Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are McCallister, Corbin Franks, and the Fractured Circle. I also own Duke and Jake. Ezra Fenfeld is an OC of Le Fantome De Opera, who let me borrow his character for cameos in this story.

This is the darkest-themed chapter to date in this series, particularly near the end…you'll know what I mean when you reach that part. It could be disturbing to some readers…so…you've been warned.

Constructive criticism welcome and appreciated!

..:-X-:..

Chapter Six: Trespass

"Ooh! Lemme see! Lemme see!" Selphie was practically bouncing up and down.

Kairi giggled and held out her hand, where the small, simple engagement ring rested on her finger. Selphie squealed and snatched her hand, turning it to all possible angles to get the full effect.

"It's beautiful! Oh, how romantic! I always knew you'd get married first!"

"You did?"

"Of course. I try too hard. In the movies, the girl who tries too hard always gets married after the girl who never saw love coming!" Selphie giggled. "So…how'd he do it?"

"Well, first he—"

"I want every single detail!"

"Okay, we were—"

"Don't leave anything out!"

"All right! There was—"

"Just hurry up and tell me!"

"I'm trying!" Kairi laughed at Selphie's excitement.

"How'd your parents take the news?"

"They love Tanner." Kairi was able to answer that one without being interrupted. "They're…still apprehensive about my being in a serious relationship after everything. They think I'm moving on too quickly, but I don't think I'm moving fast enough." She chuckled.

Selphie tilted her head. "If you say so…" She perked back up. "So…have you considered what to do for the wedding?"

Kairi gave her a vague look. "Well, I need to find a coordinator first…Someone who really knows me well enough to know how to organize my wedding for me."

Selphie's eyes grew to size of dinner plates. "A-are you—Are you asking—"

Kairi watched her stammer with as straight a face as she could manage.

"Girl, do NOT joke around about this! Are you serious!" Selphie squealed. "You want me to coordinate your wedding?"

"Only if you want to…I won't force you…" Kairi said airily.

Selphie's shriek of glee made Tidus and Wakka, who were sparring on the beach nearby, rub their ears and look over in alarm.

"I'll take that as a yes." Kairi giggled.

"Yes, yes a thousand times yes!" Selphie bounced up and down. "Beach wedding! Oh! I can see it now! The northern beach is gorgeous and perfect! When are you thinking of having the wedding?"

"Uh…" Kairi had prepared herself for Selphie's barrage of questions, but she hadn't really considered that one. "Is…six months doable?"

"Doable? Make it four months! I'm too excited!"

Kairi smiled, "That's not a lot of time to prepare—"

"If you want me to, I can MAKE it happen!" Selphie declared.

Kairi laughed, "All right, all right, you twisted my arm. Four months."

"Woohoo!" Selphie hooked her arm through Kairi's and started skipping back toward town, chanting, "Kairi's getting married. Kairi's getting married! And I'm gonna plan it!"

"Okay, first I have to make a call." Kairi walked along with her friend's skipping, taking out her phone and dialing the last number she had ever wanted to call again.

..:-X-:..

The building looked like it had been abandoned for a few years now. Most of the windows were broken and the door was boarded up. It was a modest, stone, two story building. The structure was sound and the public records claimed no ownership to it. For just 5000 munny, it was hers.

Tifa Lockhart stood on the street outside the building, arms folded, tapping her elbow with one finger. The building was in a part of Thebes in Olympus that was far enough that no one talked about the Alliance, but still busy enough that everyone knew about the war. All the gossip without the politicians.

The structures on either side of the building were a personalized clay pottery shop and an antique weapon store. Thebes was its own little world, isolated and apathetic about the Alliance and its woes. It would serve that purpose nicely.

With a sigh, she approached the door and forced it open, slipping inside. It smelled like dust and abandonment. Hardly any light was filtering in through the boarded up windows, but as her eyes adjusted, she could see the old tables and chairs littered about the main room. A long counter bar stretched down the right wall. She walked further into the room, finding a few offices in the back as well as a staircase that led to the second story.

Upon further investigation, the second story was dirty but not cluttered. Salvageable. She could do something with this…Was she really considering this? She bit her lip and sank onto one of the concrete blocks left in the second floor main room. She was so tired. Tired of this war, of the arguing and the corruption and the constant suspicion and paranoia.

But could she really just walk out?

Tifa dropped her face into her hands. For the past two years, she had been part of a team. A team built in resistance to Sora's usurpation of power over the Council and the military and the loyalty of almost the entire Alliance. Only Tifa, Leon, and King Mickey seemed to see how unstable and out of his mind with revenge Sora had become. Even the soldier, Private Tabaeus McCallister, who had been trained under Leon personally, couldn't be completely trusted at this point.

