Author's Note - To date, Second Sorceress War is the longest fic I've worked on or have posted. Yet it's also the one with the least amount of reader feedback. While generating an average of about a hundred hits a day, I've only about 5 reviews and 4 alerts. I'm not fishing for reviews or praise, but I do like to know that my efforts are appreciated and that readers are enjoying my work. Makes me feel like my writing has a purpose. So if you are enjoying Second Sorceress War, drop me a line and let me know. I appreciate it. --Lynnwood
Chapter Eleven
Knight or Knave
Quistis flopped back onto the large couch in the SeeD private car with a loud sigh. She lay back, hands covering her face with a groan. What a disaster. The Garden Faculty were right, she was a terrible instructor. Two of Garden's most promising up-and-coming SeeDs were complete mental cases. One was as emotionally unavailable as a rock, and the other was so damned arrogant and egotistical it was a wonder he didn't smother himself.
Quistis had hurried out after Seifer as soon as she'd caught wind of his intentions of going AWOL, filled with the misplaced notion that she was going to right some of the wrong she had done by failing him as an instructor and save him from his own idiocy. Unfortunately her temper had reared it's ugly head, and she'd ruined whatever small chance she might have had of convincing him to stay by insulting him. And like a wounded animal, Seifer had turned on her and lashed out the only way he knew how. Even now, a half hour later, Quistis felt her chest constrict with shame and guilt and she groaned miserably behind the barrier of her hands.
Hyne, had her pathetic desire for Squall really taken up so much of her time, had she really neglected others so much in favor of him? Was it really that obvious, that Seifer had suspected what she'd been doing all along? It was embarrassing in the extreme, especially because of the extent to which Squall went out of his way to ignore her in return. After last night, however—and the cold-shouldered disinterest she'd been subjected to during what was probably her lowest moment in six years—Quistis hoped that she had started on the road to finally putting Squall Leonhart behind her. Now if she could only convince Seifer to do the same . . . .
The male in question had opted to stay in the first car, sitting up against the wall and glaring off into space. They hadn't spoken again since just after the train had started in motion. Quistis had withstood that heavy silence for all of ten minutes before she'd used her ticket to open the SeeD car and then fled him, like a coward but at this point she really didn't care. She needed to be alone for a few minutes, to regroup. She felt far too exposed to him now, too raw, and for someone like Seifer Almasy—that was a dangerous weakness indeed.
Finally after a few more moments of self-pity, Quistis sighed and then dropped her hands away. Like it or not, she was stuck on the train to Timber. They weren't due to arrive until at least 5:30 to 6:00 in the evening, so chances were she wasn't going to be able to make it back to Garden tonight. Quistis grabbed her cell phone off of her waist holder—still lying flat on her back on the couch—and quickly dialed Xu's number.
As was usual with Xu, there were no preliminaries. "Where the hell are you?" she demanded as soon as she answered. "What's going on?" Quistis smirked, staring up at the ceiling.
"Hello to you too, Xu," she droned, then sighed. "I'm stuck on the train to Timber with Almasy," she replied heavily. "I was trying to convince him not to go throw his entire life away, and the stupid thing took off while I was still on board. I'm just calling to let you and the headmaster know that I probably won't be able to make it back before tomorrow morning sometime."
Xu released a foul curse, then, "it might be a little longer than that." Quistis frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Timber's just become one helluva military hotspot. It's all over the radio waves. Some stupid resistance faction just tried to kidnap the president of Galbadia by stealing his private train car. The Galbadian military is putting the whole damn town on lock-down." Quistis echoed her earlier curse. "Yeah, your train is probably going to be one of the last allowed in or out of there for a good long while."
"I wonder if the resistance faction that tried to pull off the kidnapping is the one that Squall's working for?" Quistis mused aloud. Xu snorted.
"If it is, I feel sorry for him, because his contractors are complete and total idiots. Any soldier worth his salt knows you don't ever transport a VIP that openly. It was obviously a decoy, and they fell for it like the little patsies they are." Quistis nodded her agreement, even though Xu couldn't possibly see. There was a slight pause, then the other woman released a sigh of her own. "So, any luck with the asshole?"
