Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Seeing Stars ❯ Chapter 29 ( Chapter 29 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: jasonulloa 
Jack and Diane plan for Jed's arrival; Tira's condition improves; and Jed makes his move for the Green Nijizuishou crystal.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.14.2003 | Pages: 7 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 405 | Status: Completed
Jack and Diane plan for Jed's arrival; Tira's condition improves; and Jed makes his move for the Green Nijizuishou crystal.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.14.2003 | Pages: 7 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 405 | Status: Completed
Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.
Chapter 29
"Read 'em and weep, Jack! Straight, nine high!"
"Damn!" Jack growled as he tossed down his hand. "Beats my three of a kind."
Diane couldn't help but smirk. "Three Jacks. How ironic." She glanced up at him and
grinned. "Say, have you ever wondered what exactly a 'Jack' is? Kings and Queens are
obvious, but what's a Jack?"
He shrugged as he leaned back against the wall. "Hell if I know. Maybe it's another name
for a Duke or something."
She let out a small laugh. "The Duke of Hearts. That sounds stupid."
"How's it going?" Haruka asked as she walked into the room. "Have you got him to bet his
shirt, yet?"
Diane grinned. When she had started teasing Jack again once they started playing, Haruka
had found it very amusing. She even joined in on it for a short time, double-teaming the
poor ex-cop. Haruka was pretty good at it, too. It was fun. "Not yet," she replied. "I've
got him down to a buck-fifty, but if he loses the next two hands, I get his pants."
Haruka chuckled as she noticed Jack's chagrined grimace. "Good luck, Diane. I'd ask to be
dealt in myself, but as you can see, I've just finished making some final modifications on
the Nightfire, so I'm gonna clean up." She gave them a quick, mischevious grin. "Of course,
if you haven't completely stripped him by the time I come out, then you're gonna have to
deal me in."
Diane laughed as Jack shook his head ruefully. "You got it. Between the two of us, we'll
have the poor sod down to his boxers in no time." Haruka laughed as she left to go take a
shower.
"We're not playing Strip Poker, Diane...," Jack began, but she cut him off.
"What, afraid I'll clean you out?" she teased. "Oh, wait. I AM cleaning you out." She
laughed again.
"That's only because I'm not an expert at Poker," he countered. "Now, if we were playing
Blackjack...."
"Oh, is that a challenge, Jack?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, let's just say that I'd have you down to your bra and panties in no time," he
replied confidently.
"Is that so?" she retorted as she slammed down the deck on the carpet between them. "Then,
deal, Hotshot. We're betting clothing now."
Jack blinked. "Wait a minute...."
"What's the matter?" Diane asked, raising an eyebrow insinuatingly. "Losing your
confidence?"
"I thought we were betting money...."
"That was until you challenged me to Blackjack," she replied. "I'll have you know that I'm
just as good at Blackjack as I am at Poker. Now, ante up."
Jack sighed. When he suggested a game of cards to pass the time, he never expected that it
would go THIS far. Well, perhaps this would be interesting. After all, knowing Diane's way
of teasing, this was probably just a friendly game of Strip Blackjack - if Strip Anything
could be considered friendly - but Diane being Diane, it was all in good fun.
Besides, the opportunity to see Diane in her underwear was just too good to pass up.
"Fine, then," he said as he shuffled the cards then dealt out their cards. Diane got a five
and a King. He got a seven, but he didn't know what his face-down card was.
"Hit me," she requested. She got a four. Nineteen. "I'll stay."
Jack flipped his card over. Another seven. He drew another card. A third seven.
"Twenty-one," he announced. "I win." Diane grumbled as she tossed him one of her shoes.
"It's just a shoe," she said unflappably. "You can't win them all."
"Of course," he replied understandingly as he dealt her a five and an Ace. His face-up card
was a Jack.
"Hit." A six. Twelve. "Hit." A nine. Twenty-one. She smirked. "Beat that."
"Blackjack," he announced, flipping over an Ace. "I win."
"Hmph," she snorted as she tossed him her other shoe. "I'd like to see you do that again."
He dealt her a nine and a Jack. He got a three. "I'll stay."
His second card was a Queen. Thirteen. Another card gave him a five. Eighteen.
"Looks like I win," Diane said smugly.
Jack shrugged. "So much for my streak," he said as he tossed her a shoe. "So, how're we
going to go about guarding the gem?" he asked as he dealt her a pair of tens. He got a six.
"Well, having one of us awake and guarding it at all times seems ludicrous," she said as
she split her tens and tapped one of them. An eight. "Stay. I mean, we don't know when our
guy will strike and we can't keep on guarding the Nijizuishou twenty-four-seven just
because don't know when he'll come." She tapped the second ten. A four. Another tap. An
eight. Twenty-two. "Bust."
"Well, maybe we can just guard the Nijizuishou through the night in shifts," Jack suggested
as he flipped over an Ace. Seventeen. "Looks like we both win one," he said as he tossed
her his other shoe and received a sock in return.
"Not a bad idea," she said with a nod. "Maybe we'll do that. Loser gets first watch?"
"Deal," he agreed just as Haruka walked in wearing a shirt, jeans and a towel around her
shoulders with slippers on her feet.
"Aw, I was hoping to see someone in their underwear by now," she sighed disappointedly as
she sat down in a chair nearby.
"Not yet," Diane said confidently, "but I'll have him stripped down soon enough."
"She'll be half-naked before I am," Jack shot back just as confidently as he smirked at her.
"Really?" she drawled as she stood up and walked over to where they were playing. "I'm
pretty good at Blackjack, myself. Deal me in?"
As it turned out, Haruka was pretty damn good. Jack did get to see Diane in her
underwear, however, that was only after Haruka had stripped him down to his boxers. In
fact, he owed Diane his boxers since she had one more article of clothing than he did.
