Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.


Chapter 23

It all happened so fast. One moment, he was opening the door to his office; the next, he 
was kneeling down beside Tira as he tried to stem the flow of blood from the gunshot wound 
in her chest.

It was just like before.

"Jack, the ambulance is on its way," Diane informed him as she hung up the phone. "How's 
Tira doing?" she asked worriedly as she moved closer, though she stayed back a short 
distance so she wouldn't get in his way.

"She's bleeding badly," he replied quietly, his voice distant as he concentrated on saving 
Tira's life. "Did you see who shot her?"

"No, but I do know this: whoever did was aiming for you," she told him in a voice flat with 
controlled anger.

"I know," he whispered bleakly.

"It had to have been from that car that sped away after the shot was fired," she continued. 
"I'll bet you anything that the same person who was shooting at us a few days ago did this."

"I know," he murmured as he closed his eyes painfully. "Dammit, Ti," he whispered in a 
voice filled with anguish, his tightening throat strangling the words as tears threatened 
to fall from his eyes. "Why'd you have to be the one to take the bullet? It was meant for 
me, so why'd it have to be you?"

"Jack...," Diane began sympathetically as she reached out for him.

"I should've realized that this might've happened!" he growled as he pounded the floor 
beside Tira in frustration.

"It's not your fault, Jack," she told him firmly. "You couldn't've known about that 
ambush...."

"That's not what I was talking about!" Jack snapped as he glared up at her. Diane almost 
flinched at the look of pain in his eyes. "Tira... she wanted so much to be like her 
father," he continued faintly as his gaze turned dismal again. He was about to continue 
when the sounds of an ambulance arriving cut him off. Diane immediately rushed outside to 
guide the paramedics to where Tira was lying.

"Don't worry, Ti," Jack whispered softly, "help is here. I won't leave you, so don't you 
dare leave me."

            **********************************************

Jack and Diane followed the stretcher and the medical personnel as far as the operating 
room, where they could follow no further. From there on, they would only get in the way. 
All they could do now was wait.

"Don't worry too much, Jack," Diane told him as they sat down in the waiting room. "Tira's 
a strong young woman. She'll definitely pull through."

"I can only hope so," Jack replied in a slightly haunted voice. "This scares me, Diane," he 
told her. "Everything that's happening... it's too similar. I couldn't take it if it all 
turns out the same as before."

"I don't understand, Jack," she said concernedly as she placed a hand on his. "What are you 
talking about? What's got you so spooked that you look like you're about to have a 
breakdown right here and now?"

He stared at her for a long time as she stared right back, blue eyes staring unflinchingly 
into brown eyes. A long time passed before Jack relented with a sigh.

"It happened four years ago," he began quietly. "I was still part of the L.A.P.D. back 
then. I had been with the L.A.P.D. for four years since I joined up at the age of 18, eight 
years ago. For those four years I spent as a cop, Lee Jenner was my partner and my best 
friend.

"Lee taught me a good deal about the job, seeing how he had been a cop for over 15 years. 
During the first few weeks that I started working with him, I once asked him why he wanted 
a rookie like me for a partner. He told me that he felt that since he was planning on 
retiring in a few years, he wanted to pass down his experiences and knowledge as a police 
officer to someone who would make good use of it. I asked him how he knew that I would be 
the type of person he wanted and he told me that it was instinct. He also said that a good 
deal of police officers develop their instincts after a time and that I might, as well." He 
paused as he shrugged. "I didn't believe him at the time, but now...." He trailed off as he 
shrugged again.

"Anyway, we became very close friends. Lee introduced me to his family; Tasha, his wife, 
and Tira, his daughter, whom you already know." A very small smile curved his lips at the 
memory. "I first met Tira when she was 10 years old. I remember it very well, since Tira 
actually invited me to her birthday party, which would be in a couple of weeks." He 
chuckled this time. "I think it was because she had a crush on me when she first met me. 
Don't tell her I told you that, because she'd kill me if she finds out."

Diane giggled. "I won't tell her, but it would be a sight that I'd love to see."

Jack grinned, but it slowly faded as he continued. "Lee and his family pretty much accepted 
me as a part of the family. I suppose it was because Lee knew that I was on pretty bad 
terms with my father, as in I pretty much avoided him since the death of my mother, but I 
don't want to go into that."

Diane silently nodded and urged him to continue.

