Disclaimer-Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Squaresoft, ya know.

Author's Notes- This is the first chapter in any story that I actually try and use a GF...I think the scene turned out alright, I'm not sure. Also, for the first time in many chapters I've used '...' to signify specific thoughts.

JadeAlmasy- Yes I love the Seifer/Zell fights as well.

Rune- Thanks for your continued support. :)

Train Ride

The train rocked a little as it crossed the bridge. From the dining car Zell looked out the window and down to the river below. Beside him a little boy gripped the window seal tightly as he tried to peek down to the water below. Zell smiled down at the boy who stood next to him with white knuckles.

"I never liked this bridge," Zell said as the car jerked again. Next to him the little boy looked up at him.

"I've never been on a train before." Zell looked down at the child and grinned. "Is it supposed to rock like this?"

"It always has," Zell answered. The boy stood on his tiptoes to peek down to the water and then quickly backed up. A brief moment of silence pursued and during that time, Zell noticed with just a bit of satisfaction that the boy was admiring his uniform.

"You're a SeeD," He whispered in a silenced awe. Zell couldn't contain the grin that tugged at his lips. "That's so cool!" The grin broke into a smile as he looked the boy over.

"So I can assume you're a supporter," He said with a skeptical glance to see if anyone else was paying attention. They were. 'Center of attention. Oh yeah baby!' He thought giddily to himself.

"You betcha!" The boy exclaimed. "I always wanted to be a SeeD! How old do you have to be?"

"I was thirteen when I started my training," At his words two girls turned around.

"Only thirteen?" The tallest girl asked. Zell nodded. "I'm thirteen." Just past where they stood, Zell noticed the disgruntled man behind her. He held a frown and directed it at Zell.

"Nonsense Dears. Come back and sit down. Pretty little lasses such as yourselves needn't chase after such gruesome careers," The man spoke irritatingly eloquently.

"Henry let them be. I can't see where it'll hurt to let the girl do something she wants every once in a while," A lady whom Zell assumed was their mother spoke from behind a magazine.

"If you decide that you want to be a SeeD we're not hard to find. Fell free to contact us," Zell flashed his mega-watt smile as static broke through his earpiece. He turned away and gazed out the window as Xu's voice came over the comm.

"What are you doing?" Her voice sounded muffled and he imagined her trying to talk through her teeth so that neighboring passengers wouldn't become suspicious.

"What's it sound like? Recruiting. What else?" He joked.

"Cute. But we're on a mission."

"I know I know," He spoke slowly through his clenched teeth. "I kinda have an audience and talking like this is hurting my teeth." He rubbed his hands over his face to try and disguise the slight movements of his jaw.

In Dollet, Mirenne Dincht and Rachel Wilcott walked slowly with their aging doctor as he escorted them to the exit. Friends for years, they laughed of old times and new unheard stories.

The Doctor grew serious as he touched Mirenne's arm. "Now Mirenne I'm serious. Please take it easy for a while. Zell will be back from his mission soon and on leave for a while. Plan some kind of outing with him. Or, if that's too obvious, just let him perform some of the chores you usually do...to keep him around the house. I'm sure he'd be more than willing too. He's a good boy." Mirenne started to protest but was silenced by a wave of his hand. "The most important thing for you to do is to just spend some time with him. I understand the anxiety you're going through. My son served for nine years in the Galbadian Naval Forces-"

"Oh Zachary. He's not to know about this, which is why I can't seem too eager or else he'll get suspicious. He's a smart and sensitive young man. He'd drive himself mad with worry just thinking about me fretting over him," Mirenne sighed. Rachel frowned beside her.

Zachary sighed in defeat and opened the door. "Please take my advice."

"I'll try," Mirenne assured him as she followed her sister out. "Take care."

"You too."

"Come on Rachel, I've been away for far too long. I don't need him to start getting suspicious."

"I'm surprised he hasn't gotten suspicious about a lot of things," Rachel responded as she led the way across the crosswalk. Mirenne fell silent and looked around for a distraction.

"Here!" She called out. "We must stop here."

"We always stop here," Rachel said as she paused to look in the artist's shop window.

"Exactly," Mirenne smiled. "We always browse his paintings when in Dollet." Rachel rolled her eyes knowingly as she followed her sister throught the front door. From the back, the shop owner looked up from his nearly completed frame and smiled.

"Well if it isn't Mirenne Dincht and her equally sweet sister Rachel."

"Roy I'm not sure if I should be insulted by that statement or not," Rachel smiled. It was now Mirenne's turn to roll her eyes.

