FicWad

TIMBER


/"I WILL NEVER LET YOU FORGET ABOUT ME I AM ALIVE HERE BRING ME BACK THERE..." /-- Adel's broadcast

Squall Leonhart's rise from slumber the morning after the SeeD exam was slow and unpleasant. He returned from the agreeable oblivion of sleep reluctantly, some part of him knowing he didn't want to face reality just yet.

Not that his dreams had been particularly enjoyable, but in this case at least he preferred the fantasy horror shows his mind made up in his sleep to the undeniable knowledge that he had spent most of his life so far pursuing a goal that was utterly without merit.

The last dream lingered and he tried to remember it so he could avoid rational thought for a few more moments. He'd been fighting, leading an army. At first he had struggled mightily to keep his men from being annihilated, but as the battle progressed, he'd realized that somehow he was fighting on the wrong side-- and then he couldn't call his men back. He'd watched helplessly as his own army swarmed over the entire world, destroying everything.

Squall rubbed his eyes and sat up. He winced as sharp pain shot through his head and left a dull pounding in its wake.

This was the real nightmare. Garden held him in contempt, but unlike Quistis, he returned the feeling with interest. Unlike Quistis, he had neither expected nor hoped that Garden might assume the role of family in lieu of the real thing. All he had thought about was the fight, his training, and had assumed that they fought for worthy purposes. He had never imagined that pale gleaming hallways and lofty ceilings could harbor such indifference and greed.

He knew now, for better or worse, that they did. Perhaps if he had passed the SeeD exam he never would have noticed. He would have fought his whole life, perhaps even given his life, to an institution that cared only for money.

Looking at the clock, he saw that he was supposed to be in class.

Sudden rage took him. Anger at the wasted years, at Garden, and at himself for not seeing through the lies sooner swept through him. When he wrestled it down at last, he found himself on his feet, his hands clenched into fists.

He would never attend class again.

Squall dressed, snatched up his gunblade, and strode from his room without a backward glance.

He broke into a loping run once in the corridor, the desire to leave as soon as possible burning inside him. But when he reached the Directory, he stopped, knowing that it would be foolish to just run madly from the place with no means of supporting himself.

His eyes found the elevator.

When Squall knocked on the headmaster's door, a voice immediately granted him permission to enter. He stepped inside and saluted.

"Sir," he said.

Cid Kramer waved a hand at him. "At ease. How can I help you, Squall?"

"I'm leaving."

Dismay blossomed on the headmaster's face. "Squall, I know how you're feeling right now, but surely you should take some more time to think about this."

"I've thought enough. I'm leaving."

"I know you were reprimanded quite severely, but you must understand we have to follow our contracts to the letter."

"This isn't about the SeeD exam, sir."

The headmaster gazed at him. "I'd hate to lose you at a time like this," he said. "Garden has its own destiny, you know."

"I'm aware of the destiny of Garden," said Squall. "The destiny of Garden is to make money. Sir." And again he saluted.

Kramer flinched.

"I hate to let you go, thinking that way." He reached into his desk drawer and drew out a form. "But you're probably right," he muttered to himself, so quietly that Squall could barely make out his words.

Squall blinked. Headmaster Kramer was widely known as a kindhearted but not particularly competent administrator. Perhaps he knew more than everyone else assumed he did. Maybe the Headmaster was trying to change the Garden, but try as he might, Squall could not bring himself to have faith in the man, not after witnessing the way that the Garden Faculty had manipulated him the day before. How could the man change anything when others dictated his very words?

Kramer scribbled on the form in a few places and turned it toward Squall after marking where he was to sign. Orphaned cadets were official wards of Garden, and stringent laws applied to at least the financing of their care. Orphans who emancipated themselves were entitled to that financing in Garden's stead.

"You realize that since you turn eighteen soon the amount will not be substantial?"

"I don't expect much," he said as he signed the form, and Kramer looked uncomfortable.

The headmaster reached into another drawer and counted out gil. He stood, red-faced, small sheathe of Gil notes clutched in one hand, and then delved into his trouser pockets with the other. It came up with another wad of notes, and he held the whole mess out to Squall, looking embarrassed.

"Take it," he said. "You'll need it, and I want you to know that some of us here don't care about money."

Squall stood for a moment and looked at the older man. Then he accepted the headmaster's gift, smoothing out the bills before depositing them in his own pocket. "Maybe you don't, but you aren't in charge."

Headmaster Kramer sat heavily in his leather chair. "I founded Garden. You'd think that I would be, but you're right. Garden hasn't become what we wanted it to be, and now I can't fix it, not alone."

Squall shifted, wanting badly to leave. The headmaster noticed and smiled at him. "Go on, now. I know you don't want to stand here listening to the ramblings of an old man. Go somewhere else and make a new life."

Squall nodded. "Good luck, headmaster," he said, and walked out.

Soon after that he was walking the winding road to Balamb in bright morning sunshine, gunblade hoisted on his shoulder. There was a train station at Balamb that ran to Timber. And from Timber he could go anywhere.

+++++



Quistis toyed with her salad in the sunny cafeteria, not particularly hungry. This was her first day on standby as a SeeD in over a year. A mission could come at any time; until then she was on restricted leave.

She didn't know what to do with herself. No classes to teach, no papers to grade, and not even a mission to take her mind off things.

