Title: Dragons of Possession
Author: Smenzer
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ares/Gabrielle
Archive: Yes, please. Let me know if you take it, OK?
Teaser: This is Part 7 of Dragons of Despair
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to Studios USA or
Whoever owns the Rights to Xena: Warrior Princess. This is just for fun.
Xena gasped in shock. "Gabrielle?"
"Yes, Xena, it's me." Gabrielle admitted. "I'm the dragon."
"What? How can this be?" Xena stuttered. Her blue eyes narrowed and she pointed a finger at Ares. "What are you doing here with HIM?"
"Look, Xena, it's complicated but I can explain everything." Gabrielle told her friend. Ares moved to stand behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her slender waist.
"Get your filthy hands off her!" Xena's war cry ripped from her mouth and she flipped through the air. She landed quickly next to Ares and Gabrielle. "I'll be nice and give you to the count of three to let go of her. Believe me, you'll be sorry if you don't."
"Like I'm going to trust you with Gabrielle? I think NOT!" Ares clung tighter to Gabrielle and whispered in her ear. "Remember, a few seconds ago she wanted to kill you. You can't trust Xena. She's a cold-blooded killer. Maybe I gave her the skills, but the blood lust is all hers. Truthfully, I don't trust her myself."
"WHAT?!" Xena's face twisted up as she stared at Ares. "How dare you say those things! Gabrielle, don't listen to his lies! He's a slimy worm that crawled out from under a rock. He's trying to confuse you. I'm your soulmate."
Hercules and Iolaus climbed to their feet and moved closer to Xena. With Gabrielle back in her human form, the dragon fear had vanished. "Let her go, Ares." Hercules added.
"You're forgetting something, little brother." Ares reminded him with a grin. "You agreed to let Gabrielle decide if she wants to stay with me. And believe me, she's happy right here."
"You're lying!" Xena hissed at Ares. "Gabrielle hates you! She hates what you stand for, all the wars you start. Gabrielle would never choose to be with you, unless you have her under a spell!"
"Xena, I'm not under any spell!" Gabrielle told her friend. "You have to understand what happened. See, we were trapped in this cave and then I remembered I was a dragon. I can't change unless I have a source of magic, so Ares let me tap into his powers. So now we're bonded."
"WHAT?!" Xena cried again. "You mean you have a mental link with HIM? Gabrielle, how could you do that? That's disgusting!"
Ares rolled his eyes and laughed. "You know, Xena, you sure know a lot of words! That's the third time you said *what* in a few minutes."
"I want you to understand I'm NOT under any spell." Gabrielle told her friends. She gazed at each one in turn, looking them in the eyes. "If we're going to defeat Dahok, we all need to work together. And it's not going to be easy. Ares and I were planning the best way to defeat Dahok before you busted in here to rescue me. Well, I don't need any rescuing. And I really don't like dragon slayers. They get on my nerves. So if you want to keep breathing, I'd suggest you don't make me angry."
"That's fine with me." Hercules smiled at Gabrielle. "I prefer the non-killing methods of problem-solving anyway. I just never dreamed the dragon would turn out to be one of friends. But you should be aware Zeus wants the dragon dead. He's the one that sent me after you."
"Oh, that's just great!" Ares said. He still had his arms around Gabrielle. Perhaps it was the bond, but he was beginning to feel very protective of her. And she looked beautiful, too. Why didn't he notice that before? "Dear old Dad found out and now he'll be ruining my plans!"
"Well, if he wants her dead he'll have to come through me first." Hercules told Ares. "And truthfully, I think he's too scared to do anything like that. That's why he sent me."
"We don't need HIM." Xena continued as she moved closer to Gabrielle. "We can get rid of Dahok without Ares help. We got along OK without his help before."
"Xena, Dahok is a powerful Demon. How are you going to defeat him by yourself?" Gabrielle asked. "Look, Xena. Ares is a full God and he can't defeat Dahok by himself! How in the world do you think you are? As a dragon, I'm very powerful. Even Zeus fears me."
"Gabrielle, listen to me." Xena said as she lifted her friend's chin to stare into her blue eyes. "You're the most pure think I know. Being bonded to Ares is going to affect you. He's dark and will stain you; his evil will snuff out your goodness. If you're not careful, you'll end up just as bad as he is. He'll have you leading his armies and being his warlord. I know you don't want that. Now come away from him and we'll leave here together."
Gabrielle laughed and shook her head. "Why in the world would I lead an army when I can easily toast an entire village from the air? Besides, I wouldn't do that anyway. But you need to remember I AM a dragon. And I seem to remember you saying you hate dragons. Why?"
