By now Irvine was weakened to the point of not being able to hold his own weight. He had collapsed a few days ago, the terrible news of the Gardens had taken their toll and he for some inexplicable reason had only gotten worse as the news continued to flood in and Irvine had heard and seen things he had never wanted to hear or see. He needed to learn not to ask.

He was now curled into a ball, arms wrapped around his waist as he trembled and stared into the distance. His skin was pale, his blue eyes were dull and haunted, he occasionally twitched before muttering something. Hair was stringy and his entire body was soaked with sweat, he looked like a man who was battling with demons and he was, he was battling with his own personal demons.

The ones he couldn't fight with weapons, the ones that haunted his every thought. The more he read, the weaker he became and he was now a shadow of his former self. If he hadn't the wall to support him, he would be on the floor and he would be barely moving. In his one hand, he clasped his handheld almost desperately and he'd shake every time he would look at it and yet he couldn't stop himself.

He shut his eyes and tried to breathe, tried to control his thoughts, his feelings and yet he couldn't. He hated this, hated that he was just too tired to fight back. What did he have left to fight for? No-one was coming, they were all dead and he had helped to kill the one person who ever meant anything to him. Squall's death was his responsibility. How was he meant to live with himself after that?

If he could, he would have killed himself a while ago but Hyne hadn't let him. Couldn't let her pet die now could she?

Squall ran down the halls, not bothering to watch where he was going and not bothering to make sure he kept his presence a secret now. They knew he was here. Let them come. He still had his anger and frustration over what had been done to Laguna with him. He could handle anything she threw at him now.

He started checking doors, opening them quickly, glancing around, and then slamming them closed again before moving on to the other one. It was almost as though he wanted to be caught. His whole body was shaking it was so tense.

And then he came to the end of the hall and opened the last door. The room beyond wasn’t empty this time and instead of slamming it and continuing he ran in towards the slouched figure against the wall, slamming it behind him. “Irvine?” he breathed, kneeling down next to him.

Irvine showed no reaction to the voice at first, he simply stared ahead before his eyebrow finally twitched. It couldn't be, Squall was dead. He swallowed hard and shook his head almost violently. "You're dead, I saw, she, you're dead." He argued vehemently before he suddenly jerked away, eyes wide and almost panicked. "You're not here, you're not real. This is another sick twisted game!" Irvine continued to shake his head. "Go away, stop it, you're dead. I killed you." He started to scramble away from Squall with a desperation that would have seemed out of place a few months ago but now fit this very sad picture perfectly.

Squall’s eyes widened in surprise. Irvine had looked bad, but hadn’t seemed this bad. This was Rinoa all over again. Squall was going to kill Hyne. He was going to murder her, but that was later. This was more important. “Irvine,” he said, insistently, reaching out for him. “Irvine look at me, please. I’m not dead. I’m fine. Look, I’m okay.” Well, that was relative, but it’d do.

Irvine's breathing was ragged at best, his entire body shook and his eyes darted from Squall's face to the room and then back again. "It can't be," He whispered desperately. He presented the handheld he had and he looked to it. "It, she, it.." He was having difficulties with forming his words and he was close to tears. He obviously hadn't been eating or sleeping, his clothes hung off his frail form and he was nothing like the Irvine that Squall had known. He was confused, Squall was dead but he was right there. He couldn't be, it was too much to ask for. "No-one's coming.." He muttered softly, voice breaking. "..Squall?" He finally managed.

Squall reached out and took Irvine’s face in his hands. “No one’s coming,” he whispered. “Because I’m right here. I’m here. I’m real.” He ran his finger tips over Irvine’s cheek. “See?”

He almost jerked away from the touch as he associated touch with Hyne these days but the fingers, they felt familiar. He seemed to be weighing up his options, blue eyes flickered as they rested on Squall's face. He lifted his hands and wrapped his fingers around Squall's wrists, he sought Squall's pulsepoint and fell silent as he just felt the *thud thud thud* under his thumbs. "I don't understand," He murmured softly.

