TITLE: Outer Journey

SERIES: Becoming Her Duet [part two]

AUTHOR: Scorpio

ARCHIVE: The Nesting Place, CoST, TIIF, and The Den

FANDOM: Xena/Hercules

PAIRING: Strife/Ares

RATING: NC-17

WARNING: POV. Gender-bender, het-sex.

CATEGORY: Gender-bender, first times.

NOTES: As this is from Ares POV, I was actually able to spell-check it. Yay!

DISCLAIMER: Once again, Flat Earth Prod and Ren Pic.

SUMMARY: Ares, newly crowned King of Olympus is trying to fix everything that the Twilight destroyed while simultaneously dealing with a whole new emotion. Love.



Outer Journey: Becoming Her Duet
by Scorpio

It's been almost a full year since I woke up in a dark dank tomb on the Mortal Realm, weak and confused. Unsure how much time had passed me by and what had happened to my family. Uncertain about *anything* except for this burning need to get *out* of there and just *go home*. Oddly enough, it was my long despised half-mortal brother Hercules that had found me and nursed me back to health. It tool a while, but by working together we somehow found the strength to unbar the Gates of Olympus and return to the place where I had been born.

Hercules had actually been surprised to learn that my tomb had been unearthed before. A few times. However, it had always been by a member of either Xena's bloodline or Gabrielle's bloodline...or both at once. And they had merely trapped me once again and left me for dead. The bitches.

With Hercules it was different. *He* was immortal and he *remembered* what the world had been like when Olympus was alive and jumping. And he knew what it had become. Hercules had, indeed, gotten his greatest wish fulfilled and it had left a bitter taste in his mouth. So he had searched and searched for a way to make things right again. And he found me.

I'm willing to admit that right at first, I had a *lot* of adjusting to do. *Nothing* was as I remembered it. Not the way the world works, not the way the mortals dress, talk or even how they *think* is the same. And Hercules? He's different too. *Very* different. I actually sort of like him now, but if you ever tell him I said that, I'll deny it. The thing is though, he's grown up. Before, he was ignorant and arrogant. Bold as brass and just as flexible. Not anymore. His arrogance gave way to a quiet confidence in his own abilities *and* limitations. He never acts before he stops to think things through thoroughly, which is something I didn't think would *ever* happen. But it has. I remember how his eyes used to burn with this self-righteous light as he dashed from one crisis to the next trying to "save" humanity. Now? Now his eyes are haunted by the things he's seen and the pain he's felt. And his precious "humanity" has proved that the only thing they need saved from is themselves.

However, Hercules isn't the only thing that changed in a world that was supposed to stay the same. Almost all of the younger Gods and minor Gods had faded away to nothingness during their coma-like sleep. They left behind little more than a wisp of smoke that hovered in the air as a color or a scent. There wasn't even an energy pattern that could be found or used to reform their bodies. We tried and tried for months, but nothing was found that could reverse that process. In the end we merely held a lot of sad little ceremonies to honor their passing.

It was a very painful and difficult time for us all, but I'm not certain if it was worse for those of us who had been asleep and then just woke up to the changes, or for Hercules, who had a long time to get used to the idea but also carried the burden of knowing that when he had been given the chance to help prevent the Twilight, he had not taken it. Instead, he helped it along. Granted, he didn't *know* how bad the fruits of his choice would become, but it *was* his fault. And he knows it. When Zeus tried to convince him to ascend to Olympus back in the day, it would have been as the God of Defense. The old goat *knew* something was coming and that Herc would have made the difference, but he never said what until it was far too late. Not to *me* and not to *Herc*.

So maybe it was *his* fault and not *ours*?

In either case, those of us that were still corporeal were fine after several infusions of Golden Apples and Ambrosia. I bit my tongue and nearly choked on the words, but I *did* ask Hercules to accept an Ascension to Godhood. Partly as a thanks for finding and then freeing me from my living entombment, but also partly because I really did need him. His strength and his knowledge of the modern world, at least. He agreed and drank Ambrosia to become a war God. The God of Defense, ironically enough.

