A/N: Welcome to chapter 3 of Salvation for the Broken Children!
I've been quite busy these past few weeks. I have two jobs and for one of them I'm working my ass off in order to get work done others should have done like half a year ago. Though I'll get it done before Christmas, it's taking up quite a bit of time in my evenings, which is the time that I also use for writing. Especially two weeks ago, when I had planned to write chapter 4 of this story. Sadly, I didn't get to finish it yet, while I like to always be ahead by one chapter. It also doesn't help that I'm struggling with the scene a bit. I'll get it done before the next update though. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up.
In the meanwhile, I'll just let you all enjoy this chapter.
Warnings: If you got through chapter 2 alright then you should be fine now. Don't worry about details of what happened to those children, since I don't go into them right now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters.
0o0o0
Chapter 3
Tseng had trouble sleeping that night. The images of the photographs that he had seen kept flashing through his mind. Those children, they all looked so scared. They must have been scarred for life if they even were alive. From what he'd seen this was much more serious than Sephiroth having been a paedophile. This was probably even much worse than that. But it was also the scope of their victim's operations. The binder contained hundreds of pictures. Though there had been several of each child, Tseng still estimated there to be at least a hundred different children in there. His activities must have been spanned over many years for him to accumulate that many victims without anyone noticing.
And then there were also the video tapes he had yet to view. He didn't look forward to having to do that. It was his job as a police officer to gather evidence, and those videos were most likely to provide even more substantial evidence than the photos could. In all honesty, from what he'd quickly seen Sephiroth wasn't on one of them. Even though the album was found in his home along with the equipment to gather it and not forgetting the secret room, there was still room for manoeuvring. Shinra would utilise every bit of that room in order to save face. It wouldn't matter if everyone in their hearts knew the truth as long as nothing could be proven without question.
So in the end there were two reasons why Tseng wasn't looking forward to viewing those tapes. For one he wouldn't like facing the ordeals these children had to undergo at the hands of this sick man so directly, and for the other he didn't want to have to tip-toe around Veld and Shinra.
And then to think that Sephiroth had been Shinra's poster boy. He was the face of the company, showing perfection in every way. If only people knew what they had been looking up to. And another troubling notion was that Shinra would most certainly not like it if this information was leaked to the public. Due to his position within the company, it would not only reflect badly on Sephiroth himself, but on the company as a whole as well. Veld had been right in that aspect.
That particular thought tore Tseng up. He wanted nothing more than salvation for these broken children. Yet on the other hand his job as a detective required him to solve the crime and arrest the one responsible for it. Shinra would also want that, but without letting the people know the motive behind the murder in the first place. The main problem was that the company was just too powerful to allow for anything to not go like they want it to. And with the president having close ties with his own boss, there was nothing else Tseng could do but find the killer and keep their motive obscure.
It was this conflict of interest that made Tseng unable to sleep.
0o0o0
The next morning Tseng found the desk in his office cluttered with all kinds of reports. But what surprised him was that a very tired looking Cissnei was sitting in his chair with her head resting in her hands. She looked up when her boss entered, looking slightly guilty on top of the tiredness. She quickly stood up from the chair then, as if it had suddenly burned her.
"I-I'm sorry boss." She apologised quickly, "I just came here to bring you my reports, but you weren't here yet, so I decided to wait, and then the chair looked so comfy and I was feeling a little tired and-"
"You're rambling Cissnei." Tseng interrupted her gently.
She looked away then, blushing deeply in shame, "I'm sorry." She mumbled.
Tseng wasn't angry at her however. He had his suspicions about what was going on and really couldn't blame her, "You worked all through the night, haven't you?"
She nodded, though she still didn't look at him, "I went home shortly after you, but then I couldn't sleep. Those pictures…those children…I…and then Veld, he talked to me before I went home."
"I understand Cissnei." He walked up to her then and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, finally making her look up again, "I know exactly how you feel, but I cannot have you overwork yourself over a single case, no matter how much it might affect you emotionally."
"I know."
"Good. Now I want you to take the rest of the day off." Cissnei looked like she wanted to protest then, but Tseng stopped her before she could, "You won't be able to function like this. I don't care what it is that you need to do, but you need to get this out of your system and get some rest. I'll need you when I've gathered more evidence. In the meantime Rude can take over for you."
