AN: Welcome back to the first part of the promised double chapter of Dreamers Awake. Today it's one year that I started this story. I wanted to thank all my loyal readers for their comments, likes, follows and PMs. I am always really happy to read some of your opinions. I hope you enjoyed the story so far and will stick to it for future chapters…. Now, I won't tantalize you further with my boring comments and start right away with the previous cliffhanger…

Previously:

Suddenly a terrific thought entered her mind and Setsuna's eyes widened, when she hastily talked into the communicator. "Go to Ami, this instant! Mercury knew, we would not find the Henshin Stick with the police. She wants Ami. Don't let her touch her!" A sudden screeching noise made Setsuna grimace in discomfort. "Makoto?" she yelled.

However, there was only static buzzing. Makoto's earpiece was lying forgotten on the ground.

Kaya Mizuno rubbed her eyes tiredly. They were burning. She needed sleep urgently. Even someone like her used to late night shifts and long working hours was not immune to bone deep exhaustion. She blamed the hardships of the last hours. Finding her daughter critically injured, hearing that ridiculous story of her destiny and performing the surgery to save her life, did take its toll on her. On top of that, she had already served a 35 hours shift at the hospital before with only several scarce hours of sleep in between. However, no matter how tired she was, she could not sleep. She felt an inner anxiety buzzing in her very core that forced her to stand guard at her daughter's bedside.

She looked sadly down at Ami, who didn't stir once since the surgery. One hand held Ami's clammy one and the other one wandered occasionally to her face, brushing a particularly stubborn strand of hair out of her eyes fondly. It has escaped the bandage wrapped around her head. When did her hair get that long? Wasn't it only a week ago, when she had her last hair-do? When she pondered clearly about it, it must have been several weeks ago, already.

She liked it shorter better.

Then her wandering hand brushed the side of her face and she got a clear look at her left ear. She paused in her movement abruptly. Were there two ear studs? Ami always had only one. When did she get the second one? The doctor let her caressing hand fall down on the mattress slowly. Her gaze wandered to the unoccupied chair next to Ami's bed. Her tattered and bloodied clothes were scattered carelessly on it. Ami was currently wearing a mint green hospital gown; she had changed her into herself.

Her eyes were glued to that damn chair. She gritted her teeth. It should be the blood that antagonized her the most, the knowledge who it originated from. The blood wasn't the reason that got her so railed up, though.

It was something way more trivial.

I don't know that sweater. Damn, why do I not know that sweater?

That was all it took for her to break down. Doctor Mizuno folded her hands in despair and let her heavy pounding head rest on them, while tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. Why do I notice such things only now? What did I do all this time? Working. You were working all the time. When was the last time I had a decent talk with Ami, if I do not count the "Good mornings" and the "I am going to be back late today"s. When was the last time she really did pay attention? Damn it, what do you even know about your own daughter?

Certainly not, what was revealed to you today. How could she even hide something like that from her? You were making it too easy. The nagging thought stung like an actual slap. No, this isn't just your fault. Ami decided to keep this from you intentionally. What else is she hiding from you? This might be just the tip of the iceberg. There is probably more, so much more and you have been an idiot not to notice anything. A blind fool that did not second-guess any of the lies, she was fed with. She had trusted her daughter unconditionally only to discover that this trust was used against her. She had given her free reign and always believed her to be intelligent and reasonable enough to do the right thing. But she had been deceived.

For how long? When did it start, that Ami indulged into a secret second life. One that was dangerous, violent, reckless and absolutely foreign to her. When did you start lying to me? And what for? Her pent up anger stirred and she huffed frustrated. She was furious at Ami and herself. A feeling of disappointment gnawed at her gut at the thought of her daughter doing something she had always taught her to be wrong. Didn't she raise her to be always honest, to prefer words instead of violence, to use her head instead of her fists and to scrutinize any given knowledge? What happened that she tossed it all away, as if it was nothing? She did not understand.

It was as if her own daughter was suddenly a stranger to her. Heck, she was. She was a Senshi, goddamn it. After everything, she has seen tonight, she still did not believe it. Why did she chose this life? What did that old fairytale mean to her? She did not even come close to understand it. How could anybody expect of her to accept any of it?

