Before She Cheats

Disclaimer: As with everyone save Naoko-san, I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters.

Warning: VERY OOC for Michiru, but I needed that to make it fit with the story, but I hope you like it all the same. .

Michiru glanced at the clock for the sixth time that night. It was almost midnight and Haruka still wasn't home. Thoughts began to run through her imaginative mind, each as discomforting as the next. Where could she be? What might have happened? Was she alright? The violinist worried the blanket between her fingers, beginning to get very nervous now.

Had Haruka been in an accident or worse? She rose from where she had been waiting as patiently as possible, and went to the phone. She bit her lower lip in consternation. She rarely phoned Haruka when she was out, but she reasoned that she had a legitimate concern and therefore dialed the familiar numbers confidently.

However, there was no answer, and Michiru debated on whether to leave a voice mail or not. At last she did in fact leave a message, telling Haruka she was beginning to worry, and to please come home soon, or to give her a call, and that she loved her.

Irritated now, Michiru returned the phone to its cradle, only for the device to ring shortly thereafter.

Hoping that it was Haruka, she answered," Moshi moshi?'

It was Setsuna. "Michiru-san, how are you doing tonight?" asked the calm voice of her friend.

Michiru smiled, she didn't often hear from Setsuna. "I'm alright," she replied, twirling a strand of her sea green hair around a delicate finger," I'm just a little worried about Haruka is all," she admitted, feeling slightly foolish.

Setsuna paused, this was going to be harder than she thought. "About that," she began nervously," Um, Michiru there's something I need to tell you," she said slowly.

Michiru went silent before urging her older friend to continue.

"It's about Haruka, Michiru, and," she paused again, this was almost painful she realized. " Oh god Michiru, she's practically molesting Usagi," she finished.

Michiru tried to laugh it off. Haruka did have a habit of teasing and flirting with the younger blonde. "Okay Setsuna, so what's new about that?" she said, still trying to force herself to laugh.

"That's just it Michiru," Setsuna explained," She's literally all over her. They're, well, they're kissing. I didn't know what to do when I saw them, and I, I thought you should know." Setsuna finished lamely.

Michiru's world went black, and her voice was deadly soft as she spoke," Where is she?" she asked in as steady of a voice as she could manage, already standing up to locate her shoes, coat, and keys to her own car.

Setsuna hesitated before answering," At the karaoke bar in town," she replied," On the corner of Main and Chestnut. I'm so sorry," her friend lamented.

Michiru smiled coldly, and her reply was quiet but ominous," Oh not as sorry as she's going to be."

"Do I need to call the paramedics?" Setsuna asked, hoping to get at least a smile from her devastated friend.

Michiru thought about it before answering," No, but you might want to have someone on hand to pick up the pieces. I'm going now Setsuna, and thank you for calling me," she said finally, hanging up the phone.

At the karaoke bar, Setsuna was worried beyond compare for both of her friends. She groaned, placing a hand to her aching forehead. 'Haruka, why do you have to be such an idiot!?' She exclaimed to herself, continuing to keep an eye on both blondes.

Setsuna watched as Haruka and Usagi danced, then as Haruka went to the bar to get another girly drink for the already well-past tipsy Usagi, and the rest of the horrors that took place that night. Red eyes softened as she thought about poor Michiru. 'What would she do? Destroy a district in Tokyo, get help from the senshi of fire and burn down a few buildings displaying her symbol in flaming kanji?' She sighed, wondering whether to approach Haruka or not, then sat back down firmly. No, despite the fact that Haruka was her friend, she deserved what was coming to her, whatever her fate might be. Little did Setsuna know that as she stifled a laugh watching Usagi try to sing, that fate was exactly what was headed toward Haruka at nearly 90 miles per hour, and that she was coming guns a-blazing.

Michiru tore through the streets of Tokyo, her few "accomplices" safely tucked into the backseat, each carefully disguised as tools one would normally see in a tire changing kit should she be pulled over, teeth grating on each other, hating to imagine what sort of scene Setsuna was watching at the karaoke bar she was swiftly approaching.

'I can't believe she did that!' Michiru fumed, 'I thought she loved me!' The tears started to stream down her flushed cheeks, and Michiru fought to keep them at bay. If she started crying now, she'd turn around and go home, and cry out her sorrows instead of kicking Haruka's ass as she had every intention of doing. Those thoughts would only serve to bring her down, and she needed every ounce of fury to do what she had to do to avenge her pride and broken heart.