Cissnei closed her mouth that had still been open and relented with a nod. Her boss was right. He always was and she should be grateful that he wasn't going to send her right back to her work station. She broke free from his gentle hold on her and left his office.
Tseng watched her go with a hint of concern in his expression. He made a mental note to check up on her at the end of the day if he could. Hopefully she would be able to put it aside for now and focus on getting her job done the way it should be done. Though he was pleased that he would have all the reports now instead of having to wait throughout the day, he would rather see it not take such a toll on the girl.
He shook his head and turned his attention back to his desk and the reports on it. Hopefully they would contain something useful that would shed some light on the case and where to start looking. He sat down in his chair and took the first report from the pile. It contained the comparison between the bullet that was used on the victim and the one shot from Genesis's handgun. As expected they were no match, making it definitive that the latter hadn't been the killer.
Most of the other reports were verifications of alibis of Sephiroth's colleagues. There was nothing of note there either. All alibis checked out and no one had any motive. Everyone reported Sephiroth as being a distant man, but at the same time a fair superior. He really wasn't the type to be very social around his co-workers, but you wouldn't have any problems with him if you did your job.
Though there was nothing of note in those reports, Tseng perused them thoroughly in hopes of finding some kind of clue to the man's decrepit activities. But either no one knew about them, or they had very consciously left any piece of evidence out of their statement. Tseng sighed as he closed the final report. He suspected the former to be true actually. He couldn't imagine how anyone would keep this a secret. Besides, there was no reason to believe anyone other than the silver-haired man himself had been involved. Judging from every character description he'd read, his victim had been a very solitary man who would keep such things to himself.
The investigator then turned to the thickest report file on his desk. Besides the tapes it was the final thing he had to review. He was almost reluctant to look at it, since it contained the analysis of the binder that had affected himself and Cissnei so. There was no getting around it though, and it was probably easier than looking at the tapes. Besides, Tseng could almost feel that it held an answer somewhere, or a lead at least. So, he picked it up and started reading it.
He had only just started when the door to his office opened and his red-haired subordinate waltzed inside, "Good morning boss." Reno greeted cheerfully.
"You're late Reno." Tseng commented without looking up.
"Actually, I'm not. You're just very early, yo."
Tseng shot a brief glance at the clock then, seeing that Reno was actually right. He hadn't even really realised that he'd come to the office over an hour earlier because he had become frustrated over not being able to sleep well. He didn't feel like acknowledging that much to Reno though, so he just grunted once and turned his attention back to the report.
It was strange behaviour to Reno. Normally his boss was very perceptive of these kinds of things and objective in examining evidence. But now he seemed preoccupied and emotionally affected. It made the redhead wonder what his superior had actually found. He'd had heard that he had found something that was big, but had as of yet not gotten any details on it.
He decided to ignore Tseng's behaviour for now though, and keep himself focussed on the case, "So what have we got?" He asked as he sauntered over to the desk.
"A very thorough analysis of some evidence I found yesterday." Tseng replied.
He then placed the report back down on his desk so he could explain to Reno what'd he'd found. The redhead blanched as he realised what kind of a man Sephiroth had been.
"Cissnei worked all night to get this done, and came up with some interesting finds." Tseng continued as he gestured towards the folder, "She identified one hundred and fifty-six different children on the pictures, all probably ranging between the ages of thirteen and eighteen at the time the pictures were taken. She's also been able to discover on what dates some of these pictures were taken. According to her they were all in order, and the oldest one is fourteen years old."
"Fourteen?" Reno echoed while shaking his head, "You mean to tell me that this guy has been abusing over ten teenagers a year for fourteen years without anyone noticing?"
"Correct." Tseng acknowledged with a nod.
"That's sick, yo."
"It is."
"How though? How did no one ever notice anything?"
"Sephiroth was meticulous." Tseng concluded, "It shows from what I've seen in his office, house and from what other people have told us about him. He had a special secret room in his basement that was made soundproof. After he would get a child inside unnoticed, no one would know any better. Cissnei also looked into it even further. None of these children were reported missing during the time they were abused. This means that they were probably not held for very long."
"But why would none of these children step up and tell someone what happened?" Reno wondered in confusion.
