So this is a story that Masha and I came up with ^_^. It was actually Masha's idea and I just wrote it down for her! Hope you like it, please leave us a review and let us know what you think...

Disclaimer: We do not own anything in the Final Fantasy 8 world, trust me if we did, Seifer would have done a strip dance in the game.


Vigilante

"Contrite - Commercial - Arrogance - Leprosy
Consume The Bitch - The Fucker - Mindless - Like A Child
For Pity's Sake - I've Had All That I Can Take
We Try - But In The End We'll See
There Are No More Codes
Only who is Shit / And Who's Still Free
I was gonna change the world with Honor and Aggression
No one listened - no one cared
All they saw was misdirection"

Butcher's Hook – Slipknot


Chapter One

"So you want a story? I'll give you the greatest story of destruction the world has ever known"

-Superman 1940's edition


Deling City, The Caraway Mansion-

Fury Caraway's hands shook as he tried to twist the knob to open the door. His hands were sweaty and he slipped twice, shooting nervous glances behind his shoulder to make sure the person had not advanced.

Sweat beaded and rolled down his forehead, stinging his eyes and itching his cheeks. He didn't have time to swipe it away from the fear growing inside of him squeezing his chest and causing him to gasp for air.

Wiping his hand on his arm that was bracing him against the wall, he made another lunge for the knob this time his shaking hand getting a grasp on the brass. He twisted and gasped, the door was locked from the other side. His head fell back and let out a cry.

Who knew his life would come to an end like this? Him the fearless General. Where was all of his hard earned power and money now? Every dirty deed and every threat he had issued now pointless. None of it was going to help save his life.

His one regret was his daughter.

What could he have done differently to make her understand that he did love her. What could he have done to make her turn out the way her mother had always hoped and planned for. Instead she had turned into this...

He stared down at the picture he pulled from his front shirt pocket, now soft from sweat. His daughter stared up at him angrily her arms crossed, eyes fierce, the Timber Owls stationed behind her in threatening poses.

She had warned him that this would happen.

Maybe, for once in her life, he should have listened to her.

His killer stepped forward and his shoulders sagged.

Now it was time for him to end. His life was over.

He looked up into those familiar eyes and heard his voice, strangled and hoarse, apologizing over and over.

It wasn't enough to stop the killer from bending down to face him, wasn't enough to keep his heart from pounding with fear.

The tears weren't even enough to keep the small sharp needle, coated in poison, from sliding into his throat.

His eyes rolled back as foam started to pour from his mouth.

His last thought was, Why Rinoa, why?

Watching as the General struggled for breath, the killer sat back with hard, unsympathetic eyes.

Checking the plain watch that adorned their wrist, they sighed. Any minute now.

The harsh wheezing finally ceased, the hand stopped grasping the useless throat and fell to the side.

Time of death? 1200 hours. Perfect.

Pulling the needle from the deceased General Caraway's throat, the killer placed it in a bag, carefully wrapping it and placing it in the small case strapped to their thigh.

Another successful soundless death. One in many to come.

A smile curled the killer's lip as they stood and with quiet steps, made their way towards the window.

Escape would be easy since no one had been alerted of the General's distress.

No one would probably care anyway. The world was now one short of a heartless, unloving, uncaring man.

Justice had been served.


Balamb Garden-

The incessant beeping of her alarm clock was the first noise she heard.

The second was the sound of her small coffee maker whirring up, the automatic timer helping her to start her day with a heavy dose of caffeine.

Quistis shifted under her cool sheets, her hand reaching for the off button on her alarm clock before knocking over her glasses and the stack of books placed hazardously on her side table.

She stretched her stiff muscles and sighed. Today was technically her day off, it was Sunday, but she had read late into the night.

After retaining her Instructor licenses after the Sorceress War she needed to do excessive research and more late night studying to make sure she kept them this time.

There would be no room for mistakes and in the last three years there had been none and she planned to keep it that way.

Stifling a yawn she pushed the sheets back and swung her legs over the mattress pushing herself up off the bed. She slipped on her white fuzzy slippers and bent over to pick up her glasses.

Pushing them onto her face she reached for her books. As she picked up the first book her phone buzzed and she dropped it in fright, her finger catching the edge of a page and slicing it. Her eyes stung as she placed her finger in her mouth to keep the blood from dripping onto her white carpet and quickly answered her phone muffling a quiet hello as she did.

"Instructor Quistis Trepe, report to Commander Leonheart's office immediately."

She frowned as Squall's secretary hung up on her and rolled her eyes.

"Does he not know the meaning of a day off?"

Replacing her books on her table she stood, one hand on her hip before bypassing the aroma of the coffee and immediately entering her bathroom.

Just another day in the workaholic life of Quistis Trepe.

She dressed in a hurry, grabbing her coffee mug on the way out of her small apartment. Entering the hall she was annoyed to see a group of Trepies standing across from her room huddled together whispering obnoxiously loud. She put a folder in front of her face hoping they wouldn't notice her taking a cautious step as close to the wall as she could manage.

"Oh Instructer Trepe has finally left her room!"

Quistis shuddered at the squeaky voice and watched warily as the whole group turned to face her. They're voices immediately hushed and to her horror they watched her in awe as she lowered the folder from her face and raised her mug to them in a salute before quickly lowering her head and marching down the hall.

Would they ever leave her be?

Much to her chagrin her fanclub was one of the few things not affected by the war. They had remained ever faithful during and after. Always following her around and snapping photos at inappropriate times.

She frowned as she remembered the time they had recorded Squall's reaction to her during the SeeD ball. She had wanted so badly to go after them and beat who ever had recorded it and then publicized it. To this day it still made her blood boil with anger.

But someone had beaten her to the punch. Literally.

Seifer had recorded himself scare the boy so bad he had pissed all over himself in fright. Afterward, Seifer had hacked into the Garden's mainframe and played the recording on repeat. It played for two hours straight before someone was finally able to hack into the system to stop it. Students all over Garden had laughed and joked about it for weeks, Quistis' little indiscretion becoming a thing of the past in the face of Seifer's greatest prank yet.

Quistis had felt a sense of triumph that day even as she punished Seifer for being unruly and cruel to other students.

"Hey Quistis!"

Yanked from her thoughts, Quistis looked up to see a blur of yellow. She laughed as the girl slammed into her, Selphie's small arms circling her waist.

"Hello Selphie", Quistis glanced behind her and saw Rinoa as well, the girl was twisting her raven hair around her finger and biting her bottom lip. Quistis frowned at her odd behavior. Was Rinoa more pale than usual?

"Are you okay Rinoa?"

Selphie tugged at her arm and shook her head discreetly making a frowny face and pointing at the somber girl.

