Hey dudes! Whoo, next chapter! Good news is that it has been warming up a little from last week: although it's still winter and stuff, the weather is no longer unusually frigid. Bad news is that both I and my sister (and editor) had minor surgery done at the beginning of this week (that's the thing about being a twin; when there's something wrong with one of you, usually the other has it too). We're both doing fine and almost back to normal by now, but the "bad news" part comes in because I wrote a little over half this chapter under the influence of pain killers. So…ya. I'll try to edit as many oddities out as I can, but I'm not sure if I got everything…

Much thanks to: Shukakku the adorable raccoon, An Antique Heart, Caithdean, ramen-is-my-goddess, Hi Kitsune, Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel, dumdam, Nekotsubasa, Lucia-luce, xHanako, Shinimegami7, Arid Tundra, BlackCatHikari, MadeInHolland, Clockwork Phoenix, DeNiSaY60, SlippingSanity, The Hollow Fairy Wolf, Dragi, Bane-Dane, ooXloveXoo582, , Aindel S. Druida, Cracked Plastic Crown, ChaosGarden, Blah..., Becca86, chibi heishi, and b4k4 ch4n!!! And, of course, a very Merry Christmas (Happy Haunkkah, etc.) to you all! This isn't particularly (at all) holiday-ish, but I hope that you enjoy nonetheless!

O

Chapter 16

Squall and Riku remained silent for the most part as they felt Zexion increase his speed, undoubtedly pulling onto the highway, a little more aggressively than usual. As he gripped a shelf to keep his balance, a thought came across Squall's mind, "Hey Riku."

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell is Zexion driving us to Dark City?"

Moving a computer case to the floor so that he could lean up against the wall, Riku frowned up at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean his leg's still broken and he's probably so drugged up on vicodin that he can barely see straight!"

"Oh, yeah." Riku seemed a lot less concerned than Squall felt, "I guess he figured that he was good enough to go. I'm pretty sure since we got back he's actually stuck to the recommended dosage of his meds, probably because he doesn't want to run out while he's cut off from his supply."

"But he's still driving with a broken leg!"

"Maybe he's using his left foot to work the pedals? Either way, the little guy seems to be doing all right."

Squall scowled and glanced over at the box of explosives with a more wary eye, "This is ridiculous…we're going to die before we even get there!"

"If you're so bothered by it, why don't you just ask him about it yourself?"

Raising a brow at him, Riku just rolled his eyes and jammed his thumb towards the pair of headsets resting on top of a crate behind him. Squall grimaced but leaned over the gunman, trying not to fall on top of him as Zexion merged into the fast lane, and snatched the headset up. Flicking it on, he shoved it onto his head and adjusted the mouthpiece, "Zexion? Are you on?"

There was a soft flicker of static before Zexion's voice came through, "—What can I do for you, Leon?—"

Well, he sounded lucid enough. "You can tell me how you're managing to drive the van with a cast on."

"—You need not be worried for your safety. I have worked out a system that adequately suits my needs. After having been forced to be driven around by Riku I realized that my learning how to drive, no matter the circumstances, was an imperative necessity for my sanity. This, I suppose, is my trial run.—"

Squall closed his eyes, rubbing his brow with his hand, "Could you have maybe saved this little experiment for some time when we didn't have a box of C-4 in the back?"

"—Perhaps, but I did not have the time before the beginning of this operation. I nevertheless have full confidence in my abilities—"

"I'm glad someone does…" Not wanting to waste too much battery power, Squall flipped off the power on the headset and let out a breath. This was not the best way to start a mission.

Riku smirked at his sigh, "So, good news?"

"I blame you and your driving. Either that or the drugs are getting to his brain."

"Either one's likely. Maybe both."

Squall snorted. That sounded about right.

Not having to change their clothes, having no extra pair of clothes to change into, there wasn't much for Squall and Riku to do for the rest of the trip but think on what they were going to do. And it didn't bring Squall too much more comfort. What they were about to do still seemed a little suicidal to him, but he, Riku, and Zexion had had a good deal of conversations and debates about the issue already. Zexion had been positive that moving so fast was for the best. He made the good point that the Organization would not be expecting such an immediate response. It was also likely that the Organization currently had less people guarding their tower and more people out on the streets looking for the three of them. Personally Squall would have liked a little more time to work out the details of their plan but he had been outvoted. On the positive side, this meant that everything was going to be over faster, but as for the negatives, it probably meant that they had a worse chance of making it out in one piece.

