AS34

Tranquil morning sunlight filtered into Squall's bedroom. Slowly waking up Squall rolled on to his back and opened his eyes, watching the shadows from his blinds play across his bedroom walls. He yawned and closed his eyes again, mentally making a list of everything that he would have to accomplish that day. They arrived back at Balamb yesterday evening, all of them exhausted. Rinoa, Quistis and Irvine had reported immediately to the medical centre, though Dr. Kadowaki insisted on checking them all out before they trickled off to bed. Squall yawned again and rolled back on to his side, breaking into a sleepy smile as his fingers slid over the curve of Selphie's hip. She murmured something in her sleep and nestled her back into his chest, trying to hide her face under the sheets to block out the light.

Squall kissed the back of her neck and worked his way over to her ear, giving her a gentle bite that made her giggle and wake up more fully. She turned in his arms until she faced him and grinned, pulling Squall on top of her. He kissed her nose affectionately and laughed as she scrunched her face up.

"Good morning." He said quietly, suddenly at a loss for words as he stared down into her vivid green eyes.

"Good morning!" Selphie chirped back, smiling widely, "What do we get to do today!?"

"Work." Squall said promptly, laughing as she suddenly died a dramatic death, "If we finish it early let's go to FH, sit on the docks for a bit?"

"Ooh, I have just the bikini for dock-sitting," Selphie beaming up at him, "Okay! ….Off me. Now."

"Demanding little wench." Squall mocked, sitting up and stretching.

He climbed out of bed and wandered over to his bathroom while Selphie sat up and admired the planes of his bare chest. She had done well for herself, she thought. Preening for a few minutes more she suddenly sighed and got out of bed. Bed was a wonderful place to be, especially when there was a Squall curled up around you. She heard him turn on his shower, and with a smile of mischief she bounced out of bed and ran to join him.

OoO

Quistis felt exhausted. She had curing magics and potions and medications being cast on her, used on her, and injected into her all night. Her bones had healed which was a good start, and her body was purged of any and all toxins. She was propped up with multiple pillows with monitors suspended from the ceiling showing all her vitals. Studying them quietly, Quistis was pleased. She was on the mend. Beside her in the next cot Rinoa stirred and sighed softly. Quistis looked over at her and managed a smile.

"Morning, Rin."

"Urgh… my head… morning… Quisty," Rinoa struggled to sit up and grimaced,

"Well if it isn't my two favourite charges," Dr. Kadowaki swept into the room and began to putter around, checking their vitals and stats, "You two are going to be okay, just fine, but probably tired for the next few days. Magic is wonderful and all but nothing beats rest."

Quistis and Rinoa smiled at her and snuggled back into their beds. A day off to rest sounded just about perfect to them.

OoO

Quistis dreamed.

She was trapped in the mansion. Fire eating away at the walls and every exit blocked by shiny crystal shells. Her heart raced as she ran through hallways, trying to find a way out, trying not to breathe the cloying perfume in the air. An exit appeared at the end of the hall and Quistis ran towards it, her lungs burning. Just as she neared it someone grabbed her and she screamed in horror as she saw Bril's distorted face looming over her shoulder. He threw her into the wall and began to hit her, over and over, she felt the crushing of her ribs, felt her arms being broken…

Quistis jerked awake and sat up in bed, panting for breath. Around her glowing monitors continued to process information and fill the medical room with blue, green and red light.

"Quistis?"

Quistis stifled a squeak and looked at the door to the medical room. Irvine was standing in the doorway hesitantly, his hat off and clenched in his hands. Quistis sighed in relief and lay back down.

"Irvy," She suddenly blushed and bit her lip, "Irvine, hello,"

"How are you feeling?" He slid into the room awkwardly and realized there was no place to sit, and no wall to lean against,

"I'm doing much better," Quistis smiled, "Sleepy as always, but Dr. Kadowaki said we'd be up in no time,"

"Good, that's good!" Irvine flashed a smile at her and promptly ran out of things to say.

The silence lasted a few moments before Quistis asked, "So, what's life like outside the medical clinic?"

"Oh you know, Cid is sifting through all those documents we found in the mansion, Dollet is in an uproar from the battle but no one knows what went down yet. We've contacted media outlets and have told them to stay tuned for the story. Xu's contacting all the suppliers of Dust and alerted Public Health officials to Dust's symptoms, treatment possibilities and chemical makeup.. Squall and Selphie are joined at the hip, he's even more moony over her than he was with Rin," Irvine gave a crooked smile as Quistis giggled, "Malach is in confinement. They've treated and healed him but he's going to be in a lot of trouble once all the evidence is stacked up against him. The City of Dollet could take legal action against him, as well as every city that sent delegates who ended up as plant-people… speaking of which, Laguna is coming for a visit in a couple of days. Selphie is over the moon…"

Quistis smiled warmly, "So you and Selphie are all patched up now?"

