In Theory

  She sat in the morning staff meeting, alternating between chewing her nails and tapping her pen. At one point it got so bad that Zack reached over and forcefully held her hand down so the incessant tapping would stop. Why am I so nervous? Is it Seifer? Or is it the mission?

  She broke out of her thoughts to see Zack waving his hand in front of her eyes and then commenting to the people around the table. "I guess she didn't get much sleep last night." he said, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive fashion. Quistis gave him a retaliatory elbow in the ribs.

  They walked out of the conference room together, where Zack stopped and placed his hands on her shoulders.

  "Quis, you're a wreck today. Pull it together. Your tour appointment is going to be here any minute and I'm sure you don't want to give him any ammunition."

  Quistis blinked at him, snapping her thoughts to the present. Focus! "I'm okay, I must've had too much coffee this morning."

  "Is it too late to tell you I made espresso? I hope you didn't drink that in your usual amounts."

  She laughed. "No wonder it was so strong, and I've been so spazzed. I mean I'm nervous about all this, but I, ugh, whatever. I'm good now, bring it on."

  "Go get 'em, Torama. He's waiting in the lobby." He turned her around toward the lobby and gave her a gentle shove.

  Seifer stood in the lobby, watching the traffic on the street with a slight scowl.

  Quistis stood next to him. "Good morning, Sub-Lt. Commander Almasy."

  "What took you so long?" he asked turning his scowl on her.

  "Gee, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed." She continued when his gaze didn't waver, "You're early and we're running a television station here. There is a morning staff meeting at ten each day."

  Seifer's expression relaxed slightly. "It was a long night in a cold bed, Trepe." He dragged a hand through his short blond hair.

  "I don't want to know anything about your bed, you can keep that all to yourself. Now, shall we?" Quistis stretched out an arm as an indication that he should precede her through the doorway.

  They stood in silence together at the back of a few live sets, watching a take here and a take there, being seen, creating the illusion that Seifer was a friend from Garden out for a visit. That couldn't be further from the truth. Quistis thought with a wry grin.

  Seifer leaned over to whisper in her ear. "This is great, but, I would prefer to sleep in a warm bed this evening. Let's go on to your office." He smirked in satisfaction at the disgusted snort Quistis gave him as she turned on her heel and walked away.

  A smiling Zack met them at Quistis' office. She noticed the large ivory colored envelope he held and sent him a questioning glance. Zack wiggled his eyebrows at her before sharing a handshake with Seifer. The three settled into the comfortable office and closed the door.

  "My little sister is getting married next month, four weeks from today." Zack said as they sat down to get comfortable. Quistis' heart sank for him. He was obviously excited, but she had a nagging feeling that neither one of them was going to make it.

  Seifer rubbed his chin and exchanged a glance with Quistis. They both knew the stated timetable for Deling was four weeks, but the likelihood was that it would be six weeks, and Zack simply could not show up at the wedding without Quistis if her cover was going to hold.

  "Zack," Quistis started hesitantly, "I think Seifer's going to tell us that we have to elope next week. In all likelihood, neither you nor I will be able to attend the ceremony."

  Zack sat up in his chair, the excitement fading from his face. "What? Sally's only going to get married once, I can't miss it."

  Seifer leaned forward, dropping his foot from his knee back to the floor. "You're the one who wanted all this, Mr. Regal. Your sister is a SeeD. When she is finally able to read the reports, she'll understand why you had to miss it."

  "But...."

  "No, Zack." Quistis gently cut him off, ending the discussion. Zack's expression fell into stony anger, but he did not say another word about the issue.

  Seifer shifted his focus back to Quistis. "Things have heated up lately, and the indication from Mr. McCormick is that he has already met some of the members of this radical group."

  "That was fast."

  "He's been in there a month. I'm surprised the guy is still alive."

  Quistis sent him a warning glare. "He's survived worse."

  "Everything is set up. You two disappear in three days. Mr. Regal, I suppose you have enough vacation time to cover this?"

  Zack lifted his glare from the floor. "Yeah, I do. We'll pull in one of the guys from the Deling station."

