Re-Creating Hell
Chapter Eight: Finding Trouble
By: PasifikStar


*All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I don't own Final Fantasy or it's characters.

"You don't think I'd really kill Irvine, do you, Quisty?" Seifer asked as he walked behind the blond with his gun blade ready at his side.

"Of course not," Quistis replied as she listened for any sound and held her whip tightly . "Just mame him severely."

"Oh..." Seifer shrugged. "That I would do."

Quistis rolled her eyes and stopped as they reached a crossing of corridors. She held her right hand up to stop him as she leaned against the corridor wall. Seifer stopped and took a sniff of the air. He could detect a faint scent of a lycan and gun powder.

*I have an idea,* Quistis' voice sounded in his mind. He blinked and looked at her, about to open his mind and answer when she took a step out into the corridor.

*WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?* Quistis ignored the thoughts she heard spewing from Seifer's head.

Quistis let out a whistle and unraveled her whip. In the distance, they heard a snort and then heavy breathing. A growl was sounded and foot steps started running towards them.

*Come to mama...* Quistis smirked. She raised her whip. The foot steps grew heavier as the growling grew louder and from the dimly lit corridor, two lycans melted from the shadows, guns in their claws.

Snarling, they lifted their guns and prepared to shoot her. Quistis narrowed her eyes and prepared her to use her Save the Queen on them, when she saw a blur of white jump in front of her. Growling was heard as black metal cut across the fur lined chests of the werewolves.

They fell with thumps against the wall, the machine guns in pieces as Seifer lifted his gun blade and casually put it over her shoulder. "Mind telling me when you're going to pull something like that again?" he asked, slightly agitated.

Quistis let out a sigh and walked over him and to the dead werewolves that had mutated back into their human forms. She took the vest off of one and put it on herself. Seifer raised an eyebrow in question as Quistis moved on to the other lycan and removed that one's bandana. She tossed it at Seifer.

"Put this on."

Seifer frowned. "Oh, you're SO welcome, Quistis. It was no problem, really."

"Seifer, just shut up," Quistis sighed as she turned to look at him with a ragged dark blue vest on. "Put the bandana on. His scent is on that, right? It should cover yours since you're only half."

"And why exactly would I put this sweaty piece of crap on my head?" Seifer asked.

"Because we're going to do a little recon work," Quistis said as her body slowly turned silver. Slowly, she took in the features of the fallen lycan and turned into a seven foot tall werewolf. "I'm going to try to find some data on Rin. AND I'll delete as much as I can."

"So you want me to wear this so we can get in and out undetected?" Seifer asked as he put the bandana on his head and frowned.

"I'm glad you finally understood, Seifer," Quistis grumbled. "I thought I'd have to reduce it to smaller words for you."

Seifer frowned and slowly transformed into a werewolf. "I didn't know you knew smaller words," he grumbled. As he walked next to Quistis, who pulled out her hand held device to find another room, a smirk slowly crossed his face. "As a matter of fact, you seem to like big words. Big words...big books...big...EVERYTHING."

"Yeah," Quistis smirked, catching on. "Which is the reason I wouldn't go out with YOU."

Seifer stopped in his tracks and glared at her. "See, there you go again!" he said as Quistis smiled triumphantly at his displeased face. "Saying those mean and hurtful things!"

"Do you smell anything?" Zell asked.

"Yeah," Irvine mumbled. He turned and looked at Zell questioningly. "Did you have a chili cheese dog for lunch?"

"Selphie!" Zell called out, frustrated.

"Irvine, come on!" Selphie said, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward. "Let's just concentrate on finding them okay?"

"No problem, darlin'," Irvine assured her. "We have superior lycan noses that will find them in no time."

"Superior lycan noses, right..." Zell snorted as he rolled his eyes. "Last time you said that, you ran over Master Laguna's cat on the drive way when we were going out to look for him."

"Listen, the exhaust from the car covered up the smell of Squally-poo, okay?" Irvine snapped. "If Laguna can let it go, why can't you?"

Selphie whirled around and looked at Irvine in horror. "You ran over Sir Laguna's cat?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Oh, Hyne..." Irvine said as he ran his hand down his face. "It was an accident. I swear, how was I supposed to know he was hiding under my back tire?"

"You didn't have to put the car in reverse and go over Squally-poo again." Zell said frowning.

"Hey, Ellone was yelling 'no, no!' so I thought she wanted us to come back, so I put the car in reverse-"

"An ran over Squally-poo?" Selphie sniffled, her eyes watery as bit her bottom lip. "...Again!?"

"Can we just concentrate on finding them!?" Irvine nearly shouted as Zell nodded and Selphie fought back the urge to cry over the loss of Laguna's cat.

"Um-hmm..." Selphie nodded slightly and turned back around. Irvine hit Zell's arm.

"Stop telling her these things, man!"

