“We have to save Dr. Cain,” Usagi said.
“Mercury Star Power...”
“Mars Star Power...”
“Jupiter Star Power...”
“Venus Star Power...”
“Moon Prism Power...”
“Moon Cosmic Power...”
“Make-Up!”
All the girls transformed. They rushed into the room while Herbert was on the floor holding Dan, checking for a pulse. His head then moved to Dan's chest.
Moon stepped forward. “Attacking someone whose pure heart is set on saving lives is unforgivable. In the name of love and justice, I, Sailor Moon, the pretty sailor suited solider will punish you in the name of the moon!”
The other girls stepped forward, promising to do the same. Who are they, Herbert thought. Where are those girls?
“His heartbeat and pulse are...weak,” Herbert finally said. “Why?”
Pluto, Uranus and Neptune appeared not far behind the other girls. Neptune looked down at Herbert. “His pure heart crystal was stolen,” she explained. “It helps keep him alive.”
“So if he doesn't get it back, he'll...die?”
“Yes.”
Herbert went white with fear. 'No...' He stood, so close to breaking down at the thought of losing Dan. “I will not let that happen to Dan.”
“Nor will we,” said the girls.
“Deep Submerge!” said Neptune. She threw a ball of water that looked a planet at the Daimon.
“World Shaking!” said Uranus. She threw a yellow ringed planet that made the Daimon shake like it was experiencing an earthquake.
“Pink Sugar Heart Attack!” said Chibi Moon. 'Nothing happened. What kind of attack doesn't work...?' The girl sighed. “Pink Sugar Heart Attack!” Little red hearts shot out of the wand and pelted the monster's face.
“Ow,” the monster said. “That hurts.” 'Well, that's useless.'
“Dead Scream,” whispered Pluto. She had long dark green hair and dark red eyes. 'If pink hair and red eyes is natural, this is too.' A light magenta ringed planet fired out her staff that looked oddly like a large key and hit the monster.
As the girls continued to fight the monster, Herbert approached the woman he knew was behind the attack on Dan.
“Give his heart crystal back...now!” he ordered, on the fine line between enraged and depressed. “You don't understand how much he means to me.”
“I'm afraid I can't do that.”
“You have to. If you don't, I won't feel responsible for whatever I do to you.” 'And you don't know how far I could go...you'd be lucky if you got out of all of this alive.' He felt his left arm twitching, anxious to move. He let it shoot toward and wrap around the woman's neck, and then he began to squeeze on her trachea.
“Crisis, Make-Up!” said Sailor Moon, holding up an intricate cup. Her clothing changed, catching Herbert's attention. 'Please save Dan...'
Herbert turned back to the woman who was slowly killing Dan. She had a staff in her hand and was pointing it at him. “Oh, what could you do to me? You're nothing but a woman...in a rather tacky outfit.”
“That's it! This isn't tacky, you don't know what you're talking about! Sure, you got close to killing me, but I'm not defenseless!” she exclaimed, not noticing that her monster had just been defeated and that the girls were well on their way to saving Dan. “Charm Buster!” Stars flew from her staff and they hit Herbert. He was thrown across the room and violently crashed into the metal siding of the exam bed, the back of his body taking most of the damage from the impact.
He managed to move himself and saw that Dan was awake and sitting up. He smiled, completely unaware of the blood spilling down the sides of his head, arms, legs and back. He stood, feeling a little woozy. “Dan, you're better.” His legs collapsed and he could feel Dan catch him.
“Herbert, you're bleeding a lot.”
“I'm fine.” He stood and felt his legs give way again. Luckily, Dan caught him again. 'It seems Dan was right.' He stayed in Dan's arms this time, and it was comfortable. 'Those girls are gone...what is going on?'
“I could hear everything that happened after I had my heart crystal removed. Thank you for sticking up for me and ordering that woman to give my heart crystal back.”
“I would not have done that for anyone else.”
“What would you have done if those girls hadn't saved me?”
“I don't know. I was contemplating killing her, to be honest. I was so close to doing it, too.”
“Herbert...”
“You don't know how incredibly terrifying and depressing it was to watch the person you care about so much die slowly while holding them in your arms when you know there's nothing you can do.”
“I didn't know you felt that way.”
“Dan...I could feel your body growing colder by the second. I wanted to cry...”
“Herbert...”
“Quiet now...” He pulled Dan's lips onto his and kissed him. “I'm so glad you're alive.”
“Thanks, Herbert.” Dan cradled Herbert against his chest. “I'm glad you care about me the way you do.”
“I feel the same.” He wrapped his arms around Dan.
Dan stood and picked Herbert up. He carried him into a different room and put him in the bed. “You need to rest, Herb, you lost a lot of blood.”
“It seems most of it is on your shirt now, Danny.”
Dan looked down. “You're right.”
“You ought to do something about that.”
“Like what?”
“Remove your shirt and come here.”
“You need to recover.”
“You could figure out some way to cover up your chest if you have nothing under your shirt, you're clever.”
“Thanks.” Herbert watched as he removed his lab coat, placed it on the chair and slipped off his shirt. He walked over and joined Herbert in the bed.
The two of them just lay there holding each other.
“Are you still going to move out once we get home?” Herbert asked.
“No. I never want to leave you again.”
“Thank you, Dan. I love you.”
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Ami and her friends wandered down the hall, looking for Dr. West and Dr. Cain. They heard their voices from nearby, but couldn't believe what they heard. 'Dr. West and Dr. Cain are...that can't be...'
