"So where to now?" The simple question had actually left him rather dumbstruck. He and the Lady bounty hunter had been traveling the countryside for a handful of weeks now but never had she asked for his input before. So he only shrugged as casually as he could and stated that he didn't understand. She smiled gently across the breakfast table, a look that seemed oddly out of place on her sharp features. "Don't think I don't know that one of your primary concerns is what will become of you if you lose your guide."

It was true. He had never stated it but nor had he made it a secret. Perhaps he was easier to read than he gave himself credit for.

"So I ask you again: where to?" When he failed to give an answer, she leaned in close. "You are smarter and better connected than you think you are, Adelbert. Once you figure that out, finding Beatrix will be a walk in the park."

So he stared into his breakfast, pushing the plain oatmeal around his bowl for a good half an hour before he spoke again. Smarter and better connected she says. That implies that there were people he knew. More importantly than that, there were people he knew that knew more than he did. But the only people he knew he could count as true allies were those he met while traveling with Zidane and company. Although that wasn't necessarily true, he realized as he stole a glance at Lani who busied herself with pouring honey on her English muffin. While before he likely would have hung his head in shame had he needed to come to her for help, he knew he was not above swallowing his pride and doing just that. And if he could count her among his allies, who else could he think of?

It seemed decently well established that they were heading for Lindblum. Certainly it would be no task setting up an audience with the Regent. In fact his connection to the Queen (or the Lady Eiko for that matter) ensured that he could likely walk unannounced into the palace.

He was about to voice his conclusion when he realized something: if Sir Cid, or the Ladies Hilda or Eiko, had known Beatrix's location, would they not have told at least her Majesty? It would not surprise him that his wife would have requested secrecy in regards to he himself but Eiko being the chatterbox that she is certainly would have divulged to the Queen. So while he could count those in the Palace among his connections, that was not the place to start his search in Lindblum.

Although she did not live inside the city limits, Quina was always an option. She was beloved by all and no doubt had wellsprings of untapped knowledge. But she was an enigmatic figure at best and communicating with her was a challenge. Probably best to keep that option open but pursue others first. Unless they got really hungry.

Lindblum. Who else lives in Lindblum?

"Tantalus." He muttered. "Tantalus is centered in Lindblum."

"And this is important because-..." She said, setting aside the honey pot.

"Baku is a well-respected man with many resourceful people working under him. If he doesn't know, it will not be a challenge for him to find out."

Words he now found himself regretting as he stood before the boss of Tantalus, his cronies all around having a good laugh at his expense. Upon reflection it probably would have been wise to wear his royal armor as opposed to his llamelar, at least that would have silenced all the Rusty jokes. But all he could do was grit his teeth and wait until their tirade was over, he did need something from them after all. He just hated how the woman at his side, besides releasing the occasional chortle herself, was holding her tongue. Such an unusual behavior shift for her.

"Never thought you'd set down you sword for the stage." Baku said finally, seeming to want to get down to business.

"You've spoken to Ruby then?" Steiner said, trying (and mostly succeeding) to contain his seething rage.

"News travels faster than people realize."

"Didn't think you had the heart of a great artist." Blank said, a smug smile on his eye-less face. "But then again I don't know how far you'd get throwing a fit on stage every time you forgot a line."

"Or someone else forgot a line." Genero chimed in.

"Or missed a cue." Said Zenero.

"Or looked at you funny!" Dinero giggled.

"Shut up, you fools." Baku said, again bringing order to his thieves troupe. "It takes guts for a man to take center stage. And I sincerely doubt any of you have ever give as moving a performance as he did."

Steiner looked away, he really wished they didn't know about his performance. Good show or not, he really wasn't very proud of it.

"Now all you idiots better scoot, last I checked you have work to do!" All of the Tantalus boys sighed but saluted before excusing themselves from the hideout. Everyone except Marcus, who while he did salute, he found himself a seat by the door.

Not that Steiner cared all that much, Marcus was the only one of these brigands that he could hold his head high and call him a friend. He owed much to the tusk-toothed man, so he would tolerate his presence while he tried not to embarrass himself. So while he gathered his courage to ask his series of questions, Baku stepped past him, almost bowling him over in the process.

He reached down and warmly shook Lani's hand. "Lani, it's been a while."

"Not long enough." She said with a smile, leaning up to kiss his piggy cheek.

He took a deep breath and let out a titanic sneeze. Lani had to lean aside to dodge the spray but laughed none the less. "So what're you doing dragging this stiff around? Trying to give yourself an ulcer?"