Quistis gave a bitter chuckle. "Just about as much as I ever have with him," she returned miserably. "He's insisting that he's doing this because a friend of his is in trouble, a member of the resistance group that Squall was assigned to. He's pissed that so few SeeDs were sent to help, and is dead set on going there himself to make sure things are done right."
Xu snorted into the receiver. "Yeah, whatever. He's just pissed that I sent him corralling this morning."
Quistis scowled. "Why did you do that, by the way?" she demanded. "You could have chosen any number of Rank 1's for that, yet you go after the most unstable one of the bunch."
"You have to admit it was funny," Xu defended with a guilt-less chuckle.
"Petty revenge is supposed to be beneath you, Xu," Quistis reminded her blandly. "You're supposed to be setting an example to other SeeDs."
"I am setting an example," she insisted stubbornly. "I'm making an example out of that worthless piece of garbage who will never be able to let go of his own arrogance long enough to do anything even remotely useful to Garden. The sooner Cid revokes that joke of a license the better. Almasy is an endangerment to himself and everyone else at Garden so long as he stays here. You ask me, him going AWOL already is like a blessing in disguise. Hyne really does love us."
"You ever think it possible that Seifer turned out so badly because of me?" Quistis suddenly questioned, speaking her biggest worry aloud. "The Faculty committee told me I lacked anything even remotely resembling leadership qualities, that I had failed totally and completely as an instructor. If that is true, then my biggest failure of all is Seifer."
"Almasy is the way he is because he chooses to be," Xu insisted, though, tone stern. "Sometimes people in this world are just dickheads, and you can't do anything about that." Quistis sighed heavily however, eyes closing.
"But maybe if I'd just paid a little more attention to him," she continued to agonize, "and spent less time chasing after and worrying about Squall. And he knew about that, what's worse," she continued miserably. "Threw it right in my face when I accused him of doing this just to try and one-up Squall."
"And he's using that against you like a little bastard when he knows you're weak and vulnerable toward it," Xu growled. "See? Case in point. Almasy's a hopeless case dickhead, no more worry on the subject required."
Quistis didn't necessarily agree with Xu's biased opinion, but her protective mothering did make her smile, for which she was very grateful. Then she sighed. "Well, if I've got military check points to look forward to I've got some planning and prep to do. I'll be in touch."
"You better be," Xu returned. Then the line went dead.
Quistis lay there for a moment more, bracing herself for the confrontation sure to ensue, then forced herself to get up and leave the SeeD car. She found Seifer sitting where she'd left him. He didn't turn when she entered. Quistis took another fortifying breath, then, "I just spoke with Xu. We've got trouble waiting in Timber."
That got his attention. His face swung around, hot emerald eyes narrowing on her with a mixture of suspicion and worry. Genuine worry. Perhaps he really was telling the truth.
"Apparently one of those resistance factions tried to kidnap the president by hijacking his private train car."
Seifer suddenly grinned. "Hah! They actually pulled that off?! I'll be damned." Quistis quirked a brow and his smile faded again, then he shrugged. "Me and Rin came up with that plan last year."
Quistis made a face. "Well it proved disastrous, as the man in the train car was just a decoy. In response the Galbadian military has tripled it's presence in town, and Xu anticipates that they'll put the whole town on lockdown."
"Aww, poor Quisty," he suddenly sneered. "Gonna be stuck in hick-ville for quite a while, eh?"
Quistis clenched her fists, jaw tensing. She was going out of her way trying to be civil, and he was repaying her with this crap. What was it about this man that drove her to distraction?
"It also means military check points and random searches," she snapped coldly. "So unless you want to spend your time in Timber locked up in some out-of-the-way interrogation room getting a full-cavity search by a big burly guard named Jr., I suggest you get off your ass and help me find something we can conceal our weapons in."
