A Brush With Destiny Part 11

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: Of course. It wouldn't be my fic otherwise! Lol!

Violence: Yep!

Language: Yep!

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

"Damn," Gabrielle said as she placed the phone back in its cradle. "Lucy's not available."

"What?" came the yell from the other room.

"I said Lucy Lawless isn’t available!" the writer yelled back. "Morgan said that she called personally and apologised, saying that her schedule was already full but that she'd like to arrange a meeting for when we're all back in the States."

Xena leaned back in her armchair and threw her leg over the padded arm.

"Oh well," she sighed. "It was worth a try."

"What?"

"I said..." A mischievous grin rose to the warrior's face. "Come on in here for a minute!"

Gabrielle entered the small living room of the villa. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her lover sprawled in an armchair, dressed only in a revealing black bikini. She licked her lips and moved closer.

"You know I'm feeling very overdressed," she pointed out with a sexy smile.

"I think we can sort that out," the dark-haired woman replied in a low purr as she slid her hands under Gabrielle's T-shirt. She leaned forward in the chair and lifted the T-shirt before pressing her lips to the writer's muscular stomach. "Mmmmm," she hummed as her tongue flicked out to taste the saltiness of her skin. She smiled as she felt the writer's breathing come faster. Gabrielle's fingers ran through her hair and her emerald green eyes fluttered shut when a soft, warm tongue dipped into her navel.

"Xena?" she whispered.

"Hmmm?"

The ex-Marine was much too busy removing a pair of black cycling shorts to worry too much about answering.

"Sit back in the chair."

Xena did as asked and after a moment was rewarded with a lap-full of naked Gabrielle. The writer straddled her lover's thighs and pulled off her bikini top, taking a moment to suck on and nip at two painfully hard nipples. Now it was Xena who was breathing heavily. In her haze of pleasure, Xena briefly wondered how she had got into this situation. She had intended to make love to Gabrielle, not the other way around. She shrugged mentally. Oh well. They were just about to move to the couch when there was a knock at the door. Gabrielle growled.

"Shit! Son of a bitch!"

She pulled on her top and shorts and went to the door to see who was there but as she approached, she felt her stomach heave. She backed away from the door and the pain subsided but when she moved closer the feeling returned. She ran back to the living room and held her fingers to her lips.

"Get dressed," she whispered. "I think it's her."

Xena was up off the chair and running into the bedroom a split second later. She pulled on some clothes and dug the gun she had purchased illegally out of her case, shoving it down into the waistband of her shorts and covering it with her top. The knocking persisted and Xena ran back to Gabrielle. The writer was shaking and the ex-Marine leaned into her.

"It’s ok," she whispered. "I'm going out to see what she wants."

"Be careful," the writer said. "Xena, be careful," the bard said.

Xena chuckled.

"I'm getting it in stereo," she replied and then shook her head at the confused look on her lover's face. "I'll explain later."

Barely two minutes had past and whoever was there was still knocking. Xena slowly opened the door.

"Yes?" she asked but the woman just looked at her. "Who are you?"

"I think you know who I am," the woman replied as she pushed the door open and grabbed Xena by the throat. She flung her across the room like a rag doll and the warrior hit the wall hard, sliding down to land, dazed, on the floor. She shook her head to clear her mind and then flipped into standing.

"Alti, I presume," Xena growled as she reached over her shoulder. Her hand grasped thin air and the shamaness laughed.

"Very good, Xena. It's nice to see that you remember me after all this time, even if you can’t remember where you left your sword."

Xena growled, feeling her temper rise.

"No, but I remember where I left this," Gabrielle said from the door and Alti turned to see the little bard holding a rifle and pointing at her chest. She swallowed.

"What are you going to do with that, Little Girl?" she asked.

Gabrielle scowled.

"How many times do I have to tell you! I am NOT a little girl! Now get the hell out of here or I swear by any god you name that I'll blow a hole the size of Nebraska in your chest you old HAG!" Alti took a step toward her but Gabrielle cocked the rifle, raising it a little higher. "Leave or Nebraska... your choice," she growled.

Xena chuckled as Alti spun on her heels and fled out the door. She slumped against the wall, her shoulder throbbing painfully and the writer was at her side in an instant.

"You ok, Honey?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm ok. Just hit the wall a little hard on my bad shoulder. It'll be ok in a bit."

Gabrielle smiled.

"Why don't you take a shower. The hot water will help."

The ex-Marine grinned.

"Wanna join me?" she asked but the writer shook her head.

"I'd love to but I'm gonna go check that Alti has really gone. We're gonna have to think carefully about getting rid of her."

"We could always call the police and say she was trespassing," Xena suggested as she lifted her top off over her head and turned around for a quick backrub.

"Hmmm..." Gabrielle replied as she kneaded firm flesh and muscle. "But we don't know where she is now. Besides, I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of us. Remember that ritual we used when we were with the Amazons... where we imprisoned her soul with the amber?"

