Gabrielle and Meeko rode as quickly as they could to the village. Meeko suddenly brought Speckle up short. The horse, startled by the boy's sudden movement, pranced a little and Gabrielle glanced at the young man as she halted Amber. "Why did you stop?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched him easily dismount the gelding.

"Because woman, we just can't ride in there. I must let my father know that I'm okay, and then he'll know what to do. I'm going to give him a signal and then we'll go in and help fight." He looked at the bard with distaste. "You can follow simple instructions, can't you, or do I have to draw you a picture?"

Gabrielle's eyes flashed with anger at the boy's haughty attitude. "Now you look here! I don't know how you treat women in your tribe, but I'm not a member of your tribe and you will treat me with respect! I don't care who your father is!" she snapped.

Meeko only snorted then climbed up a tree and made three long sounds, imitating a bird that was common in the woods and following it up with a short one. He then climbed back down. "I've signaled Father." He mounted back on Speckle and without waiting for Gabrielle to follow, he rode off.

Gabrielle felt rage surge through her body at the boy's disrespectful attitude as she urged Amber to race after Meeko.

Thorn was having his pleasure with one of the tribe's women when he heard a loud war cry. He rolled off her and slowly pushed himself to his feet. He pulled up his pants and staggered from his tent, tying up the laces of his pants.

Thorn's eyes widened as he saw his men and the tribesmen fighting. He also saw that his men were losing. He watched as Balto drove his spear into the heart of his third in command with a loud, triumphant yell and for the first time since kidnapping the tribe's children, Thorn felt fear run through his body.

"The children..." Thorn muttered, coming to a sudden realization. "They're free." His blood ran cold when another thought shot into his mind. Orion wasn't a look-a-like at all, but Jett's brother. Jett's twin brother.

Thorn's eyes glittered with rage as he turned around and carefully made his way towards the prisoners' hut where Xena and Jett were. Orion would pay for fooling him, he vowed - and in the cruelest way possible. His lips curled up into an evil grin as he saw a vision of Jett slowly and painfully dying before his eyes and Xena being helpless to prevent it.

Jett and Xena were standing at the doorway, listening to the sounds of the battle going on outside. "It sounds like Jox's plan worked," Jett murmured.

Xena nodded. "Now if we can get out of here and get free from these chains, I'm gonna pay Thorn a little visit..."

"That won't be necessary, Xena."

Surprised, Xena turned around to face Thorn, who was sneering at her. There must have been another way inside the hut that neither she nor Jett had discovered. She returned the sneer. "Glad to see you, you bastard! Now I don't have far to go to kill you."

"I wouldn't be so quick to try something on me," Thorn said with a smug smile as he held up a small vial. "The stuff inside this bottle is what paralyzed you, Xena. If you come near me, one splash in your face will blind you."

Jett looked at Thorn then at Xena, but she kept still. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was trying to think of a way to get the bottle away from the warlord without spilling the contents on herself. The warlord gave her a homicidal grin as he walked over to Jett. "Your brother Orion made a fool of me - and for that, you'll die!"

Jett didn't move from where he was standing, knowing that if he lashed out and killed Thorn, it would break his parole. "His name is Joxer, you moron, and he's ten times the man you'll ever be!"

Thorn laughed as he grabbed Jett and placed him in a chokehold. The fat warlord was much stronger than he had realized - and quicker too, as Thorn grabbed his nose. "This stuff is full strength - not like what you had before, Xena," the warlord said with a snicker as he turned his attention to her for a moment before focusing his attention back on Jett. "Eventually, you'll have to breathe, you know, and when you finally open your mouth, this is going straight down your skinny little throat, Assassin, and because it's full strength, it'll kill you. It won't be a pleasant death either, trust me. I can have the satisfaction of watching as you puke your guts out, writhing in agony as the poison goes through you, and I can finally avenge Theodoros' death by your rotten hands, too."

Jett struggled to keep his mouth shut, but he desperately needed to breathe, He gritted his teeth together and suddenly elbowed Thorn in the stomach. The warlord cursed as he let go of the former assassin and as Jett moved away, Xena swung a ferocious kick at his midsection.

