The pre-dawn mist hung heavy in the air, clouding Quistis' vision as she walked slowly down the road. The base was emptied, the troops gone to fight Galbadia's battles. Timber was left defenseless. Every man of the Timber Army had gone to supplement the Galbadian Army. The small town 'hicks' would do all the dying to spare the lives of Galbadia's forces.
Quistis forced down a wave of fear for Seifer. He could take care of himself. He was a SeeD. More importantly, she had been his instructor. He would be fine.
The base was unnaturally silent as the SeeD walked slowly through the shrouding mist. She turned a corner and the main administration building came into sight. Around the back of it she found a window that could easily be pried open. The hard part was getting to it. She stared at the window for a long moment, thinking hard.
A squeaking noise was her only warning that someone was coming. Noiselessly she ran quickly back towards the side of the building. She flattened herself against the building and waited. The squeaking noise moved into the alley behind the building and stopped for a few tense moments before turning and going back the way it had come.
When she was sure that whoever had come was now gone, Quistis poked her head out cautiously. No one was there. She walked out into the alley and smiled as she saw the newly added trash can that had been placed right under the window. The garbage man had just made her job a lot easier.
Scaling the trash can took only a second. She tried the window, it was open. She smirked. These small towns were so trusting.
A minute later she was in. The darkness was complete around her. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get her eyes to adjust. Slowly shapes became discernable. She was in a closet. She poked her head out quickly. She was down the hall from the CO's office. It was time for her to get to work.
Seifer sighed as he stared out the window of the train. The Timber forces had moved out early that morning. Seifer had hated dragging himself out of bed that morning, away from Quistis' warmth. She had just started stirring when he had left their house.
It was now three weeks after Squall and Rinoa had visited them. Quistis had gotten over her flu a few days after they had left. After Seifer had confessed his feelings for her he had found that she had become a much more compliant patient. She had also become a big fan of taking naps in the afternoon, with Seifer as her pillow, to rest after taking her medicine.
The train jolted suddenly, snapping Seifer out of his thoughts. The train slowed down and Seifer stood up. His hand automatically reached his thigh, where Hyperion was in its holster. He checked the chamber and safety. Around him, his fellow soldiers were doing the same thing, or trying to. For many of them this was the first time they had been ordered into battle. They were nervous and frightened. Many were already sweating and their hands were shaking.
Seifer's attention was drawn to his sparring partner, Jason, who was standing beside him. The youth was shaking as he checked his equipment. Seifer, pitying the younger man, put a steadying hand on his shoulder and shook the red headed man.
"Calm down. It'll all be fine."
"I've never killed anyone before," the boy confessed in a whisper, glancing up at Seifer.
Seifer frowned and sighed. Eighteen was too young to lose your innocence. No one should have to choose between dying and killing when they were only eighteen. The irony of the situation was that he had been trained to kill from the time he was only eight years old.
The train jerked to a halt and the Timber troops lined up to exit the boxcar. A Galbadian officer was waiting for them as they disembarked.
"Follow me," he ordered as the last trooper jumped off the train. The Timber soldiers obediently trailed after him. They were herded into lines in a large open field. The Galbadian officer ordered them into ranks as the Galbadian forces moved into rows behind them.
Glancing around, Seifer realized with a sinking feeling where exactly the train had carried them. There was no way he would not recognize his home. The island of Balamb's sea breeze was unforgettable. He had lived there since he was eight years old. He could never forget the smell of the air that blew in from the coast.
It seemed he was in over his head. If he refused to fight the Galbadians would discover him. If he fought, he would hurt Balamb SeeDs. That was something he refused to do. He had resolved when he came back that he would never hurt them again.
The base was completely silent as the SeeD jimmied the door of the CO's office. The small room was cluttered and messy. Files were strewn around the room, on the desk, piles on the floor and in the chairs.
With a mental sigh, Quistis began to sift through the piles closest to the door. As she moved across the room toward the desk she found a very interestingly titled file. She opened it and began to read. What she saw in the folder shocked her. If this file was true, Seifer was in serious danger of being discovered and Squall and the Garden were about to be in a lot of trouble. This file said that Galbadia was moving Timber and Galbadian troops to Balamb. They were going after Rinoa.
