Too late!

Too late to help.

Too late to counsel them against doing anything ridiculously heroic.

Too late to back them up when they insisted on risking themselves for the nebulous concept of the 'Greater Good' ... risking themselves for the sake of everyone else ... for the world and all its inhabitants.

Too late to prevent the death of someone he respected, loved and cared for.

Too late!

He'd found the pair he'd been looking for camped in an isolated clearing some distance from the road. The site had all of the amenities: a mountain stream fed lake that no doubt teemed with fish. Surrounding woodland that would provide both game and wood for a fire. Plenty of grass for the horse to feed off of, and approaches that were impossible to traverse in silence.

He'd only managed to find them because he'd detected the smoke from their fire ... the first clue that should have screamed, "Trouble!" at him, because this particular duo were long practised in making themselves inconspicuous in the wilds. It should have been a stone cold certainty that they'd never give themselves away with a smoky fire.

That he'd been able to walk into the camp unchallenged, even though he'd made enough noise to raise the dead, should have been his second clue. The fact that the woman of his dreams hadn't even looked up at him, but had remained in a defeated, slumped position, seated on a log staring sightlessly into the glowing embers of the fire, should have been a really telling piece of the puzzle.

But the clincher should have come when he looked to the dark warrior woman's companion, who was bundled up in a sleeping fur even though it was far from being a cold night, and saw not Gabrielle, but Joxer.

Yet with all the evidence displayed for him, his mind refused to contemplate the notion that the bard was not there. Stopping next to the huddled warrior wanna-be, the King of Thieves stood with his hands on his hips and turned slowly around, intently examining the surrounding undergrowth looking for evidence of the Amazon Queen's hiding place.

"Alright," he fixed a grin on his face, thinking that they were playing some kind of joke on him. "I give up. Where's Gabrielle?"

When he failed to elicit a reply, or any hint of recognition from either of his friends, the insistent nagging feeling that something was very wrong grew more intense. But he was determined, in his own mind, to refuse to believe that anything could have happened to the bard. ~ Xena would never allow that to happen ... would she? ~ he questioned himself unhappily.

The persistent feeling of 'wrongness' forced him to examine the contents of the camp more carefully. His concerned eyes searched for any sign of the missing woman. He hadn't realised that he'd been holding his breath until he released it in an explosive gush of relief as he spied the Amazon staff laying close to where Xena sat. That initial relief was, however, short lived as, try as he may, he could see nothing else belonging to the bard in evidence.

When he had made his desperate journey with Gabrielle and Joxer, as they struggled to avoid Caesar's troops while trying to get to Rome, he had been schooled in the meticulous way that the young woman had set up camp. There was no evidence of her touch here. The area had a disorganised quality about it that would never have been tolerated by the bard. But, more tellingly, there was no sign of her scrolls or any food being prepared over by the fire.

Then, of course, there was the staff. What was it doing laying beside Xena? ~ Gabrielle knows better than to leave camp without it for protection, ~ he reasoned. ~ Besides, Xena would never condone her roaming around on her own without it. ~

For once, the normally brash and self confident thief was unsure what he should do. Neither of the camp's two occupants had acknowledged his presence, making him feel like an intruder into the company of strangers who could neither see nor hear him.

He stood motionless as he watched the raven haired warrior he loved drift ever deeper within herself, so lost amidst her concerns, pain showing unmasked in her limpid blue eyes, that he began to worry for her sanity. With a growing desperation, he tried to think of the best way to bring her back to the present. To do that he needed to find out what had happened to Gabrielle. Maybe then he'd be able to help her.

Knowing all too well that tackling the Warrior Princess head on, physically, mentally or emotionally, was a useless and foolhardy exercise ... and whatever else he was, Autolycus knew that he was anything but a fool. That left just one way of getting the requisite information and insight into the problem ... Joxer!

