Chapter 5: Of Women and the Witchblade

Chapter 5: Of Women and the Witchblade

Irons paced his large dark office. Ian had been gone almost the whole night after he had "taught him a lesson". He was worried, not for Ian's safety, but for his own. Ian had become more and more unruly since Sara had come into their lives. He thought of Constance and smiled, it always was a woman that had come between Irons and Ian. Irons needed Ian, he could never obtain the Witchblade without Ian; he knew that all too well. When Irons took Constance as his lover, he was sure that she would be the one who would hand over the Witchblade. She had loved him, he was sure of it. No TRUE blade wielder had ever loved him, until her. His life was perfect, but then he had to go and choose his guardian in a young brat. Constance ended up loving Ian more than she loved him, that is why Irons would beat Ian so brutally when he would bring her memory back into their life, Irons was jealous. He knew that he hadn't loved her in return, there was only one love in his life, the Witchblade, yet he was truly and bitterly jealous of Ian. He had been a mere boy, only five years old, but he had had a stronger affect on Constance than Irons ever had. Once she had left them, Ian became his. It took no longer than a year to break his spirits; it was mere child's play. Ian was always going to be his, the Witchblade had Ian's will, nothing could break it, not even Sara Pezzini, who seemingly had unknowingly captured Ian's heart. He had to win him over again. "She reminds him of Constance. Sara's will and spirit are the same as hers." His face filled with evil laughter, "That's it! That's the key!" He walked over to his desk and dialed the phone; this was going to be fun.

Sara awoke with a start, first good night of sleep that she was getting and the phone had to go and ring. She got chill when her feet hit the cold floor. The phone rang one more time and her answering machine picked it up. "Hello, this is Pez, leave a message will ya?" She stopped and stood in front of the phone, waiting to see who was calling. "Hello, Sara. You don't know me but I need to talk to you ASAP, today at 6:00pm in the old abandoned subway, come alone," There was a long pause, "I gotta go someone is coming..." The phone clicked and the annoying busy signal beeped at her. Sara stood perplexed with the strange voice she had heard. It had sounded strangely familiar. She turned to go back to bed and noticed an empty bed. "Ian?" She checked her whole apartment and found no one. She flopped onto her couch with her head in her hands. Why did he leave? He was in no condition to leave. She felt a worried feeling rush over her. What if he starts bleeding again? She pounded her fist against the arm of her couch. "What am I doing?" She rolled her eyes, "He's an assassin, he can take care of himself." Her heart denied this thought to her, but her will and mind was stronger than her heart. Last night had just been a mistake. She was thinking about their "brush" of closeness in the park. Why had she wanted to kiss him? He was a nice looking man, but he wasn't her type. She pushed the memory into the back of her mind trying to bury it and got ready for work. She needed to be wide-awake for her mysterious meeting in the evening and thinking of midnight rendezvous with Ian was not a very restful thing.

Ian's body felt like it had been through a war. It had taken all his strength to pull himself out from under Sara without waking her. Plus, he hadn't wanted to leave. She was warm against him; it was comforting. Much better than the cold street he was walking down now. He had awakened about two hours after they had both fallen asleep and decided that him being in her bed and apartment was wrong. Even if it was because he was hurt, he didn't need the temptation, especially after what they almost did in the park. Irons was right, Constance made him weak and so did Sara. He needed to return to Irons and make amends, everything Irons had done to him was deserved, even the lashing. He just hoped that Irons wouldn't still be mad.

Sara climbed off her motorcycle and walked quickly into the station. Jake met Sara with a big smile, "Looks like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. What's wrong?"

Sara noticed that she had been grimacing and frowning all morning, she must look completely upset. Well, now that she thought about it, she was. She smiled a small smile and punched Jake lightly on the shoulder, "I'm not the one who has permanent bed-head."

He frowned and then laughed it off. "Okay, fine, you're right." They walked into their small office. "You haven't missed anything. It's been a slow morning." He kicked his feet up onto the desk.

Sara made herself comfortable across from him in her chair and leaned her head back. "I've had a very interesting night. A very tiring night. A very, very strange night, so bare with me today, okay."

"Detective Sara Pezzini?"

Sara picked her head up to see Jake staring at a very beautiful woman, who had just come though their door. "That would be me." She said looking the woman up and down. The woman looked no older than her late twenties and was tall, thin and blonde. Yet she didn't look fragile. Sara could tell that she could take care of herself if she had to.

The woman looked over at Jake, "Um...could we talk alone?" Jake got the hint and jumped out of his seat closing the door behind him as he left, he had learned to give all women their space.

"So, what can I do for you?" Sara offered the woman a seat. She sat down gracefully, smoothing her black skirt.

"You already know." The woman's eyes flashed, Sara could tell that the woman's looks deceived her true age.

"Who are you?" Sara was getting a bit uneasy.

The woman leaned forward and pointed to Sara bracelet, "Your pretty trinket has already told you."

Sara looked at the woman wide-eyed, "You know about this?" She said holding up the Witchblade. The Witchblade breathed at her as though it was trying to talk.

"Aww, I miss that sound." The woman closed her eyes and breathed in and out along with the Witchblade's breathing. "You know when you breathe along with it, it calms you?" She opened her eyes again and looked at Sara directly in the eyes, "You know who I am now?"

"Constance?" Sara whispered. Sara saw the woman's eye answer her question.

"So what do you think of him?" The woman answered, her voice was as smooth as satin.

"Think of who?" Sara tried to sound naive.

"You know who, Sara, my little man. Or should I say, very big man, now." Sara watched a loving smile stretch across her face.

"Ian Nottingham."

The woman looked at Sara in surprise, "You still say his name with distrust and malice. I expected it to sound different, after..." She stopped as if trying to gather the right words, "After, all you two have been through, together." Her eyes looked as though they were digging into Sara's soul.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sara's tone had become defensive, but she knew that the woman was right. She and Ian had known each other for months now and he had never tried to harm her in any way. She hated admitting it, but she had started to trust him.

The woman looked at Sara and her face changed from the smile to a worried look. "I need your help." She looked down at her hands that were in her lap.

Sara noticed a small scar on the woman's right hand, "Like I said before, what can I do for you?"

"I'm here to make a deal." She saw Sara looking at her scar and covered it with her other hand.

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll help you take down Kenneth Irons Empire." The woman's face filled with pain from the past.

"And..." Sara leaned forward in her seat, "What do you get out of it?" She couldn't help feeling excited at the thought of ruining Irons; it made her want to laugh out loud.

The woman's eyes flashed, "Revenge, of course."

"I can't help but feel that you want something more."

Sara saw tears fill her eyes, "I give Ian something that he's never had, freedom." The woman, known as Constance was crying inside, but her tough exterior wouldn't allow it to come out. Sara's heart broke for her; the Witchblade had revealed her pain to Sara.

Sara leaned toward Constance, "Let's finish our discussion somewhere more private, come home with me." Constance nodded and they walked out of the station. Sara felt like she finally had a woman that she could open up to, and she was going to take advantage of it. This woman could tell Sara so many things that she wanted to know, and Constance wanted to tell her everything, there was no reason to hold anything back. It would be therapy for both of them.