A.N.: Sorry that it took me so long to get this out, people. My grandfather broke his back last week, and I've been a little preoccupied with that. (He'll be fine, though.)

Relevant Story Info: FYI, I'll be ignoring any flames that I get for this chapter. I know it's not my best, but I wanted to get all of those pesky little details about Mina's surroundings out all at once. My goal accomplished, I truly don't think it'll happen again. Also, I freely admit that I know nothing about London, so try not to yell too much when and if I make any geographic or cultural mistakes.

And, hey, I'm still trying to find a section break that will appear when I post. This 123 thing is bugging the crap out of me. Any suggestions?

Finally, I wanted to remind everybody that I keep a list of how far I am with upcoming chapters on my bio page. I don't mind having so many people ask if I've worked on my stories yet this month, but my inbox is getting kind of full.

Usual disclaimers yada yada yada…

12312312312321232123123123123123123123123123123123212321232123212312312312312323123132123123212312312312321232123212312312312312312312

CHAPTER TWO: To the Bat Cave

He watched them, the tall woman and her slender companion, the thin man lying unconscious at the blonde's feet. The tall one was gripping a staff she hadn't had a moment before, murmuring a few words under her breath, and an even taller arch appeared out of nothing, suddenly existing where only empty space had been. Purple and black energy flickered in the vortex between the frames, and he stared at it for a moment, fascinated. Was this, then, the fabled Gate of Time? He'd grown up with the tales, had heard them from his cradle, in fact, but even he wouldn't have guessed that the thing would be so…unnerving. The energy of the Gate seemed vaguely sinister, though of course the two women weren't affected by that. They only turned, each of them pausing to grasp the heavy limbs of the unconscious man, lifting him awkwardly. They began moving towards the Gate, voices stilled and expressions grave, balancing the fallen man between them.

He continued watching long after they had slipped through, their bodies sinking into the energy as easily as if it wasn't even there. Maybe they truly hadn't noticed it or felt it, though every story he'd ever heard about the Gate implied that crossing into this energy was beyond painful. Perhaps the senshi were too powerful to feel it, or to show their pain if they did. Perhaps the pain had only been part of the myth. He didn't really know which it was, and, come to that, he didn't really care.

The Gate faded the instant they were through, but the man in the shadows remained where he was, staring almost blankly at the place where they had been. She was, he found himself thinking, even more beautiful than he'd remembered. She'd been a school girl the last time he'd seen her, insecure and untried, but now she was so much more than that. She had become a woman, with a woman's grace and a woman's strength, and all of it augmented by her power as a senshi. He shook his head, smiling ruefully. She was also, he mused, a woman he still desired. For all that had passed between them, for all that he knew of her and all that he himself was, the love he had carried for her over two lifetimes hadn't faded in the least.

That could be a problem.

He sighed, pushing away from the ledge he'd been leaning against while he watched her, turning to find the exit that would take him away from this rooftop. He glanced around once, ensuring that he was not being watched, being careful to keep himself as much in the shadows as possible in case he'd been spotted after all. He began to walk away, satisfied that he had at least located Venus, not yet willing to do anything more, but just as suddenly stopped and darted back to his ledge, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he peered over into the alleyway beneath. His features hardened as the movement that had caught his attention came a second time, and he stared into the darkness until his suspicions were confirmed. Someone—or more likely something—he realized, was moving in the alleyway where his love had been, slinking from shadow to shadow as no human could or would. It was pausing now and again, and he suspected that it was retracing Venus' steps and her battle with her enemy.

Was Venus aware that she'd been followed? He shook his head, not knowing her well enough anymore to decide if she had. He didn't think she would have left an enemy behind like this or ignored one she knew was watching her, but then he never had been able to predict what she would do or say, and after all it had been a decade since he'd last fought beside her. He didn't know how much she had changed, in that decade, didn't know what she'd gone through, what she'd remembered or how any of it would affect her decisions in this life. He didn't know her at all anymore, though he wasn't quite willing to admit that maybe he never had.

