Duplicity
By Divamercury
Yes, I still am alive, folks. Sorry to drop off the face of the earth like I do, but I'm still here. The least you can do is give me reviews! You're doing bettergot 6 or 7 for my last chapter, butanyway. That isn't enough! I need more! The addict loves her reviewsor something. Anyway, hope you're enjoying the story. Next up, a visit from everyone's favorite ghost. And no, I'm not talking about Casper. *shudders* Anywayon with Chapter 14! Review! Don't forget! Love you all!
~DM
Chapter 14
I left the precinct as eagerly as would a child escaping from that prison known as school at the close of a seemingly endless day. Not quite ready to head home, not wanting to see Ian in such a strange mood, I pointed my motorcycle toward Gabe's place. I parked in the alley upon arrival and took off my helmet, shaking my hair out as was customary.
"I really shouldn't have gotten out of bed today," I announced to the air.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far," a voice said. I turned around and came face to face with Danny. Even though he had done that for quite some time now, I couldn't help jumping. "You can't sleep all the timealthough I wouldn't blame you for wanting to, considering who you're sleeping with."
"Danny!" I said indignantly.
"Sorry. Just had to get that outdo you really blame me?"
"Guess not. But you scared me! Again."
"Yeah, well, sorry. Afterlife prank. We love sneaking up on the living." He grinned.
"Hmm. Like I haven't noticed. Have you heard about the case I've been working on lately?"
"Yeah. I've talked to the girls."
"Paula and Maria?"
"Yeah. They think I'm cool because I've been on the dead side for a while. They tell me things. I think they've got crushes on me"
I smirked at that. Danny getting hit on by two dead chicks"Can you—or they—help me find who killed them?"
"We'd all love to, but—"
"I know, I know. Rules. You can't divulge the secrets of the dead."
"Well, partly. If they had actually been able to tell me anything really useful, I still couldn't tell you. But they didn't have much helpful info. Neither of them had ever seen the guy before and he killed them so fast they didn't have a good description. Paula's brain was scrambled in a few seconds, but she still felt the knife slice most of the way through her neck. Maria wasn't that luckyshe was alive for most of her beheading."
I winced. "Not stuff I like to hear, Danny. Definitely not why I want to talk to you. So they don't have any physical info?"
"WeeeellI didn't say they couldn't come up with anything, just not a lot."
"Want to share with the class?"
"All they could tell me—and they both agreed on this—was that the killer had blue eyes. I know, that could be anyone. Sorry. I could keep trying, but I doubt that we'll get any further."
"Well, thanks anyway, Danny. Hey, have you seen Ian lately?"
"Yeah. I can't call him Goth Guy anymorehe's not wearing as much black. Oh, by the way, did you know that "Goth" was taken from the name of one of several Germanic tribes that wore black, either had light faces or painted their faces white—I don't remember which—and contributed to the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 AD?"
"No, I can honestly say I didn't know that. How do you know that? Surely you didn't talk to any of themdid you swallow a textbook or something?"
Danny laughed. "Something like that. I think Ian's on his way back to your place or somethinghe seems to be getting closer to over there."
"Traffic a bitch or something?" I asked.
"Maybe. Better not linger at young Gabriel's," he said with the air of a father. "Ian'll be wanting to see you. Well, I've gotta jet, but I'll try to remember to pop in from time to time."
"You do thatand make your presence known without scaring the crap out of me. I'm glad you showed up today; I haven't seen you in a while. I really miss you, partner."
"Not nearly as much as I miss you. And coffee."
"Which do you miss more?"
"You wouldn't believe my answer."
"You miss coffee more than me?!"
"Of course not. I miss you more than coffee."
"No way."
"See, told you that you wouldn't believe me. See ya, Pez. Take care of yourselfand don't kill anyone I wouldn't kill."
"Bye, Danny," I said as he vanished. I sighed and continued into Gabe's building.
This time the music of choice that was assailing my ears all the way up the stairs and continuing as I opened the door to Talismaniac.com was "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
"Gabe!" I yelled.
"Hey, Chief," Gabe responded at an equal volume when he appeared in the room. He reached over to his stereo and turned down the song as it reached its catchy ostinato.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Just wondering how the get-together we're planning is going."
"Oh, that. I called R and J and they said that anytime was fine. In fact, would tomorrow night be good? No one has any plans as far as I know."
"I'm not sure. Probably. I'll call Ian and see if it'll work out." I scanned the inside of the shop, which was cluttered with lots of large boxes. "Did you get some new stuff in, Gabe?"
"Oh, yeah!" he said, rushing excitedly over to a small collection of amulets. "These are supposed to be ancient Babylonian," he said, gesturing at the bronze and silver amulets. "Haven't been able to translate them yet, but I think at least one of the runes here means protection. Guess I'll have to give you one of those."
"You should wear one yourself, considering how nuts my life is."
