War Story
Chapter Six: Regret
By PasifiKStaR

Author's Note: I decided to re-do chapter six and seven because I was not happy with them. Plus I wanted this story to be 10 chapters and I was going over-board with tangent story lines. I have to keep reminding myself this is a SEIFTIS. So I've cut down chapter six and most of chapter seven into this chapter. I'm still not satisfied with this one personally, but I like it better than the previous one. It has much of the same scenes, I just cut out the mission. If you want the other chapters back, please tell me. I'll post them else where one of these days. Please be patient.

All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy.

'Men,' Quistis frowned as she slowed down from her pre-dawn run. 'They never take anything seriously!' Her blue eyes narrowed behind her glasses. 'No, that's not fair, Quistis,' she corrected herself as she began to slow down to a cool down run. 'It's not MEN. It's that MAN.'

Her hands turned into fists at her side and she rounded the corner of one of the garages on her way back to her barrack. She felt like a complete fool for what she said last night. He just stood there. Looking at her. He didn't try to say anything, he just stood there. It made her feel like an idiot. Like a school girl admitting to her crush that she loved him.

'Oh, Hyne, where did THAT analogy come from?' she scolded herself as she rolled her eyes. 'I'm FAR from being a school girl and Hyne knows that SEIFER isn't the school's little prince. School thug is more like it.' She smirked to herself.

"Are you insane?" a voice growled through the hazy down. Quistis' head immediately perked up as she recognized the condesending voice with ease. "If you know that will happen, why the hell are you going to go through with it?"

'Seifer?' Quistis thought to herself. She stopped in her tracks and paused to listen in. 'Well, speak of the devil...'

"It's not that I KNOW it will happen!" Quistis narrowed her eyes. He was aruging with a girl? "It was a dream! Nothing is for sure!"

"Rinoa...?" Quistis mumbled as she slowly made her way closer to the voices behind the garage.

"I've come too far to just stop now," The proud female voice retorted. "I'm not going to just drop everything I've worked for because of one dream!"

"It's not just ONE dream, Rin," Seifer snapped back angrily. "Dreams just don't happen on a whim! At least YOURS don't!"

"You're making a big deal out of this-"

"I'M making a big deal?" Seifer scoffed. He let out a shocked gasp and shook his head as he looked down at the short brunette standing across from him. "YOU'RE the one who woke up me to talk about this! If it wasn't a big deal, we wouldn't be here right now!"

"I needed to tell someone!" Rinoa insisted. She stomped her feet and looked up at the sky, frustrated.

"Then why didn't you tell Leonhart?" Seifer demanded. "HE's your boyfriend! Not ME."

"You know damn well why not!" Rinoa cut in viciously. She quickly walked over to Seifer and looked up into his green eyes with uneasy brown ones. "If I told him, he'd take me off the mission in a second!"

"And with good reason!" Seifer argued angrily. "Are you forgetting what you are? If this dream happened to a NORMAL person, then maybe you wouldn't have this problem. But when someone like you gets a dream-"

"It's just a dream!"

"Then why the hell do you have so much fear in your face, Rinoa?" Quistis narrowed her eyes. "If it was all 'just a dream', tell me why you're standing in front of me right now, telling me all of this?"

Seifer was shooting Rinoa an angry look as the brunette narrowed her eyes. She turned her head away. "I'm not about to throw everything I've worked for away because I have stupid dream!"

"You're not throwing everything away!" Seifer retorted. "Its just ONE mission, Rinoa!"

"It shows that I have a weakness! I'm sick of always being the weak one!" Rinoa shouted. "I'm sick of being the one that Selphie has to defend. That Squall has to save. That YOU have to look after! If I back out now, it shows I have a weakness-"

"Of course you have a weakness, you're HUMAN!" Seifer growled. He took a deep breath and locked eyes with the stubborn brunette. They stood there for a few moments, staring each other down. Finally, Seifer shook his head and took a step back. "I'm telling Squall."

"NO!" Rinoa nearly screamed. Seifer was about to side step her with her hands reached out and grabbed on to his arm firmly. "No! No, you CAN'T tell him!"

"Rinoa-"

"Seifer, PLEASE!" Rinoa pleaded. "I've worked so hard for this! I need just ONE more mission and I finish up my requirements for Medic. Don't do this to me."