Quistis laughed and turned to Rinoa puzzled at the girl's features. Rinoa in turn, watched her, brown eyes wide and wary. What could she have to be upset about? She was living a fairytale the past three years with Squall. Living in the same dorm, she had livened up the once unhappy antisocial Squall. Hell, he had even bought Christmas presents for everyone last year. The whole while Rinoa had always been happy and smiling. What had happened to Garden's Princess to make her so unusually sad and quiet?

Rinoa looked away from Quistis to the floor before turning down the hall and walking away. Quistis watched her and frowned. Selphie giggled and pulled her from her thoughts as Irvine stepped out of their shared room. He tipped his hat to them and offered to escort them to the elevators.

Selphie squealed and tackled her cowboy, Quistis smiled as they followed after Rinoa who never once looked back or joined in their jokes.

Perturbed Quistis pressed the up button once they reached the elevators and nudged Selphie with her elbow before the elevator doors opened. Rinoa had walked right past the elevators without even looking up once, almost as if she was in a daze.

Selphie's wide green eyes turned to Quistis and sighed, the girls petite shoulders sagging.

"Her father was found dead this morning."

Quistis gasped placing her hand over her mouth in horror. Selphie nodded and turned to watch Rinoa as she continuously walked down the hall, ignoring people's hello's and questions.

"How?"

Quistis asked before stepping into the elevator. She knew sometimes during great moments of pain people just needed to be alone with their thoughts and she didn't want to pester her friend.

Selphie shrugged and Irvine pushed back his hat leaning against the wall of the elevator.

"No one knows, apparently they haven't figured out if it was a heartattack or not. Forensics has yet to let out the cause of death."

Quistis winced and nodded in affirmation that she had heard. Poor Rinoa, how could she comfort her friend in this situation? Would time be enough to help heal her?

"...she's been acting so odd lately."

Quistis snapped to attention at Selphie's words. She frowned in confusion at the brunette as Irvine agreed and wrapped his arms around his depressed girlfriend. He sighed before answering her puzzled look.

"Selphie was just statin' that she doesn't know how to act 'round Rinoa with all of this goin' on, 'cause of how weird Rin has been actin' lately."

"Has she?" Quistis murmured. She had been so occupied with classes she hadn't noticed much of her surroundings or people's problems around her.

Irvine nodded and began to whisper into Selphie's ear, causing the girl to giggle. Quistis felt a stab of jealousy as she watched the happy couple, secretly wishing she had someone as well to comfort her.

Pushing that thought aside she took a sip of her coffee and hiked the folder up higher under her arm. No time for another person's problems meant she had no time for a relationship either, and she was better off reminding herself of that as well.

Quistis Trepe had no time.

The ding in the elevator sounded and the doors slid open. Quistis let out a small sigh of relief as she pushed past the couple, saying her goodbyes over her shoulder as she hurried towards Squall's office.

Grasping the folder in her hand she knocked on his door, upon hearing his muffled "come in" she twisted the knob and pushed the door open with her hip, entering his office she gently kicked the door shut with her foot. Smiling at her friend who was standing by his windows, phone against his ear, she saluted him with the tip of her coffee mug and slapped the folder down on his desk before switching hands holding the coffee. She sat down in the chair in front of his desk and quietly sipped her coffee, knowing that it would take Squall a minute to get finished with his call considering the menacing frown marring his face.

Quistis knew that look all too well.

Reflectively, he had changed quite a bit in the past three years. Even more so from when they had been children in the orphanage. Squall had been so quiet and withdrawn even back then, the only person he would open up to back then was Ellone, and every once in awhile Matron.

Quistis sighed, now there had been changes in everyone. Squall was one of the few to change for the better, along with Selphie, Irvine, and Zell. Their lives had improved so much more than they had imagined and now were living happily with their proclaimed soulmates.

Quistis shifted uncomfortably in her seat and frowned into her coffee. Her, Seifer and Matron were the only ones unable to find their happy endings.

After the war Matron had been so happy to be reunited with her husband and children. Edea and Cid had even discussed plans to reopen the orphanage.

But then, the nightmares had begun. Lovely, sweet Matron had a relapse.

Unable to handle the guilt the memories and dreams brought, she had attempted suicide repeatedly. Cid, unable to deal with the pain of watching his wife continuously trying to end her life, had her institutionalized in an asylum, hoping that maybe the doctors could do more for her than he could.

Seifer... She hadn't seen him since the war had ended. Fujin and Raijin were still around, Squall had even reinstated them to be the disciplinary committee, claiming he had no one else qualified for the position. Seifer had not been with them and when she had inquired, they had said that he was doing fine, but lonely. Raijin swore that Seifer missed Garden but was too prideful to request entrance.

Quistis knew otherwise, she had seen the letter in his carefree handwriting. She also knew that Squall was not in the slightest bit interested in giving his childhood bully another chance.

Quistis' memories from the orphanage were still sketchy since it was only recently that she had unjunctioned the G.F. But she remembered enough.

The memories usually came at night, blurry and dreamy, almost like childhood fantasies. What had surprised her the most was that most of them involved around one other child, Seifer.

He had been her best friend, sharing everything with her when no one was looking and taking care of her every time she was sick or hurt. It almost made their past after the orphanage even more painful. Everything that had happened between them, in the classroom and out, had all been misunderstandings.

It was simple, he had remembered and she hadn't.

Still, most of all her childhood memories were not pleasant, especially after leaving the orphanage and she wished that she had not regained those, the darkness some of the memories brought still woke her up in the middle of the night screaming and crying.

She tapped her finger on the rim of her now empty cup, Squall was still talking quietly on the phone standing in front of the windows in his office. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, set the mug down, pushed her glasses up her nose and waited. Squall's voice rose for a minute causing her to jump, he glanced guilty back at her and then quieted his voice once again.

Quistis sighed and rubbed her arm. What was Squall doing in his office now anyway? Shouldn't he be with Rinoa, consoling her for her loss? She couldn't imagine leaving someone she loved to deal with that experience alone.

Then again, maybe she did. She had thought earlier while watching her friend walk in a daze that she needed space. Maybe trained mercenaries were just not meant to deal with grief.

Quistis' mind wandered to Irvine and Selphie, what had they meant by saying Rinoa had been acting odd recently?

Squall cleared his throat returning to his desk. Quistis looked up and straightened in her seat. She had been so deep in thought she hadn't noticed him ending the conversation.

Squall sat and placed his elbows on his desk, his head in his hands, fingers tugging his hair. He looked up at Quistis and she felt a pang of sympathy for him, his blue eyes had dark circles around them and she could see the stress lines wrinkling his forehead and corners of his mouth.

"I guess you have heard about Rinoa's..."

Quistis nodded sharply cutting him off mid sentence. He sighed and sat back in his chair rubbing his hand over his face before looking back at her.

"This isn't the first murder."

Quistis raised her eyebrow and leaned forward, "it was murder?"