Between them, they only managed to win Haruka's towel and slippers.
After Haruka gave them back their clothing was when she revealed to them that she was also
an expert Blackjack player.
**********************************************
"O h, so our Sleeping Beauty awakens, eh?" Tira heard as her eyes slowly opened. Everything
looked blurry, but her eyes slowly began to adjust. Blurs solidified into clearer shapes
as she watched. A woman in a doctor's white coat stood over her, smiling.
"Hmm?" she murmured as her gazed focused on the doctor.
"My name is Doctor Yolanda Ceranti. How are you feeling, Miss Jenner?" the doctor inquired.
"Tired...," she whispered. Her voice sounded weak. Then again, she felt weak.
"You lost a lot of blood," Doctor Ceranti informed her. "Your body needed time to restore
that blood, even with the transfusions we gave you."
"How long...?"
"A little over three days. You were very lucky that bullet didn't hit your heart or lungs.
You might not have woken up then." She smiled congenially at her. "But you're alive now;
that's what matters, right?" She then turned toward the monitoring devices that were still
connected to Tira and looked over the displays.
Tira tried to sit up, but she found that she didn't have the energy to get up. She could
move her head, though, so she glanced around the room. "Jack...?"
"Hmm?" the doctor said as she turned from the monitors. "Oh, I take it that's your
guardian's name." She nodded to herself as she took out a piece of paper from one of her
pockets and glanced at it. "Jack Terrance; yes, I believe that's correct. Anyway, he and
Miss Diane Silver are in Vancouver right now taking care of some business or another."
Vancouver. So, they're already there. Maybe they had found the Green Nijizuishou already.
Or, maybe they've caught the man and are now coming back. Or, maybe the Green Nijizuishou
was already taken and.... Tira shut her eyes and forced the thought from her mind. No, Jack
was still all right. He had to be. Diane was with him. They would be all right.
"I'm sure he'll be glad to know that you're all right, now," Doctor Ceranti said as she
finished checking the monitors. "Everything looks fine and you should be well enough to
leave the hospital within a few days."
"A few days...," Tira repeated tiredly as her eyes slowly began to close. Well, Jack would
certainly call about her sooner or later. She could tell him when he did. She hoped it was
soon; he needed to know right away. Both him and Diane. The information was stored in her
computer, so she wasn't....
Her eyes snapped wide open. The file was open when she tripped over the plug and
accidentally cut the power to the computer. All the modifications she had made to enable
her access, decode, and read the file weren't saved. Even worse, the file itself might've
been corrupted and could likely be unretriveable. She only remembered enough to give him a
general idea of what Project: Ginzuishou was, but she could not remember the specifics
without the file. If it was corrupted....
"Is something wrong?" the doctor asked as she turned to leave. "You seem upset over
something."
Tira blinked, then lightly shook her head. No need to worry the doctor. There was nothing
she could do until she got out of the hospital. If the file WAS corrupted, then she'd just
have to download the file again. It might be a little more difficult if they had found out
that she had hacked into their system, but there wasn't anything she could do about that.
She'd just have to cope and try harder. Hopefully, it wouldn't have to come to that if the
file was still intact.
As the doctor left her room, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. The more she
rested, the faster she could recover. There wasn't much time. Jack and Diane needed to know
what was really going on.
**********************************************
A high-pitched, irritating buzzer cut through his slumber like a knife. Then again, he
wasn't sleeping very deeply. He tied not to sleep deeply just before a job. It cut down on
his preparation time, otherwise.
Jed tossed off the blankets and sat up. There was a slight crick in his neck, but
otherwise, he felt fine. He stretched a bit and rolled his neck to work out all the kinks
in his body from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, then opened the car door.
There was a lot of frost and ice on the car's windows, hood and roof. His breath came out
in thick plumes of white, easily seen by the car's interior lights. He cursed softly as he
quickly reached into the car and shut them off. Someone could've seen the light from the
house if they were still awake. He couln't afford to be too careful.
He reached into the car and brought out his equipment. The lockpicking device would go into
his interior coat pocket; it would be harder for it to accidentally fall out of his pocket
that way. The face mask and gas canister would be clipped onto his belt for easy reach.
Besides, there was no where else to put them, since neither one could fit in his coat
pockets.
He grinned smugly to himself as he pulled out a ski mask from one of his coat pockets and
slipped it on. It was perfect for covering his hair and facial features, save for his eyes
and nose. Unless one knew what he looked like without the mask, one would be hard pressed
telling that it was him behind the mask. However, that wasn't the reason why he wore it.
It was just too damn cold to be out without one at night. His ears were already freezing.
Once the ski mask was in place, he pulled out his gloves from the other coat pocket,
slipped them on, then closed the car door before checking the time. 11:21pm. He was early.
So far, so good.
The soft crunching of snow being compressed underfoot accompanied him from the car as he
ran through the trees, all the while making sure that he kept from sight from anyone
watching from the house. The thicket was very dense, so he had very little trouble keeping
hidden.
As he drew closer, he slowed his approach until he came to a stop just a few yards away
from the house. He glanced over the house's layout from room to room, or rather, what he
could see right away. The house was laid out in an "L"-shape with the front door near the
corner on the far side. The garage was on the end of that side of the house with the
opening facing in the same direction as the front door. There were windows on both stories,
most of them with their blinds up or curtains parted.
Keeping low to the ground, he pulled out a pair of microbinoculars from his trouser pocket
and peered through them. There was only one light on in the whole house, on the second
floor nearest to him. He'd have to check that room last. He swept his binoculars from right
to left, top to bottom, starting with the garage.
