Reluctant Knight, The Read online

  "Name. Rank. Position," he ordered stiffly.

  Obviously unimpressed, she informed "Janine Larabie. Rank 20. Instructor of Battle Theory." She pulled her arm free. "Female. Human. Anything else?"

  "Disrespectful. Smart-ass."

  Janine Larabie crossed her arms. "You really shouldn't label yourself that way in front of your grunts. It's not healthy for morale."

  Seifer minutely scoffed as he mirrored her stance. "I.D."

  "That's your job, not mine." Larabie presented him a Trabia I.D.. "Quistis just hired me to fill in for her. I need an I.D., a passcode, and quarters."

  Slowly accepting the I.D., Seifer tapped it lightly against the palm of his hand as he continued to regard her with his infamous hard stare. She held it without a problem. Hm. Then he smirked and turned to step back for his office. "This way."

  Larabie followed.

  Seifer waited by his office door for her to pass into his--musk--office. Then he ordered her to "Sit," and closed the door.

  Larabie sat down and crossed her legs.

  An eyebrow twitched as his gaze traveled up the tone and smooth calves to where her skirt stopped mid-thigh. Shapely. Athletic. Nice. Seifer sat at his desk and turned his monitor more toward him. "Security clearance will be the same, until notification from Commander Squall. Passcode is assigned by me. As are quarters."

  "Damn. And here I thought I was only here to not bring you your coffee."

  Definitely a smart ass. "You can not do that later." Garden needs a little more life in its veins. Seifer finished entering the information and then faced her. He presented back her Trabia I.D. "This is valid until the end of today only. Another will be delivered to your quarters via secure delivery. Activate it via the control panel in your quarters." He noticed her intense scrutiny of his lips and raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

  "Not yet." She smirked. "I'll give it five minutes."

  Seifer's lips twitched. He stood and went around his desk toward the door. "Follow me."

  "Noo problem."

  He exited and headed toward the elevator. "Regal. New I.D. on file. See my desk monitor," he ordered as he passed a petite brunette sitting at a far desk.

  She looked over her shoulder and bolted to her feet. "Y-Yes, sir." She headed toward his office.

  "She's a bit of a rabbit, isn't she?" Larabie observed, watching Regal hurry the way they'd just come.

  A lip twitched. "Best damned cracker-hacker in the Network."

  Larabie moved to stand beside him and again watched his face and lips. "Really. Hm."

  Seifer sent her a hard stare. She again held it. Unflinching, like Ahndra. He smirked and looked away. Note to self: Pull file of Janine Larabie.

  They stepped onto the elevator and Seifer pressed the appropriate button. Once the elevator began its journey to the main floor, Seifer again noticed her intense sidelong scrutiny. He filed it away and let it slide. The elevator stopped on the main floor. Seifer exited and strode forward, making his way to the dorms. Larabie followed close beside him, again sending him intense sidelong scrutinies. As if she watched something.

  "Question?" he prompted.

  "Yeah. Why are you still here?"

  Seifer raised an eyebrow and met her sidelong glance. "Meaning?"

  "Give me a dorm number. I can find my way there."

  Seifer stopped and faced her. "Like Trepe's office?"

  One side of her lips tilted upward. "My fault. Couldn't read my writing." She lifted her left hand, still red from the hot coffee, and showed the palm and the now-smudged office number. "Coffee doesn't help. Speaking of which. . . ." She crossed her arms, motioning to Seifer's change of clothes with a slight lift of head. "I smelled you coming, but it didn't register. Not exactly the best way to meet Head of Network Security, huh?" She smirked. "So I'll try to pull my head out faster next time. After all, you probably have enough to pull out of your ass."

  Seifer regarded her with his usual intensity, hands on hips and one leg slightly forward as he filed reactions and expressions and tone of voice. Hm.

  "So. . . room?" Larabie pressed.

  Tossing a key in the air the same moment he turned back the way he came, he heard the catch and the adjustment of it within her hand.

  "Oh. By the way," she called after him. "It's a nice ass."

  Seifer didn't turn, but he smirked.

  ~*~

  Janine opened the door, immediately smiling down at the petite brunette seen earlier that day. "Let me guess: Passcode and I.D. delivery?"

  The brunette shyly smiled and offered forward a sealed package. "You might want to check it. I'll change it if it's wrong."

