Rating: PG-13.
Violence: No
Sex: Nope.
Disclaimer: Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, and all other characters who have appeared in either series, together with the names, titles and backstories are the sole copyright property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. Certain themes and details in this series are borrowed from Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series of books. The character of Draco is not the Xena one, but is borrowed as well. He belongs to Rafaella DeLaurentis, Rob Cohen, MCA and Universal Studios, although his accent is the sole property of Sean Connery.

Notes: Geez - is this number eight already? I think so. The Relationship grows. We meet new characters - some of them familiar from other settings. I've been learning to speak in Cryptic from Angel in first season Buffy.

As always, my heart and eternal gratitude go to my dear friend, Rebecca Littlehales - and Dan, for letting me occupy so much of her time. I also want to thank my friends who preread this for me - they've probably forgotten all about it, it's been so long since it was first written.

Gabrielle was soaring through the air, dipping with the wind current and then gliding for a few minutes. Xena would die for this experience. Everyone should have a chance to fly. Maybe a loop-de-loop?

Whoa, Gabs. Focus. We're trying to find a ship, remember? A ship heading towards Greece?

The sound of Joxer's voice in her mind drew her back to herself. She had found the seagull's mind easy to control, but apparently the sensation of the seagull's freedom in flying over the waves had taken over without her paying attention. Sorry. I got a little carried away.

The sharing of power with Joxer, the bond, made things she had known she would never do when she first became a witch now possible. She knew herself to be far too weak a witch, on her own, to ever Borrow a mind. She could barely manage to ride her staff before, and it was supposed to work just for her. Her powers had been more in the memorization of spells or potion ingredients and medication area than in real magic. But now that she tapped into the natural power that was inside Joxer, she was capable of things her small touch of witch's blood could never have enabled her to do otherwise.

She had slept in his arms last night, and it seemed to strengthen the bond between them. Not to mention how nice it felt to wake up in the warm embrace of someone who... No, not now. If she wanted to think about things like that, she would have to put up the barrier she knew was available, but it would be dangerous for her to be out here, free floating with her mind in the gull's body, without his mind watching over her. They had too many emotional things to deal with to let natural physical
responses get in the way, so she just needed to let that go for a while. She focused on the distance. I see a ship! Thank the gods for that.

Go land on the deck. I'll follow you.

The bond had increased Joxer's abilities, too. She hadn't thought that would be possible. But he had practiced materializing and dematerializing around the island yesterday, and he had far more control with it than he had ever had before. He probably could have materialized them all back in Greece, but he wasn't willing to try something quite that risky just yet, so he had come up with the idea for the two of them to locate a ship to take the survivors home. She glided in to a landing on the deck of the ship she had spotted. Not long after, the wizard materialized beside her and grinned. "Hi!"

Don't look now, but here comes the welcoming committee. She perched her seagull body on Joxer's shoulder as a half a dozen men with expressions ranging from merely stunned to downright unfriendly approached them.

Joxer straightened to his full height, and turned his attention to the man who appeared to be leading the group. "Are you the ship's captain?"

"No," the man growled, "But I'm capable of dealing with stowaways."

"I need to speak with your captain, sir, if you would be so kind." Gabrielle could feel Joxer's relief that the man spoke with a Greek accent. She sensed a total lack of fear in the wizard, and wondered at that. The Joxer that had left Greece not that very long ago would have been quaking, inside at least, at the odds. How do you know that? he snickered in her mind. I'd have never admitted it.

Maybe I knew you better than you thought, even before.

Their give and take was cut off by the woman emerging from below decks. Her very appearance bespoke authority, and neither of the pair doubted that this was the captain. She held herself with confidence, and when she appeared, the men all changed their bearing as well. Her dark eyes flashed at the sight of the unfamiliar man with the seagull on her main deck. "Where have you been hiding since we left Afrika?" she asked with slight contempt. "You've kept yourself mighty clean for a
stowaway."

Joxer smiled knowingly. "I just got here."

She snorted. "Yeah, right. We're thousands of knots from anything resembling dry land, three days from our last dock, and you just got here. I suppose you walked on the water."

