Chapter Three: Freedom

"This sucks…"

"You should try it when you're my size…"

"Ow! Fuck!"

"Heh, watch your head…"

Reno paused, lifting a hand and rubbing the top of his head with a grimace. He tugged at the collar of his dress shirt, sweating profusely in the tightly enclosed space, wishing he could at least shed his suit jacket. His back ached and he really wanted a cigarette, but he sighed heavily and continued crawling forward on his hands and knees.

"You would think a ventilation shaft would have, you know… ventilation," he complained, leading the way as he and his two companions moved forward toward the main laboratory. They hoped.

"It is a bit warm," Rude agreed, struggling to keep his head down and move his large body forward in the confining shaft, lines of sweat running from the top of his bald head and down his face like tiny rivers. His shoulders nearly rubbed the walls on either side, and it was a struggle for him to inch forward without getting stuck.

"Oh dude," Reno said suddenly, glancing back over his shoulder at his partner with a guilty smirk. "I am so sorry."

"For what?"

"Wait for it…"

"OH GOD!" Rude exclaimed, stopping dead in his tracks and holding a hand over his nose and mouth. "Dammit, Reno!"

"I said I was sorry!" Reno insisted, trying hard to smother his laughter.

Rude looked green for a moment, fighting not to gag as he glared at Reno, still wearing his sunglasses despite the fact that the steel ventilation shaft was quite dark. When he'd mostly recovered and the air had begun to clear, he turned and looked behind him to see how their boss was faring.

"Are you all right back there?" he asked, watching as Tseng finally managed to catch up with them. He was moving slowly and still seemed a bit unsteady, pausing every so often to lean against the metal walls and catch his breath.

"I am fine. Let's keep moving," he said quickly, his voice tense, though he looked as if he might pass out at any moment. He was desperate to reach the laboratory regardless of how badly he might have felt, Rude knew, and there was no point in arguing against his single-minded determination.

"All right," Rude said doubtfully, turning back to Reno with a slight shrug. Tseng had given them a quick summary of what had happened earlier that day when they first entered the tight ventilation shaft in a hallway just outside the elevator, and both men were still struggling to digest the enormity of the situation. Neither had hesitated for even a moment's thought before agreeing to aid their comrades, however. There was never any question about it… Reno and Rude knew exactly where their loyalties were.

"We'll get her out of there, boss," Reno tried to reassure his friend, seeing the look of despair in his eyes. "She's like my little sister… I'm not gonna let anything happen to her."

Tseng managed a small, forced smile, then gestured for Reno to continue ahead. Reno nodded and turned back to the long, dark tunnel that stretched out before them, continuing to crawl forward with increased conviction. No one fucked with one of the Turks and got away with it.

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Elena sat at the back of her glass prison, hugging her knees protectively against her body and rocking back and forth to try to stop her shivering. The latest sedative Professor Hojo had inflicted upon her wore off far more quickly than the first, leaving her alone in the dark, cold laboratory with nothing to do but reflect on her fate.

Earlier that day, she had been a fairly successful young Turk with her entire career ahead of her. She had been happily involved in a wonderful, though secret, love affair, and even had a few close friends she enjoyed spending time with. Her entire life had been wide open before her, full of excitement and endless possibilities. Then suddenly, everything she cared about was gone, and the future was nothing but a gaping hole of blackness waiting to devour her.

As if finding out she was pregnant had not been stressful enough, she was now a captive within her own company, the property of a mad scientist who saw she and her unborn child as nothing more than specimens on which to test his sick theories. Her lover had promised to stand by her side, only to be killed in the process. Hojo had not come out and said it, but she could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. Tseng was gone, all because he had loved her and wanted to do the right thing, whether he was happy about the baby or not.

