Author's Note: This chapter is fairly long, it's mostly dialog though, so hopefully it will go by fast. Hope I portrayed the characters okay. Thanks for reading! Please reply.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN IT.

***

Quistis wasn't sure where she should start her investigating for the day. The only thought that kept coming into her mind was Seifer. His behavior had been suspicious yesterday, and although she hoped he was not related to the events that had taken place, she could not be altogether certain. Thus, she was more determined than before to go and see him.

She wasn't sure if she should bring someone along with her to find Seifer, just in case he turned out to be dangerous. She assumed that Seifer probably wouldn't speak to her if she brought his ex Rinoa with her. Zell was out of the running because he had a short fuse that Seifer set off much too easily. Selphie held a grudge against Seifer for having destroyed much of Trabia during the war. As much as she hated to admit it, her best bet would be to take along..Irvine..She could foresee her annoyance. Irvine was a decent guy though, albeit he was cocky and womanizing.

Quistis quickly got ready and headed over to Irvine's room. After she knocked on the door she could hear whispering before the door opened to reveal the tall auburn haired man, smiling wide at Quistis. "Quistis!?" he said surprised. "Whatcha doin' here honey?"

"I have to ask you for your help with something," she told him. A little suspicious, she attempted to look into his room.

His smile widened and he said "Anything that you want," while letting a wink flash.

Quistis sighed, but ignored him. "I just need you to go interview someone with me."

"Sure, just give me a few minutes to get ready," Irvine said. Quistis knew that something was going on in his room.

"Can I come in Irvine?" Quistis asked. She wanted to see him squirm.

Irvine stretched his arm out across the doorway, blocking the entrance off. "Well I can't get ready with you in my room."

Quistis was pushing past him now and Irvine just sighed. There was no use stopping a determined woman like Quistis. She glanced around the room quickly and then rested her eyes on his bed where there was a small bulge. She shot him a glare and Irvine just shrugged. Quistis walked up to the bed and said "Good morning Selphie."

The sheets lowered and Selphie came out of hiding. "Awww, how'd ya know Quistis?" Selphie sighed.

"We weren't doing anything Quistis. Honest," Irvine said. His smirk gave it all away though.

Selphie caught on to the lie and said "Yeah, we were just going over some figures last night and I got pretty tired and just spent the night. It's not what you think."

"I was paying special attention to going over one particular figure," Irvine said laughing and looking over to Selphie.

Selphie shot him the worst look she could manage and jumped out of the bed, saying "Irvy! How could you say that! I'm really mad at you," and stormed out of the room.

There was a short silence before Irvine spoke up and said, "So like I said, give me a few minutes to get ready, okay?"

Quistis laughed and said, "Fine, I'll be back in a little while."

She turned to leave, but stopped when Irvine asked her, "Hey- who was it we were gonna interview?"

Quistis smirked and said plainly, "Seifer."

Irvine's expression was one of disbelief and said "Seifer!? As in Almasy? You have got a lot of explaining to do Quistis."

"I'll tell you about it on the way there. It might take us a while to get there," Quistis said, since she still didn't know where exactly he was staying.

"Fine, " Irvine said as she walked out of the room. He knew the day would only continue to get more interesting.

***

Seifer was startled and reached for Hyperion in instinct. He always kept it close by, even while he slept. Knocking at his door had awoken and surprised him. He hardly ever got visitors, especially not early in the morning, since most of the people in the motel slept much of the day, or were passed out drunk.

Sitting on his bed, with a tight grip on his weapon, Seifer called out "What!?"

The other side replied in a high-pitched voice, "Seifer? It's Quistis."

Seifer let out a frustrated groan and stalked to the door, jerking it open and startling Quistis and Irvine. He looked over to Irvine and said, "You didn't say cowboy was here with you."

Irvine stood taller and looked Seifer in his eyes, "You got a problem with that?"

