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"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

--Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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Chapter Eleven: Angel Ami

For the space of about three seconds, Serena was never happier to see anyone in her life. She relaxed into his arms, letting her cheek rest on his chest, enjoying the comforting feeling of warm protection around her.

Then she remembered.

Abruptly pulling away, she shook her head to clear it of the horrible image of Beryl pressed against him. "I...I'm fine," she stuttered. She couldn't meet his eyes, or anyone else's. She was suddenly, horribly confused. Only a moment ago, Diamond had been…and then Darien…and before that…it was too fast. Everything was happening at once, and she couldn't bear to stay here any longer.

"I…have to go to the bathroom," she muttered, turning away from them before anyone could protest. She had no idea where the restroom was in this house, but that didn't matter. She'd find it somehow. What was important was getting away so that she could try to gather up the scattered pieces of her mind and make sense of the world again.

~----------~

Sensing that something was wrong, Darien called after her and tried to follow, but was stopped by a strong grip on his arm.

"Darien Chiba, wasn't it?" Diamond was smiling at him in that cold way of his. "I remember you. From the last of my little brother's…get-togethers." Cruel amusement shone in his pale eyes. "If I recall correctly, you and…Beryl, I believe?….put on quite a show for us on the coffee table…Quite amusing, I must congratulate you."

Darien felt a strong flare of hatred, and repressed an urge to wipe that smug grin off the man's face. It wouldn't do to punch out his company's junior CEO, after all. He forced a smile. "Yeah, well, don't expect a repeat performance. My drink was heavily spiked at the time."

Diamond nodded and made a sound of agreement that made it clear that he thought Darien was obviously lying. He felt another, stronger surge of anger. It was true, his drink had been spiked with something strong. Otherwise, he would never have let Beryl go down on him in public like that. He hardly ever drank, anyway. He hated the feeling of loosing control. He pushed past the other man, nodding a friendly welcome and goodbye in one to Sapphire.

"Well, I think I should go make sure that Serena's all right…"

Once again, Diamond stopped him from leaving. "You don't think she can find the potty by herself?" he asked, mocking. "I know she's young, but really, Darien…by the way, wherever did you find her? Such a delicious little thing…" He leaned in close to Darien's ear so that only he could hear him. "Have you fucked her yet, or shall I be the first to ride her when I corner her?"

Darien's hands clenched into fists, his blood boiling. How dare he speak such profanity? About Serena, about *his* Serena…heat rose in his chest, and his control snapped, all thoughts of keeping his job evaporated. His midnight blue eyes sparked furiously into Diamond's pale ones, tinted with feral amusement.

"You won't go anywhere near Serena," he ground out between clenched teeth, shaking with the effort of controlling his fury.

A cruel smile stretched across thin lips, the smile of a hunter toying with his prey. "Oh, won't I?"

A black force crept almost imperceptively against Darien's mind, and he gasped with recognition. Instantly, golden heat rose to meet it, and he tore away with blazing eyes, chest heaving as he faced the pale, predatory grin of Diamond.

"No, you won't," he said, more strongly than he had ever said anything in his life. Heat blazed across his vision, dancing in him like a living thing that stood by his side, ready to rise to battle if need be. Black force danced similarly in the pale eyes that bore into his own, both men locked in a stare of icy competition, dancing power between them.

"Um, Darien, ah, sorry if this is, uh, a bad time, but I, er, need to talk to you." Andrew's voice startled both men out of their silent battle, and Darien swung his gaze in surprise to his friend, standing beside him. He felt the heat drain from him slowly, the golden blaze ceasing to fill his vision. Feeling slightly dazed, he allowed himself to be led away without so much as a glance back at the two eldest Darmoon brothers.

Andrew pulled him to a secluded corner of the floor, pushing through clumps of moving bodies to insure that he and Darien would be unheard. On the other side of the dance floor, he pulled Darien down beside him on an easy chair and leaned in so that he wouldn't have to shout.

"Dude, what the hell was that about? You looked like you were about to kill that guy! Don't you know who he is? You could lose your job!"

Darien sighed, sulkily scanning the dense pack of people around them. "Yeah, well, maybe some things are more important than my lousy job."

Andrew snorted. "Yeah, right, like, let's see…world peace, maybe…get real, Darien. You know as well as I do that if Darmoon fires you, you gotta fly half around the world to find even a Burger King that'll take you."

"Okay, okay, I see your point. Jeez. What do you want, a gold medal?" Both men were silent for a moment. Then Darien mumbled, "Thanks, man."

"No prob." Andrew punched him on the shoulder. "Gotta look out for my main dude, after all." His grin disappeared, and was replaced with a sheepish look. He looked away. "Uh…'sides, I, uh, kinda messed up a little, I think…"

Instantly wary, Darien focused an intensely suspicious glare on his best friend. "What do you mean, you messed up?"

