Summery; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.
Thank you BelleDayNight and Maggz for your reviews - I really did want feedback, BDN, so thanks! (grin) I have a whole bunch of chapters waiting to be uploaded, just need some reviews...I believe I shall up the rating for future language and innuendo, just to be on the safe side. But I'm not planning on doing anything graphic, just so you all know. Please excuse if the city isn't Midgar - it was just a guess. If it isn't in AC, let me know so I can fix it. I actually have not read on FF7 or AC fanfic on this site - since this is my first story of this type, I wanted it to be completely from my own mind and fresh, and as little copied as possible. (If anything looks similar to another story, it's freak coincidence, I swear to you on a stack of Bibles. I hate people who copy!)
Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism welcome.
Once Rufus Shinra had finished explaining to her what had happened in their world two years ago, and the incidents that had preceded them two more years back, he watched the young woman before them intently, trying to catch any sign of realization or recognition. Instead, Xoe only listened to him with rapt attention, seemingly absorbing every word the man told her with complete attention, like a child hearing a fantastic story for the first time.
"That really happened?" she asked in amazement, staring at him with wide eyes that seemed a little clearer to Reno.
"You really have no memory of it?" he realized in surprise, and she nodded in embarrassment.
"Now that I think about it, I don't remember having a family…or anything until I woke up," she admitted ruefully, sighing a little. "I can't recall anything before then – but the dreams I had when I was asleep…"
"What were they about?" Shinra pressed abruptly, and she took a moment to think.
"Uh…a man with long white hair and a black coat was in it, along with a woman with the same hair," she said, obviously concentrating hard to bring back the images that had flashed through her mind during her sleep. "Some other things…a bright light, someone yelling…I think something else, but I can't seem to bring it back," she said dejectedly, looking depressed.
"No need to worry," he assured her briskly. "That man was most likely Sephiroth – you spoke his name while you slept. The woman may have Jenova, the entity that came to this planet and caused so much grief. If you don't have any objections, I'd like to run some tests on a blood sample we could take from you – it might help us explain some things."
Xoe eyed the man suspiciously for a moment, and it was apparent to the Turks and Shinra that she was trying to decide why she should trust them. She must have settled the matter somehow, because she eventually nodded slowly, still looking unsure of the wisdom of her decision.
"All right – if it'll help," she agreed, and Reno noticed she lost her newfound confidence, once more assuming the air of a frightened animal trapped beyond a doubt.
"Elena will take the sample, then," Shinra nodded, obviously pleased as they got to their feet. "Meanwhile, Reno will accompany you for safety purposes while you're in the facility and nearby, as well as to answer any questions you may have."
"Thank you," Xoe nodded, shadowing Elena's stride as the blond woman led her out of the room to draw the blood. Tseng regarded his boss as Reno reluctantly followed the two women with a mutter, and appeared both amused and concerned.
"Are you sure that's wise, to send Reno?" he asked, trying not to sound as if he was questioning Shinra's decisions outright.
"She'll be fine," the man nodded calmly. "She won't try anything – for a while, at least. I'm certain of that. The young woman has either truly lost any memory she may have had, or she is a very good actress – which I doubt. And Reno needs to learn some discipline, and this provides the perfect opportunity. Rude, keep an eye on them through the communicators."
"Yes, sir," the tall man nodded, and his hand went to his device that hung at his side. Tseng still didn't look convinced, but decided not to pursue the matter.
"That's it," Elena said shortly, wrapping a thin bandage over the puncture wound in Xoe's discolored forearm, and straightened with the drawn blood in the needle in her hand. "I'll go take this to the lab – don't do anything stupid, Reno."
"Yeah, yeah," he shrugged, and Xoe pulled back down her sleeve awkwardly, unsure what to do with Reno in the room. "Well?" he pressed, and she looked at him in surprise.
"Well what?"
"What do you want to do?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. "Anything you want to know? I'm in charge, after all – and there's nothing to do around here, that's for damn sure."
"I'd…well, I'd like to see outside," she decided, glancing out the window wistfully. "It seems so green outside…there are so many plants."
