Chapter Eight

AN: Here is the eighth installment of Crimes of Passion. The story is winding down, but there are a couple chapters left. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: FFXIII plot and characters belong to Square Enix. Everything else belongs to me.

Vanille rested against the counter, propping herself up by the arms so that she did not put any pressure on her still injured leg. She moved to the side as best she could, peeking into the bowl where Fang was stirring together all the ingredients listed on the back of the pancake mix.

"Oh, Fang, you should add some cinnamon!" Vanille suggested suddenly, grinning. "That'll taste really good."

"There's no cinnamon in the recipe," Fang replied with an amused smile as she kept stirring. "What if it tastes bad with the other ingredients?"

"Cinnamon doesn't taste bad with anything," Vanille argued teasingly. "Remember all the delicious cakes they used to sell during the flower festivals in Oerba? All the bakers would use extra cinnamon. Everything tasted so good!"

Fang laughed lightly. "I'll add some, but I bet there're a lot of things that don't taste good with cinnamon."

"Well, the pancakes will taste fine with it, especially if we use that tasty cream cheese stuff Serah gave us last time," Vanille exclaimed with a giggle.

"Cream cheese?" Fang furrowed her brows. "I don't think that'll taste good on pancakes."

"No, not actual cream cheese," Vanille protested. "It was icing, but I think it was made of cream cheese or…something like that. It was really good. Do you think Serah has any more?"

"I dunno." Fang chuckled. "The recipe says to use syrup, which I don't think will taste as good with cinnamon…"

"But Fang!" Vanille whined, pouting as she took a step closer and gave her big puppy eyes. "The icing was so good and I love cinnamon."

Fang shook her head, laughing. "Fine, I'll do it your way, but don't complain if it tastes weird."

"It's not gonna taste weird," Vanille assured her with a bright grin. "It'll taste great! I'll get the cinnamon out of the cabinet for you."

"You need your crutches," Fang reminded her, glancing over her shoulder with a frown to see that both crutches were still leaning against one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Otherwise you'll hurt yourself."

"I'll be okay, Fang," Vanille promised gently. "I can reach."

Fang watched carefully as Vanille braced one hand against the counter to balance herself and stood on the tiptoes of her uninjured foot. The younger woman leaned heavily against the counter, pushing upwards slightly and using her free hand to open the cabinet. She plucked the cinnamon effortlessly out of the cabinet, but when she turned to hand it to Fang, she stumbled to the side with a gasp of surprise and lost her balance.

Fang released the handle of the large spoon she was using to stir the batter together and turned to the side, taking a step forwards. She put her arms out and caught Vanille before she could fall down, wrapping her in a tight embrace and pulling her closer.

As she smiled down at her, Fang teased, "Remember when the nice doctor said to take it easy?"

Vanille hugged Fang around the waist and rested against her, pouting up at her. "I remember, but I wanna help you cook. I don't wanna be helpless for the next six weeks, Fang. It's getting really boring."

"I know, but you've gotta be careful or you'll get hurt worse and this'll last even longer," Fang murmured gently, lifting one hand to run her fingers through Vanille's hair as she held her tightly with her other arm. Smiling, she exclaimed, "Until you're all better, you've gotta let me take care of you, okay?"

"You've always taken care of me, Fang," Vanille giggled, shaking her head. "Sometimes it's too much."

"Well, if you thought I was overprotective before, look out," Fang teased, smiling as she tucked some stray hairs behind Vanille's ear. With a sigh, she grew slightly more somber. "After what happened to you…I'm just really worried. If I'd been inside where I was supposed to be, you never would've been kidnapped and hurt, so I have to make sure you're okay now. I have to protect you and take care of you even more than I have before."

Vanille smiled lovingly. "Well, I wanna take care of you and help you, too. Maybe when this is over, I can take some self-defense classes with Serah and then I'll even be able to protect you, too."

Fang laughed lightly, leaning forwards and kissing the top of her head. "You should. I bet there're some really fun martial arts classes you could take. I'd even take them with you. I know how to fight, but not like that."

"We should do that!" Vanille gasped excitedly. "I've always wanted to be better at that kind of thing. That'll be really fun."

"We just have to wait until you're better," Fang reminded her with a laugh, lowering her voice. "So until then, I'm the one who's gonna be doing the protecting. Got it?"

Vanille nodded, staring lovingly into Fang's eyes. "I'm really glad you're here to take care of me, Fang. I'm really lucky to have you. Sometimes people don't end up with the right person, but we're perfect for each other."

"Yeah, we are," Fang agreed as she leaned forwards and pecked Vanille's lips. "We're both lucky to have each other and to have this chance to be together now even though our past was stolen from us. So, you've gotta be careful, okay?"

Vanille nodded, giggling as she leaned forwards and kissed Fang again.

They pulled back to look at each other for a moment, each fully appreciating the sincere adoration in the other's eyes, before they leaned in again. Fang wrapped her arms around Vanille's waist and held her firmly so that she would not lose her balance or have to put any extra weight on her injured leg, and the younger woman leaned against her, sighing happily into their kiss. Vanille wrapped her arms around Fang's neck, pulling her down slightly as their kiss deepened, lips moving together passionately as all of the unspoken worry and fear of the last several weeks began to fade away. They were together again, and that was all that mattered.

Sazh walked into the kitchen and jumped with surprise, clearing his throat awkwardly as he began to turn away. "Whoops!"

Fang laughed, pulling away from Vanille, though she still held her close. "Can we help you with something?"

"Er, well, Serah said you were making breakfast, but…"

"We are," Fang told him with a smirk as she motioned to the pancake mix that she had been stirring together.

"We just got carried away," Vanille told Sazh with a giggle as she pulled back gently and handed Fang the cinnamon. "Here you go."

Sazh coughed awkwardly, asking, "So, what exactly are you making?"

"Pancakes," Fang replied with a smile. "I was gonna make them the normal way, but Vanille here wants cinnamon and cream cheese icing. She's so demanding, this one."

"Fang!" Vanille giggled, biting her lip. "It's gonna taste really good. Everyone's gonna thank me."

Sazh smiled, happy to see the two of them reunited and in such a cheerful mood. "Pancakes sound good. Let me know when they're ready and I'll have some."

"Sure thing." Fang saluted with the batter-covered spoon before she continued stirring the ingredients together. "Assuming Vanille doesn't try to get anything else out of the cabinet again, we'll probably finish pretty quickly."

Sazh gave a confused look. "Okay, well, I'll see you two later—"

Snow suddenly poked his head into the room. "'Morning, guys. Does anyone know where Lightning is? I haven't seen her in a while."

"I haven't seen her all morning," Fang murmured, glancing at the clock. "That's kinda weird. Light's usually up way before now."

