Rating: R

Disclaimer: Potion: 100 gil.  Tent: 500 gil.  One-way ticket to the Island Closest to Hell: 10,000 gil.  Your expression when you find out that's what you got for a birthday present…  Priceless…  There are some things money can't buy.  For everything else, there's SQUARESOFT.  ("Cut!  Cut!  What the hell?  This is a MASTERCARD commercial.  Take 5!")                      

A/N: I'm sorry for the extreme delay in chapter updates.  I went overseas for a couple of months and then my first year at uni just started.  Don't really know whether I should be satisfied with this chapter though, but here it is.               

Lest We Forget

Chapter 9: Simple Diversions

"It's not always a walk in the park."

The music swirled around the darkened room, reverberating from the walls, leaving a desolate void in its wake.  Each note betrayed emotions so raw and vibrant, that the music breathed life and passion into what was simply a mass build up of sound, a steep crescendo, sustaining it until its very end…an abrupt end, an unnatural death.  Not even an echo mourned its loss.

He waited impatiently for the lights to come back on.  When they didn't, he crept closer to the seat in the middle of the room.  Its back faced towards him.

"Sir…" he hazarded.

A gloved hand, barely visible in the darkness, motioned for silence.       

At the very edge of hearing, a haunting melody picked up, slowly taking its time as though it would fade at the slightest disturbance.  Initially faint and somewhat suppressed, time strengthened it, and it grew to include other voices, other instruments.  The crescendo started again. 

And without warning, the lights flared on. 

He almost cried out in surprise.

After a while, long enough to ensure that the music had truly stopped, he again tried to speak.  This time though, he wasn't interrupted.  "Sir, five SeeDs arrived here last night by train, at approximately twenty three hundred hours.  They checked into a nearby motel.  Surveillance squads have already been installed in the neighbouring rooms."   

"Recall surveillance."

"Yes sir."  Too well trained to argue, he left to carry out his orders.

The lights dimmed, once again shrouding everything in darkness.  

"You didn't ask about the music."  The voice was but a murmur in the empty room.      

***

"What do you mean 'he wants us removed'?  Doesn't he know how important this information is?"

There was a pause as the person on the other end of the line replied.

"ARGH!"  It was hard pressed to tell which was louder, the shout of frustration or the sound of the phone being slammed down.

She paced angrily up and down the room, constantly fighting the urge to unleash her fury on the assortment of electronic equipment set up around her.  They had already established a direct pipe feed from the next room.  Truth to say, it wasn't the most exciting job, but sometimes there were real gems…such as this one.  Movement on the nearest monitor screen caught her eye, and she watched as the brunette man (she believed his name was Squall) pointed at a pair of maps spread out on a rickety looking coffee table.  Squinting, she made one out to be a map of the city, and the other of the sewer system.  The other SeeDs – two men and two women - looked on attentively.  Quickly diving into her seat, she frantically shoved on a pair of headphones that were previously lying forgotten on the desk.  A burst of static, briefly punctuated by voices, filled her ears. 

"…Herd them down there, and then cut them off at the dead end."                   

Damn it!  She appeared to have caught just the very end of their briefing.  Removing the headset, she leaned back on her chair and scowled darkly as the SeeDs hurriedly left the room.  If that idiot from headquarters hadn't called, she would have found out a lot more.  Now, their efforts to recruit Trepe and Almasy could quite possibly be jeopardised.  Since her superiors had backed down, there was only one person she could think of that was in any position to interfere with SeeD activities.  Not that she was particularly looking forward to talking to a man with his sort of reputation.  She reached for the phone.  Hyne, they always said she lacked initiative.               

***

The scene before him closely resembled that of a corny romance movie, the sort people would never admit to watching.  It had the solid features of a show all set to make you laugh, then cry: the good-looking mains, the picturesque settings, the tension in the air, albeit the wrong type.  The only problem was that both leads didn't seem to be talking to each other.  You could even go so far as to say that they were ignoring one another. 

Jarad watched as they sat on a bench not far from him.  They were only on the other side of the pond, but an ocean might as well have separated them, if trouble, or in this case SeeD, decided to rear its ugly head.  And he'd just been warned that there was to be a scheduled appearance shortly.  As far as he was concerned, he would rather Trepe and Almasy weren't in such a public area, although their reasons were not entirely lost on him.  It was sometimes better to be out in the open.  It made it harder to be trapped.

He tugged on the brim of his fisherman's hat, pulling it down lower to cover his face.  A crumpled paper bag was cradled in the other hand.  Digging deep into it, he dragged a fist full of breadcrumbs back out, and scattered them on the surface of the water.  There was no delight to be found in watching the ducks squabble with each other to get to them though; he'd seen enough infighting occur closer to home.  This was just another cover, and like always, he played his role to perfection.  It was to his credit that no one had identified him yet.  You could only pretend to be someone else for so long…pretend to be normal, just for a little while.

Glancing around, he scanned the area for any potential threats.  The park was neither crowded nor empty at this time of day, and people occasionally wandered through its wrought metal gates, desiring a peaceful stroll.  His gaze wandered the pathways, tracing the hypnotic lines of grey that marred the curving greens.  Idyllic, tranquil, the park's atmosphere sought to lull him into a state of complacency, making it all the harder to stay alert. 

Drifting, his eyes locked on a young dark-haired woman in blue standing near the front gate.  A dog sat at her heels.  She was pretty in her own way, but there was something about her that…

Shit!