Irvine shrugged sheepishly, "Yeah, we're friends, I'm happy for her and Squall, it's good to see her smiling again,"

"Good." Quistis declared, "You and Sefie are too close to let your friendship wither, I know she was feeling pretty down about it all, but I think half of that was out of fear of losing you as a friend,"

Irvine nodded and ran a hand through his ponytail absently, "She's doing okay now, so is Squall, guess we're just waitin' on you and Rin before we can go celebrate this nightmare being over!"

"I wish I could go somewhere now," Quistis said wistfully, "I've been having bad dreams about Bril,"

"Doesn't surprise me," Irvine commented, sitting down on the edge of her bed, "Kadowaki said you had to relax right? Would she mind if we stole you away in a wheelchair?"

"Trepe the Invalid," Quistis mocked herself lightly, "No, she'd probably be okay with it, I'm not sure I want to go out looking like this though.." she added hesitantly, eyeing the broken ends of her hair,

"Don't worry about it, I got a plan!" Irvine assured her, eyes gleaming, "Just ah, sit tight, I'll be right back."

"I'm sure I won't be going anywhere," Quistis replied dryly.

It didn't take long for Irvine to implement his plan. He ran back to the medical centre excited and nervous, almost tripping in the middle of the hall as he pushed an empty wheelchair towards Quistis' room. When he got there Rinoa was still passed out, oblivious to the world, and Quistis was reading a magazine. She looked up as he entered and smiled, dazzling him all over again.

"Are you ready for the best day ever?" Irvine asked her, his normal charm and easy-going nature restored by her willingness to spend time with him,

"I am definitely ready for that," She grinned.

He eased her out of the bed, pulling the blanket off her cot and tucking it in around her. Quistis blushed a little, unused to such attention but smiled radiantly at him as he wheeled her out. As they left the medical clinic Quistis felt a sudden surge of anxiety. She walked the halls of Garden as a pristine instructor, prepared for anything, stoic, collected, at all times. Now she was being wheeled out, no makeup, her hair in ragged ends, dark circles under her eyes, medical centre clothes… hardly at her best. She blushed deeper. The best day ever, but how could it be when she wasn't looking like her best? It wasn't that she was shallow or vain (all right, she had vain moments, she could admit that to herself) but there was a sort of confidence one acquires from a sleek attire and finished look, and there was a sort of vulnerability one acquires from not wearing all their clothes or being, well, prepared. She didn't want to get her hopes up but it maybe, possibly seemed like this could be… a date? With Irvine Kinneas? She hadn't really ever dated… she had been too busy being at the top of the academy and then instructing, all of which suddenly seemed like a massive tactical error on her part… what had she gotten herself into?

OoO

Selphie wasn't sure what made her do it, perhaps it was the sense of disappointment she felt at not playing a part in Bril's demise. She made her way through Garden, twisting through the halls, until she reached the depths where the holding cells were stationed. Security guards eyed her but she flashed her ID, as a member of the mission she was allowed to be here. She found Malach sitting on a bench in the empty cell, his hands folded in front of him while he stared at the floor. Standing in front of the cell she waited until he noticed her.

"I remember you," Malach said, studying her, "What do you want?"

"To talk." Selphie replied, leaning against the bars of his cell,

Malach snorted, "Why?"

"I want to know why you did it, all of it, why you even started on all of this," Selphie said evenly,

"Money, of course." Malach growled at her, "Dust made us rich, allowed us to do whatever we wanted."

"What about the other experiments in the lab, all the organic weaponry?"

"That was exactly what we said it was," Malach replied, "the contract with Balamb was genuine."

"You weren't going to turn our SeeDs into plant-people?" Selphie cocked an eyebrow at him,

Malach paused in thought but shook his head, "No. The Floramen hybrids were for Tom to guard his mansion. We choose emissaries because they get lost, and get hurt all the time in the field. They're hard to track and trace. It would have been painfully obvious that something was awry if three SeeDs suddenly disappeared."

Selphie wasn't sure if she could trust him but his explanation did seem plausible, "How do you think Professor Baxter feels about all this?"

For the first time since their conversation started, Malach's face lost some of its confidence and he looked uncertain, hesitant. His gaze turned inwards as he reflected.

"Baxter doesn't know," He said finally, "Unless you've told him. We only worked on the shell life at the lab, we hid everything else in a bunker under the snowfield, until our operations got too big for us, then Tom took them home to Dollet."

Selphie was suddenly grateful that Professor Baxter was innocent in the whole scheme. She couldn't wait to tell Squall.

"And you were okay with getting people addicted to your experimental substances and using them to scavenge material for you?" She asked icily,

"You'd have to ask Tom, he controlled all of that." Malach shrugged carelessly, "I just sent him new chemicals and components, he did all the raw harvesting and working with those junkies."

Selphie paused, suddenly uncertain. Did he not know? Hesitantly she wrapped her fingers around the bars of the cell and studied Malach carefully, "Malach, Tom Bril is dead."

Malach's head snapped up, his eyes wide, "What? Dead?"

"He nearly killed Quistis and Rinoa. Irvine shot him with the bullets you designed." Selphie told him softly.

Malach's eyes glazed over and he looked back at the floor. After a long period of silence he mumbled, "Leave me."

Selphie left.

OoO