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


Chapter 5

"Okay, everyone, let's take our places for the next scene!" 
Amy called out as she, Darien, and the rest crew quickly 
moved to the part of the set where the next scene would 
take place. "Ready? Action!"

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

"Mr. S, Mr. J is here to see you," a female voice said 
through the intercom.

Mr. S growled softly to himself only for a moment. "Send him 
in," he replied. His airheaded secretary couldn't ruin his good 
mood.

Since it was full dark outside, the building lights were on, 
except for the light over his seat. The darkness suited him; 
suited his dark moods, which he was known to have. Since his 
associate was here to receive his instructions, it was only fair 
to come into the light to speak with him. After all, it wasn't like 
he had anything to hide from him.

Mr. S strode into the light, one hand pushing back a wayward 
strand of dark brown hair and stopping to brush of a piece of lint 
from the shoulder of his gray business suit. His pitch black 
necktie made a sharp contrast with his snow white dress shirt.

The door opened as the secretary let Mr. J in. Mr. J was a little 
shorter than he was, with short, light blonde hair. His grayish-blue 
shirt and black slacks was a little more casual than the other 
man's suit, but he carried himself with an air that would have 
anyone who didn't know different thinking that he was the one in 
charge. His sharp, piercing green eyes focused on Mr. S's light 
brown as he reached out to him with one hand.

Mr. J gave the secretary a hard glare which made her jerk back 
reflexively. "Um, if you don't need me for anything further, Mr. S? 
Mr. J?"

"I told you NOT to call me THAT!!!" Mr. J snapped angrily while 
thrusting an accusing finger at her.

"S, s, sorry, sir," she replied meekly as she hurried out of the room, 
closing the door behind her.

"I wish I could do that to her," Mr. S said with a grin.

"The problem with you is that you worry to much about legalities," 
Mr. J replied.

"You're not her employer. I am. I have to worry about legalities."

"Bah," Mr. J retorted, waving his hand in dismissal. "We're not 
here to discuss idiot secretaries. What've you got lined up for me, 
Max?"

Max grinned wolfishly. "We're ready to begin phase 2 of our 
operations."

"So soon? I thought you wouldn't be done with production for...."

"Not only have I finished production, but over half of the satellites 
are currently in orbit and in position."

"No kidding. So I guess you'll be wanting me to make your 
necessary acquisitions, then?"

"The sooner you get this done, Jed, the better. Half of the payment 
is right there on the table behind me," Max told him guesturing 
toward the briefcase lying on the table. "The other half of the 
payment on delivery, of course."

"Of course," Jed agreed, walking past Max and picking up the 
briefcase. "I'll contact you with updates on my progress."

"Good. Remember, if you get caught, I know nothing."

Jed snorted derisively. "Whatever. You know I never get caught."

"Precautions, Jed," Max repiled, admonishingly waving his index 
finger with a small conspiritorial grin on his face. "I have to cover 
my own ass, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Jed countered tiredly as he waved his free hand 
again in dismissal, as if he had heard that speech millions of times 
before. "I know. I know. If you'll excuse me, Mr. S," he said in a 
tone imitating Max's secretary, "I've got things to attend to before 
I get to work."

"Just get the hell out of my office!" Max shouted seethingly. Jed 
chuckled to himself as he left the office.

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

"Cut!" Amy shouted and grinned to herself. Personally, she thought 
that everyone else worked better when Serena's oppressive and 
dominating personality was absent from the set. She also had a 
tendency to break character and demand that the scene start over 
because of this actor's or that actress's incompetence. Thankfully, 
Serena was holing up in her trailer, away from everyone else.

"Well, I'd better start getting ready for my first scene," Darien 
stated as he got to his feet.

"Darien, your scene's not up next," she replied questioningly.

"I know, but I just wanna go over my first scene one more time. 
Don't wanna make any mistakes, ya know?" he said, nodding his 
head slightly toward Serena's trailer.

Amy sighed to herself. "I think you're overreacting just a little."

"I'm just being careful," Darien countered. "I'm the one on her bad 
side, not you. Besides, this movie is supposed to be a big 
opportunity for me. If I blow this chance, then I'd never forgive 
myself. I'm gonna do the best I can, despite Serena Moon's demand 
for perfection."

The blue-haired director grinned to herself as she watched Darien 
head toward where he left his script and start rereading it. 'I have a 
feeling that he's gonna do better than we've all hoped for; even if 
Serena didn't all but browbeat him into doing his best. If I'm right, 
then I'll be placing a call to G.Q. very soon. Once I tell him about 
what's going on around here, he'll jump at the chance to revise this 
script the way Melvin and I have been hoping to do.'

