Sonya eagerly watched Kabal in anticipation of his next move. He twirled his hooksword while slowly circling around her like a predator stalking its prey. Without warning, Kabal lunged his hooksword toward Sonya. She backflipped to evade his strike. "Gotta do better than that if you want to catch me," she said as she slowly pulled two large daggers from behind her back. "I'm just getting warmed up," Kabal answered. He emerged with a second hooksword to meet her challenge. He lunged for her a second time making contact with her daggers.

The two of them moved in perfect harmony as they both tried to deflect each other's attacks. Picking up his pace, Kabal charged at Sonya with his hookswords, but she effectively blocked him by crossing her arms in front of her, with her steel energy bracelets taking the brunt of his strikes. She could feel herself tiring as she continued to shield herself from Kabal's strong and deadly blows. Adrenaline coursed through her body forcing herself to push through her exhaustion. With her heart pounding in her chest, she was determined not to give in and held her ground.

She mustered the strength to kick Kabal backward causing him to lose his footing. As he charged her again, Sonya countered him with a swift high kick. She was able to knock one of Kabal's hookswords out of his hand, sending it across the room. Kabal smiled. "Not bad, Blade," he said while twirling his other hooksword. He then forcefully swiped at her hand causing her to drop one of her daggers.

Kabal made another attempt to disarm Sonya by racing toward her. She caught him off guard by seizing his wrist and twisted it. As Kabal howled in pain, Sonya kicked him forward in the stomach and then uppercutted him. Kabal fell backwards and hit the mat from the force of her punch. Loud cheering erupted from The Black Dragon members observing the match from the lower end of the bleachers. Rising to their feet, they shouted, "Hail the queen!"

Sonya looked back at them and laughed from their enthusiasm. She knelt down over Kabal to gloat. "Had enough?" she asked. Kabal sat up and massaged his jaw. "You got lucky. I was owning your ass." Sonya laughed. "Can't admit defeat, huh? We can do a rematch if you like." The Black Dragon started to chant in agreement, "Rematch, rematch!"

Four months had passed since the Chaosrealm mission. Sonya had remained among the Black Dragon and continued, alongside Kano, to search for Titan Havik. There was evidence of his influence due to increased instances of rioting, theft, and vandalism in various cities throughout the country. Now backed by the both the FBI and OIA, Sonya and Kano had multiple resources at their disposal to aid in their pursuit of the tyranical villain. They worked tirelessly and searched in vain for the titan's whereabouts but would continue to come up short as he always seemed a few steps ahead of them.

During this time, Sonya trained religiously every day with the intention to perfect her knife skills. Kira had personally overseen her training and strenuously challenged Sonya to her breaking point. Before long, Sonya's knife skills improved and she was considered to be quite formidable in her own right. She still had some ways to go, however, her new skillset and overall fighting technique became deadlier with each passing day. Her persistence did not go unnoticed and she ultimately gained the respect and admiration of the Black Dragon.

Kano and Kira had watched Sonya and Kabal's sparring match from the middle row of the bleachers. Kano observed as Sonya playfully punched Kabal's shoulder and giggled as he faked an ouch in response. Sonya then reached for Kabal's face and tenderly massaged his jaw. Kira couldn't help but notice the scowl that formed on Kano's face as he watched Sonya and Kabal together. Kano stood and called down to them. "That's enough sparring for today."

Sonya got up and helped Kabal to his feet. "That was a good match. Thanks for the practice." Kabal smiled, "You are getting better with the daggers, everyone was impressed." "I don't think everyone was impressed," Sonya said. She curiously looked at Kano for a moment and then turned her gaze to Kabal. "What's up with Kano? It's not like him to cut time on a sparring match." Kabal shrugged. "I don't know, I think he is stressed out. Maybe this whole Havik thing is starting to get to him." Then he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Catch you later, kid."

Kano took a sip of his beer in silence as he watched Kabal kiss Sonya good bye from the bleachers. "You alright, boss?" Kira asked. "Never better. Why do you ask?" Kira shrugged. "I don't know, you looked kinda pissed off after Sonya and Kabal's sparring match. Not like you to act like that." Kano looked at her annoyed. "Yeah I'm pissed. I take sparring seriously. Kabal is a bloody wanker! He is not challenging Sonya hard enough. She needs more practice to master her knife skills. She is so close to getting the hang of it."

Kira laughed. "I think it's more than that...you know as well as I do that Sonya is catching on faster than we all expected.." Then she looked at him more closely. "I saw the look you just gave them...You do know that they are friends and there is nothing going on there?" Kano took another sip of his beer. " Yeah, so what? Why should I care?" Kira gave him a small smile. "You were jealous watching them together. You like her, don't you?" Kano scoffed. "That's absolutely ridiculous." Kira smiled. "I see how you look at her...and how she looks at you when you don't notice. There is something there, Kano."

