A/N-
Holy crap. I get a break for 9 freaking days before I have to go back to SB for the Fall.
I'm so brain dead.
Thank you to all of those who Reviewed, Favorited, and Subscribed! ... or just read it.
A thousand thanks to Darkgirl5 for BETA'ing me. :)
Question: Where da fuck is Vanille?! _
Chapter 3: The Degradation of an Office
"Number 13." He shook the young girl's shoulder and echoed, "Number 13!"
She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Huh?"
"Get up." The captain ordered. " The velocopter's about to land."
XIII stared at her gloved hands. She stared at her tight, armored body suit.
Had she really made it this far?
"First time?" The captain noticed her nervousness. The girl leaned back in her seat. "Second time?" She finally nodded. "Well I'll be damned. You were chosen for this, kiddo." He handed her bag over to her. "You'd better not choke, soldier… No matter what gets into the way."
Of course she wouldn't.
The sound of metallic blades slicing through the thin air and floating dust and grass echoed through the cabin as the velocopter came to a complete landing.
He scratched his facial stubble before raising up a hand. "Alright, we've come to a full stop. Out we go. File up."
XIII filed in line. She shielded her eyes from the harsh sunlight. The sky had been pale and cloudless.
The march started down the hard, graying asphalt. The farm was a mile away and this happened to be the safest place to land at the time.
Onlookers caught sight of the group above from their windows. Many passed on whispers. It was almost as if people stopped whatever they were doing on the side of the road. All were in a trance.
"What are they doing here?"
"It's the Guardian Corps… from Cocoon…"
She had to keep her eyes forward. Focus. The equipment was beginning to weigh down. It was so damn hot under this helmet.
There was scuffling and movement behind them. It continued.
As they came closer to their targeted destination, the ruckus grew louder. Throughout this march, the environment's landscape had radiated from city to rural country.
The massive scuffling sounded like a stampede of chocobos. Was there a group of people following them now?
More like a mob.
"Squad, Halt!" The Captain bellowed deeply from within his gut for the troop to stop at the property gate. He walked to the back of line.
The crowd was waiting.
A middle- aged man moved in front of them. His kilt and loose curly strands of hair remained unmoved in the dead wind.
"Welcome to Oerba." The man spoke. "I suppose…"
The captain raised his hand. "Standby." They shifted side-by-side. The troop went into a more relaxed but still alert form attention.
His eyes went back to the lone man. "Is there a problem?"
The man answered with a question. "Why did they send you here?"
"You want Cocoon to pay for something. Compensation…" The captain spat in a mocking manner. "You're town has been pestering us. YADA YADA YADA- There are doubts about the true scale of damage and our liability. We were sent to investigate. That's all."
"That's all?" A random voice in the crowd repeated. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. Look at this!"
The captain had tooted the wrong tune to the villagers he was quickly starting to realize it. "The Guardian Corps isn't the Sanctum. As far as I know, we have no part in what supposedly happened."
"No part?" The man chuckled, pacing towards the captain. He kicked opened the gate, not exactly a polite way of inviting someone in. " We know damn well that you stole our land and are using it in your little snake's nest this very moment."
He was done talking. The Cocconian squad followed their captain in.
The tall dry grass rasped against XIII's boots as she stepped through it.
As she crested the hill, she got her first view of the damage: it was a horror scene. She was instantly sick to her stomach. Land had literally been ripped from earth. The bodies of dismembered animals lay lifeless in the field, rotting.
What the hell did this? It couldn't have been human.
The crowd certainly didn't stay behind.
"Hey!"
A voice behind… Was that lady talking to her? How could she recognize a person in these suits?
"XIII…" the Captain sighed under his breath.
"I think I found this bitch." She snarled, "Ya, you!" The woman pointed, "The skinny one."
The girl turned around. The woman hurried up the hill. The others watched on even if she was a little too close for their mate's comfort. She tried to move back but the woman XIII wanted to push her off when she grabbed under the rim of XIII's helmet.
The woman pressed her nose into the glass, beginning to tug roughly. "Is this the bitch that goes by the name Thunder or Sparky?"
The captain looked on. "What's the problem?"
