*****

*God...there she is...* Lucy saw Renee as soon as she walked in, but was in the middle of a conversation and she couldn't very well just walk away, no matter how much she wanted to.

She was, however, about to motion Renee over when her husband spoke up and decided to start the party.

*I love her eyes. You can tell so much by looking at her eyes.* Right then, Lucy realized that she was the only thing in Renee's sight. They needed to talk and NOW, but they couldn't just walk out: they're the stars of the show this party was being held for.

*Aww great...the gag reels. At least we get the humiliation out of the way first,* laughed Lucy to herself as she watched the first blooper: her tripping over a rock while they were shooting the episode "Been There, Done That" and shouting "Oh, bloody hell! There's a blooper fer ya, boys..."

*****

*This should be good.* This year, Rob left the gag reel production up to his good friend and director Josh Becker and editor Robert Field. He hadn't even seen a lot of the footage and decided to not watch the final cut of the reel until the party.

The next blooper was also from "Been There, Done That" when Xena tried to explain everything to Joxer and Gabrielle as she rolled around on the bale of hay in front of Argo.

Lucy groaned as she watched herself roll right off the bale and onto her back on the floor. Her legs kicked up into the shot as she cracked up and Renee leaned into the shot and gave the camera a big thumbs up and a wink to go along with the toothy grin.

The raven haired woman laughed, then looked over at her blonde counterpart who was already looking at her. The desire that came from the emerald eyes drowned everything else out for a moment, but the laughter at the clip of the moment bringing her out of the gaze.

*****

*Wow, this is some good stuff,* Rob thought to himself as he watched a series of rather embarrassing trips and falls made by one Renee O'Connor.

On the last trip in the series of clips, Lucy laughed and said, "Now watch...Robbie's going to cut that about fifty times for the reel." Sure enough, Robert Field did just that. The producer couldn't help but laugh as this was by far the best of all of the blonde's accidents. He was oblivious to the simmering heat building between his wife and her co-star, whom he was just laughing at.

*****

*Oh dear God, what could possibly be next?!* the blonde thought, cringing. She looked over at Lucy, who felt her eyes and turned towards her, and decided that it was now or never that they sneak away. She really needed to get her co-star alone for a few moments.

She motioned with her head that Lucy, who was currently on screen flubbing her lines in Aphrodite's temple during the "Fins, Femmes and Gems" shoot, follow her into the Ladies' restroom. The blonde stood and walked in first so as to not arouse Rob's suspicions.

*****

"Hon? Where you goin'?" asked the producer of his wife.

She turned towards him. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Oh...okay..." *No danger there,* he thought to himself.

Lucy walked into the bathroom and in an instant, Renee had her securely pinned against the wall. Not that she would have struggled against the beautiful blonde for anything...

*****

Renee paced the floor in the restroom as she waited for Lucy. She was at a loss as to what she would say to the woman when she walked in, or what she perhaps should say. Her mind was a completely blank. It wasn't until the woman herself walked in that the blonde's body took over, pulling Lucy in front of her and pressing herself against the 5'9" frame and into the wall behind her.

"Hello," purred Renee, her voice low and her mouth close to a sensitive earlobe.

"H-Hi..." stammered Lucy, drinking in this sweet contact, and craving so much more.

"I've been racking my brain trying to come up with the best way to tell you how incredibly sorry I am for the way I reacted to your pregnancy. Facts are, I'm happier for you than you could ever imagine...and I'm jealous of Rob for being able to give this to you." The blonde moved her head, letting her warm breath caress her co-star's tender throat and her whispers caress her ears and mind as she placed a hand on the woman's stomach where the baby would be.

"You're doing a good job so far," praised Lucy, hoping that would encourage more physical contact. She felt Renee lean back and opened her eyes, only to be met by the blonde's heart-stopping green, darkened with desire and glittering with an almost feral intensity.

In that moment, all the harsh words and even harsher actions between them were washed away by the sea green and sky blue of forgiveness and love.

"Above all else," Renee continued, reluctantly breaking the gaze, "I want to *show* you just how sorry I am..."

A soft whimper escaped Lucy's lips as she felt the blonde's hands wrap in her long black hair and gently pull her head down to meet her soft lips.

