Red + Red + Rose : Chpt. Eleven : Getting Even
She had no idea how they managed to recognize her through the disguise but she didn't care. It was too late to hide and she was almost as the motel. Thoughts seemed to dizzy her as she continued to quickly think of some sort of plan, all the while running at full speed and nearly shoving people out of the way.
An intersection was coming up, there were cars speeding across, blocking her from crossing. She would have to run through it and risk it though, there's weren't any alternatives and she certainly wasn't about to give up so easily. Not without a fight… She was now standing at the edge of the road where the cars were whizzing by. She stopped for a moment to quickly give herself the courage to run across, boosting her speed for a few seconds as she took a few deep breaths before leaping into the middle of the traffic. Tires screeched, horns honked and cries of dismay sounded as she made her way to the center of the road, dodging left to avoid getting hit by a truck. Quistis hurled herself forward to escape getting grazed by a car that had been speeding towards her. The three men had also started making their way across the road. Their speed, strength, and agility seemed almost inhuman as they used cars as stepping stones, jumping from hood to hood.
Sirens could be heard in the distance as she continued cautiously running and looking around as she crossed the busy street. She had to make it; everything was depending on her. She couldn't let them down. Besides, if she stopped now, they would get a clear shot at her this time. There was still a bandage wrapped around her shoulder from where the bullet had knicked her before, back at the school. There was only one more lane left but Quistis saw that it would be nearly impossible to cross. An accident had taken place up ahead, she presumed that it had been partially her doing, and now cars were rushing to the scene, curious to find out what happened. However before she even had time to think, she noticed one of the guys was standing not too far behind her, a few lanes back, and readying his gun. Reasoning and her sense of logic left her as she dashed forward, her legs sprung off the ground and she flipped up into the air. For a brief, but frightening moment she landed on the roof of a speeding car, but quickly catapulted herself off of it and completed another flip in the air. When she came down, falling towards the ground, she landed on her feet on the sidewalk. She had safely made it across. But she did not have the time nor the energy to do a victory dance and congratulate herself for accomplishing such a task, because her enemies were rapidly catching up with their guns pointed at her.
Picking up speed once again, though her shoulder was throbbing and more then anything she wanted to just slow down, she increased her pace, pushing herself to the absolute limit. Everything went by as almost blurs, nothing seemed real anymore, only getting away and living to see tomorrow was what counted.
The motel was getting closer and closer. It was an old, rotting, cement building with rust and decay creeping up on almost everything in its vicinity. Chunks of cement along with huge rock-like blocks lay scattered around. There was exposed pipelines and steel from the very foundation as well. Dangerous materials were littered all around however she was only concerned about using what remained of the walls as a cover from the bullets.
Just as an explosion sounded from not far behind her and bullet soared through the air, straight past her, extremely close to her neck, Quistis hurled herself through the air and behind one of the rotting walls of the motel.
The footsteps from behind her seemed to stop and she heard voices murmuring close by. Now safely behind the block of cement, she allowed herself to take a few deep breaths before peeking her head around to see one of the men very close to her, looking around. She aimed her gun directly for his head and fired. The explosion would have probably made her drop the gun and fly backwards if she hadn't had a grip on it like Rigamortist had been setting in. The sound of the shot rang in her ears and seemed to jolt her brain. The man instantly spun around to come face to face with the speeding bullet; it ripped into his forehead and into his skull. He let out a grunt before collapsing on the ground. Meanwhile, the other two men had heard the noise and decided to run over.
Shit, they're coming at me from two directions.
She was sure that the first one had seen her so she jumped up and fired two shots at him, missing the first time but knicking him on the hand the second time. His wounded hand formed a fist but he did not stop running towards her. Here eyes widened in surprise and she tried firing a third shot at him, only to have it ricochet off a wall and narrowly miss her as it flew by her head.
Suddenly the man had a gun aimed at her head before she could duck down. He was only a few feet away and she doubted he would miss. She was frozen in panic, her eyes darted around to where the other one was running at her. She knew the other man would fire at her if she tried moving so she stayed perfectly calm as he walked over to her. A chill ran down her spine when he stood in front of her, though the concrete was blocking her body, her head was visible. He seemed to smile as he looked at her. The man extended his arm and grabbed onto a fistful of her golden hair. Her hat had fallen off in mid-air back at the intersection and now she winced with pain as she slowly stood up.
