Rinoa stormed back onto the Forest Owls car, making her way back to the control room. They'd captured the lone guard and had managed to beat some information out of him. It was true that Deling had intended to come to Timber, however he hadn't come by train. The train was just a decoy, a trap set to keep any resistance groups from causing harm to the President. That rat bastard had come by helicopter and now he was in Timber. Set and ready to make some kind of announcement at the old television station that hadn't worked in years. That station was well over twenty years old and so hopelessly outdated they'd never get it to work with the newer equipment...she fumed inwardly.
"Why the HELL would he be at the television station! Even if they could clean it up and get it working...there's no way they'd be able to send any signals from it. The radio tower in Timber's been torn down! How the hell are they going to announce anything when they can't even send a signal out! He has to be lying..." Rinoa snarled, kicking a chair in the control room.
Zell had been sitting quietly with Squall and Selphie in a corner of the control room. He suddenly remembered the radio tower in Dollet and piped up, "What if the tower they were using wasn't in Timber? Squall...remember the old communications tower in Dollet? What if Galbadia got that thing running and intended to use it to send signals from the television station here in Timber."
"Yeah, I guess it'd work...." turning over the idea slowly, "It still seems kind of silly to use such outdated technology."
"Well, He could use it to send signals to regions that don't receive cable...it would reach a wider audience then." Zell replied.
Rinoa didn't care why Deling was doing this or how. She felt so stupid....so naive....he'd made a fool of her!. How much longer would her country have to suffer? How many more people would have to die? She was tired of it...tired of going to sleep, wondering if her friends would be there in the morning...tired of seeing her people oppressed, beaten down by a ruthless government....Slamming her fists on the desk in frustration, she whirled around.
"DAMN HIM! We're going to that station...it ends here. I don't care who comes with me...I'm going.", throwing the door to the control room open and storming out.
"RINOA! WAIT!" Watts called after her as she fled down towards the end of the train.
"Where does she think she's going?" Zell asked.
"After Deling.....In the last car we store a couple of ATVs...This train's a hunk of junk, every now and then it breaks down. So we keep a couple of vehicles around, just in case..." Watts answered, "Um, I hate to ask, but could you go after her? There's no stopping her when she's in a mood like this and I'm afraid she'll get hurt. After what happened in that car, I'm thinking you guys are the best for the job."
Zell nodded and started down the corridor after her. He managed to get to the last car before Rinoa had even left. "Rinoa..." he said, his voice bouncing off the cavernous interior of the cab, "What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it matter to you?"
"You're just going to storm off? No plan in mind....by yourself?"
"I..." she stopped, propping herself up on the side of the jeep, "I don't know....I can't think of anything else to do. All the suffering that man has caused....I can't let him get away with it."
"Would you mind some help....after all you hired us. We'd be happy to go with you."
"Yes.... Zell....thanks...."
"No problem...." Zell answered, walking over to her and putting his hand on her shoulder. She smiled slightly, touching his hand with her own. Just then Squall and Selphie entered the room, Zell quickly took his hand off Rinoa. He felt guilty all of a sudden, like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to.
Selphie walked up to Zell, her eyes narrowed and a wry smile painted on her face, she chimed, "We didn't INTERRUPT...did we?"
"N-no....Rinoa just asked if we'd go up to Timber's T.V. station with her. We don't have much of a plan, but at the very least we can go and see what's up." Zell answered, blushing. He looked over at Squall, who looked like he was about to have a cow. Oh shit....
Squall felt angry and betrayed, he didn't know why. It's not like he liked Rinoa or anything...far from it. The image of Zell's hand on Rinoa's shoulder, the way her hand had touched his....he couldn't let go of it. Why was he touching her.....why had she responded in kind? Squall started breathing faster, his heart hammering, a surge of adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He wasn't jealous....was he? The desire to hit something....to smash it to bits was overwhelming. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply, controlling his rising anger.
He answered robotically, "Fine then....let's go."
It took less than an hour to drive the jeep all the way to downtown Timber. After some initial confusion, they located the newly renovated television station. The security was pretty tight and they were all unsure of how to get inside. There was a large bank of view screens mounted on the front of the building. They stopped the car to discuss their options.
