I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.
- Poul Anderson

Laguna blinked several times, trying to get the image he had just witnessed to be processed to his brain where it would be analyzed. After a moment, the process was completed and he was left staring stupidly at the body that had been Nicholas a few seconds before, only now he had a combat knife lodged at the top of his nose right in-between his eyes. His light coloured eyes stared up at the ceiling while blood seeped past the wound and foreign object, rolling to fall onto the ground beneath his head, which currently lay at an angle.

Slowly, the President of Esthar turned to look at the SeeD, who appeared indifferent to what had just happened. One minute, Laguna had been sure he was going to be yelled at for attacking a civilian (which he hadn't actually done in the first place, mind) and the next, a knife whizzes past him and hits Nicholas clean in the forehead. As much training as he was sure the SeeD had been through, he doubted anyone short of an insane serial killer was capable of that kind of apathy.

He had just let the argument between himself and Nicholas drop when he had heard something coming from nearby. He had started to turn so he could look around when Nicholas suddenly lunged at him, grabbing him by the throat and pushing him up against the wall. Whatever thoughts of Nicholas being incapable of an attack had flown from his mind as he had struggled to defend himself, only to kick out with his left leg and push Nicholas into a nearby garbage can just seconds before Squall seemingly materialized out of nowhere and broke it up.

Then Nicholas had the gall to try and convince him that he had been the one to attack him, but from what he could see, it obviously hadn't worked.

So much for Squall trusting the guy, but… Laguna stopped and stared at the SeeD before him just as the teenager in question helped Quistis regain her balance, allowing her arm to drape across his shoulder again. Did I just see anger in his eyes?

Laguna had a vague idea of the reason why. He had been deceived. Laguna knew that, had he been in his position, he would have been angry too, but not enough to actually kill him. Something didn't seem right to him. It hadn't been just Nicholas keeping secrets, and Laguna had a feeling that Squall had a fair bit he wasn't telling him or Quistis. Whatever it was, it could no longer wait. He needed answers and he needed them now.

"Laguna!"

Laguna jumped when he heard his name called and, judging by the look on the younger male's face, he could tell he had been trying to get his attention for a while. "Yeah?" he asked tentatively.

"I said can you grab the PDA from that body? He also has a TMP. Take it if you think you'll need it."

Laguna nodded dumbly and bend down, not really wanting to inspect the body, but doing so anyway. He kept telling himself that now was not the right time to become squeamish and removed the PDA from the pocket of Nicholas' trench coat. He also found the submachine gun and quickly removed it from the holster in which Nicholas had held it. He looked up and managed a tired smile that probably didn't reach his eyes. "Do you want me to strip-search him too?"

Squall had probably taken him seriously and shook his head as a response. "Those things will definitely be attracted to the body. We should keep moving."

Laguna nodded and all three of them continued down the hallway, Laguna holding the PDA. As much as he didn't like him, he believed that killing Nicholas had been a bad move. With Squall supporting Quistis, who was pretty much blind at this point, he was left to read the PDA layout and he really couldn't read a map that well.

A sudden idea came to mind and, as much as he knew they didn't have any time for games, he couldn't pass it up. It was the only way to finally receive some answers, and he had to take it.

After a few minutes of walking, the trio arrived at a junction. They could turn left and down the hallway, or they could take a right turn, curving left as they continued on. Looking at the PDA, Laguna got confused when trying to connect the lines and resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it.

"Well?" Squall asked, disrupting his train of thought. "Which way?"

"Dunno," Laguna shrugged. "You know as well as I do that I can't read a map."

Squall frowned in response and Laguna just waited patiently for what he had to say next. "Give me the PDA, I'll figure it out."

"Sure," Laguna said, but just as Squall reached out to take it, Laguna pulled it out of reach. When he received a surprised and curious expression from the SeeD, he grinned grimly. "After you answer a few of my questions."

Squall stared at him incredulously, probably waiting to see if Laguna was joking, but the former soldier knew that he was serious. Finally, he shook his head. "We don't have time for this."

"I know, but you won't say anything otherwise." Laguna shrugged in response. "And I want to know a few things."

"Can't they wait?"

"Not really."

Squall sighed out of frustration. "It's not important."

"You don't even know what I'm going to ask."

"There's no time to play this game, Laguna."

"I didn't say anything about playing a game," Laguna stated simply. "All I said was that I have a few questions to ask and would like them to be answered. I think Quistis and I deserve that much, don't you? Considering what we've all been through?"