Xena nodded.

"That was when she was trying to steal Eve's soul wasn't it?"

"That's right. How did she get out of her prison?"

"I don't know. I didn't think there was any way to break free but obviously, she did."

Gabrielle scratched her chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe she had help. Think about it. How did she get here so quickly? It was almost as if she had a private jet or something."

Xena sat down in a chair and blew out a long breath.

"Yeah, it looks like there's someone in the equation that we don't know about. Now, I'm off to have a shower and change. We'll go out for dinner, ok?"

"Sure, I'll be right in."

Gabrielle stood and gazed out the window. The sun sparkled off the sea, creating beautiful patterns of dark and light. It was getting late and the temperature was cooling slightly. Gabrielle's skin was already tanning and despite the circumstances of their visit, she felt almost at home in Greece. The writer closed her eyes. The bard opened them.

"It's good to be home," she whispered. "Even after all these years, it still feels right."

"It does, doesn’t it?" Xena replied from the door as she towel dried her long, raven-black hair. She walked to the bard and wrapped her arms around her from behind. "Two thousand years, Gabrielle, and it still feels like yesterday since I first met you in Poteidaia."

The bard smiled as she leaned back into her warrior's chest.

"I think we met before then, Xena, but for some reason, we only seem to remember as far back as our time in Ancient Greece. I remember other lifetimes but the Greek one seems to be the most pivotal."

"Alti showed up for the first time in that life," Xena replied thoughtfully. "That has to have something to do with it. Gabrielle, we have to find a way to trap her soul again. Driving it out won’t work. She'll just pick another body to inhabit and come back. She's not like Ares. If she's forced out of one body she doesn’t have to move on to another life."

Gabrielle shook her head and then turned around to face the warrior.

"But how are we going to do this? I can’t remember the details of the ritual we used... besides, where are we going to find sacred amber. The Temple of Cheeya is long gone and the Amazons are no more."

The Warrior Princess smirked.

"I have an idea and I'm surprised you didn't think of it!"

"Oh?" Gabrielle replied.

"Yeah. Let's go to the library and see what they have in the way of ancient texts."

The writer smacked her partner gently on the arm. The bard chuckled.

"Smart ass!"

Xena sighed for what seemed to Gabrielle like the thousandth time.

"Xena, sit down and check these books out!" she ordered, pointing at a seat at a nearby table. The ex-Marine scowled but her face turned sheepish as she received a raised-eyebrowed-warning from her lover. She took the books from her and stomped over to the table. She flopped into the chair and sighed again.

"God, I am so whipped," she muttered and then resigned herself to few hours of reading. Gabrielle grinned over at her partner.

"God, I love her," she whispered and then went back to checking the shelves. She got to 'G' and scanned the shelf but her breath caught as she spotted and gently pulled out an old, hard-backed book. She ran her hand over it and glanced over at Xena who had heard her gasp and turned to look at her. "Xena," Gabrielle whispered. "Look at this." The dark woman went to her and smiled as she saw what she was holding.

"I always knew you'd go far," she said as she gently kissed the writer on the temple.

"The Scrolls of Gabrielle, Bard of Poteidaia," Gabrielle read and then opened the book about half way through. Tears began to creep down her cheeks as she read. "The Rheingold. Xena's trail has taken me north, due north, further north than I've ever been... Jesus, I remember writing this, Xena." Tears rose in her eyes as she remember how close she had come to losing her soulmate.

"Hey," the warrior replied softly. "Everything turned out ok in the end and we found each other again. That's all that's important."

The bard nodded and leaned in for a hug.

"I don't think these women realise the full extent of their connection yet." She looked up and smiled. "Do you remember the first time we 'felt' each other?"

Xena waggled her eyebrows playfully.

"Emotionally or physically?"

Gabrielle slapped her partner lightly on the shoulder and poked her in the ribs, making her squirm slightly.

"Emotionally of course!"

"Yeah, I do," the warrior sighed. "It was..."

"Excuse me!"

Xena and Gabrielle shuddered as they came back.

"Yes?" the writer asked as a petite, brunette moved closer to her.

"I was just wondering if you were finished with Gabrielle's Scrolls. I'm researching her for a project I'm doing and I'd like to take a look at her actual writing."

Gabrielle grinned and handed the book over.

"Enjoy," she said softly and Xena looked proudly at her partner.

"I love you," she said as she lifted her down off the ladder.

"I love you too, Honey. Now we'd better get back to work. We're running out of time."

But the warrior just frowned.

"No, Gabrielle. Time is what we have plenty of. We're running out of ideas. Alti has to be stopped and I'll do it, even if it's the last thing I ever do. She's never going to hurt us again, I promise you."

"I believe you," the writer whispered. "I believe you," the bard whispered.

The End

To be continued in part 12.