Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters. This is AU.

Cavalry

When Seifer kissed her, Quistis knew that he was going to do something stupid. She just knew it, even if it was a very nice kiss. But it did distract her long enough that he was far enough away from her by the time she'd gathered her wits to stop him. Grabbing her gun, Quistis rose slightly to better see what was going on. That idiot had better not get himself killed. She wanted to keep him around when all this was over with. She had no idea what his plan was (Quistis hoped he had one), but without knowing what that plan was there was very little she could do to back him up at the moment was watch and wait.

She bit her lip as he strode towards Adel. What on earth could that man be thinking? Adel smirked at him.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you would be the one to betray this merry little band of fools. Then again this could be some desperate attempt on your part to get back into the fold. Don't you think simply delivering the girl to me would have done that?"

Quistis couldn't see Seifer's smirk, but she could hear it in his voice. "Who said anything about surrendering? I simply have something to say to you, Adel, and I figured I should do it face to face."

The bottom dropped out of Quistis' stomach. The damn fool idiot was going to get himself killed. She knew exactly what he had planned now, and it was going to get him killed.

"Oh? And what could you possibly have to say that I would care about?"

"It doesn't matter if you care or not. It just needs to be said." Seifer squared his shoulders. "You had my mother killed. You've framed me for murder and have hunted me and my friends. I refuse to let you ever harm anyone else I love."

Quistis was almost dizzy. She knew what was going to come next, and the worst part was, she couldn't stop him or save him. Seifer was going to take out Adel, and he was going to get himself killed doing so. There was a pounding in her ears. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as she watched Seifer draw his gun. It was only as he fired it that Quistis realized it wasn't her blood that was pounding in her ears. It was hooves. Someone was coming.

Seifer's shot hit Adel square in the chest. The bullet had barely hit the woman when her gang opened fire on Seifer. At least the man had the sense to try and avoid getting shot once they started shooting at him, but there wasn't much cover out there. Even as the first horse came into view, a bullet hit Seifer. Quistis' heart froze, and her hands leapt into action. She was returning fire before she really realized it, and even as she did so, as Adel's gang started to fall apart, a posse of marshals came riding into the fight.

What happened next was not entirely clear to Quistis. There was too much going on at once, and her attention was focused on Seifer more than anything. The first moment an opportunity presented itself, she was dashing out from her cover to drag Seifer back to safety. What she found was not good. Seifer was still conscious, barely conscious, but he had been shot several times, and she did not like the amount of blood that was on his clothes. He was going to need a doctor at the very least. Quistis frowned, trying to figure out a way to get him to a safer location. She didn't think she could carry him all by herself, and she didn't think that dragging him would be a very good idea for his wounds.

That problem was solved when Squall suddenly appeared by her side. Quistis didn't know where he had come from, but right now she didn't really care either.

"Help me get him back to the house."

The two of them managed to get Seifer back to the house without too much trouble. The firefight was already dying down, and it was clear that their side was winning. Quistis had Squall put Seifer in one of the beds while she ran to get the first aid kit. She wasn't a doctor, but she knew enough that she could probably do some good until they got a doctor out here.

"Go find out what's going on," she told Squall, "and make sure they send for a doctor as soon as possible."

Then she turned her attention to Seifer. Biting her lip, Quistis set to work getting shirt off so she could get a good look at his injuries.

"I always knew you wanted to get me naked."

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"I wasn't going to let her hurt you anymore, Quis."

"And your death wouldn't hurt me just as much or more?"

Nothing was bleeding heavily, thank God, though it looked like he had lost quite a bit of blood. He winced as she prodded one of the smaller injuries.

"I will be right back. Do not attempt to go anywhere."

"Like I could."

She returned moments late with a pitcher of water. Seifer was mostly silent as she cleaned and bandaged his wounds. There were a couple that she wanted some one with more medical expertise than she had to look at, but she was pretty sure he was going to survive.

"I'm staying." Seifer suddenly spoke up.

She looked up at him, startled. "What?"

"You asked me if I was willing to stick around. I made my decision. I'm staying."

Despite the fact that this whole mess wasn't quite over yet, Quistis couldn't help smiling.