Shady Business by Silver MoonAngel
Rated R
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                    STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES

AN: After this chapter there is going to be one more chapter and an 
epilogue.  Thanks to all of those who read this little story of 
mine, and even more to those who reviewed!
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	Serena woke up a few hours later, Diamond still smiling smugly 
at her and sitting in the chair she was tied to earlier.  She smiled 
at him and politely asked, "Will you let me go to the bathroom?"

	He smiled at her and said, "I may just make you hold it."

	She glared at him, then asked, "Could you get me a breast pump 
then?  I'm nursing two babies and my breasts are hurting like hell."  
Satisfied to see him visibly gulp, she laid her head back and 
started to think of a way to get the hell out of there. She looked 
toward a window high in the wall and thought, 'Come and save me, 
Darien.'

	Diamond watched her as she plotted and planned.  She had grown 
after she had left him, in more ways than one.  He smiled inside, 
thought of one of the ways she had grown, and it pleased him.  He 
looked down and smiled; she pleased him very much.

		*		*		*

	"Raye, can you sense her at all," Darien asked, holding his 
son in the crook of his arms.  Carlin had called Galen up and had 
him fly in with the twins and Leala.  Darien was in awe at the sight 
of his children, the children he and Serena had created together.  
Darien nuzzled Doran's hair and sighed.  He grabbed a bottle and 
placed it in his son's mouth as he waited for Raye's answer.

	Raye shook her head as gently as she could without waking up 
Renata--who was nestled in her arms--and looked at Darien.  "She's 
just out of reach.  You should ask Carlin where she is.  She saw the 
most detail out of all of us."

	Darien reached out and took Carlin's hand.  The poor girl had 
been in shock since Serena had disappeared, but she seemed to be 
coming out of it, now that Galen and Leala were here.  She said, 
barely above a whisper, "She's in a basement of a house somewhere 
nearby.  He couldn't have gone too far."  She turned to look back at 
Doran and said, "Oh my."

	Darien looked down and saw Doran's bottle floating in the air.  
'He's telekinetic...' He looked at Sam and Carlin and asked, 
"Serena's telekinetic, isn't she?"

	Carlin nodded her head and said, "Only slightly.  Her mother 
scared her out of most of it when she was six.  It only shows up 
when she needs it now."

	"Scared her out of it?  What did she do to Serena," Darien 
asked watching Doran hold his bottle.

	Carlin shifted Leala and said, "I heard this from Mike and 
Nerys so it may be slightly skewed from the actual events."  Seeing 
Darien understand, she continued, "Her mother saw her playing catch 
with Mike and Nerys, but Serena wasn't using her hands.  Her mom 
flipped and threw her into a closet, saying, 'You can't come out 
until you have learned to be a normal girl.'  Since then, Serena has 
'lost' her abilities."

	Darien's gaze flickered between his children.  He thought 
aloud, "I wonder what abilities they have?"

	Sam smiled, "Well, we all know Dory's.  Rene probably is 
precognitive.  Carlin and I are precognitive, Serena's a 
telekinetic, Kieta's an empath, and Nerys is a closet medium.  The 
abilities run through the women, so it's a surprise that Dory has 
anything."

	"We're losing track here," Galen spoke up, "Serena's still in 
a boatload of trouble.  Everyone, concentrate.  I might be able to 
find her."

	Everyone concentrated and Raye and Galen exclaimed, "Found 
her!"

		*		*		*

	Serena watched as Diamond advanced upon her.  He had been 
watching her for nearly an hour now.  Every now and then, he would 
pull out a knife and play with it, running his finger up and down 
the blade.  'Concentrate on the knife.  It's your only hope,' Serena 
thought as she turned her gaze to the pocket he had put it in.

	"Serena, you're going to enjoy yourself tonight," Diamond 
tried to say as gently as he could.  He didn't want to be forced to 
hurt her.  If she moved, however, he had a nice little knife to 
remedy that.

	'Look at me,' Serena thought, 'tied up at the mercy of a 
madman.  It's about time I did something about it.'  Serena waited 
with a baited breath for Diamond to show the knife again.  When he 
did, she would make her move then.

		*		*		*

	Darien looked up at the moonless sky, clenching a lock picking 
kit in his hand.  He didn't ask Galen--when he was shown an hour 
ago--how he knew how to pick locks, but Galen smiled at him and 
said, "It's a good thing I did, or Leala wouldn't be here."  Carlin 
jabbed him in the ribs and said, "Don't mind him.  He' s letting 
fatherhood go to his head."

