The Four Lovers: Air On a Cosmic String
X. Clearings

 You'll see him in your nightmares
 You'll see him in your dreams
 He'll appear out of nowhere but he ain't
 What he seems...
 You're one microscopic part of his catastrophic plan
 Designed and directed by his Red Right Hand
   --"Red Right Hand"

 I am here and I will be, forever and ever
 I know that's there's no where you can hide it
 I know the feeling of alone
 Trust me and don't keep that on the inside
 Soon you'll...you'll be locked out on your own
 You'e not alone
 You'e not alone
 And don't say you've never been told
 I'll be with you 'til we grow old
   --"I Know"

  I think about you all the time
  But I don't need to sing
  It's lonely where you are
  Come back down
  And I won't tell 'em your name
   --"Name" I think

 And I'd give up forever to touch you
 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
 You're the closest to heaven that'll I'll ever be
 And I don't want to go home right now
 And all I can taste is this moment
 And all I can breathe is your life
 Sooner or later its over
 I just don't want to miss you tonight
 And I don't want the world to see me
 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
 When everything's made to be broken
 I just want you to know who I am
   --"Iris"

 Nephrite was the first to awaken.
 Actually, one wouldn't call it "waking".  Instead, he merely came
to semblance of consciousness, the awareness that he was alive,
heart still pumping, lungs still heaving, eyes still blinking.
Inadvertently, he twitched, and his body rolled itself off its
stomach and smack into a wall.
 Even that didn't quite catch him; it was the groan Mars gave off
as he touched her foot that finally brought his eyes open.  He
blinked a few times, vision bleary, and slowly raised his head,
which felt about sixty pounds heavier, like someone had replaced
his brain with a block of granite.   his mind
mumbled, eliciting the cracking of a smile.  Realizing his
position, and feeling that soft, fluid feeling of his limbs like he
was made up of nothing but clothes and water, he began a short
turn, slowly inching his body along until his scalp pressed against
the wall.  It was then that he was able to maneuver his body
upwards, eyes still trying to focus as his hands blindly reached
out for something.  Finally, he managed to get himself into a
sitting position, vision still one massive blur.
 He rubbed his hands over his eyes, trying to pull the sleep from
them, and felt gloves.
 It was as if someone had dosed him with slow working uppers.  His
vision cleared, and his limbs came back into being, pain snapping
along his nerves for awhile.  He could feel the cool wall against
his back, and see exactly where he was.
 He also happened to catch a glimpse of a tangle of raven-purple
hair.  Mars.
 "Mars," he whispered.
 No reply.  She lay sprawled on her back, and hands spread out
limply, eyes closed, chest rising regularly.  He had a great few of
her legs, and a crude picture of her nude snapped into his skull.
 Followed immediately by a crunching, lightning blast of a thought:

 "Lita!" he shouted with it, looking about.  He deduced they were
on the top section of shelving, with enough between the shelf and
the ceiling for him to sit up, and also enough for them to sorta
stretch out.  He was in no mood to guess figures, though.  "Lita!"
he called out again, this time a little softer.  He twisted himself
along and crawled, snake style, towards the edge of the shelf.
 And ran into boxes.
 He blinked, and looked behind him, seeing white wall, then looking
at the boxes again.  Apparently, there was more shelf here then he
recognized.  Carefully, he inched a space between the boxes, and
looked around.
  whispered his mind as he searched.  It appeared to be a
normal storeroom, shelving lining a single gray isle that lead, to
the right, into a gleaming door, a freezer he guessed.  The
shelving stopped abrupt on the other side to give way to boxes,
below which were a desk with an old computer and metallic chair.
To the left the aisle petered out into an intersection with a back
door connected to an alarm, a small blurb with a sink and cleaning
stuff, and another door which he sensed but couldn't see.
 His attention focused on the shelves across the way.  The Trio
were a pattern sort of group; after all, the first four attacks had
been about the same, and they even worked together in a predictable
manner.  Therefore, he figured that if he was going to find
Jupiter, it would be across the way.
 He formed a small burst of star power, ready to get their
attention, and held it.  "Lita!" he called.  "LITA!"
 There was no answer; they were probably in the same state he was.
Now he let the ball of star power rise...
 Immediately it vanished, and he felt the oxygen rush out of his
lungs.  He choked once, twice, his trachea seizing in pain.  His
lungs felt like they were burning, and the beat of his heart
thrummed in his ears.  He rolled over once, and his hands went to
his throat, trying to stave off what choked him.  He coughed again
and again, lungs heaving up and down as he desperately reached for
air.
 These were the sounds that awakened Mars.
 Unlike Nephrite, she had a bit more experience with this kind of
energy drain.  The best thing to do was not to fight it directly,
but push it away and out of her system slowly.  This is what she
did instinctively and expertly, managing to clear her mind of any
weakness in a fifteen seconds flat.  She sat up, head just short of
grazing the wall, and looked around.
 Immediately she was tugging on Nephrite, who by now was red in the
face, eyes bulging, fingers held loosely near his throat, chest
heaving.  She tugged and ripped backward, straining at him until
there was a small "pop" and he broke free.
 Now his lungs were able to grasp the air they strained for, and he
took it impatiently in great gulps at a time.
"Don't....use....powers," he whispered, throat raw.
"DON'T....use....powers!"
 She nodded, face white, looking back to where he had been peeking.
It appeared to be just a small space, but if she squinted her eyes
a bit, sudden sparks danced across her vision.   she
thought.    She pushed some loose strands out of his face as he
hacked and heaved, pulling air in as forcefully as he pushed it
out.
 Finally, he settled down, his breaths slower and smoother, and his
coughing having died down.  Now she asked, "Are you all right?"
 "Yes," he nodded, voice hoarse.  For a moment it sounded exactly
like the old Nephlyte, and she nearly slammed her fist into his
face.  She checked herself, though, and then asked concernedly,
"Sure?"
 He nodded, rolling over to let out a few more coughs.  "Yea, I'm
sure," he said, voice increasingly lightened as he talked.
 "Good.  I don't think Lita would be happy if you died," she said.
 She could feel his smile, even though his face was away from hers.
"No, don't think so," he murmured.
 It was then that a voice snapped, "MARS!"
 "Jade?" she asked, rushing towards the opening.  Nephrite easily
rolled a little more out of her way so she could land flat,
partially shaking the structure.
 "No, 'fraid not.  Just Jupiter," came the voice she peered through
the crack.  Now she could see a shadow nose and green eye across
the way, and smiled heartily.
 "Are you okay?" Mars called.
 "Fine," she called back.  Suddenly, she disappeared for a moment,
and then reappeared with a more crooked grin on her face.  "Well,
Jade says he's pining for you, but that's normal."
 She smiled fully now as loving thoughts of the blond sprang into
her head.  Then the situation knocked them out, and she sighed.
"How are we going to get out of this one, Jupiter?"
 "Can't we just use our powers?" Jupiter replied.
 "NO!!" came a chorus from both Neph and Mars, and the emerald eyed
girl started back a bit.  Mars quickly added, "Neph nearly choked
when he used his powers."
 "Nephrite?  NATHAN! Is he okay?"
 Mars grinned;  she thought.  She looked
back at him, and whispered, "Are you ready to talk?"
 "If she doesn't mind me sounding like I shaved the inside of my
throat."
 Mars rolled her eyes and rolled away, sitting up again.  From her
she could see nothing; edging forward a bit, her heel hit a box.
Now she could see over the boxes and into the next isle, where a
few wisps of blond hair stuck out over the boxes.
 Eagerly she moved forward, heel pushing down further--and someone
catching a hold of it.
 "HEY!" she cried out.
 "Lady Mars..." came the soft, teasing voice of Zoicite.  "I can
see your butt."
 Despite herself, she started laughing.
 Pushing herself back, she rolled over and peered down at him.
"What are you doing down there?" she asked quietly.
 "They didn't have room for me up there, I guess," he replied
softly.  "Who else's butt should I be seeing?"
 "Nephrite's."
 "Hmm...good.  I didn't want to watch you and Jade go at it."
 She blushed; she had to.  Her kisses yesterday had felt wanton--
--but right somehow, and there a seething desire
beneath her skin to go farther, faster.  Around Chad, even though
she had loved him, there'd never been this kind of deep passion
welling within her, a spring of lust that refused to be tamped
down, that seeped into her tissue until she felt crazy.  Yet...it
was DIFFERENT than that! It wasn't as if he was inspiring her to
strip for him; it was as they were...well, she couldn't put it into
words.  It felt right, this passion she experienced.
 "Is it just me, or are you turning as red as your fuku?" Zoi
teased.  He now sat completely underneath her, staring up into her
velvety violet eyes.
 "No comment, and none of your business," she bit back.
 "Just teasin' you, chica," he replied offhandedly, and her
eyebrows scraped wood as they rose.  She didn't seem to recall such
an offhand manner from before, even if her memories were only a
small leakage from behind a large, foreboding block.   she thought,
nonplused.  
 "What's a 'chica'?" she asked then, drifting out of her train of
thought.
 "Short form of the Spanish word 'muchacha', often used to denote a
little girl or a friend," he spouted off mechanically, those
lessons dredging themselves up from the bottom of his brain.
 "I'm a little girl?" she asked, voice heating.
 "A friend, Lady Mars.  No little girl is..."
 "Talkin' to yourself, Mars?" asked Nephrite.
 "No--Zoicite," she replied.
 "Zoicite?  Where...?"
 "Underneath us."
 Immediately Neph pressed his face to the cracks, snorting at the
dust.  "Hey, Petal, you down there?"
 "I'd thought you'd never overhear us, Nate.  What took you so
long?"
 "I've been talking with Jupiter and Jadeite, Zoicite," he replied,
voice slightly softer than conversational tone.
 "Hmm...I see.  Are they well?"
 "A little sore, but all right."
 Zoicite laughed.  "I think we're all a little sore.  That was a
fight."
 "Yes, it was," Mars added, a reminder of her presence.
 For a moment, there was silence, and then Zoi asked, "Neph, did
you say Jupiter and Jade were over there?"
 "Yes."
 "And you and Lady Mars are up there?"
 "Uh-huh."
 "So they've placed all five of the people they captured last night
in one place?"
 "Exactly, Zoi."  A pause.  "What's on your mind?"
 "Well, the Trio have never been the ones to exactly break pattern,
and if all five of us are the same place then..." he took a breath,
sharply, as if realizing something for the first time.  "Neph,
MERCURY could be in this room?"
 "Amy?" Mars asked.  "Zoicite, you're right!"
 "I'll alert the others," Nephrite said, crawling slowly and semi-
painfully away.
 "Mars, you and I will keep watch why he does that."  His voice was
serious, and tense, and she quietly wondered what his connection to
the girl was.   she
thought as she crawled forward, trying to keep her skirt down as
dust began to settle on her gloves.  
 So, mood slipping from thankful into frustrated, she shoved the
boxes to her left away, allowing her to stick her head out.  For a
moment she felt an instability as they shelves rocked slightly, and
then Zoicite's head appeared below hers.  Looking down, she could
see the darkish shimmer running perpendicular to his head, and
shivered.
 "Don't touch the field or try to use your powers," she said
softly.
 He looked up, and his eyes widened slightly.  "I can see it," he
said.  "Beautiful."
 "It nearly killed Nephrite."
 "Beautiful doesn't necessarily mean nice," he added, then looked
out.  Softly he called out, "Amy.  Amy."
 "Mercury!" she added, her voice a forte staccato in contrast to
his legato piano tone.  Their voices crossed this way, his
repeating like a refrain underneath as she called for the girl.
Across the way, Jupiter's voice blended in with the melody, along
with Neph's beside hers and Jade's across the way.  Each was
slightly different in everything, from pronunciation to stress, and
it sounded like a musical piece formed around one syllable.  Add to
it the emotion in each voice, again slightly different, and it
became a symphony of tones, of cries for her.
 Then, just as Jupiter 'cross the way began to retract her voice, a
blue haired blurb appeared.  Slowly it crawled out of the darkened
recesses, light running along the grimy Sailor Suit, stained with
harmless bits of DF and dust and a bit of white no one could
identify.  The shafts of light ran further up to illuminate a dusty
layer over what would be a pale face, rosy lips the only thing
clean, tiny tongue running over them nervously.  The eyes were the
last to hit the light, and with them revealed the whole picture hit
in a startling blast of realization: this was Sailor Mercury.
 And she was in BAD shape.
 "AMY!" Zoicite shouted, and her head darted to the side, eyes
widening, hands clutched nervously in front of her.  She scanned
the room again with those wide, fear crammed eyes, distrusting
everything because it had to, because anything could jump out and
hurt it, and all it wanted was peace but those voices...they
sounded so pretty.
 "Amy," came a softer voice now, Mars' own voice, and now she
looked up and hopped back a little, as if a bright flash of light
had suddenly came at her from that direction.  Tears were ever-
present in her eyes as the two parts of her mind fought each other;
so far, this emotional, psychological part was winning the battle.
 "Amy, its me, Mars," she added quietly.  "You know, Raye?  Your
friend?"  After a moment came another whisper, "You know me, right
Amy?  Your friend?"
 And all Sailor Mercury could do was stand there in the light, head
swiveling in jerks like a bird, eyes so wide and sorrowful and fear
filled.  Small tremors raced up her arms from holding them like
this so long; she ignored them.
 "Oh Amy," Mars finally whispered.  Suddenly her fist smashed into
the shelf, startling the girl below and everyone else in the room.
"They'll pay," she whispered.  "They are GOING to pay!"
 "Amy," Zoicite whispered below, looking on the girl with pity in
his eyes.  He, too, felt the rage spill out inside him, but above
that was a compassion for the girl below, an outpouring of that
instinctual love he felt for her.   he thought as he inched forward a little more.    He sighed, internally and externally.