The kitchen and dining room were near the garage, so he skipped by them quickly. Past the
front door was the living room on the left side of the house. Due to his position, it was
hard to look through the windows, but the room was dark anyway. That might be one place
he'd have to search. The room above the kitchen didn't seem to have the look of a bedroom,
he did manage to spot what looked like a model car. The two rooms in the corner seemed to
be back-to-back bathrooms; maybe that last room used to be a bedroom? Finally, his gaze
rested on the only lit room in the house.
From the silhouette against the closed blinds, he could tell that the figure was a woman
and she was changing for bed, since she had just pulled off a shirt over her head and had
her hands behind her back as if she was unhooking a bra. From the silhouette's short hair,
he assumed that it was Tenou. She had short hair and in a similar hair style.
Good. If she was getting ready for bed, then he wouldn't have to worry about her. But,
there was still the possibility that the Nijizuishou was in her room.
So, there was three likely possibilities for the Nijizuishou's resting place: the living
room; the second floor room on the far right; and Tenou's bedroom on the far left. He would
start with the living room, then end with Tenou's bedroom. Simple. However, he would have
to be careful. That white sedan he had seen earlier that day was still here, so he would
have to act on the assumption that she had a guest, or guests, and he didn't know where
they were. All he did know was that Tenou, herself, was in her room... at the moment. She
wasn't asleep, yet.
He checked his watch. 11:44pm. Sixteen minutes to midnight. He could wait. Besides, he had
to give her time to relax into a deep enough sleep so that she wouldn't wake up right away.
Then again, if worse came to worse, he still had the gas. Maybe he should put on his mask,
just in case.... No. He had his ski mask on right now and it was cold out here. He would
put it on after getting into the house, but not before. Both masks could not be worn at the
same time.
The light went out a minute after he checked his watch. Good. Fifteen minutes might be
enough, but he'd wait until 12:30am just to be on the safe side. No sense wasting a
canister of gas for aesthetic reasons. A job was a job. He sat in the cold, white snow and
waited.
**********************************************
Jack sighed as he placed the Eight of Spades over the Nine of Diamonds. That was his last
move; the deck would just give him the same sets of three over and over again. Solitare was
annoying that way. Nothing to do but start all over again... for the fifteenth time. He
tossed the other two cards in his hand onto the table and stood up from the chair in order
to move around for a moment.
He glanced over at Diane, who was asleep on the brown leather recliner as she shifted in
the chair and drew the blanket tighter around her as her head moved closer to the right
edge of the pillow. Haruka had suggested that she could sleep on the couch in the living
room, since it could unfold into a bed - for when she had guests over - but she had decided
to stay up here instead. That way, she wouldn't have to stumble up the stairs to stand her
watch when it was her turn. At least, that's what she said. Personally, he would've chosen
the bed, but that was just him.
He still couldn't figure out how she managed to fall asleep so fast. He could've sworn she
was out cold the moment her head hit the pillow. It was hard to tell, since she didn't
snore. Tira, on the other hand, could wake a deaf man from a coma.
A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he thought about her. Was she still in her coma? Had she
woken up yet? The doctor said anytime now. Maybe he could try again tomorrow....
"Mmm... damn cat...," Diane murmured as she turned over again. She may not snore, but she
did talk in her sleep. She sometimes said the strangest things, too. What did she say that
first night at the hotel? Some thing about a sailor suit and punishing someone? It sounded
kinda kinky, but he wasn't about to ask her about it....
"I don't wanna, Luna...," she murmured again. "It's your turn to dress up like a carrot."
She shifted again and settled into a deeper sleep.
'A carrot?' he thought as he blinked in perplexity. 'What kind of dreams does she have
anyway?' Well, since it was nearing 12:30am, he had only an hour and a half to go before he
had to wake her up for her turn.
"Mmm.... Lower, Jack...," Diane moaned breathlessly. "Yes, that's it.... Now, get the
whipped cream."
"What?!?" he exclaimed, almost falling over in stunned surprise.
**********************************************
"Cut! You know that's not in the script, Serena!" Amy shouted irritably.
"Aww, you're no fun, Amy!" she shot back as she sat up, grinning smugly as she glanced over
at Darien, who was recovering from his shock. "I was just improvising...."
"So you say," she muttered, frowning. "All right, let's try that one again...."
"With or without the whipped cream?" Serena asked with a smirk.
Amy didn't laugh, even though some of the crew did. "Without," she said, fighting the urge
to laugh along with them, or even smile.
"I think you wanna laugh, Anderson," Serena teased, grinned childishly. "Hey, Darien, what
do you think?"
"I think that last scene's getting added to the outtakes," he said as he sat back down at
the table again. "And that someone needs a cold shower," he added, giving her a significant
look.
Now Amy laughed. "All right, all right," she said after controlling herself. "You've had
your fun. No more improvising, or I'll make sure you get that cold shower," she added as
she nodded over at Lita and Jason, who were watching the scene with similar looks of
amusement.
"With or without ice?" Lita asked as she and her brother both turned to leave.
"With."
"H-hey! You wouldn't!" Serena exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Not really, but I had you going, didn't I?" Amy asked, grinning.
Darien laughed. "Too bad. That would've been something to see."
"Keep talking like that, Shields, and I might consider doing some unpleasant things to you
later," Serena said in a low tone as she frowned at him.
"Um... right," he said as laughter instantly cut short.
"Wow. Thouroughly henpecked already," Jason said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "She
works quick, doesn't she?"
"Jason...," Lita muttered flatly as she rolled her eyes in chagrin.
"What?" he asked as Darien scowled at him and Serena laughed.
"I think it's time for a break...," Amy muttered tiredly.
**********************************************
' A carrot?' he thought as he blinked in perplexity. 'What kind of dreams does she have
anyway?' Well, since it was nearing 12:30am, he had only an hour and a half to go before he
had to wake her up for her turn.
"Mmm.... Wait, Jack.... Don't go yet...."
