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Brand New Man by Jennifer Campbell performed by Brooks and Dunn
I saw the light
Well the whole town's talking
I used to have a wild side CHORUS
I jused to love 'em and leave 'em
Baby you and me together CHORUS =============================== None of the characters belong to me. If they did, Xena and Ares would be together. I make no profit off this, unfortunately. This story was written as part of the sixth Lyrics Challenge, offered by yours truly to the Gabrielle and Joxer Romantics Society. I was given the following set of lyrics by a fellow participant and had two weeks to write a story. Everything here is rated G. Spoilers follow for much of fifth season and little bits and pieces of the wholes show, especially concerning Xena's relations with Ares. Thank you to AmazonBon's Xena Realm, which is where I found the quotes for "God Fearing Child." =============================== Her hate drew him like iron to the forge. The girl hid her pain from the world, but she could not hide from a god. Ares could feel the rage seer inside her, and for that, he loved her, this child with the heart of a killer, this Xena. She sat alone cross-legged on the tavern floor, her dark hair falling in tangles down her shoulders and back. Night's blackness spilled through the windows and across her face, but still Ares could see her eyes. Her intense blue eyes, drowning in unshed tears. She could not see him, but he crouched before her and studied those intriguing eyes. They radiated pain and fed Ares' soul. Oh, yes, he could work with this young, beautiful creature. He paced slowly around her with such silence he didn't disturb the child's sobbing or the crickets singing below the tavern windows. He knelt by her side and leaned closer, so close his enhanced senses could smell the salt of her tears. He softly touched her ratted hair, but Xena showed no notice. "You are beautiful, my dear girl," he whispered in her ear. "Such pain and hatred." The child stopped sobbing and wiped her nose on the back of her dress sleeve. Of course, she couldn't hear him, but Ares suspected something within her sensed his presence. She cocked her head and looked around the shadowed, empty tavern. "How is it that such a young child could carry so much hate?" Ares asked softly. "What drove you to this, and what drew me to you?" A soft sound, perhaps footsteps, padded toward them, from the back of the tavern. The girl, hearing the noise, suddenly animated. She jumped to her feet, wiped her eyes with one hand and smoothed her wrinkled dress with the other. A moment later, a door Ares hadn't noticed before opened, revealing a woman in a nightshirt, carrying a candle. "Xena," she said. "What are you doing out here, child? You should be in bed, asleep." Ares stepped away from the girl and watched with interest. Xena drooped her head and sniffed. "I'm sorry, mother. I couldn't sleep." The woman carefully set her candle on the bar and knelt beside Xena, smoothing her hair with tenderness only a mother could show. "You're thinking about your father again, aren't you," her mother said. Xena nodded, and Ares saw fresh tears begin to blur her eyes. Her mother pulled her into an embrace, and for a child, the care seemed too much. Xena began to cry in earnest, gripping her mother's shoulders and shaking uncontrollably. "Shh, love," her mother said. "I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you." "B- but he left me," Xena sobbed. "He doesn't love me." "Quiet now." Her mother lifted her to her shoulder and carried her through the back tavern door, blowing out the candle on her way and unknowingly leaving the god of war in the shadows of her establishment. A smile creeped across Ares face, growing wider and wider. Then he leaned back his head and laughed delightedly. The child's father had vanished, leaving Xena groping for an answer. He could give her an answer, certainly, and in the process earn her trust. This girl had potential, oh, yes, and Ares was just the god to guide her along the right paths. With an absent wave of his hand, he transported himself to the Halls of War and settled onto his throne for a long night of thought, planning how to use this child in the years to come. =============================== "You're watching her again, aren't you?" Discord slid to his side, by the arm of his throne, and peered over his shoulder at the liquidy window he watched with intensity. Beneath the ripples and waves of his spying portal, Ares could see Xena. She balanced upon a raised walkway above a barn full of pathetic villagers, and in her hand she held the staff that eventually would cause Draco's defeat. There was no doubt about the outcome, of course. Xena always won. "You're obsessed," Discord spat. "It's sad, really. I never thought I'd see the day when the all powerful god of war was obsessed with a mortal." The unsteady logs beneath Xena's feet rolled, and she sliped between the wooden polls that framed the walkway. Still, her feet never touched the ground. With her quick reflexes, she'd managed to catch her staff over the polls and clung to it, dangling feet above the floor. Then with a cry, she flipped herself back onto the polls and charged at Draco. Ares sighed