Still Ancient Greece (Theoretically), Just After Sunset (Again), Wednesday Fandom Time
It wasn't that Gabrielle had an objection to reappearing outside of her cave again, but there were far less confusing ways to do that than straddling a trussed-up Mavican a split second after she’d just been pacing around by herself in the dark.
. . . Gabrielle definitely didn’t remember doing that so that was weird (you’d think she would remember tying someone up and then . . . um), but while she had the opportunity to ask:
“Where’s Xena?”
Mavican started to laugh. "You really don’t know? Ares has put the two of you in the same body. You get the nights, she gets the day. Problem is, you’re stuck with me for the night.”
She lurched up far enough to slam her forehead into Gabrielle’s chin and knock her back. “. . . or at least long enough to kill you.”
Come on, Gabrielle, she remembered Xena saying on more than one occasion, trying to get her to understand the importance of awareness of her surroundings. Look around you.
There -- branches leaned up against the side of a tree, about the size and heft of her old fighting staff by the look of them. She reached out to grab one, and heard Mavican’s snort of disbelief.
“What, you think you can take me on with a staff? Please, Gabrielle, I perfected the art.”
It really, really wasn’t worth wasting breath on a retort that she'd been trained by Amazons and fought beside Xena for years using a staff; Gabrielle just smiled tightly and closed her hand around the makeshift staff. “I have nothing to lose, do I?”
She felt something tense, then snap as she yanked the staff toward her, and had just enough time to duck the log that came swinging down out of the trees to catch Mavican full-on in the midsection. Was that Xena’s doing? It had to be, but when she’d been a victim of a trap just like this one she’d died (temporarily) from the internal damage. If Mavican was injured badly enough from this, they’d be trapped; the realization made Gabrielle hesitate for a moment.
The moment got cut short when something sharp buried itself in her left shoulder and sent a shockwave of pain down her arm so hard that she lost feeling in her hand for a split second and dropped the staff.
The first rule of survival is to run. That had been one of Xena’s first lessons, and --stopping just long enough to retrieve the staff -- she took it to heart.
***
Her flight took her to a cave. (Of course. There was always a cave. Granted, a cave with an apparently bottomless pit toward its back, so she’d be avoiding that.) She couldn't hide forever, or even for very long, she suspected; she had undoubtedly left blood on the foliage in her escape, and she'd bet that Mavican was counting on that. It was what she would do herself, if she were tracking someone. It would buy her a few minutes' reprieve to catch her breath, at least, and dig the sharpened shard of flint out of her shoulder.
The sound of trickling water led her to a impossibly convenient spring near one wall. The water had a sharp mineral tang to it, but it was drinkable. More importantly, or at least more relevant to her shoulder wound, it was cool.
"Xena, where are you?" she muttered, more out of concern than anything. That surprised Gabrielle a bit. Not because she was worried about Xena's well-being; because for the first time, she consciously realized that here she was, being hunted like prey, all on her own, and she didn't feel like she was lost without Xena.
The question didn't make Xena miraculously appear, but it had been worth an irrational shot. Gabrielle closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the staff. It was still rough, covered with patches of bark here and there, and the bit of it beneath her hand kept slipping.
. . . hang on a moment. Trying to contain a surge of hopefulness (because that always worked so well for her), she ran her fingers along the wood until she found a makeshift fiber cord and fumbled the knot in it loose; a cylindrical piece of bark fell away into her hand.
With writing on it -- she crept as close to the cave mouth as she dared and squinted at the messy letters in the moonlight.
If you read this, you'll know that I'm here. Ares has merged us into the same body: the same way that the world shares day and night, never sees the same two together. Mavican is tough, but we can defeat her. A lot of it depends on you, though. You've figured out part of Ares' riddle, but you can't kill her, Gabrielle. It's something that Ares wants to see and I don't know why, yet. Together, we can get out of this.
Gabrielle could have stopped to wonder how exactly Xena had managed to come up with writing implements on short notice with nothing but forest materials on hand (or where that sudden inexplicable burst of eloquence had come from), but seeing as she'd much rather survive she had more important things to focus on, like how to deal with Mavican. Or what Ares was up to.
"Hello, Gabrielle."
Speaking of Ares. Right on cue. Gabrielle turned toward him with narrowed eyes, but kept laving handfuls of water over her shoulder. "What do you want?"
