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batsutousaiTitle: Zyxt
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison/tsuki_no_suzu & Shivani/grazhir
Chapter: 8 of 10
Rating: T
Pairings: Squall/Seifer
Warnings: AU, minor canon-fuckery, slash/yaoi
Summary: Alone in Time Compression, Squall sets out to make them all a happier ending.
Disclaim Her: So, I sort of brought in an OC. I mentioned her, briefly, a couple chapters ago, then decided to use her because there was too much testosterone. And because I needed another person.
-0-0-0-
Hold Me Without Touch
-0-0-0-
"I didn't think we'd ever come back here," Seifer commented as they stepped off the Ragnarok outside Balamb Garden.
"It's a lot more open than Galbadia," Irvine commented, looking around curiously. "So, this is where the elite SeeD live, huh?"
"When they're not off on missions," Seifer agreed, glancing back at where Squall was booby trapping the Ragnarok again. "What time are we supposed to at Xu's office by, again?"
"We have time," Squall replied, turning to join them.
"That didn't answer my question."
"It wasn't meant to."
Irvine shook his head as he followed the two older teens into their old stomping grounds. People stopped to stare as they walked by, and Irvine was pretty sure it had more to do with Squall and Seifer's presence then that of the large red ship behind them. 'I guess Seifer isn't the only one who didn't think he'd be returning.'
"Look at this!" someone called from down the hall. "It's the Disciplinary Committee's main bastard and the Ice Queen, back from exile!" The group of students around the speaker laughed.
"Come running back with your tails between your legs?" someone else called.
"Don't," Squall ordered quietly, watching as Seifer's expression got more and more stormy. "It's not worth it."
"They–!"
"They are cadets," Squall commented quietly. "They'll never amount to anything."
Seifer clenched his jaw, but ignored further jeers on their way to the lift at the centre of the building.
Behind the gunbladers, Irvine was scowling, disliking the cruel comments being tossed the way of his friends. He vaguely considered bringing Valiant around and making the jokers dance a bit, but he got the sense that Squall wouldn't appreciate it. Seifer would get a laugh, but Squall would not be amused.
As soon as the lift doors closed, Seifer and Irvine relaxed. Squall didn't appear even the slightest bit fazed as he ran a card through the reader and hit the button for the third floor. There, he led the way to a regal-looking set of doors and knocked.
"Come in," a woman called from the other side.
The three teens entered the office, Irvine falling back a couple steps as the two young Headmasters stepped up to the desk and exchanged pleasantries with the woman standing there. Irvine chanced a look around the room and smiled on seeing Selphie and Zell, who were standing with a small woman who he felt he should recognise, but didn't.
"If we could all gather?" Xu requested, and the other four joined the Headmasters and Headmistress around the desk.
Seifer got a good look at the small woman and swore. "Fuck. What the hell, Xu? Neala fucking Axton?"
Irvine gave the only A-Level SeeD a startled look, recognising her name when he hadn't her face.
Neala Axton smiled a touch grimly. "I see my reputation precedes me."
"Fuck," Seifer said again, apparently at a loss for words.
Squall touched Seifer's shoulder, gaining his attention. "Calm down."
Seifer let out a deep breath, then turned to Xu. "Well?"
Xu smiled at him. "I was looking through the incoming requests, trying to spot a good exam, which isn't easy when we're only testing a small group." Her eyes flickered towards Selphie and Zell, who were looking more than a little nervous. "I got a request in last night for some assistance at the D-District Prison: During their last submersion, they picked up a rather nasty infestation of high-level monsters. They've had to remain in the air since, to keep the prisoners from escaping, which means their own rescue teams can't reach them.
"We can reach them in the air, but it won't be fun, and I'd need to send at least three of my best SeeDs in, but most of them, save Neala, are out on assignment. Seifer, Squall, you're both capable of holding your own on the Island Closest to Hell, from what your sister said."
"Yes," Seifer agreed.
"You intend for us to go to D-District and deal with the monsters," Squall said, eyes sharp. "There's six of us and three parts to the prison, so we'd go in groups of two. I'm assuming you intend to split Seifer, Neala and myself up and partner each of us with either Irvine, Selphie or Zell, correct?"
Xu nodded. "That's the general idea. Are you willing?"
Squall and Seifer traded looks, then looked at Irvine, who grinned and patted the butt of Valiant. "I'm game."
Squall nodded. "I'll have to call Esthar and warn them that we'll be out of contact for an extended period of time, but that shouldn't be a problem. We can use Ragnarok to get to the prison." He glanced towards Neala, who was watching him with a curious expression. "Unless you had other plans."
Neala shrugged. "Not particularly, no. Ragnarok's that flying dragon you came in on, I take it?"
"Yes." Squall glanced over at Selphie and Zell. "Are you two willing to go?"
The cadets startled, then both nodded. "Absolutely!" Zell crowed.
"Chi–" Seifer started, only to be hit by Squall, who gave him a warning look. Seifer sighed. "Oh, fine. I'll refrain from calling the Chicken-wuss any names."
"You–!" Zell made an angry gesture at the taller blond, looking murderous.
Squall pinched the bridge of his nose before ordering, "Seifer, call Laguna and let him know we'll be out of contact. Zell, do all of us a favour and just ignore him."
Seifer shot Zell a smirk, then stepped away from the desk and pulled out his MIT to make the call.
"Estharian technology," Irvine explained to the blank looks that followed Seifer. "I don't understand it either."
Xu shook her head. "Your mission is to clean out the monsters in D-District Prison," she announced. "Once the monsters have been cleared out and the prisoners are back in their cells, the prison should be lowered and the rescue teams will handle any further clean-up. Cadets Dincht, Tilmitt and Kinneas, you will listen to the senior member of your teams." She looked between the three teens she'd named, then looked over Neala, Squall and Seifer, who was returning from his call. "SeeD Axton, Headmasters Leonhart and Almasy, you three are in charge of your teams. Use your best judgement about taking on enemies. Are there any questions?"
"One," Zell said, raising his hand slightly. When Xu looked at him, he asked, "Can I not end up with Seifer?"
Xu sighed.
"Neala, you use a spear, correct? So you're something of a distance attacker?" Squall asked thoughtfully. When the SeeD nodded, he said, "Zell, you'll go with Neala. Selphie, you're with Seifer and Irvine will come with me. That gives each team both a distance and close-in fighter. Any complaints?"
"Good," Xu said when there were no complaints. "Good luck and stay safe." She held up her hand in salute and they all copied her before turning and leaving.
Outside the office, Neala stopped and held her hand out to Squall. "We weren't really introduced in there; I'm Neala Axton."
"Squall Leonhart," Squall replied before motioning to the other two with him, "Seifer Almasy and Irvine Kinneas."
"I'm Selphie Tilmitt," Selphie announced, grinning broadly.
"Zell Dincht," Zell offered, smiling a little nervously.
"Good. Let's get going." Neala motioned Squall forward. "To the dragon."
"Ragnarok," Seifer offered with a grin.
They all stepped into the lift together, Irvine hitting none-too-subtly on Selphie. Neala and Zell struck up a discussion about their team, discussing what and how they'd work together.
Seifer touched Squall's hand. "You okay?"
Squall shrugged. "I expected something like this."
Seifer considered him for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."
The lift doors opened and they all piled out, Seifer and Squall in the lead. Almost immediately, the jeering started again. Seifer was determined to not react this time, but he needn't have bothered, someone else did it for him.
As soon as Neala realised who the jeering was aimed at, she brought her spear around from where it was hooked at her back and approached the laughing students, face a thundercloud. "What are these instructors teaching you fools now? To mock your superiors like it's a game?" she spat, spinning her spear around and knocking into each of the boys' knees with the butt. Once she had their attention, she snapped, "When a Headmaster or Headmistress goes by, you salute!"
"There ain't no Headmasters or Headmistresses here, lady," One of them spat, rubbing at his knees. "And who the fuck you think you are, beating up on SeeD cadets?"
Neala was not impressed. "I am SeeD A-Level, Neala Axton," she informed them, eyes hardening as they all gaped at her. "And they–" she pointed behind her with her spear at where the others had stopped to watch, "–are the Headmasters Squall and Seifer from Esthar Garden. Now, what are you supposed to do when you see a Headmaster or Headmistress?"
The cadets turned to give the two Headmasters disbelieving looks, but when Neala raised her spear in threat, all quickly jumped to a salute, calling, "Sirs!"
Squall and Seifer considered the line of students for a moment, then turned and continued to the entrance of the Garden, refusing to acknowledge them.
"I have been wanting to do that since we got here," Irvine told Neala when she joined them in following the two teens outside, "but if I had done anything, Squall would have had my head."
"I don't know why they let it go," Neala muttered, refastening her spear to her back as they walked.
"It's–" Zell coughed when they all turned to look at him. "People don't like Seifer, 'cause he's always been a bully, and Squall never bothered with people. They've always been called names, and after up and leaving a month ago, well..."
Neala frowned at the backs ahead of them. "They left without a word?"
"Squall took our foster sister to see her uncle," Irvine offered. "Seifer followed them and they ended up staying in Esthar. At least, that's what they told me when I ran into them in Deling City a couple weeks ago."
"Hey, before Squall left, he was walking around with some woman," Zell remembered. "It was sort of a big deal at the time, but then he and Seifer never came back and everyone forgot about it."
"But why didn't they come back?" Neala wondered. "Were they trying to get Esthar to finally make a Garden?"
"I don't know," Irvine admitted. "I never asked, and they never offered."
"Whoa!" Zell called as they got out from under the overhang and got their first good look at the Ragnarok. "That thing's huge."
"So that's Estharian technology," Neala mused.
As soon as they were close enough, Squall tossed a knife and blew his booby trap, which required that Irvine explain that, no, the console wasn't really broken and, yes, he'd done that for a reason.
Squall went ahead to start his pre-flight checks while Seifer leaned idly against a wall in the hanger, waiting for the others. As soon as they were aboard, he hit the control for the door and said, "There's only four chairs in the cockpit, so a couple of you can stand, or I can leave you in the conference room, which has an excellent view."
"I want to see the cockpit!" Selphie declared.
Zell shifted. "I'll take the conference room, if it's all the same."
"I'll stay with Zell," Irvine offered with a smile and a tip of his hat. "Ladies, Seifer, we will see you when we land. Come on, Zell."
Seifer glanced at Neala. "There's still time to follow the cowboy and Chick– ah, Zell."
Selphie giggled and Neala shook her head. "I'll join you in the cockpit, I think."
"Is everyone aboard yet?" Squall demanded through the intercom.
Seifer reached over and touched the button to respond. "Yeah, sorry. We were sorting out seating arrangements. We'll be up in a minute." He smiled at the two ladies. "This way."
As soon as they'd reached the cockpit, Selphie hurried over to one of the windows, eyes wide. "Awesome! We're flying!"
"Imagine that," Seifer replied drily, sliding into his chair next to Squall. "Are you going to need me to navigate?"
"Shouldn't." Squall shook his head. "I programmed D-District into the auto-pilot a couple weeks ago."
"Afraid you were going to have to break me out?" Seifer teased.
"Always a distinct possibility. Selphie, don't touch any of those controls," Squall added, watching the hyper-active cadet through the windows.
