AN: I was hoping to get this out before the end of last month, but obviously, that didn't happen. Here you go, sorry it's taken so long to update. R&R.

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Ami opened her eyes in response to the thumping against the door and immediately regretted it. The room lurched and her head throbbed in protest. The blue haired girl clung desperately to the sweat-soaked sheets and clamped her eyes shut in an attempt to resist the sea-sick feeling pulling at her gut. She forced herself to focus on breathing in and out to keep from vomiting.
"Makoto-chan? Are you awake?"

Chapter 37: Infectious Fear

The voices outside the door paused, then repeated again with fresh concern, the door knob turning slightly.
'Mako…' Ami's eyes snapped open again and even as the room whirled, she sought out her sleeping companion. She heard the door open, heard the horrified gasp of one of her best friends. Usagi and Minako bolted into the room, to catch Ami as she slipped from her position at the edge of the bed and lower her gently to a propped up position against the side.
"Makoto-chan!" Minako was at the brunette's side, with no response from the tall girl's prone form.
"Is she breathing?" Ami whispered, her skull about to burst. But she could tear her eyes away from the sight of Makoto, white as the sheets and just as motionless. Minako pressed her ear to Makoto's chest, listening intently as she struggled to hold back tears.
"Usagi, go get help. Mamoru, Haruka, any one. We need to get her to the hospital wing, right now." Minako took charge and Usagi moved to follow her lead with one last worried look at Ami, who had almost passed out with relief as Minako confirmed Makoto was alive.
"Don't touch your face." She breathed in an urgent warning. "Wash your hands before you do anything else," She didn't even have the strength to look to see either girl had heard, her own trembling hand reaching out to grab hold of Makoto's limp, cold fingers.
Minako and Usagi shared a look and set to work to save their friends.

Haruka had barely closed her eyes when the sound of anxious cries and running feet below pulled her back into the waking world.
"Haruka-kun?" Usagi's voice called from just under the trap door that opened into the loft. "Makoto and Ami are really sick. We need help carrying them to the hospital wing and I can't find Mamo-chan or Setsuna or anyone!"
Haruka was out of bed in a flash, pulling on a shirt and throwing up the door. She was greeted with the sight of Usagi's tear streaked face, the younger girl clearly at her wit's end.
"Don't worry, koneko," The words left Haruka's mouth of their own accord; she was moving as though in a trance. She leapt down the ladder and was at the girl's side in an instant, a reassuring hand settling on her head. "Take me to them."

#"Neptune."
Her lover's breath was pleasantly warm on her cold cheek and flooded her with energy, waking her immediately. Blue eyes opened, taking in the silhouette of the other senshi, leaning over her. Before Uranus could pull back, Neptune's fingers were in her blonde hair, pulling her in for a long, soft kiss.

"Good morning to you too." Uranus murmured with a smile once released, returning the gesture by slipping her arms under her love and lifting her into a sitting position.
Sailor Neptune held back the stream of thoughts that threatened to shatter her peaceful moment, knowing full well she had mere minutes, if she was that lucky, until they would have to get to work. And knowing her partner, it would be all business until the job was complete. After that, it would be a short time until they were returned to their separate, lonely outposts once more.
They didn't speak, taking in the presence of the other in silence, as if they could store up on the pleasant, comforting feeling they were so starved for.
"Is that the report?" Uranus broke the silence and after a quick look of disapproval, the Senshi of the Sea sighed and passed the stamped parchment to her partner. Sailor Uranus leafed through it, her features falling into their regular stony expression. "This isn't our area of jurisdiction." She noted.
"We're doing it as a favor to the Queen," Sailor Neptune reminded coolly, slipping out of bed and stretching. "You know, for all the favors she's paid us." Her gaze fell back pointedly to their shared bed. The blonde Senshi considered this a moment before admitting Neptune's point and returning her attention to the report.
"Wait… that half-breed messenger is in here."
The aqua haired girl leaned on her lover's shoulders to scan the page.
"Feril." She corrected, though Uranus took little mind. "But the neither the Queen nor the King think she's involved. The Captain of the Guard added her as suspect, see?" she pointed to the insignia in the bottom right hand corner of the paper.
"I would too," Uranus declared, "This record is not that of a top advisor. How did she get there?"
There it was. Right to business. Somewhat disappointed, Sailor Neptune joined Uranus, and the pair sat down to research. #

