Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Seeing Stars ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.


Chapter 14

Molly glanced around the set, searching for Darien. It wasn't hard to find
him since he was a tall man. "Excuse me, G.Q.," she said as she started for
the dark-haired man, "I must go speak with Darien."

"No problem," he said as he spotted Jason talking with Lita and Amy. "I've
got to speak with someone as well."

She nodded without taking her eyes of Darien. "Until later, then," she said
over her shoulder. "Darien!" she called out. "May I have a word with you?"

"Molly?" Darien exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? I didn't
know you were producing this movie, too."

"Officially, I'm not," she replied. "I'm only here to help my husband out
with his work; to keep him from overworking himself. Anyway, there is
something I must speak with you about. I assume you still remember what
happened not to long ago at the 'White Rose' set?"

Darien grimace slightly. "When you fired me?"

She sighed regretfully. "You do remember that I did that because of the
constraints that was put upon me at the time. I couldn't allow Serena to
quit the shoot, so she could just about make me do almost anything to a
point. Forcing me to terminate your employ, for example."

"I get your point," he replied.

"Well, what I really wanted to say was that I'm very sorry for firing you,"
she told him. "I just wanted to make amends with you. I hope that you'll
forgive me." She gave him a small apologetic bow.

"That's all right, Molly," Darien said, returning her bow. "I understand
that you had no choice. It wasn't your fault."

"It didn't matter," she stated. "I was still the one who fired you. But,
that was before. I've made my amends and we are now going to be working
together on this movie." She grinned at him, a small gleam showing in her
eyes. "This time, you don't have to worry about being fired."

"I guess not," he replied with a small laugh.

**********************************************

"So , when do you think that the new script's coming out, Amy?" Jason asked.

"Yeah," Lita added. "You said that G.Q.'s gonna rewrite the script, right?"

"Come on, guys," Amy entreated jokingly, "I'm a director, not a writer! I
don't know how long it'll take him!"

"Actually," G.Q. interrupted as he walked up to them, "it's already done."

"What?!?" all three exclaimed at once.

"Yeah," he told them with a grin. "I decided to start early with the more
obvious improvements. I've already shown the new script to Melvin. He's now
getting copies of the new 'yellow' second revision made."

"Yellow?" Lita asked curiously.

"I use different colors for different versions of a script," he explained.

"It avoids confusion whenever new script versions are introduced," Amy
added. "If someone has a different colored script, then they know that they
have the wrong version. They don't have to look through the script to find
the script's version number."

"So, we'll be getting our copies sometime today, then?" Jason asked.

"I think so," G.Q. replied. "Anyways, Jason, there was something I wanted
to ask you about." He paused as he glanced over at Lita and Amy. "Alone, if
you don't mind."

"Oh!" Lita said nodding as she and Amy turned to leave. "Certainly, G.Q."
As they walked off, Lita turned to Amy and grinned knowingly. "By the way,
Amy," she said slyly, "you never did elaborate on what happened last
night. I mean, I know... but I'd rather hear it from you...." As they turned
a corner, Amy began to blush furiously.

"Lita...," Jason muttered exasperatedly to herself as he sighed.

"Actually, Jason," G.Q. began, "that's exactly what I was going to talk to
you about."

"Wha?!?" Jason blurted in shock. "You've gotta be kidding me! Not you, too!"

G.Q. grinned knowingly. "I'm not buying that nonsense about you two over-
sleeping. Come on, spill it! What happened last night? Did you two...?"

Jason nervously began to hush him while glancing around. "Not so loud! Do
you want EVERYONE to hear?!?"

"Talk," G.Q. ordered with a wide grin, "or I will. Loudly," he added with
a menacing emphasis.

"Some friend you are!" Jason muttered in a feigned hurt tone of voice.

"Hey, I'm the one who's been talked about by everyone in Hollywood, all
right?" G.Q. countered in a mock peevish voice. "Can't I get just a little
compensation for that? Don't make me beg now...."