"What is it all for?" Selphie wondered, observing the navigation station.
"Nothing, right now," Seifer offered. "Squall had the Esthar technicians reroute all the important functions up here, since there's usually only the two of us." He turned back to Squall as Selphie continued observing the controls curiously. "Your dad said to come back in one piece, by the way."
"Of course he did. I assume he was in with the Council when you called?"
"How'd you guess?" Seifer replied drily, snorting. "They'd like us to kindly die in a fiery pit and save them the trouble of paying for our coffins."
"They didn't say that."
"No, but they were thinking it."
"And here I thought everyone loved everyone else in Esthar," Neala commented, coming up to stand behind the two Headmasters.
"Somebody fed you a load of shit, then," Seifer informed her.
"Estharians love Estharians," Squall said drily, glancing back at her. "They occasionally put up with outsiders, unless those outsiders happen to carry weapons, in which case, all bets are off."
"And they're letting you build a Garden?" Neala raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"My father is the President; they didn't have much choice," Squall replied.
"They've been trying to get rid of us for almost a month," Seifer explained, rolling his eyes at Squall's simple, but misleading, comment, "but Laguna wouldn't let them. Some SeeDs came knocking and the Council realised that they were better off keeping us around for emergencies, and if letting us create a Garden kept us out of their hair, all the better. They get home-grown super-soldiers and a two-person taskforce."
"We're here," Squall commented blandly as he turned off auto-pilot and took the controls.
Seifer leaned forward, staring down at the prison he'd only seen photos off before. "Shit, those walkways are tiny. Can you land here?" he asked, sensing Selphie joining Neala behind them.
"I can balance on one of the catwalks and we can go out through the airlock," Squall announced after a bit of consideration. "Now shut up so I can focus."
The other three held their breath as Squall manoeuvred them over one of the walkways, knocking the butt of the ship against one of the towers. He slowly shut down the engines until only the stabilisers were left, helping to keep them in balance.
"Okay. Seifer, if you'll get the others and lead them to the airlock, I'm going to switch off all power to the other entrances," Squall ordered, turning his chair to face a little-used console to his side.
Seifer stood and motioned the females out ahead of him. On his way to join them, he brushed his hand across the back of Squall's neck, making the smaller teen shudder. "I'll see you topside," he murmured before walking way.
Squall rubbed absently at the back of his neck as he finished fixing the controls, taking comfort from the line of fire magic resting there. He'd woken from a nightmare of this prison a week or so ago, so Seifer knew that he'd been tortured while held prisoner here – although Squall had refused to tell him who had tortured him – and that he had nothing but bad memories of this place. But they couldn't leave; it was a SeeD-level mission and they would get this done, no matter what. That was their duty, and Squall was still a SeeD in his memories, if not in reality.
Taking a deep breath, Squall wrapped himself in that sense of Seifer's magic that always remained with him and set his face. Then he made his way to the airlock, where the others were waiting. "We're moving my ship before they lower the prison," he ordered as he shut the inside door and Seifer hit the controls to the outside one. "I am not watching the Ragnarok take a nose-dive off this monstrosity."
"Agreed," Neala replied, eyeing the short drop to the platform below. "I don't suppose either of you have Float junctioned?"
Seifer and Squall cast Float on everyone and they all jumped down. They had to take on a couple of monsters once they'd landed, but they were dispatched easily enough.
Neala considered their options for a moment before suggesting, "Zell and I should be able to get past the Ragnarok, so we'll take that tower over there. Squall, Irvine, why don't you take this tower so you can get to the Ragnarok as soon as you're done. Seifer, Selphie, the last tower."
"Keep in mind that when the prison changes position, the walkways disappear," Squall warned before they could split up. "There should be a radio system installed in the control rooms of each of the towers, near the top. Once you've cleared your tower and all of the prisoners are back in their cells, return to that control room and check in. Once we're all accounted for, I'll move the Ragnarok and we can lower this."
Everyone nodding, they split up and made for their destinations, fighting monsters on the way if necessary.
Squall and Irvine moved steadily through their tower, taking down monsters in a rather effective combo attack where Irvine would shoot things from a distance while Squall darted in and dealt the killing blow. When they came across humans, they checked their health first, then either healed them to some extent, or left them for dead.
The only real problem they faced was the angry Malboro on the bottom floor, which hit them with a Bad Breath before Irvine could get his gun up. Squall was able to shake off the worst of the status effects, but Irvine had been hit hard with Confuse and he took a pot-shot at Squall's head.
Ice magic immediately rushed to the fore, creating a solid shield between Squall and the younger teen still on the stairs. Another flash of ice, this one more offensive than defensive, decimated the Malboro, laying it flat in a matter of seconds. With that threat taken care of, Squall focussed on casting an Esuna on Irvine while pulling the ice wall down.
"Irvine?" Squall asked carefully as the the cowboy regained his breath. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his ice magic raged, already upset about being in this place and demanding to be used again and kill, kill, kill those who had hurt Squall in the past. Ifrit was glaring it down for him, but he could only do so much, and the faint sense of Seifer's magic wasn't quite enough. 'I need Seifer. Fuck.'
Irvine nodded. "I'm okay." He glanced up at his leader and frowned at the strained lines on his face. "Squall, you okay?"
Squall gave a jerky nod. "I just want to get out of here," he managed, starting back up the stairs to the upper levels. "Let's make sure all the prisoners are shoved in their cells and return to the control room."
Squall was quiet and grim-faced on their way back upstairs, splitting his attention between his magic and helping Irvine with the prisoners. By the time they'd reached the top again and Irvine was fiddling with the radio, Squall and Ifrit had managed to mostly strong-arm his magic back into place, though it churned angrily at being denied its vengeance on the building.
"This is Selphie and Seifer," the intercom crackled with Selphie's voice. "Our tower is clear."
"Good to hear your lovely voice, Selphie, darling," Irvine cooed.
"Flirt later, Irvine," Seifer ordered. "Squall, are you there?"
Fire magic sparked at the back of Squall's neck and he relaxed a bit, his magic soothed by Seifer's voice as much as he was. "Yeah, I'm here. We're just waiting on Neala and Zell."
Speak of the devil: "Zell and Neala here. Did someone say my name?" Zell called, laughter in his voice.
"Good, we're all here. Squall, we'll give you ten minutes to move the Ragnarok," Seifer said. "Irvine, I think we need operators at each tower to move this, so you'll have to stay behind."
"Sure thing," Irvine agreed, watching in concern as Squall hurried from the room. He really didn't look good, although he'd seemed a bit better once Seifer had spoken. 'Was he just worried about Seifer, then? Or is there something else...?'
Once they had submerged the prison, the five team members met back up outside. Seifer looked worried and he quickly asked, "Where's Squall?"
"He hasn't come out of the Ragnarok yet," Irvine offered, waving towards the ship nearby. "He didn't look too good when we got back up, either. I figured it was best to just let him catch his breath back."
"Thanks, Irvine," Seifer said with enough sincerity to catch the cowboy off guard. "I'll go check up on him." He dashed off towards the ship.
"Did Squall choke?" Neala asked, disbelieving. The teen was too collected, too hard to have choked on such a simple mission.
Irvine shook his head. "We came across a Malboro at the bottom and I got Confused. I think I might have tried shooting him – not sure – but he looked unharmed when he hit me with an Esuna. The Malboro was pretty dead, too, but he didn't look all that great. I guess the Malboro must have got him with something after all. We managed fine on the way back up, though." He paused and considered her assessing expression. "This isn't just about testing Zell and Selphie, is it? This is to test Seifer and Squall and me, too."
Neala shrugged. "Yes. The Heads aren't all that comfortable with having a couple of ex-cadets run a Garden, no matter how good they are. Since Xu was already agreeing to run an early test for Selphie and Zell, she decided to test you three as well." She narrowed her eyes. "You're not lying to me to protect Leonhart, are you?"
Irvine glared at her. "Squall isn't the sort to just up and fuck up. He works through whatever's bothering him on his own; always has. He looked like absolute shit after we faced that Malboro, but he still climbed up with me and helped get the prisoners back into their cells. He didn't choke, and I wouldn't lie about that, either."
Neala let out a faintly amused sound. "I believe you, Kinneas, calm down. I just needed to be sure. I know you two are close, and I can't go back to Xu without knowing for certain that you're not covering for him."
Irvine sniffed. "Whatever."
"Do you...think it's okay to go after them?" Selphie asked in the silence. "I'm worried about Squall."
"Alright. The clean-up crews shouldn't need us for anything," Neala agreed, turning to lead the way back to the Ragnarok.
-0-
As soon as Seifer got on the Ragnarok, not even caring whether the others followed him or not, he turned towards the conference room, where his magic was telling him Squall was. He'd felt the moment, in the prison, when Squall's magic had gone a little haywire, but he hadn't been able to do anything, having been dealing with a particularly difficult prisoner at the time. By the time he'd had a moment to catch his breath, they had made it back up to the top of the tower.
Squall had sounded a little strained over the intercom, but his magic had calmed down considerably against Seifer's skin, and there was still not a lot he could do to help the younger teen, not in the middle of a mission.
'I can do something now,' Seifer reminded himself as the door to the conference room slipped open. "Squall?"
"Up here," Squall said from the front of the room.
Seifer walked towards the voice and was surprised to find Squall sitting in a niche above the large windows, looking tired but mostly like himself. "How the hell did you get up there?"
Squall's lips twitched with a faint smile. "Magic. Hold on, I'll be down in a sec–"
"Jump," Seifer ordered.
Squall gave him an odd look. "Are you insane?"
"No. Jump." He held his arms up, proving his intent to catch the slighter teen.
Squall sighed, but obediently pushed himself away from the ledge, eyes closed. He felt Seifer catch him and couldn't help but melt against the taller gunblader, his magic finally calming down the rest of the way at the familiar feeling of Seifer's arms around him. He pressed his face against Seifer's chest, murmuring, "Thanks."
Seifer smiled and rested his cheek against the top of Squall's head. "What happened?"
Squall was silent for a moment before offering, "We ran into a Malboro and it Confused Irvine, so he tried to shoot me. My magic jumped in to save me, but it...didn't want to stop saving me. That... that place hurt me, and it wanted to destroy it. It didn't much care to listen to reason, so Ifrit and I sort of had to shove in in a corner and sit on it. I... it calmed down a lot once I was on the Ragnarok."
"So I don't need to take you down to the showers and fuck you against the wall?" Seifer teased.
Squall responded by poking him in the side with an icy finger.
Seifer winced at the cold, but placed a kiss against Squall's hair and said, "I guess that's a no to the shower sex?"
"Pervert."
"I'm a guy," Seifer reminded him. "With fully functioning guy parts."
"I can solve that problem for you," Squall offered, looking up with amused blue eyes.
Seifer rolled his eyes and stole a kiss. "So you keep saying," he whispered against Squall's lips before kissing him again.
Squall grunted and reached up to grasp at Seifer's hair, tugging just hard enough to get Seifer to open his mouth so he could slip his tongue inside. He loved how hot Seifer's mouth always was, warmed by his magic, and how the taller teen would moan when Squall twined their tongues together, letting his colder magic seep out and soothe the heat. He loved how one of Seifer's hands would always stroke his back in time with their tongues' movements, making his whole body tingle with the hot magic.
