Chapter 7

Serena sat in Heero's room holding a cup of tea and kept her gaze on the greenish liquid as they sat in silence. Heero sat in his armchair and ran a hand through his hair as he silently watched Serena stare at her cup of tea. Heero looked to his closed laptop and frowned as he thought about his life and silently thought So much for being the perfect soldier.

Serena looked up as she heard the laptop close and saw Heero staring at his computer. "Should we tell the others?" She asked, breaking the silence that permeated throughout the room.

Heero looked at her and sighed as he shook his head as he replied, "I don't know . . ."

Serena glanced down to her flat stomach as she swallowed the lump in her throat before she asked, "Do you regret . . ."

"No!" Heero blurted out and cleared his throat as he looked at a surprised Serena as he spoke with more control of his emotions, "I don't know what to feel . . ." he ran a hand through his hair again as he stood from the chair and walked over to her and sat down. "I was trained not to feel anything and yet . . ."

Serena smiled softly at him as she looked back down to her stomach and replied, "I understand." She glanced up to look into Heero's eyes and slid towards him as she took a hold of his hand and placed it on her stomach. She smiled as she saw his eyebrows scrunch together at her actions as she spoke, "Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?"

Heero shrugged his shoulders as he looked to her stomach and then looked back up and commented, "A boy."

Serena smiled again as she yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder as his hand was still on her stomach. "I think a boy would be nice."

"Where have you been?" Mina asked as Rei stepped into their apartment.

Rei placed her coat on the hook and walked into the living room and set her keys on a nightstand. She shook her head as she slipped off her shoes and replied, "With Serena."

"Is she okay?" Mina asked as she silently wondered if Serena was hiding something from them.

"Yes. She needed me to drop her off to pick up her Navigator."

"Oh." Mina said with skepticism and asked, "So you guys skipped school due to her Navigator?" She followed Rei into the kitchen and sat at the table as she watched Rei take out a milk carton. "Heero left when he noticed Serena wasn't in our first hour class."

Rei kept her back turned towards Mina as she poured herself a glass of milk and smirked as she knew about Heero leaving school from the doctor's office. Gaining some self control, she turned around with her glass in hand as she commented, "Are you sure he left because of Serena?"

Mina casually shrugged her shoulders as she then shook her head, "I don't know, but I swear those two are hiding something."

"Mina, look who you're talking about it's Heero and Serena. Heero is well Heero, and Serena I think is still hurt from Darien."

Mina looked at Rei and sighed as she thought about Heero and Serena and laughed. "You're right. No need to worrying if they're hiding something." She stood from the table and smiled at Rei as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Well I'm heading over to Duo's, I'll see you later."

Rei chuckled at her friend as she continued to sit at the table and waved bye as Mina left the kitchen. She sighed as she silently thought about Serena and Heero. I'm sorry Mina for lying to you.

"Try this." Lita said as she held a spoon up to Trowa's lips and watched him take a bite of the beef stew she was making, "So?"

"It's good." He commented as he looked over to the dough in a bowl as he asked, "Do I get to taste the bread once it's done?"

Lita chuckled as she turned back to the pan and stirred the ingredients one last time before she placed a lid on the pan and replied, "No. You get to wait along with everyone else."

"I can wait." Trowa said as he kissed the top of her head and walked into the living room. He gave Quatre a nod as he sat down in the recliner and watched Amy move her Bishop. "You found some competition, Quatre."

"Or Amy found some competition," Lita said with a smile on her face as she saw Amy and Quatre still playing their first match of Chess.

Amy saw Quatre knock one of her pawns from the board and glanced up to look at Lita as she asked, "Have you heard anything from Rei or Serena?"

Lita shook her head and sighed. "No."

A cell phone began to ring, as Quatre reached into his pant pocket and took out the device. "Hello." Quatre looked at the other occupants as he answered, "I'll tell Amy and Lita. What time?" Quatre gave a nod as he said, "We'll meet you there. Bye." He closed his phone as he looked at the three people who were looking at him, "That was Heero. We have a mission."

