Rating: PG-13
Summary: After saving Gabrielle from a bizarre wolf-attack, Joxer begins to act a little strange. So, since they are on their way there anyway, Xena and Gabrielle stop by to ask Jett about it, and they find out something that could change everything they've ever known about the wannabe-warrior...
Ships: G/J
Spoilers: Up to Lyre,Lyre, Pants on Fire since a certain brother is involved...but it's actually a little after King of Assassins
Note: Hi! This is my first fic in the Xena/Herc universe, so be kind. If I make a mistake (and I'm sure I will since I have no where near the familiarity I should since I'm just now REALLY getting into it) please correct me, if you feel the need. You see, my good little muse's best friend, Xander Harris, with whom I am in love, has asked me to write something for one of his good buddies, Joxer (they met at a sidekick convention in NY I think...). So, he introduced us, and since I really like Joxer, I said okay. So, this came out.

"Joxer, I swear...if you don't stop that clanging, I will cause you some serious pain..." Gabrielle said through clenched teeth, her knuckles white where she held her staff.

"What?" the would-be warrior replied, looking down to the offending bit of armor which kept flapping at his side, "Look, I can't get it fixed until we get to Marimus, so I'll try to walk quietly, but that's the best I can do. I mean, I need this stuff! It protects me from all the people trying to kill me..."

"Which will probably increase by one if you don't do as she asks," Xena, Warrior Princess whispered down to Joxer from her seat on the horse, her voice only slightly amused.

"Fine..." the tall man replied, his face scrunching up in frustration, "I'll take it off and stuff it in my pack. Just see what happens if we're attacked. I'll have to put it all back on before I can help rescue you..."

"That's just a risk we'll have to take, Joxer..." answered the leather-clad warrior from atop her steed, the smallest of smiles gracing her face.

He just stared up at her with an annoyed expression, then looked to Gabrielle, who was glaring daggers at him by that time. Then he gave up, and began to take the strangely shaped metal off of his body. As he did, he tripped on one of the loose straps, which sent him sprawling. Neither of them made a move towards him, but he was back up a second later, with his armor in his hand and a triumphant grin on his face. He didn't even give them a chance to say a word.

"I'll just put this in my pack now, if you don't mind..." he said rather loudly, while the blond bard and the warrior princess sighed. Joxer made short work of it (for once), and then they were off again on their way to Marimus.

Joxer, who was trailing behind, kept looking at Gabrielle, who was walking a little ways ahead of Xena. He kept on looking for a while, until Xena glanced back at him and gestured with her head that he should walk up with her. Joxer gave her a goofy grin as a thank you, then made his way up.

"So," Joxer started, walking a little faster to keep up with Gabrielle, "Write anything good recently?"

She turned at looked at him, still annoyed yet getting over it, "Not really. Though on some nights, I have this incredible inspiration and I let the stories run through my mind, but I never really write them down."

"Yeah..." he replied neutrally, "But I bet they'd be really great."

"I don't know," the bard/Amazon replied, fingering her staff as she sort of forgot who she was talking to, "I mean, they sound great in my head, and then when I try to write them, I don't know where to start."

"Well..." Joxer said slowly, thinking as he spoke, "Maybe you could have it start in a conversation...like, just start."

Her eyes opened wide in shock, "But what about where they are? What is going on at the time? The exposition!"

"You mean that bit at the beginning of every play where they talk about all the stuff that happened before the story?" he asked. She nodded.

"Boring!"

"Boring?" Gabrielle asked in a slightly amused tone, "Joxer, that's how ever play starts. If the storyteller doesn't say what happened before-"

"But what if you just start, and then let the characters tell you what happened?" the sort-of warrior asked, "I mean, if it's so important to the story, why wouldn't they talk about it?"

"I don't know...it sounds-"

A large gray wolf that suddenly leapt towards Joxer and herself interrupted the blonde woman. Gabrielle, who was directly in front of the wolf, closed her eyes and waited. There was no time to do anything; she couldn't move her staff fast enough, and Xena was behind them a ways back on the horse. So she just braced herself for the impact and raised her arm to hopefully keep the things teeth away from her neck.

