"SQUALL!" Came the shout. Squall turned round, and quickly identified the shouter as Nida. Running towards Squall, out of breath, Nida shouted again.
"Squall! Wait!"
"What is it, man?" Squall asked, waiting for an answer while Nida regained his breath.
"Orders from Cid," Nida said, between gasped breaths, "you gotta go to Esthar with Laguna and Ellone." Squall was very surprised by this news.
"Why?" He asked, unable to fathom why he'd be ordered on a mission at such short notice.
"It-it's Seifer," Nida replied, "someone's tried to kill him."
Just a few hours later, the Ragnarok set down at Esthar air station, and Squall, Laguna and Ellone all disembarked, to be greeted by Ward and Kiros. While Ward escorted Ellone back to the presidential palace, Kiros filled Squall and Laguna in on what had happened.
"A snake?" Squall asked, not quite believing what Kiros had told him.
"An Esthar viper, to be precise," Kiros clarified. "Very small, but very deadly. Fortunately, we were able to inject him with the antidote before it killed him." Squall nodded- at least the murder attempt had been unsuccessful.
"Is he conscious?" Laguna asked. Laguna, like most of the world, had become a fan of Seifer's books, and often made a point of visiting him in his cell. He'd grown to like Seifer, and was as concerned as anyone.
"Yes," Kiros said, answering his boss's question. "He was asking specifically for you, Squall. That was why you were called on such short notice." At that point, the shuttle tube they had been waiting for arrived, and they embarked.
Arriving at the hospital, Squall said his farewells to Laguna and Kiros before entering the medical complex, and making his way to the secure room where Seifer was being treated (he was still a prisoner, after all). He identified himself to the guard outside the room and entered, smiling as he saw Seifer awake and reading one of his manuscripts.
"Another masterpiece?" Squall asked, startling his infirm friend.
"Squall! Hi," Seifer said, putting down his manuscript and donning his glasses. "You came quick."
"Nah," Squall responded, "I just happened to be in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop in. I heard you were unwell."
"Really?" Seifer said, his voice regaining some of the old, sarcastic edge it had in the old days. "That would explain why I'm lying in a hospital bed, then." Squall narrowed his eyes- Seifer was never funny when he was sarcastic, but then again, he never set out to be.
"Any idea who did it?" Squall asked. Seifer laid back down.
"That's why I wanted you to come," Seifer said, deadly serious. "I'm sure it was a professional hit. That means funding, which means someone out there isn't going to stop until I'm history." Squall nodded- he couldn't agree more.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"I've amassed plenty of royalties from my books," Seifer said, changing the subject briefly, "I think it's time I used them. I want to hire a team of SeeD investigators to find out who it was who tried to kill me, and I want them to make sure it won't happen again." Squall whistled- that was no small request.
"That's gonna cost, man," he said, business-like, "even if I give you a discount." Seifer shook his head.
"No discounts, man," he said, simply, "I'll pay my way."
"Don't the Esthar authorities have more experience with these type of things?" Squall asked.
"Tut, tut, Squall," Seifer said, "don't want my business? The Esthar police probably do have more experience- but they sure as hell haven't turned anything up yet. And they can't guard me 24 hours a day." Squall new exactly what Seifer meant.
"You think whoever tried to kill you will try again?" Squall asked,
"I'm certain of it," Seifer answered.
"Why?" Squall asked Seifer. Seifer simply stared at Squall, neutrally.
"You know why," he answered. "Do torture, terrorism and GBH sound familiar to you? If not, have a look at that piece of paper pinned to the end of the bed."
"No one knows about any of that, Seif," Squall replied.
"Well what was that snake all about, then? Over-enthusiastic literary criticism?" Seifer snorted back. Squall nodded- Seifer had a point. "Obviously someone's out for a pound of my flesh. Who, exactly, knows about my involvement?"
"Only SeeDs," Squall replied, "and those who've been SeeDs for three years. In between retirements and casualties, there are only around 80 people who know, who are still at the Garden." Seifer shook his head again.
"I doubt it's a Garden student, or a SeeD," he said. "Concentrate your search on SeeDs who retired just after the bombings. There can't have been too many of them." Squall nodded, and the two continued finalising their plan to find out Seifer's assailant.