He paused for a second as he glanced down at her, watching for any sign that she was awake,
then continued on his way after determining that she was talking in her sleep again.
Nothing to worry about. Besides, he was just going to the bathroom.
**********************************************
12:30am. Time to get to work. The light in Tenou's room had been out for a good forty-five
minutes, so she should be fast asleep by now.
Jed dashed over to the front door and listened for the sounds of anyone snoring or stirring
in the living room. Nothing. From what he could see through the windows, the room was empty
anyway. So much, the better.
He pulled out the lockpicking device from his coat pocket and bent down toward the keyhole.
The device was simple: all he had to do was slip it through the keyhole and turn it on,
then it would manipulate the springs inside so that it seemed as though he had inserted the
door's key. Once the red light turned green, he could turn the device as if it was a key,
then open the door.
The light turned green, and the door opened smoothly. So far, so good. He removed the
device and went inside.
As he gently closed the door behind him, he removed the ski mask and put on the gas mask.
As soon as he fit the mask in place, he pulled the straps tight around his head, then
covered the air hole with his hand and breathed in. The clear plastic that served as his
visor collapsed, indicating a proper air seal. No leaks. With that out of the way, he made
sure his gas canister was loose enough on his belt to be ready when he needed it, but not
loose enough to fall off his belt entirely.
No mistakes. Not now.
He quietly crept along the wall as he made his way toward the living room from the
entrance. He kept an eye out for anything that might closely resemble the Nijizuishou. The
search would be infinitely easier with a flashlight, but he didn't dare use one. If Tenou
or someone else saw the light, then they would know something was wrong. After all, why
would a guest need to use a flashlight if the lights were working just fine? At any rate,
he had experience in using his night vision alone to navigate.
A slow, careful scrutiny of the living room gave him no indication of the resting place of
the Nijizuishou. So, perhaps it was upstairs?
He paused at the staircase. House staircases were always pains to climb at night. The
wooden ones always creaked. However, past experiences taught him a way to climb them
without creaking. Very carefully, he gently lowered his foot down on the first step... and
stood on the very edge of the step on his toes. He crouched down low and grabbed onto the
fourth and fifth steps with his hands. As he pulled himself upwards, he climbed the steps,
only allowing his toes to step on the very edge of the steps. It was a very hard way to
climb, since he would instantly fall backwards once his hands lost their grip - it was
mostly his arms doing the work of climb the steps, since his center of gravity was so far
off-center - but he had practiced this often enough. He wouldn't fall.
Once he reached the top, he slowly straightened himself. Going too fast would also cause
the floor to creak, since he was shifting his center of gravity back to normal. Once he was
finished, he glanced around carefully. Nothing out of the ordinary....
Wait. There was a light coming from underneath one of the doors. One of the bathrooms, he
assumed. So... someone was awake right now. He'd have to be even more careful.
He quickly made his way to the other bathroom and slipped inside, then waited. A few
moments later, the light went out and he heard a door close. The second room's door had
been open, so that must've been the guest. One glance out the door confirmed it. The door
was now closed. Well, that made things even more difficult.
With a silent, internal sigh, he decided that a change in plans was in order. Tenou might
be in a deep enough sleep for him to risk looking in her room first. As long as he didn't
wake her....
Very, very carefully, he stalked over to Tenou's bedroom door and gently pushed it open. He
was fortunate that she didn't close it all the way, since that made things so much easier.
He poked his head inside and slid his gaze around the room.
There wasn't much there of any interest to him. Just stuff you'd find in any bedroom. No
Nijizuishou.
So, it was in the second room. Damn. He should've known it wouldn't be easy. He was going
to need the gas canister after all.
He slowly eased the door to Tenou's room closed and inched over to the other room. He
removed the sleeping gas canister from his belt and looked down at it consideringly. He
hoped that the guest was almost asleep by now. He didn't want to use it unless it was
really necessary, since the gas wasn't quick acting. If the guest was awake, then they
would probably have a good five minutes of consciousness before falling asleep for a good
ten hours. It didn't seem like a lot of time, but a lot could happen in just five minutes.
In his line of work, success or failure was measured in seconds... sometimes even
milliseconds.
Awake or not, he had to find the Green Nijizuishou crystal. If necessary, he would resort
to the gun hidden in his ankle holster, but that was to be avoided if at all possible.
Despite the old saying, dead men did tell tales, thanks to forensics. Juléi and Erwight
were necessary, she knew too much even if she didn't really know what it was she knew - she
became a potential risk once she stole the Nijizuishou, even if she thought it was just
another jewel - and there was no telling what secrets he had learned from her... if she had
even remembered any. No matter. They were just another pair of homicides.
He raised his hand to the doorknob and turned it as he readied the gas canister. "Hmm?
Haruka?" he heard a male voice call out from inside. He sounded wide awake. Oh, damn! He
pulled out the pin and tossed the canister inside.
"What the...?" the male exclaimed. "Diane! Diane! Wake up! Hurry, wake up!"
Damn! There was more than more person in there. Oh, damn! On the bright side, he was
beginning to sound a little less alert, so maybe the gas was beginning to take effect.
"Huh...?" a female voice asked groggily. "What's going on, Jack?"
Suddenly, the door to Tenou's room swung wide open. "What the hell's goin' on?!?" she
exclaimed as she rushed out of her room.
And things only went downhill from there.
**********************************************
To Chapter 30
**********************************************
Author' s Note: New chapter! New chapter! Happy now? -_-; Hey, you try working 78-hour work
weeks and tell me how much free time you have! And I don't even get paid overtime. Be glad
you're not in the Navy. Being underway sucks. The water's nice and all that but you get
sick of it REAL quick. Okay, enough of my complaining. I'm sure you don't care about that
anyway. I know I only just touched upon Serena and Darien in this chapter, but I need to
finish this part of the story before moving on. I'll see if I can get to them in the next
chapter, but that's if I get this scene done first. Next chapter: The struggle for the
Green Nijizuishou; Serena and Darien discuss the latest script changes at his apartment;
and Serena meets Raye for the first time.
