This fic is based around Tseng and Aeris PRE-FFVII game. It's right after Crisis Core, a few months after Zack is killed outside of Midgar. I apologize if there are any inconsistencies with the literal story line of the game- please keep in mind that this is a work in progress.
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, and am not making any money from this fic.
Caged
Chapter One: Escaping
You're always dying inside, that much closer to home,
On a crowded street corner, surrounded by people all alone.
Pain in the heart, rain in the dark, the wound is glum and bitter.
She walks around the corner- it's like she brought the sun with her.
Then everything just brightened up- I couldn't make this up-
My fingers in my eyes as she walked by, like I was wakin' up.
And so many words; I couldn't string a sentence together to bother her.
I instantly forgot all my plans and started to follow her.
It's like the sky opened and God handed you directly to me.
I know it sounds crazy, but so is life- I'm sinking.
And feeling like your heart is beating- solely for me...
-I Never Knew You If you are thinking of hurting yourself or someone else, please call 1-800-273-8255.
~Cage
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It's been three months since the last time we spoke.
"It's too dangerous. She'll know you're tracking her." Heidegger had said. "We can't risk scaring her off."
Fat, incompetent fool. Aeris isn't some stupid dog- not like those whores you're always bringing into the office for 'late-night questioning.' She's been on to the Turks since Valentine was still running detail. It's been going on some thirteen years now- you really think she isn't aware?
She knows about me, of that I'm certain- but not from our first encounter; the time when she was a child and I came to her house to try and talk her Stepmother into letting us work with her.
No, the real first time we met was was the moment she caught me watching her from the back of that run-down church when she was thirteen.
She walked right up to me- that look in her eyes as though she'd seen me before but just couldn't place when or where. I knew then that my days in the shadows were over. She would always recognize my face.
So I started doing the weekend watch- when she would stay at home and tend to her flowers. I was invisible then, hanging about the wreckage just outside the fields where she gardened. Even from that distance I watched her grow up- watched her become a woman. Watched her fall in love for the first time when a certain dark-haired SOLDIER came into the picture.
That entire situation was a mess. He may have been First Class, but he wasn't man enough for her- with his spiky hair and his bad sense of humor. He meant well; but knowing he had something so precious...something that I had begun to desire for myself...it made him difficult to work with.
I tried to save him, when the time came. I really did. Regret plagues me to this day that I couldn't intervene on the massacre that took place outside Midgar that fateful morning. All the letters I'd intercepted from her to give to him, worthless...
I hadn't spoken to her in some time before that night- when I went to the church and found her crying in the floor. That was the moment I realized I couldn't leave her alone anymore. I walked right in, sat down beside her and held her.
And isn't it just odd- she held me back.
Maybe it was her state of mind, but I'd like to think she knew all along that I would be there for her when she needed someone.
I had tried to pick up my old rounding schedule after that, to see her more. Unfortunately that's when ShinRa started to catch on that Aeris was more than what she seemed. Hojo had been on to her since day one, and finally, after weeks of negotiations, he's talked the old President into letting him lead a team of SOLDIERS in to kidnap her, surpassing any use of the Turks at all.
I can't let it happen. I won't. I've seen what that monster does to the people he gets in his lab- rumors of the experiments he ran on Valentine are still muttered about in the bars at night. I have to warn her.
That's why I'm here. The Professor ordered a group of SOLIDERS to ambush her home in the morning- to take her by force. It's only been some fifteen weeks since the massacre, and they've just lifted the surveillance off my apartment, having suspended me from my duties because of the events that transpired before the assassination plot. Maybe I'll get to her in time to tell her what's happening. To tell her she needs to run...
It's cold in Sector 5- then again, every night beneath the plate is like winter. I try to hide the steam by breath makes from the hazy slum lamps as I slowly stride down the dirt street. Sleepy lower-class SOLDIERS doze at their posts, ambitions to please the President nothing more than dreams as they continue to snooze even as I pass by not five feet from their trigger-happy forms.
Her house looks eery at night. Unlike the rest of the sector, the quaint cottage isn't covered in smog- the bright yellow lilies practically shimmer in the artificial light of the city nearby. It's different here. Everything is. It would be, of course- she's different. Everything she touches changes for the better. Everything surrounding her glows.
I can't steady my breathing now. Coming to her doorstep I pause. Is this the best idea? The moment I heard ShinRa was planning to kidnap her I left to come here- to take her away. But now that I'm on her porch I can't help but feel foolish. Even if I manage to talk her into leaving, where would we go? I'm a Turk, not an escape artist. They would find me- find us.They'll kill me and take her, it won't matter how far we run...
