I seem to have this need these days to finish things I didn't start. If you have not yet seen the Xena: Warrior Princess episode entitled, "A Necessary Evil," you may want to hold off reading the following no-connection-with-a-real-scriptwriter's fantasy epilogue to that episode. It contains spoilers and doesn't really stand very well on its own. Actually, there's hardly any action and even less plot.

The action, such as it is, takes place several hours after the last fadeout of "A Necessary Evil."

No whining. Please.

"Whatever It Takes" (February 13, 1997; revised May 11, 1997)

© Copyright 1997 by Rebekah

Xena: Warrior Princess and the names, titles, and backstory used in "Whatever It Takes" are the sole property of Universal. The author intends no copyright infringement through the writing of this fan fiction.

This story may not be sold and may be archived at public sites only with direct permission from the author. Any archive must carry this entire copyright statement.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Gabrielle once again crawled carefully to the edge of the pit and scrutinized the rocks directly below the pylons of the destroyed rope bridge. "Xena," she muttered, "you may have to give up this time ... I think it's long gone in the lava!" Still, she continued her careful survey of all the nooks and crannies of the cliff within her range of vision, concentrating on catching a glint of sun on metal or the odd contrast of hilt against rock. She tried not to think about the two crazed goddesses locked in combat beneath the glowing river of stone.

"Gabrielle, are you OK?" Xena's strident call broke into her thoughts.

"Uh ... sure, I'm OK. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe because I haven't heard a peep from you in quite a while and you're leaning over a yawning chasm filled with lava." Sarcasm dripped from the beautiful voice, which was muffled somewhat by the intervening brambles.

"I love you, too, Xena!" Gabrielle laughed for the first time in several days.

"Yeah. Uh-huh. Son of a ..." The warrior's voice faded as she moved further along the bank's undergrowth, hacking vigorously at the foliage. Gabrielle looked toward the colorful cursing for a few moments, wishing fervently for a cool drink of water. Rising on her hands, she sighed deeply and began to stretch, but stopped suddenly. She dropped back to her stomach and craned her neck as far as she dared over the edge.

"Xena!" she called excitedly. "Xena! I see it! It's down here on the rocks!"

"YES!" Sounds of pounding feet came toward her, and suddenly the warrior burst through the bushes. "Show me!"

Gabrielle pointed down and to the left of the bridge footing. "See, it's down there under the first ledge ... sorta stuck in that crack?" She drew back and allowed the warrior to peer at the spot.

"Good eyes. VERY good eyes," Xena murmured appreciatively, patting the girl's arm. "Thanks for ... well ..." She averted her eyes briefly and jumped up, as if somewhat embarrassed by her fixation on recovering the weapon.

"Hey, any friend of yours is a friend of mine, remember?" Gabrielle joked. "Uh, Xena? Now that we've found it, how ...?" Her voice trailed off as she saw Xena once again tying the rope from the bridge around her waist. "Oh."

"Glad I decided to bring this along with us!" Xena said briskly as she tied the other end to the bridge footing. "I won't be a minute ..." Her voice faded as she rappelled over the edge of the lava pit. Gabrielle shook her head, stood up, stretched, and walked slowly over to the edge. She laid her hand on the rope and waited.

"Got it!" Xena shouted happily.

Gabrielle heard the sound of the sword being shoved into its scabbard. "Huh ... wonder if she hugged it first!" she muttered wryly.

"OK, I'll haul you up ... or at least help ..." Gabrielle replied aloud, bending to the task and backing away from the edge as she pulled for her entire worth on the taut rope. She was soon rewarded by the sight of Xena clambering up over the edge of the pit, grinning from ear to ear. The warrior clapped the girl's shoulder heartily.

"Let's get back over to the ruins! Your staff and bag are over there somewhere ..." She turned toward the path. "Didn't you have an apple or something? I'm starved!" Her voice took on that breathy quality it always had when she was excited.

"Or something ..." Gabrielle gazed in wonderment at the dynamic figure disappearing down the path. "Damn, she's almost cheery." The girl felt totally drained and numbed by their latest close call, while Xena clearly was energized by the whole affair. Gabrielle closed her eyes and saw the bubbling lava reach up for her, felt the heat caress her legs as she plummeted toward ...

