Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, Square does. The only thing I actually own with the name of said game in the copy I bought. :(
Author's note: I didn't write an author's note last time nor did I write a disclaimer and I won't lie to you….. I completely forgot about it!!!!! I most warn my English isn't perfect and this is actually the first story I've posted in who knows how long I've own this account (never got around it, since my computers have a knack to go nuts when I save the first chapter and erase it). So please be nice.
Chapter 2: G E A R S
The soldier led them through the halls of the facility. The tattooed man stared at the soldier's back, trying to think of a plan to get the man off their back without causing much of a fuss. They had to get their target out of there first. The young man felt his handcuffs loosened and smirked. In a moment, his female partner in the soldier uniform had his hands free without being noticed by the soldier leading them. The tattooed man got closer to the soldier and knocked him out cold. He grabbed the man before he hit the ground and hid him in a janitor closet.
"Kitty here; what's the target's location?" The female asked keeping watch as her tattooed partner closed the janitor closet door.
"Angel here; our target is located two floors below you in cell number 1062." The female voice responded through the earpiece. The female in the soldier uniform nodded at her partner, who showed her a cardkey he had retrieved from the soldier's unconscious form. They both started to run towards the stairs. Once they reached the cell where their target was being held at. The female in the soldier uniform assumed the lookout position while her partner opened the cell with the cardkey and entered it.
Within the cell there were two men. One of which stared at the young man with indifference while the other had to blink twice, trying to tell himself that he was not seeing things; the latter was in his twenties and had short blonde hair and green eyes. He also had a short beard.
"Zell?" The young man said disbelievingly. "What are you doing here, Chicken-wuss?" He asked with a smirk, staring at the tattooed man's face contort in anger at his remark.
"Shut it, Seifer!" Zell said through gritted teeth.
"Would you guys hurry up?" The female said from outside. Zell groaned and pulled the man from where he was sitting on the ground. They both stepped out of the cell. Seifer stood there, staring straight at the female; a smirk forming on his lips.
"Whoa, Quistis, that uniform doesn't fit you." He said with a chuckle. She looked at Zell and started to walk away. Zell followed her and when Seifer figured he was supposed to follow he ran to catch up with them.
"Kitty here, we have acquired the target." Quistis said with an irritated tone. "We just got him and he's already getting on Wolf's nerves; preparing to launch phase II." She added looking back at Seifer, who smirked proudly. They quickly climbed up the stairs and towards the lobby.
They stopped by the door, took a breath and then barged in. Amidst the confusion one soldier shot another and they could run out unscathed. While Seifer and Quistis boarded the gray van, Zell got on his motorcycle with his helmet on his hands. He watched the van pull away at full speed, leaving behind a cloud of dust. A voice from behind him, a soldier, told him to freeze. He turned to see the few soldier standing there with their guns at the ready. He stared at them for a couple of seconds and smirked wickedly. More soldiers ran out of the facility and moved closer to their official vehicles. In a swift move, Zell put his helmet on and started his motorcycle. He was able to take off before the soldiers started shooting at him, but the soldiers close to the vehicles were able to get on quickly enough to follow him. Since the van was already put of their sight they focused on Zell, who drove all the way to the city.
Seifer was finally able to relax on the van. He stared at Quistis as she removed the soldier's helmet she was wearing, revealing her gorgeous face completely as some bangs fell to frame it. She opened her serene blue eyes and stared at him.
"What?" She asked in her calm tone, to him it was the heavenly sound he thought he was never going to hear again. Only now was he able to ponder on that.
"Nothing, instructor." He replied with a smirk, which slowly disappeared. "Why are you guys doing this? Didn't you guys hate me?" Seifer said quietly staring squarely into Quistis eyes. Quistis averted her eyes.
"Someone order the judge in charge of your case to sentence you to death." The driver said. Seifer looked at the driver only to find Rinoa there. "I learned a lot about your location from my father. He was aware of how unfair it was and warned us about it being so soon. He said he was going to give us the information we needed and that he would buy us sometime, but that if any of us is caught he wouldn't be able to do anything." She explained.