And that would be the best scenario. How could I ever expect her to actually listen to me, anyway? What could I possibly say to her that would convince her she needs to leave? I have nothing to offer. We have nothing. No back-story. No, "long-standing relationship" built on trust and friendship. All she knows of me is that I always seem show up when something's happened, and that I'm old enough to be her Father.
That thought alone is enough to send a chill down my spine. I'm old. I shouldn't be feeling this way. Not with her. She's young, beautiful- she's the hope of our Planet. What use would she have with a tired fool like me?
The sound of a door latching inside the house catches my attention. Was it opening or closing? There are no sounds of footsteps, it must have closed. I hold my breath and lean against the oak frame beside me. This is ridiculous. I should have never come here.
I start to leave, but the sudden image of this house twelve hours from now flashes before my eyes. Aeris, being dragged out screaming by men who respect nothing but their orders. Elmyra crying, running after the child she raised only to be gunned down in her doorway. One of the SOLDIERS will probably get the idea that a prisoner is fair game for their own needs...they'll offer to run security with her in the back of the holding truck...no one would be there to stop him...
Sucking in a sobering breath, I press my fingers to the bridge of my nose. I can't turn my head to this. She may refuse me, but god-damnit- I have to try. Returning to my place in front of the door, I pull the picks from my pocket and position them to jimmy the lock- surprising slightly when I realize it's already open. Tucking the kit away I turn the knob and let myself in.
It's silent. Uncomfortably silent. The floorboards are so old I'm afraid with every step that one is sure to crack at any moment and I'll wake the whole house. I may be an assassin, but even Veld couldn't have walked through this place without making a noise.
Luckily as I near the stairs the sound of Elmyra's snoring catches my ear. Good. She's hard asleep. That's one less thing I have to worry about. Climbing the steps, my heart starts to crawl into my throat- what if she's awake? What if she screams? The possibility that someone may have already come and taken her creeps above the rest of my more credible fears, taking the forefront as the scariest scenario that could play out in the next five minutes.
I reach the top of the staircase and look down the short hallway. Distantly, a vision of the last time I was here rolls out before me- 8-year-old Aeris runs past and into her room, locking the door behind her as she screams to Elmyra that she'll never trust the Turks. My heart breaks. She's never had a reason to trust me- why would she now?
And then I remember three months ago; sitting in the floor of her church as she finished sobbing. She had leaned away from me, eyes red as she brushed the bottoms of them gingerly.
"A terrible thing, isn't it? Crying in the arms of a man I barely know."
"It isn't terrible," I assure her. "At least I'm not a complete stranger."
"But you are." She looked at me. "You are. And yet you know everything there is to possibly know about me, don't you?"
"I don't know why you're crying," I try to lie.
"Please don't play stupid, Tseng." She pressed her hands back to her face as she hung her head. "We both know why you came here..."
It was the first time she'd ever said my name like she knew me. I'd dreamed of that moment- the day she would recognize me as someone who understood her- and yet it was substantially less satisfying than I had imagined it would be.
Elmyra's snoring brings me out of my recurring daydreams, and I move forward to the door closest to me. I know this is her room- there are flowers carved into the wooden frame around it, as if the plants are a symbol of her presence wherever she goes. Drawing a deep breath, I brace myself and touch the handle...
Thank god for my training.
Instantly I feel there's someone hovering on the other side, their hands pressed against the wood, waiting. Knowing I have only seconds to act I swiftly- silently- open the door, startling the Ancient as she stumbles back to avoid getting knocked over. Grabbing her wrist with one hand, she instinctively wraps her free arm around my shoulder as I pull her close, twisting to push her against the wall and pressing my hand over her mouth, catching her surprised gasp.
We stare at each other for a while, her bright green eyes shifting from fear to curiosity as I continue to hold her in this awkward position. After another minute she wriggles her wrist free, gently placing it on my shoulder to tell me it's all right- she won't scream.
I slide my hand away, still leaning against her to keep her still- partly because my training forces me not to trust her, but mostly because I've started craving this proximity. She exhales softly, waiting to see if I'll move. When I don't, she wets her lips and furrows her brow.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice is barely a whisper, and I appreciate the discretion.
I clear my throat. "There's an ambush coming to take you. You have to leave."
She pauses, a confused look scrawling its way over her face. I realize how random what I'm saying is and try again. "Hojo convinced President ShinRa to-."
"Hojo!" She yelps, shoving against me and pushing me back. She turns and begins to pace, pressing one had to her lips and wrapping the other around herself as she suppresses the urge to panic. "What...how...?"
"He's been wanting you back for years now," I explain quietly. "Surely you knew that-."
"But why now?" She turns to me. "Why is he coming after me now? After all these years..-."
