Original characters, world and backstory belong to Squaresoft, lucky folks.

There's a reference to Eden here that was inspired by gwendolyn-flight's story The Hollow, which comes highly recommended, by the way :)

If you've got time to drop by my website (www.scribblemoose.co.uk) you can vote for your favourite pairing to appear in a special Solstice fic on 21st December.

Go on, vote early, vote often ;)

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

Chapter 15 - Mission

Rinoa woke to the sound of Selphie singing in the shower, such a pleasantly domestic noise that she forgot for a moment that she was miles from home, about to embark on the first mission of her professional SeeD career.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes with a yawn. She straightened the chain around her neck, Squall's ring nestling in it's customary place on her breastbone, the faintest glow of magic running through it as it settled against her skin.

The sound of the shower stopped and Selphie emerged, clad in an enormous, fluffy white towel.

"Mornin' Rin. How you doing?"

"Hey, Selph, OK thanks. Excited. You?"

"Oh yeah. I can't wait to hear what Quistis has to say about last night, though."

"Poor Quistis. At least she won't have the hangover she would've."

"We could blackmail her, you know. Threaten to tell the whole Garden that a) she got drunk and b) she was going to take an Elixir to get over it!"

Rinoa laughed. "Maybe we ought to save that one just in case we need a favour one day."

"Which could be today," said Selphie, checking her watch as she strapped it to her wrist. "Breakfast's in ten minutes, we'd better get a move on."

That galvanised Rinoa into action, gathering clothes and towels in her arms on her way to the shower.

"By the way, Rin," said Selphie, pulling her dress over her head, "thanks for last night. I didn't know how much I wanted to tell someone about Xu. And thanks for being so good about it, not freaking out."

"That's OK," said Rinoa. "Do you… um … still want me to help you tell Irvine?"

Selphie nodded, grimacing slightly. "Could you? I know I have to, but I really, really don't want to. I can't bear the idea of hurting him. I just want him to know, kind of without me actually doing the telling part."

"It'll be fine. Don't worry." And Rinoa's voice faded into the shower, leaving Selphie alone with her thoughts.

* * * * * * *

Frila noticed straight away that there was something different about Squall. He looked tired, shadows under his smoky grey eyes, but while tiredness made normal people slower than usual, it just seemed to make Squall pissed off and more deadly than ever.

Within a couple of minutes she was out of breath and flat on her back, Lionheart's tip at her throat. Again.

"Fuck," she squeaked. "It's gonna be a while before this gets easier, huh?"

This time yesterday she might have got something like a smile out of him. No such luck today.

"You don't concentrate," he said. "You're too excitable."

She chewed her lower lip, trying to fight back a reply she knew would get her into trouble. As usual she lost the fight. "You're in a real mean mood today," she said.

Squall looked a little startled, then just mad. "My mood doesn't have anything to do with it, Alfryd," he snapped. "Most people who try to kill you won't be in a good mood."

There was something reasonable about that argument. "Sorry," she said, accepting his outstretched hand and pulling herself up.

"You need to get more focus," he explained. "Have you ever done any meditation? Tai chi? Anything like that?"

She shook her head. "I don't do so well with sitting still for long," she admitted. "Restless soul, my father used to say."

"I'd like you to do some work with Captain Kinneas," he said.

She swallowed hard. Oh yeah, that's really gonna calm me down.

"Do I really have to… I mean, my timetable's pretty full and I'm sure he's a busy man…"

"Yes," said Squall simply, and a little angrily. "You do. And you have an hour tomorrow, straight after I've seen you. That'll do for a start. I'll just ask him to go over the basics with you."

She winced slightly. "OK. Um… unless there's a class I can join, or something?"

Squall frowned. "No," he said, "not at the moment. Besides, he's knows his stuff better than the instructors here. Galbadia specialises in that kind of thing, like Balamb specialises in Guardians and parapsych. You're lucky to have him teach you."

"Yes, I know. That's what I was thinking. You know, he must have better things to do with his time and all..."

"No, that's OK." The tone of his voice made it clear that the subject was closed. "Now, let's get back to work. And this time try not to fall over."

* * * * * * *

Irvine arrived back from a rather pleasant walk with Angelo to find Squall sitting on the wall outside the entrance to Garden, gazing into the distance.

"Hey."

"Hey, Irvine. Angelo OK?"

"All the better for chasing a few chocobos. How about you?"

Squall shrugged.

"Still worried, huh?"