She had to warn Squall. The Garden was at a weak time. A vast majority of the top ranked SeeDs were gone. She and Seifer had been gone for a little less than a month. Irvine, Selphie, Zell, and Squall were still at the Garden but the rest of the A-ranked SeeDs were either on missions or on vacation.
Galbadia would have an easy time of infiltrating the unsuspecting Garden.
Rinoa was calmly eating a grapefruit when Squall entered the cafeteria carrying his morning paper. He waved to her with a small smile and she waved back with her spoon. He got his plate and came to sit beside her. He kissed her on the cheek before seating himself and unfolding his paper.
"Morning baby; did you sleep well?" she asked.
He nodded as he began to read. He took a swallow of his glass of water and immediately choked as he read the headline of an article on the page. Rinoa quickly slapped him on the back until the mouthful was swallowed.
"What's wrong?" she asked him, worried.
His blue eyes were confused and concerned as he looked up from the paper into her eyes.
"Your father…" he paused, his eyes gauging her reaction. "He was arrested last night."
Rinoa gasped and a hand went to her mouth.
"Why? What happened?" she questioned. His eyes were already scanning the article, looking for an answer to her query.
"This says that he assaulted the president and was resisting obeying orders," Squall read.
"But Caraway wouldn't do that," Rinoa protested. "He's the most loyal officer in the Galbadian Army. He wouldn't assault the president. Not unless there was something big at stake. But what would make him do that?"
Squall had a sinking suspicion that he knew as he stared at his girlfriend, the sorceress.
Squall Leonhart; please report to your office immediately. Urgent call for you. Nida's voice came over the speakers.
Squall grabbed Rinoa's hand and pulled her after him as he bolted to his office. She ran along behind him, still grasping her spoon. The paper lay forgotten on the table behind them.
The phone was still ringing when Squall and Rinoa burst into his office several moments later. Squall released Rinoa's hand and snatched up the phone.
"Leonhart," he said quickly. He listened for a moment and his eyes shot to where Rinoa was standing near the door.
"Are you sure Quistis?" he asked. Rinoa frowned in confusion and moved closer to Squall. She touched his arm gently and he looked up at her. The worry was clear in his blue eyes as he stared into hers. His free hand cupped her cheek for a moment before sliding down to her shoulder and pulling her against him.
"Can you get in touch with Seifer?" he questioned his friend on the other end of the phone. Her response must not have been positive judging by the way Squall paled and cursed.
"He's with the Timber Army? Quis, when were they ordered to move out?" He waited a moment for her reply before asking another question, "Did they know where they were going?" Again, her reply wasn't good. Squall cursed again and hugged Rinoa tighter. The young sorceress didn't know what was going on but she was getting the idea that whatever it was wasn't going to be a good thing for her, judging by the way Squall was holding her. Squall cursed again.
"Quis? Quistis? Are you there?" He listened for a moment before cursing as he slammed the phone down.
"Squall, what's wrong?" Rinoa asked, looking up at him.
"Quistis told me that Galbadia is coming here, looking to capture you. That's why your father got arrested. He tried to stop it. Seifer is with the Timber Army. They were all moved out this morning."
Rinoa gasped and her hands flew up to cover her mouth.
"And Quistis has been captured by the Galbadians," he added quietly.
Seifer shifted his feet nervously as he peered around him. They were in the field behind the city of Balamb. The Garden was stationed on the other side of the town. There was no way Squall or the others would be able to see them coming until it was too late to scramble any SeeDs.
He heard an officer shout an order to move out. The army was supposed to move through the town and approach the Garden on the back side. The troops began marching and Seifer thought quickly. As they trooped past Ma Dincht's house he moved out of line quickly and jumped into the house, slamming the door behind him. The old woman was surprised and tried to shout but Seifer's hand clapped itself over her mouth.
"Shh, its okay. It's Seifer." His hand moved off her mouth and she looked up at him, scared.
"What's wrong Seifer?" she questioned as the tall blonde SeeD moved to the phone that was hanging on the wall.
"Galbadia is attacking the Garden," he explained as he dialed a number quickly.
"Put me through to Commander Leonhart's phone," he ordered to the receptionist. A second passed and the line clicked and began to ring as she connected him.
