A/N: Quick note. Quistis will be arguing with herself in this chapter. The thoughts that come from her mind, not her own thoughts, will be show in parenthesis, like this: (thought)

Until I hit the lottery, I won't have Final Fantasy. So Final Fantasy shall remain in the hands of Squaresoft. For now. Heh heh heh.

Chapter Five: Assassination Attempt

They both jumped up, startled, and training kicked in as Quistis pulled out her Save the Queen, which she had hidden as a decorative belt. Seifer reached for Hyperion, but it had been stowed away in a cupboard upon entering the room. Even telling the guard that he was a security guard hadn't made a difference. Seifer cursed the gaurd with all his will.

"You okay?" asked Seifer, concerned as he stood up.

"Yeah," Quistis said, standing up as well. "Right now, we need to find Caraway!" Seifer nodded in agreement, and together they started to search for him. Seifer stopped by the door first, and collected Hyperion.

"Over there!" said Quistis, pointing toward the candidate table. Sure enough, Caraway and Gary were standing there, stunned. Zell was hunched over slightly, standing in front of Caraway. Guards were swarming around the room, looking for the shooter.

"What just happened?" asked Caraway. He turned around, and gasped. Zell had taken a bullet in the shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." muttered Zell.

"Was that...meant for me?"

"It had to have been. There was no one else around at the time." Zell clutched at his stomach, then collapsed. Seifer and Quistis ran over, and Quistis checked his pulse.

"He's alive. The blood loss must've sent him into shock," said Quistis. Seifer breathed a sigh of relief. I may not like Zell, and I may not like his attitude, but if he did pass on...I guess I'd miss him. In a very remote, very vague, very small kind of way. Kinda like missing your enemy, because you love fighting with them.

"We need to get him to the hospital," said Seifer. "Would you like to go, or should I?"

"I'll go. You stay with Caraway. And be careful, they sniper may still be around," cautioned Quistis.

"Hey, I'm always careful. Look who you're talking to."

"See you later," Quistis said, as the doors were pushed open hurriedly.

"Yeah. Hurry up," Seifer cautioned. Quistis just nodded, and hurried out with several medics who had just arrived with a stretcher. Seifer turned to Caraway.

"Under the circumstances, sir, you should leave here. It isn't safe."

"Agreed," Caraway said. He turned to candidates. "My apologies, but I must go. I shall continue this discussion later."

"Sure," General Horace Wilkie said. He was a tall, graying man, and he had an aura of command around him. "I look forward to it," The others murmured general consent of his words.

"And I hope your guard wasn't seriously injured," added one of the females, an average, brown haired woman, who appeared to be Mariana Skye.

"Thank you, Miss Skye." said Caraway, confirming Seifer's thoughts. Darius Deling turned to the others.

"In light of these events, perhaps we should postpone the debate, which I look forward too," he suggested. "After all, these people are no doubt shaken up, and will want to rest."

"I agree," said Mariana.

"I am also in favor," said a tall, thin woman with fiery red hair said, who had to be Kayla Friedman.

"Count me in," said a small, skinny man, with small beady eyes. Seifer remembered Marcus Deling from his last time in Deling. Seifer immediately decided he still didn't like the look of him. If something was going on, he had no doubt that little weasel was at the very center of it, waiting to see who was going to win, then jump on their coattails.

"I also agree," said Wilkie, making the vote unanimous. Darius turned toward the waiting crowd.

"My esteemed colleagues and I have decided to postpone the rest of the evening, in light of the recent events. A new time shall be announced shortly. And I thank you all for coming." Everyone started to talk among themselves as Seifer and Caraway walked out of the building, and to the General's private car.

I hope Zell is okay, thought Seifer as he lead Caraway out of the room, scanning the area as he went.

Quistis paced the hospital waiting room nervously. The doctors had said that he was very ill. Apparently there had been two bullets, one to the arm, and one to the upper chest. His lung had been nicked, and his required a breathing aide. He had lost a ton of blood, and had lost all feeling in his arm. She slumped against the wall. That should be me in there dying. Why did it have to be him? Melissa will be so worried. At least, if it had been me, I wouldn't have someone that worried about me, although I hope that everyone would at least be upset.

The door opened, and someone came over to her sitting place against the wall. "Any news?" asked Seifer, and she heard the concern in his voice. She knew better than to comment on it, though.

