Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[sniperk]

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

I haz new theory! AltS!Alicia = AltS!Fate with Amnesia!

*cackles*

and Satashi, the wait is always worth it for your fics.

I put this theory before too, so I completely agree with you.

Edit: Page claim for ... huh... Alicia.

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

So, uh, I read and re-read that section, and it seems Fate still has Strada on her. Is that intentional?

Oops! Fixed it, thanks!

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

I haz new theory! AltS!Alicia = AltS!Fate with Amnesia!

*cackles*

and Satashi, the wait is always worth it for your fics.

awww, thank you! <3

Originally Posted by sniperk

I put this theory before too, so I completely agree with you.

Edit: Page claim for ... huh... Alicia.

It'll be revealed in chapter 9~

[Dr_Tom]

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

I haz new theory! AltS!Alicia = AltS!Fate with Amnesia!

*cackles*

and Satashi, the wait is always worth it for your fics.

Once I read this it seemed so obvious I have to question why no one thought of it before...

SniperK...apparently I missed you post saying the same thing, but it does seem pretty obvious to me now.

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by sniperk

I put this theory before too, so I completely agree with you.

You probably did, but I can't read the second sentence of the post you linked.

[sniperk]

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

You probably did, but I can't read the second sentence of the post you linked.

Erm... Sorry. Bad english is bad. -.-

What I meant is AltS!Fate was either killed by Precia when the process was completed, or that she was 'transformed' into AltS!Alicia.

[Nijiru]

@Satashi: Very nice, will finish reading it when you post the rest. :P And I have to agree with Bardiche at the end.
@Raiser: Now that my brain has recovered from midterms and my ENGL 102 class, I'll give a better review than just 'cute'. I liked Vivio's mentioning that she would only use the dreaded 'puppy dog eyes' for making Lutecia happy, and I chuckled at Vivio and Lutecia commenting on the Nanoha/Fate/Yuuno relationship triangle, including the part that people against Yuuno becoming Vivio's '-papa' are 'the absolute worst'. Lutecia's minor freak out, as you mentioned, would be somewhat likely for someone not used to the noises of a city, and Yuuno's placing the picture in the book was a nice notice that he realizes what's going on, and is okay with it.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by sniperk

or that she was 'transformed' into AltS!Alicia.

How can you transform someone into another person? Just replace her memories or something?

[sniperk]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

How can you transform someone into another person? Just replace her memories or something?

Wrote in a rush and a better word didn't came to me, but, basically, yes.

Fate was a clone of Alicia from the beginning. For me it doesn't sound too farfetched that Precia would, after perfecting her technics and processes, use Fate's body to create a new and healthy Alicia, erasing everything about the time she was Fate from her memory.

Of course, she could fall again in despair how she did the first time and declare that she was not really Alicia and this time throw her out, so that's why Alicia had to grow up on the streets and picked up those jobs as a transporter.

Anyway, I'm just waiting for Satashi to finish up the story. I'm so engrossed by it that I'm even creating theories about it.

[Nitramy]

*looks left*

*looks right*

*discreetly posts this fanfic*

*mumbles something about this message also being crossposted on the Naruto forums, and how it took this long for him to register on this site*

*leaves quickly*

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by Nitramy

*looks left*

*looks right*

*discreetly posts this fanfic*

*mumbles something about this message also being crossposted on the Naruto forums, and how it took this long for him to register on this site*

*leaves quickly*

A Naruto/Nanoha crossover? Give some type of summary, or something? What's it about, what should we expect?

[Nitramy]

Let's just say it involves two people going down the rabbit hole and ending up in the Naruto universe. Stuff happens from there.

[Satashi]

AlternativeS 1 AlternativeS 2 AlternativeS 3a AlternativeS 3b AlternativeS 4 AlternativeS 5 AlternativeS 6 AlternativeS 7

Spoiler for 8-1 to 8-6:

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-1:

Normally I was a rational person, being able to sit in a meeting for hours on end while juggling many different topics without so much as looking at my notes... My current situation, however, was giving me mixed signals. On one hand, I finally had my sister... On the other, I missed my family back home. I wanted to return so desperately that it was driving me crazy now that we were so close, but when Alicia smiles at me I feel a family love from her so great that it makes me want to break down and cry at the thought of leaving her. These feelings made the past three days exceedingly difficult, and I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted Hayate to hurry up or to take her time.

AlternativeS VIII
By: Satashi

Fate smiled as she walked into Nanoha's room during their lunch break. The instructor was currently laying on her back on the couch with a sleeping Vivio curled on her stomach. Out of habit, the blond brought up her hands to form a monitor so she could take a picture of the scene. 'Seeing Vivio so young really brings back memories.' The target of her thoughts seemed to stir at that moment, sleepily lifting her head. Fate tried her best not to fawn over the half asleep eyes and slightly parted mouth paired with the confused face of the child. Instead, she walked over to the girls and leaned over, offering her arms.

Vivio took the silent request to be picked up and layed against the woman while trying to wake up. "Sleepy?" Fate asked softly, looking past Vivio and to Nanoha.

"Mmn aunt Fate..." Vivio's reply was stifled by a face-splitting open mouthed yawn. "Aahhhhhwwwnnnn..."

Nanoha interrupted Fate's silent cursing for not taking a picture of that scene by running a hand along her stomach in an attempt to find out why the warm child was no longer sleeping on her. The blonde knelt down by the woman and took her hand to show that someone was still there. "Fate...-chan..." Nanoha whispered while slowly waking up. Her hand gripped Fate's softly and the blond watched in amazement as Nanoha brought it to her mouth to kiss a finger. " love you..." Her half mumbled words were barely audible, but slate blue eyes slowly fluttered open. Looking up at a bewildered Fate holding Vivio, she smiled fondly. As her mind woke up more, her expression changed and she sat up quickly, holding a hand to her chest. "Fweh-chyan!?"

Fate looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Vivio said my name perfectly when she woke up." The comment made Nanoha blush darkly and look away. "Lunch time is almost over," The woman continued. "I came to make sure you woke up for afternoon training like you asked."

"A-ah..." Nanoha nodded. "Thank you..." She watched Fate sit Vivio onto her feet and move closer to her. "Fate-chan? Kyan!" She held onto the blonde when she was suddenly lifted up off the couch.

"Should I just carry you?" Fate asked curiously. "I don't see your chair."

"Pendant form," Nanoha revealed, showing her necklace. "I was scared Vivio might roll off of me so I didn't want her to hit the chair if I had to make a grab for her..." Nanoha's words slowly trailed off, and she looked down at her lap, embarrassed. "Uhm..." She was taken to an opening in the room without being asked so she could toss the small gem to the floor, where it glowed brightly before changing into her smart chair.

"Hayate would have loved to have a device like that in the past," Fate mused while setting Nanoha into it.

"Y-yeah... This model was specially build for me. It allows me to do so much more than the normal models." Nanoha lifted herself slightly with her arms and adjusted herself to sit comfortably.

"Mama?" Vivio's voice made them both turn to the girl. "Why do you always sit in that chair?"

Fate felt her heart break at the question, but Nanoha simply smiled at it. " Mama's legs don't move like yours do," She explained simply. "So this chair helps me get around."

"Oh," Vivio looked sad at the answer. "...Ne, mama?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever need something, I'll get it for you, okay?" Vivio put her hands on Nanoha's knees and peered up at her. "Okay?"

The mother smiled down at her, leaning over to pick up the girl to sit on her lap. "Mmn. Thank you, Vivio."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-2:

~**~

Fate and Alicia entered the briefing room together, seeing others already there. Nanoha and Yuuno were off to one side, along with Teana and Subaru next to them. Across from the small group stood Lexus along with two people in standard military attire. From what Fate could remember, she assumed they were the triple-A ranked air and sea mages that had been mentioned earlier.

"About time," Lexus spoke up at once. "When you're in my battalion, I won't let you be tardy when summoned." He hesitated when he saw Alicia as well. "Oh, you have a twin do you?"

"Shut it before I do it for you," Alicia shot at him with narrowed eyes.

Hayate cut them off before an argument could break out by clearing her throat. "Okay everyone, since we are all gathered now, I would like to go over the plan for this mission." She motioned for everyone to gather around the table in the middle of the room and brought up a transparent blueprint of a building and the surrounding area. "Our sources tell us that this building is where Jail Scaglietti is currently staying. He has an interest with Alicia, and will talk to her-"

"-Why?" Lexus interrupted, looking over at the blonde. "What connection does she have with Jail?"

Alicia smirked at him pointedly and then turned back to Hayate, who continued where she left off. "Since Fate-chan is Alicia's twin, we will have her confront Scaglietti in her sister's place. With the main threat being taken care of by Fate-chan, we can easily slip in the other entrances to his base here, here, and here." She pointed with each word, making the areas light up. "We will be split into groups as follows: Lightning Unit will be Fate-chan alone. Stars will consist of Nanoha and Alicia, who will go after the relic."

"Wait a moment, please," Fate cut in apologetically. "Nanoha will be going inside the building?"

Nanoha looked a little offended. "Of course I will be. I may be in a wheelchair, but I have ways to enter into battle. Raising Heart has a flight mode that will give me almost two hours of mobile time without starting to effect my combat."

Fate looked skeptical, so Hayate confirmed it. "I don't know about your world, Fate-chan, but in ours, Yuuno-kun made specific additions to Nanoha-chan's device to ensure her safety. Also, no offense Alicia, but I can't have you alone in the target zone." The girl shrugged and smiled over at Nanoha with a nod.

Lexus snorted. "So what are we here for?"

"You will follow Stars unit and ensure that they can reach their target. If they are targeted beforehand, you will engage instead."

"Works for me," Lexus crossed his arms. " Saving your butts seems to be a full time job anyway." His remark made his two men smirk and the rest of the room repress a growl. "And don't forget, Fate, you're mine after this is over."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-3:

Fate glared but nodded anyway. "I haven't forgotten."

"People, please." Hayate spoke firmly, tapping her hands on the table displaying the information before them. "Focus." When all eyes turned to her again, she continued. "Subaru, Teana, you will be with me in the Snow group. We will be stationed in a van nearby." Her moved her hands, rotating the map displaying on the table so she could point at a building nearby where the mission would take place. "This will be where we start the mission and where I will be stationed to oversee it. My group will be for back up purposes only and will not deploy unless there is an emergency." She looked at the two nervous soldiers before her and nodded at them. "I'll be counting on you two to protect the van in-case we're discovered." Both of them saluted, although not as crisp as they normally would. "Any questions?"

Lexus moved his hands out in a shrugging manor. "So basically we're walking in, Fate takes on Jail, we protect these two girls, and find a relic? You called us in for that?"

Hayate turned to face him directly. "Scaglietti is highly dangerous, and he has the trinity as his personal bodyguards. That alone would warrant caution, and that's not including any extra guards he may have. We are trying to bring him down once and for all; underestimation him at this point is not an option. Any more questions?" When none came, she nodded to herself. "Right then. We deploy tomorrow at one, be ready. Dismissed." With that word, the group dispersed, going their own ways. 'Let's just hope this goes smoothly.'

"Fate-chan," Nanoha's voice made the woman stop and turn back to look at her. "Want to eat dinner with me tonight? Please?"

The red eyed girl hesitated just a moment before agreeing. "Sure, I'd love to."

Nanoha beamed up at her friend. "Great! I'll have it ready in about an hour so come by when you're ready okay?"

~**~

Nanoha glanced over her shoulder when she heard knocking at her door. "Come in!" She called out cheerfully.

"Excuse the intrusion," Fate sang out in her normal soft tone. "Oh, something smells really good." bending over, she plucked up Vivio when the child came to greet her and balanced the girl onto her hip. "Hi there, Vivio."

"Hello, Aunt Fate." She replied back with a giggle at being carried.

"Almost ready," Nanoha informed while pulling a roast from the oven.

"Shall I set the table?" Fate asked curiously while looking at the half prepared dining table.

"Ah, I can get it!"

"Its okay," Fate insisted. "Vivio will help me, won't you Vivio?"

"Un!" The girl cheered at being involved.

"Thank you," Nanoha gave in at the happy look on her 'daughter's' face.

Fate sat Vivio on the floor and got the plates down, making sure Vivio could carry all three of them safely. "Put them on the table, but be careful because they can break, okay?" She got a hum and then was graced with the sight of Vivio carefully carrying the plates with both hands as if she were balancing marbles on top of them.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-4:

"Tomorrow's the big day, huh?" Nanoha breathed out while putting her side dishes in serving platters. " Hard to beleive its already been over a month since you arrived."

"Yeah," Fate agreed slowly, catching the sadness in Nanoha's voice. "I really appreciate everything that you have done for me during this."

"Hey, you'd do the same for me, right?" Nanoha handed Fate a platter to take to the table. "Thank you."

"Of course," Fate answered at once, moving around Vivio who was still carefully arranging the plates. "But still, thank you. You made this bearable."

Nanoha felt a small blush come to her cheeks at the praise. "Thank you..." When Fate got next to her, she looked up at teh girl nervously. "Hey... again, I'm sorry about before."

"Stop," Fate bent over and put her arms around Nanoha and hugged her from behind. "It wasn't completely your fault. You thought it was me and you weren't thinking right. I understand, okay? Stop beating yourself up over this."

"You being so understanding," Nanoha whispered, looking down in the embrace. "Kind of makes this harder on me..."