Vanille frowned faintly. "Maybe she's not here."

The doorbell suddenly rang, causing everyone to jump. The group of them exchanged worried glances, frowning uncomfortably, before Snow finally stepped forwards.

"I'll get it. I wonder who it could be this early."

Snow walked out into the living room, passing Serah, who was sitting on the couch with a nervous look. Everyone held their breath as he stepped forwards and opened the door.

"Hello." Snow raised his brow, unsure whether or not he should be relieved to see someone he had never met before standing on the snow-covered stoop. "Can I help you?"

"I need to speak to Lightning Farron immediately."

Serah gasped as she peeked around the couch. "Snow, don't let him in! That's the bounty hunter who chased me and Vanille through the city."

"The bounty hunter?" Fang demanded angrily before glancing at Sazh. "You stay here with Vanille. I'll take care of this."

Sazh nodded, quickly handing Vanille her crutches in case they needed to attempt some kind of quick getaway. "Is this bounty hunter dangerous?"

"We're about to find out, now aren't we?" Fang grumbled as she stomped into the living room with a dark look on her face. The man in the doorway looked very formidable, even in a gray sweatshirt and a pair of blue jeans. Fang, however, was unconcerned as she demanded, "Who are you and what d'you want with Light?"

"I'm not really a bounty hunter." The man in the grey sweatshirt put his hands out as though to surrender. "My name is Orion, and I need to talk to Lightning right now. If you go get her, she'll vouch for me."

"How do you know Lightning?" Snow asked suspiciously. "Why would someone that she knows chase her sister down the street?"

"Please, just go get her. I'm not a threat," Orion insisted. "I wouldn't be here otherwise. I'd have to be stupid to walk into the house in broad daylight when all of you are standing right here."

"If you need to talk to Light so badly, why didn't you just call her on her PMC?" Fang asked with narrowed eyes.

"I tried, but she didn't answer," Orion replied with a pleading look. "Just get her."

"Fine." Fang turned and stomped toward the stairs. When Snow began to follow her, she stopped and turned to face him, lowering her voice so that the others would not hear. "Stay down there in case he's a threat. Don't you think Light might've mentioned if the bounty hunter chasing Serah and Vanille was her buddy?"

"I guess you're right," Snow exclaimed thoughtfully. "Get Lightning quickly, okay?"

Fang nodded but then paused, her brow furrowing with worry. "Shouldn't there be someone on duty here? Where's the NORA agent that you posted up here?"

Snow's eyes widened with surprise. "I don't know. Agent Thomas was supposed to relieve Agent Stanno. He should be here."

"Agent Thomas?" Fang tilted her head curiously. "I don't know any Agent Thomas. How come I haven't met him before? NORA's not that big."

"He works down in evidence, so he's usually in the basement," Snow explained quickly. "I'm surprised I didn't introduce all of you to him at the Christmas party. I guess I was just distracted by everything that happened with Lightning and Agent Dellon. Agent Thomas and I have become really good friends. We play poker together with some of the other guys every Wednesday in his apartment."

Fang tried to remember everyone she had seen at the Christmas party. "What's he look like? I bet I've seen him before."

"Uh, he has brown hair, blue eyes…" Snow shrugged. "You would remember if I had introduced you, because he spilled his drink all over himself halfway through the party."

"He spilled his drink?" Fang smirked faintly. "Hm, I don't remember that at all."

Snow looked confused by her expression. "I'll go back downstairs, but I have to call headquarters and figure out why he isn't here. You go check on Lightning. I don't want a repeat of…what happened the last time someone was alone up here."

"Don't call headquarters just yet," Fang requested, still smirking. "I bet I know exactly where Agent Thomas went."

"What do you mean?" Snow asked with a raised brow. "The agents aren't allowed to take breaks."

"Never mind, Snow. Just get back downstairs and protect our family. We can deal with missing agents later," Fang told him as she turned swiftly around. "I'll get Lightning."

"Okay." Snow shrugged and turned away.

Fang crossed the hall quietly and pressed her ear close to Lightning's door, listening carefully. When she heard nothing, she shrugged and pulled back to knock loudly. The sheets rustled inside the room, making it sound as though Lightning had still been sleeping, but when the ex-soldier opened the door, she was dressed in her usual attire.

"What?" Lightning asked, only tugging the door open a crack.

"What's the matter, Light?" Fang asked with a smirk. "You're not hiding anything in there are you? Got something you don't want me to see?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "Like what?"

"I dunno. You're the one who's practically clawing at the door to keep it shut," Fang teased, laughing lightly. "Say, do you know where Agent Thomas went? Snow says he's supposed to be in the hallway here, but I can't find him anywhere."

"I haven't seen him," Lightning asserted, eying her impatiently. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Fang sobered. "There's a guy downstairs to see you. Serah and Vanille say he's the bounty hunter who chased them down the street in the city, but he seems to think you'll vouch for him. He says his name's Orion."

Lightning stiffened, narrowing her eyes.

"Do you know him?"

"Yes." Lightning pursed her lips. "Go back downstairs. I'll be there in a minute."

"Why can't you just come down now?" Fang smirked as she tried to peek inside the room.

"Just go," Lightning grumbled, quickly shutting the door.

Fang merely laughed to herself as she turned to walk away. The smile slid off of her face as she returned to the living room, preparing herself for a dangerous battle because she never knew what might happen. There was a chance that the bounty hunter was simply posing as one of Lightning's friends, assuming that they would not know he was lying until the moment that she came down the stairs. He might be able to do a lot of damage before she actually reached them, so Fang had to be prepared.

Xxx

Almost ten minutes later, Lightning stomped down the stairs and whirled around the corner. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted the man in the doorway and everyone reached for their weapons, sure that he must be an imposter. However, Lightning did not seem concerned as she stormed toward him, stopping only a foot away with her fists clenched.

"I told you never to come here," Lightning growled angrily.

"I know, but this is an emergency," Orion insisted, crossing his arms. "I tried to reach you and I couldn't. You know how I feel about people who ignore my calls."

"Wait, you actually know him, Claire? I thought he was lying," Serah gasped, looking betrayed. "Did you know the entire time that he was the one who had followed us?"

"I asked him to follow you as a favor," Lightning admitted, frowning. "He was supposed to watch you from afar and protect you, not sprain Vanille's ankle and scare you both."

"Look, they made me and I improvised. I'm not a damn bodyguard," Orion protested. "Besides, the Gran Pulsian one tripped. I didn't push her. I asked her if she was okay, but she didn't trust me."

"Well, you know, I'm always telling Vanille she should trust every scary stranger who chases her down the road, but she never listens to me," Fang grumbled irritably. "If Light says you were following them to protect them, I'll trust that she's not lying, but I still wanna know who you really are."

