Disclaimer: i dont own final fantasy 8 or the characters. i wish i did. i wish i owned Squall sigh. but nope, property of square-enix

Note:Okay btw start with apologies. i was talking to someone and we were debating wheteher any of this story has been to violent to be rated T, so i was gonna move it to M, but its nowere close to that badly violent , so i'll just put this as a warning This chapter contains a little bit of some serious violence but it is very short and not too graphic umkay. so we all clear, yay. ok thanks to everyone whos been revieiwng thanks to renegade seraph, c.ho.y, r, lilnaych and Idryll (hope i didnt keep you waiting too long Lol) and thanks to my lovely little pkot bunny friends hannah! ohhh. heeeel yeeeeeh. enjoy the story y'all

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Rinoa sat terrified in the room full of Guards, her hands still tied behind her back. She knew her own life was in great danger, but that was not what was really terrifying her. Her father had gone down to the basement a long time ago and was yet to come back. She could only imagine what could be going on between her father and Squall, and she was deeply scared and concerned now. Squall had been in no fighting state when she last saw him…At that moment she heard footsteps coming up from the basement and Caraway walked into the room, a kind of twisted smile etched out on his features.

"Where's Squall?" Rinoa asked him immediately

"Squall" he said as casually as if he was discussing the weather "Is not an issue anymore"

"What did you do to him you bastard?" She yelled at him

But caraway ignored her, strolled across the room and addressed the soldiers in the room "We have succeeded in our plan. Congratulations"

"You really are fucked up you know that?" Rinoa yelled across the room at her father

"I'm sorry" Caraway demanded

"You heard me. You're sick and twisted. You did god knows what to Squall and you act like it's nothing!!!"

"It is nothing. He's nothing" He said in an acidic tone

"He's my husband!!!!!"

"And god only knows why. I have no idea what on earth you actually see in him"

Rinoa could hardly believe the words she was hearing. "I see everything" she responded quickly "I see everything I want. I see everything that is good in him. He's everything your not, everything you could never dream of being"

Caraway just laughed and headed for the door

"What about me? What's your plan for me then?" She yelled after him. Unfortunately it didn't come out sounding as strong as she would have liked it to, as a fresh wave of tears broke as she started to speak. Was squall really gone? 'Will I ever see him again…?'

"Frankly" caraway began emotionlessly "I have no use for you any more, no plans". He gestured to the soldiers in the room "But I'm sure these guys may have some ideas. Goodbye Rinoa" he said, walking out of the room and closing the door.

And that was when Rinoa really got scared. There were 7 soldiers in the room, so the odds were definitely stacked against her. She was incredibly worried what these guys would do to her, but deep inside, she hurt more for Squall. She couldn't even begin to accept the idea that he might be gone. Dead. Murdered by her own father, and she knew if he was it would be all her fault.

One of the Soldiers-the leader, whom earlier had taken charge of beating up Squall came over to Rinoa. H placed one of his hands on the side of her face, and his other he ran down the inside of her neck "Now" he said leaning in close to her face "What do we do with a pretty little thing like you"

Rinoa, feeling that she had no other choice, spat in the guys face. The guy looked annoyed and after wiping his face he whacked Rinoa across the face with the back of his hand.
Damn it" he hissed "Well that was real lady-like. Your husband's a lucky guy. Or should I say was a lucky guy"

"How dare you! You don't get to talk about him you son of a bitch!"

The evil guy just laughed his evil laugh before he once again violently grabbed hold of Rinoas hair, dragged her upwards and slammed her against the nearest wall

"You're an arrogant little bitch aren't you. Its time someone really did teach you a lesson"

Rinoa didn't know exactly what he intended to do to her, and she dint really care to find out. She knew she had no choice but to try and defend herself. She raised her knee with as much force as she could and it connected with the guys stomach. It didn't buy her much time, and it only seemed to make him mad. He took only a few seconds to recover and when he did he reached out and grabbed Rinoa around the throat and tightened his grip "I'm really sick of you now" he said continuing to tighten his grip on her neck. Rinoa started to struggle to breathe . She could feel the air being cut off and trapped. Her feet were now dangling a few inches above the floor and she could feel her breath and her strength being choked away as the guy kept tightening his grip. She could feel her eyes fluttering open and closed and her lips gasping for air.

She knew this would probably be it for her…but then she heard the sound of the doors being burst open and she forced her eyes open. And when she did she thought she was hallucinating…was that ZELL?

The guy, hearing the sudden commotion, turned around and released his grip on Rinoa letting her drop to the floor. She coughed uncontrollably, trying to get some of the air back in her. 'Zell?" she gasped but she realised that it didn't come out out loud.