Fate felt a small smile come when a teardrop hit her arms. "I'm sorry, but that's how I am." Squeezing Nanoha once more, she whispered into her ear. "Now dry those pretty eyes and smile, okay? Here, look." turning Nanoha's chair around in the hug, she made the girl watch Vivio holding the last plate with a deathgrip while acting as if it would break if she slid it across the table too fast. "She's scared she might break them."

Nanoha felt a laugh come at once and she covered her mouth to hold it down. When Vivio was done, she turned around and ran over to Nanoha proudly. "Mama, I did it!"

"Good job, Vivio," both adults answered at the same time with a smile.

~**~

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-5:

Fate awoke the next morning to her sister's soft snoring against her neck. Blinking to clear her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling while enjoying the peaceful morning. Alicia was half ontop of her, arm and legs sprawled across her body while using her chest as a make-shift pillow. Fate's right arm was numb from the weight on it, sending tingles through her shoulder when she tried to move it. Instead, she moved her left hand and rubbed her sister's back gently to wake her. "Alicia... Sis?"

"Five more minutes," she groaned out.

"I need to get up," Fate insisted softly. Her twin shifted groggily, moving off of her, but grabbed the covers in the process, pulling them up to her nose as she got comfortable again. "I'll wake you in a bit." Only the sounds of her sister breathing steadily came to her, making her grin to herself.

Getting out of bed, Fate put on her uniform quickly and left the room in favor of heading to Nanoha's. Once there, she greeted the struggling temporary-mother as she tried to dress Vivio and make breakfast at the same time. Coming to her rescue, she properly prettied Vivio up and did her hair while Nanoha finished cooking. Breakfast was served and, after an insistence from Nanoha, the three sat down together to enjoy it.

Almost two hours later, Fate found herself in the prep room, sitting patiently while the others slowly started coming in. Teana and Subaru were already there, having come before anyone else. Watching them shift nervously in their seats, Fate couldn't help but recall back to their first mission in her world. "Nervous?" She asked calmly, getting their attention.

"Yes," Subaru answered honestly. "I can't help but feel as if everyone expects so much from me..."

"We do," Fate replied simply. "You and Teana were given those devices because we can see a potential in you both that far exceeds that of the normal people training under Nanoha right now. That's why we are counting on you to watch over the van with Hayate and act if anything needs your attention. You may not even engage any enemies today, but it will be a good experience for you none the less."

"Ma'am." Teana nodded in agreement. "Thank you for this opportunity to prove myself."

Before Fate could reply, Hayate came into the room and looked around. "You girls are here early."

"I told Fate that we could wait," Alicia complained, leaning her chair back to balance on the back two legs. "But she said it was best to be here early in case we needed to change any plans."

Hayate nodded to herself. "Good idea, Fate-chan, but so far everything seems just fine. Alicia, are you sure that you don't need to contact Jail before hand?"

"I show up whenever I feel like it, and leave just the same," Alicia mused while balancing. "If I made an appointment, it would probably set off a flag. Best to just go with it."

With a small sigh, Hayate reluctantly agreed. "Okay."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-6:

~**~


"Okay, lets go over this one more time." Nanoha got everyone's attention as their van parked at the predetermined location. "Fate-chan will go and meet Jail in place of Alicia. During this time Alicia and I will hunt for the relic we're after while Lexus and his group support us. The number one goal is to get the relic at all costs."

Lexus broke in, leaning forward while checking the lace on his boots. "Why not just zerg Jail and ensure that he is captured?"

Hayate sighed. "Again, we are after the relic more than Jail this time. We want to capture him, but priorities are priorities. The relic is what we are after."

Lexus frowned but nodded anyway. "This is your run, even if that is stupid." The man missed the glances towards Fate, who looked down slightly.

"Subaru, Teana," Nanoha went on, getting their attention again. "You two will remain here in case we need backup. If anyone is injured inside, you will be needed to retrieve, understood?"

"Ma'am," both replied at the same time with a nod.

"Right then," Nanoha nodded. "Any questions?" When nothing came to her, she looked over at Fate. "You're up."

"Right," Fate moved to open the van, smiling back over at the group. "Good luck everyone." Hopping out, she adjusted her casual outfit and tossed her pigtails over her shoulders. 'Here we go,' Walking the two blocks, she reflected back on the prepping Alicia had given her earlier. 'Just be cocky, act like I own the place, and don't take crap from anyone if they stop me...'

The door to the building was opened casually and she noted that a silent alarm went off due to a blinking red light that her trained eye caught. Ignoring this, she put her hands into her pockets and kept walking, looking around curiously. Before long she entered a long hallway with life capsules on both sides, housing what she knew to be the Numbers. 'They're not activated yet...' Her mind thought curiously. 'I wonder if he's holding back for some reason...'

"Nice of you to arrive!" Jail's voice made Fate's attention snap to the side, where the man was sitting on a desk. "I'm glad you could make it, Fate-san."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-7:

"Sorry, but I'd have to split the money with Sis if I involved her," Fate put a hand on her hip in annoyance. "If you want her, it'd cost extra."

Jail stood up from his desk and walked over to the girl, passing by a complex lab area and moving out into the large area of the room. Walking around the girl, he eyed her. "Well, this is strange," he mused. "Normally I can tell the difference between two people, but you two..." Jail laughed and moved to stand in front of her. "I see, I see, how amusing. You came from another time, but it turns out you are a fake as well." Fate's eyes widened slightly, something that Jail didn't miss. "Thank you for confirming it, Fate-san."

"What do you mean by "as well"?" Fate asked, giving up on tricking him and falling back into just keeping him distracted long enough for the mission to go through before she made her move.

"You can't tell? Your sister is a clone, the same as you." Crossing his arms, he observed her more. "I found her in a life pod when I was doing some research on a past experiment that failed. I had stumbled upon the home of someone who had tried to perfect the project Fate series. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about."

"Precia," Fate breathed out. "So Alicia..."

"Is simply another experiment," Jail finished for her. "No more than you."

"Does she know?"

Jail shrugged. "If she figured it out or not isn't of any concern to me. What I want to know, however, is how you crossed time lines."

This time Fate smirked at him. "You honestly expect me to tell you that?"

Not willingly, of course." Jail shifted, his hand moving behind him to press a button on the computer, but was launched forward when the console blew up.

Fate flexed her hand, the yellow magic circle in front of her fingertips spinning quickly as more energy daggers appeared. "I won't let you activate them." With those words, she launched more attacks, destroying the machines around her and making the deep greenish blue lights on the life pods fade. "Not that it matters, as they are no threat to me." Fate looked at Jail's snarling face. "Surrender quietly."

The purple haired man stood slowly, looking down at the ground steadily before a sick grin came to his face. "Interesting..."

~**~

"Let's move," Nanoha spoke up after sitting in the van long enough to give Fate time. "Raising Heart, please." Her device answered while Nanoha's wheelchair went down the ramp on the side of the can. Once there the chair started to glow, shifting around to form a type of golden armor around the girl. Nanoha's legs were covered completely, joints covered with a red crystal. The metal went up her thighs and waist, forming cloth over her skin then covering it with the alloy as well. Her hair flew up into twin pigtails and her arms were graced with the same protection as her lower body. Blue and white accents went over the gold armor, adding decoration to signify her position and call sign. Finally, two transparent pink wings of magic flew from her back and lifted the girl up just enough off the ground so she was hovering. A deep exhale came from Nanoha's lips and she looked back at the group of people behind her.

"Remember, Nanoha-chan," Hayate warned her with a serious tone. "The exceed mode draws power directly from your linker core. If you-"

"I know, I know," Nanoha tried to ease her friend's fear. "If I start to feel weak, then pull out immediately. I know how to use this form, Hayate-chan." With a small salute, she hovered in place for a moment more before turning to Alica. "Ready?"

"Steady," the woman replied back, hopping out of the van before Lexus and his group. "You look pretty hot in that."

Nanoha felt her cheeks color slightly. Choosing to ignore the comment, she nodded at the rest of her group and began flying before them at a walking pace. Hanging just a few inches above the ground, she bit back a bad feeling in her stomach and opened the door leading into another area of the large building they were invading.

At once the group could see their breath, skin tingling as bitter cold flashed around them with a small snow flurry. The door slammed shut behind them and the group glanced back a moment before looking forward, seeing three people standing before them along with a dragon the size of a large dog. "Welcome," Erio spoke to them casually. "Glad you could make it."

Lexus snorted. "The Trinity, huh? Looks like this will be worth my time after all!"

Caro frowned at the man. "We would prefer not to fight you." When the man before her drew his weapon, she sighed softly. "Shiva... Please." A loud roar came from the dragon and the room dropped several more degrees as a bright flash blinded everyone. When they could see again, Erio stood in the middle of the room holding a spear and covered in a transparent set of armor that seemed to be dragon scales made of ice.

"Bring it," the boy challenged, using his hand to make a taunting motion.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-8:

Lexus attacked at once, running forward in the snow and raising his fist up to strike Erio. Instead, he found the kid sidestep him easily and slam the end of his spear against his back. The older man grunted and turned to attack again but found nobody there. Looking around himself, he saw Erio already by the other two people once more, fighting his partner.

"Pathetic!" Alicia complained, running up to him with Nanoha floating next to her. "I thought you were supposed to be better than this?"

"Don't mock me," Lexus snorted while standing properly. "I'll handle this, you two get out of here."

Nanoha hesitated slightly. "Will you be able to-?"

"Leave, Instructor!" Lexus shouted at her harshly. "This isn't a job for those who can't fight!" With that, he ran into the mix once more, yelling out a battle cry as Lutecia turned to greet him with an outstretched hand and a magic circle formed beneath her feet.

"Forget him," Alicia told Nanoha, grabbing her hand and pulling her away. "Lets get out of here while they are distracted."

Nanoha nodded and allowed herself to be dragged though the air, blocking several ranged shots taken at them as they made their escape. Once the large area was left, warmth rushed over them immediatly. The snow was gone and they found themselves back in the warmth of hallways. "How's that reader looking?" She asked, looking around to make sure the coast was clear.

"I'm getting a faint signal," Alicia replied, looking at a small monitor floating above her hand. "I think its up ahead." Pointing, she blinked when two shots were fired down the hallway and was about to ask what they were for when two people rounded the corner and were struck down cleanly. Letting out a sharp whistle, Alicia grinned. "Wow, you're pretty good at this."

"I don't want to waste time," Nanoha informed her softly. "This mode takes a lot out of me; the longer I am in it, the weaker I get. "

"I see," Alicia nodded to herself and began running now. "Shouldn't be too much farther..."

~**~

Fate cursed mentally as she dodged another attack from Jail, rolling across the ground and kicking back up almost at once as the area she was at blew up underneath her. Moving forward again, she set her eyes on the wounded man and dashed quickly, getting up in his face and grabbing his neck. A fast jerk of her body allowed him to slam him into the ground hard enough to make him blank for a moment. Taking the chance, she formed several binds to hold him down and panted hard after making sure he wouldn't be able to move anymore. "You are under arrest," she told him while reinforcing the binds. When the man started laughing, Fate instantly started blasting anything electronic she could find in the room. Her last shot made Jail go silent, and Fate sighed out in relief when nothing came out of the large life pod tubes near the walls. "Don't worry, they will be activated later, after we have had time to ensure their personalities and remove any plans you have on impregnating them with your offspring."

Jail's head fell back to lay on the ground, laughing at his situation. "Simply amazing... To be beaten so easily by someone from the future! I must know!"

Ignoring him, Fate brought up a monitor before her. "Hayate?"

"Yes, Lightning?" Hayate asked back, her face appearing.

"The whole disguise thing didn't work, I had to subdue Jail. Send Teana and Subaru to my current location to pick him up. He is restrained." Pointing Bardiche at the man, she formed a barrier over him to prevent anyone from getting close to the man and t make sure he couldn't leave even if he managed to somehow break the binds. "I'm proceeding with the mission objectives."

"Roger." The screen cut off and Fate stood.

Looking around, Fate was about to make her way to a side exit but a loud explosion made her change courses and run as fast as she could to the sounds of battle that were now getting louder. By the time she reached a re-enforced door, the noise had gone silent. Several slashes with Bardiche granted her entry to a new room and she felt the bitter sting of cold wash over her body. Walking in, she took in the situation at once, red eyes scanning. Lexus, along with his two men, were all laying down at various locations in the room. Red was smeared near them, as well as around the three people who were not unconscious. "Erio! Caro! Lutecia!" Fate ran forward, but stopped when the male shakingly rose his spear to point at her.

"I won't let you hurt them," he declared seriously. Despite his threatening words, he still collapsed to one knee and was held onto by both summoners. Blood was leaking over his right eye and he seemed to have trouble keeping his weapon at the ready. Caro was holding him tightly, also hurt, and Lutecia was on the other side, seemingly better than the rest and only showed a few cuts and bruises.

Fate swallowed and looked at the group, seeing desperation in Erio's eyes, along with the fierce determination to protect those next to him, even if it meant killing her to do so.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-9:

"Erio," Fate spoke softly while resisting the urge to run to the group to see if they were okay. "I'm not going to attack you..." The boy gripped his spear harder when she took a step forward. "Really... I just want to make sure you are okay."

"Liar!" Erio shouted back at her harshly. "Don't come any closer!" Standing, he took a weak step towards Fate and prepared himself. "I won't let anyone hurt them!"

