Alecto tilted her head pensively, her nails grazing along her jawline as she watched the spectacle unfolding in front of her, the show she was the director and the audience of. Her masterpiece.

Opening her palm, she glanced at the little vial of red liquid — there was still half of it left, and Xena was already about to collapse.

Alecto smirked; she knew it Xena couldn't have been his daughter — no one with even a drop of immortal blood would have fallen to the Potion of Despair that fast. Not that she was complaining — quite the opposite, nothing was more delightful than the realization that she was about to watch Xena take her final breath.

#

"You're making this too easy, Xena," Ares shook his head and delivered another punch to her side, drinking in the beauty of her agonized face as the blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.

"I'll try harder," she pierced him with those venomously blue eyes in a way that stirred his inner fire like nothing else did. For a second there, he regretted having to kill her.

"She sold you out to your troops, she betrayed you and embarrassed you! She wants the ambrosia for herself, kill her!" the voice in his ear reminded him, saving him from making the mistake of getting under the spell of that two-faced monster again.

She didn't even guard herself when he swung his fist at her already bloody face, with a force that would have knocked out any other mortal — but damn, he did not expect it to knock her out. Did he overestimate her? It caught him a bit off guard, and actually annoyed him. Something was fishy here. She wasn't putting up much of a fight for a while now, going easy on him and letting him beat her to a pulp, and now this.

No, it couldn't be. She wasn't really out; more likely just trying to trick him into getting within her reach. Very well. He would wait, just to spite her. It's not like he was in a hurry. Thanks to her, he had nothing to come back to anymore.

Taking a step to the side, he started circling her. There was blood pooling up around her head. Maybe she wasn't feigning it after all. He stepped closer, kneeling down beside her. He lifted her head in his hands. "Snake as you are, you are a beauty, Xena, no one comes close."

#

Alecto rolled her eyes, pursing her lips in disgust at the scene in front of her.

Now was the time to leave his head, wait for his sanity to settle in, and sit back and enjoy the show of how surprised he was going to be once he realized what he had done.

She hesitated for a moment.

No, she was curious what he was going to do now.

#

Ares hesitated.

Well, he wasn't going to leave it at that, that was for sure.

He scooped her body up in his arms. "Alright, I don't know about you but I'm freezing, so until you're back to continue what we started, I think the change of scenery is in order."

He lifted her off the ground and climbed uphill until he reached the horses. It took him a while to figure out how to fasten her to his horse. He didn't know where he was going, but she sure as Tartarus was going with him. Definitely somewhere away from the piercing cold that was starting to get into his bones. Mortality sucked.

He rode for a while, down the mountain, until the snow gave way to green forests and the temperature was bearable again. He was mindful to descend on the opposite side of the mountain — away from the mess he'd left behind at the Amazon camp, let alone the blonde pain in the ass that would've just gotten in the way as usual.

Still, he didn't want to go much further down this side either so as to keep the safe distance from the village downhill that was slowly coming within sight. He didn't want an audience. This was his private business and it was between him and Xena. Riding along the steep slope, he chose to halt his horse once the angle was smaller and more to his liking. He unfastened his baggage and placed her down on the grass with her head higher and feet lower.

"Come on, Xena, we've got some unfinished business and it's really rude of you to keep me waiting like that. I'm beginning to lose my patience here." He stood still for a moment, staring down at where she was lying on the grass.

There was no response.

He was getting weary and restless. He sat down, straddling her thighs. Her lips were slightly parted. As much as he wanted to choke her, pierce her right through the heart and tear her apart limb by limb, he had to give it to her that she was still a beauty, even in this sorry state. He remembered the fiery look she gave him right before he knocked her out. "I loved your eyes, Xena, it's a pity I won't see them again."

"Those eyes got you whipped and made you a laughingstock of Olympus! She never respected you, she always laughed at how weak you were…" the voice echoed in his ears again.

He swallowed hard, gritting his teeth. He was glad his reason kept his emotions from getting a hold of him this time. Those very emotions had already had a say in his past choices and the current predicament was the best illustration of how that worked out for him.

"Your treacherous eyes, fooling me and stringing me along, no more, Xena," he roared.

