Disclaimer: Don’t own them, don’t really want to own them. Renaissance Pictures owns these characters, good luck to them.

Timeline: Pick a time, any time, Gabrielle has her sais, so probably during season 5 or 6.

Xena had just packed away the last of her belongings when she heard the rustling of the bushes. She quickly pulled out her chakram and threw it in the direction of the sound. The chakram made a circle around the bushes, hit the tree that stood behind and returned to its owner. Xena blinked in the morning sunlight as a lone figure emerged from the shadow of the trees.

"Queen Gabrielle, we have a message from Amphipolis." Cianne stopped Gabrielle as she stepped into the courtyard.

"Xena sent me a message?" Gabrielle said with a smile. Xena has been gone for over a week. It would be nice to hear from her.

"I’m afraid the message isn’t from Xena my queen." Cianne hesitated and then added, "the message is from her mother. Apparently Xena has not shown up in Amphipolis yet.’’

"What?" Gabrielle grabbed the message and quickly read it. "It shouldn’t have taken her more than a couple of days to get there. What could have happened?"

"Do you want us to send out a search party?"

"No, things are pretty tense around here right now. The amazons are safest if they stay here and stay alert." She ran a hand through her blonde hair. The treaty with the Centaurs is once again in jeopardy. That was the reason why she did not accompany Xena when she said she was going home to see her mother. "Cianne, could you please ask someone to saddle up my horse for me? I’m going to pack a few things, then I’m going after her."

"By yourself?" Cianne was stunned.

"Yes, the amazons are not safe outside of this village. I can’t risk forming a search party.That would simply give us away. But I’ve got to go look for Xena. She could be hurt or have gotten sick. I need to find her."

"At least let me go with you." Cianne placed a hand to stop Gabrielle as she started to walk back toward her hurt.

"I appreciate your concern Cianne, but I would feel much better if you would stay here and try to keep peace. You know what I would do if the situation worsen; just think of what we would loose and act on that." Gabrielle gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise I will take care. I’ll be careful."

"Look Gabrielle, the worst scenario is that someone had taken Xena by force. Whoever did that had to be either extremely strong or had a whole army with him. It too risky for you to go out there on your own. At least let me send a couple of…"Cianne looked at Gabrielle and realized that she wasn’t listening anymore. "Gabrielle, what is it?"

"You just reminded me of something. I think there’s someone I need to see. Maybe he’ll have the answer that I need." Gabrielle said calmly. "Thank you Cianne, but I need to do this on my own." She patted Cianne on the shoulder and walked off.

Gabrielle walked around the courtyard until there was no one around. "Ares, we need to talk."

"Somewhat of an unusual request coming from you." Ares appeared in a bright flash of light.

"Come clean Ares, what did you do with her?" Gabrielle pulled out her sais and grimaced as Ares simply raised his eyebrows mockingly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don’t play dumb Ares, you know what I’m talking about."

"What are you accusing me of now Blondie?" Ares sounded impatient.

"Alright, what have you done with Xena? Where have you taken her?"

"Xena? I haven’t taken her anywhere. I haven’t seen her in ages." He sounded genuinely concerned. "Why are you asking me? What’s going on?"

Gabrielle looked at him and decided perhaps he was telling the truth. She sighed, "Xena was suppose to go home but it appears she’s now missing. If you have nothing to do with it, then she might be in real trouble."

Ares closed his eyes and reopened them a short while later. "I can’t locate her."

"What does that mean?"

"It means she either dead or someone other god has her."

"She’s not dead." Gabrielle said vehemently. "Another God?"

"It’s possible. I’m sure I’m not the only God that has a score to settle with her." He put out a hand to stop her as she turned to walk back in the direction of the village. "Where are you going?"

"To get my things. I’m going to go look for her." Gabrielle pulled herself away.

"I’m coming with you."

"Oh no, you’re not. The last thing I need is your company right now."

