Chapter 11:

A week later, Bevelle Temple

Baralai sat at his desk looking at the papers for the day, or rather- pretending to look at them. His mind was anywhere those papers weren't; Gippal was about ten floors beneath him in a cell, accused of killing two people in cold blood while his wife and child sat at home wondering his fate. Baralai wanted to see him so badly- to hear with his own ears his best friend tell him he actually did kill them and that he didn't want anything more to do with Rikku. He just couldn't believe it even though he knew Rikku wouldn't make up such a thing.

Baralai promised Nooj and Paine he would wait until he got some kind of word that Slovak would not be coming around to watch over his suspect before he went to see him in secret. He loathed the idea of having to follow someone else's orders in the very temple he was in charge of, but he understood; Gippal was his best friend, and it just wouldn't seem fair to Alek and Fajio's families if he seemed to cater to a possible killer. Putting the paper he was not reading back on the desk, Baralai looked out into the hallway and noticed two Al-Bhed men talking in their language down the hall.

Curious about them, Baralai stood up and approached the doorway, but not before grabbing the papers he had just put down to stare at them again, this time to make the two men think he wasn't paying attention. They took one glance in his direction, smirked and carried on with their conversation. It seemed they figured Baralai couldn't understand them anyway, but little did they know not only did he learn some basics from Gippal during their squad days, his wife Yuna taught him what she knew as well.

The one said to the other- "It must be killing him not to go down and see Gippal."

"Yeah" the other one replied with a grin. "Slovak doesn't want him or the others interfering. At least he has enough sense not to go down there even though Slovak won't be around today. He has other business to take care of."

As the two changed the conversation to lunch and headed out of the temple, Baralai pulled out his pocket sphere and dialed Nooj and Paine's home. The screen focused in on Paine and she smiled. "Hey. You have any news?"

"I do." he replied quietly so no one would hear. "Slovaks not going to be around today. How soon could you and Nooj get down here?"

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Meanwhile in Djose:

Rikku finished giving Lelah her morning bottle and put her back into her bassinet, thankful she was as small as she was and needing as much rest as possible. Despite her waking up every two hours Rikku loved the breaks in between, but all it did was leave her with her thoughts, and they usually consisted of Gippal, his face, smile, and the harsh words he had for her. Grabbing her cup of coffee from the kitchen counter Rikku made her way to the couch and plopped down on it, sinking into the cushions. Before she could get comfortable though, there was a knock on her front door.

"I appreciate all this concern but it's getting' kinda old." she muttered to herself as she unlocked the door and opened it. To her surprise, Slovak stood in front of her with a box of donuts and flowers.

"Good morning!" He said crudely, shoving the box and flowers into Rikku's arms and pushing his way in.

"Why don't you come in…?" Rikku said annoyed, trying not to drop either the box or flowers. Setting them down onto the coffee table she sat down across from her guest. "What's this all about, Slovak?"

"Well we can't put this off any longer so I thought I'd cut through all of the wooing and get right to the banging." He continued to be short with her and smacked his lips.

"Um. Ew. Er… I'm afraid I'm not following."

"I've waited for as long as I could, Rikku, and the truth is your husband killed people and is awaiting punishment." Slovak crossed his legs and leaned back into the sofa, making himself more comfortable as Rikku watched in shock. "They're waiting on me since I was a witness to give the go ahead with the execution but because he's my friend I'm willing to make a deal to spare him." He paused. "For a price."

The lump in Rikku's throat felt like a blitz ball, and she didn't like what Slovak was implying but she was just so surprised and couldn't say anything in response as he continued.

"I'll tell them not to execute Gippal- to leave him in a cell down in Bevelle for the rest of his life as long as you agree to leave him and be with me."

Rikku gasped for air and rose to her feet. She pointed to the door and ordered him to leave. "Get out of here! Ya got some nerve trying to ask me to do something so stupid!"

"Really? You really think this is stupid?" He quipped, rising out of the chair, towering over her. "So you're saying you're willing to see Gippal get killed? For something he possibly didn't do?" As he walked away towards the door he turned around to face her once more. "That's fine by me. Once he's dead I'll still be second in charge for the Triad whether or not you're with me." He was met with a confused look from Rikku so he decided to fill her in. "Yep. Once he's dead that strips you of any rights you'd have in the Triad since he was the one in charge of the Faction. "Princess" or not, you're out. Besides, you have your hands too full with your daughter and everyone knows what a mess you are these days." Slovak reveled in watching her face sink and body slump in defeat. "At least if he's alive you could go visit him…that is, if he still even wants to see you."

"He only said those things to protect me!" Rikku screamed, startling Lelah and making her cry. "He won't agree to any of this! You're not being fair here." She went over to the bassinet and picked up her frantic daughter, trying to calm her down.