"The second bullet, the one that hit his upper chest, nicked his lung, and he requires a breathing aide. He lost a ton of blood, and he'll loose all feeling in his arm for a while. Figures, he's the only one of us who doesn't use a weapon, just punches. He won't be up to snuff for a while."

"Damn," Seifer murmured as he sat down next to her. They just sat there, waiting for something, anything to happen. Quistis retreated back into her thoughts. Why did this have to happen? Why, why, why?

"They didn't find the sniper. And Caraway is home, with Gary," Seifer told her.

"Mmm," she muttered, not really listening.

"This isn't your fault," he told her.

"If I had just done my duty Zell wouldn't be in that hospital room..."

"No, you would be there. I really don't see the difference between who your friends pray for."

"It's different!" she exclaimed.

"How?"

"See, Zell has a girlfriend..."

"Really? The chicken-wuss? No way! Who?"

"That librarian, Melissa Rodriguez."

"Interesting. Then that time I was teasing him he was calling his girlfriend!" Seifer was grinning evilly. Quistis could litererally see the cogs spinning frantically in his mind. She smacked him lightly on the arm.

"Leave him alone, Seifer."

"Oh, alright. I guess for a wounded person I can let the taunting slide, at least for the first hour or so. After that, it might be kind of hard, so no promises."

"You're so kind."

"Oh, I know. So, you were saying?" he prompted.

"Well, he'll have Melissa so worked up, and I don't want to put her through that kind of worry."

"I'm sure everyone would worry just as much about you."

"Not really like that," Quistis said, burying her head in her arms, which rested on her knees. Seifer looked down at the floor, wanting to comfort his old friend, yet not knowing quite what to do. He reached up an arm, and hesitantly wrapped it around her shoulders, trying to comfort her as best he could.

"Let me tell you something, in all honesty. If that was you laying in that bed in there, I would be really depressed, and so would everyone else. Honestly," Quistis looked up, surprised.

"You're not just saying that?" she asked.

"No, I'm not lying. I would be depressed if you were wounded. Really, despite what people think, you were a great instructor, and you're really the closest thing to a friend I have."

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Besides, you have to get me through my next test."

"Ah yes, the practical approach," she muttered, joking, resting her head on his shoulder. She felt him tense for a moment, then slowly relax. She felt surprised herself at her audacity, but then again people usually clung to whoever was around during a crisis, afraid if someone wasn't there they would drown in anguish too. Gradually, they both drifted off to sleep against the wall, with Seifer's arm still around Quistis, both waiting for the dawn to come, hoping Zell would live to see it.

Seifer woke up, and wondered briefly why he was so sore. Then he remembered the events of the previous evening, and looked around the waiting room. According to the wall clock it was 8:00 in the morning. He looked over at Quistis, who was still sleeping. He couldn't think of any way to move without disturbing her, so he waited, as the minutes ticked by. He nearly drifted off to sleep when she finally woke up. She moved her head, stretching, and Seifer stretched the cramp that had been built during the night.

"Thank you for waiting with me," Quistis said, as she got up to stretch her legs. Seifer also stood, and walked, a bit jerkily as his legs were still kind of asleep, over to the nurse behind the counter.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but has there been any change in the condition of Zell Dincht?" he asked her. While she went to find someone who would know, he turned back to Quistis.

"No problem. It's not like I had anywhere else to be," he said. "I was kind of worried about Zell, although don't tell him that!" he warned, pointing at her in a mock-threat. "You don't want a scar to, do ya?"

"Oh, don't hurt me. I won't tell!" she promised, throwing up her hands and pretending she was scared.

"I also came over because I was worried about you. I figured you would be beating yourself up about last night. And guess what? I was right. Although I'm not sure it's much of a victory..." he added, and she smiled slightly.

The nurse came back. "The surgery to attempt to repair his lung is about to commence. It will be about three hours, maybe longer. You should really go out and eat while we're performing the surgery. There's a cheap restaurant down the street on the left will some good food. You can't miss it."

"We'll take your advice, thank you," Seifer said, and turned to Quistis. "Care to join me while I eat breakfast, my treat?" he asked.

"I'd be delighted," she told him, smiling. "I can't pass up free food. We ex-instructors don't make much money."

Quistis sat in a local restaurant, Grandma Wisteria's, across from Seifer, eating a fruit salad. She vaguely remembered Rinoa mentioning this was a good restaurant, which Rinoa had visited when she was still living in Deling. She looked out of the window, and noticed that there were clouds gathering in the sky, promising rain. She was still trying to sort through her emotions, and wasn't concentrating much on her food.

