Disclaimer: here I am, not owning final fantasy 8. One day I will, as when I take over the world it will automatically be mine! Muhahahahahah

A/N: Ok well I said I'd update if I got feedback and I did (mostly positive yay) so here is another chapter. Many thanks go to c.ho.y, r, sayuri21, lilnaych, methanol, Xx phoenix blade xX, Zellycat and renegade seraph for reviewing and here is the next chapter. I warn it is a little odd, but the story gets better I promise, this is just the setup really! Thanks xx

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The next day Squall Leonhart walked into his office to find a stranger sitting there with Headmaster Cid.

"Hello" he said kind of curiously

"Ah hello" Cid said standing up "this is Mr North, I believe you spoke on the phone"

The visitor stood up. He was a tall, well dressed man, probably in his early forties. He looked Squall up and down in a slightly disbelieving manner "you're the commander?"

"yes. Leonhart, Squall Leonhart"

The man extended his hand, which Squall shook. "Forgive me" said Mr North "you are quite different to how I had imagined you".

Squall nodded and then sat behind his desk.

"I realise that I may seem forward, as I said yesterday for you to contact me whenever you have time, but a new opportunity has presented itself"Mr North explained

"Ok, well you didn't explain fully the service you required on the phone anyway. What can we help you with"

The man opened the folder he had been clutching under his arm and took out a photo, sliding it across the desk to Squall.

"This is Vincent Dartella, newly elected leader of Dollet. He took up the position yesterday morning"

"And this is a problem?" Squall asked

"Well, it may be. As you know Dollet has been independent for just over a year now, so it obviously already had a leader, Governor Marks, but the day before Dartella took the post, Marks was found dead, quite possibly murdered. Dartella appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be a close friend and advisor of Marks and then taking on his role."

"So you think this Dartella guy is to blame?"

"well it is suspicious don't you agree? However for some reason-possibly a pay off or bribe of some sort- Dartella is not even being questioned, or considered as a possible suspect"

"Well" Squall said evenly "We're not police, we don't investigate murders as such, so what exactly do you want our help with?"

"This is clearly suspicious, and needs some attention. Now, the new opportunity I spoke of. I just discovered that in exactly 3 nights time Dartella is holding a formal ball in the city to celebrate his succession to power and also he claims to commemorate his dear friend Marks. This party would be the perfect opportunity, I believe, for information gathering. For two reasons. Dartella resides in a large house just outside of Dollet, but on this night he will obviously be at the party, as will his most skilled guards. I actually have a plan…if you would perhaps allow me to run it by you?

"go ahead" Squall said a little reluctantly. Usually people just came and asked for help and then he came up with the plans, but he decided he could at least hear the guy out.

"Well" the man said, shifting in his chair "it will involve 7 of your people, two of which will need technical expertise if possible. Now, my idea is, that we split those 7 into 2 groups, both of which will require a strong leader. One of these teams could use the opportunity to infiltrate Dartellas mansion whilst it is mostly unoccupied. Then, the other team will consist of a leader, your technical experts and a female who…"
"Why a female?" Squall interrupted. This guy was being very particular about what he wanted.. If he had it all planned out why did he really even need SeeD?

Mr North continued "Because, this plan involves some undercover work. There will be…" North paused "..hostesses at this party Dartella is throwing. We need a young woman to pose as one of these hostesses, gain information…"

He took out another photograph and placed it on the mahogany desk. This one showed a young man with a strong jaw, wild brown eyes and a dark black ponytail.

"…particularly from this young man, Andreo Dartella, Vincents nephew. It can't be guaranteed that he know anything, but he is a good starting point. He's a party boy I suppose you'd say, known for his drunken antics and scandals. Probably not so tight lipped given the right persuasion from a young woman…"

"The right persuasion? I'm not sure your entirely sure what SeeDs do….." Squall was actually pretty annoyed. Was this guy suggesting he basically send one of his students undercover as a high-class whore? Pimp out one of his students to get information?

"I understand your concern, obviously nothing to serious is expected of this young woman, just to attend the party, see if there is anything she can pick up, at least try to keep an eye on the nephew. Besides, it will be perfectly safe. I would be able to provide you with the best technology, pin cameras and so on, so you would know exactly what was going on, this girl would not be left hanging. That is why I stressed the importance of some technicians you see."

"You seem very well prepared" Squall said not even trying to mask the suspicion in his voice "you really seem to have it all planned out. I just want to ask, why are you so concerned with this all?"

" I have several reasons. Foremost being that I am part of the government of Dollet, actually I should say I was part of it. One of the first thing Dartella did was replace the existing government with his men. I, along with others, am very worried about the way Dartella plans to rule. The way he instantly replaced the government may suggest he has a streak of tyranny. Also, this is important to me on a personal level. General Marks was my wifes uncle, bless the m both in heaven"

"So" Squall said bluntly "This man fired you and killed your wifes uncle so you want us to investigate him?".

Squall found this man to be very strange and he wasn't even sure if he actually trusted him. This all seemed to calculated, to carefully planned out. Plus Squall wasn't crazy about this plan. SeeDs were mercenaries, elite warriors not undercover Detectives.

"Will you help me Commander Leonheart?"

Squall hesitated. He was far from sure on this, and he never acted without complete certainty.

"Could you perhaps give Cid and I a minute?" Squall said to the visitor, who nodded and then quietly left the room.

