Hey! Welcome to a new chapter. :) Yeah, this challenge isn't going too badly, this fic is raking me up quite a lot of words. Between this and my WIP novel I'm not doing too bad, I just need to get 2000 words on my novel tonight... anyway.

This chapter is brought to you mostly thanks to me, of course, but lots thanks to my friend, who has been an angel, duct-taping down my "write like crazy" button, providing procrastination when needed and reading through to catch where I played with word order and messed it up.

Thanks for the reviews, guys!

QueenAdreena - NC17 seems to be the equivalent of MA, which is still not allowed, rather than M, which means I'll still probably keep safe and link off to smutty stuff.

Quistis POV

"Squall," I say quietly from the door of my office, interrupting his walk down the hallway to his own office.

"Quistis," he turns to me, acknowledging my presence.

He looks more relaxed I've seen him in ages. It's a pity that I have to drag him back into the working world again so soon, especially because he secretly enjoys the time spent with his father and won't be too eager to come right back to working. Looking at him, he seems… caged, in Garden, hemmed in by paperwork. He's a brilliant Commander, but I think he would be happier if he could spend his life fighting and die young rather than die slowly in an office.

Unfortunately, for now, he's stuck with the life of the Commander, and that means an office. And he has to explain to me why Laguna came to visit and why Seifer Almasy is currently sat in handcuffs in my office.

"What's going on?" I step out of my office and close the door, not knowing if Seifer should hear this or not.

"Have you read the report on the Deling city rebellion yet?" he asks, sighing softly and running a hand through his hair. There's hesitance there, and it seems almost as if he doesn't really want to be dealing with this case.

"I haven't had time yet."

"Come to my office, then." He's already walking, his back to me. Some people would call it rude, I suppose, but actually… how often would you turn your back on someone who could kill you? Subtle changes in the way Squall works show in the little things like that. This one shows that he's learnt to trust us.

I don't question that he's left Seifer alone in my office. Squall wouldn't forget a detail like that, and obviously he trusts Seifer not to do anything to my office.

That says something to me as well, because Squall isn't usually the most trusting of people.

He doesn't say another word until we're in his office, sitting down. He seems perfectly at ease in the Commander's chair, but I can tell that this weighs on him – he wouldn't ever admit it, of course. Dutiful, yes, suited to command, yes, but I think the thing he hates is all the responsibility he's forced to take.

"I assume you know that Seifer is supposedly the one in charge of this rebellion?" he asks me, as if just continuing the conversation exactly where we left off. He flips through a case file, obviously checking on the details himself.

"Yes, of course, you mentioned that." I'll let him take his time getting to the point, as he talks, he'll be processing it in his own mind, and that's a good thing when it comes to Squall.

He's very good at decision making, too.

"The truth is that we don't know a lot about this rebellion yet. Seifer claims he's not in charge, and that he can offer us information. The case was brought to SeeD's attention by Deling City, whose leaders are apparently concerned that the unrest casts a bad reflection on them. They believe that it's intended to discredit Deling City to some extent." There's a faint tone of derision in his voice that I've never really come across before, showing how little he thinks of these people that can't take care of themselves and have to call on SeeD.

"So… they want SeeD to help him get rid of it?"

"Apparently. All we knew to start with was what Deling was telling us. However… we do know now that they're based in Centra, but do their recruiting through Deling City." He frowns a little as he speaks, obviously not happy with the picture this situation is painting for him.

"And Seifer is the leader?" I'm finding this a little hard to swallow, too. Seifer isn't the most well behaved person in the world, but…

"He's not an idiot," Squall voices the thought for both of us, "he knows what people think of him and the danger he'd be in. It could have been started by someone who wants Seifer out of the way."

"People just can't let go... I don't blame them, really." I'm not sure if I believe that Seifer is more or less innocent. "What are we going to do about this?"

I know I'm one of them, but it's sad, really, that some people can't forgive him. It's not just his former instructor's pride speaking, I really do think that Seifer could have been a truly great leader if he hadn't followed the Sorceress. People already admired his skill with a blade, Fuujin and Raijin would have followed him to hell and back, if he had asked them… It was a waste. People might have followed Seifer much as they follow Squall now.

There's a set to Squall's jaw that makes me wonder. Does he believe Seifer already?

"Seifer came to Garden to offer us information, in return for Garden clearing his name of blame for this."

"And…?" I know the answer already. Squall has to collect more information, true or false, on this matter, before he can send a single SeeD in.

"We need to talk to Seifer."

"Now?"

He shrugs, standing up. "Has he eaten? He might be innocent, but I know how grumpy he can get when he's hungry."

"Right. I'll try to get a tray of food from the cafeteria. What about you? Hungry?" I stand as well, the moment oddly formal.

I never have got used to the fact that where I was once his superior, he is now mine.