Dammit. I've got to get away from him.
However the gun that was aimed directly at her forehead made her reconsider when she contemplated running away from him and ducking behind another cement block.
"You little bitch," He growled, "You have no idea how much trouble you've caused."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. You have no reason to be doing this to me. You're the ones that murdered so many people." She accused, glaring into his eyes.
"Shut up." He let go of her hair for a second. In that moment she tried backing away and raised her foot up to kick him but he now had his hand around her neck. The other man was standing right beside her.
"Fuck you. You're a damn coward."
"You wanna bet?" He pulled her toward him; she stumbled over the chunk of cement and pressed against him as he caught her before she fell.
"What are you going to do, shoot me?"
"No. Blake will take care of that."
"Blake's an asshole. He can't even fight for himself."
"Just shut up." The man repeated, tightening his grip around her throat.
She bit her lip and tried not to gasp for air, instead she breathed heavily and struggled to peel his hand off her, unsuccessfully.
"I'll bet," She whispered, her oxygen supply still closed off, "He doesn't even know how to fire a gun."
The man appeared to become enraged and the other man brought his gun up, pressing it up against her temple. Quistis only winced as the pain came, not giving them the satisfaction of letting them hear her in pain.
"Go ahead. Shoot me." She called them on, gritting her teeth and balling her hands into fists.
"Enough talk." The other ordered, "Time to bring her back to the boss."
She was determined on staying in place though as they tried dragging her to the car she tried kicking them and wriggling away but it did nothing as they got closer. They were tall and slim, both clad in signature black trench coats and both had identical holsters at their waist. They were strong, stronger then her at least. They knew how to fire a gun, she had just learned. She saw that two more cars had pulled up at the curb, six men stood outside the cars, all-glaring at her. She returned their angry stares and narrowed her eyebrows at them, daring the men to try to attack her.
She knew by now, with all those men standing there, waiting and supervising that it would be impossible to get away. They had her trapped and they knew it. Refusing to admit that she was defeated, she didn't lower her head or frown, instead she ignored them, her mind working frantically to think of some kind of desperate escape plan.
Kick them, shove them, try shouting for help. None of the ideas would have worked, they had her at gunpoint and she was not about to try anything dangerous. She was at the sidewalk now, just about to be shoved into the sinister-looking car as she looked around, in panic, for any kind of miracle. They held onto both her arms, both of them had grips like steel that she knew would not release easily.
The backseat looked dark, it looked almost velvety as she was going to get in. The door was open and she noticed that the windows were tinted.
As she raised her foot to get in, a shot flew through the air. A bullet glided directly into one of the men's chest, the one on the right, and he let out a groan before buckling and letting go of her. The other men's attention was immediately diverted to where the shot piece of ammunition had come from. Quistis used the opportunity, when their guns weren't pointed at her, to push herself away from the remaining man that held onto her.
Who was it? Where do I run? What's the hell just happened? Thoughts raced through her mind and she barely had any time to think before the men had their guns aimed at her back once again as she ran away, toward the structure, dodging the bullets that were now being rapidly fired at her. They kicked up dust and clouds formed in the air as they hit one of the pipes, breaking it open and causing multiple chemicals to leak out of it and fog the air.
She saw a girl dressed in black, her eyes narrowed at where the men were standing, looking around frantically for the blonde, she fired another few shots at them, catching another off guard and he fell to the ground. The others either dropped to the ground to avoid getting shot at or hid behind their cars.
It seemed to take forever before Quistis made it safely behind another one of the walls, she pressed herself against it and wiped away the small droplets of perspiration that had formed at her temple when the gun had been pointed at it. Rubbing her throat and wincing slightly, she looked up to where Rinoa stood, smiling and continuing to fire shots at the men.
"You're lucky." She said, turning to face her for a moment, "You would have been taken away if I hadn't followed you from the club. C'mon, this way."