Tseng shook his head, "There's something about victims of abuse that makes it very difficult for them to talk about their traumatic experience. They often feel intense shame and are easily pressured into not telling anyone anything by their assailant. Fear mixed with shame go hand in hand and, especially with teenagers, makes them suffer in silence. My best guess is that Sephiroth exploited that fact."
"That's awful, yo. I can't imagine what they are going through." He raked a hand through his long red hair until reaching the headband at the nape of his neck. He felt like lighting a cigarette, but resisted, "But do we have any idea as to who these people are?"
"Not yet. Since they were never reported missing or anything, and Sephiroth didn't file their names." Tseng sighed in frustration then, "Normally I would release some of these pictures to the press and attempt to track these people down that way, but that would mean having to explain the situation to them as well. Veld doesn't want this to leak for fear of what Shinra would do. So we're stuck."
Reno hummed and thought about it. He didn't need to ask any more explanation about why they couldn't take that particular course of action. He understood all too well the implications of letting the public know what kind of man Sephiroth had been. He glanced at the report on his boss's desk then, which was still open. His eyes widened in surprise then and he walked towards it to take a closer look.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." He mumbled.
"What is it Reno?" Tseng asked with interest.
The redhead pointed to the picture that was attached to the report, "I know this girl. I mean, she's obviously older now, but I'm sure it's her."
"Who is she then?"
"Her name is Tifa Lockheart. She runs a bar called Seventh Heaven in Sector 7 slums."
Tseng hummed and nodded. Even if it was by sheer coincidence that Reno recognised this girl, it also provided him with his first lead. Before he knew it he was standing up and leaving his office with Reno in tow. Hopefully the woman could and would provide them with some more information that would lead them in the right direction.
Moreover, it gave him an excuse to leaves the tapes alone for a little while longer.
0o0o0
Seventh Heaven wasn't open yet when the two investigators arrived there. This wasn't odd considering it was run by just one person and it was open throughout the evening and part of the night. At the same time this also gave them the perfect opportunity to talk to its owner without any problems.
"Boss," Reno started as they both stepped out of the car. He threw away the bud of the cigarette he'd lit up after all before continuing, "You might want to let me handle this, yo."
Tseng looked at his subordinate, trying to read his expression. Ever since the redhead had recognised the girl from the photographs he had been slightly uneasy. He hadn't expected that from him if he just knew her because he frequented this place. Though he was certain Reno wasn't seeing anyone, he couldn't help but get a funny feeling about this. Still he nodded his consent. Considering the situation, Reno perhaps was the best person to take the lead right now. After all, he knew the victim and might be able to make her more comfortable because of that.
They both walked up to the door and Reno knocked on it. They could hear some sounds coming from inside and waited. It took a little while, but eventually the door was unlocked and they stood face to face with a young woman. It was without a doubt it was the same one from the pictures. Though she had obviously aged since the photos were taken, she also still looked relatively the same. Her dark brown hair was still long, and her bordeaux-red eyes, though shimmering in fear on the picture and in confusion right now, were unmistakably the same.
"Reno?" She asked in confusion, "You know that I'm closed right now."
"I do Tifa, but I'm not here for a drink." Reno said seriously. He then took his badge from his pocket and showed it to her, "I work for the MPD. This is my colleague Tseng. We were wondering if we could ask you some questions."
They could see the young woman pale slightly and tremble a bit. Nevertheless she pulled the door open further and motioned for them to come on in. There was a tense silence in the moments following after it. Tifa first motioned for them to take a seat while she closed the door. She then walked over to the bar to pour herself a glass of water from the tap. She nearly spilled some of it with the way her hands were trembling.
Both men felt for the girl, even though they didn't show any outward signs of it. Since Reno was going to take the lead Tseng took this opportunity to observe Tifa's reactions and movement. He quickly arrived to the conclusion that there was a very low probability of her being the killer. Her mannerisms didn't speak of someone with a guilty conscience, but rather someone who had witnessed something traumatic. Still, he couldn't afford to not consider her, so he continued to observe her while she moved to join them at their table and sat down stiffly.
"I was expecting you to show up eventually. This is about Sephiroth, isn't it?" She said as calmly as she could.
"We found some pictures at his house." Reno started while slowly pushing one of Tifa's towards her.
