Usagi pressed her hands against the rounded glass of the suspended office, her eyes wide in horror. Out of all the bad things that she could have predicted, being rescued had never seemed like a bad thing. Not up until right now anyway.
"Kay! Collateral damage, go." Oh's order was crisp and firm, leaving no room for brokerage. She stared down at the wreckage along the wall and the almost ridiculously dressed women who had caused it. Right now she needed this under wraps, she could figure out what to do with them after they were detained. And before someone paid a price that no one could ever really afford.
Kay left and the blonde princess let out a distressed sound. "No…" Her girls! "Please, Oh-sama, let me go and talk to them, this is all a huge misunderstanding!" She didn't even try to speak in English at this point, not after the older blonde had revealed she could speak the language… Even if her pleading would likely have been better received in the other woman's native tongue.
The MIB leader almost shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together. "…very well Tsukino-san… but, I expect the truth from you afterwards. I believe it is a very small price to pay for the damage done to my elevator and wall. Or should I be addressing you as Serenity-hime?"
The high school graduate winced at the last bit, it confirming what she had dreaded. "Okay…" Oooh boy. This was all so much bigger and terrible than she was ready for. Give her a new enemy any day! She wasn't ready to be a Queen and some times she wasn't even sure she was ready to be a real Princess and talk diplomatically.
"Yes." Usagi took a deep breath and then ran for the door, whipping herself around the door frame to lean against the railings of the walkway. She took a deep breath, in part to calm herself and in part so she could really bellow. She knew she could be loud, and in this case, it was hopefully going to do some good.
"VENUUUSSSS!"
Below, the five warriors all looked up at the voice of their supposedly trapped Princess and stared, first in wonder and relief, then in rage and worry.
"TSUKINO USAGI, YOU ARE DEAD WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Sailor Mars bellowed right back, her rage carrying her voice almost as well as their loud-mouth leader.
The assembled agents tightened their grips on their weapons at the death threat, jaws tightening. No one wanted to have to shoot a person, they had all been agents for at least four years and had seen much in that time.
Kay walked up to the front of the agents, having almost ghosted over. Startling tense people on either side was always a bad idea. "How's about we get everyone to just calm down and not start a… fire fight." He glanced at the damage to the wall now that he was closer, and the slag that was left of the elevator doors.
Mars had the good graces to glance back at the damage when the new man looked at it and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. At the time it had seemed necessary with Usagi missing and possibly in trouble… Now that she was apparently fine it cast a different light.
Venus stepped forward carefully, her eyes firmly on the strange weapons that could only be guns of some sort. "Hi! We seem to have gotten off on the wrong hand."
"Foot. The saying is wrong foot Venus." Sailor Mercury muttered softly after their defector leader.
"…Anyway, we'll just take the girl we came for and get out of your hair, okay?" The blonde Venusian poured on the charm, winking at a particularly cute agent, holding back a giggle when he blushed adorably under the attention.
"I'm afraid that's not possible." Kay answered swiftly before any of the younger agents could say something to make this a bigger mess. "Trespassing and property damage aside, there's some issues regarding your current status on Earth."
Confused stares met him and the senior agent wished for a brief moment that Jay was around to foist this off on to. Kid did good with talking, couldn't shut him up most days and that paid off in situations like this. "We are aware that you are not originally from this planet." To further his point he gestured very slightly to where Jupiter and Mrs. Edelson were still conversing. "As such, that needs to be dealt with. Fortunately for you, that is exactly what our organization specializes in."
Silence permeated the air as Jupiter looked back to the others, their eyes meeting and saying more than words could have. They were at a severe disadvantage here if they didn't want to injure anyone and get out with Usagi. As soon as they had her, they had more than enough energy to Sailor Teleport and be gone before the strange men in black could do anything to stop them.
Tuxedo Mask let the women decide among themselves, his gaze firmly latched on Usagi as she ran down a set of stairs and towards them. He kept a rose in rand, twirling it absently, still uncertain that the strange apparent government agents truly did not mean them any harm.
"Very well." Venus nodded at the men, waiting for them to lower their weapons before she stepped forward and took point. "But our friend stays with us."
Jay walked out from a door that hadn't been there a moment before, ranting as he brushed off his suit. "Kaaaaay! Man, whatchu do while I cleaned up? I come back an' gotta go round back. You know how much I hate goin' round the long way? S'all full o' Worms. Coffee deprived Worms Kay! Man, you ever see them twig out? It ain't pretty!" He had to pull a slick move to avoid walking straight into the blonde that his partner had escorted off. "And what is this? You just can't stay outta trouble all by your lonesome, can ya?"
"It's why I keep you around Slick." Kay closed his eyes for a brief moment and counted to ten. Why had he wanted him when he had a head ache again? "Since you're free then you can come escort these lovely ladies up to Oh's office and play tour guide; I know you like to play pretend after all."
While the agents were talking, Usagi slipped past them and dashed towards Tuxedo Mask, letting out a squeak as she was intercepted and grabbed by a different raven haired warrior. She squeaked as she was squeezed in what was slightly less than a death grip. A trembling chin rested on the crown of her head and she winced, feeling awful as she wrapped her arms around her friend.
