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Chapter 9 – Command

Gradually Squall's thoughts returned from their banishment, gently prodding his consciousness back to the real world, where his belt buckle was digging uncomfortably into his belly, and he remembered that only a thin, unlocked door stood between them and a potentially hostile universe.

"Rin… Rin, are you OK?"

"Never better." She mischievously licked one of his nipples, making him squeal in a very un-commander sort of way.

"We'd better get back," he said, "before anyone misses us and jumps to the right conclusions."

"I guess you're right." He felt her move away, standing up and swearing as she bumped into something in the dark. "After all, I don't want people to think I'd put out on a first date."

He reluctantly dragged himself to his feet, zipped his jeans and fixed his belts.

"OK?"

"Fine. Ready to open the door?"

"Maybe." He hesitated, one hand on the door handle. "Rin…"

"What?"

"How do we know no-one's outside?"

"Oh. Well, we'd hear them, wouldn't we?"

"We might not."

"Well, just open the door a crack and peek."

"But what if they're coming from the other direction?"

"You're good at this, aren't you?"

"Standard training, really."

"OK. Well, pop a scan spell out under the door, then."

"Did you major in Misuse of Magic 101 by any chance?"

"Here, let me." ~scan~

"You're a bad girl." He pulled her closer to him. "I may have to spank you."

She giggled. "It's OK. No-one about. Now, come on, let's go."

He opened the door slowly, blinking in the sudden light. No sooner had they emerged than they heard footsteps coming round the corner from the direction of the party.

Rinoa swiftly shut the door behind them and dropped to one knee.

"Oh, there you are," said Selphie, observing Rinoa curiously. "Everything alright?"

"Yes," said Rinoa casually, "just my earring had fallen off. All fine now."

"Good. I'm afraid Xu's looking for you, Squall. I think there's some kind of problem."

Squall desperately tried to wrench his mind back from the happy, fluffy place it was trying to hide and make it useful again.

"What's up?" he managed.

"She didn't say, but she looked really worried. She wants you to go to her in the Infirmary. She said your pager was off."

"Oh. Mmm. Probably the battery."

"Right. Er… Squall?"

"What?"

She stood on tiptoe and whispered loudly in his ear, "you might want to do your shirt up properly. I think you got the buttons in the wrong order."

"Oh. Fuck. Thanks," he flustered, frantically re-buttoning. "We were… um…"

"I'm sure you were," said Selphie with a grin, but the amusement faded from her face so fast as to jolt awake that part of Squall's brain that made him a good leader.

"Rinoa, I'm sorry, I'll have to go deal with this. Will you be OK?"

"Of course." She squeezed his hand. "I'll see you back at the party."

"Come on, Rin," Selphie looped her arm through her friend's. "You can tell me all about Commander Leonhart's buttons. I'm looking for something new to put on the web site."

To say blind panic crossed Squall's face would be an understatement.

"My lips are sealed, I'm afraid, Selphie," said Rinoa with a wink in Squall's direction.

Squall made a strangled noise, overwhelmed and feeling completely out of his depth. He suddenly wished Irvine was there to help.

"I'll… um… see you later," he mumbled. He turned to head for the Infirmary at a run, almost grateful to be leaving Selphie's knowing eyes and slipping back into a role as old and comfortable as the gloves he wore in battle.

* * * * * * *

Squall arrived at the Infirmary to find Xu, Quistis and a very pale Irvine waiting for him.

"Guys," he said, "what's up?"

"It's Risha," said Quistis. "She's collapsed."

"Risha? Chet's student? What's wrong with her? It's not drugs, is it?"

"No, I don't think so," Quistis suddenly realised the thought hadn't even occurred to her. A strange life we lead, she thought, where someone's ill at a party full of teenagers and we all automatically think of magic and monsters rather than drink and drugs.

"She's frightened," said Irvine, "really, really frightened."

"We tried to page you," said Xu. "Nobody answers their fucking pagers any more."

