Last Resort
--Friday--
<music: 'Breakdown' - BeForU>
An SUV with Balamb Garden insignias chugging
its way up a snow covered mountainside, loaded with occupants,
equipment galore strapped to the roof. The camera pans closer and
forward, looking in the windshield to show Quistis Trepe at the wheel,
Alexander West in the passenger seat drumming on the dashboard to the
beat of the music. Seated behind them are Boomer, Seifer Almasy, and
Irvine Kinneas, all of whom are head banging to the song. In the back
seats are Kirinis McCall, Celia Briggs, and Washu, all three rolling
their eyes at the headbangers in front of them while tapping their feet
in time to the music.
As the song comes to a close Alex and the
headbangers all start playing air guitar in time with the guitar on the
song. When the song ends the car is filled with laughter.
"And that was 'Breakdown',
on request to Kirinis from your dark knight who misses you," the radio
announcer said cheerfully.
"I'm so embarrassed," Kirinis said, turning bright
red.
"I envy you," Celia said, a half smile on her face,
"I wish my guy would request songs for me. Only thing is he's also sort
of going with a shot gunner in front of me."
Irvine began to turn his head, and Celia corrected
herself. "Person in the front passenger seat. Sorry Kinneas."
"Do we care that Alex is dating other guys?" Seifer
whispered to Irvine.
"Yes and no," Irvine replied, "yes, we care, but as
long as he's ours we don't mind."
"A real vacation at last," Alex proclaimed from his
seat, "no monsters, no terrorists, no time warps, and no housework."
A loud sneeze came from the seat behind him, causing
him to jump and bang his knees on the glove compartment. As he rubbed
his knees he looked around his seat to find that Boomer was the source
of the sinus explosion.
"Bless me," she said, rubbing her nose on the back
of her glove, "guess I'm allergic to something."
"We can only hope it's not a cold," Washu said from
in back, "but to be safe I can run some tests when we arrive."
"Tests," Celia said, her gaze drifting off into
space as she began to shudder, "no more testing. Please Washu, stop the
insanity."
"And her damage is?" Kirinis asked, arching an
eyebrow at Celia, who had suddenly gone quite pale.
"Washu subjected her to quite the battery of tests
when we had the issue with retro aging around Christmas," Seifer
replied, "she hasn't been the same since."
"We're almost there," Quistis said, drawing their
attention to a large, sprawling winter resort with slopes for skiing,
snow boarding, an ice rink, and an area with hot tubs.
"Woah," was the general sentiment of all in the car.
"Nezzer," Alex breathed.
"Those slopes are calling me, calling me," Seifer
sang.
"Wipe out!" Irvine and Boomer chuckled before
beginning an air drum solo.
Quistis pulled their vehicle into a parking space at
the perfect angle, leaving enough room all around. Once she put it into
park and shut it down she turned to say something, only to be greeted
by an empty truck.
"What the hell?" she asked, looking out the window
to see everyone unloading their gear. She rolled her window down and
shouted, "Don't forget to check in!"
"Right!" seven voices chimed as the SeeDs and
Slayers headed towards the resort.
"Some people," Quistis sighed, adjusting her
glasses. She looked in the rearview mirror at herself, took her glasses
off, and batted her eyes a few times. "Definitely a weekend to let my
hair down and go wild," she said, sliding her glasses up on her head
before opening her door. "Look out world, here I am, and I'm a guy
magnet!"
A couple of hours later everyone was more or less
settled into their rooms. Alex was sprawled out on one of the beds in
the room he was sharing with Seifer and Irvine, notebooks and other
books open around him, his laptop on and running a screen saver of
anime pictures. Seifer had since dropped his stuff off and had headed
off to the slopes for some snow boarding. As for Irvine, the cowboy had
shut himself in the bathroom for a bubble bath and some wine.
"This is heaven," Alex said to nobody in particular
as he looked up at the ceiling, which was slowly shifting colors with
the time of day. "I wish I could relax like this more often. Yup. Peace
and quiet. Peace and...."
A loud knock at the door interrupted his peace and
quiet speech, and he rolled off of the bed before saying, "Come on in."
"Bad idea," came a snuffly female voice from
outside. "Alex, I don't want to infect your room too."
Alex arched an eyebrow as he strode across the room.
