
      Complicated - SR 2


      Author: aria


      Rated: R



      Chapter 5
      After a few days of seeing practically no one except for an elderly old 
      lady that brought her food, Serena was starting to get a little impatient.
      Why hadnt anyone approached her to tell her why she was there? Why didnt 
      they just come forward so she could see what she was up against? They 
      couldnt mean to keep her locked up like this for the rest of her life.
      She decided that night she was going to find out what was going on and 
      find a way to get out of there.
      As the shadows grew long on the floor, she could feel the adrenaline start 
      to course through her veins again as she prepared to escape.
      She waited until the old woman came and took her tray away before pulling 
      out her picks and looking them over.
      At the first hint of moonlight, Serena went to work on the simple lock and 
      eased her way into the darkened hall. Quietly she padded along until she 
      found herself in front of a cross path of such.
      In one direction there was a door that looked much like her own. Right 
      next to that was a window from which she had a clear view of the ocean. 
      And then there was a long staircase directly in front of her.
      She quickly debated which to take before swiftly taking the stairs. Serena 
      didnt want to risk injuring herself by leaping out of a window into the 
      unknown.
      Like the alternative was any better though.
      She took the wooden stairs one by one, stealthily looking for any trace of 
      her abductors or any way to escape.
      But there was none of either and Serena was growing increasingly agitated. 
      She had never found herself in a situation where she was helpless. No 
      matter how ugly or how complicated things got, she had always found a way 
      to turn the tables and come out the victor.
      There was always a first time for everything.
      As she explored the desolate house, she began to wonder if there was 
      anyone around.
      Serena was about to turn a corner when a figure stepped into her sight.
      Quickly she ducked back and waited for it to pass. She almost smiled to 
      herself at the turn of events. It looked like there was life after all.
      She followed him down a winding set of stairs that lead into something 
      that looked like a laboratory. The darkness was broken by lamps in the 
      corners and a few hanging from the mouldy ceiling. Instruments were strewn 
      carelessly around the room, some hanging haphazardly off the workbenches 
      while other collected dust on the floor.
      Serena hunkered down and tried to gather as much as she could.
      Voices could be heard now, so low that she had to strain to hear them.
      "How much longer do we have to stay here?" the deep voice had a slight 
      whine to it.
      "As long as it takes for me to get revenge on that woman." another 
      retorted.
      Revenge? Serena recognized the voice. There was something definitely 
      familiar about it that she just couldnt put her finger on. She began to 
      think of all the people who could possibly want to seek revenge. Running 
      that through her mind, she listened to more of the conversation.
      "But Dr..."
      "No buts! I will have my revenge! I am going to tear apart Serena Hayes 
      life and nothing is going to stop me."
      Hearing enough for the moment, Serena turned to head back up to her room. 
      She needed some time to figure out what was going on.
      ----
      Darien and the rest of his team were sitting around his and Serenas flat 
      in London trying to put the pieces together from what Esmeraude told them.
      The only person she had contact with was a woman with red hair. She rarely 
      spoke and when she did it was only about what needed to be done.
      Esme looked thoughtful. "She had an accent. Italian maybe? Im not sure."
      "Thats a start." Darien leaned back on the couch and looked over at Amy. 
      "Do you think you can look up some files and see if we cant find this 
      redhead?"
      "I can definitely try." Amy made her way to the computer and started to 
      work.
      "Esme help her out any way you can." He rubbed at his burning eyes for the 
      millionth time that night. He felt as though he had been wading through 
      quicksand for much too long.
      Jadeite and Zoisite took him, one on either shoulder. "Come on. Youve got 
      to get some rest."
      Darien didnt even have the strength the fight them off, but shook his 
      head anyways. "No. Ive got to find Serena."
      "Well take shifts. You get some shuteye first. Youve been up longer than 
      the rest of us." Jadeite patted him on the shoulder. "Ill wake you up in 
      a few hours. Earlier if we find anything."