Perversely, instead of growing angry by her outburst, Seifer smirked instead, then outright chuckled. He got to his feet at last, though, then approached.
"Alright, fine. I'll go find something for the weapons. Should be something we can use on the luggage car." He started past, then hesitated. "You might want to go into the bathroom and do something with yourself." She glared in confusion and a mocking grin spread. "You're screaming up-tight hard-ass military bitch in that getup."
Quistis looked down at herself before she could school her vulnerable reaction. He chuckled, but her withering glare was largely wasted on his broad back as he exited and headed for other parts of the train.
Quistis went into the small bathroom in the SeeD private car and stared at her reflection. Her peach top was zipped up to her chin, her hair pulled back tight and clipped in place. Her brows wrinkled with worry, blue eyes shadowed. Did she really come off so harsh and bitchy? She eyed herself critically. Was she really that unattractive? She had always been a little too tall, but she liked to think she wore most of that height well in her long legs. It was true that she was a little too much on the thin and slender side, she decided, eyeing her distinct lack of breasts distastefully. She certainly had nothing to compare to that dark-haired girl in the white cocktail dress . . . .
Quistis made a slight noise of indignant fury, stopping herself from going any farther. Damn you Almasy! she snarled inwardly. No one had the ability to make her worry and second-guess herself the way Seifer did. No one, not even Squall.
She glared at her reflection a moment longer, then firmed her chin. Quistis Trepe didn't lay down and accept defeat from anything.
Quistis pulled off her soft brown gloves first, tossing them into the sink. Then she reached up and with two sharp tugs she ripped off the long brown sleeves attached to her top—which were only attached at the top hem—and they joined her gloves. Then she reached up and loosened the fastenings of her top at the neck and at the bottom—down to mid-chest to reveal just the tiniest hint of cleavage and up just past her navel, to reveal her flat belly above the hem of her snug skirt. Quistis reached up to her hair last, removing the clip entirely and allowing her thick blonde hair to tumble loose down to her waist.
She ran her fingers through the mane to loosen it up—some of the strands still damp from her shower this morning—then she turned on her heel and marched out of the bathroom. Let him call her an uptight military bitch now.
She found Seifer standing in the first car again, Hyperion now resting in an especially large suit case laying open on the floor at his feet. Quistis winced, silently apologizing to whomever was going to find all their belongings piled loosely all over the floor of the baggage car.
Quistis had to pause, however, watching as Almasy suddenly removed his heavy gray coat. She didn't often see him without it, and felt her breath hitch a little in surprise. The tight, tucked-in, short-sleeved blue t-shirt with the stylized black dragon on the back that he wore beneath it hugged his upper body, revealing what the coat did not—a chiseled profile of muscle trained to deadly precision. His shoulders and back were broad, biceps knotted, forearms powerful, defined pecs and abs marching down his front. His belted black jeans hugged narrowly slung hips, hanging loosely down his long, long legs and folding down over a pair of heavy black combat boots. That wide silver plate he always wore gleamed brightly in the hollow of his thick neck from the overhead lights, his thick strawberry blonde hair slicked back with only a few strands defying him and flopping forward on his tanned forehead.
Seifer suddenly bent over at the waist to fold his coat into the suitcase, and Quistis actually felt her breath catch as his jeans molded over a perfectly sculpted rear-end, which was tight and firm and . . . .
Quistis' eyes widened in horror.
Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no! She was not thinking of Seifer Almasy as an attractive man. She was not just ogling his ass. No! She nearly groaned aloud. What, was she sick or something? Did she not have enough psychosis from chasing after Squall for a year and a half? Now she had to jump right from him to something even worse?
Seifer straightened, then turned and caught sight of her standing in the doorway. Quistis was still thrown out of sorts from her disturbing turn of thoughts, so she jerked and froze like a deer in the headlights when those fiery emerald eyes met hers. Had she not been so out of sorts herself, she might have wondered at the way Seifer suddenly tensed, nostrils flaring slightly. He gave her a sneering grin, however, eyes sliding down, then back up. His eyebrow quirked.
