52A/N: Hello guys! This is a long-ish one-shot based around a One Word Prompt by the UF group. The word was 'Sabotage'. I wanted to make something funny and kinda "action-y" so I hope it came out alright XD...Its based after Vanishing Act, and Gabrielle's prank at the end is mentioned in my "For Love's Sake" multi-chapter story. Hope you like it. Happy Reading Folks! :)
Sabotage:
1. Destruction of property or obstruction of normal operations, as by civilians or enemy agents in time of war.
2. Treacherous action to defeat or hinder a cause or an endeavour; deliberate subversion.
"What are you doing all the way over there?" Xena asked.
Gabrielle refused to look at her friend. She rolled onto her side, tucking the furs further around her face. "If you can't remember then I'm not going to tell you."
Xena frowned. What was she talking about? "Was it something I said last night? You know I was only joking when I said that the food tasted bad. You cook better than anyone I know, even mother!" she paused for a moment. "Don't tell her I said that."
Gabrielle couldn't help but feel a treacherous smile stretch across her face. She sighed and sat up. Now that she was awake, there was no point in trying to drift back off to sleep, even if she'd only had a couple of hours rest after the incident.
She shivered and rubbed her arms as she looked up at the grey sky. The day was early; the chilly end of winter bit at her skin, but the sun was rising, and she could already feel its subtle warmth. It would soon get hotter.
She looked over at Xena and composed her face, not letting her see her smile. She was still mad at her. The warrior princess had left a mark on her face, she was sure of it. Hours before she had been sleeping peacefully beside her as usual; the fire roaring nearby and the ambience of the woods soothing her further into sleep. She couldn't imagine a better way to drift off. Before settling for the night, they had bought new bedrolls from Xerces's shop; a welcome investment considering the ones they had used for the past couple of years had almost completely reduced to tatters.
She had been tired but calm and happy. Buying something new always cheered her up. But then, after she'd settled into her new bedroll and fallen to sleep, a sharp, stinging pain to her face had woken her. She'd sat up quickly, a hand cupped to her burning cheek wondering what it had been. There had been nobody around; no intruders stalking their little camp site, no impending attack. It was only when she'd heard Xena's light snore that she realized the culprit.
The black haired woman had laid in her bedroll, her arm extended out to where Gabrielle was, albeit slipping with her sudden movement. Looking, Gabrielle realized that Xena had turned over, reaching, but had slapped her in the middle of the night. She'd tried to wake her, to tell her what she'd done, but the events of the day prior had sapped Xena of all energy, and she had only mumbled in her sleep and turned her back to the blonde bard.
Annoyed, Gabrielle had stood and dragged her bedroll a safer distance away, out of arm's reach - the other side of the fire.
"I won't tell her," Gabrielle promised and pulled herself out of bed, stretching.
Xena stared at her, eyeing the almost imperceptible mark on her friend's face. "Been laid funny during the night?" she guessed.
Gabrielle frowned and touched her face self-consciously, wondering how bad her face looked. Xena's blue eyes scrutinized her face. "Yeah, that must've been it," she lied.
She could feel her friend's eyes on her all the time she was rolling up her bed roll. Still, Xena didn't press for answers as she did the same.
Xena shrugged as she helped Gabrielle pack up their belongings, douse the remaining embers of the fire and set off. She noticed Gabrielle was unusually quiet, and she kept touching her cheek, rubbing it as if to soothe it. She racked her brain, searching for an answer. It was obvious that she had done something to Gabrielle, but she couldn't think of what it was. They'd had a good day, and the night hadn't been too bad either.
She looked at the younger woman, biting her lip and wondering why in Tartarus she wouldn't look at her; and how she had ended up on the other side of the fire when she'd opened her eyes. She considered asking, but when the sound of deep laughter and the scraping of a sword being drawn reached her ears, she stopped.
Gabrielle noticed when Xena stopped dead, her eyes narrowed and her mouth drawn into a thin line. She looked out at the road before them and saw it empty, but Gabrielle knew better than to judge by what she saw and what was really there. Slinking up beside Xena, Gabrielle tightened her grip on her staff.