      Darien tried to focus but settled on seeing double. "Fine. Wake me in a 
      couple of hours." He shouted over his shoulder for the benefit of the rest 
      of the group. "My place is yours. Make yourselves at home. Just dont get 
      too comfortable. I want to find Serena before anything happens to her."
      He fell onto the bed and fought to kick off his shoes. Just a few hours 
      sleep...
      ----
      Serena was staring out of the window at the moon. The narrow slice of 
      silver cut through the velvet night to shine down dimly on the scene.
      She knew a doctor was holding her captive. Or at least someone who liked 
      being referred to as doctor. Serena thought back to all of the doctors 
      that she came in contact with during her time with Luna.
      There were maybe a handful that she could recall and one that stood out in 
      her mind vividly. She cringed at the memory of that poor doctor and his 
      family. She forced the recollection aside. It wouldnt help her to dwell 
      on it now.
      From what she noticed there were three people in the entire building, the 
      doctor, his man and the woman who brought her food. It wouldnt be all 
      that hard to slip past them all. What she wouldnt give for a floor plan 
      right that very minute.
      Serena looked out of the window again. And if it came to it, she could use 
      the window but she definitely hoped that it wouldnt come to that.
      She took a breath and wondered how Darien was doing. She wondered if he 
      was missing her, if he was aching to be wit her like she was to be with 
      him. Had he given up hope yet? If he was like anything she remembered, she 
      knew he hadnt. She leaned up against the glass and looked up at the moon. 
      "Darien I need you."
      ----
      Darien woke up with a start. He could have sworn that he heard Serenas 
      voice. He shook his head and looked at his watch. It was still the early 
      hours of the morning.
      He headed out into the living room and looked around at the others. He 
      could see Lita and Nephlite curled up on the couch and wondered at that. 
      Shaking his head a little he looked over and saw Demando and Esme were on 
      the other. Amy was still typing madly on the computer while Setsuna worked 
      on her laptop and Haruka was practicing her martial arts near the kitchen. 
      The other four, Malachite, Taiki, Yaten and Akemi were talking quietly at 
      the kitchen table.
      They saw Darien approaching and smiled their good mornings. Akemi got up 
      and pour him his coffee.
      "Morning Darien. Sleep well?" she knew what he was like first thing in the 
      morning and wasnt expecting and answer. She also knew that considering 
      the circumstances she would be surprised if he slept at all.
      He nodded as he took a sip. "Yeah a got a few minutes."
      Akemi sat back down, "Im glad. Feeling better?"
      Darien sat down and nodded. Strangely enough he did. Usually a few minutes 
      sleep would do nothing for him. But having been awake for so long it 
      probably did help a little. "I had the strangest dream though."
      "Really? Tell us about it."
      "It wasnt exactly a dream. I could have sworn that I heard Serena saying 
      that she needed me."
      "Perhaps you did hear her." Akemi smiled as she spoke her cryptic words 
      but didnt elaborate anymore.
      Darien felt the urgency to find her elevate even more. If Serena admitted 
      to needing him, even to herself, it meant that she was admitting that she 
      couldnt handle things alone. And that never happened.
      Darien lurched to his feet. "Were finding her, now!"
      Amy had approached him and tapped shyly on his shoulder. "I think I might 
      have found who were looking for. Setsuna and I came across her last night 
      and it took until now to crack her files." She handed him a few sheets of 
      paper. "Thats just her personal information. Her rap sheet is quite a bit 
      larger."
      Darien scanned the pages and passed them on. Her name was Kaolin and she 
      seemed to be a mercenary of some sort. He looked at her photo and cringed 
      at the look of cold calculation she had in her eyes. He knew there was no 
      mercy when it came to this woman.
      "Can you pull up any information on what she has done in the past two 
      years?" He flicked the image with his forefinger and handed it over to 
      Akemi.
      "Im way ahead of you." Setsuna handed him a large pile of information. "I 
      took the liberty of grabbing all of the info I could on her over the past 
      year." She shook her head delicately and whistled through her teeth. 
      "Shes not one I would want to mess with."
      Darien couldnt care less how dangerous she was. If she had Serena than 
      she would have hell to pay. "Someone wake up the rest and ask Esme if this 
      is the woman shes had contact with."
