For what it's worth.
Dedicated, for her help in this
fic and others, with all my love, to Astraea Trepe.
Also with many many thanks to Race Ulfson, KNW and deamonryu for letting me
bounce ideas and scenes off them with no idea of what the hell I'm doing.
(thanks to Nytedancer for the title idea)
The characters, places, etc are the property of Square and I make no claim. I am making no money from this.
Chapter Two
"So, how are we going to get in there?" Irvine followed Squall, his gaze drifting down to that ass in the tight leather. Now that was a sight he really could get used to.
"Beat up a guard." Squall replied flatly, leading Irvine towards a bar frequented by Galbadian soldiers and the guards from the D district prison.
"…..You're serious aren't you?" Irvine's gaze was still low, rather captivated by the hide-covered rear.
Squall stopped suddenly, Irvine narrowly missing crashing into him. Squall looked at Irvine, honestly wondering why Irvine was questioning that. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I take it back, you won't have a heart attack by the time you're twenty five, you'll get yourself killed way before that." He got a glare for that but simply shrugged and followed Squall into the bar. As soon as they were inside, Irvine tapped him on the shoulder.
"What do you want?" Squall asked softly, glancing back at Irvine.
"What's a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?"
Squall almost smiled for a moment, rolling his eyes in appreciative exasperation. "Keep your mind on the job Kinneas." He turned back to the bar and looked around for a suitable volunteer.
It hadn't been that hard to find a guard willing to arrest an escapee and his accomplice. Of course, Squall breaking his nose with the first punch may have had a hand in convincing him. The arrogant idiot hadn't even thought that they might be letting him catch them, that it would barely take them two minutes to finish him.
Then they'd been dragged to the d-district prison and sentenced.
Then dragged again to the "GF room".
The gf room was a small room, barely more than twelve feet square and three quarters of it was taken up by a ruddy black machine. Ominous, something out of a nightmare, the bastard offspring of a oilboyle and a blood soul machine stood in grim silence awaiting the next victim eagerly. The bed, angled at to the floor so the "patient" was just off balance, leaning back a little more than was comfortable was surrounded by what looked like a pair of jaws.
They attached the electrodes of the contemptible machine's helmet to Squall's temples, and forced him to lie back, strapping first his upper arms down and binding his ankles to the table. Finally they slipped the helmet onto his head and with a hum the machine was powered up.
As the first current of magical energy ripped through his body, he'd almost bitten through his lip.
At the third jolt, he heard a scream.
At the fifth, he realised it was his own.
When they let him free after the seventh shock, bereft of Shiva and Bahmut, Doom train no longer sitting in the back of his mind waiting to be summoned, Squall slowly crumbled to his knees. It took a few moments to convince his body not to throw up before he stood again, unable to lift his head to see them put Irvine through the same torture.
Squall could take them removing his gunblade. Even his magic.
But not Shiva.
The sensation had been vile, like being violated in a thousand ways at once, his mind being compromised and the one constant in his life being torn from him, ripped out of his head by force without even a moment's compassion. Like a child with an insect, tearing the wings from the creature and leaving it in hideous pain.
And, for the first time since before he'd first junctioned the Ice goddess all those years before, Squall knew and felt keenly that he was completely alone. And he was afraid.
Irvine didn't scream. His junctions weren't as deep rooted as Squall's, having only been using them a few months instead of half his life. He usually kept Siren and Cactaur unjunctioned, he knew he'd already forgotten things that he was supposed to remember, but the GF's were useful. He let them go quicker than Squall had.
He listened to Squall ask
"Odine designed that, didn't he?" as the doctor removed the electrodes from Irvine's skin a little sharply.
"How did you know that?"
Squall shrugged. "Lucky guess."
Irvine wondered where they'd got the machine. It hadn't been there the last time they'd visited, looked kinda new. Maybe Odine was selling his research overseas for a little bonus.
His legs felt like jelly, he could barely stand for a moment and he had to hold onto the guards arm, murmuring Squall's name softly.
Then Irvine was being forced to his feet and pushed into the next room, not given a choice in the matter. He was forced against the wall beside Squall, his arms pulled behind his back and cuffed there firmly. "Hey!"
Squall remained silent as the cuffs were snapped around his wrists. He seemed almost dead, unresponsive to everything, barely even acknowledging the guard. Slowly, he lifted his mercury-coloured gaze to Irvine's eyes. He appeared almost… a hollow shell, unaffected by everything. It was strange. The only time he'd heard Squall scream in his life had been barely what, five minutes before?
He knew Squall had been junctioned for more than nine years. He'd gotten Shiva for the first time when he was still eight. All that power pushed on a kid just because he showed promise. Seemed almost criminal. All that time junctioning every day, half the time staying junctioned for days, weeks, months on end… This had to be hard on him.
"Squall…" Irvine whispered and was struck across the back of his head for his troubles.
"No talking!"
Squall gave him a look that said listen to the guard.
Irvine shrugged the guard's hands off as they were pulled away from the wall and was cuffed once more, before they were both forced through the halls and down to the higher security cells. Squall coughed as they passed a guarded room, and Irvine looked at him, tipping his head towards the door. Squall nodded briefly. It had to be the prisoner they were looking for.
Further and further down, into the bowels of the prison they were pushed, until finally the guards opened a door and threw them inside. Squall stumbled, still dizzy from having the junctions removed so forcibly. "Watch it you bastard." He seethed softly.
The guard stalked to him. "Don't call me that." He hissed and dragged Squall to his feet, raising his fist to give him a sound right hook; almost enough to knock the brunette back down, though not quite.
Squall lashed out, driving his knee deep into the guard's crotch and licking a trail of blood from his lip.
A second guard moved forward, grabbing hold of the collar of Squall's jacket and whacking him across the side of his head with a club before flinging him at the wall of the cell. Squall hit it hard, with a loud gasp of breath as the air rushed from his body and he slid down the wall slowly. Irvine was at his side in a second, leaning over him protectively.
"All ya got kid?" The guard hissed as someone helped the fallen man to his feet.
Squall glared up at him. "Not by a long shot."
The same man braced one foot on Squall's thigh as he leant down to unlock his wrists. "Try it again pretty boy and you'll just be a smear on this floor."
As the same man unlocked Irvine's wrists, Squall struggled to stand only for Irvine to hold him in place. "Stay down."
"You should listen to the wuss." The guard sneered and backed off.
Irvine stood. "Tch. I'm only tellin' him 'cause I don't want him in here for murder too!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever." The door was slammed shut with a resounding clang.
"Bastard. I can't believe he hit you." Irvine turned around to glance at Squall.
The brunette figure was leant against the wall in the dingy cell, his face turned up ever so slightly. His quicksilver eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow, his hands shaking faintly. He looked so pale in the dull light, his visage drained of all colour, as white as his still immaculate shirt.
"Squall?"
There was no answer.
END CHAPTER
Thank you very much to those who have already reviewed.
Redrum – I love the image too. ^_^ And the pov is with many thanks to Astraea, who helped me a lot over the last year. I've spent a lot of time role playing as these two with her and I adore her Irvine. That's why this is dedicated to her.
… - Thank you. More, as you wanted. ^_^
Squall Jecht Leonhart – I'm sorry, but this will be one of those stories. I write YAOI stories, and thus, this too will be YAOI. *shrug* I like my boys to like their boys, sorry again.
Kafers – He's a pretty funny guy at times. And of course he lusts after Squall, I mean look at that ass in leather.
More coming soon.
