Before the door had even slid closed Dante had already opened the cabin and gone in. Storm leaned against the side of the train opposite the cabin door and sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"That guy..."

"He really gets to you, doesn't he." Ryan said. He stood next to her, looking ill at ease. She couldn't blame him, really. The tension in the air put her on edge more than usual.

"I'll be fine. I've dealt with his sort often enough."

The intercom beeped.

"Thank you for boarding the Transcontinental Rail. We will be departing in five minutes. Our first stop is Timber, estimated arrival time 2:00."

Storm tuned out the boarding announcement after that, her mind already working. Travel to Timber would be six hours, provided they met no delays. They wouldn't be stopping at Timber. Arc would have gone ahead to Deling City most likely, and having two SeeD squads in one place would be too suspicious. They'd need to stop at Galbadia Garden then and spend the night. If she was lucky she could requisition a car.

It was really too bad that Squall had given the Ragnarok back to Esthar; they could really use some decent air transportation. Maybe if they found President Laguna he'd let her borrow it for the return trip. It wasn't as if they used it for anything besides decoration these days.

"Storm?"

She blinked, realizing just how unfocused she'd gotten. Ryan was watching her with a bemused expression.

"Yes?"

"Are you going into the cabin?"

Storm suddenly noticed the train was in motion. She glanced at the cabin display and was surprised to see an hour had already passed. No wonder why the cadet looked so concerned.

"No, I'll stay out here for awhile. Go rest up while you can. We won't be at the Garden until nightfall, most likely."

"All right." He headed off, pausing in the doorway. "You sure you're okay?"

She smiled. He was a good kid. "I'm sure. Go relax. We won't have many chances like this to rest once we reach Galbadia. The Garden may be ours but there's still a lot of dissenters out there. We'll have to be careful, so I need you at your very best."

"Ma'am!" Ryan saluted and disappeared into the cabin.

~~~

The intercom clicked on again. Storm opened her eyes. She'd been half-dozing, still in the outer cabin. Even at a distance she could hear Ryan's snoring. Or perhaps it was Dante; she couldn't tell.

"We apologize for this inconvenience but there has been an incident on the track ahead. The train will be delayed indefinitely."

Storm had a bad feeling about the news. She went straight to the cabin where the others were stirring, no doubt awakened from the squealing protest of wheel on metal as the train ground to a heavy stop.

"There's been an incident with train ahead of us. Arc and his squad were assigned to that train. Ryan, with me, we need to talk to the conductor. Dante, see if you can get a look at the incident site. Signal if you find anything. Meet back here in thirty minutes."