She wanted out. Oh, she wanted out so badly. This corruption and the confrontation with the Fractured Circle was going to end bloody and broken, and there was no avoiding that. She had already almost been torn apart by one war. She wasn't prepared, wasn't strong enough, to handle it again.

On the other hand, that was so selfish she wanted to slap herself. Leon and the king had been through the exact same thing: losing people and being betrayed, and they were still fighting. She couldn't bring herself to leave them to fight alone. Not when she could still help.

Last time, she had lost Cloud, her childhood friend and someone she had harbored feelings for without ever saying anything. It had never been the right time. Now he was dead and her feelings about him didn't matter because nothing could ever happen. Now another war was coming, another conflict that could very easily result in hundreds of casualties, and she…she couldn't lose someone like that again…

She refused to.

Drawing a long, steadying breath, she stood and pulled herself together, making up her mind. She would not abandon Leon and the resistance against Sora, but she was not going to continue fighting a war that was only going to end painful and bloody. She would rather work behind the scenes, helping people and attempting to sow the seeds of peace in the background.

The background…where she always ended up anyway.

She pulled out her phone and dialed the seller's number. It had been years since she had run a bar, but if there was one thing the people of the Alliance needed, it was a break and some alcohol to escape this mess, at least for a little while. God knew she needed to escape once in a while.

The seller picked up on the other end and Tifa shifted, holding the phone to her ear.

"I'll take it."

..:-X-:..

Tabaeus hung up the phone and exhaled heavily, dropping her forehead to the desk with a dull thunk that seemed to echo in Ansem the Wise's old study. Oh, if there was only one phone call that could make her day worse…she'd just gotten it.

"Why the long face, Tabby-cat?" A snarky voice asked.

Oh, she lied. THIS made her day worse.

"Just go away." She groaned, not lifting her face from the desk.

"Aw, don't be like that, Tabernacle. We've only come to hug." Another voice added.

Tabaeus sat up painfully, glaring at the two intruders. Ezra Fenfeld and Jake Alms stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway. Self-proclaimed thief and ladies' man respectively, they wore matching mischievous grins…although for different reasons.

"What do you want? I'm not in the mood." She said, shuffling the papers on her desk.

"Why are you never in the mood for me, sweetheart?" Jake cooed.

"Because you make a pass at everything with breasts."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the desk." Ezra grinned like a cat, hands in his pockets. "How come I don't see you around town anymore?"

"I have this thing called a job." Tabaeus explained, as though to a slow person. "And lately I've been royally sucking at it, so please…just let me get back to work."

Ezra frowned. "I've got a job. You offend me."

Tabaeus glared. "Working black market weapons does not count as a job."

Jake plucked one of her origami cranes from the top of her computer. "Aw, this is cute." He lifted the wing. "465…nice."

"Guys, I'm having a really bad day and just don't have time for your bullshit right now." Tabaeus snapped.

Ezra lifted his hands. "Fine, fine, we can take a hint, Tabloid. Just tell us what's got your panties in a wad and we'll go."

"That is, if you wear panties." Jake lifted one seductive eyebrow.

Tabaeus stood, disgusted. "Get out of this office, now!"

The doors opened and the General walked in, looking pissed five feet beyond his tolerance.

"Out." He pointed.

Ezra and Jake looked at him.

"I'm not asking again." He stared at Tabaeus, pointing to the door.

The two urchins exchanged looks, shrugged, and left, closing the door after themselves.

"I told them to leave, sir, but—" Tabaeus started.

He shut her up with one raised hand. "I'll get to you in a second." He snarled.

She paused, seeing the red rimming his eyes and smelling his breath from there. "You're drunk."

"So what?" He lifted both hands. "Beats being sober and stuck with you, a dumbass who can't even arrest the right man!"

She flinched, his words cutting deep, but kept her chin level. "There was no way for me to know that 'Corbin Franks' was not Corbin Franks, sir."

"Shut up." He stepped sideways, staggering slightly. "You're just trying to sabotage me."

She carefully kept the desk between them. "You're paranoid."

"Am I?" He looked at her crazily. "Leon stuck you with me those years ago. How do I know you aren't telling him everything I tell you? His own little mole in my Alliance."

Tabaeus took a careful breath. "My loyalties are to the Alliance, not to any individual officer."

He leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk, half-focused eyes on her angrily. "I AM the Alliance. Leon is just…there." He made a vague gesture. "Him and Tifa…They're in cahoots against me anyway, I can feel it."

Tabaeus swallowed and took a step back. The General followed her movements.

"Just like I can feel that you're hiding something from me." He said lowly.

"No. I'm not hiding anything."

