The Day I Joined the Turks

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. That honor goes to Square-Enix.

Mr. Joyce is an original character and I guess Franz counts too, seeing as he's a place holder for someone who's never given a name or described 'on-screen'.

Elena

July 5th [ ν ] – εуλ 1999

It was hard to believe now that there had been a time in Elena's life when her family had ever been truly happy. Memories sometimes came back to her out of the ether as the odd flash of their mother baking cookies for school or their father actually being willing to hug them when he came home from work. However, three years ago, all of that had come to a grinding halt. She remembered that with a clarity she wished she didn't have.

The neighborhood in the Sector 6 slums had gotten progressively worse over the years especially with the introduction of Don Corneo and the Honey Bee Inn. That was before she had been born, but her sister remembered. Perhaps that was one of the things that started the bitterness she felt towards her older sibling, though she pretended at first that it wasn't there. But the day their mother had died, she and her children had been walking home when, seemingly out of nowhere, a man who had been on the run from some Shinra troopers had grabbed her and used her as a hostage. For two terrifying hours, Elena had cried in her sister's arms while the soldiers vainly tried to capture the man. It was the only time their father had ever left the military academy before school let out.

When they found her lifeless body inside the shack where the man had been holed up, it was probably the first time she'd ever seen him cry. Both she and Lou had been too traumatized to really appreciate this fact as they had been too busy clinging to him as the family grieved. She would not see that again until she found him in the aftermath of Meteorfall.

Many things changed after their mother passed. While their father had not become distant per se, he had become a lot more demanding and strict. They learned early on to be responsible for their school uniforms and to have the sheets on their beds to a military caliber of neatness. And as early as it had been allowed, they were expected to know how to defend themselves. They had known how to drop roll and punch before even entering the academy. Today was the first day their father had ever brought Elena to the shooting range. Lou had been coming since before their mom had died.

"Don't close one eye Elena. That makes it more difficult to see what's around you," her father said.

"But I can't shoot straight like that," Elena complained, lowering her weapon and frowning at her father.

"That will come with practice," Lou said seriously from the other shooting stall. "But you still need to make sure that you know how. If you end up in an actual firefight, you must be able to account for real world situations."

Their father nodded in agreement. "That's right Lou. Now Elena, continue the drill. ID the target, verify your weapon is live, aim, shoot."

As he spoke, she heard Lou fire her pistol at the next stall over. The sound reverberated through the range and Elena could see a neat hole at the center of the target.

"Well done," her father called out to her sister. "Let's see it again."

Elena sighed and took up a firing stance as her father called out the steps of the drill. ID the Target, verify weapon is live, aim, shoot. Forcing herself to keep both eyes open, she lifted her weapon and aimed. The bullet flew about a foot outside the target.

"Check your stance Elena, now try again," Her father called out. She glared at the black mark on the wall where the bullet had hit. What made Lou so special anyway? She lifted up the gun and prepared to make another attempt.

February 12th [ ν ] – εуλ 0000

Elena could hear Lou working in the kitchen as she tapped the eraser end of her pencil absently against the side of the desk where she was working. Her sister wasn't a bad cook to be sure. They'd both had to learn pretty quick after their mom died, but it being Lou's turn to cook also meant that it was Elena's time to use the desk. She poured over the problems on her math homework while her history textbooks waited patiently for the next portion of her studies. She'd done very well so far this semester. All A's and one B. She'd had to work for that B too. Basic algebra was proving quite a challenge. She was still top in her class in most of her martial training courses though.

A gentle knock on the door alerted her to the fact that someone was entering the room, and she saw that it saw Lou, wearing a somewhat smudged apron over her school uniform and holding a small plate in her hand. "I was wondering if you wanted some fruit and crackers while you were studying," she said.

"Sure," Elena said, keeping her attention on her problems.

Lou walked over and placed the plate on their bedside table, easily within reach and walked back out the door. Elena reached for a cracker, crunching on it absently, grateful for the little bit of food to tide her over until supper was ready. Finishing the last of her math homework, she then went for an apple slice and reached for her history textbook. "A Complete History of the Eastern Continent, by Hester Lawrence." The Shinra company logo over the name of its publishing subsidiary had been stamped in gold on the lower half of the binding. She turned to the chapter for study and began to read.

"…With the advent of coal plants, many of the cities on the western continent enjoyed an increase in wealth and health, although conflict continued between the greater country of Norn, and the country of Wutai. The soot from coal power nearly blotted out the sky with smog. It was during this time that the Shinra company was founded by Alexander Shinra. In the year 1948, a young, enterprising Shinra moved to the greater Midgar area in Central Norn and opened a small weapons manufacturing company to support the war effort. Upon achieving great success in the 1950's he went on to research other applications for his technology. It was in the year 1959 that Mako was discovered under the central township in Norn, and this discovery would bring about the dawn of a new and glorious age. The age of Mako power…

It was about an hour later when Elena emerged from her room to find Lou working at the stove. While they did live in the Wall Market area, their father did make enough money that they could at least afford to eat decently most of the time and it smelled like Lou was making chicken stew.

Over in the corner at another desk, she could see her father grading homework assignments for the advanced classes. She slumped down in an old chair near the space heater and let herself relax for a few moments.

Not long after, her father also stretched, and she could hear some of his muscles popping as he stood up, adjusting his posture and working the kinks out of his back. Almost at the same time, Lou took the pot off the stove and moved it to a potholder on the kitchen table, before adding a serving spoon. "Dinner's ready!" she called to them.

"Wonderful," said their father. He walked over to the table and began helping himself to some stew. Not long after, the three of them were sitting together, having eaten dinner and were allowing it to settle.

"Lou, I have something for you," their father said, standing and walking over to his desk.

"What is it?" she asked.

He picked up an envelope and handed it to her. "Read it."

She opened the letter and looked it over. "Commendation for exceptional academic performance?" She asked.

Their father beamed. "You were top of your class in exams last year. Great job."

Elena looked over her Lou's shoulder at the letter. "Wow, sis. That's really something."

