Seeing Stars By Jason Ulloa Original story by Moonsong Continued with her permission. Chapter 27 When Monday rolled around again, almost everyone stopped and stared at Serena in amazement as she walked into the studio singing softly to herself. As she walked past everyone, she gave a cheerful smile as she headed to her trailer. When she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, they all turned back toward Darien, who had walked in with her and who seemed to be the cause of her exuberant mood, and smiled knowingly. Darien's cheeks began to heat up as he felt everyone's eyes on him. The fact that some of the female crew were either winking encouragingly or giggling at him and some of the males were talking amongst themselves while giving him slightly envious looks weren't helping matters much. "Am I seeing things, or did I just see Serena singing and skipping past?" Tanya asked as she walked up to Darien. She blinked when she saw his cheeks reddening and grinned widely. "Ooh, did something happen this weekend? I take it that you and Serena had a really good time, right?" she asked while gently nudging him in the side with her elbow. "Well...." "You don't have to tell me," she said with a smile. "I'm just glad that Serena's in just a great mood today. It's almost like she's back to her old self again." "I have to thank you, Tanya," he said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "If it wasn't for you, I might not have found the courage to even ask her out. After all, you were the one who made me realize that she didn't really hate me." Tanya nodded in satisfaction. "Yet another satisfied customer," she said with a laugh. "Maybe I should quit this acting gig and start my own dating service." "I hope you don't decide to quit acting until after the movie's finished," Melvin said as he walked up behind them. "After all, it'd be a shame for the movie industry to lose such a talented actress such as yourself." "I was only joking Melvin," she said, chuckling. "I'm not changing professions any time soon." "Oh! It was a joke," he replied, then laughed as well. "You had me going there for a moment." Darien glanced at Tanya, but she just shrugged in reply. "Anyway, I came to tell you that G.Q. has finished the final revision of the script," he told them. "Since he finished it on Saturday, I had enough time to make everyone their own copies. You can pick up yours in the conference room. Tanya, would you mind informing Serena that her copy is there as well?" "No problem," she replied as she left. "So, this's it?" he asked before he left to pick up his copy of the new script revision. "No more changes? Everything's set in stone?" "G.Q. says he's completely satisfied with it. Both Amy and myself think that the changes will really make this movie a big hit." "Really?" Darien asked, grinning in anticipation as he turned to leave. "Then, I'm looking forward to seeing it." ********************************************** The feeling of unconsciousness was beginning to become more familiar to him than he would've preferred. After losing consciousness from a concussion from a long fall, profuse bleeding from a knife wound and from almost cracking his head open on a marble floor, and from receiving a sharp blow to the back of his head, he was beginning to wonder if he should just stay unconscious for just a little while longer. This constantly becoming unconscious was getting kinda rough on him and he was developing quite a headache. Well, at least he was alive to feel it. Before he opened his eyes, he let himself reach out through his entire body to assess how banged up he was. Feet... check. Legs... check. Back... check. Arms... check. Hands... check. Head... a slight headache, but check. So far, so good. However, he felt a cold, smooth surface against his back, arms and legs. Slowly, warily, he opened his eyes and peered into darkness once again. However, it wasn't the pitch black darkness of a room with no light, but the darkness of night, lessened only by the faint light of the Moon and stars. "Hotaru-chan...," he called out weakly, but got no response. "Hotaru-chan?" Still no answer. 'Maybe she's asleep.' He slowly pushed himself up off his back and sat up. That helped to clear his head a little bit. Now that he had sat up, he realized that not only was his shirt gone, but so was the rest of his clothing. All he had left was his boxers. 'So, where am I now?' he thought as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. As his eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, he could begin to make out more of the details of his room... or rather, his cell. After all, he was a prisoner. As he glanced about the room, he found that he was alone. Hotaru wasn't in the room with him, which worried him greatly. She wouldn't have escaped without him, so they must've put her in a different room. But... where? Was she even in the same building? For that matter, was she even in the same city... or country? He cut off that train of thought so as to keep from making himself worry even more. 