Trying to keep his nerves steady, despite the van's occasional swerve or sudden change in speed, Squall was almost grateful as they seemed to pull off of the highway. Riku lifted his head, apparently having been able to relax enough to take a short nap, and released a yawn, "How much time has gone by?"

"Enough for us to get to Dark City."

"Show time then…Let's get those guns out."

Squall straightened up with a grunt and grabbed the duffel bag, pulling out his rifle before passing it to Riku. He already had his handgun ready to go, with a few extra clips courtesy of Xigbar, and had dug up a simple belt holster for it at their headquarters. Looking up, he saw Riku holster his two pistols before pulling his sniper rifle out of the bag, his fingers running over the barrel as if it was made of gold. It was first thing that he had ever seen Riku handle delicately. "You really like that thing?"

Riku looked up sharply before pulling the rifle completely out of the duffle bag, "This thing is the newest, most precise sniper rifle yet invented. It's nearly impossible to find on the market, I don't know how Xigbar got his hands on it."

"Yeah, but do you know how to use it?"

He got a scoff in return, "In my hands this baby could knock the wings off a fly at a hundred yards."

Squall smirked up at him. "Too bad we won't be shooting any flies tonight."

"Well, I'll have to come up with something even better then."

"I'll count on it."

Bracing himself again as the back of the van lurched to a stop, Squall grip tightened on his gun as he heard the engine turn off. "I think we're here."

Riku nodded, "Sounds like it." They both perked up as they heard the driver's door open, the men able to hear footsteps coming around to the back of the van through the quiet. The handle jiggled for a moment before the back doors swung open and Zexion appeared, his face lit up by blue neon.

"Are the both of you ready to go?"

Pushing passed him, Riku stepped out onto the concrete, "Of course. Just a little surprised to get here alive."

Zexion sniffed, "I appreciate your confidence."

Squall jumped out of van as Zexion motioned for him to move and took a good look around. They were definitely in Dark City; the aura of the city was enough to give it away, the shadow-covered skyscrapers looking as if they stretched all the way up to the starless night sky. It looked like Zexion had driven them into a back alley behind the Organization's tower, the van itself hidden from the tower's view.

Zexion climbed clumsily into the back of the van, taking a few seconds before he was able to swing his broken leg in. Clamoring inside, he shoved the box of C-4 towards them "Here, fill up your bags. The more you carry in, the better, in my opinion."

Riku smirked as he caught the smaller of the two bags Zexion then tossed towards them, Squall catching the other as he silver-haired man spoke up, "You know, I think I like this side of you Zex. I don't think I've ever seen you quite so ticked off before."

"No, I should say not." Zexion wasn't even looking at them anymore but was instead setting up his computer station, screens springing to life as he flipped the now-emptied C-4 container over to create a make-shift seat.

Squall shouldered his bag filled with half of their C-4, testing the weight of that plus his guns and ammunition. It was manageable, less weight than he had to carry around as a SeeD anyway. Of course, that was mostly because he didn't have the normal body armor on. Hopefully he would be able to keep in mind that cotton and leather didn't exactly protect against bullets the same way that the body armor did.

"Riku, put your headset on and turn yours back on Leon. As we have discussed, I will not be able to go with you this time, so you will have to inform me of your every step." Looking up at his computer screen, he waited a minute for something to download before pulling out something that looked like a USB flash drive, "Take this. Plug it into one of the higher ups computers and the program I installed on it should be able to hack through their security system and download the data essential for our freedom."

Reaching out, Squall delicately accepted the small device, not wanting to damage it as he slipped it into his pocket. Meanwhile Riku pulled his hair back into a ponytail and pulled on his headseat, the man scowling a little as his bangs fell back into his face. "Alright, so what's the plan?"

Spinning around on his crate, Zexion crossed his arms, his eyes skimming over Squall and Riku as if to make sure that they were fully equipped for their job, "After studying the blueprints of the tower for a long while last night I discovered another way in that may be easier for you. It is a door in the back of the tower, used mostly to move trash out of the building and into the dumpster, but it will provide you entrance into the first level. Admittedly there will be more security cameras but there will be less danger of you being spotted by passer-bys which is my main concern for this first step."

Squall glanced up towards the tower looming over them from around the corner, "So from there we'll have to use the staircase to get up to the fifth floor?"

Zexion nodded, "That is correct. It would still be too dangerous for you to take the elevator and there is no other way up then the stairs. I even checked the ventilation systems but they would be too small to fit through, not to mention that they would be incredibly noisy to climb through." His eyes had drifted back onto the screens in front of him as he was speaking, "It seems that I will not be able to disable the alarm system without setting off an alert to the security team so you will have to disable each security device as they come along. I will guide you through the process as best as I am able, but you may have to get creative."

