Chapter 77

"How can you be so certain?", Aphrodite asked her with confusion, she couldn't understand how the Warrior Babe was so confident in the way things were going to play out. Unless she had some direct link to the Fates that she wasn't sharing with her, there was no way she could foresee things like that. She knew Ares said she was good and sometimes the Love Goddess thought perhaps her brother was exaggerating a little about her but come on, it couldn't… he wouldn't… would he?

"Because…", Xena frustratingly told her yet again, given her line of work one would think it would not be so hard for the Goddess to comprehend, "… old habits die hard."

The Warrior Princess watched as Aphrodite processed that new bit of information she gave her, seeing how the wheels ultimately aligned for the Goddess as her eyes lit up in a scandalous way.

"Ohhh.", the Love Goddess excitedly gasped out after the pieces finally clicked into place for her. That made total sense now, she could absolutely see how that could happen. A fool's errand on his end but he was a fool, no doubt about that.

"Are you sure you can get it?", Xena asked her once again, knocking the Love Goddess out of her daze and making sure she didn't forget her task.

"Relax warrior babe…", Aphrodite nonchalantly told her, she had already asked her this like a thousand different times, she wasn't going to screw it up, "… with everyone being occupied with you… it's a piece of cake babe."

Xena just rolled her eyes at her; the Goddess' assurance level was not at all convincing to her. She already had to explain the plan to her several times making her regret including her this much at all. But she was stuck with her now, so she had to make the best of it. Despite the Love Goddess' less than compelling attitude, her heart was in the right place where it came to the War God, and she was fairly certain that would keep her focused for the success of her task. Though she had to admit, Aphrodite came up with some pretty good ideas of her own, one that she didn't even consider. Maybe the Goddess wasn't so dimwitted as she pretended to be after all.

"You're so tense Xena…", the Love Goddess made sure to once again point out to her, "… you sure you don't want to…"

"Don't start!", Xena quickly told her, sending her another warning look as she yet again was trying to pry.

"Ok, ok… you don't have to shout.", she innocently said, holding up her hands in surrender as her feeble attempt at peace to not end up on her bad side.

"If you're done meddling, we have things to do.", the Warrior Princess sternly told her, making sure to securely attach the Dagger of Helios against her hip before turning to face the Goddess, "Let's go!"

With a small, exhaled breath to calm her nerves, the Love Goddess made her way over to Xena and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, pulling her in tight. Something she knew the Warrior Babe instantly disliked with the way her body tensed up from the contact. It made Aphrodite want to break down that tiresome wall she was constantly trying to keep in place between them all the more. When was she going to learn that they were going to be the best of friends, actually scratch that, sisters... they were going to be sisters. But Aphrodite could be patient, she had nothing but time on her hands and she was going to get the Warrior Babe to warm up to her.

"Is this really necessary?", Xena asked as she tried to wiggle out of the Goddess of Love's uncomfortable hold, certain that she was only trying to make this as unpleasant as possible.

"Don't want to lose you.", Aphrodite made sure to reassuringly tell her as she hugged her to her a little tighter, her arm dropping down to the Warrior Babe's waist to hold her more firmly in place and she was rewarded with a huff of annoyance on Xena's end as she finally stopped trying to break loose. Oh yes, they were going to be the best of sisters in no time.

Before the Warrior Princess had a chance to complain some more, Aphrodite and Xena soon vanished from her tent in a sparkling shower of pink light and rose petals and it wasn't long before they reached their new destination. Xena had to shield her eyes from the onslaught of bright light as they appeared in the corridor, blinking a few times to help her eyes adjust as she scanned the area.

"I still don't know about this.", Aphrodite, uneasily whispered, she didn't like the thought of leaving the Warrior Babe alone up here. Ares would for sure have her head if something happened to Xena and she liked her head exactly where it was at.

"Now is not the time for jitters, Aphrodite.", Xena, chided her, once again scanning the immediate area to make sure that they were indeed alone before turning to the Love Goddess and seeing the unease on her face, "You don't need to worry about me, I'd be more concerned for your brother."

"At least take this…", she said and with a simple way of her hand, a pair of manacles appeared in her palm and she held it out to the Warrior Princess, "… Hephaestus owed me a favor."

Hearing the Gods name she said owed her a favor and seeing the chains, it didn't take long for her to put two and two together. These weren't just any regular ole manacles, these were forged by Hephaestus himself, capable of rendering any God practically powerless. Xena cocked an inquisitive brow at the Goddess, a little surprised that Aphrodite was offering her this, especially since the Love Goddess knew that she would not hesitate to use the dagger against any of them.

"No need to thank me…", Aphrodite quickly told her, seeing the bewildered look on the Warrior Babe's face with what she was offering her, "… just stay alive."

Without giving Xena a chance to respond, the Goddess swiftly placed the chains in Xena's hands and pulled her into a tight hug that the Warrior Princess instantly tensed up from. They were definitely going to have to work on that. Pulling back from her, Aphrodite gave her a quick wink and soon vanished, leaving Xena alone in the corridor.

The Warrior Princess fastened the chains to her side and made her way down the hall and stepped out into the massive room. Her eyes quickly roamed over the space, searching for what she came for and for any unwanted guests that might be lingering nearby. She knew it was only a matter of time, considering these were his quarters on Olympus and she was a little surprised that he had not made his grand entrance already. Stepping further into the way too brightly colored room of white and gold, Xena's eyes finally landed on the bow she was looking for and she carefully made her way to it.

