Lay Down the Salt Lines

By Rhino7

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as is Corbin Franks and the Fractured Circle. Ask Mercy Not of Me takes place three years after the events of Kingdom Hearts II in my Alliance-verse and this story is set two years after that.

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Chapter One: Interrogation

"He was holed up in a cave in Land of Dragons, ma'am."

Tifa nodded, nibbling on the nail of her pinky finger.

"He offered no resistance when we arrested him. He hasn't spoken since we brought him in, except—"

Tifa looked sideways at the lieutenant standing next to her, "Except what?"

The lieutenant shifted from foot to foot, "Except that he didn't want to see the general."

Tifa kept a lax expression. The request would have been comical had she not herself seen the sheer terror on the prisoner's face. On the other side of the glass, inside the white interrogation room, the prisoner sat cuffed to the chair. He was rigid in his seat, arms locked together over the metal table that was bolted to the floor. It was hard to believe that trembling, pale, broken man had once been the leader of the biggest anti-Allied coalition and headed the most destructive attack on the Alliance since the end of the war. Maybe that's why he was so terrified.

Corbin Franks was his alias, or maybe he was arrogant enough to use his actual name. Beady, watery eyes set in sallow, sunken skin. His greasy blond hair had fallen out in a few patches, giving him a mangy look. He had the diminished appearance of a man who'd lost a lot of weight in a small amount of time. This shell of a man was responsible for all those deaths two years ago.

"Shall I contact the general?" The lieutenant asked.

Tifa watched Franks' legs twitch under the table. "No."

"Ma'am, the general ordered to be notified when Franks was taken into custody."

"I'm aware of that, Lieutenant. I want to make absolutely sure this is our man before we call in the big guns." Tifa unfolded her arms and leaned forward against the window pane.

"I already contacted the Princess of Heart, ma'am." The lieutenant informed.

Tifa dipped her head, "She deserves to know."

"A thousand pardons, ma'am, but weren't she and the general—"

"She won't tell him." Tifa cut him off. Kairi hadn't spoken a word to him since the massacre. This arrest wouldn't change that.

The door on the other end of the chamber flew open and banged against the wall and in walked the suites. Tifa saw them out of the corner of her eye and didn't turn her gaze toward them. The media parasites would get their hands on this soon enough. The Council didn't need these blood suckers to jump the gun too.

"Brigadier General Lockhart." His voice still commanded attention, even after all this.

Tifa pulled herself away from the glass, "Major General Leonhart." She acknowledged. "Why the formalities?" She muttered.

Leon squared his shoulders with hers, glaring through the glass at the prisoner, "Is it really him?"

Tifa tilted her head, "His prints match the ones from Radiant Garden, we took a blood sample and it matches too. If it's not him, I wanna know where the cloning technology came from."

Leon pursed his lips, "They told Kairi?"

Tifa nodded, "She's staying where she is. No good would come from her coming here."

Leon squinted, "So he's been hiding out in Land of Dragons?"

"In a cave to be exact. S'where they apprehended him." Tifa informed.

"Looks like he's been through Hell."

"He'll wish for Hell if the general gets a hold of him." Tifa grunted.

"Has he been—"

"No."

Leon exhaled heavily, "We're all in deep shit if he finds out before we tell him."

Tifa gritted her teeth, "Like we're not all in deep shit already." She straightened, "I'm going in."

Leon waved her off and took up her position of staring through the glass.

Tifa walked up to the steel door and slid her access card through the locking slot, punching in her four digit override code. A deep, satisfying click thudded through the door and the lock released with a soft hiss. She slipped her card back into her pocket and pulled the door open.

The interrogation chamber was empty save for Franks, who looked over at her sharply as she crossed the threshold and closed the door behind her. The lock latched back into place as the door clicked shut. Franks' expression visibly relaxed when he saw it was Tifa; rather, that it wasn't 'him'.

She approached the opposite side of the table and maintained a two meter distance from the accused. "For the record, state your name." She greeted.

The man eyed her steadily, warily, silently.

Tifa chewed the inside of her cheek and faced him completely, "For the record, state your name."

He appeared to have been stricken with lockjaw and only stared at her.

Tifa nodded curtly, "All right, fine." She reached into her back pocket and produced her cell phone, "I'll just make a call to the general's office. I'm sure he'll be able to get your name."

"Corbin Franks." The man muttered immediately. His voice was hoarse and sounded like gravel in a blender; it was also higher pitched than Tifa would have expected from a man his size.

"Corbin Franks." She repeated for clarification. "My name is Brigadier General Tifa Lockhart, but you knew that already?" She leaned forward, gripping her edge of the table and fixing him with one almond eye.

Franks remained impassive, but the involuntary twitching in his legs gave him away.

