Chapter 19 The Meeting
Quistis closed the door and leaned back against it. She let out a heavy sigh as her eyes slipped closed for a moment. 'Oh Hyne, Seifer was right. It looks like Cid is going to send the old team out on this mission.' She had no doubt that's what the meeting was going to cover.
Her thoughts slid back to Seifer. "He's not going to be happy with this," she mumbled. 'He's going to be down right pissed, especially if he doesn't get to go,' she thought pulling herself away from the door. 'Well I'd better get ready. The fireworks will start soon enough when he finds out about this meeting.'
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Seifer glanced at his watch and decided he might as well head to Cid's office. 'Being early couldn't hurt.' As he walked down the hall his thoughts went to Quistis. 'Wonder what she's doing this morning.' A twinge of guilt hit him. 'I need to talk to her about last night. Apologize for walking out like that. I guess after my meeting with Cid, I'll go find her.'
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Irvine sat gazing off into space while he waited for Selphie to get ready. He was pondering his suspicions about Seifer and Quistis.
He didn't hold the resentment towards Seifer that the others did. Irvine hadn't been around before the war and Seifer's betrayal, so he felt he was more objective then the others when it came to the other man.
"Irvine" Selphie said with annoyance "you haven't heard a word I said, have you?"
Irvine looked up at the petite girl and gave her a lazy smile. "Sorry darlin, I was thinking about something."
Selphie bent down and gave him a quick kiss. "That's ok. I'm curious about this meeting too," she said assuming that's where his thoughts had been.
"Well are we ready then?" Irvine asked not correcting her. Selphie nodded her head and grabbed his arm pulling him out of his seat.
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Seifer reached his destination and pulled the door of Cid's outer office open. He saw Xu sitting at her desk, working at her computer, so he stopped in front of her.
Xu looked up and frowned when she saw it was Seifer. "You're early," she said in a barely civil tone.
"Hyne, Xu, do you ever wake up on the right side of the bed?" he asked. Shaking his head, he smirked at her.
Xu looked at him for a moment before answering, "Not where you're concerned. He's expecting you, so you can go on in." Seifer just smiled as she waved him to Cid's office.
Seifer knocked before entering Cid's inner office. Cid was sitting at his desk and stood up when Seifer came in. "Ah good, Seifer. I'm glad you're a little early. I wanted to get a chance to talk to you before the others join us."
Cid didn't see the shadow that passed over Seifer's eyes. 'The others?' he thought.
Cid continued, "Please sit down." He gestured to a chair then seated himself. "About yesterday. I know what a shock it was finding out Perry has escaped but …you must understand that I cannot allow…"
Xu knocked on the door and then stuck her head in "I'm sorry for the interruption, Sir, but the others are here."
"Please have them wait in the conference room. Thank you, Xu" Cid told her then turned back to Seifer. "What I was going to say is…well, it doesn't matter right now…we have more information on the current situation…and I need to know that you will try to remain calm during this meeting. I don't want a repeat of what happened yesterday." Cid stood up, looking at Seifer waiting for an answer.
Seifer stood up and coolly looked over at Cid. "I'll do my best to control my…um, temper," Seifer answered. If he sounded a little sarcastic, Cid didn't seem to notice.
Cid nodded "Good." He walked around his desk "Everyone's waiting." He smiled at Seifer "Shall we."
"Why not?" Seifer answered flippantly. Standing up he followed Cid out of the office.
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Seifer trailed Cid into the conference room then stopped. He didn't let the surprise he felt show on his face as he looked at the familiar faces seated around the table.
"Well this must be my lucky day," Seifer said with a scowl on his face. Four pairs of eyes swung towards the blond man standing behind Cid.
Cid cleared his throat " Seifer please take a seat. Thank you all for rearranging your schedules…"
Seifer stepped around Cid and moved over to an empty chair next to Irvine and flopped down in it. He looked around the table, an amused smile on his lips. Close to the head of the table was their 'valiant' commander, Squall listening politely to Cid, then an empty chair. On the other side of Seifer, sat Irvine and next to him Selphie. They were more engrossed in each other at the moment then what Cid was saying.