"Well…" He frowned, glancing at Lightning. "I'm a—"

"He's a private investigator," Lightning interrupted.

"Why do you know a private investigator?" Serah demanded with wide eyes.

"I just know him," Lightning replied sharply before turning to Orion. "What did you find out that was so urgent? I was trying to avoid this."

"I know, but I was doing some more digging in the city, trying to track down that getaway car your perp was using. I figured it would be in a parking lot or an alleyway somewhere, but while I was poking around, I spotted the car speeding by." Orion frowned as they all began to look rather upset. "It had the same license plate so I know it was the right car. I jumped into my own car and chased the perp down until he pulled over and got out to confront me. It was a guy in a black hoodie, just like before."

"Did he attack you?" Lightning asked.

Orion shook his head. "We were in a pretty populated area, and people were starting to look curious. Neither of us could really do anything. I tried to pull a citizen's arrest, but he just started laughing before he got back in his car and drove away."

"Was he limping?" Fang asked with a frown.

"Yes, but not badly," Orion shook his head slowly. "I just wanted to let all of you know as soon as possible that there's a chance this guy is still out there."

"That's not an emergency," Lightning grumbled. "Next time send a message to my PMC if I don't answer when you call."

"Actually, you can call the house from now on," Serah interjected quietly. "Now that we know you're Claire's friend and not someone who's trying to hurt us, there's no reason that you can't communicate with us when she's not answering."

Orion frowned but nodded. "I guess there's no harm in that, since you're all involved."

"I can't believe this still isn't over," Vanille exclaimed suddenly, looking disheartened as she used her crutches to travel laboriously from the kitchen to the living room. "I thought for sure Agent Young was guilty and we had finally captured everyone involved."

"This doesn't mean he isn't guilty," Sazh argued as he followed Vanille out of the kitchen. "Orion, right? Orion said that this other guy was limping, but that could've been an act. Maybe Agent Young just hired an accomplice to make it look like he wasn't guilty."

"How could he have hired the accomplice from inside of lockup?" Snow frowned. "He isn't allowed to have any visitors."

"Maybe he hired him before he was arrested," Orion suggested with a shrug. "He might have told him to take the car out every day and wait for someone to spot him."

"I guess that makes sense," Snow nodded in agreement.

"I can't take much more of this," Serah admitted quietly, standing up and walking toward Snow. "We need to find a way to figure out whether or not Agent Young is really guilty."

"Did we ever find out who the hair belonged to?" Fang inquired. "Was it one of the accomplices?"

"There were no matches," Lighting replied.

"Well, didn't we decide only another NORA agent could've framed Agent Young?" Fang prompted, pursing her lips. "Why hasn't anyone checked for matches among the other agents yet?"

Lightning glanced at Snow. "Call headquarters and make them do that now."

Snow shook his head. "I'll go down and do it myself. I can put the place on lockdown and make sure no one leaves before I start taking hair samples."

"Anything else?" Lightning asked Orion with a sharp look.

He shook his head. "I'll get going."

"Do you want to stay for breakfast?" Serah asked, biting her lip. "You've been helping Claire investigate, so you're always welcome…"

"Thanks, but I've gotta get back out there. I'm working on other cases, too." Orion shrugged and waved as he began to back out the door. "Everyone stay safe. I'll call Lightning as soon as I have some more information."

"I should go, too." Snow glanced at Serah, leaning forwards to give her a quick kiss. "I'll see you later, okay? Be careful here."

"You be careful too," Serah exclaimed as she stepped forwards to hug him tightly. "If the bad guy is another NORA agent, they'll know that you're on to them as soon as you put the NORA Headquarters on lockdown. Please don't get hurt."

"I won't," Snow promised with a grin as he kissed the top of her head. "I can take care of myself. Don't worry."

Serah smiled faintly. "I know. You're really strong."

Snow grinned proudly before sobering. "I'll see you later. It might not be until tonight."

"Okay." Serah pulled away sadly. "See you."

After waving to the others, Snow followed Orion outside, locking the door and shutting it behind him.

Fang glanced out the window, watching Snow and Orion walk down the driveway and get into separate air cars, before she turned toward Vanille and smiled. "We better make those pancakes. Otherwise, we'll never get breakfast. I'm starving."

"Me, too," Vanille agreed as she turned toward the kitchen and braced herself against her crutches. Her movements were still slow, but she was getting the hang of using the devices to walk more easily.

"I'll be right back," Sazh murmured as he turned and walked into the basement.

Fang and Vanille disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the two Farron sisters alone together. Lightning wanted to return to her room, but she could see from the look on her sister's face that Serah was upset with her.

"Claire, why do you know a private investigator?" Serah asked quietly. "Does it have something to do with this investigation or is it something else? Are you hiding something from me? I'm very worried about you."

"It's nothing," Lightning insisted with pursed lips. "I just know him."

"Why?" Serah asked more firmly. "I need to know."

"He wasn't always a private investigator," Lightning admitted. "He was in the Guardian Corps for a while. We worked together a few times."

"Did you call him to help you with this case or was he already investigating something for you?" Serah asked with a disappointed look. "I don't think we should keep secrets from each other, Claire. We're all living in this house together, and you and I are sisters."

"I'm not keeping secrets—"

"Don't lie to me, Claire," Serah begged, pouting. "Why else would you not have told us that the 'bounty hunter' was working for you? Vanille almost shot him. You should've told us."

"I'll tell you next time," Lightning grumbled.

"Claire, what is he investigating for you?" Serah demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "I know it's important. You're trying to hide it from me."

Lightning merely glared at her sister, but Serah rose to the challenge, crossing her arms and staring with a very firm look. Only one of them could win, and eventually Lightning sighed and looked away.

"After I finished renovating the house, I changed our mailing address from the PO box to here," Lightning exclaimed with pursed lips. "The next day, I got a letter from someone claiming to be…"

"Claiming to be what?" Serah prompted curiously.

Lightning frowned. "He claims to be our father."

"What?" Serah gasped, her eyes wide. "Claire, our father died when we were young."

"That's what our mother told us, but we don't really know what happened to him," Lightning replied, beginning to pace as she explained, "I thought it was a trick at first, so I ignored it. He sent two more letters asking why I wouldn't reply. Eventually the letters stopped. He gave up, but I got curious. I hired Orion to figure out who sent the letters."

"And?" Serah asked, biting her lip. "Do you think he's really our father?"

"I don't know." Lightning shook her head firmly. "But I don't trust him, whoever he is. Why would he wait all this time? Why would our mother say he was dead?"

Serah remained silent for a long time, hugging herself. "I-I never even knew him, Claire."

"That's why I didn't tell you. I don't know if this is a trick, but I don't trust him. He's probably not really our father."

