Hey, look, dudes, I managed to put another chapter out in one week! I'm starting out on a roll. ^^ Anyway, I just wanted to thank all of you guys who reviewed. Seriously, that was the most reviews I've had for a first chapter in a long time. I'm totally excited! :D

With that said, thank you so much to: The Hollow Fairy Wolf, The Hollow Fairy Wolf, Taryn Eithne, DeNiSaY60, FlurryDivider, Shinimegami7, Emerald Moonrose, LoneBoy7, ChibixLeon, zi-ling, xLion-Heartx, Bane-Dane, Kichi Tsukima, Cry-Wolf-And-Sing, Dust to Dusk, Keira-93, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, ooXloveXoo582, ramen-is-my-goddess, b4k4 ch4n.

You guys rock! Keep it up, and I'll keep writing! ^^

O

Chapter 2

Squall heaved a breath as he arrived back at home, parking his bike in the alleyway and remembering to grab the groceries before heading inside the house. Well, his house now. What a terrible thought.

Arms full, he shouldered his way through the front door, kicking it shut behind him, "Sora? You home?"

Squall heard rustling from Sora's bedroom before the teen appeared in the hallway, "Hey Squall! Need help?"

"No, I got it."

"Guess what, I actually finished my homework early!"

"Good." Now there wouldn't be any more early morning drama. He made his way into the kitchen and began to put the groceries away, "Hey Sor, I'm going to go out later tonight, after dinner."

Following him into the kitchen, Sora flopped down into a chair at the dinning room table, "What for?"

"A potential job offer came up."

"That's great! Is it a night job or something?"

"I'm not sure; I don't know much about it. I'm not even sure how late I'll be out for."

Sora grinned up at him, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! I know, take my cell phone, okay? That way, if I need anything, I'll call! And you can call if you are going to be really late or something!"

"Alright…" Squall reluctantly accepted Sora's cell phone as the boy held it out to him. He hadn't had time to get a new one yet; more chores for tomorrow.

The rest of the afternoon passed relatively quickly, Sora managing to convince Squall to play a round of videogames with him before dinner. Sora won of course, having spent way too many hours playing the racing game to even give Squall a chance. Huffing, Squall stood up as Sora gloated, giving the younger a noogie to shut him up before he headed into the kitchen.

The next time Squall looked at a clock, while doing the dishes after they had cleared the table, it was already 8pm. Nearly dropping the plate he was holding, he quickly dried it and grabbed his coat and keys, finding Sora sitting in the family room watching TV. "Sor, I'm leaving now. Get in bed by eleven, you have school tomorrow. I'll get back as soon as I can, but don't be too surprised if I don't get back until morning."

"Alright! Good luck!"

"Thanks…I may need it." Murmuring the last part to himself, Squall left the house, making sure that the door was firmly locked behind him. Pulling the scrap of paper that Ienzo had given him earlier that day out of his pocket, he scanned what was written there in Ienzo's tight scrawl. Third District, huh? Not exactly the best part of town. Fortunately, he had tucked his pistol into an inside pocket in his jacket just in case things got messy.

Already most of the residences of Traverse Town were in their homes, the streets nearly deserted as Squall rode through. Crossing into the Third District, Squall began to look around at the numbers on the buildings. The sun had already gone down, the District lit up only by the neon streetlights, and making it more difficult for Squall to navigate around the paved courtyard and up the ramps to the residential area. Slowing his speed, he looked for his destination, his mind growing more and more uneasy.

Although he hadn't yet run into any trouble, it was clear that he was not being sent to a legitimate business. And after the conversation they had had earlier…What exactly was it that Ienzo was going to ask of him? He had done odd-jobs in the past, but he had a sneaking suspicion this one was going to be less than legal.

The feeling intensified as he finally pulled up to a rather run-down looking house. Double-checking the address that he had been given and finding it to match the one on the house, Squall dropped the kickstand on his motorcycle, parking it directly by the front door. If he needed to make a quick exit, he didn't want to have to run far for his ride.

As he carefully made his way inside, Squall subconsciously made note of all the doors and windows, military training coming to the forefront of his mind. When he had been with SeeD they had raided enough seemingly-abandoned homes and warehouses to know that they could be the most dangerous locations; they were much too easy to set traps in.

One hand slipped into his jacket, fingers lightly playing across the grip on his pistol, as he approached the closed door. There was a bit of light shinning out from under the door, the only sign that the building had been inhabited in years. Heaving a breath, Squall prepared himself for anything, his senses peaked, and reached out his free hand, knocking firmly on the door.