  "You'll leave for Deling City, spend twenty minutes in the ‘House of Love' chapel, and then meet your yacht at the harbor. We procured it for this mission and the skipper will be one of my officers. He was a little too happy about getting out of the office, so make sure you make his life a living hell, Mr. Regal."

  Zack responded with a grunt of approval.

  Quistis tapped her fingers on the desk. "So, how am I getting off the yacht, Seifer?"

  "One of the new underwater transports from Esthar Research will pick you up. Oh, and they will be bringing out a replacement, so Zack won't be left alone with the ‘captain' all that time."

  Zack perked up. "A replacement that looks like her?" he asked pointing to Quistis.

  "Yes, she's tall, thin, blond hair, blue eyes, a security officer from Galbadia Garden."

  Quistis glared at the two men as they shared a conspiratorial smile. Men. She rolled her eyes in mock disgust.

  "I’ve got a train to catch. Quistis, I need you to walk with me." Seifer said as he stood up and shrugged back into his black trench coat. Quistis patted Zack on the shoulder as she passed him, walking out the door with Seifer. They walked out of the building and down the street toward the train station.

  "Are you ready for this?" Seifer stared straight ahead as he spoke.

  She looked up at him, searching his face. "Yeah, I'm ready, why do you ask?"

  He shrugged. "You haven't been out of Garden in a long time, there's still time for you to back out, but we're coming down to the wire."

  Quistis stopped, planting her feet on the pavement, arms crossing on her chest. "What? Do you think I can't handle it?"

  Seifer also stopped rubbing his forehead with a frustrated hand as he turned to her. "Damn it woman, I didn't say that. I'm giving you a way to gracefully step back if you want it. There is no judgment in my question."

  Her thoughts jumbled, Quistis took a step toward him, staring him down. She studied his face as he held her gaze. She finally poked him in the chest. "You've changed, Almasy."

  Seifer held her gaze for a moment before turning back toward the train station. Upon arrival, Seifer paused at the entry gate.

  "Good luck, Instructor." he said turning away.

  "Save it for someone who needs it." came her reply to his retreating back.

  He stopped and looked over his shoulder with a smirk. "Fine. Good Luck, Instructor."

  Remembering a similar exchange that occurred several years earlier, Quistis couldn't stop the small smile from creeping onto her face.

  Six

  Hark

  The 'House of Love' was white on the outside with stained glass windows. The columns on the porch reminded Quistis of a farm house she had seen in Winhill. She looked over at Zack beside her, waiting for him to signal that he was ready. The place was run by a former Balamb Garden SeeD who had retired. Quistis had known him her first two years at Garden. She remembered him as a kind man, fun to be around, somewhat fatherly toward the underclassmen. She felt Zack's hand take hers and looked at him. He nodded slightly, tugging on her hand as he headed up the pathway.

  A cool breeze scented with flowers flowed over the porch, making Quistis appreciate the attention to detail in the building. A woman stepped out onto the porch to greet them.

  "Hello, my name is Esmeralda. You must be Quistis an
d Zack. Please come right in."

  The pair followed the woman inside where 'Father' Geo was waiting. He stood, recognition passing across his face.

  "Wow, Quistis Trepe, I knew I'd heard that name before. Please come with me. Thank you Es." He spoke as they walked. "I got a strange call from the Commander of Balamb Garden a week ago, asking me to pretend to marry a nice young couple. Is this mission going to benefit the Network?"

  Quistis cleared her throat. "I'm not at liberty to say, Geo. I think you'll have to settle for whatever Squall told you."

  "Ah, so, yes, you have an issue within the Network." he said with a grin.

  Quistis shrugged, sitting on the pew he indicated.

  Geo sat in a chair he had placed in the ceremony room. "You've grown so much, you were ten or twelve years old the last time I saw you. How is Garden life?"

  Again, Quistis shrugged, "It's the same as always, I suppose. Things changed after the Sorceress War. Cid doesn't run Balamb anymore. Martine doesn't run Galbadia anymore."

