Joxer's Life
Disclaimer: Don't sue, I'm broke and just borrowing. My first ever story be
kind.
Couple A/J (is there anyone else)
Rating Not sure PG13 it's a little slashy.
The lone traveler walked the winding path with a carefree gait. His clothes were well worn and his armor nothing that would be considered useful to anyone but him. He spent the last two nights out in the forest and had yet managed to find anything for food for the day, but that feeling was something he was used to. He had heard of a battle over in the next valley and was hoping to be in time for it. Joxer was sure some friends were there or at least on their way and he wanted to be there just in case he could help. He knew that he was not the best of warriors but he tried to help as best he could.
As he crested the hill he saw the layout of the battle before him, despite popular opinion he was not stupid his father's brief attempts to teach him war had given him some knowledge of the subject. The armies were stretched along the outer rim of the valley, the battle itself had not started yet, and the part that concerned him was the small village in the center it looked to be inhabited. With all the talk of war and the surrounding armies no one had taken care of the innocents in the town, they knew something was coming but they did not know what to do or where to go. He headed towards the town.
Joxer didn't know it but his friends were in the opposing general's tents trying to stop the oncoming war. Xena and Gabrielle were with the army to the south and Herc and Iolaus were with the north. They had met up earlier and decided to divide the work in half if they could. They were not having much success and each couple had been thrown out of the tent by the armies. Each pair decided to consult the other and headed towards the opposing side. This led them to conveniently meet near the village.
Xena huffed "Did you guys get anywhere with them?"
Herc answered "No they are the most stubborn, egotistical, morons I have ever met. No wonder Ares has them starting this mess"
"Do you think that if we ask him nicely he'll stop the war." Iolaus was being sarcastic and was a little bit worried when both Xena and Herc looked as if they were seriously considering it. "Guys, I don't think that's such a good idea. Uhm guys.." With the amount of time that he spent getting killed recently he didn't want to spend any amount of time around the Gods unless he was forced to.
Herc and Xena both screamed "ARES!"
Ares, while he did not support this particular war was there he was following Joxer to the village. The mortal was one of his most devoted worshippers, lousy fighter though. He followed Joxer because while the heroes were dreadfully predictable Joxer was something of a mystery and Ares just loved a good mystery. So he followed Joxer, invisibly of course, and he watched as Joxer did not try to stop the war but went to get the innocents out of harms way. Joxer begged, pleaded, and reasoned with the town's council saying that at the very least the armies would tear through here and get supplies for the journey back to their homes. He hoped they would see reason and send the women and children to hide in the relative safety of the forest with a small group of men to defend them. With a little push from Ares the council finally relented and took action. That was when he heard his baby brother and Xena whine. He focused in on them and found them not too far away from the village. He probably would have ignored them if his curiosity hadn't been peeked. He knew they did not know that Joxer was saving the village, he wanted to know why none of them thought about it. So with a bright flash and a smug grin he materialized before them.
"Well look who's here it's the do gooders" Ares smirked at them.
Herc just glared "Ares we know you're behind this mess so why don't you just do everyone a favor and stop this war now."
Ares just laughed. "No."
Hercules just glared at Ares again (either that or he was extremely constipated) but before he could do anything Xena decided to put her two cents in.
"What could you possibly gain over this war. These were peaceful cities before you changed them. Why here? Why now?"
Ares snorted "You should get your facts straight. They were hardly peaceful."
Both groups tried to argue with Ares and he just stood back and wondered at them he had monitoring their thoughts and not one of them had been to the occupants of the village. None of the do gooders had spared it a second thought thinking that they would make the armies bow to their words or that Ares would. They did not notice that it was indeed too late to stop the war because it already began. The heroes turned disgusted from Ares and headed into the fray. Ares turned his attention to Joxer and the villagers they had made it to the edge of the battlefield and were almost to safety. He would ensure that they made it to the forest, not because he was going soft or anything but he did want something to hold over Herc the Jerk's head for a little while. The most interesting part of the whole war was Joxer's actions. He risked his life to go into the middle of all this not for glory or fame but to save people of a village that he had no connection to. Even now Joxer was leading the villagers away from the battle fighting anyone who tried to hurt them. His fighting style was atrocious but he was getting better, to be more accurate you could say he couldn't get any worse. Ares left the war behind and followed Joxer and the villagers to the forest. He saw the townsfolk find a secure spot to wait out the war.
This war like most impulsive acts brought on by someone's greed was over quickly. The only thing left was the cleanup. The villagers stumbled back to their homes. Most of the homes were barely left standing after the armies retreat, a small group of men had stayed behind to put out the fires that had started. Another suggestion on Joxer's part although he refused to take any credit for his part, something that proved fascinating to Ares. He saw the four heroes about to meet up with Joxer and decided to see the fun.
The four heroes were congratulating each other their performances in the fight. The group spotted Joxer and collectively sighed. Ares who stood beside them invisible noticed the looks of contempt and pity on their faces and had to suppress the urge to fireball them all the way to Tartarus.
"Hi guys, wow was this some fight or what."
Gabrielle sighed "What are you doing here Joxer?"
Joxer looked surprised that they would even ask "It's a fight and I'm a warrior. I heard about it and figured you'd be here and thought that maybe I could help. You know me Joxer the Mighty good in a pinch you should have seen me guys. I was."
Ares watched as the young man told his tale, which was surprisingly accurate, except where he didn't mention the townspeople at all. He listened to the lecture the young warrior received about his participating in such a way. He saw the group head off and Joxer trailing on behind continuing his story. The good goodies shared glances of disbelief and smirks at his version of the truth. Ares decided to throw a little wrench into the mix. He materialized leaning against a tree not too far ahead of them.
"Well it was a grand day for a war, wasn't it folks."
Iolaus was exasperated "Haven't you caused enough trouble for today?"
"Watch it curly or I'll get Hades to pay you a visit. You know Tartarus there is always room for one more."
"Ignore him Iolaus he's just sore because all his hard work went to waste." Iolaus was turning green at Ares comments and Herc was looking smug.
"Actually this wasn't my work, I usually don't have a battlefield with a village in the middle of it. It's a good thing that someone got the townspeople out of the thick of it before the whole thing started. It could have been ugly. Good work."
He cast a significant glance at Joxer who smiled slightly and nodded at the god before he disappeared. Xena and Hercules shared guilty expressions, the village! In the haste to stop the war they had forgotten all about it.
Gabrielle squealed "OH gods! Those poor innocent people."
Later.
The fearsome foursome trudged along towards a neighboring village desperately trying to get away from a battle that could have been disastrous had some one not been thinking ahead. They were weighed down by their guilt and the normal camaraderie the foursome enjoyed was absent. Joxer tried to do his part by singing his song. Ares couldn't decide if the song was on purpose or not, but something was telling him that the man was not as obtuse as he claimed to be.
When next we see our intrepid group they were in a tavern in the neighboring town. The guilt was dissipating, their collective egos determined that since it all worked out they should not worry about it, the thought that maybe it might not have and that they were wrong to assume that they would succeed every time never entered their minds. After all they were heroes they were never wrong. The group was interrupted when a strange man walked over to the table. He was average looking a bit paunchy around the middle and had a uniform of some kind on. The light in Joxer's eyes died, not that anyone bothered to notice. He knew before the man spoke what had happened.
"Is there a Joxer here. Joxer of Corinth?"
Joxer was eerily calm "Yes that's me."
Man in uniform held out the message. "This is for you."
Joxer took the message and tipped the man. He opened it and read it quickly. It was short and to the point.
Xena questioned "Something wrong Joxer?"
She had been worried when the man approached and would have preferred it if her friend had not spoken up so quickly she would have to talk to him about that. It could have been trouble. Joxer looked up his eyes cold and dead his expression unreadable. That was disturbing in itself, Joxer's emotions were always easy to read, but his voice caused her to pause. It was serious and flat as if they were strangers.
"Nothing Xena just something I have to take care of. I'll be heading out soon."
He set the message down on his pack on the bench beside him and went to the innkeeper to see if he could give him some directions and some supplies. He didn't think that anyone would read the message, but he should have remembered Gabrielle and her problem with secrets, if she wasn't the one keeping them she had to know what they were. She picked up the message and made to open it. "You know Joxer, he's going to get himself in trouble and then we'll have to bail him out. It's better if we know what's going on from the beginning."
Herc slipped into self righteous protector mode and sighed "Your probably right. What does it say?"
With a puzzled look she read the message aloud "Joxer, it looks like you won the game. I wonder what it means."
The foursome was so engrossed in the message they did not notice the return of their companion. They also failed to notice the look on his face, but even they couldn't ignore the ice in his voice. "If I had wanted you to know what it was I would have read it to you. GIVE...IT.Back!"
Iolaus tried to explain "Joxer we only wanted to help. We're your friends we thought something was wrong."
"A friend would have asked!"
He ripped the message out of her hands grabbed his supplies and left the tavern. The group followed him and Xena caught his arm before he got too far. "We only want to help you, so why don't you stop being stubborn. There is no reason to snap at us".
Gabrielle preached to him "You should apologize for being so inconsiderate. We're your friends and we know what's best. What does the message mean?"
The swelling of pain and anger inside of Joxer roared. Its fire burned what was left of his heart alive. He hissed his apology "Gee I'm sorry, but my brother's death seems to have put me in a bad mood. Since you seem to know what's best why don't you tell me what to do now? Hum.a lecture me on how I'm supposed to feel, the proper ways to behave so no one else feels uncomfortable or better yet you can all tell me how I'm better off without him."
They were all shocked at the outburst but Herc being what he was couldn't let it go "We can help you through this we've all lost someone."
He was trying for sympathetic but only managed patronizing, and Joxer was not in the mood for any of it. Joxer just glared at them. They didn't know sure people died all the time; he knew their past they had all lost someone but he had just lost everyone. He was alone now. Xena by this time had loosened her hold on Joxer's arm and he took off running into the crowd. He disappeared before they could blink. In their blind belief that they were helping they went and found the messenger and got the details. It seems that Jett had been in a nearby prison under heavy security and before he could make his escape he had killed a fellow inmate. Jett had never said why to anyone. He was sentenced to die and when asked for his last request it was to deliver the message. He was hung that very morning. The group decided to follow Joxer and make sure he didn't get into any trouble.