When he opened the door he did a double take, since Kirinis was in the
hallway and she looked terrible. "What in the name of the goddess'
underpants?" he asked, looking at her puffy bloodshot eyes.
"Fast acting cold bug," she sniffled before sneezing
into her sleeve. "Quistis and Washu are the only girls who don't have
it."
"Thanks for the update," Alex said as Kirinis walked
towards her room. "Where are you going? I thought we were all going to
meet for dinner."
"Bed," Kirinis replied before coughing. "I'm dead on
my feet. Boomer and Celia aren't any better off, and Washu gave us some
meds to help us get better."
"But?" Alex said, his jaw slack with disappointment.
"What about skiing and all that?"
"If we feel up to it we'll join you," Kirinis said,
closing the door behind her.
Alex slipped back into his room and closed the door,
his shoulders slumping. He had wanted a perfect weekend, and had
guessed that was what they all wanted. Now three of the more fun loving
party members were sick in bed and that put a damper on everything.
"Well, that takes care of a lot of things," he
yawned, falling back onto his bed once again. "May as well nap for a
little while. No use in making myself sick as well. Just a little...."
He was out cold before he could finish his sentence
or thought, gentle slumber wrapping around him like a warm blanket. And
the world continued on.
A short time later something warm began to nuzzle
its way into his shoulder, and he smiled and squirmed a little as his
body woke from a deep sleep. He could feel a set of strong arms wrapped
around his chest, as well as the rise and fall of someone's breathing.
"What time is it?" he moaned, squinting as his mind
became aware of everything around him.
"Still early," Seifer whispered in his ear.
"Define early," Alex said as Seifer began to
playfully nibble on his neck.
"Too late for lunch, not early enough for dinner,
and the perfect time for some early evening fun."
Alex chuckled and scratched the back of Seifer's
head in a loving manner. "Where's our cowboy to ride us like a horse?"
he asked, opening his eyes to see what he could of the still dark room.
"Good question," Seifer said, sitting up. "I haven't
seen him since we unloaded the truck and checked in."
Alex sat up as well to survey the entire room. "His
coat's still here, as is his shotgun," he observed. "And you're only
wearing pants," he added, turning to look at his blond companion.
"The mini bar's empty," Seifer said, pointing at the
refrigerator set under the tv center. "And it wasn't me."
The two looked at each other and face faulted. "Did
he drink that much?" they asked, trying desperately to put the bad
thoughts out of their minds.
Out in the woods a rather cold and intoxicated
Irvine was stumbling his way through the snow. He didn't really feel
the cold of the approaching evening due to all of the alcohol running
through his system.
"Where am I going?" he asked himself as he tripped
over a tree branch in his path. He fell forward onto his hands and
knees, his arms sinking up to the elbows in the snow. He stumbled to
his feet, adjusted his hat, wiped his hands hastily on his pants, and
continued on.
'Why did I drink all that?' his mind screamed as it
swam in an alcohol induced haze. 'I had time to be alone with the two
men I love and I didn't spend any with them. Alex was napping soundly
and Seifer was on the slopes and I drowned my sorrows in the mini bar
instead of enjoying or joining them in their activities. Why?'
He stopped in a clearing and shouted, "WHY?!" at the
top of his lungs. Birds scattered from the surrounding trees as his
voice echoed for miles around.
"So let me get this straight," a rather hickish
looking ski patrolman said, scratching his stubbly chin, "your
friend...."
"Boyfriend," Alex and Seifer corrected.
"Boyfriend.... drank all of the alcohol in your room
and went out without his coat?"
"That's right," Alex said, dabbing his eyes with a
tissue, "I'm just so.... so... so worried about him."
"It'll be all right," Seifer said, giving him a
reassuring hug, "They'll find him."
"I know," Alex said, sniffling dramatically, "I only
hope they find him before it's too late."
The patrolman scratched his chin again and coughed,
"I'll go out and comb the slopes for him. Now, do you want him dead or
alive?"
Alex and Seifer both gawked at the patrolman, who
was now fiddling with the revolver strapped to his thigh.
"Just kidding," he stammered, turning crimson. "I'll
be in touch."
He slipped his sunglasses back on and left the
worried couple standing in the hallway. Once he was gone from sight
Alex went from being dramatic to full business mode.