"Why do you think she's helping you get your godhood back? You're useless to her as a mortal — that's why she discarded you like a broken toy the moment you gave up your immortality for her! She thinks you're pathetic!"

His chest welled up with one of those emotions he wasn't quite familiar with. His face was burning hot, his heart palpitating. There was that blunt burning ache deep in his chest that he knew wouldn't ever go away. Not as long as she lived.

He grimaced, looking down at her. She appeared so filthy to him now.

"You don't even deserve for me to look at you…"

"She's never respected you, even now she's playing you for a fool and you're eating it up like a fool she thinks you are," a hissing voice resonated in his ears, sending another wave of rage through him.

He slapped her so hard it echoed. "Wake the fuck up already!" He looked to where a red palm print was forming on her cheek. Another smack was harder, but she still refused to cooperate. Well, that did it. Time was up. Also, he needed to take a leak.

A part of him thought it would be a nice touch to empty his bladder on her, but then another part convinced him that she didn't deserve the honor.

He felt his head spin when he rose to his feet too fast. Fucking mortality, he cursed under his breath, walking a few steps towards the trail while unbuttoning his pants. He glanced over his shoulder to where she was lying. Giving in to the sudden urge to look at her while he was urinating, he felt himself harden in spite of himself.

#

Alecto held her breath at the view in front of her. How could any woman not ache to be his was beyond her comprehension. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from blowing her cover.

She leered, a sudden idea electrifying her from head to toes.

She now hoped that Xena wasn't yet dead.

#

"Why do you think she always refused you? You're not a man enough for her. If you were, you would be taking, not begging. She thinks you're a wimp. She thinks you don't have what it takes. She laughs at you behind your back. She can't disrespect you like that. Teach her a lesson… Show her what a real man feels like…"

He grabbed his head, rubbing his temples furiously. There was a storm spreading inside his chest, his face and ears burning. He closed his eyes, Oh, he would. He was going to show her.

"Okay, you asked for it, Xena." He kneeled down and rolled her over.. Straddling the back of her knees, he leaned down to her ear. "I know I promised to tear you apart with my bare hands, but now that I think of it — my dick might actually do the job as well. And that might just wake you up."

#

She woke up with a burning pain spreading over the left side of her face.

Not sure if her eyes were open or closed, she definitely couldn't see a thing. She knew for a fact she was neither blindfolded nor in a dungeon, there was too much light. That could only mean one thing.

She was blind.

What was equally unsettling was that, apart from her scorching cheek, she felt nothing — not a limb of her body, just a vague feeling that she was lying on her back. The overall obscurity of it all was now starting to worry her. Was she dead? She didn't feel too much alive.

As much as it didn't bring her much comfort, it seemed at least one of her senses was working — she smirked inwardly upon catching a glimpse of what smelled like a meadow and wild flowers. She hated flowers. She never understood women's obsession with them. If a man had given her flowers, she would've fed them to him. Come to think of it, she felt like puking at the moment.

Her mind was foggy. She was desperately fishing for some scrape of something, anything, but her memory was a complete blur. Nothing to hold on to. And then, there was a flash; of something, someone, a feeble, ambiguous but rather negative association.

Ares... Of course, who else. Strangely, the initial annoyance quickly gave way to a sinking feeling in chest, why? It started coming back in waves; the Amazon forest... Gabrielle… Eve… Where were they? Where was she herself? She kept her calm, but a really bad feeling was taking her over.

Well, dead or not, she had to pull herself together. Time to go.

Regaining feeling in her facial muscles, she realized that her eyelids were shut after all. She forced them open but rapidly squeezed them back shut as the light blinded her painfully. Okay, so there was a chance she wasn't actually blind, but she couldn't use her eyes either. Just a minor setback.

"Ok, you asked for it, Xena," his voice reached her from above, the sound of it both relieving and alarming.

Then, she felt a pull on her arm and found herself spiraling down a vortex of nausea, her ribcage radiating with pain. There was a smell of blood, mixing with a faint aroma of soil and grass. The spinning was slowing down, giving way to an overall ache as the feeling in her limbs was slowly coming back. It felt like she was in one piece.

