Disclaimer - These are getting so mind numbing. If I ever inherit Final Fantasy VIII's rights...you guys will be the first to know.

Author's Notes – Alright. The only thing original about this chapter, is half of the first and last scenes. Everything else is new or tweaked material. This chapter would've been out sooner except I had to contend with a power outage right before I was ready to submit it.

Roarke Stratton- Well…I can certainly say you seem to have pin-pointed every concern I had with my story in one review. Very good. I think the van scenes were the only things keeping me from going mad while retyping that chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, considering I think I made you edit a lot of it, and I purposely didn't ask you to edit this one so that you'd get a chance to read something that seemed like new content for once. lol

Jade Almasy- I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter…even though the only real changes that I made were details in conversation and adding Dak's scene. He really seems to be getting more attention in this rewrite.

Rune- I'm really glad you liked the chapter so much. I remember years ago, I had fun making the whole 'connect the dots'…but let me tell you…once I started rewriting it, all those dots nearly drove me crazy. Half of them didn't line up with the newer version of the story and I had to pick apart every bit of dialogue to correct it.

Dark Drow- I have a new reader? (does happy dance) Your review was flattering. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. Sorry I couldn't have this chapter up sooner for you.

Lavender Cockatiels

The air smelled lightly of lavender as Squall adjusted the thermostat. Stepping into the warmly-lit nursery, he walked over to the crib and peered inside. Placing his palms cautiously on the rail, he leaned over and ran his fingers through the baby's wispy black hair. His touch was greeted with a blue and green eyed gaze.

"Hey there," he whispered. Responding to the sound of his father's voice, the baby smiled and reached up for him. "If your mother asks I didn't wake you up," Squall fiddled with the crib's latches and as quietly as he could, lowered the rail. "Hard to believe you're real," he mused aloud. "You're just so….perfect." Carefully lifting Tempest from his crib, he held him against his bare chest and cautiously kissed the top of his head.

Downstairs, curled up under a blanket on the couch, Rinoa sat aside her book and rolled over onto her back. She had heard Squall's footsteps in the nursery above her and could now hear his footsteps coming down the stairs. His steps ceased when he reached the back of the couch. She tilted her head back, her lengthy bangs partially blocking her view of her husband. Squall leaned against the back of the couch and brushed her bangs away with his free hand.

"Let me see my baby," Rinoa caught his hand with hers and ran her fingers along the inside of his wrist.

"Your baby?" Tempest cradled to his chest, Squall leaned over the back of the couch so that his face hovered a mere few inches above hers. With a subtle grin he watched as his hair fell out from behind his ear and tickled her nose and cheeks.

"Mmhm," she grinned as she raised up just enough to kiss the tip of his nose. He jumped in surprise but leaned lower so that her second kiss could be placed on his mouth instead. Her thin fingers brushed his hair aside and then held him there, once she pulled back from their kiss. With a warm smile, she ran her fingers over her infant son's soft hair and then looked up at his father. "Come have a seat," she said as she kicked the throw pillows playfully to the floor and then carefully took Tempest from his arms.

Squall stepped over the back of the couch and fell to a seated position next to her. Rinoa wasted no time in cuddling up next to him, Tempest still blissfully content with lying in her arms. "I have to be at my desk in five minutes," he whispered as rested his head on hers and took in the scent of her hair.

"It'll take you ten minutes to find a clean undershirt for your uniform," Rinoa answered as she let Tempest play with the tips of her hair.

"Yeah…I'm going to be late…again."

"What's new?" Rinoa giggled. Squall smiled in spite of himself. "Can't you call in sick or something?"

"No."

"Just one more time," she sat up and gave him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Squall groaned and then pulled her into a hug that encompassed both she and their son.

"I can't Rin…especially with Cid and Matron here from Galbadia Garden. He'll tell her I'm sick, and she'll arrive half an hour later with a thermometer, some blankets and warm soup…" Squall shuddered as he recalled the last time he'd called in sick.

Rinoa broke into a fit of laughter. "That was sweet of her wasn't it?"

"Yeah, except for the fact that we were in bed and I wasn't sick," he grumbled.

"Honey it's the funny moments like that that you remember for the rest of your life…You can never have too many of those."

"….." Squall stared at her.

"What?"

"I love you," he leaned over and began kissing her again.

Fujin opened her eyes to see a blue blur. After a moment the blue blur cleared into a pair of bright blue eyes…or rather two pair of bright blue eyes. Seems she was experiencing double-vision this morning. Nonetheless, she jumped back into her pillow, causing her waker to jump back in surprise. With a frown, sent the best death glare she could muster, while half asleep, in her boyfriend's direction.

