Lyle Bohannon had grown to enjoy this time of morning. Over the last few weeks Cloud and Tifa had allowed him to stay in their home until he had enough gil to get a place of his own. He like the couple and their live in wards Marlene and Denzil. He liked their energy and infectious good humor. But he also enjoyed the hour of silence he got to himself every morning as he got ready for work.
He was currently leaning against the back of the shower letting the warm water soak him and wash away yesterday's trouble. Lyle tried to start every day new and fresh, with the day before's worries and troubles left with yesterday. He also loved the feel of the water. Before coming to live in the 7th Heaven he had not had a bath in literal years. Sometimes he still woke up in the night choking on the memory of his former, filthy and grimy existence. Clean was certainly the way to be.
After a long soak he reluctantly shut the water off so that Tifa would have some hot water when she got in in a half hour to make breakfast for Cloud and the children. Lyle would be well on his way to work by then however. He pulled his towel free of the rack next to the tub and dried himself off before stepping out of the shower. He stopped to look at himself in the mirror. His eye was no longer sunken and surrounded by black bags and much of the weight he had lost had come back, thanks to Tifa's excellent food, and that went a long way to easing the haggard look of his face. There was a little bit of red stubble on his chin but he decided to forgo a shave this morning. But he touched the socket where his right eye had once been and sighed.
He dressed quickly and gave the mirror one last look as he pulled the black patch over his right eye. Denzil had turned up with the simple eye patch sometime late in that first afternoon. The boy had presented his prize to Lyle with great pride. He did however, refuse to tell anyone where he had found it saying only it was better not to ask. And Lyle never did.
It had taken him several hours, a half dozen rags, multiple bars of soap, and what seemed like fifty tub water changes to get clean that night. But in the end he had managed to scour himself clean of five years of dirt and grit. He had been meticulous about his cleanliness ever since. Again no one seemed to mind beyond Barret telling him that it was unhealthy to get in an overly clean mindset. Lyle agreed but sometimes he could still feel all that filth on his skin.
He slicked his flame red hair back with his hand and called himself groomed for the morning.
The house was dark and still, but not foreboding. There was a homey warmth that filled the air and anyone who came here would know this home was a happy home.
Down the stairs Lyle went slowly so as not to make them creek and may be wake anyone up. He passed through the door that separated the home from the bar and cautiously made his way to the fridge in the dark. He opened it a little and pulled out some juice and the lunch he had packed the night before and set them on the bar top. Next, he took his lunch box from under the counter and took out his thermos and filled it with juice. The he placed his sandwiches in the bottom of the box and strapped the thermos to the inside of the lid.
Lyle closed the lid and made his way out of the 7th heaven. It was still dark outside as he headed to work. A light fog rose from the street and swirled playfully around the brightly burning street lamps. The sound of his heavy boots ringing off the cobblestones echoed through the empty street. Here and there he passed others as the emerged from their homes. None of the early risers said anything to anyone as they all went their separate ways in the predawn gloom.
It was a long walk around Edge. Almost an hour after he left Cloud and Tifa's home he stood before a large building marked 'W.R.O. Material Warehouse #17' The warehouse was massive, covering blocks of the city that had grown around it. Barret had told him that this warehouse was the largest in edge with right at one million square feet of floor space. The outside was an imposing wall of a flat beige color with two large maroon stripes near the top.
Lyle still felt impressed by the sheer size of the building.
He pressed his scan card to the small black box mounted on the door frame next to the knob. The red light flickered green and the 'thud' of the magnetic seal releasing sounded as Lyle's ID. Was read and reread by the security computer.
Once inside he noticed all of the lights were on. He was seldom beaten to work by the other employees but it had happened once or twice. To his right was a long counter with computers bolted to its surface every three feet like the crenellations of a castle wall. An older man sat before the only computer with a lit screen. Kenneth Diamond, was his name, he was the unofficial head of the warehouse. There was a supervisor of course, but Ken knew where everything was and ran the place with the efficiency of a career sergeant. If you had a question or needed anything you asked Ken. Even the supervisor understood he was only there to fill out the paperwork and let Ken run everything else.
