3 Tales from the slums: Elena's Story

by Maria-smith7

A young Elena is upset with her family's new move to the upper plate. In an act of rebellion, she obtains employment as a waitress in the Wall Market but ends up getting more than she bargained for.

TALES FROM THE SLUMS

'Elena's Story'

Elena was the only one in her family not happy with the move. Most people would be excited to escape the slums and move to the top plate, but not her. She missed her friends and everyone she met so far acted like they were better than her. The first day of her new school was the worst, once they find out where she moved from, they made her feel like an outcast. But she didn't want to tell her father her real feelings because she knew he worked hard to give her and her sister this new home.

Elena's mom died when she was two, so her father did his best raising his two daughters by himself. Still, Elena had a happy childhood in the slums, they were lucky enough to live in one of the better neighbourhoods, but as soon as Elena's father got a job as an instructor at the Shinra Military Academy he uprooted them. Elena's sister, Emma, was a few years older than Elena and didn't waste time making the best out of the situation. She applied to the academy knowing it would make father happy. Being fourteen Elena was too young to apply, having only just started high school.

Elena had just returned home from school and went into the kitchen to see what preparations needed to be started for dinner. Her father worked late so she tried to help with the cooking whenever Emma wasn't home. Elena was almost finished cooking dinner by the time Emma came into the house looking cheery.

"Guess what came in the mail today?" Emma called out to her sister as she walked into the kitchen holding a big brown envelope.

"What?" Elena asked, rolling her eyes a little. She had seen the package in the mail earlier and knew it was from the Academy. Given the size of the envelop, she assumed that it meant her sister had been accepted. Elena just knew her sister was going to rub it in her face.

"I got in!" Emma exclaimed as she sat down at the table and opened the envelope.

"Great!" Elena said sarcastically while mixing the stir-fry in front of her. She glanced over at her sister to see if she picked up on her lack of enthusiasm but Emma was too excited to notice or care.

The older sibling picked up the letter and began reading it attentively. With a big smile on her face she glanced over at her little sister.

"Congratulations," Emma started to read out loud. "On behalf of the Admission Committee, I am pleased to inform you that your application for admission to the Shinra Military Academy has been approved for the fall semester." She looked over at Elena who was still standing by the stove turned away from her. "I was worried because I was late applying, and the fall semester starts in one week…"

"Well, good for you," Elena said not really paying attention to what she was saying. She tried to fake enthusiasm for her sister but she really couldn't care less. She knew the only reason Emma wanted to attend was because their dad worked there and she hated how Emma always tried to be the perfect daughter making Elena the less than perfect outcast. She could never live up to their dad's expectations and hated how she was always compared to her older sister.

"You know, you could at least fake happy for me," Emma commented, sensing Elena's ridicule.

"I am!" Elena lied, pretending to sound a little hurt. She started to scoop rice into three little bowls then finally looked up at her sister. "It's just, being accepted is not a big deal," she explained as she started to bring the bowls over to the table. "Everyone knows Shinra will take anyone willing to sign up to be a grunt soldier and fight in the war." Although Shinra had been trying to not make a big deal out of it, the war with Wutai had been in the news every night for the past few weeks.

Emma frowned at her sister, knowing exactly what Elena was trying to do, but she was in too good of a mood to let it get to her. "Its call infantrymen," she informed her sister matter-of-factly, "and that's not what I'm applying for—I want to join the Turks."

"Turks? Really?" Elena asked, trying not to laugh while giving her sister a questionable look. She had heard about the Turks when she was living in the slums but all she really knew was that they were a group of cold-hearted killers.

"You're just jealous," Emma said, becoming annoyed with her sister. Luckily, she knew how to press Elena's buttons.

"Why would I be jealous?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow, "I would never join a group like that." She walked over to the stove and turned off the burner. She moved the wok away from the hot element and looked over at her sister. "But if I wanted to apply, they would accept me," she added. She never wanted to be like her sister, but at the same time, she knew she could do anything her sister could do.

Elena put the stir-fry in a big bowl placing it on the table while Emma helped set it.

"Common Elena," Emma said as she walked around the table placing the cutlery. "You would never make it as a Turk. We both know you are way too emotional," she commented, trying not to smile. It was the truth and she knew mentioning it would set her sister off.

Elena frowned at Emma. "I'm not emotional," she snapped. "I can't help that I hate this place. The people up here are so fake and self-centred," she added, thinking about the kids in her class today.

"Only you would be stupid enough to want to move back to the slums," Emma remarked, sounding frustrated with her sister's immaturity. "You got a lot of growing up to do Elena. You don't even know what it's really like down there because of dad, you should be grateful."

"Don't condescend me," Elena said rolling her eyes at her sister. She always hated when Emma talked down to her like she was a child. "You are such a suck up. We both know it's the only reason you joined the academy."

"At least I know what I want to do with my life," Emma retorted, raising her voice a little. "If you want to be treated like an adult stop acting like a child. All you do is whine and complain, but you never do anything to help yourself."

"I will, and I won't need daddy's help to do it!" Elena yelled at her sister and stormed off to her room.

The young girl was too upset to eat now and she didn't want to be around her sister another minute. She spent the whole night fuming over what Emma said, she didn't even answer her bedroom door when he dad came knocking later that night to see if she was okay.

The next morning Elena waited until everyone exited the house before she left her room. She was still upset over what her sister said, mostly because she was right. If she didn't want to be treated like a child, she needed to start acting like an adult. She decided that the best way to do that was to find a job, but at fourteen, she knew it would be hard to find work. Elena felt alone. She hated her sister right now and she didn't want to worry her dad with her problems, he was usually too busy anyways. She needed to talk to someone but her only friends lived in her old neighbourhood. Not really feeling like going to school, Elena decided to skip and go visit her best friend.

It didn't take long for her to reach her old neighbourhood in the Sector 4 slums. As she walked closer to her friend Vicky's home, Elena was starting to feel like her old self. She couldn't understand why she missed it so much, the good and the bad. Elena was not blind, she could see the poverty around her. She knew that many of the people down here made a living as drug dealers, prostitutes, or gang members. But having spent time up top made her realize that there were a lot of positive aspects of living in the slums. Each sector was a close-knit community where everyone knew each other and had to rely on one another for help. Nobody in the slums judged you for being poor or looked down on you because of your occupation, to an extent. There were lots of law abiding hard working people down here just trying to earn a living. She also knew there were people down here that would steal from you if given the chance, but there was just as much crime on the upper plate too. As far as Elena was concerned, she would put her trust in the people from the slums any day, hell, she even missed the smoggy air.

By now, Elena had reached her friend Zoe's home and knocked on the door. Her house was one of the bigger homes in the area. It was a small, two story home that had an old camper attached as an addition. Zoe was surprised when she came to answer the door and discovered Elena.

Zoe was a year older than Elena and had long dark brown hair and blue eyes. When Elena first moved to the plate, she was afraid she was never going to see her friend again. Excited to see each other, the two girls hugged.

"Hey girl!" Zoe called out with a big smile on her face. "What brings you here?"

"Just felt like coming by to talk," Elena explained to her best friend. "I missed you so much."

"I miss you too," Zoe replied as the two girls walked into the house. "It's been so boring here without you, but luckily father has been keeping me busy at the shop."

Zoe's house was like Elena's second home, so she felt comfortable as they walked into the living room. Their living room was humble with a sofa, two chairs, and a coffee table but no television.

"Your dad has you working at the dress shop now?" Elena asked as she sat in a chair in the corner that she always sat in.

"Yeah," Zoe replied sitting on the couch across from her. "Even though I suck at sewing, he thinks I should start learning how to run the store. But I think it's an excuse for father to have more time away to get drunk at the bar and mom doesn't want to be in the store alone."

"You're lucky you can go work for your dad. I need to start looking for job too," Elena commented, starting to become upset thinking about her argument with her sister last night.

"What's wrong?" Zoe asked, sensing that something was bothering her friend.

"I got into another argument with Emma last night," Elena explained. "She said I needed to start acting like an adult."

Zoe smiled. "You two are always fighting. I think it's because you are both so much alike," Zoe teased with a smile. It was the truth but Zoe knew Elena would not want to hear it. Being best friends, Zoe could get away with saying it without having to suffer Elena's wrath.

"Shut up! We are nothing alike!" Elena yelled back to her friend smiling as well. "She's dad's perfect little angel and we both know I'm the exact opposite of that."

"Well, I might be able to help you with your job search," Zoe suggested to her friend.

"How?"

"I don't know if you remember Samuel, who lives in Sector 5, but his dad owns the bar in the Wall Market and they are looking for a bartender. He asked me the other day but I'm busy helping my parents."

"It's not a strip club is it?" Elena asked. She knew the slums well enough to know what questions to ask before even considering certain jobs.

"No, I would not have suggested it if it was," Zoe explained, sounding a little insulted that she would even ask. "It's just a regular bar and even has a kitchen so you would probably make a lot of money in tips alone."

"That's a great idea Zoe!" Elena said starting to become excited with the thought. "Do you think you can talk to him for me?"

"Samuel's probably over there right now if you want to go over," Zoe suggested. "I can introduce him to you and we can see if he's still looking."

"Let's go!" Elena said while standing up and the two made their way towards the Wall Market.

Elena was familiar with the Wall Market and most of the shops with a few exceptions. She was aware that this part of Sector 6 was the red-light district of the slums but it also housed other stores and establishments, like Zoe's father's clothing store.

"I should probably go in and see my parents after we talk to Samuel," Zoe informed Elena. "They'll probably be happy to see you and you know mom will want you to stay for dinner."

"I miss your mother's cooking," Elena reminisced as they walked towards the bar. Owing a successful clothing store, Zoe's house always had the best food and Elena always accepted their invitation for dinner.

The two girls walked into the Wall Market Pub and were surprised to see it so busy for a Tuesday afternoon. Most of the tables and bar were full of people drinking and eating. Zoe walked over to the bar and leaned in trying to get the bartender's attention.

"Hey Tony!" Zoe called out to the bartender. "Is Samuel in?"

The bartender, Tony, was standing at the other end of the bar pouring a beverage. He finished handing the customer a drink and looked over at the girl.

"He's in the office making a call," Tony explained. "He should be out in a minute."

"Thanks," she called out to him and turned to Elena who was surveying the room.

The bar was dark, dingy, and dimly lit. It consisted of a long bar counter with hanging lights above it and a few tables and chairs in the back. The girls waited for a little under five minutes before a man walked out of the back room. He looked like he was in his mid twenties and had light brown hair and light blue eyes. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt.

Samuel smiled upon seeing Zoe and Elena standing by the bar. "Hello Zoe, have you reconsidered my offer?" he asked the girl as he walked up to them.

"No, but my friend Elena here is looking for a part-time job," she said, motioning to Elena who smiled at the man.

"Nice to meet you Elena," Samuel said to the blond while holding out his hand.

"Hello," Elena replied with a handshake and a smile. Looking at the young man smile at her, Elena couldn't help but think about how cute he was. She always had a thing for older guys, thinking all the boys her age were immature idiots.

"So, do you have any bartending experience?" Samuel asked her.

"Not exactly, but I'm eager to learn," Elena replied hoping he will see past her inexperience.

"I like eager," Samuel commented with a smile. A chiming sound from his pocket caused Samuel to pull his phone out and motion to the bartender with the cell in his hand. "Tony here just became a family man and no longer wants to work evenings and weekends. Can you cover those shifts?"

"Yes," Elena replied, excited that she might get the job. She had school on weekdays, but she was so happy she didn't care that it was a lot to take on.

"Excellent, can you start tomorrow?" he asked her as he looked down at his phone.

With a big smile, Elena nodded her head in agreement.

"Good," he said, glancing at Elena then back to his phone. "Now, if you excuse me," he said pressing a button and putting it up to his ear. "It was nice seeing you again Zoe and see you tomorrow Elena," he said to the girls then turned to walk back to his office.

Exiting the bar, the two girls made their way towards the clothing store that Zoe's family owned. Inside the store was Zoe's parents who were happy to see Elena. As Zoe predicted earlier, her mother asked her to have dinner with them which she gladly accepted, not eager to go home to her sister. The two girls walked back to Sector 4 with Zoe's mother who left the store early to go get dinner started. The three helped prepare the meal and they ate together as soon as Zoe's father came home.

