Basics:

*Set during the breakup arc

*The senshi have been kidnapped by the Black Moon clan

*Usagi & Mamoru have not yet visited the future

*Mixing anime and manga, also playing with timelines a bit.

Jesus, Usagi shouldn't be here. Mamoru had made that abundantly clear.

But the Senshi were gone. Had been trapped, one by one, by the Black Moon Clan. Her wand hadn't been enough to stop them. Whatever hope she'd been clinging to that she would be able to get through the fight without him? It was gone.

Much as she hated it, she knew she only had one chance of saving her friends.

Usagi raised her fist to the door. Knocked.

The first time Usagi and Mamoru had slept together had been just after Ail and An had been purified. He'd just gotten his memories back. He'd taken her out on a date. Their first date, ramen and sodas and a walk through the park.

They barely knew each other yet, not in this lifetime. The date was supposed to bridge that: rival to lover; foe to friend. They hadn't thought things would move that quickly. Having millennia-old memories built into your DNA made things… different. His laugh was a laugh and also deja vu. When she'd kissed him, finally, finally, it was like a door opened to exactly what she'd been missing. It was not the lighthearted pining she'd done, drawing him photos and chasing him around virtual reality video games. No, it was something deeper. Like coming home.

Which is maybe why she'd called her mother and said she was staying the night at Minako's house. Why they went back to his apartment and kept kissing. She started at his temple and moved to his brow, the tip of his nose, the spot behind his ear. He'd traced his lips down her shoulders and kept his hands very firmly away from her chest until she'd guided one of his palms under her shirt.

You can touch me, Mamo.

They navigated each other's bodies like gifts they were still not sure if they were allowed to open. And yet they knew each other entirely.

When she'd reached her peak, he'd said, I can feel you, and she'd thought: of course. But he meant something else, he said later. Her pleasure a secondary wave going through his body. A tug from his chest to hers, whether she was near or far.

The sweat was still drying on their bodies when Usagi's communicator sounded. They transformed, and as Sailor Moon ran, she noticed she was having no trouble keeping pace with Tuxedo Mask. The senshi were scraped and listless when she arrived. Usagi was weaponless. The moon wand was long gone, her tiara at this point was mere decoration. Yet she felt powerful. She thought of the tenderness she and Mamoru had just shared and it filled her with a feeling of hope, bridging on certainty. Her locket split open. The silver crystal fluttered to life, and a new wand appeared in her hands.

Sailor Moon struck. Koan had been nearly purified before one of her sisters had appeared and taken her.

Luna ran up to Sailor Moon as the senshi gathered themselves. "The power of your love created a new weapon," Luna said. By then, Tuxedo Mask's hand was on Sailor Moon's shoulder. He gave it a conspiratorial squeeze. It wasn't only love...

But that was before Mamoru had decided he no longer wanted to be with her. Before Chibiusa seemed to command his loyalty. Before the thread that seemed to connect their past and future began to fray in her hands.

"I don't want to be obligated to the past," he'd said, pushing her out the door.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," Mamoru said. He wasn't sure why he let Usako inside. It was hard enough to be away from her – being near her was pure torture. Not to mention, his distance didn't seem to be helping. The princess was down four guardians and the enemy was only getting stronger. But the dreams had been so clear.

"I'm sorry," she said. Her eyes were on the ground. Was she going to plead with him again? He wasn't sure he could take it. Not to mention - if Usako was here, who was watching Chibiusa? The desire he felt to protect the small girl had been overwhelming, almost from the moment he met her. It reminded him of his first nights as Tuxedo Mask, desperate only to protect Sailor Moon.

"Did you leave Chibiusa alone?"

"I have a favor to ask you," Usagi said. Her posture changed in front of him. She took a deep breath, her shoulders back. Her eyes were still watery but she had dammed her tears. He tried to scan for any clue to why she was in his apartment, but she'd put up some kind of block, a wall, in the psychic line between them. He'd been doing it, too, recently, since there was only so much of her longing he could physically take. But as he searched the link now, he was met with an obstinate barrier.

A brush off would have to do. "It's a little late for favors," he said, adding a smirk to his voice. "I'm sure you'll run into me in the morning, you can ask then –"

"I don't have time for that," she said, removing her shoes and pushing past him into his living room. "I'm going to go find the girls. Rubeus told me I have 24 hours. My time is running out." She was taking off her jacket. What, did she think she was staying the night here? She better not get too comfortable...

Then she pulled off her tank top.

She was standing there in a black lacy bra, looking through his sliding glass door into the skyline. Her thumbs hooked into the top of her skirt as if she were ready to rip that off, too.

"What are you doing?" Mamoru whisper-shouted. He could feel his face reddening and he turned his back to her.

"I need you to sleep with me before I go."

