He knew there'd be trouble from the moment his shot had stopped short, spinning uselessly in the air in front of the Sorceress, he knew. Squall's suicidal leap off the balcony was just icing on the cake. Now Rinoa had left on a fool's errand and Irvine was left to pick up the pieces.

Story of my life, man....he sighed, looking out over the crowd.

Soldiers were pushing their way through the riot, and towards the palace. It'd be awhile before they got there, but he knew they'd be here soon enough. Too soon, and he'd be caught if he didn't stop daydreaming. Irvine fingered his gun, it was a liability, he knew this but it was hard for him to accept the fact that he had to destroy it. It's evidence, and if you're caught with it they'll hang you....Still, it was hard to get rid of an old friend, one that had been by his side for seven long years.

Irvine had been one of the few exceptionally bright children handpicked by Garden and immediately enrolled in their SeeD program. Recruiters came just as the orphanage he'd lived in closed, and had selected him to move into the recently opened Garden in Galbadia. They'd seen him shooting cans off an old fence with a BB-gun that he'd found in the basement. It was an activity he knew that Matron had frowned upon, so he'd hidden it from her. He thought that no one but him knew where this little fence was, it was his own private place. A smile spread across his young face as he aimed at a large green glass bottle. Just as he was about to fire, he felt the firm grip of a hand on his shoulder. Nuts....I'm caught.

He turned slowly to take his punishment, shoulders slack. His eyes turned upward, expecting the see the Matron, instead he saw a young man he didn't recognize, dressed in an odd military uniform. That moment had changed his life forever, they packed his belongings and Irvine had never looked back. Garden became his home, and the only life he ever knew. He never knew the pain and suffering that someone like Squall had endured, nor did he ever experience the warmth of family, like Selphie had. His life was somewhere in between, a large family of peers but little attention given just to him. Don't get the wrong idea, he was grateful to the Garden for what they'd done for him....But, he'd always wished for a more normal life, with a real family, a real home.

Perhaps that was why he was so drawn to Selphie, because she had a real family. Playing the field had always been his thing, and all the ladies he was traveling with were beautiful....but right from the start, Selphie had stood out to him. Cheerful, always quick to laugh and easy to tease. She was a ray of sunshine, a little island of contentment, filled with so much joy and laughter that could not be contained in her small frame. His first crush and the only girl he'd ever really cared for. If only she'd remember.

On the road, they had talked a lot, she had told him about her family back in Trabia. It was strange, as she told those family stories, he relived them with her...though he didn't really know the people that were in them, somehow, she made it real. Made them vivid enough to touch, and for once in his life, he felt something that was real. Real love, a thing he'd been starving for his whole life. A strange feeling had come over him at that moment, as he melted the gun he'd carried since he was ten with the heat from a single flare spell. Selphie Timlett was the girl who'd settle him down. Teach him what having a family was all about, teach him how to really love someone.

Irvine smiled softly, "Boy, you've gone soft...."

His gun destroyed, Irvine soundlessly stepped out of the clock tower. He made his way quickly out of the palace, slipping through the darkened halls and exiting the grounds before the first guard even entered. The crowd had finally calmed down, ushered behind large riot gates by the police. Irvine mixed in with them, blending in slowly with the large crowd surrounding the gateway.

As he went, a feeling well up inside him that he had to move faster. That he had to get there in time to stop Rinoa and Squall....it chided that he should have tried harder to stop them before, that it may already be too late. Whatever evil was to be, was already in motion, and he only had this last chance to redeem himself. He'd already screwed up....he couldn't do it again. That warning in his heart propelled him, as he was never the intuitive type.

As a sharpshooter, he like things simple and easily explained. Intuition was something you used when everything else failed you. The same could be said for magic.... He distrusted it and everything that went along with it. In fact, he'd only just recently junctioned with a GF, he had to have one for at least a year to graduate. If they hadn't made it a requirement, he wouldn't have done it at all. This was why he was so worried, because his heart told him so clearly that there was something wrong. Perhaps, it was the work of the Guardian Force, and not him......he wasn't really sure......Irvine pushed those thoughts aside and moved faster.