Then I turned my mind towards rebuilding Olympus. I still don't know how long it will take for us to reach our former glory, but a project of this magnitude needs to be done methodically. Nothing can be left to chance...especially since Aunt Fortuna didn't make it through the Twilight.

Right at first I realized that there were two things that needed to be considered a priority. Although most of my family wanted to concentrate on tidying up two thousand plus years of neglect around their temples, I didn't want them to do anything beyond make the structures safe, sound and inhabitable. It was a waste of precious energy that we needed to channel elsewhere. And without a powerbase of worshipers continuously infusing us with prayer and belief, that energy level would be slow to replace.

So *that* became a top priority. Get worshippers. From a modern world that was mostly atheists and had generally forgotten about us. Not an easy task, but it *was* doable.

The other situation which I considered a priority was the fact that there was so few of us. *Lots* of Olympians had been lost to the Twilight and there were other pantheons out there just waiting to pounce. Many of which weren't in that great of a shape either, but there were a few which were frighteningly strong. We *needed* children. Badly.

At this announcement, Dite practically jumped on Hercules. I think he was just a bit nervous. Not about the sex, but the whole fatherhood thing. He better get over it fast though, she's carrying twins. Discord had the same reaction as Dite and I honestly thought that she would go for me, but she didn't. She went after Apollo, muttering about blonde haired babies or some crap like that. Of course, looking over at my son Cupid I can't really blame her. Blonde kids *are* cool to have.

Of course that leaves Athena and Artemis. They never *did* like to listen to me and they aren't doing it now. Actually, I don't really blame them about how they feel. They were always very straight laced and proper, but I don't have *time* for this. I need to "fill the ranks" up with strong healthy family members. To be fair, they both promised that they would have lots of children...but only with their husbands. Not that either of them are married, but that's going to change if I have anything to say about it.

Actually, Artemis has been hunting Hercules. She has somehow come to the decision that *he* will make her a perfect husband and that she will bare him lots of kids. Now that I think about it, maybe *that's* why he's been so jumpy lately and not because Dite is near her due-date with their twins. Probably it's both ideas that have him flinching at shadows. In either event, I'm about ready to perform a shotgun wedding on the two of them and *order* him to get her pregnant.

Athena, on the other hand, has been eyeing up both myself *and* Apollo for marriage. We both tend to run the other way whenever we see her coming. Not that I don't *like* Athena...well, okay. I *don't* like Athena, but damn it all to Tartarus, I'd rather marry *any* of my other sisters before *her*. Don't get me wrong. She's beautiful. She's intelligent. She's a *great* tactician and not half bad with a sword. But she's got all the passion of a cold dead fish. I think that I'm going to have to distract her by offering her the position of my Top Advisor and then encourage her to marry Apollo...to keep an eye on him for me.

Yes, I *know* I'm an evil shit. Apollo will get over it. Eventually.

Now I've got to figure out if I want to meet with Hades or go chat with Eris. Both have requested an audience with me as soon as I can get away from what used to be Zeus' study but which I've converted into an office. It's not really that hard of a choice. A pregnant and uncomfortable Goddess of Discord who's pissed off at the father of her unborn child...again. Or the God and Lord of the Dead.

Dead boy it is.

*

Holy Shit! Who *is* that beauty that just strolled in with the God of Gruesome? All I can say is a great big *Thank You* to whoever invented spandex. She looks like she just walked out of the pages of that Fredrick's of Hollywood catalog that Dite and Eris keep fretting over. They both have a backlog of clothing orders for after they give birth.

But *this* one? She's got long lean curvy legs that are perched on top of these frighteningly high-heeled "fuck me" pumps and those legs travel *all the way up* to this skin tight and super shiny black spandex miniskirt that *hug* her lovely round hips. And that silver chain link belt that just sorta *hangs* there defying gravity is a *nice* touch. I'm not sure if that itty bitty piece of cloth that's wrapped around her chest can be *technically* called a top, but it's doing wonderful things for my pants.

She's got a beautiful face too. Big light blue eyes and insane cheekbones over top of these bright red lips that are just begging to be nibbled on. Absolutely gorgeous. And her face is framed by these long soft waves of raven black curls that were just designed to be spread out on a red silk pillow.