Tifa gasped as he pulled it towards her. She clasped a hand in front of her mouth while tears sprung into her eyes. Out of all the pictures Reno could have shown her, it was one of the least bad. Still this was only relative all things considered.
"Are you alright?" Reno asked with concern as he handed her a tissue, which she gratefully took.
"I'm fine." She said as she dapped at her eyes and sniffed, "I just got overwhelmed a bit." She blew her nose then and took another shaking sip of water before letting out a deep sigh. She picked up the picture and started to speak, "This was made nine years ago. For nine years this man has haunted my dreams. And now he's gone. Just like that."
"Could you tell us what happened?"
The brunette put the picture back down and nodded, "I've been waiting for so long for this. And yet right now I feel like I don't even know where to start."
"Why not start with how you met him?" Reno suggested.
"I didn't even really know him. I just knew him from what I'd read in magazines and papers. So I never expected to actually see him in real life." She took another sip of water before she continued, "One day after school I literally bumped into him. I was awestruck once I realised just who I'd bumped into, especially when he started to apologise and helped me stand back up. He was acting so kind and nice." She let out a weird laugh then, and commented, "It's so ironic right? That parents always tell you not to go along with strangers. But the moment Sephiroth offered me a drink at his house in apology I went straight along with him."
"Why did you?" Reno asked.
Tifa shrugged, "I don't really know. Maybe I was just so awestruck of meeting Sephiroth of all people that I couldn't think clearly. I also didn't expect a man who was under such public scrutiny to have anything other than good intentions. After all, he was the face of Shinra, the most powerful company in the entire world. What could possibly be wrong about him inviting a fourteen-year-old girl to his place?"
"So you went with him. What happened next?"
"He offered me the drink he'd promised. I never noticed a thing, but before I knew it I was getting dizzy and blacked out. When I woke up again I was…" She paused for a moment there while she gathered the courage to finish the sentence, "…I was tied naked to a chair in some weird room. Sephiroth was there as well, taking pictures of me, telling me how beautiful I looked. After that…well…I'd say the pictures are clear about what happened."
"He raped you." Reno concluded for her, hoping that just bluntly stating it like this would somehow make it easier for her.
And it was, because now she wouldn't have to use that one difficult word. All she had to do was nod, though she did add, "Several times and in multiple ways."
"Gaia." Reno swore under his breath. For a moment Tseng thought he might have to take over, but his subordinate quickly recomposed himself, "How did you get out?"
"He let me go." Tifa replied simply, "I'm not really sure for how long I've been there, but it wasn't more than a couple of hours. I had blacked out again eventually, and when I woke up the second time I was lying on his coach, fully dressed again. He told me to go home."
"He couldn't afford to keep you for much longer." Tseng intervened, drawing the attention of both others to him so he could elaborate, "You probably would have been reported missing by your parents if he kept you for too long. Considering the scale on which he worked, he couldn't afford somebody noticing teenagers gone missing."
Reno nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to Tifa, "What I don't understand though, is why you'd never told anyone?"
"He threatened me just before he let me go." She revealed with a tremble, "He told me that I had just blacked out and that it had all just been a dream, and that I shouldn't tell anyone. He told me he'd find me and take me back to that horrible room." The tremble had evolved into visible shaking by then, "I…I was so scared…all I wanted was to get out of there, away from him. So I just nodded and left."
"And you never told anyone?"
"Not really." Tifa confirmed, "I just tried to convince myself that it was like Sephiroth had said – that it had all been just a dream. I could fool myself a little bit that way, but I wasn't able to hide that something had happened from my parents though. They tried to get me to tell them, but I never did. They eventually sent me to a therapist. She was specialised in teenage rape victims and helped me deal with what happened to me, even though I never told her any of the real details."
"Did it help you any?"
Tifa nodded, "Yes. Though I never became the same girl I was back then, I was able to move on from it eventually and work on a better future. I was also able to track down other victims, and we've been supporting one another a lot."
Reno frowned in surprise then, "Wait. Other victims? How were you able to track them down?"
"Well, actually, as part of my therapy I had a few group sessions. There was one other girl who did say she was abused by him. I talked to her afterwards and that's how it got started. Together with her and Lucrecia we've been able to get a small group going."
"Lucrecia? Who's that?"
"Oh! I'm sorry. That's the name of my therapist. Doctor Lucrecia Crescent."
"Right." Reno commented.