Maybe she never should have told him, slipping away quietly to her hometown, hoping that her family would support her. She knew telling him had been the right thing to do, but she now felt so guilty and achingly alone that she wished it had been she who was killed instead. Tears began to fall from her eyes, and she made no move to wipe them away. She felt as if she would be crying for the rest of her life…

A loud crash interrupted her dark thoughts, causing her to jump in alarm. It sounded like something metal being struck hard, far across the room and up toward the ceiling. Frowning, she crept toward the front of her small cell and squinted, struggling to see in the darkness. A moment later, she jumped again as the sound repeated, louder and more forcefully than the first time. The third time the sound echoed through the room, it was followed a moment later by a loud clatter, something heavy and metallic falling down from above and striking the floor, rattling about for several moments before coming to rest.

She stood frozen against the cool glass, finally spotting movement up near the very top of the far wall. She could just make out the shadowy outline of something slowly emerging from the wall, gradually slipping down until suddenly the entire figure dropped the approximately fifteen feet of distance onto the workbench beneath. There was a loud crash, followed by the sound of several glass items shattering as they hit the tiled floor.

"Fuck! I think I just got a test tube up my ass…"

Those were the most wonderful words Elena had ever heard.

"Reno!"

"Ugh… Yeah. Your cavalry has arrived, m'lady!"

Elena watched as a tiny beam of light appeared in the room, realizing after a moment that Reno had a small flashlight in his hand. After he managed to climb down from the table on which he'd landed, brushing aside several more objects and sending them crashing to the floor with the others, he turned and directed the beam back toward the ceiling.

"Be careful, it's a bit higher up than I thought," he said, his wince of pain nearly audible as another set of legs appeared from what Elena could now see was a ventilation shaft with the protective grid removed. A moment later, a very large man that she quickly recognized as Rude dropped down from the opening and landed gracefully on his feet atop the table. He turned and held a hand up toward the hole above his head, assisting a third person down after him as Reno began heading her way with the flashlight aimed in front of him.

Elena's heart began to race as she peered out across the room, filled with a desperate hope as she wished she could see more clearly. She pressed the palms of her hands against the glass, swallowing hard against the fresh rush of emotions. Could she dare to hope?

"Tseng…? Is that you?" she finally managed to call out, her voice weak and trembling. She barely even noticed when Reno came to stand before her and began studying the cell, searching for a way to open it.

"Yes," his wonderfully familiar voice replied, though he sounded a bit strange. She watched anxiously as the dark figures of Rude and Tseng climbed down from the tabletop and began to cross the room towards her. She briefly closed her eyes and said a quick thank you to whatever gods might have been watching over them that day, so relieved that her legs felt weak and for a moment it was difficult to remain standing.

Reno quickly seemed to realize there was no way to directly open the cell, seating himself at Hojo's computer a few feet away and attempting to access it. A moment later, he found the command that turned on the emergency track lighting along the walls, casting enough brightness throughout the room that Elena could finally see them.

Tseng quickly reached her prison, placing one of his hands up against her smaller one on the other side of the glass. Elena gasped in horror, forgetting her relief that he was alive for just a moment once she finally got a good look at her lover. One side of his face was swollen and black and blue, and his left eye was nearly sealed closed. There was blood on the crisp white collar of his shirt, and he looked quite pale and more than a little exhausted.

"Oh my gods, what happened to you?" she whispered, studying him closely and beginning to chew on her lower lip in an attempt to hold back tears.

"Don't worry about me… Are you all right?" he asked quietly, his concern for her nearly palpable as their eyes met through the glass. Reno and Rude were huddled over the computer behind him, working together to figure out how to open the cell.

"I… think so," she said awkwardly, realizing she was not entirely sure. She had been unconscious when she arrived at the lab, after all, and Hojo had done something to her. She shuddered, not wanting to think about it. "I was so scared! Hojo told me he had 'taken care of' you. Gods, Tseng, I thought you were dead…" Unable to help it, she began to cry, her entire body shaking.

Tseng watched helplessly, a deep frown crossing his face. "What did he do to you?" he asked, his quiet voice filled with an anger that burned just beneath the surface. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment, finding that Reno and Rude still had not had any luck.

