Go World Cup! Anyone else watching football out there? America's still in it! I say in the next game we throw a Hail Mary into the end zone and—what? Wrong sport? You said it was football! Kidding, I'm super exited about Fifa's football, soccer, whatever you want to call it. Go America! Ignore the fact that I'm wearing an England jersey and go out there and give it your all! Whoo! Hey Ref, stop trying to take away our goals! Why don't you come a little closer—I'll really give you something to blow your whistle about!

Edit: Well, we lost *sniffle* But we went out with our boots on! Ya! Never give up, never surrender! Now it's up to the English to redeem us (even if they don't know it ;p ) Go team!

Edit Edit: ...England! Seriously? What the hell? I mean, at least lose with a little diginity, y'know? *sigh* At least it was 4-1 and not 4-0 I suppose. Alright, both my teams are out. I would say who I'm rooting for now, but it seems to be a harbinger of destruction. XD I guess I'll just have to sit back and enjoy the show.

Anyway…thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Big hugs go out to: chibi heishi, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, YumiStar, RkM4U, nearcreature, Fried Chicken, r a a i n, ramen-is-my-goddess, xacilia, FuzzyLion, Aindel S. Druida, Blah, Clockwork Phoenix, Bane-Dane, mello-jeevas, suberXxXduperXxXfun machine, Shinimegami7, Becca86, ChaosGarden, and ! You dudes are awesome! Take a victory lap around the pitch then sit back and enjoy! ^_^

O

Chapter 10

Sora looked up from his summer homework as Cid came blustering back upstairs. It turned out that the cranky old mechanic lived in an apartment above his shop, which was where Sora had been quarantined for the last week or so. He was getting so bored he could hardly stand it, not to mention more and more worried every day about his brother. The last he had heard, Cloud had called and told him that Squall might be getting jail time for whatever it is that he did. Did that mean he was already in prison? But, wouldn't he have called? They were supposed to let you have one phone call, right? Or was that when you went to the police station…?

Sighing, Sora rested his chin on his palm as the door to the apartment's living room slammed open and Cid stomped inside, "—Damn no good brats messin' up my store! I oughta give 'em all a good smack on the head!"

"Huh? Me?"

The blonde man started, his eyes wide in shock as he looked down at the brunette teen, "Gods, give me a damn heart attack, why doncha? Forgot you were here for a minute…" Scowling, the mechanic shut the door behind him and took a seat next to Sora by the half-broken coffee table, "And no, I wasn't talkin' about you, just some no-good punks runnin' around downstairs."

Sora frowned as Cid scratched at the stubble on his chin and reached for the television remote, "They weren't causing problems for you when you were closing up, right?"

"Huh? No, nothin' that I couldn't handle. Why?" Turning the television on to some show about fixing up old cars, Cid turned and smirked at the teen, "Were you itchin' to do something about it?"

"No, but I could've helped you close up shop or something."

With a snort, Cid's attention was back on the TV and his hand reaching for a cigarette in his shirt pocket, "You help plenty durin' openin', that's enough. Yer not even an employee."

"But Squall is, and since he's not here I can do some of his work for him. I mean, I've already been here for a week!" Truth was, Sora was beginning to feel like a free-loader. He still didn't quite understand the situation. All he knew was that it was apparently dangerous for him to be living alone, even though he was seventeen, and that Squall still wasn't home. Cid wasn't the most…nurturing person he had spent time with, but the older man was taking care of him—in his own way. But the thing that was beginning to weigh on him the most, besides Squall's safety, was… "I, don't even know how long I'm going to be here for, so I'd like to help out a little."

Cid froze just as he was about to light up. The pause lasted less than a second before Cid flicked his lighter on and his eyes moved back to Sora, "Let's just take things as they come. It's true I've gotten used to yer brother around, but I can handle the shop fine by myself for a while. It's best not to imagine the worst either, but…if this turns into anything long term," Cid's face drew into a small scowl before he shook the thought away as he blew out a puff of smoke, "we'll work somethin' out. For now, things're fine as they are. You're far from the worst house guest I've had, trust me."

Sora frowned. He appreciated it, but he didn't like the fact that he wasn't earning his keep. He didn't want to be a burden. About to continue the debate, Cid's ears were saved when the gruff man's phone rang.

Pushing himself up with a grumble, Cid shambled over to the telephone, "Hello?"

Even from where he was sitting Sora could hear the conversation, Cloud's familiar voice instantly registering in his mind. Was this news about Squall? After making sure that Cid wasn't looking, Sora scooted over a foot or so that he could hear a little better.

"Cid Highwind?"

"Speakin'. Who is this?"

"Detective Cloud Strife, from Twilight Town. We spoke a few days ago."

"Oh right, you're the fella that had Leon arrested. Whadda want?"

Sora winced at Cid's harsh tone but kept quiet. He still didn't even know why Cloud arrested Squall. He would've been surprised, but he had known since the beginning that Cloud was Squall's probation officer. He also knew that although the blonde detective treated Sora well enough, he and Squall didn't always get along despite how much Sora could tell they liked each other. He had been a little mad at Cloud at first but then…Sora remembered that Squall didn't always do good things, so he was willing to forgive the blonde for arresting his brother. Just a little. So he didn't like the situation, but hearing Cid use that tone with Cloud seemed a little too callous.

