Catching Glimpses Chapter 5
A Better Idea!...Maybe
By Kiyara
"You call this a better idea?"-Dinah Selby
.
"You call this a better idea?!" Dinah was still asking that night.
Reno growled. "You got a better one?" He swung up onto the chocobo’s
back.
Dinah climbed onto her own chocobo, keeping quiet.
"That’s what I thought," Reno said indignantly. They shot off into the
night, keeping their chocobos close so they could argue.
"You’ve still got to admit, though, that this doesn’t stand a very
big chance of succeeding. I mean, we traded those tourists the bike for the
chocobos, and I guess that part was okay. But we’re also making the
assumption that we’re going to be able to catch the 10:15 ferry to Junon.
And even without the bike, we’re going to be pretty conspicuous riding
into town, and they’ve got to be watching for us," Dinah replied
skeptically.
"What do you think would make us conspicuous?" Reno asked, his face the picture
of innocence.
"Aww, gee, I don’t know. Maybe your flaming red hair and nightstick
and gun and knife and-"
"All right, all right already! I get the point! I can conceal my weapons,
and I’ll do something to my hair. And no, I’m not going to dye
it!"
"How did you know that was what I was going to suggest?"
"That evil glint in your eyes," Reno muttered. "And what about you? You’ve
got to be conspicuous in some way too. You can’t be perfect."
"Lynley, you’ve spent your whole life as the center of attention. I
mean, that seems to be practically your goal; to make everyone pay attention
to you. On the other hand, my life depends on my skill to be inconspicuous.
I think I’m better at it than you are." As much as Reno hated to admit
it, it was the truth. Dressed as a man again, Dinah wouldn’t even rate
a second look.
He knew it was true, but Reno still tossed her a hateful glance that was
stolen by the darkness. But his words weren’t stolen. "Bitch."
"Bastard," Dinah replied angrily. They continued on into the night, trading
insults as they went.
3 hours later…
Dinah checked the time on her watch, using the little green glow button.
"We’ve got nine minutes to get there."
Reno shrugged it off. "Don’t worry. We’ll get there in time.
See? There’s the town right up there. Let’s go!"
They raced their chocobos across the last stretch of open fields, then leapt
off them once they reached the entrance to the town. Reno and Dinah swiftly
took off everything that would have linked the two birds to humans, and let
them go. The two birds rushed off, warking happily.
The two humans dashed into the town, their feet thudding against the
cobblestones. Reno and Dinah made a quick stop at their respective hotel
rooms, where they found that their luggage was still in their rooms. Reno
quickly snatched up a black jacket from his room, tossing it over one shoulder
and stuffing money and other necessities into his pockets, while Dinah did
the same in her room. Then they went back out the door and onto the street.
They ignored anyone who was out, but everyone who was out didn’t ignore
them. One tall, husky man, after seeing them rush past, swiftly pulled out
a cell phone and held a brief, terse conversation. He nodded, closed down
the cell phone, and followed the Turk and ex-research specimen.
"Don’t look back, but we’re being followed," Reno muttered to Dinah
out of the side of his mouth. Instinctively, she started to turn around.
Reno’s voice stopped her. "I said don’t look back! We’ll just
have to beat him to the ferry."
They dashed across the bridge to reach the dock.
"Gee, does this bring back memories or what?"
"Shut up Reno. This is no time for games," Dinah growled. She came to an
abrupt halt as she reached the wharf. "Oh no!" The ferry was already untied
from the pier, and was beginning to steam toward the distant city of Junon.
Reno didn’t even skip a beat. He grabbed her by the hand, and half pulled
her along with him on his mad dash to the ferry. "Unless you want to get
caught by that guy back there, then we’re getting on this boat!"
"Reno, you’re insane!" Dinah insisted. But she didn’t resist. "And
let go of my hand!"
Reno dropped her hand immediately, and Dinah easily kept up with his long,
ground eating strides. Reno broke his own directive, looking back one more
time before he was too close to the boat. The man was still chasing them,
and was pouring on speed as he realized what they were planning. He
won’t catch us though. Reno thought cockily to himself. We’re
too fast. Reno may not have been the most modest of people, but he was
telling the truth there. He and Dinah were swift sprinters, and the man behind
them was too large to be a quick runner. The man apparently knew it too,
because he quickly came to a halt and pulled out a gun.
"Oh shit," Reno muttered. It makes no sense. Why would they try to hurt
the girl if they’re trying to get her back? Then again, she could have
lied to me… Almost before these thoughts finished running through
his head, Reno decided that there was no time for thought now. His head turned
back to look at the boat, and Reno snapped out a quick warning to Dinah.
"He’s got a gun!"
That was when the gunman decided to prove that he had possession of a weapon.
He opened fire.
