Elizabeth Andros stood on the sidewalk leading to the gates of Balamb Garden. She stared up at the monolithic building, smiling thinly. Garden had changed its appearance some since the renovations which had been completed two years ago. The bulge just a bit to the left, from her perspective, of the gate was the newly expanded infirmary. Off to her right, the Training Center, nearly double its old size, sprawled out, its support struts underneath holding its burden easily. Even if the portion of the Training Center under the struts, which was outdoors and open to the air, had a full on collision like during the Garden Battle nearly five years ago, it would stay firmly attached and undamaged. The Armor plates had shock absorbers and collapsible room to absorb millions of pounds of force on each section.

Liz took a deep breath then strolled up the stairs. She had arrived in Balamb about three hours ago, but she had not reported back to Garden immediately. Instead, she had gone to a local bar and had a few drinks. Memories of the most recent mission, still fresh in her mind, bubbled up over sips of whiskey. She had given a silent toast to her partner, who was quite dead, courtesy of the Galbadian pig that had run his oversized sword straight through her body and down nearly two feet of his sword.

Liz had seen enough death in her life to be numbed to seeing most ways of dying, but this still left a bitter taste in her mouth. If she had forgone the mission, Jasmine might still be alive. But she had her job to do and so did Jasmine. And she gave her life for it.

What was the worst thing though, was that she could ht bring Jasmine home to be buried among friends. With all of Galbadian City on alert, carrying the brunette's body would have been tantamount to suicide. Thus all she had to show for her sacrifice was the encrypted data card. She hoped whatever was on this card was worth her friends life.

She marched into Garden purposefully, not giving the SeeD behind the security gate a second glance as she walked through the unlocked turnstile. She had only looked at him long enough for the camera behind him to run a facial match to her. She moved quickly, her hip hugging jeans swaying gently, assuming an aura of confidence and attractiveness which she little wanted at the moment. However, appearances were everything. She would not let anybody see that she had anything inside her besides a confident smirk.

She walked to the elevators and pressed the call button. As she waited, a presence made itself known to her. Looking at the profile of the shadow which cast itself on one of the elevator doors she knew it could only be one person. "Come to welcome me home?"

Irvine grinned and took off his cowboy hat, bowing to her in a dramatic and utterly romantic pose. It also was very stupid in her opinion. Yes many women would be swayed by the gesture; she was one who would rather shove the cowboy into the water which ringed the elevators. "As always, Miss Andros. Good mission I assume?"

Elizabeth finally turned around to Irvine and glanced at him with narrowed eyes. Irvine set his hat back on his head and flashed a million Gil smile at her. She only rolled her eyes. "I suppose so." The elevator dinged and one of the left most of three doors opened to accept its passengers. Liz and Irvine both marched in. Liz took station with her back to the far wall from the glass door as it slid closed again. Irvine pressed the large race track shaped button on the top of the panel labeled 'Command Deck' and turned to her. "I ran into a bit of opposition but…" she brushed her fingers over her pistol and smirked a bit wider. "It was nothing I could not handle."

Irvine leaned against the elevator door as it started its ascent up to the top of Garden. "Ya have the disk?"

Liz's smirk stayed just the same, yet had somehow morphed to be a touch more seductive. She traced her left hand up to the strap of her tank top, and slowly brushed her fingers down her chest until it got to the edge of her rather low cut shirt. Slipping her fingers into her valley, she slowly grasped the small data card and withdrew it. She knew Irvine's eyes were fixed on her chest, glancing over her pale skin. He was the worst kind of typical male, the one who undressed a woman's body in his own mind while she was staring right at him. She knew Irvine was enjoying her more than a little flirtatious moves and inwardly rolled her eyes. Males…

He grinned and plucked it out of her small hand, brushing his thumb over it. "Where is Wright?"