Cloud, though, didn't even react to it. "I'm calling…shit, where to start?" Sora's eyes widened. He had never heard Cloud lose his composure before. This couldn't be good. Bracing himself for the worst, Sora strained his ears to catch every word, "Sorry, I'm calling for a favor. Basically…Leon's trial was this morning and he was sentenced to jail. It shouldn't have happened, I'm trying to get the ruling overturned but that's not why I'm calling. On the transfer from the courthouse to county prison, the van Leon and his accomplices where in was the target of an Organization attack that was made to look like a traffic accident. They were kidnapped from the van and taken to an unknown location. We think we've narrowed their whereabouts down to a specific area, but we're going to need to do an aerial search to confirm it. We have a helicopter, but not the time to wait for a certified pilot to show up and I remembered that you had been in the Air Force so—"

Sora almost jumped as Cid cut the detective off. "I'll do it."

"You realize that this could be dangerous, right? And I know you own your own store and with such short notice—"

Again Cloud was interrupted, Cid's voice growing annoyed. Sora couldn't see his face—the man had his back turned—but he could practically hear his scowl. "I said I'll do it! I'm not fool enough to not have thought through the consequences, I get what the deal is. But Leon's a friend, and if he's in trouble, you've called on the right man for the job!"

"You, can fly a helicopter right? That's all we have access to right now. I had assumed that since you were in the Air Force you would've learned but I wasn't sure."

"'Course I can fly a damn chopper! I can fly anything that's supposed'ta get off the ground. It don't matter what model, a flyin' machine's a flyin' machine, I'll get her ta work."

"Alright. Thank you. If you're ready then, we'll meet at the Twilight Town municipal airport tomorrow morning at seven. Do you need me to come pick you up or do you have a ride?"

"I'll take the train, that's fine." As Cid turned to grab a train schedule that was pinned to the wall, his gaze happened to fall on Sora and his brows narrowed. Letting out a small gasp, Sora was about to stammer out an excuse for his eavesdropping when Cid suddenly swore into the phone. "Shit! I forgot about the kid again! What'll I do with him while I'm out? If the shit's really hit the fan in all'a this, I don't want ta leave him here by himself."

"No, of course not. Hm, Demyx is in Traverse but I don't know his address…just a second." There was a pause on the other side of the line and the sound of rustling before Cloud's voice returned, "I'm going to give you the address of a man named Demyx Donohue. Sora knows him and I don't think he'll mind an uninvited guest. It'll be good if they can keep an eye on each other too."

Sora blinked as Cloud carefully read Demyx's apartment number and street address through the phone line. What had happened? Had Squall really been kidnapped? Sora couldn't even…he couldn't even imagine Squall letting himself be kidnapped. He had never met anyone stronger than his brother so was it even possible? Or was Squall so badly hurt that he hadn't been able to stop it. The thought unleashed a wave of cold that swept through Sora's body.

The next thing he was aware of was the sound of Cid hanging up the phone. Putting a hand on his hip, the older man let out a short sigh and used his other hand to stub out his cigarette. "You hear all that?"

There was no point in lying when he had been caught red-handed. "…Yeah."

"Good, then I don't need to explain myself. We're up fer an early mornin' tomorrow, so get as much sleep as you can tonight. We're all gonna need it."

The sun had just risen a few hours before when Cloud arrived at Twilight Town's small airport. Contrary to the norm, it was Axel who was sitting behind the wheel as their car pulled over to the side of the road. Shifting the vehicle into park, the redhead turned to look over at his partner. "Cloud, you sure that you don't need me to come along?"

Cloud frowned but shook his head, "It would be nice to have you watching my back but one of us needs to stay here and—"

"—and you want to be the one to find Leon and the others so that you can make sure they're alright. I get it."

Cloud's cursed himself as, despite his fraying nerves, he felt his cheeks heat up. "Knock it off, Axel. I'm seriously not in the mood to start up this argument again."

"Are you ever?"

The glare Cloud shot Axel effectively cut off any further remarks about the subject. Even if he wasn't at all interested in Leon, at this point he still would have been worried. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since he, Riku, and Zexion had been kidnapped and it didn't take a homicide detective to know that when the kidnappers were people as unforgiving as those in the Organization it didn't bode well. Especially when those who were kidnapped were as capable as those three.

"Axel, remember to keep a close eye on things while I'm gone. If there are any indications that any of them have escaped, or any sort of ransom comes in, you let me know." That was one of the reasons that one of them had to stay behind—to man the fort while the other was up in the air. The other reason was much more practical; after Cloud called Cid, he had called Seifer to let him know they had a pilot and had then been informed by the SWAT that the helicopter they would be flying had a carrying capacity of approximately seven men. That meant that technically Cloud, Axel, Cid, Seifer, and their three hopeful rescues would all be able to fit but it was mutually decided that it would be safer to leave one behind. They didn't want to press their luck with the maximum weight load the chopper could carry on top of everything else.