"Ahh….You're so cute when you're angry," Zell dropped to a kneeling position beside her bed and tilted his head to the side to look into her eyes.

Fujin snuggled down under her blanket and stared at him dumbly. With his bright eyes fixed on her, his hair sticking up in all sorts of mad directions and his head cocked to the side, he looked like a cockatiel. She resisted the urge to laugh at him. She failed.

Taking her laughter as a sign of forgiveness, Zell immediately brightened and hopped into bed with her. The bed protested Zell's unexpected weight by bouncing Fujin up a few inches off of the mattress. She squealed and clutched her pillow for dear life.

"Let's sleep," she protested Zell's unnaturally morning perkiness.

"Aww," Zell whined as he yanked the blanket off of her body. "Come on. It's a beautiful day outside." Curling into the fetal position to conserve warmth, Fujin slowly rolled over and sent Zell her cruelest glare. Zell stared back into her eyes innocently. "I love you sunshine."

Fujin whimpered and pulled her pillow up over her head.

Meanwhile, in Balamb…

Mirenne Dincht and Rachel Wilcott sat silently as they reread their updated wills.

"When I said we needed to do more things together as a family, this isn't what I had in mind," Rachel sent Mirenne a solemn glance. "I was thinking of maybe a cookout or party of some sort. Maybe a game night. You would bring Zell and that sweet quiet girl that he's seeing and I'd have Raab bring Alexis."

"That sounds good," Mirenne agreed as she scribbled a few notes on the bottom of her will. "It'd be a good chance to get reacquainted with everyone."

"Yeah it would," Rachel sighed as she let her will fall to the desk and rested her elbow on the back of her chair. "Mirenne, answer me honestly. Do you think he's come back for the company?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure it's the company he wants."

"Well then what does he want?"

Ma Dincht fell silent as she stared at the finish on her grandfather's desk. "I don't know but I think Westman's is in his way."

Squall groaned and whimpered to himself. Every tick of the second hand echoed loudly, shattering the suffocating silence that would've otherwise long since crushed him. Eyes red and tired, he looked down at the railway maps spread across his desk. They had to figure out where Audley was…but he'd been staring at the same maps for four and a half hours. It was growing increasingly apparent that the location wasn't going to jump out and wave at him.

Deciding that perhaps he was getting a bit delusional, he pushed the maps off his desk and leaned back in his chair. He groaned again, finding no more comfort in the cushioning of his desk chair and stood slowly to stretch his cramped limbs. He twisted around so that the lower part of his back popped and then resolved to just sit on the corner of his desk. With a frown he noticed that his right leg was still cramped up. Massaging it just above the knee, he wondered what other quirks he'd managed to inherit from his father. Speaking of his father, he was fairly certain it was about time for his quarterly 'surprise' visit.

A shrill buzz interrupted his thoughts. He glanced over at his wall clock curiously. It was late, well past eleven, a little late for clients and visitors alike. Trudging slowly across the office, his leg stiffened and his boots dragged in protest to his movement. He wanted to be in bed – in bed, sound asleep, with his wife and maybe even his son. Pushing the release button a little harder than necessary, he watched the door hiss open to reveal 1st Lieutenant Mitchell Free and a frazzled looking dark haired teenager on the other side. Like an idiot he just stared at the boy, then Mitchell, and then the boy again.

"He was sent here from Fisherman's Horizon Sir," Mitchell offered to alleviate the sleep-deprived confusion Squall was experiencing.

"Fisherman's Horizon?" Squall quirked an eyebrow. "They didn't do this – "

"No Sir," Mitchell answered. "Seems he was pulled out of the ocean this way. His injuries frightened the locals. Mayor Dobe had a fishing boat bring him into Balamb." Squall's eyes fell down to the restraints around the boy's wrists. "He claims to be one of the train robbers."

"You admit to that?" Squall tried to look him in the eye but the boy looked away. After a silent moment Squall nodded to Mitchell. "I can take this from here. Return to your post."

"Yes Sir." Squall waited for the boy to come in and then shut the door behind him.

"Are you Commander Loire?" he asked.

Squall nodded and watched as his visitor pulled all of the blinds in the office closed. The boy was afraid of something--something he thought could get to him despite Balamb Garden's stringent security protocols. The thought that they may actually be that vulnerable to Audley was enough to wake Squall up and sharpen his senses immensely. The moment they started believing they were safe was the moment they invited death home for dinner. If the man was that dangerous, he needed to learn everything he could about him. Resuming his previous position on the desk, Squall eyed him suspiciously.

