thor's Notes: Hehe, by now you all know I'm thankful for your reviews. And Noelle, it seems you're the only one who noticed my author's notes on chapter 7, lol. I hope you'll all continue with this story, even if it doesn't focus 100% on one person. From now on, I'm going to be alternating from Tidus/Yuna action to Lindsay/Lindsay's Captor (I don't wanna say her name yet) action. Please review, and keep the comments comin!!

You Were Mine

Chapter 8

Trial and Error

            "You made it look so easy

            Makin' love into memories

            Guess you got what you wanted

            What about me?

            Cuz without you I'm not okay

            And without you I've lost my way

            My heart is stuck in second place, oo

            Without you..."

                Lindsay winced at the pounding in her head as she stirred from an unconscious slumber. She could hardly remember anything of the day before, and struggled against tight bonds behind her in defiance. Who was holding her here? And why? She'd been back in Besaid for three days...who could've targeted her in that amount of time?

            "Who the hell are you!?" she yelled as loud as she could into the shadows. She hadn't been gagged, to her surprise, but something had been given to her that made her voice raspy, and caused her to cough. Darkness surrounded her, but she was laying on something soft, rather than what she thought would be hard concrete, or dirty floors. It felt like a rug, or even carpet, but she couldn't be sure in the pitch-black room. She ran a hand over it, and waited for an answer. Nothing happened for a moment, until the door opened, and a bright light flooded the room, stinging her eyes that were used to the dark. Squinting harshly, she tried to make out the figure in the doorway, and found it useless.

            "You know who I am, Lindsay," a female voice said, a hint of malice hidden within it. She knew that voice from somewhere...but couldn't recall it without a face to match. She placed a hand over her eyes to block out the light, hoping she'd adjust to it soon.

            "I might if you turned the damn light off," she hissed. The form did nothing to turn the light off, and merely moved further into the room, standing before Lindsay now.

            "Not yet," she said, her lips curving into a smile. "I want you to guess first. Don't you recognize my voice? I thought I was unforgettable." Lindsay blinked a few times, and watched as a few things came into focus, but her kidnapper remained simply a shadow.

            "Unforgettable? What the...? I don't know what you're talking about. Will you just tell me who the hell you are? And why did you kidnap me?"

            Something clinked next to her, and she looked over at it. The object sparkled in the light, and she knew immediately what it was. A bracelet she had given to her best friend long ago...special charms hanging from almost every part of it: one for love of their friendship, one for luck, and a few others that had personal meaning to their relationship. Picking it up gingerly, she inspected each one she knew she'd handpicked, and given to her just before she'd disappeared from Zanarkand. Lindsay knew who it was, but she was still puzzled as to why she'd been taken.

            "Kelcie..." she whispered, still staring at the chain of silver. Kelcie moved forward, and kneeled in front of her.

            "That's right, sweet cheeks. It's pretty sad that you needed the chain to remember that, isn't it? After all, we were inseparable. Until you left."

            "I disappeared, Kelcie," she tried to explain, still confused. "You knew that. I...I don't understand why you did this. Why'd you take me?"

            Kelcie stood up again, and kicked the door closed, leaving them in darkness again. She switched on a dim lamp, highlighting her face and her upper body. Upon seeing her face, Lindsay gasped.

Tidus sat in the cold room, awaiting the arrival of the questioners. Ventrick stood beside him, silent and watching. He couldn't see how this was an improvement over the cell, since sitting like a rock in a chair wasn't much over sitting behind bars. Suddenly the door swung open, and in came two police officers he didn't recognize from the scene of the grocery store. They sat down across from him at the table, and brought out a couple notepads to begin questioning him.

            "Thank you for being here, Tidus. We know it's been a little confusing for you to be locked in that cell without us telling you what went on back there. But before we get to why you're in jail, we're going to ask you some questions about your girlfriend, Lindsay," the officer to the right began professionally. Tidus simply stared at him, having no reply to the statements.

            "So," the officer on the left started as well. "I'm Officer Banks, and this is Officer Lange. The first question we want to ask you is, when was the last time you saw Ms. Krycek?"