Ares in his temple sat reflecting on what he had witnessed. He saw the pain in Joxer as clear as day and had his so-called friends paid attention they would have too. It didn't take much thought to understand why Joxer didn't want them around when he retrieved his brothers body. The group had never liked Jett and made sure that Joxer knew that. Who would want to put up with that? To top it off the petty officials had decided it was funny to hang Jett on his birthday, with a little research he had discovered that their brother Jayce had also died on their 12th. Birthday. There was no way Joxer could deal with all this and the goody goodies.
"STRIFE!"
The god of mischief appeared in the temple with in an instant. 'Ya bellowed Unc'
"Yes, I want you to delay the fearsome foursome. I don't want them to catch up to their friend Joxer for a few days a week if possible."
Strife panicked slightly "Joxer? Why ya' got plans for him Unc'?"
Ares did something that he normally wouldn't do - he explained an order to Strife. While Ares talked he watched the expressions on his nephew's face. Normally one of sarcasm or sadism depending on his mood it appeared thoughtful almost considerate. It was something many people didn't see and didn't think him capable of.
Strife's face took on a determined look "Considerate done. They won't catch up."
Ares added as an afterthought "Don't kill any of them."
"Why not?" Strife was mad at the way they had treated Joxer and figured that the world would be better off without them around, it couldn't be any worse.
Ares questioned "I didn't know you were so fond of Joxer?"
"The kids like him." Strife loved kids they were his favorites. If asked by anyone else he would say that it was because they were always causing trouble and it was such a power rush, but Ares knew that it was because of what the children were - innocent, harmless, and they didn't hate. He guessed it was something Strife found in common with Joxer.
Strife didn't have many friends and he counted Joxer as one of them, his Uncle could count on him the goody goodies would not interrupt his grief. With that Strife flashed out of his Uncle's temple. Ares then turned his attention to Joxer he wasn't sure what the young man had planned to do. It was custom for prisons to bury their prisoners in a mass grave, no ceremony nothing to show their passing. He transported himself to Joxer's side but remained invisible. Joxer walked through the forest in complete silence; no expression on is face, no annoying song passing his lips. Ares was almost tempted to read his mind to find out what he was thinking but he thought that would be an invasion of the man's privacy. He had to laugh at himself, since when did he care about a mortal's privacy. 'Since I noticed him.' He had started to pay more attention to Joxer over time, at first idle thoughts but then he surprised himself when he wanted to know the answers himself. At first he told himself it was simply to satisfy his curiosity as to how someone like him survived, how he never turned out like a warlord like his father or a killer like Jett. In spite of himself he was attracted to Joxer and wanted to get to know him better. It was a first for him, but something he was growing used to. He stayed with Joxer throughout his journey to the prison, a three-day trip in all in which Joxer did not say a word or change his expression. Ares was worried for him; maybe Jett's death had finally pushed him over the edge, that the young man could take no more.
Joxer arrived at the prison shortly after dawn and after arguing with the prison officials that he was not Jett but his brother and yes he wanted his brother's effects and his brother's body. It cost him all the dinars he had on him to get the location of the body, it seemed they put the bodies in a huge pit and then cover it up after it was filled. Joxer was in luck it had been a slow week. He had to crawl over several dead bodies in order to find his brother. Had Ares not been a God he would have been sickened at the sight, but Joxer showed no outward signs of emotion. Once he found his brother Joxer treated the body with great care and reverence, almost as if he was still alive. He carried the body deep into the woods, cleaned it and then dressed his brother in his finest attire. He then proceeded to build the funeral pyre that his brother deserved, just like he promised him he would. It was dark when he was finally finished and as he stood there before his brother and his invisible audience he said his final good-byes.
"Say hi to Jayce for me and save me a place in Tartarus. I may be awhile but I'll be along." With that he threw the torch he held onto the pyre. He spent the rest of the night sitting guard over his brother's body, insuring that he could make the final journey in peace. Ares had not made a sound this entire time but merely watched his warrior grieve in silence. At dawn Joxer got ready to take his leave he needed to think, needed to be someplace else for awhile, needed to be someone else for awhile. As he rose to leave Ares saw a twinkle in his eyes that had been missing since Joxer had received the message "Thanks for being here Ares." It was a good thing that Ares was invisible because the look of shock on his face would have completely destroyed his image. He questioned the warrior as he came into view with a simple eyebrow raising. A sad smile crossed the mortals down trodden face "I just knew, I wasn't alone." The pair walked off through the forest together; talking occasionally but mostly Joxer gained comfort from just having someone there who didn't judge him or his family. The fearsome foursome caught up with Joxer some two weeks later, it seems several rare rashes, boils and other oddities kept them down for a short while. By the time they caught up to Joxer their original feelings of concern for him had passed and he seemed fine after all this was just Joxer they were talking about. The odd relationship between the War God and the least of his warriors continued to grow.
Life went on for Joxer pretty much as before. He would sometimes travel with Xena and Gabrielle, share sometime with Ares and when he was short of money he would disappear from his friends and go to work. His job was something he was good at, when he was younger after Jett and he had run away from home it was the only thing that kept them from starving to death. He worked as a prostitute at Meg's place and had developed quite a reputation among warriors, which was what peeked Ares curiosity. Ares had heard prayers from various warriors about a man at Meg's who was supposed to be really good and decided to check it out for himself. On a whim he disguised himself and headed for Meg's. What he found surprised him to no end. There was his friend Joxer. At first he thought that Joxer was a customer but after a few minutes he found out that Joxer was taking customers. When Joxer disappeared upstairs with a customer Ares had time to brood. He listened when the others in the bar talked about Joxer. How did Joxer end up here? He thought the goody-goodies would have taken better care of him then that. Maybe they didn't know. He was discovering that Joxer kept a great deal of his life secrete, not that he would lie about it just that he wouldn't tell you unless you asked about it specifically. He thought about the oath he had discovered. It seems that Joxer and Jett had swore that they would do something when they grew up to prevent kids from having the same life that they had. They swore it with their brother Jayce at the age of five. It had taken Ares a whole day of questioning Joxer to get it out of him. It seems that while they couldn't do anything for some time neither of the boys had forgotten the promise they made. When they had gotten older they helped kids on the streets find food, work and sometimes a new home, the money from several of Jett's hits supporting their efforts. Ares had most impressed when he found out that Joxer would sit with a dying child and sing to him as he past out of this world, that bit he had found out from Hades himself. Hades had stumbled across Joxer in an alley trying to comfort the child and Uncle H had melted a little saying that the child had been happier in that brief moment than in his whole life. It seemed that the boy had never had a father and for that moment Joxer was it, the boy now lived in the fields clinging to the idea that his father/Joxer loved him. Hades and Joxer worked out a system that whenever an unloved and unwanted child was about to pass Hades would bring Joxer to them so they would know love and compassion if only briefly, it happened more often then either cared for.
When Joxer came back down Ares tried to corner him but some soldier got in the way. Seconds before Ares started to fireball the guy Joxer told him to back off and walked right past him to stand before Ares. Joxer stood for the longest time staring straight into Ares eyes and then he whispered "Ares?"
"What are you doing here?" Ares peered into his friend's mind and found that he wasn't ashamed of what he was doing but he thought that Ares wouldn't want to be friends anymore.
"I need to eat too. It's not like I'm hurting anyone, not like any one would care." his voice was a whisper, waiting for the eventual let down.
It broke Ares' heart, true many would be surprised that he had one but he did and it ached for his friend. He brought his hand up to Joxer's face and caressed it gently "that's not true I care". He answered in a matching whisper so full of emotion it would surprise certain heroes if they heard it. It was a voice of tenderness and compassion one that neither man had directed towards them for many years. With a thought Ares brought them to his temple on Olympus. They spent the night together exploring, experimenting and both giving and receiving pleasure. Each man discovering a love they never thought would happen. Joxer became a regular figure on Olympus. Instead of sitting idle he insisted of pulling his own wait, he did odd jobs for many of the gods. He also played chess with Zeus, had tea with Hera, learned new things from any god who wanted to talk, played music with Apollo but his favorite activity was to baby-sit the children of Olympus. Sometimes he would baby-sit them on Olympus and sometimes they would be joined by Strife or one of the younger gods and go down to earth and play there.
He still found time to travel throughout Greece and help the children that needed him. It was while he was down on earth traveling that things went wrong. Ares and Strife were working on a major war, which the heroes determined that they had to stop. Joxer stumbled upon them in his wanderings, they hadn't seen him for several months and decided he needed to have someone keep an eye on him. He figured they would eventually get tired of him at least they were heading in the same direction. The battle was in full force by the time they arrived on a neighboring hilltop. The four heroes told him he had to stay on the hill and try not to cause any trouble while they saved the day. So as the four heroes jumped into the battle, Joxer stood on the hill and took in the sights. The war in front of him would be a bloody one, he turned his back to it and looked at the small valley behind him thinking that it was a shame such beauty had to be ruined. It was then that he saw it a band from the fight was moving around down there. He strained his eyes to see what they were after and when he figured it out he took off in a dead run not even pausing to think. He prayed with all his might to his God and lover but he didn't not realize that he was in a dead zone for gods and the prayer to his lover was a murmur drowned out by the cries of the battle.
Hours later the battle was over and the heroes returned to the hill where they left their gear and Joxer. They noticed he wasn't there and begun to get angry.
Gabrielle pouted "How can he be so stupid."
"Take it easy Gabrielle at least he didn't put our lives at risk this time." Xena tried to pacify her friend.
"I hate to say it but he is useless as a warrior and a danger to you two. I think I'm going to try and talk to him. Get him to give up fighting and go back home to his family before he gets someone killed."
Gabrielle crooned "That is if they'll have him. We'll probably have to go with him to his home and talk his parents into taking him back."
Iolaus paused and thought about Joxer, probably for the first time. "What's his family like anyway? How could they have let him out when he's so.?"
Xena, Gabrielle, Herc all chimed in "Useless, stupid, clumsy."
Iolaus agreed absently "Yeah. Hey look!"
They turned to the valley and saw Joxer coming towards them. He wasn't alone however he was leading six godlings of various ages and dragging/carrying a semi-conscious goddess with him. The heroes noticed the upset children and the goddess and naturally jumped to the wrong conclusion and then proceeded to jump on Joxer.