Between dodging the police and pushing his way through the crowd, it took him a full twenty minutes to reach the gateway. It was a busy scene, police and soldiers coming and going. Large arc lights were erected, and the crowd gathered to them like moths. Police near the riot barriers were futilely pleading with the crowd that there was nothing to see.  Irvine had snuck in close and managed to press his fellow crowd members for an update of events. A smashed car had been dragged away from the gates, and set to the side. The gates themselves had been pried open, and the police were at a distance, trying to figure out how to proceed. They debated this for quite sometime, and after awhile, Irvine stopped checking his watch and just waited in nervous anticipation. More than anything, he just wanted to charge in and help his friends, but even he knew better. An unarmed man, against heavily armed soldiers and police...no thanks.

Activity began to steadily increase, and though it had seemed an eternity to Irvine, it was in fact, no more than forty five minutes from when he arrived. The police mobilized, swarming into the gateway like a hive full of angry bees. The scuffle could be heard, shouts and then the first group of police came out with Zell in tow. He looked worse for wear, but then again, so did the police. All were nursing some bad bruises and two of them, nasty bloody noses. They jammed him roughly into a waiting police van. A few moments later came Selphie, looking as if she was about to cry. It tugged at his heart, she was dirty and quite scared, little nicks and scratches on her hands, knees and face.

Hope faded further, as a young blonde man came out of the gateway, Sorceress in his arms. Irvine felt an odd moment of recognition, the young blonde's face seemed so familiar, but it quickly passed. He was accompanied by a dozen soldiers to a separate police car, which took off as soon as they entered it. The full motorcade buzzing through the crowded scene as fast as they could. Irvine's heart sank while the gathered crowd cheered,  he closed his eyes to bar his anger......Squall had failed....they'd all failed.....he'd failed. If only I'd shot sooner.....a thought which would come to haunt him. Rubbing his eyes, he watched the gateway, he still had friends in there. Quistis was pulled out, and she was quiet....too quiet.....he could see the delicate trails of tears on her face. She looked back, Rinoa was right behind her, the same look of shell shocked sadness. At that moment the two young women shared a look, and suddenly Rinoa dropped to the ground in a dead faint. Oh....god.....Irvine's heart beat faster, Where is Squall? He didn't want to register the thought that followed, because if he thought it, it'd be true. And it couldn't be true...it just couldn't be.

The entourage stopped suddenly, and the orderly scene became only slightly less so. The soldiers let Rinoa fall to the ground, leaving her unguarded as they looked for help. Quistis' escort stopped to keep an eye on Rinoa, holding Quistis firmly while they watched. Irvine sensed a chance, and somehow he caught Quistis's eye.  Without so much as a word, she knew what he was asking her. They'd discussed it with Caraway before they'd left, just the three of them. Her father had asked them both to look after Rinoa, that if the plan went wrong.....Quistis nodded, closing her eyes, she called forth her Guardian Force, Odin.

He granted her wish, as was his will. Appearing before a baffled crowd, Odin surveyed the scene with a distant eye, his tattered cape fluttering behind him and with a lunge of his lance, he reared his horse up, swinging it downward onto the concrete. The sky darkened, and a single bolt of lightning hit his lance....all the lights in the city instantly winked out and it began to rain heavily. Odin's last gift was a sudden gust of black mist that obfuscated everything around the area he'd appeared in. The effect of the crowd and the police was instant and total anarchy. Irvine rushed forward, knocking out Rinoa's guards with a few well placed kicks and jabs. She was just waking up and Irvine had no time, freezing her bonds to break them, he scooped her up into his arms and fled.

The rain was cold and bitter, and it stung with every drop. Wet, tired, and chilled to the bone, Irvine knew he had to stop soon. He'd carried Rinoa well over four city blocks from the gateway, and his arms had grown weary. Whatever had happened to her left her completely exhausted, and though she was awake, she was unable to run fast enough. He was pretty sure that no one had seen them escape, and even more sure that no one had followed them. But it always pays to be cautious, and he'd driven himself as far as he could to make sure.