"How may are there?" she asked quietly.
"At least five," Xena pulled her sword free and pushed Argo away to trot a small distance behind them. She squinted at the road before them and saw a small group of leather clad, scruffy men come into sight; each man had a red bandana around some part of them – the upper arm, wrapped around the forehead or wrist. They looked heavily armed, and held themselves with a swagger that betrayed overconfidence.
When they saw the two women standing in the road, weapons ready, the biggest of the men laughed heartily, holding his stomach as if doing so was causing him pain. Xena sneered. She'd show him pain soon.
He stepped forward, swinging his sword around in his hand lazily, while the men behind him grinned and elbowed each other. "What brings you pretty ladies out here this early in the morning?" he asked, his voice laced with condescension. His eyes held a lecherous look as they travelled over Xena's body.
Xena sniffed the air in his direction and acted repulsed. "The stench. I thought something must have died…but I see now that the cause of it is much worse."
The man's smile fell, and the men behind him laughed harder. "You wouldn't be talking to me like that if you knew who I was!" he said, raising his sword to point it threateningly at her.
"I don't care who you are, I just care about where you think you're going with that big bag of money there. It obviously doesn't belong to you." Xena said, gesturing to the bag that the rest of his gang were noticeably fighting over; each tugging on it to seek possession.
Mr Confident scratched his chin in thought, his smile returning. "You seem like a smart woman. Perhaps we can come to some kind of arrangement."
Gabrielle quirked an eyebrow. "Is he seriously going to try and persuade you to let him go?" she murmured so only Xena could hear.
Xena smiled and looked back at the man. But he took her smile the wrong way and stepped closer, looking hopeful. "Sure, we can sort something out," she said. "You give me that money, put away your swords, and I'll let you walk away from here unscathed."
"I don't think so. This money was…hard earned," he said thoughtfully and smiled.
Xena was losing her patience for the man. He was joking about robbing innocent people. Gabrielle seemed to be getting annoyed too. Her hands gripped the staff tighter, as though she couldn't wait to wipe the smirk off the man's face.
"Last chance," Xena warned, swinging her sword. "Cough up the money and live, or don't and…well, you get where I'm going with this."
Mr Confident twirled his sword in answer, his smile broad and arrogant. The rest of the men followed suit, drawing their swords with enthusiastic chuckles.
Xena shrugged. "Have it your way."
The man rushed forward with a cry, brandishing his sword. Xena lifted hers, deflecting his attack with one of her own and knocked him back with a well-aimed kick to his chest. He stumbled back with a grunt, tripping and falling into one of the other men, knocking them both over.
Gabrielle planted her feet firmly as the two men rushed her. She waited, her muscles tensed as they looked, smirking at her as though they couldn't believe she was going to fight. It irked her and instead of waiting, she hit first. She thrust the staff end up, knocking the closest to her in the chest and swiped down, hitting his hand, knocking his sword out of his grasp. While he was shaking his hand in pain, the other snapped out of his overconfident stance and rushed forward. His sword slammed into her staff when she lifted it defensively and she deflected his attack, spun and used the end to clip behind his ankles, tripping him.
Recovering from her attack, the other man grabbed his sword and ran toward her, his face contorted in anger. He swung his sword wildly, hoping to hit her with his random attacks. Gabrielle used his anger against him, allowing him to get close enough with his thrusting attack so she could trap him, swinging her staff around to capture his sword between her and her body. He tried pulling away, tugging roughly with growing annoyance.
Xena countered the men's attacks quickly, their swords slicing against each other as they clashed. Tiring of the repetitive hits, Xena deflected one man's hits and rolled into the other, getting close enough to head butt him with an audible crack. He fell to his knees, smiled dazedly before finally falling face first onto the ground.
Hearing the leader approaching behind her, she lifted her sword over her head and down behind her, effectively blocking his attack to her back. Pushing away, she knocked him back and turned on her heel, smashing the flat side of the blade against his knees. The impact swept him off his feet. He landed with a crack when his face smashed into the hard ground.
