"Overcomed Fears and United Hearts"

I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON!

This is my first fic so please bear with me.

Comment: Good or bad I want to know.

Darien stared at the photos in his hand. One of them he had secretly taken from Andrew when he wasn't looking, before he had left for America. The girls had given him the other before they had left him at the arcade. He had stared at the picture for almost an hour in the arcade, before he said a hasty goodbye to Andrew and left for his apartment. Now he stared at the two pictures that he held; stared at the differences between them. He felt as if he was staring at two different people, but they were both of Serena.

The one that he held in his hand was of Serena before he had left for America. She was posing with Andrew in the arcade, just in front of the Sailor V game that she always played. The date on the back of the photo graph said that it was her birthday. Her meatballs were present as usual, as was the cheerful smile that always seemed to grace her lips. Andrew's arm was over her shoulders, and Serena had one of her arms wrapped around his waist. In her other hand was the stuffed bunny rabbit that Andrew had bought her for her birthday.

Darien shifted his gaze to the one that he held in his other hand. It wasn't an up close picture as the other one was. The girls told him that at that time, they hadn't seen Serena in months, and Thomas made it a point of letting them know that if Serena talked to them, then she would be punished. They said that he didn't tell them verbally, but they would always notice the bruises that she tried to hide with make up. Darien's eyes took in the huddled form walking beside Thomas. How he seemed to be ignoring her, but at the same time watching her. How her eyes held fear in them as she looked in his direction. How she looked ashamed of not him, but of herself. Her meatballs were gone, her smile was gone, the life in her eyes were gone. She looked like a fragile doll that would break at the slightest touch. Though he saw all the differences in her, what really hurt the most to see, were the black and blue bruises that showed on her delicate skin.

He stood up abruptly from his bed, and began pacing in front of it. He didn't have to look at the photograph that the girls had given him any more. He could see how Serena looked when he closed his eyes. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He wanted to find this guy and show him what it would be like to be on the receiving end. He wanted to do so many things, but he couldn't.

"You can't do anything rash, though. Every time we confront her, or when she tries to run, she just gets hurt even worse. The last time we convinced her to go to the cops, he met up with her about a block away. From what Andrew told us from that incident, Serena ended up in the hospital. Thomas never left her side, so she couldn't tell the doctors the truth. She had to tell them that she fell down some stairs. Trust us Darien, we've tried. As of now, the only way to protect her, is to leave her be. Just until we can actually help her get out of this."

"Damn it! There has to be something that we can do! There has to be something I can do." Darien finished in a whisper, as he fell back onto his bed.

"She doesn't even know you're back. She's not allowed out of that apartment without him."

"That's it! I'll show her that I'm back. It's a risk, but maybe if she knows I'm back, we can give her escape one more chance."

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"Look at the mess you made! I told you that when I get home this place is suppose to be spotless! Can't you do a simple task?!"

"You said that you didn't like the dinner that I made. You told me to make something else. I was only doing what - "

Serena stopped mid-sentence as the punch to her left cheek sent her crashing down onto the floor, along with the plates that she had been holding. Her vision blurred for a second before refocusing on the shattered plates. She knew she shouldn't have said anything. It was always worse when she talked back. But she was tired of being in trouble for everything, even when it wouldn't have happened in the first place if it wasn't for him. She looked back up at him, saw that he was getting ready to deliver another blow when he stopped mid-swing. He turned to look out the kitchen door towards the front door. Serena didn't dare take her eyes off of him, but she was curious as to what made him stop. Another knock on the door a minute later told her exactly what had.

"Damn neighbor, always coming around to poke her nose in where it doesn't belong. Go tell her that you fell and broke the plates and to mind her own damn business. We are not done here." Thomas stalked off towards his bedroom to change out of his work clothes.

Serena carefully picked herself up from the floor and walked towards the front door. She silently slid the chain lock off on the door so that she could open it at least halfway. If she didn't the neighbor would think she was hiding something, and would question her more. Thomas would as usual take it out on her, as if she had told the neighbor something she wasn't suppose to.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Lyle. I fell down in the kitchen and dropped some plates. I didn't mean to disturb you and your husband." Serena apologized as she cast her eyes downwards. She heard a sharp hiss of breath from above her. It was then she noticed the black men's dress shoes, the khaki pants that led to a black dress shirt. Her eyes continued their trail upward until she was looking into familiar stormy sea blue eyes framed by midnight black hair.

"D-Darien?"

Darien gave her a half-hearted smile, as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, it's me. I'm back from America for good. I came by to see you."