"Can he do a paternity test?" Serah asked quietly.

"I want to find out more about him first," Lightning replied with a frown. "If he's a criminal, I don't want him to be a part of our lives. Our mother wouldn't have said he was dead unless she never wanted us to see him again."

"I still want to know, Claire," Serah insisted. "I deserve to be involved in this."

Lightning averted her eyes, still frowning.

"If he is our father, I want to know where he was during our childhood." Serah hugged herself more tightly. "Didn't he want to know us? We're his children!"

"Don't talk like this. We don't know anything about him," Lightning reminded her. "Leave this to me until I find out more information. He could be dangerous, and he's probably not our father."

"I'll let you handle it for now, but I expect you to keep me informed," Serah told her sister sternly. "I'm too old for you to hide things from me, Claire, even if you do it to protect me. I know that you do it because you love me, but I'm an adult now just like you."

"Right now, Orion is focused on the stalker," Lightning mumbled. "It's more important."

"I agree, but promise that you'll tell me when you know more about this other case," Serah begged.

"Fine." Lightning sighed. "It won't be for a while."

Serah shrugged, forcing a smile. "Well, let's not think about it until later then. Breakfast will be ready soon. I'm excited to try Fang and Vanille's pancakes. They always experiment and I think I heard someone mention cream cheese icing."

"I'm going back upstairs," Lightning replied with a shrug. "I'll be back down later."

"Oh, okay." Serah pouted as she watched her walk away. "See you later."

Xxx

Serah poked her head out of the kitchen and glanced around the living room. She noticed that Fang and Vanille were sitting close together on the couch and sharing a footrest. Fang was reading through a magazine while Vanille sat at her side making a bracelet out of different colored beads that glittered. Lightning sat on the other chair with her laptop on her lap, her fingers moving rapidly across the keyboard and an intense look of concentration on her face. Sazh sat on the other side of the couch with a book in his hand, turning the pages slowly as though he were distracted.

"Is something wrong, Serah?" Fang asked suddenly.

"No, everything's fine." Serah blushed when everyone looked at her. "The dogs are going crazy in here, but otherwise everything is okay."

"If the dogs destroy anything else in my house, I'm selling them both," Lightning told Fang pointedly.

With a smirk, Fang nudged Vanille lightly in the side. "You hear that? We might get to keep both dogs when we move out."

Lightning scoffed. "Ripper is mine."

"Glad to hear you like him, Light," Fang exclaimed before looking at Serah. "So, if nothing's wrong, what's up?"

"Dinner is almost ready," Serah replied gently. "I didn't know what to make, so we're going to have a casserole."

"I like rolls," Vanille exclaimed encouragingly.

Serah giggled, shaking her head. "No, a casserole. You never had casseroles in Oerba?"

"Maybe, but we might've had a different name for them," Vanille replied with a shrug, smiling. "What are they?"

"Well, this one is a chicken casserole with rice, broccoli, onions, green beans, and some other stuff," Serah replied with a small smile. "I think you'll like it. I added extra salt just for you and Fang."

"Then it'll be perfect," Fang exclaimed with a smile.

A key suddenly turned in the lock, causing everyone to look over their shoulders as Snow pushed through the door. He slipped solemnly out of his boots and closed the door behind him before looking up and smiling weakly at everyone. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

Serah forced a smile. "Well, dinner is almost ready…"

"What did you find out?" Lightning interrupted with narrowed eyes. "Was there a match?"

Snow sighed as he took his jacket off and put it into the closet. He walked out into the room, crossing his arms, and explained, "I have some bad news. There was a match for the hair, but you're not going to like it."

"Just tell us, Snow," Fang requested with a frown. "It can't get any worse."

"The match was for Agent Jake Dellon," Snow replied.

"I knew we couldn't trust him," Lightning growled.

"So far, Agent Sovina thinks they might have been working together," Snow explained, a crease forming in his forehead as he furrowed his brows. "The problem is that both of them are claiming that they were set up."

"I want to interrogate them," Lightning grumbled.

"No. I want to do it." Fang narrowed her eyes. "And this time, I wanna be alone. How late can I interrogate a suspect?"

Snow glanced at his watch. "You could go after dinner and still make it a long time before lights out for the suspects in lockup."

"It's not a good idea for Fang to go," Lightning argued, furrowing her brows.

"I know it's not a good idea, but I can make them talk," Fang insisted.

"Fang, you're not allowed to hurt them," Snow reminded her. "That's not the way we do things."

"Who said I was gonna hurt anyone? I just wanna be the one to interrogate the suspects this time. Light had to interrogate everyone this morning. It might as well be my turn."

"Fang, will you be able to stay calm?" Vanille asked quietly.

"Yes, I'll be able to stay calm," Fang replied with a reassuring look as she wrapped her arm around Vanille's shoulders. "Until I know whether they both did it or it was just one of them, I won't do anything rash. Besides, there'll be other agents there."

"Even if you interrogate them, you might have trouble figuring out who did it," Snow warned Fang with a sigh. "They're both making pretty convincing cases, and they've both been stabbed in the leg."

Vanille furrowed her brows. "Maybe you should let me look at them. I might be able to tell which one looks about the right size."

Fang shook her head, wrapping her arm around Vanille. "That's dangerous, and you're hurt enough already. Besides, only one of them attacked you, but that doesn't mean they aren't both guilty. We need hard evidence or a confession to be sure."

"Okay, but be careful, Fang," Vanille mumbled.

"I will be, and this'll be over soon, I promise." Fang hugged her close. "I'll go right after dinner, and hopefully by tonight we'll know who's actually guilty."

Everyone nodded solemnly, all clearly exhausted with the situation.

Xxx

Fang pulled quickly into the parking lot of the Troth NORA Headquarters and set her air car down in one of the spaces, which was marked by green lines of paint that glowed in the dark. After shutting off her lights and cutting the engine, Fang dropped her keys into one of the pouches attached to the leather belt at her waist and waited. It was difficult to imagine that there was yet another attacker who could have followed her, but at that point Fang was not going to take any chances. The last thing that they all needed was another kidnapping or worse.

A short while passed and soon Fang was sure that there was no one else around, so she slid out of the car and checked that it was locked before quickly crossing the dark parking lot. The clouds in the sky covered the moon and the stars, making it difficult to see, especially when the path to headquarters was only lit by a few dim street lights. The headquarters looked eerie and deserted, but Fang knew that even at night there would always be someone around. Her badge would get her past the locked doors and through the security checkpoint, and even if most agents had gone home for the night, the night shift would be there.