"I'm not telling her, they just come out!"

"Shh!!" Selphie said, holding her finger to her lips. Her nose wiggled. "Do you smell that?"

Irvine narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air. "Lycans." He cocked his gun.

"I want to take care of them." Zell said, his fingers twitching for some action.

"Zell, are you sure about this?" Selphie asked, with a frown on her face. "I mean.. these are WEREWOLVES."

"Two of them, from their scent." Irvine added.

"Listen, it's all not fun watching you two getting all the action." Zell said. Irvine chuckled and smiled broadly. Selphie elbowed him to shut up.

"He doesn't mean like that!" Selphie sighed.

"Let me help out for once." Zell insisted.

"Zell-" Selphie began, but Irvine held his arm out and shook his head.

"He may be a hot dog worshipping dolt, but he's one hell of a fighter with his fists." Irvine assured her. Selphie looked at Zell and nodded her head.

"Call us when you're done!" she said, smiling encouragingly.

Zell gave her a thumbs up ran up ahead of them. Irvine turned to Selphie. "So..." Growls here heard further up the corridor. "After we get Squall and Rinoa back, you want to go out?"

"What happened to our little time out?" Selphie said, pretending to pout.

"Hey, we canceled a date," he winked. He put one arm over her slim shoulders as the corridor ahead of them sounded with grunting, thuds, and assorting other sounds of punching. "I'm thinking we go to the bistro again. Their clam chowder was really good."

"Well, I did eat five bowls..." Selphie giggled. "Okay!" A thud was heard.

"Great!" Irvine said. "After, we can go watch a movie or something." A whimper sounded.

"Sounds good!" Selphie agreed, nodding as she smiled. The whimper died down.

"Okay, guys I got them!" Zell said as he ran back.

Selphie and Irvine followed him back up the corridor and stepped over two lycans with bruised faces and blood dripping from the corner of their lips. "Looks like you were pretty rough with them, Zell..." Selphie commented.

"He has to be," Irvine added with a smirk. "That's the way we lycans like it."

Zell rolled his eyes as Selphie giggled and Irvine continued to smirk. "Must you make everything perverted?"

The hall was still dark and silent. The cold wind that had flooded their sense earlier was now gone and replaced by the welcomed feeling of warmth coming from someone's arms. The snow melted quickly on the cold cement floor around them.

His arms refused to let her go. He had thought about this moment every waking minute. Not a minute went by without a thought somehow relating to her consuming his mind. His eyes were closed as he breathed her in, enjoying the feeling of her warm body against his in the chill of the underground tunnel.

"Hyne," her voice whispered, giving him another reason to believe that it wasn't a dream. "Is it really you?"

"Rinoa..." Her voice slipped out of his lips softly, filling her with unspeakable joy. "I'm afraid to open my eyes and find out you're not really here."

"I was so worried about you, Squall..." she murmured against him. He heard her sniffling and trying to remain calm as tears threatened to fall once more. "Oh, Hyne, I can't believe I'm holding you."

Squall's eyes opened reluctantly and he as relieved to find out that she wasn't just a figment of his imagination. Her head tilted up to look into his when she felt him move. Blue eyes, just moments ago filled with frustration and hatred, were now soft and filled with warmth as they looked down into her brown ones.

"Rinoa...what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," she said, as if it were so obvious. "Do you remember what happened?"

Slowly Squall nodded his head. "It was a trap," he breathed. His eyes narrowed. "I'm so stupid...how could I have fallen into something so-" His eyes sudden grew large and he gripped Rinoa's shoulders. "Zell and Irvine?! Did they-"

"They're fine," Rinoa said with a warm smile. *He was worried about them... Hyne, he's so wonderful...* "And so is Seifer."

Squall didn't look as happy with that fact. "How did they-?"

"They said they ducked into a room to the side," Rinoa explained. "It caved in, but they managed to get trapped in a cave created by the explosion and were found right away."

Squall stared at her. "You...found the note?"

Rinoa closed her eyes, trying to hold the tears back and not succeeding. "I found the note..." she whispered. Her eyes opened and looked back up at him. "Squall, why? Why didn't you just tell the rest of us-"

"I didn't want to put you in any danger," Squall said. His hand cupped her face gently and smoothed her hair back. "I felt I owed it to you after what I put you through."

"At Al Bhed?" Rinoa gasped in disbelief. She shook her head. "Squall, what happened in Al Bhed was NOTHING compared to this! Don't EVER leave without telling us where you were going WHEN you go, do you understand?"

"Rinoa-"

"We arrived just when the building exploded..." she said in a watery voice. Squall's heart churned. "I got there first and had to watch the building crumble..." She swallowed hard and Squall had a pained look on his face. "And I KNEW you were inside," she whimpered tearfully. "If you were trying to avoid hurting me, Squall, you failed."

