Present day.

Elena struggled out of sleep, her buzzer working its way across her nightstand. She grabbed it before it hit the ground and read the message.

"Oh Gaia!' She threw back her covers and grabbed her clothes.

People couldn't get out of her way fast enough as she ran through the halls of Shinra toward the medical wing.

"Move." She shoved past another employee and pushed through the heavy glass doors of the visitors' entrance. She knew where she was going and headed directly to Reno's room.

"I thought you said he was awake." She demanded of the doctor when she found him still asleep.

"He will be," Dr. Smith responded evenly. He was used to dealing with Elena's hysterics over the years. "in a matter of minutes. We can tell by the change in his brainwave patterns. I thought you would like to be here, though."

"Did you call the Director?"

"Not yet."

"Let him sleep. He hasn't been getting much of that lately."

"My thoughts exactly."

"What should I say, when he wakes up?"

"Tell him where he is, make sure he knows he's safe."

"And his eye? What do I say about that?"

"I'll explain. Here, I think he's coming around."

Elena moved to the bed. It was down low enough that she could sit next to him. She took his hand in hers and waited. The doctor moved behind her.

Green eyes opened, returning from far away. She had been afraid he would jolt away, forget where he was, be afraid. But he just looked exhausted, and it seemed he had no energy for fear. He just quietly took her in and let the sluggish memories come back to him.

"You're at Shinra, Reno, you're safe." He blinked up at her, drowsiness threatening to take him back under, but he noticed he wasn't seeing right, he raised a hand to his face. Elena grabbed it before he could touch.

"Don't."

He lowered his hand and pulled his breathing mask away. "Why..." his voice was so weak, but part of that was from the damage to his windpipe, courtesy of Cole.

"It's alright Reno." The doctor explained. "We had to operate to remove shrapnel that struck you in the face. Now, your eye was not hit directly, but a long piece of porcelain was embedded in your eye socket and cut the edge of your eye as well as striking your optical nerve. It was not severed, but damaged. The only way to ensure recovery, is to keep it protected from all light for at least two more days."

"Just two?"

"You've been unconscious for four days, Reno. But don't worry, you're getting the best care Shinra has to offer. Just rest, up."

"But Rude...Elena, is there a service-"

"Rude's alive."

"What?"

"He is, Reno, they saved him."

He gripped her hand and narrowed his eye, "You're telling the truth?"

"Reno of course, why would I lie?"

He shut his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry. Take me to him."

He reached to pull the mask off his head but she stopped him.

"Reno, he's asleep, and you need to rest too."

He shook his head. "I'll rest after, please, I just need to see him for myself."

She glanced at the doctor.

"It's not good for him. The less he moves the better. However, Rude is only a few doors down."

"Take me."

Elena nodded to the doctor. He got a wheel chair and as gently as they could, they pulled off monitors and helped him into the chair. Reno looked like he might pass out after the move and began coughing and wheezing.

"He has pneumonia." Dr. Smith explained, putting a steadying hand on Reno's shoulder and pulling the IV cart closer. "Let's make this quick."

They wheeled him down to Rude's room. It looked bad, and it was, but Reno had thought his partner was dead. He made a strained noise and before they could stop him he lurched forward and leaned on the bed rails so he was looking down on his partner.

"He can't be moved." The doctor warned, grabbing hold of Reno's shoulder's in case he fell forward onto Rude. "But he has a strong chance of a full recovery."

"Good." Reno slid off the rail and the doctor caught him, lowering him back into the chair. His eye was shut.

"Is he unconscious?" Elena asked alarmed.

"He just needs to rest. Let's get him back."

Tseng was there by the time they got Reno settled again. The doctor had given them little information until this point, many tests needed to be run and the two remaining Turks of their team, not in peak condition themselves, had been run off their feet trying to investigate the mysterious organization; do reconnaissance on their building, figure out their next move. But now was the time to sit down and discuss their biggest source of intelligence.

"I want to know everything." Tseng said, sitting down. Elena sat too and the doctor pulled over a chair to face them.

"So would I. If I knew what they'd been doing to him the last four weeks, I could help him more."

"You've been shown the videos."

"Yes. But they do not account for half the scars on his body. He was tortured far beyond what we ever saw."

They had suspected, but it was still hard to hear.

Elena broke the silence, if only so she didn't have to dwell on that thought. "You said he has pneumonia."

"Yes. A rib puncture his lung, from what the president told us of his phone call and what SOLDIER observed on the roof, this most likely happened the day they captured him. They had to operate on him. Now, I know this is not my job, but I would say that the skills evidenced by what I have seen on his x-rays and the surgical scars are equal to any of the doctors here, as well as the equipment used to do it. Whoever did this was highly trained and in a professional facility."

"That does help." Tseng answered quietly.

