Alecto was fiddling with her nail, disoriented.

The trace led to the house in the outskirts of the human settlement, not far away downhill from the spot where she had last seen Ares.

And she was now standing here, on the road, the house in the distance in front of her, and she could smell him. But the trace ended here, and she couldn't move any further — as if some invisible barrier surrounded the perimeter of the house. Like a power shield. Why? It was just a run-down mortal dwelling in the middle of nowhere.

Intrigued, she followed along the barrier; it did indeed surround the house within a short radius.

He was here, that much was clear to her. What was unclear was, who was hiding him, and why?

Her thoughts went to the two Olympians that were out of the radar recently, Demeter and Hestia. Somehow, it didn't fit. Both goddesses were neutral, without any affiliates among the other gods, and even if there had been any, Ares wouldn't have made the list. The God of War wasn't known to have many allies on Olympus.

Then, suddenly, Alecto froze.

The entrance door opened, and standing in the doorway, was no one other than the very much shirtless object of her musings.

She was invisible but still stepped back when realized she was clinging to the power field with her whole body surface. She needed to compose herself; she couldn't let him see her desperate.

Seeing him walk behind the house, she followed along the power shield radius. Her heart stopped when she picked up on his scent all of a sudden. He left the power field.

She wanted to materialize in front of him that very second but stopped herself. He was still very close to the house. Whoever was protecting him, could spot or sense her if she showed up now.

When she was satisfied with how far away from the house he was, she took the last breath to compose herself and, in a shower of crimson sparks, she was gone.

#

"And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't

'Cause if I say I miss you I know that you won't

But I miss you in the mornings when I see the sun

Something in the orange tells me we're not done"

(Something in the Orange, lyrics by Zachary Lane Bryan © Warner Chappell Music, Inc)

#

Much later in the afternoon, having just returned from completing a chore that left a sour taste in his mouth — the taste he was now trying to wash down with wine — with a thud, he sat himself down on the porch.

He couldn't believe he had done it — but, as much as it pained him to send for Gabrielle and Eve, it was unavoidable. It was going to be the first thing Xena would ask about after waking up.

Considering the time needed for the message to reach them and the length of the road to get here from the Amazon camp, he was still good for another day or maybe two, hopefully, before the two showed up.

The Amazon camp… he winced at the thought of his troops. They were a useless bunch to start with, and now without him — against the Amazons reinforced by The Battling Bard and the former Champion of Rome — yeah, good luck with that.

Without as much as anything else to do for the day, he found himself wandering about the outside of the house, across the backyard, past the big lone tree to the right, past the barn and into the grove behind it.

He didn't have anything particular in mind, but legs carried him, and he didn't really care, as long as it was away. Away from all of it, from that place, from that day. From the thoughts of her, the pesky, sobering thoughts that flooded him now; the bitter aftermath that awaited him once she woke up, once Gabrielle and Eve came here, once the three of them set off. And leave him behind. Once again.

Sudden anger overcame him. Damn her; he wouldn't even be in this situation if it hadn't been for her. Actually, come to think of it, his life had been way less complicated before she'd appeared in it, invaded it, invaded his mind, made him lose it piece by piece until he stooped so low as to chase after her and ended up giving up everything for her, which still wasn't enough, and which left him right at the very place he was now at.

And she said he was bad for her.

Maybe she was as bad for him as he was for her. Maybe — she was even worse. Maybe it was now time to take this chance to just walk away and set up his life anew, without her in it.

The sun was finally setting. It was a majestic view to admire; the usual azure of the sky was now accommodating the rivers of pink and orange, bathing everything in the soft, golden glow; deepening his misery.

Even damn sunsets made him think of her.

He had tried already, to cut himself off. She hadn't made it too hard on her part when they'd exchanged just plain good-byes after Olympus — after the massacre that had left him newly mortal, after he had given up his godhood to save her.

That was his very good chance to start his life without her. And he did. He lasted several weeks. When his sister Artemis came to him in a dream to reveal the Amazons' little secret, after he'd gathered troops and set out to get the ambrosia, he decided — and it had to be his dick talking, for him to act like such a brainless idiot — that he finally had a half-decent excuse to reach out to her — and so he did, selling her the not-at-all fishy idea that he — Ares, the God of War — had decided that bloodshed suddenly wasn't his cup of tea anymore, and how it would be so much nicer to sort things out in a peaceful manner, so that no one had to go to war — his words — and how it was only natural to ask Xena — Xena, of all people — for assistance. She had showed up, naturally — she likely felt that she owed him one for saving her life — but the amount of pity she must have had for him — realizing it now was making him sick.