But the only pain she felt was on her bottom as she landed on it. As soon as she realized that there were no teeth in her, the bard opened her eyes and looked up to where she saw something amazing.

Joxer, his face pouring sweat from the pain he was obviously in, talking quietly to the wolf that held his arm in a bloody grip. Not screaming, not hitting; he was just whispering to it. She couldn't hear exactly what the wannabe warrior was saying, but obviously, something was getting through because the wolf was responding with small growls and ear movements. Xena looked as if she was going to get involved, but a hand from Gabrielle held her back. For once, it looked as if Joxer had the situation under control. Finally, as she and Xena watched, the gigantic gray wolf released Joxer from the hold it had on his arm, leaving a large bloody hole in the flesh of his forearm.

It was then that Gabrielle and the dark-haired warrior princess moved, each doing what they needed to. The bard took Joxer, who was looking rather woozy, and laid him down next to a tree trunk so that his body was propped up. Now that she saw it up close, it didn't look good.

The front of his forearm was almost entirely ripped up, and blood was flowing freely from the large wound. Joxer himself looked paler than usual, which scared Gabrielle badly. But instead of getting upset, she quickly tore a piece of her skirt off and used it to wrap Joxer's arm wound. It would help, but they would have to get to the city soon to get some real healing done on the injury. She knew it would scar, but she was sure that Joxer wouldn't mind. He'd probably be proud of it, so she didn't worry about that.

As soon as she had him all wrapped up, the Amazon turned to see her friend staring at the large gray wolf.

It was just sitting there, not doing a thing, as if it were a faithful dog instead of a killer beast. Xena had been trying to scare if away for the last couple of minutes, but nothing seemed to move the creature, or even slightly shock it. So Gabrielle gave it a try.

"Scram!" She yelled angrily, thinking of their injured friend and the countless others the beast had to have hurt, "Get out of here, or by Hades I will see you dead!"

The beast stayed, though, but it looked confused at her words, as if she was speaking another language to it.

"Go away!" Xena bellowed, helping, "You can understand me, I know you can. I saw Joxer talking to you! So go!"

And yet the things stayed.

"Fine" replied the warrior princess, pulling out her sword as she stared angrily at the wolf, "Then I'll just-"

"No..." came a croaking voice from the other side of the road. All eyes, human and non, turned to where Joxer, looking pale and weak, was sitting against a log, "Don't...kill it. It...it...."

"It what, Joxer?" Gabrielle asked, the concern in her voice more helpful to his health than any bandage, "All we saw is that it's mad, and needs to either be killed or chased away from humans..."

"No..." the warrior replied, his voice soft yet firm, "You'd be...killing more than...a wolf."

"What do you mean?"

"Go" Joxer said, switching his attention from his two friends to the wolf, "Leave or they will-"

Gabrielle rushed over as Joxer's strength gave out, while Xena remained by the wolf. The warrior princess looked down at the beast and into it's eyes, and she saw something very odd there. She saw intelligence. Then the wolf seemed to nod and left. Xena watched it go, and then joined her two friends.

"Well, we'd better get to Marimus..." she said as she reached the others, "We can get him to a healer and maybe find a few answers. Not to mention, stop by and see good old Jett..."

"Jett?"

Xena smiled at her friend, "If anyone would know what happened, it would be Joxer's twin. Twins, I've found, no matter how different, have a sort of connection between them. Jett will know what happened, and he'll probably be able to explain it before Joxer can..."

A lone figure sat in a cell, his black clothing almost camouflage in the dark prison. He had been asleep moments before since there was very little else to do in the jail, but since he'd awoken, he knew that there was no way that he could go back to bed anytime soon. It had happened.

Dark brown eyes filled with an unidentifiable emotion continued to flick around the cell as the man's fingers twitched. Yet every other part of him was still. He didn't know what to do.

