Fallen Star
Disclaimers: Voyager and Xena belong to Paramount and Universal respectively. I'm not making money out of this - just having some fun with the characters.. This story contains love between women so if that offends you or it's illegal where you live, go read something else (or move). There's also angst and some violence.
Feedback: is welcome at [email protected]
SPOILER WARNING: You might want to skip this if you haven’t seen the Xena finale.
I’m dedicating this one to Jean for being the best beta reader – couldn’t have done this without you, thanks. :) I'd also like to thank Sonja for the ever so pretty graphic.
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Part 6
A dark plume of smoke rose up from the valley below, and a sense of foreboding filled me. Were we too late? I wrapped my arms around Xena's torso more tightly, needing to feel comforted. She must have sensed my distress because she squeezed my hand gently before nudging Argo into a gallop. I prayed to whatever gods were out there that we would get there in time.
As we drew nearer, we could see the armed men surrounding a small hut. I realized that they must have fired burning arrows in an attempt to smoke B'Elanna and Seven out. I watched as several of the attackers dropped, injured by the strange weapon B'Elanna held. She and Seven were at the front of their hut, standing side by side, defending themselves bravely against over fifty bounty hunters. We continued to travel closer to the women as they fought a desperate battle. My eyes widened as I saw archers beginning to redraw their bows and aimed them at our friends. Xena snatched her Chakram up and let it fly - it destroyed most of their bows. One however, managed to fly true and struck B'Elanna's shoulder. She cried out and dropped her weapon, falling to her knees. The horde of attackers took advantage of their weakened defense and immediately swarmed over the two women.
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A right hook caught B'Elanna on the jaw, sending her reeling backwards. She let out a roar, and head-butted the man who had hit her, causing him to drop like a stone, then idly thanked her Klingon heritage for her hard skull. She shook her head to clear it, then charged a man who was grappling with Seven, knocking him aside. B'Elanna's ribs were aching and a deep gash on her thigh made it hard to dodge attacks. It was increasingly difficult to focus, and she was beginning to feel dizzy from loss of blood. Her phaser had run out of charges after a few minutes, and she'd discarded the useless weapon. She saw a swords-woman come at her from the right, and quickly grabbed up a discarded sword, parrying the overhead blow with it. The heavy sword felt unfamiliar and unwieldy in her hand and she barely blocked her opponent's next thrust. From the corner of her eye, she saw three men surround Seven, one of them armed with a large, painful looking, cudgel. She roared again, slicing her sword into the woman with new determination. Blood red rage clouded her eyes and she snarled, fighting to reach Seven. How dare they hurt her beloved!
Seven had backed up against the wall of the hut, she'd taken down a fair number of the attackers but there were too many - they just kept coming. Her breath came in short gasps, and Seven felt her left hand twitching, it had become harder to control it as the battle progressed. She was utterly exhausted and felt defeat staring her in the eye as leering faces surrounded her.
"You killed my friend, bitch. You'll pay for that." The man smashed his cudgel into her leg. Seven screamed in pain. Another man grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the ground while the other two kicked her, aiming cruelly for the kidneys. Seven clenched her teeth as the blows rained down upon her, waiting for her opportunity. It came - drawing upon her last reserves of strength, she flipped up and quickly applied the Vulcan nerve pinch to one opponent. It was followed by a strong roundhouse kick that shattered the skull of another. The third man took one look at her cold, ice blue eyes and opted for retreat - he ran straight into B'Elanna's fist.
Seven watched, horrified, as an arrow slam into B'Elanna's shoulder, causing her beloved to cry out and drop to her knees. Bright colours burst inside her head as a painful blow from behind knocked her down at the same time. She was paralyzed - frantically, she tried to get to her feet and reach B'Elanna - but others held her down. She could do nothing but watch as a man approached the fallen half Klingon, walking with an arrogant gait. Apparently, he was the leader of this group who had spoken to them earlier. He grabbed a handful of B'Elanna's dark brown hair, damp with sweat and blood and pressed his sword to her throat.
"I've lost many men to you."
Despite her vulnerable state, she glared back defiantly at him.
"You do not fight like a woman... and you're not an Amazon." Jerking her head up, he examined her forehead ridges, running his thumb over them. His eyes narrowed, "What are you?"
Silence.
