Chapter 20 – A Nasty Confrontation

Hours had passed since Seifer had blasted into the study. Once he had come in, he had declared the President, the Ambassador, his wife, and his daughter, all under house arrest. He had said that Deling City was now under the control of Punishment Syndicate, and that the rest of Galbadia was next. His first action had been to split them all up, sending them to different rooms of the house so that they couldn't talk to one another and plan an escape. Kylah had been roughly shoved into a room that she'd never been inside of in her life, then left alone.

For hours, she had paced restlessly back and forth in the small room. Every peek out the window had revealed that the house was completely surrounded by heavily armed members of Punishment Syndicate, some of which in a heated standoff with Galbadian soldiers. At least someone was trying to get them out.

The other light at the end of her tunnel was that in their brief search of her person, Seifer and his goons had not discovered the dirk she had hidden under her jacket, on her back. They had patted only her sides, which still left her armed if necessary. The downside was that she had been in this house only twice since her parents had taken up residence here, and she had no idea where anything was. Even if she had the means to plan a grand escape, she had no clue where to go.

Which left her hopes pinned on Irvine. With a resigned sigh, she flopped down on the floor next to the bed that sat in the center of the room and leaned against it, gazing thoughtfully out the window, aching for even a glimpse of the Ragnarok flying over Deling City. Kinneas, she thought, you sure as heck better get me out of here.

The duo sat across from each other in the Presidential office, green eyes locked intently on green eyes. A firm scowl of intimidation was on each face, neither one willing to give in, both wanting to bring the other down. The silence between the two adversaries was almost deafening.

Finally, one spoke.

"You got any threes?" Laguna asked, his tone one of mock-seriousness.

Cassidy looked at her hand, then looked back up at him. "Go fish," she replied, her tone matching his.

"Aw, man," Laguna groaned with pseudo defeat, and made a dramatic production of drawing another card from the pile between them.

Across the room, Squall glanced up from the e-mail he was reading and chuckled at the two of them. Laguna had far more patience than he did for the games that Cassidy loved, willing to play round after round with her. At last count, they were starting their tenth hand of Go Fish.

Squall couldn't help but wonder if the patience came from a natural love of children, or the fact that Laguna was so grateful to finally be able to spend time with his only grandchild. Over the top of his laptop, Squall silently watched the older man for a moment. He had never seen so much joy and contentment in Laguna's face. For the first time, it dawned on Squall that, despite the busy life that Laguna led as Esthar's president, it was an empty life with no family or loved ones. With a pang, Squall realized just how much Laguna had missed out on. Sighing, he resolved to sort out any differences between them and spend time with Laguna as often as he could, once this mess with Galbadia and Punishment Syndicate was sorted out.

Stretching, Squall put aside his laptop and reached for the newspaper that had been delivered for Laguna but left untouched. Snapping it open, he began to scan the headlines, curious as to what had been happening in the world while he'd been cooped up the last few days.

One headline on the third page caught his eye. Briefly, he scanned the accompanying article. "Hmmm…" he murmured to no one in particular. "Didn't take them long to get hold of that one."

"Didn't take 'em long to get hold of what?" Laguna asked, shuffling the cards to deal another hand.

Squall read the headline out loud. "'SeeD Hero Revealed to be Presidential Love Child.'"

"WHAT!" Laguna cried, abandoning the game and scrambling over to check out the newspaper. His eyes scanned over the article, expression hardening with every word. "They didn't get any of the details right, other than the big one," he grumbled as he read.

Cassidy idly played with a penholder on Laguna's desk. "Daddy, what's a love child?" she asked, attempting to make a fort out of Laguna's collection of pens.

The two men exchanged a glance. Laguna bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to laugh. "I'll tell you when you're older, kid," Squall replied, sounding a bit helpless.

"Aw," Cass grumbled. "You always tell me that. I'm getting older every day! When will I be old enough?"

"When you are," he said. "Now pick up the cards if you're finished with them."