"Of course. Keep your cell phone on in case anything like that comes up. By the way, I want the same promise from you. If anything looks like its starting to go wrong or get dangerous, you give me a call or at least send me a text. Following the GPS on your phone, I can send units out to your location within an hour tops."

"Right." Cloud unbuckled his seatbelt then paused, reality sinking in a bit at Axel's words. What he was about to do could get very dangerous. It was intended to be a scouting mission but there was no doubt in his mind that if they found the place where Leon, Zexion, and Riku were being held they would attempt a rescue. If that were the case then there was a very high probability of them running into the Organization and, if that happened, bullets would definitely start flying. "Hey…if something does happen out there, take care of Sora, alright? Roxas is an adult now, he'll handle himself, but if something happens Sora will lose…everything he has left. And he's still just a kid."

Axel's eyes softened a bit at Cloud's serious tone. "Don't worry about him. If, gods forbid, something happens to all of you out there, there's definitely still people out there willing to take care of the survivors, me included. Now, get out there and represent the TTPD. Even if this is technically off the books, it'll be up to you to keep it as legal as possible."

A little bit of weight had lifted from Cloud's shoulders at Axel's assurance that Sora and everyone else would be taken care of if the worst should happen and he was able to manage a small smirk. "You know me, Axel. Even if it's off the books I always do everything by the book." Opening the passenger side door, Cloud slipped out, feeling his pistol in his belt holster bump against his hip as he stood up. "Thanks for the ride, by the way."

"No problem. It was the least I can do. I need something to distract myself from the feeling of being a housewife sitting on his ass at home while his husband goes off to war."

Nearly choking on a laugh, Cloud shook his head "God, what a mental image…And you better not just be sitting on your ass while I'm away. I expect some serious work to get done."

Axel seemed pleased with himself for melting some of the tension from Cloud's face and just grinned back, though his eyes were lacking a bit of their usual humor. "Yes, dear. But seriously, be careful, okay?"

Cloud responded with a wave as he closed the car door. He had no intention of putting himself in unnecessary danger. Necessary danger was another thing altogether but Cloud still believed that he had the good sense to tell the difference between the two. Even when his personal feelings got involved.

As Axel turned his car around to head back out onto the street, Cloud turned in the opposite direction and headed to the part of the municipal airport where he knew they kept the helicopters. Luckily, the place was not very hard to navigate even though he had never been there before. Twilight Town's airport wasn't commercial so only people who owned private planes and planes owned by the city were allowed there, which meant that it took less than five minutes to spot two figures standing out near the airstrip. It wasn't, however, even the two people standing around that caught Cloud's attention as much as the large black helicopter they were standing next to.

Seeing him coming across the field one of them, clearly Seifer by his stance and shape, waved him over. As Cloud approached he noticed that the SWAT had forgone his official tactical suit in favor of a pair of combat boots, black pants, and a navy blue sleeveless shirt with a large white cross pattern on the front. Even in plainclothes the man managed to look intimidating, and the gun strapped to his side did nothing to dissuade that impression. The sidearm did cause Cloud to do a double-take, though, and it took a minute for him to realize why—it was the same type of gun that Leon used. SeeD issue.

Standing beside him, Cid looked about the same as Cloud remembered. Oil-stained white shirt, dark baggy pants held up by a utility belt, a pair of dog-tags around his neck, and a cigarette sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Only today, there was a pair of goggles on his head and an impatient scowl on his face to go along with it. "'Bout time you got here, Detective Strife."

Cloud frowned as he glanced down at his wristwatch. "I'm right on time. I suppose I should thank you both for getting here early though." He would've been too if he hadn't passed out on his living room floor around three that morning and ended up sleeping through his alarm. At least it had had the side benefit of actually giving him a decent amount of sleep for once.

Seifer waved the comment away. "Don't bother, we're wasting daylight. I just finished getting this bird gased up and was right about to ask Gramps here if he thinks he can fly it."

Cloud swore that he saw a vein pop on Cid's forehead. "Who ya callin' 'Gramps'? Ah may be older than you, but that doesn't mean I can't beat some manners into you! And you bet your ass I can fly this chopper! It's just as easy as drivin' a car."

Smirking back, Seifer pulled on a black tuque that covered the very top of his scar. A scar—Cloud noted for the first time—that was eerily similar to the scar that cut across Leon's face. "Just what I wanted to hear. Strife, are you riding up front or in back with me?"

Cloud subtly looked at each man, considering his options. If he rode up in front, he would get a better view of the surroundings and would be able to direct Cid to where he thought they should be looking. But if he were in the back, he'd be able to react a little faster if a situation did present itself. Also, there were windows in the back so it wasn't as if he'd be totally blind. "Is there a way that we would be able to communicate to the front of the helicopter to the back?"

"This model's installed with a two way speaker, so that won't be a problem."

"I'll ride in the back then. We can use the time that it takes for us to arrive at the location to firm up our plans."

"Probably a good idea." Seifer looked over at Cid. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, what the hell. The both of you'd probably be about as helpful as a sack a' potatoes up front anyway. Plus, I'll be able to smoke all I want without you two griping about it."

Seifer frowned. "You can't smoke in here. It's dangerous and this is city property."