She was utterly confused. Shaken to the core. She was starting to fall apart. She did not know what to believe anymore. How could she ever trust her again? Everything Ami ever told her was now to be doubted and reevaluated in another perspective. The daily study sessions with her friends… has that been a lie? The occasional nights when she got home and Ami wasn't there and later claimed they had a spontaneous sleepover at Rei's place. Has that been a lie? The one time when she had found bloodied bed sheets in the laundry and Ami claimed, she had a nosebleed at night…And the scar… Where was the scar? She had expected to see it during the surgery. But it was gone. How can that be?

Ami, how can that be?

Despair was now eating her alive. She needed to hear it from her: her justifications for lying to her, her reasons for doing all of this. She wanted to yell at her, to scold her for her reckless and stupid behavior. She demanded to know why she deemed it necessary to risk her life. Why she was lying here half-dead… And she wanted to forbid her to indulge further into any of this. She needed answers to a million of questions. And here she was, holding her clammy hand as if it was her last anchor to sanity. The only link left to the daughter, who drifted to a place she couldn't follow. Who obviously had started drifting a long time ago with no hand to hold onto.

Waiting. Doubting. Despairing. Questioning.

However, there were no answers. Only suffocating silence that threatened to drown her in her own haunting thoughts.

Please, wake up. I need you to wake up. She grabbed Ami's hand tighter, held it closely between her own, and closed her eyes while sighing miserably. For someone else she might appear to be praying. Maybe she was. If so, she was probably doing it wrong. She was a scientist. She has never believed in god. Maybe this would be easier, if she did…

After all, she would then have somebody to blame for besides herself or Ami…

When her eyes opened again, she immediately felt the change of pressure in the room. She spotted her immediately, her gaze drawn to her like iron to a magnet. Her grip on Ami's hand shifted, but she never let go, while she studied the shimmering presence of her daughter's look alike. The physical similarity between the two was astonishing. However, it wasn't the similarities that spiked her anxiety and got her whole body tensed up in prickling dread. It was the differences. She had witnessed her rude, cold and cruel demeanor and although the others vouched for her trustworthiness, she would never trust her.

Those eyes, still locked on hers, were not Ami's warm compassionate azure orbs, but cold gems of polished sapphire, that hid unknown intentions and god knows what else in their depth. There was an eery intelligence gleaming in those calculating pools of blue, windows to a complicated mind that was constantly scheming and plotting. She just knew that she was up to no good. She was afraid of her, terrified even to be alone with that unpredictable scary being.

Her mouth had gone dry. Her hand was gripping Ami's so hard that she was afraid of crushing hers. Every hair on her body subconsciously rose on its own and warned her that she was going to harm them. As if an ancient instinct awakened in her telling her with all means necessary: She was a threat. She was dangerous. Her heartbeat sped up and every muscle cramped in the expectation of an incoming attack. She suppressed the sudden urge to throw herself on top of Ami like a protecting barrier to keep this vile being away from her. Instead, she was watching her closely, waiting for the assault to start.

Nothing happened, though.

She was just standing there, gauging her thoroughly with those expressive eyes.

With a deep inhale, the doctor forced herself to relax, despite her lingering threatening presence that only displayed disdain and hostility towards her. Then she managed to croak out. "What are you doing here?"

A smug and false little smile lifted the corner of her mouth, while her eyes grew even colder. "I am taking a look how she is doing, of course. What else would I do here?"

What was she supposed to answer? Was she even supposed to answer? Her attempt turned out rather feeble. "Well…, she is alive. Otherwise there is not much change." She stuttered.

Doctor Mizuno wasn't even sure the ghost-like Senshi listened. On the contrary, she seemed completely uninterested in her. Instead, her piercing azure eyes just focused on Ami analytically and Doctor Mizuno felt herself reminded of their coroner Dr. Kouziki at Juuban Hospital scrutinizing a newly delivered corpse. There has never been an incident, when she has witnessed this man losing his composure not even the one time, when they had administered a six-year old girl with fatal burn wounds. To be honest she has never liked him. She had often wondered, if he was in the inside as dead as the victims he autopsied. This glowing form of a Senshi had the same stoic death-like emptiness in her eyes, when she looked at Ami.

Suddenly, those eyes traveled back to her and she started talking again.

"I am surprised, you are still here. I expected you to leave for more pressing matters." The last part was phrased as a barely concealed mocking taunt. Kaya Mizuno clenched her fist and gritted her teeth in suppressed anger. How dare she … She wanted to throw back some insults at her for her audacity. Her mouth was already opened to retort aggressively, when she noticed the smug tug on the mouth of her counterpart.