A few seconds passed and Squall was about to knock again when the sound of soft footsteps reached his straining ears. Pulling back, though not removing the hand tucked inside his jacket, he waited as he heard the sound of about four locks being undone before the door finally cracked open a few inches. A familiar eye gazed out at him before the door swung open completely, light streaming out from the now-opened room as Ienzo revealed himself.

"Mr. Leonhart, I was wondering if you were going to show. Please, come in."

"What's this about, Ienzo?"

Ienzo glanced back at him, a serious look passing over his face, "Firstly, you will refer to me from now on as Zexion. I suggest you think of an alias for yourself as well. Secondly, there is no need for you to continue fondling your concealed weapon, though I appreciate your caution. If I had wanted you dead, I would have killed you already."

Ienzo, or Zexion, certainly had changed since their first meeting. The suit was gone, replaced with a black turtleneck and skinny black jeans, and the slight man's entire countenance had altered. Before he had seemed intelligent but quiet, almost shy, but "Zexion", though retaining the same intelligence, seemed confident and completely deadly. Nevertheless, he didn't seem like he currently wanted to cause Squall any harm, so he released his gun and settled on crossing his arms over his chest instead, eyeing the man standing across from him carefully. An alias came as easily as breathing, "Call me Leon then. Now you'd better start giving me answers."

Raising a brow, Zexion considered him for a moment before turning around and moving further into the house. The building had been gutted and redesigned into what could only be described as some sort of control center, Zexion clearly having some sort of ownership over the place as he nonchalantly took a seat at a long table. "I am offering you a position of sorts in a little, business venture of mine. I warn you, this is your last chance to leave. If I describe all of this to you, you understand that you will not be allowed to leave without signing on."

Squall frowned. Over the last few hours, he had thought this over himself. Even when he had been playing that stupid game with Sora, he had constantly been reminded of how badly he needed a job. Every time Sora's eyes met with his; his little brother was dependent on his ability to work. If he couldn't find a job the consequences would be unacceptable. "I understand confidentiality and I know how to keep my mouth shut. Tell me about the job."

"You've clearly made your choice. Very well. The job is as follows. I operate a group of thieves who target the wealthy. We operate in multiple cities; in fact, most of our jobs are in Twilight Town or Dark City. Recently one of my men has lost his life in the line of duty and, as a SeeD, I know you have the skills that would be necessary to replace him."

A thief? Well, that was slightly more illegal than he had been expecting. But it was a little too late to back out. Even if he managed to escape Zexion tonight, the man had easy access to his real name and address, since he had given all of his information to Zexion's colleague at work. It wouldn't be hard to track Squall down with that and there was a good chance that Sora would be caught in the crossfire.

"What exactly would be required of me?"

"About everything you could imagine. Thievery, obviously. Breaking and entering, blackmail, bribery, conspiracy, trespassing, perjury, fraud, and homicide, depending on the circumstances. Nothing you weren't paid for in SeeD."

Blinking, Squall couldn't help but acknowledge the truth in the man's words. As a mercenary, he basically had been paid to kill. But that had been different. It had to have been different.

As if reading his mind, Zexion gave the smallest of smirks, "Surely you cannot even pretend to romanticize your actions in SeeD? You'll still be a mercenary, all that is really changing is the setting."

"It may be a mercenary job but the legality has certainly changed. What would the hours be?"

"It would depend on the job. Every job will be planned at least a week in advance and you should plan on working in the field about once a week. For the other nights, you will be expected to report to this building from eight until about two in the morning, weekends and Mondays off. You will be paid, by me, every other week. Your pay will be more than enough to cover any expenses you have. Do you accept my terms?"

Squall hesitated before nodding, "Accepted."

"Good decision. Work starts tomorrow. I suggest you sleep most of tomorrow to get your body on schedule. If you slow us down, your employment will be terminated. I assume you understand my meaning."

The message was clear. Nap on the job and you'll be killed. "You won't have to worry about me."

"I did not plan to. Unless you have any questions, you are free to leave." Squall nodded and turned to leave. Just as he had his hand on the door handle, Zexion's quiet voice picked back up, "By the way, I should mention that if you choose at any time to go to the police about this, consider the action to be signing your death warrant."

Glancing back over his shoulder, Squall frowned, "Don't patronize me Zexion. I know what I'm getting into."