"What?" Squall asked confused. Had she gotten hurt despite his precautions?

"Getting a cut in the arm, getting knocked out for a few hours...NONE of that is as painful..." She began to rub her eyes as the tears fell mercilessly. "As the feeling I got when I thought you DIED right in front of me!" she sobbed.

Squall pulled her against him once more and held her tightly. She cried against him and Squall pressed his head against the side of hers. "Hyne...I'm sorry," he whispered. "I never meant to do that...I didn't think it would happen-"

"No one knew it would happen!" she cried. "Everyone thought you were dead, Squall! They dug through the debris and found Irvine and Zell and Seifer, but couldn't find you!"

"I was brought here..." he whispered.

"There was a bright flash of light," she continued to blabber while in tears. "And they thought it burned you to death! Laguna, Ellone, EVERYONE thought you were dead!"

*My father thought I was dead? Sis?...* Squall could barely imagine the problems that his supposed death could've caused.

"But you couldn't be dead because you promised!" Rinoa said, cutting through Squall's thoughts. He looked down at her, not sure what she was talking about. Unaware of his reaction, Rinoa clung to him and allowed her breathing to even out slightly. "You said that you'd make sure nothing would ever happen to me...and since there's still a threat out there..."

"I wouldn't leave you..." Squall said, understanding. He smiled slightly and kissed the top of her head. "I don't break my promises."

Rinoa smiled slightly and sniffled. "That's what Irvine said."

"So he and Zell are all right?" Squall asked once more.

Rinoa giggled and nodded. "They came out with a few scuffs here and there but were fine," she assured them. "They're here, too...along with Seifer, Selphie, and Quistis."

Squall tilted his head to the side. "Well...where are they?"

Rinoa looked back through the vent and couldn't hear or feel anything that might give the impression that the hole she had fallen into was still open. "They're on the surface..." she sighed. "At least... until they can find a way in."

"The surface?" Squall asked, surprised. "Rinoa, where are we?"

"We're in an underground facility that produces a chemical for Compression Industries here in Trabia."

"TRABIA?" Squall asked, now completely shocked. *That would explain all the snow that came down with Rinoa...*

"According to the diagram of the building that Quistis got, we're probably two stories below the surface." Rinoa said, pointing up wards.

"Meaning in order to get out..."

Rinoa nodded. "We have to go up...Do you know how to get to the stairs or elevator?"

"I've been running around here for Hyne knows how long," he admitted with a heavy sigh. "I don't know where we are."

Rinoa slowly frowned. "Squall...what are you doing here anyway?" She took a small step back and studied him.

*Hyne, I was praying she wouldn't ask me that...* Squall thought to himself. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Let's just concentrate on finding a way out first-"

"Squall," Rinoa said sternly. She tugged at his arm and forced him to look at her. "I'm serious. How did you get here in Adel's lab?"

Squall swallowed nervously and looked at her. "SHE brought me here." he told her in a low voice. Rinoa's eyes shot open and she took a step towards him, putting her hands on his face and studying every inch of it.

"But WHY?" Rinoa asked. "Did she do something to you? Did she hurt you-"

"She wants something," Squall said. "According to her, she needs something to open Hell's Gates...from me."

"And what? She asked YOU to get it?" Rinoa asked in disbelief. "She really is crazy! You'd never do that!"

*You don't know the terms, Rinoa...* he thought to himself. *Hyne, if you knew what she was doing...* Suddenly, the thoughts of Rinoa's cloned hearts entered his thoughts and he paled slightly.

"Squall, what did she ask you to get?" Rinoa asked, bringing Squall out of his thoughts and back down to Trabia. She tilted her head to the side as her eyebrows furrowed.

"Something I couldn't give her," he answered quietly. He took her hands off of his face and held them. "Let's just leave, Rinoa. I don't want to talk about it."

"But Squall-"

"We have to find a way out," he told her sternly. "And what if the others are searching for us?"

"The OTHERS can take care of themselves," Rinoa stated as she pulled her hand away from Squall. "What's going on, Squall?"

"Nothing-"

"Don't lie to me!" she shouted. The look on her face softened as Squall looked at her in surprise. "Please, Squall, I want to help..."

"Don't worry about it, Rinoa-"

"How can I NOT worry about it?" Rinoa asked as she looked at him desperately. "This is a team mission, Squall. You can't do everything by yourself." She added quietly.

Squall took a deep breath and nodded. He opened his mouth, when a familiar smell flooded his senses. His eyes went large. "Rinoa-!" Before he could say anything further, Rinoa had a gun to her head.

"Hello, Miss Heartilly." a deep voice said in her ear. Rinoa's eyes went wide.

Her heart began beating faster as the voice of her kidnapper reached her ears once more. "You..." she said in disgust.

"Let her go." Squall said as calmly as he could. Rinoa winced as she felt the gun press against her temple.