The sound of the door of the conference room broke through to them and they both turned to glare at the quartet who stood there. Zell's whole face was flushed while Neala looked almost amused and Selphie was grinning quite widely.
Irvine just shook his head and asked, "Are you ready for us to head back to Balamb, or do you need another couple minutes?"
"We could fly Ragnarok ourselves and you two can keep going!" Selphie chirped, making Zell moan and turn away.
Seifer snorted and eased his arms away from Squall. "Feel free to try; Squall locked the controls to his DNA last week."
"Technically, they're locked to your DNA as well," Squall commented drily, taking a moment to straighten his shirt.
"I thought you said I'm not allowed to fly the Ragnarok."
"You're not." Squall retorted, shooting the blond a glare. "But if something happens to me, someone needs to be able to pilot her home."
Seifer scowled at the idea of something happening to Squall, but with the lifestyles they lived, nothing was certain. "Fair enough," he allowed before motioning towards the door, where the others were still standing, watching the two with varying expressions. "Come on. Before Selphie insists on a show."
Squall snorted and stepped confidently towards the gaggle of onlookers, all of whom obediently moved out of his way.
"Could we have a show?" Selphie wondered as Seifer joined them in the doorway.
"Please, no," Zell requested.
Seifer waggled his eyebrows at the shorter blond. "Jealous, Chicken-wuss?"
Zell immediately started shadow-boxing in his direction in response, looking quite ticked off.
Selphie tugged on Seifer's sleeve. "Stop calling him names or I'm telling Squall," she ordered.
Seifer sighed. "No shows," he told her. "Unless they're gunblade spars." He grinned a bit. "We do those often enough."
"With which gunblades?" Selphie wondered, eyebrows waggling suggestively. Zell stopped shadow-boxing to cover his face with his hands.
Seifer laughed and drew Selphie into a half-hug. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. Come on, might as well go up top."
They all took the lift up to the cockpit – Zell insisted he was only going because he hadn't seen it yet when Irvine teased him about following Seifer's orders – just in time for the engines to start. Seifer tossed himself in the co-pilot chair and turned it to grin at them while Selphie plopped into her own chair, Irvine leaned against a wall, Neala considered the two Headmasters with sharp eyes and Zell looked around in awe.
Squall quickly raised them above the prison and set the auto-pilot coordinates before turning his chair to shoot Neala a blank look. "Since I very much doubt Seifer and I will be allowed into Xu's office when you give your report on all of us, would you prefer our assessments now?"
Neala's lips curled with a smile. "Now, why wouldn't you be allowed in with me?"
Seifer snorted. "Yeah, because Martine, Angelica and Xu would really let a couple of dropout cadets run a Garden. I've taken enough of these exams to know what sort of level they're at; the only reason you'd need higher levelled SeeD is because the prison was raised, and with the Ragnarok, that wasn't an issue."
Neala shrugged and settled herself into the other chair. "I told Xu you wouldn't fall for it." Her eyes flickered towards Irvine. "Any of you. Cadets, out; Selphie, I'll talk to you before we land."
Irvine, Zell and Selphie all saluted, then took the lift down without complaint.
Neala leaned back. "Squall, how was Irvine?"
Squall considered that for a moment before quietly reporting, "He's excellent at working with a team, for all that his sniper training tends to lend him more of a loner attitude. We agreed early on that he would take a shot from a distance, using some Dark Ammo he'd picked up, and I would attack close while the enemy was still reeling with status afflictions. He only missed one shot, and he managed to get another shot off before I reached the opponent."
"And during the Malboro?" Neala wondered neutrally, watching his face.
"Neither of us were expecting it. Irvine doesn't junction, so he was vulnerable to its Bad Breath and it Confused him. It happens to the best of us." He shrugged. "The trip back up involved a lot of kicking moaning prisoners back into their cells; simple enough."
"Irvine thought he might have shot you," Neala pressed. "Did he miss?"
Squall's gaze turned icy. "His aim was true, but I junction Auto-Protect." He pressed his lips together, signalling the end of that line of questioning.
Neala silently agreed by turning to Seifer. "How did Selphie do?"
"She's not particularly strong, less so while using her nunchakus, but her magical strength is phenomenal. I traded her some high-level magic and had her stay back, attacking from a distance. Despite never having used anything better than a Fira before, she managed very well. She followed my orders without pause, ducking out of the way when a Thrustaevis managed to get past me and tried hitting her." Seifer's expression, which had been blank up 'til that point, lightened with a faint smile. "She also managed to sweet-talk a prisoner that was giving us trouble back into his cell."
"What sort of magic did you give her?" Neala wondered.
"A handful of Ultimas, about two dozen Meltdowns and fifty Firagas." He shrugged at her amused look. "I don't use magic much, and we–" he motioned between himself and Squall, "–pick more up often enough that it's no problem to trade them off."
"You said she handled them fine? Even the Ultima?"
"She cast... three Ultimas," Seifer reported, looking thoughtful. "The first one was a little off, but the other two were fine. Much better than my first attempt with them." He glanced at Squall, whose eyes lit with amusement at the memory of Seifer hitting himself with the spell. "Don't even."
Squall snorted. "Rookie."
"Asshole."
Neala shook her head and stood. "How long until we reach Balamb Garden?"
Squall turned his chair back around and considered their coordinates. "You've got about fifteen minutes. Feel free to send Zell and Irvine up here while you're talking to Selphie."
"Very well. Gentlemen." Neala shot them a salute, which they returned, before taking the lift down.
"Not that they have much choice but to let us be Headmasters," Seifer commented drily.
"They can make life difficult for us if we don't meet their expectations," Squall pointed out, glancing at the other teen. "And neither of us want to deal with both the Council and Garden taking shots at us."
Seifer sighed. "I know."
The lift sounded and Zell and Irvine stepped out. Irvine dropped into the comm chair and pulled out a magazine from under it. "Sis?" he asked with a grin, waving the fashion magazine around.
"How ever did you guess?" Seifer replied drily before glancing over at the awkward Zell. "You got a problem Chick– Zell!" he corrected when Squall whipped out a knife and held it to Seifer's throat. "It's hard to stop, okay? I'm trying."
Squall gave him that really creepy smile that always made Seifer want to curl up in a ball and die of fright. "I'm just giving you extra motivation."
"You wouldn't really kill him, though," Zell commented, still looking a little awkward. "Not if you two are, like, dating. Right?"
"He wouldn't kill me," Seifer agreed as Squall finally slipped the knife away, "but he'd stab me a couple of times and let me bleed a bit before he healed me."
"Is our relationship a problem, Zell?" Squall asked neutrally as he turned to look at the younger fighter.
"Erm... No?" Zell scratched the back of his head. "Maybe?"
"Because it's 'wrong'?" Seifer asked, a snarl curling his lip at one end.
Zell shook his head. "No. Because, uhm..." His eyes darted back and forth between the two gunbladers. "You two have always...hated each other. I thought."
"Hate each other?" Irvine asked, disbelieving. "Drive each other up the wall, sure. Challenge each other, yeah. But hate?"
"We neither liked nor hated each other," Squall reported. "Circumstances became such that we started a relationship." He turned back to the console. "Whether you accept it or not is up to you, Zell. I only request that it stays within Garden."
At Zell and Irvine's frowns, Seifer offered, "The Council of Ministers is not accepting of gay relationships. At all. If they find out about it, they very well might hire someone to kill us while we're sleeping, or at least kick us out of the country."
"What?!" Irvine jumped to his feet. "Those no-good– Hyne-damned– fucking–"
"I think he hates them more than you do," Squall interrupted, glancing at Seifer.
"We appreciate the support, Kinneas," Seifer said drily, "but, really, leave the arguing and death threats to Squall. He's not likely to actually go through with them, and he makes them sound so lovely."
"Get a room," Zell snarked.
"He means I have more diplomacy skills in my little finger than he does in his whole body," Squall commented.
Zell shook his head. "Squall, man, no insult meant but, uh, I was in your diplomacy class, okay? You suck at diplomacy."
"There's a difference between being forced to be polite to people in a classroom setting and being forced to be polite to people who are holding a gun to your head," Seifer commented.
"I suppose..." Zell agreed uncertainly as the lift sounded.
"What if they started mysteriously vanishing in the night?" Irvine asked.
"We're not killing the Council," Squall said, giving the cowboy a sharp look. "There would be little question as to who had done it and our relations with the city are shaky enough as it is. If you can find a legit, blood-free way of getting them out of our hair, please, I'm all ears, but for right now, they are our masters and we have little choice but to put up with them. Do I make myself clear?"
Irvine looked away. "Yeah."
Zell cleared his throat. "What if, uhm..." He withered a bit under Squall's cold glare, but put on a brave face and asked, "What if they found out about you two and sent an assassin?"
"First off," Seifer offered drily, "if an assassin manages to make it through Garden and to our apartment, I think that would be the least of our problems. If such an eventuality were to occur, the assassin wouldn't make it close enough to kill us, so it would hardly matter."
"I mean, if they tried that, wouldn't you have just cause to retaliate?"
"For a dead assassin?" Seifer wondered.
"We're not fighting the Council," Squall snapped. "We're not threatening them, we're not retaliating against them, we're not even discussing this anymore. All contact with the Esthar Council of Ministers will go through me first. Is that clear?" Icy grey eyes looked between Zell, Irvine, Seifer and Selphie until each of them had nodded.
Neala raised an eyebrow at him. "How far away are we?"
Squall turned back to his controls, flexing his fingers against the ice that had formed inside his gloves. "Another couple minutes."
The next couple of minutes passed in absolute silence while the three cadets traded looks, Selphie wanting to know what had happened, but none of them willing to talk about it where Squall might hear. Seifer had set about polishing Hyperion while Neala watched the three cadets with a faintly amused look and Squall glared at his console.
As soon as they had landed and were heading towards the building, Selphie turned wide eyes on Neala and asked, "You won't need any of us, right?"
Neala shrugged. "Xu will probably want Squall and Seifer there for part of the meeting, but you three are certainly welcome to disappear until we call you over the intercom."
"Excellent!" Selphie slipped her arms into both Irvine and Zell's arms and insisted, "Zell is going to show us around Balamb!"
"I am?" Zell wondered a bit dumbly.
"Have fun," Seifer called as Selphie dragged the two boys with her away from the lift.
In Xu's office, the three gave their brief report on the mission, then Seifer and Squall were asked to wait outside while Neala gave her assessment. As soon as that was done, the two gunbladers were called back in and they all took seats.
"From what Neala tells me, everyone performed admirably," Xu started, leaning back in her chair. "I will admit that I'm a little leery of sending Zell out to help take charge of a Garden, as young as he is, but if you're sure you want him..."
"We need some youthful energy on the staff," Seifer commented drily. "As you may have noticed, neither Squall nor myself are much for fun; Selphie and Zell should be able to help with that a lot. Esthar isn't a military nation, by any means, so having a couple of fun people on staff is probably the best thing we can do for them."
"I agree that Zell is young and perhaps a bit immature," Squall offered quietly, "but he was going to take the SeeD exam this year anyway, and if he's passed it now, he would have passed it then." He shrugged. "We all have to start somewhere, even if it means running a Garden in a hostile country."