Like lunch, and how she ate alone at a table far removed from that of her former peers. When she had been an instructor she had eaten with her colleagues, and occasionally with Xu or Doctor Kadowaki. Now, she couldn't bring herself to go and sit with them, even though she knew they would welcome her. By now they would all know of her failure and she knew she wouldn't be able to handle that humiliation, however kind she was sure they would be.

She sipped her milk and noticed her fan club watching her from a few tables away. Grimacing inwardly, she set her glass back on the table. The Trepies had amused her once, but now she was ashamed; of them and for them. She hoped they wouldn't try to come and sit with her.

Her mind turned once again to Squall, another uncomfortable topic. She felt responsible for his situation, even though his own actions had caused him to fail the exam. She deserved the harsh words he had given her the night before, however impersonal they had been.

"Quistis?"

She jumped in her chair and looked up into bright blue eyes.

Zell Dincht. Portions of Nero's file on him flashed through her mind as she gave him a weak smile.

He grinned and plopped down in the chair across from her, settling a slick looking T-board across his knees.

"Heya. The headmaster sent me to tell you we've been assigned a mission. We're supposed to meet by the front gate at 1300 hours."

Quistis glanced at her watch.

"We'd better hurry then," she said, pushing her tray away from her.

Zell looked at her untouched hotdog in dismay. "Aren't you going to eat that?" he asked, fidgeting.

"Not hungry," she said. The look of indignation on his face nearly made her smile. "You want?"

"Hell yes!" he said, and snatched up the hotdog with no further prompting. He ate it in two bites.

They strolled out of the cafeteria, turning south along the curved corridor toward the front gate.

She noticed Zell giving her a sidelong look.

"What is it, Zell?" she asked, not really sure she wanted to know.

"Ah," he said. "I heard you're not an instructor any more."

"Would I be going on missions if I was an instructor?" she said, more sharply than she intended to.

"No, I guess not," he said, looking abashed. They walked the rest of the way to the front gate in uncomfortable silence.

Waiting for them there were Cid, two Garden Faculty members, Selphie Tilmitt, and Seifer Almasy.

"Made it!" exclaimed Zell, grinning.

One of the Garden Faculty members looked at him. "T-boards are prohibited within Garden. Have you forgotten?"

"Oops," said Zell. "But I wasn't riding it. And it's really cool-- may come in handy on a SeeD mission someday." He smiled hopefully.

"We'll be the judges of that," the Garden Faculty member said. "Confiscate it," he told his colleague, who took it from a disappointed Zell and stalked away. Zell looked after him, face red, and Quistis noticed Seifer smirking. She felt a sudden rush of dislike for him.

The remaining Garden Faculty member turned toward the group of SeeDs. "All of you are members of SeeD, but nevertheless you are still students at this Garden," he said. "Furthermore, because you are SeeDs, you must set an example to all others. Understood?"

They nodded.

Cid spoke up, erasing the reprimand from their minds. "Well, about your first mission. You are to go to Timber where you will support a resistance faction." Quistis spied a strange expression on Seifer's face, but could not make heads or tails of it. "A member of the faction will contact you at the Timber Station."

"This person will talk to you and say, ‘the forests of Timber sure have changed.' At this time you must reply, ‘but the owls are still around.' That is the password," continued the Garden Faculty member.

"Just follow the faction's orders," added Cid.

"Uh, just us four?" asked Zell.

"Correct. We agreed to do this mission for very little money," said the Garden Faculty member. "Normally, we would never accept such requests, but--"

Cid interrupted him, his voice sharper than Quistis had ever heard it. "Enough talk about that." She thought of Squall, and knew what he would have thought of this conversation. For the first time it occurred to her that there was some truth in what Squall had said.

"Well then, Quistis, you are the squad leader," Cid continued, in a more normal tone of voice. "Zell, Selphie, Seifer," he nodded to each of the other SeeDs, "you are to support Quistis and give your all to carry out the faction's plans."

With that, the meeting seemed to be over. Quistis turned toward the headmaster to ask him what the special circumstances leading to this mission had been, but he smiled at her and spoke before she could pose her question. "Quistis. I want you to have this." He pressed a small brass lamp into her hands. "It's cursed, but it may come in handy." Leaning in close to her, he whispered, "Good luck on your mission."

They both noticed that the Garden Faculty member was hovering close by, listening in on their conversation. Cid seemed to want to say more, but turned away instead, nodding at her.

She looked toward the others, the lamp still in her hands, her question unasked. They looked back at her. Selphie and Zell both seemed to be eager and ready for orders, while Seifer gazed toward her vaguely, apparently lost in thought.

Quistis tucked a renegade lock of hair behind her ear. "Well, we have some traveling to do, so let's get going."

+++++

Their cabin on the train to Timber was comfortable, its walls ringed with couches in red velvet. There was a minibar in the corner that Selphie and Zell had immediately raided for its single-serving containers of milk and orange juice.

There were enough couches for each of them to have their own, but only Quistis and Seifer made use of them. Selphie was in the corridor outside the cabin. What she was doing, Quistis had no idea, but it seemed to involve a song about trains. Zell sat on the floor, stretching.

Seifer occupied the couch across from her, his arms folded and his expression forbidding. He had been silent the entire trip so far, and she wondered if he was angry at being passed over for a leadership position twice in two days.

"Seifer? All right?"

He gave her an unfriendly look. "Leave me alone."

On the floor Zell's gaze whipped from Seifer to Quistis.

But she only shrugged and leaned her head back against the couch. It wasn't a battle worth pursuing. She closed her eyes.

