Chapter Eleven

Confrontation and Resolution

For almost a half a minute no one moved, then Xena started for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Annie asked.

"To see a man named Hector," she replied. "Somebody's getting hurt."

Annie grabbed Xena's upper arm and spun her around. "Have you lost your mind? Just because Ares made those cops think they had already searched the house doesn't mean it's over. They still have a warrant out for you. And if you go back to the store it will be the same thing all over again. It's bad enough I've got to think of something believable to tell the police when they start asking me about you and Gabrielle."

"Too bad," Xena answered and turned back toward the door, making Annie grab her arm again. This time Xena spun around and knocked Annie's hand away. But as she did, Annie quickly put the Pinch on her, and while Xena was momentarily staggered, Annie reached behind her and plucked the Chakram from her waistband. She then threw it hard at Mattie, who caught it by it's center S curve.

"Hide it!" Annie instructed, and Mattie disappeared down the hallway. When Annie turned back around, Xena had released the Pinch herself and backhanded Annie across the mouth as hard as she could. If Gabrielle hadn't been there to catch her, Annie would have been knocked to the floor.

Xena started to go after Annie but Gabrielle ran between them and threw her arms around Xena's chest, locking her fingers together. Xena reached back to try to pull her hands apart but was surprised at how tightly she held them together.

"Let me go!" she ordered. "Now!"

"No!" Gabrielle replied, her voice muffled against Xena's chest.

"Don't make me hurt you!"

"Yeah!" Annie all but shouted. "Hurt her again! It's not like we haven't wounded her enough -- the places we've dragged her to, the things she's had to endure because of us. Not to mention the physical pain and the mental and emotional anguish she's put up with. Go on. What's one more time going to do to her? It's not like she's going to stop loving you."

Xena had briefly thought about jamming her thumbs into Gabrielle's ribs to make her break the hold, but the thought quickly went away. Instead she only stared back at Annie, and the blood trickling down her chin from the cut on her lower lip. And Annie returned the stare, seeing the blood seeping from one of Xena's nostrils.

Trying to help, Harry offered Annie a wet napkin but she ignored him. Mattie took it and began wiping the blood away.

Slowly Xena's anger began to subside, and as Gabrielle felt the tension drain from her, she loosened her grip. Then she felt Xena's arms encircle her, one hand gently caressing her hair. Gabrielle looked up at her and Xena said softly, "I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to, not intentionally."

"I know," she replied, and reached up to wipe the blood away. She then took the wet napkin from Harry, and with a mouthed thank you to him, she finished cleaning away the blood. Both Gabrielle's and Xena's eyes were moist.

Mattie missed the fight, but returned in time to catch Annie's tirade. And as compassionately as she could, she asked, "Is this really the kind of life you want? Fighting with the very people who love you? Running from the law? And making everyone around you wish you weren't here?"

"No, I don't. But I don't know why -- things seem to be fine, and then some little something happens and I feel this rage building up inside me that I can't control. I don't like it, but it's me. It's who I am."

"No!" Gabrielle said vehemently. "It ISN'T you! It's the poison Alti put inside you. It's a cancer we have to kill."

"And just how are you going to do that?"

"I think I know how," Mattie answered. "We were talking earlier about trying to find some way to hypnotize you to try to suppress the evil portion of your consciousness and emphasize the good. But after giving it some thought, I think I have a better way."

"How?" Annie asked.

"The very same way we became aware of that you, Harry and I were reincarnated into these bodies."

"By visiting our past lives?"

"Sure. Why not? I still know how to put us into a trance. Of course, there will be four of us with essentially only two consciousnesses and memories, so it might be a bit tricky. But on the other hand, it might reinforce the journey back and bring us to the places we want to visit."

They all looked at Xena, who had skepticism and doubt all over her face. "I don't know. That sounds like something Alti would do, like some kind of evil magic."

"Trust me," Mattie said, indicating herself, Annie and Harry, "None of us would have known who we really were if we hadn't gone back."

"Don't you remember?" Gabrielle asked Xena. "There was a time when you were as ruthless and as merciless as they come, but you changed."

"Thanks to Hercules, and you. Mostly you."

"So, it's agreed, we'll do it. Right? Xena? Right?" Mattie impatiently asked her.

Xena looked down into Gabrielle's pleading eyes. "Sure. I guess it's better than worrying about Annie putting the Pinch on me every time I screw up." A small smile touched her lips, letting them know she was trying to lighten the mood.

"Then let's get started," Mattie said, anxious to get things going.

"Not so fast," Annie said. "How about we eat breakfast first? Harry?"

"On it!" he exclaimed, happy to be more than a helpless and anxious bystander. "One fabulous breakfast coming right up!"