Squall frowned, irritated and a little guilty. "Guys, can we start at the beginning? I'm sorry about the pager, right? I turned it off. I won't do it again. Let me get this straight. Risha collapsed, we don't know why but she's spooked. Is that about it? What does the Doc say?"

"She's not here yet," Xu bit her lip but couldn't help herself: "I think she turned her pager off too."

"She's not just spooked," murmured Irvine. "She's really, really frightened. Ether says she saw something she didn't want to see."

"Are you OK, Irvine? You look fucking awful."

"Cheers man," Irvine gave a weak smile, "that makes me feel so much better. We really ought to talk about getting you on that Communication for Commanders course, you know."

"Shit, I'm sorry, Irvine. I didn't…"

"I'm fine. I just linked with her for a moment, is all. I used Ether to send her to sleep. She was so…" he shuddered, "it was just..."

Squall put a hand on Irvine's shoulder, concern in his eyes, remembering the power of their junction with Ether earlier and… something else flickered through his mind, a memory or a thought, he wasn't sure, but… it was gone. "Take it easy."

Irvine nodded.

"So what do we know?" Squall shook away the ghosts in his mind.

"Not much," said Quistis. "Just she was fine one minute, on the floor screaming the next. She wants to forget something. Irvine says it's bad, she might not recover. And she said something about the Dia, but we don't know what, or even if it's important."

" Have you called Chet?"

"He's. not. answering. his. pager." hissed Xu.

"Or his mail, or his phone," added Quistis. "And he's not in his quarters, or the training centre, or the lab."

"That's not like him," said Squall. "He's so proper. He would at least have left a voicemail saying where he was."

"Well, he didn't," said Xu, "not a word."

Squall thought for a moment, assimilating the notion, disturbing for a whole set of reasons, that Chet might have disappeared.

"I don't like any of this. Quisty, any ideas?"

Quistis shook her head.

"OK. What about the Fire Caverns? What happened to Risha's guardian?"

"Oceanus? It's still around the beach somewhere, as far as we know," said Xu. "It's not very communicative, but non-threatening. Just pissed off."

"Does it have any telepathic skills? Could it junction of its own accord?"

"No, no chance. Just water, it does this cool surfy thing… it used to junction with Nida a lot, never gave him any trouble."

"OK. So first thing tomorrow I'll go down and see if we can talk to it. Xu, can you tell Nida to meet me at by the front gates at 6am? And Irvine? We might need Ether."

Irvine cringed inwardly at the thought of 6am, but nodded.

"You could let me junction him myself if you like. You might need the sleep?"

What, and let him tell you all my secrets? "No man, I'll be fine. I think I need a drink, though. Are we done here?" He felt suddenly anxious to leave the smell of disinfectant and the sterile walls, and go somewhere he could shake off the fear and worry he'd inherited from Risha.

"I think so. Quisty? Xu?"

Quistis got up, pulling her dress down towards her knees somewhat self-consciously. "Yeah, let's go."

"Squall…" Xu looked at him, and for the first time he recognised something a bit like panic in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have taken this whole thing with Chet more seriously."

"You weren't to know. He's always been so… dependable. Stuffy, maybe, but dependable."

"I thought so too, but… oh, it doesn't matter." She massaged her temples with her fingertips. "Look, I've got an awful migraine. I'm going to go to bed. Could you tell Selphie I'll see her in the morning?"

Squall missed the startled look on Quistis' face. "Oh, the mission briefing," he said. "Of course. And Rinoa."

"Yeah. That's right. Rinoa too. And Quistis, you get my message?"

Quistis nodded. "A mission?" she said. Almost hopefully.

"Yes. 9am, right?"

"Right," said Quistis, pleased. "9am. I'll be there. Look, take care, Xu. Don't worry, we'll sort it. We always do."

Xu smiled gratefully. "Go on, get back to the party," she shooed at the others, "I'll be fine."

But after they'd gone she went and sat at Risha's side, holding one tiny, pale hand in her own, and couldn't stop the tears falling down her cheeks.

