A/n: Hello readers! I'm going to warn you here and now that I am normally an aurikku writer. However, I had this idea that did not fit my normal choice of pairings. But it does fit yuffentine quite well. This isn't the first time I have ventured out of FFX fanfiction, but bare with me anyway. Not sure how long this will end up, perhaps four or five chapters? We'll see.

Disclaimer states that Gining owes no rights to any person, place, or other events within the confines of this story. I merely write to expand myself as a writer.

Stormy violet eyes stared at the screen in deep concentration. The lights around the building were off having been shut down some hours ago. That didn't seem to stop the owner of these eyes though. She plodded on typing when needed and reading when she didn't. Papers lay scattered on the desk to her right as she had long since disregarded them some time ago. They were boring and useless anyway.

Reeve Tuesti had been informed of yet another potential threat to the peace of the new world they had established after the final defeat of Jenova and Sephiroth. As head of the WRO, and general champion of all that's good, he had placed his head of information on the task. This was one job this rose was going to succeed in.

Yuffie Kisaragi, White Rose of Wutai and next in line for empress. She may have loved playing practical jokes on her friends, but she cared just as much about the planet as anyone else. She just showed it in a different way. Like now was a good example. People were scared and suffering and she was going to find out why.

People, mostly young woman, were going missing. This was different from two years ago, it was not groups such as those killed like deepground had done. These were single young woman between the ages of twenty and thirty, all of them having dark brown hair. That was the only connection they could find between them.

After exhausting all of his resources, Reeve finally gave up and gave the job over to Yuffie. Being younger and more in tune with the planet around them, he hoped she would have more luck then he. So far though, she seemed to be failing, and failing miserably. Getting bored, Yuffie clicked on another tab within her screen to do something fun until she could think of more leads.

She was so engrossed in the page that she failed to notice when the office door opened. It wasn't until cold steel and a click behind her head were felt and heard. Her head shot up and eyes opened wide in fear. "Look I know nothing! I'm just a janitor playing around on a computer that was left on. Really!" She blurted out quickly. Security knew she was here, so if the person got past them, that must mean they were an intruder. Her hand slowly and secretly reached under her desk where her shuriken was hidden.

At the sound of her high pitched protest, the weapon was removed. There was a second of silence before her name was spoken, "Yuffie."

"Vince!" She jumped from her chair sending it flying backwards where it was caught by a gold claw. Her weapon became unneeded and forgotten. "You trying to give me a heart attack? I thought I was all alone! What are you doing here?" She had stepped closer to him with one finger raised.

The gold hand pushed the chair back gently before he leaned over to see what she had been working on. "Connect?" He questioned ignoring her for the time being.

Forgetting that he had completely caught her by surprise, Yuffie began to explain the site she was on. "Oh yeah! It's this new thing that everyone is doing now! You can post pictures and talk to people and play games and stuff! You should try it!" Suddenly she shrunk back in thought. "On second thought, maybe it's not for you. You aren't really the best people person."

"Yuffie, what are you doing in the WRO building this time of night? Shouldn't you be home?" Red eyes gazed at her taking in the disheveled hair and clothing. Whatever she was doing, she had been at it for some time.

Feeling slightly unnerved now, Yuffie ran her hands through her dark hair trying to get it under control. "Yeah well. I wasn't here for that. Not really. I just needed the distraction." An eyebrow went up as Vince waited for her to go on. "Reeve gave me this job you see. You hear about those girls going missing?"

"Perhaps."

Rolling her eyes at his short answer, she went on. "You see he ran out of ideas, and yours truly being the best at gathering information was asked to take over for him! Once I crack this case, I can prove to you all that I'm not such a screw up after all." Her face brightened at the prospect of being able to demonstrate her worth to the gang.

"Just don't go getting yourself in over your head," He warned her before turning away and heading out the door red cape billowing out behind him.

Stomping her foot, Yuffie shouted out behind him. "Don't you worry, Vincent Valentine! I'll prove to even you that I can do it. Just you wait and see!" Now frustrated Yuffie flopped down on her chair and turned her attention back to the screen in front of her. There was a message box blinking waiting for her response. She clicked the box and smiled. At least someone cared about her thoughts.

^^^^Two Weeks Later^^^^

"Cloud! Better get down here fast! Got another delivery for you!" The dark haired barmaid stood at the bottom of the stairs and shouted loudly while cupping her hands over her mouth in a makeshift megaphone. The man she was shouting for stumbled at the top before finding his footing and rushing down.

"Geez, Tifa. I wasn't that far away. This must be pretty important for you to yell like that." Cloud adjusted his black coat before standing at the bar and reaching out for the box.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that Rufus called back saying that this needs to be in Junon by the morning. It seems some miscommunication occurred and his secretary got her dates mixed up. He's willing to pay double if you can do it."

This caught the blond's attention. Rufus was known to have lots of gil and flaunt it when wanted. But he paid highly as well, to double that, well no more needed to be said. "Guess I better get going then. See you when I return." Grabbing the box, he hurried out.

Tifa sighed as she shook her head. Cloud never changed, at least not much. He still ran, but now he was running to them becoming a family and not away. That brought her some comfort as she picked up another glass and began washing it.

Footsteps from the back made her look up from the job. "Vincent? What are you doing here?" She questioned the dark gunslinger.

"Is Yuffie around?" He asked at the same time he searched the small bar with his eyes.

