_Title:_ Love on the High Seas #1: "Bright Promises of Tomorrow"
_Authors:_ Pirates Sparrow and Turner
_E-mail:_ OrliDepp@...
_Rating:_ NC-17
_Feedback:_ Yes, please!! Seriously, we, like all other fan fic writers,
thrive on feedback. We also tend to only stick to the places where we know
we are being read and enjoyed from the reviews we receive. However, flames
absolutely will not be tolerated.
_Archive:_ Absolutely *ONLY* if you request permission and receive our
granting to do so. It'll probably be a yes, but it depends on the archive
and the person runnign it.
_Warnings:_ Abuse, Death, Lemon, Religious Prejudice, Rape, Sex, Torture,
Violence
_Fandoms/Characters/Pairings:_ (Angel/BtVS) A/C, Fresley, Faith, Lorne,
Dawn; (Charmed) C/Pi, Prue, Phoebe, Paige, Kit; (Dawson's Creek) Dawson;
(Disney) Jack Sparrow/Will Turner; (Elvira) Elvira, Gonk; (Labyrinth)
Jareth and company; (PotC) Jack/Will, Elizabeth; (Sabrina) Salem; (Shrek)
Donkey; (Smallville) Clex; (SU2) Carl; (10K) Wolf; (X-Men) RoLo and Morph;
(Xena) Aphrodite, Xena/Gabby, Joxer, and Autolycus. Sooner or later,
there's a pairing for every character, but if they're not listed it here,
the pairing will be with either a character from a different fandom or an
original character.
_Summary:_ Familiar and new faces come together as the Pirates of The
Black Pearl and The Sea Witch in this crossover series including Angel,
BtVS, Charmed, Dawson's Creek, Disney, Elvira, Labyrinth, Pirates of the
Caribbean, Sabrina (Salem only), Shrek, Smallville, Special Unit 2, 10th
Kingdom, X-Men, Xena, and cameos from many others. In the first book,
Bright Promises of Tomorrow, the crews arrive expecting to celebrate Will
Turner and Elizabeth Swann's wedding but discover that Governor Swann has
stooped to new lows and will stop at nothing, not even selling Will into
the city's newly-created black market, to keep his daughter from marrying
a Pirate. Governor Swann has not, however, taken into consideration Jack's
love for Will and his unrelenting willingness to do anything to save his
beloved.
Meanwhile, Port Royal's townspeople have risen into an angry, prejudiced
mob set to burn the Witches. Will the Pirates be able to stop the
townspeople in time, or will the Witches, including a family by the last
name of Halliwell, Ororo Munroe, and Scientist Winifred Burkle, meet their
deaths? Also, Faith falls, Angel has his first encounter with Princess
Cordelia, Lorne gets bitten in the rear and may well lose his heart in the
process, and snow heralds the arrival of even more danger!
_Disclaimer:_ All established characters; all TV show, comic, and movie
titles; and the Black Pearl are © & TM their respective owners and are
used without permission. Crystal "Snowflake" Frost, Katrina "Firestar"
Lewis, Celina "Pantheria" Lewis, Tom Ballard, Meesy, Brendan Richards; and
all other original characters are © & TM Pirates Sparrow and Turner, are
used with their permission, and may not be used without permission. The
Sea Witch and everything else are also © & TM the authors. No copyright
infringement is intended, and no monetary profit is made from these tales.

_Chapter Eleven_
The furry streak that raced throughout the streets of Port Royal
caused immense havoc in its wake, people screaming and varied
items flying everywhere as they fell to the ground. The feline
never turned back nor even considered glancing back to see the
destruction that lay in his wake. Instead, he continued to run as
if his own life depended on it, his nose in the air as he followed
the crew's scents. He did not even pause when a pair of woman's
underwear from a clothes basket that had been thrown up into the
air as he had ran between the surprised carrier's legs and sent
them tumbling landed on his head. Instead, he just shook it off
and kept running.

Hands tried to grab him, but he continued weaving in and out of
the annoying humans until a pair of strong hands finally managed
to grasp him. "UNHAND THE ROYAL PERSONAGE, YOU FILTHY PEASANT!"
The man screamed and released him instantly, but the King still
gave him a few scratches before continuing to race off, leaving
the surprised man with just enough bloody gashes to remind him not
to catch just any cat he happened across.

He had torn out of the town and was well on his way to the others
when another scent caught his nose from a different direction. The
cat stopped so suddenly that he was sent sliding on snow, which he
wondered where in the world it had come from, until he almost hit
a tree. Regaining his balance barely in the nick of time, he used
the tree as a look-out perch and was just in time to see a wagon
rushing his way.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xena had finally found the farm she was looking for. Locating a
wagon and horses to pull it proved to be a little more time
consuming, but she at last located them as well. The wagon was
full of hay and would make a comfortable conveyance for all. She
walked out of the barn, leading the horses pulling the wagon, and
got hit in the head with something wet.

She put her hand up and caught the next snowflake. "What the
Hell?! Snowing *here*?!" She had been in colder countries when it
had been snowing so she knew what it was, but what was it doing
here in a hot, tropical atmosphere? It never snowed here, or if by
some freak of nature, it did, it would melt as soon as it hit the
ground. Yet this snow was actually sticking to the ground and
forming a slippery surface!

She didn't know what was going on, but more of the crap was now
hitting the fan. She got behind the reins and stood up, clacking
the reins in the air and hollering at the horses to get a move on.
They took off flying like bats out of Hell, heading back to where
the group waited. The snow grew thicker all the time yet she still
passed from snowy area to plain area. It was as if the Earth
itself could not make up its mind rather it wanted snow. She then
realized that if she continued to drive the horses so quickly they
would be worn out and unable to help any one, so she slowed them
down to a steady trot.

As they passed under another of the many trees that lined the dirt
road, a body suddenly dropped out of the tree. Xena started to
reach for her sword but relaxed as soon as she realized who it
was. Blue eyes looked up at her as Meesy asked, "How fast can this
thing go?"

Xena looked down at King Meesy. "Faster than you want to go, Your
Majesty. Why? What has caused the urgency?"

"Will was sold into slavery," Meesy said, knowing that she would
need no further explanation. Without another word, Xena clacked
the reins and yelled at the horses who took off flying again. As
they raced, Meesy had to dig his claws into the wooden seat to
keep from falling over, but never did the cat speak one word of
complaint. He only wanted to reach the others and get them back to
the ship. The faster they could do so, the better, regardless of
the condition the speed put his luxurious fur in.

"Damn!" was all she could mutter. "Damn! Damn! Damn! Jack will go
crazy and wipe out the entire damn town if they hurt one hair on
Will's head!" Amongst all the other Pirates, Xena was the only
one, or thought she was the only one, who truly knew how Jack felt
for Will. Every one else just thought that they were the best
friends they'd ever seen. She knew Jack was in love but afraid to
admit his love to Will. Heck, he'd only just recently admitted it
to himself!

They passed one of the trees that dumped a whole bunch of snow on
her, and Xena shook it off angrily. Why was it that when
everything looked like it was going to go good, shitt always
happened?! If she had had even a clue, she would now be standing
beside Jack, ready to take on the entire town, but instead, here
she was, tied down with a group of survivors that she knew had to
move as soon as she got to them. There was no more time. Whatever
Jack did in the town, the ships had to go. They had to be outside
the harbor before the guards closed it. What they did after that
was another whole story. As she neared the camp, she smelled fire
and knew that more shitt had hit the fan.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had looked at so many bodies. Prue had breathed a sigh of
relief after each, knowing that they were not their family, but
she had lost count of how many they had actually seen. Still, her
family had not shown up. As they rounded a huge boulder, they
found yet another group of women laid out. The woman laying in the
center caused Prue to start crying and screaming. Lorne helped her
to stand on her shaking legs as they approached. He knew they had
found one of the women.

The second they reached the group, Prue fell on her knees beside
her mother, and her long hair covered her face. She was lost in
tears, wailing like a lost soul. Her heart was breaking. Thank
Gods her sister lived, but she had no hope that her grandmother
would be alive, either, or even her other sisters, not after
having found her mother dead.

Prue had been one of the ones who had wanted to fight and had not
simply given up but had gone along with her family, because that's
what her mother had said would be right. She loved her mother and
did not know how she would go on without her. She felt Cole stop
beside them and Piper being let down.

Tears were already streaming down Piper's cheeks so much that she
could not see past them. She could barely even make out Prue's
form, but she reached out and hugged her sister tightly. She knew
Prue needed her now more than ever and hated herself for crying
instead of comforting her sister, but this was their mother. Their
mother was dead! Nothing else mattered!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex heard women crying. "I will take you over there so that you
can see if that's part of your group," he said to Paige, secretly
hoping that it wasn't because he was not very good with crying
women.

"It is," Paige answered softly, struggling to get the words out
through the tears that choked her throat. She could tell Prue's
and Piper's voices, but who had they found? Phoebe? Their mother?
Their grandmother? Who?! She wanted to hide her face away in Lex's
shoulder and not face whatever she was about to find, but she knew
she could not.

When Lex reached the small group, he noticed Cole and Lorne both
looking as lost as though they wanted the Earth to open and
swallow them. It seemed that he was not the only one helpless
around crying women. He sat Paige down beside her sisters and then
stepped away, the others following behind him. Carl was so close
that his face hit Lex's butt when he went to back. "Hey, that's my
territory!" Clark quippingly exclaimed in a hushed whisper, hoping
but failing to lighten the other guys' moods.

When the men had retreated a little ways from the ladies, Cole
told the others, "That's just one of them. There are two more here
somewhere. I have no clue as to what they look like, but carrying
them around to look at all the other bodies is just not going to
work. It's breaking their hearts even more. We've got to find some
one who knows every one."

Carl piped up. "Gabrielle will know what to do."

"Carl, you stay on guard with the ladies. If anything comes up,
get us immediately. We're going for Gabrielle."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reaching Gabrielle, the men all talked at once. Finally, Clark
waited for the others to hush before saying, "We need some one who
knows every one to identify the dead ones. That way they can tell
if any of the live ones can match up with any of the dead ones."
The others nodded in agreement.

Gabrielle looked at Clark with a partially questioning and
partially bemused expression in her green eyes. His wording was
rather unique, but she nonetheless understood what he meant. She
had been keeping watch over every one but had only met a few of
them briefly. "We need to find out if their leader made it. She
would know everybody in the group, but any one else might not know
all the others. I don't know which of them to ask, though."
Looking around, she saw Wolf. Whistling to him, she waved her
hands urgently in the air. She'd seen him having a rather lengthy
talk with the woman in black and hoped he might know something she
didn't.

Wolf reached her side almost immediately. "Yes, Gabrielle? Can I
help?"

"We need to find out who the group's leader is," she explained.
"We need some one who knows the rest of them so that they can
identify family members and the like."

Wolf had been about to answer when he got hit with something in
the head. He reached up and swiped at it with one hand, bringing
his hand away to reveal snow. "Just what the Hell?! *Snow?!* Huff
puff! That shouldn't be here!" He looked at Gabrielle puzzledly
before answering her question. "The lady I was talking to earlier
and taking care of knows them. I don't know if she's a leader, but
she can identify them. I'll ask."

Wolf immediately sprinted over to Elvira, leaving Gabrielle to
turn questioningly to the rest of the men standing around her. "Do
any of you know any reason at all that it would be *snowing* in
*Port Royal*, of all places?"

"Wesley might know, but I haven't got a clue," Lex answered.
"Professor Doom is always looking into things."

"It might be an omen or something," Clark thought aloud.

"Well, if it is," Gabrielle replied, "we'll hear about it as soon
as his lungs open."

Cole shook his head. "I haven't seen snow in years. Isn't this the
wrong climate for it?"

"It sure is," Lorne agreed. "Wrong climate *and* wrong season. I
would have expected snow to happen in Pylea before it would have
happened here, and it's never happened in Pylea. Where is Wesley?"

"I don't know," Cole said, "but let's go look for him." Lorne
nodded, and the two parted from the group to go in search of
Wesley, hoping against hope that he would know what was going on.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Wolf had reached Elvira. "Dear lady, I hate to bother
you, but they are in need of some one to identify bodies. Are you
able to help?"

Elvira had stood to meet him as she had seen Wolf approaching and
had ran her tongue over her black lips as she watched him. He
certainly was quite the magnificent feast and surely had to be as
good in the bed as he was on the eyes! When he spoke, however, and
his question reminded her of all those who had died that day, she
quickly sombered. "I can try, but I don't know everybody," she
admitted. "I was still pretty new. Patty or Ororo would be better
. . . if," she added sadly in an afterthought, "they made it."

"What do they look like?" Wolf asked.

"Ororo would be the easiest to tell. She's dark-skinned with white
hair and blue eyes."

"I've seen her already. She's beautiful, and she's with a friend
of mine. Do you want to come with me?" He got hit with another
snowflake and looked around. The landscape was beginning to get
snowed under. "Do you have any ideal why it might be snowing?" he
asked her.

"No," Elvira answered his second question first with a shake of
her head. "You can try asking Miss -- " She bit her own tongue to
keep from letting the word 'Beautiful' slip. Why was she suddenly
so jealous? Ororo *was* beautiful, and Wolf was a man with no
claims on him. If he wanted to look at Ororo or another woman,
that was his right. They had only flirted, after all. There was
nothing serious between them, so she had no reason or right to be
jealous. "Miss Munroe," she concluded after a second's hesitation.
"She's a Weather Witch."