Seifer narrowed his menacing eyes and said, "What do you think? Maybe if you had some intelligence-"

"Hey man, you better watch-" Irvine started.

"What the fuck are you gonna-" continued Seifer.

The two both suddenly halted when Quistis stepped between them and shouted "Shut up you two!"

The two men kept an eye on one another as Quistis continued to speak. "I just wanted to ask you a few question Seifer."

Suspicious, Seifer crossed his arms and asked Quistis "Then why the bodyguard?"

He knew full well that Quistis had brought Irvine along in case Seifer was dangerous. Quistis knew that he had figured this out. Neither person was stupid. "I don't want to feel like I'm ambushed Trepe," Seifer said. "Please get the hell out of my room."

Before Quistis or Irvine could reply, the door was slammed in their faces. Seifer walked back over to his bed, took a seat, and massaged his temples. He suddenly felt like he had a huge headache. He knew it was only going to get worse.

Quistis kept knocking at the door. "Seifer, would you quit being a big baby and open the fucking door!?"

Seifer chuckled to himself on the other side. He found it so easy for him to upset Quistis. It was one of his special talents.

"Seifer! I'm not going to leave until I speak to you!" Quistis yelled to him. A few minutes passed and Quistis continued to knock despite Irvine telling her to give up. Seifer knew that she would not give up, she was much too stubborn. He figured that he mind as well get the encounter over with and walked back to the door. When he opened it Quistis was standing with her hands on her hips, while Irvine was relaxing by sitting against the wall.

"Well it's about damn time," Quistis said. She pushed past Seifer and made her way into his room. "Nice place," she said sarcastically. There were clothes and random crap strewn all across the floor, with a not surprisingly unmade bed against the wall.

"Thanks, but I don't need your criticism," Seifer shot to her, accompanied by a stare just long enough to make Quistis uncomfortable. Irvine stood in the doorway, and when Seifer realized his presence, he went to the door and flung it shut.

Behind the door, Irvine shouted to Quistis, "Hey Quist, can I have a word with you PLEASE?"

Annoyed with Seifer's immaturity and uncooperativeness, Quistis walked to the door and opened it up again, revealing a now very pissed off Irvine. "Irvine, could you wait out here while Mr. Almasy and I have our little talk?"

"Whatever," Irvine said, taking his seat again.

She shut the door again and turned to Seifer, who was sitting at the edge of his bed, staring down at the dust layered floor. He chuckled and said "You still call me 'Mr. Almasy' when you get annoyed with me, just like old times"

"Yeah, well some things never seem to change," Quistis told him. She began to pace around the room. There was a long pause.

"So what are these questions you had for me?" Seifer finally asked. He wanted to get this over with.

"Well firstly, how long have you been staying at Fisherman's Horizon?" If he'd been here long enough, he may have known the three men who had disappeared. If he'd known the men, he might have had a reason to hurt them.

"'Bout a month," he said quickly.

"Do you know very many people in town?" Quistis said.

Seifer cocked a brow and asked her curiously, "Do you just want to catch up with me, or are these questions going somewhere?"

Quistis had hoped this encounter would go smoothly, but she knew that was an inane hope to have. Nothing was ever easy when dealing with Seifer Almasy. She decided to cut through the bullshit and simply ask him, "Do you know anything about the three disappearances in town?"

Seifer hesitated and looked down to the ground. After a moment he looked up to Quistis and curtly said "No."

Quistis tried to read his emerald eyes to see if there was truth in his word. His eyes told her he was being honest and a relief set over her. She could have cared less if he had answered yes or no to her question, it was the way he would look at her afterward that would convince her of his truthfulness.

"Okay," Quistis said nodding. Seifer stood up from the bed and began to approach her. He could see Quistis tense up the closer he became. She did not back away though. He stopped about an arm's length away from her.

Looking down to her he smirked and said, "Is that all Trepe? Or did you have another reason for coming all this way?"

