Gabrielle returned to her cabin to find Xena freshly showered with a bath towel wrapped around her muscular body. She was standing back straight staring at something hanging in the walk-in closet. “I saw that same expression on your face the last time we saw Caesar,” Gabrielle observed.

            “At least against Caesar I felt like I knew what I was doing,” Xena replied a bit morosely.

            “It’s not that bad,” Gabrielle assured her. “I’ll take a quick shower and we can get ready together.”

            Xena turned toward the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed while she waited for Gabrielle. Intentional or not, the door to the bathroom had been left open and from her vantage point Xena had a clear view of Gabrielle’s reflection in the mirror as she undressed and stepped into the large marble shower. The sight of the dragon tattoo brought her thoughts back to Japan and she shuddered involuntarily.

            “How did you sleep?” Gabrielle called from the shower, breaking into the warrior’s unhappy thoughts.

            “I slept well,” she answered, loud enough to be heard over the running water, looking at the mirror once again. The bard was making quick work of shampooing her hair and washing herself. Xena stared transfixed. She knew every square inch of the bard’s skin intimately. She saw several small scars on her legs and when Gabrielle turned around to rinse her hair, she saw the small round scar left by the arrow that had pierced her, just above her breast. What surprised the warrior was that she had so few scars that were new to her and how clearly she noticed them.

            As her mind wandered she remembered being a small child, walking past one of the rough-hewn homes of Amphipolis where she could smell the most amazing scent of a feast being prepared knowing that she would not be invited to dinner. That was how she felt this moment gazing at the woman in the shower.

Gabrielle turned the water off and reached for her towel, glancing into the mirror as she did so, making eye contact with Xena. The warrior looked away, embarrassed that she’d been caught staring. “This morning I’m going to meet with the crew, then several of my department directors before the actual departmental meeting,” she said conversationally. She’d wrapped a towel around herself the way Xena had and was towel-trying her hair as she walked back into the cabin. “Let me dry your hair before we get dressed,” she said leading the warrior back to the dressing table. She continued to speak conversationally as she used a blow dryer on the warrior, briefly showing Xena how it worked before getting started. “Breakfast will come right before the departmental meeting. These meetings have been known to get quite heated, I’m hoping to keep everyone on the same page today.”

“I’ve had lieutenants like that,” Xena said as she watched their reflections in the mirror. There was something decadent and enjoyable with Gabrielle’s touch on her scalp and her hair and she was in no hurry to have it stop. “I looked through some of your sketchbooks last night.”

“Really?” Gabrielle said, sounding delighted. “I hope it didn’t make you home-sick.”

“I looked at some of the more recent books. There were some amazing animal drawings, Gabrielle. You’re certainly the one with many skills now.” Xena smiled as she said it and the bard quickly checked their reflection in the mirror to make sure that there wasn’t anything else behind the comment. “I recognized the elephant, but the horse with the stripes and the large thing with the tree trunk legs and the long thing on its face- are they real or imagined?”

Gabrielle stopped what she was doing and studied Xena in the mirror. “Xena, there is a larger, more amazing world out there than you can imagine – and I promise to show you every corner of it.” She put the blow dryer and the hairbrush down and put her palms on the warrior’s shoulders, squeezing for emphasis. “I think you were looking at some sketches from Africa. The horse with stripes is a zebra and the thing with tree-trunk legs and the horn is a rhinoceros. There are giraffes, lions, and ibex; we will go on a safari soon and see them all- it will have to be soon, they are all racing towards extinction. People are making a mess of the world.”

“I saw Africa in Shen’s book, on the map, it’s enormous. Why did you settle here, in North America?” As she spoke Gabrielle had finished with the warrior’s hair and had turned Xena to face her, applying makeup. While the warrior wasn’t sure why she needed the disguise, she had no intention of stopping her. It felt nice, really nice, to be the center of the bard’s focus and have the light touch of familiar hands on her face.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve ‘settled’ here necessarily. I’ve been here, North America at least, for a little over one hundred years this last time. But I do move around pretty frequently, hence the boat. The United States is a very young country and there is a lot of growth, it has opportunity but it’s also been fairly easy to change identities as I need to and move money around. It’s pretty easy for me to blend in. In many places in Africa it doesn’t take much before I’m considered a dangerous spirit. Other places like much of Asia, it’s almost impossible to blend in. Europe is great and I feel right at home there, but I’ve spent hundreds and hundreds of years traveling all over. Here it was new, everyone is descended from some kind of immigrant, and there was adventure and excitement. Unfortunately, the genocide against the original inhabitants of this land was very nearly complete so it has a downside too. Every inch of this country was taken from someone else and they don’t like to reminisce about that part of their history.” She had finished with the warrior’s makeup and encouraged Xena to look at her reflection. Xena blinked in surprise. The change wasn’t drastic, but dramatic. She looked…different. She had to admit, even to herself, she looked really good. “I promise there will be time, plenty of time, for you to see all of it. The fact that you can already speak all of the languages will have you feeling right at home in no time,” she added with a smile.

Xena nodded absently, thinking about America and how she would view it as a warlord. “This sounds like the kind of place Ares would be interested in as well,” Xena observed as she watched Gabrielle apply her own makeup. “The ability to blend in, move his resources- many of the things that appeal to you will also appeal to him. Only he’s interested in causing unrest, not combating it. He’s not able to change form?”

Gabrielle paused in the application of her mascara to shake her head. “Aphrodite says that she can’t change form, disappear, or affect the world from as far away. She says she needs to travel. I would assume it would be the same for Ares. His hair grows and he’d have to have it cut and he can change his beard or shave it off but that’s about it. When I saw him he looked the same as he always did but in different clothes and without the facial hair.”

            When she’d finished with her makeup Gabrielle turned to her companion. “Xena,” she said softly, changing the subject. “I’m glad you came to bed last night. I…” she stopped herself, starting to get choked up. After a calming breath she continued. “I know this is not easy for you. Not only the shock of the world that you find yourself in, but me not being…not being…”

            “In love with me,” Xena finished for her. The bard’s eyes narrowed. Not necessarily in anger but in intensity.

            “Me not being what you remembered,” Gabrielle corrected her.

            “It’s okay, Gabrielle,” Xena said reassuringly and the bard didn’t know whose statement she was referring to. “We said we’d focus on Ares, I need to get used to the world, you need to get used to me. We’ve covered this. It’s okay.”

            Gabrielle nodded and led them both to the bedroom. The bard dressed slowly and methodically enough that Xena could follow and not feel self-conscious. “Is there a significance to you wearing a skirt and me wearing trousers?” Xena asked. “Is there a symbolism in the color scheme? You’d described this as a war council of sorts …”

            With a shake of her head Gabrielle gestured back to the closet. “Aphrodite bought you several business outfits, I picked this because I think it will look great on you. I picked this light gray one with the vest for me because I just felt like it.” She held up the light blue blouse to her chest. “What do you think, this one or a white one?”

            “The blue, it draws out your eyes,” Xena commented as she fastened the belt around her waist. “Blue and green,” she added absently. “Like the ocean.”

            They finished dressing and looked at themselves in the full-length mirror. “These shoes are insane,” Xena grumbled disapprovingly. She was wearing black narrow slacks, black high-heeled shoes, a white blouse and the drop-wasted jacket was almost a cross between a smoking jacket and a tuxedo. The gray and black pattern was modern with rich black lapels.

            “Xena you look like a million bucks,” she said appreciatively. “I know heels are the worst and were it anything other than these meetings you’d be in different footwear. Trust me, when we go to D.C. we’ll be wearing something with more sanity.”

            The warrior took a couple of experimental steps. Gabrielle was impressed she didn’t stumble, but knowing Xena’s core strength and remarkable balance she wasn’t surprised that after striding across the room once, she looked like she’d been wearing heels for years.

            Nearly all of the crew was assembled in the conference room when the pair arrived, only Elaine and Vox were noticeably missing. “Elaine is watching the monitors on the bridge,” Michelle explained as they approached. “Vox is hanging out with Shen below deck as a safety precaution. I was going to fill them both in after the director’s meeting.”

Gabrielle nodded gratefully and looked around the conference room at the assembled faces as Steve and Hatsuo finished the security sweep of the room and sealed it, the soft blue light indicating complete privacy. “I will make this quick since I know you’ve got work to do to get us underway,” she began. “If anyone hasn’t had the chance to meet Xena, I wanted to give you that opportunity,” she continued with a nod of her head in the warrior’s direction. Xena’s cheeks grew hot as she felt nearly all the assembled eyes shift to her. She keenly felt the absence of Vox the engineer who she felt she knew the best of the crew so she glanced as Aphrodite and was rewarded with a reassuring wink.

Five of the crew either nodded an acknowledgement to the warrior or raised a hand in greeting. “Xena, this is Rebekah Luna our legal liaison, Samantha Ramirez who is serving as a steward this tour with Blake, Hatsuo Eko who is head of security, our bosun Steve Hagstrom, and Ingrid Kamaka our mechanic extraordinaire. Guys, this is Xena.” The warrior smiled in acknowledgment and was relieved when the attention shifted back to the bard. Gabrielle took a deep breath before continuing, taking a moment to make eye contact with each of the employees seated around the large rough-hewn table. “As you all know, the effort to find Xena has taken a very high toll from all of us. Shen’s presence on this ship is testament to that and I want to thank all of you, from the bottom of my heart for stepping up the way you have to make him feel safe and more importantly, loved.” There were nods of agreement and acknowledgment.

            “While you are all aware that I’m slightly older than I look…” she paused for the well-meaning snickers from around the table, “you might not be aware that I’ve known Susan’s family for a very long time. I met her grandfather in 1912 when he was a young man and he was a very dear friend of mine until he passed away in ’70. Susan’s mother Betty started in ’52 and worked for me until she retired. All of you knew Susan and we all mourn her loss. I mourn it very profoundly; I was the first person outside her family to hold her as a baby. As I am Shen’s godmother, I was also Susan’s god-mother and before that, Betty’s.” As the bard spoke Xena could see a new awareness dawn on the faces assembled of the practical implications of Gabrielle’s predicament. “I tell you this because I want to make it clear that I value life, specifically all of yours, in a way that you might not consider. I don’t want any of you thinking for a second that because I don’t have skin in the game physically, that I’m not profoundly aware of the risks that all of you are undertaking by being in any proximity to me. Xena and I are reunited which Ares wanted to prevent, but that does not mean that Ares is not a threat or going to drop the issue. In fact, I believe that now he will take active measures to gain some kind of leverage over the three of us.” As she spoke she nodded to the goddess and warrior standing to either side. “Susan was a casualty here, and I tell you very honestly and sincerely that it is unlikely she will be the only one. All of you have to understand that. You are all in very real danger.”

            The mechanic with long auburn hair tentatively raised her hand. “Ingrid, this isn’t class, you can just talk,” Gabrielle said reassuringly.

            “Um, yeah, hi,” the mechanic said awkwardly. “Is Xena…ah…you guys knew each other from Greece so you’re…age wise I mean…like Aphrodite…but still…” The mechanic’s words kind of trailed off and she shrugged helplessly.

            “I think she’s asking if I’m immortal like you,” Xena added helpfully.

            “Or if you’re as indestructible as Gabrielle is,” Bohemian added. “Don’t feel bad, none of us are fluent in Ingrid.”

            Xena glanced at Gabrielle and Aphrodite and the goddess spoke up. “Yes, she’s immortal, in the way that Gabrielle is, but since she’s been in stasis she doesn’t have two-thousand years of experience to impress you with at trivial pursuit. As for the indestructibility, does anyone have a pocket knife?”

            Immediately several pairs of eyes shot to the nicked area of the table where Gabrielle had been impaled only weeks earlier. “No, absolutely not,” Gabrielle said fiercely; Xena was taken aback, looking between the two, confused.

            “Just to cut the tip of her finger, silly,” Aphrodite explained with a reassuring look around the table.

“What are you talking about?” The warrior asked.

“They were having a hard time believing Gabrielle before, so I stabbed her,” she explained as Xena’s narrowed dangerously. “And I only did it because they were being stubborn and it all worked out okay so calm down,” she added hurriedly.

            “You should know if you’re indestructible, right?” Bohemian asked as he fished a small Swiss army knife out of his pocket and slid it across the table. In a smooth movement Aphrodite picked the knife up and folded out a small blade before handing it to the warrior, handle first.

            “Cut the tip of your finger,” she said. “See if it heals up.”

            Xena shrugged and did as she was asked, drawing the blade across her index finger and holding it up as several crimson drops splashed on the table. Hatsuo took a handkerchief from his pocket and passed it to Aphrodite. Almost instantly the bleeding stopped and the skin knit together. Surprised, the warrior touched her finger to her thumb then shrugged again. “Well, that answers that,” she said.

            “I’m still a little confused as to how you battle a god?” Rebekah asked. “We’ve gotten a small taste of what Aphrodite can do, I can’t help but think that Ares has similar powers?”

            “That is the problem we’re presently wrestling with,” Gabrielle replied. “Michelle will keep all of you looped in when we’ve had the director’s meeting and moving forward. I wanted to personally thank all of you, but also stress the very real danger each one of you are in and give you an out should any of you decide this isn’t for you.”

            “What is your next move?” Bohemian asked curiously. “None of us are going anywhere. Is there anything we can do to help with whatever it is you’re planning? If you don’t know what to do about Ares, are we any closer to getting Susan’s body back for burial?” Several of the assembled crew nodded their head in agreement making it clear that Susan was one of them.

            “I will be meeting with Fiona shortly. HR will have her file, her will, final requests, etc… that each of you have filled out,” Gabrielle replied. Purposefully she kept the ache out of her voice, making it clear that this conversation could befall any of them. “Aphrodite, Xena, and I will be going to DC to meet with some people and hopefully get Susan’s body released.” As an afterthought she added, “I should probably take a bodyguard. I’ll be traveling as Susan Vincent. Nicolai?”

            The large Russian man shook his head. “No,” he said. Gabrielle blinked. That was not the answer she was expecting. Several surprised glances were shared around the table. “I will stay here and guard Shen,” he explained. “You three are indestructible, the boy is not. You don’t need a bodyguard, you need someone who looks like a bodyguard; who can play a bodyguard; take Ed.” Spontaneously the rest of the crew either clapped or pounded the table in approval. There was a chorus of ‘bravo’, ‘well said’, and ‘right on’ from around the conference room. Gabrielle shrugged taking his point.

            “Very well,” she agreed. “I couldn’t agree more.” For a moment she silently considered each of her crew, their individual strengths and weaknesses gleaned by years of having them in her employ. While they were all perfectly capable of making their own decisions, there was a maternal drive in her that wished some of them would choose differently. Inwardly she stopped herself. This was not time for Gabrielle the nurturer; it was time for her to lead. “I’ve said my piece about letting each of you disengage. If you’re going to stay let’s move forward on full alert. I want everyone wearing comm units. If you’re moving about the ship, do it in pairs. Wearing weapons might not be a bad idea. They won’t hurt Ares, but I have my army – we’d be foolish to think he doesn’t have his and if they are the kind of right-wing yokels Gideon Power appeals to, they will be overjoyed at the chance to use their guns. Wolfgang, I want you and Vox to coordinate with us when we’re away from the ship and with Transportation and SP. We will take Ed to DC and you will loop each other in. The same level of attention to detail that we’ve used more than once to get medical supplies past pirates and terrorists, that’s what is going to be needed now. I don’t know how or when Ares might come at us directly, but I’m nearly certain he will.”

            “Before we go,” Hatsuo interjected his face grim, “all of us have access to the same cyanide device that Susan was wearing. I would suggest we all employ it.”

            Gabrielle studied the security chief’s face for several moments before replying. She saw the nearly-microscopic pull to his facial muscles betray the fear he was experiencing but determined not to show. “I am not going to ask any of you to die for me. I am not going to say that if any of you are captured I won’t do everything in my power to get you back. I will say though, that Ares has been around a long time. His fingerprints are on the Spanish Inquisition. His fingerprints are all over Auschwitz. His hand is in conflict large and small the world over. If he captures you, you very well may wish you were dead long before you have the chance to be rescued. There are no secrets I’m asking you to keep. If you are captured, please feel free to talk. Nothing any of you could possibly say is worth dying over. If Ares didn’t know about Shen when he grabbed Susan, he probably knows now and I do want him protected. But he would naturally assume he would be on this ship. We will be expecting an attack.” No one spoke but it was clear that her message had hit home. “You’re all dismissed,” she added quietly, releasing them to go do the work they were trained to do. Without comment chairs were pushed away from the table as the crew filtered out. “Sarah, Samantha, if I may have a word,” Gabrielle said to the chef and steward as they prepared to file out of the conference room. “I’m about to have a booze meeting with Sabin, Fiona, Heather and Jorge. You know what they drink?” she asked the chef who nodded.

            “We’ll take care of everything,” Samantha assured her with a nod as Michelle approached looking at her phone.

            “The early directors are at the dock, may they board?” the captain asked.