Both women crouched down to avoid being seen and quickly made their way towards another, more stable wall that offered more protection. The sneaked through the darkness speedily because not too far behind them, even though Rinoa was continuing to cover them, the men were advancing. Though the cloud of chemicals offered a bit of protection, their forms could still be seen as they crawled.
A few shots rang out, aimed for them, the brunette pulled Quistis down and they rolled up against the wall to evade them. The fog was rapidly deteriorating tough and both girls knew that when their cover was blown and they were out in the open it would be over. Quickly scurrying behind the closest block in sight, they failed to notice the man standing beside it. She tried to shout a warning to Rinoa, but by that time the man had already leapt into action, kicking the gun out of Rinoa's hand and bringing his foot back another time to sharply wound her neck, causing the agent to double over backwards. The other teen stood up immediately, delivering a strong blow to the enemy's head and another hard punch to his abdomen. She followed it up by performing a powerful roundhouse kick directed to his head. Her attacker returned the move by charging at her in an attempt to bring her down. She hopped out of the way so that he crashed to the ground and knocked his head on a jagged rock.
By that time, Rinoa had pulled herself to her feet, only to be faced with another foe. She reached for her gun but immediately retracted her arm when a man jumped in front of it. He tried to attack her with a hard hit to the jaw, she ducked down in the knick of time to miss the move. Counter-attacking with a hard sideswipe to the nose, she felt his bone shatter as her fist made contact with his nasal area. Not letting him gain an advantage for even a moment, she brought up her knee and rammed it, hard, into his ribcage. The man keeled over, gripping his chest area, but she wasn't about to stop yet. In a split second she had him in a tight headlock and proceeded to cut off his oxygen supply. Though the man struggled and tried to elbow her stomach, she kept her balance and her grip remained tight until his body fell limp in her arms. She released him and watched as he fell to the ground.
Quistis had made it over to another large, partially decaying wall, and so the other woman cautiously ran over to where she stood, peeking around to see another two men quickly advancing toward them. Rinoa had picked up her gun by then, aimed it at the man on the right, and sent a bullet sailing into his upper chest. He moaned in pain while his partner instantly jumped behind the closest piece of cement for cover, blocking the other gunshots. The wounded man fell to his knees, cursing them aloud and trying to fire his gun. Unfortunately, another quick shot to his head and the rest of his body crashed to the ground.
Looking over her to Rinoa to confirm the action she was about to make, the blonde spun around upon seeing the other fighter nod. She ran over, stealthily, to where the man had tried to hid himself and found him crouching, waiting for her. He stood up and swung his fist at her, hitting only hair as she dodged to the side. He raised his foot up to kick her abdomen but she was too fast, immediately jumping off of the ground to return the kick with her own. She missed him the first time but her platform boot connected with his side when she lashed out again. His stomach was hard, he had braced himself for the attack. He responded to her move with a strong punch to her collarbone, knocking her off balance as she stumbled backwards. He continued to punch her with hard hits to her sides and upper stomach. She tried to tighten her muscles to nullify the offensive, but only fell to the ground in a desperate attempt to get away. The man raced at her, leaping into the air and sticking out his foot. She looked up in time to see him coming and grabbed his foot in mid-air, twisting it and making him fall down. She struck him lethally in the temple, causing him to black out before he could get up.
Rinoa, seeing another man rushing over to where she stood, came out of cover and charged at him, tackling him to the ground where they began to wrestle. She was on top of him and landed two fierce punches to his jaw area. He shoved her off and then suddenly she was on the bottom, struggling as he began choking her, pressing both hands down hard on her throat. She tried wriggling and squirming away from the man, to no avail. Attempting to throw him off, she brought up both knees and attempted to push the man away, pressing her legs up against his chest. For a moment his guard had been down, she used the opportunity to roll him onto his back and deliver several upper-cutters as she pounded away at him, adrenaline fueling her.