"Spending the weekend in Dollet eh?" He asked as he picked up his cane and slowly made his way across the floor. "I don't suppose I could get you lovely ladies to purchase anything this time eh?"

"Roy we've known each other for thirty-four years. You should know by now that flattery will get you nowhere," Rachel grinned. Mirenne laughed as Roy shrugged in defeat.

Sitting silently on the floor Zell and Fujin stared silently at the mountains of baggage and boxes towering above them. Zell watched as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"You feeling okay?" He asked.

"FINE," She answered. He grew silent as he dug through his pocket. She watched him curiously and then shook her head when he produced a piece of gum.

"What?" He asked as he put the piece in his mouth. "Want a piece?" He asked between chews. She shook her head. "Take it," He placed the piece in her hand. She started to protest but then stopped when she saw him take his gum out of his mouth and finger it for a moment. He motioned for her to be quiet as he pressed the gum up against his mouth piece. "Finally," He grinned. "I don't like Xu hearing everything I say." Fujin raised an eyebrow but placed the gum in her mouth and did the same.

"TALK?" She asked.

He stretched his legs out in front of him and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on them. "Yeah," He answered. "I still feel bad about last night. You'd just got back from that mission outside of Timber and I had to go make a big deal over that silly book I found."

"Its not silly," She protested. "Family isn't silly."

He smiled and then looked down. She took his chin in her hands and turned his head to face her. With a grin she kissed him on the lips and then rose to her feet. "TALK LATER. MISSION NOW," She spoke as she carefully removed the gum from the roof of her mouth. Zell nodded with a smile. "I'm going to check the back cars. I'll meet you up front."

"Okay," Zell nodded as he pulled the gum from his mouth and looked for a place to put it. Fujin playfully rolled her eyes and walked off.

The black F-7 engine came into view as it rounded the base of the bluff. Up above it, a gardener watched in horror as it rapidly neared the passenger train just ahead of it.

"In less than thirty minutes we'll be reaching Dollet. Don't let your guards down we still have a lot of rail to cover..." Xu reminded her team over their comm system. There was a long silence. Fujin silently wondered what had caused their leader to cut her order short. She soon figured it out when she heard Raijin cry out in alarm. Jumping at his yelp in her ear, Fujin grasped at her earpiece and resisted the urge to toss it away. "You were sleeping!" Xu cried over the comm. Fujin winced at the shrillness of her voice.

"I was not! I was just restin' my eyes ya know," Raijin insisted with a yawn.

"Heh. Not too convincing man," Zell's voice laughed through her earpiece.

"Hey it ain't easy stayin' awake on a trip this long when ya can't get up or move around ya know."

"You're where you are because of the status of the passengers around you. Your main concern is their protection," Xu's voice took over the comm again.

"But I thought the raiders weren't interested in the passengers," Zell stated.

Fujin listened to the conversation with annoyance as she opened the door in front of her and looked down at the tracks below. Stepping carefully across to the other car, she grabbed onto the handrail and stared nervously at the ground below her. The sound of metal clanging against metal sent chills up her spine as she realized the true size and weight of the two steel cars she stood between. The rumbling of the train on its tracks grew louder as she realized she wasn't hearing the train she was standing on. She looked up in time to see another train blow past her on the parallel set of tracks.

"RAIDERS!" She cried out as she pulled herself into the next car and up to a ladder on the inside wall.

"I see them!" Zell called out as he hurried up an exterior ladder and pulled himself up on the roof of the train car.

"What are you doing?" Xu shouted over the comm.

"Its just a little train hoppin'. You'll be fine as long as you don't fall off," Zell grunted as he crawled across the length of the car and watched the black engine in front of him. The car he was on jolted as the engine connected with the train. "Come on!" He shouted as he jumped to his feet.

"I think he's lost his mind ya know!" Raijin exclaimed. "But I be he's got a good vantage point from up there ya know."

Fujin reached the top of her ladder to find the latch wedged shut. Securely wrapping her arms around the ladder's rungs, she hefted her weight up and kicked the latch with all the force she could muster. The hinges of the old hatch creaked in resistance and then broke open when dealt a second kick.