"Anyway, two years after I joined the force, Lee's wife died in a fatal car accident. A 
drunk driver sideswiped her and forced her into a head-on collision that mercifully killed 
her on impact. I'd hate to think of that kind woman suffering before she died. After that, 
Lee devoted all of his time between his job and caring for Tira with little time for 
himself. At the same time, Tira started fussing over her dad as if she was trying to fill 
in her mother's shoes. I did my best to help both of them through the ordeal and I'd like 
to think that I helped them a great deal through their grief."

Jack glanced up at the clock and grimaced. An hour had passed. Was Tira all right? He hated 
waiting in situations like this.

"So, I suppose we're now up to what happened four years ago?" Diane asked.

He nodded. "It was during a botched kidnapping attempt. The would-be kidnappers did such a 
lousy job that we didn't even need to call in your people. The only thing that they had 
going for them was the fact that they were armed.

"Lee and I were part of the group that were chasing down the car that the kidnappers were 
fleeing in. After a long chase, a tire blew out on the kidnappers' car. They skidded to a 
stop, took positions behind the car and started shooting. It was long and drawn out, but we 
managed to take them down.

"Afterwards, a group of us - including myself and Lee - rushed forward to apprehend them. 
After they were cuffed, I made the mistake of thinking that everything was over and done 
with. That was the worst mistake that I had ever made in my life and the price of that 
mistake was more than I was ready to pay.

"One of the kidnappers was so desperate that, even while cuffed, he rushed one of the cops, 
drew the officer's gun, pointed it at the closest cop in his sight and fired. The target... 
turned out to be me.

"Lee tried to warn me as the kidnapper drew the gun, but I reacted to late to get out of 
the line of fire. I was saved when Lee shoved me out of the path of the bullet, but that 
only put him in the bullet's path instead. He was struck in the back; the bullet went 
straight through his heart.

"As the others restrained that bastard, I pulled my gun and pointed it at him, ready to 
blow his head off for what I knew had to be a fatal wound," Jack continued with a dark 
expression on his face. "The others were about ready to try to restrain me, but Lee called 
out to me, telling me to put my gun away. I did and rushed to his side as I tried to help 
stop the flow of blood, even though I knew it was useless. With his last breath, he asked 
me to look after Tira for him. He died in my arms just as the ambulance arrived. 

"For a long time, I kept thinking to myself that this shouldn't have happened. It wasn't 
fair; Lee was getting ready to retire the following year and he had a daughter that loved 
him. I felt that I should've been the one to take the hit, since I didn't have a family 
like Lee did. To this day, I curse myself for failing to keep an eye on those kidnappers. 
If I wasn't so careless, I would've seen the shot coming and Lee would still be alive.

"After I told Tira of her father's death and after the funeral, I started struggling with 
social services over the custody of Tira, since they didn't really believe that a single, 
22 year-old male cop could take care of a 15 year-old girl. Even Tira spoke up, saying that 
she would rather have me as her guardian than some stranger. I almost lost her, despite the 
many witnesses of Lee's spoken last wishes, but I just barely managed to win custody of 
her."

"So...," Diane said after a long period of silence, "that's how it is between you two. Why 
Jack, I would've never figured you to be the father of a 19 year-old girl. I mean, you're 
so young and all."

Jack gave a small snort of laughter. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Diane. I appreciate 
it."

She nodded. "I see why the way she was wounded affected you the way it did. It was bad 
enough that she was shot, but being shot by taking the bullet for you... even by 
accident...."

"For months after Lee's death, I couldn't stop thinking about it," he continued quietly. 
"I had nightmares almost nightly. It was affecting my policework to the point where I was 
becoming inhibited. I wouldn't even draw my gun anymore for fear of starting a firefight 
and hurting any more innocent victims. That was when I quit the L.A.P.D. However, when I 
tried to look for a new line of work, I soon realized that even though being a policeman 
would be too dangerous for me with my state of mind at the time, I still wanted to work in 
law enforcement. I wanted to make a difference - which was my reason for becoming a cop in 
the first place; albeit a childish one. So, with these thoughts in mind I decided that I 
would become a private investigator. The job wasn't too dangerous and I could certainly 
make a difference, even though it would be on a much smaller and less grandious scale.

"You know," he said with a sigh, "Tira had always wanted to be a policewoman. Even more so 
after her father introduced me to her. After Lee died, I tried to discourage her from 
becoming a policewoman, but she wouldn't listen. She was so set on law enforcement as a 
career that I couldn't dissuade her. She said that she wanted to carry on her father's 
legacy.