"Hey...hey!" One of the other inmates yelled from their cell down the hall three units, "What's eatin' you?"

"News..." came a raspy voice from the figure's mouth, "Don't know if it's good or bad. Could be both."

"Huh..." the other inmate sighed, "I didn't see anyone come in today with news. What's the news about?"

"My brother."

"Oh." the prisoner down hall replied, "What? Is he coming here to do another show? I mean, I really liked the last one..."

"No, Makinus..." the raspy voice said tiredly, his fingers still twitching oddly, "The other one..."

"You mean, him?" Makinus asked, skeptical of anything concerning him .

"Yes...him..." the figure answered, the rising anger in his tone warning his fellow convict not to insult him, "As I said. Could be bad. Could be good. I just hope it works out so he's happy...and maybe so he comes in here and breaks out me and Dad..."

"Whatever, Jett..." the inmate replied with a small chuckle, "I'm sure nothing will happen..."

"Well then you're a lot dumber than you look..."

In a small town by the name of Nikus just a few miles from Marimus, another figure bounded up from his large, pillow-covered bed, his hair just brushing the peacock feathers that adorned his resting place. Pushing aside his large bedcover, the man stood and dressed, then walked over to the large mirror in the room. He sat before it.

"Oh dear..." he said to himself, "Theez iz not goud. I em going to haf to get to Marimuz soon, or der will be truble..."

"I juz 'ope dat Cena an Gabrielle can 'elp him wit thiz till I get dere..."

He looked in the mirror again, and paused for a moment.

"But Jett will..."

"Yez, Jett will 'elp 'im. I juz 'ope he 'elps 'im to be good..."

There was another pause as the man named Jace stared at his reflection in the mirror, imagining that it was not he, but his brother, the assassin. Then he thought of his other brother, the one who was going to need him very soon if he was right. The one who had always been forgotten by everyone but his mother. The one whose time had come, not to die, but to live.

"Oh, Joxzer, I 'ope dat dis turns out de way you wanted it to..."

"Boy, he's heavier than he looks..." Gabrielle observed as she pulled his unconscious form off of Argo, "I mean, even without his armor..."

"Well, you know they say that muscle weighs more than fat..." Xena replied with an odd smile. When she saw her friend's bizarre look, she continued, "And running is a great way to develop muscle..."

The comment brought a grin to the bard's face, and made her feel a little better, though they were both still worried. During the rest of the ride to the city, Joxer hadn't woken up, and they had had to change his bandages twice before arriving at the healer's shop due to the amount of blood. In the setting sun, his face looked better, but as they carried him beneath the overhang of the door, Xena could see just how pale the young warrior truly was and it worried her. It worried them both.

Neither of them would ever admit it to him, but Joxer meant a lot to them. Sure, he was rather useless in a battle, but that wasn't what was important. If anything ever happened to him...the bard and the warrior didn't even want to think of it. They didn't want to think of a campfire without his familiar form cooking dinner for all of them. They didn't want to imagine what it would be like to walk the road knowing that they'd never see him tagging along at the most inopportune time. To Xena and Gabrielle, it was not a possibility. So they walked as quickly as they could into the healer's shop, and carefully put him down.

The healer, a young woman with bright green eyes and dark hair, walked out a minute later, her wispy aqua dress flowing behind her as she rushed to the pallet. She looked at Joxer, then up to the two women who had brought him there.

"What happened to him?" she asked, her lightly accented voice all business except for a small note of caring.

"Wolf attack." Gabrielle answered quickly, pointing to the bandaged arm, "He was bit here, and I wrapped it as well as I could before we transported him here..."

"Mmmm."

"Is he going to be okay?" the bard asked, surprised at he anxiety in her own tone, "I mean, will you be able to-"

"Your friend should be fine, my dear..." the healer replied, pulling the bandaging off of the wound while one of her silent attendants handed her swabs dipped in substances unknown to either woman, "Though I don't believe he will wake up before tomorrow evening, at the very least. It is good that you brought him here."

"So, he'll be fine?" Xena asked, her voice betraying her own concern.