Whatever Minako might be up to, he knew she had to be warned. Her use of the Gate didn't mean she couldn't be followed, and he wasn't about to risk her safety like that. She had to know that her enemies were onto her, had to know that she wasn't being quite as careful as she needed to be…and she had to know that he was here, that she had someone who cared about her and was willing to help her. She had to know she wasn't as alone as she likely believed she was.

He grinned to himself, his eyes suddenly lighting with excitement. Not even the knowledge that she was in danger could dampen his enthusiasm over this long overdue meeting between himself and his love, though he also realized that she probably wouldn't be all that happy to see him. Then again, he mused, he'd just have to convince her that he wasn't as bad as she believed, convince her that he was all she needed. "You won't get away from me this time, Princess," he whispered as, still grinning, he turned and fled back into the darkness.

12312312312321232123123123123123123123123123123123212321232123212312312312312323123132123123212312312312321232123212312312312312312312

The Gate of Time had never been subject to the laws of physics, and the two women were able to cross the city in less than an instant. Setsuna's power carried them all the way across London, to the outskirts of the city and then into the ramshackle, two-story house Mina had purchased three months before. The Gate released them just inside, the two women slipping through the magic with ease and immediately dumping their burden on the floor of what was now Mina's living room. The thin man was still unconscious, but Mina didn't waste any time finding a bit of rope to bind his hands and feet. That done, she and Setsuna dragged him over to a chair, looping the extra rope around the wood to keep the man in place should he wake up.

Mina hadn't said a word since they'd left the alleyway, but now she cast a critical eye over her work. "That'll do for now," she announced, "but eventually we'll need something more secure. This guy could be a lot stronger than he looks, and I don't want to take any chances." She sighed, reaching up with one weary hand to push the hair from her eyes, and then glanced at her friend. "Okay, partner," she began, giving a faint smile that did nothing to dispel her obvious fatigue, "what do you suggest I do with him? This place wasn't exactly built to be a prison."

She didn't wait for the answer she didn't expect Setsuna to give, and instead glanced around, eyes hooded and dubious. It was a bare, soulless place, her home, at least in comparison to the comfortable luxury of her old apartment. She didn't have any pictures on these walls, didn't have so much as a rug to cover the wooden floors. She didn't even have much furniture, and what she did have was hardly what anyone would call sturdy. She'd picked up most of it from garage sales, not really caring if the items she bought matched anything she already had, not caring if the pieces would last longer than a few months. Most of it very obviously wouldn't, actually, and that included the chair she'd tied her captive to. If the thin man struggled even a little, the thing would fall apart and he would be free. She really needed to find a better place for him.

In spite of the distant expression on Setsuna's face, the senshi of Time must have been considering Mina's question, after all, because she suddenly grunted, calling the blonde's attention back to herself. "Why not put him upstairs?" the taller senshi asked. "He'll be out of the way—and there's nothing up there that he can use to escape."

It was true enough. As empty as this room was, the rest of the house was even worse. It had been an old building long before Mina had decided to buy it, but the girl had expressed absolutely no desire to make improvements or even to use most of it. With the exception of those rooms she absolutely needed—kitchen, bathroom, bedroom—the bulk of the house wasn't even furnished. It remained empty and neglected, and while she seemed to prefer it that way, maybe it was time to put that extra space to use. It would be easy enough to convert one of the spare bedrooms into a prison, she mused. She might have to call in a few favors, but that was hardly important.

Mina nodded, quickly accepting her companion's suggestion. "Sounds good to me," she said, already turning to find her telephone. "We'll have to fix it up, though—bars on the windows, at the very least. I don't want him escaping." She picked up the phone, reaching out with one slender hand to dial the numbers that, by now, she knew by heart. "You watch him," she commanded rather airily. "I'll take care of the rest."

