Disclaimer: I don't own it. *sobs hysterically* Here's the next chapter while I pout.

Prep Work

"Have you read L.A People yet?" Stasi greets him with as soon as he exits his trailer. She holds up a magazine with the cover showing a picture of Cindy, her husband Brian, and their newborn son.

He scoffs. "No," is his disgusted answer. But he takes it from her outstretched hands anyway, purely out of curiosity. He begins sifting through the pages until he gets to the cover story. "Oh, of course she would," he mutters as his eyes scan the page. "Listen to this: 'I'm so grateful to have found someone who supports me at every turn. Someone who doesn't treat me like they're better than or too good for me, but one who treats me as his equally deserving partner.' What a load of horse shit."

"She's the fucking worst. I ought to tell her stupid husband how she was crying to me still pining for you," she says, folding her arms.

He closes the magazine and rubs his forehead. "Whatever. Hope she's happy and shit, but I have bigger fish to fucking fry."

"Um... yeah," Stasi agrees, linking her arm through his, "like, when are you and Sonya getting hitched? Do you know what she's having? Ooh! I wanna plan the baby shower!"

He cringes. "Slow your roll, Stasi. Sonya doesn't want a huge thing for either of those. No big fairytale wedding, no grandiose baby shower. And she's the one planning the wedding."

She cocks her head at him curiously. "When's she supposed to find time to do that plus run her own squad?" He shrugs. "Jesus. You need to help her with something."

"I will! You know… if she wants it. One thing about Sonya, when she really needs the help, she'll ask for it."

Stasi nods, unconvinced. "Uh huh…" she says. Johnny rolls his eyes. "Well, ask her what she needs and go from there. And I'm still up for planning that baby shower. I'll respect her wishes, I promise."

"I know."

They finally get on set and are greeted by an irritable Sara. "Are you done gossiping now?" she snaps at them unnecessarily.

Stasi growls at her. "Don't start today Sara. I'm not in the mood."

"If you're so 'not in the mood'," she mocks, doing the quote gesture, "then don't be on my goddamn set."

Johnny huffs. "Stop it. We're here to work. Now, where do you need us?" Sara mutters something inaudible. "What was that?"

"Just get to work," she yells at them before walking away. They give each other a look.

"Someone needs to get laid," Stasi mumbles as she's handed her wardrobe.

Sonya naps in the car as Johnny drives them back home tensely. His rough sigh startles her awake. "Sorry hon," he apologizes.

She blinks at him. "What's wrong?"

"Just a rough day at work. Nothing serious," he downplays his issues. Sonya clears her throat. Mistaking it for her judging him, he backtracks with, "I know, I know, I shouldn't be complaining when you're going through much more than I—"

"I'm not judging you," she tells him. He sputters to a stop. "Is Dunham still giving you a hard time? Do you need me to speak with her?"

He shakes his head. "No. She'll get over it."

She rolls her eyes. "No, she won't. She's just going to keep taking her anger out on you about us and I'm sick of it. So, let me ask you a question, and I want an honest answer." He's silent, so she presses on. "Did you cheat on her? With me?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Who broke up with who?"

"She broke up with me," he answers.

"How long before you and me… you know…"

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Sara and I broke up right as… well, right before the mission."

"Which one?"

Silence ensues. Sonya purses her lips, anxious and frustrated. Johnny sighs. "Beijing."

More silence. Then: "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Let me guess," she speaks after a long while, "I called asking you to come down to the base unexpectedly, she gets mad, assumed you were choosing me over her and that's why y'all broke up?"

"In a nutshell."

"Fuck." She bites the insides of her cheeks, contemplative. "To her, it's all my fault, and maybe it is to some extent."

"It's not."

"Hear me out though," she says. They're now stuck in traffic, so he has an opportunity to really look at her with wary blue eyes. "It looks really bad when you're with someone and another woman swoops down and yanks you away from her. Especially when the prospect of you not coming back hits hard."

That's not accurate, he thinks. She dumped me because she figured out that I'm in love with you.

"... And we both owe her an apology," she finishes, shaking him out of his reverie.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asks.

She sighs. "If it means she'll stop acting like a sanctimonious bitch on set to you when you're trying to be a professional, I'm willing to apologize to her for my part."

