Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 because someone beat me to it.
Chapter Seventeen
She felt something sharp on her chest and she realized it was the tip of Hyperion. "And … the heart that loved him."
"You know, you can't kill a heart … neither can you kill feelings. They don't die." She answered with the little courage she had left to fight.
"But you can use those feelings to kill someone else. Imagine Squall … coming back home … to your corpse." Seifer whispered sadistically, finding pleasure in her worn out face. She didn't answer. "Love is a weakness that people find comfort in … odd isn't it?"
'I never even told him that I loved him …' She thought miserably as Seifer continued his little lecture, "That's why you and him are weak people and you know that. So the only way you two survive is by being comforted by that weakness, indulging in it … until finally it consumes you … like the plague. I bet when you go places, people point at you and go, 'Look at that beautiful family … I bet you they're perfect and happy.'"
"And isn't that why you hate us, Seifer?" Rinoa asked daringly, still clutching her open wounds, blood painting her hands, "Because he's the one who sleeps next to me … the father of my kids? Maybe love is a weakness … but becoming numb to it is a greater flaw."
"If that's what you think, beautiful." Seifer answered simply, "But take in consideration who has the upper hand here."
'Squall said I was strong … am I? If I were I don't think I'd be the one on the floor …' She thought and suddenly something about the night she had overheard that conversation in Alessandro's room struck her as important.
"Here, about that monster … you know that baseball bat I gave you for your birthday? Well, let's put it under the bed … that way you'll always feel safe."
She looked up at Seifer, examining, analyzing every aspect of the situation. 'I can't just grab it, get up and swing at his head … then he's got too much time to react. I've got to stun him with pain momentarily. Best thing would be the kneecap. Now how am I supposed to reach for it without being noticed?'
She didn't have much time to think it over as the gunblade resumed its position near her heart, "I'm really sorry I have to do this, Rin."
"Don't be … I'm not remorseful about doing this." Without warning she smashed her fist with as much strength she had left on his kneecap, he howled in pain and dropped his gunblade as she heard something crack. Then without further ado she reached under the bed and felt the cold aluminum of the bat. She retrieved it and hit his other kneecap just for double pain. She got up quickly, ignoring the immense pain overtaking her and swung the bat at the back of his neck. He went rigid and fell to the floor unconscious.
Rinoa dropped the bat, stained with her own blood and put her foot on his neck, contemplating to end his life now. "See the pity? I am stronger than you, I'm better than you." She hoped that somewhere in his comatose state, he would hear those words. She took away her foot without killing the monster.
Without even looking back, she ran out of the domicile and headed straight towards her parents' house.
***
Her hands were stinging and sticky from her own blood, clutching her bleeding abdomen in sharp, agonizing pain. She entered through the side door of the Caraway domicile. The garage was dark and smelled of gasoline from the two cars.
Rinoa leaned against the door opposite of the one she had entered in, the one linking the garage to the rest of the house. She listened intently … Seifer had been proud to tell her that her parents' house was under the agency's attack as well. It had worked out to her advantage that he was a loud, smart mouth.
"Just leave the kids alone!" She heard her father's roar, "Keep that gun pointing at me and I won't mind …"
"Don't move, old man! Stay still!" A stranger's voice yelled out, she sensed an edge of panic to that voice. 'Stupid junior officers … the poor bastard's probably shitting his pants …' She thought, though without much pity.
"I'm not the one moving, your gun is just shaking …" Her father tried calmly.
"SHUT UP AND STAND STILL!" The same voice roared with anger, but the uneasiness was still there, "Zell, what the hell are you waiting for … tie 'em up or something."
She heard Riana's anguished cry and just standing there listening wasn't in her plan of action. From what she could tell, the voices were coming from the main hall … good, she just had to open this door and tackle one and if her father was smart enough … he'd take the other one.
"Three … two … one …" She whispered to herself and opened the door tackling the nearest one to her, slamming him to the floor, quickly feeling his waist for a gun and emerging victorious. She rolled and got back up aiming the gun for anything dangerous.
A scream erupted from the other officer's throat as he dropped his gun and fumbled to scoop it from the floor but Caraway had already bent down to pick it up, "Now there's an easy way to do this. Just run out of this house right now … and never come back again."
He took up on the option pretty quickly, leaving his blondish partner to deal with a very angry woman, "I'm going to have so much fun-"
"I'm on your side!" The one named Zell cried out, "Your side, your side, your side!"
"PULLING THIS GODDAMN TRIGGER!"
