Chapter 20: Unlikely Aid
Xena cursed and Gabrielle sighed. The blond lifted herself from her comfortable perch atop Xena and stroked her cheek with her thumb.
"I think you might want to clear things up for lover girl." Xena declared.
"Did you know she was here?" the blond whispered.
"No. Did you?" Xena whispered back.
"No. It's a good thing she interrupted though, we probably shouldn't have gone too far on this ship. We should probably take things slow, and this isn't the most private of places." Gabrielle stated in a hush tone.
"Mmhmm." responded Xena, agreeing.
"Let me find out what she wants." the blond stated, lifting herself out of the netting.
"Probably you." Xena snickered.
Xena had lost all jealousy of Leona. She was basking in the afterglow of winning Gabrielle's affections. Gabrielle gave her a smirk, accompanied with a nose crinkle to signify that she appreciated Xena's enjoyment of her current situation.
The blond walked toward the steps, up to the deck, locating the Primus who had called out into the quarters.
"Leona? What are you doing here?" Gabrielle queried.
"Thought I'd come help out on the mission." Leona responded. Gabrielle looked at her for a moment with a look of disapproval.
"Well, I'm on a ship headed for Alexandria. It's not like I can just swim back." Leona stated, disappointed that the healer wasn't happy to see her.
Gabrielle's eyes softened. "Leona, I didn't need help. Xena and I can handle it." the blond explained.
Leona's confident demeanor drooped at the words.
"I'm too late, aren't I." Leona questioned. Gabrielle's brows crinkled in confusion.
"What do you mean?" the blond asked.
"You're back together with Xena." Leona sadly stated.
Shocked by what Leona had spoken, she stood there unmoving with her mouth hanging open. "..didd.." the blond started.
Leona interrupted the bard's stutter.
"The happiness in your eyes. You two share a bond, and anyone can see it, even if they didn't want to." Leona answered, a sad smile graced her lips.
The blond was speechless, she had told Leona about their previous partnership, but nothing about her romantic interest in Xena.
"From the moment I saw you look at her, I knew she was why you were reluctant to go further with me." The primus paused, heartbreak oozed from her countenance.
"Look. I want you to know, I'm happy for you. If you are happy, that is all that matters." the primus announced, patting the blond on her shoulder and ruffling her hair. Gabrielle relieved at the Primus' reaction, approached the tall brunette and gave her a heartfelt hug.
"Thank you." she quietly responded.
Xena chose that opportune moment to appear above deck to check on things. Her skin crawled at the sight of them in an embrace, but she had faith that Gabrielle knew what she was doing. As they broke the embrace, Leona spotted her. Leona straightened her posture and glided toward the warrior.
"You are a lucky woman, Xena." Leona stated as she extended her forearm for an arm clasp . Xena took the forearm, relieved that Gabrielle had already explained everything, and that she wouldn't have to stake her claim.
"Don't think for one moment that if you treat her wrong, that I won't be right there, trying to make her mine. If you hurt her, I'll hunt you down." Leona threatened.
Xena who was quite impressed by the Primus' protectiveness of Gabrielle, calmly and coolly responded, "Hunt me down to what?- Since you are taking this honorably, I have to warn you that when we were sparring,- I was holding back."
Remembering the effort at which she tried to beat the raven haired warrior during their sparring, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Well, don't think I won't try!" Leona answered reluctantly.
Xena smiled at the fervor. "I wouldn't expect any less." she responded.
Gabrielle approached the two, wondering what had been said, but decided to bring it up later.
"So how come we never saw you on the ship, til now?" the blond questioned.
"Well being a Primus does afford some special accommodations on a Roman supply ship." Leona answered with a grin.
"How'd you know where we were headed?" Xena added.
Leona began to turn, feeling remorse for the accidental eavesdropping.
"After all of you disappeared from the training area, I figured what was going on must be quite important, and wanted to see if I could lend my assistance." Leona explained.
"You overheard our conversation in Shiana's meeting room?" Gabrielle asked, somewhat bothered and worried about the revelation. The primus nodded in admission.
"I'm glad I did." Leona announced. Xena eyed the Primus warily, wondering if she would defect the information to the Romans.
"I'm glad I did, because I think I can work something out for the kids." Leona reassured. Gabrielle released a breath of relief.
"I wrote a scroll to Octavius, detailing my plan. Antony was also married to a woman named Octavia, who happens to be Octavius' sister. Sadly for her, she loved him deeply. Octavia is a good friend of mine." Leona explained.
Xena's blood boiled at another revelation about Antony.
"Guess you weren't the first conquests of Antony, but certainly the last." Gabrielle laughed heartily.
"You are enjoying this way too much Gabrielle." Xena answered.
Xena was mad for a bit, but she quickly recovered. Even warrior princesses could be fooled. Besides she had all she wanted and nothing was going to ruin that. She chuckled as well, and pulled the bard in for a hug.