* * * * * * *

Squall noticed Rinoa as soon as they got back to the party: she was dancing with Selphie in a way that reminded him sharply of how she'd felt in his arms in the cramped confines of the cupboard…

"OK, Squall, drink?" Irvine interrupted his thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah. Just a beer. Please."

Rinoa and Selphie joined them, just as Squall was trying to get his body back under control.

"So," said Selphie, hoisting herself up onto a bar stool, "what's up?"

"The usual," said Irvine, recovering his strength a little as he drained his Estharian brandy in one go, "something out there playing with peoples' minds and posing a threat to all human kind." He signalled the bartender to refill his glass. "Probably," he added.

"That's about it," agreed Squall. "Nothing we can't handle."

"That's what I like to hear." Selphie was actually grinning. "We'll just blow 'em away as always. BOOM!"

Quistis shook her head sadly. "None of you know the meaning of the word danger, do you?"

"Not really," confessed Selphie. "By the way, where's Xu?"

"She had a headache," said Squall. "She said she'd see you in the morning. 9am. Mission briefing?"

"Oh. Mission?"

"Yeah. That goes for you too, Rin, and Quisty."

"Oh, my first proper SeeD mission!" Rinoa squealed, failing completely to hide her excitement. "And with you guys! Oh, I can hardly wait!"

Squall smiled to himself, remembering a younger, more timid Rinoa, always hiding behind him, needing rescuing. He felt a surge of pride at just how far she'd come. "Just don't fuck up," he said, wanting to ruffle her hair affectionately, but not having the courage. "It's really important."

"Of course we won't fuck up. Will we Selph?"

"Boom," said Selphie, a gleam in her eyes. "Come 'n Irvy, dance with me."

"OK. Probably a good idea," Irvine looked at his empty glass with regret, "I shouldn't get shitfaced if I've got to be up at the crack of dawn anyway."

"Oh, poor Irvy. Why? Is our nasty Commander ordering you off somewhere too?"

Squall frowned. He was beginning to think people were taking advantage of his rare good humour.

"We do have a serious threat to deal with," he said sternly.

Selphie gulped. "Of course. Sorry. Come on Irvy." She dragged him off to the dance floor.

"Um… I think I might go and talk to some of Risha's friends," said Quistis. "Just see if they can shed any more light on anything. And fill Zell in on what's happened." She nodded at Squall and Rinoa, and left.

Rinoa put a hand on Squall's arm. "Are you OK?"

He sighed. "It's taking a lot of adjusting to," he said. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

"You've been Commander for over two years now," she reassured him. "And a good one. You know that."

"Yes." He looked in her eyes, knowing he was lost already. "I meant us. I'm not sure I'm ready for us. For being … yours." For being happy. For letting go of the fear.

"Oh. Well. We can take it slow." She smiled at him. "It feels weird to me, too. Very… sudden."

He nodded. "OK." He rummaged in his pocket for something. "Look, I was going to give you this later, but I guess I ought to get to bed soon… um... on my own. I have to be Commander tomorrow and," fuck, I can't believe I'm saying this " I won't get any sleep otherwise. Anyway," he offered her a small gift box, "this is yours."

* * * * * * *

Irvine saw Rinoa's delight as she opened the box and took out the chain with Squall's ring on it, watched Squall's trembling fingers as he fastened it securely around her neck. He could see the sparkle of magic in the chain where he and Squall had mended it, using Ether's power to infuse the new links with protection and aura spells.

He looked away as they embraced, turning back to Selphie, a smile on his lips.

* * * * * * *

Within an hour or so the party was almost over. Squall had long since gone to bed, but Irvine wasn't ready to close his eyes just yet. Risha's fear was fading from his memory, but he could still feel it, just at the back of his mind, and he knew it would come back when he was alone.