Fang walked up the darkened path and swiped her ID badge across one of the sensors, listening to the click of the locks opening, and then pushed open the door. When she was inside, she checked over her shoulder to make sure that no one had followed her before crossing the room and passing the single security guard stationed at the front desk. He recognized her, so she did not have to show her ID as she shuffled by. Generally, Fang would have said hello, but she was on a mission that night and would not stop for anyone. It was going to be a difficult evening.

After taking the stairs to the second floor, Fang walked briskly to the prison block, passing by several empty interrogation rooms. She found Agent Sovina waiting for her at one of the monitoring desks, which kept careful video record of all the prisoners inside of their cells.

Agent Sovina glanced over her shoulder when she heard footsteps approaching and offered a small smile. "Hi, Agent Yun. I haven't seen you in a while. How is everything?"

"It'll be a lot better once this is all over," Fang replied firmly, her brows furrowed. "What're you doing up here all alone? Shouldn't there be more agents posted here?"

"Agent Panoma and Agent Felys are both here, but they went downstairs to get some coffee," Agent Sovina explained before lowering her eyes. "I heard what happened to your…girlfriend. Is she going to be okay?"

"She'll heal, but she's pretty shaken up," Fang replied with a heavy sigh. "I'd like to make whichever one kidnapped her sorry, but I'll just have to be satisfied with locking him up."

Agent Sovina nodded. "I hate this, too. I can't believe it was another agent. I know both of them personally, and even though Agent Dellon was always kind of an ass, I never thought he was capable of something like this."

"People are good at hiding their dark sides," Fang mumbled, shrugging. "I'm gonna interrogate Agent Dellon first and then Agent Young. After that, I wanna interrogate Young's partner. Young has a solid alibi for almost every attack, yet somehow he's been stabbed in the leg and we found him at the scene after Vanille gave someone a pretty good beating. I wanna see how trustworthy Young's partner is."

"I'll get him up here for an interview when you're done with the other two."

Fang nodded, frowning. "I'm gonna warn you about this so you don't try to stop me. I'm gonna rough them up a little, but it's just a test. It would've taken a lot of fight to do some of this stuff."

"I'll cover for you as long as you don't seriously hurt them."

"Thanks." Fang nodded gratefully. "Is Agent Dellon already in the room?"

"Yep. Interrogation Room 4B."

"I dunno how long this'll take, but I'm going in." Fang paused, asking, "Did you run background checks on them both?"

"Yes, but I couldn't find anything useful about either of them. It looks like their records were lost in the changeover," Agent Sovina offered apologetically.

Fang frowned, disappointed. "Then I guess I'll just have to get it out of them."

Xxx

Fang opened the door to the interrogation room and stepped inside before kicking the door loudly shut and leaning back against it.

Agent Dellon jumped, appealing to her with wide eyes. "Agent Yun, this isn't what it looks like. I know they say the hair sample was a match for me, but that's just because I was standing right there when you opened the package. I had nothing to do with this."

Fang stared at him for a long moment before crossing the room and sitting at the table across from him. She slammed the binder she was holding down on the table and glared viciously at the suspect.

"What's in there?" Agent Dellon asked fearfully.

"Evidence that makes you look pretty guilty," Fang bluffed, clenching her fists. "You've got a stab wound right where Vanille said she stabbed her attacker, you don't have any alibis, and you had access to every part of this investigation, including the evidence lab. You could've easily planted all the evidence incriminating Agent Young, so give me a reason to believe you're innocent."

"I'm being framed. I didn't do this," Agent Dellon insisted. "I don't know if Agent Young is framing me or if we're both being framed, but this wasn't me."

"Then tell me about that stab wound," Fang demanded. "Why didn't you report it to NORA or go to the hospital?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Agent Dellon explained. "I was mugged on the street by some lowlife. It was dark, so I couldn't see the suspect. I figured it was just some homeless thug who needed the cash, so I didn't bother going after him."

"He attacked you? Talk about that."

"Okay. He grabbed me from behind while I was walking toward my apartment building. He got my wallet out of my pocket and held a knife to my throat. I grabbed his arm and while we were struggling, he swiped at my leg and got enough of me to draw blood. It was just a shallow wound. He barely got the blade beneath the skin. I kicked him with my other leg and tried to apprehend him, but he got away."

"It was so shallow that you didn't need medical attention?" Fang asked skeptically.

"I needed some treatment, but it was so shallow that I didn't bother going to the hospital. My mother is a doctor, so I called her and went to her house. She cleaned and dressed the wound, told me I didn't need stitches, reminded me to keep it clean and sent me on my way. You can interview her. She'll corroborate the story."

"Whose mother wouldn't?" Fang narrowed her eyes. "Assuming that's not made up, don't you think it's suspicious that you don't have a single alibi?"

"No. I'm a single NORA agent who lives alone," Agent Dellon argued. "My alibi is watching sports games, but the TV can't corroborate my story."

"You were off duty during every one of the attacks," Fang commented. "That looks pretty suspicious. Agent Young has an alibi for almost every attack."

"Maybe that's true, but he has a stab wound, too, and he was missing the whole day that your girlfriend was kidnapped," Agent Dellon grumbled angrily. "My wound is too shallow. Vanille said the attacker was limping."

"Unless he was pretending to limp to make it look like a deeper wound," Fang argued. "The way I see it, Agent Young doesn't have a motive and you've got a pretty good one."

"I don't have a motive!" He protested.

"Sure you do. I remember what happened at the Christmas party." Fang narrowed her eyes. "Light rejected you, and she didn't let you down easy. She knocked your lights out right in front of all your coworkers. That must've been embarrassing."

"It was, but that's no reason to do all of this. I'm a grownup who can handle getting rejected, and it's not like anyone would call me a wimp for getting knocked out by Lightning Farron. She's ex-army. I didn't stand a chance."

"Yeah, you didn't," Fang agreed. "I bet this time you wanted to stand a chance. That's why you hired so many people to help you. You wanted to get Light good and scared, but you had to involve us too or you'd be the number one suspect."

"No. That's not true. I don't have anything against you or Captain Villiers. He didn't fire me when I pissed off his fiancée's sister by accidentally telling her I would love to sleep with Captain Villier's fiancée. He didn't even say anything. He's an awesome guy."

"Well, he's not gonna forgive you for this," Fang told him firmly. "You might wanna reconsider and just confess, 'cause I'm gonna offer you a deal to give up Agent Young, and I'm pretty sure Snow and Light won't offer you anything."

"I'm not confessing to a crime I didn't commit," the suspect seethed.

"Fine. Don't confess. There're other ways to solve this problem," Fang told him as she pushed the binder out of the way and stood up. "Get up."

"What?" His eyes widened."

"Did I stutter?" Fang snapped. "Get up. Didn't you wonder why you're not cuffed? I've gotta at least give you a fighting chance."

