(Taken place after Joker and Dia's interaction)

It was a good thing Joker was semi-conscious, at least enough to walk, though not coherently. Otherwise Serpierite wouldn't have been able to drag him to her apartment by herself. Part of it was due to the forceful extraction of energy, but undoubtedly, the other part of it was his forced movement so soon afterwards instead of resting. She couldn't have left him in that alleyway though.. If he had been targeted by another officer, it would certainly have been his end.

She was worried, but that weren't her only emotions. Lingering feelings of frustration and resentment over the unresolved issue with Dia still simmered beneath her beautiful exterior.

When she finally reached her apartment (after some more difficulty), she didn't hesitate in dropping the male onto her plush carpets. The flush creeping up her neck and sheen of sweat showed how much effort she had taken for the useless male.

She debated taking a shower to wash herself off while waiting for him to regain consciousness. But she didn't have to wait long as he stirred.

"Ugh.." Pain throbbed in his chest, as his consciousness recovered. Sitting up, he felt like he recognized the surroundings. Lacie's home.. since he had been there on several occasions since coming back to Destiny City. The girl sitting on the couch resembled her, with silver hair and teal eyes. But he wasn't entirely sure.

The silver-hair girl quickly fetched him a glass of water, and guided him to a comfortable couch. It would surely be more than a few minutes to explain to him.

Stepping back, and seeing the silent question in his eyes- she took a mock bow. "Lt. Serpierite. Or Lacie at your service." She didn't hesitate in revealing her identity to him, knowing full well of Joker's character. "You've heard about them, haven't you? The terrorists running amok in the city? The two factions of the Negaverse and the Moon Court? A few others exist, but let's be concerned with the main two for now."

The following moments would entail the most simple explanation she could think of, describing the years-old war.

"As far as why you were targeted, the negaverse have this little nasty habit of reaping energy from what I would call your soul.." Draping herself across the chair, she didn't hesitate to sit on his lap. Her fingers brushed gently over where Dia's had been only a few hours earlier.. "You won't die from it."

"And the one you encountered tonight, Sailor Dia? She's part of the Negaverse, the same side. Not all of us, regardless of being part of the same faction, get along with each other."

It took Joker a while to process this new information, and to organize his thoughts. Brushing back her hair, he asked gently, "..Why are you a part of this organization? You're not the type of person who would want to participate in a war." He knew it for a fact that given a choice, she preferred to be of the neutral faction. Her eyes shadowed and she looked away reluctant to answer. A silence followed. Joker smiled a rueful smile, letting the subject matter drop. There were few things that would cause a hurt expression to show on her face, and Joker didn't want to prolong the pain.

"So.. you do all of this? You fight against your enemies, collect energy from innocent people, and report to this organization..?"

"I don't have a choice." She let her forehead rest against his shoulder, hiding her facial expression. The pain in his chest had rescinded throughout their conversation, but the male wasn't back up to 100% yet. He gently held the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her silver strands. "I don't blame you." He was quick to reassure her, knowing it was naive of him to think like that.

"As a general rule of thumb to distract less attention, the organization won't kill people when collecting energy." It was a cruel trade that depriving a person of too much energy and consequently their starseed, would strengthen their abilities at the cost of another person's life "But they won't hesitate to kill people who get in their way."

"I'll do the best I can to protect you. But I can't be with you forever.. so for your and my sake; please don't approach people like Sailor Dia. Don't let yourself fall into those traps. And don't try to play a hero when you encounter them." Joker was a precious existence, a bright light in her dark world. It wasn't any form of romantic love, but he was necessary to her all the same. Despite that though.. she couldn't hope to stand up to her superior, not in the current rank she was in.

His thoughts wandered to a pink-hair corrupt sailor scout.. and undoubtedly more he might meet along the way. What were their stories? This war wasn't black and white. But asked unwisely, even these simple questions could cost him his life. He was beginning to understand the gravity of this war through her explanation.

"As long as I'm in this war, I don't intend to kill. I don't intend to be killed. But I don't intend to forgive either. And that includes that impudent sailor scout."

Joker let out a nervous chuckle, and then looked upwards at the roof. Girls held quite the scary grudge.. huh. He didn't quite understand Lacie's resentment towards the other girl, and he didn't think he should attempt to.