Ares' thoughts had brightened quite a bit at the thought of Xena's help. He considered his prospects as he trudged along the road beside her, the morning light slowly sifting in through the trees. Xena could always come up with a plan. She had gotten him his godhood back before, hadn't she? She could do it again, Dahak or no. But in spite of his newfound hope, he couldn't resist looking back over his shoulder, feeling as if someone were watching the two of them from behind.

After about three hours on the road, Ares finally decided to break the silence. Xena was still lost in thought -- about Blondie, no doubt. He was getting hungry, and he thought he'd better at least ask about supper. Besides, it might help to get her thinking about something else for a little while.

"Xena, I know you're off in your own little world, but I thought maybe we could stop, you know, catch a bite to eat . . . maybe you could look at my wound again." He couldn't resist a rakish smile at that last part; Xena's lips twitched for a moment, and then her eyes opened wide.

"What did you say?"

"It's okay, I was just kidding about that last part. I am hungry, though."

"No, no – the part about being off in my own little world. Maybe . . . it could work . . ."

Ares, having no idea what she was talking about, asked, "What could work?"

Just then, Xena stopped short, seeming to be concentrating all five senses on something, something that was coming closer to them. Her eyes searched the forest all around them. She moved her fingers briefly over her chakram, tingling in readiness, then withdrew them slowly. Ares thought he saw something moving in the trees, but only for a brief second, and then it was gone again.

The pair moved on for several minutes, during which Xena's guard never went down. She seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. Ares began to feel a bit . . . no, not afraid . . . just anxious. Yes, that was the strange sensation. Fear was something else entirely.

Suddenly, Xena's whip cracked through the air and brought back with it a hooded figure. Ares let out a small yelp when he recognized the cloak – the person was a follower of Dahak. "Xena, be careful!"

"Who, me?" She flashed him a sardonic grin. "Let's see who our little friend is, shall we?" Xena pulled back the hood to reveal a pale yellow head of closely cropped hair. In a flat voice, Xena muttered, "Seraphin. Nice of you to join us."

x x x

Seraphin wriggled out of her grasp, mumbling, "I must go… She's waiting."

"Who's waiting?" Xena noticed that her eyes kept darting around wildly, not focusing on anything. She appeared to be in a trance-like state, oblivious to her surroundings or whom she was talking to.

"I can feel you, goddess Hope. I hear you calling me. Your mother betrayed you once again but that only made you stronger than ever. Soon, you will fulfill your destiny and Dahak's will, will wash over the earth." She smiled then, a smile belonging to a lunatic.

Xena didn't bother masking the disgust that welled up from deep inside her. It took all her inner strength to keep herself from grabbing the girl by the shoulders and shaking her.

So Hope was definitely alive. She briefly considered trying to interrogate Seraphin to find out all the details, but in the current state she was in, Xena knew it would be a futile attempt. What was Hope up to now, another bloodletting?

"I must go." With that, Seraphin turned abruptly and started walking away, an unseen power guiding her through the forest.

Ares waited until Seraphin was out of earshot and then turned to Xena.

"We could follow her. She'll lead us straight to Hope. That will save us the trouble of looking for her. Afterwards, we can-- "

But Xena was already shaking her head. "We need to find Gabrielle first. Everything else will have to wait."

Ares gave a curt nod. "Then we should split up. You go to Amphipolis and I'll go after Seraphin."

Xena stared at him for what seemed like an eternity.

"No," he finally heard her say softly but firmly.

A single syllable that sent Ares into a whirlpool of surprise, confusion, and elation. He silently berated himself for letting his newly acquired mortal emotions affect him so. So what if Xena wanted them to stay together. She probably had her reasons. It didn't mean she really cared about him. Did it? But, he refrained himself from voicing the questions that filled his mind. Not knowing had its merits.

"Okay, let's get going. If we move fast, we should be in Amphipolis in a couple of days." Xena turned away and got on the saddle. Her feelings puzzled her. Why hadn't she let him go? The rational part of her knew the idea made sense but for some reason, the thought of Ares going off by himself tugged painfully at her heart. What was wrong with her? She couldn't explain it but she was starting to feel responsibility towards the former god of war, as well as … No, better not go there.

They continued on their way, walking in silence. Xena's mind swam and clouded with all the tasks that lay ahead of them: find Gabrielle, take care of Hope, Dahak, and the Destroyer, who was undoubtedly out there as well, and get Ares' godhood back. It was too much and just thinking about it was exhausting.

After a short while, as the sun's final rays were slowly fading away, Ares could feel the muscles in his legs begin to ache in protest. Just as he thought that he wouldn't be able to take another step, they came upon a small clearing and Xena decided to stop for the night. Feeling an intense sense of relief wash over him, Ares was all but ready to collapse on the ground and not get up until daybreak; and if it weren't for the sudden pangs of hunger that reminded him that he hadn't eaten since mid-morning, he would have. Instead, with resignation, he muttered something about firewood and disappeared in the shadows. When he returned with a small pile of sticks, he found Xena sitting on her bedroll, a pensive look plastered on her face. He began to start fire, or at least attempt to, dimly wondering whether she was planning on catching their supper tonight.

"You know, you still haven't told me why you saved Gabrielle."

Startled by the sudden sound of her voice, Ares dropped the few twigs he was holding.

After letting the question fully sink in, he squirmed uncomfortably and lowered his eyes.

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking then. I mean, I was … I--I just wanted ... She was…" Stumbling over his own words was embarrassing enough and who knows what would have escaped his lips if he kept at it, so he promptly shut his mouth. The annoying thing was that he wasn't exactly sure why he had bothered saving the blonde, so how could he explain it?

He dared a glance at her, ready for some rebuke, but what he saw surprised him. Xena was looking at him, her eyes revealing a trace of understanding amidst the sadness.

