A Brush With Destiny Part 6

Disclaimer: The main characters don't belong to me. They belong to RenPics and Universal. No copyright infringement was intended. This series is based on the love between Xena and Gabrielle. If this offends you, see ya some other time and place!

Sex : None.

Violence: None

Language: Mild.

Bard's Note : This is my first uber series so please... Be kind!

Diana looked over at her friends. They were huddled together, speaking in low voices and the agent would have given anything to know what they were talking about. She saw Gabrielle laugh lightly and kiss her partner gently on the lips before getting up and moving back to the fire.

"How is she?" Diana asked.

"She's ok. She's tough," the blonde writer replied with a smile. "We've been in worse..." Gabrielle stopped herself quickly as she realised that in this life, she was just a writer, not a Warrior Bard and this was indeed by far the worst thing that had ever happened to her. "Oh god," she groaned as she buried her face in her hands and dropped cross legged onto the ground.

"What? What is it, Gabrielle?" Diana asked, suddenly worried for the younger woman.

"She's feeling inadequate," came the soft, husky voice from across the cave and Xena opened her arms to her soulmate. "C'mere, Gabrielle."

The younger woman got up and went to her love, leaning against her and taking comfort from the warmth and strength of her arms.

"I'm not the Battling Bard, Xena," she whispered. "I'm just me."

The ex-Marine rocked her love and her voice suddenly lowered another tone.

"You are what you want to be, Gabrielle," she said. "You've taught me so many things over our travels together, one of them being that you are what you do. You have such strength, Gabrielle. I've rarely seen it in one so young. I love you and I'll be there for you but only you can make the decision to be who you want to be."

"Thanks, Xe," Gabrielle replied with a smile.

"Don�t mention it," the ex-Marine replied. "What did I say?"

"You gave me a pep talk. I needed it, thanks."

Xena shrugged her good shoulder.

"Cool."

Diana moved over to sit near them.

"Ok, now that we're relatively safe. What are we going to do next?"

Xena frowned thoughtfully and then arched an eyebrow.

"That depends on you really, Diana. Do you know what Cobra's plan was to get you out of the country?"

"Not in detail but I do know that Charlie gave him a phone number to call when we got to the airport. I remember what it was."

"So we call it then," Xena stated. "Bard, you got your cell phone?"

"Yeah."

Gabrielle fished her phone out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Xena. Diana gave her the number and Xena dialled it. She waited as it rang but then her face suddenly changed to shock. She couldn�t speak. Diana took the phone from her and spoke for her.

"Hello? Yeah. Charlie? Charlie it's me, Diana. We've got trouble. Cobra's been arrested. I'm in a cave with Xena and her partner and Xena's hurt. We need help and I need out ASAP. Shot in the shoulder but she's holding up. Being out here isn�t good for her though. Yeah, ok. It's..." She glanced at Gabrielle. "Number?" The bard gave her the cell phone number. "Charlie? Yeah. Five five five, six two nine four seven. Ok, cool. Hurry."

Diana looked at Xena and frowned. The dark woman had her knees drawn up and her face buried in her forearms.

"Is she ok?" she asked Gabrielle but the writer shook her head. She wrapped her arms around her love and held her tightly. Diana moved away to let them talk.

"Xena, look at me, Honey."

"It was her," came a muffled, tear-filled voice. "All these years, Gabrielle, I thought she was dead. How could she do this to me?" The older woman turned and buried her face in her lover's neck. Gabrielle just held her and let her cry, something that happened very rarely in any of their lives. She rocked her slowly, caressed her skin, touched her hair and murmured words of comfort.

"Xena, I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too, Gabrielle," the ex-Marine replied. "But I need to see her. I have to talk to her. I need to know why."

"I understand," the writer replied, her heart in her mouth as she wondered if she was going to lose her soulmate but Xena's next words settled her fear and made her heart as light as a feather with love for her warrior.

"Gabrielle, will you come with me?"

Gabrielle laughed almost hysterically.

"Of course I will, Xena. I love you!" she cried and pulled the woman closer to kiss her deeply.

"You have nothing to worry about, My Love," the warrior whispered. "I'm yours forever, Gabrielle."

"And I'm yours. God, you have no idea how much I want to just...." She jammed her fist into her mouth and then stood up. "Excuse me."

The writer left the cave and went to run off some excess tension.

"Is SHE ok?" Diana asked.

Xena chuckled.

"Yeah, she's fine," she replied. "She's feeling much better now."

"How about you, Xe?" the agent went on. "I haven't had a chance to talk to you alone."

"No, I guess you haven't. Look, Diana. Gabrielle doesn�t know everything. I've told her as much as I could remember but some of it is sketchy in my mind. Please don't say anything that might upset her, ok?"

"I'd never do that, Xena. She loves you so much. I can see it in her. She loves you with everything she is."

"As I do her," the tall woman replied as she shifted to get more comfortable. "Diana, why did Charlie..."

She trailed off as the agent shook her head.

"Xena, you need to talk to Charlie about that, ok?"

"Ok, I guess I'll..."

Just then, Gabrielle burst into the cave, panting heavily.