Joxer's head was spinning, he had been wounded but he didn't want to scare the children. The walk from the fight was a long one and he had tried to keep their spirits up, but it was a scary day for them. They had finally reached the end of the dead zone and as one the children called out for their various parents. A small assemblage of gods instantly appeared. The group of mortals didn't seem to notice they were to intent on yelling at Joxer for what they believed his actions to be. Cupid got the important facts out of his son Bliss and immediately sent for his father and Apollo.
Ares arrived on a scene with more confusion then the battle that had just been waged. He looked to his son for information. "Joxer saved the kids and he's hurt." Apollo went straight to Joxer's side and checked briefly with the goddess who by this time was coherent enough to realize what happened directed him to help Joxer quickly. Ares slowly guided his love to the ground, calling for his father to deal with the four heroes; he had better things to do. Apollo let out a small sigh when he uncovered the multiple wounds his young friend had and knew it would be close.
The heroes had been pushed to the outskirts of the small crowd couldn't see the wounds. By the time Zeus arrived Cupid had ushered the other gods and their children home to Olympus, promising to let them know how the children's favorite baby sitter faired later. Seeing that Ares was busy with Apollo trying to save Joxer Zeus ignored his mortal son and went to Cupid to get answers. The heroes also turned their attention to Cupid, they couldn't believe that their friend merited such attention from the gods.
"Cupid what's going on here."
"It seems the kids wanted to see the war that was going on and escaped their baby sitter. They ended up getting caught by some mortals from the fight, who were going to try and hold them for ransom. Joxer saw them down there and came running he took them all out Grandfather and got wounded pretty badly from the looks of it." Cupid's expression was more serious then many had ever seen and he clutched his son Bliss to him realizing how close it could have been. A mature God wouldn't have had a problem with the mortals but the young godlings could have been seriously hurt. His eyes never left the body that Apollo desperately worked on trying to lend his strength to the man who risked so much.
Herc did a great impression of a fish, Iolaus' eyes went wide and Xena and Gabrielle just looked at each other. "I'm sorry you're talking about Joxer right." Gabrielle couldn't believe her ears. 'Joxer save someone' not possible. The others began to chuckle the image they held of Joxer was one of a fool, not a hero. Xena spoke up as if she were talking to a small child "Joxer is more likely to fall on his sword, and have the enemy die from laughter than any of his actions." The other recovered enough to agree with her.
Cupid snarled at them "Are you calling my son a liar?" He had tapped into his son's memory of the fight and knew what really happened and with a thought transferred the information to Zeus.
It was Gabrielle who tried to soothe the volatile god of love, forgetting completely that he was also a child of war "not lying exactly but maybe trying to cover for a friend." She bent to talk down to the godling "Joxer is very likable but there is no need to pretend that he's a great warrior, we're his friends we know how bad he is." Xena pulled Gabrielle behind her when she noticed the anger that graced the perfect features of the god.
Herc tried to step in "Father what's going on? Since when do the gods care about somebody like Joxer." His tone was accusing; his attitude was that Joxer was beneath notice of anyone.
Before he could answer Ares looked to his father and son and mentally told them he was taking Joxer home. He gently lifted Joxer into his arms and disappeared.
Herc demanded "Where'd he go? What is he going to do with Joxer?"
Apollo snarled "He's taking my patient home."
Gabrielle whined "He's our friend, he just can't take him away like that."
"We want to see our friend." He snarled at Apollo, not really sure why he just like to snarl and stressed the 'our'. Zeus couldn't help but notice it was if Joxer was a possession not a person. 'Oh my young friend what a life you have led.'
Apollo, a normally peaceful soul was having trouble controlling his temper. "You are to go no where near him. He heard all that yelling you were doing earlier and that hurt him more than the sword wounds. (Turning to his father he got the agreement he wanted) There is no way you are going to go anywhere near him." Apollo then flashed out to Ares' temple to check on his patient.
Herc whined "Father!"
"You and you're friends are to go nowhere near him." Silently Zeus made sure that all the gods knew of his decision; not that any one had entertained the thought of bringing Herc and co. to Joxer. The children's parents had quickly spread the word about what Joxer had done and what the heroes had said. They would receive no help from any god.
Gabrielle spoke again "This is so typical Joxer causing trouble even when he's not around."
Herc mused a big feat for him "We better figure out what really happened and then rescue Joxer from them before he causes any problems."
The heroes agreed and then headed to where the so-called fight had taken place. They couldn't miss it the trail of blood that Joxer left led them right to it. It took them a few minutes but they determined that yes Joxer had stood up against five goons who had tried to hurt the kids. Xena was flabbergasted "I still don't believe it."
Gabrielle was trying to reason it through "Maybe he had help. You know some God who came down here and took care of them.." She trailed off with her theory, not sure of anything anymore.
Herc could only say, " Maybe he just got lucky?"
Iolaus was doubtful "I don't know, he'd have to be pretty lucky."
Xena, still flabbergasted "I just don't believe it."
The evidence sat before them the bodies of the bandits who had tried to take the godlings. Hades flamed them with a thought and smiled at the plans he had for them in Tartars, perhaps he would let Jett deal with them the man had plenty of enthusiasm for that sort of thing. He briefly became visible to the heroes his smile an eerie echo of some nightmare causing the heroes to jump as if they were attacked. Iolaus fainted; he had seen that look on Hades face too often. This caused Hades to laugh a full- bodied laugh that he hadn't done in years before disappearing. The heroes decided that Joxer couldn't have possibly done anything like what the kids had said. It must be some evil plot of Ares. They would just have to fix it and stop Ares once and for all.
Meanwhile back on Olympus the gods had rushed around trying to help but not really being effective. Apollo concentrated on his patient he had been badly injured but the brief work he did on the field had stabilized Joxer. Apollo took his time and repaired all the damage he could, he gave instructions to Ares on what to do for him but Apollo wasn't sure that Ares had been paying attention. Apollo left Ares by his lover's bedside and went out into the main room of the temple. Surprisingly Cupid had taken over the area and with the help of Strife he had cleared the area of all of most of the other gods who were waiting for word on Joxer. Only Cupid, Strife, Zeus and Hera remained in the temple. Apollo walked out quietly and sat down surrounded by anxious looks.
Zeus was the first to speak "Well?"
Apollo turned to Zeus "It was close but with plenty of rest and if he takes the medication I left he should be fine."
Hera and Cupid began to relay the information to the other gods when Strife asked about Ares "How's Unc' taken it?"
Apollo answered him sadly "If we had lost one we would have lost them both." With that Apollo went back to his temple leaving it up to Zeus and Hera to decide what to do with a War God in love.
Zeus looked to Cupid for confirmation "They got it bad all right."
Hera was concerned and that feeling surprised her. Not that she didn't love her son but she hadn't worried about his feelings in too long. "I knew they had some feelings for each other but.Is it serious?"
Cupid just nodded and Strife mumbled "I ain't no love god but even I can see it." Zeus spoke more to himself then the others "Seeing it is one thing but what we do about it is another."
Cupid and Strife both had the same thought that they would get rid of Joxer and Zeus looked at them and laughed slightly.
Hera chuckled slightly "Boys we wouldn't do that. We are just as fond of young Joxer as you are. The problem is what do we do to keep Joxer around. Ares needs to admit that he wants to take Joxer as a consort before I can make him immortal. Those are the rules unfortunately."
Zeus stared out the window thinking 'Dam the rules. Those boys love each other and they are going to stay together forever. It's time that something went right for Ares and Joxer.' He conveyed his intention to his wife who looked at her husband with a loving smile that he hadn't seen in years. "Don't worry boys this is going to work out in the end. Just keep Ares here with Joxer and don't let anyone bother them."
Cupid and Strife just looked at each other and shrugged they didn't know what was going on but they had a feeling that it would work out. Zeus' idea didn't take much to get off the ground. All the gods seem to agree, which was a shock in itself but it did lend credence to the idea. Aphrodite set about to organize the party to celebrate the plan and it looked as if it would be the event of the century, and both of the guests of honor had no idea what was going on.
Joxer had been recovering slowly and enjoying his lover's undivided attention. Ares for his part had been scared that his lover was going to die and was so relieved that Joxer was still alive he found himself almost giddy. He vowed that he would talk to Zeus right away about keeping Joxer around. A few days after Joxer's injury the lovers were summoned to Zeus' grand ballroom. The room was dark and quiet; the only light showing was on Zeus and Hera who stood next to each other on one end of the room. Ares warrior by nature, especially when dealing with his family immediately became suspicious. Joxer noticed his lover's tension and touched his arm. Ares relaxed visibly. All those watching echoed the same thoughts, this was right. They couldn't wait to see their faces.
Zeus who had been watching his son and his lover and smiled. He had never seen his boy so calm as when he looked into Joxer's eyes. He smiled which set Ares nerves a little on end, his father never smiled he suddenly wished he had brought his sword. Zeus caught the thought running through his son's head and said, "You don't need your sword. I called you here to ask a favor of you. You see the council has decided to create a new godhood and we have a particular person in mind for the position."
Ares was still suspicious "What has this got to do with me."
Zeus teasingly, as Ares hadn't seen Zeus teas him in a few hundred years forgot what it looked like and thought his words were an order "You are to bond with the new god and protect him. He has become very important to us."
Ares started to object he didn't want a new god he wanted Joxer they couldn't make him hurt Joxer. Ares could feel Joxer's heart breaking. He wouldn't do it, no matter what it cost him "Father you need to find someone else I love Joxer. I won't do it."
"You will do as you're told and this time you will actually enjoy it."
"Stop teasing you old goat. Ares the new god is to be Joxer."
With that announcement several things happened at once. Ares and Joxer grabbed each other in shock and joy. The lights to the party went up to show the entire pantheon.
Ares was stunned to say the least, his family doing something nice for him? "What's the catch?"
Zeus winced inwardly; it was a well-deserved question "No catch we just want you two to be happy. So if you have no further objections." He looked at both men who could only answer with a huge grin. The ceremony was to be short and sweet, make Joxer a God and then marry the two off. Aphrodite, Hera and several of the other goddesses had taken the time to decorate the hall while the gods took care of the world below making sure that nothing would interfere in the ceremony or the subsequent honeymoon. During the hustle and bustle of preparations the do-gooders were forgotten and they hated that. The four heroes of Greece had decided that the something that Ares was up to was dangerous and was happening that night so they risked a trip to Mount Olympus itself, making it to the hall just in time to hear Hera's last pronouncement of Joxer's impending godhood.
