DDD

Proof Positive

Kenneth had watched the scene unfold, a mask of sardonic amusement firmly in place. He had listened as Nottingham begged Pezzini to continue to trust him. He heard her rebuttal, all the while remaining silent, the wheels turning in his mind. Ian had betrayed him, had stolen the woman Irons had planned to marry from under his very nose. The reason for Sara's continued refusal of his suit suddenly became clear.

If either of the lovebirds had spared him a glance, they would think he was enjoying the show. The illusion couldn't be further from the truth. Underneath the smirk, he was furious. How dare they betray him, and with each other no less? This was an affront not to be borne.

The fact that there was clearly trouble in their illicit paradise brought Kenneth a small measure of satisfaction. It had taken very little to collapse the foundations of the traitorous romance and send it tumbling. A judicious application of truth, however much he hated to speak it, would destroy any chance Ian had of reconciliation with Sara.

If Irons chose his words with enough care, he could undoubtedly goad Pezzini into her former homicidal state, with Nottingham once again her target. If the battle did not end here, for Sara looked weary, it would doubtless continue at a later time until one or the other fell.

Actually, the Wielder looked like she was about to drop now. Had she torn the fragile, healing flesh? Fighting with Nottingham was a far cry from the light duty the doctor's orders had called for. Kenneth checked to make sure he was still being ignored by the couple. Finding their attention still firmly on one another, he used the phone at his desk to place a call as Ian protested his innocence to Sara.

"Dr Immo, come up to my study; and bring your kit. There has been an incident." Kenneth hung up without waiting for a reply, his attention focused on the two as Sara asked for proof of Ian's innocence.

Nottingham claimed that he had something that would exonerate him, and Irons knew he meant the tape that he had played back shortly before Pezzini burst in on their meeting. The audio commentary would exonerate Ian unless he confessed that the tape was a happy accident, recorded while awaiting his chance to kill Joe Siri himself.

It was unlikely that Ian would say anything so damning. Surely he would keep his silence and return to Sara's good graces. A muscle flexed in his jaw as he fought back the impulse to tell the detective exactly what had been done, or not done, and why. It would be sweet to see her renewed fury, but the telling would also implicate him, putting him and his company under the scrutiny of various law enforcement agencies.

As judicious as he had been in his dealings, Irons was not naïve enough to believe that there was no evidence of his wrongdoing to be found. Something would be uncovered, and he would be arrested. Kenneth had no desire to suffer the loss of power that came with being incarcerated, however temporary he could probably arrange for it to be, yet he could not let go of the desire to destroy the two standing before him.

He could always leave the country for a few years; change his identity as he had countless times over his greatly elongated lifetime. The only difficulty there was that he would have to give up all the power he had amassed as Kenneth Irons. It had been difficult enough leaving Germany; and he had not had half the powerbase there that he had created here.

Even if he fled ahead of the court's conviction, Vorshlag would be seized, in whole or in part, by greedy government officials. If some of the companies under the Vorshlag umbrella were smart enough to escape, they would still be pulled down and their market share parcelled out by his competitors. Irons economic power would be just as gone as his political clout.

That was an option to be pursued only as a last recourse, clearly. This brought him back to his original question. How could he turn this situation to his advantage? There must be a way. Kenneth continued to turn possibilities over in his mind while Pezzini hesitantly took the recording from Nottingham.

Sara played the tape back. She closed her eyes as the two agents talked, the better to visualize the situation. There was the muffled thump of a body hitting carpet, and then the man was talking again, making it clear that he had just shot his partner. After a long moment of silence came the sound of a door opening, and then Joe Siri's voice asking, "Is everything all right?"

"Yes. Everything is just fine, Mr. Siri." There were two more shots fired, and then silence.

Sara bowed her head, loss striking her anew as she listened to Joe's last moments. The tape continued to play, the sound of furniture overturning and more gunfire filling the room, but none of it penetrated the haze of misery that surrounded her. Pez looked up at Nottingham, eyes wet with tears.

"I'm sorry Sara." Ian hated the pain in her eyes.

"So am I Ian," Pez fought to keep her composure, but her lower lip trembled, betraying the level of her emotional turmoil. "And I'm sorry I doubted you. Can you forgive me?"

"You are a staunch defender of those you love. I can only hope to one day be worthy of such loyalty and devotion." Nottingham said, a little of his sorrow at not yet being trusted coloring his voice.

"I should have known you hadn't done it," Sara stepped closer to Ian, the small space between them suddenly charged with sexual energy.

Seeing them together was worse than the abstract knowledge that the two had been building a relationship. It burned his gut like acid to watch Sara reach up and gently run her thumb along the outer edge of Nottingham's lower lip.

"You probably should put some ice on that," Sara kept her touch light as she passed over the thin line of dried blood bisecting his lip. Ian caught her hand in his gloved one, stopping her progress long enough to bestow a forgiving kiss on her palm.

It was as inflammatory to Irons temper as waving a red flag in front of a bull. The blonde stood, the chair legs made a scraping sound from the force of his rising. Sara was supposed to be his. Kenneth could not blithely sit by and let another touch so intimately the only woman he could ever care about. Jealousy blurred the edge of intellect, making all other concerns fade into insignificance.

.o.

A/N: First, I would like to thank everyone for reading, even those of you who do not review. Erin, you will be glad to know that I am nearly finished. There is one chapter, maybe two more depending on how much Kenny dominates the scene. I will then finish Black Dragons and my Andromeda story, and I'm thinking about going back and rewriting Academy Days. It's the first thing I ever tried to write, and it is rough. (Not as bad as my old Star Trek stuff, but no one apart from my best friends ever saw that pile of Horta droppings, thank all the little green gods) Genna, with what Ian grew up with, Sara's behavior coincides with the attention he has gotten from Irons. Negative attention caring to him. (ok, a bit of an oversimplification, but you know what I mean) If Ian ever gets some therapy and some self-respect, Sara might see the end of that stick. Thelma, it would have made the end quicker, at any rate. Pezzini, glad to hear from ya! Yep, there's more. Camyde, the Witchblade has its own agenda, and can be as wicked a manipulator as Kenny. Dragongrrl, I know what you mean, and no. I felt the same way. Castironcanine, thanks for your comments. The tension between the three was part of what made the show so amazing, it's good to hear that I've kept close to that feel. If you like that dynamic, just wait until you see the next chapter.