"Kira, stop talking out of your arse," he snapped. Kira knew that she struck a nerve but she continued to prod him. "I am not going to stop. I have been by your side the longest out of all of these fools. Which means I know you the best. You are into her, but you won't admit it. I mean, it makes sense, really. You get along better now since you started working together." Kano gave her an irritated look. "For fuck's sake! Just drop this will ya?" "Sonya has been with us now for the past four months. Can you honestly say that during all of this time it has NEVER crossed your mind to make a move on her?"

Kano let out a deep sigh and then turned to face her. "Kira, I am not blind... Sonya is beautiful and I won't deny that the thought has crossed my mind a time or two but it would be stupid to even entertain it. I can't and I won't. There is too much at stake with us chasing the trail of this bloody psycho." Kano shook his head. "Now is not the time for any type of distractions, Kira...no matter how tempting."

Kira stood up to walk down the bleachers. She shook her head at him. "Boss, it is not like you to make excuses. Own up to what you feel and give it a shot. For all you know, she could feel the same about you." At that, she walked away. Kano hadn't noticed that during his chat with Kira that all of the Black Dragon had left but Sonya was still in the room. "Hey, you alright? Something seemed to bother you earlier," Sonya said as he started walking down to her. "I'm fine, love. Why are you still hanging around here?" he asked.

Sonya started to twirl one of her daggers. " I want a shot at you." He raised an eyebrow. "You're getting better, but you're not quite there yet to go toe to toe with me." "Why not, afraid I might give you a run for your money?" she baited him. "You and I both know that I've kicked your ass on more than one occasion." Kano smirked. "Right love, but that was when we were at odds with one another, now we are partners."

Sonya narrowed her eyes at him. "That won't make me take it any easier on you. What's your hesitation? We've sparred before, so what makes this any different?" " We've never sparred with knives," he said. " Your hand to hand combat skills are impressive, but you've never relied on knives before and this is my area of expertise. You're no match for me with a blade."

"Come on, Kano. I need the practice and what better way to rate my technique than fighting you head on? Besides, you cut my time short with Kabal. You owe me a match." "Alright then," he said as he started to pull two of his butterfly knives out of their sheaths. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He quickly twirled his knives. "Let's dance, shall we?" Sonya pulled out another dagger from behind her back to meet his challenge.

Sonya had faced Kano numerous times across the years and she was more than familiar with his fighting technique, as he was with hers. She knew, however, that the stakes were higher; this was more than just any challenge as this time around they were both adding knives to the mix. They slowly circled around each other similar to how she and Kabal began their match earlier. Sonya did not take her eyes off of Kano as they mirrored each others steps. Finally, she decided to make the first move by thrusting at him. With one swift motion of his arm, Kano knocked a dagger right out of Sonya's hand and sent it clanging toward the floor.

He mockingly grinned at her. "Are you still trying to give me a run for my money, baby?" Sonya smirked. "That and I am going to wipe that stupid grin off of your face." She challenged him again by racing toward him and took a swipe at him. He stepped backwards to evade her attack. As he stepped forward to strike at her, she high kicked a knife out of his hand and it went flying across the room. Going toe to toe, they clashed their knives in unison. She found it increasingly difficult to outwit Kano as he continuously matched her moves.

Sonya finally made some kind of headway in their match as she blocked one of Kano's advances and forced him to stumble backward. She moved towards him and did a round house kick sending his second knife across the room, completely disarming him in the process. Kano smiled in approval. "Not bad, love, but you're not through with me just yet."

Sonya could feel the pounding of her heart in her ear. Her breathing was ragged, and her speed slowed, but she forced herself to continue her momentum driven by the desire to overcome him. Sonya charged Kano once more and attempted to strike him with her knife. Kano however, anticipated this and he slapped the knife out of her hand. As she tried to punch him, he caught her fist with his hand, and jerked her body towards him. Before she knew it, he had pulled her arms from behind her.

Sonya struggled to get free, but couldn't loosen herself from Kano's grip. He stepped in from behind her and pulled her closer to his body. Then he brought his face closer to her ear. "Are you willing to admit defeat, baby?" Sonya grinned, "Nope!" She stepped on his foot really hard. The pain forced him to let her go and she stumbled forward, yet quickly regained her footing.

With a final effort to end their fight, Sonya raced toward Kano and started to fling her fists at him. After evading a few of her attempts, he swiftly kicked her feet from under her and she landed on her back. Kano leaned over her and completely pinned her down so that she could not get up. He slyly smiled. "I win, love." Sonya playfully rolled her eyes at him. "That's because I was taking it easy on you." Kano smiled. "You shouldn't do that, it's beneath you," he said as he slowly caressed one of her wrists. "You're getting much better; you almost had me there for a minute. Almost."

Sonya squirmed a little bit from under him. "You plan on letting me up anytime soon?" Kano mischievously grinned. "Not yet, I kind of like you like this." Looking in Sonya's eyes, he found himself contradicting his earlier words to Kira as his present thoughts betrayed him. His feelings for Sonya were deeper than what he led Kira to believe. As he gently caressed the side of her cheek, her face nuzzled into his touch.