"Ha ha, Chief."
"What would you consider giving it away' to be in dollars?"
"Anywhere from free, on a generous day, to a hundred thou."
"Damn. You do take checks, right?"
He genuinely laughed at this, and I grinned. Gabe was decked out in his typical retro 70's garb, his longish, kind of shaggy dark hair showing no sign of having been combed recently, and a three-day beard forming slowly around his broad smile.
"What's with the rest of these boxes?" I asked.
"I've got a lot of other stuff in, too. And I'm planning on getting rid of some of my own personal junk, so I think I'm taking it to Goodwill or something."
"That's sweet of you, Gabe. But did you forget to shave?" I teased.
"Umm" he trailed off as footsteps could be heard approaching us.
"Who is it, Gabe?" Andreanna McPherson, known to everyone as Mac because she would tolerate no other name, appeared in the room. Her face lit up when she saw me and she fingered the necklace hanging around her neck, the one whose set looked exactly like that of the Witchblade.
"Sara!" she exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting it to be you. I thought it was just a customer. How is everything going for you?" she asked, her Scottish accent peeking through by the end of her phrase.
"Well, I've been better. There's a crazy serial killer on the loose and I've been getting someunsavory gifts as of late. We just can't seem to catch the bastard. So watch out, both of you, although you most of all, Mac. He seems to only target women so far and he's killed two, although we can't figure out a connection between the victims as of yet."
"So, in other words, nothing new happening. Same old, same old."
"Pretty much." I grinned.
"Sara was curious about my lack of shaving," Gabriel said.
"Oh, that. Well, I like stubbly guys," Mac said, rubbing his (most likely) rough chin and smiling.
"Ah," I said, understanding. I knew exactly where Mac was coming from. There was no way I was letting Ian shave off his beard. But he was too lazy to do it anyway except for maintenance, so everyone was happy.
Mac seemed to read my thoughts, or she could have actually done the deed, since she was telepathic and telekinetic like Raven Cole. "Speaking of stubbly guys, how's Ian?" she wanted to know.
I grinned at her. "He's fine. He's more than fine, actually, but he's been having a hard time getting a job."
"I'm sorry to hear that. So are we going to be able to meet up tomorrow night?"
"Not sure. Have to call Ian and see what's going on."
Just then my phone rang.
"Hold that thought," I said, turning away from Gabe and Mac. "Hello?"
"Hello, my love."
"Hey, you. I was just talking about you, in fact. We don't have any plans for dinner tomorrow night, do we?"
"No more than usual. Why?"
"Well, I'm at Gabe's right now and he and Mac were wondering if we'd want to go out to dinner with them, Raven, and Jackson."
"That would be wonderful. I'd like that. Where and what time?"
"Hang on," I said, and covered the mouthpiece. "Where and what time?" I asked Mac.
"Umm7:45 at Tina's?" she said, naming a restaurant slightly fancier than Trappetto's was but not terribly so. I repeated the information to Ian.
"Sounds excellent. Will you be home soon?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to drop by Gabe's on my way."
"All right. I will see you momentarily."
"Bye, baby." We hung up and I turned back to Gabe and Mac. "He says we're on."
"Great! It's a reunion of the Associatesalmost."
"More like the close friends and allies of the Witchblade. But speaking of the Associates, how are they? Where are they?"
"They're still pretty much in hiding, but still bugging me to get another warehouse. Maybe a smaller one this time" Mac mused.
"Ummright. Well, call Raven and Jackson and we'll go from there," I said. "I'd better head home or Ian'll freak out or something."
"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow night, Pez," Mac said, and she and Gabe walked me to the door.
"Take care, Chief," Gabe replied.
"Bye, you two." I jogged down the steps as Gabe closed his door and started "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" back up from the beginning. I rolled my eyes and left the building.
* * *
As the door to my apartment closed, Mac and I breathed sighs of relief.
"I thought she'd never leave," she said.
"She wouldn't have stayed so long if you hadn't been blabbing," I said.
"Shut up, Gabriel. You don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, I do!"
"Shut up!"
"Quit saying that!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Damn you, Mac! You're so irritating!"
"Oh, like I'm the only irritating one? I don't think so, buster. You're the irritating one. You're a total slobI don't see how you can live in thisfilth," she said, opening the refrigerator and recoiling in disgust. "And for God's sake throw away all this take-out food you're never going to eat!"
I was about to continue the foolish argument when a question struck my mind instead. "Mac, what's happening to us? Everything was going so well, and now all we do is fight. That's all we've been doing in private for weeks, maybe months, and we have to keep working at covering it all up."
"Reality happened, Gabe. I don't think we're as compatible as we once seemed to be. We're not living in a fairy tale."
"Well, that's apparent. Not like Sara and Ian."
"I envy them, Gabe. How did they get so lucky?"
"Not without plenty of trial and error. I can't believe he was under her nose for so long and she simply didn't see it."