Greg Quincy Carter - or 'G.Q.' as everyone called him, due to the 
fact that he was always dressed as if he had just stepped out of a 
Gentleman's Quarterly magazine - was a good friend of Amy's, and 
a crack writer. He had collaborated with her for every single script 
rewrite she needed. He was also very modest, despite the way he 
dresses, often saying that most of the ideas were her own and that 
he just built upon them. There was also a lot of Hollywood gossip 
about him and Amy, saying that they were all but a couple, despite 
the fact that they were always saying that they were just friends. 
Not that he would mind that if she did want to go out with him, but he 
knew she had her eyes set on someone else.

Amy turned toward one of the grips that was carrying a box and 
waved him over. "Would you mind informing Miss Moon that we're 
getting ready for her next scene, please?" The grip nodded his 
assent and left after she nodded her thanks.

Minutes later, Serena left her trailer and walked over to the set. 
"Is everyone ready?" she asked in a less pompous manner than 
earlier. She seemed almost... normal.

Amy blinked in surprise for a moment, caught off guard by her 
quick change of behavior. "Uh..., almost. The grips are almost 
finished getting the set ready...." She paused for a moment as she 
noticed one of them giving her an O.K. sign. "Oh, they're done."

Serena nodded and took her place as Amy watched in confusion. 
Not that she wasn't grateful, but what she wouldn't give to figure 
out what had calmed her down so quickly. For a second, she 
entertained the notion that it was the fact that Darien was 
elsewhere and not in Serena's sight, but she dismissed that idea 
as silly. She had always been haughty and abrasive, even without 
Darien adding fuel to the fire. There was something about her 
current serene, self-possessed attitude that made her wonder 
what was going through her mind at the moment....

"Everyone ready for the next scene?" Amy asked. "Action!"

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

The phone rang as Diane was busy in the kitchen, preparing 
breakfast. She was dressed in grey sweats and a loose grey 
T-shirt, her hair bound in a long ponytail as she always wore it 
to bed. She put down the bowl she was scrambling her eggs in 
and walked into the living room to answer the phone.

Her one bedroom apartment was nicely kept. Of course, due to 
the cleaning service that came in once a week, anyone's 
apartment would look nicely kept. The couch, reclining chair, 
carpet, and a good deal of the other furnishings were all a 
silverish-grey color, like her namesake. Not that she was 
egotistical or anything, but she did like the color. A couple of 
magazines littered the coffee table between the couch and chair, 
not to mention the TV remote. The TV was off due to the fact that 
there wasn't anything good to watch anyway. Damn cable.

As she plopped onto the couch to answer her cordless, her black 
cat jumped off in order to avoid getting hit by her mistress' legs. 
The cat turned and meowed at Diane in an upset tone, then 
stalked off after her diatribe was finished.

"Oops! Sorry, Luna!" she called after her cat as she picked up 
her phone. "Hello, Silver speaking."

"Diane!" a male voice greeted over the phone. "Heard about 
your little banking incident yesterday."

"Oh, that?" she replied in an off-handed manner. "No big deal. I 
just wanted to get my check deposited as soon as possible and 
the police would've taken forever just with the hostage 
negotiations."

"Nice to know that heroism was the last thing on your mind, 
Diane," he replied wryly.

"Ah, come on, Artie," she replied in a feigned hurt tone, "you know 
I wouldn't try anything like that. I was just responding to my 
situation. Being taken as a hostage by simple, amateur bank 
robbers wouldn't do for my reputation, now, would it? I'm not the 
top agent for nothing, you know."

There was an audible sigh heard over the phone. "You and your 
reputation," he replied in a slightly exasperated tone. "Sometimes 
I wonder why I put up with you."

"Maybe it's because you love me?" she teased.

Artie snorted loudly. "Hardly."

"Aw, come on, Artie," she continued with a large grin on her face. 
"You know you love me. Admit it." She could just imagine him 
rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Anyway, Diane, I'd like you to give me your own verbal report of 
what happened yesterday when you come in later," he told her.

This time, it was Diane's turn to sigh. "Aw, come on, Artie," she 
moaned. "Do you really need my report? Isn't the police report 
enough?"