And she did. Just because she hadn't been able to find her enemies until now didn't mean she'd wasted her months in London. She'd used the time to make contacts, to introduce herself to the sort of people a soldier would find useful. They weren't all good people—some of them were definitely thieves, and some were worse than that. None were even remotely honest, and most of them didn't pretend to be. Mina didn't trust a single one of her contacts, but then she needed their skills too much for that to be a real deterrent. These were individuals who used the black market as most would use the grocery store, who skirted the law on a regular basis and took pleasure from it. They could get her whatever she needed whenever she needed it, though always for a price, and there'd already been times when she'd put them to use. This would just be another one of those times.

It was still technically the middle of the night, but that hardly mattered to the kind of people Mina was calling. This was their best time, frankly, and they barely grumbled at all when Mina asked them to come to her. They arrived in very little time, slipped quietly upstairs and did as she bid them. They were silent and efficient, best of all discreet, and they had disappeared again long before dawn came. They'd left nothing behind but the aforementioned bars on the windows, extra locks on the doors and a new dent in Mina's savings. And, no questions asked, they'd set bolts into the floors and walls, places where Mina could chain her prisoner in place. It was as secure a dungeon as anything could be.

Mina returned to Setsuna, a grim smile twisting her lips as the two of them carried the unconscious man to his new resting place. They laid him on the floor, Setsuna barely arching an eyebrow as she saw the changes to the room. Mina ignored her, focusing instead on her prisoner. She bent, reaching out for the heavy chains one of her contacts had left for her, locking them over his ankles and arms, then attaching them to the hooks on the floor. She took another moment to test the chains with her own strength, knowing that if she couldn't break the ties, her captive couldn't, either. When the chains proved stronger than she was, the slender girl turned back to her companion. "There's nothing more I can do until he wakes up," she admitted softly, the expression on her face too innocent for a girl who had essentially become a jailor, who planned to become a torturer. "Trying to get anything out of him now would be worse than pointless. Still," she said, standing and brushing invisible dirt from her hands, "there'll be time enough for that tomorrow. It's more important that you get some rest. Go home, Sets."

It wasn't a suggestion, and the taller woman nodded, though her eyes suddenly narrowed with suspicion. "You're tired, too, Mina," she murmured a little harshly. "If I leave, how can I know for certain that you'll also stop for the night?" She glared at the blonde. "I know you too well, Mina. You're going to keep pushing yourself until there's nothing left of you."

Mina shrugged, somehow dismissing Setsuna's concern without being offensive about it. "I'm not a fool, Sets," she retorted. "I know what my breaking point is, and even though I haven't come even close to reaching it, I still know when to quit." She smiled tiredly at her friend, trying to ease the faint shadow of worry in the other woman's eyes. "I just have to check on a few things, and then I'm off to bed. No worries, Setsuna."

That must have satisfied the senshi of Time, because the woman suddenly turned and disappeared back through the bedroom door. Mina paused for a moment, listening to her footsteps on the wooden floors, sensing the small flash of power as Setsuna summoned her Gate. Then, as silence descended once more upon the house, Mina sighed and left her prisoner alone. She, too, meandered down the stairs, heading back through her living room, down another hallway to the plain wooden door that had once led to a simple human basement. The slender blonde woman turned the handle on that door, pulled it open and slipped into the darkness beyond, never once feeling the pair of cold blue eyes watching her go.

12312312312321232123123123123123123123123123123123212321232123212312312312312323123132123123212312312312321232123212312312312312312312

Mina's house must once have been beautiful, elegant, costly. It must once have been the pride of London society, but that had changed long ago. When Mina had first purchased the place—at Setsuna's suggestion, of course—it had looked as though a strong wind might cause it to collapse. Doors had been falling from their hinges, floorboards creeping ominously with every step Mina took. The entire place creaked and groaned like a thing alive, and Mina could understand why nobody had ever wanted it, before her. She just couldn't understand why it hadn't been torn down ages ago. All the other houses that had once surrounded it were already gone, replaced by warehouses and the like. The entire street was dead.