If she's got an attitude and can fight, she'd be my dream woman.

And she's hanging all over Hades like a cheap suit. Their arms are linked together and her long enameled fingertips keep playing with his hair and his clothing. He's actually *smiling*. At her. And she's flirting with him right back. I can't help but scowl. I'm *almost* tempted to run off and tell Persephone on him. The lucky shit.

I gesture to the chair next to mine with one hand and offer a chalice of Ambrosia laced wine with the other.

"Hades. Welcome back and make yourself at home."

He flashes me an oddly excited grin that makes me just a *touch* nervous and sits down. The woman with him doesn't sit, but she leans one hip up against his chair and smirks at me. I can feel that she's a God and that she's nervous, but nothing of her anxiety shows on the surface and I don't recognize her. I assume that she's an Asphodelian that had been born after the Twilight hit and force my attention back to my uncle.

"So...have you and Persephone considered what we discussed that last time you visited?"

Hades' grin became somewhat subdued and he nodded.

"We are both interested in the idea of a child, but we'd like to try and find a way to have *me* as the father. I know that it'll be *extremely* difficult to do because of my duties as the God of the Dead, but we think that if we tried to conceive *here* instead of in Asphodel that it might just work."

I nodded. I could easily understand their desire to try this. They had been married for longer than any other surviving Olympians and I didn't want to force the issue until all other options had been tried first.

"Fair enough. If you think that you'll need anything to help you with this, let me know and I'll try and get it for you as soon as possible. Persephone didn't have a Temple here, but she's welcome to have her mother's old one if she wants it. You can use that space to try or if you prefer we can convert a different building or I could even offer you both rooms here in Dad's old place or in the Halls of War."

Hades smiled then. A real genuine smile. I hadn't seen one of his smiles in far too long. I couldn't help but share it. Then he did something that not only surprised me, but changed my life forever.

"Since I can't offer any true guarantees with Persephone and myself about children, I've brought you a gift to make up for it. I think you'll like her."

And with that, Hades reached out and gently pushed the sexy fox of a woman who had come in with him over towards me. She sauntered over and smirked at me again as she stood in front of me. Then, she hitched up her spandex skirt high enough that I could see that her panties were red satin and that they were the thong kind that ran right up the center of her ass. I goggled at her and she giggled in delight. And without a pause, she straddled my lap and perched herself right on my leather covered and straining erection. Then she wiggled and cooed in my ear.

I impressed myself by having the willpower not to strip her and fuck her right then and there. Instead I turned to look at Hades with what was most likely a stupefied expression on my face. He merely chuckled and shrugged.

"Consider her an early birthday present for you and Eris."

Still stunned, my eyes automatically swung back around to rest on the firm and generous breasts that were mere inches from my face. Faintly, I could just make out the outline of metal hoops threaded through her nipples under the cloth of her top. I grinned and tried not to drool.

"Well, happy birthday to me."

Hades threw back his head and chuckled deeply in his chest, the rumbling sound oddly harmonious with the high pitched giggles of the woman straddling my hips. Then my birthday present turned her head and flashed a huge smile over at my uncle.

"Tell 'Sephie tha' I'll visit as soon as I can. Oh! An' tell th' terrible twins tha' I will be expectin' them ta deliver all my shit by th' end a th' week. *Includin'* my pokah winnin's."

Something about the way she spoke and the sound of her voice tugged at my mind. It was very unusual and yet it somehow seemed familiar. I think that I was about to figure it out when Hades interrupted my contemplation.

"No problem. I'll tell them. Besides, I know that both Persephone and I will be up here a lot, at least right at first. And most likely she will be able to get away much more often. Don't worry, you won't have time to miss any of us."

Then, the God of the Dead reached out with one hand and brushed it gently along the side of her face and disappeared in a cloud of rolling black smoke. She looked a little lost and sad at his exit and for a brief moment I thought she would follow him, but then she turned back to face me and smiled. Her smile slowly shifted into a leer.

"So...ready ta unwrap your birthday present?"