She expects you to blow up. That's why she said it. Not willing to grant her that satisfaction, she wrestled down her rising anger with some effort and just refused to answer at all.

The moment of silence that was following seemed to sizzle with charged electricity.

Finally, the doctor could not stand it anymore and she squeezed out. "You have something against me, don't you?"

"What gave you that impression?" she asked clearly not interested in the answer at all.

"You try to provoke me with every word you utter." The doctor stated with bile in her voice.

"Do I?"

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I am talking about."

"It might astonish you, but the reason I am acting this way, is not you. You are just a plain mortal entangled in a game that is far too complicated for you. What is happening here is far beyond your understanding. If it had been my choice, I would have never gotten you involved in this. You are not just a burden. You are an obstacle."

"Is that why you hate me? Because I am not a god-like being such as yourself? If that includes your kind of manners, I rather stay a plain mortal." The doctor answered briskly.

"You criticize me about manners? Seriously?" She raised a questioning eyebrow.

Anger now stirred in Ami's mother. She even forgot to be scared of her. "If I think about it clearly, it's not only your manners but your attitude as a whole that is insufferable."

An amused chuckle escaped her lips. "My manners are appropriate to the circumstances and the people I am dealing with. If you deem them out of place, then you might think about what caused them to be this way."

"So, you are saying it's my own fault? You started all of it. Back then and right now. I did nothing wrong." Doctor Mizuno defended herself.

"No, you never do, do you?"

What was that supposed to mean? "What, do you believe it's easy to handle seeing your only daughter mortally wounded? I have the right to be emotionally affected by all of this. I have the right to ask questions and to demand answers."

"You have the right? And how exactly did you earn that right?"

The doctor was now outraged. "I am her mother."

"That is no qualification I accept."

"As if I care what you accept. I don't know who and what you are and it doesn't matter to me what you think. You are just an arrogant bitter ghost who considers herself almighty. I won't listen to anything you have to say or answer any of your absurd questions. If anything, I am the one who should ask certain questions."

The Senshi just huffed. "You like to demand and you expect people to obey. You ask questions but never the ones that matter. And for those you ask you don't want to know the actual answer. You don't listen, you just hear. You don't apologize, you just say the words. It's you, who thinks that your perspective is the only one that matters. And you call me arrogant? You overestimate your own importance. You are nothing. Just a small insignificant piece in a game, you don't even understand. And still you think you belong on a throne. A throne, that makes you powerful and brings all kind of people to bow to your whims. A throne, that makes you the center of everything going on around you. A throne, that makes a fine pedestal to overlook without ever seeing things up close to govern your little bubble of your artificial world while ignoring everything amiss. It always astonishes me how much of a spoiled brat grown up mortals can be." Anger was now leaking out of her every word.

The doctor was now eyeing her warily. "What are you talking about?" she whispered panicked realizing too late that she might have gone too far.

"You are blind, because you surround yourself with mirrors." She continued furiously with eyes blazing like azure fire.

Doctor Mizuno shrank back and suddenly her fear returned full force. During their conversation, the crazed Senshi had moved silently throughout the room and was now looming over her like a threatening bird of prey ready to strike on her quivering prey. She was too close. Her glowing body pulsed with increasing intensity. If the doctor stretched out her hand, she feared it would be scorched by her blazing anger and the bright bluish energy that was radiating from her.

"What do you want from me?" She asked frightened and backed off, until her thighs touched Ami's hospital bed with no way left to escape.

"You still don't get it…not everything is about you." The threat in her words was now unmistakable. Her presence was all-encompassing, radiating raw power and her eyes left for a split second the ones of the doctor to focus intensely on Ami's prone form. She could clearly see the possessiveness in her eyes. Doctor Mizuno froze, when she finally understood.

"Don't you dare to come closer. Stay away from my daughter." She screeched in panic.

"Or what? You cannot protect her. A blind fool like you is no threat to me."

"Stay away from her. I warn you." She had now thrown a protective arm over Ami, but she knew as well as the Senshi that her feeble warning was an empty threat.

"I am gonna tear down those mirrors of yours. And you will see that your sound petty little world is a fragile imagination of yours. One that is glued together out of shatters. One that will shatter now once again."

Oh god, she was going to strike.

Bristling electricity was already dancing on her skin announcing the incoming attack. That was it. Closing her eyes tightly, she braced for the worst. If nothing else, she would protect Ami down to the wire.