"Okay, okay," he relented reluctantly. "What do you wanna know?"

"Do I really have to repeat myself?" G.Q. asked, raising his eyebrow in
amusement.

Jason sighed again. "What happened last night? Well, first, we - Lita, Amy,
and I - had dinner. An excellent curry dish, as I remember...."

"Don't sidetrack, Jason," G.Q. warned in vexation.

He merely grumbled to himself under his breath. "Anyway, after dinner, we
started talking. You know, about the shoot, about how we've been doing...
small talk. Well, it started getting late, and Lita wanted to go home.
After Amy and I had come to our... understanding with the whole rumor
thing, we found that we had a lot more to talk about than just small talk
and business-related things. Amy suggested that Lita could go home while
we continued talking, partly because she didn't want to have to stay when
she wanted to go, and mostly because...."

"You two wanted to be alone, right?" G.Q. finished slyly.

Jason grimaced slightly. "Since you're the genius writer, maybe you'd like to
tell this story," he remarked dryly.

"Oh, no, that's quite all right," he said with a grin. "You go right ahead.
Please continue."

He rolled his eyes for a moment, but decided not to make any further
remarks. "Yeah," he continued, "mostly because we wanted to be alone.
Anyway, we started talking again, but this time, we were talking about more
personal things. Well, at some point during the discussion, I couldn't
resist anymore and I kissed her again."

"Again?" G.Q. exclaimed. "As in, you've kissed her before?"

"Didn't I tell you that?" Jason asked. His expression turned thoughtful for
a moment. "Oh. I guess I didn't. That was before dinner, when Amy and I
realized how we felt about each other."

"I see," he said, nodding his head. "Go on."

"Well, as soon as I kissed her, that pretty much ended all conversation for
the night," he told her. "It may have been all the pent-up emotions both
Amy and I had surpressed - each of us longing for the other, but unable to
say anything - but that one kiss ignited something in both of us and...
well, one thing led to another and... well...."

G.Q. nodded knowingly. "You slept with her."

Jason started to turn a light shade of red as he nodded agreement. "Yeah,"
he agreed quietly, "we slept together. Now you know why we said we over-
slept. Actually, we really did oversleep. We were so tired, we didn't hear
the alarm go off. It was blaring for a good hour before Amy heard it and
woke me up." A slow grin formed as he reminisced. "It was a great way to
start the morning, though...."

G.Q. laughed as he jovially slapped his friend on the shoulder. "I could
imagine so, Jason. Well, I'm certainly happy for you. Now," he said as he
started to lead his friend over to where Lita and Amy were talking, "the
four of us have got to go out tonight to celebrate the beginning of the
new couple's relationship. It'll be on me and Lita."

Jason chuckled. "I'm sure Lita'd love to hear that." He noticed that his
sister was looking at him with an approving gleam in her eyes. More that
likely she had heard what happened from Amy. Well, now he'd never hear the
end of it. He'd probably start hearing joking remarks about how she would
be looking forward to becoming an aunt, and the like. Well, as long as he
had Amy's love, he wouldn't mind.

Much....

****************************************** ****

"Three days," Diane grumbled as she sat in her hotel room, totally irritated
at the fact that she could find no trace of the man that she was looking for.
She had visited the closest L.A.P.D. precinct to see if she could have one of
their sketch artists make an accurate picture of the man that she remembered
from the picture.

The picture, though black and white and done in pencil, came out very well.
The likeness was very close, but so far, no one had seen her kidnapper.

"Three days," she muttered to herself again. "I can't believe that I've
wasted this much time looking for him." She sighed as she plopped backwards
onto the bed she was sitting on. "The problem is that there's too much of the
city to comb, and I'm not even sure of the exact location of the crystal's
whereabouts." She combed a hand tiredly through her hair as she sighed again.
"Maybe I should go see somebody at that police station again. Maybe I can
get some help there."