Supper forgotten, Ares got up and moved towards Xena, sitting down besides her on the grass.

"So are you gonna tell me your plan for destroying Dahak or what? You must have one by now. "

Instantly recalling the idea that entered her mind earlier, she turned to him, uncertainty reflected in her features.

"I was thinking … there's no way that we'll be able to kill Dahak here. The idea of battling an invisible force does not hold a lot of promise."

Ares stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Dahak is not from our realm."

"Yeah." He still didn't see where she was going with this.

"So would it be possible for us to enter his realm and defeat him there? He has to have a physical form in his world. You are … were a god," Xena saw Ares flinch at that, "so you must know all about the different realms and how they operate, don't you?"

Ares stared at her, his face carefully blank. "His realm," he said.

"Yes."

"You want to enter his realm."

"What's the matter with you?"

"You want to enter his realm. His realm in which he is omnipotent. His realm in which he can squash me like a bug as soon as I set foot within it."

Xena's hackles rose. "You got a better idea?"

He subsided with a petulant scowl, and Xena busied herself with applying a spark to the kindling in order to hide her face. Why would she feel guilty about snapping at Ares? It was Ares. He was acting like his feelings were hurt or something--

She raised her head abruptly. "These twigs aren't going to last an hour. Go get bigger pieces of wood. I'll go and get us a rabbit."

Ares's stomach growled fiercely.

"Or two. You can cook them." Without waiting for a reply, Xena stalked out of the clearing. She wasn't going to start developing compassion for the rat.

A forlorn whine followed her into the brush. "I'm cooking?"

x x x

Ares tossed the last rabbit bone onto his pile. Once they'd cut off the charring, it hadn't been too bad. Granted, he had been ravenous.

"Why did you come to me?"

He shrugged. "I knew I could count on you."

"You knew you could count on me?" she hissed. "After you betrayed me, your family, and the entire human race, you thought you could count on me? After you plague me for years with your petty schemes, you thought you could count on me? You abandon me for the chance to be Dahak's stud bull, and you thought you could count on me? Tell me how I can count on you, if you think you know so much."

Her face was inches from his, so close that he could see the flickering reflection of the fire in her eyes. It had nothing on the fury already present. He licked his lips and leaned forward.

She shot back on her heels. "What are you doing?"

His mouth moved soundlessly. "I ... Nothing." He sat back, more than half-surprised himself. "Uh. I guess we have no choice but to go to Dahak's realm. We can't touch him here." The words came out in a rush.

"Amphipolis first."

"Yes."

"Alright. I'll send a message tomorrow."

"Message?"

"You've lost your powers. A half-god is better than nothing."

Ares blinked. "No, no, no, no, no," he chanted. "You want to send for Hercules?"

x x x

Ares sat by the stream. After Xena decided they would need the help of his oh-so-annoying half-brother, they rode to the nearest town. Ares, having lost his powers, was to keep out of sight. They couldn't take the chance of someone recognizing him. So there he was, sitting, a mile away from the small town, staring at the fish.

"Great! The exciting sport of fish watching." Ares kicked the dirt.

"Grody! That's a stupid idea for a sport." Ares glanced up just in time to see small sparks die away from the form that stood before him. "Hey, bro!"

Ares groaned, "Is there some you want, Aphrodite?"

Aphrodite's hand flew to her heart. "Ouch. Well, excuse me. Didn't mean to interrupt your oh-so-interesting time with the fishies, Mr. Grouchy!"

"Pardon me if I'm not in the best mood. Knowing it's only a matter of time before I see that mongrel half-brother of ours tends to make me a little grouchy."

Aphrodite looked around, "Hey, where's the warrior babe? I could have sworn I saw her with you earlier."

"You were watching me."

"Well I didn't want anything to happen to the only one who can keep the baddies away from my temples." Ares rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. Being mortal can't be that bad. So, Herc is going to see you as a scrawny mortal who can't really fight back." To Ares' irritated face she spoke, "It's really not that bad. Anyway, you're with the warrior babe. That's a plus."

Ares threw a rock into the stream. "Thanks for the update, Sis. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and think about all the ways I could have killed Hercules when I was still a god." He started back into the woods.

"Wait, Ares. Is warrior babe gonna help you?"

Ares smirked, "I'm surprised you weren't listing to our conversations."

Aphrodite crossed her arms, "Hey! I, like, do respect your privacy. So is she?"

"Yeah, she's going to help me."

Aphrodite squealed, "That's great. I mean with what Dad said I thought she might say no. This just shows you how much she doesn't hate you. I mean that whole thing about …"

"I didn't tell her, 'Dite." Ares stared at the stream.

"What do you mean, you didn't tell her?! Ares, you can't do that. It's not fair to her."

Ares head shot up. "Do you hear that? It's Argo."

"SO?! This is more important than some horse. Ares, look at me!" Aphrodite stomped her foot, "This is important."

"Ares!" Xena's voice reached the clearing.

"Go, Aphrodite. I'll talk to you later. And don't mention this to Xena." His voice had a harshness to it.

Aphrodite's words lingered as did the sparks from her departure. "Don't mess this up, Bro."

"Ares!"

"I'm over here." Ares sat on one of the rocks.

Xena entered the small clearing with Argo in tow.

"So how'd it go?" Ares said.

"Fine. I got some jerky while I was in town and a couple other things so we aren't stuck eating fish for a while."

Ares smiled. "Great. So what did you write in the message?"

Xena raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, nothing really."

"Did you say I was with you?"

She moved to tie Argo to a nearby tree. "You know, I don't remember. I guess you'll just have to wait to find out." She smirked, "Why don't you go get some wood and start a fire a little bit away from here. I'm going to sharpen my sword."