"Ah, what you don't know won't hurt ya. Now are we going today or are we just gonna stand around and wait for somethin' to happen?"

"Right." Pulling a smaller version of the map they had used in his office from his pocket, Cloud handed it to Cid. "I have the area where we're headed marked on his map. If you have any questions about it, let me know but for now, let's start by getting airborne."

Apparently that was all that had to be said to get Seifer and Cid into action. As Cid walked around to the pilot's side of the aircraft, Seifer wrenched open the sliding door leading into the back of the chopper. As Cloud jumped up inside he could tell how it might be a tight fit for anymore than six people. When Seifer climbed up inside to the helicopter after him and confirmed it, the detective figured that he'd have to readjust his idea of personal space for the next few hours.

Inside there were small seats against the wall with harness like seat belts going across them. Motioning for Cloud to sit in one, Seifer closed the large door behind them. "Go ahead and buckle up. I'm not sure how great this Highwind guy's flying is and I'd rather avoid any injuries happening right at the start."

Silently agreeing, Cloud slid into a seat and buckled up, Seifer following his lead seconds after. Nearly as soon as the SWAT leader had snapped his seat belt into place a loud hum filled the cabin and the metal wall behind Cloud's back and the floor under his feet began to vibrate.

"Here we go. Let's see if Highwind's as good as he says he is."

Cloud really, really hoped that he was. Looking out of a small window to his right, he could see the shadows of the helicopter propellers on the grass begin to spin, slowly speeding up until one blade was indistinguishable from another and the grass stalks were being bent sideways from the force of the resulting wind. Around them, the frame of the helicopter shuddered and then, just when Cloud was half expecting everything to just burst into a ball of fire, there was a lurch and another glance out the window told him that they had successfully made it off the ground.

Turning back to Seifer to measure the other's reaction, Cloud's worries were soothed a bit at the calm expression on the other's face. Noticing that he was being watched, Seifer nodded toward the detective. "Pretty smooth lift-off all in all, especially considering he's probably never flown this particular model before."

"Good to hear."

Cloud watched and waited until their altitude seemed to level off before pressing the button that activated the two-way speaker. "Cid, I don't know if you've managed to take a look at the map yet, but we're heading to the northeast of here."

There was a pause before Cid's voice came back through the speaker. "—I know, I took a good look at it before I fired this old bird up. I should be able to get us there within fifteen minutes, easy. You fellas don't worry about what's goin' on up here, just make yer plans or whatever the hell it is you need to do—"

Cloud wanted to smile at the remark but he just couldn't find it within himself at the moment, given everything else that dominating his emotions. "Understood. Let us know if you see anything."

As his finger slid off of the button, Cloud took a moment to gather his thoughts. They were almost there. It was time to put aside all of his worry that something had happened and just get the job done. Right now all he should be thinking about was spotting the Organization's hideout and getting their parolees rescued. That was it.

Much to his disgust, his mental self-coaching didn't go unnoticed. "Leon's gonna be fine, you don't need to start beating yourself up about it."

Tilting his chin up, Cloud eyed Seifer from across the small aisle separating them. "I wasn't."

Seifer rolled his eyes, his arms crossing over his chest as he leaned back in his seat. "Then stop trying to stop yourself from beating yourself up. I've seen that look you have on your face before, so I know what you're thinking." There was a soft pause as Seifer turned his icy blue gaze to the window. "Leon's tougher than this and has been through much worse. He'll come out alright."

That's right. Seifer probably knew all about that. A frown pressed Cloud's lips down as he struggled to put his thoughts into a question. "You…were in SeeD with Leon, right? He told me when I asked how you knew each other that you had been his commanding officer?"

The other seemed momentarily caught off guard and blinked before giving a firm nod. "That's right. We went in together, along with another buddy of ours, as recruits." Seifer snorted and a dry smile slipped onto his face. "I guess you can say that we kept each other alive through it all. Although Dincht and I didn't do such a great job with that in the end…"

Shocked not only by the statement but also from the genuine remorse that had snuck into Seifer's tone, Cloud's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

This question seemed to surprise the ex-SeeD again. "Leon never told you?"

"Told me what? Did something happen?"

A calculating look that set Cloud on edge had sparked in Seifer's eyes. "Huh…I figured that he and you—nevermind. But he seriously never told you? You must've asked about it when you saw his legs."

Saw his legs? "What the hell are you talking about?"

That spark in Seifer's eyes flared a bit and his gaze swept over Cloud as if reevaluating him. "Really? I know the guy always wears pants but I figured you at least would've seen him without." Cloud opened his mouth to protest but Seifer didn't give him the opportunity. "Our last big mission in SeeD was a raid against an enemy combatants' base. Leon, Dincht, and I were all there, and I was the officer in charge. We had just managed to get the upper hand on the enemy and were pushing our way in when out of nowhere—Leon was running out to help an injured soldier and he ended up getting blasted by a land mine. His legs up to his lower thighs were charred pretty badly and he ended up with a huge chuck of shrapnel lodged in his gut. He almost died…" Seifer's voice trailed off a bit before the man shook himself off. "Anyway, he still has scars from it. There's a cut in his stomach and the skin on his legs from the knees down are fairly discolored from the burns. I thought you'd have noticed is all."

