Operation: Reality Check
A Sailor Moon/Reality Jumpers FanFic
By Roehl Sybing
Episode 18: Love, Like, and a Little Lunch
"How are you feeling, Darien?" the doctor asked towards his patient. It was Saturday at noon. They, the Sailor Scouts, and the Reality Jumpers, minus Chris and Ami who were back at the FRC, were at the NYU Medical Center to check up on Darien, who has stayed there for almost a week.
"I'm fine, I guess," Darien replied. "Will I be able to get out of here today, doctor?"
"I'm afraid not. I have to run another set of tests before you can be released, but I expect you out of here tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Darien," Serena added. "You'll be safe here."
"You know," Rei said. "I can't believe we missed everything last Monday!"
Mike answered, "Yeah, too bad, eh?"
"Look, I apologize," the doctor added. "But I'm afraid visiting hours are almost over."
"Um, doctor," Darien said. "I need to speak with Jake alone for a few more minutes."
Jake looked uneccessarily surprised. "Me?"
"Yeah."
The doctor sighed, "Very well, but the rest of you must leave the room."
The other seven followed the doctor out, leaving Jake and Darien in the room. It was quiet for a few moments, but finally Darien said something. "I want to...thank you."
"Thank me? For what?" Jake asked nervously.
"Well....I hear you have taken care of Serena for the past few weeks, am I right?"
Jake knew he was in trouble, "U-um, it was nothing...really!"
Still, Darien sounded grateful, "I can't thank you enough...I don't know what I would've done if Serena was....gone, you know?"
"Yeah...look, you really don't have to thank me or anything. We're pretty much even...I put you on that hospital bed! Isn't that a bit...disturbing?"
Darien laughed, "No, of course not.....well, yeah, OK. But it doesn't matter, I'm alive and I'm getting out of this bed, right?"
"Hmm, I guess so...I'd, um, better get going."
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."
As Jake walked out, he felt very relieved. "This guy doesn't know a thing about what's going on!" he thought.
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The thoughts of relief left Jake as he and the others took a ride on the MagLev to the mall to have some fun. Jake looked at Serena, who sat across from him, and realized he was right on what he said before: there was nothing he could do about it.
Mike and Mina, on the other hand, had their own scenario. As Mike attempted to open the wrapper of his candy bar, Mina asked, "Do you need help?"
Mike replied, "Me, no....well, OK," as he handed the candy bar to her. With the greatest of ease, Mina was able to open the wrapper.
"Here you go," she said, giving the open candy bar back to Mike, only to find he was staring at her blankly. "What?" Mina added.
"Did I ever tell you...how beautiful you look?"
"Yeah....about a dozen times!" Mina laughed.
Mike laughed as well, "No, this time I mean it!"
After a second of that, Mike and Mina stared at each other as they got closer once again.
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Head Over Feet
Alanis Morissette
I had no choice but to hear you
You stated your case time and again
I thought about it
You treat me like I'm a princess
I'm not used to liking that
You asked how my day was
You've already won me over in spite of me
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
And don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault
Your love is thick and it's swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service
(repeat chorus)
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"Ahem..." Lita whispered to the two. Mike and Mina quickly withdrew from their actions, but they had already revealed their intentions towards the rest of the passengers on the MagLev.
Mike whispered to Mina, "Later..."
Mina nodded.
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"You sure these readouts are accurate?" Chris asked. He, Ami, and Hacker One were in one of the main computer rooms back at the FRC building.
"Yes," Ami replied. "It is evident that there is major activity within the NegaVerse. Energy expense from entities within the NegaVerse have increased about four, five hundred percent."
Hacker One added, "Doesn't suggest anything threatening at the current time. I see no advantage Queen Beryl could have in just wasting energy unless there building some kind of object that could disable our forces, but...."
Chris interrupted, "Yes, yes....'the forces of the FRC should, with the use of state-of-the-art equipment, be adaptive to every known and/or unknown weapon, dangerous or otherwise, in order to block, prevent, or redirect any incoming threats.'"
"W-what were you just talking about?" Ami asked.
Hacker One said, "Ah yes, part two, section eight, line fourteen of the Multiple Earths Treaty Act of 1986, otherwise known as M.E.T.A."
Chris and Hacker then laughed a bit.
Ami added, "Was that used to...impress me?"
"Well, yeah," Chris admitted. "Did it work?"
"A bit, but it wasn't really necessary, you know..."
"You see?" Hacker said amusingly as he was on his way out the door. "Women really aren't attracted to intelligence. Ah well, carry on."
