The Report - Part Three

By Kat

Sara stood in her apartment thinking about Jake�s revelations. His love for her. His not being a rookie cop, but a Fed. His kiss. It was all a little too much to take at one sitting. Now she had to go meet Nottingham and find out what new disaster was about to befall her.

As she rode through the city streets, she thought about the vision she�d had while kissing Jake. They were mostly flashes of light and darkness, but a few images shined through. The main one being a blond man wearing what appeared to be priest�s robes. She had the feeling it was Jake, but that couldn�t be. Maybe it was someone that she�d yet to meet.

She arrived at the meeting place a few minutes early, but she knew that Nottingham was already there. He was always one step ahead of her. It was getting to be a bit aggravating.

She waited for him to reveal himself and managed to keep from jumping when his voice came from behind her.

"Lady Sara."

"Nottingham."

"You are in danger," he said.

"You keep saying that," she replied in an annoyed voice. "What from this time?"

"From someone close to you."

"Yeah, well, that could be any one of a hundred people. Care to be a bit more specific?" she asked.

"Your partner."

"Jake?" she queried.

"Yes. He�s not what he seems to be."

"I know," she responded.

"You know?" he said slightly incredulous.

"Yeah. He told me."

"He did?"

"Yeah, he did. What�s the problem, Nottingham? You jealous?" she retorted.

"Surprised, more than anything," he answered. "I didn�t think you�d be this calm about it."

"Well, I�m not happy that he�s been hiding behind the façade of a being a rookie cop, but it�ll come in handy having a Fed around," she replied.

Nottingham gave her a look that she couldn�t quite interpret, but since he didn�t say anything, she let it pass. He reached out as if to touch her face, but withdrew his hand before contact was made. Sara didn�t know what to make of it.

"Be well, Lady Sara," he said. "Don�t be too trusting of anyone. You never can tell where the next strike will come from." He turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows.

Sara stood there for a while wondering at Nottingham�s cryptic comments. Why can�t that guy just spit out whatever�s on his mind? Why all this subterfuge? She didn�t think she�d ever figure him out.

~~~~~~~~~

Jake was back at the office waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sara had been out with Nottingham for what seemed like hours now and he was getting anxious to see how�d she react to whatever dirt Nottingham had dished. He hated waiting around with nothing to do but � work.

Shuddering with self-loathing for being such a worrier, Jake tried to concentrate on the piles of files on his desk. He was slowly making his way to the bottom when Sara finally came in.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi, yourself."

The silence was a little strained, but Jake couldn�t determine if it was from some uncovered secret or because of the kiss. He opted to not doing anything for the time being to find out. It might be the coward�s way to postpone the inevitable, but at least it gave him a few more moments in her presence before it all went kablooey.

Sara hung her jacket on the rack near the door and sat down opposite Jake at her desk. She looked up long enough to catch his eye, then grabbed a file and set down to review the enclosed documents.

About 20 minutes of tense silence, Jake could stand it no longer. "Sara, are you going to say anything?"

"About what?"

"About anything. The silence is getting to me."

"Oh," she said, "sorry, I�ve got a lot on my mind."

"I know. That�s what has me worried."

Sara put down the file and really looked at Jake. There was concern on his face, but there was also something more. Something that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She didn�t like that feeling, it usually said her life was going to take a sharp turn into the unknown.

"Jake," she said, "what�s going on?"

"Waddya mean?"

She gave him a disgusted look that said he was an idiot for not sharing his secrets with her. He knew that he was risking his relationship with her � whatever that was � by not telling her everything, but until he knew what he was going to do, there was no point in confessing all.

"I mean, if you�ve got something to say, Jake, then just spit it out."

Her words were too close to what he was thinking and he knew she read the surprise on his face. Trying to think of some way out of this, he asked, "Where�d you run off to?"

Sara contemplated her response before telling him the truth, "Nottingham needed to see me. Had some intel to share."

"Anything I should know about?" he asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Not really. Just wanted to give me a heads up about a few things. Nothing to worry about."

"Ok," he said, hoping that her wariness had more to do with Nottingham than himself.

He turned his attention back to the papers on his desk. The silence that fell over the office was much less stressful than before, but it wasn�t as companionable as he would have liked. Oh well, he thought, at least she�s not taking a swing at me with the Blade.

When next he got a chance to notice his surroundings, it was dark outside and Sara had slipped out of the office without him. He straightened his desk, grabbed his coat and headed for his car.

He had just started up the car and was preparing to head home when his cell phone rang.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi, Jake," Nadine said. "How are you doing?"

"Ok, I guess."

"I got your revised report. It�s better than the first."

"Do you think it�ll buy me the time I need?" he asked.

"Probably a little bit," she answered. "But you�ll need to fill in more details before the next cycle."

"I know."

"You sound dejected," she said. "Do you need a friend?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied, "but �"

"But I�m not the one you�re looking for," she finished.

"Don�t take it personally, Nad," he said, "but no, you�re not."

Nadine sighed. "Jake, I think you need to take a break from all this. At least until you get your head straight."

"Nad, my head is straight. It�s just my heart I�m having trouble with."

"Jake," she began.

"Nad, don�t. Please," he interrupted. "I don�t need another lecture. I need �" He inhaled and fell silent.

"Ok, Jake. I�ll stop � for now. But I want you to be sure of your decision before you act on it. Ok?"

"Sure, thing, Nad. Thanks." He quickly disconnected the call so he didn�t have to listen to his very own Jiminy Cricket any longer.

He threw the car into gear and drove towards home deep in thought. Realizing that there wasn�t anything to do at home but think some more, he detoured to the bar for a couple of games of pool, a plate of nachos and a case or two of beer.

A few hours later, after having been poured into a cab for the short ride home, he opened his apartment door and found Sara sleeping on his couch. He rubbed his eyes a few times to ensure it wasn�t a drunken hallucination. The scene never wavered in front of him, so he figured it was real.

Slipping out of his jacket, he tried to hang it up, but missed the back of the chair. Giving up on trying to be neat, he tiptoed to the couch and knelt down to gaze at the sleeping Sara. He gently brushed her hair out of her face and bent over to place a kiss on her brow. His actions startled her out of her slumber.

"Hey, beautiful," he whispered as he jumped back before their heads collided.

"Hi," she replied, brushing the hair back into a makeship ponytail. "Where have you been?"

"At the bar," he answered.

"I can smell that," she said with a smile. "Did you bathe in it or drink it?"

"A little of both," he said, "I think." He stood to uncramp his legs and sat on the couch next to her. "Can I ask two questions?"

"Sure."

"What are you doing here? And how�d you get in?" he asked.

"I needed to talk and if you have to ask the second question, you�re really too drunk to be of much use to me," she gently chastised.

"Guess that depends on what use you need from me," he laughed back.

"Let me make some coffee," she said. "It looks like you could use some."

In spite of the lateness of the hour, she went into the kitchen and pulled together the makings of strong coffee. Jake went to his bedroom and changed out of his beer stained clothes and into sweats and a tee. A short while later he joined her back on the couch, this time with a steaming mug of coffee in front of them both.

"So, Sara," he said, "what�s so important that it couldn�t wait until morning?"