Cloud stared back at the other man with wide eyes. He was like a deer caught in the headlights but at that moment it couldn't have mattered less to him. He knew that Leon must've seen some action through SeeD but he had never thought that he had come so close to dying. Leon had never said anything to him, ever, about any of it. But what was bothering Cloud the most were the scars apparently blatantly obvious on Leon's body. Had he ever really looked at Leon before? He had noticed the scar on his stomach but hadn't thought much of it, and to have completely been oblivious to the burns on his legs…They had seen each other without their clothes off but now, looking back on it, Cloud realized how little affection there was between them versus simple physical need. It…he didn't know why but it made him feel a little sick.

Seifer tilted his head, just watching for a minute before speaking up, the other's voice soft but every word deliberate. "You know…I'm not sure anymore what's going on between you and Leon but if you don't step it up, I'm going to move in."

Cloud's eyes snapped back to the other's face. "What?"

"That's the only warning you're going to get. Stake your claim, or else I will."

"But, we're not—He's a criminal and I—"

Seifer cut him off with a smirk, although something about it told of a much deeper emotion running through it. "There are some loyalties that are above the law."

Squall didn't know how much time had passed since they had first been tied down onto the chairs and left alone to rot, but it had been more than a few hours, maybe even a day or two. There were no windows or clocks so it was nearly impossible to keep track of the passing of time.

In those many minutes or hours or days, whatever it was, their situation hadn't changed much. No one had come to visit them since they had been locked in the room, not even to feed them. The biggest news was that between the three of them they had managed to get Zexion and his chair upright again. It had been quite the ordeal as he and Riku were stuck using their feet to try and pick the chair up, each nearly falling over themselves before they finally managed to get Zexion off of the floor.

After some amount of time Squall must've fallen asleep because the next thing he was aware of was the sound of a chair scraping across the concrete floor. His eyes instantly snapped open and locked onto the sight of Riku rocking his chair around as he tried to wrestle with the rope tying his hands to the back of it. Sitting up straighter, Squall stretched before he spoke up, his voice rough. "What are you doing?"

Glancing up through his silver bangs, Riku frowned before his brows furrowed in concentration. "I'm trying to get this knot out."

With a sigh, Squall leaned his head back. It would've been a good idea had they not spent an hour or two already trying to get their hands free. Squall was pretty sure he had gotten a bad enough rope burn that the skin on his wrists had started to break. He had considered breaking his thumbs, but that only would've helped him to get out of his handcuffs; the rope was tied around his wrist bones. "What makes you think it'll work any better this time around?"

The question caused Riku to scoff as he looked back over his shoulder to try and look at his progress. "It won't, but I figured I'd try one more time before moving onto the next idea. While you two were sleeping I've been working on a plan to get us out of here. Now get over here and lend me a hand, would you?"

Looking around, Squall realized that Zexion too was sleeping. The older man had not been doing well and Squall wasn't entirely sure it was just because he had gotten his chair kicked over. While the pale man only had bruises to show from the car crash, Squall was starting to wonder if the other man hadn't sustained some sort of internal damage. Knowing how well Zexion dealt with pain—that is to say, not very well—Squall knew that if the schemer had suffered from more than superficial surface injuries he wasn't going to be too useful for the group in their escape attempt.

Turning back to Riku with a sigh, Squall leaned his head back. "What could I do?"

"Get over here and I'll tell you."

Squall scowled but obeyed, slowly scooting his chair across the floor and followed Riku's directions until his chair was situated about two feet behind Riku's. It wasn't exactly an easy task since the chairs were heavy, he had limited muscle movement, and he was exhausted. Riku in turn was about two feet from one of the walls of the room and Squall had to give the lither man credit for maneuvering his own chair into position.

"Alright." Looking back again as if to make sure that Squall was in the right spot, Riku grinned. "Now we've been trying to get our wrists out of the rope, which has obviously worked out so well for us," Squall rolled his eyes, "but what if we try instead to get the rope off of the rungs on the back of the chairs?"

"What do you mean?"

Riku sighed. "You're terrible at thinking outside the box. Instead of getting our wrists out of the rope, we should be trying to get the rope off of the chairs."

Finally Squall's sluggish mind caught up with the plan as he took another look at the way Riku had situated their chairs. "So, I'm guessing you want me to break the rungs on the back of your chair?"

"You got it."

"I'll have to kick at it and I'll probably just knock you over."

Riku sneered back. "Why do you think I got this close to the wall?" The silver-haired assassin picked up his own legs and braced his feet up against the concrete slab.

Alright, so Squall wouldn't knock the hitman over but, "It's going to hurt, you know."

"And I know you'll enjoy doing it, so let's just get this over with. Just try to avoid kicking me while you're at it. I won't be much good to any of us if I come away with broken bones."

"Okay."

If Riku was willing to put himself on the line in order to help them escape, Squall wasn't going to complain. And he couldn't exactly say that Riku was wrong either—kicking him in the back was going to be mildly satisfying.

