Ok so I have this weird little short story and wasn't sure where to place it, but then decided why not place it among the rest, so here it is! I wrote this piece because I always wondered how the girls dealt with not only their past memories/deaths, but also having to fight their (now canon) lovers that had turned evil. I figured they must have had some form of PTSD. They seemed so cool with all of it and figured no way they're this normal about it. No lovey-dovey story on this one! Sorry if that's what you guys expected from the latest update.

Featuring: Minako and Rei (with a special guest appearance)
Universe: Random. A "what-if"
Warnings/Ratings: A little dark with a few curse words thrown in. T for sure.

The shrill music blaring from somewhere to her left made Minako curse her phone. With a groan she swung her arm around, fishing for her phone while trying to blink the sleep away. Whoever was calling her so early on a Sunday morning had better have a wonderful excuse.

Minako didn't even bother to check who had called her. Jamming her finger on the green dot, she rolled over and closed her eyes. Her room was way too bright and she could feel a killer headache coming on.

"This better be good," she mumbled.

"Minako, I need your help."

Minako blinked a couple of times. It was Rei. Asking for help. Hell must have frozen over. She pulled her phone away from her ear to double check her hearing hadn't left her. Nope, it was definitely Rei calling.

"I think I killed a civilian," she heard Rei whisper.

Minako sat bolt upright and immediately regretted it. Her room spun and she felt nauseous. Those last three shots last night suddenly didn't sound like such a good idea.

"Rei, if this is a joke, it's not a very good one," she commented, closing her eyes and praying for the room to stop spinning. Was she still drunk?

"I'm not joking!" Rei half whispered, half screamed at her.

"We can't go around killing civilians! What were you thinking?" Maybe she was still drunk because a little giggle escaped her lips. She slapped her hand across her mouth in horror. This was no time for her to start panicking. She was their leader and she needed to start acting like it.

"It was an accident!" Rei gritted back, sounding slightly shifty.

Minako paused from getting out of bed, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Rei…" She began, her voice taking the tone Usagi had dubbed "leader voice".

"What?" Rei snapped back, but the usual snarkiness was nowhere to be found.

Minako's head kept whirling, but not because of the alcohol she had consumed the night before. What had gotten into Rei? Minako normally hated silence and would do everything in her power to fill in the awkward void, but this time she remained silent.

"Look, it was ok? Just drop it. I need you to come down here and help me figure this out."

"No, I won't! You're lying to me! You've always been a horrible liar," she stated. She finally rose out of bed, lurching towards her bathroom. She felt out of sorts, like her mind wasn't attached to her body. This had to be a horrible nightmare she just couldn't wake up from until it relayed its message. Like one of those horror movies she watched.

When Minako heard nothing from the other end, she almost thought Rei had just hung up. She glanced at her phone and saw the seconds tick by, and the slow, panicky feeling began to rise. Finally, she heard an audible sigh from the other line. Too bad the horrible, panicky feeling only seemed to claw faster at her heart.

"I thought it was him, Minako. I thought it was him and I…" Rei's voice hitched and the line went quiet again.

Minako felt cold inside. She didn't need to be a mind reader to know whom Rei had meant. Her heart—her very being—had finally been captured by the dreadful monster that called itself fear, and it had a firm grip on her. She wasn't really sure if Rei had managed to say anything else. Her hearing had zeroed in on her hyperactive heartbeat.

She tried to take a calming breath before speaking, and managed a pitiful half-rattle at best. Rei needed her help and she'd be no use to her if she fell apart now. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, visualizing the air entering her nose and exiting her mouth.

When she knew she would not falter, she pulled the phone back to her ear. "Did anyone see you?"

"No," Rei's clipped tone responded. No hesitation. That was a good sign.

"Where are you now?"

"I stuffed his body in the trunk and drove further out of the city. I stopped after I calmed down and to call you. I'm in the middle of nowhere, basically."

