9564/Just Checking In.

Just Checking In.
Date of Scene:	10 January 2022
Location:	Sara and Cael's apartment
Synopsis:	Sara and Johnny catch up after the attack, share that they both suffer the same problem with a 'permanent guest' that lives with them, and end with Johnny /finally/ getting some sleep.
Cast of Characters:	Sara Pezzini, Johnny Blaze

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Sara Pezzini has posed:
It's been three days since the heavenly host landed on earth. Three days since Sara lost time in her memory, another moment in time she couldn't remember. At least it wasn't a week, that missing week still haunted her, and so far Witchblade had told her a little bit about the missing time so it was helping keep her from losing her shit all over the place. It also helped that she had been keeping Cael distracted. Working out, the gun range, playing with Bear, and just like tonight, dinner at The Wok for the best noodles in the state.

After reporting to Peggy what she could about her side of the fight, and finishing dinner with Cael, she'd headed over to their apartment with an order of those noodles in her saddle bag. Johnny was getting noodles, whether he wanted them or not, and she intended to have a drink and try to relax.

Coming into the apartment carrying a large bag she announced her presence with a, "Hey Johnny, you around?" She did not need to piss off or scare the Rider and end up setting the building on fire when he 'flamed up'.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Three Days.

Johnny has been working his ass off for three days to get people from point A to point B and bring vengeance where he could. He's been getting the shit kicked out of him and kicking the shit out of others for three days. Though as he manages to recover, he stops into the apartment and looks at where metal scraped, leather tore, and injuries.

Though when the door opens, there's a shotgun being cocked and pointed at Sara when she wanders in, a gun that's lifted when he sees who it is. "Was wondering when you'd pop up. You bring a friend?" He questions, asking if Witchblade is about to lose its shit.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
It was probably a good thing that Sara was in her apartment because the shotgun, no pause, no hesitation, the armor just rips out of the bracelet, shreds the sweats she was wearing, and forms the armor around her... the gauntlet still holding the bag of noodles. Literally, door opens, shotgun registers to Witchblade, armor appears in a matter of seconds and then she gets to announce herself... too late.

"Well that was entertaining," she mutters, clearly used to this. The presence of a threat, that's all it takes. "He's always here Johnny, but as you can see, I'm the one in control... until of course... shot gun."

Walking into the living room, he can't hear the giggling of the Witchblade in her head. The bag of noodles is offered over, no anger in her tone, no hesitation in her steps. "The sense of threat, no matter how small, I get the armor... so thank you for that," she finally says with a slightly more cheerful tone. "The Wok noodles, with beef and broccoli."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny doesn't fire even when the armor comes on. Sara is in the mood for humor, but Johnny doesn't seem to be. "Can never be too sure." He tells her, then he sets the sawed off back on the counter and winces as he takes off the leather jacket and gloves. "Yeah, don't mention it." He tells Sara as she chirps, likely irritate fly at him.

"Might as well be Christmas." but he accepts the bag, and he adds...a little bit more apologetic. "Thanks for the food. Everyone doing okay over at Grand Central?" He questions her, as he gets out the food to set it on the counter. Johnny looks like he's seen better days.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
The good mood is an act, but Johnny wouldn't know that. Sara wasn't going to go in the details of it, she was going to maintain the act because that's what she does. Cael needs her to be strong, so she's strong. Johnny needs some cheer, so that's what she's going to do. The wince however is not missed, and without pauses she lifts the gauntleted hand up and lays it lightly on his back. The healing energy is offered, the sensation a slight tingle and the healing itself quick.

"I get it," she comments softly. "It's not a good time right now, but you can't let it get you down. I've been shouldering a lot of shit, had to report to my boss at SHIELD, getting reports about Grand Central..."