"So that's you're plan Ares you're working with Hera. Get Joxer to be a god and then you could control his power and take over." Hercules was grinning madly with Iolaus, Xena and Gabrielle by his side. "Father you can't let him use Joxer like that."
"We know he's a fool for ever believing in Ares like that but if you just turn him over to us we'll teach him not to be that stupid anymore." Gabrielle chimed in not bothering to look at the entire of room full of gods about ready to blow her into next week.
Zeus was starting to get mad, he was seeing a side of his son he didn't want to see and realizing that he had ignored a side of his other son for far to long. "This is no concern of your Hercules leave while you still can." Zeus was determined that this would work out for Ares and Joxer.
Before Hercules could stick his oversize heroic butt into a sling Xena tried to reason with the gods "You can't make Joxer a god he's not capable of making the decisions that come with that kind of power." The implied comment was that Joxer was too stupid to handle godhood and all the gods heard it loud and clear, and they clearly didn't like it. The argument got hotter from there. Oddly enough not a word was heard from either Joxer or Ares. Ares was in shock that his family would come to his defense, he honestly didn't think anyone but Joxer cared about him that much. He knew that his children did and Strife but he strictly forbid them from sticking their neck out for him, he didn't want them hurt, other then them he believed he was on his own. 'When did that change?' The answer to that was in his arms intently watching the escalating fight 'when you found him.' He smiled and held Joxer a little tighter placing a kiss on his neck. Joxer turned towards his husband to be with a reassuring smile almost as if he could read Ares' mind and whispered "you know this means your reputation as the big bad lonely god of war is over." 'Maybe he can read my mind.' "I'll give it up gladly love" and Ares kissed him again more passionately then the last time. When they broke for air Joxer got a very determined look in his eyes "This has to be stopped you know" tilting his head to the argument going on around them "or we will never get married or get to the honeymoon." The grin on his faced turned somewhat lecherous and Ares couldn't wait to find out what that meant. "Only for you would I stop a fight Joxer, just for you." They then went into the fray placing themselves between the two sides.
"This has to stop." It was Joxer's voice that cut the roar of the fight and brought silence to the room. Ares just smiled ready to take the head off of anyone god or otherwise who tried to hurt Joxer. "Its not their fault I never gave them any indication that I was something other then the fool they saw" talking to the gods indicating his friends. Turning to his friends he glared a little "that doesn't excuse your actions. You never tried to see past the fool. Let me ask you something if I was such a fool how have I survived all this time. I wasn't always tagging after you. You passed judgment on me the moment you saw me and never tried to change your opinions of me."
"You lied to us, about who you were, are you some kind of spy." Xena stepped forward ready to beat the answer out of him if necessary but stopped short when she saw a glint of steel and realized that Ares had drawn his sword and was ready to attack.
"I have never told you a lie about myself. Xena you never bothered to ask. You know nothing of me, of who I am, or what I can do because you were too selfish or thought yourself to superior to ask. The four of you put yourself so high above the rest of us mere mortals that anything personal or important was beneath your concern."
"That's not true, we're your friends. Ares has poisoned your mind." Hercules butted in "you have to fight it."
"If you're my friends and all of what Ares offers me is false then answer one question for me." The heroes nodded enthusiastically thinking there wasn't anything they didn't know and once they had Joxer back under their thumb where he couldn't cause any trouble they could fix everything and teach Ares a lesson about messing with what belonged to them. Zeus heard the thoughts of the heroes and cringed 'how could I have been so blind.' Hera patted his hand sympathetically knowing the truth of what he was dealing with. Ares stood beside Joxer listening to Joxer's silent prayer saying not to worry he knew what he was doing, knowing that the only person who would be hurt from this exchange would be Joxer. "Answer me this then how many children were in my family." The heroes paused and looked at each other they knew Jett was there any one else. "Jett and you. That was a silly question. Come on Joxer let's go." Gabrielle gloated knowing that it had to have been that simple, it was Joxer after all.
"Wrong." Joxer looked on his friends sadly and then turned to Ares who lightly kissed his forehead before bringing up a mirror to show his 'friends' his family. A mirror sprang to life showing a small room with three beds. Joxer identified the children as they were seen. A gangly awkward one came into view "Jett" and then through a reflection they saw Joxer's face and finally a laughing boy came bounding into the room "Jayce the day he died. We were twelve." The scene played out in all its horror. The father's attack on Jayce, his death, and Jett's interference and injuries, and Joxer sneaking his last brother out of the hell they called home. "We were triplets. Had you asked I would have mentioned it but you never asked. Now we are going to continue with the ceremony and we are going to get married. We love each other and you can't stop that." "But you said you loved me, was that a lie" Gabrielle interrupted. "I thought at the time that I did, I was wrong." Joxer's tone was calm and cold as if he was talking to a stranger about the weather. "As I was saying you can stay but can't interfere. If you have any feelings towards me at all please don't disrupt my chance at happiness."
Gabrielle got mad she finally realized that Joxer loved her and with a little encouragement from her he would have been around if she hadn't found something better. Besides unrequited love makes for the best stories, how dare Ares take him away from her. Hercules believed that Joxer's weak mind had truly been taken over by Ares and pitied him for it and said as much. Xena agreed with him she knew the temptation that Ares offered and was saddened that her once annoying bumbling friend had been corrupted and she would hate to have to kill him when the time came. Their expressions were perfectly clear they still thought him a fool and that Ares controlled him but faced with opposing numbers they would retreat. They turned back the way they had come but stopped short when they realized that they were one short. Iolaus had not moved, he was thinking. He was thinking about the memory that they were shown and the other times they had with Joxer and come to a conclusion, he was wrong. He stuck out his hand and looked Joxer in the eye, noting that there was no trace of the fool they had all thought existed "I was wrong. I'm sorry. You're right I don't know you, but I'd like to if you'd give me a chance."
Joxer smiled stuck out his hand and said; "I'd like that too, Iolaus." Iolaus' grin widened if that was possible. He then turned his attention to Ares "I'm sorry Ares, about everything. Would it be alright if I stayed for your wedding?" Ares for his part was floored; no one had ever apologized to him before. "I'd like that Curly," he choked out.
Hercules was shocked 'how could Iolaus do that to him'. He stormed forward and pulled Iolaus from his handshake with Ares flinging him across the room. He attacked Ares with everything he had. No one at the time expected what happened next but in later reflection it seemed that the only thing that could have happened. Ares could not fight back against Hercules' insane rage and was pinned to the floor-taking blow after blow. There was not much he could do to Herc as he was under Zeus' direct protection anyway. The other gods were too stunned to move at first and by the time they did it was all over. It ended when Joxer placed a sword against Hercules' throat. "STOP NOW!" Joxer's voice rang out with rage and pain of a lifetime. He had enough, the peaceful sweet soul could not lose anymore it was too much.
"Get up Hercules and get away from him. Apollo help Ares." Joxer backed Hercules to where Xena and Gabrielle stood stunned.
"Come on Joxer you have to fight his control." "Put the sword down, you don't want to do this." "Joxer put that down before you hurt someone."
"The only one who will be hurt is you if you don't shutup." Joxer's body was tense and battle ready. He would kill them in an instant if he had to. "Apollo how's Ares?" His voice never wavered and his gaze was locked on to his former friends. "He dies so do you." The last was said in a whisper but was heard by all. If the other gods and goddesses had any doubts about how Joxer felt about Ares it was erased right then and there.
"You can't kill me Joxer. I'm under Zeus' protection and I won't let you kill Xena or Gabrielle." The demigod tried to reason with the volatile young man.
"Ah yes Zeus' protection, hate to break it to you but that only applies to Olympians. Guess what Herc I'm not an Olympian." It was then that the heroes knew fear. It was also then that Gabrielle realized what Joxer had offered her when he said he loved her and what she had turned away and she began to mourn its loss knowing that she would never see its like again.
"Father" Herc pleaded to Zeus.
Zeus approached the scene his eyes had focused on the frantic efforts of Apollo to save Ares. It was not common knowledge but Ares could be seriously injured, his healing powers were not as spontaneous as his siblings were. Hercules could kill Ares and vice versa, he had always thought he would have to worry about Ares and his temper killing Hercules before he realized what he had done. Never in his wildest imagination could he have foreseen this. His focus went to other son who looked upon him with a superior look on his face. Hercules believed himself beyond any form of retribution.
"Joxer is quite right Hercules. He's not an Olympian and my orders were only extended to the gods of Olympus, family. Ironically if you'd waited another hour or so he and Ares would have been married and this wouldn't be a problem." This received a small somewhat demonic chuckle from Joxer. "If you want to live its up to Joxer not me. The insult was to Ares and Joxer so I leave it to them to decide your fate." The heroes of Greece flinched again and Joxer just grinned a maniacal grin that reminded them exactly who his lover was. The heroes refused to bow to their friend if he killed them they would face it with dignity they were heroes after all and this would just prove their point that Ares controlled their simple weak minded friend.
"It would serve you right if I killed you all right here and now but I'm no killer." He saws them relax thinking they would get out of this and he grinned looking more and more like his lover by the minute; "And seeing as how Ares is going to make it that would be over kill."
Everyone was surprised when Joxer said that and even more so when Apollo confirmed it. "Besides death is easy. Its life that's hard. So for crimes against Ares, the disrespect you've shown you're family and friends and for almost killing poor Iolaus when you threw him against the wall I sentence you to life. But don't breathe easy, the life you will lead will be nothing like you've ever seen before. You claim to not want the gods in you're lives I think that you should live without the gifts that they gave you. I think that in these lives you should be completely anonymous, no longer the son of Zeus, the warrior princess or the queen of the amazons. Your lives have had pain and heartbreak but you have had the love and support of your families and friends to guide you through it. This time there will be no loving home to go back to, no safe childhood memories to relive no sanctuary from your troubles. I hope you survive."
"The punishment stands." Hera strode towards her husband taking over where he could not. "It is more than just." With a look towards the unlucky three "I hope you learn something." "I'm sorry son, but this is for the best." With a look towards Hera and a wave of his hands the King and Queen of the Gods sent the three towards their fate.
Joxer had knelt beside his love, holding him tenderly while he whispered assurances of his love and affection. Ares opened his eyes and looked at his lover and then turning towards to his parents. He spoke "Can we get married before something else goes wrong."