Andrew squirmed uncomfortably. "Uh, well, you know that girl you came with? Serena?"

One eyebrow went up in impatient sarcasm. "Yeah, I'm fairly sure I know who you're talking about."

"Well, ah, it was pretty obvious that she wasn't your cousin, you know, and I could tell you liked her, so I, uh, tried to…er, help you out a little, only I think it kinda backfired."

" 'Backfired'?" Darien's stomach sunk. Not sure he really wanted to know, he asked anyway, "What did you do?"

"Um, well I thought it might help if I could, you know, incur some jealousy, to make her feel like she should make a move before you get taken. You know, chicks think like that," Andrew looked at Darien desperately, begging him to validate this logic.

"Go on," Darien prompted warily, with growing alarm.

"So I told her that you still had the hots for Beryl, and would probably take her back if she asked you."

"You did WHAT?! You idiot, I HATE Beryl!"

"Yeah, well, she doesn't know that! And anyway, it probably would have worked if you hadn't gone and kissed her where Serena could see! What'd you do that for, anyway? I thought you didn't want her anymore," Andrew said defensively.

"Well, of course I don't want her, SHE kissed ME, and…" Darien's voice trailed off as the full impact of what Andrew had said hit him. All the blood drained from his face. "Wait a sec…you mean…she saw that?"

Andrew nodded, fearfully.

"GODDAMMIT!" Darien slammed his fist down on the arm of the chair, causing several dancers to scatter away.

Andrew looked frightened. "Whoa, chill, dude, she's just a chick…you can just…explain or something…"

"Are you kidding?! I can't explain something like that! Why would she believe me? She'll believe what she saw with her own eyes, and I know what it looked like…" He put his head in his hands, rubbing the massive headache that was starting there.

Andrew patted his back awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. He'd never seen Darien so worked up before. "Listen, man…I'm really sorry…I really did think I was helping…"

Suddenly, Darien's head sprang up from his hands. "No, that's okay…yeah, that's great! I know exactly what to do!" He clapped Andrew hard on the back, sending him into a fit of coughing. "Thanks, man!" He jumped up and disappeared into the crowd.

Andrew recovered and stared after his friend, wondering who the hell he was and what he had done with Darien.

~----------~

"Well, I don't know, Dare…"

"Please? Pretty please? Please with a cherry on top?"

"Give me one good reason why I should save your butt."

"Because you're the nicest person who ever lived and the very best friend I have and I'll be forever indebted to you and I'll do anything you want and I…"

"Okay, okay! I said ONE reason!"

"So you'll do it?"

Ami sighed. "Yeah, I'll do it."

Darien fell to his knees, making a show of kissing her hand. "Thank you, thank you, oh wonderful angel, you've saved my life!"

She laughed and patted him on the head. "Sure, sure, but don't forget, you owe me big-time. Now you just sit here--" she pushed him into a chair, "-- and let angel Ami take care of everything." And with a wink, she was gone, bouncing down the hallway to the tiny bathroom on the first floor.

~----------~

Serena leaned over the sink to inspect her face in the mirror, supporting herself with a hand on either side of the bowl. There were red splotches around her eyes and nose from crying. Turning on the water, she splashed the cold wetness over her face and patted it dry with a green towel hanging on the rack. She made a second inspection. Not much improvement.

Hanging up the towel, she slid back onto the tile floor, feeling its coldness through the fabric of her dress. She covered her face with her hands, willing the tears to stop.

What is the matter with me? she thought angrily, exasperated with herself. There was no reason to cry, for heaven's sake. Just because Darien had kissed Bitchy Beryl. Why did she care, anyway? I don't, she corrected quickly. But he didn't just kiss her. . . he slept with her, too. Not that I care about that, either. He's a grown man. He can do whatever he wants. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with me. Hell, I don't even really know him. . .yeah, I'm just living in his apartment, that's all. . . What the hell am I doing here, anyway? I don't know these people.

A fresh bout of tears broke through her control as the full reality of her situation hit her for the first time. She didn't know any of these people, not even Darien, really. She knew he was an orphan, like her, that he had an adopted father and sister, that he had his own apartment. But she had just met him *yesterday*, for God's sake. So where did that leave her? Living with a stranger, with nowhere to go… she couldn't stay where she was forever. Eventually he would figure out who she really was and then it would all be over. He would turn her in and she would be back in Ms. Rei's office before she could say "foster family number eight." She had been through too much to let that happen now.