Not wanting to disturb Xena yet, the King of Thieves bent down and hauled the tag along up by his shirt front. He felt a little guilty about his rough treatment of the other man, but assured himself that a desperate situation was cause for desperate measures.

"H ... Hey ...." Joxer managed to squeak in disoriented surprise before Autolycus slapped his hand over the open mouth of his captive.

Drawing the struggling man forward, the thief whispered urgently, "Shut up, Joxer. I just need to ask you some questions."

Without waiting for the detainee's agreement, Autolycus dragged him away from the fire and into the sheltering screen of trees where, he hoped, he'd be out of range of the dark warrior's normally acute hearing and eyesight.

The wanna-be warrior hadn't put up much of a struggle - a fact that caused the King of Thieves further concern; Joxer never did anything quietly. Even when he'd finally released him, the other man had just stood listlessly before him and stared apathetically back at him. Something was very, very wrong and Autolycus was all too aware that the 'wrongness' was centred around the bard's very obvious absence. The logical part of the master thief's mind screamed the manifestly plain, but intensely unpalatable, answer at him. However, his oft denied but frequently observed, caring, compassionate inner-self refused to entertain the premise of such an appalling thought.

"Okay Joxer," he hissed, noting, even as he did so, the devastation in the other man's eyes, "where's Gabrielle? What's happened to her?"

The sallow looking tag-along warrior, stared blankly back at the King of Thieves. The only indication that he'd heard Autolycus' words had come when he had squeezed his eyes shut at the mention of the bard's name. Upon them opening once more, the thief could see an increase in the pain harboured there.

"Well?" the tall rogue demanded, shaking Joxer roughly, his agitation and fear beginning to spill out into his actions. "Where's Gabrielle?" he demanded.

For a moment, Autolycus was certain that the other man was not going to speak. But, just as he was about to shake him again, the thief detected an almost imperceptible shudder and a further slumping of the shoulders before the hoarsely whispered answer was given. "Gone," came the faint word.

The King of Thieves looked puzzled. ~ What does he mean gone? ~ he questioned himself. ~ Gone? Gone home? Gone to the Amazons? Gone swimming? What in Tartarus does he mean gone!? ~

"Dammit Joxer, what do you mean?" He struggled to keep from yelling at the traumatized man. He watched the normally slack face that was contorted in misery, searching there for the answer to the riddle that had so far eluded him.

It seemed as if the lackluster warrior had drifted back into his own pit of pain, and Autolycus thought he was going to have to get really rough with the other man just to get some kind of answer out of him. He was beginning to lose his temper, and anxiety was intensifying his frustration. He needed to know what had happened, ~ And I need to know NOW! ~ his mind screamed.

He almost missed it when Joxer at last spoke, so quiet were the words, and yet they screamed the very news he didn't want to hear. "She's dead ... Gabrielle's dead."

The King of Thieves didn't consciously tighten his grip, but his knuckles bleached white as they dug into the cloth of the other man's shirt, twisting with a ferocity that made even the listless Joxer take notice. As Autolycus' eyes took on a wild cast driven by the knowledge of the anger, misery and self-accusation that Xena would be heaping upon herself, some semblance of awareness crept back into Joxer's.

"Let go Autolycus!" he yelped.

"What did you say?" demanded the thief who couldn't make his brain accept the information about the bard's death.

"I said, let go," Joxer whined plaintively.

"Not that, dummy," growled Autolycus.

"What?" the ineffectual warrior asked, confused by the conversation.

"What did you say about Gabrielle?" the thief asked in slow measured tones that required much of his self control to utter. He saw the glazed look beginning to form in Joxer's eyes and shook him again, just to make sure he maintained his concentration. "Tell me Joxer!" he demanded.

"She's ... she's ... dead." There was no denying the grief that laced his words as the wannabe warrior apparently faced that fact for the first time.