"Well, what do you think?" Zell asked.
Rinoa cocked her head, "Geesh, I don't know........I wonder what he's going to announce anyway?"
"Love and Peace?" Selphie chirped.
"That'd be nice, but all things considered I doubt it.....Gosh, Almost makes you hope the first television transmission in years would be an announcement of Timber's independence....That's it! I bet we could sneak around back and break in! We'd get on T.V. and declare Timber's liberation!"
"Wait, I think they're starting...." Squall said, his lack of enthusiasm evident.
The bank of television screens lit up, crackled and then cleared as an image appeared. It was Vinzer Deling himself, standing at a podium, red curtains draping gracefully behind him. He opened his mouth to begin his speech but before he could get a word out the picture dissolved into white noise. When the picture cleared, Rinoa and the three SeeDs saw a familiar face. A young man with cropped blonde hair had taken Deling hostage, holding a slim, black gunblade. Seifer....
"Don't move or he dies..." Seifer snarled, forcibly pulling Deling off camera.
All four watched in mutual horror, jumping at the unexpected ring from Zell's cell phone. "Hello....Yes..." Zell answered, taking the phone from his ear, he said to Squall, "It's for you....it's Professor Trepe."
Squall took the phone, "Yeah....."
"Have you seen what's happened at the T.V. station? If you haven't, we need you right away. Seifer's gone nuts. He broke out of the brig when he found out where they sent you.....Now he's here, he's kidnapped President Deling and I'm afraid he's going to cause an international incident if we don't stop him. Where ever you are, drop what you're doing and get here ASAP!"
"Yes...we'll be right there..." Squall said, clicking off the phone, "We have to go....Professor Trepe's in there and needs our help. Rinoa, you better stay here...this isn't your business..."
"The hell it isn't.....Deling's in there and I'm going....You go ahead and try to stop me..."
"Fine....but you're on your own."
The three SeeDs and Rinoa snuck down a small side street to reach the back of the television station. There were no guards, making their way up a catwalk that lead to the back of the studio. They opened the door to the studio, a scene of mayhem and panic greeted them. Seifer stood in one corner, near a door that lead to the prop room. He held his gunblade to Deling's throat. The crew had panicked and left the studio in shambles. A large camera lay on its side, headphones and headsets littering the floor. Quistis stood in front of Seifer, holding her hands out to show him that she had no weapon.
"Please, put your weapon down...let him go...and nothing will happen to you.." Quistis said, her voice placatory.
"Come over here and make me, bitch..." Seifer growled, tightening his grip on the President, who looked absolutely terrified.
"Pu-Puh-Please help me..." Deling begged.
"SHUT UP!" Seifer barked, digging his blade into the squealing President's neck.
Squall quietly motioned the rest of his crew into the studio, making sure that Seifer, nor anyone else, would notice. Hunching down behind some tipped over sound equipment Squall pondered what he should do. He looked over at Rinoa, she was the only one with a truly long rang weapon, he waived her over.
Leaning in, he whispered, "Do you think you could shoot his hand from here?"
"Yeah, but why? You think I want to save Deling's ass? If Seifer takes him out all the better. "
"I understand your anger with Deling, but killing him won't solve anything. Deep down you have to know that. If you kill him, you'd be no better than he is...." Zell replied from behind her.
"When you put it that way..." she said, reluctantly raising her arm and taking aim.
She shot off her pinwheel, hitting Seifer just above the wrist. He gave a cry in pain, dropping his weapon long enough for Deling to escape. Quistis flicked out her whip and raised it high, cracking it into the air and lashing it down, the whip winding around Seifer's already abraded wrist. He winced, quickly grabbing hold of the whip and yanking it, sending Quistis to the ground hard. She hit the floor with a thud, knocking into the scattered equipment. Stars burst behind her eyes, and she curled into a ball trying her best not to pass out. Seifer took this as his moment of triumph, bending over his latest victim to see if she was still conscious. Squall lunged forward, gunblade drawn and pointed at Seifer's head.