He opens his mouth to say something but changes his mind. Then he rethinks his thought. "You're gonna apologize to her because she's jealous of you? That sounds nuts."

"So do your movies, but you still love them," she jokes. He gapes. She laughs heartily, wiping a tear from her eye. "I'm sorry, I had to."

"Mean military mama," he grouses as traffic picks up again. She strokes his cheek affectionately. "But I see your point. I refuse to continue working under these conditions. Doesn't she know who I am by now?"

"You're Johnny... Cage," she reluctantly says as he boasts, "I'm Johnny Fucking Cage."

"Oh my God, you're so fucking conceited," she tells him.

He rubs her stomach. "Easy on the curse words around the baby, Sonya. They can hear us talking at this stage."

She smiles at him. "You've been doing your reading, huh?" He nods, grinning broadly. She frowns at him. "Wait a minute," she doubles back with, "didn't you just swear yourself?"

"I'm the exception to the rule," he replies.

"No, the fuck you aren't," she argues with him.

"Listen, Robbie junior doesn't need to be a cursing song bird because of us," he tells her.

She stares at him incredulously. "Robbie?!"

He looks at her. "Yeah... what's wrong with that name?"

"Everything?"

"Hey, that's my dad's name! Be nice."

Sonya sighs. "Your dad's name is Robert. I highly doubt he likes being called Robbie."

Johnny snickers. "Okay fine. Bobby."

"John, we are not naming our child Robbie or Bobby or any of those variations," she shuts him down with.

He lets out a disgruntled noise. "You're no fun." Then he perks up. "Johnny junior."

"What did I say about that name?"

He grins. "That you liked it?

"No!" she tells him.

"Mean!"

On a free day from the set, Johnny decides to head to the beach by himself. After slathering on an obscene amount of sunscreen, he sits in his beach chair with his eyes closed under his sunglasses and hands behind his back. He listens to the sounds of kids playing with their friends and smiles, excited to bring his future kid along with him. His and Jax's. "Fun times," he muses. A shadow looms over him, blocking his sunlight. "Whoever you are, you're in my way. I'm trying to get nice and toasty here."

"Johnny Cage," he speaks.

Johnny's eye pop open. "Raiden?!" Quickly, he scrambles to sit up properly. "What brings you to Earthrealm?" He looks around and notices some people staring at the two of them. "Uh, on second thought, let's get out of here."

Forgetting his (Sonya's) personal chair, they walk the short distance to his condo. "I do not mean to disturb you, Johnny Cage, but something urgent has come to my attention," Raiden says as Johnny sits on his couch.

His heart gallops in his chest. "Is… is Sonya all right?"

"She is fine. I am more worried about Kenshi. We do not know exactly when, but he has informed me of a possible Netherrealm invasion in search of The Red Dragon."

Johnny blinks. "This… sounds like something Sonya's more equipped to handle." Dude, she's pregnant, remember? "Shit," he answers his own thoughts aloud. Shaking his head, he asks, "What do you need from me?"

"We need someone to go to the Netherrealm and make sure there is no disturbance," Raiden says.

Johnny strokes his chin thoughtfully. "Well, it's not like we can send Scorpion back down there. Not after the shit he's been through."

"Hanzo Hasashi."

"Huh?"

Raiden repeats himself, "Hanzo Hasashi is the former spectre's name. He is unequipped to handle a trip back there."

Johnny sucks in a deep breath. Hanzo, huh? "What about… Sub-Zero?"

"I have not heard from Kuai Liang since his release from Quan Chi's control," the Thunder God answers.

Johnny lets out the breath he'd been holding. "Well… did you have someone else in mind? I mean, Jax under no circumstance is going back there and Sonya… well, she could send people down there, but she wouldn't be able to oversee them." Raiden raises an eyebrow at him. "And I technically can't go unless she commissions me to…" he catches Raiden's look. "You want me to go, don't you?"

"I am counting on you," is his reply.

"But I…" Johnny starts. Then he heaves another sigh. "Sonya's gonna kill me. Can you guarantee I'll come back safe and sound if I decide to do this?"

"Fujin and I will accompany you if need be."

Johnny stares at Raiden. "I have to tell Sonya," he says. Raiden nods. He pulls out his cellphone and calls Sonya's office directly.