Hoping that he hadn't crossed a line, Squall quickly left the vacant house, jumping on his motorcycle and revving it up, just wanting to get home as soon as possible. He didn't want to think about the fact that he had just signed himself up to be a criminal. Though he was in SeeD and had been a mercenary, he did have morals and he did consider himself to be a good man. But, desperation made men things do things they otherwise wouldn't dream of. Of course he'd rather have a legitimate job but, with his education and history…he just couldn't afford to wait for one to show up when half the town was job searching as well. Zexion's job was one only someone like he could do. And, depending on where they hit, it was liable to be profitable. He could make enough money to provide a solid foundation for Sora's future. And, as long as Sora didn't get involved, he really didn't care what happened to him. Except for protecting his little brother, it's not really like he had any plans for the future anyway.

As he rode, Squall pulled Sora's cell phone out of his pocket to check the time. 10:45pm. Not bad. He'd be home by 11, which apparently the earliest he was going to make it home all week.

When he got back, he quickly made his way inside, a small smile playing across his face as he found that Sora had left the light on for him in the living room. Moving further into the house, he stopped at the door to Sora's room. Knocking gently, he peeked inside only to find Sora fast asleep on his bed, the teen sprawled haphazardly under powder blue sheets.

Stepping inside as quietly as anyone could in combat boots, Squall kneeled down next to the twin-sized mattress. His smile faltered as he caught sight of Sora's nightstand. Every inch of space not occupied by a small lamp and an alarm clock was taken up with bottles of pills; it was hard to remember how sick his little brother still was when he always acted so healthy. Sora shifted in his sleep and Squall leaned down, brushing Sora's bangs away from his face to press a light, familial kiss to his forehead. The life of a criminal was absolutely worth taking care of this boy.

The next day passed by without much incident, except for the fact that he had picked up a new cell phone, until Squall found it was time to go to work. Sora had excitedly questioned him about his new job and all he had gotten out of Squall was that it was a night job with occasional odd hours. Squall had finally broken down and told him that it was a warehouse job, the only thing he could think of on the spot. Luckily, Sora seemed to have bought the story, although his naivety made Squall feel even worse about the lie. It really was for the best though.

Once he was sure that Sora was set for the night and that the door was locked firmly behind him, Squall jumped on his bike and rode towards the Third District. Once again, the streets were nearly deserted and he made it to the vacant house early. Figuring that it would be safer to go inside than loiter outside in the dark, he made his way into headquarters. Trying to keep the blank, confident face he had developed in his SeeD training, he approached the door.

Rapping on the metal door, he waited for Zexion to crack it open, jumping back nearly a foot when the whole thing suddenly swung open. The light nearly blinded him at first, his hand automatically going straight to the inner jacket pocket and the gun hidden there, realizing that the move had been a smart one when the barrel of a handgun suddenly appeared out of the light to press against his forehead. "Who are you? Answer quickly before I redecorate the sidewalk."

Grimacing, Leon tried to ignore the increased pace of his heart and tightened his grip on his gun, maneuvering it inside his jacket so that it was pointed at his unknown enemy, "It'll be the last thing you ever do."

"Riku!" An agitated voice echoed out from inside the house and Squall's vision finally adjusted enough to catch Zexion approaching them from the back, an annoyed scowl on his face. Squall's gaze flew over to assess the other gunman and his eyes narrowed. The young man was tall and slim, long silver hair hanging around his face although it was unable to hide the sharp aquamarine eyes glaring out at him. He wore casual clothes, baggy jeans with a black, zip-up vest with a high collar, the color contrasting with his pale skin.

Reaching them, Zexion grabbed the gun that was pressed to Squall's forehead and pushed the barrel up so that any bullet would fly into the ceiling. "Riku" he repeated himself, eyeing the pale man, "do not threaten him. After all, he is your new partner and I do not feel like recruiting a new member."

Huffing, Riku took his finger off of the trigger, casually slipping his long pistol into a belt holster as he rolled his eyes, "You could have said so before."

"I did, you simply did not listen." Riku shrugged in response and Zexion scowled, turning his attention to Squall instead, "Leon, stop letting the heat out and get inside. The pompous brat who met you at the door is Riku, Riku this is our new member, Leon. Learn to get along, you will be working together."