"Lying to your superior officer is an offense, McCallister." He hissed, moving around the desk and stepping toward her.

Tabaeus's shoulders touched the wall. "Sir…"

Drunk or not, being this close to him was killing her. Looking at her with whiskey-induced fury or not, she couldn't help but tremble as he breached her comfort zone.

"You're his little spy, aren't you?" He asked dangerously.

Tabaeus turned her face away from him, disgusted by his breath. "Kairi is getting married, sir." She confessed softly, closing her eyes.

A pause.

"What?" Almost confused.

"That's all I'm hiding from you, sir. I swear. She called me just earlier this afternoon. She's engaged and going to be married in less than six months. She…she invited me." Tabaeus blurted. "I'm sorry, sir, but I didn't think it was relevant to the current situation."

The General said nothing.

After a few seconds of intense silence, Tabaeus couldn't take it anymore and opened her eyes, looking at him. He looked confused, shocked, and above and beyond pissed.

"You didn't think it was relevant?" He repeated, voice low.

A tremble shook her frame. "Yes, sir. We've been so wrapped up in the Corbin Franks investigation that I didn't find it important. It only just happened, sir."

"You idiot—" He pushed away from her, turning away as though revolted.

"The Corbin Franks we have in lock up isn't the mastermind of the Fractured Circle—"

"Thanks to you."

"But the true blue big bad is still out there."

"No shit."

"And it wasn't my fault that we got the wrong man!" She snapped.

The General straightened, turning around and glaring at her. "Oh, it's not?"

"I followed protocol to the dot on those tests. Major General Leonhart and Brigadier General Lockhart came to the same conclusion as I did, as did King Mickey." She pointed out, adrenaline burning her face as she talked back to her commanding officer. "And you can't blame me for Kairi moving on either, sir. You're the one who pushed her away. You're the one who treated her so badly that she felt the need to escape."

He was watching her, dangerously quiet.

She continued, unable to stop now that she was going. "She's trying to be happy and you're just trying to get revenge. I want to help you. I'm loyal to you, but you won't let me be good enough for you!"

Heat burned the back of her eyes but she choked back the emotion. Now was not the time to—

The General's hand flew out, his palm cracking across the side of her face. Tabaeus's head jerked sideways with the slap, eyes wide in shock at the attack. She let her cheek sting, not lifting a hand to touch the reddening skin.

They both stayed quiet for a moment as her breathing seemed to echo through her chest. He had SLAPPED her! In horror and hurt, she turned her neck and looked at him. No remorse. No horror. Not even a sliver of guilt was in his eyes. So that was it then? She was that dispensable and worthless? After everything she'd done for him? Given up for him? Felt for him? No, she refused to be treated like trash.

She bet he had never raised a hand to Kairi in anger.

Her blood boiled and she clenched a fist, swinging around and punching the General of the Alliance across the mouth.

He grunted and turned his head with the blow, blood dribbling over his busted lip. He looked back at her, anger boiling into pure rage in his eyes. For a moment, it took Tabaeus back to watching the missiles criss-cross the sky of Radiant Garden, decimating the Fractured Circle army. Then she saw only him, this General, watching the enemy burn like he was enjoying it.

Snarling, he launched forward, arms wrapping around her waist and tackling her across the desk and to the floor. Tabaeus rolled hard, driving her knee into his ribs and sliding out from under him. He grabbed her arm and swung her against the bookshelf. Papers were dislodged and fluttered over them.

Tabaeus slung her leg around, connecting the heel of her boot with his chest, knocking him back. Clamoring to her feet, she looked to her chair and saw her gun belt hanging there, loaded and waiting.

No, she flexed her jaw. She couldn't shoot him. She couldn't. Not because he was a commanding officer or even because he was the General of the Alliance and could kill her in a heartbeat. No, she couldn't kill him because he was Sora.

Then he was on his feet as well, but not summoning a weapon either. They stalemated, glaring at each other with fists raised.

"Why are you doing this?" She pleaded. "I want to help you."

"I don't want your help." He reproached. "I never wanted your help."

His words were painful, and she tried to keep a stoic face.

"I don't care." She hissed through gritted teeth, "You're stuck with me and my help."

In sheer frustration, he kicked the chair so that it hit its side and made a racket as it flew across the room. He took three menacing steps toward her, but his fists were at his sides now. Tabaeus stared him in the eyes. If he tried to hit her like that again…In love with him or not, she'd slit his throat.

He stopped mere inches away from her, glaring down from the four inches in height that he had over her. She glared back, unyielding, prepared for a Fire Spell, a punch to the gut, a screaming match, but not prepared for what he did.

