Rated: PG
Notes: This is my second story of my Parole Series.

It had been a long day and they were all tired, so Xena decided to stop for the night.

"This is a good place to camp for tonight. Tomorrow we will start changing Jett's life. First thing in the morning - new clothes. Joxer, you can go to town and buy them."

Jett looked at Xena. "Joxer! Why Joxer? Have you seen his taste in clothing? Besides, what's wrong with my clothes?"

Xena walked over and grabbed Jett. "I like Joxer's taste in clothing. Her eyes blazed into his. He could feel her hot breath against his face and he swallowed. She smiled and let go of Jett, and he fell to the ground. "Now that we have that taken care of."

She turned to Joxer who was rolling out is bedroll. "Something nice, Joxer. Not silly, nice. Something that says 'I'm not a killer any more.'"

Joxer nodded his head and then laid down on his bedroll and went to sleep. The next morning he awoke to the sound of arguing.

"You had no right! Those clothes belong to me. You little wench."

"Xena told me to burn them, so I did."

Jett grabbed a hold of Gabrielle and began twisting her arm. "You will pay for that, wench."

"Jett! Let her go."

He turned to face his brother. "Joxer, she burned my outfit. Do you know how much that outfit meant to me?"

Joxer approached his brother carefully. "Jett, please let her go. She did what Xena told her to do. Please let go. Xena won't like it if you hurt Gabrielle."

Jett turned and looked at Gabrielle. He saw in her not fear, but anger, and he let go. "What am I supposed to do without clothes?"

"Wait till Joxer returns from town. Joxer, get going."

They all turned to see Xena carrying breakfast.

"Can I eat first?"

"We'll save you some, but right now your brother needs clothes. We wouldn't want him to sit in his skivvies all day."

Both the girls laughed, and Jett walked away into the woods.

Joxer marched down the road singing his favorite song. All was right with the world. His brother was out of prison and traveling with him. Okay, maybe more with Xena, 'cause he had no choice. Until he changed he had to travel with Xena for ten years. But he was glad, because maybe Xena could bring back the brother he lost so many years ago, before their father had changed him. There was good in Jett, he just knew it, somewhere deep down inside.

"Why?" asked the bard.

"Why what?" came Xena's reply.

"Why now after all these years? Why do you want to help Jett now?"

The Warrior Princess studied her friend. "I didn't think he was ready then. Now I do."

The bard shook her head. "Well, you always were a good judge of character. So if you think Jett is ready to change, I'll back you up all the way."

Xena flashed a smile at Gabrielle. "Thanks. That means a lot, Gabrielle. Come on, let's go see what Jett's doing."

They found Jett in the river taking a bath. Xena smiled and yelled to him, "Mind if I join you?"

"What?" Jett sputtered.

"What the matter? Never share a river with a woman?" laughed Xena.

Jett stared daggers back at Xena. "Of course I have. It's just that I didn't expect you to ask. But hey, I don't own the river, so it's okay with me."

Xena smiled and start to remove her armor. She turned back to her friend. "Gabrielle, please go back to the campsite and wait for Joxer."

Gabrielle nodded her head, and as she left she was giggling. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do Xena," she laughed.

Jett watched from the river as he noticed Xena and Gabrielle exchange winks. He then watched Xena dive into the river. He suddenly lost sight of her. Where did she go? Suddenly he felt himself being pulled under. He sputtered and kicked to get away from whatever had grabbed him. Xena emerged and looked at him.

"You were frightened? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

He shook his fear off. "I wasn't scared, you just startled me."

Xena nodded her head in understanding. "Turn around and I'll do your back."

Joxer soon came to the town. He stood there and stared. He had never seen so much action, even in Athens. There were vendors everywhere. "Boy, Gabrielle would love this." He walked up and down each booth trying to find just the right clothes for Jett. He wanted something that was pleasing to the eyes, yet, like Xena said, was not a killer's style. He stopped in front of a place that sold shirts. He had just picked one up when he heard a voice.

"Hey buddy, hey pal, over here."

Joxer turned to the voice. It was a strange little man, standing across the road.

"Come over here, I've got something to show you."

Joxer walked over to the little man. The man smiled at him. "I see you are looking at shirts."

"Yeah, well, I am. Yes, I am."

The man placed a hand around Joxer's shoulder. "My boy, I've got just what you need." He held up a strange looking shirt. It was black, and painted right in the middle of it was a bleeding heart with a dagger though it.

Joxer stared at the shirt. "It's different," he acknowledged.

"My boy, this is a T-shirt, and someday they will be worn by everyone. Why don't you be the first?"

"Well, it's not for me, it's for my brother, and that one is out. It says 'I'm a killer,' and we don't want that."

"Oh, I see. You want something that says, 'I'm not a killer?'"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Then I have just the T-shirt."