Even the whole fight at the pond, of which he was starting to remember some glimpses — and one of them was how easy she had gone on him in the end. How pathetic he must have looked to her, for her to feel sorry for him to the extent of letting him win a fight — that was — just no — gods, no — fuck this.

Actually, he hadn't really thought about it before, about himself from her perspective.

Being mortal was bad enough, but having her see him like this — it was humiliating on another level. It wouldn't have mattered if they'd only just met; but after all the years she had known him as a god, to now see him crippled like that — bleeding, smelly, clumsy, and worst of all — pathetically clueless of how to navigate in this new world he was thrown into… for fuck's sake, he was as good as a blind gladiator thrown into a Roman arena.

No wonder she had left him behind after Olympus. He couldn't stand seeing himself like this either.

Maybe it was now his turn to leave.

She didn't love him; after how she walked away from Olympus, she couldn't have made it more obvious.

He looked down over himself.

That was all he had. He could damn well just walk away now as he stood; end this pathetic misery right then and there.

Frowning, he looked at the last of the orange glow on the horizon; and then frowned even more — at the sudden intrusion.

A red line cutting through the ether with a shower of sparks materialized one of the Furies sisters, Alecto.

The bitch had the nerve, coming here after the stunt she had pulled on him today.

"What the fuck do you want?" he narrowed his eyes at her, straightening his back. "Miss fucking with my brain already?"

"Well, now that you mention it, that's not exactly the kind of fucking that I miss," she purred, glaring at him suggestively.

"Whatever the fuck you want — I'm not in the mood."

"That's not a very warm welcome…"

He sneered. "After the shit you pulled back at the camp, you hardly deserve even that."

"I knew you could handle it…" she bit her lip, smiling seductively.

He was mindful to hide it, but he was actually very interested why Alecto was here, and he knew it wasn't to brainwash him. She came alone. She wanted something. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but try it again, and it will be your last gig."

"And how exactly would that be arranged, my dear?" Alecto queried, tilting her head sideways with mock interest.

"Well, considering that the little game you played with my mind today has pretty much pissed off the woman who has the power to kill gods, I wouldn't put it past her to want to teach you a little lesson."

Every single trace of merriment instantly vanished from Alecto's face. Did the bitch think that Xena was dead? Was it why she drove him mad, for him to kill Xena? It wasn't a secret that Alecto had been jealous of Xena for years.

Damn, if he had thought about it a second ago, he would have kept his mouth shut. The longer she believed Xena was dead the better. Well, it was spilled milk now. Fuck. Xena was almost in a coma and he was mortal — he couldn't protect her against immortals now, not even against such a godly piece of shit like Alecto.

"Oh, poor babe, how is she?"

"Up and ready for you, and very pissed off..."

"As ready as I am for you?" Alecto asked, stepping closer to him. He felt the heat radiating off of her pelvic region; gods, she wanted to be fucked, and badly.

He felt an involuntary stir in his groin.

"You can suck my dick." He really meant it as a way of telling her to get lost, but then, when he actually dwelled on the thought, he felt his pants tighten some more.

"Don't tempt me." She looked up into his eyes hungrily.

Her eyes glued to his, she slowly descended to her knees. He didn't stop her when she undid his pants, always looking at him, her eyes burning. Exhaling through his nose, he lost himself in the moment. But this wasn't the mouth he wanted to feel on him.

When he closed his eyes, it was the blue-eyed glare piercing him through while he was feeding her a mouthful. It didn't take longer than seconds before he lost it.

He couldn't shake a feeling of disgust when his eyes opened to see Alecto looking up at him.

"Missed me that much?" She half-grinned. "You still taste as divine as when you were a god…"

"I am a god."

"It's impressive you haven't lost your spirit, Ares, but I have to break it to you — there's no ambrosia at the Amazon camp…"

"I can't remember asking you for tips…"

"…but there is another place where it can be found."

He was about to send another fuck-off retort her way but stopped himself. He was actually curious what it was that she really wanted from him, since it had to be more than just to suck him off. "How generous of you to care so much."

"You've always been my favorite Olympian."

"So, you are so worried about me that you'd like to see to it that I find the ambrosia and regain my godhood."

"I might."

"What's in it for you?"

"Your gratitude, naturally."

"As in?"

"As in, we could discuss the future of Olympus, for a start."

Ares sneered inwardly as he realized what she was hinting at. If she for a second thought that he would ever consider agreeing to a deal where she gets him ambrosia and he gets her and her sisters into Olympus, she was dumber than she looked.

