Disclaimer: Still broke as all get out. But the ice cream cake keeps the lonely away.

AN: Not sure if I will have time to finish chapter 7 edits in time tomorrow.

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"Kina is it true?" A girl from Nadia's old Advanced Battle Theory and Field Strategies class questioned. She wasn't sure what the girl was asking about. The bitch had made it clear she had only spoke to Nadia in class to copy notes off her and try to pirate her ideas for essays.

"Is what true?"

The girl paused for a moment as if deciding talking would be the right thing. Nadia tried to come up with her name, but was unable to. She had written the girl off as mindless and a follower so maybe she had deemed to forget it. "They are saying you are doing Cooper."

She blanched. How dare they say such things like that behind her back! They called her a slut, sure, but they never actually paired her up with someone. She was just the girl that slept with countless boys that never had names or faces. She was also annoyed, because no one should have known about it as she had committed the act in a Balamb territory. She hadn't realized Cooper had such a big mouth.

"Who told you that?" She snapped more sharply than she had intended. The girl clearly had determined it was now in her best interest to shut up. She muttered gibberish under her breath and excused herself. Nadia didn't have it in her power to demand anything else. She had already wasted all her energy putting up with another reprimand from Reggie.

She couldn't understand why the man was in such a fury. She did however realize, whatever had happened he was going to be strict like he had never been before. She had noticed him a total of four times already and it was only lunchtime. She usually didn't even see him until well after dinner. Something had him on edge and she was curious as to what.

She turned back to the lunch line doing as Reggie said. She had picked only seal products that the Garden put out as is. He said he could get her fruits and other things the Garden prepared for her. Did he think someone was going to poison her food?

"Hey darling." Cooper's voice drifted to her. She was about to blur out an angry retort when the girl who had just bothered her giggled. Shooting a glance over her shoulder she saw Cooper, one arm draped over her shoulders talking into her ear. The girl was blushing and playfully smacking him on the chest. She stopped looking at the sordid display and grabbed a packaged salad and sealed bottle of water. She pushed her way through the line as fast as possible hoping she could escape before Cooper noticed her.

She felt home free when she found the smallest table in the farthest corner of the cafeteria. Dropping her tray down, she scanned the room looking for Reggie or Cooper. Neither was in her field of vision which was fine by her. Depressingly she stared down at the sealed package of salad. She hated salad. She usually got a hotdog or a sandwich. She also preferred juice, but found water an acceptable replacement. "It's not going to grow anymore you know that right?" Cooper laughed.

Wincing Nadia looked up at the cause of her recent troubles. She chided herself, she was the cause of her troubles, and Cooper was just drawing the pain and humiliation out. "Hi Cooper." He dropped down in the seat opposite her.

"You can call me Coop you know. I don't feel like you're comfortable around me." He said trying to smile warmly, but failed miserably. She noticed the rather large cut on his lip. His wince brought her a small amount of joy, though it was nothing to the waves of humiliation she was sure had yet to come.

"Fine, hi Coop. How did you bust your lip?" Giving in, she broke the seal on her salad.

"Funny story- that I don't want to talk about. How's your day been?" She didn't like him staring at her. In turn she found herself staring at the small cherry tomatoes in her salad.

"Well apart from the people staring at me. Oh and the questions about- and I quote, 'doing Cooper'. Reggie chewed me out again. And I'm sure there is something else that I have forgotten. I find myself trying to forget most of this morning. But, other than that I'm just peachy, how about you?" She grasped the bottle of water sharply, resisting the urge to pelt it in his face. The muscle reaction had been stilled by the general look of regret on his face.

"Yeah, about that- that's my fault. I may have opened my mouth a bit too much yesterday. But in my defense, I wasn't going to sit there and let some inferior student tell me where I need to stick my dick." She gave a sigh, feeling what little energy she had put together fizzle away again. Men were too much trouble, why couldn't she have a good girl friend or body guard. Maybe she should just become a lesbian they always looked happy.