Zexion closed the door as Squall stepped completely inside, Squall and Riku sizing each other up from across the room and, judging by Riku's expression, neither really impressed by the other's appearance. Undoubtedly noting but ignoring their glares, Zexion continued, "Riku is a hitman by trade, a sharpshooter if you will. His attitude however leaves much to be desired."

Riku scowled, "Thanks Zexion, watch your back going home tonight."

"Who do you think pays your salary?"

"Who says I need money?"

Zexion shot him a glare that would freeze Hell over before sitting down at the long table, paperwork now scattered across the wooden surface. Not wanting to remain standing for the whole night, Squall followed suit, sitting down to Zexion's right as Riku chose to remain on the other side of the room and dropped down onto an old couch tucked up under a boarded-up window. "Now, we are preparing our next job. Leon, there will be no training period so keep up." Receiving only a small glare in response, Zexion continued unphased, "It will be in Twilight Town, the summer home of a wealthy railway owner."

"Summer home?" Riku spoke up, his tone bored, "He won't be home then. It sounds too easy…"

"Then it will be good news for you Riku that the man installed an advanced security systems and that the house is patrolled at all hours. Now if you would kindly shut up so I could finish?"

Riku gave a small wave, as if granting permission, and Zexion rolled his eyes, "Excellent…Anyway, I will personally unarm the security system from a van waiting outside." Pausing in his speech, Zexion pulled what looked like a satellite map and a blue print of a house out from the stack of papers, "The estate is walled but it should not prove to be a problem. In disabling the security system, I should simultaneously be able to access the cameras placed around the house and will keep you informed of the situation through wireless headsets. We will need to figure out the fastest route to reach the bedroom, where my sources say he keeps his safe."

Squall frowned, "Who are your sources?"

"A man we know as Marluxia is our contact in Twilight Town. He sells us information and in exchange I do not ask where it comes from."

"Can he be trusted?"

"As much as anyone in our business. Perhaps less than that actually. But he has not double-crossed us yet."

Not thoroughly convinced, Squall's frown deepened but he didn't say anything, instead turning his attention to the blueprint on the table. He had planned strategic strikes before, this couldn't be much different.

Their plan was put into action three days later on a Friday night. Squall had said good-night to Sora at 5pm, explaining that a big shipment had come in and he needed to work extra hours. Sora had enthusiastically waved him off, telling him not to worry, like he always did. By 5:30, Squall arrived not at the vacant house but at the train station where he found Riku waiting for him, a large bag in the young man's hand. They nodded to each other and boarded a train to Twilight Town, arriving in the picturesque sea-side city by 8pm.

As they walked out of the station, Riku paused, shielding his eyes from the glare of the setting sun, "I thought it would be dark by now…"

Squall snorted a little, "It's called 'Twilight Town' for a reason. Sunsets seem to last hours here."

"Well, let's hope that the damn thing sets before tonight."

Letting out a breath of air in agreement, Squall glanced around, "Zexion told us to meet him at the clock tower…"

"And there he is." Riku pointed and as Squall followed his finger and spotted a figure leaning against the base of an enormous clock tower next to a black van. It looked like a punkish teenager dressed in tight dark jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, the hood pulled over to cast shadows over his face. A closer look however, revealed pale blue hair and a sharp gaze, putting the everything else into perspective and suddenly Squall realized that it was Zexion.

"…He looks like he's 15…"

"I know. The damn geezer's a freak of nature, he doesn't age."

Squall glanced over as they began to stroll over to their ride, "How old is he?"

"He's twenty-seven!"

Squall blinked as he took another look at Zexion as the man straightened up, having noticed their presence. That meant that Zexion was older than him, if only by a year. But still, the man's appearance was very deceiving. Especially right now when he looked like he could be in high school. As soon as he spoke though, Squall was reminded that Zexion was not quite so innocent. "I was beginning to wonder if the two had you had missed your train. Get in the back and change while I drive to our location, without damaging any of the equipment please. Most of it is worth more than either of you."

Riku scoffed as he pulled open the back door, revealing panels of computers and TV monitors lining the sides, a small moving space in between them, "Just don't get distracted by all that eyeliner and crash the van."

Flat-out ignoring Riku, Zexion got into the driver's seat, starting up the old van as Squall hopped in the back after Riku and closed the doors. Squall scowled as he bumped into the other man, both momentarily loosing their footing as the vehicle started up. Setting his bag on top of a TV screen, Riku opened it up and pulled out a long, black leather trench coat. Squall had to roll his eyes at the dramatic outfit as he watched Riku put it on, both men pulling their hair up into a ponytail and leather gloves onto their hands. Removing his signature jacket, Squall tucked his handgun into the belt holster he had dug out of his SeeD gear.

