A Viper's Poison
.:Angelgrl185:.
Thanks to: Joruri Mouri, ngan, and Lady Isis for the wonderful reviews of Chapter Four! I really appreciate the encouragement, it keeps me writing.
((I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its components))
Previously on A Viper's Poison:
Serena looked over to her right and looked out the window to see the morning sun peaking over the mountains, indicating a new day.
"Its time."
Chapter Five: An Unexpected Meeting
Serena slipped out of the satin covers of her bed as quietly and motionless as she could in order not to wake Luna, who was sleeping peacefully on the top of her pillow. She slid her feet into the soft slippers sitting at the base of her bed before the morning chill could catch them. Trudging over to the window, she pulled back the blinds, letting the sparse rays of morning light into the room, creating a soft orange glow. Serena then proceeded to her bathroom where she turned on the shower water to let it heat up to the perfect degree of temperature while she brushed her teeth at the sink.
Taking off her sweats, Serena opened the shower door and walked in, the burning down pour of water hitting her skin, immediately dashing any hint of sleepiness from her senses. After taking a slow leisurely shower, Serena dried off, wrapped herself in her robe and headed over to her closet to choose what to wear to lunch.
"Hmm…I need something that will captivate his attention." She muttered to herself in thought. "But not something incredibly slutty, that turns most decent men off and from his file, he seems to be a top notch gentleman."
Serena fished through her closet, tossing aside various styled mini skirts and tee shirts. Serena found a pair of dark blue jeans and slide them up her legs, the top resting just below her belly button, but not too low. She slipped on a tight hot pink tank top and covered it with a looser black one, the hot pink showing around all the edges. Serena then grabbed a pair of black sneakers and slipped them on over her ankle socks. Walking to her vanity table, she picked out silver dangling earrings that had tiny alternating black and pink stars. On her neck she adorned a silver chain with a two small-connected stars, one black and one pink to match her earrings. On her right wrist she slipped a couple of silver bracelets and on her left she kept her silver watch.
Serena picked up her hairbrush and ran it through her silky silver blond tresses, enjoying the feel of the bristles massaging her head and the way the strands caressed her neck when they fell back in place. She gathered the top half of her hair in a small ponytail and let a few strands hang down to frame her face. She skillfully applied black mascara to her lashes, making them long and luscious. Black eyeliner framed each eye and she put a touch of pink lip-gloss on her lips to give them moisture and shine. Studying her appearance in her mirror, Serena smiled in satisfaction and got up and headed out of her room, flicking off the light and shutting the door almost all the way so Luna could still get out when she woke up.
Serena loped down the stairs, her sneakers thudding on the wooden surface of each step, her hand trailing along the wooded banister. She walked leisurely down the wooden floored hallway until she reached the white tiles of her kitchen floor. Serena headed to the counter and turned the knob to the stove onto hot, grabbing the green tea kettle and pouring in water from the faucet before setting it back on top of the burner. She reached into the cabinet next to her and pulled out a plastic bowl. Walking to the pantry, she grabbed a box of Cocoa Puffs and pulled the milk out of the refrigerator. Pouring a heaping amount of Cocoa Puffs into her bowl and complementing it will cold milk; she grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer and set her bowl down at the metal stool at her island counter.
Serena pulled a glass cup from the dishwasher and filled it with Tropicana's pulp free orange juice as the kettle on her stove began to whistle rather loudly. She picked the kettle of the burner and set it on the unused part of the stove as she fished a silver travel mug from behind a cabinet door. She placed a coffee filter on the cup with some beans and poured the water over them, lifting up the filter to make sure a stream of brown liquid was flowing through the other side into her cup. Satisfied, Serena went back to her stool, and dug into her cereal.
When she was finished eating, Serena dumped her bowl and such into the sink to wash later and finished preparing her morning coffee by adding a couple packets of sugar and some cream. When she was done, she grabbed a black vinyl jacket from the closet in the hallway and a little hot pink purse, stuffing in her cell, keys, and other random objects that a woman needs in her daily life. Grabbing her viper keys from the hanging rack, she headed out the garage door, locking it and got in to her viper, pressing the garage door opener.
Picking up her cell phone, she dialed Mina's number and waited patiently for her blond friend to answer.
"Hello?" came a groggy feminine voice belonging to Mina.
"Rise and shine!" Serena said cheerfully to Mina and was rewarded with a groan of annoyance.
"It is too early for that much cheer." Mina said grumpily.
"Oh come on now, its now nine o clock, get your lazy butt up."
"Why." Mina responded sleepily, her attention drifting off.