"Hey, dragging nothing, I'm actually here with him today."

He let out a hardy laugh. "Now that I don't believe. You know why? Number 1 – he couldn't afford you, and number 2 – even if he could, he'd have to bring himself pretty low to be darkening up my door."

"He's got a rather uncanny ability to swallow his pride when you least expect it."

"I have not swallowed my pride." Steiner interjected. "I simply recalled previous instances where, even without provocation, you-"

Baku suddenly sneezed again, effectively silencing the knight. "No need to mince your words here, Adelbert, save that for the Regent."

He sighed. "I need to know if you've seen Beatrix."

He looked the knight up and down. "What makes you think I've seen her?"

"Because you answered me with a question. If you didn't know, you would have just told me. You're trying to put me on the defensive, make me tip my hand first." Baku was taken aback by the bluntness and downright accuracy of the knight's words, actually finding himself stunned silent. "You said it yourself; lets not mince words."

"Huh..." He grunted a little, his opinion of this man clearly shifting. "Haven't seen her in a while, couple years maybe."

"That's the kind of time frame we're talking about," Lani said, backing up her cohort, "Like in the last five years."

Baku nodded once. "She was here about three years ago or so, saying she wanted to work. Seemed kind of odd, coming from a proper lady like her but I've known for a long time that everyone has the capacity to change." He glanced side long as Steiner for a moment before continuing. "She was only here for three months, give or take, but she was probably the most dedicated worker I've ever had in this company. Broke my heart when she said she had to go. I even thought about offering her full time employment, but thought better of it because of the brat."

"Don't like kids?"

"I'm fine with kids, just don't think this is the sort of place anyone should be raising their youngsters."

Lani nodded, conceding the point. While she did love Tantalus, even she had to admit hanging around with this bunch of irresponsible, boozing, man-children probably wasn't the healthiest for child-rearing.

"Besides, her logic for leaving left even me thinking that asking her to stay would be down-right cruel."

"Do you remember what it was?" Steiner asked slowly.

"Yeah, she told me that she had done many cruel and terrible things in her career, and that she could not hold her head high as a mother until she atoned for her sins."

Lani glanced at Steiner, hoping to find some sort of indication of his emotions. But all he did was bow. "You have my sincere gratitude for your help, Sir Baku. Now if you will excuse me." And without another word, he turned to the exit. However, he paused just before he passed the threshold, slowly turning back into the room. She thought for a moment he might be waiting for her but his solid, intense gaze was aimed straight at Baku. He pulled his heels together and, in a motion she thought she would never see from him, did the Tantalus salute before finally making his exit.

She had to suppress a giggle as she hastily waved to the confused acting leader and trotted after Steiner. Short as it was, that had to be one of the most amusing interactions of her life. There were not many people in the world who could shock Baku into speechlessness but he had done it! She would have to think of a special way to congratulate him.

He hadn't even broken stride, making a bee-line for the air-car station. Although the steely look on his Alexandrian face made her too afraid to say anything to him, she continued her internal laughter. He didn't even look at her all the way to the business district and didn't bother to say anything before stepping into the hotel. Well, on the plus side, he didn't seem ready to throw his hands up on the mission quite yet.

He walked up to the counter, her at his heels, and tapped his palm on the guest book, trying to catch the innkeeper's attention. "We need two singles."

"Sorry, our single rooms are all booked up." The woman behind the counter said.

"What!?" Lani boomed, knowing that the bigger scene she made, the bigger discount they could get.

"Sorry, we're just not a very large hotel." The seemingly nervous lady said, obviously trying not to lose a sale. "We have lovely double rooms available, offering a view of the-"

"I don't care about the view! How do you expect me to share a room with my obnoxious cousin!? As if that moogle living in the end room wasn't enough-"

"Oh, shut up!" Steiner finally said, rounding on her. "You have changed so much since you got married. We grew up together, you are not above sharing a space with me!"

She narrowed her eyes at him, fully intending to continue this scene he seemed all too willing to play along with until the hotel waived their fee all together. But she could see roiling turmoil in the depths of his dark eyes, a kind of sadness and anguish far beyond any tears he could possibly shed.

"Fine!" She shouted, trying really hard to not simply smother this man in her hugs.

"Very well, then!" The clerk chirped happily, clearly glad not having needed to offer a reduced price. "I'll just need your names then I'll escort you to your rooms!"

"Darien Dumas." Steiner said, not taking his eyes away from Lani's.

"Lena Cofax." Lani said, straining to keep her face hard. "And skip the escort, we'll find it ourselves!"