in amazement. "Look at her," he said. "How can you possibly describe her as only a mortal? She is my greatest creation. She's ... perfect." Discord snorted. "Yeah, except that she left you." "She'll be back." "You sound so confident of that." Discord's voice clearly indicated that she didn't agree. "Of course" Ares answered. "I made her. I've been by her side at the most important moments of her life. When everyone else had abandoned her, I was there. I stood by her side when she picked up her first sword. I encouraged and supported her when she wiped the floor with Caesar's guards in the healer's hut. I helped her form her first army and raid her first village." "And now she hates you for it." Discord's tone mocked him, and he clenched his fists. "Hercules turned her against you, and you are never going to get her back." Through the window, Xena flipped onto Draco's stomach and punched her staff into the dirt with emphasis. They could hear her deep voice, echoing as though from far away. "I still haven't touched the ground, Draco. But you have." Ares unclenched his fists and smiled. "Beautiful," he whispered. Discord, whom he'd forgotten was still standing beside him, leaned over his throne and whispered in his ear. "You're more than obsessed. You're in love her, and that is completely and totally pathetic." With an angry cry, Ares lashed out with his forearm, but Discord danced out of reach with a short, mocking laugh. "I can't believe that you love her!" Discord yelled. "And she doesn't care about you in the least. I'll bet that you'd fail if you tried to get her back." "I'll take that bet," Ares growled. Discord smiled. She slithered toward him seductively. "Oh, really?" "You doubt my powers to win her over? I did it once; I can do it again." "I think you'll lose." Discord bent over the throne arm and half-smiled. "And when you lose, you'll give me Strife's position as your first in command." Ares leaned closer, his mouth only inches from her's. Her eyes bore into him, making his breath quicken. Without a doubt, he thought, Discord sensual nature would challenge Aphrodite herself. "And if I win?" he asked. "I'll give you me," Discord whispered. "To do with as you please, for ... say, 10 years. Your slave." She leaned closer. "I know you want it." Ares pulled away with a discipline born of many centuries. He looked back to the window, now showing the villagers in celebration at Xena's victory. An interesting proposition, certainly; something to raise the stakes of getting back his favorite warrior, something to relieve the boredom of immortality. And a way to win this seductive creature. "I accept your bet," he answered quietly. "I have five years to turn her back to me." "Agreed." Discord stepped away from him, to the center of the hall. "And now we see how powerful you really are." Discord swirled her hand above her head and vanished, leaving Ares to his contemplation. His mind flitted back over memories of his warrior princess. Good times, those were. And good times would come again. =============================== Satisfaction washed over Ares as the sword slid into the stomach of Liceus. Xena's younger brother, her only connection to love, gasped and groaned. He clutched at his bloody wound and fell backward into the dirt. Ares leaned over him with an academic interest as Liceus muttered his sister's name too quietly to hear. To Ares, it always seemed as though Xena possessed some sixth sense when concerning her beloved younger brother. She didn't need to be told something had gone terribly wrong. She simply knew, as though the two siblings shared a deep connection only they could understand. And true to expectations, as soon as Liceus fell, Xena came running, screaming his name. She dropped her sword and, ignoring the battle raging around her, knelt by her brother and smiled sadly as she smoothed his tangled hair. "You're going to be OK," she whispered. "You're going to be all right. I promise." Liceus reached up weakly and bushed a tear from Xena's cheek. "Not this time," he mouthed. Then, his head slowly lolled to one side and the light faded from his eyes. Xena screamed. She touched her forehead to Liceus' still chest and screamed and cried. Ares aproached from behind her and whispered hungrily in her ear. "What will you do now, Xena?" he asked. "Will you sit here and cry, or will you avenge his death?" Although he hid himself from her, as always, Ares knew she could hear him on some subconscious level. She looked up from Liceus' body with red- rimmed eyes. With an inhuman growl, she snaked her neck around, searching for her brother's killer. "There," Ares whispered. "He's behind you. The man watching you with a smirk on his face. Can't you see it in his eyes? He loved killing your brother. He deserves to die." Xena located the unfortunate soldier. Her nostrils began to widen, her breath to quicken. "That's right, Xena," Ares continued seductively. "Let the hate take over. Hate makes you strong. You know what you have to do." With Liceus sword gripped tightly in her fist, Xena slowly stood, her icy eyes boring into her target. With a primal scream, she charged. Swords clashed, and she stumbled back from the impact, overbalancing with her weapon and crashing onto her