At the mention of her name, Quistis lifted her head up and, despite being blind, she stared critically at the both of them, probably only just tuning into the conversation. Squall's expression was blank, probably being masked so that Laguna couldn't see what he was thinking. He just hoped that he wasn't making a mistake about this. They needed the answers, but they could deal without the added friction.

"What exactly do you want to ask?" Squall finally questioned through a sigh, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them.

Laguna resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. You're not outta the woods yet, he mentally reminded himself and took in another deep breath, feeling the leg cramping. "First of all, are you okay?"

The blank expression shifted momentarily, revealing surprise before the SeeD masked it again. "Yeah, why?"

"'Cuz you looked kinda angry back there," Laguna answered, to which the SeeD shrugged.

"I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?"

Laguna frowned. It was obvious Squall wasn't going to let on that anything was bothering him, and that meant he'd have to push a little further. Given the teenager's current temperament, he wasn't looking forward to it. "Well, it's obvious you trusted Nicholas, right? Just wondering why you believed me over him is all."

"Does it really matter?" Squall snapped, apparently before he could stop himself.

"Actually, yeah, it does."

"You were defensive of him back in the infirmary," Quistis jumped in and Laguna was grateful for the reprieve. At least he wasn't the only one coming up with the questions. "Then, barely five minutes pass and you kill him. That doesn't make any sense."

Squall shrugged, probably trying to seem indifferent. "I realized I was wrong. It happens."

"You tolerate others being wrong," Quistis pointed out. "But when you're the one that's wrong, you beat yourself up about it. And don't tell me I'm wrong. I spend seven years trying to figure you out, and with what I know about you I could write a book."

"So basically," Laguna interrupted. "From what we've figured out on our own, we know you trusted him and then you turn around and kill him. You figured you were wrong and, while you normally tear yourself apart because of it, you shrug it off as if it was nothing. Doesn't that sound suspicious to even you?"

"I made a mistake," Squall stated evenly. "People make mistakes. It happens. And we don't have time to worry about it, if we want to make it out of here alive."

"It still doesn't make any sense," Quistis muttered. "What I don't understand is why you trusted him at all. For the entire time I've known you, you stray away from people, and you won't trust anyone unless they give you a reason to. Not even Rinoa got on your good side right away."

Laguna noticed something flicker in the younger teen's eyes, but it was gone so quickly the former soldier was almost convinced that he had just imagined it. Did Quistis touch a nerve? He thought to himself.

"What makes you think I haven't learned to trust more easily?" Squall asked. "Maybe that's one thing you actually didn't get right for once."

He is beating himself up about it… Laguna realized suddenly. He thinks that since he trusted Nicholas almost right away and that he was wrong that this is his fault.

"What I would like to understand is why you trusted him so quickly," Quistis argued back, obviously ignoring the insult. "There has to have been a reason."

"It's not important," Squall said after a tense moment of silence. "It's in the past. Can we drop the subject now? You said it yourself, Quistis. It's none of your business."

"I think it is," Laguna said.

"Xu told me about what happened at Garden. While Selphie, Irvine and I were at the Galbadian Missile Base." Quistis interrupted. "She told me what happened to NORG but, more importantly, she told me why. That NORG was using Balamb Garden in order to fill his own pockets, and that he had meant for our team to be executed after the failed assassination attempt in Deling to save face in the name of the Sorceress. If I was there, I probably would have killed him myself."

"What does that have to do with this?" Squall asked, visibly exasperated with the subject.

"Nicholas – like NORG – must have done something to you. Possibly even said something to you in order for you to trust him, but whatever it was it fell apart because of something, and it, undoubtedly, made you angry," Quistis answered. Laguna was astonished that, even given her physical state, she was able to come up with counter-arguments, almost as though she were a pro at questioning witnesses who didn't want to give away a criminal or murderer. "I'm guessing that's why Nicholas died, but we still don't know what exactly caused that reaction."

"Of the two, I've known Laguna longer," Squall said in that even tone again. "I know Laguna wouldn't attack someone without a reason, so obviously he was the one who was telling the truth."

"But we didn't know that Nicholas could actually fight until after he was killed," Quistis said. "Up until then, we were under the assumption that he could barely hold and fire a gun properly."

"So?"

"And since he was a civilian," Laguna jumped in. "I'm surprised you didn't put him somewhere safe, find a hiding spot for him to crawl into where those things couldn't grab him and then come back for him after looking around the residence. From what I know, that's sounds more like something you would have done."

"That's right. We were under the impression that he was a civilian," Quistis agreed.

"This was a more complicated situation," Squall argued.

"All the more reason to leave a civilian in a safe place," Laguna stated.

