"Black"

Black

Black
by Sarah McLachlan

As the walls are closing in
and the colors fade to black
and my eyes are falling fast and deep into me
and I follow the tracks that lead me down
and I never follow what's right
and they wonder sometimes when they see all the
sadness and pain the truth brings to light

Cause I can't see no reason
What is blind cannot see
Cause I want what is pleasing
All I take should be free
What I rob from the innocent ones
What I'd steal from the womb

If I cried me a river of all my confessions
would I drown in my shallow regret?

As the walls are closing in
and the colors fade to black
and the night is falling fast and deep into the sea
and in darkness all that I can see
the frightened and the weak
are forced to cling to mistakes they know nothing of
at mercy are the meek.

Cause I can't see no reason
What is blind cannot see
Cause I want what is pleasing
All I take should be free
What I rob from the innocent ones
What I'd steal from the womb

If I cried me a river of all my confessions
would I drown in my shallow regret?

If I cried me a river of all my confessions
would I drown ... (fade out)

Ares smoothed the black leather of his vest over his chest and smirked into the mirror. He had finally come up with a plan to make Xena come crawling back to him. All he had to do now was bait the trap as only a god could. For this particular bait he needed everything to be just right. He turned to regard the portal that allowed him to view his bait of choice.

She was standing in a kitchen waiting for a kettle to boil. A Japanese style tea cup was at her elbow where she leaned on the counter. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail that hung down just past her shoulders in a mahogany river.

Ares let his eyes travel over her body. Much better than Discord's, he decided. Almost as good as Xena's in fact. A tight gray short sleeved tee shirt hugged her chest and shoulders while a worn pair of pale blue jeans outlined her hips and rear before hanging loosely down her legs to brush the tops of her bare feet. Ares licked his lips as she reached up for something in the cabinet, revealing her firmly muscled stomach. Ares smirked at the image before him as she went about her morning routine. She had no idea what she could become.

Morgan poured the boiling water over her tea bag and waited for it to seep while she munched on a honey and oats granola bar. She turned around to rummage in the cabinet for the honey she used as a sweetener when she felt it. A weird tingling sense of displacement, like they described how a transporter felt in all those Star Trek novels she read. Instead of the solid oak of the cabinet door her hand came down on cold stone.

Morgan whirled around, her .9mm auto pistol in one hand and her favorite knife in the other.

The tall dark man she found herself facing clapped slowly as his gaze wandered over her. "Very nice, Morgan. I can call you Morgan, can't I?"

"Who the hell are you?" Morgan demanded. Her eyes took in every detail without ever leaving his face.

"Always to the point," Ares chuckled. "I like that. I have a job that requires your very special skills. But you never answered my question. Can I call you Morgan or would you prefer to be called Black?"

"Well, as this is a business matter make it Black." She holstered her pistol at the small of her back and folded the knife back into her pocket. "But I like to know who I'm working for. There aren't that many people who can pull this kind of trick. Fewer who know what I do for a living."

"The name is Ares."

Black looked down at the outfit Ares had provided her and snorted. Black leather pants and a cropped vest. Nice boots though. A quick check confirmed the equipment he supplied was there. She looked around as she familiarized herself with her new sword.

Trees, bushes, and rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Oh, yes. And rocks. Black snorted, this was definitely Greece. Correction. Ancient Greece.

Whatever. She was a professional with a job to do. No matter how annoying she found her current employer. She looked down the road and saw the three people she was looking for. She sat down on a rock to wait.

Xena looked up from where she was looking at tracks and into the dark eyes of a young woman with long dark hair falling down her back.

The woman arched an eyebrow. "We do look similar."

"Who are you?" Xena frowned. Gabrielle and Joxer stopped just to one side of the Warrior Princess.

"Morgan the Black. You might say I'm a relative," she said. Laughter sparkled in her brown eyes. "You're Xena, the Warrior Princess. The blonde is Gabrielle the bard and Amazon Queen. The guy in the scrap armor is Joxer the Mighty."

"Scrap armor?" Joxer sputtered.

"Nice to meet you, but what do you want?" Gabrielle asked.

Morgan smiled at her. "I want to go home, Ares wants me to cause trouble here. I thought you could lend me a hand."

