"Uuhh…" Was all Seifer could say after he awoken from out of his state.
"Shut up Almasy…you put us in enough stress already." Rinoa commanded and gently yanked the IV out of Seifer's hand.
"S…orry." Seifer breathed out. Heavily drugged from the Morphine. Rinoa shot him another look and peeled off the patches that were glued onto Seifer's bare chest. She stood up and left the room.
"You're lucky we didn't have to shock you Seifer…" Dr. Kadowaki said and checked his arms again. She dabbed them with some more peroxide and left. Rinoa came back in with a pair of bandages. She sat down by the bed and started wrapping Seifer's arms.
"…"Tera" is here, by the way…she's lucky to have found you when she did…Hara-kiri is a very powerful and lethal type of Heroin. You should've died…"
"You mean I took heroin by mistake?" Seifer asked groggily. Rinoa nodded. "Oh fuck…" Seifer chuckled lightly and relaxed a little.
That was until, Zell and Quistis entered the room and surrounded him. Rinoa finished wrapping up Seifer's arms and stood up to hug Zell, then she left.
"Where's Tera?" Seifer mumbled.
"Was here…but she left with Selphie to go get some supplies from Balamb." Zell said quietly, arms folded across his chest. "Squall went with them…"
"Seifer…we want to talk to you about what happened." Quistis said, sitting down on one of the chairs by the bed.
"I don't'." Seifer rolled onto his stomach, moaning at the sudden cramp in his gut. Zell turned him over to where he was on his back again. Looking out at the cloudy morning sky. "Another day of rain." Seifer thought.
"Well, we do…Seifer." Zell said sternly. "Are you aware that in Code 4B, Article 2 that No drugs or any other illegal substance is not to be permitted in the Garden with no exceptions?" Zell stated.
"Yeah well, maybe life would be oh so simpler if the great Seifer wasn't around anymore." Seifer said with a sigh.
"Is that what it is?" Zell asked quietly.
"Where is all this coming from?" Dr. Kadowaki asked with a choke.
Zell put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Oh Seifer…Quistis…could you go with Dr. Kadowaki to take a break and have some coffee? I need to talk to Seifer alone…" Zell said, his gaze not leaving Seifer's. Quistis got up immediately and hurried out the door with Dr. Kadowaki.
Seifer sighed and sat up cautiously on the edge of the bed, his face buried in his hands. Zell sat beside Seifer and looked at his feet.
"Seifer…you're the only shot we've got at catching the Mortali's. Thanks to last night's issue, we have to postpone this mission we have been planning since last week." He gritted his teeth and sighed.
"Fuck this mission." Seifer stood up and stretched carefully.
"Seifer…you overdosed…you should've died on the table!" Zell waved his hands towards the emergency room. "Seifer…it is my job as the vice president…to either send you back to the D-District…or you promise us that you will allow for us to help you….so…the choice is yours…you either choose wisely or you have me choose." Zell said quietly and stood up, leaving Seifer by himself in the cold infirmary.
"...Where are you going?" He asked the tattooed blonde, who replied with a smile.
"I am going to go catch up on my sleep...after I wash off the puke and blood that which you spewed all over me." Zell chuckled and left the room in silence. "And get dressed and meet Quistis and Dr. Kadowaki in the cafeteria, they need to talk to you too.
"Sex." Squall took a gulp of his coffee. "Seifer was always indulged with sex. Nothing more, nothing less…it got him into trouble a few times as well."
"Really?" Emma asked, an odd expression on her pale skinned face.
"Yes… I…we were both assigned to the same dorm room…" Squall chuckled a bit and picked up a fork and started stabbing at his Balamb Fish Filet Special. "And every night, he'd leave for an hour and then come back with either Fujin, or some other girls and I would have to be the one who'd have to listen to them and their illicit sexual intercourse." He stuck his fork in his mouth, along with a bite of the cooked fish.
"…It's funny to think…Seifer and Fujin fucking…" Selphie giggled and stabbed her pasta.
"Even funnier to think of the time that Seifer had a threesome with Raijin and Fujin together." Emma said and poked at her salad. Squall nearly choked on his wine, and Selphie gasped loudly.
"They didn't!" Selphie exclaimed, putting her hands to her face.
"No, but Raijin videotaped Seifer and Fujin together. Once."
"Oh." Squall swallowed. "I remember that."
Selphie laughed and finished her glass. "So how did you and Seifer meet?"
"Um, actually I don't really remember."
Emma paused for a moment and then laughed out loud. "Thanks to using G.F's… I don't remember much of anything anymore." Emma suddenly frowned.
"What?" Squall leaned forward.
"Tera?" Selphie leaned towards her and touched her shoulder. Emma looked up and her and smiled.