After dinner, Elena thanked Zoe's parents for the wonderful meal then returned home.

The next morning Elena was excited to start her day. For the first time she was up before her alarm clock. She put on her school uniform rushing down the stairs into the kitchen to get breakfast. She came across Emma already up and sitting at the kitchen table eating.

"Morning," Elena greeted her sister with a smile. She didn't care what her sister said to her today, nothing was going to ruin her good mood.

"Good morning…" Emma replied, a little startled to see Elena so happy and up so early.

Elena walked over and grabbed herself a bowl of cereal before sitting back down at the kitchen table across from her sister. There were a few minutes of silence until Elena finally spoke up.

"Can you let dad know I won't be home until late tonight?" Elena asked her sister, finally looking up from her bowl.

"What are you doing after school?" Emma asked her sister curiously. Elena was always up to something and Emma felt it was her job to keep track of her.

"I have a part-time job after school and weekends," Elena said proudly.

"Doing what?"

"Bartending," Elena replied not wanting to tell her sister where. She knew Emma was going to find something negative to say about her new job and Elena wanted to give her as little ammunition as possible to use against her.

"You really think working in a bar is appropriate for someone your age?" Emma asked, laying down her fork. "What bar would hire a fourteen-year-old?"

Elena frowned. "You can never be happy for me?" she snapped. "I knew you were going to do this!"

"Whatever Elena," Emma sighed. "It's your life." It was way too early in the morning to argue with her sister and Emma was not feeling up to it.

The two ate their breakfast in silence until Elena finished and left for school. The school day seemed to drag on and Elena spent most of it gazing up at the classroom clock. Once the school day was finally over, she rushed down to the Wall Market to start her new job.

When she entered the Wall Market Pub it was not very busy with the afternoon rush having yet to start. Tony was behind the bar taking orders but stopped what he was doing as soon as he noticed Elena.

"He's in the back office waiting for you," Tony informed Elena then went back to taking orders.

Elena walked across the room to the office door and knocked. She heard someone tell her to enter so she proceeded to open the door and was greeted by Samuel sitting at a desk. The office was a small room with a safe the size of her, a desk, a computer, a security monitor, a locked cabinet, and shelving above the desk was covered in binders.

"Hello Elena," Samuel greeted her. "Are you ready to work?"

"Yes," Elena replied, eager to get started.

"So, I was working on a schedule and I was thinking you can work 4 PM to 10 PM Monday to Friday and weekends 1 PM to 9 PM. You relieve Tony here and I have another employee Mike who will relieve you at night. It gets a little rowdy after midnight and I would feel better knowing there is a man working the bar. Are you okay with those shifts?"

"Yes," she replied thinking it sounded reasonable. It was a lot of work but she knew she could handle it.

"Good, so the job is simple," Samuel explained. "The customer orders a drink and you give it to them while taking their money. The drink and food prices are on the menu or above the bar. If it's a food order just take the order and give it to the cook, the kitchen closes after 8 PM. We carry a lot of expensive and exotic spirits here so we're popular with Shinra employees. I allowed some of them to open a tab, my father never did this, but I figured they are good for the money. If someone comes in to pay their tab just put the money in the lockbox under the bar and record it in the log book so I know who paid what. On Thursday evenings the weekly shipment comes in so I will leave the key to the cellar in the lockbox along with their payment. Just unlock the cellar door and the delivery man will carry it down for you then lock it back up. I will do the inventory the next morning. Any questions so far?"

"No," Elena replied understanding everything so far.

"So, it's time to relieve Tony and I will help you this evening to show you the routine. Tomorrow you are by yourself, but I am just a phone call away if you have any questions."

Elena nodded yes and the two of them exited the office to relieve Tony. By now the bar was a little busier with the afternoon rush starting to ramp up. At first Elena just did whatever Samuel told her to do but after an hour or two Elena was serving customers by herself.

At one point, Samuel's cell phone rang and he left Elena alone to take the call. After serving a few men at the bar, a food order was ready, so she took the two plates and walked towards a table in the back were two middle-aged men talking loudly. She placed the plates of food down on the table just as one man slapped her ass.

"Thanks, sweet cheeks," he said loudly as he removed his lingering hand off her bottom.

Elena frowned. Her first instinct was to hit the man, but she didn't want to get fired for hitting a customer on her first day. Supressing her anger, she shot the man a dirty look and without saying anything she walked away from the table back towards her post at the bar. As she walked back, she came across Samuel who was standing by the office door watching her.

"Elena, you are going to have to stand up for yourself if you want to do this job," he said to her, obviously seeing what just happened. "I know most employers say the customer is always right, but certainly not here. You're a beautiful girl and drunk men will hit on you, so you're going to have to assert yourself more. Can you do that?"

Elena blushed at Samuel calling her beautiful. He was so cute, she looked away hoping he wouldn't see her blushing. She felt relieved having his permission to stand up for herself. If she had to endure harassment from drunken men without being able to fight back, she didn't know how long she was going to last here. She wanted work, but she had more respect for herself than that. He father taught her how to defend herself both physically and verbally, so being assertive came naturally to her.

Rest of night went smoothly. By the time ten rolled around, Elena was tending to the bar all by herself and Samuel went out back to his office until Mike started his sift. Once Mike arrived, Samuel showed her how to change over the cash and after a quick cleanup her shift was over.

Walking towards the train station Elena was exhausted but felt good after putting in a hard day's work. As soon as Elena returned home, she went straight into her room and took off her uniform crawling into bed. She fell asleep immediately upon her head hitting the pillow.

It had been two months on the job and Elena was starting to feel more confident in her position. All the regulars knew her by name and knew what they could or couldn't get away with. Some of them were a little rowdy after a few drinks but Elena was starting to figure out who they were and when to cut them off. She always made sure to keep her guard up and assert herself when interacting with some of the men. Once they realized she was not going to accept any form of harassment, they started treating her with respect and she would often joke around with many of the regulars, both male and female.

Samuel was right; there were a lot of Shinra employees who visited the bar. The only customers that felt out of place were the Turks who would come by for drinks a few times a week. She had never seen a Turk before, but as soon as they walked in, she knew who they were. They were the only ones who did not look like they were in the Wall Market for pleasure. Even when drinking they looked and acted professional. There were quite a few Turks, and Elena had seen six of them so far, but only four were regulars she knew by name. They would usually come by in groups of two, sometimes three, and they would sit at the bar talking amongst themselves. Elena tried not to listen in on their conversations but sometimes she couldn't help but overhear.

It was a busy Thursday when the dinner rush just started to die down. Almost all the seats at the bar and over half of the tables in the back were full. Most of the customers at the bar were Elena's regulars so she spent her time keeping their drinks topped up while taking orders from the other patrons. It was a busy and exhausting shift to say the least, but she knew tonight's tips were going to be good.

"Hey Elena," a regular named Johnny called from the far end of the bar table. "Can I get a top-up?" he asked holding up his empty beer glass while placing some gil on the counter.

Elena walked over and took his glass, she filled it under the beer tap then handed it back to him.

"Thanks," he said to her with a smile then continued drinking.

Noticing it was almost 7 PM, Elena went under the bar to retrieve the key from the lockbox for the Thursday delivery. When she stood up, she noticed someone walk through the entrance, but it wasn't the delivery man, it was Reno—one of the regular Turks and he was alone. This was not his first time coming in alone as he was the only Turk she would ever see come in by himself. Elena poured him a beer as the redhead walked up to the bar placing the gil on the counter.

"Thanks," he said as he took the drink. Instead of taking a seat at the bar he took an empty seat at the back corner of the room. This was not uncommon for him when he came in by himself so Elena didn't think anything of it and went back to serving drinks.

It was fifteen minutes later by the time Frank showed up with the delivery. He was a heaver older man with graying dark hair. Elena went back to unlock the cellar door as Frank carted in big crates one at a time. She went over to the lockbox to fetch the envelope. Once he was finished unloading Elena signed for product and he handed her a receipt.

"Thanks Frank," Elena said to the man as she locked the door and handed him the envelope with his payment.

"See ya next week Elena," Frank said to her before exiting the building.

Elena put the cellar key back into the lockbox and continued serving customers. After a few minutes a man from a table in the far-right corner got up and walked over towards the bar. He was with three other males and two females. They all looked like they were in their early twenties and Elena recognised three of the males who usually came by at least once or twice a week.

"Hey, can I get another round for our table?" the man asked, leaning on the bar just squeezing between two seated customers. He was a good-looking guy with dirty blond hair and green eyes.

"Sure, I can bring them over to you in a minute," Elena offered him. It was going to take a minute to make all their drinks and there were too many for him to carry by himself, especially since he looked slightly intoxicated.

"Thanks," he said with a smile and walked back to join his friends.

Once she made the drinks, she put them on a tray and took them over to the table. Two of the men had their arms around the two girls. The two girls were around their age and were pretty. They were all talking and laughing. Elena handed them their five drinks as the man who ordered reached into his pocket.

"How much do I owe you?" the man asked, looking up at Elena.

"28.50," Elena said holding her tray in both hands. The man handed her 40 gil as Elena reached into her apron pocket for change.

"Keep the change," the man said, grinning at her.

"Thanks," Elena said with a big smile and went back to the bar.

The rest of the night was going smoothly considering how busy it was. Elena had just an hour to go before shift change when a middle-aged man with a trench coat walked in and went directly towards Elena. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. He stopped at the bar and placed down a thick brown envelope, sliding it over towards her.

"Put this on the tab," the man informed her, then glanced around the room suspiciously before turning his attention back to her.

This was the second time this man had come in to pay, but he was not one of her regulars. Elena did not think anything of it assuming he was one of Mike or Tony's regulars.

"You can count it, it's the same as last time," the man advised her.

"I will. Thanks Berry," Elena said taking the envelope and putting it behind the bar.

Elena was going to count it as soon as her shift was over. As she watched Berry leave, she noticed that Reno was still sitting in the back corner of the bar and still on his first drink.

Elena started to do a quick clean between serving drinks for the last hour of her shift. It was quarter after ten when Elena noticed that Mike still hadn't shown up. He was never late before, Elena was starting to get worried and was considering calling her boss when Samuel unexpectantly walked into the pub and over to the counter.

"What happened to Mike? Did he call in sick?" Elena asked, hoping nothing bad happened. It was not uncommon for him to miss work.

Samuel nodded yes.

"I guess they all can't be as reliable as you and Tony," Samuel said to her as he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. "Sorry to relieve you so late Elena. How did it go tonight?"

"Good," Elena explained to him. "The shipment came in and Berry just dropped off a tab payment." She motioned towards the brown envelope she placed behind the bar. "I haven't had a chance to count it yet. Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked her boss. She felt bad leaving him here by himself all night since he also works days.

"Thanks Elena, you've done so much," he said to the young girl. "Could I trouble you for one more favour?"

"Sure, what would you like me to do?" she asked.

"Do you know where the materia store is a block over?" Samuel asked.

"Yes," Elena replied.

"The owner is my supplier and I have a special order that I need by next week. I haven't had a chance to bring it buy yet. Can you drop it off to him on your way home?"

"Sure, no problem," Elena agreed, even though she was already running late.

Samuel handed her a sealed envelope. "His name is Simon."

Elena accepted the envelope. "Okay, have a good night," she said to her boss.

Elena did one last scan of the bar and noticed that the redhead Turk in the corner had already left. She cleaned up his table, bringing the empty glass to the bar for Samuel before leaving to drop off the order.

Elena walked through the Wall Market towards the materia shop. She entered the dark and cluttered shop. On top of the materia the shop was full of various other items and potions, there was even a life-size stone statue in the corner that was being used as a coat rack. She walked in to find two men, one was sitting on a futon and the other was standing before him. The two of them immediately stopped talking when Elena entered, adding to the awkwardness.

"Hello miss," the male sitting on the mattress greeted her. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello," Elena replied. "Samuel asked me to bring you his order."

"Ahh, you must be Elena," the man said with a grin. "He called and said you would be over in his stead."

Elena handed the envelope to the seated man she assumed was Simon.

"Thanks," Simon said, accepting the envelope.