I can't believe my own actions in the hospital! After all, we're not sure which side he's on! He could be a double agent, a spy, anything, she thought, then mentally slapped herself. Come on, you've tried to tell everyone else to trust him, why can't you do as you say? But on the inside, in a secluded place that she even tucked away from herself, she knew the answer. She actually was beginning to like Seifer, not just as a friend.

Pull yourself together Quistis! Remember, student/teacher relationships don't work! Naturally, that secluded, rebellious voice argued. (But, of course, after he becomes a SeeD?)

There is no guarantee he'll become a SeeD!

(But there's a chance. Can't you believe in a chance?)

It would be too hard, too complex. Maybe after things are more certain?

(What if it's too late? This is just you dragging your heels!)

She had never felt this confused in her life. Even her crush on Squall hadn't been this bad, because she was so sure she was certian back then. Now, she didn't know what was going on. It is possible that this is merely because people tend to cling to other people during a crisis, to keep above it all and say I'm alive.

(That's the Psychology Ph.D talking, Quistis.)

Or is it? she wondered.

"Quistis? Are you alright?" asked a voice, dragging her out of her traitorous thoughts. She felt a little grateful, but still annoyed at the intrusion.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing! Aren't I allowed to think!" she exploded. Seifer seemed shocked.

"Well, yeah, sure."

"Then why are you interrogating me!"

"Look, I'm pretty worried too. But maybe you should talk about whatever is the matter, instead of letting it fester and infect your mind. Trust me, you'd feel better."

"Probably. I didn't mean to snap, but with everything that's happened?"

"Yeah, life has been pretty hectic recently. But really, you should talk about this."

"I don't really want to. I'm fine, really," she smiled, but she knew she couldn't fool him, although he pretended to believe her.

"Fine. If you change your mind, just come talk to me. It's not like I have much of a social life."

Quistis laughed, then turned back to the window, thoughtfully chewing on her fruit salad. So, what am I going to do? she wondered. I might not even like him. I just don't know, I'm so confused! I wish I had a someone besides Seifer to talk to, or something. Well, I guess there really isn't much I can do, is there? Just wait, and see what happens. Determine if this is more than a schoolgirl crush.

She finished off the last of her salad, noted Seifer was already done and had paid for the checks, so she got up and joined him at the counter. Seifer received his change, and together they walked out the door, and down the road to the hospital, where news of Zell would be, with any luck.

The nurse looked up as they walked in the door. "You came just in time," she told them. "Your friend just came out of surgery, and they said he's recovering well. He isn't awake yet, but they estimate he will be within the hour. And the best news is he doesn't require a breathing aide anymore."

"Thank Hyne." Quistis whispered, relieved.

"Would you care to go see him?" asked the nurse, looking up the room number for Zell, before they replied. She could already tell the answer.

"Yes please," Seifer said, speaking for both of them. The nurse nodded, then lead them down a series of sterile white walls to a room with 316 printed on the wall. Quistis thanked the woman, then walked in, and Seifer followed. The nurse left, and Seifer took up a leaning position against the wall. Quistis, however, sat down near the cold metal bed, after moving the plain green curtain aside. Zell lay there, with bandages around his arm and chest.

That should be me, she thought. But no, it isn't, because I wanted to have fun, instead of doing your duty. They were right to take my credentials away, what kind of an instructor am I?

(Stop whining! What good will that do? After all, what happened happened, and you can't change the past.)

Ellone could... She knew changing time wasn't the answer, but she was really getting annoyed with her inner voice

(Ellone tried and failed. Get over it already. You aren't helping anyone by just sitting here! Contact the mission leader, tell him about Zell, and call Melissa. Come on, Quistis, this is common knowledge! Do you want your credentials or not?) Quistis stood up. Of course she needed to do her duty. After all, she could still redeem herself. She looked over at Seifer. And I can worry about him later, she told herself.

"Seifer?"

"Yo."

"Can you stay here and watch Zell?"

"Why, are you calling your boyfriend?"

"No, I'm calling Gary and Melissa. You need to stay here, in case he wakes up."

"Why?"

"Because he should see a friendly face."

"This could just be me, but doesn't Zell hate me?"

"Not really, on the inside. I'll be back in a few minutes." Quistis walked out of the room before he could argue, and headed to the waiting room, where she had seen a phone earlier. She reached the room, picked up the receiver, and called General Caraway's residence.

"Hello?"asked the voice on the other end.

