Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Seeing Stars ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 16 )

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

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


Chapter 16

'I hope she's there,' Jack thought to himself as he pulled up to the club he
had told her to meet him at. 'I'd hate to have to wait for her when I was
planning on following Juléi.'

He quickly parked his car and got out. He glanced around, wondering if Diane
was going to meet him outside, but he didn't see her anywhere. He quickly
locked his car and entered the club.

'There she is.' The blonde-haired woman was quietly alternating between
sipping at her drink and idly stirring the ice cubes as she waited for him.
'Obviously, she found this place well enough.'

"There you are," Diane said with a small smile as she gestured for him to
take a seat next to her at the bar. "Well?" she asked as he sat down. "Any
luck so far?"

Jack quietly shook his head. "None of my contacts have seen him at all, nor
know anyone who has," he reported. "I've checked out a few more hotels to
see if our friend has checked in between then and the last time I checked.
Still nothing."

"Oh," she replied, slightly disappointed. "Well, I suppose it's supposed to
take a while in a city this size, right? Still, I want to know the moment
that man is found. You'll do that for me, right?"

"The very second," Jack promised solemnly.

"By the way," she added conversationally, "how are you coming along on that
other case you're working on?"

Jack blinked for a second, then grinned. "Oh, yeah. Ti did kinda indirectly
mention that I was working on another case, didn't she? Well, I'm sure that
I'm just about to get some hard evidence on them soon, so I can turn the
case over to the police and leave it to them."

"And you can put your full attention to my case," she added pointedly.

Jack smirked as he nodded. 'She may have a one-track mind, but God, she's
beautiful....' He glanced at his watch; Juléi wasn't due to get off work for
about an hour, so he had a few minutes to kill. "Care for another?" he
offered, gesturing to her almost finished drink.

Diane glanced down at her drink momentarily, then grinned. "Buying a drink
for your client?" she asked with a hint of amusement. "Is this a sort of
apology for not finding the person I'm looking for yet...." Her grinned
widened playfully. "...or are you trying to hit on me?"

Jack blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh, I... um... not that... I mean...," he
stammered. 'I wasn't expecting that....'

Diane laughed inwardly. 'Now, that was interesting,' she thought as her
smile turned mischevious. 'Maybe I can have some fun with him for a bit....'
She raised an eyebrow slightly as she put both hands on her hips with her
elbows akimbo. "Oh, so you were trying to hit on me?" she asked, winking at
him as she stood up. "How cute. Well, maybe I'd consider it... but, only if
you at least try to come up with some good pick-up lines. I mean, the direct
approach is fine, but there's hardly any creativity in it, now is there?"

"Eh?" Jack asked as his expression became more and more confused.

'Oh, this is rich,' she thought with great amusement. It was all she could
do to keep from laughing at him. 'Still, maybe I shouldn't take this too
far. After all, I don't wanna make the guy get all nervous around me.' She
sat back down and grinned at him. "I was only joking with you, Jack," she
admitted. "Sure, I'll have another drink."

"Huh? Oh," he said, recovering from his chagrin. He then chuckled as he
called the bartender over. "Another for the lady and one for myself," he
ordered as he turned back to Diane. "You know, you're a pretty good actor if
you could fool me like that, Diane."

"What can I say?" she replied as she vainly flipped her twin ponytails
behind her head. "It's a talent."

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

R yoku awoke to find Hotaru looking down at him, worry present in her dark,
violet eyes. "Something wrong, Hotaru-chan?" he asked with deep concern in
his voice. At that moment, he realized that he could see her face. There was
light in the room. A glance beyond Hotaru showed an open door at the end of
the barren room. There were only three things there: a bed, a door, and a
barred window with the view of another building filling it. That was most
likely the reason that there was no light when he woke up that one time.

"There's good news and bad news," she told him.

"Go on."

"The good news is that Mr. Jade's gone."

He blinked. "That's not good," he said partly to himself in worry.

Hotaru looked at him in shock. "Nani yo? Why is it bad?!?"

"Look at it this way; we know who kidnapped us, ne?"

"Hai...."

"So, if he's gone, what's to keep us from from escaping and going to the
police? If he can break into a house like yours with a security system like
yours, he's gotta be smarter than your average burglar/kidnapper," he
explained. "If there's something so important that he has to abandon his
captives to take care of it...." He shook his head. "Still, he can't have
left us without some way of making sure that we don't escape." He paused for
a moment. "Anou... what's the bad news?"

"We're locked inside here," she told him. "The door going outside has been
welded shut. All the windows have bars on them, so we can't break a window
in order to escape... even if we could break the windows," she added in a
deflated voice.

