Ooog. It was Memorial Day - forgive me for missing my first update! I went to visit my parents and (of course) it was crazy. I'm dropping this down to every two weeks, just in case, however. It'll make my life a little easier, and your chapters a little better...

Chapter Nine

The Truths in the Mess

Surprisingly, Quistis rolled over and woke up.

Her muscles were full of the post-battle stiffness she had come to recognize, and as she moved they all seized up in protest against her. A little groan escaped her lips despite her best efforts. But she knew it wasn't the movement that had awoken her - although the motion had now destroyed any chance she had of being asleep - but the surprise at her own freedom of motion. Why would she be surprised?

Her brain felt pleasantly gooey, like a thick fog was just beginning to mist away. She recognized the groggy aftermath of a Sleep spell. Had she cast it on herself again? She remembered back in her cadet days, when she had studied frantically for finals, running only on adrenaline, determination, and Cura (which was all she could get her hands on). After the studying and the projects and all were over she forced herself to Sleep by magic. But she was in the middle of - something important. Why would she be casting Sleep?

She stretched, slowly, relishing the feeling of it, working the Sleep out of her muscles. There was nothing alarming about this. Falling asleep in battle gear was a normal, everyday occurrence for a working SeeD. What was so surprising?

Through the muddle of the lingering magic, a thought emerged, like a bubble popping to the surface: she had expected to be tied up.

Tied up? Quistis laughed; her lungs hurt. The Sleep spell often produced a happy, groggy aftermath, not unlike drugs (or so she'd heard). The smile deepened as she stretched again. Why would she have expected to be tied up?

Her hand brushed something a little strange - Save the Queen was secured at her waist. That was unexpected - she didn't normally take armed naps. She didn't normally take naps, true, but she especially didn't take them with her whip. Weapons weren't cuddly, and Save the Queen had thorns.

The door opened, and she heard someone walk in. Normally she would have frozen, stiffened, probably reached down for the Queen and given her visitor hell. However, her bones and nerves were all still laced with Sleep; she knew her reaction was unusual, just as she knew that the surprise upon waking was unusual; but at this point she didn't care. She rolled over lazily and gave the door a brilliant, winning smile.

Headmaster Shain was standing there, dressed in chinos and a blue turtleneck sweater. He leant against the doorjamb casually, returning her smile with what must have been his best.

Aha, Quistis thought. Handsome man, leaning against the door, smiling at me. I must still be dreaming. Her smile became even wider.

"You're finally awake," Shain said, to which she replied, "Am I?"

He shook his head at her, rolling his eyes, a genuine smile on his face. "You've been sleeping - magically-induced Sleep, that is - for quite a while."

Quistis continued to smile her silly smile, but her curiosity was piqued. Why was Shain here? She had certainly expected something else, which was even more curious, because she didn't remember why. She decided to tally the facts in her head - what had she thought she'd wake to?

Fact one: she'd been fighting (her muscles told her this much). Fact two: she'd been hit by neomagic (also proven by her sore body). Fact three: she'd expected to wake up a captive somewhere. These facts could be related, she mused. She'd been in a battle with someone, and had been hit with a Sleep spell, and had expected to wake up as someone's prisoner.

Which left her with fact four: she hadn't expected Shain. Was she Shain's prisoner? She noted the distinct lack of captive labels, such as rope or handcuffs. Shain didn't seem the type to handcuff her to the bed, she thought - and then realized how naughty that was, and giggled.

So she wasn't Shain's prisoner. Fact four and a half: she'd expected to be someone else's prisoner. Who was it?

It had to be someone good to have hit her with a Sleep spell. Quistis prided herself on her awareness and preparation skill - she must have been caught completely off-guard to have been struck in battle at all.

"Quistis?"

Shain's voice brought her back to reality quickly; he was grinning at her. "You must be out of it. You've been staring at my sweater for the past five minutes."

