Originally from the StrifeHart meme on LJ (I did say that I get easily distracted by shiny objects, and this one in particular, so it's your own fault you if you didn't see this coming...

Anyway, I really, really hope this is actually interesting to people, because goodness knows I got completely carried away with it (hence it's a chapter fic, and not just a oneshot...)

To clear up possible early-on confusion - Leon, Cid, Vincent, Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie all live together. Yuffie is the only minor and the one of them still in highschool - she's just turned 17 in this, and is a senior. They grew up together, and decided to live together to cut costs. Vincent and Aerith are Yuffie's legal guardians, but are not married, for obvious reasons (see pairings... _).

Vincent's an English teacher (Yuffie has his class right after lunch period), as I seem to be extremely attached to that job for him. Cid owns a garage/repair shop, and deals with everything from moving vans to microwaves. Tifa owns Seventh Heaven, where Leon helps out, and Aerith takes care of the house / all of them, as well as volunteering at various places.

Prompt: Squall is a master jewel thief, and Cloud's been sent to stop him.

Summary:

Pairings: Cleon, Valenwind, Possible others

He tapped the security code out on the number pad with gloved fingers, careful not to leave anything that could be used to find him – not a hair, not a finger print, nothing. This time would be just like all the others: the police would come, find nothing but the carefully printed card, and start another frenzy of investigation that would turn up nothing. Then the whole mess would die down for a while, or at least until he found the need to strike again.

Simple as that. Routine. Boring.

Sometimes he wished it were more interesting. A generation ago, hell, even a few years ago, it hadn't been like this. There were investigators actually worth the tax money that went to paying them, ones who could reliably play the game.

Cat and mouse, you could call it, though cops and robbers would be more appropriate. Either way, there weren't any worthy players on the other side now. They were dead, or retired, and those left just didn't care.

This time, though… This time should be different. Better. He'd heard rumors – that the city was fed up with him running free, and had nabbed a decent detective.

… 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9… there. The door clicked open as the pass code was approved, revealing a windowless, medium sized room, occupied only by a glass display case and a state-of-the-art security system.

That is, an offline state-of-the-art security system. Not totally off – that would surely rouse attention – but there was a path made clear. All it took was taking the right route from the door to the dead-center display case and back again.

The intruder slid and twisted (because, as the one who had turned off the system so kindly pointed out, 'straight forward paths are for losers.'), neatly ending up in front of the prize.

It was a beautiful, one of the most beautiful he'd ever seen. A flawless emerald, about the size of a quarter, cut into a perfectly symmetrical heart, sitting serenely on a black cushion.

Grey eyes flicked to the side to read the label, confirming what he already knew.

The Heart of Earth. One of a collection of four gems, identical in size and shape, differing only in type of stone. Their maker had made only these. Well… he had made others, but once this set was completed, he'd destroyed all his other creations. These were his masterpieces, some of the most perfect stones known to man, and he hadn't been able to bear the thought of not attaining such perfection again.

So he committed suicide, shortly after giving the gems to his beloved.

There were tales of a fifth stone, though. Rumors that it would bring soul mates together, as the jeweler and his love had been.

The thief (okay, fine: unauthorized-procurer-of-expensive-if-not-priceless-items-by-less-than-legal-means.) wasn't sure if it existed, much less if the stories were true. It would certainly be fun to find out, though he was pretty sure he'd need the first four to find where it was.

Perhaps this rumored new detective would even present a challenge for him. That would make it so much more fun.

What was his name…?

Oh, yes. Cloud.

***##***

Twenty minutes later a security guard noticed the door to a certain room was open, and a glass display case was devoid of a key item.

Replacing the (priceless, may I remind you) Heart was a simply rectangle of cardstock, unremarkable except for the word printed on it, in a plain, blocky script.

"Squall"

***##***

About half and hour after that, one Cloud Strife was roused from his warm, comfy bed by the annoyingly loud ring tone that heralded his boss calling.

At three in the morning.

" 'Lo?" Cloud yawned, flipping open his cell phone.

"Strife. There's been a break-in at the museum."

"Hm? What'd they take…?"

"The mystery-man again. Squall. He made off with the Heart of Earth."