It was hot. The jerks to her helmet were becoming irritating. Her arm cocked back.
"This slut thinks that she can get away with messing around with my-"
"Get the fuck off of me."
A strike to the gut. The woman stumbled.
No one had a clue to what was going on.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
"Stop that now!"
"Shut up."
"XIII!" The captain called but he didn't do anything.
Using both hands, XIII fixed and adjusted her helmet back to comfort from the tampering.
Out of nowhere, the woman came back when to take advantage of the unguarded position. She tackled her to the ground and took the next punch.
Lightning monitored the clock on the wall like a hawk. She was never late and had an hour to spare this morning before the young Sergeant had to be present at the Calvary office for duty.
She did not expect anyone to be up this early, or the homely aroma of pancakes and sausage.
Lightning watched Serah, who had sat down at the appearance of the soldier, from afar. She cleared her throat with slight anxiety looming. "What are you doing?" There was a hope of avoiding her younger sister today. "Serah," She called again, trying to generate a response.
The girl sat at the table calmly. "Just eating breakfast…"
As her suspicions arose, so had a thin eyebrow. Lightning opened her mouth to speak but was cut off before she could say anything else.
"That's extra." A plate full of heart was placed across from her and Serah could predict Lightning's inquiry. She tried to clarify, "I made too much on accident."
And quite coincidental. "Are you sure it's just 'extra'?" Lightning emphasized.
Serah swallowed. "Umm, Yeah…" She looked away from her sister. Lightning had probably figured it out. Serah didn't want to give in first like always, not this time. She covered the food with a neighboring spare plate all while cutting her eyes at Lightning. "Why do you keep on staring at me? Don't you have to be somewhere?"
Lightning didn't answer. She left without saying goodbye once again.
)QQQ(
The vehicle slowed to a halt as Lightning parked her vehicle.
A private parking lot at basement Level.
The Calvary never really felt like a serious military environment to her with its very office-like setting. Compared to the other branches, this unit bore the hell out of her.
She gazed into the side mirror. The quiet engine purred. The pair of steel-gray eyes watched her, remained fixated on her. A chrome sports car had pulled past her in a parking space boldly marked with the word 'General'.
The way he looked at her… it bothered her.
Lightning grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and held it in her lap. She looked forward, not ready to get out.
Sometimes he made her wonder… Soon enough there was tapping on the glass. "Sergeant Farron?"
Lightning let out a sigh, not to be obvious, and rolled down the window. "Commander, Sir."
Cid wore a small smile, though it couldn't exactly be seen. He was so tall that Lightning's window cut the upper-half of his torso from view.
"How are you this morning?"
Lightning huffed, blowing the bangs from over her eyes. "I don't know, Sir."
"Well we all have problems day to day. Don't we?" He hummed. "I noticed that your gunblade is still in the armory. You've been off of your probation for a while now, haven't you?"
She side-glanced at him. "Yes… Sir."
"No more being stuck in the office anymore..." Cid seemed enthusiastic. "You, out of all people, should be happy. Just remember, not everyone is as dumb as you believe them to be, Lightning. I know that you aren't the office kind of soldier and you've seemed to have cleaned up your behavior, somewhat. We have an Eden patrol team lined up that needs a leader with your kind of work-"
"-I'm not interested in fieldwork anymore."
He paused. "Would you be willing to join us on the Lindblum? I know that ever since you were transferred here, there were restrictions and it wasn't a possibility."
Lightning exited her car, slinging her work bag across her back. "I'm fine."
"How about training?"
Lightning didn't answer.
"You're wasting your talent. Hanging up the gunblade?" He questioned. "I had you on the list to be commissioned. Not interested in that either?"
"I can't really say," She shrugged.
"Hmm…" Cid cupped his chin momentarily. "We'll see. Thank you for your time, Sergeant."
Buzz Buzz
The pink-haired sergeant sat at her desk, staring at the vibrating mobile. Ripples were created in her still full cup of coffee, which she didn't necessarily want but her subordinates had insisted that it 'Coffee Wednesday'. The number was unrecognized and if they had known better, they would either leave a message or call her office line. The device continued to bang itself on the oak. She wondered what Yeul was doing at the moment.
