Hey everybody! I got two story alerts for this story, so I figured I would go ahead and post this chapter. Just don't kill me if I take a while with updates. This has been a slow month for me with the updates.

Well, with that out of the way, time to see how this story really begins.

Disclaimer: I do not own FF7. I do own my OC, whose identity you will learn soon.

Chapter 1

There are several beginnings that happen in a person's life. There is the actual beginning of your life (the day you were born). There is the beginning of your education and school life (which is either pleasant or a living hell, interpret that as you may). There is the beginning of a friendship (as cheesy as that might sound, it's still a beginning, damn it!). There is the beginning of adventure and the beginning of a nightmare.

There are so many beginnings to choose from.

Hmmmm…..

I suppose that the best place to start this story is the day that I first met some of the Turks and had somehow got dragged into their mission.

I could start this story right after that or some time before this day, but I really feel that this is the best place to start. It just feels like that this one event led to several beginnings that happen later, one of them being the beginning of a nightmare.

Now, I suggest that you make yourself comfortable. Grab some snacks and drinks and sit in your comfy chair because I can tell you now, this is anything but a short story. In fact, if you have the whole story here, you're going to be here for a while.

…..

"Just how much longer are we gonna tail this guy?"

Reno was getting annoyed, and bored, trailing after some idiot who had somehow managed to get his hands on a very important item.

"Just be patient, Reno. In order to shut down the entire gang, we need to know the location of their hideout."

"Whatever."

Reno leaned against the side of a building, bored out of his head.

The Turks had been assigned to get back a flash drive that contained some bank codes that belonged to Shinra. Somehow, someone from a local gang, that, for some reason, went broke a while back, managed to threaten a Shinra employee to get the codes and give it to them.

They had already found out the identity of the employee who hacked Shinra's system. It should go without saying that he no longer works for the company, or breathes for that matter.

And now, Tseng was tailing the thief while Reno and Rude wait about a block away in different directions in case the gangster decides to suddenly change route. Cissnei, the new rookie, was hiding somewhere nearby in case something went down.

Suddenly, Reno heard music. More specifically, he heard guitar music. Someone was playing nearby. He looked around the corner of the building he was leaning against and spotted a street performer not too far away.

It was a girl who looked about 14. She had thick, short brown hair that barely passed her jaw with her bangs being about an inch longer than the rest of her hair and framing her face. She wore a cream-colored jacket with a white t-shirt underneath. She also wore loose black pants and worn-out tennis shoes.

Reno ducked his head back around the corner and stared down in thought. He was thinking that he heard of someone that fits that description, but he couldn't remember.

"Reno, the suspect is heading your way. Make sure he doesn't see you."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it."

Oh well. It probably wasn't anyone important anyway.

She smiled as she saw all the local children starting to gather around. They always loved it when she played her guitar. And frankly, the children were amongst the few people that didn't piss her off or annoy her.

She closed her eyes as she started to reach the end of the song she decided to sing to them.

Now I know why all the trees change in the fall

I know you were on my side even when I was wrong

And I love you for giving me your eyes

For staying back and watching me shine

And I didn't know if you knew

So I'm taking this chance to say

That I had the best day with you today

The children cheered as the song ended.

"Play another!"

"Yeah, play another Taylor Swift song!"

"No, Paramore!"

She laughed and shook her head.

"No need to fight over it, you guys. But, since I just now played a Taylor Swift song, I'll go ahead and do one from Paramore. Now, did you want to hear a specific song or should I choose?"

The girl that said Paramore looked up at her as she thought.

"Misguided Ghosts."

"Now that, I can do."

Personally, she liked that song as well. She tapped her foot to get a feel for the tempo and started playing.

I'm going away for a while

But I'll be back,

Don't try and follow me

'Cause I'll return as soon as possible

See I'm trying to find my place

But it might not be here where I feel safe

We all learn to make mistakes

And run from them, from them

With no direction

We'll run from them, from them

With no conviction

'Cause I'm just one of those ghosts

Traveling endlessly

Don't need no roads

In fact they follow me

And we just go in circles

She found the song calming for some reason. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to be able to finish the song for the kids this time.

"Hey Nia! I thought that I would find you here!"

Oh shit. Why now of all times? Would this guy ever learn?

Nia looked up to see the guy who usually harassed her whenever he got the chance. He was just a lanky drunk gangster who didn't know when no meant STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU PERVERT! He was still on the other side of the alley, but it wouldn't take him long to reach them and then that would be when the trouble would start.

She looked down to see the children starting to get scared. They all knew who he was as well, or at least, what he was a part of.

"Run home now. Things are going to get a bit violent soon."

A couple of the kids looked up at her in concern, obviously worried about how this encounter would turn out, but ran off all the same, with the exception of one nine year old boy. He stood next to her, trying to make himself look big despite how scared he actually was.

"I'll help."

Nia shook her head.

"Don't worry. I've dealt with him a couple of times before. Just run on home. I'll be back another time to hang out with you guys."

The boy looked up at her.

"But – "

"Don't worry about it. I'll be back to play more songs for you guys."

He didn't want to back down. He knew that this guy had been harassing her for some time and he was getting worried that something bad was going to happen to her this time. But, she did handle him before. That was true. But, he wanted to hear her say something before going.

"You promise?"

She nodded.

"I promise. Now go."

He ran off, hoping she would be okay.