Feeling like she walked in on a private conversation, Elena left the shop to finally head home. It was way past her 11 PM curfew when she returned. She explained the reason for her tardiness to her father, but it didn't help. He told her that if she wanted to keep working, she couldn't miss curfew and he made her promised this would not happen again. After getting an earful from dad, she went up to bed and immediately fell asleep.

The next day after school Elena showed up for her shift. Tony was behind the bar trying to keep up with a busy Friday rush.

Upon spotting Elena, the bartender looked over at her with a serious expression. "The boss wants to see you in the office," Tony informed the girl.

Surprised to hear that Samuel was in the pub, Elena walked over to the office and opened the door. Her boss was sitting at his desk and looked exhausted.

"Geez, did you get any sleep in the last twenty-four hours?" she asked, wondering if he even left the building since last night.

"A few hours," he said with a faint smile. "Mike's final day is Monday, so I have to start looking for a replacement," he explained to her. "I was hoping you can take on some extra responsibilities in exchange for a pay increase?" he asked.

"A raise?" Elena questioned as a smile grew on her face. "Sure," she confirmed, excited by the idea of being trusted with more responsibilities, but more importantly, more money.

"Good," he said smiling back at her. "I'm going to start entrusting you with the evening accounting. Once you balance the registers at the end of your shift, I would like you to finalize some of the bookkeeping for me. I can show you how it's done on Monday when your shift starts. Also, if I can't find someone by Monday, I will be covering Mike's shift, so I won't be here during the days for the rest of the week. I was hoping you can help with some extra duties like running errands, inventory, paying bills, and so on when not tending the bar. I wanted to ask you first since I feel you deserve the raise more and you haven't let me down."

Elena was so flattered that he trusted her, she didn't even bother to ask him for more details. She eagerly agreed to the new proposal and left the office to go relieve Tony. She was so happy after her conversation with Samuel that she was feeling good throughout the entire dinner rush.

Like most Fridays, the pub was busy with many of the regulars. There was a small group of three Turks in their usual spot at the bar. She recognized Reno and Rude, they were regulars, but they were with some new, younger female with wavy brown hair. In the back of the room by the entrance the cute guy with blond hair and green eyes was seated with some guy she had seen a few times before. Like always, the blond guy was ordering round after round.

The first half of the night went smoothly. It was nearing 9 PM when Elena was surprised with a visit from her sister. Emma walked in with a big smile on her face, she looked around before spotting Elena and approaching the bar.

"What are you doing here?" Elena asked Emma between serving drinks. She was a little surprised to see her sister as this was her first time visiting her at work.

"The semester is finally over, and I just found out I got the highest score on my exams," Emma boasted proudly. "I was thinking we could go celebrate after your shift is over. I got permission from dad to stay out past curfew."

Elena frowned. Just her luck, on a good day like today her sister had to show up to rub her accomplishments in her face. Elena knew the only reason she came down here was to brag, and the last thing she wanted to go do is celebrate with her after a long day's work.

"Sorry Emma, but I already promised to work a little late tonight," Elena lied. "I don't know how late I am going to be, so you might as well go home."

"Working late?" Emma questioned. "What about curfew?"

"Well, it's a good thing you talked father into agreeing to extend it," Elena said cynically. "Thanks for that, now I won't get into trouble."

Emma sighed. "Sometimes you can be a real brat, you know that?" she said to her younger sister. "We'll see what dad says once I go home and tell him you'll be late again for the second night in a row."

"Whatever," Elena said, rolling her eyes. "Are you done? I got work to do."

Without saying another word, Emma exited the bar. Elena was now angry and only had fifteen minutes until her shift was over. Everyone sitting at the bar had overhead the conversation between the two girls.

The guy with the green eyes was standing at the bar waiting to order a drink. "Family, can't live with them, can't live without them," the young man commented to Elena with a grin.

"I don't know about that last part," Elena said to him. Although deep down she loved her sister, times like these Elena felt like she would be better off by herself. "What can I get ya?" she asked the man, changing the subject.

"Just another round," he said, placing some gil on the counter.

Elena gabbed a beer and made a rum and coke for him and his friend. She took the gil and was about to make change when he stopped her.

"Keep the change," he said with a smile. He grabbed the drinks and walked back towards his table before she had a chance to thank him.

Elena's shift was over when Mike finally showed up. He was ten minutes late for shift change and something about him didn't seem right. He looked tired and unkempt. He had dark circles under his brown eyes and it looked like he had not shaved in days. His dark hair was always a little long, but it looked messy when it was usually styled. She noticed that he had scratches on his hands and walked with a bit of a limp.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking concerned. It looked like he was in a fight which could explain why he was sick yesterday.

"Fine," he snapped at her, then walked over to the sink and poured himself a large glass of water. He chugged the whole glass before finally turning to face her. "Sorry, just having a bad week," he explained to her, then started taking orders. Being a Friday night, the rush was peaking, and people were starting to stand at the bar waiting for service.

Taking the hint, Elena didn't say another word to him. She switched the till and walked towards the office to count hers and do some bookkeeping. When she was finished, she exited the office making sure to lock the door behind her.

Standing in front of the office, Elena didn't know what to do. She told her sister she was working late, and she really didn't feel like going home, even if it meant that she might getting into trouble. She made a lot in tips this week and was still upset after her conversation with her sister, so in a rare move, she decided to go grab herself a beer. She walked behind the bar and pulled a cold one out of the fridge before leaving the gil plus a little extra next to the cash for Mike. He was busy, and she didn't want to bother him with her order.

Elena was standing with her drink and looking around the crowded pub for a place to sit at the bar when the guy with the green eyes called her over to his table. Elena walked over and stood next to his table.

"Need a place to sit?" the green-eyed guy asked her, motioning to the seat between the two guys.

"Thanks," Elena said taking the free spot. These guys were regulars and they always seemed nice, so she figured it won't hurt to talk to them while drinking her beer.

"Your name's Elena right?" the guy sitting directly across from her asked.

"Yes," Elena responded, "and your names are?"

"I'm Kevin," the man replied, "and this is Dominic, but we call him Dom." Kevin motioned to the green-eyed man who smiled at her.

"Nice to formally meet you," Elena said to the men then took another sip of her beer.

It didn't take long for the three of them to start conversing and laughing. She was starting to feel a lot better and had almost forgotten about the visit from her sister. Two more drinks later and Elena was starting to feel a little buzzed. It was nearing one in the morning and the crowd was starting to die down.

"Next round's on me," Kevin said, finishing off his drink and slamming the glass on the table.

"I'm good," Elena replied as she stood up. She could drink a few more but she still had to get home and didn't want to get too drunk.

"Common, one more," he said to her as he walked away from the table towards the bar.

When Kevin came back he had three mixed drinks that were red and orange in color. He placed them on the table one in front of Elena and Dom, then he took the third one and sat back in his seat.

"Since it's your last drink, I got us something special," he said to Elena with a smile. "I got us a round of flaming Ifrits. I've never tried it before, hopefully they're good."

Elena took a sip of the drink. It was strong and tasted like alcohol with a little bit of juice. She didn't want to be rude, so she sipped on the drink while the three of them continued talking.

Elena was almost half way through her drink when she started to feel like something was wrong. She grew quiet while the two men talked next to her. She was so lightheaded and dizzy, she could hear them talking but couldn't focus on what they were saying. She was starting to feel sick to her stomach and all she could think about was getting home as soon as possible. Elena was so woozy she couldn't say anything and used all her strength to try to leave.

As she struggled to stand, a wobbly Elena tried to make her way towards the exit holding on to whatever object she could to help steady herself. As soon as Elena exited the bar, she was relieved to feel the outside air. She took a deep breath hoping the cooler air would help her nausea, but it didn't. If anything, the smell of the slum air made her feel worse. As she slowly wobbled away from the pub, her dizziness was starting to overpower her. She felt like she could faint at any moment but she used all her strength to try to stay awake.

Suddenly, she felt someone come from behind and pick her up. She looked up to see who it was, but it was dark and everything was hazy. All she could make out was the blurriness of the surrounding lights. Sensing danger, Elena tried to struggle but she was too weak and whoever was holding her just tightened their hold.

After what felt like hours of being carried, Elena was thrown to the ground. She knew she was still outside because she could feel the ground under her, it was cold and felt like hard dirt or asphalt. As soon as her back hit the ground she tried to get up, but her head felt too heavy like it was weighed down with bricks.

Then she felt the weight of someone sitting on top of her legs and tugging at her blouse. Adrenaline started to rush through Elena's body as her mind went into panic mode. She started to struggle with all her might knowing what was going to happen to her if she failed. She tried the move her legs but the weight of the person sitting on them was too great. She tried to look at her attacker, but it was dark, and everything was still blurry, and her eyes felt so heavy. As she tried to free herself, the attacker ripped open her top and started to fondle her breasts while kissing her neck. Elena tried hitting her attacker which caused him to hit her hard in the face twice, then he grabbed her wrists and forcefully restrained her arms above her head. Trying to ignore the pain, she struggled to free her arms, but she was too weak. The attacked tried to pin both her arms with one hand while he used his free hand to reach up her skirt. Still struggling, Elena managed to free one of her hands and started to reach out feeling around for something to defend herself with. As she franticly felt around she found something long and sharp like a large shard of glass or a piece of metal. Gripping it tightly she plunged the make shift weapon into her attacker, hoping she hit something vital. Luckily, she must have severely injured him because he let out moaning sound while striking her hard in the face again. Then, she felt her injured attacker struggle to get off her. Taking the opportunity to flee, Elena mustered the last ounce of strength she had left and forced herself to stand up. Unfortunately, she was only able to stumble a few feet before her adrenaline wore off and darkness overpowered her.

It was daytime when Elena finally came to. Her head was pounding and the surrounding light hurt her eyes. The last clear memory she had was drinking at the pub, but she could not remember getting home. That's when she suddenly opened her eyes and looked around, realizing she was not at home. She was lying down on a hard wooden bench in what looked like a church.

"Good, you're awake," Elena heard a female voice say.

Elena sat up and looked around only to find another girl standing over her. She had long brown hair and green eyes. She looked around Elena's age and was wearing a light blue dress with white trim.

"What happened?" Elena asked holding her head. It was throbbing and the pain was making it difficult to try to remember what happened last night.

"I don't know," the young girl said to Elena. "When I arrived this morning you were unconscious and injured. Your clothes were ripped up and you had a lot of blood on them."

"I don't remember what happened last night and I don't know how I got here," Elena explained trying hard to think back. She looked down to see that she was no longer in her school uniform and was now wearing a light green dress.

"I healed your wounds and gave you some of my clothes," the girl explained. "You can keep the dress. Your clothes were so ripped up I couldn't leave you in them."

"Thanks for the dress and thanks for using your cure materia on me," Elena said. She assumed the girl used materia to heal her wounds. "What's your name?" Elena asked.

"Oh, I didn't use any cure materia and my name is Aerith," she said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"I'm Elena," the blond replied. "So where are we anyways?" she asked, looking around. The building looked old and damaged with a patch of flowers growing up from the ground in a spot where the sun shined down from a hole in the ceiling.

"We are in a church in Sector 5," Aerith explained to her.

Elena was surprised to hear they were in Sector 5. At first, Elena thought she was somewhere on the upper plate due to the flowers but then she realized, if they were up top this building would not be in ruins.

"I've lived in the slums all my life and never knew this place existed," Elena said looking around.

"This place was abandoned a long time ago so no one comes by anymore. But if someone brought you hear, they must have known I'd be able to help you. I come by daily to tend to the flowers," Aerith explained.

"Do you know who could have brought me here?" Elena asked the girl.

Elena was starting to recall pieces of what happened last night. She remembered struggling with someone. She didn't know for sure, but from what she recalled she might have killed her attacker, or at least, seriously wounded them. She remembered trying to flee but then her memory went blank. She was curious how she ended up in a church one sector over.

"I don't know," Aerith replied shaking her head. "This place is not a secret and there are a few people who know I come here."

"Thanks for all your help," Elena said to Aerith as she stood up. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Aerith asked, looking concerned. "You had some extensive injuries to your face and arms."