Fate held up both her hands. "Erio, calm down." Taking one more tentative step closer, she tried to make the lad lower his spear. "Just put down your weapon and-" Her red eyes caught the motion that others would normally miss. Lightning arced from Erio's boots and launched him forward. Acting on impulse, Fate blurred as well, side stepping the attack and wrapping him in binds at the same time. As their speed slowed down and they became visible again, Erio hit the ground and slid, yelling in pain as he rolled a few times. Fate landed on her knees and instantly pointed her scythe at Lutecia and Caro. "Don't move!" she warned loudly.

The blonde slowly walked backwards towards the panting Erio and crouched down next to him, keeping her eyes on the girls while talking to him. "Are you okay, Erio?" She got a grunt in reply so she put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop struggling, you'll make it worse."

"What do you care?" Erio asked angrily, looking up at her.

"I told you, I'm your sister." Fate answered softly. "I'm going to take your weapon now," She gently pried his hand off of Strada and it immediately went into watch form once it was out of his grasp. Pocketing it, she looked back at the girls to make sure they didn't advance. "I'm going to undo your binds... Don't try to escape, okay?" Erio glared at her but nodded, staying still when he was released. "Lutecia, Caro, come over here." Fate requested softly. "Erio, where are you hurt at?"

The red head slowly sat up with Fate's help. "Why are you doing this? You could be put in prison for helping an enemy."

"You're not my enemy," Fate told him gently. "I'm sorry I can't prove it other than telling you that I was born the same way you were: Project F."

"Impossible," Erio countered. "The doctor would have told us."

"I'm sorry, but its true," Fate's hand went to block an insect from stinging her neck by making a barrier. "Lutecia, stop that."

"How did you...?" The purple haired girl opened her palm and allowed the unharmed insect to land on her.

"I help train you, in my world." Fate looked at the group sadly, knowing that there would be no way for them to compromise after all she's heard them do. "Listen... I won't turn you in, on one condition."

Caro blinked at her, but still spoke up. "What do you mean?"

Fate softened her gaze. "I know you are all good people... Promise me you won't do anything wrong anymore."

"Like I could," Erio told her while standing up with the girl's help. "We're wanted all over this planet."

"There is a planet nearby, a wildlife conservative... you can get a job there protecting the animals from poachers... Its what you do in my world. The land is beautiful, and I'm sure they'll provide you with a house."

Erio looked at the woman once more. "You're really going to let us go... aren't you?"

"Be safe..." Fate told him softly. "Caro, Lutecia... Take care of him for me."

"Of course!" Caro answered at once, eyes wide.

Lutecia looked at Fate once more. "There isn't any other catch?"

"One," Fate replied simply. " I want to hug Erio." She opened her arms.

"Why?" Erio asked, skeptical.

"Please," Fate asked again, remembering the first time she held the boy in her world.

Erio stayed silent for a while longer before reluctantly limping to her. "Fine." He allowed Fate to wrap her arms around him and hold him against her body. Her hands ran along his back gently and words went into his ear so only he could hear them.

"Be safe, Erio. I trust you to do what's right and to take care of them..." She gave him a small squeeze and pulled back, kissing his forehead much to his surprise. "Okay?" She placed Strada back into his hand and closed his fingers around it.

"... Okay." Erio nodded to her and stepped back away from the hold. "Girls, let's go." With that, he put his arms around Lutecia and Caro, supporting each of them as they held him up.

"Good job, Sir." Bardiche's metallic voice told her.

"I believe in them..." Her red eyes looked at the beaten, unconscious figures of Lexus and his men. "...Am I a bad person for thinking they got what was coming to them?"

"Yes sir," Bardiche answered again. "But I agree."

The words made Fate smile. "Now to contact Hayate and find my sister and Nanoha."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-10 (Chapter 8 final):

“Is this it?” Nanoha asked, more to herself than the person she was with. Gliding along beside Alicia, she scanned the new room with sharp blue eyes. There were scattered tables and large glass tubes against the wall, all of which were empty. Curiously, she moved to the far end of the area where an open container was and peered into it. “These are life pods, aren't they?”

“Yeah,” Alicia replied softly. Her red eyes swept the area but she walked to a desk on the far side, guided by the device in her hand. “Here…” Kneeling, she reared back her hand to punch through an old container and pulled out a small red crystal. “I’m getting a match,” she spoke up after checking once more. “Nanoha, this is it.”

“Seriously? Oh thank god.” Nanoha let out a large sigh of relief. “I was so worried that it wouldn’t be here, or worse: destroyed. Les get out of here and back to the van, Hayate is probably really pissed at me right now. I should have gone back after fighting those few skirmishes in the hallways getting here…”

Alicia stayed silent a moment, standing and looking at the empty life pods. Reaching out, she touched the opened container and felt sick to her stomach when an old memory came back to her. The first vision she had ever seen had been through a murky blueish-green liquid. Her mother was nowhere to be found and the last thing she could remember was laying on a bed with Precia hovering over her with a terrified expression. “Hey… Nanoha?” Her voice was soft, full of pain and sadness. “Have you ever thought about what it would be like if Sis stayed here with us?”

Nanoha felt an uneasy feeling wash through her body. “What do you mean?”

Alicia turned to look over at Nanoha, holding up the relic. “This is the only relic that can send her back correctly, right?”

“Alicia…” Nanoha held out her hand. “Give me the relic, please. I need to seal its power so they can’t trace us.”

“You can’t say you haven’t thought about it.” The blonde stepped back when Nanoha glided over to her. “If we destroy this, she will be able to stay with us… I’ll have a family again, and you will be able to finally have someone who can truly love you!”

“Alicia,” Nanoha spoke softly, still moving forward carefully. “We both know that isn’t going to happen. Fate-chan has a family she needs to go home to… “

“Her family is here!” The woman shouted back, gripping the crystal and pulling it back so Nanoha couldn’t reach for it. “You don’t know what it’s like to grow up like I did. Living on the streets, not knowing what happened… Why I woke up like that! I survived off nothing and stole just to eat… I made a name for myself and started doing things my own way...” She started walking in a half circle around Nanoha, keeping her eyes on the woman. “Then Fate came to me, my own sister, my twin! She understood everything without me even asking!”

“She’s not meant to stay here,” Nanoha kept her voice calm and steady. “Alicia, you know it as well… She needs to go home.”

“Haven’t you ever had something worth risking everything for?” Alicia asked sadly, tightening her hold on the relic.

Nanoha gripped Raising Heart firmly. “Yes, I have.”

“Then you understand.” Alicia raised her free hand up before her. “Juliette!” A confirmation in Latin came to her and her skin was promptly replaced by a metallic glove, long cat-like fingernails on the tips. “I’m sorry, Nanoha, I can’t give this to you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Nanoha prepared herself, judging her next few moves in advance and observing the device that she didn’t even know the blonde had.

“Me either…” She gave Nanoha a sad smile. “But I can’t lose my sister.” Raising her armored hand up, she looked down at the relic and slammed her claws down to destroy it. Just when the crystal was going to be pierced, a sharp blast from Nanoha knocked her back and caused her to slide along the ground. The relic clattered to the floor and slid, followed closely by Nanoha. “No!” Alicia flexed her fingers, making red strings dance around the gem and slicing Nanoha’s hand in several places when she tried to grab it.

“Raising Heart!” Nanoha’s voice shouted out as she slammed the bottom of her staff onto the ground, breaking it apart with a small explosion and sending the crystal up into the air and out of the thread barrier.

“No you don’t!” Alicia darted forward quickly, leaping at the end of her dash and grabbing Nanoha’s hand before it connected with the crystal. Threads looped down Nanoha’s arm and tightened, shredding the cloth covering her arm and drawing blood. Nanoha grunted, but still managed to make several blast come from her free hand and crash into the teen’s back.

Twisting her arm free, Nanoha pointed her staff at the girl and fired, sending her sliding back across the floor. Despite the attack, she saw the relic follow Alicia by twisted threads along the ground. With a curse, she ran forward as well while the blonde rolled from the settling dust. The two reached the relic at the same time, clashing together with a mix of red string and pink energy shots. “Alicia! Think about what Fate-chan wants!”

Alicia grunted and kneed Nanoha, only to be deflected by an armored shin. “I can make her happy! WE can make her happy!” Tangling Nanoha’s right arm with the thread, she pulled the arm down enough to land a clean punch to her face. “No one will ever know!”

“I will know!” Nanoha shouted back, loading two cartridges into her staff and firing again. The explosion broke the walls of the room and made part of the ceiling collapse at once, showing them with debris and smoke.

“Think!” Alicia commanded, blurring from the rubble and snaring the gem once more, only to have her strings cut by well placed delayed traps. “Nanoha! Let’s be a family together! You will be my sister-in-law! I don’t want to fight you!”

“You’re not really giving me a choice!” Nanoha screamed, dodging threads that tried to ensnare her. “Alicia, stop this! We can still be friends, even after Fate-chan is gone!”

“I want her too!” Alicia almost cried out, running again and getting into close combat with the woman. “Please! Let me keep her! I’ve wanted a family ever since I could remember!” Blow after blow was exchanged, leaving them both panting heavily and struggling. “Nanoha!”

“No!” The woman loaded another cartridge and shot a beam forward, collapsing more of the floor and exposing the level below them. “This is what’s right!” Tears fell unbidden from her eyes as she grabbed the relic off the ground. “We have to send her back! I don’t want this any more than you do!”

“Liar!” Alicia pulled her clawed hand back, ripping Nanoha towards herself. “You don’t love her!”

“I do!” Nanoha cried desperately, slamming a new clip into her staff as she was pulled forward. “More than anything!” The shells flew thick as she charged her attack. Alicia spread her fingers apart as she reared back to punch, red strings glistening in the light as they prepared to wrap and choke the girl’s body. The two collided roughly, spinning each other around as half of the energy blast exploded around them. Alicia turned and hit Nanoha hard in the gut, doubling her over and robbing her of her breath. “Please…” Nanoha coughed out. “Don’t do this… we can… be friends…”

Alicia felt a sob come out as she prepared her next attack. “Then be my friend and let me be happy…” She saw Nanoha’s eyes soften sadly and a cartridge fly out from her staff. Not taking the chance to let her fire, Alicia dashed forward quickly, blurring the line of Nanoha’s sight and tackling her fiercely. The two shot backwards and through the exposed floor to the ground beneath them. Landing harshly, Alicia reared her hand back to land another punch, but stopped when she saw the shocked look in the girl’s eyes beneath her. Slowly, blood trickled from the corner of Nanoha’s lip and red eyes shook as they lowered their sight. Nanoha’s front was stained red, two metal support beams jutting from her stomach and chest. “N…no…”

Nanoha slowly raised her staff as Alicia stepped back in fear. The shaking tip of Raising Heart aimed at the girl and a metallic voice came in the place of its master’s. “Fire!” The gathered energy was released all at once, crashing into the now defenseless woman and sending her flying in the air and through the wall behind her. When the rubble clattered onto the floor, so did her staff. Blue eyes looked up at the ceiling hazily, hand holding loosely onto a dust covered red crystal.

“I… protected it…Fate-chan…” Nanoha whispered to herself, breathing heavily in exhaustion and pain. Her body shifted carefully, trying to pull herself up, but stopped almost before it started when fire danced around her wounds and glass seemed to shoot through her veins. “Ah…nngh…” She couldn’t summon enough strength to scream, despite wishing to. Instead, she groaned and coughed, almost welcoming the pain numbing haziness trying to overcome her.

“Nanoha!? Alicia!?” Fate’s voice sounded from somewhere above her. “Answer me!”

“Fate-…chan…” Nanoha barely found the strength to whisper, vision swimming as she turned her head to look up through the hole in the ceiling.

Fate ran through the room desperately, looking around before hopping in the air and moving to the exposed ground. “Nanoha!? Alicia!? Where are-” Her words cut off as the sight of Nanoha lying on the ground came before her. “Nanoha!?”

“Fate-chan…” Nanoha spoke weakly, a small smile trying to form on her lips. “You… found me…” Her vision was soon filled with the worried face of Fate above her.

“Nanoha… oh god…” Fate’s hands shook as they tried to find some place to touch the girl that wouldn’t hurt her. “Hayate!” Her voice screamed out frantically, Bardiche already bringing up the connection without being asked to. “Hayate! Nanoha’s hurt! Send the medical team! Quickly!”

Nanoha tried to raise her hand, grunting in pain as the simple act sent spasms through her body. “I… got it…” Nanoha told the woman, feeling relief wash over her when Fate took the item from her and carelessly shoved it into a pouch on her jacket so she could instead hold the hand.

“Shh, don’t talk Sweetie. Help is on the way, okay?”

The injured girl shook her head sadly, fighting the blackness that kept struggling to consume her. “I’m…sorry.”

“No! No, don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!” Fate held Nanoha’s hand with both of hers, moving to be closer to the girl. “You’ll be okay…” Despite her words, tears still fell from her red eyes. “Nanoha…”

“I decided…” Nanoha began, weakly trying to lift her head to see Fate better and being aided by the blonde at once. “That… that if I was… in your place…” She swallowed thickly, tasting the copper tang in her mouth once more. “I would… want my other self to… do everything in her power… to send you back.” A soft gasp made her cough lightly, blood flecking her lips. “Because… I know that I love you… enough for both of us.” She offered a small smile that was laced with care. “So I did everything…I could… to make sure you got back… to her.”