"I couldn't bear the possibility of losing Tira, but I couldn't force her to change her 
mind,"  he continued. "However, once I quit the force and became a private investigator, 
all my worrying became moot after she started asking me to let her work with me in my 
private investigation business. I was reluctant until she said she'd help in any way, even 
if she had be my secretary. I figured that she felt that I really needed her help and that 
since I was now her surrogate father, she had to fuss over me as if I was her real father.

"At times, I would wonder if I did the right thing letting her work for me as my secretary. 
After all, she tended to try to help me in her own way by either hacking or even going on 
stake outs without my knowing," he said with a combination grimace and fond grin. "I did 
manage to get her to stop going on stake outs, but hacking is another matter. I figured 
that if I let her have that, then I wouldn't have to worry about other things."

Jack paused as he looked at the clock again. "I'm sorry, Diane," he said apologetically. 
"I've been rambling on for almost two hours now and...."

"It's all right," she told him gently as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're 
worried. You needed to do something to keep you mind from dwelling on that worry. Tira will 
come out of this just fine. Trust me."

"I hope so, Diane."

            **********************************************

Hours passed before Jack and Diane were finally approached by one of the medical personnel. 
They both got to their feet as Jack turned almost frantic eyes toward the doctor.

"How is she?" he asked, steeling himself for the worst. Diane took his hand and squeezed 
encouragingly.

The doctor gave them both a soothing smile. "She's a very strong young woman, Mr. 
Terrance," she told him calmly. "She's made it through the worst part of the surgery 
procedure. All she needs now is to rest. She's lost a great deal of blood and it will be 
a while before she is fully recovered." She paused for a moment as she considered him and 
Diane. "You two are her parents, I assume?"

"No," both Jack and Diane exclaimed at the same time in surprise. "Not exactly," Jack 
continued while Diane looked slightly abashed. "Diane is just a friend. I am Tira's legal 
guardian; her parents are deceased."

"I see," the doctor replied, nodding. "Well, Miss Jenner is a very lucky young woman as 
well. The path of the bullet just barely grazed her heart since the bullet had deflected 
off of one of her ribs and passed between her heart and her right lung. If the bullet was 
even one millimeter off, she could've died as the bullet would've passed through either her 
heart, her lungs, or - if by some chance it missed both - from loss of blood due to the 
bullet making both entry and exit wounds in her chest and back. We are very fortunate that 
this is not the case."

"But, she IS all right, isn't she?" he asked hopefully. "She won't have any lingering 
effects due to the extreme loss of blood or anything else?"

"Nothing by the way you're thinking, no," she reassured him. "She'll be perfectly fine with 
a long rest."

"Thank you very much," he told her in a very relieved voice that reflected his expression. 
"Can I go see her? Please?"

"Yes, but you can't stay too long and you can't make her overexert herself," the doctor 
said firmly. "She requires a great deal of rest, especially after the ordeal she has been 
through."

"I promise I won't do anything to harm her," he told her solemnly as he turned to follow 
the doctor with Diane following behind.

The room that Tira was resting in was currently occupied only by her; the other bed was 
empty, but at least she got the bed next to the window - she liked looking out the windows 
of tall buildings. The dark-skinned young woman was asleep with the blanket pulled up to 
her armpits, since her arms were on top of the blanket. She was shirtless and had an IV 
needle in each arm.

"Hey, Ti," Jack said gently as he knelt down before the bed and took Tira's hand as Diane 
stood beside him and gazed down at Tira. "I'm glad to see you're doing better. I knew you 
wouldn't leave me. After all, if you were gone, who'd take care of me?

"Listen, Ti. Diane and I have to go soon. We're getting ready to leave for Vancouver. I 
promise you this, Ti: whoever did this will pay dearly for it. I swear it. No one shoots my 
daughter and gets away with it." With that, Jack stood up and turned to leave while Diane 
watched him leave with a concerned, yet thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hello, Tira," she said as she took Tira's hand after Jack left the room. "It's me, Diane. 
I just wanted to promise you that I will look after Jack for you while you're recovering. 
I'll take good care of him, so don't worry about a thing. Rest now, Tira." She bent down 
and gently kissed her on her forehead before she turned to leave.

"We'll be back to see you again soon. I promise."

            **********************************************

"Cut!" Amy shouted, grinning widely. "Very good people! That'll do it for today."

"All right!" Tanya shouted as she hopped out of the bed, pulled off the false IV patches 
and slipped into the shirt that one of the grips had tossed her. "Time to get outta here! 
Hey, Serena!"

"Yeah?" she replied, glancing over her shoulder at her.

"Hey girl, I wanna talk to you for a bit," Tanya told her as she walked up to her and put 
an arm around her shoulder as she headed for the exit. "I wanna know everything that 
happened."