"I'm calling for Gary Sevrin. My name is Quistis Trepe."

"I'll get him. One moment." After a minute, Gary picked up.

"Hello?"

"It's Quistis. I just got back the report from the hospital. Zell recovering well, and he can breath on his own."

"Excellent. I'll put that in my weekly report. Was that all?"

"I just wanted to know if we had further instructions."

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough information. I'm trying to located Natalie Illuna, but no one can find her. And until she supplies us with information, we can't find the purpose of the AI chip. So really, after you're done at the hospital, report back here. But be aware that if even a small lead comes up I'm calling you guys, and you need to go immediately."

"Aye aye, sir." Quistis hung up, then picked it up again and dialed Selphie in Trabia. Thank Hyne she had remembered to get Selphie's number before the hyperactive girl had left.

"Hi! This is Selphie Tilmitt, incharge of her first mission ever!" Quistis smiled at her way of answering the phone.

"Selphie? It's Quistis."

"Hi Quistis! What's up?"

"I wanted Melissa's number."

"Sure! Use the Balamb Garden area code, then dial 74-565. But why do you want her number?"

"Zell was hurt, but he's doing better now. I wanted to personally tell her."

"Zell was hurt! Oh man, that isn't good! At least he's doing better."

"Yeah. Thanks Selphie."

"No problem. Call me when you aren't busy, okay? I want to hear about the mission, and you can tell me about what happened to Zell."

"Sure. See you later." She dialed 872 (the Balamb Garden area code) then dialed 74-565.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Quistis Trepe, a friend of Zell's. I was calling because there was an accident. Zell was wounded, but he's recovering now."

"Zell was hurt? What happened!"

"There was a sniper attack, and Zell took a bullet to the chest and arm. Blood lost sent him into shock, but he's getting better. For a while, they needed to get a machine to help his breathing, but he can do that on his own now. He hasn't woken up yet, but they think he will soon."

"Thanks for calling. Oh Hyne. Look, ask him to call me when he feels up to it, and call me when he wakes up. Please?"

"Sure."

"And tell him I'll keep my fingers crossed for him."

"Sure thing."

"Thank you so much, Quistis. It means a lot that you called."

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Quistis and Seifer were waiting for Gary in the dining room. After Quistis had finished calling Selphie and Melissa she had joined Seifer in Zell's room. Zell hadn't woken up during the three hours they were there, so the nurse told them they should leave, and return to the mansion for lunch. Only after the nurse swore on everything she could think of that she would call them the instant Zell woke up they left for the General's. Fortunately, because General Caraway was here, there was descent food being served. Quistis looked at the food, which was pasta and shrimp. It looked so good, but they had to wait until Gary arrived.

Seifer leaned over from his seat next to her. "I wonder where Gary is," he whispered.

"He said he needed to finish some work," Quistis whispered back. Seifer nodded, and leaned back over in his place. Quistis was glad, because she was still too confused by her emotions. She still didn't know what to think about any of this. Seifer, Zell, the sniper, her credentials...everything was screaming for her to acknowledge it. It was as though everything had fallen apart after Ultimecia was gone, and she didn't know how to pick everything up. It seemed as though every time she had a few things balanced something new was thrown at her and she dropped it all again. She had never felt so confused in her life. Fortunately, the opening of the dining room door made her thoughts disappear.

"Sorry I was late, but there was some last minute information I needed to take care of," Gary apologized as he swept into the room, and took a seat across from Quistis. General Caraway began to take some food, and everyone followed his example. Quistis stared at her food, not really seeing it, as she thought about the events of yesterday at the Summer Ball. Who would attack General Caraway? She looked over at the general.

"Did anyone find anything out about the assassin?" she asked, curious.

"There has been no reports. The bullets were identified as belonging to a LazerStar 700, but that's about all."

"Is that a rare gun, or common?" she asked. She didn't know a thing about guns. Usually if she wanted to know somthing about them she just went in search of Irvine.

"What really confuses me is why anyone would try to kill General Caraway," Seifer said. "After all, he isn't running the presidential election, he's going to retire as a general soon, and doesn't really have control over anything seriously valuable."

"What about revenge?" asked Quistis. "After all, I'm sure that there are people who hate him."

"Unusually enough, I can't think of anyone who would try to assassinate me. There are people annoyed at me, but very few people hate me."