            Tidus looked away, remembering the morning she'd said she'd see him at lunch. She never did. "Yesterday morning. We were supposed to meet for lunch, and when I got there, she was gone. That was the last time I saw her."

            Lange scribbled on the notepad, while Banks continued. "And what time was it when you got to the Besaid Grocery Store?"

            That was one he couldn't recall very clearly. He hadn't stopped to look at a clock before he left the café with Yuna, and he hadn't glanced at the time in his car. So he took a guess. "Probably around 12:45, I'm not sure. I was at coffee with an old friend, and I left before noon, I know that."

            Now it was Lange's turn to question. He looked up from his pad, and straight at Tidus. "Who was the old friend?"

            He had a feeling that question was coming. Why did it matter? Yuna had nothing to do with any of this. Oh well, might as well be cooperative if he wanted to get out of there sometime that century. "An old girlfriend from a while ago. She just wanted to settle a few unfinished things between us. It was nothing big, just a conversation. Catching up, if you will."

            Lange raised an eyebrow while Banks wrote. "And her name was…?"

            "Yuna."

            "I see. Did Ms.Yuna know Ms. Krycek?"

            Aggravation was growing within him, but he wouldn't let it get the best of him. "They met a couple of nights ago, while I was with her at the bar. She didn't know her well, just an acquaintance. What does this have to do with her disappearance?"

            "Sir, we want to be open to all possibilities. Because she was an old girlfriend, maybe she had something against Ms. Krycek. We don't know. We want to make sure we have a clear suspect before we begin really searching hard. Now is there any reason she would have done something like this?"

            He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "No, there's no reason she would have done this. She was at the café with me, for goodness sake. How could she have done it?"

            "She could've hired someone," Banks answered quickly, still writing and not looking up. "Anything is possible."

            "Well I assure you," he responded, sending a look that could kill toward the officer. "She's only known I still exist for about two days, so I doubt she could hire someone and plan an entire kidnapping plot in twenty-four hours. This is someone who knows what they're doing, and just wants to toy with her, I'm sure of it."

            They stared at him in what he was certain was doubt. They probably figured he was some poor grieving boyfriend who just wanted his girlfriend back, and wasn't ready to blame anyone else for her disappearance. The look they gave him seemed to be mixed with sympathy, suspicion, and uncertainty. But he truly believed no one else would take her except someone who wanted her for sheer entertainment, and the thought made him nauseous.

            "One more question, Tidus," Lange offered, while he closed his notepad. "How long have you known Ms. Krycek?"

            Now this really didn't have anything to do with her disappearance. "None of your damn business, Sir. What does that have to do with Lindsay being kidnapped?"

            Lange looked to be trying to control a lash out against Tidus. He looked away for a moment, then back. "Just answer the question, please. How long have you known her?"

            He saw no other way but to be supportive if he wanted out. Why did they have to be so nosy? "About three years, okay? Three years I've known this woman. I know everything about her…and I know I want her back."

            After a few moments of silence in the room, the two officers prepared to leave, but Banks looked back for a moment. "We'll find her, don't worry. I'll make sure of it." With a nod, he left with Lange, leaving Tidus and Dean alone in the room.

            The scars on Kelcie's face were more than slight. They were almost disfiguring. One cut across the cheekbone, another along the bridge of her nose, more next to her eyes. Lindsay cringed noticeably, almost unable to identify the beautiful friend she once knew behind the mutilation.

            Trying to keep back a cry, she continued to stare at her captor. "How…? What happened to you, Kelcie?"

            She smiled again, this time it was mixed with a little bit of sadness. "This is what I did," she stated, "after you left. You were everything to me, Lindsay. You were the best friend I ever had, and then you vanished. I couldn't take it. I'm surprised anyone even found me after I did this. If Dayna hadn't come over, I'd probably be dead."

            Lindsay shook her head, disbelieving what she was hearing. Their friendship had meant a lot to both of them, but suicide? She couldn't see it. Not with Kelcie. They had the best times together; she never showed any signs of being depressive. She was powerless to say anything in return, stunned beyond words.

            "Took me about six months to heal, not that I really wanted to." She pulled up the sleeve of her lavender colored shirt, and showed another scar, across the wrist and up the arm, this one more obvious than the ones on her face. "I didn't want to live without you, Lindz. It just didn't seem worth it. They had to put me in the Psychiatric Ward for a while, because I kept finding things to cut myself with. They thought I was plumb crazy."