Autolycus fought the desire to do serious injury to his unhelpful informant. He wanted ... no needed ... more information. "Joxer!" he hissed in frustration, "What happened? ... exactly!" He hated to do this to the other man, but he had a Warrior Princess to be concerned about.

A long shuddering breath was taken before the tale of Gabrielle's death spilled out from between quivering lips. "It was Hope ...."

"Hope?"

"Dahak's daughter ... Gabrielle's child," came the emotionless reply.

"What about her?" demanded the thief, giving Joxer a shake.

"If you'd stop interrupting, I'd tell you," objected the warrior unhappily.

"Just get on with it," growled the rogue.

"Hope was gathering sacrifices to bring her father into the world. Xena had got a dagger with hind's blood on it and was trying to kill her, but if she'd succeeded then she would have died too ... some deal that Ares made with the Fates," Joxer explained unhappily, his voice fading as he remembered the scene all to vividly.

"Gods no," breathed Autolycus, his heart beating wildly with the thought that it could be Xena dead. "What happened?"

"At the last minute ... Gabrielle ... she ... she leapt in and tackled Hope, taking them both into the fiery pit," sobbed Joxer. "I couldn't stop her, Autolycus," he moaned pitifully. "I .. I ... couldn't stop her!"

"Alright! That's enough!" Xena's snarling voice broke in upon the scene. "Let him go Autolycus, and leave him alone."

The King of Thieves turned to look at the woman who'd stolen his heart and almost flinched. The Warrior Princess stood just a few feet away, and her very tangible presence radiated angry menace. A look into her blue eyes revealed a well of grief that was being banked by the hot fires of barely supressed rage. He drew in a deep concerned breath and complied with her wishes, allowing the sobbing Joxer to sink to his knees where he cradled his head in his hands.

"Xena ...." the thief wanted to explain his actions and concerns.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she growled at him as she moved forward and lifted a limp Joxer into her strong arms. She threw a black scowl at the rogue before carrying her burden back to the fire, where she wrapped him up in the sleeping furs once more.

Autolycus followed behind her trying to formulate an answer to her question. As she folded Joxer into the covers he said, "I heard you and Ga ... er that is ... I heard talk that you were in the area and I thought you could use some ... help," he finished weakly as she turned her burning eyes on him once again.

"You're too late!" she flung at him, almost like an accusation. "She's gone! And you're too late to do anything."

He reeled under the impact of her words, reading far more into them than the loss of the bard. The bleak, chilling anger, that radiated off of the dark warrior in waves, bore testament to the fact that she was fighting a losing battle to hang onto her humanity. The thief was very concerned that he was witnessing the resurrection of the Destroyer of Nations in all of her primitive, destructive glory.

~ NO! ~ his mind screamed. ~ I won't lose her like that. She left that monster far behind! She just needs something to focus on ... yeah a focus that will keep her from embracing that dark side of hers. ~

She stood glaring at him. The rising tide of her anger and guilt was building to a pitch again and demanding that she lash out in an effort to assuage the pressure boiling within her. When she had plunged the hind's blood dagger into Callisto, it had been an instinctual reaction, a need to strike at someone, anyone! It was only later that she thought how fitting it was that it had been her mad nemesis. Hope, the demon that Gabrielle had spawned, had been taken to her doom by the bard. Callisto, had very much been created by Xena's own hatred and darkness. In a very special way the blonde lunatic was her child, her demon, as much as Hope had been Gabrielle's. It had, therefore been poetic justice that she had finally slain her; a fitting counterpoint to Hope's demise.

Yet now she was alone. Her best friend was gone, sacrificing herself to save the Warrior Princess. A warrior who was now bereft of her focus. One whose emotions were on overload and who was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her homicidal impulses in check. She had taken refuge inside herself, shutting out the rest of the world, allowing Joxer to steer her away from the temple to this clearing. He had been the one to set up the campsite. She had merely watched from that distant place within herself, knowing that as a friend to both her, and more especially Gabrielle, he needed to be doing something.

