Draco looked the same as ever- dangerous, rough, ruggedly handsome. Xena took a quick stock of her feelings just in case: revulsion, anger, apprehension, mistrust, a small amount of attraction. Okay, everything was normal. She stared at the ex-warlord carefully. "Draco."
     "Xena!" he said, with a joviality to his voice that belied his dangerous mind. "You look well. And Gabrielle." He caught his breath as the reddish-blonde woman entered his room in the inn. "My dreams haven't done you justice."
     Gabrielle blushed, and allowed him to kiss her hand. As long as it didn't go beyond that. "Hello again, Draco," she said civilly. "You seem to have done well for yourself."
     "All because of you, my love," he said, looking into her eyes. "I do it all to please you." He straightened, and looked into the eyes of a skinny, dark-haired man who was glaring venemously at him. "I don't believe we've met," he said casually, with a hint of a sharp edge now added to his tone.
     "Yes we have. Joxer, Gabrielle's-"
     "Friend," said Gabrielle hastily, and a bit nervously. "We're just friends. Now. And we always were, really, it's just- well, a little confusing."
     Draco smiled, perhaps a bit smugly. "Joxer, yes, I remember now! You've made quite a new man out of yourself!"
     Xena didn't miss the snide undertones, nor did she miss the way Joxer was tensing. She kept herself ready to step in if need be. Joxer replied, "So have you, it appears. Protecting a village? That's quite a step from when we saw you last."
     "I made a promise to the woman I love," said Draco, "and I have kept it. Love changes a man."
     "I know," said Joxer firmly.
     Gabrielle shifted uncomfortably- there was that feeling again. "Joxer, leave Draco alone," she said. She turned to the former warlord, and forced a smile in response to his lusty gaze.
     Draco paced around his room a bit. "You will all do me the honour of being my guests for a few days, won't you?"
     "I don't think so," said Xena. "We're really just passing through, and I think it's best if we keep moving. We can stay the night, but any longer..." Any longer could cause a situation between Draco and Joxer, and I don't want to find out who's the better fighter between them, she thought.
     "Actually, I think I'd like to keep moving tonight," said Joxer tightly.
     Gabrielle sighed. "Oh, be serious, Joxer! We have a stable place to stay in, and a... friend to stay with. I'd like to hang around for a while."
     "What's a few days between friends, Xena? I'd like to make amends."
     Joxer was bristling, Xena noticed. Gabrielle obviously wanted to stay, Joxer obviously wanted to go, and Draco was obviously willing to play off of Gabrielle's interest to get them to linger as long as possible. "Just tonight," said Xena firmly.
     "Well, that's something!" said Draco, the joviality returning to his voice. Gabrielle marveled at how he always sounded so amused... Even right up to when he had been threatening to kill Joxer the last time they'd met, he had sounded so oddly happy. It was a little frightening, to never know if he was honestly amused or not. She genuinely wanted to stay, although she wasn't too keen on staying too close to Draco. He ushered them all to the door of his room, pressing his hand against her back. She sped up and moved in front of Joxer.
     "I hope you'll at least stay for lunch tomorrow," Draco said. "In the meantime, you'll all of course have complimentary rooms here- I'll just have a few words with the innkeeper."
     Xena nodded. "We'll see about lunch," she said.
     "Xena, want to go shopping?" said Gabrielle, overtly excluding Joxer.
     "Anything you like is yours," said Draco. Joxer scowled.
     "Oh- uh-" said Gabrielle, momentarily at a loss for words.
     "Let's go, Gabrielle. I'm sure our rooms will be set up by the time we get back. Joxer?" Xena said, extending the invitation to him, and started down the hall. Joxer glared at Draco one last time, then followed.
     As Gabrielle began to leave, Draco caught her arm. "Won't you stay?" he whispered.
     "Oh, no, I really can't- I, uh, Xena... needs me shopping with her." A lame excuse, and they both knew it. "Um, sorry..."