"It's over...give up..."
"I KNEW it....I knew Cid would send his pet SeeD after me," Seifer snarled. He spread his lips in a lunatic's caricature of a grin, turning his scar livid. "Come here and let me teach you another lesson."
Zell and Selphie stepped from the shadows.
"Hmmm..." Seifer smiled, "I thought I smelled chicken shit."
Zell stepped forward, fists clenching and unclenching, "Shut your fucking noise hole! When we get you back to Balamb....."
"NO!!" Quistis lurched from the floor, clutching her bruised ribs, "NO!! THE CAMERAS...."
Before Zell even had time to regret letting the name of their Garden slip, Seifer had breeched the distance between them, smashing the heel of his palm into Zell's nose. Zell staggered backward, groping at his face, and toppling into one of the large camera, bringing it, himself and Quistis all crashing on top of Rinoa. Squall leapt at Seifer, swinging his gunblade over his head in a blind rage. Seifer dove left, rolled up from the floor with a piece of the scattered video debris in his hand and had the missile airborne all before Squall could recover from his wild swing. The chunk of metal struck Squall in the temple, sending him to the floor. His gunblade clattered out of his grasp. Through a red-rimmed blur of crackling agony, Squall watched his former classmate recover his black bladed weapon and slip through a door...before the blackness overtook him and all he saw was nothingness.
Seifer slammed the door to the prop room closed. "Dammit. Shit. Dammit."
The room was pitch black. No lights. No electricity.
"Dammit. Fuck me. Shit"
He groped around the room for something with which to barricade the door. The asshole SeeDs wouldn't take long to recover and regroup. He could take out Chicken shit by himself, and –of course—Squall, and probably even the bitch and his ex-whore but all of them together.......Maybe.......Maybe not.....In front of the door he threw all the junk his fumbling hands could light upon, cursing quietly into the midnight darkness of the room. Galbadia was sure to retaliate against Balamb. Seifer wished for nothing more than to lead the attack, just so he could see the look on Squall's face when his precious home burned to cinders. That and a way out of this god damned room.... Wisps of eerie light from the back of the room caught his attention, and he stared at it wonderingly. Had the fates heard him, and would they for once in his miserable life allow something to work out in his favor? The wisps of light swirled, the light becoming much to bright to look at directly. Seifer squinted, blinking away the pain so he could continue watching the light as it formed. The light warped the solidity of the wall and it began to ripple, rolling in and out like waves on the water, creating a vortex, a unfathomable portal..... From this dark portal stepped a tall woman, dressed in a royal purple skin tight dress. Somehow she illuminated the tiny space by her very presence. The woman was wearing an elaborate mask that covered half her pale face, which was a death's head. She stepped forward slowly, with the grace of a queen. Seifer held out his gunblade, his arms trembling, yet ready to attack.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!" he squeaked, fear filling his being.
"Poor boy...." she hissed, her voice smooth and rhythmic, moving forward with each word, "So confused.....without direction....without hope.....without escape.."
"I SAID STOP!"
"And what will you do? Shoot me with that weapon of yours?" she said, mocking him. She raised her hand, swiping at the air.....the gunblade vibrated in his hand and suddenly flew from his grip, clattering to the ground near her feet.... She laughed, "You little boys and your toys.....Pathetic..."
"W-w-w-w-what....WHO ARE YOU?"
"OOOoo, You're afraid and you don't know what to do? Don't fear me, boy....I can help you......make you powerful, more powerful than your enemy....more powerful than....what is his name?" she said, her purple lips twisting into an unpleasant smile.
"Squall...." Seifer answered weakly, he was so confused.
"Yes, Squall....Will you be my knight, boy? That is your dream, isn't it? To be a brave knight....protecting your queen. I AM your queen.....Protect me from those SeeDs...boy"
"I'm not a boy...."
"No...you're not a boy...You're a knight...a white knight.....MY knight....Come with me....I can make your every dream come true..." She said, lifting a hand to beckon him.
