Squall stalked through the streets of Esthar. His destination was unclear but that didn't matter. A storm was begging to be unleashed and little did he know that his wish would be granted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Irvine looked at his watch and sighed. Squall had been gone for 4 hours now. It was around 2 am and still no sign of the young commander. Where is that guy? I've never known him to leave this long before. Noticing a raging storm outside, he was reminded of Squall. He replayed the scene that had just happened hours ago. He was shocked at how vehemently Squall explained his idea of a family. Oddly the one who seemed shocked and hurt the most was Laguna. I wonder what's that all about.
Zell barged into the room at that moment. "YO IRVINE! I'm going to go look for Squall. It's freezing rain and high winds out there. He doesn't have any protection so I'm going to go bring him back before he catches a cold. You wanna come with?"
Irvine turned quickly and clapped his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You don't have to ask." He pulled his hat down tighter and grabbed an umbrella from the closet and the pair set out to find Squall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rhythmic thumping of Squall's boots as he sloshed thorough rain soaked puddles was interrupted by the sound of rapid clanking of chains that alerted him of the fast approaching men. A scowl marred his face, as he stopped not caring to look back and see who was following him. Whoever they were, they picked the wrong time to mess with me.
"Hey punk, give us all your money and drop them boots you're wearing and perhaps we'll let you go without messing you up too bad."
Squall's scowl was replaced with a slight smirk that vanished as quick as it came. His face betrayed no other emotions, nor did his voice. "Whatever you say gentlemen." He turned around and faced his attackers or soon to be victims to quickly analyze the situation. There were three men in front of him. One guy shorter than Zell with black hair in a ponytail and a torn up jacket stood in the middle. A pair of twins flanked him. The only difference was there hair color. One was red and the other was blue. All three were too wrapped up in looking menacing to be much of a threat. Humph too easy.
Reaching down to as if to untie his shoelaces he lunged forward and knocked the wind out of the blue haired man. The punk crumpled to the wet ground trying to take Squall with him, but the SeeD was too quick for that. Squall jumped back and hoped on top of a trash bin. He glanced around and saw the other two. He brought his hands up and gestured for them to attack.
The red haired man charged forward and tried to tackle him off the bin. Squall jumped toward the man. Landing on the red headed punk's shoulder, Squall used the airborne man like a springboard. The temporary red headed platform allowed Squall to land next to a hanging fire escape ladder. The punk wasn't so lucky, the unexpected projectory change resulted in him missing the bin and hitting the wall headfirst.
The last one standing was the skinny black haired man, he too ran towards him. Squall sidestepped the man and grabbed the ladder for extra leverage as he spun around and kicked the man sending him sprawling forward into a pile of trash. The gang leader got up, glaring angrily at his 'victim' while Squall simply held the ladder looking unphased. The punk stood and began throwing trash at the young SeeD. Squall quickly climbed the slippery ladder, the man stopped and hurriedly followed suit.
Once he crested the top of the building, Squall could see the air station not too far in the distance. Idly he noted that he was relatively close to the palace. The man with the black hair was not far behind him. Squall looked around the roof for possible weapons and exits. Wiping water from his eyes, he spotted a door way to his right. I hope the door is unlocked. I don't want to deal with those thugs, if I can help it. Running to the door, he turned the doorknob and it opened. Squall, quickly went inside. He closed and locked the door behind. He could hear the other man cursing from the other side. Later loser.
As Squall walked down the stairs he quickly found himself inside a club. A few people turned to stare at the dripping young man; he tried his best to ignore them and looked around briefly for the exit. On his way out he felt a hand grip his wrist. In the blink of an eye Squall had his wrist free and the person who grabbed him in a chokehold. Squall practically hissed at the individual, "What do you want?" The squirming individual was only able to make strangled gurgling noises. Squall spun the person around and came face to face with a pair of familiar green eyes that he thought he'd never see again.
"Long time no see eh, Leonheart?"
"Seifer…"