'Don't be stupid,' he mentally chided himself. 'Why should they go to so much trouble to keep us apart when all they have to do is put us in different rooms? She could be in the next room for all I know.' "Ryo-chan?" he heard Hotaru call out weakly from very close by. Her voice was muffled, but audible. "Ryo-chan, where are you?" Her voice sounded like she was very close to tears. 'She IS in the next room!' Ryoku thought as he got to his knees and crawled over to the wall closest to where Hotaru's voice was coming from. "Hotaru-chan?" "Ryo-chan!" she called out in relief. "Where are you?" "I'm in the room next to yours. Other than that, I have no clue." "They took your shirt from me, Ryo-chan," she told him sadly. "All I have left is what you saw me in before they came to take us away." So, she was in only her underwear as well. "They took my clothes from me, too," he told her. "All they left me was my boxers." He thought for a moment. "Hotaru-chan, how long were you out for? I was blacked out for the entire trip." "I kept slipping in and out of consciousness during the entire trip," she informed him. "They kept us blindfolded the entire time, so they didn't notice. However, I could tell that we were traveling by airplane for the first part, then by car for the second part. I'm sure we're somewhere far from home, but I have no idea where." Ryoku wearily leaned with his back against the wall and sighed. "That makes two of us," he whispered. "I wonder how Dad is doing," he heard Hotaru murmur sadly. "I miss him so much.... I even miss Kaye, even if she's always fawning over Dad." "Kaye?" "She's Dad's lab assistant and housekeeper, even though she prefers to be called a 'domestic manager,'" she explained as Ryoku chuckled a bit at her wry tone as she told him about Kaye's preferred title. "Sometimes I wonder if she's also trying to become my new stepmother...." "I know what you mean," he replied, nodding to himself in agreement, even if she couldn't see it. "My mother still has men trying to date her, even though she's still in mourning over my father." He sighed silently as he let his head lean back against the wall as he looked up to the ceiling. "Father has been dead for over six years, but to my mother, it is still fresh in her heart." "I'm sorry, Ryo-chan...," Hotaru said consolingly. "Don't be," he replied dismissively. "I'm over it now... but at times.... I still miss my father, but my mother shouldn't mourn him for too long. Life does go on... and I do want her to be able to find someone to love her like my father did." They were both silent for a while. "I wonder if Diane-oneesama knows about what happened to us?" Hotaru said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Diane?" "She's a friend of mine and my Dad's from way back. When Dad moved here from Japan and started teaching, he met both of Diane-oneesama's parents. This was back before they had met and shortly after my parents had gotten married. I would be born eight years later. "Dad met Diane-oneesama's father when he enrolled in one of his classes for his Junior year. However, after a few weeks, he had found that he was having a very hard time with the class. Dad tried to help him by arranging for one of his best students in his Senior year class to tutor him. As it turned out, Dad chose Diane-oneesama's mother as his tutor. "To make a long story short, they fell in love and got married a year later, and had Diane-oneesama a few months after that. Of course, they were very grateful to Dad for introducing them to each other, even if their relationship was just a case of serendipity to him. They kept in touch with each other, especially after they graduated and Dad went on from teaching to doing his current job. "Diane-oneesama was seven years old when I was born. When she came with her parents to the hospital that I was born in, she gave Mom a stuffed doll shaped as a firefly to give to me when I was born. Dad says that Mom named me Hotaru because of it. "She's always been like an older sister to me," Hotaru continued as she sighed reminiscently. "I've known her my entire life." "She sounds very important to you," he remarked thoughtfully. "What's she like?" "She's very nice," she told him. "She's smart and fun to be around, but she can be very serious when she has to be, especially when it comes to her job at the F.B.I." "She works for the F.B.I.?" he asked, impressed. "As an agent?" "That's right," she confirmed. "Maybe she's trying to find us as we speak. She would, since it's us that's in danger. She would demand to be assigned to search for us. She's one of their top agents, you know," she added proudly. "Really?" he asked. "Well, I do hope she's as good as you say. After all, now that we're no longer in D.C., it's going to be hard to find us. Especially since we don't even know where we are." He let himself slide down to the floor and tried to make himself comfortable... or at least, as comfortable as possible, considering that he was lying on a cold floor with no clothing on save for his underwear. "I think we should get some more rest, Hotaru-chan," he