Once again, her voice pulled at my mind and I was *sure* I knew her from somewhere, but then she dragged one hand down her chest, her fingertips outlining her pert breasts and making her nipples peak under the tight fabric of her shirt. My cock twitched in my pants and *demanded* that I get her somewhere private, naked and then under me. Grabbing hold of her tightly, a translocated us both to my bedroom in the Halls of War.

As soon as we arrived, she wiggled out of my arms and somehow managed to perch herself on those wicked five inch heal pumps of hers. Stepping back one step, she yanked her itty bitty top off and let her breasts hang free, but they refused to hang. They just stood out from her chest as proud as could be with both of her nipples pebbled peaks of excitement. And yeah, they *were* pierced with matching silver hoops. Then, she unhooked her belt and dropped it to the floor with a soft metallic clinking. Next, she peeled her skirt down her legs and stepped out of the puddle of material to face me in nothing but a red satin thong and those "fuck me" pumps.

Holding her arms out to the sides, she slowly turned in a circle to allow my eyes to travel all over her body. Long soft raven curls. Firm toned muscled under lots of lovely pale unmarked skin. Pierced nipples, pierced bellybutton. And that beautiful face with those pale blue eyes that sparkled with inner amusement and excitement.

"Will I do?"

I almost didn't understand what she meant because the sound of her voice still bothered me for some reason, but the meaning soon became clear. She was waiting for me to 'okay' her. To say either climb in my bed or get the fuck out of here. Was she nuts? Of *course* I wanted her in my bed.

Smirking, I waved my hand and all of my clothes vanished so that I stood before her in all my naked glory. Letting her see *me* as easily as I could see her, my rock hard erection going almost purple with need. She paused to gasp for air at the sight of me and I could *smell* her arousal. Then she licked her lips and *pounced*. I've been with some wild women in my time, but I've never had *any* of them tackled me from across the room and onto my own bed. It was a wonderful experience. You should try it sometime...just not with *her*. She's *mine*.

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself flat out on my back with my birthday gift sprawled over my with one leg to draped over each side of my body as the soaked satin crotch of her thong panties rubbed against my throbbing length. She leaned down and *took* my mouth in a deep wet kiss of possession and passion that practically left me breathless. I was hit with a stab of hunger when my own tongue encountered hers and found a smooth bar of steel running through it. Kinky.

Her desire for me was evident in every shudder and shiver of her lithe lean body and I couldn't keep my hands off of her. I just needed to stroke and touch and pet her silky soft skin, feel it vibrant and alive under my fingers and palms as her muscles bunched and shifted underneath.

Then her soft full lips pulled away from my mouth and I moaned at the loss of them, of her taste, of her claiming of me. But then they returned. To my jaw as she nibbled and sucked her way down my throat. Her lips and tongue brushing and sucking at my flesh. Wet warmth that contrasted erotically with the unforgiving metal of her tongue piercing. She slowly made her way down to my chest even as her hips continued their steady rocking and thrusting, rubbing her panty covered clit against my burning and straining cock.

Suddenly, her sharp white teeth clamped down on my left nipple and a bolt of lust *surged* through me so strong that my reaction was mere mindless need. I clamped both hands onto her round firm ass and *pulled* her tightly against me even as I *thrust* my hips up into her and moaned. She grinded her hips on me and gasped out my name breathlessly just as she began to shudder with her orgasm. The look of intense pleasure that washed over her face at that moment was exquisite.

She started to collapse on top of me, but I wasn't anywhere *near* done with her, so I held on to her tightly and quickly flipped us over so that she was sprawled out on her back and I was hovering over her. She looked decadent and wanton. Pure sin and delight. Her skin was flushed slightly and her long raven curls were spread across my bed in a softly tousled look. Not being able to resist the impulse, I changed the color of my sheets to bright red. They looked *perfect* under her. My debauched Goddess.