Selphie's singing voice drew nearer. The door opened and Quistis heard her throw herself down onto an empty couch. "How much longer to Timber?" she said, yawning.

"Less than an hour," said Zell.

"That little?" she said, sounding disappointed. "Oh well, I don't feel so great anyway."

"You can rest if you want," murmured Quistis. "We've got some time."

Selphie didn't reply, and for a moment there was only the soothing, clacking sound of the train as it rattled along the tracks.

Then she heard a soft thump. Her eyes snapped open just as Seifer said, "Trepe!"

Zell was prone on the floor in front of her; the thump she had heard must have been his head hitting the carpet. Selphie, on the couch next to Seifer's, had slumped over sideways, her mouth open.

As one she and Seifer launched themselves out of their seats. Quistis rushed to the window and shoved it open; a blast of icy air from the tunnel outside yanked at her hair. Seifer stood by the compartment door, his gunblade at the ready. She loosened her whip from its coil on her hip.

She nodded at Seifer and moved to kneel by Zell. His pulse was normal and his color good; he was simply unconscious. Selphie was the same. Thinking of the drinks from the minibar, she waved her hand and cast an antidote spell over them, but nothing happened. She got similar dismal results from the other restorative spells she tried.

Bewildered, she stood, shivering in the cold rush of wind from the window. If this were some sort of attack, surely their enemies would have acted overtly by now. Still she stood, completely alert, her whip in her hand.

Minutes ticked by slowly, and still nothing happened. Quistis was bone-cold; the damp air from the tunnel rushed over her continually.

Just when she began to shiver, Zell groaned. She was at his side in an instant, helping him sit up.

"Are you all right?"

"Think so," he mumbled. "Just feel strange."

Quistis pulled him to his feet and led him to a couch, where he sat, propped his elbows on his knees, and cradled his head in his hands.

Selphie stirred then, and once she and Zell were both comfortable Quistis closed the window. Seifer did not move from his post at the door.

"What happened?" Quistis said, looking at Zell and Selphie.

"I dunno," said Selphie, yawning. "I fell asleep, I guess. Had a funny dream."

"Me too," said Zell. "There was this guy, Laguna--"

Selphie looked around at Zell in surprise. "There was a Laguna in my dream too! He's a Galbadian soldier--"

Zell stared back at her. "He was supposed to be in Timber--"

"But they went to Deling City instead!" exclaimed Selphie.

"Yeah, and he likes this piano player named Julia-"

"But she gives his leg a great big cramp! So funny!" laughed Selphie.

"I don't believe this," said Seifer furiously. "You two should be sacked, making up shit like that. We thought someone was trying to take us out." He stalked from the door and sat down on a couch.

"We're not lying!" Zell protested. Quistis saw his hands form fists and spoke up quickly.

"We're all okay. I don't know what happened but this isn't the time to worry about it. After the mission I'll file a report, but for now let's just drop it."

Seifer snorted, and Zell glared daggers at him, but they did drop it. Quistis understood Seifer's point of view; it did seem ridiculous. But Selphie and Zell had both looked so surprised… Still, this wasn't the time to think about it. They were on a mission, after all.

+++++

The first thing Quistis noticed about Timber was the heavy presence of Galbadian guards. Timber was a hothouse for resistance groups, she knew, so it was understandable, but she hadn't been expecting quite so many.

Standing on the platform outside of the train, she looked around a bit more and made a few internal guesses about the identity of their contact. To her dismay, as soon as she made eye contact with the short, unassuming man she had already picked out in her mind, he made his way over to her. He's not very good at stealth, she thought to herself. I wonder how this is going to go-- honestly, if the rest of them are like this I don't see us having much chance.

The prospect of failing her mission made her feel gloomy, but she exchanged the passwords with him. They're going to get us killed, Quistis thought as she waved at the others to follow them.

Not that my life's been so great lately anyway, she thought.

The man, who identified himself as Watts, led them to another platform where they boarded a canary yellow train.

The compartment they entered was much like the main compartment of the train they had just vacated, bare metal floors and walls.

Another man with dark hair and wearing casual clothing awaited them. He gave them an amiable smile. "So you guys are SeeDs?"

She stepped forward. "I'm the squad leader, Quistis. This is Zell, and Selphie, and Seifer," she introduced her team, gesturing at each in turn.

"Nice to meet ya," said the dark-haired man. "I'm Zone, leader of the Forest Owls." Quistis shook his hand. Zone then shook Selphie's hand but ignored Zell's, which he had hastily wiped on his shorts before extending. Seifer never even offered, but retreated to stand near the stairs, arms folded.

"Looks like you've already met Watts. I guess it's just our princess then."

"It's her nap time," said Watts, looking worried.

"Ah," said Zone, looking almost as nervous as Watts. He looked again at the SeeDs. "Hey, Quistis, sorry, but could you go get the princess?" He offered her a weak smile.

She frowned. "We're combat specialists," she said. "Were we hired to run errands?"

He looked at her in dismay. "N-no," he stammered. "Are you angry?"

"Not yet," she said, trying not to smile.

Seifer interrupted their exchange. "Never mind," he said. "I'll do it."

Quistis looked at him in surprise. Seifer had been more sullen than she had ever seen him the last few hours, and she would never have expected him to volunteer for anything under her command in any case. But she didn't stop him as he climbed the stairs and strode purposefully down the corridor.

