Disclaimer: I do not own.

Rating: M for language, violence, drug references, and sexual content.

Author's note: So apparently I'm not the only one who loves the idea of Squall getting it on in his office. Lol. Keep the reviews comin'!


You know I love you so, I love you enough to let you go. –Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"

*********

Irvine ruffled a hand through his hair, "But I don't understand…did it sound like she was being hurt?"

The cadet in training nodded, eyes expectant.

"And you're sure that it was Rinoa Heartilly?"

"I know it was her. I watched her walk in there. When there's a pretty girl you don't just ignore her."

Irvine nodded, "I heard that."

"And she walked in to the office and for a while it was quiet like a meeting was going on and then all of a sudden she started screaming."

"Who else was in the office? Does Squall know?"

"Well I think that's who she was yelling at…she kept yelling his name."

Irvine's face whitened, "Wh…you're sure?"

The younger man nodded, his face becoming more frantic as time passed, "Should we call a nurse from the infirmary in case she's hurt?"

The sniper shook his head, "No…I think I'll just go take a look myself. Were you the only one in the hall?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, well don't speak of this matter to anyone because if I find out that you did, that gun I'm so fond of…it's going to go so far up your a-"

"YES SIR!" The younger man saluted and darted off, not caring to hear the rest of the sentence. Irvine smirked to himself as he headed to the third level, his head muddied. He was rather hoping that she was hurt, as awful as it sounded. Because if not, that left him and Quistis and he wasn't about to be the last virgin standing.

He nearly fell as he rounded the corner, Squall's office just in sight. A younger girl screamed in surprise when he ran into her, "S-sorry!" He blurted out, waving at her as he continued his mad run for Squall's office door.

Irvine's arm automatically outstretched as the doorknob drew closer. 'Almost…there-'

The door opened before he reached it, Rinoa the one standing in the door frame as Irvine let out a yelp, barreling straight into her. They both went soaring through the door frame, landing on the floor with a thud, Rinoa trapped underneath the sniper's weight.

She could feel her heartbeat pounding inside her ear drums, as blood pulsed through her veins, reminding her nerves that she was incredibly sore, and that this tumble was only going to make matters worse. "Irvy…what are you doing?" She whispered as he pushed himself up, his long hair covering most of his face.

"Get off of her, Irvine."

They both jerked their heads upwards to find Squall leaning against his desk, arms folded casually across his chest. The glowering look he was sending Irvine told him that it was best to get off of her quickly. He jumped up, taking hold of Rinoa's hand and elbow, helped her to her feet and helped to brush her off, his hands brushing over her shirt where just underneath two breasts laid. His eyes rounded, his throat drying as he side glanced at Squall. His face seemed just as disinterested, but his eyes flickered with a fire that Irvine knew would result in physical pain at a later date. "S-sorry Rinoa, I didn't mean to…you know-"

Her face was beat red as she backed away from him, continuing to brush herself off, "It's alright."

"What do you need, Irvine?" Squall breathed, seeming rather annoyed in general. Or was that Squall's business tone? Or was that Squall's happy voice? Hell, Irvine couldn't ever tell the difference. The only one Squall ever showed any type of emotion with was Rinoa, and just how much of an emotion did he just show her?

"Well I er…I-I was told by a cadet that there was screaming in here…I came to check and make sure that you didn't need assistance."

Squall took a glance at Rinoa, whose face took on a greenish color. Immediately she took to biting her nails. Then he returned his attention back to Irvine, "If I can't handle a one hundred and fifteen pound woman then I shouldn't be the commander of SeeD."

"Now when you say handle…" Irvine's own mind screamed obscenities at him, completely shocked with what his stupid mouth had just blabbed.

Rinoa stared hard at the back of Irvine's head, a little confused. She knew she had screamed several times but they hadn't been that loud had they? Her eyes wandered over to find Squall placing a hand onto his forehead, another on his hip, as he commonly did when he was beyond words. Apparently they had been.

"Listen Irvine, I don't have time to mess with this right now. I have a lot of paperwork that needs to be done, and then I need to hold a meeting with you all soon. Couldn't you just go and be alone with yourself for a little while?"

Irvine snorted, "Listen here Leonhart, I don't know what the deal is with you but you've been acting peculiar ever since you got back from that little secret mission of yours."

Squall's hands fisted, shaking at his sides. Irvine took quick notice, his blackened eye instantly hurting, "I don't have the time to deal with this right now. Get out and I'll summon you when it's time for the meeting."

The sniper held his arms out in front of him in remission, backing away towards the door, "Alright, sheesh! See you then."