"I'm fine," Elena lied. She was exhausted and her head was still throbbing. She felt embarrassed because of what happened, and she felt like a fool for getting herself in this situation. She looked at her watch and was surprised to see she only had two hours hour until her shift started, she must have been out for a long time. "I should be going," Elena said in a hurry. "I really appreciate everything you did for me. Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Aerith said with a smile as Elena said goodbye and exited the church towards Sector 6.

Elena didn't have time to go home, but she still had an a few hours to kill before her shift started, so she went to go find her best friend. She really wanted someone to talk to and the only one she trusted was Zoe. Being Saturday afternoon, she assumed her friend would be at work.

When she reached the clothing store, she found her friend standing outside tending to a rack of clothes.

"Hey," Elena said to her friend causing Zoe to stop what she was doing and turn around. As soon as she saw Elena, she looked surprised. Although he wounds were healed, she still looked a mess.

"What happened to you?" Zoe asked, looking a little shocked.

"I had a really bad night," Elena replied starting to sound upset thinking about it.

Zoe walked over to the front entrance to the clothing store and stuck her head through the door.

"Mom, I'm going for a break," she called out and the two girls started to walk away from the store. "So what happened?" she asked as soon as they were a good distance away.

Being early afternoon on a Saturday, the wall market was a little busy, so they had some privacy as they talked. Elena explained what she remembered from the night before and waking up in the church. The more she talked about it the more she started to recall small details. Thinking and talking about it was beginning to overwhelm her, but she was determined not to let herself get too worked up over it.

As Elena explained what happened, a look of concern and worry was growing on Zoe's face. By the end of her story Zoe was looking more upset than Elena. Then the expression on her friend's face changed and she leaned in closer to Elena.

"I head mom say this morning that they found the body of a man in an alley three blocks away from here," Zoe said quietly to Elena. "She said he was stabbed. Do you think that was the man who attacked you?"

"I don't know…" Elena replied softly. Even though it was in self-defence, she was nervous.

Sensing her friend's worry, Zoe reached out and gave Elena a hug. "Don't worry," Zoe said holding her friend tight. She then let go and looked her straight in the eye. "You didn't do anything wrong. He attacked you and deserved what was coming to him. You are just lucky you were able to stop him before he could rape or kill you."

Elena didn't say anything but nodded in agreement. She tried telling herself Zoe was right, but it was all still fresh in her head and upsetting. There was silence as two girls walk back towards the clothing store. When they reached the store, Elena looked at her watch and she had fifteen minutes until her shift started.

"I should be going," Elena said to her friend while forcing a smile. "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime, you know where to find me," Zoe said with a smile and walked back into the store.

Elena went directly to the pub. It wasn't busy when she arrived with just three people sitting at the bar and only one table full. Tony was cleaning the bar and looked up when Elena walked through the door.

"What happened to you?" he asked as she walked behind the bar to the grab the till.

Apart from the messy hair, Elena still had dirt and small specs of dried blood on her face and arms. She finally noticed how messy she looked when she glanced in the mirror behind the bar.

"It's a long story," Elena sighed as she took the till and brought it into the office. After she counted, she went into the bathroom to clean up a little before starting her shift. After cleaning up as best as she could, Elena went back to the office to take her till back towards the bar.

"We're out of rum," Tony informed Elena as soon as she put the till back into the cash register.

"Did you check the cellar?" Elena asked him.

"I haven't had a chance to check. You mind taking a look for me?" he asked her as he was refilling a glass of beer. "I'm waiting on a food order."

Elena nodded yes and went to get the key to the cellar. She unlocked the door then turned on the light before walking down the steps into the damp cool room. She walked over to the shelves full of liquor looking for the rum. Usually they were full but today they were looking a little bare. Elena looked around then noticed the crates with Thursday's order still sitting in the corner of the room. Usually Samuel stocks the shelves first thing Friday morning but she assumed he was too busy this week trying to find a replacement for Mike. Spotting the crowbar in the corner, Elena walked over and started to open one of the crates. She figured it wouldn't screw up the inventory if she kept track of whatever she used.

It took a bit of force, but Elena finally opened the top off the crate. Inside were bottles of various types of liquors sitting on top of a thin board and separated by cardboard. Given the size of the bottles compared to the size of the crate, Elena assumed there must be two layers of bottles. She started to pull up random bottles studying the labels trying to locate the rum. As soon as she located what she was looking for, she heard the door above her open. She looked up to see Samuel standing at the top of the stairs.

"Find what you were looking for?" Samuel asked looking serious. It was hard to read his expression but Elena thought he did not look happy.

"Tony said we were out of rum and I couldn't find any on the shelves…" Elena explained as she stood up holding the bottle.

The man studied her for a few seconds then smiled. "Sorry, I have been so behind lately I haven't had a chance to do the inventory," he informed her. "Is that all you needed?"

Elena nodded yes and walked towards the stairs with the bottle. When she reached Samuel, he was standing in the doorway blocking her path.

"Are you okay Elena?" he asked her with a serious expression. "Tony said you looked like you were having a bad day."

"I'm fine," she lied to him. She didn't feel like talking about what happened with anyone especially her boss.

"Do you want the evening off?" he asked her with a concerned expression.

"No, I'm good," she replied, forcing a smile.

"Okay, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," he commented before turning around to exit the cellar.

"Thanks," Elena replied happy to know someone was looking out for her.

Once she started her shift the rest of the night went smoothly. Samuel finished the inventory in the basement and did some work in the office before checking up on her. Once she reassured him that she was fine, he left for the night.

Elena kept an eye out for the two guys from the night before but they never showed up. She didn't know if one of them was the person who attacked her but she assumed they must have put something in her drink. Part of her was kind of relieved they didn't show because she didn't feel like confronting them.

When Mike showed up for his shift, he looked a lot better than yesterday. She quickly finished her end of shift routine eager to get home into bed. She said goodnight to Mike and exited the bar towards the train station.

She couldn't help but noticed how quiet it was for 9:30 on a Saturday. She was walking down an empty street a few blocks away from the train station when she had a feeling like someone was following her. She heard a noise coming from a nearby alleyway, causing her to stop and look just as a figure was stepping out onto the dimly lit street. She could just make out the face of the man under the street lights, he looked familiar but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before.

"I need you to come with me," the man said, taking a few steps towards her.

Without saying a word Elena turned to run away, but before she could take a step she stopped in her tracks when she hit what felt like a brick wall. Someone grabbed her arm forcefully and she looked up to see a man standing over her. She struggled to break free of his grip but he was too strong. She looked back to see the other man approaching her. That's when she remembered where she had seen the man before. Both these men were with Dom a few nights ago when they were with the two girls.

"What do you want with me?" Elena asked as she nervously looked between the two men.

"We want payback for what you did to our friend," the man said, glaring at her angrily.

Before Elena could scream for help, her captor hit her hard in the head knocking her unconscious.

When Elena regained consciousness she was in a dimly lit room. Her head was pounding and sore. She put her hand behind her head only to find a big bump where the man hit her. She looked around and was in a small room with boarded up windows. The room was mostly empty except there were five wooden crates, some empty but there were two that still had the top on them. She walked over to the door and tried to open it but it was locked on the outside. She didn't want to bang on the door fearing it would alert her captors. She surveyed the room again to see if there was something she missed that could help her escape but there was nothing besides the crates. Curious to see what was in them, Elena walked over and lifted the top off the one closest to her. They look just like the crates in the basement of the pub except when she opened them there were no bottles of alcohol. There appeared to be nothing inside, that's when she noticed that like the crates from the pub, there was a thin piece of plywood dividing the wooden box. She lifted the piece of wooden board only to discover that the bottom half of the crate was full of various types of firearms. She proceeded to pick up a handgun located at the top of the pile and checked it to see if it was loaded. She was not a stranger to guns as her father taught both his girls how to fight unarmed and using a variety of weapons. She was hoping if the gun was loaded she could use it against her attackers but it was empty. She checked a few more and not a single one was loaded. She then started to look around the room for ammunition, but the rest of crates were either empty or had more unloaded weapons.

Elena had just given up looking when she could hear what sounded like someone walk into a neighbouring room. As soon as she heard a door shutting the sound of voices began resonating through the walls.

"What did the boss say?" she heard a male voice ask.

"He ain't happy," replied another male voice. "He doesn't think the girl's involved."

"What?" the first voice questioned. "She has to be! How else would you explain the Turks snooping around? They must have an informant."

"But how ya sure she's the rat?" the second voice questioned.

"I don't know how the boss can't see it. She just stating working there around the same time the Turks started closing in on us and I found out her father is working for the Shinra Academy. Not to mention, she took down Kevin single handily after he drugged her. And why else would a girl from the plate want to work in a pub in the slums? I don't know how the boss can't see it!"

"I donno," the second man said like he was taking in all the information. "She's kinda young to be workin' for the Turks, and you know how Kevin is, he's always gettin' himself in trouble. Maybe someone else is the rat."

"I already interrogated the only other guy," the first man replied. "After what I did to him, if he knew anything, he would have squealed."

Listening to their conversation, Elena knew they were talking about her. She couldn't believe they thought she was an informant for the Turks and they even knew about her father. She assumed this had to do with her job and she wondered if these cates of weapons had something to do with it.

"Were all the shipments I signed for full of guns?" she asked herself. If that were true, then Samuel could be working with them. He was such a nice guy and was so good to her, she didn't want to believe it. Elena needed answers and she knew she had to find a way out of here as soon as possible. If they thought she was an informant there was a good chance they brought her here to kill her.

Suddenly, Elena heard footsteps walking into a nearby room.

"I got your message, where is she?" She heard a new voice ask. This voice sounded a little familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"In the storage room," she heard one of the two men reply.

"The boss is pissed," the new voice explained. "He wants you to let her go."

"But she knows what we look like!" one man's voice exclaimed.

"That's your problem," the familiar voice said unsympathetically. "Maybe you should think twice before abducting people without permission."

"But she killed Kevin!" the other voice exclaimed.

"So? I was there, he got what was coming to him," the familiar voice stated.

It was then that Elena realized where she had heard that familiar voice before, she was sure it was Dom's voice. He was the only one with Kevin the night she was attacked. Elena listened attentively as Dom's voice continued speaking through the walls.

"You two jeopardized the whole mission bringing her here," Dom's voice explained. "Now, let her go!"

There was a moment of silence followed by the sound of a door opening and footsteps approaching her room. Elena immediately laid back down on the floor to pretend that she was still sleeping. She didn't want her captors to know she overheard their conversation and hoped that this could help ease any suspicion they had of her. As she rested on the floor, she could hear the door to the room unlock and could feel the vibrations of the footsteps approaching her.

"Hey, bitch, get up," a man's voice said as she felt the pain of his foot jab into her side, trying to wake her.

Elena started to move as she pretended to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head to look around before stopping at the man.

"What's going on?" she asked, trying to appear disoriented. "Where am I?"

"None of your fucking business," the man snapped at her. "Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind."

The man jabbed her one last time with his foot prompting her to quickly stand up and hurry towards the door. The man followed her closely as she made her way towards the entrance. The man did not say anything as she unlocked the front door and exited the residence. As she stepped through the doorway, the man shut the door and locked it behind her.

As soon as Elena was outside, she looked around to get her bearings. She was surprised to find herself in the Sector 3 slums. She recognized it because it was one of the only sectors consisting mostly of quiet residential-like properties with few shops or businesses.

For once Elena was eager to get home and into bed. She looked at her watch and was mortified to learn that it was three in the morning. Having not been home since Friday morning, she knew she was going to be in major trouble. She considered looking for a phone to call her father to let him know she was okay, but she decided against it and just started her long trek home.

It was past sunrise by the time Elena arrived home. As expected, her furious father greeted her at the door looking like he haven't slept in days. Having expected her home Friday night, and it now being Sunday morning, her father demanded to know what happened. Unwilling to tell her father the complete truth, Elena withheld most of the details. She told him about her argument with Emma at work Friday night and her decision to stay out, but she lied and told him that she stayed at Zoe's house for the weekend to cool off. She didn't want to make it about work and purposely failed to mention the attempted rape, abduction, and probable homicide that had also occurred that weekend. Needless to say, her father was not impressed with her decision to stay at a friend's house without notice but after some begging and pleading he agreed to let her continue working at her job if she promised to not let this happen again.