"Well, well, well…", came the smooth voice from a few feet away from her, "… what do we have here?"

Xena turned toward the voice and finally, there he was, reclined leisurely on a silken couch without a care in the world, ogling her like a starved dog… Apollo.

"A lost little kitten perhaps?", he asked smugly, letting his eyes roam appreciatively over her body before his eyes zeroed in on the dagger that hung from her waist before he once again took his time letting his gaze drag across her form, "A dangerous kitten at that."

"Apollo…", Xena said a bit thankful, letting the relief sound in her voice at the sight of him as she took a step forward, but he held up his hand at her advancement and she stopped.

"What are you doing here?", he asked suspiciously, taking a moment to look around the space of his chambers for anything odd. How did she get here?

"I have friends in high places.", she casually said, as if it was just normal for a mortal to be walking around Olympus and she took another step in his direction.

"Indeed… so it would seem, but what are you doing here?", he emphasized the last part to try and force her into admitting something, "One would think you would be trying to free Ares, not snooping around in my chambers.", he said more irritably this time, he wasn't sure what she was up to and he definitely didn't forget that she had that dagger and he formed a fire ball in his palm, "So, I ask again, why are you here?"

"Please…", Xena pleaded, holding her hands up shakily at the sight of his defense, "… I don't know what's going on…. I… I… things are kind of hazy. I have these flashes….", she placed her hand against her head as if it was hurting her and she whimpered," … Athena… I tried…", she grimaced as she held her head again, trying to shake the fog from her mind, "… what is going on… whose armor is this…", she asked as she ran her hands against her battle leathers in confusion, making sure to take the time to question everything that she was wearing including the weapons she had with her as she just let them fall to the floor, not even hesitating with the Dagger of Helios as it joined the other swords and knives she had.

"You don't know?", he asked skeptically, once again eyeing the deadly dagger that she just negligently dropped at her feet. But seeing her shaking form and the way those piercing blue eyes of hers looked at him for answers he started to wonder, and the ball of fire disappeared from his hand. Was it possible, yes it certainly was, and he didn't put it past his brother to do something of the sort to get what he wanted.

"Ares…", he began to say but was quickly cut off.

"Ares? What does he have to do with this?", Xena hastily asked, seeking any type of answer that could shine some sort of light and with the way the Sun God was now thinking things over she knew she had him and she was going to lay it on thick.

"The last thing I remember is you and me…", she began and she grinned inwardly at the way he perked up at the notion and she closed her eyes tight and shook her head as if to dispelled some type of hold on her mind, "… it was dark… we were sitting close together, I think it was a party, I'm not sure…", she looked at him for comfort, an answer, something that would make it all make sense.

"You mentioned Ares…", she quickly looked down at herself again, recognizing the familiar design in her leathers with that of the War Gods own leathers, the gauntlets she wore, embedded with the same red rubies, his emblem dangling from a string around her neck, "… No, no, no… ", she shook her head in shock, not wanting to fully believe it.

"It couldn't be… there's no way… how?", she desperately asked, pulling at her own leathers as if she couldn't stand to be in them for another minute. "How long?", she asked, disgust quickly coming across her face as she shook her head as a memory flashed in her mind and she locked eyes with the Sun God with tears in her eyes.

"Xena…", Apollo softly said, the look in her eyes made him get up and cautiously close the space between them, she looked so frightened and lost, something he had never seen from her before and he gently took her hands in his and squeezed them reassuringly. She stared up at him and a few tears started to fall from her eyes, and he gently reached up and brushed them away.

"Now, now…", he tenderly murmured as he took her into his arms and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, "… there is no need for those."

Soft tears fell against his chest as she tried to hold herself together and Apollo couldn't help but think about how much he liked the feeling of her in his arms. If it hadn't been for the War God, then things between them might have gone much differently. Ares ruined everything he touched and Xena had spent months trapped within his clutches.

"You have to help me.", she sobbed against him, tightening her arms around him more, practically clinging to him as if he was the only real thing and she was desperate to hold on to it, "Don't let him do it again."

He couldn't believe it; he had suspected but there was never any way to confirm that Ares might have done something to Xena's mind to get her to come to his side. It all made perfect sense now, from the moment Ares had inserted himself into their relationship months ago, the War God had been trying to manipulate Xena to him. That conniving bastard, he should have known better than to think that Xena would have gone with Ares willingly. It just never made any sense to him and now he knew why. That bastard had messed with her mind.

"Shhh…", he whispered against her hair before placing a kiss on top of her head, "… you're safe."

At the Sun Gods gentle ministrations, Xena softly pulled back from his chest and looked up at him. Her glossy lost blue eyes searched out his reassuring ones and the look in them told her everything that she needed to know. Her eyes drifted down to his mouth for a moment before searching out his blue eyes again and she fisted her hands on the edges of his vest when his eyes lingered on her lips for a few seconds longer before he sluggishly brought them back up to meet hers. His arms tightened a little around her and that was all the encouragement she needed and Xena tilted her head up more to meet his and softly brushed her lips against Apollo's.