"Nande? What do you mean, if?" he asked, his voice both confused and alarmed.

"I've already tried to break some of the windows when I noticed that Mr.
Jade had left," she told him. "Not even a scratch."

"Does that bastard mean to starve us to death?" he muttered angrily as he
sat up.

"We have food," Hotaru replied as she sat down next to him and put her head
down on his shoulder. "But, it won't last very long. I guess we have about
a couple weeks worth left. I don't think Mr. Jade was planning on staying
long."

"I just hope he'll be back before we completely run out of food," he said
quietly.

"Ryo-chan...," she said in a frightened whisper, "...are we going to die?"

"To be completely honest, Hotaru-chan," he replied as he held her tightly,
"I don't know."

"Ryo-chan, I'm scared."

"I am, too, Hotaru-chan. I am, too."

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

"Cut !" Amy shouted. "Very good people!"

"Hey, isn't it time for lunch, yet?" Serena asked as she walked over to
where Amy was sitting. "Don't you wanna go have lunch with your new
boyfriend?" she added slyly in a low voice.

Amy blinked in surprise. "What...?"

"Oh, don't gimme that," she said with a sly grin. "You and that stuntman
were practically all over each other yesterday morning, and today you both
try to act like it's business as usual." Her grin deeped. "I think I know
what's going on between you two...."

Amy began to blush furiously. "Oh, come on, now!" she began heatedly.
"What're you trying to do, have more rumors started about me? It's bad
enough that I've got the ones with me and G.Q. over my head, but...."

"Okay, okay," Serena cut in. "Jeez, don't get all excited. I was only
playing around; you know, staying in character."

"Character, my foot," Amy muttered. "You just like giving people a hard
time."

"Something wrong with that?" she asked as she started to walk away. "I think
of it as my way of keeping people on their toes."

Amy sighed to herself as she called out a lunch break. At least she could
spend some time with Jason. That would make her feel a lot better. In fact,
just thinking about him made her feel a lot better. 'Oh boy, have I got it
bad....' She smiled to herself. 'But, under the circumstances, I don't
really care.'

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

"He y, Serena!" Darien called out as soon as he saw her.

"Oh, it's you, Shields," she said flatly as soon as she heard him. "What do
you want? I'm kinda in the middle of going to lunch...."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said. "I wanted to know if
you'd care to go to lunch with me. I'd treat of course...." He paused as
Serena started to laugh at him.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Shields," she said when she stopped laughing. "I
wouldn't mind being treated to lunch by you again. What makes me laugh is
that you didn't learn your lesson last time. Haven't you forgotten how much
it costs to go to the restaurants where I frequent?"

Darien grimaced. "I haven't forgotten," he murmured as he stared down at the
ground, then looked up at Serena again. "But still, I'd like it very much if
you'd allow me to treat you to lunch."

Serena gave Darien a flat, skeptical look. "Really, Shields?" she asked, her
voice absent of any rancor. Instead, she seemed to be perplexed. 'Why's he
so determined to treat me to lunch all of a sudden? He's never been so eager
to do so before.... I wonder if it was something Tanya said to him
yesterday? I'll have to ask her later....'

"Really, Serena," he replied earnestly.

"Well, then," she replied with a small grin, "let's go. We'll take my car."

"You don't mind me riding in your car?"

"As long as you don't do anything to damage the interior. It was all custom-
made, you know. You wreck it and you'll know exactly how much of a bitch I
can be."

Darien nodded as if he was expecting it. 'Funny, this time she didn't seem
to mean it as much.... Maybe she's starting to really lighten up towards me.
I just hope I've got enough on my credit card to pay for this....'

After they both climbed into Serena's car, she paused with her key on the
ignition. "Tell you what, Shields," she said as she turned to look at him.
"I'm in the mood to try something a little different. How about you pick the
place?"

Darien's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're serious?" he asked.

"You want me to repeat myself?" she asked flatly. "I could always go back
to...."

"No, no, that's quite all right," he quickly cut in. "I'll give you the
directions."

"All right, then," she replied as she turned the key and started her car.

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

"A pizza parlor?" Serena asked with one eyebrow raised as she pulled up to
the place Darien directed her to.

"You said you wouldn't mind something different," Darien pointed out.

"So I did," she admitted. "Well, this is... different. Still, Shields, I'm
not exactly the sort of clientele places like this normally get, if you know
what I mean."

"Oh," he replied. "Afraid of getting mobbed for autographs?"

"It's not that, Shields," she told him. "It's just that... well, they'd
start waiting on me hand and foot and fawning over me. They'd be so worried
about disappointing me that I'd get very uncomfortable just being there."

Darien blinked in surprise. He'd thought that she enjoyed the royal
treatment.

