TITLE: Witchblade: To Set Aside A Day Of Joy

AUTHOR: josh emmett

DISCLAIMER: This story is a blatant use of other people's (Top Cow, Halsted, Mythic, WB and TNT) characters, a.k.a., Fanfic. No money was made, and no characters were harmed in the making of this Fanfic. My fondest apologies.

COUPLE: Sara/Gabriel?

RATING: PG for mild violence and sexual innuendo

SUMMARY: Sara and Gabriel find more than friendship. They find a family.

NOTE: This story was written as a Yule Challenge. The requirements are listed at the end of the story.

BONUS INFO: The Witchblade has yet another power.

DEDICATION: DravenSwwann, John Hensley and Brian Jones

BETA: Me, so I've only myself to blame

FEEDBACK: Pathetically craved, as always (even if it's only constructive criticism)

Witchblade: To Set Aside A Day Of Joy
by josh emmett

Sara Pezzini was sitting on her sofa at about midnight. She was staring at the wooden box her Father had left her. It still remained unopened. At first, she didn't even hear the knocking at the door. Her thoughts were on this afternoon and the report she had had to write up...

+++++

When Sara and her partner, Jake McCartey, reached the house, the squad and unmarked police cars were piled parking lot deep in front. Once inside, Sara had noticed that the front room was empty except for camera equipment
and a large bed. She knew what that meant.

Jake had continued into the bedroom to find the body of a man in his 50s lying on the floor naked with a bullet hole in his forehead. He glanced around the room to see bookcases filled with video tapes. Blank ones, homemade ones, purchased ones. Officer Brown pulled one off of a shelf and held it up for Jake to see. "This is one of my favs, can I keep it? No one will miss it out of all of these." Jake looked at the title: "Lesbian Spank Inferno" (7), and rolled his eyes. Then he shrugged his shoulders and walked out. Officer Brown slipped it into his blue coat.

Sara was in the kitchen, where a young girl was sitting and sobbing at the table. A gun lay in front of her. Officer White picked it up with his gloved hand and put it into a large plastic bag and sealed it. He walked over to Sara: "She's 14 and she couldn't take it anymore."

"I'm not surprised." Sara deadpanned. The front room gave it all away. "She's dressed. Was she here all along?"

"No. From what we gather, the kids who were here have run away. She came in through the bathroom window (9). He ran into the bedroom, but she caught up with him..." Officer White let the sentence hang.

"Brilliant'" Sara sighed at the obvious. Well, there wasn't any more for her there now. She turned to Jake: "Let's go, partner. They can wrap it up. I'm feeling disgusted." She wrinkled up her face and pushed her way out. Jake followed.

+++++

"What kind of people do these things to kids?" she was wondering, as she suddenly realized someone was knocking at the door. She found Gabriel Bowman standing in the hall. "I saw your light on," he said in lieu of a more normal greeting.

"Hi, to you, too, kid." Sara turned and walked back into the loft. Gabriel followed, shutting the door behind him. He pulled off his gloves and unzipped his black leather jacket.

+++++

Gabriel remembered the first time he had seen Sara when he walked into a crime scene about a month ago. He was carrying a package and no one stopped him or questioned his being there. Later, when Sara had come to his 'shop'
(converted warehouse, really), Gabe realized that she looked like she could be his older sister. Even that first day at the apt., he had felt something hit him deep inside. Later he would realize it was the Witchblade-connection. She had asked him to help her out on the case *and* the Witchblade, which he had recognized immediately. Since then, it seemed that they had both found excuses to see each other. They were each, not only alone, but not really lonely, either. And as time passed, both were realizing how alike they were in their thinking, as well as their looks.

+++++

"What are you doing driving by at..ah..." suddenly Sara started to laugh. Gabriel smiled his big impish grin. He knew very well what he looked like in bell-bottoms, a tie-dyed t-shirt, fringed vest and a headband. "Do I *really* want to know?"

"I was on a date."

Sara made her famous upside-down smile and nodded her head slowly" "Enough said. Want a beer?"