*****

On the screen, in an adlibbed moment from "Tsunami", Lucy thought that a bit of mouth-to-mouth resusitation was in order after pulling a not-quite-unconscious Renee out of the water. Taking matters into her own hands, the blonde woman made the action a kiss, cupped her co-star's face with her hands, and deepened it.

Hoots and howls from the cast and crew echoed in the room, but quickly died out as everyone turned to gauge Rob Tapert's reaction. Oddly enough, his face was unreadable and impassive, but his gaze was undeniably locked onto the screen, watching, without emotion, his wife melt into the kiss and the small blonde.

That was a bad sign...

He looked to his right and didn't see Lucy there, remembering that she went to the Ladies' room. Then he looked to his left and found that Renee wasn't in the seat as she was supposed to be. Silently, Rob stood and approached the Ladies' room door.

Without pausing to knock or even ponder the meaning of couth, Rob grabbed the door handle and flung it open, revealing Lucy and Renee in the middle of a very passionate kiss, one that made the kiss that was in the gag reel pale in comparison.

*****

Lucy and Renee were so caught up in the kiss, they didn't even notice when the producer stormed in. It was only when he grabbed Renee's arm an pulled her away from the raven haired woman that either registered the fact that Rob had somehow been clued in.

Lucy stepped right up into the producer's face and peeled his hand off of her love's arm. "Grab her like that again, hell, you so much as breathe on her wrong and your grandchildren will be born bruised, you got me?"

Rob looked his wife in the eye and didn't flinch away. "What's going on here, Lucy?"

"Not only are you blind, but you're dumb as well? What do I have to do, draw you a storyboard?
"This is how it breaks down, Rob: I'm in love with Renee. Always have been, always will be. Either get the annulment papers or suffer since, being Catholic, you can't get a divorce and you can't marry again without our marriage being wiped away.
"That's your choice because no matter what, I'm staying with Renee."

Rob clenched his jaw. "No...here's the way it breaks down, Luce: You will come home with me if for nothing else than because I own your job. Your livelihood is thanks to me.
"Renee, on the other hand, is fired. Go back to L.A. and leave my wife alone."

"Go ahead and fire her, Rob. If you do that, then you'd better know that I quit. I'll go to L.A. with her. It'd be a lot easier for Daisy and we, she and I that is, could be with the person we love - each other."

Lucy and Renee started to walk out of the ladies' room, the crowd of cast and crew around the doorway was dauntingly thick, but not hard to walk through as they parted like the Red Sea for them.

"You're still contracted to the show, Lucy, for two more years."

"As am I, Rob," added Renee.

Rob ran his hands through his hair. His anger was being overridden by his duty as a producer and the money that Xena made for him each year. He pondered this and all his other choices.

"Be ready for a year of hell in season four, Renee. I'm going to make you suffer, believe me."

With that, the producer stormed out of the convention room and went home to write down some of the new directions for Xena: Warrior Princess.

Lucy and Renee looked at each other as the crowd dispersed, the cast party effectively over. Robert Field came over and gave the two women a copy of the gag reel and smiled weakly. "Who knew?" he said, not knowing exactly what else to say.

Renee gently patted his arm. "Certainly not Rob. Thanks, Robbie."

As she watched the editor walk away from them, his hands in his pockets, the blonde wrapped her arms around Lucy's waist and drew her close. The raven haired woman kissed the top of her head and returned the embrace, both knowing that everything was going to be alright in the long run, though they were afraid of what holds within the future, they were ready to face it and make the best of it.

They had finally openly admitted their deep-seated love for each other. And it was about time.

========THE END

*author's note*

This will be the last in the series for a while. I have other projects, both Xena and non-Xena, that I must devote my time to. I've had thoughts for a fourth one, but while there are plenty more avenues for me to explore...I really never planned on writing even one sequel to "Xena Lawless."

Thanks for everything, y'all!
Magenta

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"Cast Party" SONG LIST.

copyright 2000 Kimyoo Films

Send correspondence for Magenta to the_AURYN@angelfire.com and place "Magenta" and the name of the piece you're referring to into the subject line.

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