Chapter 14 - The Deep Sea Research Facility
"This thing could be anywhere in here!" Zell whined, turning to Squall.
Squall ignored the complaint and continued with his task of getting the trap door in the floor open. They'd gotten only three levels down in the Deep Sea Research Facility and it had taken nearly two hours, being that every inch had to be scoured.
That and Squall was having trouble concentrating on the work at hand. It had been two days and Rinoa hadn't called him. No, she hadn't specified that she'd call in exactly two days, but Squall was beside himself, convinced that she was hurt or was falling for someone else.
He knew he wasn't being rational. Rinoa wasn't like that and she was plenty capable of taking care of herself. But, she'd run away from him, to go and live with Zone, and Squall had no idea where she was and how to get a hold of her.
It wasn't like him to be so distraught over something. He would never have told Xu to forward any calls at his office to his cell phone on a mission of this kind of importance, but he knew he'd be pissed beyond belief if her missed her call.
"Squall, are you listening?" Zell interrupted his thoughts.
Squall shook himself and looked up at his friend. "What?"
Zell rolled his eyes and sighed. "Eve wants to switch with me. So, I'm gonna go back to the first level and keep looking, and she's gonna came down here with you, ok?"
"Whatever," Squall mumbled, trying to concentrate on his work.
He finally concentrated long enough to get the door open and he cautiously stepped down to the next level, looking for any sign of trouble. They hadn't seen any sign of the soldiers since their arrival, or any sign of ANYONE for that matter. The place was as desolate as usual.
Looking around once more, he reached for his radio to inform the others that he was there and it was clear when the ringing cell phone disrupted him.
He scrambled to get it out of his pocket and open.
"Hello?" he panted, nervously.
"Squall," Xu's voice said from the other end, "Rinoa was here."
"What? Why didn't you have her call me? Is she still there?" he interrogated.
"She left. She came and demanded to know where the gauntlet was and she just left. She was acting kind of funny, too."
"Funny ha-ha, or funny-strange?"
"Strange."
"Well, what did you tell her?"
"I told her that you guys were there looking for the gauntlet right now, and she took off before I could say anything else," Xu explained. "I can only imagine that she's on her way there."
"Why the hell...?" Squall trailed off. There was no point in asking why she was coming and what she wants with the gauntlet, because it was obvious that Xu had none of the answers. "Well, how long ago was that?"
"She left about an hour ago."
"She came and left an hour ago and you're just NOW calling me?"
"Sorry, there was a fight between the students in the hallway right after she left and I had to deal with that. I called as soon as I could."
"Well, whatever. If she's on her way here, fine. But if she comes back or calls for any reason, I want you to call me immediately."
"Sure thing. Good luck."
The phone clicked off and Squall looked up from his phone to see Eve descending into the room.
"Any luck, Commander?" she asked.
Squall shook his head. "Not yet. And Eve, we're friends now, remember? You can call me Squall."
Eve chucked and began looking scouring the room for any clues. "So, I could help but overhear... is someone coming here?"
Squall sighed. "Rinoa might be on her way. Why, I don't know."
Eve paused for a moment and then resumed her search, the small action unnoticed by Squall. She began to search faster, trying to be careful not to miss anything.
After another hour, and two levels further down, the search had still yielded nothing.
Squall was becoming frustrated. Frustrated because they couldn't find the gauntlet and because Rinoa hadn't shown up or called yet. He was ready to kick something when a voice over his radio halted his actions.
"Commander Leonhart?" the young SeeD began. "Rinoa Heartilly is up here and is requesting permission to come in."
"Send her in," Squall replied quickly.
He placed his radio back on his belt and looked around, realizing that Eve was still there. Oh shit.
If Rinoa saw her, who knows what would happen. She was still under the impression that they were dating.
Before he could do anything about it, though, Rinoa appeared in the doorway above, having run down as fast as she could.
"Rin?" Squall said softly.
She entered the room, not looking at Eve or Squall, and help up her hands, feeling the air.
"It's further below," Rinoa stated simply.
Squall swallowed hard and began to walk toward her, but she ignored the action and went for the panel in the floor. She waved her hand over it, and it opened.
She went below, Eve following behind her. Squall gulped again and stepped down after them.
"It's here," Rinoa gasped. She held her hands up, and let her senses guide her.
Eve twitched nervously and braced herself, unsure of what to expect next.
Squall stood nearby, trying to gather his thoughts and concentrate on the discovery about to be made, but his thoughts kept returning to what he would say to Rinoa after all of this.
Rinoa found herself walking toward a wall, seeing thin lines where a hidden panel was. Keep one hand hovering over it, she flicked her wrist and the panel came off and clattered to the ground.
Rinoa was frozen for a moment as she looked into the gap.
The gaunlet was before her, just waiting to be donned. The metal of it resembled pewter, and there were stones of all different colors fixed on it in an intricate pattern.
But the aura about it was strong enough to catch Rinoa off guard, and she froze for a moment too long.
Before she could register what was happening, a flurry of blonde hair appeared before her, making a dash for the opening and grabbing the gaunlet from its place.
Rinoa spun around to see Eve, her hands fumbling to get the gauntlet around her wrist.
"You!" Rinoa growled, finally seeing the girl's eyes. They glowed, just like Val had told her the eyes of the enemy would.
She came to her senses and quickly sent a hard kick to Eve's hands, sending the gauntlet sprawling across the metal floor.
Squall rushed forward, realizing what was happening, and made a dash for the gauntlet, only to be stopped by metal bars suddenly materializing in front of him, preventing him from going any further. He looked up to see Rinoa lowering her hand from his direction.
