�So tell me why we�re here again?� Barret grumbled, massive arms folded across his chest. The black man, over six feet tall, was the founding member of AVALANCHE, though he had surrendered leadership early on. Impulsive and easily provoked, Barret made a formidable opponent for everyone but his daughter, Marlene. That was the source of his current irritation � though the Highwind had landed in the middle of Midgar, he couldn�t go to see his baby because of the Shinra guards being on high alert since the attack on their President.

Cid gave a soft snort as he fiddled with the wires of Yuffie�s broken PHS. �The kid told me to take the Turks here �cause he was worried about that damn cat.� Cid said for the third time, only patient enough to do so because he was concentrating on the job at hand. Even in an absent-minded conversation he could resist stirring Barret�s temper, though. �Thought I�d need some help, apparently, though why he sent you goes way over my head.�

�Shu� up, old man.� Barret muttered in annoyance, swinging his muscular arms down by his sides. Cid chuckled wheezily.

�Who you callin� old? You�re older than I am.� He said in protest. Barret scowled and peered through the Perspex as a red-uniformed guard walked past stiffly.

�Damn it if I ain�t worried �bout Reeve, too. Damn Shinra. Just �cause we ain�t employees don�t mean they gotta hold us under house� ship arrest.�

�Mmm.� Cid agreed absently. Barret swore softly for lack of something better to say and crossed his arms again, looking through the window of the bridge again at the half-repaired Shinra building. It would never be what it had been, but he was grudgingly impressed at the work they had done on the ruined building. Where once the tower had stood was an extensive graveyard marking all those who had died in both the Weapon�s attack on Midgar, and the crash of Meteor. Somewhere there lay the grave of Rufus Shinra. Barret wondered if it would be truly bad form if he were to find it and spit on it.

The red-clad guard walked past the window again and saw Barret scowling down at him. He saluted and shrugged apologetically and Barret felt some of the annoyance go away. He was just a young kid, probably just new to the ranks of Shinra, and he was only doing his job. It didn�t make him feel better about not being able to see Marlene, however. He made a dismissive motion with his good hand before he began to pace.

�Wonder what the damn Turks are doin�?�

Reno was getting pretty damn fed up with this doctor. She wouldn�t let him in to see his boss � the third President to go down under this posse of Turks. He growled as she explained to him again why he couldn�t see Reeve yet. He wasn�t awake, she wouldn�t risk disturbing him after such a horrible ordeal, he needed his rest� and yet she hadn�t managed to tell him one useful thing about what had actually happened to the man. The panicking soldier on his PHS had been more useful than this bird.

�Yeah, fine.� He snapped, cutting her off. �Shut up and listen to me, doc. If you�re not gonna let me in to see him, then tell me exactly what happened to him. What the hell happened to President Reeve?�

�I wasn�t there, Mr Reno.� Doctor Ayuki reminded him tartly from behind her square-rimmed spectacles. �No one was.�

�Well, obviously someone was!� Elena retorted shrilly, having had more than enough of the snooty woman, herself. She waved a hand at the door to Reeve�s ward. �I�m pretty sure he wouldn�t attack himself. Let us in to see him. He�d allow it.� Her brows were drawn together in a worried frown above her liquid brown eyes.

�I�m afraid I cannot � excuse me, sir � excuse me!�

Rude had apparently run out of patience for the older woman. He moved forward and calmly opened the door while she hissed furiously at him.

�Don�t you dare go in there! You�ll do him harm! Don�t you dare!�

�Doctor Ayuki.� Rude interrupted her coldly. �Find the last person who was in contact with Reeve and bring them to us.�

�How am I supposed to know who-?�

�Find out.� Reno ordered tersely, taking back command. Doctor Ayuki glared at him for several moments and then stormed off down the corridor, wooden clipboard clutched tightly under her arm. Reno sneered after her. She should have known better than to argue with the Turks.

