Part 15:

Andy was outside playing when he saw Red Fox galloping down the road. "Mom! Mom! Red Fox is back but Dad's not with him!" he shouted.

Melody came running from the house. "Oh Gods, no!" She ran over and grabbed the still-anxious Red Fox's reins.

"Mom, where's Dad?" the boy asked, his brown eyes wide as he watched his mother wrestle with the gelding.

Melody's hair flew around her face as she whipped her head in her son's direction. "Andy, go get your Uncle Joxer and Aunt Gabrielle!" she shouted hoarsely.

Andy, frightened by the tone of his mother's voice, immediately began running towards Gabrielle and Joxer's home.

When the boy returned with Gabrielle and Joxer, they saw that Melody had calmed down and mounted Red Fox. "The horse came back on his own. Something's happened to Jett! I'm going to go find him. Please watch Andy for me." She rode off before either adult could stop her.

Aer, who had decided to watch the mortals go back towards the oldest triplet's home, snickered when she saw Melody urge the horse into full gallop. "Well, well, well! So you're worried about your ex-assassin husband, you dimwit? Let's give HIM something to worry about for a change!" she sneered. Laughing wildly, Aer pointed her hands out and shot a lightning bolt through her fingertips in the direction of horse and rider.

Red Fox, terrified by the bolt, reared and whinnied loudly as the wide burst of electricity just missed him. Melody lost control of the frightened animal when he reared a second time and she lost her balance and fell from the saddle, hitting her head on a rock.

Jett, Adora, and Eve were trudging towards Jett and Melody's home when they saw the huge bolt of electricity and Jett saw his wife riding down the road - the bolt just barely missing Red Fox. With a loud shout, he ran towards them, only to see the gelding rise up a second time and throw Melody to the ground.

"MELODY!" Jett yelled as he ran over to her, dropping down to his knees with a thump. "No… No… Don't die, Mel! Please!" he whispered as he pulled her into his arms, trying to stop the bleeding from the cut in her forehead with a handkerchief he had stuffed in his pocket.

Eve and Adora exchanged glances, both of them pale with fright. Adora closed her eyes and went over to Jett, who was cradling his unconscious wife, who was breathing very shallowly.

"Uncle Jett..." Adora swallowed hard, summoning up her courage. "Let me try to help Aunt Melody. Please."

Jett's eyes slowly left Melody's face and refocused on his niece's. "What can you do?" he asked in a raspy voice, his face set in stone. A muscle moving in his right jaw was the sole betrayal of all the emotions he held in check.

"I don't know," Adora admitted. "But I want to try and heal her..." Her brown eyes filled with the tears that her uncle would never allow himself to shed before anyone else. "Please let me try to help her, Uncle Jett!" she whispered desperately, putting a gentle hand on her uncle's arm. "I can't promise anything, but I want to try."

Jett's face softened very slightly at Adora's sincere plea. "What do you want me to do?"

"Have her lie on the ground and move away..." Adora's voice trailed off.

Jett, understanding what his niece meant, nodded curtly and gently put Melody on the ground, trying to make her as comfortable as he could. He rose to his feet and silently beckoned to Eve. The two moved away as Adora knelt next to the unconscious woman.

Adora placed one hand near the hastily wrapped wound on Melody's head and placed the other over her heart. She closed her eyes and frowned in concentration. Her breathing became slow and very shallow.

Just then, Joxer, Gabrielle, and Andy came running into the clearing. "What is she trying to do?" Joxer gasped when he saw Adora kneeling next to Melody. He started to go over to the two, but Jett grabbed him by the forearms.

"Leave her be!" the oldest triplet snarled even as Joxer struggled in his grip.

"NO! You don't underst..." Joxer began saying when Jett clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up and let her try to help my wife!" Jett growled in Joxer's ear.

Joxer continued struggling in his brother's grasp briefly then stopped, knowing it was useless. His dark eyes were filled with worry and fear for both his daughter and Melody.

Jett suddenly released his grip on Joxer, allowing him to move away and embrace Gabrielle as a silently weeping Andy ran into his father's arms. Jett picked the boy up and cradled him against his chest as the five-year old cried.

Gabrielle and Joxer turned their heads in Adora and Melody's direction and watched in silence. Eve stood next to Jett and Andy, wringing her hands anxiously.

Adora's face screwed up in concentration. A deep red flush appeared on her cheeks and sweat poured down her face in torrents. Her breathing grew almost imperceptible to the eye.

The small group watched in uneasy silence as Adora continued concentrating. Suddenly Joxer winced and staggered forward a step, his hand flying up to his forehead as Adora's lips twisted up in a grimace and her hands started glowing. Her eyes shot open, her head whipping up to face the sky. Her jaw dropped and a raw, primal roar ripped through the clearing as a bright light surrounded her and Melody's still body, forcing the others to shield their eyes.