Pulling on a pair of leather gloves, Riku nodded, "I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out when we get there. You just make sure that no one sees this van lurking around."

"Do not worry about me." Leaning down, Zexion checked the clock in the corner of his screen, "As far as I can figure the guards on duty will be changing shifts in about half an hour. Given that, you have a half hour to get through any security systems and get yourself up to that fifth floor."

Squall looked back up at the dark sky, "Then we'd better get going. Come on Riku, we've got work to do."

"I'm just waiting on you!"

Looking back at Riku, Squall saw that he was indeed ready to go. Letting out a breath of annoyance, he turned on his headset before closing the back of the van, sealing off the light from Zexion's computer screens and throwing them into the relative darkness of the city.

Squall felt a tap on his shoulder and he saw Riku turn and begin to walk towards the end of the alleyway. Following his partner, they both crouched down as soon as they reached the corner, Squall holding his breath as they looked up at their monolithic target. He almost jumped as his headset crackled to life, "—The back door should be right in front of you, perhaps a little to the left. Be careful though, there are security cameras at several locations.—"

"Got it." Raising his sniper gun, Riku checked through his scope, Squall waiting for him to scan the building. "I see one camera above the back door, another at the top of the building, and, wouldn't you know, there's one right above the fifth floor, looking down. It's almost like they're paranoid or something."

Squall rolled his eyes, "Imagine that. Does it look like we can get around their field of vision? If we're caught sight of now it could ruin the entire operation before we get started."

"We won't have to worry about that." Riku smirked and flicked the safety off of his sniper gun.

Squall straightened up, "Wait, you're going to wake up the whole neighborhood if you fire that off here!"

"Relax, it has a built-in silencing apparatus. Now sit back and let me do my job."

That's right. Riku, besides being a thief, was first and foremost a sniper and an assassin. He had never actually seen Riku do that kind of work before, though it looked like he was about to get his chance.

Using a crate to steady the end of the rifle, Riku closed one eye as he lined up his shot. Then his finger tightened on the trigger and there was a muffled bang as the gun recoiled, the soft sound of glass shattering reaching his ears a millisecond later. "What'd you hit?"

Riku spared him a glance before he lined up a second shot, "I broke the lens on the camera above the back door. After I knock out the other two cameras we can go in."

Squall blinked at the reply. If Riku did as he said, that would be an amazing series of shots. The lead sniper in their SeeD unit wasn't even as proficient. Nevertheless, it took Riku less than five minutes to shatter the lenses of the other two security cameras, a cocky smirk on his face as he straightened up and turned back to Squall. "How's that for talent?"

"Not bad, although we won't have much time before the security guards notice that three of their cameras are down."

"You never can just give me a compliment, can you?"

Squall smirked in response and rose to his feet, "Come on; we have to make this fast."

Riku scoffed at the brush-off but kept pace with him as Squall cautiously made his way to the back of the skyscraper. The back door, as Zexion had said, was clearly used by custodians and employees to take out trash, bring in deliveries, and the like, because it was much less impressive than the front façade. The door itself was made of a thick metal, a keypad serving as a lock, just like most of the other doors in the building. Frowning at it, Squall pressed a hand to his headset, "Alright, we made it to the first roadblock. What's the plan?"

"—Remove the casing off of the keypad.—" Squall did so, prying the plastic cover off to expose a bunch of wiring and microchips. There was no way this was going to be easy. "—Now in the bag I threw you to pack up the C-4 in also has in it that electronic device that you saw me using on our last venture into the Organization's building. Get it out and clip it onto the main circuit board. Then let the device run through a matrix of pass codes—"

Squall tried to pay attention to what the other man was saying but as soon as he said circuit board he stopped following anything that Zexion was explaining. Riku seemed to be of the same opinion and, as Zexion continued to explain how exactly to manipulate the electronics, covered up his microphone so that Zexion couldn't hear him, "Yeah, no way is that shit happening."

Nodding in agreement, Squall motioned for him to take a step back from the door. Pulling out his assault rifle, he took a small breath then swung the butt of the rifle hard into the middle of the circuitry, sparks flying out as he pulled away for another strike. As tiny pieces of metal shrapnel tumbled to the concrete, they heard the sound of a bolt sliding open. They exchanged a smug look as Zexion's voice flooded back into his head, "—And then when the device has found the correct code, the light on the top of the keycode box should turn green and the door should be open. Have you followed my instructions?—"

Squall tilted his head and tested the door handle, "Well, the door's unlocked."

