Working With The Enemy
"HOW THE HELL DID THAT IDIOT WORM HIS WAY INTO POLITICS?" Quistis shouted to herself.
It was five thirty pm that Monday afternoon in Deling City. Quistis Trepe stood in her living room in her villa seething with anger. Seifer Almasy, Her former enemy in the battle against Ultimecia was now one of her co-workers.
She collapsed into one of the black leather recliners and sighed. "He betrayed us all and yet he gets off scott free. How the hell does that work?"
She switched on her television to watch the local news and tried to relax. But she could not. It bothered her greatly that a criminal like Seifer was now in charge of one of the largest armies in the world. He had to be up to something.
"What am I worrying about? I probably won't have to see him too much."
"What?" Quistis demanded.
"You and General Almasy will be working together when we go to peace talks next month." Phoenix said.
"Oh Hyne." She muttered under her breath. "When do we start?"
"Right now." Phoenix pressed the button on her desk. "Alexa could you please tell General Almasy to come up to my office."
"Yes Mrs President."
Quistis hid her look of dismay and irritation. This was not good. Not good at all.
A short time later Seifer walked into the office. He gave Quistis his trademark smirk and then faced the president. "Yes Mrs President."
"You were given details of your next assignment correct General?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good. You and Miss Trepe will be working together for the duration of it. Now go get started."
"Yes Mrs President."
There was no bickering to be had in the Presidents office. But once the pair were outside...
"Good to see you again instructor." Seifer said as they walked to Quistis' office.
"I'm not your instructor anymore Seifer." Quistis replied coldly. "Point in fact I'm not an instructor anymore either." She turned to face him with an icy glare. "Let me also remind you General that I also outrank you. So you will address me as Miss Trepe or Quistis."
"Yes Quistis." He stopped and leaned against the wall. "There's no need to be such a bitch."
"I may be a bitch but at least I wasn't the sorceress's lap dog."
Quicker than she could count Seifer grabbed her arm and locked her in a submission hold.
"Ow." She yelled.
"You were saying?" He asked sarcastically.
But Quistis was better trained. She manoeuvred her way out of the hold and tripped him up using martial arts. Placing her heel on an energy point in his back Seifer was rendered immobile.
"I may not be an instructor anymore Seifer but I can still kick your ass."
Hours later while sitting in Quistis' office the two were working furiously; mostly because they were trying to avoid talking to each other as much as possible. The only sounds that could be heard were the constant hitting of the keys on Quistis' computer and the tapping of Seifer's pen against the wooden coffee table as he sat on her lounge.
"Would you stop that? It's annoying!" She snapped
"Stop what instructor?"
"Oh you know very well what I'm talking about. FLOAT!" Then floated its way out of Seifer's hands and into hers.
"Somebody's gotten quite powerful." Seifer sneered. "Tell me is that what you were doing while you were waiting for Puberty boy to leave Rinoa for you?"
Quistis went very still. Then she stood up. "How dare you?" She said with more than a hint of warning in her voice.
"Quistis I-"
"Get out Seifer. Get out now."
Seifer got up and left as quickly as he could.
Quistis waved her hand and the door slammed behind him. She sank to the floor shaking with rage.
"How dare you?" She whispered. A tear formed from her eye but she brushed it away. Quistis Trepe would not cry. Not over this. Definitely not over this.
Seifer still stood outside her office. "I didn't mean to hurt you Quisty. I never did. Not then and not now."
It was nearly five pm. Time to go home thought Quistis. It had been quite a stressful day but not enough to break her.
As she went to lock her office door for the night she heard a familiar voice.
"Going home Quisty?"
"Not now Seifer. I'm not in the mood."
Seifer who had been leaning against the wall stood up and said, "Look I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have said what I did."
"It's okay Seifer." Quistis replied. "I'm just tired okay."
"Come have a drink with me Quisty. At least talk with me. Please?"
Quistis sighed. "Oh alright."
A short time later they were sitting in a bar in the Deling Plaza Hotel sipping on drinks and having a quiet and revealing conversation.
"So how did you end up here Seifer?" Quistis asked her companion. "How does one go from trying being a criminal to the general of the largest armies in the world?"
"It's quite simple really." Seifer replied with a grin. "One must find the only woman he thinks of as a mother and get her to get you into Galbadia Garden. Then you must rise to Level A SeeD within three months and after that run into the next potential president and get friendly with her which will undoubtedly lead to her promising you command of the nations army if she gets elected."
Quistis laughed quietly. "Well at least you know what you're doing."
"Well my dear advisor," Seifer said. "How does a top notch instructor become the advisor of the new president of Galbadia?"
"Well after the battle with Ultimercia I was given back my instructors license at the garden." She replied. "It's weird you know? After I lost my license the first time getting it back was all I could think about and when I finally did get it back it just didn't seem important anymore.
I stayed in Balamb for another two years trying to convince myself that Garden was where I belonged and being an instructor was my life. But when I had myself almost completely fooled I received a letter from President Williams offering me a position as her advisor. That was the wake up call I needed." She stopped sipping her martini. "Twenty four hours later I rang to accept without telling anyone. I was told to be in Deling in three weeks. So I packed, wrote a letter of resignation and left one morning at dawn when no one would see me."
"That's a very brave thing to do." Seifer commented.
"I was more jaded that brave Seifer." Quistis replied. "I was so tired of waiting for something to happen that I took control and made the change. I was scared when I made the decision but as I was leaving that morning I just knew that I had done the right thing by leaving."
And you didn't tell anyone?"
"No. I was worried that Cid and Edea might have tried to convince me to stay. I didn't want anyone telling me anything different than what I had decided."
"I wonder what they all thought?" Seifer wondered. "Puberty boy, chicken wuss, the cowboy and the messenger."
"What about Rinoa?"
"What about her?"
"Don't you want to know what she would think?"
"Do you want to Quistis?"
"Not really."
"Well there you go."
Quistis rolled her eyes. "Seifer didn't you like her or something?"
"Yeah like over two years ago. It was just a summer fling. Nothing more."
"Well let's toast then." Quistis said picking up her glass. "To a fresh start for the both of us."
"To a fresh start." Seifer said clinking his beer glass against the martini glass.
An hour later the two left the bar and walked outside to their cars.
"Thanks for coming with me tonight." Seifer said as they walked together.
"Don't mention it." Quistis replied. "It was something else I think I needed to do."
"What did you need to do?"
"Get a lot of stuff off my chest."
As they reached Quistis' car Seifer turned to her and said, "Good night Quisty."
"See you tomorrow Seifer." She replied.
He leant in and tenderly kissed her cheek. "See you tomorrow Trepe." And walked away to his car.
Quistis got into her jeep. After closing the door behind her she placed her hand on her cheek. It was tingling from the touch of his lips.
"Why do I feel like this?" She asked herself softly. "Why did he do that?" But instead of questioning the many reasons she turned the key in the ignition and drove home.
Authors Note: Hope you liked it. The next fic will revolve around the developing relationship of Quistis and Seifer. Plus some other FFVIII characters might be making an appearance or two. Stay tuned.