Authors Note: As school holidays come around again I finally get time to write this chapter. Sorry about the wait but I'm back with a vengeance. This chapter might seem a bit crap cos I rushed it and Squall is out of character in some places, but hey you can still spend some time to review it at the end.
Disclaimer: No still don't own Squaresoft or any of the characters. I'll report back if I ever do…
Chapter 3 – World with no trust
Squall looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, it had an address scribbled on it by Rinoa from the night before. Squall checked the address once again and realised this must be the right place. As Squall looked across to the building in front of him it was not how he had imagined it to look.
The address he had been given was for a large factory; withdrawn from the roadside it stood alone far from any other buildings. The road was quiet; almost no cars were driving around this industrial area of town. The factory was painted a dull white, its old covering now peeling off to reveal the dirty black bricks underneath. Many of the windows had now been smashed, replaced by panels of woods; the few remaining were so dirty that nothing could be seen through them.
The large chimney on the roof of the factory billowed out thick plumes of black smoke that darkened the sky of the already dull day, as the cold air span around Squall making him quicken his pace to get inside.
As he got closer to the building, he began to see the building in more detail, making it look even worse than it previously did. Squalls eyes drew towards the main door, which looked very out of place compared to the rest of the factory. The clean, white automatic doors looked so bright, pulling him in away from the dark, dreary outside world.
The doors slid open and the inside of the building surprised Squall even more. The interior walls were painted white, with several pictures over the walls. In the centre of the room was a reception desk, with a pleasant receptionist sat behind it. At either side of the desk were two large, green plants. To the right of the desk was a white door, a large broad shouldered man wearing a black suit standing in front of it. He looked towards Squall before walking towards him, a stern look on his face. Squall took a step back, slightly in fear by this mans large physique.
"You Squall?" he asked in his deep voice.
"Yeah," Squall said, slightly nervously.
"Good. Come with me, Rinoas expecting you."
Squall took a silent sigh of relief, before following the man through the white door. They stepped into a long, plain corridor; several doors lined each side. The large man stopped in front of the last door on the left. "Rinoa's in here," he said, before walking back to the main entrance of the factory.
Squall walked up to the door, raising his fist he knocked on the door. "Come in," a voice called from beyond the door.
Squall pushed the door open to see Rinoa sat behind a desk. "Squall," Rinoa said, getting up to greet him. "I didn't know if you were going to come."
"I wouldn't miss this chance, now would I?" Squall said, with a slight smile.
"I'm glad," Rinoa answered.
"Are you okay from yesterday?"
"Yeah, my arm hurts a bit but I'll be alright." Rinoa said, clutching her arm.
"Good to hear."
A knock at the door interrupted the two. The door opened to reveal a man, wearing a cowboy hat and trench coat. "Hi Rinoa," the man said with a side smile.
"Hi Irvine." Rinoa replied.
Irvine looked at Squall, curious who this new man was. "Who's this?" he asked Rinoa.
"This is Squall. The one who saved my life."
"Oh right," Irvine put out a hand to Squall. "The name's Kinneas. Friends call me Irvine."
"Hi Irvine," Squall said, shaking his hand.
"I said my friends call me Irvine. You're not a friend."
"Hey!" Rinoa shouted, kicking him in the shin, before pulling him to the other side of the room. Squall watched them as the two argued among themselves. After a few minutes the two walked over. Irvine put his hands in his pockets and looked down, as Rinoa prodded him. "Say it!" she said under his breath.
"Fine," Irvine snapped back, before looking at Squall putting on a false expression. "I'm sorry Squall. I didn't mean that. You can call me Irvine." After he finished he glared at Rinoa. "There you go princess," he said angrily. He walked up to the door then turned back to Squall.
"Don't think that I trust you though Squall." He turned back to the door and slammed it behind him as he walked out.
Rinoa turned to Squall with apology in her eyes. "Sorry, he doesn't trust a lot of people…and he doesn't like me making decisions for myself. Stuck up idiot!" Rinoa shouted at an invisible Irvine.
"It's okay," Squall said, taking an instantly disliking to him. "So what can I do here then?"
"There's an operation going on tonight, you could go in on that," Rinoa suggested. "But one problem Irvine will be there."
"That's okay. I'll prove my worth then."
"Good to hear you don't back away from a challenge…and getting Irvine to trust you will be one massive challenge."
Squall laughed. "Don't worry, I'll handle him."
Rinoa nodded. "Alright, I'll get you on the operation now, whether Irvine likes it or not!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Squall stood among 10 other men, listening to Irvine bark the orders of the operation. It was now early evening and the night had already crept in. The operation was stealing a crate of new hi-tech weapons from a club downtown. The other men seemed to be well trained as they listened to Irvine intently, staring forward obeying every order he said. Squall realised why Irvine was so up tight by looking at him bossing everyone around.
"Right you know where to go, let's get ready now," Irvine said, before his eyes rested on Squall. "Squall you're gonna be with me. I'm gonna keep my eyes on you. One mistake and it's over, got it?"
Squall nodded.
"Oh, and Squall you might need this," Irvine tossed a gun over to him. "If it goes wrong, you're gonna need that to get out alive."
A van pulled up in front of them, the back doors opened up and everyone piled in. Squall followed behind and climbed in the back, sitting on one of the black, worn down, leather seats. After about twenty minutes, the van came to a stop and the doors opened up. Squall jumped out to see they were parked directly outside a club. The neon lights showed they were at 'Club Exotica'. Irvine jumped down with a large smile on his face. "Come on guys, let's get it on."
The men separated going to where they had been assigned. Squall and Irvine walked through the main door of the club in the large dimly lit room. Around the club there were several semi-naked women dancing around. Irvine turned to Squall. "I don't trust you, but don't say I never treat you." Irvine waved to someone and two women walked over smiling. Irvine wrapped his arms around both of them and turned to Squall. "Here are my special beauties."
