15 – Sliding doors

Ok, I'm sorry that this took so long, I've been really busy, luckily though I have the day off tomorrow so I'll get more done then. Besides this isn't the only fic I'm writing at present, and please, don't forget to review. Sometimes a cheerful review and really brighten me up when I'm having a lousy day.

15a – Weapon of choice

"I need your help." After her initial shock the first thing Sarah did was affirm that she hadn't been hallucinating the day before at the airport. The second, out of habit, was looking to see if Callie were around. "You don't look surprised to see me." Luka was puzzled at her reaction, all nonchalance, as if getting pulled into an ally by a man you barely knew and having him beg you for help was a daily occurrence for her. Shrugging she nodded.

"I'm not." Behind her sunglasses Sarah knew that she was the picture of calmness, it was something the Witchblade had taught her. Thinking of it she realized that the Witchblade was warm against her wrist, as if telling her to listen to him. "So talk."

Glancing around Luka saw that whoever had been tailing Sarah had not come into the ally, relieved he led her in the direction opposite of which they had come, covering his eyes with sunglasses as he did so. "This isn't the place. I need to make sure no one is listening to us. There's a fairly good and very private restaurant over the coffeehouse. I have a reservation for two."

***

Onica waited impatiently for lunch hour to roll around, when it did she practically ran out of the office, the invitation in her purse. As she made her way to the Half Moon Chronicle's headquarters she wondered if she was making the right the choice. She didn't know, but she was sure that this was necessary to her sanity. As she pulled up by the building she realized that she didn't even know Erik's last name, and that perhaps a business approach would be more welcome then an informal one. Digging around in her glove compartment she pulled out a pair of sunglasses putting them on she buried herself beneath the persona of the ice princess. Walking inside she went to the receptionist and handed over her card not looking at the receptionist but in her general direction. "One of your reporters conducted an interview with me a few days ago. I need to see him." Offering no further explanations Onica tilted her head as if wondering why the woman moved so slowly amused when she quickly scrambled to comply.

"Excelsior Enterprises… I believe that it was Mr. Erik McLoed that conducted that interview. If you'll give me a moment I'll him down." Flustered the woman wondered who exactly Onica Kohl was, she had the bearing of a woman who always got her way, but her looks belied the arrogance which seemed to lace her voice. A smile seemed to tug on the corners of her mouth, but her entire stance was rigid and cold. Dialing up Erik's desk she told him who was waiting, surprised when he said that he'd be there immediately. Moments later he appeared, his jacket in hand.

"Tell Mr. Brumberrie I'll be gone for about two hours." Without another word he quickly whisked Onica out of the building, knowing that if she'd come to see him at work it must be something important. When they reached his car he held the passenger door open for then closed it and went around. When they were finally on the main road she started laughing. "What?"

"The deer caught in headlights look on that secretaries face when she saw me… it reminded me of something that happened this morning." Erik raised an eyebrow. What exactly was going on? "Erik, we really need to talk."

***

"So what's this all about?" Settled into a private room at The Three Sisters restaurant Sarah and Luka sat facing each other, eating absently as the waiters finally left. Sighing Luka looked her in the eye. Deciding that it was finally time to talk.

"Before I met Callie, I did research with my father in Palermo. Papa was not the most… honest man in the world. He believed in the old ways, that the man with the most power could always protect his family the best. For Papa that meant controlling the Mafioso as much as it meant controlling the family business. Papa built an empire, and as he got older, he became more desperate to find ways to preserve it without the Mafioso. In the end we did find a way, a way that might destroy us. That Sarah, is why I need your help." Caught in his tale, Sarah didn't say anything. Waiting instead for him to continue. "I'm trusting you because Callie did, and if nothing else Callie was an excellent judge of Character." He looked down then, trying to hide the sorrow in his eyes. It dawned then on Sarah that Luka was speaking of Callie in past tense. Had something happened to her since there last meeting? A guilt swept over her then, she hadn't even tried to contact Callie, a woman who'd befriended her without second thought. A woman who had as many issues as Sarah herself.

"In any case, Father and I experimented with bio-engineered viruses and the like, then one day we stumbled upon something lethal." Luka paused for dramatic effect, knowing that he was weaving what could be shortened inmeasurablely into a tale. Hoping that as he did so he could create a sense of detachment he did not truly feel. "Sarah imagine something that can worm itself into your brain in a matter of seconds, then bury itself so deeply no one will know it's there. That's what we found, it does what a virus would do, but it behaves like nano-probe technology. It's amazing really almost six years of studying it I still don't think I understand it completely. It lies dormant for two days before you know it's there, spreading itself out inside of your mind. For some reason it attaches itself to the inside of your inferior cerebellar veins and the carotid arteries. Concentrating it self at the superior petrosal and occipital sinuses. It induces a stroke when it first enters your system by clogging together itself in the carotid arteries, within three heartbeats though it bursts, using the buildup the clog creates to launch itself into all crevices of your brain. Then it creates a barrier around your acoustic and abducent nerves, bouncing their signals right back at them." He paused for a second. Looking to see that she was still with him, when he'd had this conversation with Callie six years ago it had been easier, she had been a scientist.

"Ok, let me get this straight, you engineered something that clogs your artery launches itself like a splintered cork from a champagne bottle. Gets into your brain and builds a layer near the sac encasing it? And barriers around the nerves that control your sense of equilibrium, and ocular movement, correct?" He nodded, pleased that she'd understood. "Wow… it's almost like something out of a bad sci-fi film... I didn't even think that was possible." He laughed slightly. Wondering how she'd react to the rest, because the rest was worse.

"Yeah. It does doesn't it? Unfortunately it gets worse, what I just told you that's assuming it stays localized- or in your brain at least. As father and I researched more and more, we found that it mutated it to two types. The first produces RH-antibodies if it gets into your bone marrow, killing you if you're RH positive. The second simply multiplies it self until it kills you by bursting several inferior cerebellar veins. There is an antidote but it loses effect if it isn't injected into the host within 72 hours. Dovidi D'angitino senior was a close ally of my father. As testament to this he gave him a vial of both the virus and the antidote. Dovidi jr. isn't the man his father was though. Now he want's to auction the virus off to the highest bidder." Sarah stopped chewing, thinking instead, as a cop she understood how she could be useful, but not with out endangering Luka and his family. Finally, she decided the best route would be to state the obvious.

"What do you want me to do?"