Gabrielle nodded then added to the chef and steward, “please have a pitcher of Bloody Marys sent down, today is going to be a long one.”

~~~~~~~

“You guys go ahead,” Gabrielle said to Aphrodite and Michelle. “I’ll meet you at my study. I just want to get some air on deck, let Argo do her business before the next meeting. Michelle, you can handle the introductions.” The captain nodded and turned to go, waiting for Aphrodite who hesitated a moment before joining her.

“Mind if I stay with you?” Xena asked not quite certain of how the bard might answer.

“I would like that,” Gabrielle replied, leading the way up the stairs to the upper deck. Argo trailed behind the two and quickly found a ball on deck which she proudly brought back to her mistress. The bard threw it a couple of times, wistfully looking out to the open ocean. “I wish I knew what Ares was up to, why he would even care if you’d been resurrected. People are going to get hurt…” she trailed off seeing her own concern reflected in the face looking at her.

“You’ve become quite a leader,” Xena observed. “I think Ares is afraid of me, not even realizing that you would be more of a threat to him at this point.”

“I think Aphrodite is right, he’s afraid of his feelings for you and how they distract him,” Gabrielle demurred somewhat distracted by her dog. “And besides, you’re the warrior in the family.”

“Uh huh,” Xena replied before throwing a solid punch at the bard’s face.

Without thinking Gabrielle parried the blow, grabbing Xena’s wrist and taking a step towards the warrior. As she moved past Xena she pulled the warrior’s arm behind her back holding the wrist at a painful angle. The move took but a second and as quickly as the bard performed it, she let go, worried she may have hurt or startled her companion.

“Xena, I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s a reflex.”

Blue eyes twinkled with humor as she nodded. “I can see that.”

“How did you know?” Gabrielle asked after she’d released her companion, adjusting the collar of the taller woman’s shirt and jacket.

“In part how you carry yourself, Gabrielle.” Xena replied. “You move like someone who has had a lot of training, like a fighter.”

“Like you?” The bard asked, almost smiling.

Xena shrugged. “As gifted a bard as you are, I wouldn’t think you could survive for two thousand years without having to fight as well. Beyond the fighting that we did, or that you continued in Egypt. Bigger conflicts need larger forces, armies. And you don’t lead an army without knowing how to do what they do. You’ve clearly endured some big conflicts.” Gabrielle nodded. “So, remember that. When you talk to your directors, when you talk to your people. You’ve been fighting Ares this whole time even if you didn’t know it was him and he didn’t know it was you.” Xena looked down into shining green eyes for a moment. She stopped herself from telling the bard that she was proud of her. Proud that she’d managed to replicate the positive things that she became without having to endure the negative part of the journey first. Something made her keep silent. Instead she smiled and hoped that it would convey the same message.

Gabrielle thought about Xena’s advice as she led the warrior and Argo back below deck to her study behind her formal office. “Did you train in Jappa? Or Chin?” Xena asked as they descended the stairs. With a shake of her head, Gabrielle stopped them, just outside her office. “Xena, after you died I couldn’t go back to Japan for a very long time. It was at least a thousand years. I’ve picked up training in the martial arts from all over, like everything else about me I guess. And yes, eventually I did do some studying in Japan and China as well, but believe me, to this day every time I set foot on Japanese soil, I’m taken back to the awful, awful day you died.”

“Not anymore,” Xena replied with a grin as she opened the door to the study for her companion.

The scene inside of Gabrielle’s office was a cozy one. Sabin, Fiona, and Jorge were seated on the leather couch by the wood paneled wall; the coffee table in front of them laden with a variety of pitchers, bottles and a cast iron tea pot. Heather was seated in one of the two chairs across from the bard’s desk while Aphrodite occupied the chair behind the desk. Michelle stood in the corner against the bookcase trying to look unobtrusive. Gabrielle motioned for Xena to take the empty seat next to her Director of Finance. Argo padded over to the dog bed next to the couch and made herself comfortable.

“There you are,” the goddess said in greeting. “I was about to start your meeting without you.”

“Nice.” Gabrielle replied with a mock frown as she flipped the switch that indicated that the room was sealed. “I’m glad all of you have met Aphrodite, I’d like all of you to meet Xena,” she said with a nod to her companion as she leaned against the edge of her desk. “Xena, this is Sabin Jha head of Special Projects, Fiona O’Brien, head of Human Resources, Jorge Hernandez head of Transportation, and Heather Martin who is head of Finance.” At each of their names a hand was extended and Xena rose from her seat to grasp each one politely. “Heather, you asked to speak to me before the director’s meeting, what’s up?” The apprehension from the brunette was subtle, but there so she added “Oh and before I forget- Aphrodite and Xena have class one clearance and I’m making the serving captain of the ship a member of the Director’s board. You’re free to discuss anything you’d like here.”

If any of the four directors assembled were surprised at the announcement they did not show it. The realization dawned on the finance director however that she’d inadvertently crashed a private meeting. Her cheeks flushed crimson and she quickly scanned the assembled faces before speaking. “I ah…just wanted to make it clear that you have my full support for whatever resources you need to get the people responsible for Susan. I know you don’t always feel like I’m behind you when it comes to spending your money – but this is different. Susan was a friend to all of us,” she nodded over to the couch to include the three seated there. “Whatever it is you need, the Finance Department can make that happen. Also, I suspect Shen will be living onboard, and for that a remodel is probably in order. You have my support there as well.”

Gabrielle grinned as she turned to reach for a folder under the chaos of scattered papers on her desk. “I mentioned after the last meeting that you and I would meet with Susan and go over some financial stuff,” she said briefly opening the folder to make sure it was the right one before handing it to the brunette. “This should put your mind at ease, financially speaking at least.”

Heather quickly scanned through the small stack of paperwork, a perplexed expression on her face. “I don’t get it, are these holdings that you have relationships with?”

“In that I own them, yes,” the bard replied.

The finance director adjusted her glasses and scanned the paperwork again. “This is impossible,” she said dubiously. “With Bardic & Company and what’s in here,” her green eyes darted back to the pages as she flipped them over to do the math, “you’d be worth over seventy billion dollars. That would make you one of the richest people on the planet. And the richest woman by far.”

Gabrielle shrugged. “Some of those assets are easier to get to than others. And there is more that doesn’t have a paper trail. I’ve got various cashes of gold or diamonds stashed around the world- again not easy to get to, but I know where they are. I’ve been careful to keep holdings under different identities, the last thing I need is for Forbes to request an interview every other month, but yes, the money is mine.”

“Do you mind?” Fiona asked the finance director who wordlessly handed over the folder. She scanned its contents as Gabrielle walked the couple of steps to the coffee table and poured a Bloody Mary cocktail into a tall glass that had been rimmed with seasoned salts with a celery stalk and crisp piece of bacon standing at attention. She passed the glass to Heather before pouring one for herself.

“It’s not a little early to be drinking?” the brunette asked accepting the glass.

“You won’t think so in about five minutes,” Gabrielle assured her as Aphrodite chuckled from her place behind the desk.

“These companies go back decades, over a hundred years?” Fiona said, passing the folder back to the finance director. “Are you saying you inherited them?”

“No.” Gabrielle replied. “Before I drop this bombshell on the four of you, I’d like to point out the refreshments on the coffee table. Sabin, I know you don’t drink alcohol – the kettle has your favorite green tea in it. There is tequila for Fiona and Whiskey for Jorge; your favorites of course.” Her directors stared at her with obvious confusion so she turned her laptop computer so they could see the screen. The final slide from her power point presentation with the various images of herself over the years was displayed. “I wish I had the luxury to not just dump this on the four of you all at once, but time is of the essence. To make a very long story short, I’m over two thousand years old. Those companies are my companies. I change identities every few decades, change the names of my companies, bury my assets, horde stuff in warehouses, have holdings all over the world and speak dozens of languages, many of them dead ones.” She nodded to Aphrodite and Xena before continuing “Aphrodite is the Aphrodite you’ve undoubtedly heard of and Xena has been the focus of much of my companies’ energy for the last two thousand years. She was missing, in a state of stasis, and I needed to find Aphrodite and enlist her help in reviving her. The Olympus Project,” she added with a nod to Sabin, “is all about Xena.

“Ares, who is the Ares incidentally, kidnapped Susan in an effort to gain leverage to make me abandon the quest to revive her. I’ve read-in all of the crew serving on The Hippolyta and they believe me. Our next step will be to take the fight directly to The God of War. I want to make sure he isn’t a threat to Shen and the rest of my people.” She took a deep breath. “So, questions?”

For long moments no one spoke. Argo absently scratched an ear with one of her hind legs. Heather sipped her Bloody Mary steadily as she watched as Jorge help himself to a drink. Fiona poured a cup of tea, handing it to Sabin before pouring a shot of tequila for herself. “Would anyone else like a refreshment?” the HR director asked as if she were serving at a tea party.

“Tequila sounds great,” Aphrodite replied enthusiastically.

“The thing she’s drinking looks interesting,” Xena said with a nod to the woman sitting next to her. “Why is there meat in your drink?” she asked Heather directly.

The finance director turned and looked at the woman sitting next to her; studying her piercing blue eyes looking for any hint that an unfunny, poorly timed, and inappropriate joke were being played on the Bardic & Company directors. Not finding any duplicity in the warrior’s face she extracted the piece of bacon from her Bloody Mary and handed it over. “Try it,” she said.

Xena shrugged and took a bite of the bacon that had been submerged in the drink. She nodded approvingly. “This is pretty good,” she said.

Fiona stood and passed over a second Bloody Mary to the warrior and Xena added the now half eaten bacon to her own drink. Heather looked down at her glass with sadness, the realization that she wasn’t getting her garnish back dawning on her. “You look pretty good for being over two thousand,” she finally said to her boss, it being the only thing that came to mind to say.

Gabrielle looked at the four of them sympathetically. “I know it sounds insane. Believe me, over the years I’ve been locked up and institutionalized more than once for telling someone this.”

“Why exactly are you telling us this? And why now?” Fiona asked as she poured herself a second shot. “You aren’t wrong about this sounding insane.”

“I decided I needed to tell Susan when Aphrodite had been found and it looked like we were making very real progress into getting Xena back,” she said. “She is the one who encouraged, demanded really, that I at least tell the people who do ship duty. And she was right, of course. From there it didn’t seem right to have Jorge’s people know something he didn’t. Of all my directors I decided it would be essential for the three of you to know, and Heather made sense as well. I will seek your counsel before deciding to tell the rest of the directors, if we feel they all need to know.”

“How did Susan take it?” Jorge asked carefully as he sipped his whiskey. Gabrielle could see the caution etched on his features, he ran his hand through his short salt and pepper hair which he always did when he was uncertain.

“She was more surprised at my sexual orientation than she was at my age,” Gabrielle replied. “But I’ve known Susan’s family for three generations so she had a head start on the rest of you.”

“You’re gay?” Heather asked dumbfounded.

“I knew it,” Fiona added, with an air of validation.

“As much as I want to know how that came up in conversation,” Jorge added, caution giving way to amusement, “I realize it isn’t the point,” he looked askance at Fiona and Heather who sheepishly inspected their drinks. “Sabin, you were the last to see Susan at work, how did she seem? You knew her the best of all of us, except Gabrielle of course.”

The Nepalese man smiled, remembering something and sat the teacup and saucer down on the table. “I recall a mission we were on years ago in Tibet,” he said. “We’d finished our business and she insisted that since we were in the neighborhood that we stop for several days in Nepal so I could visit some extended family. She was so insistent she stayed and did some sight-seeing meaning the company plane wasn’t going anywhere so I had no choice. We’d had a long talk, on the way back about the importance of family and how generations of her family had worked for generations of your family,” he nodded at Gabrielle as he spoke. “There was something about how she spoke that made it seem like she was retelling a family legend, something you know isn’t true but you buy into the lore of anyway. I know about her mother and grandfather so I did find it strange that she seemed to think the story more fiction than fact.”

“We had our talk a couple of months ago.” Gabrielle looked over to Aphrodite for clarification about the date. The goddess nodded aware of the unintended frown on the warrior’s face across the desk. “Did she seem any different after that?”

Sabin pushed a long strand of black hair that had not been included in his loose ponytail away from his face. Dark eyes sparkled with humor as he recalled the conversation. “For the last several years she’s been talking about retirement and turning over parts of her portfolio for me to manage. I’d hoped to come to last month’s directors meeting but didn’t because of my broken leg. I still had the cast on and was having trouble getting around. I’ve been managing Brian Glass pretty closely and the last conversation I had with Susan had started out as a conversation about Brian. He’d requested some vacation time, which he had on the books but we found it odd so soon after getting a new assignment. That led us to talking about strange things at work and she commented that if I were ever in a meeting with you and a bottle of Scotch was present, just go with it and suspend my disbelief.” Pointedly, he glanced at the coffee table and the bottle of Scotch still sitting there, from Gabrielle’s talk with Susan.

“I find it a little hard to believe that all of the crew take this at face value,” Jorge said looking at Michele. “What say you?”

In any instance but on The Hippolyta Jorge would be the person Michelle reported to. The transportation division trained their candidates for a variety of positions and missions within the company and the ship crew were selected and rotated in and out of its ranks. Michelle stepped away from the bookcase before responding. “We didn’t take it at face value,” she said. “Not by a long shot. We were convinced- quite dramatically in fact. From there Xena’s situation and the existence of Ares, Poseidon, and the rest make much more sense.

Gabrielle reached behind her and opened the top drawer of her desk. She extracted a towel and a knife. “I hate this part,” she muttered before slicing her arm from elbow to wrist, carefully catching the drips in the towel so she didn’t bleed on her desk. There were gasps from the people in the room surprised by this. Then a “holy fuck,” from the finance director as the laceration stopped bleeding and knit back together. “This is what makes me immortal, for lack of a better term for it. I heal really well.”

“And what makes Aphrodite the Aphrodite?” Jorge asked his disbelief clearly wavering.

“Aphrodite, can you do something that isn’t super invasive, given that HR is right in the room with us?” She said as she cleaned off the blood on her arm with the towel. Her mind wandered as she worked, wondering what the Goddess of Love would do that would convince them that she was more than just an incredibly pretty face.

Quite unexpectedly the memory surfaced of she and Xena at the hot springs of Loutra Pozar outside of Thessaly. She blushed remembering the sight of the warrior waist deep in the bright turquoise water that was reflecting off the azure blue of her eyes. She had lunged at Xena that day, leaping into her arms, wrapping her legs around the warrior’s waist, kissing her so hard that she nearly knocked the two of them over. But Xena had held her with ease and carried her to a spot by the waterfall where the two of them could be more comfortable. They hadn’t seen another soul for days and felt quite alone in their private paradise. They weren’t alone however, and when a family approached with young children who commented about the two women “wrestling” in the waterfall, bard and warrior made the unspoken decision to ignore them. Vaguely a comment registered in the bard’s consciousness when the man gruffly said that the family would set up camp nearby and come back later but that wouldn’t have made any difference. In that moment, the passion between the two had been so intense that a legion of Roman soldiers would not have stalled their efforts.

The taste of Xena’s mouth, the feel of strong muscles yielding to her touch, the warrior’s expression, and the sounds she made all seared itself into her memory. She was fierce when she claimed the warrior’s lips, their front teeth clashing together almost painfully. A hunger had been released that demanded its tribute. At first there was no gentleness in the way that they grappled together, desperate to consume every bit of each other. There wasn’t anything Xena wouldn’t let her do and in return nothing she wouldn’t let the warrior do to her. The zeal of the late morning yielded to afternoon and some of the most languid, sensual hours that the bard had ever spent. The warm healing waters a fitting backdrop as they isolated themselves from everything else in the world. Back and forth they pleasured each other and themselves to a soundtrack of their moans, sighs, laughter and heady conversation. While it was not the first time the two had been together as Gabrielle recalled, that afternoon had been one of the best. Only when night fell and they heard the family, loudly tromping down the trail did they chuckle and beyond satisfied and content reach for their clothes and sneak away into the dark to find Argo and leave the family in peace. To this day, all these years later that particular shade of blue from the spring by the waterfall was still Gabrielle’s favorite color.

There was something about the memory of that shade of blue that brought another recollection to the bard’s mind. The place where the waterfall met the thermal pool was a decidedly lighter hue almost an icy blue; the same color as Aphrodite’s eyes. Gabrielle had seen those eyes look at her, completely unguarded as she’d pinned the goddess down on their second night together. In a heated rush those memories came to the forefront. Her fingers interlaced with those of the goddess as she’d leaned down slowly to kiss her, watching the anticipation build on the perfectly sculpted face beneath her. She remembered the things she’d done to the goddess with her hands and her mouth, the demands she’d made and how readily they were granted. She’d felt a sense of power that night, a power that had certainly been given to her willingly of course, but one that she’d used well. She’d made the goddess beg and had rewarded Aphrodite’s pleading well enough that she had responded in such a way that Gabrielle had to be woken from a near coma and found herself covered in bruises. Almost as soon as the second memory came to mind it abruptly halted leaving her to feel as if she’d looked into a room not meant for her.

“No one in this study is a virgin and I’m very gratified that while all of your experiences may vary in terms of awesomeness, no one here has had to deal with anything non-consensual. Because of that, each of you just each remembered one of your fondest sexual experiences. You’re welcome.” Aphrodite hadn’t moved from behind the desk, her expression inscrutable she passed her shot glass to Fiona to refill. She continued, “if anyone needs any more convincing about me being who I am, I’m happy to tell you exactly what it was you were remembering, where it happened, who it was with, blah, blah, blah.”

Gabrielle looked at Xena and saw the warrior grin at her weakly. The expression was as open as any book the bard might pull off her library shelf. While her assumption had been that Xena might have been thinking about her, it was clear that the warrior did not think she was the one being thought of by Gabrielle. After two thousand years, it made sense she supposed that Xena might feel that way and then it dawned on her that the reason was sitting behind her desk. Of course, Xena would assume that her best sexual encounter would be with the Goddess of Love. Who wouldn’t think that. And she had thought of Aphrodite, but as soon as that thought entered her mind, she realized it was not the case. She looked at Aphrodite who would not meet her eyes, instead studying her now empty shot glass. Her thoughts had been of Xena, Aphrodite’s had been of her and the goddess knew that she knew it.

            “It would be really fantastic if you guys would just believe me so we can move on from this,” Gabrielle said, her heart aching for both warrior and goddess.

            “I’m sold,” Heather said in a rush only to have the other three directors nod in unison.

            “Before I forget,” Fiona said, the crimson of her cheeks fading from Aphrodite’s demonstration, “Susan updated her HR file. It must have been just after you two had spoken. She gave me this letter and had said she would rewrite it when she had more time, but wanted it updated immediately. I also have her other paperwork, her Trust, Will, and such which you can go over when you’re ready.” She opened a leather folio she’d been carrying and extracted a sealed envelope. “I thought it better to deliver this to you outside the regular meeting. While I am sorry for all of our loss, I am especially sorry for yours Gabrielle, especially now that I know just how long you’d known our friend.”

            Gabrielle accepted the envelope and opened it to find a handwritten note on company letterhead. Silently she read it to herself using a clean part of the towel she was holding to dab at her eyes.

Dear Gabrielle,

If you are reading this, I have died unexpectedly and too soon after learning your truth. While I’d hoped for many occasions to discuss history with you at length over a bottle or two of wine, I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn your given name and real identity. Please, do not grieve for me Gabrielle. You, more than most, understand how fleeting life is. Every trip around the sun is precious and I do not feel that I’ve wasted any of them.

Be there for Shen. It is my wish that you adopt him. He is the sole beneficiary of my estate, details of which are in my file. I think that around his 18^th or 21^st year might be an appropriate time for him to know your secret (the longevity one dear, not the gay one – I trust you to be up font about that already) he may figure it out on his own sooner, given his passion for super heroes. Go with your gut and when he’s ready, read him in. Your life, your passions, your friends, Aphrodite- share all of that with him; do not compartmentalize anything from him. He will grow to be a better man the more he knows of you, as knowing you- even a limited capacity, has made me a better woman.

I hope that you are successful in your quest to find Xena and I pray that together you continue to devote your time and energy to the positive force that this company has proven to be. In the span of three generations my family has watched you create a nimble and efficient enterprise that can be a force for good in the world. Just remember that in the quest for The Greater Good you have to look as much at your present surroundings as in the world you hope to create.

It is with love and devotion that I sign this,

Ever your friend,

Susan

            Gabrielle folded the note and put it back in its envelope. Briefly she closed her eyes and took a calming breath. No one spoke in the room but she could hear their individual breathing patterns. An alert vibration on her watch drew her attention and she briefly looked at her phone. She passed the device to Michelle. “Would you please let Elaine know that the rest of the directors may board, then we can leave the Marina. Have them start breakfast while we finish up here. We’ll join them in the conference room when we’re ready.” Michelle accepted the phone and began to type.

            “There are a couple of things I will only say here, with the six of you,” the bard continued. “Ultimately, we need to find a way to get to Ares. It is possible that I have a weapon that can hurt him. My hope is that if I hurt him he will leave me and mine alone and hopefully take some time out of his busy schedule of fucking up the world.”

            “That is a very concise plan,” Fiona observed. “Do you think you can actually kill the god of war?”

            “I don’t think you could eliminate war from this world any more than you could eliminate love,” Aphrodite replied thoughtfully. “I for one certainly hope not, and not just for my sake obviously. But it is possible to diminish his influence, and I think that is your best-case scenario. Also,” and she said this more to Gabrielle than anyone else, “if I’d been able to keep ahold of that piece of my shell all these years, it’s likely he’s kept something as well. Something that reminds him of his power. If we could find it, it may be key in getting him to go where you want him to go if you’re planning some sort of ambush.”

            “We need to find him first,” Xena replied. “And hope that he keeps it with him.”

            “We can talk strategy in the next meeting,” Jorge interjected. “But to be clear we will address Ares as the alias he’s using at the moment- Easton. We should table this to get everyone’s input.” He put down his glass, clearly contemplating another drink.

            “Speaking of alias’” Fiona added. “Zuma Ocean contacted us for a new identity. He wants the name Ariel Waters.”

            Aphrodite chuckled. “My uncle is a jerk but he’s got a sense of humor, I’ll grant him that.” Jorge poured himself the drink he’d been contemplating.

            “And for Xena, you wanted paperwork created for the Xena Amphipoli identity? I still need to get a photo. Was that Greek or American passports?” Fiona asked with her pen at the ready to jot down notes.

            “Actually,” Xena interjected. “Shen gave me the name Natasha Romanoff. I’d like to use that.”

            Fiona briefly glanced at Gabrielle before making the notation. “One passport and identity background for Black Widow coming right up,” she said, the amusement evident in her thick Irish brogue. “Do you speak Russian?” she asked.

            “Da,” Xena responded, somewhat surprised with herself.

            “Russian and American passports,” Fiona amended.

            Pushing herself away from her desk Gabrielle nodded. “You heard the Avenger. I think we’re good here. Fiona, you may want to make a notation of some sort to help me keep track of who is read in on this stuff moving forward. Xena, like Aphrodite, will be tangentially assigned to SP- for HR purposes. We are heading to D.C. tomorrow; can you get her a package by then?”

            After a brief glance and a nod from Sabin, the HR director replied, “I will have it waiting on the plane. Also,” she added with a glance at the goddess, “I will have the identification that Aphrodite requested earlier in the week, the FBI stuff. What about the crew there? Have you read in Ed and the twins?”

            “I will, but not for this trip. I don’t want to fly with someone who’s just been freaked out by this information,” Gabrielle replied.

            “Probably a wise decision,” Sabin agreed.

            “Alright, let’s have some breakfast and see where we’re at with our opposition research.” Gabrielle said turning off the switch that unsealed the room and opened the door for her guests.

            As everyone filed out, Aphrodite hung back and touched Xena’s arm to indicate that she should do the same. Gabrielle gave them a questioning glance but was assured that they would be along shortly.

            “What’s this about?” Xena asked as the goddess knelt down to pet Argo who’d meandered over for affection.

            “Xena, I’m generally all about keeping people’s confidences…”

            “When it suits you,” the warrior remarked watching the blond woman scratch the muscular dog behind the ears.

            “That said,” the goddess continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted, “there are occasions when I need to say something to keep stupid people from doing stupid things.” Xena refused to take the bait and waited for Aphrodite to continue. The goddess stood up so she would be eye level with the warrior. She was taken aback by the vulnerability she saw in the pale blue eyes looking at her. “Gabrielle had the same fond memory you did,” she said simply. Xena was about to protest, accuse her of making something up when Aphrodite pointedly looked down at Argo who was contentedly panting, her attention equally divided between warrior and goddess. She hadn’t barked, whined or growled.

            Xena wasn’t sure how to respond. “She doesn’t love me,” she said and immediately Argo barked once and butted her head against the warrior’s legs. Xena leaned down to pet the dog and amended, “she isn’t in love with me.” Argo whined quietly and nudged her again.

            “Your Gabrielle, the lover, is waking up from a very deep sleep. I tell you this because she is going to be in conflict with Gabrielle – Shen’s Mom and Gabrielle – The General and I don’t want you to get all sulky. Gabrielle will have enough difficulty juggling these three and she will need your support, not wounded-warrior attitude.” Aphrodite pointed her finger at the open door and Argo trotted out of the study to join the rest at breakfast.

            “And what of your Gabrielle?” Xena asked as she followed the goddess up the stairs.

            With a smile void of enthusiasm Aphrodite answered, “I may meet up with her again at some point, but for the time being, she’s where she needs to be and that is out of the picture.” Xena stopped and turned to face the goddess feeling more sympathy than she ever expected given the circumstances. She was searching for something to say that would be both honest and not sound trite but found herself at a loss. Aphrodite shook her head. “It’s okay Xena. I know, and thank you.”

            The buffet line was nearly empty by the time that the late-comers arrived. Xena helped herself to some food, mimicking the selections made by the goddess in front of her then took the open seat next to Gabrielle. Michelle and Vox had been joined by Aphrodite at the table, the warrior’s presence filling the fifth seat.

            “Everything okay?” the bard asked quietly.

            Xena nodded, watching how everyone else was eating before digging into her own food. “Yes, Aphrodite just wanted to clarify something for me.” She nodded towards the dog who was shaking down one person after another for a handout. “You need to make sure she’s in all your meetings,” the warrior suggested. “Being able to tell when someone isn’t being truthful is really helpful.”

            “You need to get Argo in a room with Brian Glass and figure out what is up with that guy,” Michelle concurred. “Sabin mentioned he’s already on vacation and you don’t just do that a week after switching departments.”

            Vox shrugged as she made quick work of her waffles, “maybe the guy had a wedding or something planned?”

            “Then Susan and Sabin would have known when he transferred, right?” Michelle asked.

            The engineer shrugged uncertainly as she scratched at her abdomen.

            “Please try not to poke at those,” Gabrielle warned. “I know the stitches are ready to come out, I’ll try to get to that after lunch.” Vox nodded and left her abdomen alone.

            “Speaking of which,” Aphrodite offered amiably. “I know you’ve got an ‘all hands on deck’ thing going on right now but I thought that tonight I’d take Xena, Vox and Michelle out to dinner so you could spend some time with Shen before we head to D.C.

            “Where is Shen?” Xena asked looking around

            “With Nicolai,” Michelle and Vox answered in unison. Their table was a fair distance from the nearest table with non-crewmembers but the two leaned in none the less. “We’re not advertising that he’s onboard,” Michelle added quietly. “Just in case.”

            Gabrielle looked at the other four equal parts grateful and jealous not to be joining them later. “If everything looks okay with Vox when the stitches come out she can join you. But be on your toes, okay? Ares would be stupid to go after the two of you but you never know - and don’t stay out too late, we have an early flight in the morning.”

            “Aww thanks mom,” Aphrodite said with a chuckle, knowing full well that only she or Xena could get away with such a comment.

            “Xena, can I ask you a question?” Vox asked as she finished off her waffles. The warrior shrugged, waiting for the engineer to continue. “I’ve noticed that when we do our meals, you always walk away with a plate of food identical to whomever is standing in front of you in line.”

            The warrior shrugged, impressed that the younger woman had picked up on that detail. “I’m unfamiliar with all of the food to begin with and don’t want to waste time obsessing about choices that ultimately aren’t that important. I figure if I try out what other people are eating I’ll eventually decide what I like and don’t like.” She gestured to Bohemian Van Lyle sitting a couple of tables away from them, “you’ll notice I don’t follow Bo in line anymore. Once was enough.”

            “That dude is into some weird food combinations,” Vox agreed. Their attention was diverted by several department directors shouting and pointing at something off the starboard side of the ship. “Sounds like a whale sighting,” Vox commented judging from the excited cheers. “Probably humpback.”

            The warrior shook her head. “No, it’s several blue whales. There is some mating going on.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she looked at Aphrodite. “How did I know that?” she asked.

            The goddess grinned, “I never said the gift from Poseidon would be very useful,” she replied. “As time goes by the…side effects… will likely present themselves. Tell me, where are the closest dolphins?”

            Xena thought a moment and replied, “there are four of them darting back and forth under the hull of the ship. A larger pod is just behind, they’re doing their morning hunt for fish. These four have eaten their fill and are playing.”

            Aphrodite shrugged. “I’m not sure how we’ll use such a talent, but I guess it’s good to know that you can do it.”

            “You guys just get weirder, and weirder,” Vox said with complete seriousness.