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.
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.
Chapter 29
"Read 'em and weep, Jack! Straight, nine high!"
"Damn!" Jack growled as he tossed down his hand. "Beats my three of a kind."
Diane couldn't help but smirk. "Three Jacks. How ironic." She glanced up at him and
grinned. "Say, have you ever wondered what exactly a 'Jack' is? Kings and Queens are
obvious, but what's a Jack?"
He shrugged as he leaned back against the wall. "Hell if I know. Maybe it's another name
for a Duke or something."
She let out a small laugh. "The Duke of Hearts. That sounds stupid."
"How's it going?" Haruka asked as she walked into the room. "Have you got him to bet his
shirt, yet?"
Diane grinned. When she had started teasing Jack again once they started playing, Haruka
had found it very amusing. She even joined in on it for a short time, double-teaming the
poor ex-cop. Haruka was pretty good at it, too. It was fun. "Not yet," she replied. "I've
got him down to a buck-fifty, but if he loses the next two hands, I get his pants."
Haruka chuckled as she noticed Jack's chagrined grimace. "Good luck, Diane. I'd ask to be
dealt in myself, but as you can see, I've just finished making some final modifications on
the Nightfire, so I'm gonna clean up." She gave them a quick, mischevious grin. "Of course,
if you haven't completely stripped him by the time I come out, then you're gonna have to
deal me in."
Diane laughed as Jack shook his head ruefully. "You got it. Between the two of us, we'll
have the poor sod down to his boxers in no time." Haruka laughed as she left to go take a
shower.
"We're not playing Strip Poker, Diane...," Jack began, but she cut him off.
"What, afraid I'll clean you out?" she teased. "Oh, wait. I AM cleaning you out." She
laughed again.
"That's only because I'm not an expert at Poker," he countered. "Now, if we were playing
Blackjack...."
"Oh, is that a challenge, Jack?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, let's just say that I'd have you down to your bra and panties in no time," he
replied confidently.
"Is that so?" she retorted as she slammed down the deck on the carpet between them. "Then,
deal, Hotshot. We're betting clothing now."
Jack blinked. "Wait a minute...."
"What's the matter?" Diane asked, raising an eyebrow insinuatingly. "Losing your
confidence?"
"I thought we were betting money...."
"That was until you challenged me to Blackjack," she replied. "I'll have you know that I'm
just as good at Blackjack as I am at Poker. Now, ante up."
Jack sighed. When he suggested a game of cards to pass the time, he never expected that it
would go THIS far. Well, perhaps this would be interesting. After all, knowing Diane's way
of teasing, this was probably just a friendly game of Strip Blackjack - if Strip Anything
could be considered friendly - but Diane being Diane, it was all in good fun.
Besides, the opportunity to see Diane in her underwear was just too good to pass up.
"Fine, then," he said as he shuffled the cards then dealt out their cards. Diane got a five
and a King. He got a seven, but he didn't know what his face-down card was.
"Hit me," she requested. She got a four. Nineteen. "I'll stay."
Jack flipped his card over. Another seven. He drew another card. A third seven.
"Twenty-one," he announced. "I win." Diane grumbled as she tossed him one of her shoes.
"It's just a shoe," she said unflappably. "You can't win them all."
"Of course," he replied understandingly as he dealt her a five and an Ace. His face-up card
was a Jack.
"Hit." A six. Twelve. "Hit." A nine. Twenty-one. She smirked. "Beat that."
"Blackjack," he announced, flipping over an Ace. "I win."
"Hmph," she snorted as she tossed him her other shoe. "I'd like to see you do that again."
He dealt her a nine and a Jack. He got a three. "I'll stay."
His second card was a Queen. Thirteen. Another card gave him a five. Eighteen.
"Looks like I win," Diane said smugly.
Jack shrugged. "So much for my streak," he said as he tossed her a shoe. "So, how're we
going to go about guarding the gem?" he asked as he dealt her a pair of tens. He got a six.
"Well, having one of us awake and guarding it at all times seems ludicrous," she said as
she split her tens and tapped one of them. An eight. "Stay. I mean, we don't know when our
guy will strike and we can't keep on guarding the Nijizuishou twenty-four-seven just
because don't know when he'll come." She tapped the second ten. A four. Another tap. An
eight. Twenty-two. "Bust."
"Well, maybe we can just guard the Nijizuishou through the night in shifts," Jack suggested
as he flipped over an Ace. Seventeen. "Looks like we both win one," he said as he tossed
her his other shoe and received a sock in return.
"Not a bad idea," she said with a nod. "Maybe we'll do that. Loser gets first watch?"
"Deal," he agreed just as Haruka walked in wearing a shirt, jeans and a towel around her
shoulders with slippers on her feet.
"Aw, I was hoping to see someone in their underwear by now," she sighed disappointedly as
she sat down in a chair nearby.
"Not yet," Diane said confidently, "but I'll have him stripped down soon enough."
"She'll be half-naked before I am," Jack shot back just as confidently as he smirked at her.
"Really?" she drawled as she stood up and walked over to where they were playing. "I'm
pretty good at Blackjack, myself. Deal me in?"
As it turned out, Haruka was pretty damn good. Jack did get to see Diane in her
underwear, however, that was only after Haruka had stripped him down to his boxers. In
fact, he owed Diane his boxers since she had one more article of clothing than he did.
Between them, they only managed to win Haruka's towel and slippers.
After Haruka gave them back their clothing was when she revealed to them that she was also
an expert Blackjack player.