Elena drew a chair up beside Reeve�s bed. The man was pale, almost translucent in the dim ward light. His eyes were open only slightly, as though he were cringing with pain, but they were glassy and cold, as though he were dead. His chest was still, as though he wasn�t breathing, despite the reassuring blips from monitors along the walls. Elena reached out to take one of his limp hands and let out a gasp as she touched it.

�He�s like ice!� She whispered. �What�s happened to him?� She sounded distraught, withdrawing her hand and crossing her arms about her as she shivered involuntarily.

�That�s what we�re gonna find out, �Lena.� Reno said confidently. Elena nodded distantly, as though she was unconvinced. Rude stood at attention at the doorway, silent. He moved back into the room. Not a word was spoken, but Reno looked up expectantly for the return of the doctor.

She entered, looking extremely annoyed. Behind her came a tall woman in a black tank top and the red SOLDIER uniform. Her skin was a dark coffee colour, but her hair and eyes were a strange shade of pink or magenta. Reno couldn�t tell; he had never been much into knowing the names of all the different colours. To him the world was blue, green, red, yellow, white� but more often black and grey. Sometimes he resorted to words like �dark� and �light�, but then, he didn�t really have to describe things for those he reported to to know what he was talking about. He wondered if the tall woman�s shoulders were broader than his own, or if it was just his imagination.

�This is Lana Meltzer.� Ayuki grumbled, gesturing sullenly to the black woman. Meltzer saluted, then cocked her head to the side as she took in Reeve�s condition with a disapproving frown.

�I�m Reno, this is Rude, and Elena.� The red-headed Turk introduced them lazily. �You can go now, doctor.� Ayuki shot him a poisonous look. She turned to leave.

�Wait, Doctor Ayuki� I�d like to see Reeve�s records, if you don�t mind. I don�t understand what�s wrong with him, so that might help me determine what happened.� Having Rude stand menacingly behind her, Elena decided, was a good way to get things done. She walked out after the doctor. There was barely a moment�s pause before Reno jerked his head at the door and Rude disappeared down the corridor after them.

Meltzer regarded him silently for a few seconds. �So, Reno, what do you want to know?�

Reno tried to be casual about it. He jerked his thumb at Reeve. �I want to know what happened to him. You were the last one to speak with him, right?�

�Right.� Meltzer agreed, her magenta eyes darkening slightly as she gazed angrily at Reeve. �My squad and I had just returned from trying to put Sector Four to rights with the locals. They�re still having trouble pulling down what�s left of the plate, so we had to go in to help them get rid of it. When we got back, I went up to report to Reeve, as always. It was� maybe seven thirty, a little after. Sorry, I don�t have an exact time.� She added, looking chagrined. �I just had the usuals to report � which families had moved back in to Midgar, what seemed to be working, what wasn�t. All the little technicalities he loves to hear. It was about quarter past eight when I left, and most of the lights were off. I passed the night patrol on my way out; they were doin� their job fine, getting my security clearance even though they know me by sight. I went back to my apartment � it wasn�t �til I came back in the morning I even knew anything had happened to him. Just for the record, I didn�t see anybody up there, nor anythin� suspicious. It was all normal.� She frowned. �Although on second thoughts, maybe it was too normal.�

Reno nodded slightly. Melzter shrugged. �Well, that�s pretty much it. I saw the office, �cause the next in line wasn�t in yet� it was all messed up. Doctor Ayuki, when she got there, ordered it all cleaned up.�

�She did what?!� Reno exploded, surprised and suddenly furious. Meltzer�s eyes widened meaningfully at him and she snapped a finger to her lips in the universal gesture for silence. He nodded and muttered curses and oaths to himself as she continued.