      A bleary eyed Esme appeared at his side a moment later. "Wheres the 
      picture?" Akemi handed it to her and she nodded gravely. "Yes thats her. 
      I would recognize her anywhere."
      All of a sudden the room buzzed with energy. Now that they had something 
      to go on things would go a little faster.
      Within minutes everyone was up and working as hard as they could to find 
      out all the information they could about this woman and how she could be 
      involved with Serenas abduction.
      It was around noon when they allowed themselves a little time to breathe.
      Darien sat back on the couch and took a long deep breath. At least they 
      were closer to finding Serena. He heard the doorbell ring and Demando 
      shouting that the take out had arrived.
      Darien got up and walked out to the balcony. He would get something to eat 
      as soon as he got some fresh air to clear his head. Leaning on the railing 
      he stretched his tried shoulders, rotating them in their sockets. He was 
      stretching his neck next when his gaze was drawn to a car parked below.
      The redheaded woman in the car looked up and it was like she was looking 
      directly at him. Her lips curved in an evil smile before she drove off.
      He recognized that face. He had just spent the past five hours learning 
      everything he could about that face.
      Darien ran back into the room and picked up the bags of takeout. "Everyone 
      get down!" he launched the food out of the window before throwing 
      himself to the floor.
      Unfortunately the bags exploded before getting to far. The room rocked 
      with the force of the blast, hurtling glass and debris everywhere.
      ----
      Serena tied her hair back into a bun and smoothed it back out of her face.
      She was getting out of here today.
      Taking a quick look down the hall, Serena ran straight down the stairs and 
      through the winding maze of halls.
      Over the past few days she had snuck out of the room and crept around the 
      halls learning as much about the floor plan as she could so it would be 
      easier for her to make her escape.
      And now she was making good use of that information. Like a shadow she 
      silently slid through the halls toward a room that had captured her 
      interest.
      Serena walked into it and smiled when she saw the computer housed in the 
      corner was turned on. She quickly connected to the net and typed in her 
      message knowing that Luna would be able to trace her whereabouts from it.
      SOS. Sere.
      She hit send and then went to work on concealing her tracks. Satisfied 
      that no one would know that she ever touched the machine, she ran directly 
      to the front door.
      It had just come into view when a large body blocked her path. Without 
      thinking, Serena lashed out, blinding him with a punch before knocking him 
      out with a well-placed kick to the same mark.
      She lunged toward the door but was stopped once again but this time by a 
      pair of strong arms that banded around hers.
      She struggled against him when she felt a needle prick her arm.
      Serena broke free and kicked him across the tilted room. She tried to 
      stand her ground but she couldnt get her footing and fell to her knees. 
      Whatever he injected her with took effect immediately. Serena fought to 
      keep her eyes focussed and for a minute she did. And she recognized the 
      face that they saw.
      "You!" The strangled whisper tore itself from her throat as she slid to 
      the floor, boneless.
      ----
      Darien blinked, and waving the dust from his face looked at the gaping 
      hole in his wall and shouted, "Everyone ok?"
      He got a few moans in reply.
      Quickly he got up and checked everyone over. A few of them escaped 
      unscathed but the rest were going to be out of commission for a while. 
      Darien knelt over Esme. She was unconscious but a check of her pulse told 
      him she was going to be ok.
      He looked over at Demando who was shaking the debris off of his clothes. 
      Darien knew that he wasnt going anywhere with her in this condition.
      Jadeite was up almost immediately and so was Akemi. Darien nodded at 
      Jadeite letting him start on checking on everyone while he pulled out his 
      phone and called Luna.
      "Luna. Weve just been targeted. I need you to track a black Renault 
      Laguna heading away from my apartment. The drivers a female redhead most 
      likely the mercenary named Kaolin."
      "Wait a minute. What happened?"
      "Kaolin delivered a bomb." He dragged a heavy hand over his face. "Never 
      mind about that now. Well be fine. Just track that car. We have to know 
      where shes going."
      "Fine."