"Thinking," Quistis replied, and was immediately embarrassed by the sound of her own voice. Dry and caked. She noticed for the first time that Shain was carrying a glass and a pitcher, and he gestured towards it. She nodded. He poured the glass full of what looked like chilled water and brought it to her, sitting down on the bed beside her. She drank long; it was cold and refreshing, and her head was pounding with the magic.

"You must be hurting, Quistis," he said conversationally. "You were hit with about half a dozen Sleep spells - whoever got you, they got you good."

"Half a dozen?" she blurted out. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as a Sensor can be," Shain replied gravely.

A Sensor was the nickname for any person especially sensitive to neomagic residue. Every class of SeeD turned out to have at least one or two. Sensors were empathetic and perceptive to any sort of neomagic activity. A trained Sensor could predict a spell's cast by the gathering of particles in the air. A well-trained Sensor could walk into a room after a battle and from the remaining residue, decipher exactly what had been cast - an expert could tell you where, when, and in what order. Trabia was expected to have at least a couple Sensors, but the fact that Shain had had one working on her was a little unreal.

For a while, Quistis had actually suspected Rinoa of being a Sensor - the girl's intuition towards magic was astounding, and the skill with which she had picked up the Draw and Cast abilities had been a tell-tale sign for a civilian. Quistis had wanted to ask her, and to test her for it, thinking that Rinoa would be pleased to have something to offer to the little group of SeeDs. But then the young girl had become a sorceress, and asking a sorceress about an affinity for magic was like testing a duck's affinity to water. Pointless.

But - if Shain had a Sensor Adept looking after her - that was yet another clue that something strange had happened.

"With that much magic in your system," Shain said slowly, shifting his weight on the bed beside her to refill the empty glass, "it'll probably take a little while before you remember who, exactly, cast six Sleep spells on you."

"Mmmph," Quistis said. It was supposed to be an intelligible response. She was thinking again, about six Sleep spells, and about being caught in the middle of a battle, and about Shain. Who had found her? Where had she been?

Her brain was beginning to clear up - the water was helping, much like a hangover - and so she thought backwards. She was in bed, surprised at her ability to move, and the door had opened. It had been Shain, and she had been surprised to see him, a kindly face. Who was it that she -

"Seifer," she gasped, and shot up in the bed, water from the half-empty glass splashing down over her battle gear, where it formed tiny droplets against the treated leather and rolled onto the blankets beneath her. Apartments - Grey - finding Seifer - battle - Fujin and Raijin - sleep spell -

"That was much quicker than I expected," Shain said, almost conversationally. "Do you have any idea how much magic residue you just shocked out of your system?"

"What do you know?" Her voice was urgent and demanding, a clear contrast from Shain's casual tone. "Where was I?"

"Quistis." Shain reached forward and grabbed her shoulders, stopping what would have been her attempt to climb out of the bed. "You need to calm down. Even though you can't feel it, there are still the remains of six Sleep spells riding around in your blood, and if you go rushing off right now you'll get sick. And you know that." He carefully reached behind her to prop two pillows up behind her and forcefully leaned her back onto them. "I'll tell you anything you want to know, but you're going to have to stay here."

Everything was rushing back, and it was making her nauseous. She remembered the fight with Almasy, weapon to weapon. She remembered the feeling as her brain shut down, overloaded with confusion. But that had been in Argun - how had she ended up here with Shain?

She looked around for the first time, and recognized the bland decor of the Trabian trailers. So I am back in Trabia, she thought. How did that one happen?

"How did I get back here?"

Shain smiled at her slightly. "What do you remember?"

"I'll tell you in a little bit," she said breathlessly, "but you need to tell me how the hell I got here, so that I can make it all fit."

Shain shifted on the bed, and she could feel the entire mattress shift as his weight moved. "Trabian SeeD stationed in Argun received a call from the police about a strange situation in a relatively shady hotel."

"You have SeeD stationed in Argun?"

