Sorry - forgot a disclaimer on the first chapter

No, I don't own Sailor Moon or any of the characters involved with it

A.N.

@}--- ------- denotes a change in character perspective

Chapter Two

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Darien pulled out the chair and slid into it. Tiredly he rested his elbows on the table and his chin in the palms of his hands, and then proceeded to stare down into the coffee he had ordered and was now going cold. Across from him sat four girls he recognized as Serena's friends. At the reminder of her, an incredible loneliness overcame him and he couldn't believe he was actually missing their arguments. The last time he had seen her that she hadn't immediately run in the opposite direction had been nearly a month ago, and that conversation still had him worried.

Though he wasn't paying much attention to them, part of the girl's conversation drifted over to him.

"Luckily her parents just left for a trip to America. They left Sammy at a friends and she is supposed to be staying at my house," the brunette informed her friends.

"How could they have left? They must have noticed how weird she's been acting lately," the one he recognized as Amy said practically.

It took him a moment before he realized they were talking about Serena. Without being obvious, he tried to move his chair a bit closer so he could hear better what they were saying.

"Serena convinced them that she would be all right," The blond, with hair as long as Serena's, agreed. "Still, I would feel better if they were here. Then they could call the police without being accused of pulling some kind of prank. And then we'll have a better chance of finding Serena."

Darien stopped listening. 'Call the police? Find Serena? What is going on?' He knew that Serena's friends knew Serena hated him but he couldn't just sit and wonder. Getting up he crossed over to their table. Looking down at the four startled faces he asked, "What's happened and why is Serena missing."

"Gee, can't you mind your own business Darien. It is rather rude to listen to other people's conversations you know," Raye said, sarcasm lacing her voice.

Amy poked Raye in the ribs. "Hush Raye. He actually looks worried so be nice."

Looking up at Darien he saw her try to force a smile. "We don't know. She went out yesterday and when I tried to stop and talk to her, she said she was busy and took off. When Lita called us last night to say she hadn't come over as she was supposed to we all went out to look for her. She's been missing for more than a day now though and we are all starting to get worried."

"Only starting," Darien asked as he pulled his chair over to join them. "Are you trying to tell me that the fact that she suddenly changed her hair style, how she dresses and has been avoiding you all hasn't worried you in the least?"

"How do you know she's been avoiding us?" Raye asked suspiciously.

"I haven't seen you all together for nearly a month," he stated the obvious, a trace of sarcasm sounding through his worry. "Besides, she's been avoiding me too."

"I would have figured that would have made you happy," Raye commented derisively.

"Think what you want," was all Darien would say but to himself he added, 'And I'm all the bigger idiot for letting her think that too.' This time he aimed his biting sarcasm at himself. "Listen," he said, interrupting the girls continuing conversation, "I've gotta go so, I'll take the long way home and keep an eye out for Serena."

Scraping his chair back he was about to walk away but was held back by Lita's hand on his arm.

"Wait," she scribbled something on a napkin with a tube of lipstick, "We'll all be at my place tonight so here's the number. If you see or here anything, give us a call." Her voice sounded a little cautious and Darien had to wonder if he had really been that much of a jerk in the past two years.

Leaving he walked through the cafe doors into the arcade then out to the street. "Great, rain. As if life isn't perfect already." Picking up his pace, he ran to where he had parked his car. Fumbling with the keys, he succeeded in getting the door open. Unfortunately, not before he was soaked through to the skin.

He was still mumbling about the weather a few blocks away when he managed to glimpse a slight figure through the fog, hunched over against the rain. He wasn't sure how but despite the single ponytail he knew it was Serena. Pulling up behind her, he got out and slammed the door. Looking up, he found that she was running away from him as fast as she could.

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Serena heard the vehicle pull up and felt the constant fear swell up to choke her. He had found her! He had found her and now he was going to be so mad at her. Her fear paralyzed her though and she couldn't make her legs obey her command to run. Then a door slammed and her fear became a panic. Now she could run, and she did, with no intention of ever stopping. Though she may have never intended to stop, she couldn't help but look back. When she did, it appeared as if a shadow were chasing her except that every few seconds the fog would thin and the shape of a man would appear.