This was a pause, which she guessed meant that Artie was 
probably grinning. "You know 'my' reputation."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied. "Mr. Artemis 'Thourough' D'Loire. 
Pencil pusher, extraordinaire." She giggled as she heard him 
growling over the phone. "All right, then, chief, you'll have my 
report."

"Good. I'll see you in my office later."

"Okay," Diane said as she sat back up on her couch. "Bye, 
Artie!" She hung up the phone and walked back to her kitchen, 
pausing to scratch Luna behind her ears.

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

Artemis hung up the phone and sighed to himself again as he 
shook his head in vexation. Diane had always loved to tease 
him, even though he was her superior. Then again, he never 
really minded the good-natured ribbing. She was like a daughter 
to him, and he occasionally treated her as such. Especially, 
when she was in one of her teasing moods.

He had known her ever since she first started working for the 
F.B.I. five years ago, when he was still a field agent. He taught 
her everything he knew and she learned very quickly, even 
surpassing him in some areas. When he was finally promoted 
from field duty two years ago, she had quickly gained a 
reputation as one of the best agents in the F.B.I.

She was one of the first agents to be placed under his 
supervision; in fact, she had asked to be transferred under 
his supervision. He was very honored by the action, despite 
the fact that she was constantly calling him a 'pencil pusher'. 
Not that he missed field work, but at 41 years of age and grey 
slowly coloring some of his hairs, he was glad to be behind a 
desk. Diane's 25 years was better suited to the field than he was.

Artemis glanced down at the police report again and chuckled to 
himself. "Bluffing with a gun-shaped lighter," he said to himself. 
"Now I'm glad I got her that for her birthday even though she 
doesn't smoke. I'm gonna love saying 'I told you so' to her face, 
once she gets here." He leaned back in his chair and grinned 
broadly, crossing his arms across his chest.

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

"Cut!" Amy shouted. "Very good, people! We're making great 
progress today. Everyone, take a break and be back for the 
next scene in half an hour."

Serena went quietly back to her trailer without one complaint 
about the other actors or without saying that the scene could've 
been done better. Amy glanced at her retreating form with one 
eyebrow raised in confusion. Deciding not to look a gift horse 
in the mouth, she headed over toward wardrobe, where she 
last saw Darien.

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

A knock on the door pulled Darien's attention from the script he 
was studying. He got to his feet and opened the door. "Amy, is 
it time for my first scene yet?" he asked as soon as he saw who 
it was.

"Yes, but everyone's on a 30-minute break, now," she replied.

Darien frowned in confusion as he noticed her slightly 
preoccupied expression. "Something wrong?"

"Serena's acting strangely for some reason," she told him.

"Doesn't surprise me," he commented.

"No, I mean, when she came out of her trailer, she was acting 
calm, instead of arrogant and haughty as usual."

"And that's what's bothering you?" he asked incredulously. "I'd 
be grateful, no matter how it happened."

"It's not that I'm not grateful," she replied, "it's that I don't know 
how it happened. I wish I knew, but I don't."

Darien scratched his head in confusion. "Well, no matter how 
she's acting, my scene's up next."

"You ready, Darien?" Amy asked.

"I'm ready," he replied confidently. "I'll show Miss Moon that this 
'extra' can act good enough to suit her."

Amy grinned and nodded as they both left the room. 'Now we'll 
see if Melvin and I were right to choose him to play opposite 
Serena...'

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

Serena closed the door behind her as she entered her trailer. 
She walked the short distance between the door and her vanity 
and sat down in front of the lighted mirror. Slowly, she undid the 
long ponytail and began brushing her hair. She disliked wearing it 
in a desheveled manner, but the scene called for her looking like 
she had just gotten out of bed a little late in the morning.

She glanced at the clock hanging on the far side of the trailer. 
11:09. Amy had been working the cast and crew hard this morning. 
They needed that 30-minute break. Lunch was in a few hours, so 
she would have time for only one more scene before lunch. 
Darien's first scene.

The thought of that man made her angry. He almost ruined one of 
her favorite designer dresses, which cost her quite a bit to clean. 
She had gotten him fired from his last job, which didn't bother her 
much, nor did it mollify her ire any. When she saw him standing 
next to the craft services table earlier, her temper flared up again. 
It burned when she found out that not only was he going to be 
working on the same set as her, but he was going to play opposite 
of her as well! The thought just made her want to chew nails.

She realized she was clenching her fists very tightly, making her knuckles 
white. Deliberately, she loosened them, allowing blood to flow. She 
had almost lost her temper again.

