Redheaded Stranger

Chapter 12
Sneaking Rat

Reno swaggered his way through the Garden, feeling pretty damn good after his little visit with Squall. Melting that ice shell of his was getting easier and easier. 'Maybe I should talk to Rinoa, move things along a little bit.' Squall was a bright guy, just purposely being blind to the fact that his woman wanted to be adventurous.

He didn't get far in his search for Rinoa when he came across Fujin, who was sitting on a bench, aimlessly looking at passing cadets as they walked by her. She gave him a nod of acknowledgment as he approached, scooting over so he could sit beside her. He'd gotten to know her in the last few days, but not near enough as he'd like to. 'Might as well dig a little deeper.'

"Where's your buddies?" he asked and sat next to her.

"AROUND."

"Didn't I tell you to learn to relax, several times now?" She started to speak, but closed her mouth, looking at him closely as he stared back at her. He took in her features, her silver hair, her slightly pouting lips, her one gray eye that was twinkling with strong interest.

Fujin found this man so incredibly intriguing. The first time she saw him, it was like looking at a bright fire right there in the middle of the Garden. Maybe it was because he showed her attention that she didn't get that often. Maybe it was his red hair, or the way he carried himself. He was sexy and cocky, much like Seifer in those respects. She loved when a man had confidence and he definitely had that as well.

Attraction wasn't lost on her. She'd been with a few men, Raijin included, but it had been awkward and they had never repeated the act. She'd come close with Seifer once, but had fought the urge, not wanting to ruin their strong friendship.

"Yes, you did," she said after a long silence.

"There you go. That's better." She smiled despite herself and looked away from his intense eyes. Fujin considered herself a strong woman and when she saw a man she wanted, she went after him. There was something about Reno though that made her absolutely melt and made her feel weak, in a good way.

"Have they found a way to get you home yet?"

"No, the bastards. I'm starting to think I'll be stuck here forever."

"Would that be so bad?" He looked at her and smiled, putting his arm across her shoulders. Her body tingled with his touch and she boldly smiled back, deciding that she just might have to get some alone time with Reno.

"You want me to stay, babe?"

"Reno!" they heard before she could answer. They looked over to see Seifer coming toward them with his gunblade in his hand. "You and me, Training Centre, now!" he ordered, tapping his blade on his shoulder.

"Is that an order, Seifer? Cause I ain't one of your lowly cadets." Reno said with an amused sneer.

"Leonhart's acting like a bitch and doesn't want to go, so you're my second choice. Lets get to it, Red." Seifer said with a sneer of his own. Seifer had given him his new nickname soon after they had met and honestly, he liked it.

"Oh, I'm your second choice. You're a flattering fucker aren't ya? Well, since you want me to come so bad I'll go. Later, Fujin," he said, rising from the bench. He didn't notice her disappointment as he was too intent on Seifer now.

"I can't help but think Squall is distracted because of you," Seifer said as they made their way to the Centre.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because, every damn time your name is mentioned he has a sour look on his face and he gets flustered. Squall never gets flustered, about anything. So, Red, what did you do to make that happen?" They entered the Centre, looking for something to kill as they talked.

"He gets flustered, huh? I'd like to see that," Reno said, pointing out a target to attack. It only took them a few minutes to dispatch the Blobra. Seifer waited until its death cries ceased before speaking again, wiping his gunblade clean with a cloth

"What did you do, Reno?"

"Innocent me? What makes you think I did something?"

"Real cute, Red. Spill it, or do you want me to take my gunblade to you?" Seifer snarled, placing his blade on the side of Reno's neck. The redhead just smiled and actually leaned a little into it.

"I want to fuck him. I guess the Commander finds that a little unnerving." Seifer's eyes narrowed slightly, then he laughed, but kept his gunblade in place. "I wouldn't mind fucking you either." Reno added and that shut Seifer up in an instant.

"That's real gutsy of you to say when I could easily cut your head off in this position." Seifer said with a half smile.

"But, will you do it?" Reno asked, putting his hand on the blade, gently caressing it, being careful not to cut himself.

"Hmph...," Seifer grunted, taking the blade away from Reno's neck. "It wouldn't be worth bloodying my blade for." Reno chuckled and gave him a wink. They searched for another creature, both remaining quiet for the time being.

Reno hadn't quite figured Seifer out yet. He still couldn't tell in he was bi or not. Hell, most people didn't think he was until he started putting the moves on the male persuasion. He'd taken his forward remark with ease which told Reno that maybe he was interested, but he would just have to wait and see. 'Hopefully not too long though,' he thought, watching Seifer's ass as he walked ahead of him.