+++++

The sound of the door opening roused Rinoa out of a sound sleep. She rolled over and opened her eyes, preparing to give whoever had just waltzed right into her room a good tongue-lashing.

All her sleep blurred eyes saw was the SeeD uniform.

Quickly, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and launched herself at him. "SeeD is here! YES!" she cried, and looked up at him in confusion as he caught her wrist before she could hug him.

"Seifer," she breathed, and felt her eyes go round and her face begin to turn red. She hadn't really considered the possibility that the man who comprised half of her second-most complicated relationship would be assigned to the SeeD team she had talked Cid into practically giving her. At least, she hadn't considered it very much.

He looked down at her and she saw that he was furious.

"What's wrong?" she said, confused, and then she knew. He thought she had requested him for her squad. And his angry reaction to that suspicion told her more than she wanted to know about how he felt about her.

He couldn't seem to put his accusation into words, so she did it for him.

"No. I didn't." She ripped her wrist out of his gloved hand. "I would never do that. And if you think I would, well, you're wrong."

Is that the truth? she asked herself. I think so. I never even thought of requesting him, and if I had, I still wouldn't have done it. I don't want to trap him. I just-- God, this is going to suck.

Seifer was still glowering at her, and she sighed, shaking her finger at him. "Knock it off, Seifer. It's not like that," she scolded. Then she grinned. "Thank God they sent someone competent, at least. Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"

Flattery generally worked well when dealing with Seifer. Sure enough, the suspicious look faded. He grinned at her in a very self-satisfied way. "That's right. Little did they realize they sent the best."

She clapped her hands. "So are you the leader?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, it's Quistis Trepe. A failed instructor." His tone left no room for interpretation; he did not like Quistis Trepe at all.

She tapped his chest with her index finger. "Now, now. Play nice, you big meanie. I'm sure she'll be fine, and even if she's not we still have you. So let's get out there, we need to go over the plan. C'mon."

Rinoa shoved him playfully and led the way back to the main compartment.

A young woman with blonde hair met her gaze. "I'm Quistis," she said. "This is Selphie, and Zell. You've already met Seifer."

Little do you know, thought Rinoa.

"Hi everyone!" She smiled around the room. "This is a full scale operation. Our resistance, 'The Forest Owls', will be forever known in the pages of Timber's independence! Exciting, huh? It all started when we got a hold of top-secret info from Galbadia."

"I got the info, sir!" piped up Watts.

"There's a VIP from Galbadia coming to Timber," continued Zone.

"Super V-I-P!" trilled Watts.

"The guy's name is Vinzer Deling. Our archenemy, and the President of Galbadia," explained Zone.

"Vinzer Deling is a scoundrel," growled Watts. "He's a dictator, not a president. Not even popular in Galbadia, sir!"

"President Deling is taking a private train from the Galbadian capital," continued Rinoa.

"Our plan is to--" began Zone.

"Blow it to smithereens with a rocket launcher?" Selphie interrupted.

"Ah, not quite," said Zone.

"So get to the point!" Zell said. "Just tell us what to do!"

"Shall we begin?" smiled Rinoa. "All right. Our goal is to kidnap the President. Here are the models." She pointed to the workbench. "See the two trains? This yellow one is the one we're riding in now. And see the red car on the end? That's the dummy car. We're going to swap the president's car with the dummy car using the switch points leading up to Timber.

"And here's how we're going to do it," she said, gesturing at them to join her around the workbench.

Twenty minutes later, Quistis said, "It seems feasible. But why bother with the dummy car at all? Why not just snatch the president's car and have done with it?"

"That's the best part," said Rinoa. "The dummy car is a complete replica of the president's car. And inside will be a mechanical replica of Vinzer himself. With what he's programmed to say, his guards won't dare disturb him. They'll never know the real president isn't there until it's far too late to catch us."

"Dummy car, dummy president," murmured Seifer.

Rinoa beamed, gratified that he liked the idea. "So, we have five minutes to execute the plan, which should be plenty of time."

"Um," Selphie said, staring at the tiny trains on the workbench. "This model's nice but the president's car looks kinda shabby. Is there a reason?"

"Yeah, Rinoa made it. That's why. We bought everything else at the gift store," Watts answered, and cringed at the look Rinoa gave him.

"Whoa, I thought some kid made it. The paint job sucks, too," said Zell, who at times was not very quick on the uptake.

Rinoa noticed Quistis covering her mouth with one gloved hand, and that was the last straw.

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped. "I made it look like that on purpose. It represents my hatred towards Deling."

"That's the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life. You must really hate him," said Selphie, all innocence. Rinoa saw the corners of Seifer's mouth twitch and felt her face go red.

"Are you guys finished?" she said, exasperated. "Enough about the model! Can we get on with it now?"

"That's way too much hassle," said Selphie. "Hey! How about this? Let's derail the president's car. Y'know, hit him with a big log or something. Then we watch it crash and burn! Ooh! So what do you guys think?"

Everyone in the room stared at her.

Finally, Zell ventured, "What's the point of killing him before abducting him?"

Selphie just smiled, and Rinoa took that as her cue to finish the strategy meeting up.

"Okay. That's all."

"Quistis, I want you, Selphie and Zell to handle the uncoupling between the first escort and the president's car. After that you guys can help us with the second. Sound okay?"

Everyone nodded.

Rinoa nodded to Zone. "Let's do it."