"We assumed that it would progress faster than this," the other vampire said. "But you seem unwilling to aid us."

"I'll give it to you, just don't hurt her!" Squall shouted.

"Madam Adel thought she made it clear, Mr. Leonheart," the vampire said as his left arm, which had been around Rinoa's neck gently ran across the silver chain around her neck. "That she would gladly spare your sorceress' life if you gave her the ring."

Rinoa's eyes went wide as she looked straight at Squall. "Squall... you wouldn't..." she whispered, disbelievingly, as she realized the situation.

"Oh, Miss Heartilly," Vincent said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "You don't know what a man will do when the one he loves is in danger."

"He'd never do that!" Rinoa argued. Squall averted her eyes slightly and she gasped. "No! Squall, why!?"

"The world or the one that means the world to you," Vincent hissed in her ear. "Tell me, my dear...what would you choose?"

His fingers wrapped around her necklace, right around where the rings were and gave a quick tug, pulling the necklace off her neck. "No!" she gasped.

"A deal is a deal," Vincent said as he shoved Rinoa forward and held the necklace in his left hand. "You can have your sorceress back." Rinoa stumbled forward and fell to her hands and knees right in front of Squall.

"Not without HER ring," Squall hissed. "I changed my mind," his voice was stern and serious as he stepped forward and stood in front of Rinoa. "I won't let you have either."

Vincent merely smirked beneath his red trench coat. "It's a little late for that, don't you think?"

Rinoa's eyes narrowed and she concentrated. "I won't let you have either." *That's the Squall I love,* Rinoa thought. *He just needed time to really think about it!*

Vincent stood there, facing off with Squall. "Perhaps we weren't clear on the deal," Vincent said as he lowered the gun to face Squall. "Let me clear it up for you."

"Blizzard!" Rinoa shouted. Immediately, the room turned ice cold as she concentrated the bulk of her attack on the other vampire's body.

Vincent's eyes went wide as he pulled the trigger and found it frozen in it's place. Squall took this chance and leapt forward, eyes glowing and fangs extended as he let out a blood thirsty growl. The shorter brunette knocked the taller one off his feet and Rinoa saw her necklace fly out of his hands.

She scrambled towards it just as the lights suddenly flickered and turned off. "No!" she gasped as she felt around in vain for the necklace with the rings.

In front of her, she heard hissing and growling as well as grunts of pain as the crack of bones and the sound of flesh being cut was heard.

"Just get the ring, Rinoa!" Squall shouted.

"Squall, I can't find it, it's too dark!" she cried out as she crawled around on her hands and knees, feeling around the cold cement for it.

"Agh!" Squall gasped. Rinoa whirled around, trying to see what was going on through the darkness. Every now and then, she saw a pair of glowing red eyes that turned and vanished as quickly as they appeared.

"Squall!!" she cried out fearfully.

"I'm fine!" he shouted. She heard tumbling and more growling as the sound of cloth tearing was heard. The two vampires moved like fighting animals in the darkness of a jungle, clawing and biting at each other and using raw strength to defeat the other. Rinoa heard someone being throw against a wall and then the sound of someone's growl. They were growling something at each other that Rinoa could hear. She heard Squall yell.

She covered her ears as a skin crawling wail pierced the darkness. As she did so, she saw glowing green eyes melt from the darkness. Her eyes widened as they looked down at something. She couldn't see what the owner of the eyes was doing, but she knew.

"The ring!" she screamed. The eyes looked at her and slowly faded. Rinoa lunged towards where the body of the eyes would've been and groaned as she ran into a wall.

She shook her head as she felt around for a necklace. Her heart was racing as her hands ran over the cement. Suddenly, her finger brushed up against cold and thin and she grabbed it.

The lights turned back on, providing a dim light to the still dark corridor and Rinoa's eyes went wide.

"Rinoa..." a voice gasped tiredly behind her. The sorceress whirled around and clutched her necklace to her chest. Squall stood there, clutching one arm as blood trickled down the side of his face and from the corner of his lips. His shirt was ripped and his leather jacket torn in several places. Blood colored his white shirt red and his hands had blood on them.

"Squall?" She said weakly. She lifted up the necklace. There was only one ring on it and it was her mother's.

"We'll get it back..." he breathed tiredly. "I...I promise."

He stumbled forward and Rinoa jumped up to catch him. He fell into her arms and she took a step back. Squall was heavier than he looked. Slowly, she helped him sit down against the wall and began putting cure spells on him.

"You'll be fine," she assured him. "It'll get better..."

"I'm sorry..." he gasped as he leaned against the wall tiredly. "I didn't know how to tell you..."

"Shh...Squall..." she whispered. "Just forget about that for now." She tugged off his jacket to get a look at the large gash on his upper arm. "Oh, Hyne..."

