Zell laid in his bed looking up at the ceiling, staring at the cracks in the wall. He could hear Squall lightly snoring away on the bed to his right. It was late and he knew he should be asleep too but sleep just didn't come easy tonight. He kept going over the day's events. "Fuzzball," the word tumbled past his lips before he had a chance to silence himself. Shit! I hope I didn't wake Squall. Zell briefly turned over to see that Squall was still sound asleep.
Hyne, things are just getting weirder and weirder on this mission. Well at least this mission is almost over. We know what they've been doing with the information. Fuzzball is obviously the byproduct of it. Now all we have to do is get him and the information and blow this base to kingdom come. Still, I feel bad for Fuzzball, what were they going to do with him in Galbaldia? He was treated like crap in that laboratory. The amount of scars and bruises on his small frame is frightening. His fists clenched together tightly as his anger rose. They poked and prodded at him like he was an animal, but even animals didn't deserve to be treated like that. Will they do the same to him in Galbaldia? Worse? Once they finish? Tch, this is too heavy to be thinking about. I'm going to count sheep. 1, 2, 3, 4………145, ZzZzZz. Zell finally fell asleep. As he succumbed to call of the bedtime sheep. His hands relaxed. He didn't notice the angry red finger nail marks left in his flesh, nor the slight trickle of blood that followed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day, Squall and Zell once again walked down the hall to the holding area of Fuzzball. They heard voices coming from inside the cylinder cell. Zell briefly flirted with the idea that it was Remy but that idea was shot down when Remy came walking through the door. "'ello gents!" Remy gave them both a pat on the back as he walked to the control panel to open the cell. When the door swung open they were greeted by two men dressed similarly to them standing over a fallen figure. Remy was the first into action. "Hey you two, what in the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Quiet you. We were just having fun with the little demon. Nothing serious, he's still breathing."
In the blink of an eye Squall had cocked his riffle and leveled it at the chest of one of the men. "I suggest you change your definition of fun and get out of here."
The man sneered and looked at the gun pointing at him. He tried to bait Squall into being careless. "Listen you little Galbaldian twerp, I suggest you get the idea of playing hero into your platinum blond head before I have to do it for you."
"I don't play, I do." The next thing he saw was the barrel of the riffle striking him across the cheek. The other man looked from Squall to Remy and finally Zell, who managed to knock his partner out and in the blink of an eye. He picked up his fallen comrade and left.
Squall put down his weapon and stepped all the way into the cylinder. He found the kid curled up in the fetal position shaking, his tail was curled tightly around his waist. He heard small whimpering sounds coming from the kid. Kneeling beside him. He put a tentative hand on the kid's shoulder. The boy froze, even his whimpers stopped. He withdrew his hand and just looked the kid over. Squall knew he needed some help. He was obviously hurt from the bruises that were visibly forming rapidly on his arms and chest.
Remy and Zell walked in and looked at the kid curled up in a ball on the ground. Zell looked to Remy. "Can we take him anywhere for treatment?"
"I wouldn't recommend it. Fuzzball's bound to be treated worst there. We'll have to do it ourselves. You gents have any medical training."
"Yeah, we know a thing or two."
"I'm going to go get some medical supplies. You unchain the kid and while I get the equipment."
"Sure."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
About an hour later, Squall and Zell had finished bandaging the kid's major wounds. Unfortunately they had to sedate the kid in order to treat him. Remy reported to the Scientist that Fuzzball was unable to attend due to his injuries. He had a couple of bruised ribs and a lot of minor cuts and bruises. When they were half way through, they noticed that the kid looked more like a mummy than anything. Squall and Zell were left alone with him for the time being. They had to watch and make sure the mild sedative wore off completely and didn't cause any adverse reactions. Zell suggested that they talk to the kid and try to get him to trust them when he came out of la la land. Squall saw no harm in it so he complied.
Eventually the kid began to stir. His movements were sluggish and weak. He reminded the two undercover SeeDs of a newborn kitten. His eyes were bright and glassy as he tried to focus on the occupants in his cell. His first reaction was to try and curl into a ball or move to the nearest corner but he was still inhibited by the drug. Whimpering in pain from moving too much too soon and resignation for some unknown fate, the kid simply looked at them or the ground as they spoke but he made no move to talk back. They were unsure if he could talk. So they just talked and attended the minor injuries.
Some hours later Zell and Squall were at the end of their ropes. The kid wasn't responding to anything. He had stopped flinching away from them, but he kept a weary yet curiously watchful eye on them. "Well that's about it little dude. Shane and I have to go."
"Yeah, see you later."
Zell flashed the kid a fanged smile hoping to get a rise out of him. "We're not going to put you back in restraints but we have to close the door okay?"
The kid simply stared at him.
Zell was determined to get the kid to talk. He reminded him of the Moomba that helped him in D-District prison.
"Hey, before we go how about we decide on a name for ya? Would you like that?"
Squall gave a Zell a confused look but played along.
Zell flopped down in front of the kid and scratched his head while he thought.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice when the kid started to reach out for him until his paw was almost an inch from him. Zell didn't want to risk scaring him so he sat still. Meekly, the paw came down on Zell's brilliantly bright red hair.
Squall watched closely to make sure the kid didn't try and his friend. He noticed that the kid had a ghost of a smile on his face while he played with Zell's hair.
Feeling bold, Zell slowly reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately. The kid gave a small purr like sound. Seeing this as the opening they needed. They once again tried to get the kid to talk.
"How about, Mike?"
The kid simply yawned.
"Shane you give it a try."
"Justin?"
The kid made no motion of agreement.
"Wait! I heard this unique name the other day, it was Ra something."
"Ralph?"
Zell gave a triumphant smile. "No I got it, it was Ravi!"
"Mm!"
"Shane man was that you?"
"No, it was from him."
Zell turned to the kid. "You like that name?"
The kid nodded his head shyly.
"Great then it's yours.
Can you say it?"
"Rrrr"
"That's it, sorta. Ra then vi"
"Rawvi?"
"Ravi"
"Ravi! Ravi! Ravi!"
"That's great little dude, right Shane."
"Fantastic."
"Shwane"
"Try again it's Shane and I'm Derek."
"Shane! Deweck!"
"Shane and Derek!"
"One more time, Derek"
"Shane… Derek?"
"That's right Ravi!" Zell stood up and walked over to Ravi and held up his hand. "High five?"
Ravi just blinked in confusion.
Squall walked over to Zell and demonstrated a high five for Ravi. Then Ravi tried with Zell. For the first time the kid let out a little laugh.