 As if his thoughts had been broadcast out loud, her eyes turned on
him.  For the longest moments, as he read the fear and pain within
hers, as she saw the softer comfort and caring in his, no one
spoke.  The air seemed to freeze; nothing was important except for
those pairs of eyes.
 The door slammed open then, and Sailor Mercury flew back into her
little corner, cowering and shaking.  In strode Hielo and Selene,
smiling, swaggering, and arrogant, with happy smiles on their
faces.
 "Did you all enjoy your night's rest?" Selene asked sweetly.  "I
hope it was comfortable enough for you."
 "Is everyone all right?  No ill effects?  I'd hate to have
to...cure...any of you," Hielo said, voice innocent even as his
eyes gleamed maliciously.
 "What do you want?" Jade asked from behind a box.
 "Come out, dear--we can't see you!" Selene called, and the box in
front of him vanished, causing him to skitter back.
 "Hmmm...I wonder if we should leave them food and water at all.
They seem like a bunch of rats," Selene confided in a stage
whisper.
 "We aren't here for them," Hielo replied lowly.
 "Right," she said, and then looked up.  "All right, which one of
you lowly scum is ready to come with me?  I ensure you, it will be
an experience you'll never forget."  She smiled brightly,
seductively.  "Any volunteers?"
 "Don't ask for what you can grab," Hielo said, and stepped more
aggressively into the room. His own eyes searched beyond the boxes
in front, and Mars felt such extreme NEED in that gaze that she
shrank back.  She felt a complete paranoia, and looked down in
utter fear at the red of her skirt, and then up to the raven fall
of hair that slipped over her shoulder.  For the first time, she
cursed her looks, then scooted back even more, even uncomfortable
when her back hit plaster, when she was out of sight.
 But she could never be out of his vision.  The Dark Trio weren't
just DF users, they were psis, empaths and telepaths and
telekinetics of a high order.  Long ago, they'd bonded each other
for...other reasons, and with it came a small fragment of the
person's power.
 So, really, it required no effort for the box in front of her to
disappear, or for him to carefully levitate her off the shelving
and through the shield, his own powers wrapping her in a bubble for
protections.  She couldn't move.  She could barely breath.  Worst
of all, her mind seemed to be drowning in a sea of panic.
 
 "MARS!" Nephrite shouted, lunging towards as her heel touched the
shield.  On the other side, Jade's eyes widened and furry, that
living hatred, plunged to the surface.  "NO!" he yelled.  "PUT HER
DOWN!"
 "Your rats are chittering, Selene," Hielo said as he quickly
brought Mars all the way through.  He had no desire to keep her in
the air for too long; it gave him a headache.
 "I know, I know," she replied.  But which to choose?  My auburn
beauty, or this unmarked blond stud?"
 "Selene," Hielo replied with gritted teeth as he turned Mars
upright.  His eyes accidentally glanced under her skirt, and he
shied away from that immediately.  
he thought.    His grimace tightened at the
last thought, just as Selene looked over.  He met her gaze
partially, and thought, *You know Kat expressed a desire...*
 *Katarina! She should've marked him, as I did,* she replied,
looking up.  Both men were at the edge of the shields, though
Jade's expression was ten times as fierce.  She quickly picked at a
surface thought or two, and sighed.  "Kat's lucky this time," she
murmured, turning away from Jade to snag Nephrite, and bring him
forcefully through the shield.  Her eyes flickered brighter as he
winced in pain, the burning in his lungs building softly.  She
smiled softly as she tasted that in his mind, and then dropped him
quickly; surprisingly, though not to anyone who'd ever known Nate,
he felt no fear at the drop.  Of course, how could Selene know that
of the American Five, Nate was always the one riding roller
coasters or, after their powers were established, learning to fly
by dropping?  No, she couldn't have known; however, it just proved
to her the resiliency of his mind.
  she thought smugly.
 Now Hielo lowered Mars to the ground as well, and the two Trio
members worked to "patch" their shields.  Curiously, they left both
of them to face the opposite shield, perhaps intentionally (fear
provoking, you know), or, more likely, completely oblivious to
which way the two faced.
 Sailor Jupiter had joined Jade in nearly pressing himself against
the shield, not caring that there were boxes crowding their area of
whatever.  She stared down, green eyes subtly tearing at seeing
Nephrite's pain--she knew he was in pain just by the set of his
face, though she didn't question how she knew that--and hands
longing to wring Selene's neck.   she thought.

 She would've continued, but it was then that Nephrite looked up.
His hands were both free, and he began to struggle to move them.
Slowly, ever so slowly, they reached up to brush together over his
chest, and then in aching, painful movements, extended out to her.
 Her eyes watered even more as she watched, and softly she
whispered, "Nathan.  Nathan, I..."
 One crooked finger came to his mouth, a sign of quiet.  He knew
what she was meaning to say--after all, he'd just said it in his
own, special way--but he was going to protect her from any harm.
ANY kind of harm; he suspected that these twisted bastards had
something rotten and sadistic up their sleeves, and he wouldn't see
her put under that.  He'd...die...before he watched her suffer
again.
 Jade was fairing about as well with Mars.  Her eyes had
automatically raised to his, fixated upon his, half-wide with
outrage and sprinkled with enough fear to make Jade think of
breaking heads.   he thought, features growing angry and
ferocious once again, 
 It was then that he caught something else.  Her eyes were no
longer as before, but despairing.  Noticing his gaze again, she
shook her head softly; she'd seen that look before, sometime in
this life and many a time back beforehand.  It was the look of
someone who would destroy himself in the fires of vengeance.
 Quietly, and slowly, she mouthed, "Love, don't over me."
 He caught the words and slumped.  Was there to be no vengeance for
him, no satisfying victory?  Would he surrender that?  Could he
surrender that?  It hung about him like a cloud...
 But her words..."I love you," he murmured slowly.
 Her eyes brightened, and the barest hint of a smile smacked onto
her face as she nodded.   she thought as her head moved.

  His eyes rioted with joy.
  Her smile widened.
  He put his hand to his lips.
 "Time to go!" Selene announced joyfully, and the two turned back
to their charges.  Immediately whirlwinds of black swallowed them
whole, crushing the kiss on Jade's fingers.
 "I love you," Jupiter whispered.  Then she melted back into the
shadows of the room, to cry and to hope, to pray and to fear.
 "I will...my lady, stay safe," he whispered to himself, then moved
back to comfort Jupiter.