"Happened?" Serena repeated quizzically.

"Oh, don't act like you don't know!" Tanya laughed as the two left the building.

"I'd ask, but I don't think I'd really care for the answer," Jason said as he walked up to 
Amy.

"I know what you mean," Amy replied with a laugh.

"Jason, do you mind if I talk with you for a minute?" Darien asked as he walked up to them.

"Um, sure," he replied. "You don't mind waiting for a little bit, do you, Amy?"

"Of course not," she said with a smile as she gently touched him on his arm before she 
turned to leave. "I'll be waiting outside."

"Thanks," Jason replied as he turned to see Darien smirking at him. "So, what's up?" he 
asked, folding his arms and tilting his head inquisitively.

"I don't mean to sound nosy, Jason, but I'm curious as to whether or not you and Amy are 
really an item now," he told him.

Jason gave him a neutral stare for a short time. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt 
and assume that there's a very good reason behind this question," he replied flatly. "I'd 
hate to think that you're wasting my time for inane gossip."

"No, that's not why I'm asking," Darien told him seriously. "I'm curious as to how you two 
got together, especially with all the gossip that seemed to be hanging over Amy's head. 
Before you say anything else, let me tell you that there is a very good reason why I'm 
asking you this."

Jason nodded skeptically. "All right, then. That gossip that was 'hanging over Amy's head', 
as you put it, was what had kept us apart for so long. I foolishly believed in them, even 
though I wanted to be with her. Amy was worried about how that Hollywood gossip might 
affect me and my feelings for her, even though she didn't care about what Hollywood had to 
say about her."

"So, how'd you get around all that?"

"We simply gathered our courage and confronted each other with our feelings for one 
another," he replied, grinning. "Well... it wasn't as dramatic as I make it sound, but I 
think you get the idea."

"Yeah," Darien agreed, nodding.

"I think it's almost the same between you and Serena," Jason added, starling Darien. "Oh, 
come on, Darien!" he continued, laughing. "You don't think that somebody who is going 
through pretty much the same thing can't see the signs?"

"Am I that obvious?" he asked, frowning in chagrin.

"Not really," Jason admitted. "However, when you and Serena are acting together, there is 
a kind of chemistry between you two. It's very strong and, at times, it almost seems like 
it can pull you in. It's that strong. Not many people can notice things like that, but I 
can."

"Do you really think that Serena feels that way about me?" Darien asked intently and almost 
eagerly.

"Perhaps," he supposed. "I don't want you to take what I've told you too literally, Darien. 
After all, these are just my impressions and assumptions. Remember the old saying about the 
word assume. 'It makes an ass out of you and me.' If you're not careful, you could end up 
making an ass out of yourself... or worse."

"I see," Darien said contemplatively. "Well, thank you, Jason. I don't want to keep you and 
Amy waiting, so I'll see you tomorrow. You'll help me on those stunts and martial arts 
moves you taught me yesterday morning, right?"

"Certainly. See you tomorrow, Darien."

"See you tomorrow, Jason."

            **********************************************

"So spill it, Serena," Tanya insisted as she sat across from Serena at a table in a 
Japanese restaurant. She took another bite of her dinner, Teriyaki chicken and beef with an 
assortment of steamed vegetables on white rice, and stared eagerly at the blonde-haired 
actress. "Come on! Please!!!"

"All right! All right, already!" Serena sighed as she finished her mouthful of sashimi. 
"Calm down already!"

"So, how was your first 'date' with Darien?" she asked with an eager grin stretching across 
her face. "Don't spare any details. You know I love details."

"Well, I decided to go back to that one place that Shields took me for lunch the other 
day...," she began.

"You mean, you two have already been on a date before?" Tanya asked, her eyes wide with 
pleasant surprise.

"It wasn't exactly a date, Tanya, remember?" she corrected quickly. "Shields was just 
treating me to lunch. Anyway, I really liked the place because Andrew, the owner and 
Darien's good friend, managed to arrange it so that Shields and I could eat in peace 
without attracting any unwanted attention from the other patrons."

"How?"

"By setting us up in an area of the arcade known for being the ideal place for... well, 
couples." She paused and scowled at Tanya as the other woman grinned insufferably. "Well, 
it did keep them from bothering us."

"So, you two decided to do it again, but this time, for real," Tanya concluded.

"Not exactly," Serena replied. "Last time, there wasn't very many people there. When we 
went this time, there was a big crowd. Since we knew we'd be recognized for sure...."