"Usagi… you stupid girl." Sailor Mars' voice was gruff and tight, holding back the tide of emotion. "We thought you had been kidnapped." Or worse. She squeezed again, swallowing thickly.
"Mars… I'm so sorry, I wasn't really thinking…" That much had been clear, had been perfectly normal for her. She never really thought many things out to the end and this had been no different.
The warrior of Mars let go, allowing Usagi to find her feet and step towards Tuxedo Mask before turning to face the agents. She opened her mouth to speak, to clear things up for both sides before something terrible really did happen.
Jay interrupted before she could even begin to start though, hands on his hips and a rather unimpressed look on his face. "Well, y'all heard Oscar here, lets roll and get this all settled." A brow rose at the damage to the elevator which certainly explained why he had to take the longer way in to the agency. "Afore somethin' else gets melted."
Venus and Mercury snickered softly but nodded. "Yes, that's probably a good idea." The blonde reached for the closest hand to hers; subtly going to form the circuit they would need to teleport. They would be away and safe, and then everything would get worked out.
Usagi's eyes widened fractionally as she saw that and gripped Tuxedo Mask's hand tightly in her own, refusing to accept the reaching hand of Mars when it was offered. "We can't. We… they know I'm Serenity." She whispered softly, barely loudly enough for the pair pressed close to her to hear but with the way they both stiffened she knew that they had heard.
Tuxedo Mask stepped forward, keeping his hand wrapped supportively around Usagi's. "Perhaps if those with the weapons stood down, my companions and I might feel more at ease." He wasn't king yet, but he was worldlier than the girls, and the couple of extra years made a big difference in knowing how to handle people. Well, people who were willing to listen anyway.
Venus' face went blank for a moment, eyes widening a fraction. This was not in the plan! She subtly glanced back at the girls, seeing matching confusion on two of her friends but not the third. Something had clearly been said and they weren't in a place that they could just talk openly. Fighting the urge to close her eyes and throw a very unbecoming fit, she forced a blinding smile at the new man.
Jay glanced at the damage to the wall again and then waved at the assembled mass of Agents. Anything that was going to happen in headquarters wasn't going to be made better by a dozen weapons all discharging at once. "The Boss Lady's office is jus' up here, so ya don't gotta walk all that far."
"Oh-sama is very nice!" Usagi chirped helpfully, looking bashful a moment when the new man raised an eye brow at her and mouthed the words to himself in a skeptical way.
"….right. Come on folks, this way." Jay stepped back, holding his arm out in offering. He wasn't about to let strangers, dangerous ones at that, at his back when they were so very clearly a threat of SOME kind. Not to mention he still didn't know if Kay had figured out a way to nueralyze the girl.
Usagi and Tuxedo Mask stepped forward together, silent but dignified. The others followed, only Sailor Jupiter trailing much slower. She stopped beside Mrs. Edelson, memories not quite all there but more than enough to make her pause. "Nana…" The woman hadn't been her nanny in centuries, but she very clearly remembered the care and love that this woman had given her as a small girl on Jupiter.
"I understand. You are and are not the person you were before." The old woman managed a small smile despite the bitterness that had gripped her tightly for so many years. "However, you are still Jupiter's Guardian and I trust in that."
The Jovian warrior nodded at that and shifted awkwardly a moment. "Thank you…" For so much more than she was able to say at the moment, but mostly for giving her a link to her past other than the duty of a soldier.
Mrs. Edelson nodded and then stepped back, allowing the young woman to use her long legs to easily catch up with the other Sailors. She waited a moment before she turned and looked up at Kay. "Well, what are you waiting for? Another ice age?" She returned to her biting no patience for the rest of the world, and especially none for the MIB agents. Not right now anyway. They were of course just doing their jobs; however now that she had a part in this it wasn't so easy to look at it like that.
Kay frowned back at her and then walked away, knowing that she would follow. He had questions and he knew that she had the answers to a great many of them. Any help in this mess was going to be needed what with the very limited knowledge on the Silver Millenium.
Above on the catwalk to Oh's office the only ones not staring and looking around were Usagi and Jay. The slower movement of the group allowed the young women the chance to take in the advanced technology and alien species that were just so casually integrated with the surroundings. Their attention quickly shifted and centred solely on the door sliding open. Oh was at her desk, stern and very displeased looking.
"Ladies." For all the commotion that they had made, the elderly blonde woman hadn't had all that much more time to prepare for them and what were undoubtedly going to be awkward questions for everyone involved. "And gentlemen, please, have a seat." She slid her hand across her desk, casually activating the nanites covering the floor. They rose up and formed six stools, one for each of their visitors.
"Oh-sama…" Usagi went to begin, sitting nicely with her hands folding onto her lap. She felt terrible for all of this. If only she had just stayed with her friends, none of them would be here, and very potentially in trouble.
"It is alright." Oh switched back to Japanese for the girl's sake, a small strained, but genuine smile coming to the elder's face. The Lunarian girl had a light to her that called forth brightness and hope. It was a very nice feeling to have well up. "Now… I feel that we both have quite a bit of explaining to do, don't we?"
