A new perspective
He was angry, not with Rinoa but the man who had treated her like that. That was society now. People hated each sorceress because of a few bad ones and people hated SeeD because they thought their morals were wrong. At least, they said that but in truth most people who said that were Galbadian and didn't like the idea of SeeD being hired to assist defending countries Galbadia wanted to occupy.
Once again society scared Rinoa, Squall didn't really want to admit it but he was losing patience over her fear, true he didn't know what it was like to be in her position and he never would but at the very least she could face her fear and prove she wasn't like the other Sorceresses, as her Knight he would defend her and if she wanted to keep her identity a secret he wouldn't divulge it. But he had no respect for her reaction to being a Sorceress and that would eventually have an effect on their relationship, he could feel it weakening already.
It was raining now, he wasn't really wearing anything that would protect him from the rain and his hair already damp from earlier was soaked through now. He wasn't even sure where he was going all he knew was the attacker today looked unprofessional and might return to the alley again to try and attack Rinoa again. It was an unofficial rule in SeeD- no it was common sense not to repeat the same tactics in a mission but this man judging from earlier didn't have any common sense and might do just that.
Hyne it was cold. He didn't realise just how cold until he started to pay attention to his surroundings and as per usual he drifted back into his thoughtful mode again, the one everyone attributed to his desire to be alone and his seriousness. But really it was a lapse of concentration which had the side effect of causing him to be rude and ignore people most of the time.
At least- that's my excuse he thought. He looked around, he was a few minutes away from the alley and he wanted to be sure he was fully prepared for an ambush, he had his GF junctioned and healing and combat magic stocked. But he couldn't guarantee that the man he was searching for wouldn't have backup by now, he shook away the thought of ten drunken men who- while they shouldn't be much of a problem alone would be difficult to beat as a group.
Why had he left the hotel? The reason didn't seem very good now, and earlier that evening he had proudly thought that he was a thinker; someone who considered an idea before carrying it out. Because impulse ideas might go wrong and cause trouble. And what had he just done? So he was like other people after all, he made mistakes like his friends, he remembered his casual response to the news that Rinoa was hanging off the quad in the attack against Garden and then helping her afterwards.
Back then though he was new to leadership, if he was even leader at all just then, damn he couldn't remember because of the GFs, he could remember things he didn't want to but when he wanted to forget things he couldn't, it was always the case. Like all his newfound problems with Rinoa that he previously didn't know he had.
Why do I have to think too much now? Squall thought knowing that when he did think too deeply about anything other than a mission he would become depressed and worried about things that were happening, or even things that weren't or wouldn't. He was happy in his relationship with Rinoa but something made him frustrated about her views on things.
It was cold, he noticed it again and he walked faster so that he could either warm up or finish what he was doing faster searching for Rinoa's attacker. Rinoa's locking herself in her room had made him determined to try and set her fears at ease, what he would do he wasn't sure about yet- looking in the bars was his best idea and it was so vague he didn't know where to start.
He ran a hand through his hair to see how wet it was, it was soaked, and the rain was falling down so hard that he had to wipe it out of his icy blue eyes repeatedly. The eyes in question scanned the entrance of the alley he was coming close to. It was strange how stark the contrast of the alley was in comparison to the main street. He looked for the familiar discolouring of brick that surrounded the shortcut to the square in front of presidential residence where the conference was usually held.
That was another thing, they had mentioned somewhere of higher security for the next conference, it didn't matter that he didn't know where it was, if he got lost he would be glad of the excuse not to attend it, Laguna would be there, that was the reason for all the added security. Squall had actually listened to the conversation about the requests the Estharian aides had insisted on for their president, the reason he had listened was because the politicians had been irritated about the request. They didn't see why the president had to have extra security the rest of them didn't have.
Squall entered the alley, it was even worse in the alley with regards to the weather; the rain wasn't falling so badly in here but the force of the wind seemed ten times magnified, Squall felt even colder and wondered why nature had to choose then to rapidly progress into a storm, especially in an alley littered with newspapers and broken bottles, the newspapers that had been wrapped around cheap fish and chips were becoming soaked and it became a job to avoid them.
