Within a few steps down the corridor from Nebula's chambers Gabrielle found one of the labyrinth entrances and headed through the small, dank tunnel toward the dungeon, emerging on the steps a few feet above the lower room. The Guards who stood outside the door silently allowed her passage. Maybe it was because she was the Queen's Guard; probably it was because of the expression on her face. In any case, they opened the heavy door and let her inside.

That surge again. Moving entirely on instinct, she passed by three of the small cells on one side and stopped at the fourth, peering through the bars. There was something on the floor. Someone? Sinking to her knees to get a better look, she called softly without knowing if she wanted an answer. "Joxer?"

No answer. It's not him, it's not a person, it's a trick of the light, she told herself and she reached through the bars, felt cloth and flesh. "Joxer."

"Gabrielle?" He didn't move, and his voice was almost a whisper.

"Yes. Yes, it's me. Joxer, what happened, what did you--"

"Shhhhh." He shifted slowly. "Be quiet, they think I..." He pushed himself onto his knees and staggered to the bars. "They don't want me talking, they tried..." Gabrielle's fingers had already found the bloody lump on his temple, and her breath caught in a hiss. "M'afraid if I let them know I'm 'wake they'll...Gabby, I'm sorry."

"Shh."

"I'm sorry. I let him go."

"I heard."

"He didn't do it, Gab. He..." Joxer had to stop and catch his breath, and Gabrielle held his face in her hands for a long moment. He couldn't pass out. He had to tell her everything, and she'd somehow, somehow, convince Nebula not to do anything rash, somehow calm Suleiman down, somehow...

Somehow she had to get him the fuck out of here, was what. "Joxer," she said softly. "Play dead for a couple more minutes, okay? Don't move until I tell you it's all right."

He nodded and curled back up on the floor. Gabrielle stood up. She went to the door, and knocked. The guards checked through the window, to make sure she was alone, and let her out of the cell area. "Thank you," Gabrielle said, pulled a sai, and in two smooth motions hit first one guard and then the other at the base of the neck with its handle. The guards dropped, one, two, and Gabrielle resheathed the weapon. This nerve cluster thing of Xena's really came in handy sometimes.

She dragged the guards inside the jail area, allowing the door to lock behind her as she did so. She unlocked one of the large cells, dragged them inside, tied them to the benches and gagged them, and locked the cell behind her. She went to Joxer's cell, fumbled with one key after another until the door gave way, then threw the keys between the bars of another cell where they fell into the rushes and disappeared from view. Joxer had remained obediently still through all this--at least she hoped it was obedience--and she knelt by him and shook his shoulder gently. "Joxer? All clear."

He pushed himself up slowly, shaking his head. He wasn't in good shape--that was a nasty bump, and even in the dim light she could see other bruises. But he was moving. "Gabrielle? What--"

"I'm getting you out of here. Come on." She slipped his arm around her shoulder and hauled him to his feet, while he protested weakly, "No. You'll get into trouble, they'll think you were in on it too, they..."

"In on what? Xena and I know you're not in any stupid assassin conspiracy, and I think Nebula knows too, or will once she's calmed down. In the meantime--" In the meantime she hadn't thought anything through beyond the fact that she had to get Joxer away, before some "accident" happened to prevent him from ever giving his side of the story. "In the meantime, we'll get out of here through the labyrinth, get word to Xena somehow, and... and we'll get through this. Don't worry." She led him not to the door but to the very end of the line of cells. There was a small alcove on the left with an entrance to the passageways. "Duck," she said and they stumbled under the low sill into the tiny, dank tunnel. It was a little narrow for two people, and definitely too short for Joxer. "You know where we're going, I hope," he muttered.

"They don't use this one a lot. It's too small."

"Tell me about it--ow!"

"Watch your head."