"Agent Yun, this is illegal," Agent Dellon protested, standing and backing toward the wall.

"Yeah, but I'm a foreigner, and Captain Villiers likes me. I bet they go easy on me." Fang smirked coldly. "It's just you and me here. All the other agents went out for coffee."

"You don't have to do this," Agent Dellon insisted. "I'm not the bad guy. I helped find Vanille, remember? Why would I do that if I wanted her to die?"

"I dunno. I haven't worked out what you've got against me yet either, but you'll tell me soon enough," Fang assured him with a sneer as she suddenly burst forwards.

The battle was quick and fairly conclusive. Agent Dellon tried to defend himself, but in spite of being strong he did not really stand a chance against a trained fighter. His blocks were poorly timed and his stance was not well executed. Even his strikes, which were powerful blows in their own right, exhibited no formal training in martial arts or any style of physical combat. It seemed that he was more used to relying on brute strength alone.

When Fang finally relented, the agent had one bruise on his arm and looked shaken up, but he was otherwise fine.

"You can sit," Fang scoffed, returning to her chair.

"W-What?" Agent Dellon asked.

"Sit," Fang commanded, narrowing her eyes. "I expected you to be a better fighter. Now I'm kind of disappointed."

"I didn't expect you to be so strong," Agent Dellon grumbled, crossing his arms. "That was a test?"

"Sure was."

"Did I pass?" Agent Dellon asked desperately.

"Nope. You failed," Fang replied coldly. "Now you look even more guilty, but not as guilty as you look considering what I've got in this binder."

Agent Dellon shifted uncomfortably. "What's in there?"

"Your past," Fang bluffed.

The agent stiffened. "I-I thought all of that information was lost."

"Well, people think a lot of things, but they're not usually right," Fang exclaimed indifferently. "This sounds like a closed case now that I know all about your life on Cocoon, so why don't you convince me that your past doesn't make you guilty as hell."

"Look, I know that I did some bad things, and I admit, I was a criminal," Agent Dellon offered immediately, "but if you look at my rap sheet, you'll see that I never killed anyone, and I never hurt someone who didn't deserve it. I had a code. I never involved anyone innocent, and I never hurt women or children unless the woman was another criminal who tried to hurt me."

"Or a soldier?" Fang prompted with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, there was that one time that things got out of control, but she was strong, okay? She was strong like Lightning, and she kicked my ass. I was in the hospital and she walked away fine. You've seen my records."

Fang gave a vague nod.

"I've done some bad things in my life, but I never kidnapped anyone, and I never tortured someone to get back at someone who cared about them. If I had something against you, I would've kidnapped you."

"But you couldn't kidnap me, could you?" Fang insisted firmly. "So, you took Vanille instead. I bet she looked like a real easy target, but you didn't expect her to stab you back."

Agent Dellon shook his head. "You've got it wrong. I was mugged. If Vanille had been the one to stab me, I would've been limping all week. She said that her attacker couldn't walk very well. At close range, Vanille would've been able to stab her attacker pretty deeply, and only one agent in this building has a deep stab wound in his leg, and he has a pretty sorry explanation of how it happened."

"Thanks for your cooperation. I hope you're not lying," Fang told him with narrowed eyes as she stood. "'Cause if you are, there's no force in this world that'll save you from me."

Agent Dellon gulped. "Everything I've said was true. I joined NORA because I wanted to make a fresh start and do some good. I never thought anyone would find my records. They were completely buried even before Cocoon fell."

"I'll keep that in mind," Fang told him with a shrug as she turned to leave the room.

Xxx

Fang walked back into the hallway and moved toward the monitoring station. She was pleased to see that Agent Panoma and Agent Felys had returned, since she did not think one person should be left alone to guard all of the prisoners who were in lockup.

"That was incredible!" Agent Felys exclaimed as he studied Fang. "You got the suspect to tell you about his past when you didn't have anything. His records were lost."

"He was easy, maybe a little too much," Fang commented with a shrug. "Now it's time to interrogate Young. Between the group of us, he's already been interrogated three times, so maybe he's ready to talk."

"Are you going to rough him up, too?" Agent Sovina asked.

Fang gave a nod. "I've gotta test both their skills, but I won't hurt him unless he comes back and tries to kill me."

"We would come into the room before that happened," Agent Panoma assured her.

"Right." Fang shrugged and turned away. "I'll be out soon."

Xxx

Fang opened the door to the second interrogation room and walked inside. She shut the door firmly behind her and turned to face the suspect, narrowing his eyes.

Agent Young looked up at her with a frown, running his fingers through his curly red hair. "I don't have anything else to say, Agent Yun. I already told Lightning everything that I remember. I don't even know why I'm still here. I have alibis. I can't have committed those crimes."

"That's what you say, but alibis only get you so far." Fang sat down across the table from the suspect. "People are good at lying, and it starts to look suspicious when you've got the same person as your alibi for each crime."

"It isn't suspicious if you're on duty and your alibi is your partner," Agent Young insisted. "How could I have gotten away from my partner for long enough to commit any of those crimes?"

"You know, it's a little weird to me that you were the first responder to almost every crime," Fang exclaimed with narrowed eyes. "Can you explain that?"

"Most of the crimes happened on or near Rt. 2, which I patrol every night," Agent Young explained. "Your house is on Rt. 2, and so are a lot of the other crime scenes. Whoever is trying to frame me knows that or they would've chosen a different agent to frame."

"I don't think you were framed, personally. I'm pretty sure it was you," Fang bluffed just to see how he would react. "I just wanna know why."

"It wasn't me!" Agent Young shouted desperately. "I know it all looks suspicious, but I'm telling the truth. I have nothing against Lightning or any of you. I barely know you."

"Exactly, so why would you do all this?" Fang asked seriously. "It's driving me insane. I just wanna know. You're gonna get convicted anyway, so you should just tell me."

"You're bluffing. I'm an agent too, remember? I've been one for longer than you."

"Since before Cocoon fell, you mean?" Fang questioned, pointing to the folder. "I've got it all documented right here."

"You have someone else's file," Agent Young assured her. "I became an agent after Cocoon fell."

"Right." Fang rolled her eyes. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out you were in the army?"

"Me, in the army?" Agent Young laughed wryly, shaking his head. "Now I know you're bluffing. I'm not much of a fighter, Agent Yun. I'm in good shape and relatively strong, but that's where it ends."

"Is that so?" Fang narrowed her eyes.

He nodded firmly.

"Why can't I find anything about your old life?" Fang asked, deciding to stop bluffing.

"A lot of records were lost during the changeover," Agent Young answered. "If you want to know about my past, you could've just asked me. I was just a regular guy. I worked in a pizza shop called Young and Fresh. My father owned it. It was kind of a family business."