  "Sure." Janine took the package and presented her other hand. "Janine Larabie."

  The brunette accepted the shake. "Sally Regal. Welcome to Balamb."

  "Thank you." Janine stepped back and motioned into the room. "Come on in. I'll check everything and activate it now. That way you don't have to come back."

  "It's not a problem," Sally offered as she entered. "If you're busy. . . ."

  Janine made her way to her computer and sat. "Just getting se--"

  "You use a gunblade?" Sally exclaimed.

  Glancing up to watch the petite brunette in the mirror on the wall above the desk, Janine smirked and swiveled around in her chair. The gunblade case had been left open on the bed. "Nice, huh?"

  The gunblade wasn't as big as Squall Leonhart's was reported to be, mainly because Janine wanted something lighter and faster. But she liked the idea of having imagery on the blade. So, etched into the frosted charcoal metal were flames climbing from the base of the blade near the pommel to the tip.

  Sally looked down at the gunblade with open mouth and wide eyes. "It's gorgeous!"

  "Thanks. Designed it myself. I call it 'Vengeance'. Took a year. Built it, too. Now that was a damn fun thing to do." Janine pulled the gunblade from the case. "I've upgraded it here and there, but I'm really hooked on the style. I've seen pictures of all Commander Squall's, but I think I like the idea of sticking with one. Why change if it works?"

  Janine put the blade away and shut the case, sending Sally a sidelong examination as she asked "What's your specialty?"

  "Duel." And the girl flushed.

  Janine arched an eyebrow. "Huh. Never woulda thought. No offense."

  Sally shook her head while sending Janine a timid smile. "No offense. I didn't even know until Zell told me."

  "Dincht? Damn. He's the best--Sally Regal?" Janine pointed. "'Quicksilver' and 'Hell Strike'! Of course!" Janine smiled wide, laughing as she gave Sally's hand another shake. "Damn! Those moves in Combat King were righteous!"

  Sally flushed darker. "Thanks."

  Janine released Sally's hand and motioned to her as she again took up the package, gaze never leaving Sally's face. "You think you and Dincht could help me come up with a sweet move for my gunblade? I've been wanting to learn another Limit Break but can't come up with anything. It's annoying the hell out of me." Janine retrieved the I.D. from the package while occasionally glancing toward Sally.

  "I could ask, but you should probably talk to Commander Squall or Sub‑Lt. Commander Seifer for that. Shouldn't you?"

  Janine shrugged. "They're probably busy." She finished checking the information on the I.D. and then looked fully up. "Thanks, Sally. This looks fine. I'll try the passcode, activate it, and let you know if I have problems."

  "Okay." Sally headed out, pausing at the door. "Isn't that a motion detector?" she asked, motioning to a small piece of technology fastened to the outer side of the door.

  Janine nodded as she came to stand beside Sally. "Sure is. Damn. You know your shit."

  Sally met Janine's gaze. "Was that approved?"

  "Sure was. Commander Squall. I brought it with me from Trabia. Modified it myself."

  "Additional security?"

  "Nah," Janine said, chuckling. "Security in the Network is tighter than my favorite leather skirt. This is so I know someone's knocking."

&nbs
p; Sally looked confused. "I don't understand."

  "Oh. Right." Smirking, Janine reached up to the area behind her right ear, loosened something, and then held out her hand. It was a piece of technology little larger than her smallest fingernail. "This helps, too. I'm deaf."

  Chapter Two

  The Rush

  Janine tapped her foot, arms crossed as she waited for the elevator. Her fingers began a rhythmic tapping, and she pressed her lips together. Hyne's ass! Does everything wait until the A.M. to make me late? Another morning from hell. Another meeting with an authority. Another damned hold-up.

  The elevator finally began its journey upward... from the basement. Janine's expression relaxed to a smirk. Sure enough, when the elevator paused at the first floor, SLC Seifer Almasy stood in the back of the elevator. Coffee mug in hand, report in the other, and intense green eyes focused down. She didn't remember black-silk dress shirts and slacks looking so damned good on a man.

  Janine straightened as the elevator doors opened. Seifer glanced up and immediately back down, continuing reading while sipping his strong-smelling coffee as Janine boarded. She faced front and pushed the already lit third-floor button. The elevator resumed and Janine remained silent, arms crossed, smirking as she watched his reflection in the elevator doors. The aroma of his black coffee filled the elevator. It smelled stronger than the coffee she'd had in the cafeteria.