	Darien shook his head and chuckled at the memory.  Carlin 
could be a handful sometimes, but she always knew everything would 
eventually work out right.  Especially when she told him when he 
left, "Don't hurry back on our account.  We'll watch the babies."

	His jovial mood vanished the moment he saw the place Serena 
was being held.  She had been gone nearly an entire day by now, but 
there was nothing he could do about it.  Besides, Carlin told him 
not to go in until he heard Diamond screaming bloody murder.  He 
narrowed his eyes to slits and slipped into the decaying Lathrop 
mansion, carefully making his way to the basement, listening for 
cries of distress.  He nearly dropped to the ground when he almost 
immediately heard Diamond scream, "No more!  No more!  Grab the 
knife you witch!"

	Darien busted down the door and saw Serena lying on the bed, 
smiling menacingly at Diamond.  She narrowed her eyes to slits and 
said, "It's time someone taught you a lesson in how to treat women."  
She swung her gaze around the room and her eyes lit up when she 
caught sight of Darien.  She looked back at Diamond and smiled the 
smile of a benevolent saint and said, "He's here."

	Darien grabbed the knife that was floating in the air and 
looked at Diamond.  He pointed it at him and said, "Be glad she 
didn't manage to get herself untied.  If she did, you'd be dead by 
now."  Darien turned his gaze to Serena and softened his look.  
Going to her, he leaned down and kissed her forehead, and asked, 
"Are you alright, love?"

	Serena smiled up at him and answered, "I will be once you 
untie me."  She shifted her gaze for a moment and pinned Diamond to 
a wall.  The moment one of her hands were free, she pointed it at 
him and said in a dark tone, "Think of moving, I'll drop the 'little 
one' off the face of the earth, got it?"

	Diamond just nodded and stood as still as he could.  He didn't 
want any permanent damage done to him.

	Just then an uniformed police officer swung into the room and 
didn't know what to do.  He saw a man 'pinned' to a wall, a petite 
blonde pointing at the said man, and another man saying soothing 
words to the blonde.  He tapped his mouthpiece and said, "Request 
for backup," before stepping out of the room to collect himself.

		*		*		*

	It took Serena a few days before she could sit down and tell 
everyone what had happened.  Darien had been wonderful in giving her 
space, as well as holding her close when she needed it.  The twins 
were a great help.  Seeing their smiling faces every morning proved 
that she had made it and that Diamond was truly gone.

	It took Carlin a few days--and nights according to Galen--to 
finally be pulled from her reverie.  Whenever Carlin was around he 
said, "You're lucky I have her under my thumb.  She's a tyrant when 
we're alone."  Of course, he said this with a truly sated smile on 
his face.

	One evening about a week after the incident, Serena called 
everyone together in the study.  She stood in front of the fireplace 
and watched the flames before she began.  Turning, she could see 
concern written on everyone's faces.  Sighing, she started.  She 
told of how she woke up tied to the chair and what happened when she 
woke up.  "The knife was what set me off I think.  He used to have 
this little game where he would play with a knife.  He would skim it 
across my skin before he...well, it doesn't matter now.  I 
concentrated on the knife and the last time he pulled it out, I 
jerked it from his hand.

	"The look on his face was worth it.  I'll never forget the 
moment he lost control.  He started shaking and was starting to 
scream at me.  I smiled at him and said, 'I would stop if I were 
you.'  He kept screaming, so I nudged it toward him.  That's when he 
went really nuts and Darien came in through the door.  I never felt 
safe until he had untied one of my hands and I could hold Diamond 
against the wall."  Serena gazed at Darien and said, "You're the 
reason I didn't kill him."

	Darien smiled and said, "I knew I should have been a few 
minutes later."

	The group gave a collective chuckle and went on their separate 
ways.  Darien pulled Serena aside and asked, "My room or yours?"

	Serena smiled up at him and answered, "Whichever is closest."

	Darien grabbed her hand and she laughed as he pulled her up 
the stairs.