Some time later, she arrived at the same police station she had visited
before. "Excuse me," she said to the officer in the front office, "can I
speak with Officer Taylor please? I believe she may remember me from Tuesday."

"May I ask your name please, Miss...?"

"Silver. Diane Silver."

"Right," the officer replied. "Hold on while I see if she's at her desk." He
got up and went over to the doorway and opened it, and peered inside. "Hey,
is Christy in?"

"Yeah," a female voice said just beyond the door. "She's talking with Chief
Garret right now, though... Oh, wait. She just left his office."

"Thanks," he told the woman, then turned to Diane. "You remember where her
desk is?"

"Yes, I remember," she replied.

"Go ahead, then," the officer told her as he gestured toward the door.

"Thanks," Diane thanked the man and went in.

"Oh, Miss Silver!" Christy greeted as she sat down at her desk. "Any luck
finding that man?"

"No luck at all," she sighed. "None of the major hotels have seen him, nor
have had him as a guest. Same thing with most of the motels. I'm wasting a
lot of time searching and time's a luxury I don't have."

"That reminds me," Christy said. "I've checked up on your guy, but we don't
have any criminal record on him. Sorry."

Diane sighed again. "Do you think any of your officers can keep a look out
for him?" she asked.

She frowned slightly. "I'm not the one to ask, Miss Silver. You could ask
Chief Garret, but he's kinda busy with some important matters. I doubt he'd
have time to help you."

"I see," Diane said disappointedly. "Well, thanks anyways." She was about to
get up when Christy's expression suddenly turned to one of realization.

"Wait a minute, Miss Silver," she said. "I think I've got an idea."

"What is it?"

"You need some help looking for this man, right?" she asked. "I know someone
who'd be a big help to you."

"Who?" Diane asked, interested.

"He used to be a member of our precinct until a few years ago," she told her.
"He's now a private investigator, who occasionally works for us on a few
occasions when we're a little short on manpower. He was an excellent cop
before he quit the force. I highly recommend using his services."

"A private investigator?" she repeated doubtfully. "Well, I suppose it
couldn't hurt. I could always use another pair of eyes. What's his name?"

Christy smiled. "His name's Jack Terrance. I'll give you his address and
directions from here." 'Heh,' she thought as she started writing on a piece
of paper. 'Jack owes me one, now.'

**********************************************

"May I help you?" Tira asked as she turned from the computer to see Diane
enter the office.

"Yes," she replied as she closed the door behind her. "I'm hear to see Mr.
Terrance. I was told by Officer Taylor from the L.A.P.D. that I'd find him
here. Is he in?"

"He should be here in a few moments," she told her. "He just stepped out for
a moment to take care of some business...."

"Hey, Ti, get the door will ya?" a male voice said from outside the door.
"My hands are full!"

"Oh! Coming, Jack!" she said as she rushed to the door and opened it. Jack
walked in carrying a couple bags of fast food and a tray of drinks.

Diane raised an eyebrow slightly at the brown-skinned secretary. "So, is your
employer through with his... business?" she asked amusedly as she glanced at
what Jack was carrying. Tira merely shrugged in chagrin.

"I'm sorry," Jack said as he put the tray down and turned to Diane. "I guess
you caught me on my lunch break. Well, I suppose I can hold off on lunch for
a moment."

"Jack, which drink's mine?" Tira asked.

"The one with the straw already in it," he replied over his shoulder. He
turned toward Diane and paused for a moment, admiring the beauty standing in
front of him.

"Hey, Jack...," Tira began again.

"The one with no onions," he answered without taking his eyes off of Diane.
"Now, what can I do for you, Miss...?"

"Silver," she replied. "Diane Silver."

"Christy told her about you," Tira added with a smirk as she took a sip from
her soda. "Now you owe her one."

Jack grimaced. "So I do," he said sheepishly.

"What do you mean?" Diane asked.

"It's an inside joke between Christy and myself," Jack explained. "I owe her
a favor for her referring someone to me."

"Oh," Diane replied. "Well, Mr. Terrance...."