Xu grimaced, eyes slanting to her own paper-covered desk. "I suppose you have a point." She rubbed tiredly at her eyes. "Will you require Balamb to handle your SeeD salaries? SeeD don't usually go to work at one of the other Gardens, but when it does happen, we usually handle it case-by-case."
Seifer and Squall traded looks, then both shook their head. "The Council has given us more than enough money to manage Garden with," Seifer explained. "We should be fine covering the salaries without dipping into your own funds. If there does come a point when we don't have the funds to pay our staff, we'll consider renegotiating."
"Laguna would chip into his own fortune before he let us negotiate salaries with Balamb Garden," Squall added drily. "I doubt it will be an issue."
"For all that the Council hates you, this Laguna fellow certainly seems fond of you," Neala commented. "He sounds quite important, actually."
"Laguna Loire," Seifer offered. "He's the President Elect of Esthar and Squall's father."
There was a moment of surprised silence at that, then Xu shook her head and said. "I'll call the other three up here. Hold on..."
Once the other three had tumbled in, each holding a hot dog in one hand and managing sloppy salutes through their grins – the four who had been in the room weren't certain they wanted to know – Xu stood and said, "After careful consideration, Balamb Garden has agreed to bestow the rank of SeeD on the following cadets–" her eyes flickered towards Seifer and Squall's relaxed forms, "– and ex-cadets: Seifer Almasy, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, Squall Leonhart and Selphie Tilmitt. Congratulations, SeeDs."
Squall and Seifer stood from their seats to join the other three in performing the salute.
Xu held out a pile of papers she'd been working on a bit while she'd been speaking with Seifer and Squall. "Hand these out, would you, Neala?"
Neala handed their paperwork out and all of them bent their heads down to consider their scores. Squall raised his eyebrows at his own SeeD level of twenty-five, then traded papers with Seifer to find he'd received the same. They both turned to Xu with identical dubious expressions.
Xu laughed and shook her head. "You got Esthar to open their borders, even if it's just to Garden, and managed to create a Garden in their country, which we've been trying to do since Garden was founded. Maybe those weren't official missions, and maybe you didn't go in intending those results, but I believe that you've earned those ranks."
"If you say so..." Seifer agreed, folding his sheet up and moving to slip it into a pocket.
Selphie grabbed for the paper before he could fully slip it away, asking, "Well? I'm rank eight! Zell is rank seven and Irvine's rank nine! Now you know ours, so you have to tell us yours!"
Squall let out a snort. "Twenty-five."
"Whaat?! That's awesome!" Selphie declared, doing a little dance with Seifer's arm. "We should have a party!"
"Hey, Laguna would love that idea!" Irvine called, grinning.
"We'll see," Squall said, expression blank.
Zell cleared his throat, hand raised ever so slightly. When everyone turned to him – Selphie stopping her dance, but still holding Seifer's arm – he asked, "So, if we're going to be working in Esthar, does that mean we'll be called to go on SeeD missions like a normal SeeD?"
Xu shrugged. "Instructors at Balamb Garden with SeeD credentials don't get called to go on missions unless we need someone with their skills, specifically. If we have a need for one of you, I'll put the request through to Squall and he'll let me know if it's possible at that time." She looked at Squall. "Is that acceptable?"
Squall nodded. "That should work fine. Although, I may be handing you over to Seifer for contact. It depends on how much time the Council demands of me once we're fully in session."
"That's fine. As long as I can reach one of you."
Seifer gently tugged his arm out of Selphie's hold and turned to their newest staff members. "Selphie's things are probably still packed, how about you, Zell?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I packed most of my stuff yesterday, since I didn't have to go to class. You want to leave now?"
"If possible," Seifer agreed. "My desk resembles Xu's, and I'd like to return to it before the paperwork breeds any further."
Irvine snorted. "Seifer, your desk only looks so bad because you have no organization. Squall probably has more work to do."
Squall shrugged. "Probably."
"Whatever!" Seifer rolled his eyes. "Selphie, Zell, get your things. Are you going to need help carrying stuff?"
"Nah." Zell waved a hand at that. "Most of my stuff's still at my mom's house in Balamb."
"I will!" Selphie called, running back over to Irvine and slipping her arm in his. "Irvine will help me!"
Irvine dropped his hat on her head. "So I will, darlin'."
Selphie giggled.
"We'll meet you at the Ragnarok," Squall decided. "Do not try to open the hanger door by yourself."
Irvine shuddered. "Not a chance."
Once the three had hurried out, Seifer and Squall turned back to Xu, who looked a bit like she'd wanted to say something. She offered them a faint smile and said, "If you have trouble with your Council, know that we're willing to back you up. Neala tells me you have no intention of starting a fight with them, but we can always send you one of our best diplomats, if it comes to that."
Squall frowned and started to open his mouth, but Seifer settled his hand on the slighter teen's shoulder and said, "Thank you, Xu. We'll keep that in mind."
Xu nodded. "Balamb Garden will always welcome you with open arms, even if you did send Cid into a nervous breakdown."
"That was not my fault," Squall insisted. "He's just insane."
Seifer snorted. "Come on, Squall, let's go before you actually insult someone."
"Says the man who's always calling our new staff members names," Squall retorted, letting himself be led from Xu's office. "And weren't you the one who almost set Minister Amick on fire?"
"He deserved it."
The door fell shut behind them and Xu and Neala traded looks. "Think they'll be okay?" Neala wondered.
Xu shook her head. "I don't know how they've survived as long as they have."
-0-
Laguna managed to talk Squall into landing in Esthar and coming by the palace to have the required party. There was a minor debate about whether or not it would be proper to take their weapons into the city – Selphie, Zell and Irvine insisted it would be fine, since they were already in the city and there wasn't anywhere to leave them, but Seifer and Squall were quite adamant that all weapons be left on the Ragnarok, including hidden knives (and they knew how to spot those, so no one, not even themselves, got away with it) – but they eventually made it out of the Airstation and started towards the palace, Selphie and Zell in awe about everything.
"I thought you said the Estharians didn't like you two," Irvine commented as they were stopped by yet another person wanting to greet the two gunbladers.
"The Council doesn't like us," Seifer corrected. "The people themselves, however, generally like us. We spent a week wandering the city and just talking to people, and once they found out that Squall was their president's son, well..." He grinned.
Irvine nodded. "I see. So it's really just the Council we have to be cautious about."
"Be cautious about everyone," Squall suggested. "Just because they're willing to accept Seifer and me into their society doesn't, necessarily, mean that they'll accept everyone. Or even that we'll always remain on their good sides."
"Does he always put a damper on things?" Irvine wondered.
"Yup."
Squall rolled his eyes and offered a wave to the guards surrounding the palace. They had to drag Selphie and Zell down onto the seat into the palace and Seifer got a good laugh out of seeing the two of them freak out a bit when the seat levitated.
On their way to Laguna's wing of the palace, they ran into Minister Antonios, who frowned a bit and called, "I see you've multiplied. Should we worry about an invasion next?"
"Laguna requested our presence," Squall replied evenly while the others scowled. "And you never said we weren't allowed in the city or, for that matter, in the palace. If you feel the need to amend that oversight, we're willing to discuss it, but I believe those Estharians who have decided to join Garden will be most displeased when they can no longer get back to their families."
Antonios narrowed his eyes. "None of your students will need to get into the palace; perhaps we'll just bar your kind from here, then. We don't need murderers in our halls."
Squall raised an eyebrow as Seifer grabbed Zell's shoulder to keep him from giving the Minister a piece of his mind. "I very much doubt that Laguna would approve something like that, but you're welcome to try. Moreover, Madam Stavola's daughter applied to Garden, so at least one of 'our kind' will want to return to the palace to visit her family."
Antonios sneered at them and stalked away, no proper comebacks coming to mind.
Squall glanced back at the group behind them, taking note of the angry looks all of them sported. "Yes," he decided as he started again for Laguna's wing, "I believe I'm the best choice to deal with the Council."
"How can you take their insults so calmly?!" Zell demanded, jumping forward to give Squall a narrow-eyed look.
Squall glanced down at him. "I don't," he replied, startling the shorter teen. "I simply choose to not lose my temper over words."
"That, and he imagines murdering them in his free time," Seifer added with a smirk.
"No, Seifer, that's what you do," Squall returned, stopping in front of Laguna's office. "Right. You're all SeeD, now behave like it." He pushed the doors open.
The sounds of poppers went off and they were quickly covered in glitter and streamers. "Congratulations on making SeeD!" Laguna and Ellone shouted, grinning. Beyond Laguna, Kiros was shaking his head helplessly. Raijin, Fujin and Ward had helped with the poppers.
Squall sighed and covered his face with his hands.
"Hi, everyone!" Ellone called, hurrying up and grinning as she gave Squall a quick hug. "Stop looking so frowny, Squall."
"...don't I know you?" Zell wondered, looking at Ellone oddly.
"Yeah! You're Sis!" Selphie exclaimed, hurrying forward to greet her long-lost sister. "I remember you!"
Seifer settled a gentle hand on Squall's shoulder as Zell and Selphie were introduced around by an enthusiastic Ellone. "You knew they were going to do this," he pointed out.
"I know." Squall shook his head and gave the blond a faint smile. "There goes that evening working on our paperwork. We're probably going to end up crashing at the palace tonight, knowing Selphie and Laguna."
"Oh, good. I like sleeping in that room." Seifer gave Squall a lecherous smile.
"I will freeze your balls off," Squall whispered, turning to face Seifer properly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Seifer took a quick glance around the room to ensure that no Council members or guards were there, then bestowed Squall with a gentle kiss. "Now, lighten up. This party is for you, too."
Squall huffed a bit, but let himself be led over to where everyone was congregated. "I don't do parties," he muttered.
Seifer rolled his eyes and tugged a bit harder until they were in the throng and Squall was distracted by an overly-excited Laguna and Ellone. Squall might not do parties, but everyone else certainly did, and they weren't about to let Squall be left out, no matter his feelings on the matter.
-0-0-0-
-0-0-0-
A/N: Not sure how I feel about the ending, but this chapter is long enough as it is, and Shara's been hovering around, waiting for me to finish this for a couple hours now. Eh.
I'm not 100% about how D-District works, but it didn't make a shit-load of sense in the game, anyway, so... I made it up.
I wrote another FFVIII fic, titled Sins of Our Young, which I'll start posting on Thursdays. It's ten chapters, same as Zyxt and will last partway into the new year. Anyway, first chapter goes up in a couple days. Hope you lot like it.
Erm, right. I should probably give you a summary: How the game could have gone if the writers weren't on crack and so set on everyone being straight. It's basically a game re-write. Think Snafu by the lovely Shivani/grazhir. I blame her for the damn thing, anyway. (She's suitably amused by this, of course... *eye roll*)
~Bats ^.^x
Chapters:
1 - Won't Make It Alone ||| 2 - Give Up Everything
3 - Fly Over Me ||| 4 - Stars Collide
5 - Stars Shedding Tears ||| 6 - Never Felt So Far From Home
7 - Voice From the Past |||8 - Hold Me Without Touch
9 - Diebus Fatalibus ~ Fated Day ||| 10 - Never Let You Go
..