"Squall, the Galbadian Army is in Balamb now. They're coming your way." A moment passed while the SeeD commander answered. "Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can," he replied before hanging up the phone.
He was moving toward the door before he realized that he couldn't just go running into the Garden dressed like a Timber soldier. He turned back to Zell's mother.
"Do you happen to have any of Zell's clothes here that I could use for a while?"
She looked confused but nodded, pointing up the stairs to Zell's bedroom.
Seifer bolted up the stairs and quickly began to sift through Zell's old clothes looking for something that would fit. Zell was a good deal shorter than Seifer. Seifer could only pray that Zell owned a pair of long jeans or something. As he was looking through the pants he was shrugging out of his uniform jacket and shirt. A black t-shirt was an adequate replacement and he quickly pulled it on. In the very bottom of the drawer he found a single pair of long blue jeans. He pulled them out and changed into them without taking off his boots. He ran back down the stairs and gave Ma Dincht a peck on the cheek before running out the door.
He bolted past the slowly marching troops, hastily removing his fake glasses lest any one from Timber recognize him.
He tore through the gate of Garden only a few minutes ahead of the following soldiers. He hadn't gone two steps before running into a row of waiting SeeDs. Countless machine gun safeties clicked and Seifer quickly raised his hands. Squall motioned the guns down quickly, before anything could happen.
The SeeD commander waved to his friend and the crowd separated to allow the two gunbladers to pass into the Garden.
Rinoa was pacing in front of the fountain as they walked into the front gate. As soon as she saw Seifer and Squall exit the crowd of SeeDs she ran quickly to them. Squall put his arm around her and quickly hugged her.
"Have you told him?" she whispered into his ear as he held her.
"I'm about to," he breathed back before pulling away.
The sorceress hugged her blonde friend quickly and Squall cleared his throat nervously.
"Seifer, I have something important to tell you," Squall began, unconsciously bracing himself. The blonde looked his friend in the eyes and saw the worry in his commander's blue orbs.
"Seifer, I talked to Quistis this morning. She called to warn us about the attack and while we were on the phone she was attacked and captured by the Galbadians."
Seifer's face was unnaturally pale as he stared at the SeeD commander. His right hand was clenched around the handle of Hyperion and his left was shaking. Rinoa was standing beside him and reached up to turn his face down to her. He looked down at her and she swallowed. The look in Seifer's eyes was identical to the one he had as he had thrown her to Adel.
"Seifer, they want us to trade Rinoa for Quistis," Squall continued slowly, stepping up behind his girlfriend. Seifer's eyes traveled quickly between Squall and Rinoa.
"What are we going to do?" Seifer questioned as he looked at the pair. "We can't give them Rinoa but we can't just abandon Quistis either."
The group was distracted by the arrival of Zell, Selphie, and Irvine. The three SeeDs saluted their commander as they pulled up beside their worried looking comrades. The new arrivals hadn't heard what was making their friends so worried. The appearance of Seifer was a surprise also.
Irvine thought fast and realized something. "Where's Quis?" he questioned, watching his commander closely.
Squall sighed and answered, "The Galbadians have her."
Selphie gasped and Zell cursed. Seifer's hands trembled. Irvine turned his gaze to the tall blonde. The man's hands were shaking and he was unnaturally pale. Something had changed between Quistis and Seifer on their mission. Nothing else would have caused the normally strong Seifer to break down like this.
"They want us to trade Rinoa for Quistis," Squall continued, looking down at his girlfriend.
Seifer couldn't contain his frustration and punched the closest wall. His fingers, aided by a strength boost provided by the Guardian Forces, cracked the marble that encased the walls in the main section of the Garden. His fingers began to bleed as the splintered stone dug into his hands. He felt hands on his arm, pulling him away from the wall. He felt a cool rush of healing magic wash over his hand and the cuts sealed up quickly. Seifer looked down to find Rinoa, eyes closed, healing his hand.
She pulled Seifer into a hug and, standing on her toes, she reached up and pressed a kiss to the distraught warrior's cheek.
"We'll get her back," the sorceress whispered, "I promise."
AN: I like this chapter. I hope you guys like it too. I apologize for the wait but I wanted it to be as good as I could make it before I posted it. Please review it and tell me if I did a good job or if I didn't, please tell me what I can do to make it better. Be honest.