The General closed the inches and covered her mouth with his own, a violent, aggressive kiss. She could taste the whiskey as his tongue forced its way past her lips, exploring her mouth ravenously. Disgust rattled down her spine at the same time a warm sensation spread through her torso.

He pulled back, "God, I hate you so much right now." He kissed her again.

Her hands, in shock, went to his arms, though she was unsure if she was trying to push him away or pull him closer. She settled for just clutching his biceps in twin vises. Before she knew it, she was kissing him back, involuntarily leaning into him.

This was a mistake. This was a mistake. This was a mistake. This was a mist—

His hands grasped her hips, sliding up her back and pulling her close. She lost herself for a moment in how smoothly the warmth of his hands seeped through her shirt, making her skin tingle. His lips moved from her mouth to her neck. Her eyes opened and she stared at the ceiling.

No. No, this was a mistake. He wasn't seeing her as Tabaeus McCallister. He was doing this because he'd just learned that Kairi, the supposed love of his life, was getting married to another man. She was insulted. She was offended. She was mortified. Then his hands went back down, moving under her shirt now, pulling it up, and then Tabaeus didn't care why he was doing this, only that he was doing this.

She leaned back, maneuvering the rest of the way out of her shirt and then letting her lips find his jaw, his neck, his collar. Two years of wanting him crashed through her and she hated herself for that. Regardless, she seemed unable or unwilling to stop as she pulled his shirt off as well, tossing it to the floor and running her fingers through the grooves in his back.

He picked her up and she slid her legs around his waist, folding them in place and dropping her arms over his shoulders, twisting one hand through his hair and kissing him deeply. He carried her to the desk and leaned forward, depositing her on the surface. Longing built up inside her and she drew one knee up his ribs, her back flat across the desk top.

When he looked at her again, the anger was gone, and a lustful hunger was burning in his eyes instead. He dropped his mouth to her collar, working his lips down her chest, between her breasts, and across her stomach. She moaned softly and watched as he unbuttoned the top of her jeans, looking at her face again.

"I…hate you too." She said, but all of her bite was gone.

The ghost of a smirk touched his face and he unzipped her jeans. He began to work the material over her hips and tugged it down her legs. She curled her knees toward herself as he pulled them off, discarding them to the floor. She unfolded her legs, sitting up and pulling him toward her, kissing him on the mouth again, in only her underwear and bra now. Her hands drifted to the waist band of his pants.

"Your turn." She whispered.

He eyed her steadily as he discarded his own pants, stepping between her legs and dropping his hands around her thighs. She hooked her legs around his hips and pulled him forward as she reclined back onto the desk. Her hands ghosted around his shoulders as she pressed her lips to his neck, sucking on the skin lightly.

All remaining reserve flew out the window and she succumbed, losing herself to the almost painful yet wonderful friction between their bare skin as he climbed on top of her. The rest of their clothing hit the floor, and the last of Tabaeus's self respect died…but for the rest of the afternoon, she didn't care.

...:-X-:..

Leon finished clearing out the rest of the Heartless just outside the castle of The World That Never Was and frowned, spotting the strange burns on the concrete in the alley. He'd seen markings like that before, but they had no business being here now, or anywhere for that matter.

Lowering the gunblade, he walked over and knelt down, running two gloved fingers over the scorch marks on the ground, as well as seeing the similar markings on the walls. He narrowed his eyes and rubbed his ashed fingers together, sniffing at it before wiping his glove off on his pants, straightening.

Dark magic.

Only Organization XIII members and temporarily Riku had travelled by dark portal, using the ancient black magic to rip open the fabric between the dimensions and transport themselves to Betwixt and Between and to other worlds.

Damn it. The Council was convening in half an hour and now THIS was cropping up? Great, just when things couldn't afford to get any more complicated. Murphy's Law prevailed, apparently. Flexing his jaw, he looked around the square, seeing no Heartless, no Nobodies, nothing that could have conjured a dark portal.

His eyes caught something and he paused, squinting at the shredded sides of the brick buildings surrounding the square. Oily purple and black Heartless blood had dried slick and sticky on the concrete floor of the square. Only one weapon could lay that much waste in one stint…but how could a Keybearer, the carrier of the weapon of pure light, also employ dark magic?

Feeling a migraine coming, he frowned, taking out his phone and hitting Tifa's number on speed dial. They both knew Sora had been up to something lately, but if he was dark-portal-ing himself around to do it…That was where all what-ifs and maybes ended. He had to be stopped.

"What?" Tifa sounded distracted.

"Found dark portal scorch marks in an alley in The World That Never Was." He likewise spared the pleasantries.

She cursed on the other end. "What are we facing now? Shapeshifters can summon dark portals all of a sudden?"

"No," He sighed, running a hand over his face, "But I'm afraid Sora can."