Happy with her father's decision, Elena went to bed to try to get a few hours sleep before her Sunday shift started. She was so exhausted she slept through her alarm clock and was already an hour late for work by the time she left the house. As she raced towards the train station, an uneasy feeling started to form in the pit of her stomach. On top on her anxiety over being super late, she couldn't shake the conversation she overheard between her captors' hours earlier. She didn't want to believe it, but it sounded like Samuel was involved with these criminals and was possibly running some kind of weapons trafficking operation out of her place of employment.

Elena hoped she was mistaken, but she wasn't an idiot. She wondered if she should even continue working there if Samuel was associated with the men that attacked and abducted her. So many thoughts were racing through her head she was starting to doubt herself. Was it possible that she misunderstood the conversation she overheard? Maybe Samuel had nothing to do with this and the similar crates were just a coincidence. Deep down she hoped her suspicions were wrong. She liked Samuel and wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. She also loved her job, she wanted to keep working there but not at the expense of her life or her freedom. If the Turks were really investigating her place of employment, the last thing she wanted was to get implicated in anything illegal.

By now Elena had reached the slums and all that ruminating had only aggravated the feeling in her gut. She exited onto the Sector 7 platform and raced over to the Wall Market. Her heart sank when she walked into work, almost two hours late at this point, only to find Samuel working behind the bar. He looked tired and angry with a serious expression on his face. He immediately noticed Elena as soon as she entered, causing his expression to soften a little.

"Elena, what happened?" Samuel asked as soon as she walked behind the bar. "I was worried something happened to you. I wanted to call your house to check in but then I realized I never wrote down your contact info."

"I'm really sorry," Elena sated to explain. "The last two days have been hell and I overslept. It won't happen again, I promise."

"I figured it must have been something serious," Samuel sympathized. "You are normally so reliable, I knew you wouldn't up and quite on me without notice." Samuel smiled briefly before a concerned look appeared on his face. "I hope it's not this job stressing you out. If you don't think you can handle the extra work, just let me know and I will adjust it. The last thing I want is to lose a great employee like you to burnout."

Elena smiled at the compliment. "No, the workload is fine," she explained. "I just had a really bad weekend, that's all."

Samuel smiled. "You should keep my number on you, don't hesitate to call any time you need help, okay?"

"Okay," Elena agreed, her face starting to feel warm from blushing.

"Now, normally I world let you take over your shift, but I already called Tony in and promised him double time until Mike gets here, if he even comes. It's Mike's last night so I'm not even sure if he'll show."

"I'm so sorry about this," Elena said regrettably. "Do you want me to go home?"

"Not necessary," Samuel explained. "With Tony covering the bar, I will have free time to walk you though the extra duties. I still haven't found a replacement for Mike, so I will be taking his shift tomorrow night and would like to get some sleep."

Samuel looked exhausted which just added the Elena's guilt. Ashamed of her tardiness and what it had cost Samuel in overtime, Elena was eager to help her boss out.

"Is there anything I can do to assist?" she asked.

"Yes, actually," Samuel replied with a grin. "I still haven't completed stocking Thursday's delivery. Can you get started for me until Tony arrives?"

Samuel reached over by the cash and picked up a clipboard with a piece of paper clipped to it. "I have one crate already stocked and I've been keeping track of everything that has been pulled from the basement since Friday. Just record what's left in the last crate as you stock it. Think you can handle it until I get down?"

"No problem," Elena said as she took the clipboard from him and headed towards the basement. She walked into the cellar and towards the crates. Everything was still in the same position she had placed it yesterday when she opened the top of a crate with the crowbar. She noticed that one crate was already empty and went right to work recording the inventory in the remaining crate before stocking it on the shelves. Once she finished recording and stocking the top half of the crate, she paused, wondering if she should lift the false bottom board. A nervous feeling started to form in her stomach as she thought about her abduction and the conversation she overheard. Her nagging curiosity was starting to overpower her as she lifted the board. She held her breath as she lifted the board, hoping to only find bottles and not a small arsenal of weapons. A wave of relief washed over her when she discovered more bottles, all identical kinds with think pieces of carboard spaced between them. It had a label she didn't recognize, it was black with a big silver diamond on it. She noted the amount on the clipboard but since she didn't know what kind of alcohol it was, she just started stocking it in a box on the bottom of the shelving unit away from the other bottles. She had just stocked the first six bottles when she heard Samuel's throat clear and looked up to find Samuel standing at the top of the stars.

"Everything okay down here?" Samuel asked.

"Fine," Elena replied with a smile. "I counted your special order in the inventory but not sure where to stock it. What kind of alcohol is it?"

"Just a special order from Corel, it's for President's Day next week," Samuel explained.

"That's next week already?" Elena asked with a smile. "That means I won't have school."

"Since it falls on a Friday this week, I anticipate we will be very busy," Samuel explained. "If you want to pick up a few extra hours that day you can start earlier, I'm sure we'll need an extra pair of hands."

"Sure," Elena said happily.

"Excellent," Samuel replied. "Thanks for finishing the inventory for me Elena," Samuel said. "I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this much if it wasn't for you."

Elena blushed. "No problem at all," she replied with a smile.

"You still have a few hours until your shift is over, but I'll pay you for the day if you want to take off early."

"Thanks," Elena replied as she walked up the stairs.

"Would it be too much trouble for you to bring something by Simon's shop on your way home? I have a few extra items I want to add to Thursday's order. With the holiday next week, I want to make sure we are fully stocked."

"No problem at all," Elena replied with a smile.

Samuel walked over to his office to retrieve the envelope for Elena. "Thanks Elena," he said as he handed it to her.

Elena exited the bar and walked through the Wall Market towards the materia shop. She approached the shop's entrance and tried to enter but the door was locked. She was surprised to find it locked considering that all the shops in the Wall Market were opened twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. She hesitantly knocked on the door and waited a few seconds. When there was no answer she decided to knock again.

"Yeah? Who is it?" she heard a muffled voice ask from behind the door.

"It's Elena," she replied into the closed door. "I'm here to drop off an order for Samuel."

There was a pause as Elena heard voices quietly talking followed by the sound of shuffling inside the shop. Then she heard the click of the door unlocking.

"Come in," the muffled voice called out to her.

Elena walked in and closed the door behind her. As she entered the shop, she was startled to find Simon sitting on the futon with his hands tied behind his back and a gag over his mouth. He was visibly injured with one side of his face swollen and blood dripping from his nose.

By the time Elena realized what she had walked into, it was too late. She had little time to react before she felt the presence of someone from behind followed by a pair of arms quickly wrapping around her. Elena started to struggle in her captive's strong arms when her attention was drawn to a figure stepping out of the shadows. She stopped struggling as soon as she recognized the person, it was Reno, a Turk. Her stomach immediately started to turn once she realized the gravity of the situation.

"Hi Elena," Reno said casually.

As soon as Reno spoke, Elena felt the arms around her release. She glanced behind to discover another familiar Turk named Rude. Elena's instincts were screaming at her to just run away but Rude's big frame blacked the only exit, so she had no choice but to turn and address Reno.

"What's going on?" Elena asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We should ask you the same thing," Reno replied.

"I'm just here to drop off Samuel's order to Simon," Elena replied innocently as she held up the thick envelop.

Without warning, Rude's tall stature reached over Elena's head and effortless snatched the envelop from her hand.

"What kind of order?" Reno asked as he walked over to retrieve the envelop from Rude and opened it.

"It's just his drink order for next week," Elena explained nervously. She knew if the Turks were involved, something bad was about to go down.

"Geez, I don't recognize any of these brands, silver diamond?" Reno said as he read the first of multiple pages. "And these appear to be coded messages," he commented as he started to read the rest of the papers before holding them up for Elena to see.

Elena could not read the paper from where she was standing but she could tell it was more than just a list of items. He heart began to race as it dawned on her that she might be in more trouble than she anticipated.

"I didn't know what was in the envelope, I swear!" Elena tried to plead with them. "Samuel asked me to bring the weekly drink order, that's all. Ask Simon, he provides Samuel with the items."

Elena looked over at the shop owner restrained on the futon, she just hopped he was going to confirm her story, but he did not even look up to acknowledge her as he sat silently with his head down.

"How dumb do you think we are?!" Reno asked Elena, starting to sound a little frustrated with the girl. "We know that's not Simon."

"What? What are you talking about?" Elena asked defensively. "Of course that's Simon. I—"

"Cut the crap Elena," Reno interjected angerly. "You're not fooling anyone, we know that you're involved with these terrorists."

"Terrorists?" Elena questioned, her heart starting to sink. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a waitress."

"That's what we thought too," Reno explained. "But then we spotted you just strolling out of their clubhouse early this morning and now we caught you red handed." Reno held up the incriminating letters. "How do you explain these?"

Elena was so confused and terrified, she was using every ounce of willpower trying to force herself not to panic. "Please, this is all a misunderstanding!" Elena tried to explain. "I was kidnaped and taken to that house against my will last night. I didn't know what was in that envelope, my boss just asked me to deliver it, I swear!"

"I find that hard to believe," Reno scoffed. "I saw you casually stroll out of that house with my own two eyes. Why would they abduct you and then let you go like that?"

"They kidnaped me because I killed one of their friends but…then let me go." As Elena started to explain the situation, she knew they were no going to believe her, even she had a hard time believing it.

"That does not make any sense," Reno said as he shook his head in disappointment at her ridiculous excuse. "Why would they just let you go if you offed one of their own? Unless you were working with them."

"I don't know why they let me go!" Elena retorted angrily. "I think their boss told them to…"

"Who's their boss?" Reno questioned.

"I don't know!" Elena replied in frustration.

Reno smiled at the agitated female. "Becoming a little defensive, aren't we? If you're not going to cooperate with us willingly, maybe we should just arrest you now and bring you in for interrogation."

"What?!" Elena asked in shock. "But I didn't do anything wrong!"

"That's not the way I see it," Reno answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "On top of a murder you just copped to, we now have enough evidence to bring you in for treason and conspiring with a terrorist organization. Those are some very serious charges for such as young girl."

"No, you're mistaken!" Elena explained as tears started to form in her eyes. "I didn't do those things, and the death was in self-defence! I swear!"

"If that's true, then it's not too late to start cooperating," Reno explained. "If you do, maybe I'll throw in a good word with the Judge," he added with a grin.

Based on Reno's smile, Elena could not help but think that he was enjoying watching her squirm. "How can I cooperate if I don't know anything?" she asked as she wipe the tear that had formed in one eye.

"I think you know more than you are letting on," Reno explained. "What did your boss say this order was for again?"

"He told me he was ordering extra bottles for the Presidents Day next week," Elena replied.

"Bottles of what?" Reno asked.

"Alcohol, I'm assuming," Elena replied with a hit of sarcasm. "I do work in a pub." She was having a hard time believing that someone as nice as Samuel was involved with a terrorist organization.

"Do you know the source of these special orders?" Reno asked.

"I don't know for sure," Elena replied. "He says that he gets stuff shipped in from all over the globe. He mentioned that he gets some rare bottles from places like Corel and Wutai. Ask Simon, he's the supplier." Elena motioned to the restrained and gagged man as she spoke.

Reno let out a frustrated sigh. "Elena, what kind of idiot do you take me for?" he asked. "I've known Simon all my life and that is not Simon," he explained as he pointed to the restrained man.

"Then who's that?" Elena asked as she pointed to the man.

"An imposter," Reno explained. "The real owner of this shop disappeared a few months ago. We think this man is a member of a Wutian terrorist cell that infiltrated the slums around the same time the real Simon disappeared. We received information that your boss is working with the cell to plan an attack on Shinra."

"That can't be," Elena replied, not wanting to accept the fact that Simon was involved. He was just a simple business owner, she hoped the Turks' intelligence was inaccurate.

"Are you really that naïve?" Reno asked her in disbelief. "Even as a patron I noticed all the shady shit going on in that place. You were receiving envelopes of money from people that weren't even customers."

"I thought they were regulars from Tony's shift or something," Elena explained sincerely.

"Wow, you really are that naïve." Reno sighed then gave her a pitiful look. "You really have no idea what's going on in that bar, do you?"