Meanwhile in her office, Sonya signs off on another file before turning her attention to another stack of papers. She drops her pen and runs her fingers through her hair. Her phone rings unexpectedly. "Lieutenant Colonel Blade," she answers curtly.

"Sonya?" he answers.

Her heart beats faster at his voice. "What's wrong?" she asks. He pauses. "Spit it out, Cage," she tells him abruptly.

"Raiden wants me to go to the Netherrealm again. Something about The Red Dragon."

She immediately opens a couple of her drawers before pulling out some papers from her research which she'd put on hold after telling her higher ups of her pregnancy. She looks through some of the papers until she finds what she's looking for. "I have a team going there to check on things in a few days. You think Raiden can hold off that long?"

Johnny turns to Raiden. "She says she's sending a team there in a few days," he relays the message to him.

"Let us hope we can last that long before another invasion," he replies.

"You heard that?" Johnny asks her.

"Yeah," she answers curtly. "If I send you down there, you'll have to take orders from my second in command since I can't be out in the field until further notice." There's silence between them before she asks, "You sure you wanna do this without me?"

Johnny crosses over to his kitchen away from Raiden. "It doesn't really seem like he's giving me a choice. Everyone else he would've wanted to go is out of commission."

Sonya shakes her head, annoyed at the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "You better not fucking die, John Carlton. I'm warning you," she tries to threaten him. Instead, her voice comes out shaky and she chokes on a sob. "Fuck. I'm going back to work." Then she hangs up.

Johnny rubs his face as he puts down his phone. Well, shit.

A few days later, Johnny comes back with a report for Sonya. "So, nothing happened. Except a couple of Oni warriors got some of your men. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, my God," Sonya gripes, shaking her head. "It never ends."

"Tell me about it," he agrees. He watches her stroking her stomach lightly. "How's Baby Cage doing in there? Still giving you a rough time?"

She huffs. "You wouldn't believe the nerve of this kid." Johnny sits on her desk as she paces around. "I tried to drink some freaking cranberry juice—"

"Nasty," he teases.

She narrows her eyes at him. "I liked it… until your kid made me throw it back up."

He cringes. "Yikes."

"Then, if that wasn't enough, someone gave me what I thought was a regular tapioca pudding!"

He blinks, confused. "That's a bad thing?"

"Yes!" she huffs, throwing her hands in the air. "Because the stupid fucking cup of freaking pudding was banana flavored. And I liked it!" She continues to rant and rave about the injustices of now liking bananas and oranges, sometimes together while everything she's ever known in her life is becoming a lie. He does his best not to laugh at his fiancée, but he lets out a few snickers before he can contain himself. "Why, the fuck, are you laughing?" He gradually erupts into a series of chuckles. "This is serious!" He laughs a little harder at her. "Your kid is the freaking devil." Now he's in complete hysterics. "John!" she squawks at him.

"I'm s-sorry, but you're so damn sexy when you're mad," he says through his mirth, wiping a tear away. She stares at him harshly. "Aww," he coos, grabbing her hand and pulling her to him, "don't be that way."

She buries her head in his neck. "You are such a pain in the ass," she mumbles on his skin. He hisses and pulls her closer to him. "Oops," she says, moving her head. "I honestly didn't mean to do that."

"You shouldn't start something you can't finish, Lieutenant Colonel Blade," he whispers in her ear seductively, dipping his hands down her pants. She shudders out a breath. He chuckles mischievously. "How much time do you think we have before someone needs you?"

"They can wait. I can't," she answers breathlessly. He lifts her up bridal style and is about to place her on his desk when she says, "Don't mess up my papers. It's getting harder to bend down." He listens and places her on the couch instead. He climbs on top of her, using his upper body strength to hover above her body. "I want you," she moans as she hooks her leg around his waist.

"I know," he brags. He nips and bites kisses down her neck, stopping at her clavicle and pushing her jacket aside. "Come here," he beckons her while pulling her up to a sitting position. She grunts at the effort and he helps her take off her shirt and bra. Softly, he runs his hands up and down her arms. "Absolutely stunning," he moans, appreciative of his current view. His hand treks lower into the folds of her underwear and she tries so hard to suppress a moan.

His fingers press and rub at her core. She just barely manages to choke, "Oh, my God," in his ear. They kiss again as she leans back against her couch.