 Hielo and Mars reappeared in his room.  To her surprise, it looked
like one of the well finished hotel rooms her father occasionally
set her in when she visited.  It was impeccably clean and well
finished, a two room suite with an opaque screen between the rooms
and lit by a mild and muted light.  He let go of her swiftly, and
moved away from her towards a closet.
 "Please don't try to escape," he said.  "I have no intention of
hurting you."
 Mars looked around for a door anyways, furtively edging away.
Again, she was surprised; she couldn't find one, nor did she see
any windows.  From her experience, she knew her powers were out of
the question; he would just smack her with the DF and do...whatever
he'd taken her for.
 She wouldn't admit it to herself at the time, but Raye, the inner
character of Sailor Mars, was terrified.
 Hielo, busy extracting himself from the closet, felt that hit him
like an electric spark gliding across his brain.  He inhaled
deeply, savoring the sensual feel of it on his brain.  He let his
breath go, and then turned around, cloth in his hand.
 "Change into this," he said quietly, handing her the garment he
had chosen.  She stared at it, then him, soft material clinging to
her fingers.
 "You're crazy," she whispered.
 He chuckled lowly. "I try not to be," he said, voice resonant and
deep.  He stared at her again, face hungry, eyes soft.  No spark of
coldness entered them as he added, "Put it on, Sailor Mars, or I
will have to do it myself."
 She backed away, eyes on his face, holding the material like a
shield.  The emotions seemed to melt off of her, layers flaking
away naturally, surging and receding like a tide over him.  His
eyes briefly shut and he breathed again, sucking it in like life.
When he opened them she was still there, and he motioned her
towards the second room.  "Change in there, please."
 She obeyed reluctantly, fighting her want to put her high heel
through her temple by reminding herself of what had happened to
Nephrite.  The burst of the thought brought back the sight of the
great man heaving, lungs grasping for air as his face burned red
and his lips went white.
 A few minutes later she stepped hesitantly back into the main
room.  Hielo saw her enter, and smiled as he finished pouring the
glass of water.   he thought as his eyes skimmed over
her figure the loose fitting, light feeling, rich purple gown.  It
was a simple dress, sleeveless with a straight design and thin
straps, but it fit like a charm and looked more than fabulous on
her.
 "Sailor...Lady Mars, you are beautiful," he said.
 She stiffened automatically at his comment, and he grinned.
"Come, Mars, sit," he offered.
 "I'd rather stand."
 "Ahh, but you can't stand forever, especially in those heels.  Or
are you afraid of crumpling your beautiful gown?  I assure you,
that's not the way the fabric's made."
 "No, I just don't want to dirty my lungs with your breath," she
said.
 "Oh...you won't," he replied simply.  "In fact, I'd prefer you
faced away from me."
 She blinked in surprised.  "What?"
 It was then that he held up a brush, a black, sturdy thing swirled
with gold.  She cringed; his smile faded slightly as he said, so
earnestly, "I'd like to brush your hair, Lady Mars."
 The offer both affronted and astonished Mars.  Here was an evil
villain who'd manage to capture and contain three Senshi and two
Generals--FIVE excellently trained warriors!--and he wanted to
BRUSH her hair?  What kind of a pervert was this?  She thought
about her hair for a moment, that mass that flowed with tangles
early in the morning but was actually as trained as she was.  Jared
seemed to really like it--he'd run his hands through it...NO! This
man couldn't touch her hair! That was like...
 
