Rating: R
Spoilers: The Xena Scrolls
Timeline: Macedonia 1940
Disclaimer: There's no way in Tartarus that I own them, Baby!
Notes: Did I mention that the Xena Scrolls is one of my favorite eps???
Waiting for You
By Alicia
Janice then realized just who she was descended from...Gabrielle...yup, irritating blond.
"Ahh, the heir apparent." Ares dismissed her and shoved her out of his way. He stood above Melinda Pappas, who was slowly turning over, in an attempt to rise.
"It's time, Melinda. Release me and I will regain all of my powers, my godhood." His gaze wandered from the girl, off to the side, his thoughts consumed by his future reign of terror. "If this world thinks it knows death and destruction now, wait 'til they get a load of me! "
The sound of a sword being dragged across the ground caught his attention. He turned to see the most perfect thing in history. The body of Mel Pappas, rising, her hair had fallen free, and was flowing around her slim shoulders, sword in hand and being expertly maneuvered in a way that only Xena could do, while turning to face him.
She faced Ares, carefully removing the glasses from her face and throwing them aside. "Hello, Ares..." She expertly held the sword in front of her, pointing it directly at him .
"I should have known you'd come back..." he murmured, more than a little pleased at the new turn of events.
Xena remembered the two people who were witnessing their reunion, but quickly dismissed them, knowing that to draw attention to them would distract her from her other reason for being there. "It's more of a case of never leaving, Ares. I must say, you're getting rusty in your old age," she smiled in taunt.
His breath caught in his throat. "I saw you die, Xena...the only reason I've been stuck in here, is because the gods could no longer put up with my rage at your death. Thus, the reason for the 'only a descendant of Xena' release clause." Then it occurred to him. "Exactly how did you get me out of here?"
Xena looked over to the man that lay dead, with the knives in his chest, that Ares, himself, had put there. Ares followed her gaze. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!"
She shrugged. "He was too much like his father. Fortunately, it's his mother who is my descendant. But he's served his purpose. You're whole again, a true god. I don't know why the gods did things this way, but I knew that when you were freed, you would be nothing like the Ares I remembered."
"Hah!" he scoffed. "I'm still the God Of War, Xena, and I will thrive in this century. But, tell me, Xena. Why would you, of all mortals...or are you mortal?...free me. I'd be thinking that you would do anything to keep War all tied up in a nice little box, and nicely guarded for all time..."
Xena gave him her superior smile. "First of all, I seriously doubt my mortality. How many times have you seen me die now, Ares? Five...six? And each time, I just get back up again. And secondly, you're not the Ares I remember at all. The god I knew didn't have 'war' at the top of his wish list. It was always 'Xena, Warrior Princess'. I wanted to get you out before you forgot me, entirely, Ares, but I had no descendants. And by the time I did, they didn't want to have anything to do with you, let alone free you."
She was getting to him. Slowly, snatches of memory came to the surface of his mind. Just little things...training around his temples when Gabrielle was away...making love by calm rivers by daylight, laughing together by the campfire as the Bard slept by moonlight.
Each memory took root in his mind as Xena continued speaking. "It took me this long to find a descendant greedy enough to ignore the so-called curses and things to get in here and free you, Ares. Do you know how frustrating it is to have that many generations of selfless, superstitious descendants??? And only one selfish one in the bunch of them."
The night he saw Xena for the last time...the following days where he took out his grief on the people of Greece, starting wars in every major city...until finally, the gods trapped him in the tomb, just to rid the world of a 'human' Ares. They didn't want a God Of War who felt for mortals, even if it was only one. Especially when that kind of deep feeling led to mass destruction...
"And let me tell you something, Ares. If you don't stop being a complete asshole and start being the loving god I fell in love with, I'm going to leave your sorry ass in this tomb and come back in a century or two, so that you can think about it some more...okay?" she ended on a rather desperate note.
Xena had been searching for centuries for the one person who could free the god she loved. Finally, she had him back, but it seemed that she'd have to leave him here for yet another undisclosed period of time so that he could cool off. Xena had been lonely for so long, waiting for the time when she would see him again...feel him again...
"Xena..." he whispered her name gently, as if testing the way it came out, seeing if it really fit as it had once done so nicely. "I haven't forgotten a thing, sweet. Not one precious thing about you..."
Janice interrupted. "Wait...wait..wait...you're telling me that this man...god, I mean, who just killed a member of your family-"
" Distant family..." Xena reminded her forcefully.
Janice ignored the reminder. "Is the love of your life, and you're just gonna take his word that he's all good and all that crap, because you want it that way?" she asked incredulously.
"You're more like the irritating blond than I thought..." Ares murmured in disgust.
But it was Xena who was looking at her as if for the first time. "You really are a descendant of Gabrielle's. Was she always this bad?" she asked Ares without removing her gaze from Janice.
"Oh, yeah! " Ares admitted whole-heartedly. "And worse! She had a habit of getting in our way whenever she was around. By the Gods, I can't believe I was without you for three whole years, because of that irritating sidekick of yours...you just wouldn't let me kill her..."
Xena chuckled as she remember some of the times when Gabrielle had caught she and Ares together. Ares always became frustrated when Xena would start to play the victim, though, even if it was just for appearances sake.
Ares took stock of the gleam in Xena's eyes. She was staring at Janice, who was growing increasingly uncomfortable under her distasteful gaze. "Can I kill her?" Ares asked eagerly.
Xena turned to him. "Do you promise not to interfere with the world in future, Ares?"
He thought about it for a second. "What do I get?"
Xena smirked. "Me..."
He grinned, then raised his right hand. "I do solemnly swear that I won't interfere with this world...only you, sweet..."
Xena kept a straight face as she gestured to Janice. "Then, go ahead..."
Janice paled. Joxer's descendant paled, then collapsed in fright. Ares stared at Janice, then jumped up into the air. "Yes! Finally!!! No more irritating blond...bye, bye, sweetie pie..." he laughed as he directed a sword her way.
Xena pulled out her chakram and threw it at the Eye Of Hephaestus, striking it easily before it returned to her. Ares chuckled as the exit was revealed and picked Xena up and carried her in his arms as they left the tomb.
Never to be seen in the mortal realm again...
The End