Quistis peeked around the corner. Rinoa was tugging on Seifer's arm, a pleading look in her face as she desperately tried to get him to side with her. Seifer looked angry, frustrated, and torn. Quistis watched the emotions dance across his war hardened face before he pulled away from Rinoa's grip.

"You better pray that nothing happens to you." Seifer warned in a low voice. Rinoa's face filled with relief as she jumped up and threw her arms around him.

"Thank you, Seifer! Thank you so much!" she gushed as she squeezed him. "You don't know how much this means to me!"

"Rinoa," Seifer said sternly as she let him go. "I'm serious...For someone like you, dreams aren't dreams. You should tell him."

"I just needed to get it off my chest," Rinoa assured him. "I'm fine, Seifer. I'm sure its nothing. I'm just nervous, that's all. It's because I just need this one mission for my requirements."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He shook his head. "Rinoa..." He lifted his hand and ran it down his face. "Damn it...you know I care about you. I'm asking you as someone who loves you."

Quistis' faced paled. Her trembling hand rose and clutched her chest as she leaned back against the garage wall.

"Please don't do this."

"I'll be fine," Rinoa insisted. She smiled. Quistis closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Reluctantly, she peeked around the corner just as Rinoa's lips planted a soft kiss on Seifer's cheek "Thank you."

For a moment, Quistis' world seemed to drag. Everything seemed in slow motion. Rinoa's kiss. Seifer's protective hug around the other woman's petite body. Rinoa's return hug. Her heart clenched in her chest and she took a deep breath. Suddenly, it hurt to breathe.

His eyes wouldn't stop glancing over. Emerald depths were filled with concern and kept darting across the vehicle that carried them to the drop off location. Perhaps it was just her. Perhaps what she had seen that morning had made her zone into his worried looks.

Looks that were directed at someone else. Quistis had turned away. She had silently hoped that he would perhaps speak of their heated little conversation the night before. However, when she saw him standing there, his arms around someone she thought was just his 'friend', she knew something else was one his mind.

And that something else was a petite brown eyed medic in training. She had avoided him all morning and only faced him when they had to assemble for the final briefing. He hadn't so much as looked at her. It made her feel even more stupid. Stupid and angry.

He could've SAID something. He could've at least acknowledged her words last night somehow. Quistis shook her head. She was wishing for too much. Seifer was a soldier. A battle hardened warrior who probably had no idea how to talk to women.

She let out a scoff as she glared out the window of the bus. 'Yeah...right...' she thought bitterly as steamy flash backs of searing kisses against a cold, watery background flooded her mind. She turned her head to the man seated next to her.

They were on there way to the destination point for their mission and he seemed unnaturally preoccupied. Seifer's lips were in a tight line as his eyes seemed strained. He was tense. Quistis frowned to herself. Even during the bombing of the base, he was calm.

"Are you all right?"

Seifer turned to her, a glint of surprise in his eyes mirroring the surprise in Quistis' when they realized what she said. He looked down at her and smiled. "Don't worry about it." he assured her.

Quistis studied his face and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're worried about Rinoa?"

He raised an eyebrow curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"You kept looking at her on the way here," Quistis pointed out casually as she looked out the window at the passing glass scenes of Esthar City. "You looked concerned."

He smirked and turned his head away from her. "Jealous?"

"Hardly."

"Oh, I think you are."

Quistis snapped her head around to glare at him. "You know, I was just asking a simple question. Don't turn it into something it's not. I was just concerned because you're so tense. And you as well as I do that being tense during a mission can screw up EVERYTHING." she hissed in a low voice.

Seifer narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "You know what, just mind your own business," he hissed. "I'm not going to mess up anything. And I think you're forgetting who you are."

"I'm sorry, Lt. Almasy," she retorted with a glare of her own. "I thought that maybe if you talked about it-"

"There is NOTHING to talk about," Seifer cut her off. "Concentrate on your mission, Officer Trepe," he spat out coldly. "My PERSONAL affairs are none of your business."

Quistis tore her eyes away from his as she gripped the stiff, ironed skirt that reached her knees. Slender fingers that tapered into perfect nails dug into the material in her fury. She bit her tongue to keep from shouting at him as she took deep breaths.

'So what the hell am I?' her mind asked. 'I'm just a fling at work? I'm just an assignment to him? I'm not even worth knowing PERSONALLY...?' "Asshole."