"Hey listen Blondie, I’m not exactly begging to be in yours." Ares smiled when he saw her blushed. He added sarcastically, "But I want to find my warrior princess too, and if that means I have to put up with you for a while, so be it."

"He’s right Gabrielle." Cianne stepped out from behind the shadows startling the other two. "I would feel much better if he goes with you."

"Cianne, are you crazy? You think I would be safe with him? He’ll probably try to chop off my head the first chance he gets." Gabrielle looked at Ares in disgust while Ares just rolls his eyes.

"Listen Gabrielle, you said so yourself it isn’t safe out there for any of us, and that includes you." Cianne looked at Ares and he smiled at her flirtatiously while she couldn’t help but smile back. Gabrielle saw the exchange of smiles and turned away in disgust.

"Yeah Blondie, better to stick with me than to get your head chopped off by some centaur."

"Forget it Ares, you are not coming with me."

Cianne stepped in between the two before Ares had a chance to form a reply. "Don’t let this become personal Gabrielle. You know that he can help you in locating Xena and help you stay alive."

"Whether you like it or not, you need me Gabrielle." Ares added smugly.

Gabrielle had to stop herself from slapping him. "For the last time, you ARE NOT coming with me!"

Cianne watched the two rode off still arguing. She sighed and hoped that she did the right thing by insisting that Gabrielle let Ares tag along.

Ares rode behind Gabrielle fuming. First she smart mouth him then told him to shut up, and now she’s totally ignoring him. He almost threw a fireball at her when she told him to shut up, but was now glad that he didn’t. It would be a real shame to leave a mark on that perfect back of hers. He pulled himself together and looked ahead instead of staring at her back. In a way he understood her frustration. He knew that he isn’t exactly her favorite person. But if she thought for even a second that he would let her go galloping around on her own looking for his warrior princess, then she needs to think again.

Gabrielle rode on keeping her eyes open to any clues left by Xena. She had found enough to keep them on the right path. She had to bluff her way through some of the more dubious clues and insisted that Xena left them. After all this is route that Xena would have taken to get home. She wasn’t about to admit to Ares that she has any doubts. She noticed that he had been really quiet and told herself that she was glad. Too bad she couldn’t make him disappear also.

They rode on in silence until Gabrielle spotted the remains of a camp and pulled in her horse. She quickly jumped down and walked toward what was once a campfire. She looked around a little and then picked up a handful of neatly stacked twigs left by the side of the fire. She heard Ares behind her and turned around, "she was here."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked skeptically.

She showed him the twigs. "Look, every one of these are the same size. Xena always breaks them down to the same size. It’s one of her thing."

"If you say so." He managed to sound bored.

"Look Ares, either you help me to figure out where she is or get lost."

"Listen Blondie, don’t get cocky with me." He took a step closer to her.

"And stop calling me Blondie!"

"There are other names that I can think of to call you, but I won’t." He sneered.

All of a sudden Gabrielle realized that standing so close to Ares has a strange affect on her senses. She quickly stepped away from him. She walked away from him without another word. She took a couple breaths to calm down and managed to slow her heart beat back to normal. She looked in all four directions and stepped over to get a closer look on one of the trees.

"Hey take a look at this." She called over to Ares and reluctantly walked over to her.

"What have you found?"

"Look at the mark on this tree." She pointed at the sharp cut. "I think it’s the mark of the chakram."

"You think?" Ares tried not to sound too impressed. He ran his fingers through the mark and had to admit at least to himself that she’s quick and really quite smart. "You could be right. So you think she might have been attacked?"

"I don’t know." Gabrielle sighed. "We both know that something had happened to her. This is only half a day ride from the Amazon Village. If she was attacked here, it means she has been gone missing for a week!" She looked up at him, "could it be the Centaurs?"

"I don’t think so, I would have been able to see them if it were. No, she is with a god. We just need to figure out which one."

"You are right, I just wish I knew where she is right now." She sighed.

"Why don’t we look around and see if we could figure out where she went from here."