Setsuna started to feel ill watching the two blondes who seemed fused together at each possible juncture. Her vodka and cranberry juice wasn't sitting too well in her stomach. They were all over each other, and she found herself shocked to see that Usagi initiated just as much, if not more, than the playboy Haruka. Her eyes widened as she continued to spy, and her jaw dropped a little. 'That can't be legal,' she thought to herself, as it began to look like Haruka and Usagi were practically having sex on the dance floor. 'It's like a train wreck,' she noted in disgust,' it was terrible, but she couldn't bring herself to look away.'

The owner of the bar seemed to be debating on whether or not to say something to the pair, when something happened to make his intervention unnecessary, at least for the moment. Michiru came storming in through the front doors of the bar, eyes flashing and searching for Haruka. When at last she located the entangled couple, she approached the two before tapping on Haruka's shoulder.

Haruka finally looked up from where she had been starting to slide a hand under Usagi's skirt when her drunken gaze took in the sight of Michiru.

"M-Michi," she slurred, her swollen lips curving into a smile. She patted the other side of the couch beside her," Want to join?" the unsuspecting blonde asked. When she didn't get a response, Haruka tried again," Come on, three's a party. There couldn't be anything hotter than a threesome with me and the world's two prettiest girls in it. Don't you want to play?" she asked, an almost innocent look in her unfocused eyes.

The hand hit her cheek almost before she could react, and the force of it sent Haruka sprawling across the floor. Michiru was breathing hard, and Haruka looked stunned.

"But baby, it's not like I meant anything by it. I l-love you," she stuttered, looking for some hint that she wasn't about to be drowned in full view of the public. "It was just a harmless bit of fun," she tried to claim.

Michiru glared at her blonde lover. "Haruka," she began in a soft voice. "First of all, I love you, which is why you and U-," she couldn't bring herself to say Usagi's name," that thing aren't dead where you stand," she spat, her normally melodious voice beginning to raise in volume. "Secondly," she paused to wrench the promise ring Haruka had given her from her hand, and threw it hard, grinning wickedly when the blonde flinched," I never want to see you again," she paused to take a breath, "and third, NEVER CALL ME BABY!" She screamed, her entire body shaking.

On that note, Michiru fled the bar as quickly as she'd entered, leaving the entire place silent as a tomb.

"I'd say you're dead bro," said a nearby man to Haruka.

Well that scene certainly got through to her fuzzy brain, and in a panic she sprang to her feet and started to race after Michiru, but a gentle hand on her thigh diverted her attention again. Usagi.

A soft tug had Haruka sitting down in one of the booths in a corner, and soft lips spoke to her," Forget about her Haru-chan," Usagi said, smiling invitingly, her mouth right up against Haruka's, and Haruka's mind went blank as her koneko pulled her close and then bit into the sensitive skin of her neck. Completely lost, Haruka surrendered, her floundering mind again forgetting all about Michiru.

Setsuna watched the entire thing, mortified on everyone's account, and after slinking into the shadows, disappeared from the smoky bar which slowly seemed to recover from the scene it had just witnessed. For now she just wanted to go home and try to pretend this whole day had never happened. She didn't know what else awaited Haruka, and decided that she just didn't care. She collapsed into bed fully dressed, her head buried under her pillow.

Meanwhile, left alone in the parking lot, as everyone else was still inside, Michiru opened the door to her backseat, and withdrew a few items, locked it back, and strode over to Haruka's shiny, yellow convertible with a manic gleam in her eye. You could almost hear the poor car whimper, unable to escape its impending doom.

Michiru withdrew her own set of keys, and drove them into the fresh coat of paint on Haruka's convertible. She scratched it to high heaven and back, digging her poor key as far as she could force it into each side. She stepped back to admire her work when she smiled viciously, no, it wasn't nearly enough retribution for breaking her heart, and then humiliating her on top of it. She would make sure that there was no way Haruka and Usagi could use it to escape somewhere to, to, she paused, unable to complete that sentence in her mind, and with it came a breaking of glass as her bare fist broke open the glass of the driver's side window to gain access to the interior.