Seifer heard her, but didn't respond. He sat in the seat next to her, trying to keep his mind on the mission. But he couldn't help but worry about his friend.

Rinoa had sat cheerfully next to Squall on the ride there. Her fingers woven through his in an unconcious touch as she talked to Selphie, Irvine, and Zell. Squall was silent as usual, but he had noticed that even the Commander seemed different. As if something were on his mind as well.

He narrowed his eyes. What if Squall felt something was wrong? He hadn't said a word on the ride over. Seifer was sure that Rinoa hadn't told him, despite Seifer's requests. He took a deep breath and ran his hand down his face.

'The mission, Seifer. Think of the mission!' his mind chorused. 'You and Quistis...' His thoughts drifted off and he mentally cursed himself.

He glanced over at the beautiful blond woman next to him. Her lips were set in a frown and he shook his head. She was angry. Probably at him. "Stop staring."

"What?" Seifer shook himself out of his trance and looked over at her. Her eyes rolled, but kept looking outside the glass of the bus they were on.

"I can feel your eyes boring into my head," Quistis told him dully. "I'd appreciate it if you'd stop."

Seifer merely snorted. "Well, are WE the little attention whore."

"Well, you did try to train me in everything that you do best." Quistis replied coolly.

Seifer stared at her and smiled slightly, feeling a little relaxed. It was as if Quistis arguing with him was comforting. Normal. "I hope you paid more attention than that."

"Of course, but your...need for attention often out shone the other lessons."

Seifer narrowed his eyes as she turned to look at him, a challenging look on her face. "Are you saying I'm arrogant?"

"I prefer to call you 'unmodest'."

"You're treading on thin ice, Trepe."

"Whatever you say, Lt. Almasy." Seifer smirked and shook his head.

"You argue too much," Seifer told her. Quistis scoffed, making the tall male look back down at her. "You're lucky I like that."

Quistis froze. She mulled over his words for a split second before turning her head slowly to look up at him. "Are you complimenting me?"

"I prefer to call it 'not being a jerk'."

Quistis narrowed her eyes. His eyes were settled calmly on her, yet made her nervous. She slowly nodded her head and looked away. "You're not," she whispered. He nodded and finally took his intent gaze off of her. Quistis smirked. "All the time..."

"Squall," Selphie said as she watched her commanding officer do a double take for what seemed like the hundredth time since they arrived at ground zero. "What's wrong?"

Seifer glanced over and frowned. He'd been acting strange all morning. "Nothing," Squall said in a stern, demanding voice. "Let's get back to the pick up point."

Selphie exchanged looks with Irvine. He'd noticed something strange with the Commander as well. Quistis glanced at Seifer and watched as his eyes narrowed. His hands turned into fists at his side and Quistis frowned. Seifer wanted to tell Squall.

The taxi they had taken dropped them off at the city's edge and Irvine paid the driver generously. "We're due west a mile," Squall told them. "Let's get moving."

The group nodded and tredged behind him in silence. The uncomfortable silence stretched on for the majority of the mile and Selphie had attempted to lighten up the mood by starting up conversations, but failed upon the one word answers or mere nods of the heads of the people she was trying to converse with.

"This is strange..." Irvine mumbled as he looked around. He lifted up his hand and sratched his head. "Squall, are you sure it was west one mile?"

Squall nodded and took out a small hand held machine from his pocket. "I'm positive," Squall told him simply. He looked up from the machine and walked in a small circle, surveying the area around them. "I don't see them."

"Well, obviousy," Seifer snorted as he looked around the empty expase of desert. The city could be seen to their east, but there was nothing else as far as the eye could see.

"Maybe they didn't get here yet." Zell suggested.

The experienced members of the group shook their heads. "No, this never happens," Seifer insisted. Emerald eyes scanned the area. "Request to contact base, commander."

"Request granted." Squall acknowledged.

Seifer reached into his bag and pulled out a small mobile phone. He opened it and pressed a single button. "This is Diablo Squad, connect me to the driver of vehicle code 064065," The tall blond male waited for a moment. "WHAT? Since when? Hold on - Squall!"

"What?"

"Our pick up lost contact with the base an hour ago. They never got here!" Seifer told him.

