Disclaimer: Oh c'mon. We all know I don't own the characters of Mortal Kombat. I only own the OCs that will make their appearances.

Author's Note: Hey look, it's me again! I'm not abandoning Triple R (Repair, Rebuild, Renew). In fact, I'm doing you guys a solid; I'm starting my companion piece. Now that I've got Sonya and Johnny in therapy, a lot of the things they have and will talk about will raise some questions because it's my head canon. So, this is the result. This is my series that will fill in the blanks between the end of MK9 and the very beginning of MKX. I got this idea from ffn pennames Poe's Daughter and En-Lumine (Sub-Zero Origins and Takahashi Family Saga respectively; if you haven't read those yet, please do). This is mine for Johnny and Sonya. It'll have some dark moments, but ultimately have much more fluffy moments between them than Triple R currently has. Anyways, I'm babbling. Without further ado, I present to you...

From The Pages of Cage

Returning Home

Shortly after Shao Kahn's destruction, Earthrealm, Wu Shi Academy

The silence of the night haunts the Special Forces Lieutenant Sonya Blade. After tending to their fallen friends and giving them proper burials, she and the other survivor changed into more sleep appropriate clothing. She had shed her military fatigues and boots and was dressed painfully in a white wife beater and sky blue cotton shorts. Breathing softly, the petite blonde lies on her cot with her hands interlocked together over her bandaged abdomen. Her long hair, free from its usual low set ponytail, fans around her and drapes over the edge of her "bed" like a curtain. Her blue-green eyes (which she's sure is now bloodshot red) observe the white room in its darkness. Turning her head slowly to her right, her eyes land on the figure two spaces away from her. She sighs heavily and turns her head back to the ceiling, blinking back another wave of hot, bitter tears.

The brown haired actor's eyes fly open after feeling the vibrations of someone staring at him through the shadows. When he no longer feels them, he closes his eyes again. Seeing so many of his newfound colleagues fall at the hands of a crazed realm emperor left not only a bitter taste in Johnny Cage's mouth, but also gave him a somber, more humble mood. For years, he took advantage of the privileges of being a rich movie star with little to no regard on his and others' lives. He never had to experience the same loss as everyone else. Until now. The sleep pajama pants he was given were horribly uncomfortable, but he wouldn't complain, not after the mood Raiden the Thunder God departed in.

Sonya wanted to say something to him, but what could she say? She neither had any sense of his inner feelings nor did she want to test her luck.

Johnny wanted to go over to comfort her, but how could he? He wasn't entirely keen on getting his ass kicked again by the feisty woman.

So they both sprawl on their respective cots in deafening quietness.

Until she sneezes loudly, three times in a row. Johnny can't help his manners from kicking in. "Bless you," he whispers.

After gathering her bearings, she responds back with, "Thanks."

More silence ensues between the two of them. Then: "How are you feeling?" he asks as gently as possible.

"Like shit," is her morose reply.

"Right," he notes to himself. What a stupid question, Cage, way to go asshole.

Just when he thinks he's about to give up on conversation, Sonya clears her throat. "I'm devastated." She wipes at her tears angrily as they stubbornly keep falling down the sides of her face. "What am I supposed to tell Vera?"

"Vera?" he wonders. She now has his undivided attention, so he sits up on the cot. "Can I ask who Vera is?"

Sonya sits up as well, barely able to make out the silhouette of Johnny's body. "Vera Briggs; she's Major Briggs' wife… well, widow now."

He swallows uncomfortably. "Right," he mutters foolishly. Of course the defenders of Earthrealm had families outside of that crazy, fucked up tournament. Yet another piece of information to store under Johnny's humble transformation. "What about you? Did you tell your family about what happened today?"

An excruciating pang of sadness crunches at her heart and she chokes on a sob. "Jax was family. He was the only one I had left."

"Jesus," he mumbles again. He can't win; every question he seems to ask her drove another invisible wedge between them. "I'm really sorry."

"You're not Shao Kahn or the universe; you don't owe me any apologies, Cage," she tells him. Laying back down, Sonya curls up into a ball and begins crying, trying to cover her mouth with her fist. It's ineffective; Johnny hears her gut wrenching snuffles and before he's able to stop himself, he makes his way over to her and kneels before her. "Goddammit, why did this have to happen? I had one mission; one motherfucking job. A job I couldn't even do properly since his arms were ripped off and he was killed. I don't deserve that promotion." Sitting back up once more, Sonya leans over and throws her arms around Johnny's neck, sobbing into his shoulder. He carefully and apprehensively wraps his arms around her waist to steady her, patting her gently.

They stay in their position for what feel like hours. When she finally settles down into the occasional hiccup, she pulls away, wiping her face clumsily. "What do you suppose Raiden is gonna do?" he asks.