"He… said he ran some tests while I was unconscious," she said shakily, absently removing one of her hands from the glass to cover her abdomen. "He's a horrible, sick, disgusting old man. He was telling me about all these awful things he wants to do to me, and to our daughter…"

Tseng blinked, looking a bit stunned, and it took Elena a moment to realize why. She winced, regretting that she had revealed the information to him in such a way, watching him closely as he struggled to digest her words.

"Our daughter…" he repeated quietly, his eyes momentarily losing their focus. His reaction lasted only a moment, however, before he visibly shook himself from his thoughts and turned back to the other men. "Have you found a way to free her yet?" he asked, his voice filled with urgency, his dark eyes burning into his coworkers as they worked at the computer.

Reno slowly shook his head. "He's got everything important locked down behind a password," he said, frustrated, slapping an open palm down onto the surface of the workstation. "If I were Hojo… oh gods, gross… what would my password be?" he wondered aloud, looking up at the ceiling as he thought.

"Try every sexually deviant word you can think of," Rude suggested, only half-joking.

"Shit, that's going to take a while…"

Tseng did not appear amused, frowning darkly as he turned back to Elena. She did her best to stop crying, but looking at his bruised face and being unable to touch him was killing her. New tears escaped her eyes every time she thought she had finally gotten them under control.

"We don't have that kind of time… I am going to have to call in a favor."

"To whom?" Elena asked, starting to panic, wondering if they had come all the way to the laboratory only to realize there was no way to free her. What if there truly was no way? And who else within the company could they dare to trust at this point?

"Someone who has covered for me many times before, and for whom I have done the same… I did not wish to involve him in this, but it seems we have no other options." He pulled out his PHS and began to look up a number, quickly finding it and holding the device to his ear.

"Who, Tseng?" she repeated, growing frustrated, again reminded that there was still so much about him she didn't know, and likely shouldn't.

"Reeve."

Elena frowned with confusion. Reeve, Head of Urban Development? As far as she knew, he and Tseng had next to nothing to do with each other, and she could only recall speaking to the man in passing once or twice. She noticed that neither Reno nor Rude looked the least bit surprised, however, simply nodding to Tseng before continuing to enter password guesses into the computer. Normally, she would have been furious, the 'new kid' left out of the loop yet again, but now all she could do was hope that Reeve would be able to assist them somehow. She could grill Tseng for information later, her technique having nearly reached perfection after close to a year's involvement with him.

Tseng looked relieved a moment later when Reeve picked up the line, turning his back to the others as he often did when handling important business via PHS.

"Reeve? It's Tseng… Yes, I do know what time it is. Yes, it is... Do you recall that favor you owe me?" Tseng paused, and Elena heard him chuckle briefly, watching as he nodded to himself. How she wished she could read his mind! "Yes, well… I need to cash it in, immediately."

"Well, it's not bestiality, pedophilia rules, test tube sex, lab coat flasher…" Reno said absently, deep in thought. "I'm running out of words, bro."

"Buttsex?" Rude suggested with a shrug.

"I am in Professor Hojo's laboratory…" Tseng was saying into his PHS, still keeping his back to the others, his voice almost frighteningly calm. "I will explain later, but he has Elena locked in one of his glass cells. Yes… We need the password for his main computer in order to open it."

Tseng began to pace as he waited, something Elena had never seen him do before. She stood helplessly with her hands against the glass, alternately watching her lover and Reno and Rude at the computer. It all seemed so hopeless… They were so close, but still felt so far away, and there was nothing she could do to reach them.

"Frotteurism69," Tseng exclaimed suddenly, quickly crossing the short distance to stand with Reno and Rude at Hojo's desk.

"Er, Frotta-what?" Reno asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's a new one… Spell it?"

Tseng asked Reeve to spell the word, then repeated it to Reno, impatiently hovering over his shoulder. He was clearly making the younger man nervous, and he mistyped the word twice before finally entering it correctly.

