Survival of the Fittest

Sector 7. That's where I started. Rather, where I happened.

We had a little place above an old run down tavern. The place wasn't much, the owner of the place wasn't either, but hey, they still served alcohol downstairs. That's how I grew up. Why get stuck livin' the only hours you weren't workin' your crummy part-time job thinkin' about how tight a spot you were in, when you could be drinkin' it away instead?

They knew me down there. Yeah, they knew me well. I think summa those waitresses even memorized my schedule. They knew that at four o'clock that ragged little punk with red hair to his shoulders would come home from work and, instead of go home and clean up the mess he lived in, he'd come for his drinks.

But livin' the life like that -the life below the plate -what else did they want me to do? Hell, I was a teenager and I had to pay the bills and buy the food. It isn't like that was the hard part, the hard part was actually getting the money to pay and buy and eat and live.

Me and Cassie worked to get what we needed. 'Course, she was older, and wiser, and she did things the way the should be done and got her fair pay, while I was younger, and stupid but I got more money for less the 'hard work'. Yeah, she was a fair and decent person; all in all a good person to look up to, but I made money, not a reputation. I was a better survivor. Why a survivor? Because it's as the saying goes: Survival of the fittest.

Not only was I the fittest, but I was the fastest, and the quietest, and the quickest way to lose any Gil you were carrying.

Cassie never asked me where I got the money - though I know she frowned upon what I did -she was well aware that not everyone in this solution of black and metal could be a charitable, honest person. Actually, it more of the other way around. I really think Cassie stood out of the crowds because of her honesty. She was kind and gentle, and to tell the truth, I've never met anyone that came from under the plate that was nearly as good a person as she. I guess I kind of admired her for that…though it wasn't ever enough to ever stop me from what I did best.

My real job was across the street at the weapon dealer's. Sometimes. Other times I worked with Materia, and still other times I was working at the random restaurants that littered the place. Hell, I even remember bagging groceries at the grocery store for a little bit. I never managed to keep a job too long, I was never the type for those petty jobs, I guess…

Every time I got fired, I would go drinking on the first floor, and then go upstairs and complain to Cassie about how hard life was and how I hated this place. She would just sit and listen to my drunken ramblings.

I remember comin' home from work; just after I had considered pick-pocketing that bloke loitering by the doorway, and walking in that tavern to see Cassie dressed up in one of those too small, too short, waitress get-ups waiting tables. It was those same bright red, crotch short shorts and top 'nowhere-near-the-navel' small that made any and all of those girls look like your run-of-the-mill Suzy the Floozy.

Cassie told me she had been fired. She had needed any job she could find by now.

I never complained about how hard it was again.

My other money making pastime was to make the money that was in other people's pockets. It was real easy for me; just another skill I was born with. Yeah, I was born with a conscience too, but the difference between those two was that one of those I grew up using and exercising, while the other I told to go to Hell.

I could pick pocket, I could steal straight out of someone's hands, Hell, I could even steal the shirt off someone's back if that's what I so desired.

I could create clever diversions too, but I didn't really need to use that unless I was working with a group, and that didn't often happen. The one time I did accept to work with others was when I was with a gang for a short while. I would create the distraction, while they robbed people blind.

Unfortunately, while working in groups, the outcome didn't often come out in my favor. The only other time I'd worked in a group that functions somewhat like a gang was….now. Though I'd have to say that if the Turks are a gang, we're a Hellava lot more advanced than the ones down below.

But back then, Inever connected the word 'Turks' to 'job' or 'paycheck.' When I thought 'Turks,' I though 'Run!' They weren't primary threats, but they weren't exactly the good guys. When they came into the slums, it was because they were looking for a body. Hell, if there was anyone who understood the rules of survival, it was definitely the the men in the blue suits, no doubt about that.

Cassie didn't like them at all. If she looked down on how I made my money, she looked a Hellofa lot farther down on the way the Turks made theirs. I never really knew why she hated them so much…I never really cared all that much about other people's business or their preferances. Knowing what I do now, I can see why such a good girl wouldn't like this kind of organization…but I still don't care.

I still make money, and I still feel good doin' it. I mean, standing around like some awkward, grub-ass, mangy kid forced to bag some rich harlot's chocolate ice cream and cherries does not make you feel good about your life. You feel like shit.

But making money - and I mean real money, not the pennies that can't buy cheap dog food - and knowing that you're so good that you don't even have to try, now that makes you feel like you're worth it.

See, I don't have to try to take something that's not mine. I don't have to try to pull the trigger (though it's more fun with my electro rod.)

Oh, don't look at me so appalled. Don't be so shocked. It's not like it hurts me. It's not like I had to be crucified before I lost my heart. So I make good money doin' what you think is bad shit. So what? Since when did I ever give a shit what you or anyone else thinks? At least it's more fun this way. At least I don't have to sit in some Sector 7 Item shop and watch as folks come in with rolls of Gil, buying items that I have to sell them but know that I could never afford. Hell, by now I could prolly buy out the friggin' store! I could probably buy the whole damn store, if I wanted! I could start a fuckin' chain of 'em if I wanted! That's surviving!

Well, I haven't talked to Cassie in a while…not since I became a Turk. Besides she would just look down on me if she knew. Last I heard she was still livin' in that apartment above that tavern, but Cas said that old owner sold the building to some young girl to move up above to some place in Sector 3. I made a mental note to go to that bar sometime to see what some young broad could do with the place, seein' as it was my old 'spot,' but I never did get around to that. That was right before I moved above the plate.

They still have the eight sectors up top, but they aren't as divided up as underneath. Some of the sections are strictly industrial or business, while others are only housing and residence sections. I got a place in Sector 7, it was the cheapest at the time.

They gave the order to drop the sector plate, and Tseng had said that he was going to oversee the capture of the Ancient. I never did understand that move, seeing as the destruction of the pillar was the trickier job (which usually meant he got it), and that tracking down the Ancient was primarily my job. But he called the shots, and me, as second-in-command, fought on the pillar and dropped the plate. Why did I do it? Because I was paid to.

I remember watching the plate fall, and I turned to my right as best as I could with a scewed up knee and my lack of strength to where Rude and that new girl Elena were standing.I had to ask ifI could crash with one of them 'til I found a new place. I knew Rude's answer would be a no, seeing as he practically lived in the ShinRa building (I'd be surprised if he even still had the keys to his apartment..). But I thought that if I actually directed a sentence solely to Elena that she might overload and stutter so much that she would start compulsing out of nervousness or something.

After she said her shaky "y-yes, sir!" I started to think of everything else that I had destroyed or killed with the fall of the plate, besides my apartment.

"Sorry Cassie…but survival of the fittest."

AN: Does anyone know how to get the asterisk symbol, or the equals symbol to show up in the text once you submit a chapter to The formatting is driving me nuts and not letting me do it.

Discliamer: I don't own FFVII.