Lowering her hand, she heads over to the fridge to grab a can of Coke, "I can't go into Manhattan, been ordered by Jon to back off and not engage the enemy right now because they aren't engaging, and when I do into the city, Witchblade is a beacon they hon in on and assume violence. So I've been trying to keep Cael from falling back into the pit, the blessing Rapheal gave her is gone and she's remembering all the emotional crap from what Michael did to her."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
You'd be surprised.

Johnny knows the type. He's aware of the acts before people often realize they're putting one up. His job is seeing people for who they truly are, and after awhile? You really get good at it. -Really- good at it. So Johnny rolls his shoulder, and suddenly from the touch of the Witchblade, he seems to feel significantly better. Raising a brow, he looks at Sara. "Thanks. Didn't know you could heal." JOhnny tells her, though she says that she gets it.

"I know, I can tell." Johnny looks at Sara. "Don't let Jon keep you out of the field. We need you. Jon barely looks like he knows what he's doing, same as any of us. But sometimes? Sometimes you got to trust your gut." He tells her then, crossing his arms as he leans against the counter.

"Don't let this make me sound like an asshole, but good. You can't bury the pain, can't lock it behind a door. The only way past it is through it, and something tells me that Cael's gonna need help. Believe me...numbing doesn't help anything, because it's still there, just muzzled. I'm hoping we can help her get past it. As for Michael, I'm going to burn him myself."

He looks Sara in the eyes then. "Now tell me what's bothering you."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Popping the can of coke open, Sara turns to lean against the counter opposite Johnny. He was good. She should have known he could see past the act, not merely because he was a Rider, but because of his age. He'd been doing this a /long/ time. Standing there with can in hand, wearing the armor with no helmet or mask, most of her body exposed because the threat was so minimal, she studies Johnny with blue eyes.

"I'm going to leave the stuff about Cael in the background," she says first, taking a drink of the coke. "I don't think you know what happened to her, and it's not my place to tell you, but the numbness that Rapheal offered actually helped. She's handling it better now."

That said, she shifts to the other topic. "What's bothering me..." she sighs. "Jon wasn't the only one to offer that particular threat, Peggy Carter, Chief of SHIELD, also threw it out there as well. They don't understand Witchblade, at least Jon doesn't. I explained it all to Peggy and we worked it out, she won't be taking me out of the field. Jon though..." anger starts to seep into her tone as she speaks. "I've told him some, but to do that in front of everyone... like I had /any/ choice in the matter... I wanted to punch him in the face."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny never really understood why the Witchblade decided it was a great idea to pretty much shred Sara's clothes every time she armored up. Maybe because her armor is basically a sword enthusiast's paradise or because of just how -sharp- Witchblade's armor is, Johnny couldn't say. He wasn't going to make assumptions or anything, especially when it comes to Cael. "You're right, I don't. All I have is my imagination, and it's gonna be wrong. But I have a few god-awful ideas." Johnny tells Sara then, even as his eyes lower. "Believe me. All it does is make the pain return with a vengeance. I live with it every day."

JOhnny hums then as his eyes lower, seemingly allowing Cael's story to fall into the background. "People fear what they don't understand. Peggy Carter is SHIELD, which means she's Intelligence, and SHIELD is an agency that fears intelligence, and puts all of its resources into discovering what it doesn't already know. Honestly? I'm surprised its still standing with that many secrets under its belt."

Though he frowns. "Yeah. He pissed me off about that too. Need me to have a conversation with him? Because I almost gave him a real reason to have a hospital bed."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
A smile plays over Sara's lips before she takes another drink of her coffee. She wasn't going to let Johnny have that 'talk' with Jon, she'd do it herself, but it felt nice that someone was willing to do that for her. She'd been alone since her father's death, but it got even worse when Witchblade chose her. You'd think someone who always has another presence with her wouldn't feel lonely, but she did, a lot.

"Witchblade is starting to understand how this world is /now/," she explains. "Which I told Peggy about, because when she said she should take me out of the fight, I felt something from him I've never felt before... worry." She shifts her weight slightly, still not seeming to care that she's mostly naked. "He actually respected Peggy, and is willing to follow her orders, and that means he's willing to work /with/ me toward understanding things better. Major improvement."

