Yup yup I know. Yet another short one but I'm trying to stay motivated and get the updates out every week on Saturday and Sunday... so for those of you who feel it has been longer than a week I promise you it has only been a week. :) Nonetheless, either it's short updates close together, or big ones farther apart. Your choice. REVIEW!

Negotiations

Darien lay next to his wife in bed and watched her sleep. His hand was buried in her hair, rubbing the back of her head and ears as she slept. A frown touched his face as she whimpered a little and scrunched her face slightly, she wasn’t sleeping well and no doubt, it was because of whatever had happened earlier. The boys had left the house so quickly earlier it worried him a bit but then again they were an unpredictable bunch of men.

Serena’s eyes suddenly shot open as she jerked upright and stared at the double doors that lead to the library. Her chest was heaving with laborious and hurried breaths but it was the look in her eyes that worried Darien the most. “Something’s wrong.” She said almost hysterically.

“Serena… calm down.” He sat up and gently pulled her into his arms which she quickly denied. Pushing away from him she jumped out of bed and grabbed a robe to cover her naked body. “Serena!”

“Where’s my baby?” She immediately stared at him, her eyes held an unknown fear and desperateness. “Where’s Rini?” He knitted his brow and stood up, crossing the room and looking into her eyes.

“She’s with Derrick… she’s safe. What are you worried about?” He cupped her face with one of his large hands. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“DAD!” Derrick shouted as he burst through the front doors and into the house. “DAD!” Darien looked at the doors and felt a twinge of despair. He quickly released his wife and went into the living room to where Derrick was standing. The man was practically hyperventilating, Trista was desperately trying to calm him, and Peruru was clearly acting as a barrier between Derrick and Helios.

“What’s going on?” Darien scanned the room looking for Rini and, when he didn’t find her he immediately looked back towards the library. Serena was standing in the doorway, gripping the door frame as she watched the scene. Darien deliberately walked to his son and whispered. “Where’s your sister?”

Derrick looked down at the ground then let his shoulders fall. “Tell him! Go on do it!” Helios yelled as he forcefully grabbed Peruru and pushed him aside. “Tell him what happened!” Darien looked from one man to the other then at Peruru who was now biting his lip. “You’re such a coward! Darien, Seriah took your daughter, she has her now in that fucking house and lord knows what they’re going to do to her!” Helios looked like a rabid wolf about to attack. His brown eyes were so wide it looked like they might pop out of his head.

“What!” Serena shouted angrily. “Darien! DERRICK!” She screamed at the boy she considered a son. “How could you… I mean…” Her voice faltered as her legs gave out and she slid down the doorframe to the hard floor and began to sob.

“I’m sorry dad… I thought I saw Seiya… it was him…” Darien immediately looked at Peruru and Helios for clarification and noticed the angry and defiant look in Helios’ eyes. “I don’t know why…”

“It wasn’t Seiya Darien. It was an imitator.” Helios announced the information and looked at Serena carefully. She seemed not to have heard him but that didn’t matter. “He’s helping Seriah and I’m sure he’s the one who came here earlier. He’ll be back and most likely he’s going to be more aggressive when he does.” Darien nodded and looked at Trista. The poor woman looked so confused as she tried to consol Derrick.

“Okay… let’s not do anything rash… they’ll be expecting us to come in with guns blazing but… we… we have to think about this.” Darien was having a hard time articulating himself due to his anger. He was furious but anger never lead anywhere good. “Seriah’s taken Rini because she knows she’s precious to us… if we don’t react to her threats she will have no reason to harm Rini.”

“Darien! You can’t be serious? Seriah’s insane! She doesn’t think logically!” Helios threw his hands in the air with a growl.

“Yes, she does. She took Rini didn’t she? That was extremely logical and well planned.” Darien rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes.

“I’ll go and talk to Taiki and Yaten.” Derrick sighed. “Maybe they can help us. Have either of you made the antidote to that… nasty serum?” Helios and Peruru looked at one another with a fearful glance before Peruru nodded his head in affirmation. “Good, give it to me and I’ll se what sort of information I can get from them.” Peruru went up to his room and came back down with a vial.

“Thirty cc’s ought to do it.” He handed the bottle to Derrick and looked at Trista. “Thank you for your help. Everything will be a little clearer with time.” She nodded and followed Derrick out of the house.