�I sent a cadet to get a hold of you people and tried to delay the clean up as much as I could. I told her the Turks�d eat her liver, but she didn�t listen.�

Reno nodded and ran a hand through the forest of spikes that was his hair. �Damn straight� what a @#$%ing moron� Jesus, how does she think we�re gonna figure this out now?� He shook his head tiredly. �Come on Meltzer. You can come up to the office and point out what you saw there. We�ll pick up Rude and Elena on the way.�

Meltzer nodded and smiled, snapping into a lazy salute. �Yes sir.�

Elena flicked through the papers in front of her, a smile affixed to her face. Even with Rude standing guard at her back, she didn�t feel safe around this doctor. So she bluffed � she read the data carefully, occasionally trying to look clueless as she digested the information. Finally, when she was sure she had the picture, she nodded to Doctor Ayuki with a vacuous smile.

�Thanks very much, Doctor Ayuki. We�ll go get Reno away from Reeve... it looks like he needs to be isolated!�

�You do that.� Ayuki replied coldly. She looked slightly relieved. �At least someone understands that the president needs his rest.�

�Of course. We�ll go get Reno right away. Come on, Rude.� With a bright smile up at her companion, she walked away down the wrong corridor.

�Elena...� Rude raised an eyebrow and an arm, pointing down the correct corridor. Elena felt her cheeks go pink, even though she had planned this. She laughed nervously as she quickly walked back the right way. As soon as she was sure they were out of the doctor�s earshot, she whirled around, fury simmering in her brown eyes.

�Did you see her? She thought I was some sort of moron!� She hissed angrily. �That whole medical report was full of shit! Absolute bull shit! And-�

�Elena, keep your voice down.� Rude chastised her. Elena nodded and tried to regain her self-control. It wasn�t easy. She was so sick of people assuming she was a brainless ditz! And all because she was blond. She growled in annoyance. It was enough to make anyone dye her hair.

�Come on,� she said sulkily, storming off along the corridor. She squeaked as she rounded a corner and ran into Reno. The fire-haired Turk raised his eyebrows at her.

�Goin� somewhere, Laney?�

Elena glared at him and crossed her arms. �Just to find you. That medical report is one hundred percent crap. Whatever is really wrong with Reeve is definitely not down there on paper.�

Reno nodded. �Thought as much. Meltzer here says that doctor ordered Reeve�s office cleaned up after the attack.�

�What?� Elena�s eyes widened again as she trotted behind the tall soldier and her leader. �But.. that�s tampering with evidence! We can sue her for that!�

�How about we focus on what we know instead of jumping to conclusions and making enemies?� Meltzer interrupted. She looked down at the shorter Turk with scorn in her pink eyes. �It�s no good if we close off all the other possibilities because we�ve already made a decision over who�s guilty here.�

�Who asked you?� Elena shot back before she could help herself.

�I did.� Reno said matter-of-factly. Elena wished for a second that he wasn�t her superior and she could slap him. Instead she bowed her head and fell into step behind Reno and Rude, slowly falling behind.

�Hey, don�t take it personally.�

Elena�s head snapped up in surprise. Meltzer had dropped back to talk to her instead of walking ahead with Reno and Rude. �Pardon?�

�I said don�t take it personally. I snap sometimes. I�m worried about Reeve. Don�t mean I�m aiming it at you or anything.� She held out a hand to Elena. �Lana Meltzer. You�re Elena, right?�

�Uh... yeah. Nice to meet you properly...� Elena blushed slightly, embarrassed at the first impression she must have given. Lana chuckled.

�No problems.� They walked in silence through a few corridors before they caught up with Rude and Reno. When they reached Reeve�s office, Reno gestured to Lana.

�Okay, Meltzer, tell us as much as you remember.� He asked her. Lana moved into the room and looked around.

�There were papers scattered all over the desk � some of them were on the floor, just there, near the chair. The chair had fallen over, like whatever happened to Reeve, he�d knocked it over, or been knocked out of it or something. The windows were locked and the glass was whole� no finger prints or anything so far as the guys who were investigating before could find. Um.� She hesitated uncertainly. �I�m pretty sure the hard drive of his computer was gone � it looks like it�s been replaced, though. Damn. Uh... all the book on that shelf were missing... someone�s filled up that shelf again, but I don�t remember Reeve ever having those...� She frowned and moved over to inspect the bookshelf.