Gabrielle took a couple of steps and stopped. "Well, since she didn’t go the Amphipolis, and we came from the south, that leaves only either the east or the north." Using the elimination method, she spoke out loud.

"Since you seems to be on a roll, which way do you think they have gone?"

"If they headed east, it would take them into Athens. I doubted that anyone who had taken Xena would want to pass through a big town like that. It would simply draw too much attention and we would have heard about it by now."

"So we head north, into the mountains." Ares looked in that general direction. "It does make sense, anyone foolish enough to abduct Xena would definitely need to find a place to hide."

Dusk was fast approaching and still Gabrielle rode on. Ares knew she was trying to delay having to set up camp. Finally Gabrielle pulled in her horse. Much as she loved to just keep riding until they find Xena, she knew it was too dangerous to continue into the night.

"I know you don’t need to sleep, but I do." Gabrielle led her horse over to some grass and released the reins. "You are welcome to go away and come back tomorrow." She added hopefully.

Ares smiled, "I think I’ll stick around."

"Whatever!"

Ares watched her in amusement as she pulled out her bedroll. She looked up and said quietly, "if you have nothing better to do, why don’t you start a fire or go scout around for some food?"

Ares chuckled and waved his hand. Gabrielle felt the warmth of the fire and the smell of food made her take notice of her hunger. She muttered under her breath, "at least you are good for something."

Ares laughed out loud, "I’m good at a lot of things Gabrielle. I’ll show them to you if you like." He added suggestively.

Gabrielle blushed but refused to back down, "I don’t think you have anything to show me that’s worth seeing."

Ares laughed even harder, "not even you are that naive." She ducked her head down even further but not before he caught a glimpse of her wildly flushed cheeks.

"Stop baiting me Ares. This isn’t helping Xena." She said, hoping to get him to talk about something else.

"You are right." He was still watching her and was amused at how easily she blushes. He never thought of shyness as a virtue, but on her, it was actually very becoming. He also had to admit to himself that he likes the notion that he was able to keep her off balance. "Go ahead and eat, then get some sleep. Tomorrow will most likely be another long day."

It was the birds chirping that woke Gabrielle. She pushed her hair off her face and sat up reluctantly. Still half asleep, she looked around and became instantly awake when she spotted the God of War sitting across the fire just staring at her. "Good morning. Xena wasn’t lying about you was she? You really do like to sleep."

"It’s what we mortals do." She muttered as she got out of her bedroll after making sure that her clothes were not tangled up. She walked over to the bucket of water left over from the night before and dipped her hands in, scooping up some water with her palms, she quickly washed her face. She turned around and saw that he was still watching her. "Do you mind?"

Ares shrugged, "it’s a novelty to see what a mortal does in the morning. Unlike some women, you actually don’t look half bad first thing in the morning."

Gabrielle gave him an impatient look, but her impatience quickly turned to one of delight when she smelled the aroma of breakfast. Having a god with her certainly has its advantages. Scrambled egg is definitely better than the cold hard bread that she and Xena normally shared for breakfast. She flashed him a radiant smile, and Ares was glad that he was sitting down, for surely the radiance of it would have knocked him off his feet. Damn, if only she knew the powers that she has just with that smile alone. He would have gone and jumped off a cliff had she asked him to at that moment.

Totally unaware of the affect that she was having on the god, Gabrielle sat down to enjoy her breakfast. When she was finished, "do you have any luck locating her today?"

Ares closed his eyes for a brief moment, "no, if she was taken by a god, he is obviously still with her."

"O.k., I guess we better get going." She said as she threw some water on the fire and then repacked the rest of her stuffs into her saddlebag as Ares watched. "How do you mortals deal with these tedious tasks?"

"Because we are mortals Ares, you should spend a day or two living like one. You might learn to appreciate us more." She shrugged.

"Maybe I will, it will be interesting if nothing else." He looked at her thoughtfully for a brief moment, "tell you what, I’ll live like a mortal for a few days and see what the big deal is."

"Huh?"