Unable to run any further, he stopped at a small bus stop to rest and get out of the rain. The city's lights were still out, the only illumination came from  the emergency vehicles rushing through the streets. Tiny neon dots, flying through the gray city towards the Gateway they'd just left, to quell the second riot of the night. Rinoa shivered, teeth chattering as she sat next to him on the gnarled old bench inside the stop. Irvine felt another surge of useless anger, as he had nothing to offer her to keep her warmer, being just as wet as she. He went to put an arm around her, but she shied away, preferring the bleak numbness of the cold to being warm. Shrugging, he turned his face to look at the plastic bubble ceiling of the bus stop. Droplets of rain hitting the clear roof and running down its smooth sides.  A car passed by, its lights briefly passing over them. Irvine looked at Rinoa again, in the flickering brilliance of the headlights, the trails of rain on the stop's clear walls casting drizzling shadows on her face like tears. After a moment, he realized that she was really crying, and it wasn't just the trick of the light.

"Rinoa....." He began carefully, pausing briefly to chew on his lip nervously, "Wha...What happened out there?"

She looked up at him wearily, tears running down trails already traveled, "Squall....Squall's dead.... it's all my fault.....The Sorceress.....she....and he saved me. It should have been me.....She was aiming at me....It's all my fault....Oh god....."

He put his hand on her shoulder, a gentle gesture that she finally accepted; allowing him to hold her as she cried. In-between sobs she told him everything that had happened, as well as she could. He could tell she was glazing over some parts of the story, but he left it alone. A thousand thoughts spun through his mind, and it was an effort to focus on any one. But it all finally boiled down to his own failure. Looking down at the lost little girl in his arms, it crushed him. How could she blame herself?

"No....No it's not your fault...." he stopped...it's mine...a thought which did not help the crisis at hand, "Squall....He was prepared for something like this......We all are. It's a risk we take as members of SeeD."

She shook her head, "It shouldn't be..... No...no one should.....Damn it, we're just kids...Irvine"

"Rinoa, you've been doing real fighting longer than any of us....least, that's what Seffie told me....and as a resistance member, you should be more prepared than any of us for..."

"WHAT?!" she snapped, red hot rage reflecting in her deep eyes, "The death of my friends? Yes, I've seen a lot of it, and frankly I'm tired. I'm seventeen, I should be worrying about prom, or pimples or...GOD! Anything but this. I'm tired of all the pain....I'm tired of people getting hurt for no reason......death follows wherever I go, and I'm so tired....."

Irvine was silent for a moment, letting the truth of her statement sink in, "Rinoa, death doesn't follow you. It just happens......Listen, we both can beat ourselves up over this all we want....but it changes nothing. If life hands you a bag of shit,  use it as mulch for a flower bed......you don't just hang onto it and bitch about the stink.....Don't worry, okay....No one blames you.... Now, come on....We have to go....."

She sniggered at his comment, more out of relief than anything else,  "That was the weirdest bit of advice I've ever been given....weird, but strangely compelling .....Thanks, Irvine."

He smiled, and tipped his hat to her, "You're welcome....."

She smiled back weakly, wiping her eyes, "......you know, it's not your fault either....."

Irvine didn't answer her, he nodded, letting an absent tear slide from the corner of his eye. Looking out of the stop, watching the rain, two people, different as day and night, made a silent bond to each other. An unspoken oath to help the friends they had remaining, no matter what. Both of them prepared to leave the relative comfort of the bus stop, wrapping already wet jackets around their wet bodies. They walked out into the rain together, little gray forms moving slowly into the misty darkness.

It was a gamble, summoning Odin, hell it always had been.  He was a notoriously temperamental Guardian Force, never showing up when she actually needed him, but if she didn't need him, boy howdy, he'd come rushing in. It had been such a struggle, that she'd given up summoning him at all. He'd come if he felt like it, who was she to try and force him to obey. This was the one time having him trained to summon on command would have come in handy. There were several other things she could have done, but this was the best...the easiest. She needed total chaos, and a simple spell just wouldn't cut it.