The End
The lone traveler walked the winding path with a carefree gait. His clothes were well worn and his armor nothing that would be considered useful to anyone but him. He spent the last two nights out in the forest and had yet managed to find anything for food for the day, but that feeling was something he was used to. He had heard of a battle over in the next valley and was hoping to be in time for it. Joxer was sure some friends were there or at least on their way and he wanted to be there just in case he could help. He knew that he was not the best of warriors but he tried to help as best he could.
As he crested the hill he saw the layout of the battle before him, despite popular opinion he was not stupid his father's brief attempts to teach him war had given him some knowledge of the subject. The armies were stretched along the outer rim of the valley, the battle itself had not started yet, and the part that concerned him was the small village in the center it looked to be inhabited. With all the talk of war and the surrounding armies no one had taken care of the innocents in the town, they knew something was coming but they did not know what to do or where to go. He headed towards the town.
Joxer didn't know it but his friends were in the opposing general's tents trying to stop the oncoming war. Xena and Gabrielle were with the army to the south and Herc and Iolaus were with the north. They had met up earlier and decided to divide the work in half if they could. They were not having much success and each couple had been thrown out of the tent by the armies. Each pair decided to consult the other and headed towards the opposing side. This led them to conveniently meet near the village.
Xena huffed "Did you guys get anywhere with them?"
Herc answered "No they are the most stubborn, egotistical, morons I have ever met. No wonder Ares has them starting this mess"
"Do you think that if we ask him nicely he'll stop the war." Iolaus was being sarcastic and was a little bit worried when both Xena and Herc looked as if they were seriously considering it. "Guys, I don't think that's such a good idea. Uhm guys.." With the amount of time that he spent getting killed recently he didn't want to spend any amount of time around the Gods unless he was forced to.
Herc and Xena both screamed "ARES!"
Ares, while he did not support this particular war was there he was following Joxer to the village. The mortal was one of his most devoted worshippers, lousy fighter though. He followed Joxer because while the heroes were dreadfully predictable Joxer was something of a mystery and Ares just loved a good mystery. So he followed Joxer, invisibly of course, and he watched as Joxer did not try to stop the war but went to get the innocents out of harms way. Joxer begged, pleaded, and reasoned with the town's council saying that at the very least the armies would tear through here and get supplies for the journey back to their homes. He hoped they would see reason and send the women and children to hide in the relative safety of the forest with a small group of men to defend them. With a little push from Ares the council finally relented and took action. That was when he heard his baby brother and Xena whine. He focused in on them and found them not too far away from the village. He probably would have ignored them if his curiosity hadn't been peeked. He knew they did not know that Joxer was saving the village, he wanted to know why none of them thought about it. So with a bright flash and a smug grin he materialized before them.
"Well look who's here it's the do gooders" Ares smirked at them.
Herc just glared "Ares we know you're behind this mess so why don't you just do everyone a favor and stop this war now."
Ares just laughed. "No."
Hercules just glared at Ares again (either that or he was extremely constipated) but before he could do anything Xena decided to put her two cents in.
"What could you possibly gain over this war. These were peaceful cities before you changed them. Why here? Why now?"
Ares snorted "You should get your facts straight. They were hardly peaceful."
Both groups tried to argue with Ares and he just stood back and wondered at them he had monitoring their thoughts and not one of them had been to the occupants of the village. None of the do gooders had spared it a second thought thinking that they would make the armies bow to their words or that Ares would. They did not notice that it was indeed too late to stop the war because it already began. The heroes turned disgusted from Ares and headed into the fray. Ares turned his attention to Joxer and the villagers they had made it to the edge of the battlefield and were almost to safety. He would ensure that they made it to the forest, not because he was going soft or anything but he did want something to hold over Herc the Jerk's head for a little while. The most interesting part of the whole war was Joxer's actions. He risked his life to go into the middle of all this not for glory or fame but to save people of a village that he had no connection to. Even now Joxer was leading the villagers away from the battle fighting anyone who tried to hurt them. His fighting style was atrocious but he was getting better, to be more accurate you could say he couldn't get any worse. Ares left the war behind and followed Joxer and the villagers to the forest. He saw the townsfolk find a secure spot to wait out the war.
This war like most impulsive acts brought on by someone's greed was over quickly. The only thing left was the cleanup. The villagers stumbled back to their homes. Most of the homes were barely left standing after the armies retreat, a small group of men had stayed behind to put out the fires that had started. Another suggestion on Joxer's part although he refused to take any credit for his part, something that proved fascinating to Ares. He saw the four heroes about to meet up with Joxer and decided to see the fun.
The four heroes were congratulating each other their performances in the fight. The group spotted Joxer and collectively sighed. Ares who stood beside them invisible noticed the looks of contempt and pity on their faces and had to suppress the urge to fireball them all the way to Tartarus.
"Hi guys, wow was this some fight or what."
Gabrielle sighed "What are you doing here Joxer?"
Joxer looked surprised that they would even ask "It's a fight and I'm a warrior. I heard about it and figured you'd be here and thought that maybe I could help. You know me Joxer the Mighty good in a pinch you should have seen me guys. I was."
Ares watched as the young man told his tale, which was surprisingly accurate, except where he didn't mention the townspeople at all. He listened to the lecture the young warrior received about his participating in such a way. He saw the group head off and Joxer trailing on behind continuing his story. The good goodies shared glances of disbelief and smirks at his version of the truth. Ares decided to throw a little wrench into the mix. He materialized leaning against a tree not too far ahead of them.
"Well it was a grand day for a war, wasn't it folks."
Iolaus was exasperated "Haven't you caused enough trouble for today?"
"Watch it curly or I'll get Hades to pay you a visit. You know Tartarus there is always room for one more."
"Ignore him Iolaus he's just sore because all his hard work went to waste." Iolaus was turning green at Ares comments and Herc was looking smug.
"Actually this wasn't my work, I usually don't have a battlefield with a village in the middle of it. It's a good thing that someone got the townspeople out of the thick of it before the whole thing started. It could have been ugly. Good work."
He cast a significant glance at Joxer who smiled slightly and nodded at the god before he disappeared. Xena and Hercules shared guilty expressions, the village! In the haste to stop the war they had forgotten all about it.
Gabrielle squealed "OH gods! Those poor innocent people."
Later.
The fearsome foursome trudged along towards a neighboring village desperately trying to get away from a battle that could have been disastrous had some one not been thinking ahead. They were weighed down by their guilt and the normal camaraderie the foursome enjoyed was absent. Joxer tried to do his part by singing his song. Ares couldn't decide if the song was on purpose or not, but something was telling him that the man was not as obtuse as he claimed to be.
When next we see our intrepid group they were in a tavern in the neighboring town. The guilt was dissipating, their collective egos determined that since it all worked out they should not worry about it, the thought that maybe it might not have and that they were wrong to assume that they would succeed every time never entered their minds. After all they were heroes they were never wrong. The group was interrupted when a strange man walked over to the table. He was average looking a bit paunchy around the middle and had a uniform of some kind on. The light in Joxer's eyes died, not that anyone bothered to notice. He knew before the man spoke what had happened.
"Is there a Joxer here. Joxer of Corinth?"
Joxer was eerily calm "Yes that's me."
Man in uniform held out the message. "This is for you."
Joxer took the message and tipped the man. He opened it and read it quickly. It was short and to the point.
Xena questioned "Something wrong Joxer?"
She had been worried when the man approached and would have preferred it if her friend had not spoken up so quickly she would have to talk to him about that. It could have been trouble. Joxer looked up his eyes cold and dead his expression unreadable. That was disturbing in itself, Joxer's emotions were always easy to read, but his voice caused her to pause. It was serious and flat as if they were strangers.
"Nothing Xena just something I have to take care of. I'll be heading out soon."
He set the message down on his pack on the bench beside him and went to the innkeeper to see if he could give him some directions and some supplies. He didn't think that anyone would read the message, but he should have remembered Gabrielle and her problem with secrets, if she wasn't the one keeping them she had to know what they were. She picked up the message and made to open it. "You know Joxer, he's going to get himself in trouble and then we'll have to bail him out. It's better if we know what's going on from the beginning."
Herc slipped into self righteous protector mode and sighed "Your probably right. What does it say?"
With a puzzled look she read the message aloud "Joxer, it looks like you won the game. I wonder what it means."
The foursome was so engrossed in the message they did not notice the return of their companion. They also failed to notice the look on his face, but even they couldn't ignore the ice in his voice. "If I had wanted you to know what it was I would have read it to you. GIVE...IT.Back!"
Iolaus tried to explain "Joxer we only wanted to help. We're your friends we thought something was wrong."
"A friend would have asked!"
He ripped the message out of her hands grabbed his supplies and left the tavern. The group followed him and Xena caught his arm before he got too far. "We only want to help you, so why don't you stop being stubborn. There is no reason to snap at us".
Gabrielle preached to him "You should apologize for being so inconsiderate. We're your friends and we know what's best. What does the message mean?"
The swelling of pain and anger inside of Joxer roared. Its fire burned what was left of his heart alive. He hissed his apology "Gee I'm sorry, but my brother's death seems to have put me in a bad mood. Since you seem to know what's best why don't you tell me what to do now? Hum.a lecture me on how I'm supposed to feel, the proper ways to behave so no one else feels uncomfortable or better yet you can all tell me how I'm better off without him."
They were all shocked at the outburst but Herc being what he was couldn't let it go "We can help you through this we've all lost someone."
He was trying for sympathetic but only managed patronizing, and Joxer was not in the mood for any of it. Joxer just glared at them. They didn't know sure people died all the time; he knew their past they had all lost someone but he had just lost everyone. He was alone now. Xena by this time had loosened her hold on Joxer's arm and he took off running into the crowd. He disappeared before they could blink. In their blind belief that they were helping they went and found the messenger and got the details. It seems that Jett had been in a nearby prison under heavy security and before he could make his escape he had killed a fellow inmate. Jett had never said why to anyone. He was sentenced to die and when asked for his last request it was to deliver the message. He was hung that very morning. The group decided to follow Joxer and make sure he didn't get into any trouble.
