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Fragments
Untitled Collaboration Number One
by Mark Alger and Patricia Shields
Xe Doll reined Conqueror in. What? What exactly had shouted her inner sentry to attention? She turned in the saddle and peered through the woods up and down White Deer Ridge. This part of the Grove of Artemis was open, the brush being kept clear by the Center's brownie groundskeepers. She had just come up the slope from The Paddocks in the old campus and was sure there was nothing behind her or between her and Lake Narcissus. Westward down slope toward the Avenue was nothing. She could see walkers from campus on the sidewalk. Ahead. Ahead was the East family cemetery and the north property line. If there was an intrusion up here, it could go unnoticed for days. With a click of her tongue and gentle pressure of her knee, she set the stallion ahead at a walk. Then she saw it several hundred yards ahead, by a gravel access road. Parked at the gate in the cyclone fence around the historic cemetery stood one of the motor pool Jeep Wranglers. The gate of the security fence was open.
Xena, kneed Conqueror into a canter. She approached the vehicle at a sharp angle, slowing only as she came abreast of it. Conqueror's shod hooves crunched in the gravel of the access road and she let him shy onto the softer ground to the side. He snorted, his chest heaving. It had been a good workout for him and Xena's condition was just about the same; her dark mane was plastered to her forehead and a fine dusky sheen of sweat and dirt covered her dark limbs and neck. Her eyes glinted mischievously as she noted the Jeep's familiar license plate: DA1 DOLL.
A smirk played across the dark woman's sculpted lips as she jumped down from her horse. The stallion stood as his training dictated, his reins on the ground tethering him as effectively as if they had been tied. His ears pricked up and his flanks twitched as the undissipated energy of the recent run boiled in his veins. He watched his rider intently as she removed her bandanna and tied back her wild tresses. He gave a snort and a small whinny before the dark eyes pinned him with a command to silence. His nostrils flared and he nodded once.
Xena removed her leather vest and dropped it on the grass before expertly toeing along the dirt path towards the cemetery. She took pains to step silently in her heavy riding boots. Looking down, she can only see one set of prints. Work boots. Red Wings, by the look of the tread. A small foot and a short stride. Probably a woman. Touching an indentation, she noted that it had been made an hour, perhaps two earlier.
"Now, just what would Little Sugarbritches be doing up here by herself? Can't be trysting with Drummond. I saw him at the Admin. building with Terry and Mitchie twenty minutes ago. Hmm... curiouser and curiouser."
Xena stroked her chin and decided that it might be worth a look-see just to catch Dolly in a compromising position. Not that she really held out any hope of that occurrence but...well, the Doll was one of those enigmas...you just never knew exactly where you stood. It was Xena's reaction to this which made her moody and dark, something that just rubbed the blonde the wrong way. They seemed to either be fighting tooth and claw or making out like damned weasels. While the fucking was certainly hot and intense, there just had to be more. When Gabrielle discovered her feelings just weren't being reciprocated in the fashion she needed, she began pulling away. Xena in turn, began to feel slighted, their communications breaking down and resorted to fits of drinking and brawling. Neither one was ready to admit that while the relationship they did have was sexually satisfying and they'd always be 'in love'... the deeper feeling of in love...was gone.
Xe crept around the old white washed Kirk and stopped dead in her tracks as she heard muffled voices. Her eyes narrowed. Her discerning ears began to make out a single voice...not two. This was good as the woman had no intentions of having to face her good friend with news that the love of his life was being unfaithful. No, that would surely kill the man. Much as it had her...when she found the blonde with Drummond what seemed eons ago. She knew their relationship was over, had been for a while, but still...it hurt to see her find happiness in the embrace of another. It had taken her a while before she felt comfortable enough to get past it and forge a friendship with the carefree yet often serious Drummond
Sliding carefully along the wall, she stopped and then quickly peered around the corner before darting back again. She closed her eyes and let the brief image of what she'd seen pan across her subconscious. The blonde was sitting... head bowed...cross legged... hair in a French braid...hands in lap...no... covering face... papers strewn around her... was she...?
Pulling herself away from the Kirk, Xena stepped away from the shadows and stood watching. Yes, Gabrielle was crying. Xena scanned the area...no one else present. Putting a hand to shield her eyes, the brunette searched the horizon and then back the way she'd come. No one in the vicinity. Okay...
Slowly approaching, she stopped about 20 feet from her former lover and whispered her name.
"Gabri... ielle..."
The blonde's head shot up and swiveled, piercing Xena with her sorrowful eyes. Two dark eyebrows went up in response and then Xena was by her side, hands on the blonde's shoulders.
"Hey, Dolly... what...what's 'a matter?"