Squall's eyes widened and he walked over to Seifer quickly. The commanding officer snatched the phone from Seifer's hand. "This is Commander Squall Leonhart! I demand to know the whereabouts of a pick up unit immediately!"

"Commander, the vehicle vanished a little over an hour ago before they reached the designated area. We've been trying to contact them for the last hour and no one has responded," the operator told him. "Would you like us to send you a secondary vehicle."

"Make sure they get here soon! What about Nurse Heartilly or Officer Chappu? Have they contacted you?" Squall's face was flushed with fury as dreaded thoughts of a missing nurse filled his mind. "Our contact numbers are listed and I expect a phone call if there is a change or news from the original vehicle, understand?" Squall growled into the phone.

He tossed the phone at Seifer, a cold look on his face. "Squall, what's going on? Where's our pick up?" Selphie asked.

"The vehicle went missing over an hour ago," Squall repeated behind gritted teeth. "The base has been trying to reach them since, but there has been no answer."

"Then where can they be?" Zell gasped.

"I don't know-" Squall began.

"Squall," Seifer said, gaining the commander's attention. The tall blond looked down at the communicator in his hand. "Did you know something was going to happen?" he asked in a low voice.

Squall narrowed his eyes. "Are you accusing me of-"

"No!" Seifer cut him off and whirled around to look at Squall with intense eyes. "Did you have a feeling that something was going to happen? The entire time back there, you were on edge and kept looking back!" Seifer reminded him as he pointed back at the city. "Something was wrong with you! Hell, even Tilmit noticed!"

Selphie nodded her head. "Squall, you never look back at the missions. You kept looking around like you were expecting something to happen."

All the unit members were looking at Squall as he narrowed ice blue eyes. He took a deep breath and seemed to be thinking. "I don't know," Squall admitted slowly. "But this entire morning, I've had this feeling that something was going to go wrong, but I couldn't figure out with what."

Seifer closed his eyes and swore. In the silence, everyone heard and the group's attention turned to him. "What was that for?" Irvine asked suspiciously.

Seifer took a deep breath. "Rinoa had a dream last night," he told them calmly. His emerald eyes rose to meet Squall's defiantly. "She had a dream that she was taken away from us during this mission. She woke me up and told me not to tell you-"

His sentence was cut off by the pulsating pain of a fist slamming against his jaw. The six foot man stumbled backwards as he raised his hand to cover his face. "Seifer!" Selphie and Quistis gasped as they watched him look up and send a glare at Squall.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Squall growled as he marched up to Seifer and grabbed the collar of the blonde's shirt.

"She begged me not to!" Seifer replied. "You know why, don't even give me that look! Rinoa had one more mission to go and she didn't want to back out. You know how stubborn she is!"

"But this is her LIFE on the line!" Squall shouted. "Hyne damn it, Seifer! THAT'S why I've been preoccupied all day!"

For the first time, Quistis and Zell watched Squall let loose a series of furious swear words as Seifer rubbed his jaw. Irvine ran his hand down his face as Zell stood with a confused Quistis. Neither one of them understood why Rinoa's dream could have been so important. Just then, Seifer's phone rang and the blond answered it.

"Lt. Seifer Almasy," he said, still rubbing his jaw. His face was serious and slowly his eyes narrowed. "Send me the coordinates."

He snapped his phone closed and Squall looked at him. "Report." Squall ordered dangerously.

"They automated the vehicle's tracking system. It's a mile east of here somewhere," Seifer said as he pointed one way. "But no one's picking up from the vehicle."

Everyone looked at Squall, waiting to know what he would order. His jaw was clenched as his hands turned into white fists at his sides. He seemed to be trying to even his breathing. "Seifer, call the base. Tell them we will meet them at the vehicle's location unless otherwise contacted."

Seifer nodded. "Sir, yes, sir."

Parked on the side of a dusty lone road was an unassuming black van. There were no windows in the back, but from what they could see through the front windows, there was no one inside.

The group had been silent the entire way there. No one dared speak a word of the worst case scenario lest Squall blow up. A missing vehicle that carried Rinoa meant that Rinoa would be missing. Fear had gripped Selphie as she clung on to Irvine's arm, silently praying that Rinoa was all right.

