A/N: Well, this is something new I came up with, so just read. Also, if some of you would go read my one shot Squinoa I recently posted called "Somewhere I Belong" I'd be eternally greatful. I put a lot of work into it, and the reviews I've gotten for it so far have been excellent.
Prologue
The sound of heavy footsteps and the ringing of phones invaded the small office space through the open door. How could anyone concentrate with all that going on? The young woman seated at her desk certainly couldn't. She tossed aside the file she'd been flipping through and moved to the door, peaking out into the hall as she did so. It was a perfectly ordinary day. People sat at their computers, endlessly clicking away information while others hurried around with urgent news. Men with gun holsters at their sides clutched steaming mugs of coffee while propping their dress shoes on their desk.
Upon seeing those cups of coffee, she was suddenly reminded of how tired she still was. Throwing a glance back at the pile of papers on her desk, she decided that being away for a moment couldn't hurt. She quietly slid out the door and shut it softly behind her, as if wanting to escape unnoticed.

As she was pouring the scorching black liquid into one of the provided paper cups, she heard a familiar voice behind her call out, "Hey, Rinoa!"

She turned around and spotted one of the few friends she had at the police station. "Hey, Xu," she smiled. "Hectic day?"

Xu rolled her eyes. "You know it. Hey, aren't you supposed to be working on the Xiaoyu case?"

Rinoa blushed slightly. "I am. I'm just taking a little break."

Her companion laughed. "Now what's happened here? When you first started this job you were all excited, working ninety to nothin'. Now you always seem so reluctant to return to your desk."

She shrugged. "I guess it's not what I thought it would be. It's still interesting and all, but. Just sitting there at that desk all day. I have to go through the same files over and over again, trying to determine, why does this criminal act the way he does, and why did this one kill the people she did? When I first started studying psychology, and psychiatry I had this dream of helping people with it. Now I'm just determining who in a case is most likely to be criminally insane."

"But you are helping people. When you help to determine what kind of victim a killer or rapist is going to look for, you help people know if they should be on guard. That's what being a criminal profiler is all about."

Rinoa shook her head, not wanting to go further into the subject. She wasn't ready to admit to herself yet that she was missing what she had left behind before, much less to Xu. To get the attention off herself, she changed the subject, "So, what's new in your field?"

Xu held up the folder she had been carrying. "A murder case."

Rinoa sighed, "Let me guess, I'll be working on this one, too?"

"I don't think so. This murder occurred in a mental asylum. Apparently one of the patients there murdered one of the doctors. So we already know this one is insane."

"Really, can I see?" Rinoa asked, her interest suddenly piqued.
"It would be against the rules."

"Please?"

Xu looked around as if to make sure no one was looking, then handed Rinoa the folder. "Alright, just this once."

Rinoa glanced over the top page, scanning the details. "Male, twenty-four, schizophrenic," she read quietly. "Patient at Angel Haven Mental Asylum," she continued, her eye brows raised, then gasped. The name was all too familiar. "Squall Leonhart."

A/N: On to Chapter 1!