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Author: Batsutousai/
batsutousaiBeta: Shara Lunison/
tsuki_no_suzu & Shivani/grazhirChapter: 8 of 10
Rating: T
Pairings: Squall/Seifer
Warnings: AU, minor canon-fuckery, slash/yaoi
Summary: Alone in Time Compression, Squall sets out to make them all a happier ending.
Disclaim Her: So, I sort of brought in an OC. I mentioned her, briefly, a couple chapters ago, then decided to use her because there was too much testosterone. And because I needed another person.
Hold Me Without Touch
-0-0-0-
"I didn't think we'd ever come back here," Seifer commented as they stepped off the Ragnarok outside Balamb Garden.
"It's a lot more open than Galbadia," Irvine commented, looking around curiously. "So, this is where the elite SeeD live, huh?"
"When they're not off on missions," Seifer agreed, glancing back at where Squall was booby trapping the Ragnarok again. "What time are we supposed to at Xu's office by, again?"
"We have time," Squall replied, turning to join them.
"That didn't answer my question."
"It wasn't meant to."
Irvine shook his head as he followed the two older teens into their old stomping grounds. People stopped to stare as they walked by, and Irvine was pretty sure it had more to do with Squall and Seifer's presence then that of the large red ship behind them. 'I guess Seifer isn't the only one who didn't think he'd be returning.'
"Look at this!" someone called from down the hall. "It's the Disciplinary Committee's main bastard and the Ice Queen, back from exile!" The group of students around the speaker laughed.
"Come running back with your tails between your legs?" someone else called.
"Don't," Squall ordered quietly, watching as Seifer's expression got more and more stormy. "It's not worth it."
"They–!"
"They are cadets," Squall commented quietly. "They'll never amount to anything."
Seifer clenched his jaw, but ignored further jeers on their way to the lift at the centre of the building.
Behind the gunbladers, Irvine was scowling, disliking the cruel comments being tossed the way of his friends. He vaguely considered bringing Valiant around and making the jokers dance a bit, but he got the sense that Squall wouldn't appreciate it. Seifer would get a laugh, but Squall would not be amused.
As soon as the lift doors closed, Seifer and Irvine relaxed. Squall didn't appear even the slightest bit fazed as he ran a card through the reader and hit the button for the third floor. There, he led the way to a regal-looking set of doors and knocked.
"Come in," a woman called from the other side.
The three teens entered the office, Irvine falling back a couple steps as the two young Headmasters stepped up to the desk and exchanged pleasantries with the woman standing there. Irvine chanced a look around the room and smiled on seeing Selphie and Zell, who were standing with a small woman who he felt he should recognise, but didn't.
"If we could all gather?" Xu requested, and the other four joined the Headmasters and Headmistress around the desk.
Seifer got a good look at the small woman and swore. "Fuck. What the hell, Xu? Neala fucking Axton?"
Irvine gave the only A-Level SeeD a startled look, recognising her name when he hadn't her face.
Neala Axton smiled a touch grimly. "I see my reputation precedes me."
"Fuck," Seifer said again, apparently at a loss for words.
Squall touched Seifer's shoulder, gaining his attention. "Calm down."
Seifer let out a deep breath, then turned to Xu. "Well?"
Xu smiled at him. "I was looking through the incoming requests, trying to spot a good exam, which isn't easy when we're only testing a small group." Her eyes flickered towards Selphie and Zell, who were looking more than a little nervous. "I got a request in last night for some assistance at the D-District Prison: During their last submersion, they picked up a rather nasty infestation of high-level monsters. They've had to remain in the air since, to keep the prisoners from escaping, which means their own rescue teams can't reach them.
"We can reach them in the air, but it won't be fun, and I'd need to send at least three of my best SeeDs in, but most of them, save Neala, are out on assignment. Seifer, Squall, you're both capable of holding your own on the Island Closest to Hell, from what your sister said."
"Yes," Seifer agreed.
"You intend for us to go to D-District and deal with the monsters," Squall said, eyes sharp. "There's six of us and three parts to the prison, so we'd go in groups of two. I'm assuming you intend to split Seifer, Neala and myself up and partner each of us with either Irvine, Selphie or Zell, correct?"
Xu nodded. "That's the general idea. Are you willing?"
Squall and Seifer traded looks, then looked at Irvine, who grinned and patted the butt of Valiant. "I'm game."
Squall nodded. "I'll have to call Esthar and warn them that we'll be out of contact for an extended period of time, but that shouldn't be a problem. We can use Ragnarok to get to the prison." He glanced towards Neala, who was watching him with a curious expression. "Unless you had other plans."
Neala shrugged. "Not particularly, no. Ragnarok's that flying dragon you came in on, I take it?"
"Yes." Squall glanced over at Selphie and Zell. "Are you two willing to go?"
The cadets startled, then both nodded. "Absolutely!" Zell crowed.
"Chi–" Seifer started, only to be hit by Squall, who gave him a warning look. Seifer sighed. "Oh, fine. I'll refrain from calling the Chicken-wuss any names."
"You–!" Zell made an angry gesture at the taller blond, looking murderous.
Squall pinched the bridge of his nose before ordering, "Seifer, call Laguna and let him know we'll be out of contact. Zell, do all of us a favour and just ignore him."
Seifer shot Zell a smirk, then stepped away from the desk and pulled out his MIT to make the call.
"Estharian technology," Irvine explained to the blank looks that followed Seifer. "I don't understand it either."
Xu shook her head. "Your mission is to clean out the monsters in D-District Prison," she announced. "Once the monsters have been cleared out and the prisoners are back in their cells, the prison should be lowered and the rescue teams will handle any further clean-up. Cadets Dincht, Tilmitt and Kinneas, you will listen to the senior member of your teams." She looked between the three teens she'd named, then looked over Neala, Squall and Seifer, who was returning from his call. "SeeD Axton, Headmasters Leonhart and Almasy, you three are in charge of your teams. Use your best judgement about taking on enemies. Are there any questions?"
"One," Zell said, raising his hand slightly. When Xu looked at him, he asked, "Can I not end up with Seifer?"
Xu sighed.
"Neala, you use a spear, correct? So you're something of a distance attacker?" Squall asked thoughtfully. When the SeeD nodded, he said, "Zell, you'll go with Neala. Selphie, you're with Seifer and Irvine will come with me. That gives each team both a distance and close-in fighter. Any complaints?"
"Good," Xu said when there were no complaints. "Good luck and stay safe." She held up her hand in salute and they all copied her before turning and leaving.
Outside the office, Neala stopped and held her hand out to Squall. "We weren't really introduced in there; I'm Neala Axton."
"Squall Leonhart," Squall replied before motioning to the other two with him, "Seifer Almasy and Irvine Kinneas."
"I'm Selphie Tilmitt," Selphie announced, grinning broadly.
"Zell Dincht," Zell offered, smiling a little nervously.
"Good. Let's get going." Neala motioned Squall forward. "To the dragon."
"Ragnarok," Seifer offered with a grin.
They all stepped into the lift together, Irvine hitting none-too-subtly on Selphie. Neala and Zell struck up a discussion about their team, discussing what and how they'd work together.
Seifer touched Squall's hand. "You okay?"
Squall shrugged. "I expected something like this."
Seifer considered him for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."
The lift doors opened and they all piled out, Seifer and Squall in the lead. Almost immediately, the jeering started again. Seifer was determined to not react this time, but he needn't have bothered, someone else did it for him.
As soon as Neala realised who the jeering was aimed at, she brought her spear around from where it was hooked at her back and approached the laughing students, face a thundercloud. "What are these instructors teaching you fools now? To mock your superiors like it's a game?" she spat, spinning her spear around and knocking into each of the boys' knees with the butt. Once she had their attention, she snapped, "When a Headmaster or Headmistress goes by, you salute!"
"There ain't no Headmasters or Headmistresses here, lady," One of them spat, rubbing at his knees. "And who the fuck you think you are, beating up on SeeD cadets?"
Neala was not impressed. "I am SeeD A-Level, Neala Axton," she informed them, eyes hardening as they all gaped at her. "And they–" she pointed behind her with her spear at where the others had stopped to watch, "–are the Headmasters Squall and Seifer from Esthar Garden. Now, what are you supposed to do when you see a Headmaster or Headmistress?"
The cadets turned to give the two Headmasters disbelieving looks, but when Neala raised her spear in threat, all quickly jumped to a salute, calling, "Sirs!"
Squall and Seifer considered the line of students for a moment, then turned and continued to the entrance of the Garden, refusing to acknowledge them.
"I have been wanting to do that since we got here," Irvine told Neala when she joined them in following the two teens outside, "but if I had done anything, Squall would have had my head."
"I don't know why they let it go," Neala muttered, refastening her spear to her back as they walked.
"It's–" Zell coughed when they all turned to look at him. "People don't like Seifer, 'cause he's always been a bully, and Squall never bothered with people. They've always been called names, and after up and leaving a month ago, well..."
Neala frowned at the backs ahead of them. "They left without a word?"
"Squall took our foster sister to see her uncle," Irvine offered. "Seifer followed them and they ended up staying in Esthar. At least, that's what they told me when I ran into them in Deling City a couple weeks ago."
"Hey, before Squall left, he was walking around with some woman," Zell remembered. "It was sort of a big deal at the time, but then he and Seifer never came back and everyone forgot about it."
"But why didn't they come back?" Neala wondered. "Were they trying to get Esthar to finally make a Garden?"
"I don't know," Irvine admitted. "I never asked, and they never offered."
"Whoa!" Zell called as they got out from under the overhang and got their first good look at the Ragnarok. "That thing's huge."
"So that's Estharian technology," Neala mused.
As soon as they were close enough, Squall tossed a knife and blew his booby trap, which required that Irvine explain that, no, the console wasn't really broken and, yes, he'd done that for a reason.
Squall went ahead to start his pre-flight checks while Seifer leaned idly against a wall in the hanger, waiting for the others. As soon as they were aboard, he hit the control for the door and said, "There's only four chairs in the cockpit, so a couple of you can stand, or I can leave you in the conference room, which has an excellent view."
"I want to see the cockpit!" Selphie declared.
Zell shifted. "I'll take the conference room, if it's all the same."
"I'll stay with Zell," Irvine offered with a smile and a tip of his hat. "Ladies, Seifer, we will see you when we land. Come on, Zell."
Seifer glanced at Neala. "There's still time to follow the cowboy and Chick– ah, Zell."
Selphie giggled and Neala shook her head. "I'll join you in the cockpit, I think."
"Is everyone aboard yet?" Squall demanded through the intercom.
Seifer reached over and touched the button to respond. "Yeah, sorry. We were sorting out seating arrangements. We'll be up in a minute." He smiled at the two ladies. "This way."
As soon as they'd reached the cockpit, Selphie hurried over to one of the windows, eyes wide. "Awesome! We're flying!"
"Imagine that," Seifer replied drily, sliding into his chair next to Squall. "Are you going to need me to navigate?"
"Shouldn't." Squall shook his head. "I programmed D-District into the auto-pilot a couple weeks ago."
"Afraid you were going to have to break me out?" Seifer teased.