She, on the other hand, couldn't care less about going on with life ... death was calling her now. It was just a question of whether it would be her own ... or maybe the world's.

These raw, painful emotions showed clearly in the 'look' that she was directing murderously at Autolycus. He had no difficulty reading them there, and he very nearly backed away from her. But this was Xena! The woman he loved! If he stepped away from her now, he'd never win her. Swallowing deeply, he screwed his courage to the sticking place and moved forward to confront her in her own personal space.

"Xena, you have to come to grips with this. She's gone. Grieve and move on," he told her. The words may have seemed hard but his tone was full of love as he raised his hand, proud that it didn't shake, and moved it to push back a stray wisp of her hair.

It seemed to him that the rigidness of her warrior mask almost softened at his words, and his heart leapt joyfully into his throat as he thought that just maybe she'd let him comfort her. Be her support. That she'd cry on his shoulder and let him pick up the pieces of her life and allow him to finally 'love' her as he so desperately wanted to do.

Then she moved!

Before he had time to blink, she'd grabbed his outstretched hand and used it as a lever to send him spinning through the air to land, on his back, with a crashing thud. He found himself just a little too close to the fire for his comfort, but unable to move immediately.

~ Bad move, ~ he admitted to himself as he sucked air back into his lungs.

"Aw, Xena! What did you have to go and do that for?" he muttered to himself as he struggled to turn away from the flames. "Ooooff!" he grunted as she landed astride him.

"You are pushing your luck, 'my friend'," she told him with a chilling menace that was anything but friendly.

Looking into the warrior's cobalt eyes, Autolycus knew he was in trouble. Although he had done his best, throughout his long and profitable career, to stay well away from maniacal, death dealing warlords, ~ Well other than to steal from them, ~ he admitted to himself. He'd seen enough of them to recognise the perilous, hazardous for the health, glare that he was currently receiving. He knew he had to do ... something!

In the space of less than a second, a variety of possible actions had sped through his fertile brain. Yet while each of them would normally have been more than enough to get him out of his predicament, at least temporarily, he knew none of those solutions would work on this warrior, ~ She's just got too many of those damned skills, ~ he conceded.

He was also severely inconvenienced by, and acutely aware of, her close proximity. It was utter madness, he realised afterwards, but he did the only thing he could think of to distract her. He pushed himself upwards and brushed his lips, feather light, across hers. The result was quite ... stunning.

Xena pulled back away from his impertinent lips her eyes widening, giving her a look of a startled doe as they momentarily softened and threatened to pool with tears. For long moments they just looked at each other, each frozen within the other's eyes. Autolycus began to hope that his unexpected action had broken through to the warm, sensuous, human being he knew and loved. Then he saw the flickering gleam appear in her eyes.

~ That's not good, ~ his mind told him and he knew that he was in trouble.

With a sudden lunge, the Warrior Princess forced her captive back onto the ground. As the thief tried to raise his hands to ward her off, Xena captured them and quickly pinned the limbs above his head. Autolycus swallowed hard as he saw the dangerous, feral, burn appear in her blue orbs and watched in frozen fascination as a cruel, sensuous smile crept onto her lips.

"Xena ...." he tried tentatively, searching her eyes for a hint of the woman he loved. The woman she'd been just a day ago before she had lost her best friend. A woman he'd been too late to help.

The words echoed in his mind as he looked at her.

Too late!

He was brought back to the present as a low rumble emanated from deep within Xena, as the dark warrior felt stirrings within her carnal heart. For many years, battle, death and sex had marched as the driving forces of her life. With the loss of Gabrielle, she felt anchorless, cut adrift so that the familiar forces that had for so long been a part of her, could once again slip out of their confinement and reinstate their domination of her will. She slowly leaned towards him, her sweet breath tantalizing his senses, the danger she exuded an aphrodisiac to his aroused desire. When their lips met, there was nothing gentle ... just the wild promise of lust and desire as her need drove out all thought but that of satiation.