Mina looked up to Duo as they sat on a bench eating some an ice cream cone as she asked, "Mission?"

Duo looked at her and gave her a small smile, "Yeah . . ." he gave her a kiss on the cheek as he commented about them, "at least I don't have to keep it a secret."

Mina smiled as she took the last bite to her cone and stood. "I guess we should get going, ne?"

"Yeah . . ." Duo also stood and took a hold of Mina's hand as they walked back to his yellow Hummer.

Mina smiled as Duo opened her door and got in as she watched Duo walk to the other side and got in. "Was it Heero who called?"

"Yeah. We'll find out the details to this mission once we get to the warehouse."

Mina gave him a nod and leaned back into her seat as she thought about her life. "I have a feeling something big is going to happen, Duo."

Duo took a hold of her left hand as he glanced her and gave her a reassuring smile, "It will be okay, Mina, I promise." He watched as she looked back to the window as he turned his attention back to the road. Silence filled the vehicle until Duo spoke up, "I'm sorry you got involved."

Mina felt her heart stop as she closed her eyes, wishing she could tell him her other secret. She looked back to him and turned in her seat as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she spoke up, "I chose this life." She said as she saw his eyes widened and she quickly spoke up before he could say anything, "I chose this life to protect the ones I love. I don't regret it. I just regret the heartache this choice has caused." She said as she sat back in her seat.

"You're not alone." Duo said and gave her a smile, "We're in this together."

Serena and Heero were the first ones at the warehouse. They stood next to the table, memorizing the floor plans to the base. Serena shook her head as she noticed this base was setup differently, "There are four areas the information could be located."

"It looks like we're going to split up. How well can your girls hack into the computer base and get the information they need?"

Serena shook her head, "The only one that could succeed would be Amy, but she's not fast enough. I think it would be better if we paired off. The girls can go in and cover your boys' back. I think if your boys don't find the information they need in five minutes, they need to set a detonation device and get out as fast as possible."

"I agree." Heero said as he continued to look over the information and asked, "Who should we pair up?"

"Amy and Quatre, Duo and Mina, Rei and Wufei, Lita and Trowa, and you and me."

"No."

"What?" Serena said as she looked at Heero with confusion in her eyes, "Why?"

Heero circled the four areas, "There are only four possible areas and we have five teams. You're pregnant and I won't put you in jeopardy for this mission."

Serena looked at the circled areas, "I know and I'm still capable of doing this mission."

"No. I won't allow you to go in there. We're already risking getting caught with having four places to check."

"I'm aware of that, but we also need all the help we can get." Serena said, her voice slowly rising with aggravation as she glared at Heero. "I'm going in there, Heero."

"I think you should stay here."

"I'm going!" Serena yelled as she stomped her foot to make her point.

Heero ran a hand through his hair as he looked at her as he spoke in monotone, "We need someone for back up and to help ward off the mobile suits. I think that is where you and the girls should be."

"No. We'll be better if we were in there to ensure you and the others can do their job. I'm going in."

"You're not going in there. I don't want to worry about you and screwing up this mission."

Serena glared at him as she crossed her arms and retorted, "So I'm a screw up? When was the last time I screwed up a mission?"

Heero shook his head as he replied, "Your diversion."

Serena felt her slowly mending heart began to shatter as she swallowed the lump in her throat as she asked, "Was it that bad?"

Heero looked at her in the eyes as he replied coolly, "Yes. We got carried away and barely escaped with the information we needed."

"You're an ass." Was all she said.

"You guys are here early," Mina said as she walked in with Duo. The two quickly exchanged glances as they saw Heero and Serena having a staring match. Mina stopped walking as she looked to Serena and clutched her heart. "It hurts . . ." she mumbled as she felt an arm wrap around her. She didn't have to look up to see who was comforting her as she leaned into him and closed her eyes as she felt something shatter inside her, "It's shattered."

