AN: I am SO sorry it took this long to update, but I went through Basic Training, a serious move, and a switch in computers (which lost a LOT of data, including a chapter outline I had for this story). -.- I'm picking up where I left off, basically from scratch, and it's rather irritating. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and as always, review so I know what you liked and think I should fix!
Disclaimer: Don't own any of them, or the line of lyrics.
Chapter 4: Mad Dash
And I don't want to go home right now
What right did those assholes have to pass judgment on him like that? He risked his life to help them with that serpent, he saved their precious Commander from dying and leaving them leaderless, and this was how they treated him? Of course, Seifer had his own reasons for saving Squall's life, and if someone else had been the Commander that had been tossed into raging waters, he wouldn't have leapt in to risk his life and save theirs. It was because it had been Squall, and even then, he hadn't been willing to lose the brunet. It was somewhat scary, that his happiness and state of mind could be so affected just by the idea of losing another person that he would risk his own survival to ensure theirs. It was scary, but also somehow fulfilling. He liked the effect that man had on him, and still couldn't believe the whole situation. He wasn't interested in men, and so far as he knew, neither was Squall. They both dated Rinoa Heartily for a time, and Seifer had definitely had his share of girlfriends in the past, but it was this man that had so strongly affected him. It seemed as though Squall wasn't the only one who was more game for men as of late. And so, he was enduring the abuse these people at Garden could hand him, and he was not retaliating. Fighting back would only give them more reason to attack him, even if it was only verbal, and he was trying his best for Squall. He wasn't going to screw this up, and he could never expect Squall to give up his Commander rank in Garden to run off with him. Squall's whole life was here, and Seifer was the only thing in the other man's life that could be relocated. He couldn't ask that, and he wanted to stay with Squall, so he had to endure this. Still, it pissed him off to no end, and he needed a chance to walk his temper off, not to mention curb his conscience.
Seifer actually did agree with some of what they said, and he knew that if the roles had been reversed, he wouldn't trust them anymore than they trusted him. He fought them, and had never truly been friendly to any of them even before he became their enemy. What did they care if his mind had been invaded and his logic twisted? They didn't care if he'd been unable to control his actions. He cared about Squall more than he would have even admitted to himself long before that, and he'd been forced by the Sorceress' power to attempt to kill the brunet. Sure, they sparred many times in the past, and they both marked each other in one particular match, but killing Squall was the last thing he wanted to do. But no, they didn't care. And somewhere in his mind, he couldn't help but think that he deserved this treatment for being weak, but most especially for the things he'd done to Squall, even if he hadn't been in complete control. Images of Squall hanging shirtless before him as he pulled the switch over and over to send excruciating jolts of electricity through the brunet's trembling body ran through his head, as did the sounds of screams. Squall had screamed for him then, and he stayed strong in the face of accusations and questions that Seifer himself had known weren't true. His own common sense had told him that it was bullshit, but he'd still done it, and Squall hadn't tried to lie to stop the pain. He screamed and cursed, and he resisted before escaping, and though it was a guilty, horrible memory, Seifer knew that it was better than the alternative. Even then, some part of his mind had acknowledged his attraction to the brunet, and with no true inhibitions under the Sorceress' hold, her power had called for either violence or violation. Torturing Squall in an interrogation was better than the alternative, and he'd chosen a method that didn't scar intentionally. He knew Squall wasn't aware of this, but he was, and it made all the difference to him. He resisted enough to save the future Commander of Garden that trauma, and then lived to be the same man's lover. Now all he had to do was keep from screwing everything up.
"Seifer Almasy!" a woman called out, and he twisted around, pissed at being pulled out of his thoughts. It was Quistis Trepe, who had once been his instructor, and she had a whole troupe of SeeDs behind her. Great, what now?
"What?" he demanded hotly, unable to stop himself, but she regarded him evenly, not at all rising to his temper.
"Squall, Irvine, Selphie and Zell answered a call for reinforcements from a squad of SeeDs on assignment, and we just received a new call from Irvine for more help," she said grimly, and Seifer's eyes widened as his heart sank. He'd never been a full member of SeeD, but even he knew the field rules. The highest ranking officer on the field who was still in fighting condition would send out a call for help. No matter what, that should have been Squall. The fact that the cowboy had sent out the call meant that something had happened to Squall, not to mention the fact that it had to be serious if those four needed further back up.