suggested. "Maybe we can figure out something in the morning. Oyasumi, Hotaru-chan." "Oyasumi, Ryo-chan," she replied as he tried to go to sleep. ********************************************** The next day had Jack driving cautiously around a high mountain road while Diane sat in the passenger seat, playing navigator. The map of Vancouver that she had bought earlier showed the location of various points of interest, including airfields, both commercial and non-commercial. There was one airfield that caught their interest, a non-commercial airfield by the name of Victoria Airfield, positioned on the northernmost part of Vancouver. It wasn't very far from the mountain road they were driving on. That morning, she had questioned one of the workers at the airfield about Haruka Tenou. He had told them that she kept her personal airplane - a two-propeller plane - there in one of the hangars and that she usually came down to fly about every other week for about half a day or so. He told them that he knew the general area of where she lived, but didn't know anything more than that. It wasn't very much, but it was enough to give them somewhere to start. Jack had called the hospital that morning to check on Tira's condition, but found that she still hadn't woken up yet. The nurse on the phone had assured him that her condition was improving, but it still wasn't fast enough for him. Anything short of instantaneous wasn't fast enough for him. At least she was improving; that was good enough, for now. "What are we looking for again?" Diane asked as she looked up from the map she had been studying and turned to look expectantly at him. "Something," he replied without turning his attention away from the road. "Something?" she repeated, giving him a skeptical look. "Something." "And what, may I ask, is 'something?'" She waited and watched as Jack's mouth curved downwards in a slight frown. "I cannot say." "You... cannot say?" she asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "Or, you do not know?" Jack was silent for a while, his gaze remaining transfixed on the road ahead as he carefully drove the car around a sharp S-turn that followed the side of the mountain. "It's not that I don't know... at least, not entirely. We have some of the information that we need. It's not enough, but unfortunately, right now it's all we have to work with." "I know that already. So, why are we driving around the mountain, looking for... something?" "During your time in the F.B.I., have you ever worked on a case where you didn't have all of the information and it was unlikely that you would ever get more?" "Once or twice," she replied. "Those weren't very easy. There were times when we almost had to give up the cases, but we always managed to find small leads that helped us resolve them." Jack nodded. "It was like that with Lee and myself. He taught me that when it seemed as though a case was going nowhere, I should just go with what I already knew and keep my eyes open for anything. He said that sometimes leads could pop up in the most unlikely of places. 'Expect anything, prepare for everything, and dismiss nothing.' That was his first rule of policework and the very first lesson he ever taught me." Diane nodded, but frowned questioningly. "That still doesn't explain why we're out here." "Right now, all we know is that Haruka Tenou lives out here. The question is exactly where she lives. "This road that we're on is the only road to Vancouver for the people who live out here. Therefore, Haruka Tenou needs to drive along this road if she wants to go to Vancouver." "I see your point, but the likelyhood of her driving down this road while we're on it isn't exactly high. Furthermore, we're not even sure of what she looks like." "I know. However, I wasn't planning on trying to stop her along the road. I was thinking more along the lines of... well...." He paused for a moment as he grimaced in chagrin. "I know this is going to sound stupid, but right now, I think this might be our best choice." "What is it, Jack?" she asked, giving him an encouraging look. "Well, we could try to ask one of the people who live up here if they know Haruka." "Going door-to-door in order to find her? You're right; that does sound stupid. However, it also sounds like our best option right now. It's better than nothing." ********************************************** Haruka stepped out of her garage and stretched. It had taken her the better part of four hours, but the work was complete. She had just finished the last part of putting in the new engine on the old car she was restoring and was taking a long overdue break. She looked at the old car and smiled. Sure, it wasn't much to look at now, but it would be soon. The body was old and rusted in some areas, but it was nothing a good sanding and a new paint job couldn't fix. Almost everything in the car was new or replaced, but she made sure that the parts going on the outside - the headlights, taillights, bumpers, etc. - were all the same year as the car. The average person wouldn't notice, but a automotive aficionado like