"Who are you?" Squall asked.

"Dak Piper," he answered as he painfully lowered himself into a seat.

"Dak?" Squall asked curiously. "What brings you here?"

Dak looked around as if Squall should already know the answer. "I'm here to turn myself in."

"….." Squall raised an eyebrow.

"I worked the raids on the railways."

"I know," Squall stated. "You were identified. I'm just surprised to see you here…willingly." Dak took a raspy deep breath and then started coughing. Just watching him sent chills up Squall's spine. "Are you willing to state your specific involvement in the heists?"

Dak nodded nervously as he tried to run his fingers through his matted curly hair. He grimaced when his fingers bumped a sensitive spot and then let his hands fall to his lap.

"Are you willing to tell anything else? Because of your confession I can't allow you to walk out of this room a free man." Dak smiled bitterly and closed his eyes.

"I'm already a dead man in Audley's book. Might as well give him a reason to kill me. You might want to record this….in case he finds me and you loose your source."

"Do you mind if I call a witness?" Squall asked.

Dak shook his head and then grimaced in pain as he reached for his collarbone. "C-Can I get some kind of protection? I mean until the courts decide what to do with me? Not that I really expect to live long anywhere I'm sent…Audley has connections like that."

There was a pause before Squall continued. He stared at Dak as he debated how much truth lay in what he'd said. "It's standard procedure to post guards and other security personnel in cases such as this," Squall resolved to answer as he spun his phone around and pressed the speaker button. Deftly dialing Xu's phone number, he watched as Dak fidgeted nervously in his seat.

"Hello?" Xu asked.

"Xu, I need you in my office now," Squall stated.

"….Do you realize what time it is?"

"Yes. That's why I called you instead of Cid."

She sighed. "I'm on my way. But I warn you, this had better be informal because I'm coming in my pajamas."

"Fine by me."

"Bye."

Pushing the phone back away from himself, Squall redirected his attention to the teenager across from him. Now that he looked at him, maybe he really wasn't all that much younger than Squall himself. Their eyes met for a brief moment and then Dak looked away.

"You don't have any weapons or potentially hazardous objects on you, right?" Squall asked.

"I don't have anything period," Dak mumbled. "That lieutenant searched me pretty thoroughly. I don't think he believed me."

Squall grinned faintly. "Mitchell," he spoke aloud. "He's a bit protective."

"That's understandable, you saved his life and almost died doing it," Dak replied. "He feels like he owes you."

Squall stared at him in shock. "How did you know that?"

Dak stiffly shrugged. "Fujin told me about Lieutenant Free way back when it happened. I only remembered him because of his name." Squall nodded in understanding.

A silence, much like the one that had engulfed the office not long ago, settled back into the room. Dak fingered the cold metal bonds around his wrists as he stared at the floor. From his perch on his desk, Squall had a bird's eye view of the top of Dak's head. A frown crossed his features as he stared at the somewhat opened, maybe infected gash hidden amongst Dak's curly hair. Now that he was looking, he could see the purple discoloration around the base of his neck and on the backs of his hands.

"Mr. Loire?"

Squall was startled out of his thoughts but showed no signs of it. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"What's going to happen to me?"

His question seemed oddly innocent enough coming from a man who'd just admitted his guilt. Squall stared at him in disbelief. He'd never been asked that in this kind of situation. What would happen to him? Squall's eyes fell to the floor as he thought about it. "I suppose that all depends on what you've done," he answered.

Dak nodded with a frown. "I never killed anybody if that's what you're suggesting."

The door behind Dak hissed open abruptly, startling the frightened kid out of his seat. Squall jumped up instinctively and caught him by the jacket.

"Calm down," Squall ordered him.

Xu stood in the doorway watching curiously. "So, Commander…what's the urgent business?" she asked as she pressed the release button to shut the door.

"Have a seat," Squall motioned for Dak to sit back down. "He has some things he wants to say," Squall addressed Xu's question.

Xu raised an exhausted eyebrow as she fell back into Squall's chair and crossed her pajama clad legs underneath her. "And who exactly is he?"

"Dak Piper," Squall answered as he pulled a recorder from his bookshelf and sat it in the middle of his desk.

"Dak?" Xu asked. "This is definitely a new development."

"You can start whenever you're ready," Squall spoke as he leaned back up against his desk and pressed the record button.