"what is it Squall?" Cid asked

"I'm not sure about this. I'm not sure I trust him?'

"oh, why is that?"

"Something just seems odd. He seems way to concerned and he's planned it all so clearly which is odd. And he didn't really provide any strong motive for wanting us to investigate."

""yes. But admittedly Squall, the circumstances do seem suspicious, especially the fact that the police aren't investigating…I think Garden could be of use here"

"yes, but were not trained to investigate, were not detectives. We don't do undercover, we fight. Why does he need SeeD to go undercover, why not pick anybody else"

"Well other than fighting ability, SeeDs possess many other desirable qualities that could be helpful to this mission, they are trained to spot danger, intelligent and able to take care of themselves. Besides Squall on a basic level, Mr North and his colleagues are very concerned about this and Gardens function is to help people. Besides that, these men are willing to pay handsomely, and running Garden costs money. Given the lack of missions lately, we really should take what we can get…"

"Fine" Squall conceded "but I chose the teams, and I supervise the mission. That guys had enough say in this all ready. He can do it my way or not at all"

"That's fair" Cid nodded

"So, he said we need 7 people? 2 of which being tech experts. I'll have to check the Senior classes for anyone specialising in tech. I guess the other 5 is simple. Myself, Zell, Quistis, Irvine and Selphie. I suppose Quistis and Selphie will have to decide between themselves who gets to go undercover at this party thing, they can…"

"Oh, small problem there" Cid said pushing his glasses up on his nose "Instructor Trepe is on leave remember. She injured herself during training last week."

"oh yeh. Damn. Then we need a 5th person to take her place."

"let me ask Squall, why did you immediately chose those people?"

Squall felt the answer to this was actually fairly obvious. "because they're the strongest, the best, they fought in the final fight"

"So did Rinoa"

"what?"

" I shouldn't imagine it will be difficult to replace Quistis with Rinoa. They are of equal ability"

"No way. Not Rinoa"

"Why not? She shows exceptional skill equal to the others"

"It's Rinoa…" Squall said, hoping that would suffice as an explanation. Every time he saw her he got ever so slightly confused about what he felt about her. Although Squall realised that maybe not everyone saw this. When Squall and Rinoa broke up, everyone knew about it. But Squall had tried to hide exactly how hurt he was by it all from everyone else. Mostly he covered it with anger for the first month or so. But then he started to show outwardly that he had accepted it and moved on. But inside he was far from over it, and while he was angry he was also still hurt and upset.Of course he was upset. Everything he went through, everything they went through was a waste of time, as Squall took her betrayal to be a sign that she never really loved him. It hurt every time he remembered how he used to think they would be together forever. "I don't want her there"

"I can see that. But think professionally Squall, she is one of our most well trained cadets."

Squall knew Cid was right. But he still wasn't keen on the idea. Rinoa could be very distracting. Especially since very time he saw her Squall spent the whole time figuring out-or trying to-why if he was so mad and hurt by her was he still so attracted to her.?

"All right" Squall sighed

He called the man back into the office and then announced over the loudspeaker for Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Rinoa to come to the office.

Zell was the first to arrive, bursting excitedly into the office, before realising there was a visitor and then instantly calming down. Rinoa came in next, looking annoyingly beautiful as ever, and Irvine and Selphie came last.

Squall outlined the mission and the plan to everyone assembled. Once he was done he said "you'll all have a say in how we split the teams. Selphie and Rinoa you two can decide between yourselves who's going to go undercover at this party."

Selphie raised her hand "um, what exactly do you mean by posing as a hostess"

Squall was still wondering that himself. This party was going to be for all Dartellas men and Squall seriously couldn't help thinking that 'hostess' had a twisted resemblance to whore, no matter what they guy had said.

"No way Selphie." Irvine said shaking his head "I know exactly what's being got at. I mean it's a hell of a plan, for getting info out of drunk guys, but I aint letting you do that!". Although Irvine always pretended to be laid back and casual, he was really quite protective and serious sometimes.

"I guess I'll do it then" Rinoa said quietly.

Squall shot a quick glance in her direction. She was certainly pretty enough for the task and charismatic enough to, but Squall wondered what type of danger he was putting her in.

"Fine" Squall said, although he was not entirely happy with the situation, and decided he would feel better if he was there to monitor it "Rinoa, you'll be coming to the City with me and whatever tech experts I can find. Zell, Selphie and Irvine you are going to go to the house. Try and get in and out as unnoticed as you can. Right. that's all for now. We'll meet again tomorrow morning to discuss this in more detail, then we'll leave the following day.

Everyone filed out of Squalls office and he sat there alone for a few minutes, taking in everything that had just happened.

A new mission. A very strange mission. Plus it was going to be very, very strange having Rinoa there. Its not like he could avoid seeing her like he tried to at Garden.

He wondered if this would affect the mission. Actually, he knew it would. There was always something between the two of them whenever they were in the same room. It was clear they were both still attracted to each other and they both still cared, but they were both still wounded by what had happened. But neither would let the other know what they were really feeling so they covered up with stony silence or the odd sarcastic or bitchy comment.

Silently Squall prayed that this Mission wouldn't last long. The less time he spent with Rinoa, the less complicated and messy his life could get.

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Well gee I wonder, do we think his life is going to get complicated and messy? Well of course it is! Hahahahah. Well once again review and let me know what you think and if people review and are interested in more the I will continue. Many thanks xx