Lucas fiddled with the controls to the lift he was to use to move the stacked steel with. It was difficult to let it hover above the car while keeping up with the train's pace. Actually it was proving to be near impossible. The steel was better secured than any they'd stolen before and he wasn't entirely sure how to go about unstrapping it. Frustrated, he hurried up to the roof of the boxcar behind him and motioned for Dak to follow. The wind whipped his blonde hair around his face as he studied the restraints that held the steel down. "It might be easier to just take the whole car," He mumbled to himself as he tried to figure out how to release the chain restraints and iron sidewalls without toppling the whole load onto the ground and derailing the train. Still lost in his thought, he knelt down and then realized that Dak wasn't with him. Turning in his brother's general direction he scanned the cars for him. "Dak! NOW!" His shouts were unanswered. Growing paranoid he stood up and removed the safety from his weapon. "What's keeping you?" He asked as he looked down between two cars to no avail.

"Just a few seeds," An unexpected voice answered from behind him. Clearly startled, Lucas spun around. His gun was abruptly forced downward before he could even see who he was fighting. He watched as his enemy's staff flung his firearm away and spun around for another attack. Stumbling backwards, Lucas landed hard on the metal grading and stared up at the enormous man before him."

"SeeDs..." He said quietly to himself.

"Yeah. And I ain't talkin' the kind that sprout pretty little flowers ya know," Raijin grinned a vibrant white smile that violently contrasted with the darkness of his skin. Lucas stared at him, unable to will himself to move.

"They're already on the train!" Xu shouted as she glanced at the foreign engine hooked up to the car she crouched in. "How many are there?"

"UNKNOWN," Fujin answered as she pulled herself up on the roof of the baggage car. She unsteadily grasped the bar beneath her as she stayed knelt down. The car jerked to the side as it entered a turn on the tracks and for an instant, she panicked as she lost her balance and nearly fell. Now tightly gripping the grating below her, she looked ahead a few cars and watched as her teammates seemed to have no problem moving from car to car. Taking a deep breath, she nervously leapt from her car to the one in front of her. She could do this. There were only two more cars between her and the others.

Xu dropped down to a crouching position on the back deck of the passenger car attached to the black engine. "There only appears to be four of them here," Xu said to Zell as he knelt down beside her. "I say we take the two watchmen out and then lure out the last two. If they're going to get away they'll have to unhitch their engine."

"So what's the plan?" Zell asked.

"We jam the couplers to stall while we get the two guys on top," Xu stated as she pulled a few strands of blowing hair from her face. "I know it's all computerized. If we can trigger the right circuit, the couplers will automatically lock together."

"So which circuit is the right circuit?" Zell asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. Triggering the wrong one could disengage the couplers and strand Fujin and Raijin with the raiders."

"That's not good."

A few cars back, Lucas landed hard on the steel roof of the boxcar and grimaced as his body bounced a bit after impact. Rolling onto his back he was able to see his opponent deftly twirling his staff in the air as he prepared for yet another attack. Still slightly stunned, he staggered to his feet and redied himself.

"I'll give ya the opportunity to surrender if ya want to end this as painlessly as possible. 'Cause I really don't like to be violent ya know."

Lucas stared at Raijin unconvinced. Out of the corner or his eye he could see his gun. Narrowing his eyes, he took a step back away from Raijin and then turned and leapt over to where his gun lay. Raijin reacted just as quickly and lunged after him. Lucas grabbed his pistol just as Raijin knocked it from his hands.

"No!" Lucas shouted as he thrust his right palm under Raijin's jaw, knocking the larger man back. To Lucas' dismay Raijin popped his neck and then grabbed him by the leg. "A little help would be nice!" Lucas yelled to his teammates while he wondered what he had done to get stuck battling the giant of the SeeD group. He kicked at Raijin with his free foot, only to have it restrained as well.

"Look I gave ya the option to surrender! If ya want to ignore it, you're the one that's gonna be hurtin' ya know," Raijin shouted as he jumped to his feet and then flung Lucas across the top of the car and over to the other side. Lucas rolled and skidded across the uneven metal, tearing gashes in his suit and skin. He grabbed onto the metal railing running along the edge of the car to keep himself from rolling over the edge. Staring up at the silhouette of the Raijin in the bright afternoon sun, he squinted his eyes and then pushed himself up on his hands and knees. "Last chance man." Lucas pushed his hair off of his forehead with his bloodied hand and looked down submissively. Raijin relaxed at his gesture and Lucas used it as his last opportunity to strike. He tackled Raijin, rolling them both back across the top of the train car and over the edge.

"RAIJIN!" Fujin screamed as she finally reached the car they had just been fighting on. Over the comm system, both Xu and Zell cried out in pain over her scream.

"What happened?" Xu asked.

"RAIJIN!" Fujin cried out again as she shakily crawled over to the edge Raijin had fallen off of.