He could not for the life of him figure out why she was suddenly
sort of hostile, but he could see the tenseness and smell the
jealousy that had suddenly gripped her. "It would be nice if you'd
come with me," he said hopefully. "She doesn't know me from Adam,
but she does know you." Then it dawned on him. He had said she was
beautiful, because she was and he was never one to keep his mouth
closed when it came to admiring beautiful ladies. He leaned
forward next to her ear, "She's beautiful but not as beautiful as
you are." He stood back in case she slapped him.

Her black eyes sparkled at his words. Part of her hoped that he
was not just telling her what she wanted to hear, but as she
watched him pull back, his eyes on guard as he expected to be
slapped, she realized that that was not it at all. She started to
smile, but she stopped herself just in time, deciding instead to
surprise him. Her face went suddenly stoic, and she managed to
keep the lust from her voice as she spoke. "Why, sir," she
exclaimed, stepping closer to him, closing the distance he'd put
between them, and raising a hand toward his face, "I -- "

She switched instantly, however. Her voice transformed from a
sharp exclamation to a lustful purr as her body leaned into his,
her taut breasts pressing against his muscular chest through the
thin fabric of her dress. Her hand fell gently across his face,
her palm caressing his cheek, as she whispered against his lips,
"Flattery will get you *everywhere*."

"The only place I want to be is next to you," he whispered back.
"Soon," he purred back into her ear. "Just being this close to you
burns me up." He growled more intensely than he had planned,
conveying to her that he was definitely in heat and wanted her
badly. "Huff puff," he moaned as he pulled himself away from her.
"We have to get this business taken care of and our living company
back to safety. Gods know why, but it's even snowing now! Will you
come with me?"

Though he was trying to put distance between them again, Elvira
reached out and caressed his chest through his shirt. "I'll come
with you *anywhere*," she told him seductively, her voice on the
verge of a responding growl.

His gaze locked with hers as he lifted her hand and kissed her in
the center of her palm. Then, holding her hand, he pulled her with
him where he had last seen Wolverine with the woman. As they
approached, he could see that Wolverine was nestled close to the
lady, holding her torso in his lap and encircling her with his
arms. Wolf didn't know if she was asleep or had just not woken up.
When he reached them, he spoke, "Wolverine, is she . . . ?"

Wolverine looked up at Wolf. "Sleeping," he replied. "Thank Gods
she lives."

Wolf definitely could see that Wolverine had lost it. Was it
destined that each of them should find their true mates today?
Gods knew he had found his and could hardly wait to claim her as
his own. Did Wolverine feel the same about Ororo? It seemed that
he did as he held her protectively, and Wolf had to smile. He had
never seen Wolverine with any woman before. Rumors had abounded
that he had killed a couple of them, but he had never seen him get
romantically inclined toward any one. "We were hoping that she
would be able to identify the survivors."

Wolverine looked up at the sky. "I'm gonna have to wake my little
darlin' up any way. The snow is beginnin' to pile up. She'll catch
her death o' cold here, an' I won't have that. Little darlin'," he
whispered, "wake up. We've gotta get a move on."

Ororo stirred slowly in response to Logan's voice, but the first
thing she felt was confusion. The next was the cold of the
naturally heated earth that did not understand why it was being
snowed upon. Her eyes were not yet open when she groggily spoke,
"It's cold. Why is it cold? What is this white stuff? It does not
belong here."

Elvira released Wolf's hand to kneel before the man called
Wolverine and Ororo. She knew that her friend's strange comments
were probably worrying both men but understood what was happening.
Ororo was not fully awake yet, but already she was picking up on
Mother Nature's confusion. "'Ro, wake up. It's just snowing," she
said as if snow was an every-day occurrence in their lives.

"Snow?" Ororo repeated tiredly. "But it should not be. I did not
tell it to."

Wolf looked at the brown-skinned woman who was mumbling about
snow. What was it Elvira had said about her? Oh, yes, that she was
a Weather Witch. "Well, if you can do something about it and make
it stop, it might be a good ideal. It could really cause some
trouble. I've heard about the snow, but I've never seen it, not
till today. You're right. It shouldn't be here."

Wolverine had been around strange women all his life and many
Witches. Therefore, her words really did not bother him but her
tiredness did. He was still afraid of losing her. "'Ro, are you
able to stand? I'll hold on to you. We need to identify yer
people. Match up the living with their dead; get the dead seen to;
an' then we need to get the Hell outta here, because rather it's
snow or townspeople, we are in for a lot o' rough road to hoe and
the sooner we get to safety, the better."

Their words had brought Ororo the rest of the way awake, but she
was still looking around in confusion. "You are both right. It
should not be snowing. This can not be good, but I should be able
to stop it." She was emotionally exhausted and mentally tired, but
her physical well being was surprisingly fine and showed no signs
of having gone through what she and her people had been through
that day.

She pushed herself to her full height of six feet. Standing tall,
she stretched out her arms and opened her hands, her fingers
reaching toward the heavens. "By the Goddess, that which belongs
in the cold regions . . . " Cold winds blew back her long, white
hair, and her baby blue eyes turned to white with no sign of her
pupils. "That which should never fall here, the stuff of snow,
ice, and sleet, be gone."

Elvira looked around, knowing that the snow should disappear with
Ororo's words. When nothing happened, worry dawned on her face.

"I said . . . " Ororo began to try again but stopped suddenly as
her spirit seemed to run straight into a brick wall of fury. Her
forehead creased and her eyes shut in determined concentration,
but the unknown power source was far stronger than her own. With a
cry of pain, she fell back, toppling downwards into Logan's
waiting arms.

He held her close to him. He was amazed at all the power he had
just seen flowing out of her, and yet it had all been thrown back
at her. It scared him, but he didn't let on like it did. "She's
not in any shape to help you to identify the people. If ya have
any way at all o' doin' it, miss, please? We've got to get them
outta here to safety. Out in the open, like this, we're exposed."

"It's too dangerous," Wolf said. "Can you do it, Elvira?"

"Wolf, I told you I was new to the group. I still don't know
everybody. I could identify some but not all, and they all deserve
. . . "

Ororo's gentle voice interrupted the conversation that flowed
around her. Elvira's black eyes looked down into her baby blues.
"Find Patty, Elvira, any of her children, or even the Halliwells'
grandmother. They will all know, but we must do this swiftly." She
started to continue but stopped, confusion creasing her brow.
Looking to Wolverine, she asked, "Are any of your people capable
of healing others? Until I ran into what I just encountered, my
body was surprisingly fine and felt as though nothing had
happened."

"The Lewis sisters are our ships' Sorceresses. They did a healing
spell," Wolf said. "They are resting now. I don't know what they
are thinking about what is going on right now; I haven't seen them
in a while."

"Please introduce me to them later, then, as I must thank them.
What I was about to say, however, is that time is even more of the
essence here than it would be otherwise. The force that is causing
this snow is quickly approaching our way, and it is capable of a
great deal more disaster. We must be out of here before it reaches
the town or we will go with it."

"Is it that powerful?" Elvira asked her, looking at her in fearful
surprise. Outside of her sisters and her brother-in-law, Ororo was
the most powerful being she'd ever met. If this force was so
powerful that it scared Ororo, let alone tossed her back as if she
were nothing but a child's ball . . . Elvira refused to dwell on
the thought as she shuddered silently and, already standing again,
moved closer to Wolf.

"Yes," Ororo affirmed. "More, in fact."

"Then we'd best get going," Wolf said as he grasped Elvira's hand
and pulled her with him again. "We've got to find any of the
Halliwells."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole and Lorne had at last found Wesley. He was with one of the
women that Cole had rescued earlier. They noticed that he kept
looking worriedly at the sky. "Wesley, you want to explain what's
going on?" Cole asked hopefully.

"Can't," Wesley replied nervously. "The scrolls are at the ship,
and I don't remember reading anything about this. It shouldn't be
snowing here!"

"Something's comin'! Somethin' big an' bad an' *awful*!" the
woman, who was so petite that she looked more like a girl at first
glance, gasped out. "It's goin' ta eat all o' us or, at least,
kill us! We have ta get outta here!"

"Easy, Fred," Wesley said.

"*Fred?!*" Lorne exclaimed.

Cole laughed. "Why're you calling her Fred? You call a girl by a
girl's name, Wesley." He figured Wesley had just stuck a name on
her. He was bad about doing that, and he was very nervous around
women.

"'Cause that's her name, Cole, or at least she said it was!"
Wesley exclaimed, heatedly defending himself.

"Sorry, ma'am," Cole said, "but I never heard of a woman with a
guy's name before."

"What kind of parent lays a boy's name on a daughter?" Lorne
asked. "Not that I'm one to say anything. After all, who calls
their child Krevlornswath?"

Fred laughed, a musical sound that caressed Wesley's ears and
stopped far too soon. "Mah real name's Winifred Burkle . . . " she
started to explain.

"That's okay," Lorne quickly said. "We'll just call you Fred. You
can call me Lorne."

"And I'm Cole," Cole said.

"It's nice to meet y'all. It'd be nicer if we were in a bettah
situation. But we've gotta get outta here. Ah'm not kiddin' when
Ah tell y'all somethin's comin' that's gonna devour this entire
place!"

"I believe you, ma'am," Cole said. "It's a Demonic power of some
kind, stronger than I've ever felt. We've got to get these people
out of here." He wondered what had happened to Xena and why she
had not returned yet.

Fred shook her head. "Not a Demon or, at least, not technically.
An Elemental."

"Mister Big, Bad, Bold, and Ugly," Cole said. "Doesn't matter if
he's Demonic or an Elemental, he's not some one we need to tamper
with. Let's go where the others are." He would have to tell
Gabrielle as soon as he got there.

Wesley was amazed at how much Fred seemed to know. He couldn't
wait to get better acquainted with her and delve deeper into her
mind. They could compare notes and probably even swap tales. He
took her by the hand, helping her to her feet, and they headed off
in the direction of Gabrielle.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Still holding on to Elvira's hand, Wolf headed off to where he had
last seen Gabrielle. Reaching her at last, he said, "We need some
one with the name of Halliwell."

"Patty, Penny, Prue, Paige, Piper, or Phoebe," Elvira inserted.
"Damn," she muttered, "my tongue just about stuck on that one."

Cole reached Gabrielle just about the time Elvira was letting go
with the list of names. "I've got one of those," he told them.

"So do I," Lorne said.

"Me too," Lex added in.

"Lucky us," Clark interjected dryly. "We've all got a Halliwell."
As far as he was concerned, the sooner they got rid of the
Halliwell, the better. No way was that Halliwell laying a hand on
his Lex!

"Get one of them and get them to identify the bodies," Gabrielle
told the others. "Actually, if you can get them to split up and
identify, it will be faster."

"Sure thing," Cole said and headed off to where he had left Piper.
He hated to ask her, but he knew the sooner they got it taken care
of, the sooner they could get the Hell out of there. He felt time
was quickly running out. Lex, Clark, and Lorne followed Cole, but
Wesley and Fred remained behind to warn Gabrielle of the danger
behind the snow.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The others soon reached the place where they had left the sisters
crying over their mother. Carl looked like he was about to break
down into a fit of tears, and Lorne silently placed a reassuring
hand on the little guy's shoulder. The Gnome looked up at the
Demon, but neither spoke.

"Piper?" Cole was the first to speak, putting out his hand and
touching her gently on the shoulder as he gently called her name.
"Can you help to identify the others?" He knew the healing spell
should have taken effect now. She wouldn't need carrying. He'd
miss that, but he'd be close to her in case she needed him.

Tears were still running down her cheeks when she looked up at
Cole, but she nodded as she swiped at them. "Sisters," Piper said,
looking to both Prue and Paige, "I know we do not want to leave
her, but Mother would want us to do everything we can for the
others."

Paige nodded, biting back a sob as she did so. "Besides," she
added dejectedly, "we still haven't found Phebs."

"Or Grams," Prue said, wiping her eyes on the backs of her hands.
"With the three of us working together, we'll find them sooner."

They went in three different directions, each with at least one
man to carry the dead body to its relative if its relative was
alive, but none of their relatives lived. Entire families had been
wiped out, and the tears continued to flow not only down the
sisters' faces but, when the women were not looking, down the
men's as well.

They were collecting the bodies into one group when Paige suddenly
cried out, "I found them!" Every one stopped what they were doing
and raced to where Paige was cradling Phoebe as her sister cried.
Grams lay still on the ground. Her sisters gathered around Phoebe,
and Prue and Piper held both of their younger sisters tightly.

Cole did not say a word but picked up their grandmother and added
her to the group beside Patty. He then looked around for something
to start a fire but could find nothing. He was amazed when he was
suddenly joined by Morph and Tom, who had came seemingly out of
nowhere, and Tom transformed into a dragon, breathing fire over
the bodies.

It was this smelling that Xena picked up as she entered the camp.
A slow chanting had began among the survivors, helping to carry
the souls of the dearly departed to the Rainbow Bridge. They stood
in a circle, their hands entwined, and she was even more surprised
to see that they were not alone but were also leading the men,
even little Carl and Joxer, in the ritual. Only Katrina and Celina
were missing, and Gabrielle stood out, as well, waiting and
keeping guard with tears shimmering and the fire reflecting in her
sad eyes.

It would take a while for the fires to burn down, a time that the
people could not wait for. Xena hopped down from the wagon and
opened the gate. "Come! We must quickly be away from here! The
snow heralds danger!" She looked down at King Meesy, whose every
hair stood straight out.