Lyle clocked in then went to see why Ken was there so early. "Is there a problem Mr. Diamond?" He asked while trying vainly to see the screen over the other man's shoulder.
"Not anymore." Ken replied. He punched in a few more things on the computer then turned around to face Lyle. "Wallace 116 went down last night around three. It was because of motor failure. I sent out the one from rack ninety, bin twelve." Ken told him by way of explanation. "But Silas had it earmarked for another project, so I had to override his reservation. When's that little boy going to learn this is my warehouse?"
Lyle shook his head and gave Ken a shrug. Ken was almost seventy four, but he was fit and healthy with the mind of a steel trap. Silas, the supervisor was in his mid fifties so Lyle never thought of him as a 'little boy'. Ah the perks of age.
"Well who took it out?" Lyle asked as he turned to find the night's hotshot. "And where is Wallace 116?"
"It hasn't gone out yet. I was here getting it okayed. SO…" Ken opened one of the drawers in the counter and lifted out a metal safe box. He took out a set of keys and tossed them at Lyle. The one eyed man caught them without turning to look at Ken. "It looks like you get to take it out there."
"Wonderful… I just knew you were going to tell me that. Well so long as its not the one by Fort Condor. I hate that place. Just the smell of the air rolls my stomach." Lyle put the keys in his coverall's pocket and looked at the map.
"Good news then son. 116 is over by Corel."
"Corel? Home office? Why are we sending parts there? They are better stocked then we are." he asked. Ken shrugged. The old man kicked one of the near by stools toward Lyle. "Sit down son."
The younger man obeyed and took a seat on the stool with out another word. "Look, I probably shouldn't tell you this since its still a company secret, but… Well the new train line from Costa Del Sol to Corel is shut down. Somethin's wrong but I aint heard what."
"So how am I supposed to get there?" That's a continent away! He thought.
"Ah well you see the thing is…" Kenneth started "The rest of today's good news is you're gonna take a worm with you. We hope you'll be able to get them wormed out and productive. And they can get you some transformational type help to Corel."
"Ok…" The red head mumbled. Worms were new people, absolute rookies. Worming someone out was a nice way of say 'work them till they drop and they will either make a good hand or die. Either way we win.' "So when do you want us gone?"
"As soon as you can, of course."
"Of, course." Lyle grumbled lamely. "Well I'll go load that motor and then when the worm gets here we'll head out."
"Worm's already here boy. Had no where else to go last night so they's crashed on the break room couch. Go get'em up and make the worm earn their keep." Ken told him.
"No where to go huh? Well I can understand that." Maybe me and this guy can get along. Lyle walked the length of the long counter then turned and went through the door at the far end. It led to a small pipe room lined with small lockers and an ice machine. He paid this room no attention and crossed it in just a few short steps to pass through to the kitchen area and then finally to the main office rooms. He took a left just outside the kitchen door and entered the break room.
It was filled with low tables and many chairs, two T.V. s were mounted on the wall at the halfway point and far end of the room. Right under the far T.V. was the old beat up and uncomfortable couch. The person on it was covered with one of the nasty purple fire blankets in bright contrast to the couch's dull and dirty yellow.
Lyle weaved in and out of the low tables on his way to the couch. "Time to get up." He said pulling away the blanket. The new worm rolled over and sat up. With a long yawn they rubbed the sleep from their eyes.
"You?" Lyle asked in confusion. "Why are you here?"
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In far away Corel, Barret Wallace looked at the map on the table before him lost in deep concentration. "Ya sure?" He asked Vincent for the hundredth time.
"Yes." Vincent answered with his usual patient calm. "I went as soon as you told me about the missing train. I found it in the Cosmo Canyon by pass tunnel. I believe you should go and see it for yourself Barret. Something in the area is attacking the wildlife and disrupting the trains."
Damn it! Barret thought. We just got everything up and running and now this! "This isn't good man. It got something' ta do with that lab ya think?"
"Perhaps. We are not sure what got loose or if it could even survive on its own."
"I don' like all these maybes. Lets go and look it over."
"Can I make a suggestion to you first." Vincent said it in such a way that Barret understood it was not a question.
"Yeah…" he replied cautiously.
