Jadeite had been faithful to his word, and spent most of the next six
months constantly by her side, instructing her in the ways of the senshi,
grooming her for their dangerous work. She changed her name to Rei Hino,
leaving her belongings, her education, and most notably Darien completely
behind, never looking back. As she got better, he steadily progressed from
mentor, to friend, to lover. At his side, with her mastery of the art of
theft, she had quickly progressed up the hierarchy. Then Jadeite had fooled
around with the snake-like Beryl, leader of the Youmas, and Rei had shot
him, becoming the leader, as most of the gang had sided with her on this
topic. Under her command, with her select group of leaders, the Senshi
developed from a large Southside gang to a citywide crime ring. Most of
this was due to Rei and her three closest friends and colleagues. All three
had been betrayed by their men, who had left to join the youmas after Rei
had taken charge of the Senshi. Ami, the hacker whiz kid and crooked
genius, Minako, the vibrant superstar of a manipulator, no more than 18
years of age, and set up to be the next leader, and Makoto, pretty much the
most elegant and beautiful thug who had ever performed the job. The three
were in the secret series of rooms they called the Moon, their headquarters
you could say, when Rei returned.
Ami and Makoto merely went back to her work when Rei returned with a
look of barely controlled fury instead of that of victory. Minako raised an
eyebrow while giving a grim sort of smile.
"It was a trap."
"The youmas? They don't really seem capable of setting traps that subtly, I guess --"
"It wasn't the youmas."
"Who would've done it, then? I can't see any of the other gangs working with the youmas, or even infiltrating them enough to get that rumor spread."
"It wasn't another gang. It was a young detective, name of Darien Shields."
"Him?"
"Yes."
"And he's after you?"
"I don't know."
"Now, that is odd."
"Venus, just come with me."
"Oh, jeez, Mars. Did you have to pick Kunzite?"
"You know he knows it all, and he still crumples in your present. It has to be Kenny."
***************
It didn't take long before the dangerous duo had found the man in question. He was well-built and looked extremely strong, not the kind of guy even these women could take on and milk for information casually. They gave him no chance to run. In effect, Mina ended up with almost no work. Her job was to stand in the background and look bored, which would destroy any of Kunzite's defenses. The man was rendered positively powerless in the vicinity of his former lover.
"Who set it up?"
"It was Mamoru, Endymion. He was undercover and used what he knew to threaten us into being able to use us."
"How much does he know about me?"
"He. . . he said the two of you used to be friends."
"That was really the silver crystal in there, wasn't it?"
"That's what he said."
"And how'd he get a hold of it?"
"I don't know."
She scowled. So Darien must have gone undercover as a youma, and recognized her. How could she not have picked up on him being there? She knew Kunzite was useless for anything more. She let him go and walked away, beckoning Minako to follow.
"I'm going to the police station."
"So you want to meet the ex-fiancee."
"Perhaps. I want to know more. There are pieces that I don't understand. How would he get a legendary artifact like that just to trap me? I need to know just what he has and what he wants."
"Sure, Rei, sure."
"Good-bye, Mina. Make sure the Station hasn't been rigged either." Rei thought back to her correspondence with Darien. Had she told him the name of the place she had worked? If she had, that might be his next attempt. Besides, when you made Mina do something she didn't want to, then just gave her free time, you were likely to regret it.
________________
Darien Shields was tired. It had been a long day and night. He had worked months to set up such a trap and it had failed. She had come, and she had gone. His men were hyper, and he couldn't get any work done. He wanted to go home, but there wasn't really anything attractive about his lonely home at this point. His wife was off visiting a friend, and the house would be darkened and quiet. Huh, it was funny. It was when Erin Chinoe, his fiancee, disappeared that he had decided to become a detective, searching for missing people. And it was his job as a detective that had found him his new love, the kidnapped Serenity Lunaris, who he had saved, then married. Then, on his next mission, he had been sent undercover with one of the city gangs, the Youmas. And he saw her, the Youmas knew her only as Rei Hino, the devastating, in looks and violence, leader of the Senshi after murdering her lover, the former leader. But he recognized the furious cascade of black hair, the same silky texture of the blond locks that were always on his mind, and the flashing violet eyes, so different from the docile blue ones he now cherished. Now that he had his Bunny, he knew that Erin hadn't been right for him, but since then he had been determined to bring his former best friend back to the flock, so to speak. He shook his head in frustration and walked out into the parking lot, but felt an icy hand on his when he turned the key in the door lock.
"Hello, Darien." "Hello, Erin," he mumbled haltingly.
"You do know it's Rei now, right, Endymion?"
"Indeed, but I don't know why."
"Don't you? He gave me everything I ever wanted, taught me how to be the person I'd always dreamed of, including how to kill him once he betrayed me. You too will learn not to cross me."
"Erin, you don't have to do this. Doesn't it ever make you sick? The things you do, the people you hurt?"
For a moment, her defenses fell, and her face was covered with a tragic expression rather than the confident smile, "everyday", she whispered.
But then, she noticed the ring on his finger.
"But I see you found someone else. Is she rich enough for you?"
"That was never an issue for me. You know that."
"Yes, you never cared, but I did. She's rich. I can tell by the guilty look on your face. Can I chance a guess? Serenity Lunaris."
He only blinked at her pointed inquiry, which was a yes to all of her questions.
"Well, that would explain how you got the silver crystal."
"How do you know all these things?"
"How could I not, Darien?! I'm a leader of people, who drives their actions, emotions. I must know everything that goes on in my realm of business, or I will send a friend to her death."
