A/N: This goes hand in hand in hand with 'Operation: Assassination'; 'Return of the Green Sludge' and 'Evidence of Sephiroth's Humanity' the latter two fics written by dantesdarkqueen.

Disclaimer: Squeenix owns it, not me.

If failure was Kandi's biggest fear, then curiousity was her biggest annoyance. She hated surprises, she hated not knowing what was being said about her and she hated that Tseng had a file on each of his Turks that contained privileged information. Herself included. So at 2 am on a Sunday morning, she swiped a copy of Tseng's access card through the doors of the ShinRa Building, allowing herself access. She had already preprogrammed the security cameras to begin a random empty feed at exactly 1:55 am, so her detection in the building would not be discovered.

Being head of the IT department had it's perks.

Unfortunately, with all her hacking abilities, all her knowledge of security systems, and tampering with electronic equipment, she could not access a hard copy file with her information on it.

Damn lack of technology.

The individual profiles of the Turks were kept in Tseng's office. In Tseng's office with a security system installed in it. In a file cabinet that was only accessible via Tseng's thumbprint. She smirked. Challenges were fun.

She already had a copy of Tseng's access card and the code for the security system. A little well placed recon in the infamous airconditioning vents had given her that thirteen character code, which was now memorized. Entering the elevator, she once again used Tseng's card to grant her clearance to the Turk floors. Of course, she had access herself, but should anything be suspected of tampering with, she didn't want her digital DNA to be shown as being in the vicinity tonight. Paranoia was sometimes a good thing.

The elevator dinged and she made her way down the vacant hallways of the Turk Headquarters towards Tseng's office. She smirked in the knowledge that none of her collegues would be anywhere near work on a Saturday night, now Sunday morning. They were either still partying or passed out drunk somewhere. She had claimed cramps and gone back to the penthouse she shared with Ram and Katrina, though she suspected they wouldn't be home until sometime around noon.

Tseng's office was entered and the code of 4jzv0329;4334 was entered into his security system, effectively disarming it. She pulled a latex glove over the leather glove of her left hand. Tseng was left handed, so the print needed would be on his left hand. Praying silently to Shiva, she pressed the latex covered thumb over the thumb pad, hoping the oils from Tseng's print last time would still be prevalent enough to read. The device beeped in approval and the lock released.

Damn...she was good.

She quickly went through the files until she found her own. Then she looked again and grinned. Well, since she was here...it would be a shame not to be nosy. Heh heh. She picked up Niki's profile and thumbed through it.

Turk: Nicole Christine Barsi
Status: Clinically Insane Rookie
Specialties: Under COVERS ops, weapons, fire, martial arts, bio weapons involving animal toxins, chocolate

Background:
Niki was adopted from an unknown birth mother when she was six days old and lived as an only child to a relatively normal couple. She was always highly intelligent, reading very early and displaying a well-advanced vocabulary - on the level of most well-spoken twentysomethings when she was in grade school. Other children rejected her at an early age because she was just labeled as "different" so she bonded with the animal world early on. Her parents were trying to be a bit too "normal" for their own good and decided to try and "normalize" Niki - sending her to shrinks who put her on too much medication and whatnot. The medications, which she had been fighting against over the course of her whole life, kept getting upped in dosage. Eventually the combination and sheer magnitude of the dosage gave her a minor heart attack and she decided enough was enough.

As her heart healed and she got back on her feet, the stress built up and her grades began to fail - she dropped out of school and ran away at sixteen. Out on the streets, she joined up with a pack of stray dogs and became like one of them, running with the pack and hiding in the shadows, eating whatever she could. To present, she retains her ability to speak with all animals, hence her knowledge of biotoxins and uncanny ability to get animals to do what she wants them to. She is fervently against animal testing and "liberates" ShinRa test subjects whenever possible. Her mind and body stopped aging at sixteen due to a psychosomatic reaction triggered by her unhappy childhood, the medications, and her wanting to stay young and happy. Most of the time, she acted like a precocious child when confronted by people.

It was Kandi who brought her to the Turks - the former HoneyBee girl was called in, along with Reno and Rude, to investigate a disturbance on 52nd Street involving a crazy girl and a pack of wild animals. With the dogs placed under ShinRa's care, to join the Turks as K-9 units, and Niki's refusal to return to her family, Kandi, Rude, and Reno brought her to Tseng. The Wutain man was a bit apprehenisive, to say the least. A quick exam in the Medical Facility went very badly - three doctors, severn nurses, four interns and a janitor were bitten during an attempted blood test. So she was ruled Clinically Insane and immediately sent on her first mission. She bonded quickly with Reno and once she reached her prolonged legal age of nineteen, they began a relationship.

Kandi giggled, remembering when they found Niki. Boy, she stunk. She flipped through another file. Akalara. Hmmm...what did Tseng know about her longtime friend that she didn't?