Minako flinched at Rei's words. Her mind began to reel out of control but she grasped at the tiny strands and held on. She would have time later on to break down, but not yet. Not yet.

"Good. I'll be there as soon as I can." She stood and began to rummage in her closest for nondescriptive clothes.

"And the others?"

Minako paused in her search and considered the question. "Don't involve them yet."

Minako never much cared for driving. With her busy schedule, she rarely had time to drive herself anywhere. She had people for that. The only reason she even had a car was because she had been given one for free for an ad or movie. She had been reminded why she didn't care much for it again as she made her way to Rei's location; too much time to think.

By the time she had pulled her car by Rei's, her mind had spun enough crazy ideas she could feel the beginnings of a slight headache. She slipped out of her car, her blue gaze landing on her dark haired friend. Rei had made no move to acknowledge her. Instead, she kept her back towards her, leaning against the hood of her own car. The sun had already started its assent, throwing its rays across the grassy terrain. It turned everything it touched a soft, golden shade—her favorite color. A slight breeze rustled the wild flowers and tickled her cheeks as it threw her lemon colored hair around her face. The scenery looked peaceful; too bad it did little to ease her mind of the turmoil.

Minako glanced at her phone. The numbers 7:23 flashed up at her. She frowned. Maybe the cause of her headache stemmed from lack of sleep and bouts of alcohol. She walked over to Rei then, the weariness she now felt seeping into her bones.

"How did this happen?" She asked quietly. She watched as Rei's fingers grasped the hood of her car until her knuckles turned white and then her fingers relaxed again.

Rei finally looked at her and Minako almost let out a gasp at what she saw. She expected fury or sadness even, but not the haunted look that swam in violet eyes. Rei looked like shit—paler than normal with dark circles giving her a slight gaunt look. Minako knew that all of them were experiencing some type of insomnia. But now she felt like a horrible leader for not realizing how bad it'd gotten. Were all of their eyes haunted?

Rei cleared her throat and shifted her eyes away from Minako's. "I haven't been able to fall asleep easily and when I do, the nightmares are always waiting for me. They've gotten worse."

Minako looked down at her own hands, which had balled into fits. Her nightmares had been the same. She could almost see it now, the fire and destruction, the blood curdling screams of the dying, the taste of metallic on her tongue. Rei's voice brought her back from the hellish memory.

"I tried everything, but nothing seemed to help. So one night I took my car and drove. Mindless driving. Sometimes it helped. Sometimes…" Rei paused, shrugging a shoulder.

Minako remembered reading the reports on the news; reports of burnt pastures and grassy fields with no lead about the causes.

"You've been burning things," Minako affirmed.

"Yes," Rei admitted with no hesitation. "Sometimes."

"You know we aren't supposed to do that!" She chided, her frustration seeping into her voice.

"What would you rather I do? Drown myself in alcohol like you've been doing? That seems to be working well for you," Rei snapped back, the sarcasm dripping off her words in waves. "For the record, you look just as shitty as I do."

Minako flinched as if Rei had slapped her. She knew she should've punished Rei for her insubordination, but she could hardly be judgmental just now.

"So what? You go killing civilians willy-nilly instead?" Minako regretted the words as soon as they escaped her lips. Rei's eyes flared up and she pushed off of the hood of her car. Minako could feel the air around her turn hotter. Rei looked like she was ready to hit her and Minako knew she wouldn't stop her if she did. She deserved it.

Instead, Rei growled out in frustration and slammed her hands down on the hood of her car. "I didn't—he just looked so much like him that I—I snapped! Something came unhinged. After everything he put me through—that they put us through! The lies, the deceit! The killings of innocent people. The literal stabbings. He tried killing Usagi, Ami, and me! Multiple times!" Rei's anguished voice made Minako want to reach out and comfort her.

