Disclaimer. I don't own Sailor Moon or any other Anime. I do own the original characters in this fic however, so my fee for using them is to tell me you did it.... I wanna read the story too!

Moon Cats: Fearful Symmetry

Chapter Seven

Lt. Ichiro Hibuki adjusted the ear protectors covering his ears, blinking in the dimly lit shadows of the helicopter. The cool air of the night blew violently around as the aircrafts rotors cut through the atmosphere. He leaned forward and spoke into his headset mike. "I have to thank you again, Ms. Tenou. The department wasn't sure about Artemis's idea."

"No problem! I don't get to fly much lately, anyway. You gave me an excuse to spin this thing up." Haruka, otherwise known as Sailor Uranus, glanced back with a smile. "Besides, with your police clearance, I get to fly lower and faster then usual."

Hibuki chuckled. The department wouldn't fund a helicopter state out for what MIGHT be a drug case, and narcotics didn't think the limited evidence supported a large expenditure in man power, though they did arrange for a raid team to be on call that night. Trout-King had assured the CAPPA officers that the dumping had been happening every three nights like clockwork. The helicopter was so Hibuki could direct his own people as to what car to follow without having to use his entire unit on the stake out. His people had collected other cases shortly after the first, big one and he couldn't afford to waste manpower.

"Got something." Artemis yelled. Hibuki looked down at the cat man, who held a set of simple binoculars to his eyes. Hibuki, who lacked the cat's night vision, lifted a set of Night Vision Goggles to his eyes.

"Oh yeah, that's a barrel. Did you see them come in?"

"No, but ya bet I'll follow them out."

"Did you get that Shimaka?"

"Oh yeah." Came over the radio. "Any direction likely? It'd cut the possible entrances down."

"South or southeast is my bet." Artemis responded. "Get you and Maya over that way."

"Roger that."

The suspects disappeared into the brush for about a minute, the stepped back out with only one man carrying the barrel. "We got the dumpers, what ever else they may be."

Hibuki grunted in agreement. "Southern parking lot. Looks like... A panel van."

"Blue cargo van." Artemis corrected. "Haruka could you drift a bit closer. I can't quite read the plates."

"Roger." The blond said, even as the helicopter tilted slightly.

"The plates read... XX725... and I can't make out anything else."

"It'll do, Arty. We'll tell you where we're going."

"Roger." Hibuki leaned back again. "Haruka, could you switch to frequency B?"

"Done."

"Yaki, this is Hibuki. Are you all ready?"

"Yes Lieutenant." The detective on the other end replied. Sergeant Hotoro Yaki and small narcotics team was on stand by, pending what CAPPA dug up that night.

"Switch to the 'A' frequency then. We have our boys and the ground unit is in pursuit."

"Roger. Loading the truck now."

"Back to 'A' please, Ms. Tenou."

"Call me Haruka. Back to 'A'."

"Shimaka, where are you?"

"West on fifth. Looks like the warehouse district."

Hibuki ignored the shift as the helicopter turned and flew towards the warehouses near Tokyo bay. "You get that Yaki?"

"Roger. We've been seeing a lot of stuff that way lately. Looks like Mr. Yui's hunch was right."

"They usually are, Yaki." Artemis assured, sitting up and closing the helicopter's sliding door.

"I'll remember that."

Shimaka interrupted. "We have a location." He rattled off the address and simple directions by road. "It's boarded and looks deserted."

"Then it's the real deal. Haruka, can you find that?"

"Reach into my flight bag and get me my road map." Hibuki did as she asked, opening the professional grade map book to the proper page.

"Oh yeah, that's near the docks right?"

"Maya says yes."

"Then when you hear a helo, wave a flashlight. Keep a look out for me Artemis."

"Right." A few minutes later. "Got it. Two blocks left and one forward."

'Commencing and orbit then." She looked down at her control panel. "I have thirty minutes before I have to head back. What's your ETA Yaki."

"Ten plus say... ten to set up. You don't mind giving them a panic attack like we discussed?"

"I said I would! Hell Yaki, it'll be fun!"

"I'm betting on you, your next race. You get guts, girl."

"Idle wealth plus a low boredom threshold."

"Okay people, cut the chatter." Hibuki growled. "Give us a call when you're good to go Yaki."

"Roger Lieutenant."

Artemis, Hibuki, and Haruka all silently waited for the signal. The minutes seemed to stretch forever.

Now!"

Haruka was already swinging the helicopter around before the word was finished. The howls of the diving helicopter drowning out the radio traffic from the narcotics raiding team. Almost as if teleported, from Hibuki's perspective, the small helicopter was hovering only a few meters above the warehouse roof. A skylight, old and fragile, actually shattered which had to add about ten times to the sound, and the raining glass would disrupt any resistance the narcotics boys might be running into.

Haruka hovered, giving the crooks below something to think about, but after a few minutes brought the helicopter up and around, heading back to the private airfield she kept it at. "Sgt. Yaki, this is Haruka. I am low on fuel and returning to the airfield."

"Understood. You scared these buggers but right!"

"We aim to please." She said with a chuckle.

Hibuki also laughed. "I take it your not having any problems, Sergeant?"

"Naw... They folded like cheap chairs."

"Then meet us at Harkada's bar and grill. First round is on me!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

"... And we rush in, ready to bust heads, and all twelve of them are staring at the ceiling." Yaki was laughing, the whole image, in his mind, hysterical. "Then ONE of these brain doners looks down, at us, and says 'Oh... Hello'!" Haruka and Artemis start laughing along with the narcotics detective, all three several sheets to the wind.