�And you didn�t see or hear anyone?�

�Not a one... they must�ve already been here, or come in some way we don�t know about, �cause I�m telling you I was the only person in that corridor. You know how long it is. You can see into all the other offices, too, even with the shaded glass.�

�Yeah.� Reno traded glances with Elena and Rude. �Damn. I don�t know. We�ll have to hang around.�

�Perhaps this is connected with Godo�s disappearance?� Rude suggested. �Two leaders don�t get attacked at the same time due to coincidence.�

�Yeah. Elena� much as I hate workin� with those guys, you�d better go down and tell Cid and Barret what we know. Get them to give the rest of AVALANCHE a buzz. Then... meet us in the Goblin�s Bar.�

�Reno!� Elena complained. The red-haired Turk shrugged.

�Hey, I�m thirsty. And besides � the most private place is a place where everyone can hear ya.�

�That�s right.� Doctor Ayuki�s voice made them jump. She stood at the door, clipboard clutched to her chest. �Look who woke up.�

Reeve�s pale countenance hovered behind her. He looked drained. Lana made a noise of annoyance. �What�s he doing out of bed? You said yourself he needed rest, Ayuki!�

�Oh, he�s just fine.� Ayuki murmured. �Just fine. You...� She laughed softly, raising a hand to politely cover her mouth. �For you it�s a different story!� She clenched her fist and a blue glow immediately surrounded it. Reeve lumbered forward to swing at Reno, who jumped back in confusion.

�What the hell?!�

Icicles erupted from the floor, chasing Elena backwards to the window. Lana leapt out of the way with a yell as the blond girl concentrated on dodging the sharp points. The same icicles shot out of the carpet all around Rude, trapping the tall Turk amid the icy bars. He drew back his fist and let fly, shattering the top of one, but another immediately grew up in its place. Reno dodged the blows Reeve aimed at him, getting more annoyed by the minute. How the hell was he supposed to win this fight? He couldn�t hurt his boss! Growling, he tripped the other man. Reeve toppled to the floor like a tree felled with an axe, but he was soon scrabbling to get up again. Lana picked up the computer monitor and hurled it at Ayuki.

The doctor�s eyes narrowed, glowing fiercely behind her glasses. She dropped her clipboard and raised both her hands. The monitor shattered, but Ayuki barely flinched, only shying backward a little with the impact. For a moment she flickered double before the blue glow that had surrounded her hands wrapped around Reeve. He leapt at Reno, dealing the scrawny Turk a solid blow to the stomach and an uppercut to the chin. Reno staggered backwards, arms up to shield his face.

�@#$%!�

Rude struggled to break the bars of his icy prison as Reeve and the doctor turned to Lana. She scowled as the blue glow increased and leapt out of the way as a bolt of the energy crackled toward her. She picked up a potted palm by the trunk and swung it at Reeve as he aimed the blue glow again. The pot flew off the end and slammed into the doctor, shattering as it knocked her backwards. Reeve advanced towards Lana with slightly less vigour, but ducked her next swipe with the palm and head-butted her in the stomach. She dropped, coughing and clutching at her abdomen. Reeve looked up and started toward Rude. A gunshot rang out. Reeve stopped stock still, head shattered. Instead of blood, the remains of his neck were icy shards. The bullet had gone through him as easily as if he were made of cheap plaster. Ayuki clutched at her bleeding arm.

�You will pay for this!�

As Reeve crumbled into icy shards, the woman disappeared through the door. Reno started to go after her, but he yelled and covered his eyes as the perfectly normal atmosphere of the office suddenly raged with snow and a wind of hurricane proportions. When it died down, Ayuki was nowhere to be seen, and there was a great hole in the roof and a pit in the floor outside. Reno swore and went back into the office, where Rude was breaking an icicle bar in order to escape the circle. He dusted his suit free of the powdered ice and moved to break those that still surrounded Elena, calm and unruffled as ever.