Tifa straightened, "Corbin Franks, do you know why you're here?"

Franks looked sideways at the glass windows on the walls. Leon and the suites were on the other side, but from inside this room, one could only see their own reflection in mirror.

"Look at me. I'm the one you have to worry about right now." Tifa snapped her fingers.

Franks looked back at her, "Yeah, right now."

Tifa swallowed and straightened, "Do you know why you are here?"

Franks looked down at his shackled hands before lifting his eyes to her, "I want a lawyer."

Tifa almost laughed at him, "What makes you think you get a lawyer?"

Franks gave a ghost of a smirk, but it didn't reach his eyes, "Your Alliance has to abide by its own rules, General."

"Brigadier General." Tifa corrected, "I wouldn't assume that kind of power from me if I were you."

A flash of fear lit up Franks' eyes for a brief moment, but just as quickly it was gone. Franks shifted, "Either way, your law requires that I have equal representation."

Tifa choked on the bad taste this guy left in her mouth, "True." She glanced over at the mirrored window and waved two fingers. "The Alliance has assigned you an impartial lawyer to represent you, but everyone here knows you don't need someone to defend you. You know what you did."

The door behind her hissed and clicked as it was unlocked and the lawyer was let in. Tifa withheld her surprise as she heard high heels clack on the tiled floor. She straightened and sent a sideways glance to the lawyer. Ms. Jane Porter herself from Deep Jungle. Tifa's gaze bored through the reflective glass of the interrogation room. Jane? Were they out of their minds?

"My name is Jane Porter. I'll be representing you in your case, Mr. Corbin Franks." Jane's voice was cold and hateful.

Franks took one look at her and sat back, "You've got to be kidding. She was in the building; she's not impartial."

Jane's lips were pursed so thin they were bloodless, "There are no truly impartial lawyers for your case, Mr. Franks. It is my highest misfortune to be sworn to equality for your sake."

Franks eyed her steadily for a moment before shifting his gaze back to Tifa, "All right, question away, Ms. Brigadier General."

Tifa drew a deep, steadying breath and exchanged a look with Jane. The poor woman was statue-still, her knuckles white around her upper arms. "We'll start with the charges against you. Corbin Franks, you are being held suspect of the murder of at least eleven people and the attempted murder of twenty others. You are accused of organizing the attack taking place on the sixteenth of September in the year 2008, two years previous to now, in which the bombing and destruction of the Headquarter Building of the Alliance of Kingdom Hearts in Radiant Garden resulted."

Franks licked his lips, "You were in that building too, weren't you?"

Tifa ignored the remark, "Furthermore, you are proven to have been and remain to be the leading power of the anti-Allied coalition known only as the Fractured Circle. You recruited and led countless Heartless, Nobodies, and turncoat humans from the Alliance to your cause. Do you refute any of these accusations?"

Franks rolled his neck, "Any advice from my lawyer?"

Jane answered tersely, "Answer the question."

Franks smirked dully, "What is this: good cop bad cop?"

Tifa hunched her shoulders, "Is that what you want?"

Franks' smirk faded and a shudder passed through his arms. "No." He muttered.

"I didn't think so." Tifa relaxed her shoulders, "Now, do you refute—"

Tifa's cell phone hummed against her thigh. Tifa cut off her question and looked down at the caller ID. Her pulse skipped and she looked at Franks.

"That your boyfriend?" Franks chuckled, "Oh, that's right, he was one of those eleven I wasted."

The muscles through Tifa's hands went taut but she remained emotionless, "No, it's the bad cop."

The blood fled from Franks' face along with all his color. Jane looked at Tifa quickly and glanced over at the mirrored glass. The phone vibrated again and Tifa picked up, holding the receiver to her ear.

"I can handle it from here, Brigadier General." The caller greeted softly.

Tifa looked over at the reflective glass. "Sir—" but the dial tone droned in her ear. She glanced sideways at Jane, "That's it then." She turned her back on Franks and headed for the door. Jane followed her.

"Wait! Wait, I need my lawyer present!" Franks pleaded.

Jane huffed and kept after Tifa.

"Don't leave me alone in here with him!" Franks begged.

Tifa knocked twice on the door and looked back at him. Jane shook her head as the door was opened by the guard on the other side. Tifa slid past him, leaving Jane in her wake as she stomped around the corner and back to where Leon and the suites were still watching through the glass.

"Who squealed?" She barked.

Leon continued to stare in at Franks, not acknowledging Tifa's demand. The suites watched her fume with a mixture of smugness and intimidation.

"Nobody called him." Leon answered after a moment.

Tifa clenched her fists, "Then why the Hell did he just call me and interrupt my interrogation?"

"Because the situation warranted it, Tifa." The answer came behind her.

