Do It One More Time

* * * * *

After most of the day acting as Gabrielle's shadow,
however, the bard was starting to get restless under
the close scrutiny.

"Joxer, you really don't have to follow me around
everywhere. I'm not a helpless little girl," she
started to complain as they sat waiting for the next
performer to take the stage. This afternoon was the
first round in the bards' competition; Gabrielle
wasn't scheduled to present until tomorrow, but she
wanted to get a good feel for other entrants and how
the crowd responded to their stories. "I'm sure there
are other performances you're more interested in than
all of these storyers.ers."

"Well, maybe...but making sure you're okay and
catching Jett is the most important thing to me at the
moment. There'll always be other festivals. I'm not
going to leave you alone and have him sneak up on you
or something."

He could tell she wasn't very convinced yet. "Jett
didn't seem that tough last time we ran into him. I
mean, Xena took him out in no time."

"But Xena's not here, is she?" Joxer answered.
"Besides, back then he didn't expect you and
Xena to be any real trouble. Now he knows different.
Believe me, there's a reason he's considered one of
the best at what he does--and that's killing people."

"Okay, whatever. If it'll make you happy, then you can
keep tagging along after me."

There was no time for further discussion at the moment
anyway as the performance was about to resume. The
young man on stage was quite good, Joxer thought. He
had a strong voice and he dared add a touch of humor
where so many others today had been utterly serious.
For a while, Joxer allowed himself to get caught up in
the story being told, and letting it push aside his
own worries and dramas. Maybe Gabrielle was right; he
just needed some time to relax and put some distance
between himself and Autolycus.

* * * * *

By the end of the day, Joxer was almost in a good
mood. He and Gabrielle had gone for an early supper
and then sampled some of the evening musical
performances before calling it a day. He enjoyed the
music more than the bards, and had begun to feel the
urge to play stirring once more within him. But it was
still only a glimmer of an urge, one which he would
put on hold until later.

"So tell me, did Autolycus make you get rid of your
old armor because it didn't agree with his fashion
sense?" Gabrielle asked as they walked back towards
the stables.

"No, I decided it was time for a new look myself. I
didn't need all of that anyway, since I decided I
didn't want to be a warrior any more."

"Oh yeah? Was that because of Autolycus?"

"Sort of...but I'd been thinking I needed to find
something different for myself for a while before
then. I actually had gone looking for him, because I
thought maybe he could teach me to be a thief. But
that didn't work out too well."

"So now what are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking about giving music a
try...that's why I originally wanted to come to the
festival."

"If that's what you think you'd really like to
do, you should go for it. I think it's great that
you're trying to find your own path, what's best for
you, instead of trying to be what your family would
want you to be."

"Especially s I' I'm not any good at that," Joxer
added.

"We can't all be good at everything."

"I know...I'd just like to find one thing I'm good
at," he moped.

Gabrielle stopped and took Joxer's arm, turning to
face him. Seriously, she said, "You're a good friend,
Joxer. A better friend than maybe I deserve after
the way I've treated you in the past."

He felt an embarrassed flush rising to his cheeks at
the compliment, and the affectionate look in her eyes.
In fact he had to stop himself from letting his mind
twist that look into something more than it was--
Friendship, that's all it is. She loves Xena, and you
love Autolycus...even if you're still kind of pissed
at him. "Thanks," he answered her at last.

Gabby just smiled, then patted him on the back as they
continued on to the stables in comfortable silence.

* * * * *

From the shadows, Autolycus observed the whole scene,
wishing he could hear the words being said even as he
was feeling guilty about wanting to eavesdrop on them.
There couldn't be something going on between
them...or could there? Maybe Gabs had a fight with
Xena, too, and now...nah, crazy. I'm losing ioxeroxer
might not be the swiftest guy out there, but he knows
better than to screw around with Xena's gal.

To think anything else...he really didn't want to
go there. It would serve him right, he knew, if Joxer
wanted to "even the score" on him. But Joxer had
said in the note he still loved him, right?

Hades. I wish I could talk to him. I wish I hadn't
screwed things up, I wish I didn't feel like a slime
for following him around, and I just wish we could go
back to the way things were before.

Patience... he reminded himself. He had to have some
patience.

And if that didn't work, maybe he'd go pester
Aphrodite and see if he couldn't call in a favor,
after the way she'd screwed with his head when this
whole business with Joxer had begun.