back. The soldier towered over her, and he laughed. The sound recharged Xena's rage, and with another scream, she pushed her sword forward and into the man's chest. She tasted the blood that spattered onto her lips from his mortal wound, and as he fell, she yelled in triumph. Ares yelled as well, raising his fists in victory. Finally, after years of careful training and encouragement, his protege had made her first kill. A kill of hate. She was now his. =============================== They sat around a long table that stretched the length of the Great Hall of Olympus. All the gods, from Zeus to the lowest of messengers and lackeys, they all sat here and chatted away about inconsequential things. Not far from him, Demeter was discussing the weather in Athens with her daughter, while Hades stared at Persephone with undisguised hunger. She stole glances back at her beloved often, licking her lips and blowing kisses. Ares guessed they must be in the middle of their six-month separation. Farther down the table, Cupid was showing off his little bundle of joy. He played the part of a proud papa to the hilt, and several gods gathered around to gush over the child. Ares sighed. These get-togethers were always so disastrously boring. He simply couldn't understand why Zeus insisted on placing all the gods in the same room once a year, every year. For one day, all those directionless mortals were left to their own devices and normally created such havoc that Ares spent the next three months untangling the mess. Once a year on the Ides of March, the Greek world fell to pieces. Whatever would they all do without their gods to keep the order? The old windbag, Zeus himself, laughed heartily at the head of the table. Oh, yeah, he was in his element tonight. He stood and raised his glass. "A toast!" he boomed. "To my family, the greatest pantheon of gods the world has ever known." Everyone stood and raised their glasses. "Here, here!" they yelled. Ares stood and took a deep drink. He'd need more alcohol than this to get through the night. He needed a keg or two of the beer that Hermes brewed. Man, that stuff packed a punch. He felt a companionable arm drop around his shoulders, and he turned to see Hephestus grinning like an idiot beside him. "How's it going, my old battle buddy? Start any new wars lately?" He laughed at his joke. Ares shrugged. "Nothing new." Hephestus chuckled. "Oh, come on, now. It's been a whole year since I last saw you. You've got to have done something worth talking about." "Nope." Ares took another deep drink. "Ah, come on," Hephestus coaxed. "Yeah, come on, Ares," chimed in a new voice, one Ares knew all too well. "Tell us a story." He turned up the table, and two seats down on the opposite side sat Discord, her dark look a drastic contrast to Apollo, who sat beside her. She grinned, mischief glittering in her eyes. "Why don't you tell us that one about Troy again." Hephestus belched. "Hey, I didn't hear that one. What about Troy?" "Remember how about ten years ago Ares promised us that he's started the war of all wars and that it'd go on forever?" Discord laughed. "Well, little more than a year ago the mortals outsmarted him, ended it by toating a big wooden horse into the city." Ares choked on his drink when Hephestus pounded his back good-naturedly and laughed loudly. He glared at the smith god but said nothing. "Oh, that is good," Hephestus chortled. "Tell us another." "Yeah, Ares," Discord mocked. "Tell us another." Ignore them, Ares thought. Just ignore them, and they'll stop. He took another drink. Didn't Zeus have anything stronger than this wine around Olympus? "Oh, I know one," Discord offered. "What about Xena? Have you won her over yet?" Shove it, Discord, Ares thought. You know very well that I don't have her back. "You know what I heard," Discord continued, smiling evilly. "I heard that Ares tricked the Furies into making Xena insane. She was absolutely looney, but she still kicked Ares' butt. Oh, and what about the time when some stupid spell turned you and Aphrodite into mortals." Ares jumped to his feet, knocking over his drink in the process, and it spilled over Hephestus' dinner. He glared at Discord, who smiled innocently and sipped her wine. All conversation at the table stopped, and all faces turned toward Ares. "I'm outta here," he muttered. With one more glare for good measure, this one directed at the entire room, he transported himself back to the Halls of War. He settled onto his throne and opened a spy portal to watch Xena. She and her little friend were in a temple, leaning over the still form of Joxer. The wannabe warrior looked pretty beat up. Ares wondered what had happened to him, but the thought passed quickly as he focused on the warrior princess. Xena. His obsession. His goal. His torment. =============================== The gauntlet had broken her. Ares stood nearby, watching intently as she forced her way through the death trap, never doubting her survival for a second. He'd trained her to survive, and so she would prevail. Her breaking, however, he could not have foretold. With every strike and every kick, her hatred lessened. Ares ached to run forward and lift her from the gauntlet before her traitorous soldiers completely purged