Then there was Zell, sitting across from him, glaring. Seifer lifted his eyebrow and smirked at the other man in silent challenge. He could see Zell turning red in his attempt to hold onto his temper.
'Oh, this is too easy' Seifer thought as Zell jumped up.
"What the hell is he doing here, anyway? He's not even SeeD." Zell said heatedly, pointing at Seifer.
"Zell" Squall said, a warning tone in his voice.
At that moment the door opened and Quistis came into view. "I'm sorry, I'm late," she told Cid as she moved to take the seat between Squall and Seifer.
"That's alright, my dear. You haven't missed anything. Agent Anders isn't here yet." Cid explained to her. "But" he said turning to the angry blonde boy "if you will be patient, Zell, everything will be explained."
As he said this Ian also came in the room. "Sorry. I got held up by a call," he said looking around the room. Cid nodded and Ian took a chair.
"Ok, now that we're all here, I think we can begin. For those of you that don't know him" Cid gestured to Ian "this is Special Agent Ian Anders. He is here at the request of President Loire, and will be in charge of your next mission." At the mention of his father, Squall looked up with interest while Cid continued "and all your cooperation is to be given to him." He looked around the room. "Agent Anders I'll let you brief your team." With that said, Cid stepped away from the head of the table and went to sit down.
Quistis stole a quick glance at Seifer as Ian was preparing to speak. She wondered how he was going to handle this. He appeared calm, almost bored even, but when she looked down, she saw his hands were gripped tightly together in his lap under the table. Looking away she wished she could touch him, let him know she understood how he felt.
Seifer felt Quistis's eyes skim over him briefly but didn't look up to meet them. His composure was under tight control and he couldn't allow himself to look into those eyes. He knew what they would hold.
"The main objective of this mission is going to be the capture of one Jonas Perry. He was, until recently the Warden of the Esthar Central Prison. This in it's self wouldn't be that difficult of a task for a trained team such as yourselves but the new information I just received before coming into this meeting is that Mr. Perry has fled into Galbadia. And although Galbadia isn't officially saying anything, we think they are giving him aide. Are there any questions, so far?" Ian looked around the group.
Irvine spoke up "What is he wanted for, exactly?"
"Warden Perry abused his power. He offered his prison and the services of his specially trained guards to anyone with enough money to pay. The guards that didn't go along with his plans met with a variety of fatal accidents and then replaced them with his own men. Esthar Intelligence became aware of Perry's activities and placed several agents including myself undercover in the prison."
"But Quistis was sent on a mission there? Why was that, if Esthar Intelligence was already there?" Selphie asked.
"Garden didn't become involved until after Mr. Almasy was taken prisoner." Ian answered. Several eyes glanced at Seifer but nobody made any comment. "Then Headmaster Kramer contacted President Loire. We knew about Garden's plans but you didn't know about us at that time."
Ian passed out folders to each person at the table then continued, "inside you will find a full report on Jonas Perry. There are also pictures of him and his top men."
Quistis flipped the folder open and looked down at Perry's picture in distaste. She heard a low growl and looked over to see Seifer staring at the same picture, an expression of pure hatred on his face.
As Seifer gazed at the picture in front of him, his mind recalled past events.
**Flashback** "So Mr. Almasy," Perry said softly in his ear "are you ready to tell me what I want to know."
Seifer's head hung down and he didn't have the strength to lift it. Perry grabbed a fist full of his hair, pulling his head back. "Look at me when I talk to you."
Seifer, who could barely open his eyes, mumbled between split and bloody lips "Never." Perry looked amused "Too bad you wont live long enough to enjoy your new found code of ethics."**End**
He heard Perry's laughter echoing in his head and jumped when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Are you alright?" Quistis asked, concerned. He looked up and nodded but she could see his face was pale and feel him tremble slightly.