Squall and Seifer were lost in their own worlds. Something was definitely wrong. Zell looked over at Quistis, who was staring straight ahead. She knew her commanding officers were worried about the nurse. She knew they were close to her. She had grown to like Rinoa herself and couldn't bare to think of anything negative.

As they reached the van, the group stopped at a safe distance away.

"Seifer, come with me," Squall ordered. He looked back at the other four members. "The rest of you stay here."

They nodded and watched as Seifer and Squall approached the seemingly abandoned van they had ridden in that morning. They split up and looked through the side windows. It was too dark for them to see anything past the driver's seat. The feeling of dread washed through both men as they peered inside.

"We can't see inside!" Seifer shouted to the others.

Squall nodded and exchanged looks with Seifer as they met each other at the back of the van. Squall crouched down and studied the handles. "No riggings...it won't explode if we open it."

Seifer frowned. "Rin! Rin, you in there? Officer Chappu?" he shouted as he slammed his fist gently on the back of the van. All he received was the sound of hollow metal.

"No answer..." Squall mumbled. He took a deep breath and put his hand on the back handle. Seifer did the same thing. Mentally counting, they pulled it open and steeled themselves for what they might find inside.

As the light of the burning sun flooded the back of the van, Squall's blood froze in his veins. His heart stopped. Seifer stood in his spot, eyes looking into the empty van.

"Nothing..." he mumbled.

"Where the hell is Rinoa..." Squall whispered. His eyes looked around the vacant van. There weren't any signs of a struggle and it seemed that Rinoa had taken her medical bag, too. "Seifer, check the gas."

The blond nodded and headed over to the driver's seat. Squall knelt down again, trying to find any clue that might have been left behind. "It's still half way full! More than enough to get us back! Even the keys are still here!"

"Keys...?" Squall jumped up from his position and ran around the van. Seifer was reaching into the driver's seat. "Get out of there!"

"What?"

The brunette grabbed the blonde's arm and quickly turned. "GET DOWN!" he shouted towards the group standing several yards away.

As he and Seifer made a mad dash away from the van, it exploded.

The ride back to the base was held in silence. Against the sound of Estharian terran under the durable wheels of the vehicle, the group sat across from each other, eyes down cast with an empty gaze at the dusty metal floor.

Behind clear glasses, her blue eyes rose to study her companions. Next to her, Zell looked down at his hands as the tugged at the cloth of his shirt. To her other side, Selphie sat in a daze. Like the rest of them, dust caked her pale face and Quistis could make out the streams of dried tears against her cheeks.

Irvine was leaning back, his eyes closed and hat tipped over his face. Next to him, Seifer sat, stiffly. His emerald eyes were narrowed as he glared down at the floor. A few cuts from exploding metal and glass make their marks known.

Like Seifer, Squall's face had numerous cuts. A particular one dripped a thick, red liquid down the side of his face from his temple. Their clothes had been torn in numerous places by the explosion.

Quistis lowered her eyes once again and tried to get her thoughts away from what had happened earlier. She shivered as her mind re-lived the blast. She remembered Irvine's grip as he dragged them all down and the heat of the explosion over them.

Selphie's screams as she shouted for her two unit members who had warned them. Zell's horrified face. Irvine's teeth gritted in concentration. Her own heart beating before nearly coming to a sudden halt. She remembered pulling away from Irvine, desperate to see if Seifer and Squall were alive.

Relief had flooded her to the point of tears when she saw the two soldiers crawl up from a ditch on the side of the road. Their clothes were torn and dirty, but they were alive. Seifer's eyes had immediately met hers in silence as he looked over at them. A spark of relief behind eyes full of anguish.

"Quistis," a voice cut through her thoughts. Her eyes flew open and she stiffened in her spot. "Quistis."

"What?" She turned and blinked as she realized the doors had been open. Blinding light filled the formerly dark compartment as Selphie stood silhouetted outside the open doors.

"Quistis, we're here," Selphie said, trying to offer Quistis a bright smile. "You can come out now."

Dumbly, the tall blond nodded her head as she stood up. Everyone else had already vacated the vehicle. She didn't know how long she was sitting there before Selphie came to get her.

"Where are the others?" Quistis asked as she jumped out of the vehicle.

"They've head to Captain Strife's tent. We have to meet them there and report." Selphie informed her. Quistis nodded.