      He heard clicking of a computer on the other end of the line and knew Luna 
      was doing her thing.
      "Wait a minute." Lunas voice sounded at little choked.
      "Whats the matter?" His grip tightened on the phone.
      "Hold on here!"
      "What?" Darien felt like jumping through the phone.
      "I think that I have a message from Serena."
      "WWhat? What does it say?" Darien waved Jadeite over and lifted the phone 
      so that he could hear as well.
      "It simply says, SOS. Sere."
      "Are you tracing it?"
      "Of course." She paused a moment. "Got it. Shes in Cornwall. Penzance to 
      be precise."
      "Jesus." She had been so close this whole time. Darien grabbed his coat 
      and started packing up his gear. "Well go there right now. Send 
      paramedics over here and see if you can cover up what happened a little 
      bit."
      "Im way ahead of you. They are on the way and I look forward to seeing 
      you and Serena in the morning."
      Darien knew that was her way of wishing him luck. "Well be there bright 
      and early."
      He shoved the phone into his pocket and looked over at his friend. "Ive 
      got an idea." He walked into the hidden room and pulled out a couple of 
      helmets and his leathers. "I just hope that Sere kept the bikes." He gave 
      Jadeite his larger jacket hoping that it would fit him. Darien shoved a 
      helmet on then tossed one over to Jadeite. "Ready?"
      "Always."
      They headed down to the parking lot and took the motorcycles parked in the 
      corner. They quickly donned the rest of their gear and roared into the 
      night.
      "We could probably make it to Penzance in a few hours if we redline it." 
      Dariens voice crackled through the helmet earphones.
      "We can do it. Im just glad you two had the sense to get decent bikes." 
      He joked.
      "Lucky nothing. You know we like speed." And to prove his point he dumped 
      the clutch and left Jadeite to try and catch up to him.
      It was getting dark when they reached the coast, and Darien cursed at how 
      quickly the autumn day disappeared. He pulled up to the railing and looked 
      out at the shimmering sea. Now all they had to do was find her.
      Darien pulled off his helmet and pulled out the cell phone once again. 
      "Luna. Were in Penzance. Any word on where she might be?"
      ----
      Serena forced her eyes to open. She was in the lab that she had been in 
      before. Except for now she lay on a table with her arms and legs strapped 
      down. Serena tried to tug experimentally on the bindings but found that 
      her limbs wouldnt respond. Panic raised its ugly head until she fought it 
      back down. What the hell was he going to do to her?
      She saw the tall blonde figure on the other side of the room, bent over a 
      workbench toying with beakers.
      She closed her eyes again when the dizziness came back. Get yourself 
      together, Serena! Come on! She reminded herself that there was more than 
      just her at stake. With that in mind, she struggled to get her fingers 
      working again.
      Serena felt her way around the straps looking for a way out of them.
      She heard another pair of footsteps enter the room and kept her eyes 
      closed. She could hear a womans voice whispering something to the man.
      "Dammit! I wanted him dead!" the familiar voice roared. "I wanted them all 
      dead!" he muttered something else and footfalls quickly left the room.
      Serena felt them move closer to her, close enough for her to smell the 
      womans spicy perfume.
      "Yes, you heard me Ms. Hayes." The voice dripped with hatred. "I know 
      youre awake."
      Her eyes fluttered open into narrow slits. "Dr. Tomoe."
      "Ah, so you do remember the man whose life you destroyed."
      Serena closed her eyes at the memories.
      "Remembering the way that you killed my family?"
      "I did nothing of the sort. I tried to save thembut I was too late."
      An icy blade was pressed against her neck. "Dont lie to him. They arent 
      becoming."
      "Who the hell are you?" Serena looked up at the woman and snarled the 
      question. She searched her memory but only came up with a faint feeling 
      like she did know the woman.
      "Answer the question."
      "I never killed anyone. No one was intended to get hurt that night." She 
      knew there had to be someone else involved that night. None of them had 
      planted explosives. "As a matter of fact, none of us even carried 
weapons."
      Serena was rewarded with a slap to the face. Her already blurred vision 
      blackened for an instant. "Im telling you the truth."
