Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII, and all that jazz. Now, let's carry on, shall we?

Save Yourself

Chapter Ten

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Over 1200 hits and counting. I love you guys.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"So how was it? Was it exquisite? Was Alec a gentlemen?" Three steps into Garden, and already Quistis was being interrogated. Selphie was rushing in behind her, dragging poor Irvine behind her like a tow truck. She was talking a mile a minute and Quistis was struggling to tune it out.

"OhmyHyne Rinoa you should've been there! Quistis and Alec were dancing, and they looked perfect, right, and the music was perfect, and the food was great, but really you should've been there, it was really romantic and Irvy you should really learn to dance like Alec and OhmyHyne…"

"Remember to breathe, Selphie." Quistis interrupted tonelessly. She then started briskly walking back to her dorm, giving a languid wave in passing. She was halfway there when she felt a hand on her arm, signaling for her to stop.

"Quistis? You okay?" It was Rinoa, a rare look of concern displayed on her features. "You don't look that great…want to come to my dorm and talk about it? Selphie won't be barging in for at least another 20 minutes the way she's talking now. You left your clothes in there anyway – and I know how much you want to get out of that dress and those shoes."

It wasn't much of a sales pitch, but it sounded a little better than isolating herself in her room for three days - Quistis had never been so grateful to Rinoa in a long time. She gave her a genuine smile, and nodded. Ignoring the clicking of their three inch heels and the swishing of their satin dresses on the pristine white tile floor, she knew how much they stood out from the other students in the halls. But this time, for once, she couldn't care less.

"Ahhh…" Quistis flopped down on Rinoa's bed in sheer relief. The stilettos had found their rightful place in the wastepaper basket in the corner, and the dress was tossed carelessly on an ottoman. The plain t-shirt and jeans she wore had never felt this comfortable in their existence. "Thanks Rinoa. I think I would've died if I had to wear that outfit for any longer. I'll take my chances with Ultemicia."

Rinoa laughed, but her expression quickly turned serious again. "So how was the night? You don't seem too happy about it. Although I don't know if that's because the night was bad or because Selphie was broadcasting it to everyone within 5 miles."

Quistis sighed. Oh well, if she had to tell anyone, Rinoa was first in line. Squall would ignore her, of course. Selphie could hold a secret like a hot coal. Zell wouldn't understand most of her issues. And Irvine…well, there was nothing wrong with telling him except for the fact he was Selphie's boyfriend, and she could draw information out of him almost effortlessly.

"Well, Rinoa, what do you think of Alec?"

"He seems…charming, polite, a perfect gentleman."

"Ugh. That's it. Perfect. He's perfect at everything. And his charm is so intense, it makes me sick. He never gets angry, he never gets frustrated, he's never sad or anything – like his only emotions are content, polite, and suave." She paused. "Plus he stinks like aftershave." She added as an afterthought. Rinoa nodded sagely.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty bad. I've never actually talked to him, so I guess I haven't experienced it."

"Oh, it's bad. He even brought me to the restaurant in a limo. Then when he got there, he had to get the most secluded and romantic table possible in the restaurant. He ordered the most expensive wine and told me I could order anything on the menu. Then he asked me to dance, and – not surprisingly – never missed a step of the waltz. And you know what? Everyone in the restaurant applauded, I've never been so embarrassed! So I had something called Escargots or something, and it was snails with cream and pineapple – I choked it down just to make him happy! I threw up in the bathroom later, but he didn't notice when I came out. I swear, every little thing, like him putting his hands just millimeters above my ass, or whispering in my ear, just made me want to kick him in the crotch and run! Hyne, every minute I'm with that guy is like a minute in hell!"

"Wow…I don't know what to say Quistis. You'd never be able to tell from looking at him. He didn't try and kiss you goodnight or anything, did he?"

"No, thank Hyne. I didn't give him the chance, really. Just a very polite 'thank you for a nice night' and a wave before I left. I've never faked a smile so many times in one night, I swear."

"This does sound serious. Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, I basically have two choices. I can either keep putting up this act and drive myself insane, or I can tell him where to shove his pompousness and leave me alone. I'm heavily favoring the second option. But I need Alec to help me get more information on Sam Liamay."

"Sam Liamay? Isn't that the guy who almost killed that pervert that was bothering you? I see him all over the news now." Rinoa had disappeared and was yelling from the kitchen. "You want anything to drink?"

"Yeah sure, a Coke'd be fine, thanks." She waited for Rinoa to return before she continued. "Anyway…I think Sam Liamay might be the same person that's been leaving the stuff in my room and cleaning it. Think about it. Didn't all these things start happening at the same time?"

Rinoa handed her the can with a thoughtful stare. "You know, you're right. Hmm, are you sure you want to keep pursuing this guy? He seems dangerous."

"I'd rather spend time with him then Alec Crowell, trust me." She shook her head. "This is all so confusing. I need Alec to help me find Sam. But I hate Alec, and I want to get to know Sam. But you know what's really weird?" Rinoa shrugged. "I get this feeling that Alec is using me for something. I can't imagine what, though."