"Okay, but why do it after all I did to you guys, especially to you, Rinoa?" He asked with a frown and a saddened tone. Rinoa smiled sweetly at him, but said nothing. He lowered his head and stared at his feet, trying to find an answer by himself.
"You're one of us." He looked up to stared at Quistis, who still was not looking at him. "We are doing this because you are one of us." She simply said. He felt something stuck on his throat and said nothing else. He was deep in thought; he had done terrible things and they still saw him as a part of them. He had to think on a way to let them know he was really sorry.
"Uh… Teddy bear, here; we have a problem. Sparrow is leaving the nest; I repeat Sparrow is leaving the nest." The cowboy said through the radio. Rinoa frowned.
"Apparently, our time is up." Rinoa said before taking the radio in her hands. "Angel here; we are getting closer to the extraction point. Wolf, hurry up." Rinoa said stepping on it.
Irvine stepped out of the café. It all had been going smoothly up until now. He looked around seriously.
"Teddy bear ready to initiate distraction maneuver ready2rumble." The cowboy said through his mouthpiece. "Falcon, Bull; is Showtime."
"FALCON; AFFIRMATIVE." A female replied.
"Bull 'ere, ready for action, y'know?" A male with a deep voice replied. After hearing both voices Irvine suddenly ran to cross the street and a car almost hit him. He turned to the car and hit the hood with his hand.
"What the f*** is wrong with you!!?" The cowboy angrily yelled. From the car a young man with slightly dark skin got off of the car. The man was slightly taller than the cowboy and more muscle-bound. They started to yelled profanities at each other and started to fight. The military man, who was walking out of the hotel stared at the commotion in the middle of the street, blocking his exit.
Quistis was deep in thought. She was not sure of what she was feeling now that she had Seifer in front of her. She looked at him while he just stared out his window into the horizon; his green eyes reflecting the dry landscape. He looked beautiful against the orangey colors of the afternoon sky. She shook her head; she was still on duty, there was no time to ponder on those thoughts.
Rinoa suddenly came to a stop and Seifer frantically looked around. There was absolutely nothing around them. Quistis smirked; he looked so vulnerable without his gunblade, which was at Balamb Garden (after his capture, Squall had gone to retrieve Seifer's gunblade, claiming that the gunblade was an exclusive weapon of Garden and SeeD, and that he did not want a third party to copy it and distribute it around the globe).
"We're here, Sunshine." Rinoa said into her radio. Seifer stared at her as if she was crazy.
"Understood; Angel." The chirpy female replied. There was rumble and out of nowhere Ragnarok materialized right in front of them. Seifer's jaw dropped and Quistis started to laugh at his face. Rinoa looked back and smiled.
"Selphie and Zell installed a stealth feature to Ragnarok for missions that required it." Rinoa explained as Quistis continued to laugh. Seifer was already glaring daggers at her as Rinoa drove up the ramp to the vehicle compartment of the ship. "Angel here; we've reached our destination." Rinoa said through the radio.
Zell drove through Deling City's entrance. Halfway from the district prison to the city the weather had changed and the cold wind hit hard against him as he drove at full speed through the city streets. Due to the date, traffic was slow, but Zell could easily go between the cars, while the soldiers had a little more trouble keeping up with him. Zell took a sharp turn and the soldiers lost sight of him for a moment.
When the soldiers were able to take the same turn they saw the biker waiting at a red stoplight. They quietly got off of their vehicle and neared the man. One of them placed their gun behind the biker's head.
"Don't move and get your hands up." The soldier said. The young man slowly lifted his hands, while another soldier removed his helmet to reveal a full head of dark brown hair. Cold stormy eyes stared into the soldier's. The young man was wearing the same clothes and helmet as their runaway, but he definitely was not the guy and his motorcycle was also different.
"Is there any chance you'll tell me why am I being held at gunpoint?" The young man asked calmly as his gaze pierced through the soldier's very soul. Slowly the soldiers stood away from the young man. The one in front of him stared at the young man's scar, which went from the right side of his forehead to the bridge of his nose.