"I see," Quistis jumped down from the back of the van and followed Selphie. Selphie lead her around a series of tents and towards the area of the base where higher ranking officers were stationed. Up ahead, she saw a large tent with two guards standing outside. "Is that it?"

"Yes," Selphie nodded. "Don't worry, we can go inside," As she approached the guards eyed them suspiciously. "Officers Tilmit and Trepe with Diablo."

The guards nodded and held the sides of the tent open for them to go through. The moment, Quistis ducked under to enter the tent, she heard a someone's authoritative voice cut through the musty room. She looked up and saw the stiff bodies of the four men who were part of today's mission standing in a row. Their arms were planted at their sides as they faced someone within the tent.

Selphie waved for Quistis to follow her and they took their places next to Zell, standing in attention. The two women quickly saluted and kept their eyes forward.

"The mission was completed," said a short, spiky haired blond man in the center of the tent. He looked pensive as he stood in front of the special operations unit. "But I've received reports from the communications department that one of our vehicles has been destroyed. Explain."

"Upon coming back from the mission, our transporation was not at the designated meeting point, sir!" Squall reported stiffly. "We contacted the base and they reported that our vehicle had been located a few miles from where we had established the meeting point to be. Upon finding the vehicle, it was void of all personnel."

"Abandoned, Commander Leonhart?"

"Affirmative, sir! All equipment that had been inside was missing as well as our driver and our nurse, sir!"

The blond man narrowed his eyes and looked at Squall. "Have they been found?"

"Negative, sir! The vehicle was rigged and exploded a few moments after we found it. We suspect a timed bomb, sir!" Seifer added.

"Commander Lockheart, but out a search for the two missing unit members-" the blond began, but Squall cut him off.

"With your permission, sir! We would like to pursue our missing member on our own, sir!" Squall shouted. The Captain stopped in his tracks and exchanged looks with the female commander who had been sitting in the corner reading notes.

Captain Strife took a deep breath and shook his head. "Permission denied."

Quistis' eyes widened and she felt the room's tension go up several fold. She glanced over at Selphie, whose eyes were narrowed. Seifer and Squall stood there ground.

"Then we request to go after her off the record, sir!" Seifer told the man.

"Nurse Heartilly is our unit member and I have a duty to take my team out to find our missing members!" Squall added.

"Permission denied!" Quistis lifted her head sharply as the sound of a loud male voice cut through the usual sounds of the base. Everyone in the room stiffened at the Captain's voice. "It is too dangerous for you to take your unit-"

"She is part of my unit!" Squall shouted back furiously. "I won't abandon her!"

"I am fully aware of your personal connections to Nurse Heartilly, Commander Leonhart," the Captain replied in a stern tone. "I'm afraid that you're allowing your personal feelings to influence your decision! This is an unreasonable, unnecessary, and a selfish request!"

"I would do this for any member of my team!" Squall growled back. "How DARE you imply that I am being selfish in my request!" Quistis felt her heart racing.

"You ARE being selfish, Commander! You're willing to jeopardize your entire unit for the sake of a nurse! She knew the risks she ran joining your team out in the field." Quistis felt like shaking her head. Rinoa was one of them. She didn't doubt for a single second that they all wanted to go after her.

"Captain Strife," another male voice joined in. "You can't expect us to just leave Nurse Heartilly wherever she is-"

"Stay out of this, Lt. Almasy!" Captain Strife barked. Quistis jerked her head back at the sheer intensity of his voice. "This is uncalled for request! Retrieval specialists will be sent in to find Nurse Heartilly."

"I'm not about to allow one of my unit members to be held captive by people who tried to kill us!" Squall hissed.

"You have a priority to be used by the military for special operations missions," Strife reminded him. "If Nurse Heartilly is captured AND alive, she is still low priority."

"Low priority?" Selphie and Quistis both shouted suddenly. The Captain looked over at them and they quickly shut their mouths.

"We are in a war!" the Captain shouted. "I hate to say it, but these things happen. You have other missions to complete-"

"Fuck the other missions." Squall spat out, deadpan. Quistis' eyes widened at her Commander's choice of words as a period of silence settled in.

"This is getting us no where," Seifer snorted loudly. "Forget it! This is bull shit, Squall. Let's get out of here."

"I'm not through with you two!" Strife insisted.