Duo looked down at her and was confused as he heard Mina talking to herself while clutching her chest. "What shattered?"

"Her heart," she replied as she opened her eyes to see Serena return to her perfect soldier mold. The pain quickly left and she shook her head. "What?" Mina asked, unaware of her ramblings.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." She said as she heard Lita and Amy talking.

Lita stopped walking as she heard a clap of thunder and looked to Amy who began to rub her arms, "You okay?"

"Is it me or is it freezing in here?"

The girls looked at each other and closed their eyes as they felt their powers reacting towards Serena. Mina wanted to say something but was interrupted as they heard, "I swear I'll fry your ass, Chang, if you don't move out of my way!"

The group all looked back to see the door open to reveal Rei and Wufei dripping with water as claps of thunder was heard and lightening lit up the sky. Wufei shook his head as he walked over to the table Serena and Heero were standing next to and asked, "When do we leave? These baka onnas are giving me a headache."

Rei and Lita began to pop their knuckles as they both began to approach the Chinese pilot, but stopped as Serena spoke up. "Now." Serena picked up her gun from the table and placed it inside her jacket as she motioned for the girls to get into the Gundams.

Rei watched Serena walk towards her black Gundam with a heartless mask placed on her face. Rei diverted her attention to Heero to see him look down to the table. She looked back to Serena and asked telepathically, What happened?

Serena stopped walking and turned around to see Heero look at her before his eyes returned to their cold and emotionless look. He's an ass. She replied back to Rei as she turned around and wiped the lone tear that began to fall down her cheek.

I'm sorry, Serena . . . I thought he was different.

Me too . . . don't worry, I don't need him.

What about the baby? Rei cringed as she saw Serena turn to look back at her with heartache clearly visible in her eyes as quickly spoke up I'm sorry, I didn't-

He made it clear I was a mistake, so I guess being pregnant with his child is a mistake, and after this mission I will no longer be a part of his life.

Rei felt her heart stop as she heard Serena answer her question and dropped the subject for the time being. She walked over to her Gundam which was similar to Gundam Shen-Long with the exception the whole color to the mobile suit was scarlet red with her shield violet and out-lined in black with gold. "I'll kill him . . ." she said quietly, yet loud enough for Serena to hear as they both got into their Gundams.

Mina felt her heart ache even more as she kept her eyes on Serena and sadly shook her head as she walked over to her Gundam. The Gundam's body was a navy blue outlined in gold with a gold heart-shaped chain attached to the right thigh of the leg to the mobile suit. On the back of the mobile suit, was an orange handle, if Mina took a hold of the handle it turned into a sword with the same capabilities as Death Scythe Hell's scythe. She noticed a pair of eyes on her, and glanced up to see Duo looking at her with concern in her eyes. She blew him a kiss before she turned to get into her suit to wait for everyone to leave for the mission.

Lita's Gundam looked black unless the light graced her Gundam then it was hunter green with the shield and shoulder pads a light pink with the edges white. Lita's Gundam had a Vulcan, similar to Heavy Arms. She grabbed a hold of the latch and entered her Gundam to wait for orders.

Amy was the last to walk to her Gundam and paused for a moment to take in the Gundam's glory. Her Gundam was ice blue with dark blue circular blades attached to the sides. She smiled as she noticed the wings on the Gundam's feet and head as she whispered, "Breath taking."

Serena looking down to her communication panel and opened the communication link between the girls. She looked at the screens with all their pictures showing as she began to explain their mission. "We're going to be doing things differently. I know you all looked at the map to the base. I'm keeping you guys paired with the guys Trista assigned you to. The pilots are assigned to these sectors. They're all going to find a file on a computer. If the information takes longer than five minutes to retrieve, they'll be setting a bomb, and will leave the base as fast as they can.

"This is where we come in. You will cover the guys' backs and use whatever diversion is necessary. This base is a major OZ facility, so the security will be tight."