So she just prayed, prayed that he'd for once just come when she called, that it wasn't for her own gain that he come, but for another. This had pleased the warrior god quite a bit, he was rarely called for such an honorable reason....and so he came. Quistis had been surprised when it had actually worked, so surprised that she stood there stunned for a moment as if she'd never even seen her own G.F. in action. 

In the shrouded mist, she stood, listening to the riot she'd caused. Firm hands still holding her upper arms, she didn't even try to struggle. The fog quickly cleared and to Quistis' relief, Rinoa and Irvine were gone. At last, something in her life went right, though she knew it was fleeting. Shouts of alarm went up, calling for a search of the area for the escaped prisoner and her accomplice. Quistis couldn't help but smile at the handiwork she'd taken part in as she looked down at the guards that Irvine had knocked out. She barely even felt the blow to her head from the baton of an angry soldier.

The world was blurry, the sound muffled, and her head hurt, those were her first thoughts as she came to. The world came into focus slowly, though her pain did not subside. Quistis looked around slowly, trying to avoid turning her head too much. It didn't work too well, as the throbbing from the back of her neck and temples increased. It was dark, wherever she was and she was moving. Her eyes adjusting to the darkness while lights from the traffic outside flickered through the barred windows. The cold metal on her wrists was confirmation enough that she was in a police van, arrested and most likely heading for a prison of some sort. Doubt there'll even be a trial, with a new dictator in town, I'm sure we're off for a fun filled holiday execution.....she thought sullenly.  Hushed whispering coming just in front of her let her know she wasn't alone. The fleeting lights illuminated the faces of her friends, trying desperately to free themselves.

"Ow....shit....be careful jackass!"

"Shut up! It'd go easier if you'd hold still....."

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"No...no I don't....I've never had the opportunity to pick the locks on hand-cuffs, while riding in a police van.....backwards......"

"What....Irvy boy hasn't had the chance to teach you yet?"

"You are soooooo dead Dincht......"

"OW!.....OOOW OW OW!OW!OW! YOU BI..."

"Do you really wanna finish that sentence....I still have this pokey thingie....and I'm not afraid to use it...."

"......pppffffffftttt.....fine......Stab my poor defenseless arm,  see if I care.....You know, you really hurt me that last time...."

"Sorry.....but it serves you right....."

"Does not.....and it's not a pokey thingie....it's a "

"Does so.....and I don't care what you call it"

"Does not... and why won't you let me finish my sentenc..."

"Because you have...stupid hair....SHUT UP!! ...and it DOES SO...."

"DOES NOT"

"DOES SO"

"NOT"

"SO!"

"NOT!"

"DOES SO DOES SO DOES SO DOES SO DOES SO...."

And it would have continued like that, ad infinitum, but Quistis couldn't stand it any longer. Her head hurt, her heart hurt and all the childish prattling wasn't making anything any better.

"SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!"

The pair promptly did as they were told and a small moment of blessed silence ensued. It didn't last nearly as long as Quistis had wished. Both began to talk at once, asking frothy question after question, a rapid fire litany of how glad they were she was okay, and wondering what went wrong, and so forth. Quiet, that was all she wanted, quiet, because there was too damn much for her to think about. If she had a hand to hold up to quiet them, she would have. Instead she just sighed, letting her face do the work for her.  No words were needed, the pained expression said enough. Bad news was coming, news that was worse than just them in a police van on their way to unhappy prison death. Real quiet fell over the tiny interior of the van, and Quistis told them what she knew, the good and the extremely bad. Zell for the first time in his entire life had nothing to say, only silent tears. Selphie, however, had lots of things to say. She shook her head, green eyes flashing like gems.

"No......I don't believe you....." she whispered, her voice tremulously angry.

A forty minute argument took place between Quistis and Selphie. The young SeeD refused to believe that her leader was dead and that Quistis was telling the truth. Selphie felt it was a terribly cruel joke and wished that Quistis would stop because it was just mean. As it went on, it got quite heated as Quistis lost her temper, she'd tired of being gentle and told her what she'd seen in all its macabre glory. The body, the blood, the whole gory picture. Selphie began to weep, finally accepting the awful truth for what it was.

