I don't own FF8 ( obviously )
Chapter Five:
A murder in Esther
Rinoa watched Squall and Storm leave the president's office and make their way back to the group. She exchanged a worried look with Zell, and both of them braced for the worst. The commander had been talking with Laguna for over an hour, and Rinoa could tell Squall was extremely frustrated, if not downright angry. Storm looked his normal irritating self, but Rinoa didn't know the boy that well, and besides, she wasn't worried about him so much as Squall.
"Uh.so what's up?" Zell ventured as Squall bore down on them, his eyes stony and iced over. Squall made a visible attempt to control his expression and shook his head wearily.
"President Loire has taken our warning into account, and assures us he will be very careful in the future," he stated in a voice dead of emotion. "Other than that, there is really nothing he can do."
Quistis nodded sagely. "That's all we can do, then," she stated in a calm voice, and everyone looked at her. "For now, at least. If Storm says he knows the day and hour the assassination attempt is going to take place, then we can better prepare for it. Unless, there is some other life changing catastrophe ready to happen that we don't know about?" She glared at Storm as she said this, and the boy shook his head.
"Nope. That's it." Storm stretched, ran his fingers through his hair, and looked out the window. "Now, if you'll excuse me. The Esther I know is nothing but a city of smoking ruins. I think I'll do a little sightseeing before we head back to Garden."
"What? You're coming with us?" Zell exclaimed. "But, you gave your warning. Shouldn't you be going back to the future, or wherever you came from?"
The smile Storm gave Zell was both chilling and mysterious. "Not yet. I still have things to do here." Just as quickly, the smile turned into his normal annoying smirk. "Don't worry, though, Chicken Wuss. I'll be gone soon enough."
Zell's red face showed he dearly wanted to pound Storm's teeth in, but he restrained himself in the president's office and stalked away, muttering under his breath.
"Heh. That was too easy," Storm chuckled, and saluted mockingly. "Well, see you chumps in a couple hours-"
"You're not going anywhere," Squall cut in. Storm looked at him with a mock hurt expression on his face, but the commander didn't relent. "Quistis," he snapped, "take him to his quarters and make sure he stays there. President Laguna has insisted that we stay in Esther tonight."
"What? Gimme a break, Leonhart! You can't confine me to quarters like some wanted criminal."
Squall gave him a cold, blank glare. "As far as I'm concerned, and until you prove otherwise, that's exactly what you are."
"This is bullshit, man!" Storm exclaimed. The president's secretary looked up from her desk and gave them a disapproving glare. "I come back here to try to fix what you morons screwed up in the first place, and this is the thanks I get?"
"I don't know who sent you here, or who it is you answer to, but right now, I am commander of Garden." Squall narrowed his eyes and stared Storm down. "You either follow my orders, or you don't and accept the consequences. The choice is yours."
"Fine, fine!" Storm threw up his hands. "But I expect a damn good apology when this is all over, Leonhart." He stalked away without waiting for Quistis, kicking over a chair as he went. Quistis gave Squall a half amused look that said: "why do I have to be the babysitter?" and marched after him.
Squall let out a short breath and ran his fingers through his hair. Rinoa hesitated, then walked up behind him and circled her arms around his waist. She felt the rigid muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt, before Squall sighed and relaxed, placing one gloved hand over hers. She held him only a moment, knowing he was uncomfortable with public displays of affection, before she released him with a final squeeze to let him know she understood.
"What did your father say?" she asked quietly as they left the room.
Squall snorted. "He was less concerned about the potential attack on his life then he was about us spending "quality time" together," he said in disgust. Together, they walked down the long glass hallways, as the city of Esther bustled with life beyond the glass. "Between him pressuring me to come up more often and Storm making snide comments every other sentence, I don't think he heard a word about the assassination attempt. If he did, he certainly won't give it a moment's thought."
"He's your father, Squall," Rinoa soothed. "He hasn't seen you for seventeen years. Both of you didn't know about each other until recently. I think he's trying to make up for lost time."
"I know that," Squall growled, more out of frustration than anger. "I just wish he'd let me deal with this on my own terms." He broke off abruptly to stare out the window, watching the sunlight glint off the sparkling blue and white spires. "All my life, I thought I was an orphan. I didn't know what happened to my parents; if they were dead, imprisoned, or if they just didn't want me anymore. He can't expect me to welcome him back into my life as if nothing happened."
"I think he knows that, Squall."
Squall shook his head. "Anyway, its not important. Let's find the others. I need to let Cid know what's going on."
Later that evening, Rinoa sat in the room president Loire provided for them, idly reading an old issue of her favorite pet magazine found by the bed. Squall was in a conference call with Cid, and she didn't know where the others were.