herself would instantly notice '99 taillights on a '57. Something like that was pure anathema, almost like watching a colorized version of the same movie you had grown up watching in black and white. Sure, it was the same movie, but it just seemed... wrong. Now that most of the interior work was near completion, it was nearing time to take the car out and perform a little test drive. Another thing these mountain roads were good for was giving her restored cars a really good road test. She nodded to herself and went back into the garage, smiling eagerly. Yes, that's just what she was going to do. All the car needed was some oil, coolant, antifreeze and some gas, then she could take her baby out on the road and see what she could do. After all, the weatherman said it would be clear all day today, so the roads should be just fine. ********************************************** "Haruka?" the man repeated, blinking questioningly. "Yeah, I know her." Diane gave Jack a surprised look, which he returned with a confidant, I-told-you-so look. "Would you happen to know where she lives?" he asked. "It's important that we find out." He glanced from Jack to Diane and frowned suspiciously. "Why're you asking about her? What business is it of yours, anyway?" "I'm a private investigator," Jack said, bringing out his license and presented it to the man. "Los Angeles," the man said, examining the license. "An American. So, what's an investigator from the U.S. doing up here, looking for Haruka?" "It's a long story," Diane told the man. "We're after a man who we think may be after a precious gem that she owns. He has already stolen a similar gem from me, so I've hired this man to help me catch him." The man's suspicious look didn't change. "Really? What about the police? Haven't you tried them?" "The man's already left the U.S.," Jack informed him. "It's out of their hands. However, we need to find Miss Tenou in order to warn her about the man, and possibly get her to help us catch the man so we can turn him over to Vancouver police." The man looked from Jack to Diane again, his expression considering. He started to back into his house and close the door behind him. "Wait!" Diane shouted, slamming her hand on the door to prevent him from closing it all the way. "Why won't you help us?!?" "I don't believe you people," he said as he tried to close the door. "Your story sounds too suspicious. Why would you want to hire someone to find your gem - if you ever had one - when stuff like that is the police's job? "Finally, there's Haruka's privacy. She likes her privacy; that's why she lives way out here, when she could just as easily live out in the city. I'm not about to let you intrude on her privacy." "Diane," Jack said suddenly, "perhaps you should tell him the real reason why you're after that man. If you tell him the truth, then maybe he'd help us." Both the man and Diane stopped their inverse tug-of-war with the man's front door and looked at Jack. "What are you talking about?" the man asked, then stared intently at Diane. "What 'truth?'" Diane sighed as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her F.B.I. badge. "My name is Diane Silver. I'm with the F.B.I. The man I am after has kidnapped a pair of children as well as stolen several precious gems known at the Nijizuishou crystals. I believe that he is after Miss Tenou's Green Nijizuishou crystal next. That is why I need to find her." The man scrutinized her badge carefully. "So, why the duplicity?" he asked cautiously. "Why not just tell me you're an American federal agent? And what about him?" he asked, nodding toward Jack. "Since when do American federal agents need private investigators?" "Right now, I can't risk letting anyone find out that I'm actively searching for him," she explained. "If that man knew I was hunting him down, the lives of those children would be at risk. "As for him," she continued as she gestured toward Jack, "he's my partner in this case." "The man we're after shot my daughter," he told him; his expression hard. "She almost died. I'm here to personally see that he is brought to justice." The man gave them both another considering look, then nodded as he gestured for them to come inside. "I think I can help you both out. Let me give Haruka a call and see if she's home. If she is, I'll let her know you're coming." "Thank you," Diane said gratefully. "You don't know how much this means to us." He nodded and grinned slightly in embarrassment. "Well... don't worry about it. Let's just see if we can't catch Haruka before your man does." ********************************************** "There you go," Haruka said in satisfaction as she closed the hood of the car. "All finished. Now, let's go for a spin." As she opened the door to the car, she heard the phone ring at the back of the garage. Since she spent a good deal of time in the garage working on her restoration projects, she had a phone installed in her garage as well, so she wouldn't miss any calls that went to the house. For a moment, she considered answering the phone. "Nah," she said as she slid into