"Like I said, I won’t depend on my powers. I’ll do things the mortal way." At her bemused expression, "I thought that’s what you wanted me to do, so that I might learn to appreciate the mortals."

"Forget it Ares, you wouldn’t last 2 minutes as a mortal." Gabrielle said dismissingly.

"Wanna bet?"

"Bet on what? Let me guess, if you win, I’ll leave Xena right?"

"Well, that thought did cross my mind."

"And what do I get if I win?"

"How about if I leave Xena alone?"

Gabrielle started to shake her head, "what’s the matter Blondie, not so sure that you can win, can you?" He goaded.

"Oh I will win, but I don’t have time to play games right now. I do have other things to tend to."

"What does finding Xena have to do with this? I’m just suggesting a little bet. It’s not going to interfere with we have to do, but then of course, if you are afraid of losing…"

She cut him off. "Fine, you got yourself a deal. No tricks until…how about say until we find Xena?"

"Agreed."

"Good, we’ll see just how long you can last. I’ll like to see you just get pass the morning without resorting to using your powers."

As the morning wore on, Ares had to admit that it was getting harder and harder not to use his god given ability. On several occasions he had to pull himself back at the very last minute. And it was doubly hard because Gabrielle had been trying to trick him into using it. Like when she had asked him to get the fire going so that she could make lunch; having never actually started a fire the mortal way before, he was so frustrated that he almost lost it. Or when the little vixen asked him to wash the dishes after lunch, it didn’t help that he had never touched a filthy utensil before. But he managed to Gabrielle disappointment. It was actually getting fun just to see what the little bard will come up with next.

By now Gabrielle was getting desperate, after all she did promise to leave Xena if he manages to stay like a mortal for the duration of this little trip. That isn’t something that he will let her back out of. The only good news of the day was that she managed to find the track that she hoped would lead them to Xena. They are traveling further away from the main road and more toward the mountains. When they came across the river, she hoped that he would have forgotten his promise and just zaps them across, but instead he had made them walked down stream until they came across a bridge. She sighed, as this rate, she might as well say good bye to her friend now.

Ares watched the sulky expression that passed her face when he refused to take the bait. He’s finding it easier and easier to act like a mortal and not dependent upon his powers. When they came across some wild grass, he had instinctively used his sword to open up a passageway; the thought of using his powers didn’t even cross his mind. It might have been hard work, but the expression on the face was worth all the sweat and inconvenience.

When it came time to set up camp for the night, he had left her and came back with a couple of fish. She had accused him of using his power to catch them, but he had shown her the fishing pole that he had made out of some branches. She had grudgingly accepted that explanation. He watched as she cooked the fish over the open fire and even offered to help at one point. By now Gabrielle was a little afraid of the ease in which he does things the mortal way.

After dinner, she didn’t even try to trick him any more; instead she quickly washed the utensils and put them away. She turned to him, "look, I don’t care what you do, but I’m going to get some sleep."

"I think I will too since I’m now playing mortal. Where’s my bedroll?" Ares raised his eyebrow at her look of pure mischief.

"I’m sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all, "but I don’t carry extra bedrolls." She told him with great delight. "I’m afraid you’ll just have to sleep on the ground without it. I hope it doesn’t get too cold tonight."

Ares grimaced. Sleep on the ground when he had never slept on anything other than the most comfortable of beds? "Umm…Gabrielle, how about sharing?"

"Forget it Ares." She didn’t even glance at him as she slipped into her own bedroll. "Just a word of warning, don’t sleep too close to fire. Good night."

While Gabrielle slept through the night, Ares was not so fortunate. He tried, but the ground was too hard, and it was freezing when the temperature dropped. The thought of her in her nice, warm bedroll was very tempting, but knowing that he’ll probably get slapped for his trouble kept him away. He spent an uncomfortable night twisting and turning only to find himself sore and bad tempered when the sun finally rises. It didn’t help to know that SHE, on the other hand, slept like a baby all night long.