"Oh yeah," he growled, tone mockingly impressed. "You let your hair down and unzipped your top a little. Nobody's gonna recognize you now."
Quistis felt her face flush, feeling entirely too vulnerable and—for some strange reason—inexplicably hurt by his lack of a reaction.
"Go to hell, Almasy," she snarled. She strode forward, unclipping her belt entirely on the way, then threw it and her coiled whip down into the suitcase on top of his coat. She spun away again, but before she could take more than a step away he suddenly spoke again.
"Awfully touchy all of a sudden," he mused. Hyne, had his voice always been so deep and rumbling and . . . , no, no, no, she was not going to think of Seifer Almasy's voice as sexy. She was not! Quistis stiffened when she heard him move forward, and her eyes rounded a little when the infernal bastard stepped right up behind her, tall frame practically towering over her. Quistis could swear she felt his body heat scorching her whole entire backside. Damn her if she didn't feel her body start to react to his nearness, her breasts—small though they were, they were extremely sensitive—growing heavy, her nipples tingling to full awareness beneath her obscuring layers. "What's got you so worked up, instructor?" he growled low, right in her ear, and for one terrible moment she was afraid he could actually tell the effect he was suddenly having on her.
Quistis stared at the opposite wall, speechless. Seifer . . . was flirting with her? Then she shook herself angrily. Of course he wasn't! This was Seifer Almasy she was dealing with. Almasy hated her, and she felt likewise. She was just imagining things, just like she always did. She had the absolute worst intuition when it came to men. Squall was a perfect example. Like hell Almasy was attracted to her or attempting to come on to her. He was just trying to intimidate her, as usual. This realization helped Quistis to regain control, so that she spun slightly and pinned his smirking face with a cold, expressionless stare.
"We should go find a place to hide until the train stops," she announced blandly, completely ignoring his question. "Hopefully we'll be able to sneak off and then blend into the crowd afterward."
Seifer sighed at that, his expression unreadable before he bent down and then scooped up the suitcase.
"Lead the way, instructor," he heaved, then. She spun back forward and headed for the end of the SeeD car.
"Don't call me that," she threw over her shoulder in a hard-edged voice. "I'm not an instructor anymore," she added afterward, her tone softer with emotion.
He didn't reply.
They decided to wait out the rest of the ride in the baggage car. When the train finally rolled to a stop an hour and a half later, they managed to sneak off with minimal fuss. Hyne was with them—for though the streets of Timber were now crawling with Galbadian troops—Seifer and Quistis managed to blend in with the locals and no one cast their passing a second glance.
Seifer glanced to and fro, expression hardened. "With all the trains stopped, the Owls'll have to be in town somewhere," he murmured, then added at her confused glance, "their base is an older model locomotive abandoned by the train companies." He smirked somewhat dryly. "Bright yellow with anti-government graffiti all over it last I checked. Can't miss it."
Quistis snorted. "These guys really are as inept as Xu suspected." That won her a black look.
"Don't know a damn thing about 'em, but you're all set to pass judgment, eh?" He led the way through the subdued streets of Timber, keeping his voice low so that only she could hear, but the bite in it was still scathing. "For your information the two leaders of the group, Zone and Watts, watched both of their fathers—the original leaders of the Forest Owls—lined up in a back alley and executed firing-squad-style when they were just thirteen years old. No trial, no judge, no jury, just the executioners. They may not be the greatest military minds that ever lived," he snapped, "but the Owls have every right to hate the fuckin' Galbadian government and more power to them, as far as I'm concerned."
Quistis sighed. "I'm not contesting that, and I'm sorry for your friends," she offered, ignoring the way he rolled his eyes at her. "But that still doesn't excuse the fact that they apparently don't know the first thing about what they're trying to do. Their hearts may be in the right place but their reckless actions are only going to end up getting themselves killed, along with everyone else unfortunate enough to be caught along for the ride. Even the best, most honorable intentions can't bring someone you love back from the dead."
"Hyne forbid you should let go of your cold-ass logic long enough to give a damn about someone else," he muttered. She scowled over at him.
