Title: A Family Aftermath

Summary: Now that Hope is gone for good and the real Gabrielle is home with her family… and Xena... and Joxer, everyone has a lot of questions. What information is Gabrielle willing to share? And what will it take to get some alone time with Xena, anyway? Takes place immediately after S04E03, "A Family Affair."

Notes: This episode was amazing, but it left so many loose ends and questions! Here's my stab at addressing them. This take is predicated on my interpretation that Xena and Gabs casually visit their parents from time to time. For an example of how Xena's first visit back to Potidaea might have gone, see another fic of mine, "Family Obligations." However, it is not required reading for this!

Chapter One: Gods, Monsters, and Daughters

Gabrielle and Xena leaned on each other, savoring their moment on the bench outside Gabrielle's family home. Two horrors were dead in the barn. One wore her face; both shared her blood. This would spawn a whole new genre of nightmares for her, she was fairly certain. But for now she gingerly snuggled up to her slightly beat-up lover, and Xena hummed in contentment while rubbing the top of her head with her cheek.

"Where's your family?" Xena asked softly.

Dreamily, Gabrielle replied, "I told Lila about me, and I think she led our parents into town with some story."

Xena hummed. "They'll probably meet Joxer there, then."

"So we're alone?"

Xena turned slightly to face Gabrielle, who lifted her head off Xena's shoulder. Just enough to meet her for a kiss. It was soft and chaste, nearly tentative, but they both took a long pull of air through their noses at the sheer rightness of it. Neither wanted to pull away. When Xena did so, it was only long enough to further turn her body and take Gabrielle into her arms, and they rushed back together. Xena's right hand pressed into Gabrielle's bare lower back while her left caressed her hair, and Gabrielle worked a hand between them to come up and cup Xena's face. They whimpered in simultaneous need and relief, re-exploring each other's mouths and finding familiar, beloved territory.

They parted, breathing hard, only to press their foreheads together. Blue eyes held Gabrielle's green ones in thrall, projecting reverence across scant inches. It wasn't close enough. After such a separation and trauma, Gabrielle nearly wanted to crawl under Xena's skin.

A low, rough tone delivered, "I love you, Gabrielle."

"I love you, Xena. So much. When I couldn't get word to you… You'll have to tell me where you went."

"I will. But we have company."

"Yeah." With reluctance, the pair disentangled, but they couldn't bear to part entirely. Gabrielle left her arm around Xena's shoulders, and Xena dropped a hand onto her knee

Firelight flickering off tree leaves preceded a half dozen torch-wielding villagers led by Joxer and accompanied by Gabrielle's parents and sister. They all paused upon seeing the women seated cozily on the bench, but then Joxer ran straight up to them. He looked them both up and down and grinned.

"The real one!" He hauled Gabrielle into a bear hug that left her feet dangling. "Gods, Gabrielle, I thought Xena had just went nuts again and you were really dead."

She could not respond beyond a croak, having been robbed of breath by the press of a hammered breastplate. She flailed her legs a little and then heard a thump.

"Yeow!" Joxer dropped her, rubbing his head, and she stumbled only to be steadied from behind by Xena.

After a few breaths, Gabrielle managed. "I thought I was dead, too, Joxer. Glad to see you're... feeling strong." She shifted her gaze to her family as they slipped by Joxer, trailed by some of the villagers. "Mom, Dad. Long time no see."

Lila immediately filled her arms, but her parents hesitated, wide-eyed and hopeful.

Her father asked, "Is it true, Gabrielle? We were living with some kind of… evil thing that looked like you?"

"Yes. She's dead…" she addressed the other villagers, "in the barn, with the monster that killed the shepherd." Xena had filled her in on the killings.

Her father turned to go look, but Xena stepped around her to stop him. "Are you sure you want to see that, Herodotus?" He hesitated, and she added, "I know I didn't."

Eugene the miller gently interrupted, "We'll take care of it. Why don't you all go inside? You've done enough." He didn't wait for a response before ushering the rest of the villagers toward the barn.