 She shook the thought away, and caught his eye.  "Are..." she
started, but then his orbs caught her fully.  Bright, bright green,
not like Lita's but as dynamic, shades of neon pulsing within them.
 "All I want to do is brush your hair," he said again, his voice
soft, almost pained, and innocent.  Those eyes flickered now, like
bright green candles, so bright...
  A moist, heavy cloud fogged her thoughts now, and the last spark
of her dispute vanished as it rolled over.  Hielo Mars," he
intoned, and like a leashed puppy, she come when he tugged just
hard enough.
 Quietly she sat down, facing away from him, hands smoothing out
her gown, the gesture so swift it didn't appear as nervous as it
was.
  came a screech from within the fog, but it
then disappeared.
 "Water?" he offered, leaning in close enough for her to feel the
last trace of her breath; goose bumps sprang up, but she managed a
mute shake of her head to turn him down.  When his hands first
touched her hair she shivered violently, uncontrollably, body
reacting to that latent malignancy.  Yet there was a certain
gentleness to it as he carefully gathered every hair and began to
brush, invoking a queasy sort of feeling in her stomach.  She
couldn't help the impending shudders that graced her form; they
were natural responses to the light touch of the brush, and the
presence of Hielo.  But like the boy who plaited manes ("a fantasy
story Amy had once talked about," said a piece of the fog), she was
frozen under his touch.  His stroke through her hair was
effortless, even when it glided through one of the small snarls
left there or formed from her rough night.  She barely quivered as
time passed on, wordless comfort aimed at her bubbling up from him
like the perfume of a poison gas.  As he worked, her hands clenched
the fabric of her gown, teeth nudging her lip, eyes semi-wide and
dilated, light flickering within them painting a Mercuric portrait.
Her mind was still shrouded in the fog, panic and anger and other
desperate emotions occasionally surfacing before a gentle breeze
sent them on their way; all emotions were negative, though, her
serenity having long since been trashed.  She briefly,
occasionally, tried to focus on something, but the same gentle
breeze that left her emotionless pushed that away as well.
 Hielo was nearly done with her hair, and he was ecstatic.  Not
only were the Senshi full of energy, but they were genuine women
with truly strong passions and emotions, deliciously coming to
consciousness for the first time.  He felt high, like a stooping
falcon with claws outstretched for the dove.  This sense of power
was a heady fragrance that swirled in his thoughts, an aura that
radiated from his eyes.
 He finished with one long stroke, and as he went to gather her
hair up ( he thought, imagining the
picture) his fingers brushed her strap towards her shoulder.
 She froze; her whole life seemed to burn in that one touch, that
small meeting on her shoulder.  She breathed a short breath; then
the soft down of her fell to her semi-exposed back, and she felt
the warmth of a hand within.  Instantly that fog that bathed her
mind vanished, and was replaced with another cloud, just as
suffocating.
 Now Sailor Mars, that outer piece of Raye, was terrified.
 And the two together were completely helpless.
 He put down the brush and slid off the bed, coming around to kneel
before her, hand brushed her calf slightly in the process.   She
instinctively tensed, and the fear-cloud in her mind thickened,
emotion surging upward over his mind.  He grinned, placing his
hands upon her knees, thumbs absentmindedly stroking the fabric,
admiring its cool silkiness.
 "You are a very desirable woman, Lady Mars," he said in a low,
hoarse voice.
 That was the last straw.  Inside her, mind pressed ever so gently by Hielo,
Raye and Mars screamed...and then, she fainted.
*       *       *       *
 Kevin awoke first, just as the edge of the red-gold orb began to
slide across the horizon, casting everything in a pale, pink-yellow
light.  Although some of those beams drifted into the room via some
miscellaneous windows, it was his own body clock that slowly
buzzed, bringing his mind to semi-consciousness.  He found
himself...more of himself than usual, all enclosed in a blissful
warmth.  This other piece of himself seemed softer somehow,
lighter, smoother; yet it was him, or at least some of him.
 He opened his eyes, lids flopping back in slow motion, and found
he was holding Mina.
  his mind teased groggily, flashing him an early
morning braincast of what'd happened last night.  However, he
didn't really concentrate on that; instead, he was undecided on
what to do.  Either he sat here for a little while longer and
savored this feeling, this touch of bliss...or he pinched himself
to stop dreaming.
 His head rocked backwards to touch the wall, and he sighed
contentedly, tightening his grip about her a tad.   roamed sleepily through his head, his eyes on the
ceiling.    He nearly chuckled, head coming
back down to admire that crown of blond hair, to resensitize
himself to ever part of her that shared a surface with him.
Mentally, he shook his head.   He let out a
breath, stirring her hair.  
 The sun had risen about halfway when he decided he needed to get
up and go to work, as did Setsuna.  It would be a fairly busy day,
he reflected as he squiggled about, due to the loss of three
quarters of their work staff.   he thought as he gently
untangled himself further from her.  She stirred faintly, but
settled against the couch, smiling softly.  He smiled back at her,
even if she was unknowing; then, he turned away.
 Carefully and quietly he stepped across the room to wake Setsuna,
treading carefully to try not to wake the cats.  Quietly he
motioned to the clock and the sleeping people, and she nodded,
rising.  Her face was calm, but there was a strange melancholy in
her eyes, something twitching beneath that red surface.  He ignored
it for the time--there was so much to be done.
 But first he stripped Sets' couch of her blanket, and gently laid
it over Mina.
 "Thoughtful," Setsuna murmured, concealing a yawn.
 "Always am," he whispered back, eyes half lidded in thought.
"Take the bathroom--I'll make coffee."
 At her nod, he went into the kitchen and covertly began to brew
weak coffee.  The other three guys detested the drink, but he'd
acquired a taste for it back in his Chicago school days.  Serena,
too, liked it, even if his was so weak.  Purposefully, mind you;
the watered down, extremely bitter dose worked like an effective
pinch of fairy dust, shocking his senses to life.
  came a quiet call as he poured the water in, thankful
that Mina had sometime purchased a Krups.    He ended the silent near-prayer by clicking on the coffee
maker, and then heading towards the bathroom.
 "We'll have to go back to the apartment," Setsuna said.  She was
cleaning a brush of some stray hair, pulling out one final strand
before applying it to her own.  "At least for clothes."
 "No, we won't," he said, insinuating himself at the sink, eyes
skimming rapidly over the tiny thing.
 "Why not?  Intending to wear something of Mina's to work?" she
asked, half teasing.
 In reply, he put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.  As
he did, his eyes flashed royal blue, and for a brief moment Setsuna
felt a massive shift in energy between them.  In the mirror, her
clothing fuzzed; luckily, her eyes were focused on him, or else she
may have backed away.  He held on until they both were enclosed in