Lou shrugged modestly. "All I did was do my best."

"And I'd expect nothing less from my girls," their father said proudly, "Now let's wash the dishes and see about getting ready for bed. We have to be ready for school tomorrow."

"Yes sir. Elena, you dry, I'll handle the washing." Lou said. Elena followed her into the kitchen, though she couldn't help feeling a little jealous. She'd never gotten one of those commendation letters before. She made it her personal goal to try and get one this year. Maybe if she did well enough, they'd let her move up a year. As she worked on drying the dishes, she contented herself with daydreams of what it meant to be at the top and have Lou looking up to her.

September 30th [ ν ] – εуλ 0000

Her goal to become the head of all of her classes had been a hard climb, but she did it. The letter had come in, twice. Once for midterms and once for the semester's end before summer. But by that point, her sister had received two more such letters and a Commendation for Marksmanship and technical proficiency. Plus top marks in combat maneuvers. It was beyond frustrating.

She watched with disinterest from her desk as Mr. Joyce, the chemistry professor lectured about the current lab assignment. "Now the composition of these are designed not to hurt anyone but please be careful. The ingredients are as follows." He listed off several ingredients and then began the process of mixing them. She watched curiously as he combined them and placed them in their container and fit it with a wick. Soon he had it secured together. "I want each of you to put one together like I showed you, and then we'll set them off on the exercise field."

The students quickly got down to work, measuring compounds and working to put their projects together. Elena carefully mixed her ingredients as the teacher had instructed and had just placed the wick when she noticed the professor looking over her shoulder. "Looks good," he said.

"Well we don't know how it will do until it actually goes off," Elena said modestly.

"No, but you're off to a good start," Mr. Joyce said and moved on.

Elena secured the casing for the smoke bomb and waited for the rest of the class to finish.

Twenty minutes later, they were out on the exercise field, having set up each of their low-grade explosives on individual tin plates. "All right," said Mr. Joyce. "On the count of three, everyone is to light up their smoke bombs and step back. One. Two. Three!" Elena lit the wick of her smoke bomb and quickly backed away with the other students. The smoke blew up in a large black billowing plume that overshadowed most of the other attempts.

"Great job everyone!" Mr. Joyce said. "All right, let's go back in and I'll give you your homework."

It was a little while later when Elena left school and headed towards her favorite place in the slums. She had found the abandoned little shack when she'd gone out to play by herself one day. Her father wouldn't have approved, really, but it was the perfect place for training since she could easily shut the door to secure it from anything coming in and surprising her. She had bought some components at the store as well as a cheap, battery operated hot plate, vials and chemistry implements to prepare her materials. She had wanted to try and replicate the results of the smoke bomb experiment and she knew she couldn't do it at her father's house.

She was working on the far side of the room on a small table, measuring ingredients and preparing the recipe. She was placing the wick at the table, when suddenly, something brushed against her foot. In her surprise, she jumped. She never did figure out exactly how several very flammable packages could land on a hot plate she was certain she had turned off all at once and ignite themselves.

Regardless, a heavy plume of smoke ballooned into existence. Panic striking, she jammed the off switch and, coughing as the smoke filled the room she hurried to the window to air the place out.

Several minutes later, as she was using a bucket of water she'd brought back from a spigot at the nearby trooper outpost to clean off the hot plate and praying to Gaea that it hadn't been ruined, she discovered the cause of her accident. It seemed a family of mice had taken up residence in the wall near where she had her table. She made a mental note to plug up the hole and find some mousetraps, as well as work up a checklist so that her clumsiness would never result in an accident like that again. The last thing she needed was to set her hideout on fire, or worse, if she was going to continue with these experiments, have something blow up in her face.

Feburary 5th [ ν ] – εуλ 0001

"Your stance is off again Elena." The two sisters were standing at the gun range again, practicing between classes.

She scowled as she looked over at Lou. "And you're always so perfect," she growled, placing the gun down.

"No, but since dad's been more busy, he told me to keep an eye on your form." Lou did not lower her weapon but placed three neat shots into the target.

"You're not Dad though," Elena argued. "So you shouldn't try to be like him."

Lou looked taken aback by this. "That can't be helped. He's not here, and he asked me to work with you in his place, so that's what I'm going to do," she said. "And I think you need to check your stance."

Elena growled to herself again, though she knew if she brought it up with their father, he would only back up Lou. That was always how it was.

June 25th [ ν ] – εуλ 0001

Elena was sulking while looking out her bedroom window. Her sister had been gone for several days now. Not long ago, she had moved all of her belongings to an apartment in upper plate Sector 3. This was of course after receiving her first paycheck as a Turk. Not that their dad complained. She was already making more gil in that first month than he could scrape together down here in three. It wouldn't be long before Elena would be eligible to get a job too, and it wouldn't be optional. Not that Elena minded the prospect of work. She was looking forward to having some of her own spending money. No, she resented the fact that now that her sister was gone, she had hardly been back at all.

She flounced into the living room, about to head outside when she spotted her father at his desk.

"You've been pouting again, haven't you," her father observed.

"No I haven't," she denied, perhaps a bit too forcefully as she walked to the door. "I'm going out."

"All right, just make sure to stop by the shop and pick up the groceries on your way back," he called after her.

She grunted in acknowledgment and continued through the deserted streets, eyes alert for monsters as she neared her hideout. She'd gotten a lot better at mixing explosives and had moved on to more professional grade grenades. Thanks to her teacher's encouragement she had been the top of her class in Chemistry for quite some time. Her hideout now had its own tiny laboratory as well as a workout area, where she had been practicing martial arts, which she had been taking along with her marksmanship and ballistics electives at the military academy. One day, she was certain, she'd train that clumsiness right out of herself. Maybe then, she'd finally be able to be on her sister's level.

She had no intention of just being another Lou. She wanted to be better. Maybe she'd go into R&D and develop a new bomb. Maybe Shinra wouldn't even need their SOLDIERs anymore. It was only a matter of time.