the rage from her heart, yet he remained distanced. He clenched and unclenched his fists and ground his teeth, but he knew he could not interfere. He'd never felt so helpless. Xena began to fight back, but Ares knew it already was too late; the qualities that had transformed her into his greatest warrior were fading. She fell, and her mud-caked hands grasped for the line that signaled the end of her trial. Her fingers touched the groove in the dirt, and she lost consciousness. Her soldiers walked away. Then, in a vision both beautiful and terrifying, she rose like a ghost and crossed the line, spatting scornfully at Darphus. Her men muttered among themselves that she had died and how could she stand before them now. They'd seen her fall, watched the life drain from her battered body and into the dirt. How could she have lived? Ares snorted at their idiocy. He knew better. She *had* died, and had been reborn. Xena had crossed the line and earned her penance. The god of war lowered his head in mourning for the passing of his greatest student. How could he love her now? This tranformed creature with a purified heart. He hardly recognized her. As Xena walked away, so did Ares. This, he promised himself, was the end. =============================== From the Halls of War, Ares engaged in his second favorite pasttime. He cocked one leg over the arm of his throne, sipped wine from his best goblet and watched as Xena slipped through the Underworld. Her swollen belly slowed her not at all; rather she seemed to draw strength from the life inside her. Even pregnant, with someone else's child no less, Ares grudgingly admitted that she still radiated beauty and power. No one else could transform herself into a mother with as much grace as his Xena. Interrupting his thoughts, Discord slid into the hall and approached his throne. Ares expected her smirk when she saw the images within the spying portal. Xena may have changed over the years, but Discord never would. "Why do you care anymore?" Discord asked. "The bet is off due to outside influences -- namely, Callisto killing Strife. I got what I wanted." Ares pursed his lips and sighed. "I didn't." "Didn't what?" Discord cocked her head. "Oh, didn't get what you wanted. Well, you win some, you lose some." The light comment released a surge of unexpected anger within Ares. With a wordless yell, he launched his goblet at Discord. She ducked, but the lip tipped over her head, drenching her with red wine. She growled, but didn't move. She knew better than to challenge an angry, superior god. "I do not lose!" Ares yelled, jumping to his feet. Discord backed away. "I win! Do you understand that? I am the God of War! I. Do. Not. Lose!" He sunk back into his throne, his traitorous heart jackhammering beneath his skin. Damn it all, he thought. Damn Xena for letting me fall for her. Damn me, too, for being such a fool. As he caught his breath, Discord inched forward, wiping the dripping wine from her face. Her eyes studied him warily, her body tense and ready to bolt should his tempertantrum re-erupt. "That's all changed now," she whispered. Ares couldn't remember her voice ever sounding so sympathetic. "You did lose, Ares. You lost Xena. You lost your self-control. You lost your heart." Ares felt tears begin to blur his view of Discord, standing quietly by his throne. He wiped them away. Tears did not suit a god and especially not the god of war. No, when Ares wanted something, he didn't simply give up, let it go, cry and moan. Oh, no, he won what he wanted. Always. He stood and looked down at Discord. "I haven't lost yet," he whispered. He reached out to touch the image of Xena within the spy portal. Stretching his divine will, he transported himself to her, in the Underworld, and stepped out where her could see him. The time had come to lay down his best cards and see whether they were enough to win her over. =============================== Xena had stalked away. With her two children, one dead and one not yet living, she had ripped through Ares with her stabbing words, and then she had walked away. "I have feelings for you, okay?" he'd said. "I care about you, damn it! I see your face everywhere." Yet she hadn't believed him, that maybe even a god could change given enough motivation. She'd scorned his confessions. Strange, Ares thought. He'd never shared his feelings so openly with a mortal before, and instead of welcoming him, Xena had turned him away. "Stop it! You stop it!" she had said, her voice both scorning and unbelieving. "You're so desperate you're trying to convince me you love me? Well, go on, say it ... say it ... say you love me. "... the time for you and me has been and gone." Then she had walked away. His warrior princess, who'd pulled off the coup of all time. They'd battled each other for years, playing their game of cat and mouse, and Xena had won. No greater victory could she ask for. Don't you understand, Xena? he thought. Can't you see that I've changed, or is your heart so closed that you will never trust me? I'm a brand new man. You turned my life around. "I love you, Xena," he said softly. But Ares understood something about love, a painful truth so universal even he could not escape it. Sometimes love wasn't enough. the end |