Serena rubbed her eyes and looked back at him as if she was dreaming. She tentatively reached out to touch him, but couldn't quite bring herself to. Darien continued to look into her eyes as he cut the distance himself and gently grabbed her hand. She looked at their hands for a second, before she shot her head up to look at him again. He something akin to recognition and shock enter her eyes, before the fear took over again. Darien instantly regretted touching her hand. Serena jerked her hand back and quickly made to shut the door in his face, which she did. He wasn't going to stop her, although he wanted to. But he did what he came to do; he showed Serena that he was back, and in his own way said that he was not leaving her again. He just hoped she understood what he meant. He turned to leave.

'I just hope she understands. I promise you Serena, I will get you out of this as soon as I can. Even if it kills me, I will not leave you to this life.'

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Serena's heart slammed in her chest as she leaned her back against the door. Her hands were shaking as she put them over her mouth as if that would help to slow her heart rate. A million questions were flying through her mind.

'Why? Why is he back? What does he want? Does he know about Thomas? Why is he back now? Why, why, why?'

Serena was too busy trying to answer her own questions, that she didn't even notice Thomas staring at her from the hallway. When he was finally fed up with her for not noticing him he strode over towards her and slammed his hands on either side of her head. She jumped at the sound and his closeness to her. She couldn't go anywhere, all she could do was look him in the eyes.

" Who was that?"

"I-it was the neighbor, like you said."

Thomas lifted his right hand and slapped her in the face, but he didn't let her fall. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and shoved her against the door again.

"That was not the neighbor! Who was that guy?!" Thomas yelled in her face, causing her to push herself up even more against the door. She began to cry, which earned her another slap and a shove.

"WHO WAS HE?!" He screamed, grabbing a fistful of her hair.

"No one! It was an old friend that moved away, and I guess he's back in town. I didn't know I swear, I had no idea he was back! I haven't seen him for four years! I swear!" Serena sobbed as she tried to get him to release her.

He stared at her for long time, before he leaned in next to her ear.

"If I ever see him again, I promise you you will regret it. Each time that I do you will be punished." He snarled it into her ear. His hand tightened harder on her hair, lifting her up a little, as she gave a small cry.

"Now I believe it's time for your first punishment, and I should at least have some fun while doing it." He leaned away and began to drag her towards her bedroom. Serena dug her heels in as she continued trying to get him to release her. She clawed his arms and she cried for him not to do it. Her only response was for him to jerk her towards him and continue towards the room.

When they reached it he threw her onto the bed. She immediately began trying to crawl across it, in order to put the bed between them. She grabbed the edge of the bed and tried to hold on as he grabbed her ankles and began pulling her back towards him. She cried out and released her grip on the edge when she felt him deliver a punch to the small of her back. Pain lanced through her spine and travelled throughout her body. He roughly flipped her over and ripped open her shirt, and then began to shove her pants down. When they were finally off he shoved her on her back and straddled her. She cried for him to stop, and clawed at his chest and arms. When she was actually able to claw his left cheek with her nails, he gave a sharp hiss before her backhanded her. He grabbed both of her hands in his one, and used the other to finish what he started.

Serena continued to cry as she tried bucking her hips in hopes to throw him off balance. All she got in return for her efforts was a punch in the stomach. The breath flew out of her lungs, and all she could do was cough. By the time she could breath again to continue fighting it was too late. He shoved himself deep inside her and smiled when she let out a painful cry. He didn't care as long as he got what he wanted. Each thrust was more painful than the last. When he finally reached his own personal climax he released his hold on her hands. Serena curled onto her side as she continued to cry, her face buried in her hands in shame. He simply zipped his pants and glared at her with contempt. He began to walk towards the door, but before he closed it he stopped to look back at her.

"From now on your no longer allowed outside of this room unless I let you out. You won't be able to get out unless I let you out. If you do somehow manage to get out, I'll punish you as if you ran away again." With that he slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside.

She heard him go to his room down the hall and slam his door shut. She continued to cry, lying naked on her bed. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered. This was her life, and she was truly a prisoner in her own home. Serena cried herself to sleep as she did every night. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. Until her head began to ache. Until finally all she knew was nothing. Nothing but the nightmares in her dreams. Nothing but reliving her life over and over again; from the day Darien left to the day she thought would be her last. Every single day.

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Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long to update. I was busy trying to set my desktop up. My laptop is in the process of being worked on, so I had to hook this one up. But either way; what do you think of this chapter?