+++++

The wind whipped through Rinoa's hair as she crouched atop the first car of their train, and she wished she'd had the foresight to pull it back.

Their train gained on President Deling's quickly. As the Owls' train slowed and began to pace the president's, it seemed to Rinoa that both trains were perfectly stationary, that crossing to the other train would be as easy as leaping over a puddle.

She gestured to Quistis, who nodded to her teammates and lead the leap onto the roof of the enemy train. Watching them, she saw that it really was easy, and Rinoa waited until they were clear and then she and Seifer followed.

Rinoa took a deep breath and launched herself into the air. She landed on her feet in a crouch but as she straightened she lost her balance and found herself windmilling her arms, the ground below her rushing by, the wind screaming in her ears. Seifer barely blinked. His arm shot out and latched onto hers. He pulled her upright and made no comment.

They ran low, crouched over against the wind. She could feel her heart pounding. Either she was hyperventilating or having trouble catching her breath with all the wind. It seemed to take forever to get across the roof of the second escort, but her watch told her it had only been thirty seconds or so.

They made the short, mercifully easy jump over the gap between their car and the president's. Rinoa raised her head cautiously and tried to spot the other team.

Quistis, Selphie and Zell had already crossed from the other side of the president's car to its first escort, and she could see Selphie keeping a close lookout for any potential interruptions. Zell lay flat on the roof of the car and Quistis crouched on the edge, the cable that would drop her gripped in both gloved hands. Her gaze rested on Selphie.

Selphie gave the all-clear with a wave of her arm and Quistis dropped over the side and out of sight.

Thirty seconds passed during which Rinoa tried not to look at the trees down on the ground whipping past them and out of sight. Then Zell braced himself and Quistis reappeared, hauling herself up hand over hand.

As she watched them leap back to the president's car Rinoa felt the deceleration that meant they had successfully uncoupled the two cars. By the time Quistis, Zell, and Selphie joined them at their end of the car they were quite distant from the first car.

She watched this distance grow further as Zell readied the cable for Seifer, and soon the yellow car on the other track had passed them.

Any time now, she thought, and then they must have passed the first switch point, for the yellow train joined them on their track. It slowed, and Rinoa felt the smallest of jolts as the two trains connected.

Their deceleration slowed, and then stopped.

She lay flat on the car, one arm hooked around a handrail, the other over the edge as far as she could get it. She waited until they were speeding up and then yelled, "Go!"

Then he was over, and she looked over the side for his thumbs up. When she saw it she extended four of her fingers and waited for the next thumbs up from him. She fed him the other three numbers in the same way.

Zell pulled Seifer up, and then they hit the next switch point and zipped over to the other track. Rinoa turned her head and watched as the escort behind them was slung into the rear of the enemy train-- the last car of which was their dummy car. She smiled, and then they ran across the red roof toward their own train and climbed down into the main compartment with windburned cheeks.

Zone burst into the room. "Finally!" We've waited so long for this encounter with Vinzer."

She grinned. "Well then, as soon as you're ready I'll begin ‘serious negotiations' with the president."

+++++

The president's car was luxurious, its furniture covered in dark red velvet and its walls in gleaming mahogany panels. The president himself sat in a long booth, cupping a mug of some hot drink in his hands, facing away from them.

Rinoa stood in front of a nervous Zone and four SeeDs who frowned and fingered weapons.

"President Deling," she said in a clear and ringing voice. "My name is Rinoa Heartilly and on behalf of the citizens of Timber I demand that you withdraw your troops at once and accept--" she paused, noticing at last that the president had not even turned his head to look at her, did not seem be aware of her presence at all, "--the status of Timber as a free nation state. I assure you that you will not be harmed as long as you don't resist," she concluded, feeling bewildered and wrong-footed at his complete lack of response.

"And if I do resist? What would you do? Young lady?" The president's voice grated in her ears, not quite human, and she gasped.

"What's this?" said Quistis.

"Boo hoo. Too bad," said the president, and unfolded himself from his seat. Rinoa took a step back, horrified.

"I'm not the president. I'm what they call a body double." He paused, and his arm twitched. Behind her she heard the sound of weapons being drawn.

"All these rumors about the many resistance groups in Timber. You pass along a little false information and they fall for it. How pathetic. Seems like there are only amateurs around here."

"Amateurs?" whispered Rinoa. She backed up, stopping when she bumped into Seifer who put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"So what did you have in store for me if I resisted? Why don't you tell me?" His voice jittered and wavered.

He turned suddenly and executed a shambling leap at them, a longer jump than any human could have made, and roared. "How dare you insult the president!"

Seifer pushed Rinoa behind him and charged, gunblade slicing into the body double's neck like a hot knife through butter. He didn't bother to press the trigger; the force of his blow had nearly severed the creature's neck.

He half-turned back to the group, but Rinoa watched in horror as the damaged creature behind him lurched back up to its knees. Its head flopped to the side, the wound in its neck spurting blood everywhere, and it shrieked, a sound that hurt her ears. It jittered and spasmed, and started to transform into something else.

It gurgled and lurched, chuckled and shook, and Rinoa's stomach roiled slowly in her abdomen. But she swallowed her nausea, and then Quistis shouted, "It's undead!" Green light shot from her gloved fingertips and the thing screamed in rage.

Selphie and Zell both converged on it at once, apparently fearless.

When they were out of striking range and the creature was howling with pain and rage she launched her own weapon, glad that she didn't have to be in close to damage it. It struck the creature's arm lamely, and the monster's eyes glowed as it turned an evil glare upon her.