Squall nodded his head in affirmation before continuing, "it's a serial killer, this is the fourth murder."

Quistis frowned, "cause of death?"

Squall shifted uneasily in his seat, "Malboro acid. In small doses it would kill slowly and painfully, but in a large quantity administrated directly to a major organ or bloodstream to the heart it kills rather quickly."

Quistis nodded remembering the times she had fought the huge octopus looking monsters. They were one of the toughest monsters she had fought during the war while traveling to Esthar. The one time Zell had been poisoned by one it had not been a pretty sight. It had taken quite a few Esuna spells to cure him and even after a few extra cautious cure spells he had still been queasy and sick for a few days.

"Any suspects?"

Squall shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, "they seem to believe it's a SeeD or a student at Garden."

Quistis sighed, anytime there was a killer on the loose Garden was always blamed first, but considering the fact that the killer used Malboro acid it made sense to connect it to Garden for the simple fact that the person would have to be trained in combat to retrieve the acid, or have connections with the underground market that dealt with poisons and such.

"What needs to be done sir?"

Squall raised an eyebrow at her and leaned forward placing his elbows back on the desk lacing his fingers together, "I want you to take the case, and if it's a student at Balamb, I want you to find them."

Quistis stood wringing her hands together before pacing in front of his desk.

Somehow she knew he was going to say that, but she didn't have the time. She had so much going on as it was she didn't even notice the apparent changes in her friend's behavior. She shook her head and Squall let out a deep heart felt sigh.

"Please Quistis, you're the best I have right now for the job. With the government and reporters breathing down my neck about this case, I really need someone efficient to work it, someone I can trust."

Quistis crossed her left arm over her waist and raised her right hand to press against her forehead trying to push the oncoming migraine back, "I placed the folder for the upcoming SeeD tests on your desk."

Squall glanced down and slid the folder across his desk and to the side nodding his thanks, eyes focused pleadingly on her.

Quistis took a deep breath and sat down again, placing her hands primly in her lap and straightening her shoulders,

"I'll take the case."

Squall let out a chuckle in relief and leaned back, shoulders loose once more. Quistis smirked.

"But, I want a partner."

Squall frowned returning to his upright rigid position.

"I want Seifer Almasy."

Squall let out a humorless laugh while shaking his head.

"No way in hell Quistis."

Quistis crossed her arms and frowned disapprovingly at him.

"Why not?"

Squall flailed his arms in exasperation, "you want me to bring in a murderer to help you find a murderer?"

Quistis' frown turned into a glare.

"How can you forgive Matron for being possessed but you won't forgive Seifer for the same? What kind of hypocrisy is this from Garden's Commander?"

Squall shifted in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. Clearly she had aggravated him. A smirk of triumph formed on her lips as she watched him shift uneasily in his chair.

"Come on Squall. We now understand Seifer's motives and it has been three years since the war. People change Squall, just look at you? Who knew you would become the commander of Garden, have the sweetest girl in the world and be so outspoken? Give Seifer the chance to redeem himself as well."

Squall raised an eyebrow and eyed her warily, "who said he wants the chance."

Quistis scoffed and waved her fingers at him, "I saw the letter he sent you Squall Leonheart, don't you dare play dumb with me. You want me to work this case, I don't want to do it alone. More ground would be covered if there were two of us and also twice as much work."

Squall shifted uneasily, she could see his arguments were starting to wear thin.

"Why do you want his help so bad Quistis?"

Quistis cleared her throat and looked away, "I'm starting to remember the orphanage and the person he use to be, I feel somewhat guilty for everything that happened during the war. Maybe if we had remembered like Seifer and Irvine did, things that happened wouldn't have turned out the way they did."

Squall closed his eyes and groaned. Quistis smiled knowing she had won.

"Fine Quistis, he can come back. But any collateral damage caused by him will be your responsibility."


Fisherman's Horizon-

Seifer swiped at the sweat beading on his forehead and pushed his damp blonde hair off of his forehead and blocked the sun out of his stinging eyes. At this time of day the sun reflected off of the water, making the heat intensified as if that was the last fucking thing he needed. The foreman yelled and Seifer braced himself to help haul off the nets over the side of the boat.

After the Sorceress War, Seifer had went out and gotten drunk. Fujin and Raijin had asked him what his next move was gonna be and in a drunken haze he had flailed his arms and declared that he was going to be a fisherman.

Biggest Fucking Mistake Of His Life.

Besides, ya know, being the Sorceress' lapdog.

Being a fisherman was probably one of the hardest most gruesome jobs he could have, not the lazy boring days of lying in the sun, wooden pole in hand and a cork bobbing gently in the waves like he had envisioned.

The net now in the water meant he had to man the ropes, make sure they didn't get to taut and snap and keep the knots tied tight. Too much weight in the net might cause a slip and if it did it was his ass, literally.

His boss was a hard ass but Seifer had worse. He grimaced and tugged on one of the ropes his hands sweating in his gloves. So fucking hot.

In a way, Seifer was pretty damn proud of himself, he worked hard, so hard that most days when he collapsed on his bed he would be so exhausted no dreams or memories would play to haunt him. He found if he stayed busy it kept most of the demons at bay, it also kept him from getting into trouble, which admittedly was one of his major problems.

"Pull her back in boys! This is the last one today, let's go home and make our women happy."

Seifer shook his head as his Captain bellowed and laughed receiving a few chuckles from the men and a new burst of energy as the sailors thought of home. Seifer just felt nauseous as he reached for the trawl net.

He cursed and strained with the rest of the men. Fucking things were hard and heavy just to get overboard, but full with fish? Sure, they had an old rusty crane that helped the pull a little bit but not enough to keep muscles from getting sore and tissue torn.

Son of a bitch.

After much heaving and hoeing they finally managed to pull the overflowing net in. The men cheered and Seifer couldn't stop the smile that lifted his lips. Sometimes it felt good to work hard.

Once the ship was docked and everyone was heading home Seifer felt the loneliness start to settle, squeezing his heart and causing him to sigh as he walked home.

His pocket was full of money that he had no one to spend on, his small hut was his but it was always empty.

He didn't even own a dog, too afraid the evil inside of him might rub off onto it. That's all he needed, a rabid dog.

Arriving at his small shack Seifer clumsily walked up the steps to the porch, shoved open his splintered wooden door not even bothering to close it as he made his way to his tiny fridge yanking the door open and pulling out a beer and an old sandwich he had bought the last time he had ventured into town, what was that? Two days ago?

He chugged the beer and picked at the sandwich only feeling slightly sorry for himself as his day came close to an end.

"You should learn to close the door, ya know?"

Seifer's head jerked up in surprise and a laugh escaped his lips as he pushed the sandwich aside and rushed towards his buddy who was leaning casually against his doorway.

"Raijin my man! How ya been? Tired of bumfuck Garden already?"