Xena drove her dominant tongue into his mouth, furiously battling with the thief for control of the moment, a battle she was never going to lose. She heard him moan with rising ardour as she bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. His hands struggled to be free from her vise-like grip making her smirk viciously as she pinned both of the rogue's wrists together under one of her long fingered hands. He was hers to do with as she willed this night.

Autolycus knew that this was wrong. That once she came to her senses she'd hate what she'd done and then his chance of ever getting past her inner walls would be non-existent. Yet his body seemed to have a mind of its own, responding to her knowing touches, her casual, brutal concupiscence with a joyous will that he'd known with no other lover. He'd wanted her for so long and a traitorous small voice in his brain kept whispering, ~ Go with the flow, Auto. You know you're gonna love it! ~

With her tongue laving its way around his ear, and her free hand loosening his clothing, it was becoming progressively harder to think logically. He squirmed as her hot, questing mouth moved down and latched onto a bared nipple, alternatively teasing it with her tongue and inflicting vicious little nips on it, while her hand roamed further southward, skilled fingers seeking to free him from the confines of his clothes.

"Oh sweet mother of Zeus!" he groaned as he frantically sought to impose his will on a situation that was getting well out of hand ... his at least.

Summoning up every ounce of strength he could lay claim to, he jerked his hands free from the warrior's prisoning fingers and flipped Xena over onto her back, rolling on top of her to straddle her hips. The sight of her laying beneath him, her lips parted in lustful invitation was nearly enough to overcome his hard fought for determination, ~ Sheesh, Aphrodite, what are you trying to do to me? ~ he pleaded in silent supplication as he forced his eyes to look up to the heavens.

Xena took advantage of his momentary distraction and started working on getting him out of his trousers once again, not having realised that Autolycus was trying to bring a halt to proceedings. Anger flared in her eyes, however, as he grasped her wrists and forced her hands away, "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Shouldn't I be the one to ask that?" the thief enquired through clenched teeth as he tried to maintain his hold on her.

"I have no idea what you mean," she growled, getting angrier by the moment.

They struggled briefly for mastery before Autolycus felt secure enough to continue the conversation, "This isn't you, Xena. You're letting your grief over Gabrielle get the upper hand and you're acting like the old Xena. I love you ... and I want you ... but not like this, because you'd hate yourself if we did this now."

There was a chill in her voice as she demanded, "Who are you to tell me what I do and don't want?"

Taking a chance, he let go of her hands and slowly stood up, "I'm your friend, Xena, first and foremost I'm your friend." He hoped he hadn't played it wrong, that she wouldn't just jump him again. He wasn't sure that he had the willpower to resist her advances a second time.

For long moments she lay on the ground glaring at him. Emotions raged in her beautiful eyes and she fought with herself for control, knowing that she was allowing her feelings to control her actions. Yet she felt unable to rein them in enough to be able take some constructive steps out of the pit she was falling into. A pit just as deep and fiery as the one that Gabrielle had leapt into.

She recognised the stages of her despair. She had been through it before after Lyceus had been taken from her. So far she had allowed her rage to slay Callisto, as she had slain so many in her fury after Cortese's raid on Amphipolis. Then she had tried to wall off her feelings, detaching herself from those around her, retreating inside herself. But that just led to more anger and a rise of dark passion, something she had almost subjected Autolycus to. And he had been right, she would not have forgiven herself for using him in such a way. He deserved better.

So what was left?

Nothing.

She was empty and hurting ... and Gabrielle was gone!

Without being consciously aware of it, Xena, the dark warrior who had scourged so many people, so many nations, curled herself into a foetal ball and allowed her body to shake in painful, shuddering sobs.

The King of Thieves had watched the thoughts and feelings chase their way across her usually stoic features. When her body began to curl up, he had felt helpless ... what did a thief know about giving comfort, or saying the right thing, ~ Hades, I've hardly done a great job up until now, have I? ~ he berated himself.

