2 Old 4 You

by Luvdarain5

Disclaimer: I dont own. Sailor Moon. k?

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Ami was browsing the familiar aisles of her favorite bookstores when she first noticed she was being watched. She tried to shake off the odd sensations; the hair standing on end, the super-sensitized nerves and most telling of all, the quick glances away from her every time she looked up and around.

There appeared to be two of them working together she surmised. Pushing her glasses up on her nose, she pretended to study a selection of books laid out on a table while she tried to decide what to do. Should she alert security? After all they were in a busy store with plenty of people around to help. But perhaps she was being paranoid? Her delicate brow wrinkled as she tried to make up her mind.

She milled around for a few more minutes, then decided she was being silly. Ami shook her head, amused at herself and decided to leave. Too many mystery novels had her looking over her shoulder suspiciously. Perhaps tonight she would skip her evening of reading and see what was showing on PBS.

Ami straightened her frumpy suit, frowning at the wrinkles. She had just ironed the darn thing, how had it gotten so bad so quickly? Then she grinned with remembrance. Her dear friend Usagi had stopped by her work with sweet little Rini in tow. Ami had been unable to resist playing with the child, the youngest of her blonde friend's children. Such a delightful little scamp, she thought to herself with a grin.

Her mind turned to what she would fix herself for dinner as she stepped out into the weak evening sunlight draping the sidewalk in the last of the daylight hours. Perhaps lovely shrimp scampi she thought, when she was abruptly shaken out of her reverie.

A brute force knocked into her, causing her to topple heavily before crashing down onto the cement sidewalk. Her purse was tugged, then snatched off her arm and she was treated to the stunning sight of a man running incredibly fast further and further away from where she sprawled.

"Hey get back here!" Came a deep male voice from above her. The man was furious, teeming with energy and indecision. "Hey are you o.k.?" He asked, unsure whether to lean down and help her, or to follow.

Ami stared in disbelief. "My purse!" She exclaimed dismayed.

That was all the promoting the man needed. "Stay here, I'll be right back!" He said firmly, and took off at a dead run in the direction the purse-snatcher had just gone.

"Wait!" She called out faintly. She didn't want the man to be hurt on her account. But he was already out of earshot.

Ami struggled to stand, and was suddenly surrounded by concerned, helpful onlookers.

"Are you ok miss?" Asked one fellow, balding and overweight. He offered a hand to help her up.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Chimed in a female clerk who worked at the bookstore and recognized Ami as one of their regular patrons.

"Oh dear!" Exclaimed the bookstore owner in a thick Italian accent. "You hurt Dr. Lady?" He brushed his hands over her clothes, trying to dust off some of the debris and only serving to rub sore wounds raw.

When she hissed in pain as he inadvertently touched a lightly bloody bruise, he pulled back, apologetic. "I so sorry Dr. Lady! You come in, I fix you up!" He offered, trying to tug her back inside the store.

"Do you want to sue the establishment for negligence and poor security?" Offered a tall mean looking brunette woman. "I'm a lawyer." She added.

"Oh Dear!!" Repeated the poor bookstore owner reiterated more worriedly.

Ami winced, holding her side with the opposite arm. She struggled to stand up straight but it was an effort. "N-no thank you." She huffed with the efforts. "I'm not a litigious person." She firmly told the lawyer, to the Italian man's relief.

She tried to walk, but found it difficult to go far on wobbly legs. They were shaking, she realized in wonder. She was scared, and her heart was jack hammering with the fright of what had happened.

Arnoldo, the Italian bookstore owner helped her over to the brick steps in front of his store and she gingerly lowered herself to sit. Immediately people crowded around her, some genuinely concerned, others gawked in curiosity.

Ami just wanted them to go away. "Thank you all for your concern, I appreciate your help, but I think I'm going to be fine." She said, hoping that would send them on their way. No one budged.

She closed her eyes, and bent over, resting her forehead on her knees, trying to find a measure of calm. But with the brutality of being assaulted, robbed, and now not being able to have some privacy to collect herself she found she was close to tears.