While neither one uttered a word, they were both fully aware of each other's affection. They couldn't quite call it love; the restraint of their feelings prevented it from going there but it was pretty damn close. Their need for one another was unsatiable; growing like an unquenchable thirst. They had been tiptoeing around their attraction for months, but failed to act on it due to their shared commitment of duty.

"Ummm, boss, sorry to interrupt, but we got a situation," Jarek said. Kano and Sonya jerked their attention toward Jarek's voice. Kano lifted himself off of Sonya and helped her to her feet. "What is it, Jarek?" he asked. "We received a video call from an OIA agent; he says that there is something you need to see." They followed Jarek to the security room where multiple monitors displayed camera angles of all the rooms and perimeter of the warehouse. Jarek clicked on one of the video feeds to resume the video call.

Sonya's face beamed at the sight of her dearest friend, Special Agent Jackson "Jax" Briggs. She and Jax had worked together in the same unit of the FBI for years until he co-founded the OIA with Kenshi. "Hi Jax!" He gave her a wide grin. "How ya doing, Sonya? I hear you and Kano have been getting a lot of action as of late." "Yes, there have been a lot of civil disturbances that no doubt this Titan Havik has orchestrated. Tell us that you have some news related to his whereabouts."

"The Titan is aggressively moving ahead with his plans of invading other realms. He has enslaved the realm of Zaterra and has forced its people, the Saurians, a reptiloid species to swear allegiance to him. At the moment, he has taken residence in the Kuatan province of Outworld. He is developing a massive army unlike anything we have seen before. The army consists of the Tarkatans, the Saurians and the Shokan, fierce warriors of half human, half dragon heritage. Furthermore, the army is being led by the Havik of our timeline as he seeks to glorify his Titan counterpart."

Kano was shocked at Jax's revelation. "That's impossible. I took the fucker's head off! How in the name of fuck could he have survived that?!" Jax shrugged. "Don't believe me, see for yourself." He sent them surveillance images of the massive army that he had previously described. Preceding the army stood both the Titan Havik and Havik, with the later version commanding them.

Kano became visibly agitated upon seeing him alive. "Fucking A. It's pointless to even consider taking on this army if we can't figure out how to kill these fuckers." Sonya nodded in agreement. "Kano's got a point. Havik is impenetrable, which means his counterpart will likely be the same. We need to figure out their weaknesses if we are going to stand some kind of chance against them."

Later on that night, Sonya and Kano were sitting together on the sectional sofa with their legs spread on the coffee table. Drinking beers, they were bouncing ideas off one another on what could possibly kill both Havik versions. "What about fire?", Sonya asked as she took a sip of her beer. "Maybe that could work," Kano answered thoughtfully. Suddenly, his face lit up with excitement. "How about putting grenades in their mouths?" Sonya chuckled from his excited expression. "That's rather gory." "But should do the trick," Kano confidently said as he took a sip of his beer. "Unless their heads regenerate," Sonya pointed out. "Oh right," Kano said disappointed.

"What about stabbing them in the heart?" Sonya smirked. Kano stared at her with amusement. "Fire and stabbing in the heart... They're not bloody vampires, love." Sonya sighed. "Maybe we are going about this all wrong. What if their invincibility can be affected by some sort of relic or talisman?" Kano took another sip of his beer. "You might be on to something. But from where though?" Feeling discouraged, Sonya shook her head. "I have no idea. I need to do some research, but I will be honest, I'd be lying if I said I knew where to start." Kano turned to face her. "Don't worry, love. We will sort this out."

Sonya looked at the fireplace before them. She silently watched the dancing flames as she contemplated changing the subject. "How much longer are we going to keep ignoring what's happening between us?" At a loss for words, Kano turned from her and stared at the fireplace. "I felt it earlier today, when you touched me...you always try to hide it, but I know you want me, Kano."

Feeling impulsive, she moved on top of him to straddle his lap. She tilted his face so that he was looking up at her. Without saying another word, she kissed him deeply. He gently moved her back. "Baby, I think that you've had a little too much to drink. You wouldn't do this otherwise." She gave him a sexy smirk that made him feel weak in his knees. "Oh trust me, I am thinking clearly. I am just tired of waiting for you to make a move."

Grabbing his face, she kissed him again. She gyrated her hips on top of him earning a frustrated hiss from his lips as he struggled to keep his urges under control. "Stop making me wait when you can have me right now." She started to undo his belt and he quickly grabbed her hand causing her to stop. "Sonya..." He debated with himself if he should sleep with her. He felt like he would be taking advantage of her despite her saying that she felt sober enough.

The hunger in her eyes matched his own, and he couldn't suppress his desires much longer. He roughly kissed her back and pushed her body on the sofa so that he was laying on top of her. She moaned as he sensually kissed her neck. Wrestling with his thoughts, Kano decided that he could not bring himself to be intimate with Sonya in her current state. After a few moments, Kano pressed his thumb into a pressure point on Sonya's throat and her body went limp underneath him.

He carried Sonya to her bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. He caressed the side of her face as he watched her sleep. "Love, I want you more than you know. Just not like this." He knelt down to kiss her lips as she slept. Taking one last look at Sonya, he reluctantly left her side and closed the door behind him.