"You will back away this instant or you are going to regret it!" A thundering voice suddenly boomed throughout the room and the Ice Senshi halted in her tracks. Astonished, the doctor dared to ppen her eyes, staring at the source of the unexpected voice.

The Senshi of Jupiter, Makoto, was standing in the doorway, panting and with a threatening orb of lightning blazing in her hand. She was downright furious.

Mercury did not move, seemingly frozen on the spot, while gauging the Thunder Senshi thoroughly and for a brief moment the doctor feared, she would not relent and start a fight.

Then she just relaxed and leaned back while shrugging casually. "And here comes the spoilsport…"

The Jovian was anything but amused. "Did you not listen? I said back off! Don't you dare laying a finger on Ami or her mother or I am gonna fry you." Jupiter growled menacingly.

Mercury looked at her, as if she considered all of this something in-between irritating and highly amusing, but obeyed Jupiter's command in a mockingly slow manner, raising her hands in a gesture of faked surrender. Just like a child on the playground, who graciously admitted defeat in a game of tag, but knew for sure, it would win the next.

She just retorted dryly. "A bit overdramatic, aren't you? There is no need to overreact. I wasn't going to harm them in any way."

"As if I would believe that. I heard what you said. You won't go anywhere near her or I am doing way more than overreacting."

Mercury sighed theatrically. "If you insist..."

Then she gracefully stepped back.

Doctor Mizuno eyed Jupiter thankfully. She was saved. Only now, she spotted Sailor Moon right behind her, clutching her scepter in a way that told her, she rather did not want to use it. While Jupiter eyed Mercury's every movement with open distrust, her sizzling lightning orb still in her hand, Sailor Moon stepped into the room approaching her.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

The doctor could only nod. A small smile graced the Moon Senshi's lips. "Everything is gonna be ok, don't worry." She nodded again not able to utter a single word. She must look like a frightened rabbit if she felt the need to reassure her.

"I am fine." She mumbled almost incoherently.

Sailor Moon gave her a gentle smile that managed to soothe her pounding heart back to a normal rate faster than expected. Her next words were soft and understanding. "Doctor Mizuno. Can you please go with Hotaru and wait in the living room? I'll be there shortly."

The doctor spotted Hotaru only now. She was just standing there completely calm and collected, radiating an aura as if nothing was wrong. The doctor wasn't sure what to make out of her and Sailor Moon. They acted as if everything was under control. Besides the fact, that Sailor Jupiter was still boiling with anger, a picture of utter distrust.

This wasn't nothing. And you won't make me believe it was. "The hell, I will… I don't go anywhere without getting some answers first."

"Please. Ami is fine and I will give you all the answers, I have. In a minute…"

Part of her wanted to object resolutely. However, the stronger part only wanted to get away from her as far as possible. What could she do anyway? Then with a last look at Ami, she just shook her head while rubbing her eyes tiredly, before she reluctantly gave in and left, following the child with the violet eyes.

As soon as she was gone, Sailor Moon turned to Mercury a pained expression on her face. "What was that about? Why did you do that?"

"It was nothing. Just a little chat between the two of us." Mercury answered nonchalantly.

"You were threatening her." A hint of steel could be heard in Sailor Moon's words.

"I was going to enlighten her."

"Stop your damn mockery and your stupid games!" Jupiter hollered. "You were going to harm them. Since you realized the Henshin Stick is out of your reach you wanted to fuse with Ami to survive. You just waited for the right moment to have all of us out of your way. That's why you sent us on this goose chase."

Mercury now focused on her intently. "I told you I would not fuse with Ami just to save my own life. And that is the truth."

"Liar! You are spouting nothing but lies. You just want us to lower our guards. We won't let you have Ami. I won't allow it. I will stop you, you hear me…" Jupiter had rarely been that furious.

The Mercurian looked at her with an expression resembling pity on her face.

"Calm down. There is nothing more important to me than Ami's life not even my own. And as long as it stays that way, I would never even consider harming her."

Jupiter was still seething, until Sailor Moon spoke up. "Makoto, It's ok. Stand down. Don't attack her. I believe her."

"But I don't. She is playing us. Don't you see it? She vanished the moment she heard, we did not find the Henshin Stick back. This is no coincidence. She was planning this all along."