"I couldn't let her get you..."

"Who?" Rinoa asked, not really listening as she concentrated on healing his wound.

"Adel..."

Rinoa froze in the middle of a cure spell. "Is Adel HERE?" she asked. They had counted on Squall being there, but not Adel.

"Not any more..." Squall breathed. "She left when you guys arrived according to him..." Using his good arm, he jerked his thumb over in the direction of the fallen vampire.

He was laying face down, blood pooling around him as large gashes were all over his body. His head was turned at a strange angle and dark internal organs could be seen peeking from under his coat. Squall had ripped him open.

Rinoa paled and turned slightly green at the sight. She turned her head quickly and continued to heal Squall's arm. "They were after Griever?"

Squall nodded. "I'm sorry, Rinoa..." he whispered tiredly. "I was nothing but fucking bait."

"It's not your fault, Squall."

"I just keep hurting you..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry, you'll make it up to me," Rinoa said sharply. Squall turned to look at her. She was looking down at his arm. "If you're really sorry, you'll promise never to leave me again."

"Rinoa..."

"Are you sorry or not?" she asked angrily.

Squall sucked in a breath. He knew the anger was deserved. After all, it was his fault that they were all here. And that he had almost been willing to turn his back on the world for her sake when she didn't want him to. And now, because of him, Griever was gone.

"Rinoa," he said gently. He placed his hand under her chin and lifted her up to look at him. "I promise never to leave you like that again."

"And if you do?" she asked hesitantly.

"Then come find me," he replied quietly. "Because I didn't leave you...I just...got lost."

Quistis stood in front of a door as Seifer stood behind her, his back to her, as he kept an eye out for any guards. "I think there might be something in here..." she mumbled.

"How do you know?" Seifer asked. He was still in his werewolf form whereas Quistis had morphed back into her real appearance as a tall blond.

"This is supposed to be one of the main research rooms," she said. She narrowed her eyes. "No mental waves are coming from the room...it must be vacant of people."

"Either that or whoever is doing research isn't all there."

"Just shut up and help me open this." Quistis snapped. Seifer wrapped his claw around the handle and tore it from the door with a strong twist. He pushed it open and stepped aside.

"After you." he said, bowing slightly.

Quistis rolled her eyes. "Oh, you are SUCH a gentleman."

"About time you realized it," he said. Quistis' hand ran along the side of the wall until she found a light switch. She pressed it and the room illuminated with light. Seifer looked around, his eyes widened. "Holy shit..."

The room was large and lined with large glass cabinets filled with beakers, test tubes, burners, needles, and chemicals. Long tables were arranged neatly around the room and each one held two computers busy recording data, while bubbling experiments ran around them.

Different colored test tubes were scattered around the room and large cylinders of purified liquid were held to one side of the room while gas tanks were held in the other. Quistis' blue eyes wandered around the room in awe.

"Hurry up and do the job," Seifer said as he snorted and turned around. "I'll keep watch outside."

"All right..." Quistis agreed without further explanation. She headed to a room separated by glass. As she entered, she felt a rush of air go over her body to remove any dust that she might bring in.

Blinking, she stepped the rest of the way into the room and found a large control panel gathering the data from all the computers. *Perfect...* she thought to herself. She took her palm held device out of her pocket and slipped in a small silver disk. She reached behind the monitor and pulled out some wires. She reattached them into her device and the LCD screen stated down downloading had begun.

Quistis put the device down and looked around the rest of the room. Everything there seemed so technologically advanced, just like the labs she had seen in Esthar and better than the labs she had worked in while in her finishing school in Deling.

She turned around and narrowed her eyes. There was something that caught her eye about the wall across from her. It was white and matched the other walls, but something was different...she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Quistis stepped out of the glass room and made her way across the lab. Outside, she could hear Seifer thinking out loud about something regarding Selphie and Irvine. She rolled her eyes, thinking it could only be ways in which he could torture the cowboy.

She reached the other side of the room and looked right at the plain blank wall in front of her. Her eyes went wide, realizing what had made it so different. It was the only spot on the wall where there were no glass shelves. It was just existing there.

Raising her hand, Quisty put it against the wall. It moved. *Whoa...* Narrowing her eyes, Quistis put her whole hand through the wall slowly began to walk through.

The wall seemed to quiver as the tall blond walked through it completely. From the brightness of the white washed laboratory, she was absorbed into darkness. Her blue eyes went wide as she moved her head around, taking in the room.

The walls were lined with book shelves filled with old and newly bound books. She walked over to the nearest shelf and began to read the titles on the spines of the book.

"White magic seals...black magic seals...ancient seals and curses... hell gates...the gates of hell..." Quistis swallowed and took a step back, now scanning all of the books. All the subjects were similar.