"Rinoa, put the gun down!" Caraway barked at his daughter, "He is telling the truth …"
She put the gun on safety and chucked it at Zell aiming for his head, "I need paper towels …" She mumbled almost incoherently as if she was feeling the burning pain her wounds were causing her.
"Lots of them …" Julia breathed a sigh of relief, at least her daughter had come back, "God … what happened?"
"Mommy!" Alessandro cried out of happiness and Riana's eyes seemed a little less full of tears. "Are you ok?"
"Not quite …" Rinoa winced, "I think I'm going to go get cleaned up now …" She directed herself towards the kitchen.
Caraway helped Zell up, who was whining about the cut that the gun had left on his forehead as it had made contact when Rinoa threw it at him. "Is she crazy or something?"
"No, no … just pissed off …" Caraway explained lightly.
***
Julia had finished bandaging Rinoa's bleeding abdomen and hands with the bandages they kept handy in their first aid kit. "This is too fucking tight …" She had hissed to her mother right before being whisked from the room in which they had preformed the minor 'surgical treatment'.
"If it's not tight enough, the blood is never going to clot and you will die from blood loss." Julia had replied back.
"I choose blood loss over suffocation …"
"Stop being a baby … we don't have time to waste, let's go …"
They had then gone down to Caraway's study to meet with Zell, where explanations would be furnished. "Hey, I'm Zell …" He held out his hand to the 5'4" raven-haired beauty. She stared at it disdainfully.
"Pleasure …" She mumbled uninterestedly.
"I'm not getting that feeling …" Zell stooped down so their eyes met, his innocent … naïve eyes against her fiery, raging ones.
"Sit you're a-" She stopped in mid-sentence, knowing only too well that her swearing license had well expired tonight, especially in front of her kids.
"Sit my what?" Zell raised an eyebrow. In response she grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him down in a chair. "Woah … easy …"
"Get to the point!" She snapped, not at all feeling generous about the way her slashing moods and words were affecting the people around her.
"Right … well … I'm Zell …"
"Is that the only thing you know?" Her peak of anger was being justly met.
"Uh … I've been a traitor to the agency ever since your father hired me." He blubbered out quickly in case her temper would flare out like hell, "And they've been trying to kill you guys for quite a while now … and Ackroyde hates you … and Quistis thinks you're a whore and … and yeah …"
"Well that's just great! I've always wanted to know what those two sonofabitches thought of me!" Rinoa spat out sarcastically, completely forgetting anyone else present in the room.
"Really?" Zell asked meekly, getting the impression he had pleased someone.
"NO!" She snapped back, turning red in the face from rage, "Why do you always hire stupid fruitcakes?" She turned to her father who was a little unsettled by his daughter's snappish behavior.
"Stop insulting my employees!" Was his only argument.
"TELL THEM TO STOP INSULTING MY SPECIES!" She yelled back at him, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Shut the hell up!" Caraway retorted, rubbing his temples in agony, "Grow up, Rinoa!"
"Shut up, grow up!" Rinoa mimicked, "Why don't you kiss my …"
"STOP, BOTH OF YOU!" Julia intervened, "This is really no time to be arguing over stupid things like this … Rinoa, do you have any idea where your husband is?"
Rinoa was silent however Caraway spoke up, "Never call him that again!"
"Well what?" Rinoa asked, "He is my husband … we got married … I'm married … as in I'm an adult … as in … I can tell you to screw off whenever the hell I feel like it!"
"And why's that? I don't think you should be granted those rights just because you were stupid!" Caraway retorted maliciously, knowing only too well that he had laid an emotional blow on a still open wound.
The eyes that retained a rebellious spark was extinguished as she closed her eyes, the words drenching her pride … 'Well … you knew he was going to lay that one on you one day …' She reminded herself, 'And there is nothing you can do to prove him wrong … because he's right.'
The room went dead silent, even the children who didn't comprehend the slightest conflict had remained silent because though they didn't know, they were pretty sure that their grand-father had, with his mighty authority and strong voice, brought up something almost dangerous to speak of.
"You know … I've got a feeling you guys still have lots of family issues … but I'd like to address Rinoa especially …" Zell was the first to speak up, "If your kiddos over there hold their father dear to their hearts … he's due to be executed in an hour on the roof of the Presidential Palace …"
Sabam: Well, it's a ritual … how the heck am I supposed to leave off without a cliffhanger? Heh heh heh … ok, I promise that the next chapter won't leave off with a cliffy however this story is going to have thirty chapters so don't go thinking that the next chapter is the last. Please be nice and review!