Mr Confident rose. His face was covered in red, the blood oozing from in nose. Losing what was left of his arrogant swagger, he rushed forward waving his sword. His blade sliced through the air, whizzing over her head with an audible whoosh. His anger made him sloppy; his form dropped and Xena thought his attacks might as well have been made by a blind man. She repelled every hit easily, countering with one of her own. Knocking his sword from his hand, Xena dealt a punch to his gut and lifted her knee, smashing it into his chin. His teeth clashed together sickly. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Gabrielle's remaining enemy followed suit, falling unconscious on his back with bruises on his face.
Xena stood, pointing to the last of the five still holding the money. "You! Stay there!" she shouted. His eyes widened for a second in fear and he turned, pushing himself into gear. She sighed. "Why do they always run?"
Following after him, Xena ran, propelling herself into a series of backflips sounding her familiar war cry until she enclosed on his retreating figure. Flipping over him, she came to stand before the man. He barely had time to blink before she snapped her hands up and performed the pinch.
The man made a strangled noise as he fell to his knees, gasping and face quickly turning red. "I've just cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You'll be dead in thirty seconds unless you tell me who you all are and who you took that money from," Xena warned.
Gabrielle panted as she rushed to stand next to Xena, watching as the man struggled to find words.
"Makos…that man…robbed family up the road." Blood started trickling from his nose. He gasped again before continuing. "Left alive…but took money."
"You took a family's money?" Gabrielle asked, disgusted.
"Where are they?" Xena asked firmly. He seemed to struggle for a moment, the pain dazing him. She grabbed his collar and shook him hard. "Tell me!"
"Still at the…house. Still…there… please! Can't breathe!"
Sighing, she released the pinch on him. "Which house?"
The man gasped for air as though resurfacing from being under water. Clutching his neck gingerly, he looked up. "Just up the road. It's a lonely cottage…with a small farm."
"Thanks," Xena said. Before he could run she snapped her hand forward and punched him, effectively knocking him out.
Gabrielle picked the bag of money up off the floor when it fell out of his hands and weighed it in her own. "This feels heavy. Did they steal all the family's money?"
Xena took the bag and looked inside. "Looks like it. Come on, let's return it," she said and whistled to Argo.
~X~
The cottage wasn't too far away. The man had said it was just up the road, and within five minutes of riding Argo, they found it. The building stood alone; beautiful and tidy. From the outside it looked as though an attack never happened. That the men hadn't come and robbed the family of everything they had. But upon closer inspection, Xena found furniture turned over and the family cowering together in the main room.
When the father saw the two women step into the house, Xena could tell he was trying to retain whatever courage he had left to protect his family from further intruders. While his wife and children huddled together in the furthest corner, he stood tall, a frown deepening the crease in his already lined forehead and a fire poker shaking unsteadily in his hands.
"Leave us! We have nothing to offer you that hasn't already been taken!" he shouted.
Xena approached, her hand lifted in a conciliatory gesture. "Relax; we're not here to rob you. We're here to return what was taken from you."
"Lies!" the man swung.
Xena reached out, capturing the makeshift weapon in her hand. "Gabrielle, give him the money," she said, trying not to let her annoyance leak into her voice.
Gabrielle stepped forward, holding up the bag for them all to see. Seeing the father's eyes widen, she smiled and passed it to him, knowing that he wouldn't attack again.
The father reached out for the money. His face immediately brightened when he looked inside. "But why? How?"
"We ran into a group of men who looked as though they'd been up to no good. After a nice conversation we found out that the money they had didn't belong to them." She gestured to the bag of money. "It's yours."
The father stared at the two women for a long moment, as though he was trying to figure out whether they were lying or not, but then decided to accept it. They had helped after all. He smiled brightly, letting go of the poker to safely step forward and pull both women into a hug. Xena and Gabrielle exchanged surprised glances before he let go.
"Welcome, you are most welcome. Thank you so much for returning this." He looked over his shoulder at his family and waved them over. "It's okay; these women have returned what was taken from us."