As the light slowly cleared away and the group's eyes readjusted, Jett put Andy down on the ground and the two ran over to Melody and Adora.

"Melody!" Jett exclaimed as he fell to his knees next to his wife. He checked her over and saw that she desperately needed to be tended to by a healer - but she would make it. Her pulse was steady and strong where it was barely noticeable before. He whipped his head around when he heard Adora moan softly and saw that she had clamped both hands over her head and her face was twisted up in a horrible pain-filled grimace.

"DAD!" Andy screamed when Adora's eyes rolled up in her head and she fell backwards in a dead faint. Jett managed to grab her before she hit the ground and carefully laid her out. Eve ran over and helped him make her comfortable.

"D-D-Dorie!" Joxer stammered weakly, unsteadily lurching forward as he clutched at his head in the exact same spot where Melody had hit her head on the rock after being thrown from Red Fox.

"JOXER!" Gabrielle reached out and caught him before he fell and she forced him to sit down and hang his head. She knelt before him and patted his ghostly-white cheeks. "Joxer, look at me!" she exclaimed, noting with alarm that his eyes were glassy and uncomprehending. "Speak to me, damn it!" she demanded, gripping his shoulders tightly. It literally took all of her control not to start shaking him.

Joxer's eyes slowly regained their focus. "Gabrielle…" he mumbled.

"Are you all right?" Gabrielle asked, watching him worriedly.

Joxer blinked several times, his brow furrowing as the intense pain in his head started to subside. "Think so... I felt…" he murmured as he turned in the direction of their daughter. "Dorie?" His eyes widened in fright when he saw Eve hovering over her still body. He managed to rise to his feet but his legs felt rubbery and he began falling forward.

Gabrielle caught Joxer before he collapsed to the ground. She helped him sit down and exclaimed urgently, "You stay here! I'll check on Dorie, okay?"

Joxer nodded, putting his hand up to his throbbing temples as Gabrielle ran over to Dorie and Eve. She glanced over at Jett, her eyebrows rising in silent question. The bounty hunter grunted and she turned back to Eve. "Eve, go get Nikolas and tell him what's happened, all right?"

Nodding, Eve rose to her feet and ran off at top speed towards the healer's home.

Gabrielle turned back towards Adora, who groaned softly. Her face twisted up in an ugly grimace as she exhaled softly. Her eyelids fluttered halfway open.

"Dorie?" Gabrielle murmured, reaching down to stroke some strands of sopping wet hair away from Adora's creased brow. "Are you all right?"

"Nugghhh..." Adora moaned, her head tilting slightly. Her eyes slowly opened of their own accord and eventually focused on the worried bard's face. "Did..."

"Shhh," Gabrielle shushed her daughter. "Everyone's going to be fine," she said with a weak smile.

Adora's eyes squeezed shut when a spark of pain ripped through her head. A shaking hand moved up to her forehead. "I hope so," she mumbled. She tried to sit up but failed.

"Stay still until you get your strength back," Gabrielle admonished softly.

Adora nodded once. "Where's Papa?"

"Over here, Dorie," Joxer called out softly.

Adora turned in the direction of her father's voice and her eyes widened in shock when she saw how pale he was. "Mom, what happened?" she asked, pushing herself up on her elbows.

Gabrielle carefully helped the girl up to a sitting position and kept her arm around Adora's back. "I'm not sure," she admitted.

Adora accepted her mother's support gratefully, panting slightly from the exertion. She slowly turned towards Jett, Melody, and Andy and her eyes filled with combined tears of frustration and despair when she saw that her aunt was still unconscious. "It didn't work!" she exclaimed.

Jett looked up at the sound of his niece's voice. "It worked enough so that she didn't die," he rasped, his eyes staring intently into hers in silent thanks. He then turned his attention back to Melody, still keeping one arm placed around Andy's shoulders. "Eve's gone to fetch Nikolas."

Adora nodded, wiped her eyes and sniffled loudly. She watched as Joxer unsteadily rose to his feet and walked over to her and Gabrielle. She swallowed in sudden realization as Joxer sank down next to his wife. "Oh Gods... Papa... What did I do?" she whispered, a horrified expression appearing on her face. "I almost..."

"No, Dorie. I'm fine..."

"No you're not!" the girl retorted. She was about to say something else when Eve came running up to the group with the healer close behind her.

Keeping herself invisible to the mortals, Aer watched as the injured Melody was carefully placed onto a stretcher. "Unbelievable," she muttered, passing a hand over her brow. "It took all of my strength to divert Teutales' spawn from completely healing that mortal twit..."

