Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle, third person POV

Spoilers: The Quest, some of season two but this fits in between The Quest specifically and just after The Price, when I believe they first got together.

Rating: NC-17 (profanity, sexual situations, violence, brutality, angst)

Disclaimer: Xena and Gabrielle do not belong to me, they belong to... whoever's got the rights in this legal yo-yo game. I don't think they even know who Xena belongs to but it could be Universal...or some random millionaire etc.

Notes: This goes on to be pretty angsty, gory and even more graphic. Wrote this one quite a while ago and now picking up back up off the shelf.

As the early Sextilis sun began to rise, a stream of light highlighted two huddled figures sleeping under a light, summer bedroll. The fur was goat, and lacked density in comparison to the heavier, winter skins that they often shared later in the year. Two heads stuck out of the top of the quilting, the darker head belonging to Xena, whose body was spooned up against her blonde companion's back.

Gabrielle sleepily snuggled into her friend's embrace. She felt Xena press herself harder against her backside and instinctively pushed herself into the darker woman's sleep-heated mound, her bare back brushing against the soft curls nestled behind her. Her mind although not fully awake, rocked her body in time with Xena's increasingly thrusting hips. Xena's body was in the same state as the bard's. Her erotic dream was hitting its climax, literally, and her pace picked up. She opened her legs slightly to gain better access to Gabrielle's firm buttocks. With every thrust, a jolt of sensation shot through the small bundle of nerves, erupting through the whole of her body. A drop of moisture trickled down between her legs and glided over the supple skin in front of her. Their shoving against each other became fierce and Xena wrapped her arm around Gabrielle's waist and reached down, cupping the bard's sex.

With gentle fingers, she pressed down on the bard's lower lips, increasing the pressure with each delicate stroke. Probing through the slick moisture found there, she felt the outer muscle swell and firm. Using her middle finger, she languidly swirled it around Gabrielle's opening keeping in time with her companion's back-thrusting. There were no thought processes for either of them and as if working on animal instinct alone, the warrior plunged her finger inside.

Before Gabrielle could even recognize the pleasure soaring through her body, her logical mind realized.

The blonde's eyes snapped open; something was wrong. This was all new.

Xena's sleeping form, oblivious to Gabrielle's startled awakening, continued to bring itself closer to ecstasy until the warrior climaxed suddenly. Gabrielle couldn't move. Her body was in shock and she tensed, aware of the contracting lower muscles as her friend's sex clamped sporadically onto her backside. She had no idea what to do, or to think for that matter.

"Xena?" No reply. 'Oh do not tell me she's sleeping through this', Gabrielle gaped, unsure of what to do about Xena's errant middle finger. She knew she shouldn't feel the pleasure coursing through her body. This was her friend. Her best friend… with whom she was madly, undeniably in love with. But that was no excuse. This was wrong. Just because she felt what she did, didn't mean she needed to act on those feelings, right?

Right?

Her mother had always told her that women only slept with other women to pass the time. It was a 'high society sport' – and "that kind of thing should never be practiced."

She remembered the talk with her mother after curiosity got the better of her during the 'birds and the bees' discussion.

"So could a woman be with another woman?" The curious wide-eyed little girl asked after learning about where lambs came from… and foals… and babies.

Her mother was taken aback by the direct question coming from her nine-year-old eldest daughter. When she finally found her footing, she replied with a brisk, "Gabrielle. I do not know what possessed you to ask that, but there is no such thing as love between two women." Hecuba took a fluttered breath. "Love between a man and a woman is a sacred bond. We are here to please the gods by making children - here to survive and prosper. Sex between women or two men, for that matter, is sinful, disgusting and is purely temptation put there by the Fates." So that was that.

Gabrielle snorted lightly as she thought through a way to wake Xena up. The nine-year-old had grown up to wonder why her mother had been so revolted by something that involved love…

The blonde haired woman sighed inwardly at the pleasure of her dream lover holding her securely, making her feel like she was home.

The warrior had such a tight hold on her friend that Gabrielle's arms were pinned to each side of her body, with one of Xena's hands on her hip, the other buried within her.

Despite wanting this… by the gods she wanted this – her mother's warning kept making itself known in her head. Both she and Xena were probably going through a sexual phase: Some sort of exploration of their friendships and were channeling it through each other's bodies. They were being tested and… Who was she kidding? She was immensely in love with her best friend and knew Xena just felt the same way. She just wondered whether adding sex and romance to their already intense friendship would make it all the more…real? Accepting Xena's love meant the even greater fear of losing her – again. She'd already lost her once, two moons ago and the thought of going through that again… Gabrielle shuddered, lost in her own morbid thoughts until she smiled suddenly as she both felt and heard Xena's light snoring against her back. The small blast of air coming from behind made her realize how much she did in fact love this woman with all that she was. 'Oooh… this feels good,' she thought, unconsciously impaling herself further onto Xena's finger…

'Wake the goon up and stop being a hedonist', her inner voice mentally slapped her. Oh, but the idea of driving herself to orgasm was so alluring. Her eyes popped open once more and it hit her like a harsh slap in the face.

This was all just temptation.

Her mother had been right all along. Her body was hedonistically craving Xena like a drug. The fates were testing her.

Too stubborn to let the tears fall from her eyes, Gabrielle attempted to wake up her friend for the second time.

"Xena?" No reply again. A crease folded in the blonde's forehead. It didn't usually take this long to wake Xena up – her attentiveness during sleep had often saved both their lives. Then she remembered her companion falling asleep during a story the night before. Ah, that's right. Xena had been exhausted after the strenuous battle against Axon's men. They were really causing problems; raiding mostly. Taking down small farming villages. What was worse, it was close to home. After just crossing the river Hebros, south of Thrace, the travelers were getting closer to Doriskos, a large fishing town. Gabrielle was looking forward to a real bed, no matter the conditions of the inn itself. Although Amphipolis was leagues away, the bard could tell that her companion was becoming restless at the thought of the rapidly moving swarm of mercenaries approaching her hometown. Axon was making this personal and the recent tension around Xena's eyes concerned the blonde.

"Xena!"

"Mmm?" The throaty, dangerously saucy murmur replied from behind her.

"Your…um..your hand," she tried to be as delicate as she could.

"What?" The voice croaked. Gabrielle could almost see the furrowed brow and the confused little scowl on her friend's face. Too embarrassed, she stayed silent, waiting for Xena to figure it out for herself.

"My han.." Xena paused mid-sentence and her eyes popped open as Gabrielle's had ten minutes prior. A squawk escaped from her throat as she realized where her very fortunate hand was in fact situated. She wrenched her hand away from Gabrielle, causing the bard to wince at the unpleasant feeling. Hearing the hiss of pain coming from her friend freaked Xena out even more and she jumped up from both embrace and the goatskin bedroll. "I, ughh… I'm sorry, I..." and with that short stuttered string of words, the usually stoic, fierce warrior vanished, hopping away in search of a cold lake.