"Do tell." He furrowed his brows to appear intrigued.

"Well, unless you don't miss Olympus, and that is fine with me — I wouldn't wanna drag you away from the little idyllic life you're living."

"Now that you mention it, it is somewhat of a dilemma."

"Though, on the other hand, the God of War, resorted to living as a mortal, in a dump in the middle of nowhere, hiding behind a power shield — not too classy, don't you think?"

He froze for a second. Power shield? Whatever she meant, he had to elicit it from her, and in a way which didn't betray that he had no fucking idea what she was talking about.

"The power shield does the job, though, don't you think?"

"As long as walking on a 20-yard leash around the house is your thing, I guess it does..."

Okay, it didn't clear up the spell issue itself, but it gave him a vague idea how many steps backwards he had to take to get within the radius; and it wasn't many. Who the hell was behind this? Aphrodite? No, she would've given him a heads up, would've come to see him first. He hadn't seen her since Olympus.

"I don't think you're in a position to judge others for their kinks, Alecto." He gave her a suggestive look, making her flush red. She was so easily playable. He was going to get everything out of her.

Alecto bit her lower lip, blinking. "If you're into leashes, well, we can play that game up on Olympus, too…" she purred.

"Oh, I bet we can…"

"…but whoever put that spell on you must really like you, and I don't know if I can tolerate competition like that."

Ares sneered inwardly; what a dumb bitch, he wouldn't have revealed it to her even if he'd known who was behind it. "Well, you do know I'm irresistible," he said, his voice dropping to a throaty frequency, his eyes drilling into hers, making her cheeks flush more.

"Oh, I do know that…" she uttered, her breath visibly shallow.

"So, about Olympus, you were saying…?"

"I was saying, you must miss it."

"I used to."

"Not anymore? Now Ares, we both know it's not true..."

"I don't think really about it that much… I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but — honestly, I kinda enjoy my life as it is today," Ares lied effortlessly. He rarely lied, but when he did, it was as smooth as silk.

"What, playing house with Xena while she still hasn't kicked you out?"

He felt a wave of rage wash over him because in fact, his current situation couldn't have been summed up more accurately. Xena was going to tell him to get lost as soon as she woke up tomorrow, by which time Gabrielle and Eve would be here anyway, and then three of them would likely leave without even waiting for him to wake up. The realization made him as much angry as it made him miserable.

But Alecto didn't have to know that — her jealousy of Xena worked to his advantage.

"Well, actually, I don't think she could bring herself to do that… you know it's hard to forget me once you get a good taste," he said smoothly and enjoyed watching Alecto burn with both jealousy and desire. But he knew he shouldn't push more; the power shield spell might be there to protect Xena for now, but without knowing its origin he couldn't rely on it to gods-know-what extent.

But for now, he had Alecto exactly where he wanted her; devouring him with wild eyes, her face on fire. He knew she would drop to her knees again if he as much as tugged at his belt right now; the very thought made him hard, making him cringe at the same time. He didn't want to fuck her, but it seemed like his body had a mind of its own; controlling his drive without his powers was a skill he hadn't quite gotten a hold of.

"So, how's life on Olympus treating you?" he asked.

"Why, thank you, it's not bad at all. Hera's throne is a bit too uncomfortable, though — I'm considering changing the upholstery."

A wave of rage washed over him. He might not have thought fondly of his late parents but they were the royalty of the Gods, for fuck's sake… to think that this piece of trash now sat in his mother's throne made him sick.

Not waiting for his reply, Alecto went on. "The throne of the King of the Gods looks pretty comfy, though — too bad it's empty."

He smirked. So that was what she was after, the sneaky little gold-digger. Ambrosia in return for — marrying her and making her the Queen of the Gods? It made him nauseous to just think about it. But he had to play along for now. "Well, I wouldn't know, never tried it."

"I'm sure something could be arranged to change this state of the matters…" Alecto stepped closer, putting a hand on his bare chest, running it over his nipple, making him draw in a breath.

"Oh yeah? Do tell…" he said huskily while she reached for his pants and worked to make him hard; something Xena wouldn't need to do, he thought with a smirk.

He swirled her around and pushed her against the nearest tree, grabbed a fistful of short blond hair and closed his eyes until the hair in his grip turned long and glossy black. When he was close, he pulled out; impregnating the gold-digging bitch would've complicated a lot.

"I'll see you here at midnight," Alecto said, catching her breath.

In a shower of red sparks, she was gone.