A Tale Of Two Blades Chapter 9, a tv x-overs fanfic

Jake McCartey's Apartment
New York, NY
early Wednesday, July 25, 2001
1:11 am

"Do you think she works for Irons?"

Maria Bouzanis' spirit was perched on Jake's kitchen counter, swinging her legs back and forth.

She rolled her eyes at Sara's question, "If he had someone as powerful as her on his payroll, why would he bother with you?"

"But she's with Nottingham. You should have seen them, Maria. It was like the rest of the world didn't exist. I thought Irons had always kept Ian on a very short leash, not allowing him female companionship. But the way he was acting with that Angel girl ... "

"You were right to think Nottingham is inexperienced, Sara. If I was still alive I would have done anything to get my hands on that man and show him what was what."

Maria let out a lusty whistle then waited a beat to show that what she was about to say she was serious about.

"Have you considered that maybe the two of them are in love? He certainly wouldn't know what is or isn't considered too much in public. Do you and Jake pay any attention to anything besides each other when you're alone together?"

Maria motioned toward the hall and Jake's bedroom, where Sara had left him snoring softly.

"No," Sara admitted with a Cheshire Cat grin. After a moment she frowned, "What about Angel, though? Jake said he cut short socializing with them because every time I looked at her she looked like a deer caught in headlights."

Maria put a finger to her lips and motioned to the hall again. Half a minute later, Jake opened the bedroom door and yawned.

"Sara?"

She smiled. She loved the way he said her name. She met him in the hall as he started to walk toward the kitchen.

"Hey, rookie, I was just getting some water. Let's get back in bed."

He ran a hand over his every-which-way blonde hair and grunted, "Sleep is good."

Sara swatted his naked rear playfully, whispering in his ear, "Who said anything about sleep?"

Suddenly awake, he grinned and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's hold. Sara laughed helplessly and the Stone of the Blade glowed happily as Jake carried her back to his bed.

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Nottingham's Loft
New York, NY
late Tuesday, July 23 thru
early Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Lilianna indulged herself enough to sleep snuggled up to Nottingham. She could have lost him, and that was something she knew she wouldn't live through. Her head rested on his shoulder, and in her sleep one of her legs hitched up and draped over both of his. Her right arm had started out wrapped around his waist, but ended up resting on his chest, her fingers curling in and out of his chest hair sporadically. Having gotten more than the amount of sleep he was used to the afternoon and night before, he watched her while she slept. He was content for once to lie almost helpless, with her sprawled across him. Around three in the morning, her fingers suddenly tightened into a fist in his chest hair and he flinched at the unexpected pain. She peered up at him with wide, frightened eyes and he noticed that the Witchblade's Stones were pulsing brightly.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"Irons."

The one word was enough. When Nottingham had first started living on his own, Irons had stopped by unexpectedly several times to check up on him. It made sense that he would do so now when Nottingham wasn't behaving true to his training. He hadn't checked in since Irons had first found out about the woman in his life. Irons was used to him checking in multiple times in a day. He swore softly and cupped her head so that her eyes met his again.

After a moment some of the fear went out of the blue depths and he asked her, "Can you hide the Blade? He's sure to notice it if you don't."

Immediately the Witchblade seemed to melt from her fingers.

He frowned, "Where did it go?"

"Inside me," she whispered. "I can only hold it there for a short time, though. He'll leave soon, won't he?"

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

She smiled softly at him and his heart swelled. As much as she probably shouldn't, she was willing to place her very life in his hands.

He grasped the hem of her nightgown and answered the question in her eyes, "He thinks we're...intimate. It's the only reason he's allowed me to be with you. He might be here because he suspects something else is going on. If that is the reason he's here and he sees us together this way, he'll leave sooner."

She nodded in agreement and sat up so he could pull the garment over her head. She was naked underneath. When the nightgown was off, he tenderly cupped her jaw and kissed her lips softly.

"I won't let him hurt you."

She kissed him back and refuted his promise, "If something does happen, I don't want you doing anything to risk your life. We at least know you have one." He opened his mouth to protest, but she kissed him again, tears coming to her beautiful eyes, "I couldn't go on, even for the short time I have left, if something happened to you."

He returned her kiss, his tongue sweeping between her lips to gently explore her mouth as he pulled off the sweats he had taken to wearing to bed since meeting her. Had it really only been two days? He could no longer imagine his life without her in it. Keeping his arms around her, he pulled her down on top of him as he lay back on the pillows. For a moment she melted against him, her curves fitting perfectly against his body, but then she stiffened.