The mention of Liz's deceased partner made her smirk slowly fade from her lips. She brushed a strand of her coppery red hair behind her ear before she crossed her arms over her lithe and well figured chest, blocking his eyes from looking at it further. She did not have the most filled chest area that a woman could have, but her entire body was well proportioned and definitely was extremely good looking, or so she had been told by many men. Most had winded up in a small puddle of their own blood when they tried to touch her skin within five seconds of saying that.

Irvine's eyes met hers and she glanced away, shying away from eye contact, as normal. "I see" was all he said before the elevator came to a halt and dinged. Its glass doors opened and the pair walked out. Irvine nodded to Xu, who quickly pressed a button. "Squall, Andros is back."

Without even waiting for an invitation, Liz pushed open the door labeled 'Captain Leonhart' and marched in, her hips swinging just to distract Irvine a bit. She knew that Squall would not be at all phased by it, if he even noticed. Considering Rinoa Leonhart was sitting on his desk with her right leg crossed over her left, and her right ankle brushing against his hand, she doubted it.

However, it was a little amusing to see man and wife jump at being caught in a private moment. She inwardly smirked. Like hell would she ever get trapped in something as antiquated and absurd as marriage. Rinoa quietly stood up and kissed Squall's cheek before whispering something in his ear. With that she quietly – and much less attractively – made her exit from the office, leaving the three SeeDs alone.

Liz's eyes darted back and forth between Squall and Irvine for a moment. Squall made an effort to look like he was being interrupted from working not fraternizing with his wife in his office, but neither of the two other SeeDs would have been fooled for an instant. "Welcome back, Miss Andros. Mission successful?"

Irvine walked over and rested the data card on Squall's desk. Squall picked it up for a moment and looked at it before handing it back to Irvine. "Take it for decoding immediately."

Irvine nodded and walked out of the office leaving Liz alone with the Captain. Squall had received a promotion after the command staff for the newly rebuilt Trabia Garden had been selected. There was absolutely no opposition from either Garden to Squall assuming military command of both Gardens. Cid had extended his powers and become Headmaster of both Gardens as well, being the final word for any administrative and teaching details which might arise.

Squall glanced at his computer terminal for a moment, obviously refreshing his mind with the details of the mission he had assigned her. "All went smoothly?"

Liz nodded, "Yes sir, very smoothly."

"Where is Jasmine Wright?"

The question had caught Liz off guard, but she quickly recovered. "She… did not make it, Sir."

Squall regarded her carefully for a moment. "Your partner is dead, and all went smoothly?"

Liz swallowed for a moment. Maybe she should have thought for a moment before answering, but she was stuck now. "I got the data; I got it back to Garden. Mission accomplished, Sir." Her voice had become softer, more of a hiss, and definitely more dangerous.

Squall nodded. "I want a full report on what happened, by 5 PM tomorrow. You look tired. Go get some rest." Liz knew Squall was being easy on her, giving her more than thirty hours to write her report. However she could still hear the commanding tone in his voice. Get some rest. Right. How do I do that with Jasmine's gurgling death scream penetrating my ears? "Yes, sir."

Liz spun and stared to walk out of his office but Squall's voice stopped her. "Andros."

She slowly spun around and glanced at the Captain. "Sir?"

Squall sat back and looked at her for a moment. "Trabia Garden has a need for a gun specialist. This would be both a combat assignment and a teaching assignment. Irvine said that you're the most qualified gun specialist currently in Balamb Garden. Besides him of course."

Liz regarded the captain. "Sir, I do not wish to teach."

Squall nodded. "Its only two classes, as Irvine currently teaches in Garden. Besides those, you would have no other responsibilities. You would still maintain your full mission status."

The red haired woman's eyes shifted around the Commander's… The CAPTAIN'S… office uncomfortably. Squall sensed her uneasiness. "Think about it, and talk with Kinneas if you need to. You are under no obligation to take the job."

She nodded her head. "Thank you for the offer, sir. I will most definitely think about it."