“Nanoha…” Fate felt a sob come out against her will and she kissed the girl’s forehead. “Don’t say that… you’ll be fine…”

“Please promise me,” Nanoha’s voice started to get weaker, making Fate hold onto her tighter. “That you’ll love her enough… for both of us.”

“Yes,” Fate whispered against the girl. “I promise. I promise you, Nanoha.” She looked down into the slate blue eyes of her friend and tried her best to smile for her. “You have my word.” Nanoha gave the blonde one last fond look before slowly closing her eyes, head gently falling to the side. “Nanoha…” Fate whispered the name once more, huddling over the girl and holding her close.

Please post your replies in spoilers.

[deathcurse]

Part 1 and Part 2 of Crime Never Sleeps...

Now Hayate and Auris begin playing their games...and enter the Shadows!

Crime Never Sleeps
Part 3

Spoiler for Crime Never Sleeps, part 3:

The next morning at 06:00 sharp, Auris marched into Hayate’s office, by-passing the startled secretary and shutting the door on her when she tried to speak. “Chief Hayate.” She wasn’t surprised to see Hayate already there—indeed, she had expected it. Hayate would want to be ahead of the game, and so far Auris was content to let her have the leading spot.

“Director Auris,” Hayate said pleasantly, glancing at the door. “Is there an emergency?”

“I have an appointment,” drawled Auris, seating herself across from Hayate. She saw Hayate wave at her window, but didn’t turn around to see what the secretary did in response to that. “And I believe we have a case to put together? The first court proceeding will be in two days.” She paused, then tilted her head towards the secretary. “She seems new to the job.”

“She’s on a school internship. Did you find anything at the crime scenes?” Hayate asked mildly, sliding the Gallant file towards herself. So, Auris noted, she had been working on the case. The folder was thicker than yesterday, so Hayate had either gotten more information or she had pulled up more research. From the snippets of information her bugs had picked up by the secretary’s desk, quite a few dignitaries have visited the Lieutenant-general in the past day. Likely Hayate had to dig deeper in order to give everyone the answers they were demanding.

“Nothing. What did you find?”

“Quite a bit,” Hayate replied, passing over a sheaf of papers. “Here’s a transcript of the interviews I had with Raven yesterday. I also sent you the video recordings in your email.”

“You interviewed her?” Auris exclaimed, staring at Hayate. “Why wasn’t I told? I should have been the one to do it!”

“Ah, I just felt that we could save some time, if I did it while you personally surveyed the crime scenes,” Hayate sounded surprised, but her voice was too smooth to be genuine. “You’re welcome to interview her again if you like, to see if there’s anything I might have missed in my questioning.”

Tightly, Auris ground out, “I thought we were working this case together.”

“We are—which is why I thought you wouldn’t mind.” Damn, there was nothing Auris could say to that. Leaning forward, Hayate smiled, propping her elbows on her desk. “Besides, both you and I are high-profile officers, would you say?” Hayate asked, going on a tangent.

Suspiciously, Auris answered, “Yes…”

“So we have a bit of a reputation following us, correct?”

“Your point, Lieutenant-general.”

“I thought we were on a first-name basis, Director Auris…and my point is that I have a reputation for being kind, while you’re known for your efficiency.” Spreading her hands in a helpless gesture, Hayate said earnestly, “I reasoned that I would likely be able to establish a better rapport with a grieving, frightened girl than you would for an interview.”

Auris breathed deeply before shrugging, picking up the transcript and skimming through it rapidly. “So what are we deciding on? Are we prosecutors or defendants?” That wasn’t really a question, they both knew.

She didn’t have to watch Hayate’s face to know what kind of conflict the other woman would be going through—Auris was just as certain that she knew what Hayate’s answer was going to be in the end. As expected, Hayate made one last cautious appeal.

“There is some merit in taking the case as defendants…the majority of public opinion appears to be—”

“We’re not looking for public approval.” Auris stared hard at Hayate, keeping her voice even but she didn’t bother trying to disguise the cold rage in her gaze. “We’re looking for justice for one of our own. The Shadows will not watch a murderer get off with a slap on the wrist because people feel sorry that she’s a minor and a vigilante.”

She watched Hayate take a breath, a slow draining of hope from her face and an impassive mask build over her features as she stared at a picture of Raven Gallant on her desk, the girl smiling and winking at the camera, wearing a school uniform. Auris waited, wanting Hayate to say it herself, to say the outcome she had dreaded and Auris had desired out loud.

“So we want Raven Gallant charged as an adult for the murder of NSIS Agent Keen Touring,” Hayate stated.

“That’s it?” Auris tested.

Hayate also slipped out of character from the game they were playing, her ice-blue eyes sharp as she said lowly, “I don’t think any accidents will be happening to Raven Gallant, do you? Not with such good officers from Long Arch watching her cell.”

“Of course not,” Auris replied, rising from her chair and collecting her documents. This meeting was over. “Long Arch officers are some of the best.”

But my Shadows are better.

***

The large briefing room in the NSIS hall was hardly ever used for actual briefings. Most missions were given in smaller rooms, filled with only the agents involved, comprising of mostly singles, pairs or the rare group for larger operations. The only time Auris had ever seen all the Shadows in-office gathered together in a single room was when Admiral Harlaown had ceded to her directorship of the NSIS in a brief, unremarkable ceremony a handful of months ago. They had been silent then, only applauding mechanically at the end, although Auris didn’t take that as a lack of support from them, merely a lack of energy from the job that sucked the life out of them.

Today, a low buzz of whispers greeted her as she entered the room, the murmurs quickly quieting into silence as she stood at the head of the long table.

“As most of you know, we have been successful in gaining the rights to pursue the Gallant case, who murdered Agent Keen Touring while he was undercover with the Hellhounds last Wednesday.” Auris watched their reactions: Valiant looked too expressionless; Stormhawk looked unsurprised while his on-and-off partner Alphine looked mildly concerned, revealing the true worry she was hiding; Alvar Lonsdale shuffled his ever-present deck of cards, his eyes troubled; Clara Tagus, sitting in the corner, gave Auris a stare and a look that demanded private explanation. Auris didn’t have time to note any other immediate reactions before she continued with her briefing.

“During this time, Gallant is under guard by Long Arch officers.”

“It’s our case,” Tagus said, causing heads to turn back her way. She had an utterly normal appearance and demeanour, although she was displaying a dangerous aura at the moment. She didn’t have near the success rate or the kill count of Alphine, but Tagus didn’t kill with magic or distant weapons—indeed, she never used anything but her two hands and a thin wire. Her end scenes were neater to clean up after. Clara Tagus’ hands twitched as she repeated, “It’s our case. Why is Yagami butting in?”

“Yagami is working on this case as well,” Lonsdale pointed out, rapping his deck of cards against the table and punctuating his words with wooden cracks. “She is entirely authorized to do so—and most higher-ups would say that she’s more authorized than the NSIS. It’s not what we do.”

“It’s one of us who was murdered. One of us!”

Stormhawk interjected then, his voice a languid drawl. “Are we all assisting in this case or what? Is that why you’ve called us, ma’am?”

“We can’t help out directly,” Lonsdale spoke before Auris could. “Although the NSIS has jurisdiction over the Gallant case, only specific circumstances could justify relieving us of our normal cases to assist with a simple prosecution case. The red tape and fuss could cause Director Gaiz to have her justification questioned by a review panel for the superfluous action. A review panel which includes Lieutenant-general Yagami, no less.”

“And she knows it,” Jian scowled. “So that’s why she’s not worried about it. Why she’s not taking us seriously.”

“It’s not a matter of whether the Lieutenant-general takes the NSIS seriously or not,” Auris said, interrupting the tangent debate at where she felt was the right time. “The politics don’t matter. What matters is that Raven Gallant killed one of us and might walk away from it lightly. I may have to call upon some elements of your profiles in order to help put this murderer away, and I wished to ask your consent.”

“You don’t need to ask us,” Lonsdale said, riffling a perfect bridge before squaring his cards on the table. He grinned at her. “But of course you can, I’m speaking for all of us.”

No one dissented, but Auris noted that Lutecia Alphine twitched, her red eyes narrowing before her expression went impassive again.

“You want to make Touring sympathetic,” Stormhawk said astutely. “He’s the human one, not Gallant.”

“Good luck with that,” Charlie smirked, and although he was insulting the dead he had a certain wryly honest tone in his voice that made people agree with him rather than become infuriated. Besides, he was a veteran among a profession occupied and retired from by youngsters. “There was a reason why Touring was chosen to go undercover in a violent gang. Some things even the Shadows can’t teach.”

“It’s easy,” Jian said seriously, “to cover up anything with the right mask.”

“Not surprising.” Tagus smiled, baring her teeth grimly. “After all, an eleven-year old girl’s mask managed to conceal the heart of a killer.”

“We never know what people are concealing,” Auris agreed.

“I know little girls,” Lutecia spoke up then, her chair screeching backwards as she stood up in contained anger. “And I know what a killer’s heart is, Valiant. That girl is concealing nothing but the anguish and terror of losing everyone she had ever cared about and the pain of making a mistake that destroyed her forever.” She turned and walked out, letting the door close automatically behind her silently.

The discussion continued, but Auris only gave it half her attention. She was surprised that Alphine had taken so long before walking out, but Auris expected Hayate to know by tomorrow that Auris was stirring resentment within the Shadows over Raven Gallant. Really, soft-hearted girls like Alphine were too easy to manipulate, despite all their self-perceived wisdom.

***

“They’re going to use the fact that I used to be considered a criminal against us,” Hayate said matter-of-factly, pacing in front of the whiteboard with scribbled evidence labels and argument suggestions. “So you’ll have to be the one to present that part of the case, to prevent the defence from trying to undermine our arguments by turning it into a personal attack on me.”

“It would be a strong argument for the jury,” Auris warned, tapping her pen against the table. Strictly speaking, she didn’t have to take notes as Hayate’s Unison Device was transcribing their discussion and working plan, but Auris wrote a few key notes for herself. “Once they form an opinion of your actions, they won’t hear the rest of what we say.”

“I’ve already thought of that,” Hayate surprised her. “I have a full set of reports from the Book of Darkness incident, showing the non-lethal methods my Knights used to try and save my life. We’ll present this in the beginning as evidence of previous cases of leniency, emphasizing how no lives were taken in those cases, unlike this one. By bringing it up ourselves, that will take the power from our opponents.”

“That would work, as the jury is made up of TSAB ranking officers, they should all have some understanding of the details of that case,” Auris agreed, shuffling through the summaries of the cases Hayate had researched for that argument. “Wait, you should remove Lutecia Alphine’s case from here.”

“Why?”

“It’s unconfirmed whether she had killed anyone or not on her missions…there’s evidence facing both ways, and while Alphine claims to have not killed anyone while under Jail’s employ—”

“If she said she didn’t,” Hayate said sharply, “then she didn’t.”

“Fine,” Auris answered brusquely, waving that aside. “Either way, she’s now a Shadow, and her kill count is the highest of all our agents—even including our veterans. It’s not common knowledge, but it would break our argument if someone managed to pull that up.”

“That’s true, there’s no need for that,” Hayate agreed easily, removing those sheets. “The less they look into Shadow business, the better it is all around.”

You just don’t want to ruin Alphine’s life by risking her Shadow life being dragged into the open. But Auris couldn’t complain—Alphine was one of her best assassins, and losing her would severely diminish the Shadows’ skill sets.

“Alright then,” Auris said, looking back over the remaining sheets. “This looks good. I want to see Gallant today.”

Rap. Hayate squared all her sheets against her table-top. “You want to see her?”

“I feel that I should look her in the face,” Auris said, knowing that her words were true enough to come across as sincere. “If we’re going to do what we’re doing, I think that I owe her the courtesy of speaking to her. At least once.”

She watched Hayate start breathing heavily, her hands shaking on her desk. Auris hadn’t quite intended on making that a personal shot, but once she remembered some hidden details about the Book of Darkness incident, she kept her mouth shut on her apology, interested in seeing Hayate’s response.

The dark brunette laid her papers down, closing the file with one hand. She raised her head, looking at Auris with a mixed expression. The only emotion Auris was able to recognize was a sense of calm, of a love that came from forgiveness. It made Auris uneasy.

“I’ll give you a guide and let the guard on duty know.” Hayate put a hand to her face, turning in her chair to face her wall-high window. The sun was setting then, transforming the Lieutenant-general’s domain into a paradise, a golden city. But both of them knew better. That paradise was nothing but gilded buildings and appearances.

Her father saw the corruption in Cranagan and he risked his career to clean it up. Auris wasn’t naïve; she knew that her father had made a few deals with the devil himself in his attempt to achieve his goal. Hayate would like to believe that she can do the same while keeping the integrity of a hero.

There’s a reason why people rant and rail against the “higher ups”. They’re the ones who make the gray choices so that the heroes can stay snowy-white.

Auris rose, ignoring the glare she got from the floating Unison Device and saluted Hayate’s back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ma’am.”

Spoiler for Author's Note:

Charlie and Victor Stormhawk () belong to RadiantBeam, while the other Shadow agents were created by me . Auris and Lutecia belong to neither of us, obviously .

Ah, I have to work faster...I'm nearly finished the story, but roadblocks are hard to get over!

EDIT: Changed some details RB pointed out

[deathcurse]

Sorry for the double post!