Quistis heard boot steps and quickly rushed over behind another tent as Seifer and Squall stomped out of the Captain's tent, seething with fury. Everyone in their way seemed to know they were in a bad move and parted almost magically as they walked through.

Quistis followed behind her teammates as they marched out of the tent, angry and frustrated. As soon as they exited, Zell and Selphie let out a series of remarks about the injustice of the situation. Quistis looked around and saw Squall and Seifer heading in opposite directions.

"Where are they going?" Quistis asked.

Irvine let out a tired sigh and put his hand on Quistis' shoulder. "They need to think, Quistis," Irvine told her. "Just give them a while. They have a lot on their mind."

Quistis nodded. "So what are we going to do?"

"What can we do?" Selphie sighed as she kicked the dusty ground. "Until Squall says something, we can't do anything."

"So this is it?" Quistis asked, disgusted. "We're just going to sit around and do nothing? What about Rinoa? Isn't she part of this team?"

"Quistis, calm down," Selphie told her gently as she reached out and tried to grab Quistis' hand. The tall blond took a step back and pulled away. "Quistis..."

"We can't just sit here waiting! She could be in trouble!" Quistis gasped.

"Quistis," Irvine said strongly. The blond turned her head to look at him, confusion and frustration written on her face. "We'll get Rinoa back."

"Don't forget," Selphie reminded Quistis. "Rinoa is a nurse, but she's still a Diable Squad member. We'll get her back. Safe and sound." With that, Selphie allowed Irvine to lead them away to the cafeteria tent to get something to eat. Quistis stood in her place for a moment and ran her hand down her face.

She couldn't stand it. It hurt to see him like that. His eyes looked so angry and frustrated. And she knew why and couldn't help. She couldn't save Rinoa by herself. She couldn't ease his troubled mind. She couldn't even put on a strong facade for her teammates. Quistis took a deep breath. Perhaps it was a mistake coming.

"I've contacted General Caraway," Quistis froze. It was a female voice. Quistis turned around. The voice was coming from inside the tent. "I'm awaiting his reply."

Quistis heard the Captain let out a heavy sigh. "Good..." he mumbled. "I'm not authorized to do acknowledge the request and once General Caraway says no, it's final."

"Cloud," the female asked softly. "General Caraway will send them after her."

"Are you crazy, Commander Lockhart?" he scoffed in disbelief. "He's the most 'do it according to the books' military personnel I've ever met! There is no way he'd give authorization to send one of the best special ops units after some nurse! It's unorthodox and a use of unnecessary power!"

The female Commander let out a heavy sigh. "Rinoa studied under me to become a nurse. I know all about her in her files. Trust me, Caraway will send them after her. Even if he has to write up a mission for them himself."

Quistis narrowed her eyes. Quietly, she slipped away, relief coursing through her body at the thought of being able to save the friendly nurse. She wondered if she should tell the others, but quickly decided against it. She'd be in trouble if they realized she was eavesdropping and they would find out soon enough anyway.

As she left the area, the woman inside the tent looked at the laptop on the table. "They have a mission."

It seemed like a dream to her sometimes. That she was watching herself go through the motions of her current situation as if watching it on television. A strange little story about intricately involved soldiers in a war much bigger then themselves. She didn't feel like a soldier, let alone one of the team members.

But she was an officer of tightly woven team. They were like each other's family and shared a bond that could only be forged in the heat of war. She envied that and found herself elated to have been enveloped in it so quickly.

Quistis sighed and looked down at her left hand. A metal case was at her side, loaded with bullets. She needed to get her mind of things. Off of Rinoa's missing person, off of the van explosion, off of Seifer. Her eyes narrowed. She hadn't seen Seifer or Squall since they stomped out of the Captain's tent earlier that afternoon.

She shook her head, and concentrated on her task. She rounded the corner, already hearing the gun shots echoing as they cut through the air. She lifted her head and frowned.

Seifer stood in front of the counter, hand gun in hand, sending round after round into a target set yards away. His face was cold, hardened, showing nothing but concentration. As he quickly released one magazine, he loaded another one with a swift movement and raised the gun.

Quistis watched him. His eyes never left the target. His hands were steady on the gun as the trigger was squeezed. The muscles in his arms moved underneath slightly tanned skin and she found herself following those arms to his tank top clad upper body with her eyes.

"Trepe!"

She licked her lips slightly, remembering feeling those arms wrapped around her shivering body.