She gestures to the food on the counter. "Eat while I talk," she practically orders. "I intend to talk to Jon myself, but thank you for the offer. Witchblade likes Cael and Alis, he's some what afraid of and respect Peggy... Jon is a blank slate still, but Jon also doesn't know a damn thing about him. He doesn't realize that I spend every hour of every day fighting against this constant barrage of rage and violence inside me. That Witchblade /is/ rage, and that rage is required for what his purpose was in the past and is now. Control him..." anger flashes through her eyes again, and for a moment Johnny could see the red stone on the back of the gauntlet flash as well.

"Jon has /no/ fucking idea what he's talking about." She then spits out before pushing off from the counter. "You eat, I'm going to go get dressed, we can met in the living room to talk more if you want."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Hm."

Johnny nods ever so slightly. He doesn't talk, but he does listen. Nobody understands her, the rage that she feels inside every day, the monster wanting to be let loose and let out, every single day. But he does. He feels the burning desire from Zarathos to punish the guilty. It feels like he's burning up from the inside out. Feels like he's suffering just by being -alive-, knowing that any time he lets that monster out to do his 'benevolent' work could shatter everything he has ever hoped to gain.

It took his wife from him. His children. This life is cruel and it takes so much more than it is willing to give. But he nods ever so softly to Sara, and before he could even eat, she commands him to eat while she talks, and Johnny seems to hum a moment, deciding not to anger her further and he starts to eat.

"Yeah."

Is all he says, even as he starts to move into the living room, eating the food she brought for him out of the kindness of her heart while he waited for her to return. "I do, you know. Understand, anyway. TO be a passenger in your own body. That feeling of rage, hatred, unadulterated evil inside of you." Johnny narrows his eyes then. "I understand it...and very few people are able to understand us."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
From her room Sara can hear him talking as she changes. Armor goes away, and back into a set of sweats though these are her own, rather than SHIELD issue. She could wear regular clothing, but with the state of things in the world the needs to armor up could happen at any time, and she didn't want to destroy any more of her own clothing.

Stepping back into the living room, Coke can in hand again, she walks over to the couch and sits. "I figured you knew," she says quietly. "You of all people would know what its like. It's not exactly the same, but close enough that... you get it. So you also know what it's like to be alone with it, that no one else can even fathom it. They pretend or think they know, but can't even begin to grasp it."

Turning slightly on the couch to look at him, she tilts her head slightly. She'd seen the way he changed, she knew the pain from watching it. It wasn't like that for her. "You aren't alone any more, and neither am I... and that's really nice to know."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
It doesn't get better.

Not with time, not with patience...it does -not- get better. But the Ghost Rider was his curse to bear. He wouldn't wish this on his greatest enemy. It's too much for any one person to bear. But...with meeting others like him, even Pezzini, it helps a little bit. Johnny felt like he was being burned alive every single time, and sometimes, being a prisoner in your own mind is...

Well, hell.

But, he approaches the couch that Sara had sat on, and he proceeds to sit down next to her if she doesn't mind the company. "Yeah. Feels nice not to be alone anymnore. It can be...deafening. The -noise-, you know? The intense feeling that you have to fight down every day to avoid losing your cool in front of people you care about, or when you're trying to save someone who could have a second chance."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Laying her head on the back of the couch a moment, Sara closes her eyes and tries to relax. Three days and she hadn't relaxed, and sleep hadn't been particularly easy with Cael's nightmares either.

"Never truly alone," she comments quietly. "The voice is always there, sometimes a whisper, usually screaming. Sometimes so loudly that you can't hear anything else and it's all coming from inside your own head."

Lifting her head, she looks back over at him. "My own temper is hard enough to keep control of at times, but to constantly have to keep his in check and my own? There's only a few distractions that work, a few things that shut him the fuck up."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny chuckles a little bit.