"Gabrielle? Are you coming?" Xena's voice drifted back down the path toward her.

"Oh, sorry ... yeah, I'm on my way." Carefully, Gabrielle picked her way up the short path and turned into the ruins. "There IS an apple in there." She pointed toward the bag that Xena was holding.

"Great!" Xena rummaged in the bag and produced the apple. Drawing her breast dagger, she sliced the fruit in two and held out half to Gabrielle. "C'mon over here and rest a little bit. The waterskins are all back with the rest of the gear and it will take us a while to get there."

Gabrielle took the proffered apple and sat down next to the warrior. She took a bite and, suddenly feeling as if she couldn't chew or swallow, sat with her eyes closed, quietly holding the bite in her mouth. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself looking directly into Xena's sternest gaze. Quickly, she chewed the forgotten bite of apple and swallowed.

"Xena? Is something wrong?"

Xena unclenched her jaw. "I was just thinking that the last few weeks couldn't possibly have been harder on you," she said softly. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle ... I'm so sorry." She bit into her apple and looked across the ruins.

"Are you?"

Xena turned back to her friend. "Is something bothering you, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle hesitated, wondering if she really wanted to say what seemed to be about to come out of her mouth. "You might say that." Too late. There it was.

"I think I already did." Xena spoke mildly enough, but her face began to look grim. "What's goin' on, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle rubbed her eyes wearily. "Remember when we were at the labyrinth and you were about to go down to find Callisto?" Gabrielle saw Xena nod. "I meant it when I said that I was sure you knew what you were doing. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course, I do ... and I was grateful that you said it." Xena still looked grim, but her voice was relaxed.

Gabrielle nodded. "Words are important, Xena. They're even important to you sometimes." She shifted her weight slightly. "I said those words to you because ... because I didn't want you going into a dangerous situation thinking that I was angry with you. I mean ... I WAS angry with you, but not JUST angry ... you ... you understand?"

The warrior nodded silently and waited.

"I also said those words because I trust you, Xena. I trust your instincts in dangerous situations, even if I don't understand exactly what's going on. I know that you would never deliberately hurt me."

"Almost never."

"W-what? What did you say?" Gabrielle looked at her friend in amazement.

"Almost never," Xena repeated.

"Deliberately hurt me?! Xena, I don't ..." Gabrielle felt confusion mixing with her exhaustion.

"I know you don't, Gabrielle." The warrior's voice sounded clipped and angry. Her eyes were as cold and glittering as Gabrielle had ever seen them. "You keep forgetting one, small detail. I'm not a very nice person, getting down to cases. I'm much more like Callisto than I am like you."

"No! That's not so! Why are you doing ..."

"Oh, but it IS so." She raised a hand to silence the girl's protest. "You tell me that my heart is good, not evil, and you've nearly convinced me, I think. I have to believe my soul is redeemable or I can't go on in this life. You've done that for me, Gabrielle." Xena threw a rock into the ruined walls across the clearing and listened to the sharp report of stone on stone. "But 'good' is not the same as 'nice.' I'm still ME ...and I'm not the kind of person most people would welcome for dinner." She turned to the girl and stared at her. "I never will be."

"I'LL always welcome you for dinner!"

Xena smiled in spite of herself. "Gabrielle, you're not LIKE most people. You're the way most people would like to THINK they are, but they're not, my friend ... they're not."

"Xena, what are you saying? Just ... just tell me ..." Gabrielle's voice caught.

"You're biased in your view of me, Gabrielle ... and it means the world to me that you are. But this thing with Velasca and Callisto ... it just points out something you need to know, I mean really understand about me." She strained to see the girl in the waning light and shivered at the exhaustion so evident in those liquid, green eyes.

"You're right, Xena." Gabrielle shifted again on the cold rock and sighed. "You've done and said and ... and NOT said things in the past few days that I don't understand at all. Xena ... what in Tartarus have you been doing to me?"

"What I've been DOING to you is saving your LIFE, Gabrielle."

"I UNDERSTAND that part, Xena ..."