"Jack," he amended.

"Jack," she corrected with a small grin. "I need some help in locating
someone."

"Do you have a photograph?" Jack asked.

Diane handed the sketch of Jed over to him "I have a sketch of him...."

"Daniel," he said as he glanced at the picture.

"You know him?" she asked, her eyes wide open in surprise.

"Hmm?" he said as he looked up. "Oh. I was referring to the person who drew
this. Daniel Sandoval. He's one of the sketch artists who works for the
L.A.P.D. He's a friend of mine. I recognize his work."

"Oh."

Jack glanced back at the picture as he took a sip of his drink and placed it
back on the desk. "I don't recognize this person, nor have I seen him
anywhere."

"I see," she said as Jack handed her back her picture. "Well, any help in
locating this man is very important to me."

He merely nodded as he slowly glanced Diane up and down, taking in every
detail of what she looked like. She wore a lovely white sleeveless blouse and
black jeans and shoes. Her long blonde hair, however, drew his attention as
much as her crystal blue eyes. She wore her hair in the most original hair-
style he had ever seen: a pair of long ponytails on either side of her head,
as well as a pair of hairbuns. She was gorgeous.

Tira glanced at Jack all but staring at Diane and grinned childishly. She
knew Jack, and she knew he was practically smitten. Good thing that his
emotions never affected his thinking, otherwise she would've been worried.

"When do you want us to help you start searching for this man?" Tira asked.

"As soon as possible," Diane replied. "Preferably today."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tira began, "but we're busy...."

"That's okay, Ti," Jack interrupted. "It'll be no problem. We'll take your
case, Miss Silver."

"Diane," she corrected gratefully as she reached out to shake his hand. "Oh,
and Officer Taylor had already informed me about how much your usual fees
run, so you don't have to tell me."

Jack grimaced again. 'Now I really owe her....' "Well, when would you like
to meet for updates on how the search progresses? We could do this on a
weekly basis, or every three days, or...."

"I would prefer to meet daily," she replied. "After all, I want to find this
guy as soon as possible."

He nodded. "May I ask why you need to find this man so badly?" he asked
curiously.

Diane thought for a moment. "I'm sorry, Jack, but I'm afraid that I can't
tell you that. Let's just say that it's for... personal reasons."

"I'll leave it at that, then," he agreed. "I would've recommended daily
meetings, anyways. That way, it helps keep the client informed and updated
on my current findings. Any specific time or place in mind?"

"Not really," Diane replied. "I'm from out of town and I'm staying at...."

"How about you just give me your hotel room number and I'll call you with
a location, time, and directions?" Jack suggested.

"All right," she replied as she started to write on a piece of paper that
Jack handed her. "There. Thank you, Jack. Since all that is taken care of,
I've got to get back to my searching. I'll be looking forward to good news
tomorrow."

"Okay, then," Jack said as he saw Diane to the door. "Thank you," he added as
the door closed behind her.

"Okay, lover boy," Tira commented as she tossed Jack hamburger playfully to
him. "Eat your food before it gets cold." She crumpled up her trash and
tossed it in the empty bag the food came in. "And what was that about taking
her case right away? What about Erwight and Juléi? You giving up on them?"

"I can do two things at once, you know," Jack replied nonchalantly as he
took a bite from his hamburger. "Besides, Ti, there was something about
her...."

"I thought you were too busy drooling to notice anything," she remarked with
a flippant grin. She quickly ducked as a burger wrapper flew mere inches over
her head.

"That's not what I meant, Ti," he replied with a smirk. "I mean that I felt
that she was hiding something...."

"Hiding something?" Tira repeated questioningly.

"There's a very important reason why Diane's looking for that guy," he
explained. "There was also something else about her...." He shook his head.
"I don't know. There is definitely more to Miss Diane Silver than meets the
eye. I'm sure of it."

"Besides the fact that she's very cute?" Tira asked jokingly and ducked as an
empty drink cup flew a few inches over her head.