"I don't think anything is going on," Elena replied defensively. "Samuel's a good guy just trying to run a business, what reason would he have to attack Shinra?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Reno questioned.

"So that means you're going to let me go?" Elena asked hopefully.

"Elena, you admitted to homicide, I can't just let you off the hook," Reno explained with a serious expression. He paused for a second before a smile appeared on his face like he suddenly had an idea. "But maybe I'll hold off on arresting you if you agree to help us out."

"How?" Elena asked speciously.

"I need you to find out what exactly your boss has planned with this order," Reno said as he held up the papers in his hand.

"How do I do that?" Elena asked. "If I start asking questions now, he's going to know something is up."

"That's for you to figure out," Reno replied.

"You could always appeal to his hatred of Shinra," Rude suggested, finally speaking up.

Elena sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll try, but I still think you're mistaken."

Having agreed to cooperate, Rude stepped aside allowing Elena to leave the shop. Nervous, terrified, exhausted, Elena's mind was racing as she hurried home. The train ride flew by as she ruminated over what had just happened. It was only a little after nine by the time she arrived home.

It being Sunday night, Elena knew there was a good chance her father would be getting ready for bed, but Emma was a different story. As she walked towards her house, Elena cringed when she saw the living room lights on confirming her prediction. She walked into the house and glanced over to see Emma sitting in the living room watching television.

"Hey," Elena said, only as a formality. She was about to race up to her bedroom when, to her dismay, Emma started talking.

"Wow, you actually came home tonight," Emma snarked.

Elena frowned. She was stressed, hungry, tired and not in the mood for her sister's bullshit. After everything that had happened to her the weekend, this was the last thing she needed right now but there was no way she was going to let her sister have the last word.

"What's your problem?" Elena snapped. "I spent two nights at a friend's house. Why are you making a big deal about it? Are you envious that I actually have friends to stay with?"

Emma frowned. "I was just joking Elena, stop being such a brat," Emma retorted. "And for your information, I know for a fact that you were not at Zoe's Friday night."

Elena's heart started to race but she forced herself to stay calm, he sister was a notorious bluffer.

"How do you know where I was or wasn't?" Elena asked defensively.

"Dad sent me looking for you Saturday afternoon after you didn't come home Friday night. I ran into Zoe later that day and she said she saw you before your shift started. I asked her what you were doing, she didn't say anything about you staying the night."

"Why didn't you say anything to dad?" Elena asked, shocked that her sister did not rat her out.

"You're old enough to take care of yourself," Emma replied. "I told dad that you were fine, that's all that mattered."

Elena was almost rendered speechless by her sister's words. For once in her life Emma was not treating her like a child.

"Well, thanks for that," Elena said softly before racing up the stairs to her bedroom.

Even after getting over eight hours of sleep Elena still felt exhausted at school. For once she was happy to be going to be going. Normally she hated school but now it felt like a much-needed break from all the craziness that had been going on in all the other parts of her life. As she watched the classroom clock near the end of the school day, an uneasy feeling started to grow in her stomach. She really didn't want to go to work and she was angry with the predicament she had gotten herself into. She considered calling in sick but then worried the Turks might come after her if it looked like she was not going to cooperate. She also didn't want to turn on her boss, but if he really was a criminal like the evidence was starting to suggest, the last thing she wanted was to be implicated in his crimes.

Elena jumped a little when the school bell rang, singling the end of the school day. Letting out a big sigh, Elena grabbed her things and made her way towards the train station. She made her way into the Wall Market and towards the bar. As usual, Tony was tending to the bar when she arrived. It was not very busy, even for a Monday. As per the usual routine, Elena retrieved the office key to change and count the tills. When she was finished with her shift changing duties, she went towards the bar to relieve Tony.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked, noticing the worried look on Elena's face.

"Nothing, just tired, school dragged on today," Elena lied.

"Maybe your shift will be as dead as mine, if your lucky."

"Hopefully," Elena sighed just as Tony was leaving.

Elena did luck out, and apart from a brief rush around dinner time, the rest of her shift was extremely quiet for a Monday. There was only one patron in the bar when Samuel's shift started. She was almost ready to leave by the time he arrived, having so much free time she had most of her shift closing chores completed early.

"Hello Elena," Samuel greeted her. "How was your shift?"

"Not bad," Elena replied. "It was quiet, so low tips, but I had time to do some extra cleaning."

Samuel looked around. "It certainly is quiet today, probably due to holiday on Friday."

"About Friday," Elena said, redirecting the conversation. "What were the extra hours you wanted me to work?"

"Are you sure you want to work?" Samuel asked. "I heard they are having a big celebration on the top plate."

"Nah," Elena replied. "I rather work and if I did have the day off, I would spend it down here with Zoe. I hate being on the top plate."

Samuel looked surprised by Elena's comment. "Really? Why do you hate it?" he asked.

"The people up there are snobs and their lives revolve around Shinra, it just feels so…fake."

Samuel gazed at Elena with a mesmerized look on his face. "You're an odd girl Elena, but smart. Many would say you are lucky to be given an opportunity to live up top. My father moved to Midgar as a child and worked his whole life trying to save up enough money to move to the top plate, but he will die before that will ever happen."

"But your bar is so successful, he couldn't even afford a little place up top?" she asked curiously.

Samuel laughed at Elena's innocence. "My father learned the hard way that it is not as simple as that. Real estate on the top plate is strictly regulated, you can only live up top when Shinra wants you living up top. Unfortunately for us, the plate already has enough watering holes, so my father's skillset made him inadmissible."

As Samuel spoke, Elena could sense the bitterness in his voice and noticed the soured expression on his face. This was obviously a touchy subject for him to say the least.

"I had no idea it was like that," Elena said truthfully. "It makes me hate them even more."

"Doesn't your dad work for Shinra?" Samuel asked.

"Just at the academy, but it still doesn't change my feelings about Shinra," Elena explained. "I'd move back down hear in a heartbeat."

Samuel smiled. "You are one of a kind Elena," he said before glancing over at the clock. "You should hurry before you miss your train," he said as he motioned to the time.

Elena said goodbye to her boss and left for the train station. The whole journey home she thought about her conversation with Samuel and his family's story. She felt sorry for him, but she knew if he was doing something wrong, he had to be stopped. She tried to prepare herself for the realization that Reno might be right about Samuel but part of her was still hoping that this was all a misunderstanding. She just needed to do a little more digging to get to the truth.

Tuesday's shift was busier than the previous day, not overly crowded but there were more regulars in. It was Wednesday when things started to get busy. When Elena arrived for her shift it wasn't even the start of the dinner rush and the place was already full. Tony was busy at the bar and there was a line-up of meals from the kitchen. Elena quickly assisted Tony deliver his food orders before starting her shift change duties. Once finished, she went over to the bar to relieve Tony.

"Before I go you might want to restock the bar," Tony informed her. "We are low on almost everything."

Elena nodded in agreement and took a mental note of what they needed. She went to fetch the keys to the cellar and entered. When she reached the bottom, step she looked around and was surprised to find that they were low on everything. The crate from last week's order was gone along with all the bottles of Samuel's special order. She proceeded load a box up with a few bottles and head up the stairs to start her shift.

As Elena replenished the bar, Tony pocketed his tips and departed, leaving Elena to tend to the crowed of patrons. The first few hours went by quickly but started to die down a little after dinner rush. It was a little after seven thirty when Elena was surprised by her boss arriving a few hours earlier than expected. He looked tired and a little more unkept than usual and did not look happy.

"Hey Samuel, is something wrong?" Elena asked, unable to ignore the grim expression on his face.

"Yes," Samuel sighed in frustration. "Something happened to Simon, he's been missing for over twenty-four hours."

"Oh, no," Elena replied, trying to sound surprised while a nervous feeling started to form in the pit of her stomach.

"He hasn't bee seen since Sunday," Samuel explained. "You were probably one of the last people to see him when you dropped off the order. Did you see anything out of the ordinary when you went by his shop?"

Elena's heart started to race as she tried to think of what to say. "Nothing out of the ordinary," she replied, hoping her nervousness didn't show. "He was a little quiet, but I wasn't there very long."

Samuel did not say a word as he looked at her, studying her like he was trying to determine if she was being truthful with him. It was making her more nervous and it didn't help that he continued to frown at her with a serious expression.

"Yes, well," Samuel started to say. "As much as I am worried about my friend, this also means I'm stuck looking for an alternative supplied in extremely short notice, less than forty-eight hours before one of the busiest drinking days of the year." Samuel looked extremely angry and frustrated with this predicament.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Elena asked sympathetically. She was feeling a little guilty and sorry for Samuel.

Samuel sighed. "No, I think you've done enough Elena," he responded in a frustrated tone.

Elena was a little taken back by his comment. He had never appeared this agitated before, or at least, never directed at her.

Realizing how he came across as, Samuel's expression softened a little. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean that. I guess the stress and exhaustion is getting to me." He paused and smiled faintly. "Thanks for the offer but there is nothing you can do to help. I'm training a new nightshift guy named Jonny tonight and I have a meeting with a new supplier in an hour. That's why I'm here early, I figured if I'm going to be here anyways, I might as well let you go home early. You seemed a little overworked lately, the last thing I want is for you to quit on me too." Samuel was now back to his normal smiling self.

"Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help?" Elena asked. "Do you want me to work the bar while you meet with your supplier?" Seeing her boss back to his normal self was making her feel more at ease.

"No, I should be able to handle it," Samuel replied. "You should go home and get some rest. The next two days are going to be extremely busy."

Not wanting to argue with her boss any longer, Elena grabbed her bag and left. Knowing there was a train leaving in less than ten minutes, she hurried towards the train station. She was nearing Sector 7 when someone quickly reached out and pull her into the alleyway she was passing in front of. Elena was shocked by the stealthiness of the person, she was about to let out a scream when a small hand covered her mouth. The hand released as soon as she turned to face her attacker. Elena was surprised to see the young female Turk with brown wavy hair. She recognized the girl having seen her at the bar with Reno and Rudy.

"You're Cissnei, right?" Elena asked, not sure if she had the correct name.

"Yes," Cissnei replied with a serious expression. "I need to know why you are leaving work early."

"Why?" Elena inquired.

"I've been ordered to make sure you don't stray from your regular routine," Cissnei answered.

"Did Reno put you up to this?" Elena asked.

"None of your business who gave me the assignment," Cissnei replied defensively. "I need to know why you left and where you are going."

"Well, I'm trying to catch the train home because my boss relieved me from my shift early," Elena explained.

"Why?" Cissnei asked.

"He came in early to attend a meeting and said I could go home," Elena explained.

"Meeting with whom?" Cissnei asked.

"He didn't give me a name," Elena replied. "He said he was meeting with a new supplier after something happened to Simon."

Cissnei took a second to look at Elena, probably trying to determine if she was telling the truth. "Okay, you can go," Cissnei informed Elena. "But you better go straight home, we'll be watching."

Elena watched Cissnei exit the alleyway and head back towards the Wall Market. Once Cissnei was gone, she left in the opposite direction towards the train station and subsequently home.

Thursday's shift started out busier than Wednesday's. With tomorrow being a holiday, the bar was full of Shinra employees getting an early start to the long weekend. By the time Elena arrived at the start of her shift, Samuel was tending to the bar while Tony was taking a food order. The place was so loud and busy that not a single table was free forcing a small group to wait at the bar and drink while they waited for a table.

Spotting Elena as soon as she entered, Samuel addressed her. "Elena, thank goodness you are here," Samuel called out to her. "Can you come here and take over for me? I'll take care of the shift change duties."

"Sure," Elena said happily as she jumped in behind the bar and started taking drink orders while Samuel retreated to the back office.

Given the crowded conditions, Tony stayed on until after the dinner rush to help them out. It was still busy after he left but more manageable. Elena was able to tend to the bar while Samuel caught up on some paper work. Everything was going smoothly as Elena's shift was starting to wind down. Normally Frank would have arrived with the weekly order around this time, but he did not show up, although Elena was not that surprised after what Samuel said yesterday.

Elena was an hour away from the end of her shift when the man she knew as Berry walked into the bar. Berry was not one of her regulars, but she knew him from when he would come in to pay his tab. Expecting Berry of approach her, she was surprised to see him stop and scan the bar before spotting Samuel restocking some clean glasses behind the bar. Berry approached Samuel and grabbed his attention.