"You both opted for disguises, right?" she finished knowingly.

"Yeah. Well, Shields and I went into the restaurant and started to pretend that we were a 
couple of businesspeople checking out the arcade. You know, investors, video game vendors 
and all that."

Tanya nodded. "Okay, so then what happens?"

"We both start playing our improvised roles as Ms. Forrester and Mr. Morrison, and it 
turns out that Shields is a pretty decent improv actor, as well. After we get seated and 
Andrew gives us his spiel, he goes off and leaves us to our date.

"While we're waiting for our food, we start talking. You know, Shields can be quite the 
flatterer," Serena added as an afterthought as she took a bite of her food and chewed 
it reflectively.

"What'd he say?" Tanya asked, almost leaning forward over the table in anticipation.

"He said that the reason that I feel as though I can never achieve perfection is that 
it isn't because I can't reach it, but because once I do reach perfection, I always 
find ways to improve upon it."

"He said that?!?" she gasped, eating up the words. "Ooh, that's... like... so...." 
She trailed off as she sighed dreamily.

"To be honest, that pretty much sums up how I felt at the time," Serena admitted.

"Ooh, now I'm jealous," Tanya said playfully. "You've got such a cutie like Darien 
who sounds like he's really into you."

"Oh, come off it," the blonde actress said dismissively, but Tanya persisted.

"No, really," the chocolate-skinned actress continued seriously as she looked Serena 
in the eye. "I mean it. He doesn't care about your social status. He likes you, Serena 
Moon, the woman," she said, pointing at her with emphasis, "not Serena Moon, the famous, 
award-winning actress."

Serena stared down at her sashimi for a good minute or so, mulling over what Tanya said. 
"I certainly hope so," she said with a sigh. "I couldn't stand it if he turned out to be 
just like all the rest. I don't think I can go through it again."

"I'm certain that he's different, Serena," Tanya said firmly and certainly.

"I get so lonely sometimes, Tanya," she murmured faintly. "You've seen how it's been 
affecting me. Within six months I've gone from one of the most respected actresses in 
Hollywood to one of the most feared. You've seen how a good deal of the crew tends to 
avoid me. They're afraid of me, or rather my temper.

"It's slowly been turning into a downward spiral; I'd get angry for being lonely, then I'd 
lash out at everyone, only to end up feeling depressed and even more lonely later on. I'd 
then get angry again, lash out, then grow even more depressed and lonely.

"Shields was the first person to actually try to be nice to me, despite what I've done to 
him. Everyone else would only be nice to me in order to keep me from getting mad at them." 
She paused as she sighed sadly. "You know, I never did apologize to him for forcing Osaka 
to fire him from the 'White Rose' shoot."

"You could always apologize to him the next time you see him, Serena," Tanya pointed out.

"I know," she replied, as she looked up at her. "Tanya, I think I...." She paused 
uncertainly.

"You might be falling for him?" Tanya said, her expression almost hopeful, but not too 
eager.

"I guess so," Serena supposed as she pensively picked at the last of her sashimi.

"I think you are," Tanya told her, smiling lightly. "I honestly believe that you two could 
make a very nice couple. After all, the way you two perform together... you complement each 
other perfectly. It's almost as if you two were made for each other."

"You don't necessarily have to go THAT far," Serena said, grimacing lightly.

"All right, but I still say you two work very well together," she relented, then finished 
up her dinner.

"We are professionals, Tanya," Serena replied flatly as she finished up her dinner as well. 
"Even if Darien is less experienced than we are. I would expect nothing less from him."

Tanya gave Serena a long look for a few moments. "You really have come a long way from your 
old opinions of Darien," she said, her expresion showing some slight disbelief.

"Shields has come a long way as well," she replied as she gathered up her purse. She took 
out a five-dollar bill, placed it next to the check and stood up. "Let's go, Tanya. I feel 
tired and I wanna go home. It's been a long day."

            **********************************************

                              To Chapter 24

            **********************************************

Author's Note: Sorry if I kept you in too much suspence with the length of time it took me 
to get to this chapter. I really did mean to finish this up sooner, but things just kept 
coming up and.... Oh, well. It's done now. Anyway, things are going great for Serena and 
Darien now, but that's about to change as a certain someone finally shows herself. Next 
chapter: Serena's apology; G.Q. discusses the plans for his final revision; and Raye finds 
out about Serena and Darien.

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective 
owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch 
of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This 
story belongs to Moonsong and myself, and I would appreciate 
you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it 
anywhere else. Thank you.

Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong.
Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa. 
All Rights Reserved.