Quistis whirled around and found desk with a thick book on it. Taking a step closer, she saw a seal on it. From what she could make out, it belonged to a vampire clan. Then it hit her. Almost all clans had records bound into books. Rinoa's clan had them. Squall's clan had them. Hyne, even her clan had them.

"Quistis!" a voice shouted as softly as they could from outside. The blond whirled around. "Quistis, where are you!?"

Taking one last look at the book, she grabbed it. Hugging it to her chest, she jumped back out of the illusionary wall and found Seifer, in human form, standing in the middle of the room, with his back to her, searching for her.

"Seifer!" she whispered. He turned around sharply and nearly fell back as she stood there.

"Where did you come from!?" he gasped.

"That wall over there isn't real." she explained. She narrowed her eyes as she passed him to get back to the glass room.

"What wall...?" Seifer asked. He looked past her and walked back to where she had been standing and surveyed the clean, white washed wall.

Quistis had reached the glass room and looked over what she was downloading. "It's almost done..." she said. Seifer put his hand through the wall.

"What the hell..." He pulled his hand back and looked at it. He turned back to the wall and put his hand through again. "What is this..." He began to put his hand in and out of the wall, watching in wonder his had disappeared inside and reappeared.

Quistis turned back to Seifer and squinted her eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked, frustrated.

Seifer whirled back around to face her, bringing his hand down with him. "Just checking the wall."

"Right..." Quistis mumbled. She shook her head and looked back at her hand held device. "It's all done!"

"Then let's get out of here!" Seifer said, waltzing over and reaching out to grab her wrist.

"Wait! I have to delete the information!" Quistis hissed.

"Quistis, I had to gut six lycans already," Seifer said sternly. "Once they start to miss the guards or find that heap of lycans outside this door, they're going to know we're here!"

"I'm ALMOST done!" Quistis exclaimed. She ripped her device from the wires and waited until the monitor on the computer stated that it was deleting all the data that had to do with Rinoa. She pocketed the little hand held machine and grabbed the leather bound book as she ran past Seifer. "Let's go!"

The blond male nodded and grabbed his gun blade from where he had left it, leaning against one of the tables. Without hesitation he swung the door open.

The stench from the mouth of a werewolf filled his senses as the underworld creature stood in front of the door with it's massive jaws curled into a snarl.

"SHIT!" Seifer slammed the metal door closed.

"That's the only way out!" Quistis gasped as she clutched the book against her chest.

"See what happens when you take your sweet ass time!?" Seifer growled. A growl was heard and a fur lined claw shot through the door, right by Seifer's head.

Quistis screamed and immediately sent her whip forward, slicing off three fingers from the werewolf's claws. The animal let out a yelp of pain and recoiled it's hands. Seifer's eyes were wide. The whip had gone a little too close to his head for comfort. "We have to get out!"

Seifer took a deep breath and held Hyperion over his shoulder. He looked at Quistis. "Stay close by! Once we get out, just RUN!"

"Right!" Quistis nodded. Seifer gripped the handle of his gun blade with his right hand and held the handle with his other.

"NOW!" he shouted. He flung the door open and aimed Hyperion. Shots rang out in the hall way as he grabbed Quistis' free hand and ran out the door. "Run!"

Quistis looked back over her shoulder as she was practically dragged down the hall way by Seifer. Behind them five lycan guards were after them. The sound of a machine gun was heard and she screamed as she used the book to shield her head. "Seifer!!"

"Don't look back!" he shouted. Her pulled her in front of him. "Just run!"

"What about you!?"

"Unlike your puny body, mine can take a couple of gun shots!" he growled. He lifted his gun blade and shot back at the werewolves.

"We have to find the others!" she shouted over the sounds of flying bullets. All around her, sparks could be seen in the dark corridor as metal bullets hit the walls and floors.

Seifer let out an animalist growl as he was hit, but kept pushing them forward. "We'll figure that out when we loose these guys!"

"And HOW exactly are we going to do that!?" Quistis shouted over her shoulder.

"Get your whip ready, Quisty," Seifer said as he slid to a stop. "They've been VERY bad and need to be punished!"

"Do you hear that?" Selphie asked as her head perked up. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to listen to the sounds. "Gun shots?"

"From a gun blade and machine guns?" Irvine added, slightly picking up on the sound.

"Think it could be Squall?" Zell asked hopefully.

Irvine shook his head. "No...his gun blade is back at the palace...we found it at the lab, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Zell said.

"It's got to be Seifer and Quisty then!" Selphie said, completely assured.

"Crap...that means they've had a little run in," Irvine said. He turned around. "We better find the other two and fast."

"What if Squall's still in a cell or something?" Zell said.

"Then we have to check the cells!" Irvine exclaimed.

Selphie nodded and waved for them to follow her down the corridor. "The shots are getting louder!" Selphie shouted.

"Maybe we'll find the blonds!" Irvine agreed.

