By Kat

Two�

Jake woke up the next morning feeling like he was being buried alive under the pressures of his multiple jobs. He was a priest pretending to be a Fed pretending to be a rookie cop. When in reality he was a man in deep trouble. The phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Jake, it�s Nadine."

"Hi. What�s up?"

"I�m at the corner coffee shop, can I come over?"

"Only if you bring me a double latte," he replied.

"Deal," she answered. "I�ll be there in 10 minutes, so you better get dressed."

"See you then," he said, hanging up the phone and climbing out of bed.

By the time Nadine arrived, he had showered and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. He had also started some breakfast, figuring that with the conversation to come they would need sustenance to keep them going.

The doorbell rang and Nadine entered Jake�s apartment. "Nice," she said. "I haven�t been here since you moved locations. I like this place better than the original one. Much roomier."

"Thanks. What�s on your mind, Nad?" he asked, reaching for his double latte.

"Just our conversation last night," she replied. "I�m worried about you and I don�t know if you realize the situation you�re in."

Jake sipped his coffee, buttered some toast and then sat down at the table across from Nadine. "I think I do realize the situation I�m in," he said. "Remember, I�m the one living it."

"I know," she said, "but that doesn�t mean you have a clear picture of what�s going on and what your actions can bring about�both good and bad."

"Then tell me, Nad. Tell me how rotten I am for having feelings for a woman I�m supposed to be watching. A woman that�s done nothing to provoke this surveillance. A woman that�s been nothing but�" his voice trailed off at the stern look on Nadine�s face.

"That�s exactly what I�m talking about, Jake. You�re not exactly objective in this matter, are you?"

"I guess not," he said, taking a bite of his breakfast. "But that doesn�t mean I�m wrong either."

"No, it doesn�t," she agreed. "But it does call to question your ability to carry out your mission. You are supposed to be here to observe, record and then recommend a course of action to the Department. If you�re too wrapped up in your feelings for Sara Pezzini, you�ll be making mistakes that none of us can afford."

"Nad," he started, "I don�t know what to do. I�ve been tempted in the past by women, I�ve been tempted by situations, but nothing like this. I�ve never had this kind of break of � faith, but that�s not exactly it either.

"It�s almost like I�ve come to a crossroads in my life and the two paths laid out in front of me aren�t anything like I had planned."

"They usually aren�t," Nad said softly. "That�s not unusual. The problem here, isn�t that you have choices to make, it�s that those choices could drastically affect life as we know it."

"Don�t get so melodramatic, Nad," Jake said, standing up for emphasis. He began pacing the kitchen area. "You don�t know what you�re talking about. I�m just a small cog in the wheel of life and whatever choices I make, are mine."

"If you say so," she said with a tolerant tone. "But remember this, whatever you choose to do, will affect more than just yourself. It will affect me, Sara, our operation and, no matter what you may think, the fate of the Church. You may not like it, but that�s the truth."

Jake continued to pace the dining area and stopped only long enough to look directly into Nadine�s eyes. "You know something," he said, "I don�t much care for you right now."

"That may be, but it doesn�t change the facts," she said. "I�ll leave you to your thoughts and your pacing. You need to make your decision soon, before the Department makes the decision for you." She gathered her purse and coffee cup and left Jake alone.

He sat back down, using the coffee cup to make rings of condensation on the table. The rings became the Witchblade symbol. He stopped when he had created the symbol over a dozen times. This was getting him nowhere.

He threw the cup into the trash and decided to go to Sara�s for a little heart-to-heart conversation. Maybe if he could talk to her, he�d be able to figure out his next move. Maybe he could figure some way out of his predicament, because Nadine wasn�t far off. He was a man on the brink of breaking vows and changing his life, and those decisions are never easy to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sara heard the knock on her door and wondered who it could be. She opened it to reveal Jake standing there looking for all the world like something a cat would never drag in. He looked like he hadn�t slept in days.

"Jake," she said, "you okay?"

"Dunno," he replied. "Can I come in?"

"Sure. You want some coffee?"

"Nah, I�ve had enough to wire an elephant. What I could use is a friend. Care to apply for the job?" he asked with a twisted smile.

Sara ushered him to the couch and after grabbing a cup of coffee for herself, she perched on the edge next to him. "What�s on your mind?"

He looked intently at his hands as if they had the answers to the Sphinx� riddle. He inhaled deeply and said in a rush, "I�minlovewithyouandIdon�tknowwhattodoaboutit." He looked up through downcast eyes hoping she had heard him, yet praying that she hadn�t understood.

"Excuse me?" she asked. "Would you care to repeat that?"

"Not really," he said.

She sat back into the couch wondering if she�d understood him correctly. She watched his face and realized that the normal devil-may-care façade was missing. He had the look of a man going off to the gallows and knowing it wasn�t going to be a fun walk.

"Jake," she began, "I don�t know what to say to that. I never realized." She took a sip of her coffee to give herself something to do while she wrestled with this new information.

"Don�t get me wrong, Jake. I�m flattered, but�" she said

"But you�re not interested," he finished. He started to push himself off the couch, when her hand restrained him.

"That�s not what I was going to say, Jake. I was going to say, I�m flattered, but this is a bit of a shock. I never expected this from you."

He gave her an intense look and tried to determine if what she was saying was the truth, or just a prettier version of it than what was really there. He couldn�t be sure of which and said so, "Sara, you don�t need to sugar coat this for me. I�m a big boy and can handle the rejection."