The shop girl who had tried to help earlier appeared, carrying a Styrofoam cup of water. Arnoldo grabbed it out of her hand, slopping some over the rim, and shooing the girl away. "Get away, I do this." He insisted. The girl took no offence, her boss was meant no harm, he was just worried. "Here Dr. Lady, you drink this, you feel much better!"

She accepted the cup, and sipped a little of the cool water over parched lips. In her agitated state, she was breathing through her open mouth, and needed the moisture as well as the soothing of her dry throat.

A new commotion erupted from the back of the crowd, and a tall blond man worked his way through the throng of people.

"Excuse me, coming thru." He said brusquely, pushing people out of his way. He reached the steps and saw the petite form of the blue haired woman. He scrunched up his eyes. Blue Hair? Upon closer inspection he realized it was black but with a blue sheen to it. Soft and silky, and it was all he could see of her. She was bent over, huddled into herself and his protective instincts kicked in.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked in concern, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder. She jolted upright, and he was treated to a terrified set of navy blue eyes behind her glasses. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" He said alarmed, pulling his hand away and holding them both up to show he meant no harm.

Her eyes went to the item he clutched in his right hand. "My purse!" She exclaimed in surprise.

Immediately everyone swarmed towards him.

"It's the purse thief, get him!" Someone shouted.

"He's got balls to come back to the scene of the crime!" Another added.

A hand grabbed onto his wrist and snatched the purse from it. "You're going to jail buddy!" A large sounding man told him.

Zoi began to sweat when he heard this. He couldn't go back to jail. He would not. 'Shit' He thought to himself. 'This is what I get for trying to do the right thing!' He was jerked backwards, and hauled to his feet. The crowd was ready to dispense their own brand of justice, and he realized that jail might be a safer place than here amongst these crazed people.

His eyes shot back to the woman who still sat on the steps. He was being shoved, yelled at, and someone was twisting his arm behind his back so that he could not escape. All the while, they locked gazes, something preventing him from looking away.

Ami blinked, confused. The man was young, at least a few years younger than she, and very handsome in an obvious sort of way. His clothes were worn, the jeans and blue gray t-shirt having seen better days. His blond hair was worn in a long ponytail that showed off a strong angled chin and sharp cheekbones. His green eyes were intelligent and his gaze was somehow intimate. She blushed lightly, before someone jostled her in all the excitement and she came out of her trance.

They were hurting the man who had helped her. "Stop, please!" Ami pleaded, but her soft voice went unheeded. "This man isn't a thief!" She insisted, but still she was ignored. Forgetting her own pain for a moment, she pushed up towards the man, and with some thrusting; she placed herself between him and the crowd. "I said stop! This man isn't a thief!"

This time, people began to listen to her. The frenzied group began to calm down.

"Whew, thanks." He said with a grin in her ear and she could tell that he was close. Too close! Her back was to his chest, and the way he leaned in a little to speak to her gave her chills. Before she cold turn her head to tell him sharply to 'back off' he stiffened, and she turned back to the crowd to see what the matter was.

A cop was coming towards them, the uniform unmistakable. She relaxed, feeling better now that help had arrived, and a familiar face at that. "Don't worry," She said over her shoulder to him. "I'll explain everything."

"Won't do any good." He muttered back to her, causing her to frown in confusion.

The next moment, she found out why.

"Well I'll be damned, look at what we have here." Said the officer, not noticing Ami, just the blond figure everyone seemed centered around. "Zoi Danielsson, why am I not surprised to find you here?" He asked derisively.

"I didn't do anything." Zoi growled, pulling himself upright. People were beginning to stare at him, looking between he and the cop as though it were some play they were watching.

The cop gave a rough laugh. "Now where have I heard that before?" He wanted to know. He began to edge towards Zoi, the crowd clearing a path for him when he reached the small form and recognizable face.

"Ami?" He asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Shingo." She acknowledged. He was the younger brother of Usagi and a good friend in his own right. She looked up at him with questions in her eyes. "You know this man?"