"We are terribly sorry, sir." One of the soldiers said looking at the young man, who had a not so happy expression on his face. "We were chasing a young man who wore clothes of the same color. We mistook you for him." The young man rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"That proves how well you do your job." The young man said sarcastically while taking the helmet off of the hands of a soldier. "Can I leave now?" He asked a little exasperated. The soldier stuttered and nodded. The young man put his helmet back on and started his motorcycle again. The soldiers looked at each other and started to get themselves together.
Both Irvine and the other man continued to fight, until the man grabbed Irvine and pulled him up over his head. The crowd around them and the military officers gasped as the tall man threw Irvine against his own car, from which a young female emerged as the cowboy slid lifelessly off of the car's hood. The female had her short silver hair falling over the left side of her face and her left eye.
"Oh my… Why did you do that?" She yelled frantically waving her arms around and pointing at the unconscious cowboy on the ground. "Pick him up; we have to take him to a hospital!" She commanded kneeling near the cowboy's head.
"He's started it, y'know?" The man replied only to receive a glare from the female. The man rolled his eyes and picked up the limp cowboy and placed him in the backseat before getting on. People murmured about the events for a couple of minutes, but it soon died down and the officers were finally able to leave the area.
When they were at a safe distance, Irvine sat straight up at the backseat with a chuckle. Raijin was stuck in a fit of laughter and Fujin was actually grinning.
"That was priceless, y'know?" Raijin said between fits of laughter. Irvine smirked and looked at Fujin.
"Yeah, but Fujin really had them eating out of her hands." Irvine said, making her grin be replaced with a blank expression. "Did you ever take any drama classes?" He added mockingly. She turned to look back at him and glared.
"RAGE!" The girl with the silver hair replied. She returned to look forward and pulled open a small compartment in the car and pulled out her eye patch. Irvine chuckled.
"Nah, I'm just messing with you, Fujin." Irvine said while removing his hat. "But I must say; you have really soft and delicate hands." Fujin slightly blushed as she finished placing her eye patch in its rightful place.
"IGNORE." She said angrily folding her arms over her chest. She stared forward as they left the city and headed to the dragon-shaped airship waiting in the fields nearby. As they neared, the ship came into view as it, once again, materialize before them. They were almost home free.
After they reached the airship and boarded they entered the bridge to see Rinoa, Quistis, Seifer and Selphie there. Selphie was kneeling on the pilot seat and looking back, Rinoa was sitting to a side with Angelo lying next to her. Seifer was standing against the wall opposite to Rinoa with Quistis close to him.
Raijin ran up to Seifer and pulled the man into a friendly hug. Seifer chuckled awkwardly as Fujin walked closer to him. Raijin tightened his grip on Seifer.
"Raijin, I know you're happy to see me again, but you're crushing me." Seifer said with a strained voice. Raijin quickly let him go.
"I'm sorry; I just missed you a lot, y'know?" Raijin said scratching the back of his head.
"SORRY." Fujin said staring at Seifer, who just smiled.
"Don't worry; it wasn't your fault, Fuu." Seifer replied extending his hand at her. She smiled back at took it.
At that very moment, Zell walked into the bridge. Upon seeing the man, Selphie sat straight in the pilot seat and started Ragnarok. Zell rapidly moved to the co-pilot seat and put on a headset after removing his earpiece.
"Wolf here; everyone has made it to the designated place. We're waitin' for orders." Zell said pushing some buttons while Selphie typed some codes into the ship's system.
"This is Lion." Squall's voice was heard through the radio. "Head straight to headquarters and give your report." Squall said. "I'll be taking the train as agreed in the briefing." He added.
"Good luck, Lion." Selphie said making Ragnarok get airborne. They flew towards their destination, but they could not help being worried about Squall. He was alone in Deling City; still they knew he was both strong and cautious. They were just being silly.
Author's Note: Sorry, about the tardiness of this chapter. When I was halfway through writing this chapter my computer died and I had to wait up to a week to finally buy one, after I learned my old one was not going to resuscitate. I had t retype the whole chapter. Thankfully, I had written this one at the last pages of a notebook from one of my classes or else I would still be hitting my head against a wall, trying to think what I had written.
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