Here you go... and it's what the majority of you asked for.. Gabe/Sara. I
even threw in some kisses. Why didn't you let me now how few there were?
LOL Is that what the "subtle and not so subtle" hints (and threats!) were
about? As for Conchobar dying. I think I want to keep him alive. haven't
totally decided yet.
Gabriel grinned at the hesitant knock on the door. If he followed the pattern of the last few days, it would be Sara, here once again to ask him to stop sending her gifts. The reason the detective was hesitant was obvious: no music was blasting. A first, Gabriel knew. The knocking became louder and faster as every minute that he didn't answer the door passed. Finally giving in, he really didn't want his door shot at or kicked in, he went and opened it to reveal a slightly frantic Sara as he knew it would.
"Gabriel, are you okay?" Sara moved into the room crowded with treasures of the past, her trained eyes scanning for anything or anyone out of the ordinary. She was pretty obviously mentally cursing the setup of Gabriel's shelves, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows behind them.
"Aw, I didn't know you cared," Gabe teased her as he reached out and drew her closer to him. Her entire body was tense at the thought of an unknown danger. "Relax, Sara, nothing's wrong." He pulled her even closer to press a gentle kiss on her lips.
"If nothing's wrong, why isn't your music playing?" she fired as soon as he had finished.
"I had an important phone call," he explained, rubbing her arms soothingly.
She shook her head in disgust. "Don't scare me like that again," she warned him, unaware of the pleading note that had entered her voice that was there for anyone looking to hear it.
"I won't," he promised. Another one of Sara's chinks, he thought to himself. He'd known that Sara was uneasy getting close to people in case they left her alone again, but for some reason that hadn't translated itself into people she knows dying. He absently shook his head and wondered where his reasoning was sometimes.
"Good," she nodded in satisfaction. Then she looked around the familiar surroundings as if asking herself why she was here. Oh, yeah, the CD. "Thanks for this," she held up the CD she had been carrying.
"Welcome. Gonna follow the advice?"
Sara hesitated again before gesturing to the chairs that sat in front of Gabriel's desk. He answered her unasked question and sat down easily, turning away from the computer to show her that she had his undivided attention. "Don't tell me, it's time for the conversation we postponed, right?"
She nodded and sat down across from him, absently chewing a lip as she wondered where to begin this time.
"Let's not rehash the nice, safe confines, okay?"
She nodded again and continued thinking until Gabriel, figuring that if they were going to have this conversation it should be as least awkward as possible, decided to break the ice. "So, you liked the song?"
Glad to have something to talk about instead of sitting there in silence, Sara nodded. "It didn't seem like your type of music. I'd never heard it before, though."
Gabriel grinned. "It's one of Conchobar's songs. He's an Irish alt- rocker, writes all his own songs. He used to sing over at Duncan's on Chelsea, sold out every night on word of mouth alone, actually. Dropped out of sight a few months ago, writer's block, I guess."
"He writes his own songs?"
"One hundred percent original," Gabriel verified. "When he left here he was itching to pick up a pen and paper, though. He may become famous after all. If he ever starts playing at Duncan's again, I'll take you over and introduce you. He wants to meet my fair Sara."
Sara considered it for a moment before nodding. She wasn't sure what it was or why it was, but something drew her to the man. Or his song, at least. Maybe meeting him would help her figure it out. After she figured out this whole thing with Gabriel; she didn't need more confusion in her life.
"So, where were we when we quit last time? You're too old for me and I'm too young for you?"
"I'm not too old for you."
Gabriel chuckled at the indignant tone in Sara's voice. He hadn't met a woman yet whom liked being told they were old. "But I'm too young for you? Because if I'm too young for you that means you're too old for me," he pointed out, finishing her thoughts easily.
She opened her mouth to reply before shutting it abruptly, her brows furrowing a bit in consternation.
"NYPD Homicide detective Sara Pezzini a cradle-robber. What would your father think?"
"Oh, be quiet. I'm not now and nor have I ever been a cradle-robber."
"Okay, so there's one argument off the list," Gabriel grinned and made a check in the air with his index finger. "Next on the agenda?" He waited for a minute but Sara stayed silent so he continued with the list he had made during their last aborted attempt at this conversation. "You don't have time for a relationship."
Sara nodded gratefully, her mind obviously still spinning over how easily Gabriel had reduced the age difference to nothing at all.
"Well, you have time for a friendship, right?" He waited while she nodded again. "Think about it, we see each other four or five times a week anyhow, hang out, have dinner, rent a movie, or just talk. All of those can be considered dates and they weren't too much with your work schedule, were they?"
"Well, no, but hanging out with a friend and getting called to a crime scene isn't the same as having to leave a date to go to one."
"Well, I can't tell you how other guys'd react, but I can pretty much guarantee that it won't bother me much." He intercepted an incredulous look thrown his way and shrugged. "Hey, I didn't say I'd like it, but I'd understand when it happened. It's not like it'd be 6 out of 7 times usually, right?"