Meanwhile, Hecuba had been staring into Gabrielle's face, and now she reached out to wipe away a tear Gabrielle hadn't realized was falling.

"Mom?"

Her mother's own tears began to fall. "How could we think she was you?" They embraced, and when they parted, Herodotus took Hecuba's place.

"She was so cold - she never joked, she was rough with the animals. We thought- you were- that there'd been too much trauma…" His voice was thick with held-back tears, and Gabrielle couldn't hold back a few of her own.

Joxer offered, "Hey, not everyone has as much experience with secret twins as we do. Xena has at least three of them running around Greece, and even she was fooled at first."

Pulling out of the embrace enough to grip Gabrielle's shoulders, her father sniffed and asked, "But how? Why? Joxer said she served some god called 'Dahak,' and that the monster was her- her child? What does that have to do with you?" He looked at her companions. "And where were all three of you when that thing came to our home?" There was little ire in it but much naked confusion. He had fed, housed, and parented a monster for weeks, none the wiser until today. Gabrielle had an inkling how he felt.

Xena interjected, "We should go inside for that talk." She glanced back toward the barn as she spoke, and Gabrielle nodded.

Hecuba observed, "You're bleeding from that arm again, Xena. Yes, come on; let's get that taken care of."

Lamplight revealed Gabrielle would have to stitch some of the slash on Xena's arm. Other scrapes needed cleaning, as well, but there wasn't much to do for the bruising on her face, neck, and back. Joxer needed attention, too, though not nearly as much. Lila helped Gabrielle tend to the wounds while their parents straightened the room, made tea, started dinner, and otherwise avoided looking out the windows at what their neighbors were doing in and around the barn.

Partway through stitching, Gabrielle idly wondered if the village men would burn the bodies of Hope and the Destroyer. Most likely. Who knew if it would work this time, but it was better than burying them on her family farm like macabre seeds.

"Hey." When Gabrielle flicked her eyes up, Xena was affecting a little pout, her eyes twinkling. "Go easy on me. Who taught you to stitch, Theodorus?"

Gabrielle couldn't help smiling, but she asked primly, "You want to whine about this? Remember that arrow?"

The faux pout and twinkle both faded. "Like I could forget."

The guilt hit instantly. Even Gabrielle didn't appreciate a reminder of Xena pushing a poisoned Persian arrow through her chest right now. "Bad joke. Sorry." She stood up enough to press a kiss to Xena's cheek. It was automatic, completely thoughtless. They were typically more discreet around other people, including her family, but something had damaged her filter tonight. Call it discombobulation, or neediness, or relief.

Lila coughed, and Gabrielle surmised her and probably at least one parent had seen that. Oh well.

Once the hurts were soothed, dinner was simmering, and everyone had a mug of tea, they wound up in a loose circle near the kitchen.

Herodotus began, "Gabrielle, we don't want to upset you, but we need to know… Why did that creature look like you? Why did she come to us? Xena, what did you get my daughter into this time?"

Gabrielle glared. "Don't start blaming her unless you want to yell at me, too. Hope was… I helped bring Hope into our world," she hedged, unwilling to lie or to get into all the painful details. When her parents just stared, she added, "We had a very complicated year."

Her mother looked lost. "Gabrielle, you served an evil, foreign god? The one Seraphin ran off chasing?"

Before Gabrielle could choke on an explanation, Xena clasped her shoulder and moved to stand at her side, staring down her parents. "She was tricked. And she took care of it - twice before today. Thought she died last time." Her voice shook almost imperceptibly, and Gabrielle squeezed the hand on her shoulder.

Joxer stepped up to her other side. "Yeah, did Seraphin tell you Gabrielle tackled Hope into a fissure in a volcano? Because she did. Xena and I saw them disappear into a fireball; I had nightmares."

Gabrielle appreciated the emotional support he offered. Less so the imagery he fed her parents.