            Lindsay was getting freaked out. 'I didn't want to live without you?' She acted like she was a lover, a wife. They were friends, and she could understand grieving, but not anything to this magnitude. It was good to know she was missed, but she didn't know anyone would try to kill themselves over her. All she could manage was a murmur at this point.

            "Why, Kelc? Why did you do that to yourself? I wasn't dead…I wasn't worth dying over. Was I?"

            Kelcie chuckled dryly, and it sent a shiver up Lindsay's spine. "You know I have no family, Krycek. You always did. You were all the family I had, besides Dayna, but she really doesn't even count. Without you…I had nothing. I couldn't see a reason to keep living with you out of my world forever. But now that you're back, I'll have you for eternity."

            Her last words struck pure fear in Lindsay's heart. Did she mean to kill both of them? She wanted Tidus more than she ever had before at that moment, to come save her from this lunatic she once called friend. "What are you going to do…?" she asked softly, dreading the answer. Kelcie approached her, and stared down at her.

            "I'm going to make you regret ever leaving me. I'll make you wish you had never left Zanarkand, and there's nothing you or your cute little boyfriend can do about it. Oh, and by the way, I suspect he's on his way by now. He'll be coming to save you, trying to be a hero." She was taunting her, and it dripped in her voice.

            "You leave him alone," she growled through gritted teeth, and thrashing against the ropes tied on her hands. "Or I'll…"

            "You'll what?" she asked. "How would you stop me from killing that puny excuse for a man? I'm sure his weakness lies within you. It shouldn't be too hard to take him down."

            Fury built inside her, and all she wanted was to release it on this girl who was threatening Tidus's safety. "You," she managed, still clenching her teeth. "You bitch!"

            Kelcie's mouth formed an "o," and she went down on one knee in front of Lindsay. "Feisty now, aren't we? Guess who'll be watching when I take him out, too?" she laughed again, no real joy coming through in it. "All part of the plan, Lindz, you'll find out soon just what I've got in store for you. In the meantime, I'll keep watch for your boy. Don't worry, I'll let you know when he gets here." With another cackle, she shut the door, leaving Lindsay alone in the dimly lit room. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she didn't stop them from falling.

            Tidus sat next to his lawyer in the courtroom. A not-so-friendly looking judge sat at the stand before them, ready to convict him. He could only hope he'd be let off easy; but with the way Judge Harlen was looking, he was crossing his fingers. Removing his glasses, the middle-aged Judge began his conviction.

            "It is clear to me, Tidus, that you can only plead temporary insanity. Based on your statements up here, I can only imagine how distressing it was to find out that your girlfriend is missing. However, that doesn't entirely excuse the damage you did to those officers merely trying to help you. I'll post bail at 1 million Gil, that's the best I can do." With that, he slammed his gavel, and left his seat, leaving them standing as he exited the courtroom.

            Tidus felt overjoyed and panicked at the same time. 1 million Gil? Who did he know who had 1 million Gil to spare and bail him out? While two guards led him back to his cell, one person came to mind.

~*1 Hour Later*~

            "Yuna? Hi, it's Tidus again."

            Yuna could hardly believe it. Why was he calling her again? Hadn't they discussed everything at the café?

            "Hey Tidus, what's wrong?"

            He sighed into the phone, and hoped for the best. "I…I'm in jail, Yun. I-it's a long story, and I can't explain now, but I need someone to bail me out of here. Lindsay is…missing."

            He seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown, his voice trembling as he spoke. Lindsay was missing? As in, kidnapped? She didn't want to ask too many questions that he could explain later, knowing he had a limited amount of time.

            "Why are you in jail?"

            He closed his eyes and tried to rush. "I…I went to pick her up, and they said she was missing, and I just went nuts. They said I assaulted two officers."

            "Geez, Tidus…"

            "I know, I know. I can tell you more later if you can get me out of here."

            "How much is bail?"

            He hesitated before answering, "A million Gil."

            "Dammit," she whispered harshly. She had the money, but it would take a large chunk out of her savings. "I'll be right over."