"That is weird. Well don't ask me, I don't really know what's going on myself." She proceeded to pull out a magazine from under the bed. Quistis didn't catch the title, but it was no doubt a fashion magazine of some sort.

"You know what else? Why I'm trying so hard to find Sam Liamay? I have a feeling that Sam might be…" she cut herself off before she could finish his name. However, enough had escaped to gather Rinoa's full attention.

"To who? You think Sam might be?" Quistis was looking at the floor, but could feel Rinoa's eyes boring into her, searching for an answer.

"Promise you won't laugh or anything."

"Of course I won't Quistis, I'm here to help you, not make you feel stupid." The magazine was forgotten, her interest in Quistis' issue renewed. "You can tell me anything."

"I think…Sam might be connected…might know…might be…Seifer." She hesitated, waiting for a gasp, a laugh – anything – from Rinoa. Nothing. She hastily tried to recover her composure. "Well, I think Seifer is still alive! I know he is! And I think Sam might be him. There's nothing to back it up, I just know. I just feel…" tears welled up in her eyes. "I know that everyone says Seifer is dead…maybe…maybe…I'm just lying to myself. Maybe Sam is just some complete stranger who I'm putting false hope into…so I can keep believing Seifer is out there…"

Rinoa was deathly silent, opening her mouth as if to say something, but quickly shutting it. After a few moments of silence passed, Rinoa finally spoke. "Quistis, how do you feel about Seifer?" No 'Seifer is dead, get over it'? No 'wow, you're really starting to freak me out, Quistis'? She was taken aback.

"I…I…Well, Seifer was my childhood friend. My best childhood friend. The GF's took their toll on my memory and our relationship at Garden was ruined. I was always hoping for the day where we could put our differences aside…Then the Sorceress War started…I never wanted to fight against him, but what choice did I have? Everyone said he died at the end of the war, but I refused to believe it. I guess I still force myself to believe it." Voice cracking, tears slid silently down her cheeks. Just like a teenage girl with a crush that would never go out with her. She was lying on her stomach across the bed, trailing her fingers on the carpet mindlessly.

"Quistis…Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well, everyone thought he was dead. I didn't want to be swamped with sympathy for losing a friend, not that I would get any. Nobody liked him, everyone thinks he's better off dead anyway. He was public enemy number one."

"That's not true. He was possessed by Ultemicia during the war, we all know that! Ask Irvine, Squall, Zell or Selphie, they'll tell you the same thing. None of us bear grudges against him."

"That's all fine and dandy, but that won't bring him back." The tears were starting up again. "Nothing can."

"It's ok to cry, Quistis. Sometimes it's better to let it all out. Let's just figure out what you're going to do about you current situation. Are you going to keep trying to find Sam Liamay? Even if he's not Seifer, he seems to know what you like if the notes he left mean anything. On the other hand, that means you're still going to have to deal with Alec, you know."

"Sam Liamay is a criminal, Rinoa. And Alec is too much for me to take. I think I'll just drop out of the investigation and go about my normal teaching job at Garden." Rinoa looked at her in jaw-dropping shock.

"You can't be serious! I thought you said you felt Sam was Seifer…"

"A feeling is just a feeling, Rinoa." She chuckled sadly. "Seifer's dead. I was just lying to myself. I'll go resign from the investigation tomorrow morning…I just want everything to go back to normal." There was a fairly loud knock at the door.

Rinoa shot an empathetic glance at Quistis before going to answer the door. Quistis sighed, thumping a pillow over her head to drown out a certain brunette.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Seify hid in the corner of Quistis' room, under the computer desk, quivering in fear. The man who had been in his owner's room had not bothered anything, and Seify trusted him. Then just a few minutes ago, 4 strangely dressed men had attacked him, and taken him away. Were they going to take him away too?

Letting out a soft whimper, the young puppy ventured out into the hall, trying to find Quistis.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Seifer, Quistis, come here please!" Matron's voice rang out through the orphanage. The paper and crayons that had been previously occupying them were discarded to the floor in an instant. Waxy dragons, knights and castles were abandoned in moments. "Would you like to help me make some cookies?" Quistis was excited – she was always eager to learn something new – and Seifer tried his best to look disinterested but was failing miserably.

"Ok, now add the eggs and milk to the dry ingredients." Matron let Seifer crack open the eggs (he used a butter knife, pretending it was a sword) and let Quistis measure out the precise amount of milk. She then let them take turns stirring, Seifer going first and sending a shock wave of flour all over Quistis.

"Seify!" Quistis' shriek echoed through the kitchen, while Matron calmly took the bowl and continued stirring while Quistis chased Seifer around the room, hitting him with a wooden spoon.

"Alright, now we need to spoon it out onto the cookie sheets. No, Seifer, that's a little too much…no, a little less, Seifer, don't pick the chocolate chips out of the dough…yes, that's a good size, Quistis." Seifer stuck his tongue out at Quistis, who promptly made a face back at him. They continued having their little silent facemaking squabble until the sheet was full and ready to go in the oven.