"And when I saw that guy step in front of my car, oblivious to the world, I knew he came back. It was him, Minako! I swear, when I looked closely, it was him. I knew if I didn't kill him, he'd kill somebody I loved. So I rammed my car into him, hopping to stun him. When I went to go confront him…it wasn't him, it was this other guy, his body laying in front of my car at an odd angle, as still as could be…but I could've sworn…" Rei's eyes became unfocused, moving rapidly, as if searching for something.

"Am I going crazy?" Rei whispered dejectedly. Minako knew how much Rei hated being touched when she got in a mood, but she'd never been one who cared much about others personal space. Minako moved in and hugged her friend, hating herself for not noticing how much it had affected her friends. She'd been too damn selfish in trying to drown her own sorrows that she forgot that her friends suffered as well.

"You're as sane as I am," Minako half-heartedly joked back. She felt Rei pull away from the hug and let her arms hang limply at her sides.

"Then I am doomed," Rei grumbled back, a tiny smile fluttering across her face but then disappearing as quickly as it had come. "The man—"

"Do you know who he is?" Minako interrupted.

Rei shook her head. "I was afraid my mind would keep playing tricks on me."

Minako nodded her head in understanding. Minako held out her hand and Rei handed her key fob over. She walked over to the trunk and stared at it, thrumming her fingers on her hips. She still hadn't figured out what to do with the civilian. Her headache pierced her mind again and she rubbed her temples distractedly. At this rate she'd find multiple gray hairs sprouting from her hairline.

With a small sigh she pressed the button and a beep rang out, the trunk rising up with an audible click. Minako stared at the man awkwardly stuffed in the trunk. He was much too large for it. His knees had been bent in a weird shape so as to fit into the small space.

Minako saw the resemblance right away; thick, curly, blond hair fell messily around closed eyes—which Minako knew were cerulean— long eyelashes that any girl would be envious of, a perfectly symmetrical face with an angular jaw, and a thin upper lip but a full bottom one, which somehow still held a boyish grin, even in death.

The man had a few abrasions around his face, hands, and knees. Besides his neck being at an abnormal angle, he looked like he'd just fallen asleep. This man most certainly did resemble him, but it couldn't be. She had seen him die with her own eyes. Minako hesitantly fished around his pockets, searching for a wallet. She pulled out a phone and handed it to Rei while keeping the wallet for herself.

"I'm sure it's locked, but might as well try."

Minako flipped open the wallet and looked at the man's I.D. Jacob Jackson from some city in California. Minako vaguely wondered what he was doing all the way out here.

"Anything?" She asked Rei, not finding anything else of interest in Jacob's wallet.

"It's locked, like you said. But I can use his finger print to get it," Rei suggested.

"Oh! That's so smart!" Minako grabbed the phone back and lifted Jacob's right hand. She smashed his thumb by the sensor but cursed when it didn't work.

"Here, let me help." Rei guided his thumb and pressed firmly. The locked screen melted away and Minako pulled the phone back to examine it further. She clicked on his contacts and began to scroll. Nothing jumped out at her so she clicked out and started going through his messages. Minako had always been a little nosy.

"What are you doing? I have a dead body in my trunk and you're going through his shit? I need to figure out what to do with this and how I'm going to explain to everyone else that I broke one of the most sacred rules!" Rei huffed at her, exasperated.

"Just a sec—" Minako stopped and narrowed her eyes. She had clicked on a guy's message on a whim. The last thing Jacob had sent to a Keaton was a picture of someone in a car with a text that read Found one. Minako clicked on the image and zoomed in. Minako gasped, almost dropping the phone from surprise. Instantly she felt a cold dread spread through her body.

"What? What is it?" Rei had quickly moved by her side, trying to see what had startled her.

"Rei, it's—" Minako's voice faltered as her eyes registered movement. Standing casually against the trunk that he had just been lying in was Jacob, a cold grin on his face.

"Well, well, well, looks like you found me before I had the pleasure."

Well there is my weird little story. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!