She entertained herself with that thought as she entered her hideout and took a fighting stance on the worn training mat, and then once she was ready, directed all of her focus on practicing forms, and not tripping when she meant to kick.

April 5th [ ν ] – εуλ 0003

The radio was playing some pop song as Elena walked among the patrons at the Coeur'ls Claw, taking orders to give to Franz, the guy who owned the place. It was her first week of work and it had been mostly without incident, thank goodness. Her lack of coordination hadn't messed this up so far at all. In fact, she'd actually been having fun. The last table she'd served had left a rather nice tip and the music was her style.

As she walked over to the bar and put the orders in at Franz's board, she heard the bell at the door chime and three people in suits entered the bar. A middle-aged, heavyset man with a crew cut, a somewhat younger man, probably about Lou's age, and a tall woman with a long ponytail, probably about the same age as well.

The three of them sauntered over to the bar and sat down, talking among themselves and Franz motioned that she should take their order. She reached for her ticket pad and walked behind the bar. "Hey there, welcome to The Coeurl's Claw, what can I get you?"

"I'll have a Costa Lager," The older man said.

"A Mithril Bullet on the rocks," the woman added.

"And I'd like an Icicle Ale, please," The blond man finished.

Elena reached for the appropriate glasses as Franz had shown her, and passed out the Lager and Ale before mixing the other drink in short order. As she worked she overheard the woman speak up "Hey, is your name Elena by any chance?"

Elena blinked and then she realized. "You must be in the Turks," she said.

The woman smiled wide. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Freya, this is Allen, and this big fella over here is Kemp." She gestured to the young blond man and the heavyset man as she introduced them. "Lou doesn't say much about her home life, but she did mention she had a sister about your age. How long have you been working here at the Claw?"

"About a week," Elena said as she finished the Mithril Bullet and passed it to Freya.

Freya sipped at it and nodded approvingly. "Franz made a good choice," she said after a moment.

"Do the Turks come here often?" Elena asked.

"It's kind of a favorite haunt," Kemp said, taking a sip from his beer.

Allen nodded in agreement. "We'll come down here when we've had a good mission or we've got something to celebrate. Franz has always taken good care of us." He saluted the barkeeper with his ale and the man returned it with a pleased nod.

"Is that so?" Elena asked as she got busy cleaning some of the glasses in the sink.

"Pretty much," Freya said. "There's a good chance you'll see some of your sister if you work here."

"Great," Elena murmured. "She can push me around here as well as at home."

At that moment three more men in suits walked in, two with flaming red hair, and the other with his head shaved bald. They sauntered over to the bar and the one with the wildest red hair spoke up "Hey there cutie, we'd like three Costa Lagers over here," and then he added with a grin, "And if it's not too much trouble, could I have your number?"

"Reno…" the bald man began, but Freya interjected before he could say another word.

"Better not flirt with this one Reno," she warned. "Elena's Lou's sister. I'd hate to think what would happen to you if she finds out."

Franz laughed quietly as Elena flushed and Reno put up his hands in mock defense. "You're Lou's sister? All right, all right, I'll play nice. But she is cute…"

"And you will also remember our rule about you and my employees," Franz added with mock sternness.

"That I am absolutely forbidden from asking them anymore than what's on the menu," Reno recited, and then turned to the younger redhead. "Man, people need to lighten up around here," he joked.

The other man chuckled. It was around that time that the door opened again, this time, revealing an older man with short brown hair, followed by a younger Wutaian with his dark hair in a ponytail. They took up a booth in the far corner of the bar and Franz went over himself to ask them what they would like since Elena was busy keeping everyone else at the bar covered. However, she watched the Wutaian curiously, as she listened to the other Turks' chatter. She wouldn't learn until a week or so later from Freya that his name was Tseng and that he was the right hand man of the leader of the Turks. For now, all she did know was that there was a very handsome man sitting in that booth, though she kept that very adolescent thought to herself...

"Hey, Elena! Did you forget about us already?" Reno called out. Elena flushed. "Sorry, coming!" She hurried to pour the drinks.

April 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0003

"…and then, once the dry ice is all set you back away and let it go," Freya finished explaining.

The two of them were standing outside the Coeurl's Claw, while Elena was on break. She and Tanjuu had stopped by a few minutes ago and while Tanjuu was inside asking Franz for some info about the goings on in the Wall Market neighborhood, Freya had opted to keep the younger girl company for a bit and they'd started talking about Elena's studies, and then gotten a little distracted with some of her extracurricular activities.

"And you actually tried this?" Elena asked.

"Sure did, back when I was a teenager in Mideel," Freya said with one of her grins. "Some of the kids down there and I got together and tried it out near the guest house on my parent's estate, after we were done with our neighbor's potato gun," she chuckled at the memory. "You've got to be careful with dry ice though. It may not be as dangerous as some actual explosives, but that doesn't mean you want something like that to go off in your hand."

"When it comes to explosives, you've got to be careful with everything," Elena observed.

"True. No sane person wants to blow themselves sky high, that's for sure," Freya agreed.

Elena was quiet for a moment. "Do you like being a Turk?" she asked after a little.

"Well," Freya said thoughtfully, "You get to do lots of things, and meet a lot of different people… Most of it, I can't really talk about, but I'd say it's worth it. Why, are you thinking about joining up?"

Elena shook her head. "Not while my sister is there," she murmured.

"Why not?" Freya asked. "I'd think it'd be pretty nice working with your family, unless she's a lunatic at home which I doubt. She seems pretty grounded to me."

"It's not that," Elena said. More recently her father had stepped up handgun training, and while she had mightily improved since she was younger, for some reason, she just couldn't get herself excited about it. Her dad already had Lou to be a crack shot with a handgun, why did he need a second one? "I don't want to be the same."

Freya considered that. "I get it," she said after a moment, "And there's nothing wrong with that at all, but if you ever wanted to join and you met the requirements, I'm sure you'd be welcome."

