Authors Note: And--you lovelies went with option B. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. That was what I had wanted to write, but it's your story--it's written for you--so I figure you oughta have a say in what happens! And here we have it. A (hopefully) daring escape by Rinoa--but who knows what twists will accommodate that, in the already twisted mind of Chey. =P Without further adieu, I present to you, IncOgnito--chapter three!

Revolution [IncOgnito-ch3]


Squall's pleased acknowledgment of Seifer's accomplishments was cut short by a very testy Quistis.


Seifer, come with me. There's no time to explain, she said, already turning to exit Squall's office. She had been surprised at the fact the door was not locked; but then again, who in their right mind would bother Squall Leonhart? Rinoa.. perhaps that was why he left the door unlocked. Not because he thought she would come barging in, but as a sense of symbolism.

The door was always open for her...to welcome her.


What's going on? Squall asked, his voice filled with a sense of concern.


Squall, really, I don't have time to explain. Stay here--Seifer, you have to come with me. Quistis spoke hastily, making it somewhat difficult to comprehend what she was feeling. Squall had a funny sense of what was going on. It was not a bad sense, not at all, but it was...odd. It was unexpected. It was, needless to say, unknown.


Seifer stood, his trench-coat whirling as he turned to reach for Hyperion. He snatched it up, and loaded the gun. He nodded, and quickly followed Quistis.


Would someone like to tell me what the hell--


Squall's voice was cut off by the slamming of his office door.


Lovely. Now even Quistis was hiding things from him. She seemed in such a rush--and why did she want Seifer with her? This was nothing good, nothing good at all..

______________________


Irvine's fingers trembled against his exeter. His breathing was heavy; his heart beating very slowly. He was relaxed, but at the same time, very nervous.

Say that they did find Rinoa. What would happen then? Would she return to garden, and become a SeeD? She would undoubtedly distract Squall from his job, thus causing Garden to plummet. In the financial state they were in, they could not afford that. The sorceress was defeated; most of the world was at peace. There was little need for SeeD. And what if she didn't want to come back to Garden? That would probably be a more severe case. This would break Squall's heart. To find her only to lose her. Her being on the planet, and not with Squall--as unlikely as it seemed--was possible. It was a scary thought, really. Those two were meant to be together. There was no doubt in his mind about that.


Irvine walked slowly, his back pressed up against the brick wall of the balamb hotel. His exeter was pointed upwards; prepared for any sudden attack. His cowboy hat sat ajar on his head, glued there' as Squall thought. Irvine stopped suddenly, noticing a soft rattling from the other side of the building. Puzzled, he relaxed out of his stance. The man shrugged and casually strutted over to the place where the noise was coming from.


He stopped suddenly with a jolt as he felt someone coming from behind him. He whirled, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw Seifer there. The tall blonde smirked, and walked to where Irvine stood.


Where's Quistis.. Irvine whispered, still glancing about, waiting for another bomb to go off. He was blowing things out of proportion--but how else was he supposed to react?


She and Chicken-wuss went to Aph's to see if Lhea made it, Seifer stated matter-of-factly.

It was then that Irvine remembered Lhea. She had become quite close with the group, and he didn't know what he--or anyone else for that matter--would do if she was...dead. It would be Rinoa's death all over again, but this time, atleast no one was in love with her. And this time, Squall would not put up his wall again. He could not put up a wall that was already there. And it would be there, he knew, until Rinoa came back. Perhaps that was why they were so desperately searching--hoping--to find her.


Irvine showed no sign of hearing Seifer speak, for he was too interested in the ruckus he was hearing. They were getting closer to it by the minute. They had reached the corner of the hotel, on the other side there was somebody-or something-making noise. It almost sounded like the person was trying to escape something, and more than once Seifer thought he heard the sound of someone sobbing.


Irvine whirled around the corner, pointing his gun in front of him. Seifer darted next to him, gun blade held outwards in his classic battle stance.


There was no one.


The rattling had stopped, however, so Irvine turned to Seifer. It was then that he noticed how pale his partner' had come. Before he could ask him what was up, Seifer dropped his gun blade and pointed to a second floor room.


Irvine glanced up, and nearly toppled over. There suspicions had been confirmed. There, staring at them through a window in wide eyed shock, was Rinoa.


Seifer, too, was staring at her, jaw dropped in pure disbelief. He, unlike Irvine, was NOT expecting her to be there. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it was certainly not Rinoa.


____________________


She ducked down from the window, tears brimming her fake-blue eyes. It was them; and they had seen her. What was she to do? There was no way she could get back to garden now, back to Squall. She couldn't tell DeFelice about them, for he would have them killed on the spot. It was then that it registered; them--it was Irvine and...Seifer. What was he doing back at Garden? She shook her head and shuddered.


She had two options. One of which she wanted to carry out, and the other she should carry out. She wanted to go to them; to ask them for help. She wanted to go back to garden, to Squall. She wanted to seek his protection from DeFelice and the agency. The agency which sought to kill her. She wanted to get away from DeFelice, Schroder, and...TIDE.