Mamoru whipped back around. If nothing else, at least she could say she'd surprised him for once. No crybaby antics. No pining. Just a request for a quick wham bam thank you ma'am so she could ride the high of their sex magic into battle and hopefully beat the bad guys.

"Are you insane?" he asked, picking up her jacket from the floor. He was trying very hard not to stare at her chest, she could tell. To answer, she lowered her skirt to the floor.

"If you think I'm going to let you run straight into an enemy trap -"

"You're not letting me do anything, Mamoru. It's not your responsibility to protect me anymore. You've made that very clear," Usagi said. Mamoru's face fell. It sounded harsh, she knew, and not entirely true. Tuxedo Mask had still been coming to battle and saving her. It had made their break up all the harder. It had given her hope.

But she understood now: saving her was saving the world. It wasn't personal. It certainly wasn't romantic. "I'm asking you to help me. I can walk in there with the power I have now and almost certainly fail. Or you can sleep with me, I can get a power-up, and I might have an actual shot."

It was maybe the most logical battle plan she'd ever formulated, and it was all based on fucking her ex-boyfriend who didn't want anything to do with her. Try explaining that to Luna.

"No," Mamoru said. "Absolutely not, this is a terrible idea."

Yes, they had both noticed that, in the less-rare-than-one-would-hope occurence that there was a battle right after they'd, er, copulated, Sailor Moon did seem oddly more powerful. When she transformed, it was like her brooch could barely contain the power that wanted to come out of it. Sometimes it literally seemed as if she glowed.

They'd never done it on purpose. And for her to come here now, after he'd worked so hard to stay away…it would ruin everything.

Logic aside, Mamoru's heart was racing. He was already imagining his hands over Usako's body, the taste of her lips, the little gasps she made as he rocked against her. But the possibility was crowded out by the vision that had been haunting him for months now. Her in a white dress, a hand reached out, screaming his name as she fell into the abyss of a crumbling planet.

His thoughts had kept him silent for long enough that Usako seemed to believe him. Her shoulders keened forward slightly, her arms crossed over her chest. She was bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet, shaking her head. He searched the link again, but nothing. Maybe she was coming to her senses. With a little more time, they could come up with a better plan. They could figure it out, they could -

Usako scooped up her clothes from the floor and powered toward him. "Fuck you, Mamoru Chiba," she said, pushing her finger into his chest. She shoulder checked him as she moved toward the door, knocking him off balance. He'd never seen her so angry. And certainly never so angry and undressed at the same time.

"I know you can barely stand to be around me –" she ranted, pulling on her tank top, lifting the long trails of her ponytails out from underneath it. She was struggling a bit, being so flustered. Mamoru couldn't help but think how adorable she looked, not unlike the way she used to get angry at him in the very beginning, hurling insults at each other. "– but I thought you would at least consider it for the sake of the goddamn world –"

Her anger must have distracted her and the link unlocked. Her feelings came spilling in. As she pulled up her skirt, he could feel her outright despair — her one hope to save her friends was gone, and now it was clearly a suicide mission. But that was it, she had to try, and if nothing else maybe she could distract the enemy long enough to -

Oh God, no. Mamoru couldn't take it. If she was going to get herself killed, what good would staying away do? Was he really going to let her walk into that danger? Without him? Without whatever help he could give her?

He thought of Usako being ripped away out of his arms. He thought of her beautiful face being lost in a sea of rubble. What if this is it, Mamoru? What if this was the moment the dreams were warning you about? What if it's a test? Part of him argued.

What if it's not?

She was dressed, still angry, still ranting. She was pulling on her last sneaker, bent over. She stood up, began to slide on her jacket. "It probably wouldn't work anyway, since you don't love me anym–"

But before she could say it, Mamoru's lips were on hers.

Mamoru had waited until all of Usagi's clothes were back on to start taking them off again. When he'd first kissed her, she'd thought his only intention had been to shut her up, which had made her angrier. She'd hit his chest with her fists and pushed him away, but when she'd looked up to tell him what an asshole he was, she caught his eyes. They'd softened, and they looked scared.

She didn't know what to say, so it was a good thing that Mamoru took off his shirt. The action seemed to override her emotional reasoning, the harm he'd done her, how deeply confused she was about what any of this meant. Instead, her body electrified in response. She pulled him back into a kiss. He wrapped his arms behind her lower back before releasing her enough that she tugged off her jacket again while he unzipped her skirt.

She'd forgotten just how large Mamo's hands were, the warmth of them. She pulled her tank top off and Mamoru reached behind her back to unhook her bra, sliding the straps down her shoulders and throwing the garment to the floor. Usagi reached for his waist belt and unbuttoned it, feeling how hard he'd become already.