“She lied to you,” Squall told him, swallowing hard. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath before looking back at Irvine again. “You missed.”

"I never miss," Irvine said weakly, his shoulders beginning to slump before he leaned in and rested his forehead against Squall's. "Never ever." He ran his hands up Squall's arms and wrapped his hands around Squall's collar. "I feel you but I've dreamt this before, I could be doing it again. Hallucinating.."

Squall’s shoulders slumped. “If it makes you feel any better... if I hadn’t turned my head you wouldn’t have missed. But you did.” He shook his head to clear it. “You’re not dreaming, Irvine. I’m here and we’re going home.”

Irvine pulled his eyes open and furrowed his brow. "Kiss me." He urged quietly, he just needed to know. He needed something that wasn't wrong. He had been fooled by words before.

Squall leaned forward wordlessly, pressing his lips against Irvine’s and closing his eyes. He’d waited too long. They should have been faster. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry... He felt the lump in his throat and swallowed it. Not now. Not here. There was too much at stake to fall apart now.

The Cowboy took his time to familiarize himself with the feel of Squall's lips and then fell back into the process again. His mouth parted and he coaxed Squall into a deeper kiss. He kissed with a desperation that was both startling and worrying. His arms wrapped around Squall and his hands wound around Squall's hair. The kiss was beginning to break through the delirium that had overtaken Irvine's mind. He could almost feel Squall's remorse and even in his weakened state, he tried to soothe it away in the kiss itself.

With a great deal of reluctance, Squall pulled away just as the sound of running feet entered the end of the hall beyond the door. “Damn,” he hissed through clenched teeth and glanced at Irvine. For the moment, he ignored them and kissed the cowboy again, quickly. “Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Irvine gave a nod of his head and managed, "Okay." He was still weak, his body continue to shake but he was at least halfway sane which was more than he was when Squall had first run across him. He reached out, recovered Exeter as even in this state, he knew where his weapon was.

Squall nodded and helped him up. He looked on the verge of saying something when he shook his head, either thinking better of it or unable to. “Stay here,” he said quietly and went to the door, listening for the footsteps. They were getting closer and he couldn’t know if they were Hyne and Ultimecia’s soldiers or SeeDs. There was no way of knowing without opening the door and that could lead to disaster if they were the former.

He frowned and glanced at the window, going to that and opening it. Just outside was a balcony and below a garden stretched out into the fields and planes beyond, where their ships were stationed. Squall’s eyes narrowed and he nodded, going back to Irvine and taking his arm, putting it around his own shoulders to steady him. “Come on, found a way out.”

Irvine leaned against Squall but tried to take his own weight, tried to get his body to co-operate. Exeter hung at his side and he loaded what ammo he had left into the chamber, "Let's do this." He managed weakly as he started to walk with Squall. It wasn't that much further.

Squall nodded and led him to the window, helped him out of it. A float spell later they were on the ground. Squall kept his gunblade out and ready in one hand while the other arm was looped firmly around Irvine’s waist. His eyes glanced around warily until he heard an explosion from the far side of the castle. The counter attack had begun and thankfully, it would draw each and every one of the Sorceresses’ troops.

Breathing a sigh of relief Squall moved with Irvine across the gardens, to the edge of the plane.

Just as they stepped or Irvine stepped over the edge of the plane, a sharp cry of pain was ripped from his chest as his entire body crumpled in on itself. He couldn't stop screaming, the pain was indescribable. It was like someone was literally ripping their way through his body and he couldn't stop the pain. His legs buckled, his weight fell thus dragging Squall with him and the cries gave way to harsh pants and painful grunts. His teeth clamped down and he could almost feel his teeth breaking apart. The pain continued, it only got worse but Irvine tried to fight through it, tried to get back up only to be put back down again. Eventually he managed to push himself up on his hands and managed to lift himself to his knees.