Gabriel nodded and as Sara walked towards the fridge, he sighed in relief and took off his jacket completely and the headband. "I got asked to a retro-rock party. *I* looked like this, she was in saddle shoes, white socks, a poodle skirt and a ponytail. At least she had the figure for the pink angora sweater (1). So, I said: "Wrong retro" and she just laughed and we went anyway. But they were all a bit too Elvis for me, so I got her hooked up with a couple of her girlfriends, and left."

Sara handed him the beer and sat down next to him. "Lii-ttle more than I needed to know... So, why'd ya stop here?"

"Oh...well...I'd been meaning to ask you something but we were never alone long enough."

"No. Don't think so. You're cute, but young."

"Young's good. More stamina. But I think of you as an older sister, and that is why I wanted to ask if you'd come to Christmas dinner at my place. Nothing fancy. I'm a microwave guy. But I figured you were the type who spent the day alone, and so am I...so, why not spend a little of it alone together?"

+++++

Sara was roaring down the street on her motorcycle. (It had been her vehicle of choice since she made detective grade. Dressed in her full leathers, with her hair completely tucked into her helmet, no one knew she was a woman until she swung that long mane out from under the headgear and gave it a shake, letting it fall down her back. Some of the guys still commented that "she was so good-looking that she looked like a man." (9)) She was still wondering why she had accepted Gabriel's offer. Now, she felt like she should get him something. Well, he *was* fixing dinner, she reasoned. She stopped at her favorite store, Still A Mystery. It had been a 'head shop' in the 70s, and was still run by the same couple who had opened it. Sunday and Free had been friends of her Father. They'd stayed hippies and he'd become a cop, but their friendship had remained. Now, the store carried handmade jewelry, candles, and the like. They taught meditation classes and told stories about the 'free' days. Sara had remembered a special silver bracelet she's seen and hoped it was still there. She just *knew* it was perfect for Gabriel. (She hadn't bought a Christmas gift for anyone since her Father had died. They hadn't been that big on celebrating the holidays and birthdays, but he had managed to set up a small tree and a few decorations for Christmas every year since her Mother had passed on. Now that he was going, too, she hadn't seen much point in continuing it.)

"There's our girl!" Free said as Sara walked in. And Sara answered "Hey!" with a smile.

"I've a great Day-Glo Jesus, with *your* name on it!" Sunday called out from the back.

Sara froze for a minute and narrowed her eyes. She looked at the round face with the large mustache looking through the string-bead curtain. He'd caught her, and she knew it as soon as it came out of her mouth: "Surely,
you jest."

Free's eyes rolled upwards, as Sunday stepped out grinning from ear to ear. "No..." he started...

"AND DON'T CALL ME, SHIRLEY!" (8) echoed through the store from Sara, to the leftover hippies, their daughter, Flower (who was Sara's age), stocking the shelves, and to the three customers; followed by uproarious laughter. Sunday went back to whatever he was doing when she came in, and Sara walked over to the counter. She looked at the end of the case and noticed a full line of Kama Sutra products (4) and snorted out a little laugh. Free
followed Sara's gaze, and then leaned over, patting her hand, and said: "Don't knock it, until you've tried it..." She wiggled her eyebrows up and down, and Sara pretended to look shocked at the older woman. She placed her other hand on top of Free's and they quietly laughed that secret 'woman's' laugh.

+++++

Gabriel stood in the Pow Record Store flipping through some used records. He spotted an interesting one with an undamaged cover. He checked out the record inside, and noticed no real scratches. He put it under his arm. For
some reason it reminded him of Sara. "Hey, Gabe! Back here, man! Check this stuff out will ya?" Gabriel walked to the back of the store and into the stockroom. The owner, Chuck, was pulling the last of the electrical tape (6) off of a box.

Besides the used records, Chuck went around collecting stuff from the 60s and 70s. Some he resold to real dealers, some he sold in his own store and some he kept for himself. He usually called Gabriel when he got in his 'finds'. If Gabe didn't know their authenticity, he would know someone who did. They started pulling out the latest haul. Gabriel enjoyed Pow Records. He didn't charge Chuck anything more than some hot herbal tea and a few of the stories he had about the days he toured as a roadie with some of the biggest rock bands of the era. Occasionally, Gabriel found something he liked, himself...but that was *never* the point. He put the record aside, picked up the waiting cup of tea, and started sorting through the goodies.