Shain nodded, a small smile spreading. "It's known as grunt punishment. SeeDs who are close to cadet status but keep acting up or jerking off are sent out to help law enforcement in Argun or some other equally nasty place. It's like a little mission, meant to give more experience, but what it really does is whip the troublemakers into shape. We pawn it off as the community service from hell."

Like Seifer, Quistis said, but did not say. It was a good idea. "So they found me ...where?"

Shain snickered. "The call was involving an unconscious woman in an elevator. Apparently the Argun police force thought she could possibly be a threat. She was armed, see, and so even unconscious they were frightened of her weapon - it's pretty scary looking. So they hauled in the SeeD cadets. Once they looked up your fingerprints they contacted me, and I came to get you."

"So they found me in a -" Her brain caught up with her. "You came to get me?"

Shain looked her in the eye. "I wanted to make sure it was you, and make sure you were okay."

His words were laced with something, and Quistis found herself compelled to meet his eyes. He was staring at her with some concern, his bright eyes unusually dark, and it struck her as kind of odd. Why would a Headmaster she had only spoken with a handful of times travel across the ocean to pick up a SeeD too stupid to save her own ass from a Sleep barrage?

But the concern in his eyes looked genuine. Perhaps Shain was just a friend, with no other motivations. She would need her share of friends over the upcoming years. She smiled at him, and she saw his returning smile start deep in his eyes.

"So," she continued before it could become awkward (and it was certainly heading there). "They found me in an elevator, still armed, unharmed, just - sleeping?"

"Yeah. You were soused in Sleep magic, too. The first cadet who touched you apparently wasn't paying attention and he almost went under as well."

Quistis snorted. "He wasn't paying attention in class."

"We don't have instructors like you."

She rolled her eyes. "All your instructors are smart enough to avoid getting hit by spells that effectively stop combat, eh?"

"You're smart enough to avoid it," Shain said simply. "What stopped you?"

"Distraction," Quistis said desolately, reaching for the water glass again. She eyed it. "Please tell me this is vodka."

Shain burst out laughing. "You've had a glass and a half," he chuckled. "You tell me if it's vodka."

"You don't seem like the type to get me drunk," she said mock-sadly, and drained the glass again.

Shain rolled his eyes. "Don't tempt me, Quistis," he said, his voice light and joking.

"Hah." She held out the glass for a refill. Another effect of status-inducing magic was dehydration; she'd never been hit this bad with it, but then again, she'd never been hit this bad with status magic either.

"So what was it?" Shain set the empty pitcher on a nearby table and brought his legs up on the bed, crossing them beneath his body. "A nice pair of legs?"

She laughed, bringing her own legs up, tucking her knees under her chin. "I wish." She was strangely apprehensive about telling Shain about Seifer. She didn't want someone to rush off and make the reckless decision that Seifer was obviously and definitely guilty. She was still very confused about the entire situation. Doing something rash - like telling the wrong person - could have very severe consequences.

But Shain didn't seem like a rash person in the least. And he was a friend. And, above all else, he had come to rescue her, no matter how purposeful or not it was.

"You have to promise to let me finish the story before you react," she said tiredly. She could feel the molecules of water spreading through her dehydrated muscles, rushing into those areas that were particularly sore. She felt less nauseous, and less pain, but she also felt less awake. It was funny how a Sleep spell could make you tired. In small doses the spell could be a helpful tool, but in large doses - say, six at once - your body was too busy recovering from the high concentration of neomagic to get any rest.

Shain leant forward, elbows on his knees. "Is it that bad? I didn't think it was that serious - I mean, they let you get away."

She sighed, running her hands through gritty hair. "And you have to promise me a shower," she said absently.

"Would the lady like tea and crumpets while she's at it?"

She opened her mouth to curse at him, but then Seifer's you only learned one swear word floated across her mind and she closed it abruptly. She was much more disturbed than she had thought.

"Okay, okay," Shain said quickly, taking her distress as a reaction to his comment. "I'll shut my mouth and let you talk. What were you doing in the hotel?"

"Chasing after Grey."

"And who is that?"