It was perfect.

Mina had wanted a house that would be isolated, and this certainly was that. The warehouses now lining the street were rarely opened during the day and never at night, and except for the occasional worker bringing goods to the buildings, nobody ever came out this far. Mina could come and go as she pleased, safe from the prying eyes and curious neighbors that might have plagued her if she'd lived anywhere else. Her enemies would never think to look for her here—nobody would, really—and for that alone, this dilapidated old house was ideal.

Then there was the basement, the real reason Mina had wanted this place. In all her years of fighting, with all the enemies she'd faced, Mina had always been limited by her lack of resources, of knowledge. She'd never been able to track her opponents, had never been able to do much more than simply wait for the attack and then do her best to respond. She'd been always on the defensive, essentially crippled in every battle. It was a dangerous way to fight, and she'd vowed that this time things would be different. This time, she would be the hunter, the first to strike. She would be organized, efficient. She would learn the way her enemies worked, learn the way they thought…and then she would destroy them.

The basement was part of that. She'd known, from the first moment she'd seen it, that she'd found her headquarters. For whatever reason, this basement was far deeper than most, the walls much thicker than they needed to be. Mina didn't know what had caused these structural anomalies—she suspected Setsuna, naturally, though she hadn't really cared enough to ask—but she'd wasted no time in exploiting them. She and Setsuna had carefully selected an army of workmen and engineers, given them the task of turning this simple basement into an underground fortress. It had cost a fortune, of course, and it had taken forever, but in the end, even Mina had been satisfied. More rooms had been added to the first, each made impenetrable from the outside by layers of tempered steel coating the walls, ceilings and floors. Nothing human—or more than human—could get through. And even if one of her enemies possessed the strength or the knowledge to break in, they'd never get past all of the security systems. Mina doubted that anyone could, without knowing the codes. This place had more alarms and defenses than the American's infamous Fort Knox…or the Bat Cave, which is what Mina had started calling it.

It was an engineering and technological marvel, her Bat Cave, and Mina had taken it even further with the equipment she'd installed. She'd filled her subterranean stronghold with surveillance equipment, with weapons and computers and everything else she might need. There was even a full medical lab, though Mina had added that only as an afterthought. Even if she did get hurt enough to require medical attention, she'd reasoned, she wasn't a doctor. She wouldn't know how to use most of what she'd included in her medical inventory, but she'd also decided that it might come in handy one day, and that was enough to justify the extra expense.

And yet, in spite of everything the Bat Cave was, in spite of everything she could do with it, it wasn't enough. The medical lab and the weapons wouldn't help her when she couldn't even find her enemy, and she was painfully aware of that. She also knew that not even the state-of-the-art surveillance or tracking systems she'd installed could help her find the one being she needed most in this universe, the one being she'd spent the last few months searching for and who was infinitely more important than all of her enemies combined.

It couldn't help her find Artemis.

She missed her feline guardian and father figure, so much so that she sometimes wondered if her heart would shatter without him. He had always been an unwavering source of support, the voice of reason when the events in Mina's life had been completely without reason. He'd been her conscience, and now he had left her. Artemis had been gone for over five months, having disappeared when she'd needed him most, and although the ache of that never quite went away, she also didn't blame him for leaving. He'd realized who Malachite was the moment Mina's soulmate had walked back into her life, and he'd assumed that she'd know, too. He couldn't have realized that Mina's memories had been repressed once again, that she'd forgotten the face of her old enemy and her old love. He hadn't known that she was ignorant of the truth, and when she'd chastised Artemis for attacking Malachite that day, the cat had probably believed she was choosing her killer over her guardian. He must have been so hurt by her apparent decision that he'd left her to face the consequences on her own.