Ares in his temple sat reflecting on what he had witnessed. He saw the pain in Joxer as clear as day and had his so-called friends paid attention they would have too. It didn't take much thought to understand why Joxer didn't want them around when he retrieved his brothers body. The group had never liked Jett and made sure that Joxer knew that. Who would want to put up with that? To top it off the petty officials had decided it was funny to hang Jett on his birthday, with a little research he had discovered that their brother Jayce had also died on their 12th. Birthday. There was no way Joxer could deal with all this and the goody goodies.
"STRIFE!"
The god of mischief appeared in the temple with in an instant. 'Ya bellowed Unc'
"Yes, I want you to delay the fearsome foursome. I don't want them to catch up to their friend Joxer for a few days a week if possible."
Strife panicked slightly "Joxer? Why ya' got plans for him Unc'?"
Ares did something that he normally wouldn't do - he explained an order to Strife. While Ares talked he watched the expressions on his nephew's face. Normally one of sarcasm or sadism depending on his mood it appeared thoughtful almost considerate. It was something many people didn't see and didn't think him capable of.
Strife's face took on a determined look "Considerate done. They won't catch up."
Ares added as an afterthought "Don't kill any of them."
"Why not?" Strife was mad at the way they had treated Joxer and figured that the world would be better off without them around, it couldn't be any worse.
Ares questioned "I didn't know you were so fond of Joxer?"
"The kids like him." Strife loved kids they were his favorites. If asked by anyone else he would say that it was because they were always causing trouble and it was such a power rush, but Ares knew that it was because of what the children were - innocent, harmless, and they didn't hate. He guessed it was something Strife found in common with Joxer.
Strife didn't have many friends and he counted Joxer as one of them, his Uncle could count on him the goody goodies would not interrupt his grief. With that Strife flashed out of his Uncle's temple. Ares then turned his attention to Joxer he wasn't sure what the young man had planned to do. It was custom for prisons to bury their prisoners in a mass grave, no ceremony nothing to show their passing. He transported himself to Joxer's side but remained invisible. Joxer walked through the forest in complete silence; no expression on is face, no annoying song passing his lips. Ares was almost tempted to read his mind to find out what he was thinking but he thought that would be an invasion of the man's privacy. He had to laugh at himself, since when did he care about a mortal's privacy. 'Since I noticed him.' He had started to pay more attention to Joxer over time, at first idle thoughts but then he surprised himself when he wanted to know the answers himself. At first he told himself it was simply to satisfy his curiosity as to how someone like him survived, how he never turned out like a warlord like his father or a killer like Jett. In spite of himself he was attracted to Joxer and wanted to get to know him better. It was a first for him, but something he was growing used to. He stayed with Joxer throughout his journey to the prison, a three-day trip in all in which Joxer did not say a word or change his expression. Ares was worried for him; maybe Jett's death had finally pushed him over the edge, that the young man could take no more.
Joxer arrived at the prison shortly after dawn and after arguing with the prison officials that he was not Jett but his brother and yes he wanted his brother's effects and his brother's body. It cost him all the dinars he had on him to get the location of the body, it seemed they put the bodies in a huge pit and then cover it up after it was filled. Joxer was in luck it had been a slow week. He had to crawl over several dead bodies in order to find his brother. Had Ares not been a God he would have been sickened at the sight, but Joxer showed no outward signs of emotion. Once he found his brother Joxer treated the body with great care and reverence, almost as if he was still alive. He carried the body deep into the woods, cleaned it and then dressed his brother in his finest attire. He then proceeded to build the funeral pyre that his brother deserved, just like he promised him he would. It was dark when he was finally finished and as he stood there before his brother and his invisible audience he said his final good-byes.
"Say hi to Jayce for me and save me a place in Tartarus. I may be awhile but I'll be along." With that he threw the torch he held onto the pyre. He spent the rest of the night sitting guard over his brother's body, insuring that he could make the final journey in peace. Ares had not made a sound this entire time but merely watched his warrior grieve in silence. At dawn Joxer got ready to take his leave he needed to think, needed to be someplace else for awhile, needed to be someone else for awhile. As he rose to leave Ares saw a twinkle in his eyes that had been missing since Joxer had received the message "Thanks for being here Ares." It was a good thing that Ares was invisible because the look of shock on his face would have completely destroyed his image. He questioned the warrior as he came into view with a simple eyebrow raising. A sad smile crossed the mortals down trodden face "I just knew, I wasn't alone." The pair walked off through the forest together; talking occasionally but mostly Joxer gained comfort from just having someone there who didn't judge him or his family. The fearsome foursome caught up with Joxer some two weeks later, it seems several rare rashes, boils and other oddities kept them down for a short while. By the time they caught up to Joxer their original feelings of concern for him had passed and he seemed fine after all this was just Joxer they were talking about. The odd relationship between the War God and the least of his warriors continued to grow.
Life went on for Joxer pretty much as before. He would sometimes travel with Xena and Gabrielle, share sometime with Ares and when he was short of money he would disappear from his friends and go to work. His job was something he was good at, when he was younger after Jett and he had run away from home it was the only thing that kept them from starving to death. He worked as a prostitute at Meg's place and had developed quite a reputation among warriors, which was what peeked Ares curiosity. Ares had heard prayers from various warriors about a man at Meg's who was supposed to be really good and decided to check it out for himself. On a whim he disguised himself and headed for Meg's. What he found surprised him to no end. There was his friend Joxer. At first he thought that Joxer was a customer but after a few minutes he found out that Joxer was taking customers. When Joxer disappeared upstairs with a customer Ares had time to brood. He listened when the others in the bar talked about Joxer. How did Joxer end up here? He thought the goody-goodies would have taken better care of him then that. Maybe they didn't know. He was discovering that Joxer kept a great deal of his life secrete, not that he would lie about it just that he wouldn't tell you unless you asked about it specifically. He thought about the oath he had discovered. It seems that Joxer and Jett had swore that they would do something when they grew up to prevent kids from having the same life that they had. They swore it with their brother Jayce at the age of five. It had taken Ares a whole day of questioning Joxer to get it out of him. It seems that while they couldn't do anything for some time neither of the boys had forgotten the promise they made. When they had gotten older they helped kids on the streets find food, work and sometimes a new home, the money from several of Jett's hits supporting their efforts. Ares had most impressed when he found out that Joxer would sit with a dying child and sing to him as he past out of this world, that bit he had found out from Hades himself. Hades had stumbled across Joxer in an alley trying to comfort the child and Uncle H had melted a little saying that the child had been happier in that brief moment than in his whole life. It seemed that the boy had never had a father and for that moment Joxer was it, the boy now lived in the fields clinging to the idea that his father/Joxer loved him. Hades and Joxer worked out a system that whenever an unloved and unwanted child was about to pass Hades would bring Joxer to them so they would know love and compassion if only briefly, it happened more often then either cared for.
When Joxer came back down Ares tried to corner him but some soldier got in the way. Seconds before Ares started to fireball the guy Joxer told him to back off and walked right past him to stand before Ares. Joxer stood for the longest time staring straight into Ares eyes and then he whispered "Ares?"
"What are you doing here?" Ares peered into his friend's mind and found that he wasn't ashamed of what he was doing but he thought that Ares wouldn't want to be friends anymore.
"I need to eat too. It's not like I'm hurting anyone, not like any one would care." his voice was a whisper, waiting for the eventual let down.
It broke Ares' heart, true many would be surprised that he had one but he did and it ached for his friend. He brought his hand up to Joxer's face and caressed it gently "that's not true I care". He answered in a matching whisper so full of emotion it would surprise certain heroes if they heard it. It was a voice of tenderness and compassion one that neither man had directed towards them for many years. With a thought Ares brought them to his temple on Olympus. They spent the night together exploring, experimenting and both giving and receiving pleasure. Each man discovering a love they never thought would happen. Joxer became a regular figure on Olympus. Instead of sitting idle he insisted of pulling his own wait, he did odd jobs for many of the gods. He also played chess with Zeus, had tea with Hera, learned new things from any god who wanted to talk, played music with Apollo but his favorite activity was to baby-sit the children of Olympus. Sometimes he would baby-sit them on Olympus and sometimes they would be joined by Strife or one of the younger gods and go down to earth and play there.
He still found time to travel throughout Greece and help the children that needed him. It was while he was down on earth traveling that things went wrong. Ares and Strife were working on a major war, which the heroes determined that they had to stop. Joxer stumbled upon them in his wanderings, they hadn't seen him for several months and decided he needed to have someone keep an eye on him. He figured they would eventually get tired of him at least they were heading in the same direction. The battle was in full force by the time they arrived on a neighboring hilltop. The four heroes told him he had to stay on the hill and try not to cause any trouble while they saved the day. So as the four heroes jumped into the battle, Joxer stood on the hill and took in the sights. The war in front of him would be a bloody one, he turned his back to it and looked at the small valley behind him thinking that it was a shame such beauty had to be ruined. It was then that he saw it a band from the fight was moving around down there. He strained his eyes to see what they were after and when he figured it out he took off in a dead run not even pausing to think. He prayed with all his might to his God and lover but he didn't not realize that he was in a dead zone for gods and the prayer to his lover was a murmur drowned out by the cries of the battle.
Hours later the battle was over and the heroes returned to the hill where they left their gear and Joxer. They noticed he wasn't there and begun to get angry.
Gabrielle pouted "How can he be so stupid."
"Take it easy Gabrielle at least he didn't put our lives at risk this time." Xena tried to pacify her friend.
"I hate to say it but he is useless as a warrior and a danger to you two. I think I'm going to try and talk to him. Get him to give up fighting and go back home to his family before he gets someone killed."
Gabrielle crooned "That is if they'll have him. We'll probably have to go with him to his home and talk his parents into taking him back."
Iolaus paused and thought about Joxer, probably for the first time. "What's his family like anyway? How could they have let him out when he's so.?"
Xena, Gabrielle, Herc all chimed in "Useless, stupid, clumsy."
Iolaus agreed absently "Yeah. Hey look!"
They turned to the valley and saw Joxer coming towards them. He wasn't alone however he was leading six godlings of various ages and dragging/carrying a semi-conscious goddess with him. The heroes noticed the upset children and the goddess and naturally jumped to the wrong conclusion and then proceeded to jump on Joxer.