She chuckled, surprisingly. "Ok, sorry. I found the Elsevier headquarters. It had almost been destroyed, but there were some lights on, so I went inside. The entire place was actually running, inside all the wreckage - they'd hitched up nuclide lighting all down the halls, it was really sort of eerie. The secretary-receptionist guy brought me to a fat man who told me where I could find Grey."

Shain's eyes narrowed slightly. "And what did you have to do to get that?"

She picked at a thread on the blanket beneath her. "I promised to join their little society. I was posing as a Garden student, and they snatched me right up. It was almost unnerving." She looked up, meeting his eyes, seeing them full of the same concern she felt. "They're after Garden, Shain, I know they are. If someone was after SeeD for their skills, they'd just hire us."

"Backdoor recruiting," Shain said absently, and Quistis said, "What?"

He focused his gaze back on her. "Backdoor recruiting. You see it a lot in organizations like Garden, but also in other institutions, like the guilds and the universities. If one university can get a list of the people who are applying to another university, they go after them. It's already a target audience - people who are applying for university. They just have to convince the people on the list that they are offering a better deal. It happens all the time."

"But they're going after graduates," Quistis said. "Or cadets who have been through extensive training. Why would they go after people who were almost done?"

"What do you mean?" Shain uncrossed his legs and stretched them. "Why not?"

"Well," Quistis said slowly, stopping to pick her words carefully. "A SeeD who is almost finished has more to lose - they've invested a lot of time, money, and effort. It's like - like going to university and dropping out three credits before your degree. It's a waste."

"Ah," Shain replied. "You're looking at it from the logical standpoint."

"That's what I do," Quistis murmured.

"This logic deals on emotion," he continued, "which is much less predictable to someone like you. The farther you go in SeeD, the more likely you are to become disgruntled, to get screwed over by someone or something, to get pissed off. A fresh cadet is more willing to 'give it a chance'. A severely jaded cadet - this is a dangerous thing."

"And why am I unable to predict emotion?" she asked, intrigued.

"You don't seem like the emotional type," Shain said, quite serious. "You're too practical."

"I see," she said. And then, joking: "I guess I can't argue with it, then. Although I'd say that they were going after the demographic with the most training but not yet on the legal records."

"Touche," Shain said under his breath. "Your wisdom astounds me."

"Bugger off," Quistis said. "That's how I would look at the situation."

"Anyway," Shain said, laughing. "So you signed up to join this organization."

She had to smile. "Yes, and I found out a lot about it as well - I have some papers in my bag." Her heart plummeted. "My bag - my things - they're still in the hotel room."

"Who do you think I am?" He winked. "They're in my office."

"Thank Hyne," she said, breathless. "I need those papers."

"We'll go over those later," Shain said. "As for now, let's reconstruct the timeline. You were talking with a fat man."

Quistis laughed. "Yes, actually, I was. And he told me how to find Grey."

"Who - or what - is Grey?"

"Oh. Grey is their leader. There's something weird about him though." Aside from the fact that he might be Seifer - no. "They all say he wears a long grey coat, and that's where he got his name from, so I guess no one knows his real name. And apparently not very many people ever meet him - his directions get passed down."

"From where?"

"Who knows," she said, musing. Maybe Shain could help her figure this out before she dropped the bomb. She was beginning to get edgy, and the nausea was returning. "What do you think?"

"Sounds fishy," he began, and then stopped. "But you need to finish it first."

Damn.

"Well, the fat guy's directions pointed me towards some apartments."

"Aha, the apartments come into play."

"And he said that Grey hangs out on the upper floors with a few men."

"Cue the elevator."

Quistis could tell that Shain was trying to keep the mood light, and she appreciated it more than ever. "So I went looking for him."

There was a long, long pause. Quistis didn't want to say it, and finally, Shain had to ask; he reached out to just lightly brush the back of her hand with warm fingers and said: "Quistis. What happened?"

She took a deep breath. "I found Seifer Almasy."

