Title: Strange Encounters
Part: One - Highways Can Produce Strange Things...
Author: Y2Raye
Rated: G
Email: meeko@maxim.net

Okay, okay, I keep pouring out the stories. What is this, story 
number three (posting number six)? Well, anyway. This is an 
alternate reality fic where (yes, I do use the DiC names...I 
prefer to call it Mixxine though) Serena is 24 and Darien is 27.
Get my drift? 
	Anyways, thanks go to Katelyn Birmington, who gave me 
so much positive feedback on "When You Wish Upon a Star" I 
decided to give romance writing another shot. And, of course,
to Joshua-oniisan and Brie-aneue. Also to Alana-imoutochan.
My "onii" (brother) Enrico and my "shisuta" (sister) Sheila.
Thank you for your everlasting support in my writing! 
	Also to masxvi, no matter how mad I get at you I can't
stay that way very long (or else your big bad Mamo-chan will
beat me up, ne? ^_~ ::inside joke::)...*sighs* you are like
my sister and a soulmate in a way (don't laugh...it's true...
:::pouts::: I mean it in a friendship way!). Also to the 
writer who inspired this story in her own way--Crystal 
Heart. 
	And to my own Mamo-chan, Matt. You are one of kind, 
and I'm glad to have you as my own and not share you with 
anyone else!! *evil grins* Well, okay, I'll let you out of 
your cage for an hour so you can hang out with your buddies...
just kidding. He has his own Star Trek website but...I forgot
the address...:::blushes embarrassedly::: hopefully you aren't
reading this, Matt...? :::blushes more::: Okay, he's not 
around. Okay, I'm safe...for the time being...*bites lip* 
Um, I guess there's always tomorrow...ne?
	So, this is getting too long and I don't want to bore 
you any longer with annoying little details about my very own
Mamo-chan! So read! *MIB dressed people charge the room. Will
Smith, Agent J, holds your head towards the screen and forces
you to read, no matter how horrible it is! :::grins:::*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jerk!" Serena Davis yelled at a guy in a black sportscar who'd just
cut her off. She slammed an open fist onto the horn. It blared loudly,
just loudly enough to make the guy roll down his window and look 
back at her. He tipped his sunglasses and stared for a moment at 
Serena, practically daring her to come closer. Then he put his window
back up.
	She'd gotten a good look at him. Broad shoulders covered by an
ugly green jacket, piercing blue eyes, and ebony hair cut short. His
liscense plate read "2COOL4U". Serena fumed at the arrogant message
and manuevered (AN: sp?) her car up next to his. She rolled down 
the passenger side window and tapped the horn once.
	He looked at her and pushed his window down. "Yeah?" he asked
nonchalantly.
	"Jerk," Serena told him. "Why'd you cut me off?"
	He grinned. "Because I was in a hurry. What's the big deal,
anyway?" he was so arrogant! And stoic too! "Like you've never 
been cut off before on the highway. It's rush hour, babe!"
	"Oh, you're askin' for it buddy," she whispered. Her eyes 
narrowed. "Don't call me 'babe'!"
	"Why not?" he asked, once more pulling down his sunglasses,
revealing those icy-blue eyes. "Would you prefer...Meatball Head?"
	"What a jerk!" Serena shouted at him as he laughed. She 
rolled up the window on the passenger side and drove with the now-
flowing traffic. "I can't believe that guy!"
	Just then her pager sounded. She checked it and muttered, 
"Not again. How many times does that make it now? How many times
has -that- server crashed?" 
	Serena Davis was owner of Access Computer Systems, a small
Internet service provider with three locations: Tokyo, where the
central servers and webspace was kept; Kobe, where most back-up
servers and spare parts were located; and Kyoto where the 
extra servers and all the handy work was done. The Tokyo location
provided the Juuban and Azabu areas, mostly, with the Internet.
	She picked up her cell phone, sighing agitatedly. Serena 
poked the numbers to MCS quickly. "Hello, Access Computer Systems,
this is Molly Anderson speaking. How may I help you?"
	"Hey Molls, it's me," Serena said. 
	"Oh hi Boss," Molly replied. "What's up?"
	"Well, I was wondering...I'm supposed to meet Nick tonight
at the movies, -but-, another server crashed in..." she hastily
checked her pager, "Kobe. Looks like I won't be home for a while
and I was wondering if you could call him for me and tell him I
have to cancel?"
	"Sure Boss. I remember's Nick number. I'll call him for
you. You know you can always count on me."
	"Thanks. I owe you."
	"It's nothing. Another call's coming in. See ya!" 
	"Bye."