"Great! This just keeps getting better and better!" Dinah said, sounding
angry and frustrated.
"Shit!" Reno yelled, ducking the flying bullets and splinters. He had been
wrong. They weren’t shooting at Dinah. They were shooting at
him.
Reno moved closer to Dinah, figuring that the man wouldn’t want to risk
harming her.
"Hey, what’re you-" she began to protest.
Reno still heard the sharp retort of gunfire. "Is this guy crazy?! Uh!" Reno
gave a grunt as a bullet buried its sleek, shiny self in his upper arm, just
above the elbow. "Dammit!" he hissed, clamping one hand over the gushing
arm.
With his job, Reno had, unfortunately, gotten shot many times over the years,
and you might even say that he was used to it. It still hurt like hell, but
for the moment, Reno bit his lip, ignored it, and raced on.
Dinah glanced over to him for an instant, but then turned her attention back
to the goal: the ferry. As a testament to her stamina, or rather whatever
stamina the mad scientist Hojo had given her, she wasn’t breathing hard
at all. "We’re going to drop right into the water, you fucking idiot!"
Reno grinned at the slight note of panic he detected in her voice. "Why?
What’s the matter with the water?"
"Just shut uuuuupppppp!" Her last word became elongated and drawn
out when she took a flying leap off the edge of the pier. Before she could
catch her breath, flail, or react, she was slamming into the side of the
ferry with bone-jarring force. Dinah instinctively reached out, managing
to grab hold of the on-deck railing that kept passengers from falling overboard.
She painfully pulled herself up, over the rail, and onto the deck, where
no one had even noticed her appearance. No one had even seemed to notice
the gunfire.
How stupid/deaf can these people be?
Dinah lay flat out on the deck for a moment, catching her breath. Then she
sat up onto her knees, peering out through the gaps in the rail. Where
the hell is Lynley?
A resounding thud and a curse answered her question. Leaning over the edge
of the rail and looking down, Dinah could see Reno clinging onto the side
of the ferry for dear life.
He was easily in her arm’s reach, but she held back, grinning at him
triumphantly.
Reno had had that same look on his own face enough to recognize it. It said
something like ‘I have you where I want you now! Ha ha!’ "Crap."
Dinah’s smile grew wider. " ‘Crap’ is right, Lynley. You’re
at my mercy now!"
Reno decided to try to bluster his way out. "C’mon! Just pull me up!
I got you here, didn’t I?"
"Lynley, if you hadn’t been here to knock me unconscious in the first
place, I would have moved on right after you saw me at the dock that night!
They wouldn’t have found me in the first place!"
"Uh…" Reno, the consummate wordsmith and incurable talker, couldn’t
think of anything to say.
"Any other reasons why I should pull you up?"
Reno decided to just talk, and not come up with some sort of a strategy.
"My grip is slipping and I was shot in the arm. If you don’t pull me
up, I fall into the water, where I’ll probably…I’ll
probably…" His eyes went blank for a moment, then he clawed his way
back to consciousness. "Oh shit. If you don’t pull me up, I’m gonna
black out from loss of blood soon and I’ll drown."
Dinah sighed. "Damn! You ruined my fun." She reached a long arm over the
back of the boat and grabbed Reno by his uninjured arm. Dinah braced herself
against the railing, then pulled upwards none too gently.
"Yowch! Couldn’t you be a little less rough!?" came Reno’s voice
from where he was clambering up the back of the boat.
"Would you rather have me drop you?" Dinah retorted.
"Point taken." Reno’s head appeared at the rail, and he swiftly pulled
the rest of himself up. Then he scrambled over the rail and sprawled out
on the deck, muttering "Cure!" to himself. The green light, emanating from
the materia in the bangle in his arm, enveloped him, washing away the waves
of burning pain that had been coming from his arm. He sighed in relief. "Much
better."
"You can stay out on deck if you want," Dinah said suddenly. "I’m going
inside." With that, the woman spun on her heel and marched into the interior
of the ferry.
Reno shrugged, the movement still somewhat painful. "Do whatever you want,"
he muttered to her back. He sat on the deck, with his legs dangling through
the holes in the railing slats. Reno leaned over the railing from that position,
dipping the sleeve of the jacket that he was still holding onto into the
salt water. He hauled it back up and, using the interior of the jacket, wiped
off the blood from his arm.
Then Reno pulled the jacket on as he felt the night air gradually cooling. He watched the trail that the boat was cutting through the water and pondered. I wonder what Rude, Tseng, Elena, or any one of a number of people would say to what I’m doing right now? …Come to think of it, what am I doing right now? I’m helping some girl I don’t even know and have no connection to whatsoever… Someone help me. I think I’m going nuts. Reno buried his head in his hands, and stayed that way for a long time.
.