*yeah, yeah, we all know who they belong to….jeez….

To Save A Lion

Voices. Like the sound of muted laughter and muffled words. Pulling at me, coaxing me out of a dreamless state and flinging me back into the conscious world. I fought against it, not quite ready to come awake yet, but the nagging feeling wouldn’t dissipate. Some inner demon was shaking me awake, whispering in my ear, warning me that something just wasn’t right.

Bolting upright in bed, the sheets sliding down my body to gather at my hips, the hazy shroud of sleep quite like a mantle began to slide away as well. Becoming more oriented with my surroundings as I came to terms with the fact that sleep wasn’t forthcoming, I could hear them more clearly. Not wanting to eavesdrop, but unable to ignore the uneasy feeling in my gut, I listened. Voices getting louder and growing hushed again. It almost sounded as if one were warning the other to be quiet. Something was definitely wrong here. I heard a shout and a low, insistent tone following close behind, and it wasn’t Squall’s voice.

I stepped into a pair of jeans, running a hand through my hair, attempting to right it. I decided to forego any other clothing, I mean, who was going to be running around the halls at this hour? Unless I wasn’t the only one who’d heard the sounds coming from next door. Nah, it’s too late, everyone was asleep. Like I should have been.

I crept out into the hallway, looking both ways just to make sure no one was around. The low florescent lighting was a shock to my eyes, so accustomed had I grown to the darkness. Dammit. I really should have stayed in bed and minded my own business.

So there I was, middle of the night, adorned in a pair of low slung jeans with sleepy eyes and hazy thoughts and I lifted my hand to knock before something occurred to me. Suppose nothing was wrong. Suppose Squall had a…guest? I discarded that thought almost as soon as it appeared. Squall was intensely private and he was too much of a stickler for the rules to have invited someone into his room at this hour. Which left only one alternative. Someone was in Squall’s room, and they hadn’t been invited in.

I knocked once, sharply, vowing silently that I’d go away if he told me to. No answer. I knocked again and called his name softly, not wanting to wake anyone else.

"Squall?"

No answer. And I know damn well that he could hear me in there. I checked the doorknob. Locked, as I imagined it would be.

"Squall?" Just a little louder but he still didn’t answer, but then…another muffled sound and I knew that he had heard me.

I braced myself against the door and pushed up hard against the doorhandle. It opened with an almost imperceptible crack and I let it swing back against the hinges.

The scene that greeted me was one that almost stopped my heart. It caused a surge of rage to build inside of me the likes of which I’ve never experienced. Squall was there, eyes pleading, spirit broken, trussed up to the headboard of his bed like a carthorse. And beside him, with a mocking smile and an arrogant stance was Seifer Almasy. The look in Squall’s eyes told me at once that this wasn’t something that he’d willingly submitted to; the look in Seifer’s spoke volumes of his enjoyment. It felt as though fire were coursing through my veins as I clenched my fists. I regretted leaving my gloves behind; Seifer always fought dirty.

I stepped into the room and pushed the door closed tightly. I took another look at Squall, utterly dominated, humiliated. He’d averted his eyes. My heart ached for him…again. Then I turned my attention to Almasy, cloaked in his own self-serving arrogance as he always was.

"You sadistic bastard." I could hear my voice tremble, with fear or rage, I’m still not sure. Probably both, but I knew he wouldn’t care. He’d only need tohear the catch in my voice to label me a coward.

"Go back to your room, Dincht. We’re a little busy right now." He smirked at me and I felt my forearms tense of their own volition, as they always did before battle.

"I’m not going anywhere, you sick fuck. You’ve got ten seconds to get your ass out of here or I’m going to let you know how it feels to be somebody’s little bitch."

Something flashed in his eyes then, and my body tensed in response as I realized he’d just acknowledged the gauntlet I’d thrown.

"Yeah? You’re going to let me know how it feels, huh?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, willing him to simply vanish. Yeah, right.

"Yes, I am."

I amused him, I could tell. Bastard. But I wasn’t afraid of him, not really. I was never afraid of him in a physical sense, but I’d always known he was walking the edge between sanity and true sickness. He could be unspeakably cruel. I’d witnessed it first hand and while I’d thought never to place myself in his path again, there I was. With nowhere to turn.

"Well, here I am, Dincht. Do your worst."

I glanced at Squall then and the light caught the single tear that hung suspended from the corner of his eye. Hung for a fraction of a second before it fell, landing soundlessly on the disheveled bed. I shuddered to imagine what had been going on in here before I’d arrived, but with Seifer still fully dressed, I didn’t think the party had been going on long.

I advanced on him, my hatred in my blood warring with the longing in my heart. I wanted to go to Squall and release him, hold him, anything. But first I wanted to dismantle Seifer. His arrogance was no match for my fury and I think he’d been aware of that the second I’d entered the room.

I walked slowly, wanting him to experience a little uncertainty for a change.