Elena nodded with a smile, and it was just at that moment when Tanjuu exited the Claw and after saying goodbye, Freya followed after him with a wave. Elena contemplated their conversation as she turned and went inside to get back to work.

May 9th [ ν ] – εуλ 0003

Over the next few weeks, as Elena had been working at the Coeurl's Claw, she'd slowly gotten to know the various Turks' drinking preferences. Freya would often come by and visit. Allen too, though neither of them were particularly heavy drinkers. Definitely not like Reno anyway, but then there really were few people who could put away the alcohol the way he did. Kemp tended to be busy more often than not, and some of the other Turks would stop by occasionally, though Reno and Rude could be counted on at least every other evening when they weren't on a mission. Lou had showed up from time to time, but the two of them had not talked much more than for her sister to order a drink.

Elena had just gotten in for the late shift after having spent the afternoon practicing at her hideout when to her surprise, there Lou was, walking in, her suit slightly mussed from a long day and a tired expression on her face. Behind her were Tanjuu and Tseng, both looking very careworn. As she watched, the three of them took up a spot at the bar, and all three of them ordered beers.

She gave them their orders and busied herself with work until she heard Lou mutter "I still can't believe it."

"You think I can?" Tanjuu asked. "I was there and I still don't."

Tseng simply sipped his drink and said nothing.

"She must have had a pretty strong will to live to survive that though," Lou murmured. "Of course, she's always been pretty tenacious."

Tanjuu smiled wryly. "Why else would I have kept her as my partner," he murmured, a bit of pride in his voice.

That got Elena's attention. "Did something happen to Freya?" she asked.

Lou nodded. "She's in the hospital right now."

"Something went wrong on a mission?" Elena asked feigning disinterest though she really wanted to know.

"How she received those injuries is classified information," it took a moment to realize that Tseng had just spoken.

"She could visit her in the hospital though, right?" Lou asked.

"I'm afraid that privilege is limited to personnel and immediate family, since she is currently at a safe house location." With that, Tseng turned his attention to his drink and refused to say more.

Elena walked into the schoolyard her supplies ready. It had been an hour or so after her shift was over and she felt compelled to return, even though the academy had let out hours ago. She walked along the familiar halls until she reached the combat simulator field. Compared to the one she'd heard the Shinra military had access to, it was pretty bare bones, but for her purposes, it would do. Arming herself with some of her best explosives, she searched the exam list for the demolitions test.

She spotted it fairly soon, but her attention was also grabbed by the entry on the list devoted to special ops. "And there's nothing wrong with that at all, but if you ever wanted to join and you met the requirements, I'm sure you'd be welcome." She snorted as Freya's words echoed in her ears. This was the exam Lou had had to take to get noticed by the Turks, she knew and her desires to be better than Lou and her desire to be different from her sister were quite at odds with each other. Finally, curiosity getting the better of her, she reached out and hit the SELECT button on the touchpad, before pulling on a VR headset and stepping out onto the field.

The voice of the automated voice proctor spoke through her headset. "Welcome to the Shinra Lower Sector 6 Military Academy Virtual Special Operations Exam. You're mission is to achieve several objectives within the allotted time with the equipment you have at your disposal. Apart from the weapons you bring with you, you are also allotted a Sleep and Fire materia. Your first objective is to reach the following coordinates without being detected by the test robots. Your second objective is to acquire the surveillance equipment undetected. Your third objective is to locate this target within the grounds, and eliminate him."

The image of a robot with a virtual face appeared on the screen and Elena committed it to memory as the proctor continued. "Your fourth objective is to escape detection and withdraw to the red flag under the watchtower at the center of the field. Your final objective will be to destroy all attackers. You have 3 hours. Good luck."

Elena peered around a wall that had erected itself on the field as she'd entered it to see several humanoid robots on patrol in front of a door. Looking around the area she considered the possibilities as to how to get by before she noticed a window along one of the side walls. Creeping along more quietly than a cat, she wove her way around the simulated alley until she reached a box which she pushed towards the window and while her adversaries continued to patrol, she slipped through it. On the other side, she found herself looking over a pit that was a simulated work area, around which patrolled several guards. A mock-up of an office lay on the other side of the enclosure and she decided to check there.

She kept to the shadows, and behind what cover she could find. However, as she was creeping along a catwalk above the pit, she suddenly tripped and fell almost on top of one of the robots. She tossed one of her explosives as she ducked for cover and the robot was lit up in flames, however, it wasn't until after a simulated bullet registered on her heads up display. The HUD beeped and FAILURE passed along the screen. In frustration, Elena kicked a nearby wall, and stalked off the field, dropping the headset on its hook by the entrance in disgust. She'd have to be a lot less clumsy before she'd consider herself competent to take this test again.

She left the academy in a huff and made her way home, trying to think of ways she could have done better.

October 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0006

Cotton cobwebs and various other Halloween décor covered the bar as Elena worked. Now seventeen, she was just a year off from graduating from the Military Academy, and that would qualify her for an officer position in the Shinra Military at the very least. That was the direction she seemed to be headed for now, though there were alternatives, as her sister constantly reminded her. Though as of late, she'd been more subdued about suggesting the Turks.

There had been other changes too, Freya had not been the only Turk absent from the bar. Veld, it seemed, had left the company, and Tseng, though he was still in Shinra was not coming as often. More often than not she'd been disappointed to be stuck serving one or more of the other Turks, worst of all Reno after their workday rather than quietly watching out of the corner of her eye as Tseng sipped a glass of high quality Kalm Vodka with a small appetizer as he looked over documents on his PHS.

Liz, a tall thin woman, who had joined the Turks after apparently having worked as a bounty hunter from up north, was currently sitting at the far end of the bar, contemplatively drinking a stein of Icicle Ale, while several other Turks had taken up a booth near the front and some other patrons were in another booth by the radio speakers which were playing smooth jazz into the room.

Elena was busily cleaning some glasses behind the bar while Franz worked in the back when the door opened, and Tanjuu walked in, followed by, to her surprise, Freya.