"—Very good. Now, when you proceed inside you should find yourself in the main lobby. I assume that you are able to recall where they stairs are?—"

"I would hope so, we were just here a few days ago."

"Shh." Squall held up his hand for silence as they stepped into the building. Although there hadn't been any guards on the ground floor the first time they came, that didn't mean that the same was going to be true for tonight. Not only that, but from their last trip to the tower he knew that sound carried extraordinarily well through the floors and particularly up the stairwells.

Luckily, Zexion apparently had gotten his timing down once again and all of the regular employees had gone home for the night, the first floor deserted. Wielding his assault rifle and with Riku holding his sniper rifle at the ready they moved quickly and purposefully across the marble tile. As they moved, both men kept their eyes and ears open for people or security cameras. They knew that Zexion was right; the only way that they were going to be able to make a deal with the police was if they didn't get connected with this break-in.

They walked straight passed the elevator, as before, Squall moving with more confidence as they entered back into familiar territory. Pausing at the front of the staircase, Squall listened for any signs of people coming up or down. The only sound that reached his ears was the noise of his heart beating in his chest. Time to move then. Motioning with a quick flick of his hand, he heard Riku follow him up as he began to run up the stairs.

Without Zexion with them they were able to move much faster, each man keeping pace with the other as they reached the second floor, then the third, and the fourth, Squall only stopping for a breath as they reached the fifth floor. Riku eyed the door to the Organization's office complex and then the keypad separating them from whatever lay inside, keeping his voice quiet so as not to attract the attention of anyone on the other side, "I doubt that we're just going to be able to smash this one open without causing problems…"

"—Pardon me?—"

"Oh yeah, you're listening. I forgot for a minute. Anyway, about this lock, any suggestions?"

"—Well, you could do what I actually told you to do before, how does that sound?—"

"Um," Squall pulled the duffle bag off of his shoulder in order to dig through the C-4 to find that electronic thing Zexion had said was in there, "Could you go over those directions again?"

They both heard a sigh so loud that Squall was surprised no one came to investigate. "—Honestly, I should have expected this…Just rip the cover off of the thing, plug the device in and press the big red button. There, simple enough for you?—"

"I think I can handle that." Finally Squall's fingers wrapped around a cold metal box, at the very bottom of the bag of course, and he pulled it out. Riku was one step ahead of him, yanking off the plastic casing and Squall began to fiddle with the electronics as soon as he took a step back. After trying a few different ways to plug the device in, it finally clicked into place and little lights began to flash. Squall assumed that meant it was working. He was never good with little things like this; sure, give him a motor and he could do anything you wanted with it but microelectronics were beyond his comprehension.

A tense moment passed as they waited for it to finish, Riku moving to stand with one ear pressed against the doorframe. From the expression on his face, Squall guessed that he was able to hear movement from inside. That didn't surprise him though. There were sure to be guards posted, maybe even more than last time.

Just when he was about to check in with Zexion to make sure that he hadn't messed it up, a small green light flashed on and they heard the click of the lock. Taking a breath, Riku reached forward and, after a second, gently turned the handle, opening the door just a sliver before Squall unplugged the device and shoved it back into his bag. Their eyes met as Squall looked up again, Riku's teal eyes gleaming with anticipation as he whispered into his mic, "Alright Zex, we're in."

"—You know what to do then. Computer data first, then the finale. Remember, leave no witnesses.—"

Squall gave a tight nod and Riku's grip tightened on the door handle, "You ready?" Lifting his rifle up onto his shoulder in response, Squall positioned himself carefully at the door. He didn't know what was going to be waiting for them on the other side, but whoever it was, they were taking their last few breaths of air. Squall didn't know if he was ready, mentally, for this, but either way it was happening now and he didn't have a choice about it. If they succeeded, not only would they get the Organization off of their backs but they might have a chance of avoiding that lifetime sentence that Cloud so desperately wanted to assign to each of them. The people inside were not innocents, not civilians; they were members of the Organization, enemy combatants. He could do this.

All his thoughts, which had flashed through his mind in the span of a breath, were shut off as Riku flung the door to the office complex open. Now running purely on instinct and training, Squall's focus zeroed in on one, no, two guards in range, and his finger tightened on the trigger of his rifle sending a spray of shots into the first man before the door even opened all the way. Riku took care of the second, one well-placed round between the eyes sending the man to the ground, dead before he had time to blink.

