A Tale Of Two Blades Chapter 24, a tv x-overs fanfic

"Can I help you?" Gabriel frowned at her ring.

"I thought maybe you could help me like you have my mother," she said and waited to see just how perceptive he was.

She had a theory about him, and she wanted to see if her suspicions were true.

It took a minute, but a light filled his eyes. Instead of revealing what he knew, he turned and fiddled with a skull on the shelf behind him, saying to her, "I don't really have many female clients, and certainly none old enough to be your mother, Miss."

"Since I'm only a few years younger than her, Sara would certainly thank you for that. It makes sense that you wouldn't make the connection."

He spun around and glared at her. She smiled, and he relaxed.

"I knew as soon as I walked in on that murder scene that knowing your mother was going to be very interesting."

Lilianna smiled again. "You're a telepath, aren't you?"

Gabriel looked away for a moment, then admitted, "Limited."

She nodded. He pursed his lips and she was momentarily struck by how red they were, how young and innocent they made him look. They both smiled, knowing he was anything but. Walking to the back of the store, he gestured for her to follow.

"Now what exactly do you want my help with? You seem to have a lot of problems."

That is the understatement of the century, she thought.

He grinned and shook his head, "Like mother, like daughter."

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When Nottingham came home that night from escorting Irons all day, Lilianna was waiting for him with Chinese take-out on the kitchen counter.

"Didn't want to wait for me to cook tonight?"

She swallowed and looked at him with a strange touch of nervousness in her gaze.

"Is something wrong, Lily?" he asked, concerned.

A woman suddenly appeared next to the love of his life. Wearing a pale blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes, Lilianna's Witchblade Guardian, and maybe his as well, he thought, seemed nervous as she smoothed her rich red-brown hair into place. There was something about the woman that drew him to her, a comforting warmth seeming to emanate from her. When she spoke, his mother's voice hit him like a physical blow.

"She has a lot to tell you and she wasn't sure where to start, so I decided to take over this bit of news for her."

"Mother?" he breathed, already knowing that he was right.

Tears filled her eyes and she smiled, "How I wish I could touch you, Christian. My baby, my son."

He memorized every detail of the woman who had given him life, and who he now knew had indeed loved him. Still loved him, even though she no longer drew breath.

"When?"

Knowing what her second youngest child was asking, Catherine answered, "Right after I gave birth to your younger brother Ethan. Raines executed me on delayed orders from Mr. Parker."

Christian paled, and he looked at Lilianna with panic in his gaze, "Ethan? Lilianna's Uncle Ethan?"

"Don't worry," Lilianna immediately soothed. "He's my half uncle, remember? Catherine is his mother, but his father is my grandfather. He's only your half-brother, and none of Catherine's blood runs through my veins. You and I are not related in any way."

He heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Catherine again. His mother had been a very beautiful woman. She smiled lovingly at him and blew him a kiss.

"We'll talk again, my son. Right now Lily needs to tell you some things."

Before his mother could disappear, his wife, if not legally at least in his heart and soul, asked her softly, "Is there any more news?"

Catherine shook her head sadly and vanished. Christian walked over to Lilianna and she immediately took him into her arms. They just held each other, and Lilianna felt him smile against her neck. After a few minutes, she pulled back slightly to look him in the eye. "I have some more big news, but first I need to tell you that I went to see Gabriel today."

Christian stiffened momentarily, remembering the time he had threatened the younger man if he didn't stay away from Sara. Gabriel hadn't listened, of course, but Christian had never had to share that fact with Irons since he never asked about the young man after his initial order to scare Gabriel. But the boy probably still didn't like him much.

"It's okay," Lilianna assured him, "I explained to him a little of what it was like for us growing up and told him you would never hurt him if I asked you not to, so he's beginning to forgive you."

Christian breathed another sigh of relief and kissed his wife's forehead. "Why did you go see him?"

"I went to ask for his help. He's been helpful to Mom several times, and he's a whiz at research. He's going to track down what he can on Glory, Hellmouths, Slayers and Jarod. And, most importantly, a way to get you to the future if need be, so we aren't separated for any amount of time."