"Didn't sleep too good. Too many dreams. I just want her back, Irvine, to know she's safe."

"She'll be fine. You know, these dreams you've been having…"

Squall glared at him. "Don't fucking start," he warned.

Irvine suppressed a smile. "I was just going to say, I've been dreaming a lot too. More than usual. Wondered if it was anything to do with the forgetting? You know, the beach and everything?

"Oh. I don't think so. I think I've got a lot on my mind. We both have, I guess; I know that whole thing with Risha wasn't easy for you, and I just hate not knowing what's going on."

"Yeah, well. We'll see. How is Risha?"

"The same. Xu wanted to see you, by the way. She wants to reschedule next week's crystal missions."

"Alrighty. I'll go straight on up. Hey, you'll never guess who mailed me this morning?"

"Probably not." As a rule Squall didn't do guessing.

"Zephyr! From Galbadia… you know, he took over the gun training after Ultimecia. We were in class together," Irvine grinned, "among other places."

"Oh. The cucumber incident?" Squall raised an eyebrow.

"The very same. Although it was Duck who was mostly responsible for the cucumber itself."

"Duck?"

"His girlfriend. They're in Balamb at the moment," said Irvine, wistfully. "It's their anniversary."

"I dread to think what of," muttered Squall. "You going to visit?"

Irvine shook his head. "No, it wouldn't be fair. Not with everything that's going on here. Anyway, I'm a reformed character these days."

"You could just go and say hello," Squall suggested. "For half an hour. Friends are important."

Irvine grinned. "Thanks," he said. "But it wouldn't be a good idea. Temptation and all. And you might need me here."

"Whatever. You're a free man. Oh, but I do need you tomorrow morning, about 7am, gunblade training hall."

"Sure. What for?"

"I need you to calm Frila down some."

If Squall noticed the look of panic that crossed Irvine's face he didn't show it.

"Why? What's she upset about?"

"Not upset. Just a bit hyper. She just needs some of your trademark chill-out techniques. Help her focus."

"Really? You sure? She's not got too much on already?"

Squall flashed him an impatient look. "Yes, I'm sure. Shit, what is it with you two? She wasn't exactly keen, either."

Anyone else would have taken that observation to the next logical level, thought Irvine, and I would've been in trouble. But not Squall.

"Oh, I'm keen as mustard, Commander. Just make sure you don't overwork her, is all. She's only a kid."

"I'm sure an hour with you won't push her over the edge."

Don't count on it, thought Irvine. "OK," he said. "I'd better go and report to Xu. Let me know if… well, if you hear anything from the girls, yeah?"

Squall nodded. "Hopefully we won't. If it all goes as it should."

"In which case I'll see you dinner time," said Irvine, and after giving him a comforting squeeze on the shoulder, left Squall to his brooding.

* * * * * * *

"Ooooh, technology," chirped Selphie, rummaging in the case Quistis had left open on the back seat of the car. "Toys!"

"Be careful, Selphie, that's delicate equipment."

"It's way cool, that's what it is. Look, Rin, teeny tiny cameras."

"Yes, Selph. Lovely. Now, shall we get on?"

"Make sure your wire's in place," said Quistis sternly. "I need to keep in radio contact with you, remember. And please try to concentrate."

"Yes Quisty," Selphie muttered, secreting various pieces of equipment about her small person.

"Rin, you remember the schematics, right?" Quistis' voice was thin and pained this morning, her face pale, and she was distinctly tetchy.

"I remember," Rinoa replied. "We take the third tunnel on the left, enter the underfloor maintenance duct, which takes us to the labs, then we wait until the lab's empty, if it isn't already, which it should be because the Dia are nocturnal, and then we plant the cameras in two different labs and leave."

"Don't forget, you can talk to me all the while you're in the duct, but not in the labs. From what Edea told us their security system isn't up to much, but please don't take any risks. Look out for sound sensors, they're very sensitive to sound, not so good with the eyes."

"OK," said Selphie. "Come on, Rin, let's get this over with and see if we can't get back to the boys by bed-time, eh?"

Rinoa nodded, and they headed towards the grate.

Selphie went first, helping Rinoa as she jumped down after her. They set off down the tunnel in silence, stooping at first, but quickly having to crawl on hands and knees as the passage got narrower.

"Turning, there," whispered Rinoa.

The maintenance ducts were even narrower than the tunnels, barely roomy enough for Rinoa to crawl through. She fought claustrophobia, breathing the stale air as deeply as she dared to keep her mind clear of panic. Then Selphie stopped in front of her. "It's the lab," she whispered. "I can see a light."