“I’m sure everything’s going to be fine.” She smiled and placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. Derrick shook his head and looked at Trista with a sorry droop of the eyes. “I know you’re worried but whatever is going on… it’ll be okay.”

The two drove to the hospital in silence and when they finally reached the parking lot and turned off the car Derrick sighed. “This is all my fault… if I had given in to her all those years ago I could have… she wouldn’t be like this.” Trista said nothing, after all, what could she say to him? She didn’t know what was going on.

Derrick could hear Yaten cussing at an innocent nurse the moment he entered that section of the hospital. Despite the fact that Taiki had been given a private room Yaten could still be heard throughout the floor when he was angry. “I don’t care what your fucking orders are I’m telling you you’re not sticking any more needles in him! They’re making him sicker!” Derrick swung his brown eyes to Trista then rushed to the room as the young nurse ran out with tears streaking her face. “Don’t look at me like that Ki. You know I’m right.” Derrick saw Yaten spit as he sat in the chair next to his lover. After a few moments Yaten looked up at Derrick with a blank face.

“I need to ask a few questions about Seriah’s plan and a… Seiya imitator?” Derrick said cautiously as Yaten’s eyes widened. Upon hearing Derrick’s words Taiki turned his head ever so slowly and his brown eyes locked with the young doctors. He looked dreadful. His hair had almost completely fallen out and his face looked gaunt and hollow, his eyes dark and listless.

“Why should I tell you anything? You’ve done nothing to help! In fact he’s laying here dying and you’re doing nothing.” Yaten growled then seemed to jerk forward and stare at Taiki for a moment. “No! I’m not saying one word.”

“Please? She and that guy have taken my sister… she’s never done anything bad in her life. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt.” Derrick was pleading with Yaten. “I have the antidote here, Helios and Peruru made it themselves.”

Yaten looked at Derrick skeptically then sighed and sank back into the chair. “Fine, if you give him the antidote and he’s doing better in the next twenty four hours I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Derrick seemed to wither at the idea of having to wait. Trista looked from one man to the other and growled.

She marched over to Yaten and grabbed his shirt collar violently. “Listen to me you pig headed asshole! You can save two people right now. You’re lover and an innocent little girl! I don’t want information later, I want it NOW!” She was so close to Yaten it almost looked like their noses were touching.

“Get your hands off of me woman… and don’t threaten me again.” Yaten hissed dangerously and grabbed the woman’s wrists roughly. Trista winced but held firm, her eyes blazing with determination. “I want results first.”

“Then he dies and you get nothing.” She snapped and let go of him. He, however did not return the favor, instead his face twisted into a look of rage and disgust as he stood. “Go ahead, hurt me, do whatever you want but that’s not going to stop Derrick from walking out.”

“Want to bet?” Yaten whispered Darkly and spun her around so her back was pressed to him and he had one strong arm around her neck. “Let’s find out… Derrick… Ricky…” He emphasized nastily. “Give Taiki the injection or she dies.”

“No.” Derrick stood straight and glared at his opponent. “If you kill her then you’ll have no other leverage over me and there’s no point.” Yaten smiled wickedly and shook his head.

“Then you’ve already forgotten about your innocent little sister who looks exactly like your mother? How sad.” Derrick felt his resolve waiver a bit. It was true, Yaten held the higher ground here. “That imitator is the best out there. His name is Imit and he’ll go to the ends of the earth to be Seiya.”

“Imit?” Derrick recognized the name. He remembered the young red head coming over to the house and staying. The boy had an unhealthy obsession with Seiya and especially Seriah. Derrick had caught Imit in Seriah’s room in the middle of the night more than once. After a while Derrick had hid in Seriah’s room and waited. Imit had come in and stood at the side of Seriah’s bed, staring at her intensely.

Imit had also followed Serena around carefully. Derrick had seen lust fill the boys eyes many times as he watched Serena do something and he’d even seen Imit volunteer to do laundry just to sniff the two women’s undergarments. The guy was crazy and Derrick had no doubt that soon Imit would be controlling Seriah and not the other way around.

