Annie hesitated a few seconds, then stepped on the gas and finished the drive to the office of the A&M Detective Agency.

Just after eleven o'clock Harry looked up from his desk. Xena was coming in, and she heading straight for the door to the inner office. But he was fast enough to beat her to it and stood in her way.

"They have a client inside. And they don't need you running off at the mouth and screwing things up," Harry told her in a stubborn voice that belied his apprehension.

Xena stopped only when her breasts were almost touching his chest and her nose was only a couple of inches from his. He was well aware of her nearness but wasn't able to back up without bumping into the door. For almost a half minute they stood there, neither giving in. Finally Xena said, "Don't worry, I won't make any noise. They won't even know I'm there. Now, are you going to get out of my way, or…?"

Harry had a feeling that if he didn't let her in she would toss him aside and go in anyway, so he eased out of her way, being careful not to let any part of his body touch any part of hers. Xena quietly opened the door and went in, closing the door behind her. Annie and Mattie were sitting on the sofa facing her, and the client, a man with a Latino accent, was in a chair opposite the coffee table with his back to Xena. She silently went to the small refrigerator, opened it and took out a bottle of water. Both Annie and Mattie glanced at her but otherwise gave no indication she was there.

Xena went to Annie's desk and sat down in the chair. Gabrielle was sitting at Mattie's desk Googling everything she could think of. After swallowing down two gulps of water, Xena screwed the cap back on then started looking over Annie's desk. There were folders with names on them piled on both sides. Xena pulled open the center drawer, looked at the pens and pencils and paper clips and rubber bands, then closed it.
 
The computer's screen saver had kicked in. It was a multicolored cube that lazily bounced it's way around the screen. Looking at Gabrielle, Xena grinned maliciously, then made a showing of taking her index finger and pushing down on one of the keys. The screen saver stopped and Xena was taken by surprise by the wallpaper. It was a collage of pictures of Mattie with different hair color and lengths, including Gabrielle's original long strawberry blond, and the short blond hair of the current Gabrielle.

Xena looked over at the red-headed Mattie and then back to Gabrielle. A smile touched her lips as she was imagining a threesome, being sandwiched between them in the shower, or in bed. Just then Annie, Mattie, and the man got up from their conference. He was thanking them for their help.

"We'll look the situation over," Annie was saying. "You might not see us, but we'll be there."

He thanked them again, but when he walked past Xena and saw her sitting there, he looked back around at the blond Annie and then back to dark-haired Xena.

"Long lost sister," Xena said to him. He smiled at her then left the office with Annie seeing him to the front door. When she came back in Xena was still sitting at her desk, but with her feet propped up on one corner.

"I have a job for you two, if you're interested."

"What kind of job?" Gabrielle asked, kind of excited.

"What does it pay?" Xena asked immediately, her voice sounding unusually hoarse. She drank more water.

"What happened to your voice?" Gabrielle asked as she walked over to Annie's desk.

"Don't know." Xena croaked. "Think I'm comin' down with somethin' "

"Or maybe you spent a couple of hours yelling for Ares," Annie said knowingly.

"So what if I did? It was worth a shot."

"Why would you do that?" Gabrielle asked. "Haven't you — we, had enough trouble with him?"

"Things are different now. Maybe we could work something out."

Gabrielle turned away from Xena, and shaking her head in disgust, walked over to the sofa. "I don't believe what I'm hearing," she said as she threw herself down onto the soft cushions and folded her arms across her chest.

"So, what about that job?" Xena asked.