  "Your commander is the same young pup who led you all against Ultimecia.?"

  "Yeah, Squall Leonheart. I'm the Head of Instruction, and the former Sorceress' Knight is our Head of Security."

  Geo scratched his chin. "Really? Hm. I remember Seifer. He was a messed up kid."

  Quistis laughed. "And now he's a messed up adult. The strangest thing though, I'd swear he's growing up or something."

  Zack, sitting beside Quistis, chuckled. "It's just taking her a little longer."

  The glare she sent his way as the men laughed could have killed him. She sent her elbow into his ribs.

  "Ow!" Zack rubbed his side. "You should register those skinny elbows of yours."

  A wolfish grin played across her face.

  They talked about a few more people around the Network before Geo glanced at his watch and stood. "Okay, time's up. Esmeralda will give you some flowers on your way out. I hope things go the way you need them to."

  "Thanks, Geo. It was good to see you again."

  "The same to you, Quistis. Be careful out there."

  *

  They took a limo to the port, found their yacht and boarded. Quistis recognized the 'captain' of the yacht as Lieutenant Boris Gaul. He was a computer specialist who happened to have the hobby of boating when he could sneak away from the office chair Seifer had him strapped to. He looked so happy, Quistis thought he might explode all over the deck.

  She and Zack sat on the forward deck of the boat as Boris piloted it out of the harbor into open water.

  "So, when are you going to call Sally and the rest of your family?"

  "After you're picked up..." He looked down to his hands fidgeting in his lap. "Quis, you know, over these past few weeks, I've come to appreciate you a lot. You've done an excellent job at the station, and you weren't really required to do a damn thing."

  Quistis laughed. "I was just keeping up appearances, Zack. It wasn't a big deal, and it was fun. I've never been out of the Garden Network. This was very much like a summer internship."

  He nodded, smiling at her as the breeze ruffled his hair. "If I could have another sister, I think it would be nice if it were you."

  Her hand reached over to smooth his hair down. "Thanks, Zack. You know I never really was officially adopted. I'm sure your parents want another twenty-something running around the house." Zack broke out into loud, unrestrained laughter.

  "I think they'll get a kick out of that once they get over the shock of the elopement, and then finding out we didn't really get married... Mom's going to have a cow, and Dad is just going to shake his head."

  Quistis watched him for a few moments. "Is being married all it's cracked up to be?"

  "Not for me. My personality is all wrong and I work too much. I'm too self-involved to really make a marriage work."

  "At least you know the problem, now you just have to find the solution."

  Zack barked with laughter again. "The solution, is for me to not get married."

  They shared the laughter for a little while longer, relaxing on the deck of the yacht.

  *

  Quistis threw two duffels and a weapon bag up the stairs onto the deck as the time for her pickup drew near. She had changed into the black pants and turtleneck that had been provided for her and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. A Garden network undercover specialist would meet her on the transport to dye her hair and provide the contact lenses she would wear.

  She caught the rope tossed from the craft and tied it onto one of the cleats on the boat. The exchange of personnel took only a few minutes. Zack caught her arm and pulled her into a tight hug before she changed boats.

  "Be safe, Quis."

  Quistis pulled back and looked him in the eye. "I will, have a good time on your vacation and don't let Terrie beat you up." Quistis shifted her eyes to the tall blond woman who was to spend the next four weeks with Zack on the boat. "And Terrie, don't take any crap from this guy."

  With a hand from Zack, Quistis stepped carefully onto the waiting transport and shifted her focus to the next part of her mission.

  *

  The architectural monstrosity that was Deling Garden awaited Quistis' arrival. The stainless steel exterior gleamed blindingly in the mid-day sunlight, causing a headache to form behind her eyes as she picked up her duffel from the cargo hold of the transport. She affixed her newly practiced expression of annoyed boredom (All Squall, with a heavy dusting of Seifer.) on her face and waited in the line for registration.

  When Quistis finally arrived at the table, an equally bored looking woman barked at her, "Name?"

  "Iselle Hark." Quistis didn't miss the tall man two stations down whose head whipped around to look at her, he was the only one wearing a SeeD uniform.