"Oh, I can tell what you're thinking, Shields," she said with a frown.
"Probably something along the lines of, 'But doesn't she want people to
serve her every whimsy?', right? Well, it's not like that, Shields. I'm a
professional; I demand nothing but perfection when it comes to my work.
However, when I'm off the job, that's a totally different story. Get me,
Shields?"

"I understand," he replied with a nod. He frowned thoughtfully as an idea
suddenly formed into his head. "Listen, Serena, I think I've got a better
place in mind, but I've got to call ahead to get it set up."

It was Serena's turn to frown. "What are you plotting, Shields?" she asked
suspiciously.

"Trust me, okay?" he asked earnestly.

Serena's frown softened a bit. "I don't know why, but I'll trust you. Even
though it goes against my better judgement."

"All right," he said gratefully as he got out of the car. "I'll be right
back."

"Don't take too long, or I'm leaving you here," she shot back as he hurried
away to the nearest pay phone and quickly dialed a certain friend's number.

"The Crown," Andrew answered. "Craven speaking."

"Hey, Andrew, it's me," Darien said quickly. "Listen, I need a favor and I
need it really fast."

"What is it, Dare?" Andrew asked.

"I'm bringing over a co-worker of mine from the shoot to your place for
lunch," Darien explained. "She doesn't want a lot of publicity, nor does
she want to get loaded down with people begging for an autograph. Just a
booth and some peace. Think you can arrange it before I get there?"

"This is very sudden," Andrew said after a pause. "Dare, can I ask who
you're bringing over?"

"Andrew, can you do it?" he asked insistently. "Please, Andrew. This is
very important to me."

There was another pause. "Where are you, Darien?"

"Antonio's."

"Just don't get here too quickly," he replied. "I'll need a little bit of
time to set up."

"Thanks, Andrew," Darien said gratefully. "I owe you one."

"No problem, Dare. I'm glad I could help," Andrew replied as he hung up the
phone.

"Okay, Serena," Darien said as he got back into the car, "I know a better
place we can go to. A friend of mine owns the place and he'll pretty much
guarantee you peace and quiet."

"Shields, if your friend can guarantee me peace and quiet, then I'll treat
you to lunch," she replied as she pulled out of the parking lot and drove
off.

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

Andrew had just finished getting everything set up when Serena's car pulled
up. At Darien's suggestion, she had let her hair down out of her trademark
twin ponytails to avoid notice, as well as wearing a pair of sunglasses. At
the sunglasses, she remarked that she hoped that they disguised her better
than they had tried to disguise him the last time they had lunch together.

As the pair quickly entered the Crown, Andrew promptly showed them to a
booth at the far end of the establishment. It wasn't used quite as often as
the booths further up, due to the proximity to the video games and pool
tables - a recent change, Darien noted.

"What is this place?" Serena asked with the tone of someone seeing something
familiar, yet at the same time, totally brand new.

"This's the Crown," Andrew explained as he walked up to them. "This place
mainly caters to college students and university professors... and the
occassional actor or actress," he added with a slight grin as Darien sighed.
"I assure you that you will not be bothered here, Miss Moon," he told her
with a wry smirk aimed at Darien.

"I told you that these shades couldn't fool a six year-old, Shields," Serena
muttered dryly.

"It's not that, Miss Moon," Andrew explained. "It's just that I already knew
that he was working with you on a new movie. Combined with the fact that he
begged me to make sure that you wouldn't be disturbed while you were here,
combined with the fact that I'm a big fan of yours...."

"And a big kiss-ass," Darien said partly to himself, while Serena chuckled
and Andrew smacked him in the shoulder.

"And after I went through all this trouble for you, Dare?" he said
hurtfully. "How ungrateful you are!" he added jokingly as he turned to
leave. "I'll be servicing your table personally, so just let me know what
you two want when I come back."

After he left, Serena sat back against the cushioned back of their booth and
sighed contentedly. "Do you feel that, Shields?" she asked.

"Feel what?" he asked, puzzled.

"The feeling that you're no longer the center of attention," she replied
with a childish smile. "No one's staring at you in awe, like you're royalty
or something, trying to fulfill your every wish. No one's coming after you,
begging for something of yours that you can just parcel out; the autograph
being a small piece of you that they can own and proudly display, saying
that it was personally given to him by you, which makes him special in turn.
True peace and quiet. Feel it, Shields. Should you, by some incredible twist
of fate, attain the level of notoriety that I have, peace such as this is
rare and fleeting. Enjoy it while you can."

Darien stared at Serena, who had her eyes closed as was truly savoring her
small feeling of tranquility. This was a side of Serena that he had never
known had existed. Tanya was right; Serena was lonely. She was alone in a
crowd; people seeing her only for her fame and status, not as just Serena
Moon.