"He did what now?" Well. That was one way to wake up. Roughly three cups of caffeine, hold the coffee that might dilute it.

"Squall – the one we hired to specifically to catch – has stolen a priceless jewel from the city. I want you here in twenty minutes, Strife. Best get used to odd hours, he likes to switch around when he steals things."

And then there was only the vaguely annoying beeping noise that signaled he'd been hung up on. Cloud spent a few quiet seconds staring at his phone and listening to this vaguely annoying beeping noise before blinking and scrambling to get dressed.

One does not take one's boss lightly. Especially if said boss is Sephiroth, and one would like to keep ones job, life, and important body parts.

***##***

Aerith idly glanced at the paper Cid was reading as she filled the mechanic's mug with coffee, and then looked back at the front page, actually reading it this time.

The coffee pot crashed to the ground, immediately gaining everyone's attention, as the normally-calm brunette turned several shades of red (and a few interesting purples) before turning on her heel and storming upstairs.

"…" Four pairs of eyes followed her progress, wary of moving until she was gone.

The answer to the (wisely) unspoken question came in the form of lots of yelling several moments later.

'Several' being, of course, the exact number of moments needed to get to Leon's room. Speaking of…

"LEON!" Oh, yeah, Aerith was pissed. That didn't happen often, but when it did…

Bad Things tended to occur.

Today, 'Bad Things' seemed to involve being pushed down the stairs.

"… ow. Aerith, that hurt!" Now, it should be noted that Leon is not usually a whiny person. But keep in mind that he's also not usually dragged out of bed and shoved down the stairs.

… not by Aerith, anyway. Tifa and Yuffie were a completely different story, even if they did prefer tactics like loud noises and cold water. "What was that for?"

"That was for being a reckless idiot. I thought you said it'd take them at least until the museum opened to find it! Well, it's 7:15, the museum doesn't open for another 45 minutes, and guess what's on the front page?"

Cid frowned at his paper, then flipped to the front. It was a slightly interesting habit of his to read the paper back to front, one that no one questioned overly much. In very large print across the top it proclaimed:

JEWEL THEIF STRIKES AGAIN!

'Squall' Steals Priceless Emerald!

The page then went on to give details about the emerald (and for those who'd been living under a rock, about Squall. That particular section didn't amount to a whole lot of information, though, as very little was fact and not rumor.), how and why it might have been taken, and various useless bits of gossip.

But there was one key, golden detail, that was the only thing Leon had been looking for.

"… The team led by Inspector Sephiroth Jenova has acquired a new member, Detective Cloud Strife, and they hope to…"

Leon grined at the newspaper, then winced when Aerith thwacked him on the head with a wooden spoon. "Well?"

"I, uh, may have forgotten to shut the door on my way out…"

"AGAIN?" Yuffie demanded, retrieving her toast as the toaster 'binged' at her, and smearing it with blueberry jam, before slapping the two pieces together as a sort of toasted blueberry jam sandwich. "That's what, the third time in a row?"

"Forth." Vincent interjected, flipping a page in his book and stealthily swiping Cid's coffee, seeing as the rest was currently spilled on the floor. "And he left the window unlocked the time before that."

"Speaking of time, though…" Tifa looked pointedly at the clock. "Shouldn't you be off to work by now?"

Vincent finally looked up from his book and, upon seeing the time, stood up very, very fast.

Yuffie joined him in the mad dash to gather papers and get ready. Aerith just rolled her eyes at him and tossed a piece of chocolate into each of the brown-paper-bag lunches on the counter, anger forgotten.

"Yuffie, do you have all your homework?" Receiving a nod, the flower girl handed over the bat labeled with a capital letter 'Y.'

After confirming that, no, he hadn't forgotten his grade book, and yes, all the pages of poetry he was supposed to hand back today were in the proper folder and graded, Vincent also got his lunch, predictably marked with a 'V.'

The two of them ran out the door, Vincent grabbing car keys as he went, and Yuffie stuffing the last of her toast-and-jam creation into her mouth.

Five minutes later they were safely on their way to Hollow Bastion High School, and Cid finally realized his coffee was missing.

"DAMIT, VINCE!"

***#End:ChapterOne#***

PLOT will happen in the next chapter, I promise. This is just... introductions. Though more will need to made.

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