And with that, he jerked around to run out the door, tripping over a plant in the hallway, a loud crash resounding through the halls. Squall groaned in annoyed agony as he sat down behind his desk.

Rinoa's face instantly slackened, the room feeling a little less tense. Luckily they had been dressed and rearranged long before Irvine had decided to barge in on their…meeting.

"He was just worried about me."

"So he thinks I would attack you, does he?"

The sorceress shrugged, "He did say he thought you were acting weird."

A huffing noise was her answer. She frowned. Something was on his mind. There was always something on his mind but when he even refused to acknowledge any conversation she knew that he was in a much darker mood of thought.

"Squall?-"

"Not now, Rin. I need to try and get some of this paperwork done. Go ahead and go do some things you need finished. I'll com you when I need to meet with you all."

Rinoa's body froze, her fingertips feeling heavy all of a sudden. After what they had just done she thought it would have been a door into the hallowed halls of Squall's mind, but instead she felt more distant than she ever had.

And then upon remembering their love making, she remembered telling him that she loved him, but he hadn't answered her back. He had simply kissed her forehead. Her heart felt like it was swelling, and not in the good way. In the horrible, foreboding feeling kinda way.

Fighting back tears that were beginning to cloud her vision she nodded, giving him a slight wave as she too fled from the room, her hands covering her face once she was out of his sight.

Squall simply hung his head, brown locks concealing his eyes. If only she had stayed to look at him a little longer, she would have seen the pain in his as well.

************

Quistis smiled across the table at Zell as he plopped down opposite her. He matched her grin with one of his own, his blue eyes seeming to twinkle.

"So what's on the menu…sloppy death between a bun or spa-don't-get-me-etti?"

Trepe giggled, holding a hand in front of her mouth, "Neither of those two things, actually. They're serving pizza."

Zell clapped his hand together like an eager child, "Well hell yeah! They know a way to a man's heart. Pizza."

"I thought it was through his stomach."

He shrugged, "Well my heart is a little more specific I s'pose."

Again she giggled. He winked before jumping up, "I'll be back."

He wasn't gone long before he returned with two trays, drinks and pizza on their surface. Quistis felt her cheeks burn as he placed the tray he had ordered for her in front of her. He plopped down sloppily again, chomping off a mouthful of the greasy food, "Sheesh Quisty, it's just a tray. What the hell you blushin' for? You allergic or somethin'?"

The former instructor shook her head quickly, busying herself with rearranging the pepperonis on her pizza, "No, I just didn't expect you to go get mine as well. I could have done it."

Zell cocked an eyebrow, the tattoo on his face molding along with this expression, the lightning bolt-like pattern framing his eyes perfectly, "Er…sorry?"

She pushed her glasses up onto the ridge of her nose further, "It's fine, I was just saying that you didn't have to do that, Zell. But thank you very much."

Quistis decided to steal a quick look at him, and much to her surprise he was finishing off his slice. He swallowed, grabbing his drink and sucking it down. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and sighed, "Well so much for that work out. I should know better than to work out before I eat."

"Don't worry about it, you still look great."

Zell blinked.

Quistis nearly fell backwards away from the table, her face the color of a cherry, her mouth moving but no words escaping.

"Thanks Quisty," he said cheerfully, giving her a thumbs up. "So what, you not hungry or something?"

She looked down to find that her food was basically untouched, except for the new locations of the pepperonis. She picked one up and popped it into her mouth. He nodded, "Better. So I wonder when Squall is going to call us for the meeting. I wanna know what's going on. He was acting all…weird."

"Indeed. It seems that whatever it is has greatly shaken his center."

"His center?"

She nodded, feeling a little tense over her choice of words, "It freaked…him…out?"

She said roughly, cracking a smile afterwards.

Zell laughed so loudly that yet again the occupants in the café turned to see what all the ruckus was about. "Awesomeness!" He exclaimed, offering a hand for her to high five. Slowly she raised her hand and slapped her palm against his. She let out a squeak when his fingertips curled over hers, giving them a slight squeeze, "That's the way to be, Quisty. Let loose every once in a while."

He released her hand and went back to downing his drink, stealing one of her pepperonis. "Perhaps we will be called back into active duty?" She offered, taking a bite out of the slice finally.

The martial artist shrugged, "I fuckin' hope so…I'm tired of making rounds all the time and sneaking into the quad to take naps. I want some action!" He exclaimed, his hands fisting as if he were about to engage someone in combat.

Quistis pointed at him, chewing her food simultaneously, "I knew you were napping on your rounds."

