Rated: R
Summary: Jett is sent to a village for supplies on his own.
Timeline: AU Fifth Season, eighth month of Jett's parole from Maramis prison
Warning: This story contains descriptions of child abuse (physical and verbal), graphic violence, death and bad language. If this bothers you, please do not read.
Notes: Thanks Sandy, for your ideas and corrections. (Kevin Smith will be miss but will always be remember in our hearts.)

It had been a week since Ares' attempt to destroy Jett. The four friends were now on their way to visit an old friend of Xena's. He had invited them to come and stay with him. Xena had not seen this particular friend in a long time. "We should get to Sardon's home soon," she told them.

"What's Sardon like, Xena?" asked Gabrielle.

"Sardon's a really great fellow. I think you guys will like him a lot."

"Good. I can't wait to meet him."

"Yeah, me too. He sounds like he was a very good friend to you, Xena," Joxer added in.

Xena smiled. "Yes, he's very a good friend, Joxer."

Jett rode alongside Xena, not saying a word. He had been quiet for some time and Xena wondered what was the matter. "Jett, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little bored, that's all."

"Uh huh. I see. Well, why don't you go to the village and get us some supplies for our journey, then?"

"Hey, I'll go with you Jett, if you want some company," Joxer offered.

Xena turned to him and shook her head slightly. "No, I want Jett to go by himself." Joxer inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"Aren't you afraid I'll leave?" Jett asked.

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah - and I know why too. The t-shirt," Jett grumbled with a frown.

"No, that's not the reason why. I trust you."

Jett grinned slightly. "I won't disappoint you, Xena."

"I know," Xena replied. "We'll wait for you here."

Jett smiled and rode away. Gabrielle and Joxer watched him leave. "Xena, do you think that was a good idea?"

"Yes, Gabrielle. I think it was," came Xena's answer. Joxer nodded in agreement.

"MIRANDA, YOU STUPID GIRL! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!"

A small girl around ten years of age slowly got up after falling down from carrying a heavy load of wood in her arms. She had dropped everything and her father was furious. "I'm sorry, Father."

"YOU'RE SORRY? YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT! EVERYTHING IS RUINED!"

"I'm sorry, Father. I didn't mean to do it. It was too heavy," she replied timidly.

"TOO HEAVY! YOU ARE SO WORTHLESS. GODS, WHY WAS I CURSED WITH SUCH A CHILD?" He grabbed Miranda and shook her, slapping her across the face. "ANSWER ME!"

"I don't know, Father. Please don't hit me again!"

That only made him angrier and he slapped her so hard that she fell to the ground and stayed there, too scared to get up. Her father grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up, screaming at her, "YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE BITCH! I SHOULD CUT YOU UP AND FEED YOU TO THE DOGS!"

"Please, Father! You're hurting me!" Miranda cried, trying to pull away from her father's grasp.

He suddenly seemed to calm down. "Oh, am I hurting you?"

Miranda looked at him with fear in her eyes. "No, Father. I'm sorry."

"I think you need to be taught a lesson. Get me my whip, girl!" Miranda stood before him, trembling. Her father was getting angrier by the second. "Get it now because the longer you make me wait, the longer you will be punished." She knew she was really in trouble now because her father was no longer screaming at her, but speaking to her gently, as if he was discussing the weather. Miranda slowly looked around for the whip and gave it to her father.

"Remove your blouse and turn around." Miranda slowly took off her blouse, tears filling her eyes. As she waited for the whip to go across her back, her father said, "Miranda, tell me why I'm doing this."

"Because I have been bad and I need to learn."

"And you know that I am doing this because I love you."

"Yes, Father. I know you do."

Miranda waited for the painful lashes to set her skin on fire, but nothing happened. She finally had the courage to look up. She saw a man holding her father by his throat. "Do you know who I am?" the man asked in a raspy voice. Miranda had never seen her father so frightened of anything or anybody before. Whoever this stranger was, her father was completely terrified of him.

"Yes, I know who you are! Please, King of Assassins, please don't kill me. I am a but a humble farmer just trying to raise my child."

