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


Chapter 9

"Okay, people, that was very good," Amy shouted as the scene 
ended. "I think that'll do it for today. I hope we can maintain 
this level of performance tomorrow. Be here at around 9am."

A huge racket arose as people started clean-up. The grips 
hurriedly gathered up most of the props and other assorted 
items while the actors began to migrate towards the exits; some 
in small clusters, talking amongst themselves.

"A great day today. Right, Amy?" Melvin asked as he strode over 
to her. "Everything went unbelievably smooth today. A shame it 
can't always go like today, but we can always hope.

"So, how'd everything go with G.Q.? Is he doing the script?" he 
asked eagerly.

She nodded. "He'll be over the day after tomorrow."

"Thursday, huh?" he repeated to himself thoughtfully. "Well, 
I'm sure that by then we'll have a very good idea of how well 
our newest star will perform. The question will be how well 
Serena and Darien will work together."

Amy nodded. "Yes, that's one of my concerns, too. Serena's a 
professional, but there's no telling whether she'll be able to 
handle her emotions around Darien. Supposedly, she's going to 
give Darien a chance to 'redeem' himself in her eyes. I just 
wish I knew why she acts the way she does around him."

Melvin sighed and shook his head as he patted her comfortingly 
on her shoulder. "Well, there's no use in worrying about it 
anymore for today. I, for one, am looking forward to going home. 
Molly's getting much better, and I think she'll be well enough 
to be out and about very soon."

Amy smiled as she laughed softly. "At least you have someone to 
go home to. I fear it's another night alone for me," she added 
with a sigh.

"Oh, don't say that," he said consolingly. "You could always 
come over and spend some time with us. Molly'd love to have you 
over."

"No, that's all right," she declined gratefully. "I appreciate 
the offer, though. I'm used to spending nights by myself at 
home. Go home," she urged him. "Your wife's waiting for you."

"Well, if you insist...," he said reluctantly. "Just remember, 
you're always welcome to spend some time with us if you want." 
With that, he turned and walked away toward the exit.

Amy stayed until the last crew member left the set, watching 
everyone as they left. Some crew members who didn't drive 
themselves home were picked up by friends, others by family 
members - husbands or wives - who were always greeted with a 
loving hug, sometimes accompanied with a tender kiss. After the 
last person left, she walked over toward the exit, shutting 
down the lights as she went. At the door, she cut off the last 
group of lights and shut the door behind her. With a heavy sigh, 
she trudged over to her car, got in, and drove home.

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

Darien stopped by The Crown on the way home. He just had to tell 
Andrew about his new job. He knew that as soon as he found out, 
he would just flip. 'Nothing like having bragging rights when 
visiting a good friend,' he thought with a large grin.

It was about 7pm, so The Crown would still be open for about two 
more hours. Good. He had a lot to tell him.

"Hey, Dare!" Andrew greeted from behind the counter. "How was 
your new job? From the look on your face, it wasn't as bad as 
you thought is was going to be, was it?"

"You'll never guess what happened at work today," Darien said 
as he sat at an empty stool and took the glass of soda Andrew 
handed him. You know how my acting stint was supposed to last 
about two weeks, right?"

"Yeah," Andrew agreed with a nod. "With Serena Moon as one of 
the stars you'd be working with. So, did she remember the drink 
incident?"

Darien's grin faultered slightly. "Um..., well, yes, she 
definitely remembered. I've agreed to pay her back for the 
damages to her dress, so she's not as mad at me as before.

"Anyway, that's not what I had come over to tell you. The 
director and the producer of the movie both liked the work I've 
did today and offered to extend my part to a supporting actor."

Andrew's jaw literally dropped. "You're joking," he said in 
disbelief.

"No joke," Darien replied with a huge grin. "Isn't this great? 
This could really help my career to take off!"

"It's definitly a great start," Andrew agreed, smiling as well. 
"Well, Dare, since it's not really busy tonight, why don't you 
fill me in on all the details?"

Darien took a drink of his soda and gave off a small, relaxed 
sigh. "Sure thing, Andrew."

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

The next day, Serena woke with a slight headache. She didn't 
really sleep well last night for some reason. Today they would be 
going over Darien's next scene as well as her own. She doubted 
that they would be able to keep up the rate of progress that they 
had yesterday, but she could always hope. 

After a quick shower and a bite to eat, not to mention taking a 
few aspirins for her slight headache, she was dressed and out the 
door on the way to the set. Her mood was not exactly in its most 
cheerful, but she had a job to do. Maybe she should just lock 
herself up in her trailer until she was needed.

"Hey, Serena!" a cheery voice called out from behind her. She 
turned around to see a old friend of hers walking up to her and 
waving.