At Captain Xena's words, most of the men, those who were not
already familiar with rituals, tried to leave the circle, but the
women latched onto them even tighter. "We must close the circle,"
the whisper rang among them, passed from one to another as an
explanation to those who did not know.

The snow continued to fall, wrapping them in a blanket of
whiteness, even as the ritual ended and Ororo opened the circle.
The group began to make their way to the wagon. Their heads were
bowed in respect for the dead, and tears still flowed down several
faces.

Xena was getting worried. If the snow piled up too much, they
would never get through. To take a precaution against that
happening, Xena, who had seen Tom demorph back into his own body
after being the dragon, approached him and Morph after they had
helped their exhausted wives into the wagon. "If you would help me
get through," she indicated how the snow was piling up about the
wheels of the wagon, "it would be greatly appreciated."

They both grinned sheepishly at her and immediately turned into
dragons. The horses spooked and broke the traces, fleeing from the
dragons. Xena could not believe the disasters, one following the
other, but the dragons merely drew the traces together and stepped
into them. Pulling the wagon behind them, the shapeshifters began
blazing a trail to the safety of their ships.


_Chapter Twelve_
Once the Captain had given him leave, Brendan had slipped into the
crowd. Moving with lupine stealth, he had gone as unnoticed as a
shadow while emptying many pockets. He'd heard the yells later as
his prey had discovered their money gone, but no one knew it was
him. Throughout the entire time, he'd also been careful to keep an
even lower profile any time Helvira or the woman who had been
after Faith's boy happened to be around. Now, it was almost noon,
and he quickly made his way back to Jack.

Reaching his Captain, Brendan stood behind him as he whispered so
that only Jack could hear, "We can't risk my being noticed by
Helvira, so I'm going to give you the money and make myself
scarce." Jack had kept his eyes ahead of them, and though he had
not even acknowledged Brendan, the wolf still mistakenly thought
that Jack had heard him. Pressing himself against Jack's back,
Brendan stole a look around before sliding the sack he'd filled
with gold from his pocket into Jack's. His hand was still in
Jack's pocket when somebody plowed into him from behind.

Jack had been standing, lost deep in his thoughts of what he was
going to do to the Governor, when he was roughly jostled by some
one who had a hand in his pocket. He flipped around, grabbing the
guy by the throat with a savage growl, before he realized that it
was Brendan. "What the Hell were you doing with your hand in my
pocket?!" he demanded.

Brendan had been startled when some one who had not been looking
where they were going had plowed into his back, but he was so
shocked when Jack, who he had trusted with his very life for
years, suddenly grabbed his throat that Brendan's face paled and
his eyes flashed on yellow. "Exactly what I told you I was!" he
hissed through the fangs of the startled wolf that was trying to
come out.

"Sorry, Brendan. I didn't hear you come up nor did I hear you tell
me that you were getting in my pocket." He let go of his throat.
"Forgive me, but my mind was on the Governor and the pleasures of
the coming night."

At first, Brendan's only response was a nod as he fought to rein
the wolf in. Once he had regained control of the beast within, he
spoke again, keeping his voice casual should any one happen to
overhear them while also tenderly rubbing his throat. "I
understand, but you need to focus on the bidding that's about to
start, sir." He dropped his voice so that only Jack could hear him
as he added meaningfully, "The addition to your pocket should help
in that other case, but I should make myself scarce."

"Again, I want to apologize, Brendan. You know I'd never
purposefully hurt you. Forgive me. You're right. I need to
concentrate on this, but you don't know how badly I want him. Be
careful, and for Gods' sakes, don't let the bitches see you."

Brendan nodded, but when he spoke, his words seemed to fumble over
themselves as he tried to assure Jack. "I will. I mean, I won't. I
mean . . . "

"Fleas bothering you again?" Faith quipped at Brendan as she slid
up to join the men.

Brendan just looked at her, shook his head, and turned his
attention back to his Captain. Unlike Brendan, Jack, who looked at
Faith as though she had taken leave of her senses, was not as
willing to let her comment slip. "Leave Brendan alone, Faith," he
commanded. "The bidding's about to start. Pay attention."

Faith looked at Jack with a faked pout on her lips. "Can I help it
that Virgin Boy's just too much fun to play with?"

"You . . . " Jack shook his head. "You're incorrigible, Faith."

"Thank ya, Cap," Faith returned with an impish grin.

"You're not welcome," Jack quipped in return. He turned back to
Brendan and gently squeezed his arm. "Be careful, my friend." He
hoped Brendan knew how sorry he was that the occurrence had
happened. He'd try to find a way to make it up to him later. He
released him.

Brendan's brown eyes met Jack's as he told him softly, "Don't
worry yourself with what happened -- " he started to say only to
be cut off by Faith once more.

"What's wrong?" she asked him with a tease tugging at the corners
of her lips. "You couldn't get it up again?"

"You wish," Jack said to Faith. "I've never had that problem."

"Not you," she answered. "I know you're constantly swinging, Cap."
She inclined her head toward Brendan as she clarified, "I was
talking about Virgin Boy again."

Brendan's yellow eyes cut through Faith, and a low growl of
warning issued from his lips. "Faith, I explained that to you that
night -- " he started but then just fell silent, shaking his head.

"Yeah, right," Faith snorted in return. "And if ya think I'm
buying into that, ya'd better think again."

Brendan shook his head once more even as his hands clenched into
tight fists. Why was it that this annoying girl, who lacked all
manners and ethics, always knew just how to punch his buttons?
Looking back to Jack, he repeated, "Don't worry about it," and
faded off into the crowd.

Jack watched him go, wondering about the exchange of words between
the two. What had or had not happened? He figured from the Virgin
Boy comment that nothing had actually taken place except maybe the
foreplay and it had been disappointing for both of them. He
gathered that, because every time they got together, they tied
into each other even though Brendan was usually a sweetheart and
never picked a quarrel. He probably thought he was only defending
himself from Faith, and Jack figured the only reason why Faith was
still picking on Brendan was because she had not gotten what she
had set out to get.

That was one reason why he was getting so many slaps lately. Every
time he turned around, another woman was slapping the crap out of
him, and he was tired of it. He didn't think he deserved any of
it. Just because a man couldn't . . . {Don't even go there, Jack,}
he said to himself. Unwilling to face his little problem, he
immediately turned his mind back to the auction.

The auctioneer walked out followed by a man dragging a small,
black goat behind him. "First on the auction block today is this
young kid. What am I bid for him?" Jack didn't even want to watch
that. He would have liked to have bought the goat and taken him
home, but what would a goat do on a ship? He knew where the poor
little fellow was probably bound and tried to block his mind from
thinking about it.

When the auctioneer had first brought out the goat, a bitter bark
of laughter had escaped Faith's dark lips for she could not for
the life of her understand why any one would want to start a sex
slave auction with a goat. After all, why bother with an animal
when there were humans for the taking? When bidding nearly
instantly exploded, however, all traces of her smile vanished.
"Damn," she muttered under her breath but did not move her gaze
from the auction block as she waited for the boy whose name she
still did not even know.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Logan had waited until the very last person was in the wagon. 'Ro
had stayed with him, and they were the last two in the wagon. He
was sitting and holding her, cuddled up against his side, where he
could look down into her eyes. He could see tears shimmering there
as she kept glancing away, and he felt as though there was
something missing but wasn't sure what. "What's wrong, 'Ro?" he
asked her with deep concern in his voice.

"It . . . It is nothing of any real importance, Logan," she
answered him in a hushed whisper. The sadness in her voice matched
the grief in her heart, however, even as her eyes turned back in
the direction she had been glancing in throughout the entire ride.
"It should not hinder the others' safety."

"It concerns me, little darlin'. Is it somethin' I can do fer ya,
somethin' I can get fer ya?" Whatever it was, he would not mind
doing it. Anything to make the light come back in her eyes and a
smile come on her face. He had yet to see her smile, not that she
had had much that day to smile about, but she had survived. "Tell
me, an' I'll do it."

"It is . . ." She sighed as she laid her face against his chest,
tearing her teary eyes from the horizon she'd been looking in. "I
did not plan to live this day and did not wish my most prized
possession to become tarnished. I am not . . . a possessive
person," she tried to explain, a pang of guilt shooting through
her, "but this . . . It was the only thing I had left from my
parents."

"What is it, little darlin'?" he wondered what could be causing
such deep grief but understood that if it was the only thing left
to her by her parents, it was important.

"Just a locket," she answered softly, "but it had a picture of the
three of us." She did not say that it was the only picture that
she had of her parents, let alone that that picture was the only
way she could remember what they looked like.

Without another word, Logan got up from her and made his way up to
where he could talk to Xena. "Xena, we're takin' these people away
from their homes. I realize they're not safe here, but they're all
leavin' everything they own. Couldn't we go by their homes for a
few minutes an' let 'em collect at least a change o' clothes?"

Xena was extremely surprised that Wolverine was bothering to care
about what others might be needing. "Hadn't thought of it," she
said, "but you have a point there." She then called to the
dragons, "Hold it, boys!" They stopped so swiftly, digging their
mighty claws into the ground, that Meesy was nearly sent hurtling
through the air. In fact, he would have been had Gabrielle, who
sat beside Xena, not quickly reached out and grabbed him in
mid-air. As soon as the dragons had stopped, Gabrielle had Meesy's
ruffles settled.

"We have a dilemma," Xena called back to the rest of the group.
"The people need to get some of their belongings, and some of us
have to get to Jack. Knowing him, he's probably turned the town on
its ear by now. Wolverine, you coming with us?"

"Me?"

"Yes. I'll need your nose to pick up Jack's scent."

"Xena, I've never refused to go before, but I need to stay here
this time. Take Wolf, Carl, Cole, anybody but me!" She looked at
him in surprise as he was usually the first one, when Faith wasn't
around, to want to fight. "I'm leaving you here for backup for
Gabrielle. Do not spend more than a few minutes at your homes!
Every minute is a costly delay, and we *will* leave without you!
Get to the ship as soon as you can, and get it ready to go." She
would never leave Gabrielle, but the others did not need to know
that.

Xena looked around at the men. "Lex. Clark. Carl," she called,
talking down to him as she saw he was jumping up and down in his
eagerness to go. "Cole." She wished Angel and Brendan were there,
but she had no ideal where either was. "Wolf, take the men and
head toward the town."

Wolf did not want to go. He was shaking his head and looking at
Xena, but before he could speak, he heard the gentle but firm
voice of the white-haired woman. "He will be needed for protection
for Elvira. She lived in the heart of our little city while the
rest of us lived away. It will be dangerous for her to return
there, far more than for any of the rest of us, but there is
something that she absolutely must retrieve."

"Whatever!" Xena snapped angrily and jumped off of the wagon seat.
"Do what you must, but get to the ship as soon as you can!" She
pulled herself back up to the wagon long enough to pull Gabrielle
to her and kiss her gently. "See you soon, my love."

No sooner had Xena's lips left hers than Gabrielle's mouth was
open to begin talking. She wanted to tell her beloved so much. She
wanted to tell her to be careful and to return to her soon, but
she also wanted to tell her not to be too hard on the others.
After all, that day was probably the worst day of their lives, and
they could not help having to return to their homes to retrieve
their belongings nor needing protection for the trip. Xena had
jumped down and taken off running before Gabrielle had managed to
get even one word out, however, and the bard sighed even as she
watched the men following closely behind their Captain. "Be
careful," she whispered under her breath before turning her
attention to the group she had been left in charge of.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Realizing that they would have to walk to Port Royal, Wolf had
gotten down and lifted Elvira down beside him. Gonk jumped down
right behind them, but Wolf did not want him to go. It would be
too dangerous for the little dog. "Gabrielle, we will meet you at
the ship."

Elvira scooped down and picked up Gonk. Looking into his eyes, she
told him, "You can't come with us, Gonk." He whimpered pleadingly,
but she shook her head. "Not this time, sweetheart." She had heard
both Xena and Wolf talking to the blonde and knew that the woman
was now in charge of what remained of their group. "See that nice,
blonde lady sitting there?" she asked Gonk, pointing the dog to
where he had no choice but to look at Gabrielle. "If you're a good
boy, she might let you stay with her." Elvira's eyes lifted from
her poodle to face the blonde. "Could you, please?" she asked her
pleadingly. "I don't want anything to happen to him, but he can't
come with us."

"I understand that," Gabrielle replied. She glanced to Meesy who
now sat beside her as she asked, "But how does he get along with
cats?"

Gonk had chased a few cats in his time, but Elvira was quick to
not let on to that fact. "He'll be a perfect little angel," she
quickly assured Gabrielle with an innocent smile.

"And he'll obey?" Elvira nodded even as Gonk's and Meesy's eyes
met. Gabrielle sighed. She already had a feeling she would regret
it, but nonetheless she relented, "Okay. He can stay, but he'd
best behave. We can't have any bull off of him."

Elvira nodded again. "We understand, don't we, Gonk?" She gently
wrapped her fingers around the poodle's snout as she moved his
head in a nod. "And we thank her, too, don't we?" Again, she made
Gonk nod.

Gabrielle stifled a sigh and shook her head. She had never been
able to understand what it was about some women and their dogs.
"Okay. Wolverine, take him for now. You two should get along," she
added hopefully. {And if you don't,} she thought to herself, {I'm
sure you can at least make him settle down and behave.}

"Thank you." Elvira breathed a sigh of relief as she handed Gonk
up to Wolverine. "You behave now," she warned the poodle.