"We're in the mountains – well, the foothills, anyway," the Turk informed her with another shrug, getting to his feet. "C'mon, I'll take you on the grand tour if you want. Don't worry, I don't bite. Drink, sure, but I don't think I've bitten anyone yet," he joked, but she only eyed him nervously as she got up from her own seat and began to follow him outside.
"What do you think?" Reno asked, noticing she had been absolutely silent since he had taken her out into the forest. Turning around, he realized she was staring at the plant life in amazement, as if she had never seen it before. "It's not that impressive," he commented, glancing at a tree. "Just a bunch of damn weeds."
"I think they're amazing," Xoe informed him, her voice suddenly sharp as she gazed at him. "Is it like this everywhere?"
"Nah," he shook his head, keeping a closer eye on her than he appeared to be as she moved around the trees curiously. "Just a few places – at least where I've seen."
"Have you been to many places?" she asked absently, absorbed in her inspection of the bark of a tree.
"Sure – the Turks run a lot of errands for our boss, Rufus Shinra," Reno nodded. "But at least this damn place is quiet."
"Yes…it is…" she agreed, a strange look crossing her face briefly. She wrinkled her nose for a second before shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts and fingered the edge of her vest nervously.
"What's the matter?" he asked, noticing her fidgeting.
"It's…nothing," she shook her head. "I just thought I remembered something for a second."
"Then why're you so jumpy?" he pointed out, and she looked down at her twitching hand in surprise before balling her fingers into a fist at her side, as if to keep her body from moving on it's own.
"I didn't realize I was doing it," she said quietly, and ran her fingers down the bark lightly. "What kinds of things do you do around here?" she asked curiously, turning her attention back to the strange young man that had been forced to be with her.
"Huh? Oh, uh…lots of things," he replied evasively, not really wanting to tell her they killed people who opposed their boss and destroyed enemies. "Business deals and that kind of thing. We're basically bodyguards and errand boys, in a way."
"Oh, I see," she nodded, apparently believing the roundabout lie. "It must be nice, to have a purpose set out for you," she commented, almost to herself.
"Not really," Reno shrugged. "Sometimes it gets boring, doing the same shit over and over again, after all. That's when I sneak out when I can."
"Are there lots of people around?" she pressed, losing interest in the tree and now peering at several plants beside her. "In the area, I mean. There doesn't seem to be any here."
"Just us," he agreed. "Well, in Midgar there's a lot. Maybe I'll take you sometime if Shinra says it's all right."
"I'd like to see people," she nodded, and then looked at him with an almost desperate longing on her face. "Do you…are…is there anything for me to learn with here?" she asked, turning red from embarrassment.
"What? You mean like books or something?" he realized in surprise, and blinked when she nodded eagerly. "I…think so, yeah. Come on, I can ask Rude where they all are," he told her, and she eagerly followed him back toward the house. "What's with this chick?" Reno wondered to himself. "She's like a little kid in some ways."
"She's driving me fucking insane," Reno complained to Rude three nights later. Xoe had become enamored of the extensive library Shinra had managed to accumulate, and had only torn herself away from the wealth of knowledge when her body began to protest against lack of sleep.
"What, the sleeping?" Elena asked, looking over the rim of her glass at him. "Shinra thinks that's because her body has to become used to being active again. Although I can't say reading all the time is very active."
"Not that!" the Turk exclaimed, dropping his forehead onto the counter with a pronounced 'whomp'. "All her questions! All I hear is 'what's this;' 'what's it like;' 'how come'? It's like dealing with a fucking toddler or something!"
"That's understandable," Rude pointed out. "She has no memories that we can tell, and it follows suit she'd want to learn about the world she's suddenly been brought into."
"You haven't been corrupting her, have you, Reno?" Elena asked pointedly, and the young man glared at her.
"No!" he replied hotly, taking another deep draught of his drink.
"She's become quite attached to you, though," Tseng commented lightly. "Though I wonder at the wisdom of leaving you to take care of her at times."
"That was not my fault," Reno glowered at the head Turk darkly before returning to his drink.
"I didn't say it was."
"Did her blood work show anything?" Rude asked calmly, and Elena shrugged.
"Some tests haven't been determined yet. But her blood seems to have…abnormalities in it, for some reason."