Meanwhile, Quistis had found another gun as Rinoa continued to beat up the other man. She saw one of her enemies creeping up behind her, out of the corner of her eye, just as he was about to take her out from behind. She turned around and fired the gun, missing him all six times that she fired, however the action caused him to back away. She dropped the weapon in disgust and ran up to her foe, just as he had extended his arm to brutally meet her stomach. She flew through the air and felt her body slam against the ground. While the injured woman was still reeling in pain, the man came at her another time. He tried kicking her again when she was down, but she rolled out of the way and managed to pull herself to her feet. He came barreling at her, full speed, so she frantically picked up a large rock and hurled it in his direction, praying it would hit him. There was a sickening thud as it smashed against his skull and he dropped to the muddy floor.
In that time, however, the man her ally had been dealing with had gained the upper-hand. He was pounded atop of her and pummeling Rinoa with punch after punch. Seeing this, Quistis ran over to where the girl lay, coming up behind the man and knocking him off with a powerful motion with her foot. When he landed a few feet away, the fallen fighter hurriedly returned to her senses and picked up her gun. He was just standing up as she aimed, perspiration forming at her temples, she squinted to correct her vision. The opponent tried ducking, however she shot him several times to his upper body before breathing a sigh of relief. Quistis helped her to her feet and they looked around to see if anyone else was lurking in the shadows. Luckily, it seemed that they had taken everyone out and there wasn't much of a threat anymore. Rinoa guided the other teen away from the rubble, they clumsily stumbled over most of the rocks and exposed pipes, dead tired from the battle. When they got to the street, they crossed and began walking over to the corner, both were practically limping and breathing quite heavily, gathering their thoughts about the fight. When they finally got well away from the mess, they both looked back at it.
"They'll be sending more soon. We've got to get out of here before that happens. We should consider ourselves lucky to have made it out of that alive. Those men have been trained similar to the soldiers in the army or the navy."
Quistis nodded and watched in curiosity as the agent brought her gun up shakily, biting her lip, and fired several times at the uncovered pipes that were spraying out chemicals.
"The gasses will emerge and soon after mixing with all the other chemicals-"
She didn't get a chance to finish because suddenly there were multiple earth-shaking explosions that rose from the rubble. Flames shot high up into the sky and black, hazy smoke filled the air. The sound was deafening as the blasts continued.
"It'll explode." The other girl finished for her, studying the fire.
"I'm sorry for bringing all of this on you tonight. If I hadn't got so angry over that disagreement with Squall, none of this would have happened. We'd be safe asleep in our beds and well rested for the assignment tomorrow. We're supposed to be protecting out and I just stormed off, allowing anger to cloud my vision."
"It happens. Trust me, I have experience with anger. You're only human."
"Yeah, it does happen but it shouldn't. Had I not walked out that door…well I'm just reasonably pissed off at myself. After all, it's not your fault I'm so hard-headed." She sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"We have more important things to be worrying about, like the plan. It's still on, right?"
"Yes, which is why we should hurry back to the apartment now. You know, even though I made a few mistakes tonight, I'm glad to see that you improved your fighting technique and got a bit more practice, should you need it for tomorrow."
"What will they do when they get here? Will they look for the men, trying to save them?"
"Nah, Blake doesn't give a fuck about his men. It's you he wants and he'll do anything to find you. I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised at how desperate he is to get you."
"Me too. Which is precisely why I knew deep down that when I left the apartment, it was the wrong decision. After Squall walked out, I got so angry."
"He left?"
"Mmm. He didn't look too pleased either. I haven't a clue where he might have gone though."
Rinoa shrugged and began walking, leaving Quistis to her thoughts as her friend began walking as well. They stuck mainly in the shadows and the backstreets of the city, wanting to avoid any further conflicts with Blake and his men. The air was warm for a spring evening, the stars and moon were visible in the dark sky as they continued to walk. Music could be heard playing the distance, while the occasional couple or group passed them on the deserted sidewalks. Nobody traveled alone in Chicago at night, there was simply too much violence and the police coverage was scarce in these parts.
It wasn't long before the Opium came into view, the flashing lights and loud techno beats coming from it drowned out most of the chatter taking place outside the busy nightclub. The women noticed that even though it was well into the early hours of the morning, there was still a very long line of people gathered waiting for the bouncer to let them in.
