Joxer paused just inside the door to the tavern and tested the atmosphere inside warily. He was doing his best to keep his camouflage up and running and so far it seemed to be working. Only a few people had glanced his way and, judging from the expressions on their faces before they looked away, they had seen what he wanted them to see. A gawky nobody, not worth a second look. Laughable, in his homemade armour, trying to be a warrior when it was obvious that he was nothing of the kind. It was a part he had played for so long it had become second nature. Sometimes he had nightmares where he woke up and that was who he was for real. Scary thought. Still, it hadn't happened yet and until it did he might as well get on with his job. Right now, that meant reporting to the Boss.

He made his way across the room, glancing into the booths set against the walls as he went. Eventually he spotted her, seated in the farthest one, the candle on the table having burned so low that most of the booth was in deep shadow. Smiling a little, he entered and sat down on the only other chair.

"I see you're in a theatrical mood," he observed.

His employer laughed softly and pushed back the hood of her dark red cloak so he could see her face more clearly. "Indulge me," she ordered with a small smile.

Joxer shrugged. "No problem. Did you want me for a particular reason?"

Most of the levity died out of her smoky grey eyes. "I was worried about you."

"Me?" Joxer surprised himself by managing a laugh which was only a little bitter. "Now why should you be worried about a loser like me?"

The woman nodded, as though a suspicion had been confirmed. "I heard about what happened with Cupid's arrows," she told him evenly. "I'm sorry, Joxer."

For a moment Joxer managed to maintain his cocky facade, then it crumbled as the misery broke through. "Can you make it stop?" he whispered.

She shook her head sadly. "If I could, I would. Believe that. You are one of my most trusted people, Joxer, and this task I've set you is difficult and dangerous enough without further complications."

"Tell me about it," Joxer groused. He accepted the pewter goblet she pushed towards him and took a gulp of the contents. His eyebrows rose in appreciation and he took another, longer drink before he set it down. "Why don't you just tell Xena what you're up to?"

"I can't, Joxer. Xena's fate is balanced on a knife-edge. While she was under the influence of Ares she did many terrible things. Hades has many a black mark against her and until she began to change she was on a one-way ticket to Tartarus."

"But she has changed," Joxer pointed out. "Surely that has to count for something?"

"Of course, but the scales were heavily weighted in one direction and it will take more than one good deed to bring them back into alignment, never mind tip over to the other side. Every good deed Xena does, every merciful action she performs, takes her further away from Tartarus, but you can be certain that Ares will fight the transformation every step of the way. A direct confrontation with him would only escalate the situation and the losers would be Xena, Gabrielle-" she noticed the flinch he made sadly, "-and now you, my friend."

Joxer blinked at her, then smiled faintly. "A friend?"

After a moment, she nodded, the smile back in her eyes. "Yes, a friend," she agreed. "In the beginning you were just one of my people, the most suitable I could find for the job, but now I've got to know you, I've also come to appreciate you for the jewel you are. Oh, don't look so embarrassed," she chided as he flushed and ducked his head. "I can say what I like."

"You're the boss," he agreed.

"Yes," she sighed.

Silence fell between them, but it was something that Joxer was used to. She was a person of few words, so that when she did speak, it was a good idea to listen to her. It was several years since Joxer had first met her and found himself ruthlessly taken up in one of her schemes. When the dust had settled it hadn't taken him long to realise that he could never go back to the life he had before. With her he finally had a reason for being who and what he was. He just wished he didn't have to act such a total idiot on this job.

"You had to seem harmless, Joxer," she told him softly, reading either his mind or the expression on his face. "Xena would have seen a strong male warrior as a rival and the conflict you would have stirred up inside her was something Ares would have been able to use. And Gabrielle would have been even more jealous if you had been someone she felt she had to compete against."

"Even more jealous?" Joxer laughed. "She treats me like dirt!"

"Does she do that to any of the real losers you meet up with? Does she constantly belittle them or try and drive them away?"

"Well... no. She's usually nice to them."

Gabrielle. He'd been attracted to her from the start, although he had been careful not to show it. Her inherent goodness, the inner core of innocence which made her gaze at the world with such wide, hopeful eyes.... he wanted to protect her, to shield her from the horrors he knew were out there.

