Wrongfully Accused

Chapter Seventeen

Quistis winced as a sharp pain shot through her skull. She groaned as she rolled on to her back, rubbing her forehead as if trying to erase the pain. 'Why is it that I keep regaining consciousness in strange places.' She thought with dark amusement as she recalled the events of the past few days. It didn't take her long to realise that she was not alone in the room. Seifer sat on a chair facing the open window. He was in his own world and did not see her stir, or at least that's what she thought.

"Your clothes are at the foot of the bed." He said, still staring at the window, as if trying to ignore her very presence.

Careful to keep her half naked body hidden by the covers she crept over and picked up the few articles of clothing, but hesitated to put the on.

"I didn't come in here to watch you get dressed."

Quistis watched him carefully as she dressed. She noted that her weapons were not included with the garments, not that they would have done her much good. She was in no condition to fight, a realisation that chilled her to the bone. She was defenseless and alone with a man who had killed many innocent people in the short time he had been on this planet. Although she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid. However she vowed that she would not allow him to know that. Scared or not, if the bastard wanted a fight then that's exactly what he would get.

Quistis stood there for some time, waiting for him to speak. She took this opportunity to study him and see how he'd changed over the past year. His hair had grown, perhaps an inch, his face was bruised and scarred but was almost healed and his nose was slightly crooked having obviously been broken. She shuddered to think what he had been through to incur such horrendous injuries. Stubble was beginning to form on his chin and the dark circles under his eyes made him look ten years older than he really was. However what shocked her the most was not his face. In his right hand was a small glass filled with ice and a clear light brown liquid and in between two fingers a single cigarette dangled loosely, threatening to fall to the ground.

"I didn't know you smoked?"

"Neither did I."

"What time is it?"

"Seven."

"A little early to be drinking isn't it?"

"Since when did you become my mother?" He growled.

To his surprise she knelt down beside him and gently placed a hand on his arm. He didn't flinch or move away, instead he just stared at her. His face may have been that of a cruel mercenary but his eye's betrayed him. Although the pride and arrogance was still there Quistis could see that his unwavering confidence had all but disappeared.

"Why are you here?" She asked. He did not reply. "Seifer?"

"I had nowhere else to go." He said quickly tearing his face away from her gaze. Not wanting to let things end the same way their last conversation had, she held on to his arm but said nothing. If he was going to tell her anything he would do it in his own time. Minutes passed before he finally spoke. "How much do you know?"

"Not much."

"Do you think I did it?"

Quistis smiled. "Since when did you care about what I thought."

"Just trying to figure out who my enemies are."

"You think I'm your enemy?"

"That's up to you." Seifer paused as he began to rub the back of his neck. "I can't just let you go, you know that don't you."

"Yea, I figured that part out." Quistis removed her hand from his arm as his stood up. He started to walk towards the door, but stopped when she called out his name. "Seifer wait. You know what I'm obligated to do, so you know you have nothing to lose. I want to help you but you're not making it very easy."

"Why do you want to help me?" He asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Because..." She paused for a moment, before continuing in a voice that came out as a raspy whisper. "Because... I want you to prove to me that you didn't do it."

"My word isn't good enough for you?"

"You haven't given me your word, besides, I only believe the evidence."

"Well in that case you'd better call your SeeD buddies to come and arrest me, because I've got fuck all to clear my name."

"I won't do that, not yet."

Seifer slowly turned around. He stared at her face for some time, trying to decide if she was telling the truth or just playing him for a fool. Seifer sighed as he crossed his arms, trying hard to avoid eye contact. "I went to the nightclub to stop a mad man, but instead I'd walked right into a trap."

"Trap?"

"In the past I'd crossed paths with someone I shouldn't have, I'd managed to get myself away by having him thrown in prison. I guess he came back to get his revenge."

"So someone's set you up. Who?"

"I haven't even told Raijin that so there's no way in hell I'm going to tell you."

"But if you give me a name I can......."

"If I tell you who he is he'll kill both of us."

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Selphie tapped her foot impatiently on the floor of the bus. "Can't this old heap move any faster?"

Rinoa yawned and stretched her arms over her head. "We should have caught the earlier bus."

"We would've if you hadn't slept in." Selphie snapped. She was in no mood to be nice to anyone. Quistis was still missing and she was just about pulling her hair out. She gave a small yelp when Rinoa tapped her on the shoulder.

"Sorry Selph, but you still haven't told me where we're going?"

"Raijin's."

"Raijin? He lives here? Is he the one Quistis went to see?"

"I don't know. I ran into Irvine last night and told him what Danny said. That's when Raijin's name popped up."

"You don't think that Raijin would do something to Quistis do you?"

"No, but she's still missing and we have no idea where she is. Right now I think it's best to take any lead we're given." The bus stopped and the girls ran off, heading in the direction of Raijin's home.

"Selphie, I don't mean to pry but where did you get his address from."

"Irvine did a little police file search for me."

"I had to ask."

"Here it is. Jeez, it's a kinda small for a house."

"It's bigger than the room's back at Garden."

"Good point." The two girls walked up to the front entrance. Rinoa leaned forward and knocked on the door. No reply came, so she tried again. Still no one answered. She was about to try again but Selphie stopped her. "Do you hear that?" She whispered

"Hear what?" Rinoa asked, straining her ears.

"There's voices, coming from inside."

"Your point?"

"One of them is female, can't you hear it?"

"No, but I don't want to wait out here all day, I'm going to find out who it is." Rinoa raised her hand to knock on the door, but Selphie stopped her again.

"Rin wait. I've got a better idea." Pulling out two pin like objects Selphie proceeded to pick the lock.

