A proverbial hatchet, ah but where to bury it? (Feat. Ian Nottingham and Sara Pezzini)

It was kind of a hot night for New York City. Hotter then it usually is on the summer nights. Ian knew Sara was back at her apartment, probably with her nose buried in some case hoping that it would bring her the answers she was wanting. Making his way to her apartment eventually, instead of doing the ninja thing and just appearing in her apartment, he simply knocks at the door, and waits outside.

Sara was indeed at home, but while the tall dark and mysterious Ian Nottingham might have guessed she was hard at work, it was quite the reverse. Sara was asleep on the faded couch in her living room. The Witchblade at her wrist had unfurled its talons of green across her sleeping form and has snaked across the couch and floor. Upon the knocking from Ian, a tendril of green traversed up the door frame, unlocking bolt after bolt to give the assassin access to her apartment. Almost as if the weapon craved a warm body to attack... or perhaps draw into its fold. Then again. perhaps someone was intervening. tapping into the blade and manipulating it?

When the door seemed to open on it's own, Ian wondered if it was a bright idea not to bring any weapons with him whatsoever. Still, he ventured in, not seeing the green tendril as he walked in, then closed the door behind him. He then turned to see Sara on her couch, fast asleep, as he couldn't help but smile softly at this. He moves over to her, and sits on part of the couch. Leaning down, he then plants a soft kiss on her lips, just like a feather's touch to her skin.

The woman's lips parted slightly as she stirred from the warm touch. A small murmur of complaint moaned from her mouth as she had only been asleep for about a half an hour. After chasing the nefarious Tora no Shi for hours throughout the city, the detective had just returned and fallen into a slumber of dreamless exhaustion. "Awww.. come on Jake I just got to bed. Please don't' tell me I'm late again?" Sara brought her hand to her eyes and rubbed her palm into the bloodshot orbs, almost afraid to open them for fear of the sun.

He shook his head lightly, letting his hair gently move along her cheeks in a loving touch. "No, you're not late, Sara. It's just me." He says, gently moving some hair out of her face and back behind her ear, to get it out of her eyes.

Sara peeked an eye open, revealing the bloodshot cornea. She was slightly panicked, but she tried to remind herself that Ian seemed different as of late and she tried to give him a bit of slack. "Mind if I ask how you got in here?" She was startled, but a part of her wanted to know. This was New York, and although the visit wasn't unwanted, part of her wondered if she needed to upgrade her domicile. "Morning.I think?"

He smirks as he looks to her. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not so sure of how I got in myself. But on the grand scale of things, this is pretty low on the weird meter." He says, taking one of her hands into his, and looking to her. "And it's still evening. But even that won't last too much longer with how short the days are getting." He says, looking down to her.

Sara's heart stopped as he touched her flesh but she managed to mumble. "I half wonder if I even remembered to lock the door. I have to be honest with you I haven't been feeling myself lately." Sara pulled her hand free and tucked her legs up under her ass as she hugged herself. "Do you want to tell me why I have Yakuza hit-men trailing me from work?" Sara looked strained, beyond her own mental capacity.

He looks to her, seeing that she was obviously disturbed by all of this. "No, but I think I will be asking around why they have been. And maybe I can stop it, if it comes down to that." He says as he looks to her. She looked very strained, almost to the end of her rope. He then reaches out, and wraps his arms around her gently, holding her if she needed to be held.

The detective blinked slowly her brow furrowing, "I dunno how much more I can take Ian. some things gotta change. I've gotta change." Her eyes closed as she unbelievably allowed herself to be held. Her skin was cold to the touch and her arms covered in goose pimples. Odd for June, but Sara wasn't the most average. "Thanks for the support Ian, but I can't watch anyone else go down because I slipped up. Not after my partner Michael." Her voice trailed off as she tensed at the thought that she was being held by his killer.

He looks to her, "Sara, no offense to Michael, but I'm not as slipshod as him. I can take care of myself, you of all people should know that much." He says, as he just continues to hold her in his arms, as he looks to her. "We could always work together on this. You work on finding out where the Yakuza are holding up, we'll go in, and persuade them not to follow you." He says, trying to make her feel better.

Sara reached back and pulled the ponytail from her head wincing at the drag from the tie. "No, you're not." Sara retorted somewhat miffed. This was a sore subject for her. After all emotionally she was torn. Here sat the man who had pulled the trigger on her former partner and she was accepting him with open arms. True he was acting under orders, and had saved Sara when the time had come, but. was she just rationalizing here? "Excuse me." She pushed off the couch and headed toward the hall.

He sighs as he looks to her. "Good work, Nottingham." He chided himself silently. It was a brilliant thing to do, to bring up her partner that he had killed. He sat there for a little bit, seeing her upset by this, so he pushed himself up from the couch, as he follows her to the hall. "I think I did something wrong here, so I think I should go." He says, then turning and heading for the door.

Sara gripped the edge of the door jam and paused at Ian's words. "Yeah I think you might be right." Her voice was shaky and on the edge of breaking as she forced the words out. Her eyes of jade, flecked with gold cast skyward as she fought to control her emotions.

He walks over to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder as he looks to her. "Sara.....I've done a lot of things in my life, some of them I regret in every fiber of my being, some not. I do regret what happened to Michael. For that, I'm sorry." He says, as he then turns back to the door way, and walks out.