Tifa frowned, it was abnormal for Vincent to be searching for the Wutaian, but he had his reasons. He was not a malicious man, so she knew it couldn't have been too bad. If anything it was probably because he wanted to confront her for another one of her jokes. "Sorry, Vince. I haven't seen her since early last night. If I see her, I'll let her know you were looking for her!" She called to his retreating back.

He nodded once before walking away from where he came from. Perhaps Reeve would know. The man was her boss after all (and his when he was loath to admit it). The streets of Edge were crowded as he walked down. The citations had grown used to his presence and as such he did not receive the stares he used to. In a way, he sort of missed it. When they stopped to point and stare at him, it gave him room to pass. Now he was just one of them. Good because it meant he was finally accepted, bad because he was in a hurry.

When he reached the tall building, Vincent was confronted right away by Reeve at the front doors. Whatever reasons he had for being outside and not in his office was quickly dismissed as the man in question hurried over.

"Ah, Vincent. Just the person I was looking for!" He said as he reached Vincent's side, big grin on his goateed face.

"Good to see you too," Vincent muttered. Anytime Reeve greeted him like that it usually meant he was needed for a long distance trip.

"I'm sorry to do this to you. You can refuse if you want, but it would mean a lot to me." Vincent raised a brow waiting to hear what it was going to be this time. "There were some rumors up at Icicle Inn. I need you to go check them out for me. It should only take a week at most to check them out."

Vincent hummed as he noted the distressed expression on the man's face. Reeve wasn't kidding when he said it would mean a lot. "If it will make you happy. When do I leave?"

The WRO commissioner seemed to relax as he guided Vincent inside the building and to the elevators. He pulled a small card from a coat pocket and slipped it through a reader. A second later a green light lit up and the doors opened. "I'll brief you once we get upstairs. This is a very high priority mission. We cannot allow any information leak out as it could cause a panic." With a slight nod of his head, Vincent followed the man inside the small area. Reeve pressed the button that would take them to the top floor, but indicated not to say anything yet. That wasn't a problem for the dark dressed man.

When the doors opened again, Vincent looked around in surprise. Hojo had given him extraordinary vision, but there were times when even he had trouble seeing in the pitch darkness. Now he could see all under the light of the florescent bulbs overhead. Reeve had been making a lot of modifications in the past two weeks.

After the attack by deepground two years ago, Reeve had done a fantastic job of restoring the building. The stairwells had been refurnished, walls themselves repainted and repaired. It was an amazing restoration job. A hand reached out in front of him before he could take more then three steps. "Oh, I almost forgot. You'll need this." A card was held out in front of him. His name and WRO status were embossed on the front. "I changed security after the incident. I'm sure you can understand why." He laughed lightly as Vincent reached out and took the identification card.

He glanced at it noticing his did not seem to have his picture similar to the one Reeve wore on his coat. Figuring it was because he was not a photogenic person, he shrugged and clipped it to his cape. This must have been a recent update to the overall building as he seemed to have no trouble moving around the night he confronted Yuffie. Thinking of her made him wonder where she could have gone off to. It was unlike her not to be nearby and pestering him with questions or pranks.

Reeve slid his card inside another reader as he stopped in front of the door. He opened it once clearance was given and waved Vincent in first. Inside the room was a long table, meant for ten people to sit at. On one side of the room, near his left was a large white board. A few notes were hastily written on it that he assumed pertained to the mission he had agreed to do. At the far end of the table the chair was turned around and facing the wall. At the sounds of his metal boots hitting the floor, the chair was spun around revealing the one person he was searching for.

"Hiya, Vince! Surprised to see me?" Yuffie waved her arm high above her head as if she was waving to him from the far side of a field and not the small briefing room.

Reeve had the sense to look slightly ashamed when Vincent glanced over. "Yuffie will be accompanying you."

Vincent sighed as he took a seat to the right of the room, far away from where Yuffie sat earning a raspberry from the rose. "What do I need to know?" He asked ignoring the childish gesture.

Forcing himself not to roll his eyes at the two, Reeve moved over to the board and picked up a marker. He began by drawing a quick diagram of the information they had. "The town of Icicle Inn is surrounded on all sides by tall mountains. Yet even given this information, residents are complaining of beasts entering the town in the dark of night from here, in the north." He circled the area where most complaints were coming from.

Vincent, who had been holding his chin in his hand during this removed the leather clad appendage to speak out, "Why don't you just send in a team of agents? Why us?"

"That's a good question, but we already have. I sent in a team of four three weeks ago. Three of them returned injured. This is why I need you. Yuffie will be going not only because I do not risk sending any agent alone, but she mentioned about needing information for her own investigation. These are not normal beasts killing off villagers, I need the best people that I got. That just happens to be you."

Vincent hummed deep in his throat as if thinking the job over. One digit of his clawed hand tapped gently against the table as he weighed the pros and cons of what Reeve was asking of him. His red eyes turned to Yuffie before the tapping stopped. "We will each have our own assignment?" He questioned to make sure.

Yuffie rolled her eyes as she shouted out, Oh, really, Vince! Am I that hard to get along with? Would it be different if I was Tifa going with you? At least then you would have something to look at, right? But too bad, she has Cloud."

"Yuffie," Reeve warned before she could say anymore. It was tough enough getting Vincent to agree to some of the other assignments without her adding in own opinions. With a huff, she crossed her arms over her chest and slumped into her seat having been verbally reprimanded. "Take some time to think about it," He then offered.

"No, I'll do it." Vincent spoke up quickly earning a grin from his boss.

Reeve sent a prayer up to whatever higher power was listening before explaining the rest of the mission to him.