Pushing herself harder Serena forced her body to move faster. Then the unthinkable happened. Her left side convulsed viciously in toward a cramp in her stomach. Stumbling she could feel her speed leaving her. Before she could collapse to the sidewalk, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her feet off the ground.

Ignoring the pain she started to struggle and kick, all the time pleading, "Please, let me go! I'm sorry I ran away. I'll never do it again, I swear! Just don't hurt me."

"Serena," a familiar voice yelled in her ear over the wind. "Serena, calm down. It's me, Darien."

Calming down she let him set her back on the ground and turn her around to face him. Then another idea occurred to her. Darien was a friend of Aaron. Between fresh sobs she managed to say, "Please Darien... don't take me... back to him. I don't want... to go... never again. Please... help me."

Just then, all the adrenaline and fear that she had been running on all day drained away. Once again, before she could hit the ground she was lifted off her feet. This time though she Darien pulled her against his chest, cradling her in his arms. His voice was the only thing she was vaguely aware of besides the warmth that seeped into her from him. "It's ok Serena," he said, "I'm only going to take you to my apartment. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

His words assured her and she fell asleep even as he buckled her into the passenger seat of his car.

Serena woke when Darien pulled her out of the car and back into his arms. At some other level in her mind she realized that they must be in an underground parking lot because though she could still here it, the rain was no longer hitting them. But all she could focus on was the warmth and gentle strength of the arms that enfolded her. Before she could fall asleep again, Darien was setting her down so that he could open his apartment door. Following him in she noticed that though his apartment was obviously lived in, it appeared too clean and didn't feel like a home. There was no magazine or book on the coffee table, waiting for the reader to come and pick up where they left off. No blanket thrown over the couch for those nights when the movies went a little too late and you no longer felt like getting up to go to bad.

"Just have a seat," Darien's voice broke her out of her musings, "I'm going to go use the phone. I told your friends I would…"

"No," she cut him off. "Don't call them. They hate me now and I couldn't handle them being here. With you it's ok cause you've always hated me and I'm used to it. But not them." A huge yawn split her face and she let Darien sweep her back up into his arms. Serena was asleep before he had walked two steps and never knew when he laid her down in his own bed and tucked the covers up under her chin.

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Darien looked down at the slight figure that now occupied his bed. Her last words were bugging him though he couldn't understand why. He didn't hate her. 'Sure, she's an annoying, klutzy crybaby, but I don't hate her.' The thing was, at the moment, she didn't appear to be a crybaby and she definitely wasn't being annoying. Her eyes were puffy but he guessed that was from a steady flow of tears rather than her normal wailing. Instead of being irritated with her he couldn't help but feel protective, and oddly enough, possessive. Almost as if someone had borrowed something of his then broken it before giving it back. One name kept invading his thoughts. Aaron. However, he couldn't figure out what that guy could have done that would change normal hyperactive Serena into this scared rabbit.

Suppressing a yawn of his own he decided he would just have to call in sick to work tomorrow. He couldn't call her friends, not after she practically begged him not to. Sighing, he grabbed a blanket out of the closet and went to the living room to crash on the couch.

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"No! Get off me. Don't touch me Aaron, please!" Serena continued to beg but his hands were still all over her body. She felt as if everywhere he touched, she died and with every kiss he forced on her unwilling mouth he killed another piece of her soul.

Screaming Serena bolted up and out of the bed she had been sleeping in. Frozen still she looked around; trying to find where she knew Aaron was hiding, waiting to jump out at her. Slowly she realized that it had been a nightmare and remembered that she was at Darien's, that he had found her before Aaron could. Her whole body shook with the relief she felt and she backed up until she hit the wall. Then her legs gave out and she slid down to the floor.

That was how she was when Darien's form blocked out the little light coming from the hall. Serena looked up to see him just finish doing up his pants. Fear attacked immediately and she had to remind herself that Darien had saved her. He had also promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. She couldn't move and let him walk up to her. When he reached her, he slid down to sit beside her.

"Serena?"

She barely heard his tentative whisper. She did feel his arm circle her shoulders. Her body jerked away from his touch. She couldn't help it. In her heart, she may know that he wouldn't hurt her but the rest of her was still remembering Aaron's touch. "Don't. I'm sorry. Just don't touch me." Even after he removed his arm then moved so

he was leaning up against the bed across from her she didn't totally relax.