Raijin laughed as he clapped his friend on the shoulder and motioned behind him to the peeved Fujin who stood quietly behind him.

"Nah, just me and Fu felt like it was time for a visit ya know?"

Seifer laughed and pushed Raijin inside before pulling Fujin in for a quick hug.

"NOT NECESSARY."

She argued pushing Seifer away quickly he laughed and offered his friends a beer, happy to not be alone for once.

Raijin accepted gleefully until he caught the narrowed gaze Fujin was sending him. Regretfully he handed the beer back to Seifer while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Can't ya know. Fu is pregnant and she thinks it's not fair if I drink and she can't. Cause of the baby ya know?"

Seifer's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he looked from Fujin to Raijin his index finger raised and following his line of vision as he looked shocked between his two best friends.

"Pregnant!? Really?"

Fujin nodded and crossed her arms over her chest.

"IDIOT."

Raijin chuckled nervously and looked down, "she means cause I forgot to buy more condoms and didn't pull out that one time. It was an accident ya know. I got caught in..."

Seifer quickly clamped his palm over his friends mouth. Really didn't need to go there. He had enough gruesome pictures in his head without adding another one to the collection.

Letting go of his friend and pushing him away he smiled at the two taking a sip of the beer Raijin had handed back.

"What made ya'll decide to come visit me now?"

Raijin shifted sheepishly and Fujin sighed dropping her arms to the side and looking up at Seifer heatedly with her one eye.

"It's time to come home Seifer."

Seifer frowned at her before taking another swig of his beer. Come home? He knew she was serious, it was the only time she would talk in that soft sweet voice that made her feel vulnerable.

But to tell him to come home? That was a sick joke. The only home he ever remotely had was Garden and he knew just as well as the next joker did that he would never be welcomed there again.

A few years ago he had sucked in his pride and tried, only to receive a letter stating that if he was ever caught on Garden property he would be executed immediately. Luckily for him the people of Fisherman's Horizon were a lot more forgiving when being presented with a hardworking fisherman.

Seifer narrowed his eyes at Fujin and set down his beer, "don't joke about shit like that, it's not funny."

Fujin nodded and walked to him placing her hand gently on his arm, "it's no joke Seifer. Quistis Trepe asked us to come get you to help her with a top secret case. She said she needs you to report back immediately. I even have a letter from Commander Leonheart saying that you are allowed back into Garden."

Seifer closed his eyes and scrubbed his palm over his face. This was like a dream come true, but so unlikely it caused butterflies to flutter in his stomach and his palms to sweat.

Fujin pressed paper into his hand gently and stepped back from him going back to her normal hard ass pose.

"COME HOME."

Raijin walked to Seifer and bumped his fist to his shoulder, "Yeah man, it's time ya know. Things have changed. Commander Leonheart isn't so bad anymore ya know. He even gave me and Fu are old positions back as the disciplinary committee. The posse is not complete without it's leader ya know?"

Seifer's shoulders sagged and his throat felt tight and closed. He missed his friends after they had chosen to go back to Garden, but he had understood why. Garden was all they knew, hell it was all he knew as well.

He clenched the letter in his fist and looked down at it precariously scanning over the typed words to the sprawled signature of his arch nemesis. A smirk crossed his lips triumphantly, puberty boy still had a pansy ass signature.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind and his lips quickly turned to a frown, "wait, you said Quistis requested my return?"

Fujin and Raijin exchanged looks before meeting his gaze and nodding solemnly. Seifer shook his head in disbelief and picked up his beer, chugging it once again before slamming it down onto his counter top.

Today the world was full of surprises.

He threw back his head and laughed, loud and hard, his hands behind him bracing him against the counter and keeping him anchored to the real world.

Lowering his head he smiled toothily at his friends who watched him wide eyed and in shock caused by his sudden outburst.

"Help me pack my bags kids, looks like the prodigal son is about to return home."


Balamb Garden-

Seifer stood in front of the gates at Balamb Garden, feet spread with Raijin and Fujin on each side of him. He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side.

"Doesn't look any different from the outside."

Raijin pointed to the gate, "are we gonna stand out here all day? I'm kinda hungry, ya know."

Fujin reached across Seifer and swiped at Raijin muttering "idiot" under her breath.

Seifer chuckled before shouldering Hyperion and his small duffel bag of belongings. Squaring his shoulders he took a step towards the gate. It felt vaguely odd to him to be approaching Garden once more without wearing his trademark trench coat, boots and gloves. But those had been lost in war and time. Besides, the only thing connected with those articles of clothing was grief and pain. Now he was starting fresh, faded, torn blue jeans and a tight fitting black shirt. No gloves, he still had boots but these weren't completely black and definitely not steel toed.

Stepping up to the gate he glanced sideways at the guard, taking in his nonchalant stance. Letting out a sigh of relief when the guard didn't immediately stop him he stepped forward yet again and pushed past the gate. As soon as they entered Garden, Fujin and Raijin turned to walk off fighting all the while as they headed towards the infirmary. Apparently Fujin had a check up with Dr. Kadowaki.

Seifer smirked at the irony, who knew Fujin would be a mother one day.

"Well, well, if it isn't Seifer Almasy."

Seifer swung his head around to face a cowboy wearing a beige hat low over his eyes a smile lighting his face as he held out a hand covered in a fingerless black glove.

Seifer squinted as he studied him, hazy memories of fighting a cowboy flitting through his mind before clearer memories of sunny days and the smell of grass, a little boy with long brown hair tied in a ponytail chasing after a giggling little girl, pushed the darker images away.

Shifting nervously the cowboy chuckled and raised his hand higher while tipping his hat back with his other hand, "you may not remember me I reckon' no one else did either, the name is..."

"Irvine,"

Seifer finished for him reaching for his outstretched hand. "I remember." Irvine guffawed in shock as Selphie approached stealthily her hands behind her back, green eyes wide as she studied the man beside her boyfriend.

Seifer rubbed the back of his head and nodded at her, "messenger girl."

Selphie frowned at him disapprovingly before crossing her arms over her chest. "How come you remember Irvine-poo but you don't remember me? I was at the orphanage to you know."

Seifer frowned, "I don't remember you being there."

Irvine laughed and hugged his girlfriend, "that's cause she was always my girl, I kept her hid from the world."

The memory of Irvine chasing the girl with bouncy hair replayed in Seifer's mind and he slowly nodded his head, "Yeah, right, the one who was always giggling about everything, I remember now."

Selphie stomped her foot and pushed Irvine off of her before advancing on Seifer, who proud to say stood his ground in face of the wrath of the hyperactive female.

"I do, did not, giggle all of the time." She stated, finger poking him in the chest with emphasis after each word, before walking away with a flourish.

Irvine chuckled at her temper tantrum and shoved his hands into the pockets of his duster. "So man, you're supposed to go to the Big Commander's office and check in."