He took out another one and showed it to Joxer. Joxer smiled. Yes, this T-shirt was perfect. It definitely didn't say 'I'm a killer.' "I'll take this one, thanks."

The man smiled as Joxer paid for Jett's new T-shirt. Then he bought the rest of Jett's new clothes, and headed back to the campsite.

Xena was drying Jett's back. As she did, she decided to ask, "What happened back there?"

Jett sighed. He didn't know why, but he felt okay explaining to Xena about his actions in the river.

"I was twelve years old when I made my first kill. My first kill was an accident, and it made me sick. That made my father mad, and he took me to the river and tied me to a chair and lowered me into the water, saying no real man would get sick after killing someone. I didn't drown, but that day my heart hardened, and I became the man you see today. I became what my father wanted me to be."

Xena smiled at him. "Did you ever have another dream?"

He smiled back at her." I did, but all kids have childish dreams."

"I don't think dreams are childish. What did you want to be?"

He shook his head. "I wanted to be a teacher. I taught one of our slaves to read. Father found out and had the slave killed and I was punished."

Xena study him and his back. She saw the old whip marks, and knew he told the truth. "The way Joxer talks, you very seldom got punished. Yet there are a lot of marks saying you did."

He shook his head. "I was only punished twice. The water incident and the slave incident."

"He must have really beaten you."

"No not really. He didn't beat me at all."

The Warrior Princess stared at Jett. "But the whip marks? How do you explain them?"

He looked up at her. "Joxer. I did it for him. Whenever father came home drunk, he couldn't tell us apart. I made Joxer hide, and I took his punishment."

Xena said nothing as she stared at the man she was getting to know better. Finally she spoke. "Did Joxer ever know?"

He shook his head. "No, and he never will. Now, don't get me wrong, he did get punished. More times than I care to count." He was about to go on when they heard Gabrielle's voice.

"Of all the stupid things you've ever done, Joxer, this takes the cake."

They then heard Joxer's pleading voice. "Come on Gabs, slow down. I only did what Xena said - get him clothes that said 'I'm not a killer,' and these say that."

They watch as the bard and the wanna-be warrior came to the river. "Gabrielle? What's wrong?" asked Xena.

The bard threw a strange shirt at Xena. "That's what Joxer bought Jett."

Xena and Jett stared at the shirt as Xena held it up. It was a shirt, she was sure of that, but it had a picture of three, it looked like kittens, in a basket. They stared at it. Jett gave Joxer a look that made Joxer real nervous.

"I'm supposed to wear this?" the former assassin asked. Joxer looked at Xena for help. She only stared at the shirt.

"It's called a T-shirt, and the man said everyone will be wearing them some day."

"Well, not me," replied Jett as he tossed the shirt back to his brother. "Did you get me anything else?"

Joxer handed him his pants and a vest. Jett put them on. Xena stared at him. "You need a shirt. Bare skin is too distracting. Joxer, do you still have that shirt from when Aphrodite put the bell spell on you?"

Joxer nodded his head.

"Then please go get it. Now."

Joxer walked back to the campsite to retrieve the shirt.

He soon returned, giving his brother the shirt. Jett took the shirt, carefully checking it out. He was satisfied that it didn't make him look silly, in fact it looked nice and comfortable. He put it on and stared at the Warrior Princess.

"Well how do I look?"

"You look real handsome, just like a real gentleman," she replied.

She then turned to Joxer.

"Joxer, hand me over that shirt."

"T-shirt."

"Whatever. Just give it to me."

"Okay, Xena."

Joxer handed Xena the shirt. They all stared at her.

"Xena? Why do you want that shirt?" asked Gabrielle.

Xena simply smiled at her. "Come let's get back to camp. Tomorrow we're going into town."

She headed for the camp without another word. The other three followed her. When they got back, she turned to Jett. "I'm not going to tie you up tonight. I'm going to trust you. "

He looked at her. "Thank you. I promise you won't be sorry."

She walked up to him and grabbed him by his face, pressing his mouth together in a pucker. She hissed, "I'd better not be. Just remember, if you do run away, I can track you down, and when I find you I will not only kick your sorry ass, but I will make you wear this shirt." She held the kitten shirt to his face. "To your dying day. Do I make myself clear?"

Jett nodded his head. Xena smiled and released him. "Good boy," she replied as she patted his face. She then gave him a push and he landed on the ground. "Get some sleep. I've got to put this T-shirt away."

Xena walked over to Argo and folded up the T-shirt and placed it in her saddlebag.

"Hmmm, T-shirt. It'll never take off. Next time I'll send Gabrielle to buy clothes for Jett."

Please take the time to write to Susan at sasondo42@yahoo.com, and let her know how you liked the story!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer, Jett, 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. No infringement of copyrights or trademarks is intended in the writing of this fan fiction. This story is copyright © 2001 by Susan Owens 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.