Riku let out a curse as Zexion took a sharp turn, both men in back thrown to the right side of the van, "Damn it, doesn't that little jerk know we have loaded weapons back here?!"

Glancing back, Squall let out a noise of concern. Riku had been slipping two long pistols into his trenchcoat when the turn had come; if he had fallen wrong they would have discharged, probably right into Squall's leg. "Just keep your fingers off the triggers and we won't have any problems."

"Nothing will happen as long as Zex keeps the van upright." Spotting something amidst the crowd of tech equipment, Riku grabbed two slim headsets from the mess, "Here, put this on. Knowing Zexion, he already has his on."

Slipping the headpiece on, Riku adjusted the microphone before switching the device on, "Hey, take those turns easier unless you want a bullet in your back."

Squall smirked as he switched his own headset on and heard Zexion's emotionless voice crackled back over the radiowaves, "--I assumed you had a better sense of balance. I apologize, I will slow down--"

Chuckling, Squall couldn't help a small flashback of Seifer and Zell messing around with the walkie-talkies while on patrol. Caught-off guard by the small flood of depression that came after it, he forced the thoughts away the same way he forced away thoughts of his family while he was on duty. Strange to think that was less than a week ago.

"Hey Leon! You're blocking the door."

Snapping out of his thoughts at Riku's annoyed sneer, Squall realized the van had come to a stop. Wondering how long he had been daydreaming for, Squall threw back a "Whatever" before pushing the double doors opened.

Zexion was waiting for them outside, jumping in the back as soon as they had vacated the space and immediately booting up some computers, flipping his hood down to adjust his headset. Taking the opportunity, Squall looked around as Riku did the same. They had parked along the side wall of what appeared to be a rather lavish estate, judging by the three story mansion that was peeking over the eight-foot brick wall. They seemed to be in a suburb of Twilight Town, surrounded by other large, well-to-do houses, just as silent as the one standing in front of them.

Seeing what they were looking at, Zexion spoke to them in a soft voice, "This is the eastern wall. If you remember from the map, the point of entrance you decided upon was the third window from the left on the second story. Give me a moment to disable the security system. Actually, while you are waiting, figure out a way to scale that wall without alerting the guards."

Riku and Squall looked at each other before looking back at the wall. It wouldn't be too hard; all that they really needed to do was make sure that they were relatively quiet. Each going their own route, Riku positioned himself between the wall and the van, the space about two feet wide, while Squall chose instead to use the car's bumper as a stepstool to the van's roof. Just as Squall had pulled himself completely up onto the roof, Riku literally leapt into action. Taking a small running start, he jumped at the wall, using momentum to ricochet up and over to the van and then back over to the wall, having gained enough height to snag the top of the brick wall and hoist himself up.

Squall blinked at Riku's agility but, unwilling to give the young man any further ego boost, kept silent, instead focusing on jumping from the roof of the van to the top of the wall. Luckily, his muscles were still toned from SeeD, and he landed easily in a crouch on the six-inch thick barrier. Letting out a small huff, Riku sat down next to him, both men then refocusing on Zexion to wait for an "okay" to proceed.

Glancing up at them, clearly not having expected that they would complete their task so quickly, Zexion shook his head and returned to his computers, his voice coming through on Squall and Riku's headsets, "--Do not jeopardize this mission by trying to show off--"

"Hey, it worked didn't it? And can you take any longer? I thought you had worked most of this thing out remotely back in Traverse."

"--I did in fact work most of it out. However, it takes a few moments to actually be put into action, so you will just have to search deep inside yourself for the strength to wait a few more moments without doing anything foolhardy Riku--"

"Just hurry up."

A few more minutes passed by, each feeling like an hour, before Zexion's voice came back through the soft crackle of static, "--Alright. The home security is down. You should have about seven minutes before the guards realize that something is wrong, unless they are unusually perceptive. I advise that you move quickly--"

"Alright," Riku glanced at Squall as they turned to face the house, "let's get this show on the road."

Not having seen a guard pass by within the last five minutes, Squall cautiously jumped down into the grassy yard as quietly as he could manage. Riku followed, landing noiselessly beside him and the two crept towards the building. Pulling his handgun free of its holster, Squall pressed himself against the house wall, military training rushing back as he moved toward the corner. As Riku looked up at the window they would use, Squall checked around the corner to search for guards coming from the south. The coast was clear.