"So when can I go back?"
Setsuna stared at the missive in front of her as though her displeasure would make it untrue.
"I don't know." She admitted, leaning back in defeat. "It's a confirmed case. Procedure states we need to declare quarantine."
Rei stared down at her hands, at a loss. Sailor Saturn, she knew, was sitting in another room, waiting for Michiru to wake up. Rei herself had only woken up a few minutes ago, to find Setsuna looking exhausted and at her wits end over a pile of papers. Upon investigating, she was informed that Makoto had been admitted to the hospital wing and diagnosed with the latest incarnation of a wasting infection that had turned into a full blown plague across the land.
"How did this happen?" Rei asked quietly, racking her brain for any memory of such a thing ever reaching the Institute before. "I thought there were protections in place."
"There usually are…" Setsuna confirmed, pulling a large, intricate map out from under the pile of charts and letters. "That's what I've been trying to figure out. The calculations aren't working out. The airstream isn't anything like it should be. " Spreading the map out between them, she drew her finger across it. "Normally, it would have been guided away from the school, through this canyon and out to the sea to be thinned out and eventually nullified. Instead, it's doing this."
Rei leaned in to watch as a purple line flooded the page, swirling down the plains until it seemed to crash against a small point near the border, snaking out in a burst of lines that swooped around through the mountains and converged almost exactly over the school.
"Could it be," Rei bit her lip, staring at the lines that spelled out disaster for the only home she knew. "…intentional?"
"No." Setsuna answered, slumping back. "There's no one with enough information to do so. The school's location isn't on just any map, and these air streams are recorded from hundreds of years ago, every change, every storm system, it's all in here." She gestured to the pile of paper helplessly. "No other kingdom has the resources to maintain this sort of database. The Moon Kingdom barely manages it, and that's only because of you students." She massaged her temples as she spoke and Rei thought for a moment the older woman appeared to be on the edge of tears.
There was a knock from outside.
"Come in. Rei's with me." Setsuna answered and a light shone from outside. As it faded, the door slid open and Hotaru stepped in, closing the door behind her.
"Michiru's still asleep." She informed quietly. "And you should be too."
"I need to figure this out." Setsuna protested. "There has to be a way to fix this before things get to far. I only have a small window of opportunity, there's still time…"
Rei took a moment to examine the woman across the table. She clearly hadn't slept in a day or two and while she managed to hold on to a base line of composure, Setsuna was fading fast. Her gaze dropped back to the map and a sinking acceptance took hold of the raven haired girl.
"There's nothing we can do, Setsuna." Her voice was quiet, but it carried easily though the silence. She reached out, covering the sheet Setsuna was staring blankly into. "Get some rest, Hotaru's right."
Setsuna lifted her head, meeting their eyes, her own pleading for their understanding. She knew they were right, but she needed to know without a doubt there was nothing she could do. That she had not given up when there was any chance of change.
Hotaru moved to her side, and she and Rei wordlessly began cleaning up the charts and papers scattered over the desk. Setsuna buried her face in her hands, the weight of her responsibility washing over her.
Rei watched the other two out of the corner of her eye, watching out they communicated without words. She wasn't particularly close with either, and watching them now, she was painfully aware of just how isolated these two were, even from the other Tower Dormers. As they finished and Hotaru led Setsuna off to sleep, Rei promised herself she would make more of an effort to reach out to the lonely girls, to bring them into the circle of friends that had become her family.

Makoto Kino was all but dead to the world. She lay pale and motionless in the hospital bed, Minako at her side with a damp washcloth. Usagi flanked the blonde girl, next to one Ami Mizuno, who kept her eyes locked on the prone brunette.
"The doctors confirmed it," Haruka stepped around the cloth screen separating the girls from the rest of the hospital wing. Tears welled up in Usagi's eyes and she squeezed Ami's hand, trying to hold them back.
"How?" Minako looked down at Makoto, worry for her friend etched into her features.
"They have no idea…" Haruka answered, guilt snaking around in her gut. Somehow, she knew this was her fault. Wasn't it always?

Ami surprised them all with a quiet noise and they looked to see her pushing away the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I must have missed something," she whispered, her shoulders shaking. "I must have miscalculated…"
"Ami, this isn't your fault!" Usagi cried, now unable to hold back her open tears. "These things just happen! There's not anything you could have done to prevent it!"
Minako wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand and looked away. Her gaze landed on Haruka, who still slouched at the foot of Ami's bed, gripping the frame.
"What…?" She asked softly, afraid of the answer. Haruka looked up, then away, unable to meet Minako's gaze. The tall blonde simply gestured in the direction beyond the screen. Minako stood up and walked over to peer around the screen. The image on the other side sent a chill down her spine.
Moving like ghosts, nurses were attending to the quickly filling beds. Students in varying states of distress were being poked and prodded, administered to and tested.
"After we brought in Makoto and Ami, they sent people out to check on the other students. It seems to have hit overnight." Haruka informed quietly. Minako felt the blood drain out of her face.
"This is impossible… This can't be happening…" she moaned and Haruka reached out to support her. In the relative silence, they could only hear Ami and Usagi quietly crying.

"In light of recent events, we are entering quarantine and will be following emergency procedure. I do not need to tell you the gravity of the situation we are in."
The uninfected portion of the student body sat in wordless unease, listening to the Headmistress explain the circumstances that were quickly taking over their lives.
"All able bodied students will be given assignments regarding infected students. To prevent the spread of this illness, you will be required to pass through a series of cleansing and protective spells when moving from area to area. You will receive protective gear that you are to wear in all common areas and the baths will be purged and infused by the end of the day, but until then, they are also under quarantine. There will be daily exams and any one exhibiting symptoms will be immediately isolated until a case can be confirmed. We cannot allow you to leave school grounds during this time, and will be turning away any attempting to enter the school."
"How did this happen?"
The question came from the back of the room, a student Haruka didn't know, and all eyes moved to him, then back to the Headmistress, echoing his query. She scowled, but clearly realized she no longer had the back up to quell any sort of unrest.
"It's under investigation." She offered and a murmur passed through the room. She leveled a pointed glare and the murmur died. "We don't know why our precautions failed this time." She admitted after a moment, revealing briefly the weight resting on her shoulders. "But right now our focus is to fix the damage done. We can access the situation more thoroughly when things have stabilized." She was almost pleading with them now, asking them to cooperate, to make her job easier. As a group, the students took pity on her.
"Pick up today's assignment at the door on your way out." She instructed, leaving them to it.

Haruka stayed seated well after her classmates had gone, trying to calm the panic snaking up from the pit of her stomach… soon, they would find her out. Soon, just as every time before, she would be punished for her failure, whatever it may have been.