She looked a little thinner than Elena remembered, and as they neared the bar, Liz offered them a wave. "So the news is true!" She said good naturedly. "The sleeping beauty is finally awake."

Freya smiled. "I'm glad to be awake, and don't worry, the doc cleared me for this at least."

"Long overdue, if you ask me," Tanjuu interjected.

Elena walked over and Freya looked her way and grinned. "Are you a sight for sore eyes," she said. "How've you been Elena?"

"Pretty well," Elena said. "What'll it be? A Mithril Bullet on the rocks?"

"Sounds good to me," Freya said.

Elena got ready to prepare the drink and then suddenly realized something. "I'll be right back, I forgot to get the lemons out of the store-room." She hurried to the storeroom of the bar, embarrassed.

February 4th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

Things had already changed drastically. Maybe it was the day a week or so later when Freya walked in alone, looking very down, yet very contemplative. When Elena had asked, she'd said she couldn't talk about it, since it had to do with work, but she had ordered an extra drink and left late. Or maybe it had to do with the change in demeanor over all the other Turks a few months later. She wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but all of them had become more distant. And when they came for drinks, they had started looking around them more often as though they felt less secure. As if they were being hunted.

Lou wouldn't tell her anything when she asked about it one night when her sister had deigned to grace the family with her presence. "There's some complicated stuff going on at work right now that I can't tell you about. So why don't we talk about something we can?" she said, "How's school going?"

"Well enough," Elena said evasively.

"What's the problem?" Lou asked.

"Her marksmanship accuracy has been holding at ninety percent with no improvement," their father commented.

"That's really not bad though," Elena argued. "Most of the others can't even manage seventy. And even Lou couldn't do better than ninety six."

Her father sighed. "But that's still a much smaller margin of error. If would be better if you could get it higher up."

"So I can be a Turk, just like Lou? And what if I don't care enough?" Elena asked.

Both Lou and their father looked scandalized, and Elena was inwardly pleased and yet at the same time, distressed at the effect. "I'm leaving," she said, trying to keep her voice from becoming shaky. "I have to get to work."

With that, she stalked out of the house before realizing she'd forgotten her purse, and hurried back in to retrieve it before leaving again, fuming even more than before.

The very next day, she walked into school, and dropped the handgun course entirely. She could use it well enough by now thank you, and her martial arts and demolitions classes were going far better than shooting ever had.

October 4th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007 4:45 PM

Over the next few months as Elena worked in the bar, she avoided serving the Turks where possible. Freya came to visit a couple of times, and she had pointedly given her just as much the cold shoulder as the others, but since the Turks had become criminals they had almost stopped coming at all. Lou had had some nerve, leaving that note in her father's papers to tell them she was all right but that she couldn't give them any details.

Sure, she was all right, but how dare she defy the company, how dare she put Elena and their father at risk like this, and how dare her to talk about Elena's future when she clearly had no such regard for her own?! She was pissed off at Lou, and pissed off at the Turks for dragging Lou and therefore the whole family into this spat over some guy that Elena'd only seen once and didn't care about one whit. This was exactly what she'd told the soldiers that had come to interrogate her and her father, even as he had stoically told them he knew nothing about Lou's whereabouts. Not that she knew anything either, and it was this that had prevented them from being hauled in to the military installation near the train stop.

Elena glared at the walls around her as she practiced her forms at her hideout. Punching and kicking the air around her with excess violence in her movements. How she dearly wished her opponent was Lou. Her sister's face hung in her imagination as she fought her invisible opponent. However, as she was delivering a hard kick to Invisible Lou, she suddenly realized something was missing. Her training gear was here, and so were her demolitions experiments, but her purse was nowhere to be found.

"I must have left it behind again," she groaned. She let out a long sigh and after straightening her school uniform, she walked outside, securing the door before hurrying over to the bar. Her thoughts on retrieving her belongings, she hurried through several of Wall Market's busy streets until at last she saw the Coeurl's Claw loom up ahead in the afternoon shadows cast by the small rays of dying sunlight that had managed to slip underneath Midgar's upper plate. She reached the door and opened it. "I'm back boss!" she called through the door, announcing her presence, and then she stopped. To her surprise every single one of the Turks minus Tseng, Reno, and Rude were standing around the bar. "Oh, h-hello everyone." In spite of her greeting, her eyes narrowed. What was Franz thinking, letting them meet here now?

Lou was standing near the front of the bar, along with Mao, Tanjuu, Freya, Cissnei, and a man she didn't recognize who wore a bandanna over his hair. The rest of the Turks were settled around the bar as though an important meeting were taking place. None of them seemed to have had anything to drink. Elena walked to the bar, trying to avoid making eye contact, but then her sister spoke. "Oh, it's you Elena, Franz said you were done for the day."

Elena could tell she'd been concerned when she had walked in, so they had probably been afraid of being found out, but that was none of her concern right now. She reached over the bar and retrieved her purse. "I just forgot something," she explained. "So I came back to get it." And now that she had it, she was planning to leave as quickly as possible. She was already cursing her luck that her sister was here.

"You forgot something again?" Lou asked, remembering her last visit home. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know where your mind goes."

The man with the bandanna spoke up. "Don't you think you're pushing it a little there?"

Elena rolled her eyes in annoyance and thought how she hated it so much when her sister came around. Especially now.

That was when she heard Freya speak behind her. "What's wrong Elena? You've gone quiet all of a sudden."

Elena smiled a false smile and looked at Freya. "You don't have to worry," she said. "I wouldn't join the Turks if you begged me." She raised her voice as she stalked towards the door. "So you don't have to worry about me embarrassing my sister over there or something."

"Elena," Lou said, sounding genuinely hurt, "you really shouldn't say things like that."

Elena glared at her, showing her all the venom she could muster. "Well, I'm leaving, I've gotten what I came for." With that, she left, and hurried back outside. That'd show all of them for throwing around their power like that and having the gall to get themselves in trouble, she thought.