Nia looked up as her usual pain-in-the-ass idiot stopped in front of her, wearing a smug smile on his face.

"That was a pretty little song you were singing there. Why did you stop?"

"How many times do I have to send you to the hospital before you learn to leave me alone?"

Her voice was calm, but there was the threatening undertone that, for some reason, he could never pick up on. Or he just ignored it. Either way, it didn't make the guy waver.

"Oh, you underestimate me. I'll keep coming back to see that pretty face of yours no matter how many times you break my wrist or my nose. I get out of the hospital eventually from something like that."

"In that case, wait right there for a minute. I'll be sure to send you there with a coma this time."

Nia made to put her guitar in the case that was sitting next to her, but stopped as she saw the idiot pull out a knife.

"Oh, I've learned all of your tricks now. Don't think you'll get the upper hand on me this time."

She glared at him.

"Just what do you want, anyway?"

He laughed.

"Oh, I just want to spend some quality time with ya. But, I do know that my boss wants you to pay us what you owe."

She scoffed.

"I stole everything fair and square. Therefore, everything I took became mine to do with as I pleased. Owing you guys would be saying that I borrowed, which would imply that I actually had any intention of returning anything, which I didn't. So no, I don't owe you guys shit. Now, leave me alone."

Reno watched this exchanged from his hiding place around the corner where he stood. He found the conversation interesting. However, he needed the target to stop harassing the girl and head towards the hideout.

"I don't think you have any idea of just how much trouble you're in, especially with that offer we made you in the first place. You could've just turned it down."

"I did. Multiple times. And you guys still wouldn't leave me alone. So really, you shouldn't be surprised. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places I need to be."

Nia moved again to out her guitar away, but quickly moved it in front of her when she saw him slash at her.

The knife sliced through all of the guitar strings and made a deep cut in it. She looked down at it. Her only way for making an honest living and stress reliever was useless now. Now, she was pissed.

"You're not going anywhere. You're going to come with me. I'm just on my way back from the job you turned down and I think I'll get a pay raise if I bring you back along with me."

She glared at him.

"You really are an idiot. Wait, scratch that. An idiot would have done your job better because they wouldn't have said anything about being on a job like that."

The guy was starting to get pissed. She could see that. Reno could also see that and was debating about jumping in when he saw the target starting to advance on her.

But, just as he got within arms length of her, she looked over his shoulder.

"Hey! It's about time that you got here!"

"What?"

He turned around to see who she was yelling at.

BAM! Then, the whole world went dark.

Reno watched as the street performer whacked her would-be assailant with the now useless guitar upside his head. The guitar was smashed into a couple of pieces, making Reno wonder just how hard she had hit him with it.

Nia looked down at what was left of the neck in her hand. Now she had to find some other way to make a living because, currently, she couldn't afford a new guitar. She walked up to the knocked out idiot and reached into his pocket.

"The price for your stupidity this time is a concussion and one stolen wallet," she said as she pulled out said wallet.

Just then, a middle-aged man walked by and saw the scene before him.

"Nia! Are you asking to get killed?"

"What? He was asking for it! Besides, I don't see why everyone is so scared of these people. They're not very organized and I swear half of them are idiots."

"That may be so, but they are idiots with guns."

"So, that's no excuse to not fight back."

The man sighed.

"You're going to get in trouble again."

"You're only in trouble if you get caught."

"Hey you!"

Nia looked up in time to see a couple of other guys from the same gang rounding the corner and spotting her next to the unconscious body that they recognized.

"Gotta run!"

She got up and started running the other way.

Reno watched as the guitarist/thief ran out of sight. He counted about five guys in the group that spotted her stealing the target's wallet. Three of them ran off after her and the other two were trying to wake up their fallen friend.

He flipped open his PHS and sent Tseng a text briefly explaining what happened.

Target got pwned by a street performer. She took his wallet and ran when his buddies showed up.

Reno waited a minute before feeling his PHS buzz with a response.

Does the target still have the package?

Package? It was just a flash drive. Wasn't that a bit too small to be referred to as a package? Oh well.

Reno thought about it for a minute before starting to text back.

Think so. Thief only stole his –

"Son of a bitch!"

Reno looked up to see two enraged gang members towering over the target. He was cowering beneath them, obviously afraid of what they might do.

"I don't know! I swear I had it! It was in my wallet!"

One of the men towering over him grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up roughly.

"I'll tell you what happened. That bitch stole your wallet! We saw her! You let that thieving little slum rat steal from us again!"

Oh shit. This wasn't part of the plan.

Reno deleted the text and sent a new one to Tseng.

No. Dumbass kept it in his wallet which got stolen.

A few seconds later, Tseng messaged back.

Find the thief and retrieve the package. We'll get the hideout another time. The rest of us are on the way.

There was little doubt in his head that Tseng was just as annoyed about this as Reno was.

He left the opposite direction of the three gang members, one of which was phoning their boss and the one on the ground blubbering as though he thought he would be able to find the right thing to say to lessen his punishment. Reno had little doubt that, no matter what the target said, his boss wasn't going to lessen his punishment.

So far, he agreed with the girl. The guy was an idiot.

Okay, this seems like a nice place to stop at.

Soooooo…what do you think? I've been having a slow month and a half, so I hope that this is good.

Remember, there is a hidden blue button at the bottom of the page that says "Review". If you happen to find this button, click on it, leave a review, and you may win cookies! Winners will also be mentioned in the next chapter. Bye!