"Impressive line…..Still…leaving aside for a few moments the fact that I'm totally enthralled by the belligerent sparkle I see flickering in your pretty eyes, I can't help wondering how on Zeus' green earth will you ever get rid of the bitter taste left behind by the helplessness and frustration of losing Blondie…." he mischievously retorted, without making even the tiniest effort to veil in any way that scheming, overly satisfied grin now stretching the corners of his lips.

" You soulless Bastard!" the Warrior Princess snapped, her hand now firmly squeezing the edge of the desk.

" Who me? For what? Pointing the obvious? "

"For being the same old jerk that you've always been!"

" Aren't you a sweetheart?" he bit back, making sure not to let that mocking grin vanish before he uttered the rest of his line. " Well at least I'm not the one hiding behind a finger, hoping that not thinking about my problems, might make them magically disappear over night, am I now?!"

His sarcastic laugh really managed to drive her off the edge.

For just one brief second she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were darkened with lurid rage.

" Right. So let me get this straight…..Not thinking about my problems is a heinous crime while you burying your head in the sand when it comes to our relationship, feigning that using every damn opportunity to keep me tied to that horrid past when I was still your priceless property-despite of my actual feelings for you- despite being more than aware that with the exception of a quick, meaningless fuck, we will never get anywhere, is ok?"

The God flinched. Her words had a devastating effect on him...much worse than a lethal dose of pure hind blood- injected straight into the heart- could have had. Nevertheless, he was way too cocky to let her win that round, so, instead of acting according to his cataclysmic impulses, he decided that playing cool and indifferent about it was the best policy for the time being. She was already falling apart anyway, no use in letting victory slip right through his fingers….

Thus, when he replied, his tone held the same tricky arrogance and detachment as before.

"That was pretty much my point, yeah….Not particularly in those words and in that order but yeah….At least I seem to get what I want….So far that technique has worked wonders for me." he answered in a soft, alluring voice, once again, pulling a strap of her dress down her shoulder, wanting to prove a point. " How about you? How are things at your end? "

" Just peachy…."

"She will hate you, you know…." he stubbornly insisted, stinging her back without the slightest remorse. " ….already does if you ask me, and let me tell ya', no amount of blood is ever going to wash that…..I'd go for tawny instead of peachy given the circumstances, if you ask me…."

"I ain't asking…."

" You don't have to, either. It was just a figure of speech- courtesy is one of my most notable skills as you very well know….Now….seriously, before we go any further with our unbeatable plan to crush my Sis' precious city-and do feel free to take this as a very disinterested advice- I really think that you should reconsider your decision….I mean... is a bunch of dead villagers worth losing Blondie's loyalty/ friendship/ admiration/love whatever you want to call it? Dead is dead after all…..There's nothing you can do about that..."

His slashing response left Xena genuinely perplexed. She couldn't believe her ears. How in the name of Chronos had she fallen in love with such a low scum in the first place? Taking advantage of her obvious vulnerability, the Son of a Bachae was once again playing her, subtly guiltying her into avenging her lost friends, into slaughtering everything in sight just for the sake of pushing her back into the chaotic labyrinth of senseless War.

….He couldn't care less about her grieving heart, about the fact that those people had meant the world to her; Hades, he didn't even give a crap on the fact that he himself had all the reasons in the universe to honor their memory until his dying breath.

…..A remarkably well executed left hook later, the insensitive War God was lying on his back, gazing at the ceiling.

"Why don't you think about this instead?" she howled, making sure to step on his chest as she left.

He was still having trouble seeing clearly as she stormed out the door, rubbing feverishly his instantaneously bruised jaw, and let's just say that she wasn't the only one fuming, for the energy bolt that left his palm, missed her by only a couple of inches. She didn't bother looking back though- she was way too pissed to do it.

XXX

As she crossed aimlessly the fortress' long, stony hall, she suddenly found herself gazing blankly at the solid iron gates protecting the entrance. She pushed them open with an angry, bulked grunt, eager to escape that horrible, panicking feeling that the walls were closing in on her and that once again, her actual freedom was going down the drain along with every chance she might have had of building a brighter future for herself.

She greedily drew in a deep breath of the frosty winter air as she advanced through the knee high snow covering everything in sight like a thick diamond blanket. She kept walking for a couple of steps more, without even realizing that it was so freaking cold outside that even the tears falling down her cheeks had turned to ice. It didn't matter though….not as long as the fire burning inside her had even the slightest chance to die out before her heart turned to ashes under the consuming power of its amaranthine flames.

Despite her strong, determined will, Gabrielle's beamy memory was slowly decimating her defenses, killing her spirit. She had definitely blew it with the righteous Bard, that much she could tell…

XXX

The night was slowly approaching and Gabrielle was looking for a place to sleep. She was now a couple of miles away from the camp from which Xena had left off with Ares and she had trouble deciding whether it was for the best to walk another three miles till the closest town and spend the night at an Inn or just camp there, in a nearby clearing.

After a few minutes of pondering the idea, she went for the second option. She unhurriedly started a fire, and quietly ate the leftovers from lunch. She wasn't really hungry, on the contrary, it looked like each and every bite got stuck in her throat somehow…

"How could she leave like that? She didn't even look back….It was as if I wasn't even there, as if I didn't matter…"

A shining blue light and a very familiar sound of a vortex closing, made her jump up on to her feet, grabbing her staff in the process, with a ferocity that would have made any Amazon green with envy.

"What do you want?!" she barked in the direction of that very uninvited guest.

" As much as I do love a woman with a passion…" the War God began in a rather amused voice. " ….you're not my type Blondie, sorry…"

She just clenched her teeth at that teenage like smugness engraved on his features.

" Where's Xena?" she finally demanded to know when, passing her by with an outrageously casual confidence-as if he had been walking by some old piece of furniture- obviously not the least bit bothered by the "lethal weapon" she was holding, he took a sit on a log, next to the fire.

" That's precisely why I'm here."

He paused for a few seconds, staring musingly into the playful flames, his mind already drifting somewhere else.

"How much do you love Xena? What would you be willing to sacrifice for her? " he suddenly asked breaking the silence, and for some odd reason, his dark, toxic voice gave Gabrielle the chills.

What did he want from her?