Senshi Sabers

Chapter 30

Ami Mizuno woke up, warm and snuggly under the covers. In fact she was more comfortable than she usually was, a strong warmth beside her on the bed. Her eyes opened, blinking sleepily, then realized she was spooned up against a black haired woman.

'Rei,' Ami realized, feeling a burst of joy in her heart at holding the other woman. For many years she had been alone, only having her mission to avenge her mother and to try to avenge the stealing of her company.

"Hmm," Rei stirred, the woman shifting a bit on the bed. She rolled over to face Ami, blinkng sleepily, then she smiled as she said, "You have bed head."

"I do?" Ami smiled a bit sleepily at Rei.

"It looks cute, actually," Rei noted, moving closer to kiss Ami gently.

Ami kissed her back, for a moment wishing she could repeat everything they had done last night. Despite a broken arm Rei had been both ardent and agile as a lover, and had relentlessly pursued Ami's pleasure. To be honest she was rather startled at how good Rei was at this...

Rei snuggled close, sighing softly. "I guess we can't stay in bed?" she asked quietly.

"I'd like that," Ami said wryly, "but..."

"Yeah," Rei sighed too. "There's just too much crap going down with Nine, not to mention Tomoe and Infinity."

"Still don't trust Tomoe?" Ami asked, smiling slightly as she sat up and stretched.

Rei levered herself up by one arm, still being careful about her one arm. "I'm morally certain she's going to stab us in the back somehow," she admitted, "though I hope I'm wrong."

"Me too," Ami said as she helped Rei up, then both of them heading for the bathroom. "If it helps any, I've taken steps in case she does cross us."

"Oh?" Rei asked as she started to brush her teeth.

"Let's say if we go down she will deeply regret it," Ami said, taking the toothbrush back and doing her own teeth.

"Sometimes you scare me," Rei admitted as she combed her hair, "but in a good way."

"Thanks," Ami winked.

The two women got dressed, Rei rather amused to see that Ami had gotten some clothes from her trailer. And brand spanking new underwear from the shop below too. "These are a bit frilly for my taste," she noted as she pulled the panties on.

"They're more for me than you," Ami snickered softly.

"Get a good look then," Rei laughed before pulling her snug jeans up. It was awkward doing up the buttons one handed, but she managed. She then got a t-shirt on, the only top she could really manage with the cast on.

Ami, on the other hand, quickly put together a soft toned blue woman's suit, along with a white blouse and just a hint of makeup. She looked stylish but subtly so, so as to not overwhelm the customers in the shop below them.

Ami and Rei went out into the living quarters above the shop intended mostly for the team as Ami said, "Do you want to come down to the shop for awhile? You could help women try on undies..."

Rei snickered softly. "No, not my thing," she said, "how about I hang down at the armory and see what I can do?"

"Fair enough," Ami kissed her on the cheek then set the elevator to open to the armory. "I'll meet you there when I can."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Madigan sighed as the purple haired former executive hurried to her car. She hated being out on the street now, there was no telling who might be a bio-boomer or human. Her body guard hung close, while the two assigned to the car held the door open and drove.

"We're clear," the one man said briskly as they helped her in, "let's go."

Sitting with a sigh Madigan watched the driver start the armored car even as the other two men got in. "I'm quite impressed with your service, gentlemen," she noted as they drove off from her new home in a high class hotel to work.

"Thank you," the black haired man driving the car smiled smoothly. He looked to the side at the other man, "Yuuichiro, keep an eye out."

"Yes, Mamoru," the long haired man nodded briskly. Not that he had been slacking, exactly, but he was a bit distracted by Madigan's looks.

Motoki, the other man, sat in the passenger seat and hid a smile. Keeping his voice even he said to Madigan, "We shouldn't have any trouble getting you to Starlight in time. If you like, why don't you nap a bit, ma'am?"

"Maybe," Madigan replied reluctantly, even though she was a bit tired.

As Madigan watched the buildings go by, she was reminded of the towering columns in the Infinity Labs. There she had supervised workers trying to develop a new generation of combat bio-boomers, in violation of international law. At the time she hadn't worried about it, confident the president would be there to protect her.

'I never counted on him dying,' Madigan admitted, sighing.