As she walked back towards her hideout continuing to fume over the injustice of it all her thoughts were interrupted by someone shouting behind her. "Stop or I'll shoot!"

Curious, she took up a position in the shadows and looked into the alley from which the voice had originated to see several troopers fighting with men in dark uniforms similar to the white one that man in the bandanna had worn. Even worse, it looked like the troopers were losing. Forget how she might feel about the matter, Elena decided she needed to go for help. Turning around, she ran back the way she had come, looking for someone of authority. Her first thought had been the very large force of Turks discussing things back at the bar, however, she stubbornly squashed that idea. They were fugitives, and on top of that, she didn't want to depend on them anyway.

However, it became a non-issue when she stopped to catch her breath and decide where she was going to go, because at that moment, several troopers came up from behind her and passed her on the street. Curiously, she watched them, but after a moment, she decided to go back to the scene of the fight. Upon returning there, she saw nothing. There were no bodies on the ground or even any sign that the fight had taken place. Something really weird was definitely going on, she decided. She couldn't think of any way those troopers could have won that fight, but… She went back to the street and spotted the troopers just in time to see them split up and head down different streets. She hurried after one of them to try and see where he went, but quickly lost him. Eventually, she decided to go back to her hideout since she couldn't keep doing this forever, though she remained especially alert. Perhaps it was a premonition, but she couldn't help but feel that the streets of Wall Market were less safe tonight than they usually were. Then again, Wall Market was already a pretty high risk area, so it could just be her imagination.

October 4th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007 5:45 PM

Elena had returned to her hideout only a few minutes ago and she had resumed practicing when all of a sudden there was a series of sounds outside followed by the sound of the door opening and someone coming hurrying in. She whirled around as the door shut just in time to be face to face with her intruder…

"Elena?" Lou asked in a harsh whisper, as she leaned against the door to keep it shut.

"Lou?" Elena asked with equal surprise.

"So this is where you've training all this time," her sister observed.

Elena glared at her. "This is my space!" she began, about to continue on a longer tirade about how her sister shouldn't be there, but Lou lunged towards her, clapping her hand over her sister's mouth.

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed, looking anxiously at the door behind her.

There was deadly silence inside the building as Elena could hear movement outside. Finally Lou removed her hand. "What's going on?" Elena asked.

"I'm being hunted," Lou explained. "Look, I'm sorry about barging in on you but I just need to stay here a little while and then I'll leave. Okay?"

Elena glowered at her in a stony silence for several moments before finally answering, "…Fine."

Lou visibly relaxed. "Phew, thanks sis."

"That doesn't mean I don't want you out of here the moment they're gone," Elena clarified, folding her arms defiantly, "I don't want you or anyone else here - this is my space."

"Sorry," Lou murmured. After a moment of awkward silence, she continued, "Still, Elena, why is it that you always get so angry when you see me, or the other Turks?"

Elena turned away from her, as she thought about all the trouble Lou and the Turks had brought on the family since they'd become criminals, but somehow, that didn't override that other twisted and much more overpowering feeling in her gut that she absolutely refused to identify, especially not in front of her sister. "No reason…" she started.

Lou didn't seem to buy it so she demanded "Do I have to have one?" somehow still managing not to raise her voice. She was saved from further elaboration by Lou's PHS buzzing. Motioning that she had to take it, Lou pulled the device out of her pocket and moved to a far corner to talk to whoever it was.

"Tseng?... Yeah, for now… That's right…" She was just within sufficient earshot to hear the words 'be ready with a truck' before Lou responded again. "I'll take care of it…" She hung up, and turned her attention back to Elena.

"Sounds like you know where you're going," Elena observed. "If you're trying to grab a vehicle, the Shinra parking lot's located on the west end." The sooner Lou left the sooner she could get back to training.

"Thanks," Lou said.

Elena nodded, "Now get out."

"I know," Lou said, though her tone also indicated she would like to talk more later she turned to leave but then seemed to think better of it. "One more thing, how's your marksmanship training going?"

Elena smiled grimly, "It's old news. I dropped it."

"Dropped it?!" Lou asked, clearly shocked.

Elena nodded. "That's right." She indicated a pin that she had recently added to the lapel of her uniform.

"An elite emblem for the Martial Arts class?" Lou asked.

"Yep," Elena said. "As you know, you only get one of these if you score top in the class term exams. I've already gotten five this year."

Lou looked momentarily devastated. "You really dropped marksmanship?"

Elena nodded again. "Yup, just like that."

Lou sighed. "I'll bet Dad wasn't happy. Why did you drop it?"

Elena was quiet a bit longer before finally saying "I'm not telling."

Finally Lou relented. "I see. Well, it's your choice to make. I'll be leaving now. Thanks for letting me stay." She was almost to the door when she thought of something else and turned to look back at her sister. "One last thing! I know how you get when I offer suggestions, but you should try adjusting your stance a little to the left." Before Elena could offer a biting reply, she was gone.

Elena sighed. Finally she could train in peace again. And why the hell did she care about what Lou was up to? It wasn't like the Turks could do anything without the company anyway.

Almost without thinking she adjusted her stance as Lou had suggested and gave the air a good hard kick. To her surprise, she felt a lot more power in her strike than before. Lowering her leg, she paused to consider this for a moment. She smiled to herself at the fact that she had improved and grudgingly admitted that okay, maybe her sister was good for something, not that she was planning on joining the Turks or anything. But that brought another question to mind. Why then, was she training so hard?

She walked to the door and opened it deciding she would step outside for a moment. There was a vending machine on the main Wall Market strip that had particular brand of soda she liked and she was thinking she'd go get one before continuing her training, however, as she neared the main thoroughfare, a hand clapped over her mouth, and then suddenly, her vision was obscured as a sack was pulled over her and she was carried away into the dark. The most distinctive thing she recalled about her attacker was a distinctive laugh. It was something her sister had mentioned once about a less classified mission she undertook during the heyday of AVALANCHE. The sound made by their SOLDIER-like enhanced troops, which Lou had called Ravens.