With effort, she slowly traced her tongue around the rows of her teeth. She tasted blood but other than that, all seemed intact. Grainy bits of soil gritted between her teeth. She fought to remove it, but her mouth was too dry. It was gradually rendering to her that she was lying face down on the ground. Her whole body was so heavy she couldn't move much, and she felt her thighs were pinned down with additional weight. Her arms seemed not, but they weighed a ton, and at the moment it was a ton too much.

She felt a sharp pull at her hair. She choked at the excruciating pain of what felt like her skin being torn from her scalp. Warm drops trickled down her forehead, then down in a ticklish stream down her nose. He must have opened a head wound, she assessed, catching a drop on her parched tongue, spreading the metallic taste over her palate.

"I know I promised to tear you apart with my bare hands, but now that I think of it — my dick might actually do the job as well. And that might just wake you up."

His psychotic voice made a wave of terror wash over her as dimly but gradually, it started coming back to her — his madness, the Furies, their fight at the pond. The fight she obviously hadn't won, judging by the current circumstances.

She felt pain rip through her shoulder muscles when he twisted her arms back, pressing her hands against her shoulder blades. Reflexively, she pushed against his weight but decided against it when sharp pain burned her upper arm muscles even though she hardly even moved. If she pulled any further, she risked dislocating at least one of her shoulders.

When she once again felt a tug at her scalp wound, it was too much. She groaned.

"Oh, there you are, Xena. It's about time you woke up. Wouldn't want you to miss the ride."

She felt him lift her hips off the ground and stuff some fabrics under her pelvis. A wave of panic washed over her as it dawned on her what was about to transpire.

"You see, I should have killed you by now, but before you go, I thought I would let you pay me respects one last time."

Her heart raced when she felt him stroke over her backside and tug at her underpants, a wave of heat flushing over her face. She jerked her head back in a reflex to headbutt him, but it only made her head spin and her mouth water with a taste of nausea. It also gave him a display of her desperation, and that was pathetic. She didn't do pathetic. Losing was one thing, but facing it with dignity made all the difference. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of making him feel that he won.

"Nice try" he laughed maniacally, "Where's your smart mouth now, Xena? See — I might not be a god anymore, but I own ya."

Her head still spinning, she felt herself slipping away. She fought to remain conscious by forcing her eyes open but every time she lifted her lids the tears stung her eyes from the blinding light.

His voice seemed both loud and distant, she couldn't decide, and there was something about it that was starting to make her sweat. He sounded even more unhinged than before; and, as much as she hated herself for it, both the sound of his voice and the feeling of his hand rolling her underpants down her thighs made her shiver with a jolt of pleasure. The vision of him taking her now with her hands tied back made a surge of heat flood her lower abdomen.

His hands were cold; the instinctive shock at the sensation, combined with fearful anticipation of what she knew he was going to find there, made her hips jerk forward.

"Gods, you are so fucking wet," he gasped, his finger gliding smoothly up and down, making her inner muscles spasm involuntarily, making her appalled at herself, at how her treacherous body was contributing to her defeat.

#

Alecto lifted her back off the ground, propping herself on her elbows, her mouth dry, his throaty voice and the scene in front of her making her sweat.

She burned with jealousy, but when she closed her eyes and let her hand roam over her chest and past her stomach, she imagined it was herself he was touching; by the gods, she was dying for it to be herself.

#

Xena bit her lip, struggling to trap a moan in her throat, to ignore how the soft touch of his palm caused the fire to spread all over her pelvis. "Well, if it ain't little miss I-didn't-feel-anything," he mused, and she shuddered, she couldn't help it. "I knew it you were lying."

Involuntarily, her thoughts drifted back to the day he was hinting at; her attempt to seduce him into helping her save her baby from his family, and several stolen moments in his arms before the explosion of the temple wall interrupted them as planned. Of course she had lied. He'd challenged her to deny that she felt anything. She had to. She couldn't have admitted that she was dying to be his every time he was near.

"Well, since there's no one to interrupt us this time — lemme show you what you missed," he snapped her back to the present, his voice dropping to a throaty frequency, so thick with menace it made her spasm and cover his fingers with a new wave of arousal, causing a groan and a curse leave his mouth.