The women on Irvine's left wore a black, leather mini-skirt, leather boots and a black bra. Irvine motioned to her, "This is Jodie…" Irvine then motioned to the woman on his right. She had long blonde hair and an attractive face; she was wearing a half-length denim skirt with a backless black top. "…and this is Quistis."
Irvine reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a wad of cash and gave some to each girl. "Squall, which girl do you want?"
Before Squall could protest, the girl named Quistis pulled out of Irvine's grasp. "Don't worry, I'll give him a good time," she said, wrapping her arm around Squall. Squall pulled away to talk to Irvine. "Is this part of the operation?" he whispered.
"No, Squall. It's a present from me, just enjoy yourself." Irvine replied pushing him back to Quistis.
Before Squall could say anything more, Quistis dragged him into a backroom. The room was lit in a low red light; the only furniture was a double bed. As soon as the door closed, Squall shied away. Quistis looked at Squalls face and laughed at his awkwardness. "Don't you like me?" she teased.
"No…it's not that…I…erm…just haven't done anything like this before."
"I'm sure you have," she said, playfully approaching him.
"Look, you have a really great body but I don't want to do…that, you know?"
Quistis stopped, shaking her head and sighing. "Squall, you really shouldn't be looking at your colleagues bodies like that, you know it's against the rules."
"Huh?" Squall said in surprise.
Quistis put a hand out. "Agent Quistis Trepe. I'm your contact but it looks like you sorted everything out for yourself. I didn't think you would be able to establish yourself that quickly, you must be better than they told me."
Squall, still surprised, could only let out a small laugh.
Quistis continued. "I was going to contact you tomorrow but it seems you found me. So how much have you actually found out?"
"Not much really," Squall answered. "I'm meant to be on an operation tonight."
"What kind of operation?" Quistis queried.
"Stealing some new weapons," Squall replied.
"Hmm…that must mean that they are planning something for the future." Quistis thought out loud.
"Maybe."
"You better get back outside, Irvine will probably be waiting for you."
Squall stood up from the bed and pulled the door open to leave the room, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Quistis with a worried expression on her face. "Good luck Squall, you'll probably need it."
"Thanks," Squall said, before leaving the room. He scanned the club to see Irvine leaning against a wall admiring the dancers. Squall walked up to him and stood beside him.
"She give you a good time?" Irvine asked.
Squall nodded, unsure how he should answer.
"Good," Irvine said. "That should loosen up for later. The shipment is coming in round the back in about 10 minutes. We better get ready to move."
The two men walked out the club, the cool air smashed at Squall as he stepped outside, making him realise that he was slightly nervous at the moment. Irvine led the way down a thin alleyway at the side of the club, which led into a delivery yard at the rear of the club. Irvine and Squall then ascended a set of steps that led to a second storey balcony.
"You better put this on," Irvine said handing Squall a balaclava. "And don't try any heroics, you'll end up getting killed."
"I didn't know you cared," Squall joked, surprised by his out of character remark. He put it down to nerves.
"I don't."
The two were interrupted when a large van drove into the delivery yard. "This is it," Irvine whispered.
The two men looked down to see three figures get out of the van, Squall could visibly see one of them holding a gun. Another two men got out from the back of the truck. Squall heard a door open below them and three men from the club walked out. Squall watched as the two groups of people started talking, their voices lowered to little more than a whisper. After several minutes, one of the men from the club climbed into the back of the van, presumably to check the cargo.
In this tense moment of time, seconds seemed like an hour. After what seemed an eternity the man climbed back out and nodded to the other men. One of other club members pulled out a briefcase filled with money.
Before the exchange could be completed Irvine raised to his feet screamed "Now!" The men looked around in surprise but before they could react they felt bullets flying towards them. Squall looked at the horrific sight, blood flying everywhere. Irvine quickly ran down the stairs towards the van, where the money had fallen. Quickly he picked it up and started to run back to the stairs. Before he got there a man from the darkness, smashing Irvine to the floor.
Irvine, his head spinning, looked up at the attacker to see a gun pointed at his face. Irvine closed his eyes, not wanting to see the bullet travelling towards him. Suddenly, he felt the man let go. Irvine opened his eyes in surprise to see his attacker lying beside him unconscious. He looked up to see Squall stood over him, offering him a hand. "Thanks," was all he could mutter, a weakness spreading over his body as he raised to his feet.
Several of the team had now come over to Irvine and Squall. "Any dead?" Irvine asked one.
"Two," they answered, their voice filled with sorrow.
Irvine nodded. "Might have been three," Irvine said, realising his near death.
The group of people now quickly hurried around clearing the area, before getting in the van with the weapons and driving off.
Squall sat in the front of the van, alongside Irvine and the driver. Although the mission had been a success, it had been ruined by the loss of the two men, a sombre mood filled the van.
Irvine looked at Squall. "I'm sorry I've been such a bastard today. Thanks for saving my life, it looks like you're making a routine of this."
Squall smiled. "No problem."
"But don't think I trust you though," Irvine added.
"Never would have dreamt it."
Authors Note: YAY! Finally got the chapter written. Told you it was a bit crap but still please review. Hopefully this time you won't have to wait so long for Chapter 4! Here are some dedications to you, the reviewers:
Renegade Seraph: I know it was mean to kill Nida but what other useless character is there that I can kill? Lol
Phoenix Blade: I'm sorry but you gonna have to wait a while for the Squinoa. At the moment it's gonna be all work and no play! Sorry!
Chibi Angel: Yay! The pretty golden harp of heaven! Wow, I feel so privileged. :)