Originally Posted by Satashi

AlternativeS 1 AlternativeS 2 AlternativeS 3a AlternativeS 3b AlternativeS 4 AlternativeS 5 AlternativeS 6 AlternativeS 7

Spoiler for 8-1 to 8-6:

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-1:

Normally I was a rational person, being able to sit in a meeting for hours on end while juggling many different topics without so much as looking at my notes... My current situation, however, was giving me mixed signals. On one hand, I finally had my sister... On the other, I missed my family back home. I wanted to return so desperately that it was driving me crazy now that we were so close, but when Alicia smiles at me I feel a family love from her so great that it makes me want to break down and cry at the thought of leaving her. These feelings made the past three days exceedingly difficult, and I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted Hayate to hurry up or to take her time.

AlternativeS VIII
By: Satashi

Fate smiled as she walked into Nanoha's room during their lunch break. The instructor was currently laying on her back on the couch with a sleeping Vivio curled on her stomach. Out of habit, the blond brought up her hands to form a monitor so she could take a picture of the scene. 'Seeing Vivio so young really brings back memories.' The target of her thoughts seemed to stir at that moment, sleepily lifting her head. Fate tried her best not to fawn over the half asleep eyes and slightly parted mouth paired with the confused face of the child. Instead, she walked over to the girls and leaned over, offering her arms.

Vivio took the silent request to be picked up and layed against the woman while trying to wake up. "Sleepy?" Fate asked softly, looking past Vivio and to Nanoha.

"Mmn aunt Fate..." Vivio's reply was stifled by a face-splitting open mouthed yawn. "Aahhhhhwwwnnnn..."

Nanoha interrupted Fate's silent cursing for not taking a picture of that scene by running a hand along her stomach in an attempt to find out why the warm child was no longer sleeping on her. The blonde knelt down by the woman and took her hand to show that someone was still there. "Fate...-chan..." Nanoha whispered while slowly waking up. Her hand gripped Fate's softly and the blond watched in amazement as Nanoha brought it to her mouth to kiss a finger. " love you..." Her half mumbled words were barely audible, but slate blue eyes slowly fluttered open. Looking up at a bewildered Fate holding Vivio, she smiled fondly. As her mind woke up more, her expression changed and she sat up quickly, holding a hand to her chest. "Fweh-chyan!?"

Fate looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Vivio said my name perfectly when she woke up." The comment made Nanoha blush darkly and look away. "Lunch time is almost over," The woman continued. "I came to make sure you woke up for afternoon training like you asked."

"A-ah..." Nanoha nodded. "Thank you..." She watched Fate sit Vivio onto her feet and move closer to her. "Fate-chan? Kyan!" She held onto the blonde when she was suddenly lifted up off the couch.

"Should I just carry you?" Fate asked curiously. "I don't see your chair."

"Pendant form," Nanoha revealed, showing her necklace. "I was scared Vivio might roll off of me so I didn't want her to hit the chair if I had to make a grab for her..." Nanoha's words slowly trailed off, and she looked down at her lap, embarrassed. "Uhm..." She was taken to an opening in the room without being asked so she could toss the small gem to the floor, where it glowed brightly before changing into her smart chair.

"Hayate would have loved to have a device like that in the past," Fate mused while setting Nanoha into it.

"Y-yeah... This model was specially build for me. It allows me to do so much more than the normal models." Nanoha lifted herself slightly with her arms and adjusted herself to sit comfortably.

"Mama?" Vivio's voice made them both turn to the girl. "Why do you always sit in that chair?"

Fate felt her heart break at the question, but Nanoha simply smiled at it. " Mama's legs don't move like yours do," She explained simply. "So this chair helps me get around."

"Oh," Vivio looked sad at the answer. "...Ne, mama?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever need something, I'll get it for you, okay?" Vivio put her hands on Nanoha's knees and peered up at her. "Okay?"

The mother smiled down at her, leaning over to pick up the girl to sit on her lap. "Mmn. Thank you, Vivio."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-2:

~**~

Fate and Alicia entered the briefing room together, seeing others already there. Nanoha and Yuuno were off to one side, along with Teana and Subaru next to them. Across from the small group stood Lexus along with two people in standard military attire. From what Fate could remember, she assumed they were the triple-A ranked air and sea mages that had been mentioned earlier.

"About time," Lexus spoke up at once. "When you're in my battalion, I won't let you be tardy when summoned." He hesitated when he saw Alicia as well. "Oh, you have a twin do you?"

"Shut it before I do it for you," Alicia shot at him with narrowed eyes.

Hayate cut them off before an argument could break out by clearing her throat. "Okay everyone, since we are all gathered now, I would like to go over the plan for this mission." She motioned for everyone to gather around the table in the middle of the room and brought up a transparent blueprint of a building and the surrounding area. "Our sources tell us that this building is where Jail Scaglietti is currently staying. He has an interest with Alicia, and will talk to her-"

"-Why?" Lexus interrupted, looking over at the blonde. "What connection does she have with Jail?"

Alicia smirked at him pointedly and then turned back to Hayate, who continued where she left off. "Since Fate-chan is Alicia's twin, we will have her confront Scaglietti in her sister's place. With the main threat being taken care of by Fate-chan, we can easily slip in the other entrances to his base here, here, and here." She pointed with each word, making the areas light up. "We will be split into groups as follows: Lightning Unit will be Fate-chan alone. Stars will consist of Nanoha and Alicia, who will go after the relic."

"Wait a moment, please," Fate cut in apologetically. "Nanoha will be going inside the building?"

Nanoha looked a little offended. "Of course I will be. I may be in a wheelchair, but I have ways to enter into battle. Raising Heart has a flight mode that will give me almost two hours of mobile time without starting to effect my combat."

Fate looked skeptical, so Hayate confirmed it. "I don't know about your world, Fate-chan, but in ours, Yuuno-kun made specific additions to Nanoha-chan's device to ensure her safety. Also, no offense Alicia, but I can't have you alone in the target zone." The girl shrugged and smiled over at Nanoha with a nod.

Lexus snorted. "So what are we here for?"

"You will follow Stars unit and ensure that they can reach their target. If they are targeted beforehand, you will engage instead."

"Works for me," Lexus crossed his arms. " Saving your butts seems to be a full time job anyway." His remark made his two men smirk and the rest of the room repress a growl. "And don't forget, Fate, you're mine after this is over."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-3:

Fate glared but nodded anyway. "I haven't forgotten."

"People, please." Hayate spoke firmly, tapping her hands on the table displaying the information before them. "Focus." When all eyes turned to her again, she continued. "Subaru, Teana, you will be with me in the Snow group. We will be stationed in a van nearby." Her moved her hands, rotating the map displaying on the table so she could point at a building nearby where the mission would take place. "This will be where we start the mission and where I will be stationed to oversee it. My group will be for back up purposes only and will not deploy unless there is an emergency." She looked at the two nervous soldiers before her and nodded at them. "I'll be counting on you two to protect the van in-case we're discovered." Both of them saluted, although not as crisp as they normally would. "Any questions?"

Lexus moved his hands out in a shrugging manor. "So basically we're walking in, Fate takes on Jail, we protect these two girls, and find a relic? You called us in for that?"

Hayate turned to face him directly. "Scaglietti is highly dangerous, and he has the trinity as his personal bodyguards. That alone would warrant caution, and that's not including any extra guards he may have. We are trying to bring him down once and for all; underestimation him at this point is not an option. Any more questions?" When none came, she nodded to herself. "Right then. We deploy tomorrow at one, be ready. Dismissed." With that word, the group dispersed, going their own ways. 'Let's just hope this goes smoothly.'

"Fate-chan," Nanoha's voice made the woman stop and turn back to look at her. "Want to eat dinner with me tonight? Please?"

The red eyed girl hesitated just a moment before agreeing. "Sure, I'd love to."

Nanoha beamed up at her friend. "Great! I'll have it ready in about an hour so come by when you're ready okay?"

~**~

Nanoha glanced over her shoulder when she heard knocking at her door. "Come in!" She called out cheerfully.

"Excuse the intrusion," Fate sang out in her normal soft tone. "Oh, something smells really good." bending over, she plucked up Vivio when the child came to greet her and balanced the girl onto her hip. "Hi there, Vivio."

"Hello, Aunt Fate." She replied back with a giggle at being carried.

"Almost ready," Nanoha informed while pulling a roast from the oven.

"Shall I set the table?" Fate asked curiously while looking at the half prepared dining table.

"Ah, I can get it!"

"Its okay," Fate insisted. "Vivio will help me, won't you Vivio?"

"Un!" The girl cheered at being involved.

"Thank you," Nanoha gave in at the happy look on her 'daughter's' face.

Fate sat Vivio on the floor and got the plates down, making sure Vivio could carry all three of them safely. "Put them on the table, but be careful because they can break, okay?" She got a hum and then was graced with the sight of Vivio carefully carrying the plates with both hands as if she were balancing marbles on top of them.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-4:

"Tomorrow's the big day, huh?" Nanoha breathed out while putting her side dishes in serving platters. " Hard to beleive its already been over a month since you arrived."

"Yeah," Fate agreed slowly, catching the sadness in Nanoha's voice. "I really appreciate everything that you have done for me during this."

"Hey, you'd do the same for me, right?" Nanoha handed Fate a platter to take to the table. "Thank you."

"Of course," Fate answered at once, moving around Vivio who was still carefully arranging the plates. "But still, thank you. You made this bearable."

Nanoha felt a small blush come to her cheeks at the praise. "Thank you..." When Fate got next to her, she looked up at teh girl nervously. "Hey... again, I'm sorry about before."

"Stop," Fate bent over and put her arms around Nanoha and hugged her from behind. "It wasn't completely your fault. You thought it was me and you weren't thinking right. I understand, okay? Stop beating yourself up over this."

"You being so understanding," Nanoha whispered, looking down in the embrace. "Kind of makes this harder on me..."

Fate felt a small smile come when a teardrop hit her arms. "I'm sorry, but that's how I am." Squeezing Nanoha once more, she whispered into her ear. "Now dry those pretty eyes and smile, okay? Here, look." turning Nanoha's chair around in the hug, she made the girl watch Vivio holding the last plate with a deathgrip while acting as if it would break if she slid it across the table too fast. "She's scared she might break them."

Nanoha felt a laugh come at once and she covered her mouth to hold it down. When Vivio was done, she turned around and ran over to Nanoha proudly. "Mama, I did it!"

"Good job, Vivio," both adults answered at the same time with a smile.

~**~

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-5:

Fate awoke the next morning to her sister's soft snoring against her neck. Blinking to clear her eyes, she looked up at the ceiling while enjoying the peaceful morning. Alicia was half ontop of her, arm and legs sprawled across her body while using her chest as a make-shift pillow. Fate's right arm was numb from the weight on it, sending tingles through her shoulder when she tried to move it. Instead, she moved her left hand and rubbed her sister's back gently to wake her. "Alicia... Sis?"

"Five more minutes," she groaned out.

"I need to get up," Fate insisted softly. Her twin shifted groggily, moving off of her, but grabbed the covers in the process, pulling them up to her nose as she got comfortable again. "I'll wake you in a bit." Only the sounds of her sister breathing steadily came to her, making her grin to herself.

Getting out of bed, Fate put on her uniform quickly and left the room in favor of heading to Nanoha's. Once there, she greeted the struggling temporary-mother as she tried to dress Vivio and make breakfast at the same time. Coming to her rescue, she properly prettied Vivio up and did her hair while Nanoha finished cooking. Breakfast was served and, after an insistence from Nanoha, the three sat down together to enjoy it.

Almost two hours later, Fate found herself in the prep room, sitting patiently while the others slowly started coming in. Teana and Subaru were already there, having come before anyone else. Watching them shift nervously in their seats, Fate couldn't help but recall back to their first mission in her world. "Nervous?" She asked calmly, getting their attention.

"Yes," Subaru answered honestly. "I can't help but feel as if everyone expects so much from me..."

"We do," Fate replied simply. "You and Teana were given those devices because we can see a potential in you both that far exceeds that of the normal people training under Nanoha right now. That's why we are counting on you to watch over the van with Hayate and act if anything needs your attention. You may not even engage any enemies today, but it will be a good experience for you none the less."

"Ma'am." Teana nodded in agreement. "Thank you for this opportunity to prove myself."

Before Fate could reply, Hayate came into the room and looked around. "You girls are here early."

"I told Fate that we could wait," Alicia complained, leaning her chair back to balance on the back two legs. "But she said it was best to be here early in case we needed to change any plans."

Hayate nodded to herself. "Good idea, Fate-chan, but so far everything seems just fine. Alicia, are you sure that you don't need to contact Jail before hand?"

"I show up whenever I feel like it, and leave just the same," Alicia mused while balancing. "If I made an appointment, it would probably set off a flag. Best to just go with it."

With a small sigh, Hayate reluctantly agreed. "Okay."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-6:

~**~


"Okay, lets go over this one more time." Nanoha got everyone's attention as their van parked at the predetermined location. "Fate-chan will go and meet Jail in place of Alicia. During this time Alicia and I will hunt for the relic we're after while Lexus and his group support us. The number one goal is to get the relic at all costs."

Lexus broke in, leaning forward while checking the lace on his boots. "Why not just zerg Jail and ensure that he is captured?"

Hayate sighed. "Again, we are after the relic more than Jail this time. We want to capture him, but priorities are priorities. The relic is what we are after."