They continued their journey after breaking camp. While Ares continued to scowl, Gabrielle was humming softly to herself. But Ares’ temper cooled as the morning wore on, and soon he was bragging to the bard about how easy it was to live like a mortal, and what an adventure it was to sleep by the campfire. Gabrielle got so sick of hearing it, she once again told him to shut up. This time the only response she got was his amused laughter.

As the day went by, Gabrielle was amazed at the different aspects she’s starting to discover on her companion. He’s irresistible when he turns on the charms. She found herself laughing at his tales, stories from long ago, places that no longer exist, adventures that she had only ever dreamt about. He painted such an amusing and vivid picture that he actually put her bardic ability to shame! But best of all, he listens when she speaks. Time and time again, she had remind herself that he’s here with her because of Xena, and not because of her.

The track became easier and easier to follow as Gabrielle had determined that there were only two sets of hoof prints. The roads were getting narrower as they made their way up the winding road leading up to the mountains. Finally toward nightfall it was the sound of horses that lead them to the entrance of a cave. Argo whined on seeing Gabrielle, but she quickly hushed him. The other horse she did not recognize. She motioned Ares to follow her, he quietly got off his horse and came forward, but instead of following her, he pushed her behind him and creep toward the entrance.

Torches lighted the inside of the cave. In the dim light they can see two entwined bodies deep in sleep. Gabrielle immediately recognized the ebony head of her friend, but it took her a while to figure out that the other head belonged to yet another friend. Her relief at finding her friend unharmed quickly turned to one of concern as she remembered the person standing besides her. Afraid of what he might do, she whipped her head around and looked at Ares only to find him shaking his head with amusement. Before she could say a word, he pulled her out of the cave with him.

"My little brother, no wonder I couldn’t sense them." He was still laughing.

"Don’t you care? I mean, aren’t you mad or something?" Gabrielle questioned.

"I suppose I should be, but somehow I’m not." He shrugged.

"I guess acting like a mortal must have affected your brains as well. I thought you were going to kill them there for a moment."

"And what good would that have done?"

"None, but you never needed a reason before."

"I’m not allowed to kill Hercules, remember? Zeus’ order?"

"Oh right, but still, it’s not like you to do nothing. Aren’t you…well…jealous?" Curiosity got the better of her even though she knew she should just leave things alone.

"Why should I?" He watched her carefully; "it’s not like it was you in there."

"Very funny!" Gabrielle muttered even as her heart started to beat at double the normal rate. ‘Don’t read anything into this. He’s just baiting you.’

"Let’s find a place to stay for the rest of the night, and you can go say good-bye to Xena in the morning." He said as he started to walk away from the cave.

"Right, say good-bye to Xena…hey…" She stopped.

"A deal is a deal. You can’t talk your way out of this." He turned around and smiled at her, "after all, I’ve kept my part of the bargain. I won, you lost."

"Ares, please…you know…I can’t leave her."

"Come on Gabrielle, let’s face it, do you honestly think that Hercules would want you to tag along with them? Do you really want to stick around and be a third wheel?" He asked.

"Well…I…we…we don’t know anything right now. I mean…we don’t even know if this is…well…permanent." She stammered.

He shook his head and laughed at her, " you and I both know that those two will eventually end up together. Even if it doesn’t happen today, it will some day."

She stared at him in confusion. There’s so much about this god that confuses her, "Ares, I don’t get it. I was prepared for your rage, but this…accepting the situation…what is this?"

"Let’s just say that it’s a lot easier to accept this ‘situation’ when I have someone else on my mind." Her heart stopped when he flashed her a smile that can stop traffic.

"Ares…"

"Yes Gabrielle?"

"I…umm…I…"

"You know Gabrielle, you’ll like Mount Olympus. You don’t have to be afraid of the other gods. I’ll make sure they all leave you alone. I’ll even let you redecorate."

"Ares?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Yes, yes, I think you do."

"Oh alright, my little irritating amazon queen, come along and listen." He said softy as he led her away from the caves.

Fin