“Irvine!” The scream and the sudden collapse surprised Squall, who felt himself dragged to the ground. He wrapped both arms around the cowboy and pulled him closer before digging into his coat for his communicator. He needed help and the ships could provide the closest support. Come pick us up, kay?

He let that go and went back to cradling the cowboy. “Irvine, what’s wrong?” As if it wasn’t obvious, but for some reason... the question was always asked anyway.

Irvine grimaced faintly as he gasped for air and tried to sort pass the pain. "It hurts," He managed in a croak. He released a strangled cry of pain as his body shook and trembled, "Fuck!" He exclaimed loudly as he couldn't breathe let alone think. His entire body was tense and no matter how hard he worked at loosening his limbs, he couldn't seem to relax them.

Well I can see that... But Squall didn’t say it. A helpless feeling swept over him and he grit his teeth, trying to clear the panic in his mind and think. He glanced back at the castle and saw smoke rising up from the far side. They couldn’t go back and they couldn’t stay here.

Just calm down and think.

And then he heard someone singing and laughing. Squall narrowed his eyes, set Irvine down as gently as he could and stood up, drawing his gunblade and standing over the cowboy protectively.

"Ah shit," Irvine managed weakly as he heard the singing and the all too familiar laughing. His head was thudding painfully and even as he pressed his forehead into the ground, the pain didn't stop. He licked his lips and tried to push himself up off the ground. He groaned faintly as another shiver of pain ran down his spine and it forced him back to the ground. A grunt now came from his chest as Irvine bit his teeth together and again tried to lift himself away from the ground.

“Just stay put,” Squall told him, kneeling down to run his fingers through Irvine’s hair briefly. “I’ll take care of this.” He stood back up and glanced around, hands tightening their grip on his weapon.

A tisking sound came from behind the brush to his right and he turned that way, putting himself between the woman emerging from the undercover and Irvine.

Irvine released a breath and dropped his forehead to the ground. "Never been good at listening." He managed weakly. He lifted his head and turned it to rest on the bush and he just waited. Where was Exeter again? Oh yeah, to his right. He reached out for it and wrapped his hand around it. It was a security blanket at the moment.

“The price of trying to escape is a painful one, isn’t it pet?” Hyne cooed and Squall frowned. He said nothing. Exchanging witty banter with the bad guys had never been his style. He shifted his grip on his gunblade and watched her as she glided closer.

“If your Commander isn’t careful he’s going to get himself hurt,” she said, eyeing him. “I’d move, Commander Leonhart. You are in the way.”

He moved into an defensive stance almost immediately. “You want him, you’ll have to kill me first.”

“That can be arranged.” She smiled at him and lifted her hand.

Irvine groaned and forced himself up off the ground. "You've really pissed him off this time," He managed in a weak voice, lips curving into a brief smile as he chuckled softly. "You should know that you never want to piss this boy off. He's quiet but ..just wait until he blows." He was slowly pulling himself to his feet.

“Irvine stay down!” Squall hissed but Hyne had already made her move. With a lazy flick of her wrist Squall was unceremoniously lifted off the ground with a strangled shout. The gunblade dropped from unresponsive fingers and Hyne smiled, turning to Irvine.

“By all means pet, shoot. I do so enjoy delaying the inevitable.” She curled her fingers into a claw and Squall screamed, almost, but not quite, drowning out the snapping sounds.

"You've really gotta start looking into new hobbies." Irvine snarled, eyes shooting to Squall as he screamed before he struggled to lift Exeter. He then took a few steps closer, his body shook as he did but he continued to walk towards her. Instead of using Exeter to fire off shots, he drove it into her face in an attempt to break her concentration. The pain coursing through him seemed to double as he did this and he bit back a hiss.

She stumbled back and as she did so Squall screamed again. With a hiss, she stretched out her other hand, electricity coursing through her arm, aiming straight for the cowboy.