Jett stared at the man. "Do you honestly think I'm that stupid? I saw what you were going to do to that child and I won't let you harm her!"

"Please don't kill me! I won't harm her, I promise."

Jett looked at him. "I will spare your life, you worthless lout, but I want you to leave."

"My daughter... What about her?"

"She's no longer your concern. Now I'll give you five minutes to get out of here or you'll be a freebie!"

Miranda's father ran off as fast as he could. Miranda looked up at Jett, wondering what she was going to do. Was this stranger going to kill her? He looked at her then walked towards his horse. "I'm heading into the village. Do you want a ride?" Jett asked, turning around to face her.

"Are you going to kill me?" she whispered.

Jett smiled, left his horse and walked over to her. He squatted down before her and studied her for a moment. "You're a very pretty child, did you know that?" Miranda stared into his face with wide, frightened eyes. Jett smiled again, trying to reassure her. "I won't kill you. I don't kill children. My name is Jett and you are...?"

"Hungry," she said.

Jett laughed. "So am I," he admitted. "Tell you what: let's go to the village and get something to eat and you can rest." He started walking over to his horse.

Miranda shook her head as she followed him. "I can't! Father will come after you. He went to get his men. Please, just leave. I'll be all right. Really!"

Jett lifted Miranda onto the saddle of his horse. She panicked at first, but settled down when she realized he wasn't going to drop her. "No way! My friends and my brother would never forgive me if I didn't look after you." Jett then re-mounted his horse and headed for the village.

"What's his name?"

"Who? My brother or the horse?"

Miranda smiled. "Both."

"My brother's name is Joxer."

"The Mighty?"

Jett chuckled. "Yeah, that's what he calls himself. How did you know?"

"My father talks about him all the time."

"He does?"

"Yes, he does. He says, 'Miranda, I don't want you to grow up to be like that idiot Joxer The Mighty, so I'll beat you until you understand,' and then he beats me."

Jett scowled when he heard Joxer being referred to as an idiot and used as an excuse to beat an innocent child. "Your father's not a very nice man," he said finally.

"No, it's my own fault. I'm also being punished because I'm a wicked child. I killed my mother," Miranda told him.

"What? I don't believe that! You look too sweet to kill anyone," Jett said.

"I did! My father said I did. He always tells me that. I killed her because I was born. I'm a wicked child."

Jett was silent for a long time before he spoke again. "Thunder."

"Huh?"

"Thunder. That's my horse's name."

"Oh, Thunder. I like that."

Jett rode on thinking about the child had told him. I have to help her find her a place where she will be safe, he thought to himself.

Miranda still didn't understand why this stranger bothered to help her. She wondered what was he going to do to her. She held tightly to Jett so she would not fall off the horse. She was scared of this stranger but also frightened for him. She knew that her father would be back with his men in tow looking for the two of them. In the meantime, she felt safe with him, but she couldn't figure out why. Most people scared her to death. They arrived in town a short while later. Everyone stared at them as they rode through, many people pointing and whispering. Jett paid no attention to them, but Miranda was frightened. "Please! Let's get what you need and leave here."

"It's okay. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise. You're safe with me, Hungry."

Jett was pleased to see a very small smile show up on the girl's face. "It's Miranda. My name is Miranda," she told him.

Jett nodded. "Miranda... I like that. It's a lot nicer than Hungry," he told her, and watched her smile again.

Jett rode up to a general store, got off Thunder, helped Miranda down, and together they walked into the store. The storekeeper stood behind the counter, his eyes widening when he saw Miranda. "You have to get out of here and take that child with you!"

"I came to get supplies and that's what I'm doing."

"You can have whatever you want. Just take it and go!" the shopkeeper urged.

"I'm not a thief! I have money to pay for everything I need. You don't have to be frightened. I won't hurt you," Jett said.

"I'm not afraid of you. You have Miranda with you."

"Yeah. So? What's your point?"

"You don't understand! Miranda is Klark's daughter."