"You don't seem to have a problem with sending any one else to a premature death."
"No, I don't seem to, do I?" A sweetly reminiscent smile crossed her face briefly.
"You're not the girl I used to know."
"No. No I'm not. Because my soulmate stole my heart, and then sold it."
"I don't understand, Erin, how could you actually care for someone like that?
He didn't get reply, as she ran swiftly away from him, but he could have sworn he heard her crying.
AN: Thanks for the people who reviewed the story in earnestness. I accidently checked the no anonymous reviews box in my settings, but I still don't see where it's that important. Plus, it's not like I was begging. That wasn't quite the type of input I had wanted...^_~ Oh,well, that sort of thing just gets on my nerves...
"It was a trap."
"The youmas? They don't really seem capable of setting traps that subtly, I guess --"
"It wasn't the youmas."
"Who would've done it, then? I can't see any of the other gangs working with the youmas, or even infiltrating them enough to get that rumor spread."
"It wasn't another gang. It was a young detective, name of Darien Shields."
"Him?"
"Yes."
"And he's after you?"
"I don't know."
"Now, that is odd."
"Venus, just come with me."
"Oh, jeez, Mars. Did you have to pick Kunzite?"
"You know he knows it all, and he still crumples in your present. It has to be Kenny."
***************
It didn't take long before the dangerous duo had found the man in question. He was well-built and looked extremely strong, not the kind of guy even these women could take on and milk for information casually. They gave him no chance to run. In effect, Mina ended up with almost no work. Her job was to stand in the background and look bored, which would destroy any of Kunzite's defenses. The man was rendered positively powerless in the vicinity of his former lover.
"Who set it up?"
"It was Mamoru, Endymion. He was undercover and used what he knew to threaten us into being able to use us."
"How much does he know about me?"
"He. . . he said the two of you used to be friends."
"That was really the silver crystal in there, wasn't it?"
"That's what he said."
"And how'd he get a hold of it?"
"I don't know."
She scowled. So Darien must have gone undercover as a youma, and recognized her. How could she not have picked up on him being there? She knew Kunzite was useless for anything more. She let him go and walked away, beckoning Minako to follow.
"I'm going to the police station."
"So you want to meet the ex-fiancee."
"Perhaps. I want to know more. There are pieces that I don't understand. How would he get a legendary artifact like that just to trap me? I need to know just what he has and what he wants."
"Sure, Rei, sure."
"Good-bye, Mina. Make sure the Station hasn't been rigged either." Rei thought back to her correspondence with Darien. Had she told him the name of the place she had worked? If she had, that might be his next attempt. Besides, when you made Mina do something she didn't want to, then just gave her free time, you were likely to regret it.
________________
Darien Shields was tired. It had been a long day and night. He had worked months to set up such a trap and it had failed. She had come, and she had gone. His men were hyper, and he couldn't get any work done. He wanted to go home, but there wasn't really anything attractive about his lonely home at this point. His wife was off visiting a friend, and the house would be darkened and quiet. Huh, it was funny. It was when Erin Chinoe, his fiancee, disappeared that he had decided to become a detective, searching for missing people. And it was his job as a detective that had found him his new love, the kidnapped Serenity Lunaris, who he had saved, then married. Then, on his next mission, he had been sent undercover with one of the city gangs, the Youmas. And he saw her, the Youmas knew her only as Rei Hino, the devastating, in looks and violence, leader of the Senshi after murdering her lover, the former leader. But he recognized the furious cascade of black hair, the same silky texture of the blond locks that were always on his mind, and the flashing violet eyes, so different from the docile blue ones he now cherished. Now that he had his Bunny, he knew that Erin hadn't been right for him, but since then he had been determined to bring his former best friend back to the flock, so to speak. He shook his head in frustration and walked out into the parking lot, but felt an icy hand on his when he turned the key in the door lock.
"Hello, Darien." "Hello, Erin," he mumbled haltingly.
"You do know it's Rei now, right, Endymion?"
"Indeed, but I don't know why."
"Don't you? He gave me everything I ever wanted, taught me how to be the person I'd always dreamed of, including how to kill him once he betrayed me. You too will learn not to cross me."
"Erin, you don't have to do this. Doesn't it ever make you sick? The things you do, the people you hurt?"
For a moment, her defenses fell, and her face was covered with a tragic expression rather than the confident smile, "everyday", she whispered.
But then, she noticed the ring on his finger.
"But I see you found someone else. Is she rich enough for you?"
"That was never an issue for me. You know that."
"Yes, you never cared, but I did. She's rich. I can tell by the guilty look on your face. Can I chance a guess? Serenity Lunaris."
He only blinked at her pointed inquiry, which was a yes to all of her questions.
"Well, that would explain how you got the silver crystal."
"How do you know all these things?"
"How could I not, Darien?! I'm a leader of people, who drives their actions, emotions. I must know everything that goes on in my realm of business, or I will send a friend to her death."
"You don't seem to have a problem with sending any one else to a premature death."
"No, I don't seem to, do I?" A sweetly reminiscent smile crossed her face briefly.
"You're not the girl I used to know."
"No. No I'm not. Because my soulmate stole my heart, and then sold it."
"I don't understand, Erin, how could you actually care for someone like that?
He didn't get reply, as she ran swiftly away from him, but he could have sworn he heard her crying.
AN: Thanks for the people who reviewed the story in earnestness. I accidently checked the no anonymous reviews box in my settings, but I still don't see where it's that important. Plus, it's not like I was begging. That wasn't quite the type of input I had wanted...^_~ Oh,well, that sort of thing just gets on my nerves...