After wishing them a pleasant stay, the woman handed over the room key which Lani snatched away angrily before stomping up the stairs. Once they found their room (thankfully on the opposite end of the building from the ever-present moogle), she waved Steiner in first and slammed the door after herself, locking it again behind her. "OK, what the hell was that?" She finally voiced the question sitting on the tip of her tongue since before they left the Tantalus hideout.

"I am simply trying to help you maintain your face around your underworld connections," He said, shakily removing his sword and scabbard from his back, "It seemed so important to you before."

"Oh, it's plenty important." She said, wondering a little why he didn't want to turn and look at her. "I just really didn't expect you, of all people, to just let loose on Baku like that. And certainly not for you to engage with me and the innkeeper like that. I would say I'm impressed but this is you we're talking about."

He pulled his sword up to his chest, gripping it so hard she could see his whole body begin to shake.

She slowly pulled her axe from its harness, leaning it gently against the wall. "I don't honestly know what words I have for you right now. This is heavy and I know that." With a sigh she strolled around in front of him. "If you don't want to talk about it I understand but-"

With that he cast his weapon aside, seizing her body in his arms and crushing it against his own. Finally the water works started, tears flowing unchecked from his eyes as his body shook with massive sobs. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him as well, somehow wishing that she could whisk him away somewhere and take all his pain away. An odd thought for her, really, she realized. Emotional pain and anguish had always been her bread and butter; it usually meant she would have a job tomorrow.

But not like this. He deserved so much better.

Slowly she guided him over to the bed, gently setting him down on the edge and kneeling down on the floor in front of him. His arms still refused to let go of her body, however, scraping her face against the cold scales of his armor. So much of her wanted to remove that armor, shed all barriers from between them and be able to be truly intimate with him. But as she reached for the clips on his shoulders, her heart stopped her hands; he didn't need that sort of comfort. When Amarant had walked out of her life, she probably would have slapped whoever tried to lay a hand on her. And simply because it happened several years ago didn't mean that Beatrix's absence pained Steiner any less. So she would do the only thing she was certain would help – wordlessly allow him to release everything he had been holding in without judgment and without hurry.


"I apologize, my Lady." Steiner said, his voice still, cracking slightly.

"You may owe me a lot, Adelbert, but an apology is not it." Lani said, stretching her legs out in front of her on the floor.

His tears had finally halted with the gentle setting of the sun. Now as the last rays peeked from the western horizon, the evening lamps finally began springing to life, allowing the engineer's works to continue into the night. The room, however, remained bathed in the evening gloom, neither occupant wanting to light the single oil lantern. The darkness was therapeutic, he felt, keeping hidden the small twitches and expressions he had always been terrible at hiding. But he had always been one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, it was part of his honest upbringing. Why the hiding now?

He looked down at the woman sprawled out before him, her arms out behind her to hold her up but her legs open to almost 90 degrees. She certainly had a similar kind of honesty about her. Sure there were barriers around her, keeping a sort of steely composure in place under pressure. But for her, she could deal with social pressure the same way he could deal with physical pressure – with success if not necessarily with grace or dignity.

"So what now?" She asked though her face hidden in the shadows.

It was a question he was surprised he was so afraid of. "Do you think Baku was being honest? About Beatrix's motives?"

"Without a doubt."

His fingers tensed within the folds of the blanket he sat upon; it was all he could do to curb his rage. "Then I know where she is."

"Oh?" She inquired.

"Besides the Cleyrans, there is only one group of people she would believe she has wronged enough to abandon her knighthood-..." He paused to run his fingers through his hair. "We must pay the Black Mages a visit."

She sighed. He couldn't see her well through the darkness but if her pulling her legs in under her and slumping her posture said anything, he already knew, but dreaded, hearing the answer. "Well," She chirped, trying to hide her disappointment behind a jovial workman's mask, "Sounds like we have a plan then." She stood up, clapping her hands against her thighs once. "It's a bit too late to get things moving tonight but we should be able to arrange for transport by tomorrow. It's not too much of a sacrifice to spend one night in a room with me, is it?"

"I believe I shall endure, My Lady." He meant it to sound like a joke but couldn't help but feel that it sounded forced.

She grimaced in the darkness but decided to lay it on thick. "Would it be unfair for me to ask to take the bed?"

"Of course not, my lady, I had assumed you would." He said, scrambling to his feet.