"Next time you defend your pride and rank, please leave me out of it."

He jerked up out of his seat seething. "It's not like that! He pretty much called you a slut! I wasn't going to let him stand there and trash you when I could say something about it." She huffed finally spearing a tomato with her fork. Popping it into her mouth she chewed it for a moment thinking of how to respond to him. Apparently she took too long. "Are you really okay with them saying those things about you?"

"I'm used to it." She saw out of the corner of her eye Reggie stalking towards them. "Reggie's coming to get rid of you again."

She could see mild alarm on his face. "Look I'm sorry about taking advantage of you, I'm working on redeeming myself- give me a chance. I'm a weird guy, I know, but just give me a chance. I can prove I'm a good guy."

"Morning Mister Cooper." Reggie said tightly reaching to pull a chair from another table. "By all means sit down. I'm not here to scare you away."

Nadia was shocked squeaking out a weak, "Really?"

She didn't like the tense atmosphere falling over the table. She couldn't eat like this. She was already queasy from the sight of the green leaves. "Are you going to be okay?" Cooper questioned. Reggie looked down at Nadia just as she turned away from the table.

"Shit!" Reggie had just enough to jump back as Nadia threw up. He could even see the bits of egg and leaves from her morning salad.

"What the hell!" Cooper chimed in sliding around the safe side of the table. He pulled Nadia's hair back as another wave shook her. Both men winced at the sound of her strangled cries between spasms. "Did she eat something bad?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Reggie said with narrowed eyes. Cooper glared back, but only for a moment. He jerked in shock as one of Nadia's arms shot up and her hand closed around one of his hands. She was squeezing hard. Cooper frowned waving his free hand at Nadia's head hoping Reggie would get the clue. He gave a face promising more berating later and joined Cooper to relax their sick friend.

"I can't eat this shit." She finally gasped moments later. "They are never going to let me hear the end of this. Kina the slut, Kina the idiot, Kina the anorexic whore. I hate this place."

Reggie was about to say words of comfort to her when Cooper broke in. "You know I have some pull with the Headmaster. I could get you a SeeD field exam before you know it. If you think you are ready."

"She's not ready. She still has so much to learn about using her weapon!"

"Not all missions require battle skills. Trust me on this one. I've read her file, I think she's ready."

"I'm right here." Nadia snapped finding enough energy to stand up, though she really wanted to run back to her dorm and sleep. She glared at Cooper, "Who the hell are you to read my file? And you," She turned to Reggie, "are the reason I am sick. This stuff taste like shit and my stomach doesn't like it." She felt another wave of something overtake her and she swayed. Reggie jumped back expecting her to throw up again, but Cooper reached forward to catch her.

"That's it- I'm done for the day." She sighed, her eyes sliding shut.

"She passed out." Cooper whispered. Reggie watched him jerk alert and survey the room, nothing Reggie hadn't already noticed. No one had been watching, having already written Nadia off as bad luck and a waste of time. The lunch ladies would find the mess when someone pointed it out, or at the end of lunch, whichever came first.

"You know if you carry her out it will only make it worse for her. I am old news and people couldn't give a damn if they found me outside of her dorm room, naked, with a bottle of hard liquor in hand." Reggie insisted reaching for Nadia.

"Not a mental image I wanted. But you're right."

Nadia couldn't believe it. Cooper had stayed true to his word and she was sitting in a car with Reggie, Sam, Cooper, and Natalia. Natalia was a willowy looking instructor with bleach blonde hair and piercing brown eyes. She wore her official Galbadia SeeD uniform and ironically enough, Cooper did not. This had been the first incident since the wedding where he was not in his SeeD uniform.