As Hacker One left the room, Chris said, "Don't worry 'bout all that, just having a bit of fun," as he went back to work at one of the computers.
Ami agreed, but he couldn't help notice the intelligible yet charming and carefree personality that Chris had easily maintained. It almost made Chris a sweet person, not to mention it made him look kind of cute--wait a minute! Ami snapped out of the distraction that she had made. "Yes, of course," Ami thought. "I have work to do...." Ami did her best to push the thought aside as she resumed with calculating statistics.
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Staten Island Mall. The group went in all different directions throughout the three sectors of the mall. Jake went straight to the crowded food court to have lunch and a place to think for a while. As he took a bite out of his burger, he thought, "If I tell Serena now, she'll probably never talk to me again, but she'll never know if I don't! How did this all get so confusing?"
Serena happened to walk by the food court and see Jake having his lunch. She thought, "I should be happy that I have Darien back, but I have Jake over there as well. I can't have them both! And I thought school was tough!" Serena gathered up the courage to walk up to Jake and say, "Hi! S'ok if I sit down?"
Jake looked up, "Um.....s-sure!"
When Serena sat down, both became very uneasy. Instead of looking at each other, they both looked in different places, finding words to say to each other. It was very silent for the next few minutes.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the mall, Mike went on his own to look for a gift for Mina. "Candy? Flowers? No, everybody does that stuff. Gotta think of something...how 'bout a CD? No, bet she doesn't listen to American music. Maybe a dress? No, I'll probably make a fool out of myself...choose the wrong dress or something..."
Mina was in a different section of the mall, just looking for some clothes. She was already carrying a bag, containing a pair of shoes, in her hands, and was looking around to buy some more stuff, having learned how to obtain a FRC credit card from Kim. The mall was partly crowded, due to the usual weekend sales, and so Mina had to manuever around the people that had occupied space within the building. Suddenly, she walked in front of someone, causing both Mina and the person to fall back onto the floor. Fortunately, the person had broken Mina's fall.
Mina quickly became apologetic, "I am SO sorry about that..."
"That's all right," the person said, who had just came into Mina's view. The person was a boy about the same age and height as Mike. To be honest, despite how different he looked from Mike, he was just as cute.
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Jackie suddenly stopped walking and started wondering.
"What's up?" Rei and Kim asked.
"I don't know..." Jackie replied. "But why do I suddenly have this feeling that this is going to be an eventful day?"
Lita said, "Why is that?"
"Hmm, no idea....I just think this ain't going to be a normal day...hmm, maybe it's just me."
Jackie sighed and signaled the other three to continue walking.
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Back at the computer room in the FRC, it was also silent between Chris and Ami. "I suppose it's logical," Ami thought as she typed away at the keyboard. "But why do I fear the outcome of this? It's obvious we're winning this battle, and it's only a matter of time before we have to say...goodbye. Why am I afraid of getting....a broken heart?"
Chris, partly paying attention to his work, was almost lost in thought, "Why am I so afraid to look at Ami? She's so intelligent, so modest, so....she's so fine! I can't believe I sleep in the same room with her!"
The pressure in that silent room increased so much to the point that Chris got out of his seat and said, "IhavetogooutforaminuteI'llberightback..."
As Chris left the room, Ami took a deep breath and said to herself, "What am I going to do!?"
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(we have to backtrack four minutes and sixteen seconds, OK?)
"So, Mina," John, the boy Mina had tripped over, said as he walked along with her. "You were looking for a present for..."
"His name's Mike," Mina replied. "I've known him for a few weeks, but I still don't know what he would like!"
"How about a CD? I like music myself, maybe this Mike person does too."
"Yeah, he does, but I'm not into music." American music, at least.
"Well, walk with me to the music store, they have a few new ones out, I'll show them to you."
"OK!"
Mina followed John in the direction of the music store, the problem was they resembled a couple.
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For the past few minutes, it was still silent between Serena and Jake, who were both back in the food court.
"So," Jake finally said. "Darien...will finally be out of the hospital tomorrow?"
"Um, yeah..." Serena replied. She didn't want him to talk about that; Darien was the last thing on her mind.
But Jake thought silently, "She still thinks about him, no surprise there. I was right all along, Serena really doesn't care about me!"
He spoke out loud again, "Look Serena...if it's really uncomfortable to be with me, then I'll go."
Serena looked surprised as tears started to form, "Jake?"
"No, that's OK....I have to leave anyways...but I just wanted to say....oh, what's the point!?" Jake stood up and walked away.
A now-more-than-ever-confused Serena started to cry as she said silently, "Jake....please, come back...I know what you wanted to say, but..."