Both Seifer and Quistis agreed on one thing. The time it took cookies to cool seemed infinitely longer then the time it took to make them. Seifer, of course, couldn't wait any longer and burned his fingers on a particularly hot cookie. Quistis waited another minute before reaching over for one.

"How about a glass of milk you two?" Both nodded, as their mouths were full of warm chocolate chip cookie. "Now, now, only two cookies each until supper. Don't want to spoil your supper, now do you?" It only took 5 seconds of Seifer's and Quistis' best 'bambi-eyes' for her to give in and let them each have another cookie. "Alright, three is it. We have to leave some for the others." Matron smiled warmly and watched them scoot off to the beach, crumbs on their shirts and fading milk mustaches on their upper lips.

"Oh, those two. If one or the other is by their self, they're almost uncontrollable. But put them together, and they're inseparable…"

"Ah, Mr. Almasy. What a pleasant surprise. Or should I say Sam Liamay?"

Seifer's light, and pleasant sleep was broken by a strange voice echoing in the nearly empty room he was locked in. A shadowed silhouette stood in the doorway, the only source of light. Seifer began to stand up and was about to shout a sarcastic comment about the hospitality, but was cut off by realization they had not only locked him in this dark room, they had chained him while he had slept. He strained his wrists and ankles against the cold steel.

"Bastard. What the hell do you want? You're Alec, aren't you?"

"Hmm, it appears your temperament is as filthy as your appearance. You'll learn very quickly to respect me around here." The man was tall, with dark hair and molten amber eyes. He was wearing a tuxedo, which seemed a little more than out of place in the dingy cell.

"You seem very full of yourself for just being a Balamb police officer." Seifer snarled through gritted teeth. He was rewarded with a hard backhand across the face.

"Remember what I said about respect, scum? The lesson is only beginning." He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small, black object. Seifer's eyes widened as he recognized the instrument as a taser gun immediately. Haunting memories flitted through his mind as he saw Squall chained to the wall, helpless as he applied wave after wave of powerful electricity over the young man's body. Life was ironic like that - it was his turn now. He looked back at Alec with grim defiance. Like hell he was going to let Alec see fear in his eyes.

"Relax, you worthless piece of shit. It's not your fault you have no idea who you're dealing with." Alec put the taser back into his pocket. "I'm not going to kill you…yet. So get comfortable, it's storytime. You listen to me…you survive. You ignore me, you talk back to me, you threaten me at all…you die. Get it?" The pleasant accent and attitude were long gone, and there was only a coldhearted and cruel man. It was frighteningly similar to a former form of himself.

Seifer braced himself. This was for Quistis. This was one trial that would take all the strength he ever had to make it through…

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Quistis sat alone in a secluded corner of the cafeteria. It was early, 6:00 am, and the huge, normally packed room was almost deserted. She had stayed in Rinoa's room last night, and they had stayed up for hours talking about Seifer, Sam and Alec. She had crept out of the room as not to wake Rinoa, and had retired to the only place where she could get some true peace and quiet.

Companioned by her mug of coffee, she thought about her current choices. Was it really worth it to put up with Alec just to find out Sam was some loser, like a 20-some year old boyfriend that would break your car and make you pay for it? Sighing, she took another long sip of coffee. It would be nice just to go back to teaching classes again. It was settled, she would drop the investigation and never hear from pompous Alec or Sam Liamay again. It was the easy way out.

The sound of a chair scraping across from her caused her to look up from her aimless stirring. To her surprise, it was Squall. Emotionless as always, he made no indication of what he wanted as he carefully took a seat. He was dressed in his Commander's uniform, so Quistis knew instantly it was strictly about business.

"Squall. What brings you into this neck of the woods?" She downed the rest of her coffee and looked him straight into the eye. "What, did I get fired or something?"

The stone grey eyes didn't reflect anger, amusement or annoyance. Like talking to a concrete wall. A walking, talking, completely oblivious concrete wall. "Listen, I'm not really in the mood to talk to a rock this morning, come back when you're human." Again, he didn't make any reaction to her comments.

He handed her a piece of paper. "Read it." And with two words, he was gone. Now in almost total shock, she unfolded the piece of paper.

A Dormitory is a Dirty room.

A Schoolmaster lives in The Classroom.

A Dictionary is Indicatory.

So Try to figure out this Story.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Eyyy, look, I'm back already. Fancy that.

Anyways, I'm pretty happy with this, it was fun to write, and if anyone disagrees, I'll throw yams at them (don't think I've ever eaten yams, actually)

Yuyami no Okami, Lain of The Weird and of course Jack Hanek…I owe a great deal of thanks to you all for reviewing constantly. You get Juusan Ikkiuchi's official thumbs up of approval.

Now I'm actually a roll, woot, I'm having a blast with this story…mostly because I really hate Alec! Thought I'd throw in a little flashback thing and a little Seify scene because I've been neglecting them as of late.

Your reviews are always appreciated!

Peace out.

Juusan Ikkiuchi

(By the way Jack Hanek, I've been working on this a lot, so the other pics are a little delayed. At least I finished Grave, huh?)