  "Oh yes," the bored woman continued, "another lovely discipline problem." she handed Quistis a packet. "Room key, UWS card, and ID tags. Next!"

  Quistis moved away from the table to pull out the two cards, wondering what a UWS card was.

  "Question?" The tall uniformed SeeD suddenly stood next to her.

  Quistis made the mistake of looking up and was caught completely off guard by the intense blue of his eyes. The blue was so vivid it looked as if it might glow in the dark; she wondered idly if it did. Quistis shook the surprise away. "Yeah, what the hell is a UWS card?"

  He chuckled. "UWS stands for Uniform, Weapon and Supply. You take it to the supply room and they give you everything you need according to the list that was issued to you. Anything beyond that list is charged to your account."

  "My account? Of course, squeeze us for every penny we've got." Quistis stalked away from the officer, a Lieutenant First Class according to the bars on his jacket.

  The walkway into the building was concrete, a pool with a fountain on either side made it look nice enough, but then the building itself was quite another matter. A metallic upside down trapezoid was the best way to describe it. The levitator rings circled the center of the building, between the third and fourth floors. Deling Garden wasn't exactly ugly, but it was definitely out of place in the middle of the green field. The Garden was located between Deling City and the Tomb of the Unknown King. Easy access to a SeeD Field Exam qualifier, I'm not surprised.

  She entered the building after sliding her keycard through the ID machine. The atrium was reminiscent of Balamb, but not as bright nor as welcoming. Quistis stopped at the directory, checking the way to the dormitories, and headed up through the center pathway. Each candidate had a single room, which Quistis was grateful for. The room had a tiny bathroom off to the right, a desk, a closet and a single bed. She dropped her duffle on the floor and pulled a tiny listening device from her pocket. The device swept the room for electronics of all kinds. It was a newly updated piece of equipment from the SeeD research facility in Esthar.

  Nothing contraband was in the room, video or audio. Just a speaker for the PA system, the telephone and a computer. That didn't mean s
he wasn't going to check every time she came in to the room. Her first order of business was to locate Zone. Quistis checked the time. Lunch. She headed for the cafeteria.

  She quickly spotted Zone and concealed a smile behind her hand. He sat alone at a table in the corner. Quistis slowly made her way over to him, perusing the other tables with a smug expression of superiority. Her cover name, Iselle, had been kicked out of schools on every continent. She had started fights, been caught carrying illegal weapons, and been involved in everything from extortion to blackmail. She dropped a folder onto the table across from Zone.

  "Is this seat taken?" she asked in a bored tone, sitting before he could respond. His soft brown eyes rose to meet hers, showing no sign of recognition. He shook his head lowering it back to his meal.

  Quistis quirked a brown dyed eyebrow, Time to let him know who I am. "What kind of place is this? The black lagoon?" She smoothly delivered the password.

  Zone choked on the sip of his drink he had just taken. His eyes met hers again. "I've heard about you." was his response.

  Quistis smiled lazily. She draped an arm across the table "I'm looking for a lackey, know anyone who might be interested in protection?"

  "Yeah, me." he grumbled.

  That was too convincing. Quistis sat forward. "What's your name?"

  "Zone. I already know who you are."

  "My, my, word travels fast. I didn't realize I had such a reputation."

  Zone crossed his arms in front of him on the table. "Your records came through the system a couple of days ago. Iselle Hark, 17, kicked out of over 8 schools. You take care of yourself. Pretty good with a computer too."

  "A hacker yourself, huh?" Quistis settled her eyes on Zone, easily slipping into the pre-scripted discussion.

  Zone nodded, tapping his fingers on the table. "That's what they say. Apparently I hacked the Garden Network computers. Sure wish I could remember how I did it."

  "Innocent? That's what all the guilty ones say. I gave up telling people I was innocent a long time ago. Always sends 'em for a loop when you deny nothing and claim responsibility for everything."

  Zone sent her a glance that spoke volumes. "If you need any supplies, just talk to me. I'm friendly with the supply room computer."