Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. Jake and Duke are mine. The story starts moving a little faster with this chapter. Enjoy!

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019 – Points for Persistence

Leon finished tightening the valves inside the engine of the old green Jeep. The vehicle had been hiccupping lately, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

"I just don't get it." Jake Alms moaned beside him, doing a piss-poor job of holding the flash light for Leon.

Leon just glared flatly, and Jake pursed his lips, fixing the angle of the flash light again. Leon frowned, shook his head, and got back to tinkering with the engine. He had been at it for nearly an hour now. Working on this Jeep was always a good excuse to get out of the department for a while; it was a nice escape.

Alms had apparently thought so too, as Leon had found the younger man sitting in the open back hatch of the Jeep, looking like he had designated it as his Corner of Woe for the afternoon. For whatever reason, Leon had taken pity on him—Jake never looked that pathetic—and offered for Jake to help him work on the Jeep. However, it was turning out that whatever was bothering him, it had completely destroyed his concentration.

This is what I get for trying to help, Leon scolded himself inwardly. Then, against his better judgment, he closed his eyes, drew a breath, and asked.

"Don't get what?"

"My magical powers are failing!" Jake wailed dramatically.

Leon lifted an eyebrow at him.

Jake straightened, "Okay…So you know how women are always attracted to me?"

For the love of…Leon grunted noncommittally, deciding to humor the man.

"They try to play hard-to-get, but in the end, they're only playing it against themselves. I can't help it. I'm naturally charismatic and charming." Jake said mournfully.

"Point, Jake, find it quickly."

"Two weeks ago, I asked Tabaeus out on a date—"

Leon straightened so fast that the top of his head smacked into the popped lid of the Jeep.

"Ah, mother-son-of-a—" Leon clutched the top of his head with a curse.

Jake leaned away. "You okay?"

"You did WHAT?" Leon snapped at him, rubbing the sore spot on his head and checking for blood.

Jake lifted his shoulders, "Yuffie said it would be a good idea."

"What?" Leon said incredulously.

Jake waved the flash light around. "And she turned me down! Me! Jake Alms: rejected!"

Leon could only stare in surprise. "Why would you do that?"

"Why would SHE do that?" Jake put his hands on his hips. "Not even a 'no thanks, I'm busy right now' or 'maybe some other time'. Just a flat NO."

Leon was torn among being horrified, curious, and amused. Horrified that Jake had attempted to seduce his best soldier, curious as to why, and amused that McCallister had been so tactless in her refusal. Lord only knew what facial expression he was sporting to express those three responses.

Though by Jake's reaction, it wasn't pleasant.

"Don't look at me like that; I'm sure Tifa's blabbed all about this to you." He barked.

"No." Leon snorted. "Neither has McCallister."

Jake slumped to his seat. "Is she seeing somebody else or something?"

"How should I know?"

"You're like her best friend." Jake sounded so matter-of-fact.

An unexpected bark of laughter slipped out and Leon cleared his throat to cover it. "No, trust me, I'm not. She's a subordinate; I'm just her superior officer."

"Oh, please." Jake stood again. "If you're not her best friend, then who is?"

"Again…how should I know?" Leon spread his hands.

Jake ran his hands through his hair frustratedly. "Maybe she just thought I was kidding." He looked hopeful. "Maybe she'd had a bad day. Maybe it was a test!" He snapped his fingers. "That's it! It was a test to see if I was serious! After all, my reputation precedes me."

Both of Leon's eyebrows shot up.

Jake punched his fist into his other hand. "I'll just have to step things up!"

He set the flash light down and darted for the door.

Leon snapped back to himself. "Leave my soldier alone!"

"Can't talk now! Must get my romantic energies primed!" Jake bounded across the garage.

"I'm warning you!" Leon started after him.

Jake had reached the door, but abruptly turned back to Leon, "You don't happen to know what her favorite flower is?" But he darted off again before Leon could answer.

Instead, Leon stopped in the doorway, watching the man bob and weave toward the Marketplace. "She's been trained to shoot vital regions, you idiot!" He yelled.

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020 – The Nose Knows

Tifa figured that she should probably have put out one of those yellow hazard signs warning about the slick floor, but it was just more entertaining this way. Duke the golden retriever had already gone skidding across the living room when she took a corner too tight. The first time, it had just startled Tifa. The second and third time, however, it was just funny. It must have been amusing for the dog too, because Duke just kept running around that corner every so often.