"I'm coming with you," he said firmly, his countenance showing steely determination and fury for whoever had harmed his Ice Princess. Inside though, his heart had leapt into his throat, and just the thought of Squall being dead made him grow cold with fear. Quistis merely nodded and continued on her way down the hall, headed for the vehicles. He joined her at her side, following and praying silently that Squall had simply been too busy in the fight to send in the call himself. Hyne, please, let him be safe... He never been overly religious, but now was the best time he could ever think of to ask for divine help.
The ride to the battlefield was not long in their high-speed vehicles, but it could have taken an eternity and been quicker in Seifer's mind. His brain was going over a thousand different scenarios for Squall in his head, and he didn't like any of them. "How long is this going to fucking take?"
"We'll be there in just a minute, Seifer, calm down," Quistis scolded him with a stern look, and he just growled out his frustration and returned to pacing. The SeeDs present were watching him curiously, as though they didn't understand his rush, but he ignored them. He was interested only in getting to Squall, and as the vehicle stopped, he ensured he was the first one out the door.
He scanned the battlefield, searching madly for his lover, and didn't find him fighting the human revolutionaries, which was what he expected. Still, he scanned that area again, assuming that the Commander would be fighting the most dangerous of the enemies with his SeeDs. His attention was claimed by a deafening roar off to the side, and he whipped his body around to face that scene.
Only to find himself watching an enormous black dragon with a human in its mouth, shaking the person and sending blood droplets flying in all directions. But what caught Seifer's attention was the slow appearance of an ice spike in the man's black-gloved hand, and the sudden thrust of the spike into the beast's ruined eye. He watched the dragon attempt to fling the man away and the warrior's desperate hold on the spike, then he admired him landing on the dragon's head and his further forcing of the spike into the creature's eye. He knew even before the dragon roared again and thrashed its head, just from the sight of the blood-streaked white fur around the collar of the man's leather jacket and the leather pants, who it was, but he couldn't force himself out of the trance he was in so it didn't entirely register in his mind. Watching Squall, not as his lover sprawled out across the sheets of their bed or as the fool SeeD he had to defeat for his Sorceress, but as the Commander and warrior he was, just floored him. Squall had once said that he wasn't worthy of being Commander, but only now did Seifer see just how wrong the brunet was and how right he been to argue with him. He'd known the man was wrong when he first heard those doubts, but now was only further proof. Squall was truly magnificent, but that thought was followed by a familiar scream. Seifer's heart froze up at that sound, again getting images of the torture session with Squall and the sound of the man's screams, identical to this one, and he saw Squall fall, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Fire wouldn't stop Squall's fall, and there was no other magic he trusted enough that would do the trick. Damn it, I have to do something!
But even as he watched Squall fall, trying to figure out some way to stop it, he saw the man shift in the air and create a slick ice slide similar to another that was still standing quite a distance away. He couldn't help but smile at the skill his lover possessed, though that smile faded when Squall landed expertly on the ice slide, obviously having perfected this trick, and fell due to one leg giving way beneath him with another scream that just pierced Seifer's heart. He was racing towards the brunet before Squall had even come to a stop at the end of the ice, not moving when he finally did land. It seemed like hours of running before he finally reached the Commander's side, and he was very vaguely aware that the dragon had finished its thrashing and was also laying still on the ground. Squall had killed the dragon, but had the beast taken him with it?
Seifer knelt beside him, ever so gently reaching out to lift his head as his eyes traveled over the length of that leather clad body. Squall's leg was bent at an odd angle, quite obviously badly broken, which explained why it had collapsed when he landed on the ice. Blood had trailed over his pants from the many wounds in his stomach and chest, and his shirt was hardly recognizable as having been white, while some of the hair on the back of his head was matted down with blood, probably from a head wound of some sort. There was blood on his chin, and as the man took a deep breath, he exhaled with a coughing fit that spilled blood from his mouth, answering Seifer's question as to what had caused the blood on his chin, and getting him severely worried. That meant that at least one lung was punctured, and probably both of them were. The tears in Squall shirt were enough to betray just how many of those teeth had impaled him, and Seifer hadn't even looked at his back yet. The heart, please let his heart be untouched...