He stumbled forward, unaware of his surroundings....barely in control of his own body, bending slowly to pick up his gunblade. Could she really make his dreams come true? He had all but given up any hope that they would. He'd been suspended at the Garden, thrown into the brig....there was no future for him there. What did he have left but his dream....to be a knight, like in all the stories. A knight protecting his queen and country. If she was telling him the truth, he'd follow her anywhere. The door behind him began to rattle and shake, the SeeDs were trying to enter. Seifer hesitated and looked back, watching as the door gave way and Squall stepped into the half light of the prop room.
"What are you waiting for? Come with me and become my Knight....or go with them.....do they have anything to offer you but more humiliation? I offer the world at your feet..." she whispered, lifting a hand towards the wall, instantly rippling its surface.
"Yes......"
Squall couldn't see very well, his vision still blurry and unfocused from his blow to the head. Shaking the cobwebs free, it had seemed like Seifer was talking to someone but...all Squall could see was the dark shape of a woman moving behind him. Suddenly the back wall of the room began to ripple and glow, a dark hole of some kind forming in the wall. He dashed forward....the wall quickly reformed, Seifer and his companion disappeared behind it. Quistis, Zell and Selphie entered the dark prop room. Quistis stopped at the door, dragging over one of the powerful lights from the news room. What greeted them was a mostly empty prop room and no Seifer.
"Where'd he go? There's no way out of this room" Quistis said.
"This is going to sound crazy but.....I think he disappeared into the wall. Someone else was here....someone with some very powerful magic. I saw it with my own eyes and I can't believe it."
"Dammit..." Quistis said, stamping a foot, "Well, I better get back to Balamb and report it. Let's just hope that Galbadia doesn't retaliate against the Garden because of this."
Rinoa stepped into the room, rubbing her back with her knuckles, "Fat chance you're going anywhere........Have you looked outside? The entire front end is surrounded by soldiers. They're probably already sending some around to that back alley. If we don't leave now...our asses are grass. Beyond even that, since they know you're from Balamb, any trains headed that way are going to be stopped and searched. There's no way your getting back to that Garden of yours."
Quistis's eyes narrowed, ....it was that girl Squall had danced with. She asked politely, "Well, where do you suggest we go?"
"There's a safe house around here that I know of...I could take you there for the time being."
They left the television station through the back alley, going down the catwalk silently. They could see Watts running up the stairs from the bottom. He reached them quickly, out of breath and tired, it took him a minute to recuperate enough to speak.
"Rinoa...they found our base....everything's messed up.....I managed to get you guyes stuff out....Angelo's okay....but we won't be able to go back..."
"NO!" she whispered, turning to look at Squall with lost, helpless eyes, "What are we going to do?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?" he said, a hint of sarcasm entering his voice. He didn't need her crap right now.....his head hurt and at this point, he didn't really care what happened to her or any of her resistance group friends......Why doesn't she ask Zell for help, he gives a damn...
"Excuse me... What's your problem?" Rinoa said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Never mind, it doesn't matter..."
"No....I don't think so....If you have something to say to me, then say it."
"Why the hell do you care about what I think?....I'm not your friend.....I don't give a rat's ass about you or your cause. You hired me...you're my boss and the supposed leader of this ass backwards group..... You're rank amateurs......too stupid to realize what kind of game you're playing. We're professionals for gods sakes! It's an insult we even have to work for you people! Solve your own damn problems....Get your head out of your ass, then call me..."
"Really....is that it." Rinoa answered in a calm, steady voice, her eyes growing dark with anger, "You're right....I'm an amateur.....I never wanted to fight, but I did because I had to. Because I believe what I'm doing is the right thing. Because if I don't no one else will. So tell me, being such a professional.....What do you fight for Squall? What's your grand cause? SeeD helps people right? So how do you help them, Squall....." She waited for a moment, "What? No answer, but SeeD helps right, and I'm sure you just help people out of the kindness of your heart.... wait, you fight for the most honorable cause known to man. Money. Screw morality, who cares if innocent people suffer and die.....Nice cause you have there. I may be an amateur, but you're no better than a whore, standing on the corner waiting for the highest bidder. I'm so sorry to take up your precious time with my silly cause. I'm sure there's a lot of other people who'll pay big bucks for your service.....Fuck you....Fuck SeeD.....Fuck the whole damn lot of you....."