Elena struggled for what seemed like hours. During that time, she had found herself dumped onto a hard surface that felt like the bed of a truck, and then sometime later, someone had climbed aboard. Finally, after the motor had started running, someone undid the tie that bound the sack and she wriggled out, only to see her sister looking back at her out of the gloom.

"Elena?!" Lou demanded.

"Lou?!"

Lou regained her composure first. "What are you doing here? And why were you in a bag?" She offered a wry smile. "You'd think you'd been kidnapped or something."

"You got it in one, Captain Obvious," Elena said, glaring at her. "I was kidnapped."

Lou looked a little worried. "By Shinra?" she asked.

"Try an anti-Shinra organization instead," Elena explained.

"Why?" Lou looked out the back of the truck as she spoke.

"I saw them," Elena replied, "They were trying to pass themselves off as Shinra soldiers. They kidnapped me because I'd compromise their plan." She said the last bit as though explaining the situation to a child.

Lou ignored her tone in favor of gathering more information. "So does that mean that this truck is being driven by…"

"AVALANCHE goons dressed up as Shinra lackeys? Yeah," Elena confirmed.

Lou seemed visibly relieved by that information. "Okay, if that's the case, then there's no problem if I take the truck. Just hang on a little longer, sis. I'm going to get control of the truck and then you can go home."

Elena scoffed at that, but waited patiently with Lou for a while when the truck ground to a halt. Lou cocked her gun and hurried outside, heralding the report of gunfire outside. Elena knew enough about weapon safety to get down in the truck bed but as the sound of shots fired became less frequent and then died down, suddenly, she felt a knife at her throat, and then, the motor on the truck restarted. The man who breathed in her ear did not speak, he just giggled with a manic air as the truck moved away from where Lou had disembarked.

When the truck pulled to a halt, Elena had tried to run for it, but right after catching a glimpse of the Sector 6 train station, a strong hand belonging to the person who held the knife clamped itself onto her arm and started dragging her towards the train. In the light from the streetlights she saw it was a Raven and he didn't make much conversation, though he occasionally chuckled to himself at some joke Elena was certain she wouldn't find funny. They were joined by another Raven as they boarded the train car, and as they neared the door to the next car. "Hey!" Elena complained as the Raven gave her arm an especially hard tug. "Let me go!" she insisted, trying to resist.

One of the Ravens delivered a hard slap to her face and the medal on her lapel was sent flying to the floor from the force of the blow.

"Ow!" Elena cried out, finally surrendering rather than be forced to endure violence like that again. "I-I get it," she murmured, using her free hand to rub her reddening cheek. "I just have to… keep walking right? Geez." She allowed herself to be dragged through the door. A couple of cars down, she found herself in a room full of Ravens and after going to the middle of the group, the first Raven that had brought her here, did not let her go, but simply waited.

Elena squirmed, but there was no chance of escape, and the Raven threateningly raised his fist, as though to tell her what would happen if she tried again. That was when Elena realized the real reason she'd been kidnapped.

One of the Turks, most likely Lou, was undoubtedly headed this way.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the door through which they had entered the train car opened and her sister appeared, her handgun drawn. "Elena!"

"Lou, why did you come?" Elena called to her, trying to ignore how tight the Raven was holding her.

Her sister glared at her captors. "My sister has nothing to do with the Turks," she snarled, "Let her go!"

The Raven at the front wore an eerie grin as he spoke. "Gladly. If you give us the Support Materia in exchange.

Lou's expression was troubled as she considered and Elena felt a cold fury deep within her. She wasn't some helpless child to be saved, or dragged around like a sack of potatoes, that was for sure. At last she spoke up. "Don't listen to them, Lou. If it's just these guys, I can take them." With a lightning quick motion, she elbowed the man who held her, before attempting to deliver a strong kick to his groin, however, the Raven dodged and she felt the color drain from her face as he grabbed her again and raised his hand to deliver what could very well have been a fatal blow.

"Elena! Stop!" The sound of her sister's voice startled both of them, and then Elena heard the last words she wanted to hear at that moment. "I get it, I'll give you the Support Materia."

The Raven didn't look like he believed her, and so she took a step forward, reaching into her pocket, even as she kept her gun at the ready.

"Why?!" Elena demanded, "It's important, isn't it?!"

Lou smiled gravely. "It's okay Elena," she turned to the Raven. "Bring my sister to the front, and I'll throw it to you."

Elena felt herself being pushed forward and stumbled past Lou as she tried to right herself, catching a brief glimpse of a round object before the Raven caught it in his hands.

"Stay behind me," Lou ordered, and Elena was too shocked not to comply.

"What are you going to do?" she asked softly.

"This!" Lou said, raising her gun and swiftly firing off seven shots at her opponents. Six fell dead as six bullets pierced their hearts, but the seventh, the one that had taken the Materia had already retreated to the next car. Lou took a moment to reload her weapon. "Well then, I'll be going now." She was about to go through the door to the next train car.

"Wait!" Elena said. "I'm coming too!"

"No," Lou said firmly. "You stay here."

"But…" Elena said, "It's my fault this happened," Elena said, trying not to look directly at her sister.

Lou shook her head and offered a wry smile. "Don't worry, I can make up for this in no time. Don't you know me better than that? We do whatever it takes to succeed. That's what the Turks do."

Elena was stunned for a moment. For the longest time, she'd thought the Turks were nothing more than Shinra's dogs. But when her sister had said that just now… she'd sounded… cool… It reminded her of the times when they were younger, when she had actually looked up to her. Was it possible that maybe she was good enough to live by that motto the way the Turks did too? She heard the sound of gunfire in the next car before the clickity-clack of the moving train was the only sound piercing the area. "All right then sis, you're on. One day, I'll surpass you, as a Turk!" with that she started after her sister, hoping to catch up.