Dead silence overwhelmed the three SeeDs, and it left Quistis wondering if quiet was really what she wanted after all. The rest of the trip was spent in this way, not one of them speaking a word to the others. They were lost in their own private thoughts. Happy that at least Irvine and Rinoa had gotten away and were presumably free, maybe making plans for a rescue. Sad at their terrible loss, and whatever fate had in the cards for them at the end of their ride.

Minutes turned into hours, a simple ride to prison became a trek that was nearly endless in its scope. It could have been an entire day, or even a week as far as the three SeeDs were concerned. The pattern that had evolved over the last few hours were a number of stops, involving lots of loading and unloading, and the occasional meal. It was exhausting, and it kept them disoriented and wondering when it was all going to end. A tactic the guards were acutely aware of. The SeeDs were dangerous and resourceful, they couldn't give them the opportunity to gauge their surroundings or have a moments breath to think. The incident at the gateway was enough to show them that, they only needed to learn their lesson once. Another precautionary measure had been to give them injections to suppress their Guardian Forces. There was no way they could forcibly remove them, but keeping them from summoning them again was a priority.

The SeeDs didn't even see the exterior of prison that was to be their temporary home, the vehicle carrying them went through to the basement garage. It was more usual for them to stop the vehicle and register with the gate attendant, but this protocol was dismissed. With these prisoners, the sooner they were inside the better. They were pulled out of the van for the last time, herded into the processing area by gunpoint.

Once inside, the guards separated them, Quistis and Selphie went one way, Zell the other. As usual, their captors took care to be extra rough, grabbing on to them and manhandling them like they were children's rag dolls. Quistis realized it was because the guards were afraid. Some of them were the same officers she'd seen at the parade. They knew what a SeeD could do if left to their own devices. But she tired of the constant pushing and pulling, they couldn't do anything anyway. The injections they were given rendered them powerless, at least for a time. Quistis also guessed that the prison was equipped with an anti-magic field, and as she entered the processing area she could feel her guess was right. The drugs they were given had a numbing effect on their senses, a light headed sensation that was vaguely unpleasant. This same feeling was multiplied by ten,  it was a dizziness that was so complete that they could barely stand. Dizziness was followed by nausea, and though Quistis and Zell had the strength of mind and body to hold it back, Selphie did not. She puked all over the floor, nearly passing out. This was evidence enough to their guards that the three SeeDs were no longer a viable threat. The prodding and pushing subsided, and gave way to merely being guided.

The female guards were rather sympathetic towards Selphie, and wiped her face with a wet wash cloth. The effect of the field was temporary and as they got used to it, they would barely notice it at all. Though this did little to comfort Selphie and her bruised ego. Once order was regained, the girls were taken into separate exam rooms. They were given a full body cavity search and then a medical exam. Their clothes were taken from them, and once the medical portion was done, they were escorted to the showers.

They were instructed to wash with the soaps and shampoos that were given to them. It was explained that they contained agents that would kill any parasites they might have brought in with them. Both women were insulted at the very idea, but they did as they were told anyway. Still wet and shivering from the cold, they were given their prison clothes. The guards watched as they dressed. Undergarments weren't allowed, so they had to slip into their simple and very unflattering stretch pants and t-shirts, going commando. Quistis in particular found this uncomfortable. She had a rather large bosom, and the idea of not wearing a bra was just down right wrong in her eyes. Getting felt up by mannish female guards was bad enough, but this final indignity was all she could bear. I shall have to complain to their management....she thought dryly, as she was walked to their next destination.

Trotting down the brilliantly lit concrete hallways of the prison, Quistis had time to listen to her body again. She'd ignored its needs for the last few hours, blocking out her tiredness for the sake of her companions. They needed her to be strong, and so she was. Her whole body ached, and she realized that it had been almost 72 hours since she last slept.