~~~~~~~

The afternoon meeting went quickly, much to the bard’s relief. After introducing Xena and Aphrodite to the directors and explaining that they would be permanent fixtures within her company, she was able to move on with the departmental overview. The biggest revelation was a suggestion to fund an organization that provided moving expenses for people from Puerto Rico to red districts in Florida. The needlessly cruel handling of hurricane Maria’s aftermath on the island left everyone in agreement. Heather Martin made no objections to supporting the group as well as other relief efforts and that fact raised more than one eyebrow around the table. With the briefest of summations by most departments they were able to quickly focus on the matter at hand. Gabrielle was grateful that with Fiona, Sabin, Jorge and Heather already on board and clued into what was at stake, they were able to quickly focus the meeting into a strategy planning session.

Sabin brought up several images on the monitor at the end of the conference room. Several were of Ares and an equal number were of an overweight, bloated, and generally unhealthy-looking man in his sixties.

“The man on the right is Gideon Power, or rather aspirational actor Henry Scruggs who is playing the character of Gideon Power as a full-time occupation.” Sabin began as he stood and addressed the assembled directors. “Special Projects has uncovered a money trail going back nine years which is when the Gideon Power Power Hour show started. Typical right-wing conspiracy theories; nutty enough to be confined to radio, most of the stations owned by Patriot Media which when you get through their shell corporations trace back to Fire Industries.”

“And the guy on the left, who doesn’t look like walking gout?” Leticia Sanchez asked.

“That guy is a bit more of a puzzle. We think his name is Heinrich Easton, these photos show him going in and out of the White House. We believe him to be an off-the-books adviser to the President and his Administration. He is also tangentially connected to Fire Industries, which incidentally has money connections to Russian Oligarchs and a lot of trails that dead end in the Cayman Islands and in Swiss Bank accounts. Has he shown up on the radar of the Politics department Ms. Chen?” he asked looking over at Victoria Chen.

The dark-haired woman shook her head, a puzzled expression on her face. “We thought we’d uncovered all of the players in the Administration but this is a new one,” she said. “Mr. Jha, is the working theory that Easton is supplying the funds for Scruggs radio show? Or that Easton is the one doing the radio show and just having Scruggs go around in public as the Gideon Power persona?”

“The latter,” Sabin clarified. “We have tracked down several production studios in the DC area as well as in Montana, Wyoming, and Alabama where these shows are recorded. There is a lot of secrecy about the show, they tout how much the deep state is after them and then hawk a variety of useless products. We’re fairly sure we’ve found the compound out in the middle-of-nowhere Montana where Scruggs lives- Easton is proving to be more elusive.”

“We think that everything about Gideon Power show is created and directed by Easton but that public appearances are done by the actor- he’s the face of the radio show,” Jorge Hernandez elaborated, “there isn’t a companion webcast to the show which in today’s market is unusual. It’s just the voice and then this guy making appearances.”

“To what end?” Mike Tiller asked. “Why would the guy want a walking advertisement for Alcoholics Anonymous walking around pretending to be him? How does that troll get him more listeners?”

“Because he’s more relatable,” Xena interjected. “The listeners are going to identify, believe that Gideon Power is one of them or even feel superior to him. The question is- what is Easton getting from the radio show?” She noticed an approving glance between Jorge Hernandez, and Sabin Jha at her question.

“This guy is taking the brain-washing mission of Fox News one step farther,” Fiona O’Brien replied. “Convincing millions of people of erroneous information, taking their money, judging their gullibility, collecting data on voter habits, buying habits, social media habits that can then be exploited, exactly how I’m not sure…”

“I think I can shed some light there,” Sabin continued. “We were able to analyze a fair amount of traffic going into the servers ostensibly for the radio station and show and see what other traffic is going into and out of those same computers. It’s not just radio show stuff. There seems to be a backchannel between the home station, the firm in DC that the President owns, and a media company in Macedonia that is really a bunch of hackers working out of a warehouse. They’re pushing traffic through social media and monitoring responses, shifts in polling data; essentially weaponizing the false narratives that swing elections. They are also working to organize a variety of volatile groups; white-supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other anti-government types. When violence flares up Turner’s people have an excuse to crack down on nearly everything- except the people instigating the violence of course.” Sabin touched his tablet and the screen changed to a chart illustrated connections between companies and groups associated with either the radio show, the administration, or Fire Industries. “It isn’t just the USA that’s being targeted. Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Sweden, India- this is an orchestrated effort to destabilize governments.”

“When a building falls down the first one on the scene gets dibs on rebuilding it,” Xena observed.

A bald black man cleared his throat before speaking. “It may be out of the depth of the Philanthropy department,” he said, “but how do you plan to combat something like that. It looks like a fairly well-organized machine.”

“Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment,” Aphrodite interjected. “Do you want to combat this machine here? In America?” The directors around the table looked at the blond woman with varying degrees of surprise on their faces. “Has the argument been made to save your resources to work in another part of the world to prevent this sort of takeover and leave this country to its own devices? Is this where your company wants to make a stand and fight this battle?”