"That's it!" Reno exclaimed, quickly scanning the monitor as the computer accepted the password and displayed all of the available control options for the laboratory.

"There," Rude said from behind him, pointing to the screen over his best friend's shoulder. "It says F5 will 'raise the glass.'"

Reno quickly pressed the button with more force than needed, throwing his arms up in victory a moment later as a mechanical hum filled the room. Slowly, the thick bullet proof glass encasing Elena began to rise from its base, lifted by a heavy mechanical arm positioned above.

As soon as it had been raised just high enough, Elena ducked beneath the glass and threw herself into Tseng's arms, sobbing with relief as she buried her face against his chest. She could feel him exhale sharply, releasing waves of tension as his arms went around her, holding her tightly against him.

"Who hurt you?" she asked in nearly a whisper, finally looking up and lifting a hand to gently touch the uninjured side of his face.

"Rufus apparently believes Hojo is of more value to him than you and I," Tseng said dryly, though she could hear the hurt he fought to contain just below the surface.

"I am so sorry," she said, choking back another sob. "Oh gods…"

"It's going to be all right," he said softly, meeting her eyes with a quiet strength. "I promise you."

Elena nodded weakly, swallowing hard and fighting to compose herself. Reno and Rude had abandoned the computer, gathering around them with looks of relief on their faces, though they both seemed a bit awkward upon witnessing the touching scene between their coworkers. The two had always largely avoided displays of affection in front of their friends, even though Reno and Rude had been aware of their relationship long before they'd been officially informed. Now, something as comparatively trivial as acting professional was many miles away from Elena's mind.

"What do we do now?" she asked in a small voice, glancing toward the main door that led out of the laboratory and into the hallway.

"We get Reeve to disable the alarms and open the door," Tseng said, reluctantly releasing her from his arms and pulling out his PHS again. "That favor he owes me is rather large, thankfully…"

"And then what, boss?" Reno asked, checking his gun out of habit.

"I… still need to think about that," Tseng said, looking uncharacteristically unsure of himself. "Let's get out of here first."

"Sounds good," Rude agreed, looking around the room in disgust. "This place creeps me the fuck out…"

A moment later, Tseng was again speaking with Reeve. The three male Turks politely turned their backs as Elena retrieved her clothing from a nearby table and got dressed, instantly feeling safer and a lot less cold. It didn't take long for Reeve to hack into the security system for the building and disable the alarm attached to the door, as well as all of the security cameras in the surrounding area. Soon, the four Turks were free from Hojo's domain and heading down the hallway as one unit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

One minute, Reeve was sound asleep in his nice warm bed, a cat curled up on either side of him, and the next thing he knew he was hacking into Professor Hojo's computer and the building security system. Never a dull moment at Shin-ra Incorporated. Soon, he had four rogue Turks hiding out in his apartment. He'd listened with disbelief as Tseng told him exactly what had just happened to them, all thoughts of sleep forgotten. Reeve hadn't even known Tseng and Elena were involved with each other, his mind still reeling as he digested that piece of juicy information, along with what Hojo planned to do with Rufus' blessing.

Reeve crossed the room and handed Elena a cup of tea as she sat on his couch wrapped in a blanket, still visibly shaken from her ordeal. He next retrieved a bag of ice from his freezer and a couple of aspirin for Tseng. The leader of the Turks accepted them gratefully, though he still remained standing instead of joining his lover on the couch as he'd been repeatedly urged to do. He looked about ready to collapse, but he would have none of it. At least he occasionally humored his comrades and briefly held the ice to his bruised face, and he did swallow the pills without hesitation. Reeve was willing to bet he had the mother of all headaches and felt quite sorry for him.

"I feel like a host at a really bad party," Reeve quipped, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm not even dressed for the part." He looked down at the brown robe he wore over his pajamas, a bit embarrassed by his state of dress, but no one else seemed to notice or care.