"Hyne forbid you should let go of your stupid-ass arrogance long enough to appreciate someone else's viewpoint and admit that you might actually be wrong a couple of times in your life," she snarled back.
He suddenly smirked. "Why is it that we always end up arguing like a couple of fishwives?" he suddenly questioned softly.
They both fell silent as they passed by a troop of Galbadians. Quistis tensed when Seifer suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush up against his side. She had to fight from reacting and blowing their cover, instead forcing herself to lean into his embrace as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The Galbadians marched by without a backward glance, but Seifer kept his hold on her and Quistis was too afraid to pull away. After a moment he continued speaking. "We both agree that what happened to Zone and Watts was bad. We both agree that they're not going about their little insurrection plans in exactly the right way. We both agree that you're a frigid bitch, and that I'm an arrogant asshole. So why do we have to bicker about it like a couple of two-year-olds every time we open our mouths? Don't you think that's odd?"
Quistis scowled ahead. "There's just something about you that doesn't agree with me, Almasy," she replied tonelessly. "Never has."
There was a pause, then a grim, "ditto, Trepe. Ditto. But for the next few minutes you're going to have to pretend like you think I'm the hottest thing on two legs if you want to lose the little fuck that's been tailing us for the past ten minutes." She tensed up at that, but his hand tightened around her hip with an almost bruising grip. "No, don't turn and look, dammit," he snapped, and she scowled. As if she actually would have. She wasn't that dense.
"You seem to forget that I graduated to SeeD when you were still in Junior Classes, Almasy," she growled.
"All that proves is that you're a remarkable kiss-ass with no social life," he snapped back.
Then all of a sudden he yanked her down a smaller side street. Quistis barely had time to react before he'd spun her around, grabbed her by the hips and then lifted her clean up off the ground—setting her down firmly on a stack of crates deep in the shadows of the alley—so that she was nearly eye-level with him. Quistis gasped, stunned, when Seifer stepped close and forced her knees to spread around his hips.
"What are you doing—," she began in an enraged whisper. Seifer grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her forward. He bent down at the same time, canting his head to the side.
"Saving our asses," he growled back just before his mouth settled firmly over her own.
Quistis just sat there, as stiff as a board with shock. Seifer was kissing her. Seifer Almasy was kissing her. Well, actually at the moment it was more like he was grinding his lips on top of hers in a poor imitation of the act, but still. He lifted up after only a second, long enough to fix her with a narrow green-eyed glare before he bent again and then fastened his sinful mouth on the lobe of her ear. Quistis' whole body jerked.
"You're going to have to meet me half way here, Trepe," he snarled in her ear, probably looking as though he were whispering sexy sweet nothings rather than upbraiding her performance. "If it looks like I'm molesting you, this'll never work."
"Just what is it that you plan on accomplishing?" she demanded harshly but soft enough that only he could hear, voice shaking and shrill, fists shoving against the broad wall of his chest. Hyne he was so warm, and iron hard. She suddenly felt as though she couldn't catch her breath, and for a horrible moment thought she might start to hyperventilate. "Other than putting on a show for every damned horny bastard that comes strolling down the street—,"
"Hyne dammit, Quistis, just open your mouth!" he growled.
She did so—preparing to lash into him with another verbal tirade—and ended up getting his tongue thrust between her lips. Quistis squeaked—she actually squeaked like one of those ultra-feminine girly-girls—her fingers fisting into the material of his shirt. Seifer seemed not to care, his hands burying into her hair at either side of her face as his wicked tongue slid in and out of her mouth, the rhythm blatantly sexual. He was relentless, nibbling and biting at her lips, tongue battling with hers, his mouth hot and wet and . . . oh Hyne. Seifer effortlessly slammed down any pathetic attempt of a defense that she had until Quistis was stripped bare and completely vulnerable. And she didn't care.