"I could have put you in a safe place, but I didn't."

"That's because I'm not a civilian. I'm a President."

"All the more reason to put you somewhere safe," Squall deadpanned. "Esthar can't function properly without someone in charge."

"Yeah, but I have weapons training from my days in the army," Laguna stated simply. "And you know it, which is why you didn't leave me behind in a safe place."

"We needed the extra numbers," Squall argued back. "At the time, it was just the five of us, then we lost one. If we had put Nicholas somewhere safe, it would have just been the three of us, and Quistis isn't physically able to fight."

"Though I know that is true," Quistis broke in. "I highly resent that."

"It's just the three of us now," Laguna said smugly.

"Because we found out that Nicholas can't be trusted."

"Then why the hell did you trust him in the first place?"

"Because he said he was my father!" Squall suddenly blurted out.

There was silence after that, save for the echoing of the last statement off the desolate walls of the corridors. Whatever colour that remained had drained from Quistis' features and Laguna couldn't find his voice initially after the confession was made. Squall must have realized what he had said because he had an expression boarding on outrage creasing his features, probably hating the tactic in which had been used on him. Laguna didn't blame him, from what he understood, SeeDs were trained to be able to withstand any form of mental tricks that warranted valuable information slipping out. That training hadn't helped him out, partially because of the situation itself.

After a few long seconds, Laguna's voice emerged from hiding, though it sounded small even to his own ears. "And you believed him?"

Squall didn't answer him at first, and was probably debating on ignoring him altogether, but after a second, he surprised him. "Yes." After the answer left him, he shook his head slightly, as if confused. "No… I don't know anymore. I… guess I wanted to believe him."

Turning to face Laguna, he spoke again. "If a complete stranger had come up to you and told you that he was your son, who you never even got to know, didn't even know what they looked like, what would you have done?"

Laguna couldn't deny the irony of that statement, but he hesitated in his answer because he didn't know what to say. He had been mulling the words over in his head the moment he had first learned the truth, but now he didn't even know if he wanted them to come to fruition. If he said them now, he would never believe him, never trust him. It was too soon. Nicholas had played him for a fool and the walls that surely had been let down in order to allow the other man entrance had been built back up again, possibly with upgrades.

I can't tell him, Laguna thought to himself, the hurt hitting him hard. Not yet. Not so soon after this. At least not without proof.

"Honestly," Laguna said. "I think I sort of have an idea of what it's like. I wanted to believe that it was Elle when she came to the Lunar Base and found me. I know it's not the same, since I did know what she looked like, but the only time I had seen her before she found me was when she was five years old. Appearances change during that time, but I can see what you mean."

"Yeah," Squall muttered. "But she didn't lie to you."

Silence greeted them again, as if forcing the trio to take in the words that had been spoken, but finally they found a reprieve when Quistis broke through it. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but those things have probably found Nicholas' body by now. Shouldn't we keep moving?"

Laguna nodded dumbly, handing the PDA over towards the male SeeD, who took a look at it momentarily before nodding. "We head right."

A half an hour went by since they had last spoken, and Squall was grateful for the reprieve. He still hadn't recovered from the onslaught of questions and he wasn't sure how he should feel towards the remaining two survivors. There was a sense of aggravation that they wouldn't leave the subject be, and there was most definitely anger towards the tactic they had chosen to use. But there was also relief somewhere between the two, the weight had been lifted now that the big secret was out in the open, and he no longer had to hide it, no longer had to lie about it. It was difficult to sort through the three and figure out which feeling was winning.

So far they hadn't run into anymore of those things and in retrospect Squall didn't know whether to be pleased or annoyed. Normally when he was frustrated or confused he ended up in the training center at Garden, and either took it out on the Grats in the area, or trained to the point where he couldn't string together a mental thought so he didn't have to think about it. Unfortunately, neither was an option and the silence was forcing him to do the one thing he hated doing – dwelling on it.

He was furious with Nicholas – having used him the way he had. There had been a reason he didn't let anyone in as easily as they would have liked, to prevent himself from getting hurt. Just as the rest of his team had managed to convince him that there were people he could trust in the world, the bastard had to show up and change his opinion once again.

Never again, he swore to himself. I won't let it happen a third time.

He didn't hate Ellone for introducing this feeling to him at an early age, mainly because she didn't have a choice in the matter. She hadn't even done it on purpose, so why should she be blamed for something she had had no control over? It had hurt – still did even as he drudged up the unwanted memory – but she had been a child. Children couldn't control what happened around them. All they could do was watch and become influenced by what took place. It had all been a matter of circumstance that Ellone had been taken away, and in the end he had managed to find his own way.