"Quistis," Rinoa murmured into her microphone, "did you hear that."

"Yes," came Quistis' voice in her ear. "The probe doesn't show any signs of life, you should be clear to enter. Be careful."

Selphie shuffled a little further along, until Rinoa could see the cross-hatched pattern of the vent into a room. Light spilled out into the duct ahead of them.

"I'm gonna take a look," said Selphie, crawling so her face was pressed up against the vent.

Rinoa waited.

"Empty," Selphie reported. "No sign of any security. Just loads of science stuff. Let's go."

"Let me know when you're back out," said Quistis. "Good luck."

Selphie carefully unscrewed the vent and shuffled through the tiny opening into the room beyond. Rinoa followed, getting a spell ready as she pulled her body through the narrow gap.

~Silence~

The room was huge, rows upon rows of benches, jars and tubes and beakers everywhere, like some mad professor's lab. There was one door, in the opposite corner, an eerie pink light oozing under the crack at the bottom. No sign of any crystals, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. They worked quickly, planting cameras and audio recorders, waiting all the time for any sign they'd been detected, but none came.

Finally they approached the door. The light made Rinoa nervous, but a quick scan spell didn't reveal any signs of life from the other side.

She felt Gemini start to hum, unjunctioned but undeniably present. She froze.

~Sorceress.~

~Gemini.~

~This place is evil. You are not safe.~

She didn't know what to do, all of a sudden. The impassive voice in her head was insistent and hard to ignore, but Squall had been so clear that she shouldn't junction Gemini…

~You are in danger, Sorceress.~

~Is it the light? The next room?~

~I cannot answer. I need to be with you if I am to answer.~

And then it was too late; while Rinoa had been focused on what was going on inside her head, Selphie had opened the door and was already on her way into the room beyond.

Rinoa held her breath.

It took a while to get used to the strange light, which seemed to be emanating from an alcove in the far corner, lined with beautiful pink and purple crystals. There was a door next to the alcove.

And it was opening.

* * * * * * *

Irvine took a deep breath and knocked sharply on the door to Xu's office.

"Come in," came Xu's steady voice.

Xu was leaning over the big meeting table under the window, rearranging piles of paper into other piles of paper. She looked up as Irvine entered, but her smile wasn't reflected in her eyes, and she swiftly focused her gaze back on the work in front of her.

"Squall said you needed me," said Irvine. "Rescheduling?"

"Oh. Yes. We need to rethink our collection strategy."

"Sure. What can I do?"

"I want to send out some teams without Guardians. They'll obviously have to be good squads, full SeeDs with experience of this kind of work. They'll need special training, I thought you could help with that."

"Why without Guardians? Have you made some progress on the crystals, then?"

"No. It's just a hunch, that's all."

"Xu…" Irvine tried to keep his voice neutral, "are you really thinking of sending people out into the field without Guardians on a hunch?"

She flashed an angry look at him. "Are you questioning my decision, Captain Kinneas?"

There was a long, silent moment. Irvine tried to work out what was happening, but her face gave little away, except that she was plainly still mad at him, and maybe a little afraid, although there was no telling what of.

"Xu, what's all this about?" Irvine reached out a hand to her shoulder, but she wrenched herself away from him as if his touch were poison. "Have I done something? Tell me, please. I really don't want to fall out with you."

She fixed her eyes on the paper in front of her. "It's not about anything. I just don't like your attitude very much, and I guess I'm under more strain than usual, so I can't hide it as well as I might otherwise. So it's best if we keep this completely professional."

"What's wrong with my attitude?" Irvine tried to keep the defensiveness out of his voice, but it was hard.

"I really don't want to discuss it. Now, can we get back to work?"

"If you want. But I still don't think it's a good idea to send SeeDs out without Guardians unless we've got good evidence."

She picked up the nearest pile of reports and shuffled them irritably. Irvine realised they were copies of SeeD journals; he was suddenly distracted by the feeling that they had the memories of the whole Garden laid out in front of them, neatly bound and categorised. It wasn't a pleasant thought, somehow.

"I think the Guardians might be feeding off the crystals," Xu said. "I think they're attracted to them, and they keep whoever they're junctioned with as close to them as long as they can. Then they delete whatever memories there might be to give the game away. I can't prove it, but it would explain what happened to Squall and Rinoa, and to you all down at the beach."