Lexus frowned but nodded anyway. "This is your run, even if that is stupid." The man missed the glances towards Fate, who looked down slightly.

"Subaru, Teana," Nanoha went on, getting their attention again. "You two will remain here in case we need backup. If anyone is injured inside, you will be needed to retrieve, understood?"

"Ma'am," both replied at the same time with a nod.

"Right then," Nanoha nodded. "Any questions?" When nothing came to her, she looked over at Fate. "You're up."

"Right," Fate moved to open the van, smiling back over at the group. "Good luck everyone." Hopping out, she adjusted her casual outfit and tossed her pigtails over her shoulders. 'Here we go,' Walking the two blocks, she reflected back on the prepping Alicia had given her earlier. 'Just be cocky, act like I own the place, and don't take crap from anyone if they stop me...'

The door to the building was opened casually and she noted that a silent alarm went off due to a blinking red light that her trained eye caught. Ignoring this, she put her hands into her pockets and kept walking, looking around curiously. Before long she entered a long hallway with life capsules on both sides, housing what she knew to be the Numbers. 'They're not activated yet...' Her mind thought curiously. 'I wonder if he's holding back for some reason...'

"Nice of you to arrive!" Jail's voice made Fate's attention snap to the side, where the man was sitting on a desk. "I'm glad you could make it, Fate-san."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-7:

"Sorry, but I'd have to split the money with Sis if I involved her," Fate put a hand on her hip in annoyance. "If you want her, it'd cost extra."

Jail stood up from his desk and walked over to the girl, passing by a complex lab area and moving out into the large area of the room. Walking around the girl, he eyed her. "Well, this is strange," he mused. "Normally I can tell the difference between two people, but you two..." Jail laughed and moved to stand in front of her. "I see, I see, how amusing. You came from another time, but it turns out you are a fake as well." Fate's eyes widened slightly, something that Jail didn't miss. "Thank you for confirming it, Fate-san."

"What do you mean by "as well"?" Fate asked, giving up on tricking him and falling back into just keeping him distracted long enough for the mission to go through before she made her move.

"You can't tell? Your sister is a clone, the same as you." Crossing his arms, he observed her more. "I found her in a life pod when I was doing some research on a past experiment that failed. I had stumbled upon the home of someone who had tried to perfect the project Fate series. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about."

"Precia," Fate breathed out. "So Alicia..."

"Is simply another experiment," Jail finished for her. "No more than you."

"Does she know?"

Jail shrugged. "If she figured it out or not isn't of any concern to me. What I want to know, however, is how you crossed time lines."

This time Fate smirked at him. "You honestly expect me to tell you that?"

Not willingly, of course." Jail shifted, his hand moving behind him to press a button on the computer, but was launched forward when the console blew up.

Fate flexed her hand, the yellow magic circle in front of her fingertips spinning quickly as more energy daggers appeared. "I won't let you activate them." With those words, she launched more attacks, destroying the machines around her and making the deep greenish blue lights on the life pods fade. "Not that it matters, as they are no threat to me." Fate looked at Jail's snarling face. "Surrender quietly."

The purple haired man stood slowly, looking down at the ground steadily before a sick grin came to his face. "Interesting..."

~**~

"Let's move," Nanoha spoke up after sitting in the van long enough to give Fate time. "Raising Heart, please." Her device answered while Nanoha's wheelchair went down the ramp on the side of the can. Once there the chair started to glow, shifting around to form a type of golden armor around the girl. Nanoha's legs were covered completely, joints covered with a red crystal. The metal went up her thighs and waist, forming cloth over her skin then covering it with the alloy as well. Her hair flew up into twin pigtails and her arms were graced with the same protection as her lower body. Blue and white accents went over the gold armor, adding decoration to signify her position and call sign. Finally, two transparent pink wings of magic flew from her back and lifted the girl up just enough off the ground so she was hovering. A deep exhale came from Nanoha's lips and she looked back at the group of people behind her.

"Remember, Nanoha-chan," Hayate warned her with a serious tone. "The exceed mode draws power directly from your linker core. If you-"

"I know, I know," Nanoha tried to ease her friend's fear. "If I start to feel weak, then pull out immediately. I know how to use this form, Hayate-chan." With a small salute, she hovered in place for a moment more before turning to Alica. "Ready?"

"Steady," the woman replied back, hopping out of the van before Lexus and his group. "You look pretty hot in that."

Nanoha felt her cheeks color slightly. Choosing to ignore the comment, she nodded at the rest of her group and began flying before them at a walking pace. Hanging just a few inches above the ground, she bit back a bad feeling in her stomach and opened the door leading into another area of the large building they were invading.

At once the group could see their breath, skin tingling as bitter cold flashed around them with a small snow flurry. The door slammed shut behind them and the group glanced back a moment before looking forward, seeing three people standing before them along with a dragon the size of a large dog. "Welcome," Erio spoke to them casually. "Glad you could make it."

Lexus snorted. "The Trinity, huh? Looks like this will be worth my time after all!"

Caro frowned at the man. "We would prefer not to fight you." When the man before her drew his weapon, she sighed softly. "Shiva... Please." A loud roar came from the dragon and the room dropped several more degrees as a bright flash blinded everyone. When they could see again, Erio stood in the middle of the room holding a spear and covered in a transparent set of armor that seemed to be dragon scales made of ice.

"Bring it," the boy challenged, using his hand to make a taunting motion.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-8:

Lexus attacked at once, running forward in the snow and raising his fist up to strike Erio. Instead, he found the kid sidestep him easily and slam the end of his spear against his back. The older man grunted and turned to attack again but found nobody there. Looking around himself, he saw Erio already by the other two people once more, fighting his partner.

"Pathetic!" Alicia complained, running up to him with Nanoha floating next to her. "I thought you were supposed to be better than this?"

"Don't mock me," Lexus snorted while standing properly. "I'll handle this, you two get out of here."

Nanoha hesitated slightly. "Will you be able to-?"

"Leave, Instructor!" Lexus shouted at her harshly. "This isn't a job for those who can't fight!" With that, he ran into the mix once more, yelling out a battle cry as Lutecia turned to greet him with an outstretched hand and a magic circle formed beneath her feet.

"Forget him," Alicia told Nanoha, grabbing her hand and pulling her away. "Lets get out of here while they are distracted."

Nanoha nodded and allowed herself to be dragged though the air, blocking several ranged shots taken at them as they made their escape. Once the large area was left, warmth rushed over them immediatly. The snow was gone and they found themselves back in the warmth of hallways. "How's that reader looking?" She asked, looking around to make sure the coast was clear.

"I'm getting a faint signal," Alicia replied, looking at a small monitor floating above her hand. "I think its up ahead." Pointing, she blinked when two shots were fired down the hallway and was about to ask what they were for when two people rounded the corner and were struck down cleanly. Letting out a sharp whistle, Alicia grinned. "Wow, you're pretty good at this."

"I don't want to waste time," Nanoha informed her softly. "This mode takes a lot out of me; the longer I am in it, the weaker I get. "

"I see," Alicia nodded to herself and began running now. "Shouldn't be too much farther..."

~**~

Fate cursed mentally as she dodged another attack from Jail, rolling across the ground and kicking back up almost at once as the area she was at blew up underneath her. Moving forward again, she set her eyes on the wounded man and dashed quickly, getting up in his face and grabbing his neck. A fast jerk of her body allowed him to slam him into the ground hard enough to make him blank for a moment. Taking the chance, she formed several binds to hold him down and panted hard after making sure he wouldn't be able to move anymore. "You are under arrest," she told him while reinforcing the binds. When the man started laughing, Fate instantly started blasting anything electronic she could find in the room. Her last shot made Jail go silent, and Fate sighed out in relief when nothing came out of the large life pod tubes near the walls. "Don't worry, they will be activated later, after we have had time to ensure their personalities and remove any plans you have on impregnating them with your offspring."

Jail's head fell back to lay on the ground, laughing at his situation. "Simply amazing... To be beaten so easily by someone from the future! I must know!"

Ignoring him, Fate brought up a monitor before her. "Hayate?"

"Yes, Lightning?" Hayate asked back, her face appearing.

"The whole disguise thing didn't work, I had to subdue Jail. Send Teana and Subaru to my current location to pick him up. He is restrained." Pointing Bardiche at the man, she formed a barrier over him to prevent anyone from getting close to the man and t make sure he couldn't leave even if he managed to somehow break the binds. "I'm proceeding with the mission objectives."

"Roger." The screen cut off and Fate stood.

Looking around, Fate was about to make her way to a side exit but a loud explosion made her change courses and run as fast as she could to the sounds of battle that were now getting louder. By the time she reached a re-enforced door, the noise had gone silent. Several slashes with Bardiche granted her entry to a new room and she felt the bitter sting of cold wash over her body. Walking in, she took in the situation at once, red eyes scanning. Lexus, along with his two men, were all laying down at various locations in the room. Red was smeared near them, as well as around the three people who were not unconscious. "Erio! Caro! Lutecia!" Fate ran forward, but stopped when the male shakingly rose his spear to point at her.

"I won't let you hurt them," he declared seriously. Despite his threatening words, he still collapsed to one knee and was held onto by both summoners. Blood was leaking over his right eye and he seemed to have trouble keeping his weapon at the ready. Caro was holding him tightly, also hurt, and Lutecia was on the other side, seemingly better than the rest and only showed a few cuts and bruises.

Fate swallowed and looked at the group, seeing desperation in Erio's eyes, along with the fierce determination to protect those next to him, even if it meant killing her to do so.

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-9:

"Erio," Fate spoke softly while resisting the urge to run to the group to see if they were okay. "I'm not going to attack you..." The boy gripped his spear harder when she took a step forward. "Really... I just want to make sure you are okay."

"Liar!" Erio shouted back at her harshly. "Don't come any closer!" Standing, he took a weak step towards Fate and prepared himself. "I won't let anyone hurt them!"

Fate held up both her hands. "Erio, calm down." Taking one more tentative step closer, she tried to make the lad lower his spear. "Just put down your weapon and-" Her red eyes caught the motion that others would normally miss. Lightning arced from Erio's boots and launched him forward. Acting on impulse, Fate blurred as well, side stepping the attack and wrapping him in binds at the same time. As their speed slowed down and they became visible again, Erio hit the ground and slid, yelling in pain as he rolled a few times. Fate landed on her knees and instantly pointed her scythe at Lutecia and Caro. "Don't move!" she warned loudly.

The blonde slowly walked backwards towards the panting Erio and crouched down next to him, keeping her eyes on the girls while talking to him. "Are you okay, Erio?" She got a grunt in reply so she put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop struggling, you'll make it worse."

"What do you care?" Erio asked angrily, looking up at her.

"I told you, I'm your sister." Fate answered softly. "I'm going to take your weapon now," She gently pried his hand off of Strada and it immediately went into watch form once it was out of his grasp. Pocketing it, she looked back at the girls to make sure they didn't advance. "I'm going to undo your binds... Don't try to escape, okay?" Erio glared at her but nodded, staying still when he was released. "Lutecia, Caro, come over here." Fate requested softly. "Erio, where are you hurt at?"

The red head slowly sat up with Fate's help. "Why are you doing this? You could be put in prison for helping an enemy."

"You're not my enemy," Fate told him gently. "I'm sorry I can't prove it other than telling you that I was born the same way you were: Project F."

"Impossible," Erio countered. "The doctor would have told us."

"I'm sorry, but its true," Fate's hand went to block an insect from stinging her neck by making a barrier. "Lutecia, stop that."

"How did you...?" The purple haired girl opened her palm and allowed the unharmed insect to land on her.

"I help train you, in my world." Fate looked at the group sadly, knowing that there would be no way for them to compromise after all she's heard them do. "Listen... I won't turn you in, on one condition."

Caro blinked at her, but still spoke up. "What do you mean?"

Fate softened her gaze. "I know you are all good people... Promise me you won't do anything wrong anymore."

"Like I could," Erio told her while standing up with the girl's help. "We're wanted all over this planet."

"There is a planet nearby, a wildlife conservative... you can get a job there protecting the animals from poachers... Its what you do in my world. The land is beautiful, and I'm sure they'll provide you with a house."

Erio looked at the woman once more. "You're really going to let us go... aren't you?"

"Be safe..." Fate told him softly. "Caro, Lutecia... Take care of him for me."

"Of course!" Caro answered at once, eyes wide.

Lutecia looked at Fate once more. "There isn't any other catch?"

"One," Fate replied simply. " I want to hug Erio." She opened her arms.

"Why?" Erio asked, skeptical.

"Please," Fate asked again, remembering the first time she held the boy in her world.

Erio stayed silent for a while longer before reluctantly limping to her. "Fine." He allowed Fate to wrap her arms around him and hold him against her body. Her hands ran along his back gently and words went into his ear so only he could hear them.

"Be safe, Erio. I trust you to do what's right and to take care of them..." She gave him a small squeeze and pulled back, kissing his forehead much to his surprise. "Okay?" She placed Strada back into his hand and closed his fingers around it.

"... Okay." Erio nodded to her and stepped back away from the hold. "Girls, let's go." With that, he put his arms around Lutecia and Caro, supporting each of them as they held him up.

"Good job, Sir." Bardiche's metallic voice told her.

"I believe in them..." Her red eyes looked at the beaten, unconscious figures of Lexus and his men. "...Am I a bad person for thinking they got what was coming to them?"

