(This takes place right after Sephiroth is defeated, but before Cloud and his gang return from the great crater. Midgar citizens all alike are anticipating Meteor's strike and it's up to Reeve to keep the city in order, as the brace for the worst).
The Meteor was on its way. He had all citizens of Midgar take refuge in the slums. It was all up to Cloud and the others now to stop the otherwise inevitable death. Midgar, the once great city was in chaos. Shin-ra had fallen, with their acting President; Rufus appeared to be slain at the hands of Weapon's last firing. Midgar itself was either going to be spared or demolished by Sephiroth's meteor. Death or Life. There was no other option, and Reeve knew it. So he took every step he could to make sure that the people were safe…safe from the ravages of the accursed asteroid about to fall on this planet, safe from the wrath of a defeated Sephiroth and last but certainly not least, safe from people like himself, who blindly followed the Shin-ra leadership and were having regrets.
Reeve was the lone Shin-ra agent who over time realized what he was doing as a spy and secretly joined the cause of Cloud and his allies to defeat Shin-ra and ultimately Sephiroth. All the others alienated him for it, but as Reeve reflected on where each of them ended up, he felt disgusted that he was once a member of this organization, realizing what their madness has produced and resulted in. Anyone left of Shin-ra was either dead, detained or in hiding. It all began with the death of President Shin-ra, then Heidegger, Scarlet, Hojo, Tseng and the apparent death of their own fearless leader, Rufus. The coward Palmer was arrested and confined in Rocket City, where he was to become a prisoner of the city he once terrorized to push Shin-ra's agenda. Reeve even ordered the remaining agents of Soldier to track down arrest the Turks; Rude, Reno and Elena for high crimes and misdemeanors. The Turks were never much help to Shin-ra anyway, but they would be detained so that they could do no more damage. The Mayor of Midgar himself went into hiding, rumored to be taking refuge in Corel, disguised as a miner.
Those pathetic fools, Reeve thought. What was I ever thinking? His musings of the Shin-ra leadership led him to believe that eventually he himself would be brought to trial for being a part of Shin-ra's treachery. Reeve kept thinking, that day will come, when they come for me, for what I have done. After all, it can be argued that Reeve's crime was the biggest one of all, when he, as Cait Sith gave the keystone of the Temple of the Ancients to Tseng, which enabled Shin-ra and eventually Sephiroth to obtain the black materia which would let him summon Meteor. I will own up to it, he thought, but the interesting thing about Reeve was that now he had control of the Shin-ra Army and he was going to do the best he could to undo the evils of Shin-ra. Sure, he'll have to answer for his crimes, but before he would, he could try to redeem himself and at least in what he did at the end, perhaps he could eventually learn to forgive himself for his participation in Shin-Ra.
Yes, Reeve thought, I'll use the army to help the citizens, and upon this realization Reeve sent out orders to the scattered soldiers to organize their men and prepare the city for the impact. Soliders across Midgar began rounding up citizens of Midgar to the basements and bomb shelters of the city. Endless supplies of food was taken from President Shin-Ra and Don Corneo's respective mansions and redistributed among the citizens of Midgar who were confined to small places otherwise without food and water.
In just a matter of hours, the army of Shin-ra had gathered and sheltered all the citizens and other refugees in Midgar within bomb shelters and army bunkers. Reeve eventually left headquarters to join them and ordered his generals to assure the crowds that all would be ok. Order was brought to Midgar, which although it seemed tyrannical it was appropriate given the situation. Reeve felt that applying martial law in Midgar was an appropriate act to take, and amidst some minor from some residents, Reeve was able to achieve it. Reeve hoped that as he kept Midgar under control, that Cloud and his gang would ensure Sephiroth's defeat and Midgar's destruction.
However, Reeve didn't have a clue. As he learned through Cait Sith, his robotic spy, Cloud was a introverted maverick who Reeve didn't trust at all in leadership anymore than he trusted the trigger happy Barret Wallace or the enigmatic Tifa. Reeve actually regarded Vincent Valentine higher than the rest based on Valentine's personal experiences in the Turks and the fact that Vincent endured the pain inflicted on him by Hojo.
A radio report from Cid Highwind came in….amid the buzzing noise, Cid issued a report to Reeve, "…….bzzzzt…..we got…..that…bastard…..bzzzzt…#&…this cave is falling apabzzzt." Success! Sephiroth was put down, but what about Meteor….? The signal had died…some thing was disrupting Cid's communication to Midgar.
Reeve left his bunker, defying his own order to take shelter and went out to the field to see if the meteor was destroyed. He didn't make it five steps out of his door when he was blinded by a huge white flash in the sky…..Holy….he thought.
All seemed well until the redness of meteor began seeping through! Wait a minute, Reeve thought, its' having the reverse effect! Things are getting worse! Midgar lit up in flames as Holy bore on it. Cyclones formed and were beginning to tear Midgar apart. As the lighting struck, and debris flew about, Reeve began to realize that this would be the end. The only please he took was in seeing the Shin-ra HQ getting hit the hardest, but other buildings were being shattered too. Reactors began to explode.