"I just wish we could come up with a way to not have to pay a price that heavy." Selphie said quietly. "I want to be able to remember my child's childhood."
"It's a sacrifice." Squall said. "A sacrifice everyone must pay."
"Evers….isn't that Emma?" Mara grabbed her binoculars and looked across the street from above the building. Evers stopped wiring and looked as well.
"What the fuck is she doing?" Her father muttered and picked up his radio. "Cort…look down below…" He looked up above him and saw Cort and his sniper rifle turn to his left.
"Motherfuck…" Cort cocked his rifle and spoke into his headset. "What the fuck is she doing!"
"And look who's in her company." Fik pointed to whom she sat next to.
"My daughter… my own daughter…betrayed us." Evers sighed.
"What do we do, sir?" Mara asked.
"…We continue. She's one of them now. "
"So when are you popping the question to Quisty?" Selphie asked.
"I've got the ring." Squall said. "I think I might do it after the mission."
Emma picked up her phone and held it to her ear. "Hold on… hello?"
"You fucking cunt. You fucking betraying little self-centered BITCH!…" Cort said and looked at the raven-haired beauty through a set of binoculars, whose eyes darted around the street. "So you shot her huh? She looks pretty alive for a dead woman…"
"Cort…" Emma stood up, trying to act calm. She walked away from Squall and Selphie a ways and spoke quietly into the phone. "She is pregnant, I couldn't do it." She chuckled lightly at Squall, who smiled back nervously at her. Emma looked around, noticing all of the innocent civilians that wandered in the small downtown area of Balamb. And that was when Emma suddenly felt alone again. "Cort please… I cannot talk right now, I'll see you when I get back!"
"What the fuck are you talking about Emma?" Cort walked around, he noticed the odd look on his comrade-in-training gave him as he spoke. "You really have turned against us.."
"No! I would never!"
"Sure… Is that why you fled? You're father isn't too pleased."
"What do you mean? It was an emergency…"
"You disgusting vile little bitch!"
"Cort, please!"
"Emma, you can't be helped now. You can die with the rest of your friends." Cort yelled and hung up on Emma.
Emma gasped and looked at Squall.
"Tera? Is everything ok?"
It was her turn to smile nervously. She looked around and noticed a group of men leave the building. Cort looked at her and waved, a cell phone in his hand. Emma turned to Squall and then back to the tall building. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. She sat back down and smiled back and Selphie and Squall.
"You ok?" Selphie asked.
"I'm fine." She smiled.
"We should head back to the Garden." Squall said, standing up and pushing his chair in.
Then it was at that moment, when they heard the explosion. The trio watched the top of the building cave in.
Then the panic rushed. People ran and screamed. Squall grabbed Selphie and pushed her in the alley. He ran back for Emma but couldn't find her. Instead he saw panic and destruction. He watched the concrete fall from the walls of the building and land on cars and people. He found Emma staring at the building.
"I could have stopped this." She said; closing her eyes again, and falling to the ground… unconscious, feeling a sharp pain in her side… like it had been shot.
The deathly thud of a body falling made Emma turn her body around. But when she turned around, she saw him. The cowboy in leather. He tilted his hat and then smiled.
"I thought I told you to stay put…" He said and aimed the gun at the woman in the red dress.
"How could I not?" She asked. A shot fired next to her. Emma screamed and turned to run. She squeezed through the gates of the bridge and ran past the float. She witnessed Seifer in his glory, even when caged. He saw her and went after her.
"STOP!" Seifer commanded. Emma complied. He spun her around and gripped onto her tightly. "What are you doing here, girl?" Emma was shocked. He never called her 'girl' in his life. He pulled her closer. Through gritted teeth he whispered.
"I fucking told you to stay in the palace!" He pushed her away from him and turned to return to his sorceress.
"I know, but Seifer I saw someone…" She followed him, but was stopped by the back of his hand. She fell back and began to cry when he lifted her back up at eye level.
"Just… go…Emma…this is going to get ugly…just run…and don't stop." He whispered through gritted teeth.
This time Emma lifted her skirt up and ran. She stopped once more and watched Seifer engage into battle. She watched him for the longest time.
"What are you doing out of your cage, birdie?" A voice from behind her asked.
"Sei---f…!"
Squall lifted Emma up, putting his hand over her wound. The sounds of screams and cries mixed with the sound of the building collapsing deafened his ears and paralyzed his ability to speak or move. He lifted Emma up in his arms and swiftly carried her away from the hulking remains of the downtown. He rushed into the alley and lay Emma down on the ground and pulled out his cell phone… muttering to himself.
"This is bad…bad…fuck…" Squall put the phone up to his hear and waited patiently for Zell to answer his phone. "Goddamn….ZELL! There's been an accident…"