"Oh, thanks. Gabrielle, I've gotta talk to you, I think I know--"

"And stop talking. Save your strength." Gabrielle was panting herself. The air was close and stale, and Joxer was not a light burden. Even if he could move entirely on his own, the passage was too small for him to be able to do so without the two of them spreading out, and in the dark he could easily miss a turn and wind up down a side tunnel.

"Gabrielle, this's 'mportant."

"Shut up, darn it. In a little bit we'll get to one of the Guard tunnels. They're bigger, and lighted--and we can get pretty much anywhere from there, including down to the waterfront or out beyond the city walls." Assuming Joxer could make it that far. Damn. Gabrielle tried to think of some way they could get him to Xena without being discovered; but once it was found he'd escaped, they'd have Xena under guard. And Xena would not like that, not one little bit. Or maybe... Light up ahead. "Here," she said, relieved. "Hang on, a few more steps, and..."

And they emerged, blinking, into the large tunnel. It was wide enough for four Guards to move abreast, and the torches along the wall were kept lit. "They've got to use this one a lot," Joxer said. He'd more or less stood, although still leaning on her, but he was becoming more alert and studying the surroundings. Good. They were going to need all the help they could get. Gabrielle went over the layout in her mind, and realized they were almost directly below the royal chambers. She looked at the ceiling, wishing she'd learned some of those shaman things Xena did. Xena, she thought as hard as she could. Here we are, come and get us. Here Xena. Nice Xena... Nope, that wasn't going to work. Darn. "This way," she said and turned to the left. The tunnel floor sloped slightly upward and seemed to end, but as they approached they could see it actually turned sharply right, sloping downward once more. Gabrielle paused. She knew the route, but sneaking out of tricky places was Joxer's specialty. "Where do you think we should go from here?" she asked. "Any suggestions?"

"I--" Joxer began and suddenly tensed, staring at the bend in the passageway. Gabrielle followed his gaze without knowing why at first, and then Suleiman stepped into view.

He was alone, without the Guard, and Gabrielle breathed a cautious sigh of relief. "Suleiman."

"Stand aside, little one."

"Suleiman, you know Joxer has nothing to do with any damn conspiracy. And if he's right about Khalil, the real assassin's still at large, we need to--"

Joxer said softly, "There never was an assassin." He stood up fully and let go of Gabrielle, moving away from her and never taking his eyes off Suleiman. "Was there?"

"Of course there was," Suleiman said. He held his sword at the ready and did not lower it. "You miss the point, outlander."

"No, I don't," Joxer said. Gabrielle looked from one to the other, slowly catching up to the conversation and hating every step of the way. "Who'd benefit from Nebula being killed? Not Khalil, because everyone would know he was the assassin since it was his dagger, and a traitor wouldn't be allowed to take the throne. Not Hassim, because he was already banished. And the entire Lion House is disgraced from being associated with them, so the next ruler couldn't come from there." Joxer continued to move over to the side, drawing Suleiman's attention away from Gabrielle. "The only people who could benefit would be one of the other Houses with a claim to the throne. The Bull House, or--"

"The Leopard House," Gabrielle found herself saying. It didn't make sense. The words were there, the logic was there, but it didn't make sense. "No. That can't be. Suleiman, you wouldn't--"

"I would not," the Guard said quietly, with immense dignity. "I am sworn to protect the Queen at all costs. I would die myself before allowing her to come to the slightest harm. You understand some, softskin," he said with a nod at Joxer, "but not all. Nebula was never a target. The target was actually Hassim." He turned now to look at Gabrielle. "It would remove the contenders for the throne, but I had also intended it as a gift for you, little one. To have revenge upon the man who used your friend so foully."

"You tried to kill Hassim." The world did not make a whole lot of sense all of a sudden, and Gabrielle found herself reaching for her sai.