"Yes sir," Bardiche answered again. "But I agree."

The words made Fate smile. "Now to contact Hayate and find my sister and Nanoha."

Spoiler for AlternativeS 8-10 (Chapter 8 final):

“Is this it?” Nanoha asked, more to herself than the person she was with. Gliding along beside Alicia, she scanned the new room with sharp blue eyes. There were scattered tables and large glass tubes against the wall, all of which were empty. Curiously, she moved to the far end of the area where an open container was and peered into it. “These are life pods, aren't they?”

“Yeah,” Alicia replied softly. Her red eyes swept the area but she walked to a desk on the far side, guided by the device in her hand. “Here…” Kneeling, she reared back her hand to punch through an old container and pulled out a small red crystal. “I’m getting a match,” she spoke up after checking once more. “Nanoha, this is it.”

“Seriously? Oh thank god.” Nanoha let out a large sigh of relief. “I was so worried that it wouldn’t be here, or worse: destroyed. Les get out of here and back to the van, Hayate is probably really pissed at me right now. I should have gone back after fighting those few skirmishes in the hallways getting here…”

Alicia stayed silent a moment, standing and looking at the empty life pods. Reaching out, she touched the opened container and felt sick to her stomach when an old memory came back to her. The first vision she had ever seen had been through a murky blueish-green liquid. Her mother was nowhere to be found and the last thing she could remember was laying on a bed with Precia hovering over her with a terrified expression. “Hey… Nanoha?” Her voice was soft, full of pain and sadness. “Have you ever thought about what it would be like if Sis stayed here with us?”

Nanoha felt an uneasy feeling wash through her body. “What do you mean?”

Alicia turned to look over at Nanoha, holding up the relic. “This is the only relic that can send her back correctly, right?”

“Alicia…” Nanoha held out her hand. “Give me the relic, please. I need to seal its power so they can’t trace us.”

“You can’t say you haven’t thought about it.” The blonde stepped back when Nanoha glided over to her. “If we destroy this, she will be able to stay with us… I’ll have a family again, and you will be able to finally have someone who can truly love you!”

“Alicia,” Nanoha spoke softly, still moving forward carefully. “We both know that isn’t going to happen. Fate-chan has a family she needs to go home to… “

“Her family is here!” The woman shouted back, gripping the crystal and pulling it back so Nanoha couldn’t reach for it. “You don’t know what it’s like to grow up like I did. Living on the streets, not knowing what happened… Why I woke up like that! I survived off nothing and stole just to eat… I made a name for myself and started doing things my own way...” She started walking in a half circle around Nanoha, keeping her eyes on the woman. “Then Fate came to me, my own sister, my twin! She understood everything without me even asking!”

“She’s not meant to stay here,” Nanoha kept her voice calm and steady. “Alicia, you know it as well… She needs to go home.”

“Haven’t you ever had something worth risking everything for?” Alicia asked sadly, tightening her hold on the relic.

Nanoha gripped Raising Heart firmly. “Yes, I have.”

“Then you understand.” Alicia raised her free hand up before her. “Juliette!” A confirmation in Latin came to her and her skin was promptly replaced by a metallic glove, long cat-like fingernails on the tips. “I’m sorry, Nanoha, I can’t give this to you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Nanoha prepared herself, judging her next few moves in advance and observing the device that she didn’t even know the blonde had.

“Me either…” She gave Nanoha a sad smile. “But I can’t lose my sister.” Raising her armored hand up, she looked down at the relic and slammed her claws down to destroy it. Just when the crystal was going to be pierced, a sharp blast from Nanoha knocked her back and caused her to slide along the ground. The relic clattered to the floor and slid, followed closely by Nanoha. “No!” Alicia flexed her fingers, making red strings dance around the gem and slicing Nanoha’s hand in several places when she tried to grab it.

“Raising Heart!” Nanoha’s voice shouted out as she slammed the bottom of her staff onto the ground, breaking it apart with a small explosion and sending the crystal up into the air and out of the thread barrier.

“No you don’t!” Alicia darted forward quickly, leaping at the end of her dash and grabbing Nanoha’s hand before it connected with the crystal. Threads looped down Nanoha’s arm and tightened, shredding the cloth covering her arm and drawing blood. Nanoha grunted, but still managed to make several blast come from her free hand and crash into the teen’s back.

Twisting her arm free, Nanoha pointed her staff at the girl and fired, sending her sliding back across the floor. Despite the attack, she saw the relic follow Alicia by twisted threads along the ground. With a curse, she ran forward as well while the blonde rolled from the settling dust. The two reached the relic at the same time, clashing together with a mix of red string and pink energy shots. “Alicia! Think about what Fate-chan wants!”

Alicia grunted and kneed Nanoha, only to be deflected by an armored shin. “I can make her happy! WE can make her happy!” Tangling Nanoha’s right arm with the thread, she pulled the arm down enough to land a clean punch to her face. “No one will ever know!”

“I will know!” Nanoha shouted back, loading two cartridges into her staff and firing again. The explosion broke the walls of the room and made part of the ceiling collapse at once, showing them with debris and smoke.

“Think!” Alicia commanded, blurring from the rubble and snaring the gem once more, only to have her strings cut by well placed delayed traps. “Nanoha! Let’s be a family together! You will be my sister-in-law! I don’t want to fight you!”

“You’re not really giving me a choice!” Nanoha screamed, dodging threads that tried to ensnare her. “Alicia, stop this! We can still be friends, even after Fate-chan is gone!”

“I want her too!” Alicia almost cried out, running again and getting into close combat with the woman. “Please! Let me keep her! I’ve wanted a family ever since I could remember!” Blow after blow was exchanged, leaving them both panting heavily and struggling. “Nanoha!”

“No!” The woman loaded another cartridge and shot a beam forward, collapsing more of the floor and exposing the level below them. “This is what’s right!” Tears fell unbidden from her eyes as she grabbed the relic off the ground. “We have to send her back! I don’t want this any more than you do!”

“Liar!” Alicia pulled her clawed hand back, ripping Nanoha towards herself. “You don’t love her!”

“I do!” Nanoha cried desperately, slamming a new clip into her staff as she was pulled forward. “More than anything!” The shells flew thick as she charged her attack. Alicia spread her fingers apart as she reared back to punch, red strings glistening in the light as they prepared to wrap and choke the girl’s body. The two collided roughly, spinning each other around as half of the energy blast exploded around them. Alicia turned and hit Nanoha hard in the gut, doubling her over and robbing her of her breath. “Please…” Nanoha coughed out. “Don’t do this… we can… be friends…”

Alicia felt a sob come out as she prepared her next attack. “Then be my friend and let me be happy…” She saw Nanoha’s eyes soften sadly and a cartridge fly out from her staff. Not taking the chance to let her fire, Alicia dashed forward quickly, blurring the line of Nanoha’s sight and tackling her fiercely. The two shot backwards and through the exposed floor to the ground beneath them. Landing harshly, Alicia reared her hand back to land another punch, but stopped when she saw the shocked look in the girl’s eyes beneath her. Slowly, blood trickled from the corner of Nanoha’s lip and red eyes shook as they lowered their sight. Nanoha’s front was stained red, two metal support beams jutting from her stomach and chest. “N…no…”

Nanoha slowly raised her staff as Alicia stepped back in fear. The shaking tip of Raising Heart aimed at the girl and a metallic voice came in the place of its master’s. “Fire!” The gathered energy was released all at once, crashing into the now defenseless woman and sending her flying in the air and through the wall behind her. When the rubble clattered onto the floor, so did her staff. Blue eyes looked up at the ceiling hazily, hand holding loosely onto a dust covered red crystal.

“I… protected it…Fate-chan…” Nanoha whispered to herself, breathing heavily in exhaustion and pain. Her body shifted carefully, trying to pull herself up, but stopped almost before it started when fire danced around her wounds and glass seemed to shoot through her veins. “Ah…nngh…” She couldn’t summon enough strength to scream, despite wishing to. Instead, she groaned and coughed, almost welcoming the pain numbing haziness trying to overcome her.

“Nanoha!? Alicia!?” Fate’s voice sounded from somewhere above her. “Answer me!”

“Fate-…chan…” Nanoha barely found the strength to whisper, vision swimming as she turned her head to look up through the hole in the ceiling.

Fate ran through the room desperately, looking around before hopping in the air and moving to the exposed ground. “Nanoha!? Alicia!? Where are-” Her words cut off as the sight of Nanoha lying on the ground came before her. “Nanoha!?”

“Fate-chan…” Nanoha spoke weakly, a small smile trying to form on her lips. “You… found me…” Her vision was soon filled with the worried face of Fate above her.

“Nanoha… oh god…” Fate’s hands shook as they tried to find some place to touch the girl that wouldn’t hurt her. “Hayate!” Her voice screamed out frantically, Bardiche already bringing up the connection without being asked to. “Hayate! Nanoha’s hurt! Send the medical team! Quickly!”

Nanoha tried to raise her hand, grunting in pain as the simple act sent spasms through her body. “I… got it…” Nanoha told the woman, feeling relief wash over her when Fate took the item from her and carelessly shoved it into a pouch on her jacket so she could instead hold the hand.

“Shh, don’t talk Sweetie. Help is on the way, okay?”

The injured girl shook her head sadly, fighting the blackness that kept struggling to consume her. “I’m…sorry.”

“No! No, don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!” Fate held Nanoha’s hand with both of hers, moving to be closer to the girl. “You’ll be okay…” Despite her words, tears still fell from her red eyes. “Nanoha…”

“I decided…” Nanoha began, weakly trying to lift her head to see Fate better and being aided by the blonde at once. “That… that if I was… in your place…” She swallowed thickly, tasting the copper tang in her mouth once more. “I would… want my other self to… do everything in her power… to send you back.” A soft gasp made her cough lightly, blood flecking her lips. “Because… I know that I love you… enough for both of us.” She offered a small smile that was laced with care. “So I did everything…I could… to make sure you got back… to her.”

“Nanoha…” Fate felt a sob come out against her will and she kissed the girl’s forehead. “Don’t say that… you’ll be fine…”

“Please promise me,” Nanoha’s voice started to get weaker, making Fate hold onto her tighter. “That you’ll love her enough… for both of us.”

“Yes,” Fate whispered against the girl. “I promise. I promise you, Nanoha.” She looked down into the slate blue eyes of her friend and tried her best to smile for her. “You have my word.” Nanoha gave the blonde one last fond look before slowly closing her eyes, head gently falling to the side. “Nanoha…” Fate whispered the name once more, huddling over the girl and holding her close.

Please post your replies in spoilers.

Spoiler for Reply:

Wow....somehow, I kind of saw that as a possibility, but it's still sad to see Alt!Alicia and Alt!Nanoha fighting each other for the relic . Poor Alt!Vivio....she lost her mama . It's a powerful way to end the story, definitely!

I do feel though, that there should be an epilogue of some kind, where Fate succeeds in returning to her universe (or not, whatever)....just something to show the aftermath of this scene , and what came about because of Nanoha's sacrifice.

[Satashi]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Sorry for the double post!

Spoiler for Reply:

Wow....somehow, I kind of saw that as a possibility, but it's still sad to see Alt!Alicia and Alt!Nanoha fighting each other for the relic . Poor Alt!Vivio....she lost her mama . It's a powerful way to end the story, definitely!

I do feel though, that there should be an epilogue of some kind, where Fate succeeds in returning to her universe (or not, whatever)....just something to show the aftermath of this scene , and what came about because of Nanoha's sacrifice.

Spoiler for reply:

Don't worry, there's a chapter 9 that does all that. I'll post it later tonight or tomorrow, after giving everyone a chance to read this and comment.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Part 1 and Part 2 of Crime Never Sleeps...

Now Hayate and Auris begin playing their games...and enter the Shadows!

Crime Never Sleeps
Part 3

Spoiler for Crime Never Sleeps, part 3:

The next morning at 06:00 sharp, Auris marched into Hayate’s office, by-passing the startled secretary and shutting the door on her when she tried to speak. “Chief Hayate.” She wasn’t surprised to see Hayate already there—indeed, she had expected it. Hayate would want to be ahead of the game, and so far Auris was content to let her have the leading spot.

“Director Auris,” Hayate said pleasantly, glancing at the door. “Is there an emergency?”

“I have an appointment,” drawled Auris, seating herself across from Hayate. She saw Hayate wave at her window, but didn’t turn around to see what the secretary did in response to that. “And I believe we have a case to put together? The first court proceeding will be in two days.” She paused, then tilted her head towards the secretary. “She seems new to the job.”

“She’s on a school internship. Did you find anything at the crime scenes?” Hayate asked mildly, sliding the Gallant file towards herself. So, Auris noted, she had been working on the case. The folder was thicker than yesterday, so Hayate had either gotten more information or she had pulled up more research. From the snippets of information her bugs had picked up by the secretary’s desk, quite a few dignitaries have visited the Lieutenant-general in the past day. Likely Hayate had to dig deeper in order to give everyone the answers they were demanding.

“Nothing. What did you find?”

“Quite a bit,” Hayate replied, passing over a sheaf of papers. “Here’s a transcript of the interviews I had with Raven yesterday. I also sent you the video recordings in your email.”

“You interviewed her?” Auris exclaimed, staring at Hayate. “Why wasn’t I told? I should have been the one to do it!”

