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


Chapter 42

Leo's was a small, yet well-known restaurant. Well-known within the West Hollywood area, 
yet oddly enough, not quite as well-known in the Santa Monica area where the restaurant was 
actually located. Normally, one would think this to be a strange occurrence, and for most 
restaurants this would prompt the owner to pack up and move closer to their clientele. But 
unlike most restaurants, the owner of Leo's chose to remain where he was.

The reasoning behind this choice of action was quite simple. Leo's was built to cater to 
the people would wanted to get away from Hollywood, but wanted to be close enough to keep 
one foot in the door, as it were. Still, it was located in one of the busier areas of Santa 
Monica; the owner may have built Leo's with Hollywood clientele in mind, but he wasn't 
about to shun any local business, either. He was a businessman, after all.

As such, Leo's was considered a quasi-haven of sorts. Most of the diners from the 
high-profile acting community tended to arrange reservations with aliases as to keep the 
world at large from knowing that they were going to dine there. In fact, whenever a new 
employee is hired at Leo's, whether they are a server or a chef or even a dishwasher, they 
are all required to memorize a list of aliases for regular customers. In addition to this, 
a hot-list is posted in the employee's only section for last-minute additions or the sudden 
reservations of V.I.P.s.

It has often been said amongst the staff that working at Leo's is not for the weak of 
heart. This is especially true because the entire staff, with the exception of the servers, 
are forbidden from interacting with the customers, unless the customer approaches them 
first. Excitement over a celebrity dining at Leo's is greatly frowned upon.

It was for these reasons, Mina decided, that made Leo's the best place for high-profile 
actresses like Serena Moon to sit down and talk without being interrupted by her being 
Serena Moon. And besides, she loved the food there.

"You're serious?" she asked in surprise as she pulled into the parking lot and parked her 
car. "You've never been here before?"

Serena shook her head and shrugged. "Nope. Not once," she replied as she checked the cloth 
she wore over her hair. It was still arranged properly. She smiled in satisfaction as she 
put her sunglasses on.

"You're kidding!" Mina said as she put her car in park and turned off the engine. "I've 
heard from Darien that you've been going to The Crown often because you don't get bothered 
there. If that was the case, I'm surprised that you've never come here before. You could've 
gotten the same thing here."

"That's not exactly true, Mina," Serena said with a slight shake of her head as she got out 
of the car. "You've been to both places, right?"

Mina got out of the car and locked the doors. "Yeah, I have."

"Tell me, which place do you like better?" she inquired. "Leo's or The Crown?"

"I prefer The Crown, myself," she replied with a confused frown.

"Why?" Serena asked without looking over her shoulder.

Mina blinked, caught slightly off guard by the question. "Why?" she repeated as she thought 
about it. "Well, Andrew's a friend of mine, for one. And I like the food, too."

"Yeah, they do have good food there."

"And there's nothing like kicking the younger boys' collective ass at Virtua Racing!" she 
said, clenching her fists to her chest in sheer joy at the thought. "I once beat seven 
college guys all at the same time! In fact," she added, whispering almost conspiratorially, 
"I've even got a small following within the college gaming community."

Serena halted and stared at her in disbelief. "You're joking."

"Afraid not," Mina said as she stood proudly. "I am known throughout the halls of UCLA as 
'The Goddess of Virtua Racing!' Challenge me at your own risk!"

"I think... I'll pass," Serena replied flatly.

"You're no fun," she said, slightly disappointed.

"At any rate, you obviously prefer The Crown over Leo's," Serena said as they continued on. 
"Most of the reasons you have for preferring The Crown are the same reasons why I've never 
come here. I've been told by my friends who've come here that it's great if you just want 
to be left alone."

"That's true," Mina agreed, nodding thoughtfully.

"They've also told me that the atmosphere has a certain coldness to it," she continued. 
"It's not as if they're trying to ignore you; it's that they're trying too hard to give us 
the peace and quiet they think we want. While some people may want that kind of quiet, it 
just doesn't feel right to me. Even if I want to be left alone, I don't feel right in an 
atmosphere that makes me feel ignored."

"I see your point," Mina said. "Still, it's not that bad. "The food's good, and it's a 
good place to go if you don't want to be bothered while you eat."