**********************************************
"O h, so our Sleeping Beauty awakens, eh?" Tira heard as her eyes slowly opened. Everything
looked blurry, but her eyes slowly began to adjust. Blurs solidified into clearer shapes
as she watched. A woman in a doctor's white coat stood over her, smiling.
"Hmm?" she murmured as her gazed focused on the doctor.
"My name is Doctor Yolanda Ceranti. How are you feeling, Miss Jenner?" the doctor inquired.
"Tired...," she whispered. Her voice sounded weak. Then again, she felt weak.
"You lost a lot of blood," Doctor Ceranti informed her. "Your body needed time to restore
that blood, even with the transfusions we gave you."
"How long...?"
"A little over three days. You were very lucky that bullet didn't hit your heart or lungs.
You might not have woken up then." She smiled congenially at her. "But you're alive now;
that's what matters, right?" She then turned toward the monitoring devices that were still
connected to Tira and looked over the displays.
Tira tried to sit up, but she found that she didn't have the energy to get up. She could
move her head, though, so she glanced around the room. "Jack...?"
"Hmm?" the doctor said as she turned from the monitors. "Oh, I take it that's your
guardian's name." She nodded to herself as she took out a piece of paper from one of her
pockets and glanced at it. "Jack Terrance; yes, I believe that's correct. Anyway, he and
Miss Diane Silver are in Vancouver right now taking care of some business or another."
Vancouver. So, they're already there. Maybe they had found the Green Nijizuishou already.
Or, maybe they've caught the man and are now coming back. Or, maybe the Green Nijizuishou
was already taken and.... Tira shut her eyes and forced the thought from her mind. No, Jack
was still all right. He had to be. Diane was with him. They would be all right.
"I'm sure he'll be glad to know that you're all right, now," Doctor Ceranti said as she
finished checking the monitors. "Everything looks fine and you should be well enough to
leave the hospital within a few days."
"A few days...," Tira repeated tiredly as her eyes slowly began to close. Well, Jack would
certainly call about her sooner or later. She could tell him when he did. She hoped it was
soon; he needed to know right away. Both him and Diane. The information was stored in her
computer, so she wasn't....
Her eyes snapped wide open. The file was open when she tripped over the plug and
accidentally cut the power to the computer. All the modifications she had made to enable
her access, decode, and read the file weren't saved. Even worse, the file itself might've
been corrupted and could likely be unretriveable. She only remembered enough to give him a
general idea of what Project: Ginzuishou was, but she could not remember the specifics
without the file. If it was corrupted....
"Is something wrong?" the doctor asked as she turned to leave. "You seem upset over
something."
Tira blinked, then lightly shook her head. No need to worry the doctor. There was nothing
she could do until she got out of the hospital. If the file WAS corrupted, then she'd just
have to download the file again. It might be a little more difficult if they had found out
that she had hacked into their system, but there wasn't anything she could do about that.
She'd just have to cope and try harder. Hopefully, it wouldn't have to come to that if the
file was still intact.
As the doctor left her room, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. The more she
rested, the faster she could recover. There wasn't much time. Jack and Diane needed to know
what was really going on.
**********************************************
A high-pitched, irritating buzzer cut through his slumber like a knife. Then again, he
wasn't sleeping very deeply. He tied not to sleep deeply just before a job. It cut down on
his preparation time, otherwise.
Jed tossed off the blankets and sat up. There was a slight crick in his neck, but
otherwise, he felt fine. He stretched a bit and rolled his neck to work out all the kinks
in his body from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position, then opened the car door.
There was a lot of frost and ice on the car's windows, hood and roof. His breath came out
in thick plumes of white, easily seen by the car's interior lights. He cursed softly as he
quickly reached into the car and shut them off. Someone could've seen the light from the
house if they were still awake. He couln't afford to be too careful.
He reached into the car and brought out his equipment. The lockpicking device would go into
his interior coat pocket; it would be harder for it to accidentally fall out of his pocket
that way. The face mask and gas canister would be clipped onto his belt for easy reach.
Besides, there was no where else to put them, since neither one could fit in his coat
pockets.
He grinned smugly to himself as he pulled out a ski mask from one of his coat pockets and
slipped it on. It was perfect for covering his hair and facial features, save for his eyes
and nose. Unless one knew what he looked like without the mask, one would be hard pressed
telling that it was him behind the mask. However, that wasn't the reason why he wore it.
It was just too damn cold to be out without one at night. His ears were already freezing.
Once the ski mask was in place, he pulled out his gloves from the other coat pocket,
slipped them on, then closed the car door before checking the time. 11:21pm. He was early.
So far, so good.
The soft crunching of snow being compressed underfoot accompanied him from the car as he
ran through the trees, all the while making sure that he kept from sight from anyone
watching from the house. The thicket was very dense, so he had very little trouble keeping
hidden.
As he drew closer, he slowed his approach until he came to a stop just a few yards away
from the house. He glanced over the house's layout from room to room, or rather, what he
could see right away. The house was laid out in an "L"-shape with the front door near the
corner on the far side. The garage was on the end of that side of the house with the
opening facing in the same direction as the front door. There were windows on both stories,
most of them with their blinds up or curtains parted.
Keeping low to the ground, he pulled out a pair of microbinoculars from his trouser pocket
and peered through them. There was only one light on in the whole house, on the second
floor nearest to him. He'd have to check that room last. He swept his binoculars from right
to left, top to bottom, starting with the garage.
The kitchen and dining room were near the garage, so he skipped by them quickly. Past the
front door was the living room on the left side of the house. Due to his position, it was
hard to look through the windows, but the room was dark anyway. That might be one place
he'd have to search. The room above the kitchen didn't seem to have the look of a bedroom,
he did manage to spot what looked like a model car. The two rooms in the corner seemed to
be back-to-back bathrooms; maybe that last room used to be a bedroom? Finally, his gaze
rested on the only lit room in the house.