"Get Cloud and Tifa and all the others here first. You must believe me when I tell you we will need them."
"Even Yuffie and that damn cat?"
"Well, perhaps not Cait Sith. Reeve's got enough on his plate right now."
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"You know I thought you'd be a lot happier to see me Patch." Yuffie complained as she tightened up the last of the motor restraints. "We got along soooo well last time."
"I don't like people keeping an eye on me." Lyle grumbled back at her. "What do they think I'm going to do? And don't call me Patch."
The ninja girl hopped up on the trailer and leaned across one of the connection cylinders to get a good , unobstructed view of Lyle. "Everybody says that!" she whined "But anyway, I'm not here to keep an eye on you. Everyone thinks you're a big boy and can handle yourself. I'm here because my father thinks I need some hard life experiences." She made a face at the thought. "So he got Barret to hook me up with a job."
"Oh really? Then why here?"
"Because he wants me away from home but not far from help. He makes out like I'm a little kid! Its just so damn frustrating!" She fumed. "I can handle myself!"
"I'm sure you can." Lyle said soothingly. He hopped up on the trailer and squatted so he was even with Yuffie's face. "But fathers can be a pain in the $$. 'Sides…" The red head poked the ninja girl in the forehead and pushed her up off the pump's extrusion. "Hard work never hurt anyone."
"Really?" Yuffie asked him with narrowed eyes. She did not trust this four letter word -work- It sounded… Uncomfortable, complicated, and completely inconvenient to the social life of a nineteen year old girl. "What about that guy who died of exhaustion over in Rocket Town? I think it was hard work that killed him."
"No. It was his heart. Hard work had nothing to do with it. Now come on we're already running behind." Lyle told her before she could respond "And we don't get paid until we leave."
"We don't?" Yuffie responded in surprise.
"No. We're paid by the job plus extra for every mile we travel. So this should be a very profitable trip for you." he explained to her. "All you'll really have to do is ride in the truck."
"Really? How profitable?" She asked. Lyle swore he caught a slight green glint in her brown eyes.
"Figure… About three cents per mile. On top of four or five thousand gil as the jobs base bounty." He shook his head. "We're gonna be gone for a week at least." And he was not certain he liked that thought when he saw how she was doing the higher math in her head.
"That comes up to… A bunch!" She exclaimed happily as in her mind's eye gil showered down around her. The coins of her imagination were pleasantly cool against the flesh of her nude inner self. Oh yes, the thought of all that money made her tingle. "Are all of our jobs going to be this good?"
"Hardly." Lyle told his new associate bluntly. The tingling stopped. "Mostly jobs around here pay about fifty gil plus the three cent a mile. You can usually get four or five of those done a day if you push yourself, skip lunch and don't take any breaks."
Push yourself? Skip lunch? No breaks? Work really was the worst of the four letter words! And if you topped that off with Cid's favorite four letter word you would have nailed Yuffie's feelings at that moment dead on. F-ing Work!
"… own place." she heard Lyle saying to himself.
"What was that Lyle?"
"I said I might actually have enough to buy my own place after this job is done. I've been saving up everything I get paid except for what I pay Cloud and Tifa for my room and board there."
"Why don't you rent a place?" she asked curiously. She needed a place of her own too.
"Because currently in Edge you either buy a place or you live on the streets. There's just no space for renters."
"Well that sucks." Yuffie hopped down off the trailers and climbed in the truck's cab. She had just finished fastening her seatbelt when Lyle climbed in beside her. He said nothing as he started the large truck and let the engine idle. After a minute or so he put the vehicle in gear and, slowly, they left Warehouse #17.
At the outskirts of Edge, the ninja felt the hairs on her neck stand up and that feeling one gets when they are being watched. She glanced over at Lyle but his blind side was to her and his good eye was on the road. 'Creepy.'
Beyond Edge was a long flat plain that lead toward a wide valley and the village of Kalm. And if you went even farther east you would in time reach Choco Billy's Chocobo Ranch, and the Mithril mine. The northern part of the central continent was just open space as far as Yuffie could tell. To Midgar's west was another open plain that stretched the few miles to the sea. To the immediate south was the Midgar mountain range.