So far, so good. Their kills had been nearly silent although footsteps told them that someone was coming to investigate. Squall knew that they couldn't wait for the enemy to come to them though; they had to move fast enough to avoid anyone having the time to raise the alarm. Waving for Riku to keep up, Squall began to lead them through the hall, taking down a third guard as he rounded the corner. Riku walked over to check that the man was dead then smirked as he leaned over, pulling a card key out of the guard's front pocket. "Seems like we just got easy access into the offices."

"Good. Let's find a room that looks like it belongs to someone important."

"I think I remember one. Follow me." They both knew that they didn't have very long before they, or one of the three bodies they had already left behind, were noticed. Keeping his gun up, Squall chased after Riku as the man took off farther into the halls. His heart rate shot up every time they went around a new corner but they only ran into one guard, Riku shooting him in the back of the head before he even turned around. Squall's eyes narrowed at the dirty shot but Riku didn't seem too abashed.

As they continued, Squall recognized the path as the one that they took to get closer to that big safe that had been their target during their first robbery attempt. A few more turns around corners and Riku had led them to a promising looking door if the gold nameplate was anything to go by. It said it was the office of the "Vice President" of the Organization and made Squall wonder what position that translated to in their underground activities. Swiping the guard's key card through the lock, Riku opened the door just as they heard another set of footsteps approaching from deeper inside the maze of hallways.

Slipping inside, Squall stayed by the door as Riku walked directly over to the computer, the silver-haired man taking a seat in the high-backed leather chair set up at the desk as he waited for it to power up. "Zex, we made it to a computer."

"—Did you run into any problems?—"

"Nope, it's been surprisingly easy so far."

"—Good. Perhaps that means that I was correct in thinking that their numbers would be momentarily low in the tower itself. But in reference to the computer, Leon, take out the item I gave you that resembles a flash drive and plug it into the computer. From there I should be able to hack into the computer remotely. I will let you know when I am finished but under no circumstances must you pull the drive out before I am finished or else we could lose all the data.—"

"Gotcha, boss. Leon, toss it to me."

Digging around in his pocket, Squall pulled out the driver and threw it over to Riku after he set his sniper gun down on the desk. The assassin caught it easily, glaring as the computer monitor lit up his face in a pale blue glow, "This thing is password protected."

"—Easily bypassed. Plug the driver in and let me take care of it.—"

Riku shrugged but plugged it in, his eyes lighting up as the screen went black before lines of text began to stream across the monitor. "Are you doing that Zex?"

"—Indeed. Give me a moment and, ah, there we are.—" The screen went black again only to be replaced by a rather plain desktop devoid of any icons or any personalization. "—Now, let us see what they have hidden in the depths of their databases.—"

Riku raised a brow as windows began to pop open, more programming text beginning to flood the screen as Zexion began to hack through the undoubtedly numerous firewalls and security systems. "You know Zex, you might actually be more useful with your leg broken than when you were healthy."

"—And your ignorance is surpassed only by your vainglorious bigotry.—"

"I don't even know what the hell you just said."

"—Point proven. Invest in a dictionary.—"

Squall scowled, "Could you two keep quiet! I think someone's coming…" The office door was only open a crack but he could just make out flashlight beams and then the sound of shouts. "They've found our handiwork."

"Figures."

"—I still need approximately five minutes to finish. Either make sure that they cannot find you or take care of them.—"

Checking his clip, Squall looked back towards the door. He could hear more voices now, and more footsteps. Their position wasn't blindingly obvious but it wouldn't take the guards long to search all of the rooms and find them. "The second option sounds more realistic."

Riku frowned down at the computer which was still whirring away, "Zexion, do we need to sit here and wait while you do your stuff?"

"—I suppose not, as long as you can insure that the process will remain uninterrupted.—"

"Alright." Grabbing his gun off of the desk, Riku hopped to his feet, "Time to get this party started then."

Squall watched as the man slid across the desk, his grip tightening on his rifle, "What's the plan?"

Riku paused before a smirk spread across his lips, "This requires a plan?"

The voices were coming closer now. "Humor me. Pretend like you're thinking."

"Fine. When we run into them, you let off a spray to create confusion and I'll take them out with my awe-inspiring, god-like skills to finish the job."

Squall glared back at him but didn't want to argue over a new plan when everything but Riku's adjectives sounded like it had come from an actually thought process. "I can hear them gathering down the hall to the right where we dropped the last guard. On the count of three. One…two…three!"