Turk: Akalara Forest
Status: Rookie
Specialties: Stealth assassinations, 'accidental' demolitions and explosions, undercover espionage, sabotage, firearms

Akalara Tearsong inherited her name in truth, from the day of her birth. Born the daughter of a drunk and his drug-dealing girlfriend, she grew up in one of the worst sections of Sector 5's slums, used to scream-matches and beatings whenever her father came home drunk, which was most nights. It didn't help that her appearance was so unusual; nobody is quite sure where the green hair came from.

In the end, Akalara was abandoned to the mercy of the streets when she was four years old, and her parents became sick of taking care of her. She found a mentor of sorts, changed her last name to Forest, and managed to join a street-gang. It was there that she picked up her extensive knowledge of explosives, handguns, and disguises; in order to avoid law-enforcement and gain money for the gang, the kids had to disguise themselves as other people. This is also how she became so good at sabotage, and undercover work. She, as well as several others in the gang, were usually sent out to infiltrate rival gangs and upset their plans, no matter what those plans might be. There are still several unsolved cases of buildings that seemed to have spontaneously exploded, yet unsolved in the Midgar data-base, that are generally attributed to this or that anti-Shinra terrorist group.

By the time she turned fifteen, Akalara had advanced to nearly the top of the gang. She was the 'girl' of the leader, and as such practically ruled the entire gang. But she wanted something else; her friend and mentor in the gang had died during a turf-war, and she didn't want to suffer the same fate. So she got out of the gang, cut all ties with it, and took to living on the Upper Plate. She was still on the streets, but now she was able to find a job, and she got one at a club called the Black Cat. At first she was one of the bar-maids, but within a week she picked up the best moves of the dancers and auditioned when a position opened up.

She got the job.

With her exotic good looks and natural 'assets', she became one of the most popular topless dancers in the bar. Until she was eighteen, this was how she lived her life; sleeping in homeless shelters or the street, hording her money, and dancing for the pleasure of strangers during the nights. That is, until she attracted the attention of one General Sephiroth, who was fascinated not only by her looks, but also by the fact that she knew what it was like to be different. He used his connections to get her into the Turks training program, and in return she spent her nights in his bed. She developed friendships with both Kandi and Zack, as well as Sephiroth and Reno, but held herself aloof from the other Turks and her fellow trainees. She was too used to getting hurt by what she saw as 'rivals,' even when they were supposed to be team-mates. Betrayals and backstabs (sometimes literally) were fairly common among the members of her gang, and even now Akalara cannot rid herself of the habit of sleeping with her back to a wall and her eyes open, not showing her back to anybody she does not trust.

Her arrangement with Sephiroth only lasted for about five months; he and Zack were sent to Nibelheim, and the rest is history. With her lover MIA, Akalara turned to Reno, who had been attracted to her ever since Zack introduced her. She also devoted the remainder of her time to fine-tuning her skills, developing a deftness for kunai as well so she would not be hindered were she forced into hand-to-hand combat. These, just as with her twin 9mms, are kept hidden somewhere on her person at all times.

When she was twenty, Akalara was accepted as a member of the Turks. However, she was not seen as necessary to their current objectives, and was so demoted to a mere bodyguard. Her charge was Rufus, and as with all of the others she used her body to gain favor with him. She enjoys sex, but she knows precisely how to manipulate men to get precisely what she wants from them using sex. It was a survival skill as much as a pleasure, and occasionally she still uses it as such.

And so she gained much favor with the Vice President, and soon after Meteor, she was repromoted as a full member of the Turks, this time for good. She also resumed her previous relationship with Reno, and has also begun an affair with her coworker Revan. Out of these arrangements, she hopes to gain some sort of stability. There has never been anything but change and upheaval in her life, and she wants someone to be there for her at all times; that is why she is so willing to utterly disgrace Niki. She is a rival to her hopes for the future, and as such she much be eliminated. She cannot be killed, since she is a fellow Turk, but she can be destroyed. Akalara places her trust in very few people; Kandi, Revan, Reno, and Brit are the only people she willingly shows her back to. Everyone else among her coworkers is seen as either an ally or a rival, or a possible stepping-stone in the future. She is not cold by nature, but she does come off like that towards other people; only her friends know that she can be fun and friendly when she wants to be and she feels relaxed enough to be able to let her guard down.

Gods damn, she knew everyone before they entered the Turks. Okay, time to get down to business. What did Tseng have on her?

Turk: Kandi
Status: Rookie
Specialties: Hi-tech espionage, hacking, undercover ops

Background:
A former HoneyBee Girl, Kandi made her debut in ShinRa not as a Turk, but as a secretary for SOLDIER, First Class, Zackary Fair. Having partaken of her services on a regular basis, Zack discovered a way to fill his need for a secretary as well as his insatiable desire for the brown-haired, red-streaked beauty. He hired her full-time as his 'Personal Assistant' where she remained until Zack's unfortunate death.