He shrugged, all innocence that she knew better than to believe.
"I've been watching you. I think you've got potential."
"Potential for what?" Her shoulder twinged again, and she sighed. "Never mind. I really don't want to know."
"You've also got a slanted opinion of me," Ares protested, and she gave him a look that could only be described as bitch, please. "Okay, only somewhat slanted, but I'm serious. You're not quite there yet, but . . . maybe I've been dismissing you too easily over the years. Maybe the heir to Xena's throne has been right in front of me all along."
Gabrielle just stared at him. "Are you out of your mind?"
"How's your wound? Okay?" When Gabrielle didn't take the bait and answer the seemingly well-meaning question he pressed on. "Here's the deal. I've learned a few things from Xena -- and, perhaps my way of peace through power isn't quite what I thought it was."
Peace through power. Just because Gabrielle didn't follow the Way of Love any more didn't mean she had less respect for it; those words from Ares felt like a mockery, and she spat, "You are so full of -- "
Ares cut her off. "No. Now, that is Xena's problem these days. She's so set in her ways. She won't even make an effort to see change. You should know that more than anyone." She took a breath to reply, but before she did he went on. "It's okay, you don't have to answer. It's obvious. It's painfully obvious. So, please, don't do to me what Xena does to you. Just -- just hear me out, honestly. Okay?"
"Okay," Gabrielle replied slowly. She knew how he worked, knew better than to trust him, but she was still smarting over Xena's brushoff of her abilities, and having someone who'd actually noticed was nice. Welcome, even. It made her feel magnanimous enough to agree.
"What I need -- what I think I've always needed, is someone strong enough to lead people," he explained, looking her square in the face. "I think the key is to find someone who's learned how to fight -- but has the discretion not to. Now, there's something Xena never had."
But she did, and that made her better. That was what he was trying to say: the implication was clear. To tell the truth, it was veryflattering, but rather than indicate as much she asked, "What about Mavican?"
"What about her?" Ares shrugged. "She's set in her ways already. And have you listened to her speak? No. The old Ares, he would have loved her, but not me. I want you to look beyond our past. I know how you feel about me: you got good reason. But maybe, uh . . . maybe, gods can change, too."
Maybe they could. Gabrielle was still skeptical, but on the other hand she had always been a fierce proponent of forgiveness. It sounded appealing enough, but she had to know: "What happens to Xena?"
"Xena? Xena goes home. Lives with her mother, and spends the rest of her years safe in the knowledge that someone she trusts is in control." It would be a nice thing, to let Xena have that peaceful life that had been taken from her all those years ago . . . Gabrielle wavered a little, but made herself keep listening carefully as Ares continued. "Now, I want you to think about this, but don't take too long. Mavican is really intent on killing Xena."
That much had been obvious, and the look Gabrielle gave him said so.
"Of course, her destiny is in your hands," he pointed out, and held up one of his own. A single sai shimmered into being, and he held it out to her with a solemnity that felt almost ritual. When Gabrielle closed her fingers around the leather-wrapped hilt, she felt a chill down the back of her neck. "With this, you can kill Mavican. You do that, and I'll know you're ready." Without another word, he turned and disappeared.
Just in time for Mavican's voice to ring out from the cave mouth.
"Nice place. Room for one more?"
Gabrielle deliberately flipped the sai over in her hand -- just a brief display of yes, I do know how to use this, so don't think I don't that ended with her pointing a weapon at an opponent. "Back off, Mavican," she said forcefully, her voice echoing off the cave walls. "I'm warning you."
"You're warning me?"
Gabrielle hadn't expected Mavican to take that seriously, so her mocking laugh was no surprise. Good; let her keep thinking Gabrielle was some tiny creature backed into a corner and puffing itself up to look more threatening than it was. The more she encouraged that notion, the more of an edge she had.
"Gabrielle." Mavican was all condescension now, and where Gabrielle might've rankled at the dismissal under any other circumstances, it was an asset now. "I'll admit you've got something . . . but it's over." With a battle cry, a somersault (that really lacked Xena's panache), and a staff not unlike the one Gabrielle had grabbed, she threw herself into the attack, just as expected.