She shrank back under that malevolent gaze, and when it sprang at her wasn't able to avoid the blow it dealt with its misshapen arm to her temple. She cried out and it sprang away, only to be run through by Hyperion.

This time, Seifer pulled the trigger. The creature had no time to scream before its chest exploded in a shower of gore and gray flesh.

She rubbed her head, disoriented, and found Seifer watching her. He handed her a small glass bottle.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. It just smacked me pretty good." She wanted to cry. They'd pulled off the kidnapping. She'd been so proud for those few minutes before the grotesque body double showed her how easily Galbadia had taken her in.

She struggled with the cork of the bottle, feeling foolish. Seifer took it back, uncorked it, and handed it to her without comment.

"Thanks," she said, and downed it. It was syrupy and sweet, and probably the last thing her stomach needed, but if it made her head feel better she didn't care.

Watts burst through the cabin door, nearly bouncing with excitement. "Info, sir! New info!"

Rinoa nodded at him, relieved to have something to distract her from the failed, pointless mission. "Let's get out of here."

Watts managed to hold his information inside until they reached the strategy room, but Rinoa could tell he would burst soon if not allowed to reveal his information. She wanted to smile, but felt too tired.

And as soon as they were all crowded in the room, he launched right in. "It's big news! I found out the real reason why the president's coming here, sir! The president wants to come to the TV station! Security's really tight, sir!"

Rinoa frowned. "The TV station? In Timber? But they can broadcast just as easily from Deling City."

"The only TV station that can handle broadcasts over radio waves is in Timber. Other stations use HD cable," said Zone slowly.

"Radio waves? But the interference signal…"

"Do you think the Communication Tower in Dollet has anything to do with this?" wondered Selphie.

"What's that?" asked Zone.

"Dollet has a communication tower that can transmit and receive radio waves," explained Quistis. "It was abandoned for a long time, but the Galbadian Army got it up and running yesterday." She glanced at Seifer, who ignored her.

"So?" said Rinoa.

"So maybe they're trying to boost a signal over the interference signal. Maybe with both Timber and the tower in Dollet they can push it through."

"But why? Just to broadcast to regions without HD? Nobody's going to have their receivers on, if they even have them anymore. It doesn't make sense."

"I don't know," said Quistis. "It's strange."

"Well, we don't need to know what they're up to," said Rinoa.

"We don't?" said Zell, nonplussed.

"No, we don't. It doesn't matter what they're trying to do. All I want to do is stop them. So let's come up with a plan then! Can you guys give us a minute?" she said to the SeeDs.

Quistis, Zell, and Selphie shared a glance, and the squad leader stepped forward. "Before you go any further, can we see your contract with our Garden?"

"Oh sure," she said, and pulled it out. "Cid is such a nice man." She handed it to Quistis and squatted on the floor with Zone and Watts.

"We're going to the TV station," said Rinoa. "You said security was tight?" she asked Watts.

"Yes, sir. City trains aren't running. Sentries patrolling the streets. The guards are situated in the hotel. There's no way we can approach the TV station directly. That whole part of the city is heavily guarded."

"I've got that covered," said Rinoa. "I know a back way. I bet it won't be guarded at all."

Zone nodded. "We're still going to run into guards, probably quite a few once we get inside. Think they can handle it?" He nodded toward the SeeDs grouped around their contract.

"If they can't, nobody can," said Rinoa. She glanced at the SeeDs. Quistis was talking fast, too far away for Rinoa to catch her words, but she could see how white her face was. The blonde woman touched Seifer's arm, and Rinoa felt a twinge of jealousy. Seifer frowned and shook his head, and Quistis talked some more. Selphie and Zell watched them intently, but didn't speak. She wondered if they were talking about the contract.

"I think that's it," she said, turning back to Zone and Watts. "Simple and effective."

+++++

The alleyway behind Aphorora's Pub smelled distinctly of vomit. Rinoa wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"Whew!" said Selphie. "Nasty!"

"It's not far now," she said to the others. "Let's get a move on."

They hurried over cobbles slick with liquids best not scrutinized too closely. It was dim, so that wasn't too much of a problem. The buildings that gave the alley its shape effectively blocked the sun out.

They made a sharp turn and Rinoa pointed. "There it is. The crew door is at the top of those stairs."

"Whoa, look! An outdoor TV," said Zell, and indeed, Rinoa could see a large screen set into the side of the TV station.

As they watched, it flickered and displayed a podium. Standing behind it they could see a very excited man, apparently one of the president's aides.

"People of the world! Can you see me? Can you hear me? Oh, this is incredible! Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a recording! This is an actual broadcast over the air! Yes, it's been seventeen years since a live broadcast has been possible! We would like to present to you today a message from the President of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling. Ladies and gentlemen, President Deling." He stepped aside and another man took his place. Vinzer Deling, dressed in a rich dark suit, looked wise and benevolent. Rinoa sneered silently.

"Greetings. I am Vinzer Deling, lifelong president of Galbadia. Today, I stand before you to make the following proposition. We the people of the world have the power to end all wars."

"See, see! It's a peace proposal to the world. I knew it!" bounced Selphie.

They climbed partway up the stairs and Watts pointed. "Look at all the guards."

Rinoa grimaced. "Maybe we should think of a new plan."

"We can take them," said Seifer. "Now or never." He looked at Quistis meaningfully, who nodded.