Joxer gestured to the bird on his shoulder. "She flew here. I just followed her."

The dark woman rolled her eyes. "Lovely. Not just a stowaway, but a madman as well. Lock him up in the brig, boys. We'll deal with him later." She turned on her heel, but a choked gasp from behind her brought her back around. She saw two of her men in poses that indicated they had been reaching for the stranger when they had been frozen in place. They apparently could move their eyes and breathe, but little else.

Joxer sighed. "I don't really want to do this the hard way, but if you insist, I can. I just need a ride back to Greece for myself and a few of my friends. We've been stranded on that island over there." He waved his hand, and all but the two frozen men looked towards the horizon, spotting for the first time the small bit of land in the distance.

The captain narrowed her eyes. "What's your name, stranger?"

"Joxer," he answered with a nod. Pointing at the seagull, he continued, "And this is Gabrielle."

"Well, Joxer, we don't usually take pets on board a pirate ship."

Pets! Gabrielle yelled, causing the wizard to put a hand to his pained temple. I'll show you what kind of damage a seagull can do when properly motivated, sister!

Gabby, don't. This may be our last chance to get home for a while. He smiled at the captain. "The seagull won't be coming, don't worry. She's not a pet, she's my -" There really wasn't a word for his relationship with Gabrielle anymore in the Greek language, he mused, "friend. It's a long story. So, will you take us home, Captain...?"

"Nebula. And I still need to understand how you got here. I don't think I want to know about your relationship with the bird, thanks. Oh, and could you release my men?" The wizard waved his hand, and the two frozen figures collapsed in a heap on the deck. "Boys," Nebula hollered to the crew, "Head 'er to that island portside. We're picking up some folks."

Xena let out a sigh of relief when she saw the grey and white seagull approach. She looked at the bird, and then at theapparently dead body of her best friend on the blanket beside her. Before long, Gabrielle was sitting up. "Wow," she breathed, "Flying is incredibly cool. Could we have fish for dinner? Or maybe some kind of scraps?"

"Get a grip, bird-woman. Do we have a way home? Where's Joxer?"

"He's on the ship, which is headed here, explaining to that Nebula person how he got there in the first place. From what I'm picking up, the conversation is pretty interesting, and... Hey, lady, don't flirt with him, he's taken!" She paused for a minute. "Well, you are, aren't you, sort of?" Pause. "Yeah, I know you aren't flirting back, but still..." Pause. "Now don't go getting a swelled head over it. It's just a fact - the bond, remember?"

Xena drummed her fingers on the sand. She would never get used to listening to half a conversation. At least, Gabrielle was starting to acknowledge that the bond between her and Joxer meant something special. That was good. "Ask him to ask her if she knows Hercules. I know that name from somewhere." A few moments of silence passed.

"She does, and says if we'd told her we were friends of his, she'd have agreed right away to take us." Gabrielle turned her attention to the Warrior Princess. "Like we can read minds! How would we know she knew him?"

Xena lifted a brow. "Dunno," she said with humor, "You can occupy a seagull's body, Joxer can transport himself across the ocean, you both talk to each other without needing words... I can't imagine why anyone might think you could read minds."

The bard scowled at her. "That's different." She stood up, dusting off her black skirt. "Let's pack and tell the guys from the crew. They'll be here soon. Oooh, is that a fish head on the beach?"

Joxer watched the pirate woman from the corner of his eye as they rowed in to the shore. She was beautiful, strong and confident, dark and sleek. The kind of woman he would have been immediately attracted to, once. The kind of woman who wouldn't have given "Joxer the Mighty" the time of day. But now, his bond with Gabrielle overshadowed everything else, while ironically enough, his new skills and confidence acted like an attractive force, drawing the very woman who once would have laughed in his face. Of course, Nebula was still convinced that Gabrielle was no more than his pet seagull, anyway. He wondered if he could ever live anything that resembled a normal life again.

Xena was waiting when they waded in, pulling the small boat to the sand. "Nebula," she said, eyeing the pirate queen warily.