After several blows exchanged, it became clear that they were pretty evenly matched: the woman who badly wanted to be Ares's right hand, and the girl who was really being tested for the job. The difference was that Gabrielle didn't want it, and it showed in the way she fought: fending off attacks, looking to incapacitate. Mavican, on the other hand, was clearly fighting with much more lethal intent.
"Come on! Attack!" she challenged, once a solid kick to the ribs sent Gabrielle sprawling. "You're on the defensive. Kill me if you can! You don't have the nerve."
Mavican really believed that -- if she hadn't, she wouldn't have backed off and given Gabrielle the chance to get up. Her mistake, of course; she wasn't prepared when Gabrielle spotted an opening in her defenses and pressed the advantage. She definitely wasn't expecting Gabrielle to wrench the stick out of her hands, grab her wrist in an immobilizing hold, and deliver a vicious kick to the back of her knee that knocked her to the cave floor and left her staring up at the point of a sai raised for a killing blow.
Gabrielle waited until she actually looked scared, then pulled the sai back. "Ares wants me to kill you. If I do that, then he wins and we all lose," she gritted out, shoving Mavican hard to the ground. Beyond them, through the cave mouth, sunlight was creeping rapidly up the horizon. "I'm not gonna do it." She threw the sai to the ground.
. . . Mavican kicked her in the face. It had probably been too optimistic to gamble that her argument would sway Little Miss Wants-To-Kill-Xena at all, but she was gambling on the sunrise, too, and on Xena being right about what would happen when it did. That one was a safe bet, she was sure.
It was just a shame, as the wrenching sensation of being pulled out of her body kicked in again, that she wouldn’t be around to see what happened.
***
She could ask, though; the portal spit both of them back out again, unceremoniously face down in the dirt of the temple courtyard.
“It’ll heal. I’ll take care of it at the clinic as soon as I get back to Fandom, promise,” Gabrielle assured Xena, who immediately started fretting about her shoulder until Ares reappeared beside them.
“No, no, don’t say it,” he started, defensively, seeing that they were both about to go off on him. “Have a little respect for me, will ya? You won already.”
Someone was sulky about his clever riddle not being so clever after all.
“We both won,” Xena pointed out, just to rub it in. “I’m proud of you.”
Hearing that meant everything, and Gabrielle just grinned up at her until Ares made a nauseated sound. “Oh, please,” he -- whined, actually. “I gave you an opportunity for greatness!”
“Following you is not an opportunity, Ares. It’s a curse,” Xena shot back.
He snorted. “You say minotaur, I say mine-o-taur. Whatever.”
This was all amusing, but Gabrielle wanted to know what had happened to Mavican. “You said anyone could ask for your help,” she interjected pointedly.
Xena nodded. “Years ago, Ares said to me that anyone who asked for his help doesn’t deserve it. So when Mavican asked . . .”
“I really gotta be more careful with my riddles,” grumbled Ares. “Look, the offer’s still open. Think about it.” And just like that, just like always, he was gone.
Gabrielle eyed the empty space where he’d been a moment ago, her eyebrows drawn together in a half skeptical, half bemused expression. “I’m really glad he doesn’t run Portalocity. It’s bad enough as it is.”
“That’s the last thing any world needs,” Xena agreed. “I’m surprised you didn’t consider the offer. What he said --”
“Doesn’t matter,” Gabrielle cut her off. “I know you. Sometimes I wonder if you really know me, but I know you.”
Xena put a hand on her cheek, thumb tracing idly over Gabrielle’s jaw. “Then you know more than I do. Gabrielle, I do see you. Sometimes I have trouble facing it, but I promise I will.”
Maybe Gabrielle didn’t know everything about her best friend; it had never occurred to her that Xena might have a hard time dealing with how much she’d changed lately. She reached up and curled her fingers around Xena’s wrist, holding her there, and leaned slightly into Xena’s hand. “You don’t know how much that means. Maybe Ares did some good after all, huh?”
“Maybe. Tell you what: the next bad guy we come across? He’s all yours. The next seven little bad guys, they’re all yours.”
Gabrielle glared playfully at her. Up at her. “Little? Is that a crack about my height?”
“No,” Xena retorted. “They’re just harder for me to reach.”
“Yeah, well, I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah.”
“Good strategy.”
Maybe this would work out after all. There’d be a bit of a learning curve, but it was going to work out.