Seifer shrugged and nodded. He pretty well knew that much. Not that he was looking forward to seeing puberty boy again.

Nodding his head at Seifer, Irvine turned to follow after his flighty girlfriend who was now pouting next to a bench where Rinoa sat, staring down at her pale hands while fiddling with the end of her frayed shorts.

Seifer rubbed his chin and shook his head. The old saviors of the world were still just as strange and fucking creepy as they ever were.

Making his way to the elevator he tried hard to not remember the last time he had been here at Garden.

He had led the attack that had nearly brought this place low, storming in and killing his classmates. That day there had been so much bloodshed and tears he still had dreams filled with the students screams. He would wake up and taste the bile that had filled his mouth as he had cut through their bodies like wax candles.

Entering the elevator he contemplated on his decision to return to the Garden. Maybe it hadn't been the greatest of ideas.

There were just as many demons waiting here for him in every corner as there were back in Fisherman's Horizon in his small hut.

Shrugging he leaned against the wall waiting for the ding, no use in thinking like that now. It was too late for him to back out of the offer.

Hyne-damned, he was tired of smelling like fish every night anyway.

The doors opened and he pulled the duffel bag and the case with Hyperion further up his shoulder before exiting the elevator.

He always hated this small stretch of space. It was so ominous and empty. No one ever littered the hall because there was only the one room that used to belong to Cid. There was no music or noise of any sort, just a deadpanned silence. In the past he had dubbed this very hallway the walk of shame.

Every time he would walk those few short steps to the door was because he had failed the SeeD test or was in trouble for another misdeed. Cid would sit at his desk, hands clasped in front of his belly, and frown all disapprovingly at Seifer before going into a long winded lecture about how he had so much potential and he was just letting it all go to waste by bullying others and acting out as a juvenile delinquent.

Seifer really hadn't had the time or the patience for Cid's shit and was usually busy plotting his next prank or demeaning phrase.

Walking the short distance to the door, he took a deep breath before twisting the knob and shoving the wooden door open.

In his mind Cid still sat at that cherry wood desk, grim smile firmly in place and belly pressed hard against the side. Instead, a dark head was bent over files of paperwork, a young hand rhythmically tapping on the desk as he read.

Squall looked up in annoyance at Seifer and leaned back in his chair shaking his head.

"Anyone ever teach you how to knock?"

Seifer shrugged making his way to the chair, dropping his bag beside it and setting down Hyperion before plopping down. Sprawling his legs out in front of him he slouched comfortably in the chair, elbows propped on the arm rest cocking his eyebrow at Squall.

"You were expecting me so I didn't think I'd be takin you by surprise, didn't know I had to be formal with my fuckin' classmate just cause he got a promotion."

Squall shook his head and sighed, "Seifer, to be short and simple, I don't really want you here. I was against the idea from the get go but for some odd reason Quistis insisted on having you as her partner so here you are and here you'll stay unless..."

Squall stood up and placed his hands on his desk leaning over in what, Seifer guessed, was supposed to be an intimidating gesture.

"You fuck anything up," Squall continued his blue eyes glaring hard at Seifer causing him to scoff and rest his chin on his fist in boredom. "The first time you screw shit up I will fucking personally escort your worthless ass from Garden's premises, are we clear?"

Seifer yawned and sat up rolling his neck and shoulders before meeting Squall's glare straight on with his piercing green beams of his own.

"Is that all Pubes? I'm nearly pissin and shakin in my boots what with your meager fuckin' threats, so if your done playing high and mighty I'd really like to know what exactly the fuck I'm doing here."

Squall's jaw clenched and Seifer watched in glee as the Commander's face started to turn an angry shade of red, his hands forming white knuckled fists. Seifer tensed, ready for the oncoming attack his pulse racing in anticipation, his feet planted solidly on the ground...

A loud knock sounded on the door frame and both men swung their heads angry at the disturbance. Quistis glared at both of them first Squall and lastly Seifer, a frown hard on her face. She shook her head before stepping into the room, closing the door Seifer had left wide open gently.

"Are you two boys finished with your little alpha male dominance stance? If so, let's get down to business."

Squall hissed out a "fine" before returning to his chair, still working his jaw as he stared determinedly out the window.

Seifer sprawled back into his chair, a smirk playing on his lips as he looked his ex instructor up and down from head to toe.

He let out a low whistle placing his hands behind his head, "Damn Quistis, still in shape I see. Heard you got your license back, I'm sure you're the main role in every students wet dream still."

Quistis rolled her eyes flipping her blonde hair back that framed her face in the same old style she had worn it in ever since the first time she became an Instructor.

She crossed the room to Squall's desk ignoring Seifer's little jibe for the time being. She laid down a folder on the polished wood and slid it towards Seifer.

"Here is what I've been able to find out about our serial killer. There have been four murders, two of them were local nobodies with a... somewhat rocky past and two have been Officers from the war, both of whom had been questioned on several occasions about specific crime related happenings in the military. The only wound found on the victims is a small needle sized prick, all of which are located in the place of a vital organ, which would allow the Malboro acid, identified in their analysis, to quickly enter the victim's bloodstream poisoning them to death."

Seifer hummed in response while flipping quickly through the written report, only stopping to read a few sentences here and there. He flipped the file back onto Squall's desk and turned his attention to Quistis who had propped her hip up on the cherry wood and was assessing him with her crystal blue eyes, arms crossed sternly against her chest.

"So I heard you requested for little ole' me Instructor, any particular reason I should know of?"

Quistis shook her head before turning to face Squall, "So far, that is all I've been able to undercover, the only specific link between the victims is their questionable nature either during or after the war. No other common ground for the murders has not been found."

Seifer sighed relaxing back into his chair, flicking imaginary dust off of his clothes before mumbling, "great a fuckin Buelman wannabe."

Quistis' eyes flicked to him for a split second and he could almost swear he saw the corner of her lips twitch up into a smile before she smothered it by clearing her throat.

Squall nodded his head in approval and opened the file, "I expect you two to work diligently and seriously," here he paused and shot Seifer a nasty look causing the blond antagonist's smirk to broaden, "on this case and get to the bottom of it before the military infiltrates Garden to try and solve it for us."

Quistis nodded sharply before turning to leave the room, Seifer sighed before standing up and picking his things off the floor, "not even a sweet goodbye, or 'sure Seifer, I'll show you to your new room'. The Ice Queen is still a bitch."

Squall frowned at Seifer, "that 'bitch' is the only reason you were even allowed through those gates, you better keep that in mind and respect her. If I hear you do one wrong thing towards Quistis..."

Seifer waved his arm at Squall cutting him off mid-sentence, "I know, I know, my ass will be grass. Fuckin pussy threats Puberty boy, next time have a new comeback to scare me with", he murmured as he quickly left the stale office.