Her exam mission was simple. Assist the Galbadian forces in routine patrol in the Timber area. It had been a sore situation between the natives of Timber and the Galbadian forces. Galbadian influence as a whole had retreated to a mere whisper after the fall of Sorceress Ultimecia. While at the time people thought it a blessing over the following three years the monster population increased with no one to stem their breeding in boredom as the Galbadian soldiers had. Thus Timber called upon the forces of Galbadia's recovering army. Territory disputes had become a daily occurrence. The common people disagreeing with the upper class who had asked the army to come in the first place.

All and all, it was a boring assignment she was certain, but not many assignments came to the Galbadia Garden. Their SeeD program was still too new. While Trabia still transferred students with dreams of being fully fledged SeeD, Galbadia had put a rush in to create their own SeeD program to rival Balamb's program. To date, there were only twenty five Galbadian SeeD in active paid service, ten of them permanent instructors at the school. Nadia was desperately hoping to boost that number to twenty six.

"You look tense. Don't worry it'll be easy." Cooper grinned at her. She had grown accustomed to his toothy smile. It never failed to bring her mood up just a bit. It had taken him a good month to pull the right strings, but he had done it. She had even gotten use to his forward personality and womanizing ways.

Reggie and Sam had tried to discourage her from befriending him. They had given her many reasons not to, but she ignored them all. Something about him screamed player, but he was the best thing that had happened to her since Irvine. This drive urged her to continue disobeying her friends and family. She sometimes hoped that somewhere along the line she wouldn't regret this. The feelings she had told her she never would, and that is why she continued to defy her guardians.

"I'm not worried. I have the best with me." She replied smugly. Reggie and Sam nodded almost smugly as Cooper rolled his eyes.

"Your puppets don't count in this test. You have to do a good job. We just keep you from getting killed, not that that's a risk in this situation. At worst, those idiots in Timber will beat you black and blue and be done with it." She frowned. Sometimes he was just too honest and forward. She was in fact very ready to break down and cry. She hated it. When the stress got to high, how her body shut down. She just wasn't used to stress, though she was learning to cope. She had to ever since Cooper popped into her life, pissing off Reggie for kicks, and starting something the school gossiped about every other day.

"He's right, you just have to perform well. They took into consideration your lack of weapons training and weighted it against the fact you have all the theory and practices down pat. If you pass, you could be an asset to the garden as a whole, we need more SeeDs. We haven't had any in a year after the first two batches." Natalia frowned, "We hold much higher standards then the Balamb and Trabia Gardens."

"That's been proven as much if you compare the ranking of your few SeeDs compared to the ranking of, oh say, Balamb Garden." Sam answered. Nadia nodded, while it was true Galbadia had less SeeDs then Balamb, their SeeDs were of a higher caliber.

The car jerked to a stop before anyone could say anything else. The hatch opened automatically and there was a Galbadia Soldier in full G-Solider uniform. "It's you!" The solider hissed pointing at Nadia.

"Do I know you?" Her confusion was clear on her face and the man broke out laughing

"You remember me don't you? I brought you a drink at the pub. Irvine left with you! Did you guys um-" He stopped talking when he saw the glares coming from all the males in the car. Nadia sighed. Reggie and Sam she understood. She didn't understand why Cooper had become her not-boyfriend-boyfriend. He acted like he had claim over her at all times.

"Yeah I remember you. I'm taking my SeeD test!" She said cheerfully stepping out of the car.

"Well congratulations! Hope you do well, I would stay and play catch up with you. I haven't seen Irvine in months maybe after your test we could talk about him? Who's coming with me to do perimeter checks?" He said eagerly looking between all the superior officers. Sam and Reggie stalked off without speaking. Nadia gave another sigh, they were being strict again and leaving her in the dark about whatever was bothering them. Natalia patted the soldier's shoulder and together they left.

"Well now that we are alone," Cooper said in an all together too happy voice, "I've been meaning to give this to you." She turned to look at trying to focus on the mission at hand but her mind flipped back to Irvine. His friend didn't even know he was dead!