She whirled around and began to stalk off, Watts trailing behind her. Squall stood there, dumfounded....No one had ever talked back to him like that before. Everyone else had frozen in place, watching uncomfortably as the scene played out. Zell reacted immediately, his first thought was to diffuse her anger somehow. She was the only one who knew the area enough to get them out of this situation.
"Rinoa...WAIT!" Zell called after her, looking at Squall with irritation. Why did he have to do that.....
She spun around, her eyes flashing with rage, ".......If I understood the Great God Leonhart, I'm on my own..........I'm leaving.....you can burn in hell for all I care...."
"Rinoa....we can't just leave them..." Watts said, quietly.
"Why the hell not.....They're big important SeeDs... They don't need the advice of rank amateurs!", her eyes glaring at Squall with absolute hatred......He's just like Seifer...an arrogant jerk. How could I even think he'd be any different?
"It's not right....Noni, you know what will happen if we leave them here....I know you're pissed....and you have a right to be, but don't let that blind you. You'd be no better than them if you did." Watts said, looking at her earnestly.
That line never fails...dammit..... sighing she conceded, answering desolately, "Fine.....let's go...."
Rinoa and Watts waited at the bottom of the stairs for all four SeeDs. Her body was still trembling, she'd never been that angry before. How cold could one person be? She could hear the distant clatter of approaching soldiers. The SeeDs were much too slow, they'd have to get moving if they didn't want to be caught. No time...Rinoa snapped at them to move their asses, taking off as fast as she could go down the alleyway. She dodged and weaved, leading the SeeDs down the twisting back alleys of Timber.....not really caring if they followed. Finally arriving at the small home of Mei Aiko, a former resistance member that now ran a safe house. She knocked rapidly three times in succession, an older woman answered the door with a look of surprise.
"Noa! What are you doing here, sweetie?!"
"We're in a bit of a spot Mei....could we stay here....we have soldiers after us." Rinoa said, feeling herself loose her cool.
"Sure, come on in..."
She ushered Rinoa and the others into her small, but comfortable home. Seeing that Rinoa was visibly upset, she asked her other guests to have a seat. Ushering Rinoa and Watts into another room. Waiving at her younger daughter, Reika, to get their guests some refreshments. Mei walked into the master bedroom, where she'd left Rinoa.
"What's going on? You okay..." Mei asked cautiously.
"N-Nothing....it's just everything's all messed up and...", unable to control her emotions any longer, she began to cry, "I just don't know what I should do...Our last mission went to hell and they found our base....Now I have no where to go...and..."
"It's okay....everything will work out fine...you know that. Why don't you rest for a bit....Watts, could you please keep an eye on her." He nodded and sat down on a chair near the bed.
Rinoa lay on the small bed and curled up into a little ball, falling into a half-sleep almost immediately. Mei left the bedroom and entered the living room, where the SeeDs were enjoying some tea that Reika had made.
"Rinoa's resting in the back...Now, who are you people?" she asked sternly.
Squall stood up, his head lowered and answered quietly, "We're from Balamb Garden...we were helping the Forest Owls out."
"Fine job you did too...Well, you better figure out what you're going to do." She said, eyeing the young man who'd spoken to her, "What's your name?"
"Squall...."
"Well, Squall....it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where you've gone. Sooner or later those soldiers will be banging on my door. I'll give you refuge here for the night, but you best decide what you're going to do before morning. I'll leave you to make up your minds..", walking into her kitchen to prepare dinner for all her guests.
After Mei had left, the four SeeDs gathered together in the living room. Zell sat quietly in a large chair in the corner. Selphie plopped down on the floor, next to Quistis, who'd taken up a seat on the couch. Squall continued to stand....he felt as if every eye in the room was on him. He kicked himself for loosing his temper with Rinoa....not only did it make him look really bad...but...the look in her eyes after he said....not to mention what she'd said to him..... she hated him now. For one of the first times in his life he didn't know what he should do. He wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
"Well, now what?" Selphie chirped.