For the next forty-five minutes a heated argument ensued between the directors discussing the pros and cons of doing something about the threat to democracy posed by the players illuminated on the chart versus leaving it to someone else and simply moving the business elsewhere. The division clearly seemed to be a pragmatic approach of what would make the most financial sense versus an altruistic strategy that would benefit democracy and freedom. Through it all Gabrielle listened attentively, occasionally jotting down notes and from time to time looking over at Xena who was also paying rapt attention to what was being said. Finally, when she’d heard enough the bard stood and the rest of the room went quiet waiting for her to speak.

“Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their insight on this. This is not the last conversation we’re going to have about this matter and I will be in touch with all of you to some degree moving forward as we address it.” She looked around the table, studying faces and gaging the impact her words were having. “I’ve decided that we’re going to confront this here because if we don’t, if we lose this country to authoritarianism we will have that much taller a mountain to climb the next time from the next location. Some strategy here seems self-evident- Fire Industries has hackers in Macedonia, I have them here and elsewhere. Special Projects has over two dozen of the best hackers on the planet. We are going to turn them loose on Easton and any business he is involved with.”

Nods of agreement went around the table and Fiona O’Brien spoke up, “If you’d like to fight fire with fire, you might consider leaking what we know about Gideon Power. You can’t come right out and expose him- that’s too obvious and easy to write off, but make him, Scruggs, out himself. Get people clamoring for interviews and highlight the differences there with what’s said on the show. If he could be exposed as a fraud…”

“From the political side of things,” Ms. Chen added, “we can try to expose these lobbying connections. Try to shine more of a light on what’s happening, as well as raise the volume about the lack of transparency with the Administration and demand to know who the players are coming and going. The right information left in the proper hands could generate a lot of questions from the press. Questions Easton and his organization aren’t going to appreciate.”

“It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to channel funds into progressive radio programming, moving forward. Right-wing radio vastly outnumbers alternative voices because the money is so lucrative. If you’re not worried about making money, let’s start buying stations and change the conversation,” DeShaun Johnson suggested. “From there you can support groups that turn out the vote- beyond what you’re doing for Puerto Rico. Organizations like Run For Something, a host of groups that combat crosscheck and Jim Crow 2.0, there are a lot of places to invest in democracy.” There were nods of agreement around the table.

“The element of surprise is going to be key. It would be smart to coordinate your efforts, get everything ready to go, horde your information, and then in one well planned attack try to overwhelm his organization. In addition to taking the fight to Easton,” Xena said solemnly, “given what happened to your colleague, all of you should increase whatever defensive measures you presently employ. If it’s security, add more of it. If your people are fighters, add more drills. If you generally operate out of one location, start moving around. As soon as you start to disrupt this well-organized machine, it will take Easton no time at all to figure out where the threat is coming from and retaliate. Be prepared for that.” Again, nods of agreement circled the table at the warrior’s suggestion. She looked directly at Michelle who was seated between Aphrodite and Heather the Finance director. “The same should go for the ship’s crew. If they don’t regularly do combat drills, they absolutely should.”

“Would it help to have time face to face with this Scruggs guy?” Mr. Johnson asked looking at his tablet. “Because there is going to be a fundraising, black-tie affair for media elites in DC this weekend. You said you were heading there tomorrow, yes?”

“Where you find Scruggs you may find Easton lurking in the shadows and pulling the strings,” Fiona O’Brian added, thoughtfully.

Gabrielle nodded- thinking. “Get me an invite to the gala,” she said coming to a decision. “If Easton is there, he may have something nearby that we can get as leverage. Some of this will be left to chance but it’s probably our best shot. Everyone- have the appropriate teams talk to each other, share information. There is too much going on to reinvent the wheel here. I want strategy groups brainstorming every conceivable way to mess with Easton’s whole universe, from the money pipelines to his organization. Start some soft attacks, let’s see if we can figure out what the extent of his forces are and where we might find them.”

As the director’s meeting broke up, the directors themselves broke into small groups to travel back to the Marina by helicopter. Michelle and Elaine briefly conferred, before the captain relieved her ex-o and returned to the command center, and Elaine made her way to the helicopter to fly the directors to their waiting cars. Fiona, Jorge, Sabin, and Heather remained behind to be in the last group.

“Will you need your apartment in DC cleared out?” Fiona asked, opening up her folio once again to jot down notes. “It’s presently being used, but we could have those agents move to a hotel, or we can book you at the Omni Shoreham where the fundraiser is being held?”

Gabrielle nodded. “Book a presidential suite at the Omni, I should also have a car readied; a reinforced one.”

The Irish woman opened an app on her phone and quickly scrolled through several screens. “You’ve got the Jaguar in DC and it has been customized.”

“That’s great.” The bard agreed. “I think that one should do nicely if things get messy.”

“Suitable for James Bond or Jason Borne,” Fiona agreed offhandedly as she made some notes.

“Will we be working with them as well?” Xena asked.

The Irishwoman chuckled and extended her hand to Xena one more time. “It was a pleasure to meet you Ms. Romanoff,” she said. “When I’ve had a chance to truly process all I’ve seen today I look forward to having those chats about history that Susan had been hoping to enjoy.”

Xena grasped her hand warmly, “You remind me of my friend, Bodecia,” she said. “I look forward to those conversations.”

Heather, Jorge and Sabin also bid their goodbyes and made their way for the returned helicopter. Xena watched with obvious amazement as the quartet boarded the vehicle and it took off. “Another example of ‘science’?” she asked Aphrodite as the helicopter rose skyward.

“You are catching on much faster than I expected,” the goddess replied with warm smile.

Chapter 14: The Fear of Flying

            Xena stood apprehensively at the open door to the walk-in closet looking at the vast array of clothing. She’d watched with envy as Gabrielle had strode in, selected a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and then headed to the bathroom to remove her makeup. The warrior chose a pair of jeans and the boots that reminded her of her old armor. That was as far as she’d gotten when the bard joined her at the closet.

            “You know, you’re not expected to instantly just know all of this,” Gabrielle said encouragingly.

            Xena nodded, “Aphrodite said it was dinner at some kind of club, maybe dancing. She said dress casual, does that mean an actual dress?” she asked pointing to the more businessy section of the closet.

            “No, she means be comfortable and I think you’re off to a great start,” Gabrielle replied. “It was a lot simpler before, huh,” she added with a grin as she looked through Xena’s section of the closet. She had flashbacks to Dwayne choosing Aphrodite’s outfit for Santa Barbara and was amused to find herself in that role.

            “The armor fit the mission so yeah, simpler.”

            “In a way, things haven’t changed as much as you think,” Gabrielle countered gently. “The outfits we had on today for the meetings, projecting a sense of professionalism and power. Tonight, I’m going to have dinner and enjoy a movie with a ten year old so I’m dressing not only more comfortably for me…”

            “But more approachable for him,” Xena supplied, understanding.

            “So, tonight – I guarantee you Aphrodite is going to look amazing, because she wants to impress Michelle, and I’ll wager Michelle will do the same, for the same reason,” Gabrielle continued. “Vox, who knows? I think she’ll try to look dressed up and dressed down at the same time because she wants to look amazing, but doesn’t want anyone to know she’s given it the slightest thought.”

            “But she’s interested in you not me,” Xena protested.

            “She is getting over being interested in me,” Gabrielle clarified. “She may want to look enticing should she meet someone, even if just to have a flirtatious evening. It’s not just about what you wear of course, but that is some of the psychology that goes into it. What message do you want to send tonight?” she asked.

            The warrior rolled her eyes, “That I’m not recently resurrected and actually belong here,” she muttered. “What about these?” Xena asked selecting a soft light blue t-shirt and a crisp leather blazer. “I like this jacket,” she added pointing to the biker jacket she’d worn a couple of times since rejoining humanity. “but I think that would be too hot to dance in.”

            “You are absolutely right and I think you’ve made a fantastic choice. You’re going to look amazing. Change your clothes, and I’ll redo your makeup.”

            The warrior complied, putting the outfit she’d been wearing in the bin that Gabrielle indicated would have them laundered and pressed. After she’d dressed, Gabrielle withdrew a small stack of money, neatly folded in a money clip, from the drawer by the bed and handed it to her. “In case you need dinars for dinner or drinks. I’m guessing Aphrodite will pick up the tab, but just in case.” Xena put the money in her pocket then sat down to have her makeup adjusted for evening.

            When she’d finished, Xena studied her reflection in the mirror while the bard selected a necklace from a jewelry box on the dressing table. The difference between the professional-looking makeup of the morning and the evening look was striking. Her eyes were darker, bolder and portrayed a fearlessness that the warrior didn’t really feel. Xena had disguised herself on enough occasions in the past to instantly see what Gabrielle’s aim had been. The dramatic makeup countered the otherwise casual choice of clothing, giving those choices more intention. “You’re really good at this,” Xena admitted turning her attention away from the mirror.

            Gabrielle shrugged, “what can I say, I’ve had practice. Here, this will finish off your outfit.” She placed a simple necklace made of translucent pale blue, aqua and green beads around the warrior’s neck and fastened it in the back. While understated, it finished the outfit nicely.

            “This is beautiful Gabrielle,” Xena said, inspecting the beads. “What is it?”

            “That, my friend, is sea glass.” She shrugged her shoulders. “There is a lot of garbage in the ocean and this is the only material that actually comes out better than it goes in. Glass gets weathered, washes up on beaches and you get this.” Xena looked at her, profound sadness etched on her features and Gabrielle nodded. “Yeah, I know how crazy that sounds. You’d better get going, I’m sure Aphrodite wants to avoid traffic if she can.”

            Xena had to admit that Gabrielle had been absolutely right when she joined the others on deck. Aphrodite was wearing a low cut backless dress and heels. The color black brought out her hair and eyes and the contrast was striking. Michelle on the other hand was wearing a pair of black leather pants and a sultry white blouse- the top several buttons left undone, a simple gold necklace catching glints of light. Vox was dressed more like her in jeans, boots, a buttoned vest and sports jacket. She also wore a collection of necklaces with various pendants dangling from them.

            “Did you forget your shirt?” The warrior asked as they boarded the taxi boat to take them to the marina’s parking lot.

            “Absolutely,” the engineer answered with a smirk.

            “Where are we headed?” Vox asked from the back seat as Aphrodite drove the Mustang from the parking lot. Without discussion or comment the engineer and captain had taken to the rear, letting Xena sit up front with Aphrodite.

            “You ever been to The Edison?” the goddess asked with a glance into her rearview mirror. “It’s in downtown LA.”

            “I’ve been meaning to try it,” Michelle chimed in, happily. “But I never think to make a reservation.”

            “Fortunately, reservations aren’t something I need to worry about,” the goddess replied with a chuckle. “I’m glad you could take an evening off,” Aphrodite added, almost shyly.

            “Not too long ago I did a solid for Elaine, I handled a triple shift so she could stay in sick bay with a certain someone who got shot,” the captain explained with a nod in Vox’s direction. “She hates owing anyone favors so was grateful for an opportunity to settle up.”

            “Elaine is a good egg,” Vox agreed. “I was unconscious a lot of those first couple of days but any time I needed anything, she was there.”

            “We’re all glad you came through okay,” Michelle replied with a warm smile.

            “Those stitches come out okay?” Xena asked as the small craft docked and they made their way to Aphrodite’s mustang.

            “Oh yeah,” Vox replied, “Gabrielle said I’d need to be a little careful dancing, but I feel like a million bucks. Ladies, look out!”

            The traffic was typical, which afforded the warrior an unobstructed view of the slow-moving vehicles and the Southern Californian denizens driving them. She didn’t speak, but stared out the window awed.

            “What is it that’s the most unsettling?” Aphrodite asked gently. “The actual vehicles? Or the quantity?”

            Xena glanced at her unaware that her wonderment had been so evident. “I think it’s the sheer number of people more than anything,” she replied. “I’ve seen hundreds of people at once on a battlefield, but this is…” she shrugged not having the words to describe it.

            “For what it’s worth,” Michelle offered sympathetically, “I doubt I’d handle this kind of a shock with half the grace that you’re managing.”

            Vox reached over from her position behind the warrior and squeezed her shoulder encouragingly. “It’s because she’s a badass,” she said.

            Aphrodite chuckled, “you have no idea,” she added.

            “What do you think would surprise us the most if we woke up in your world of two thousand years ago?” Vox asked curiously.

            Xena turned in her seat to glance at the pair who were waiting for her answer, curiosity piqued. “I’m not sure,” she replied her tone void of humor, “perhaps the giants or maybe the centaurs.”

            “Really?” Aphrodite asked with a quick glance in her rearview mirror. It was clear that captain and engineer thought the warrior was joking. “I think it’d be the harpies.”

            “You guys are joking, right?” Vox asked a little uncertainly.

            Xena made sure she had eye contact with the engineer when she asked “Does it look like I’m joking?”

            The preponderance of traffic near the beach did little to prepare Xena for the onslaught that was LA. “By the gods…” the warrior breathed as the vista of sky scrapers came into view.

            “While it isn’t for everyone,” Aphrodite acknowledged, “I’m a fan. There is amazing food in downtown Los Angeles.”

            “The Angels?” Xena asked curiously.

            Vox snorted, “Hardly,” she said. “It’s the second largest city in the United States. Almost four million people live here. It’s weird because unlike New York which is really compact, and dense, Los Angeles is sprawling. From the beach to the San Fernando Valley and from Chatsworth to Alhambra. That’s over 500 square miles.”

            Michelle rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Xena understood zero of that,” she said. “I’m from Santa Cruz and I barely got it.”

            “It’s big, I get it.” Xena assured her companions. “But those buildings are so tall. Who would want to live up at the top…the climbing.”

            Vox and Michelle exchanged glances. “Xena, don’t take this the wrong way,” Michelle replied enquiringly, “but you’re really making me appreciate a lot of things I take for granted. This thing called an elevator transports people from the bottom to the top, stopping at the requested floors.”

            Xena looked over to her companion. “Science?” she asked, to which the goddess replied with an affirming nod.

            Aphrodite stopped the Mustang at the valet station outside The Edison. The building itself was fairly non-descript- a white building with the lounge on the bottom floor and several other floors above. Once inside however, it was like walking onto the set of a cool steampunk movie. The warm glow of the polished copper and red brick interior made everything look inviting. There were luxurious curtains of crushed deep burgundy velvet restrained with thick gold ropes and eerie illumination from old fashioned Edison bulbs. The embossed tin tiles of the roof reflected the sound and the ambient noise was significant. They could see into the lounge blow noting the glowing bars and dark booths and chairs providing spaces more of an illusion of privacy and intimacy than actually existed. There were antique fixtures, old boilers and engine parts, some old film projectors. Xena’s eyes were still adjusting to the dark as the goddess walked up to the host’s stand and gave them her name. In moments they were ushered to a table.

            “Whose table did we steal?” The warrior asked as they were seated.

            “I honestly have no idea.” Aphrodite replied easily. She was beginning to look over her menu when her attention was distracted. Placid blue eyes narrowed as she studied a couple at a nearby table. Picking up her purse, she excused herself walked over to the table and seemed to drop something. As she stooped to pick up her phone, she briefly touched the woman who helped her as she communicated her thanks. She nodded curtly to the woman’s male companion and made her way back to the table.

            “What was that about?” Xena asked as the goddess resumed her seat. Briefly the warrior’s piercing blue eyes landed on Michelle who had hopped out of her seat to help Aphrodite with her chair. Xena didn’t acknowledge the gesture only by force of will, Vox was not as understated, a small smirk making itself at home on her lips.

            Aphrodite smiled in appreciation at the captain who blushed then she nodded at the table she’d just visited. “You see that couple over there?” she asked her companions. ‘That guy is a rapist. I sensed him the second we walked in. This is a first date, I’m making sure she doesn’t take him home, or see him again for that matter.” Her face scrunched up a bit as she seemed to listen to something no one else could hear. “There are two more of those assholes here tonight, I’ll have to make the rounds to make sure that they don’t hurt anyone either.”

            “How can you even tell?” Vox asked, clearly awed.

            Aphrodite shrugged. “I just can.”

            “Can’t you give them permanent erectile dysfunction or something?” Michelle asked, concern threading her voice as she looked at the woman Aphrodite had just saved.

            The Goddess of Love shook her head sadly and returned her attention to her menu. “I could, but you’d have more mass murderers that way. Your gun epidemic has really gotten in the way of my problem solving.” She sighed, “best is can do is encourage them to be sloppy so that law enforcement has a better shot at catching them. Try to steer them away from children, that sort of thing. From time to time I’ve been able to foster a suicide, but I have to be really careful how I do it to make sure no one else gets hurt.”

            “Jesus, that’s heavy,” Vox replied. “And the women, you have to touch them to get them to safety.”

            Aphrodite nodded, “Unfortunately yes. It wasn’t always this way, but yeah to save specific people I have to be in contact with them and I can’t be everywhere at once so…” Everyone was quiet a moment moved by the reality and responsibility that Aphrodite carried with her. “I can say though that my general proximity will have unexpected positive benefits to everyone downtown tonight. People will be in better moods, quarrel less, feel better about themselves…”

            “Get laid,” Vox cut in with a chuckle.