"Yeah. It's like a nightmare you don't wake up from. People look at you and think you're crazy? Ever hear it talk to you, and you think you need to talk to it out loud for it to hear you?" He questions her with a bit of a smirk, before he nods. "Yeah. It's pretty rough shit."

Though Johnny seems to laugh amusedly. "Honestly? You're temper isn't as bad as you think it is. Or maybe you like me enough that you're not willing to throw fire at me." Johnny smirks a little bit. "What kind of distractions? I imagine shooting things helps."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara chuckles quietly. "Gods yes... when he first started whispering in my head, I thought I was going insane. I'd talk out loud while trying to figure out who the hell was talking to me." She pulls her shoes back off to curl her legs up under on the couch. "It also doesn't help that in the beginning, my former partner whom I watched die while Witchblade was saving my life, well he used to appear and talk to me. I really, /really/ thought I was losing it."

Her head tilts slightly before she manages to stop chuckling, "You haven't seen my real temper. I mean it was close with Cael that morning, but over all, not really. You haven't done anything to piss me off, not yet anyway, but I'm sure you'll do it at least once and find out." A sip of the Coke before she adds, "Distractions. Shooting, very hard work outs, distance jogging, and the best distraction is sex. Anything that wears out my body, because when I'm worn out, he's worn out."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Makes you wonder who the hell made the decision to make these things in the first place. But well...concepts like the Ghost Rider just kind of...-exist-. Should blame Michael for that one." JOhnny chuckles a little bit. "Wait, someone you watched die used to appear to you and talk to you? Witchblade can't take souls, can it?" He questions her curiously, though he was already barefoot, Johnny apparently decided he was as comfortable as he was ever going to get. "Yeah...I heard the Rider's whispers in my head. Telling me exactly who was to get got. Sometimes, if fresh blood was spilled, I'd transform. Or if someone was just..."

He hums. "-Evil-. I'd transform and not be able to stop it. Thankfully, I can control it now a little bit." JOhnny chuckles. "But...well, here's to crazy people." He smirks at Sara then, though as she gets herself to stop chuckling. "Should count myself lucky. If you raising your voice at Cael wasn't your temper...oof, I should be lucky never to piss you off."

When she mentions sex as being the best kind of distraction, Johnny seems to clear his throat a moment. "Well, much as I'd love to help you out with that, don't think you'd appreciate it too much." he smirks at her. "and since New York is a warzone, dunno if working out is the best idea."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
For a moment Sara just stares at him then finally has to ask it, with a completely straight face. "Are you that bad in bed?" Then she laughs, indicating it's a joke. "As far as I know, I'm still with Wade. Haven't seen him in a while, but with everything the way it is, that doesn't surprise me at all."

And now the subject change, so he's not entirely uncomfortable. "Witchblade doesn't eat souls, but he can claim the ones that are wandering, what people call ghosts. My partner was there to help me, which I didn't learn until later was thanks to Witchblade. That's how Alis is linked to Witchblade as well, because Cael wanted proof that magic was real. And now I will add the final part. When it's time for that soul to actually move on, he doesn't keep them or force them to stay. If they wish to move on, and it's their time, he let's them go."

"As for my temper," she smirks. "No, you haven't really seen the full brunt of it, though you have seen a part of Witchblades... or rather the Rider has."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny actually -laughs-.

"No, I'm not bad at sex." He tells her when he seems to calm down from his laughter. "I just don't want to ruin things with your boyfriend. Especially if he's a mercenary, I don't want a bullet ripping through me because I kissed the wrong girl." JOhnny tells Sara with a bit of a smile. "Much as I'd like to, believe me." Johnny's not stupid, Sara was a supermodel. At least if you ask him, though he's no homewrecker!

He doesn't appear uncomfortable by the personal questions. But it does look like it's been a -while- since there's been anyone interested in Johnny, physically or emotionally. Either way, Johnny nods as he hears a little bit about Sara's experiences with Witchblade. "Do you mean to say that Alis will eventually decide to move on to the afterlife?" Johnny questions Sara then, though he nods.