Thorn staggered back from the blow, gasping for breath as Xena moved towards him with a gleam in her eye, chains rattling. He looked up and saw that Ali was standing in the doorway. "Ali..." he gasped. "Stop them! Take Xena and the assassin out before they try doing something else to me and I'll set you and your village free! This I promise..." he wheezed.

"Yes, Master. I'll protect you from them." Before Thorn could back away, Ali quickly moved forward and grabbed the portly warlord, placing him in a chokehold like he had done to Jett previously.

"What are you doing?" Thorn gasped.

"Only what you asked of me, Master." With a lightning quick movement, Ali twisted Thorn's neck. Xena and Jett heard the sickening crunch of the warlord's neck as it broke. They watched as Thorn's eyes widened and all the life drained from them. Ali then dropped the warlord's body on the floor and kicked it. "Now, you pig, no one will ever try to harm you again." He then turned to Jett and snarled, "Get your woman and leave now, weakling."

Jett suddenly lost what little temper he had left and punched Ali right in the face. The bigger man was taken off guard and he staggered from the surprising strength the smaller man displayed. "Perhaps you are not as weak as I thought," he said, rubbing his chin.

Jett stood before Ali, his face set in an expression of sheer rage. "If you want a rematch, I'll be glad to make you happy!"

Ali studied Jett for a moment. "Maybe another time when we are both up to it, and next time it will be fairer. We must find the children now!"

"Father! Father!"

Ali turned as Meeko and Gabrielle came running in. "Father, we won! We've beaten Thorn and his pack of dogs!" Meeko then pointed to Gabrielle. "This woman helped. Her fighting skills were as great as mine. Someday she will be my woman as Keiko is yours."

Gabrielle looked at the boy and smiled. "Sorry Meeko, but I'm taken."

Meeko only smiled back and replied, "I will fight whoever is your man and I will kill him."

Ali placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Do not bother, my son. She is not of our people and will only bear you scrawny children. Look at how short she is."

Meeko looked at Gabrielle and back at his father. "You are right, Father. I no longer want you, woman."

Ali nodded. "I'm glad that you have changed your mind, my son. Now go see your mother. She is waiting for you."

Meeko wanted to stay but he knew not to disobey his father, so he bowed and left. Ali turned back to Gabrielle, who was hugging Xena. "You! Woman! Do you know where our children are?"

"My name is Gabrielle, not woman! And yes, I know where they are! They're safe with Joxer!" she snapped in reply. "And I would not bear scrawny children!"

Ali's lips turned up in a sneer. "That fool! He's nothing but a fake."

Xena suddenly pulled away from Gabrielle and with newfound strength, reached out and grabbed Ali's shirt. "You listen to me, you backwards son of a bitch! Joxer saved your children while you and the rest of your tribe did nothing but obey Thorn like a herd of sheep and you have the nerve to call him a fool!" She knocked him aside and stalked out the door, chains rattling. "Come on, Gabrielle. Let's go get those kids. Jett, are you coming?"

Ali looked at Jett and smiled. "I can see why she is your woman."

Jett watched as Xena and Gabrielle walked from the hut then looked at Ali. "Xena's not my woman, you jerk. She's my friend and my equal." He then followed after his friends.

Ali nodded and followed after him. Jett caught up with the women and waited impatiently as his and Xena's chains were removed by one of Ali's men.

Xena looked around then suddenly heard something. Recognizing the sound, she turned around to see the palomino and the Arabian cantering towards them. Gabrielle smiled when she saw the horses. "I just knew those two would find us. Argo is so smart."

Thunder trotted over to his master and whinnied for attention. Jett laughed as he patted the stallion. "He's pretty smart, too."

Xena petted Argo, who nudged her in greeting. "It's good to see you, girl. Are you tired?"

Argo whinnied and nuzzled Xena's cheek. Knowing that was Argo's way of saying, Tired? Are you kidding? I could go on for days! Mount up, lady!, Xena laughed and easily got onto the mare's back while Jett climbed on Thunder. "Okay, Gabrielle. Lead us to those kids and Joxer."

Gabrielle nodded as she mounted Amber.

Joxer smiled at the children as he and they sat around in a circle except for one little girl who was jumping up and down excitedly. "Oh please, Joxer! Sing it again!" she begged.

The two guards, who were sitting on the ground and securely chained together so they couldn't move, groaned in tandem.

