Continued

 

At this, Ares thought he could feel his guts all but fall to the ground. If Gabrielle weren’t dead then his time in the sun with Xena would draw to a very rapid close.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me this before Aphrodite?” Xena asked, pacing to and fro before her.  Xena was wrestling with so many emotions she didn’t know which would win control of her heart:  Happiness, relief, shame at her recent behavior, anger at Aphrodite for not telling her sooner so she could have avoided killing Varia. 

 

“The plan was Gabrielle would find my alternate and she would send Gabrielle back just before the arrow hit her. That way Gabrielle would know what was coming and her life would have been saved. Unfortunately she met your version in the other world and…”

 

Xena waited for the goddess to continue.  “And what?”

 

“You know how Gabrielle is. She can’t leave well enough alone. She overstayed her welcome wile trying to redeem you.  Now she’s missed her window of opportunity to leave.”

 

“Well go over there and bring her back.”

 

Before Aphrodite could answer an energy ball hit her in the chest, sending her flying back through the tent. Xena barely made it out before the whole thing came crashing down on her.  She wasn’t surprised to find Ares behind the attack when she turned around.

 

“Ares, did you know about this?”

 

“No, I didn’t.”

 

Xena spat at his feet. She was sorely disgusted with him and had no doubts in her heart he may have had something to do with Gabrielle missing her chance to return home.  “If you did you wouldn’t have told me.”

 

“That’s right. I wouldn’t.  She’s gone forever Xena.  Even though she is alive in that other world she can’t return so you will never have her back.”

 

“Ares-“

 

“NO!”  He shouted, grabbing her up painfully by her arms. He clutched her to him until their faces were barely a millimeter apart.  “I will not lose you again to that little blond bitch do you hear me?  She’s gone and there is nothing you can do to bring her back.

 

Xena wasn’t about to be manhandled by any man, much less Ares.  She drove her head into the bridge of his nose and he fell back in surprise. She twisted free of his grip and no sooner was she away from him did Aphrodite return the favor by hitting him in the chest with an energy ball that sent him flying twice as far as his did hers.  When he hit the ground he was unconscious.

 

“Bastard,” Aphrodite muttered as she came up to Xena.  “Get your little girl. You’re comin’ with me to my temple.  If Hercules succeeds in his mission then none of this will even happen.”

 

Aphrodite watched Xena leave to fetch Eve.  Hopefully Hercules would bring Gabrielle back on time this nightmare will disappear.

 

********************

 

Hercules arrived in pretty much the same place Gabrielle had when she’d first arrived on this world.  Only this time there was a welcoming party. His least favorite woman in the world stood waiting for him, a bright smile on her face. This kind of warm welcome was the last thing he’d ever expect from her.

 

“Hercules. My son. I’m so glad to see you.”  Hera quickly grabbed him up in a hug, making Hercules’ skin crawl.  True, he’d made his peace with the old witch but he could never forgive the pain she’d caused him when she’d stolen his family. Then again, this woman wasn’t the same Hera he’d known, and she was literally weeping.

 

“Uh,” Hercules extricated himself from her grasp.  “Hera.”

 

She stepped back and looked him over.  “There is much you should know. Come.”

 

The world around him faded away to be replaced by a very familiar garden on Mt. Olympus. Only here it was slightly different. Instead of being dedicated to Zeus, it had been dedicated to Alcemene, his mother.

 

“What is this?” he asked, taking in the statue of his young mother in the center of the garden.

 

“This was our sanctuary.  I know the story of your history with my double on your universe Hercules, but here we have a much different relationship.  Your mother died of a strange blood illness when you were seven.  You came to live here with me.”

 

“And where am “I” now?”

 

The Queen of the gods looked away, but not before Hercules could see the pain in her eyes.  “Hera?”

 

“You’re dead Hercules.  You were killed by Apollo in a fight over Aphrodite’s hand in marriage.”

 

Disgust filled the pit of Hercules’ stomach. “Aphrodite? She’s my sister.”

 

“Not here she’s not.  You see Poseidon is Aphrodite’s father on this world, not Zeus.  She fell hard for you but Apollo wanted her. He was determined no mortal was going to win the love of a goddess over him. Forget all of that.  I have you back, at least for a little while.  I never got to tell you this but…you were like a son to me.  You were one of the few children I could say that I was proud of.”

 

Hercules stared into her eyes and found nothing but sincerity looking back at him.  Though he’d hated the Hera from his world, he couldn’t hate this woman who was so obviously different from the goddess he’d known.

 

“You know I am not your son.”

