Hello folks ::jumps after reading all her reviews:: Thanks you so much. I feel appreciated!!!!!!

Thanks to Nanz, Riyallyn (not the Reeses!!!!!!! Must have Reeses!!!!), DKM (lay back on that sugar...you may just pop. Or turn out like me...::shivers in fear::), Spin, msredux, scooter (it's fun to make them act like quibbling children ;P), wendy, Fae Rain (be very afraid...), Mako-chan Wolf (thanks for the help!! We shall bring Witchblade back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Eli (Ian is good at keeping secrets. And of course, no age issues...:P), Jenileigh (I aim to please my fans ;P), Jade (::snaps fingers, trying to wake her up::), Sierra Windfire (chocolate cover cashews? I don't believe I've had the pleasure. I'm gonna stick with my Raisinettes. And thanks for the info!!!), Julia (of course that was the only reason...::walks off laughing::), and of course, Baloo (thank you soooooooooooo much. I'm flattered!!!)

Disclaimer: I own the characters you don't recognize. Except for Eli. She belongs to...well...would it insult your intelligence too much if I told you? (Eli, QED!) (Quad Erat Demonstrondum. Brush up on your Latin!)

Archive: Ask me first!!!

Feedback: Oooo, yes please. I like reviews. I crave reviews. I want reviews. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAASE!? Heh...I realize I sound quite pathetic, but, but...PLEEEEEEEASE?! Bitte bitte bitte!!!

No more pathetic and annoying pleads...onto Chapter 13!!!

**************************************************************************** *************

Chapter XIII

**************************************************************************** *************

The Animal Control units had just undertaken the biggest operation of their existence. (Lions and tigers and...monkeys, oh my.) A few passerbys had actually stopped to stare, and since this was New York, it made it all the stranger. (That people actually stopped to look, that is).

Bob, the Animal Control man walked through the precinct, with his net, when he sighted his prey. It was the final monkey...the one with the bad toupee. Bob crept up on the primate and threw the net over it, ensnaring it.

"I got the last primate," reported Bob, into his walkie-talkie, "Should I tranquilize it like the rest?

The monkey, in the meanwhile, was frantically grabbing for a notepad and a pen. Unfortunately for the monkey, by the time it had snatched a pen, Bob had already aimed his tranq gun, and everything went dark for Dante.

~*~

Gabe and Gabriel sat in the Talismaniac shop with Loki, who was dressed in semi-normal clothing, though he kept his black cloak on over the equally black clothes.

"Who are we waiting for?" asked Gabriel.

"I believe you...well...*he*," Loki said gesturing to Gabe, "has already met her."

Gabe's eyes widened in realization of whom Loki was talking about.

"You mean..." Gabe asked, close to falling out of his chair.

"Don't look so surprised. You should have inferred someone as strange as Xeire was related to me in some fashion."

"Who?" Gabriel inquired, feeling completely left out of the loop.

"X," Gabe said simply, then to Loki, "Where does she fit into all of this?"

"She is one of the three Wielder lines," Loki said, as if it were common knowledge, "Sara is of the main line, but the other two also fit into the big picture, connecting loose ends, so to speak. They are usually related to the Wielder or the Protector, sometimes a Keeper like you...never both the Wielder and the Protector. Keeps us from getting into incest problems."

Gabe and Gabriel just gave him a blank look, (as did the writer).

"Are you still with me, boys?"

They simply nodded.

"In my time, they were the sisters of Morrigan, my charge. I think you may also know the third sister..." Loki mused.

"And who would that be? I know many people, quite a few who match the M.O. of one related to the Witchblade.

"She doesn't match the *M.O.* so to speak. But...her name starts with an E, and ends with a *Li*?"

"That narrows it down a bit," replied Gabe with a nod.

Gabriel was typing away at his computer and Loki cast a glance over to him, worried the boy didn't get out enough.

"Now, Mr. Loki, you said something about a great power that would be bestowed upon us," Gabriel said, in pause from his typing, looking down to the golden bracelet Loki had given both he and his future counterpart, "What exactly did you mean?"

While Gabriel was speaking, a rabbit had hopped over to his feet. When he saw it, he pushed back in his chair in fright, pointing at it in horror. As he did so, a stream of energy emanated from his hands, and the rabbit disappeared in a little puff of smoke. Gabriel looked his hands over in shock.

"I can...make things go...poof?" Gabriel asked, for lack of a better world.

"Not just that," Loki said with a nod, walking through the shop with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Cool..." Gabe said in awe, looking at his hands too.

"So what exactly *can* we do?" Gebriel inquired.

"You have the powers of a minor god," Loki replied, as if it were a walk in the park.

"Ooooo," Gabe said with a transfixed and rather odd smile, "I've always wanted to smite someone...can we smite people?"

Loki stopped walking and looked to the overly enthusiastic man.

"I'd rather you didn't,"

"Awwww," Gabe and Gabriel muttered dejectedly.

Loki refrained from rolling his eyes, and tried not to think about how bad an idea it was to have given the Keepers powers.