[OOC: NFI/NFB/OOC-okay. The usual mantra. This is the last bit adapted from X:WP 5x03, “Succession,” dialogue mostly intact with a few minor tweaks. One of my favorite Gabrielle episodes ever (and this icon with actual context, yay).]
. . . Gabrielle definitely didn’t remember doing that so that was weird (you’d think she would remember tying someone up and then . . . um), but while she had the opportunity to ask:
“Where’s Xena?”
Mavican started to laugh. "You really don’t know? Ares has put the two of you in the same body. You get the nights, she gets the day. Problem is, you’re stuck with me for the night.”
She lurched up far enough to slam her forehead into Gabrielle’s chin and knock her back. “. . . or at least long enough to kill you.”
Come on, Gabrielle, she remembered Xena saying on more than one occasion, trying to get her to understand the importance of awareness of her surroundings. Look around you.
There -- branches leaned up against the side of a tree, about the size and heft of her old fighting staff by the look of them. She reached out to grab one, and heard Mavican’s snort of disbelief.
“What, you think you can take me on with a staff? Please, Gabrielle, I perfected the art.”
It really, really wasn’t worth wasting breath on a retort that she'd been trained by Amazons and fought beside Xena for years using a staff; Gabrielle just smiled tightly and closed her hand around the makeshift staff. “I have nothing to lose, do I?”
She felt something tense, then snap as she yanked the staff toward her, and had just enough time to duck the log that came swinging down out of the trees to catch Mavican full-on in the midsection. Was that Xena’s doing? It had to be, but when she’d been a victim of a trap just like this one she’d died (temporarily) from the internal damage. If Mavican was injured badly enough from this, they’d be trapped; the realization made Gabrielle hesitate for a moment.
The moment got cut short when something sharp buried itself in her left shoulder and sent a shockwave of pain down her arm so hard that she lost feeling in her hand for a split second and dropped the staff.
The first rule of survival is to run. That had been one of Xena’s first lessons, and --stopping just long enough to retrieve the staff -- she took it to heart.
***
Her flight took her to a cave. (Of course. There was always a cave. Granted, a cave with an apparently bottomless pit toward its back, so she’d be avoiding that.) She couldn't hide forever, or even for very long, she suspected; she had undoubtedly left blood on the foliage in her escape, and she'd bet that Mavican was counting on that. It was what she would do herself, if she were tracking someone. It would buy her a few minutes' reprieve to catch her breath, at least, and dig the sharpened shard of flint out of her shoulder.
The sound of trickling water led her to a impossibly convenient spring near one wall. The water had a sharp mineral tang to it, but it was drinkable. More importantly, or at least more relevant to her shoulder wound, it was cool.
"Xena, where are you?" she muttered, more out of concern than anything. That surprised Gabrielle a bit. Not because she was worried about Xena's well-being; because for the first time, she consciously realized that here she was, being hunted like prey, all on her own, and she didn't feel like she was lost without Xena.
The question didn't make Xena miraculously appear, but it had been worth an irrational shot. Gabrielle closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the staff. It was still rough, covered with patches of bark here and there, and the bit of it beneath her hand kept slipping.
. . . hang on a moment. Trying to contain a surge of hopefulness (because that always worked so well for her), she ran her fingers along the wood until she found a makeshift fiber cord and fumbled the knot in it loose; a cylindrical piece of bark fell away into her hand.
With writing on it -- she crept as close to the cave mouth as she dared and squinted at the messy letters in the moonlight.
If you read this, you'll know that I'm here. Ares has merged us into the same body: the same way that the world shares day and night, never sees the same two together. Mavican is tough, but we can defeat her. A lot of it depends on you, though. You've figured out part of Ares' riddle, but you can't kill her, Gabrielle. It's something that Ares wants to see and I don't know why, yet. Together, we can get out of this.
Gabrielle could have stopped to wonder how exactly Xena had managed to come up with writing implements on short notice with nothing but forest materials on hand (or where that sudden inexplicable burst of eloquence had come from), but seeing as she'd much rather survive she had more important things to focus on, like how to deal with Mavican. Or what Ares was up to.
"Hello, Gabrielle."
Speaking of Ares. Right on cue. Gabrielle turned toward him with narrowed eyes, but kept laving handfuls of water over her shoulder. "What do you want?"
He shrugged, all innocence that she knew better than to believe.
"I've been watching you. I think you've got potential."