The front door opened and Tifa looked up from her spot at the dining room table, which had been inadvertently converted into a workstation over the past few weeks. Five different reports were spread across the wooden surface, as was an entirely empty jar of peanut butter. It was a nervous habit of Leon's that had rubbed off on her; although unlike him, she could actually eat peanut butter like a human being who had seen a spoon before. He just went at it with a popsicle stick usually.

Her victim of the day was Cloud, whom she had asked to bring the files on the new recruits to the house instead of her office. Her entire Combat Department had been repainted a week earlier and the smell of it made her nauseated. Well, to be fair, pretty much everything made her nauseated lately. He stepped into the house with a mess of paper in his arms. And it was a proper mess: some of the papers were folded, some were just creased, some were straight but sticking out in uneven directions. No semblance of organization that she could see.

"Would it kill you to invest in a folder?" Tifa saved the document that she had been working on. "A binder? A…box at least?"

Cloud looked on the verge of a snide comeback, but was cut off as the lack of friction on the floor took effect. In an almost cartoonish fashion, his legs flew out from under him and he crashed to his back on the floor in a flurry of paper. Tifa heard the distinct SMACK of skull on wooden floor and cringed.

He sat up like a puppet with its strings drawn taut, glaring at her. "What the Hell is wrong with your floor?"

"It's clean." Tifa remarked flatly, getting up to help him gather the fallen papers.

Cloud had gotten halfway to his feet before crashing back to his knees. He caught himself with his hands on the floor before straightening again. "I got it." He waved off her help.

As he picked up the papers—back into a big chaotic stack—Tifa snickered. People liked to think that Cloud and Leon were SO much alike. In reality, the only traits they shared were muscle, poor communication skills, a mutual hatred of the game ping-pong for some reason, and being all around smart asses. In that mindset, Tifa had known Cloud since birth: he couldn't organize anything to save his life: paper, tools, anything. Conversely, if Leon—her good, ol' compulsive Leon—had seen that paperwork that Cloud was gathering up, he would have had a heart attack.

"Why is your floor this clean? You have a dog!" Cloud pointed at Duke on the stairs.

"Rinoa was over earlier. She was stressed out. Apparently she cleans when she's stressed out." Tifa shrugged. "If she wanted to clean my house, I wasn't going to stop her."

"Well," Cloud set the mess of files on the table, effectively ruining Tifa's carefully plotted map of pre-existing paperwork. "Tell her to take up pottery or something."

Tifa snorted but abruptly grimaced, leaning back in her seat.

"What?" Cloud asked, seeing her expression change.

Something smelled like…she wasn't sure, but it was HORRID.

"Are you okay?" He took a step toward her.

The smell got stronger and she lifted a hand. It was coming from him.

"What is that smell?" She gagged.

"You're turning green." Cloud grimaced, "I don't…I was at Merlin's earlier. Cid was there. Maybe his smoke—"

No sooner had he said it, than Tifa placed the smell to the odor of lit cigarettes. Cid had been wary of smoking around Tifa since she'd broken the news that she was pregnant, but she didn't expect him to quit. She just avoided Merlin's house now…and Cid's department…and the hangar…But now the smell was jumping bodies and tracking her down—

"You look you're about to—" Cloud started.

"Don't say it." Tifa staggered sideways into the kitchen and barely managed to drag the trash can out from under the counter before dropping her face and vomiting.

It burned her throat and, unlike when sick with the flu, throwing up did nothing to alleviate the nausea. It was just…the smell…She gagged and dry heaved into the trash can.

"Do you need help?" Cloud offered, out of her line of sight.

"I'm fi—" She dry heaved again, and that was worse than actually throwing up.

By the time the nausea abated and she lifted her face, she found herself alone in the kitchen and dining room. She rinsed out her mouth and wiped off her sweaty face before venturing back into the hallway. There, she spotted Cloud, standing outside on the front lawn.

"I didn't—I guess the second hand smoke—Maybe it—" He sounded helpless.

Despite her raw throat, Tifa chuckled at him, "It's okay. Sorry. Some smells just…" She made a vague gesture. "…Make me sick."

Cloud shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. "That…really sucks."

..:-X-:..

021 – Almost There

The entrance hall of the Allied High Council was cavernous. Columns of stone and marble extended up to a cathedral-esque ceiling, only with all flat surfaces and no intricate carvings or elegant architecture. It was pretty plain, actually. Not good, considering that Yuffie was trying to find something to focus on instead of her nerves. She needed a distraction, and these boring old halls were not doing it for her.

How long did it take a bunch of old geezers to name the head leader of a recon mission, honestly? She had seen the other hopefuls; she was CLEARLY the best candidate for the job. She was the most qualified, the most experienced, the most…badass. Come on! This was a no brainer, people! The other people gunning to head the mission had gone home; she was the only one dedicated and determined enough to stay to hear the verdict!

