Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters. This is AU.

Showdown

Quistis turned on her heel and stalked back inside. She knew that Seifer and Squall would watch her back if Adel tried anything. Quistis didn't think she would just yet though. Adel was more likely to try and kill Quistis last, if she had Quistis killed at all. She seemed to like to torture people like that. It would be just like Adel to leave Quistis as the only survivor if things went wrong her, and Quistis couldn't think of much worse than being the only one to make it through this alive. But it wouldn't come to that. Hopefully.

Once inside, she turned to the gathered group. "Irvine and Zell are already in position I take it?"

Raijin nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Selphie, let them know that it's starting. Everyone else, take up your own positions." She paused a moment before adding, "Good luck everyone."

There were nods and solemn looks all around as group broke up. They all knew the risks that they were taking, and they all knew that some of them might to survive this fight. Seifer handed Quistis a rifle. At his insistence, they were sticking together for the fight. Quistis didn't really mind. She appreciated having someone to watch her back. She and Seifer would be stationed here at the ranch house itself, on the upper floor. They would be there to try and pick off anyone who made it as far as the ranch house. With any luck though, it would be a while before they saw any action.

Irvine and Zell had put together a number of booby traps to help slow down and disable Adel's gang. They probably would keep Adel out completely, but they would hopefully even up the odds some. Selphie was acting as a messenger between the various groups scattered about the ranch. The group had decided to start this fight split up. If they needed to fall back to the ranch house and regroup, they would, but it seemed like a good idea to try and attack from as many directions as they could manage. The more they could confuse Adel's gang the better.

Seifer squeezed her hand gently. Quistis offered him a small smile. There was a boom of dynamite in the distance. The first of the booby traps had been tripped. It was beginning. Quistis bit her lip. This was new for her. She had shot a rifle in her own defense before, but that had been against wild animals, not another person. And she had never really been in a firefight before. But she had always been a quick learner, and she couldn't afford to sit this fight out. None of them could.

Taking up their positions in the windows of one of the top rooms, Quistis kept her eye on the drive that led to the ranch house. It was the easiest path in. There were hills to either side of the drive that were steep and hard to scale easily. The ranch was called Caledonia Canyon for a reason. Quistis didn't know if defensibility was something her father had been thinking about when he chose this piece of land, but Quistis was grateful for it none the less. She would take any advantage they could get their hands on.

The sounds of more explosions traveled to her ears, and Quistis kept a sharp eye out for anyone coming their way. Still, she was mildly surprised when their first intruder showed up only ten minutes later. But he was alone, and Seifer quickly picked him off. Seifer had shot him in the knee as they were trying to disable Adel's gang rather than kill them. Quistis would much prefer to have the whole crew hauled off to jail than have to bury them when this was all over with. As they waited to see if anymore of the gang would show up, the sounds of gunfire could be heard.

Quistis took a deep breath and reminded herself that she had a role to play here, and that she didn't even know if the others needed any help at the moment. They could be holding their own. It didn't exactly help. However, soon she was too busy to worry about the others. A group of five gang members had made it to the ranch house, and they were not as easy to deal with as the first man. Seifer got one of them, and Quistis had managed to wound another though not take him completely out of the fight, but that was it so far. The rest of the men had quickly taken cover, and now they were firing at the house, trying to hit Seifer and herself. None of them had come close, but it was still a little terrifying.

But Quistis was ignoring the little terror filled part of her mind in favor of avoiding both dying and getting shot again. There was a noise behind her coming up the stairs, and Quistis whirled around, reaching for her pistol. It was just Selphie though. She was out of breath.

"The booby traps have all been tripped. Zell and Irvine are heading back this way. We've taken at least half a dozen of the gang out of the fight for sure."

Seifer looked up from his position. "Do we know how many of them there were to start with?"

Selphie gave a little shrug. "Irvy counted about two dozen. But she could have more men than that."

Quistis would have liked to swear, but she didn't know a word nasty enough to satisfy her at the moment. She'd have to get Seifer to teach her something more appropriate when all this was over with. So they still faced at least eighteen men. Well, sixteen given the two Seifer had taken out. Hopefully, some of the others had taken a few as well. Still it was better odds than eight against twenty-four. Though that wasn't counting Adel herself, and Quistis wasn't about to count that woman out of the fight.

She resumed her position with renewed determination. Everyone she took out of the fight now was one more person she didn't have to worry about later. With Seifer's help, she managed to reduce their current attackers to one by the time Irvine and Zell reached the house. They took up positions to the side of the house, using a storage shed for cover. Unfortunately, with their arrival also came the arrival of another wave of Adel's gang. Still, of the six men that came charging their direction, three of them were taken out quickly, though one of those only had minor injuries and would probably continue fighting.

It wasn't long before Fuujin and Raijin fell back from their previous position. They had been up on one of the hills a little farther down the drive that led to the ranch house. Through Selphie they reported that another three men were out of the fight. That almost made it a fair fight. The bad news was that Raijin had been wounded. It wasn't serious, but it would limit his ability to fight. It also meant that everyone had fallen back from their advance positions. The defenders were now all ranged around the ranch house.

Still, they were holding their own. Squall took out another man when he joined Irvine and Zell in their position, and Selphie had joined Fuujin and Raijin. Quistis knew that she and Seifer would need to find a different vantage point soon. Given that Adel's gang was almost all here at this point and the fighting was much closer, picking off people from above was no longer quite as useful. But Seifer managed to pick off another man before they headed downstairs to join the rest of their comrades in the firefight. Things were almost even now, and it was clear that Adel's people were beginning to tire and run out of ammo. Quistis knew that her friends still had quite a stockpile of weapons and ammunition left. It was looking good for them. And that was when Adel's second wave hit them.