"You really think he'll be able to do all that?"

Lilianna looked at him with love in her eyes, and something else. "I hope so, especially now." She took a breath and before he could ask why especially now, she told him. "We're going to have twins."

The Witchblade immediately showed him the two tiny lives inside her, and he could tell from the urgency of the images that the Blade had been anxious to show him but had waited for Lilianna to tell him first. Lilianna bit her lip when he remained silent, waiting for his reaction. Christian sank to his knees in front of her, lifting her T-shirt and tugging her sweats lower on her hips to expose her abdomen. Lilianna sucked in a breath when he gently kissed the still flat area.

Tears of happiness filled her eyes when he whispered gruffly to her stomach, "I'm your Daddy."

He pressed the side of his face against her and wrapped his arms around her, just holding on. Lilianna lowered her hands to rest on his head. They stayed that way for several minutes, until Christian suddenly stood up and lifted her into his arms. He carried her to their bed and lay down beside her. "We won't hurt them?"

Knowing what he was asking, she shook her head and eagerly accepted his kiss. He made love to her tenderly, worshipping her with his body and soul.

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Talismaniac
Gabriel's Home
New York, NY
Tuesday, August 7, 2001

"Are you going to tell Sara?"

For a minute Gabriel's question threw her, and Lilianna stared at him. She had just walked into Talismaniac, hoping that Gabriel had been able to find out something during the night. Realizing he meant a combination of her deepest feelings for Christian and the existence of their children, and grateful that he had waited to ask her until Christian had found out about the babies, Lilianna shook her head.

"I'm not ready to tell her yet."

"Knowing that he knocked you up won't improve her opinion of him, especially since you guys aren't legally married."

Lilianna rolled her eyes at his blunt way of putting it, but silently agreed. The last time Sara had expressed an opinion, she was barely tolerant of the fact that the two of them lived together. Lilianna didn't know what her mother would do if she knew the whole truth.

"C'mon. I have to show you what I've found quickly. I have a client coming in for a pick up in ten minutes. He's majorly paranoid."

Lilianna followed him into the back. He pulled a stack of papers out of a file and spread them out, grouping them on the table.

"I haven't been able to find anything at all on Glorificus, but I have made some progress on Hellmouths and Slayers."

He looked up from the papers to study her, a kind of sizing up, as if comparing her to something.

"Slayers kind of remind me of you and Sara. The Slayer is a girl, only one at a time in the whole world, who has special powers and abilities to fight evil. Mainly vampires and demons. At least, there's only supposed to be one. Seems there're two now. Rumor has it that the first one died and was brought back somehow."

Lilianna nodded, she had known some of this already.

Gabriel continued, "As for the Hellmouths, I looked into all the ones you and Sara already found and discovered that over half of them are sealed. With two more active ones that I found during my research, that makes eleven active in the US. With a few more days, I could cross-reference the locations with instances of bizarre happenings that halted for no apparent reason. That should help us narrow down which ones the Slayers live near."

"You are good," she complimented. "What about Jarod and Christian?"

He picked up one of the stacks of papers and handed them to her. She could see now that several of them had newspaper articles about some of Jarod's exploits.

"All I've been able to find so far on your uncle are things he's already done. I'm not sure I'll be able to find him for you." There was no mistaking the apology in his voice.

Lilianna hastened to reassure him, "You've done more for me already than I had any right to ask."

Gabriel smiled at her, telling her softly, "I don't know how exactly yet, but my life is somehow linked to yours and Sara's. I would do anything I possibly could to help either of you."

"I hope you know that goes both ways," she assured him, and he nodded, a suspiciously watery look to his eyes.

Gabriel cleared his throat and told her, "I've found two options to try and get Nottingham to the future should it come to that, but both ways have major obstacles. One is using a cryogenic chamber. But no one knows yet if anyone will be successfully revived from one and they cost a great deal of money. Somehow I can't sees Irons shelling out the cash so Nottingham can be with you." Lilianna laughed dismissively at the idea. "The other way is a mythical crystal that may actually have basis in fact that can be used to travel through time. Legend has it that Hercules once used it to thwart Hera."