     "Then see me again tonight, soon. Please, Gabrielle. I need you."
     Gabrielle backed up; he did not loosen his grip on her arm. "We- we'll talk, Draco. I have to go."
     "Talk is not what I'm interested in."
     A masculine hand grabbed Draco's and detached it from Gabrielle's arm. "Whatever you're interested in, it's not what interests her," said Joxer fiercely.
     "Joxer!" she exclaimed.
     "Stay out of this, pasty boy," said Draco warningly.
     "Joxer, it's okay, I've got everything under control," said Gabrielle. She really didn't like the way the two were staring at each other. If this kept up, in another few moments there'd be bloodshed.
     "Treat her like a lady, and respect her wishes," Joxer said, a command in his voice that Gabrielle would never have expected to hear.
     "What do you know of her wishes? You're just her friend." There was a nasty accent on the last word.
     "We're going," said Gabrielle, tugging on Joxer's arm. He resisted for a moment, and then relented. Draco looked surprised, then offended.
     "I will see you later, Gabrielle," he said firmly, and shut his door.
     "I don't like him," said Joxer as they walked quickly for the exit of the inn.
     "No kidding," said Gabrielle, her voice dripping acid. "Keep your nose out of this unless you want it broken, Joxer! If I want any favours from you I will ask for them. Got me?!"
     "But I was just-"
     "Shut up! Whatever you were doing, don't! Don't come near me until you can get it into your head that you are not my protector, my saviour, or my anything! We're barely friends, and that's just because Xena and I can't seem to get rid of you!" The words were coming more quickly than she could think about them now. The impact of what she had just said didn't fully hit her until his face fell, and his arm went slack.
     "Maybe that's the way you felt about me before, Gabrielle-"
     To Hades with it. She just wanted to get away from him now. "It's the way I feel about you. Everything about you. I don't care if you can fight or not, I just wish you'd let us alone!!"
     Joxer lifted his head, his mouth tightening. "If that's what you want, I'll oblige you."
     "Yes. That's what I want," she said, although suddenly she wasn't so sure. She wanted to be away from him now, that was for sure, but did she want him away for good? "Look... Joxer, maybe I was a little harsh... Can we talk about this later?"
     "Gabrielle?" called Xena from outside. "What's keeping you?"
     "Nothing!" she called back hastily, and looked back at Joxer.
     He nodded. "Yes. Later. Go shop."
     She smiled gratefully. "Okay. I promise I'll be a little more rational then, okay? I didn't mean everything I said. We'll talk soon." With that, she darted away.

     "Aphrodite?" said Xena archly, browsing among the rather primitive weapons that the vendor had to offer.
     "Yep. All the signs mirror that spell she put on him before. The fighting, the outfit, even the bad flowery proclamations of love." Gabrielle picked up a spiked club and looked at it thoughtfully. "Think he'd recover if I hit him with this?"
     Xena came over and considered it. "Depends on how you hit him. If you give it a good backhand-" she demonstrated in thin air- "then no, I don't expect he'd recover." She handed the club back to Gabrielle with a half-grin. "But why would Aphrodite put a spell of competence on Joxer? I could see Ares doing it to get at me, or Athena taking pity on him and trying to help. But Aphrodite is- well, you know how she is," Xena said carefully, doing her best to remain diplomatic... for now. "If her purpose is the same as last time, we need to figure out what she's using Joxer to get to."
     "Maybe to me," said Gabrielle. "I mean, he is bugging the heck out of me!" Xena laughed. "I'm serious, Xena! Maybe this is just one of her petty little revenge schemes."
     "Hmm... possible. Well, the first thing we should do is get him back to normal for a while. Assuming that bells are still the stimulus."
     Gabrielle moved to the next vendor's booth, one that specialized in various kinds of cloths. "Yeah, and the sooner the better," she said when Xena followed her. "Much longer, and Joxer and Draco are going to kill each other."