- - - - - - - - - -
Herbert and Dan began kissing, not noticing that the girls had entered the room.
“Cain-san? West-san?” Ms. Mizuno asked.
“Oh sh...” Dan shot into a sitting position like a rocket. “Herbert, we have company...”
“Wha...?” Herbert looked over Dan's shoulder and saw the girls. “And there goes the mood.”
Dan climbed out of the bed and put his lab coat back on. He moved his shirt and sat in the chair after moving it closer to Herbert. “Hi, girls.”
“Were we interrupting something?”
Herbert and Dan exchanged a quick look. “No,” they said together.
“It looked like we were,” Ms. Aino and Ms. Kino said. “You two are...”
Herbert and Dan exchanged another look. 'We can't get anything past those two...what are we going to do...?' “That was a joke,” Dan said. 'What is he...oh no...' “Herbert and I are...lovers.”
'He actually said it...We won't get home soon enough, and then...' “Daniel!”
“Sorry, Herbert.”
Herbert saw the sweet look in Dan's eyes and stopped himself before he started shouting at him again. “I'm sorry, too...I was only upset that you told them about us.”
“That's so cute,” the girls squealed. “Now kiss and make up.”
Herbert glared angrily and pointed at the door. “Out!” he ordered.
The girls left the room in disappointment, but stayed by the doorway to see what would happen next.
Dan grabbed Herbert's hand and their fingers intertwined. Herbert put Dan's hand on his face and kissed it.
“I really am sorry,” Dan said.
“I know. But you're still going to have to be punished.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes.”
“What could you do to me when you're stuck in that bed?”
“You have no idea.” 'And what I'm going to do to you is just the tip of the iceberg, Dan.' “Would you like to find out?” He smiled dangerously.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
There was a collective of giggles from the doorway where the girls still stood.
“We might have to do this somewhere...private.”
“You're right.”
“What do you say we call it a night?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“But before we go, you need to get bandaged up.”
“I certainly don't want to be bleeding all over you when we...you know.”
“That wouldn't be fun. I won't be long.” Dan stood and left the room. He waved at the girls, pointing at Herbert. “Keep him company.”
“Daniel! You're going to get a stricter punishment now!”
Dan shot Herbert a look. “I can take whatever you dish out, Herbie.”
“Things are going to get much worse for you now, Daniel!”
The girls entered the room and stood by the bed. Herbert looked at them with mild annoyance, but knew there was nothing he could do. “You may speak,” he said with resignation.
“When did you and Cain-san first meet?” Usagi asked.
“Over 8 months ago. We went to medical school together.”
“When did you two realize that you had feelings for each other?” Makoto asked.
“Ever since I moved in with him as his roommate. We didn't really do anything about it until after his girlfriend Meg died.”
“Meg was the one that looked a little like me?” Minako inquired.
“Yes.”
Dan came back with a few rolls of bandages. “I told you I wouldn't be long.”
Herbert lightened up since he didn't have to suffer the company of the girls alone anymore. “Let's get this over with.” He smiled at the girls. “We're going to need some privacy, so leave...NOW.”
The girls left the room, but again stood in the doorway. They watched Dan help Herbert stand up after bandaging up the wound on his head.
“Where else?” Dan asked.
“My back, arms and legs.”
“Alright, let's start with your back and arms.”
Ami looked at her friends. “Let's not look, this is between them.”
Herbert stood there, enjoying every moment as Dan wrapped up the wounds on his arms and back. “Help me with my shirt and we can deal with my leg wounds.” 'I know that's guaranteed to get rid of those girls...I want Dan all to myself.'
“Girls, let's go,” Ami said.
“But they're getting to the good stuff...” Minako and Usagi said at the same time.
“But it's private.”
“Fine...”
The girls left, ready to go home.
“Let's get back to the hotel,” Dan said, helping Herbert to the men's locker room.
“Yes.” He tried to keep still as Dan removed his lab coat and put it in his locker. He was then guided to a sitting position on the bench as Dan took off his own lab coat and put it away.
They left the hospital and returned to the hotel. In a flash the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door. Herbert went to his bag and got some things out.
“I'm ready for anything,” Dan said, laying on his back.
“I'm sure you are,” Herbert said. He turned his back and began filling a hypo with the weak solution of his reagent. He turned around, placing the hypo in his shirt pocket. He loosened his tie and began to walk toward the bed. He leaned over Dan and rolled up his sleeve. “As you know, all pleasure comes in tandem with a little pain.” He grabbed the hypo from his pocket and placed it over the vein in Dan's elbow. “So, part of your punishment will be suffering pain while experiencing the greatest physical pleasure this world has to offer.”
Dan looked at the hypo. “...Herbert!”
Herbert lovingly caressed Dan's face. “It's just the weak solution.” He tapped the vein and prepared to inject Dan. “This will only hurt a little.” He plunged the needle into Dan's arm.
“Since you injected me, I'm going to have to inject you. Then you can really start punishing me for my lapse in common sense.” Dan stood after Herbert got off of him, grabbing the bottle of reagent and another hypo.
“Alright.” Herbert rolled up his sleeve and readied himself.
“I'll make sure this doesn't hurt too much.”
“Now Dan, you're going to be punished...and you'll enjoy it.” Herbert sank on top of Dan, covering him with kisses after outlining what was going to happen.