"And would it be presumptuous of me to ask you to join me?" He simply shook his head. "Well, good! I don't think I'd be able to sleep very well if you were sleeping on the floor." He sighed and slowly approached her, reaching out for her hand. But she pulled away in a flurry, taking off her gloves and stepping over to the low dresser. "It's quite a trip all the way to the Outer Continent, I may have to charge you extra for the escort." She waggled her eyebrows playfully at him despite the fact she couldn't see him. "I'll just have to put it on your tab." She pulled off her headband, dropping it in a crumpled heap next to her gloves before pulling her white silk robe out of her bag of holding. "Man, how many years has it been since I've been out there? I wonder if the Moogles miss me?" She scoffed as she kicked off her boots and threw them against the door of the wardrobe. "Pfft! Of course they miss me! I bet they could hardly conduct their daily business without me!"

So she continued prattling on about the moogles (if they were getting enough to eat, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, whether or not they'd had a breeding season), but all she could think about was the man standing idly behind her. Every day they spent together she could see his resolve waning. It would not be difficult to convince him to abandon his mission; casting off Beatrix and Alexander simply as ghosts of his past, only to be idly fretted about in the last moments of consciousness before sleep.

But if she did tell him to give up, especially since she would without hesitation ask him to stay with her, she knew his life would never really be complete. That last wonder about a family given up would likely consume him and eventually take him from her. Even that was assuming they never came looking for him. No, she couldn't let that happen. Getting as close as she had to this job was certainly the dumbest move in her career but she couldn't leave it half done now. And that meant keeping him focused on the end goal.

She looked down at herself as she prepared to change into her pajamas. Too bad keeping his focus on the end goal meant making sure his focus wasn't on her. "You know, I can just sleep in my clothes."

As she turned to face him, she stopped, he was already walking toward her. Without a word he reached down and collected her discarded boots, banging them together a few times to shake off the mud before opening the modest wardrobe and neatly placing them inside. He again turned to her and she could barely make out in the dim evening light the cold look of determination on his face. This wasn't the look of a man pursuing a woman, more like the look of a man struggling through a routine despite an unpredictable life. And in his mind, she supposed, that meant both of them were properly dressed and bedded down before going to sleep.

So she simply allowed him to pull off her shoulder guards, watching as he shook out the dust from the day's travels and threw it over his shoulder. Before talking on the beast that was her corset, he moved down and removed her belt, taking with it her hip cape. As he turned to hang them up he held the article out in front of him, pursing his lips slightly at its state of disrepair. It was true that it needed to be cleaned but the same could be said of any of their clothing. He gave it a couple shakes and gently placed it on the hanger.

As he turned back to her, it felt like all the air in the room froze. She wasn't even naked and she had never felt so exposed in her life. "You know, you don't have to-" She began.

But he gently placed his hands on her shoulders, quietly shushing her before turning her away from him; not to mention away from any window or reflective surface. He then as hastily as he could unlaced her bodice and pulled the uncomfortable article away. He paused before he reached for her shorts and she found herself wondering if he was contemplating making a pass at her. But after a moment she felt her robe slip over her shoulders. With the belt tied securely around her waist, he finally gripped her shorts and pulled them off as well.

With her body again covered, she turned to him. He dutifully hung her remaining clothing in the wardrobe, making sure everything was neat and tidy before returning to where she stood. "My lady," He said, "I must prepare myself for sleep as well if you would please wait for me." He held out his hand.

But instead of offering her an escort, he held out her hair brush. She seemed genuinely taken aback for a moment, although honestly it was because she didn't remember what had happened to it since their romp in the field outside Burmecia a few days ago. So she took it and settled down cross legged on the bed, only half-heartedly brushing her hair. Mostly she paid attention to the man before her.

If his refusal to look even vaguely in her direction was any indication, he had come to the same conclusion as her. He dutifully removed his armor, checking it over for damage or disrepair just as he had done with her clothing before hanging it up as well. She couldn't watch this, if only because she was afraid she might be tempted by his impressive physique. She placed the brush on the night stand and laid down facing the wall away from him. She tried her hardest not to feel rejected. After all, how could one reject someone who was literally nothing? She was an assistant, a hired guard, a trail guide. They had barely been friends before she invaded his life all those weeks ago. And that was just that – a few weeks. Barely more than a month could not undo years upon years of heart ache, no matter how pleasant things had become. Honestly all she could hope for was that he would still be whole enough of a man on the other side of his inevitable confrontation that he could still love her.

And what kind of hope is that?

Finally he climbed into bed next to her. As much as she cowered to one side of the bed, he pursued her, wrapping one strong arm around her and pulling her snugly against him. Pathetic of a hope as it was, it was certainly worth clinging to.