At that moment, the doors flew open and a very breathless looking Irvine Kinneas burst into the room, with Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Kiros, and Ward all hot on his heels. "Squall!" he said, catching sight of his friend. "Thank Hyne I found you!" Pausing, he panted, trying to catch his breath so he could speak.

"What's going on?" Squall asked, jumping up from the couch he was seated on. "Where's Kylah?"

"We've been trying to find that out," Zell replied, "but he just ran past us when we saw him, insisting that he had to speak with you."

By this time, Irvine had caught his breath enough to speak. He held up a hand to silence everyone and spoke, his words coming in ragged, breathy, choppy sentences. "Deling City is under attack. Or, I should say, Kylah's parents' house is under siege. Punishment Syndicate has the Deraldi's and President Caraway all held hostage in there, and is planning to use that as a base of operations for taking over the rest of Galbadia."

"You've got to be kidding me," Quistis said, disbelief in her voice. "Fujin and Raijin were right; Seifer has lost his mind."

"Where's Kylah?" Squall asked again, his jaw set grimly.

"Stubborn redhead stayed behind," Irvine grumbled. "She said that someone had to stay and protect the president and her parents, and I was too easily recognized. She ordered me to come back for backup, and she stayed to protect them."

Despite his concern for her safety, Squall couldn't help the swell of pride that he felt over her actions. She really is brave, isn't she? he thought, admiringly.

"If she needs backup," Selphie spoke up, "then we give her backup!"

"Selphie's right," Squall agreed. "We leave as soon as the Ragnarok is ready for departure again."

Everyone paused and turned to look suspiciously at Squall. "Can you even lift your gunblade right now?" Quistis asked, pointing to his injured shoulder.

Experimentally, he rolled the shoulder around to test it. Even the small action sent waves of pain shooting through his arm and shoulder, but he refused to admit that right now. "I can one-hand it," he said. "This arm is only for support anyway. We leave immediately." He paused, and glanced over at his father. "Can you…?" he asked, nodding at Cassidy.

Laguna smiled. "Elle and I will look after her. You guys go play cavalry for Kylah. And," he added, a more serious look touching his face, "if you can get President Caraway and the Deraldi's out, bring them back with you, too. If Deling City isn't safe, they can take refuge in Esthar."

"Thanks," Squall said, flashing him a brief smile. He stopped long enough to squat down in front of Cassidy. "You're going to stay here with Laguna while I go take care of something," he said. "But I'll be back soon."

"You gonna go help Kylah?" she asked, curiously. Her father nodded in reply. Cassidy nodded fiercely and said, "Go get her, Daddy, and make sure to kiss her again when you see her."

Despite himself, Squall smiled at the small girl. "I'll do that." Kissing her on the forehead as he stood, he said. "Be good. I'll be back."

He looked around at his friends, then jerked his head toward the door. "Let's go," he said, and took off to find the Ragnarok.

By now, boredom if nothing else had prompted Kylah to begin to prowl the bedroom she'd been placed in. She'd found nothing particularly interesting in the room, and had come to the conclusion that her parents likely used it as a guest room. Still, searching had given her something to occupy her time.

"Hey, you!" a voice suddenly spoke up from the doorway, startling her as she peered into a dresser drawer. She slammed it closed, and looked up at the young mercenary that stood in the door.

"What do you want?" she asked, shooting him an annoyed look.

"Seifer wants to see you," he said. "So let's get going."

Reluctantly, she allowed herself to be led down the hall. Her mind raced, wondering if Seifer had managed to find out that she was, in actuality, a SeeD. That knowledge in his hands could very well put her life in danger, and then who would protect President Caraway?

"In there," the young man said. Grabbing her arm, the thug roughly shoved her through the door. SeeD training kicked in automatically, though, and Kylah managed to regain her balance quickly. She flicked her head back at the door just in time to hear and see it slam.

"Well, well, well," came a voice from the opposite side of the room. Very slowly and steadily, Kylah turned her head back and stood up straight. Evening her gaze, she stared directly into Seifer's eyes as he added, "Look what the cat dragged in."