Just as they passed by the club, a jeep carrying a single driver, pulled up on the road alongside them. They were immediately on their guard until they saw that it was Squall. He looked sullen, however she could not think of a lot of times when he didn't appear so cold. Though it was dark out, he still wore his sunglasses that hid his jewel-like blue eyes. They walked over to the vehicle and Rinoa rested her elbows on where his window was rolled down.
"Smooth timing."
"What did you expect? I'm not a chaperone service."
Quistis walked around the jeep and hopped into the back, ignoring their ongoing fight. She motioned for her companion to climb in as well. The brunette looked reluctant, but she hopped into the backseat before crossing her arms in front of her chest and staring out the window.
"Where were you?" She asked, in a rather annoyed tone, to Squall who silently drove them home.
"Out."
"Obviously. But a bit more detail on why you left Quistis in danger, only thinking about yourself, would be a bit helpful."
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course not to you." She scowled, "If we're ever going to end this stupid fight you're going to have to eventually open up to me. As hard and scary as that may seem to you-"
"Just forget it. We don't have time to be wasting throwing useless verbal insults back and forth. We have to concentrate on the mission."
"I can't concentrate like this."
"C'mon guys." Quistis interrupted, "Everyone makes mistakes, not everybody can just make up at snap of a finger. I'm positive that when you're both ready to resolve this, you will."
"Fine." They both agreed, though then tension was high as the jeep sped down the streets of downtown, things seemed to cool down as the group was quiet for the remaining portion of the ride.
Thoughts passed through her mind, she wondered what Blake's penthouse was like. How would he act when he saw her?
Of course he'll be rude and disturbing. He's one of the most major criminals in this city.
Still, she couldn't help but contemplate what his base would be like. What kind of luxuries would there be? If he was rich enough to afford his own conference room, what else was there? How would Squall be able to get into the vents without being seen? How would Rinoa manage to take Blake hostage in his own home? He probably had a gun as well. Would they have to set the bomb? What if they couldn't find Seifer or something went wrong and he got killed?
She knew it wasn't normal for her to have so many doubts, however it was her first actual 'mission', as Squall put it. Obviously, there would be danger like all the times before when she had been confronted with Blake's men. This time it would be different though, she would have no escape if something went wrong. As unbelievably tired as she was of running, it was the only way to stay alive when being attacked by those people. Perhaps if she had more combat experience she would nave to, but at the moment it was necessary.
How did Rinoa get her training? What did Squall do to help her? What's going to happen to them after this assignment is over? Will I be expected to go on living normally after this is over? What will Seifer be like?
Quistis knew that she wanted to go to Harvard. She had been accepted and had also found out that they were prepared to aid her financially so she could attend and pay for her tuition. After everything had happened, however, she knew that it would be harder for her to leave Seifer, but at least he would live. She didn't want to leave Chicago anymore. Friends…Memories…
There was too much going on at the moment to even think about leaving the city so she pushed the thoughts out of her mind as they pulled into the apartment's parking lot. It didn't seem all that big, just tall. She wondered how big the penthouse would be. Would there be guards at every door?
It was near midnight when they finally made it in. The building was deathly silent as they walked through the lobby and into the elevator. Squall and Rinoa led while the blonde just followed them. The ride up was a fast one, the lift did not stop at any other floors as it got higher and higher. However, the group was barely out of the elevator when the two agents were grabbed and pulled down the hallway, leaving Quistis to peek out before cautiously exiting. There were two males talking to Squall and Rinoa, one was tall and thin while the other one was both large in mass and height. The small man didn't have a very deep voice, but rather it was gruff and harsh. The bigger man barely spoke a word, his voice came out choked and she winced as she saw a large scar on his neck.
She pondered over what they could possibly want, their tones were hushed and it seemed that the couple had completely forgot about her. Were those two enemies or friends? Had they even seen her?
"Quistis, come over here." Rinoa called to her, it didn't look like she was frightened or angry so the other girl assumed that they weren't foes, "These two people are Kiros and Ward, they came here for confirmation about the ride tomorrow."
The two men nodded to her in unison and seemed to study her for a moment before turning back to the others.