Squall nodded back to his partner and a smirk spread across Riku's face, the pale man beginning to skillfully scale the outside of the building, using the ornate detailing around the first story window as a ladder. Squall checked back around the corner, his heart catching just slightly as he saw a man appear from the shadows, walking towards their position as he patrolled the perimeter of the estate.

Glancing back and seeing that Riku had just latched onto the windowsill of their entrance point, Squall spoke into his headset, "Riku, we have company."

He heard Riku give a small grunt of exertion as the man pulled himself up to balance precariously on the small second-story windowsill before Riku answered back, "Do they need to be taken care of?"

Squall looked back at the guard. He had getting closer but, given that the building was huge it was likely that the man wouldn't come around the corner until after both Riku and he had made it inside. "It should be alright if you can get that window open."

"Already done."

Looking up, Squall caught Riku's smug grin before the pale man disappeared into the house. Checking the guard one last time to make sure that his climb wouldn't be interrupted, Squall holstered his pistol so he would have two free hands and mimicked Riku's ascent.

As he pulled himself up and through the window, he found Riku standing in the room they had broken into, his hands on his hips as he surveyed his surroundings. It looked to be a study of sorts, bookcases lining two of the walls with a pool table in the middle of the room. It was clear that their target had a lot of cash. Riku however already looked bored, Zexion's voice echoing through the silence picking his interest back up, "--The master bedroom is down the hall--"

Squall mentally recalled the blueprints he had spent hours staring at last night, "Understood." Riku motioned for him to go first as Squall rearmed himself, causing Squall to raise a brow, "You don't want to lead?"

"Never bothered to look at the map."

Before Squall could respond, Zexion beat him to it, "--What do I even pay you for?--"

"Are you kidding, did you see how fast I had that window open?"

They might have continued had Squall not raised a hand for silence, Riku grudgingly closing his mouth as they stepped out of the billiard room and further into the house. Holding his gun out in front as he made his way through the house, Squall led the way as they slunk down a long hall, the left side opening up to reveal a grand staircase leading down to the first floor, rows of doors continuing to line the right side of the hall.

As the silence deepened, Squall's ears were filled with the sound of their muffled footfalls on the thick carpet and the sound of his heartbeat, his blood pumping at a constant, even pace. The sun had finally set and dusk was quickly fading into night, Squall and Riku's eyes adjusting as light slowly left the house. They had argued about whether they should bring flashlights but it was settled that the beams of light would certainly tip off any of the guards.

Soon they were in front of the door Squall knew led to the master bedroom and the safe and he pushed the door open. Quickly scanning the room before stepping inside, he waved Riku in, the man immediately walking over to a large picture handing on one of the walls.

Riku tucked his own weapon back into his trenchcoat before using both hands to pull the painting off of the wall revealing a safe embedded in the wall. Letting out a short laugh, Riku shook his head as he set the artwork down, "Typical. Some men have no imagination."

"Do you know how to crack a safe?"

"Please, this isn't my first break-in Leon. Just keep watch, alright?"

Narrowing his eyes, Squall positioned himself by the window looking down on the gardens so that he could also see out into the hall, trying to block out the sound of Riku fiddling with the lock as his ears strained to pick up the sound of footsteps.

Squall tried not to jump as Zexion came back over the radio, "--You have four minutes left--"

"Riku…"

"I'm going as fast as I can. I only have two more numbers to go."

Counting the seconds in his head, Squall started getting nervous, his worry spiking as the sound he had been listening for reached his ears, "I'm hearing footsteps."

He heard Zexion let out a little curse and the sound of typing, "--I have hacked into the security cameras. It seems as if a guard has just made his way into the house. He is still on the first floor but he is making his way towards the area where the stairs are located--"

Just as Squall was about to tell Riku to hurry up, the other man let out a small noise of victory as the safe swung open. Squall would have been elated if it had not let out an ear-piercing shriek as it did so.

There was a pause before the footsteps became clearly audible, Riku cursing as he pulled a fabric bag out of his trench pocket. Squall ran over to help, the two together ungracefully shoveling the safe's contents into the bag as the footsteps grew louder.

"--You have forty seconds before the security system comes back on line and the guard has made it to the bottom of the stairs. And I should mention that the man has a handgun drawn--"

"That's fine, so do we." Riku pulled his weapon out as Squall threw the bag over his shoulder, never having put his own gun away. Racing out of the room, they didn't even hesitate as the guard spotted them leaving the room and let out a sharp shout, "Hey, you two! Freeze!"

