Disclaimer: Sadly, Final Fantasy 8 and its characters do not belong to me…

A/N: Hey, I'm back with another chapter! Holidays are soooo boring but its still much MUCH better than going to school. XD I really really hope you guys will like this chapter. I worked really hard on this chapter…okay..maybe not that hard…but still. It has the same title as the story (I know that sux. Dun hate me!) I'm sorry if the chapter was a drag cause I sorta rushed through it. Please review!

tw1light: Haha! True. WHERE'S YOUR NEXT CHAPTER?? I'll be waiting..

Light_of_the_Moon: Gee, thanks! Hope I can keep up to your expectations!

Evan's Rinoa: Thanks! I'm so happy! XD

Jessi3: Hiii!! You reviewed!!

(italics)     - Squall's thoughts

"(italics)" - the voice that constantly irks Squall's thoughts.

'italics'     - Rinoa's thoughts

Chapter 6 – Take me Away

"He's here, sir. What are your orders?"

"Good. Let him come."

"P-Pardon, sir?"

"You heard me..! Let him come. I'll deal with him myself."

With that, he cut off the transmission and relaxed in his armchair and continued to watch the brunette SeeD on the screen. Prove it to me. Show me how you've grown.

***

Squall was lost. It definitely looked like any other warehouse from the outside, but who would have thought that inside, it was a whole different story. The walls were affecting him; the florescent lights bouncing off the white parapets, causing refraction, blurring his vision and confusing him at the same time. He stumbled his way and somehow made his way to two more doors. A keypad of some sort lay innocently at their side.

His mind still hazy, he simply staggered up to the object and noticed a card key slot. Rummaging through the uniform's pockets, he pulled out what he thought was the piece of plastic and forced it into the opening.

'..Verification…in…process...'

Squall made an effort to focus on the 'card' he was holding, waiting for the doors to magically open in front of him  …Oh no, he thought as he realized what it was…Crap!! Stupid credit card! Get out!! GE-

'ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!'

Got to find a place to hide! But where?!! Damn this place!

He dashed behind a wall though it wouldn't provide much cover and waited for the rain of soldiers that would soon fall upon him. He imagined the hail of bullets that would penetrate him if he were to rush out. Suddenly, he heard fast footsteps coming his way! When the sounds were near enough, Squall quickly jumped out to ambush the soldier, ready to swing his gunblade down.

"AAHHHH!!!!!! Don't…DON'T hurt me!!!!" It was a girl's voice.

Wha..?

***

"..and when the alarm sounded, we RAN and RAN and RAN. Then, we FOUND YOU!!"

"You mean to tell me, you guys were assigned to guard the room where Rinoa is being held??" Squall barked, "And you just left?!!"

"Don't blame Selphie. We were poking at the metals and bolts and we thought we did something wrong."

"…Whatever. How did you guys get here?"

"Irvine saw you tore away in that car, so we hitched one too!"

"Yeah, you were drawing too much attention from my girls. I just had to show them I could do that too!"

"Uh-huh. Too bad we got an outdated model of a motorcycle, though. It broke down almost every five minutes!"

"It wasn't fancy so we were able to go VROOM through the forest. (Whispers) We even stole some clothes from people who were sleeping on the ground. Tee-hee!"

Oh…that..

"Okay," mumbled Squall, "So do you remember the way to get there?"

"Are you kidding??"

"We didn't care! We just ran!!"

"(Sigh)" Well, at least the door is unguarded now. "Let's just start by going in that direction…" Back to square one. I hate this. A lot.

-Walking and walking…-

"I just realized no one's after us even after the alarm incident," Irvine implied, looking back.

You just noticed? "That confirmed that we…I am here. They're most probably expecting me already."

***

She hugged her legs and stifled a cry. "Don't cry..don't cry. I must be strong…" With no one to comfort her, she had to do it herself. "You mustn't let them see you cry."

'This wasn't suppose to happen. This wasn't..'

Her thoughts were cut off when she turned to see the metallic doors slowly open. She cowered in fear and attempted to hide behind the bed. 'No! Please leave me alone! Please!'

It was so quiet, even after the soldier had entered to execute his orders. The girl, though scared stiff with fear, mustered whatever feelings of resistance she had left (she had no more courage when her pillar of strength, the only thing left where hope lied, had turned against her)and rose a little from her 'hiding spot' to peep at her visitor. She gasped and hastily withdrew her shoulder as she felt a hand from out of the blue reach out to grab her. She refused to look at the invader and instead shouted cries of defiance.

"Rinoa.." came the voice, but it didn't sound threatening. Almost gentle. "Rinoa,…it's okay. We're here to help you. C'mon."

"W-why should I trust you..?"

"Whether you like it or not, we're here to get you out of here. We went through a lot just to find you and we won't stop now." He motioned to drag her by the arm.

"Wait. Who…are you?"

If this is the only way to make her move… "I'm Squall, a SeeD. Special forces dispatched from gardens…" He groggily pulled off the stuffy headgear. "The guy you slapped."

Recognizing her rescuer, she smiled brightly before literally jumping on him and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him like there was no tomorrow. Squall blushed a little at the (good ^^)'virus's sudden 'attack', breaking through his defense. She's gone through a lot… Wait a minute. Since when did I care? Not now, not ever. She's just a client. Nothing more.

"…."

"What?"

"I'm scared."

Of course you are.

"..Take me away…far, far away…please? Promise me you won't leave me.."

"(Sigh) I promise. We better hurry if we want to go. They will be here any minute…"

"Hm..sorry.."

Squall helped her up and hurriedly lugged Rinoa towards the entrance. Making sure the coast was clear, he cracked his brain to remember the right route out. "This way!"

Down the elevator…through the left corridor…down the stairs…and… "That's the last door. C'mon!"

BOOM! A steel wall came crashing down, blocking their path, a few steps away from their freedom

"Well, well, Squall. You're here at last. I was thinking maybe you had given up."

"Don't interfere, Seifer."

"But I must. It is my sole duty. Anything that gets in Adel's way must perish!" Seifer leapt from the top of the rubble and dived towards Squall with his gunblade.

"Go!" Squall shoved Rinoa out of the way and quickly defended himself. Squall could feel Seifer's improvement. The impact of the clash alone sent Squall to retreat .

"Squall!" Selphie and Irvine appeared from the rear.

"Oh, so you've brought your underlings with you, Squall! Gah!"

"Selphie! Irvine! Stay away! Protect Rinoa!!" Squall commanded, concentrating on the exchange of fearsome blows.

Missed. Blocked. Missed. Grazed. Counter. HIT!

"Argh!" The gunblade slashed deep into his arm. Due to exhaustion and injury, he dropped to his knees with his gunbalde for support.

Rinoa clasped her hands over her mouth and gasped. "No..!"

A/N: Well,….who do you think lost? ^^  Hmm…this chapter seems kinda short after I cut out some unnecessary information. Seeing that I mentioned that in another two days, Rinoa will be used for something, I suppose this story is going to end soon. After I'm done with this, I'm gonna write a sequel, mostly based on the love triangle Rinoa-Squall-Quistis. There's no guarantee I'll make it a SquallRinoa next time ^^. It's just an idea, though. Don't forget to leave a review on your way out! I love reviews! Long or short!! I love'em all!!