No longer worrying about silence, Squall kicked the office door open and the two stormed out into the hall. He had been right when he had guessed as to where the guards were assembling but hadn't been expecting the number of them. Squall was able to count six different faces staring back at him before he fell down into a crouch and began to fire into the crowd, Riku standing behind him, having whipped out his new pair of handguns for the short range shootout.

As bullets began to rain down upon them, the guards sprung up from around the bodies of their fallen comrade and reached for their own weapons, Squall's breath catching in his throat as they began to return fire. Luckily, their distraction tactic seemed to be working, his automatic assault rifle creating a maelstrom of chaos within their ranks. It felt so good to have the familiar weapon back in his hands and, between him and Riku, the guards didn't stand a chance.

However, they did have the chance to trigger the alarm. Squall barely noticed as the piercing siren started up, his ears still ringing from the sound of all of the guns discharging, but the lights which flashed on momentarily blinded him. He felt Riku's legs bump into his back and continued to fire towards where he had last seen movement, his concentration shattered as Riku let out a shout, "Shit! Leon, behind you!"

Cloud looked up from the table covered with evidence from his recent case, his expression haggard as he tried to see something, anything that would tie their case up. He glanced up as Axel walked into the room, a cigarette in between the redhead's lips. "Put that out, Ax, you know you're not supposed to light up in the lab."

The other detective rolled his eyes but, not wanting to get kicked out after all the trouble they had to go through to get into the lab, stubbed out his cigarette butt and tossed it into the trash can. "I double-checked the archives; they don't have anything from any old cases about Riku or Zexion."

"Damn it. And we already checked Twilight Town's archives…"

"Looks like they've just been smart about covering their bases." They were in Dark City, once again having wormed their way into getting access to the evidence from the skyscraper break in. Cloud was surprised that Luxord hadn't shown up yet, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "What about you, any luck in here?"

"No. Absolutely nothing. The DCPD's team already went through all of this with a fine-toothed comb, not too surprising considering half the staff is probably on the Organization's payroll…"

"Then what are we doing here?"

Letting out a breath, Cloud ran his fingers through his hair, only serving to mess it up further. "We're desperately running out our last chance to make this case."

Raising his brows, Axel absently pawed through the different items on the table, "I'm starting to think that we should've taken their advice and chose now to use those vacation days we have stored up. What do you say; you, me, and Roxy can take off for the coast, maybe go down to Port Royale and just gamble and drink until we get you to smile."

"I don't think so."

"You're right. We'd never get back on duty if we had to wait for you to smile."

About to respond, Cloud was cut off as he felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out of his trench coat, the blonde let out a sigh and flipped the phone open. Thank god for caller ID taking the surprise out of life. "What can I do for you, Detective Downes?"

Luxord's voice was less than amused, "Cloud, are you or are you not still on the case about the recent break-in at the Tower?"

That hadn't been the question he was expecting to hear. Cloud's blue eyes narrowed down at the table strewn with evidence bags in front of him, "We might have continued with the investigation..."

"Well then, it may interest you that I just received notice not a moment ago that the alarm has been triggered again."

The blonde's gaze flew up to Axel as Cloud scrambled to put the phone on speaker so that his partner could listen in, "What?"

"The alarm was triggered on floor five. No big surprise there, although I am a bit shocked at the perpetrator's audacity. I was calling to see whether you believed that your suspects, whatever their names were, had the cheek to break into such a building twice in one week."

Cloud's eyes met Axel's, his heart pounding a little harder. "Yeah, I'd believe it."

"Well then, you may want to get to the Tower as soon as possible. Although this is completely under our jurisdiction, you may prove useful in identifying their bodies after our men finish with them."

"The department authorized the use of lethal force already?"

"Cloud, my good lad, let's not fool ourselves. This is out of the department's hands. They've challenged the Organization for the second time; they won't be allowed to leave that building alive."

Shoulders falling, Cloud flipped his phone back shut, not bothering to say goodbye. Shit. Those morons had gotten themselves in too far this time. Of course, he couldn't be sure that it was them. It could just be someone trying to take advantage of the situation. Pulling out his notebook, he flipped his phone back open and began to dial as Axel perked up, "Who are you calling now? Weren't we leaving?"

"Yeah, we're going. I just need to check first."

"Check what?"

Cloud held up a finger to silence the redhead as he lifted the phone back to his ear. He listened breathlessly as the phone rang, leaning forward as he finally heard someone pick up. "Hello?"

"Sora?"

There was a pause before the teen's voice came back over the line, more hesitant this time, "Who is this?"

"It's Detective Cloud Strife, the blonde detective from before."