"Like what?" Reno asked with interest.
"It's thinner than most people, but she doesn't seem to be sick in any way," the blond Turk explained patiently. "And according to lab readings, the geostigma doesn't seem to be spreading as quickly as it would at the stage it seems to be in with her. In fact, it doesn't seem to be spreading at all – and Shinra noticed something odd about her lab work, but he didn't tell me."
"Hm," Rude pondered this for a moment in silence, while Reno only continued to drink.
"I wonder how long we'll have to keep her here," Tseng wondered. "How important is this girl to us, after all?"
"Well, Shinra must think she is if he's taking care of her like this," Reno retorted. "He's treating her like some orphaned puppy or something, and I'm the one lucky enough to watch it to make sure it doesn't hurt itself."
"Now she's an 'it'?" Elena noticed with amusement, the other Turks knowing Reno was becoming too drunk for his own good at that point. "Very interesting…"
"What're you sayin'?" he demanded, slurring his words slightly. The woman remained silent, and Rude firmly pulled Reno to his feet.
"You've had enough to drink – you need to be semi-functional, at least," he added, trying to guide his partner out of the room as Tseng and Elena laughed.
"Since when is Reno ever functional?" Elena asked coolly, sipping her own drink calmly. Rude ignored her, and Reno was too drunk to care as the big man swung the red-head over his shoulder and hauled him out of the room without another word.
"So…her blood is unusual. Is that it?" Tseng asked in disbelief. "Shinra must know something he's not telling us, if he's keeping her around like this."
"Since when does Shinra report to us?" Elena replied evenly, and the other man stared moodily at the counter.
"Never, of course. But it would be helpful to know what exactly we're supposed to be watching," he pointed out, and the woman couldn't help but agree with a curt nod.
"Thanks, Reno," Xoe ventured to say, as the Turk began to redo the bandages they kept on her geostigma the next morning. He only grunted, suffering from a major hangover, and didn't look up from her forearm. Xoe was able to fix the bandages on her calves herself, but it was too awkward for her to try to wrap the bandages on her arm – therefore, Reno had to do it. She decided not to say anything else, and he finished wrapping it in silence before leaning back on his heels and pulling her sleeve down.
"There – all done," he told her curtly, resisting the urge to rub his head and crawl back into bed.
"Are you all right?" she asked curiously, and he eyed her patiently.
"Not really," he replied, but didn't elaborate and she didn't press him. Xoe had quickly learned not to push the Turk for answers if she didn't want him to lose his temper around her.
"I was going to see if you could take me to the city, but I'll go find something else in the library to read instead," she added quickly, getting to her feet and going to move past the still-crouching Reno. Although Xoe was indeed eager to read all she could, part of her enthusiasm was from a desire to keep her bodyguard happy – she had sensed he wasn't pleased about being stuck with her, but Xoe wanted to be friends with the stubborn Turk. She thought that if she didn't make him do much, he would stop being so grumpy, but she couldn't figure out why he wasn't acting any differently around her.
"Hey – is it quiet in there?" he asked abruptly, his gaze following her as she paused in surprise.
"Yeah."
"Maybe I'll join you," he grunted, pushing himself to his feet and passing her in a few strides. "Come on," he said impatiently, and Xoe nodded and followed him out the door.
"She's like a chick following a mother hen," Elena commented in dry amusement, as she and Tseng noticed Reno leading a confused-looking Xoe down the hall into the library and shutting the door, resisting the urge to slam it since he knew it would only cause him more pain.
"That's an odd way of putting it," the Turk leader replied, and she shrugged. "More like a baby chick adopting an attack dog as its mother."
"Perhaps," she conceded, and suppressed a very un-Turk like giggle. "Is he still drunk?"
"I don't think so. Hangover."
"Oh. I actually feel kinda bad for Reno. How long is Sir going to keep him on this duty?" the blond continued, resuming her usual cool and collected air.
"I don't know."
The library was fairly dark, the atmosphere created by heavy drapes that covered most of the windows and obscured the sunlight trying to penetrate the glass. The books covered three out of four walls in the small room, with several chairs scattered against the last one. Reno had been slumped in one of the armchairs for quite a while, his head bent toward a book in his lap, but Xoe was unable to tell whether he was actually reading it or asleep.