The day had been a long and tedious one for the King
of Thieves. He'd awakened early to make sure he was up
before Joxer and Gabrielle, and could catch them
leaving the stables--and this was after staying up
late to get a feel for the local criminal scene.
Autolycus knew how to find the right places of ill-
repute where those who tended to skirt the law
gathered, passed information, and generally made
themselves available if the price was right. Even when
a city was unfamiliar, a person who knew what signs to
look for could find these places easily enough. Where
others would see nothing more than a simple set of
scratches on the wall, or scarf hanging from a window,
a thief or other wellsed sed outlaw saw a clear road
map to sanctuary.

It was at one such establishment, a back-room bar on
the outskirts of town, that Autolycus had confirmed
that Jett was indeed in town. Though Auto didn't
run across him--thankfully--he heard that the assassin
was already bragging how he was going to make a move
sometime during the fesl, sl, something which would
announce that the King of Assassins was officially
back in action.

"What's yer business with 'im?" the proprietor of the
establishment had asked warily after providing this
information.

"Just some old affairs to sort out."

"If 'e comes back 'ere, you want me to tell 'im yer
lookin' for 'im?"

"No, that's all right. I'm sure we'll cross paths
sooner or later." Auto had slippee mae man a healthy
"tip" for the information, and to hopefully keep him
quiet in case Jett did come back.

The thief had gathered little information beyond that
so far, nor had he spotted Jett anywhere during the
day. Tonight he would try again, his hope being that
he could find where the assassin had himself holed up.
Auto was thankful Joxer and Gabrielle had spent so
much time at those boring readings all day. At least
he'd managed to get some sleep then...something he
didn't expect to get much of tonigh


* * * * *

By the next day, the crowds in the city had, if it
were somehow possible, grown even larger and more
overwhelming than before. The final days of the
festival were when the most famous performers were
scheduled to appear, and also when the awards would be
announced for the competitions. Naturally, these were
the events most attendees wanted to make sure to
catch, and to Joxer it felt as if half of Greece had
descended upon the small city. Even with a mostly-
willing Gabrielle, it was difficult for him to not
simply lose her as they tried to make their way around
town. With stages already full and booked all day,
some musicians and troops eager for a chance in the
spotlight simply claimed a spot on the street to play-
-which only added to the congestion and general
inability to get anywhere without a struggloxeroxer
couldn't remember a time he'd seen this many people
gathered together in one place...and that was
definitely making him nervous.

Xena still hadn't shown up, and Gabrielle was growing
somewhat anxious about that herself. Not so much
because she was afraid, but more because she really
hoped Xena would be there for her performance, which
was only a few hourom rom now. Joxer was trying, one
last time, to convince the bard not to go ahead with
that.

"You know, going up on that stage today will be a sure
way for Jett to find you. There'll be other
competitions--ones without assassins to worry about.
Don't you think your safety is more important than
trying to win some award?"

"Joxer, we've gone over this before, and I'm not
going to run scared! I think I have a real chance of
winning this year, and the recognition of simply being
able to compete and maybe have someone take an
interest in my scrolls is not something I'm going to
miss. Not after all the work I've put into my
writing the past few years. I've been waiting for this
chance for too long..."

Joxer didn't hear half of her reply, however, for he
had just caught something out of the corner of his
eye--or rather, someone. True, there were literally
hundreds of people all around them in the marketplace,
but how many of them looked exactly like he did? That
sort of thing tended to set off warning signals in a
person's brain rather quickly. He whipped his head
around, trying ind ind the familiar figure again--just
in time to spot Jett once more, as he handed a vendor
a few dinars, then turned and started walking away.

"Gabrielle, it's him, I told you he was here!
Gabrielle...?" he trailed off as he turned back
around, only to find she was no longer there. In the
brief moment's distraction, she was gone, swallowed up
in the rest of the crowd pushing and shoving all
around him.

Joxer tried no pan panic as he attempted to figure out
what to do next. He couldn't see the bard anywhere,
but he could still see Jett--though he would lose him
soon if he didn't take after him right away.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath. This was not
good. What was he supposed to do now?

Well, he decided, I know where Gabrielle is going
to be soon: the competition. But who knows when I
might see Jett again. I'd better not lose him. It's
time we had ourselves a little chat.