By the time Quistis let out that low moan of surrender, she'd ceased to care about anything. She didn't care that they were in the middle of a military-occupied city. She didn't care that they were being watched by Hyne-knew how many bystanders. She didn't care that it was Seifer Almasy—the most arrogant, prideful, spiteful male in existence—doing these horribly sinful things to her. She didn't care that none of this was real, that they were only pretending in order to avoid getting caught by the Galbadians.
All she cared about was that he didn't stop whatever the hell it was that he was doing to her any time soon.
Quistis arched up off the wall—whimpering when her overly-sensitive breasts crushed against the hard wall of his muscled chest—her arms snaking up and around his thick neck. Seifer groaned then, and his large hands suddenly slid up the length of her bare thighs—hiking her skirt up along the way almost around her waist—until they circled around and then cupped her rear-end, only the thin layer of her underwear between his palms and her bare flesh. His fingers flexed—squeezing dangerously and forcing another whimper from her—before he suddenly pulled her forward on the crates until they were completely plastered together with no room to even breathe between them.
Both groaned when Seifer rocked his hips, almost helplessly. The start of this might have been feigned, but there was no faking the impressively large, hard ridge of flesh currently grinding into her groin. Sweet Hyne, she thought she was going to die, a fierce and throbbing ache blooming to life in between her legs, warm moisture flooding down her passage. Quistis had never been so aroused in her entire life. And irony of all ironies, she was getting her kicks making out with Seifer Almasy in a back alley.
Quistis didn't even notice the voices at first, totally lost into the heat and the need that Seifer had managed to stir up with barely a struggle. Yet all of a sudden he went tense in her arms. Quistis drew back, confused, and met his wide-open, narrow green eyes. He didn't pull away, their mouths not even an inch apart, but neither moved as they heard footsteps nearing their hiding spot.
"Can't believe these stupid hicks," the guard was grumbling. "The whole damn town is crazy. Just about every one of them belongs to one stupid faction or another."
"Can you believe they actually managed to hijack that dummy train?" the other questioned, sounding grudgingly impressed.
Quistis attempted to pull away, but Seifer's fingers around her bare ass and hips were steely and wouldn't let her budge an inch. His eyes narrowed on hers, a silent warning in their depths for her to remain still and quiet. She was becoming uncomfortably aware of the stupid, stupid way she'd reacted to his touch and kisses however, and could feel her face burning a hot, mortified scarlet. Oh Hyne, she was so pathetic. He was never going to let her live this down. He'd probably only meant for her to touch him a little and look like she was enjoying herself, not to start grinding herself all over him and moaning like a cheap dock whore.
"Only an idiot would even try something so farfetched in the first place," the first responded to the second as they passed by Seifer and Quistis' location.
"What's the president doing here in Timber anyhow?"
"Dunno. Heard there's supposed to be some big to-do down at the TV station," the first answered, tone bored. "That President Deling is supposed to be going there this afternoon personally. Don't really know too much other than that. You know how it is, they don't tell us grunts anything worthwhile. It's on a need-to-know basis," he sneered as they moved on down the alley, nearly out of sight and hearing range, "and we don't need to know."
A moment later the guards were gone. A split instant passed where Seifer and Quistis remained glued to one another—almost unsure of how they should react—before Seifer abruptly pulled away and spun on his heel. Quistis immediately yanked her skirt back down, shivering in the sudden chill air. She frowned when Seifer knelt to the suit case he'd dropped and ripped it open. He yanked out his coat and shrugged into it, then pulled Hyperion.
"What are you doing?" she questioned, confused. And doing her best to ignore the fiery shivers that were still humming through her body.
"I'm going to the TV station," he replied tonelessly without turning back to her, checking his gunblade for rounds. Quistis gaped.
"What?" she hissed. "Are you insane?! You can't go there! It'll be crawling with Galbadians! Aren't we supposed to be avoiding detection here?!"
Seifer wasn't listening to her, however. He began stalking down the alley after the two soldiers who had left. Quistis had no choice but to hop off the crates, grab her belt and whip and reattach them to her waist before running after him and fighting to keep up with his longer-legged stride.