�That was a nice shot, Elena.� He said encouragingly. She smiled weakly at him.

�I am so glad that wasn�t really Reeve. I would so have been fired.� She joked lamely. Rude looked at the waist-high forest of stalagmites and reached out to lift Elena over them rather than break them all.

Lana clambered to her feet, swearing. �Damn her. Damn her! I knew that woman was no good. Damn it. I guess Reeve�s not even here � that thing down in the surgery was cold as ice, and no wonder. Damn.� She glared down at the dark bruise already forming on her bare midriff. �Damn @#$%ing ice sculpture��

�Nice, Meltzer.� Reno commented. �You�re worse than I am. He looked around the totalled office with a sigh. �You know what? Now I�m really thirsty. We can leave squad C to clean up this mess as best as possible... we know Ayuki had something to do with Reeve�s attack, if she didn�t orchestrate the whole thing herself.�

�She was the head of the Science Department.� Rude commented.

�@#$%. Not another screwball Science Head...� Reno sighed. He gestured tiredly to them. �Come on. Let�s go get Barret and Cid and get drunk.�

Tired grey eyes wearily scanned page after page of useless information. Her hands shook with fatigue as she rolled and unrolled scroll after scroll, the ancient, faded characters dancing before her eyes. Yuffie blinked, closed her eyes for several moments, and pushed herself away from the table. She couldn�t read any more. The others had gone to sleep hours ago, but she had been determined to find something in the immense collection of barely legible ancient scrolls. She had to know who had taken her father. It wasn�t really a matter of family loyalty; it was a matter of pride.

She got halfway to her bedroom before realising she would never be able to sleep while her mind still spun around all the information she had just read. She sighed. Guess I�ll go for a walk.

Wutai was a very dark, quiet place in the dead of the night. Yuffie walked slowly, carefully silent. The larger hush of the slumbering town seemed too important to break, even to her. She passed a single torch on the worn path to the main district of the small town, and stopped in the tiny square in front of her house.

Her dark locks rippled in a quiet sigh of breeze, and when she tucked it into place behind her ears, she caught her breath. She could hear something. Very soft, but clear because it was so out-of-place, came the sound of metal on cobblestones. The soft, grating clinks developed into limping footsteps. Yuffie crouched, not wanting to be seen until she identified this midnight wanderer.

He moved slowly past the steps to the little square, bedraggled and travel-worn. She could hear wet squelches as he moved. Unless he had stepped in the river that ran through Wutai, the ocean was several miles to both the east and the west. The figure must have come a long way, Yuffie decided. This theory was supported by the figure�s exhausted walk and apparent inability to move swiftly. Yuffie stood carefully. �Who goes there?� She called fiercely in Wutaian.

The figure barely startled. Perhaps he was too tired. The head turned towards her and Yuffie saw the glimmer of red eyes. She felt a moment of fear, which turned to wonder and then hope. She knew of only one person with eyes like that.

��I am looking for the Lady Kisaragi and AVALANCHE.� The speech was hesitant, as though he had not spoken the language for some time, but the meaning was clear and Yuffie recognised the voice immediately. She let out a little sound of delight.

�Vinnie! It is you! Gawds, you look like hell and a half!� Forgetting all her hard-learned decorum, she ran down the stairs to fling a hug at him and made an extremely girly sound as she impacted. �Grossness! You�re all wet!�

�I had noticed.� Vincent replied from some distance above her head. �It occurred to me some time after I started swimming here.�

Yuffie stared at him. �Was that a joke?� She pushed his arm lightly, trying to hide just how moved she was. �You really missed us, didn�t you, Vincent?� Vincent shook his head slightly and set out at a faster limp. He had missed them, terribly, and it was not healthy that he had. Yuffie trotted beside him, the weight of her kimono forgotten. �So� you swam here? What happened to Obsydia?�

�Chaos.� Vincent said shortly. At Yuffie�s worried gasp, he added, �She will return to Nibelheim.� He hated discussing the creatures with others. Yuffie nodded, seeming to understand this, and walked for a few minutes in silence beside him.