"He convinced President ShinRa to push for your capture." I interrupt, trying to hurry her process of information. "There will be a convoy coming to get you in the morning if we don't leave now-."
"But what about my mother?" She turns on me, and I am slightly taken aback for two reasons- one, because she keeps cutting me off, and two, because the question implies she's actually considering leaving.
After a moment of gathering my thoughts, I raise my hands to gain her attention. "If you're not here, they will leave her alone. They might question her-."
"Oh," she stops, giving me a look. "I've seen the way you people do 'questioning'."
I hesitate. "You...people? Look-." Shaking my head, I get back on track. "-I swear to you, if you are not here, they won't waste their time with her. They'll ask her of your whereabouts, but once they realize she doesn't know anything, they'll leave."
"And that's it?"
"That's it. At the most they may post a security detail around the house for a few days. But if you don't come back-."
"Don't come back?" She echoes. "I can't just disappear. Where will I go?"
"With me." I try to sound soothing, but I can tell it barely helps. "We'll go to Mideel-."
"And let her think I've vanished? I have to at least tell her-."
"If you tell her, then she'll have to lie." I reason, knowing my argument is a good one. "Aeris, if Elmyra knows where you are, it will show on her face. And if ShinRa knows she's lying, he'll press her for the truth. Trust me, you do not want that for her."
Aeris frowns at me, and a knot forms in my throat. She's never looked at me this way before. It's... unpleasant.
"You promise we'll come back?"
Seeing the pain in her eyes, I can't say no. I nod.
"As soon as I'm positive SOLDIER has cleared out of the area."
She hesitates, then sighs. "...I'll get my things."
I know I don't have to tell her to 'pack light,' because she pulls a tiny basket from beneath her bed, loading it with a few garments of clothing and being careful to place her hairbrush and a couple hi-potions in between the folds. After she's done scanning the room for anything miscellaneous she might also want to bring, she looks at me.
"OK."
"We have to be quick," I start. "It's nearly three in the morning and the patrol should be switching soon-."
"Why are you doing this?"
I pause, suddenly feeling as though I've been caught in something.
"...What?"
"Why are you doing this?" She asks again, unmoving. "You've been following me just as long as they have, haven't you? Shouldn't you want them to capture me? It would make your job a lot easier, wouldn't it?"
It isn't what she says so much as the way she says it. My emotions slide from struggling to explain myself to sadness. This is really how the Turks have portrayed themselves over the years, isn't it? Just a group of specialized 'dirty-work-dealers' that do whatever the Company tells them to.
And I've been grouped in with the lot of them.
"There is nothing 'easy' about what I do." I reply softly, more than just a hint of disappointment in my tone. "But I swear on my life, I will not bring you harm."
She narrows her eyes, but not in an insulted way. It's almost as if she's studying me.
"...How can I trust you?" She asks, slowly taking a step toward me and tilting her head. "How do I know you won't just...take me?"
I look at her, a sense of defeat washing over me as I can see in her eyes- she already knows.
"Do I really have to tell you?"
It seems saying that is nearly as forward as voicing it outright. A blush swarms furiously into her cheeks and she lowers her gaze, taking a moment to sort this in her mind before she looks back to my eyes- which haven't left her.
"No." Her voice is soft again, and she plucks the courage to take a few more steps my way. "...I can see it. I can feel it..." Raising her hand, she carefully slides it under my jacket and pressed it over my heart. "Right here."
My skin catches fire. I hold my expression, but inside I'm screaming. What's happening? Why is she touching me? Why is she even looking at me this way..?
Shaking out of it, I force myself to step back. As much as I want to revel in this moment, we're running out of time.
"We have to go."
Aeris looks disappointed-but only for a moment. Pursing her lips, she nods and follows me out into the hallway. As we reach the stairway she stops.
"Can I at least see her before we go?"
I turn to her. There she goes with that look again. Good god, if she keeps this up we'll never make it out in time.
"Of course," I say after a second. Damn my weak will.
I follow her quietly as she walks down to her mother's room and opens the door. Elmyra sits comfortably in her rocking chair in the corner, a pile of half-crocheted yarn in her lap as she lay slumped to the side, mouth wide open in her authentic display of slumber. Aeris tiptoes to her side, placing a small kiss on the woman's forehead before jumping back to avoid a loud, body-shaking snore. The girl watches as her mother settles back down, a watery smile playing on her lips as she sends a few silent, happy prayers to her guardian before turning back to me, the content expression fading as she faces her current reality.
"Let's go," she mouths, walking out and past me as I gently close the door behind her. A few more minutes of sneaking through the house, and we make it outside and start our journey out of Midgar.
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A/N: First person scenario, I know. It's my first hand at this with a fic- please let me know how I'm doing! Thank you!
~Ari