Buzz Buzz Buzz
Lightning moved her eyes upward as a voice boomed through the intercom. "Sergeant Farron, General Raines would like to see you in his office please."
The vibrating finally stopped.
)QQQ(
The annoying people that she had to see every day…
One foot out of the door and she was already instantly met by an oddly-dressed man in very baggy, adorned pants and a fur vest. Lightning heaved a deep sigh. "You are?"
"Kreiss. Noel Kreiss." The young man held out a tanned hand to Lightning which wasn't shaken. Noel pulled it back in an attempt to lessen the stinging awkwardness. "I've been trying to get a hold of you."
"Tch," Lightning frowned, "So you're the one who has been blowing up my phone?"
"Blow up?" Noel looked at her with surprise. "Is that how Cocconians communicate? By blowing up things?" He questioned. "Sorry, Miss. I would never participate in such reckless behavior, at least not for attention. I prefer to write letters. "
'Idiot…' Lightning shook her head and held her brow. "Why are you here?" She groaned, already becoming tired of the conversation. She began her walk towards her original destination. Noel quickly followed.
"I was referred to you, Sergeant Farron." He answered. "I'm sure everyone knows of you wearing the coveted, legendary cape and being one of the very few to wield the gunblade. You have an amazing record in the Cocoonian military, especially for someone your age and gender."
Lightning glared at him. "Get to the point."
"I couldn't get to General Raines." He finally admitted. "I want to petition the new immigration laws proposed by the Sanctum to strictly prohibit almost anyone and anything Pulsian. Some of our feelings about Cocoonians may not be the sweetest but we actually enjoy the trade with Cocoon and learning opportunities gained. It's ridiculous and absolutely self-destructive on Cocoon's part. It can't continue to rely on the Fal'Cie to generate everything."
"It makes sense." Lightning shrugged. "It's just that no one wants to say it." Noel's blue eyes lit up in anticipation for her to continue. He might have made it through to the Sergeant. "The very truth of the matter is that we don't need Pulse, nor do we need more people mooching off of our infrastructure and system." Noel's jaw dropped as his face inflamed.
"I'm really trying to be nice and polite here, lady." He emitted through gritted teeth. "All this tension and animosity needs to be resolved! Complete separation will only make things worse. If we could just combine our resources, everyone would benefit greatly."
"You're barking up the wrong tree." Lightning maintained.
Noel squinted his eyes. "If you don't believe in world peace then why work under Cid Raines?"
Lightning flipped her cloak. "That's none of your business," She hissed. "Besides, I don't get into politics while I'm at work." Lightning stepped up to the front desk. "When I'm gone, here's your chance to schedule an appointment with the Commander."
Noel stood there. He didn't quite understand.
"HELLO! Sergeant Farron…" The secretary stood up from her seat in a hurry. "It wouldn't be wise to just walk in. Fang Yun is in there."
As her face tightened, Lightning walked past her, never breaking stride.
"Y-you can wait in the seats over in the lobby?" The poor woman scrambled.
What she wanted to do was just burst through the door, cut the Yun's visit short, and get this call over with but… she didn't. That would have been out of line. She paused. "I'll wait in the median room."
)QQQ(
Pictures of past Calvary leaders in full military regalia, although few, lined the ivory walls. She walked past it all. Lightning placed a glove-hand on the adorned doorknob.
Having the eyes of the highly ranked on her wasn't exactly in her wishes.
Muffled laughing and movement could be heard through the large door.
Lightning shook her head. "Must be having a party in there," she groaned sarcastically. Looking at the portraits wasn't an option to kill time. She had already seen all there was to be seen in this room.
Lightning stood there waiting patiently in silence. The door swung open with much weight. Fang keenly scanned the area before fully stepping out. The moment the wild-haired woman saw Lightning, a smirk snuck its way onto her face. Lightning stood there quietly, waiting and eying Oerba Yun Fang for any suspicious movements. A tanned arm held the door open for her, however.
"Go on." Fang urged. "Am I not allowed ta' be polite?"
Lightning didn't move.
Fang continued on regardless. "I passed."