"I've heard," she told her. "Still, I'd rather go to The Crown. But, I'll give this place 
a try.

"So, who am I dining as?" she asked before they reached the front door.

"Ah! That's right!" Mina exclaimed, lightly slapping herself in the head. "I almost forgot!"

"What? Were you just going to say, 'Mina Blake and one guest?'" she said drolly. "So, 
what's my name, then?"

"Um...."

Serena frowned. "Don't tell me...."

"One moment please," she said as she dug into her purse and whipped out her cell phone.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

Mina grimaced apologetically as she turned away and covered the phone as if she were 
whispering into it. "Um, hi. My name's Mina Blake and I'm calling to confirm a lunch 
reservation for...." A slight pause. "Ah, yes. That's right. And the other's name?" Another 
pause. "Ah! Right! Thank you very much. No, that's all right. Yes, thank you. Goodbye."

"And?" Serena prompted, folding her arms underneath her breasts crossly.

The blonde agent had the decency to look embarrassed. "Your name will be Rena Sanders."

"Not much originality," she complained. "My first name is just a derivative of my real 
first name. And my last name's so... bland."

"Oh, quiet," Mina huffed. "I'm an agent, not a writer."

"You chose your profession well, then," Serena countered as she stepped inside.

"Hey!" Mina exclaimed, then started grumbling under her breath as she followed her inside.

"Miss Blake," the maître d' greeted as she entered the restaurant, "how nice to see you 
again. Is this a new client of yours?"

"Not as such, Ryan," she replied. "Just a friend of mine."

"I see," he said as he glanced down at the podium in front of him. "If you would come with 
me, please, I will show you to your table." With that, he took two menus from inside the 
podium and walked off with the two women following him.

"Here you go," he said as he reached a table next to the window. "Is this table to your 
linking, Miss Blake?"

"It's fine, Ryan. Thanks," she said as she sat down. "Right, Rena?"

"Same here."

"Very well," he replied as he handed them the menus. "Your server will be with you shortly. 
Have a pleasant day."

"Thanks, Ryan," Mina said as she opened her menu.

"You come here often?" Serena asked as she opened her menu as well.

"Not really," she replied. "I guess I'm just the unforgettable type," she added with a grin.

"No argument here."

"Ha ha. Funny," Mina muttered. "So, what looks good to you?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I think I'm in the mood for pasta. Maybe this shrimp penne 
dish."

Mina glanced over at the entree that Serena was pointing out. "Hmm... sounds good to me. I 
think I'll get it, too."

The server came over a few moments after the choices were made, then left just as quickly 
with their orders, but not before filling their glasses with ice water. A moment later, the 
server came back with their drinks and left just as quickly.

"Not much for words, hmm?" Serena commented after taking a sip of her beverage.

"Well, that's just the way things are here," Mina told her. "They're certainly efficient, 
though. You have to give them that."

"True enough," Serena admitted as she set down her glass. "Anyway, you said you wanted to 
talk to me about something?"

Mina blinked. "Straight to the point, is it?" she said with a small sigh.

"It's not a bad way of starting off a conversation."

"True, but I was hoping to ease my way into this," Mina replied. "This isn't an easy thing 
for me to talk about."

Serena frowned slightly. "It's about Darien, isn't it? Didn't we already have this 
conversation?"

"Well, yeah," Mina admitted. "Part of it, at least. But after some thought, I realized that 
there's some things that I think you should know about if you two are going to stay 
together.

"He hasn't really talked much about his previous relationship with Raye, has he?" she asked.

Serena thought back through all the times Darien told her about his past relationship with 
Raye and realized that he had only spoken about her twice, and both times because she asked.

"No, he hasn't," she admitted quietly.

"Don't get him wrong, Serena," Mina said consolingly. "It's not because he's trying to hide 
anything. It's just that he doesn't want to remember what he went through. I'm sure you 
feel the same way about Seiya."

"No, I'm sure I feel much, much worse about that bastard," she growled as she took a quick 
swig from her water glass and set the glass down hard enough to make the ice cubes clink 
audibly.

"Well, be that as it may, there are some things about their old relationship that I think 
you should know about," Mina continued. "I know you might think that this is probably none 
of my business, but Darien's one of my best friends. I've known him for a long time, ever 
since he first started working in the business. He's like a brother to me."