     "I don't know about that," mused Xena. "Draco's anger isn't likely to change when Joxer does. And he has no compunction about killing weaklings. Joxer might be in more danger if we change him back before we leave."
     "That was the old Draco," said Gabrielle sternly. "He's changed now, Xena, the same way you did."
     "Not the same way I did," said the warrior. "Draco's nature is not to change himself, but to change things around him. I don't like this setup he's got here."
     Gabrielle laughed. "What do you think, that he's training the whole village to be in his army? Xena, can't you trust people, just give them the benefit of the doubt?" She held up a fabric in front of herself. "I'm going to get this," she said.
     "Go ahead," said Xena. She continued to browse, even though she had little interest in fabrics. They were even more boring than those pathetic weapons back there. Speaking of which, if those weapons were the best the village had to offer, then she could be sure Draco wasn't recruiting people in this village for an army... But she still had a feeling something was up. One village in particular couldn't need full-time protection; why was Draco settled here? It was like he'd been waiting for them.
     "How much?" asked Gabrielle cheerfully.
     The merchant looked his customer, then at the cloth she held. "Twenty-five dinars," he said solidly.
     "Ha! It's nice, but not that nice. I'll give you ten," said Gabrielle.
     "The dye for purple is rare, woman! I must make some profit! I'll go no lower than twenty-two."
     Gabrielle was just warming up. "The cut is clumsy. You should thank me for purchasing it; no one else would. Fifteen is the best you could do- but I'll give you seventeen."
     The merchant scowled at her, but nodded. "Seventeen, then."
     "More than it's worth," said Xena, coming up behind her friend as the transaction ended.
     When the merchant saw Xena, he gasped. "You! You're Xena! Then she's Draco's woman...?"
     "I'm what?!" asked Gabrielle sharply.
     The merchant handed her back the dinars, his hands shaking. "Friends of Draco needn't pay," he said.
     "Oh, but it's okay- I have enough," said Gabrielle.
     "Friends of Draco needn't pay!" the merchant repeated, and scurried off.
     Gabrielle was puzzled. "What scared him?"
     "I intend to find out," said Xena darkly. "I don't like this."

     Joxer didn't like this.
     He'd been to Venascan before, and it had been a fairly commercial village, but with little crime. Draco being here as permanent protection made no sense, and neither did the large numbers of Draco's men patrolling the area. Occasionally he saw them taking a villager off to jail, although he neither saw nor heard any altercations.
     He had been out for nearly an hour now, doing his best to keep out of Gabrielle's way. If she needed time, he could give her time. Her words had hurt, more than almost anything he'd ever been through. If she knew how badly her insults hurt him, would she continue to fling them around so carelessly? Sometimes he could tell there was no anger behind them, but since he had picked up with them last night he felt an intense anger powering her words and actions. Where had he gone wrong? He had thought that, now that he really was a warrior of some esteem, the insults would cease. No such luck.
     And now there was Draco complicating matters. What Joxer wouldn't give to get that creep out of the way... The way he was sleazing up to Gabby, trying to put the moves on her, not giving her any choice in the matter. He hadn't changed, no matter what he said. Same old creep. Even in his efforts to work on the side of good, he was the same old creep.
     "Joxer!"
     He turned to see Xena coming toward him. Uh-oh... would this just give Gabrielle reason to be even angrier with him? He looked for his love, but didn't see her. "Xena? Where's Gabrielle?"
     "I left her shopping. It doesn't really interest me much unless I actually need something, anyway."
     "Understandably. You don't seem like the type of woman who would get preoccupied by material goods, anyway." He grinned, and she returned it unselfconsciously. "I'm glad you're here. You know Draco better than I do."
     "And that's supposed to mean...?" The smile disappeared from her face, and was replaced with the Look.
     Amazingly, he found that he wasn't intimidated by it. Intense bravado, perhaps, was protecting him. Whatever the reason, he laughed it off. "Nothing, my friend! You take things too seriously. I just mean, I've met him once, and he tried to kill me. You, on the other hand, have spoken with him on several occasions. Maybe you can tell me if my suspicions are wrong."