"Right."
He nodded in satisfaction and crossed another thing off his mental checklist. "Okay, next is the good old 'we're too good friends to risk messing up the friendship,' since we're skipping the 'I love you like a brother,'" he warned her with a mock glare.
"But, but, Gabriel, I do love you like a brother!" Sara proclaimed, her eyes widened in innocence while clasping one of his hands in both of hers.
He grimaced, remembering all the other times in his life he'd heard that. "Well," he finally joked, "if you love me like a brother, I hope it's at least as an incestuous brother."
"Gabriel!"
He grinned and gave her a quick kiss before she could pull away from him. "You do that shocked school marm tone well."
She shook her head, knowing that that subject was closed as well. His irreverent attitude towards it made any seriousness on her part impossible.
"Now, as for messing up a friendship. sure, that's possible," he admitted. "But if we don't try, we won't find out if something more is possible, right? Besides, our friendship goes pretty deep thanks to your twitchy friend there," he gestured to the bracelet on her wrist. "I doubt that'd let any rift in our friendship be major or last that long, do you?"
Sara considered the silent jewelry for a moment before muttering the phrase she was beginning to abhor under her breath. "Everything is connected."
Gabriel grinned at the completely true phrase. "Exactly. You're a cop which connected you to Sly through the murder he witnessed, which helped lead you to me, since he saw it while he was online on my computer."
Sara shook her head as she groaned. "I should've known you'd get that without any prompting."
"Hey, it's a simple concept," he pointed out while absently playing with her fingers.
She shook her head again at his approach to a concept that not everyone got. It had taken her a while to truly understand it, she still didn't completely accept it all the time, and it was her life that the Witchblade controlled with that particular notion.
"What's left?" He forestalled her comment by raising one hand up when she opened her mouth. "Don't even start on that 'everyone you know dies' stuff, okay? You already know my opinion on that and I haven't died, Danny hasn't died, Danny's wife hasn't died, and so on."
Sara paused before deciding not to open the whole can of worms about Danny dying. Or not dying, ,as the case may be.
"Anything else?" He asked in a reasonable tone.
Sara raised one brow and gave a rueful smile. "Would it to me any good?"
He pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, not a bit."
"Then there's nothing else, right?"
"Right." He grinned at her. "So, we start dating. Without you trying to talk me out of anything."
She nodded in agreement.
He leaned forward and stole another kiss from her, this one long and tender. The battle was halfway over, he knew. The rest should be the fun stuff.
There, happy guys? Oh, and thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story.
Gabriel grinned at the hesitant knock on the door. If he followed the pattern of the last few days, it would be Sara, here once again to ask him to stop sending her gifts. The reason the detective was hesitant was obvious: no music was blasting. A first, Gabriel knew. The knocking became louder and faster as every minute that he didn't answer the door passed. Finally giving in, he really didn't want his door shot at or kicked in, he went and opened it to reveal a slightly frantic Sara as he knew it would.
"Gabriel, are you okay?" Sara moved into the room crowded with treasures of the past, her trained eyes scanning for anything or anyone out of the ordinary. She was pretty obviously mentally cursing the setup of Gabriel's shelves, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows behind them.
"Aw, I didn't know you cared," Gabe teased her as he reached out and drew her closer to him. Her entire body was tense at the thought of an unknown danger. "Relax, Sara, nothing's wrong." He pulled her even closer to press a gentle kiss on her lips.
"If nothing's wrong, why isn't your music playing?" she fired as soon as he had finished.
"I had an important phone call," he explained, rubbing her arms soothingly.
She shook her head in disgust. "Don't scare me like that again," she warned him, unaware of the pleading note that had entered her voice that was there for anyone looking to hear it.
"I won't," he promised. Another one of Sara's chinks, he thought to himself. He'd known that Sara was uneasy getting close to people in case they left her alone again, but for some reason that hadn't translated itself into people she knows dying. He absently shook his head and wondered where his reasoning was sometimes.
"Good," she nodded in satisfaction. Then she looked around the familiar surroundings as if asking herself why she was here. Oh, yeah, the CD. "Thanks for this," she held up the CD she had been carrying.
"Welcome. Gonna follow the advice?"
Sara hesitated again before gesturing to the chairs that sat in front of Gabriel's desk. He answered her unasked question and sat down easily, turning away from the computer to show her that she had his undivided attention. "Don't tell me, it's time for the conversation we postponed, right?"
She nodded and sat down across from him, absently chewing a lip as she wondered where to begin this time.
"Let's not rehash the nice, safe confines, okay?"
She nodded again and continued thinking until Gabriel, figuring that if they were going to have this conversation it should be as least awkward as possible, decided to break the ice. "So, you liked the song?"
Glad to have something to talk about instead of sitting there in silence, Sara nodded. "It didn't seem like your type of music. I'd never heard it before, though."
