Disclaimer: I don't make profit, and I don't intend on making profit, therefore I don't own Mortal Kombat in any way. I don't even have stock shares…
Author's Note: After the craziness of last chapter, things are starting to wind down. But not without consequences for just about everyone involved. Don't kill me! It had to happen. Just read it; I know you're curious.
Cassie is stuck to her hospital bed while Johnny is taken by Fujin to the Jinsei to recover from his injuries. Sonya takes a few personal days off to stay in the hospital by Johnny's side initially and then by Cassie's after, only leaving to use the bathroom or make a quick phone call. Her own injuries were treated by the medical personnel back at the base, but she's reluctant to leave until she's sure her daughter would wake up. During her time, she constantly wonders why Fujin only recovered Johnny, but she figures it's a conversation for another day.
Many of the brief phone calls Sonya received were from Colonel Flagg. She already knows she's meant to deal with the backlash of her actions; before she went on the mission, she was told to make sure she captured at least one Black Dragon member as a fugitive. Knowing for the first time in her career she disobeyed orders (even from her technical subordinates), her meeting was not going to be good. But the most she risked was a humiliating demotion, and she accepted her fate.
A few days later, Cassie opens her eyes and sees white light blinding her vision. She groans, which catches the attention of the person near her. She hears the faint sound of mechanical beeping indicating her feeble but steady heartbeat. She struggles to sit up but the person holding her hand softly pushes her back down. "You need your rest, Cassandra," the male voice tells her soothingly.
Though she doesn't recognize the voice as him, she still calls out, "Dad?"
"Your father is also resting," he tells her.
"Mom?" she asks with a scratchy throat.
"She stepped out for a second. I will fetch her for you," he tells her. Before he can leave, she squeezes his hand softly. Interpreting it as a sign for him to stay, he sits back down and gently caresses her hand. "Would you like some water?" he asks her. She nods. He has a cup of water ready for her and he helps her take small sips from the paper cup. "You are a brave young lady."
Despite her pain, she chuckles. "You're quite the savior," she replies as she sees Sonya walking back to her room. "Hey, Mom," she says casually. He takes this as his cue to leave.
Sonya's eyes go wide and she runs over to Cassie's bedside. "Oh, my God, you're awake!" Draping her body over her daughter, she cries, "Thank goodness you're awake! I thought I was gonna lose you. Shit, you scared me!"
Struggling to sit up, Cassie strokes her mother's hair. "I'm okay, Mom. I've—" she's about to say she's been through worse, but she knows it isn't true. Plus, she's never seen her mother cry this way before. She sighs. "I'll be okay," she says instead.
Sonya lets out a choppy breath. "Cass, I'm so sorry for putting you in this position. Nothing I can say or do will ever make up for this, but… I really am sorry."
Heartbroken, Cassie explains to her mom, "It's not your fault, Mom, I promise. This was all me. I just… I just wanted to do something for you for a change. It just happened to backfire in my face hard." They share an embrace as silent tears falls from Cassie's face. After a few moments, Sonya lets go and caresses Cassie's cheek tenderly. She misses the interaction and leans into her mother's surprisingly soft touch. "I hope I didn't get you into too much trouble, General," Cassie tells her sincerely.
Sonya shakes her head. "That doesn't matter to me right now. What matters is you're alive."
"And grounded," Cassie laments.
Sonya suppresses the urge to cry. "One, you're a little too old for me to ground you. Two, you wouldn't be anyway. And three, I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel like you haven't done your best. I just wanted you to be the best. I projected my own goals and insecurities onto you and that wasn't fair. I gave up your childhood just to try to keep you safe. That was the best thing I could do as your mom," she confesses. Her phone lets out a few pings. She checks her messages and scowls. "Did they tell you when you'll be released?" she asks Cassie.
Cassie shrugs in response. "Dunno," she answers, also glowering at Sonya's phone. "Messages from the base?" she asks coldly. Sonya blinks at her daughter until she realizes she's referring to her phone. "It's okay, Mom. I'll be fine," she assures her sadly.
"I—"
"I promise. Go ahead. Yuri will just stay with me," Cassie tells her. Sonya gulps and looks at her phone again. "Just one little request."
Sonya perks up and says, "Anything!"
Cassie gives her a little smile. "Take a break, General. You deserve it." Sonya nods. She gets up, kisses Cassie on the forehead, and takes her reluctant leave.