"BECAUSE…" Serena shouted into the cell to gain Mina's slipping attention. "We have a mission to accomplish today."
"Serena, you said we weren't going to do that until dinner, that's not for at least ten hours."
"Yeah, I know, I know, I just couldn't sleep and I got up early so I decided to do lunch instead. Besides, lunchtime is easier going then dinnertime is. He'd be so run down from his long work day that he wouldn't be very sociable so I decided that lunch would be the best." Serena explained.
"Ugh, you could have told me earlier before I stayed up all night watching a movie marathon." Mina groaned.
Serena rolled her eyes, "Just be ready in a half an hour, cause I'm coming to pick you up."
"Fine, fine, I'll be ready."
"Good. See you then." Serena said happily.
"Bye." Mina garbled and hung up the phone.
"She really needs to learn to become more sociable in the morning." Serena said shaking her head at the cell phone in her hand.
Serena sped along the highway, focused on the road ahead of her as she sang along with the radio blaring out of her stereo. She arrived in front of Mina's apartment forty-five minutes later and blared the horn, making sure Mina was aware that she had arrived. Minutes later, Mina spilled out her front door and fumbled with her key and lock before hurrying down the sidewalk and hopping into the Viper.
"You look cute." Serena complimented her, admiring Mina's fringed jean skirt, white tank top with a multi-colored netted sash draped around her waist and the khaki corduroy hat perched on her head.
"Thanks." Mina said, flashing her friend a bright smile.
"Why are we leaving so early? It's only ten thirty." Mina speculated.
"Oh did I not tell you? It's a really long drive. The Crown Arcade is in DC and we might catch the end of traffic heading in for the morning." Serena grinned sheepishly.
"Great, you know how I love traffic." Mina said sarcastically.
"Oh come on Mina, you're going to meet a boy. That should make it ten times better." Serena teased her.
Mina lifted an eyebrow and gave Serena a look.
"Honestly Serena, what kind of girl do you think I am?" Mina asked in mock hurt.
"The kind who's every action has an ulterior motive that has something to do with a boy." Serena said bluntly, her aqua eyes laughing at her friend's offended expression.
"Oh just drive." Mina said, laughter bubbling in her throat. Serena snickered and they drove on in comfortable silence, the radio playing softly.
An hour later, Serena was nimbly weaving through the entourage of cars in DC, looking for the Crown Arcade.
"Hey, I think that's it over there." Mina said, pointing to a café on the corner of a strip of buildings a couple feet ahead.
"Yeah, I think you're right Mina. I need to find a place to park though, this place is a freaking zoo!" Serena agreed as she scanned for an empty spot.
"Oh there's one, but I have to turn at the light and it's red! I hope no one takes it." Serena pleaded with the oblivious drivers.
She pulled to a stop in the left hand turning lane at the red light and waited impatiently for the light to turn green. A few minutes later, her lane was given a green turning arrow and Serena immediately gunned the viper and started to whip into the intersection to turn towards her designated parking spot.
Out of the corner of her eye, Serena glimpsed a fleck of red to her right coming towards her and Mina at an alarming rate. Serena turned her head and saw a man driving a red sports car headed straight towards them.
"Oh my gosh!" Mina shrieked in fear. "Someone ran the red light Serena! He's going to hit us!"
Serena's quick reflexes kicked in immediately when she realized that she and Mina were in danger and grasped the wheel firmly and spun it to the left, gunning the engine in the process, changing her left hand turn to a U-turn to avoid him hitting the front of the car and Mina.
Unfortunately, the man was speeding to fast to avoid hitting Serena completely and amidst blaring horns from neighboring cars, all trying to warn the two cars, the red sports car slammed into the left side of the car, right behind Serena, sending the viper into a tailspin.
Serena stared, eyes wide as the car swiveled around, the scene before her blurring into a mass of color. She held the wheel in a viselike grip and thanked God reverently that she always wore her seatbelt.
Suddenly, the viper slammed into what seemed to be a brick building, the car having careened across the intersection from the impact of the collision. Serena was jolted forward in her seat and slammed her head against the steering wheel, her body being jerked back by the seatbelt.
Serena felt a sharp pain in her head from the wheel and shaking removed a hand and placed it over her head feeling warm sticky blood soiling her hands. Groaning in pain, Serena straightened up, her ribs feeling sore and gave a gasp of pain. Slowly turning her head, she looked over to Mina who was slumped in her seat, her blond head resting against the window. The glass had shattered and was sprinkled all over her friend and Serena noticed trails of blood running down the front of Mina's face from the sharp glass.