This time, I took *her* lips in a possessive kiss. She immediately granted me entrance to her mouth, but her tongue twirled and slid around mine without giving any quarter and her finger nails dug into the skin of my shoulders creating wonderful pinpoints of minor pain to highlight my pleasure. Then I too traveled down. Down her firm thin body, leaving a wet trail of kisses and nips as I tasted and mapped out her flesh. I suckled at her breasts, delighting in the way she responded to the gentlest of tugs on her nipple rings. Her whole chest rose up towards me and her head and neck arched back, exposing her to my hungry eyes.

Her whole body squirmed and wriggled and her hips thrust up against me *begging* for more sensation. More pleasure. More of *me*. So I slid down her body further until I could rest my chin against her soaked satin panties, the sweet scent of her arousal filling my head and making my cock throb even harder. Her hips tilted in a clear invitation even as her smooth lean thighs spread obscenely wide for me.

"...please..."

Her voice was a husky whisper of need and it scent a shiver down my spine as I was hit by another wave of deja vu'. I was certain that I knew her from somewhere. However, she choose that moment to wave one brightly enameled hand slightly and her red satin panties disappeared even as she thrust her hips up again, literally brushing her clit against my bottom lip. We both moaned in pleasure at that. Her from the sensation, and me from the taste of her.

Instantly, my control snapped and I delved in. I wrapped my arms up under her thighs and grabbed a hold of her hips with my hands as I stabbed her dripping wet core with my tongue. She wailed and brought her long legs up and over my shoulders, the points of her high-heals digging into my back even as both of her hands came down and clamped onto my head, her long fingers weaving almost painfully into my hair.

I flicked my tongue in and out of her. The sweet taste of her juices exploding on my tongue as I lapped at her. Tipping my head up slightly, I sucked her clit into my mouth and pressed it tightly between my lips before pulling on it gently. She wailed and thrashed under me, thrusting her sopping wet core up into my face, smearing me with her arousal. I slid my tongue down her slit and dipped it in again and again and again. I fucked her with my mouth and my tongue and she gave as good as she got, wailing and giggling and pushing up against me to get more, more, more.

Then, I let go of her hip with one hand and brought it up and around so that I could slid a finger up inside of her, to open her up for me. But she stopped me. She yanked on my head hard to make me look up and she flinched away. For about half a second I was *furious* with her for being such a dick tease, but then she said something that made me want to come on the spot.

"No, don'. Not wit' your finger, wit' your cock. I'm a virgin an' I want *tha'* beautiful dick ya got there ta be th' first thin' ta evah be inside a me *there*."

Not even bothering to try and wipe her juices from my beard and cheeks, I shot up and over her until I could look her right in those blue eyes that had gone deep with lust and desire.

"You are a *virgin*?"

I was shocked. I admit it. I *never* expected *that*. She seemed to be half amused and half insulted.

"Wha'? Ya think Hades gives out shoddy an' preowned birthday gifts? A *'course* I'm a freakin' virgin."

Then she frowned slightly and qualified her statement.

"Well...at least in *tha'* respect. I'm an expert at givin' head, if I do say so myself. An' I'm a champ at takin' it anally, but no one has *nevah* *evah* had th' pleasure of takin' me like a woman."

Then she smiled up at me. An odd combination of brazen hussy and shy little girl.

"Until *you*. Ya gonna be my *first*."

This time I didn't even *try* to figure out why her voice and speech patterns seemed familiar to me. I was too busy trying to wrap my mind around the idea of a woman that could give me great head whenever I wanted it and yet had never *really* been touched by another man. I don't know if I'll *ever* be able to thank Uncle Hades enough.

By this point, my cock was *screaming* at me to bury myself in her tight warm wetness and I don't think I could have waited much longer. Shifting my hips directly between her thighs, I reached down to place my cockhead at the very entrance of her virgin opening. I paused a moment and looked her right in the eyes.

"Are you ready? It might hurt a bit at first."

She just smiled and nodded as she wrapped her long legs around my waist. Not breaking eye contact, I pushed forward slowly until I hit the slight resistance of her maidenhead. I almost goggled at the fact that it was, indeed, in tact. I took a deep breath to steady myself and I saw her do the same. As soon as she let it out, I *thrust* my hips forward, slamming into her insanely tight sheath in one smooth motion.