The doctor nodded. "He most likely developed pneumonia shortly after, it is a very common side effect and the conditions he must have been in would not have helped. He may never have gotten over it or it has reoccurred, but it is fairly serious. He will have to remain on bed rest and antibiotics for quite some time.

"As for exposure to other germs and bacteria, it is impossible to tell, but assuming he has been in unhygienic conditions for a prolonged period of time, I have been flooding his system with stronger antibiotics, beyond those for the pneumonia, to try to flush out anything else he might have. That is part of the reason he's been asleep so long, it is very tiring on the system. I will be tapering that off in the next twenty-four hours, after which he should be less tired.

"My next priority is his nutrition. As you can probably see, his weight is dangerously low, and his blood work shows several deficiencies. I gave him a transfusion as well, he's suffered significant blood loss, though not all at once. For now we are keeping him fed intravenously while he's sleeping. But I am worried he will have a lack of appetite when he wakes up so it will be important to make him eat as much as he can."

"What about his injuries?"

"Honestly, Director, I don't know where to start. I've told you about his eye. His ribs still need to heal. His fingers are a bit concerning, some of them have been broken several times, he may need to retrain them. Beyond that, I simply have to refer to my list."

Tseng looked to Elena and then back to the doctor. "Like you have already observed, Reno's injuries and their treatment can give us clues. I would like you to go through an examination of his body with me."

"You're going to use him like a piece of evidence?" Elena exclaimed.

"We're Turks, Elena, we do what we must. Reno is sleeping, it will make no difference to him and it could tell us much. You don't need to stay. In fact, perhaps it would be best if you left."

"Sir I-"

"For his privacy."

"Yes sir."

Tseng shut the door to his office and went to his side table. The bottle of brandy had sat untouched since it had been given to him, but now he cracked it open and poured a glass. The door opened softly.

"That bad, huh? Then you better pour me a glass." Tseng set his glass down and prepared a second for Rufus. "Alright, fill me in."

Tseng gave Rufus as concise a report as possible. And then they discussed the mystery organization.

"We barely got out of there alive. Now we are down two members. I have men watching them twenty-four hours a day, but we are not ready to make a move. We simply need to know more and the only two people we know that have been inside there, are unconscious." Tseng concluded.

"Does the doctor think Reno will be able to give us much detail? What will his mental state be?"

"Experience says not very good. But it is Reno. He may surprise us."

"Well he must have helped Rude get out of that building."

"Yes, I agree. He had to be lucid, and he had to be calm."

"Good. Then keep up the intelligence on that building and let me know as soon as you have more information." Rufus finished his glass and set it on the table. "And Tseng, you look terrible. Get some sleep."

"Yes, sir."

"Where is he?" Tseng stared at the empty bed, tubes pulled out, monitors beeping. By the doctor's reaction, he knew Reno was not supposed to be gone. "He must have woken up, forgotten where he was and-"

"Don't be so dramatic." A strained voice came from a the half open door to the bathroom. Both men hurried over. Reno was slouched over the toilet bowl. He'd been sick. "I'm not mental, Tseng."

His stomach lurched and his fingers went white around the edge. Dr. Smith knelt next to him. Both men were frankly surprised. Reno had not come around again after seeing Rude for another two days, and after that he was still so exhausted he was only ever awake for brief periods of time and not terribly coherent. The most coherence they'd seen was his relief when the bandage was removed from his eye and he discovered he still had his vision. Now, nine days after his rescue, he was as clear-headed as they'd seen him, though clearly he was not well. Reno spit bile into the toilet before rolling back and leaning against the tub. The doctor was taking his pulse and feeling his temperature.

"What's wrong?"

"Could be anything. His immune system is so low he could have picked up a bug, or he may simply be having an adverse reaction to the medications."

"Feels like the flu." Reno muttered, sliding his face into his hands and pulling up his knees. He was shaking.

"Fever, chills, nausea. It could be," the doctor said. "I should take some blood, make sure it's nothing worse." He rose, "stay with him."

"Of course." Tseng took the doctor's place at Reno's side, leaning against the tub.

"Have you been watching them?" Reno hadn't looked up, but Tseng knew what he was talking about.

"Yes but we have to know more before we can get close."

"I was telling Rude..." Reno swallowed painfully but he seemed determined to continue and Tseng was just glad he didn't have to ask Reno for the information, "I think that whole building runs from the plate to the slums. But I don't get it, that big lobby we ran through, those glass doors, the security- why would that be on slum level? They were well dressed, well educated, they have to be from the plate, why would they be entering from the slums?"

"Did you ever see the entrance at the plate?"