"And this is supposed to frighten me for some reason?" Jett asked sarcastically.

"It should if you have any sense. He's the most dangerous warlord in these parts!"

"I met her father and he's nothing but a sniveling coward! He was going to beat her."

The storekeeper became even more frightened. "And you interfered? What kind of fool are you?" He suddenly got out from behind his counter and started pushing Jett out the door. "Get out of here now!"

Jett pushed the man away. "I'm not going anywhere and I'm not a fool! No one should beat a child, and believe me, I know exactly what I'm talking about!" A vision of Joxer getting strapped to a tree for a whipping because he was caught playing his lute instead of training when they were eight filled his mind and his eyes narrowed in anger at the memory. Suddenly, a fiery arrow went right through the window, hitting the wall and falling to the floor. Miranda screamed in terror as the shopkeeper ran over and smothered the fire with a blanket off a nearby shelf.

"I know you're in there! Give me back my daughter and you won't be hurt. If you don't, I promise you a very painful death. By the time I'm done with you, there'll be nothing left of you, not even for the buzzards!" Klark yelled.

Jett turned to Miranda and knelt down in front of her. He spoke to her calmly, but he felt his heart racing. "Miranda, listen to me. Go out the back way. Get on Thunder and tell him to go back. He'll take you to my friends and brother."

Miranda shook her head roughly. "No, I won't leave you!"

"Miranda, please! I want you to do what I say. Go get them. I'll be all right."

"But Jett, they'll kill you! There's too many of them!"

"Please, Miranda. I want you to go now," Jett said.

Miranda nodded, reached out and squeezed his hand. "Please don't die. You're the only one who's ever been kind to me."

Jett smiled. "Go on, Miranda! Hurry!" He turned to the shopkeeper, his smile fading away to an angry scowl. "You! Follow her, help her onto my horse and get to safety," he barked. The shopkeeper didn't question Jett. He followed Miranda outside where Thunder was waiting patiently.

The shopkeeper lifted Miranda onto Thunder and gave her the reins. "Thunder, take me back!" she said. Thunder immediately trotted away and the shopkeeper took off in a dead run for his home.

Jett looked around frantically for something to defend himself with and spotted a very heavy frying pan. It'll have to do, he thought to himself grimly as someone started battering at the door. He stood in the middle of the store with the frying pan in his hand, ready to strike. "You're not getting her back, Klark. Not while I stand and breathe!" he shouted.

"Then you'll die instead, assassin!" Klark ordered his men to charge. Jett was ready when Klark's men broke in and the battle began, Jett hitting swords away and knocking out as many of the thugs as he could, but there were simply just too many for him to handle. When things settled down, many of Klark's men lay unconscious on the floor, along with Jett. Klark stood over him and stared down at his still form for a moment. He bent down and lifted Jett's head up by his hair. "So, you aren't so tough in hand-to-hand combat, are you?" He turned to one of his men and ordered, "Bring him. I need him alive so he can take me to my daughter. Then I will kill them both slowly. I want to hear them scream." The man nodded and got another man to help him. They dragged Jett from the store by his feet.

Miranda held on tightly as Thunder raced down the road. She then saw three people at a campsite rising to their feet with alarmed looks on their faces. "Please help!" she screamed as Thunder rode into the campsite and halted. Xena grabbed Thunder's reins and the child slipped from the saddle and into her arms.

"Jett... Help... Father... Kill..." the child gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Joxer looked confused and then worried. "Jett killed her father?"

Gabrielle turned to him and snapped, "Joxer, be quiet!"

"Knock it off, Gabrielle! Stop treating him like that!" Xena snapped back. Gabrielle's jaw dropped open in surprise and she turned away, embarrassed. Joxer blinked in silent astonishment. Xena held the girl and spoke to her softly. "Take a deep breath... That's good. Okay, honey. Now what's wrong? How did you get Thunder?"

Miranda looked up at Xena. "Please help Jett. He's in real big danger! My father is Klark."

Xena suddenly had a strange look in her eyes and her breath drew in sharply. "Xena, you know who Klark is, don't you?" Joxer asked softly.