"Tanya!" she shouted back with a smile spreading across her face. 
"What're you doing here?"

Tanya Cambridge was a good friend of hers from way back all the 
way to high school. Back then, they each knew that they wanted to 
be actresses. In fact, they both ended up in their first movie 
together, though neither one had a big role in it. Since then, 
they both have had successful acting careers.

Tanya playfully tossed her jet black hair and grinned childishly. 
"Guess who's playing a part in your movie, girl?" the brown-
skinned actress asked with a giggle.

"You're kidding," Serena said in a tone mixed with surprise and 
delight. "What part did you get?"

"I'm playing Tira Jenner," Tanya replied. "As for why I'm here, I 
just wanted to see the guy who's playing Jack. From the script, I 
take it he's gonna be a cutie." She noticed Serena grimacing and 
frowned in perplexity. "He... isn't cute?" she asked warily.

"It's not that," Serena replied sourly. "It's just that I really 
didn't want to be reminded of that guy right now."

"Don't tell me that he's a pig-headed, arrogant, jerk," she 
moaned. "I don't wanna work with another one of those. They always 
think they're oh-so-superior and that they can do no wrong and 
that they're God's gift to women. Ugh!" She shook her head in 
contempt and disgust.

Serena couldn't help but laugh. "Luckily, he's not like that. Not 
yet, at least," she added in a flat tone.

"You don't like the guy, do you?" Tanya asked thoughtfully. 
"What'd he do?"

"Remember when I told you about that idiot from the last shoot 
who...?"

"The one who spilled the drinks all over your...!" Tanya cut in, 
then gasped. "You mean...? Him? He's Jack Terrance? You never said 
that he was an actor, too."

"Not until yesterday he wasn't," she said, her tone cold as ice.

"Ooh!" Tanya said abruptly, staring at someone behind Serena. 
"He's cute!" Serena turned around and sighed. Just as she thought, 
there he was. "Oh, you know him?" she asked when she noticed her 
expression.

"Yeah," she replied as she frowned. "That's Darien Shields. He's 
the one playing Jack."

"Well, now," Tanya said with an approving grin. "I think they made 
the perfect choice in casting. Can he act?"

"A little, so far," Serena said dismissively.

"Say, why don't you introduce me to him?" she asked. "After all, 
we'll all be working together. I wanna chance to get to know him 
better, if you don't mind."

"Why should I mind?" Serena replied. "Well, if you wanna meet him 
that's fine by me." She led Tanya over to where Darien was 
standing, looking over the set; his lips moving as if rehearsing 
his lines to himself.

"Hey, Shields!" she called out to get his attention.

Darien jerked slightly and turned toward them. "Oh, it's you," he 
said. "What is it, Serena?"

Serena was about to ask him what he meant when he said 'Oh, it's 
you,' when she heard Tanya clear her throat behind her. Well, it 
looked like it was his lucky day today.

"I just wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine, Shields," she 
replied flatly. "She wanted to say hi. Shields, this is Tanya 
Cambridge. Tanya, this is Shields."

"Darien," he amended as he extended his hand to Tanya. "I've seen 
some of your movies, Miss Cambridge. I liked each one of them."

"Flatterer. Just Tanya will be fine, Darien," she said as she 
placed her hand in his. Darien bowed over her hand and gently 
kissed the back of it. Tanya giggled over his gentlemanly act 
while Serena rolled her eyes.

"There aren't many gentlemen left in Hollywood," Tanya said with a 
quick, meaningful glance toward Serena. Serena just pretended not 
to notice. "Anyway, I'm going to enjoy working with you on this 
movie."

"Me, too, Tanya," Darien replied.

"Oh, I see you've met Tanya, Darien," Amy said as she walked up to 
the group. "Anyway, we're ready for the next scene. You up to it?"

"Of course, Amy," he replied. "You two coming?"

"Sure," Tanya answered eagerly. "Serena?"

"Oh..., why not," Serena replied with a diffident shrug. 
"Somebody's gotta make sure you don't screw up."

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

Jack walked up the steps to the police station precinct and opened 
the door. As usual, it was a bustle of activity inside. There were 
officers filling out reports as well as one or two taking 
fingerprints. Here and there people sat, gloomily waiting to hear 
what would happen to them, or what would be done about their 
problems.

"So, the great detective returns to us yet again," a female voice 
called out. "I take it you wanna see the chief... or, is this a 
social call?"

"You know I can't stay away from your pretty face, Christy," he 
replied with a smirk.

"Of course, not," she replied with a playful wink. "You know where 
he is. He's just finishing up some important paperwork. You know, 
same old, same old."

"Thanks," he said with his most charming smile. "Oh, and here's a 
little something I got for you." He reached into his inside jacket 
pocket and pulled out a single red rose and handed it to her.