Planting one foot on the ground as firmly as he could to balance himself, Squall lifted his other leg and delivered a well-aimed kick directly to one of the rungs on the back of the wooden chair about four inches below where Riku's hands were tied to it. There was a subtle cracking noise and the assassin let out a grunt at the impact. "Again. I think it's giving."

"Alright, hold on." Bringing his leg back, Squall lined the heel of his foot up so that it would strike the weakened part of the rung and put all the force he could into the movement as he kicked out again.

A sharp snap filled the room as Riku jerked forward. "Ah—shit! You son of a—Could you have kicked a little softer maybe?"

"It got the job done, didn't it?" The rung on the back of the chair that Squall had aimed for had broken in half.

With a wince, Riku twisted around in his seat to try and take a look. "I think you broke my spine too."

"Don't complain when you asked for it."

Scowling, Riku began to fiddle with the rope again, slowly sliding the knot down the fractured rung. "I'll complain all I want to—Damn it!"

"What?"

"I think I cut myself on the broken edge of the wood…Oh well, maybe the blood'll act as a lubricant...Almost…there!" Riku let out a small cry of victory as the rope knot finally slipped all the way off of the chair.

Squall forced down any wave of excitement that threatened to well up in his chest. There was still a long way to go before they got out of here. This was a pretty good start though.

Stretching his hands up over his head, Riku grinned before stumbling up to his feet. "Man, I'm stiff."

"How about you loosen up later and for now just worry about getting me untied?"

The hitman rolled his eyes but sauntered over after one more stretch and crouched down behind Squall, "You ever think about saying 'please' and 'thank you'?"

"No."

Squall grit his teeth as the rope around his wrists suddenly tightened before the pressure went slack. Maybe he deserved that. Either way, he wasn't about to start up a fight about it now that his hands were free. Well, relatively free. They were still cuffed together but at least now he was able to twist his arms up over his head and down onto his lap, a small sigh escaping him as his blood flow began to normalize.

Once he was finished with Squall, Riku headed straight over to Zexion, Squall coming over to help a second later after he had forced himself to stand. While Riku bent down to untie the man's hands, Squall focused on waking the other up. Their voices hadn't done the trick up to this point, so he skipped straight to lightly shaking the man's shoulder. "Zexion. Zexion, wake up."

The schemer's head rolled onto his shoulder and, after a few more shakes, a murmur so quiet that Squall nearly missed it slipped through Zexion's lips. Encouraged, Squall shook a little harder. "Zexion!"

"Mmn…what…?"

Finishing getting the knot undone, Riku pulled the rope off then came around to stand beside Squall. "Come on, wake up, Zex. We're getting out of here before those jerk-offs come in and start kicking us around again."

Zexion's eyes slowly opened up as his face drew up into a frown. "Ugh…yeah. How…How long was I out for?" On instinct, he moved his arms around to rub at his face, blinking down in surprise at his hands a moment later, "…You got the rope off?"

Riku grinned mirthlessly. "Yeah, but that's pretty much all you missed. I don't know how long we've been here for, but it's about time we got out. All we need to do is find an exit."

Eyes narrowing in thought, Squall padded over to the room's only door and carefully tried the handle. It was locked, as he had expected. There was no keyhole on this side, no space between the door and the doorjamb, and the hinges weren't even on their side of the door. The door itself felt like it was made of solid metal and since they didn't even have any tools or weapons of any kind on them, "We're not getting out this way."

"The vent."

"Hm?" Turning to look at Zexion, Squall found the man to be staring upwards and followed his gaze up to the ceiling. There, in the middle of the ceiling was a single air vent, probably put in place to make sure that the concrete box of a room didn't run out of oxygen.

As Squall walked back over, Riku tilted his head up. "Oh, no way are we going to fit in there."

After a good deal of effort, Zexion managed to get himself standing. When he spoke again, his voice was a bit stronger and much more self-assured, "Before I…passed out, I did the calculations in my head. The vent is larger than those found in the normal household…I believe that this building is fairly industrial in construction, so the ducts should be wide enough that we should be able to fit through…Leon may have some trouble, but it will be possible."

Riku's nose scrunched up and he reached his hands up to wipe away some of the dried blood on his face. "No way in hell. That crawling through walls shit is definitely not my thing. There has to be another way out."

To his shock, Squall found himself agreeing with Riku. Despite Zexion's assurances that he would be able to fit, looking up at the vent Squall couldn't imagine how he would get his shoulders through.

"If you have another suggestion, I would be happy to hear it. But before I fell asleep it was all I could come up with assuming that our hosts keep to their word and leave us be. Besides, they have undoubtedly been warned not to fall for any sort of trickery, so this may be the only thing they had not anticipated us trying, especially considering they expect us to still be tied to chairs. Can either of you reach the vent?"

"What's the matter shorty, don't want to jump for it yourself?"

Rolling his eyes, Squall ignored Riku and, knowing that he was the tallest out of the three of them, moved forward a few steps until he was directly under the vent then reached his hands up. Standing on his toes, he was just able to reach it. Not waiting for Zexion to give him anymore directions, he steeled himself and with one firm tug, the metal grate popped off exposing the inside of an empty metal duct. "What now?"

"Now," Zexion moved to stand directly next to Squall and peered up, "we put this theory to the test."