      "Youre a liar. You and everyone involved are going to die for what you 
      did to me."
      Serena felt her heart skip several beats. And everyone close to them no 
      doubt. She worried about one person in particular.
      There had to be something she could do to stop him.
      ----
      Darien stood in the middle of Toys R Us and looked at Jadeite completely 
      puzzled. "I thought you said we were getting a few supplies." He had 
      envisaged a pile of guns, not stuffed animals.
      "Trust me." He dragged Darien down an aisle and grabbed a few boxes off 
      the shelf and thrust them into his arms before grabbing a few others for 
      himself.
      Darien read the box. One was a sophisticated listening device, another a 
      pair of spy binoculars. He pulled them out of the box and tried them out 
      then stared at them for a moment, awestruck. They worked almost as well as 
      their equipment. "And they sell these to kids?"
      "I wish I had them when I was little." He flashed a box for a motion 
      detector. "I think Rayes got a couple for the baby."
      "Cant learn too early huh?"
      They paid for them and headed for the area that Luna told them Serenas 
      message came from.
      The directions led them to a solitary house standing on a hill overlooking 
      the sea. They hid the bikes in some tall grass and then surveyed the 
      building. Darien pulled out the spy pen and converted it into a 
      telescope. "Weve got to tell Luna about these things."
      "Who do you think told me about them?" Jadeite had his own out now. "It 
      looks deserted."
      "I know." Dariens heart started to sink a little. What if they bounced 
      the trace? Then he saw a faint light coming from a window partially hidden 
      by the unkempt grass. "Wait, theres a light."
      He almost immediately started heading toward it, throwing caution to the 
      wind. If Serena was in there, he had to get her out.
      Darien dropped to his stomach when someone came out of the dark house. He 
      recognized the woman immediately and forced himself to stay hidden and not 
      attack her like his instincts were urging him to do.
      They watched her get something from the rickety shed and then walk back 
      into the house.
      "Well weve got the right house." Darien started crawling toward the 
house.
      "It looks that way."
      Darien made it to the window first and tried looking through the window 
      but it was too dingy to make out anything. He pulled out the listening 
      device and shrugged. Everything else worked so far. He put the headphones 
      on and flicked the switch.
      Darien was immediately rewarded with the sounds of a mans voice arguing 
      with Serenas. He was overjoyed to be hearing her voice again.
      That was all that he needed.
      Darien stood up and nodded at Jadeite before he walked into the house.
      ----
      Serena was getting nowhere with neither arguing with the man nor the 
      straps. And she was getting angry. Really angry.
      She kept her temper tightly reined and focussed on finding a way out of 
      there. They couldnt spend all their time watching her. She let her gaze 
      wander around the room. There had to be a way out.
      Her eyes came to rest on the red head again. There was something so 
      familiar about her. Serena fought to put her finger on it. Then it hit 
      her. That night. The same night they were after Tomoe, she saw this woman 
      there as well. It had been her that set up the explosives!
      Tomoe left the room and Serena looked at the woman. "So youre planning on 
      letting me take the fall for something you did. Thats pretty cowardly."
      "So you remember me then?" She smirked. "Who cares? I stay alive."
      Serena felt the strap on her arm give a little. Spurred on, she tried 
      getting her other arm free. "Youre pathetic." She felt it loosen a 
      little. Now to keep her busy until she got her hands free. "So why me?" 
      Serena scratched at the restraints trying to get that much more space to 
      get her hands out. "You could have blamed it on anyone. Why single me 
out?"
      "Because," she ran a sharp nail down the side of Serenas cheek. "Youre 
      an easy target. Plus you have a nasty habit undoing all of my hard work."
      "What are you talking about?" she twisted her arm a little.
      "Please. As if you dont know." Kaolin pinched her cheeks hard. "Dont 
      play the innocent with me. You know what youve been doing."
      Serena was barely listening to her, she had one arm loose now, but that 
      wouldnt help her much. Two arms would double her chances of catching her 
      off guard. "You think that youre that important that I would bother with 
      trying to show you up? I dont even know your name!"