"Who cares...." Zell answered glumly, "Everything's all screwed up anyway..."
"Zell, that's no way to talk...." Quistis chided, "The protocol we follow is to go to the nearest Garden if going back to our own is impossible. Galbadia Garden isn't far from here...maybe we can ask Rinoa for one last favor."
"Yeah....like that'll happen. We're lucky she even lead us here..." Zell said, never feeling worse for himself in his life, "Garden's screwed, we're screwed....might as well give up."
"You're not helping..." Quistis snapped irritably, and got up, "I'm going to ask Watts if he can arrange some train tickets to get us out of here.....Squall, could I have a moment."
He walked over to her listlessly, feeling very much the same way Zell was. Quistis couldn't believe how this entire situation had blown up in her face. Zell was right about one thing, everything was seriously screwed up. They didn't catch Seifer, they managed to cause an international incident that directly implicated Balamb Garden and ostracized the only person who could help get their asses out of stir. She took Squall aside, as leader he was responsible for this mess and she was more than eager to ream him out.
"I'd like you to explain exactly what you were trying to do back there..." she said in an angry whisper.
"I don't know...I..." he stammered, unable to look her in the face.
"That girl is the only help we have here. We won't get far without her...she knows the area better than we do, she can find connections that we can't....besides the fact that she is your client...she is PAYING for your services. No matter how much you dislike your mission, you never insult the client. Now, without her willingness to assist us we are dead in the water. You better hope that when she wakes up she'll help us."
"....If you want me to step down as leader...I..."
"No, I don't but even if you did, that doesn't fix this situation....As a leader, you need better judgment than you've exhibited so far. Now, I don't want to hear another word out of you.....Sit down and keep your big mouth shut." She stalked away, quietly entering the bedroom where Rinoa had been taken. Let's hope I can salvage this mess....
She looked at the young girl curled up on the bed, fast asleep. Quistis had felt the lash of Squall's temper many times. She couldn't help but feel a bit of empathy for the poor kid, though she'd handled herself better than Quistis ever did. She stood in the room, watching Rinoa's chest heave up and down in light sleep. Looking at Watts, who sat with his head cradled in his hands in the chair next to the bed, she coughed to get his attention.
He looked up, fresh tears in his eyes, "What do you want now?"
Quistis walked over slowly, sitting down on the bed next to Rinoa's prone form, "I wanted to apologize for Squall's indiscretion.....I've had a talk with him, and he now knows that the kind of behavior he exhibited today is unacceptable by Garden standards. I also need your help...."
"Anything to get you to leave..." Watts answered, wiping away his tears.
Rinoa stirred, "What's going on..."
"They need our help again...."
She sat up, looking to her right and seeing Quistis, "Who are you anyway? Why should I help you?"
"My name is Quistis Trepe....I'm Squall's former teacher and his Supervising Officer..."
"Didja teach him to be the big jerk that he is?" Rinoa asked bitterly.
"No...and I'm very sorry. It's not Garden's policy to insult our clients. He's been reprimanded...if you'd like him to apologize himself, I can order him to..."
"No....that's okay. I'd rather he do it on his own. What do you need?" Rinoa said, rubbing her eyes.
Quistis almost laughed at the suggestion that Squall might apologize on his own. Holding her tongue, she said, "Tickets to Galbadia Garden....I'll take Squall and the rest of the Squad there....from Galbadia I can make a request to send you a new group of SeeDs, that is if that's what you want."
Rinoa shook her head, "I'll help you....and I don't need a refund to placate me...the only condition I have is that you allow me to go with you. If our base has been found, it's guaranteed that the rest of the Owls have left and gone into hiding.....They won't stop until they've found all of us. So I have to leave...I'd like to request political asylum....If I could return with you to Balamb Garden."
"Of course you may come with us....I'm very sorry it ended like this for you. If there's anything else I can do, please ask." Quistis said, setting her hand on Rinoa's, "On a personal note.....Thanks for all your help. You've been more than kind. I'm sorry we haven't....."