know. "Too bad, Ares. Looks like you lose. Again."

"Get used to it," said Xena. "I'm betting it won't be the last time either."

Athena cleared her throat again. "One more thing before you go. See, you both know about the future. Too much, in fact. Such knowledge could be dangerous in the past."

"What do you mean?" said Xena. She had reclaimed her weapons as they were talking, and while it didn't seem likely they would hurt Athena anymore than they had Ares, she was prepared to fight if it proved to be necessary. "You're not going to try and stop us..."

Athena shook her head. "Of course not. I'm just as anxious to see you two get home as you are. But, if the information you two carry ever got out, it could spell disaster. That's why I'm asking you to let me erase all of your memories of your time here."

"To what end?" Xena asked.

"You'll both remember Gabrielle disappearing. And Xena, you'll remember going to Ares for help. But, it will all become vague after that. When you reappear in Greece it may feel as if you had just left, though you shall actually have been gone however many days you've been here. Neither of you will have any memory of the strange and wonderous things you have seen in the future, nor will you be aware of the history that is yet to be. Everything, then, will return to normal, as much so as it ever is for the two of you." The once-goddess crossed her arms. "What do you say? Can we agree to this?"

Xena and Gabrielle glanced at one another, and then the bard nodded. "We can."

"Excellent." Athena stepped forward and raised her hands. "You may want to close your eyes for this. The process can be quite unsettling for the human mind."

Bard and warrior clasped hands, then closed their eyes and waited.

"Here goes." A shimmering, golden glow filled Athena's eyes, and radiated outward to her hands. She put a finger on their foreheads, and the aura enveloped them as well. "It's time," she whispered. "Now Xena, do it! Think of Greece! Think of home!"

Athena stepped back as Xena and Gabrielle started to glow of their own accord. There was a flare of green light, similar to that caused by the Chronos Stone, and when it faded bard and warrior were gone. The once- goddess stumbled, feeling physically and mentally drained...and was surprised when she found Ares there to catch her. She smiled. "Thank you, brother."

Unnoticed by the once-goddess, Ares smiled slightly as well.

EPILOGUE

Ares, the god of war, glanced up from his throne as two figures appeared from a crackling sphere of green light in the middle of his temple. His eyes narrowed, one hand drifting toward the sword at his hip, until the new arrivals began to take shape, and he realized who it was.

"Oh. Welcome back, Xena. You too, Gabrielle."

The bard looked around, her eyes wide. "By the gods, it worked!." She frowned. "But why here? Of all the places in Greece..."

"This is where I left from," said Xena. "It stands to reason we would also return here."

Ares slid off his throne and approached them. "So..." He clapped his hands in anticipation. "...tell me, did end up in the past? Or the future?"

"The future," Gabrielle replied. "I think." She frowned. "Strange. My mind feels so clouded."

Xena nodded. "Me too. It must have something to do with the time travel."

"What a pity." Ares shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. You two go on, get out of here. I'm sure you've got some...catching up, to do."

Gabrielle put her arms around Xena. "I just want to thank you for coming to save me."

"I'll always be there for you," said the warrior. "You know that."

The god of war rested his head in his hands. "Oh please. Somebody shoot me."

"If only I had a crossbow," said Xena. "I would, believe me. Come on Gabrielle. Let's go."

As they turned to leave, Ares cleared his throat. "By the way, Xena, I am looking forward to our next little rendezvous. Favors can make life so...interesting, don't you think?"

Xena ignored him as she and Gabrielle strode out of the temple, arm in arm.

"I love you Xena."

"I love you too, Gabrielle."