"A door's coming up!" Zell said, pointing to a door at the end of the corridor. "Let's try that one!" He ran ahead of them.

Selphie sniffed the air and her eyes went wide. "Zell, wait!"

Irvine's sensitive nose also picked up on the scent. "Zell, no!"

Zell punched the locks to loosen them and then tugged the door open. Standing behind the door were half a dozen lycans all armed with guns. "Oh, crap!!"

Selphie and Irvine ran past, slamming the door and grabbing Zell as they ran. "What the hell were you thinking!?" Irvine shouted to the shorter man.

"A door is a door!" Zell retorted. "How was I supposed to know that lycans were on the other side!?"

"Gee...I don't know - how about with us telling you 'NO'!" Irvine growled.

"We can't run forever, guys!" Selphie said, pulling out her nunchuku. "We might have to fight!"

"She's right!" Irvine said. They slid to a stop.

"Selphie, can you shield us for a bit?" Zell asked.

"Sure thing!" the petite brunette piped. She held her hands in front of her and concentrated.

Around the corner, the werewolves turned, snarling the entire way. Irvine aimed his guns and Zell held up his fists. "Here we go!"

Rinoa could barely breath. She didn't know how long they had been running, but her legs ached. Squall turned around as he heard her heavy breathing and mentally swore. "You can do it, Rinoa!" he encouraged. "We're almost there!"

"Almost WHERE!?" she nearly shouted as she ran.

They reached the end of a tunnel and Squall made a sharp right, making Rinoa slip and stumble. He caught her quickly and continued to run as he held her hand tightly in his.

"I hear footsteps!" Squall said.

Rinoa tried to pick on the sound, but heard nothing. *I know this isn't the time...but I'm impressed with vampires' hearing...*

It was then when she heard several gun shots. Somehow, that stirred her and gave her a second wind. The two of them ran towards the sounds. Where there were gun shots, there must be conflict. And where there was conflict, their companions must've been.

The shots grew louder and soon the sounds of lycans growling echoed down towards them. "Booyaka!" a voice shouted. "Got one!"

"Selphie!" Rinoa gasped. *No one else in their right mind would use that word!* "SELPHIE!!!" she screamed into the hall way.

"Rinoa!?" a voice shouted back.

Down the dark corridor, Rinoa could make out a familiar yellow dress and let go of Squall's hand as she ran forward at full speed. "Selphie! Selphie, over here!!"

"Rinoa!" Selphie shouted. She tore down the hall towards the other brunette and ran into her with a hug. She looked over her friend's shoulder. "Squall!!"

Immediately, he was caught in Selphie's death hug as well while Irvine and Zell, who had a few scratches on his face arrived. "Hyne, it's miracle!" Irvine gasped.

"Squall!" Zell said, almost near tears as Selphie finally let Squall go.

"Don't hug me," Squall warned. Zell merely nodded and Irvine slapped Squall on the back. "Do you know how to get out?"

"There should be an elevator here that we took to get down here," Irvine said, the calmest of the three members who had met them. "But damned if we know where it is."

"Shit, how are we going to get out?" Squall mumbled.

"Don't you know?" Zell asked.

"If I did, would I ask?" Squall said, rolling his eyes. *Something's don't change with this guy...*

"Selphie, where's Quistis and Seifer?" Rinoa asked impatiently.

Selphie shook her head and had a worried frown on her face. "We thought we heard them, but we haven't found them yet!"

"Try to get them on the communication device!" Rinoa said, motioning into the little clip that was attached to one of Selphie's over all suspenders.

Selphie nodded and tapped into it. "Quistis?! Seifer!? Do you copy? Over."

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "Oh geez..."

"That's they way they do it!" Selphie insisted.

"Just keep trying!" Rinoa sighed heavily.

"Right," Selphie nodded. "Team Selphie to Quistis. Team Selphie to Quistis! Do you copy? Over."

Squall looked at the short brunette strangely and then looked over at Irvine, who was looking at her intently. *Hyne, they really are made for each other...*

"I repeat," Selphie began. "This is team Selphie to Quistis and Seifer. Do you co-"

"We hear you already!" an angry voice growled.

"I see Seifer is alive..." Squall grumbled.

"Selphie, where are you!?" Quistis' voice demanded into the ear piece that Selphie wore. Selphie didn't reply. "Selphie!?"

"Well?" Rinoa asked, looking at Selphie with impatience.

The green eyed lycan girl lifted up her hand to silence Rinoa as she stood there in silence. "Ugh!" a voice shouted in her ear piece. "Selphie, where are you, OVER!" Quistis' frustrated voice shouted.

"We don't know. But we found Squall and Rinoa. Over!" Selphie replied.

On the other end, Quistis gave a relieved sigh and looked over at Seifer. She nodded. "They found them."

