7 A.M. And I'm in this fuckin' library, again.

This time I don't even bother attempting to find the reactor charts by myself. As soon as I exit the elevator, I make my way toward Domino's office. My heart sinks when I try the door. Still locked. None of the political puppets or any other Shinra lackeys are lurking about. It must be too early. I knew I should have waited an hour or called ahead, but Tseng insisted I be here at '7 o'clock sharp'.

As if by instinct, I find myself heading towards the Scientific Research section. A chill runs up my spine and I shudder in the doorway. I begin to make my over to the corner where I had met the dark-haired girl last night. I'm relieved to find that there's no one there, but the same shiver of cold hits my nerves and tremble. Was someone watching me? No, it's probably just my imagination.

Suddenly, the thundering noise of binders falling from their shelves and colliding with the floor tiles echo through room. The sound of a wooden chair creaks loudly. My heart races; I hover my hand over my holstered pistol and I make my ways toward the binders that fell. There are a few of them in a pile on the floor. I crouch down to see the titles; Reactor Construction Charts, Reactor Construction Plans, Reactor Construction Development. I scoop up the binders and can't help but think how creepy this is... Convenient as hell, but creepy.

A flicker of movement in the aisle next to me catches my attention. In an instant, the binders fall violently back to the floor, my fingers are again clasped around my pistol, and the barrel of my gun is aimed at the strange girl from last night. Her expression is blank, distant, as if I wasn't pointing a gun her. That stare... it was just made me feel so uneasy. She's so weird.

"Hey, I'm sorry," I speak apologetically as I lower the gun and return it to my side "I didn't know anyone was here."

"...!" Her expressionless stare quickly breaks and a look of shock replaces it as she focuses her eyes away from me and towards the tiled floor.

"Um..." I hesitat, unsure how to react. I'm pretty sure it was her I felt looking at me earlier, since there wasn't anyone else here. "Did you find these for me?"

"Not really..." Her reply is a quiet whisper, still staring at the floor.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes-s-s," Her words are shaky, voice still low. "I, I... didn't do anything." Her eyes dart across the floor, eventually stopping to stare at the binders I had dropped at my feet.

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky then," I let out a nervous laugh as I stoop down to collect the binders again. I hold one up, "These are the files I was looking for last night."

"..." She stood still and silent, her eyes looking down at me through her hair.

"So, errr... sorry again for startling you." As I stand up, I debate holding out my hand to introduce myself, but decide against it. "I'm Reno."

"I... know." She looks from left to right, stalling a little before replying. "You-u-u... are with the... the Turks."

"Department of Administrative Research sounds better, doesn't it?" I joke at our official title.

"Jo..." Her speech is stilted and so quiet that I can barely hear her. "J-J-Jolene. I'm... Jolene."

I resist the urge to say 'nice to meet you' just to have something to say, but really it's the only thing that I can think of. I feel so anxious.

She begins to stutter, but I can't make out what she's trying to say, "I... I... I"

"Hm?"

"I have to go!"

And just like that, she turns toward the exit, runs away, and disappears between the aisles of books. She catches me so off guard and I instinctively find myself running down the aisle in the direction she went. But by the time I reach the exit, I can't find her. Mayor Domino and his assistant are merrily chatting away in front of the elevators.

"Hey, did you see a girl run past here?" I stop the two men. "Really long hair. Jumpy. Uh, with scars on her face."

"Ah, Reno," Mayor Domino responds with a huge grin. "I had a feeling you were up here flirting with our little interns. Don't scare them all off!"

"I wish!" I laugh halfheartedly. "I was just checking out some files and she ran off."

Domino pats me on the back, "You have to be careful with the young interns. They can be timid, not accustomed to talking with other people. Too busy with their books."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." I push the button to call the elevator. "Well, gotta get these over to Reeve, see ya' later."