The alley was boring and empty as he had had expected; there was absolutely nothing to see besides the rubbish and side doors from the storerooms of shops. He looked around; there should be something, some signs of a struggle. But he looked as around as thoroughly as he could despite the weather affecting his vision and sighed. There had been no reason to come out at all.
Maybe he would have waited normally but he couldn't be bothered this time. He walked back to the main street where he had come form and began the fifteen minute walk back to the hotel. He saw a bar though, it wasn't one he usually went to but he had been there once when Irvine had insisted on touring all the bars in Deling city and this had been one of them. He sped his pace, if he could get there and wait until the weather had calmed down a bit it might leave him a little drier by the time he got back to the hotel.
He opened the newly painted door to the bar and walked inside, the few customers who were there already didn't even turn around. Squall noticed they were mostly soldiers because of the loud conversation about battling and following orders. Squall walked to the bar and silently waited to get the attention of the barman who quickly served him because he was bored and had nothing to do, the soldiers probably hadn't purchased any new drinks for a long time but as they were trained and in numbers the barman couldn't threaten to throw them out.
Squall chose a seat at the back of the bar at a small table after receiving his drink and decided that if he had to wait long then he hoped the barman would be as wary of him as he had been with the soldiers because he didn't want to be disturbed the barman was certainly looking at him a lot until another cry form the soldiers took his attention, Squall had a real chance to think now. And as much as he had previously disliked thinking he now wanted a chance to do so, nobody had left him alone for a while and he was beginning to hate the constant requests for his attention from Selphie, Quistis, Cid, Edea, Xu and Dr. Kadowaki.
When he left Rinoa he had been angry, the incident didn't shock him as much as it had Rinoa though because he was a SeeD and had grown up to expect sudden attacks and surprises, Rinoa had, it had to be said lived a sheltered life and hadn't grown up to expect any sudden attacks although her parents might have considering the money Julia must have earned from releasing her song all those years ago- the attention she would get from fans. He remembered when Rinoa had been talking to him about their childhood and mentioned her mother. She had proudly announced her mother had been the writer of 'eyes on me' and asked him what he thought of the song.
Good job I didn't tell her what I really thought. I think she would have killed me if I told her I hated it he thought glad he hadn't told her the other thoughts associated with the song, that Julia couldn't sing very well in his opinion and that all versions of the song annoyed him.
He looked around again, his drink didn't taste very good and there was a smoky atmosphere in the bar which was rather small and rather empty for this time of night- it was quite late. That was another thing, he could lose all track of time, it was slipping away from him and he often didn't realise it- so today had gone in a flash- excluding the conference, which was a pity.
The soldiers were arguing over a game of cards, maybe they weren't even meant to be there, he could only assume that if that was the case they were being extremely careful not to get drunk and just wanted to skip part of their shift.
The door swung open, as nothing was really happening Squall turned his attention to the new customer and drew in a breath as he saw Rinoa's attacker enter the room, he obviously hadn't seen Squall yet and ordered a drink- announcing to the barman that he needed one after 'the night he'd had' and sighed. He turned around, leaning on the bar, he looked tired and then he noticed Squall.
Squall expected him to turn pale, look surprised or scared but certainly not smile. The customer took his drink and walked with it slowly to the table. Squall stared at him, surprised that the man would even dare to come near him after being slammed up against a wall. But he confidently sat down and Squall wondered what the reason was for the action. There were more than enough tables in the bar for him to sit at so there had to be some motive for his sitting there.
After lighting a cigarette he blew the smoke in Squall's face- he dared to do so because of the Galbadian soldiers who outnumbered Squall easily. He leaned back on the creaking chair he was sitting on.
"You don't smoke then?" He smirked.
"No." Squall took another sip of his drink, he could stare at someone for so long but in the end he had to give up, instead he decided to add to his statement. "I didn't think you would dare to come out so soon."
"I'm Tehn." Squall raised an eyebrow, "That's my name, T E H N. get it?"
"I'm not as stupid as you. Don't talk to me like that." He folded his arms and had finished his drink, it wasn't very strong anyway but he couldn't drink much and get away with it so he decided against ordering another even though the barman was watching them for- he assumed- not ordering another drink after meeting up again. He must have thought they knew each other.
