Pandora Paradox

Abby Ebon

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Disclaimer: No, I don't own "Young Hercules", "Hercules: The Legendary Journey" (which is what I've actually seen recently), "Xena: Warrior Princess"; I don't even own the idea this is based on, it was a challenge on AresJoxerCupidStrife; "Joxer in the CIA" (http : // www . aresjoxercupidstrife . com / challenges / joxercia . html ).

Warning(s): Take a stranded CIA!Joxer, mingle with Time Travel, add a dash of Gods, a hint of Political Intrigue; and stir in great clumps of Slash. "Joxer in the CIA" challenge; Time travel is a risky and disjointed process; thus, even in the future, it isn't as common as you might think, or hope. It takes training, dedication, and cleaver last-minute antics. A quirky personality and acting skills help more then you think. Still, when something goes wrong – and it will - the shit will fly before it hits the fan. Despite the risks – or because of them – Jox J. Mighty took the mission. So, when it really comes down to it, he's only got himself to blame for falling in love with Ares, God of War… as Joxer, the Mighty.

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The Future Is In Fiction

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"Joxxy!" She was pouting and pretty, with murky black eyes and teeth glinting through her too wide grin. Joxer didn't bother to hide his wince, letting his feelings be known, she'd know why – and others might guess at lies and truth; just a little bit. His eyes were a little too wide with genuine surprise; he couldn't help but turn to look to her, just to do a double take. To make sure. He'd be right, of course. He wasn't excepting it to be anyone else. Not here. Coincidences like this just didn't happen to him, they were organized and played to perfection; until the actors forgot they were acting, or went mad. It happened; had happened.

"Candy?" He tried to keep his voice in check, wobbly and uneasy – a very near squeak at the end; just a little bit of queasiness had crept in, unable to be helped.

"Oh, Joxxy, it is you! I've been looking for you!" Dark eyes glinted playfully, without regret, and beyond the hint of reproach that lingered in his uneasy frown. This was between them; both deadly serious businesses in as much as it were a game to her, these unexpected and unplanned meetings between the rifts of time. Things got lost in the shuffle, slipped through –sometimes; other times, well, it was a dangerous game she played. Still. It wasn't exactly unexpected, this time. He let his hands tremble, just a little bit, and the alcohol glittered as it sloshed; a subtle warning to tread carefully. They were among the local throng of natives, and some of them had started to pay attention to what was going on around them.

"What…is it? What do you want, Candy?" In the here and now they lived and breathed, her name was foreign and strange. Rare, yet in their time it was common treat. Here, that word for sweets wasn't all that well known. She delighted in knowing that, keeping it between the two of them and the rest like some secret.

He sounded unhappy, that much wasn't an act. He licked his lips, swallowing nervously –reflexively, as if his mouth would be going dry - before nibbling at his bottom lips as if he really had something to worry about here. Wicked lips twisted in delight.

"Fh-poohy. I don't want anything, Joxxy. Not like that," she pressed in closer, hips swaying as gravity was diverted, and used to her ultimate advantage – she had a great ass, made to be appreciated, and was reminding him of that fact, "can't I just drop in once and a while to say hi, Joxxy?" Lush lips pursed, purring the words and sulking even as she took in his meaning.

Her body still pressed flush to him, comforting and aware of his uses; it was modern human nature, the need to touch and manipulate. He knew she was no longer looking for diversion or fishing for information; she'd given that up, leather clad and dusky skin pressed against his metal-clad body. The only welcome barrier that kept them parted. He felt it in her, that relaxing, calm against him as if she had been in the midst of a storm and clung to him now, a rock of pillar to hold her upright admits the maelstrom. It still looked as if she were appealing to him for sex, with her appealing assists and wide dark lips. She wasn't, but he kept his appearance uneasy and enthralled. A guy who'd never thought to be so lucky.

Jox knew how he looked; a tall lanky body without much mass or muscle. So much so that he looked weak and gangly. His was a body made for sharper things then the blunt directness of open war or long days of labor. He was made to be quick and smart. Humans had begun in the sea, then climbed up into the trees, his was a body that remembered those origins and found them satisfying.

It was only later that the masses of humanity had lumbered down from trees in the game of prey and predator, and learned the toil of planted seeds and hardship of tool making. His was a future that scorned such hardships; intellect and clever twisted words were the base of a lifetime, its foundation or ruin. Jox had found in his time travel he liked the direct honesty of this place and time. It was crude and rude, but honest in a harsh blunt sort of way that would shake his time.

