Author's Notes: It's finally here. The ultimate chapter of my truly evil story! After this there is only the epilogue if you'd believe it. And you're going to HATE me for ending it where I have and how I have and when I have. Hate hate hate. But you know what? Deal.

Now I've been asked several times by a few, okay two, parties if Nida is really evil. Could he really have been working with Rei all along? Is he really pure evil and a serial killer? Well, other than this chapter to let you make your own choices I ask that you take Nida's previous actions into consideration. Yes, he could be a REALLY good actor, but the story is mainly from his POV and we've seen inside his mind enough to know that there is some good in there. Okay, so maybe he MIGHT be evil. Even I don't know that. But there is SOME good in there, right? Right?

Chapter 8: Explosion

For an hour, or maybe two, he'd been sitting there, looking up at the dark and starless sky, trying to find the courage that had fled him minutes after he'd arrived at the designated meeting spot. Somewhere inside was Squall, his only reason for being here, his only reason for living. Yet Squall wasn't alone. Also in there was Rei, Rei Yamamoto and he was the reason Nida's legs had turned to jelly. Or, well, maybe it was what was in the duffle he had resting at his side. Then again, it might be the realization that had set in… the realization of just what he'd have to do to stop Rei.

Still, time was running short, and as his watch give the slightest beeping to announce the coming of the new day the young asian stood. He lifted a leather coat he had never been fond of from the duffle and slowly pulled it on over a too tight black silk shirt. All in all he had been rather impressed by how he looked in that and the tight leather pants Squall had bought him as a joke for their first anniversary, but that wasn't important now. What was important was that he look very tempting, look the part he was about to play. If Rei was really walking on the thin ice of sanity, if Rei really thought he was still in love, that Nida wanted this and had been working with him, then he had to look like it. And, more than anything, he needed an honest reaction from Squall.

Nida's hand closed over the handles of the duffle and placed his hand upon the door he'd been resting by, preparing to enter. But he was paused by the sound of voices within.

"He'll let the police handle it!" came a shout, but it was faint for that. Still, it was obviously Squall. What worried Nida was how far away that voice sounded. The further Squall was from the exit the worse, especially if he was bound.

After a moment Nida placed his ear right against the cold metal and listened to the cold chuckling that came along with the voice he feared more than anything. Rei's voice. The voice of death.

"You don't know the Nida I know. You only know the face he dares to present to you. A man who acts kind and sweet. A man who seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. You don't know him as he really is."

It was true enough. Squall didn't know, and it was wall Nida's fault. He really did only know the face that Nida showed to him, but he wasn't what Rei was implying. He'd never LIED to Squall. He'd only left out some of the truth. Any of the truth. All of the truth really. So he maybe he wasn't as pure in this as he wanted to believe. If he'd only just avoided Squall, if he'd told him straight off to stay away maybe this would have been easier. Maybe Rei just would have just gone for a murder-suicide upon his arrival herer in New York. Who knew how many lives could be saved.

So focused was Nida upon this self pity that it wasn't until Rei spoke again that he noticed that there was still things happening inside. The voice was so bitterly cold and demented, and it was all the voice of his nightmare.

"Now what would be the purpose of that Squall? I'm a very honest person. I will admit to killing those boys. But I will also admit that Nida was my partner in it all. I do it all for him after all, my sweet love. And before you die, you will get to see, for but a moment, what his love is really like. Poor thing, thinking you ever had a chance to know it. You were never worthy of my sweet little Nida."

If there was one thing Nida knew about Squall, it was how much that series of statements would piss his love off. Squall could not abide by lies, and anything he felt was a lie he would denounce then and there. It was one of the cutest things about Squall. It didn't matter if it was as small as saying that their home cooked meal was divine when Squall couldn't boil water without setting fire to something, to telling you the sky was green. But, now Nida had heard something he could work with, a time he could step in and protect Squall, make his move on Rei…

As he swung the door open Nida watched Squall leap to his feet from a chair and shout at Rei, but the words barely registered to the young asian. So focused was he on assuming an arrogant attitude, on being like Rei, on not showing his relief at Squall's lack of bindings, that he really couldn't pause to get anything but the general feel of the words. Of Squall's denial of Rei's words.

So began the most dangerous game Nida had ever been forced to partake in.

"That is where you are quite wrong Loire," Nida almost purred, trying to keep his voice from quivering as he made his way towards the pair. He'd never referred to Squall as Loire but for the first five minutes that they weren't on first name basis. "You really don't know what is going on after all. Just a pitiful little outsider to our world. It is a shame it is that way of course, we don't much like outsiders…"

Between the look of horror on Squall's face and that of joy on Rei's, Nida was hard pressed to keep moving, to smirk maliciously at Squall and not shudder at the looks he could sense from Rei. Part of him was shouting that he should have left it to Detective Almasy, and Nida was beginning to agree.

"My love. You came. Oh, I have been waiting for you! I'm so glad you have come. I was almost worried that you wouldn't. After that little argument…" Rei said, only to be cut off by Nida.