"All right. Ready?" She looked at the SeeDs she had hired, weapons drawn and eyes facing the enemy.

"Seifer," murmured Quistis. "You get the President. I'll cover you."

He nodded, and then the SeeDs lunged up the stairs. Rinoa followed behind as fast as she could.

Seifer cut his way through most of the guards standing sentry and kicked the door open. Quistis took care of the ones he missed, and Zell and Selphie covered them, leaving Rinoa to follow as she could over the bodies. She was the last one through the door, and was surprised to see that it led directly to the studio. She tried to orient herself, but all she could see was people fighting.

By the time she picked out the SeeDs it was essentially over. The SeeDs held weapons on those few guards who were still standing, and when she located him she found that Seifer was just cutting his way through the last of Vinzer's bodyguards.

Seifer's gunblade rose to point at President Deling's throat. At nearly the same moment, Rinoa, standing in the open doorway, noticed a shadow fall over hers. Her eyes widened, but that was all she had time to do before a leather-clad arm circled her waist, pinning her arm against her side. Before she really knew what was happening, a blade was threatening her own neck.

She smelled sandalwood, leather, and sweat. She froze.

"Seifer," said a cool voice in her ear. Seifer turned his head minutely.

"Squall!" Quistis's shocked voice rang through the studio.

"Should've known you'd turn up here," said Seifer. "Haven't learned your lesson yet, have you?"

"Put it down, Seifer," said the man holding her hostage, unruffled.

"Over my dead body," said Seifer, and laughed.

"Seifer," said the voice near her ear patiently, "It won't be your body. It'll be hers." The blade at her throat pressed closer.

Seifer laughed again. The sound reassured Rinoa, but only for a moment. "Go ahead. Kill her." Seifer looked into Rinoa's eyes, and she saw cold fury there. "Please."

A gasp escaped her; she was unable to prevent it. Tears filled her eyes, mercifully blurring the indifferent look on Seifer's face.

But Squall did nothing.

What a mess. All she'd wanted was to help Timber, and she'd messed it up. Seifer hated her. She wished she'd had the foresight to request that he not be on the squad. She wished she'd never met him.

"You want me to do it? What's your game, Seifer?"

"She," Seifer nodded at Rinoa, "somehow landed what amounts to a lifetime contract. So I'm stuck here, trying to liberate Timber of all pointless things, forever. Or at least until Deling is overthrown." He raised his eyebrows and inclined his head to Squall. "Or until she dies."

"Sorry, but I don't believe you," said Leonhart. "Garden doesn't hire out permanently."

She heard Quistis hiss, and out of the corner of her eye saw her cover her face with her palm.

The cameras are still running, she realized. The whole world knows Garden was involved in an attempt on Deling's life. Oh, God. Galbadia will retaliate, I know it. Our best hope for freedom, gone, and it's all my fault.

"I see," said the president, amused. "So you're all from Garden. Should anything happen to me, the entire Galbadian military will undoubtedly crush Garden. You can let go of me now," he said to Seifer.

Seifer snorted. "You kidding me?" He nodded to Rinoa. "General Caraway is that girl's father. He runs your army, right? You think he's gonna do anything if you aren't there to make him? She's the one who hired us, you know. She's a traitor. You think your soldiers are gonna be happy about spending their lives to destroy Garden while their General ignores the traitor who paid us to do it?"

"General Caraway is no longer in charge of G-Army," said the president in a mild voice.

"Yeah? Stupid of you. Whoever you got can't be half as competent." He turned his attention to the man still holding her. "So, you still gonna kill her, Leonhart? Since you care so much for Galbadia now, it'll look kind of bad when you murder the daughter of one of its generals, don't you think?"

"You said it yourself," said Squall. "She's a traitor."

"Looks like we're at an impasse, then."

Seifer was smiling, a wide, manic grin, and for the first time in her life she hated seeing it.

+++++

Squall woke up disoriented, the handle of the ceramic cup slipping from his fingers. He clutched at it in slow reflex, blinking, and set it back on the table.

He had a moment of panic in which he could not think where he was, or why, but as he looked around he remembered, and relaxed.

Timber. He was in Timber, sitting in a booth in the back of a breakfast diner. He'd ordered coffee and a bagel and had spread the newspaper he'd bought over the table.

And then he'd fallen asleep.

He looked at the bagel. One neat bite marred its circular perfection. I took one bite and fell asleep? But I wasn't tired. Now he was puzzled and worried, and wondered if something was wrong with him.

Had that weird dream, too, he thought. Laguna. It hadn't felt like a dream, though. It had felt unpleasantly realistic, actually. He'd been a soldier who had skipped out on his assignment to go party in Deling. He'd liked the piano player at the bar, had gone there specifically to see her, but his leg had hurt when he went near her…

He spent a moment pondering the ridiculous nature of dreams, and took a sip of coffee. It lukewarm, and he wondered how long he had been asleep.

So strange, the way he had just fallen asleep, right here in public. He evaluated his condition cautiously and concluded after a moment that he felt fine. If it happens again I'll worry, but it's pointless to think about it now.

Glancing down at the newspaper, he noticed that it had been printed not in Timber but in Deling City.

"Need more coffee, hon?" The waitress snapped her gum.

"Thanks," he said, and waited while she poured.

"No problem, hon." She leaned closer to him. "I hear the Timber Owls tried to abduct the president. But they failed, and now there are guards everywhere. No other faction's gonna have a chance at anything at all." She shook her head.