"I, I remember. What…How'd you get my cell number?"

Cloud closed his eyes as he took a breath to calm himself. This completely went against all of his usually protocol. Calling a suspect, or their close associates, was usually strictly off limits because it could ruin an investigation. But in this case he needed answers now. "I have all of your numbers written down in case I need to contact any of you. But that doesn't matter, I need you to tell me where Leon is."

"I can't tell you."

"Listen, Sora, this is really important. I know you're trying to protect your brother, but if you don't tell me where Leon is, there's a good chance he's going to get himself killed."

"What?! No, I, Detective Strife, please, I can't tell you because I don't know where he is! Why, what's happening?"

"Is there a chance that he, Zexion, and Riku went to Dark City?"

"I dunno, maybe! All they said was that they were going to take on the Organization—"

"--Damn it! Axel, get to the car!"

Heart flying into his throat, still blind from the light, Squall could only spin around, feeling Riku stumble back behind him as he heard the sound of a round being fired. He let out a surprised cry as he felt the bullet literally scrape inches passed his waist, smelling burnt leather as the round flew through his jacket. Just able to make out a large mass rushing for them, he raised his rifle to protect himself, knocked down onto his back as his attacker brought the butt of their gun down like a club. Squall grit his teeth and he blinked, frantically trying to get his vision back as he pushed the force away and rolled back up onto his knees.

He could almost see; it was a guard, he must've snuck up behind them. Blinking again, Squall realized that he was staring down the barrel of a pistol, the guard's finger on the trigger and ready to fire a shot right into his face at point blank. Sucking in a short breath, Squall let his training wash over him and swung his rifle up, slamming it into the bottom of the guard's gun's barrel. The shot went off, missing the top of his head by inches, a shout from Riku somewhere behind him letting him know that the bullet had just barely missed his partner. He had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment though, like the guard readying another shot to aim into his face.

Deciding on a more direct method, Squall launched himself bodily at the guard, tackling him around the waist and sending them both crashing to the ground. He lost track of Riku in the struggle, his sole focus on keeping the tenacious guard under control as both of them fought to regain a grip on their weaponry. Using his rifle was out of the question, as it was currently pressed against the man's collarbone, keeping him pinned to the floor. Squall winced as he received a sharp kick to the side, throwing his body weight down in order to keep the guard pinned while freeing up a hand.

In the distance, he heard more voices sounding over the wail of the alarm and more shots being fired from somewhere behind him, probably coming from Riku, as his fingers searched for the handgun he had brought along. That's right, he had brought a holster, he could feel the gun resting against his hip, he just…needed…to reach it…ha! Fingertips finally brushing against the grip, Squall pulled the rest of it out and, before he could let his emotions catch up with him, raised the handgun up, aimed it at the guard's temple, and fired once. He jerked back as a spatter of blood hit him across the cheek, the man's struggle instantly coming to an end beneath him.

Squall slowly sat up, his breath shuddering just slightly as he wiped the blood off of his face. Instant kill, really the easiest way he could've gone. And he was going to convince himself of it until he forgot the look on the man's face. Glancing around, Squall realized that the sound of gunfire had ceased and that Riku had disappeared completely, leaving him the only living thing remaining in the hallway. Squall pushed himself to his feet, checking each direction but seeing nothing but blood splatter and florescent lights. "Riku?"

Getting no response, Squall tried again, louder this time, "Riku?"

"—Did you lose track of Riku?—"

Squall jumped as a voice echoed through his mind. That's right, Zexion could hear him. "I seem to have misplaced him in the scuffle."

"—It figures. He is the type to wander off. Hopefully he is not sticking his nose into anything too distracting.—"

Squall got the gist. It would probably be a good idea to find him. "Have you gotten everything you need from the computer?"

"—Nearly. I am sure that I will finish by the time that you locate Riku. Riku, I know that you are listening by the way, I can tell that your headset is receiving our transmission. Do stop being an ass and tell Leon where you are so that we can finish our business.—"

Damn it. Of course Riku could hear him over his headset. He should have remembered that. There was a short pause before his smug voice echoed out, "—Alright, alright. I'm just taking care of some unfinished business. I'm just around the corner, Leon; take a left and then another right.—"

Squall scowled, "You jackass, I thought you were injured or something."

"—Aww, Leon cares.—"

Scowl deepening, Squall stalked out of the hall. Following Riku's directions, he hurried through the corridors, a few more bodies slumped against the wall showing that Riku had encountered more guards while going off on his own. Wait, he recognized this place from when they had first come through. Squall could even see the old bullet holes embedded into the walls. As he rounded the corner he saw Riku crouching down, of course, by the safe. He should have guessed as much. "Riku! What the hell are you doing? Now that the alarm's sounded, it won't be long before the cops get here!"