The ex-SeeD was obviously making himself comfortable. He was seated comfortably in her father's expensive leather chair with his boots kicked up on the desk before him. As he continued to stare at Kylah, he casually lifted a cigar he had obviously 'liberated' from the ambassador's supply and took a quick drag of it. As he exhaled the smoke, he shifted his weight, moving his boots off the desk and sitting fully upright.

"Miss Deraldi," he said in a very even tone while never breaking eye contact, "Won't you sit down?" As he asked the question, Seifer gestured to one of the empty leather chairs in front of him.

"I would rather-" Kylah began.

"SIT DOWN!" Seifer yelled at the woman as he snapped to his feet, slamming both hands upon the desk. The sudden explosion had been so violent that the mercenary's voice actually cracked slightly under the strain. Unconsciously, Kylah took a step back at the outburst.

Resolute, she set her jaw and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she continued to lock gazes with Seifer. "As I tried to say," she said at a slow pace, making sure every word would sink in, "I would rather stand."

At long last, Seifer broke the stare-down. He lowered his head. Kylah's hopes that he did so in frustration quickly sank as his shoulders began shaking and a low rumble of laughter began to escape the man's throat. Finally, he leaned his head back and howled with laughter. "Miss Deraldi," he choked out between laughs, "You do not seem to understand the situation you are in."

"And what situation is that?" she immediately shot back at him. "The part where I'm a prisoner against my will?" she asked, one brow raised. "Or the part where you are an arrogant, self-centered ass?" she added, with a grin.

Seifer's expression hardened at that. "Let me rephrase my order, then," he said between clenched teeth. Grabbing his gunblade from beside the desk, he leveled the weapon toward her. "Sit down, or I'll cut out your Achilles tendons and let you flail around on the floor while I speak to you," he said in a tone that meant business. "I don't really care which way you want it," he added, "But one way or another, we will talk."

With an exasperated sigh, Kylah rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. Taking two steps forward, she moved the rough side of the gunblade aside as she took a seat in the left chair. "I really hope you have some actual conversation planned and not just you barking orders," she said evenly. Seifer had chosen his battleground poorly. He certainly had the tactical advantage, but in the arena of words, Kylah had more than enough confidence in her skills.

"See?" Seifer asked as he motioned both arms wide to his sides, "That wasn't so tough, now was it?" Sitting down, Seifer carefully returned the gunblade to its resting place on the opposite side of the desk from Kylah. He studied her expression carefully, trying to see if she was taking note of the weapon. She was an odd specimen, though. Rather than watch the weapon, she merely kept her gaze steadily upon him. "Hrmph," came the sound from his throat as he finally released the gunblade.

"Nice ice queen routine, by the way," he said as he leaned back in his chair. "Though you're not the first with that attitude I have laid eyes on," he added.

Yeah, I'll bet Quistis took great pleasure in showing you that act once or twice.

"I have some questions for you, Miss, Deraldi," Seifer said as he leaned forward and crossed hands in front of his chin.

"Ask away," she replied with a neutral shrug, "I'll answer as best I can."

"It's so nice to see you cooperative, Deraldi," Seifer said without enthusiasm. Releasing his arms, he leaned further forward, looking much like a predator trying to size up his prey. "You're the daughter of one of Gabaldia's highest ranking ambassador's, who has supposedly lived here in Deling City all your life," he said in a rhetorical tone. "But, when I checked with the local schools, I found no record of your attendance. So, tell me, Miss Deraldi, why is that?"

So that's your game, Kylah thought to herself. With a long-suffering sigh, she rolled her eyes. "Is that it?" she asked him. "Ambassador's children aren't exactly the best thing to mix with public schools," Kylah said as she leaned back further into the comfortable chair, "I had private tutors. I never attended a formal school."

Seifer's eyes narrowed notably. "Alright," he said shortly, "I'll buy that." He didn't say anything else immediately, but stood up to his full height behind the desk, then leaned over the desk. "Then, would you mind setting another concern I had to rest?" he asked.

"I don't mind," Kylah answered dubiously, "But I believe you would probably ask me no matter what my response was."

Seifer leaned back away from her and stared at her for a brief moment. "I did hear another rumor about you," he said as he jabbed a finger in her direction. "That you haven't always lived her in the city."