"Causing trouble or going home?" Joxer asked.

"Making Ares regret ever snatching me out of my house," Morgan said.

Xena shot a sidelong glance at her friends then looked back at Morgan. "What did you have in mind?"

"Let's get his attention first," Morgan said with a grin.

Joxer looked at Gabrielle and grinned. "Shall we?"

Gabrielle's eyes followed his motion toward one of the many statues of Ares in the temple. She glanced back at her friend and returned his smile. "Let's."

The statue tumbled under their combined strenth. Xena and Morgan were throwing lances into the altar and pulling down displayed weapons. Gabrielle thought Morgan was enjoying herself from the glitter in her eyes. She had seen that look in Xena's eyes in fights.

"STOP THIS!" Ares roared as he appeared in a flash of cold blue light.

"Nah, I'm having too much fun." Morgan threw another lance at the leather and horn throne.

Xena held up a hand to stop her from kicking over another brazer. "We have a deal for you, Ares."

The God of War crossed his arms across his broad chest and eyed Xena. "What kind of deal?"

"You send Morgan home," Joxer answered from where he leaned against a now empty pedestal, "and we stop trashing your temples."

"Or she stays, and we wreck every temple in Greece," Gabrielle said offering him the alternative.

"I thought you were following the way of peace," Ares growled as he shot the bard a glare.

Gabrielle shrugged. "I'm just helping redecorate."

"Yeah." Morgan twirled a spear in her hands. "I'm going to convert all of the temples for Athena."

"You're going to what?!?!?" Ares bellowed.

Morgan shrugged. "I just always liked her better."

"But you're an assassin!"

"If I cried me a river of all my confessions, would I drown in my shallow regret?" Morgan asked airily. "In short no. You never asked who I normally work for, Ares. You never asked who I killed for a living."

Joxer blinked and took a better look at the woman who called herself Black. She had long slender legs, small hips.... All in all she was rather lanky....

"I kill dictators, drug lords, crime bosses, Ares. So what if I get paid for it?" Morgan asked still talking to the God who now stood in front of her. She showed no fear and Ares was begining to doubt she had ever known the feeling. "Send me home, Ares. I have kids to take care of. Or weren't you paying attention?"

"Joey, Grace, and Xanna..." Ares blinked. She had managed to surprise him again. "You know who you are?"

The three other mortals blinked.

"Who is she?" Gabrielle asked.

"I," Morgan said blithly, "am a direct decendant from all three of you. And your kids, grandkids and great-grandkids all have a tendency to cause Ares here a lot of trouble."

"And he wanted you to prevent it all by killing us!" Xena glared at Ares.

"You can't blame me for trying." He shrugged.

"But he forgot one thing!" Joxer said. "No god can fool the decendants of Joxer the Mighty!"

Morgan and Gabrielle shared a look.

"You know he sounds just like Grandpa Jack," Morgan muttered to the blonde woman.

"I think you mean your Grandpa sounds just like him," Gabrielle whispered back.

Ares just rolled his eyes. "All right already. Say good-bye, Black."

Morgan turned to her friends and gave them a wicked grin. "See you in your next lives!"

Then she and Ares were gone.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Xena asked the air.

Morgan appeared back in her kitchen, her .9mm back in its holster and her knife hanging between her shoulder blades. She sighed and looked around. It was good to be back.

The front door slammed as her cousin banged into the house. "Hey, Morgan where are you?"

"In the kitchen, Annie. How did the past life thing go?" Morgan called.

Annie dropped into one of the kitchen chairs and looked into her cousin's dark eyes. "You'll never believe this...."

The End

Disclaimer:
No temples were harmed during the production of this fan-fic, but I don't know if Nacey will forgive me for this one. Ah well. It was fun, but way harder than the last one!

Please take the time to write to Ephiney at ephiney@yahoo.com and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, and all other characters who have appeared in the series, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of StudiosUSA and Renaissance Pictures. The music and lyrics to "Black" are owned by the proper copyright holders. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. The character Black/Morgan was created by Ephiney for use in this fiction. This story is copyright © 1999 by Ephiney and is her sole property along with the story idea. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.