"Potential for what?" Her shoulder twinged again, and she sighed. "Never mind. I really don't want to know."
"You've also got a slanted opinion of me," Ares protested, and she gave him a look that could only be described as bitch, please. "Okay, only somewhat slanted, but I'm serious. You're not quite there yet, but . . . maybe I've been dismissing you too easily over the years. Maybe the heir to Xena's throne has been right in front of me all along."
Gabrielle just stared at him. "Are you out of your mind?"
"How's your wound? Okay?" When Gabrielle didn't take the bait and answer the seemingly well-meaning question he pressed on. "Here's the deal. I've learned a few things from Xena -- and, perhaps my way of peace through power isn't quite what I thought it was."
Peace through power. Just because Gabrielle didn't follow the Way of Love any more didn't mean she had less respect for it; those words from Ares felt like a mockery, and she spat, "You are so full of -- "
Ares cut her off. "No. Now, that is Xena's problem these days. She's so set in her ways. She won't even make an effort to see change. You should know that more than anyone." She took a breath to reply, but before she did he went on. "It's okay, you don't have to answer. It's obvious. It's painfully obvious. So, please, don't do to me what Xena does to you. Just -- just hear me out, honestly. Okay?"
"Okay," Gabrielle replied slowly. She knew how he worked, knew better than to trust him, but she was still smarting over Xena's brushoff of her abilities, and having someone who'd actually noticed was nice. Welcome, even. It made her feel magnanimous enough to agree.
"What I need -- what I think I've always needed, is someone strong enough to lead people," he explained, looking her square in the face. "I think the key is to find someone who's learned how to fight -- but has the discretion not to. Now, there's something Xena never had."
But she did, and that made her better. That was what he was trying to say: the implication was clear. To tell the truth, it was veryflattering, but rather than indicate as much she asked, "What about Mavican?"
"What about her?" Ares shrugged. "She's set in her ways already. And have you listened to her speak? No. The old Ares, he would have loved her, but not me. I want you to look beyond our past. I know how you feel about me: you got good reason. But maybe, uh . . . maybe, gods can change, too."
Maybe they could. Gabrielle was still skeptical, but on the other hand she had always been a fierce proponent of forgiveness. It sounded appealing enough, but she had to know: "What happens to Xena?"
"Xena? Xena goes home. Lives with her mother, and spends the rest of her years safe in the knowledge that someone she trusts is in control." It would be a nice thing, to let Xena have that peaceful life that had been taken from her all those years ago . . . Gabrielle wavered a little, but made herself keep listening carefully as Ares continued. "Now, I want you to think about this, but don't take too long. Mavican is really intent on killing Xena."
That much had been obvious, and the look Gabrielle gave him said so.
"Of course, her destiny is in your hands," he pointed out, and held up one of his own. A single sai shimmered into being, and he held it out to her with a solemnity that felt almost ritual. When Gabrielle closed her fingers around the leather-wrapped hilt, she felt a chill down the back of her neck. "With this, you can kill Mavican. You do that, and I'll know you're ready." Without another word, he turned and disappeared.
Just in time for Mavican's voice to ring out from the cave mouth.
"Nice place. Room for one more?"
Gabrielle deliberately flipped the sai over in her hand -- just a brief display of yes, I do know how to use this, so don't think I don't that ended with her pointing a weapon at an opponent. "Back off, Mavican," she said forcefully, her voice echoing off the cave walls. "I'm warning you."
"You're warning me?"
Gabrielle hadn't expected Mavican to take that seriously, so her mocking laugh was no surprise. Good; let her keep thinking Gabrielle was some tiny creature backed into a corner and puffing itself up to look more threatening than it was. The more she encouraged that notion, the more of an edge she had.
"Gabrielle." Mavican was all condescension now, and where Gabrielle might've rankled at the dismissal under any other circumstances, it was an asset now. "I'll admit you've got something . . . but it's over." With a battle cry, a somersault (that really lacked Xena's panache), and a staff not unlike the one Gabrielle had grabbed, she threw herself into the attack, just as expected.
After several blows exchanged, it became clear that they were pretty evenly matched: the woman who badly wanted to be Ares's right hand, and the girl who was really being tested for the job. The difference was that Gabrielle didn't want it, and it showed in the way she fought: fending off attacks, looking to incapacitate. Mavican, on the other hand, was clearly fighting with much more lethal intent.