She manually unlocked the car, and unlocked both doors, and entered on the passenger side well away from the shattered glass. She pulled out the pocketknife Haruka had always insisted she carry for protection. She sliced through the supple leather like butter, hacking into it with ferocity she never knew herself capable of. She made sure to leave her mark. She spelled out,"The fury of the wind is unstoppable? Have a taste of mine!," in rapid kanji.

Still unsatisfied, Michiru reached for the baseball bat in her pile, dimly wondering why she hasn't thought of it to break the window, and approached the front of the car purposefully. She took a deep breath, and WHAM! The head of the bat made contact with each of Haruka's headlights in turn, sending shards of glass flying at high speeds. That was when the rain started. Sheets of water fell from the sky, a flood quickly approaching as the sea seemed to double in size. A torrent of tears gushed down Michiru's face as she threw down the baseball bat and picked up the knife again, and tore through each tire, letting each sink flatly to the ground.

A final surge of violence washed over her, and drenched in rain, Michiru took her bat and beat on Haruka's convertible until she no longer possessed the strength to continue. At last, she walked dejectedly back to her own vehicle, and got back behind the wheel, breathlessly holding back the sobs that so badly wanted to rage within her.

No amount of damage to Haruka's car would undo what she'd done, but, Michiru mused, letting out a puff of air from the exertion, it certainly was satisfying she mused with an uncharacteristic smirk.

Michiru drove home calmly, parked her car, got out and went inside, locking the door and deadbolt behind her. She stripped out of her soaking clothes, vowing to wash them tomorrow, took a scalding hot shower, and wrapped herself up in a soft, thick robe. She cried herself into a hysterical mess. She never turned on the television, otherwise she would have seen the frantic newscasters babbling idiotically about a tidal wave the likes of which hadn't been seen in Japan in nearly a century. Instead, she put on a CD of her own creation, attempting and failing to calm herself down. So she wrapped the blankets tighter around her, refusing to open her eyes as everything reminded her of Haruka, and with tears still leaking down her cheeks, drifted off into a sleep filled with pain and darkness.

Meanwhile, Haruka and Usagi emerged from the bathroom, after taking care of some cough "business," finally decided that since the place would be closing shortly, that they should get going, and take their affair on the road.

They entered the parking lot, covered by Haruka's jacket, but still soaked from their ankles down from the accumulation of rain already, when Haruka laid eyes on her beloved convertible.

Her teal eyes shot wide open, and she fell to the concrete, screaming at the sky in agony.

"My car!" she shouted, obviously deeply in pain, Usagi completely ignored in her soul-wrenching despair.

Bolting upright, Haruka looked around in confusion, her gaze falling on a crying and shaking Michiru. She started to shake her awake, when she noticed that she herself was sweaty and unstable. 'What on earth happened?' she thought, bewildered, glancing again at her stricken lover.

"Michi, Michi darling, wake up," Haruka whispered urgently, greatly concerned when she noticed the many scattered cuts marring her love's perfect skin. 'How did that happen?' she wondered worriedly. Her fear deepened when she saw that they looked angry and raw, and fresh, she noted.

Michiru stirred slightly, but only burrowed deeper into the covers, and pulled away from Haruka's touch. Haruka frowned, and walked out into the living room, puzzled when she saw that the TV had been left on, and the newscasters were almost crying. A tidal wave that had begun late last night or early this morning, had grown to nearly epic proportions and hovered above Japan, ready to strike at any moment. Haruka's eyes, groggy from sleep, opened wide, and the coffee cup she'd been about to sip from clattered to the floor where it broke into tiny, serrated pieces.

She raced back into the bedroom, and shook Michiru, now desperate to wake her.

"Michiru!" she shouted, her hands rocking her shoulders harshly.

"What?" Michiru asked sleepily, disturbed by the look on Haruka's face.

"Michiru, there's a tidal wave about to destroy all of Japan. Do you know anything about it?" she asked her lover fervently.

Michiru gasped in shock, and shook her head, before a look of pure horror stole across her lovely face. "Oh my god Haruka! My nightmare! You don't think it had anything to do with it, do you?" she asked frantically.

Haruka grimaced, "That's what I was afraid of. Want to tell me what happened?" she asked with concern, cupping her love's face with a hand.