Reno had made himself comfortable in the tall leather armchair Reeve loved to read in, his black and white cat, Cait, already curled up in his lap and enjoying being scratched behind the ears. Reeve knew Reno was a fellow cat lover, and he'd often pet-sat for Pissy while the Turk was away on business. His second cat had run and hid under the bed after Rude had attempted to politely remove him from his lap, still trying to brush invisible cat hair from his dark pants. Reeve didn't quite understand what the big deal was, as he had come to consider a light coating of feline fur to be part of his wardrobe.

Tseng had fallen silent after completing his tale, leaving a tense, uncomfortable feeling hanging in the air. Reeve was at a complete loss, unable to believe that Rufus, and even Hojo, were capable of such treachery and depravity, especially against important members of their own company. It was yet one more reason he remained with Shin-ra Incorporated, too afraid to consider what might happen without someone decent and honest on the inside to occasionally interfere when things got out of hand. Like now…

"What can I do to help you?" Reeve finally asked, absently stroking his goatee as he stood in the middle of his living room, carefully watching Tseng. He had known the other man for years, but had never seen him this visibly shaken. He was doing his best to remain composed, but his eyes gave him away, and every so often a muscle would twitch along his jaw.

"All I ask is that you get us out of the building," Tseng said quietly, and from the way his eyes instantly shifted toward Elena, it was clear that he meant he and his partner alone. "Reno, Rude… you ought to leave now. Go home. I hope you won't get into too much trouble for freeing me from the brig. Deny that you did anything more. They should not have a problem placing the blame onto me… I apologize for dragging you into this, but I had no other choice."

"Wait, what?" Reno exclaimed, suddenly bolting to his feet and sending Cait fleeing for cover. "Go home?! Are you serious?"

Tseng turned to look at him, nodding sharply. "Yes. There is no need for you to further put yourselves at risk."

"But we're the Turks!" Reno nearly shouted, coming to stand just a few feet away from his boss. "When they fuck with one of us, they fuck with all of us."

"I appreciate that," Tseng said quietly, wincing as he shifted the icepack against the side of his head. "You and Rude will forever have my gratitude. We won't forget you."

"Hell no you won't, because you're not taking off without me!" Reno insisted, stubbornly folding his arms across his chest as he stared down his boss.

"Reno…"

"Dude. Do you remember what I was like when you first met me?" Reno asked, his expression unusually serious, his voice filled with emotion. "I was a scrawny little punk from the slums, always getting myself into shit I couldn't handle. All I did was drink, get high, and start trouble. I paid for it… It's written all over my face. That was when I knew I had to get out of there, or I wasn't gonna live much longer. I saw you and some others heading through the neighborhood one afternoon, and it made me decide I wanted to be something, make something of myself, prove people wrong. Everyone laughed at me when I applied to become a Turk, but not you. You remembered me, said you saw something in me. Still can't figure out what the hell that was, heh... No one else has ever believed in me before, trusted me, helped me straighten my shit out…" Reno paused, hastily looking away, the beginning of tears shining in his tired blue eyes. "You're the big brother I never had, Tseng. You guys are all the family I've got in this world. I'd be dead on the street somewhere if not for you, and no one would give a shit… After what they did to you guys, do you really think I can just shrug it off and go back to work?"

"I don't want to be a Turk any more without any of you," Rude interjected quietly, absently playing with one of his earrings and doing his best to maintain his macho image. "It wouldn't be the same."

"So if you're are leaving, I'm going with you," Reno insisted, his eyes nearly pleading with his friend. "You're going to need all the help you can get to get away from these assholes. You've stuck up for me and covered for me for years, boss… Please let me at least try to repay my debt."