Lyle drove the truck west toward the coast.
Yuffie leaned against her door and gazed at the flat grasslands as they slowly floated past. She was bored. Bored and depressed. She hated to set still and this was looking like a long trip in a small space with a guy she hardly knew. Well, she liked Lyle. Something about him struck her as very approachable. She could also appreciate how he had stood up to Hyden and Simon. She knew very well what it was like to fight a battle you had no hope of winning. Her home land had rebuilt after the Meteor fiasco, but much to her personal chagrin, it was still very much a tourist attraction. Shinra had beaten it down in a stupid and pointless war, by sheer force of arms and their nearly limitlessly deep pockets.
She glanced at Lyle and wondered if he had ever fought in Wutanai. He was in SOLDIER after all. She had come close to asking him several times but always stopped short. Mostly the others were more concerned about his health when they found him so those questions were left unasked at the time. Then a week or so after Tifa had broken the news of how long he was in prison Yuffie heard him talking with Cloud about working for Shinra. She had used her ninja skills to eavesdrop on them but the subject never came up.
Then right before she made her trip home she had started to ask him but a chill gripped her that was so intense she knew then that she did not want an answer from him.
She just seemed unable to ask anything that might change the way she saw him.
The Wutanai girl got that strange feeling of being watched again. But a glance told her that nothing had changed. On a sudden whim she reached over to Lyle's blind side. She waved her hand at him and got no response, so slowly and very delicately she reached for his eye patch. Just one peek would not kill any one. Oh, Lyle would protest, loudly, but by then it would already have been done so she figured he would just get over it.
Just as her fingers brushed the black leather the red head's hand snapped up off the gear shift and in an eye blink gripped her wrist. The hold was not painful but very firm. He turned his head to see her. "I promise, you do not want to see the mess under there. So please just…. Let it go."
There was a disapproval in his voice that, though he used a patient and even tone, cut at the girl. Usually Yuffie would have ignored it but for some reason, from Lyle, it stuck. "Sorry…" She mumbled in apology. "I wont try again."
The ex-SOLDIER let her hand go and turned his attention back to the road. Still the feeling of being watched creped over Yuffie.
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"Now goddamnit Barret, I aint everyone's $#ing taxi! My Sherra is a delicate and very high precision machine. If I take 'er globetrotting every time one of you numbskulls needed a lift She'd be worn out in no time!" Cid gripped into his cell phone's mouthpiece. He took a long drag off his cigarette as Barret explained his need for Cid's airship one more time.
"Look Cid, people are getting hurt. Something is attacking the train in Cosmo Canyon." Barret explained in the same slow and calm voice he used on Marlene when she was a small child. "Nothing is getting through in one piece and the engineers are just shy of striking." Cid snorted into the phone, and Barret exploded with "Look after everything we did to stop mako use you'd think you would have got it through ya thick cracker skull that people need this oil to survive! Now damnit Cid get ya sorry $$ in the air and go get the others!"
"Alright alright. I'll go get them. Have them meet me just east of Edge. Damn you're a pain in my $$ you know that?" Cid conceded. "I'm just getting Cloud and Tifa right?"
"No."
"I thought you said Vincent was there with you."
"He is. But I need you to pick up that damn sticky fingered brat. Vincent thinks we might need her special skills."
"YUFFIE? Well Sht! She pukes up everything she's ever eaten when I give her a lift."
"Ah, quite ya whinein' Cid, and just do it!"
"Fine but you're mopping up the mess."
"Whatever just get here pronto."
Grumbling a string of curses that shriveled all the greenery around him Cid hung up with Barret and punched in Cloud's number.
After four or five rings someone picked up. It was a young girl's voice that answered "Hello?"
"Wha-? Oh Marlene?" The pilot asked the small voice on the other end.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"This is Cid sweetie. Your Papa's friend." He said. He may seem like a gruff old codger, but Cid liked children. Well, other people's children anyway.
"OH! The one with the neat airplane!" Marlene squealed
"Its an airship girl." Cid replied gruffly before thinking. "Er…" Best time to get to the point. "Is Cloud or Tifa around?"
"Ummm… Yeah Tifa is here."