 

“Of course I do. I do know why you’re here Hercules.”

 

He nodded, sitting next to her.  “I have to save a friend of mine. Her name is Gabrielle and she’s being hunted by Athena.”

 

Hera looked away as if embarrassed, and Hercules had to prod her to tell him what had happened.  “She’s not hunted now. It’s a long story Hercules.”

 

“Tell me then.  And make it quick.”

 

******************************

 

Xena stared out of the window of her old room on Mt.  Olympus with Athena.  She had been forced to take in just enough ambrosia to make her immortal and impervious to physical injury, but not a god. She would live forever in misery, as Athena’s lover and slave to do her will.  It didn’t matter though. Saving Gabrielle was worth it all.

 

“Are you sure about that?”

 

Athena appeared behind Xena and ran a hand over her lover’s body.  Of course Xena stiffened at her touch, and chances are she always would, but Athena didn’t care. She wanted revenge.  She wanted to punish Xena, and she could think of no better way to do it than to make unwanted love to her as often as possible. Now that she was immortal, their lovemaking sessions could and would last for days on end.

 

“I never agreed to you reading my private thoughts Athena,” Xena said, wishing that throwing herself out of the window and falling back to earth would be enough to kill her. Even if she did make the leap she wouldn’t even sustain a scratch. 

 

“Xena, for you there is no such thing as privacy anymore. You’re mine. All mine, just like I’ve always wanted.”

 

When Xena didn’t answer Athena softened her tone. She had loved Xena from the moment they’d met. How would she ever make this woman understand that?

 

“Xena, all I ever really wanted was to love you.”

 

Xena gave a short bitter snort.  “Love me?  Come on Athena.  Who do you think you’re kidding here?  You don’t know what love is. All you know is possessing someone. You wanted to own me in every way. My feelings, my thoughts, my ideas. It was always about you and what you wanted!”

 

Xena could see her words were hurting Athena and that was just what she wanted so she continued.

 

“Love, Athena, is selfless. It’s about caring for someone else and their happiness more than you care about your own.  But you’re a god and not capable of loving someone else are you?  Let’s be honest here and look this in the face:  You want to hurt me. You want to control me. You want to own me, but you have never wanted to love me.”

 

“Xena, that’s not true-“

 

“It is the truth!  You may have control of my actions, my life and my body, but I swear by Zeus himself Athena you will never have my heart.  You don’t deserve it.”

 

Xena turned away from a speechless Athena and walked toward the bed to let the goddess exact her revenge in the worst of ways: sex.  “Now are you coming to bed or what?”

 

The truth of Xena’s words hit Athena like a lightning bolt from the hand of Zeus himself, and she wished that for just a moment she could leave her own skin for she was disgusted with herself as much as Xena was.  It was the strangest, not to mention the worst, feeling she’d ever had before.  As Xena began to woodenly undress at the foot of their bed, Athena could think of nothing she would rather do less at that moment than rape Xena.

 

When the Warrior Princess turned she found the room empty and she was finally free to collapse into tears and lose herself for a while in her misery of living without Gabrielle.

 

********************

 

According to Amaranda this was where Callisto and Gabrielle were supposed to meet up with Lila and a few Amazon guards sent by Aphrodite.  However when she arrived all she found were the remains of Marcus and four of his men. 

 

“Hello?”  When she received no answer she was left looking around in confusion. Now what? Her only options were to return to Aphrodite’s temple.  If the way the goddess had received her before was any indication then Gabrielle felt fairly confident that Aphrodite would receive her again.  It would take her a few…

 

She stopped in mid-thought as a familiar figure began to coalesce before her.  “Hercules?”

 

“Gabrielle. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.  Aphrodite, from our world, sent me.”

 

The sight of a friendly, familiar face from her own world brought such an overwhelming sense of relief Gabrielle couldn’t contain her tears and she collapsed weeping into his welcoming, comforting embrace.

 

**********

Gabrielle listened to the horror story of what had become of Xena without her in their world. “So she’s with Ares preparing to conquer the world?”

 

“That’s right,” Hercules passed her a plate with a large amount of rabbit meat and grilled vegetables.  She found herself smiling for the first time in a long time.

 

“You’re used to camping with Iolous Hercules.  This is a little too much food.”

 

He grinned sheepishly at the mistake. Indeed she was right.  “Good, more for me. Just pass what you don’t eat.”

 

“I don’t really feel like eating anything.”

At Hercules’ urging Gabrielle finished about half of the food he’d given her.  While he polished off the rest, she gave him an account of the events of the past few days.  He was quiet and reflective once she was finished.