Herodotus visibly brimmed over with horror. "Gab, was jumping into… into lava really the only way? You've promised me, time and again, that you would be careful out there!"

With a slight shake of the head, she responded simply, "If I didn't, Xena was going to die, and it would have been my fault."

"Gabrielle," Xena admonished, jostling the shoulder she still held.

Gabrielle just shook her head more. "It's true. Hope was going to doom the world, and because I owed Ares a debt, he was able to bargain for the Fates to cut your life thread if you killed her. He made it clear that was on me, besides everything else about Hope that's my fault."

Lila boggled, "You owed Ares a debt? The god of war, Ares?"

Xena used Gabrielle's captive shoulder to turn them to face one another, and her other hand cupped the side of Gabrielle's neck, her thumb coming to rest along her jaw. She punctuated her next words with a little shoulder squeeze. "And my fault. We agreed that was all in the past, even if the debt wasn't called in until later. And you know not to listen to Ares; he's a snake."

Tiredly, Gabrielle stated, "It's still the answer to the question. I jumped because I couldn't watch you kill yourself in slow motion over… all of that."

Xena's stricken expression faded. She knew, of course. She just didn't like to hear it aloud.

Gabrielle tried a smile and covered the hand Xena still rested on her neck. "Come on, I lived. You wouldn't have, and I don't think I can find more Ambrosia to bring you back from the dead again."

"I didn't even have your body for a funeral." Xena's gravely tone broke Gabrielle's heart. Truth be told, she, too, had wondered if Xena had died somewhere. No one she spoke to at the hospice had recent news of the warrior princess, and the uncertainty eventually hollowed out a spacious den for the stress that took up permanent residence in her gut. In retrospect, she was thankful for the weeks of oblivion she had before coming to.

Hecuba commented mildly, "Neither did we, you know. Seraphin sent word to us you'd died, no mention as to how, and the other one didn't show up for days after."

A wave of guilt hit Gabrielle, the crash physically bowing her form. In its wake she was grateful for her father's solemn, "...We're all just glad you're alive and home, Sweetheart." Her distress must have been too obvious for him to press for more answers. She was sure the family had a lot more questions, particularly about what she might owe a god, but just as well - there was no one thread they could pull without untying at least two more very personal stories she wasn't prepared to share. Britannia, Chin, Solan, Hope, even Callisto. What would they think of her convincing Xena to work with Perdicus' murderer?

Xena's eyes now offered nothing but understanding and sympathy, and Gabrielle let herself lean into her partner's supporting hands a little. The thumb at her jaw gave soothing caresses even as Joxer began to speak.

"How did you live, anyway? We couldn't see you after you fell."

Gabrielle shook her head to clear it and turned back toward the group. "I don't remember. I just know I woke up in a hospice weeks later. And I wasn't strong enough to travel for a long while after that." She turned to muster a half smile for Xena. "I helped with patients while I was regaining my strength. Taught them a few things you taught me."

They held a soft look before Gabrielle's expression shifted to a questioning one. "Where did you go? And why come to Potidaea, if you thought I was dead?"

With a long breath, Xena calmed to dispassion, and she recounted, "I ordered Joxer to escort Seraphin home, then met up with Hercules to deal with loose ends." Gabrielle realized the hind's blood dagger was likely the loose end just as Xena's eyes briefly shifted to catch hers. "Iolaus was beside himself." Then she felt a fresh pinprick of dismay for every friend who probably thought she was dead. Sweet Artemis, what a mess. "After that I went to see Hades, and he said he didn't have you."

Lila asked, "Excuse me, you 'went to see Hades?' Just knocked on his door, and that's how you found out she was alive?"

"Not exactly, but he owes me. When he didn't have you, I figured you were in the Amazon Land of the Dead. So I traveled to Northern Amazon territory on the steppes and spirit walked there. Couldn't find you." Xena's explanation had begun to speed up. "Fought a shaman; came back here to search for you. Picked up Joxer on the way. Found Hope here."