Serena sighed to herself. She had never been this angry at anyone 
before. Sure, she would get angry if people weren't doing their job 
right, but that was because their shoddy work would reflect on her. 
She was a very successful actress and she would be damned if 
she would ever have her name associated with a movie that bombed.

There was something about Darien, though, that seemed to draw 
her anger like a magnet. Perhaps it was the circumstances under 
which they 'met'. Spilling soda and coffee on her favorite desiger 
dress is certainly no way to get on her good side. Then there was 
his sudden and abrupt career boost. She had to work hard to get 
where she was and this guy just happens to get some lucky break. 
It was totally unfair and it pissed her off.

She had somewhat threatened to make his life a living hell while he 
was on the set, but most of it was just words said out of anger. She 
wasn't really going to go out of her way just to make his life miserable, 
she just wanted him - and everyone else - to think she did. Kicking 
his chair out from under him and making his coffee spill all over him 
helped reinforce that.

Unbidden, the image of Darien without his shirt flashed through her 
mind. She had to admit that he was cute... no, sexy, with those 
well-defined muscles and gorgeous features. He wasn't too bulgy, 
but just right for her taste. The image of him shirtless soon led to 
other images, which quickly prompted her to pause in her brushing 
and shake the images out of her head. Her mind cleared, she then 
continued her brushing.

After she finished brushing her hair, she put it up in her favorite 
hairstyle: a pair of odangos and twin ponytails streaming down from 
the two hairbuns on her head. She was famous for this hairstyle. 
Many young women, and even some of her colleagues, tried to 
imitate her hairstyle, but not many could pull it off as well as she 
could.

As she turned to leave her trailer, so she could watch Darien 
perform in his first scene and see for herself how good he really 
was, her eyes fixed onto the script lying on the small end table 
near the door. Upon seeing the script, she remembered the scene 
she had read before leaving her trailer. Before, she had been in a 
shocked stupor when the full realization hit her. Sure, she had read 
the scene before, but that was when she thought that some other 
actor was going to do the scene with her, not Darien. The images 
she had banished from her mind minutes ago returned, stronger 
than before. She closed her eyes and covered them with her 
hands as she shook her head again.

"No," she whispered to herself. "No. Damn you, Anderson. Damn 
you, Van Holst. How could you do this to me? I don't want to do it. 
I hate him! Why couldn't it be anyone else but him? I could deal 
with it if it was anyone but him."

'Are you sure?' a small voice asked quietly inside her head. 'He 
is handsome. You yourself even admitted that. Are you positive 
that you wouldn't want to do that scene with him?'

"I don't want to do it," she whispered quietly in reply. "Never with 
him. I hate him!"

'Are you even sure you hate him? A designer dress is such a 
trivial thing to hate someone over.'

"He's just some jerk who got a lucky break!" she argued quietly 
to herself. "He doesn't deserve to have this part! I had to work 
my ass off just to get where I am!"

'So, you supposedly hate him because you're jealous of him,' the small 
voice mocked. 'You're jealous because he got opportunities you 
never got.'

"I am NOT jealous of him!" she retorted. "I have no reason to be 
jealous of anyone! I am Serena Moon, one of the greatest 
actresses in Hollywood! I'm jealous of no one!"

'Oh, really?' the voice laughed, then fell silent.

Serena grabbed the script off of the table and cocked her arm 
back as if to throw the script across the trailer. She paused for 
a moment as her anger began to calm again. "Now I'm getting 
angry with myself," she muttered in annoyance as she casually 
tossed the script back onto the end table and shook her head 
tiredly. "I need to get a grip. After this movie's finished, I'm taking 
a vacation." She glanced back at the script again. "A very LONG 
vacation."

As she opened the door, she could hear the sounds of the crew 
returning to work. The set was being set up for the next scene. 
Over by the studio entrance, she could see Amy talking with Darien.

'Are you even sure you hate him?' she remembered the voice 
asking her mere moments ago. 'Are you positive that you wouldn't 
want to do that scene with him? You're jealous because he got 
opportunities you never got.'

"Damn you, Shields," she whispered quietly to herself as she glared 
at him. "Damn you."

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

                                 To Chapter 6

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

Author's Note: Okay, I know I said that I was gonna have
Darien's first scene in this chapter, but things happen and
suddenly you're in a whole new chapter before you know it.
Darien's first scene is definitely going to be in the next chapter,
I promise. Be sure to be there when Chapter 6 features Darien
Shields as Jack Terrance... and some other stuff. ^_~

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.