He threw a look across to where Joxer lay huddled in his sleeping furs, emotional exhaustion finally having drawn him heavily into Morpheus' realm. How he'd managed to sleep through the commotion, the thief would never know, but he deemed it best that the other man had, although it left him with a problem. ~ No help there, ~ he grunted to himself, but couldn't help hoping that the God of Dreams gave the other man peaceful memories to nurture his sleep. He looked back to the suffering Warrior Princess, ~ Looks like it's down to you, Auto. You keep saying you love the woman, guess it's time to prove it. ~

Taking a deep breath, he lowered himself to the ground beside her and pulled the sobbing woman into his arms. Uncertain what to do, he settled for murmuring soothing endearments to her as he rocked her back and forth, allowing her to take comfort from his arms and the gentle tone of his voice. He had no idea how long they remained thus, although he was certain it was long after Xena had finally finished her weeping. Long enough for him to work out what he had to say to her.

"Xena," he whispered softly.

"Hmmm?" she replied still vulnerable in the safety of his arms.

"You know, I've been thinking ..."

"Hmmm?" she answered again.

"I think you need to find Gabrielle ... you need to talk to her. Say goodbye," he told her.

She pushed away from his arms and looked at him blankly, "What are you talking about, Autolycus?"

"You have some markers with the gods that you can call in. Hades owes you for saving his sister from Sisyphus and for saving his kingdom from Atyminius. I'm certain that you can use that to get him to let you speak to Gabrielle. Knowing you, you could probably work out a way to get him to let her go!" he told her, although he personally wasn't sure that trying to bully Hades was a good idea. But she needed something ....

She sat there considering his words. It was true that Hades owed her some big favours, ~ At least enough to get him to let me talk to Gabrielle ... to say goodbye properly. And maybe .... ~ she let the thought go as she looked up into the thief's concerned face, "Autolycus, what did I do to deserve a friend like you?" she asked gently, her large, sword calloused hand softly cupping his cheek.

He leaned into her touch revelling in the warmth of her affection before his normal irreverence kicked in and he smilingly answered, "You probably ticked off one too many god."

A twitch of her lips showed a weak smile just before she pulled his head down for a soft, lingering kiss. When they broke apart she looked at him and said, "Well I've done something right in my life then," before kissing him again.

"You keep that up and I won't let you go ... ever," he sighed. ~ Sweet Aphrodite! There are some things a man just cannot take! ~

"You're a goo ...." She was stopped by his hand placed gently over her lips.

"Don't say it," he pleaded. "You'll ruin what's left of my reputation."

Holding his wrist, she lightly kissed his palm before smiling at him, "Still you are, Autolycus. And you have a heart of gold," she told him sincerely.

He held her close breathing in her unique fragrance before reluctantly letting her go. "You'll come back?" There was a pleading tone in his voice that he didn't try to hide.

"I always come back," she smiled as she got gracefully to her feet. She cast a look across to the sleeping Joxer, "Take care of him for me. He's a good friend too."

The thief nodded his assent before climbing to his feet to help the warrior pack her gear. It didn't take them long, and soon she had Argo saddled and waiting to take her off on a new quest. Stowing her gear on the warhorse, Xena finally turned into Autolycus' warm embrace and allowed herself to feel the protection of the love he offered.

"I should go," she said finally, breaking contact with him. She swung up into her saddle with an innate grace that the rogue loved to see. Bending down from her tall seat, she gave him a fond farewell kiss, before turning Argo into the rising sun and heading off to find Hades.

He watched her until she disappeared from view, taking another piece of his heart with her. It wasn't her fault that his timing had been bad, but he was beginning to wonder if the gods had something against him. Turning away he looked at the huddled form of Joxer and wondered just how he would cope with the grieving man.

~ How do I get myself into these things? ~ he asked himself derisively as he settled down to wait.