When she enters her office, Sonya is shocked to see Colonel Flagg and Secretary Blake along with the General of the United States waiting for her. Their expressions are grim. Slowly, Sonya closes the door to her office and stands in the middle of the floor awkwardly. After a few tense moments of silence, she breaks it. "Secretary Blake. Colonel," she addresses them with a terse nod.
Blake nods back at her. "I assume you know what this meeting is about, right General?" he asks her, cutting straight to the point. She closes her eyes as she feels her heart rate steadily climbing. "First thing's first: how is Sergeant Cage?"
She huffs quietly. "She's stable. She's expected to be released from the hospital in a few days," she answers as politely as she can.
"And Mr. Cage?" he asks.
"Same report."
"And yourself?"
Sonya blinks in confusion. What was he playing at? "I'm fine," she says, gritting her teeth.
"Sad, really," Colonel Flagg begins, "I can't say the same to the families of the teams you've sent on a wild goose chase."
A tidal wave of guilt washes over Sonya, but she struggles to cover it up with an indifferent expression. "I'm aware no offer of consolation will ever suffice for their families. I did what I thought I had to do."
"Protecting this country is what you were supposed to do, General Blade. Not carrying out a personal vendetta that gets scores of soldiers killed on the job!" Blake reprimands her harshly. She flinches at the tone he takes with her. "What you did was reckless and reprehensible."
"I'm aware," she says softly, struggling to keep her calm façade. "I did what I had to do to save a soldier in the line of duty."
"At the expense of the lives of others? By putting said soldier in that line of fire?" Colonel Flagg questions her. She almost defends herself by saying it was Johnny's idea, but 1) she doubts he would appreciate her throwing him under the bus, and 2) it would have been her responsibility anyway. "Was it your brilliant idea to send Sergeant Cage on the suicide mission?"
Without hesitation, Sonya replies, "Yes, it was."
"Explain," Blake demands.
Sighing, she tries to recall everything Johnny told her about his side job for Cassie. "Fearing retaliation," she begins to explain, "I asked Cass— Sergeant Cage and Mr. Cage to keep an eye out for any activity from the Black Dragon. Sergeant Cage was able to pinpoint their new location and placed a tracking alert on any activity. She found out their rivals in the Red Dragon were planning their own retaliation by planting explosives in their new headquarters. The leader of the Black Dragon—"
"The deceased Kano," Blake interrupts with.
Sonya fights the impulse to growl. "He was planning on selling new weapons such as knives and ammunition to any worldly terrorists, which were infused with venom." The memory of Kano stabbing Johnny and Cassie streaks through her mind and she closes her eyes briefly.
Colonel Flagg shifts uncomfortably in her chair. "If this was the case, General, why not bring them all into federal custody?"
Because that bastard raped my daughter, she thinks angrily. "With all due respect, Kano was a fugitive known for evading such custodial actions," she opts to say instead.
"So you kill him and his followers instead?" Secretary Blake asks her. She swallows uncomfortably. "Listen, General Blade," he opens up with, "with all due respect, you have been one of the most impressive officers we have come to see in these past years. You were known for making decisions with a clear head and with a conscious plan to go along with it. The fact that you've dived into this personal mission head first without contemplating any repercussions is daunting and disappointing."
Disappointing. The only word reverberating through her head. As if she hadn't done enough disappointing in her life already; letting her family down was one thing, but it was another when she let herself and her country down by compromising her duties for some shit faced faction leader, just because he gave her the run around decades before. Tired of holding them in, tears begin to fall from Sonya's eyes. She'd given up so much in her life: her marriage to Johnny, Cassie's childhood, most of her friendships, her sanity. And now, she'd given up hope, and with her hope, her strength and integrity crumbled alongside.
Swiping away at her tears angrily, she stared down the five-star General of the United States Army. "As a result of your actions, General Blade, we can offer you two options," the older man informs her. "You can gracefully resign from your duties and we'll give you a general discharge. Or, we can drag you through the general court martial and strip you of your stars publicly. Seeing as how your services to this country, notwithstanding this incident, have been impeccable, we highly suggest you choose the former option."
This new information jars Sonya's entire core. She was expecting a demotion of some sort, but to be forced to either resign or be dishonorably discharged? That came as a complete shock to her. There is a beat of silence. Then, "We will give you 24 hours to come up with your decision, General," Secretary Blake assures her.
No, she doesn't want the day to pass with this hanging over her head. "I'll gracefully resign. Under one condition."
Colonel Flagg raises an eyebrow at her. "Which is?" he inquires.
She wipes her tears away again. "There are a few things I need to take care of as General. Please indulge me before I officially hand in my letter of resignation," she tells them quietly. The three men confer with each other briefly before they nod. "I won't need much time. About three hours tops," she tells them.