"Yes," said Irvine, "I guess. Except we don't know what happened, do we? It could be that the crystals feed of the Guardians, for all we know. Or off us."

"Are you being obtuse on purpose? You're not the scientist here, you know," she glared at him.

"No," he tried to explain patiently, "I'm trying to think of this from all angles, that's all. Guardians are pretty up front about what they like to eat. Why wouldn't they just tell us?"

"Well, you'd be an expert on that, of course."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Irvine couldn't keep his exasperation from showing; he was starting to think Xu was winding him up on purpose. Either that or she'd had a personality transplant.

"Oh, nothing."

"No, Xu. Come on. If you've got something to say, why don't you come right out and say it?"

"Alright. What about Ether?"

"Ether?"

"Yes, Ether. What does Ether feed on?"

Oh. "The usual," he lied.

"Kinneas," she spat, "I know. I haven't spent my life researching Guardians for nothing. Ether doesn't feed on conflict, does it? It doesn't make you eat monsters, or get power from pretty shiny things you steal? It feeds on emotion, doesn't it? Raw, messy, human emotion."

"It's not that simple," said Irvine, quietly.

"I thought so!" she sounded triumphant, as if she'd exposed him as some kind of traitor. "You never saw fit to tell anyone, though, did you?"

"I told Seffie, and the others." That came as a surprise to her, he realised. "I didn't not tell anyone, it never seemed particularly important. It's not that different from feeding on conflict. That's kind of an emotion too. Sort of. And Ether doesn't hurt anyone in the process."

"Oh, right. So if it makes you pick a fight so it can feed on your anger that's alright, is it? Like yesterday, in the Infirmary?"

With some difficulty, he resisted an urge to get into a fight about who started that particular argument. "It doesn't feed off anger. It likes… other stuff."

"Other stuff?"

"Love. Affection. Warm fuzzy feelings."

She digested this new information with a cold little laugh.

"Oh, that's just perfect," she said. "Of course. That's why it likes you so much. It gets off on your whoring around, doesn't it?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes stony and accusing.

"That's none of your business." Irvine's voice was low and had a rare ring of authority to it.

"On the contrary. If it's jeopardising our work, it's completely my business."

"It's no threat to anyone. Anyway, it's not just sex," said Irvine. "Friendship works too. Just ordinary feelings."

"But it likes sex the best, right? Real lust? I know Guardians, Kinneas. They'll put up with whatever you can give them but they always drive you to give them the best. They reward you when you find the extreme of whatever sick thing they need to survive. Is that why you can't keep your dick to yourself, Kinneas? Or did Ether pick you because it knew a 24/7 snack bar when it saw one?"

"I'm not going to have this conversation. If you want my help you can come and get me when you're feeling more rational." Irvine started to move towards the door.

"Don't you care, Kinneas?" Xu hissed. "Don't you care that you're being controlled by that thing in your head?"

He turned back to her. "I'm not being controlled by Ether. It's just a Guardian. It's saved my life, and my team, more times than I can count. And compared to Eden's fucking eating habits, to be honest, I'm grateful that all it wants is for me to be happy."

"Oh, I can see it's great for you. But what about the people who get hurt in the process?"

"No-one's getting hurt."

"Really? You tell everyone you sleep with, do you, that you have a thing in your head that's going to get it's rocks off by sharing the experience? That it's feeding off them? It's immoral."

"It's not like that," snapped Irvine. "And whatever you might think, I'm usually too busy with saving the world to have night after night of passion with every person in Garden. So it doesn't come up that often. And while we're talking about morals, when did you start being so fucking judgmental?"

"I'm not judging anybody. I can't stand by and watch Ether hurt people."

"Ether isn't hurting anybody! For fuck's sake, Xu, what is the matter with you?"

"Nothing's the matter with me. I'm not the one who spends all his time breaking hearts and taking advantage of vulnerable people."

Irvine felt a cold stab of guilt.

"What vulnerable people?" he whispered. "Who?"

"Don't tell me you care," she said, spitefully. "I couldn't believe that for a second."

"You've known me for two years, Xu. Who have I hurt, in that time? What fragile souls have I damaged? Who?"

Irvine held his breath. She can't know about Frila. She can't possibly know.

Xu bowed her head, all the spirit suddenly going out of her body, leaning limply over the table. She whispered a name, just out of his hearing.