And there had been consequences, terrible ones. Mina hadn't realized who Malachite was until after she had fallen in love with him again, and by then it was too late to stop the heartache that would come when she did learn the truth. From the moment Malachite had walked back in her life, she'd started remembering what they had meant to each other, what they had done to each other, and the shock of that had almost destroyed her. Months later, she was still trying to cope with the repercussions, with the burden of his old betrayal and her love for him. Perhaps it might not have been so bad, had Artemis been there to help her, to guide and console her. Perhaps she might not be hurting so greatly if he hadn't left her…but he had, and she'd spent the last few months trying to find him again, hoping she could convince him to come back to her. She didn't know if he would ever forgive her for the hurt she had dealt him, but that wouldn't matter at all if she couldn't find him in the first place.

Mina sighed as she slipped down the stairs and into her Cave, heading for one of the more distant rooms in this labyrinth she'd built for herself. It was a smaller room, one wall lined with computers, another with a plain wooden table that was much sturdier than any of the furniture she kept upstairs. The table was covered with files and photos, but she ignored these for now, instead walking slowly over to the computers. She reached out, tapped a few buttons on one of the keyboards. She was careful not to press anything unnecessary, bad as she was with anything electronic, and then glanced up at the monitor. A few lines of script appeared on the screen, and while it was not in any language a human would recognize, a frown appeared in her golden eyes as she scanned it. "Nothing," she muttered. "Five months, and still nothing." She bowed her head, hopelessness blurring the edges of her features, and she sighed again. "Where are you, Artemis?"

Cold blue eyes glared at her from the shadows, but she still didn't notice.

12312312312321232123123123123123123123123123123123212321232123212312312312312323123132123123212312312312321232123212312312312312312312

Reader Responses:

A. Lee: Hey, I'm not complaining! If I can please you, then I know I'm doing something right. You smile blissfully as often as you want! Seriously, I'm so glad you liked it. I was kind of worried about that chapter, actually, and your words are all the encouragement I'd needed to keep going. I just adore you for being so supportive!

To answer your question, I don't know how much I'll be bringing the senshi and generals into this. They'll come back into the story eventually, of course, but probably not right away. Setsuna will be there throughout, though.

Thank you, once again, for taking the time to read my humble story. You really are wonderful!

Transcendent: Why thank you! I think I just made him so easy because I took so long with the last guy, but I'm glad you liked it.

"One of the best Minako centered fics of all times?" Wow. I don't think I've ever gotten a nicer compliment. You're so sweet! I don't know what I'd do without you.

I'm glad you liked it, and, no, I don't intend to drag things out so much as I did last time. Frankly, that was irritating me just as much as it irritated everybody else. I just couldn't seem to stop. Won't happen again, I hope.

Yes, it will definitely be Minako/Malachite. I don't often write other couples, and I'm certainly not about to start now. It just might be awhile before they get back together. I don't want to spoil the story line, but there's going to be more obstacles than there already are. And you will get your gushy romantic fluff, that I promise you. Just be patient!

KooseiYou're an angel, my friend! Thank you for the compliments, and thank you for reading!

OcianneWow. This is one heck of a review! I feel special just looking at it!

As much as I'd love to have you as a beta, I understand how busy life can get. Trust me, I do…look how long it takes me to write new chapters! I never have time to just sit down and work on a story anymore.

And I'd never want you to be anything less than honest. I obviously can't fix my mistakes if people don't tell me what they are, and I depend on my readers for that.

I'm glad you don't have a problem with the amount of Mina in this fic. A lot of people tend to complain about that, though I've stated over and over again that this was never meant to be about anybody but Mina. You do have a point about the senshi, however. I guess I didn't spend as much time on their characters as I should have, though I really didn't intend to make them seem less than they are. I will try to do better in the future, and I really am grateful that you were frank with me.

I obviously adore Pluto, too. She's just interesting, if only because so little is known about her. She keeps herself aloof, and that makes her fascinating to me. Just so's you know, you'll be seeing a lot of her in this fic.

You're threatening me with an AU Pluto? I know I should be scared, but that's hilarious. You're too funny!