"Yeah. I saw it through the Rider's eyes, then he saw it through mine. Seems the Witchblade can be reasoned with, though. The Ghost Rider....that's something else entirely I think."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
If Sara wasn't with Wade, the situation at this very moment would be entirely different, but she was and she cared about him more than she could express in words. Harmless flirting was just that, harmless flirting, but she also knew when to stop.

"Well that's good to know at least," she offers with a smile, then let's that joke drop.

"Alis is different. She's been with Cael since her death," she explains. "She was linked to Cael first, and the reason for her not moving on isn't entirely known. I've seen a lot of ghosts in the past two years, they tend to be linked to something or someone, as if they're waiting for something or have something that needs to be completed. Alis though..." she shakes her head. "That might have been the case before the Witchblade and the red mist, but it's not now."

Reasoned with, not really. "The only reason Witchblade let me have control back was because Cael was bleeding," she ends with. "Other wise we would likely still be in Grand Central Station. I'll also tell you... he /let/ the Rider contain him... but I don't know why."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Perhaps it would be, perhaps it wouldn't.

Unanswered questions for an entirely new scenario. "Hope so." Johnny smirks at her, though he hums as he learns about Alias. "Most likely, she's there for Cael. Which means, if Cael ever wanted her to go away...and I mean, -really- go away, Alis would likely go to her rest." Johnny shrugs. "But you all look like you're thick as thieves, so it's just something I'm observing." Johnny tells Sara with a bit of a shrug. Though he tilts his head at her. "Red mist?" He questions.

Seems he has no clue what that is.

"So the Witchblade cares about Cael...interesting. As for 'letting' the Rider contain him, I somehow doubt it. He was trying to get the Rider to help him slaughter angels in a fight there was no guarantee of winning. Valued your life more than his rage."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara shrugs slightly. "Alis is a part of our life now, she's even becoming a member of SHIELD in WAND. Cael will never want her to go away, and at this point... I don't think even that would work." She shifts a little, watching his face for a moment. "The red mist was part of a SHIELD operation. There's still no answers of what caused it, or where it came from, but it almost screwed the whole team up. It felt like some sort of temporal rift," yep she stole that right from Star Trek. "... or something like that, effected an entire island. I watched a Quinjet almost crash, over and over, it would get to crash point and reset... anyway, Alis was there and it did something. That's why she can appear now on her own, and a few other abilities that are her's to talk about."

"And I didn't mean when you grabbed him and yanked him through the portal," she continues. "I meant once in Grand Central station. He could have broken the chain, but for some reason he didn't and he won't tell me why. I believe it's because he considers humans his to protect, and there were /so/ many there but to not put up fight would cause him to 'lose face'... so, he let the chain contain him, fought against it, saved face and then when he saw Cael, had his reason to let go."

After a pause and a sip of the Coke she offers a smile. "He likes Cael, or rather... adores her. I don't know why, I just know he does. He's very protective of her."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Interesting. Never heard of a ghost joining an active organization before. Wonders will never cease, I think." Johnny chuckles a little bit, though he frowns. "Temporal rift? Huh. So the red mist was like a miniature time travel agent? That seems a little...strange." He tells Sara then with no small amount of amusement, though he couldn't help but frown when she mentions that it affected an entire island. "So she's a unique sort of...not so much a ghost, but a spirit? Interesting."

He rests his head against hte couch as she talks about central station. "Believe it when I see it. Forgive me, but I don't trust Witchblade. Just like you shouldn't trust the Ghost Rider. There's no sole protector of humanity. There's plenty of people like us who do our part, but honestly? Protectors are starting to be few and far between. Hope we don't lose any." In this war with heaven, anyway.

Though he chuckles. "Pain recognizes pain."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Finishing off the can of Coke, Sara stands up to give it a proper toss into the recycling can by the hall. Swish. Then she stretches out her back and legs, before looking back over at him. He managed to eat some of the food, that's a good thing, and yet she still worried about him. It wasn't her place to worry about him, but all the same she did.