"Hassim would be dead," Joxer said, "Khalil disgraced, and Nebula has no heirs. So if she never married, the throne would pass to--"

"To Kwame." Suleiman sighed. "I had hoped to avoid this, little one, but as all warriors must, we have to face our fates. Mine is to die knowing that my son and my House will gain the throne. Yours is to die knowing you have helped this to happen. I am sorry," he said and he sounded like he meant it. "I shall make this quick."

He moved suddenly, with that speed that always took Gabrielle by surprise--but as fast as he moved, Joxer moved faster. He charged Suleiman silently, ferociously, without weapon or strategy, smashing headlong into him in a clumsy tackle and driving the Sumerian back. And Suleiman hadn't been expecting it. He stumbled backwards, looking almost surprised, and the two men grappled for a moment, almost losing their footing--and then the sword moved too fast to follow and the torchlight flashed brightly off the blade, a spray of blood glistened in the light, and the Guard shoved Joxer aside as he would toss away a used rag. Joxer fell against the wall, arms clamped over his abdomen, and slid to the floor.

Gabrielle screamed. Like an hunting hawk, like an stooping eagle, and she threw herself at Suleiman without any thought beyond burying her sai in him up to their hilts. He stepped easily aside from her charge and swung at her as she went by, and she barely came to herself in time to turn away from the blade and jump outside its range--almost. The tip of the sword left a deep cut in her cheek, and she tasted blood in her mouth. Control, she thought. Maintain control. A warrior has to maintain control...Suleiman came in again, and she barely blocked the strike in time, so hard and fast the shock numbed her right wrist and she nearly dropped the sai. He kept coming, not giving her time to catch her breath, and she kept circling, keeping herself from being backed against the wall, fighting for a control she couldn't muster. If she let him push her into the narrower part of the corridor, or over the raised part and into the downward-sloping tight corner, it would all be over. Focus, damn it. Focus. She couldn't concentrate on what was happening, ducking and dodging by rote, her mind and body wanting to take over and needing to be fought down, controlled. Focus. A swing at her side, and instinctively she moved to avoid it--and slammed herself into the wall.

Idiot! She'd lost too much ground. Nowhere to retreat now. Almost weeping with fury at herself, she turned another strike. She'd blown it. Blown it because she couldn't focus the way a warrior should, couldn't drive down her emotions, didn't have enough control. She would die, and Xena would grieve herself to death, and Joxer--Suleiman swung directly down at her head, taking advantage of his height and reach, and she held out her arms and crossed the sai and caught the sword between them, as she had done in all those practices, and it was over. She'd lost. Just like in all those practices Suleiman would withdraw the sword and come around underneath and she wouldn't be able to stop him, and...

Joxer.

She'd been doing as everyone said, holding in, holding back, and it hadn't worked with Joxer, had it? It was allowing herself to feel that had saved him, both of them, in the garden. It was allowing herself to be mad, to be angry, to be.. to be Gabrielle.

And suddenly everything in her surged together all at once. She stopped fighting the rage and the grief that had been making her legs shake and her mind whirl and let it wash over her, carrying her along like a wave. It all rolled up from the pit of her belly, smooth and unstoppable and she flowed with it. All of her, mind, spirit, body, alike was a single wave of water, liquid, ungraspable, and in that fraction of a second when Suleiman started to withdraw the sword she pushed one sai farther up the blade and twisted it in an easy, smooth motion so that the blade was momentarily trapped in the sai's handle-guard and interrupted his move.

It was very easy. Suleiman was surprised and outbalanced, and although the sword was stilled he himself kept moving forward. All she had to do was to ease the sword out wide to one side and hold the other sai up and out with her good hand and let him run himself onto it. Then there was a small blank space in which she seemed to stop thinking until the weight and the blood running down her arm brought her back to herself. She pushed the body to the side where it fell heavily against the floor, and stood still a moment, panting, feeling the burning in her arms and shoulders and back. There was blood all over her arm and hand, and it was sticky. Gross, she thought mildly, and started wiping the sai on the tail of her shirt. She had to clean it. Suleiman said you always had to clean your weapons after a fight. It cleared the mind.