In the silence that followed, she flipped her hand over and grabbed him by the wrist, holding onto him as if she were afraid he would have a seizure, or run out of the room and order an execution. Maybe she was - she didn't know what he was going to do. What she wasn't expecting was for Shain to twist his hand around so that he was holding hers - no, gripping it. Holding hands was for lovers, for entwined fingers and whispers. This was a gesture of both anger and grief.

He was staring at the floor so hard that she expected it to burst into flames. "Shain," she said hurriedly.

He looked at her, and she could tell he was trying to compose his face: although it was blank, his hand was still exerting pressure on hers. "Hyne." It was a breath. "What I'm trying to understand," he said softly, "is why you didn't barge in here and yell 'It's Seifer! Seifer did it!' or even 'I found Seifer, help me bring him in.' You woke up and didn't say a word about him. This makes me think," and his voice tightened a little bit, and he had to pause.

When he spoke again, his voice was very neutral, as if he was trying very hard to be very fair. "This makes me think that you have some reason to believe that Seifer isn't behind this. Or you have some reason to protect him." He swallowed.

"Please explain, Quistis."

His voice was still neutral and empty and void but Quistis could see into it, into the grief and bitterness that was Trabia's remains. She felt it too, but hers was clouded by the past and by confusion.

She must have remained silent for too long, for Shain continued: "I promised you that I would let you finish, and I see why now. But please, Quistis - finish. What else is there?"

"Gods," she said, and released his hand, burying her face in her palms. "Everything is completely wrong," she said suddenly.

"You're telling me."

Quistis didn't want to let out all of the confusion and the frustration she was feeling - she didn't want Shain to know how much of an internal wreck she was at this moment, and his anguish wasn't helping her at all. She tried to swallow it down, but it sat in her stomach like bile.

Breathe, she thought. Breathe first. Story second.

"I got to the top floor," she said in a very even voice. "I got out of the elevator and heard someone there. I spun to attack and crossed - crossed weapons with Almasy. It seemed to fit - grey coat, secretive, anti-Garden."

"It is convenient," Shain said, and his voice was almost a growl. He was running his hands through his hair nervously now that they were free.

"A little too convenient," Quistis said carefully. "I accused Almasy of this and he denied everything - said that the sorceress's toy made a very easy scapegoat."

"You say this as if you believe him," Shain said, his voice cool.

"I - I am not quite sure what to believe," Quistis said carefully. "I believe I might be prejudiced. Seifer used to be my - student at Garden, and I remember very clearly that he never ever lied to me about anything; in fact, the more controversial the fact was, the more proud he was to tell the truth." She swallowed, and then said lightly: "This line of thinking was, in fact, so distracting that Seifer's companions were able to come up behind me and hit me with Sleep before I noticed."

"Ah." Shain's throat contracted once as he, too, swallowed. "That explains the Sleep spells. There were two casters, though."

Quistis was momentarily distracted - that was quite a Sensor Trabia had at its disposal. "They were two friends of Seifer's, from B-Garden. I was their teacher as well. I recognized them."

Shain let out a long, ragged breath that sounded every bit as haggard as Quistis felt. He was sitting on the edge of the bed now, head cradled in his hands. He looks disturbed, she thought, and then laughed at herself. Of course he's disturbed. This is the man who was responsible for the bombing of his Garden.

"Shain, I..." She wasn't sure what to say - wasn't sure even of what she wanted to say. "I need your help on this. I am unable to make an objective decision because of my past with Almasy. I need guidance."

"Hyne, Quistis, you sound like a textbook," he said, his voice full of emotion where hers was carefully and exquisitely blank. "I'm 'unable to make an objective decision' as well. Look, Quis, he ruined everything that was precious to me. Do you think that I'm the one who should make the decision? Do you think I can help you?"

He didn't even sound mad - he just sounded upset. "I think you might really be the only one who is capable of making this decision, Quistis. If you have a past with him that enables you to think of him as something other than a monster - if you knew him before, and he was something different - then you might be the only person able to actually think about this one."