     Something seemed to settle into her expression, but she betrayed nothing. "Suspicions?"
     "Yes. I don't trust him, Xena. He runs this village like a kingdom, as though he's ruler, not protector. The people are all afraid to say his name, let alone go against his rules."
     "So you see it too, huh?" Xena was only half-surprised. She wouldn't have expected Joxer to be observant enough to pick up on things like this, but why shouldn't Aphrodite's spell work through to his mind as well as his skills and personality? "When Gabrielle and I were shopping, the merchant was afraid to charge us anything for our goods because we were friends of Draco's. They've been terrorized into doing anything he says."
     "What can we do? He must be serving some sort of purpose here, or they wouldn't let him stay."
     Xena shook her head. "Maybe. Or maybe he just threatens them if they ask him to leave. Draco isn't one to compromise unless it's necessary. We may have to fight him out."
     Joxer considered this for a moment. "But Xena, I was thinking-"
     "Not your strong suit, Joxer," she interrupted, then smiled a bit embarrassedly. "Sorry. Reflex. Go on."
     "Well, I was... considering... It seems to me that Cupid's arrows are pretty complete, right? I mean, you want to do anything you can to win the object of your affection's heart, including changing whatever you can about yourself if that's what they want, am I right?" Xena nodded silently, her face dark. Joxer could only peripherally relate; he felt the same way about Gabrielle now, but then, Gabrielle had never been one of his worst enemies. And his affection for her was created of his own free will, not the power of the Gods. He went on. "Well, I don't think that Draco would do something that Gabrielle could so easily find out about and get angry over. If he's here, even if he's abusing his power, I'd think he must have a reason- something he's protecting them from."
     "You may be right," Xena acknowledged. "It would also make our job a lot easier. It would mean we just have to get the villagers to see that they don't need Draco to defend them, and they'll make him leave. Of course, if you're wrong, you'll regret it."
     Joxer nearly laughed before realizing she was serious. "Ah. Well."
     "So. You can come in handy right now, Joxer. I need you to ask around, see what you can find out about Draco's purpose here, and how we can get rid of him." She patted him on the back, and left her hand there.
     He nodded. "Right. Sounds good... I like that."
     "I know I can count on you to be firm for me."
     "Always. I'm in your hands."
     "Very good. I like that in a man. Keep your sword at attention... I've no doubt I'll need it later tonight." Her voice had dropped to a sultry purr, laced with danger and sensuality.
     Joxer's gaze was heated. "I won't sheath it until I hear the word from you- it won't end until you're satisfied."
     "Very good." Xena reluctantly tore herself away from him, and saluted. "I'll see you this evening, then." She winked- she actually winked- and walked away quickly.
     Joxer exhaled. That woman was... intense! He set off walking in the direction opposite from the one she'd gone in. He didn't mean to flirt with her, or with anyone else. Gabrielle was truly the only woman in his heart, but...
     Aphrodite just had to stick her own little twists into his wish, it seemed. She probably thought it was funny, although it bothered Joxer when he thought about it. To put it simply, no woman could resist him... and he couldn't resist any women. Part of the reason it had taken him four full days to catch up with Xena and Gabrielle was because of some very enjoyable dallying in a couple of villages in his path. Although he couldn't remember their names, he did remember the ladies who had helped him to gain the confidence in his sex appeal on his travels.
     He was interrupted in his musings by muffled female voices coming from a tavern. "By Zeus, look at that one!"
     "Oh, he must be a God- he's too perfect!"
     Nice, Joxer thought as he looked at the women watching him from the tavern. There was a small group of them, about five to seven, still a bit young. Just his type...
     No. Think of Gabrielle. Be faithful, this once, Joxer... You can overcome this... You control your libido, it does not control you.
     "Ohhhh, Gods, he's looking this way!"
     "Shhhh! He'll hear you!"
     Joxer the Lover held his head high and swaggered into the tavern.

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