"Greek mythology?" she asked in astonishment.

"I know, that's how I reacted at first. But there is evidence that the Olympians did exist in some form or another thousands of years ago. The crystal was a prized possession of Julius Caesar, and it's been rumored to have appeared here and there through the centuries, but there hasn't been any report of it for at least a century, and even if we could find it, no one has any idea how to make the thing work."

"It's something to start with at least," she said. Lilianna looked at the digital clock on Gabriel's computer desk. "Your client is due any minute, I'll go." She handed him a slip of paper, "I can be reached at either of those numbers if you ever need anything. I think it's best if I stay away for awhile. God only knows what Irons would think if he found out I was visiting you."

Gabriel paled and nodded. He surprised Lilianna by pulling her into a quick hug before leading the way back out to the front of the store.

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Nottingham's Loft
New York, NY
Thursday, August 9, 2001

Lilianna's cell phone rang, the tones mimicking a few bars of a Mozart piece. She and Christian were sharing a bubble bath, and he was washing her back and neck caressingly, but Sara and Gabriel were the only two people who had the number, so she reached over the side of the tub to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Is this line safe?"

There was fear in Gabriel's voice, so she assured him, "Perfectly."

"I found out who the last owner of the time crystal was. He doesn't have it anymore, but he does have a ten million dollar reward out for its return."

"Who?" she asked, afraid she already knew the answer. She did.

"Kenneth Irons."

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Christian watched as Lilianna paced the length of the loft and back. She had been at it for ten minutes, their bath having been cut short by Gabriel's phone call.

Finally, just as he was about to physically stop her, she stopped and turned to look at him, "Do you think he ever manipulated time in his favor?"

"No. If he had known how to use something like that, there would have been no way for someone to get it away from him. It would have been beyond value to him. And he never would have chosen for things to be as they are now."

Lilianna visibly relaxed. "Do you have any idea who might have it now?"

"Just one..."

"Susanna." They said her name simultaneously.

Lilianna smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She was happy. Christian smiled at her, knowing somehow that things would be okay now.

Lilianna softly confirmed his thoughts, "I had wondered how she had traveled through time. The Witchblade doesn't have that power, only the power to reverse time, and that only once, which Mom already did. Susanna must have used the crystal in her time to get here and it is only able to exist once in a timeline. If we need it, Susanna will know and she'll bring it to us."

"I wonder where she is right now."

Just then the loft phone rang, and Christian went to answer it. His visage grew dark and angry, and Lilianna knew the person calling was Irons. A few curt "yes sir"s later he slammed the receiver down. He stalked over to the weapon closet and slammed the door shut behind him. Lilianna waited. He came out five minutes later, his traditional bodyguard's outfit on. Anger radiated from him, but outwardly he was his usual in-control self.

"I have to leave right now. Irons is going to London on a business trip and he wants me with him. His plane leaves in an hour."

"How long will you be gone?" She asked softly, keeping her gaze from meeting his so he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.

"I'll be back Sunday afternoon. Right on time for the dinner."

Lilianna's pain intensified. Practically four days of their time together wasted. When he got back, if she still had to return to the future, they would only have a week left. And although she was sure her sister had the time crystal, there had been no sign of Susanna since the time they had met, and Lilianna was beginning to get worried again. What if she didn't come back? Lilianna did not want to be separated from Christian for any amount of time.

Christian cupped her face in his hands and lifted her gaze to his. "You know that if there was any way to say no to him, I would have."

"I know. Just...be careful."

He kissed her passionately and wiped away the stray tear that had escaped from between her lashes. "I..."

"Me, too," she whispered softly.

He took off his ring and gave it to her, "For safe keeping in case this is more than just a business trip."

Lilianna nodded and slipped it onto her right ring finger, not surprised in the least when it shrank to fit. Then he was gone.