So he sat with Selphie and Rinoa and drank beer, putting off the inevitable. Rinoa virtuously stuck to orange juice in preparation for her first mission, but Irvine noticed that Selphie seemed to have no such concerns, almost matching him bottle for bottle.

Rinoa yawned. "It's been a long day," she said. "I don't think I can take much more excitement."

"Good thing Squall's already gone to bed, then," said Irvine, aware that drinking had loosened his tongue but not really caring. He knew Rinoa was too happy to really mind, however much he teased her.

She span a beer mat at him, but he caught it deftly, sniper reflexes strong despite the alcohol.

"So, Rinoa," Selphie leaned on one elbow, looking sideways at her friend, "how was he, then?"

"Selphie! You can't ask me that!"

"I can. I just did. I'm pissed, I can do what I like. Have you told Irvy about the Commander's buttons?"

Irvine raised an eyebrow.

"Selphie! No. Of course not. And I didn't tell you, either."

"'S right! You didn't! Come on. Tell us." Selphie sidled conspiratorially up to Irvine to whisper loudly in his ear. "He had his buttons done up all wrong."

"It was dark," protested Rinoa. "It wasn't his fault." She looked at Selphie and Irvine's triumphant grins. "And that's all I'm telling you. Ever."

"So?" said Selphie, "marks out of ten? I've always wondered. All that brooding and the gunblade and all." She ignored Irvine as he elbowed her in the ribs. "Go on, you can tell us. We're your friends."

"At least twenty," said Rinoa. "Now come on, Selph, we ought to be in bed. We've got to get up in the morning."

"Twenty!" squealed Selphie. "I've never had a twenty," she added sadly, "at least, not a man twenty…"

"Rin's right, 'Elf," Irvine interrupted. "You ought to go get some rest. And try to drink some water. Xu won't appreciate you turning up with a hangover in the morning."

"Okay." Selphie stood, a little unsteadily. "Come on graduate-girly. I'm going to get you into bed."

Irvine pushed a rather obvious image from his mind.

"Goodnight Irvine," said Rinoa. "Thanks for everything."

Irvine grinned. "Glad it worked out for you. Now, take care tomorrow, girls. Don't give Quistis any trouble."

"Where is Quistis?" Rinoa looked round, "I didn't see her leave."

"She's over there," Irvine nodded towards the dancefloor, "with Mr Firearms."

"Fuck me," said Selphie. "She really is."

"Uh-oh," added Rinoa. "That's one development too much for today. Come on Selph. Irvine, you ought to be getting some sleep too."

Irvine shrugged. "In a while. I might need to make sure Quistis doesn't get into trouble. Or, if she does, that we can all know about it in the morning."

Rinoa grinned, and offered Selphie her arm. "Lean on me, girlfriend," she said. "Let's see if we can get you back to your room without you falling over."

Irvine watched the two of them leave, Selphie giggling loudly and peeking over her shoulder and waving at Quistis until Rinoa pushed her out of the door. Quistis didn't seem to notice, all her attention focused on her new friend.

Good for Quisty thought Irvine, about time she found the fun.

He considered going to find Zell: maybe a bit of juicy Quistis-related gossip might be a way to break the ice between him; but he thought better of it. He had been drinking, after all, and Rinoa was right, it had been a long day. As much as he wanted to sort things out with Zell now wasn't a good time.

He surveyed the wreckage of empty bottles and glasses the table in front of him, and suddenly felt very alone. Everyone else seemed to have ended the day better off than they started, while he felt far more unsettled than he had in a long time, and not just because of Risha.

Oh well, nothing for it. Have to go to bed and face the demons.

Irvine finished his beer and was about to leave when he looked down at the mat he'd been holding ever since Rinoa threw it at him. It had a number on it.

A phone number.

For a moment Irvine tried to figure out why Rinoa would be giving him her phone number, before he spotted the writing underneath.

Call me if you've finished saving the world before 1am.

Frila

Frila. The gunblade specialist. Hotshot.

A smile spread slowly across Irvine's face, and he reached for his phone.