"Gabrielle," Joxer gasped. He had pushed himself to his feet, leaning against the wall, one arm still clamped across his belly, the other reaching for her. "Are you..."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." The cut on her cheek suddenly stung like fire. She wiped the blood away. "It's nothing."

"I mean..." Joxer looked at Suleiman.

"I..." She followed his gaze to the body, and her gut knotted. This was just never easy, never, no matter what Xena said, and later she'd have to--"I, I don't know. I will be, though. I..." And Joxer understood. She knew he understood, and she was more grateful than she could say. He took a shaky step toward her and they pulled each other into a careful hug. "Joxer, thank you," she said numbly, unable to put it all into words. She buried her face against his chest for a moment, then mentally shook herself and pulled gently at his arm. "We'll talk later. First we have to get that tied up, and then we have to get you out of here."

He allowed her to pry aside the arm. The sword had slit the skin almost all the way across his belly, the cut bleeding fiercely, but the blousy shirt had hidden the actual contour of his body and the blade had never gone deep enough to cut into the gut itself. Gabrielle almost wept with relief. "It's not that bad," she said. "Here, I'll..." She took off her shirt and bound it firmly around him. "You'll be okay," she said. "As soon as we get to Xena and Nebula, we'll..."

She stiffened, without knowing why at first. Joxer looked away from her, down the darkened passageway, and then she realized he heard what she did: guards approaching. More than one. Approaching to find them there with Suleiman dead at their feet.

The sound reverberated faintly in the empty halls. "Well," Joxer said abruptly, his voice shockingly normal, "that's it, then." He pushed himself away from her and stumbled to Suleiman's body, falling to his knees beside it. "Sword," he muttered, prying the corpse's fingers away from its hilt.

Die with a sword in his hand, like the warrior he always wanted to be, like the hero he always had been. "Joxer," she said softly.

He stood up slowly, wincing. "Maybe they'll think I did it," he said. "Maybe they'll think you had nothing to do with it, let you go…" He was unable to put even a little bit of conviction into the words, and his voice trailed off.

"Joxer, I have to talk to you."

"Oh, not now, Gabrielle." He moved in front of her, facing the bend in the passageway. The sounds were louder.

"Yes, now. I don't want to go off dying again without letting you know."

That got his attention, as she'd known it would. He turned to face her, his expression unreadable.

"I love you," she said. She stood on her toes and pulled his face gently down to hers. "I'm in love with you. I just wanted you to know." She kissed him lightly, trying to put everything she was feeling into that brief contact. "Now then," she said brightly, "let's fight our way out of the dungeons and make a miraculous escape."

There would be no miracle. He looked into her eyes, his own eyes alight with the same whirl of emotions she'd had in her kiss, and touched her cheek briefly. It stirred a small memory which died before it reached the light and, unable to look at each other any more, they turned away to stand side by side and await the guards. The footsteps grew closer as the guards approached the turn. The sound pounded in Gabrielle's ears like the beat of her own heart, louder, louder...and a voice commanded, "Stand where you are."

The Guard came into view. A full dozen of them, at the ready, and leading them was the still-feared, still-fabled Xena, and alongside her Nebula, the Pirate Queen of Sumeria. The two women held their swords at the ready, took in the scene, looked at Gabrielle and Joxer with matching level, unreadable gazes.

There was silence.

"I can explain," Gabrielle said.

At this everyone started talking at once, the Guards, Nebula, Xena, and Xena almost ran to Gabrielle and was examining the cut on her face, and Nebula was snarling at the Guard as they tried to press forward, and at the same time gasping at the sight of Suleiman's body on the floor, and people were talking in Greek and in Sumerian and in the middle of all of this Gabrielle's attention was for some reason drawn to Joxer, and she saw his eyes roll up and she darted forward to catch him as he slipped to the floor, and her own howl drowned out all the other voices in her ears.