"Who?" he repeated.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "It's none of my business. What's done is done." She turned her weary face towards him; he registered for the first time the dark circles under her eyes, the pale, washed out look to her skin. "Just don't you dare let me catch you fucking around with anyone in this Garden again. Do you understand me?"

How could she possibly know? And if she does know, why hasn't she fired me?

"Xu, if I've given you any cause to think…" he stretched out a hand to her again, but she flinched out of his reach.

"No! Just… Don't. Touch. Me."

His hand curled into a soft fist at his side. "If you're going to make accusations," he gambled, "I need to know what they are. Who they are."

"Maybe there's just too many to mention," her voice was slow and deliberate. "Or maybe they just won't… tell on you."

"What are you insinuating?"

~Sniper~ Ether was protesting at the anger rising in him, but he couldn't stop it.

"You have a Guardian that needs to feed. Think of Squall and what his precious Eden makes him do. Squall eats fucking raw, obscene monster flesh for it. So Ether feeds off sex. You do the fucking math, Kinneas."

"Are you accusing me of…" Irvine fought nausea at the thought of what she was suggesting, "rape?"

She looked at him, little short of hatred in her eyes.

"Well? Haven't you? Can you honestly tell me you haven't?"

"Of course I haven't! What do you think I am?"

"You won't remember, of course," she said. "It wouldn't let you remember."

Irvine's blood ran cold.

~Sniper. You anger. It hurts.~

Relief rushed through him, calming his mind, if not his temper.

"You haven't listened to a word I said, have you? Ether feeds off lust, love, affection. Rape has nothing to do with those things."

"Are you sure that's all it eats?"

There was a long pause.

He didn't know how to deal with the rage that swept through him in waves. He was used to violence, to battle, but this was white-hot searing anger, and he didn't know what to do with it.

~She angers us. It hurts.~

"There's something wrong here. This isn't right. I don't feel…"

"Kinneas," she hissed, "I don't care what you feel. Get back to your seduction and your whoring and your hurting. Just get the fuck out of my office."

He left without another word, slamming the door behind him.

* * * * * * *

Rinoa thought fast. Selphie was too far into the room by now to run without being noticed, however bad their enemy's eyesight might have been. Rinoa started to gather her energy for a spell, felt the quiet surge of Selphie calling Cactaur.

~Protect~

A long, pink limb slithered round the opening door, slapping suckers on the metal frame to pull a slimy body behind it. Rinoa fought down revulsion at the sight, concentrated on focusing her energy for magic.

No sooner had she started her spell than another tentacle whipped into the room, and another, and suddenly she was on the floor and her face was stinging, slime dripping from her hair.

Selphie must have lost Cactaur somehow, but she'd dodged the attack; she cracked her nunchaka and took her stance with her usual cool battle efficiency, so at odds with her normal carefree persona.

Rinoa didn't bother to get up, she simply hurled fire at the creature, satisfied with the sizzling result, if nauseated by a strong smell of burning, roasting flesh. She fired again, and again, got in three hits before it lashed out again. This time it wrapped a limb around her body, squeezing the breath out of her. Suddenly missing Squall's sharp blade, she went limp, hoping it might relax its grip if it thought it was winning. Selphie was making good progress at the other end of the slug-like body, systematically mashing tentacles, trying to get close enough to do some damage to what passed for a face: a huge, slavering maw, tiny, white-glazed eyes and huge, dish-shaped ears.

Her ruse seemed to be working; the creature had stopped constricting, turning it's attention to the whirling ball of pain that was Selphie. Rinoa waited, resisting the urge to struggle, until she could move her arm, just a little.

Then, before the slimeball could react, she snapped her pinwheel round and blasted a shot at one vulnerable, exposed ear. Reeling in pain, the beast released her, flailing tentacles around it's injury. That was all the room Selphie needed to aim one good blow to it's head.

With a scream it fell dead to the floor, oozing black blood, limp tentacles twitching slightly in reflex.

The buzzing in Rinoa's head was getting louder.

~I must be with you. Or you will die. I must be with you.~

She felt so tempted. The voice was so persuasive, the warning so dire.

~Call me.~

Her thoughts were interrupted by a slow handclap.

"Well, ladies, that was an impressive display. Rinoa, congratulations. You must have made SeeD at last. "

Rinoa and Selphie looked towards the door.

It was Chet.

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

Author's note: And I won't put the next chapter up until I've got up to 40 reviews…. evil grin oh, all right, don't worry, only joking ;) but still, Feedback welcome as ever. Please feed the author ^_^ Pleeeaaase…