	Serena hung up. Then she remembered something--her roommates!
Amy and Lita definitely needed to know about this. She sighed once
more and dialed the telephone number, praying neither one was home.
	"Hello," Amy. Amy was home. Amy Green, or as Lita and Serena
jokingly called her, Amy Einstein. "Davis, Green," then she heard 
Lita yell, "Einstein!" and giggle, then Amy said to her, "Lita!" 
and continued her phone speech, "and Baker residence."
	"Hi Ames," I said. "Leets and you are both home? Good. Looks
like I'll have to skip out on Lita's delicious dinner tonight."
	"It's Serena," Amy told Lita. Serena always thought that Lita
must've changed her last name to Baker. Either that or it was 
coincidence that she loved to cook and could do so very well. "Why
Serena?"
	"Another server crash in Kobe," she replied. "I wish I could
go home..."
	"Then why don't you?" Amy asked. "I'm sure if you call someone
there they can take care of it. We do have email..." (AN: so do I! 
My inbox is empty though!)
	"I know," Serena sighed. "But I'm sure they already tried to
fix it on their own. Besides, I just got out of Kobe a few minutes
ago for a service call. I'm not that far away," then she thought 
of the stupid cocky man who'd cut her off only a few minutes ago. 
"I'll see what's the problem. Hopefully I'll be back before 
midnight. Bye Ames."
	"I think you should talk to Lita first. She had some exciting
news to tell you. I think she forgot all about it, hold on," Amy 
told her. Then she yelled, "Hey Lita! Wanna talk to Serena?"
	"Yeah!" Lita shouted back.	
	"Here she--" the phone was yanked from Amy's hand and Lita's
voice was now coming through the receiver. "Guess what Sere?"
	"What is it Leets?" Serena asked, smiling to herself. 
	"You know how I made that cookbook a little while ago and
took it down to that publisher?"
	"Yeah."
	"Guess what?"
	"What?"
	"They took it! They're going to publish it!"
	"That's great Lita! Listen, I'm almost to Kobe and if I
get any farther I'm going to have to pay roaming charges. I 
don't want to get off the phone but...I have to. See ya when
I get back from Kobe!"
	"Bye Serena!" Lita handed the phone to Amy.
	"I'm really sorry you can't make it to dinner Serena,"
Amy sounded disappointed. "You were going to go out with Nick
anyway, right? But still..."
	"I have to hang up now Amy. Bye!"
	"Goodbye Serena. Stay safe!" 
	"Gosh, you sound like my mom!"
	"Well, you are my best friend and I do you want you to
come back to us...Lita and I can't pay the rent alone ya know..."
	"I know. I will. I'll come back. Bye!"
	She hit the power off button just as her pager sounded
again. "Jeez! I'll be there in a few minutes! Hold your horses!"

Serena eased her car into a parking space and ran to the dark 
building. She always hated Kobe after dark. It was always so 
shadowy and depressing, not to mention creepy. 
	She opened the door and a man whom she recognized to Greg
Wilson greeted her. "Morning...er, hello Ms. Davis. What brings
you here?"
	"Who paged me?!" Serena fumed, now furious at the Kobe 
station for bringing her out here so late. 
	"Uh..." Greg flushed and looked down the hall. He pointed
down the hall at Ken Jetson's (AN: meet Ken Jetson! Lita, his 
wife! Their boy Elroy! Daughter Judy! hehe...was watchin' the 
Cartoon Network's "Jetson's Millennium" show) office. "Mr. 
Jetson, ma'am."
	"Oh, he's gonna hear it from me," Serena said shaking her
head. "Sorry I snapped at you, Greg. And for the last time, call
me -Serena-, not Ms. Davis. It sounds too formal."
	"Certainly Ms...sure thing, Serena," he smiled at her.
	"Thank you Greg," Serena nodded approvingly and stalked 
down the hallway. Ken Jetson's door was shut but she knew it 
was his, thanks to the gold name-plate nailed to the door. 
"Jetson!" (AN: "Yes Mr. Spacely?" ^_^)
	"Yes?" he opened the door. "Oh, hey Serena. Glad you 
could make it."
	"Don't call me that," Serena tossed one of her long
blond ponytails over her shoulder. "That's Ms. Davis to you."
	"But you let--"
	"No buts! I'm mad--no no, I'm -furious- with you! Look
at the time! There's still plenty of people working here that
could easily locate the problem and fix it themselves."
	"Uh-uh-uh..."