Tseng sighed wearily, turning his back for long moments as he visibly struggled with his thoughts. Finally, he turned to face Reno again, a vague hint of a smile on his face. "I'm too tired to argue with you," was all he said. Reno grinned widely, however, stepping forward to embrace his mentor. Tseng looked surprised for a moment, then awkwardly returned it. "Thank you, Reno…"

"If Reno goes, I go," Rude said with determination. "I'm not staying here and getting some green rookie for a partner…" He quickly plastered a smirk across his face to cover how close to tears he had come listening to the exchange, or how much his best friend really meant to him. They were all exhausted and emotional, but at least they were still a team. Tseng nodded to him gratefully, briefly allowing himself a weak smile in Elena's direction. She still appeared terrified and in shock, holding her teacup in her lap but not actually drinking from it, her eyes largely unfocused.

"All right, let me think of the best way to get you all outside the building," Reeve said, having quietly watched conversation from a stool at the kitchen counter, his laptop open in front of him. He wasn't the least bit surprised that the four very tight coworkers were deciding to stick together, even though they clearly had no real idea of where they were going or what the future might hold for any of them outside of Shin-ra Incorporated. He admired their bravery, and for a moment felt just the smallest bit of envy. "Thankfully, at this hour everyone aside from a handful of guards has either left the building or retired to their quarters. It should be a simple matter for me to disable the security cameras from here down to ground level."

When Reeve looked back to Tseng for his input, he found that he seemed to be deep in thought, a faraway look in his eyes. The expression on his face was gravely serious, and after a moment he seemed to feel the eyes of all the others upon him, blinking rapidly and releasing a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

"Reno… Do you still have your motorcycle parked in the garage?" Tseng finally asked.

"Yeah… why?" the redhead replied, now perched on the arm of the couch beside Elena. He had removed a cigarette from his pack, but after glancing at her thought better of it and simply twirled it about between his fingers.

"I want you to take Elena and head South," Tseng said, his voice devoid of emotion, safely back inside his role as their leader for the moment. "I don't know quite where we need to go just yet, but I want you to get as far away from Midgar as you can."

"What? No! What about you?!" Elena exclaimed, suddenly coming to life and nearly spilling her drink before setting it down on the coffee table with unsteady hands.

"I… have something I need to take care of first, but I will be along shortly," he said, causing Reeve to raise an eyebrow. Why did he feel like he knew exactly what Tseng had in mind…

"You can't! They'll catch you!" she cried, rising from the couch and rushing to his side, grabbing him a bit roughly by his upper arm. "I won't go without you!"

"Elena…" he sighed heavily, about to order her to do so, then realizing how pointless that would be. "It is most important that you get away. I won't be long…"

"No!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck and beginning to cry. "I won't…"

She didn't hear Reno come up behind her until he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It'll be all right, 'lena," he said, trying his best to sound confident. "Come on, it might even be fun. Road trip!"

"Don't do it for me, or for yourself," Tseng told her quietly, lifting her chin so that she was looking him in the eye. "Do it for our daughter…"

Elena stared up at him for long moments, sniffling miserably, then finally hung her head and sighed in defeat. "You better not get caught… I need you," she nearly whispered, still unwilling to release her hold on him.

"I promised you, did I not?" he asked, his voice gentle, causing Reno to shift uncomfortably, his cheeks a bit pink.

"I hate to interrupt, but I've managed to disable all of the security cameras both inside and outside the building, and in the parking garage," Reeve said, absently trying to keep a cat off of his keyboard with one hand as he typed with the other. "Gee, what a convenient time for us to be having an equipment malfunction…" He grinned crookedly, pleased with his work.

"Sweet," Reno said, rubbing his hands together. "So, we ready to hit the road?"

"Yeah…" Elena said weakly, hesitantly stepping away from Tseng and wiping away her tears away on the back of her shirt sleeve.

Tseng held out his hand toward Reno, the younger man accepting and firmly shaking it.

"And Reno…" Tseng began, looking his friend in the eye.

"You don't have to say it, boss," Reno said, nodding firmly. "I will drive safely and treat her as if she was my own girlfriend. Er… well, you know what I mean." He blushed a little, snickering, and Tseng almost managed a smile.