"Look, Gabrielle, I didn't mean....I mean I didn't know." Xena gave Ares that LOOK of hers. It was his fault! He had asked her what she had thought of dragons, full well knowing her reply would work in his favor! Now how was she going to get out of this mess? "Dragons are evil creatures. They eat people and burn towns."
"So, I'm evil then, right?" Gabrielle asked.
"NO! Of course not!" Xena answered quickly. "That's not what I meant."
"So what did you mean?" Gabrielle leaned back against Ares' wide chest. She closed her eyes and sighed. Sometimes Xena was just too closed-minded. Once she made up her mind about someone that was it. To make it worst, she had a grudge against Ares. She reached out mentally and was reassured by her strong bond with him. Yet she had a bond with Xena, too. She didn't know what she was going to do.
"I came here to rescue you. If you remember when I first came in the room, your safety was my only concern. I thought the dragon was going to eat you, so I was going to kill it to protect you." Xena's eyes darkened as she looked at Gabrielle. "Why are you leaning against him like that?"
Gabrielle opened her eyes half way and smiled at Xena. "Why? What's wrong with it? I kind of like it."
"Well, I don't like it. You're too close to him." Xena complained.
Ares pressed his check against Gabrielle's soft hair. "Well, I like having her close. This bond is the most incredible thing to happen to me. I wouldn't give it up for anything. I love her."
"You? You don't love anyone but yourself." Xena snarled with disgust. "Gabrielle is innocent and naive, so she might believe you. But I know how guys think. You'll say anything to get what you want. And I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."
"You have no idea how I felt when she fell down that lava hole!" Ares eyes flashed as he glared at Xena. "I thought I lost her forever and it scared me. My throat got tight and I felt odd in my chest. I couldn't stand the thought of never seeing her again. Then my heart swelled with joy when I saw her alive and unharmed. And if it weren't for me, she'd still be stuck down in that dark cave. And if there's a spell on anyone, she put a spell on me. I'd do anything to protect her. Besides, Gabrielle knows I love her. She can fell it through our bond."
"I, for one, think they make a cute couple." Hercules grinned as he put a hand on Xena's shoulder.
"Well I don't! He's lying. He always does."
"Xena, you of all people should know that people really do change!" Hercules threw his arms out wide and shook his head. "Come on, you know it was Gabrielle that helped to keep you on the right path. She has this incredible effect on people. Now we know why. I guess it was some of those incredible dragon powers leaking out or something. Why is it such a big surprise that it effects Ares, too?"
"Because he's a God." Xena said. "And Gods don't change."
"The Gods are people like anyone else, except they have powers." Hercules explained. "They have emotions, families, problems and they don't always do the right thing. And some of them aren't very bright. But they CAN change. They can use the fire of Hephaestus' Forge to change their hearts. I know because I used it once. It was years ago when I was attending Chiron's Academy. It wasn't the brightest thing I ever did. In fact, it was really stupid. I did a lot of stupid things in those days to get Zeus' attention. Now I know he doesn't care about any of his kids. But it's possible that she's affecting him the same way as the forge fire. I certainly know that Dragon Fear spell is real!"
"Well, I have to admit Gabrielle does have an effect on people." Xena shook her head. It was odd seeing the two together. "I guess I need some time to get used to this. I mean, I never thought she was a dragon. But maybe I should look on the bright side. She'll force you to behave. Just think, Ares. No more wars!" Xena laughed.
"In case you forgot, we're preparing to go to war against Dahok." Ares reminded Xena. "We were making plans when you butted in."
"Yeah. We do need to take care of him." Xena agreed. Then she laughed and wiggled a finger at Ares. Her eyes sparkled brightly. "And wait till you find out all the trouble she gets into. That scroll incident was only the beginning for you! I'm sure she'll get you into lots more problems in the future. Trust me, it's a full time job looking after her."
"That's because you never took care of her." Ares replied angrily. "This whole Dahok thing never would have happened if you destroyed that temple like I told you to. But did you? No! You were too busy plotting revenge on Caesar. And because of that, Gabrielle had to suffer. You put her through Tartarus and back. What did you gain? Nothing. And what about the time you lead her through the middle of a war because you wanted to take a shortcut? She almost died! Well, from now on I'M going to take care of her!"
"Now you just wait one minute!" Xena hissed.
"This meeting is over." Ares said. White sparkles raced over Ares and Gabrielle. The two vanished in a flash of bluish-white light.
To be continued....