            “That too,” the goddess agreed with a grin.

            “Just maybe not this table,” the engineer continued with a frown.

            “Hey! Speak for yourself,” Michelle replied with a conspiratorial nod toward Xena.

            Xena smiled unconvincingly in return and picked up her menu. “Any sign of Ares?” she asked looking over the selections. While she could make out all the words, much of the meaning was lost on the warrior. Aphrodite noticed and when the waiter came over, she took the liberty of ordering drinks and food for the table. “I think small plates are in order,” she suggested. “Let’s try a little of everything. And no, no trace of my brother.”

            “Can you just tell when another god is around?” Vox asked curiously.

Aphrodite shrugged. “I’d say it’s a ‘disturbance in the Force’ if that gives you any clarity.” She replied.

“Actually, it does,” Vox agreed. “And these drinks look amazing. I have no idea what a ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ tastes like, but I have to try it.”

            Xena smiled, relief threading her voice, “Nice to know I’m not the only one flying blind with our culinary options.”

It didn’t take long for the drinks and food to arrive, Aphrodite seeming to foster exceptional service everywhere. Drinks with exotic sounding names like The Edison, The Mistress, Pimm’s Cup, Black Magic, Southside Fizz and Algonquin #2 were consumed. There was no denying that the goddess had a knack for knowing what food and beverage would appeal to each of her companions and ordered accordingly. In time Michelle asked for the story of how Xena and Gabrielle met which the warrior retold, occasionally making eye contact with Aphrodite to make sure she was not revealing anything that might be problematic. Vox listened to the tale, her expression unreadable. When Xena finished the engineer downed the rest of her drink, signaling the waiter for another round.

            “It almost doesn’t sound like Gabrielle,” the engineer said, looking at Michelle for confirmation.

            “I’d have to agree,” she said looking from Xena to Aphrodite. “The Gabrielle we’ve always known has been the smartest most self-assured…”

            “And nurturing,” Vox interrupted, the alcohol clearly taking its toll. “Don’t forget nurturing.”

            “And nurturing,” Michelle amended, “person we’ve ever met. There isn’t anything she doesn’t know, but she doesn’t come across like a know-it-all.”

            “Unless it’s trivia night,” Vox corrected. Michelle nodded in agreement. “She’s an insufferable know-it-all on trivia night,” the engineer muttered into the ‘Southside Fizz’ as it was placed in front of her.

            “Do you know specifically what quality it was that made you fall in love with her?” Michelle asked, then added hurriedly, “if it’s not too personal. I’m such a sucker for romance,” the captain added under her breath.

            “Noted,” Aphrodite said quietly, as if it were a revelation to her.

            “Why was my first relationship such a train wreck?” Vox asked completely out of left field seemingly unaware that Michelle had just asked Xena a question.

            Without saying a word, the captain moved the engineer’s drink glass out of her reach and pushed a plate of Tesla fries closer to her, hoping the sweet potato would balance out some of the alcohol in her system.

            Aphrodite sighed with the resignation of someone familiar with being blamed for someone’s break up. “Because honey, you were stupid and dated one of your college professors.”

            “Did it have to hurt so much?” Vox asked, her voice pleading.

            The Goddess of Love looked at her sympathetically but her words were gentle and firm. “Would you have learned as much if it didn’t?”

            The engineer seemed satisfied with the answer and reached for a deviled egg when the fries were finished.

            “Getting back to you, Xena,” Michelle said, rolling her eyes briefly at her companion.

            “It’s hard to say just one thing,” Xena replied considering the question, grateful for the engineer’s interruption and the extra time to think. “Gabrielle has an unlimited capacity to love, to bring out the best in everyone she comes in contact with. I guess it’s the nurturing,” she said to Vox’s affirming nod. “It’s hard not to fall for the person that brings out the best version of yourself. She’s a magnificent person who doesn’t seem to realize the positive effect she exerts on the world around her.” Xena glanced over to Aphrodite who was gazing thoughtfully into her drink. It didn’t take an oracle to know that not only did the goddess agree with her, she felt the same way.

            Vox looked over to Aphrodite, almost as if she were seeing the goddess for the first time. “Can I ask you something?” she said, her voice free from any condescension or attitude, her expression surprisingly vulnerable.

            “Shoot, Tiger,” the goddess replied affectionately.

            “What’s it like to have people worship you, pray to you? Can you actually hear the prayers?” As she spoke, Aphrodite made eye contact with the waiter and signaled for another round after delicately taking a bite of deviled egg and dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her napkin before answering.

            “Firstly, I will tell you that prayers and worship are about the people doing the praying and worshiping and not the other way around. That is a common misconception. When you pray to whomever, it’s because you’ve got stuff you need to work out, or remind yourself you’re grateful for or whatever, and that’s all well and good but the…entity you’re praying to doesn’t have a horse in that race.” The drinks arrived and she sipped hers thoughtfully before continuing. “While it’s been awhile since I’ve had temples and people bringing gifts and doing the worshipful stuff, I’ve gotta say, that part of the gig isn’t half bad. Who doesn’t want to be worshiped? Although very rarely does someone drop off a bad ass statue and not want something in return. They always want something in return.”

            “Can gods hear prayers?” Michelle asked sipping her own drink.

            “When you listen to music you can hear the vocal, and the guitar, keyboard, bass, drum- the different drums even, kick drum, snare, hi-hat all at once right?” The captain nodded. “I hear people like that. Millions of instruments simultaneously, often in discord playing very different kinds of music, but sometimes in harmony, and that’s what I work towards.”

            “Wolfgang thinks we invented gods,” Vox said blinking and clearly losing the battle with inebriation.

            “Well people certainly invented the word ‘god’ and the concept. I never called myself a goddess until other people started doing it. Think of it this way- humans and dogs. Both mammals living on the same planet, yet with two very different life spans and very different abilities. To the dog, you guys are gods. To other humans, you’re just you.” The expression darkened on the goddess face and she seemed to be considering a life she no longer lived. “While I might not have the same…abilities…I once had- that only changes external stuff. I’ve still got the same responsibilities, good days-bad days that I had before. While I might not be perfect, I’m still more perfect than you lot.” She said the last with a joviality that Xena could tell she clearly didn’t feel.

            Wanting to change the subject for Aphrodite’s sake, but not obviously so, Xena looked from Vox to Michelle. “I have a question for the two of you,” she said. “I want to know how you met Gabrielle?” While still on her first drink, Xena sipped it thoughtfully not wanting a repeat of the inebriation she’d felt the previous night in an unfamiliar setting. The fact that Vox was already demonstrating the effects of the cocktails gave her pause as well. Music had started to play and a few people were beginning to dance.

            “I’ve been with the company for twelve years,” Michelle explained. “I served in the Airforce and was recruited from there. I started with the Technology department and actually met Gabrielle in my first year when she came by the warehouse where we were working on a project. She’d was getting an update from our director. I had no idea who she was.” The captain smiled, her brown eyes twinkling at the memory. “She asked me a few questions about the project and…” she shrugged.

            “You were in loooooovvvvve,” Vox said giggling to herself. “Why does she have to be so damn perfect,” the engineer moaned, clearly losing her battle with the spirits.

            “Wandre, get a grip,” Michelle warned, not amused.

            “Leave her be,” Aphrodite disagreed gently. “I invited you guys out, and you’re off the clock- you can’t hold anything against her. It’s safe, let her be.” She cocked her head, listening to the music. “Let’s go dance,” she suggested. With a nod, the captain took her hand and the two headed for the dance floor.

            “What about you?” Xena asked the engineer. “How did you meet Gabrielle.”

            Vox reached across the table picking up the remnants of Michelle’s ‘The Mistress’ and downing it before responding. “I was getting ready to go to spy school,” she admitted, moving her head closer to Xena and speaking in hushed tones. “I’d gone to the Naval Academy and really aced the program and was getting head hunted by the government. At the same time, I’m approached by this Chinese lady. People usually don’t start in Special Projects, but I’m an exception,” she was clearly proud of her achievement and grinned at the warrior even as she scoured the plates on the table for something else to eat. Finding an unclaimed piece of flatbread, she continued. “I was in SP for four years and then Susan recommended I transfer to Transportation. That’s where I met Wolfie and Ed and Bo. Ed was training for flight duty and Wolfie was finishing up his ship duty training. Both Bo and I were new. We didn’t see as much of Ed, but Wolf, Bo and I were kind of inseparable. They’re good dudes. Bo immediately went for security straight to ship duty and I stayed and learned several different programs before switching to ship training, I’ve tested well in a bunch of different disciplines. I didn’t meet Gabrielle until then, two years ago.” Her expression grew dark and she wiped a tear from her eye, working hard to make it seem like that wasn’t what she was doing. “Susan had a knack ya know? She just knew where people fit. What would be good for them and the company. Anyway, this is my first tour.” She nodded the alcohol seeming to lose a bit of its grip on her. “Gabrielle spends time with the folks at Transportation. I mean anyone working on the ship is basically going to live with her. She can see people, ya know? Kind of like Aphrodite. She has this ability to make you feel understood and it’s kind of intoxicating.” The engineer nodded towards the dance floor where Aphrodite and Michelle were laughing and dancing. Of all the couples on the dance floor, the two of them seemed the most at ease, in their own world even though they were the only two women dancing together. That wasn’t counting the four women wearing matching bridal party sashes who weren’t exactly dancing, more like keeping each other from falling over.

            The movement of two women standing at the bar caught Xena’s attention. She could see them over the engineer’s shoulder. It took but a moment to suss out what the pair were up to and she looked at her companion. Vox moodily gazed into her drink; talk of the departed Susan and unrequited love for Gabrielle clearly having taken its toll on her mood. Xena hesitated briefly before making eye contact with one of the women at the bar and nodding at Vox. If either woman had an ulterior motive or was dangerous, Aphrodite would have known and said something. Even as this occurred to her, she saw the goddess on the dance floor reach out and touch a woman dancing with a man, ostensibly to keep from bumping into them. Moments later, the woman left her companion and headed off in the direction of the rest room.

            “You guys thirsty?” The pair of women said as they approached the table.

            “Absolutely,” Vox replied without thinking and accepting the offered drink. Xena politely nodded towards the two empty seats, inviting the women to sit. “Which one is this?” the engineer asked after an experimental sip grinned.

            “Tennessee Twist,” the shorter of the two women replied with a smile. She appeared to be in her late twenties or early thirties, short red hair in a stylish pixie cut, dressed in a black pinstriped suit, her suspenders contrasting nicely with her shirt and matching her wingtip shoes perfectly. “I’m Jenna,” she said with a smile. “This is Veronica.” Her companion had light brown hair which was done up in a relaxed, almost ‘Gibson Girl’ type bun. She was also wearing a suit but deep crimson in color with a more relaxed fit than her companion.

            “Nice to meet you, Jenna and Veronica,” Vox replied. “I’m Vox and this is Xena.”

            “Cool names,” Veronica, said with a wink to Xena. “Your drink is a Damasco Brasa. Hope you like it.”

            Xena tried the cocktail and smiled approvingly. “Very nice.”

            “Would you ladies like to dance?” Jenna asked hopefully, looking out at the dance floor. “I see your friends already are.”

            “We’d love to,” Vox announced not giving Xena a moment to think about it. “Come on Warrior Princess, time to cut a rug,”

            Xena did her best not to frown unhappily as she stood up. She wasn’t pleased that the engineer had over done it with the alcohol and certainly wasn’t thrilled to be put on the spot dancing in a manner and environment that were entirely foreign to her. At the same time, she decided to be a good sport because her friend had been hurting and there wasn’t really anything to lose. She allowed herself to be escorted to the dance floor after she and Vox had taken off their jackets. Vox’s companion seemed especially pleased at the bare tattooed arms that encircled her.

            The song was mid-tempo and it didn’t take much effort to match steps with those of the people around her. “Warrior Princess, is an interesting nick-name,” Veronica said, leaning close to Xena’s ear to be heard.

            Xena nodded in agreement. “It’s unusual, but it’s mine.” She glanced over at the engineer and saw her confident smirk as she danced close to Jenna. Xena grinned, remembering what it was like to be young and cocky.

            “You don’t strike me as someone overly concerned by what other people might think.” Jenna asked as she looked up at Xena, mistaking the smile as being directed towards her.

            There was something about the woman and the situation that struck a chord with the warrior. She felt impossibly young but in actuality was probably not more than five or six years younger than Xena. There was something innocent about her that neutralized any physical attraction the warrior might have otherwise felt. “It depends on the person I guess,” Xena said kindly which was greeted by a knowing sad smile.

            “There’s someone else?” Veronica asked not trying to disguise the bit of disappointment she felt at the news.

            “I’m afraid so,” Xena said with a nod, although her warm smile made it clear that it was a situation she did not regret in the least. There was no denying that Veronica was beautiful and had her circumstances been different Xena could have seen herself dancing with this woman all evening and making small talk. But even for a friend, she did not want to give this woman the wrong impression.

            “Where is she?”

            “She’s at home spending some time with her son,” Xena replied, easily following Veronica’s dance movements. “We’re about to go on trip.”

            The brunette smiled approvingly. “Good for you,” she said sincerely. “You’re a pretty solid wingman for your friend,” she added with a nod towards Vox and Jenna, the pair clearly oblivious to anyone else.

The song ended and a slow one started as Aphrodite tapped the brunette on the shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?” The goddess asked.

            “It was nice meeting you,” Veronica said as she stepped away, off to join her friend.

             The warrior arched an eyebrow questioningly as she took Aphrodite’s hand, settling the other one on the goddess’ waist, her fingers briefly brushing against the bare skin of her back. Momentarily she flashed on how well Gabrielle had been acquainted with that warm, smooth skin and stopped herself. Inwardly she acknowledged that the jealousy was natural but she would not let it control her.

“I can slow dance with you and not have you fall absolutely in love with me,” Aphrodite explained. Xena nodded and moved them on the dance floor, well aware that she was leading because the goddess wanted her to. Again, the steps were simple and she was grateful that dancing had stayed fairly similar to what she remembered.

            “What’s it like for you?” She asked Aphrodite. “Knowing what everyone is feeling, being able to see into their most hidden recesses?”

            After a proficient twirl the goddess smiled warmly. “Sweetie, I’ve never known any different,” she explained. “You weren’t always the bad ass warrior babe that you are now. You were once a little girl, then a fighter, then a more skilled fighter and so on. You acquired your abilities through a lot of work and determination.” She shrugged, “I started out with my abilities as they are. Yes, I’ve evolved over time, changed somewhat- grown and adapted to the new world I find myself in- the core of who and what I am hasn’t changed. Just like it hasn’t changed for Ares, or Hades or even my stupid uncle Ariel.”

            They moved a bit more and the goddess nodded in the direction of Michelle who was helping Vox don her jacket. “I sent Michelle off to collect Jr.” she said affectionately. “She’s feeling radiant thanks to the flirting and dancing. Very good instincts on your part,” she said approvingly. “Incidentally, there is a guy over there,” she gestured with her head, “who is planning to jump us as we leave the club, before we get to the valet stand. He was planning to go after your new friends- the redhead and brunette, but I changed his mind because I figured you could handle it better than they could.”

            With a nod of agreement Xena asked, “If you can see the future, should I ask how Gabrielle and I work out?” blue eyes flashed over the goddess’ shoulder, taking note of the man who was eyeing them with animus.

            “Xena, I see a lot of futures. I see you and Gabrielle together- in the near future,  or maybe something happens and you guys don’t get together until the more distant future, or something really goes sideways and it’s not the two of you until the far distant future. You will be together, it just depends on when Gabrielle gets over herself and if you can keep from fucking it up,” she smiled warmly to make sure Xena knew she was teasing. “As for that ass hat, all he’s been thinking about since he saw you dancing is stabbing someone with the knife he’s stolen.”

            “Why would someone take issue with us?” Xena asked. “Is it one of Ares’ guys?”

            “He’s homophobic,” Aphrodite explained with a rueful shake of her head. “Just a jerk; nothing to do with my brother. Although homophobes do seem to adore dear Ares. I don’t know what gets into these people. He’s got feelings he can’t grapple with because of his chosen mythology and is too scared to take on men so he goes after women.”

            Xena nodded, understanding. “Did you find the third woman who was in danger?” the warrior asked as the song ended and they parted.

            “Yeah. One of the bartenders, over there,” she replied with a nod. “She’s decided to walk to the metro with one of her friends so the jerk at the end of the bar is going to think better of following her.”

            They made their way back to the table and sat back down for desserts and settling up the bill. Both Vox and Michelle chuckled when the goddess tossed her black American Express card onto the plate.

            As they left the club, Xena was completely unsurprised by the greasy smelling man that jumped her. The knife fell from his hand as he impotently staggered backward to the brick wall, both hands going to his throat where Xena had jabbed two fingers. Aphrodite stood with her arms crossed disapprovingly as Vox and Michelle looked at each other, shocked and surprised by what was going on.

            “I’ve just cut off the flow of blood to your brain,” Xena explained quietly looking around to see if anyone was going to mistakenly come to the man’s aid. People made their way to the valet stand, completely oblivious to what was taking place ten feet away. The warrior assumed that had to be Aphrodite’s doing.