"Kat, I sang my song ten times already! Aren't all of you getting tired of it? Wouldn't you like me to sing something else?" Joxer asked.

"NO!" They all cried out and the group began to sing again at the top of their lungs, easily drowning out the guards' protesting groans.

The four riders heard the loud singing in the distance. Ali raised his eyebrow. "What is that?" he asked curiously.

"Just my brother showing off his talent with backup. Come on, let's hurry!" Jett exclaimed, spurring Thunder to a full gallop. Xena grinned wickedly as she got Argo to easily catch up to the oldest triplet.

Ali sadly shook his head and muttered, "I hope we can break them of that song."

Gabrielle overheard the comment and it was that she could do not to burst out laughing as she urged Amber towards Joxer and the children.

Joxer stopped singing when he heard the sound of horses and then saw his brother and friends ride up. The children stood up and greeted Ali with excited shouts.

"Children, I have come to take you back to your parents. Hurry up and line up in a single file by age," Ali commanded. The children quickly did as they were told. Ali looked at Xena, his lips curled up in a sneer. "You and your friends can go now. The ones that followed that pig who are still alive are waiting at the outskirts of our village. Take them away. I have decided to be merciful with them, in spite of what happened to our children."

Jett stared at him. "What? No thank you?"

"I do not need to say thanks," Ali replied as he rode off with the children following him.

"Why that good for nothing bastard..." Jett growled, his dark eyes flashing with anger. He turned around in the direction the tribal chief and the children had gone, his fists clenched together tightly.

Joxer caught his brother's arm before he could walk after them. "Let him go. Did you really expect him to thank us for helping anyway? Let's just get out of here."

"Joxer's right. Besides, we still need to take all these goons to the local magistrate," Gabrielle added in softly, pointing to the two guards that were sitting on the ground.

Jett looked at the two guards and then at his brother. He nodded slowly. "You did real good today, Jox. I'm proud of you," he said softly. His voice lowered to a whisper as he said, "I owe you my life."

Joxer shook his head. "Jett... You're my brother. You don't owe me anything."

Jett nodded and gave Joxer a rough hug, following it up with a noogie that made Joxer yelp in protest.

Xena and Gabrielle, in the meantime, got onto their horses. The end of the rope that had been used to tie the two guards up was securely tied to Xena's saddle-horn. "Come on, you two. Time to leave," Xena said as she turned around and began heading towards the village outskirts to pick up the surviving members of Thorn's gang, Gabrielle at her side. The two men walked over to their horses, mounted up, and were following behind the women shortly afterwards.

That night at the new campsite, Joxer looked up from gazing at the fire and yawned. Jett, exhausted from the events from the past two days, had turned in shortly after eating supper and was sound asleep in his bedroll, snoring softly. "I'm going to call it a night. I'm beat." He looked over at Gabrielle curiously.

"I'm not tired right now, Joxer. Maybe in a little while," Gabrielle replied with a soft smile.

"Okay." Joxer returned the smile, leaned over, and kissed Gabrielle. She returned the kiss. Joxer's dark eyes then focused on Xena and he sighed silently, worried about how haggard she looked in the firelight. "Good night, Xena," he said as he rose to his feet.

"'Night, Joxer." Xena looked up and smiled at her friend, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

Joxer frowned a little and nodded. "'Night," he replied quietly. He turned around and walked over to his and Gabrielle's combined bedrolls. He got under the pelts and like his brother, was asleep in minutes.

Gabrielle turned her head in the direction where Joxer was sleeping and smiled before turning back to gaze at Xena, who was staring into the fire, completely lost in thought. Gabrielle moved over so that she was sitting next to Xena, their shoulders touching. It was quite some time before she finally had the nerve to say something. "Xena?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah?" Xena's husky voice was distant as she continued staring into the firelight.

"Are you all right? What happened to you?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena was quiet for a long time before she finally sighed, reached for a stick and carefully stirred the fire, bringing it back to life. "I've never felt so helpless in all of my life, Gabrielle. I've always been the one who was in control and had the upper hand in any type of bad situation." She turned around and gazed into Gabrielle's eyes. "It all came to an end with that fat pig I should've killed years ago when he was an underling in my army."