Dak nodded nervously. "Are recording now?" he looked from Xu to Squall. "You should….In case he finds me."

"We're recording it," Squall assured him. "And don't worry. Audley isn't going to get to you here." There was a brief silence as Dak tried to loosen his wrist restraints.

"Can you take these off long enough for me to slide my jacket off?" Dak asked. "I want you to see what he's done to me."

Squall and Xu exchanged glances.

"Alright," Squall answered as he separated the keys on his key ring. "Xu, get the camera."

Dak held out his hands and waited while Squall unlocked his restraints. As slowly and carefully as he could, he slid his tattered jacket off of his shoulders and down his arms. He let it fall to the floor and then watched it lie there with sad eyes. Both SeeDs in the room stared at him in surprise. For having such a small structure, Dak's body was built beautifully – or would've been had the defined edges of his arms not been purple and black from bruising. One bruise actually held a yellowish bronze tint. Xu zoomed in the camera and began taking pictures.

"So where do you want me to start?" he asked.

"Wherever you want," Squall answered.

There was another brief silence as Dak gingerly placed his hand on his chest and stared over towards the windows.

"How about you start by giving us your name," Xu offered.

"Okay…It's Dak Piper," he answered.

"Why have you come to Balamb Garden?" she asked as she tried to make some kind of eye contact with him.

He avoided her successfully as he held out his arms for Squall to secure his wrist restraints. "I'm here to turn myself in for my role in the train heists. I'm here to tell my affiliations with Gunther Audley."

"What kind of Affiliations?" Squall asked as he let go of Dak's wrists and put his keys back in his pocket.

"He had some kind of connection with my father, Ben Piper."

"Had?" Xu asked.

"Yeah," Dak's voice dropped lower. "Dad was the one who freed me from my cell and helped me escape. I'm pretty sure he's dead now. At least I hope he is…I don't want Audley to do to him what he did to me." The silence managed to rapidly reclaim its choke hold on the room. "You see, my Dad retired from the military when Caraway made President. He couldn't stand being at home all the time and couldn't stand it when we were either. So he met Audley somewhere, I'm not sure where, and turns out Audley had some work we could do."

"Who's we?" Squall asked.

"My father, my two brothers Ross and Lucas, and then myself."

"Thank you. Continue your explanation."

Dak nodded. "Most of the work he found for us was working the train yards. So it came as no surprise when we ended up at another one. The only odd thing was the train yard was in the middle of nowhere. We were completely isolated in this place. For the longest time I just helped unload cars, but my brothers, they pulled me aside and said Audley wanted me to work on the next job." Dak began pacing the room. Xu and Squall watched him cautiously. "I only worked two heists. But on the last one, I saw them kill a guard. He took a bullet and then fell down between the cars…his body got torn apart by the train…it was horrible. But it didn't seem to bother them. It scared me to death…I'd never seen anyone die before." Dak paused. "I mean me and my brothers, we practically grew up in military schools and training camps because my Dad wanted us to be specialists in half a dozen forms of fighting. It had to do with his military reputation or something like that. But the only fighting I've ever done was supervised training. That was it. But on this raid, the guard came out after us and…he was torn apart. I mean literally, this guy was torn into pieces, like little shreds that were thrown back up onto the cars from the wheels– " Dak grimaced.

"Who killed him?" Xu asked.

Dak grew silent.

"Dak?"

"My brother."

"Which one?" Squall asked.

"Lucas," Dak's voice was barely a trembled whisper. "Audley got real curious about junctioning after that mission. I think he was mad because he didn't get the shipment, or maybe it was that Lucas got knocked off the train and beat up pretty bad. Lucas is by far his favorite. Audley said I wasn't pulling my weight when it came to fighting. Of course I wasn't. I could barely move I was so scared. And then that SeeD came out. He had Quezacotl junctioned and used magic. That night, Audley came to me and said he wanted to know how to use a guardian force. When I told him I didn't know, he snapped. He started bringing up everything I was doing wrong and talked about how I wasn't loyal to him because I was withholding information from him…." Dak shuddered. "The only thing I withheld was that I'd studied Dr. Odine's junctioning books. I didn't want Audley to know that he could harness a power as strong as a Guardian Force…I lied to him. I thought he was going to kill me at one point. I'm sure he would've had my Dad not helped me escape and then used himself to try and get Audley's search dogs off my scent." Squall crossed his arms as he watched Dak slowly unbutton what was left of his shirt. Xu grimaced as he slid his shirt off his shoulders to reveal the black and purple bruises and whelps on his chest and stomach. "I'm pretty sure I have a few broken ribs and some infections," his voice was a whisper as he turned around to show them his back. Xu fell out of her seat.