"Hey, Reno?" she asked hesitantly, but the Turk's head didn't move. He surprised her, however, when he actually answered.
"What?" he muttered.
"I was just wondering if you were actually reading," she told him, returning to her book. She missed the grin that played on the Turk's lips, despite his hangover, before he coughed awkwardly and turned a page – the first in an hour.
"Yeah. Why, did you want it?"
"No. I just thought you were asleep," Xoe shrugged, keeping her gaze on the words in front of her. "You just don't strike me as the reading type."
"And what type do I strike you as?" he pressed, and she glanced at him, worried he was once again in a bad mood. To her further surprise, the redhead was regarding her with poorly-concealed amusement, and she frowned at him.
"Are you laughing at me?" she demanded, and he sat back with a shrug and grin.
"Heaven forbid," he protested, but continued to peer at her. "Well? You gonna answer me? I think it's only fair – I've been answering plenty of questions these past few days."
"Well…you strike me as a drinking, lazy, fighting type," she confessed, turning a bit red under his scrutiny. Reno suddenly laughed and shook his head, tossing the book aside. He winced when it hit the floor with a thump, rubbing his head.
"Well, maybe you have a point," he admitted with a sigh, and Xoe leaned towards him with a curious look.
"Does your head still hurt that bad?" she asked, and he nodded. "Do you have a fever?" she continued, and it was Reno's turn to be taken by surprise when she suddenly pressed her palm against his forehead in concern. "You don't feel warm…" she thought, totally unaware of how close she was to the Turk.
"I told you, I'm not…ow! Fuck!" Reno yelped, and jumped away from her as she snatched her hand back to her side.
"What happened?" she asked anxiously, and he turned to her with a glare.
"What the fuck was that for?" he demanded, and she blinked.
"What was what for?" she replied. "I didn't do anything!"
"You just made my head feel even worse!" he yelled at her, and clutched his head in pain. "Ah…damn it…I'm going to bad. Stay away from me!"
"Reno! I didn't –" Xoe began, but winced when the door was slammed in her face, and slumped into the seat. "I didn't do anything," she finished sadly, gazing at her hand helplessly. "What happened?" she wondered, fisting her hand in anger.
"What was all that yelling about?" Rude asked calmly, seeing Reno stalk past him toward the room they shared.
"Shut up," the Turk growled, but Rude followed him into the room.
"Did something happen?"
"The bitch touched my head and it felt like it was gonna explode," Reno snapped, lying down on the bed with a groan. "And now I feel ever worse. Fuck off already."
"I'll go keep an eye on her," his friend offered, leaving the room before Reno could throw his tazer at him in frustration.
"So…Xoe finally displayed some sort of power?" Shinra mused, as Rude reported what the now-incapacitated Reno had told him a few hours earlier. "That's interesting…she made it worse, he said?"
"That's apparently what happened, Sir," Rude nodded. "She's locked herself in the library and refuses to come out – she wouldn't eat anything, either. She feels terrible about doing that to Reno, but apparently has no idea what she did – or how."
"That's interesting," the young man repeated to himself, and glanced at Rude. "Make sure she eats something – it won't do any good for her to starve herself to death. And get Reno to apologize as soon as he's able to stand," he added, and Rude nodded.
"Yes, Sir," he agreed, and left the room when it was obvious he was dismissed.
"So…she is displaying powers," Shinra thought to himself. "And destructive ones, at that. If she was a Jenova remnant like Kadaj and the others, the water would have cured her geostigma…but I'm sure this power is not the only one she possesses. Could she be lying about not knowing how she did it? Or perhaps she's something else…" The head of the Turks and the Shinra Corp. became lost in his thoughts, both enjoying this new puzzle and becoming frustrated at being unable to bend this young woman to his will.
And if Xoe seems to be acting like an idiot, remember what's happened to her! Or rather, what hasn't...I'm trying to use atmosphere more in the story than letting dialogue alone carry it, but I don't know if it's working. Please review if you read this, even if you don't like it! I would appreciate any kind of feedback. Except flames. Go away.