"He doesn't know Irvine's dead." She said stiffly unable to stop herself. She felt herself swept up by Cooper. He held her close to his chest. Unable to resist she listened to his heartbeat. It sounded so much like Irvine's the night he held her close at the SeeD ball.

"Where you there when Irvine died?" He said his voice vibrating in his chest. She liked the sound oddly enough.

"No I wasn't."

"Well where is he buried? Did you attend the funeral?" She didn't want to move. His voice echoing in his chest and his heart beat was very calming. She could almost forget the pain remembering Irvine brought if she could stay full against him.

"No." Her mummer was weak this time. Cooper really was an odd person trying so hard to get her what she wanted and keep her happy doing it. She wasn't use to it at all.

"Well sounds to me like he may still be alive. Should we hope for it together? I knew Irvine, I'd be sad if a guy like that were dead." He grinned down at her, pushing her away from him. She mourned the loss of his comfort, but focused on his words.

"I don't want to hope. It will hurt too much if I start to believe he's alive and found out for sure that he is dead." She admitted squashing down the small hope that had started to form. She couldn't deal with that idea right now.

"I see," He didn't look at all attractive when he frowned, "well we'll talk about this later. Here I got this for your exam." He reached into his side pocket and pulled out a thin long box. She took the box curious as to what he could possible get her that she could use. "It's better than your issued one." She popped off the lid and stared at the monstrosity inside.

It was a dagger, this she was sure of, but its split blade confused her. The blades were inked red and forged to look like fire. She was almost certain, if stabbed with this dagger it would hurt twice as much going in than normal and rip internal organs on the way out. The hilt was simple but the guard was line with runes, what they meant she didn't know. "It's not just a dagger," Cooper explained, "It's an athame. It's used to focus the user's intent. I know it looks scary, but I think it fits you."

She took the dagger out and replaced the Garden issue one she had been given. "One more thing." He said quickly. She was still trying to shut the latch to her holster when he took her by the head. He held her steady, pushing his lips onto hers. She tried to protest, but her mind locked down. She was remembering some of the night he had taken advantage of her drunken state. The memory heated her face, she couldn't believe how intense Cooper was naked. Now was not the time to remember those things. She was sure someone would come back soon and she couldn't be found like this.

She jerked away finding power over her body again. "Coop!" She hissed. She wanted to laugh. He was standing, still biting his bottom lip eyes closed. "You look like an idiot. I'm going to go join the patrol."

"Please," He sighed, "don't make me steal the next one from you too." She shrugged off his comment and wandered in the direction she had seen Natalia and her soldier friend run off in.

"I understand you're hungry, but we really shouldn't get close to Timber." Jimmy, Nadia's Soldier friend, said.

"Why must you argue with me on this?" Natalia snapped. Nadia had been listening to the same argument back and forth for the last three hours. She understood why Jimmy was trying to convince Natalia to stay away from Timber, but she was a SeeD. She would be fine.

"Because you're dressed in that outfit, Timber folk have all sorts of Galbadia uniforms memorized. They can see you and me coming a mile away, they'll think twice about the rest of them. They can just get us something to eat and we'll be good." Jimmy answered back.

"Do as you like; I'm going to get something to eat." Natalia said heading to the town. Cooper grabbed her wrist for a moment giving her a stare. Nadia rolled her eyes. He really was such a weird fellow, but so attractive. It was moments like this, when she knew Cooper wasn't looking that she took in the sight of him. He was wearing worn out cargo pants and a tight black tank top. She assumed he was hiding his weapons under his loose zip up sweatshirt.

The silent message was passed along between them and Natalia shook him off. "Candidate Patil come with me. Leave your lackeys." Nadia gave a distasteful frown. "Call off your dogs, this is your exam not theirs."