And yes, I'm fully aware of my tendency to draw things out too much. I really am making an effort to do better (though obviously I didn't make it in this chapter. I wanted to get all the petty little details out of the way so I wouldn't have to deal with them ever again. It made this chapter kind of unexciting, but I felt it was something I needed to do.).

Again, thanks for taking the time to comment so much on my story. I always love hearing from you!

SapphiregirlYes, and it certainly took me long enough. I'd planned many things for this sequel, but I couldn't seem to get much of it down. I was getting very frustrated.

Thanks. I needed to hear that. Your support is, as always, more appreciated than you'll ever know! I'm also glad you like my sense of humor, morbid as it is.

As for your questions, I can only say that we'll find out as we go along. I really don't have much of this story set in stone, so I'm often more in the dark than you are. We'll see what happens with the bad guys.

Truthfully? I had an idea, once upon a time, that some non-senshi would see the scars and start asking questions. I don't even remember who I'd planned that for, but I suppose I'm stuck with the idea now. Oh, well. As to her having scars at all…um, well, no real answer for that, either. I guess it's because the acid from the Blob was so bad that even she couldn't heal as well as she usually does. I'll let you know if I think of a better explanation.

And thank you again! You seem to be targeting all of my insecurities and helping ease them. What would I do without you?

Setsuna showed up because she's been helping Mina. That'll become more obvious as time goes on, though I'm glad you picked up on it. Most haven't.

Yes, but Mina is particularly good at detaching herself from everything that happens to her. I agree with your assessment of her, but I still think she'd be all right as a torturer. Maybe she'll never be good in the James Bond villain kind of way, but she'll get through it.

I'm definitely interested. I've been falling behind on reading other people's stories, but I don't want that to happen with you! As soon as I have five minutes of free time, I'll definitely check it out!

Again, wonderful to hear from you. Your one of my favorite readers!

JadesRoseThat goes for two of us. Even I don't really know how this thing will end.

Mina, Minako…it doesn't really matter. They're kind of becoming the same person, so there will come a time when Mina answers to both.

Thank you. I was trying for that, actually, because a lot of people have emailed me saying they wanted to read SM but were too intimidated by how long RM had been to start with that. I was trying to ease into it for those people, but I was afraid I'd end up just boring those of you who'd actually read the first story. I'm glad you were okay with it, at least.

Tell me about it. Incidentally, have you found a border that works? Every time I try a new one (besides this obnoxious 123123), it just disappears when I post. Any ideas?

I wanted to apologize again for not reading your updates right away. It really wasn't a reflection on you. Your stories are wonderful, but I'm so busy right now that I could cry. It's all I can do to get to my own stories.

Thank you again for reviewing. Your reviews mean more to me than you can know.

AdyenUm…okay. I'll try that, though I warn you that I'm really computer illiterate and it might be completely beyond me. It doesn't sound too hard, but you never know, with me. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

It's hardly empty praise, and I'm overjoyed that you bothered reading at all. Your opinion means quite a bit to me, and if you're excited, then I'm doubly so. Thank you again for reading!

animerocksjapanrocksWell, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Love hearing from you, my friend.

CelThat's okay. It's a real pain to log in, so I understand.

Well, I can only say that I was trying to ease into it. Several people wanted to start reading this fic, but were intimidated by the length of the first part. For their sakes, I didn't want to just jump in where I'd left off in the last one.

I thank you for your honesty. I will try to do better in the future (and don't worry, this was the wordiest chapter I plan to write. I wanted to get all of those annoying little details out all at once, so it won't happen again.)

Thanks for reading. I enjoyed hearing from you!

Usagigreenleaf647: I'm overjoyed that you bothered to read this! Thank you!

Sassy-chan: I'm just glad you read it at all, Sass, but I thank you for the compliments just the same.

Creepy shadow stalker? Yeah, I guess she is. It's funny that you'd see her that way, though.

As always, I thank you for the commentary. It was insightful and flattering, and I adore you for it. Until next time, my adored Sassy-chan!

WOW: Thanks for reading.