When she finally felt the thickness of his finger slip inside her, she knew it was a lost cause. She bit into her lip not to cry out, but her spasming on him told him all he needed to know.

"You fuckin' little two-faced bitch…" he drew in his breath, "You're loving it!" he snapped, the sick vibe to his voice it making her quiver as he kept teasing her with his finger lazily. She could feel her face burn.

She gasped when another, thicker finger found her other opening; her muscles contracted but her arousal let him force himself in smoothly, slipping in and out several times, the surge of pleasure making her head spin. If she was standing, she would've collapsed this very moment. He pulled out abruptly, making her moan.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll come back there. All in due time," he breathed as his knee roughly forced her thighs apart. She squirmed as she felt the unmistakable — the sheer shock of feeling so much of him inside her, making her mouth part and her throat clench in a voiceless cry of what she didn't want to be surrender, but it was too much, she couldn't help it; that was it, it was pointless to pretend her body wasn't loving the feel of him. She felt her body gradually dissolve, her neck giving up, his voice always in her ears as he was taking her inch by inch.

"Gods… you feel so fucking good, baby…" he gulped, "…so good, you're making me feel like a god." The sound of him enjoying her to the extent of his voice breaking made her lightheaded. He went on, muttering some words she no longer heard; she was just grateful for how they at least partly deafened out the sound of how eagerly her traitorous body was welcoming him.

#

Alecto squirmed, her body pulsing hot under her fingers as she imagined it was her with her ass in the air; gods, she could almost feel him inside.

There was just one thing stinging her; he was supposed to be rough and brutal, not handling her like she was a damn virgin.

"You can't even fuck her properly, you're going so soft on her it's pathetic, no wonder she laughs at you. She's laughing at you now! Show her! Show her what a real man feels like. Fuck her like a man, like the god that you are."

#

Xena flinched when he snapped out of the blue. "Shut up…!" He growled savagely, making her stifle a whimper when he grabbed her hips and pushed himself into her furiously at an angle that made her want to howl.

"How's that for being a man, huh? Is this a man enough for you, Xena?" he growled, clamping her mouth with his palm, "Shut the fuck up and take it, this is what you asked for," he hissed into her ear. "You will never respect me if I don't put you in your place, Xena. You didn't respect me as a god, well maybe it was my fault, though now thanks to you it's not my concern anymore," he snorted, "but I promise you that you will see the man in me, Xena, you will! I will fuck you until you do," he breathed into her ear, driving her mad with both pain and ecstasy. She tried to angle her hips forward. "Oh no, you don't," he jerked her hips back up, making her wince. "What's the matter, Xena, too much of a man for you now?" he clasped his palm over her mouth yet again. "I can feel you like it, though, your cunt is dripping," he breathed, making her face burn, making her groan into his palm with no control whatsoever.

"What? I can't hear you, Xena," he gasped for air," you gotta speak up!"

His breathing became labored, and he eventually slowed down, letting go of her mouth and pushing her numb arms apart to rest along her sides. As limp as her body felt, the sudden sharp twist of her elbow joints and a painful tug at her shoulder muscles sent a wave of nausea to her mouth.

He seemed to calm down but she couldn't stop quivering. She knew it was the Furies, and she also saw him slip right before this frenzy — he was calmer, that had to be why they edged him on some more — and that meant there was still a chance to get to him, make him fight them, but right now, she couldn't find her voice even if she tried.

And worst of all — this quivering, the state he brought her to — it made her burn for him in a way she didn't recognize.

"I want you to respect me, Xena, I need you to respect me… You see, only when you respect me as a man, only then you can love me, baby," he breathed in her ear, giving her goosebumps, making her clench around him frantically, making her brain go limp as the growing fire in her pelvis shut all the other sensations off. She didn't care anymore. As free as her arms were now, even if she could move them, it was too late. She was long gone. Her thighs freezing wet, her eyes shut in abandon, she was dying.