Reggie squeezed her shoulder with a nod. She smiled warmly at her friends following behind the irate Instructor. Natalia seemed in no mood to talk, so Nadia retreated back into her mind and replayed her memories. The last three hours of monster hunting had kept her busy. While Natalia and Cooper stood by and watched her fight with Reggie and Sam as backup, she had noted Cooper's stares on her.

The memory that she had recalled when he had kissed her sent fire through her body. It was such a spectacular memory that she almost wished she could remember the whole night. Cooper had been sitting on the edge of the bed holding her hands in his, a soft smile playing on his lips. His eyes held none of their normal spark and hardness, in fact that had almost taken on an aquamarine shade. Her eyes had traveled down taking in his entire form. His taunt muscles and lean frame were a sight to behold. The memory of his endowment still left her blushing. Content with looking, she had leaned in for a heated kiss, the physical memory a distant cry from the visual one.

She looked up unaware of when she had followed Natalia into the little diner. She had only focused on reality when Natalia kept waving two brown paper bags at her. "Sorry." She responded taking the warm contents into her arms. Natalia took a third bag off the counter and they left. She wasn't sure if people had been looking so hatefully the whole time, but now that she was aware of them she was uncomfortable. They had such anger and distaste visible that she felt her pace quicken just a bit.

Out on the street following Natalia she noticed more and more that people stared. Some even met up and started following them. It was two blocks away when her fears where justified. A young teen who didn't even reach Nadia's chest threw a rock. It pelted Natalia in the head followed by a curse. "Damn Galbadians! Get out of here!"

Nadia placed her brown paper bags on the floor and turned to look at the instigator. She was surprised to find two grown men reaching for her. She gave a shriek when they pulled her off her feet and threw her to the road. "Patil!" Natalia said before she sharply pushed over. The two men that had pushed Nadia over were joined by a lady, two other men, and the young teen.

"Get out of our town Galbadian scum." One of the men hissed pushing Natalia again. She looked angry. Nadia was trying to get to her feet. Vaguely she wondered if Natalia was angry over still not being able to eat or being pushed.

"We're here because you called us here! We're helping you clear the border!" Nadia fumed in response. Where these people to stupid to realize that Galbadian forces were trying to right wrongs done under Vinzer Deling's presidency? The lady reached for Nadia and locked her arms behind her back. She didn't put up a fight making sure nothing was broken before she needed to use it.

"So you're Galbadian too? Should have kept your mouth shut." The lady hissed into her ear.

"Look we're not here to start a fight. I just wanted some lunch and now I will be leaving." Natalia said her anger lacing her words. So she really was that hungry. Nadia wanted to laugh had her situation not been so bad. She wondered if Reggie and Sam were off somewhere near by ready to jump when things got serious?

"Do I look like I care why you are in our town? You have no right to be here not after everything you did. Get out." A man behind Natalia said pushing her forward. The other man was looking for something to do so he ripped the brown bag out of Natalia's arms and threw it to the floor.

"Hey why did you do that?" Nadia shouted trying to wiggle free from the woman's grip. The lady applied pressure causing Nadia to wither in pain.

She tried to keep focus on Natalia despite her pain. She watched the woman draw her nunchaku from their holster and strike the man who threw her food on the floor square in the face. That's when the fight broke out. One man behind her pushed her again throwing her of balance. She swung out with her weapon glancing the young teen's head. He rushed at her in anger while the man left in front of her swung at her.

"No! That's not fair! Five on one!" Nadia cried out trying to wrestle free from the woman's grip. But again she was lanced with pain when she tried. Reaching out with her magic she ordered the woman to free her and go away. The lady's vice grip slacked and she rushed at one- the man making to strike Natalia in the head.

Jumping on the man's back threw him off balance and together they knocked over another man. Natalia was still at the mercy of the remaining two men and the irate teen. "You bitch." The man she had tackled cried out rolling over. His weight was painful and Nadia felt like she was going to burst. She wanted to reach into her magic and find something to hurt him as much as his weight was hurting her but she couldn't focus.