"By the way, Artemis! Why don't you take your coat off and stay a while?"

"I'm cold Yaki." Was the fairly drunken moon cat's reply.

The detective blinked. "It's like eighty degrees in here!"

Haruka jumped to his defense. "He always wears a coat. He really likes fur better though!" And the defense crumbled like a coffeecake.

"I don't have to take this abuse!" Artemis declared, stumbling to his feet. "Besides I have to use the litter box."

Shimaka shook his head, sitting at another table with Hibuki. "Okay, we aren't letting Artemis drink anymore."

"Why not? It was a good bust, and he has as much right to party as the rest of them." Hibuki said.

"He's had a beer and a half in the past hour Ichiro!"

Hibuki looked at his own beer, his second, and he didn't even feel it yet. "Right. No drinking for Artemis. I wonder if Luna has the same problem."

"I'm torn between wanting to find out, and not." Shimaka chuckled. "I bet she's an elegant drunk though!"

"Nah!" Artemis, having made a shockingly fast round trip, Hibuki hoped, spoke up. "She starts singing and gets all maudlin and stuff. Then she starts fights!" The white haired cat-man grinned. "She's also a really cheap date!"

Then he slumped across their table passed out.

"I'll give you a hundred yen to take him home." Hibuki said.

"Nope. My wife gets angry if cops puke in the family car."

"Two hundred?"

"Nope."

"Damn." Hibuki stood and hefted the small man over his shoulder. "I'll head out then. Do me a favor and stop anyone who's had too much from driving. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later."

Hibuki carried Artemis out, slipping him into the back of his own car. While the cat obviously couldn't handle alcohol to save his life, the less then two beers in two hours didn't have any noticeable effects on the larger human. Shaking his head Hibuki drove to Mamoru's house. "he's going to feel this in the morning!"

____________________________________________________________________________________

Luna paused, looking down at an unusually disheveled Artemis who was laying his head on his desk with concern. "Artemis, do you feel well?"

"Don't yell." He groaned.

"I am not yelling." Luna said, in a softer voice. "Have you seen Mamoru? It might be the flu."

"Migraine?"

"No. It's not a migraine." Artemis growled.

Luna got annoyed. "I realize you do not feel well." Luna spoke loudly, causing Artemis to writhe in his chair. "However that is no reason to take it out on me!"

"He's hung over." Shimaka said, trying to come to the white haired officer's rescue. "We got the meth lab and we all had a few drinks to celebrate."

"Oh!" Luna nodded. "You really shouldn't have, you know how alcohol affects you."

"This from the woman dubbed Luna 'The Beer Barbarian' Tsukino in college. "Part of his mind cheered at not only remembering their silver millennium college days but also remembering her 'last name'. Unfortunately his internal editor was still sleeping off the night before, along with his survival instinct.

Shimaka, for his part, absently thought Luna was rather pretty when she blushed, almost as attractive as his wife did. 'Yep.' he thought 'she gets all red when she gets angry, too.'

"Well Artemis!" Luna outright yelled, leaning closer to Artemis for added effect. "I seem to remember SOMEONE waking up with every inch of hair shaved off their body, with no idea when it happened once!" Artemis whimpered. "Really, that fight was over like... A thousand years ago!"

Luna turned and paused, blushing, when she realized everyone in the building was looking at her. She rushed off to the bathroom.

Shimaka, quietly, opened the 'Artemis and Luna engagement' betting pool logs and bought another, earlier date. A tap on his shoulder caused him to look up. "Yes Lieutenant?"

The older man handed him some yen. "Within the next month, the sixteenth through the twentieth please." He said quietly.

"Inside info?"

"Naw, just reminds me of my wife and me." They both chuckled and Hibuki walked back to his office to work on paperwork. About half an hour there was a knock on his door. "Come!"

Luna slipped in, shutting the door. "Lieutenant, I would like to talk to you about something but it is a little awkward."

"Go ahead. I've got some time."

"Usagi was extremely disturbed by what she found on that ship, and she's been loosing sleep over it."

"I'm not surprised. I lost sleep!"

"So did Artemis and Mamoru from what they said. The problem is Usagi feels like she should be doing something to protect people from things like that."

"She does, Luna. Somehow she does it in heels!" That alone had never ceased to amaze Hibuki.

"She doesn't feel that way. She wants to help out here."

"out of the question! She's way too young to work here."

"I'm not talking about being on the streets Lieutenant. She'd be happy helping me in the offices!"

"I can't. The department would throw a fit if I had a young girl hanging around. If she was a boy I could do something..." His own internal alarms went off, unlike Artemis giving him a chance to back up.

"What do you mean 'If she was a boy'?" Luna frowned, giving her supposed boss a disapproving look.

"It's not my fault! The commissioner started an Explorers club for young men, but it's rules say only boys can join!"

"Explorers?"

"Young people learning about being a cop in an actual station house, after school some days. We stole the idea from the American boy scouts."

"Lieutenant, I'm going to be eating lunch with Captain Makata if you need me." She said, turning and exiting the office. Hibuki absently thought about warning the police commissioner but decided against it.

Luna would know who warned him, after all.

AN: The power of Luna's disapproving look! And do you really think just Usagi's going to be involved? Of course, maybe I should let some of the Senshi loose in other departments though. Chaos can be fun.

Who likes Usagi and Hotaru at CAPPA HQ? I do.