Fear spread within Serena as she looked at Mina's unresponsive, broken look. She reached over a hand and grasped Mina's bloody one, pulling it from her lap and gripped the wrist, looking for and finding a pulse. Serena breathed a sigh of relief as sirens filled the air. She forced her legs to cooperate and opened her door, climbed shaking from the car and stood up quickly, immediately wishing she hadn't.
Serena's headache worsened as she stood and she swayed on her feet, putting a hand on her head and the other on the frame of the car to keep her up. Her vision was fading in and out, growing dim, and then brightening beyond normality.
"Ooh." Serena moaned as she swayed a final time before her knees gave out under her and she collapsed, falling in what seemed like slow motion to the pavement below her. Instead of hitting the hard concrete, Serena landed against a solid body, arms encircling her waist, holding her close and supporting her. Serena cracked open her eyes, trying to see who caught her, but her vision was blurred and all she could make out was dark ebony hair and deep blue eyes before darkness surrounded her and she blacked out into oblivion.
Darien stared silently at the woman he was holding in his arms, admiring her exotic beauty. Her silver blond hair was bellowed out in waves, cascading from her head down to the sidewalk and he could feel the silkiness of the strands as the lay strewn across his arm, supporting the unknown woman under her neck, his hand gently cupping her head.
Her eyes were shut, but he remembered them from when she hazily stared up at him, her bright aquamarine eyes drawing him into their depths. Now they were closed and all he could see were the thick black lashes framing them. Her nose was small and, cute, but her lips, they were luscious. Pink, soft and full, a beautiful combination. Her skin was soft and very pale, mostly because of the fright she had just been in, but Darien had no doubt that her skin was also naturally paler then most and it suited her.
She had passed out right when he reached her to ask if she was ok. He had been heading towards the Crown Arcade for lunch when he saw the accident occur. The other car didn't have nearly as much damage as she did and the man was walking around surveying the damage and talking to the police who had arrived on the scene.
Darien turned his attention once more to the woman who was molded in his arms. He could feel her muscular tone and curves as they were hugged to him. His gaze wandered from her face down her long neck to her chest, admiring her full breasts which he had a tremendous view of because of her tank top. Embarrassed, Darien looked around for any paramedics and saw some running towards him. When they arrived, he willingly handed over the woman, but not before stealing one more glance at her angelic face. Standing up, he brushed off the dirt that had accumulated on him from kneeling on the ground and watched as two other paramedics carefully took another blond female from the passenger side of the car that was also unresponsive.
"Excuse me, Sir." A gruff voice called Darien's attention to his right, and he turned his body to face an older police officer, speaking to him.
"Yes, officer?"
"I saw that you were handling one of the woman taken to the hospital, were you by chance in the car as well and could tell us what happened?" the officer asked him.
Darien shook his head briefly before responding. "No, I wasn't in the car, but I did see the whole thing. I was heading over to the Crown Arcade when I saw it happen." He said pointing to the edge of the sidewalk where he was waiting to cross the intersection before the accident occurred.
"That's fine, we are going to need you for questioning about the incident since the two women are unconscious as of the moment. All we have is the statement from the other victim." The officer explained.
"That's fine, do you need me now?"
"Yes, if you would follow me please." The officer motion to Darien with his hand and led him to the police car. After getting in the car, Darien and the police officer sat in silence until they reached the police station.
Serena softly fluttered her eyelashes, trying to regain her vision as white walls focused in and out of her vision. She woke to a beeping sound to her right and turned her stiff neck slightly to settle her now focused gaze on a heart monitor.
'I'm in the hospital?' Serena asked herself in confusion, 'what happened?'
Flashes of a bright red streak filled her mind along with bloody blond hair contrasted with dark ebony hair and blue eyes.
"The accident!" Serena yelled aloud in remembrance as she sat up quickly, ignoring the pain in her ribs.
"Mina! Mina!" she screamed frantically, looking around the deserted room for her best friend.
"Shush, darling. It's ok, it's ok." A plump redhead in a white nurses uniform said soothingly to her as she entered the room and came to stand beside Serena's bed.
"You had a little accident. You struck your head on the steering wheel and received a nice deep wound and a concussion as well as bruised a few ribs from the seatbelt." The nurse informed her of the minimal severity of her wounds.
"Where's Mina? What about Mina?" Serena asked her, still frantic, her blue-green eyes pleading with the nurses soft brown ones.
"She's in the room next to you. She's fine as well. Your friend has a lot of cuts on her face from breaking through the glass, but we've reduced the scarring, you won't be able to see it when her cuts have healed. She also received a concussion and broke her arm when it hit the dashboard."
"Oh, Mina." Serena whispered, closing her eyes at her friend's pain.