            “The problem with attacking unsuspecting people,” Aphrodite lectured unsympathetically, “is that sometimes they fight back. Keep this in mind, asshole,” she continued, “all queer people know how to do this. The men, the women, the people transitioning- the next person you attack may very well kill you so why not just question your orientation in private and leave the rest of us out of it.” With a nod to the warrior, Xena jabbed him again and he keeled over inhaling gulps of air, rubbing his throat.

            “You got something to say?” Michelle demanded, looming threateningly over him. He scrambled backwards, using the wall to regain his footing, fear etched on his face.

            “Beat it!” Vox growled at him as he got to his feet and he ran, limping down the street.

            Michelle looked at Aphrodite, concern clouding her face. “If he thinks all gay people know hand to hand combat, won’t he just get a gun?”

            “He’s missing two toes from a stupid fourth of July mishap years ago. He’s afraid of guns or he’d have used one now. But yes, he is now absolutely convinced that every queer person can kick his ass.”

            “Man, I wish I was a god,” Vox muttered as they waited for the Mustang to arrive.

            “You wouldn’t use your powers for good,” Michelle countered. “You’d totally use them for your own selfish desires.”

            Xena laughed, surprising herself with how infectious it sounded, “like that disqualifies you from being a god.”

            Aphrodite frowned, not appreciating being the butt of a joke but didn’t really feel like she could argue. She was still frowning when Xena slid into the passenger’s seat and winked at her disarmingly. After some significant pleading from the engineer in the back seat, an all-night ice cream shop was located and pints purchased before the red Mustang wound its way back to the parking lot in Marina del Rey.

~~~~~~~

            Xena followed Aphrodite into the den which was central to Gabrielle’s private residence. Situated between the library with its imposing book cases and musical instruments and the hallway that lead to the guest stateroom. It was a warm nurturing space. It took only a cursory inventory of the room to tell that a fair amount of nurturing had recently taken place. The television was off, it’s large screen dark so the room’s only illumination came from a couple of light sconces built into the wall which cast a warm glow. Two pieces of half eaten pizza were all that was left on a large plate, and two bowls contained the last dregs of what had once been an ice cream sundae. There was a box of tissue on the coffee table and a number of discarded tissues on the table and floor. Argo was curled up asleep at one end of the large comfortable couch. Shen was in the middle, wrapped in a blanket, sound asleep with his head on Gabrielle’s lap, her arm draped protectively around him. Gabrielle was asleep as well, leaning back with her head at an angle, her breathing slow and steady.

            “They’re both sound asleep,” Aphrodite whispered to the warrior. “Shen was grieving,” she explained. “Gabrielle too. You can feel the sadness in the air- despite the pizza and ice cream.”

            “Should we wake them?” Xena asked uncertainly.

            Aphrodite looked critically at the unconscious pair on the couch considering the warrior’s question. Xena noticed that the blue of her eyes intensified slightly then went back to its usual placid hue. “Shen would be fine if we left him, but Gabrielle is pretty wrung out.” The goddess took the couple of steps to the end of the couch and gently pet the sleeping dog, who groggily raised her head.

            “Not the world’s greatest guard dog,” Xena observed critically.

            “Only because she knows us,” Aphrodite replied with a chuckle. “Had we been strangers we wouldn’t have made it to this room.” She looked at the dog and pointed in the direction of the stairs that would lead up to the deck. Obediently Argo jumped off the couch and trotted out. “She will take every opportunity to be lazy but is dedicated where it counts. While she’s taking care of business, why don’t you tuck Gabrielle in? I can take care of Shen.” A momentary flash of uncertainty crossed the warrior’s features, but she didn’t object. “She’s really wiped out,” Aphrodite assured Xena. “I don’t think she’ll wake up.”

            Inwardly, the warrior bristled at being read so easily by the goddess, but she moved toward the couch. Aphrodite leaned over and in a graceful movement that surprised Xena, picked up the boy and held him as if he were nearly weightless. “I had a nice time tonight,” she told Xena, leaning forward and giving the warrior’s cheek a chaste kiss. “Thank you. I have our outfits for tomorrow in my quarters, tell Gabrielle to wait for me to get dressed in the morning.”

            Xena nodded and thanked the goddess then leaned down to pick up Gabrielle. Argo returned from the deck above and trotted past the warrior to the bedroom, making herself at home on the dog bed next to the bed. As she stood, Xena could feel Gabrielle shift in her arms, resting her head on a strong shoulder and sighing contentedly. Xena carried her aware that she instantly recognized the faint fragrance that she identified with Gabrielle, even if it was accompanied at the moment by traces of garlic and onion.

            Gently she laid the bard down on the bed and considered her next course of action. She turned back the covers of the bed and situated unconscious companion. Next, she removed the sneakers and socks, then her jeans, tucking Gabrielle’s legs under the covers. Deciding that the sweatshirt would be too warm to sleep in, she made her way into the closet and pulled a soft t-shirt from a drawer. Back at the bed, she pulled the sweatshirt over the bard’s head and unfastened her bra. Aphrodite’s predictions were correct, and Gabrielle didn’t wake up. She slept soundly, her face relaxed and free from the tensions of grief, parenting, and running a large enterprise. Inwardly, Xena suspected that Aphrodite may have had something to do with the steadfast unconsciousness of her companion. While she knew Gabrielle to be a sound sleeper, there were many a night when she’d woken the bard with the lightest touch. Often when they heard the steady snoring of Joxer or waited until the sounds of activity in the Amazon village quieted down.

            It took only a moment’s investigation to realize why Aphrodite might have tampered with Gabrielle’s consciousness, her cheeks were stained with tears and her nose was red. There was no doubt that while a moment of closeness with Shen, their evening had been one of painful mourning. Xena dressed Gabrielle in the t-shirt, wondering absently who Adele was and why an image of the woman’s eyes was on the garment in the first place. She stripped out of her own clothes, down to her t-shirt after removing her bra as well. Memories came to mind of the times when she’d cared for Gabrielle, when the bard had been shot with a poisoned arrow, or when she’d been quite ill. Or of times when Gabrielle had taken care of her, when Callisto had thrown a poisoned dart which hit her in the neck, or when she’d been caught in the log trap before the first time she’d died.

            She slid in between the sheets and reached over Gabrielle to pull the covers around her shoulders. As she moved, Gabrielle turned towards her, moving closer. Absently, Xena brushed the hair from her forehead and within moments her breathing fell into rhythm with the bard’s. In a scene that had played out so many times in the past, Gabrielle’s arm snaked around the warrior’s waist and the blond let out a contented sigh as she relaxed into a comfortable position against Xena’s breast. Smiling to herself, Xena enjoyed the sensation of the familiar, well aware that the morning would bring distance and a whole host of things that were unfamiliar and unsettling. For now, in that moment, the universe felt as it should be and she was not going to waste a moment of it. She held onto Gabrielle as she slept, staving off unconsciousness for as long as she could until she was finally overcome. When she did slip into sleep though, it was the most peaceful and contented since her resurrection.

~~~~~~~

            Gabrielle woke slowly, almost as if from a dream. She was comfortably warm and felt more content than she could remember. Upon opening her eyes, dark hair obscured her vision and it took but a moment for her hands to report that they were wrapped around Xena and that she was holding the warrior close. A momentary flash of awkward made itself known and dissipated as Xena held her, strong arms tightening to keep her from a panicked bolt.

            “Hey,” she said softly, moving so she could look at the warrior’s face. “Good morning.”

            “Hey yourself,” Xena replied with a smile; her arms releasing their hold so Gabrielle could lean up on her elbow to make eye contact. “You sleep okay?”

            “I did,” she replied returning the smile, albeit bashfully. “Shen and I had a bit of a rough night. There was sadness, but it was good too. I think he let go some of the hurt he’s feeling. He’s processing it. What time did you guys get in?”

            “I think it was sometime after two,” Xena replied. “Vox overindulged a bit and we found this all-night ice cream place. Ice cream is pretty amazing.” The warrior’s thoughts wandered and it was evident on her face.

            “What is it?” Gabrielle asked.

            Xena leaned up on her elbow as well so she could see Gabrielle’s eyes, look into the face of the person who knew her more intimately than any other, often better than she knew herself. There was no point in anything but honesty. “I feel like I’ve misjudged Aphrodite,” She said ruefully. “A part of me really wants to be jealous but at the same time I’ve realized that beyond crushing responsibility, what a genuine loving heart she has and…” she shrugged “I can see how you guys would be good together. She can understand you in ways that I can’t.”

            If she expected Gabrielle to disagree with her, to deflect or say that it wasn’t so, she would have been disappointed. Instead the bard reached over to brush a strand of hair away from the warrior’s face and gently touched her cheek. “Xena, I have no idea what it’s like to wake up and be surrounded by the inconceivable and have to take so much of the indescribable on faith. When we were frozen for twenty-five years we coped with that strangeness together. I think we’re even when it comes to our difficulties understanding each other. Besides,” she added, “I’ve learned that while time is a finite resource, love is not. Yes, I absolutely love Aphrodite. I absolutely love you too and I am choosing to spend my time with you. Time that isn’t Shen’s or needed for my work is yours. Not out of any sense of duty or obligation but because you’re my heart Xena, even if my heart is somewhat defective right now and trying to wake itself the fuck up.”

            Gabrielle studied Xena’s face and was satisfied that the smile she received was genuine and that she’d been heard. Impulsively she leaned forward and gently kissed the warrior’s lips, marveling at their softness and feeling a familiar electricity in return. She leaned in to kiss her more forcefully a second time when the ship’s intercom cut in with Michelle’s voice.

            “Gabrielle, it’s six. Would you like breakfast onboard before going to LAX?” Xena smirked at the bard’s obvious frustration having their moment interrupted.

            “Breakfast for Argo,” Gabrielle replied after hitting the comm button. “Maybe something light for us, I think we might eat on the plane.”

            “I can whip up some crepes,” Michelle countered. “No trouble at all, it’s going to be better than whatever Ed can reheat.”

            “Sold. We should be on deck by seven.”

            “Aphrodite said to let her know when we were up,” Xena explained as she got out of bed. “Something about her having our outfits for today.”

            “I’ll let her know we’re awake and showering,” Gabrielle replied reaching for her phone. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to have breakfast on board. Did she and Michelle have a good time last night?”

            As she spoke Gabrielle watched Xena stride confidently to the bathroom and strip out of her shirt before getting into the shower. She stared at the warrior’s reflection in the mirror remembering the sight she’d seen so many times long ago. There were countless streams, lakes and the occasional hot tub they’d shared naked together even before they were lovers and those memories bubbled to the surface as if being unpacked from a thick wrapping of opaque tissue.

            “I think they both had a good time,” Xena replied after making eye contact with Gabrielle in the mirror. “Vox got to flirt with someone and that seemed to cheer her up. Aphrodite and Michelle danced a bit. We went to this place called The Edison, do you know it?”

            “Downtown LA, right?” Gabrielle asked. “The steampunk looking place.”

            Xena had her eyes closed, lathering her hair with the shampoo. After rinsing she replied “I have no idea what that means,” and inwardly the bard winced.

            “I do think I’ve been there,” Gabrielle affirmed, then explained, “Steampunk means something loosely inspired by 19^th century technology- steam engines and such. It’s a kind of Science Fiction although I admit that explanation doesn’t really help.” As she spoke she noticed a stack of neatly folded clothes on the chair from Xena undressing her the night before. She smiled having forgotten about the warrior’s fastidiousness.

            Xena stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body, and another wrapped around her hair. Gabrielle took that as a signal to take her shower. There was no denying that the bard was torn. There was no good reason not to shower together, certainly this particular shower had accommodated herself and two other women easily in the past. There was even that particular party where she’d shared it with three other women although she had to admit that was crowded, not that she’d minded at the time. For someone who had been with a fair number of people sexually, regardless of what Aphrodite thought of her quantity of relationships, she couldn’t stop feeling like the insecure bard from Potidaea when around Xena. It almost seemed to Gabrielle like she was starting her relationship with the warrior all over again even though she knew memories of the two of them together sexually would still be quite fresh in Xena’s memory.

            “I understand the science part of it” Xena replied, combing out her long hair. On a whim she tried out an expression she’d heard many of the crew use. “It’s all good, no worries.”

            “Well look at you, sounding like a native.” Aphrodite remarked from the open door.

            “Don’t you knock?” Xena grumbled, turning around.

            “Not usually, no,” the goddess answered with a smirk.

            Aphrodite was dressed in a stylish dark suit that would have looked right at home on one of the later seasons of The X-Files. She was holding two matching garment bags that she deposited on the bed.

            “A Scully suit suites you,” the bard remarked as she joined Xena, wrapped in a matching towel.

            “Since we’re impersonating federal agents I know I didn’t buy anything like that for Xena when I did her shopping and I wasn’t sure about your wardrobe,” the goddess explained.

            “Very generous of you,” Gabrielle quipped, knowing full well she’d paid for the clothes. She and Xena unzipped their bags and withdrew suits of similar cut and color. They didn’t identically match, but the three of them certainly looked like co-workers. “We will need to do more than look the part if we’re going to make it past security,” Gabrielle continued as she inspected the serviceable shoes that the goddess had purchased for them as well.

            Without being prompted, Xena discarded her towel and walked naked over to the walk-in closet where she opened the appropriate drawer for undergarments. Aphrodite beamed as Gabrielle valiantly tried to not make eye contact with the goddess. That battle lost, she endured the wink Aphrodite gave her and proceeded to get dressed.

            “Will Shen join us for breakfast?” Xena asked Gabrielle matter-of-factly. She dressed with the same aloof professionalism she’d exhibited when she’d competed in the Miss Known World competition. Never one for modesty, to the warrior this was just another mission requiring a costume.

            Aphrodite closed her eyes as if she was listening for a moment. “Shen is awake, he will probably be on deck when we arrive. As for your question,” she said turning to Gabrielle who was adjusting her bra, “I had Special Projects make us some badges which should fool anyone looking at a video feed. When it comes to the security personnel themselves, I’ll handle that.”

            “We should plan on several days at least?” Gabrielle asked as she opened a small suitcase and proceeded to pack additional clothing, both business and casual for herself and Xena. She was about to say something to the goddess when Aphrodite raised her hand.

            “Way ahead of you, boss,” she said with a nod to the small suitcase left just inside the bedroom door.

            On deck, the trio sat at one of the large dining tables used by the crew near the galley. Looking out the long bank of windows, Gabrielle could see the thick marine layer obscuring visibility. It made her feel vulnerable and she didn’t like it. Shen joined them moments later, accompanying Argo from the kitchen where she’d clearly had breakfast, still licking her chops.

            “Good morning Gabrielle, Aphrodite, Xena,” he said politely, greeting Xena, who sat across from him with a fist bump, the other two with a hug.

            “You’re up early, Moose,” Gabrielle said warmly. “You sleep okay?”

            The boy nodded. “I think I slept better than I have for a long time,” he said.

            Xena and Gabrielle both glanced at the goddess who smiled sheepishly back at them making it clear that if blushing had been Aphrodite’s thing, she would have been.

            “You guys look great,” Michelle commented as she deposited a plate of warm crepes in front of the four diners.

            “Why thank you,” the goddess replied with a wink.

            Gabrielle smiled her thanks and after accepting her plate told the captain, “soon as we leave I’d like you to take the ship out. This lack of visibility makes me nervous.”

            “It’s harder to sneak up on us in open water,” Shen informed the table. “Does this mean that I’m still in danger?” he asked conversationally as he dug into his crepes.

            “We’re trying to stay cautious, Moose.” Gabrielle assured him with a meaningful look at the captain.

            “We’re going to practice some drills,” Michelle explained to the boy. “You’re going to be included. Practice drills on getting to the safe room, stuff like that. We want to see if we can beat your current record.”

            “Is Argo going to stay here?” he asked hopefully.

            Gabrielle looked like she was considering leaving her dog with her son when Aphrodite shook her head. “She needs to come with us kiddo,” the goddess said gently.

            Shen’s expression brightened “You guys are going on a spy mission?”

            “Yeah, something like that,” Xena agreed with a grin.

            The boy looked thoughtful for a moment. “If that’s the case,” he said reasonably, “I’ll wait for you to call me – I won’t try to call you,” he said with a nod, satisfied with his decision. “Wouldn’t be helpful to have your phone go off if you’re doing spy stuff. Even if it’s in silent mode.”

            “That’s very good thinking,” Gabrielle agreed, tousling his hair. “I’ll call you when we land, how’s that.”

             “Say Xena,” the captain asked after passing the warrior another fresh crepe, “that…ah…thing you did last night after we left the club, you think you’d have some time to show us before you leave? We’d like to practice that.” As she spoke she held two fingers together and jabbed. “Gabrielle has taught us some similar hand to hand techniques, but it’s always good to get a fresh perspective.”

            “What happened last night?” Gabrielle asked, concerned. “You mentioned all night ice cream, not getting attacked?”

            Michelle winced at Xena’s expression, painfully aware that she shouldn’t have mentioned the homophobe in front of her boss.