"DO YOU? Do you REALLY?" Xena interrupted angrily. "I don't think that you do." She grimaced. "Gabrielle, do you know why I was so successful as a warlord?"

"I ... I ..." Startled by the quick change of subjects, Gabrielle stuttered helplessly for a few moments, then recovered. "Well, there are lots of reasons, I suppose ... you're smart, you're strong, you have amazing battle skills ..."

"Lots of warlords have those things."

"... you probably have the greatest military mind in the world ..." Gabrielle heard Xena snort at this comment. "... you're cunning, you ... were ... ruthless ..."

"Whoa, Gabrielle ... that's ARE, not were," Xena said flatly.

"No, Xena, you're ..."

"Gabrielle, you're getting really close to the truth now ... I know you won't back off from it." The warrior's voice became quiet and hard.

"If I had to give one reason for my success as a warlord, I'd have to say it was that I was always willing to do whatever it took to accomplish my goals. I taught my soldiers to ignore nobility and stab people in the back if it gave them the advantage to win the day." When Gabrielle winced, so did Xena, but she didn't stop. "When things went wrong, I seized whatever tools or opportunities presented themselves and kept fighting until I got what I wanted."

"You ... you still do that. It's one of the things I admire most about you." Gabrielle said quietly.

"Obviously, you've never thought that admiration through to its logical conclusion," Xena stated in a low, cool voice that soon became very cold indeed. "Whatever it takes, Gabrielle. Whatever it takes."

Gabrielle began to feel sick. "I ... I don't think I'm following you very well," she said weakly. "What does that have to do with Callisto?" The weakness was not lost on the warrior, who pressed on but kept a wary eye on her young friend.

"Everything, Gabrielle ... everything." Xena's voice softened. "Gabrielle, you're right ... I would do nearly anything to avoid hurting you ... or to keep anyone or anything else from hurting you."

Now Gabrielle was totally confused. "But ... but, Xena, when Callisto came up out of that labyrinth and started to ... to ..." Gabrielle swallowed hard. "... Xena, you sat down on a rock and WATCHED, for Gaia's sake!" She looked at her friend in time to see the ice blue eyes narrow and the jaws clench. "You never said a word about it. You ignored her AND ME every time she ... like it didn't matter!"

Agitated by her own flood of words, Gabrielle rose suddenly ... too suddenly. Her thirst, exhaustion, and emotions finally caught up with her in a wave of light-headedness. As the world swirled around her, she felt strong hands steadying her as she sat back down.

"NEARLY anything, Gabrielle ... I'd do NEARLY anything to avoid hurting you." The warrior made sure the girl was seated securely, then moved away again to watch the pain and confusion grow in her friend's eyes.

"There is one thing I will NEVER do, for any reason ... I'll never let you die without a fight." Xena waited a while to be sure the meaning of her words sank into the tired girl's mind. "As long as you're alive, you can work through any anger or pain ... you're strong that way, stronger than anyone else I know. But even if you weren't ... Gabrielle, if you're dead, your feelings wouldn't matter much anymore." The warrior saw slow comprehension cross her friend's features.

"If your life is in danger, I will do whatever it takes to save you ... even if that means hurting you or enduring your hurt at the hands of others. WHATEVER it takes, Gabrielle."

"You mean ..."

"It was part of the DEAL, Gabrielle ... just like my public confession was part of the deal. Callisto got to play all of the mind games with you she wanted. I wasn't to interfere or show any interest ... or offer you any comfort ... or let you know what was going on. I agreed as long as she didn't harm you physically. MY part of that deal was if she touched you, I'd chop her into pieces and haul them off to the woods for the wolves to eat." Xena smiled grimly at Gabrielle's look of horrified fascination. "I told you I'm not a nice person. Believe me now? SHE did."

Gabrielle made no response, but her expression reminded Xena of the first time they'd ever spoken. "Don't even THINK about it ... Following me ... You wouldn't want to make me MAD now, would you?" There it was, that same look. The warrior shook herself out of her reverie.

"She did it to torture ME, Gabrielle ... and believe me, it worked beyond her wildest hopes." Xena shuddered openly. "The helplessness ... the rage ... I ... the only thing I could do was trust you to take care of yourself ... believe you when you said you were grown up and could handle your own problems. I did TRY to warn you ... when you whacked her across the face right after I freed her ..."