"Maybe this is one of those weird grudges," Gary said. Everyone looked at him, confused. "I'm sure you've heard of those cases where people hate other people because something they did affected their lives. Remember that famous Deling case a couple years ago, where a Wendigo hunter was out for the steel pipes Wendigos drop, and they inadvertently killed someone's pet Wendigo? Well, the owner went on this total rampage. Maybe this is a case like that." Seifer tried very hard to contain a laugh at this idea. His cheeks were becoming stained pink with the effort. Even Quistis felt amused, although she hid her reaction in her glass of water.

"Interesting. A little farfetched, but possible," General Caraway murmured, looking out the window, contemplating what Gary had said. Quistis wasn't sure, but he looked as though he had an amused twinkle in his eye.

"We shouldn't rule out anything," Gary said. Caraway nodded.

"Of course. But for now, let's just enjoy the meal. We can worry about that later."

"Amen ," Seifer said, digging in. Quistis rolled her eyes, and started eating. After thirty minutes, General Caraway left, and Gary instructed them to join him in their base room, where he was going to discuss strategies for finding the sniper and Natalie Illuna. Just then, one of the maids walked in.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but the hospital called. Mr. Dincht will be waking up soon."

Quistis and Seifer jumped up at the same time, and Quistis rushed to the door, Seifer following casually. However, Gary's voice stopped them before they managed to get out the door.

"Hey, get back here!" shouted Gary, annoyed. "We need to plan the next move!"

"But-" Quistis began. She needed to see if Zell was okay, if she hadn't totally messed up.

"No buts. As your direct superior I order you to get back in this room, and finish this meeting. The hospital will call if something is wrong, and your being there will not help," His tone was final. Seifer and Quistis walked back into the room, and returned to their chairs.

"Look, I understand you're worried about Zell. But your presence isn't going to make much of a difference. So please, just get through this briefing," They nodded affirmative, but neither of them was happy about it.

Zell blinked as he looked up at a very bright sun. Where the hell am I? he wondered. He tried to move, then realized he couldn't. He eyes wandered the room, looking for the enemy that had to be near, but saw nothing other than a vast white space. I hope I didn't die, he thought. I still my entire life to live! And there are all the important things in life: Melissa, my friends, Ma, killing Seifer, beating Irvine...oh yeah, I agreed to give Seifer another chance. Well, after he blows that chance I can kill him. He closed his eyes for a moment. Then he realized something. His chest hurt. A lot. His eyes flew open. You aren't supposed to feel pain when you're dead. His eyes looked around, but all he could see was the sun, and the whiteness. He blinked rapidly, but nothing changed.

"Are you awake yet, Mr. Dincht?" asked a voice. He tried to reply, but no sound came out. Something poked his arm, and a searing pain spread like liquid fire through his muscles. At least it wasn't my sore arm, he thought. Suddenly, the room swam into focus. What he had thought was the sun was actually a lamp dangling above him. He was able to move his head, and saw that he was in a white hospital room. He looked at a blonde nurse, who had probably been the one who had spoken.

"Ah am awaak.." He frowned. His mouth wasn't responding well. He tried again, slowly this time. "I am awake." That's better. The nurse smiled.

"Being a little groggy is expected after the surgery. You need to rest up, and your arm will be really sore for awhile, but your health is improving. But try not to stress your arm by doing any heavy lifting or anything." Zell nodded, then looked around.

"Where is Quistis?" he asked. The nurse frowned.

"Miss Trepe?" she questioned. He merely nodded; speaking wasn't exactly what he wanted to do right now. "We called her and told her you were awake, but she hasn't been here yet." Zell felt disappointed. I had hoped Quistis would have come. Hell, even seeing Seifer would have been nice. He didn't show any disappointment.

"She must be busy." Zell said, thinking up an excuse . The nurse nodded.

"I'm sure. Anyway, here is the call button." She pointed to a button that lay near his bed. "Press this if you need anything. These two buttons with the arrows on them will move your bed up and down."

"Ma'am, how much longer will I need to be here?" asked Zell.

"I would estimate three days. They'll want to monitor you, to make sure the surgery went well. After that you will be released, but you'll need to take to take it easy."

"Thank you." he said.

"You're welcome." With that, the nurse left the room. Zell looked around and poked the up button.

"Bed goes up, bed goes down. Bed goes up, bed goes down." he said, pushing the buttons. After about a minute of that, it started to get boring. He looked around again and, noticing a remote, picked it up and pointed it at the television. A burst of static greeted his efforts. He flipped through the channels, but there was only static. He turned the television off, annoyed. I hope Quistis comes to see me soon. This is pretty boring...