The Goddess closed her eyes for a minute, taking the time to re-gather her energy. A smirk suddenly graced her lips as she watched the others rise to their feet and walk behind Jett and Nikolas, who were carrying Melody in the stretcher. The grin widened as her attention turned solely to Joxer's retreating form. "I know exactly where to strike now," she sneered.

Joxer and Adora quietly walked back towards their home after seeing that Melody was going to be okay. Joxer had his arm around his daughter's shoulders as they walked. When they arrived at the house, Adora stopped at the top of the stairs. "Papa...?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Yeah, Dorie?" Joxer replied wearily. He was still tired from what had happened earlier.

"I attacked Eve," Adora admitted.

"Really? When was this?"

"Just before Aunt Melody got hurt. I couldn't control my powers, Papa." Adora felt the tears coming down.

Joxer gently turned his daughter to face him. "Are you saying that you used your powers to attack Eve?" he asked quietly.

"Yes sir."

Joxer stared at Adora for a moment before he spoke. He wanted the words to come out right so he wouldn't scare her. "Dorie, you and I are one. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Adora shook her head, frowning. "No sir."

"What I mean is that whenever you use your powers, I know. When they're really strong, something goes through me..." Joxer struggled briefly, trying to think of how to describe what he felt. "...like a bolt of lightning. I haven't felt that for a long time - and the only time I felt that today was when you were helping your aunt Melody."

"But Papa, I attacked Eve!" Adora exclaimed, her eyes wild with confusion.

Joxer shook his head. "Either someone else did and made it look like you did it or someone else figured out how to control your powers."

"Then it wasn't my fault?"

"No. I think one of the Gods might have done it."

"But why, Papa?"

Joxer sighed heavily as he looked at Adora. "I'm not sure why. Maybe they did it as some kind of a sick joke, Dorie. They do that sometimes."

"Well, it wasn't funny! I really could've hurt Eve."

"Yeah, I know, but some Gods don't have such a great sense of humor." He tilted his head upward and sniffed the air. "Hey, it smells like your mom cooked up something yummy. Let's go have something to eat," he said with a crooked grin.

Adora nodded but she knew her father was hiding something from her as they went inside to eat.

Melody woke up and saw two people smiling down at her. "Hi, Mama!"

Melody smiled back at her son and said in a low voice. "Hello Andy." She slowly motioned for him to come to her and he did so, burying his head into her bosom. She looked up at Jett. "I'm glad you're okay," she said softly.

"I'm fine. It's you that I'm worried about," Jett murmured.

"I'll be okay. It's not the first time I've fallen off a horse," Melody replied with a yawn.

"I know. I was just so scared. I've never been so scared before like that, Mel. The thought of losing you..." Jett hesitated. "I don't think I could have gone on," he whispered, turning away in embarrassment.

Melody ran her fingers through her son's hair. "Andy... Look at me, baby."

"Yes, Mama?"

"I want you to go out and play. I'm fine."

"Okay, Mama."

Andy gave her a quick kiss and ran outside. Once he was gone, Melody looked at Jett sternly. "Now you listen to me, Jett. I didn't die but if I had, you would have to go on for Andy's sake. The boy needs you. "

Jett couldn't face his wife. "I'm not sure if I could have, Mel. I love you."

Melody blinked hard, trying to keep awake. "And what about your son, Jett?"

That was when he turned back to gaze at her with haunted eyes. "I love him too."

"Then I don't ever want to hear you say if I died you can never go on because you have a son that needs and loves you very much. I'm still a little tired. I'm going to take a nap." Melody yawned once and closed her eyes.

Jett leaned down, kissed her and left the room.

That night after Adora and Eve went to bed, Joxer sat down beside Gabrielle. "Do you think I should tell Dorie?"

Gabrielle looked up from her scroll. "Tell Dorie what?"

"About her other grandmother and what she said to me about her - the war and everything."

"No. She's only sixteen."

"Gabrielle, I think the trouble is starting now. I think she needs to be told the truth about everything. It's not right to keep her in the dark like this anymore. It's getting too dangerous not to tell her."

"Wait until Xena gets home and then we'll ask her," Gabrielle replied.

"But what if Xena gets home and it's too late?"

"She won't," Gabrielle said reassuringly. "Joxer, please let's wait."

Joxer stubbornly shook his head. "No, I'm going to tell her! I'm not waiting for Xena. Adora is my daug..." Joxer stopped his ranting when he saw the look on Gabrielle's face. "I didn't mean that, Gabrielle. I'm sorry."

"I know, Joxer and please understand that I want you to wait for Xena because this involves Eve too, and Xena should be present when we tell the two of them."

Joxer nodded as he hugged Gabrielle against him. "I'll wait. I'm sorry and I love you."