Wolverine growled under his breath. Why was he the one picked to
handle the crap all the time? Just because he was a little bit
taller than Carl but shorter than everybody else, they always
picked on him to get the crap details. "Dog, stay," he said,
pointing into the wagon and putting the dog on the floor.

"Thank you," Elvira repeated, speaking to both Wolverine and
Gabrielle. "And, Gonk," she warned, "I mean it. You do as they say
or you get whatever they give you." The poodle looked at his
mistress in shock, but she turned away and started to walk off,
heading toward the town. She could hear him whimpering behind her
but knew she had to ignore it.

As they walked, Wolf noticed that there was not much pile-up of
snow in the area they passed through. A single flake floated down
every now and then, but it grew deeper under their feet as Wolf
and Elvira headed toward the town. Behind them, Wolf could barely
make out Gabrielle's voice as she asked for a volunteer amongst
the survivors to give her directions. An answer came from Ororo
followed immediately by the clacking of the reins and Gabrielle
calling to the shapeshifters as the group took off again.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Meanwhile, the auction had proceeded at a fast pace and escalated
from animals to children, another practice that soured Jack's
stomach and made him even more determined to put an end to the
evil place. He would have liked to have rescued each and every one
of them but was forced to stand, acting oblivious to anything that
was brought out. He figured they'd keep Will for last or at least
one of the last ones, and it seemed that it was true as they kept
passing over him and getting everything else.

His musings were interrupted by a sharp intake of breath at his
elbow. Glancing down at her, Jack saw that Faith seemed to be
choking and gasping for air. It was then he heard the auctioneer
saying, "A rare find, ladies and gentlemen! Blue eyes, blonde
hair, strong muscles, male -- *and* a *virgin*!" One look back up
at the auction block affirmed what Jack had already known for the
boy who Faith was so surprisingly concerned over stood there with
his head lowered. "What am I bid for this fine specimen?" the
auctioneer called out.

The crowd went wild with bidding, but every time a bid was made,
Selene made a higher one. She was determined that that particular
boy was hers. Faith remained silent for the time being, biding her
time as she waited for the crowd to reach what they would think
would be a final price. She knew the sooner she spoke, the sooner
eyes would be drawn to Jack and her and they would risk being
discovered.

Jack slipped the bag out of his pocket and fumbled through its
contents. Brendan had made quite the haul. The bag not only held
gold pieces but also jewelry; Jack knew he could not pull the
jewelry out there, however. He wondered how high the price would
go on the boy and if they had enough. How much had Faith managed
to get? He looked at her questioningly just as the loud-mouthed
bitch, who had finally grown impatient of the bidding war, yelled
out. "ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND!" Her cold voice cut through the crowd
like icicles and brought gasps from many in the crowd.

Faith nearly choked on that amount, and Jack could tell from the
sound she made and her paled face that she did not have enough. He
handed her the bag. "There's at least another seventy-five
thousand in there," he whispered urgently to her. "Use it, and buy
the boy."

Shock flashed in Faith's shining, dark eyes as she looked up at
Jack. She grabbed the bag as if it were a lifeline for her instead
of the kid even as the auctioneer announced, "Going twice!"

"ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND AND *ONE*!" she yelled out, her voice
thundering out over the crowd.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Having neither the stomach nor the heart to look out at those who
had come to bid on him, Dawson had kept his head down the entire
time. His heart and soul were broken. He was full of despair, and
he dreaded what would come next. He figured the awful,
raven-haired woman had bought him and knew he'd rather be dead
than be owned by her.

Just as Dawson heard the auctioneer say "Going twice!" to her, he
heard another voice, one he thought he'd never hear again, bid one
hundred thousand and one. He could hardly breathe but dared to
look up. His scared eyes met the girl's even as he heard the
raven-haired woman telling the auctioneer that she had plenty more
at home but that was all that she had brought with her and she
absolutely must have that boy. "Look, lady," the auctioneer
answered. "Either pay it up now or you lost!"

"But I don't have it with me!" she snapped at him. "I'll have your
head!"

"I doubt that, ma'am. The Governor put me in this job," the
auctioneer coolly informed her amongst a chorus of shocked gasps
from the crowd. "He might have *your* head, but my honey *won't*
have mine."

"Well, I never!" she exclaimed in sharp protest.

He grinned at her. "Maybe you should've!" He then returned to his
crowd and said, "Going once! Going twice! Sold to the little lady
in the crowd! Step up here and pay; then he's all yours."

Faith had been busily pulling out the coins she needed from the
other bag and dumping them into her own. Once she had only what
she needed, she shoved the bag back at Jack even while muttering
under her breath, "Little lady, my ass."

They snatched Dawson roughly off the stage and took him over to
the table where the money collector was. He tried not to be overly
eager, but inside his heart was singing. The strange girl had
cared enough for him that she had rescued him! He was in love for
the first time in his life, and he didn't even know her name!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Meanwhile, it had not taken long for Gabrielle's group to reach
the little cropping of houses where the Witches had lived. As soon
as they had stopped, Wolverine had helped each of the ladies out
of the wagon. Wesley rushed off after Fred, and Lorne and Joxer
looked at each other as the four sisters scampered off in the same
direction. "Joxer, go with them," Gabrielle was quick to say as
she did not relish the thought of being left alone with him. As an
after-thought, she added, "Lorne, you probably should go with him
so that he doesn't destroy their house before they can even get
their stuff out." She knew she did not need to tell Wolverine to
go with Ororo.

Lorne nodded and headed off after Joxer. It did not take him long
to reach the small house that the Halliwells lived in. He could
hear their voices chattering about what they needed to get. One
word in particular kept getting repeated -- The Book. He didn't
know what the Book was, but he hoped when they got through with
it, he'd get a chance to read it. There were not many books on the
Pearl except the Captain's books, and he had already read those.
About the only new reading he ever got was Gabrielle's scrolls,
Celina's poetry, and the songs he wrote himself.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The crowd did not bother to make way for Faith as she worked her
way toward the money collector. Everybody else was already focused
on the next stock up for grabs, but Selene, the woman who had been
so determined to win Dawson but had failed, spat words of fury
from where stood in the audience. When she caught sight of Faith,
she hissed at her, "He won't be yours for long, bitch!"

"Just try to take him," Faith threatened. Her voice was low and
dangerous, and her eyes met Selene's with a calmness that
surprised the older woman.

Selene hissed in response. She wanted to run the girl through
there and then but knew she could not yet make her move as long as
there were so many witnesses. Faith tossed her head in dismissal
at the other woman and, ignoring the growl, continued forward to
the collector's table. Finally reaching it, she set the bag down
on the table with a clunk. "Here ya go." Glancing at Dawson, she
added, "I trust the boy's legit?"

"As far as we can tell, ma'am, and healthy too. No sores of any
kind." He began to count the money and made out a bill of sale to
her. "I'd keep the chains on him if I were you. New slaves tend to
want to run away." He tossed the end of the chain to her. "Have
fun."

Faith caught the chain smoothly even as she smirked at the
collector. "Chasing 'em down and breaking 'em in's half the fun."

"If you get tired of him, you can always pass him around amongst
us. We'll pay you for the pleasure of his company."

Dawson hung his head, not saying a word. He was so scared that he
was dreaming and that she wasn't there that he was afraid to say
anything at all.

"I'm sure ya would," Faith retorted to the collector, "but I like
to use my men till there's not a drop left." She walked away with
a proud sway to her hips and kept her cover as she called back to
Dawson, "Step lively, boy. I can't wait to get you home and
deflower you. You just looked too damn good up there," she growled
lustfully, running her tongue over her lips.

Dawson gulped. If deflowering him was anything like she'd already
done to him, he couldn't wait either! He followed close behind
her, trying hard not to fall over the chains.


_Chapter Thirteen_
As soon as the Halliwell sisters had reached their home, Prue,
being the oldest, had taken charge. She sent Phoebe for the
clothes and was about to tell Piper what to get when she noticed
that both Piper and Paige were missing. Before she could speak,
Joxer asked, "Hey, where'd they go?"

Prue smiled as she thought of her sisters' favorite past times.
"Piper probably went for the kitchen things, and Paige went for
her artwork. I need to get something from my Mother's room. I'll
only be gone a moment. Wait here," she instructed, but as soon as
she moved, Joxer followed. "What part of wait here don't you
understand?" she asked him.

"Gabrielle told me to come with you," he answered.

"She didn't mean right on top of me, just to come to my house.
Wait here," Prue repeated. She ran into her mother's room only to
be followed closely by Joxer. She turned swiftly, her mouth open
to warn him, but before she could get as much as one syllable out,
he had pushed the door. Joxer thought the door shut because of his
push, but Prue knew that it had slammed shut of its own accord.
"You shouldn't have done that," she said. "We can't get out of
here."

"What do you mean? All I have to do is open the door," Joxer said.
The first thing he noticed was that there was no handle on the
door. "Where's the handle?" he asked, glancing nervously around.

"There isn't one. I told you not to follow me. We keep a very
special Book here, and one of the protections is that any one who
is not a Halliwell who comes into this room will be trapped. So
guess what? You just trapped us in here!" Her eyes blazed at him.
"Why can't you follow a simple order?!"

"Why couldn't you just tell me why you didn't want me to follow
you instead of telling me not to follow you? Gabrielle said to
follow you."

"Well, Gabrielle can't get us out of here!" Prue said. "I think .
. . My family doesn't even know we're in here, and they won't be
able to get me out either!"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere in the house, Prue's sisters had gathered up what they
needed and were looking for Prue. They couldn't find her. "The
Book," Piper finally said. "She must have gone for the Book."

Only then did Phoebe notice the door to their mother's and
grandmother's room was shut. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers as
she stared at it. "Uh-oh!"

"Uh-oh what?" Paige's arms were full of her art and supplies, and
they made a great bustling sound as she turned to look in the
direction Piper and Phoebe were already looking in. Seeing that
the door was shut, she spoke for all of them. "Crap!"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, back at the auction, Brendan had been watching
everything from the shadows of an alley he had chosen to hide in.
He had never been too far from Jack and Faith and could have
easily ran to their aid at any time. He had continued to keep
checking on Jack as they both waited for Will to be released to
the block even while watching Faith retrieve Dawson. She was about
to walk past his alley when he stepped just out of the shadows and
whispered her name, "Faith." He jerked his head urgently toward
the alley.

Faith had actually been scanning the alleys for Brendan, knowing
that they needed to be together when the fight started and also
realizing that she could use his help to free the boy from his
chains, when Brendan had shown himself. She nodded and began to
follow him into the alley even as he ducked quickly back into the
shadows.

Despite the chains, Dawson smiled. He finally had a name for his
beloved! {Faith! It's such a beautiful name!} he thought. {Faith
Leery sounds good to me. I hope she likes it.} He almost stumbled
over the chains which were way too big for his small body in his
efforts to keep up with her. He was glad for a chance to sit down
in the alley. He had been standing forever as they had had him
tied up against the wall so that every one could see him. He was
exhausted but still smiling as he kept thinking to himself,
{Faith, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman, and she's all
mine!}

Faith still had not spoken to the boy, and even now, as she
released his chain and let him sit, she turned her attention to
Brendan instead. "Want the hands or the feet, Wolfboy?" she asked
him as one hand slipped between the tight, black leather of her
bodice and her breasts.

The sound Brendan made in the depths of his throat was akin to a
wounded pup, and Faith looked at him in questioning surprise.
Seeing the look in his eyes, she was quick to reassure him. "Hell
no, not that!" It was then that she slipped out a pick from
between her breasts. She twirled it in her fingers, and he
breathed a sigh of relief.

Shaking his head, Brendan told her, "You could have said that to
begin with."

"How was I supposed to know you were gonna jump to eatin' the kid?"

"WHAT?!" Dawson screeched out loud. "You're gonna eat me?! Please
don't! I'm bony! I don't have any meat! I won't be any trouble! I
promise!" he said in a high-pitched voice, almost screaming his
words. He had never expected the girl of his dreams to eat humans!
What was she -- a Vampire?! He prayed that she wasn't and that she
wouldn't eat him, not that way any way. To be eaten while still
alive would be a horrid way to go! He struggled to rise to his
feet, but he couldn't get up for the chains.

When Dawson had first began screeching so fearfully, Faith had
thrown back her head in laughter. Brendan had looked at her,
stunned and loudly clearing his throat until she'd finally looked
again. Only then did she see the true fear shining in the boy's
panicked blue eyes. "Easy, kid," she told him, placing her hands
on his shoulders and gently pushing him back down. "We're not
going to eat any one. Wolfboy could," she said with a toss of her
head in Brendan's direction, "but never does, and I'm just a
bitch, not a Vamp, Were, or anything like that."

Dawson almost collapsed upon himself as he sat back down. Today
had been the most horrible day of his life yet the most exciting
at the same time. Had it really only been earlier that morning
that he had been laid for the first time by the same beautiful
woman who now owned him? He couldn't get over it. He sat quietly,
waiting for her to get the chains off. His arms ached to hold her,
and his body craved her touch. He desperately wanted her to ride
him again but not in front of the Wolfboy. He would have to bide
his time. They'd be alone soon enough, and maybe he'd be recovered
enough that he could interest her again. At least, he hoped so.

"Didn't mean to make ya wet yourself," Faith told him as he seemed
to relax again under her touch. She could feel his muscles under
her fingertips and found that she could not resist slowly running
her hands down his arms. She decided she'd deal with the chains
that bound his hands.