He slipped his way through the crowd with as much
speed as he could manage, thankful for once for his
slender build, which made such maneuvering easier than
for most. He made it to the corner of the sidestreet
he'd seen Jett take off for, and spotted the assassin turn
the next corner up ahead of him, heading to the right.
Joxer picked up his pace to follow, then paused,
confused when he made the turn and saw no one
at all down the length of the narrow, quiet alleyway.
He took a few steps forward, lingering close to the
walls of the building just around the corner--

--Until a hand reached out and roughly yanked him
through the open doorway of said building.

"Hey!" he shouted in protest as he nearly lost his
balance. "What the...Jett!"

Joxer could see his brother grinning, in the dim light
of the empoom.oom. From the rowdy sounds coming
through the walls, and the large crates and barrels
all around them, Joxer got the impression this had to
be some sort of storeroom for the tavern next door.

"Hey, Jox, long time no see. How's it going?" Jett
asked casually.

Joxer's response came almost without thought and for
once, fast enough that his brother didn't see it
coming.

He punched Jett right solid in the balls.

"That's about how I'm doing, Jett, thanks for asking."

Jett doubled-over in pain, but managed to stay on his
feet and not swear too loudly at the blow. "Fuck!" he
cursed, then managed to gasp out slowly, "I
guess...your little thief...told ya what happened."

"Why'd you have to do that, Jett, huh?"

"Because...he's a hot piece of ass? Why not?"


r>
Joxer went to punch him again, but this time Jett
managed to stop him. He grabbed Joxer's fist in a
painfully hard grip and told him, "Oh no...you got
your free shot, Jox. You don't get another one."
Straightening himself out and still wincing, he
complained, "What's the big problem, anyway? Didn't
mom always tell us we needed to learn to share?"

Joxer struggled to free his hand, which Jett only
reluctantly released. "You don't get it, do you? I
finally find something special--someone special--and
you need toand and ruin it. That's why I'm mad."

"Hey, before I found out you were screwing the guy, I
was gonna kill him! Instead, I decided to find
out if he was worth your time." Jett grinned. "He's
still alive, so there ya go. Have fun. Now, are we
through here? I've got things to do besides listen to
you whine about your love life."

Jett pushed him aside and started toward the door.
"Things like killing Xena?" Joxer called after him.
"And Gabrielle?"

Jett paused and turned back towards him. "Maybe."

"Then you're not going anywhere."

The assassin laughed at him. "Are you serious? We've
played this game before; you know you can't stop me.
Go back to playin' house with Autolycus and stay out
of my business."

"No! I'm not gonna let you do this! Xena and Gabrielle
are my friends, Jett."

"That bitch Xena ruined my reputation! Put my ass in
jail! I gotta waste her, Jox. It's...it's an honor
thing."

"And so's this," Joxer insisted. "My honor." He
walked over and slammed shut the door. "You're not
leaving here until we get this situation under
control."

Jett rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. "You
know, this is really going to hurt you a lot more
than it's going to hurt me."

* * * * *

Autolycus was growing worried.

He'd finally had some luck the night before and, after
staking out nearly every low-life hangout in Egio,
managed to catch sight of Jett leaving one such
establishment in the early morning hours. He'd
followed the assassin--with extreme care--back to an
old, and what looked to be abandoned, blacksmith's
shop on the edge of town. He'd been doing a good job
of trailing him ever since Jett had left the building
late this morning. But Autolycus' task had become much
more difficult when the assassin had wandered into the
extremely busy marketplace, and then made a sudden
change of course off onto one of the smaller side
streets. By the time Autolycus had worked his way in
that direction, he barely caught sight of not Jett,
but this time Joxer, headed down the same street.
Autolycus had not spotted Joxer until then, and seeing
him only made him more determined than before not to
lose either of them.


B>
But unfortunately, that was exactly what happened. As
the thief stuck his head around the corner of the
street, he was puzzled to see no signs of either man,
in either direction. He proceeded cautiously, and then
ran ahead to check all of the intersecting alleyways,
but to no avail. He could only assume that Jett must
have entered one of the buildings on this street and
Joxer had followed him...which meant that all
Autolycus could do was find a good hiding spot of his
own, and wait.