He'd done his best to keep her at arm's length, calling her names and always pretending to try and impress her, but somewhere along the line something had gone wrong. When she had been hit by the arrow and had fallen briefly in love with him, she had pierced his defences as if they had been made out of mist. When Cupid had restored everyone to normal and she had looked at him with such pitying contempt, part of him had died. He had nearly blown everything when Xena had come to him, the emotions too raw for him to fake anything. Now he wondered if he could continue with his task.

"I wondered if you would feel that way," she said when he explained his feelings. "I've been trying to come up with a contingency plan for a while, now."

"Worried I'd fail you?" Joxer asked.

She smiled faintly. "Never," she avowed. "I'd be more inclined to believe that Hercules would make a sacrifice to Hera! No, I don't doubt you, Joxer, but there's always been the chance that Ares might move against you."

"He doesn't have a very high opinion of me," Joxer smiled. "I saw to that."

"And I'll thank you not to give me any more shocks like that!" she shot back. "There's such a thing as pushing your luck too far, young man, and making smart talk to Ares is high on the list on Things I Shouldn't Do. Ares is self-absorbed but he isn't stupid. Well, not that stupid. Turn up too many times at an opportune moment, make the right move at the right time once too often, remind Xena of her humanity too glibly, and he's going to be two and two together."

"I make a point of annoying him whenever I'm around him. It clouds his judgement."

She made a small hissing sound as she shook her head slowly. "Take care, Joxer. It's a dangerous path I've set you on."

Joxer knew that, knew that every time he turned up at just the right moment to push Xena in the right direction, he ran the risk of alerting Ares to the master plan. He could only say the right thing 'accidentally' so many times, goad Gabrielle into making the connection occasionally, distract Xena from the easy solution to one less simple but calculated to bring her a little further back into the light every now and then. Sometimes the strain was so huge he failed to pay attention to his own situation and then he had to move pretty quickly to prevent his own premature arrival in Hades.

"I'll watch myself," he promised her quietly. Then he gave her one of those charming smiles she liked so much. "Hey, I have to survive just to see the looks on their faces when they realise what I was there for, right?"

"Right," she agreed.

The rest of the time was spent in bringing her up to speed over the little things that had happened since she had seen him last. Overall she was pleased with their progress. The darkness was still in Xena, of course. It would always be there. Once invited in it could never be shed until the host died and went before Hades, where he could either blast it from them or bind it to them for eternity. Repenting its existence was no good when you stood before the Lord Pluto and gazed into his eternal eyes. You had to do something about it before that moment arrived.

Eventually it was time for him to leave. She watched as the thoughtful, dangerous young warrior vanished in front of her eyes and turned into the gawky, foolish wannabe who was so easy to laugh at. With a gormless grin he left her, half tripping over his feet as he tried to saunter out of the tavern. She caught sight of a few contemptuous smiles on some faces before they turned back to their own affairs and completely forgot about him.

Settling back in her chair, she toyed with the goblet she had given him and marvelled at the happenstance which had given her such a jewel. Even the gods needed a little honest luck every now and then. Her grey eyes darkened as she pondered the future which was approaching. The Fates had three strands to weave for Xena and the actions of those around her had a direct effect on which thread was used. One path led to Ares winning, the second to Xena winning free of the darkness. The third.... oh, let the third lie unused. The pain and grief bound up in that glittering thread didn't bear thinking about.

Well, she had better get back. Strictly speaking this chore could be handled by one of her lieutenants but the stark truth of the matter was that she liked Joxer and she took every opportunity to spend some time with him. It was probably because he often reminded her of his father, although that was something she couldn't tell him. Well, not yet. Maybe when all this was over, she might drop a few hints to his father that it was time Joxer knew the truth about his and his brothers' parentage. After all, Hermes was quick enough to nag her whenever something slipped her mind.

There was a soft puff of sound and a huge owl of amethyst and gold settled on her shoulder. It twisted its head around and made an inquiring sound.

"Sorry, Pallas, you just missed him."

The owl made a sound of disgust and promptly sulked. Athena laughed and got to her feet before winking out in a cascade of jewelled arrowheads. Time to get back to Olympus. Xena was in safe hands while Joxer was around.

oooOooo