The next stop was the prison photo studio for her compulsory line up photo. Before that the pleasant and cheerful guards asked her a series of annoying personal questions. Ten minutes alone were spent on the spelling of her name.  Next came finger printing, she'd gone through this before but the guards were far rougher than the administrators at Garden. The admitting officer was finally sated and they pushed her over to the blue screen to take her photo. Shoving a card with her name, her prison number and the date on it, into her hand, the flash bulb went off. They turned her to the side and took the second photo. 

While Quistis blinked away the corona from the flash bulb, the guards waited for her picture and vital statistics to process through the prison computer.  The pictures came up on the screen, along with all her information,  the admitting officer was pleased. Quistis wasn't sure why, but they showed her how the pictures had turned out. As expected, she looked tired, dirty and possibly on drugs. In other words, the typical I.D./line-up photo. Wow, if only I could show the whole world my brand new look, Prison Haute Couture ...it was funny, but Quistis chided herself for being so cynical, though it was all she had to keep her going. A little paper card was printed out with the picture, her last name and her prisoner number on it. This was given to her guard and filed in a little notebook where she kept a list of all the prisoners she was responsible for.

Quistis was cuffed again and the guard read off the prison rules, stuffing a large bundle of toiletries, extra clothes, and sheets into her bound hands. As it turned out, Selphie was done at the same time. They shared a look as they were lead into the prison proper. The guard slipped a keycard into a nearly new looking reader, the door to a large elevator opened and they were lead inside it. Going up several floors, the ride was smooth with only the occasional worrisome bump. The doors opened and soon they were being lead and then locked into their cell. The room was almost indescribably dull, cold light gray walls with no windows. Concrete bunks lay in one corner of the simple cell, ratty looking mattresses thrown hastily on the solid bed-frames. The flat glow from the fluorescent lights didn't help, giving the whole room an utterly bleak, hopeless feel.

The girls settle into their room, putting away toiletries and making beds. Quistis felt completely empty, as if every emotion she had was spent. She sighed heavily, sitting on the edge of her bed. Selphie as usual had claimed the top bunk, crawling into her bed almost immediately after she made it. She'd tried, as hard as she could, but Selphie had never been a very strong person when it came to these situations. Unable to hold it back anymore, she let herself cry for the umpteenth time that day. Her eyes were red and irritated because it seemed that crying was all she was capable of. Quistis crawled up into Selphie's bunk, cradling the younger SeeD in her arms. Patting her hair gently, she rocked Selphie back and forth while lost in her own thoughts.

"Quistis, what are we gonna do?"

".....I....I don't know....." Quistis answered her honestly, her voice trailing off.

"I wanna go home....." Selphie whispered, her voice plaintive, desperate, ".....I want my Mom....." , she closed her eyes, choking back another wave of tears.

Quistis smiled gently,  "I know......I want to go home too......" rubbing her forehead, she could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on, "Don't worry.....It'll be alright....." she lied, it wasn't going to be right at all.

What the young girl needed was comfort, not the truth. The truth would come later, once she was ready for it. A small wave of pain in her temples caught Quistis off guard. She steadied herself with one hand as another rush of pain assaulted her. She rubbed her temples, trying to alleviate the hurt as much as she could. It was unlikely that she'd get any headache meds from the guards, keeping prisoners pain free was hardly their first concern.

Selphie looked up at her, eyes still puffy from crying, "You okay??"

Quistis nodded, "Yeah, just a heada....."

She was cut off as the headache arced into another unbearable surge of pain. It was followed by a high pitched whine, it pierced all thought and only made the pain in her head worse. It was like her mind was being warped from within, some force tearing at its walls....splitting her consciousness from her body. A gauzy film of gray blurred her vision, Quistis could feel darkness slipping in.

"Quistis.....are you alright?? What's wrong?? Quistis??...."

The voice seemed to be coming from so far away and Quistis fought to keep herself in her body. Something was tearing her from it. She felt so tired, was she really this tired? Unsure, nothing was what it seemed......Her eyes fluttered as she tried in vain to ward off sleep, but the urge became too strong. Quistis let the creeping darkness take her, slipping into unconsciousness.