They don't hear the subtle click of her door opening until a soldier calls out, "Lieutenant Co—"

Johnny's fingers are quick enough to whip out of her pants, but the rest of his body doesn't react in time to save Sonya's modesty as the private squeaks. "What the fuck?!" she yelps, covering her breasts with her arms. "Did you forget how to knock, soldier?!"

"I—" he squeaks.

"Get out!" she yells at him as he stands still in fright. "Out!" In a feeble attempt, she throws a pillow at the door, but it barely crosses three feet in front of them. "Get the fuck out!" she screeches. The soldier shuts the door gently and she gasps in embarrassment, the heat of her arousal dissipates and is replaced with sheer, unbridled rage.

Sensing this, Johnny (wisely) puts some distance between them. "I'll go lock the door," he mutters. He picks up the pillow on his way there and walks up to the door, opening it slightly to shut it again and turning the lock.

Having wrestled her way into her shirt, she buries her face in her hands. She silently counts to ten as he makes his way back to the couch to sit next to her. Before he can say anything, she sobs uncontrollably. "Fucking idiot!"

"What do you need, honey?" he wonders gently. She mumbles something. "Sorry?"

"I just want to get laid in peace without this kid or disrespectful soldiers getting in my way!" she cries.

He gapes. He does his best to fight a smirk lest he faces her wrath. Instead, he strains out, "Want to go home?"

"I can't," she sobs, leaning her head on his shoulder.

He runs her shoulders gently. "I'm sorry baby."

"Stop calling me baby," she croaks.

"Sorry," he apologizes again.

"So," the realtor begins, folding her hands on the table at Johnny's condo, "everything seems to be in order, save for the faucet in the guest bathroom needing some work done."

Johnny nods, looking around. "So, beyond that, how much do you think I could get for it?"

She shrugs. "It all depends. Right now, the housing market is steadily declining. People aren't looking to buy homes right now."

"But I have a beautiful condo," he pouts.

The realtor chuckles. "Then... why are you looking to sell?"

He cradles his face in his hand and taps his index finger against his temple. "My fiancée and I are having a kid. We'll need more space."

Speaking of, Sonya uses her key to open the door and enter. "Hi honey," she greets him. She struggles to kick the door closed, so he gets up to help her with some of the bags she's holding. "Good evening," she tells the realtor.

"Evening."

"Johnny, can you help me get the rest of the stuff from my car, please?" she asks him sweetly.

The realtor stands up while packing her belongings. "Well, give my office a call if you decide to change your mind. We'll be here to help." With a nod towards Sonya, she adds, "Have a good evening."

"You, too," Sonya tells her politely, but raises a curious eyebrow instead. When the woman leaves, she wonders, "Everything okay?"

He shrugs. "I guess." He peeks inside the bags he took from her and sees a bunch of party paraphernalia. "We having a shindig?"

She gives him a dry look. "We're having a baby, aren't we?" she reminds him as she's preoccupied with emptying everything onto his counters.

"When did you want to get hitched?" he blurts. She stops taking things out of the bag to look at him. "Sorry, I'd just like to know so I can take time off. We're almost done with Time Smashers and I want to be able to be fully focused on you."

She smiles at him. "You're so sweet."

"Like sugar, baby." he quips with a wink.

She shakes her head at him but laughs. "And modest too," she teases. After a while, she answers, "Let's get married in July."

"That's next month," he says.

"You're a smart cookie," she replies dryly. He bursts into laughter and she joins him after a little while. "July 7th. Sound good to you, honey?"

He crosses over to her and places a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Sounds great, babe. You're in charge, remember?"

She chuckles. "And make sure you don't forget it." He pulls her in for a long kiss, one she responds to wrapping her arms around his neck and snaking her hands through his hair.

He pulls away and mumbles, "Anything you want," into her neck.

Her body heats up significantly and she instantly forgets about unpacking. "Bedroom. Now," she shudders, pulling at his hair lightly.

"Yes ma'am," he acquiesces. She jumps into his arms, wrapping her legs around his torso as he supports her and carries her into his bedroom...

Forgetting all about the groceries in her car.

A/N: So, they're going to the chapel and they're gonna get married next. But not without a little bit of difficulty. Please read and review as always! Thanks!