casual work clothes, all in pale pastels.
 She looked at herself in the mirror, and flew back, hands rising
in the air--until she smiled.  "I didn't know you could do that,"
she said, voice impressed.
 He shrugged, and continued searching for the one object he needed.
"I always trained on the little things, and this is just a minor
trans..." He stopped, and his face seized in frustration.
 "What?"
 "Setsuna, do you see any toothbrushes I could confiscate?"
 "Do you always brush your teeth before you drink coffee?"
 "Good point," he murmured to himself, then rummaged through the
drawers.  "Besides, it appears that there aren't any."
 "Come on--let's go grab some coffee and get our brains working,"
she suggested, and he followed her out, adding "Quietly" to her
statement.  It made her smile as they walked together to the
kitchen;  she thought softly.
Once there, she found two mugs, one a fairly old cup plastered in
shades of gray and the other an eggshell white, and poured coffee
for the both of them.  His eyebrow raised as she handed him the
eggshell white one.
 "I thought you like tea," he said quietly as she added some nearby
creamer and sugar to her own brew.
 "I can handle coffee when I need to," she replied with a wry grin.
"Want to take this on the balcony?  It'll be quieter."
 He "Uh-humed" with a smile, and she crossed the living room, cat-
like, towards the glass door.   ran idly
through his head as he followed her.
 >She always did,< Kunzite whispered.  >In the Moon Kingdom, people
used to take bets to see if she'd ever lose her cool.  Never did.<
 His eyes grinned in response as he stepped outside; his eyebrows
went up once he took in the view.  Mina's apartment was only on the
third floor, so the height wasn't much; however, the sun rose
behind them, and it illuminated the buildings they could see in a
pale, rosy light.  Incidentally, it also gave the two of them the
same sheen.
 "Whoa!" Kev said as he stumbled into the edge, precious drops of
coffee spilling over it.  "This isn't a balcony, it's a stoop!"
 "Deal with it," she smiled.  "Mina's just starting out in her
career--you've already begun yours."
 He sipped his coffee, and she took a large drink of hers,
grimacing as the taste slipped past her tongue.  She gave Kevin a
questioning glance.
 "It's pretty weak," he informed her, grinning a little.  "I like
it that way."
 "You've always struck me as the type to make rocket fuel coffee,
not dishwater," she replied.  She drank again, a shudder running
down her frame at the taste.  "This is terrible!"
 "I know," he said, eyes glimmering faintly.  "But it wakes you up,
doesn't it?"
 "Unfortunately," she spat back.
 They drank and watched the light play across the buildings, taking
in the sudden peace of the morning.  It was such a contrast to last
night's frenzy that Kevin felt almost off kilter, as if such a calm
could not POSSIBLY follow that...battle.  He briefly remembered
Mina's bloodied scalp and short hair, Hielo's look, Serena's
frenzy, the screams of his fallen friends...it was like what he'd
heard of Vietnam, only in a mystical sense.  So this morning's
serenity...
  he reminded himself.  
 "Setsuna, do we have to go in to work?  We've lost most of our
work crew, the system is up and running...maybe it's time to start
hiring and training natives," he said.
 "True...but, unfortunately, we need all of us to do that," she
replied.
 "What do you mean?"
 "It takes quite a bit to come up with new positions, advertise,
print up applications and get them sent out, read the ones that
come back and set up interviews, much less training and wage
conflicts," she replied.  "Plus, there's quite a bit more we need
to do with this system.  It needs to..."
 He cut her off with a wave of her hand.  "All right, you've made
your point."  He looked out briefly onto the city, and then added,
"But doesn't sitting in that office make us sitting ducks?  They
found us before, Setsuna, and no one destroyed their equipment.
It's not going to be hard for them to find us again."
 "I've thought about that, Kevin.  But we still have a job to do,
that we're being paid to do," she replied, eyes flickering.
 "Sets...I know.  My work ethic is the same as yours; you think I
like waking myself up this early in the morning for no reason?  But
I don't like.  There's too much at stake."  He sighed, and took a
large gulp of the hot coffee, letting the burning liquid suck away
at his rising temper.
 "We could shorten our hours," she suggested.  "And also set up
some minor warding around the office...you can do that, right?"
 He nodded.  "I'm better at finding cracks in shields than making
them, but the four of us all know at least the minor ones by
heart."  He tapped his skull.  "And if Kunz in here is up to it, he
can guide me through the steps to major protection."
 >Damn right,< the elder General groused.
 She cocked her head and looked at him strangely now, as if
considering a thought she never had before.  "You consider that
General a different persona from yourself?"
 "Are you asking me if I have multiple personalities?"  His eyes
were steady and imposing now.
 "Um...well, kind of."
 "The answer is both yes and no," he replied, turning away from her
to face completely out into the city.  A stray gust of wind teased
his hair a little as he began to explain.
 "Initially, when we first came by our partial memories through
Serena's help, we all considered the General side a completely
different persona.  So, when we got our powers, there'd be a
transfiguration between the two, from one persona to another."
 "But it's not," she said.
 "No," he said, steel gray eyes briefly flicking to her face.
"It's not."  He drank, swallowed, and sighed.  "We should've
figured it out when the first differences showed up just by
remembering we were once Generals.  After all, the agility, Sol
tongue, random memories, etc. had to be from something.  But we
ignored it...and so, were a little unprepared when we got our
powers."
 "What happened?" she asked, curious.
 "You already know."
 "Not personally," she pointed out.
 "True," he said.  "True."  He drank again, emptying his cup, and
setting it and his hands on the rough concrete edge.  "Instead of
becoming someone new, the two of us...merged, I guess.  It was our
powers, our memories, our bodies, a complete unity."  He smiled.
"Pretty cool."
 "And completely foreign to me," she said.
 "Huh?"
 "Meiou Setsuna--my full name, by the way--and Sailor Pluto are not
two sides of the same coin that suddenly merge together when I
transform.  I am both one and the other at all times," she replied,
voice low.  "It allows me to be the Guardian of the Gate even when
I'm at the mall, or here right now."
 "What do you mean, 'one and the same'?"
 In response, she held out her hand, and the Time Staff appeared.
His eyebrows raised fully, and she let it vanish.  "I see," he
said.  "So, what do you need a transformation pen for?"
 "It just allows my full abilities to surface, I guess," she
replied, leaning forward.  "Honestly, I haven't figured this all
out.  I just know that I am as sensitive now to the time currents
as I am when I'm Pluto."
 He shrugged.  "Maybe you're just..."
 "Hey."
 Both turned to see Mina, standing in the open doorway, blocking
the light from her eyes.  She looked at them curiously, their faces
shaded in a richer light now, shadowing their eyes.  Kevin stepped
forward then, and his steel grays reappeared brighter and bolder
than ever.
  she thought, mental voice curved in astonishment.