Ian was speaking again and Seifer concentrated on that, getting himself under control once again.
"Now that you've all had a chance to look over Perry's file we will move on. The reason he is so dangerous to us at this time and the reason a team of SeeD's are being sent after him is" Ian paused making sure he had everyone's attention "he has been attempting to gain any knowledge he can about Ultimecia and her power."
There was a collective gasp around the room and all eyes swung towards Seifer, with the exception of Cid and Quistis.
"Is that why he's here," Zell jumped out of his seat. They all knew that Seifer had been at Esthar Central Prison because of the rumors that had circulated through the Garden. "What did you do to betray us this time," Zell snorted.
"Sit down Zell…now," Cid said, authority ringing in his voice.
"But…but" Zell saw the serious look Cid was giving him and decided he better not argue.
"Now Zell" Cid repeated. Zell did as he was told but gave Seifer a cold look in the process.
Seifer looked at Zell with an unreadable expression on his face. Both Quistis and Irvine sat on either side of him tensed, waiting for Seifer to do something and were relieved when Ian took charge of the situation.
"Mr. Dincht, there are reasons why Mr. Almasy is here. I have been made aware of the fact that he is not SeeD but I requested that he join us on this mission. These reasons will be made clear to you and the others in due time." He looked at Zell, who nodded.
"I would like you all to go over the reports and familiarize yourselves with the photo's. As soon as E.I. has contacted me, which I don't expect for a few days, we will be leaving. So for now we are on stand by. I think that I've taken enough of your time this morning so if Headmaster Kramer doesn't have anything further to add," he looked over to Cid, who shook his head, "then you may go, but I would like to meet with you all again tomorrow. Thank you."
Ian stopped Seifer as he was leaving the conference room. "Could I have another moment of your time?"
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A/N: Finally done! I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long to get posted. For some reason it was like pulling teeth to get it finished but there will be some action coming up. As always thanks for the great reviews.
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Quistis closed the door and leaned back against it. She let out a heavy sigh as her eyes slipped closed for a moment. 'Oh Hyne, Seifer was right. It looks like Cid is going to send the old team out on this mission.' She had no doubt that's what the meeting was going to cover.
Her thoughts slid back to Seifer. "He's not going to be happy with this," she mumbled. 'He's going to be down right pissed, especially if he doesn't get to go,' she thought pulling herself away from the door. 'Well I'd better get ready. The fireworks will start soon enough when he finds out about this meeting.'
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Seifer glanced at his watch and decided he might as well head to Cid's office. 'Being early couldn't hurt.' As he walked down the hall his thoughts went to Quistis. 'Wonder what she's doing this morning.' A twinge of guilt hit him. 'I need to talk to her about last night. Apologize for walking out like that. I guess after my meeting with Cid, I'll go find her.'
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Irvine sat gazing off into space while he waited for Selphie to get ready. He was pondering his suspicions about Seifer and Quistis.
He didn't hold the resentment towards Seifer that the others did. Irvine hadn't been around before the war and Seifer's betrayal, so he felt he was more objective then the others when it came to the other man.
"Irvine" Selphie said with annoyance "you haven't heard a word I said, have you?"
Irvine looked up at the petite girl and gave her a lazy smile. "Sorry darlin, I was thinking about something."
Selphie bent down and gave him a quick kiss. "That's ok. I'm curious about this meeting too," she said assuming that's where his thoughts had been.
"Well are we ready then?" Irvine asked not correcting her. Selphie nodded her head and grabbed his arm pulling him out of his seat.
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Seifer reached his destination and pulled the door of Cid's outer office open. He saw Xu sitting at her desk, working at her computer, so he stopped in front of her.
Xu looked up and frowned when she saw it was Seifer. "You're early," she said in a barely civil tone.
"Hyne, Xu, do you ever wake up on the right side of the bed?" he asked. Shaking his head, he smirked at her.
