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When In Rome

by Kamouraskan

Disclaimers: Characters from the television show Xena: Warrior Princess are not owned by me, to my regret. This is written purely for enjoyment with no thought to monetary gain.
Post FIN, I guess, though I have kept specific references to a minimum.
Thanks to the members of the Bardic Circle, especially Extra, Jaden, Jess, JFalconer, and as always, Claudia and the great Mary Morgan.

Chapter 14

Gabrielle awoke, aware that something was wrong. Not particularly bad, just… wrong.

Her dreams had been a jumbled cavalcade of memory but eventually her head cleared enough to identify the weight in her arms. She opened her eyes half expecting to see a child or a young Amazon nestled in her arms, but… it was Xena. Certainly, the face was different, rounder, not as angular. And the eyes were closed so those amazing blues were hidden from her, but her body knew the identity. Incredible, she thought. ‘It's real.'

But what was wrong?

Okay, she had a stiff neck and back, probably bad breath, hunger; all human things she was still unused to, and yet there was a delicious sensuousness to them all. She looked down at the apparently sleeping face in her lap and realised. ‘This is the wrong position for us'. She smiled at the idiocy that even after nine hundred years there could be a right or a wrong position. And in their years together, Xena had resisted the concept of anything being their usual way of doing things. But even she had grumpily acknowledged that they had a sleeping position that was best of all, and this, as wonderfully sensuous as it was, wasn't it.

As her head cleared more, she realised, or was it remembered? that the aches in her back and side from their sparring were only temporary, soon to be eased by her body's youth. ‘The brain knows, but the body doesn't', Xena had said. Which had only served to goad Gabrielle into pushing herself further. It wasn't that the body of the Vestal was out of shape, it just wasn't used to using certain muscles, and it was those that were paining her.

She also remembered that it had been at her insistence that Xena lie on top of her, as the warrior's stitched butt was in no condition to take both their weights. And remembered how her shoulders had slipped over to rest on Xena's until their faces were inches apart… and they had kissed. There was no regret she was surprised to realise. It had been inevitable. She touched the memory on her lips with her tongue. She stared at the face nestled deep in her arms and with a rueful shake of her head accepted what her heart had always known. "damn you, Xena," she thought, "because you've certainly damned me. If only I knew I had this same power over you, I could…" what? Accept?

Accept.

That she knew this woman, knew her as well as she knew anything. That knowledge was branded on her soul for the rest of time.
Then as her mind fully cleared she realised with some chagrin that there was no way that Xena could still be asleep if she, Gabrielle, had awakened. She reached over to lightly tap the forehead in her lap. Immediately the blue eyes unshuttered and the full lips creased into a grin.

"'bout time," Xena said with a smirk.

Afraid that she had been caught with her thoughts still in her eyes, Gabrielle adopted a light tone. "Good evening to you too. Sorry you were suffering there." She made to shove Xena's head off, but the long arms captured hers, and she desisted.

"I, ah, didn't wanta move. Comfy. For the first time… in a while."

Gabrielle gave her a loving glare. "Then say that, okay?" The stroking palm along Xena's forehead offset the glare.

"Okay," the warrior said softly.

"And it's not like we're in a rush for our own execution, is it?"

At that curt reminder, Xena began to get up. "Right. People to see, places to die."

Now it was Gabrielle who held on. "Things to decide. How much time do we have? How hard will it be to find the Emperor's flunky?"

Xena returned her head to its owner's lap. "I'd say it's about midnight now. Assuming Aphrodite's directions are right," and at this she made a face, " we should be okay."

"And?"

"We meet up and you talk. You try to explain why they're about to make the biggest mistake of their lives. Make such a good argument that the Emperor's next-in-command is willing to make a decision in the absence of the Emperor. Then if the Fates were right, we have a fight on our hands with an old friend."

"Me talk? You're the one with the up close and personal knowledge now."

Xena stretched over to pick up her sword and examine its newly sharpened edge. "I was never exactly a big fan of Roman leaders, Gabrielle. And the last few lives haven't improved my mood much. Bad enough I'll have to stay in the same room without separating some heads from shoulders. Don't make me argue with them. You wouldn't like the results."

"That's what I figured." Gabrielle muttered to herself. More loudly, she said, "So, break over?" and it wasn't really a question. More firmly, she said, "let's get at that wall, then."

If Xena had heard the earlier muttered comment, she let it pass, and they dressed quickly, ignoring the stiff joints.

Before resting, they'd checked out a final barrier at the top of the stairway, and found that there was a doorway that had been bricked in. Strangely enough, there didn't seem to be any mortar holding the bricks together, and they'd simply removed one brick to assure themselves that it led directly outside. Now they stood behind it again, a little puzzled.

"You don't find this odd?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena gave the loosened brinks an experimental push. "I know. Give the Romans credit, when they build they build to last."

"Exactly. I mean look at this tunnel. Solid. It goes through marshes, up a good sized hill, but no water, no rats. Dry as a bone. All to lead to this?"

Xena continued to examine the structure. "Ya know, I could swear that there used to be mortar, but somehow it's all just disa…"
"Aphrodite," they both realised simultaneously.

"Didn't we just tell her that anytime anything is made easier for us it goes wrong?" Xena groused.

"I love her, but face it. There's the real world, and there's Aphrodite's World," Gabrielle pointed out.

Xena gave the loose bricks another shove. "So, d'you wanna just bust it in?"

Gabrielle looked up at the height of the wall. "I thought we wanted the element of surprise?"

At this point, a pair of curious but bloodshot eyes appeared in the gap they had made. They all looked at each other.

"Decision made." Xena took a deep breath and with a characteristic cry, leapt upwards and kicked down the wall. As the dust cleared, they could see two booted feet sticking out from the pile of rubble.

"Well, he was surprised."

The fresh night air flowed about them as, all business now; they stepped over the bricks and the body, prepared for whoever else was on guard.