  It smelled damn good.

  Her lips twitched as she remembered their last meeting over coffee. The quips. The damned awesome, sarcastic, smart-ass quips. Hyne, I love pushing buttons! And it wasn't often she found someone who pushed back without getting so damned huffy and personally insulted.

  Adjusting her crossed arms, she continued to watch Seifer's reflection. He didn't look up from his report, but she noticed his lips twitched upward. Hell. Why not. Janine faced him, taking the coffee mug from his grasp to sip a swallow or two while holding his amused more than surprised gaze. Then the elevator stopped, the doors opened, and Janine handed him back his mug with a lopsided smile and a sultry "Thanks."

  She turned and walked off toward the secondary elevator. Janine felt the reverberation of his steps as he followed; or maybe she felt his eyes. Her brown ones twinkled as she stepped aboard the elevator leading to Cmdr. Squall's office. Controlling her expression, she turned within the elevator.

  Seifer stepped aboard, taking the little bit of room she'd left and standing closer--well within her personal bubble, if she had one--to stare down at her with that intense green gaze that must have scared nearly everyone at Garden. It reminded her of her own. A damned relief. Hell. Damned sexy.

  The elevator halted, and Janine's lips twitched. Too bad. She about-faced and stepped off, giving Cmdr. Squall a salute as he turned to face her. "Janine Larabie, Battle Theory Instructor, reporting for duty."

  She noticed the movement of Seifer stepping to her left, but she didn't move her focus from the Commander. He had a similar scar, but opposite in direction to Seifer's. Nice looking kid. But too clean around the edges. No harshness. Though he seemed a little. . . moody. Janine liked the more bladed and jaded people. A lot more fun to play with.

  "At ease." Squall presented a hand. "Welcome aboard." They shook. "Everything settled?"

  Janine clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes, sir. Everything's working fine. Thank you again for the permissions."

  Squall waved it aside. Then he looked to Seifer. "What do you need?"

  Seifer crossed his arms, report still in hand. "A moment. I'll wait."

  Nodding, Squall refocused on Janine. "How much time do you need with Quistis before you can take the classes yourself?"

  "I met with Headmaster Cid earlier, and I feel I can handle the curriculum now. I taught something similar at Trabia. If you're worried about the candidates and me getting along, I'll deal with that." Janine smirked. "I'm charm itself, you know."

  Squall's lips twitched slightly. "All right. Quistis will supervise starting Monday. You'll be responsible for the lesson plans. You and Quistis should work out details if the class times don't work for you."

  "They're fine, sir."

  "Good. Let me or Headmaster Cid know if you have any problems."

  "I will, but I won't."

  Squall's lips tilted slightly yet again. He motioned to the elevator. "You can go."

  Janine stood at attention and saluted. "Thank you, sir."

  She about-faced and stepped aboard the elevator, making a point of meeting Seifer's gaze and giving him a slight smirk just as the elevator headed down. Show me what you got. His response was a similar smile before he stepped up to Squall and the elevator moved her out of view.

  Janine adjusted her hands behind her back, her smirk widening to a smile. This will be fun. And she hadn't had fun since the Galbadian missile attack. They had been too busy re-building Trabia from the ground up. Not that I didn't take a sec to remind myself I was still alive.

  Janine had always been about living life for the thrill of the moment.

  She stepped off the secondary elevator and made her way toward the main one. Maybe I'll have him show me how he got the scar. Janine chuckled and boarded the elevator, facing forward and pressing the button for the second floor. Maybe I'll show him my own scars.

  It could prove to be an. . . interesting exchange.

  ~*~

  Seifer presented Squall two reports: one containing Marshal and Ahndra's investigation in Winhill. They discovered the location of an illegal arms sale, its main source of supply believed to be Deling Garden. "Nipped," he reported.

  Squall accepted the reports and looked over the top-most one. "It should give Quistis and Zone some extra time." Squall smiled and gave a slight shake of his head. "Damn, Fujin. Good job."

  "It's Ahndra," Seifer corrected, glaring slightly. She had finally faced 16 years of hell and five years of denial. Fujin was finally gone. About damned time.