From the silhouette against the closed blinds, he could tell that the figure was a woman
and she was changing for bed, since she had just pulled off a shirt over her head and had
her hands behind her back as if she was unhooking a bra. From the silhouette's short hair,
he assumed that it was Tenou. She had short hair and in a similar hair style.
Good. If she was getting ready for bed, then he wouldn't have to worry about her. But,
there was still the possibility that the Nijizuishou was in her room.
So, there was three likely possibilities for the Nijizuishou's resting place: the living
room; the second floor room on the far right; and Tenou's bedroom on the far left. He would
start with the living room, then end with Tenou's bedroom. Simple. However, he would have
to be careful. That white sedan he had seen earlier that day was still here, so he would
have to act on the assumption that she had a guest, or guests, and he didn't know where
they were. All he did know was that Tenou, herself, was in her room... at the moment. She
wasn't asleep, yet.
He checked his watch. 11:44pm. Sixteen minutes to midnight. He could wait. Besides, he had
to give her time to relax into a deep enough sleep so that she wouldn't wake up right away.
Then again, if worse came to worse, he still had the gas. Maybe he should put on his mask,
just in case.... No. He had his ski mask on right now and it was cold out here. He would
put it on after getting into the house, but not before. Both masks could not be worn at the
same time.
The light went out a minute after he checked his watch. Good. Fifteen minutes might be
enough, but he'd wait until 12:30am just to be on the safe side. No sense wasting a
canister of gas for aesthetic reasons. A job was a job. He sat in the cold, white snow and
waited.
**********************************************
Jack sighed as he placed the Eight of Spades over the Nine of Diamonds. That was his last
move; the deck would just give him the same sets of three over and over again. Solitare was
annoying that way. Nothing to do but start all over again... for the fifteenth time. He
tossed the other two cards in his hand onto the table and stood up from the chair in order
to move around for a moment.
He glanced over at Diane, who was asleep on the brown leather recliner as she shifted in
the chair and drew the blanket tighter around her as her head moved closer to the right
edge of the pillow. Haruka had suggested that she could sleep on the couch in the living
room, since it could unfold into a bed - for when she had guests over - but she had decided
to stay up here instead. That way, she wouldn't have to stumble up the stairs to stand her
watch when it was her turn. At least, that's what she said. Personally, he would've chosen
the bed, but that was just him.
He still couldn't figure out how she managed to fall asleep so fast. He could've sworn she
was out cold the moment her head hit the pillow. It was hard to tell, since she didn't
snore. Tira, on the other hand, could wake a deaf man from a coma.
A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he thought about her. Was she still in her coma? Had she
woken up yet? The doctor said anytime now. Maybe he could try again tomorrow....
"Mmm... damn cat...," Diane murmured as she turned over again. She may not snore, but she
did talk in her sleep. She sometimes said the strangest things, too. What did she say that
first night at the hotel? Some thing about a sailor suit and punishing someone? It sounded
kinda kinky, but he wasn't about to ask her about it....
"I don't wanna, Luna...," she murmured again. "It's your turn to dress up like a carrot."
She shifted again and settled into a deeper sleep.
'A carrot?' he thought as he blinked in perplexity. 'What kind of dreams does she have
anyway?' Well, since it was nearing 12:30am, he had only an hour and a half to go before he
had to wake her up for her turn.
"Mmm.... Lower, Jack...," Diane moaned breathlessly. "Yes, that's it.... Now, get the
whipped cream."
"What?!?" he exclaimed, almost falling over in stunned surprise.
**********************************************
"Cut! You know that's not in the script, Serena!" Amy shouted irritably.
"Aww, you're no fun, Amy!" she shot back as she sat up, grinning smugly as she glanced over
at Darien, who was recovering from his shock. "I was just improvising...."
"So you say," she muttered, frowning. "All right, let's try that one again...."
"With or without the whipped cream?" Serena asked with a smirk.
Amy didn't laugh, even though some of the crew did. "Without," she said, fighting the urge
to laugh along with them, or even smile.
"I think you wanna laugh, Anderson," Serena teased, grinned childishly. "Hey, Darien, what
do you think?"
"I think that last scene's getting added to the outtakes," he said as he sat back down at
the table again. "And that someone needs a cold shower," he added, giving her a significant
look.
Now Amy laughed. "All right, all right," she said after controlling herself. "You've had
your fun. No more improvising, or I'll make sure you get that cold shower," she added as
she nodded over at Lita and Jason, who were watching the scene with similar looks of
amusement.
"With or without ice?" Lita asked as she and her brother both turned to leave.
"With."
"H-hey! You wouldn't!" Serena exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Not really, but I had you going, didn't I?" Amy asked, grinning.
Darien laughed. "Too bad. That would've been something to see."
"Keep talking like that, Shields, and I might consider doing some unpleasant things to you
later," Serena said in a low tone as she frowned at him.
"Um... right," he said as laughter instantly cut short.
"Wow. Thouroughly henpecked already," Jason said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "She
works quick, doesn't she?"
"Jason...," Lita muttered flatly as she rolled her eyes in chagrin.
"What?" he asked as Darien scowled at him and Serena laughed.
"I think it's time for a break...," Amy muttered tiredly.
**********************************************
' A carrot?' he thought as he blinked in perplexity. 'What kind of dreams does she have
anyway?' Well, since it was nearing 12:30am, he had only an hour and a half to go before he
had to wake her up for her turn.
"Mmm.... Wait, Jack.... Don't go yet...."
He paused for a second as he glanced down at her, watching for any sign that she was awake,
then continued on his way after determining that she was talking in her sleep again.
Nothing to worry about. Besides, he was just going to the bathroom.
**********************************************
12:30am. Time to get to work. The light in Tenou's room had been out for a good forty-five
minutes, so she should be fast asleep by now.