"Oh I think he'll be fine with it." Slovak insisted, following Rikku over to the bassinet and continuing to hover. " I highly doubt Gippal wants to die, and if he knew you wanted to save him he wouldn't object. Besides, I think he'd rather you were with one of his "oldest friends" than some jerk off the street. Think about it, but don't waste too much time. I'm not going to prolong this for much longer. Oh and one more thing- don't tell your friends about this- if you do you have to make it seem like it was your decision and you weren't forced. If I find out you told them I'll have him shot on the spot."

Without another word Slovak left Rikku standing in the middle of her living room with Lelah still crying in her arms. She felt like she had been hit by a hover and let herself fall into the couch. The tears fell afterward.

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Back in Bevelle

Paine and Nooj met up with Baralai in the main corridor. "So, where do we go to see Gippal?" Paine asked, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

"Yes! This way guys. We're going to go to my office." Baralai replied and the three made their way back to Baralai's chambers. Once inside, the praetor closed the door behind them, locked it and headed towards the bookshelf behind his desk. Pulling on one of the books made the shelf come out towards them revealing a narrow stairway.

"Now this is going to take a while, but it'll get us to his cell. It is connected to every cell in the Purifico. Only myself and the old Maesters knew about this so Slovak won't be able to find us. Shall we?"

"This is just like out of one of those cheap spy novels they sell at Rin's shop. Then again I'm not too surprised it's here...this is Yevon we're dealing with. Anyway, After you." Nooj said, motioning for Baralai to go first, and the three headed slowly down the staircase.

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Gippal sat on his cell bed, staring off into space. It had been a few days since he'd been down there and no one had come by since Rikku stormed off and Slovak taunted him. He missed Rikku and hated that he was so mean to her but he knew she would stay away and be safe, or at least he hoped so. At least he was clean and received food every few hours; the setup he had at the moment was definitely better than in that dark cave Slovak had him in. The bruises from the shackles on his wrists and ankles had begun to fade and he was feeling a little stronger than before.

He reclined onto his pillow, put his hands behind his head and began to think about his daughter, wondering how she was and who she resembled. Those thoughts always brought him back to when he and Rikku had their talk in the kitchen just before he went out on the dig that got him into the mess he was currently in. Gippal hated that he didn't just stay home like Rikku begged him to and promised himself he wouldn't be so stubborn in the future.

…that is, if he even had a future at that point. For the next half hour or so Gippal drifted in and out of consciousness; sleep was not something he got lately so when it came he had to give in and let himself sleep. It was then that he heard a tap on the wall to his back left and it startled him but when he looked over he saw nothing. He closed his eyes once more and drifted back off but the sound grew louder and it caused him to rise quickly from his bed. Walking over to the wall, Gippal placed his hand on the concrete surface and pounded it lightly with his fist. When nothing happened he tried again, but the wall quickly came out towards him and he fell backward on his behind. Looking up he was surprised at who he saw standing before him.

"It took you guys long enough to get here." He huffed, rising to his feet and crossing his arms defiantly. Gippal looked from side to side to see if anyone was around and faced his friends again. "I was about to give up on y…"

He was stopped in mid sentence by a blow to his face by Paine's fist, knocking him back onto the floor. Startled, he asked "What was that for?"

"I told her not to do that, but you know how she listens…" Nooj said, hobbling over towards Gippal's bed to sit himself down. "You look well. How are you holding up?"

Gippal wiped a trickle of blood from his lower lip with the back of his bare hand and stood back up again. "Well I was fine til your wife cold cocked me. Shouldn't you have her on a leash or something?" As Paine headed back towards him with her fist raised Gippal raised his own hands in defense. "I was kidding! Jeez, Dr. P what is your deal?"

"I just need to know…" She said, standing in front of him, her eyes looking Gippal over with steel intent. "Did you really mean what you said to Rikku?" Paine continued to stare him down as she waited for his response.

Gippal slouched but didn't lose eye contact when he spoke to her.

"Of course I didn't, but you have to keep her away from me, so if she believes it then don't do anything to change that." He put a hand to the back of his neck and smiled for the first time in a long time. "You're looking good there, Dr. P. I'm glad motherhood hasn't dulled your combat senses or fists." He gave a small chuckle and Paine took him by surprise again by wrapping her arms around him; tears made their way out of her eyes as she dug her head into his shoulder. "You act like we haven't seen each other in ages! What's up with that?"

"It has been too long for us, Gippal." Baralai said, approaching them from the right, placing his hand to Paine's back and rubbing it gently as she cried. "We really need to work on getting you out of here."

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A/N: I'm gonna end the chapter because it was getting out of hand. Thanks to those still reading, and sorry for taking so damn long. It's been hard wanting to write, especially after losing a great friend in the FFNET community. Ikonopeiston, I miss you.