"So this is the one?"
"The one? Heh, you can address her a Miss. Trepe." She grinned at them.
"Laguna won't be able to help drive, hope it's okay."
"Laguna? He used to work at the honey-been pub, didn't he?" Quistis asked.
"Yes, he worked there while we were looking out for you." Rinoa answered.
"I see."
"Mmm. So, now that you're familiar with them, I guess it's time to go inside and get some rest."
"I'll take her in." Squall volunteered, motioning for her to follow him inside.
They waved to her as the other agent lead her into the apartment where he sat down at the kitchen table and rubbed his temple, slamming the door behind him.
"Tough night?"
"None of your business."
"I could have finished that sentence for you. I knew it was coming."
"Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers to?"
"Why are you so intent on hiding yourself behind walls that you've built for yourself?"
"It's not relevant."
"Relevant? Exactly what do you call relevant? I believe it would be relevant when it's keeping us from having a conversation. If you ever want to truly work together with someone you've got to open up to them eventually."
"I'm fine alone. I've always been that way."
"You know, talking to you is like talking to a damned robot. It's impossible to trigger a response with any emotion in it whatsoever." She sighed and walked into the living room, falling down onto the couch and getting comfortable, "Join me."
"No thanks."
"It wasn't a question."
She heard him get up, almost reluctantly, and stride over to where she was lying down.
"Care to explain why you kissed me?"
"I'd rather not."
"You know, what I felt for you, it was like a misunderstood love. I wondered what you were like, what types of things you might enjoy, why you were in my class. Right now, I still don't know the answer to that second question."
"Combat."
"Is that because it's easier to take your anger out on others then it is to blame yourself?"
"I want to remain alone."
"How can that be true? You know, I can't believe that you'd say something like that when you've got someone outside in that hall who would do anything for you, she'd sacrifice herself just for you. Can't you see that?"
"Whatever."
He was about to get up to leave, but she grasped onto his hand. The leather glove in her palm felt warm and soft, like his skin.
"You must love her back."
"No…I don't."
"Liar. Then why did you save her? Why did you help her and let her join you?"
"She had no where else to go."
"Nobody else to run to, you mean. Nobody to depend on, nobody to make her feel wanted and appreciated."
"………"
"Will you do me a favor tonight, Squall?" She stared into his eyes, ordering him to comply.
"What?"
"Tell her tonight. She's going to give up sooner or later, without any returned feelings, who wouldn't start to back off?"
She sighed as he pulled away from her, just as the door opened and Rinoa entered. For a moment part of her wanted to call him back but another part wanted her to leave them be. If only they could end the fight, it felt awkward. The other woman took of her shoes, weary from the fight as well, and strolled into her room, shutting the door behind herself. Though she felt slightly bad for Squall, something told her that he didn't quite want to make up with her yet, despite her efforts. He went into his own room, slamming the door, she heard him drop onto the bed and sigh.
What is he thinking? It doesn't matter what he's thinking. I shouldn't care about what's on his mind. And yet…If only he wasn't so secretive, perhaps I wouldn't feel this way. Hmph, feel this way? I'm starting to sound like a lovesick tart. I just want to go home, home is safe, home is comfortable, home is…gone. He even managed to take that away from me after taking Seifer. That asshole has some nerve. If he tries to do anything to me tomorrow, he'd better be wearing a jock or else he'll be keeling over on the floor. He'd better…not…have…
Sleep had come soon, she felt like she couldn't keep her eyes open any more, she yawned and curled up into a ball, awaiting her dreams. For the past few nights she hadn't got much rest, it certainly wouldn't help tomorrow night so had to make a point to get as energized and pumped as she could. Her heartbeat seemed much slower then earlier, probably from all the running and jumping. She listened to her breathing, long, deep breaths instead of the short, shallow gasps she took while running.
Squall…tell her before…it's too late-
Suddenly, there was a loud, piercing noise and then a white-hot pain. Two arms grabbed her waist and for a moment she thought she was flying through the air. Her eyelids were covered with sleep though, and it was hard to open them as she felt herself being pulled and shoved.
