A/N: UGH! I have this ... thing for Lightning and Zack. (You'll know what I'm talking about if you read Misdirection.) Anyway, this isn't going to turn into a Lightning/Zack fic, so never fear. I do however, need someone to fill a role in my tale and would prefer to use actual Final Fantasy characters as opposed to making up my own. OCs FTL. Why not use one from FF13 you ask? Well, I *would* use Raines since he's the only other man I'd pair with Lightning, but I don't think I can work sexy Cid in the way I want due to canon events.
(Hmm? Sephiroth? Yes, well, I reserve the right to use him at a later date and time.)
Ahem. All that being said... we'll see where this goes. Thanks to everyone who is on this crazy, ambitious ride with me. I will try not to disappoint!
She had a raging headache.
Usually sleep deprivation wasn't something that made a huge impact on her, but last night her brain had been in overdrive. Painfully aware of every minute that ticked by because she had been starting at her bedside clock for most of the night, each second bore witness to her maddening insomnia.
Coffee in one hand and briefcase in the other, she made her way down the hallway to her small office. If it was one thing she hated doing was running into the rest of her 'colleagues' at the beginning of the day. Lightning wasn't part of the office clique or any other group for that matter, keeping to herself unless duty required her to deviate from her comfort zone. So, seizing the opportunity to get some early-bird paperwork taken care of since sleep so cruelly evaded her, she arrived a good two hours before anyone would even think about coming in.
During regular hours, she was always busy.
Personnel issues, rosters, training exercises, missions; along with her promotion to Captain, Lightning didn't just get an upgrade in pay, but she also got a massive upgrade in responsibility. Gone were the days when she waited for orders to carry out without another thought. Now, she was really a glorified middle man; getting orders and passing them along word for word. Some thought the rank of 'Captain' held power, but the only thing Lightning realized since she'd taken the rank was how little power she actually had. The percieved power, and the realistic lack-there-of, was something she wasn't entirely comfortable with yet despite the fact that she occupied the position for the last few months.
There had to be a happy medium somewhere.
Once in her office, she set her stuff down, sat at her desk, and began leafing through the various folders and papers awaiting her attention. Knowing that her paperwork wasn't up-to-date nagged at her, and she told herself that if she didn't get it done, she couldn't request the time off she needed until it was done.
Some threat that was.
She didn't even want to request the time off...
"You always look beautiful in the morning."
Lightning felt her eye twitch.
I knew I should have closed my door. What the hell is he even doing here this early?
She didn't look up.
She didn't have to; that flirtatious lilt was impossible to ignore. So, instead, she did something she'd never done before. Shifting her eyes away from her paperwork and up at him, she smiled.
Right away one of his eyebrows cocked and he looked wary.
By now he knew that Lightning Farron didn't smile at anyone.
Slowly; deliberately; and as sensually as she could, she got up from her desk and made her way to where he stood just inside her office.
Reaching her hand out to grip the military issued tie tucked into his crisp military issued uniform, she heard his breath hitch. Never taking her gaze away from his, she licked her lips, and leaned forward ever so slightly. It was the closest she'd been to anyone in a long time, and being this close to Zack Fair felt odd; his violet eyes almost glowed.
He was tall; very tall.
And he was wearing cologne.
If she hadn't been completely uninterested by his stupid questions and lame claims that they were 'friends', she may have considered him handsome.
But handsome didn't over-write annoying.
Tugging on the tie, he was caught in the gaze between them, and it was easy work for her to suddenly shove him with the one hand out of her office and into the hallway to slam the door.
Once the door was shut between them, she dusted off her hands, stalked back to her desk and took up her paperwork once again.
From the other side of the door, she heard him chuckle good-naturedly – which also pissed her off.
"Catch you later, friend."
Lightning rolled her eyes.
Captain Zackary Fair:
Womanizer, creep, and a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen.
Other than that, all she really knew was that he was an officer from one of the detachments on Pulse.
What he was doing on Cocoon, Lightning couldn't even guess. Everyone said Cocoon was the past and Pulse was the future! If one didn't believe the slogan, all they had to do was look at the waning population of Cocoon. With 3 out of every 4 residents of Cocoon abandoning their homes, the proof was there for anyone to see. So, if that was true, then why the relocation to the dying planet?
She hadn't asked the obvious source of information at all after she'd been introduced to him in Amodar's office, choosing to keep to herself rather than get involved with someone else – even if they did hold the same rank she did. More than that, she simply hadn't had the time, or desire, to dig into someone else's personnel file, not did she want to encourage his bad behaviour.
Still, he drew her suspicions with his quiet demeanour and dark features.
He was mysterious, and, in her experience, mysterious meant dangerous.