"Let me talk to her please."
"Ok. Just a second."
Cid listened to Marlene set the phone down and call out across 7th Heaven to Tifa telling her Cid was on the phone for her. Cid did not hear the called response but Marlene soon returned. "She said give her a minute, Mr. Cid."
Cid shook his head and silently cursed. Yeah he liked kids but they were damned hard to talk to. They never seemed to appreciate anything, like a good brand of smokes or a fine aged scotch. And girls were worse about this then boys. Finally he managed a simple "Fine."
It was a short wait later when Tifa's voice came across the receiver. "What's up Cid?"
"Hey girl, big black and ugly says he need our help with a little problem in Cosmo Canyon. Can you round up Cloud meet me east of Edge? I told That numbskull Barret to tell you but you know how reliable he is in a crisis." Cid informed his friend has bluntly as possible. "And while he didn't say anything about it, it might be in all of our best interest if ya'll bring some heavy hitting materia."
The bartender chuckled. Yeah Barret had always wanted to be the leader but it really was not his strongest suit. "Sure thing Cid. It'll be a few hours though. Where are you at?"
"I aint even warmed up my baby's engines yet. A few hours will be fine Tifa. And do you know where I can find Yuffie?"
"Oh yeah. She's working here in Edge right now. I can give you her number."
"I suppose you should." he said somewhat sadly. Tifa gave Cid the ninja girl's number then hung up to get everything ready.
"What a pain… Now who tha 'ell's callin' me?" He had only just ended his call to Tifa when his phone buzzed about an incoming call. He answered it. "Yeah who tha hell is this and what tha f#$ do ya want? Huh? Who? Oh hell I just about to call you girl. Yeah. I talked to Barret. Yeah I'll pick you up west of Edge. Just go with Cloud and Tifa. Huh? Why tha f#$ are you on the west coast? Workin'? Since when do you do honest work? Well Sht! Hell must be frozen over! Hey now calm down brat. Fine, fine I'll find you by the West coast then we'll go get Cloud and Tifa and head to Cosmo Canyon. What are you talking about Corel? I aint going to Corel. Huh? Damnit, calm down. We'll work this out when I get there just sit tight I'll be there in a few hours. Yeah. Naw I aint even told the crew was leavin' yet. Now damnit Yuffie settle down! Are you by yourself? With who? No I aint heard anything about that. Well I'm sure you two can find something to do together. HAHA! BYE!" Cid hung up on Yuffie and sighed. "Damn what a mess." He turned around to find his entire crew huddled together staring at him. "Well what are you buncha Lazy $$es standin' around for? Get tha ship ready to go! Chop chop!
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"I swear to gawd that geezer is a pervert!" Yuffie screamed at no one in particular.
"What's wrong?" Lyle asked
"Nothing." she told him. "But Cid's gonna be a few hours."
"That's fine. We still get paid either way." He said. "Might as well get some sleep." There was a click and his seat reclined back. "You can have the sleeper. I don't much care for the bed. Too soft."
"Um… Ok." Was all the ninja could say to that. "Actually, I'd like to talk for a little bit if that's ok."
"That's fine." The red headed man told her. "But people tend to frown on young girls talking to themselves."
"You're being a jerk, Lyle." She huffed "I thought we got along pretty well before."
"We did." Her one eyed companion said. He twisted in the seat to be able to see her. His arm cradled his head in such a way that his patch was hidden. "And you look like a bullfrog when you puff up like that."
"What? I do not!" The young woman exclaimed at her partner. I don't look like a bullfrog. Very few people could ever hope to be a babe like me on my worst day! I just think you don't like me."
"Of course I like you. Or I wouldn't even talk to you. I am quite good at ignoring people." Lyle explained with a grin. "I just like your bullfrog impression is all."
"Hey!" Yuffie retorted "Better a bullfrog then a Cyclops if you ask me." she turned to look out the window and watch for the still far away airship.
If she had watched the Lyle she would have noticed the dark expression that clouded his features for a split second then was gone. Lyle opened his mouth to say something then closed it. He was just teasing her. 'Women' he thought and rolled over to face the other window and went to sleep in the quick fashion of soldiers around the world.