"You have to stay back, Squall!" she screamed, simlutaneoulsy sending another barrier, this time a clear magic force field, around the gaunlet.
Eve froze, seeing that she couldn't pick up the gauntlet, and faced Rinoa.
"Sir, we have a problem," a frantic voice suddenly crackled over Squall's radio.
No shit Squall thought.
"The mystery soldiers are here and there are too many for us. What should we do?" the voice continued.
"Are those men yours?" Rinoa asked Eve.
"They are," Eve replied calmly.
"Call them off," Rinoa demanded, raising a threating hand in front of Eve. A ball of fire was in her palm, growing larger, and was ready to be sprung at her opponent.
Eve slowly removed a smaller radio from her belt and held it up her her mouth and uttered three words.
"Do it now."
The ball of fire in Rinoa's hand vanished, alerting her that Eve had just sent an order to activate an anti-magic barrier and that she was now left to her physical defenses only.
Rinoa quickly leaned backwards to avoid the fist that was suddenly flying in her direction. She grabbed at the arm that was retracting from the missed punch, and yanked it over her shoulder as she spun around. With a smooth motion, she delivered the rest of the hip toss and sent Eve to the floor on her back.
For the first time since childhood, Squall was too stunned to move out of fear. Ignoring the panicked voice that called him from his radio, he watched the battle before him ensue through the metal bars. Rinoa was good, but Eve was better. Eve was going to kill Rinoa.
Eve scrambled to her feet and ducked low, sending a hard shoulder into Rinoa's ribcage.
Rinoa grunted at the pain, and sent a knee into Eve's stomach.
Eve backed up and stood, taking a defensive stance, her hands raised. "Come on, bitch."
Rinoa took a similar stance and a fight resembling a boxing match began.
Squall, regaining his composure, grabbed his radio and called for his friends to come down and help quickly.
Eve, hearing the call, ducked from a punch and backed up, slamming the back of her fist into the button that closed the door above them. No one was going to interfere.
She resumed her stance and smiled at Rinoa. She knew Rinoa was no match for her. It was time to quit playing. She delivered a hard sweep of her leg into Rinoa's knees, sending the girl buckling to the floor.
Eve took the short moment she had to dash for the gauntlet, but Rinoa was too quick.
Rinoa's hands shot out and grasped Eve's ankles, sending Eve down to the floor with her. Rinoa quickly crawled over and locked Eve's head in a bar choke.
But the bar choke was too loose and left Eve enough slack to reach over and grab the gauntlet.
Coughing from the pressure on her throat, Eve used the gauntlet to hit Rinoa's side, desperate to get the girl's hold off of her.
But something happened the moment the gauntlet made contact with Rinoa.
A blindlingly bright flash filled the room for a moment, then the room went dark.
Squall clung to the metal bars, squinting to adjust his eyes to the darkness. He couldn't see anything, but felt as the bars began to dematerialize under his hands. He realized he could step forward now and he cautiously proceeded toward the slight shuffling noises he heard in the direction of where the girls were.
He then heard a clank of metal and the sound of the door above them opening.
The lights flickered back on after a few minutes and Squall squinted, trying to look around. Eve was nowhere to be found, Zell, Irvine and Selphie were dashing into the room, and Rinoa was on the floor where the gauntlet used to be, her eyes closed and her body still.
"Rinoa!?" Squall exclaimed, rushing to her. He dropped to his knees at her side and began checking for a pulse, praying silently for one. He finally felt it. It was faint but it was steady.
"Rinoa?" he said softly, gently nudging her shoulder.
She didn't respond.
"Rin?" he said again, a lump forming in his throat. He looked up to his friends. "Get help. Now."
They ran off, and Squall looked back down to her, tears stinging his eyes.
"Rin? Rinoa, come on, baby, open your eyes," he demanded, his hands cupping her face. "Open your eyes.... please..."
His voice had dropped to a whisper and the tears began falling when she didn't respond.
"Please, Rin..." he begged through whispered sobs. "Please... wake up... I need you, baby... please...."
He looked up as footsteps approached from above, seeing Selphie standing there with tears in her big green eyes.
"Help is coming," she mustered, shaken by the sight of her friend, the stoic commander, crying in front of her for the first time.
A/N: Ooooh, drama. Hee hee. Betcha can't wait to see what happens next! So, you're probably wondering why the bars that Rinoa put up still remained after the anti-magic field was put up. Well, I figure that once they solidified that they were no longer just a magic barrier, that they were created and then they were part of the building... but you have to wait til leter to find out why they disappeared. Sorry for the delay, I won't bombard you with excuses this time. Just shut up and review. ;)
To DBH - Yeah, the concentration seems to be an issue for poor Squall. Now look at him. Sheesh! ;) Thanks for the review! You rock my socks off.
To Quisty878 - No worries. Vince is a good guy, he won't make any moves. Did I say Vince? I meant Val... oops. ;) Besides... he's a bit too old for Rinny.
To Angelprinczess - Thanks for the review! I love knowing that people enjoy this story. And about Val, well... see above to Quisty878's response.
To Rinoa Leonheartilly - Thanks again for the nice comments! I hope you're still as addicted to this as I am, even though it's taken me forever to update. Hee hee.
To Rebekka - I don't think you'll be disappointed. :-) Thanks for the comment!
To Lung - Thanks again for the wonderful comments! They really make me motivated. I'm so glad that you're enjoying this story.
To yummychocolatexD - Hmm... everyone seems quite intrigued by Val. Well, just read the above responses. Thanks for the comment!! Hope you're still enjoying it!