Chapter 14
Joxer didn't know what to do. Here was Gabrielle, clutching her
heart and reeling in pain, real physical pain, and he didn't know
what to do. All he could think of was to scream for help. Scream
that someone come and help him.
"Please, someone come!" he thought. "Why won't someone come?"
He was starting to get hoarse, and his tears were falling into his
up-turned mouth, but he didn't care. All he could think about was
Gabrielle. Why wasn't someone helping them?
He was still screaming, begging, when he felt a strong hand upon
his shoulder.
He looked up and saw his comrade of late, Oliver Queen, the Green
Arrow.
"Help her..." Joxer simply pleaded.
Ollie wished he could. He really did. He didn't know how the
hell these damned metaphysical things worked. What he wouldn't
give to have Dr. Fate or Zatanna here to help him. He was just
an archer. An ordinary guy. He had tried to leave all this crap
to the 'big guns' like Supes and GL.
What the hell did this kid want, Ollie asked himself. Wave his
magic wand, say a few words, and 'abracadabra', she's better?
Ollie took a deep breath and calmed down. "That's exactly what he
wants," a part of his mind told him. And he couldn't blame him.
"All right, get a grip on yourself Queen. Take this thing one
step at a time."
Ollie looked Gabrielle over, all the while trying to avoid looking
at her face, or Joxer's. He didn't think his heart could take it.
And speaking of hearts, that seemed to be where the girl was
hurting, her heart. From what Ollie could tell, she seemed fine,
so whatever was affecting her had to be at her end of the link.
And whatever it was, it had to be bad for her not to have woken
up by now and broken the link.
***
It looked bad. Real bad. Xena had been unable to wake Gabrielle,
and none of the potions she tried lessened the steady progress of
the poison's march toward her heart.
Xena's eyes still shone with the wet tears that had been coursing
down her face all morning, and now the afternoon. There was
nothing Xena could do. Nothing. And the feeling enraged her.
But it was an impotent rage, with no one or nothing to vent it on.
"What good is a sword if there's no one to use it on?" Xena
thought bitterly.
There was nothing she could do. Nothing but wait for the
inevitable.
***
There was nothing he could do. Ollie dug his head into his hands,
feeling an impotent rage welling up inside him.
"Why?" he asked himself. "Why is this happening?" What had these
two kids done that was so wrong as to deserve this? What gods had
they pissed off to have this done to them?
Ollie had never been what one would term a 'religious man', but he
knew God after his own fashion. Regardless of what he'd seen,
what he'd been through, he'd always believed that God was
compassionate and loving. That in the final accounting, all the
books would balance. That the good would get their reward and the
bad 'the big house'.
So, with all the pain around him, Joxer's, Gabrielle's, Ollie did
something he hadn't done in years.
He prayed.
***
Xena prayed. Prayed for a miracle. She'd seen them before, so
she knew they existed. She also knew that she'd had more than
her fair share of them. But she prayed for just one more. Just
one more...
***
Ollie opened his eyes out of frustration. He didn't know what to
do. He didn't know what to think. He just knelt there, staring
into the vast nothing in front of him.
And it was then that he saw HIM.
Joxer didn't know what to do. Here was Gabrielle, clutching her
heart and reeling in pain, real physical pain, and he didn't know
what to do. All he could think of was to scream for help. Scream
that someone come and help him.
"Please, someone come!" he thought. "Why won't someone come?"
He was starting to get hoarse, and his tears were falling into his
up-turned mouth, but he didn't care. All he could think about was
Gabrielle. Why wasn't someone helping them?
He was still screaming, begging, when he felt a strong hand upon
his shoulder.
He looked up and saw his comrade of late, Oliver Queen, the Green
Arrow.
"Help her..." Joxer simply pleaded.
Ollie wished he could. He really did. He didn't know how the
hell these damned metaphysical things worked. What he wouldn't
give to have Dr. Fate or Zatanna here to help him. He was just
an archer. An ordinary guy. He had tried to leave all this crap
to the 'big guns' like Supes and GL.
What the hell did this kid want, Ollie asked himself. Wave his
magic wand, say a few words, and 'abracadabra', she's better?
Ollie took a deep breath and calmed down. "That's exactly what he
wants," a part of his mind told him. And he couldn't blame him.
"All right, get a grip on yourself Queen. Take this thing one
step at a time."
Ollie looked Gabrielle over, all the while trying to avoid looking
at her face, or Joxer's. He didn't think his heart could take it.
And speaking of hearts, that seemed to be where the girl was
hurting, her heart. From what Ollie could tell, she seemed fine,
so whatever was affecting her had to be at her end of the link.
And whatever it was, it had to be bad for her not to have woken
up by now and broken the link.
***
It looked bad. Real bad. Xena had been unable to wake Gabrielle,
and none of the potions she tried lessened the steady progress of
the poison's march toward her heart.
Xena's eyes still shone with the wet tears that had been coursing
down her face all morning, and now the afternoon. There was
nothing Xena could do. Nothing. And the feeling enraged her.
But it was an impotent rage, with no one or nothing to vent it on.
"What good is a sword if there's no one to use it on?" Xena
thought bitterly.
There was nothing she could do. Nothing but wait for the
inevitable.
***
There was nothing he could do. Ollie dug his head into his hands,
feeling an impotent rage welling up inside him.
"Why?" he asked himself. "Why is this happening?" What had these
two kids done that was so wrong as to deserve this? What gods had
they pissed off to have this done to them?
Ollie had never been what one would term a 'religious man', but he
knew God after his own fashion. Regardless of what he'd seen,
what he'd been through, he'd always believed that God was
compassionate and loving. That in the final accounting, all the
books would balance. That the good would get their reward and the
bad 'the big house'.
So, with all the pain around him, Joxer's, Gabrielle's, Ollie did
something he hadn't done in years.
He prayed.
***
Xena prayed. Prayed for a miracle. She'd seen them before, so
she knew they existed. She also knew that she'd had more than
her fair share of them. But she prayed for just one more. Just
one more...
***
Ollie opened his eyes out of frustration. He didn't know what to
do. He didn't know what to think. He just knelt there, staring
into the vast nothing in front of him.
And it was then that he saw HIM.