The hall wasn't brightly lit. Seifer's eyes strained to make out any shapes, but failed. It was a long gray-walled corridor with no fixtures of any kind, no doors, no nothing. At least what he could see of it. As for the other end, it was either very far or nonexistent.

     "How the fuck am I going to find her?" he asked himself. The computer screen had gone by so fast that he hadn't been able to make out everything. He'd recognize what he had seen when he got to it. If he got to it. Seifer's green eyes narrowed. The other end of the hall wasn't getting any closer as far as he could tell. One thing he did know though. The "infirmary" led into a hall that had doors on every side, and there were no doors in this hall. And he'd taken the only door out. Frowning, he slowed to a halt, and examined one wall. The lights immediately brightened. He didn't look around though, just leaned his face closer to the gray metal. Was that line a crease? Slowly, gently, Seifer pushed at it. The slight creaking sound echoed through the long hallway, and Seifer smirked. Security really sucked, considering the place was a hideout. Although, Seifer admitted to himself, most people probably didn't get past Lila.

     "She isn't in that one."

     Seifer stopped, and turned. Lila stood behind him, hazel eyes angry and resentful, her hands fisted at her sides. Her voice was stiff and cold, and Seifer vaguely thought that she was rather pretty. "Then where is she?" his voice challenged, but she only raised her chin.

     "Why do you want to know?" she demanded, and Seifer's eyes narrowed, before allowing the corner of his mouth to quirk in a sneer. The girl was jealous. Could she actually think he was attracted to...? Seifer shoved that thought to the back of his mind, not wanting to hear the answer. However, he stuck to the story.

     "She's my cousin," he answered.

     "Bullshit," Lila spat, and Seifer barely stifled his laughter, settling for a jeer.

     "Now the little girl is using grown-up words. I think she needs to go to time out," he mocked, folding his arms, which served only to anger her even more.

     "Why are you so concerned about your cousin?!"

     Seifer frowned down at the petite brunette. The words sounded so paradoxical. "I love her," he replied, and watched her eyes widen, well-aware that his heart had begun to beat with an increasing speed. Why had he said that? Oh, shit... "She's family," he added, lamely. He watched the myriad of emotions play across the girl's face, the last being one of bewilderment. What had he said that could confuse her?

     "My brother wouldn't come for me," she said, almost to herself, before catching herself and jerking her gaze up to meet his in shock. Seifer pretended not to have heard, and raised an eyebrow at her. He watched her visibly relax. There was a long pause. "I'll take you to her," Lila said finally, but Seifer didn't trust the light in her eyes. "This way." Seifer watched her warily.

     "Why are you going to help me, Lila?"

     "There's no reason not to," Lila shrugged and turned, gesturing for him to follow. Seifer scowled. He'd followed too many sorceresses to a bitter end to do it blindly again. "Besides, you passed the tests, so technically, you're one of us."

     That pronouncement had a particularly slimy feel to it, and Seifer barely managed to hide his disgust, settling for a comfortable sneer. "And what exactly does `one of us' do?" he mocked at her back.

     Lila turned to find Seifer exactly where she'd left him, half in, half out, of the hidden doorway. She glared at him with no visible effect, then released a sigh of frustration and walked back to him. She looked up at him, then said, with much puzzlement," You don't want to be one of us. Why?"

     "Why?" Seifer snorted. "It was die or join you. Which would you have picked?" Honestly, if it hadn't been for Quistis' presence, he would have died rather than join the enemy, but Lila didn't need to know that.

     Lila stared at him, before realization dawned in her eyes. "You did it for Rinoa." Seifer started. Was he that transparent? Could this girl read minds? Lila crossed her arms. "If it was just you, you would have chosen to die."

     "Anything's more honorable than joi-" he choked. He'd almost said `joining the enemy'. "Than doing bad stuff," he finished lamely, as Lila raised an eyebrow.

     "Bad stuff?" Lila mused, almost surprised. "I've never heard it referred to like that, but then," she grinned," I don't get out much."

     "What does `one of us' do, Lila?" Seifer repeated, through gritted teeth.

     She leaned against the wall opposite him, hair falling carelessly over her large eyes. "You'll have to ask my brother," she told him. "I only take care of the patients."

     "In more ways than one," Seifer muttered.

     Lila's eyes began to glow with a strange light, that wasn't in her eyes, but behind her eyes. "I have never, in my life, killed anyone!"

     "Not that you know of."

     "Never!" she yelled at him, pounding her fists on the wall. A doorway opened a crack, catching Seifer's notice.

     "Or not directly!" he taunted.

     "Never!" she screamed again, eyes nearly engulfing her outraged face. Her fists hit the wall again, and the doorway swung open. Realizing what she'd done, Lila turned to close it, but Seifer saw what he needed to see.

     Angry, he strode toward her. "One of you, huh?!" Lila put her hands up to stop him from entering, but he simply marched through her, knocking her to the ground inside the room. What he saw made him stop mid-stride, poised over Lila's small body.

     Quistis lay in the middle of a bare room, covered wall to wall with mirrors. There was a narrow bed with straps running across it in the middle, and a broken down piece of furniture that was probably once a dresser on one side. She was in a ragged white nightgown, that had many holes and tears, and was threadbare in most places.

     Seifer stared in disbelief at the picture before him, unwilling to acknowledge what he saw. Vaguely he saw Lila stand up slowly and cower in the corner, as he made his way toward Quistis' still form.

     A slight stirring of the pale body made him stop in his tracks, and Quistis slowly rose to a sitting position, stretching her arms above her head. Her eyes opened and caught sight of him in the mirror. They widened a bit, before she turned her head to face him and smiled, brilliantly, lovingly. Seifer frowned, taken aback at the emotion he saw in her dark blue eyes.

     "I knew you'd come for me," she whispered, and then threw herself into his arms. "I love you."