"Warrior Princess," the woman replied, the same caution on her face.

"Joxer!" the bard called out, emerging from the treeline.

"Hi, Gabby," he returned, taking her hand when she approached for a brief exchange of energy.

The dark woman turned to Xena. "The bird? She didn't look blonde."

Joxer approached the two women. "Stick around us, you'll get used to all sorts of unusual things happening. Is everybody set?" Xena nodded, and on cue the few remaining Greek crewmen filed out on to the beach. Soon all were making their way back to the pirate ship.

Nebula and Xena seemed to have finally accepted each other, and were actually nearly hitting it off. "So, how well did you know Hercules?" the Warrior Princess asked the pirate.

"We're friends," the dark pirate said. "I do think that little sidekick of his is delicious, though."

"Iolaus? He's great. But not like..." Xena stopped herself, abruptly. This was a part of her history of which she was not tremendously proud, and she barely knew this woman.

"Ahh. And how well do you know - him? Them?"

"We're, uh, friends. Good friends. A long time ago, that wasn't true. But it's a real long story."

Nebula seemed to be enjoying the other woman's discomfort. She pointed at Joxer and Gabrielle sitting close together near the front of the skiff. "'Friends' like those two?"

"Those two don't know what they are."

"Does that mean I might have a chance with him?"

"Not on your life."

Xena had a cabin to herself, since she was adamant about not sharing with her friends. They were embarrassed to admit they only needed one bed for them both, when the pirate queen asked. Gabrielle was quick to steal a glance Xena's way. "It's not what you think, you know."

"I know. It's none of my business, anyway."

"It's just to keep the bond strong, so we're both at full power."

She hadn't seen the ship's captain come back. "Well, honey, that sort of thing always gives me power."

The bard glared at the dark woman, sputtering indignantly before storming into her cabin and slamming the door. "I get the feeling you two don't care for each other," Xena offered to the pirate queen, noting the other woman's superior statement.

Just then, Joxer came down the passageway. Nebula's entire attitude changed. "Hey there. I've got a wonderful skin of Chianti I picked up in Italia. Want to join me for a nightcap?" The young man tilted his head as if listening, then shook it, frowning.

"No, thanks. I'm pretty tired." He went through the door to the cabin before the pirate woman could say anything else.

"And I think I know why," Xena muttered to herself.

Joxer carefully erected the barrier in his mind while he watched Gabby wash her face in the bowl on the stand and brush out her hair. He had to admit that sleeping while holding her did things to him, but he didn't think either of them was ready for the next step of physical commitment. So for the past few nights, since they'd been sleeping this way, he spent the last few minutes of each evening reminding himself of how much he wanted to marry this girl, and how that made this so much different than anything with any girl he had ever known before. And of course, he always put up the mental barrier first. He had to do this now, because once they were actually touching the barrier was useless. Neither of them could block their thoughts when they were in contact in any way.

Both finished preparing for the night, they slipped beneath the covers, fully clothed except for their boots. Goodnight, he offered hesitantly.

I don't like her, the bard responded, out of a clear blue sky.

She's taking us home. Like her for that.

I still don't like her came the answer, sulkily. Then she snuggled into his chest, and they drifted off to sleep.

It was a long trip from where they were to Greece, made longer by the visible tension between the bard and the pirate. Joxer made himself useful around the ship, having always enjoyed sailing anyway, and seemed especially to love climbing into the crow's nest and watching the water go by. Once they were back in the Mediterranean, he disappeared for one day after explaining he was going to take a swim. Gabrielle thought about Borrowing a fish for a while, but he caught her in the thought and reassured her he wasn't going to do anything she couldn't know about. He purposely left the link open the whole time he was visiting with Poseidon. Xena kept the pirate queen at bay without revealing where their friend had gone. She knew Joxer didn't want to deal with another bunch of awed sailors.

