Joxer woke up to the sound of someone being sick. He sat up to see Jett leaning over the side of the balloon. "I'm going to kill him! I don't care if I go back to prison. That man is dead meat!" the oldest triplet moaned.

Joxer slowly got up and saw that they were high up in the air and slowly floating over the green countryside. He carefully made his way to his brother. "Jett, are you okay?"

"No! I'm not okay! Jox... I'm sick... Oh, Gods! I just want to die," Jett moaned miserably. He got sick again over the side. He then sank down to his knees, his face deathly pale. "Jox, we've got to get down. I can't stand this. Please find a way down. Please!" he whispered, his dark eyes huge and glassy as he stared up at Joxer.

Joxer returned the stare, shocked. He had never seen Jett this way before. He was not only sick, but he was scared.

Gabrielle was gathering wood for the night's campfire when she heard Speckle's strange voice. She looked up to see both Speckle and Thunder returning without their masters. She dropped the wood, took the horses' reins and led them back to the campsite. "Xena! Xena!" she called out, dropping their reins as she ran up to Argo. Xena looked up to see that Gabrielle's eyes were huge and that she had a very worried look on her face. "Thunder and Speckle came back alone. Something bad must've happened in town!" she gasped.

Xena didn't answer her. She had turned away and was looking in the sky at a very strange thing. Gabrielle looked up too and pointed at the object. "Xena, what is that thing?"

"I have no idea, Gabrielle, but if Joxer and Jett are missing, you can bet they're right in the middle of that," Xena replied.

Gabrielle looked back at Xena. "Do you think they're up in that?"

Xena nodded as she leapt up on Argo. "Come on. We've got to catch that... whatever it is."

Gabrielle quickly mounted Amber and the two friends went after the strange object floating in the sky.

Joxer knelt down next to his brother. "Jett, it's going to be okay. I'll find a way down."

Jett stared up at Joxer. "How? We have no idea what this thing is or what it does!" He moaned as his stomach flip-flopped.

Joxer slowly stood up and made his way to the center of the large basket. "They say what goes up must come down. There's got to be a way to make this thing go down." Joxer studied the balloon and the container that held the fire. "Hmm, maybe if I pull this rope here..." Joxer reached out for the rope.

"No! You're going to get us killed!"

Joxer turned to his brother, who had managed to rise to his feet again. "I think that this keeps all the air inside. If I just open it up a little, I think that this thing will go down."

Jett shook his head and looked as if he wished he hadn't. "You could be wrong, Jox. Please don't try it."

"Jett, I've got to try. I don't see any other way. You're going to have to trust me on this. Look at you! You're so scared that you can hardly move. If you ever decide in your life to trust me to do the right thing, now's the time," Joxer said earnestly.

Jett said nothing as he felt himself getting sick again and slowly sat back down in the basket. "Okay, Jox. I will," he said finally.

Salmoneus whistled merrily to himself as he walked down the road. He was very pleased with himself. "Salmoneus, old boy, you've managed to rid the world of The Twin Assassins! Ha!" he exclaimed with a chuckle. The conman looked up when he heard horses coming and quickly hid behind some bushes as the riders approached. Salmoneus saw with relief that it was Xena and Gabrielle. He came out from hiding behind the bushes and ran towards them. "Xena! Gabrielle! Am I glad to see you!" he gasped.

Xena reared Argo to a stop. "Get out of the way, you fool! We've got to catch that thing in the sky before someone gets hurt!"

Salmoneus puffed himself up proudly. "Ah, don't be worried about that thing. I've taken care of everything! The Twin Assassins will never bother anyone again."

"WHAT!" Gabrielle got down from Amber and raced over to Salmoneus. She grabbed him by the front of his robe. "What did you do? Tell me now, or I'll break you in half!"

Salmoneus' eyes got as big as saucers. " I tricked them to get into the Salmoneus Bird so they'll never kill another person."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes in exasperation and shook the conman roughly. "You moron! Joxer's no killer!"

"Whatever happened to the sweet, young girl I knew?" Salmoneus gulped.

"I've changed," Gabrielle snarled angrily.

"I can see that!" Salmoneus squeaked and looked at Xena with wide eyes. "Xena, please make her let me go! I'm rather sensitive to pain, as you know." He tried smiling weakly at the two women, who both exchanged glances before turning back to the now-sweating conman.