Luckily, at that moment, there was a knock at the door, and all three men yelled in unison:

"It's open!"

A woman walked into the shop, looking around. Her face was blank, but her eyes searched for danger. The woman had long wavy, golden hair with even, dark brown streaks through it. She wore dark clothing, and wore a long flowing coat, the same colour as Loki's.

The woman had her back to the three men as she looked out the window, and Gabriel could see the definite shape of the sword beneath the long coat.

"Xeire?" Loki called. She slowly turned from the window, her ice blue eyes, with a border of steely blue bore into each of the men in turn as she looked them over.

"Hello, Father,"

"I have not seen you in a long while, Xeire,"

"I have not been seen in long while," Xeire replied with a demure smile.

"Do you know why I've summoned you?"

"I presume something has occurred involving the Wielder and her Protector."

"I need help changing something predestined to occur, if there is no intervention, that is. Death of the Wielder, and quite possibly the wielder's entire bloodline."

"I sense it had not yet occurred, since the Keepers appear to still be alive," Xeire said wryly, suppressing the urge to poke one just to make sure.

"You are correct,"

Xeire nodded, and look to the two Gabriels.

"One wasn't enough?" she inquired.

"One my have been enough, but they have their own destinies to fulfill," Loki said, "But we shall not speak of that here."

"Of course,"

"I am authorized to say that they shall be helping us." X looked them over once again, and Gabe returned the look, though more terrified.

"Do I intimidate you, Keeper?"

"Quite a lot, yes," Gabe said.

"What have I done to deserve such fear?"

"You haven't done it yet,"

"Ah. Yes. That happens to me all the time." said Xeire, more humor in her tone that the Gabriels expected from someone in such an outfit.

Xeire looked to Loki, who gave her an 'I'll-explain-it-later' glance.

"Come, Xeire, we have much to talk about. And Morrigan wished to speak with you."

"I do not have much time, father. I have obligations to be fulfilled."

"Yes, yes. We shall get to that."

Loki waved his hand in the air, and a doorway appeared in the center of the room, revealing the misty realm of the Witchblade. The two disappeared, and the Gabriels were left to stare after them. They exchanged a very confused look, then looked back to the fading portal.

"Did she call him father?!"

~*~

Sara hit the bag again, sending it flying again, the chain beginning to creak. Her jeans were constraining for this kind of work out. But she did not have the luxury of getting any clothing from her apartment at this time. The punching bag swayed, and Sara moved aside to keep from getting hit by it. She glanced across the room, where Ian stood, facing away from her, with his hands clasped behind his back. He stood in front of a mirror, and Sara could see his eyes were closed, as if he were intently focused on something in his mind. As she watched, he began to move slowly, beginning a martial arts form.

Sara tried to go back to beating the crap out of the punching bag, but she couldn't. You see.Ian had taken off his multiple layers of clothing, and well.the nicest presents always seem to be the best-wrapped ones. His sculpted chest was evident under the black tank top, and Sara took her time to look him up and down as he moved. Ian began to move more quickly, and it was such fast movement, Sara had to struggle to keep an eye on him. But it was definitely worth it. Ian paused to cool off, and his skin was flushed. His body moved as he breathed deeply, and Sara was mesmerized by the rippling muscles.

Sara blinked, and repressed the urge to slap herself, and went back to punching the bag, more ferociously than before.

She glanced down to the Witchblade, which was glowing happily.

Sara glared viciously at the glowing red eye before turning back to the punching bag.

Right, left, uppercut, jab, kick. Kick, punch, jab, palm thrust, rightleftrighrightleftuppercutkickjabsidekickleftrightrightleftsiderightrigh t.

Sara hit the bag again and again, until her knuckles began to ache, even though they were protected by the gloves.

*****

Ian cast a glance over to Sara as she viciously attacked the punching bag. He realized that he was allowing his mind to wander, and had no idea where he was in the form. He got his mind back on track, but he realized that the next move involved turning away from Sara, and considered skipping that part of the exercise for a few moments. She had such a presence...it demanded his attention whenever she entered the room.

Even when he turned around facing the mirror as he finished a form, his eyes were on her. He adored her, but she seemed not to notice. Ian focused on something else, suppressing the feelings of pain he felt at her rejections. Suddenly the day wasn't so humorous.

"Hey Nottingham," Sara called. He turned to see her hefting one of the swords that Ian kept on the walls.

"Want to have a friendly little competition?" Sara asked with a gleam in her eye, looking the sword over in fascination.

"Are you sure you wish to risk dealing with swords when Loki is having his way with the world, Sara?"

"What? Afraid you'll lose?"

That's all she had to say.

~*~

Clink clink swish clink swish thrust parry swish clang.

Sara blocked the oncoming sword, and used a great heave of strength to shake it off. Ian lunged again, and knocked the sword from Sara's grasp with a heavy hit. Sara only smiled, and the Gauntlet formed on her wrist. She blocked the next thrust, and began to drive Ian back towards the wall.