"Trepe!"

Enveloping her in an embrace of hardened, hot flesh, like in some steamy romance novel.

"TREPE!"

"What?" Her eyes darted from his body to his face as he raised an eyebrow. Quistis suddenly realized she had been caught staring. 'Oh my Hyne...how long was I...?' Her eyes widened as a heated blush crawled up her face. How long ago had Seifer put down his gun and turned to see her?

"Like what you see?" Seifer asked coolly as his eyes surveyed her body with a quick glance.

Quistis glared at him. "I was just going to practice some shooting," Quistis explained, lifting up the metal box at her side. "Since you're obviously hogging the range, I'll come back later."

She was about to turn around when Seifer called her back. "Hold on a second," Seifer said. "Get back here. That's an order, Trepe."

Quistis rolled her eyes and marched over to him. She gave him a mock salute and he gave her an annoyed look. "Yes, Lt. Almasy?"

"Get some shots in. Let's see if you remember your drills." he told her calmly.

Quistis nodded and began to uppack her things. She took the gun out of the case where she had been keeping it when not on a mission and took out a magazine of bullets. Seifer quickly put his things away and loomed behind her, keeping a watchful eye on her.

"Do you mind not staring so hard? You're distracting." Quistis snapped, annoyed.

"Just shoot the damn thing," Seifer snapped. Quistis took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Somehow, being under his watchful eyes made her nervous. Her hands were starting to get sweaty and shook slightly. "Calm down, nothing is shooting at you. What? Did you forget already? It's been a day or two."

"Will you just shut up..." she hissed under her breath. Quistis squeezed the trigger and let the bullets fly.

Behind her Seifer carefully watched her aim. Her hands were shaking and her posture was too tense. It was like she was just learning all over again. "What's wrong with you? Straighten up! Concentrate! You're shooting like a novice, Trepe!" he barked.

She released the empty cartridge and grabbed another. She squeezed the trigger once more. 'What is he on? Drill Sergeant Mode?'

"You're off by a mile! What the hell is wrong with you, Trepe? Can't you even shoot a damn piece of paper! You're too slow! You'd be dead by now! DEAD!"

Another cartridge was emptied and quickly replaced.

"Faster! Aim! Are you blind or something? Aim! AIM DAMN IT! You're missing everything! A single bullet could be savior or your death seal! So CONCENTRATE!"

Her heart was racing as her hands began to tremble more. For a moment, she couldn't remember what she was doing as she fumbled with the next cartridge.

"What was that? What the HELL was that? Can't stand the pressure, Trepe? Is that it? Can't stand me yelling at you? Too fucking bad!" Seifer shouted in her ear, not paying attention to her expression as she winced at his booming voice. "This is nothing! Nothing!" Her gun was practically falling out her hands. "No one wants you if you can't do a simple thing like shoot! NO ONE wants an incompetant solider - no one!"

SLAM! The heavy metal gun was slammed side ways against the counter top, it's loud noise echoing in the range. Seifer jerked his head back, surprised that Quistis had actually stopped. Normally, she would have fed off his taunts and proven him wrong.

Her shoulders were heaving with heavy breaths as sky blue eyes kept themselves pasted on the targets. Her arms were trembling at her sides as a flushed face was marred by a painful expression that Seifer couldn't identify. "I don't fucking need this right now." Quistis hissed behind gritted teeth. She looked down at her gun and grabbed it, releasing it's still loaded magazine and putting it away.

"What the hell are you doing?" Seifer explained. "I didn't say you could stop!" He growled, bringing himself out of the initial shock.

Cold eyes met him as he looked down at her. They were narrowed into furious slits as as she slammed the metal case cover down and locked it. Her hand gripped it's handle tightly, turning her skin white. "No one wants me, huh?" she spat out in a disgusted voice. "Thanks, Lieutenant. That's exactly what I needed to hear from you."

She moved around him and headed towards the exit. Seifer stood there silently, trying to make sense out of what just happened. "Quistis," he began as he turned around. Instead of finding Quistis, he found Squall walking towards him. His mood grew even more sour as he narrowed his eyes and turned back to the gun range. "What the hell do you want?" he grumbled.

Drenched with sweat and still looking like he could kill someone, Squall sent an icy look at Seifer. "Captain Strife wants to talk to us."