"I did not lie. I really thought it might be with the police. I retreated to think, to ponder about our next actions. I knew we would hold a meeting afterwards, when all of you returned so I needed some time for myself to develop a plan how to proceed. When I returned to Ami's bedside I did not expect her to be here as well." She pointed at the door blatantly and it was clear she meant Ami's mother.

Jupiter shook her head. "I don't believe you. Your story does not explain why you deemed it necessary to almost attack Ami's mother."

Mercury frowned. "The answer to that question is easy: I don't like her."

That comment left them in startling silence since nobody expected her to name such a petty reason, but not for long…

"That still gives you no right…"

"Makoto!" The Jovian was interrupted by Sailor Moon. "Calm down, please. Everyone is ok. Nothing happened."

The Thunder Senshi reluctantly calmed down, but continued to glare silently.

Then, Sailor Moon turned again to the Mercurian Senshi. "I might not have made myself clear the last time when I stated, that I thank you for what you have done. So, don't get this wrong, I am grateful for your assistance, but I cannot approve your attitude especially if it's directed against people I cherish. Therefore, I kindly ask you to refrain from acting in such manner in the future. We all work for the same goal here and the least we can do is show respect to each other. So please refrain from this aggressive behavior in the future."

Her tone was polite and soothing. She was doing her best to decrease the tension in the room. But everyone, who truly knew her, noticed quickly how stiff her words sounded.

Mercury gauged her carefully, before she lowered her head briefly in agreement. "I respect your request and I will keep it in mind."

Although this was not at all an assurance to be more polite in the future, Sailor Moon seemed to be satisfied with her answer.

"Since my presence is not wanted here at the moment, I am taking my leave. Call for me, when the others return. There are things we have to discuss." Without waiting for a reply, she disappeared.

Finally, Jupiter's shoulders sagged and Sailor Moon handed the Jovian her earpiece. The Thunder Senshi talked briskly into it. "Ami is fine. Hurry back. We have to talk." Then she just lowered the device without waiting for a response.

Sailor Moon's worried gaze met hers immediately.

"Makoto. Stay at her side and don't leave her alone. If something happens, contact the others or me immediately over the communicators. Just to be on the safe side. She won't get that close again."

Jupiter just nodded gravely.

Even Usagi's trust had limits and she would not jeopardize her friend's life. However, whatever actions they took as a precaution, it did nothing to soothe their worries. Both of them knew the frightening truth. If Mercury decided to act out the plan, they feared the most; there was absolutely nothing, they could do to stop her.

They held a council of war as soon as the others returned. All of them were now gathered around Ami's bed. Only Ami's mother was not present. The hospital had pestered her on phone due to her unexcused absence in the morning. Her shift had started at 6 am. At that time, she had still performed the surgery on Ami and other things occupied her mind besides notifying the hospital that she couldn't come in. The phone call had interrupted her talking time with Usagi only shortly after they started. From what the blond had heard it didn't go too well and Doctor Mizuno proclaimed afterwards that she had no choice but to go in and explain herself. She had not been happy about it and her reluctance to leave Ami had shown clearly. She reassured them, she would just demand a leave of absence, convincing the director personally that it was about non-negotiable personal matters that could not be postponed and return as fast as possible.

To be honest they were glad, she was not here, now. It made things easier. And considering how complicated things were they desperately needed 'easy'. After all, they already had Mercury to look out for. The Ice Senshi was not present as well. The major point they wanted to discuss was she, so it would have been counterproductive to let her participate in the meeting.

The mood was gloomy and there were so many problems, that they didn't know which demanded their attention first. They all had gathered here and the room was crowded. Since chairs were scarce, Haruka and Hotaru sat slouched on the ground. Setsuna had settled in the far end of the room, where she placed her laptop on the small table to study some of the data she retrieved out of Hattorima's office. Jupiter, who had not let go of Ami's hand for the past hour finally chose to start their meeting.

"This mess is really something we got ourselves into this time. We always managed to keep out of police business. And now it's gotten that far…"

"Rather they managed to stay out of our business." Haruka retorted bluntly.

"This is not about Youma. Therefore, we can hardly fault them for it. It's us who stepped into their territory." Something they avoided to do for years.

"I know…I know. Still, if it's about one of us, it's still Senshi business." Haruka answered clearly annoyed by the way, things had progressed lately.

"We are not above the law." Usagi objected.

"Just saying, sometimes it would be easier if we were." Haruka grumbled back.