Tifa turned curtly on her heel until she was facing the man head on. "General, I have this interrogation under control. There is no need for you to—"

He lifted a hand, silencing her, "Has he confirmed his identity?"

Tifa choked on an angry comeback and answered, "Corbin Franks."

The general inhaled slowly, keeping his hand up to control her speaking, "Has he confirmed his crimes?"

Tifa flexed her jaw, "I was just asking him when you—"

"You're relieved of this interrogation, Brigadier General." He said tersely.

He dropped his hand and turned toward the glass, molten fury burning in his eyes. Tifa took a dangerous step forward.

"Your involvement in this case threatens the equality of—"

"My involvement matches yours, Tifa." He glanced at her briefly, looking immediately over her shoulder at the suites. "Get out, all of you."

"General." One of the suites stood out from the others, "It is fully within our jurisdiction to be here and witness this interrogation. Even you cannot undermine the public's right to knowing this monster is in custody."

Leon straightened, finally tearing his eyes away from Franks, "You heard the general. Out."

Tifa dropped her gaze, letting her look wander to Franks in the interrogation room. Great, even Leon's edge was being dulled. The Alliance was all but shot to Hell, but somehow she'd always imagined Leon to be the last person to comply with the general.

The suites made indignant noises and the one who'd spoken, Mr. Smugface, begrudgingly rejoined his brothers, shuffling out of the room, leaving the three of them and Jane alone. As the door closed, Jane cleared her throat.

"We listed off the crimes and he didn't accept or deny his involvement." She offered, standing behind the general.

Without a word, he turned and brushed past her, sliding his own card through the slot and punching in the code for the door to unlock. Before the hiss of the door had finished, he'd pulled it open and strode inside, closing it and locking himself in with Franks.

"Now it all hits the fan." Jane muttered, moving around to stand beside Leon in front of the glass.

Tifa stifled a groan and faced the glass, bracing herself to watch it all unfold. "All right, but at the first sign of violence, we intervene."

"Sign of violence from Franks? Or the general?" Leon asked.

Tifa grunted in response.

Leon sighed, "He won't do anything like that, Tifa. He has too much self control, you know that."

"I know that. That's what scares me."

Upon the general's entrance to the interrogation room, Franks sat bolt upright, pressing himself as far back as he could against the chair, gaining those precious inches away from the man.

The general seemed to fill the room with an ominous, dominating air. Despite his slender frame and far from intimidating stature, he entered with the demeanor of an executioner wearing the mask of a kindly man. He was the perfect bad cop. The intensity of his cold eyes made him look far older than his twenty-three years.

The intercom buzzed to life as the general spoke first.

"Corbin Franks, yes?" His voice was calm, chillingly so.

Franks remained rigid in his chair, the whites of his eyes visible all around.

"Are you comfortable, Corbin Franks? From what I hear, you were living like quite the Neanderthal before you were apprehended, eh, Corbin Franks? Mr. Franks? Corbin?" The general spoke softly, the white light catching on the jagged scars that were chiseled into the side of his face.

With every question, Franks pressed himself harder and harder against the chair. He mumbled something incoherent over the intercom and the general leaned in another lethal inch.

"What was that? I didn't quite understand you, Corbin Franks." He asked.

Franks averted his eyes, "M'fine."

The general straightened, "Good, that's good. We wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable." He placed his palms down flat on the table top, "After all, that's what the Alliance promotes, right, Corbin Franks? Equality to all prisoners, even the lowest, thumb sucking, cold blooded, murderous scumbags. Right, Corbin Franks?"

Franks muttered a response and hunched in his chair.

"Ah, ah, ah." The general cupped Franks' jaw with one hand, bodily pulling him upright in the chair and forcing his head upward to meet his gaze. "Sit up straight and make eye contact, Corbin Franks. Life is all about first impressions, sitting hunched over and not making eye contact makes the person talking to you suspicious. Frankly, I'm unimpressed, Corbin Franks."

"I don't like where this is going." Tifa murmured, chewing on her nail again.

Jane glanced at her, but Leon kept his eyes on the scene.

Franks' was muttering something unintelligible to those outside the chamber. The general clasped his hands behind his back, nodding knowingly.

"Oh, I know. I know you're sorry, Corbin Franks. Everybody's always sorry, aren't they, Corbin Franks?" He shot a thin lipped smile, but it only made Franks cringe. "What exactly are you sorry for, Corbin Franks? Are you sorry for orchestrating the attack? Or for not killing all of us?"

Franks did not respond.

The general's smile widened, giving him a slightly mad look. "You've heard the age old phrase 'Don't wound what you can't kill'. Now, that's a pretty overused and cliché saying, if you ask me." He lifted a hand, revealing the recently-attached, mechanical prosthetic fingers of his right hand, "Although, it does make sense." He looked at Franks with a dangerous expression.