"He's never killed an innocent, not through any of the Wielder's lives I have seen, and trust me... I've seen several of them, but not all yet." She comments, then sits herself on the edge of the couch to collect her shoes.

"You look tired, Johnny. You need to take care of yourself too you know," she says as she slips her shoes on then teasingly adds, "Don't make me wrestle you onto the couch to sleep."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny laughs a little bit as she manages to make all the basketball players proud with that swish. Though he hums about him a little bit. He didn't eat all of the food, most likely he's attempting to ration so he can eat some later. But alas, his entire attention is placed on Sara for a moment as she mentions that none of the Witchblade's wielders have killed an innocent.

"So far." Johnny adds with a bit of a smirk. "Nothing's perfect. Still waiting for the Rider to slip myself." he chuckles a little bit, even as she seems to slip on her shoes and threaten to wrestle him. "You're welcome to try, Pezzini." He challenges the lady of the house with a bit of confidence in his tone, though he brings his fingers up to his nose to pinch it.

Yeah. Tired was one word for it.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
With her shoes on, Sara stands back up and picks up the blanket off the back of the couch. Instead of wrestling him, she threatens him with the blanket.

"Come on, lay down and get comfortable," she states with a hint of that 'do it to save yourself the argument tone. "I still wish you'd go use my bed while we're not here, but since you insist on the couch... lay down, I'll cover you up and put the rest of your food in the fridge. Deal?"

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny shakes his head as if he were trying to clear out the cobwebs. But Sara is suddenly threatening him with a blanket and Johnny lifts his eyes to look at her. "Sara." He tells her as if in protest, but honestly? His muscles - and his brain - just don't have the strength in them at the moment to even begin to resist her. So, with a bit of a sigh, he starts to lie down onto the couch.

"It's your bed, not mine. Besides, I dunno if you want your bed smelling like me. The couch is fine, I promise." He tells her then as he rests his head on a pillow. "Don't worry, I'll be just fine. I wouldn't mind it if the food was warm again in the morning..." His words are starting to slur as his eyes start to shut, but he seems to be resisting sleep.

This outlaw needs his rest though.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara lays the blanket over him, making sure to get it over this feet and up to under his chin. The apartment was warm enough without it, but everyone needs a blanket to snuggle into when sleeping. Then comes the slight tucking, under his sides, just to make sure the blanket can't escape if he rolls.

"Microwave can warm it right up," she says quietly, realizing he's already falling asleep. "I'll check you again tomorrow night." And then the man gets a kiss on the top of his head before she picks up the plate with the food on it and heads into the kitchen. As she passes the switch, she turns off the main light which leaves the corner lamp to illuminate the room in a gentler light, so there wasn't complete darkness.

The food gets wrapped and put in the fridge, she checks to make sure there is still coffee grounds, filters and of course cream in the fridge as well. He was too much like her, running himself ragged for the sake of doing what was right. It reminded her of sleepless nights trying to find killers who were using dark magics, or even demons, because they needed to be removed for the sake of the world.

Stepping out of the kitchen, she looked down the hall to the couch, checking to see if he'd fallen asleep already.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Hnnh...."

Is all Johnny has in reply, likely something of an agreement, or a light protesting that he'd be alright, it's very difficult to tell. Though what Johnny was -not- expecting was the kiss that was given to the top of his head. It almost seemed to make him smile a little bit at the warm contact, but once she leaves him there, he seems to remain almost perfectly still. It's clear he's still used to sleeping on cold rocks and damp alleyways. So, after she wraps up the food and takes care of the last things, she comes around the corner..

and Johnny Blaze looks unconscious. He feel asleep that fast...was he sleeping at all during the past few days? Hard to sleep when the end may indeed be nigh. But, it would appear, with Sara's help, that Johnny's gonna get some sleep.