The touch of her hands sent thrills racing up and down his body,
but her words angered him. "I didn't wet myself, Faith," he spat
out, "and my name is Dawson, not kid. But you did scare the Hell
out of me. Too much has happened today. I can't believe today
started out so wonderfully only to end up turning into my worst
nightmare and then turning up good again because you saved me.
Thank you, Faith." He tried to smile at her, but he was so
exhausted that he barely managed it.

"Don't thank me," she was quick to tell him. "I only did it 'cause
I couldn't stand the way that bitch was measuring you. An animal
doesn't even deserve that kinda treatment, but once we get outta
here, you're on yer own again, kid."

Brendan shook his head on that note. "I don't think you can do
that, Faith. The Captain's got a share on this, and I don't think
he's going to be so quick to turn the kid a loose. He likes to get
his money's worth."

"Jack's after Will, Virgin Boy," she snapped up at Brendan, her
dark eyes cutting through him, "not after Daw -- " She stopped
herself quickly, realizing she'd almost spoken his name. "Not
after the boy here," she quickly amended, "an' he already knew I
was gonna set him free."

"Yes, but wasn't that before he gave you money? Who knows? He
might want him to take care of Will, so you can't just let him go
till you talk to him."

"He doesn't need the kid for Will. He wants Will himself, if ya
haven't figured that out yet, and he's got the Lewis’s for the
healing."

"Yes. He doesn't have a servant for Will, though, and I'm sure he
will want Will to have one." Brendan continued, desperately
scratching at any ideal that might keep Faith from releasing
Dawson before the kid was in a safe place. "If you turn the kid a
loose, he's going to be mad."

"I'm shaking," Faith bit back, sarcasm dripping heavily on her
tongue, "but I'll tell ya what, Wolfie. Much as I hate it and as
much as I *don't give a damn*, you've got a point. So here." She
tossed the chain's lead at him. "Have a field day, but if I find
out he's bein' used for slavery or that any of you bastards have
hurt him, there's gonna be some throat cutting," she promised. "I
don't care if it is the Captain's ass I have to kill; I'm not
lettin' anybody hurt that kid as long as I'm around him."

She had just finished opening the lock on the chains that bound
Dawson's hands. Letting them drop, Faith stood again and slipped
the pick back into its hiding place. She looked from Brendan to
Dawson before turning back to Brendan. "And don't get him killed."
With that said, she turned to walk out of the alley.

"Where are you going, Faith?" Brendan called after her.

"To kill something," she snapped, her brown eyes blazing black,
"but don't worry. I'll be around if you get that mangy fur of
yours in a wrangle." With that, she left the alley, leaving the
two alone.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Prue was pacing the floor and glaring angrily at Joxer.
"You know they're going to leave us! We'll never get out of here!"

"Sure we will," Joxer said. "Gabrielle wouldn't leave me." He
looked around for a window or another door but saw that there were
neither. "Did you say your mother did a spell on this? Well, why
don't you just undo it?"

"I can't. I -- I don't know how to do spells!"

"But you're a Witch!" he yelped.

"Yes, but I don't have any powers. Mother didn't want us knowing.
She thought it would protect us."

"Your mother and your grandmother were Witches yet they never told
you anything. Gee, some women you can never get to shut up, and
some women never say anything! HELP!!!!!!!!!" he screamed, hoping
some one would hear him.

"SHUT UP!" Prue screamed back at him. "Nobody can hear you, and
that means _*NOBODY_*!"

"You can!" Joxer retorted instantly. Prue pushed him. She had had
too much of the little man. Would somebody please come and rescue
her?!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brendan shook his head as he watched Faith go. "You're going to
have to learn to overlook her, Dawson," he told the kid as he
knelt beside him to free his feet. "Believe me, that's the only
way any of us get through the day without battling her."

"She's beautiful," Dawson sighed. "Why's she so angry?" he asked
the wolfman.

"Who knows?" Brendan asked with a roll of his shoulders. He'd
often tried to figure Faith out but never gotten anywhere close to
doing so. "Believe it or not, she actually prides herself on that
bit -- attitude of hers."

Dawson didn't know how to answer that, so instead he said, "Thanks
for helping me and for not eating me. It was such a relief when
she bought me, but she doesn't want me. Why?"

Brendan could smell the kid's emotions and knew he had it bad. "I
hate to be the one to break it to you, Dawson, but she's never
wanted any one twice."

"But I intend to marry her!" It slipped out of his mouth before
Dawson could stop himself. "I'll make her happier than she's ever
been! Then she won't be so bitchy! She won't need that attitude
any more."

Brendan reached a hand up to pat Dawson's shoulder reassuringly.
"Keep telling yourself that."

"You'll see. It might take a long time, but I'll win her heart. No
matter how long it takes, I won't stop until I do."

Brendan didn't want to be the one to tell the kid that Hell would
permanently freeze over before any one managed to melt Faith's
ice, so instead he changed the subject. "Tell me," he spoke
quietly. "Have you ever been in a fight?"

"No. Not really. My Father beat the Hell out of me, but that's not
really a fight. I tried to fight back against him, but I'm just
not any good at it and he was my Father. Why?"

Brendan breathed a silent sigh of relief that Dawson had not seen
him wince when he'd spoken of the beatings he endured at his
father's hands. "Because by the time that auction's over," he
answered, "all Hell's going to break loose. You'd best stick close
to me and the others. We'll protect you, but don't trust any one
unless you can tell they're with us." He still hoped more of the
crew would come for he knew that there was no way that Jack,
Faith, and he could take on every one in the place and live
through the battle. Although his own life was not important to
him, Jack's and even Faith's lives were. He straightened and
pocketed his pick as the rest of the chains fell away from Dawson.
"Can you stand?" he asked him, knowing he was exhausted but would
have to force himself at least a little further.

After a moment's struggling, Dawson managed to get to his feet.
"Thank you, mister. I'll stay close to you."

"My name's Brendan," he replied. Remembering Faith's constant
taunts, he added, "Not Wolfboy."

"Well, she calls me kid. My name's Dawson." He extended his hand
to Brendan.

Brendan took the boy's outstretched hand and shook it in his own,
much larger hand. He was careful not to use too much strength.
Releasing him, he walked to the mouth of the alley. "Come here,
Dawson, and look out. Do you see Faith?"

Dawson walked to the edge of the alley and looked out but shook
his head when he could not spot Faith. Brendan did see Faith, but
as she was already picking a fight, he decided it would be best
not to point her out to the kid after all. "What about that man
with the parrot on his shoulder?" he tried again.

Dawson could see a man with a parrot on his shoulder. "I see him."

"Now look a couple places to his right. See the man dressed in all
the lace?"

"Yes, I see him. He's a dandy, isn't he?"

Laughter broke from Brendan's throat at first, but he quickly hid
it in coughing. "Not highly likely," he told the boy after
clearing his throat. "That's only a disguise," he whispered to
him. "That man's our Captain, Jack Sparrow."

"*That's* Jack Sparrow?" Dawson whispered in awe. "I heard he was
the meanest, baddest Pirate that ever walked the Earth!" he said
eagerly. "That means *you're* a Pirate?!" His voice got a little
bit higher as he turned to look at Brendan.

Quickly placing a hand over the boy's mouth, Brendan ducked back
into the alley with Dawson trapped in one arm. "We're Pirates," he
whispered to him, "but not the kind you've always heard about.
Some of those tales you've heard about Jack are true, but most are
spread by his own tellings. He's not as bad as he makes himself
out to be. He saved my life." He looked down at Dawson but could
see nothing of the boy's face except for his blonde hair. "You're
not going to go squealing at the top of your lungs now, are you?"
he asked rather nervously.

A muffled sound came from behind Brendan's hand, and Dawson shook
his head, his eyes shining. When Brendan lifted his hand, Dawson
answered, "No way! *Wow!* A real live Pirate, especially
_*Captain_ Jack Sparrow*! I can't believe my luck! I always wanted
to run away to sea; now I'll be a Pirate too!" He grinned from ear
to ear.

Brendan released Dawson but touched a hand to his forehead as he
shook his head. Faith was not going to like this, and he wasn't
sure at all how Jack would take to the boy's case of hero worship.
"You have to be quiet," Brendan warned Dawson, "and I have to keep
a watch on the Captain for when Will comes out and he signals us."

Dawson's eyes were glued on Jack. There was no way he was going to
take his eyes away! He was looking forward to the adventure to
come.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lorne did not know how long he had stood outside the Halliwells'
house, waiting for them to return. He knew they were losing
precious time that they could not afford to lose, so he opened the
door and walked in after knocking. He was just in time to hear
Paige's sharp exclamation of, "Crap!"

"Crap what?" Lorne asked, his red eyes taking in the looks on
three of the sisters' faces. He wondered why they were all staring
at a closed door with such fear on their faces.

The instant Phoebe and Paige saw Lorne, they started screaming.
"DEMON! DEMON! DEMON!"

"Yeah," Lorne said, "I am. What's the problem?"

"CALM DOWN, THE BOTH OF YOU!" Piper had to yell to be heard over
her sisters' terrified shouts. "Yes, he's a Demon, but he's a good
man! His name is Lorne, and he's one of those who helped to rescue
us!"

Both girls appeared to calm down. "Crap, Prue's locked in the
room," Paige explained. She did not apologize for her screaming,
however. She thought Piper had taken leave of her senses but
didn't say so.

Phoebe got close enough to Lorne that she could reach out and poke
him with one finger. As she did so, Piper exclaimed scoldingly,
"_*Phoebe!*_"

"Well, I had to see if he was real! *Wow!* A real Demon! Don't we
need to do something with him?"

"Like what, Phoebe? Feed him?"

"No! You know, get rid of him? A spell or something?"

"Phoebe, you know we're not allowed to use spells! We don't know
what they'll do! Mother would be very upset!" Paige protested.

"Well, Mother isn't here any more, and we have to do something
about him!"

"That is _*ENOUGH*_!" Piper thundered, her brown eyes blazing
angrily at her sisters. She continued to exclaim as she stalked
across the room to where Phoebe stood with Lorne. "We are not
vanquishing anybody!"

"Vanquishing?" Phoebe asked innocently.

"That's how you get rid of evil things?" Paige added.

"He's *not* evil!" Piper snapped. Looking apologetically at Lorne,
she shook her head as she told him sincerely, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I get it all the time," Lorne reassured her. "What can
we do to get your sister out of the room? And don't tell me
Joxer's in there with her."

"Huh . . . Yes? And we don't know," Phoebe answered quickly.

"I don't know any magic spells that open doors. At least," Lorne
amended, "not any doors that we want to get into. Would your
mother have told any one else about this room?"

"Our Grandmother knew," Paige answered.

"Anybody still living?" Lorne asked.

"There's only one that might," Piper told him, relieved that her
sisters finally appeared to be calming down again. "Ororo and our
mother were very close; she might know."

"Well, I'll watch for her. As soon as I see her coming, I'll get
her to come in," Lorne said. He stepped outside the door just in
time to see a cat looking directly at him. The cat stared, then
spit and hissed at him. "Nice kitty," Lorne spoke to the cat.
"Here, kitty." He knelt down and held his hand out. "Kitty, kitty?
Kitty, kitty?" With a loud meow, the cat came to him and began to
rub against his hand. "Nice kitty. Do you belong here?" Lorne
asked. "I bet you're hungry." With very little effort, Lorne
picked the cat up.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lorne had no sooner gone outside than the three sisters heard a
familiar, feline voice spitting and hissing just outside their
door. Phoebe and Paige, jumping up and down, exclaimed, "See,
Piper? We told you he was evil! Kit wants him!"

Piper sighed and shook her head. Had her little sisters always
been this aggravating to their mother? "You two, stay here," she
commanded them, "and for the record, I'm telling you again, Lorne
is good. Skin color does not make a man." Walking across the room,
she opened the door and had to smile at what she saw as Lorne
stood, cuddling Kit.

"Look what I found!" Lorne said, beaming like a little boy who had
just discovered the greatest treasure imaginable. "I think he's
very hungry. Is he yours?"

"Ours," Piper said in reference to her entire family, "but keep
him a minute at least." Though her heart was still heavy with
grief, the scene had brought a smile to her lips. Turning back
inside the room, she called to her sisters, "You two get over
here."

Phoebe and Paige raced over to the door and looked out. They could
not believe that Kit was letting the Demon hold him! "But -- But
-- But -- " Paige stuttered. "Kit never lets anything evil hold
him!"

"That's because Lorne's *not evil*!" Piper repeated yet again.

"Sorry, Mister Lorne," Phoebe apologized sheepishly. "Thank you
for finding Kit."

"No problem, Phoebe. Do you have something Kit can eat? I think
he's hungry."

"We sure do," Phoebe answered. "Come inside, Mister Lorne, and
we'll feed Kit."

"No, I need to stay out here and wait for Ororo, so you feed Kit,"
he said with a smile and handed her the cat. Kit seemed reluctant
to leave his arms but was still glad to get something to eat.
Piper, standing beside Lorne, breathed a sigh of relief. "Hang in
there, Piper; it gets better," Lorne assured her with a smile.
"Have you got everything you need except for your sister?"

Piper nodded but added, "And what she went in to get." Her arms
were still loaded with a couple of pots and books.

Lorne glanced eagerly at the books. "Do you think, when you're
finished with them, that maybe I could read them? We never have
enough books aboard ship."

"I'm not sure you'd want to," Piper replied honestly, looking up
at him in surprise. "They're cookbooks."

"Cookbooks? Do they teach you how to cook? I'd like that. At
least, enough to make Jack a surprise cake for his birthday. The
cook never gets it right. It always comes out lumpy. Jack never
complains, but none of us want to eat it."