She was halfway done with chewing through her fourth fingernail when the meeting chamber door opened and Merlin stepped out. She spun to attention, facing him.

"Well?" She practically yelled. Remembering herself, she took a deep breath and asked again, more calmly. "What did they say?"

The older wizard maintained a passive face for a moment, and in that moment, Yuffie's heart began to sink. Then, as though flipping a switch, Merlin beamed and lifted his hands.

"Congratulations, Yuffie. You have just been named Commander in the Recon Mission to World NX7!"

Yuffie shrieked and threw herself at him in jubilation. Merlin returned the embrace, and they both spun in a little circle before Yuffie jumped back, fists in the air.

"Commander! Commander? I'M A COMMANDER!" Yuffie started to run for the door, abruptly stopped and turned back to Merlin. "Commander of whom?"

Merlin smiled. "Fifteen soldiers of your choosing across the departments, to specialize in the landing, exploration, research, and analysis of newly-aligned Allied World NX7. A three week campaign to initiate contact with the inhabitants of the world and engage the growing darkness that has been developing there."

Yuffie punched the air in victory. "Hell's to the yes!" Her voice echoed around the chamber and she laughed, waving to Merlin. "Thanks, Merlin!"

Then she spun back around and bounded out of the entrance hall and out into the bright morning sunlight of Radiant Garden's square. She felt like she had swallowed the sun and all that light and energy was threatening to burst out of her at any moment. She sprinted down the front steps and aimed her shoulders toward the Allied Headquarter building, where everybody else was working and toiling about their daily activities and work responsibilities. Somewhere in that building were fifteen VERY lucky soldiers.

This was it! No more junior missions. No more B-level leadership roles. No more doubters who thought she was still a child. She was taking another step up, one more step toward being seen as equal to Cid, Tifa, Leon, the lot of them. Sure, SHE knew that she could battle Heartless and run missions just as well as them, but now THEY would be forced to see it

And if she was to do that, she couldn't exactly go running pell-mell into their offices like she currently was. She had to act the part: poised, distinguished, intimidating. With this in mind, Yuffie staunchly forced all of that exuberance gushing through her veins to control itself. Slowing from her frantic sprint to a straight-spined stride, she passed through the open glass doors and entered the lobby area of the Headquarter building.

The receptionist at the front desk nodded in greeting as she passed, and Yuffie sagely returned the nod, feeling she was about to explode from all of that excitement. Surely her heart was about to explode! Her own mission, her own personally selected recruits. As she walked purposefully toward the elevators, she started rehearsing the scene in her head.

"Hello, Squall." She would say, entering his office with an air of stateliness.

"It's Leon." He would respond flatly.

Dammit, even in her imagination, he corrected her.

"I need to see a listing of your weapons specialist soldiers ready for fieldwork." She would ask nonchalantly, as though it was the most common question in the world.

"Oh?" Cue an intrigued eyebrow lift. "What for?"

"I'm gathering the files of soldiers across all Allied departments to create the recon squad for my mission." She would explain. "I've just been named Commander of the NX7 campaign."

"Good." He would congratulate her. "You deserve it, after all this time. And might I say, you're looking like quite a badass today. Did you do something different with your hair?"

Okay, maybe she was exaggerating that last part…but he would be THINKING it!

Yuffie stood in front of the elevator doors and pressed the directional arrow pointing up. As the lift began to lower to the lobby floor, she bounced twice on the balls of her feet, clasping her hands behind her. She would need to start researching NX7 pronto…Well, more than she already had been. It was a shady kind of world, not a lot of information about it. Any information that the Alliance did have was being kept hush-hush, which meant that it was juicy.

And, as Commander Kisaragi, she would be one of few whose eyes could scan that information. Hell, she would be generating new information for the entire Alliance with this mission. All of the logs on NX7 referred to a 'darkness' but never to 'Heartless'. That in and of itself was enough to peak her interest. Oooh, this was going to be sooo awesome!

The elevator doors chimed open, and she stepped inside. She pushed the button for Leon's Weapons Specialist Department level, and the doors closed on the elevator. The chamber started upward with a slight chug, and Yuffie found herself alone in the elevator.

With no one to see her now, Yuffie did a little hop and spun around, waving her arms over her head. She squealed and did a few spinning kids and air punches on invisible enemies.

"Yes!" She bounced. "Yesyesyesyes!"

Look out NX7, here she comes!

..:-X-:..

Preview for next week: "Don't you ever get tired of all this song and dance?"