"Come on! Attack!" she challenged, once a solid kick to the ribs sent Gabrielle sprawling. "You're on the defensive. Kill me if you can! You don't have the nerve."
Mavican really believed that -- if she hadn't, she wouldn't have backed off and given Gabrielle the chance to get up. Her mistake, of course; she wasn't prepared when Gabrielle spotted an opening in her defenses and pressed the advantage. She definitely wasn't expecting Gabrielle to wrench the stick out of her hands, grab her wrist in an immobilizing hold, and deliver a vicious kick to the back of her knee that knocked her to the cave floor and left her staring up at the point of a sai raised for a killing blow.
Gabrielle waited until she actually looked scared, then pulled the sai back. "Ares wants me to kill you. If I do that, then he wins and we all lose," she gritted out, shoving Mavican hard to the ground. Beyond them, through the cave mouth, sunlight was creeping rapidly up the horizon. "I'm not gonna do it." She threw the sai to the ground.
. . . Mavican kicked her in the face. It had probably been too optimistic to gamble that her argument would sway Little Miss Wants-To-Kill-Xena at all, but she was gambling on the sunrise, too, and on Xena being right about what would happen when it did. That one was a safe bet, she was sure.
It was just a shame, as the wrenching sensation of being pulled out of her body kicked in again, that she wouldn’t be around to see what happened.
***
She could ask, though; the portal spit both of them back out again, unceremoniously face down in the dirt of the temple courtyard.
“It’ll heal. I’ll take care of it at the clinic as soon as I get back to Fandom, promise,” Gabrielle assured Xena, who immediately started fretting about her shoulder until Ares reappeared beside them.
“No, no, don’t say it,” he started, defensively, seeing that they were both about to go off on him. “Have a little respect for me, will ya? You won already.”
Someone was sulky about his clever riddle not being so clever after all.
“We both won,” Xena pointed out, just to rub it in. “I’m proud of you.”
Hearing that meant everything, and Gabrielle just grinned up at her until Ares made a nauseated sound. “Oh, please,” he -- whined, actually. “I gave you an opportunity for greatness!”
“Following you is not an opportunity, Ares. It’s a curse,” Xena shot back.
He snorted. “You say minotaur, I say mine-o-taur. Whatever.”
This was all amusing, but Gabrielle wanted to know what had happened to Mavican. “You said anyone could ask for your help,” she interjected pointedly.
Xena nodded. “Years ago, Ares said to me that anyone who asked for his help doesn’t deserve it. So when Mavican asked . . .”
“I really gotta be more careful with my riddles,” grumbled Ares. “Look, the offer’s still open. Think about it.” And just like that, just like always, he was gone.
Gabrielle eyed the empty space where he’d been a moment ago, her eyebrows drawn together in a half skeptical, half bemused expression. “I’m really glad he doesn’t run Portalocity. It’s bad enough as it is.”
“That’s the last thing any world needs,” Xena agreed. “I’m surprised you didn’t consider the offer. What he said --”
“Doesn’t matter,” Gabrielle cut her off. “I know you. Sometimes I wonder if you really know me, but I know you.”
Xena put a hand on her cheek, thumb tracing idly over Gabrielle’s jaw. “Then you know more than I do. Gabrielle, I do see you. Sometimes I have trouble facing it, but I promise I will.”
Maybe Gabrielle didn’t know everything about her best friend; it had never occurred to her that Xena might have a hard time dealing with how much she’d changed lately. She reached up and curled her fingers around Xena’s wrist, holding her there, and leaned slightly into Xena’s hand. “You don’t know how much that means. Maybe Ares did some good after all, huh?”
“Maybe. Tell you what: the next bad guy we come across? He’s all yours. The next seven little bad guys, they’re all yours.”
Gabrielle glared playfully at her. Up at her. “Little? Is that a crack about my height?”
“No,” Xena retorted. “They’re just harder for me to reach.”
“Yeah, well, I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah.”
“Good strategy.”
Maybe this would work out after all. There’d be a bit of a learning curve, but it was going to work out.
[OOC: NFI/NFB/OOC-okay. The usual mantra. This is the last bit adapted from X:WP 5x03, “Succession,” dialogue mostly intact with a few minor tweaks. One of my favorite Gabrielle episodes ever (and this icon with actual context, yay).]