* * * * * * *

"Frila? I just got your beer mat."

"Irvine? Hi! Is the world safe, then?"

"For now. Just wanted to say sorry I didn't get you that drink. Things happened. Where are you?"

"That's okay. I'm in the quad."

"Well, look, if I can manage to get served at the bar without having to prevent an apocalypse, is it too late to bring you a beer?"

"Okay. If you're not here in ten minutes I'll just assume the worst and go to bed, right?"

"That's fair."

Thankfully this time he managed to negotiate the bar without incident, and made his way outside.

There were only a few people around, and he saw her straight away, standing not far from where he'd found Risha earlier. He shuddered at the memory, the fear still too fresh in his mind. Frila was standing on her own, looking up at the stars, holding a black leather jacket around her shoulders to keep out the chill.

"Frila."

"Capt.. Irvine. Hi." He'd almost forgotten how pretty she was.

"Sorry again. Here," he held out a beer, "better late than never." She accepted the bottle with a smile. "So, have you had a good graduation?"

"Yeah. All things considered," she said. "Thanks for… well, for talking to me. Again."

"Well, I didn't find out everything I wanted to about you," said Irvine. "Like, f'r instance, how you came to be a SeeD."

"My father always wanted me to," she said. "From when I was tiny. His oldest brother died in the sorceress wars. I think it's kind of a revenge sort of thing, really. But it seemed a good idea."

"What about your mother?"

"I don't have a mother," she looked away, the first time he'd seen her look any less than cheerful. "She left us when I was born."

"I'm sorry."

Frila shrugged. "Don't be. At least I have a father. And he's very good to me."

"He must be proud."

"I wouldn't go that far. But he's okay. What about you? Family?"

"Um, no. No parents. Orphan."

"Oh, of course. I knew that. Shit, I'm sorry. I wish my brain was better connected to my mouth. I always say such stupid things."

"That's okay. And I'm sure you don't." He smiled at her. "I got over it a while back, really. I don't remember my parents at all. Just the orphanage. And then Galbadia. They always said I looked like a Galbadian, so it seemed the right place to go, somehow."

"So that's how you became a SeeD?"

"In a roundabout kind of way. Hey, you're shivering. Do you want to go inside?"

"Not just yet. Unless you're cold?"

He shook his head. She slipped her arms into her jacket; he noticed she was wearing slightly battered jeans and a faded green T shirt, obviously not into the girly party look. She wrapped her lips around the neck of her beer bottle and took a swig.

"So where you from, hotshot?" he asked.

"Oh, Balamb, born and bred. My father works in the junk shop."

"Was it his idea for you to take up the gunblade then? Or did you pick one up in his workshop at the age of three and decide it was your destiny?"

She laughed. "I always thought they were cool," she said. "At first it was at least partly because people said it was so hard to learn. I'm a real sucker for a challenge. And later on, when I came here, you know, Squall Leonhart and all. Black leather, saving the world. Always had a certain appeal."

"Oh yeah. So they tell me."

"But it's not like that, really. It's just hard work and rules, isn't it?"

"In a way. That's what it takes, hotshot. I know it's a pain in the butt but believe me, when you're in a fight and it's you or them, it's better to know what you're doing."

"I suppose," she admitted reluctantly.

"And you're perfectly free to wear black leather at almost any time."

She tilted her head to one side, looked at him. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Maybe. Just a little. Do you mind? I know you gunblade specialists can get awful tetchy."

She smiled. "No, I don't mind."

"Good."

Irvine was aware that the sound of music from the ballroom had stopped, and they were alone now, in the quad. He ought to go to bed.

"It's been good talking to you, hotshot. We must do it again sometime."

"Me too," she said.

"Fine. Well, g'night."

"You've got my number. If you want … y'know, to ring me."

"I might just do that."

"Well. Whatever."

He gave her his best smile as he left, resisting the urge to brush back a stray curl of hair from her eyes.

"See you round, hotshot."

* * * * * * *