"Always a distinct possibility. Selphie, don't touch any of those controls," Squall added, watching the hyper-active cadet through the windows.
"What is it all for?" Selphie wondered, observing the navigation station.
"Nothing, right now," Seifer offered. "Squall had the Esthar technicians reroute all the important functions up here, since there's usually only the two of us." He turned back to Squall as Selphie continued observing the controls curiously. "Your dad said to come back in one piece, by the way."
"Of course he did. I assume he was in with the Council when you called?"
"How'd you guess?" Seifer replied drily, snorting. "They'd like us to kindly die in a fiery pit and save them the trouble of paying for our coffins."
"They didn't say that."
"No, but they were thinking it."
"And here I thought everyone loved everyone else in Esthar," Neala commented, coming up to stand behind the two Headmasters.
"Somebody fed you a load of shit, then," Seifer informed her.
"Estharians love Estharians," Squall said drily, glancing back at her. "They occasionally put up with outsiders, unless those outsiders happen to carry weapons, in which case, all bets are off."
"And they're letting you build a Garden?" Neala raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"My father is the President; they didn't have much choice," Squall replied.
"They've been trying to get rid of us for almost a month," Seifer explained, rolling his eyes at Squall's simple, but misleading, comment, "but Laguna wouldn't let them. Some SeeDs came knocking and the Council realised that they were better off keeping us around for emergencies, and if letting us create a Garden kept us out of their hair, all the better. They get home-grown super-soldiers and a two-person taskforce."
"We're here," Squall commented blandly as he turned off auto-pilot and took the controls.
Seifer leaned forward, staring down at the prison he'd only seen photos off before. "Shit, those walkways are tiny. Can you land here?" he asked, sensing Selphie joining Neala behind them.
"I can balance on one of the catwalks and we can go out through the airlock," Squall announced after a bit of consideration. "Now shut up so I can focus."
The other three held their breath as Squall manoeuvred them over one of the walkways, knocking the butt of the ship against one of the towers. He slowly shut down the engines until only the stabilisers were left, helping to keep them in balance.
"Okay. Seifer, if you'll get the others and lead them to the airlock, I'm going to switch off all power to the other entrances," Squall ordered, turning his chair to face a little-used console to his side.
Seifer stood and motioned the females out ahead of him. On his way to join them, he brushed his hand across the back of Squall's neck, making the smaller teen shudder. "I'll see you topside," he murmured before walking way.
Squall rubbed absently at the back of his neck as he finished fixing the controls, taking comfort from the line of fire magic resting there. He'd woken from a nightmare of this prison a week or so ago, so Seifer knew that he'd been tortured while held prisoner here – although Squall had refused to tell him who had tortured him – and that he had nothing but bad memories of this place. But they couldn't leave; it was a SeeD-level mission and they would get this done, no matter what. That was their duty, and Squall was still a SeeD in his memories, if not in reality.
Taking a deep breath, Squall wrapped himself in that sense of Seifer's magic that always remained with him and set his face. Then he made his way to the airlock, where the others were waiting. "We're moving my ship before they lower the prison," he ordered as he shut the inside door and Seifer hit the controls to the outside one. "I am not watching the Ragnarok take a nose-dive off this monstrosity."
"Agreed," Neala replied, eyeing the short drop to the platform below. "I don't suppose either of you have Float junctioned?"
Seifer and Squall cast Float on everyone and they all jumped down. They had to take on a couple of monsters once they'd landed, but they were dispatched easily enough.
Neala considered their options for a moment before suggesting, "Zell and I should be able to get past the Ragnarok, so we'll take that tower over there. Squall, Irvine, why don't you take this tower so you can get to the Ragnarok as soon as you're done. Seifer, Selphie, the last tower."
"Keep in mind that when the prison changes position, the walkways disappear," Squall warned before they could split up. "There should be a radio system installed in the control rooms of each of the towers, near the top. Once you've cleared your tower and all of the prisoners are back in their cells, return to that control room and check in. Once we're all accounted for, I'll move the Ragnarok and we can lower this."
Everyone nodding, they split up and made for their destinations, fighting monsters on the way if necessary.
Squall and Irvine moved steadily through their tower, taking down monsters in a rather effective combo attack where Irvine would shoot things from a distance while Squall darted in and dealt the killing blow. When they came across humans, they checked their health first, then either healed them to some extent, or left them for dead.
The only real problem they faced was the angry Malboro on the bottom floor, which hit them with a Bad Breath before Irvine could get his gun up. Squall was able to shake off the worst of the status effects, but Irvine had been hit hard with Confuse and he took a pot-shot at Squall's head.
Ice magic immediately rushed to the fore, creating a solid shield between Squall and the younger teen still on the stairs. Another flash of ice, this one more offensive than defensive, decimated the Malboro, laying it flat in a matter of seconds. With that threat taken care of, Squall focussed on casting an Esuna on Irvine while pulling the ice wall down.
"Irvine?" Squall asked carefully as the the cowboy regained his breath. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his ice magic raged, already upset about being in this place and demanding to be used again and kill, kill, kill those who had hurt Squall in the past. Ifrit was glaring it down for him, but he could only do so much, and the faint sense of Seifer's magic wasn't quite enough. 'I need Seifer. Fuck.'
Irvine nodded. "I'm okay." He glanced up at his leader and frowned at the strained lines on his face. "Squall, you okay?"
Squall gave a jerky nod. "I just want to get out of here," he managed, starting back up the stairs to the upper levels. "Let's make sure all the prisoners are shoved in their cells and return to the control room."
Squall was quiet and grim-faced on their way back upstairs, splitting his attention between his magic and helping Irvine with the prisoners. By the time they'd reached the top again and Irvine was fiddling with the radio, Squall and Ifrit had managed to mostly strong-arm his magic back into place, though it churned angrily at being denied its vengeance on the building.
"This is Selphie and Seifer," the intercom crackled with Selphie's voice. "Our tower is clear."
"Good to hear your lovely voice, Selphie, darling," Irvine cooed.
"Flirt later, Irvine," Seifer ordered. "Squall, are you there?"
Fire magic sparked at the back of Squall's neck and he relaxed a bit, his magic soothed by Seifer's voice as much as he was. "Yeah, I'm here. We're just waiting on Neala and Zell."
Speak of the devil: "Zell and Neala here. Did someone say my name?" Zell called, laughter in his voice.
"Good, we're all here. Squall, we'll give you ten minutes to move the Ragnarok," Seifer said. "Irvine, I think we need operators at each tower to move this, so you'll have to stay behind."
"Sure thing," Irvine agreed, watching in concern as Squall hurried from the room. He really didn't look good, although he'd seemed a bit better once Seifer had spoken. 'Was he just worried about Seifer, then? Or is there something else...?'
Once they had submerged the prison, the five team members met back up outside. Seifer looked worried and he quickly asked, "Where's Squall?"
"He hasn't come out of the Ragnarok yet," Irvine offered, waving towards the ship nearby. "He didn't look too good when we got back up, either. I figured it was best to just let him catch his breath back."
"Thanks, Irvine," Seifer said with enough sincerity to catch the cowboy off guard. "I'll go check up on him." He dashed off towards the ship.
"Did Squall choke?" Neala asked, disbelieving. The teen was too collected, too hard to have choked on such a simple mission.
Irvine shook his head. "We came across a Malboro at the bottom and I got Confused. I think I might have tried shooting him – not sure – but he looked unharmed when he hit me with an Esuna. The Malboro was pretty dead, too, but he didn't look all that great. I guess the Malboro must have got him with something after all. We managed fine on the way back up, though." He paused and considered her assessing expression. "This isn't just about testing Zell and Selphie, is it? This is to test Seifer and Squall and me, too."
Neala shrugged. "Yes. The Heads aren't all that comfortable with having a couple of ex-cadets run a Garden, no matter how good they are. Since Xu was already agreeing to run an early test for Selphie and Zell, she decided to test you three as well." She narrowed her eyes. "You're not lying to me to protect Leonhart, are you?"
Irvine glared at her. "Squall isn't the sort to just up and fuck up. He works through whatever's bothering him on his own; always has. He looked like absolute shit after we faced that Malboro, but he still climbed up with me and helped get the prisoners back into their cells. He didn't choke, and I wouldn't lie about that, either."
Neala let out a faintly amused sound. "I believe you, Kinneas, calm down. I just needed to be sure. I know you two are close, and I can't go back to Xu without knowing for certain that you're not covering for him."
Irvine sniffed. "Whatever."
"Do you...think it's okay to go after them?" Selphie asked in the silence. "I'm worried about Squall."
"Alright. The clean-up crews shouldn't need us for anything," Neala agreed, turning to lead the way back to the Ragnarok.
As soon as Seifer got on the Ragnarok, not even caring whether the others followed him or not, he turned towards the conference room, where his magic was telling him Squall was. He'd felt the moment, in the prison, when Squall's magic had gone a little haywire, but he hadn't been able to do anything, having been dealing with a particularly difficult prisoner at the time. By the time he'd had a moment to catch his breath, they had made it back up to the top of the tower.
Squall had sounded a little strained over the intercom, but his magic had calmed down considerably against Seifer's skin, and there was still not a lot he could do to help the younger teen, not in the middle of a mission.
'I can do something now,' Seifer reminded himself as the door to the conference room slipped open. "Squall?"
"Up here," Squall said from the front of the room.
Seifer walked towards the voice and was surprised to find Squall sitting in a niche above the large windows, looking tired but mostly like himself. "How the hell did you get up there?"
Squall's lips twitched with a faint smile. "Magic. Hold on, I'll be down in a sec–"
"Jump," Seifer ordered.
Squall gave him an odd look. "Are you insane?"
"No. Jump." He held his arms up, proving his intent to catch the slighter teen.
Squall sighed, but obediently pushed himself away from the ledge, eyes closed. He felt Seifer catch him and couldn't help but melt against the taller gunblader, his magic finally calming down the rest of the way at the familiar feeling of Seifer's arms around him. He pressed his face against Seifer's chest, murmuring, "Thanks."
Seifer smiled and rested his cheek against the top of Squall's head. "What happened?"
Squall was silent for a moment before offering, "We ran into a Malboro and it Confused Irvine, so he tried to shoot me. My magic jumped in to save me, but it...didn't want to stop saving me. That... that place hurt me, and it wanted to destroy it. It didn't much care to listen to reason, so Ifrit and I sort of had to shove in in a corner and sit on it. I... it calmed down a lot once I was on the Ragnarok."
"So I don't need to take you down to the showers and fuck you against the wall?" Seifer teased.
Squall responded by poking him in the side with an icy finger.
Seifer winced at the cold, but placed a kiss against Squall's hair and said, "I guess that's a no to the shower sex?"
"Pervert."
"I'm a guy," Seifer reminded him. "With fully functioning guy parts."
"I can solve that problem for you," Squall offered, looking up with amused blue eyes.
Seifer rolled his eyes and stole a kiss. "So you keep saying," he whispered against Squall's lips before kissing him again.
Squall grunted and reached up to grasp at Seifer's hair, tugging just hard enough to get Seifer to open his mouth so he could slip his tongue inside. He loved how hot Seifer's mouth always was, warmed by his magic, and how the taller teen would moan when Squall twined their tongues together, letting his colder magic seep out and soothe the heat. He loved how one of Seifer's hands would always stroke his back in time with their tongues' movements, making his whole body tingle with the hot magic.
