Final Fantasy : Historical Bonds
Chapter 11 - Welcome Back...
By: Fat Zombie
I'm all busted up,
Broken bones and nasty cuts,
Accidents will happen,
But this time I can't get up,
She comes to check on me,
Making sure I'm on my knees,
After all she's the one,
Who put me in this state.
Taken from Green Day - Pulling Teeth
"Seifer, I want you to go straight to the infirmary to get that checked out" said Squall. The returning SeeDs were walking away from the hanger towards the main lobby and fountain of Balamb Garden.
"Its nothing" Seifer began.
"I want you to go to the infirmary" said Squall again. He sounded more definite in his words this time.
"Yes Dad" Seifer replied mockingly.
As the group reached the fountain and began to turn their separate ways, Squall shouted after them all. "And I want you all in the Intelligence Centre in two hours for a debrief". Muttered acknowledgements emanated from the group.
As the rest of the group headed to wherever it was they were going, Seifer made his way towards the infirmary. He figured he might as well do what he was told. It wasn't really because he wanted to. It was merely because he couldn't be bothered to deal with the nagging he would get if he didn't.
He laughed quietly to himself as a sudden realization hit him. Despite not going on a mission, not a real one at least, he still had to attend a debrief upon his return. Nothing seemed to go off without a hitch in this place. Evident from the fact that there hadn't been a Garden Festival for the last two years. The doors to the infirmary parted as Seifer neared them and he walked through, past the cubicles and into Doctor Kadowaki's office.
The doctor looked up and sighed. He had been gone from the Garden for nearly a year and seeing Seifer now was still too often for Kadowaki's liking. All of his previous trips to her infirmary of years gone by still hadn't worn off yet. "Need I ask what the problem is here?" Kadowaki questioned, eyeing up the red stained sleeve of his long coat.
Seifer looked down at his arm. He'd bandaged it up on the trip back to Garden, so he no longer clutched it. He had to admit that it still hurt like hell though. "I, uh, got a bit shot up" he replied, his gaze returning to the Doctor.
"Okay" the Doctor said in a slightly labored manner. "Take off the coat and we'll get started".
Seifer followed the Doctor through to one of the cubicles. He removed the coat with a little difficulty when he had to slide it off of his left arm, and threw it over one of the chairs in the room. He sat down on the gurney in the center of the room and waited for the questions to start.
Doctor Kadowaki took a quick look at his arm, then started to unravel the crude bandaging that currently adorned the wound. "This might hurt a little when it finally comes off" she informed him. As she continued to unravel the bandage, Seifer noticed her frown. "You didn't listen in First Aid did you?" Kadowaki asked. She looked up at him and gave him warm but somehow disapproving smile.
"Didn't count on getting shot in the arm too many times" Seifer retorted. "Especially at dinner" he added.
"You were out at a dinner?" Kadowaki asked. "You got shot at a restaurant?" she asked a second question. She sounded confused. "I heard you could be a handful, but I didn't think you could drive a waiter to that".
"Very funny" said Seifer, sounding slightly annoyed. "But for once I didn't do anything".
"Oh?" Kadowaki beckoned him to continue.
"Some barman just came at us with a machine gun" Seifer began to explain.
"Us?" Kadowaki cut in quickly.
"Oh, yeah" said Seifer. "Me, Quistis, Irvine, Selphie, Zell and that new chick he's got some kind of crush on" Seifer answered. "I forget her name".
"Miss Tarik, I think is the girl you'll find you're talking about" Kadowaki informed Seifer. "And I didn't know you were such good friends with them" she said.
"I'm not" he said. Kadowaki believed him. "It was originally meant to be just me and Quistis".
"Really?" said Kadowaki. Seifer could tell from her tone that she was making assumptions.
"It wasn't like that" he quickly explained. "Rinoa sent us on a fake mission which just turned out to be her attempt at match-making".
"I see" said Kadowaki.
"You don't seem surprised" Seifer said. He winced as Kadowaki finally finished untying the last knot on the bandage on his arm. It had one of what seemed like a thousand.
"That's because I'm not" the Doctor said simply. Seifer frowned, slightly confused at her reaction. "Looks like the Ragnarok's going to need a new supply of bandages though" she mentioned, tossing the blood soaked rags into a bin at the side of the room. She bent down to Seifer's arm to take a closer look. "It doesn't look too bad" she said. "It'll need some stitches though".
Kadowaki turned around and walked to some cupboards at the side of the room. She opened one and pulled out some things Seifer couldn't see. She closed the cupboard and headed back across the room toward. "I don't suppose you minded Rinoa setting it all up anyway" she said while threading some stitching through a needle.
"Huh?" Seifer grunted. He was taken by surprise by the question.
"You heard me" Kadowaki smiled.
"I heard you" Seifer began. "I just didn't expect you to be so far from the pulse, being a doctor and all". Kadowaki took time out to chuckle at the young man's pun. "I was there for the food" Seifer added.
"Uh-huh" Kadowaki absently agreed.
"Really" Seifer said loudly.
"No, no" Kadowaki began. Her tone was mocking. "I believe you".
"No you don't" said Seifer. "Nobody lies better than me so I can sure as hell tell when someone's sending some my way".
"You keep on believing that dear" Kadowaki said. Now she sounded condescending.
"You're a doctor" said Seifer. "You're supposed to keep my blood pressure down".
Kadowaki chuckled again. "I'm also supposed to find out what's wrong with people" she said.
"I'll tell you what's wrong with me" Seifer began. He sounded somewhat irate. "I've got an arm with huge-ass chunk missing out of it and a doctor more interested in giving me an aneurysm than patching me up". He was almost shouting now.
"Done" Kadowaki said through a chuckle.