But she knew she couldn't do that. She could not put Squall and the others at risk. TIDE and the agency were not to be fooled with, who knows what they could do to the SeeDs. If she were to escape, she would not go to Garden. No, she would go to Deling, and, as much as she disliked the idea, she would go to her father. Caraway would get the entire galbadian army after TIDE if necessary. He and Rinoa did not get along, but that did not take away from the fact. He loved her; she was his only child. And now, she was willing to accept any help she could get.


Rinoa crawled back to the window. She tried desperately to open it, but DeFelice had locked them with one of his spells. There was no way to break it...unless she were to break the window. She looked around for something, anything to smash the glass with. There were no chairs, only a bed. She growled in frustration. What was she supposed to do!? Smash it with a blanket!?


It was then that she had an idea. She slowly walked to the window, gesturing for Irvine and Seifer to come closer. Cautiously, they obeyed, and walked over to the window.


It's locked..'
she mouthed, pointing to the green aura of the spell.


Seifer looked at Irvine, and asked, What'd she say?

Irvine shrugged. he yelled up to Rinoa, causing her to roll her eyes. Were they really that dense? She laughed out loud at their pathetisism. Instead of yelling to them, she used her breath to make a fog on the glass. There, she used her index finger to spell out the words locked'.

Of course, it came out backwards.


Dekcol? What's Deckol? asked a very puzzled Seifer.


It's locked, you fucking moron.

Without another word, Irvine dragged a crate just beneath Rinoa's window. He snatched Seifer's gun blade, stood on the crate, and used the Hyperion to completely destroy the bottom half of the rather-large window. Seifer, of course, was quite peeved, but he used every ounce of self-control to not shoot Irvine with his own gun. Rinoa stuck her head out the window.


she muttered, sliding one leg over the edge. She cautiously made her way out of the room, avoiding shards of glass.


Seifer snatched back his gun blade. Why didn't you use your damn gun? he asked.


Too loud. Your little doo-dad there did the trick with no noise, my man, Irvine said, tipping his hat. He found much satisfaction in pissing Seifer off to the maximum.


They stopped sneering at each other for a moment, and then realized what they had been doing. The reality dawned on them, and they turned to where the Sorceress stood.


Rinoa...she was here.


Irvine said, choking on the words. She turned from him. How badly, she wanted to give him a hug. How badly she wanted to beg him to take her back to garden. How badly she wanted to ask where Squall was..but she could not.


I...I'm sorry, I can't stay here.


She turned and fled, leaving the two men completely baffled.


______________

Quistis fought back tears as she looked around. The once lovely restaurant was now completely and utterly destroyed. What bothered her most was that nobody was breathing; there was no sign of any people or life. She turned to Zell, at loss for words. He shook his head in disbelief. He was not willing to accept it.


Why'd she do it, Quis? The words came out in a low whisper. It was hard enough as it is to keep his composure. The young women could only shake her head. She did not know why Rinoa would do such a thing--hell, she didn't even know if it WAS Rinoa in the first place. She couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing. It wasn't as if Aphrodite's had any significance. There was no military weapons hidden there, atleast not that she knew of.


Zell wondered off over to where the bar once stood; pieces of glass and oak wood were shattered everywhere. It was already starting to smell there. Rubber, metal, wood, glass. It scraped at the sole of Zell's sneakers as he tried so desperately to find Lhea.

And he was failing; utterly.


Quistis' voice broke his concentration.

Zell!! Zell get over here! I found Lhea, I think she's still alive!


Zell ran over to where Quistis stood, and sure enough, Lhea laid there. The blonde highlights which once ran down her silky red hair were gone--for they were drenched in blood. Zell's lip quivered, and Quistis was already in tears.


She removed several chairs off of her friend, throwing them across the street. Lhea looked up at her.


she asked, her voice hoarse and shaken.

Later, later. Zell, quick, we have to get her to the hospital. Hurry, Quistis ordered gently, brushing a piece of scarlet hair off of her friends face. Zell nodded and gathered Lhea in his arms--which had become sticky with crimson blood.


_________


Rinoa ran, ran not for her life, but for Squalls. Her coming back would completely disrupt his way of living. She had to keep that in mind; it was the only thing keeping her running; the only thing stopping her from turning in her tracks and running back to him.


She slowed her pace, thinking a bit more. Yeah, she would disrupt him. But then again--when she was at garden, they had been just fine. She did not get in his way, and he did not get in hers. She had already disrupted his cycle by leaving--surely, she could go back.

But did he want her back? It had been a year...perhaps he was bitter towards her. Perhaps he didn't want her with him. Perhaps he was...angry at her?

No, that was not likely. After all, he thought her dead. She could go back, and he would welcome her with open arms. She could tell him the story of what had happened; and he would make TIDE pay. He could protect her; not only physically, but emotionally.


Her heart was winning. She continued to slow, and then all together stopped. She was going to go back. She smiled, glad to have convinced herself to do as she wanted. She turned around, and began running towards garden--it was then that she felt a harsh hand on her wrist.


She was whirled around, expecting to see Seifer there. Or perhaps Irvine--


But it was not. It was DeFelice.



Authors Note: heeheee. I am devious, my friends. The reunion is not going to be as soon as you expect! After all, it wouldn't be much of a story if that were the case, would it? Squall's gotta find her, oh yes. It's gotta be twisted, very strange . Yes, very strange indeed. Keep checking back, and please review so I know that I am (or am not) headed in the right direction with this. Thanks again!