 

“This world is almost a mirror to our own. Everything is the same yet nothing is the same.”

 

Gabrielle nodded in agreement.  “It’s maddening, I know.  What are we going to do? I have no way of knowing what’s become of young Gabrielle or Callisto.  I don’t know where Joxer is.”

 

“Joxer is right here.” 

 

Gabrielle and Hercules jumped in surprise. This man was possessed incredible stealth to sneak up on Hercules the way he had. He knelt beside the fire, warming his hands.

 

“Joxer.  Have you seen my friends?”

 

Joxer shook his head no, looking up at her with an expression she couldn’t readily identify.  Was it curiosity? Sadness. Perhaps both mixed into one. 

 

“So you’re not from this world. Amazing.  As far as your friends go, I spoke with Amaranda.  They’re with the Amazon’s.”

 

“Take me to them.”

 

Joxer gave her an are-you-out-of-your-mind laugh.  “I don’t know about the Amazon’s in your world, but here they don’t tolerate male presence. At all.”

 

“If you’re with me-“

 

He interrupted her, his voice lined with an urgent undertone to make her understand what she was asking.  “-If I’m with you they’ll capture me, use me for mating then kill me.  It’s the law.”

 

Gabrielle had a difficult time believing that but she didn’t press the point. He was obviously adamant in his argument not to travel onto their land.  “Fine. Show me where they are and I’ll go.”

 

This time Hercules stepped in.  “I don’t think that’s a good idea Gabrielle.”

 

“What do you mean?” She asked.

 

“I mean I think it’s time we left this world.  My window of opportunity closes in seven hours.  We have to be back at the entrance point then.  How far away is the edge of the Amazon forests?”

 

Joxer mulled it over but quickly came up with an estimation Gabrielle trusted to be accurate.  “About two hours away.” 

 

Hercules nodded. “If we leave for the portal now we’ll have an hour to spare.  It’s a no go. We should get going.”

 

“But…What about-“

 

Hercules grabbed her by the shoulders. He cared about Gabrielle and Xena, hence the reason he’d become involved. Therefore he wasn’t about to let her pass up another opportunity to end this nightmare.

 

“Gabrielle if you miss your chance to leave your presence will destroy this world. If you really care about the friends you’ve made here then you’ll come with me now.”

 

Gabrielle hated to admit it but Hercules was right. She had to think of Xena and herself.  She turned to Joxer.  This man was her last hope.

 

“Promise me you’ll do one thing?”

 

“I promise.”

 

Gabrielle took him by the hands. “Promise me you’ll tell Xena I made it home safely. Promise me you’ll look after my double here.  Please.”

 

Joxer nodded. He didn’t want her to go before he’d had a chance to get to know her.  “Tell me, what was I like on your world?”

 

A grin split Gabrielle’s face as she thought of the bumbling idiot she’d known and loved.  What could she say?  It didn’t take her long to come up with the answer.  She’d tell him the truth.

 

“He was the purest man I ever knew. He had the heart of a lion and the soul of an angel.  He was one of my best friends and I loved him with all my heart.  He died to save me, and he knew I would have done the same for him without giving it a second thought.  On my world Joxer…was a hero.”

 

“I’ll take them the messages.  I promise. Good-bye Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle planted a slow, soft kiss on Joxer’s lips then turned and followed Hercules into the night.

 

Gabrielle and Hercules arrived at the portal six hours later to find it waiting for them to enter. 

 

“What if someone else went through before us?  Then we’ll have the same danger on our world,” Gabrielle asked, looking into the swirling blues and whites of the interdimensional portal.

 

“Only we can enter into it. Hera has seen to that herself.  You know, once we go through we’ll be home again, but you will be returned a few moments before your death.  You’ll have to think quickly to save yourself.”

 

“What about this place?”  Gabrielle said. Hopefully things will be reset here as well.

 

“I don’t know.  Are you ready?”

 

Gabrielle took hold of his massive hand and sucked in a big breath. It was time to go home.

 

************************************************************************************************************

Epilogue:  Fates And Desitnies

 

The portal vanished from around Gabrielle but with it came an intense dizziness. The next thing she knew she was standing on a tree branch beside Xena with a swarm of guards from Apollo’s temple below her.  Her cluttered memories cleared enough for her to know that she was about to be shot, so she pulled back away from Xena, hitting her head on a low-hanging tree limb above her. As soon as she did, the arrow that had been meant to kill her whizzed between her and Xena and flew off into the night.  Xena…