Lita smirked as she asked, "Do these diversions include our transformations?"

Serena smirked as well as she looked at her friends, "Of course. With us being able to use our transformations, our attacks will be more useful and we can bide the guys time, and ensure they can escape once they set the bombs. Lita, you are assigned to the eastern quadrant; Amy, you are assigned the southern quadrant; Mina, you are assigned to the western quadrant; and Rei, you're with me. We'll be covering the northern quadrant."

"Do we transform?" Rei asked as she knew Heero and Wufei would be working together.

"You will. You're going to use your attacks to set off the fire alarms surrounding that area."

"If I do that, it's going to cause the halls to that area be crowded with guards."

Serena smiled as she looked at her pyro-friend, "Exactly. I'll be going through the ventilation system while you cause the diversions." Serena's smiled widened as she knew this mission was theirs as she asked, "Any other questions?"

"Nope." Four voices replied.

"Let's move in," Serena commanded as she wished to see the pilots' reactions with the diversions.

Heero glared as he saw the girls' Gundams increase in speed as he silently thought about the argument with Serena. Sighing, he shook his head before he turned on the communication links with the boys, "Do you guys understand the mission?"

"Yes, but what about the girls?" Duo asked as he saw Mina's Gundam speed towards the base.

"Those weak onnas? They're just going to get us caught if they go in."

"But we're going to need back up, especially if we only have five minutes to look for the file and set the bombs."

"We've been in tighter situations then this. We don't need them." Wufei argued as he silently wondered about the girls' roles in this mission.

"Move in." Heero commanded as he knew this was a race between him and Serena, Don't do anything stupid . . . he thought.

Mina holding up her transformation pen, "VENUS . . . CRYSTAL POWER!" Her body quickly being engulfed by a bright orange light and stars. As fast as the light died down, Sailor Venus stood in place. Smiling to herself, she took off running down the hall to her mission.

Duo taking out a guard; and noticed eight more were rounding a corner until a voice shouted, 'VENUS . . . love chain ENCIRCLE!' Duo's eyes widened as he saw a gold chain with hearts appear from nowhere and wrapped around the eight guards. Shrugging his shoulders and thanking the diversion, he kicked the door open and began his search for the file.

As Duo continued to hack into the computer, he could hear more guards running down his hall. "I hope the others are having better luck than me." He raised an eyebrow as he heard, 'VENUS . . . CRESCENT BEAM . . . SMASH!' A gold light spiraled down the hall and hit the guards. "Damn it!" He slammed down his fists as he took out the bomb and new time was against them. He took out his gun and stepped outside and aimed it at a girl wearing orange high heels with a single strap around her ankles, long smooth long legs with a short orange skirt reaching her thighs, a white body suit with a blue bow on her chest with a gold star-brooch in the center, followed by an orange sailor collar, a gold tiara resting on her forehead with a gold gem in the center, and a red bow holding half her hair up. Duo noticed the girl's hands were covered with white gloves reaching her elbows with orange cuffs, and felt his mouth dry out as he continued to stare.

Mina felt her cheeks burning as she saw Duo look her up and down as she commented, "Like what you see?"

Duo slowly nodded his head as he heard her chuckle and thought, Sounds like Mina . . . looking the girl over more closely he aimed his gun at the girl and demanded, "Okay lady, who are you?"

Mina rolled her eyes as she heard more guards running towards them as she stepped in front of Duo and replied, "Duo, now's not the time." She kissed her right hand as she began to call forth her next attack, "Venus love and beauty SHOCK!" The attack formed into a heart and quickly flew into the guards and knocking them unconscious. She turned towards Duo and grabbed a hold of his hand as she commanded, "We need to get out of here!"

"Right." Duo said as he was amazed at the girl and how she was able to knock out the guards with the weird attack. "How do you know my name, Beautiful?" He asked as they were running down the hall.