Recognition struck.  His breath caught in his chest, and he had to force himself to breathe.  Blood pounded in his ears - the drum roll before a firing squad.  It was only through experience that he didn't stand up in shock.  He scanned the park again, frantically this time.  Near one side exit, a blonde man with a black facial tattoo lounged around.  From the way he held himself he was definitely military.  At the other side, a brown haired woman waited, young, but also assuredly military.  He didn't bother to check the back gate.   

Shit!  Shit!  Shit!

SeeD was here.  He'd been slack.  For all his experience, he'd been bloody useless.  And the worst thing was that Trepe and Almasy didn't seem to have noticed their arrival yet.            

***

"What are we going to do?" Seifer's right hand gripped the hilt of Hyperion tightly beneath his grey trench coat.  He shifted his weight, ready to spring up from the bench.  

"Make a break for it.  They wouldn't dare fight us here."  Her voice was calm despite the stress. 

He glanced at her, and then looked quickly around the park.  "All the exits are covered.  Wait…the back gate seems clear."

"It's part of the trap.  They're trying to herd us somewhere quiet."  Quistis glared at her former friends, who were now cautiously moving towards them.  "Standard SeeD procedure.  I taught them that."

"Well, we're already in trouble.  Might as well take our chances outside."  He was expecting her to argue, but surprisingly she just nodded.

"Ready?"

"Wait, we need a diversion."                

***

The grass on the other side of the pond suddenly erupted into flames, a sheer wall of fire that blocked Trepe and Almasy from sight.  From where he sat, Jarad could feel its scorching heat.  Panic spread throughout the park, quicker than the wildfire.  The air was rapidly filling up with smoke and ash.  People were running towards the exits, screaming, crying, and choking, pushing to get out.  Through the haze and licking flames, he thought he saw a pair of indistinct figures run towards the back exit, mere silhouettes in the smoke.  The SeeDs were now moving to chase after them though.  There was only one thing he could do to help the fugitives, and that was buy them more time.  He stood up and walked towards the closest SeeD, the brown haired woman, interposing himself between them and her.  As he neared her, he quickly reached into his brown paper bag once more, this time touching cold metal.  His hand closed around the hilt of the revolver hidden beneath the breadcrumbs.         

***

A flock of birds took flight when the gunshot rang out, the rapid beating of their wings almost drowning out the other sounds of pandemonium.  For a moment, Quistis thought Irvine had found them, but when the ringing in their ears finally cleared, they heard voices shouting in the distance.  They didn't have the time or energy to spare a glance behind them, as they wove their way towards the unguarded gate.  Someone was still chasing after them, and that person didn't sound too far behind.  They reached the exit, unable to pause for breath, and continued to run out onto the deserted street, the air exploding from their lungs in shallow pants.  Quistis searched desperately for a taxi or any sort of vehicle they could commandeer, but there were none.  They wouldn't be able to run forever and the road stretched out straight in front of them, only turning off into a single side alley on the left.  Already she could feel her legs aching despite the adrenalin.  Seifer seemed to share her thoughts, because he suddenly ran into the alley and stopped.  She had no choice but to follow. 

"What are you doing?"  The question came out in short bursts as she gasped for air.  "We'll be trapped here."

"If we stayed out there, we'll have to fight them later anyway.  Might as well do it where they can't surround us."  His logic was flawed, but there was no time for her to argue.  Besides, she too was tired of running. 

At the moment, SeeD apparently wanted to take them alive.  That was the only reason Quistis could come up with for Irvine not having shot them already, and why everyone had gone to all this trouble to trap them.  The problem was that she didn't know how long this attitude would last.  Out on the street, the footsteps were getting louder.  They could hear more than one pair now.  Quistis looked wildly around the alley, her gaze darting everywhere, searching for anything to help them.  Hyne, recently they always seemed to find themselves in these places.  She glanced at Seifer again, and then at his feet.  Next to him was a manhole leading to the city sewers.  Their pursuers were closing in on them.  There was no way they would be able to take on more than two opponents, especially since Seifer had no spells, not to mention the fact that these were the SeeDs who beat Ultimecia.  Only one thing to do then.

"Help me lift the sewer cover," she ordered, already moving towards it.

He grunted and took hold of the other end.  Straining, they managed to slide it to one side, baring open the top few rungs of a ladder.  Quistis' nose wrinkled at the smell that wafted up from deep within the bowels of the city. 

"Anything I should know before going down there?" Seifer smirked as he gestured towards the hole. 

Quistis stared at him in disbelief.  They were about to be captured, their pursuers mere metres away, and here he was…  She snapped off a sarcastic reply before swinging herself down onto the ladder and disappearing into the darkness.  "Shit happens.  Don't worry, you'll feel right at home."

"Damn," he followed after her, pulling the cover close just as someone appeared from around the corner.

***

Squall gazed down at the pitted grey surface of the sewer cover, as it glowed a dull red.  Blistering and warping under the effects of a fira spell, it would be impossible to move by hand now.  Quistis had fused it into the ground, sealing their entrance after them to prevent further pursuit.  Expressionless, his face betrayed nothing, giving no hint of the mixed emotions that raged beneath.  Zell stood a little behind him. 

"How's Selphie?"

"She's okay.  The jerk got away though," Zell shifted uncomfortably. 

"Forget about him.  We've got a mission to finish," Squall turned and stalked out of the alley. 

A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's kept with this story, despite its flaws and the fact that it took so long to be updated.  Thank you, you all possess a thousand times more patience than I will ever have.