Gabrielle gaped, along with everyone else. "Xena. Now I have a hundred more questions."

Xena said nothing and maintained a politely bored expression.

Lila cleared her throat, and Gabrielle just knew she was going to make one of her legendarily questionable attempts to cheer up a conversation. "So, Sis, you've been leaving entire gods out of your stories. Any more you want to tell us about? Does Hermes owe you an express message delivery?"

Gabrielle was actually trying to remember what she had and had not shared on her visits - she would have sworn they knew the Hades stories - when Joxer decided to answer for her.

"I'm not sure what they get up to without me, but we three have had Aphrodite and Cupid work their magic on us a few times." He smiled blithely.

A mixture of outrage and disgust bloomed on the family's faces, and then horror dawned on Xena's and Gabrielle's.

"Not what it sounds like!" Gabrielle protested.

First Lila, then her mother slipped into fits of snickering, each one raising the temperature of the bard's cheeks. Her father rolled his eyes and tried to hide a smirk at her distress. She looked to Xena for comfort and received only a half smile and a helpless shrug.

Hecuba eventually managed to comment, "That's certainly my real daughter's face."

Solemnity shattered, they sat down for a dinner full of determinedly mundane small talk. Herodotus soon closed up again, however, directing not a single word at Xena but somehow projecting ire toward her just the same. Being emotionally exhausted, everyone let it go for the time being, but Gabrielle took note and made sure to squeeze Xena's knee under the table from time to time. Afterwards, she begged a bath for the three travelers.

Hecuba sized them up. "You all did roll around in the dirt enough today, didn't you? I'll do you one better. Get me the sheets that… the other one was sleeping in, and give me all the clothes you're wearing. I'll do a late batch of laundry tonight, and you three can wear fresh sleep shifts until everything's dry. Lila, Herodotus, can you clean up dinner?"

A little while later, Xena and Gabrielle shooed Hecuba from the shack that held the family's tub.

"Are you sure? There's hardly enough water in there."

"We're sure, Mom; it's plenty." As long as two bodies would be immersed in it. "Thank you." Once she left, the couple shed their robes.

"Oh, Xena," Gabrielle whispered. She walked around her lover, who twisted to follow her with her eyes. The bruises had only grown more prominent in the scant hours since the final fight with the Destroyer, and underneath them, Gabrielle could count too many ribs.

"What?"

"You haven't been eating enough." She gazed into Xena's face more closely. "Or sleeping."

"It didn't seem important," Xena responded simply.

"You need to take care of yourself!"

Xena called the ghost of her rakish smile. "Good thing you're here to do it for me now, huh?"

Gabrielle let out a short laugh. "Obviously. Get in the tub, dusty. I'll do your back first."

They washed briskly to hurry the arrival of the back-scrubbing portion, then luxuriated in it. Gabrielle ran her fingers through Xena's silky mane each time she shifted it to access a shoulder or a patch of back. Where bruising allowed, she also dug her thumbs into the pronounced muscles there and tried to drop a kiss over each soothed-away knot. She soon had a boneless warrior draped over her own pulled-up knees, groaning appreciatively at each new touch.

"Gabrielle, I'm going to drown if you keep that up. It's too good. Turn around. When I can move again, I'll get your back."

Gabrielle obliged and was rewarded with Xena's own careful ministrations. A rough sponge was followed by deft fingers smoothing away her stress. She let her senses float in the steam and the sensation of soothing, nonclinical touch. It had been such a part of her life before the hospice, a key part of their bond even as friends, and this bliss had her about ready to slip underwater when Xena pulled her against her front and leaned back against the side of the tub. Gabrielle simply let her head fall back and rest on Xena's shoulder. There was no awkwardness here, no pain, no questions - just deep relaxation and the delicious contact between their two bodies. Xena's breasts pressed into her back, and she sat between Xena's legs, enjoying every brush of their thighs. While Xena's arms lounged on the edges of the tub, Gabrielle's rested on the warrior's legs, occasionally caressing along one.