After Zack's death, Kandi found herself still employed with ShinRa but without her boss. A resourceful and intelligent young woman, Kandi found ways to make herself useful still to ShinRa. With her outgoing and almost perverse personality, she formed bonds with many of the departments, including the Information Technology (IT) Department, where she developed her unique skills for network hacking, able to connect to any electronic device fed through wire or satelite. It was with this new found knowledge that she developed the technology to send an instant remote charge to a dead cell phone, giving the device life and activating the GPS necessary for Turk retrieval.

During her time as Zack's secretary, Kandi formed a strong bond with Reno of the Turks and later his partner, Rude and Boss, Tseng. It was this friendship that propelled Kandi to join the Turks and begin her promising career.

Rumors:
During her time as a secretary, an incident occurred in which a 'Green Sludge' was produced and accidently mass distributed amongst the ranks of SOLDIERS, Turks, and scientists within the ShinRa Corporation. The 'Green Sludge' had gender altering capabilities, turning males to females and vice versa. At this time, Kandi had been having a very active sexual relationship with her boss, Zackary Fair. Having been at the receiving end of sex all her adult life, Kandi wished to try it as the opposite gender, convincing Zack to play female to her male. It is not known for sure whether or not the two succeeded in this role play, nor if any offspring were conceived due to the alleged tryst. Unfortunately, Zack died less than two weeks later.

Kandi breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't as bad as she expected, but it was still very personal. Nobody had known about what she and Zack had done with the sludge. Well, except Akalara, but she would never tell. She was about to put the files back when she decided to see if the remaining pages held anything of interest. Blood type, date of birth, height, weight. Hmm...another section.

Update:
After infiltration into the Deepground facilities beneath the old ShinRa buildings, the following file was found amongst some of Professor Hojo's old documents:

Upon examination of Specimen Z, it was found that the subject was one week pregnant with a healthy fetus.

Memory extraction and analysis revealed that the specimen and a female known as 'Kandi' had accessed my remaining supply of Experiment GS-56, along with two doses of the antidote. This was swallowed, and the two copulated in alternate gender forms. At this point in time, Kandi impregnated Specimen Z.

Kandi sat down in Tseng's chair, her legs suddenly unable to support her.

The specimen was likely unaware of his parental state. He is not even a month along, yet. I shall keep both he and Specimen C in a catatonic stasis until the pregnancy is complete. A specimen as valuable as this child cannot be risked. Specimen Z's research program shall begin after delivery. In the meantime, Specimen C is cleared for experimentation. He shall bear the brunt of my ideas until Z is ready for analysis. There are several theories I have concerning the Jenova cells which I want to test out further...

Almost lost the two of them today. Who told that imbecile to put more mako into Specimen Z's IV line? We are only using just enough mako to keep him in a coma. Any more than that precise dosage and he will die, along with the developing specimen. What does a genius have to do to get a little obedience around here?

I shall have to baby them through these next few days, until the poisoning has passed and they are back to normal. The idiot who injected the line shall join the ranks of my precious specimens. Suitable usage for a fool such as he.

The past nine months have been worth the effort. The baby was delivered via Caesarean at 9:45 pm Midgar Time, a healthy baby girl of complete development and no visible mutations. The mako has already seeped into her system through the umbilical cord; the glow of her eyes tells the observer all they need to know. As for the parent, he has been installed in a mako tank for recuperation. Within a few days, it will be impossible to tell that he has ever born a child. Likely he will never even know about it, much less remember it. I will begin experimentation on him once he has recovered. The child shall be sent to the main labs at Midgar, perhaps even placed in the 'secret' program. It would be best if the 'father,' Kandi, never knew about the existence of her daughter. Or that her 'mother' lives. To the rest of the world, Specimen Z, or Zack Fair, has ceased to exist.

His daughter, by the same token, is non-existent.

Tears streamed down Kandi's face as she continued reading.

At Present:
The offspring of Zack Fair was found in the Deepground facility. Andria has suffered no apparent physical or mental harm from being exposed to the environment of Deepground. However, she does exhibit increased reflexes, mental powers, and instinctive combat abilities, as well as all the more charming aspects of both of her parents. W.R.O. Commissioner, Reeve Tuesti, has entrusted the care of the child to Tifa Lockheart and Cloud Strife at present.

Kandi broke. She couldn't help it. She kept re-reading the parts of Zack being held captive, subjected to Hojo's experiments, being referred to as a 'specimen'. And, he had been carrying her child.

Their child. She had a child with Zack.

Flipping out her cell phone, she dialed the only person she knew would understand, sobbing out their name. "Akalara?"

A/N: Stay tuned...reviews are welcomed, as always.