"All right, all right, I get it," Serena replied, waving her hand dismissively. "So tell 
me already. However, if this is about how he lost his virginity to her, I don't want to 
hear it. He already told me that she was his first."

Mina blinked, then sighed in relief. "Okay, so that's one thing I don't have to worry 
about."

"In fact," Serena continued. "I don't really want to know about Darien's past with his ex. 
That's all in the past. I want to forget about my past with Seiya and I'm sure he'd 
probably want to do the same with her." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Well, probably 
not entirely, but certainly the bad parts.

"I appreciate what you want to do, Mina," she added as she reached across the table and 
covered one of the agent's hands with hers, "but, if there's anything Darien and I need to 
know about each other, we'll talk it out between us."

Mina nodded understandingly and smiled. "I guess that makes things easier for me, then. I 
really wasn't looking forward to talking about things like this."

"Well, how about we talk about something else, instead?" Serena suggested as the server 
returned with their orders. "Like how you and Darien met, for instance."

"Us?" she repeated as she unrolled the napkin around her utensils and set it in her lap. 
"Well, it's kind of a funny story, really."

"Oh?" Serena said, her interest piqued. "Well, I love a good laugh like anybody else. Let's 
hear it."

"All right, then," she said as she leaned back in her seat. "I haven't been an agent for 
very long; about seven years now, I think it's been. Anyway, for the first year I had a bad 
streak of luck with the few clients I had. I could only land small parts and extra work, 
but nothing really big. I lost a lot of business when they decided to change agents or sign 
with agencies, but I persevered.

"At any rate, fast forward a year. Most of my clients are gone and I'm struggling to stay 
in business. Understandably, I'm kinda depressed and having a really bad day when I decide 
to close up early and go home. So, I'm not paying much attention as I leave my office, get 
into my car, and hit someone as I leave the parking lot." Mina grimaced slightly. "And the 
worst thing is that not only was the guy in plain sight when I hit him, I was only 
traveling at about 5mph when I hit him."

"Wow," Serena said, slightly impressed. "Talk about having a 'blonde moment' times two."

"Oh, shut up," Mina grumbled. "Anyway, I stop the car and get out to see if the guy's all 
right. The guy's fine and, thankfully, isn't mad about getting hit. He said that he 
would've been watching where he was going, but he was too preoccupied with seeing this 
agent that his friend suggested to him. And that's when I tell the guy that I'm the agent 
he's looking for and I invite him out for something to eat as an apology for hitting him 
with the car. One dinner later, Darien becomes my client and the rest is history."

"So, let me get this straight," Serena said as she tried to keep in her laughter. "You and 
Darien meet by you hitting him with your car?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it," she admitted.

"You gotta be kidding me!" she said as she bursted out laughing.

"Afraid not," Mina said with a slight laugh. "Just ask Darien. He still teases me about it 
from time to time. One time, as I was getting into my car, he dived out of my car's way 
just as I started the car and ducked behind another car, then waved goodbye as I left."

Serena cracked up laughing all over again. "I can just imagine," she said as soon as she 
regained control over herself. "So, vehicular hijinks aside, tell me about Darien when he 
started out."

"There's really not much to talk about," Mina replied with a shrug. "I mean, he was an 
actor, plain and simple. He was just better than most actors that I've ever worked with. 
I've had clients come and go, but he's the one who's been with me the longest. And he's 
pretty much the same then as he is now, just more successful," she added with a smirk.

"Making you more successful in the process?" she quipped.

Mina merely shrugged and grinned enigmatically as she dug into her food.

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

Midnight.

Diane sat up and lightly shook Jack's shoulder. "Honey, time to get up," she whispered in 
his ear.

"Mmm... just five more minutes," he mumbled.

"Come on, Jack," she continued as she lightly blew in his ear.

"Hey, cut it out!" he said as he batted at his ear.

"So, you're awake now?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yeah, yeah...," he grumbled as he looked down at the clock on the car's dashboard. "So, 
it's time. Ready to go?"

"Ready."

"All right," he said as they got out of the car. Diane grabbed their backpacks and handed 
Jack his before slipping hers on. "Let's go."

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

Midnight.