"I don't want anything. I'll meet you in your office in… five minutes." He inclines his head, making sure that arrangement is okay. I nod, and he nods in satisfaction, heading for the door and my office already. I leave in the opposite direction, heading down to the cafeteria.

I don't know whether I believe that Seifer is innocent. Squall seems to, and that counts for something, but… I never would have pictured Seifer, even in trouble like this, coming to Garden for help. It makes me wonder if there's something else going on.

But that's not my job. Squall's job is to evaluate who SeeD fight for and where SeeD stands on certain issues. That's his responsibility, not mine.

I'm just here to carry out Squall's orders.

Squall POV

I step into Quistis's office quietly, but Seifer's head still jerks up, his eyes settling on me with a hint of relief. "Shit, Leonhart, don't do that."

I wonder what made him so wary of people sneaking up on him. But then, I probably don't need to wonder. There are enough people that want to kill him in Garden alone to outnumber him easily.

"Quistis will be here in a minute. She's getting you some food."

"Oh, good. I thought for a while earlier that she was going to be sadistic and not feed me." He grins, without any humour, his green eyes almost like a hunter's, like a cat's in the gathering dark. "So, Squally-boy, what do you two want from me?"

"Information, of course. I'm not endangering SeeD for this without any information."

He looks at me, and closes his eyes, mouth curving into that smirk I know so well. "Quistis doesn't believe me, does she? But you do."

"You're not an idiot. I can't believe you'd accept an offer and become the leader of a rebellion, considering how much people hate you."

A note of bitterness taints the smirk and his voice when he speaks. "Maybe I want to die, Squally-boy. Did that thought occur to you?"

It's true that I know he would never take his own life. But deliberately put himself in a position for someone else to kill him…? No, that doesn't fit the Seifer I know either. He'd never allow anyone to kill him easily; he'd go down fighting all the way. And there are precious few people with skill to match his in battle. Still… if SeeD got involved, he might have come up against one or more of those few.

Still, I doubt it. He just likes to watch me get lost in thought, so he can taunt me over it. It's odd to think how much the taunting still stings.

And even odder to think that I would actually be upset if he really did want to die. I suppose that could be explained away by the respect I have for him – don't want to see him fall by setting up someone else to kill him… "Don't be stupid."

"You were considering that for a minute, eh? No, you're right, I'm not stupid and I wouldn't do that." He leans back in the chair, "But neither you or Quistis or anyone else is going to take my word for it."

That's true, too. Seifer was our enemy during the Sorceress war. We're not going to trust him straight off.

"Still, you could at least take my handcuffs off."

"I don't know where the keys are, or I would."

"Right here," Quistis says, opening the door and smiling at me. She balances the tray of food, putting it down next to Seifer, and then pulls out the keys, giving them to me to free him while she walks round and settles in her chair, pulling out a file to make notes.

He rubs his wrists as soon as I've freed him, cursing softly. "You did those a bit tight, Trepe."

"Sorry," she says, but there isn't much regret in her voice.

"What can you tell us, Seifer?" I get right to the point as he pulls the food over to him.

He sits back in his chair, his eyes on me searchingly. "I don't think they'd ever really thought they could get me to join them, so I don't know why they told me this. It might be false information."

"We'll judge that," Quistis speaks up, her voice firm, "You tell us what you know, Seifer."

"Fine. They don't like Garden, they don't like Esthar. They don't like the combination of that and the fact that you," he gestured at me, "are related to the president of Esthar. They think it's some kind of conspiracy. Their idea, which really seems stupid to me, is to replace you and Loire with whoever they feel like."

I should have known they wouldn't leave that relationship alone. People just have to see a conspiracy everywhere.

He continues, his gaze not leaving me, perhaps watching how I react. "They want to get their people into positions of power for whatever reason. They want GFs and magic, they want gunblade specialists – basically, whatever comes after it, Balamb Garden is their first target."

"They're not getting Garden, though." That's something I would never allow to happen. Garden is a mercenary force, but it's also something that could easily be misused.

"Well. That's their plan, to use Garden's resources." He stretches, concentrating on eating for a moment.

Quistis and I look at each other while he's occupied, eyes meeting with worry. How could they think that they could take over a Garden? Treachery? Some invention we know nothing about?

He looks up, catching the concern and smirking slightly, "You're going to attack their base, right?"

"It seems like we'll have to," Quistis says, her eyebrows drawn together to form a crease of worry on her forehead. It doesn't suit her.

I look at Seifer's smirk, something that tells me he thinks that attacking them would be a bad idea. "There's something else about that base, isn't there?"

"It's underground. And guarded by a lot of monsters. They don't let regular recruits to their cause in there, but if you want the leader, whoever he is, who's stolen my name, that's where you'll have to go."

Well, that complicates things.