Mina pouted as she looked at Duo and commented, "I'm hurt that you don't recognize your girlfriend."

Duo stopped running to look at her with wide-eyes, "MINA!" He yelled as he gave her a foxy grin as he asked, "What are you wearing?"

Mina rolled her eyes as she walked up to him and stole a kiss as she answered, "My sailor-scout uniform. In this form, I'm known as Sailor Venus."

"How?"

She gave him a small smile as she grabbed a hold of his hand and answered, "Let's wait for everyone to tell them."

"Your friends can wear the same thing?"

"Yes."

Lita pulled off the vent as he looked down to see guards running towards the hall Trowa was assigned to. She smirked as she gracefully jumped from the vent and stood while clutching her transformation pen. Her right thumb brushed against her symbol on her wand as she took a step back into a darkened hallway and yelled, "JUPITER . . . CRYSTAL POWER!"

Green lightened crackled through the hallway and surrounded Lita as it transformed her into Sailor Jupiter. Striking her pose, she smiled as she saw a handful of guards stop in front of her. "Hello Boys!" She said as she focused on her energy and concentrated on her weakest attacks, "Jupiter thunder clap . . . ZAP!" A ball of green energy formed in her right hand as she yelled the last part as she thrust her hand down to release the energy. The ball of energy quickly turned into a flat disk and destroyed the hallway as it made forced the soldiers to jump back allowing her gap.

She slid around the corner to see Trowa doing hand-to-hand combat and smirked. Calling forth her previous attack, she released the ball of energy and saw it made contact with the soldiers. She smirked as the Silencer stopped and looked at her with his visible chocolate eyebrow raised from shock. She felt her cheeks turn pink as she silently watched his eyes look her over and fought for her voice as she asked, "Aren't you supposed to be doing something?"

Trowa gave her a silent nod as he kicked the door open to begin his search. As he allowed his fingers to go over the keyboard, his mind was focusing on the tall brunette wearing green boots, a short green mini-skirt with a white bodice, a pink bow resting on her chest with a green star in the center. Her eyes . . . he thought as he continued to go over the girl's appearance. A gold tiara resting on her forehead with a green gem in the center as it caused her eyes to appear more green, and her hair pulled up into a very similar hairstyle to Lita's. His eyes widened as he heard the girl shout another phrase as he began to set the bomb, and stepped towards the door as he saw electrical leaves shoot like bullets at the next set of guards. Scanning the girl over once more, he stepped out and grabbed a hold of her wrist as he asked, "What are you wearing?"

Lita smiled as she answered, "A sailor-scout uniform, do you like it?"

Trowa wanted to ask another question but saw Duo and Mina wearing a similar outfit to Lita run into them. "What's going on?" Duo asked as he saw Lita wearing a similar outfit and wondered what the other girls' looked like.

"We're your diversion." Lita answered as she knew the fire alarms haven't gone off yet.

"I think this is the best plan yet!" Duo said, liking the diversion.

"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"

Quatre stopped picking the lock as he noticed a fog began to cover his area and shuddered as he felt the cold bitterness it carried within. "Odd." He said as he heard someone shout a phrase to cause this action. Shaking his head, he looked back to the closed door to proceed with his mission. "I just hope they're on my side."

Mercury sighed in relief as she managed to make it to Quatre's hall in time to cause her fog barrier to allow Quatre plenty of time to search for the files. Her head snapped to the left as she heard guards yelling and commanding them to spread out to catch them. "Not today." She said as she collected a ball of blue energy with both her hands and began to call for her next attack, "Mercury, ICE BUBBLES BLAST!" She saw her attack hit the guards on her left and froze them as she saw Quatre step out from the room, "Let's go." She commanded to cause the fog as a cover for them.

"Amy?" Quatre asked as he still couldn't see her figure but recognized her voice."

"Yes."

