Title: Change

Author: Caliadragon

Fandom: Xena/Herc

Pairing: Joxer/Ares implied

Spoilers: None

Warnings: Angst, Slash, Mpreg

Summary: A change in Joxer brings a change for Xena.

Thanks to Edi for the beta.

Change
by Caliadragon

Joxer rocked himself back and forth while tears rolled down his cheeks. The light was fading from the day, but he did not notice. Nor did he notice the cold of the night air. His friends had abandoned him. Gabrielle had screamed at him, telling him how disgusting she thought he was. Xena had just looked at him with rage and contempt. He had tried to explain why he had agreed to bear the child he carried, but they would not listen.

As he rocked himself, he didn’t see the three men who were coming up behind him. They did, however, see him. Hercules barely suppressed a groan at the sight of Joxer. While he liked the younger man, he could be annoying. Then he noticed that there was something wrong with Joxer and that Gabrielle and Xena were not around.

"Joxer?" Iolous called softly as he went to sit by his side. When Joxer looked up at him, Iolous gasped at the sorrow shining in his dark eyes.

"What happened buddy? Where are Xena and the Mouth?" Auto asked. Had something happened to the two women?

His question had Joxer folding in on himself and crying harder. "Joxer, please tell me what happened?" Iolous asked, afraid.

"I’m pregnant. When I told Gabby and Xena they told me I was no longer their friend, and Gabby said I was disgusting. They told me to stay away from them. I only did it because he was always so nice to me. And Cupid loves him." Iolous looked over at Hercules and saw rage crossing his friend’s face.

"Cupid! Get down here!" Hercules bellowed.

A few seconds later a pink and gold flash heralded the arrival of both Aphrodite and Cupid. When they saw Joxer, Cupid snarled, "What did you do to him?" He lunged at his Uncle. Hercules caught his nephew up in a hug.

"Calm down, Cupid, we found him like this. Gabrielle and Xena have ended their friendship with him over his pregnancy. I want to know what is going on now." They all looked at Auto in surprise. He didn’t like the fact that Joxer had been hurt. He knew that the boy played the fool for others. Jett had told him who Joxer worked for and what he was really like. Plus the younger man was family. After all, Jett and Auto had been married the month before.

"The Fates have decreed that Strife wasn’t supposed to die. Calisto and Hope played with time more than we thought. The only way for the light to defeat us is for Strife to be dead. They said that he can be brought back, but only by the joining of War with Mischief’s ardent follower. So Dad knocked Joxer up. I was the one who asked him. Strife is my husband and I want him back. Joxer agreed." Cupid felt guilty. None of them had taken into account how the two women would react. They certainly hadn’t thought they would turn Joxer away.

Hercules set Cupid onto his feet and looked down at Joxer. Rage filled him, and he looked back at his sister and his nephew. "Punish them."

"What?" Aphrodite asked, stunned by what she was hearing.

"I said punish them. Joxer is always there when they need him. They have abused him one too many times." Hercules was furious. How dare they hurt him this way.

"You’re right, Hercules. I did turn my back on him, but not for the reason you think." They all spun to face Xena as she came out of the bushes. When she saw Joxer her heart broke. "Oh Joxer." She went over to him and pulled him out of Iolous’ arms. "I’m sorry, I had to get her away from you."

Joxer stopped crying and just let her hold him. "What’s wrong with Gabby?" Dite asked.

"She’s been infected by the way. I thought I could help her, but when she turned on Joxer I knew it was too late. Especially after last night, when she told me we needed to come back and kill both Joxer and the baby. Gabby wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t even kill Hope. Those knights did it. When I refused she tried to kill me. I had no choice, Gabby’s dead." Joxer began to cry again.

The two could only cling to one another as they grieved for the corruption and loss of their friend. Xena looked up at Dite and Cupid. "He shouldn’t be here. Take him back to Olympus or to one of your temples. He’s not safe on earth." Xena didn’t try to contain her tears. She had been forced to kill her best friend, and now she was losing the other one.

"Come with us, Xena, your place is amongst your family now. Dad could use your help and Joxer will need your support," Cupid told her.

Xena looked down at Joxer and saw the plea in his eyes. Then looked back up at Cupid. She nodded silently. Her place was with Joxer.

The End