The man jerked his head back striking Nadia square in the face. She felt so dizzy and everything was blurry, but she didn't want to die squashed under a man. Using what little power she could muster she reached for her dagger. Cooper had said it would help her focus. Hearing the pop of her hostler she quickly pulled the dagger free and sank the tip into the man's side. The pressure doubled on her waist as he sat up sharply in response. She screamed in pain feeling as though her legs would break, but the man rolled off her. Her athame popped out of his side and clattered to the floor.

"That little bitch stabbed me!" He howled reaching for her hair. She wasn't fast enough to avoid his grip and found herself being dragged back. She felt very faint and on the verge of vomiting, but her hands slide across the floor. She cut herself on her dagger as the man staggered up dragging her with him. This time she was fueled by her pain and anger as she fumbled with her dagger. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach as the second man kicked her on the side. She spun onto her side still held by her hair. Her dagger firming in her hand she coughed. Willing just enough energy and emotion, she drove the dagger into the man's foot. The grip on her hair slackened and she dropped to the floor unable to move.

"Now now boys," Cooper's voice rang out in a rather calm tone, "what are fine Timber men like you doing picking on my two lovely lady friends?" Nadia ignored Cooper, still trying to regain her strength. She could see the man she had tried to hurt. He was bleeding from his side and on his butt clawing at his foot. Mentally she snorted at his inability to stand, if she couldn't he shouldn't be able to either.

"Natalia! Save Patil!" She could hear Cooper shout. Her vision focused just enough to see the man she had damaged leering at her with her dagger raised above her. He was going to run her through with her own weapon. Focus was all she needed and again she fell on Cooper's promise. She mentally reached out for her weapon and felt it burn with resentment and fury. Her athame was so angry and she egged it on. Whipping her magic at it, the weapon caught fire in its rage.

The flaming weapon distracted the man long enough for Nadia to increase her urge. She demanded that her weapon take retribution for its pain and suffering. The flame grew bigger engulfing the man's arm. He withered in pain falling back. Her weapon dropped to the ground. She lamented the loss of the use of her body for only a moment before reaching out with her mind to her other attackers. All of them were unconscious.

Cooper was above her now his face twisted in anguish. "What were you thinking Kina? Natalia can handle herself." Natalia towered over Cooper distress written on her face.

"We need to get out of here now Dunlay. The cops will be here any minute. You know they won't try us fairly. We gotta patch up rookie over here too. Let's grab her and get gone." Nadia could feel Cooper putting her athame back in her hostler before he picked her up. The pain of him moving her caused her to pass out.

Sam slipped into Nadia's infirmary room. He was surprised to see Cooper asleep in a chair in the corner. The man had fallen asleep sitting up his arms crossed over his chest, his head limp, chin resting on his collar bone. Nadia lay asleep in her bed. She had minor bruises on her torso and upper legs. There was also dismissible head trauma from the attack yesterday, but the one good kick had caused internal bleeding. The medical magic had healed everything, but they had demanded the SeeD Candidate stay overnight for safety.

Personally Sam didn't take a second look at Nadia. He was focused on Cooper, Natalia was second on his list. By agreeing not to be by Nadia's side his sorceress had gotten badly hurt. He wanted to get the man in his sleep, wrap his hands around his neck, and choke him before he had time to react. He walked up to the man careful to make no noise. He stood quietly staring for a moment. He was gathering the will and strength to attempt to strangle him. For a moment he thought perhaps to just snap his neck and be done with it.

Just as he began to reach forward Cooper's head shot up his eyes clear and sharp. "What do you think you are doing?"

Sam resisted the urge to step back in shock. He wouldn't give the man the satisfaction. "I saw a hair out of place. I was going fix it." He said grinning wryly.