Zoi felt a plummeting sensation in the pit of his stomach. 'So much for getting out of jail now.' He thought. This cop would persecute him to the fullest extent of the law for her sake, even though he was innocent this time.

"Yeah, this guy is a petty thief. He's done time for ripping people off." Shingo's eyes looked over her. "Did he steal your purse?" He asked angrily. No one messed with the sweet Dr. Minuzo!

Ami angled her body a little so she could look up into the face of the man she was still shielding. "You're a criminal?" She inquired incredulously. "Is this some trick, your friend steals my purse and you return it, making me trust you and then you somehow take more from me?" She wanted to know. Her eyes held sadness and a little cynicism that had not been there before now. Zoi felt sorry for his part in it, but also desperate to convince her he wasn't involved.

"I'm not a thief." He told her, his words low, only for her. He ignored the scoff from Shingo. "I am…or at least I was…a con man. I'm not anymore." Their gaze held as he silently urged her to trust him. "I turned over a new leaf, I don't do that kind of thing any more."

"Well isn't that a coincidence." Shingo derided, years of being a cop making him doubt Zoi's change of heart. "Only three months out of jail and here you are with a ladies purse and a sob story of 'I'm a law abiding citizen now, just trying to help this woman lighten her load.'" His anger strengthened. "Sorry, but I'm not buying it!"

Zoi felt his anger rising too, at the frustration and restlessness he was feeling, and had been feeling since his release three months back. "Well that was before I found out Mal was dead, wasn't it!" He shot back, foolishly forgetting he shouldn't be arguing with an officer. "Before I found out how some damn cop shot him in the back instead of taking him in! How he decided it was better to be judge, jury and executioner himself! Oh, but you wouldn't know anything about that, would you officer!" He shouted, his fists at his sides shaking with the force of his feelings.

Shingo flushed. The incident was a well known one, when one of the seasoned cops, tired and frustrated with a system that had criminals back on the streets practically before they finished booking them, had snapped. He had corned the well-known grifter Mal Chite, and instead of cuffing him in and bringing him to trial, the man had shot and killed him instead during a heated exchange. He had been relieved of duty, and the police station had received a lot of negative publicity for it.

But before he could retaliate, Ami held up a hand, placing it on Shingo's chest. "That's enough." She said calmly. She turned her head to include the man behind her. "From both of you."

"But Ami-"Shingo began, only to be cut off by the shake of her head.

"I believe the decision all comes down to whether or not I decide to press charges, doesn't it?" She asked, brow arched. Of course she already knew the answer.

"Yes, but..."

"And since it's up to me." She continued, talking over him. "I believe I won't be wasting any more time on this today."

"But Ami-"

"Shingo, we're through here." She said, her words ringing with finality.

People seemed to be amazed at the sight of the little woman putting the much larger cop in his place. And the blond behind her was grimly pleased.

"Thanks." Zoi said, his breath stirring the hair at the nape of her neck. He offered her a smile, despite the heavy circumstances.

She turned to look up at him. "I didn't do this for you, I did this for me." She said, still not certain she trusted this man. "I just want to go home and have a quiet evening."

She reached out, grabbing her purse out of a stranger's grasp, the one who had taken it from Zoi. Pulling herself up as tall as her five foot two frame would allow, she raised her chin, and began walking, albeit a little limply, away from the crowd.

Shingo opened his mouth to offer her a ride home, then shut it. When she was determined, there was no changing her mind. He decided to call his sister first chance he got and have her check up on Ami.

The crowd began to dissipate, and after shooting each other dark looks, Shingo and Zoi parted ways.

Ami walked as far from the scene as she could, before throwing a surreptitious glance over her shoulder to make sure no one else was watching. Once she was sure she was unobserved, she slipped into a small quiet alleyway between two buildings and slumped against the wall. She was aching all over with pain and bruises and she was so exhausted she wasn't sure how much further she could make it. But at least no one could see her now.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Came a male voice from her left, causing Ami to jump violently.

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TBC-Have i whetted your appetite for more?