“I have a call to make. Will you just let Trista go? I’m going to give Taiki the injection anyway. I still want the information though.” Derrick shook his head and approached Taiki with a syringe and the vial. He pulled the right dosage into the instrument and made sure everything looked okay before injecting the serum into Taiki. Yaten released Trista and took his lover’s hand tenderly.

Derrick quickly left the room and called the house. He hoped to high heaven that his father would answer the phone. He needed to talk to Darien and no one else.

Imit lay on his side staring at the now sleeping Seriah. She was so beautiful when she slept… she was always beautiful in his eyes. Her pale face was obscured by a blanket of jet black hair and slowly, carefully he reached out his hand and moved it away from her still features. Taking a deep breath he rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. This was a dream come true for him, truly it was. He had become his idol, gained leverage over the enemy, slept with Seriah… the only thing left to do was to get to Serena. He closed his eyes and pictured the way she’d let fear consume her. Those clear blue eyes were so beautiful, so addicting. The way her lips had tasted, the way she smelled and felt against his body started to flood his mind. Though she had aged considerably in years she hadn’t changed much and he’d bet anything she could do a cover for playboy and be every man’s fantasy.

Seiya had wanted to control Serena only because he knew she was the one controlling him. Everyone could see the hold Serena had on him… not to mention others. It was almost as if she had some power to completely overtake a man… any man. Darien was no different than Seiya and certainly no different from all the others Serena had enticed in her younger years.

He closed his eyes and saw her cerulean eyes, they were so clear, so… full of fear… and life. He had to look into them again! Slowly, he removed himself from the bed and pulled on his boxers and pants before walking to Seriah’s old room and Rini’s prison. The petite girl had stopped banging on the door and now, the only sound that could be heard were soft sobs. With a flick of the wrist Imit unlocked the door and stepped in quickly. His sudden presence in the room temporarily halted the crying then it resumed after a moment. He scanned the room for the little girl and didn’t find her. Smirking he dropped to his knees and looked under the bed. She was under there, her back pressed against the wall and her arms were protectively hugging her legs. “Rini… come out of there.”

“No!” She shouted angrily and buried her face into her legs. The action angered the man now on the floor and so he scooted his body so it was along the side of the bed. He attempted to get under but soon realized that he was too large for the space.

“Rini…” He growled and reached for her. There was no way he’d be able to reach her like this and he knew it. “Damn it you little brat look at me!” Her defiant eyes suddenly appeared and bore into his. They weren’t Serena’s blue. Looking back at him were Darien’s eyes, Darien’s defiance and confidence. He growled and stood, disappointed with the little girl under the bed. She was supposed to look exactly like Serena. She was supposed to be impressionable, moldable! “Rini, come out of there now!” He shouted then growled as she once again refused. “God damn it you little bitch!” He tore the mattress and box spring from the bed and grabbed her hastily by the hair. She instantly screamed and began to cry. This little girl wasn’t anything like Serena. Sure she looked like the woman but she was nothing compared to her mother.

The tears rolled down her face and one by one hit the floor and as he watched her cry a smirk crept onto his face. If he wanted to he could continue with his plan. He could mould Rini into the perfect woman, he could make her everything he wanted… then again he could forget about that and truly use her to his advantage. “Immy… what are you doing?” Seriah interrupted his thoughts and as he turned to her he released the tiny blonde. Seriah was eyeing him suspiciously then she stepped forward and knelt in front of Rini who was very quick to throw herself into Seriah’s open arms.

“I want to go home… I miss my mommy and Daddy!” Her shaking voice was soon cut off by Seriah’s devilish cackle. Rini pulled away from her and stared at the two people suspiciously before beginning to cry again. “You both tricked me… who are you?”

“I am your sister and you… little brat… are going to be my reveng.” Seriah stood and grabbed Imit’s hand. She led him out of the room then shut and locked the door. “What were you doing? I don’t need her so angry and scared that she doesn’t cooperate.”

“I wanted to see her… that’s all.” Imit sighed then straightened his back and looked at Seriah like her father would look at her. “Besides, who said you were the only person who had plans for her?” Seriah stepped back with a look of surprise on her face then jumped as Imit grabbed her and pulled her against him. “I can’t wait to Darien how devious we are.” He then pressed his lips to hers and began to back her towards the bedroom for the second time.