Now, it appeared someone was after the data from that project, as well as any surviving members of the production team. Several had died over the years, but Dr. Yuri had been taken, and Madigan was scared she might be the next target.

'Which is ironic, considering I don't KNOW anything,' Madigan thought bitterly as they drove. Yes, she knew general information on the research, but nothing detailed enough to be useful. At least, she didn't THINK so...

"Ms, we're here," Mamoru called as they came slowly to a stop.

Before they would let Madigan out Yuuichiro and Motoki got out first, both men warily checking out their surroundings. Only when they and Mamoru thought they were secure did Madigan emerge, all three walking her to the door of the Three Lights club.

"Coming in with me too?" Madigan had to ask as they followed her in.

"Mr. Kou ordered us to stick to you like glue," Motoki said cheerfully, unbuttoning his suit jacket to make sure he could get at his gun if needed.

The club inside was busy with men in dresses and women in tuxes and occassionally vice versa. It was also hard to tell if some of the very lovely women in dresses were in fact very convincing men. One quite attractive woman smiled winningly at Yuuichiro, who blushed.

"You'd better be bisexual if you go after that cutey," Madigan warned the bodyguard with a sly smile, "she's a guy."

Yuuichiro looked at her in surprise, his long ponytail bouncing against his shoulder. "Seriously?" he whispered.

"Yup," Madigan agreed as they navigated to the back of the club.

The door was marked 'office' but Madigan opened it boldly, not even knocking first. In the larger than expected room there was a fine couch, a desk, wetbar and other features, as well as the owner of the bar, Seiya Kou him/herself.

'Him,' Madigan reminded herself, knowing that the black haired woman in the suit preferred being called a man. And he was handsome, with a attractive face and a warm smile, coupled with seemingly bottomless blue eyes.

"Mr. Kou, I'm sorry if my presence is causing you problems," Madigan said, taking his offered hand and shaking it.

"I've told you before," Seiya gracefully raised her hand and kissed the back of it as he said, "please, just call me Seiya."

"Seiya, then," Madigan smiled faintly.

"Take a seat," Seiya waved her to a couch, leaning against the desk as Madigan sat. "You've been a excellent employee," he said, "and you even warned me there might be trouble. I have no intention of firing you."

"Thank you," Madigan sighed, relieved.

"And I will keep this team assigned to you until this crisis is resolved one way or the other," Seiya noted, nodding to the three men who were waiting politely at the door. "And in this case I'm sorry for the invasion of your privacy..."

Madigan smiled, "I appreciate it." More seriously she asked him, "Why did you ask to meet here, sir?"

"Better security," Seiya admitted as he took a tumbler of some golden fluid off the desk and sipped, "I want to keep your exposure to threats minimized." He flashed a grin to show he was joking, "If I could I'd have you move into Starlight."

"Tempting," Madigan grinned back.

"Go out into the bar and mingle a bit," Seiya said, "I've ran the staff through the top scanners, there's no unauthorized persons out there."

Madigan nodded as she got up, "Thanks for seeing me. I wanted to make sure things were fine between us."

"They are," Seiya agreed, the two shaking hands before Madigan left the office.

"Was that what you were expecting ma'am?" Motoki asked as they moved back into the club, the three guards maintaining a protective circle around her.

"Seiya Kou is a honorable man," Madigan shrugged as they took a corner table, "but I thought he deserved a out if he wanted to take it."

Mamoru warily watched the crowd, the man clearly unhappy. "I would really prefer if we left now, ma'am," he said, "I can't guarentee your safety with this kind of crowd."

"Seiya assures me this place is safe," Madigan noted.

"And normally I'd take Mr. Kou's word," Mamoru said simply, "but we're dealing with a unusual and apparently resourceful enemy."

Yuuichiro was distracted by the pretty girl whom he'd seen coming in, but still listened to the conversation. "The boss is right," he noted as they watched the dancing crowd, "if they decide to rush us, they're gonna break through."

"Seiya wants me to make a appearance here," Madigan shrugged, "probably to show we're not scared." She smiled faintly, "Trust me, one drink and a song or two, and we're out of here."

"Good," Motoki agreed.

To be continued...

Notes: Yes, that's Tuxedo Kamen along with the two other semi-regular male characters from the first seasons of Sailor Moon. I'm treating Seiya as a true transgendered character, so while born a woman he views himself as a man.