 "Morning," he said quietly.  "Sleep well?"
 "Best night I've ever had," she replied, voice as low, eyes
blending into his.  She noted their sudden touch of blue this
morning; he found her increase of silver flecks intriguing.
 He smiled quietly.  "I'm glad."
 "And I'm starving!"
 "Artemis!" Mina scolded, looking away, breaking the moment.  Kevin
slipped past her, and she turned around quizzically, half wanting
to call out to him, to slow him.  She tempered the emotion quickly,
but Setsuna saw.
  she thought
triumphantly, that small, mysterious Pluto smile breaking out on
her face.  Another thought skittered across her mind, but she
ignored it as she stepped over to place her hand on the girl's
shoulder.
 "Mina, Kevin and I need to talk to you," she said.
 "What about?" she asked, voice faintly worried.
 Setsuna caught the note, and smiled reassuringly.  "Don't be
afraid Mina," she said.  "It's nothing bad."
 "Spit it out then," she demanded, stepping fully inside and
motioning Pluto to follow.  She did so, stepping through the frame
and letting Mina close the door.
 "It's about the future," she said mysteriously.
 The comment hung in the air for a minute, and Kevin shook his
head.   he thought.  "What she
means, Mina," he called out, "is that we have to discuss what we're
going to do next."
 "What do you mean?" she asked, rounding on him.
 "It's plainly obvious that the Dark Trio can track us," Setsuna
explained, stepping in front of her and into the kitchen.  "They
demonstrated that yesterday.  So we need to be extra careful in our
daily routines."
 Mina stopped, eyes turned inward as she considered.  Meanwhile,
Kevin was making liberal use of the bread, butter, and toaster,
preparing a quick meal before they left.   he thought.  
 "Is that coffee?" she asked.
 "Fairly bad coffee," Setsuna replied hurriedly, beating Kevin.  He
closed his mouth, and smiled at her knowingly.
 "Bad coffee is better than none," she sighed, moving to pour
herself a cup into another eggshell white mug.  She added liberal
doses of cream and sugar, and then set her cup on the battered
coffee table (a family relic) that she used as a partial table.
Setsuna copied the action, and Kevin joined them, first setting
down cream for the cats and then a plate of buttered toast for the
three of them.
 "Hmmm...cream.  Perhaps I should move in," Luna muttered.
 "Luna," Artemis breathed, and she smiled softly at him before
stooping to lap the cream.  He came around to the other side to
take his own, and in the midst of drinking their breakfast, their
noses touched.  A faint blush came over both their checks, and
softly Luna muttered, "I'm sorry, Artemis."
 "It's all right, Luna," he replied.  "I'm just glad...you know..."
 She sat up then, licking a stray drop of cream off her paw.  "No,
what do you mean?"
 "Well, um...that, um...well, we've known each other for a long
time, Luna, and I...well, you know..."
 She stopped him by leaning forward over the bowl and giving him
the equivalent of a kiss on the cheek.  She then returned to the
cream bowl while Artemis sat there, stunned.  He studied the top of
her head, and then crouched down and began to drink once more.
 "Kitty reunions are so beautiful," Mina whispered as she picked up
a piece of toast.
 "Uh-huh," Kevin replied, mouth full.  It was always nice to watch
someone find someone else, even if his own mindset was tempered by
the fact that he had not yet recovered...his own.  Still, the look
on Mina's face was wistful...and he had held her last night, with
no resistance.  She had kinda of...sought him, too, hadn't she?
  his mind whispered gently.  
  he retorted as he sipped his coffee.
Mina had yet to touch her cup, but he was sure of what her reaction
would be.  He nearly spat after he swallowed; this was probably his
most awful brew to date.
 "Are we safe here?" Mina asked quietly, raising the cup to her
lips.
 Setsuna swallowed her mouthful of toast, but didn't reply.  Kevin
took another bite.  Mina stopped, liquid posed at the entrance to
her lips.  "Am I missing something?" she asked.
 "We're waiting for your reaction," Setsuna informed her.
 "No!" Kevin protested weakly, but she gave him a look, and he went
back to soaking his toast in the liquid.
 Mina finished the drink, and swallowed harshly.  "Well, that
answers my question," she said ruefully.  "No one is safe while
Kevin makes the coffee!"
 They giggled a bit, and then settled back down.  "Is it really
safe here?" she asked again.
 "Actually, I hadn't thought of that," Kevin said.  His face became
thoughtfully serious.  "But it makes sense that they'd be able to
track us here as easily as outside."
 "So we are in danger here?" Mina said, trying to hold her voice as
level as his but unable to keep a note of worry from it.
 "Yes," Setsuna said gravely.  "I suppose we could try and..."
 "It probably wouldn't work," Kevin said.  "They'd still be waiting
for us outside."
 "What if we went to Darien's?" Mina suggested.  "He said
he...'warded' the place, I think, and set up some simple
psi...psi..."
 "Psionic?" Kevin supplied.
 "Psionic shielding," she finished, rewarding him with a grateful
look that made his pulse flutter.
 "Looks like the Prince has come into his own," he added.  "Though
I didn't know his magical skills were that vast."
 "The rulers of the Earth kingdom weren't mightily equipped with
magic, but they had some skill, especially in the construction of
things, in bending forces to their will," Setsuna supplied as she
sipped her cup.  "And Darien is naturally gifted."
 "Hmmm...but the question is, is Endymion skilled enough to do what
he said he did?" Kevin pointed out.
 Setsuna's eyes flicked up from her coffee cup, giving him a wry
look.  "You should know," she said, raising the mug to drain the
last of the brew.  "You trained him yourself."
 Mina cast a sideways glance at him, but not quickly enough to
catch the flutter of astonishment on his face.  He looked down at
the liquid, staring at the ripples for awhile, rolling the decision
over in his mind.  He knew, instinctively, that it was truly his
decision to make, that Setsuna could not really overstep her bounds
too much, and that Mina was not awake enough to do it.  He mulled
over it for awhile, as the cats finished their cream and Mina and
Setsuna finished their toast, as minutes ticked by on the clock.
 Finally, he asked, 
 There was no lag time; the response welled up immediately,
brightly.  >He is as well trained as I am,< was the fierce reply.
>I place as much trust in his magic as I do of the other Generals.<
 Now he looked up, sober light in his steely eyes.  "Before we go
to work, I want to check over the place briefly," he replied.  "I'm
pretty sure it'll do, but you can't be too careful."
 "What do you want me to do while you two are gone?" Mina asked
softly, a sudden sharpness rising inside of her at the thought of
him leaving her alone all day.
 He shot her a look, then smiled softly.  "Who said we were leaving
you here?" he replied, voice quiet and calm.  "You're coming with
us."
 "Do you mean it?" she cried out.
 "Sure," he replied, looking over to Setsuna.  She nodded, her own
little smile on her face.  "How stupid would I be to leave you here
by yourself, vulnerable to a group attack with no way of
communicating trouble?"  A little more of his smile showed.
"Besides, we could use an extra hand around the office."
 "Thank you!" she exclaimed jubilantly, color flushing into her
face, until she seemed to sparkle.  Without thought, she threw her
arms around him and encased him in a big hug.  His eyes widened in
response as he was knocked over, hands failing to catch them in
time.  The energy, the subtle heat between them, grew staggeringly,
until the whole world was blocked out by it, until all he could
feel was Mina, and all Mina could feel was him.
 Mina, having being asleep when Kevin was awake, and therefore
unfamiliar with this feeling, felt like her nerves had suddenly
been plunged into ice cold water, then thrust into a white hot
fire.  The heat that rushed in her veins was icy hot, an oxymoronic
combination of fight and flight, the want to run and the need to
stay.  She felt him shift a little here and a little there, felt
his arms encircle her, and her body shifted with his, two systems
striving for some sort of balance, a true equilibrium.  She pulled
back then, elbows propping herself up, blond silk shifting to drape
over the side facing Setsuna, as if providing a wall between the
world and them.  He stared back at her with a quiet peace in his
eyes, and at first she thought they were the normally calm grays
she was so used to seeing; the lack of emotion disappointed her.