Piper made a face. "Doesn't your cook know how to cook?" she asked
him.

"Not really. He just sort of got put into the job. We don't have a
real cook. The one who complains gets to cook, so none of us
complain, but I wouldn't mind if I knew how." He smiled at her.

"We have a lot of other cookbooks," Piper told him, "but none of
them really teach you how to cook -- we didn't need that sort of
thing --, but I could teach you."

"That would be great! We can run Joxer out of the kitchen! He's
the cook right now. Do you have a barrel or anything that we can
pack this in?"

"Every barrel we have is already full. Flour, sugar, you name it."

"Then we'll take them all with us. It might come in handy. We
haven't been able to take on supplies yet."

"We'd planned to donate what we could and throw away the rest but
didn't have enough warning this morning to do so, so we have
plenty left. Are you sure there's room on the ship for all the
books, though?" she asked him.

"How many do you have?" he asked.

"Let me put it this way," she answered with a grin. "My
Grandmother loved to cook; my Mother loved to cook; and I love to
cook. That give you any ideal?"

His mouth fell open. He could not imagine having so many books to
read! "If you put them in a bag or something, I can start carrying
them to the wagon. It should not be long before Ororo returns."

Piper nodded. "I'll do so," she told him, slipping back inside.
"You know," she called back, "I could put Paige on guard duty
instead if you'd like to come look."

"Okay," Lorne replied.

"Paige?" Piper spoke her sister's name meaningfully.

"Yes?" Paige asked.

"You heard me," Piper told her.

"What? Are we ready to go?"

Piper rolled her eyes. It was just like her sister to pretend she
hadn't been eavesdropping, even when Piper knew she had. {Anything
to get out of work,} she thought.

"I'm going," Paige said, "but I don't want to miss anything. Be
sure you tell me *everything*!"

Piper raised a single eyebrow as she looked questioningly at her
youngest sister. "And just *what* do you think there will be to
tell?"

"You know, whatever you and Mister Green are up to . . . " Paige
trailed off with a mischievous look.

Piper blushed as red as Lorne was green. "Paige Halliwell!" she
exclaimed. "You know very well that ladies do not consort in such
a manner!"

"Yeah, *right*."

"*Paige . . . *" Piper ground out."

"Going, going, gone!" she exclaimed as she rushed out the door.
"But," Piper could hear her calling back, "I still expect full
details!"

Piper shut her eyes and shook her head. "This is not my life," she
muttered under her breath. "This is *not* my life." Though her
eyes were closed, her feet still carried her to the kitchen.

Lorne followed her into the kitchen but stopped in his tracks when
he saw their kitchen cupboard. He could not believe how many books
were on the top shelf, and he made a mad grab for each of them.
"We're taking all of these!" he said excitedly. "Captain Jack
won't mind. He likes books. He has quite a few, and I've read all
of them, some of them even twice."

Piper opened her eyes and had to smile at the eagerness on Lorne's
face. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to any of our
books, Mister Lorne, except for one."

"Thank you, Miss Piper, and please call me Lorne."

"Only if you call me Piper," she returned with a gentle smile.

He nodded and then said, "I shall enjoy them and take care of
them." He gathered them up as though they were the best treasures
in the world. "Do you have a sack for them?"

Piper walked over to a pile of gunny sacks that lay next to the
fireplace. Picking them up, she turned to him, "If you don't mind
cat hairs?"

"Cat hairs have never been known to bother me, ma'am."

"Good, because we've got plenty and we're not leaving Kit. We
didn't want to, but we thought he was gone," she explained. "We
sort of had to throw him out of the house to protect him."

As Piper began filling the bags and Lorne started carrying them
out to the waiting wagon, he wondered how Jack was coping. Had he
managed to rescue Will? Had he even found him yet? As soon as he
reached the wagon, he told Gabrielle about the supplies and that
he would start to bring them out.

"Wait," she told him, "and I'll move the wagon over closer and
help you." Lorne jumped up to the seat and sat down beside her as
she drove just a little space past the front door. "Hold it there,
guys!" she called to the dragons. Dropping the reins, she jumped
down and was about to head in with Lorne when she noticed Morph
and Tom demorphing. "No," she told them, shaking her head. "We can
handle it, and you two need to rest up for the trip back to the
ship."

"Are you sure?" Morph asked as his mouth was the first to return
to normal. His head was now human with brown hair and eyes, but
the rest of his body was still the dragon's.

"Yes. Besides, you can spend this time with your wives, but keep
an eye on Meesy and Gonk too. We don't need those two tieing up."
Seeing Tom nod, Gabrielle turned and headed inside with Lorne.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack had watched the entire scene as Faith had paid for Dawson and
walked away with him. He had smiled with satisfaction, knowing
that Faith had the boy. He had yet to think of a way to convince
her to keep him but knew that she was not stupid enough to turn
him a loose here. Just before turning back around to the block,
Jack caught sight of Faith alone near to the back of the crowd. He
saw a man reach out and touch her, and just as swiftly, he saw her
slash his hand off with her knife and knock him out before he
could even get one yell out. Jack smiled to himself, knowing that
Faith could take care of herself, but wondered where she had
dumped the kid.

He turned back just as he heard the auctioneer begin to do a
sales-pitch on the latest stock. "You've seen him in the
blacksmith shop; now you can play with him in your own bedroom!
What am I bid for this *bulging* specimen of male?"

Again, the crowd went wild, both men and women bidding. Jack did
not say anything but simply bided his time and kept his eyes on
Will. The price kept going higher and higher, but he knew he had
more than enough to cover it. When the crowd began to lose their
steam, the price had gone up to five hundred thousand.

Will stood on the auction block, his head lowered and his face
paled. His heart thundered so loudly in his ears that he had to
struggle to hear the bidders as they called out prices on his very
life. He trembled inside but kept his body still on the outside.
Where was Jack?! Why had he not heard his beloved's voice?! Had
something happened to him? Had he came to his senses and decided
that he would not waste his life by endangering it to save him?
His heart cried out, and he had to fight to keep the tears from
his tightly closed eyes.

It grew quiet, and the auctioneer looked around the crowd. "Come
on now. I know you've got more money out there! He's worth every
bit of that, and then some! Am I bid anything else?"

Jack sniffed his handkerchief before calling out in his
aristocratic voice, "Seven hundred and fifty thousand."

Though the voice that called out was not the one that Will was
accustomed to hearing come from Jack's lips, his heart still told
him that it was indeed the man he loved. Jack was there, and that
meant everything was going to be okay. His heart leapt, soaring
skyward despite the chains that bound him to the block. His eyes,
longing to look at Jack, flew open, but Will knew better than to
raise his head. He knew he could not let the others know that Jack
was not there to buy him but to save him, and one glance at Jack
at that time, when such emotion filled his heart, would surely
give them away. Therefore, Will kept his head down even as he
prayed that Jack would be able to buy him.

No sooner had Jack called out his bid than he heard an echoing
voice full of icy bitchiness that grated on his every nerve
respond. "Eight hundred thousand."

The auctioneer looked at Jack. "Eight hundred and fifty thousand."

No sooner had he spoken than Helvira bid again. "Nine hundred
thousand."

"One million!" Jack called out loud enough that every one in the
crowd could hear him. Shocked gasps rang amongst the rest of the
audience as they parted before him, making a circle around him and
clearing the path straight to the auction block. Jack had actually
started forward, holding the bag in his hand, when none other than
Helvira stepped before him. Her snake looked directly into his
eyes, and Jack realized that she knew it was him. His hand went
instantly to his sword, but he did not make a move yet. "Out of my
way, wench."

Helvira kept one eye on him as she shot a look back at the auction
block. She smiled icily at Jack even while calling out, "One
million . . ." Her eyes moved back to the man in front of her as
she teased, " . . . *and one*."

Jack, remembering the other bag, did not move but stared her
straight in the eyes. "One million and two."

"And three."

"Four."

"Five!"

Jack forced a calm smile over his lips as he called out, "One
million, seventy-four thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine."

Helvira and her snake hissed as one. Her black fingernails gleamed
as she laid a casual hand on the hilt of her sword. "To the best
bidder go the spoils," she responded smoothly, stepping out of his
way.

Jack thought he was keeping an eye on her, but as he stepped
eagerly forward to go to the collecting table, even as the
auctioneer was hollering "Going, going, gone!", the bitch jumped
toward him. From somewhere in the crowd, he heard Faith yell his
name and whirled, whipping his sword out, just in time to meet her
blade . . .



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had not taken Xena's group long to reach the skirts of Port
Royal, but she didn't have a clue where Jack was. "Carl, do your
thing."

"Which one?" the Gnome asked.

"Sniff. Find Jack."

Carl knew Jack's scent almost as well as he did his own. He
followed it closely, almost stepping where Jack had stepped before
him. "He went in here," Carl said and lifted the tent flap. It
barely made a rustle as he went in but was opened wide when the
others followed him. They passed through and found themselves in
an open marketplace just in time to see Jack buying Will. In a
blur, they saw a strange woman in a slinky, black outfit attack
Jack, and then all Hell broke loose. They had made it just in time
for the big fight!


_Chapter Fourteen_
CLANG! went Jack's sword as it met Helvira's stroke for stroke. He
was surprised at the strength that was in her blows. Had he not
killed her? Was this not her ghost he was fighting? Could ghosts
materialize to the point that they were this strong? He knew that
they could if they were cursed, as had been the Pirates that had
taken the Black Pearl. He would have loved to have put a curse on
Helvira if he had known how.

His sword met hers again, slicing through the air. Could this
woman actually be alive? The only way he could tell was to slice
her and see if she actually bled red blood, but to do that he had
to get clear enough of her to get a cut in. He danced around as
though he had suddenly taken leave of his senses, which caused her
to pause just long enough that he slipped past her guard and
sliced her above the left bosom. He was rewarded with a thin
ribbon of red blood which her snake's forked tongue instantly
flicked out and licked.

He didn't know how the bitch had done it, but she was alive! It
made his skin itch all over, and he renewed his efforts at
striking at her. His sword was a jewel and beautiful to handle. It
made a singing noise as it fought, meeting hers again and again.
He would not give in to her, and he would not let her take Will.
His back was to Will, and that bothered him as he could not be
sure that Will was safe. He was oblivious to all those around him
as he strove to kill the bitch.

All around Jack, the people had broken into fighting. They had
found that their money was missing and thought that the person
next to them had taken it. Blows rained heavily upon every one,
and there was plenty of action for all.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, from his post in one of the alleys, Brendan had seen
the fighting break out. He started to rush forward but hesitated
as he remembered Dawson. Grabbing the knife from his boot, he
turned and, handing it to Dawson, told him, "Just try not to fall
on it, and stay close." He hoped he had not made the wrong
decision by entrusting a weapon to the kid, but the boy had to
have some way of protection should they get seperated. Turning
back, Brendan drew his own sword and rushed into the heat of
battle.

Dawson looked at the knife he held in his hand. It was sharp and
very wicked looking, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do with
it. He thought, "Just try not to fall on it", was very good
advice. Trembling in excited anticipation from the action that he
was about to see, Dawson followed behind Brendan so closely that
if Brendan had stopped, his nose would have hit him in the rear.
He looked for Faith but did not see her.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The minute they had arrived, Xena had started in fighting. She
could see Jack and knew who he was fighting. She could also see
Will but could not reach him. Knowing that Jack would need help
with Helvira, Xena started fighting her way to his side even as
she thought, {Isn't that the same bitch he already killed once?
Damn, ain't life funny! Every time you think you kill somebody,
they come back.} She remembered all the ones who had come back to
haunt her.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex pulled his sword out and began trying to fight his way to
where Will was. He would rescue Will while Jack was handling
whoever it was he was fighting. She was a weird-looking woman with
a snake wrapped around her, and by damn, if she didn't look
exactly like one of the Witches they had just rescued! Could it be
the same one? As he stood with his mouth agape looking at her, one
of the fighters jumped into his face with his sword outstretched
and Lex set into fighting him hard. "CLARK," he called over the
roar of battle, "DO YOU SEE THE WOMAN FIGHTING THE CAPTAIN?"

It seemed that the fighting had broken out all around them the
very second they had stepped into the crowd. Though Lex had
stopped, staring at something with a shocked look on his handsome
face, Clark had not stopped fighting for even a second. His lover
had left himself open, but Clark protected him as fiercely as a
lion, his sword sending enemy after enemy falling though he did
not kill a single one of them. He had his back to Lex's, fighting
off two at one time, when he called to him about some woman the
Captain was fighting. Even as Clark wondered what could be so
fascinating about the bitch that had drawn his lover's attention,
he called back to him, "I DON'T EXACTLY HAVE THE TIME TO LOOK AT
SOME WOMAN RIGHT NOW!"

"WELL, YOU BETTER MAKE THE TIME TO LOOK AT THIS ONE! YOU'VE SEEN
HER BEFORE!" Lex yelled even as he threw the guy he was fighting
after having driven his sword through his gut. The dead guy hit
three others, knocking them all down. Lex turned to see who Clark
was fighting and lopped off the head of the one on the left,
sending blood spewing.

Despite his strong ethics, Clark had to smile at the way Lex so
easily handled the enemy. He wished he could be like that, but his
blasted morals would never allow him to be. Finally managing to
knock the sword from his opponent's hand, Clark delivered a quick
blow to his head, then kicked him out of the way even as he fell.