            “It was a jerk at the club,” Aphrodite demurred. “Nothing to do with you know who.”

            “Now it sounds like you guys are going after Voldemort,” Shen observed dryly.

            Xena glanced at Gabrielle considering her response. “Do you think we can spare an hour?” she asked after taking a sip of juice.

            Gabrielle nodded mutely making sure she did not glance at Shen as she did so. Anything her crew could learn from Xena could provide additional safety. An hour would give them a little something to work on and practice until they could get back.

~~~~~~~

            After breakfast Gabrielle, Xena, Aphrodite, and Argo made the ride in a chauffeured town car to LAX in near silence each lost in their own thoughts.

            “Xena,” Gabrielle said cautiously. The warrior turned from watching the stream of slow moving cars to give the bard her undivided attention. “Remember when I said you were getting thrown in at the deep end before your first ride in a car?”

            “Yes,” the warrior replied her voice tinged with wariness.

            “I think today is going to be stranger.” Xena took a deep breath and waited for Gabrielle to continue.

The bard was silent a moment and then Aphrodite said “there” while pointing out the window of the town car. The warrior looked to where the goddess was pointing to see something streak across the sky.

“That’s an airplane and we are going to ride in one.” Gabrielle explained. “I can tell you how they work if that helps.”

Xena looked at her dubiously. “I don’t think that will help.”

“Let me guess,” Aphrodite said, amusement threading her voice. “You have your pilot’s license for jets as well as helicopters?”

Gabrielle shrugged. “It was something to do after pastry school. Actually,” she continued, returning her attention to Xena, “I thought with your love of kites that you might enjoy this; not quite like flying with Hermes’ helmet.”

            Xena looked out the window again as another airplane came into her field of view. “Perhaps,” she said. “Is this one of these things where I need to act like I know what’s going on?” There was a wariness to her voice that Gabrielle instantly picked up on.

            “It’s probably really draining, isn’t it?” She asked sympathetically. Xena forced a smile, inwardly kicking herself for letting the exhaustion show. “The Omni has an amazing tub in the presidential suite.” Gabrielle continued. “You should take some time to relax when we get to DC.”

            As they drove onto the tarmac of the Los Angeles International Airport, Aphrodite explained to Xena that the airport was a hub of global activity. She ran through some statistics of the different planes and how many passengers they were accommodating as well as how long it would take to fly between various places that the warrior was familiar with. The goddess’ years spent as a flight attendant and the knowledge gained in such a pursuit became very apparent. Xena seemed interested and her weariness seemed to dissipate as they watched a large passenger aircraft race down the runway and become airborne.

            As before, they parked near Gabrielle’s plane and were met at the bottom of the steps by Ed Schecter, dressed in his dark suit wearing sunglasses and an earpiece, looking every inch the bodyguard. Gabrielle could see the twins Isra and Kismet just inside as she led her group towards the plane.

            “Ed, you remember Aphrodite,” Gabrielle said as the muscular man shook the goddess’ hand gently. “Anna Winter is the alias she’s using.”

            “How has Vox recovered from our adventure in Greece?” he asked.

            “Good as new,” the goddess assured him warmly.

            “And this is Xena,” Gabrielle continued. “Or Natasha Romanoff if anyone asks.”

            “Vox has mentioned you,” Ed said warmly, shaking the warrior’s hand. “She says you’re alright and from her that’s pretty high praise.”

            “She’s not so bad herself,” the warrior replied with a grin.

            Gabrielle led the way up the stairs and introduced the twins who greeted everyone graciously, chatting for a couple of minutes while Ed stowed their luggage.

            “The plane looks good.” Gabrielle remarked with approval glancing at the area of the floor where she’d performed emergency surgery on her engineer a couple of weeks earlier.

            “Transportation sent a team and they replaced the carpet when cleaning it didn’t meet Jorge’s approval,” Isra explained. “If you are ready to go we just need to let the tower know and get in the queue.”

            Gabrielle nodded and waved her hand toward the couch. “Xena’s never flown on a private jet,” she explained. “Let’s try to keep the turbulence to a minimum. Xena, why don’t you take the couch, I’ll sit next to you.”

            Xena took her seat as Argo jumped up next to her with Gabrielle settling herself on the other side. Aphrodite took the recliner that Nicolai had occupied on her last flight and Ed settled himself in the other recliner.

            Argo shifted, resting her gray and white head on Xena’s thigh. Aphrodite smiled at the gesture then looked at Gabrielle curiously. “You never told me how you got Argo?” she asked.

            Xena looked at Gabrielle, waiting for the story, absently petting the dog and momentarily distracted from the movement of the jet as it made its way to the runway for takeoff.

            “It was three years ago. I wasn’t planning to adopt a dog so soon after Thor’s death,” she explained. “But I was in Louisiana checking out this farm that our animal charity had purchased for a sanctuary. A group of dogs were being brought in, rescued from a dog fighting ring that found their financials and a host of other evidence dropped on the doorstep of a federal agency by our friends at Special Projects.” The plane shook a little as it made the first of several turns to the main runway and Xena glanced warily out the window.

            “Part of your Philanthropy division?” the goddess asked, knowing the answer was yes, but trying to shift focus from the tension that was radiating from the warrior.

            Gabrielle nodded “We’ve got animal charities all over the globe. Dogs, cats, circus animals, farm animals, exotic animals, endangered animals you name it. Obviously human charities too – human trafficking, refugees, women’s shelters, medical services…anyway this particular sanctuary was for rescued and mistreated dogs and farm animals, there were a fair number of cats there too.” She looked affectionately at the dog resting happily in Xena’s lap. “This one was a puppy and started following me everywhere. She just decided she was going to stay with me and would not take no for an answer. When it was time to leave and I started to drive away in the car. Well, one look in the rearview mirror with this little one tripping over her feet racing after me...” she shrugged. “That was that. We’ve been co-workers ever since.” She looked once more at her dog; muscular gray and white head with amber eyes and floppy ears. “I think she was destined to be a bait dog,” the bard explained. “At that time, she was small for her age and they hadn’t bothered to clip her ears for fighting. Once she moved in with me and got fed regularly and got some decent exercise she filled out to the sweetheart she is today.”

            Xena had stopped petting the dog as the plane hit its last turn and after a momentary pause, began to speed down the runway for takeoff. Without making eye contact, Gabrielle reached out reassuringly to Xena’s hand that wasn’t resting on Argo. After seconds that stretched out in silence, the jet lifted and began to soar upward. The warrior from Ancient Greece tightened her grip on the bard’s hand and stared transfixed out the window as the houses and cars below shrank and looked like toys, moments later it being impossible to make out individual homes and vehicles. “By the gods,” she breathed quietly.

            Ed grinned broadly at Xena’s amazement. “Small jets always give me the feeling that I’m actually soaring too,” he agreed. “The difference between this and a commercial plane are like night and day.”

            Xena glanced at Gabrielle before smiling briefly at the muscular man. “You are absolutely right,” she said.

            With a chuckle at the exchange, Aphrodite pulled her iPad from her purse and began to scroll through various email and articles. “Do we have any kind of plan after we meet with the pathologist?” she asked.

            “That reminds me,” Ed said with a grin, hopping out of his recliner and getting a large envelope from the cupboard. “Sabin dropped this off early this morning as we did our pre-flight.” He handed the sealed envelope to Gabrielle.

            As she expected, three matching sets of FBI credentials were contained inside as well as their regular ‘alter ego’ identification papers. The fake badges had names that Gabrielle didn’t recognize but the DC driver’s licenses were for Susan Vincent, Anna Winter and Natasha Romanoff respectively. There was also an invitation to the fundraising gala, her name in gold leaf embossed on textured linen paper. Gabrielle put the contents back into the envelope then put the envelope into her purse. She withdrew a small laptop computer and opened a file folder. “Did Jorge read you in?” she asked Ed as she found the document she was looking for.

            “About the troll who plays Gideon Power and his handler Heinrich Easton?” Ed asked as he accepted the laptop that his boss handed him. “That’s the guy who killed Susan,” he said, looking at the documents. “You called him ‘Ares’ at the time.”

            Gabrielle nodded “think of Ares as a code name. He’s going by Heinrich Easton and probably a dozen or so other alias as well. Scruggs is the actor playing Gideon Power. We think they might both be at the Gala tomorrow night.”

            Ed looked at the back of the plane where he’d stowed the small suitcases and then looked at Gabrielle critically. “You ladies got ball gowns in those tiny suitcases?” he asked dubiously.

            The bard’s eyes grew wide realizing her mistake and lack of forethought or planning. “Fuck,” she muttered in frustration.

            Aphrodite chuckled and immediately started scrolling through her phone. “Relax dears,” she said reassuringly. “I know a guy. I’ll text him.”

            “A guy who can alter formalwear in a day?” Ed asked dubiously.

            “Maybe not in your size pumpkin,” she replied affectionately, “but for us, sure. We can go pick out something after our meeting with the pathologist and have it delivered to the hotel tomorrow. This may surprise you, but I have a way with people.”

            Ed beamed at the goddess, “Oh, I’m not surprised at all. And not to worry,” he added to Gabrielle as he opened a thin closet behind rich wood paneling, “I remembered to bring my tux.”

            “Someone is getting an extra bonus this year, that’s for sure.” Aphrodite replied approvingly.

            Xena listened with detachment as Gabrielle, Aphrodite and Ed discussed their plan for the afternoon and evening. Her eyes were riveted to the window, watching as the world moved below and marveling at the view of clouds from a parallel position in the sky. The landscape changed from the rocky, brown desert of the south west to shades of green and circular shapes which she learned were the farms of the Midwest. She could not believe how vast the world looked from this perspective.

            She half listened as words registered in her consciousness. Bodyguards would not accompany federal agents, so Ed would stay with Argo and the car when the three of them met with the pathologist, Dr. Kate Sprucehill. After the meeting, they would find formalwear. At the hotel they would perform some kind of reconnaissance on the building and make a plan for the following day. During the gala, the mission was to find Gideon Powers and see if that led them to Ares. Ideally, they might discover where Ares was staying and if that might provide an opportunity to steal something of his that he might value enough to be lured into an open confrontation far enough away from innocent bystanders to be practical. It wasn’t the best plan she’d ever heard of, but she and Gabrielle had accomplished much on their adventures together with even less planning than this.

            After several hours of flight, Ed excused himself to prepare some food. He was a kind and charming man but moved with the practiced precision of a dedicated warrior and Xena liked him instantly. “Sarah sent over some food early this morning.” He explained as he rummaged through the small galley. “We’ve got some vegan lasagna and a savory pie, I think it might be chicken. I could also make a salad, or there is some butternut squash soup in here that I had the other day, it’s really good too. That with some crispy garlic bread? I see some panna cotta here, and there is some really tasty banana bread made with Michelle’s apple sauce. Oh, and some decadent rice krispy treats- damn- made with homemade marshmallow!”

            Gabrielle shrugged, considering her options. “Lasagna and salad sounds good to me.” Aphrodite nodded as did Xena. Argo was treated to a bowl with some pieces of raw vegetables; zucchini, bell pepper, cucumber, sweet potato, and broccoli which she munched on contentedly. As they finished their lunch, Ed withdrew a deck of cards from a drawer and flashed a winning smile. “You ladies fancy a game of cards?”

            ~~~~~~~

            Gabrielle casually glanced at her cards then impassively raised her eyes to Xena. The warrior looked back at her equally nonplused. It was all the bard could do to keep from grinning from ear to ear. Xena’s calm demeanor brought back memories, remembrances of fighting incalculable odds and besting countless foes.

            In the moments between Ed suggesting cards and cleaning up the remnants of their lunch both Gabrielle and Aphrodite had casually texted Xena on the basics of poker so she would not seem out of her element when it came time to play. They told her the suits, the hierarchy of hands, and the fundamentals of the game. The bodyguard was none the wiser and sat down with the trio in earnest. Xena’s natural nonchalance gave her an opportunity in the first several hands to simply fold and watch how play progressed as Gabrielle and Ed battled it out. Aphrodite offered to be the dealer, the two women understanding what an unfair advantage she’d have even if the bodyguard didn’t. When Xena began to play, raising and calling her opponents strategically, it didn’t take long for the warrior and bard to take all of the bodybuilder’s chips.

            “That’s me, done,” he said as he showed his cards; a weak two pair. After a nod in the direction of the recliner he asked, “do you mind if I take a catnap?”

            “Absolutely not,” Gabrielle replied with a shake of her head. “I know it was an early morning for you and the twins. Unlike Isra and Kismet – you don’t get to stay with the plane in DC and I don’t know what the next few days will bring, so by all means, rest up now.”

            He smiled gratefully as he settled himself in the recliner, pulling a pair of headphones from a drawer. “You need anything boss, don’t hesitate to wake me,” he said as he donned the headphones and selected something on his phone before settling back with his eyes closed.

            Gabrielle leaned forward and whispered to Aphrodite, “Can he hear us?”

            The goddess shook her head. “He’s listening to the Hamilton soundtrack,” she replied as she dealt the next hand to Xena and Gabrielle. She looked at him again and the blue of her eyes intensified for the briefest of moments. “And now he’s sleeping, so speak freely.”

            Gabrielle looked over at Ed and sure enough he was snoring softly, his breathing measured and steady. With a casual glance of her cards the bard continued. “Do you have any idea what it is of Ares’ that we might be looking for – what could possibly be important enough to get him to go where we want?”

            “The source of his godhood was his sword do you think he’d still have that?” Xena wondered, then raised Gabrielle by tossing several chips into the center of the table.

            Aphrodite shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. I’ve seen him a time or two over the years- the last time was during world war two and he certainly wasn’t wearing that giant sword then. He might just have a fragment of it, there is no way to know.

            “I kept my shell at one of my temples,” she explained as she dealt three cards face up to the center of the table. Without looking at her cards, Gabrielle casually measured out some more chips and pushed them to the center. Xena countered and then the goddess put down the turn card. “When the tether to Olympus was cut,” she couldn’t help but glance at Gabrielle, “I went into hiding for a long time. Things were just too weird and I couldn’t deal. When I returned to my temples they’d been largely looted and were in bad shape. My shell had been broken, most of it missing but there were a few fragments left which I picked up and kept with me. I don’t know if there is something similar for my dear brother or not.” She put down the river card and the last round of betting began. Gabrielle won the hand and collected her chips.

            “If you and Ares are evenly matched,” Xena wondered, “and Gabrielle and I are…well not like most people at this point – do we think he may have some similarly gifted people on his side? Indestructible lieutenants perhaps? Do we need to plan for more than Ares?”

            Aphrodite shuffled the cards as she considered the question. “For the record,” the goddess disagreed, “Ares and I are not evenly matched. I’m stronger than he is and I probably will be for the next century.”

“How do you figure that?” Xena asked as she casually stacked and restacked her chips.

“I had Ambrosia right before we resurrected you,” she explained. “Uncle Ariel – I’ve gotta say the name is kind of growing on me- measured out what it would take to give you and Gabrielle comparable life spans, then he gave the rest to me. I’ve been fed- unless he has a stash of the stuff I’m for sure stronger, although his wheelhouse is still his and mine is still mine.” She smiled as she cut the cards and shuffled again. “And when I say ‘food’ of the gods,” she clarified, “think nutrient rich energy bar, not a doughnut.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “I can’t say I’ve given it much thought, but maybe that’s what separated gods and mortals initially. We had access to a superfood.”

“How would you get it?” Gabrielle asked.

“It was always on Mount Olympus. I’d pop in every now and then have a bite. Can’t say I’m a fan of the family drama but that’s where the Ambrosia was,” she shrugged. “I’d usually stash a little in my temples so I wouldn’t have to go home as often, but the risk of course was mortals having access to it.” She smiled sweetly at her companions, “No offense of course.”

“None taken,” Xena replied dryly. “Can you please pass me another of those rice krispy thingies?”

Aphrodite passed her the dessert plate and picked up a tiny crumb, a single piece of puffed rice. “I found a piece like this in the 1960s. I was working as a stewardess for Pan Am. I was living in San Francisco and worked a flight to Greece so I visited the ruins of one of my temples during my layover.” She popped the crumb into her mouth. “The Summer of Love was not an accident,” she said.

“So, if you’re in your lane and Ares is in his,” Gabrielle asked for clarification, “how does that make you more powerful?”

Aphrodite shrugged. “I’m not sure that it does in any way that is meaningful,” the goddess explained. “I could kick his ass at arm wrestling right now, out lift him at the gym, I could probably sway a few of his neo-nazis to grow a conscience. I’m just…I don’t know…rejuvenated?” She fell quiet a moment, thinking. “You know the Bible verse ‘love is patient, love is kind’? It’s one of the few things they got right. Love is patient, and eventually I will win out. I can see a million ways this all plays out and love wins. What the world will look like, that is an entirely different matter. There is no guarantee that ‘justice’ will win, but ‘love’ certainly does.” The goddess’ expression became inscrutable and she looked at Xena almost as if seeing her for the first time. There was a look of recognition and respect that the warrior had never seen Aphrodite direct at her. “I think the fact that Xena embodies traits of three of us is going to be key,” she explained. “She can think like Ares, she’s picked up things from me and my uncle as well. As for lieutenants for Ares; he’d need Ambrosia and unlike my uncle, he wouldn’t give it to a mortal. He’d find that really offensive.”