"I think," Xena declared, "in a hot bath, with you, is my favorite place to just… be."

Gabrielle hummed her agreement. "I missed it. We can't be here long, but… we saved some time sharing the bath, so let's enjoy it a minute longer, huh?"

As if on cue, the door opened.

"Mom's sent water to freshe- oh!"

Gabrielle and Xena indolently rolled their heads sideways to see Lila walk in, look up, and nearly drop a steaming bucket of water in her haste to leave again. Gabrielle grumbled about careless sisters.

Xena just sighed. "Guess it's Joxer's turn."

"Yeah."

Later, dried and dressed, Xena asked, "What are you going to do about your sister?" She opened the door and walked through it.

"What about me?"

The couple yelled and jumped.

"Lila, you just lurked out here?!"

"I didn't know what else to do! Gabrielle, are you two… I mean, you've barely let go of one another all night, and you kissed her earlier - which Dad saw - and then in the bath…" Lila's ramble trailed off.

"Yes," Gabrielle answered, uninterested in dissembling any more this evening. "We're together." She paused to watch the words sink in, her sister's shoulders lowering and eyes widening. Gabrielle implored, "I love her, Lila. I know it's not something you see in Potidaea, but… can you accept it from me?"

Lila stared at her for a long time. "...Dad spent like a week trying to get Hope to admit you two were together. He thought Xena broke your heart and wanted to skewer her over it."

"What?!" Gabrielle's mind cartwheeled like a leaf in the wind. No wonder her father was so hostile today. And who knew what Hope had insinuated to him.

"I only picked it up from Dad's weird questions. Well, that and the gossip I heard around town after you left the first time. I hadn't heard of it at all before that..."

Xena snorted in a failed attempt to restrain a peel of laughter. "Oh, poor Gabrielle. You didn't even need to touch me to ruin your reputation, but I'm glad you did." She leered.

Gabrielle's hands planted on her hips. "Keep laughing it up and I'll touch you all right. You know, we could go talk to Cyrene after this, get things really out in the open with family."

Placid as could be, Xena explained, "Oh, she knows. Figured it out last year. Didn't you wonder why she doesn't try to give you your own room anymore?"

Gabrielle remembered that their room was typically right near the inn's stairs when they stayed in Amphipolis, and she cringed. "I'm afraid to ask how she put it together."

"I didn't dare. All I know is that one day she gave me a dressing down about how much younger you are and accused me of having some kind of crisis."

"Crisis? Of all your exes, I'm the crisis? Does she even know about-"

Xena pointed a finger at her. "Ah-uh, don't start listing. Or else I'll tell your sister about all your little road boyfriends."

Lila said, "Oh please do anyway." Gabrielle noticed she never explicitly said she approved, but once Gabrielle and Xena started bantering, mischief had swiftly chased out the doubt and discomfort in her face. Gossip and sibling torture probably rated higher to her than gender specifics.

Still, Gabrielle suggested brightly, "Hey, why don't we tell Joxer it's his turn for the bath?"

Lila led them to Joxer with minimal additional ribbing, but to Gabrielle's surprise he was in the stable, laying out his bedroll on the straw.

"Joxer, what are you doing out here? I thought we had a spare pallet inside."

Lila answered for him, "We laid it out in our room yesterday, for Xena, like usual. Not that she slept in it, since you two- er, she and the other you spent all night in the barn." Well that wouldn't do. Sleeping alone tonight would be intolerable.

Gabrielle spoke around an indulgent smile, "Joxer, come on inside when you're done your bath. That pallet has your name on it."

"In your room?" he asked hopefully.

"I… guess? It is on the floor." She looked sidelong at her sister, who had been making eyes at Joxer over dinner. "As long as you're by the door."

"Yes! We can catch up tonight. I've been continuing to build my legend while you were away!" Oh, boy.