In a way, Jox welcomed Candy, he surely didn't begrudge her leaning against him, or her play of welcome and underlay of subtle threats and promises. To them in the future, talking like this with hints and warning and playing - was natural, normal - healthy. In the end, his lips twisted in amusement at the comparison of what he reached for; the primitive locals that surrounded them likely already grasped of their relationship, with whatever keenness they still possessed of this display among was their warped generation of decedents; they were close.

Jox had never had Candy in his bed. Would never have sex with her. It disgusted him utterly. She was lovely, no mistaking it, but that lovely raw beauty attracted and repelled. Made a fluid certain sort of sense when it came to the flexibility in word play. There was a certain delicacy and dance to intimacy and its carnal physical acts.

They could talk the talk; but they'd never go further without hiding away in seclusion for a few years, talking each other through tearing down barriers and ripping down defenses and running to get to the raw emotions and primitive urges of sex; the stuff that made humans, human still. They'd emerge a joined whole; after however long it took to go through that emotionally worded battle and putting themselves back together, they would be inseparable thereafter, like or not. Likely with a tottering infant running in the muck after them; it was rare that a child was born and not made by genetic machines, but people had long life spans and they ranged widely throughout a growing and diverse universe that had a galaxy of possibilities. Anything – including time travel – was possible. But sex, especially sex in the past, just wasn't done.

They could still find that base comfort in physical touch, true enough; leaning against him did nothing for her – or him, physically. There was no spark of sexuality and lust for all that they certainly looked like they could be comfortable skin-against-skin. What was sex to word-play and body language with the mix of chemistry?

Talking and story building was how they communicated with each other for centuries of being apart and spreading across the stars, and to keep them connected and talking with each other communicating was essential to their nature and emotions – to make it worth knowing each other over the reach of stars and bright glittering galaxy cores, genetics had twisted them.

Talking was a lot like having sex. It was enjoyable to the point where Jox took the comparison seriously, even if he did find too much amusement in it. It certainly felt a lot like sex, the achingly bitter sweet build-up, the knife edge of pleasure and twisted pain, then the spill of relief and familiarity. The comfort of knowing they were here, beside each other, even in the midst of watching ancestors.

"Hi, Candy." Jox muttered drolly, as if obedient to her whim, he felt her tremble in shared amusement against the scent of her neck and the curl of her hair. They both knew the truth of each other and their own relationship. Let the ancestors guess.

"Joxxy. I've a favor to ask…" She whined softly, appealing and seeming open in her desire for him. Of that desire, he did not doubt; what she was aiming for and wanted in turn from him to reach her own goals, well, that was the real trick question. That's what brought a wary but interested look into his eye. She caught it in a glimpse, and her lips curled, pleased though Jox hadn't yet said a thing.

"Really, w-what sort of favor?" Jox stuttered, stalling for time - as if nervous of her display of bold sexual interest. She'd put her hand on the bare skin of his throat, daring to touch, to slither closer with unclear intent, as if touching would will be to agree to her terms all the quicker. Would remove some sort of barrier between them. There was a little bit of unease plain to hear in him.

"None of that, now – it's *official* business." She tapped her nail against skin, shifting to move away, as if Jox were a fish baited and hooked and only waiting at her leisure to be lured in. It was a certain confidence and assurance in her Jox could not help but admire, it could be her folly, or her strength, within such a balance. It took certain about of boldness to play with Jox who was well known in the future for his ability to single-handedly make impossible solo missions possible. That she possessed such boldness and used it with such ease made Jox like her, just a little bit more. He wasn't so amateur to let her see it, though.

"That isn't like you, Candy…" Jox warned, playing as if he were shy of her and her daunting boldness. Her eyes glinted in enjoyment of their game, what others around them did not suspect of their nature and origins, yet they knew with a certainty of each other that was not merely imagined.

"Call it inspired innovation. Walk with me, Joxxy?" She pleaded, acting as if she had want to hide just how deep their played upon romantic interests affected her. Old men paused in a game of dice to chuckle under their breaths. Jox let himself blush, and look elsewhere; he spied them then, his two companions in this time and place, and knew he had an excuse to seize upon in returning when their business was done.