Ah, he thought. So Timber was restless under Galbadia's rule, which explained why it wasn't allowed to print its own newspapers.

"Do you mind?" he said, and the waitress shrugged and strolled away.

Squall scanned the newspaper. The cover story detailed President Deling's visit to Timber, and suggested vaguely that he might introduce a new ambassador with whom he would make plans for world peace.

Squall rolled his eyes and wondered what was really their agenda. He knew he didn't have an objective view, having lived at Garden for as long as he could remember where Galbadia had a reputation as an extremely hostile country. But then, news was written in Garden and their network did not access the outside world. Wishing he knew the whole story, he tossed Gil on the table and glanced out the window.

To his utter surprise, he spied Seifer, Quistis, Selphie, Zell, an unassuming gentleman, and a young dark-haired woman, strolling past the window and talking amongst themselves.

What is SeeD doing here? he wondered, and then he knew. Vinzer Deling is in Timber to give a speech. Something about a peace proposal. Of course Garden will try to interfere; if Deling actually comes up with something, Garden will be out of business.

At that moment he would have been willing to bet his life that it was an internal Garden mission, with no contact attached.

They're going to try and take out the president. He slipped out the door of the diner and stretched, circumspectly looking for the SeeD squad. We'll see about that, he thought.

+++++

"Looks like we're at an impasse, then," said Seifer.

Squall didn't reply. He was in a bad spot, and Seifer knew it. They were stuck until someone broke their deadlock, and he was afraid it would end with Seifer slicing Deling a new grin from ear to ear.

He moved into the studio, dragging the girl with him until his back was safely turned to a wall.

A sudden wind blew the door shut and the sound it made when it slammed into its frame distracted him from the girl. She took the opportunity to grind her heel into his foot. He held onto her and grimaced, not wanting to hurt her.

The lights went out.

Squall cursed and moved his gunblade enough away from the girl's neck to make yanking her even more to the side safer.

"What the hell is that?" someone exclaimed in the darkness, and he looked up.

He blinked, not sure what he was seeing. The wall behind Seifer and President Deling was glowing; pulsing green and purple made a shimmering, surreal pattern in the darkness.

At the center of the shifting, swirling light a dark figure grew clearer and clearer until it was in perfect focus; it was a woman.

The lights turned on.

A woman wearing a long black dress stood at the far end of the room. She was beautiful and slender, her shining dark hair coiled elaborately around her head, her lips and eyes painted with dark violet.

She raised her arms, the headdress she wore chiming softly as she moved. Slowly, sticky-looking spheres of magenta light flowed from her hands toward the SeeDs. Two of them backed away, but the globes of light followed them, and when they settled onto them, the target crumpled gradually to the floor.

He saw Seifer, who was slumped over and holding himself upright only by virtue of the gunblade he had planted in the floor, and Deling, who stood behind him, brushing unconcernedly at his sleep.

She must be the ambassador, Squall thought.

Her eyes locked onto his, and he saw that they were a strange golden color.

"I thank you," said the woman in a solemn voice. "But you can let her go. She's no danger."

Squall hesitated and pushed the girl away from him, still looking at the woman. The girl in blue fell to her hands and knees but made no attempt to rise.

Many images flashed through his mind; a meadow full of wildflowers, an abandoned lighthouse, Galbadia Garden, a hand on his arm. He blinked and the woman spoke to him again.

"I am the Sorceress Edea. Do you remember me, Squall?" Her voice was melodious, and although it reminded him of something, he could not remember what.

"No."

"I thought you might not. But we've met before."

"Where?" he croaked.

"A long time ago. We can speak of it later, if you like. For now," she waved her hand, "I have a proposal."

He watched her, stared into her eyes.

"A job offer, if you like," she said softly.

Everyone else in the room seemed to fade away until he and the sorceress were the only ones standing there. He could almost feel it, her interest in him, as though their minds were as linked as their eyes. Whispers played at the very edges of his hearing.

"What do you think of Deling's proposal? Does it interest you?" Her low, gentle voice seemed almost to float into his ears, wafted along by her breath.

He found himself curiously unwilling to break eye contact with her. Was this the power of a sorceress, the ability to hypnotize? Was she trying to lure him into doing her bidding? Squall steeled himself, trying to concentrate on logical thoughts.

"World peace?" he said brusquely. "Who wouldn't be interested in that?"

Sorceress Edea's hand moved as though it was under water; she indicated the SeeDs strewn about the room.

"Filth like this," she whispered.

Something seemed to snap in his head and he no longer wondered if she was using a sorcerous kind of mind control on him; her words had drawn his full, utter attention and he would not have heard it if someone had screamed in his ear at that moment.

All he could see were golden eyes, and all he could hear was the rush of whispers around him, invisible multitudes crying his name. A sudden memory came of standing as a child in the rain, trying to assure himself that he would be all right on his own. How old had he been then? Five? Six?

Rage filled him, blinding him even to the sorceress' face. How many others had memories like that, horrible memories of abandonment, of childhood gone wrong? Garden had done it, had made children into monsters, and all for money, only for money.

Squall found himself on his knees, staring furiously into darkness. The sorceress was in front of him, and her dress was the blackness. She bent down to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"They should pay," he said to her. His voice broke but he was too angry to care.

"You can make them," she said.

"Yes," he said, struggling to his feet. "And I will."