      Serena revelled in the way the other womans face twisted in grotesque 
      hate. She watched as she fought her obvious anger aside, masking it with a 
      wicked grin. "The name is Kaolin darling." She pulled out a syringe and 
      with a flourish pressed it against her arm. "And dont you forget it."
      Serena lashed out with her other arm but found it restrained by the 
doctor.
      Instead he hit Kaolin across the face with the back of his hand.
      "It was you!" he lunged at her over the table. "You killed my family!"
      Kaolin stood her ground for a moment before thinking better of it and 
      running to the opposite side of the room. She picked up a flask and threw 
      it across the room. "So what?"
      Serena lost the rest of the argument when the world started to whirl 
      around her.
      Oh god! Not again!" She was so close to getting free! Serena tore at the 
      fastenings frantically before she got any worse.
      The room darkened and she heard more smashing and shouts. Then suddenly 
      the room was ablaze.
      The brilliance of the flames shone through her lowered lashes and heated 
      her skin. It was almost unbearable so she knew the flames were licking 
      very close to her.
      She pulled again feebly with the last of her strength and gasping the 
      scorched air. She could feel the wetness of a tear slide down her cheek as 
      she thought about the one person that she needed more than anything.
      Im so sorry, Darien...
      ----
      Darien wasnt sure if he should count the house being deserted as a 
      blessing or a curse. Where the hell was everyone? He wandered through the 
      eerily silent halls searching for any sign of Serena. He headed upstairs 
      first and found a room with her wig and her shoes in it and knew that had 
      been the room where she was captive.
      But where was she now?
      He felt the building shudder with the force of an explosion and mindlessly 
      ran toward it, knowing that Serena was somewhere near.
      Heart thudding in his chest, Darien ran toward to basement. He ran his 
      finger over the gun tucked into his waistband, making sure it was still 
      there. Darien didnt want to have to pull it and risk shooting Serena 
      mistakenly, but he didnt like the idea of walking blindly into a 
      situation unarmed either.
      Smoke filled the air and scorched his lungs. Blinking against the burning 
      irritation, Darien pulled his shirt over his nose and pressed on. She was 
      near. He could feel it.
      He encountered two men on his way down, but quickly disposed of them, 
      kicking them back down the stairs then knocking them out with a punch.
      He didnt have time to mess around.
      Darien stumbled into the laboratory and gasped at the sight. The room was 
      a blaze; most of it was already unrecognisable.
      Cautiously as he could manage, Darien picked his way into the room 
      shielding his face from the heat with his hands.
      He could see a familiar figure lying strapped to a table in the middle of 
      the room and his heart cried out.
      What had happened to her? He feared the worst when he didnt see her 
      struggling to get free.
      Darien could literally feel his heart stop as he inched closer. Please 
      dont let her be... he didnt finish the thought.
      It wasnt possible.
      He tripped when his foot got caught on something. He looked down to see 
      the body of a woman sprawled on the floor. Kaolin.
      He didnt even bother to spare her another glance. He didnt care about 
      her.
      Darien stepped over her and moved to the table, avoiding some burning 
      rubble then jumped through flames to reach her.
      "Serena!" Darien checked her pulse and let out a whoop when he felt one. 
      It was faint but it was there.
      Darien quickly pulled out his knife and cut her free.
      What the hell had they done to her? He picked her up and held her limp 
      body against his chest.
      Darien was already heading out of the room when he felt a tug on his arm.
      The man holding onto his sleeve was battered and broken and staring at him 
      with an unnerving intensity.
      Darien recognized him from the photos that Luna had. He almost gave into 
      the urge to kick the man away when what he was holding caught his eye.
      His voice was rough and faint when he pleaded, "Take this."
      "Why should I?" Darien held her closer and glared at the man who did this 
      to her.
      "Its the antidote." He croaked. Coughing hoarsely, he shoved it into 
      Dariens hand. "Forgive me..."
      Darien didnt know what to make of it. He sure as hell wished that he knew 
      what had gone on in here.
      Leaning down he grabbed the man around the waist. "Hold on to me."