  Squall set the top report aside. "I know." He refocused on Seifer. "Security-check on Larabie pan out?"

  Seifer crossed his arm under the one still holding his quickly cooling coffee. "Still waiting on the Security Chief at Trabia to send me her sub-file." He motioned to the other report. "That is what Quistis had, from Larabie herself and her references."

  Squall returned it. "Read it. What do you think?"

  He accepted the report. A deaf gunblade expert that designs and builds her own weapon? "Won't until Trabia contacts me." Maybe I'll give her another little push. He smirked. Janine Larabie pushed back. And that was what he counted on.

  "See what you can find out in the meantime," Squall was saying. "I want to make sure everything's the way it's supposed to be."

  Seifer's smirk widened a bit. "No problem." He turned and stepped aboard the elevator. It headed down. Gunblade expert. We'll see.

  He hadn't yet met anyone other than Squall who could handle the weight of it as well as the buck of the blast. Janine Larabie didn't look to be any more capable than Selphie, and Selphie damn-well couldn't handle a gunblade without looking a blasted idiot. Seifer scoffed as he stared down at his coffee mug, slapping Janine's report on the side of his leg while waiting for the main elevator to return. 'Thanks.' He smirked and tossed back the remaining coffee. Damn.

  Yeah. A little damned fun.

  The elevator returned, but with an extra passenger not expected. Seifer's smirk remained. Janine Larabie's brown eyes held the same expression as when she'd ridden the secondary elevator down. "Lost?"

  She adjusted her crossed arms. "Had so much fun riding it, thought I'd have another go."

  Seifer stepped aboard and turned, pushing the appropriate button while noticing no others were lit. The door closed and the elevator headed downward.

  Larabie continued to watch him. "A bit of a rush. Didn't have one at Trabia."

  "I'm sure you found other rushes to ride."

  The elevator passed the second floor.

  Chuckling, Larabie's focus remained on his mouth and face. "Yeah. I
'm all about the thrill of the moment."

  Seifer's lips twitched.

  "Speaking of thrills, where can a girl pick a fight around here?"

  "I'm sure any hall will do."

  Larabie laughed, and the elevator passed the first floor. She motioned to his empty mug. "No coffee? Too bad. It was good."

  Seifer's lips twitched. "You should know." The elevator stopped at the basement level. He faced her, pulling her hand out to push his empty mug into it as the elevator door opened. "You know where to take it. Don't get lost."

  Larabie smirked up at him. "Look in the elevator if I don't show. Thrills, you know." She hung the mug off her finger. "Unless I find a different one."

  Seifer turned and stepped off the elevator.

  "Hot and wet, right?" she called after him.

  Seifer chuckled. Damn.

  ~*~

  Janine stared down at the steaming cup of coffee, chuckling and shaking her head while trying to convince herself the fun would probably be short-lived. But who gives a damn how 'short-lived' it is? It's about the thrills! And it was then the mug's inscription once again caught Janine's gaze. 'Death is answering 'no'.' Life motto? SeeD motto? She had definitely lived her life by the same. Only way to fly.

  She chuckled again and pushed the button for the basement. The elevator lowered, opening up onto the security level. She stepped off and headed forward, immediately recognizing Sally Regal.

  Sally looked up from her paperwork at Janine's approach and smiled. "Hi. Finding everything okay?"

  Leaning against Sally's desk, Janine absently fingered the coffee mug. "Basically. Finally found the Training Center. Hyne, does that look like fun." She motioned to Sally. "You and me need to get lost in there and beat the shit out of some things."

  Sally nodded. "Okay. Zell's been teaching me some new moves, and I'd love the chance to show you."

  "Hell yeah!" Janine sipped the coffee before she could stop herself. Oops. She smirked. "I would love the chance to meet him again."

  "Again?"

  "Yeah. We bumped into one another at Trabia soon after the missile attack. That was how I found out about Squall and Seifer being gunbladers--"

  "Regal."

  Janine and Sally both looked to the slender, silver-haired, no-nonsense woman standing to Janine's right.

  "Yes, ma'am?" Sally asked.

  Janine didn't say anything. She only held the woman's penetrating stare--an interesting thing to do when one eye was marbled--while sipping Seifer's coffee from his mug and enjoying the guarded expression on the silver-haired woman's face.