Squall sighed, he had known this was a bad idea. Damn it.

Seifer stepped from the elevator and cursed, loudly, causing a few teenage girls nearby to giggle and point at him while batting their eyelashes at the new bad boy.

Seifer ran his fingers through his cropped hair in frustration, where the hell had Quistis gone? He had no clue as to where his new room was located.

"Hey Seifer."

Seifer, startled by the soft voice, looked down at none other than Rinoa Heartily. She forced a smile up at him and wrapped her arms tight around her body.

"You look a little lost."

She whispered ducking her head down causing her hair to fall around her face acting as a shield. Seifer crossed his arms over his chest and watched her snidely.

"What. The. Fuck. Rinoa."

She peeked up at him nervously from under her thick black lashes.

"Um, sorry?"

Seifer swore before kicking a nearby potted plant in anger, "Why the fuck are you acting like chicken shit, Rin? Squall been beating you or some shit?"

Rinoa quickly shook her head, her hands shaking as she fanned them out in front of her, "N, n, nnoo, nothing like that Seifer."

Seifer frowned not believing her for an instant. He readjusted his bag, his shoulder starting to ache from the constant weight.

Seifer scanned the foyer one last time searching for Quistis before returning his steady gaze to the pale girl in front of him.

"Hey Princess, mind showing me to my room?"

Rinoa looked up at him startled, a small smile forming on her chapped lips. "Of course Seifer, I guess Quistis must've forgotten to show you."

Seifer scowled as he nodded. Like hell she forgot.

He followed Rinoa past the students' dorms to the more secluded area reserved for couples and Instructors. He couldn't help but smirk as he remembered all the times he had snuck into these private halls to torment his instructors by leaving little unwelcome gifts in their rooms such as dead fish and rotten eggs in his more juvenile days.

Later on he had progressed to leaving naked pictures of underage girls he had slept with and bottles of half drunk whiskey.

Only one of the Instructors he had pranked had actually been fired, and that was because the man was really a perv with lots of underage porn stashed in his computer. What an idiot.

Rinoa stopped in front of a single room and gestured to the door, Seifer opened the door to his new quarters and was surprised to see the room was actually adequate, a queen sized bed sat in one corner with a couch across from it. To the left was a small kitchenette and the door he assumed led to his own bathroom.

Hell, he had half expected booby traps lying in wait for him.

Rinoa shifted nervously behind him and he turned towards her somewhat awkwardly, placing his bag and Hyperion down beside the door.

"Uh, thanks Princess, 'preciate the help."

Rinoa nodded and smiled slightly at him before turning to leave. Right before he closed the door he heard a shuffle and paused looking up. Startled, Seifer quickly jumped back as he met Rinoa's brown eyes directly in front of him. Shit, he never even heard her move. She giggled softly.

"Don't forget, dinner is about to be served in the cafeteria."

Seifer nodded speechless as the girl skipped, really mother fucking skipped, down the hall. He shook his head closing his door. Apparently Rinoa was suffering from mood swings. Squall was not doing his job adequately enough.

The thought caused Seifer to smirk as he took in one last look of his new room before stepping out the door and heading towards the cafeteria.


Stepping into the Cafeteria he was nearly barreled over by Raijin half dragging, half holding a green looking Fujin. Seifer quickly stepped out of the way as Raijin hastily explained, "they're serving egg salad in the cafeteria today, Fu really doesn't like the smell ya know?"

Seifer chuckled as Fujin halfheartedly swatted at Raijin proclaiming him a BASTARD. Raijin stammering swung her into his arms and carried her out of the room shooting Seifer a harried look before they left.

"...and then I whooped ten of those Galbadian assholes so hard they were crying for mommy as they limped away."

Seifer's eyes narrowed at the annoying voice that boomed over the loud noise of chatter in the cafeteria. Sure enough there was none other than Chicken Wuss, sitting next to a very pretty brunette, surrounded by the Hero Gang at one of the round tables to his right.

Irvine, minus the hat, seemed bored as he scanned the room until his eyes landed on Seifer. Smiling in what looked like relief, he half raised his hand gesturing for Seifer to join them. Smirking, Seifer made his way to the table full of people he was just dying to talk to.

Quistis sighed as she watched Seifer stride across the room in all his long legged, full of himself splendor, heading directly towards their table. She watched in fascination as Irvine kicked out the empty chair that was located directly in-between them and nod for Seifer to sit. She seriously considered vacating her seat for the one across the table but figured that might be too excessive.

Zell groaned as he watched the other blond sit across from him, hitting the table with his fist in aggravation. Lenne, his girlfriend all of 2 years, sitting next to him jumped, startled by his sudden outburst.

Rinoa shifted nervously in her seat staring down hard at her salad and picking at random vegetables with her fork.

Selphie bounced between her and Irvine informing them of how upset she was about the new festival plans that had been formed without her approval, oblivious to the tension that filled the space between Zell and Seifer at the table.

Zell stood suddenly knocking over a plate of hot dogs which fell inelegantly into Lenne's lap, much to her mortification.

Zell pointed at Seifer with his left index finger, his right fist pulled back in rage, "You!"

Seifer smirked crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, "Me."

Zell's hands started to shake and his face turned red. Lenne quickly shoved the hot dogs off her lap and jumped up to place a calming hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"You, you bastard! Who said you could sit there!?"

Irvine coughed into his hand before clearing his throat, gaining the irate blond's attention. "Er, I did Zell."

Zell's chest puffed out and his bottom lip curled, "Well I didn't."

Seifer laughed and kicked the table hard, shoving the end into Zell's stomach and causing him to lose all the air he had inhaled as he bent over.

"Give it a rest Chicken Wuss and sit your ass down. While you're at it shut your fuckin mouth, I could hear you across the damn room."

Zell sputtered angrily but relented at Lenne's gentle tugs on his arm as she sat down. Seifer smirked as Zell slowly sat, nodding as his girlfriend whispered something into his ear, her hand rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"Pussy whipped."

Zell's head jerked up, eyes blazing as he glared at Seifer, "what did you just say?"

Before Seifer could reply Quistis raised her hand in warning. "Nothing Zell, Seifer didn't say a thing."

Seifer scoffed as he looked away, "where is puberty boy?"

Selphie frowned at him as she stuck her fork into a large piece of egg, "work, duh."

Irvine cleared his throat and turned to Seifer. "So how was the debriefing."

Seifer shrugged, "just fine if being threatened by a boy who still has pimples and a squeaky voice is your kind of thing."

Selphie gasped as Quistis rolled her eyes. Lenne's eyes widened as she gazed at the newcomer. She leaned towards Rinoa whispering softly, "is he talking about Commander Squall?"

Rinoa smiled sadly at the girl shrugging her shoulders before turning back to fiddle with her salad.