      There was an amazing amount of strength behind the shove he gave him. "No. 
      Its too late for me. Go!"
      As if to accentuate his words another explosion went off.
      "Go!"
      With one lost look, Darien took off up the stairs.
      The fire had spread, blocking off the front exit. He looked around for a 
      way out but the stairs were the only option.
      He took them two at a time and ran through every room finding all of the 
      windows barred.
      "Dammit!" he ran back through and found himself in front of the window in 
      Serenas room. No bars.
      He strode over and looked out. Almost directly below he could see the sea 
      crashing into the side of the cliff.
      There was no other way.
      Darien kicked out the window and stuck his head out. There was a short 
      ledge outside. It was enough for him to balance on if he needed.
      Thanking heaven that it was a relatively large window, he climbed out 
      taking Serena with him.
      He looked down at the undulating sea and took a deep breath. It wasnt 
      that far to swim around to the beach, but he looked down at Serena.
      Her pulse seemed to be getting weaker and, if possible, she was even more 
      limp than before.
      Darien looked at the syringe and then back at the face of his love. There 
      was nothing to lose. Swallowing his heart, he carefully injected the serum 
      into her arm.
      Tossing the syringe aside he wrapped her arms around his neck and held on 
      to her as tightly as he could.
      "Sere, hold on to me ok, baby?" Darien kissed her tenderly on the cheek, 
      closed his eyes and jumped.
      Darien held on to her when they hit the icy water and fought to hold on. 
      Using strength from a reserve he didnt know he had, Darien broke through 
      the surface. Securing her, he started the slow trek to the shore.
      He thought he was hearing things when he heard a motor roaring not too far 
      away. Darien ignored it until the boat was almost on top of him. The 
      engine stopped and a familiar face smiled over the side.
      "Hey. Want a lift?"
      "Just get us in the boat, Jadeite."
      They were hoisted in and within a minute they were on dry land.
      Darien wasnt smiling though.
      He pulled her onto the sand and lowered his head to Serenas chest. She 
      wasnt breathing.
      Darien immediately went to work. He pushed, and pulled, and pressed and 
      pleaded. "Serena. Dont give up on me! You cant give up!"
      She didnt respond.
      For a long moment he stood there and stared at her beautiful face. Then 
      Dariens rein over his emotions just crumbled.
      Letting out a sob, Darien fell against her and laid his head on her chest. 
      "Serena!" he took a heaving breath. "I love you. Come back to me!"
      Darien buried his head in her chest and sobbed even harder. It couldnt 
      end. Not like this. He fingered her tangled hair and traced the curve of 
      her lips.
      Jadeite couldnt bear to watch.
      His heart went out to the man half sprawled on the beach. Steeling 
      himself, he prepared to walk away when he could have sworn he saw Serenas 
      fingers flex.
      Serena woke up and found someone holding her tightly. Her limbs were still 
      heavy and she could barely move them. Her lungs felt as though they had 
      been burned and her eyes were blurry but she knew whose embrace she was 
in.
      He came for her! Elated, Serena tried to hug him back but she still move 
      her arms. So instead she lay there for a moment loving being in his arms 
      again.
      She heard the sounds of someone sobbing. It took another moment to realize 
      it was Darien.
      Serena forced her eyes to open and she looked up at the tear-streaked face 
      of the man she loved.
      She painstakingly formed his name, "Darien."
      Dariens head jerked up. "Serena?" He laughed aloud with the pure joy 
      flashing through him when he saw her eyes partially open. "Serena! Oh my 
      god! I thought I lost you, baby!"
      He hugged her to him but almost dropped her with he let go at her gasp. 
      "Did I hurt you?" Darien ran his hands all over looking for breaks or 
      gaping wounds to finally let them rest on her stomach. "Are you two ok?"
      He knew. He knew and he was here with her. Serena let her head drop a 
      little in a nod. "II think so." She took a look at his handsome face and 
      into his deep eyes. "Are you ok?"
      "I am now." Smiling, Darien hoisted her up in his arms. "Lets get out of 
      here."