"That's not all," Quistis whispered.

Shain looked up, his bright blue eyes full of concern and anguish and pain. "I don't need any more," he said, but she had already opened her mouth, offering him another piece of herself to try to make up for the pain.

"We grew up together," she began, the words filling her throat before she could even think them. "All of us did, me and Squall and Selphie and Irvine and Zell and - and Seifer. The memories came back partially while we were off, fighting. We were all in the same orphanage. That's why we were all - drawn together."

He was looking at her, she could tell, although her eyes were now fixed on her fingers, curled against her legs. "That's why I can't just condemn him - because he was my childhood friend, one that I don't really remember except in bits and pieces. That's why I can't be the one to make the decision ...and that's why I'm in danger if I..." She didn't want to say it, she really didn't want to say it...

"That's why I am in danger if I continue this mission. I am unable to make decisions and..." Her voice trailed off into anguish - frustration at her own inability to think, to control the situation.

"Gods." Shain looked at her and smiled, raggedly. "Why can life never be easy?"

She had to laugh, the horrible situation overwhelming her. Shain fell backwards on the bed, landing across her ankles. She wasn't sure whether to fidget them out or to leave them perfectly still, but he started talking, and she started listening.

"Headmaster Abrya died in the attack," he began, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, one hand resting on his forehead in Squall's gesture. "Abrya was my aunt, Quistis. I've never told anyone that. She was the reason I joined Garden, the reason I was lined up for Headmaster's training. She was like my own mother - and she died. Not in the bombing - she walked around for a few days before she collapsed. Internal bleeding."

Why was he telling her this?

"I'm telling you this," he continued, answering the unspoken question, "so that you can understand how hard of a damn time I am having trying to even think of the remote possibility that Seifer Almasy might be anything slightly less than three hundred percent evil."

"Shain," she began, but he cut her off. "I know, it's not fair of me, but fairness is not a necessity to keep breathing."

"Isn't it necessary for a Headmaster?"

"Quite the opposite," he said, throwing her a glance. As a Headmaster you will be required to use your experience, not ignore it. That's what we gather experience for."

"But experience can color an answer."

"Black-and-white answers don't exist, Quistis. Or if they do, I haven't seen any. Sometimes the experience - the 'color' - is the only way you can possibly answer a question at all."

She opened her mouth, but he cut her off yet again. "Cid chose you as a candidate because he felt you had the sort of experience that would help you make decisions as a Headmaster. Keep that in mind."

Her mouth was still open, so she said sulkily, "At least you see why I was so distracted."

He laughed then, his upper body shaking her calves. "Yes. I'm not sure I forgive you yet, but I do see why."

Quistis played with a strand of hair that had fallen into her face. "I don't know what to do, Shain."

"I don't know what to tell you either." Shain closed his eyes, his weight warm against her legs, even if it was uncomfortable. "Talk to me, Quistis," he said finally. "Tell me what's going on in your head - explain what you're feeling, and I'll see if I can help you at all."

Gods. She wasn't good at feelings at all - she couldn't explain her feelings. They weren't facts, and she dealt in fact. Reasons produce results. Her own words to Zell echoed in her mind. Okay, so what were the reasons, first of all?

"The part of me that is a SeeD," she began, not really knowing where the words came from, "knows that I need to go back there and detain him - detain Almasy, even if I don't bring him in for trial. There are things that need to be answered, not just for me but for everybody else."

She gripped a bit of the blanket in her hand, trying to take out her frustration on it. "And another part of me knows - knows, Shain, not thinks, not feels: knows that Seifer is telling the truth. It feels too easy - too much like everything fell into place like it 'should', and the truth is missing somewhere. It feels - it feels right."

"But Quistis," Shain responded, "you just admitted that you have a past with - with Almasy."

"And you just told me that the past was a good thing," she retorted.

"Wait." Shain rubbed his temples roughly. "I think there's something to be said for experience, yes, but what you just described to me - it sounds like..."