"Oh, it's beautiful," she said gratefully as she took the rose and 
smiled at him. "Get going, you flirt. And don't think that this'll 
get me to tell you any classified information, Jack."

"Of course not," he agreed as he headed over to the chief's 
office. 'Of course, any other information would be helpful 
should I need any,' he thought to himself.

"Come in," came the hoarse reply after Jack knocked on the door. 
As he opened it, he could see a small stack of reports placed at 
one corner of the desk with other, single reports scattered 
haphazardly on the surface of the desk, each one open to a 
different page.

"Ah, Terrance!" the middle-aged, dark-skinned man sitting behind 
the desk said in greeting.

"Chief Garret," Jack greeted back with a polite nod. Police Chief 
Kendric Garret was 48 years old with a 27 year old service record. 
He had spent more years as a cop than Jack had been alive. Back in 
the prime of his career, he was the best of what the L.A.P.D. had 
to offer. Most of his subordinates and the police officers under 
them still thought so.

"So, I take it you've got something you want to bring to my 
attention, Jack?" he asked, gesturing toward the folder Jack held 
underneath his arm. "And, you can just call me Kendric, or Ken, if 
you prefer. It's not like you're one of my officers... well, not 
anymore."

"Sorry, old habit, I guess," he replied with a shrug. "Still, I 
hope you don't mind if I still call you Chief. I'm more 
comfortable with that."

"If you wish," Garret said, dismissing the matter with a wave of 
his hand. "Now, what is it you wanted to see me about?"

"I've come across a possible case of embezzlement during a case I 
was investigating. The usual cheating husband/wife deal. Anyway, 
I noted a point in one conversation where the cheating husband was 
conspiring with the woman he was seeing in an attempt to clean out 
the safe of the woman's employer. At least, that was the 
impression I got from the conversation. All the details are in 
that folder with a full report."

"Another report," Garret muttered with a sigh. "Not that I'm 
ungrateful for this, Jack, but I've been looking over reports all 
morning. Well, I suppose one more won't kill me. You can just 
leave it with me and I'll get to it when I'm done with... this," 
he said as he gestured toward the mess on his desk.

"Thanks, Chief," he replied as he dropped the folder onto the 
desk. "If you want, I can continue on this case, seeing that most 
of your men are tied up in your current drug bust operation. 
You know my fees already."

Garret's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then he started to 
chuckle as he remembered the folders on his desk. "Observant, as 
always, eh, Terrance?" he laughed. "Well, you're right; all my 
officers are tied up in current cases or in this bust." He 
pointedly tapped on the reports on his desk. "I'm short on 
manpower to keep tabs on this, so I don't see why not. This's 
right up your alley anyways."

A thoughtful expression clouded his face for a moment. "Say, Jack, 
I can't help but wonder why you've chosen this line of work. I 
know why you've quit the force, but becoming a private detective? 
Your skills are wasted on such petty things like keeping tabs on 
cheating husbands."

Jack's expression grew somber. "I'm not coming back, Chief. 
Working for the police is as close as I'm coming, but I won't come 
back. I'm sorry."

"So am I, Jack," Garret replied soberly. "So am I."

With that, Jack gave him a polite nod and left the office, closing 
the door behind him. "Besides," he wispered into the empty 
hallway, "it was all my fault."

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

"All right!" Amy shouted. "That'll do it. Take a five minute 
break, then get ready for the next scene."

"How'd I do this time?" Darien asked as he joined, Amy, Serena, 
and Tanya.

"Great!" Tanya exclaimed. "Are you sure you've never been an actor 
before?"

"You were okay, Shields," Serena admitted. "I guess you've been 
practicing really hard last night, huh?"

Amy shook her head and sighed patiently at Serena's remarks. "That 
was good, Darien. You can take it easy until your next scene with 
Tanya. Now," she added, turning to Serena, "are you ready for your 
scene?"

"Always ready," Serena replied confidently. "You know that."

"I would expect nothing less from you, Serena," Amy replied with a 
nod.

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

                                 To Chapter 10

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

Author's Note: First of all, I know it's been practically forever 
since I last wrote a chapter for this fic and I'm sorry for the 
delay. I had technical difficulties. Well, better late than never, 
right? Anyway, I'd like to give a great big thank-you hug to 
Sharon Williams, a.k.a. Hoshino Ai, for giving me permission to 
use her character, Tanya Cambridge, a.k.a. Sailor Sirius in my 
fic. Heh, it's beginning to become an all-star cast over here. 
^_^ Next chapter: Diane Silver meets with an old friend; Jack 
Terrance gets ready to begin his investigation; and the second 
Nijizuishou crystal is targeted.

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.