"Tell us what we want to know," came Xena's cold reply.

Salmoneus swallowed again. This was not what he expected to happen. "The one named Jett had a dagger and he was going to kill me, but he changed his mind. I think it was because his brother Joxer, the brains of the outfit, said no."

Xena shook her head and sighed. "Never mind that! How do we get them down?"

Salmoneus shook his head. "I don't know, honest! I never actually got into the thing."

Xena looked up and saw that the object was heading towards the mountains. "Come on, Gabrielle. Maybe we can beat it to the top of that mountain where I can get a good shot at it with my chakram."

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's arm. "Xena, you can't throw your chakram at that... that... thing! You'll kill them!" she gasped.

Xena turned to her friend. "I'm sorry Gabrielle, but I don't see any other way. See where it's headed? If we don't get it down soon, that thing's going to crash right into the mountainside!"

The bard nodded as they remounted their horses and rode at top speed leaving Salmoneus behind towards the mountain. Luck was on their side as they reach the mountain first or maybe one of the Gods was giving them a little help. Xena leapt off Argo and got her chakram ready. "I've got to make this good. I don't know if I'll get another chance or not," she muttered. Xena carefully aimed her chakram towards the thing getting ready to throw it when Gabrielle grabbed her arm. "Xena, look! I think it's coming down."

Xena looked and sure enough the thing was coming down. She slowly lowered her chakram and put it away.

"Gabrielle! Xena! Grab the ropes and tie them to something!" Joxer called out hoarsely.

Both women raced for the ropes as the thing came closer and closer to them. It took a lot of time, but eventually they had the thing on the ground tied and secure. Gabrielle ran over to it and gave Joxer a big hug and kiss on as he tumbled from the basket and landed in a heap next to it. "Wow! I should do that more often!" Joxer said with a big, goofy grin.

"If you ever want to do this again, you do it without me. Oh Gods, I just want to die!" Jett moaned.

Xena helped Jett out of the basket. "What's the matter? Don't like to fly?" she teased.

Jett gazed at Xena wearily. "If man was meant to fly, the Gods would have given him wings. Xena, could you let me die in peace?"

Xena placed her arm around him. "Come on, I'll give you something to make you feel better."

"Thanks." Jett turned towards his brother. "Jox, thanks for getting us down." Joxer smiled at his brother as Gabrielle squeezed him and gave him another kiss.

That night everyone was sitting around the campfire except for Jett who was sleeping peacefully thanks to the herbs Xena gave him. Gabrielle put her quill down to allow her new scroll to dry and looked at Joxer. "You know, Joxer, I'm very proud of you."

Joxer looked up in surprise. "Yeah. Why?"

"You didn't panic in a strange situation. You somehow found a way to get you and Jett down."

Joxer smiled a little. "Thanks Gabrielle, but I really had no choice. Jett was no help at all. You know, it's kind of strange seeing that side of him."

Xena looked up. "How did he get a dagger?" she asked sharply.

Joxer swallowed hard. "He took it from me. I'm sorry, Xena."

Xena reached out her hand. "Give me the dagger, Joxer."

Joxer looked at her. "Xena, please. It won't happen again."

"How do you know it won't?"

"Because Jett promised me and he's never broken a promise to me."

Xena sighed. "All right, Joxer, but the next time he takes anyone's weapon, he'll be sent back to prison."

Joxer nodded, looking over at his brother and sighing. "So, what are you going to do this time?"

Xena also looked over at Jett. "Nothing. I think he was already punished."

Gabrielle nodded in agreement. "I wonder what happened to Salmoneus?"

"You know, I really don't care. All I know is that he better not cross our paths again because I don't even think I could stop Jett from killing him," Joxer replied.

Gabrielle leaned closer to Joxer. "You know what, Joxer?"

"Know what, Gabrielle?"

"Salmoneus thought that you and Jett were known as The Twin Assassins and you were the brains of the outfit."

Joxer frowned, puzzled. "Now why on Earth would he think that?"

Gabrielle leaned closer to him, her head now nesting on his shoulder. "I have no idea."

The strange man stood in the middle of the village. "Come everyone! Gather around and I will tell you how I single handedly stopped The Twin Assassins from causing havoc!"

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, Salmoneus, and all 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 © 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.