The sound of the door of the conference room broke through to them and they both turned to glare at the quartet who stood there. Zell's whole face was flushed while Neala looked almost amused and Selphie was grinning quite widely.
Irvine just shook his head and asked, "Are you ready for us to head back to Balamb, or do you need another couple minutes?"
"We could fly Ragnarok ourselves and you two can keep going!" Selphie chirped, making Zell moan and turn away.
Seifer snorted and eased his arms away from Squall. "Feel free to try; Squall locked the controls to his DNA last week."
"Technically, they're locked to your DNA as well," Squall commented drily, taking a moment to straighten his shirt.
"I thought you said I'm not allowed to fly the Ragnarok."
"You're not." Squall retorted, shooting the blond a glare. "But if something happens to me, someone needs to be able to pilot her home."
Seifer scowled at the idea of something happening to Squall, but with the lifestyles they lived, nothing was certain. "Fair enough," he allowed before motioning towards the door, where the others were still standing, watching the two with varying expressions. "Come on. Before Selphie insists on a show."
Squall snorted and stepped confidently towards the gaggle of onlookers, all of whom obediently moved out of his way.
"Could we have a show?" Selphie wondered as Seifer joined them in the doorway.
"Please, no," Zell requested.
Seifer waggled his eyebrows at the shorter blond. "Jealous, Chicken-wuss?"
Zell immediately started shadow-boxing in his direction in response, looking quite ticked off.
Selphie tugged on Seifer's sleeve. "Stop calling him names or I'm telling Squall," she ordered.
Seifer sighed. "No shows," he told her. "Unless they're gunblade spars." He grinned a bit. "We do those often enough."
"With which gunblades?" Selphie wondered, eyebrows waggling suggestively. Zell stopped shadow-boxing to cover his face with his hands.
Seifer laughed and drew Selphie into a half-hug. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. Come on, might as well go up top."
They all took the lift up to the cockpit – Zell insisted he was only going because he hadn't seen it yet when Irvine teased him about following Seifer's orders – just in time for the engines to start. Seifer tossed himself in the co-pilot chair and turned it to grin at them while Selphie plopped into her own chair, Irvine leaned against a wall, Neala considered the two Headmasters with sharp eyes and Zell looked around in awe.
Squall quickly raised them above the prison and set the auto-pilot coordinates before turning his chair to shoot Neala a blank look. "Since I very much doubt Seifer and I will be allowed into Xu's office when you give your report on all of us, would you prefer our assessments now?"
Neala's lips curled with a smile. "Now, why wouldn't you be allowed in with me?"
Seifer snorted. "Yeah, because Martine, Angelica and Xu would really let a couple of dropout cadets run a Garden. I've taken enough of these exams to know what sort of level they're at; the only reason you'd need higher levelled SeeD is because the prison was raised, and with the Ragnarok, that wasn't an issue."
Neala shrugged and settled herself into the other chair. "I told Xu you wouldn't fall for it." Her eyes flickered towards Irvine. "Any of you. Cadets, out; Selphie, I'll talk to you before we land."
Irvine, Zell and Selphie all saluted, then took the lift down without complaint.
Neala leaned back. "Squall, how was Irvine?"
Squall considered that for a moment before quietly reporting, "He's excellent at working with a team, for all that his sniper training tends to lend him more of a loner attitude. We agreed early on that he would take a shot from a distance, using some Dark Ammo he'd picked up, and I would attack close while the enemy was still reeling with status afflictions. He only missed one shot, and he managed to get another shot off before I reached the opponent."
"And during the Malboro?" Neala wondered neutrally, watching his face.
"Neither of us were expecting it. Irvine doesn't junction, so he was vulnerable to its Bad Breath and it Confused him. It happens to the best of us." He shrugged. "The trip back up involved a lot of kicking moaning prisoners back into their cells; simple enough."
"Irvine thought he might have shot you," Neala pressed. "Did he miss?"
Squall's gaze turned icy. "His aim was true, but I junction Auto-Protect." He pressed his lips together, signalling the end of that line of questioning.
Neala silently agreed by turning to Seifer. "How did Selphie do?"
"She's not particularly strong, less so while using her nunchakus, but her magical strength is phenomenal. I traded her some high-level magic and had her stay back, attacking from a distance. Despite never having used anything better than a Fira before, she managed very well. She followed my orders without pause, ducking out of the way when a Thrustaevis managed to get past me and tried hitting her." Seifer's expression, which had been blank up 'til that point, lightened with a faint smile. "She also managed to sweet-talk a prisoner that was giving us trouble back into his cell."
"What sort of magic did you give her?" Neala wondered.
"A handful of Ultimas, about two dozen Meltdowns and fifty Firagas." He shrugged at her amused look. "I don't use magic much, and we–" he motioned between himself and Squall, "–pick more up often enough that it's no problem to trade them off."
"You said she handled them fine? Even the Ultima?"
"She cast... three Ultimas," Seifer reported, looking thoughtful. "The first one was a little off, but the other two were fine. Much better than my first attempt with them." He glanced at Squall, whose eyes lit with amusement at the memory of Seifer hitting himself with the spell. "Don't even."
Squall snorted. "Rookie."
"Asshole."
Neala shook her head and stood. "How long until we reach Balamb Garden?"
Squall turned his chair back around and considered their coordinates. "You've got about fifteen minutes. Feel free to send Zell and Irvine up here while you're talking to Selphie."
"Very well. Gentlemen." Neala shot them a salute, which they returned, before taking the lift down.
"Not that they have much choice but to let us be Headmasters," Seifer commented drily.
"They can make life difficult for us if we don't meet their expectations," Squall pointed out, glancing at the other teen. "And neither of us want to deal with both the Council and Garden taking shots at us."
Seifer sighed. "I know."
The lift sounded and Zell and Irvine stepped out. Irvine dropped into the comm chair and pulled out a magazine from under it. "Sis?" he asked with a grin, waving the fashion magazine around.
"How ever did you guess?" Seifer replied drily before glancing over at the awkward Zell. "You got a problem Chick– Zell!" he corrected when Squall whipped out a knife and held it to Seifer's throat. "It's hard to stop, okay? I'm trying."
Squall gave him that really creepy smile that always made Seifer want to curl up in a ball and die of fright. "I'm just giving you extra motivation."
"You wouldn't really kill him, though," Zell commented, still looking a little awkward. "Not if you two are, like, dating. Right?"
"He wouldn't kill me," Seifer agreed as Squall finally slipped the knife away, "but he'd stab me a couple of times and let me bleed a bit before he healed me."
"Is our relationship a problem, Zell?" Squall asked neutrally as he turned to look at the younger fighter.
"Erm... No?" Zell scratched the back of his head. "Maybe?"
"Because it's 'wrong'?" Seifer asked, a snarl curling his lip at one end.
Zell shook his head. "No. Because, uhm..." His eyes darted back and forth between the two gunbladers. "You two have always...hated each other. I thought."
"Hate each other?" Irvine asked, disbelieving. "Drive each other up the wall, sure. Challenge each other, yeah. But hate?"
"We neither liked nor hated each other," Squall reported. "Circumstances became such that we started a relationship." He turned back to the console. "Whether you accept it or not is up to you, Zell. I only request that it stays within Garden."
At Zell and Irvine's frowns, Seifer offered, "The Council of Ministers is not accepting of gay relationships. At all. If they find out about it, they very well might hire someone to kill us while we're sleeping, or at least kick us out of the country."
"What?!" Irvine jumped to his feet. "Those no-good– Hyne-damned– fucking–"
"I think he hates them more than you do," Squall interrupted, glancing at Seifer.
"We appreciate the support, Kinneas," Seifer said drily, "but, really, leave the arguing and death threats to Squall. He's not likely to actually go through with them, and he makes them sound so lovely."
"Get a room," Zell snarked.
"He means I have more diplomacy skills in my little finger than he does in his whole body," Squall commented.
Zell shook his head. "Squall, man, no insult meant but, uh, I was in your diplomacy class, okay? You suck at diplomacy."
"There's a difference between being forced to be polite to people in a classroom setting and being forced to be polite to people who are holding a gun to your head," Seifer commented.
"I suppose..." Zell agreed uncertainly as the lift sounded.
"What if they started mysteriously vanishing in the night?" Irvine asked.
"We're not killing the Council," Squall said, giving the cowboy a sharp look. "There would be little question as to who had done it and our relations with the city are shaky enough as it is. If you can find a legit, blood-free way of getting them out of our hair, please, I'm all ears, but for right now, they are our masters and we have little choice but to put up with them. Do I make myself clear?"
Irvine looked away. "Yeah."
Zell cleared his throat. "What if, uhm..." He withered a bit under Squall's cold glare, but put on a brave face and asked, "What if they found out about you two and sent an assassin?"
"First off," Seifer offered drily, "if an assassin manages to make it through Garden and to our apartment, I think that would be the least of our problems. If such an eventuality were to occur, the assassin wouldn't make it close enough to kill us, so it would hardly matter."
"I mean, if they tried that, wouldn't you have just cause to retaliate?"
"For a dead assassin?" Seifer wondered.
"We're not fighting the Council," Squall snapped. "We're not threatening them, we're not retaliating against them, we're not even discussing this anymore. All contact with the Esthar Council of Ministers will go through me first. Is that clear?" Icy grey eyes looked between Zell, Irvine, Seifer and Selphie until each of them had nodded.
Neala raised an eyebrow at him. "How far away are we?"
Squall turned back to his controls, flexing his fingers against the ice that had formed inside his gloves. "Another couple minutes."
The next couple of minutes passed in absolute silence while the three cadets traded looks, Selphie wanting to know what had happened, but none of them willing to talk about it where Squall might hear. Seifer had set about polishing Hyperion while Neala watched the three cadets with a faintly amused look and Squall glared at his console.
As soon as they had landed and were heading towards the building, Selphie turned wide eyes on Neala and asked, "You won't need any of us, right?"
Neala shrugged. "Xu will probably want Squall and Seifer there for part of the meeting, but you three are certainly welcome to disappear until we call you over the intercom."
"Excellent!" Selphie slipped her arms into both Irvine and Zell's arms and insisted, "Zell is going to show us around Balamb!"
"I am?" Zell wondered a bit dumbly.
"Have fun," Seifer called as Selphie dragged the two boys with her away from the lift.
In Xu's office, the three gave their brief report on the mission, then Seifer and Squall were asked to wait outside while Neala gave her assessment. As soon as that was done, the two gunbladers were called back in and they all took seats.
"From what Neala tells me, everyone performed admirably," Xu started, leaning back in her chair. "I will admit that I'm a little leery of sending Zell out to help take charge of a Garden, as young as he is, but if you're sure you want him..."
"We need some youthful energy on the staff," Seifer commented drily. "As you may have noticed, neither Squall nor myself are much for fun; Selphie and Zell should be able to help with that a lot. Esthar isn't a military nation, by any means, so having a couple of fun people on staff is probably the best thing we can do for them."
"I agree that Zell is young and perhaps a bit immature," Squall offered quietly, "but he was going to take the SeeD exam this year anyway, and if he's passed it now, he would have passed it then." He shrugged. "We all have to start somewhere, even if it means running a Garden in a hostile country."