"Don't use your PHS, in case they can track you," Tseng cautioned. "Once I have left the building and put some distance behind me, I will use my ECD to reach you and tell you where we will meet up."

"Gotcha," Reno said, turning and placing a hand on the doorknob, sensing that if he didn't move to make a hasty exit, he might never get Elena to leave with him.

Elena stepped forward and fiercely embraced Tseng one last time, the two whispering their love to each other before she quickly tore herself away, turning and fleeing the room before she had a chance to change her mind.

"What do we need to take care of, boss?" Rude asked once they had gone, finally rising from his chair and stretching as if preparing for battle.

"You may not want to become involved in what I am about to do…" Tseng warned, a cold, dangerous tone hanging onto his words.

"What did Reno and I just tell you," Rude scolded, shaking his head. "We're the Turks!"

Tseng sighed, realizing there was no point in trying to talk him out of it. He turned back to Reeve, his features set in grim determination.

"I have one last favor to ask of you…"

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In the quiet of the night, two men slipped easily inside the unlocked apartment on the most prestigious residential floor of Shin-ra Headquarters. Once inside, the taller of the two nodded to his partner, remaining just inside the door with his arms crossed over his broad chest, his sunglasses pushed up to rest atop his bald head.

The other man slowly crossed the room, his footsteps silent against the plush carpeting. The glow of the city at night streamed in through several picture windows, providing ample lighting by which to see. He crossed the main living area and paused inside an open doorway, studying the slight figure who was curled up, sound asleep, in his bed.

Instantly he was at the man's bedside, yanking back the covers and grabbing a hold of his nightshirt, yanking him out and onto his feet before he even had a chance to register what was happening.

"How do you like it?" Tseng said quietly, briefly holding Professor Hojo several inches off the ground before roughly releasing him, causing the elderly man to fall to his knees. He finally managed to scream, a high-pitched, shrill sound, and Tseng couldn't help but grin dangerously.

"You told Elena you took care of me, but you didn't do a very thorough job," he said, his voice a cold, dangerous whisper. "You would never make it as a Turk. When I take care of something, I am sure to do the job correctly the first time… because these things have a way of coming back to haunt you."

"Wh-what are you doing here?!" Hojo stammered, struggling and finally managing to rise to his feet. "You're supposed to be-"

"In the brig?" Tseng laughed, a short, frightening sound devoid of emotion. "Did you really think that would be enough to keep me away from her… and from getting to you?"

Hojo stared at him, wide-eyed with fear, and Tseng noted with disgust that a small yellow puddle had appeared beneath his feet, slowly expanding across the thick white carpeting.

"How does it feel to be so afraid, to know you are trapped… to know that no one is going to be able to help you?" Tseng asked, thoroughly enjoying the fear radiating from the little scientist. "You're not a human being… You are a disease. One that's been around far too long and hurt too many people. This time, you chose to cross the wrong man…"

"You had best get out of my home right now!" Hojo shrieked, finally finding his voice again. "I'll have you fired!"

Tseng smiled again, an expression that didn't reach his dark eyes, sending a chill down Hojo's spine. "Really? That's a shame…" he said, reaching inside his suit jacket and removing his silver Turks badge, dropping it pointedly at their feet. "Because I quit."

Hojo began to protest again, but before he could form the words Tseng had raised his revolver to the side of the elderly scientist's head, squeezing the trigger without hesitation and filling the room with a deafening bang. Professor Hojo instantly dropped to the floor, a neat hole through his brain.

Expressionless, Tseng holstered his weapon and walked toward the corner of the room, where he'd noticed a small personal video camera aimed at the bed. He reached up and pressed the eject button, removing the cassette tape and slipping it inside his pocket.

Returning to his previous position, Tseng stood quietly for a moment, calmly staring down at the motionless body before kneeling to check for a pulse. Finding none, he picked up his badge and sat it upon Hojo's chest, then turned and walked away.