"Seifer?" Squall rasped out, looking up at him in confusion, as though he couldn't believe that his lover was there. Seifer really couldn't blame him for being confused, since he'd only known what was going on because Quistis found him. He forced a smile and nodded, finding the sight of Squall laying there so weak and injured to be absolutely heartwrenching. He had to get him to safety.
"Yeah, babe, it's me," he said gently, glancing around to make sure he wasn't about to get shot down when he tried to move Squall, and then turning his gaze back to Squall's stormy, gray-blue eyes. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine."
"Too much...blood," Squall choked out with a gurgle preceding the newest coughing fit to assault his body.
"It doesn't matter, I'm going to help you," he reassured him, trying to settle his mind enough to concentrate on performing cure magic on his lover. His mind was a mess, though. Focus, idiot, his life depends on it! He couldn 't heal Squall well enough to leave him entirely healthy, but he could definitely ensure that the injuries were no longer life threatening, if he hurried.
"Too late...too...tired," Squall's voice faded, and Seifer shook his body as the brunet's eyes started to close, desperate to keep him from dying. Come on, prove your worth! Dragging him out of the ocean was nothing, heal him! Anyone could have swam to shore, this is major! He's going to die! he mentally berated himself.
"Stop it! Don't close your eyes, look at me! Keep your eyes on mine, don't let them shut, damn it!" he demanded, resting his hands on the bloodsoaked shirt. "Come on, babe, you took on the dragon all alone, you can survive this."
He kept his eyes steady on Squall , nudging the brunet every time his eyes started to close, and the soft green glow began to spread from his hands and into Squall's chest. Seifer held that for as long as he could, concentrating on healing the internal damage, the damage that would kill his lover, and took a deep breath as the glow faded and he realized that he couldn't hold it any longer. He closed his eyes at some point, and now opened them again to see that Squall 's gaze had vanished beneath his eyelids. His heart skipped a beat, worried that Squall had died before he managed to heal anything, but the brunet sighed, this time not coughing up blood. He's alive, oh thank you, Hyne, he 's alive... He wanted to sit there and just hold Squall in his arms, but he knew better. The battle was winding down, but it was by no means over, and he wasn't about to risk Squall's safety after coming so close to losing him once already. And despite Seifer's attempt at healing him, his leg was still untouched, and the wounds from the dragon's teeth were still present, even if the internal injuries had been healed. Most, but not all, of the broken ribs had also mended, but again, Squall was by no means in good condition. The gash on the back of his head, though clotted, was also still present. Seifer needed to get him back to Balamb.
It was actually Irvine who managed to fight his way quite literally through the revolutionary that had managed to get himself between the two men and the other SeeDs. It seemed to have decided to attack them while Seifer was distracted by Squall's condition, and he didn't become aware of it until a groundshaking explosion struck somewhere behind him. He turned and ended up looking through a gaping hole in the shapeshifted form the human had taken on, only to see Kinneas' smirking and bloodied face on the other side. The man looked like he been through one hell of a fight, but he was still enjoying himself. His smile faded however, when he climbed over the revolutionary and to Seifer's side.
"Oh, shit, he doesn 't look good," the cowboy gasped, kneeling next to his Commander and coming to realize exactly how much damage had been dealt. He'd seen Squall fight with the dragon and just how badly the beast had hurt the brunet, but had been unable to do anything about it. Seifer didn't entirely blame him for that, but he wished the cowboy could have used one of those damned explosive rounds on the dragon.
"No, he doesn't. I used Cure magic to handle most of the internal wounds, so he's not drowning in his own blood anymore, but I need to get him back to Garden for some real medical care," Seifer explained in the calmest tone he could manage, his hand coming to rest gently on Squall's pale, angelic face, which was so badly marked with blood. The brunet looked so calm and peaceful like this, and Seifer hoped his state was at least restful. Irvine seemed to notice Seifer's gentle, loving expression and movement, and suddenly reached over Squall, into a pouch on one of the belts around Squall's right thigh. Seifer had never noticed the pouch before, but then, it was small and he was usually in quite a hurry to get those damned belts off. Now, he was glad Squall wore them. Irvine produced a set of keys from the small pocket, and smiled in a friendly manner as he handed them to Seifer.
"These are the keys to the smallest vehicle here. It's the one Squall, Selphie, Zell and I took, and it can get you back to Garden fast. The rest of us will just hitch rides on one of the others," he explained simply. "Now, go."
Seifer didn't need to be told twice.