	It wasn't a good thing to have the boss mad at you. It
was definitely not a good thing to have Serena as your boss 
when she's already had a bad day and have her be furious at 
you. "Look, show me the problem and I'll tell you how to fix
it. Then, I'm going home. I am turning my pager and my cell 
phone off. I am taking the phones out of their plugs and I'm
blocking your email address for the remainder of the week,
okay?"
	"Y-yes," Ken nodded. "F-follow me."
	Serena and Ken walked down the hallway towards a somewhat
large room they claimed to be storage but wasn't. It held the 
back-up servers. A tiny room in the back held spare parts. 
	Serena took a fleeting moment to glace over the servers.
"Aha! Found it," she smirked at the man standing next to her.
"You know Ken, come here," she walked up to one of the back-
up machines. "Did you try looking on the floor?" she bent 
down and picked up a circuit board. "Look, it was this easy,"
Serena gently shoved the circuit board into the machine, 
checking the number and grabbed a keyboard attached to an
"arm". She quickly typed in a word (AN: I don't know if this
is how it's done, but I really don't care! This is my story,
and I can make the characters do what I want! *evil grins*)
and pushed enter. The machine made a whirring noise, then a
tapping sound, and finally stopped and made a gentle swishing
sound like the others. "That easy. Next time, check everything
before calling me, okay?"
	"Yes ma'am," Ken led her to the door. 
	"See ya Greg," Serena waved.
	"Bye Serena!" Greg replied. 
	The last thing she heard was Ken yelling, "Why do -you-
get to call her Serena?!"

Serena was on the last exit ramp to Tokyo on the highway when
she heard a sound like a chugging train coming to a halt. 
*CHUG...CHUG...CHUG* And then, the car stopped. She glanced 
at her gas gauge and slammed a fist on the horn. "No! Not 
fair! I'm almost home!"
	She stepped out of the car and thought about the 
nearest gas station. The closest one was that truck stop 
in Kamakura. 
	A car's headlights came nearer. Serena, not thinking
-quite- clearly, jumped out in front of her car. Her headlights
were still on, thanks to the battery, and hopefully the upcoming
vehicle would see her.
	"Excuse me! Excuse me!" she waved her arms above her 
head. "Excuse me!"
	The car stopped. Out stepped...out stepped...the jerk 
from the black sportscar on the highway earlier?
	"You!" they both exclaimed at the same time, pointing at
each other.
	"What are you doing way out here around eleven, Meatball
Head?" he asked.
	She arched an eyebrow. "Don't call me that. And the 
reason why I'm out here is because one of the servers at my
business...er, crashed and I had to go fix it and it was in 
Kobe and...well, my car's out of gas and the nearest gas 
station is way in downtown Tokyo or out in a truck stop in 
Kamakura. I need help."
	"Want me to drive you into town so you can get some
feul for you car?"
	"I think we should at least know each other's names
before getting in a car with each other. I'm Serena Davis,"
she extended her hand. "President of Access Computer Systems,
Tokyo branch."
	"Darien Hayes," (AN: for all you Savage Garden fans 
out there!) he shook her hand. "Assisstant Manager of 
Yahoo! Japan."
	"Now that we're properly introduced, I believe I'll
be needing to get a container for the extra gasoline for 
my car so I can get home."
	"I can call a tow truck service and drop you off at
your house."
	"No, that's okay. It's a nice offer though."
	Darien just nodded and motioned for her to get 
inside. Serena obliged, holding a container for the fossil
feuls (AN: that's what gasoline is, right?? -_-'). Darien
and Serena barely spoke a word on their way to the gas 
station or on their way back to her car.
	They finally stopped at the gasoline-drained car. 
"Thank you," Serena nodded, smiling. She opened the door
and filled her car back up. "Maybe I'll see ya round sometime?"
	"Yeah," Darien nodded. "You're welcome," he sped off.
	Serena tsked. "That's not right...he'll be getting a
ticket one of these days for one thing or the other."

Serena finally eased her car into the parking garage of 
Crescent Moon Apartments. She was tired...so tired...she
could probably fall asleep on the spot. 
	She trudged up the stair case to the lobby and 
shuffled over to the elevator. She tiredly pushed the "Up"
button. Serena yawned and glanced over her shoulder at 
the clerk. A nice woman named Ilene. 
	"Hi Ilene," Serena waved, covering a yawn with her
hand. 
	"Well, hi there Serena," Ilene smiled and waved 
back. "How are you this evening?"
	"Tired," Serena chuckled. Ilene laughed.
	"Well, get some rest."
	"I will." The elevator pinged and opened the doors.
She stepped inside and pushed the "7" button. As soon as
the doors slid open, she made a mad dash to her 
apartment door. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay, end part one. Stay tuned!!