the car, shut the door, and buckled her seatbelt. "I'll let the machine get it. It's probably not that important anyway." She started her car and drove off just as her answering machine turned on. "Oops, you just missed me. Too bad. Leave a message, all right?" ********************************************** "She's not there," the man said as he hung up his phone. "I got her answering machine." "Thanks anyway," Diane said understandingly. "Listen, could you just give us directions to her house? We could just wait for her there." "You sure that's a good idea? It's below 20 out there. You don't know when she'll get back." "We'll be all right," Jack replied. "We've got blankets and such. We sort of suspected that we might have to wait in the car in this cold weather anyway." "I think you're both crazy for wanting to do this, but I suppose you have your reasons," he relented as he started to write some directions on a piece of notepaper he grabbed from his kitchen counter. "Here." Diane took the piece of paper gratefully. "Thank you for your help." "No problem," he replied casually. "Good luck finding your man." ********************************************** As Haruka neared the end of her long driveway, she glanced around, searching. She wondered if that driver that had been following her would be out here, waiting for her. Well, if he or she was, then it would be hard for either him or her to track her, since she had never driven this car before until now. If there was someone who was shadowing her, then it would be a good time to find out. All she needed to do was pull a hard turn - she might as well check the handbrake first anyway - and see if anyone was following her. If not, and if it turned out that she was just being paranoid, then she would just continue on her merry little way. She drove a good way down the mountain - just to make sure that whoever was following her wouldn't suspect anything - before performing her sudden brake and reverse spin. No one was there. Except for that one car that had passed her going in the opposite direction a few minutes ago, there was no one on the road save for her. "Kami-sama, I feel like an idiot," Haruka muttered and started driving back the way she came. "Next thing you know, I'm going to start jumping at shadows. "Well, you handled pretty good so far," she said as she patted the steering wheel as one would pet a dog or a horse. "What say we head on back home? Suddenly I'm not in the mood to do more road testing anymore." With that being said, she headed back for her house feeling very silly about that sudden case of paranoia. ********************************************** Jed looked up again, his short nap being interrupted again by the sound of another vehicle passing by. It was a white, four-door sedan, and it was going up Tenou's driveway, not coming down it. So far, he hadn't seen the blue four-door hatchback that he remembered seeing Tenou drive when he had started following her, so she must still be at home. Unless she had other cars, that is. The only car he had seen leaving the driveway was some beat up old car, which he figured belonged to a neighbor who was visiting. After all, why would a well-to-do racecar driver drive around in a clunker like that when she drove something better? He sighed, bored with all the waiting. It was freezing in the car, but he needed to wait until either Tenou left or night fell before moving to get the Nijizuishou. It would be better if Tenou left; that way he wouldn't have to deal with anyone getting in his way like that damn boy and the Tomoe girl. Well, they had already been taken care of. No more worries on that part. Just before he settled back in his seat again, he noticed that clunker car turning back onto the driveway. One look at the driver made him grind his teeth in annoyance. It WAS Tenou. Why the hell was she driving that mobile scrap heap?!? No matter. In a way, it was a good thing that he didn't go when she did leave. She had come back way too early for him to find the crystal and leave unnoticed. It had to be tonight, then. Maybe Tenou's guests would be gone by then, leaving her alone in her home. He hoped, for her sake, that she wasn't a light sleeper. There could be no witnesses. Not this time. No more mistakes. He grinned darkly as he settled back into his seat to wait for nightfall.... ********************************************** To Chapter 28 ********************************************** Author's Note: At last, a new chapter! Aren't you glad? I know I am! Sorry for the long wait... again. Holidays, and all that. Besides, I've got so much to catch up on. I've finished Alone No More - Minako's Story, so I have more time to work on this fic. However, I've also started work on Atonement - Rei's Story, so I might have to jump between fics again. Hey, don't worry. I'm still working hard on this fic. And it's far from over. Next chapter: The meeting between Jack, Diane and Haruka; Tira wakes from her coma; and Jed prepares to steal the Green Nijizuishou crystal. 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.