Marlene, who had also escaped to the clock tower screamed in fear, as she saw the meteor face to face. How she got out, Reeve wondered, but that was the least of his worries now.
Oh no, Reeve thought….we failed. The death of Midgar was now inevitable. Reeve began to broadcast his apologies to Midgar on the intercom….
"Citizens of Midgar, we have failed, in just minutes…the meteor will strike directly upon the city and take us all with it…Gosh, I'm so sorry….I'm sorry to all of you for what I have done….for my service to Shin-ra, for my sins to the planet and for failing all of you….gosh, I'm so sorry…please take these moments to embraces your loved ones and prepare for impact…"
Reeve dropped the microphone, not caring of the screeching noise that followed. He radioed the Highwind to report to them the status of the city…"Cloud, I had everyone take refuge in the slums…but the way things are now…" Red 13 interrupted to say, "forget Midgar….we have to worry about the planet now…" Disgusted in both himself and the team, Reeve turned off his radio and Cait Sith shut down on the Highwind.
God we need a miracle, Reeve thought.
As he took one last look at the face of death, Reeve noticed a little Green orb shooting up to meet the monstrous meteor. Confused, more and more of these green rays began to move towards the meteor. What was going on, Reeve wondered.
Marlene yelled out, "It's coming!"
"What is…," Reeve answered.
"The Lifestream!"
Reeve had once heard of the Lifestream when he was a young boy studying Astronomy in Cosmo Canyon under an old teacher named Buganhagen, but he dismissed it as just a myth, just a story some old kook made up. Yet Reeve found himself marveling at this display of Lifestream.
The Lifestream moved over hills towards the source of evil energy. More and more, the Lifestream intercepted Meteor. It has energy coming from seemingly everywhere on the planet now, and the meteor appeared to be breaking up. The ancient, he thought, the ancient is saving us! A white flash blinded Reeve and he feel to the ground as an Earthquake like feeling shook up all of Midgar.
When the dust settled, Reeve called the residents of Midgar out, and they all looked up to the skies to see green in the atmosphere, without a site of Meteor. The Lifestream has prevailed. Meteor was stopped. The planet was spared.
The Highwind landed at Chocobo Farms and as Cloud and his buddies entered Midgar, they came to a heroes welcome. Reeve of course had mixed feelings and began to feel his authority over Midgar slowly slip away to Cloud and his gang.
Reeve began to consider having the troops attack Cloud and the others. He could do it too, since he was commanding the army, and perhaps the public would even go for it. After all, they were terrorists from Avalanche, who destroyed the city like Shin-ra did. However, his broadcasted apology essentially sealed his fate and served as a public confession to his participation in Shin-ra's atrocities.
In quick time, Cloud and his allies confronted Reeve for the first time face-to-face in Midgar square. Cloud had felt good about defeating Sephiroth, but he also expected that he would have to deal with Reeve to, after all Reeve was still a spy and now in charge of Shin-ra. It wasn't safe to assume he would cooperate with Cloud, and Cloud knew it too. Would they fight for control of Midgar? Cloud had the public praise for beating Sephiroth but Reeve had the army.
"No," Reeve said. "Enough fighting…you win." Reeve ordered his troops to stand down and surrendered to Cloud.
In the next couple of weeks, Avalanche began to rebuild Midgar and assumed the authority of the city. Reeve did not make any attempt to escape and was placed under house arrest. Barrett Wallace assumed the position of Mayor and as soon as Midgar was back to normal, a trial was held for Reeve and the other Shin-Ra executives, just as he expected would happen. Reeve, along with Palmer and the Turks went before a jury of the exact Midgar citizens they had oppressed.
The verdicts came down….all were found guilty and given lengthy sentences. The crowd cheered and felt as if justice was served, but sympathized to Reeve's case, because they felt that he had done his best job to prepare Midgar for the worst. So Barret in his first act of Mayor gave Reeve a pardon after Reeve had been incarcerated for a couple of years.
Reeve took the pardon, thanked the new mayor and decided to retire from politics altogether and left Midgar for good.
Upon leaving, he was approached by some of his old soldiers which he once commanded during the Meteor crisis and they asked him where he was going and what he was going to do.
"I'm going…..to find myself…." And he left Midgar and was never heard of again.
Reeve's self-imposed exile confused many, even Barret who looked to Reeve as somewhat of a hero for administering to Midgar in such a time of crisis, even though he served in Shin-ra. Some attempted to search for him but he was never found.
Some say he went back to Cosmo Canyon to be an apprentice to Buganhagen. Others say Reeve sough solitude by the Mountains of Icicle Inn. Others say he is living on one of the remote islands near Mideel.
Wherever he is, many Midgarians continue to seek him and yearn for the story of the Shin-ra executive who became a hero to the city in their time of peril.
The End