Rei sighed, finally deciding to skip the lamenting and start with the actual points to discuss. "I am not sure the police believed me. That bloke Hattorima is hard to read and he really put me through the wringer with some of his questions."

"Don't worry, you were great, Rei." Hotaru reassured her.

"Yeah, a little bit more assistance from time to time would have been appreciated." She grumbled with a sharp side-glance in Makoto's direction.

"Sorry, I sometimes kinda had my hands full with Mercury. She wasn't always very forthcoming with her answers." The last part was added in a dark voice.

"When was she ever?" Haruka retorted dryly.

Rei hesitated shortly. "What she made me tell him… The strange encoded book. And that drug clonazepam… How much is the truth and how much is her invented cover story?" She asked. Fortunately, she did not have to retell all the events during the interrogation. Rei did tell Setsuna, Michiru, Minako and Haruka everything they had missed due to their own distraction maneuver, when they rushed back here in Haruka's car. Well, almost everything.

Makoto shook her head. "I don't know. All of this was her idea. She came up with it, and she did not elaborate, whether it was the truth or not. We have to ask her." Her dark undertone made it clear that she would not trust any answer she had to give anymore.

"Splendid, I can already picture quite well what her answer will be: 'It does not matter' is right on top of the list."

"We are gonna see. For now we have to make sure that the story we made up for the police is actually solid." Setsuna tried to pacify the raising apprehension.

"I know. I am gonna call my grandfather as soon as we are finished with the meeting. I am pretty sure he is gonna help us, although I have to say I am not thrilled that you decided to involve him without asking me first."

"It's not as if we had a wide range of options." Makoto tried to justify her actions sounding a tad bit guilty.

Rei knew that. And she hadn't been in any position to be asked. "Hmmph. Still it would have been appreciated…"

"You sure you don't want to call him now. What if Hattorima already phoned him?"

Rei shrugged indifferently. "Even if he did, that won't help him much. Grandfather does not really like the police. If he gets a call from them, he will play the senile old geezer act. He usually does when some officials call. That includes lawyers, the press or certain politicians. Mostly, I am then the one, who has to explain to them that his insufferable behavior is completely unintentional, when it actually is. Grandfather just considers it funny."

Minako nodded while smirking smugly. "I always loved your grandfather. He is just brilliant. "

"So, we are at least safe from that side." Michiru summed up that part.

"What's with Ami's mother?" Haruka asked thinking about the second loose end.

Usagi chose to answer since she was the last one talking with the doctor. "She knows her part of the story…, the one about the drug I mean. I managed to explain at least that before she had to leave. She knows we have to avoid having to give that blood sample at all costs. She wasn't thrilled about it, but agreed to stick to the story. For everything else, she will just fake ignorance. However, before I could explain her all of it, she got called away by the hospital… We have to talk to her again."

Suddenly, Michiru flinched. The vibration alarm of her phone had buzzed to life. She fished it out of her pocket and glanced at the display only to frown, before she put it away again, ignoring the call.

Haruka looked at her expectantly; however, she just shook her head shortly to signify that it was not important. Haruka nodded shortly and the conversation continued with Rei stating lost in thought.

"We have to be careful with this Inspector Hattorima. Something is strange about him. He is too persistent."

"He is a police officer. Isn't this part of his job description?" Minako asked.

"No, there was something in his eyes. Something … as if he knows. And at one point I even thought he would lunge at me." Rei was clearly troubled by it.

"Maybe he is just frustrated with his job. I mean, I would be. The only thing important is that we got him fooled." Minako tried to be positive.

"I don't think we did. He will try with a vengeance to prove Ami guilty. I could see it in his eyes." The worry was now clearly audible in her voice.

"He has nothing. And we will keep it that way." Minako further tried to reassure her.

"He has four injured thieves and tons of forensic evidence. I wouldn't call that nothing. It's us, who are at a disadvantage here. If Ami bled or left only one hair at the crime scene… Things would be way easier, if she had just transformed… Our Senshi personae usually protect us from stuff like that." Haruka grumbled frustrated.

"That's not Ami's fault. Things were just … unfortunate." Makoto defended her vehemently.

"She was emotionally affected by everything that happened yesterday and she was physically exhausted from swimming for so long. Fighting is never a good idea, when you are off your game. It's just reckless. Ami should have known that. She should have contacted us." Haruka answered grudgingly meeting Makoto's stare right on.

"As if we would have been there that fast. She had no choice but to do it alone." Makoto retorted.