Squall nodded. "Thank you. Dismissed."

Elizabeth spun again and walked out of the office and back to the elevators. She WAS tired, and she longed just to collapse on her own bed, though she doubted sleep would come easily. Her mind buzzed with Squall's words. She could be a gun specialist, not only that but that rank would entail an offer's commission. She felt flattered that Irvine had recommended her for the assignment.

Her ride down the elevator shaft and her walk through garden was highly uneventful, partly thanks to her distracted state. Her mind was a buzz about the opportunities which this offered assignment would provide. Opportunities paid in the blood of my friends. This thought unsettled her. Jasmine's body was probably not even cold yet, and in the hands of some Galbadian probably performing a dissection on her corpse - and Hyne knew what other violations of her friend's body - and her she was thinking about a promotion!

She sighed and swiped her key into her room door and walked in, closing it and leaving her in the privacy of her small single. She stepped a mere two steps in and opened her closet door. It banged against her main door and she looked at her own face in the mirror mounted on the inner side of the closet door. She did look like a tired wreck, that was for sure. She sighed and traced her fingers along her body to her waist, slowly gathering the bottom of her tank top into her hands.

A knock on the door interrupted her and she sighed, stopping the motion and resetting what little of her shirt she had disturbed. She did not even bother closing her closet door, instead just opening her main door a crack to see who was there. She was not expecting anybody, but somehow, seeing the cowboy did not surprise her. "May I help you, Irvine?"

Irvine smiled at her. "You mean, 'may I help you, COMMANDER', doncha?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Irvine had taken his new job as military commander of Balamb Garden to his head like helium inflating a balloon. Then again, he knew she had a 'problem' (more like a dislike) of authority, and continually rubbed it in to his fellow gunman.

Despite the roll of her eyes, Liz but could not help a small smile as she stepped back. Irvine helped himself in and shut the door, leaning against it. Liz stepped back to her small closet, letting its door block her from his view as she started rummaging around inside it. "No actually, I don't."

She could almost see Irvine's smile growing into a grin. "Well, what are you planning on doing right now? You look like you could use some company."

Liz's smile grew a bit but she continued rummaging in her closet. She wasn't looking for anything in particular; she was just doing it to have an excuse to have the door between them. "I had no particular plans. Did you have something in mind?"

Liz knew exactly what he was going to say before he said it, and mouthed the words along with him. It was the same every time. "I was thinking of going horseback riding…"

She shut the closet door and leaned her left shoulder against it. She was waiting for him to say that. Instead of going through the whole ritual, she just traced her fingers along her chest again with a smirk that screamed sexiness and replied. "I'd prefer it if we could just save a horse. I like riding cowboys better."

Irvine grinned sensing exactly what she was thinking. Ten seconds later, his jacket and cowboy hat was strewn across her floor and her back was against the closet door. Irvine was planting kisses all over her neck and quickly pulled her tank top off her body, tossing it aside. His fingers caressed over her bra for a few moments before that disappeared too.

Elizabeth's eyes rolled shut as her head tilted back, exposing her neck to Irvine and her mouth opened in a soft gasping smile. She felt his hands ranging all over the pale skin of her lithe body, and she gave a soft giggle as what remained of her clothes disappeared from her body. Liz could feel the heat in her body rising in anticipation of what was to come, and her hands blindly sought out his shirt, swiftly and deftly unbuttoning it before shoving the cowboy on his back onto her bed. With one last quick struggle, his pants were off and she was straddling his waist.

Liz gasped with pleasure and her eyes rolled shut as her hips started rising and lowering and her mind finally started to unwind. Her muscles did too, feeling the cowboy's hands caress her skin, untangling her muscle knots inch by square inch as her mind clouded over with pleasure. Slowly but surely, her mind unclouded from her mission, Jasmine's death, and the promotion she was offered. Now she could finally relax.

And Elizabeth moaned with pleasure.