XXXXX

Henry looked at the damn wall for the hundredth time, not getting any closer to an answer. 'A great head scientist I've turned out to be,' he thought. They had done many test, none of which had told them anything useful, only that it was a power of unknown origin. Part magic from what Sorceress Rinoa had told them.

"Dammit!" he said, kicking the ground in frustration.

"You okay, Henry?" his new assistant asked as he scraped some samples around the floor of the Cavern.

"Yes, just aggravated," he sighed. "We might as well give up for the night and start again early tomorrow morning."

"Alright, Sir. I'll just finish up here." Henry nodded and walked toward the exit of the Cavern. He passed a few SeeD's that were there for protection, nodding at them as he passed. A few extras had been sent with news that Odine might try to enter the Cavern. Henry gave a small shudder at the thought. He'd always been afraid of Odine. The man was a genius, but crazy as a loon. He'd just never had the guts to tell anyone, until that night with the stranger.

He stepped outside and greeted the two guards that were standing watch. He took a deep breath to clear his head, feeling better in the slightly cool air after being in the Cavern so long. He let his mind wonder, trying not to think about the puzzle that was plaguing him at the moment. He looked up at the beautiful night sky, and for a moment was able to forget the problem at hand.

"Lovely evening, vouldn't you agree?" Henry spun around at the sound of Odine's voice and a gun was shoved in his face. "Don't move!" Henry couldn't make a sound as his eyes rolled toward the two guards that stood there, doing nothing to help. "Zey von't help you. Zey are under my control."

"How?" his voice shook as he asked, trying to control his fear and failing miserably.

"A new invention I've been vorking on. It iz very cleaver of me to have a lab outside Esthar, vith stolen Gil from ze city treasury of course. I've had plenty of time to perfect it. It iz a zimple mixture of chemicals, but alas, it vill vear off eventually. I need to vork on zat, but I do not have ze time. Take me to ze wall, now!"

"When the guards inside see you...."

"Zey vill do nothing."

"You got them too?" he asked , his fear growing. "How, when?"

"Quit taking up my precious time vis zese questions! Move!" They entered the Cavern without anymore argument from Henry. There wasn't much else that he could do.

XXXXX

Squall tiredly walked inside the quarters he shared with Rinoa and was greeted by her with a soft kiss and a smile. He hugged her close, needing to feel her warmth. Guilt was eating at him for kissing Reno, but he couldn't get it out of his head, or what he'd said before leaving his office.

Talk to Rinoa, Squall. I think she just might surprise you.

He wasn't going to ask her anything about it. The whole situation was getting ridiculous. Trying to avoid Reno was probably the best thing to do, but he wasn't so sure it was going to be that easy. Rinoa looked at him and frowned slightly, seeing him thinking too hard again.

"Squall, is there something wrong?"

"Hmmm..., oh no. I'm just tired. All this trouble with Reno.....getting him home I mean," he recovered and smiled at her.

"Are you sure that's it?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"So, no luck figuring out the situation at the Cavern yet?" she asked, pulling him over to the couch to sit.

"No, afraid not," he said sighing as he sat with her. He pulled her close and she put her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe I should go there tomorrow, see if I can help."

"No, I don't want you near that thing, if something were to happen.."

"Squall, I'm a grown woman and a sorceress. I think I'll be alright. If you're that worried, why don't you come with me. You are still my Knight, not just my lover."

"I know, but I have too much work to do tomorrow. I can't be at the Cavern all day."

"Cid has you doing too much, Squall."

"Rinoa, we've been through this before. I'm Commander and I have a lot of responsibility. That's just the way it is."

"I know," she said softly. She looked up at him and smiled, moving slowly over to straddle his lap. "I can help you relax," she murmured against his lips and kissed him slowly, yet urgently at the same time. After a few pleasant minutes she stopped, then kissed along his jawline to his ear. "You've been so tense the last few day," she said, nibbling on his ear. Her hands had wandered underneath his shirt to play over the muscles there.

"It's just..all this...business with Reno," he mumbled, enjoying the attention he was getting from his lover.

"What, not figuring out how to get him back home?" She kissed along his neck, licking and biting lightly as she went.

"Yeah," he groaned when her fingers playfully pinched a hard nipple. In the back of his mind though he was thinking of everything else that had to do with the damn lusty redhead. 'I should tell her what happened, I've always been honest with her.' "Rinoa."

"Hmmm?" She continued her ministrations, pulling up his shirt to kiss along his chest.

"There's something I have to tell you..." The loud pounding on the door stopped what he was going to say. "What now!" he growled, gently removing Rinoa from the comfortable position on his lap.

"Squall, we got a big problem," Irvine said when he opened the door. A few groggy looking SeeD's and Henry, looking white as a sheet, stood there with him.

"What the hell happened?!"