"Fujin!" Xu shouted. "Do what you can, we'll get to you and Raijin in a second." Xu turned to face Zell and was surprised to see him holding his hands up.

"Fujin?" Ross asked as he held his rifle aimed towards them. "She's here with you eh? Poor choice." Zell watched the man intently as he shifted his weight to the left and nudged Xu. She stumbled down to one knee and stared down at the ground rushing by below. Ross turned in her direction as Zell fell to the right. When Ross didn't so much as flinch in Zell's direction, Zell looked around and then noticed the approaching shadow of yet another armed raider on the engine in front of him.

Zell took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he consciously slowed his breathing and heartbeat he grew lightheaded as he summoned Quezacotl. Both Ross and the second gunman fell backwards in surprise as the enormous body of Quezacotl soared up through the air, igniting an electrical storm in its wake.

"Zell this train car is metal!" Xu yelled over the noise of the train and the thunder in the air.

"GF's can concentrate their attacks on their enemies only. You'll be fine," His mouth barely moved as he uttered his explination. Not entirely comfortable with the lightening storm swirling above the train, Xu pushed her way inside the passenger car, leaving him to the two raiders. Zell held on loosely to the safety railing as Quezacotl rained down its electrical energy, blowing both enemies opposite ways. As quickly as he'd taken over, Quezacotl returned to the recesses of Zell's mind.

Now in full control of his mind again, Zell stared at Ross. He grinned to himself as he watched his adversary shake his head and stumble across the narrow walkway along the side of the engine. Had it not been for the railing he'd more than likely have been blown off the side of the train by Zell's GF attack. Ross glared up at him, his grey eyes as hard as steel. Zell fell back into a defensive position. As if in slow motion, Zell watched as Ross leaned down and pulled a pistol from his hip. Drawing once again from Quezacotl's abilities, Zell braced himself with one hand on the railing, and then extended his other. The mind numbing, almost tingling sensation in his mind ripped through his right shoulder and through the length of his arm, hand and fingertips.

Zell clenched his teeth and whimpered as the tingling was replaced with a stinging sensation. Holding the spell like an energy ball at the tips of his fingers, Zell fought to maintain his composure. The last thing he needed was to loose concentration and risk hitting someone or something else. The tingling sensation once again overtook his arm as he forced his Pain spell onto Ross. With the summoned magic now gone, Zell retracted his right hand and held it as if it were burned.

From his vantage point he watched as Ross staggered backwards, dropping his gun and silently falling to his knees. The spell aparantly caught him completely off guard and looked to be something he'd never experienced before. His skin took on a glossy shine as he slowly curled up into a fetal position and clawed at the metal beneath him. Ross opened his mouth as if to scream but no sound passed his lips. Zell winced as he watched his adversary roll over and arc his back; his arms and legs moving as though he'd been forced into a seizure of some kind. Without warning, Ross and pushed himself to his feet and then violently tripped and began stumbling around blindly.

Having seen more than enough of the spell's effects, Zell turned and climbed up the ladder behind him. He instinctively jumped when he realized the second gunman was perched right beside him. Oddly enough, this second gunman barely even noticed Zell was there. He kept staring over at where Ross lay writhing on the walkway. For an instant Zell felt a little guilty about using such a potent spell but he had a job to do and both of these men were enemies. Even the auburn haired boy, who'd just realized he was there, was his enemy so long as he held his weapon.

Dak quickly found his feet and took a step back away from him. Zell eyed him suspiciously and then rushed towards him. Before Dak could even figure out how to respond, both of his legs were knocked out from under him and his weapon was knocked from his grasp. Despite his earlier confusion, he quickly recovered and found his feet. Dak fell into a defensive stance that mimicked Zell's and slowly circled him. Zell struck out first and Dak dodged and rolled around him quite impressively. Zell stumbled forward and was caught by two firm calloused hands on his shoulders. Before he could react he felt himself being lifted up in the air and thrown over to the edge of the car. He caught himself on the metal grating and held on for dear life as he stared up at his opponent's dark grey eyes. Using all the strength he could muster, he pulled himself up on his elbows and pulled Dak's leg out from under him. Dak landed hard on his left elbow and recoiled back away from Zell.

Now thoroughly confused, Zell pulled himself back up and watched Dak nervously. Something about this situation wasn't right, he just couldn't figure out what it was. Dak watched him nervously as he backed away from him and then jumped down to where the couplers were. Zell started to follow him but was abruptly stopped by a bullet that crossed just inches from his nose. He spun around to see the receiving end of a very elaborately crafted rifle. His eyes traveled up the weapon and to the face of its wielder. All the blood drained from his face as he stared at the man standing over him. While he couldn't quite make out all of the man's features, the man's resemblance to himself was quite frightening. Forcing himself to look back down at the shotgun, he studied the barrel just inches away from his face.