"Sure. I'll be right back; I have to deliver these drinks to my friends." Jox played upon forced regret, motioning to the duo he traveled with. One was dark haired and had the warrior build for enduring hand-to-hand scuffles that would spill blood. The other was fair haired with a slimmer and slenderer build, the trait they shared in common was light eyes. Blue and hazel; Candy studied them for a moment in respectfully solemn silence. Humans had lost those with the necessary genetic traits for rare light colored eyes, it having died out or bred out before stepping of the edge of Earth, and into the depths of infinity.

"Of course; I'll wait." She smiled, and seemed to pout, though it was curiosity and not jealousy that turned her voice to whining with implied impatience. Those of the future were keenly interested in their fair-eyed ancestors, and even if carnal sex was not inherit to their instincts, it was still something awe inspiring to see the differences humanity had held to each other on their early planet of origin.

"Joxer? Where are you going?" Jox gave a lopsided and silly grin, as Gabrielle asked. Nodding toward Candy in what could be called conspiracy – if not for the fact that Candy could see, and was grinning her amusement. His face could clearly be read; I think she likes me!

"Who is she?" Xena asked, with a raised eyebrow, if more subdued. If amusement trickled out, Jox pretended not to hear. Xena was right to ask, 'Joxer' played the fool, and if he got into trouble, well, Xena would attempt to see him out of it.

"She asked me to go on a walk. I think I'll just walk her home, it can be dangerous out there." Jox told her matter of fact, as if such danger it would not have been noticed by the likes of Xena. With a little smile on her lips, Xena only nodded in agreement, turning her attention back to Gabrielle who had her lips tightly closed against saying or doing anything that Joxer might find offensive – and even if Jox knew it those intentions, he would pretend to be obvious – he'd worked too hard at this play-acting to discard it so early while it still had its uses.

Xena waved a hand dismissively, as if in encouragement toward whatever his intentions and Jox walked off toward Candy, bouncing only a little keeping his step over-eager and easy to please, encircling her shoulders under his arm as he chatted about nothing and everything on their way out the door. His meaningless and aimless talk –which even he did not follow, for it was enough to speak and not listen to the words - continued down the path until they were abruptly under the cover of a grove of trees, out of sight, and suddenly silent.

"Well? What is the meaning to all this?" All at once their roles were reversed; he was dangerous and in control, while she stepped back, regrets lingering in her eyes as she spoke blunt truth to him. It was cruel to him - to the both of them – but necessity demanded such abruptness. His mission was not done, and to introduce a new player mid-way was dangerous to him, and her – often when time was played with, a recovery period was necessary so one got used to things in the here-and-now that were both seemingly familiar and alien. It was crude to do things so unexpectedly; agents had gone insane before – or suicidal, when acting a role and playing with time had suddenly become too real for them.

"I apologize, sir," it was soft as a whisper, but no less true in fact or feeling for it, "necessity forced my hand. The stars are going out – dying – and we need to know why, swiftly. As quickly as you can manage, we need you to act here in our best interests. What do you have now to report? You must tell me. I will act as relay, but – sir, you need to know…the jump-station you were dispatched from, Primius 13…its gone dark. We are trying to establish contact – a foothold, to remote-reboot systems to auto-transfer your data to the mainframe and get you back…but it doesn't look good." Jox stared at her expressionless, for a long inhale of breath.

He felt his mind quiver on the blink of the edge, between craving death, or the abyss of insanity. His silence lasted long enough that Candy shifted guilty beside him, not reaching to touch him, not daring to unless she knew how he'd taken this. She'd report his reaction to this, right along with everything else.

It wasn't that he didn't understand. All over the universe, galaxies were going dark – and no one knew why. It had started now, in this time frame, something had gone very wrong – and Jox had to prevent it, stop it, or figure out what had really happened in this here-and-now, the ancient past. He didn't yet have any answers. Jox didn't yet have an answer to go about returning the stars and their precious cradles to their former glory and brilliance. It wouldn't matter if he didn't get it right the first time, he guessed. He'd live out his life, here in the past – and die here.

If he failed this one chance to set things to rights – there would be no trying again. She might as well have said it; sorry your dead, sir.

Everything he remembered, everything about who he was from genetics to scars to training to be an agent – it was gone in the time he was born to live in. That storage of data was his only safety net to ensure he didn't die here; to be sure he came back the person he was supposed to be. It was gone now. Dark. Dead.

Just like the stars. He was just as lost to them.

