Call It Roulette
This is my personal challenge to combine parts of Crisis Core and Final Fantasy VII. Just something I wanted to do and it centers around The Turks. Please don't expect everyone to be 100% in character. Not sure what the reception will be but this is something I wanted to write and I hope you like it! There is a lot of mature content…you have been warned!
I don't own anything related to Final Fantasy. It belongs to Square Enix.
"Good morning." She said dropping a file onto a stack of papers that was already piled high.
"Morning. Have a seat." He said pointing to the chair beside his desk.
"Got my assignment for the day, already? You never waste any time, that's for sure." She said pushing chestnut hair off her shoulders. He seemed to be only half listening as he scribbled away on a tablet in front of him. She couldn't understand how this man could stay so calm with so many piles of paperwork that needed attention. He somehow managed to get it all done and then some.
"Here. These are the files on the twelve recent academy graduates. Tell me which one is the next Turk." Tseng said not looking up from the tablet before him.
"Alright." Cissnei said taking the stack of files into her lap. She opened the first one and gave it a glance and threw it on the small table beside her. She did the same with the next four. She examined the fifth file carefully, looking at every page in it. She laid it against her chest and continued to examine the next two. In total, Cissnei threw nine files aside and re-examined the three lying up against her chest. She then eliminated one. Finally, she had made her choice. "This one." She said handing the file folder back to her boss.
"You're sure?" he asked pulling a pair of reading glasses out of his inner pocket of his jacket and taking the file from Cissnei.
"Yeah. That one has impeccable credentials. Graduated top and appears to be a hard worker." Cissnei commented. Tseng opened up the file and started looking over the first page. He looked up as an expression of question spread across his forehead. He laid the file down and pushed his chair backwards, rolling toward the other side of the desk. He grabbed a binder and began to flip through its pages. "What?" Cissnei questioned. "I didn't know you wore glasses by the way."
"I don't. I only use these in a pinch." Tseng admitted. "It's the name." He said referring to the file.
"What do you mean?" Cissnei asked. Tseng stopped on a page in the binder and tapped it with his pen before handing it over to Cissnei.
"Her sister. I knew she had a sister but I never put two and two together." Tseng said mostly to himself.
"Please explain." Cissnei said. He took his glasses off and laid them on the desk in front of him.
"You picked this…Elena. Her sister was a Turk. I recognized the last name. Her name was Annika. I knew she had a sister but Annika barely mentioned her. Huh, Elena is that sister. Must run in the family." Tseng said handing the binder over to Cissnei.
"What's she do now?" Cissnei asked reviewing Elena's sisters' credentials.
"I have no idea." Tseng said. "So…Elena. You're job is to show her around. Get her in here and show her the ropes. Check her out in one of the training rooms. See where her skills lie. Oh and you're on vacation in two weeks. You're going to Costa del Sol." Tseng said.
"What? How is it vacation if you're telling me where to go?" Cissnei asked. Tseng looked up at her and smiled.
"Smart girl, Cissnei." Tseng said.
"There must be a reason why I'm going." She said.
"There might be. Elena should be with the other academy graduates today. It's their last day to turn in their portfolios. I'd tell you what she looks like but I have no idea." Tseng said turning around and looking at a monitor across the room. Cissnei watched him.
"Do you have feelings for her?" she asked changing the subject as he stayed fixated on the monitor.
"No. God, Cissnei I could be her father. I'm just…fascinated by her. She's the last of her kind. She managed to get flowers to grow in that church." He said.
"You're fourteen years older than her…you couldn't be her father!" Cissnei said laughing.
"Well, I could barely be her father." Tseng said.
"Alright, I'll go find this…Elena. I'll see what she's made of." Cissnei said standing up.
"Good. I trust your selection." Tseng said returning to his paperwork.
"I'll have a report for you by the end of the day. With credentials like those she won't let you down." Cissnei said as she walked out the door.
"Cissnei!" Tseng called to her. She poked her head back in the door. "Think she knows how to wear a tie?" Cissnei laughed.
"If she doesn't she'll learn soon enough." Cissnei said before disappearing down the hall. She didn't bother taking Elena's file with her. She went over the credentials in her head: Keen flexibility, diverse in weapons, 5' 3" 120 pounds, 29 years old. She was about Cissnei's size but ten years older. Of course Cissnei was the youngest Turk ever on record. Cissnei hoped Elena had gained some training in jumping out of choppers. She would find out soon enough. Cissnei took the elevator to the academy floor. Just as Tseng had said all the recent academy graduates were turning in final portfolios…whatever the hell went in those that is. Cissnei remembered doing the same when she passed through the academy two years earlier. She opened the door and walked past the front desk to the hallway where all the graduates were lined up. "Which one of you is Elena?" Cissnei asked matter of factly.
"I'm Elena." She answered standing up. Cissnei smiled and walked over to the woman who called herself Elena. Cissnei was right she was about Cissnei's height, petite, and very pretty blond hair. She wasn't cute, she was elegant and frankly she looked too proper to have the credentials that she had.
"Hi, I'm Cissnei of the Turks. Congratulations Elena, you've been accepted to join our ranks. If you'll come with me?" Cissnei said. Elena smiled at her.
