"Spitoonia," Gabrielle corrected her.

"Right, we can be Anthrax and Spitoonia."

All four of them chuckled, and kind of bonded, at the memory.

"I don't think it has to be that drastic. Just cover your hair, pin it up, wear a hat. And you'll have to dress down, nothing as fancy as Anthrax and Spitoonia. This is a poor neighborhood and you want to blend in, not stand out."

"We've got some things here," Mattie said. "So we shouldn't have to send Harry back home."

"He could grab some beer while he's out," Xena suggested.

"No he couldn't," Annie countered. "The sooner you two get started, the better it'll be. I don't want you down there after the sun sets. These neighborhood gangs seem to come alive after dark."

"Maybe that's when we need to be there," Gabrielle said. "If that's when the trouble starts."

"If it was the old days, I would agree with you. But today, people don't think twice about pulling a gun and start shooting. And women are just as much a target as men are."

Xena stood up. "We'll just have to see how it goes. If I’m — we're, going to this job, then you can't put shackles on us."

"Okay," Annie said, her voice sounding a little doubtful. But inside she liked what she heard. Xena was starting to sound like – the old Xena. "But I'd rather you left the Chakram here. I don't want you to start throwing it around just because you think you need to."

"I'm not leaving the damn Chakram! If the neighborhood is that unsafe, I'm not taking Gabrielle down there and we have no protection."

She didn't say anything, but Gabrielle was more pleased with Xena right then than at any time since she broke her out of jail.

"We'll be all right," Gabrielle told her. "We'll look around, ask a few questions, watch the people, and report back to you."

Xena rolled her eyes and let out an audible breath.

"Won't we, Xena?"

"Oh, sure we will. But on the bright side, I'm sure somebody there sells beer."

Annie ignored her. "Mr. Ramos may not recognize you. He probably will, but just in case he doesn't, let him know who you are, just so there won't be any problems with you two hanging around like…"