"What you gonna do? Hurl me against a wall again? In case you hadn't noticed there are soldiers here who only help Galbadian citizens and you don't really count." He sat back smugly in his chair, the man was an idiot Squall decided, he was giving everything away- the fact he was a regular in this bar judging from the casual way he had spoken to the barman and revealing his name and letting Squall see him properly.
"Why did you do that anyway?" Tehn seemed genuinely curious. He obviously didn't know Squall was dating Rinoa.
"Rinoa's my girlfriend." He stated, watching Tehn's reaction. Tehn seemed pleased, why Squall couldn't tell but in a second his smirk was gone and replaced by a serious expression.
"Really? A SeeD dating a sorceress- there's one for the history books." Something about what he said bothered Squall for a second but he couldn't think what straight away- then he realised.
"How do you know I'm a SeeD?"
"Your uniform gave me a clue." Oh great a sarcastic idiot, just what he needed. It was also pretty embarrassing to not have realised the fact himself, he had to wear the uniform as part of the formality for the peace conference.
It was time to get to the point. "Leave Rinoa alone." Tehn laughed.
"Or else what?" He gestured around the bar, "you'll attack me in here? At this time, with what? Anyway- commander of Balamb Garden starts a fight in Deling city after peace talks. Not very good publicity is it?" Squall frowned, this man seemed to know an awful lot of information about him, Squall chose his strategy, let the man get drunk and or just wait for him to slip up, and Tehn seemed to like talking.
"You know what I want to know?" He leaned forward drunkenly after finishing his drink which must have been very strong Squall noticed, "What came first? SeeD or the sorceress?" Squall's face wore a blank look. Tehn repeated the question to no avail. He put it a different way.
"Were you a SeeD before you met her?" Squall nodded. "Oh that's why- well soon you have to make your mind up."
"That's none of your business." He half-expected Quistis to join him in the finish of the statement but she wasn't there. It wasn't as if he knew what Tehn was talking about if that was really his name, make his mind up? Tehn did like talking however, he kept going.
"Yeah it is, if you're gonna give up as part of your loyalty to her we need to know don't we? Before we act."
What Tehn was saying wasn't completely alien to Squall, he had noticed time after time the impracticalities of a relationship between Rinoa and himself, he was trained to destroy the Sorceress, she was the Sorceress, he was really only buying time for himself. He didn't know what else he would do with his life even at the start of it. He had so many problems to contend with he didn't know what to do.
Being in Garden he had had some security, he hadn't ever doubted that he would make it into SeeD as his marks had always been the best; he had been one of the best in his classes and therefore he didn't have to worry about his ability to pass. He had a career in front of him.
That was important, as an orphan he needed to know he would have somewhere to go, live sleep and not have to worry about his future. He had pushed away the thought of quitting SeeD away so it no longer became an issue to him. Now he had to face that as knight to the present sorceress he was a member of an organisation trained to kill her if the need arose. He had always countered the fact with 'well they won't attack her because she isn't a bad Sorceress' but the irony of it made his head ache.
Or maybe it was the drink, his head was spinning and he wanted to go back to the hotel. He stood up groggily and concentrated on stepping one foot in front of the other. But the soldiers had stood up; it suddenly occurred in the remaining sensible part of his mind that though he had been around to hear the soldiers in plain uniform talking about military jobs to be able to tell they were soldiers but Tehn hadn't.
Two soldiers blocked the door, and two more waited behind him, they walked up to Squall and seized his arms while Tehn prepared a sleep spell. Squall saw the barman out of the corner of his eye, wringing his hands nervously. He had out something in his drink, it was obvious now, and Squall felt the headache from whatever drug it was make him more and more tired and almost drunk. The spell hit him before he hit the floor, his dead weight causing the soldiers to drop him.
"Watch it you idiots! We need him if this is going to work." The soldiers nodded to Tehn and picked up Squall off the floor. Tehn checked the back entrance was clear, "Make sure nobody sees you. He made this a lot easier for us but we don't want to get too confident yet." The door swung open and a few minutes later the old customers were gone and the mess from fallen glasses cleared away. So when the next genuine customers arrived there were no traces of what had happened earlier. The soldiers were gone.
And Rinoa wouldn't know where else to look.