Jed smirked as he strode across the museum's rooftop. This was the last one. The last 
Nijizuishou crystal. Once this crystal was in his hands, his job would be over. There were 
still those loose ends that he had to tie up - namely those kids and those two that were 
after him - but once this job was over he could concentrate on those problems.

There weren't any openings in the ceiling like in Tokyo, so he had to rely on the 
ventilation system much like he did in Madrid. In a way, it was like coming full circle.

He had gone over the museum's vent system earlier that day, so he knew which opening to 
open and which turns to take. As he approached the target vent opening, he reached into one 
of his belt pouches and brought out a mini-screwdriver. A few moments later, the vent 
covering was off and he was in. The covering was set to the side along with the screws so 
as not to be too obvious, even though anyone could spot the open vent should they come up 
to the roof. It was fortunate that the security guards didn't check the roof.

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

Minutes later, Jack climbed over the top of the ladder to the roof and glanced around. 
Seeing no one, he waved down to Diane, who climbed up after him. "I don't think he's here, 
yet," he said as he looked over the rooftop for a good entry point.

"So, how do you think we should get in?" Diane inquired. "Personally, I think we should use 
the vents."

Jack nodded. "Too much surveillance. The guards are going to be the hardest part of this."

"Fortunately, there's only going to be three guards," she added. "Two roaming and one in 
the security room, monitoring." A pause. "Hey, Jack! Come look at this!"

"What?" he said as he jogged over to where Diane stopped. "An open vent?"

"He's here," she growled under her breath. She ran over to the vent and started crawling 
in head-first.

"Careful, Diane," he warned as he waited for her to finish crawling in. "Don't lose your 
cool. We can't let either of them hear us, or it's all over."

"I know!" she hissed as she slid into the vent. "We're here to stop this guy and that's 
exactly what we're gonna do. So, hurry up and get in here!"

"Coming, coming...," he grumbled as he climbed in as well.

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

Upon reaching the room that housed the Violet Nijizuishou crystal, Jed carefully gazed out 
through the vent opening, looking for any security cameras. There was one across the room, 
slowly panning back and forth across the room.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chaff grenade. He had this grenade 
specially made for smaller rooms, where he needed as small an explosion as possible without 
losing the electronic scrambling effects from the metal shrapnel. However, it would still 
make a relatively loud explosion. He had to time the explosion to when there would be no 
one around to hear it.

Thirty more seconds. If the guards were following the same patterns that he observed before 
the nearest guard should be out of hearing range within that time.

Now.

The grenade was tossed and the sound of a small explosion filled the room. For fifteen 
seconds, this room was blind to electronic surveillance.

Jed quickly knocked the vent cover off and pushed himself out of the vent. Once he hit the 
ground, he rolled to his feet and dashed over to the other side, pulling out a small 
transmitter similar to the one he used in Madrid and leapt up, slamming the transmitter 
onto the wall underneath the camera. Once the device was pressed against the wall, it 
activated, just as the metal shrapnel settled onto the ground.

One defense down, one more the go.

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

"Did you hear that?" Jack asked as he reached an opening in the ventilation shaft.

"Sounded like something exploded," Diane frowned. "Check outside. See where we are."

Jack glanced out through the vent cover. "I recognize this place. We're in the hallway 
outside the room with the crystal. There aren't any cameras in here."

"Let's get out here," she suggested. "We're close enough."

"All right," he agreed as he brought out a small screwdriver and unscrewed the vent cover. 
Once the cover was off, he pulled it into the shaft with them. "Hand me your mirror," he 
said as he reached back. Diane handed him a small pocket mirror, which he slowly lowered 
outside of the vent. "It's safe," he reported and handed her back the mirror and lowed 
himself out of the vent, hanging from the opening for only a moment before dropping onto 
the floor. Diane came out behind him and dropped down into his arms.

"Thanks," Diane said as Jack set her down on her feet. "Now, come on. We don't have much 
time."

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

The last time he defeated an infrared alarm system was with an array mirrors he had hidden 
away on him. For this job, he had to modify them, since the beams were much closer than 
before. He had tripled the number of mirrors and arranged them in a manner so that he 
could reach through the tight cluster of infrared beams.

It wasn't long before he had the mirror array unfolded and slid into place. The beams 
bounced off of the mirrors and into the receptors at the other end without tripping the 
alarms. There was now a space wide enough for his hand to fit through.