The healer smiled at the two of them. "Yes, your friend will be fine."

There was a pause, and then the healer asked, "But I must know...the wolf, was it rabid?"

"No."

The eyebrow of the green-eyed woman rose as she filed that away. "Was it a large gray wolf which seemed far smarter than it should have been?"

Xena's eyes widened. "Yes, it...our friend, I think he actually talked to it."

"Indeed..." the healer replied, again raising her eyebrow oddly.

"What does that-"

"I suggest that the two of you leave him to my care..." the woman interrupted, pointing to the door, "See the sights of the city, go to the market. Your presence will only cause you to worry..."

"That's fine." Xena answered before Gabrielle could argue otherwise, "We have some business here anyway which we need to take care of, and now would be perfect."

There was a pause, and then Xena asked her friend, "Could you wait outside for a moment?"

The blonde was upset and curious, but she knew that she could trust her companion and nodded, then proceeded to leave the shop. As soon as the bard was out of earshot, the healer said, "Thank you. I did not wish for her to hear this..."

"What, exactly?"

The healer breathed in deep, then continued, "When your friend awakes, there is a chance that he will be different. Very different. I am unsure of this, but it is best to be prepared should my suspicions and my assessment of his condition be right. I merely wish to warn you of this..."

The warrior bobbed her head at the healer, then answered, "Thank you."

Then the healer nodded a goodbye, and then turned back to her patient. Xena made her way outside, only to be grabbed by Gabrielle and gruffly pulled aside.

"Why did you just leave him there?" the blonde asked fiercely, "Who knows what could happen to him! He could die in there, or-"

"Or he could be cured..." Xena finished calmly, looking her friend in the eye, "You're very concerned about him, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course I am!" The feisty bard replied. Then she realized just how emotional she was getting and calmed herself. "And he did get hurt saving me from that wolf..."

Xena nodded, and let Gabrielle think what she wanted. The little blonde would figure it out eventually, the warrior princess decided. Hopefully before they met in the Elysian Fields...

"Anyway," the bard said, shifting the conversation well, "you said we had business. I assume that means that we'll be going to see Jett now?"

The dark-haired fighter nodded, then without a word began the walk towards the prison. Gabrielle followed, but not before glancing once more through the window of the healer's shop. Out of the blonde's sight, Xena smiled.

"Hey, Assassin! You have a couple of visitors!"

Jett lifted his head from his hands where they had been resting for the last hour or so, and looked up with cold eyes towards the bard and the warrior princess.

"Hello..." he said in his cold, raspy voice.

It still amazed Gabrielle that such a frightening person could be in a package that looked exactly like Joxer. It shocked her every time she saw her friend's brother. Hands that truly were lethal weapons that looked so much like hands that had cooked her dinner. Eyes that she'd seen staring at her with caring mirrored here by eyes filled with arrogance and bloodlust. A voice so frigid and cruel that came out of a mouth that she was used to seeing set in a goofy grin. And yet, she could see the connection between them.

"Listen, Jett." Xena said, "Something strange happened on our way to Marimus."

"Me? I'm fine. And you?" Jett answered icily, ignoring what the warrior had said.

"Look," Xena continued, putting her face up to the bars, her expression fierce, "On the way here, we were attacked by a large gray wolf, and Joxer saved Gabrielle here from it. But he got bit, badly."

"So why would you want to see me about it?" The assassin asked, his voice tired and worried, despite his attempts to hide it.

"Because he spoke to it!" Xena hissed, pulling her head away from the cell, "All the while it held his arm, he didn't scream, or hit it. He just spoke to it. And then when I tried to kill the beast, he wouldn't let me. Told me that I'd be killing 'more than a wolf'...then he told the wolf to leave, and it did. Now, I want you to tell me what happened?"

"Yeah!" Gabrielle put in.

Joxer's brother gave a withering glance up to the blonde, and then looked at Xena. "He didn't let you kill the wolf because it wasn't really a wolf. It was our Grandpa..."

Continue >>>