WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER

pt.13

Gabrielle sat weakened and beaten on the floor of the now slain kings torture dungeon. As she tried to wake Xena, who knelt motionless in front of her.

GABRIELLE
Xena, Xena come on wake up. Say something.

Gabrielle grabbed Xena's shoulders, trying to wake her. But again Xena was unresponsive. As Gabrielle shook her again, Xena fell forward leaning against her. Gabrielle brought her arms around Xena and held her.

GABRIELLE
Please Xena don't leave me. Not after everything we've been through. Not like this.

She gently layed Xena down.

GABRIELLE
(Thinking to herself) I have to stop the bleeding.

Gabrielle tried to stand, but she was just to weak and hurt from what the king had done to her. Just speaking at this point was a chore. She struggled as she crawled to try and find anything that she could use to cover Xena's wound. Gabrielle grabbed some cloth she found and got back to Xena. She applied pressure to Xena's wound, trying to stop her from bleeding out. Gabrielle held the unconscious Xena, talking to her as she tried to keep herself awake.

GABRIELLE
You have to hold on Xena. Like you said, it's over. Everything's gonna be okay. Please don't die Xena. Just don't die.

Tears began to fall from Gabrielle as she held Xena. She knew that they couldn't stay there. But she was far too hurt to just get herself out. Let alone her and Xena. She didn't even know how much longer she'd be able to keep herself awake. She sat with Xena's head resting on her lap as she gently stroked her hair.

GABRIELLE
If this is the end. At least it's with you. I love you....Xena.

She leaned down and gently kissed Xena. Almost as if to say goodbye. Unable to fight it any longer, Gabrielle closed her eyes and then everything went dark. And unknown amount of time passed by, as Gabrielle and Xena's bodies were left all alone in that horrific place.

? 1
.......

? 2
By the gods,, what happened here?

? 1
That bastard kings what happened.

? 2
Is this?

? 1
I think so.

? 2
Are they?

? 1
I don't see how they could not be. Look at this place. Look at them. No one could survive what they must've been put through.

? 2
So what do we do?

? 1
We were told to find and help them.

? 2
I think it's too late for that.

? 1
Well I guess we take them back and see what happens.

? 2
Let's go then. I'd rather not stay here longer than we need to.

? 1
Right.

.................................

? 3
Hello? Hey there, you still with us?

GABRIELLE
....What, whats...going...on?

Gabrielle slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the light, she saw a blurry figure standing over her. After a few moments her vision came into focus. As it did Gabrielle recognized a familiar face looking down at her.

THIEF LEADER
Well look who finally decided to wake up?

Gabrielle gave him a curious look. He could tell that she was obviously confused about what was going on.

THIEF LEADER
Don't worry your safe now.

Gabrielle was still very groggy. Then it hit her.

GABRIELLE
Xena?! Where's Xena?

Gabrielle franticly tried to sit up. The thief leader gently placed his hands on Gabrielle's shoulders and layed her back down.

THIEF LEADER
Take it easy. Everything's fine. Xena's right here. She's, well she's here.

The thief leader moved to the side, showing Gabrielle that Xena was laying in a bed beside hers. Gabrielle looked at Xena, relieved that she was there.

THIEF LEADER
We did what we could. But she still hasn't regained consciousness. So we don't really know how she is. Other than she's alive. It's been the same for you too. The fact that either of you are somehow still alive, it's unexplainable. Given you're injuries both of you should be dead. You two are some pretty tough ladies.

The thief leader could see that Gabrielle had so many questions. Rightfully so. Anyone in her situation would.

THIEF LEADER
Just try and get some rest. The two of you have been through quite an ordeal. I'll explain everything later. But for now rest up and let someone know if you need anything.

The thief leader gave her a kind smile as he left her and Xena to rest. As she layed there, Gabrielle looked over at Xena.

GABRIELLE
You're gonna pull through Xena. You have to.

She layed there for a bit, watching for Xena to wake up. Not long later, still feeling pretty weak, Gabrielle wound up falling back to sleep. Quite some time later Gabrielle woke up. Some of the thieves came to check on them. Gabrielle asked if while she was asleep, if Xena woke up at all. They informed her that Xena's condition hadn't changed. She looked at Xena, worried. Time passed. Hours turned to days. And days to weeks. Gabrielle slowly felt herself regaining her strength. The thief leader, along with his people showed just as much kindness and generosity as they did before. Tending to Xena and Gabrielle wanting nothing in return. The thief leader seemed to take a liking to the two of them. So he allowed them to stay for as long as necessary. As Gabrielle continued to recover, Xena however still hadn't woken up. Gabrielle stayed by her side.

GABRIELLE
Why hasn't she woken up? I don't get it. She was stabbed, it shouldn't have put her in a coma.

The thief leader heard Gabrielle talking to herself as he came in to check on them. He sat next to her.

THIEF LEADER
From what my medics have told me, your friend was stabbed in the same place that she had her previous injury. Which wasn't completely healed yet. So that obviously wasn't good. And that place the king had you was..., well let's just say clearly no one ever bothered to clean it. So I'm assuming that the weapon used on her wasn't clean either. Who knows what was on it. All that paired with how long it took to get any sort of treatment. I'm afraid she caught a very bad infection.

Gabrielle looked at Xena then back at the thief leader.

GABRIELLE
Is she gonna be okay?

THIEF LEADER
Honestly I don't know. It's really up to her.

He patted Gabrielle's shoulder as he stood up.

THIEF LEADER
Based on what I know about Xena, she's a fighter. You just hang in there. I'm sure she'll pull through.

The thief leader reassured Gabrielle not to give up hope as he left her alone with Xena. Gabrielle sat on the bed next to Xena. With tears in her eyes Gabrielle gently brushed her cheek. Just wanting Xena to come back to her.

GABRIELLE
Come on Xena. Please, just wake up.

TO BE CONTINUED...