Riku raised a brow, still clearly dubious about their plan. "Ladies first."

Zexion frowned again but apparently decided that he was above having to respond as he turned to Squall. "I hope you will not mind giving me a lift up?"

After releasing a breath of air, Squall shook his head. Honestly, he was in no shape to do any more physical activity, but it wasn't exactly like he really had a choice in the matter. Pushing down the screams of his aching body, he bent down and laced his fingers together to serve as a foothold for Zexion. At least the guy didn't weigh much. "Don't move around too much."

"I will do my best not to cause you too much discomfort."

And Zexion actually seemed to want to keep his word as he ignored any hesitations he may have had and stepped up into Squall's hold, wrapping an arm around Squall's shoulders as the taller man stood. Grimacing, Squall straightened up then slowly pushed Zexion up into the vent, the lighter man quickly trying to gain some sort of handhold in the duct. Stepping closer, Riku peered up into the darkened space. "You good up there?"

"Just a moment," Zexion's voice echoed down with a metallic ring, everything above his torso enveloped by the ductwork, "ah, there we go. The vertical shaft becomes horizontal about two feet up. Leon, just one last boost and I will be up."

Squall didn't need to be told twice and gave once more push. He was rewarded soon after as Zexion gained traction and was able to pull himself the rest of the way in. Next came Riku's turn which went surprisingly smoothly considering that Squall had to put up with having the assassin's hand around his neck as Riku kept his balance. It may have helped that Riku was taller than Zexion and had an easier time reaching the ducts. It may have also helped that Riku actually kept his mouth shut for once and didn't make any unwanted comments about the situation. That is, until he got out of Squall's arms.

"Are you shitting me? This is ridiculous! It feels like I'm trying to crawl through a tube of toothpaste."

From farther up in the ducts, Zexion's voice was just audible from where Squall was standing. "Riku, just please pull Leon up so that we may continue. We cannot afford to waste time now that we have gotten started."

"Yeah, yeah." After what sounded like a bit of a struggle, Riku managed to turn himself around and look down the air shaft at Squall. Reaching both arms out, a necessity thanks to the cuffs, Riku grimaced. "Can you reach?"

"If I jump…maybe. We'll find out." Taking a breath, Squall leapt up into to the air as high as he could and just barely managed to grab hold of Riku's hands. At Squall's sudden added weight, the air ducts groaned and shuddered, both Riku and Squall holding their breath as Squall remained suspended about two feet in the air, his forearms reaching into the duct. If anyone came into the room now it would've made for a pretty strange sight.

Speaking of which—Squall turned his head as he heard not the sound of the ventilation system crashing down but the sound of footsteps hurrying towards them. "Damn it! Riku, pull me up! Someone's coming!"

"You know," Riku grit his teeth and began to tug Squall up, the two no longer worried about making noise so much as hurrying things up, "this would be real easy if my arms didn't feel like they had just popped out of their sockets and my feet stopped slipping."

Squall scowled as he was hoisted up, unable to do anything to help until he was far enough in to grab at the metal walls, shimmying up the best he could while Riku continued to tug him up by his jumpsuit. "This isn't exactly a cakewalk on my end either-!"

His voice caught in his throat as somewhere below him he heard the sound of a lock being undone and a door being thrown open. By then, he had just barely gotten his feet into the vent and was gasping for air, Riku staring wide-eyed at his face as the shouting of guards echoed up through the duct.

"They've escaped up into the ventilation system! Someone go sound the alarm!"

"Well, shit. That didn't last long."

From up ahead he heard Zexion's voice, "Thanks to the noise you two were making, I would not have expected it to. Now, we had best move quickly." Squall couldn't see past Riku, but he could tell Zexion's expression was not a happy one. In fact, there was very little he could see, the only light being the tiny bits that managed to squeeze past Squall's body from the room below, which was very little considering Squall took up most of the space. His shoulder just barely fit—he actually had to hunch in order to move—and when he crawled forward his elbows dug into his rib cage. The only things in front of him were four metal walls and Riku's backside as the hitman maneuvered himself back around. It was a very good thing he wasn't claustrophobic—as it was, the only thing keeping down a minor panic attack was a sense of urgency.

"Well then lead the way! You'd better get us out of here before we run out of air!"

"Do not be stupid, Riku. We will not run out of air, this is the ventilation system after all." Squall would've protested if he had the energy; there wasn't much of an airflow going with all three of them clogging up the pipes. "The air is, in fact, our ticket out. If we follow the breeze, it will undoubtedly lead us to an exit."

"You're the only one who can feel a breeze! Just, just go, alright?"

Squall frowned as Riku's voice took on a slightly panicked edge. The hitman was leaner than him but still not a small man and seemed to be on the same verge of a breakdown that Squall was on. "Keep it together. Just think of something else and focus on following Zexion out."

Whether or not Squall's coaching worked, Riku fell silent and they were left to crawl their way through the vents with only the sound of creaking metal and panting breaths to console them, their world quickly getting swallowed up by darkness. At first it hadn't been so bad but Squall was quickly coming to think that this was one of the worst experiences he had ever had. It was definitely up there. His body ached, his senses were nearly completely cut off, and he was exhausted physically and mentally. It was as if someone had thrown him into a coffin and buried him under six feet of dirt. No, wait, he would've had more room to breathe then. It was as if someone had vacuum sealed him and then thrown him under six feet of dirt.