"What's going on?" He asked as they made it to another hall where guards were running towards them. His eyes widened and his face turned scarlet red as he saw her wearing a short blue mini-skirt that reached her upper thighs and a white body suit that showed her curves very well with a light blue bow resting in the center of her breasts with a darker blue star brooch in the center of the bow. He noticed the sailor collar covering her shoulders as her arms were protected by white gloves with a light bluff cuff. "What are you –" he passed out as his eyes traveled down her legs to see light blue knee-length boots.

Blushed from his reactions and silently cursed her position as she called forth her powerful attack. "Mercury . . ." a symbol of a blue harp appeared in her left hand as she continued to call forth her attack, "AQUA," the symbol transformed into a harp as she gracefully began to play the strings as she finished her last phrase, "RHASPODY!" A surge of water spewed forth and knocked the guards down as another attack was called forth from the far end of the hall, 'Venus CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"

Amy sighed in relief as she walked over to Quatre and bent down to wrap his arm around her neck and smiled as Lita ran over to help their fallen comrade, "He fainted?" Lita asked amused.

"Shut-up . . ." Amy said, her face bright red as she felt Duo's and Trowa's eyes looking at her with amusement.

Mina laughed as she looked at their small group and smirked as she commented, "Our final diversion should be happening any moment."

Serena gracefully and quietly crept through the vents as she could hear the guards run below her to the areas her friends were located. She chuckled to herself as she imagined what the guys' reactions would be to their sailor-scout uniforms and smiled as she heard Rei transform into Sailor Mars. Making it above the room, she noticed one of the guards where there, Rei, now! She commanded to the fire scout telepathically.

Rei smirked as a bow and arrow of fire appeared in her hands as she stood in a darkened hallway and released her attack as she yelled, "Mars FLAME SNIPER!"

A fire arrow zoomed down the hallway and nailed a wall in front of Wufei as he was running. The arrow with it's heat turned on the fire alarms and sprinklers. Rei took the time to step out from the hallway and felt a pair of eyes looking her way. She smirked as she formed a gun with both her hands and called forth her first attack, "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" She released the ball of fire down the same hall her arrow went and blocked off the path to the room Heero and Wufei were needing. She saluted to the two men who looked at her with wide eyes as another attack was heard, 'Jupiter thunder clash!' A trail of lightening and thunder traveled down the hall to take out more guards as Rei turned around and smiled at her friends. "About time!"

"Can it, Mars!" Mina said as she saw Heero aim his gun at the fiery scout, "Venus Love in chain, ENCIRCLE!"

The group witnessed a chain of hearts appear from Venus' hands as the chain quickly turned into a whip which she maneuvered to grab a hold of Heero's gun and take it from him. Heero stood in awe as he understood the diversion Serena was referring to and scowled as Mina easily took his gun and wondered where Serena was if the four of them were out in the hall. He noticed the girl in the blue stepped forward and called forth another attack to take out the fire. Not long after, Serena stepped through and smirked at him as she walked over to him and handed him the disk as she asked, "Are my diversions a screw up now?" She then walked over to her friends and commanded, "Move out."

Quatre managed to wake up and saw Lita and Amy help him stand as they walked next to Rei and Serena. They noticed they were all transformed but her and wanted to ask questions but saw the four girls quickly formed a circle around Serena and closed their eyes. Heero looked to the disk in his hand and intently watched Serena, unsure if he should pull out his other gun or watch what they had planned. Seeing her friends wearing risky outfits that were designed to be worn for Halloween, he knew there was more to them. He noticed how the gems on the girls' tiara began to glow their respective colors as they shouted out phrases as they held hands and a power began to build around them. What caught his attention was when Serena's eyes snapped open as she yelled, "MOON COSMIC POWER!" A yellow upturned crescent moon appeared on her forehead as the girls yelled in unison, 'SAILOR TELEPORT!'

The guys blinked their eyes as the girls were no longer standing there and dumbly looked at one another. "Move!" Heero commanded, as he heard guards quickly running towards their hall.