"What the hell?" one of the soldiers yelled "who the hell are you"

"We're the people here to stop you crazy assholes!!" Zell cried punching his fists in the air. Blinking again and trying to restore her vision fully she saw that Zell was not alone. Behind him stood Irvine and Selphie, Quistis and a lot of what looked to be Garden students.

Zell disabled the nearest guy to him with a swift punch while the rest of the soldiers, including some who had run in upon hearing the commotion, descended into a conflict with the SeeD.

Zell ducked through the fights and ran over to Rinoa.

"Rinoa, thank god! Are you okay??"

"Whats going on?" Rinoa asked her breath still slightly catching in her throat

"Well, I got worried. You and Squall you'd been gone along time. Way to long. So we had the hunch to get backup, come check it out. Good job we did! Hey, where's Squall?"

"Oh my god. Squall!" Rinoa cried forcing herself up off the ground

"You go find Squall. I'll hold 'em here and then we'll all get out ok. And be careful" Zell said before heading back into the fight.

Rinoa ran to the basement and down the stairs as fast as she could, her heels clicking loudly on the stone steps. She could hear her heartbeat as loud as she could hear the click-clacking as her heart pounded fiercely against her chest. The unpleasant, dingy lights cast a harsh shade into the room. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs her eyes settled on the sight that she had been praying she would never have to see. Lying on the stone floor, his body looking battered and broken was Squall.

"God no" She cried as she ran over to him and knelt down where he lay. She brushed his fringe away from his face, and in the harsh light his wounds looked even more serious. There was still blood trickling from various places on his face.

His eyes were closed and he was still, but Rinoa could feel a pulse and knew he was still alive.

"Squall?" she said tears dripping from her eyes and onto his face "Squall, baby its me. Can you hear me"

Squalls eyes started to slowly open. "Rinoa…" he whispered

Rinoa couldn't help but smile a little. He was at least alive. But he wasn't very strong. His movements were slow and weak and his voice very quiet. He reached out and took Rinoa's hand, placing something into it, before closing her fingers over it. He took her hand and kissed it, just on the finger where she wore her wedding ring. She unclenched her hand and saw what he had given her. Her chain. Her chain with both of there rings hanging from it.

Weakly he said "There, I gave it back….."

Rinoa shook her head "No. No way" she started to sob "I know what this means, no I'm not taking this back. You can give it back to me when we get back home"

"Please take it Rinoa. I don't know how much longer I'm gonna make it.

"Squall! Please, please don't say that. It's going to be fine, it's gonna be okay"

"No" Squall said weakly "It's not. You should just get…get yourself out of here now. I'm sorry." Rinoa could see his eyes were glistening with tears and filled with sorrow and pain

"No, no I'm not going without you. We both go or we both stay, but It's going to be fine." she gasped her throat still hurting "See Z-Zell, Zell and everyone else is here they can easily hold off Caraways men while we get you out of here and to a hospital"

"I just don't think…."

"Dammit Squall!" Rinoa cried "Don't give up, don't let him win! Don't let him tear us apart Squall. Look I know you're hurt and really badly, but you're not dead which means we still have a chance and we have to try, I love you too much not to try"

She watched a s a small weak smile spread across Squalls features adding a slight sparkle back to his blue eyes. Beneath all the cuts and bruises, beneath the blood and the tears and beneath the mask of pain and sadness on his face he was still gorgeous, his smile was still like magic and she still saw all his strength, kindness, bravery and she found herself falling head over heels in love with him all over again in that one moment. She placed her hand on the side of his face and his blood began to trickle onto her pale skin "Please try, for me Squall"

He nodded slowly "For you"

Slowly he tried to force himself up from were he lay and it was immensely painful. His torso was bruised and blood was pouring from the deep wound in his shoulder. After sitting half way up he fell back down again "I…I can't do this…"

"You can Squall, I know you can. You're the strongest person I know, you're my hero, I need you to do this, please"

He forced himself up again and shakily he managed to stand up very slowly and support himself against the nearest wall. He placed his fingers on Rinoa's neck, which no bore a hell of a lot of red marks "What did they do to you?" he asked. His voice was still weak, but there was a tone of anger in it.

"I'm…okay"

"I'll kill them" Squall said pushing himself off the wall

"Forget it." she took one of his arms over her shoulder-hard given that he was much taller and stronger than her- to help support his weight "it's just important to get you out of here" she said heading for the staircase, but at the top of it she could see the outline of a person silhouetted against the light pouring in from the door.

"Easier said then done" said Seifer…………