***smc201 , thank you for the title and for the idea that came along with it:) ***

During the following days, as the Warrior Princess' pregnancy kept advancing, leaving all animosity aside, Gabrielle proved her old usefulness, offering both moral and physical support whenever her presence was needed.

Ares on the other hand, who had been of a rather unusual calmness up to then- in complete contrast with his life threatening, explosive nature- appeared to be more and more impatient and nervous, literally flinching at every sound, indirectly making Xena even more concerned than the situation herself had forced her to be.

" Would you stop pacing already? It's not like it's the end of the world!" she finally snapped one afternoon, after an hour of watching him walking back and forth across the room like a rabid Cerberus, with such a gloomy expression painted on his godly features that she could distinctly feel her pulse rising by only looking at him.

" As much as I hate contradicting you in this….state, " he replied " …it actually is …for some…."

She just rolled her eyes at him.

"You're just being a drama queen…A couple of Olympians less wouldn't even make a difference, you'll see….Plus, they can always give up this ridiculous hunting party idea. All the slaughter could be easily avoided…." she concluded, in an almost faint voice. " ...They only need to have the brains to do it..."

Ares smiled…A bitter smile, that was pretty obvious,- but a smile, nonetheless…. The smile of a person having more than an ace up his sleeve.

" I still can't believe that you've found them….I was convinced that they were just part of the legend…." she murmured, casting a long gaze towards the two dirty ribs that the War God was firmly holding in his hands, as if trying to prove a point.

" Oh, they're real all right…At least now we have a fighting chance, and I do swear it on Styx , Princess, I will leave them all breathless if they dare do anything to harm you or my little girl…."

" We have to act fast though….Are you sure that your power and Aphrodite's combined can heal me fast enough for us to be able to stand against them all? " she asked, a shade of doubt darkening her mesmerizing beryl moons..

" Positive" he answered, without the slightest hesitation, taking a seat by her side on the iron armrest of the sofa she was seating on.

" By the way…this is the third day I haven't seen Aphrodite around here…." she remarked, her mind drifting back to their last encounter.

" She's in Figaleia …..attending some silly annual ceremony with Artemis. The citizens there worship her as the goddess of fertility and protector of children. Her presence was invoked by the High Priestess….For three days she is supposed to perform miraculous healings and stuff….I really don't know why she actually bothers helping those stinky peasants…...It's not like they're worth the effort…" he uttered, repulsed by the mere thought of doing that himself.

Obviously taken aback by the information, Xena just let out an meaningless "Oh. " and then, there was silence for awhile. When she finally spoke again, her eyes were glued to the floor.

"….Ares….?"

"Yeah?"

That new note of distinct anguish in her tone, had definitely captured his attention.

" What do you think about Gabrielle?"

He just stared at her for a couple of seconds, unsure whether he was supposed to give her a blunt, unbiased answer or rather a decently wrapped up, sweet little lie…

" It's ok…" she clarified, quickly deciphering his hesitation. " I want an honest opinion…."

It was all he needed to hear...

"I don't trust her…I know she's your…friend..."he strategically emphasized, trying to completely eliminate that acid note in his voice- a very predictable failure, of course- .."…girl power rules, yadda yadda yadda, but…uh….there's something about her ever since she came here….I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just can't shake the feeling that she's hiding something….." he spat out on a way more venomous tone than first intended.

Xena just shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, avoiding his inquisitive gaze.

"You've seen it too, haven't you?" he inquired, noticing her reaction.

" I initially thought it had something to do with Hope and Solan…That she was just being cautious, given our intricate past…..Now, I'm not so sure…." she concluded, brushing absently her fingers through the long, dark tresses covering her shoulders like a mantle.

"Do you think that Hera might have gotten to her too?" he launched the question, biting his lip, frustrated that he had been dumb enough not to consider that possibility in the first place.

"No…There's something else….I can't really explain it….I mean, she's been extremely helpful these days….And she hasn't mentioned anything about the baby, not once…! .Not since that last outburst…Maybe I'm just being paranoid…."

" Just keep your eyes wide open when you're around her….At least until Evie is born…"

She just nodded her acceptance, frowning at the awareness that they couldn't really trust anyone but each other, and just as Ares was about to say something else, her hand clutched ferociously his leg the instant she felt as if a five gallon bucket of water had spilled out under her.

"What's wrong?" the War God asked, watching in horror her suddenly blank visage.

She didn't really got to answer though, because with the very following contraction, more water came gashing out.

" My water broke…." she finally managed to say, clenching her teeth at the excruciating pain ripping through her.