Just when Squall thought that he was about to lose it, his sanity was saved by a small flicker of white up ahead. Riku was the first to react to it, "Oh, god, please let that be light!"

Somewhere up ahead Zexion let out a soft grunt. "It should be, we have been moving forward for about forty yards or so, give or take a few. Assuming that this building is not monstrous in size, it is about time that we reach an exterior wall. And judging by the fact that the air has slowly been getting fresher, I would say that we are most likely getting very close."

Those words alone gave Squall a second wind and allowed him to continue forward until Riku stopped, Zexion probably stopping in front of him, and Squall was pretty sure he knew why. The light had grown stronger and now Squall could see his surroundings again but, more than that, he could hear a very distinctive sound. It was a fan, probably blocking the vents as it drew clean air into the building.

For a second panic bolted through him at the thought of them getting stuck but then over the noise of the fan he heard something slamming against metal. Someone, Zexion, was banging against the fan to open up their escape route. He heard Riku shout some inaudible words of encouragement and a second later there was a loud slam and the duct was finally filled with sunlight as the fan was forced out from the vent.

A minute later Riku continued forward then disappeared from view and Squall knew that they were out. Crawling forward and ignoring the pain in his elbows and knees, Squall greedily sucked in fresh gulps of air as he suddenly emerged from the hellish ducts and looked out to see a thick wall of trees and blue skies. Looking down, he spotted Riku and Zexion sprawled out on a moss-covered forest floor and it was only then that he realized that he was a good twelve feet or so from the ground. Such a drop had never seemed less daunting.

Without even a second's hesitation, Squall pulled himself from the ventilation system and nearly free-fell to the ground, catching himself in roll at the very last second to avoid injury. It worked but it had almost caused him to roll head-first into the large industrial fan that had tumbled down there after Zexion had kicked it out.

Looking over to his left, he didn't think he had ever seen Riku looking more relieved than he did at that moment. "That…was the worst escape plan, ever."

Wincing, Zexion slowly sat up, gripping at his side. "It worked…"

"I don't freaking care. No more crawling through ducts, ever. End of story."

"We're not done yet." Squall hated to break the mood and would've liked nothing more than to sit right where he was for another twenty hours, but they just didn't have that option. Standing, he looked around. "They know we escaped through the vents and I'm sure they're looking for us. It won't be too long before they come around the side to check if we came out this way so we have to get moving."

Riku moaned but picked himself up, Zexion slowly following suit after a moment. "Very well…I have to say though, I have no idea which direction to head in. I was completely turned around during our drive here."

Shaking his head, Riku scanned the trees around them. "It doesn't really matter as long as we get away from here."

"We can head west. That way no matter where we are within a day or two we should reach a road or at least the ocean. From there we can work our way back to Twilight Town and get some help—" Squall cut himself off as some faint sound caught his ear. It didn't take him long to place the noise as the sound of voices, and they were getting closer. "We need to go, now."

No one seemed inclined to argue and the three of them dove into the trees. They all knew that it wouldn't take the Organization long to realize what had happened, particularly once they stumbled upon the broken ventilation fan, and they would soon be chased down. They needed the biggest head start that they could get. It was going to be the only advantage they had. After all, in their orange jumpsuits, they might as well've had a been big target painted on their backs.

As tired as he was, Squall forced himself to keep pace with Riku who, being the fastest among them, had taken the lead. When the silver-haired man glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were still behind him though, the assassin's steps slowed. Knowing that he wasn't the problem, Squall looked back to find that Zexion had stopped a few feet back and was leaning up against a tree.

"Come on, Zex! We don't have time for a rest break."

"…I know!" Zexion snapped back and Squall was scared, not because of his angry tone but because of the shorter man's panting breaths. Zexion was clearly gasping for air, not in the 'I'm out of shape and can't run' way but in the 'I'm physically unable to get enough air into my lungs to continue' way. "I, just…I seem to be having trouble…Go on, I will, I will catch up."

Riku's face has gone white as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Like hell you will!" All three of them jumped as a sudden gunshot split the air. Had they already been spotted? "Damn it!"

They needed to keep moving. But leaving anyone behind was out of the question. There was only one thing to do then. Turning around, Squall grabbed Zexion and, without a word, pulled the older man onto his back. Immediately Zexion's arms wrapped around his neck, his head falling against Squall's shoulder as he continued to try and regularize his breathing. Squall wasn't excited about the idea of carrying anyone piggyback in his present state, but he knew that Riku probably didn't have the strength to do so. He also had put his body through worse and knew that it was hold up for as long as he needed it to. He hoped.

Riku actually flashed Squall a relieved smile before launching back into a jog. "Alright, let's put as much space between them and us as we can!"

Squall nodded, any verbal reply silenced by another gunshot. That had clearly been aimed in their direction. Their only hope now was that they would be able to lose their pursuers in the woods. Considering they were wearing neon orange though, Squall doubted how well that would go for them. You could probably see them running from a mile away.