"You ma'am will be released probably tomorrow, your friend might have to wait a couple more days." The nurse added.
"How long have we been here?" Serena questioned.
"Two days now. You and your friend must've been completely exhausted because you've been sleeping for a day and a half straight. Your friend is still not awake yet."
"There was a man." Serena recalled to herself.
"There was a man who came in to check on you two, quite handsome if I do say so myself." The nurse chuckled. "What does your man look like?"
"Dark hair, bright blue eyes…" Serena struggled to remember his face.
"Yes, that sounds about right. He apparently was a witness to the accident and was checking up on you two. A very nice young man he was. All right dear, I suspect that you are hungry. Let me go find you some food." The nurse smiled at Serena before leaving to find some food.
"Bright blue eyes, so familiar…" Serena whispered, trying to recall where she had seen him before. She didn't know his face but those eyes; she recognized the eyes. They were so beautiful.
Serena was snapped to attention when she heard a masculine voice cough gently.
"Excuse me, uh, I, uh, hi." He stammered while looking at the floor not sure of what to say.
"Hi." Serena said back in confusion. She couldn't see who it was, he stood in the doorway covered by the shadows, his face pointed towards the ground and she didn't recognize the voice.
"I'm sorry, you must be wondering who I am. I was at the accident I saw the whole thing. I just wanted to see how you guys were doing and if you had woken up." He explained, stepping slowly into the room.
The shadows clinging to his form melted away as he stepped into the light of the room. Serena's eyes traveled up his worn blue jeans, to his dark blue polo shirt to his face, framed with soft black hair and looked into his eyes. His deep blue eyes.
"You!" Serena gasped, placing a hand over her mouth.
Bright aqua eyes stared into deep indigo, neither moving, nor breathing. Serena felt something stir within her as she gazed at him, her eyes never leaving his and she was befuddled. Confused, Serena lowered her eyes and broke the contact.
"My name is Darien." He spoke softly.
"Serena."
"I uh, brought you these." He said shyly, running his left hand through his black hair while holding out a small bouquet of wildflowers in his right.
"Thank you." Serena accepted the flowers and breathed in their soothing scents. She looked at Darien over the top of the flowers and that's when it hit her.
'Darien!' her mind screamed at her.
'That's him! That's the man you are supposed to kill.' Her mind bluntly reminded her. Serena's eyes immediately darkened as she was reminded of her mission before brightening again as she formed an idea.
"You helped me right? You caught me when I blacked out." Serena said to him.
"Yeah, I was just going to see if you were all right and you kind of just fell." He explained.
"Yes…well, I want to repay you for your kindness." Serena stated simply.
"Oh, no. I can't let you do that. I was just being a normal American citizen."
"Normal American citizens wouldn't have taken their time to help someone." Serena grinned.
"I would like you to accompany me to dinner. Well, my friend Mina and I, so we can thank you. You can bring a friend if you wish." Serena proposed.
Darien smiled and nodded his head.
"Ok, I would love too."
"Good, then it's settled. How about Friday night? Mina should be out of the hospital by then, say seven?" She asked.
"That'd be fine, I'd just have to double check to see if Andrew is free." Darien agreed.
"Wonderful, we'll meet you at Chez Antoine in DC." Serena decided causing Darien's eyes to nearly pop out of his head at the pricey restaurant she picked.
"Don't you think that is a little expensive?" Darien argued.
"Absolutely not, you deserve the best for saving us. We'll take care of everything." Serena smiled sweetly.
"Uh, well, I guess if that's what you want." Darien said unsurely.
"Oh so you returned." A new voice appeared on the scene. The redheaded nurse had come back with Serena's dinner.
"Here you go love." She said as she set the plate on the tray built into the hospital bed. Serena smiled her thanks.
"I'm sorry sir, but you must take your leave now. Ms. Serena must eat and regain her strength." The nurse said apologetically to Darien.
"It's ok, bye Serena, I'll see you Friday." Darien said softly to Serena, waving briefly before walking out the door.
"Mmm, what did I say? There's a nice body on that one and a good looking face too." The nurse whistled appreciatively as she watched Darien leave causing Serena to burst out into laughter at her antics.
"I couldn't agree more." Serena smiled.
Yay! Darien finally made his appearance! I know it was a brief one, but he will be it this story a lot more from now on. I hoped you liked this chapter, sorry it took so long, I had a lot of class work since finals are coming up and its Thanksgiving break. I'm hoping to have to more chapters out before Christmas, but we'll see. They won't come out until after finals probably, which is after December 10th. I'll try to get one out sooner. Please review!!
.:Angelgrl185:.