"Seifer, my love, you packed your gunblade, right?"
he asked in a somewhat flirtatious manner.
"Why would I pack that?" Seifer asked, scratching
the back of his head nervously.
"Because I saw the case that you supposedly put your
snow board in and I know that case can hold both board and blade."
Seifer sighed and stopped the scratching. "Yeah," he
said after a pause, "I have the blade with me. Why?"
Alex smirked, grabbed Seifer's arm, and pulled him
back into the room. "I don't trust that guy," he said, pulling on his
trench coat, "and I plan to get there before anyone gets hurt. Or
worse."
"And you want to use my gunblade for this why?"
Seifer asked, unlocking his case.
"Because I need a firearm one, and two, your sword
is perfect for spell channeling," Alex replied, pulling on his gloves.
He secured the velcro straps and smirked. "I'm ready for the weapon
now."
"Just take care of it," Seifer said, handing his
weapon to Alex. "You do know how to use it, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alex said, checking the gunblade
over, "Let's hope he doesn't lay a hand on Irvine, otherwise he'll be
in loads of pain."
He finished his sentence with a little chuckle,
which caused Seifer to cringe a little. "And now I'm worried," Seifer
said as Alex phased out. "I only hope nobody gets hurt in the process."
In the darkness of the surrounding forest formed a
ring of light. Though it appeared some six feet from the snow covered
ground, it quickly descended, depositing Alex knee deep in snow.
"Chilly," he said through gritted teeth as snow
began to melt into his boots. "I'll worry about that later," he said,
shaking his head in an attempt to focus on the task ahead. He slid his
left sleeve back, revealing his computer uplink band, and smiled a
little as he activated the tracking scanner.
'This is one of
those nights where I really hope Irvine is wearing his hardware,' he
thought as he clicked through several different zoom options. 'This is
also when I hope to hellgoddess that the ski patrol guy hasn't found
him yet.'
He breathed a sigh of relief as a blip appeared on
the screen. The sigh of relief was cut short, though, when a second
blip sped onto the screen towards the first.
"Son of a mazoku," he hissed under his breath, "he's
good at what he does, I'll give him that much. But if he harms one hair
on Irvine's head I'll never forgive him."
The first blip had since ceased its forward
progression, and the second blip was slowly circling around the first.
It was at that moment that it dawned on him - if he was going to save
Irvine he had to get it into gear.
"Flight spells take too long, even at full speed,"
he muttered as he began to run towards the source of the blips.
"Running will take even longer unless...." he reached into his coat as
he spoke, searching for the inside pocket where he had kept a cache of
power rings in the past. A small smile crossed his lips as his fingers
found one of the rings of concentrated chaos power. Pulling it free of
the pocket he could feel the energy super charging every particle of
his being.
A sonic boom tore the silence of the evening asunder
as he took off like a bat out of hell, leaving a cloud of powder snow
and a trail of ice in his wake.
Half a mile or so away from where Alex 'ported in,
the ski patrolman was tracking his prey. A smirk was etched upon his
face as he drew his gun and clicked the safety off.
"Here bunny, bunny, bunny," he chuckled to himself
as he stealthily circled around Irvine, who was beginning to sober up
and feel the cold of the mountain night.
"Come to Rusty, little bunny," the patrolman said,
inching his way out of the underbrush like a wolf or a fox.
Irvine stood in a moonlit clearing, his breath
visible in the night air. He was shivering visibly, his arms crossed
over his chest in an effort to retain body heat. A twig snapped behind
him, and he turned his head to see Rusty standing a short distance
away, revolver leveled at his head.
"Don't move," Rusty commanded, cocking the trigger.
"You're coming with me back to the resort whether you want to or not."
"Or so you think," Irvine said, reaching
instinctively for where his shotgun was usually held. He stopped in mid
motion when he recalled that he didn't have his coat, which was where
his gun would be. "Crud."
The smirk on Rusty's face grew larger. "Not so
strong when you realize I'm the only one with a weapon, are you?" he
hissed, stepping closer to the cowboy. "Well, are you? Huh?!"
"Lay one hand on him and I swear you'll be in a
world of pain!" Alex's voice echoed through the clearing. Moments later
a shadowy form leapt into the air, a large blade of sorts above his
head, and quickly descended upon Rusty' blade singing as it cut through
the air. Flames leapt up the blade as the wielder put his full fury
into the swing, slicing clean through the blade of Rusty's revolver.