She gasped at the pain and I trembled with the burning need to *move*. But I had to know.

"Are you okay?"

She took a few deep breaths and then nodded. I tried to go slow and gently at first, but it was *so* hard to do. She was hot and wet and almost painfully tight around me. But little by little, she began to loosen as her muscles slowly stretched to accommodate my length and width. Then, almost imperceptibly, she began to thrust back.

Bracing myself on both of my arms, I shifted my position slightly to change the angle of my thrusts. I may not know a lot of things, but I *can* please a woman in bed. I've had *lots* of practice and I can usually find their 'pleasure spot' easily. Two more thrusts in and I found *hers*. She gasped in a deep breath in surprise and her hips and ass jumped under me as she involuntarily thrust up against me. Her tight channel quivered around my cock sending shivers of pleasure from by balls and right up my spine.

So I did it again. And again. And again.

It didn't take us long before we had a steady rhythm going with me slamming my length into her hot willing body and her moaning and writhing and thrusting up at me. Both of our breaths began to come in panting gasps and I could feel my balls grow heavy and tight as white hot pleasure sizzled across my skin and along my nerve endings. I was going to come, and *soon*. So I shifted all my weight onto one arm and reached down with the other and flicked my thumb across her tight peaked clit. She shuddered and thrashed under me, her tight channel spasming and contracting around my cock as she gasped out her completion in a breathy voice.

"Oh Gods! Unc!"

Just as her body was pulling me over into my own orgasm, my mind frantically made that final connection of *why* she seemed so familiar to me. It was the same face, the same voice and words. Only the *body* was new. Physical ecstasy and emotional joy slammed into me all at once and my cock exploded deep insider, sending my seed in pumping waves directly to her womb even as I shouted out the name I finally *knew* was hers.

"Strife!"

As the last of the tremors shook my body, I collapsed on top of her, burying my face against her neck and hair as I gasped for breath. I could feel her try not to stiffen up as fear rolled off of her to battle down her afterglow. I turned my head to face her and for the first time I saw the neat row of silver earrings that decorated her lobes. Three of them I recognized as gifts from myself to my nephew.

My nephew who was killed long long ago. And then returned to me as a gift from my uncle. Returned as a woman.

"Strife? Is it *really* you?"

She turned her head and gazed out at me from behind fear clouded eyes, but none of her anxiety showed in any other part of her face. Only those dearly missed pale blue eyes.

"Uh...yeah. It is. Ya mad?"

I didn't even have to think about the answer to that.

"No. I'm confused...but not mad."

Then she smiled and it was like the sun coming up for the first time in centuries. I realized right then and there that I could easily become lost in her smile. Rolling up and off of her, I took a good long look at her. She was beautiful. Perfect. I paused a moment as I sensed something slightly different. Focusing for a second, I realized what it was. She was also pregnant, the conception happening right there as we lay in each other's arms.

Being a dad was what I *needed* to become with Olympus being so...empty, but I wasn't sure if Strife was willing. I had no idea about why she was here or what Hades has made her promise to.

"Uh...Strife? Are you...I don't know, *okay* with this."

I gestured at her lush sweaty body.

"I mean, the whole woman thing?"

She grinned and blushed and then nodded. Rolling over so that she could drape herself half over my naked body, she ran on hand up and through my hair. It felt wonderful.

"Yeah, I am. It's a long story an' all, but I'm *very* cool wit' it. I think tha' this is th' way I was *supposed* ta be...ya know, *before*. But I wasn' an' bad shit happened. An' now..."

Strife trailed off, obviously unsure what would happen next. Once again I reacted without thinking, just going on instinct, but I know it was the right thing. I growled low in my throat and grasped her to me tightly, plastering her against my naked flesh.

"And now you're *mine*. You got that?"

Her blue eyes snapped up to meet mine, a world of vulnerability and love shining out of them.

"Yeah...I got that."


END: Outer Journey; Becoming Her Duet part two
[prequel: Inner Journey; Becoming Her Duet part one]



Scorpio
8th Sign of the Zodiac
--- scorpiofic@aol.com ---