She pushed his pants over his hips and they fell to the floor. Their lovemaking had been primarily sweet until now, so Usagi was surprised when he lifted her up and pressed her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Endymion had loved to do this too, she remembered. Did Mamoru do it now because of the past, or was it a coincidence? Were there some things too ingrained to be forgotten? She could feel his erection grinding against her. Even if he didn't love her, at least the mechanics would work.

He pulled her from the wall and continued to kiss her as he walked them both to the bedroom. God, his lips felt good. God, she had missed this. How, she wondered, can it feel so good to kiss someone who does not want you?

Mamoru laid her down on the bed and trailed his way down to her thighs, running his teeth gently at her hips. She was already desperate to feel him inside her, her walls clenching in anticipation.

But Mamoru had made a routine of going slow. He kissed along the line of her panties as Usagi squirmed beneath him. He massaged the palm of his hand against her mound, the fabric creating even more friction. He pushed the fabric aside and slipped a finger inside her, curling it and rocking it upward, stroking at her G-spot. Usagi let out a moan, arching her back. She didn't want him to stop. Wanted him to take all the time he wanted. And yet…

"Mamo…" she panted. "I...do have...a world...to save."

He conceded, pushing inside her a few more times before removing his hand and rolling her underwear off her body. He pressed his mouth against her, drawing firm circles around her clit. It was good enough that she could have come right there, but she felt - no, she knew - that they had to come together. And more than that…

Mamoru was reaching for a condom when Usako stopped his hand. "I've… got it covered," she said.

Mamoru froze. What did that mean? Had she gone on birth control – after they'd broken up? The thought made his whole body tense. Usako reached up and pulled him down to kiss her, shuffling her hips beneath his.

That kiss, though. Her kiss. No, there couldn't be anyone else. So what? What was her meaning? He searched the link for more, but all it seemed to say was, please, no more questions.

Hadn't not trusting Usako gotten him into this mess? He hadn't trusted that she was smart. That they could handle it together. Hadn't trusted her with the truth, all of it, from the dreams to his fears to his heartbreak.

Why, when he trusted her more than anyone else in the universe?

He pulled his hand away from the bedside drawer. He looked at the woman he'd loved for millennia. Nothing could be worth losing this for. Maybe he needed to trust that.

He leaned against her entrance. He pushed in.

Once Mamoru was inside her, Usagi could almost forget that she might be about to die. She could forget that he'd been breaking her heart for months. Forget that she did not, indeed, have a plan without a condom. A trip to the pharmacy, she supposed, if she lived long enough to go to one.

What would Minako call this? Galileo humor?

She even kept forgetting that Mamoru didn't love her anymore. She certainly couldn't tell the difference, the way that he filled her, how intricately he seemed to know what she liked. The tenderness in his pelvis rubbing against hers.

Even his roughness seemed tailored to her pleasure. He flipped her onto her belly, pulling her butt back toward him and entering her again. With each thrust, she let out a deep moan. He grabbed a handful of her ass. Thrust even harder. She began to imagine what it might feel like for him to come inside her.

She felt him pause and pull out again, leaning over her, catching his breath. He was close. She looked at the clock. Only a few hours until the showdown with Rubeus.

"Lay down, Mamo," she said.

Mamoru was already unsure how much longer he could last when Usako climbed on top of him. Maybe they could just make love until Rubeus's deadline passed, he'd deluded himself, and then they could come up with a better plan?

Instead, Usako was undulating her hips on top of him, her mouth open, her head leaned back. She was clamped around his cock like a vice and he could feel how close she was. He reached his hand out and began to rub circles into her clit, which made her moan. Yes, Mamo, yes…

Out of the corner of his eye, Mamoru saw a light turn on in the other room. That's strange, he thought. It was brighter than any light in his house…

He didn't have time to ponder long. The silver crystal floated into the room and hovered just in front of Usako's chest. She hadn't noticed it yet, her eyes still closed. Had this happened before, and they'd both been too caught up to see? It seemed to be flashing at the same cadence as her hips were moving.

Meanwhile, Mamoru was getting very close, strange magic crystal or not. If Usako kept moving like that, he wasn't going to be able to -

Usako gasped. "Mamo, I'm…" she said, and he felt her walls pulsate around him. She was coming, and it was as if her body was begging him to come with her. It was too much. The weeks – months? – he'd tried to stay away, how desperately he longed for her. To touch her. To laugh with her. Here, in this moment, their bodies aching to be one. Mamoru closed his eyes and let go, releasing inside her.

Above him, he felt Usako relax. He was going to tell her. Everything. The dreams. How of course he'd always loved her. How sorry he was.

He was going to tell her. But when he opened his eyes, the crystal was bleating with light, like an alarm. Usako's eyes were focused on it, almost blank. This wasn't right, Mamoru thought and went to say.

But it was too late. Usako reached out and touched the crystal. And in an instant, she had disappeared.