The command brought a smirk to Riku's face, Squall focusing on the billiards room door as they charged towards it, no longer worrying about being quiet.

"Freeze or I'll shoot!" By the sound of it, the guard was already near the top of the stairs.

This time Riku laughed and they reached the billiards room door, Squall wrenching it open. Just as they were rushing through, the sound of gunfire ripped through the air and Squall immediately dropped into a dive-roll. Somersaulting over the bag of goods, he naturally righted himself so that he was looking back into the hall, his gun at the ready, and was met with the sight of a guard standing in the hallway and taking aim for another shot.

Seeing that his partner was making a stand, Riku spun around and in one fluid movement aimed and fired his gun, the bullet flying straight into the guard's chest. The man fell motionless to the floor, Squall seeing a grin on Riku's face before his attention was caught by the sound of more footsteps thundering inside.

"--The security system is back online. The guards know you are here and they are calling the police as I speak. I suggest that you quickly make your way out--"

Squall swore under his breath as an alarm suddenly went off and practically vaulted the pool table in his hurry to reach the window they had used as an entrance point. Riku beat him to it and tugged on the window, "Shit! It's locked shut!"

"Must be a security feature."

Hearing guards rush up the staircase behind them, Riku turned to face the open doorway and raised his gun, "I guess we'll just have to find another exit."

Squall shook his head as he shoved Riku to the side to try to open the window. It really was stuck closed. By the sounds of the footsteps thundering up the stairs, there were about four to six guards coming up to meet them. Against those odds, there wasn't much of a chance of them making it out no matter their skills with firearms. Especially considering that the guards were about to come across the body of their fallen comrade and were likely to become much less forgiving. They needed to leave through this window and something like a lock had never stopped a SeeD before.

"Back up Riku." Riku gave an annoyed glance as Squall pushed him further out of the way. Hearing alarmed cries as the guards found the man who had been shot, Squall quickly fired two rounds into the window frame next to the locking device. Having fried any electronic lock, Squall used sheer brute strength to force the window open, jumping through it as he heard another order to "freeze" being shouted at them.

Falling two stories, Squall landed in a roll on the grass outside to break his fall. Hurrying to his feet, he saw Riku flip out of the window just as the sound of gunfire pierced the night air, shards of wood flying into the air as bullets aimed at Riku's body embedded themselves into the window frame. With all the skills of a professional gymnast, Riku snagged the outside edge of the windowsill. Using it to anchor himself to the exterior wall of the estate, Riku slid down, his fingers catching the decoration around the first story window to slow his fall before he hit the ground.

As soon as they were both on their feet they took off towards the wall, the guards beginning to take shots at them from the window. Squall met Riku's gaze with his own as they reached the wall and plan sparked in both of their eyes. Crouching down, Riku laced his fingers together, acting as a human footstool and helping to launch Squall high enough to grasp the top edge of the wall. With a heavy bag in one hand and a handgun still clasped in the other, Squall steeled himself and forced his muscles to pull him up to the top.

With bullets skimmed over his head, Riku busied himself with returning fire as Squall hauled himself up. As soon as Squall had himself balanced he dropped the bag onto the other side of the wall and reached his hand down. Seeing it out of the corner of his eye, Riku jumped and caught Squall's arm around his wrist, having to trust his accomplice to both pull him to safety and to keep him from getting shot.

Squall grimaced as he saw one of the guards slowly take aim, clearly intent on taking at least one of the thieves down. Straining himself, he pulled Riku high enough so that he could grab the top of the wall. As soon as Riku had a grip, Squall raised his free hand and fired a shot at the guard just as he saw the man's finger tense to pull the trigger. For perhaps the first time in his life Squall was thankful for his military training. The bullet had gone exactly where he had wanted it to; straight into the guard's hand, causing him to drop his gun with a shout of pain.

A moment later, Riku managed to straddle the wall and then flip the other leg over. Both men jumped down to the ground as the bullets continued to fly, Squall letting out a small grunt of pain as one grazed his shoulder. Momentarily ignoring the sting, he grabbed the loot bag and followed Riku to the van. Zexion already had the vehicle started up and had left the back doors open and they dove inside. Squall landed on top of Riku, not having the luxury to care about their position as a bullet managed to get inside the van, ricocheting off of the ceiling and causing both men to cover their heads. Blindly reaching back, Squall tugged the doors closed and they heard the wheels screeched as Zexion hit the gas.