October 25th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

In the end, the Raven had escaped with the Materia, but not before Lou had determined to hijack a helicopter in order to go after it. After the fact, Elena had gone home. That night, there had been a huge crash near the edge of the plate as a great gaping hole had opened above them and debris fell into the city below. Her father's house had not been damaged thankfully, but her hideout was no longer accessible. For several days, she hadn't known what was going on. But then, as she'd been walking home from school one day, Rod, Lou's partner sidled up next to her in disguise, and stuffed a short message into her hand before disappearing into the crowd. The message was from Lou, telling them that even though she was currently in hiding she was all right and still around. For the last few weeks, most of Elena's activities and been limited to the school.

She had worked hard for this day. Her heart raced as she walked to the exam simulator where several years before, she had failed so terribly. A handgun hung at her hip, but at her belt, just within reach of her hands, hung a set of explosives, the same type she'd rigged when she'd attempted this test before. If she was going to ace this exam, she was going to do it her way.

"Welcome to the Shinra Lower Sector 6 Military Academy Virtual Special Operations Exam. You're mission is to achieve several objectives within the allotted time with the equipment you have at your disposal. Apart from the weapons you bring with you…"

As the proctor finished listing the objectives, Elena tightened the fingerless leather gloves she had picked up to protect her hands, and then waited for the walls to materialize in front of her. To her surprise, it wasn't the same test layout. The map of the area seemed to be a completely different scenario. Probably to keep students from passing just because they knew the map, she guessed. This time it looked like the simulation was one of a fisherman's wharf in the town to the north of Midgar. The coordinates were the same however, and so she checked the virtual map on her headset before spotting some shipping crates she could use as cover.

It was much easier this time to sneak past the combat robots and soon she had entered a mock up packing house for fish. She crept along and soon she had gotten through and was standing at the first objective, a boat dock.

"Objective Complete."

Up above her, she could see a pair of binoculars sitting inside the bridge on the mock-up boat, clearly marked, but also in the open, right next to where the boat captain was working. With expert skill, she climbed along the side of the boat opposite the dock and slipped into the cabin, readying the Sleep materia the simulator had supplied. She cast it, and the captain closed his eyes and the simulator projected the sounds of snoring into her ears.

"Objective Complete."

Grabbing the binoculars, she lifted them to her eyes from the vantage point on the bridge and looked around the area, searching for her target. She could see the watchtower just a few hundred feet away from the simulated environment, but that would have to wait. She panned across the area, until finally, she caught sight of the simulator robot with the face. Prepping her gun she slipped out of the boat and out into the dock area again, this time following her target and blending in with the shadows like a chameleon.

Soon, the robot turned down an alley and she followed it deeper into the packing district before they were on a deserted street. Ducking out of cover for a brief moment, she raised her gun and aimed for the head, both eyes open and her stance perfect. The test bot dropped.

"Objective Complete."

With that she left the alley and hurried towards the watchtower. As soon as she reached it, she heard the sound of ten of the simulator bots coming her way. Firing her gun one handed at the closest one, she reached for another grenade, pulling the pin and tossing it as she holstered her pistol. Four of the robots exploded and she dodged behind cover just in time to avoid a gunshot from one of the others. Reaching for two more grenades she turned back into the line of fire, activating them at the same time and tossing them at the remaining bots. The synchronized blasts lifted huge clouds of dirt that were sufficient to hide her from the last two attackers, and she pulled out her pistol again, and fired two neat shots at one. The last one was dispatched by a flying kick to the head.

"Objective Complete." The proctor's voice called out over the field. And then just afterward, "New course record."

December 11th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

It was barely a few days later when Elena spotted Reno at the Coeurl's Claw and thrust her resume into his hands to deliver to Tseng. She had interviewed for the job about a week ago. However, today when she had received the call from Tseng telling her she was hired and that she was to report immediately to the Shinra building, couldn't have been a worst time. AVALANCHE had dropped the Sector 7 Plate, and there was chaos all over the city, however, as elevator came to a halt on the floor that housed the Department of Administrative Research, it really hadn't quite sunk in, even though she had shorn her pigtails for a more professional haircut just before the first interview.

She entered the office, looking around warily before spotting Tseng at a desk, and her heart would have skipped a beat if she hadn't been so distracted by the belief that terrorists had destroyed the area under the plate for the last time.

Tseng stood up and walked over to her, offering her his hand and an uncharacteristically warm smile. "I assume you are ready to get to work?"

"You know I am," Elena said firmly.

Tseng nodded and turned around to retrieve a box from his desk and handed it to her. "Then the first thing you will need to do is to get dressed."

Elena walked to an empty office as she lifted the lid to peer inside, and there, she found exactly what she was expecting, and that was when she realized it was the thing she had wanted since her sister had acquired it. A dark suit, newly pressed and ready to be worn. She dressed quickly, securing the tie and walked back to Tseng's office.

Seeing her enter and looking her over, he decided that she had passed inspection, and she recognized the pride in his voice barely concealed underneath his calm and unconcerned demeanor. "As of today you have officially become a Turk." He reached for a desk drawer and produced a folder containing several documents. "I will need you to commit these to memory and then I am putting you and Rude in charge of catching some fugitives. You'll be hitting the ground running."

Elena gathered up the papers, and looked them over, recognizing the people from AVALANCHE who had collapsed the plate. "I understand sir. I'll get right on it." She wouldn't know until weeks later who had actually collapsed the plate, but even then in the aftermath of Meteorfall, she was committed. Her sister wouldn't hold a candle to her, when all was said and done. Regardless of the cost.

Hey all, been a while. This fic probably won't be as long as Fraction to be sure since there are other projects I'm working on simultaneously, and I can't guarantee that it'll be as regular as Fraction was. Best case, I'm thinking of trying to have a chapter for you on average every other month (though more likely every two or three) for about twenty chapters, but we'll see how things work out.

Anyway, it's good to be back.

Please forgive my blatant self-promotion, but if you'd like, feel free to check out my profile for places you can find my original content. There's a link there you can plug in for a new blog I started this past year where I've published a few short stories and I'll be hopefully adding more there too in the future.

See ya next time.