Rating: Pg for now.
Pairings: Joxer/Discord, Joxer/Gabrielle
Summary: What if Joxer had a son that died, and was given another chance?
Timeline: This starts right after Fish Sticks in Season five.
Disclaimer: They came to me to play, really they did.
Notes: It may be a week or so between parts. I'm working on two other stories right now, but I figured that if I posted the first part it would be added incentive to work on it. G
Joxer stopped at the edge of their camp, eyeing his friends wearily, unable to ignore the sharp pain in his jaw. Gabrielle had one hell of a right hook. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the bard as she glanced over at him, unable to meet his eyes. Neither had spoken since the incident earlier. Not that Joxer wanted to, right now he had too much on his mind to act like it hadn't hurt. Physically, or emotionally.
He dropped his helmet next to his bedroll and walked off into the woods. He could hear the soft voices of his friends as the distance grew between them. " Pretty wicked, huh?" He glared at the harsh laughter of the new voice. " Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't think that was funny? Blondie had it coming."
Discord grinned and reached for him, her good mood evaporating as he stepped away from her arms. " You had no right to do that, you know how I feel."
" How can you love her?" Discords entire demeanor changed into the serious intelligent lover that Joxer had known years ago. " She treats you like some sort of joke."
" Not always. She's learning Eris, but it takes time..." Joxer flopped down against a nearby tree.
" That doesn't give her the right to dis you like that." The dark haired woman began to pace in front of him, her anger building visibly over her treatment of him.
" Why are you here?" Joxer asked suddenly. He had seen her angry over some off
his past lovers before, but this was more than that. Something deeper and more rooted.
Nerves? Agitation? Scared? She stopped pacing and stared at him. The silence stretching
between them impossibly.
" I need a favor." Discord glanced down at her clenching fists and forced them open.
" I won't kill Eve." Joxer had been faced with that choice by Athena already,
and he didn't want to hear it coming from his ex-lover now. It would be too painful, for him and for her.
" I know..." Discords haunted eyes told him that she understood his choice in this, even if she didn't agree with it. " ...but it does have to do with her in a way, or with your son at least."
Joxer's face tightened involuntarily. He was a patient man who could and had taken more than even his friends knew about, but this was something he couldn't handle. " Don't..."
" Please, just hear me out." Joxer stared into her dark eyes and noticed the dim twinkle of hope behind the haunted sadness.
" I'm listening." He owed her that much...
Joxer paused in the trees surrounding their camp very much aware of the heat radiating from the god standing beside him. He took in his friends for what felt like the last time. Once they knew what he was going to do they would probably never want him in their lives again. He accepted that, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
One step into the camp and they noticed him. Their reactions almost immediate.
Weapons drawn, Gabrielle jerking him away from the goddess. " Guys you don't..."
" Let us handle this." Gabrielle snapped, making sure he was safely behind her.
Discord sighed. She did not want to deal with warrior and the tramp right now.
Knocking the sai out of her face she spoke to Joxer. " Get your stuff."
Joxer grabbed his pack and helmet waiting for all tarturas to break lose. He stood back up to find himself staring into Xena's sharp eyes. " Joxer?" She was trying to keep her voice warm, but he could still hear the chilly question underneath it.
" Eris can I talk to them alone for a minute?" Joxer asked with a quiet rumble that his lover hadn't heard in almost ten years. A rumble that he'd only used when he was giving a gentle but absolute command. She bristled slightly, but held down her first instinct.
" Fine, but you don't have long..." Her meaning was clear.
He nodded tightly and watched her walked a short distance from them. He was surprised at how well tempered she was behaving. Not because she had a bad temper, she didn't. In the years they'd been lover's he'd learned that she was really quite mild mannered, at least with him.
What got him was that she was being so tame with his friends. From the first time he'd started traveling with them, she'd been nothing but fierce about them. She'd come to him on every occasion she could to try to talk him into letting her blast them away, or play some evil scheme on them.
" Joxer, What's going on?" Xena gently laid a hand on his shoulder.
He glanced over at Gabrielle then spoke softly. " It's a long story,
but...I...had a son. He was killed a few years ago, and I'm being given a chance to bring him back."
Gabrielle took an involuntary step back looking like she'd just been slapped.
" S-s-son...?"
Xena ignored her and took a centering breath. She had always suspected that he'd lost a child. Both her and Gabrielle had been there, and she knew the signs of a grieving parent. She clearly remembered the night that she'd run into him at Meg's.
His puffy red eyes glazed over in a drunken haze. She'd seen the same haunted look in his eyes that she'd had at one point. She hadn't asked about it though. He'd always been so private despite his out going personality, and if he'd needed someone to talk to, he would have.
" And what does she want in return?"
" Nothing." Joxer saw the disbelief and worry in Xena's eyes.
" Joxer. God's don't just go around helping people. So I'll ask you again,
what is Discord getting out of this?" Xena glared over at the dark haired goddess. She cared too much for her friend to let him get hurt, and she this was hurting him. The hope of getting back a lost child.
" Her son back."
The answer was so soft that Xena wasn't sure she'd heard right, but the expression on his face confirmed it. This time Xena blinked with mild surprise. Gabrielle had once commented that a god must watch out for him because it was the only way she could explain his surviving for so long by himself, but she'd dismissed it. She felt that deep down that Joxer was capable of taking care of himself.
Gabrielle paled and took another step away from him. The tension in her body so tight he was afraid she'd snap. Hurt and anger was evident in her eyes. He had done damage to their friendship by making this confession, but he had a son to think about.
" Xena I..."
She smiled at him, " It's okay. I understand. If I had a chance like this I'd take it too. Do you need any help?"
" Not now, but later we may need it. The other gods...they won't be too happy about this." Joxer took one last glance at Gabrielle before walking toward Discord. He'd just told the understatement of the century. Ares and Dite would stand behind them, possibly there children too.
However Athena and the other's would not accept this, not with the goddess of so called wisdom on a power trip. Heph would follow her simply because he'd been in love with her for who know's how long, and the goddess always used that to her advantage.
" Let's go." Joxer said softly.
Discord relaxed and took his arm in an intimate gesture while throwing Gabrielle a possessive scowl, one that was returned with equal intensity. As they disappeared from the clearing all Gabrielle could think about was the fact that the man who'd claimed to love her so completely had a permanent bond with another woman. A woman that happened to be a goddess.