Reno shook his head, then regretted it. He leaned over the toilet and heaved a little more but there wasn't much left in his stomach. Tseng eased him back against the tub. The doctor came in and gave him something to drink, then began preparing his arm to take blood. Tseng helped steady his arm but Reno didn't even pay attention.

"I never saw the above entrance. I just guessed. I didn't see a whole lot of the building. I was in a lab or a medical room when I first got there. They operated on me and I was out for almost a day. They moved me to a cell, I was unconscious so I didn't see the halls. But they did move me from my cell to...well, the room you saw in the videos..." he couldn't quite say the room where they tortured him. "It was one floor up, it was pretty big, they had the film equipment and...everything else. It was sound proof."

"What was in the halls?"

"They were bright. My cell was always dark, it made it hard to see every time they brought me out. But they were white. Doors, lots of doors, people in business clothes and lab coats. Soldiers. There was a service stairwell near my cell, that's the one Rude and I used, and the soldiers used to transport me. But the other people used a bigger one around a turn, or the elevators. Those hallways were larger, plants, waiting chairs. It was like an office building, but they didn't take me that way. And there was an examining room next to the sound proof one upstairs. I think it was just for me. It was pretty bare."

"Examining room?"

"Sometimes things went a little far." Reno stared down at the white tile. "the doc had to bring me back more than once."

"Bring you back?"

"He restarted my heart, twice. I think I had a few seizures, not really sure."

The doctor bandaged up the spot where he took blood. An attendant had brought him a blanket that he tucked around Reno.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked.

"'Bout the same."

"Reno, did they ever give you drugs?"

Reno nodded.

"Do you know what they were?"

"No."

"Why, what are you thinking?" Tseng asked.

"Nothing is wrong, but I'll review the first blood tests to check for traces of them. It would be good to know what he was given. It would also be good to get some clarification about other things they did to him."

"Him, is sitting right here, but we have other things we need to discuss. I got free one day, Tseng. And that was when I realized how big they were."

"What did you see?"

"I ran up. I had woken up in the examining room, the doctor had his back to me and the guard was talking to someone out in the hall. I ran. I shoved the doc, punched the guard and the civilian ran away. I made it to the service stairwell and I ran up. I knew the would expect me to go down. I got tired though, and the stairs seemed never ending. I got off on floor fifty three. It was dark, unfinished. So I thought maybe they only work in the bottom, but there was still elevators. I started going down the hallways but I started to pass out. I found a room and fell inside. I don't know how long I was there. But when I woke up, I was still alone. Tseng, it took them more than eighteen hours to find me. All those people, and it took nearly a day. That's why I think it's so huge. They must have searched every floor for me. I tried to move further up, but they had a way of automatically locking the doors. I was locked in on that floor. There were only small windows there too. But other than that, I think the layout of that floor was identical to the others, I mean the walls and doors. Tseng, that place, it was like an old building they took over, renovated. Only thing is, who would ever have the ability to make something so huge except Shinra?"

Tseng looked at the doctor. "Leave."

Smith knew there was no point arguing and he left the bathroom shutting the door behind him.

"Reno, you think you were in an old Shinra building?"

"What other explanation is there?"

"But who could they be? Who has an organization that big?"

A funny smile touched Reno's mouth. "I had a month to think about it, to look for clues, to confirm suspicions. At first I thought I had the same guard. Then one day there was two of them, then three. They were identical. Not all of the soldiers mind you, there are a few different types, but three, four, maybe as many as a dozen of each."

"What are you saying?"

"Clones Tseng. I don't just think they found an old abandoned Shinra building, I think they found an abandoned project. Cloning, maybe even SOLDIER, or maybe something else. I mean, maybe Rufus doesn't even know about it, could be one of his father's projects."

"You really think it was made by Shinra?"

Reno nodded. "I can show you. Where are the videos?"

Tseng blanched. He'd been so caught up in what Reno was telling him, he'd almost forgotten all that had happened to him, but just by mentioning the tapes, horrible images flooded back to Tseng. And now Reno wanted them.

"Why?"

"I said, I can show you."

"Reno-"

"I was there, remember. Seeing it won't make a difference." He said it so detached, Tseng could hardly believe it. They were Turks, yes, but he did not expect this level of calmness from Reno after a whole month of captivity- of worse than captivity.

"You're sick, you need to rest."

"No, this first. Then, while I'm resting, you can be investigating."

The director exhaled. "Fine. But you're not going anywhere, doctor says your immune system might be compromised. Stay here, I'll bring them to you."

Reno nodded. When Tseng left the doctor reentered. He tried to get Reno to go to the bed but he stayed where he was.

"I can give you something to fight the nausea."

Reno shook his head, he was exhausted and rested his forehead on his knees. After a few minutes, Tseng returned with a laptop. The doctor excused himself once more. He didn't bother asking if Reno wanted to move somewhere more comfortable because nothing would make this experience any more comfortable.