			*		*		*

	Darien looked down and watched Serena as she slept.  Last 
night had taken a lot out of her and she was finally resting.  
Darien heard some gentle coos over the baby monitor and chuckled to 
himself.  Sliding from the bed, he went into the next room and saw 
Dory sitting up, staring at him.  Picking him up, Darien asked, 
"Ready to start the day, big guy?"  Seeing Dory clap his hands 
together, he said, "Let's go wake up Mommy."

	Darien walked back into the room and smiled to see a very 
rumpled Serena sitting up in bed with a sheet wrapped around her.  
He handed her Dory and kissed her on the lips, saying, "Good 
morning, beautiful."

	Serena smiled at him sleepily as she guided Dory to her 
breast, "Good morning to you, too."  She smiled and looked at her 
son.  He was so perfect...  "I named him after you, you know."

	Darien watched in awe and said, "No, I didn't.  How is he?"

	Serena looked into Darien's eyes and explained, "Doran is 
close to Darren.  Darien comes from Darren.  It's that simple."

	"Where does Renata come from?"

	Serena smiled and said, "Carlin used to call me 'Rene'.  The 
original form of Rene is Renata."  Serena adjusted Dory and 
shrugged, "My way of honoring her, I guess."

	Darien leaned over to kiss her.  Their life could be 
wonderful, if he ever took that final step...

	Happy gurgling erupted from the baby monitor next to Serena.  
Serena giggled and looked at Darien.  "She's calling you 
sweetheart."

	Darien kissed her before he went and grabbed his daughter.  
Little Rene was going to break many hearts one day, but for now, she 
could handle conquering his.  He nuzzled her fine golden curls and 
said, "I love you and Dory nearly as much as I love your Mommy, if 
not a tad more."  He tossed her up and carried her into the 
adjoining room.

	Tears streamed down Serena's face as she took Rene from 
Darien.  She let Rene latch to her breast before she said, "I love 
them a touch more than I love you."

	A heavy silence filled the room, filled only by Rene's sucking 
and Dory's happy laughs.  Paying closer attention to Dory's laughs, 
she followed his line of vision until she saw the ball floating in 
the air.  She glanced between Dory, Darien, and the ball, and 
finally turned to Darien, saying, "I take it, that's how you knew I 
was telekinetic."

	Darien chuckled, "You should see his bottle trick."

	Dory just clapped his hands.

			*		*		*


	Later that day, Sam's entire household sat down to eat a meal.  
Darien was nestled between Serena and Carlin and got the duty of 
holding Dory while Serena held Rene and Carlin held Leala.  He 
watched intently as Serena spoon-fed Rene while trying to eat 
herself.  It was quite comical, especially since Dory fed himself.

	Serena glared at him, then smiled as she caused her spoon to 
levitate to feed herself.  She let the spoon drop then kissed 
Darien's mouth.  Smiling, she said against his lips, "It's not so 
amusing once you realize where he got it."

	Carlin snorted behind her napkin.  She looked down at Leala 
and said, "Good thing your daddy wasn't telekinetic."

	Galen raised an eyebrow at her and said, "I wouldn't be to 
sure about that."

	Now it was Serena's turn to snort.  Galen didn't have to type 
of aura to be telekinetic.  "Get off your high horse, McHail."

	Darien shook his head and listened as Serena and Galen 
bantered back and forth.  Looking at Dory and Rene, he thought 
aloud, "I wish you could stay with me."

	Serena stopped in mid-argument.  She looked at him and asked, 
"Do you really mean that?"

	Darien visibly gulped as fourteen pairs of eyes gazed at him.  
He slowly nodded and said, "Yes, I do."  He turned so he could look 
into Serena's eyes.  Lying hidden in their depths was hope and a 
touch of fear.  He lowered his voice to a low rumble and said, "I 
want to wake up next to you every morning and hear the twins over 
their monitor.  I want to be able to love you in the way you should 
be loved, constantly.  Stay with me, Serena."

	Serena hiccuped and nodded as she blinked away the tears.  "I 
have more relatives here."

	"All the more baby-sitters," Darien said with a wink.

	Serena let out a small giggle and said, "I'll go home with 
you."

	Darien put the twins on the table and crushed Serena to his 
chest.  Kissing her soundly, he held her close, and said, "You can't 
run ever again."

	Serena smiled and said, "I don't want to."

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*sigh*  The last scene was inspired in some small way by my 
wonderful boyfriend.  Honey, thanks for being my inspiration.  I 
love you!

Send Q's or C's to: silver_moonangel@yahoo.com