"Where's your family now?"

"They live in Korrin. My father just opened a new restaurant a month ago. If you interview him, he'll confirm that I used to work for him."

"Everyone keeps telling me to ask their parents about them like parents don't lie for their kids," Fang replied sharply. "I want to know more about your life on Cocoon. Did you have pets? A significant other? Did you live by yourself?"

"I didn't have pets or a girlfriend, but I lived with my brother. I'm telling the truth about my past, Agent Yun. I worked at a pizza shop. I don't have any army background. I'm not a fighter."

"We'll see about that." Fang stood up. "Let's test you out."

"Agent Yun, if you attack me, I will press charges," Agent Young told her nervously.

"The way I see it, you're the one who attacked me, so I'm free and clear," Fang told him with a cold smile. "Get up. There's no one to protect you. The others all left."

"I know you won't do this, Agent Yun," Agent Young argued gently, refusing to stand. "You won't hit a man if he's sitting down."

"Are you sure about that?" Fang snapped angrily. "You kidnapped Vanille, stabbed her in the leg, and practically left her to die. You made her scared to sleep at night, scared to be alone, barely able to walk…"

"That wasn't me!" He cried in frustration, jumping out of his seat and backing away. "We don't have to do this. There will be more evidence and you'll see that I'm innocent."

"I don't believe a word of that," Fang snapped, pouncing.

Agent Young put his hands up to protect himself and back against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited. Fang pretended to take several hits at him, but he was not looking at her, so he did not even flinch.

"Don't do this, Agent Yun. Don't ruin your career over this."

"Over this?" Fang sneered coldly, suddenly truly angry "You mean don't ruin my career over something as trivial as some lunatic threatening my friends and terrorizing the woman I love? Oh, you're right. That's nothing to get worked up over."

Agent Young merely whimpered, "It wasn't me."

"Put your arms down, you coward," Fang grumbled, taking a step back. "This was just a test anyway."

Agent Young peeked out from behind his arms. "I know, but I'm not the bad guy. Don't risk your career like this when it isn't even me."

"I'm not risking anything. No one's gonna blame me," Fang told him coldly as she threw her fist at his face.

Agent Young breathed in sharply but did not move. Fang stopped inches from the agent's face, watching him as he stared at her fist with wide eyes. When Agent Young realized that Fang was not going to hit him, he sighed with relief.

"Good, Agent Yun. Don't do this to yourself."

"I've heard all I need to for now." Fang turned and stomped out of the room.

Xxx

Fang stepped out of the interrogation room and leaned against the wall, giving herself a moment to calm down. Her heart was beating rapidly, her face somewhat flushed with irritation. Agent Dellon had not angered her like Agent Young, but she could not allow that to cloud her judgment. She needed to cool down and really focus on the evidence and what was possible before she let her gut be the judge of what had happened.

Eventually, Fang was calm enough to walk around the corner and returning to the security station.

Agent Felys looked up immediately. "You've interrogated them both. Who do you think did it?"

"It's too soon for my opinion," Fang replied firmly. "Agent Sovina, is Agent Young's partner here yet?"

Agent Sovina nodded, shifting uncomfortably. "He's waiting in interrogation room 5A. Do you think that Agent Young and Agent Dellon are both guilty? They seemed like they were telling the truth."

"A lot of people are good at lying," Fang replied with a shrug. "I can tell you one thing though. Agent Dellon's not the guy who attacked us in the grocery store. He doesn't have the fighting skill or the coordination. As for Agent Young, he wouldn't fight me. It's hard to tell if he was afraid or holding back."

"So, where does that leave us?"

"For now, we're still in a place where we have two suspects, barely any evidence, and an irritating lack of confessions," Fang replied indifferently. "Both of them claim they're being framed, so the most important thing is to figure out who could've committed which crimes. Agent Dellon is at a disadvantage with no alibis, but he couldn't have committed some of the crimes that Agent Young has alibis for. That means there's a third attacker or Agent Young's partner is a liar."

"I've known Agent Demarc for a long time, since before Cocoon fell," Agent Panoma, a veteran of the force, interrupted. "He wouldn't lie to give someone an alibi, not even another agent. Besides, he and Agent Young have only been partners for a little over a month. They barely know each other."

"I'll keep that in mind." Fang sighed, turning away. "I'll be out soon."

It did not take long to reach interrogation room 5A, and Fang took a moment outside to help herself relax. There was no reason to be upset with Agent Demarc unless he gave her a reason, because it was not necessarily the case that he had falsely provided an alibi to a psychopath.

When Fang finally pushed through the door, Agent Demarc looked up at her. He was a plump, elderly man with white hair and blue eyes. His hands were clenched in his lap and his lips were curved into a nervous frown. He tapped his foot anxiously on the ground until he realized how much noise the gesture was making and then abruptly stopped.

Fang watched him for another moment, narrowing her eyes, before exclaiming, "You know, Agent Demarc, if you want me to think you're guilty of something, you're off to a really good start."

"Sorry. I just get uncomfortable when they call me down for spontaneous reviews like this." Agent Demarc ran a hand through his sweaty hair and tried to smile. "Nothing good ever comes from this. I'm assuming that binder you're holding has my records from the last year. I've been doing everything completely by the look, as I'm sure you can see."

"Yeah?" Fang glared. "Then why're you so nervous?"

"Because I'm getting on in years and whenever a nice young agent invites an older agent in for a spontaneous review, it usually means someone's getting his job." Agent Demarc frowned anxiously. "That's why I'm here, right? Agent Sovina wouldn't tell me on the phone, so I assumed the worst."

Fang shook her head. "You're here 'cause I wanna talk to you about Agent Young."

"Oh." Agent Demarc sighed with relief and slumped in his seat. "Well, Agent Young seems like a fine young man. He's a good, polite agent who always does his job. He never delays in filling out reports and he's completely professional, even with suspects. He has a pretty intense sense of honor and considers it his duty to be one of the good guys, like regular hero."

"The kind of hero who might just get sick of never being recognized?" Fang prompted.

"No, just an honest-to-goodness hero," Agent Demarc insisted. "I'm certain he's completely innocent of all this nonsense he's been accused of. I was with him during all of those crimes."

"You were with him for the entire time?" Fang asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I was. From start to finish, I was with him during each crime."

Fang tilted her head curiously. "So, what about his stab wound?"

"I wasn't there when that happened. He was out sick that day," Agent Demarc replied with a shrug. "However, I can tell you that he didn't commit those crimes. He's a bright man with a promising future. He wouldn't throw it all away."

"All right. What can you tell me about Agent Jake Dellon?"