She let her head drop back against the wall behind her. But where could she go? She didn't have any family, didn't know anyone who would be willing to take her in. And she was still too young to get a place of her own. There was nothing she could do. Nowhere she could go. No matter what she did, sooner or later she would end up back in foster care and probably in trouble with the police, too. She had broken all that expensive equipment and ran away, lied about who she was… surely she had broken some kind of law…

The tears came faster, and she wrapped her arms around her knees, rocking and sobbing in desperation. She was thinking in circles, like some kind of caged animal…

A sharp knocking on the door interrupted her bout of despairing self-pity. She tentatively lifted her head.

"S-someone's in here," she called, shakily.

"I know," a muffled voice came through the door, "let me in, Serena."

She froze. Who could it be? Someone who knew her name… Fearfully, she placed a hand on the doorknob. Gathering her courage, she scolded herself for being such a ninny and turned the knob.

"Hey girl! What's up? Mind if I join your little private party?" Without waiting for an answer, the bright blue head of Ami appeared next to Serena's, as the girl shut the door and sat on the floor beside her. She pulled a length of toilet paper off the roll and handed it to Serena. Serena accepted it, completely mystified.

"Here, blow your nose. So you're sitting in the bathroom, huh? Doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me, but, hey, whatever rings your bell." She giggled. "Don't you just love that expression? Anyway, I thought you might like some company. So what are you doing in here when there's a totally gorgeous guy worrying about you outside?"

Serena sniffed and tried to regain a little of her composure. "Well, I--"

"Well, I guess Dare might be a tad old for you, but if it were me, I certainly wouldn't let that stand in my way. Besides, he is so totally crushed on you! It's so cute. I've never seen him so completely gone on a girl. Do you know he practically begged me to come check on you? Oops, but I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Oh well, he doesn't have to know that you know."

There was a pause, and Serena tried again. "I don't think--"

"So, anyway, what are hiding for? Unless you don't like him…but what's not to like? I don't mind admitting that I was crushed on him for a while. And I can totally vouch that he's a great guy. Not to mention incredibly hot…" Ami pantomimed fanning herself, drawing a small giggle from Serena. "There you go! No use in being sad when you could be happy, that's what I always say."

She paused again to take a breath, and Serena jumped in quickly before the chatter could continue. "It's really nice of you to come in here with me, Ami, but--"

"But nothing! I probably would have come and found you after a while even if Darien hadn't asked me. You seem like such a sweetheart, and of course, any crush of Dare's is a friend of mine!"

"BUT, I think you've gotten the wrong idea about me and Darien. Beryl--"

Ami immediately silenced her with a look. She got up, went to the sink, and holding back her short blue locks, spat. "That's what anyone with any kind of decency thinks of Beryl. Even…in fact, *especially* Darien. Do you know what the only reason he was involved with her in the first place was?"

Serena shook her head.

Ami sat down again, obviously immensely pleased to intimate of a bit of juicy gossip. "Well, see, she and Emerald Darmoon have been really good friends for a while now, since a couple years ago. So she's always at the Darmoon parties. And she and Emerald have this little game they play, where they see who can seduce some guy first, and how far they can get him to go in public. It's pretty disgusting. Well, anyway, at the first, and, we all thought, last ever, party that Darien went to, Beryl decided that she was going to get him. She put something in his drink, and, long story short, he never knew what hit him. She's been trailing poor Dare ever since." Ami shook her head in disgust.

"But, but I saw…"

"I don't know what you saw, but I know what I know, and I know that Beryl is the bane of Darien's existence. That little witch thinks that she can seduce him eventually if she just keeps trying, and he's too nice to just tell her to fuck off. That's not why you're hiding in here, is it?"

Serena didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. Ami took that as an answer, apparently, because she sat down beside her again and patted the younger girl's hand. "Don't worry, hon, it's a mistake we all make. But just trust me, I've known Dare a long time, and there is nothing between him and Beryl other than some kind of sick game in a twisted witch's mind. So why don't you come out of this little bathroom now, and let a nice, handsome guy who's totally freaking out over you fuss over you a bit, hmm? Darien's so sweet when he's worried about someone, you should totally take advantage of it." Ami winked and pulled her to her feet. "So come on, what do you say?"

Feeling like a pampered little girl and more than a little foolish, Serena ran a hand down her dress and darted a glance at her splotchy face in the mirror. "I look awful…" she protested feebly.

"Oh, I can fix that," Ami instantly assured her, snapping open her purse and confidently smearing foundation across the red spots before Serena could protest. She managed to stop her from doing a complete makeover, however. Ami looked disappointed. "Well, if you're sure…come on, let's go, before Dare has a total heart attack about how long I've been gone. Oh, and remember, you're not supposed to know that he sent me after you."

"My lips are sealed," she promised wryly. "Oh, wait, Ami, there's something I've been dying to ask you…"

"Anything," said Ami, with her characteristic bright smile.

"Um…why do you dye your hair blue?"

The smile widened. "What are you talking about? This is all natural, baby!" And with that, Serena was pulled out of the bathroom and down the hall.

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