Jed dashed over to the front door and listened for the sounds of anyone snoring or stirring
in the living room. Nothing. From what he could see through the windows, the room was empty
anyway. So much, the better.
He pulled out the lockpicking device from his coat pocket and bent down toward the keyhole.
The device was simple: all he had to do was slip it through the keyhole and turn it on,
then it would manipulate the springs inside so that it seemed as though he had inserted the
door's key. Once the red light turned green, he could turn the device as if it was a key,
then open the door.
The light turned green, and the door opened smoothly. So far, so good. He removed the
device and went inside.
As he gently closed the door behind him, he removed the ski mask and put on the gas mask.
As soon as he fit the mask in place, he pulled the straps tight around his head, then
covered the air hole with his hand and breathed in. The clear plastic that served as his
visor collapsed, indicating a proper air seal. No leaks. With that out of the way, he made
sure his gas canister was loose enough on his belt to be ready when he needed it, but not
loose enough to fall off his belt entirely.
No mistakes. Not now.
He quietly crept along the wall as he made his way toward the living room from the
entrance. He kept an eye out for anything that might closely resemble the Nijizuishou. The
search would be infinitely easier with a flashlight, but he didn't dare use one. If Tenou
or someone else saw the light, then they would know something was wrong. After all, why
would a guest need to use a flashlight if the lights were working just fine? At any rate,
he had experience in using his night vision alone to navigate.
A slow, careful scrutiny of the living room gave him no indication of the resting place of
the Nijizuishou. So, perhaps it was upstairs?
He paused at the staircase. House staircases were always pains to climb at night. The
wooden ones always creaked. However, past experiences taught him a way to climb them
without creaking. Very carefully, he gently lowered his foot down on the first step... and
stood on the very edge of the step on his toes. He crouched down low and grabbed onto the
fourth and fifth steps with his hands. As he pulled himself upwards, he climbed the steps,
only allowing his toes to step on the very edge of the steps. It was a very hard way to
climb, since he would instantly fall backwards once his hands lost their grip - it was
mostly his arms doing the work of climb the steps, since his center of gravity was so far
off-center - but he had practiced this often enough. He wouldn't fall.
Once he reached the top, he slowly straightened himself. Going too fast would also cause
the floor to creak, since he was shifting his center of gravity back to normal. Once he was
finished, he glanced around carefully. Nothing out of the ordinary....
Wait. There was a light coming from underneath one of the doors. One of the bathrooms, he
assumed. So... someone was awake right now. He'd have to be even more careful.
He quickly made his way to the other bathroom and slipped inside, then waited. A few
moments later, the light went out and he heard a door close. The second room's door had
been open, so that must've been the guest. One glance out the door confirmed it. The door
was now closed. Well, that made things even more difficult.
With a silent, internal sigh, he decided that a change in plans was in order. Tenou might
be in a deep enough sleep for him to risk looking in her room first. As long as he didn't
wake her....
Very, very carefully, he stalked over to Tenou's bedroom door and gently pushed it open. He
was fortunate that she didn't close it all the way, since that made things so much easier.
He poked his head inside and slid his gaze around the room.
There wasn't much there of any interest to him. Just stuff you'd find in any bedroom. No
Nijizuishou.
So, it was in the second room. Damn. He should've known it wouldn't be easy. He was going
to need the gas canister after all.
He slowly eased the door to Tenou's room closed and inched over to the other room. He
removed the sleeping gas canister from his belt and looked down at it consideringly. He
hoped that the guest was almost asleep by now. He didn't want to use it unless it was
really necessary, since the gas wasn't quick acting. If the guest was awake, then they
would probably have a good five minutes of consciousness before falling asleep for a good
ten hours. It didn't seem like a lot of time, but a lot could happen in just five minutes.
In his line of work, success or failure was measured in seconds... sometimes even
milliseconds.
Awake or not, he had to find the Green Nijizuishou crystal. If necessary, he would resort
to the gun hidden in his ankle holster, but that was to be avoided if at all possible.
Despite the old saying, dead men did tell tales, thanks to forensics. Juléi and Erwight
were necessary, she knew too much even if she didn't really know what it was she knew - she
became a potential risk once she stole the Nijizuishou, even if she thought it was just
another jewel - and there was no telling what secrets he had learned from her... if she had
even remembered any. No matter. They were just another pair of homicides.
He raised his hand to the doorknob and turned it as he readied the gas canister. "Hmm?
Haruka?" he heard a male voice call out from inside. He sounded wide awake. Oh, damn! He
pulled out the pin and tossed the canister inside.
"What the...?" the male exclaimed. "Diane! Diane! Wake up! Hurry, wake up!"
Damn! There was more than more person in there. Oh, damn! On the bright side, he was
beginning to sound a little less alert, so maybe the gas was beginning to take effect.
"Huh...?" a female voice asked groggily. "What's going on, Jack?"
Suddenly, the door to Tenou's room swung wide open. "What the hell's goin' on?!?" she
exclaimed as she rushed out of her room.
And things only went downhill from there.
**********************************************
To Chapter 30
**********************************************
Author' s Note: New chapter! New chapter! Happy now? -_-; Hey, you try working 78-hour work
weeks and tell me how much free time you have! And I don't even get paid overtime. Be glad
you're not in the Navy. Being underway sucks. The water's nice and all that but you get
sick of it REAL quick. Okay, enough of my complaining. I'm sure you don't care about that
anyway. I know I only just touched upon Serena and Darien in this chapter, but I need to
finish this part of the story before moving on. I'll see if I can get to them in the next
chapter, but that's if I get this scene done first. Next chapter: The struggle for the
Green Nijizuishou; Serena and Darien discuss the latest script changes at his apartment;
and Serena meets Raye for the first time.
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.