Gabriel grinned. "It's one of Conchobar's songs. He's an Irish alt- rocker, writes all his own songs. He used to sing over at Duncan's on Chelsea, sold out every night on word of mouth alone, actually. Dropped out of sight a few months ago, writer's block, I guess."
"He writes his own songs?"
"One hundred percent original," Gabriel verified. "When he left here he was itching to pick up a pen and paper, though. He may become famous after all. If he ever starts playing at Duncan's again, I'll take you over and introduce you. He wants to meet my fair Sara."
Sara considered it for a moment before nodding. She wasn't sure what it was or why it was, but something drew her to the man. Or his song, at least. Maybe meeting him would help her figure it out. After she figured out this whole thing with Gabriel; she didn't need more confusion in her life.
"So, where were we when we quit last time? You're too old for me and I'm too young for you?"
"I'm not too old for you."
Gabriel chuckled at the indignant tone in Sara's voice. He hadn't met a woman yet whom liked being told they were old. "But I'm too young for you? Because if I'm too young for you that means you're too old for me," he pointed out, finishing her thoughts easily.
She opened her mouth to reply before shutting it abruptly, her brows furrowing a bit in consternation.
"NYPD Homicide detective Sara Pezzini a cradle-robber. What would your father think?"
"Oh, be quiet. I'm not now and nor have I ever been a cradle-robber."
"Okay, so there's one argument off the list," Gabriel grinned and made a check in the air with his index finger. "Next on the agenda?" He waited for a minute but Sara stayed silent so he continued with the list he had made during their last aborted attempt at this conversation. "You don't have time for a relationship."
Sara nodded gratefully, her mind obviously still spinning over how easily Gabriel had reduced the age difference to nothing at all.
"Well, you have time for a friendship, right?" He waited while she nodded again. "Think about it, we see each other four or five times a week anyhow, hang out, have dinner, rent a movie, or just talk. All of those can be considered dates and they weren't too much with your work schedule, were they?"
"Well, no, but hanging out with a friend and getting called to a crime scene isn't the same as having to leave a date to go to one."
"Well, I can't tell you how other guys'd react, but I can pretty much guarantee that it won't bother me much." He intercepted an incredulous look thrown his way and shrugged. "Hey, I didn't say I'd like it, but I'd understand when it happened. It's not like it'd be 6 out of 7 times usually, right?"
"Right."
He nodded in satisfaction and crossed another thing off his mental checklist. "Okay, next is the good old 'we're too good friends to risk messing up the friendship,' since we're skipping the 'I love you like a brother,'" he warned her with a mock glare.
"But, but, Gabriel, I do love you like a brother!" Sara proclaimed, her eyes widened in innocence while clasping one of his hands in both of hers.
He grimaced, remembering all the other times in his life he'd heard that. "Well," he finally joked, "if you love me like a brother, I hope it's at least as an incestuous brother."
"Gabriel!"
He grinned and gave her a quick kiss before she could pull away from him. "You do that shocked school marm tone well."
She shook her head, knowing that that subject was closed as well. His irreverent attitude towards it made any seriousness on her part impossible.
"Now, as for messing up a friendship. sure, that's possible," he admitted. "But if we don't try, we won't find out if something more is possible, right? Besides, our friendship goes pretty deep thanks to your twitchy friend there," he gestured to the bracelet on her wrist. "I doubt that'd let any rift in our friendship be major or last that long, do you?"
Sara considered the silent jewelry for a moment before muttering the phrase she was beginning to abhor under her breath. "Everything is connected."
Gabriel grinned at the completely true phrase. "Exactly. You're a cop which connected you to Sly through the murder he witnessed, which helped lead you to me, since he saw it while he was online on my computer."
Sara shook her head as she groaned. "I should've known you'd get that without any prompting."
"Hey, it's a simple concept," he pointed out while absently playing with her fingers.
She shook her head again at his approach to a concept that not everyone got. It had taken her a while to truly understand it, she still didn't completely accept it all the time, and it was her life that the Witchblade controlled with that particular notion.
"What's left?" He forestalled her comment by raising one hand up when she opened her mouth. "Don't even start on that 'everyone you know dies' stuff, okay? You already know my opinion on that and I haven't died, Danny hasn't died, Danny's wife hasn't died, and so on."
Sara paused before deciding not to open the whole can of worms about Danny dying. Or not dying, ,as the case may be.
"Anything else?" He asked in a reasonable tone.
Sara raised one brow and gave a rueful smile. "Would it to me any good?"
He pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, not a bit."
"Then there's nothing else, right?"
"Right." He grinned at her. "So, we start dating. Without you trying to talk me out of anything."
She nodded in agreement.
He leaned forward and stole another kiss from her, this one long and tender. The battle was halfway over, he knew. The rest should be the fun stuff.
There, happy guys? Oh, and thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story.