"I feel that's rather an understatement." Tuxedo Mask said dryly, worried about his love and very unimpressed with everything that had happened today. From losing Usagi to the mess this had become, it was far too much excitement for a single day. "How about you start us off?"
Oh held off a grimace, having half expected this though, she was still only slightly prepared for it. "Well, our data is rather limited as the only knowledge we've been gifted with came from old records from outside this solar systems nations. Given the tragedy of what happened, that is unsurprising." How to best go about this while still getting the maximum return was going to be difficult, however she had some back up plans. "What we know of the Silver Millennium extends only to the knowledge of which planets contained life, and some very scant knowledge of the people residing there. Though I will be honest in that we do have more information on the Moon and it's kingdom, and that is only because of it's status as the ruling body of the united nations within the Silver Millennium."
"If that's all, how did you know about me?" Usagi asked, everyone else too shell shocked to speak just yet.
"Being Lunarian? Our scanners were able to pick that up, thanks to some genetic samples that were gifted to us as well. As far as we are aware, you are the last. As with the rest of you, aside from the Jovian. There is a colony on Callisto."
Sailor Jupiter was thrown for another loop at that, having seen her old nanny had been enough, but this? That was just mind blowing.
Tuxedo Mask snickered softly at the casual statement. "Aside from Sailor Jupiter and I you mean." He squeezed Usagi's hand again, letting her know that he was there for her, and that no matter what they would have this worked out.
Oh felt a brow rise at that. There were no scanners in her office and she hadn't been given any reports or messages detailing which species which girl was as none of the agents had scanned the intruders. "And why do you say that?" The girls were likely the Sailor Soldiers in the history files that made up Princess Serenity's court, as for the man, she had assumed him to be from one of the other, outer planets.
"I am Tuxedo Mask, though if you have any knowledge of myself, it would be as Endymion, Prince of Earth." He kept his voice level and strong, leveling a soul-piercing gaze from behind his mask. "Unless you yourself are not human?" Given what they had seen just between the elevator and here, as well as the company he kept it would not surprise him in the least.
Oh had to sit back a little at that. She had read the file, multiple times in fact due to the very fairytale nature of the story, what little of it was there to be read at least. "Well then." That would complicate things in the future… Not so much at the moment as the man really had no legal jurisdiction anymore, the planet a very divided place. Though if they wanted to keep any sort of face once this got off planet, they would need to show him some respect, all of them really. The Silver Millennium had been a very prominent empire when it had existed and many others from galaxies very far away knew of it. Having him here certainly complicated things.
"I am quite human I assure you." Oh leaned further back in her chair as she gained her composure. "Though that does not take away from the fact that your companions, the Sailor Soldiers and Serenity are all illegal aliens." In technicality at very least, though it was made all the more headache inducing given what they had found out about Tsukino Usagi.
"But I was born here!" She had parents, they all did, human parents.
Oh raised up a hand in a placating gesture. "As we are very aware. Given the utter destruction of the Moon Kingdom, and the very detailed journaling of Serenity's death and her soldiers the oddity of this is not lost on us." With how many strange things that happened at headquarters alone made this particular incident one among many, though admittedly one of the oddest. "Given the records of your birth as Tsukino Usagi, as well as medical files to back up your identity and birth as a human girl and on this planet there are still legal steps that we are going to have to take."
They all stiffened, the very nature of this something they had never dealt with. Not in this lifetime anyway. The girls looked between each other, all of them seeking guidance and reassurance. Breaking the lingering silence, Venus spoke, her voice soft. "And what are those steps?"
"We will have to register you as dual citizens, as well as refuges." Oh could see the way they relaxed at that, postures slumping ever so slightly. She had seen the tenseness and understood why. They were likely very unused to having any sort of responsibilities in this sort of thing. "Given that all of your home planets are no longer hospitable, we felt the refugee status would help should you ever decide to emigrate to a different solar system."
"That…. That's it?" Mars asked, more than a little suspicious.
The older woman scoffed very softly at that. "Really. Where would we deport you to? And that's disregarding the fact that you were born on this planet, making you citizens. Given though the history and nature of who you are, who you once were is where the dual citizenship will come in."
"That's…" Usagi let out a little sound of terrified relief, laughing loudly. "Oh, we were so worried Oh-sama!"
"Being as that we already know who you are, there is no need to confirm your identities; however with the damage done to my building, I was hoping that you would consider telling us some more of the story that was lost." It was a fair trade in Oh's mind as it would be hard to charge them with anything, and locking them up for a time would bring more political trouble than it was worth. So this was a good compensation… and well, she was a sucker for a good love story.
Usagi looked between her friends and love, gauging each of their reactions and thoughts silently. Taking a deep breath, she smiled softly and took up the mantle. "A millennia ago…."
Author's Note: Big chapter is biz. This will be the ONLY chapter that is this size, the couple remaining will be shorter. Though I don't think that they will be written and posted any faster, things are getting progressively busier in RL due to the better weather. I want to put out a special thank you to Movie-Brat, Moon Mage Goddess and Puffgirl1952 for reviewing so consistently and leaving such kind words. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting as well!