"Great," Seifer said as he picked out a pulled that was shot into his arm. "Now all we have to do is find them."

Quistis nodded. "Selphie, on your nunchuku, by the chain is a little red button, do you see it?" Quistis asked. Selphie said nothing and Quistis rolled her eyes. *Oh, you have to be joking...* "Over."

"Affirmative, Quistis!" Selphie said. "The red button is in sight! Over!"

"Press the button, over!" Quistis told her.

Selphie pressed the button and it began to blink read. "Hey! A tracker! Great job, Quisty! Over."

"You're not far from us!" Quistis said as she took out her hand held device once more and looked at it. "We'll be there in a second and then we'll find a way out! Over!"

"Right!" Selphie said. "End transmission!"

"Are they coming?" Zell asked.

Selphie nodded. "She said they weren't far. Since we're waiting, let's look for a way out."

"Wait!" Rinoa gasped. "What about the ring?"

"What ring?" Irvine asked, questioningly.

"It's long gone, Rinoa," Squall said bitterly. "Whoever has it must be gone by now."

"We have to get it back!"

"We'll deal with that later!" Squall said. "We have to destroy this building."

"What? Why?" Selphie asked. "You can't hate it that much..."

Squall shook his head. "You don't understand..." he mumbled. *There are clones of Rinoa's hearts here that must be destroyed before Adel can consume them.* he thought to himself.

"There they are!" a voice shouted. They all turned and saw Quistis and Seifer running towards them.

"We need to find a way out!" Squall stated before anyone else could speak.

"Quistis, do you remember the way to the elevator?" Selphie asked.

"It's on the floor plan!" Quistis replied. She pressed some buttons on the hand held device and it flashed some numbers. "Follow me!"

"What if we run into some guards?" Rinoa said as she ran behind Quistis.

"I doubt they have more guards after all that we fought off!" Seifer snorted.

"Seifer, contact Fujin and Raijin! Tell them to get the ship to these coordinates!" Quistis quickly memorized the rest of the information and handed the device to Seifer.

He took it and took the communicator on his lapel. "What ship?" Squall asked as they ran.

"Master Cid let us borrow the Ragnarok!" Rinoa replied.

"There it is!" Selphie exclaimed, pointing to the elevator. They ran towards it and stuffed themselves inside.

Zell pressed the button and the doors closed. The elevator began to go up. "What!?" Seifer shouted. "When!?"

"What is it?" Rinoa asked, turning to look at him.

"Two air ships took off earlier," Seifer said. "But we don't know who was in there."

"Adel..." Squall said with narrowed eyes. He swore under his breath.

"Adel!?" the group chorused.

"I'll tell you on the ship!" Squall said. The doors opened and a fierce wind blew into the small area inside. Clutching Rinoa against him, he stepped outside.

Even through the murky white, they could see the bright red paint of the dragon shaped ship. "Let's go!!" Selphie shouted.

They ran towards the ship that opened at the bottom to let them in. Clamoring into the ship, the group rushed up to get some seats as the door closed. "We have to destroy the lab!" Squall said.

"Why?" Quistis gasped.

Squall ignored her as he ran past them and into the cock pit. "Squall!" Fujin and Raijin were heard gasping as he entered.

"Drop these missiles!" Squall ordered. The other two looked at him in shock. "Now!"

Scrambling, Raijin flicked some switches and aimed. "Say when, ya know!"

"Fujin, get us up first!" Squall told her. She nodded and the ship ascended once more. "Higher!"

"Affirmative!" Fujin agreed.

"Now!" Squall ordered. Raijin slammed his hand on a button and ten missiles were shot down from the Ragnarok to the ground. "Fujin, get us out of here now!"

Her pale hands gripped the steering wheel and turned it. Within seconds, the ship was speeding away as the underground lab exploded behind them, sending shards of glass, metal, and concrete into the sky. Breathing deeply, Squall leaned against the side of the cock pit.

"Rinoa?" Fujin asked.

"She's in the back..." Squall gasped out.

"Call." Fujin stated.

Squall tilted his head and nodded. "Wire it to the back."

Fujin nodded and Squall headed back out of the cock pit. He stumbled into a seat next to Rinoa. Irvine, who was seated next to them, heard the sound of a message and pressed a button that was flashing above them.

A thin screen appeared and Rinoa's eyes went wide as she stood straight up. "Rinoa!" It was General Caraway. He looked furious.

"Father!?" Rinoa gasped, worriedly.

"Deling City!" he growled angrily. "NOW!"

The screen blacked out and Rinoa fell back against her chair. "Oh no...he found out..."

"One of the other clan members probably told him..." Zell mumbled.

"What's going on?" Squall asked, noticing the distressed look on Rinoa's face. "Why was he so mad?"

"He wants to put Rinoa into a Safe House," Quistis said as she ran a tired hand down her face. "And off this mission."