"Wow um…thank you, thank you. Oh and it's very nice to meet you Cissnei." Cissnei disregarded everyone else in the room and lead Elena out of the room.
"You'll be with me for the day. I'll show you around, show you how things are done up here, give you the grand tour of the whole building, introduce you to everyone and you know…that sort of thing." Cissnei explained as they entered an elevator and Cissnei punched the 51st floor. "That's a pretty dress by the way. You ready to trade it in for a suit and tie?" Cissnei asked her as the elevator lunged upward quickly.
"I suppose so. I would have come more prepared had I known I was going to become a member of the Turks today." Elena said.
"Don't worry about it. You can change and hang everything in a locker for today." Cissnei smiled. Then tomorrow you can change in the comfort of your bedroom. The elevator doors flung open. Elena's eyes shot toward the placard on the wall: DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE RESEARCH. Elena had never been on the Turks floor before. "This way." Cissnei nodded her head and lead Elena down the hallway immediately to her left. There wasn't much down this hallway but Cissnei swiped her ID card through a card reader on one of the doors. Elena followed her inside. Cissnei put her hands on Elena's shoulders and then backed up.
"Hmmm…well you're definitely not big." Cissnei said as she searched around the shelves for a minute. "Here we go. I don't know why we keep all this back here. It's rarely used! It's not like there's a whole floor of us. You make Turk number five. Here ya go. Go in that back room there and try this on. Like I said, put anything you want in that locker in there." Cissnei said.
"Alright, thanks." Elena answered her, doing as Cissnei instructed her. "Next, we'll go have your ID badge made. "But most importantly, I'm a girl that likes to plan ahead. In that case where should we go for lunch today?" Cissnei asked Elena.
"What do you like?" Elena asked her as she changed her clothes.
"I eat just about anything." Cissnei told her.
"Wanna go to the new place in sector six? I've never been there but I've heard good things about it." Elena said.
"Yeah, let's give it a try." Cissnei said. Elena stepped out of the back room as she adjusted her sleeves and began to tie the tie around her neck accordingly. Cissnei smiled.
"You know how to tie a tie." She said.
"Yeah, I used to tie them for my dad when I lived at home because he was constantly running late." Elena said.
"How's it all fit?" Cissnei asked.
"Just fine. I'll uh…fix the shoes tomorrow." Elena said referring to her silver shoes she was currently wearing. Cissnei smiled.
"Too bad you and I can't wear something like those. Come on, we'll get your ID card and at the end of the day today you can scan it and get back in here to get your stuff. But as we make our way to the ID room I want you to meet my superiors. Cissnei lead Elena back down the hallway in the opposite direction and around the corner. She knocked on the door frame.
"Elena, Rude…Rude, meet our newest recruit. This is Elena." Cissnei introduced her. Rude stopped what he was doing and stood up. He was so tall and truthfully, pretty intimidating to people who didn't know him.
"I'm Rude nice to meet you and welcome. You'll like it around here." He said.
"Nice to meet you too. I look forward to working with everyone up here." Elena said.
"Let's see if lazy ass is in his office." Cissnei walked Elena down around another corner. She knocked on a closed door.
"Yeah." The voice from behind the door called. Cissnei opened it only to find Reno with his feet on his desk and his eyes glued to the TV news above him.
"Hey, this is Elena. She's our newest." Cissnei said. Reno suddenly found himself less interested in whatever the news was blabbering on about.
"Hi there. I'm Reno and you are?" he asked smiling all over.
"Elena." She introduced herself.
"It's about time to get another girl up here. Cissnei gets so sick of us." Reno said.
"No! I get sick of you!" Cissnei said laughing at him. "Don't work too hard." She said sarcastically as she took Elena away yet again.
"Don't mind him. Reno's great but my god…he can be annoying as hell. And now for the main event." Cissnei said walking to the end of the hallway to the corner office. "He always paces like that when he's on the phone." Cissnei said peering through the glass portion of the wall. Elena looked at the sign beside the door: DIRECTOR. Cissnei waited until he finally hung up the phone and let herself in.
"This is Tseng, the Director…our boss if you will. Tseng, Elena. Fresh off the academy line." Cissnei said. Tseng studied her for a moment.
"Hello, congratulations on your academy success." He said extending a hand to Elena.
"Thank you. I look forward working up here." Elena said as she fixed her eyes on Tseng.
"You earned it and you're in good hands with Cissnei. She knows how things are done up here and soon enough you will. By the way, what's your sister doing now?" Tseng asked. Elena looked at Tseng a bit strangely. She didn't realize he had already put two and two together and realized that her sister had preceded her up here.
"She works as a hotel concierge." Elena said.
"I see. Well, you two carry on. I have quite a bit to get done today." Tseng said.
"Catch up with you later. We're going to have her ID badge made." Cissnei said as she left Tseng to his work.
"There's someone left but he's not in the building today." Cissnei said leading Elena to the elevator once again.
"Oh?" Elena questioned.
"Rufus Shinra himself. Of course I have yet to take you to the SOLDIER floor. There are plenty to meet there too. But Rufus is of higher priority because we work with him directly." Cissnei said. It was still early in the day and there was much more to come in Elena's life as a newly recruited Turk.