"So be it. What's my life worth in this when-and-here, to the millions of them dying in the now? There are Gods here. Well, you know, the Theoi. I might yet get answers from them, if they would speak with me. I would need permission to reveal my nature and origin." They both knew how likely it was that the ancient alien "gods" would do any such thing. Theoi had bred themselves into humans and others, and emerged sterile and bitter for it. They'd gone away, after all that, to leave humanity to its own devices, abandoning the universe at large to a space-faring populace, while shutting themselves away into the core of their galactic home.

"You have it, Jox. I'm the envoy here, between you – here – and them. You should know you shouldn't have to ask me, if something happens and you don't have time to do so. We only get this one chance, here and now. If it's possible for the likes of the Theoi to you send you forward to us…they have to know how grateful we'd be. If ever there was a better time that we should reveal our backward visits into the past, well, I suspect it's now – though they won't like it. They'd like it less to die out." Candy admitted, looking down the path to be sure no one would stubble upon them – or was following. Jox didn't bother with such paranoia.

Theoi could hide them selves so no one would know or suspect their presence, they could feed off emotion and thoughts, change their physical bodies with ease, and the things they could affect within range of themselves whole scale had never been calculated. Truly, it wasn't so very far off to call the likes of them Gods. Though why the Theoi stuck around on Earth, still – well, there were theories and reasons, but Jox suspected it was because they were bored and couldn't be bothered to move on until humanity hadn't wanted them around.

"Sir…" Candy started to say, and then paused as she showed her fear, pressing her lips into thin white lines, "I can try to retrieve you from this point in time. To act as a boomerang point; it's a theory they cooked up after your platform went dark, never been tried." She quivered and quaked, waiting to hear his determination in the matter – here, she was envoy, but he was senior, and Jox knew he could tell her to do it, and she would. They could try, and maybe succeed – and maybe fail.

"No. It isn't worth it. I'll find my own way back, or not at all. Tell them that." Jox wouldn't put it past them to try something stupid for his sake. Candy grinned up at him, just a little, thankful for his not putting her life – their lives – at such great risk to gamble them selves against time itself; just to put him back in the time he was supposed to be in. Men had died for less. Jox had determined he wasn't going to be one of them.

"Yes, sir." Candy quietly acknowledged, a bit proud of herself for offering, and smug that he had sided with her in declining such a risk. Candy put her finger on her studded earring, and when the metallic ring inlayed with technology, met the black anti-matter stone, clinking the two dangerous substances together like wind-chimes, Candy was gone – once displaced – now put back in her rightful time and place. It was a marvel of technological tool and universal law.

And it wouldn't work for Jox; because the place-and-time where his ring had gone dark. He found himself oddly okay with that, he wasn't optimistic – by no means did he think his chances less or more better then what they'd been for anyone else. Still, he clung to possibility, to hope – that his mission might still succeed despite the odds. That he might be retrieved if the stars stopped going dark. He had to find out why it was happening – no one else would risk a jump back now to take a mission, not now that he'd gotten himself so stranded. They might visit, as Candy had, short jumps forward and back; but no one would long-jump, as he had. He was well and truly stuck.

'Why'd it have to be Greece?' Jox wondered without saying. It hadn't been the first time he'd had such a thought, and it surely wouldn't be the last. Might even be the last thought he'd have as he breathed his dying breath.

Resolute, he turned back to the path under his feet. Dirt though it was, it would take him to the closest temple to one of the twelve; that of Ares. It was the closest, and Jox had a certain fondness for Ares. He didn't think that Xena or Gabrielle would mind very much if Joxer went wondering, he did so frequently – and without much, if any, warning - but he always came back.

Question was; would he this time?

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Note: This is for NaNoWriMo ( http : // www . nanowrimo . org / ) '09. I've always wanted to do it; really, I just didn't realize when it was – until now. It starts in Nov., I found out last night - starting a day late, of course. Well, here it goes. I know I can write 50,000 words, but 50,000 words in a month? I've never tested myself on one story – er, novel – before. All I might get from this is an online reward of NaNoWriMo pixel prettiness and self-smugness in knowing I could do it and being right about it – for once. So, nothing - nada. I think "novel"; it is novel. I'm not the first one to use fan-fiction; "novel" only refers to word count and sounds impressive, I think. My goal is to put something up every day or every other day if I can, so, please expect alerts and short and long chapters by interval; hopefully 50,000 words worth of alerts. In this case, peer pressure might be a good thing.

Deadline; 50,000 words, Nov. 30.

Met; 3,514 words, Nov. 5