Xena nodded slowly, her eyes turning cold as she stared ahead. "He was one of my generals and if he hurts or kills Jett, he'll never see the light of day again." Xena looked at Miranda. "Does he still camp in the mountains?"

"Yes," Miranda replied nervously.

"I'm going after him," she said.

Gabrielle nodded. "I'll get my stuff."

"No! I'm going alone this time."

"Xena?"

"I'm going alone."

"No way! Not without me! Jett is my brother, not yours!" Joxer exclaimed.

Xena looked at her two friends. "I understand the way you feel, Joxer, but I can make better time alone," she repeated.

"No, Xena! We're coming with you," Gabrielle replied stubbornly.

"I am too."

They all turned around and looked at Miranda. "Oh no you're not! You're staying right here!" Xena exclaimed.

"What, by myself? Look, I'm the only one who knows where my father and his men are. You need me and I won't stay here!"

Joxer bent down in front of Miranda. "You seem to like Jett."

Miranda looked at Joxer. "Yes, I like him. He was nice to me and I don't want to see him hurt."

"I see. I'm glad he was nice to you." Joxer smiled and helped Miranda on Thunder then mounted up behind her. Xena looked at him for a few moments, seeing the worry in her friend's eyes. Finally, Xena said, "Joxer, Sardon's home isn't far from here. It's just down this road and you should reach it shortly. I want you to take her there, all right? Gabrielle, go with him. You two need to protect her."

"But Xena..."

Xena raised an eyebrow. "Gabrielle, go with Joxer and protect this child."

Gabrielle sighed and then nodded in agreement. "Okay, Xena."

"NO! I'M COMING WITH YOU, DAMN IT!" Miranda suddenly yelled.

Joxer glared at her. "Young lady, you'll do what Xena tells you to do and watch your language! If you like Jett, then you better listen to Xena. She knows what she's talking about."

"But you need me to help find my father!" Miranda pleaded.

Xena rode over to Joxer and Miranda. "I promise I'll bring him back safe and sound."

Miranda looked at her. "All right. I'll go with them, but please bring Jett back."

Xena smiled at the girl. "I will. I promise." She exchanged glances with Joxer and he nodded slightly.

"But I know where he is!" Miranda tried one last time to persuade Xena to take her along, but she shook her head.

"I can find him. I know your father. I know his habits," Xena told her. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Joxer and Gabrielle will keep you safe, and if they ask you to do something, do it, all right?"

Miranda nodded, knowing she had no choice but to trust this woman.

The unconscious form of Jett was tied up between two trees. Klark sneered at him then turned to one of his men. "Wake him up!" he ordered.

The man threw a bucket of water in Jett's face. He sputtered and opened his eyes, trying to focus. He felt his head being lifted and he stared up blearily into Klark's face. "I want my daughter back. Tell me where she is, assassin!"

"Screw you!" Jett sneered at Klark and spit in his face.

Klark stuck him hard right across the mouth, splitting his bottom lip open. "Damn it! Tell me where she is!"

"Go to Tartarus!" Jett hissed as blood dripped down his chin.

"Why are you coming between me and my daughter? You have no right!"

"I won't let you hurt her again! She's only a child!"

"She's not your child! She's mine! Now tell me where she is or I'll kill you!"

Jett lifted his head. Klark saw no fear in his eyes, only hate. "Then kill me. She's safe now and you'll never find her."

"DAMN YOU!" Klark screamed as he knocked Jett out again. He turned to his men. "Take this piece of trash away and get rid of it! I'll find Miranda without his help."

Two of his men cut Jett down, took him to the end of a hill and rolled him down it. They watched as he rolled down the steep hill, landing down at the bottom. They left, neither one checking to see if he was dead or still alive.

Gabrielle, Joxer, and Miranda arrived at Sardon's home. A young woman came out to greet them. "You must be Xena's friends. My name is Brett. I'm Sardon's wife. Please come in."