"You!" Rusty sneered as moonlight illuminated Alex's
face.
"Me," Alex smirked, turning his body and
rechanneling all of his energy for another strike.
"Alex?" Irvine asked, half in disbelief.
"The one and only," the mage replied, standing up to
his full height while slipping his coat off and tossing it to Irvine.
"You might need this hon."
He turned his gaze upon Rusty a moment later, his
features hardening into a scowl. "You must have had a few yourself
tonight officer," he hissed, sniffing the air, "and it was beer that
you had, wasn't it?"
"Who's going to believe a couple of kids?" Rusty
growled back, still holding his cut off revolver leveled at Alex and
Irvine.
"Who wouldn't believe a couple of SeeDs?" Alex
asked, slamming the gunblade in his hand into a nearby tree. The gun
portion of the weapon fired, sending a pulse through the blade that
shattered the wood around the impact. The tree fell a moment later,
landing between the mage and the patrolman.
They exchanged heated gazes for a few seconds more
before Rusty holstered what remained of his revolver and turned to walk
away.
"You won this one," the patrolman said as he walked
off, "but I or some of my fellow officers will be keeping an eye on you
for the remainder of your stay here."
Alex began to utter a witty retort, but erred on the
side of caution. Once Rusty was out of sight and the hum of a snow
mobile had died to nothing Alex turned to Irvine, smiled, and promptly
fell forward.
"Alex, you gotta stay with me," Irvine said,
catching Alex by the shoulders to lower the mage gently into his
embrace.
"It's shock," Washu's voice said, "I'm trying to get
a lock to bring you back. Keep him warm."
"Easy enough for you to say," Irvine replied,
wrapping the coat he wore around Alex as well as himself. "Alex, I need
you to wake up. Please, get us home."
"Home?" Alex asked in a barely audible whisper.
"Anywhere that isn't ball numbing cold," Irvine
said, hugging Alex tighter. "Hotel preferably."
"Your wish is granted," Washu and Alex said at the
same time, Alex's teleport pushing them off so that Washu's could grab
them. All that remained of them were their footprints in the snow and
some gently drifting snow as nature worked towards maintaining
perfection.
After the shock of icy cold that was colder than
outside, the two reappeared in their hotel room, in the process almost
giving Seifer a heart attack. The Hyperion Knight arched an eyebrow at
those who had suddenly appeared, and upon realizing that one of them
was more or less unconscious, moved to assist.
"What happened?" he asked, grabbing Alex's feet as
Irvine moved towards the bed.
"Washu says it's shock, and to keep him warm,"
Irvine replied, snagging a blanket off of the other bed in the room
with his free hand. "It's bloody nice to see you too," he added
sarcastically.
"Love and acidic remarks later," Washu said,
stepping into the room. "Right now we need to tend to him medically."
"I'm fine," Alex moaned, "just lemme alone."
"No way," Seifer said, curling up on the bed with
him, "we're going to warm you up nicely."
Washu giggled and began to unbutton her top. "You
can have your ways with me while we're together," she giggled
innocently, "and some of this and some of that and you can touch me
there and there and oooooooooh there."
All three looked at Washu before loudly announcing,
"We're GAY!!"
"Well, I'll leave you to your gay love then," the
pink haired genius announced, stepping out of the room. She stuck her
head back in long enough to say, "You may want to put up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign before
starting in." before slamming the door shut behind her.
"Well, that takes care of that," Irvine sighed as he
locked the door.
"I don't think they heard us in space," Alex
chuckled as Seifer embraced him.
"Well, it may or may not be a good thing to come out
like this," Seifer whispered in his ear before nuzzling his neck.
"Most of Garden knows anyway," Irvine said, plunking
down on the bed. He fell back into Alex's embrace and sighed. "Do all
of your friends know?"
"Not really," Alex confessed, "most of them are in
the dark. Same with my 'rents. I want to tell 'em, but can't bring
myself to, since some of my friends have come out to less than joyous
circumstances and receptions."
"Well, those of us who know your little secret love
you all the more," Seifer said, kissing his neck.
"Right now let's get some rest and see what happens
in the morning," Irvine yawned, clicking off the bedside lamp.