Chapter Eleven

Yet Another Minor Interruption

Ares turned to Xena and placed both hands on her shoulders, then moved them to the sides of her head, then to her neck, as if trying to find just the right spot. Suddenly he turned around to Hercules.

"You know, I'm still mad you never got me a few guest starring parts in that outer space show like you did on that other one."

"That was you?" Mattie said loudly. "I thought it had to be, but your looks changed so much. Your hair was long, then it was short. Your beard changed, your clothes were different. Even your sword changed."

"Well, that's the price you pay for working for eccentric and incompetent directors – always wanting something different."

"Uh, excuse me," Gabrielle broke in. "Xena?"

"Oh, sure. Of course."

Again he turned to Xena and put his hands on her shoulders again, then turned back to Hercules one more time.

"So? Why didn't you get me a few parts?"

"Well, for one thing, this kind of show had no use for a god of war. Plus, this was a different production company. I had nothing to say about the casting."

"You're stalling!" Gabrielle accused Ares. She then looked at everyone else. "He's stalling! He can't do it!"

"Now hold on there. Of course I can do it. But you don't seem to realized just how delicate and how sensitive it is – fooling around with someone's..."

"What's wrong with her?" Gabrielle demanded. "She's not moving. What did you do to her?"

"I put her to sleep," Ares explained impatiently. "You didn't think she was going to be awake for this, did you?"

"No," Gabrielle answered, "I – I guess not."

"Now – if you don't mind … unless you'd rather I did nothing."

"No. No. Go ahead, if you can."

"Now what?" Ares said, getting a little irritated.

"What what?" Annie asked, looking at everyone. "What...?

"You don't hear that?" he asked. "Of course you don't"

"Hear what?"

"Motorcycles, five of them."

"Shit!" Annie exclaimed. "Don't tell me they're back!"

"I don' t know who 'they' are," Ares continued, "but I smell gasoline, and fire. I'm thinking Molotov cocktails. You must have really pissed somebody off!"

Everyone rushed through the house and out of the front door, but Ares was already there. They watched as he waved his hand at the flying fire bombs, stopping them in mid air ten to fifteen feet from the front of the house, and freezing the escaping motorcycles and riders as well.

"I take it these are not friends of yours," Ares stated unnecessarily.

"Some of Xena's fight club adventures," Hercules said. "And mine too, I guess."

"Twice she went to their hangout and started fights. Then they came here and she used the Chakram to run them off." Annie explained. "I told them not to come back unless they wanted to, well … die. But I guess they didn't believe me."

Ares walked a few steps into the front yard, waved a few fingers and the frozen motorcycles spun slowly around until they were facing him, then moved them to the edge of the lawn.

"Okay," he said to the the bikers; frozen but still very aware of everything that was going on; and very scared. "You don't know me, but Ares is the name, and waging war is my Game. Yes, that God-of-War Ares. Now I'm involved in some especially delicate … negotiations inside the house you just thought you were going to burn down. So what I want you to do is go back to your clubhouse, or bar, whatever, and stay there. And make sure all of you other biker buddies are there, too. And when I get through with what I'm doing here, you can expect me to pay you all a little visit."

Without looking at her, he said, "Gabrielle, would you mind giving them back their bottles?"

She walked to the two of them she could reach, the pieces of cloth stuffed into the necks of the bottles no longer burning, and tucked each bottle into the shirts of each biker. Then Ares allowed the other three that had arched too high to drop into her hands and she tucked them in the shirts as well. And with wave of his hand, all five motorcycles spun back around, and he unfroze them, allowing the five of them to continue their "escape."

"You're not going to kill them, are you?" Mattie asked.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll recruit them as mercenaries. Maybe I'll have Aphrodite pay them a visit. Or maybe I won't do anything at all."

Ares went back into the house with the others following him.

"Are things like this all the time?" he asked without looking at anyone specifically. "The first time I was here the police came looking for Xena. And now bikers?"

"That is why we need your help, to fix her," Gabrielle told him.

"Okay, let me see," he said, sitting Xena down in a chair, and from behind her, put his hands on her shoulders.