"What was said about me?"

Everyone looked up, except for Rinoa, to see Squall standing in front of the table frowning down at them.

Zell jumped up immediately and shouted, "Seifer just said you have pimples and a squeaky voice man, can I hit him? Please?"

Squall sighed and shook his head pulling out the chair next to Rinoa and sitting down. Zell, disappointed, sat back down as well muttering angrily to himself as he pummeled the side of the table gently with his fist.

Selphie leaned onto the table and whispered in a loud voice, "so what do you guys think about the Vigilante serial killer?"

Irvine quickly nudged her in the side with his elbow tipping his head towards Rinoa. Selphie instantly deflated, frowning as she pushed a carrot over the side of her plate.

Zell, being ever clueless, fist pumped the air, "I think the man rocks. Government won't do shit about those assholes so he takes matters into his own hands! He's like Buelman! A real life superhero."

Squall cleared his throat putting his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. Rinoa's facial expression hadn't changed, Seifer noted, if anything she seemed a little piqued.

Selphie winked at Zell and secretly gave him a thumbs up causing him to smile and shove almost a full hot dog into his mouth that he stole from his girlfriend's plate.

Seifer shuddered in disgust as Quistis sighed, "Who ever this person is, they're most definitely in the wrong. No one has the right to go around killing people no matter what crimes or sins they've committed. It's up to the law, not any common man to make that decision. These matters should be taken to court and tried."

Irvine nodded in agreement towards Quistis while shooting a nervous glance in Rinoa's direction.

"I agree with Quistis, this person needs to be brought in immediately and forced to face their crimes."

Zell frowned, "but those people were bad, they deserved to die. The only difference between this Vigilante and us is that we're trained and paid to kill, he does it based on his morals and beliefs."

Squall sighed pulling Rinoa closer to his side, "that's not exactly true Zell. Just because the victims had done wrong in their life doesn't mean they necessarily deserved to die for it."

Selphie started to open her mouth, fork waving madly in the air, but was forced shut when Irvine cupped his palm over her lips. Selphie glared at him nipping at his palm, shoulders sagging once again as she sank back into her seat.

Seifer stretched his legs in front of him and rubbed his chin taking in all of the gang's different opinions. The different views could become extremely complex, especially when dealing with the public. It was difficult to catch a killer that was well known and liked, maybe even idolized.

Come to think of it, his first thought had been to liken the killer with Buelman as well. Hell, he hadn't even thought of the oddly dressed Buelman since he was five years old and had ripped his pajamas featuring the superhero plastered with his stupid motto, "Whatever is fair in love and war is also fair in crime fighting," but suddenly there's a vigilante and the old action figure was the first thing to pop into his mind.

Sadly, it had been the first to pop into Chicken Wuss' mind as well, just proving that it more than likely had done the same in quite a few other people's as well.

What if, suddenly, people were faced with a real life Superhero. Seifer cringed, yeah, he could already tell this case was gonna be a huge pain in the ass. Sneaking a glance at Quistis who still sat stiffly in her seat next to him, he grimaced, hell the case was already a pain in his ass.

Suddenly a pain shot from the back of his head, causing him to instantly raise his hand to assess the damage and swing around to face his offender as he heard a mocking laugh followed by a voice he had wished with all of his dark, miserable heart never to hear again.

"So I hear there's a killer on the loose, but look, no need to fear, he's already been contained cause I just found him."

Seifer glared at Xu, her prissy ass self smiling primly down at him one arm around her waist and her other hand in front of her as she looked from him to her nails as if already bored with the subject. Seifer

started to stand, a snappy comeback just at the tip of his tongue to blow her cool demeanor to hell and back.

A loud commotion from the table across from them stopped all conversation about the killer, all thoughts of cutting Xu down to size completely forgotten as everyone turned to take a look at the odd happenings.

A teenaged boy dressed in all black, his obviously dyed black hair falling into his face and covering his eyes menacingly, had climbed on top of the table and stood there solemnly watching as his friends waved their arms calling people to attention. Once silence ensued the whole cafeteria he raised his head, bright, unholy green eyes piercing through the parts of his long black hair and causing gasps to come from quite a few of the younger girls.

Seifer rolled his eyes, oh puh-lease, it was a no brainer that the kid was wearing contacts.

"My name is Rei," the kids soft voice rang clear through the quiet room, " I want you all to know that I am the killer, I offer myself to you completely and respect you for whatever your decision may be on my actions. I regret nothing that I did and look forward to my demise."

Jumping from the table the kid sat back down folding his arms and resting his head on top of them watching his surroundings with his eerie eyes.

Immediately the cafeteria became alive in an uproar. Zell jumped to his feet, along with several others, yelling that there was no way a little punk like that kid could be the killer. Squall frowned standing up as well and trying to control the chaos the kid had caused amongst the students.

Seifer only saw red.

He watched everything take place through a foggy red haze, he felt his muscles tense and spasm, the rage pounding in his head. He felt every beat of his heart as he stood and stalked across the short space to the table the boy still sat at, quietly watching him advance, no expression on his face.

Stopping in front of him Seifer leaned down, looking the kid eye to eye.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?"

The boy's only response was to smile and just like that, Seifer's control was gone. His hand snatched out grabbing the boy's turtleneck collar against his throat and lifting him out of his seat and into the air, "take it back now" he growled through his teeth.

The boy continued to just stare down at him with wide vacant glowing green eyes. Seifer shook the boy enjoying the way his muscles were starting to burn, loving the feel of his anger causing his blood to boil.

The boy watched him and smiled with sick satisfaction.

Throwing the boy onto the table Seifer raised his fist, ready to wipe the punk's smile off his face, only to be stopped by a soft hand closing over his fist.

"Enough Seifer" came a firm feminine voice cutting through the fire and red haze that had filled his mind.

"Let him go," the voice commanded again, this time softer, closer to his ear.

Releasing the brat, Seifer stepped back before shaking his head and advancing again, pointing his index finger so close to the boy's face he nearly bumped his nose, "you are going to regret everything you just said, I'll fucking make you regret it for the worthless fuckin anarchy you just caused."

Seifer was pushed back as the boy's friends quickly swarmed him, petting the kid's cheaply dyed black hair and clothes.

Seifer shook his head before turning to face the person who had stopped him. Quistis, of course stood pressed against him, both hands firmly wrapped around his bicep, her clear blue eyes regarding him cautiously. Seifer snarled at her before yanking his arm from her grasp and storming out of the room.

Taking a deep calming breath Quistis made her way back to the table where the rest of her friends still sat, shell shocked at the happenings around them. Xu sat down in the chair Seifer had vacated and waved her hand in front of her face.

Squall quickly kissed Rinoa before emerging himself in the throe of kids that had congealed around the supposed killer.