"I'll be right back," Samuel said to Elena before walking around the bar to greet Berry.

The two men began talking with Samuel looking annoyed with Berry's visit. They paused talking for a second as Samuel looked over at Elena causing her to quickly look away, but Samuel must have noticed because they quickly moved further away from her and continued conversing.

It was then that a customer ordered a mixed drink causing her to make it at the far end of the bar. She walked over towards the bottles to make the drink while also allowing her the opportunity to just make out what Samuel and Berry were talking about. Samuel's voice was clearer because he was raising it in frustration.

"I know the banquet is tomorrow," Samuel exclaimed.

"Are you sure you will have the order in time?" Berry asked.

"Yes," Samuel replied. "It will be dropped off tonight."

"You better," Berry threatened. "I don't need to remind you of the repercussions if you fail to have it delivered on time, 11 PM sharp." With that said Berry stormed out of the bar.

Samuel appeared visibly agitated as he glanced over at Elena who was looking busy making the drink. He then stormed into his office and shut the door behind him. Thirty minutes had passed before Samuel finally exited the office and gave Elena a hand with her end of the shift duties. By the time they were done she only had a few minutes until her shift was over.

"It's about that time Elena, you can go now," he said to her with a smile now on his face.

"Shouldn't I wait to make sure the new guy shows up?" Elena asked.

"Nah, I'm here and I trust Fred will be here any minute," Samuel explained. "It's going to be a busy day tomorrow, go home and get some rest."

"Okay, thanks," Elena said before grabbing her tips and exiting.

The Wall Market was still bustling with activity as Elena walked towards the train station. As she walked past the same alleyway as yesterday, she heard the loud and distinct sound of a male clearing his voice. She glanced into the alleyway and was surprised to find Reno standing there looking at her with a serious expression. Realizing he was trying to get her attention, Elena approached the alleyway.

"What happened here last night?" Reno asked her.

"Nothing," Elena replied truthfully. "I was stopped by Cissnei in this very spot, she asked me some questions and then let me go."

"What did you tell her?" Reno asked.

"I explained why I was getting off work early," Elena replied. "I told her that my boss let me go home because he was meeting with a new supplier. Didn't Cissnei tell you this?"

"Cissnei is missing," Reno explained to her.

"That's horrible," Elena said looking worried by the news.

"You appear to be the last one to see her before she disappeared," Reno explained. "We traced her cell in a dumpster in the Wall Market."

"Last time I saw her she was travelling back towards the Wall Market," Elena advised.

"How was your boss acting today?" Reno asked.

"Okay, he was a little stressed when talking to some guy about his order being late," Elena explained.

"What exactly did they talk about?" Reno inquired.

"They talked about some banquet tomorrow," Elena remembered. "Berry told Samuel he expected the order by eleven tonight."

"Berry who?" Reno asked.

"I don't know his last name," Elena explained. "He's just noted as Berry in the tab logbook, he's not a regular of mine but he comes in every Thursday to pay his tab."

As soon as Elena provided the explanation Reno nodded having realized whom she was referring to. "His name's not Berry, it's really Edward but everyone calls him Tonberry," Reno said before looking at his watch. "It's almost ten-thirty, we don't have much time."

"We?" Elena asked. "What are you talking about? I have an 11 PM curfew."

"When has that stopped you before," Reno said to the girl. He then pulled out his cell phone and pressed a few buttons before putting it to his ear.

Elena had just opened her mouth to reply when Reno lifted his finger, silencing her.

"Hey," Reno said to someone through his phone. "They are expecting another delivery tonight at eleven. Keep an eye on the place until I get there and tell Tseng we're going to need a tail on Johnson."

Reno ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket, allowing Elena the chance to finally speak up.

"What's going on?" she asked. "What do you want from me?"

"I'm going to keep my eye on you until we locate that delivery," Reno explained. "The last thing we need is for you to go tipping off your boss."

"What makes you think I'll do that?" Elena asked.

"Just playin' it safe," Reno replied. "Plus, you are the prime suspect in Cissnei's disappearance."

"You really think I did something to her?" Elena asked in shock.

"Maybe not you physically, but that doesn't mean you weren't an accessory," Reno explained. "For all I know, you could have been the one who ordered her hit because she was spying on you."

"Ordered her hit? You think I'm some kind of mob boss now!" Elena exclaimed. "This is ridiculous!"

"Common," Reno said as he grabbed Elena's arm. "We don't got time to argue, let's go."

Elena complied and the two of them exited the alleyway with Reno in the lead.

Elena followed Reno to the Sector 3 slums. Elena recognized that they were no far from the house she was taken to when she was abducted Saturday night.

"What are we doing here?" Elena asked when they stopped in the middle of a path a few blocks over from the house.

"Waiting for someone," Reno replied as he looked down at his phone. He read something on his device before typing a message and putting it back in his pocket.

Less than a minute later, Rude entered the passageway and approached them.

"Find anything?" Reno asked Rude.

"Nothing," Rude replied. "The house was completely empty, they must be making the drop somewhere else."

"They've probably figured out that we're closing in," Reno commented.

"If they're not using the house or the pub, where else?" Rude wondered.

"Tonberry's working with them," Reno explained. "Tseng tracked Johnson's phone to a building one sector over. It must be where they're making the drop."

"Let's hope they have Cissnei with them," Rude noted before the three of them headed towards Sector 2.

It did not take long for them to reach Sector 2. They walked towards an abandoned factory located in the remnants of what was once a thriving industrial district, but like everything else in the slums, the commercial businesses in this area closed shop or moved once the upper plate was built.

The two Turks and Elena entered through a broken window into was they assumed was once an office that now contained debris, trash, and graffiti. As they walked towards the opened door, they could hear voices and noticed a faint light coming from the visible hallway.

Reno pulled out a gun and turned to Elena. "Stay here," he ordered.

Elena waited in the room as the two Turks made their way into the hallway to make sue the coast was clear. Less than a minute later the two men came back to retrieve Elena. They took her to a large open room where the voices were originating from. As they neared the end of the hallway the conversation was becoming more audible to the point where she could make out exactly what they were saying.

"Be careful with those bottles," she heard one male voice say. She immediately recognized the voice as Dom's. "You need every last drop for this to work."

Elena had now reached the end of the dimly lit hallway. She peeked into the large room and was not surprised to see Dom, he was standing in front of three men, two of which were her abductors from Saturday night. They were moving the bottles from the crate and securely wrapping them before placing them in backpacks. The bottles had the same black label with the diamond she recognized from Samuel's order.

Next to the men, Cissnei was tied to a chair and gaged. She was visibly injured with cuts and bruises on her face and dried blood on her nose and lip.

As soon as the men were finished packing the bags, Dom and the two men she recognized grabbed a bag leaving the unknown man empty handed.

"We're going to deliver these," Dom explained to the man. "I want you to destroy all this evidence before going back to the house."

"What do I do with the Turk?" the man asked.

"Kill her and throw her body in the dump," Dom replied. "I'm sure the slum rats are looking for a President's Day feast." He turned to Cissnei and smiled at her. "That's what the bitch Turk gets for refusing to cooperate."

"Will do, boss," the man said as Dom and the other two exited the building.

Elena turned back to Reno and Rude, wondering what they were going to do next. With three of the men gone, Reno raised his gun and signaled for Elena to stay put. Reno and Rude were able to get close enough to get the drop on the man when his back was turned. The two men effortlessly subdued the man and freed Cissnei.

The young female Turk smiled as soon as Reno pulled the gag off her mouth. "Thanks," she said to her coworkers before her expression turned serious. "They are going after the Shinra Headquarters' water reservoir. We were wrong, it's not just the president they are targeting, they going to poison everyone."

Reno grinned. "Dumb plan," he commented. "Don't they know the president wouldn't be caught dead drinking tap water."

"No time for jokes," Cissnei warned. "With all extra security assigned to the banquet tomorrow, they are using the distraction to make their attack."

By now Elena had emerged from the hallway and was standing a few feet away from the Turks. No longer needing her assistance, Reno turned to Elena.

"Thanks for your help," he said to her. "You can go home now."

Happy that they found Cissnei, and exhausted from the long day, Elena did not argue as she turned to exit the building. She made her long trip back to the train station. As she sat on the train to the upper plate, she contemplated what she would say to her dad if he inquired into the reason for her tardiness. She wondered if she would be in more or less trouble if she told them the truth about being escorted around the slums by the Turks while on an assignment. Although the thought of seeing the envious look on Emma's face would almost be worth it, she ultimately decided against telling the truth since she knew her father would probably make her quit her job if he found out.

For the first time in what felt like forever Elena was able to sleep in a wake up naturally, without the use of her alarm clock. Since it was a holiday, she was in a good mood being able to relax with no school and her shift still hours away. But that was not the only reason for her happiness, she was still coming down from her adrenaline rush from her run in with the Turks last night and she was glad they were able to find out about Dom's plan.

Still in her pajamas, Elena made her way into the kitchen for breakfast. As she walked in, she spotted Emma sitting at the table, already dressed and looking like she was about to go somewhere.

"Good morning Elena," Emma said happily.

"Good morning," Elena replied in a cheerful voice.

"I'm about to go meet dad for breakfast, then we are going to the holiday celebrations," Emma explained. "Want to join us?"

"Nah, thanks for the offer but I have to work in a few hours," Elena replied with a smile. "I said I would go in early to help out."

"Okay, have it your way." Emma was on her way towards the exit when she was stopped by Elena.

"Hey, wait," Elena said, having just remembered something. "If you go to the Shinra Headquarters today, don't drink the tap water, okay?"

"Why?" Emma asked.

"I, ahh…" Elena stumbled verbally as she tried to think of an excuse. "I overhead two Shinra employees last night talking about problems with the drinking water. Just thought I'd pass on the info."

"Thanks," Emma said with a smile. "Dad was able to secure us tickets to the Banquet tonight. I heard from one of my instructors that it always has the best food. So excited, I already have my dress picked out." Emma was about to leave but then stopped and looked back at her sister. "I have my cell on me if you change your mind about coming," she added before leaving.

Happy to finally have the house to herself, Elena savoured her downtime as she proceeded to make herself a big breakfast and relax a bit before getting ready for what she knew was going to be a long and busy day at work.

The streets were crowded with all the Shinra employees taking advantage of the day off to shop, eat, and celebrate with a drink. As expected, the pub was packed when Elena arrived to work. She arrived just at the start of the lunch rush having promised Samuel that she would work a few extra hours today. When she entered, Samuel and Tony were buy working the crowded bar. As soon as Samuel spotted her, he smiled and pointed to a food order in the kitchen window. Knowing what to do, Elena went right to work and served the order.

After the chaotic lunch rush, there was a steady flow of patrons into the afternoon. It wasn't until 3 PM that things started to die down enough so the three could catch up on some cleaning and restocking. As they approached the dinner rush, Elena could not help but notice that Samuel looked a little agitated. He was working with a preoccupied look on his face, like he was lost in thought, and every few minutes he would look at the clock on the wall. As Tony was getting ready to go, Elena looked over at him and motioned to their boss.

"What's wrong with Samuel?" Elena asked. "Is he worried about the dinner rush?"

"I don't think you'll have much of a dinner rush tonight," Tony explained. "With all the festivities up top and the fireworks tonight, I don't think you'll have another full house until after seven, at least."

"Oh, that's a relief," Elena commented. She was already feeling exhausted and she wasn't even half way through her shift.

"I think the boss is stressed because he helped arrange for some special order being used for the toast at the President's Day banquet," Tony explained. "He mentioned earlier in the week that he was having trouble with his supplier so that's probably what's stressing him out, he'll feel better once it is over." With that said, Tony exited to go home leaving Elena and Samuel to tend to the busy bar.

There was a steady pace for the next two hours. As Tony predicted, the dinner rush did not materialize and by 4 PM it started to die down a little. Elena and Samuel were behind the bar serving the regulars when Samuel's cell rang.

"Hello," Samuel answered. There was a paused as he listened to someone on the other end.