Meanwhile, outside the building, a janitor was cleaning the window of the room above Seifer's. However, he had more than just a bucket and a chamois- he had, on his hip, a piece of surveillance equipment that many had mistaken for a personal radio. It was currently tuned in on Seifer's room, and he was hearing every word that was being said. My two enemies, the so-called window cleaner thought to himself, together at last. What a perfect opportunity. He winched himself down to Seifer's room, and braced himself, expecting to be rumbled. However, Seifer and Squall ignored him. The blinds were closed, and they couldn't see him. Perfect. Just the opportunity I'd been waiting for. He took his "radio" off his belt and activated a small screen on it, and reacted with surprise. I'm staring at him, he mused, his thoughts and his vision centred on Squall. I'll never get a better opportunity. While the blinds were closed, they were more than open enough to let a small bullet through. A small bullet much like the one he had in his rifle, which had been conveniently hidden underneath one of the planks of his winch. He quickly replaced the plank, and loaded his rifle. My two enemies, both killed by the same gun, the ponytailed sniper/window cleaner thought to himself. Nice. He lined up his shot, aiming at Squall. Obviously, he wouldn't be able to aim directly at him, but his hidden camera gave him plenty enough information on Squall's position in the room. He took a few more seconds finalising his aim, before pulling the trigger.
Squall and Seifer had been discussing the SeeDs who were to be assigned to him, when the glass shattered. Immediately, Squall felt a sharp, intense pain in his armpit. Blood had started oozing from his new wound, something that had not gone unnoticed by Seifer.
"SECURITY!" Seifer shouted, as loud as he could, before diving under the covers and huddling himself into the foetal position. He felt two bullets enter him- one in the knee, on in his forearm, and another grazed his bicep. Then, however, a security team entered the room and immediately started firing. When they'd stopped, Seifer emerged from his cocoon, still in pain and bleeding badly from his wounds. Laguna was standing there, as were a team of doctors and an entire armed response team. There was no sign of Squall.
"W-what happened?" Seifer asked, in shock from the bullet wounds. "Where's Squall?" Laguna went over and calmed Seifer down.
"Squall's fine," Laguna started, "he's being treated in the other room. Don't worry, we've got everything under control." Seifer managed to calm himself down, but not enough for the doctor's liking, as he felt a hypodermic enter his arm and he quickly fell asleep...
Meanwhile, Squall was almost as shocked as Seifer was by the attack- the first bullet had come straight out of the blue, and had only just been removed from his left armpit, where it had done quite a bit of damage. He'd have to wear a sling for a few weeks, but that was not his primary concern at the moment- that honour was held by his friend. Someone's tried to murder Seifer, he mused to himself, and would have shed no tears if I'd died too. While Squall was lost in thought, the doctors had finished dressing his wound. He carefully put his (ruined) shirt and jacket back on, not happy at the prospect of paying to have the jacket repaired, and exited the room, heading straight to where his friend was lying, unconscious. Squall looked down at Seifer, who had had a hard 24 hours. There were four armed guards in the tiny room, along with Laguna.
"What's going to happen to him?" Squall asked Laguna, referring, of course, to Seifer.
"I'm having him moved to a secure cell, no windows," Laguna said. "It'll be safer there, at least until you find out who was behind this." At that point, the guards all started marching out, wheeling Seifer on his bed with them.
"They're taking him to the theatre so they can have the bullets removed," Laguna explained, anticipating his son's next question. "Do you want me to send them to the Garden for analysis?" Squall shook his head.
"We've got the one they pulled out of me," he explained, holding up a small bag with a bullet in it, while simultaneously pointing at his injured shoulder. Laguna grimaced out of sympathy for his son's injury.
"How is the arm?" He asked.
"As well as can be expected, having just had a bullet forcibly inserted then removed," Squall sarcastically retorted. Laguna nodded, as if to say 'OK, stupid question.'
"Are you going back to Balamb now?" He asked. Squall nodded.
"It'd probably be best, we should get this bullet analysed as quick as possible," he said to his father. "If the assassin is an ex-Garden student then he may be using Garden equipment. It's a long shot, no pun intended, but it's the only one we have."
"OK. See you son," Laguna said, shaking Squall's hand. Squall nodded, giving his father a brief hug.
"See you, dad," he said back. Squall left the hospital and headed back towards the Ragnarok.