"Westman Stiller Revolutionary III," Zell spoke when he finally found his voice. "Only eleven of those were ever made. Back during the first sorceress war, my grandfather threw the mold in the melter when Estharian troops stormed the factory and tried to take it from him...The gold trim on it says it was the first one made...That's a Westman Stiller tradition. But all the firsts are stored in a vault...How did you get that?" Zell reached up to touch it, not realizing what he was doing.

"I take it your Grandfather's taught you everything you needed to know about the family business," The man spoke as he pushed the barrel of the gun up against Zell's forehead. Zell's hand immediately dropped.

"I don't know what family business you're talking about. My Grandfather's been dead for five years."

"Isn't that interesting," He spoke as he turned his gun over to examine it. "It really is beautiful craftsmanship." Zell watched him suspiciously. "The first and best Kyp Dincht ever made if you ask me."

Zell scooted back at his words, still afraid to move to far for fear of being shot. "How did you know my Pa?" His opponent grinned, twirled the gun around and struck him on the back of his head. Zell fell unconsciously back towards the edge but was caught by the shirt.

"Your Pa my boot," Audley grumbled as he dragged Zell to the middle of the car and let him drop unceremoniously to the metal grating. Stepping over him, Audley looked over to where Dak was hauling Ross inside their engine's cabin. Leaning his shotgun against his shoulder he carefully leapt from the passenger car to the nose of his engine.

A few cars back, Fujin shakily leaned over the side of the train and lent a hand to Raijin.

"TAKE!" She shouted. Raijin quickly took her hand and Fujin braced herself for his weight. She closed her eyes and held onto the car for all she was worth. While she was preoccupied, Dak climbed up on their car and stopped just a few feet away. Raijin reached up and managed to get a hold of the roof with his other hand and then pulled himself up. Fujin looked past where he sat and stared at Dak.

"I'm glad ya came ya know. Or else I could've been like that other guy that fell off a little ways back ya know," Raijin panted.

"REPEAT," Fujin said numbly as she stood up.

"I didn't have anything to hold onto. I would've fallen ya know," Raijin turned around to see what she was distracted with.

"LUCAS," She whispered. Behind Raijin, Dak looked as shocked as Fujin was.

"Hey man. Just take it easy. I don't want to fight ya know," Raijin picked up his staff and stood up. Fujin stood up and watched from behind him.

"Dak," She mouthed and took a few steps towards him.

"No," Dak said as he stumbled backwards in shock. "No!" He shouted and then turned and ran back to their engine.

"Dak!" Fujin shouted and tried to run after him. She stopped once she reached the end of her car and then watched as the black engine pulled away at the juncture. Both she and Raijin stared as the engine disappeared around a bend.

"Hey Fuu, did you know him?" Raijin asked as he placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. After a hesitant moment she replied.

"NEGATIVE."

"But you called him by name ya know."

"NOT HIM!" She shouted and then angrily climbed down the ladder.

"Sorry. I was just wonderin' ya know," Raijin watched her open the door to the boxcar and disappear.

By the time the train stopped to retrieve its disconnected cars and arrived at Dollet the sun had long since set and most of the passengers had grown restless. Xu looked up as Fujin and Raijin slowly entered the passenger car. Fujin stopped when she saw Zell laid out across the bench seat, his head resting on Xu's lap. "He just hit his head," Xu answered Fujin's unasked question.

Fujin hurried down the aisle and practically pushed Xu from her seat. Xu quickly moved out of the way and made room for Fujin to sit down in her place. She watched as Fujin gingerly checked the knot on the back of Zell's head. Raijin walked quietly over and placed a hand on Xu's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Talk to me because I can't stand to see a lady upset ya know."

She tried to manage a smile but failed. "I've never failed a mission before," She mumbled as she leaned against his shoulder. Raijin instantly tensed but just as quickly relaxed and put his arm around her shoulder supportively.

"But ya didn't fail ya know." Xu looked up at him. "We were supposed to protect the train and all it carried ya know. And we did. All passengers and cars are accounted for ya know." He gave her his best crooked grin and she couldn't help but to smile in response. "We did our job ya know." Xu smiled and closed her eyes.

On the bench, Zell painfully rolled over onto his side and slowly rose to a sitting position. "My head," He groaned.