+++++

Sara arrived at Gabriel's about 4pm on Christmas Day. She stuffed her motorcycle gloves in her left pocket, and looked at her hands. Underneath, she was wearing her kid leather gloves (10) (an indulgence of softness against her rough, calloused hands, that she only wore on special occasions), then she removed them and stuck them in her right pocket and hung her motorcycle jacket and helmet on a peg on the wall by the door. Gabriel poured her a glass of wine, and they sat down. He was on the sofa and she was in a chair across from him. Between them was a long coffee table. They made small talk, and then Gabriel said: "I think dinner's ready..." She watched him walk out of the room, and about 5 minutes later, while still making small talk, she heard a distinctive "BEEP BEEP BEEP".
Two minutes later, Gabriel walked out with two plates and put them on the table. Each held three slices of turkey with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and some green beans.

Sara bent over laughing, and choked out: "Ya weren't kiddin' about the microwave, were ya, kid?" Gabriel sighed and walked back into the kitchen. As Sara pulled herself together, and before she even had time to apologize, he had returned with another plate, which he plopped in the middle of the table and sat back down. Sara looked at the frosted squares with the Christmas tree decorations on the top and said: "Boy! You're just lucky I happen to *like* Little Debbie Snack Cakes, fella!" Then they both laughed until tears came into their eyes, and Gabriel finally said: "We'd better eat, before I have to nuke dinner again!"

With the dishes cleared away, and both of them sipping more wine, Gabriel reached under the sofa and pushed a used cardboard box with a large red bow stuck on the top towards Sara. She looked at it for a moment, and then got
up and walked to her jacket. Gabriel just sat and stared sorrowfully at the box thinking he had gone too far, when she came around the sofa and back to the chair. Sitting down, she threw a Still A Mystery paper bag across the table at him. His face went back to normal. Both of them stared back and forth to each package, until Gabriel finally said: "We even wrap presents the same way." Sara looked up at him. "Meaning?" "Well, we both like Mystery..." "*And* Pow," Sara finished the sentence. (Just how *had* this boy ended up in her life anyway, she thought.)

Gabriel couldn't wait any longer, and grabbed his bag. Practically tearing it open, he closed his eyes and reached in. A smile spread across his young face as his fingers touched the bracelet. He pulled it out, and opened one eye for a peek. Then the other eye sprang open, and he yelled: "This is *just* the one I was going to get for myself, but it was gone when I went back!"

"Well, at least I know you didn't get me the record I was looking at that was sold when *I* went back to Pow," she answered, looking at the small square box. "Wouldn't fit... Unless, of course, you nuked it." Gabriel got up and crossed to his media centre. Coming up behind Sara, he dropped 'Do You Believe In Magic' by the Lovin' Spoonful over her head and onto her lap. "Well, I *sit* corrected..." she mumbled, as he sat back down. They both looked at each other and heaved frustrated sighs. She ran her forefinger in circles on the cover. "Always kinda fancied the drummer. Dunno why. Guess that's why I bang on the drums a bit. Oh well," she looked up and smiled, "wrong retro..."

"Ah HA! You *do* listen to me!" And Gabriel seemed very satisfied with himself.

Now, Sara looked at the box with the big red bow: "Well...then...I guess this is the only *real* present (3) here..." Gabriel nodded his head and watched as she set the record on top of some Antique Digests spread out on the end of the table, where Gabe had thrown them after looking through them, and opened the flaps of the box and reached in. The bow's sticky back had given out and it slid off. "Okay, you dealer in macabre antiques, what did you get me?" As soon as Sara's hand touch the black, silk scarf (5), the Witchblade blinked.

+++++

The reaction of the bracelet was so quick that Sara had basically 'felt' it, and wondered if Gabriel had noticed it at all. She had begun to realize that he was in some way connected to everything that was happening to her. So far as she could remember, except for Ian Nottingham and Kenneth Irons, Gabe was the only one who had seen any activity with the bracelet, beside her. And there was that time she had visited him before and while waiting in the hall, Danny Woo had showed up. He had said something about her only being able to really trust one person, and as Gabe opened the door, Danny had stepped aside out-of-sight. Which, of course, was silly, because only Sara could see him. Or not? And Sara hadn't missed the fact, that Gabriel had clamped his new bracelet on the same wrist that she wore the Witchblade, and she felt she would see that bracelet a lot from now on.