Tifa clenched her fists at her sides, "This isn't an interrogation; this is a threat session. Leon, stop this."

Leon shot Tifa a flat look, "The only way to stop him is to go in there and bodily drag him out of there. I'm not signing my own death warrant for that."

Tifa fumed, "You can't be serious."

Jane backed away from the window, "I can't be here anymore."

Tifa flexed the tension out of her hands, "Jane, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

Jane shook her head, "No, it's not you. I can't defend Franks' case. I thought I could be the bigger person here, but I can't. The wound's too fresh."

Tifa mouthed soundlessly. Jane took several faster steps away from the window.

Leon nodded, "You're relieved."

Jane muttered a quick apology and gratitude before fleeing the room. Tifa sighed, running a callused hand over her good eye. Two years hadn't healed anything. Even Jane, who was normally very even tempered, couldn't stand to be around Franks. Franks was managing to turn even the meekest lambs in the Alliance in to ravenous lions. She gave a side long glance to Leon, wondering what Franks would turn the lions of the Alliance in to.

Back in the interrogation room, the general's expression had fallen lax again. "See, Corbin Franks, I happen to know for a fact," He pointed a finger at the prisoner, "that you were the mastermind behind the attack two years ago. I heard your voice on the radio and I saw your face on the video threat you broadcasted. You remember that broadcast? You remember what you said, Corbin Franks?" He drew himself up and furrowed his brow, " 'You have twenty-four hours to surrender all of your nuclear warcraft or we lay you to waste.' " He quoted, "Lay us to waste? What are you, medieval? Well, it doesn't matter. We sent you all of our nuclear warcraft, didn't we, Corbin Franks?"

It happened in a flash.

One second, the general was leaning over the table and Franks was cringing away from him. The next second, the general was on top of the table, Keyblade flashing in his left hand, the teeth of the sword pushing against the skin of Franks' neck just hard enough to depress the flesh.

Franks cried out, struggling against the shackles binding him to the chair in his terror to get away from the general and his Keyblade.

"That's enough!" Tifa pushed away from the wall, ready to barge into the interrogation room and end this ridiculous display.

"Brigadier General Lockhart." Leon snapped warningly.

Tifa slowed her stride and turned, "We cannot allow this to continue. He's a loose cannon. Damn it, Leon, the Alliance can't afford another war!"

Leon frowned, "I know, that's why—"

The general's voice, a low snarl now, interrupted over the intercom. "Don't you dare try to play the equality card here, you son of a bitch, unless you want to be set equal to dirt."

He straightened, towering now over Franks' trembling form, and withdrew his blade. The weapon diminished into the air and he kept his eyes drilling into Franks'.

"All right, all right, I did it." Franks lifted his hands as high as he could from the chair. His chest was heaving with panic and fear. "I organized it, I headed it, and I recruited them all to the Fractured Circle. What do you want from me?" He pleaded.

Tifa drew long strides as she hurried to the locked door, swiftly jamming her card into the slot and putting in the code. With a hiss and a click, the door unlocked. Tifa gripped the half ton door and pulled it toward her, hastening the opening process.

"General, that's enough." She snapped, pushing into the room.

The general threw an absentminded glance over his shoulder at her before withdrawing slightly from Franks, who deflated in his chair.

"Looks like the good cop is here to play nice now." The general said.

Tifa accepted the scalding look the general sent her as he moved away from Franks. Then, without warning, he spun back around, clenching a fist and smashing his knuckles directly into Franks' nose. Blood flew as the distinct crack of breaking bone alerted everyone to Franks' shattered nose.

Franks howled, thrashing in his bindings and trying to burrow his face into his shoulder. Tifa stood mortified, her neck growing hot in anger. The general followed through with the blow, drawing his arm back and watching Franks cower for a moment in concealed satisfaction.

"General, that is quite enough!" Tifa barked.

The general rolled his eyes and rounded on Franks, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him forward. He muttered a cure spell and instantly mended Franks' face, afterwards leaving only a trail of blood from Franks' nose as evidence of the attack.

"Good as new, Corbin Franks. I look forward to seeing you again soon." He pulled back with one long, lethal stare, and then pushed past Tifa on his way out, "He's all yours, Brigadier General." He pushed his shoulder against hers as he breezed by.

Tifa exhaled heavily and stepped forward to approach Franks, who was whimpering pathetically and squirming in his seat.

"Oh, and Lockhart?"

Tifa inwardly cringed and turned back to the general.

"Don't ever interrupt me during an interrogation again, understood?" He asked, gripping the door with one hand.

Tifa narrowed her eyes, "Understood, sir."

Sora nodded and disappeared from the chamber, letting the door swing closed after him on its own, leaving Tifa to deal with Franks.