Sara's eyes widened as she heard Ian's thoughts clearly, and she kept driving him towards the wall. He jumped up, not to be cornered, and came down behind Sara. Only Sara was already facing him, and pointed the Witchblade to his throat before he could respond.

"That part wasn't in your plan, was it?" Sara asked with a smug smile. Ian was about to respond, but he broke out into laughter.

"What?" Sara asked, baffled by the response, "What?!"

She moved the Witchblade from Ian's neck, afraid that he would manage to impale himself during his fit of laughter. That's when she saw the cause of Ian's comatose laughter. Instead of the blade coming from the gauntlet, it was a little flag with the word "slash" painted on it, as if it was right out of a cartoon.

"Sheez. Is this really going to keep up all week?"

"With what I've seen of Loki so far," Ian said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye as he sat on the floor, "...it is quite likely."

"Great," Sara sighed, the weapon retracting back to its bracelet form.

"So, which one of us won that one, Mi'Lady?"

"Loki did," replied Sara, hitting the punching bag so hard that it almost came off its hinges.

"What about this enrages you so much?" Ian inquired, moving over to hold the punching bag steady as Sara punched it.

"Aside from the practical jokes, the messing with my already messed up life, the lack of a clean change of clothes..." Sara paused before hitting the bag again, "I just have a feeling we're not being told all that's going on; and I definitely don't like being left out of the loop."

"Well," Ian said after regaining the circulation of air in his lungs which had been lost during the last punch, "I'm sure you'll find patience can be a virtue."

"Who ever said that had too much time on their hands," Sara growled, emphasizing her point with a strong right jab. The Gauntlet formed on her wrist, encasing her fist, and Ian stepped back as Sara moved to punch the bag.

"Perhaps you would feel better with some sleep and clean clothing," Ian said, wishing to keep his body from being flung through a wall, followed by a rather heavy punching bag.

"Probably. Unfortunately, I have no clean clothes. But I do have a lovely case of insomnia. So I'm 0 for two."

"I think I can find you some clothes in the mansion. We have a maid living here who is about your size."

"Thank you, Ian. I would appreciate that."

What Ian didn't add was that they had clothing *exactly* Sara's size. Kenneth had been convinced that he could win Sara over within a week, and had clothing ordered for her. His plans were thwarted (to Ian's relief) but Sara's oh-so-stubborn-and-independent attitude; but he had never gotten rid of the clothing.

"Would you like me to show you to your room, Sara?"

Sara nodded, scratching her head and running a hand through her hair. Ian could tell that she was tired, not only in body. The past day, though humorous, had been wearisome on both of them. Ian was just better at keeping it from showing. She shuffled behind Ian as he walked out into the hall and started down one of the long corridors. She was surprised by how tired she was not feeling. The estate was a very disorienting place, and Sara doubted she could find her way around to well on her own.

Sara stumbled on the stairs going up, and Ian gave her a concerned glance.

"Are you going to make it?" Ian said, only half kidding.

"I'm fine."

Ian nodded, then without warning reached over and scooped her off her feet.

"Nottingham, what the hell are you doing?"

"Carrying you, *Lady* Sara," Ian said in response to her calling him Nottingham.

"Why?" Sara said, her voice high-pitched and questioning.

"Because I can, Sara. Because I can,"

Sara decided not to argue, and instead just rested her head on Ian's shoulder, enjoying the pampering.

After another set of stairs and a couple of corridors, Ian opened a door, and flipped the light switch on with his back. The room was large, with a huge canopy bed up against the wall in the center of the room. He set her down next to the bed and stepped back.

"I hope the accommodations will be to your liking," Ian said, looking around the room and wondering if he should try to find a better room for her. Though the room he had brought her to was the one the Queen of England had stayed in for a week...he still didn't think it was good enough.

"I think me and the accommodations will get along very well," Sara said with a smile.

"I had one of the maids bring up some clothes. They're there on the bed." Ian said, walking towards the door, "Good night Sara,"

"'Night Ian,"

Ian exited the room and began to close the door behind him.

"Hey Ian?"

"Yes, Sara?"

"Thank you," she said, giving him a warm smile, "I definitely needed an at least semi-sane friend today."

"Semi-sane?"

"You do have that past-life protector thing happening at random intervals."

"Ah yes," Ian chuckled, "Good Night, Sara."

He closed the door, smiling broadly as he stood in the hall. As much of a pain in the ass Loki's tricks were...they seemed to be doing more help than Ian had initially expected.

"Good night, Sara," Ian said wistfully.

**************************************************************************** *************

A/N: Well, I've polish off another hastily written chapter. I hope it was bearable. Things should be picking up in the next few chapters, if that's any consolation. And I have a little favor to ask of ya'll...Sierra Windfire was kind enough to give me a site (run by Oxygen, I believe) wanting info on Witchblade fans. Send it to every one you know!!!!!!!!! I'll be sooooooooooo grateful!!!!

Thanks much and Slan Agat!!!!

-XRaven of the Irish peruasion