"Agent Dellon? I don't know him that well. He mostly keeps to himself." Agent Demarc frowned thoughtfully. "I see him in the break room a lot between shifts though. He's always complaining about how he has to do all the grunt work because Captain Villiers doesn't like him."

"Why does he think that?"

"Oh, it's some silly business about the Christmas party," Agent Demarc replied with a shrug. "I was there, but I don't remember what happened. It was so long ago now."

"It was less than two months ago," Fang corrected. "Do you forget things a lot?"

"Now, you listen here, young lady." Agent Demarc narrowed his eyes and sat up very straight. "I may be old, but that doesn't mean that I forget things. I was with Agent Young during all of the crimes."

Fang opened her mouth to reply, but her radio suddenly crackled. Agent Sovina's voice filled the room. "Agent Yun, this is an emergency. You have to get out here right now."

"Am I free to go?" Agent Demarc asked.

"You didn't commit any crimes I know of, so yeah," Fang replied distractedly as she stood and rushed out of the room, leaving the door open for him. When she reached the security station, she looked at Agent Sovina, who was sitting alone. "What's wrong?"

Agent Sovina motioned at the monitors, her face somewhat ashen. "The screens all went black for half a minute. When they turned back on, both Agent Young and Agent Dellon's cells were completely empty. The doors are still locked. We have no idea how they escaped or where they went."

"Did you alert security?" Fang demanded.

Agent Sovina nodded. "We'll be on full lockdown by the time I finish this sentence. Agents Panoma and Felys are already investigating the cells, and all the other agents in the facility are looking for the suspects as we speak."

"The screens were only black for thirty seconds?" Fang frowned, pointing out, "That's not a long time to escape."

Agent Sovina nodded in agreement. "I don't know how they did it."

With a weary frown, Fang pulled her PMC out of her pocket and mumbled, "I've gotta make a call."

Xxx

Lightning walked out of her bedroom, nodding to the NORA agent posted in the hallway, and headed for the stairs. She walked into the kitchen, thinking that her sister would be beginning dinner preparations, but she was surprised to find Snow cooking pasta.

"Hey, Sis." Snow waved cheerfully.

"Hi." Lightning frowned but did not correct him. "Why are you cooking?"

"I thought it would be nice for Serah, since she's really stressed right now," Snow replied with a shrug. "Have you heard from Fang at all?"

"Not yet." Lightning shook her head. "Have you heard from headquarters?"

"No, surprisingly." Snow sighed. "When Agent Young was in charge of the investigation, he called me with every new detail. I'll call after dinner. I don't want to wait until I go in tomorrow morning."

Serah walked around the corner and frowned nervously when she spotted her sister. "Claire, is there news?"

"Not yet." Lightning walked to the sink for a drink of water.

"I hate waiting," Serah sighed as she crossed the room and leaned against the counter next to Snow. "How are you doing with that?"

He smiled faintly. "Well, the water is boiling nicely."

Serah giggled. "I guess pasta isn't that hard."

He wrapped one arm around her, pulling her close. "No, it's not."

Suddenly the sound of two different ringtones filled the room.

Snow picked up his PMC and frowned at Serah. "Sorry. I have to take this. It's NORA."

"Don't worry. I'll watch the pasta," Serah told him gently as she took the wooden spoon from him and began to stir the water around so the noodles would not stick together.

"Thanks." He kissed her cheek and picked up the phone.

Meanwhile, Lightning picked up her own phone. "What is it?"

"Light, it's Orion. I have some bad news." He paused, waiting for some kind of reaction, before explaining, "I just spotted the black car driving through the city. I tried to follow, but I lost him. I don't know if it's the bad guy or just a hired hand, but there's someone out there driving that same car again."

"I'll look into it," Lightning told him firmly. "Text me the street where you last saw the car."

"Do you want company? This could be dangerous for a solo mission."

"I work better alone," Lightning replied.

"Okay. Well, call me later to let me know what happened."

"Right. Bye." Lightning hung up the phone and turned around in time to see Snow walking back into the room. "Was that Fang?"

"No. It was headquarters," Snow replied with a worried frown. "There was a security breech. Both suspects escaped."

Lightning narrowed her eyes. "Orion spotted the car in the city again. I'm going out to look for it."

"Claire, that isn't a good idea," Serah argued gently. "You shouldn't go alone."

"I can go with you," Snow volunteered.

"No. Stay here with the others," Lightning ordered as she made her way toward the door and began quickly dressing in her jacket and boots.

"When will you be back?" Serah asked nervously. "Keep in touch with us."

"I might not be able to," Lightning mumbled as she grabbed her keys and headed for the door. "This time, I'm going to catch him. I don't care what it takes."

"Do you at least have a plan?" Snow asked with a frown.

"Yes."

Lightning slammed the door shut behind her.

Serah hugged herself, leaning against the counter. "I can't take this anymore, Snow. What if something happens to her? And what if both of the agents really are working together and one of them comes here to hurt us?"

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt anyone, but we have to tell Sazh and Vanille," Snow murmured gently. "I'll watch the pasta. You go out in the living room and tell them both to come in here."

Serah nodded, biting her lip. "We're going to get through this, right?"

"Of course, we are." He smiled and leaned forwards to kiss her cheek. "I promise."

With a weak smile, Serah turned and walked into the living room.

Xxx

Fang frowned, listening impatiently to the ringing on the other end. "Come on, Light. Pick up your PMC for once."

The ringing went on several more times before a recorded voice explained, "The party you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave a message at the tone or call back later."

The Gran Pulsian hung up and dialed the number again, but the results were the same. With an irritated sigh, she dialed a different number instead.

"Hello?"

"Serah, it's Fang," the Gran Pulsian explained quickly. "I'm still at the NORA Headquarters. Something bad's happened. The suspects both escaped. Is Light there?"

"No," Serah replied nervously. "We already knew that they escaped. Someone called Snow to tell him, and then Orion called Lightning and told her he had spotted the car. She went out to look for them."

Fang frowned, a bad feeling growing in her gut. "All right. I'll try to call her PMC."

"Okay. Please let me know when you hear from her. I'm worried."

"Don't worry, Serah. I'm sure Light's fine," Fang assured her before they exchanged goodbyes and hung up the phone. She mused that she should have told Serah the truth about trying to contact Lightning, but there was no sense worrying her even more.

"Agent Yun, a call just came in on the emergency line," Agent Sovina suddenly interrupted as she listened carefully to the headphones that she wore. "Oh no!"

"What is it?" Fang demanded.

"We have video footage of Agent Farron confronting one of the two suspects near an ATM. They fought each other, but he knocked her unconscious and dragged her off screen," Agent Sovina explained with wide eyes.

"Which suspect?" Fang demanded.

Agent Sovina shook her head, frowning. "According to the dispatcher, he was wearing a mask."