Unfortunately, Jake couldn't hear Serena's thoughts. As he walked away, a tear from Jake's eyes splashed onto the floor.
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(Author's note: This isn't becoming like a soap opera yet, is it?)
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Back at the FRC, Ami's thoughts were more complex than ever. "Why am I getting so worried over all this? I've been in this kind of situation before, right? I'm just going to go up to Chris and talk this over..."
But as soon as she stood up from her chair, the door opened and Chris walked through it. He looked nervous when he said, "We...have to talk."
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"Hey, Mina!" Rei shouted. She and the other three wondered who was that Mina was walking with.
"C'mon," Mina said as she took John by the hand to show him to her friends. When they got together, Mina then said, "Guys, I'd like you to meet John here."
"Um...hi," John said, but his attention quickly turned to Lita instead of the rest of the group. "P-please tell me we haven't met before, um..."
Lita was also dazed, "It's Lita...and no, we haven't met..."
"Oh, thank you....for a minute there you reminded me of one of my old girlfriends..."
Rei looked down, "Hmm, where have we heard that before?"
Mike happened to walk by. He saw the four girls talking to Mina and some other boy she held by the hand. For some reason, Mike quickly grew jealous. He moved out of sight from the group but was able to see what he thought they might be up to.
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"We have to set some...guidelines," Chris said.
"I agree," Ami replied.
"I mean, it's obvious we like each other....OK, we like each other alot, but...um...I don't want to hurt you or anything."
Ami felt relieved, "To be honest, that's almost what I thought!"
"Because, you know, I've never...you know...fell in love before, and I've never actually put any thought to it."
"Is it....OK if we can just be...friends?"
Chris also felt relieved, "Well, yeah! I mean, if that's OK with you...."
They smiled calmly at each other and went back to work, but at the same time they both thought, "Can't believe I messed that one up...."
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"What is Mina doing with that kid?" Mike asked to himself as he continued to hide from the group.
"Now if you'll excuse me, Lita," Mina said. "John has to show me what to buy for Mike."
John asked, "I do? Oh yeah, I do! I have to go, Lita."
As Mina pulled John away, Lita replied in a dazed tone, "A-already?"
John and Mina were now walking towards Mike. Only twenty yards separated point A from point B, if you know what I mean. Mike was determined to know what was going on. He started walking in front of them, not actually looking at the two.
Mina saw Mike and said, "Hi, Mike!"
"Mina," Mike said in a different tone.
Suddenly, Jackie and Lita walked up to John and Mina. Lita handed John a piece of paper and said, "H-here's my number...c-call me, OK?"
"Sure, maybe later..."
Jackie and Lita walked away. Jackie whispered to Lita, "That's MY number, remember?"
Mike became confused and relieved at the same time. What is Lita doing with this person if this person is with Mina? He couldn't think of any question to ask anymore except, "U-um, what time is it?"
Mina looked at her watch, "It's almost 6:30. We're supposed to be at the exit five minutes ago."
John was surprised, "Oh no! I have to go too, bye..." and then ran off.
"Who was that?" Mike asked as they both walked. His jealousy had disappeared, but he still wondered who that was.
"Oh, just someone I met. For some reason, Lita back there got attached to him..."
"Yeah, I bet..." Then Mike thought, "IalmostblewthatoneIalmostblewthatoneIalmost..."
"Mike?" Mina asked.
"Yeah?"
"If I met someone else like that....would you get jealous?"
"Who, me? N-no, I trust you too much!"
"Hmm, that's good..."
(Author's note: Yeah, right.)
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"Hey," Rei asked when the group got together at the exit. "Where's Jake?"
Mike replied, "Oh, don't worry. He said he had to go somewhere else, we can leave without him."
"Oh, OK."
As they all walked out of the mall, Serena kept saying to herself as if Jake was listening, "I'm so sorry, Jake...."
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It was midnight by the time Jake got home. Luna was sitting on the floor when she asked, "What happened?"
"What are you talking about?" Jake replied.
"You know...what happened at the mall."
"A somewhat long story, which I don't have the energy to tell right now...good night."
He slowly went up the stairs and into his bedroom, where Serena was already asleep on the bed. Jake looked at Serena and didn't know what to think or feel anymore. He had enough confusion, and maybe a bit of misunderstanding on his part, for one day. He stood closer and said softly, "I'm sorry, too..."
TO BE CONTINUED....
(Author's note: I know, I know, I put three of these, which is two over
my limit, but I had to add these, there were just some parts that were, you
know, incomplete without me adding something only I could say! BTW, I really
hope this episode wasn't like a soap opera, I hate those...)