Zell fist punched the air and kicked angrily, aiming at the kid's table still shouting obscenities, Lenne, who had stayed sitting in her chair through the whole ordeal, had even picked up a book and was reading diligently, ignoring her surroundings. Quistis shook her head at the odd girl. She supposed that's what came from working in a library 24/7.

Rinoa was watching her with a thoughtful expression, Quistis tried to force a smile in her friend's direction and Rinoa nodded in acknowledgment before looking back down at her salad that still sat uneaten in front of her.

Irvine, who had placed Selphie on top of his shoulders as soon as the commotion had begun, now gently set down his girlfriend and rubbed the back of his neck.

"That was interesting," he murmured before reclaiming his seat. Selphie stood on top of her chair craning her neck to try and get a look at the kid again as she absently nodded her head in agreement to her boyfriend's statement.

Quistis pushed her glasses up her nose before turning to Xu who was still watching her surroundings wide eyed.

"You know, Seifer doesn't fit the profile of the killer."

Xu glanced at her friend and nodded. Honestly, Xu didn't know much of anything about the killer but she had already known that it was in no way connected to Seifer. She had merely said it to get a rise out of him. A bad tempered Seifer was a lot more interesting than a quiet mild one.

Selphie sat down in her chair, clearly deciding that the entertainment was over. She smiled at Quistis before leaning across the table conspiratorially towards her.

"So, Quistis, in light of everything that just took place, are you sure you didn't want Seifer back for more personal reasons?"

Quistis stared at her friend in shock, before shaking her head in utter disbelief.

Selphie frowned and sat back with a humph, another idea bubble busted before it had even begun. Today was just not her day.


The Secret Area-

Seifer leaned against the small balcony, arms hanging over the rail a beer clutched in one hand, hiding in the restricted part of Garden, unimaginatively dubbed the "Secret Area" by some idiot named Clutz who was going to be forever remembered at Garden because of the lame name and carving of said lame name into the wooden rails followed by his even more embarrassing name.

Kid had problems. Whoever he had been.

Seifer took a sip of his beer and closed his eyes trying to relax his body. The day had been one horrible twisted mess since he had arrived.

Discover a serial killer? That's what he'd been brought back to do?

A small part of him had hoped that they wanted him back as a SeeD, enabling him to go on missions, stay active and maybe figure out a way to repair all the damages he had caused during the War.

But Hynedamn, it was his first day back and he had already lost his temper, made such a fuckin mess in the damn cafeteria, and pissed off every person he could. He was trying to at least act better around the Hero Gang, but all it took was one superior look from Quistis and a snide remark from Zell and it was back to the same old Seifer, instigating fights and causing scenes everywhere he turned.

Finishing his beer, he threw the bottle with precise aim and watched it fall into a large pile of shrubbery. He had plenty of practice in the years of living here to know how hard to chug the bottles so as to keep them hidden from view. His aim, among other things, seemed not to have changed over the last few years.

Leaning back down and resting his chin on his fist, he watched the peaceful scenery wondering what in the hell he was going to do about his new found predicament.

Should he actually help Quistis find out who the murderer is or lay low and enjoy his stay at the Garden while it lasted?

No matter how hard he worked, Squall was just going to figure out a way to get rid of him anyway.

Then again, the more he helped Quistis the more he could aggravate her which had always been his favorite past time anyway.

In the beginning when he had first arrived at Garden, he had just done it to irritate her because of the fact that she didn't remember who he was and it had hurt a little that she had forgotten him when she had played such a major role in his life when they were kids, but then it had turned into something else entirely.

He liked seeing her angry at him.

Quistis was such a quiet, calm and collected person that it had became a personal victory for him every time he made heat rise to her cheeks or her eyes flare to life in a temper. In all honesty, the angry Quistis was a lot sexier than the boring Instructor Quistis.

Although, to give her credit, she had been the main feature in many of his dreams as a boy starring as Instructor Quistis. It hadn't been hard at all for him to imagine his Teacher unbuttoning her shirt, taking off her glasses then raising her arms above her head tilting her head up, puckering those sexy full lips of hers while pulling out her clip from her hair and letting her blond thick locks fall around her shoulders in waves before slapping a ruler against her bare thigh.

Hell, apparently it still wasn't. Seifer shoved his hand down into his pants and shifted himself into a more comfortable position, sighing in relief as some of the pressure lessened.

No, Quistis Trepe had not changed even in the slightest, come to think of it, no one else had really changed either.

Seifer frowned, well maybe Rinoa had. It was odd to see the girl acting so withdrawn and awkward. She seemed so nervous and edgy. Almost as if she was trying to keep something hidden.

Seifer rubbed his forehead, Hyne none of this shit made sense. What the fuck could have happened to Rinoa to make her act so reclusive.

He hadn't see anyone act like that since he was the sorceress knight... wait, when he was the sorceress knight... Fuck!

Rinoa had been possessed right? Or at least she had been near the sorceress long enough to be somewhat contaminated. Maybe something had happened to her during that time frame to make her mindset a little off and it was just now affecting her because...

Well, shit.

Seifer banged his fist against the railing, cursing into the still night. Feeling drained and tired Seifer turned his back to the night and the seclusion the secret area had to offer and reentered Garden heading in the direction of his new room, tomorrow he would go talk to Rinoa himself and see what the hell had her in fuckin knots.

Until then, maybe he could resurface some of those old fantasies, starring Quistis in her naughty uniform, and use those to help keep his demons at bay.


A small, round metal tub sat in the moonlight reflecting the beams in the dark liquid contents.

Slowly and carefully, a long pointed needle was submerged into the acidic poison held tightly by a pair of needle nosed pliers.

A few other needles lay nearby gleaming neatly in a row, drying on a black rag, ready for the next coating of poison.

Soon, very soon, the needles would be used again for the next disgruntled victim, ready and eager to pierce their skin.

But where to strike next? And to whom should the needle find its home, imbedded deep in flesh as it quickly and silently slides through the soft skin, past tissue and cells until it hits the life bearing veins, rushing with blood, strong enough to sweep the poison away and quickly carry it to the still beating heart, infecting the beating organ with its dark venom.

A smile lit the room, brighter than the moonlight, as another plan, for another life snuffed out in it's prime, began to form.


That's all folks!

Remember, reviews are love and a great inspiration to keep writing! I have the next chapter all ready to post so let me know what you think and I'll post it faster!

Also Buelman, is all mine and was created solely for the purpose to amuse me. There was no Buelman in the videogame. There are buel's which are monsters found in the fire cavern. They have a creepy looking head surrounded by revolving arms and legs and 4 wings. In this story Buelman is the equivalent to our Batman.

Also the little catch phrase, " Whatever is fair in love and war is also fair in crime fighting" is actually a line used in the original batman series made way back when in the good old days.

Now be sweet little dearies and leave Adidas and Masha a lovely review.

Thank you for reading.