Joxer's head was spinning, he had been wounded but he didn't want to scare the children. The walk from the fight was a long one and he had tried to keep their spirits up, but it was a scary day for them. They had finally reached the end of the dead zone and as one the children called out for their various parents. A small assemblage of gods instantly appeared. The group of mortals didn't seem to notice they were to intent on yelling at Joxer for what they believed his actions to be. Cupid got the important facts out of his son Bliss and immediately sent for his father and Apollo.
Ares arrived on a scene with more confusion then the battle that had just been waged. He looked to his son for information. "Joxer saved the kids and he's hurt." Apollo went straight to Joxer's side and checked briefly with the goddess who by this time was coherent enough to realize what happened directed him to help Joxer quickly. Ares slowly guided his love to the ground, calling for his father to deal with the four heroes; he had better things to do. Apollo let out a small sigh when he uncovered the multiple wounds his young friend had and knew it would be close.
The heroes had been pushed to the outskirts of the small crowd couldn't see the wounds. By the time Zeus arrived Cupid had ushered the other gods and their children home to Olympus, promising to let them know how the children's favorite baby sitter faired later. Seeing that Ares was busy with Apollo trying to save Joxer Zeus ignored his mortal son and went to Cupid to get answers. The heroes also turned their attention to Cupid, they couldn't believe that their friend merited such attention from the gods.
"Cupid what's going on here."
"It seems the kids wanted to see the war that was going on and escaped their baby sitter. They ended up getting caught by some mortals from the fight, who were going to try and hold them for ransom. Joxer saw them down there and came running he took them all out Grandfather and got wounded pretty badly from the looks of it." Cupid's expression was more serious then many had ever seen and he clutched his son Bliss to him realizing how close it could have been. A mature God wouldn't have had a problem with the mortals but the young godlings could have been seriously hurt. His eyes never left the body that Apollo desperately worked on trying to lend his strength to the man who risked so much.
Herc did a great impression of a fish, Iolaus' eyes went wide and Xena and Gabrielle just looked at each other. "I'm sorry you're talking about Joxer right." Gabrielle couldn't believe her ears. 'Joxer save someone' not possible. The others began to chuckle the image they held of Joxer was one of a fool, not a hero. Xena spoke up as if she were talking to a small child "Joxer is more likely to fall on his sword, and have the enemy die from laughter than any of his actions." The other recovered enough to agree with her.
Cupid snarled at them "Are you calling my son a liar?" He had tapped into his son's memory of the fight and knew what really happened and with a thought transferred the information to Zeus.
It was Gabrielle who tried to soothe the volatile god of love, forgetting completely that he was also a child of war "not lying exactly but maybe trying to cover for a friend." She bent to talk down to the godling "Joxer is very likable but there is no need to pretend that he's a great warrior, we're his friends we know how bad he is." Xena pulled Gabrielle behind her when she noticed the anger that graced the perfect features of the god.
Herc tried to step in "Father what's going on? Since when do the gods care about somebody like Joxer." His tone was accusing; his attitude was that Joxer was beneath notice of anyone.
Before he could answer Ares looked to his father and son and mentally told them he was taking Joxer home. He gently lifted Joxer into his arms and disappeared.
Herc demanded "Where'd he go? What is he going to do with Joxer?"
Apollo snarled "He's taking my patient home."
Gabrielle whined "He's our friend, he just can't take him away like that."
"We want to see our friend." He snarled at Apollo, not really sure why he just like to snarl and stressed the 'our'. Zeus couldn't help but notice it was if Joxer was a possession not a person. 'Oh my young friend what a life you have led.'
Apollo, a normally peaceful soul was having trouble controlling his temper. "You are to go no where near him. He heard all that yelling you were doing earlier and that hurt him more than the sword wounds. (Turning to his father he got the agreement he wanted) There is no way you are going to go anywhere near him." Apollo then flashed out to Ares' temple to check on his patient.
Herc whined "Father!"
"You and you're friends are to go nowhere near him." Silently Zeus made sure that all the gods knew of his decision; not that any one had entertained the thought of bringing Herc and co. to Joxer. The children's parents had quickly spread the word about what Joxer had done and what the heroes had said. They would receive no help from any god.
Gabrielle spoke again "This is so typical Joxer causing trouble even when he's not around."
Herc mused a big feat for him "We better figure out what really happened and then rescue Joxer from them before he causes any problems."
The heroes agreed and then headed to where the so-called fight had taken place. They couldn't miss it the trail of blood that Joxer left led them right to it. It took them a few minutes but they determined that yes Joxer had stood up against five goons who had tried to hurt the kids. Xena was flabbergasted "I still don't believe it."
Gabrielle was trying to reason it through "Maybe he had help. You know some God who came down here and took care of them.." She trailed off with her theory, not sure of anything anymore.
Herc could only say, " Maybe he just got lucky?"
Iolaus was doubtful "I don't know, he'd have to be pretty lucky."
Xena, still flabbergasted "I just don't believe it."
The evidence sat before them the bodies of the bandits who had tried to take the godlings. Hades flamed them with a thought and smiled at the plans he had for them in Tartars, perhaps he would let Jett deal with them the man had plenty of enthusiasm for that sort of thing. He briefly became visible to the heroes his smile an eerie echo of some nightmare causing the heroes to jump as if they were attacked. Iolaus fainted; he had seen that look on Hades face too often. This caused Hades to laugh a full- bodied laugh that he hadn't done in years before disappearing. The heroes decided that Joxer couldn't have possibly done anything like what the kids had said. It must be some evil plot of Ares. They would just have to fix it and stop Ares once and for all.
Meanwhile back on Olympus the gods had rushed around trying to help but not really being effective. Apollo concentrated on his patient he had been badly injured but the brief work he did on the field had stabilized Joxer. Apollo took his time and repaired all the damage he could, he gave instructions to Ares on what to do for him but Apollo wasn't sure that Ares had been paying attention. Apollo left Ares by his lover's bedside and went out into the main room of the temple. Surprisingly Cupid had taken over the area and with the help of Strife he had cleared the area of all of most of the other gods who were waiting for word on Joxer. Only Cupid, Strife, Zeus and Hera remained in the temple. Apollo walked out quietly and sat down surrounded by anxious looks.
Zeus was the first to speak "Well?"
Apollo turned to Zeus "It was close but with plenty of rest and if he takes the medication I left he should be fine."
Hera and Cupid began to relay the information to the other gods when Strife asked about Ares "How's Unc' taken it?"
Apollo answered him sadly "If we had lost one we would have lost them both." With that Apollo went back to his temple leaving it up to Zeus and Hera to decide what to do with a War God in love.
Zeus looked to Cupid for confirmation "They got it bad all right."
Hera was concerned and that feeling surprised her. Not that she didn't love her son but she hadn't worried about his feelings in too long. "I knew they had some feelings for each other but.Is it serious?"
Cupid just nodded and Strife mumbled "I ain't no love god but even I can see it." Zeus spoke more to himself then the others "Seeing it is one thing but what we do about it is another."
Cupid and Strife both had the same thought that they would get rid of Joxer and Zeus looked at them and laughed slightly.
Hera chuckled slightly "Boys we wouldn't do that. We are just as fond of young Joxer as you are. The problem is what do we do to keep Joxer around. Ares needs to admit that he wants to take Joxer as a consort before I can make him immortal. Those are the rules unfortunately."
Zeus stared out the window thinking 'Dam the rules. Those boys love each other and they are going to stay together forever. It's time that something went right for Ares and Joxer.' He conveyed his intention to his wife who looked at her husband with a loving smile that he hadn't seen in years. "Don't worry boys this is going to work out in the end. Just keep Ares here with Joxer and don't let anyone bother them."
Cupid and Strife just looked at each other and shrugged they didn't know what was going on but they had a feeling that it would work out. Zeus' idea didn't take much to get off the ground. All the gods seem to agree, which was a shock in itself but it did lend credence to the idea. Aphrodite set about to organize the party to celebrate the plan and it looked as if it would be the event of the century, and both of the guests of honor had no idea what was going on.
Joxer had been recovering slowly and enjoying his lover's undivided attention. Ares for his part had been scared that his lover was going to die and was so relieved that Joxer was still alive he found himself almost giddy. He vowed that he would talk to Zeus right away about keeping Joxer around. A few days after Joxer's injury the lovers were summoned to Zeus' grand ballroom. The room was dark and quiet; the only light showing was on Zeus and Hera who stood next to each other on one end of the room. Ares warrior by nature, especially when dealing with his family immediately became suspicious. Joxer noticed his lover's tension and touched his arm. Ares relaxed visibly. All those watching echoed the same thoughts, this was right. They couldn't wait to see their faces.
Zeus who had been watching his son and his lover and smiled. He had never seen his boy so calm as when he looked into Joxer's eyes. He smiled which set Ares nerves a little on end, his father never smiled he suddenly wished he had brought his sword. Zeus caught the thought running through his son's head and said, "You don't need your sword. I called you here to ask a favor of you. You see the council has decided to create a new godhood and we have a particular person in mind for the position."
Ares was still suspicious "What has this got to do with me."
Zeus teasingly, as Ares hadn't seen Zeus teas him in a few hundred years forgot what it looked like and thought his words were an order "You are to bond with the new god and protect him. He has become very important to us."
Ares started to object he didn't want a new god he wanted Joxer they couldn't make him hurt Joxer. Ares could feel Joxer's heart breaking. He wouldn't do it, no matter what it cost him "Father you need to find someone else I love Joxer. I won't do it."
"You will do as you're told and this time you will actually enjoy it."
"Stop teasing you old goat. Ares the new god is to be Joxer."
With that announcement several things happened at once. Ares and Joxer grabbed each other in shock and joy. The lights to the party went up to show the entire pantheon.
Ares was stunned to say the least, his family doing something nice for him? "What's the catch?"
Zeus winced inwardly; it was a well-deserved question "No catch we just want you two to be happy. So if you have no further objections." He looked at both men who could only answer with a huge grin. The ceremony was to be short and sweet, make Joxer a God and then marry the two off. Aphrodite, Hera and several of the other goddesses had taken the time to decorate the hall while the gods took care of the world below making sure that nothing would interfere in the ceremony or the subsequent honeymoon. During the hustle and bustle of preparations the do-gooders were forgotten and they hated that. The four heroes of Greece had decided that the something that Ares was up to was dangerous and was happening that night so they risked a trip to Mount Olympus itself, making it to the hall just in time to hear Hera's last pronouncement of Joxer's impending godhood.