"She should have at least warned us what is going on beforehand. If we had known, we could have come to her rescue way faster. Instead she chose not to do so."

"So, you say Ami messed up." Makoto retorted aggressively daring her to answer.

"I didn't say that. However, I think she misjudged the situation, which is rather untypical for her. She should have called for us. Her plan was reasonable, yes, I admit that, but there was no room for failure. She should have expected it not to work out at the end. But she went in anyway without any backup. It's not her fault that it went all downhill, but it could have been prevented. At the end, she had to defend herself alone and outnumbered. Don't get me wrong, she had every right to use all means necessary. I would have done the same. I am just not happy about the fallout."

Makoto bristled, but even she had to admit that there was truth in Haruka's words no matter how much she wanted to defend Ami.

Meanwhile, Rei looked to the ground in shame. She had to say it. The topic she wanted to avoid the whole time. "You heard what this bastard of an Inspector said, didn't you? About the injured thieves?"

Makoto grumbled. "Of course, I did. It isn't Ami's fault. They attacked her. They are the ones to be blamed for this." Usagi just lowered her head sadly, unwilling to comment and even Haruka avoided eye contact with anybody.

"What are you talking about?" Minako finally asked flabbergasted. She was as confused as Michiru and Setsuna. None of them had heard directly, what happened during Rei's interrogation. They had been busy with their own jobs.

Guilt was written all over the Fire Senshi's face, when she started to explain. "You have seen what happened to Ami through Mercury's memories. Afterwards, the injured thieves were administered to a hospital by the arriving police forces…"

"Yeah, that's what I would expect them to do… What about it?" Minako retorted impatiently.

Rei was clearly hesitating as if afraid to say it aloud. "One of the thieves died there." Rei finally admitted.

Minako stared back utterly shell-shocked and Michiru looked completely taken aback. Setsuna stopped typing on her laptop for a moment. "What? How? What happened?" The questions were laced with disbelief. This could only be a bad joke.

"As if I know…I can only tell you, what this damn Inspector said…" Rei snarled darkly.

"But that's just not possible. We don't kill. We have never harmed a human. Oh my god, what is Ami going to say when she wakes up…"

"IT IS NOT HER FAULT. She had no choice but to defend herself and that girl they pestered. Otherwise, they would have killed her. Heck, they nearly killed her." Rei seethed menacingly, for once taking over Makoto's role, although the latter had already opened her mouth to say something similar.

Minako's face contorted into a pained expression. "I know, Rei. I know…But he's…he's dead."

"I wonder which one of them it is." Makoto suddenly added in detached tone. She still remembered vividly the scene in Haruka's car with a bloodied delirious Ami lying on her lap or her blazing anger after she had witnessed Mercury's memories. Back then, she had seriously considered to make them pay for what they have done. Now, she got her wish granted. Strangely, it didn't make her feel any better. Only dull, empty and cold. And she was still angry. As if she wasn't capable of feeling anything different anymore, after everything she has felt in the last hours.

Rei slumped down on the chair. "I don't know which one it was. The Inspector only said, he died out of a head trauma, but does it really matter?"

"No, I guess not. Let's put that aside for now. We have other things to focus on."

"Let's put it aside? How are we supposed to do that? Just forget it? The guy is dead, Makoto!" Minako could not take this matter lightly. It was a line, she always feared to cross.

"I KNOW THAT! But we can't help it anymore. So what do you want me to do?" Makoto hollered back.

Usagi interrupted the upcoming argument with a sad. "Mako, please…"

For a moment painful silence reigned, until Rei voiced darkly. "He might not stay the only one."

"What do you mean?" Michiru asked clearly alarmed.

"The Inspector said there is another one close to dying. He is lying in an artificial coma. They don't know whether he will make it."

Usagi gasped her hand flying to her mouth. "Noo. We can't let that happen."

"It's not as if we have a choice."

Usagi's face turned grave. "We do have choice. I am going to heal him."

AN: Yeah, Ami is still alive. However, Mercury's intentions remain a mystery. Is she a friend or a foe? Can she be trusted or does she plan to deceive them? Meanwhile, the Senshi are drawn deeper into the conflict with the police. How long will they manage to keep their cover? And can they protect Ami from the police and from Mercury?

Stay tuned for the next chapter…

(which will be published within the next days. Sorry, I didn't quite make it with the proof-reading up to now.)