Turning his back to Lex, Clark turned to try to look for the
Captain only to find a blade poking him in the face. He smiled at
the sword, innocence shining on his face, until a wicked grin
flashed over his lips and he drove his knee up into the other
man's groin. The man fell instantly, holding himself and screaming
out in pain, and Clark stole that moment to look for the Captain.
His blue eyes finally spotted Jack, and like Lex's before him, his
mouth fell open in shock at the sight of the woman. Finally
recovering himself just in time to meet another sword that had
been headed for his neck, Clark yelled, "THAT CAN'T BE ELVIRA! SHE
WENT WITH WOLF!"

Lex yelled back even as he continued to slice away at two men who
were attacking him, "I THINK YOU'RE WRONG! I THINK IT IS HER!
THERE CAN'T BE TWO WOMEN LIKE HER, CAN THERE? AND THERE'S NO
MISTAKING THE LACK OF CLOTHES!"

"MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING NEW IN WOMEN'S FASHION?" Clark asked. "OR,
AT LEAST," he added, his determined blows driving yet another
opponent back, "IN HARLOTS'?"

Lex shook his head even as he stabbed the one on the right and
continued to fight the one on the left. "IT HAS TO BE HER! I'D BE
WILLING TO BET IT IS! WE'VE GOT TO GET TO WILL AND GET HIM SAFELY
OUT OF HERE! JACK WOULD WANT US TO!"

"BUT THAT CAN'T BE ELVIRA!" Clark protested again. "IF SHE'S HERE,
AND SHE'S EVIL, THAT WOULD MEAN WOLF -- " Fury filled him as he
thought of their friend laying dead somewhere, and before he knew
what he was doing, he had not only met another blade but had
slipped past the wielder’s guard, his sword going for his gut.
Lex, having finished his man off, had turned and was just in time
to see what Clark was about to unwittingly do. Knocking him out of
the way, he drove his own sword home instead.

Without a further word, they continued to make their way to Will's
side, fighting all the way but failing to realize that they were
slowly drifting apart in the sea of fighters.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carl did not have a sword, but he had brought the pole and was
using its hook as a weapon, jabbing here and there. Being little
and super fast, he was able to get in a stab, run, and be on the
opposite side of the battlefield with a new opponent before his
last one even hit the ground. He was covering a lot of ground and
taking out men all over the place when he was suddenly surrounded
by three with drawn swords pointed down at him. Looking sheepishly
up at the towering brutes, he swallowed a gulp and said weakly,
"Hi, guys?"

Suddenly, right behind the group that had Carl pinned down, Cole
appeared. He yelled at the three, "HOW ABOUT PICKING ON SOME ONE
YOUR OWN SIZE?" even as he lobbed three energy balls in quick
succession right at the three men, putting them out of Carl's
misery. "Carl, you need to be somewhere safe." He lifted Carl up
and sat him on the top of one of the tents. "Stay up there till
it's over."

Carl wanted to argue, but he knew Cole was right. "Okay, but if
you need me . . . " his voice trailed off.

"If I need you, I'll call." {Not that that's going to happen,} he
added to himself. He was turning around to leave when he was
suddenly surrounded by buddies of the guys he had just offed.

"We saw what you did," one said. "We've gotta kill you now." They
waved their swords at him, loathe to strike a man who did not have
a sword drawn. Cole pulled his sword and began to lay to on the
nearest one. He could have thrown energy balls and been done with
it, but then he would have missed out on some of the action.
Lobbing energy balls all the time wasn't a lot of fun, and that
way you never got any exercise except for your pitching arm.

The fighting between the four men became hot and heavy. Suddenly,
another one started sneaking up from behind Cole. Carl, who had
been watching the entire thing, jumped off of the tent and landed
on the man's head. The man started fighting like crazy, trying
desperately to pull Carl off, even as Carl pulled out his little
dagger and began stabbing him. The man swung his sword wildly in
an attempt to knock Carl off but instead killed one of Cole's
attackers.

Cole soon took out the other two. Turning, he lobbed an energy
ball at the one that Carl was riding. He smoothly caught the Gnome
in mid-air and put him back on the tent. "Stay up there, Carl," he
told him again but then relented, "but thanks for the save." He
bounded into the crowd and straight into another fight.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even though Xena had not called Autolycus' name, he had followed
behind them at a safe distance. He knew she was angry at him at
the present time, because he had been moving first on her and then
on Gabrielle every time he caught one of them alone, not caring
which one he got as long as he got one. He winced, thinking back,
at the remembered pain each had delivered him. Neither the hilt of
a sword nor a staff was a fun thing to have in one's groin.

Now he was just as busily scooting around and emptying out pockets
while everybody fought around him. He was never much of one for
fighting if things could be obtained in other ways, and he was
always looking for things. He knew exactly when Xena's eyes made
contact with him, and he didn't look up, just darted around and
got another pocket.

He thought he was going undetected when a big, beefy guy reached
out and clasped a hand on him. "So you're the little runt who's
been making his way through the crowd, stealing from everybody and
stirring up so much trouble?" The guy's ham-sized fist wrapped
around his neck, and he lifted him off of the ground by his
throat.

Autolycus swung wildly with his feet, trying to kick the guy, but
he couldn't quite reach him. His startled mind failed to register
his sword. He had given himself up for a dead man when the man
suddenly released him with a gurgled roar of pain. "Whoa there,
big fella!" Autolycus cried for even as the man's hand released
his throat, he began to fall on top of him. Autolycus tried to
scurry out of the way, but still the man's lifeless body caught
him, trapping him underneath his weight.

Faith appeared where the man had stood, her boot resting
momentarily on his massive rear as she pulled her sword out from
his back. Looking down at Autolycus, she informed him casually,
"You can give me some of your loot after we get out of here, but
you're digging your own way out."

"Don't leave me under here!" Autolycus cried out in protest. "I
won't ever get out of here! They'll kill me! This guy must weigh a
ton! Don't just leave me under here!"

Faith shrugged. "Should've thought about that before you let him
pick you up." Hearing the swing of a blade behind her, she whirled
to meet the sword. A swift upper swing blocked the blow, and she
kicked the man back. Even as he stumbled backwards, her sword
sliced through his middle, separating his torso from his legs.

Blood rained down around Autolycus. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! SETTING
UP A TRAP FOR BUZZARDS?!" he yelled up at her. "I DON'T WANT TO BE
BUZZARD BAIT! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" he yelled again at her
retreating back as she delved deeper into the crowd, the blood of
her opponents following her everywhere.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brendan was well into making his way to his Captain when something
white fell across the blade of his sword. Startled, he looked down
at it only to find a snowflake shining up at him. "What the -- ?!"
the wolf started to growl, but no sooner had he spoken than a fist
plowed into his face, knocking him back into Dawson and sending
them both to the ground that was already beginning to be covered
by snow.

Shaking his head fiercely to clear his senses, Brendan raised his
sword again just in time to block a fatal blow. As his sword met
his opponent's, his legs kicked up, slamming into the man's and
sending him stumbling backwards. Brendan quickly jumped to his
feet and, with a quick blow from the hilt of his sword, had
delivered the fallen man unconscious. Without another thought to
the white stuff, the wolf delved back into the fighting.

Dawson lay on the ground where he had fallen with the wind knocked
out of him. Gods knew how long he would have lain there if not for
the falling snowflakes falling on his face, but they revived him.
He got up, looking for Brendan, only to see that his friend had
disappeared on him. He could not see him anywhere. He stood in the
midst of the crowd, looking around, trying to see who he could
see.

Blood was flying through the air and mixing with the snow. He
followed the direction from whence the blood came and saw that
Faith was generating it. Snowflakes shimmered in her dark hair,
and her body, clothes, and hair were all smattered with blood. He
prayed that none of it was hers even as he realized that, even
when bloodied, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever
seen. Should he go to be close to her?

He saw many others fighting but none that he recognized except for
the Captain. He did not want to get close to him as long as he was
fighting the strange woman with the snake. He had caught sight of
the Captain just at the time that the Captain had managed to slice
the woman's left breast. Dawson winced when the snake licked it,
then sank its fangs in although the woman did not even appear to
notice. He trembled at the sight.

Just where the Hell had Brendan gotten to?! He finally decided
just to go where Faith was even if it did make her mad. He wanted
to feel safer. He began to make his way there.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack could not believe that Helvira did not notice that the snake
was biting her, and the look of hatred that she kept shooting at
Jack chilled his spine. Then he felt something white, wet, and
cold hit him on the face. He had no ideal what it was. Some kind
of weird rain, or maybe there was a bird up there with a stomach
problem?

{Why did it have to crap on me and not Helvira?!} he thought. Then
he saw a flake land on her face and had to smile. {Makes no
difference to the bird which one of us he gets. Must be a condor,}
he mistakenly presumed as the flakes continued to fall. He
continued to fight Helvira, matching her strike for strike,
neither of them winning second blood.

As Helvira met Jack's sword yet again, her black lips parted to
scream out over the roar of battle, "MAXAMILLION, GET YOUR LOUSY
BUTT TO WORK! DO IT ALREADY!"

Her words puzzled Jack. What could she mean? Was she talking to
her snake? He watched carefully for her next move, but Helvira
fell silent as she continued to fight him, still trying to break
past his guard. Fencing with Will and daily life had hardened
Jack's muscles and made him even more wary of his opponent. He was
stronger than he had been the last time he had fought her yet he
still had not been able to fight her to a standstill, let alone
win.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the fighting had raged throughout the auction area, one man had
kept to the alleys, determined to finish his meal. When his boss'
voice screamed out, grating his ears, however, he knew he had best
get to work. He took one last sip of what little remained of the
slave's blood before tossing her to the pavement. Picking up one
of the chains he'd broken off of her, Maxamillion, who had added
the "million" part to his name after killing his millionth victim,
strode purposefully from the alley. He kept the chain in one hand
and his sword in the other. Avoiding every pesky blow that came
his way and running his blade through the heart of each who
ignorantly tried to fight him, he made his way to the auction
block.

The auctioneer was at a lost as to what to do. He knew the auction
must go on somehow, but he was not about to try to break up such a
fight by himself. Even the other traders had delved into the
battle, and he had been left alone to guard the last of the stock.
Hearing approaching footsteps, the auctioneer turned to meet the
oncomer, but when he saw the mountain of man who approached, he
gulped. He glanced at the boy, looked back at the man, and took a
sailing leap off into the crowd, choosing to take his chances
therein instead of against such a monster.

Having seen the terrified look on the auctioneer's face, Will
turned to face the direction he had looked in. Maxamillion's lips
parted in a slow smile, his blood-stained teeth gleaming out at
Will as he told him, "You're coming with me, boy."

"Not if I can help it." Will moved quickly, swinging the chains
that bound his hands toward the man's head, but the man, who had
sheathed his sword upon the auctioneer's fleeing, grabbed the
chains smoothly. His grin grew more devilish as he yanked Will,
sending him toppling face forward onto the block. Before Will
could even try to move, Max whipped the chains he held against the
boy's back. Will cried out as the chains ripped his shirt away and
cut deep gashes into his back. Then, as swift as lightning, the
man whipped his sword out and, standing over Will, swung downward.
Will's cry turned into a roar of pain as the man cut through the
backs of his legs, slicing off his hamstrings.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack's blood ran cold. Some one had hurt Will! He had to get to
him! He kept fighting and backing as quickly as he could,
desperately trying to reach him. As Will's roar of pain reached
Jack's ears, Helvira threw the damn snake right into his face.
Jack blindly grabbed at the snake, trying to get a hold of any
part of it while still trying to fight with his sword against
Helvira whose laughter rattled his ears.

Her laughter broke Jack's heart for he knew Will was dead and that
her Maxamillion had killed him. The bitch was going down! He
sliced the snake's head off with one deft blow and became like a
madman, not caring if he was hit or not. He redoubled his efforts
with his sword, making his advance so hot that Helvira fell
backwards a few steps. Little did Jack know that when he sliced
the head off of the snake, it had began flying around and around,
its mouth and jaws working as it tried to bite everything in its
path.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xena's head jerked up at the pain-filled cry. It could only come
from one person -- Will! Her heart leaped in her chest as she
looked at where she had last seen him and saw that he was laying
still on the auction block. Was he dead? She prayed that wasn't
so. She reached for her chakram and was about to throw it when she
almost stepped on some one whose mouth flew open. "Hey, Xena! Be a
pal! Get me out of here!"

She started to glance down to see who was down there even though
she recognized the voice when something flew by her head, making a
smacking sound. It did not come back past her way, but she could
see that it was a snake head. "Where the Hell did that come
from?!" she asked.

"I don't know," Autolycus told her, "but get me out of here before
it gets me!" She kicked and dragged the dead body off of Autolycus
just as the snake circled back around again. She took a swing at
it but missed.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brendan had looked up the instant Will had screamed. He was still
looking up, trying to determine the quickest path to the auction
block and if there was any way he could make it there despite the
battling crowd all around, when his acute ears picked up the
strangest sound. Turning his head to the right, Brendan let out a
yelp as an all-too familiar head flew right at him. He
instinctively slashed out with his sword; his blade sliced right
through the middle of the snake's head. The two halves fell to the
ground, and Brendan, though scared the wolf was about to come out
at any time, jumped onto the halves, the heels of his boots
stomping them into the pavement for extra measure.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark's heart had nearly stopped beating when the roar of pain had
met his ears. Though his mind told him that it was Will, his heart
screamed out for his beloved Lex. The fist that did not wield his
sword shot out, avoiding the blow of his opponent's sword as his
fist hit him full-force into the chest and sent the unexpecting
man flying. "LEX!" Clark called, spinning on the heels of his
boots as his eyes tore frantically around the crowd.