Andrew came back with a couple of glasses of water and took their drink
orders. "Tell me, Andrew," Serena requested as he was beginning to leave
again. "You're so sure that you can guarantee my privacy here. How is this
possible?"

"It's the location of your booth," Andrew explained as he turned to leave,
a wry smirk forming on his face again. "You see, the booths in this area
have a certain... romantic reputation with the college kids here, if you get
my point."

Serena's eyes widened as she realized what Andrew was talking about.
"Slick," she chuckled softly to herself. "Real slick. I've gotta hand it to
that friend of yours, Shields."

"What do you mean, Serena?"

"You don't get it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know you're not that
dense, Shields. Think about it."

Darien's eyes widened as well, once he also realized what Andrew had done.
"He's passing us off as just another couple wanting to spend time alone," he
reasoned.

"So, now you know," Andrew said as he brought their drinks. "I've really
got to hand it to you, Darien," he added with a friendly grin. "I thought
that Miss Moon, here, would stay mad at you forever because of what you did
to her dress."

"Man, Andrew, did you have to bring THAT up?" Darien asked exasperatedly.

"Since he's promised to pay me back for the damages, I don't see why I
should stay mad," Serena told him. "Oh, by the way, you don't have to keep
calling me 'Miss Moon'. It sounds way to formal for this type of atmosphere."

"I'm glad you feel that way about my establishment, Serena," Andrew said
gratefully. He took both of their orders then left, telling them that their
orders would be done shortly. They talked for a little bit longer until
Andrew came back with their food, then left again to let them enjoy their
meal in peace.

"Shields, I really have to thank you," she told him after they had eaten and
paid their bill. Andrew was especially pleased when she had given him an
autographed thank-you written on a customer suggestion card. They were
currently on their way back to the studio.

"For what?"

"For giving me something I'd thought I'd never enjoy again," she told him.
"A chance to actually relax and enjoy some peace from this hectic job of
mine."

"It was my pleasure," he replied. "If you want, I could see if I could talk
Andrew into doing this more often."

Serena smiled gratefully at him. "You'd do that for me?" she asked, then
frowned slightly. "You'd do that for me, after all I've done to you? After
how I've been treating you for the whole time I've known you?"

"Yes, Serena," he said sincerely. "I would gladly do that for you."

"Why?" she asked as her frown turned sad.

"Because I care," he replied simply. "That's all the reason I need."

The rest of the trip to the studio was made in silence as Serena pondered
Darien's words.

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

Jed woke up from his nap. He felt the plane descending to a lower altitude.
Good. That meant that he was almost there. The transcontinental flight
wasn't that bad - the dinner was horribly underportioned, though, and the
chicken was dry to boot - but that hardly mattered. Still, if he was going
to have to keep taking these kinds of flights, couldn't the accommodations
be a little bit better? Maybe he should've popped for first class, but he
was in a hurry and he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention. That was
the last thing he needed.

The bounce of the jet's wheels hitting the runway announced another textbook
landing for the jet's pilots. Big deal. He just wished that it didn't have
to take so long for the plane to get to the gate terminal. He wanted to be
out of this plane and into L.A. as soon as possible. He hated being
interrupted in the middle of a job to handle some stupid clean-up job that
Max's stupid employees made.

He quickly grabbed his bags and hurried out of the airport. Max would have
a ride waiting for him. Sure enough, there was a driver with a sign with his
name on it - or rather the name he used for being picked up from airports -
waiting for him.

During the ride, Jed thought back to the Tomoe girl and her boyfriend. He
had left them enough food for them to stay alive until he came back for
them. The boy would be back in full health when he came back, so when he did
go back, he'd have to use more persuasive measures to keep their
cooperation. He still had to figure out what to do with them, since he
couldn't drag them around with him, and they could still be used as
potential hotages. So many problems to deal with and all of them had nothing
to do with his fields of expertise. He was a professional thief and
assassin, not a kidnapper. It was frustrating.

One thing was for certain though. Whoever it was that took Max's Yellow
Nijizuishou was gonna pay....

And pay dearly.

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

To Chapter 17

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

Author' s Note: Serena's starting to show a little more of her hidden side to
Darien, while he's starting to understand a little more of how the blonde
actress thinks and feels. Meanwhile, the movie part of the storyline is
building up its momentum in preparation for the big scene where our heroes,
Jack and Diane, will get sucked into an bigger plot. Next chapter: Jed finds
his target and Jack finds his evidence and the man Diane is searching for,
all at the same time; and an unexpected arrival shows up at the Crown,
looking for Darien.

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.