A/N: So this is my first crossover. It's going to be Xena: Warrior Princess/Criminal Minds. In this first chapter it takes place in the ancient Rome with Xena characters solo. The next chapter will be a Criminal Minds ine. Later it will be mix, but I'm not going to tell you how ;) Please comment and enjoy!
It was a rough time. The battle wouldn't seem to have any end. Gabrielle was taking care of all the wounded, while Xena was trying her best to convince the leaders that there were no reasons for battle.
But they didn't listen very well. They never do. The nursery room was filled up, blood everywhere. The camp was slowly running out of water, and the enemies had cut off their chance for getting fresh supplies. Gabrielle tried her best. Helping everybody possible, but it was so hard and there were so many people. Xena was very persistent in her fight for peace, but it seemed like it was a lost cause. But she had to do something. She couldn't just stand there and watch everybody kill each other like life was just a small thing hanging on the trees for everybody.
At night, when Xena and Gabrielle were sharing a chamber, Xena watched Gabrielle while she slept, brushing her hand across her cheek. Talking to Gabrielle before sleep really helped her a lot. It reminded her to stay on track. Of how important it was to keep fighting. She remembered another time when she and Gabrielle were fighting with an army against this animalistic army with war paint on their faces, a bone through their noses, a whole new culture with new sets of rules and a non understandable language. She remembered how Gabrielle fought for everybody to survive, but Xena couldn't do that. She knew they were going to lose without a well planned and well working strategy. They needed a leader. So Xena fell back. She fell back to the old her, she felt back to being a bloodlust cold murderer of a warlord. It was only when she saw Gabrielle, helping the enemies who were dying, that she finally came back.
So this time Xena had promised herself to do things right, and to stop it.
"This is ridiculous!" Xena shouted.
"For the sake of the Gods! It's just a few temples we're talking about! Why is it so hard for you two to just compromise with each other, and make out a deal?"
Xena was arguing harshly with Demophon, the leader of the army Xena and Gabrielle was camping at.
"Acamas can't be trusted. He's a cowardly liar. He doesn't deserve any mercy! I say, KILL THEM ALL!"
"Demophon, listen to me!" Xena shouted even louder, tired of the arguing. "Acamas is your brother for the sake of the Gods! What could he possibly have done to deserve this treatment?"
"It's HIS fault that our mother died! It's his fault she killed herself!"
Xena realized that she wasn't getting anywhere with this. So she angrily turned around and left the tent. She had to figure out the whole story.
So she left Gabrielle by herself, and went on her own to find this so called Acamas. She had to find out where the picture had broken.
It turned out that the story was more complicated than Xena had expected.
It turned out that their father had had another wife before their mother, and another son named Hippolytus, a boy which their mother, Phaedra, had fell hopelessly in love with. So when he rejected her, she claimed to Theseus, their father, that Hippolytus had raped her, even though it was a lie. As a punishment Poseidon cursed his horses to be frightened by a sea monster. That way the horses ended up dragging the rider into his death. Phaedra was heartbroken because she had never meant for Hippolytus to get killed. So in vain and guilt she committed suicide. But then, how could Demophon believe that it was Acamas' fault?
Sneaking into Acamas' room while no one was looking, she managed to get him to talk.
"He thinks that it's my fault our mother killed herself. But that's not true; it was her goddamn own fault! You see, Demophon has always been jealous on me because I'm the oldest and he thinks that our parents love me the most. Well, that's of course not true. But when he saw me bowing over the body of our dead mother, he thought it was my entire fault, like he always does when something bad happens. But I'm tired of this treatment from his side. It is my rightful possession as the firstborn son to those temples! So I say, KILL THEM ALL!"
Xena angrily left him soon after. Well, the visit didn't help much. But it was indeed clear that the two of them were brothers, born with the same temper and short fuse. And then Xena thought of something clever. Maybe all the two brothers needed was a bit tough love, a little fight one on one to become friends again? And some alcohol would surely make magic.
So Xena cleverly sent out two letters, one to each brother, and invited them to spend some alone time with her, in a tower out of the war. Surely no man had the guts to say no to such orders.
And as expected both men showed up in the tower. But before hell could break lose, Xena stepped in.
"Alright guys, here is the deal. I'm sick of this war and I'm sick of people dying. So I'm locking both of you inside this tower until you come up a solution. There's fruit, bread and wine and such at the table should this take more than a day. Am I making myself clear?"
Xena was harsh and seemed so self-confident it would scare the most, but of course there was trouble.
"No, you're not!" Demophon said. Of course it had to be him. "I don't have to listen to either you or my stupidly brother!"
Rolling her eyes, Xena raised her sword to Demophon's throat and strangling him against the wall.
"Am I making myself clear?" She angrily hushed in his ear, the blade of the sword raised to his neck.
"C- Cry-stal." He answered in a shaky voice. So before anyone could protest any further Xena made her exit, and locked the door behind her, pulling a couple of items in front of it, should they try to escape.
Later at night, Xena and Gabrielle were camping outside the tower, curled up under the blankets to keep warm.
"They're still going at it, huh?" Gabrielle huffed as she heard another slam against the wall and another sickening crack.
"I never killed our mother! It was her GODDAMN own fault!" They heard Acamas scream.
"She is our mother for Gods sake! How can you be so cold?"
"Oh, take another drink, you sentimental FOUL!"
"I'm no FOUL, you can be the FOUL!"
"Mother loved you, are you too blinded to SEE that?" Acamas must've been very drunk, because his own comment made him burst out in loud laughter.
"Then…" It seemed Demophon was starting to get confused. "Why did she kill herself?" Well, the alcohol only seemed to make him more aggressive right now.
"She was in LOVE with Hippolytus, for crying out loud! Can you believe it?" Acamas couldn't stop laughing.
"Really? Hippolytus?" Now it was Demophon's turn to laugh his pants off. "Hippolytus that foul? How could ANYONE love a man so… sooo… STUPID!"
"I don't know brother, I truly don't know!" Acamas let out a chuckle as he started to cool down.
"Oh, brother I'm sorry for accusing you for killing mother. How truly blinded I was, I couldn't SEE it!" Both brothers laughing hysterically at the already use, and not very good, joke.
"Oh, oh, oh, how I've missed you brother! You have always known me the best of all! Why don't we join army? Together, we could be unstoppable!"
"Not if they get into another argue like this, they won't." Xena whispered. Gabrielle couldn't help but to chuckle so lightly at the comment from her raven haired friend.
"You know what, that wouldn't be such a bad idea! Think of the many worlds we could conquer together! Unstoppable, I tell you my trusted brother, unstoppable!" Demophon said.
"Then it's a done deal brother, my ever so drunken brother!" Both of them laughed like there were no tomorrow.
"What do we do now, when they've become friends?" Gabrielle asked, suddenly a bit concerned.
"I unlock the door and let them out, it's just that easy."
"But, aren't you afraid that they might just try to conquer the world together?" Gabrielle was a bit confuse about why Xena seemed do calm and ignorant toward the possibly new threat. Surely, an earlier warlord she would have thought of that.
"If I guess right it can't take long before those two begin a new fight about who's the strongest, who shall rule the kingdom or something else. Trust me, these two are no threats. And even if they become, I'll make sure that the boys behave nicely."
Gabrielle chuckled. Of course. Typical Xena. But as always she knew Xena was right. She had seen the temper of both of the guys. Two stubborn jackasses equal family fudge.
So after Xena had unlocked the door but did it ever so quietly to make sure the drunken brothers didn't get out, Xena rested closely to Gabrielle under the blanket. Gabrielle couldn't help but to snuggle up closely to Xena. She was so warm and comforting.