"Give me the camera," Squall commanded her as he reached out his hand. She picked herself up off the floor and complied mutely. Squall slowly approached Dak and stared at the open cuts that seemed to split his back wide open. The layers of dried and bloodied muscles had acquired a dirt and grim coating of some sort and the sight of it made Xu have to fight the urge to gag. Squall snapped another few pictures and then stepped back, clearly having the same reaction as Xu. Trying to find some way to continue on he turned his back to Dak and took a deep breath.

"So…what is Audley using the steel for?" Xu asked, desperate to get the subject off of his wounds.

"I really don't know. I know he had an obsession with making weapons. He was always showing them off. I guess you could say he had his own little factory. It was underground, beneath the ruins."

"Beneath what ruins?" Squall asked as he sat the camera on his desk and turned to face him.

"The train yard was built next to what looked like an old city. An old city that was completely demolished and crushed. I mean I don't know what else it could've been."

"What all did you unload in this train yard?"

"Iron, steel…lots of steel. Sometimes there'd be lighter metals like brass or tin. One time there was gold. I haven't a clue what that was used for."

"Wait," Xu held up a hand to silence him. "You unloaded steel…by yourself?"

"Not usually. Sometimes I did…you see we had these weird lift things. I'm told they're like the ones used in Esthar, but I don't know anything about Esthar. Anyways, we would connect them to whatever we needed moved and press a button on a control pad. Within a few seconds, the steel or whatever we needed would rise up off the ground and then we could just push it where we needed to move it. It was really quite amazing. We could have the train cars unloaded in half an hour if we pushed ourselves."

Xu looked over at Squall. "That's pretty impressive," she stated.

"Yeah," his tone grew darker. "There's umm something else I need to tell you…Dad said for me to come here for protection and in the event he didn't get out, I was supposed to tell you about some bombings that are supposed to take place."

Both Xu and Squall jumped up and moved closer to him. "Bomb threats?" Squall asked.

"No, no. I mean I'm not threatening them. I'm just saying my Dad said that Audley was planning on planting some bombs. He didn't know where, Audley had only spoken to him about it a few times in passing. But Dad was fairly certain that they were going to be strategically placed to rattle the relations between Galbadia and Esthar." Dak frowned. "Would it make sense for Audley to start a war? Because I think that's what my Dad thought he was wanting to do. A war or maybe an arms buildup of some kind."

Xu seemed to dwell on his warning, Squall had grown three shades paler. "I'm going to alert the Estharian and Galbadian governments."

Dak watched as both Xu and Squall began rummaging through folders in a cabinet, now oblivious to his presence. "Hey umm, can you guys watch out for Fujin. Give her some kind of protection?"

"Fujin?" They asked in unison as they turned to face him. "How is she connected to this?"

"My parent's adopted her. After Mom died, Fujin was kind of cast aside so she left and dropped the Piper name. I don't really blame her. But I just want to make sure she's safe. She's my sister."

"She's here in Garden as we speak. We'll get in contact with her," Squall assured him as he pressed the stop button.

"What now Commander?" Xu asked.

Squall rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. "To the infirmary...he needs medical care. In the meantime, I want double the guards on all shifts starting now-"

"Sir?"

Squall turned and stared at her. "Double the guards. I want all personnel on yellow alert. Nobody gets near this Garden without me knowing it."

"Do I assume you want scouts in the forest outside the perimeter?"

"You know what yellow alert means Lieutenant," Squall stated as he took Dak's arm and walked him to the door. "And Xu?"

"Yes Squall?"

"I want two guards waiting for me at the infirmary and two guards waiting to receive Mr. Piper at the second level isolation cell. No one gets near him unless they're me or Seifer."

"Seifer's in Deling."

"I'm aware of that. When he returns from his next mission I want him sent to be briefed on everything that's transpired tonight," Squall continued talking as he unlocked Dak's wrists and pulled his arms behind his back. "Then, I want him to commence his interrogations."

"Yes Sir." Xu watched as Squall secured the wrist restraints once again.

"Mr. Piper, you're officially in SeeD custody. As of right now you have no rights unless they're specifically given to you from me. You do not get a phone call and, although you do have the right to speak, it can be taken away so don't abuse it. You'll be granted a representative when you're brought before the Tri-Garden council and not before then."

"…Okay," Dak with an uncertain tone as he watched Squall pull Lionheart off his hip and press the release button on the door.