"Oh Gods! Is this normal?! " she desperately asked, tightening the grip on his leg, literally fighting the urge to throw up.

" Is it that bad?" he asked in a low voice, taking her hand in his, doing even the impossible not to look surprised.

By the time she parted her lips to answer, tears were streaming down her face. She was as white as a sheet.

"Ares….? " she sounded almost scared, and she was…

"It's all right, Honey, everything's all right...Lie down…." he finally suggested, trying to control his visibly trembling hands. She was in unspeakable pain, that much he could tell…And it was somehow understandable given their daughter's immortal origin and the unusual evolution of the pregnancy...Still, he had never anticipated such tremendous pain until a certain phase of her labor...So no...things were far from being normal...

" Sweetie I know it's agony, but at least it won't last long…..Just hang in there ok? " he said, caressing her forehead, his heart skipping a beat when he noticed the dark purple edge of her lips…..

"Go get Dite….." she urged him, barely managing to hold back a piercing scream, her breath so heavy as if she had just ran the marathon.

In less than a blink he was gone, and way before Xena got the chance to at least close her eyes, he was already back with Gabrielle.

" Take good care of her till I come back with my Sister, or by Styx, I'm going to carve your insides like a pumpkin!" he threatened, glaring daggers at her.

"Xena?!" the Bard exclaimed, rushing by her friend's side as soon as she realized what was going on. "Are you ok?" she couldn't help asking, despite the obvious, utter shock written all over her face.

Too pained to talk, the Warrior Princess' voice exploded in the form of an inhuman growl the moment Ares left the room, as if she had been holding massive quantities of pain inside her or all that time. She had given birth before, but nothing could be compared to that absolutely grueling sensation that every inch of her flesh and bones was being mercilessly chopped into little pieces-an acute, continuous agony that instead of diminishing in intensity at least a little bit in between contractions, it only seemed to get worse.

"Breathe Xena, you need to breathe…" the Bard reminded her while roughly pushing her robe aside. "Push….."

Her superhuman effort culminated with another poignant wail that made Gabrielle's skin crawl….

"You can do it, Xena…. Come on, you can do it….Think about how amazing it will be to hold her in your arms…..Come on, push….."

This time, along with a series of beastly screams, a rather alarming quantity of blood began leaking down her inner thighs…..

" Xena….I think it's too much blood…..Is it supposed to be this much?" the Bard finally inquired, minutes later, a wave of panic washing over her the moment her friend's hand- that she had been holding all along- went limp, loosing most of its previous force.

"Ares…." the Warrior Princes whispered the moment a curtain of darkness fell before her eyes, isolating her from the rest of the world ….

"Xena?" The Bard's voice echoed…a distant echo , having nothing to do with her numb with pain body…"Xena? Can you hear me? Xena push! You need to push, Xena! Xena! "

Her Warrior friend's reaction was but racking moan, followed by a sudden and noisy rise an fall of her chest…..Gabrielle watched in horror, counting the seconds how her rib cage remained flat….

"Ares!" she finally yelled from the top of her lungs, rushing at the other side of the sofa feverishly looking for Xena's pulse. She wasn't breathing. Not any more…..

With frantic moves, she opened her mouth, and, pressing her lips against the friend's parched ones, she began to rhythmically force air into her collapsed lungs.

"Come on, Xena, come on! Please live! Please! "

As minutes rapidly passed without a change, a new, earsplitting scream pierced the air, spreading like fire throughout the high columns of the temple. The desperation in her voice would have woken up the dead…..

"Aressss! "

There was no answer though, no one came…

Another broken series of air transfer moves was soon hectically performed- a vain attempt to revive a body that had been already touched by Clelesta's morbid wings...

Finally, with slow, reluctant moves, Gabrielle took a step back from the Warrior Princess' rigid corpse, and, getting the dagger out from beneath her robe, she made a horizontal incision in her friend's lower abdomen and a second one – vertical this time -in the middle of her uterus…

….It was but a matter of seconds until the joyful cry of the still blessed with life child, had filled the room…..With shaky hands, sour tears streaming down her tormented face, Gabrielle cut the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around the tiny girl's neck….

" You've killed her..." she murmured against her ear in a low, sullen voice, carefully cradling her in her arms. "Your own mother…Your first victim….They were right. They were all right….You shouldn't have seen the light of day . You don't deserve it..."

…..As the accursed blade approached the girl's neck for the second time since she had come into the world, Gabrielle was unable to restrain her sobs anymore…..Casting one last glance towards Xena's stiff form, she rose her hand, ready to strike….

"I'm sorry, Xena….I hope you can forgive me"