"You’ve gone too far this time, Almasy." I told him, the muscles in my back jumping with every flex of my shoulders. His gaze never wavered.

"Oh, you think this is a new thing?" He glanced over at Squall, derision etched clearly upon his face. "Tell him, baby." He prompted Squall, taunting him. "Oh, I forgot, he can’t talk with that gag in his mouth, my fault."

Then he turned his emerald stare back to me.

"Squall likes to play. Sometimes he even begs me for it. Don’t you, love?"

I followed his gaze back the bed, where Squall hung bonelessly, head turned aside.

"I don’t give a fuck what you have to say, Seifer. I’m not going to play with you."

He regarded me, grinning slyly.

"Pity." He murmured.

I shook my head at him, totally disgusted by him.

"You make me sick." I ground out.

"That really hurts my feelings, Dincht. And here I was trying so hard to impress you."

He moved from behind the bed to stand squarely in front of me, perhaps five, six feet away.

"What do you think you can possibly do to hurt me, Dincht?"

I wanted to kill him, I really did. With nothing but my fists, I wanted to kill him.

"Don’t sound so sure of yourself, Seifer. I’ll show you that you bleed red just like the rest of us."

He smiled thinly and motioned to Squall.

"Maybe, but nobody bleeds quite as prettily as Squall does, don’t you agree? He knows exactly how to take each measure of pain and make it seem like the most intense sort of pleasure."

Squall shuddered, overcome with the inability to tune Seifer’s low taunting voice out.

I flew at him then, my arm a restraint against his neck, pinning him to the wall. He didn’t fight me.

"I’ll kill you, Seifer, I swear I will."

"Kill me then."

I pressed harder against his neck.

"Nobody’d miss you anyway. You’re nothing."

He flinched, but remained still.

"What are you waiting for?" His voice was almost inaudible, practically a whisper. A chill skittered up my spine. He really didn’t care, one way or another, about life. He was like a shell. Hollow inside. I released him, let him fall back.

"I’m not going to let you use him this way, but I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of putting you out of your misery either."

He glared at me, his eyes sparking fire at me.

"You disappoint me, Dincht. You don’t have it in you to hurt anyone."

"I’ll do what I have to do." I threw back at him.

He stared unswervingly at me.

"He’s not worth killing you over. I was only having a little sport."

He walked around me, maintaining a wide distance.

"Better keep your door locked, Dincht. You might find yourself with a little company sometime."

He slammed the door behind him, causing the frame to shudder and splinter.

"Fucking Bastard." I muttered as I moved to Squall’s side. He sat still and pale, his head hanging so that his silky sable hair obscured his face.

"Squall." I whispered.

He only shook his head, a slight movement meant to warn me away. He should have known better. I’d have fought Seifer Almasy with all that I had in me to keep him safe. I thought he knew that.

I removed the strip of cloth that kept his lips parted and tossed it aside. He didn’t move.

"Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?" I questioned him as I removed his restraints, stroking his wrists when they fell free of the lengths of rope.

He shrugged miserably, apparently not having a suitable answer to give me.

I settled him against me, his long frame fitted against mine easily, offering no resistance.

"Why do you let him get to you, Squall? Why do you let him hurt you?"

He lifted his head then and stared at me with those silvery eyes.

"He has to have a reason to live. I can’t let him kill himself."

I closed my eyes, knowing I’d never make him see Seifer Almasy for what he truly was. Perhaps I didn’t even know what he was, who he was. But I knew that I wasn’t interested in trying to figure him out, either. All I wanted in this world was to give Squall a reason to smile. Something I’d as yet never seen. Probably never would. But he was with me at that moment and I couldn’t really imagine anything feeling so right. Maybe I’d make him see, in time.

I rubbed my cheek against his hair, reveling in the softness of it, wanting to thread my fingers through it but knowing he’d pull away. He lay his hand on my arm, almost as an afterthought and I pulled him closer.

"Squall."

He moved his face against my chest, I knew he was listening.

"No more. Promise me."

He hesitated, the seconds ticking away on the old clock that hung above the bed before he nodded, a slight movement.

"No more." I repeated as I lowered my mouth to his. He didn’t resist.

I could taste the blood on his lips when his mouth moved softly under mine and he moaned quietly.

I could feel his heart beating beneath his thin t-shirt when he tightened his hold on me, his fingers tripping over my skin like a warm rain. When he pulled away, he glanced at me, a look in his eyes that I’d never seen before.

"Stay." He uttered softly and I held him tight against me. What could I possibly say to that, I ask you? His body, his soul, the faint tattoo of his heart, these were all things I knew. Almost as well I knew myself. He knew I’d never refuse him. And so I sighed against his cheek and listened to his breathing grow deep and even. I wanted him to know that I’d give whatever he asked, and this was no exception.

"Always…" I promised.

And so it began.

~fin~