"I don't know," she answers. She sighs forlornly. "All I know is that we have to help Raiden protect the earth. We cannot afford anymore losses like this."

"You're right," he concurs. "You've got military backing though right? Is there a way I can help out?"

She sniffles. "Maybe, I dunno. We'll see. I can talk to my…" she trails off awkwardly. Once they find out that Major Jackson Briggs was one of the casualties suffered during their adventure, who would Special Forces assign as her new CO? "I guess I can talk to them. Only if you're really serious about this, Cage. I don't want my time being wasted with empty offers."

He nods until he realizes she may not be able to see the action. "You're right, and I don't make empty offers. I want to help out if I can."

"Good. I'll keep you posted," she informs him. Turning her back towards him, she mumbles, "Good night."

He clears his throat. "Yeah… night," he tells her, going back over to his cot and laying down on it.

After a beat of silence, she adds, "You can move closer. I don't bite."

He raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "I know." Nonetheless, he gets up again and makes his way to the cot right next to her, pushing it closer to hers. He carefully sets himself on it, unfolding a thin blanket and draping it over the two of them. "Good night Lieutenant Blade."

"Good night Cage," she responds through a tired yawn.

It's been a few days since Shao Kahn's defeat and the two survivors are getting ready to go back to California in the United States, Sonya to the countryside of Napa and Johnny to the sunny beaches of Venice. On the Special Forces jet, Sonya's quiet while Johnny's having an angry conversation with his agent. "Dude, I just fucking told you what happened. Why would I make this shit up? No, we can't do a movie about it!" He listens on the phone before screaming, "BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE DIED, CHUCK!"

At Johnny's mention of death, Sonya gulps and sighs, burying her head in her hands. She was on her way to Vera and Jax's home where she would break the news of his death. No matter how much she mentally prepares herself, nothing will ever soften the blow of delivering such news to someone. It never gets any easier as she continues up the ladder in her career.

About ten hours later, they arrive in Los Angeles International Airport where Johnny and Sonya would part ways, him to his condo and her on another small jet to Napa Valley. Pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head, he calls out to Sonya, "Hey!"

She turns back around, her ponytail swinging behind her. "Yeah, Cage?" she answers.

He does a light jog to where she's standing by the gate. "Here. You should take down my number. Let me know when you're in town."

She frowns. "I'd rather not," she states, void of any real emotion.

He narrows his eyes. "Look, I'm not trying to get into your pants. I was just offering a friendly olive branch. But never mind, I won't waste our time," he retorts. Shoving his glasses back on his face, he turns around and begins walking away from her.

"Wait!" she stops him. He pauses and turns back around slowly. She beckons him over to her with a wave of her hand. "Here. I'll give you my number, but don't call me unless it's an emergency, all right?"

"You got it," he responds. He takes out his phone and hands it to her. She puts in her number and gives his phone back. "Let me just text you so you have my number." She nods and he sends her a text. "Done."

"All right," she replies. They stand in the middle of the terminal awkwardly, awaiting each other's next move. "Well, I have a plane to catch."

"Yeah, I have some snoozes to catch as well," he jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood a little. He grins when he manages to catch the tiniest flicker of a smile on her face. "Be safe, Lieutenant."

"You too Cage, take care of yourself," she advises before turning on her heel and walking (marching) to the gate. He waits until she disappears from his line of vision before turning to find his way out of the airport and to his personal driver.

When he gets into his unmarked Ford Expedition, he hears a ping on his phone, signaling the arrival of a new text. He checks his phone to see two new text messages, one from his ex and one from an unknown number. He grunts reproachfully as he reads the text from Cindy. 'Hiya hon, I'm back in LA. We should link up sometime, Johnny boy.'

"Yeah, no," he mutters before deleting the message. He checks the other message from the number which his phone notifies him as a text from Austin, Texas. "Texas?" he muses aloud. Shrugging, he checks the message and his heart skips a beat.

'Cage, this is Lieutenant Sonya Blade. This is my personal number. Do not abuse the privilege.'

He can't help the stupid grin that spreads across his face as he rereads the text about a dozen times before finally saving her number. His happy mood falls when he realizes the possibility of her never texting or calling him. With a sigh, he hops out of the car and drags his suitcase to his condo. After settling back into his home, he sends her another text which reads: 'Got it. I won't abuse your phone. Good luck with Mrs. Briggs.'

Not expecting a response so quickly, he jumps when his phone beeps again. 'Thanks. I'm gonna need it… and several drinks.'

Collapsing into bed, Johnny takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "What a month," he laments, closing his eyes and listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean.

A/N: Go easy on me with the reviews! :) I appreciate them a lot. Also to note, these are entirely head canons. If they turn out to be canon then... *shrugs* so I don't want/need flames/complaints unless it's constructive. Thanks a lot for reading guys!