"What the hell?!" She shouted, as she blinked open her eyes only to find herself in the arms of a person dressed entirely in black, bouncing up and down from running. She tried kicking and punching him, struggling to get away.
This isn't a dream. Who are these people? Get away!
"Shut up." A male voice barked, it was gruff and raspy. She saw that they were on the balcony now, a rope was hanging down and the man seemed to have some kind of a harness around his waste.
"Get the fuck away from me!" She demanded, though panic was evident in her voice.
"Bitch, if you wanna live you'd better shut your damn mouth." The man warned.
She saw someone emerge from a room in the apartment but couldn't make out who it was. Just then, there was a loud explosion and a bullet soared through the air, passing by her a few feet away. Quistis tried kneeing him in the stomach, bringing up her leg and ramming it up, only to be met with a sharp, gleaming silver object. She moaned in pain and realized that it had been a knife.
"That'll teach you." The man carrying her swung his legs over the balcony railing and hung of the rope, carefully holding onto her.
"Let go!" She tried again, wincing as pain shot up her leg.
"You wanna live?"
He probably would have tried to hurt her again, had they not been dangling hundreds of feet above the ground. She looked up and saw Squall, a shocked and concerned expression on his face. It was the first time she had ever seen him so worried. Trying to raise up her arms to grip onto the balcony, she found that she was too far away as her ally tried to grab them to pull her back up, unsuccessfully.
"I can drop her right here, right now. You stay the fuck away or else I'll blow her bloody brains out."
Rinoa appeared behind Squall on the balcony, a hand raised to her mouth as she could only watch her friend being carried down the rope.
"Try anything and I'll snap it." She threatened, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth from where she stood.
The man began going down faster and faster, despite her attempts to stop him, it was impossible in the position she was in, hooked onto him by some kind of belt.
"Why are you doing this? Who are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough when you see the boss."
"Boss? Wha-"
"One of Blake's cronies." Rinoa growled, biting her lip as she saw there was nothing she could do that wouldn't involve harming the other girl.
By that time, Squall had ran inside the apartment and Quistis assumed that he was going to try to make it down to the ground before they could.
"You better watch it or I'll cut off this belt and drop her like a rock."
"Speak for yourself, you'll be falling down with her if you do that." The female agent from the balcony countered.
She looked down, only to find that they weren't too far now, the man had been sliding down the rope while alternating with rappelling and he had been hurrying the entire time. There were five other people waiting down on the ground now, each with guns aimed at Rinoa. She didn't back down though, continuing to stand on the balcony, trying to think of something rational to do.
The teen grabbed onto her enemy's shoulder to avoid falling to the ground after he jumped off the rope, still eight feet in the air. They landed on the ground with a thump and immediately the other men surrounded her in a close circle. Rinoa was practically in tears, shouting down threats to them and swearing revenge.
Just as they began walking over to the car, almost at the sidewalk, despite her kicking and shouting for help, Squall came running at full speed through the apartment doors, she reached out to him, staring at him desperately. However, in a split second the other five men had all their guns pointed at him and their fingers pressing against the triggers, prepared to shoot if her got any closer. He shook his head, cursed in rage, and reluctantly raised his hands in the air, taking a few steps back.
You can't do this. You can't let them walk off with me. Squall!
She shot him a desperate, pleading glance, still wincing from the hot pain in her leg.
"Quistis…"
"You get any closer and," One of the men spun around and pressed the gun into her temple, "she dies."
"I don't think Blake would be too pleased about that."
"Fuck you."
They were at the car now, the doors were opened and it was the same make as the one they had tried to shove her into at school, except now she could not struggle with the threat of a bullet being embedded into her skull.
"Hurt her and you'll be spitting blood out through your ass." Rinoa shouted, almost like a maniac, she looked like she would murder them right there from where she stood.
"Yeah, how about if I shoot her right now, get this thing over with, and then fuck her corpse like the whore she is. You can watch and it'll be like at the Opium, bitch!"
Squall looked ready to leap at the man that had said this while the other agent appeared to be disgusted at the crude remark. The next thing she knew, she was forced into the back seat of the car and the world went black.