He twisted the arrow in her shoulder, causing her to grit her teeth. To her annoyance, a whimper escaped from her lips. Seven thrashed while her oppressors held her down.
"B'Elanna!" The borg's eyes were filled with fury, but her body was just too weak to obey her commands.
"Answer me. Or do you want me to... interrogate... your blonde companion?"
"I'm a Klingon, P'taQ!" She spat in his face.
He cocked his head, unsure what to make of the answer. "No matter, in a few minutes you'll be nothing but carrion meat." He lifted his blade, enjoying the look of terror in Seven's eyes. "I'll give you a clean death because you fought well. Blondes are rare in these parts though..." he paused, then added almost regretfully, "I'll have to give your girlfriend to my boys. They've earned it."
B'Elanna snarled, "No! Damn you, bastards!" She struggled against her captors.
"Sorry, Klingon, nothing I can do about it." He smiled at her, then raised his sword for the killing blow. B'Elanna closed her eyes, awaiting her death.
"Stop." The command came unexpectedly and the man pulled his blow in reflex to a familiar voice he had once obeyed without question, years ago.
All heads turned to the intruder.
"Xena." He stared at her as if he'd seen a ghost.
A smile played upon her lips. "Dakkon." She greeted him.
"I have my own army now, Xena." He turned to point his sword at her, "I don't need you, get out of here. This is my business."
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong." She casually walked towards him, like a hunter stalking her prey. "This is very much my business." She purred in a dangerously low voice.
B'Elanna had almost fainted with relief at the welcome sound of Xena's voice; she could now smell the man's fear. Gone was the cool, condescending victor - his stance was defensive, and she could see how nervous he was as he faced the warrior princess.
"Stay back!" He thrust his sword towards her, trying to keep the lethal woman at bay. "Damn you, Xena." He growled, "Don't come any closer..."
"Or what, Dakkon?" She said pleasantly, "You never could lay a hand on me..." Her voice turned icy cold, "Except that last day, when I ran the gauntlet."
"I didn't want to do that." He said desperately, "They would have killed me too if I didn't."
"You know how I feel about betrayal, Dakkon." She took a step closer. "Do you remember what I used to do to deserters?"
He visibly paled. "I didn't betray you."
"Oh, didn't you?"
"No." He choked out; "I left! I left right after you did... I couldn't stay with them anymore after that."
"Really?" She asked in a sarcastic tone, "So... you left my army after helping them beat the living daylights out of me, and now you've taken up a new job - killing my friends." She drew her sword. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't gut you right here."
"I... I didn't know they were your friends." He swallowed, unable to meet her eyes. "I apologize, Xena." He said softly.
Somehow, B'Elanna knew that they weren't talking about her. She wondered what kind of history Xena and this man had.
"Get out of here." She growled.
Everything was silent as the two figures stood metres away from each other, eyes locked as if in some sort of contest. Finally, Dakkon dropped his eyes, snapped out "Yes, Sir" and saluted smartly before ordering his men to withdraw. There were a few grumbles, but nobody dared to defy his orders openly - no one wanted to cross the warrior princess.
As the last of the men left, Gabrielle stepped out from behind the trees leading Xena's horse, Argo. She helped Seven shakily stand up while Xena supported B'Elanna, and the four women returned to the shelter of the somewhat blackened hut.
"Thanks for helping us out-" B'Elanna was cut short by Xena stuffing a leather cloth into her mouth. She gave the warrior a questioning look.
"You may not want to thank me after I finish getting this arrow out." Grinned the warrior wryly.
The half Klingon nodded and tensed in anticipation for what she knew would be a painful session. To Xena's credit, it was done quickly and skillfully with a minimum amount of discomfort. She broke the shaft with a quick snap, and pushed it out of B'Elanna's shoulder smoothly. Despite Xena's skill, however, by the end of it B'Elanna was looking pale and was drenched in sweat.
"Seven?"
"I am here Lana." She answered in an unsteady voice. They'd forgotten about Seven in the process of treating B'Elanna's more serious wound.
The half Klingon strained her head to look at the borg. "Seven? Are you okay?" Concern filled her voice as she berated herself for not making sure Seven was all right.
"I am functionally within ade-" Seven began waveringly, she paused, a confused expression on her face before she slumped to the floor.