He shrugged, "Who doesn't know that I nap on my rounds? I should really just stop sneaking around and just go to my dorm room and kick my feet up for a few hours."

"I'm sure Squall will go for that," she grumbled, tucking a few strands of her blonde hair behind her ears.

A few chime sounds filled the room and then the intercom came over the system, "Would the SeeD unit 7D please report to the 3rd floor for a brief meeting?"

And it was over. "Precise and to the point. Well sorry supper was interrupted Quisty, guess we'll have to reschedule."

She felt her heart flutter again, "That would be fun."

He got up and pointed at his chest, "But this time I get to pick the place. We're gonna go to the city and hit up a restaurant there. Sound cool?"

Quistis got up as well, walking around the table to join him as they walked towards the office, "Sounds fun."

He grinned, "Kick ass!"

************

They all filed in, murmuring amongst themselves as they took seats through out the room, Rinoa huddling close to Selphie, her face rather red for an unknown reason.

Squall sealed the door shut behind him, "Alright, so I asked you here to tell you about the current situation."

'Get on with it, damn!' Zell thought to himself, his face growing blank.

"Shut up Zell," Squall growled, knowing that look all too well.

The tattooed man laughed, scratching at the back of his head.

"As I was saying," the leader breathed, leaning against his desk as he usually did during their meetings. He seemed extra reserved tonight, his eyes rarely locking with anyone else's as they usually did. He seemed almost…sad.

"I was sent to Centra Region to investigate any and all illegal activity that had been reported to Esthar City. Upon arrival I found a black base. I entered it and spoke with the man running the facility. He spoke of a rare device that he had unearthed a few months earlier, tests being performed on this particular device. His assistant, our lovely spare in the infirmary, then approached his commanding officer telling him that he was a fool for even tampering with the device. At this point in time the commander began to change. His eyes glazed over and his voice changed, almost as if he was possessed. And indeed he was possessed."

"By whom?" Irvine asked, placing an arm around Selphie's shoulder.

Squall paused, taking a quick glance around the room, "Ultemecia."

Immediately the air thickened, everyone's breath stuck inside their lungs as they temporarily forgot their ability to breathe, "Ultemecia?" Selphie screeched, her nails digging into Irvine's legs. He whimpered slightly in discomfort.

Squall nodded, "Yes. Apparently the device had been cursed with her spirit. She then possessed the commander upon his unlocking of the device. She has returned, revenge plaguing her mind."

Quistis shook her head, "No, she'll be coming after you!"

He sighed, "I'm aware of this, and anyone close to me. And she must not be allowed to come into close contact with Sorceress Rinoa. Therefore-" Squall pressed a button on his desk, the door immediately opening behind them. A large group of SeeD members walked in. "-I must regretfully remove Rinoa Heartilly as a member of SeeD. She will be transported to the White SeeD ship to stay with them until this battle is over."

Everyone jumped to their feet, Rinoa rushing towards Squall, her face wild, "But…you said, you said I could….I could stay. You told me I could stay with you!" She screamed, tears freely falling from her eyes.

He couldn't stand to look at her. He turned his head, closing his eyes, "I'm sorry, it's for the best. I can't let your life be put into danger. It's too risky."

Rinoa's heart was ripping to pieces. That's why he had let himself get lost in the moment. He wasn't telling her he loved her…he was saying goodbye. She shook her head frantically, tears flying around her like raindrops, "Squall, no, please, don't make me leave…I can't-"

The SeeD members seized holds on her arms and waist, dragging her towards the door, "SQUALL DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE YOU…PLEASE!!!" She choked out, kicking and struggling against their strong grips. "I'll….I'll use magic on them Squall, tell them to get off of me." The other members of Squall's SeeD unit stared unblinking at what was transpiring before them. As much as they wanted to interfere, they knew they couldn't, and even if they could, their bodies wouldn't move.

"They are under reflect spells. I'm sorry," he muttered, his eyes still closed as she was finally taken through the door, her screams of disagreement thundering through the halls.

He had never meant to let her stay, he had only been buying his time when they had made love…he had always had the intentions of letting her go. Rinoa's eyes remained locked on his form, his head hanging in pain as the automatic door slowly closed, sealing her off from the rest of her friends and him. And soon, it was completely closed, taking away her view of Squall, of her life, of everything.


Author's Note:

There was chapter 9. I hope you all enjoyed it. Chapter 10 up tomorrow probably. Review! =)

Oh I'm going to start putting quotes at the beginning of my fics. I always do it when I write but for some reason I have completely forgot to do it on any of my fics so I'm going to go back through and add beginning quotes to them, my completed ones as well.

Much love,

~Nikki~