"I�m not rejecting you, Jake," she said. "I�m just trying to process this. It�s not every day that my partner comes over and says he�s in love with me." She smiled as she said that, giving Jake a little hope that maybe he wasn�t going to be shown the door too quickly.

"I do, however, have one question."

"Ask," he said.

"What brought this on? Why now?"

He took a deep breath and tried to organize his thoughts so he could tell her the truth, but also so that parts of the truth weren�t reveal as of yet. "I sorta had an epiphany last night."

"Before or after your date," she asked with a gentle laugh.

He looked at her sharply, gauging if she was joking or not. "After," he replied with his own slow grin.

"Ok, go on."

"I realized that I couldn�t keep this to myself if I was to be of any use to you and our case load," he said.

"Don�t give me that, Jake," she chided. "You aren�t worried about our case load. What�s really going on?"

Jake then saw that the Blade at her wrist began to swirl with color and light. He knew this didn�t bode well for him or his story. Sara stared off into the distance, watching something that only she could see. The moment passed and a look of confusion and irritation crossed her face.

Jake knew he didn�t have much time. The vision could have been about him or something else, but the look she was giving him, led him to believe it wasn�t good news for him regardless.

"What�s going on is that I�m not really a rookie cop." That much was true, he thought to himself. "I�m working with the Department of Justice to crack the White Bulls ring here in the NYPD." That, too, was true. Just not the whole truth.

"You�re what?!" she exclaimed.

"I�m a Fed, Sara. Assigned to infiltrate and bring down the crooked cops that work with and for Bruno Dante."

"Wow," she said. "I�d never have guessed. You make a pretty good doofus rookie partner, partner."

"Thanks."

"But that doesn�t explain your � confession," she remarked.

Jake winced at her choice of words. If confession were really good for the soul, he�d have a truckload of penance to pay for all the lies and half-truths he�d been telling her. Including the ones he was about to say.

"I guess from your point of view it doesn�t," he said. "There�s more."

"Somehow I gathered that," she said wryly.

"I know about the Witchblade, Sara." He waited for her reaction before continuing. "I know that�s one of the secrets you�ve been keeping from me. I also understand why you have. It�s not everyday that you get a supernatural weapon that decides you are its newest keeper."

"How? What?" she sputtered. She got up from the couch and angrily stomped around the apartment.

"Remember I was there when you survived the Museum explosion. I was also there at the Rialto."

She turned to face him and he saw fire in her eyes. "If you knew about the Blade, then why didn�t you do something to help me stop Danny from getting killed?"

"I couldn�t. Someone knocked me out," he replied. "I didn�t want anything to happen to either of you, that�s why I followed you there. Unfortunately, I came to too late to help. I�m sorry."

"Sorry won�t cut it, McCartey," she said angrily. "If you knew about the Blade, why haven�t you told me sooner? This is not making any sense." She paced around the room, trying to dispel her high energy level, but nothing was working.

Jake stood and faced her path as she continued her circuit around the room. "I wanted to, but I was under orders not to interfere. I didn�t know if you were part of the White Bulls or just someone that got caught in the middle of it. I realize now that you couldn�t be involved with them, and your involvement with the Blade has absolutely nothing to do with the DOJ case."

She appeared to calm down, some, at his response, but she was still livid at him for not telling her sooner. There was so much she could have shared with him if she�d only known about the truth sooner.

"Fine! You couldn�t tell me before, but that still doesn�t answer the question. Why now?"

"Because there are things going on in your life that can and do affect many other people. Myself included."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that as you learn to control that thing," he said pointing to the bracelet, "you�ll become a target for people that don�t want you do. That�s probably the biggest reason for why I�ve �confessed�."

"I don�t understand," she said. "What does one have to do with the other?"

He reached over and took a hold of her shoulders, keeping her immobile for a moment. "It means that if you don�t trust me, if you don�t know that my interest in you isn�t strictly professional, you might be more inclined to fight my help and my protection. And that�s something that neither of us can afford to deal with right now."

"Jake, you�re beginning to scare me," she said. "Why do I need your help and your protection? What�s really going on?"

Jake ran out of patience with her questions and with more force than was really necessary, he pulled her into his embrace and kissed her with all the subdued passion he�d held in check. Sara fought the initial contact. She started to rebel, then with the Witchblade glowing at her wrist, she succumbed to the kiss.

The images swirling in her head from both the kiss and the Blade made for a confusing maelstrom, but as the pressure on her shoulders eased, she began to relax into both. The kiss left her breathless and the visions made her curious to know more. Jake finally released her and stepped back, a look of complete wonder on his face. She knew how he felt.

She was the first to break the silence, "Gotta hand it to you, Jake. You sure do know how to make a point."

He gave a slight chuckle and ran his hands through his already mussed up hair. "Sorry, I don�t normally resort to those kind of tactics."

"Yeah, well maybe you better from time to time," she laughed. "Not a bad technique at getting someone to shut up."

"So, now what happens?" he asked.

"I don�t know," she replied.

Just then the phone rang. Answering it, she glanced at Jake before saying, "I�ll meet you there in an hour."

Jake knew his time had run out. He had no way of turning back time and no way of preventing what was about to happen. He touched Sara�s face with both hands, pulled her into a gentle, brief kiss and said before leaving the apartment, "Just remember, Sara, I love you."

This story ©copyright Kat, September 12, 2001