"Excellent...," Jed murmured to himself as he reached in and grabbed the Violet Nijizuishou 
crystal.

"Hey!"

Jed whirled around with the crystal in hand and glared at the intruder. "You again...," he 
snarled.

"You aren't going anywhere with that," Diane said as she strode toward him with Jack right 
behind her.

Jed's snarl slowly twisted into a smirk. "You think so?" he asked. "Well... we'll see." 
with one smooth movement, he flung his arm into the infrared beams, setting off the alams.

"What the hell?!?" Jack exclaimed.

"Try not to get caught," Jed said as he darted around the pair and started running.

"Hey!" Diane shouted as she and Jack chased after him. "Damn! Of all the times to leave my 
gun behind!"

As Jed led the two through the museum, he quickly knocked down whatever wasn't bolted to 
the wall into their path; statues, sculptures, anything that would slow them down. However, 
Jack and Diane easily evaded or leapt over whatever fell in their way.

As they neared the entrance, two of the three guards stood between them and the way out, 
guns drawn. "Freeze!" Jed skidded to a stop and dived into the next room with Jack and 
Diane close behind him. "After them," one guard shouted to the other as they gave chase.

"Hey, having fun yet?" Jed taunted as he grabbed a painting off the wall without stopping.

"I said, freeze!" the first guard shouted as he shot through the doorway with his partner 
and aimed their guns at them. Jed responded by flinging the painting at the pair, which 
forced them to move out of the way long enough for Jed to dive past them and continue 
running.

"Hold it!" the guard warned as he recovered, but was knocked into his partner as Jack 
shoved him out of the way, giving him and Diane the opportunity to continue chasing after 
Jed.

"Looks like I win again," Jed shouted as he hurried through the museum doors and started to 
close them behind him.

"Not quite!" Diane retorted as she grabbed a grappling hook from Jack's pack and flung it 
at Jed. The hook smashed through the glass doors, forcing Jed to dive out of the way before 
the hook hit him in the head.

Just as Jed was getting to his feet, Jack leapt through the broken door and tackled him, 
sending both of them tumbling down the small set of stone steps leading to the museum's 
entrance. "Don't let him get away, Jack!" Diane shouted as she jumped through the shattered 
door as well.

Down at the bottom of the steps, Jed had kicked Jack off of him and was trying to fight him 
off as he retreated toward where he had parked his car. As he ducked a punch that was aimed 
for his head, he quickly swept Jack's legs and dove toward his car, thankful that he had a 
convertable, the top was down and he had a gun hidden in the passenger seat.

"Hold it," he warned as he straightened up and pointed the gun at Jack's head. "You, too," 
he added as he pointed it at Diane momentarily before pointing it back at Jack.

"You can't hold us off forever," Diane said as she took a step forward. "The cops are on 
their way here. I doubt you'll be able to get away in time."

"True, but you've got more pressing matters to attend to," he retorted.

"What more pressing matters?"

"This," he replied as he shot Jack in the leg.

"Jack!" Diane screamed as Jack fell on his side, clenching his leg in pain.

"Be grateful that I don't have the time to kill you now," Jed said as he hopped into his 
car and started it. "But don't worry. We'll meet again. I still have unfinished business 
with you." With that, Jed drove off just before the sounds of police sirens slowly filled 
the air.

"And I with you," Diane growled before kneeling beside Jack and checking his leg. "Looks 
like the wound is a little deep, but not too bad," she said in relief.

"Just give me a little bit and I'll be fine," he said as he sat up. "Too bad that bastard 
got away."

"I know," Diane sighed as she sat down next to him. "We almost had him!"

"It's not over yet," Jack said as he put an arm around her shoulder. "We'll find him."

"Yeah," she said, nodding ruefully. "I just wish I had an idea of where to go from here."

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

                              To Chapter 43

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

Author's Note: Finally, another chapter has been completed! Hooray! Sorry for the long 
delay, but I'm in the middle of moving from Washington back down to San Diego. I'm off my 
ship and I'm on shore duty now, so I don't have to worry about going underway anymore. 
More time for working on my stories. Anyway, I'm growing ever closer to the end of this 
story so bear with me. Next chapter: The return to L.A.; Tira is released from the 
hospital; and Jack and Diane learn of Project: Total Eclipse.

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.