"In fact," he added before she could say anything, "I heard you actually were a member of Gabaldia Garden."

Kylah folded her hands neatly on her lap and looked up at her interrogator. "A rumor?" she asked back, "You mean you actually listen to those things?"

"Answer the question!" Seifer screamed back and slammed his fists on either side of the center of the desk, causing the contents of the entire desk to rattle and shake.

"No," Kylah answered honestly as she jumped to her feet and slammed her hands on the desk in a similar manner, "I am not a member of Gabaldia Garden." I'm a member of Balamb Garden, she silently added. "And even if I were," she continued, "Wasn't that garden totally destroyed during the Ultimecia incident? You have no proof."

His hand was on the gunblade and its edge upon the side of her neck in a flash. "I don't need proof," he hissed at her between clenched teeth. "You sound like you're speaking the truth," he added as he pushed the weapon harder against her skin, "But I know how ambassadors are. They twist words and half-truths. You're the daughter of an ambassador. I figure you've picked up a trick or two along the way," he explained, pushing the weapon against her neck to emphasize certain points.

The reaction he had hoped for did not come, though. No tears, now cowering, no pleas. Instead, the confident woman before him turned her neck and looked up at him. The move exposed even more of her skin to the weapon, but the intent was clear. "Are we quite finished here?" she asked in a patronizing tone.

"Oh, we're anything but done," Seifer muttered under his breath. Those words and his next actions were not exactly what Kylah had expected. With a single movement, the mercenary removed the gunblade from her neck and bounded over the desk, snatching up her hair in his other hand. Literally pulling her backwards and off her feet, Seifer held her half off the ground by her auburn curls as he discarded his gunblade.

"You think you're all superior and that you know how to handle yourself, Miss Deraldi, but I can assure you that you ARE mistaken," Seifer said as he manhandled Kylah back towards the desk and away from the discarded weapon. As he slammed her into the desk, the small weapon she had managed to conceal dug into her spine, painfully reminding her of its presence.

"I know that you know HIM," Seifer hissed as he lowered his mouth to just inches from her ear. "How do I know?" he asked rhetorically, "Simple. Nearly two weeks ago, he was seen boarding a train bound for Esthar with a red-headed SeeD. I'm wagering that SeeD is you, Miss Deraldi."

As he ended the sentence, Seifer lifted up on her already painful scalp and placed his other hand on Kylah's neck. With what appeared to be ease, he hefted her into the air, cutting off her air supply and causing her to make rather undignified sounds as she struggled for oxygen.

"How do I know it's you?" Seifer asked in a tone that was borderline screaming, again, "Because it's just too convenient that you show up her so soon after what happened in Esthar. You have no idea how disappointing it is that the attack failed. Victory was so close and then snatched from my hands!"

Not even taking a breath, Seifer flung her like a ragdoll into the closest wall, bringing a pair of pictures crashing down as she slumped to the floor. Easy Deraldi. If you fight back, you'll only give yourself away, Kylah reminded herself as she choked as much air into her lungs as possible.

Seifer glanced casually down at her as she coughed and sputtered. "Maybe I should just take something else from him, eh?" Seifer said with a lecherous look at Kylah. Realization snapped her back from her dazed state and she shot an angry glare up at him.

He wouldn't, she fumed, unable to stop the cold chill that went down her back. No matter how hard she wanted to tear him apart, she forced herself to play the part of the helpless ambassador's daughter, loathing every second of it. Then she caught the look in his eyes. Then again, maybe he would...

Seifer reached down quickly, forcing Kylah's body to take up a defensive position, but no hit or grab came. After a moment, she peeked up to see Seifer squatted before her, looking at her with a most odd expression.

"You're even more beautiful than Rinoa," Seifer said wistfully, reaching out to touch her cheek. She had to fight not to shudder with revulsion. "I took her from him, you know." A red flag immediately went up within her, but she feigned ignorance and shot him a puzzled look.

"You see," Seifer continued, "Just killing him isn't enough. I want to break him, tear him down to nothing. So when I found out he had a little urchin, I decided to start there."