�Vincent, I can�t set you up a futon tonight without waking everyone up.� She said thoughtfully. �So� I guess you can have mine. Not like I was gonna sleep anyway.�

Vincent stared at her. How she had matured! She found himself grudgingly impressed. ��?�

Yuffie picked up on the curious silence, just as she always had. �I�m going through some old Wutaian scrolls, looking for this sigil that�s in the Pagoda.� She said briefly in explanation. Vincent nodded, wondering what the sigil was. �You can see it tomorrow some time.�

She led him up the stairs of her house, wincing at the noise of his boots. She waved a hand and pointed to them. Vincent obediently sat down to remove them, rather more heavily than Yuffie thought was normal. She looked on, surprised and concerned. She had to help him back to his feet.

Vincent tried to ignore her worried eyes as he concentrated on simply walking. It wasn�t easy. His head was buzzing with the silence, his soft footsteps seeming to echo loudly in it. Yuffie led him to a largish room and carefully sat him down, as though he were an invalid. He bridled at the thought.

�Godo�s things are in the chest just behind you. Get changed into them, okay?� She stood up, trusting that he could perform this simple task. �I�m going to get you some food. Do not go to sleep before you eat it, okay?� She disappeared into the darkness of the house.

Vincent stared at the clothes chest for several seconds before deciding that he wouldn�t be able to get his numb fingers to work the latch, let alone lift the heavy lid in this state. He struggled with the clasps of his cloak, the damp making them more obstinate than ever. He had just shucked off his shirt and glove when Yuffie returned, bearing a tray with steaming rice, tea and a Hi-Potion. She paused at the door, then nervously entered and lay the tray on the floor beside the bed.

�Vincent Valentine, you�re gonna freeze. I thought I told you to wear Godo�s clothes�� She flung back the lid of the chest easily and rummaged through it until she found a long-sleeved shirt. �Put this on.�

Vincent reluctantly donned the garment. His shoulders were narrower than Godo�s by far, so the shirt hung from him as though he were a scarecrow. Yuffie glared at him until he clambered gracelessly into the futon. Then she handed him the tray, sat down next to the futon and watched as he began to eat ravenously.

�I thought plain food might be best.� She said. Vincent swallowed a mouthful of rice.

�You can�t cook anything else well, either.� He replied, stating fact more than taunting her. Yuffie ducked her head, cheeks tinged pink with humiliation. Vincent added, �Thankyou.�

�Oh� that�s okay. We�re team mates, right?� She said with a shrug. �Um� I guess you�d like to know what�s going on� Tifa called me up for the reunion party on the day it happened. Godo and Staniv vanished as though into thin air, and the other Mighty Gods have been killed. There�s blood and limbs all over the Pagoda. On the top floor is the Sigil� and I found a Leviathan materia cracked in two in Chekhov�s hand.� She showed it to Vincent. His eyes flickered dangerously bright before he took a breath and calmed himself enough to go on eating, bidding her continue with a nod.

�I went to Kalm to get everyone�s help, and they came back here � well, Reeve sent the Turks �cause he had to get back to Midgar. And� it was late afternoon when the Turks got a call saying Reeve had been attacked. But before that, Elena said she recognised the Sigil, except she didn�t remember where from.�

�And� you have no more clues?� Vincent asked, downing the tea in a gulp. He put the tray down, leaving the Hi-Potion. Yuffie shook her head.

�Get some rest, huh? We can all hear what happened to you in the morning.� A grimace. �Well. Later in the morning. I�m going to finish the scrolls I started. G�night.�

Vincent thought it a very strange experience to be competently ordered around by someone forty odd years his junior. However, the thought was swiftly banished from his mind as his head dropped back on the pillow and he fell into a deep slumber.

previous || chapter index || next

words

home