Fang and Sazh resisted the urge to smirk as Lightning hurried out to the car and slid into the backseat. "Have fun?" Fang snickered, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

"I was working." Lightning replied with a huff.

"Of course, that's why you had that stripper on your lap." Sazh laughed.

"I don't see why you guys call them strippers. None of them took anything off during the show."

"You obviously weren't watching the other shows." Fang gasped. "I got to see Snow Queen's nipples right before she covered'em."

Lightning shook her head at her partner's lecherousness and fought not to think about the smoky-eyed silverette as they returned to headquarters. "Looks like we're sleeping here tonight." Sazh yawned, stretching and plopping into his chair.

"Works for me." Fang agreed, also falling into her chair.

"I can't." Lightning told them, grabbing the keys to her hoverbike. "I need to get home to Serah."

"Light, Serah is eighteen-years-old and perfectly capable of taking care of herself." Fang groaned. "And she's got all those NORA idiots around her with huge guns. Anybody would have to be a complete moron to attack her."

"It's not someone attacking her that I'm worried about." The pinkette snarled. "It's the NORA idiots' leader."

"Ah, do whatcha gotta do then." Fang waved her on.

She understood that Lightning was overly protective of Serah. She was the same way with Vanille. But it went to the extreme when either girl was dating someone. Lightning was dead-set on making certain Snow never laid a finger on any private area of Serah's body and Fang brandished her old-fashioned lance at anyone that dared to even ask Vanille on a date.

Lightning nodded and slung her bag over her shoulder, moving to the parking garage and hopping on her hoverbike, inserting the keys and speeding for home. Upon arriving at the house, her trained ears easily picked up a sound she was not happy with and blue eyes narrowed with fury. Slipping her keys from the slot as she jumped from the bike, she slammed the front door open as she entered, racing past all of the NORA operatives lounging on her couch.

"Oh shit!" Gadot shouted. "Why didn't I hear her pull up?"

"She uses her hoverbike." Lebreau replied casually, not the least bit panicked. "I told you that. I also told you what would happen next."

Lightning bounded up the stairs and arrived on the landing. Her sister's cries were much louder now and she let out a growl, snatching her sword from the wall and brandishing it as she sliced through her sister's door. The two occupants of the room turned to her in surprise and Snow paled considerably at the sight of the sword.

"Claire!" Serah gasped, her eyes wide as she scrambled from underneath of Snow. "Claire, please, don't-."

"You promised, Serah." Lightning snarled, eyes glued to the man on the bed. "You promised. Not until you were married."

"Claire, I tried, but-."

"Get out!" the older sister growled.

Serah's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "What?"

"Not you. Him. Get out."

"Claire!"

"Get out of my house before you lose something very precious to you."

Lightning was having none of it. Snow quickly grabbed his pants and his trench coat, not daring to grab his shirt which was near the door. Lightning grabbed Serah and propelled her into her own room as she moved from the room to give Snow time to get out. He scrambled down the stairs and raced from the room, the rest of NORA hot on his trail. Lightning turned to her bedroom to see her sister wrapped in her blanket, tears filling the blue eyes.

"Serah, you promised." Lightning said, her voice not as harsh as before now that her anger was receding some.

"Claire, I did try. He… I…"

Lightning shook her head and sighed. "I guess I should have expected that. Did he…?"

"No." Serah said slowly, suspicious of the question.

"And did you?"

"Yes." She replied.

"Then go grab a shower and I'll tell you about my night."

Serah slowly turned and moved into the shower, still apprehensive of her sister's mood. Lightning mounted the sword back on the wall and made her way downstairs, plopping on the couch to wait for her sister to finish showering. Serah bounced down the stairs twenty minutes later and sat on the couch next to her sister.

"What happened tonight?" she asked, deep blue eyes shining up at her sister.

"Fang, Sazh and I went to a strip club-."

Serah gasped at the news. "Claire! You're getting upset with me for having sex with Snow when you went and stared at naked women all night?"

"Actually, I didn't get to see anyone naked." Lightning told her. "We were there because we were staking out so one of us could see the owner and talk to them about their liscense to be running the place. I didn't see anyone take off their clothes."