He took another step toward her, his lips more upturned than before. He purposely eyed the length of her body, knowing full well that it would make her uncomfortable. He liked playing this little game with her. He always tried to make her uncomfortable, angry, sad, or arouse any other sort of reaction. Typically it was easier for him to achieve negative reactions rather than positive ones though. He loved the way she looked when she was upset with him, so full of life and attitude. He thought it was a pleasant difference between the uptight, conservative side she allowed most to bear witness to.

"Actually, it isn't," Quistis told him. "Why were you at Balamb Garden yesterday?"

Seifer shrugged his broad shoulders and said, "I don't know."

Now Quistis was the one to move toward him, and was just a few inches away from him. Tilting her head back a little to be able to look him directly in the face, she said threateningly, "Well you sure as hell better remember why. I'm not going to take your bullshit any longer."

Seifer was a bit shocked by her proximity and boldness. He honestly did not know his reason for being there last night. He had to tell her something though and told her the only reason he could, "I was out for a walk and just happened upon it. Okay? What the hell does it matter anyways?"

Quistis chose not to tell him about Adrien and said, "It doesn't matter."

She turned away from him and started toward the door before the sound of his voice stopped her.

"It must matter if you came here to ask me. It's not polite to lie," Seifer teased. Quistis just rolled her eyes. She was not about to take suggestions from Seifer about manners. He continued speaking to her after coming to a small revelation, "Something big must have happened. Otherwise, you wouldn't give me the time of day."

Quistis sighed, a little bit angry that Seifer could foresee her motives. "That's not-"

"True," Seifer said, finishing off her sentence. "You are just so damn predictable Trepe. Why don't you just tell me the fucking truth?"

Quistis clenched her teeth, trying desperately to hold back her anger and keep from attacking the bastard. "You want to know so fucking bad? Fine. A student, Adrien Cummings, was kidnapped last night. Three other people from this godforsaken town are also missing. There is no explanation for any of this and I don't even know who to suspect."

"Except for me," Seifer interrupted again.

"Well you don't have a very good alibi Seifer! What am I supposed to think?" The two were getting closer to each other now, since their argument was heating up.

"It's so easy for you to just blame everything on me, isn't it? Every time that anything ever went wrong and I was around, it was instantly my fault. In the classroom, my fights with Squall, the Sorceress War. I'm so sick of these fucking guilt trips! Instead of trying to take the easy way out, why don't you actually do some research?"

"You are so full of shit!" Quistis screamed to him. Her face felt like it was on fire. "I have been trying to find out information, but no one seems to know anything around here, including you-"

"See! There you go again. I'm always part of the problem," Seifer complained again. He did not know why he was reacting as he was, but something had come over him. Perhaps he had been keeping things in for too long and they had accumulated so much that he could not stand it any longer. He was confused about his reaction to Quistis, and she was perplexed by his behavior as well.

"What the hell is up with you?" Quistis said making direct eye contact with him. He turned away from her gaze and remained silent. "I'll admit it, a lot of times you are the problem. Prove me wrong though- When were you ever part of the solution?"

Seifer had his back to her and was staring at the ground. He had no answer to her simple question and he hated it. "That's what I thought," Quistis said quietly. She began to walk towards the door again, and again was stopped when Seifer spoke.

"Wait," he said almost too quiet for Quistis to hear. "I don't think you're doing things right."

Quistis turned around and saw that Seifer was now looking at her. She crossed her arms and said, "What is that supposed to mean?"

He approached Quistis and told her "Let me show you."

"What?" Quistis said. Why did he have to confuse her so much?

"Come back here later and I'll show you how to get some information," Seifer said with a little smirk. Quistis doubted his methods would be any more successful than hers were, but she was willing to try anything.

"Fine," Quistis said. "Later then."

Quistis left his room and Irvine was relieved that she had finally emerged. "What took you so long?" he asked.

"Nothing. Seifer was just being his typical self," Quistis sighed. "Some people never change."

Little did Quistis know that Seifer would be thinking the same about her.