He spotted his love looking up at the auction block and completely
failing to notice the sword that was mere heartbeats from slicing
into his back. Fear and fury filled Clark at once for he knew
there was no way he could make it to him in time. He barely had
time to register the burning of his eyes before fire shot forward
from them, burning the man to soot in less time than it took him
to take a single, shocked gasp of air.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex had been desperately fighting his way to the auction block to
reach Will when Will had been attacked. He had not meant to lose
sight of Clark, and he heard him call his name just as fire came
out of nowhere and burnt an attacker that he had not known of to
mere soot. The man's sword clattered to the ground, and the fire
continued to rain through the sky. Lex fell to the ground even as
flames shot over his head.

He did not have a clue as to who was shooting the fire. He knew
that if Cole had been lobbing energy balls, they would have been
better controlled. Whoever was doing this was completely out of
control as the flames hit not only people but tents, causing
everything it hit to immediately catch on fire. He spotted Clark,
and his mouth fell open. What the Hell was coming out of his
lovers' eyes?! *Flames*?! Again barely dodging the fire, Lex ran
for Clark, hoping to reach him before he had killed too many or,
worse yet, one of their own.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faith had been fighting two when a pain-filled roar from a
familiar voice had met her ears. Her head had jerked up to look
toward the auction block and Will, giving her enemies an
opportunity. She did not yell out when one of their swords cut
into her shoulder but instead stepped back, yanking her own
shoulder out of the blade and swinging her sword through their
chests. She sliced through the heart of one and continued her
blow, passing through the heart of the second in the same swing,
but never did she realize that a sword was about to meet her back.

Dawson saw the sword aimed straight for Faith and screamed out her
name. Hearing him, Faith turned but found the sword right at her
heart. Dawson had managed to come up behind Faith's attacker. He
didn't know how to fight, but he had an ideal what to do. Holding
the knife in his hand, he plunged it deeply into the back of her
attacker and was rewarded with the blade landing in the heart and
killing the man instantly. He fell to the ground, dead, laying
between the two.

Dawson stood, looking at Faith. He saw that she was injured and
was wondering if she would allow him to help her even when his
butt was suddenly singed. He jumped straight for her, knocking her
to the ground and landing on top of her. He was surprised when she
grabbed him and pressed her lips to his.

As Faith's lips took Dawson's from beneath, she rolled him onto
his back. The collision between his rear and the ground put out
the flames even as her tongue plunged downwards into his mouth.
His arms snuck around her. His tongue tried to dance with hers as
his hands fondled her rear.

Faith did not try to pull away from his embrace but instead
deepened their kiss. Her hands reached downwards, caressing the
sides of his legs. She was just before sliding them between their
bodies to his groin when she heard a voice from above. "Well,
well, well. Couldn't wait to taste the merchandise, could you,
girl?"

Faith's eyes rose up to see first a black high heel tapping up and
down on her fallen sword, and then as her gaze traveled higher,
the sneering face of Selene. "This is almost *too* easy," the
woman spoke even as she drew her sword.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole had managed to get free of fighting long enough to shimmer to
where Will was. He was the first one to reach him, but the minute
he materialized, a streak of flame headed straight for his face
forced him to shimmer back out. Where were they coming from? he
wondered even as he heard a scream from the auction block. Looking
toward it, he saw Maxamillion, who had been scooped to pick up
Will, engulfed in fire. He was dancing around, madly beating at
the flames, when he exploded.

When Cole shimmered back, he was alone on the auction block with
Will, and he knelt down beside him. He could not tell where he had
been stabbed without turning him over, because there was so much
blood pouring from the younger man's body. Then he realized that
it was coming mostly from his legs. The skin was sliced off where
the hamstrings should be, crippling Will should he survive. Could
it be that he was not dead, only extremely injured?

{My Gods!} he thought. {We must get him help immediately! Where's
a Lewis when you need one?} He was not really sure what to do to
stop the bleeding, but a thought came to his mind. {Must get
Brendan. Where is he?}

Cole did not want to leave Will, but he had no choice. He had to
get Brendan. Zoning in on Brendan's scent, he shimmered to his
side just in time to see him stomping something into the earth.
"Brendan, you've got to get to Will; he'll bleed to death!" He
laid his hand on his friend's arm and shimmered him to Will's
side.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The explosion of Maxamillion drew Helvira's attention for one
brief second, and Jack made good on his attack. He drove his sword
home, straight through her heart. It was the same maneuver he had
used the last time they had fought, but this time he sliced her
open and severed her heart from her chest. He pulled off his coat,
put the heart in it, and wrapped it up therein as though his coat
was a bag. He was then finally able to run to Will's side where
Brendan was already working on his friend.

The second Jack leapt onto the auction block, his eyes were met
with Will. His lungs nearly stopped breathing and his heart
beating as he saw how still Will's chest seemed to be and the
blood that covered his body. Jack fell to the floor beside Will
with tears running down his face. His trembling hands gently
pulled Will's head into his lap. As Jack's body gently rocked
Will's, the snow fell even harder. If Will died now, it would kill
Jack, because he knew he did not want to live without his dearest
friend . . . without the man he loved.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xena had seen the attack on Faith and had come up behind Selene.
Poking her in the back with her sword, Xena demanded, "Back off of
her, bitch, and give her a chance to get to her feet or I'll cut
you in two." She held her sword and made Selene back up. Then she
flicked Faith's sword to her even as the girl rolled to her feet.
Faith caught it easily, and Xena's gaze turned back to Selene.
"The fight will be fair," she warned, glaring at Selene, "or
you'll answer to me."

"What concern is it of yours?" Selene hissed at her. Though she
had backed away as commanded, she had no intention of going
through with the rest of this woman's orders. {As if some little
tramp could ever order *me* around!} she thought seethingly.

"She's one of mine," Xena growled back at her. "She's able to
fight her own battles. That's why I'm giving her a chance at you
instead of me just running you through."

Xena reached down and lifted Dawson up. "Come on, kid; get out of
the way. There's woman's work to be done." She dragged Dawson out
of the way and settled back to watch Faith in action. Xena saw
Faith bleeding but knew it would not stop her and that the girl
had to be allowed to fight her own battles as much as she was
able.

Out of the corner of one eye, Faith glanced appreciatively at Xena
and Dawson before returning her full attention to Selene. "I've
been waiting for you ever since I saw you in the tents, bitch."

"What?" Selene asked coldly. "Don't tell me that you thought *I*
was for sale."

Selene's laughter died in her throat as Faith snapped, "In your
dreams, bitch," and drove forward. Her blade was aimed to slice
upwards between Selene's legs for the way she had treated Dawson,
but Selene blocked her just in time.

The fight was swift and furious. The two women danced in a circle
around each other, like a hawk and a snake, as they battled. Both
took any opportunity they were given. Faith drew first blood, her
sword taking a deep cut from Selene's hip, but Selene drew second,
her sword biting into the wound in Faith's shoulder that another
had created before her. Faith bit back the cry of pain that rose
in her throat, and Selene smiled at the betraying emotion she saw
flicker, for just a brief second, in the girl's dark eyes. "What's
wrong?" she asked icily. "Did I hurt the little girl *pretending*
to be a woman?" Faith saw red at that comment, and before Selene
even knew what had happened, she had slipped past her guard and
dove her sword into her heart. Instead of falling or even crying
out in pain, Selene smiled at her. "Nice try."

At that moment, Xena realized that this woman could not be killed
in ordinary matters. She had to be an Immortal, and one of the
sure-fire ways of dealing with them was to take their head. She
knew Faith would not think of that and wondered how to tell her,
but when she saw that Faith was so surprised that she had not yet
taken her sword out of Selene's heart and Selene's blade was
whistling through the air as it headed straight for Faith's
throat, Xena whipped out her chakram, threw it at Selene, and cut
her head off.

Selene fell to the earth, dead. Her head rolled to Faith's feet,
and Faith kicked it for extra measure. Her kick sent the head
flying against the wall next to Dawson where, upon impact,
Selene's head burst open, blood, brains, and tissue exploding
everywhere. Dawson screeched and ran from the wall. He thought he
was going to be sick, and he had to fight to keep the bile down.
He didn't think he could ever get used to fighting like this.

Reaching Faith, he wanted to hug her again but wasn't sure if
she'd let him. Instead, he reached down, picked up her sword from
where it had fallen out of Selene's heart when she had fell, and
handed it back to her. Her fingers brushed his as she took it.

Xena, Dawson, and Faith quickly made their way to the auction
block just in time to see Jack reach Will. The tears rushing down
his face touched them deep in their hearts. Was Will dead, or
could they save him?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lex finally reached Clark, who seemed to have taken out the rest
of the crowd. With a flying leap, Lex landed on his lover's back,
knocking him to the ground beneath him. Ripping off his shirt, he
covered Clark's eyes with it. "Clark, are you all right?" he asked
worriedly. He did not let go of him.

"Lex?" Clark's breath shook as he answered, and Lex could feel his
beloved trembling. "What . . . What just happened?"

Lex did not tell Clark how much damage he'd done. He just
reassured him that most of them were all right and that he had not
attacked any of his friends. "You took out some of the enemy, and
you burnt down the tents." Knowing that this would not be enough
to assure him for Clark undoubtedly knew he had killed in the
process, Lex added gently, "And you saved my life again and
stopped the evil man that was trying to take Will." Lex had gently
rolled Clark over as he had been talking, and his breath brushed
across Clark's lips as he told him, "You're my hero, Clark." Then
he kissed him gently. "But just for good measure, keep my shirt
on."

Clark did not speak again. He knew Lex was trying to keep him from
concentrating on the full effect of what he had done, but nothing,
not even the sweet nectar of his lover's lips as Lex kissed him,
could keep him from knowing that he had killed. He had to fight to
keep his body from visibly shaking at the thought. He had no
intention of taking Lex's shirt off not only for fear of those
horrid flames shooting forth again from his eyes but also because
he did not want Lex to know that tears filled his eyes. They had
too many other, more important matters to attend to.

Lex stood, pulling Clark to his feet. "We've got to get to Will. I
don't know how bad he's hurt." His heart was as heavy as his
beloved's as Lex served as Clark's eyes, guiding him through the
fallen bodies to the auction block. Though he could not see his
face, Lex still knew that Clark was crying but did not know how
else to reassure him. For now they would have to concentrate on
the other problems at hand, but once he got him alone, Lex would
find a way to cheer up his beloved and take his mind off of what
had happened.

Most of the group had reached Jack's side by the time Lex and
Clark reached the auction block. Only Autolycus and Carl were
missing. Autolycus was out in the sea of dead bodies, lifting
whatever he could from their corpses, but Carl's voice met their
ears. "HEY! SOMEBODY GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" He was still on top
of the only tent that had not been burnt.


_Chapter Fifteen_
Wolverine walked proudly beside Ororo. He would have liked to have
reached out and taken her hand in his but didn't know how she
would take it. After all, he was only a lowly Pirate while she was
a beautiful Queen. She probably did not even want to be seen with
him, but he found himself wishing his mates could see him now. He
had seen a lot of women in his time, but she was the most
beautiful by far.

He wondered how long it was to her house. He hoped it was not far.
He knew they did not have a lot of time to get what she needed and
back to the wagon. "How far is it to your house, Ororo?" he asked.

As they rounded a corner in the circle of houses, she indicated
the one at the end with a nod of her head. It was only a small
cottage, barely large enough for one, but its perimeter was
surrounded in a wide assortment of flowers, each of which appeared
lovelier than the last. A huge oak stood to one side of the house,
its branches sweeping upwards in a seemingly desperate attempt to
touch the heavens, and a weeping willow stood only a few feet in
front of an open window that led to her bedroom.

He waited for her to open the door, glancing nervously around. He
felt as though a vice grip was around his heart, squeezing ever
more as the seconds ticked by. He hoped they were not surprised by
any of the townspeople for he knew they had probably found the
smoke and the bodies they had burned. He wanted to have her back
into the safety of the wagon and back to the ship before that
happened.

She could sense his tenseness and did not need to ask to know that
it was due to the danger that was all around them. The sky was
growing increasingly darker even as her hand slipped into her
pocket. Surprise flickered over her face as she found her pocket
empty, however, and she realized that her key must have fallen out
in the ocean. Her voice was calm as she asked him, "Hum, do you
happen to have a pick on you, Logan?"

Her question surprised Wolverine. "Why, little darlin'? Where's
yer key?" he asked. "But no, I don't have a pick, nothin' but
these," he said even as he popped a claw out and used it to open
the lock. Once it was unlocked, he stepped back out of the way,
knowing she was probably very well shocked seeing his claws but
knowing that he could not hide it from her. His eyes sought hers,
hoping not to see fear in them.

Her mouth had fallen open upon the sight of his claws, but she
breathed a silent sigh of relief as she believed she had managed
to regain her calm appearance before his attention turned back to
her. Her blue eyes shimmered when he looked at her, but it was not
from fear but rather concern. Stepping closer to him, she cupped
his roughened hands in her gentle ones. "Does that not hurt?"

"It did once upon a time when they came out on me all o' a sudden.
I wasn't born with them, but apparently they were in me the whole
time. I hated them at first, but as I found more and more uses for
them, I came to be happy I had them. They've saved lives many
times, includin' my own." He reached out and opened the door for
her, pushing it wide open. "We'd best hurr

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