"Yes ... yes, of course ..." Gabrielle looked surprised. "You ran between us, but you didn't turn on her OR grab my staff ... you put your hand on my neck and tried to make me look at you ... yes?"

"Yes." Xena's voice and bearing began to relax. "Then I ... I ... just had to sit down and ... and take it ... and let YOU take it. I'm sorry it hurt you, Gabrielle, more sorry than I can ever tell you ... but you've got to know that I'd do it again." Xena rubbed her forehead absently.

"You'd do it ALL again -- Callisto, everything -- wouldn't you?"

"In a heartbeat. I got what I wanted. YOU'RE alive and THEY'RE buried under tons of hot lava ... for eternity, I hope."

"Yeah, I'm alive ... WE'RE alive ... for now. But Xena, now Callisto is a GODDESS. It's more than possible that she'll escape ... that she and Velasca BOTH will escape, with our luck. Where's the wisdom in deliberately creating problems for ourselves down the road?" Gabrielle's frustration was evident. "I just don't UNDERSTAND you!"

"By the GODS, Gabrielle! Use your MIND!" Xena hissed in frustration. "You ... you were dangling from a rope bridge above a pit of lava with an insane immortal coming at you, bent on getting the pouch clenched in your TEETH. Long-term thinking is GREAT ... but if you don't survive the short-term, there IS no long term. Think you can manage to understand NOW?" Xena immediately regretted her tone as Gabrielle nodded silently and bowed her head. "Look ... Gabrielle ... I did the best I could under the circumstances. I couldn't think what else to DO. If I could have seen another way, believe me, I ... at least now, we have a chance to plan ahead."

Xena smiled faintly as Gabrielle's head snapped up. "What? You didn't think I was just gonna go on my merry way and FORGET about 'em, did you?!" She stopped a moment, grim-faced once more. "I ... I'll think of something ... FIND something ... somewhere ..." Coming to herself, the warrior realized that night was already upon them.

"Gabrielle, are ... are you all right with this? We ... we have to get going. We both need food and water and rest ... and our stuff is ..."

"Right. You're right. Let's go. Argo hates being left this long." Gabrielle used her staff to stand up, trying to ignore the aches in her shoulders caused by hanging on the rope bridge and Xena's rather spectacular rescue. "You ... I've got a lot to think about, Xena. I not sure about all this ..." Her voice drifted away as she seemed to lose track of her thought.

Xena felt herself go numb. "Yes, Gabrielle?" she prompted, using her distant, warrior's voice.

"No ... don't, Xena, it's all right ... I just wanted to say thanks for being honest with me. That had to be hard for you ... almost as hard as that public confession in the village ..."

"Harder. Those villagers don't know me and I don't know them. But you ..."

"I trust you, Xena. I don't always understand you, but I trust you." Gabrielle sighed deeply. "I feel terrible about that thing in the village, Xena ... I wanted to help you ... to stand up beside you or ... or something ..." Her voice trailed off in frustration.

"You were THERE, Gabrielle. Believe me, you helped." She rubbed the girl's back lightly and felt some of the knotted muscles relax.

"Xena?"

"Yeah?"

"Now I understand a little better why you acted as if I were crazy when I asked if you thought Callisto was sorry for the things she's done, but ..." Gabrielle took a deep breath. "If ... if you're like Callisto, then ... then is she like you?"

"Where is this going, Gabrielle?" The warrior felt as if she were about to get caught in a well-laid trap.

"If she's like you, even a tiny bit, then ... then it'll be easier for me to believe she CAN be sorry." Gabrielle sighed. "I have to believe it, Xena, I have to."

Xena rolled her eyes. "Whatever it takes, Gabrielle." She relaxed a bit as she heard her friend's soft laughter. "I know we're both tired, but I thought we might move the camp down the road a little before we settled for the night. I ... I don't think I want to stay in that spot again ... too many ghosts?" She looked to the small form trudging silently beside her.

"Huh. One skinny, BLOND ghost, you mean. I'm with you!"

Xena began to grin again. "Yes. You are."