+++++

Suddenly, she was pulled back to reality by Gabriel yelling: "It's REAL! It's REALLY REAL!" He clapped his hands together and leaned back on the sofa looking up, as if to Heaven, and folded his fingers together like he was going to pray. Instead, he leaned forward putting his elbows on his knees and his folded fingers against his full lips. His eyes were sparkling so brightly, it almost looked like there were tears in them. "I *knew* it. I *just* knew it..." he mumbled, more to himself than to Sara, in a calmer voice. (It was one of the items that had been in the collection at Still A Mystery. Chuck had told him the so-called legend of the scarf, and then added that Gabe could have it, if he wanted it. Gabriel had scooped it up right away, and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.)

Sara pulled the scarf from the box and looked at it. It seemed like a plain old scarf at first, but the more she looked at it, the more it seemed to take on a special sheen of its own. The edges were a bit frayed here and there, and a discoloring stain showed near the bottom at one end.

"The legend has followed the scarf for years, but there was no way to prove that it was true... Until now..." Gabriel nodded at the Witchblade. (So, he *had* seen it light up, Sara thought.) "We know that it only responds to strong women. I don't think she ever wore the Witchblade, itself, but it did respond to her essence left in the scarf." He was looking at Sara earnestly. "It belonged to a woman who liked boas and scarves and feathers that made her feel like a woman, but inside they said she was as strong-willed as a man. And it reminded me of you." He picked up the remote, sitting on the table, and aimed it at the media centre. The strains of a woman wringing the blues out of an old standard filled the room.

Sara just looked at the scarf and rubbed it between her fingers, feeling a strange kind of energy. As the voice sang "Don't you cry..." and the long instrumental part began, she closed her eyes and put the scarf against her cheek. She soaked in the whining of the guitar and smiled softly. When Janis Joplin started back in on 'Summertime', Sara opened her eyes and looked at Gabriel. Her eyes were moist. She wasn't going to cry, it wasn't her way. But she had always felt a kinship with the gutsy rock singer, herself. Now, she raised her eyes to Gabriel's, and mouthed "Thank you" with the song winding down in the background.

+++++

Sara rode home a short while later with the music still singing in her heart. And Gabriel lay down on the sofa and smiled. Both were thinking the same thing: "This is just the beginning of a new path for us...a good path." And they were satisfied with their thoughts.

THE END

+++++

EXTRA NOTE: The Beatles songs used in this story are 'She Came In Through the Bathroom Window' and 'Polythene Pam' in that order. Also, I cheated a bit on the Kama Sutra stuff, as all I know is a friend told me it was sex stuff...and I thought it was about the label the Lovin' Spoonful recorded on! <g>

BONUS INFO: Yancy Butler, who played Sara Pezzini, is the daughter of the Lovin' Spoonful's drummer, Jim Butler, who made a cameo appearance in the second season (this story being based on the first). So, I couldn't help
myself from throwing in two Spoonful references (names of the shops) and one of their lps, with a little nasty thought from 'herself'...as Sara, of course...ahem...as the writers of the show, had already thrown in a song, and a drum reference themselves in the first season, connected with Gabriel.

+++++

DravenSwann & Lady Callahan's Yule Challenge:

Has to be at least 2,000 words.
Can be any flavour of fan-fic (QaF, Buffy, Tribe, etc...)
Can be any rating from G to NC17.
May contain hetero or slash sex or none at all.

Must contain the following:

1. A pink angora sweater
2. Little Debbie Snack Cakes (any flavour you choose)
3. The giving or receiving of a gift (you choose)
4. Any Kama Sutra product (honey dust, etc...)
5. A black, silk scarf
6. Electrical tape
7. A porno tape called "Lesbian Spank Inferno"
8. The line "...and don't call me Shirley."
9. Lyrics from any Beatles (or members of) song used as dialogue (just a
line or two)

end