"Look at me, Xena. I need you to look at me," he rolled her over on her back so abruptly it made her head spin. Fighting another wave of nausea, she helplessly watched him unclasp her breastplate and toss it aside. And then, she welcomed him again, unable to hold back a loud moan, his hot breath and rough stubble tickling the sensitive skin of her neck, making her shudder, making her nails sink painfully in the flesh of her palms at the sensation, at the maddening, hot mess of the moment, of this fucked up situation that was making her burn, all of her.

Xena felt her throat vibrate with his groan. "I love being inside you, baby," he breathed, pulling away from her collarbone, leaving the space suddenly empty. "You're so beautiful… look at me, Xena. Look at me, I wanna see your eyes," he pleaded quietly, his breath labored, his nose brushing against hers, his lips pressing against her forehead, the awkwardly tender caress making her want to cry. Suddenly afraid that it might actually happen, she pressed her lids shut. She willed herself to shake the spell off, to pull herself together from this paralyzing surrender, but who was she kidding; it was done, over, this was the end of her. He conquered her, made her his in a way she would never recover from, his every word in her ear bringing her closer to the edge, the madness of his voice only adding to it.

#

Alecto tried to shake off the spell she found herself under, to no avail. The sudden tenderness of the scene in front of her was making her lose herself in it more than she should allow it to.

But she had to snap out of it, because the situation was getting out of hand; her spell on Ares was somehow wearing off, which was unusual to happen at this stage of madness. Her powers were weaker without her sisters — that must have been the reason. Either way, she had to react to put him back on track.

She knew she had to, but she couldn't; mesmerised by the sultry scene before her, she was losing herself in her own personal fantasy and she needed to see it unfold.

#

"Don't close your eyes, Xena. I need to see you look at me, baby. Look me in the eye. Look at me, open your eyes. Open your eyes, Xena. Don't make me open them, please. I don't want to hurt you," he pleaded, the raw desperation in his voice making her shiver from both how tender and sick he sounded.

She felt him brush away the damp strand of her hair stuck to her eyelid and forehead, his touch surprisingly soft; and, as fucked up as it was, she revelled in it, leaning into his hand, the fire in her pelvic region spreading up over her stomach and washing over her sweating body in waves of hot and cold. She felt his mouth brush against her temple, his voice shaky and hoarse, "You're eating me alive, I… I can't breathe… you're like a disease… you're killing me," he breathed against her lips, brushing them with his own. Tasting the blood on his lip, her thighs shaking, she melted into his mouth with a moan.

"You're killing me…" he breathed against her mouth, breaking the kiss. "But I don't give a fuck anymore. I love you, Xena. I never said that to anyone, and it's the most fucked up thing I've ever felt, but I love you… I love you so much, baby, I need you…" he said, panting into her hair, making her wonder if he was about to cry or come, either option maddening. There was a part of her that still tried to stop it, to stop herself from putting this cherry on top of her defeat, but she couldn't hold back what was no longer within her reach.

#

The afterglow of her release wearing off, Alecto bit the inside of her lip, fuming with jealousy. How was it possible that he was slipping out of her grip like that? It was all going smooth until he stuck his dick in that mortal slut and went all lovesick.

She needed to act fact, while Xena was still weak enough for him to off her.

"See? You don't even deserve an answer, that's how little she thinks of you. She won't even look at you. You gave up your life for her, and in return she revealed to the world that you're mortal, and she's been laughing at what a pathetic fool you are ever since. She doesn't deserve you, she doesn't deserve to live. Look at her, she's still breathing, why is she still breathing?"

#

She gasped as he sank his teeth in the flesh of her neck, right before his hand covered the spot, his fingers encircling her throat, making her dissolve yet more.

"All I had, I gave up for you… And you just never gave a single fuck, did ya… so maybe you were right, maybe I don't deserve to be a god after all. But you know what? You don't get to say this to me, not after everything I lost for you… and now that you've ruined my life, I won't let you live to enjoy yours," he frantically whispered against her open mouth, the sudden grip on her neck driving her half-conscious, delirious, until she couldn't fight it anymore and let him have it all. Her toes curling with a force that should crack her bones, burying her face into his neck with a sob so hysterical it left no air in her lungs, she was falling apart to the very last ounce of her being for what felt like forever, until she was no more.