"Selphie!?" Rinoa whispered harshly. "What are you doing."

"I'm going to see what's going on inside. You don't have to come in if you don't want. I'll be in and out in two minutes." Carefully she swung the door open and cautiously stepped inside, Rinoa following close behind. They walked over to the room the voices was coming from. They listened to the conversation, being careful not to make a sound.

"Is this really all you have?" The female asked. The girls immediately recognised Quistis' voice. They both gave a silent cheer before turning their attention back to the conversation.

"Considering the situation I'm in, I think it's a fucking miracle I found that without getting caught." The man replied. The voice was definitely not Raijin's. Selphie pressed her ear closer to the door unaware of Rinoa's shocked expression.

"Selph." Rinoa whispered harshly.

"Shhh, they're gonna hear us."

"Selph I think we need to get Quistis out of there now!"

"What!?"

"That's not Raijin in there."

"Well duh. We can take on one man Rin."

"No you don't understand Selphie it's......" Selphie slapped her hand over Rinoa's mouth when she heard movement from inside the room. Someone was walking towards the door.

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"Seifer, where are you going?"

"Shhhh, I heard something." He stepped towards the door, listening for any further sounds. Without making a noise he walked quickly over to Quistis until they were barely an inch apart. He whispered urgently in her ear, "Someone's at the door. I don't know how long they've been there but we have to get out of here now....." Without warning the door flew open, Selphie and Rinoa came barging into the room, weapons in hand. "Let her go asshole!" Selphie yelled.

"Selphie wait..........." Quistis was cut off as Seifer grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards the window. Her eye's widened as she felt the barrel of a gun being pressed just below her chin.

"Seifer don't!" Rinoa pleaded.

"S-Seifer?" Quistis stammered.

"I'm sorry, but I have no choice." He whispered in her ear. "I can't afford to get caught, not by anyone. It's not just my life on the line here."

"Seifer you harm one hair on her head and I swear I'll have every single SeeD hunt you down like the dog you are." Selphie warned.

"You have to believe me. I don't want anyone else to die Quistis."

"Seifer....." Quistis pleaded

"I never meant for this to happen." With that Seifer lowered the gun and kissed her on the cheek. Acting quickly he pushed her to the ground, then jumped out of the open window and ran off through the suburban jungle.

"Quistis!?" Rinoa quickly ran over to her friend. Selphie ran past her to the window.

"Shit! He's gone."

"Quistis!? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Rinoa."

"How did that bastard get a hold of you?" Selphie asked.

"That bastard saved my life."

"What!?" Rinoa asked.

"I was attacked a couple of nights ago and was knocked out cold. Seifer brought me here."

"But he attacked you just then. He took you hostage for Hyne's sake!" Selphie cried.

"He panicked! A lot of things have happened." Quistis pleaded.

"Panicked or not Squall's gonna get a real kick when he finds out Seifer's in town and what he did to you." Rinoa said.

"Squall's not going to find out." Quistis stated as she rose to her feet.

"What!!?? We have to report this to him Quisty! He has to know." Selphie once again cried out.

Quistis clenched her fists. She was probably making the biggest mistake of her life, there was no telling what Seifer was going to do, but she wasn't prepared to hand him over to the Deling police. Not yet. Even if it did mean lying to her friends, she was going to buy him some more time. "This has nothing to do with our mission. We can't get distracted. If Squall finds out about Seifer there's no way to know what he would do. I think for now we should just keep this between us."

"You've got to be joking! Quistis, are you listening to yourself?" Rinoa asked as she got to her feet. "This is huge, you can't just ask us to forget about it."

"Rinoa's right Quisty, we have to tell Squall. I'm sorry but........."

"But what?!" Quistis snapped. "I've lost count of all the favors I've done for you over the past year, and yet you can't do this one thing! Just one favor is all I ask." 'I'm sorry Selphie, I wish I didn't have to do this.'

"Quistis, this isn't just one favour, you're asking us to defy Garden regulations." Selphie said as she walked over to Quistis. "Why do you want to protect him anyway?"

'I'd like to know why myself.' "I owe him Selph. I'd be dead now if it wasn't for him."

"Selphie, I think we should do what she asks."

"What?!"

"No one would have to know. It's just this once."

"Rin you can't be serious. This is Seifer Almasy we're talking about."

"Seifer hasn't bothered anyone for over a year now. I think it's about time we gave him a break."

Selphie rubbed her eyes and sighed. It's wasn't like her to be so serious and it was making her depressed. "All right, as long as Seifer stays quiet the commander won't know a thing."

Quistis sighed with relief. "Thank you Selphie."

"But I won't lie to anyone. If Squall or anyone asks, I'll have to tell them."

"And the same thing goes if Seifer starts causing trouble." Rinoa stepped in. "We don't want to upset you Quisty but we can't just let a man like that run loose."

"I understand completely. I just need you to keep quiet until the missions over. It's just to keep the peace, that's all." Quistis said. She felt terrible for lying but she'd dug herself in too deep to get out now.

"All right." Selphie said, back to her normal self. "Let's get out of here before Raijin decides to turn up."

Quistis nodded and walked out of the room. The second she was gone Rinoa whispered loudly in Selphie's ear. "Did you see that?"

"What? The kiss?"

Rinoa nodded.

"What do you think is going on?"

"Not sure but I intend to find out."

"Count me in." After exchanging knowing looks both girls ran out of the house to catch up with Quistis.

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I'm sorry this was so short, the next one will be longer. I'm seriously freaking out about this chapter. I tried really hard to show a sort of connection between Seifer and Quistis but I'm absolutely hopeless at things like that. I just can't do romantic scenes, even if there's bugger all romance in it!