Riku barely graced him with a glance before turning back to his work, pulling a block of C-4 out of his bag, "Hey, what are you complaining about, I'm getting stuff done."

"We're supposed to set the charges in the center of the building, not at the safe!"

"—Riku is at the safe? Riku, we do not have time for this. Now, I have downloaded all the information we need to do quite a bit of damage to the Organization, including that bastard Marluxia…"

Rolling his eyes, Riku pulled out a few more blocks of the explosives, "Relax before you give yourself an aneurism, Zexion. You might think this revenge crap is enough, but since we're here I'm going to make this worth our while. And if you're so worried about time, Leon, go get Zex's computer thing so that we can get out faster."

Squall clenched his teeth, "Do you really have to make this harder?"

"—It will just slow you down to argue with him. Go get the USB drive or else the whole mission will be a bust.—"

Heaving a frustrated breath, Squall waited only a second before turning on his heels and running back to the Vice President's office. Making sure to step over the fallen bodies along the way so as not to leave a blood trail in his boot prints, he made it there in record time. From what he could tell, they had disposed of all of the Organization's guards, although he was sure that more were coming along with the police.

He burst inside the open office, banging into the desk as he dove for the computer. "Do I just pull it out or—"

"—Yes. I have already taken care of everything remotely, all you need to do is to pull the drive out.—"

"Alright." Still afraid of breaking it but trusting that Zexion wouldn't let him go ahead with it unless he was sure it was going to work, Squall simple tugged the drive out. It seemed alright. Letting out a breath, Squall returned it to his pocket, his relief shattered by a sudden boom, the noise drowning the wailing sirens.

Squall gripped the desk as the floor shook underneath him, his brow furrowing as he pushed himself up to his feet, "Riku…"

"—Riku, what did you do?—"

"—Consider it a test. It was successful, by the way. Leon, come back and give me a hand with this.—"

"Just start setting up the real charges."

Squall didn't get a response, but he hadn't expected one. He made it back to the safe to find Riku still crouched down, though this time with a slight difference. The door to the safe had been blown out to the other side of the hall, the thick metal warped and the hinges torn clear off by the C-4. There was a fine film of smoke hanging in the air, Squall waving his hand in front of his face to try and get a clean breath. Seeing him approaching, Riku smirked up at him. He had emptied all of the explosives from his bag in order to make room for the money that he was shoveling inside. "So they had a lot of bonds and deeds and shit in here that won't be any good to us, and some of the bills got a little, uh, charred, but I'd say that there's still about six to eight thousand in here. Not a bad haul, huh?"

"Sure, except you're going to get us both killed!"

"Then shut up and grab some cash!"

Squall shook his head. There was no way that they had time for this. But gods, if that money wasn't tempting. After all, he hadn't had any sort of income in a few weeks now, and he had been fairly broke before that. "Come on, Leon, the money's all going to get blown up anyway!"

"Fine! Move over!"

"—Leon, I expected you to be the voice of reason and keep Riku under control—"

"Oh shut it, Zex!" Riku tossed his hair back over his shoulder as Squall unzipped his bag and dumped the contents out onto the floor, "Don't pretend like you don't like the idea of us coming out of this with a little cash in our pockets!"

With the two of them working, they were done in less than a minute, especially considering there was no need to clean up the scene. Scooping up his pile of C-4, Squall turned to Riku, "Get moving!"

"Alright, alright! Lead the way, I'm coming."

Squall glanced back to see that the silver-haired man was on his feet with his arms full of explosives. Heading further into the middle of the building, Squall ignored the carnage around them as he decided that they were roughly in the right position. Dropping down to his knees, he began to frantically pile up the C-4 against the wall, Riku quickly joining him.

"I guess it doesn't really matter where we put it, as long as we put a lot of it down, huh?"

Tilting his head, Squall nodded, his panic subsiding slightly at the sheer amount of explosives they were laying down. He wasn't actually sure how much damage they were going to cause, but it was sure to make a point.

"—I hate to raise tension levels further, but it appears that the Dark City Police Department has made it to the scene. Hm. Four minutes, a rather slow response time for downtown. You can blame Riku's little side venture for the fact that you are still inside. I do hope that the both of you thought out an escape plan.—"

"Shit. Riku—"

"Don't worry. I know the perfect distraction."