"Anyway, I know Octavia, and she is quite noble. She would never hold anything against children. In fact, she also took in and treat's Antony's other children by his third wife, as if they were her own." Leona described.
"But how do you know Octavius won't want to kill them." the blond hazarded.
"Well, If Antony and Cleopatra had any assets or control over city states, I'm sure they left some of them to the children. I suggested he put them under the ownership of Rome once Octavia adopts them." Leona explained.
"I have to admit Leona, that whole 'not liking you' thing is starting to wear off." Xena complimented the Primus.
"Well now, we can't have that, can we?" Leona countered laughing loudly.
The ship docked at Alexandria, and the three women headed to their destination. Now that they had everything planned out for after they retrieved the children, all they had to do was retrieve them. They knocked on the door of the address on the letter. The building was a rather large stone building, and was obviously a dwelling of an upper class family. They could hear the footfalls on what was most likely a tiled floor. The door swung open and a middle aged haughty woman stood before them.
"May I help you?" the woman asked in a snooty tone. She eyed them warily, especially Leona who was wearing her Primus Pilus armor. Gabrielle approached the woman, careful not to seem too aggressive.
"Yes, we have come to pick up Cleopatra's twins and son. We will be bringing them back safely to the palace, there are new plans for their care." Gabrielle explained.
The woman adopted a doubtful look and responded, "And who are you supposed to be?" the woman asked.
"I am a friend of Cleopatra's and these are my friends. Xena and Leona. Xena also used to be a good friend of Cleopatra." Gabrielle stated.
She pulled out the letter that had been left in Shiana's dresser as proof of Cleopatra's intent. The woman grabbed at the letter, scornful of its contents. She began reading and once completed, she called for someone. "Romulus! We have visitors."
Another set of foot steps sounded on the floor. A snooty middle aged man entered, also eying them cautiously.
"Would you excuse us for a moment?" the woman said, as she closed the door almost shut. Whispering could be heard behind the door. Leona, Xena, and Gabrielle looked at one another in curiosity and surprise at the rude nature of the two.
"Maybe they are wary of Leona being Roman."Gabrielle suggested.
"Or maybe they are just snooty stuck ups." Xena replied.
"I agree on the latter." Leona responded.
After a few minutes, the door was opened and both had a sickeningly sweet smile plastered to their faces. "Please come in. We will bring you the children."
Romulus led them through to a long, well decorated hallway, that dead ended with a beautiful painting of a garden. They assumed it was a receiving area because of its decoration and the bench.
"Have a seat, while I get the kids and their things." Romulus offered, as he turned to leave the hallway quickly. The three women sat on the provided bench.
As soon as they were seated, a stone-like scraping sound came from overhead. Leona, at the farthest end of the bench, took off in a run toward where the aristocrat had headed. Xena and Gabrielle, confused by her action, followed suit. Before they could catch up, a large stone door fell between the duo and Leona.
"It was a trap!" Gabrielle exclaimed.
"Why that double crossing..." Xena grumbled through gritted teeth.
"You don't know that Xena. Maybe she went to stop them." the blond hoped. She paused for a second. "I'll kill her." the blond threatened angrily.
"It'll be okay Gabrielle, I'm sure they'll just try to arrest us or something." Xena reassured. Xena began searching the hallway for a way out. The walls were solid. The painting at the end of the hall caught her eye, so she started walking toward it.
"Xena, what are you doing?" Gabrielle asked standing with her arms crossed, frustrated in her trust in Leona.
Xena knocked on the painting and heard a hollow thump. "Hmm." She hummed, as she took a step back with an intent to push. She began to push and was horrified to find that the push gave way a lot easier than first thought. The momentum she had, moved the painting backwards into the wall. The painting revolved open and revolved shut, with the warrior. Xena fell, hands first into a tight square recess.
Gabrielle, who couldn't believe her eyes at Xena disappearing from view, ran toward the painting. She ripped at the painting with her sais and found a thick glass door, with the raven haired warrior trapped in a square recess behind it.
"Xena!" Gabrielle yelled.
She saw the warrior also talking, but she couldn't hear any of it. She pointed to her ears and shook her head, signaling to Xena that she couldn't hear what she was saying. It was probably a good thing because curses were running rampant from the woman's mouth. Soon, she saw the raven haired warrior pause and reach for her sword and chakram. Gabrielle stood back in understanding. Xena struck at the door, but all it did was leave a small scratch. The glass was too thick. She began striking at it in fury, when she was interrupted by the sound of a crack and a whistling, and then of rushing water.
"Son of bacchae!" Xena screamed on deaf ears, as she realized the recess began to fill with water.
To be continued in chapter 21
**Author's note: Eeep! Sorry, I know, the dreaded cliffhanger XD. Reviews might help me update quicker ;) Am I missing a comma? A word? Does the story suck? Anything! To my regular reviewers of this story Silvermoonlight GJ, SoNFANFOREVER, Jitka, thanks soo much!**