"And now they're practically inseparable. Just like he wanted. He's so good to her."
"Are you saying I'm not good to you?" I asked.
"No! God, we've got to stop this or I'll just go mad. Gabe, you're a great guy and everything, but if we can't have a conversation without snapping at each other a thousand timesI don't really see the point of us being together."
"I know. Should we tell them at dinner tomorrow?"
"At the end of dinner. But we shouldn't act all love-birdy while we're there."
"Do you think we'll be able to maintain a professional relationship? I mean, Sara and the Witchblade are important to both of us, and we'll have to come in contact with each other in order to keep them safe."
"I think we can still manage that," Mac said.
"Do you remember what started all this?"
"No." She shook her head. "Isn't that usually how it goes?" she asked softly.
I nodded, looking around at the boxes scattered all over the floor. The majority of them did contain merchandise for the store, as I had told Sara, but a few contained the small amount of Mac's possessions that she had been beginning to keep at my place in case we decided to move in together. Guess that idea was toast.
I helped her take the boxes down to her car and loaded the back seat and trunk with them.
"Is that it?" I asked.
"I guess so. I'm sorry about all this, Gabriel, and I would say I wasn't trying to hurt you if we hadn't hurt each other so much already."
"I understand, Mac. Maybe this will have been for the best."
"The Witchblade works in mysterious waysit weaves an unusual web, Gabriel. It's not our place to try and understand its logic."
"I guess so. SoI guess I'll see you tomorrow night."
" Till then," she said, and kissed my cheek in farewell. "Goodbye, Gabriel."
"Goodbye, Mac."
She got into her car and drove away as I watched. I sighed and went back inside, wondering what had happened to us. There would be a void inside me for a while until I figured out what to do romantically.
"Sorry it backfired, Mac," I whispered to myself. "Hope we can recover eventually."
* * *
I arrived at the apartment (no longer referred to as "Sara's apartment" in my subconscious) before Sara did and let myself in. I deposited my coat on a chair and put the three business cards of the institutions I meant to investigate for potential employment on the coffee table for in the morning. I picked up the phone and placed a quick order to Sara's favorite Chinese place, taking some time to talk to Bob and get interrogated. I didn't bring up the question that was plaguing my mindsurely he wasn't a Chinese man named simply Bob—but I didn't want to be rude and kept myself from asking. Whatever his nationality, Bob seemed like a nice guy, and we had a pleasant conversation until he realized he was blocking the restaurant's phone line, which lead to a hasty goodbye and a dial tone.
Sitting down on the sofa with a sigh, I waited for Sara to come home. Thankfully I didn't have long to wait.
"Ian! You home?" she called as she took the stairs at least three at a time.
"I am, my love," I said, and she dropped her gear and crossed the room, embracing me.
"How was the rest of your day?" I asked her as I put my arms around her.
"Terrible. Vic was especially graphic in her oral autopsy report. This guy is sick, Ian, and I'm worried. I told Mac to be cautious because this psycho is on the loose. I would tell Raven but somehow I think she could handle it. And I'm not saying that Mac couldn't, but"
"I understand. So how were those two?" I inquired.
"Fine. They asked about you and I said you were fine. Gabe's about to get run out of his place what with all of the boxes from his last big shipment."
"Good for him. The shipment part, not the eviction."
She smiled, as was my goal. "How was your day? Surely nowhere near as gruesome as mine."
"No, I can't claim that honor. I finally got waited on at the unemployment office and apparently three companies are looking for bodyguards for their CEO's."
"Great! So you can pick and choose, huh?"
"Something like that. But there's just one small problem."
"And that would be?"
"I have an interview tomorrow morning at 9:30."
She raised an eyebrow at me. "What's the problem with that? You should be excited."
"It's at Vorschlag."
The brow arched even more, inching its way to her hairline. "No way."
"Yes. I will finallyget to meet the famed Adair Avilla."
"Not something you'll be happy about. She's a conniving, despicable, evil bitch. Arrogant, rude—"
"—To put it plainly and skip all the adjectives, she's exactly like her father."
"Yes. There is definitely some family resemblance going on there. I still can't believe you never knew about her, considering how long you were around the man."
"It is hard to believe, but I don't think that even Irons knew about her until recently."
"Will wonders never cease. It wouldn't surprise me if she killed dear old Dad herself. But you'll make it fine, Ian. No one says you have to take the position there; after all, there are two other job openings."
I smiled as I thought about this. "You're right, Sara. Thank you."
"Any time," she said, taking my face in both hands and kissing me.
"Are you hungry?" I asked when she finished. She grinned.
"Sure am."
"I just called Bob. Guess Nick'll be over here soon."
"That wasn't what I meant, Ian," she said with a wicked smile, reaching for my belt buckle.
Somehow I didn't think we were going to make it until the takeout arrived.