He'd been waiting for what felt like an eternity, made
all the worse because he couldn't be certain he wasn't
wasting his time. Damn, he cursed, mad at
himself for screwing up when it had really counted.
He hadn't been expecting so many people, making it so
hard for him to stay on Jett and/or Joxer's trail. All
it had taken was a few minutes and he'd lost them
both.

He tried to reassure himself that, killer or not, Jett
wouldn't do anything too terrible to Joxer if their
meeting came to blows...or would he? Maybe Joxer could
even somehow talk a little sense into Jett, and they
could work out their differences without things
turning violent...

Yeah, and maybe someday Ares will decide to make
Hercules his best buddy.

If Jett hurts him, in any way... Atuolycus clenched
his fists, trying to control his anxiety and put aside
such thoughts. He couldn't let anger cloud his
concentration. He was running on low sleep and frayed
nerves already and couldn't afford any other
distractions.

At last, from the shadowed corner where he waited,
Autolycus spotted a door opening across the street
from him. It looked like Joxer stepping out...

...or was it? Though the clothes matched what he'd
seen Joxer wearing before, something set off
warning bells in Autolycus' mind. It was something in the
man's expression, the way he carried himself. How
can I see the difference so clearly now, when I
couldn't before? the thief wondered. Perhaps it was
from having learned his lesson the hard way. Or
perhaps, it was simply the cold set of the man's
expression, not masked since--as far as he knew--he
had no one to try to fool yet. Whatever the case,
within seconds Autolycus knew he was seeing Jett, not
Joxer.

Wearing Joxer's clothes. With no signs of Joxer
leaving after him.

Shit! If he'd been thinking clearer, he might not
have acted as brashly as he then did. But worry over
Joxer propelled him to charge out from where he'd been
hiding and call out, "Hold it right there, Jett."

Jett spun around, his surprise quickly fading into a
leering smile as he said, "Well, if it isn't
Autolycus! And not so easily fooled this time around,
I seesuppsuppose you're not as stupid as I thought."

"Where's Joxer?" Autolycus asked evenly.

"Momentarily indisposed," the assassin dismissed.
"Terrible, isn't it, when family members just can't
see eye-to-eye."

"What's terrible is Joxer having to put up with family
members like you."

Jett put on an expression of mock hurt and answered,
"Autolycus, you wound me with such words! The last
time we met, you certainly had a much more agreeable
attitude towards me..." Jett stepped closer, close
enough to lightly finger the front of the thief's
vest. The leering smile returning, he continued, "As I
recall, you didn't have any complaints about my
company then."

Auto knocked the hand away in disgust and anger, but
then instantly regretted allowing the assassin get to
him so easily. Jett's eyes narrowed, and before
Autolycus could see it coming, a hard blow to his face
sent him stumbling onto the ground.

"You know I only let you live before because I got the
feeling Joxer would be pissed if I offed you. But
don't get in my way, or else I might have to
change my mind."

Autolycus saw the kick coming and rolled away in time
to avoid the impact, then shakily he got to his feet.
"Just tell me what you did with Joxer. I swear, I
don't care what you're planning on doing as long as
he's all right."

"Yeah, sure you don't," Jett responded, launching in
for another attack. Autolycus did his best to block
the swift hands of the assassin, but fighting had
never been his strong suit--he much preferred running
when given the option. It was throwing him off-
balance, trying to fight someone who looked so much
like Joxer--yet who was obviously so much more adept
at holding his own. More than his own. Autolycus
tried to get in a solid punch, when he thought he had
an opportunity, but Jett grabbed his arm and twisted
him around, dropping him to his knees with a kick
which this time didn't miss.

Before Autolycus knew it, he was trapped in a
stranglehold, unable to find the strength or the
opening to free himself. The slender assassin was
deceptively strong. "You and your good friends Xena
and that tasty-looking blonde...you couldn't stay
out of my business before. Why should I think you
would now?"

br>
"Because...I swear...I won't...just...Joxer...all
right..." Autolycus gasped. His vision was growing
dim, and right as he felt ready to black out, Jett
released him to fall to the ground, struggling to draw
breath into his aching lungs.

"Man, he's really got you hooked good, doesn't he?"
Jett remarked. "Joxer's fine...I merely made sure he
won't be bothering me for a while. Like I'm gonna make
sure you won't, either. Say good-night, Autolycus."

* * * * *