Gabrielle's eyebrows rose. "That's who Thorn was? That pig actually served under you?" she asked incredulously.

Xena nodded and threw the stick she had been using to stoke the fire up into the flames. She watched as the flames shot up to engulf the wood. "Yes. He was crazy and delusional even back then - and a blackmailing, bullying coward too. He was smart and devious enough to get what he wanted, no matter what the consequences were to anybody else. The final straw was when I threw him out because I caught him with several women after we had sacked a village..." She didn't complete the rest of the sentence.

Gabrielle understood what Xena meant and nodded, her green eyes sparkling from the firelight. She put her arm around Xena's shoulders.

"I had decided to be merciful for once and spare his life, Gabrielle." Xena laughed hollowly, shaking her head. "The last thing that bastard said to me before he left was that he would 'have' me one day and that we were meant to be together. I told him that he'd be rotting in Tartarus before I'd ever allow him to touch me," she continued quietly. "He got what he wanted in the end though, and there was nothing I could do to stop him." She reached up and wiped at her eyes.

"Xena... You don't have to say anything else. I understand..." Gabrielle felt tears fill her own eyes and she blinked hard to hold them back.

"No. I need to talk about it this time, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle nodded and listened silently as Xena softly told her how Thorn had drugged her - and what he had done to her while she was drugged. "...and there was nothing I could do, Gabrielle. He had his filthy hands all over me and all I could do was just lie there while he did whatever he wanted to me. I've never felt so alone, so helpless..." Xena said in a harsh whisper, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Gabrielle reached out and hugged Xena tightly. "I know, Xena. I know exactly how you feel," she replied. "But I'm here for you..." She leaned back and stared into Xena's eyes for a moment before her eyes slid towards where Joxer and Jett were sleeping. "And they're here for you too."

Xena nodded and wiped the wetness from her face. "Yeah." She turned her head to gaze over at the sleeping brothers and her lips quirked up into a half-smile as Jett let loose with a loud, bone-rattling snore before he turned over on his side and grew quiet. "Never thought I'd ever admit that about them either," she said.

Gabrielle returned the half-smile before her features grew serious again. She turned to stare at the fire for a few minutes before she turned around and hugged Xena again. "I'm here for you whenever you want to talk," she whispered.

Xena returned the embrace fiercely. "I know you are - and thank you," she whispered back. The two withdrew from the embrace and Xena sighed. "It's getting late, and we've got a long ride ahead of us tomorrow," she reminded Gabrielle.

"Yeah," Gabrielle said, rising to her feet and hiding a yawn behind her hand. She frowned when Xena didn't put the fire out. "Aren't you going to get some rest too?"

"In a little bit. I just need some time to think," Xena said with a nod. "I won't be long."

"Okay," Gabrielle said reluctantly. "Goodnight, Xena."

Xena's eyes glittered from the reflection of the firelight as she gazed up at her friend. "Goodnight, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle smiled slightly and then turned around. She walked over to her and Joxer's bedroll, lifted up and slid underneath the pelts, snuggling up against Joxer's lean frame so that her head was against his chest and she slipped her arm over him. She was sound asleep in minutes.

Xena watched as Joxer, feeling the warmth of Gabrielle's body against his, stirred a little in his sleep and slid his arm over Gabrielle's waist, his hand resting against the small of her back. She smiled a little when a slightly goofy yet sweet smile appeared on Joxer's lips.

Xena's smile disappeared when she turned in Jett's direction. She recalled what he had said and what he almost did before all Tartarus had broken loose and she gazed at the oldest triplet thoughtfully for a long time. He had said some things that she knew in her heart that she wanted him to say, but her mind wasn't ready to deal with it yet.

Xena then turned back to the fire, her eyebrows furrowing together as her mind went over the events of the past two days for the hundredth time, wondering if there was anything she could've done differently to stop it and sighed heavily. She rose to her feet, walked over to the horses to give them one last check-up for the night, and then put the fire out.

Xena walked over to her bedroll and slipped under the pelts. She sighed again, feeling Morpheus' gentle pull over her body, urging her to sleep. Her mind knew that it would take time for her to stop feeling so powerless over what had happened. She also knew that she could always count on her friends to support her.

She just wondered how much time it would take.

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 characters who have appeared in either 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 © 2003 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.