"But that's not anything exciting." Serah pointed out, cocking her head to the side.

"Well, it seems that one of the one of the dancers became very fond of me and danced specifically for me. Then she sat on my lap. By the way, you're allowed to go."

Serah looked up at her in confusion. "You let someone sit on your lap? And they're still alive?"

"Yes, they are still alive. She was… pretty, I guess."

The younger Farron grinned. "You're crushing, Claire."

"I am not!" Lightning huffed. "I have to go back tomorrow in order to see if I can find the owner then as well. She runs it during the day as a café."

"She must be really good at both if her establishment is still up and running." Serah mused.

"I know. Now come on. You've got school in the morning and I've got work." Serah pouted, but complied with her sister, heading up to her room. Lightning grabbed her bedsheets and took them to the basement while Serah sprayed air freshener around and laid out some new sheets. Lightning kissed her sister's forehead before heading to her own bedroom.

Lightning slowly walked into the café and glanced around. Customers filled almost the entire place and waitresses bustled about diligently. Lightning noticed that some of them were the same dancers that she had seen last night and nodded, realizing that the two establishments really were one and the same. She saw Chicken behind the counter with Succubus, taking orders while the ones called Snow Queen, Moe Witch and Corset Witch served the waiting customers. In the kitchen, she saw a flash of pink hair and wondered who that could be. Moving to the counter, Lightning smiled at the man who gave her a grin.

"Hi, welcome to Cross Bite." He said cheerfully. "What can I get for you?"

"Nothing yet. I want to speak to your manager." His smile fell slightly and he glanced to Succubus, who switched places with him.

"Sorry, no one sees the manager without a valid reason." She eyed Lightning suspiciously.

"I just want to ask her some questions." Lightning replied calmly. Succubus still eyed her curiously, so Lightning rolled her eyes and took out her badge, showing it to the azulette. Purple eyes widened in shock before she quickly nodded.

"Tell the manager she has a visitor." She ordered Chicken, who quickly hurried into the kitchen. "Are you going to order anything?" Succubus turned to Lightning nervously.

"Just a cross burger and a rosary shake, please." Lightning murmured, pulling out her wallet.

Succubus nodded and rang the order, Lightning handing her the correct amount of money. The officer sat at a booth and waited for both her order and the manager. Before she could get her meal, a shadow fell over her and Lightning looked up to see a woman smiling down at her. There was a striking resemblance between this woman and Ura, the only difference being the hair color, the eyes and the fact that her smile was huge.

"Hi, I'm Omote. You wished to see me? I figured it was important since you had Tsukune looking pale."

"Tsukune?" Lightning asked dully.

"Ah, right. You might know him as Chicken?"

"Oh yeah. Alright." The darker-haired pinkette gestured to the seat opposite her and Lightning nodded. Omote took her seat and Lightning leaned back against the seat.

"May I ask why you're here?" Omote inquired, cocking her head to the side.

"I want to ask you a few questions about this establishment." Omote nodded. "When did it open?"

"The year I turned nineteen, two thousand eleven." Omote replied easily.

"And what are the hours?"

"We open and close at six." Lightning raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Could you match each person from the nighclub to everyone here?"

Omote nodded and began pointing out the different people. "Succubus and Chicken over there are Kurumu and Tsukune respectively. The waitresses Snow Queen, Moe Witch and Corset Witch are Mizore, Yukari and Ruby. The two men in the kitchen are the male dancers Fang and Wolf, Fang-Fang and Gin respectively."

Lightning's eyes hardened gradually as this woman spoke, not warming to her sunny disposition and wishing she could see Ura around. Speaking of… "Where is Ura?" she inquired.

Omote shifted slightly. "She doesn't work here during the day."

Lightning felt herself sink and sighed. "Alright, as far as I can tell, that's all for right now. Thank you for your time."

"It's no problem." Omote grinned at her. Yukari came over with her meal in a doggy bag and smiled.

Lightning thanked her and nodded her head to Omote before turning and leaving the café. Hopping on her hoverbike, she shook her head in disgust. Next time, just stick to the nightclub.


Well, that was interesting. It seems Omote is not Lightning's kind of person. Oh well. Review and tell me how you like it/hateit/wanna sleep.