He stopped, and Quistis sat up sharply. "Sounds like what?" Her voice was suddenly angry. "It sounds like you're accusing me."

He wouldn't open his eyes. "It sounds like there are feelings getting in the way, Quistis," he said softly.

She was shocked for a brief second, and then she started laughing, the hysterical laughter of someone who was under a great deal of stress. "Feelings?" she asked a little wildly. "Are you joking with me?"

"'It feels right'?" Shain quoted her. "Quistis, that sounds fishy."

"You wanted to know what I was thinking," she snapped, already regretting her decision to open her thoughts to the Headmaster. "I never said it makes sense. But - but Almasy and - and me? Right."

"You're sure."

"It's not those kinds of feelings," she said slowly, trying to explain to both Shain and herself. "It's not related to how I feel about Seifer at all. Part of my heart hates him, but my mind knows that the feelings of the heart don't always count. It's a feeling of rightness, whether I like Seifer or I hate him. It's - it's just what feels like truth," she said lamely.

Shain sat up (she twitched her legs in appreciation) and stared at the wall for a bit, not speaking. Then he leant over to her and, to her utter shock and surprise, gently took her face between his hands, turning her eyes to look into his.

"Are you sure?" His blue gaze searched hers.

She blinked, once, twice. "Not entirely," she said hesitantly, "but I'm more sure of it then I am of anything else."

Shain continued to look at her, and she met his gaze evenly. This was Shain's idea of a test, she supposed, and part of her rose in challenge to the heat of his eyes. In the midst of the confusion, she had finally made sense of one thing, and she was going to hold onto it - bright blue eyes be damned.

There were reasons out there, she knew. The world was driven by reason: reason and rules. Cause and effect. Underlying each and every action lies the force which drives it. And each action has an equal and opposite reaction.

"I need to find out," she said slowly, the words presenting themselves to her slowly but clearly. The mist of the Sleep spells was waning, and she felt tired again, but more herself than she had since she had seen Seifer's face. "And to find out I will need your help."

She reached up to grasp Shain's hands - her friend, her ally - and removed them from her face, lowering them to the bed and placing them there. "I need to go back and find him again."

Shain shook his head. "Bullshit," he said angrily. "I'll send a squad, we'll bring him back here. I'll even promise to keep quiet about it. But you're not going back."

"Bullshit," she echoed him. "This is my mission and I'll be the one to do what needs to be done."

"Bullshit," he said again. "You're a target now - both from Elsevier and Almasy himself. It's too dangerous for you."

"How dare you?" She rose from the bed, her eyes steel and shining. "You are not in charge of me. Either help me, or I go alone."

Shain blinked at her, surprised, and then looked away toward the wall. His eyes remained there, unblinking, staring into shadows that were only in his mind. Finally he turned back to her and said softly:

"What will you need?"

She reached out and touched his hand again, once, softly. "Thank you," she said.

So anyway - sorry for the delay, but I plead holiday.

Here's to everyone who has been with me since ch7-ch8...

Nynaeve77 (-Quistis never likes to admit she's wrong, or at least that's my guess. She's also always so prepared for everything. I like making her struggle. I do have more in store for 'poor' Seifer too...)

Noacat (-WOW, I love getting your reviews ...you always make me smile! Glad you're still with me, I really do look for you! Are you writing more of your story yet??)

Shortey (-I will make no comments on the romance. But I'm a bit of a softy, keep that in mind.)

San (-I got a lot of comments about people 'knowing', but I hope I've thrown a little wrench in the 'knowing' at this point...)

Raine (- Thanks! I try to make not only my ideas, but my style, as unique as I can and still be good...)

Chococat2 (-guess you're right about two weeks ... I used to be able to write a chapter every two days! College was easy, I guess.)

Knight Without a Cause (-Thanks! I'm glad you like it ... )

Dark Phoenix (Thanks - Here's another one, with less of a cliffhanger...)

Gilly Bean (I'm trying to commit, at least, so try to hold me to the two-week-Sunday thing? Heh.)