'Probably out having a good time,' she thought rather enviously. Quistis had been relieved from babysitting duty by one of Esther's guards, so she was free until Squall said otherwise. Zell and the other two, after being updated on the situation, were also free until morning, so they had invited her to explore the city with them. Rinoa had declined, secretly hoping to spend some time with Squall, but the commander had vanished into the Ragnorock and had been gone ever since.
Rinoa skimmed over a passage she had read three times already. 'This is ridiculous,' she thought, tossing the magazine onto the bed. 'Squall's certainly been gone a long time. I'd better see what's going on.'
She rose, ran a brush through her hair, and reached for the doorknob. Before she could touch it, however, something pounded loudly on the other side.
"Rinoa!" came Squall's voice, sounding urgent, almost panicked. "Rinoa, are you all right?"
"Squall?" She opened the door to find him reaching for the handle, ready, she believed, to smash it down. She gasped and her hands flew to her mouth, for Squall's shirt was drenched in red; there was red spattered on his face and streaked through his hair. She grabbed him wildly, terrified. "Oh, Hyne, what happened! You're hurt!"
"Its not mine," Squall panted, stumbling in and slamming the door behind him. He scanned the room, then clutched her to him, breathing hard. Rinoa felt the thud of his heart and craned her neck up to look at him. "Squall, its all right. I'm fine. What's going on?"
"Odine is dead," he told her, still refusing to let her go. "He and several associates were found murdered in their lab downstairs, still dripping blood onto the floor. All their equipment was destroyed, and someone had attempted to start a fire when we got there."
"Oh, my god," Rinoa whispered. She remembered Odine as a crazy, badly dressed scientist with a thick accent and cold, clammy hands. She didn't like him at all, the way he made her feel like an experiment, a guinea pig he could poke and prod, but she certainly hadn't wanted him dead. "Do you know who did it?"
Squall's voice was grim. "The scientists were sliced into pieces, cut down with a very large, very sharp blade."
"Oh no. Squall, no." She didn't want him to go on, but he did, even though she knew what he was going to say next.
"The soldier guarding Almasy was found unconscious, and his room was empty."
Ooooh, the plot thickens. So, what do you think Storm is trying to do? Questions? Criticisms? Comments? All are welcome. Please, please, tell me what you think.
Arigato, SilverKitsune
Chapter Five:
A murder in Esther
Rinoa watched Squall and Storm leave the president's office and make their way back to the group. She exchanged a worried look with Zell, and both of them braced for the worst. The commander had been talking with Laguna for over an hour, and Rinoa could tell Squall was extremely frustrated, if not downright angry. Storm looked his normal irritating self, but Rinoa didn't know the boy that well, and besides, she wasn't worried about him so much as Squall.
"Uh.so what's up?" Zell ventured as Squall bore down on them, his eyes stony and iced over. Squall made a visible attempt to control his expression and shook his head wearily.
"President Loire has taken our warning into account, and assures us he will be very careful in the future," he stated in a voice dead of emotion. "Other than that, there is really nothing he can do."
Quistis nodded sagely. "That's all we can do, then," she stated in a calm voice, and everyone looked at her. "For now, at least. If Storm says he knows the day and hour the assassination attempt is going to take place, then we can better prepare for it. Unless, there is some other life changing catastrophe ready to happen that we don't know about?" She glared at Storm as she said this, and the boy shook his head.
"Nope. That's it." Storm stretched, ran his fingers through his hair, and looked out the window. "Now, if you'll excuse me. The Esther I know is nothing but a city of smoking ruins. I think I'll do a little sightseeing before we head back to Garden."
"What? You're coming with us?" Zell exclaimed. "But, you gave your warning. Shouldn't you be going back to the future, or wherever you came from?"
The smile Storm gave Zell was both chilling and mysterious. "Not yet. I still have things to do here." Just as quickly, the smile turned into his normal annoying smirk. "Don't worry, though, Chicken Wuss. I'll be gone soon enough."
Zell's red face showed he dearly wanted to pound Storm's teeth in, but he restrained himself in the president's office and stalked away, muttering under his breath.
"Heh. That was too easy," Storm chuckled, and saluted mockingly. "Well, see you chumps in a couple hours-"
"You're not going anywhere," Squall cut in. Storm looked at him with a mock hurt expression on his face, but the commander didn't relent. "Quistis," he snapped, "take him to his quarters and make sure he stays there. President Laguna has insisted that we stay in Esther tonight."
"What? Gimme a break, Leonhart! You can't confine me to quarters like some wanted criminal."
Squall gave him a cold, blank glare. "As far as I'm concerned, and until you prove otherwise, that's exactly what you are."