Lightning's eyebrow twitched. There was no way. "… Congratulations…" Her smile couldn't have been more plastic with a combination of awkward.
A Pulsian barbarian like Fang really worked alongside her now? It was what the world had finally come to.
Lightning felt uncomfortable as Fang now continued to stare as if she were examining her. "Were you in a modeling magazine?" Fang finally spoke, "It feels like I've seen you around before… Like on the billboards and signposts out in Oerba." She scratched her head. "Somewhere."
'What?' She couldn't tell if that was a genuine question or Fang's own unique way of flirting, god forbid, which happened to be awkward. Finally taking a step, she could still feel the Pulsian's eyes following her. She kept on forward into the General's chamber.
In the minor ruckus, Lightning turned the knob and closed the door behind her lightly. Rygdea scrambled off of his seat on Cid's desk.
"Sir." Lightning went into tight salute, waiting to be acknowledged.
Captain Rygdea combed through his messy hair. "Prompt as always, Sergeant Farron," He chuckled.
The poised Calvary Commander sat in his desk chair. He twirled and fidgeted with his metallic pen before finally looking beyond it. "Sergeant Farron." He nodded.
Lightning broke her salute and moved in closer.
With a straight face, the Brigadier General held out an ungloved hand. He spoke calmly, "Have a seat."
That's what she did all day.
Sit.
And Lightning was growing tiring of it, yet she took the offer. She had to.
Lightning studied the man across from her. His hands remained clasped together on top of his desk, staring back at her. She had worked with him in close quarters on a couple occasions but honestly didn't know much about him. Cid Raines could be very unreadable at times and therefore, unpredictable and almost quite dangerous in her eyes. One of the few who had managed to read him correctly would was Rygdea.
*Buzz Buzz*
Lightning grabbed her pocket. Her communicator seemed to be going off again. She attempted to ignore it.
He waited for a moment before clearing his throat. "Lightning."
She answered, "Yes, sir?"
His eye's remained trained on her. Lightning sat still in the silence.
He finally let out a deep breath. "I need advice." He spoke.
Lightning drew her brows together. "You have advisors." Her tone had sharpened more than she had meant to as the Commander's face went terse. She immediately bowed her head apologetically. "I apologize for that, your Eminence." In usual cases, she would have saved the attitude for Rygdea.
Commander Raines let out a deep chuckle, clapping his hands together. "A little sassiness there?" He grinned. "I've been told that you're experienced and quite popular."
"With?..." She wasn't sure about the 'popular' part but his statement was vague, nevertheless.
"Women… women trouble… anger," He listed off the top of his head. "I hope you can understand why I simply can't go to my advisors."
"So you need relationship advice?" Lightning continued. "Still… why from me?" She wasn't expecting to be called back after their conversation earlier in the morning.
Rygdea covered his face to conceal his laughter. "Remember when you were younger and I used to work on Amodar's force?" Rygdea wheezed. "Fang brought you up and I couldn't help but share some of the stories."
"Amodar's force?" Lightning's face went blank until she finally realized what he was alluding to. Her muscles became rigid. "Shit," She cursed under her breath. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sir." She stared at the carpet in horror. Being caught off guard… a rarity for Lightning Farron. She her closed her eyes for a second and took a quick deep breath. Lightning needed to readjust now. She felt a pat on her shoulder.
Rygdea…
She began to notice a difference in him. The Captain was already pretty lax, but now especially around Fang, he threw workplace professionalism and proper behavior out the window. "Relax, Farron. I didn't get detailed you naughty fox."
Grinning more, Commander Raines pulled a lunch bag from under his desk. "I'll give you a sandwich."
"Giving away the lunch that she made for you will make her even angrier." Rygdea joked.
Did Rygdea just call her a 'naughty fox'? And now the Commander knew of her generally, not only reserved for unholy but impure, escapades of her younger years?
Embarrassing.
In this setting, it couldn't become more unbearable or uncomfortable. She couldn't show that it was however.
That was enough.
Lightning shook her head and watched the Commander across from her, with her trademark stoicism.
"Sergeant Farron…" Cid repeated for the third time.
Lightning blinked. "Yes."
"Will you take me up on my offer?"