Xu looked at him for a moment before answering, "Not where you're concerned. He's expecting you, so you can go on in." Seifer just smiled as she waved him to Cid's office.
Seifer knocked before entering Cid's inner office. Cid was sitting at his desk and stood up when Seifer came in. "Ah good, Seifer. I'm glad you're a little early. I wanted to get a chance to talk to you before the others join us."
Cid didn't see the shadow that passed over Seifer's eyes. 'The others?' he thought.
Cid continued, "Please sit down." He gestured to a chair then seated himself. "About yesterday. I know what a shock it was finding out Perry has escaped but …you must understand that I cannot allow…"
Xu knocked on the door and then stuck her head in "I'm sorry for the interruption, Sir, but the others are here."
"Please have them wait in the conference room. Thank you, Xu" Cid told her then turned back to Seifer. "What I was going to say is…well, it doesn't matter right now…we have more information on the current situation…and I need to know that you will try to remain calm during this meeting. I don't want a repeat of what happened yesterday." Cid stood up, looking at Seifer waiting for an answer.
Seifer stood up and coolly looked over at Cid. "I'll do my best to control my…um, temper," Seifer answered. If he sounded a little sarcastic, Cid didn't seem to notice.
Cid nodded "Good." He walked around his desk "Everyone's waiting." He smiled at Seifer "Shall we."
"Why not?" Seifer answered flippantly. Standing up he followed Cid out of the office.
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Seifer trailed Cid into the conference room then stopped. He didn't let the surprise he felt show on his face as he looked at the familiar faces seated around the table.
"Well this must be my lucky day," Seifer said with a scowl on his face. Four pairs of eyes swung towards the blond man standing behind Cid.
Cid cleared his throat " Seifer please take a seat. Thank you all for rearranging your schedules…"
Seifer stepped around Cid and moved over to an empty chair next to Irvine and flopped down in it. He looked around the table, an amused smile on his lips. Close to the head of the table was their 'valiant' commander, Squall listening politely to Cid, then an empty chair. On the other side of Seifer, sat Irvine and next to him Selphie. They were more engrossed in each other at the moment then what Cid was saying.
Then there was Zell, sitting across from him, glaring. Seifer lifted his eyebrow and smirked at the other man in silent challenge. He could see Zell turning red in his attempt to hold onto his temper.
'Oh, this is too easy' Seifer thought as Zell jumped up.
"What the hell is he doing here, anyway? He's not even SeeD." Zell said heatedly, pointing at Seifer.
"Zell" Squall said, a warning tone in his voice.
At that moment the door opened and Quistis came into view. "I'm sorry, I'm late," she told Cid as she moved to take the seat between Squall and Seifer.
"That's alright, my dear. You haven't missed anything. Agent Anders isn't here yet." Cid explained to her. "But" he said turning to the angry blonde boy "if you will be patient, Zell, everything will be explained."
As he said this Ian also came in the room. "Sorry. I got held up by a call," he said looking around the room. Cid nodded and Ian took a chair.
"Ok, now that we're all here, I think we can begin. For those of you that don't know him" Cid gestured to Ian "this is Special Agent Ian Anders. He is here at the request of President Loire, and will be in charge of your next mission." At the mention of his father, Squall looked up with interest while Cid continued "and all your cooperation is to be given to him." He looked around the room. "Agent Anders I'll let you brief your team." With that said, Cid stepped away from the head of the table and went to sit down.
Quistis stole a quick glance at Seifer as Ian was preparing to speak. She wondered how he was going to handle this. He appeared calm, almost bored even, but when she looked down, she saw his hands were gripped tightly together in his lap under the table. Looking away she wished she could touch him, let him know she understood how he felt.
Seifer felt Quistis's eyes skim over him briefly but didn't look up to meet them. His composure was under tight control and he couldn't allow himself to look into those eyes. He knew what they would hold.