"Then it's settled. We will allow you to take care of your last affairs before you officially resign," Blake tells her. She nods, understanding her new predicament.
Two hours later, after calling Jacqui to her office to bestow the honor of promoting her to Corporal, Sonya packs the few belongings she has with her into her duffle bag. One of the last things to go in her bag is a framed picture of her, Cassie, and Johnny on a family fishing outing. Cassie grins broadly at the camera, her hair in two long French braids; Sonya smiles warmly, and Johnny hams it up by wrapping one arm around Sonya and using his other hand to put bunny ears over Cassie's head. She remembers the day clearly: she wanted to take them fishing like her dad used to take her and her brother, a trip she always enjoyed. Saddened Johnny and Cassie didn't share the same sentiments as her, she requested to have them take the picture anyway because she wanted to always remember another fishing trip. Coming out of her reverie, she smiles fondly at the picture before placing it carefully on top of her other belongings.
Searching through her drawers, she finds random mementos: a note from Johnny requesting her to take off for lunch, a stick figure drawing Cassie drew of her as Lieutenant Colonel for Mother's Day (at age 7), and an old set of keys to Johnny's house. Those keys were useless to her because Johnny changed the locks after a break in at his home a couple of months after their divorce. On the very bottom of the right hand drawer, she finds something that makes her heart drop: her other set of dog chains, ones she received upon making it to Brigadier General. Both her platinum emerald cut diamond engagement ring and her diamond encrusted wedding band were on the chain as well. Holding the chains up gingerly, Sonya chokes back a sob as she recalls her proposal.
"… Unless… maybe you've fallen in love with me," Johnny continued to prattle on before Sonya became annoyed with him.
Pressing two fingers to his lips, she said, "For once, shut up." She waited a beat to ensure Johnny wouldn't interrupt her. Removing her fingers from his lips, she blurted, "I'm pregnant."
He stared at her in shock. "What?" he asked her. And for once in his life, he was rendered speechless.
She sighed. "I don't expect you to help me or anything. I mean, you have your life and your career, and I have mines. Ugh, this is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever—"
"Hold on," he began, "do you honestly believe I'd leave you alone to take care of this kid? I may be a lot of things, Sonya, but deadbeat dad ain't one of them. Even if you think you don't want my help, you're still getting it."
"But I have responsibilities, John," she told him with a sigh.
"Yeah? Well now, so do I. And you can add 'mother' and 'wife' to your list, too. You're not doing this alone. Like it or not, we're stuck together now," he said to her sincerely.
She looked into his blue eyes. "You'd really help me?" she asked him. He nodded. "I'm warning you, I'm not giving up my career."
"We'll find a way to make it work, Sonya," he told her before apprehensively scooting closer to her. "So… d'ya want a big wedding or a small wedding?"
"Ugh," she said, burying her head in her hands.
Being a good sport, Johnny had let her take charge of everything. Sonya chose her engagement ring and planned the small court house occasion by herself. She sighs forlornly and puts the chains on as a sign of good faith. Zipping up her duffle bag, Sonya takes one last look around her office before leaving for the last time.
When she gets outside the base, she sits on the curb with a hand through her hair. It's still early in the afternoon and she has nothing else better to do. Thinking about it, she also doesn't have a place to stay; she had to forfeit her place at the base as a result of her resignation. The one place she can go that seems the most logical is the very same place she's been afraid of coming back to on a permanent basis. However, she knows she can't be turned down, so she moves from the curbside and calls a cab. When the cab arrives twenty minutes later, she tells the driver the address of her destination.
Driving through the streets, she contemplates changing her mind several times. Arriving at her destination, she braces herself for more possible rejection and pays the driver. Stepping out of the cab, she slowly walks up the cobblestone path and up to the solid oak door. Setting down her duffle bag, her knuckles hover over the door. Blinking back tears, she opts to ring the doorbell twice. She then knocks on the door exactly five times, hoping he'd recognize it as her distinction. A few minutes go by and Sonya decides to try again, knocking five times and ringing the door twice. For what she feels is the umpteenth time that day, she wipes away the steady stream of tears that rapidly descends her cheeks. "I don't want any Jehovah's— Sonya?" he asks as he throws the door open.
A/N: I'll leave it at that for now. There's one chapter left, which should prove to be an interesting read. This chapter made me kinda sad to write, so I hope you all understand the emotion behind it. Leave your comments and concerns as per usual. I always like reading them. Thanks guys!