"I might be able to help you. Not on the grounds of incredibly fallacious, tall tales but on ones of me being a female," She clarified. "I still do not understand what your specific question is."
"His girlfriend has a high-tolerance for B.S.," Rygdea quipped.
Cid flicked his wrist, a disregard for the comment. "You know what? She needs to chill out. I'll just leave it and not bring it up. She'll get over it in no time." Lightning guessed that he was referring to his secret girlfriend. She was often a topic of her workmates in their gossip of Cid.
Alright!
He found a solution on his own. Now it was time for Lightning to leave!
Her inner joy was cut short. Rygdea sighed. "What happened again, Cid?"
"Since the other night…"Cid examined his nails. "She hasn't been talking to me much."
"Okay…" Lightning prodded, "Do you have any idea why?"
He shrugged. "I cancelled dinner."
"Why?" Lightning rubbed her brow.
"I told her work but I was actually at the gym."
"With whom?" Someone needed to learn how to elaborate.
"Gadot," Cid answered once again, "A new friend of mine introduced me to him."
Lightning grimaced at the name. She hadn't experienced this type of attitude from him before. When did Commander Raines become such a meat head or had he always been that way? He was starting to remind her of Snow, with rudeness. His eyes were glued to his nails the entire discussion.
"Call her. Apologize. Make new plans." Lightning surmised.
Simple.
She had to walk him through something so obvious.
Cid had finally detached his eyes from his hands. "I'll consider it."
Bull. Shit. Was she talking to a wall? Only an idiot who wanted to purposely ruin a relationship wouldn't.
"I'm sure you will," Lightning muttered.
*Buzz Buzz Buzz*
Rygdea stared at the pink-haired offender's pocket. "It would seem that Sergeant Farron needs to leave, Commander."
Raines waved his hand limply. "Dismissed."
Lightning rose from her seat.
"Does your girl get rides in that sports mobile?"
He shook his head, "No. She prefers to take the public transportation."
It was a weekday.
Parking shouldn't have been this much of a pain.
Lightning felt a headache coming on. She lowered her head to rest it on the steering wheel. It was quickly interrupted by a chime from her communicator.
She read the new message on the screen:
'Where are you?'
'Parking lot.' They decided to meet at the race track, Eden Stadium.
A response came quickly. 'Should I come out there?'
'I guess.' A very unenthusiastic reply.
Lightning had waited all day for this however.
Her eyes found Yeul walk through the stadium gates. The girl waved when she had finally spotted Lightning's vehicle from work.
Her eyelids were heavy. Lightning tapped the leather on the rim of the steering wheel slowly as Yeul opened the passenger door.
Lightning glanced over. "Hi."
She smiled, getting settled. "Hi, Lightning…"
That was the end of their conversation. Without a word said, they sat in the car watching a lower ranked security guard snooze in his velomobile.
"I like what you're wearing." Lightning suddenly said.
"Umm…"Yeul had been puzzled. "T-thank you." All it was a cropped top and shorts. Plus it surprised her; the soldier rarely gave compliments like that.
What were they here for again? Surely not a 'date'.
It would be expected that Lightning would be a straight-forward person but it was apparent that she was dancing around real issue and was horribly failing at it.
Yeul rubbed her back. "You look exhausted. Bad day at work?"
Bad? It was stupid.
"Lightning…" Yeul clasped her hands together. "About the other night… About what Serah said—Let's ta-"
Both of their heads turned. The car door was opened roughly as the door itself banged the hinge.
"Yeul! Get the fuck out of the car!" One hand was braced on his sword's scabbard.
Lightning scoffed. Swords were so Pulsian, so low-tech.
"Now." He snarled. His voice was deep.
Lightning proceeded to remove her seatbelt. Yeul held down of her working hands.
Purple eyebrows were fixed in a contorted line of rage as he heaved. "What the hell is this?"
"Sorry…" She whispered. It wasn't clear if it was to Lightning or the fuming man.
Yeul closed her eyes before letting go. "I have to go." She exited the car and not too soon was there an arm of security around her shoulder.
The man pointed at Lightning menacingly. "Lightning Farron…"
Those were the last words before walking off with Yeul.