"The disks?" Reno asked.

"Copied to the hard drive."

The red head reacted to this. "How many copies are there?"

"Well, we had them analyzed for any clues-"

"Well, who has the disks? Who all has copies of this Tseng? It's fucking personal shit there. Who exactly got to watch these videos?"

"Reno, you know the answer to that. You know that if it had been me taken and not you, who all would have been in that room to see. Who all would have studied it?"

"Rufus. Elena and Rude. Video experts. Doctors. Psychologist. To hear the message. To look for clues. To assess my chances of survival and the chances that I was still sane."

"Yes."

"But it's done now. Can you get rid of them?"

"I will make sure any copies no longer being analyzed are no longer in use."

Reno held his gaze for a moment. "Okay. Play it, any of them."

Tseng scrolled over the folder and opened it. Reno could tell he was being deliberately slow, giving him a few more seconds to change his mind.

"Just play it."

Tseng did. He waited for some reaction but Reno just stared. He stared at himself being drug into the room; at himself being strapped in place. He listened to himself scream, and watched everything that happened. But he was looking for something else, the scenes before him never phasing him.

"There, stop." The camera had been bumped, and the door just became visible for a second. "See."

"It looks like the doors in the interrogation room here." Tseng said.

"It doesn't just look like it, Tseng. It's the same, exact same. And the walls on that side of the room, look at the steal plating, the edge of the glass observation window. It's aligned exactly the same. And it's sound proof. Even the bolts are the same. And it was like that in the level below as well. Whoever designed that room, designed the one here. That's the clue, that's what you chase, Tseng."

"Reno, they are similar, but how can you be sure?"

A dry laugh escaped him. "I had nothing else to look at all those hours in there."

"Reno, eventually we're going to have to discuss what happened in that room."

"Not really, no." Reno said. "I can give you all the intelligence you need without doing that."

"Not for intelligence, Reno. For your health."

"You mean my sanity."

"No, not just that, the doctors can treat you better if they know what happened."

Reno picked up his glass of water and took a long drink. Tseng knew he wasn't going to answer.

He let it go for now.

"Reno, if I got you some paper do you think you could draw a layout of what you know?"

Reno nodded.

"Okay, I will investigate the possibility that this facility was made by Shinra. But Reno, don't discuss this with anyone, okay, not even Elena."

"Yes sir."

"Do you want me to help you back to bed?"

"No."

"Okay." But when Tseng went to close the laptop and take it back Reno grabbed the side of it.

"Leave it."

"Reno-"

"I want to know what you, and everyone else saw. So when I see people, I'll know what they're seeing when they look at me."

"Reno, don't put yourself through this."

"I need to know."

Tseng stared down at him. "If you don't already know what's in those videos, that means they must have made more than what we saw."

"Of course they did. They didn't always get the reaction they wanted out of me."

"How many, then? How many videos did they make?"

Reno met his gaze, and there was a fierceness in it Tseng didn't expect. When he spoke, he spoke with loathing, and the Director couldn't be sure it wasn't directed at himself. "How many days was I gone?"

It was like a cold stab of pain in his gut. Everyday. Reno had gone through that everyday and they had seen just four times. Images they could never erase from their memories. Tseng didn't respond. He looked at Reno's trembling hands clutched around the laptop, his enraged eyes, and turned out the door and left.

"How long has he been like this?"

"A few hours."

Tseng looked to the monitors next to Reno's bed. He knew enough to understand his condition had gotten much worse. The doctor had called him down.

"I found him passed out in the bathroom, he didn't want to be disturbed while he..." Dr. Smith's eyes landed on the laptop, "anyway, his fever has gotten worse, if it doesn't break soon we'll have to cool his body down ourselves. His immune system is simply too weak to fight it. We're going to have start taking more precautions about his exposure."

"Will his immune system recover?"

"Yes, he just needs time. His body is focusing on healing too much at once right now. And he exhausted himself this afternoon."

"I know. But he helped our investigation alot."

The doctor had no response to this. He knew his place, but as a doctor, he did not condone Reno's continued involvement in Turk business when he needed to heal.

"Dr. Smith." Tseng reached for the laptop. "When Reno watched the video with me, it was as if he wasn't even seeing himself. In fact, his mental state has been surprisingly stable."

"I wish I could assure you he would remain stable, but the fact is, disassociation is a very unhealthy coping strategy. I am afraid it is only a matter of time before we will see the effects."

Tseng sighed and picked up the computer.

"Let me know if his condition deteriorates."

"Yes sir."

Hello again, thanks for all the reviews! I am really encouraged to have to have positive feedback on this one! I'm afraid the action is slowing down a bit for now, but that's so the plot can thicken! Hoping to update again in a few days!

Riza