            “How is it that Poseidon is the only one who seems able to get it?” Gabrielle wondered, mostly to herself. She was taken aback when Xena’s eyes grew wide, the warrior’s cheeks flushing pink with excitement. Quite unnecessarily Xena glanced at the sleeping bodybuilder before speaking and when she did it was in barely audible tones.

            “I know where it is,” she breathed. “I know where all of it is, where it grows – what exactly it is. It’s like I just remembered, but I feel like I’ve always known it.”

            “What are you saying?” Gabrielle asked. “You know what ambrosia is? Besides being ambrosia?”

            Xena nodded and smiled, very pleased with herself. “It’s a very slow growing kind of seaweed,” she whispered. “Don’t ask me how I know that- I just do. It is transparent underwater, impossible to see but when it matures it gets a little bit less translucent. Once it’s picked and brought to the surface it becomes opaque. Poseidon would have it harvested by dolphins or other sea creatures and brought to him. It’s further down than mortals can swim and the other gods never went in the ocean so… That’s why he is the one who supplied it to Mt. Olympus.”

            “How would he get it up there?” Aphrodite asked, not sure she could believe what she was hearing.

            “Don’t you see?” Xena asked in a rush, “seafaring birds, pelicans or albatross or whoever he could convince to do it. Poseidon was tied to the water, but he had this other duty to his family as well. And he didn’t appreciate being relegated to one zone and expected to provide for the others. Probably an additional reason he wanted to break free to be able to move to and from Mt. Olympus on his own. He didn’t foresee that the tether would be broken there too. He only thought it would break the tether between him and the ocean, not because he wanted to be rid of it, but because he wanted to be able to go to Mt. Olympus as well. You never saw him on Mount Olympus did you?”

            The Goddess of Love cocked her head, searching her memory. “No, I only saw him when I’d go to the sea, but I like the ocean so I would see him fairly regularly. He was decent enough when Hephaestus and I split up.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Holy shit,” she breathed. “This is a game changer.”

            “What do you mean?” Gabrielle asked, glancing at her hand of cards.

            “It doesn’t matter if we find something Ares is passionate about. I mean if we do, great- but if we don’t- you use Ambrosia as bait, I guarantee he will show up to get it,” Aphrodite explained, every bit as excited as Xena.

            “But we don’t actually have any,” Gabrielle said, thinking that part was self-evident.

            “That’s easy enough to remedy,” Xena countered. “Do you have a map?”

            Gabrielle reached for her laptop and the warrior shook her head. “No, an actual map. Shen doesn’t trust those things to not spy on you and I’m inclined to agree with him.”

            Gabrielle nodded, seeing no reason not to be cautious. She walked over to the small closet built into the plane where Ed had hung his tuxedo. There was a rolled map of the world and she removed it, unrolling it onto the table with Aphrodite’s help.

            “Show me where you guys brought me back.” Xena said, studying the map.

            Aphrodite pointed to the tip of the Baja peninsula and Xena touched that area of the map. We could get some here, she pointed to an area of the ocean nearby, or here, or here. She pointed to two other places on that side of the map. There is also some here, and here, and here…” she pointed to various places and both goddess and bard were stunned. “But I don’t think those plants are mature yet.”

            “You are seriously telling me there is Ambrosia in the Hudson Bay?” Gabrielle asked dubiously. “And the Bay of Bengal- those two places are nothing alike. How could the same plant grow in two totally different ecosystems?”

            “It grows all over, it just grows really, really slowly and when I say ‘it’ I mean one plant. The size of a head of lettuce. There may be one tiny plant in all of the…” she looked at the map, “Norwegian sea and it may take centuries for a single leaf to grow. The Ambrosia that you tossed into the river of lava was easily tens of thousands of years old.” The warrior explained excitedly. “That’s why mortals haven’t found it. One lettuce sized transparent plant on the sea floor, the ocean is just too vast if you can’t sense where it is.”

            “What Ambrosia got thrown into a river of lava?” Aphrodite asked, her brow furrowing.

            “So, we know where it is,” Gabrielle rushed on quickly, purposefully ignoring the goddess, “you said it’s deeper than people can swim. Do we need a submarine? Because I have one, it will just take time to get it relocated to the west coast.”

            “Why not just ask a dolphin to do it?” Xena said sensibly.

            Aphrodite and Gabrielle looked at each other than back at Xena. “Are you saying that you can talk to sea life?” the bard asked, hoping for clarification. “Like Poseidon did? You can just talk to sea life?”

            “I think so, I mean not all sea life,” Xena explained. “A lot of sea life isn’t the least bit interested in anything I have to say, and honestly is that any weirder than me being able to speak elvish?”

            Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak and closed it. The warrior had a point.

            “But this is important,” the warrior added in a rush, “Ares has to be the one to figure out that we have it and demand it from us. It has to come from him. If we try to offer it, he is absolutely going to see it as bait.”

            “If Ares and I are in the same room, that will not be a problem.” Aphrodite assured the duo. “He will immediately know I’ve had it and it will rattle him and he will be desperate to figure out how I came across it.”

“Aphrodite,” Gabrielle said turning her attention to the goddess, something that had been puzzling her bubbling to the surface. “Poseidon/Ariel- whomever put just a little bit of his blood into Xena’s urn. She can talk to sea life, understands the secrets of Ambrosia, can determine where various sea life is just by sensing it,” she turned to the warrior, “am I missing anything?” she asked.

            “I think I can surf and hold my breath longer than I used to be able to,” the warrior added.

            “And you added more than twice the amount of blood into Xena’s urn,” the bard continued looking at the goddess, “and she can read and write every language. Is that it?” she asked curiously.

            “No,” the Goddess of Love replied.

            “Then…?” the bard prompted and Xena turned her head also interested in the answer.

            Aphrodite arched a knowing eyebrow in Gabrielle’s direction and the bard, getting her drift blushed furiously. “Oh,” she said quietly.

            “Besides that,” the goddess continued, “let’s agree that Xena is much nicer this time around. She’s got more patience and empathy, she befriended your love-sick engineer instead of disemboweling her, clearly she’s getting that from my side of the family.”

            “I’m trying to be serious,” Gabrielle persisted.

            “Gabrielle,” Xena said quietly, realization dawning on her. “I think she is being serious. I feel like I have this strange…insight.”

            “The bard’s eyes darted over to Aphrodite and the goddess shook her head. “No hon,” she said gently, “not that insight.”

            Xena knew that while she wanted to ask what the goddess meant, that it wasn’t her place to do so. That it was a private thing between the two of them but that it also was not a threat to her or any feelings that she and Gabrielle felt for each other. She let it go.

            “It may grow over time, and you will learn to control it- know when to tune in and when to tune out,” Aphrodite reassured the warrior. “It will take practice but you will get the hang of it. Looks like the ‘sensitive chats’ are eventually going to be your thing too, dear.” She chuckled as she looked back to Gabrielle. “And you were worried she’d come back straight.”

            “Poseidon was the one who commented that in essence she’d genetically have two dads and a mom,” the bard protested.

            Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Honey none of the gods or goddesses are straight. Not a single one. We’re all queer.”

            Both warrior and bard looked confused. “I know Ares…” Xena protested.

            With a dismissive wave, the goddess helped herself to another piece of pumpkin bread. “Bitch please,” she said. “I know for a fact that he’s blown off steam as a bottom at a leather bar in New York on more than one occasion. Not that there is anything wrong with being a sub in a leather bar in New York.” She shrugged anticipating the next question. “Look, this is just shit that I know, I can’t tell you how I know. The thing is, when there are only a couple of dozen of you and you live for tens of thousands of years, you’re going to get really bored if your only option for companionship is half that limited number of partners. That’s why the dalliances with mortals, the incestuous relationships with other gods even though they never work out. I’m not saying we’re not a fucked up people, we are all so fucked up. Just not as fucked up as the rest of you.” She dabbed at the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “My point being, is that Xena isn’t straight, yes she has qualities of three deities pumping in that fit physique of hers, and yes, she’s less obnoxious that she was.

“We have a real shot at Ares here,” she continued. “Whether we find something that matters to him or not. Ambrosia will matter. Unless he had a killer stash stored away somewhere, he will be ravenous for it. With one more element, this plan might actually work.” She said the last with reservation and turned her head. Both Xena and Gabrielle looked at her. “Ares isn’t going to go to any meeting where he doesn’t feel like he has the upper hand,” she explained. “He needs to have something of yours that you will do anything to get back. That’s why he kidnapped Susan.” Gabrielle followed the line of Aphrodite’s vision to see what the goddess was looking at and her sleeping dog on the couch came into view.

            “Absolutely not,” she said flatly. “There has to be another way.”

            Xena looked at Gabrielle then turned to Aphrodite then back to Gabrielle. “In a lot of ways she would be safer,” the warrior said gently. “He isn’t going to torture her, she can’t tell him anything.”

            “I know how you feel,” Aphrodite added, “I know my shell wasn’t a living thing, but I was really attached to it. I won’t say there isn’t risk, because there is. But I think she will be okay. Let’s just say I’ve bestowed a couple of enhancements on her besides being able to spot deception. All I want you to do is consider it, you don’t have to make a decision now.”

            Gabrielle studied the grey dog sleeping soundly. Her large square head tucked back towards her body, ears flopping over in relaxed bliss. The bard smiled at the thought of the love and devotion those amber eyes held when Argo looked at her. “Argo can’t consent,” the bard protested. “I can’t offer her up as a hostage when she doesn’t know what’s going on, that’s beyond wrong. Why don’t we let him take me as a hostage?”
“We can’t have him take you because it will take all of us if we’re going to try and wound him enough to leave you alone,” Aphrodite explained. “Using the hammer and the chakram is a two-person job. I can try to goad my brother into anything, but I can’t directly lift a hand to hurt him, nor him me. It’s just how it works. It’s going to take the two of you, probably why he didn’t want Xena to come back among countless other reasons. And Argo can consent and she has. She would do absolutely anything to make your life better. It’s just how dogs are. You’re welcome.”

            The bard frowned. “You’re responsible for dog’s behavior and can talk to them?” It was clear that even after two thousand years of living, Gabrielle found some things just too unbelievable.

            “Do you doubt that you love Argo or she loves you?” the goddess asked archly.

            “Well, no but…” Gabrielle protested.

            “Love is my thing, the whole rainbow of it. From the time that first woman shared a meal with a wolf, my influence has been in that. Of course I can talk to them.”

            “Cats not so lucky?” Xena asked dryly.

            Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Cat’s haven’t forgotten they were worshiped as gods by the Egyptians, blame them.”

Gabrielle nodded mutely. After all she had asked of Aphrodite and the goddess sacrificing her last bit of home she felt like she couldn’t say no, but at this point in time couldn’t say yes either. The card game forgotten, she moved to another drawer and extracted a shoulder holster and gun, part of her disguise as a federal agent but also a reminder that even though she and Xena were not in mortal danger, the people and dog nearest her were as were the people nearest Ares.

            ~~~~~~~

Aphrodite led the way as warrior and bard walked up to the security desk next to a pair of walk through metal detectors and two scanning machines in the federal building. They showed their badges and Gabrielle noticed the blue of Aphrodite’s eyes intensify slightly.

“We’re here to see Dr. Sprucehill,” the goddess announced. “We have an appointment.” The first of the three security guards checked a sheet and then picked up a phone. Gabrielle opened her suit jacket to show the gun in its holster which was noted by the second security officer. After a moment, they were waved past the machines as a woman in a lab coat came walking towards them.

Dr. Kate Sprucehill extended her hand in greeting, briefly shaking hands with each woman and checking their counterfeit badges before leading the way down the sterile corridor to a large antiseptic room.

“Will you be taking over the investigation from Agents Andrews and Rodriguez?” She asked conversationally as they passed six empty, gleaming autopsy tables. There was a wall of refrigeration units in the back, the well-lit examination tables and a small office off of the lab. The office was a bit warmer, showing evidence that a living human being worked here. There was a family picture on the desk with two young boys in super hero Halloween costumes and a picture of the woman with a man that Gabrielle assumed was her significant other. There was also a small metal action figure of Captain Phasma from Star Wars holding onto an iPhone cord that the bard found quite adorable.

“Yes,” Gabrielle replied smoothly, drawing her eyes away from the doctor’s desk to look at the pathologist. “We were just assigned and are getting up to speed.” Dr. Sprucehill appeared to be slightly younger than Aphrodite appeared which was a little younger than she and Xena appeared. She was tall and blond with her long hair pulled back into a professional ponytail. Her eyes were the same hue as the goddess and they were the same height. She was beautiful and Gabrielle felt a pang of guilt that what they were doing would most likely result in the woman losing her job. Absently she wondered how she might use the services of a pathologist in her organization.

“Ah, very good then,” the doctor replied, drawing the bard from her reverie and gesturing that they take a seat across from her desk. She briefly rummaged through a stack of folders before selecting one and handing it to Aphrodite saying, “These are the findings.” The goddess glanced at the paperwork inside before passing it over to Gabrielle who could make sense of the medical jargon. “Cause of death is straightforward,” the pathologist continued. “Cyanide poisoning. She was wearing a tooth favored by old-fashioned spies that contained a small chamber with the poison. She bit down on the capsule and that was that.”

“Do we know where she was killed?” Gabrielle asked, intently looking at the documents in the folder. There were toxicology reports, photographs of Susan’s body, notes from the autopsy; the exam had been through and complete. “She lived in Southern California.”

“I believe that is where she was abducted.” Dr. Sprucehill replied “While her body was found in Montana I don’t believe she was killed there, I found pollen in her nostrils, plant material under her fingernails from the DC area. She was held hostage for a day or so in DC before she killed herself then taken to Montana to thwart an investigation.” There was bruising from restraints, probably handcuffs. She smiled sympathetically in the direction of the refrigerated units. “It seems like she was doing her best to collect information to point to her abductor. There was a symbol scratched into her shin and another strange set of marks. The angle, depth and position point to self-inflicted.” The doctor pointed to two photos in the file that Gabrielle was holding. In turn Gabrielle showed the photos to Xena.

“Looks like the sign of the zodiac for Aries.” Aphrodite commented.

“I agree. Do you mind if we take a look at the body?” Gabrielle asked.

The doctor looked confused for a moment, then answered “No, not at all.”

“Before I forget,” Gabrielle added before the doctor could stand. “We’ve been sent the paperwork to release the body,” she continued. “A van will be by in a couple of hours to pick it up.” As she spoke she withdrew a file folder from her leather briefcase which contained a blank piece of paper. The doctor looked at it and with a professional nod signed it at the bottom.

“This way please,” the pathologist said leading the trio to the refrigerated units. She stopped at a specific drawer and pulled the door open, smoothly sliding out the tray that contained the body of Gabrielle’s former vice-president. With a fluid motion, she pulled the sheet back exposing Susan’s head and shoulders, neatly folding it across the Chinese woman’s chest.

Gabrielle grimaced as she looked at the deceased face of her most trusted employee. While she might not have been like a regular friend, this was her god-daughter, someone she’d known since birth. The reality of her circumstance may have kept them from being close, but Gabrielle loved her all the same. “Are you alright?” the pathologist asked gently, concerned at the smaller woman’s obvious reaction.

“I’m fine,” Gabrielle assured her, working hard to make sure her voice didn’t break. In her peripheral vision, she saw the concern on Xena’s face. Quite unexpectedly Xena dropped the file folder she’d been holding, stooped to pick it up then banged her head soundly on the drawer as she stood. The crash echoed in the sterile room as did the warrior’s howl of pain.

“Gah!” Xena said painfully, drawing her hand from her forehead which had been cut by the drawer, there was blood.

“This way,” Dr. Sprucehill said, leading the warrior back to her office, “lets sort you out.”

Gabrielle watched the pair depart then back to Aphrodite with a questioning expression on her face.

“She wanted to give you a few minutes with Susan,” the goddess replied, beaming proudly.

The bard turned her head in the direction of the pathologist’s office where Xena was sitting, her cut being administered to with a bandage. She knew how hard Xena must have smacked her head to get a wound that didn’t heal instantly. She turned back to Susan, her face not the peaceful expression of sleep, but untroubled by worries of the corporeal world all the same. After grasping a cold, unyielding hand Gabrielle leaned forward and kissed her friend’s forehead, a tear landing on the waxy skin. “Goodbye my dear friend,” she said softly. Without saying a word, Aphrodite had passed her a tissue and she blotted the moisture away then dabbed at her own eyes.

Gabrielle had composed herself by the time they were rejoined by pathologist and warrior, now sporting a Band-Aid on her forehead. She greeted Xena with a smile of gratitude then turned her attention to the pathologist. “Where did you say the scratches were?” she asked.

With great care and respect, the doctor went through her findings and the details of her examination, answering all of Gabrielle’s questions. If she found it odd that her two companions remained largely silent she didn’t say anything. When they finished she assured Gabrielle that all would be ready for the transfer of the body and offered to answer any additional questions should the need arise. All three women shook hands and thanked her for her time before making their way back to the parking lot.

Part 5

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