He was afraid for a minute that perhaps he had done something wrong, until she lifted her mouth away from his to ask softly, "What if he sees my scars?"

"I don't think we should risk it," Nottingham agreed in a whisper and rolled them both so she was beneath him.

She wrapped her arms around his back and smiled tenderly up at him. With his hair falling freely in a curling curtain around their faces, it was almost as if they were in their own private world. He dipped his head to take her mouth once more, unleashing all the passion he felt for her. Lilianna moaned with pleasure and eagerly returned his kiss, running her hands up and down his bare, muscled back. He involuntarily moved his hips against hers and she gasped, throwing her head back and exposing her throat to his exploring mouth.

Her breath was coming in harsh gasps now and she arched into him, her body sensing what her innocent conscious mind could not understand she needed. Him. Inside her. She tried to wrap her legs around his hips, but he stilled her movement by gently running a hand down her thigh. She moaned his last name in frustration, and a dry, hollow laugh sounded from across the room.

They both froze as Irons' voice reached them, "I never would have pegged you as a tease, Ian."

Nottingham yanked up the blankets to cover Lilianna from Irons' cold gaze before slipping on his sweats and standing next to the bed in the waiting stance of the Black Dragons. Out of the corner of his eye, he checked on Lilianna. She was sitting up, the blankets clutched tightly against her. Her face was flushed and her hair mussed, and she looked very much as if she had just been made love to. She was staring at Irons with a mixture of wariness and fear in her eyes, which was an appropriate reaction.

Irons studied her for a minute and she looked away, pulling the blankets tighter around her.

Irons' eyebrows lifted slightly and he turned to Nottingham, "I can certainly see the attraction, but she doesn't look homeless to me."

"She wasn't always homeless, she just fell on hard times."

It wasn't a lie. Lilianna had loved Jarod like a father and had felt at home with him until the world had started to be torn apart and she'd had to kill him. It was a good thing she had shared her story with him or Nottingham didn't know what he would have told Irons.

Irons made a noise in his throat, effectively dismissing the subject. "Sara Pezzini's partner has gone to California for a week to be with his dying aunt. You will have to keep an eye on her after all. I don't suppose there's any hope that you've gotten this girl out of your system yet?"

"No," Nottingham answered, almost too quickly.

"Very well," Irons sighed, "since I did tell you that you could have a week with her, I won't make you get rid of her yet, but you will not forsake your duties."

Nottingham dipped his head further and Irons, satisfied, left. Lilianna climbed from the bed, still naked except for the Witchblade rings which had reappeared the moment Irons left, and wrapped her arms around him. He sighed and looped his own arms around her waist. He rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes.

She smiled tenderly at him and asked teasingly, "So, you'll have me out of your system in five days?"

"Never," he growled, and they were both suddenly dead serious.

She turned her head away for a minute and blinked back tears, "I never meant to cause you more problems."

Nottingham's grip on her tightened.

"Never think for a single moment that you are a problem to me. You mean more to me than anyone I have ever known. More than I ever thought anyone could mean to me."

Lilianna was rocked by his admission, and she collapsed against him. "How can I do what I must, knowing what I could have had? Knowing you?"

With a sob she tore away from him and ran to the weapons room. A minute later, she emerged, fully dressed.

She avoided his gaze, "I'm going to see my mother. I have to warn her about everything that will happen if she gets pregnant. Please, let me do this on my own."

Aching for her, for himself, and for everything they might have had if Fate had chosen to be kind to them instead of cruel, he let her go. When the door to the loft closed behind her, he sank down to sit on the floor, burying his face in his hands. Would she come back? With his admission hanging over her head, she might very well choose to stay with Sara. He could only wait and see.

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NYPD 11th Precinct
11th Street, New York, NY
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
12:30 pm

When Lilianna asked for Detective Pezzini, Captain Bruno Dante leered at her from behind a counter and informed her, "Today is Detective Pet-zzini's day off. And her partner has been called away, so she may be taking a few more."

There was a pause and the dark man said, with a suggestive gleam in his cold eyes, "I might be able to help you. Just tell me what you need."

Lilianna smiled coldly, "That's quite all right, Captain, I'll just go see my sister at her apartment."

Dante stared at her for a full minute, "You do look a bit like her, but Sara Pet-zzini is an only child."

"Sara was adopted. She has a few brothers and another sister."

She left with Dante gawking after her and hurried to her mother's apartment. What the odious man didn't need to know was that Sara would not learn of her family until much later. Maybe she would go ahead and speed that up while she was here.