The force of the acceleration slammed Squall and Riku back against the doors they had just closed, Riku pushing away as soon as he could, "Well that was way more trouble than it should've been."

Tossing the bag to Riku, Squall let out a sigh as he took a moment to examine the graze on his shoulder, "So that was abnormal then?"

"I think I'll blame you."

"I'll remember that for the next time someone is aiming at your back."

"—Enough bickering. All that matters is that you got out with the money, correct?--"

Riku pulled the bag into his lap as he remained sitting on the floor, his look of annoyance replaced with one of satisfaction, "Speaking of which…let's see what we got."

"Strife! We got a lead!"

Cloud opened his eyes, his concentration disintegrating as his mind was once again filled with the sound of telephone calls, papers shuffling, and the incessant typing. Glaring up at his partner as he burst into their office, Cloud ran a hand through his unruly hair, "What is it Axel?"

The fiery red-head grinned down at him, a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth as he threw a file down onto the blonde's desk, "Our perps just pulled another heist. Check it out!"

Cloud eyed the other man before flipping over the manila file, eyes darting across the typed pages inside. There had been a robbery at the Richards Estate, one of the wealthier families in the area…apparently the robbery had been interrupted by the guards, although it seemed that the theives had somehow managed to hack into the security system…Skipping down to what he really wanted to know, Cloud's eyes skimmed the paragraphs. "Damn…"

"Ya, I know. Apparently no genetic evidence or finger prints were found, nor could any of the guards decide on what our perps looked like. Or how old they were. Or race, height, weight, and I think gender was also called into question."

Slowly letting out a long breath of air, Cloud rested his forehead in his hands. Axel let him think, choosing instead to flop down at his own desk, turn on his computer, and start a game of solitaire. Finally looking back up, Cloud leaned back in his chair, "So…what do we know?"

"Not much. It seems to be three or four guys working together. They work out of a black van they park near their targeted house. Two of the team actually breaks into the house and, from what I've heard from the witnesses, they're unusually athletic and work fast. Definitely professionals."

"Why are these guys so hard to pin down?"

"Because they're not stupid like most of the idiots we go after?"

It was true. As a detective in a quiet place like Twilight Town, you didn't get many cases and when you did it was a crime committed by some low-life who didn't possess the capacity to cover his tracks. Having moved here from Midgar, it never ceased to amaze him.

Axel's voice loudly interrupted his thoughts, again, "Oo, look, our sexy receptionist came to visit."

Immediately Axel was belted with wadded up balls of paper from two directions, Cloud speaking up before the newcomer recovered from his rage, "Axel, talk about my little brother like that again in my presence and I will castrate you with a paperclip."

The short blond who had appeared in the doorway stalked inside, slamming a pile of paperwork onto Axel's desk, "Just for that, you get to finish all this."

Pouting, Axel loosened his tie, "Come on Roxy, you know I was kidding, don't you?"

"Don't you know I don't care?" Cloud smirked at his younger brother's response. Roxas had been the reason he had moved out to Twilight Town in the first place. Roxas had moved out to Twilight Town to go to college and had fallen in love with the place. By that time, Cloud was already working for the Midgar police force but had requested a transfer when he learned Roxas had no intention of moving back to the big city. In the end Roxas had followed him into police work although currently he was stuck in a desk job at the station, mostly because of his inexperience. The kid was only 22 still and straight out of college so it made sense. Then again, Cloud himself was a detective at 24 so if Roxas put his mind to it, he should be able to move up the ladder pretty quickly. After all, Axel had managed it and he was only 28. How hard could it be in Twilight Town?

Ignoring Axel's protests, Roxas sat on the edge of his brother's desk, "So Cloud, what are you gonna do now? This lead was kind of a flop."

"I'm not sure yet…we'll learn what we can from this but I think we'll just have to wait until they strike again." Shuffling through some papers on his desk, Cloud frowned thoughtfully, "I contacted a detective in Dark City and it seems that they've been experiencing a similar run of robberies. I've requested copies of the reports, so hopefully we'll be able to find some clues."

Axel scowled, "Dark City PD should take the case, not us. They have twice as many men and four times our funding."

"I think robberies are some of the least of their worries Axel. Besides, we need to earn our salary somehow. A little hard work won't kill you."