Kylah grew sick as she turned the words over in her mind again and again as he went on. "Then she got in the way," he explained. "Rinoa. She begged for her daughter's life, but was easily thrown aside. Just as I made the attack to end his lineage, she jumped in front of me, knocking the stroller over. It was amusing to watch her spasm and squirm at the end of my gunblade. You could see it in her eyes, you know. That she knew she was already dead."

Kylah listened with growing anger welling up inside her as Seifer's eyes narrowed. "But," he added with obvious disdain, "She did something unthinkable. She was already dead, but she brought up her weapon and fired it. Broke my arm and ribs and would have killed me if I hadn't dropped her and rolled out of the way. I never got to finish off the urchin. Her lucky shot forced me to fall back when I heard voices coming. Still, the damage was done."

"I broke her," he said with a dark smile, "And broke him in the process. Since then, I haven't been able to get close enough to finish things, until Esthar."

Unexpectedly, he moved away from her, swaggering arrogantly across the room. "It's a real shame that didn't go off like I'd planned. From what I've heard, we almost lost our dear Squall in the whole mess, didn't we?" He eyed Kylah, looking for traces of emotion on her face that she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing. "I had just about given up on Esthar, to tell you the truth, after that last attack failed. But, then something came to my attention this morning that made the place just all the more irresistible to me."

Casually, Seifer picked up a newspaper off of the desk. "This is the newspaper out of Esthar," he said, holding it up for her. "There was a rather interesting article in it this morning, but I'm sure it's old news to you." With a flourish, he snapped it open, and began to read. "'SeeD Hero Revealed to be Presidential Love Child.'" He lowered the paper and grinned at her. "How perfectly convenient," he said, chuckling slightly. "I take out the president of one of the most powerful nations in the world, and take Squall's daddy at the same time. Too, too perfect."

Unconsciously, Kylah's fists clenched at her side. She had no time to act on it, however. With a fast motion, Seifer closed the distance between them and again grabbed her by the throat and hefted her against the wall. As he did so, there was a knock at the door. "Ah, do come in," he called over his shoulder as the Deraldis and General Caraway entered the room.

Kylah's mother let out a quiet yelp as she saw what was happening to her daughter as her husband's face turned a bright crimson in anger. "Seifer," he called out angrily to the mercenary, "You let her go this instant!" Before he could charge forward, though, one of the three soldiers who had entered with him kicked his knee out, driving him to the floor.

"What? Now that I have a captive audience," Seifer called over his shoulder, grinning at his own pun, "I'm not about to stop the show."

"In fact, I want you all to see it, so you can tell Squall Leonhart what I did here, just in case she can't," Seifer added with a thumb pointed to Kylah. With a sudden movement, Seifer shredded her blouse with a quick pull. What he didn't see, though, was Kylah reaching behind her and deftly placing her hand on the hilt of her hidden weapon.

"You don't want to do this, Seifer," she rasped around the hand at her throat. "Make life easy on yourself and let me go."

He laughed a cold, chilling laugh that made Kylah shiver. It wasn't an evil laugh, but a maniacal one. And the wild expression in his eyes made the effect even more unsettling. "Oh, my dear," he said, tracing the fingers of his free hand under the curve of her breasts. "I really, truly do want to."

"If that's the way you want it," she wheezed. She had finally reached her breaking point. Seifer may be larger and more muscular, but she had leverage on her side. In one deft motion, she had her legs pulled up between them. Her feet connected hard with Seifer's chest as she kicked outwards, sending him flying backwards across the room and breaking his grip on her neck. In a split second she was on him, returning the painful hair pulling he'd given her with gusto, jerking his head backwards to expose his throat to the blade she'd pulled from behind her back.

The guards inside the doorway immediately raised their weapons to her, prompting her to look up at them with a dark look and press her blade into Seifer's throat. "If you want him to live," she said in a no-nonsense voice, "then I would suggest putting those guns down and walking out of this room, right now. And close the door behind you." As if to emphasize her point, a trickle of Seifer's blood oozed out from under the sharp edge of the dirk, dripping on the carpet below him.