"The main objective of this mission is going to be the capture of one Jonas Perry. He was, until recently the Warden of the Esthar Central Prison. This in it's self wouldn't be that difficult of a task for a trained team such as yourselves but the new information I just received before coming into this meeting is that Mr. Perry has fled into Galbadia. And although Galbadia isn't officially saying anything, we think they are giving him aide. Are there any questions, so far?" Ian looked around the group.
Irvine spoke up "What is he wanted for, exactly?"
"Warden Perry abused his power. He offered his prison and the services of his specially trained guards to anyone with enough money to pay. The guards that didn't go along with his plans met with a variety of fatal accidents and then replaced them with his own men. Esthar Intelligence became aware of Perry's activities and placed several agents including myself undercover in the prison."
"But Quistis was sent on a mission there? Why was that, if Esthar Intelligence was already there?" Selphie asked.
"Garden didn't become involved until after Mr. Almasy was taken prisoner." Ian answered. Several eyes glanced at Seifer but nobody made any comment. "Then Headmaster Kramer contacted President Loire. We knew about Garden's plans but you didn't know about us at that time."
Ian passed out folders to each person at the table then continued, "inside you will find a full report on Jonas Perry. There are also pictures of him and his top men."
Quistis flipped the folder open and looked down at Perry's picture in distaste. She heard a low growl and looked over to see Seifer staring at the same picture, an expression of pure hatred on his face.
As Seifer gazed at the picture in front of him, his mind recalled past events.
**Flashback** "So Mr. Almasy," Perry said softly in his ear "are you ready to tell me what I want to know."
Seifer's head hung down and he didn't have the strength to lift it. Perry grabbed a fist full of his hair, pulling his head back. "Look at me when I talk to you."
Seifer, who could barely open his eyes, mumbled between split and bloody lips "Never." Perry looked amused "Too bad you wont live long enough to enjoy your new found code of ethics."**End**
He heard Perry's laughter echoing in his head and jumped when he felt a hand on his arm.
"Are you alright?" Quistis asked, concerned. He looked up and nodded but she could see his face was pale and feel him tremble slightly.
Ian was speaking again and Seifer concentrated on that, getting himself under control once again.
"Now that you've all had a chance to look over Perry's file we will move on. The reason he is so dangerous to us at this time and the reason a team of SeeD's are being sent after him is" Ian paused making sure he had everyone's attention "he has been attempting to gain any knowledge he can about Ultimecia and her power."
There was a collective gasp around the room and all eyes swung towards Seifer, with the exception of Cid and Quistis.
"Is that why he's here," Zell jumped out of his seat. They all knew that Seifer had been at Esthar Central Prison because of the rumors that had circulated through the Garden. "What did you do to betray us this time," Zell snorted.
"Sit down Zell…now," Cid said, authority ringing in his voice.
"But…but" Zell saw the serious look Cid was giving him and decided he better not argue.
"Now Zell" Cid repeated. Zell did as he was told but gave Seifer a cold look in the process.
Seifer looked at Zell with an unreadable expression on his face. Both Quistis and Irvine sat on either side of him tensed, waiting for Seifer to do something and were relieved when Ian took charge of the situation.
"Mr. Dincht, there are reasons why Mr. Almasy is here. I have been made aware of the fact that he is not SeeD but I requested that he join us on this mission. These reasons will be made clear to you and the others in due time." He looked at Zell, who nodded.
"I would like you all to go over the reports and familiarize yourselves with the photo's. As soon as E.I. has contacted me, which I don't expect for a few days, we will be leaving. So for now we are on stand by. I think that I've taken enough of your time this morning so if Headmaster Kramer doesn't have anything further to add," he looked over to Cid, who shook his head, "then you may go, but I would like to meet with you all again tomorrow. Thank you."
Ian stopped Seifer as he was leaving the conference room. "Could I have another moment of your time?"
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A/N: Finally done! I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long to get posted. For some reason it was like pulling teeth to get it finished but there will be some action coming up. As always thanks for the great reviews.
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