Slow and unsure, the young woman rose to her feet, keeping her son and daughter safely behind her. "Are you sure, Akakios?" she asked shakily.
Akakios nodded and showed her the bag of money. As one the family turned their smiles on Xena and Gabrielle. The woman stepped forward. "Thank you so much. If there is anything we can do to repay you?"
Xena lifted her hand. "No, it's alright. We just wanted to return this to the rightful owner."
"Please, there must be something?"
Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other for a moment, identical smiles gracing their lips. Gabrielle turned to the man. "Do you have a bath?"
Akakios shook his head. "No. But there is a spring pool not far from here behind the house. You could use that?"
Xena nodded. "That will do. We haven't bathed in days. Thank you."
~X~
Gabrielle sighed pleasantly as she lowered her body below the surface of the water and moved toward the falling water. She closed her eyes, brushing her fingers through her hair as it rushed over her head; the bubbles massaged the soreness she felt in her shoulders and relieved the ache in her back from another night on the ground.
"The water feels great," she said.
"I just wish the water was a little warmer," Xena griped. "But it's better than nothing. I can't remember the last time I had a proper bath."
"Well, one disadvantage of bathing in a spring. No soap."
Xena grinned. "Advantage. You can't sit on it."
Gabrielle stuck her tongue out. "It was fortunate that we were able to stop those men before they robbed someone else. They might think twice before trying it again."
"Hopefully," Xena agreed. "They didn't seem the type. They seemed more arrogant, inexperienced adolescents than full grown thieves."
The water rippled as Gabrielle moved closer. "You think it might have been their first time?"
"Their swords looked new; there wasn't a knick on a single one. No evidence of them being previously used. I would bet they've never fought with swords before."
"Then why fight? Why not just give up the money and back up if they knew they wouldn't win?"
Xena shrugged. "Pride…arrogance…you saw how their leader looked. He didn't expect us to be so…experienced."
Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Boys,"
Smiling, Xena turned and started swimming away, unaware that she was splashing Gabrielle in her wake.
Watching Xena's figure surfing the water, Gabrielle glanced around the edge of the spring and found her friend's armour nearby. With a grin, she waded over carefully and lifted the breastplate. She considered hiding it, but realizing that Xena would know straight away that it was gone struck the plan from her thoughts. Instead she grabbed her boots and shifted them so they were closer to the muddy bank. Grabbing a handful of the sludge, Gabrielle planted it deeply in the boots and moved back.
That'll teach her to slap me and get away with it, Gabrielle thought as she washed the tell-tale mud from her hands.
After a few minutes, Xena gasped for air as the lifted her head from the water and swam back. "I'm done now. You coming?"
"Yeah, I'm finished too," Gabrielle replied with a smirk.
~X~
Gabrielle found it extremely difficult to retain her normal composure as the warrior princess walked awkwardly, frowned every now and then during conversation. As she walked, Xena would pull a face that would have Gabrielle within dangerous territory, ripe with hardly contained laughter. She hid her smile discreetly behind her hand, nodding every now and then whenever Xena asked a question or commented on what happened earlier.
Controlling the urge to burst out into a fit of giggles, Gabrielle kept her voice steady. "Is there something wrong, Xena?"
"What do you mean?"
Gabrielle gestured to her friend's boots. "You seem to be walking funny."
Xena stopped, looking at her boots. "I don't know what's wrong. I thought it was just the ground, but…" she gave Argo's reins to her friend and lifted her foot, sliding off her boot; the mud oozed out and slopped to the floor with a distinct slap.
"What the-? How did the mud get in the boots? I was sure I left them far enough away from the bank."
Gabrielle feigned innocence. "Maybe you didn't? Sometimes you can forget about the things you've done." She watched with barely contained laughter as Xena hopped on one foot, smacking the base of the boot to get the rest of the mud out.
"I thought they felt strange when I put them on." She looked up. "Did you know about this?"
"Of course not."
Xena quirked an eyebrow at her. "Really?"
Gabrielle smiled radiantly. "Would I do that to you?" she asked and rubbed her cheek.
Please R&R :3