Miranda found herself clinging to Joxer. Joxer looked down at her and saw that she was absolutely terrified. Brett stopped short and looked at her carefully. She slowly came over to her. "You're Miranda, aren't you?" she asked.

Miranda stared at the woman but said nothing. She was too frightened to speak. Brett held her breath as she looked at the child, her thoughts racing. By the gods... Here with Xena's friends was her niece Miranda who she had only seen from a distance in town. How on earth did they manage to get her away from Klark? Joxer got down from Thunder, breathing a silent sigh of relief that he hadn't managed to catch his foot in the stirrups again and helped Miranda down. "Is your name Miranda?" she repeated the question softly.

Miranda nodded and stared at the woman with wide eyes. Brett smiled warmly. "Hello, Miranda. You don't need to be afraid of me. I'm your aunt."

Miranda looked around wildly. She wanted to run away, far, far, away but Joxer held her gently but firmly by the shoulders. She suddenly screamed, "You're not my aunt! You lie! I have nobody but my father. Why are you saying this?"

Sardon came outside at that moment. "You need to be more polite, young lady! You may be Klark's daughter but...."

Miranda suddenly wrenched away from Joxer's grasp and ran into the woods before he could catch her. "I'll get her!" Gabrielle took off after her. She came back a little while later, carrying the screaming Miranda with difficulty.

"NO! NO, I WON'T BE BEATEN AGAIN! I WON'T!" The girl was kicking and fighting Gabrielle and it was all the bard could do to hold onto her. She yelped in surprise when Miranda's elbow jabbed into her chest.

Joxer walked over and held out his arms. "I've got her, Gabrielle." He took Miranda from Gabrielle, yelling in pain when he got kicked in the shin for his trouble. "Shhh. It's going to be okay, honey. Nobody's going to beat you," he said in a soothing voice. Miranda eventually settled down and Joxer breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up at Sardon and Brett, who both looked very upset.

Sardon approached her cautiously. He had not meant to scare her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you, Miranda. You're safe here."

Miranda only cried harder. "I want Jett!"

Brett reached out to embrace Miranda but she backed away and stood behind Joxer. He turned his head in Gabrielle's direction. She was staring in the direction that Xena had gone in. He cleared his throat loudly, making her jump. "Gabrielle, go help Xena," he said.

Gabrielle turned around. "Joxer, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. We'll be fine. Be careful, Gabrielle."

"I will," Gabrielle nodded, mounted her horse and rode off

Joxer turned to the upset couple. "Is it all right if I speak to Miranda for a few minutes by myself?" he asked. The two nodded and went inside, Brett crying softly.

Joxer waited until they were inside and turned around to kneel before the still-sobbing child. He reached out and wiped Miranda's tears away gently. "It's going to be all right, Miranda." He paused for a moment as he sat down on the grass. "Jett really made quite an impression on you, huh?"

Miranda sniffed and sat down on the grass next to Joxer. "He saved me from being beaten again from my father."

Joxer nodded. "Yeah. He did that for me too when we were kids."

Miranda looked up at him, surprised. "You were hit too?"

Joxer's eyes grew sad as he gazed into the distance, lost in thought for a moment. "Uh huh." He sighed and turned back to her. "Jett tried to protect me by making me hide when Father got angry over something he thought I did wrong. He'd pretend that he was me if Father came home drunk and take my punishment instead. He always thought I never knew why he made me hide, but I knew the reason why he did it."

Miranda nodded. "He's the greatest."

"Well, he's not perfect..." Joxer thought back to how Jett forced him to hide from their father. "But he's always cared, Miranda, even when he tries to hide it. He doesn't want to see the same thing happen to you that happened to us. Do you understand?"

Miranda nodded again. "Yeah."

Joxer smiled as he rose to his feet. "C'mon. Let's go inside and get to know your aunt and uncle better while we wait for Xena and Gabrielle to bring him back," he said as he offered his hand to her. She looked at it suspiciously, then looked up at his face and saw the kindness in his dark eyes. She placed her hand in his and his smile widened to his infectiously goofy grin. Miranda returned it as they walked into the house.

Conclusion >>>