**********************************************

It was past midnight on Saturday and the Stanton Aeronautical Engineering,
Inc. building was practically empty. Here and there, spots of light showed
throughout the tall building as some of the offices still had their lights
on. Most of the offices, however, were only illuminated by the soft glow of
computer moniters left on, with only their screen savers running.

"So, Regina," Nate said as the two sat together in his car, "are you certain
we can get in without any problems?"

"For the last time, Nate," she said in a tired tone of voice, "yes. The
security guards know that I sometimes have to work late for Mr. S, so they
won't be suspicious."

"All right, then," he said. "Well, as soon as you come back, we'll get going."

"Are you sure it'll be all right to use your friends' house?" she asked.
"What if he's using it?"

"Not at this time of the year," he replied. "He always goes to his summer
house in Orlando and leaves me the keys. He won't be using it. We can plan on
where we should go after that. After all," he added, patting an attaché case
in the back seat, "we'll be able to afford the trip."

"Okay," she said with a smile as she gave Nate a short kiss, "I'll be right
back with the gem." She got out of the car and started crossing the parking
lot. They were parked amidst a small cluster of cars, most belonging to the
security personnel, so as to be inconspicuous.

"Working late again, Miss Juléi?" the guard on duty near the front desk asked
as she entered.

"Yeah," she agreed as she walked past, "but only for a little bit. Just need
to take care of a small important matter for Mr. S. He's determined to
squeeze as much work out of me as possible before my two weeks are up."

"Right. Go on ahead," the guard said as he turned back to his monitor
display. "I'm sorry to hear that you're leaving the company, though."

Regina glanced thoughtfully over at the monitor display for a second. She'd
have to be careful. Even though her boss rarely checked his safe, she didn't
want to take any chances. That's why she had Nate purchase a fake crystal for
her to switch with the real gem. There was no way that one could be mistaken
for the other, but it was the best that she could do.

As she entered her office, she turned on the light. She quickly went through
a few of the tasks that she didn't finish yesterday, so as to have an excuse
for being there, then went over to the door to her boss' office.

The only times she went to his office were when she had to escort someone
inside, like Mr. J, or when she had to go through his safe to retrieve
whatever important classified documents, or any other valuable item. Mr. S
was the one who put stuff in, not her. It was up to her to catalogue and
check everything regularly. He did random checks of his safe inventory, to
make sure everything was there, but other than that, he never really bothered
with his safe.

She quickly went through the combination to the safe and opened it. The only
security camera in the room was placed in the far corner of the room.
Luckily, the door of the safe hid her from the camera, so she was unobserved
as she deftly slipped the fake crystal into the safe and switched it for the
real one. She rustled the items inside, to make it seem like she was checking
the inventory, then closed the safe and left the room and closed the door
behind her. She then turned off the light to her office and left, saying a
quick goodbye to the security guard on duty as she passed by the front desk
on her way out of the building. She made sure to continue to walk calmly to
where Nate was waiting for her, despite how nervous she was feeling right
then.

"Got it," she said as she got into the car and closed the door behind her.
She produced the gem from her pocket and held it out. "Look, Nate. The Yellow
Nijizuishou Crystal. Only six others like it in the world. Isn't it lovely?"

"Absolutely," he agreed as he gazed down at the crystal in Regina's hand.
After a short time gazing at the crystal, he turned forward again and started
the car. "We'd better get going." With that, he pulled out and drove off,
grinning as he began to see their plan coming into fruition.

**********************************************

To Chapter 15

**********************************************

Author' s Note: And away we go! The pace is slowly starting to pick up now
so hold on tight! Next chapter: Tanya's match-making scheme; Jack follows his
suspects; Ryoku and Hotaru find themselves in too deep; and the Yellow
Nijizuishou crystal is discovered stolen!

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective
owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch
of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This
story belongs to Moonsong and myself, and I would appreciate
you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it
anywhere else. Thank you.

Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong.
Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa.
All Rights Reserved.