Michiru blinked in wonder at Haruka. "Haruka, Japan is about to become the next Atlantis and you want me to tell you about my nightmare?" she questioned incredulously.

Haruka smiled softly," I think that if your nightmare caused it, then we need to sort out what happened, so you can save us." she replied.

Michiru stared in amazement at her girlfriend, shook her head in disbelief, and gave Haruka a quick synopsis of her dream. Haruka inhaled sharply at Michiru's description of what had happened, and grabbed her love's left hand. "Michiru," Haruka began in a soft voice," where's your ring?"

Michiru looked down, and to her surprise, it wasn't there. "It must have slipped off while I was sleeping, or" she paused as another solution popped to mind, and her hand came up to her face in terror, where she encountered something warm and sticky, something that felt an awful lot like, "Blood!" she screeched, causing Haruka to jump.

"Yes, you're bleeding," Haruka commented, reminded of her love's injuries from apparently out of nowhere.

"The car!" they yelped, running outside and Haruka let out a howl of pain.

"No!" she screamed, stroking its highly abused body like she might have a child. Standing, she turned her vivid gaze on Michiru.

Michiru squeaked out," I'm sorry?" and began to back away from her infuriated lover.

"Sorry? Sorry?" Haruka yelled at the top of her lungs, advancing on her frightened girlfriend."It's going to take a lot more than an I'm sorry to make up for what you did, whether you meant to or not!"

Michiru's eyes went wide and pleading, "But 'Ruka," she began, before Haruka's hand came up swiftly, demanding silence.

The blonde head slowly rose to meet Michiru's gaze, and in between frustrated pants, she choked out two words." Michi, couch."

Two hours later...

Michiru was desperately searching through every car dealership she came across. It seemed that yellow, 'gold,' she corrected herself, gold convertibles weren't easy to come by. Running out of patience, she phoned Setsuna, filling her in on what had happened, and asking for advice..

"It'll be alright," Setsuna said in an attempt to comfort her tired friend.

Michiru sighed and sniffed slightly," Not really." she replied.

Setsuna looked surprised. Normally Michiru was so optimistic. "Why?" she asked.

"I'm having trouble finding a car to replace the one I destroyed," was the sad little reply.

Setsuna was still slightly taken aback by what had happened, but tried to think of something to tell her distraught friend. "Well," the time guardian began, "There is that other dealership on the far side of town. Isn't Haruka usually drooling over a number of the cars there?" she supplied helpfully.

Michiru mulled it over, then realized Setsuna was right. "Of course!" she said happily, "Thank you for your advice Setsuna, " and the two women hung up.

Michiru drove like Haruka across the streets of Tokyo, eager to get there before they closed. She nervously bit her lip, glancing in the rearview window as sunset drew nearer. She just had to reach it in time.

The nest day...

Setsuna called Michiru to check on her, and they chatted for a while before Setsuna remembered the reason for her call. "So Michiru, what else happened, you hadn't told me." she said, quite curious. Had Haruka made her dance naked in the living room or something?

Michiru sighed," Oh, that." she paused.

Setsuna asked jokingly,"Let me guess, you and Haruka "made up"?" Her eyebrows waggled suggestively.

"Not quite, I had to sleep on the couch." she admitted finally.

"Even after you bought her a new car?"Setsuna asked, amazed..

"Yes," Michiru admitted. "I never knew she could tell me no."

Setsuna winced. "That's harsh."

The End!

Neptune's Mask

A/N: So did you like it? hopeful expression on face I needed a break from "A Simple Twist of Fate" and this came out to be the outlet. Just in case you live under a rock, and don't know the song "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood, or glares and hisses don't listen to country, here are the lyrics.

"Before He Cheats"

Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleach blonde tramp,
and she's probably getting frisky...
right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey...

Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...

And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Right now, she's probably up singing some
white-trash version of Shania karoke..
Right now, she's probably saying "I'm drunk"
and he's a thinking that he's gonna get lucky,
Right now, he's probably dabbing on 3 dollars worth of that bathroom polo...
And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats,
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might'a saved a little trouble for the next girl,
Cause the next time that he cheats...

Oh, you know it won't be on me!
Ohh... not on me...
Cause I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Ohh.. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats...Ohh, before he cheats...