Xu grimaced, eyes slanting to her own paper-covered desk. "I suppose you have a point." She rubbed tiredly at her eyes. "Will you require Balamb to handle your SeeD salaries? SeeD don't usually go to work at one of the other Gardens, but when it does happen, we usually handle it case-by-case."
Seifer and Squall traded looks, then both shook their head. "The Council has given us more than enough money to manage Garden with," Seifer explained. "We should be fine covering the salaries without dipping into your own funds. If there does come a point when we don't have the funds to pay our staff, we'll consider renegotiating."
"Laguna would chip into his own fortune before he let us negotiate salaries with Balamb Garden," Squall added drily. "I doubt it will be an issue."
"For all that the Council hates you, this Laguna fellow certainly seems fond of you," Neala commented. "He sounds quite important, actually."
"Laguna Loire," Seifer offered. "He's the President Elect of Esthar and Squall's father."
There was a moment of surprised silence at that, then Xu shook her head and said. "I'll call the other three up here. Hold on..."
Once the other three had tumbled in, each holding a hot dog in one hand and managing sloppy salutes through their grins – the four who had been in the room weren't certain they wanted to know – Xu stood and said, "After careful consideration, Balamb Garden has agreed to bestow the rank of SeeD on the following cadets–" her eyes flickered towards Seifer and Squall's relaxed forms, "– and ex-cadets: Seifer Almasy, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas, Squall Leonhart and Selphie Tilmitt. Congratulations, SeeDs."
Squall and Seifer stood from their seats to join the other three in performing the salute.
Xu held out a pile of papers she'd been working on a bit while she'd been speaking with Seifer and Squall. "Hand these out, would you, Neala?"
Neala handed their paperwork out and all of them bent their heads down to consider their scores. Squall raised his eyebrows at his own SeeD level of twenty-five, then traded papers with Seifer to find he'd received the same. They both turned to Xu with identical dubious expressions.
Xu laughed and shook her head. "You got Esthar to open their borders, even if it's just to Garden, and managed to create a Garden in their country, which we've been trying to do since Garden was founded. Maybe those weren't official missions, and maybe you didn't go in intending those results, but I believe that you've earned those ranks."
"If you say so..." Seifer agreed, folding his sheet up and moving to slip it into a pocket.
Selphie grabbed for the paper before he could fully slip it away, asking, "Well? I'm rank eight! Zell is rank seven and Irvine's rank nine! Now you know ours, so you have to tell us yours!"
Squall let out a snort. "Twenty-five."
"Whaat?! That's awesome!" Selphie declared, doing a little dance with Seifer's arm. "We should have a party!"
"Hey, Laguna would love that idea!" Irvine called, grinning.
"We'll see," Squall said, expression blank.
Zell cleared his throat, hand raised ever so slightly. When everyone turned to him – Selphie stopping her dance, but still holding Seifer's arm – he asked, "So, if we're going to be working in Esthar, does that mean we'll be called to go on SeeD missions like a normal SeeD?"
Xu shrugged. "Instructors at Balamb Garden with SeeD credentials don't get called to go on missions unless we need someone with their skills, specifically. If we have a need for one of you, I'll put the request through to Squall and he'll let me know if it's possible at that time." She looked at Squall. "Is that acceptable?"
Squall nodded. "That should work fine. Although, I may be handing you over to Seifer for contact. It depends on how much time the Council demands of me once we're fully in session."
"That's fine. As long as I can reach one of you."
Seifer gently tugged his arm out of Selphie's hold and turned to their newest staff members. "Selphie's things are probably still packed, how about you, Zell?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I packed most of my stuff yesterday, since I didn't have to go to class. You want to leave now?"
"If possible," Seifer agreed. "My desk resembles Xu's, and I'd like to return to it before the paperwork breeds any further."
Irvine snorted. "Seifer, your desk only looks so bad because you have no organization. Squall probably has more work to do."
Squall shrugged. "Probably."
"Whatever!" Seifer rolled his eyes. "Selphie, Zell, get your things. Are you going to need help carrying stuff?"
"Nah." Zell waved a hand at that. "Most of my stuff's still at my mom's house in Balamb."
"I will!" Selphie called, running back over to Irvine and slipping her arm in his. "Irvine will help me!"
Irvine dropped his hat on her head. "So I will, darlin'."
Selphie giggled.
"We'll meet you at the Ragnarok," Squall decided. "Do not try to open the hanger door by yourself."
Irvine shuddered. "Not a chance."
Once the three had hurried out, Seifer and Squall turned back to Xu, who looked a bit like she'd wanted to say something. She offered them a faint smile and said, "If you have trouble with your Council, know that we're willing to back you up. Neala tells me you have no intention of starting a fight with them, but we can always send you one of our best diplomats, if it comes to that."
Squall frowned and started to open his mouth, but Seifer settled his hand on the slighter teen's shoulder and said, "Thank you, Xu. We'll keep that in mind."
Xu nodded. "Balamb Garden will always welcome you with open arms, even if you did send Cid into a nervous breakdown."
"That was not my fault," Squall insisted. "He's just insane."
Seifer snorted. "Come on, Squall, let's go before you actually insult someone."
"Says the man who's always calling our new staff members names," Squall retorted, letting himself be led from Xu's office. "And weren't you the one who almost set Minister Amick on fire?"
"He deserved it."
The door fell shut behind them and Xu and Neala traded looks. "Think they'll be okay?" Neala wondered.
Xu shook her head. "I don't know how they've survived as long as they have."
Laguna managed to talk Squall into landing in Esthar and coming by the palace to have the required party. There was a minor debate about whether or not it would be proper to take their weapons into the city – Selphie, Zell and Irvine insisted it would be fine, since they were already in the city and there wasn't anywhere to leave them, but Seifer and Squall were quite adamant that all weapons be left on the Ragnarok, including hidden knives (and they knew how to spot those, so no one, not even themselves, got away with it) – but they eventually made it out of the Airstation and started towards the palace, Selphie and Zell in awe about everything.
"I thought you said the Estharians didn't like you two," Irvine commented as they were stopped by yet another person wanting to greet the two gunbladers.
"The Council doesn't like us," Seifer corrected. "The people themselves, however, generally like us. We spent a week wandering the city and just talking to people, and once they found out that Squall was their president's son, well..." He grinned.
Irvine nodded. "I see. So it's really just the Council we have to be cautious about."
"Be cautious about everyone," Squall suggested. "Just because they're willing to accept Seifer and me into their society doesn't, necessarily, mean that they'll accept everyone. Or even that we'll always remain on their good sides."
"Does he always put a damper on things?" Irvine wondered.
"Yup."
Squall rolled his eyes and offered a wave to the guards surrounding the palace. They had to drag Selphie and Zell down onto the seat into the palace and Seifer got a good laugh out of seeing the two of them freak out a bit when the seat levitated.
On their way to Laguna's wing of the palace, they ran into Minister Antonios, who frowned a bit and called, "I see you've multiplied. Should we worry about an invasion next?"
"Laguna requested our presence," Squall replied evenly while the others scowled. "And you never said we weren't allowed in the city or, for that matter, in the palace. If you feel the need to amend that oversight, we're willing to discuss it, but I believe those Estharians who have decided to join Garden will be most displeased when they can no longer get back to their families."
Antonios narrowed his eyes. "None of your students will need to get into the palace; perhaps we'll just bar your kind from here, then. We don't need murderers in our halls."
Squall raised an eyebrow as Seifer grabbed Zell's shoulder to keep him from giving the Minister a piece of his mind. "I very much doubt that Laguna would approve something like that, but you're welcome to try. Moreover, Madam Stavola's daughter applied to Garden, so at least one of 'our kind' will want to return to the palace to visit her family."
Antonios sneered at them and stalked away, no proper comebacks coming to mind.
Squall glanced back at the group behind them, taking note of the angry looks all of them sported. "Yes," he decided as he started again for Laguna's wing, "I believe I'm the best choice to deal with the Council."
"How can you take their insults so calmly?!" Zell demanded, jumping forward to give Squall a narrow-eyed look.
Squall glanced down at him. "I don't," he replied, startling the shorter teen. "I simply choose to not lose my temper over words."
"That, and he imagines murdering them in his free time," Seifer added with a smirk.
"No, Seifer, that's what you do," Squall returned, stopping in front of Laguna's office. "Right. You're all SeeD, now behave like it." He pushed the doors open.
The sounds of poppers went off and they were quickly covered in glitter and streamers. "Congratulations on making SeeD!" Laguna and Ellone shouted, grinning. Beyond Laguna, Kiros was shaking his head helplessly. Raijin, Fujin and Ward had helped with the poppers.
Squall sighed and covered his face with his hands.
"Hi, everyone!" Ellone called, hurrying up and grinning as she gave Squall a quick hug. "Stop looking so frowny, Squall."
"...don't I know you?" Zell wondered, looking at Ellone oddly.
"Yeah! You're Sis!" Selphie exclaimed, hurrying forward to greet her long-lost sister. "I remember you!"
Seifer settled a gentle hand on Squall's shoulder as Zell and Selphie were introduced around by an enthusiastic Ellone. "You knew they were going to do this," he pointed out.
"I know." Squall shook his head and gave the blond a faint smile. "There goes that evening working on our paperwork. We're probably going to end up crashing at the palace tonight, knowing Selphie and Laguna."
"Oh, good. I like sleeping in that room." Seifer gave Squall a lecherous smile.
"I will freeze your balls off," Squall whispered, turning to face Seifer properly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Seifer took a quick glance around the room to ensure that no Council members or guards were there, then bestowed Squall with a gentle kiss. "Now, lighten up. This party is for you, too."
Squall huffed a bit, but let himself be led over to where everyone was congregated. "I don't do parties," he muttered.
Seifer rolled his eyes and tugged a bit harder until they were in the throng and Squall was distracted by an overly-excited Laguna and Ellone. Squall might not do parties, but everyone else certainly did, and they weren't about to let Squall be left out, no matter his feelings on the matter.
-0-0-0-
A/N: Not sure how I feel about the ending, but this chapter is long enough as it is, and Shara's been hovering around, waiting for me to finish this for a couple hours now. Eh.
I'm not 100% about how D-District works, but it didn't make a shit-load of sense in the game, anyway, so... I made it up.
I wrote another FFVIII fic, titled Sins of Our Young, which I'll start posting on Thursdays. It's ten chapters, same as Zyxt and will last partway into the new year. Anyway, first chapter goes up in a couple days. Hope you lot like it.
Erm, right. I should probably give you a summary: How the game could have gone if the writers weren't on crack and so set on everyone being straight. It's basically a game re-write. Think Snafu by the lovely Shivani/
grazhir. I blame her for the damn thing, anyway. (She's suitably amused by this, of course... *eye roll*)~Bats ^.^x
1 - Won't Make It Alone ||| 2 - Give Up Everything
3 - Fly Over Me ||| 4 - Stars Collide
5 - Stars Shedding Tears ||| 6 - Never Felt So Far From Home
7 - Voice From the Past |||
9 - Diebus Fatalibus ~ Fated Day ||| 10 - Never Let You Go
..