The asian really didn't want to get into the fight with Rei. Letting that be forefront in the mind of the obviously delusional killer might only serve to remind him that Nida was not in fact working with him. That was hardly a very good thing to have happen.

"I'm here aren't I? How could I resist after all? The offer you made to me was too…" Here Nida could do nothing but hesitate and pray neither would notice, "My love."

With the best smile that he could fake Nida made his way towards Rei, finally closing the distance between them. Still, nothing he could do would bring true affection to his eyes, so Nida didn't even try. His focus for now was upon forcing his body to say what his heart, head, what the rest of him could not. So Nida made a sacrifice he had no intention of making when he had first entered the building. He put his arms around Rei, leaned in close, and pressed their lips together.

There was little action from Nida's own side, but once Rei realized what was happening the older man deepened the kiss for him. A sickening mixture of tongue and hands groping at him that Nida took only as long as he deemed necessary before pulling away and just leaning against Rei. After a moment to catch his breath and calm his stomach enough that it would not fail him if he opened his mouth, Nida turned to smirk at Squall. It hurt to see the way his love cringed away from the sight and Nida wanted nothing more than to comfort his love. Still, things far worse than this were bound to happen tonight, and he could not spare Squall's stomach or heart.

"What? Can't you handle the truth Loire? You're nothing but a tool," Nida said, the mocking sweetness of his own voice making him sicker, "And we are done with you. Be gone."

He knew Squall was going to flee as well, it was all he needed. In fact, his plan was going rather well, all things considered. Maybe, just this once, he had beaten Rei. Maybe he had finally bested Rei at his own game. Was it really too much to hope for?

"But Nida…"

He turned to look at Rei and could not help but be shocked by what he found. The man looked like a child, young and looking up to someone he was trying so hard to please, to make proud of him. This wasn't a Rei he had ever known.

"I wanted to give him to you as a gift."

There was no choice, Nida had to think fast. Rei would kill Squall to make Nida happy, even though it would do no such thing. But what could he do to change Rei's intentions? A shudder went through him as it occurred to him just what he would have to do.

Nida leaned against the taller man and purred out in the most seductive voice he could muster, "The only gift I've ever needed was your love Rei. So can we just throw him to the street and go home?"

"Absolutely."

"And be gone Loire. And be sure to tell that silly detective that while it was a lot of fun, he was just too easy to manipulate… You all were," Nida laughed. He hated himself so much more than ever before now.

When Rei nipped at his ear Nida didn't move. In fact he just stood there as Rei hissed his farewell by holding up the gun.

"Get out of here, before we add you to the list."

Nida just closed his eyes and pretended not to hear the sound of Squall's footsteps retreating out of the warehouse. Each echoing step cut him to the bone, but Nida dealt with it, as best as he could manage. He was alone with Rei now, and he had to be strong. If he wasn't then he had little hope of besting Rei at anything. For all he knew this was all a far larger trap than he possibly could have anticipated. In fact, at any moment Rei could…

"Ah Nida, my sweet little fool. Tell me, is this worth throwing your life away for?"

He could go and do that. As Rei spoke his arm around Nida's waist tightened significantly, and that childish look melted into something Nida was more familiar with… hatred, desire, a general evilness that could not be escaped. The gun that had been moments before pointed at Squall was pushed into his stomach as it had been just days ago. Rei's formerly free hand came up to wrap around Nida's throat, not that the older man could do much to strangle him with only one hand from behind at that angle.

"And you played along so well. Oh if you had only watched him. Had I a recording I would be able to show you the exact second that you broke his heart. I'm so proud of you Nida. It's taken this long but you've finally learned, haven't you. You can't win Nida. You can never win."

"All I have to do," he responded, attempting to keep his voice level and confident, "is leave here Rei. Then the cops will take you away forever. I do win this time Rei. This time I win."

The laughter Nida's words caused filled the whole warehouse. It all echoed back and the sound was almost hollow. Really, he should have known he couldn't bluff Rei, but trying was half of the battle.

"If the cops were outside you wouldn't have been sure to break that boy's heart. If you really thought you were going to win, you wouldn't have made him think you were in league with me. In fact, if you didn't want to be here you wouldn't have admitted to everything that you did. Face it Nida, you're stuck with me. It's either death or me. And you are far too cowardly for the former."

Nida shuddered as the man tightened his grip even further. Seems he had but one choice left. His eyes flickered to the duffle just out of his reach. It wouldn't matter though. His fingers fumbled into his pocket and closed around a simple button.

"You're wrong about one thing Rei… I'm not a coward."

Were it not for the fact that the barrels he had left the bag beside had been filled with some old flammable liquid, the explosion would have been small, localized enough only to distract Rei, to give Nida an edge. As it was the blast was large a loud. Old bare wood caught like kindling and the fire spread fast. To fast for Nida to even hope to get out.

The fire took a whole hour for the fire department to douse the flames. Little hope was held out for any who might have been inside…