Elena could see Samuel's neutral expression change to a frown as he listened. "No, I gave you the entire order," Samuel explained into his phone. "You must have miscounted." There was another pause as Samuel's frown deepened. "How do you lose half dozen bottles?! Why are you just counting them now!" There was another pause, then he let out a big sigh and ended his call before turning to Elena. "Elena, you haven't seen any extra bottles of the diamond label from last week lying around, have you?"

"I think there might be a box on the bottom shelf in the cellar," Elena explained, having remembered putting a box there when she was counting the order.

Hearing that, Samuel raced down into the cellar to locate the bottles. Seconds later he emerged from the basement with a box in hand. The bottles in the carboard box rattled as Samuel placed them on the bar and pulled out his phone before putting it to his ear to make a call.

"Hey," Samuel said to the person on the other end. "Tell Berry I located the bottles, I'm on my way with them now." Samuel ended the call and put his phone away before turning to Elena. "Can you mind the bar by yourself for a few hours?" Samuel asked. "I've arranged for the new guy to come in early to give you a hand with the evening rush. He should be here by seven."

Elena didn't even acknowledge Samuel. Having hear him talk about the bottles and Berry over the phone had her mind racing. Her stomach started to turn as she was hit with the realization that her boss was involved in this plot against Shinra and, to make matters worse, she suddenly had a nagging suspicion that the Turks were missing a big piece of their plan.

"Elena?" Samuel asked again, snapping the girl out of her trance. "Did you hear me? I'm kind of in a rush, are you going to okay by yourself?"

"Ye-yes," Elena said, trying not to look too nervous.

Not evening noticing Elena's shift in demeanor, Samuel rushed out of the pub with the box leaving Elena to tend to the bar by herself.

Elena stood behind the bar frozen, she felt like a deer stuck in headlights. Something in her gut was telling her that her suspicion was right, but she didn't know what to do or whom to call. She wondered if she should just leave to go get help, but what if she was wrong? Not only would she be fired but Samuel's business would be trashed. But if her hunch was right, she knew she had to do something, lives depended on it. Then she remembered her sister was going to the banquet, Elena raced into the back office, completely ignoring the man who had been holding his glass up for the last minute trying to get her attention for a refill.

Elena's heart raced as she tried to call her sister's cell. The phone rang for so long that Elena was about to give up when Emma finally answered.

"Hello?" Emma's voice said. There was a lot of commotion in the background as Emma spoke.

"Emma, it's Elena!" she said into the phone. "I need your help! I need you to get a hold of the Turks and tell them that they have the plan all wrong. They are targeting the banquet! The bottles being used for the president's toast is poisoned!"

Thinking this was all a joke, Emma laughed. "What are you talking about Elena?" she asked jokingly. "Why would I contact the Turks? Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

"NO, Emma! I'm serious!" Elena pleaded. "The president, everyone at the banquet, they're all in danger!"

Emma laughed again. "Ahh, I get it, you're just jealous that I'm going and you're stuck working so you're trying to ruin it for everyone."

"Do you hear yourself! What have I ever done to make you think I would do such a thing!" Elena yelled into the phone. "Please, I need your help, we don't have time for this!" Elena begged before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I lied about why I was late last night, okay! I was with the Turks helping them stop a plot that involves my boss. You need to locate the Turks and warn them about the drinks being used for the toast!"

"You sound crazy Elena," Emma stated, starting to sound frustrated. "If this is a prank, it's not funny."

Finally having enough of her sister's stubbornness, Elena let out a loud scream and started slamming the phone receiver against the desk in anger. The bar patrons closest to the office glanced in wondering what the commotion was going on inside. Elena was so angry she felt like strangling her sister, she calmed down before putting the phone back to her ear only to discover that Emma had ended the call. Elena's mind raced as she thought of what to do next. She picked back up the receiver and called Tony.

"Tony, it's Elena," she said into the phone as soon as Tony answered. "An emergency has come up and I need you to cover for me right now. I'm going to get Tom to watch the bar until you get here." Elena did not even wait for Tony to respond before she hung up the phone and raced into the kitchen to get Tom.

After explaining the situation to the cook, he agreed to close the kitchen until Tony arrived. Elena took off towards the train station, she just prayed that she would have enough time to get there and warn them.

The train was running on holiday schedule, so it was almost six by the time Elena reached the top plate. She knew the banquet was due to start soon and the Royal Midgar Hotel where the banquet was being held was five blocks away. Elena raced towards the hotel as fast as she could. The streets were closed off for the celebrations and were crowed with people and venders selling food and items. She was now only a block away from her destination and decided to cut down an alleyway between two buildings. She was so focused on getting to her destination that she failed to notice that someone had been following her since the train station. It was not until she reached a secluded location that her stalker decided to strike and grab her from behind while also silencing her with a hand over the mouth. Elena tried to struggle to free herself from the large man's grip, but he was too strong.

The man took her through the alleyway and towards a large storage warehouse that was closed for the holiday. The man brought her inside where she was surprised to find Samuel with a dozen other men, some of whom she recognized as patrons at the bar. The other half of the men were all dressed in the same black military looking uniform and appeared all to be of Wutain descent.

"Found her a block away from the hotel," Elena's captor said as he let her go in front of all the men. "She was running so fast I almost lost her."

Samuel smiled. "Glad Tony called when he did," he explained to the group. "Or she could have ruined the whole mission."

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asked Samuel. "What are you planning to do to the people at the banquet."

"All of Shinra's executives and social elite will be at this banquet," Samuel explained. "How fitting that they will all be turned to stone using a potent petrify potion we've shipped in from Corel."

"Not only would it bring an end to the war," one of the Wutain men said. "Now our emporer can have the living statue of the most important man in Midgar."

"It will be a perfect fit in our pagoda, alongside the statues of mythical demons and legendary villains," another Wutian man said with a grin.

"What about the other half of our deal?" another Wutain man asked, this one had a sword as part of the uniform. Elena assumed he was the leader of this group. "Will the banquet proceed without the vice president?"

"Don't worry," a voice reassured him. Everyone looked to see that Berry had entered the warehouse. "The event coordinator is working with us. He advised the president of his son's car trouble and they have agreed to proceed in his absence."

"Have they secured the vehicle?" Samuel asked.

"Yes, I just received a message from Dominic that they are on route as we speak," Berry answered. "You will have the vice president's head on a platter as requested."

"Good," the Wutian leader said with a smile.

"With the Turks and extra security busy stopping to attack on the water supply, we should have no problems retrieving the president's body," Samuel explained as he lifted his arm to check the time on his watch. "The toast should be starting any minute now."

The Wutain leader turned to his comrades. "Go gather the vehicles and make sure the others ready, we are departing in five minutes," he directed.

Six of the men left the warehouse only to have the sound of gunfire erupt as soon as they exited the building. The only people still inside were Samuel, Berry, four of Samuel's associates, the Wutain leader, and Elena.

"The girl must have tipped off the Turks," Berry said as he pulled out his gun and approached her.

Afraid he was going to shoot her, Elena tried to flee but was stopped by Samuel grabbing her from behind. Suddenly, multiple loud gunshots were fired sending a series of rounds and striking everyone but Samuel, who was restraining Elena, and Berry. The five men instantly fell to the ground dead as Samuel raised his weapon and pointed it at Elena's head. Rude and Reno appeared from the shadows with their guns raised. Simultaneously, the bay door to the warehouse opened and Tseng, Cissnei, and two other Turks Elena did not recognize walked in with their guns raised.

With Elena still held hostage, Reno and Rude pointed their guns at Samuel causing him to release the girl in defeat before dropped his gun and raising his hands. Elena took a few steps back from Samuel and out of firing range. As Rude continued to point his gun at Samuel, Reno turned his attention to Berry.

"What happened Ed?" Reno asked, shaking his head. "Working with the Wutian government, I expected better, especially after everything Shinra has done for you."

Berry did not look fazed having a gun pointed at him despite being unarmed. "Sorry, Reno, but you are mistaken," he explained casually. "You know principles such as loyalty are not conducive to my bottom line. No harsh feelings, but I'm stickily a numbers man. If the president thinks he can be cheap because he's funding a war on another continent, he should not be surprised if we start choosing the more lucrative offers."

"So much for patriotism," Rude commented to Reno with his gun still pointing at Samuel.

"Hate to break it to you Berry," Reno said to the man regrettably. "But it looks like you're not getting your completion bonus for this job and I hear the Wutian government does not look too kindly to failure."

"Don't speak so soon," Samuel warned the Turk with an evil grin. "You may have saved the president, but what about the vice-president?"

"What are you talking about?" Reno asked.

Before Samuel could continue a car entered through the opened bay door. A black town car with blacked out windows entered the warehouse with visible damage to the rear bumper and bullet holes in the side door. The damaged vehicle drove into the building slowly before coming to a complete stop.

"That must be Dominic with the body now," Berry explained to the Turks.

Everyone watched in silence as they waited for the car door to open. Reno and Rude shifted their guns from the unarmed Berry to the back door that was opening. Dom stepped out of the car with his hands raised and a serious expression on his face. Before anyone could say anything to the man, the sound of a single gunshot echoed from inside the car, startling the group. The bullet that originated from inside the vehicle struck Dom in the head, going right through his skull and throwing him sideways as his body dropped to the ground.

Seconds later Rufus emerged from the car with a large revolver in hand.

"I see you got my text," Reno said to the vice president.

Rufus grinned. "What text?" he asked jokingly.

Berry frowned at the sight of his right-hand man's body lying face down on the ground. "Did you really have to shoot him?" Berry demanded. "Good help like that is hard to find these days!"

The vice president frowned and pointed his gun at Berry. "Unless you want to join him," Rufus warned. "I suggest you shut up."

With the threat neutralized, Rufus left to make his way to the banquet while Samuel and Berry were taken into custody. Elena was left standing there in feeling a combination of both mild shock and relief over everything that just happened. Noticing the look on Elena's face, Cissnei and Tseng approached the young girl.

"Thanks for all your help," Cissnei said to her. "If it wasn't for you, we might not have caught them in time."

"Your welcome," Elena replied nervously. "Just please make sure put a good word in with the judge, let the court know I cooperated fully."

Tseng and Cissnei both looked at her with puzzled expressions.

"Judge? What are you talking about?" Tseng asked.

"Reno said if I cooperated with this investigation, he would put a good word in, you know, for the crime I committed last week." Elena looked nervous and ashamed talking about it.

"What crime did you commit?" Cissnei questioned.

"Last Friday, after my shift," Elena started to explain. "I was attacked by a man and I killed him, but I swear it was in self-defence!"

A grin appeared on Tseng face as he realized what she was talking about. "Don't worry, you didn't kill that man," Tseng reassured her. "Reno and I were running surveillance on your pub that night and discovered you in distress. You had just wounded the man, but not fatally. That's when we intervened, Reno took care of him while I sought out medical attention. Aerith didn't tell you?"

Having heard this, a wave of relief had washed over Elena, and she felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She was now smiling but she felt like strangling Reno for putting her though this. It was then that a question suddenly hit her.

"How did you find out about the banquet being the real target?" Elena wondered.

"Your sister Emma found President Shinra's security and passed on your message," Cissnei explained.

"Wow, she actually did it," Elena commented to herself in both shock and amazement. "I'm glad she was able reach you in time," she added happily.

"Your actions saved many lives tonight," Tseng explained. "You are a very resilient girl, you should consider following the same career path as your sister."

Elena smiled at Tseng's compliment. "I will consider it," she agreed.

After saying goodbye to the two Turks, Elena exited the warehouse and made her way home. Elena was thankful that her sister listened for once and helped her save the day, maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Still, Elena could not help but look forward to seeing the look on Emma's face when she got home, she smiled knowing this was going to eat at Emma for a long time.

As Elena walked home, she started contemplating Tseng's suggested, maybe being a Turk was not as bad as she first thought, it even sounded kind of exciting. Plus, Elena knew that if Emma was able to do it, she undoubtably could do it better.

END.

Side Note:

If you like my stories check out my original novel titled 'Immortals: A Fatal Fantasy'. You can find it for under $2 on Kindle at the following link:

dp/B07KVLG7CD

Or, if you want a free PDF copy, feel free to message or e-mail me at the following: blue-diesel-kush