It didn't help Gabrielle's relationship with the ship's captain any that she and Xena had hit it off in a big way. They did have a lot in common, except for their feelings about Gabrielle. They would spend hours swapping battle tales and weapons techniques, telling bawdy jokes and trying to out drink each other. The bard felt nearly superfluous in the whole thing, and stayed even closer to Joxer because of it. They hardly ever spoke aloud to each other anymore, unless someone else was a part of the conversation. She really resented the beautiful dark woman, though. She had already seemingly taken her place with her best friend, and she saw how she eyed her, um, her, uhhh...

She really was going to have to deal with this word problem. He wasn't her man, not really. Yet he was damn sight more than just a friend. But every time she tried to find a way to refer to her relationship with Joxer, she came up blank.

I have the same problem, you know. What are we?

Not having this conversation. The bard shut down the link in embarrassment. She let her guard slip, where she was usually so careful. Any personal thoughts about him, about whatever them there might be, were carefully barricaded behind the wall she would mentally build before thinking of such things. But she had been careless this time. They were going to have to deal with it eventually, though. Two people who shared both a bed and non-verbal communication would eventually have to deal with the realties of that situation, like the reality that she had become achingly aware of how attractive Joxer could be, up close and personal. And how she had grown so used to how he smelled, how he felt against her. But she would do nothing based purely on physical attraction, and that's all these feelings could possibly be. She knew from his thoughts and memories that he hadn't had it easy growing up, and she knew unlike anyone who ever knew him how sensitive and kind he really was. She liked his mind as much as she was growing to like his body, and although he still had occasional stupid thoughts, they seemed fewer and farther between lately. But none of that meant she was in love, in any way, shape or form. After all, they'd been thrown into this situation, and they were both just trying to make the best of it. It wasn't as if she wanted to sleep in his bed every night. It was something they needed to do in order to maintain their power levels and keep them at their top form. Nothing more. For a moment, even Gabrielle thought she might be protesting a bit much, but she shook the thought away, to be examined later.

They were nearly home - to Greece. She wondered if she should go home once she got there - to Poteidaia. But how would she explain Joxer, and their arrangement? How would she explain his powers, and her own? She had managed to get a scroll off before they'd left for Britannia, explaining she would be out of the country for a while and not to worry, but she's also said she'd try to get back there when she returned. Things were so - complicated. Not that her life with Xena had ever been simple before this.

Xena. There she was on the deck with that damned pirate, laughing and tossing throwing knives at a barrel. Xena - laughing. She couldn't decide if she was jealous (surely not!) or disgusted by this. When they were together, she and Xena took things seriously. Well, there was that one time when Xena kept flipping eels in the bard's lap, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying her discomfort, but...

But just look at her now! Acting like a giddy schoolgirl, laughing, tossing knives, getting carried off by a dragon...

Huh? Joxer? she called mentally, turning to her automatic first response.

Gabby, that dragon just took Xena! We have to save her!

She looked up to the crow's nest, able to see his figure but not his face. Then he materialized beside her. Can't you just follow her to wherever he's taken her and bring her back? she asked reasonably.

I don't have a link with her like I do you. I can't follow her anywhere. I have no idea where she's gone. The bard could hear the panic in his mind, and she reached out to stroke his arm and calm him. He pulled her to him, and as he calmed some, her fear kicked in.

What do you think it'll do to her, Joxer? How will we find her? The bard looked over at the pirate queen, who was giving orders as fast as she could. She pulled out of Joxer's hold and approached the woman. "What are you doing?"

The dark eyes flashed. "We're almost to Crete, and I understand they've had dragons nest there before. I'm going to go find her!"

"Wait a minute! She's my best friend! Joxer's and mine. We're..."

"Going to need all the help we can get, aren't we Gabby?" She could feel him using his magic and their link to soothe her temper. "We'll all go save Xena. That way, we'll be able to find her faster."

Gabrielle nodded sullenly, and he smiled at her, then at the pirate queen. The other woman looked ready to argue until those dark eyes of his widened with his plea, and she gave in. Gazing with a frown at the blonde, Nebula said, "Fine. We'll all go together. Just don't slow me down. I don't want to lose a friend to a dragon because of some helpless little tagalong."

Helpless! You...

Gabby, it's okay. We'll prove her wrong.

Conclusion >>>