"So that's you're plan Ares you're working with Hera. Get Joxer to be a god and then you could control his power and take over." Hercules was grinning madly with Iolaus, Xena and Gabrielle by his side. "Father you can't let him use Joxer like that."
"We know he's a fool for ever believing in Ares like that but if you just turn him over to us we'll teach him not to be that stupid anymore." Gabrielle chimed in not bothering to look at the entire of room full of gods about ready to blow her into next week.
Zeus was starting to get mad, he was seeing a side of his son he didn't want to see and realizing that he had ignored a side of his other son for far to long. "This is no concern of your Hercules leave while you still can." Zeus was determined that this would work out for Ares and Joxer.
Before Hercules could stick his oversize heroic butt into a sling Xena tried to reason with the gods "You can't make Joxer a god he's not capable of making the decisions that come with that kind of power." The implied comment was that Joxer was too stupid to handle godhood and all the gods heard it loud and clear, and they clearly didn't like it. The argument got hotter from there. Oddly enough not a word was heard from either Joxer or Ares. Ares was in shock that his family would come to his defense, he honestly didn't think anyone but Joxer cared about him that much. He knew that his children did and Strife but he strictly forbid them from sticking their neck out for him, he didn't want them hurt, other then them he believed he was on his own. 'When did that change?' The answer to that was in his arms intently watching the escalating fight 'when you found him.' He smiled and held Joxer a little tighter placing a kiss on his neck. Joxer turned towards his husband to be with a reassuring smile almost as if he could read Ares' mind and whispered "you know this means your reputation as the big bad lonely god of war is over." 'Maybe he can read my mind.' "I'll give it up gladly love" and Ares kissed him again more passionately then the last time. When they broke for air Joxer got a very determined look in his eyes "This has to be stopped you know" tilting his head to the argument going on around them "or we will never get married or get to the honeymoon." The grin on his faced turned somewhat lecherous and Ares couldn't wait to find out what that meant. "Only for you would I stop a fight Joxer, just for you." They then went into the fray placing themselves between the two sides.
"This has to stop." It was Joxer's voice that cut the roar of the fight and brought silence to the room. Ares just smiled ready to take the head off of anyone god or otherwise who tried to hurt Joxer. "Its not their fault I never gave them any indication that I was something other then the fool they saw" talking to the gods indicating his friends. Turning to his friends he glared a little "that doesn't excuse your actions. You never tried to see past the fool. Let me ask you something if I was such a fool how have I survived all this time. I wasn't always tagging after you. You passed judgment on me the moment you saw me and never tried to change your opinions of me."
"You lied to us, about who you were, are you some kind of spy." Xena stepped forward ready to beat the answer out of him if necessary but stopped short when she saw a glint of steel and realized that Ares had drawn his sword and was ready to attack.
"I have never told you a lie about myself. Xena you never bothered to ask. You know nothing of me, of who I am, or what I can do because you were too selfish or thought yourself to superior to ask. The four of you put yourself so high above the rest of us mere mortals that anything personal or important was beneath your concern."
"That's not true, we're your friends. Ares has poisoned your mind." Hercules butted in "you have to fight it."
"If you're my friends and all of what Ares offers me is false then answer one question for me." The heroes nodded enthusiastically thinking there wasn't anything they didn't know and once they had Joxer back under their thumb where he couldn't cause any trouble they could fix everything and teach Ares a lesson about messing with what belonged to them. Zeus heard the thoughts of the heroes and cringed 'how could I have been so blind.' Hera patted his hand sympathetically knowing the truth of what he was dealing with. Ares stood beside Joxer listening to Joxer's silent prayer saying not to worry he knew what he was doing, knowing that the only person who would be hurt from this exchange would be Joxer. "Answer me this then how many children were in my family." The heroes paused and looked at each other they knew Jett was there any one else. "Jett and you. That was a silly question. Come on Joxer let's go." Gabrielle gloated knowing that it had to have been that simple, it was Joxer after all.
"Wrong." Joxer looked on his friends sadly and then turned to Ares who lightly kissed his forehead before bringing up a mirror to show his 'friends' his family. A mirror sprang to life showing a small room with three beds. Joxer identified the children as they were seen. A gangly awkward one came into view "Jett" and then through a reflection they saw Joxer's face and finally a laughing boy came bounding into the room "Jayce the day he died. We were twelve." The scene played out in all its horror. The father's attack on Jayce, his death, and Jett's interference and injuries, and Joxer sneaking his last brother out of the hell they called home. "We were triplets. Had you asked I would have mentioned it but you never asked. Now we are going to continue with the ceremony and we are going to get married. We love each other and you can't stop that." "But you said you loved me, was that a lie" Gabrielle interrupted. "I thought at the time that I did, I was wrong." Joxer's tone was calm and cold as if he was talking to a stranger about the weather. "As I was saying you can stay but can't interfere. If you have any feelings towards me at all please don't disrupt my chance at happiness."
Gabrielle got mad she finally realized that Joxer loved her and with a little encouragement from her he would have been around if she hadn't found something better. Besides unrequited love makes for the best stories, how dare Ares take him away from her. Hercules believed that Joxer's weak mind had truly been taken over by Ares and pitied him for it and said as much. Xena agreed with him she knew the temptation that Ares offered and was saddened that her once annoying bumbling friend had been corrupted and she would hate to have to kill him when the time came. Their expressions were perfectly clear they still thought him a fool and that Ares controlled him but faced with opposing numbers they would retreat. They turned back the way they had come but stopped short when they realized that they were one short. Iolaus had not moved, he was thinking. He was thinking about the memory that they were shown and the other times they had with Joxer and come to a conclusion, he was wrong. He stuck out his hand and looked Joxer in the eye, noting that there was no trace of the fool they had all thought existed "I was wrong. I'm sorry. You're right I don't know you, but I'd like to if you'd give me a chance."
Joxer smiled stuck out his hand and said; "I'd like that too, Iolaus." Iolaus' grin widened if that was possible. He then turned his attention to Ares "I'm sorry Ares, about everything. Would it be alright if I stayed for your wedding?" Ares for his part was floored; no one had ever apologized to him before. "I'd like that Curly," he choked out.
Hercules was shocked 'how could Iolaus do that to him'. He stormed forward and pulled Iolaus from his handshake with Ares flinging him across the room. He attacked Ares with everything he had. No one at the time expected what happened next but in later reflection it seemed that the only thing that could have happened. Ares could not fight back against Hercules' insane rage and was pinned to the floor-taking blow after blow. There was not much he could do to Herc as he was under Zeus' direct protection anyway. The other gods were too stunned to move at first and by the time they did it was all over. It ended when Joxer placed a sword against Hercules' throat. "STOP NOW!" Joxer's voice rang out with rage and pain of a lifetime. He had enough, the peaceful sweet soul could not lose anymore it was too much.
"Get up Hercules and get away from him. Apollo help Ares." Joxer backed Hercules to where Xena and Gabrielle stood stunned.
"Come on Joxer you have to fight his control." "Put the sword down, you don't want to do this." "Joxer put that down before you hurt someone."
"The only one who will be hurt is you if you don't shutup." Joxer's body was tense and battle ready. He would kill them in an instant if he had to. "Apollo how's Ares?" His voice never wavered and his gaze was locked on to his former friends. "He dies so do you." The last was said in a whisper but was heard by all. If the other gods and goddesses had any doubts about how Joxer felt about Ares it was erased right then and there.
"You can't kill me Joxer. I'm under Zeus' protection and I won't let you kill Xena or Gabrielle." The demigod tried to reason with the volatile young man.
"Ah yes Zeus' protection, hate to break it to you but that only applies to Olympians. Guess what Herc I'm not an Olympian." It was then that the heroes knew fear. It was also then that Gabrielle realized what Joxer had offered her when he said he loved her and what she had turned away and she began to mourn its loss knowing that she would never see its like again.
"Father" Herc pleaded to Zeus.
Zeus approached the scene his eyes had focused on the frantic efforts of Apollo to save Ares. It was not common knowledge but Ares could be seriously injured, his healing powers were not as spontaneous as his siblings were. Hercules could kill Ares and vice versa, he had always thought he would have to worry about Ares and his temper killing Hercules before he realized what he had done. Never in his wildest imagination could he have foreseen this. His focus went to other son who looked upon him with a superior look on his face. Hercules believed himself beyond any form of retribution.
"Joxer is quite right Hercules. He's not an Olympian and my orders were only extended to the gods of Olympus, family. Ironically if you'd waited another hour or so he and Ares would have been married and this wouldn't be a problem." This received a small somewhat demonic chuckle from Joxer. "If you want to live its up to Joxer not me. The insult was to Ares and Joxer so I leave it to them to decide your fate." The heroes of Greece flinched again and Joxer just grinned a maniacal grin that reminded them exactly who his lover was. The heroes refused to bow to their friend if he killed them they would face it with dignity they were heroes after all and this would just prove their point that Ares controlled their simple weak minded friend.
"It would serve you right if I killed you all right here and now but I'm no killer." He saws them relax thinking they would get out of this and he grinned looking more and more like his lover by the minute; "And seeing as how Ares is going to make it that would be over kill."
Everyone was surprised when Joxer said that and even more so when Apollo confirmed it. "Besides death is easy. Its life that's hard. So for crimes against Ares, the disrespect you've shown you're family and friends and for almost killing poor Iolaus when you threw him against the wall I sentence you to life. But don't breathe easy, the life you will lead will be nothing like you've ever seen before. You claim to not want the gods in you're lives I think that you should live without the gifts that they gave you. I think that in these lives you should be completely anonymous, no longer the son of Zeus, the warrior princess or the queen of the amazons. Your lives have had pain and heartbreak but you have had the love and support of your families and friends to guide you through it. This time there will be no loving home to go back to, no safe childhood memories to relive no sanctuary from your troubles. I hope you survive."
"The punishment stands." Hera strode towards her husband taking over where he could not. "It is more than just." With a look towards the unlucky three "I hope you learn something." "I'm sorry son, but this is for the best." With a look towards Hera and a wave of his hands the King and Queen of the Gods sent the three towards their fate.
Joxer had knelt beside his love, holding him tenderly while he whispered assurances of his love and affection. Ares opened his eyes and looked at his lover and then turning towards to his parents. He spoke "Can we get married before something else goes wrong."
The End