He could see a small flash of recognition cross Cooper's eyes. "Good man. Just what I expected a bodyguard to do. That hair won't be out of place again." Sam was confused, was Cooper happy he had tried to kill him? Cooper dropped his crossed arms resting them calmly on the chair's arms. "After all, if that hair was out of place again it would ruin my whole look. And with a reputation like I have, the same mess up twice is disastrous."

"You can drop the double entendre." Sam hissed seeing why the man annoyed Reggie. Cooper's eyes looked at Nadia for a moment Sam getting his message. Nadia was awake and listening to them.

"You're right. Saw right through me- I just wanted to see if you swung that way." Cooper said resisting the urge to laugh. Sam wanted to laugh with him. How had they gotten from being serious to joking about his sexual preference?

"You know most sexual deviants hardly fit the stereotype. I've seen some poorly dressed men with bad hair cuts."

"What are you guys talking about?" Nadia said weakly sitting up in her bed. She looked confused. He could see she was attempting to be attentive, to digest whatever information she could garner from their discussion.

"Oh, morning Sunshine!" Cooper said pushing Sam away so he could stand up. "If you really must know," the man paced up to Nadia's bed hand reaching for hers, "since I'm not getting any from you, I was hoping Sam here would go down on me. I hear homosexual men are the best at giving head. I mean they know what spots to hit more than a woman will ever know."

Nadia clearly disgusted pulled her hand free. "Oh geez Coop you're sick."

"Not sick, just sexually frustrated."

Sam dashed up, his hand on Cooper's shoulder. "That's being a bit too forward and open to a lady there Mister Dunlay."

Cooper grinned menacingly before speaking again, "Not really. I've already lifted that skirt up, just waiting for the next time." Sam was furious he wanted to pull Cooper out of the room by his neck, but Nadia seemed even more irate.

"Look Coop, the first time was a fluke. If you really want to fuck that bad, just find someone else I'm sure you have a little black book. You will have better luck getting a date from me, then getting into bed with me." With that she looked away from him. Sam was waiting for the man to be over animated again and try to regain her attention, but he stood still. His face was set in a grimace and his body was tense.

Sam felt the instant urge to get away. Never one to argue with instinct he stepped back just as Cooper stalked out of the room at full speed. While as a man Sam felt for Cooper, but he had invited it, implying Nadia's skirt was easy to lift.

"Well- how are you feeling dear?" Sam asked trying to divert Nadia's attention.

Cooper was chewing slowly on a very well cooked medium rare steak. The waitress serving him didn't dare get friendly. He was a handsome guy sure, but he was a Galbadian SeeD. She knew he probably knew a hundred different ways to kill her with a straw. No tip was worth trying to cheer him up. She had seen his type before. Outwardly he looked calm and collected, but one look in his eyes and she knew he was furious about something. If she triggered his anger it would be bad.

She served him his wine and steak with a side of mash potatoes and slipped away from the table silently. She honestly was already up on her tips for the night so a dry table here and there wouldn't hurt her. It also helped that she worked at the high class restaurant. People like General Caraway ate there every Friday night. Even the President was sitting at his usual table for once, not called away for political matters.

Two tables, and a screaming rich brat later, the girl looked up and saw the moody SeeD talking to the President. She slipped over to the table smiling down at the President, "Sir would you like something to drink?" He was notorious for being a generous tipper. The president waved her away with a lazy hand. Nodding in defeat she strode away little snippets of their conversation reaching her ears.

"So she has shown no increased promise?"

"None, she'll only graduate on good will, bribes, and a prayer."

"Then she is of no use to me. Find out a way to send her to her God Hyne."

She shivered slightly. Hiring SeeD was nasty business, but something they were destined for. No wonder the guy was moody. He must have known his mission would go from reconnaissance to murder. She had half a mind to start watching the papers so she could play the guessing game. Would this SeeD be killing an important official, or some wanton slut that had pissed off the President?

It was none of her business. Writing off both men as a lost cause tonight, she looked to her next table in hopes for some green.