"This is bullshit, man!" Storm exclaimed. The president's secretary looked up from her desk and gave them a disapproving glare. "I come back here to try to fix what you morons screwed up in the first place, and this is the thanks I get?"
"I don't know who sent you here, or who it is you answer to, but right now, I am commander of Garden." Squall narrowed his eyes and stared Storm down. "You either follow my orders, or you don't and accept the consequences. The choice is yours."
"Fine, fine!" Storm threw up his hands. "But I expect a damn good apology when this is all over, Leonhart." He stalked away without waiting for Quistis, kicking over a chair as he went. Quistis gave Squall a half amused look that said: "why do I have to be the babysitter?" and marched after him.
Squall let out a short breath and ran his fingers through his hair. Rinoa hesitated, then walked up behind him and circled her arms around his waist. She felt the rigid muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt, before Squall sighed and relaxed, placing one gloved hand over hers. She held him only a moment, knowing he was uncomfortable with public displays of affection, before she released him with a final squeeze to let him know she understood.
"What did your father say?" she asked quietly as they left the room.
Squall snorted. "He was less concerned about the potential attack on his life then he was about us spending "quality time" together," he said in disgust. Together, they walked down the long glass hallways, as the city of Esther bustled with life beyond the glass. "Between him pressuring me to come up more often and Storm making snide comments every other sentence, I don't think he heard a word about the assassination attempt. If he did, he certainly won't give it a moment's thought."
"He's your father, Squall," Rinoa soothed. "He hasn't seen you for seventeen years. Both of you didn't know about each other until recently. I think he's trying to make up for lost time."
"I know that," Squall growled, more out of frustration than anger. "I just wish he'd let me deal with this on my own terms." He broke off abruptly to stare out the window, watching the sunlight glint off the sparkling blue and white spires. "All my life, I thought I was an orphan. I didn't know what happened to my parents; if they were dead, imprisoned, or if they just didn't want me anymore. He can't expect me to welcome him back into my life as if nothing happened."
"I think he knows that, Squall."
Squall shook his head. "Anyway, its not important. Let's find the others. I need to let Cid know what's going on."
Later that evening, Rinoa sat in the room president Loire provided for them, idly reading an old issue of her favorite pet magazine found by the bed. Squall was in a conference call with Cid, and she didn't know where the others were.
'Probably out having a good time,' she thought rather enviously. Quistis had been relieved from babysitting duty by one of Esther's guards, so she was free until Squall said otherwise. Zell and the other two, after being updated on the situation, were also free until morning, so they had invited her to explore the city with them. Rinoa had declined, secretly hoping to spend some time with Squall, but the commander had vanished into the Ragnorock and had been gone ever since.
Rinoa skimmed over a passage she had read three times already. 'This is ridiculous,' she thought, tossing the magazine onto the bed. 'Squall's certainly been gone a long time. I'd better see what's going on.'
She rose, ran a brush through her hair, and reached for the doorknob. Before she could touch it, however, something pounded loudly on the other side.
"Rinoa!" came Squall's voice, sounding urgent, almost panicked. "Rinoa, are you all right?"
"Squall?" She opened the door to find him reaching for the handle, ready, she believed, to smash it down. She gasped and her hands flew to her mouth, for Squall's shirt was drenched in red; there was red spattered on his face and streaked through his hair. She grabbed him wildly, terrified. "Oh, Hyne, what happened! You're hurt!"
"Its not mine," Squall panted, stumbling in and slamming the door behind him. He scanned the room, then clutched her to him, breathing hard. Rinoa felt the thud of his heart and craned her neck up to look at him. "Squall, its all right. I'm fine. What's going on?"
"Odine is dead," he told her, still refusing to let her go. "He and several associates were found murdered in their lab downstairs, still dripping blood onto the floor. All their equipment was destroyed, and someone had attempted to start a fire when we got there."
"Oh, my god," Rinoa whispered. She remembered Odine as a crazy, badly dressed scientist with a thick accent and cold, clammy hands. She didn't like him at all, the way he made her feel like an experiment, a guinea pig he could poke and prod, but she certainly hadn't wanted him dead. "Do you know who did it?"
Squall's voice was grim. "The scientists were sliced into pieces, cut down with a very large, very sharp blade."
"Oh no. Squall, no." She didn't want him to go on, but he did, even though she knew what he was going to say next.
"The soldier guarding Almasy was found unconscious, and his room was empty."
Ooooh, the plot thickens. So, what do you think Storm is trying to do? Questions? Criticisms? Comments? All are welcome. Please, please, tell me what you think.
Arigato, SilverKitsune