"What happened Serena?" Darien talked quietly, trying to soothe her with his voice. "Who hurt you?"

Serena longed to trust him and tell him the whole story but she wasn't capable of the same complete trust she had known before. Her mind yelled all sorts of different consequences at her, all of them bad, and all of them scared her more. When she didn't

speak up Darien started to guess.

"Obviously someone has scared you, or at least hurt you bad enough that you think you have a reason to be scared." He was silent for a moment, maybe hoping she would voice a confirmation or denial. "Obviously someone hit you?"

Serena lifted her hand up to her black eye. Darien had wanted to fix it up as best he could, especially clean out the cut that was dangerously close to her eye but she couldn't and handle having him close enough to her to do that.

"Was it Aaron?"

At the mention of that name, she reacted without thought. Her hands flew to her ears, she brought her legs up to her chest and she rolled to her side, curled up in a tight ball. When she felt a hand on her shoulder she screamed, "No!" Immediately the weight was gone.

Her breath was coming in great heaving gasps so she didn't hear Darien stand up. She thought he might say something though because she could feel him standing over her, looking down for a long time. Then his presence was gone. Leaving her alone. For some reason the fact that she was alone did not comfort her in the least.

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Darien closed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it. He didn't dare take another step because of the unfamiliar feelings that were tearing through his gut. He knew that one of them was a raging anger and that was what he grasped at. Then he worked on calming himself, destroying the fury bit by bit. Because if he didn't he would be out that door and looking for Aaron. So he could wrap his hands around the bastard's neck.

Finally, the urge subsided and he forced himself to make his way back to the couch. Surprisingly, he did manage to fall back asleep.

Waking the next morning, he followed habit and walked out onto the balcony. There was eastern exposure and he could see bits and pieces of the sunrise over the buildings surrounding his. It was times like this that he was glad his was one of the taller buildings in the area. There was nothing to obscure his line of sight. The normalcy of the sunrise soothed him for a while, but then his memories of the night before resurfaced. This time he couldn't stop himself and his quick sure strides led him to his door. Ironically, he found the only thing that could save Aaron was sitting in his way. Serena lay cuddled in the small front hallway, not asleep but not totally conscious of her surroundings. Having learned from last night Darien didn't attempt to touch her but he

did crouch down in front of her as close as he dared.

"Serena?" His voice was quiet and unsure, totally unlike him. "What are you doing over here? Are you okay?" When she looked up at him with hollow eyes, he realized his mistake. Of course she wasn't okay, he just wish he knew why. Before he could begin to apologize for his slip, she began to talk.

There was a hollowness in her voice that matched that in her eyes. Darien had the strange impression that she wasn't really sitting in front of him. The body was there but Serena herself had fled from it, and that she hadn't been completely there for a long time. "I wanted to leave. I'm a mess and a bother and you hate me." A brief look of confusion flashed in her eyes and she continued to think aloud. "You hate me but you promised you wouldn't hurt me. He said he loved me and then he... he... I was going to leave but I'm so scared that he is waiting just beyond the door. Waiting to take me back and punish me for running away."

'Oh Serena. What did he do to you?' Darien couldn't understand why he cared so much. The girl in front of him was the same one he had argued with for two years, trading insults and loving every minute of it. Now it seemed that other emotions were surfacing, emotions he would much rather be kept as buried as possible. Reaching out a hand to her, and praying she would accept it, he asked, "You must be feeling like a mess so why don't you go take a shower and when you get back I'll have something ready for you to eat."

Ignoring his hand Serena stood up. For some reason she avoided his eyes as well, though she had been having no problems before with looking straight at him. "All right. If you think that's a good idea."

Darien opted to ignore that last comment because he didn't understand what she meant by it. Leading her to the bathroom, he showed her where everything could be found. Then he left her alone momentarily. Looking through his drawers he found some old clothes he hadn't warn in awhile, while still perfectly serviceable they were probably too small for him. Meaning that they would be a closer fit for Serena. Knocking on the bathroom door, he waited for her to answer. When she finally did, the door hid her completely from sight. Her hair, which she had taken from its ponytail, surrounded her in a tangled mess. Silently she took the clothes he offered and gave her the dirty ones when he asked. Closing the door she left Darien wondering about and berating himself for the surge of desire he had felt at the thought of what exactly it was that the door had been hiding.