 But wait.  Now his eyes shifted as his mind did, pupils
contracting from lack of light, currents of gray changing.  In
fact, it seemed like a whole new emotion was fountaining up from
his depths, a volcano going off in black and white.  She cocked her
head, hair layering itself over his nearby hand...and his fingers
stroked the stands for a moment.
 She realized then that the emotion she saw in his eyes was need.
 A need for HER.
 It was heady.  It was intoxicating.  It was a sense she'd always
wanted.  It was...time to go to work.
 Silently she pushed herself off of him, and then headed for her
bedroom.  She need to get dressed for her day; she also needed some
private time to think about what she'd just seen, and how that
magnet had come into play again, pulling her to him in more than
just physical means.
 She also wanted to wonder what he'd found in her own eyes.
 Kevin came up slowly, watching her disappear into her own room,
and scrubbing his hands through his green-white hair.   came a quiet voice for which he had no reply.
 He did the only thing he could do then: get up, collect the
dishes, and go to rinse them in the sink.  After all, one couldn't
start up some sort of conversation when it felt like their soul had
just been momentarily exposed, pulled through a small hole and
examined mutely.
 Setsuna wore her mysterious smile again as she watched him fumble
at the sink.
 Lady Venus and Lord Kunzite of old smiled at each other after
watching the scene.
 But Artemis...Artemis could only stare at Kevin's back and wonder.
 *      *       *       *
 Darien awoke warm and slightly uncomfortable, not fully aware of
where he was or who he was.  Slowly, softly, like a cat sneaking up
on him, his vision cleared and his memory crept back into his
consciousness.  And then the cat pounced, and awareness struck him
fully in a stinging slap across the face.
  he realized as he shifted around in his cramped
space.  He'd been partially shoved between two boxes near the
chilled wall, his cape wrapped totally about him.  His next shock
came when he realized that he was still in his Tuxedo Mask garb.
"This is weird," he murmured to himself as he scooted out of his
cubbyhole.  Standing and adjusting his clothes, he made a cursory
exam of the room he was in.
  he thought, quickly noting the racks of
refrigerated meats, cheeses, milk and pop.    The boxes continued similar things, as well
as various syrups for some sort of machine.  He tried the door
immediately, but the normally easy doorknob refused to bug, even
when he smacked it hard with both his palm and a bottle of syrup.
 He paced the cooler now, marking down the distance from wall to
wall as he ruminated on how to get out.  It also helped to keep him
feeling warm; the room was cool, not cold, but eventually even that
could get under your skin.
 It was only about twenty minutes after he woke up that he
discovered the Crystal Knight.
 She'd placed herself out of view, though he didn't think she was
hiding from him; rather, the space she was in was small enough to
help her retain some body heat.  A small flicker had alerted him to
her, though he didn't know that it was the heat shield over her
flicking out, now that the Crystal sensed his presence.
 "Hmmm..." he asked out loud, softly, stooping down to catch the
flicker again.  And there he found her, hunched up and slightly
slumped over, face quite pale as the cool rushed into her little
area.
  he wondered softly as he gazed
in at her mostly shielded face.  In fact, most of what he saw was
black; if it hadn't been for the dark purple hue that stuck out
slightly from her arm, he doubted he would've recognized her.
  his mind refuted.  
 A swift shiver struck her then as her body came alive to the
sudden chill on that swept over her, and he felt something inside
him wrench to see her like this.  Carefully he pulled her from her
tucked position, then scooped her up in his arms to warm her.  Her
body suddenly shuddered again, and two eyes flicked open to reveal
shades of bright blue, ice blue in the dim light.  They stared at
him first in shock and then in amazement, and he found himself
being drawn into that lovely gaze.
 Serena could not believe her luck...or misfortune.  She'd spent
just about five years out of the country with no plans to return,
with everyone believing her dead, had finally come back in
disguise, had tried to softly get his attention...and he still got
the jump on her.  She stared into his gleaming eyes, their midnight
blue forcing thoughts and memories up from days long past.  She
remembered their fights ("MEATBALL HEAD!" "MINUS ZERO!") and the
dreams she'd had of that alter ego who held her now, long before
she'd ever dreamed of Darien.  She passed over those days when odd
pangs of jealously had gripped her when he dated Raye; she again
saw the fierce blue eyes and heard the clear words "Don't worry
Serena" from that day at the Starlight Tower.  The look her gave
her when he was healed, so beautiful, so full of love even as his
body lost strength beneath him; the deepest pain slammed into the
corner of his hard eyes as he said good-bye.  The far away sound of
his voice calling to her the night she'd almost died.  They all
strung together, memories of pain, love, and hate, until she wanted
to pull herself into a ball and let it all loose.  But she
couldn't--all she could do was stare into his eyes and feel hers
begin to water, to desperately fight the welling of emotions inside
her.  She took a breath, a deep, shuddering, breath, and slammed
her eyes shut as the tears tried to leak out.  She kept them that
way until they stopped, then, unable to resist, peeked up again.
 It was then that the pain hit.
 It was a burning cut to her back first.  Then, the invisible whip
seared into her side, curving around her back to touch her hip and
the top of her thigh, before being pulled slowly back, bringing a
freakishly ticklish feeling.  The next cuts came to her shoulders,
and as she jumped another touched her hip again, before the light,
hot touch was applied to her chest, crossing her heart.  She let
out a little cry at that, and her body stiffened, eyes watering.
 Tux was mystified, but he could sense that she was in some sort of
pain.  That sent his teeth grounding against each other, and he
pulled her tighter, trying to ward off the outside invaders.
 However, to be held right now seemed to be the last thing she
wanted.  With each cut she received, each phantom sympathy pain
that traveled down her unseen bond, the closeness of contact
between the two of them became more and more ugly to her.  She
wanted to beat up his chest and demand that he let her go, but it
felt like her hands were bleeding.  She wanted to speak in an
authoritative voice and demand her release so that she could go
cower in a corner.  She didn't want him to watch her go through
this.
 But she couldn't speak.  She was afraid if she did, she'd let out
a scream...and then start to cry.  If she did that, she knew, he
might let her go...but then again, from the probing nature of his
eyes, she doubted it.
 So she bore it until its end, some fifteen minutes after it
started.  It was then, finally, that she was able to say, "Could
you please put me down now?" in a soft, clear voice.
 He didn't really know what he could say to that besides "No";
after all, he'd just held her as she twitched and jumped and bit
her lip in her arms.  So he said it.
 "Why?" came her defiant response, accompanied by a little more
squirming.
 "Because you're cold, Crystal Knight," he replied gently.
  "It's
not polite to let your cellmate freeze to death."
 She cried out then, a little cry of despair as another cut flicked
her, both from that phantom whip and his response.  And with that
came a few desperately impulsive words.
 "Perhaps I WANT to freeze, Tuxedo Mask."
 This reply didn't process for a moment, because it was accompanied
by soft, clear tears of pain and frustration running down her face.
When it did, all he could do was wipe them away and softly whisper,
"Why?"
 If she could've stood on her two feet, sat in her own little
corner, or at least been out of his looking distance, she might
have been able to hold on.  But after experiencing that gripping,
irrational fear, after watching her Generals picked off like frozen
targets, after watching Hielo come this close to killing him, and
now being in his arms and staring at his deep, deep eyes, hearing
that softly straining question explode from him...it was all too
much.
 Serena shattered in his arms.
 She'd dreamed of what she would say to him this day.  Oh, she'd
planned, plotted, and rehearsed, sometimes testing her words out on
Jade to get his reaction.  However, her fragmented self could
barely pull together any shards of her great speech, and so,
quietly, she improvised.
 "Tuxedo Mask," she began, words soft and remarkably calm for a
person teetering on the edge, "I don't know how I can explain
my...my despair to you.  My trusted companions for the last years--
your Generals--are taken.  The Senshi I worked with...they are gone
as well, and enduring God knows what."  More tears began to seep
from her violently wounded eyes as her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Even my brother Jade...they took him as well.  The only person I
ever gave my heart to..." her voice mingled with a sob for a
moment, pieces of any plan she'd ever had snapping off and crashing
to the floor.  She was laid bare, with nowhere to turn to except
him, and despite what she'd been told, the words came out.
"...couldn't care less about me, and loves me not.  It's just the
red thread.  I feel it.  And that's harsh, Tuxedo Mask."  She
grabbed a breath, finding with it some composure.  "Now all this
talking has made me warm can you let me down now?" she asked
quickly.
 He studied her eyes for a moment, studying the crystal blues, and
then closed his eyes briefly, taking a breath.
 "Anything you ask, Usako."
*       *       *       *
 Selene returned with Nephrite within thirty minutes of their
departure.  She looked quite pleased, like a successful pirate,
rosy glow on her face and what could only be called an "inner
light" in her eyes.  In fact, to Jade's aura sensitive eyes, she
was outlined by a huge, pink and black striped line.  He shuddered
at Neph's wispy purple-blue one that nearly matched the bruises on
his torn body.  Actually, he couldn't see much but his torso and
some his arms, for she'd left that bare, even if his legs (and,
strangely, part of his back and shoulders) were still covered.  His
face was nearly unmarred--well, as his hawk eyes noted, except for
the small, curved cut over his left eyebrow, distinguishable by a
bit of dried blood frozen in place.
 "What did you...you WITCH!" hissed Jupiter beside him.
"I'm....I'm going to kill you!"
 "Faw, little Senshi," Selene replied as she hoisted Nephrite
through the hole in the shield she'd opened.  "The Master would
never allow my death."  She closed the shield, eyes flickering back
up to her; a sarcastic smile graced her face then, twisting a
painful dagger deeper into both of them.  "Besides, you're up
there, and I'm down here.  What are you gonna do, attempt to hit
me?  Knock me out with a death glance?  I think not, little one."
Her lips curved into a more sensuous, luscious smile, glowing in
the dirty light of the fluorescent bulbs.  "He was delicious, by
the way.  Such strong hands..."
 "Stop it!" Jupiter shrieked, rage white hot green flames in her
eyes.  "Leave him alone! If you touch him one more time, I will
KILL you!"
 Selene eyed her for a moment, then laughed.  "You and what force,
Senshi brat?"  She turned away then, walking gracefully towards the
door.  At the handle, she stopped and turned.  "It's a good thing I
love men, pretty Senshi.  Your spirit is...admirable."  She licked
her lips quickly, eyes glittering coldly, then exited.
 Jupiter slumped back, body quaking with

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