“Ah, I just felt that we could save some time, if I did it while you personally surveyed the crime scenes,” Hayate sounded surprised, but her voice was too smooth to be genuine. “You’re welcome to interview her again if you like, to see if there’s anything I might have missed in my questioning.”

Tightly, Auris ground out, “I thought we were working this case together.”

“We are—which is why I thought you wouldn’t mind.” Damn, there was nothing Auris could say to that. Leaning forward, Hayate smiled, propping her elbows on her desk. “Besides, both you and I are high-profile officers, would you say?” Hayate asked, going on a tangent.

Suspiciously, Auris answered, “Yes…”

“So we have a bit of a reputation following us, correct?”

“Your point, Lieutenant-general.”

“I thought we were on a first-name basis, Director Auris…and my point is that I have a reputation for being kind, while you’re known for your efficiency.” Spreading her hands in a helpless gesture, Hayate said earnestly, “I reasoned that I would likely be able to establish a better rapport with a grieving, frightened girl than you would for an interview.”

Auris breathed deeply before shrugging, picking up the transcript and skimming through it rapidly. “So what are we deciding on? Are we prosecutors or defendants?” That wasn’t really a question, they both knew.

She didn’t have to watch Hayate’s face to know what kind of conflict the other woman would be going through—Auris was just as certain that she knew what Hayate’s answer was going to be in the end. As expected, Hayate made one last cautious appeal.

“There is some merit in taking the case as defendants…the majority of public opinion appears to be—”

“We’re not looking for public approval.” Auris stared hard at Hayate, keeping her voice even but she didn’t bother trying to disguise the cold rage in her gaze. “We’re looking for justice for one of our own. The Shadows will not watch a murderer get off with a slap on the wrist because people feel sorry that she’s a minor and a vigilante.”

She watched Hayate take a breath, a slow draining of hope from her face and an impassive mask build over her features as she stared at a picture of Raven Gallant on her desk, the girl smiling and winking at the camera, wearing a school uniform. Auris waited, wanting Hayate to say it herself, to say the outcome she had dreaded and Auris had desired out loud.

“So we want Raven Gallant charged as an adult for the murder of NSIS Agent Keen Touring,” Hayate stated.

“That’s it?” Auris tested.

Hayate also slipped out of character from the game they were playing, her ice-blue eyes sharp as she said lowly, “I don’t think any accidents will be happening to Raven Gallant, do you? Not with such good officers from Long Arch watching her cell.”

“Of course not,” Auris replied, rising from her chair and collecting her documents. This meeting was over. “Long Arch officers are some of the best.”

But my Shadows are better.

***

The large briefing room in the NSIS hall was hardly ever used for actual briefings. Most missions were given in smaller rooms, filled with only the agents involved, comprising of mostly singles, pairs or the rare group for larger operations. The only time Auris had ever seen all the Shadows in-office gathered together in a single room was when Admiral Harlaown had ceded to her directorship of the NSIS in a brief, unremarkable ceremony a handful of months ago. They had been silent then, only applauding mechanically at the end, although Auris didn’t take that as a lack of support from them, merely a lack of energy from the job that sucked the life out of them.

Today, a low buzz of whispers greeted her as she entered the room, the murmurs quickly quieting into silence as she stood at the head of the long table.

“As most of you know, we have been successful in gaining the rights to pursue the Gallant case, who murdered Agent Keen Touring while he was undercover with the Hellhounds last Wednesday.” Auris watched their reactions: Valiant looked too expressionless; Storm looked unsurprised while his partner Alphine looked mildly concerned, revealing the true worry she was hiding; Alvar Lonsdale shuffled his ever-present deck of cards, his eyes troubled; Clara Tagus, sitting in the corner, gave Auris a stare and a look that demanded private explanation. Auris didn’t have time to note any other immediate reactions before she continued with her briefing.

“During this time, Gallant is under guard by Long Arch officers.”

“It’s our case,” Tagus said, causing heads to turn back her way. She had an utterly normal appearance and demeanour, although she was displaying a dangerous aura at the moment. She didn’t have near the success rate or the kill count of Alphine, but Tagus didn’t kill with magic or distant weapons—indeed, she never used anything but her two hands and a thin wire. Her end scenes were neater to clean up after. Clara Tagus’ hands twitched as she repeated, “It’s our case. Why is Yagami butting in?”

“Yagami is working on this case as well,” Lonsdale pointed out, rapping his deck of cards against the table and punctuating his words with wooden cracks. “She is entirely authorized to do so—and most higher-ups would say that she’s more authorized than the NSIS. It’s not what we do.”

“It’s one of us who was murdered. One of us!”

Storm interjected then, his voice a languid drawl. “Are we all assisting in this case or what? Is that why you’ve called us, ma’am?”

“We can’t help out directly,” Lonsdale spoke before Auris could. “Although the NSIS has jurisdiction over the Gallant case, only specific circumstances could justify relieving us of our normal cases to assist with a simple prosecution case. The red tape and fuss could cause Director Gaiz to have her justification questioned by a review panel for the superfluous action. A review panel which includes Lieutenant-general Yagami, no less.”

“And she knows it,” Jian scowled. “So that’s why she’s not worried about it. Why she’s not taking us seriously.”

“It’s not a matter of whether the Lieutenant-general takes the NSIS seriously or not,” Auris said, interrupting the tangent debate at where she felt was the right time. “The politics don’t matter. What matters is that Raven Gallant killed one of us and might walk away from it lightly. I may have to call upon some elements of your profiles in order to help put this murderer away, and I wished to ask your consent.”

“You don’t need to ask us,” Lonsdale said, riffling a perfect bridge before squaring his cards on the table. He grinned at her. “But of course you can, I’m speaking for all of us.”

No one dissented, but Auris noted that Lutecia Alphine twitched, her red eyes narrowing before her expression went impassive again.

“You want to make Touring sympathetic,” Storm said astutely. “He’s the human one, not Gallant.”

“Good luck with that,” Charlie smirked, and although he was insulting the dead he had a certain wryly honest tone in his voice that made people agree with him rather than become infuriated. Besides, he was a veteran among a profession occupied and retired from by youngsters. “There was a reason why Touring was chosen to go undercover in a violent gang. Some things even the Shadows can’t teach.”

“It’s easy,” Jian said seriously, “to cover up anything with the right mask.”

“Not surprising.” Tagus smiled, baring her teeth grimly. “After all, an eleven-year old girl’s mask managed to conceal the heart of a killer.”

“We never know what people are concealing,” Auris agreed.

“I know little girls,” Lutecia spoke up then, her chair screeching backwards as she stood up in contained anger. “And I know what a killer’s heart is, Valiant. That girl is concealing nothing but the anguish and terror of losing everyone she had ever cared about and the pain of making a mistake that destroyed her forever.” She turned and walked out, letting the door close automatically behind her silently.

The discussion continued, but Auris only gave it half her attention. She was surprised that Alphine had taken so long before walking out, but Auris expected Hayate to know by tomorrow that Auris was stirring resentment within the Shadows over Raven Gallant. Really, soft-hearted girls like Alphine were too easy to manipulate, despite all their self-perceived wisdom.

***

“They’re going to use the fact that I used to be considered a criminal against us,” Hayate said matter-of-factly, pacing in front of the whiteboard with scribbled evidence labels and argument suggestions. “So you’ll have to be the one to present that part of the case, to prevent the defence from trying to undermine our arguments by turning it into a personal attack on me.”

“It would be a strong argument for the jury,” Auris warned, tapping her pen against the table. Strictly speaking, she didn’t have to take notes as Hayate’s Unison Device was transcribing their discussion and working plan, but Auris wrote a few key notes for herself. “Once they form an opinion of your actions, they won’t hear the rest of what we say.”

“I’ve already thought of that,” Hayate surprised her. “I have a full set of reports from the Book of Darkness incident, showing the non-lethal methods my Knights used to try and save my life. We’ll present this in the beginning as evidence of previous cases of leniency, emphasizing how no lives were taken in those cases, unlike this one. By bringing it up ourselves, that will take the power from our opponents.”

“That would work, as the jury is made up of TSAB ranking officers, they should all have some understanding of the details of that case,” Auris agreed, shuffling through the summaries of the cases Hayate had researched for that argument. “Wait, you should remove Lutecia Alphine’s case from here.”

“Why?”

“It’s unconfirmed whether she had killed anyone or not on her missions…there’s evidence facing both ways, and while Alphine claims to have not killed anyone while under Jail’s employ—”

“If she said she didn’t,” Hayate said sharply, “then she didn’t.”

“Fine,” Auris answered brusquely, waving that aside. “Either way, she’s now a Shadow, and her kill count is the highest of all our agents—even including our veterans. It’s not common knowledge, but it would break our argument if someone managed to pull that up.”

“That’s true, there’s no need for that,” Hayate agreed easily, removing those sheets. “The less they look into Shadow business, the better it is all around.”

You just don’t want to ruin Alphine’s life by risking her Shadow life being dragged into the open. But Auris couldn’t complain—Alphine was one of her best assassins, and losing her would severely diminish the Shadows’ skill sets.

“Alright then,” Auris said, looking back over the remaining sheets. “This looks good. I want to see Gallant today.”

Rap. Hayate squared all her sheets against her table-top. “You want to see her?”

“I feel that I should look her in the face,” Auris said, knowing that her words were true enough to come across as sincere. “If we’re going to do what we’re doing, I think that I owe her the courtesy of speaking to her. At least once.”

She watched Hayate start breathing heavily, her hands shaking on her desk. Auris hadn’t quite intended on making that a personal shot, but once she remembered some hidden details about the Book of Darkness incident, she kept her mouth shut on her apology, interested in seeing Hayate’s response.

The dark brunette laid her papers down, closing the file with one hand. She raised her head, looking at Auris with a mixed expression. The only emotion Auris was able to recognize was a sense of calm, of a love that came from forgiveness. It made Auris uneasy.

“I’ll give you a guide and let the guard on duty know.” Hayate put a hand to her face, turning in her chair to face her wall-high window. The sun was setting then, transforming the Lieutenant-general’s domain into a paradise, a golden city. But both of them knew better. That paradise was nothing but gilded buildings and appearances.

Her father saw the corruption in Cranagan and he risked his career to clean it up. Auris wasn’t naïve; she knew that her father had made a few deals with the devil himself in his attempt to achieve his goal. Hayate would like to believe that she can do the same while keeping the integrity of a hero.

There’s a reason why people rant and rail against the “higher ups”. They’re the ones who make the gray choices so that the heroes can stay snowy-white.

Auris rose, ignoring the glare she got from the floating Unison Device and saluted Hayate’s back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ma’am.”

Spoiler for Author's Note:

Charlie and Victor Storm belong to RadiantBeam, while the other Shadow agents were created by me . Auris and Lutecia belong to neither of us, obviously .

Ah, I have to work faster...I'm nearly finished the story, but roadblocks are hard to get over!

Man, politics is a nasty game. You can practically see Hayate being split down the middle here. She wants to help Raven and knows she can, but at the same time, she has a lot of pressure to avenge the murder of the Shadow who, despite whatever he did in the past, was still an innocent victim in the whole situation.

Overall, it's pretty ugly. I'm curious to see how Hayate wins this one.

Somehow, I get the feeling Auris should watch how much dissent she stirs among the Shadows. It might cause her some nasty business.

Minor nitpick: his name is Victor Stormhawk, actually. Storm is just Lutecia's nickname for him.

[deathcurse]

Originally Posted by Satashi

Spoiler for reply:

Don't worry, there's a chapter 9 that does all that. I'll post it later tonight or tomorrow, after giving everyone a chance to read this and comment.

Ah, my bad . I saw (Chapter 8 final) and thought that you meant it was the final chapter overall !

@RadiantBeam:
Poor Hayate . It seems she's often the Woobie in my stories !

Auris is starting off, and she's in a way trying to establish her own foothold in the Shadows (and she's doing moderately well, if you consider that she has a few agents who are loyal to her), but yeah, it wouldn't be good for her in the long run ^^.

And @_@, nitpick noted! I'll change that in my main version .

[sniperk]

Spoiler for Comment:

Ok... Wow...? I tottaly DIDN'T see that coming. I thought that maybe Alicia could somehow doublecross Nanoha and Fate, but not for those reasons.

Imagine Vivio being raised by Hayate? Brr... Scary.

I agree with deathcurse completely. Powerful way to end a story, but since you said there's an epilogue, then I can't wait to see.

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by Satashi

Please post your replies in spoilers.

Spoiler:

*cries* Wow. I, uh... wow. Alicia just sacrificed everything... and now there's no way there's a place for her in the AltS!World. Hayate wouldn't take kindly to what she's done... nor would Fate, and that would be the final insult.

I see two outcomes here for Alicia: 1. Start of Darkness (real darkness; a real villian is born) and 2. Suicide. I really can't see any other way her psyche handles the beating it has taken, and is about to take (from Fate's betrayed speech). I don't want either.

Of course, that's all assuming she survived the blast into the wall, but considering her implied abilities, I don't think she would have died. Plus, it removes a lot of the drama and interest in further plot.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

And @_@, nitpick noted! I'll change that in my main version .

Another little thing, somehow it slipped my mind (I'm sorry!), but Victor and Lutecia aren't officially partners. They're both solo agents who happen to work together a lot because they compliment each other well, but they've never been official partners like Miranda and Lutecia were.