"We've got visitors," she breathed.

Xena was on her feet in an instant and was awkwardly loading her rifle with one hand.

"How many?"

"Looks to be about a dozen or so," the writer replied as she drew her gun from her shoulder holster. Xena grinned.

"Are you sure you know how to use that thing?" she teased. Gabrielle squeezed lightly on the trigger and a red beam hit Xena right between the eyes. She shuddered.

"Sure," the writer replied innocently. "It's easy. Just point the red light and squeeze the trigger. Recoil isn�t bad either for such a powerful gun."

Xena shook her head and looked down sheepishly.

"Ok, ok, I get the message. Never underestimate a Battling Bard in a new life."

"No," Gabrielle replied. "Never underestimate a writer who was brought up in a rough area of New York."

Diana came back from the mouth of the cave.

"It looks like they're going to miss us by a few hundred yards. We're ok... unless of course..." She stopped as they heard dogs barking. "Ok, NOW we're in trouble."

"We have to get out of here," Xena said and looked around the cave. She spotted a hole in the roof and pointed. "There!" Then she turned to her love and took her gently by the shoulder to look into her eyes.

"Gabrielle, I need you to get Diana out of here, ok?"

The writer shook her head.

"No, I'm NOT leaving you," she hissed.

"GABRIELLE! Listen to me. This is something you have to do. I'll find a way out but you know I can�t climb that wall. You have to get her to safety. She's worth more to this world than anything. Please, I can't explain right now, but I need you to help her. I promise you, I'll see you soon."

Gabrielle cried into her soulmate's chest and then looked angrily at her.

"I hate you for making me do this," she said and then turned to walk away but Xena caught her arm and pulled her back.

"Remember, I love you," she said and Gabrielle hugged her fiercely.

"I love you too. Come back to me. Here, take this. It'll be easier to use one-armed."

She handed Xena her gun and took the rifle from her. Then she turned to Diana and Xena ducked out of the cave to try to get to safety.

"Diana, up there. Get moving! Quickly!"

The two women quickly climbed the cave wall and hoisted themselves out into the waning sunlight. Gabrielle looked over the cliff edge to see if she could see her partner but there was no sign of her.

"How is she gonna find us?" she asked but Diana grabbed her by the hand and started to lead her away from the cave entrance.

"She's one of the best trackers I know. She'll leave a false trail and then double back to find us. She'll follow our trail and catch up with us when she can."

"She can do all that from being in the Marines?" the writer asked.

"Gabrielle, Xena wasn't just a Marine. She was THE Marine. They called her Xena because of the incredible things she did to save others. She almost died on a number of occasions because she was the last out of a blast zone. I once saw her take two bullets in the thigh and another in the chest and still carry a pregnant woman out of a village on her back. She seems to do things by willpower alone. It almost killed her when they kicked her out but while she was in prison, she trained the other inmates in karate and other martial arts techniques. It kept her going."

Tears began to run down Gabrielle's cheeks and she wiped them away quickly.

"Poor Xena. I never realised. It's happening again. She's being totally misjudged, isn�t she."

"Yes," Diana replied quietly. "Xena would die for what she believes in. She'd die for you, Gabrielle. Don�t ever doubt that."

"I know," the writer replied as she ran her hand through her short blonde hair. "She nearly has on a number of occasions."

"The Warrior Princess loves you," Diana whispered.

"How do you know about that?" Gabrielle asked, her eyes wide.

The agent smiled.

"Gabrielle, it's me, Lila."

"Lila? Lila, my sister?"

"Yes. I've had these dreams all my life about meeting you, Gabrielle. When I saw you for the first time in that diner, I knew you would play a large part in my destiny. You're my sister and I love you. Xena knew this. That's why she left you and I together. We're meant to do something, Gabrielle. I don�t exactly know what it is but it's something important. I think it has something to do with that agent that Xena decked back at the diner car park."

Gabrielle frowned thoughtfully.

"I think I know," she growled. "It's gotta be Ares. It's the only explanation. He's been haunting Xena and I through all of our lives. After all these lifetimes, he still wants her back."

"Does he have a chance?" Diana asked bluntly.

"No, not a chance in Tartarus," the writer replied. "Xena will never give in to him after everything we've been through."

"So how do we stop him?"

"We take out his body in this life and release him into the next."

Diana laughed and held up her hands.

"Whoa there! You're telling me that we have to kill Michelle Black? Gabrielle, she's a federal agent."

"No, I'm just saying she has to die long enough for Ares soul to let her go and move on. He's immortal so he has to be just possessing her body."

The agent frowned.

"How are we going to let her..." She smiled as she realised where Gabrielle was heading. "The pinch?" she said, nodding in answer to her own question.

"The pinch," Gabrielle replied in confirmation.

"But Xena's not here."

The Battling Bard surfaced in Gabrielle and she scrunched up her nose as she grinned wickedly.

"She doesn�t have to be. Xena taught me the pinch before she died. I can do it."

Diana nodded, her mouth open slightly in awe.

"You have many skills," she whispered.

"Let's just hope it�s enough," Gabrielle replied and took off down the hill toward the federal agents...

TBC in part 7.