"Hey, what?" Seifer asked confused. Kadowaki pointed to his arm. His wound was stitched up and the bleeding had ceased. "How?" he blurted. "When?" he choked out.
"While you were getting all riled up" Kadowaki explained, sticking a dressing over the stitches. "I was only doing it to take your mind off your arm".
"Oh" Seifer laughed. Kadowaki instantly picked up on the nervousness in his tone.
Seifer stood up and picked up his coat. "Hope this washes up well" he said.
"Why not just get rid of the tatty old thing?" Kadowaki asked.
"This?" Seifer said, feigning surprise. "This has sentimental value" he justified with a smirk, fully aware that associating himself with sentimentality would be a complete joke to the Doctor. He made his way out of the cubicle and turned toward the exit of the infirmary.
"I see" Kadowaki said with a roll of her eyes. She followed him out of the cubicle and called after him. "I wouldn't think I have to go through this with you by now, but make sure-".
Seifer spun round. "It's kept clean, the dressing is changed and I don't do any activities which could stretch the stitching" Seifer finished for her with a smirk. "Doc, I could do your job myself by now" he added.
"Yeah, I'll bet" Kadowaki sighed as she watched Seifer leave. "I'll see you next time" she muttered to herself, turning and heading back to her office.
* * * *
"Thank you all for coming" Lain addressed the people sat round the table. "You're all aware of what happened tonight, but I'm pretty sure you're wondering why it happened".
"Cut the crap Lain" Seifer said loudly. "Why don't you just tell us?"
Lain shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. "Very well" he said. He took a deep breath before he spoke again. "We don't know".
"What?" asked Seifer flatly.
"We don't know" Lain repeated. "There's never any physical clues as to the attackers identities, they never have any uniforms, and so far". Lain paused and smirked. "So far none of them have been left alive to question".
"So you're saying this is our fault" Seifer said. It was obvious he was angry. "Well excuse me for not letting them shoot me" Seifer paused. "But wait, I did" he added sarcastically.
"Hmm, yes" Lain began. "I'd think twice about letting them do that again" he finished sarcastically.
Squall noticed the anger contorting Seifer's face. "Lain, why don't you tell us all what you do know" Squall said, hoping he'd prevented further arguing.
"Alright" said Lain. "Due to outside intelligence we know that this group, whoever they may be, are based out of the Galbadian desert".
"Outside intelligence?" Seifer said confusedly. "Who's outside intelligence?" he asked. "For all we know it could be the terrorists feeding you bullshit".
"I don't think so" said Lain.
"Why not?" asked Seifer, once again angered.
The people round the table turned as they heard the door to the Intelligence Centre open. There stood an older man with long dark hair, a streak of gray running through it. His hair was tied into a pony tail at the back. "Because it was my governments intelligence" the man said.
"Sir Laguna" Selphie said slowly. "Err, President Loire, I mean".
Laguna frowned and laughed. "Hey kids" he said with a smile. He walked into the room and sat down at the table.
"The EIA, that's the Esthar Intelligence Agency" Lain explained. "Has discovered that the root of our assailants is buried underneath the Galbadian desert deep in the south, way away from the cities and towns".
"Did you just happen to come across this?" Quistis asked Laguna.
"We've kept a constant eye Galbadia since the last Sorceress incident" Laguna said. "If something is gonna happen, we'd prefer to know beforehand this time".
"Does President Caraway know about this?" asked Quistis.
"He soon will" said Laguna. "We don't think the Galbadian government is pulling their strings but we're pretty sure they're not aware of the groups presence within their borders".
"If we know exactly where they are and you've informed Galbadia, then surely that's the end of the problem" Zell spoke for the first time since he entered the room. "They'll just drop some heavy ordinance on it right?"
"I'm afraid not" said Lain. The group around the table sighed. "The EIA managed to locate the general region in which the group is based, but we don't know exactly where" he explained. "Simply dropping heavy ordinance and hoping it got them would be assuming too much".
"So what now?" asked Nida, who sat next to Zell.
"That's something that myself and Commander Leonhart will have to discuss once Esthar gets a response from Galbadia" Lain answered.
"That's more of an 'If', actually" Laguna said. "We're still not bosom buddies or anything".
"Nonetheless" Squall said. "For now we wait, and see if Esthar receives any response".
"What do we do in the meantime?" asked Nevaeh.
"Get some rest" answered Squall. "You probably need it" said Squall. He looked at the people sat around the table. "You damn sure look like you do" he added with a smirk.
"I'm all for that" Selphie said happily.
"Why is it always my homeland that has to be the source of every evil?" said Irvine, slightly embarrassed.
Everyone in the room stood up. Those that had went to the restaurant all headed towards the door and left the room. Only Squall, Lain, Nida and Laguna remained in the Intelligence Centre. They repositioned themselves around the table and sat down again. "I don't envy the headaches they'll have in the morning" said Nida.
"Me neither" Laguna laughed. "This room stinks of alcohol".
"Do you think Galbadia will respond?" Squall asked Laguna.
"It's hard to say" he explained. "Caraway doesn't really like me too much".
Author's Note: - Short one, I know, but things are starting to happen, huh? Well, maybe anyway. Can't stand the suspense? Well hopefully you won't have to wait much longer. This is hopefully where the story begins to heat up. Maybe more action, less talky-talk. I think everyone knows the characters well enough. Other than Lain and Laguna of course. Most people will know what Laguna is like from playing the game and if you don't, I'm sure you'll pick up his particular demeanor pretty quickly over the next one or two chapters. As far as Lain goes, well you'll probably learn more about him later.
Once again, please review. I really do enjoy hearing everyone's comments.
C ya...