Irvine released a sharp cry as the electricity hit him and he was knocked back and into the ground. His entire body seemed to be sizzling and he could feel his skin peeling from the burns that were inflicted on him. He quickly sought his junctions and lifted a hand and he released a water spell at Hyne. He was breathing harshly and was trying to ignore the sharp stabbing pains that filled every square inch of his body. Blood leaked out over his skin and started to settle in the grass beneath him.

The water spell connected and was absorbed. Another scream penetrated the air around them and then broke off, choked and strangled. Hyne stepped back as a low growl emerged to replace the scream. “You,” she hissed, raising an eyebrow at the mist that formed between her and the boys now. “How did he summon you?!”

“He is stronger than he looks, Lady,” Ari replied calmly. He waved his hand at his Chosen and Squall dropped to the ground, motionless and broken.

"Nice of my guardian to think of that." Irvine muttered weakly, he could have sworn his Guardian had gone on vacation. He started to crawl over to Squall. He wrapped his arms around Squall and pulled him into his lap, "Squall?" He brushed Squall's hair back away from his face and repeated his name softly. He didn't really care about Ari or Hyne, just Squall. "C'mon, you're meant to be rescuing me. Wake up," He pleaded softly.

There was blood on his lips and his face was ashen but he was breathing. He groaned weakly and blinked, opening his eyes while behind them, the Guardian and the Sorceress were facing off. Words were being exchanged but he couldn’t work out what was being said, so he focused on Irvine’s face and winced, pulling himself up shakily.

Irvine smiled weakly, "That's it, c'mon." He encouraged softly as he helped Squall up into a sitting position. "I think we deserve a vacation after this." He muttered weakly, biting down on the groan of pain that stirred in the back of his throat. Blood leaked out from his mouth and his body seemed to tremble as he held onto Squall.

“Mmmph...” It was about as intelligent a reply as Irvine was going to get at the moment. He glanced up and clung to the cowboy, looking past his shoulder at his Guardian, who was smiling serenely at a clearly irate Sorceress.

“Of course... if it’s power you want, Hyne,” Ari was saying, extending one arm towards her. “I’ll be happy to oblige.”

She shrieked and shrunk back away from him as though he burned her. “What’s the matter Sorceress?” he asked. “Don’t you want this? The power you gave up. Wouldn’t you like it returned to you?”

She hissed something in another language at him, sounding like a curse, and fled back away from him, across the gardens to the castle.

Squall closed his eyes and whimpered slightly. Whatever had happened he didn’t care about it just this second. “Irvine...”

"Shhh," Irvine murmured reassuringly as he worked a hand through Squall's hair and pressed a kiss to Squall's temple." He was trying to fight past the fog that clouded his mind and kept him from being razorsharp. "Ari? I'm going to need some help." He managed as he looked up and settled his eyes on Squall's Guardian. He wrapped his arms around Squall's waist and tried to lift the both of them away from the ground, he could feel something inside of him pulling and tearing but he ignored the pain and simply held Squall close.

Ari turned sharply and stalked over to them. “Lay down, both of you,” he ordered. “She is gone and the ship comes. You’ll be safe soon enough.”

Irvine snorted lightly. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe that." He released a breath then coughed before he placed a trembling hand against Squall's forehead. "You still with me?"

Squall nodded weakly, curling in on himself in order to get closer to Irvine. Ari didn’t bother replying, he glanced up in the distance where he could hear large ship engines approaching rapidly. Not fast enough, but that was alright. Hyne’s rampage might have taken more lives if they’d come sooner anyway.

"Not much longer to go," Irvine whispered quietly, fingers running through Squall's hair. He blinked his eyes as he attempted to stay conscious.

Ari waited until the ship landed and the SeeDs emerged with medical supplies before disappearing. Squall reached up, tangling his fingers in Irvine’s hair before letting out a shaky breath and closing his eyes. Home sounded nice about now.