I hope Elle is okay, wherever she is, he thought to himself as they continued straight. So far they hadn't had the good fortune of finding a stairwell, and Squall hoped they would find one soon. Once they managed to find a way out, he wanted to double back and see if he could locate the missing girl.

Before he could announce what he intending to do, some movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see Laguna turn back from looking behind him, his features paling slight. "What's wrong?"

The question obviously caught the elder man off guard and he nearly jumped in response. Turning his startled gaze towards him, Laguna managed to take in a deep breath to calm himself before chuckling slightly, probably to laugh it off. "Nothing," he answered. "Just the trick of the light. I thought I saw someone walking behind us, but that's not possible."

Squall stared at Laguna in shock, hope beginning to creep into the pit of his stomach once again. "Was it male or female?"

"Male," Laguna answered and that hope dwindled at the word.

"So why isn't it possible that you'd seen something?"

"Because I saw Nicholas, but that can't be right 'cuz he's dead."

Squall raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. It was possible Laguna really was only seeing things, but he didn't know if he wanted to take that chance. It could have just been one of those things following them, but from the way Laguna had spoken, he doubted it. Though he remembered that a scene from the movie had portrayed the group walking through a cemetery (Squall had known the instant they had left the church that it was a bad idea) and the virus that had caused the sudden mutation and reanimation had been in the ground, thus infecting those of which who had already died…

He turned to look behind him, wanting to see if it really was a trick of the light, and turned back around almost as quickly. Down at least half the corridor behind them was Nicholas, dressed the same way he had been when they had last seen him, the knife still imbedded in his forehead. But he was very much alive, keeping pace with them, never speeding up to catch them, but not allowing them out of his sight either.

"You weren't seeing things," Squall said and he could tell Laguna immediately knew what he was talking about.

"We can't run, not with Quistis the way she is."

"What are you talking about?" Quistis rasped out. Instead of steadily getting better, it was the opposite. She was deteriorating further. Squall just hoped that was normal before the anti-virus kicked in.

"Nicholas is following us," Squall answered.

"Maybe he was playing dead all along," Quistis suggested, and it was then Squall remembered she had only heard the encounter and not actually seen it. "You must not have hit him somewhere vital and he stayed still until we left."

"Quistis, I hit him point blank in the middle of the forehead," Squall explained. "The knife is still there."

"…That's impossible…"

"So is the dead walking, but they still manage to do just that," Laguna pointed out.

"We can pick up the pace," Squall suggested. "I think Nicholas might have memorized the paths, though."

"Then he'd know where we were trying to go," Laguna said.

"Do you have any other ideas?"

Laguna smiled. "Just one. C'mon."

Squall nodded and allowed Laguna to take point, shifting Quistis slightly and followed after him. Taking a quick look behind, he noticed that Nicholas had also picked up the pace, probably after realizing he had been detected.

They turned the corner on the left hand side, before Squall took in the location and cursed. They were at a dead end, the three corners making the SeeD feel slightly claustrophobic as he saw three pictures hanging off the walls, all of which blocked their path.

"I should have known," Squall stated, glaring at Laguna and looking behind him just in case Nicholas caught up. "When you head left, everyone else heads right."

Laguna ignored him, and approached the wall, Squall frowning as he did.

"What's going on now?" Quistis asked. "Where's Nicholas?"

"Still behind us," Squall answered, still glaring at Laguna. "Laguna led us to a dead end."

"What? How are we supposed to get out of here if it's a dead end?"

"Shhh…" Laguna quieted the pair as he continued to inspect the wall.

"What is he doing now?" Quistis asked.

"Inspecting a wall," Squall said flatly without an ounce of humour. "I think he sees something interesting."

Quistis frowned and huffed at the same time, the footsteps coming from Nicholas' loafers sounding louder as he neared their location. "Whatever it is you're looking at, do you mind hurrying it up?" Squall snapped.

"Almost… got it…there!" Laguna said in triumph as he fumbled with the underside of one of the paintings. Suddenly from his direct left a small panel opened up in the wall and Squall's jaw nearly dropped open out of his surprise.

"What was that?" Quistis asked

"I take back what I said," Squall said to Laguna before addressing Quistis' question. "He found a secret door."

"You mean a hidden pathway?"

"Yeah, and unless you want Nicholas to catch us, let's go!" Laguna said, ushering the two SeeDs inside. Both did as they were told, Squall putting Quistis onto the ground and following her inside of the path, just as Laguna stepped in after him, pulling the door closed behind him.