And he kept looking at her.
It made her feel uncomfortable.
However, it didn't take long for him to dispel that thick air of uncertainty and danger around him; all he had to do was open his mouth.
"So whaddya do for fun around here?"
That had been the first thing he ever said to her. Looking at him through narrowed eyes, she begged his pardon. Bodhum was a small town, he explained, and being from Palompolum originally, he had never seen any place so unexciting. She couldn't disagree when he hit the nail on the head; but she preferred her hometown that way. Things were quiet, and calm and peaceful since that time before the change, and she told him so. He asked if she liked 'boring' and she confirmed that she guessed she did, though she wouldn't put it in such a manner. She preferred 'stable'. He laughed at her then, and, for some reason, it pissed her off so much she could feel the tips of her ears burn.
Deciding that conversation with him was frivolous and irritating, Lightning even made attempts to avoid him, but somehow it wasn't working.
He'd meander to her office everyday, usually whenever he felt like it, never at the same time, and try to strike up a conversation. She hoped that eventually he'd realize that she had no desire to talk to him, and just go away, but he never did. One afternoon she outright ignored him, but he was unfazed and continued to hold a conversation with just himself standing in the threshold of her office doorway.
Eventually she had to stop his self-centric chatter or go insane.
"Go away, Fair."
"Oof!" she heard him exclaim, and watched him dramatically stagger backward, hand over his heart. "Is that how you treat your friends, Light?"
"It's Captain to you." she scowled. "And we're not friends."
"Au contraire." he grinned, his too-white teeth almost glinting in the sun from the window "I think we're great friends."
Captain Farron had nothing to say to that proclamation, and instead, she was left shaking her head, wondering how crazy Zack Fair actually was.
After that, he saluted and left her office without another word.
But somehow, even though she couldn't explain it, she felt like she had lost that round.
Dealing with Zack always left her unsettled. Lightning's lack of concentration seriously set her productivity back, but she soldiered on. She didn't have much of a choice. Diving into her paperwork like a woman possessed, she flew through pages and signatures.
When she finally looked up, she realized the sun was sinking in the sky and her stomach was growling. Stretching, she eyed the door. No one had knocked on it all day. It was a welcome change, but unusual; especially for him. Cursing under her breath, she thought of that stupid smile that was constantly pasted on his stupid face.
"'We're great friends...'" she muttered, recalling one of those few encounters with him. She wished that he would stop referring to her as a 'friend'. They had seen eachother in the hall, he'd come to her office like a stray pup looking for attention, but that was the extent of their personal relationship. As for their working relationship, they commanded the same type of brigade, and served under the same General, but that was the limit of their likeness.
"Who the hell even says that? He doesn't even know anything about me." Flipping the pages of a report with unnecessary fervour, she kept on with her annoyed disbelief at his attitude. "Presumptuous jerk."
Gripping her pen hard, she scribbled her signature on the last page of the document; a monthly supply order for the people in her squadron.
Shoving the file into her outgoing basket, she automatically reached for the pile of files she still had to get through and realized the pile was empty. A quick sweep of her desk told her that she'd actually done all there was to do and that maybe she hadn't made such poor progress afterall. Typically she was good with her paperwork, but she'd done this set in record time.
And then she wished she hadn't done it all so quickly because there was only one last thing to take care of before she left the building.
Amodar's office door was open, and it wasn't empty when she arrived.
In fact, it had the one person inside she'd been trying to avoid since slamming the door in his face earlier in the day.
"Captain Farron." Zack made a show of using her rank as she entered the room; that fucking grin still on his face. She began to doubt if it ever even left.
"Is there something wrong with your own office that you have to waste time in everyone else's?" she muttered under her breath coldly.
He merely shrugged, still smiling. "Well, I did prefer the temperature in this one up until a few moments ago."
"Farron!" Amodar stood and smiled as well. "What's up?"
"Well, sir... I -" she began, and looked sideways at Captain Fair standing, listening intently. "Can I speak to you in private, sir?"
"Ah, yes." he nodded, and addressed the black haired Captain. "Zack, excuse us, would you?"
His transfer was a measly three weeks ago and they were already on a first name basis?
Lightning kept her poker face while Zack Fair showed himself out.
Once the door closed, Lightning remained silent until she was sure Fair would have been long gone. She didn't want to give him any ammunition to work with and leave herself at a disadvantage.
When she explained the situation to Amodar – with as little detail as possible – he hadn't even let her finish before giddily producing the necessary paperwork for her vacation.
And the last thing he said to her was:
"Don't worry about your men, Light. Zack will take over for you while you're gone."
Her eye twitched the rest of the day.