The guards appeared momentarily indecisive as they watched her, briefly exchanging looks between them. Finally, Seifer began chuckling, and nodded slightly to the guards. "Do what she says," he said, agreeably. "I can handle her."

"Can you?" she asked as the guards slipped from the room.

"I know I can," he spat back at her as he suddenly shifted his weight. A split second later Kylah felt something hard and unforgiving crash into the side of her head, followed by a heavy weight colliding with her side. Immediately she finally let her SeeD training kick in and used the impact with the desk that followed to kick herself backwards. Seifer had grabbed one of the chairs and brained her with it.

Now he kicked the chair out of his way and began walking briskly towards her. "You better put that little toy away before you get hurt any worse than you're about to be," he said as he pointed to her small dirk.

Kylah wasn't about to be intimidated, though. With a deft slash, she put a nasty gash directly across the finger he had been pointing with. Seifer immediately jumped back and reconsidered the situation. Still, his soldiers were nearby and he wasn't about to let this little mouse get the better of him.

With a feral growl, he charged forward, swinging his left foot out as he leaped into the air. Kylah saw the blow coming and nimbly dodged to the side, slicing out with her weapon as plaster shattered from the impact. She quickly learned, however, that Seifer was faster than she had given him credit for. With a spinning right punch, he knocked her weapon hand upwards, then drove at her face with a left hook.

The redhead responded in kind by bringing her own left arm back across, but struck with her elbow, instead, smashing the incoming fist with a brutal force. With a grimace, Seifer realized that he wasn't about to beat her at any kind of agility and, instead, closed in on her quickly, bringing both fists down on her arms with a brutal attack. Kylah was out of evasion options and opted to throw a hard knee into his chest as he pounced on her. The impact of his weight quickly drove her off balance and slammed her into the window frame behind her.

As Seifer's weight added to her own, she heard and felt the glass splinter behind her and dig into her back. Calling upon all her strength reserves, she kicked him off of her, again and took another slash at him with the blade, cutting a rather large section of his coat off. A small, victorious smile crossed her face. The follow-up to the attack fell short, however, as he kept the combat as close and brutal as he could, driving his own elbow into her hand and finally knocking the offending weapon from her grasp.

Cursing to herself, Kylah backhanded his face, feeling his nose shatter immediately. Furious, Seifer grabbed both her wrists and drove hard against her, slamming her body into the desk in the room and driving the wood into the small of her back.

Letting out a strangled gasp, Kylah tried her best to will her body to respond, but it just floundered in the stronger man's grasp. She almost wondered if the impact had broken her back. Then she felt his breath in her face. "I knew you were a SeeD," he announced in a proud, yet hoarse voice. "Now I'm going to make sure everyone hears you scream," he added with obvious delight.

A thousand thoughts ran through Kylah's mind as she suddenly felt his hand fumbling with the buckle on her pants while she still struggled to break the grasp he had on both her wrists. Don't give up, Deraldi, she told herself. There has to be a way out of this. "What's the matter, Seifer?" she taunted, her eyes flashing. "Are you so caught up with jealousy and inferiority that you have to attack helpless people to get your point across? You'll never, ever be better than he is, Seifer. And you're proving that right now."

Seifer's furious retort was swallowed up by an earsplitting explosion. Both Kylah and her assailant looked up to see Squall and Zell staring Seifer down, malice in their gazes. Behind them, Irvine was holding a smoking gun over a fallen Punishment Syndicate thug. Quistis and Selphie stood over the other two, having dispatched them with ease. During the fight, the entire group had been so distracted that the SeeDs easily slipped in unnoticed and took care of the guards. Now Seifer faced a group of six angry SeeD's, his gunblade planted firmly against the wall on the other side of the room.

Kylah grinned at him triumphantly. "Yeah, you were right all along, Seifer; I am a SeeD. And now, my teammates over there are gonna kick your ass." And, still grinning, she punctuated her announcement by twisting her legs around just enough to swiftly offer Seifer's crotch a hard introduction to her knee.