He then looked towards his boss, seeing him nod. It was a silent indication that they had gotten what they came for. He could wrap it up now. Though Reno couldn't help but feel that the therapist's surname sounded familiar, he instead nodded back to his boss and turned his attention back to the young woman again.
"We would like to come into contact with those other victims for our investigation." He said.
"Of course." Tifa agreed with a nod, "I can give you their names and addresses."
She stood up then, walking to an adjacent room to get something. Though her shaking had somewhat subsided, it was still clear that she was trying to keep herself from breaking down. Tseng couldn't help but admire her slightly. He had by that point concluded that she was not their murderer. She reacted like he had expected her to and she would most likely not have revealed as much as she did if she was guilty.
They were lucky Reno had recognised her though. Even though they had no new suspect yet, they were at least getting closer into coming into contact with some of these victims. There was a chance that their killer was among the little group Tifa had gathered. It was a starting point at least.
Both Tseng and Reno stood up to leave once the brunette had offered them a small address book. But just before they actually left Reno turned his attention back to her again, looking a little guilty. Without any prompting, he spoke up.
"Hey Tifa. I know I've been shamelessly flirting with you a lot. I hope it didn't make you feel uncomfortable."
Tifa shot him a small smile and squeezed his arm in reassurance, "It's all right Reno. But thank you for your concern anyway. I appreciate it."
Reno nodded and turned to leave, leaving Tseng to follow behind him. Besides the address book they had gained, the investigator couldn't help but think back on his earlier observation of his subordinate. He now understood why Reno had looked so nervous before. Now that he knew what the girl had gone through, he likely felt that he might have unwittingly caused some bad memories for her to resurface. Luckily for him that wasn't the case though.
Tseng was glad for it. He needed Reno to keep on top of his game in order to solve their case. Cissnei had already been forced to take a break, and he couldn't afford to lose another employee while working on this case. Though he was still torn over whether or not he actually wanted to find the killer, he was also curious as to what kind of person had gathered the courage to do it, and how this person had been able to do so.
0o0o0
The small address book turned out to be a big help. There were about twenty victims noted down in there. It was only a chunk of the entire trail of victims Sephiroth had left in his wake over the years, but it was surely better than nothing.
Both investigators had first gone back to the office so they could match the names to the photos they had. Despite Cissnei not being there Rude managed to get the work done fairly quickly with Reno's help. After just a few hours they had matched all of the victims, and thanks to Cissnei's earlier work, they could also pin down when these children were approximately victimised.
It turned out that some of the victims dated back to the time Tifa was abused, while others were more recent. There was one in particular that stuck out for being one of the most recent ones. It was a young girl named Yuffie Kisaragi. Tseng felt his stomach twist slightly when Reno handed him the photograph. The girl on the picture couldn't be any older than sixteen, but that wasn't what hit him. What was, was that he could easily tell that this girl came from Wutai.
Wutai was an island to the far west of the world. The people there were isolated and traditional. Up to this day they were one of the few people to resist Shinra in their expansion of providing Mako energy to the world. Tensions had risen to the point where there were rumours of a war coming up. The thing that made it so emotional, nearly personal even, to Tseng however was that he originally came from that country too.
Though it had been a long time since he'd left his home country, and had learned to accept views and lifestyles other than his own, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of loyalty to his people. Knowing now that Sephiroth had hurt a Wutaian girl caused a new surge of disgust for the man to well up.
"Isn't Kisaragi the name of the Wutaian ambassador?" Reno broke through his thoughts.
Tseng's eyes widened briefly. The redhead was right. He hadn't realised it immediately upon learning the name. His thoughts had been clouded by his earlier feelings of patronage towards his countrymen. He internally scolded himself for such oversight. This wasn't like him at all. Whether the victim hailed from Wutai, Midgar, Mideel or whatever country or city shouldn't matter. What mattered was that he approached each case objectively, and up until now he had always been able to do so. Yet this case had apparently rattled him so that he had strayed. He resolved to change that from this moment onwards.
"It is." He confirmed with a nod, "But don't let that change how you would approach this investigation Reno."
"Don't worry, boss. I'll keep it cool, yo. But what do you wanna do now?"
"Since we believe the killer to be one of Sephiroth's earlier victims, I'd say we should start investigating those we've uncovered for now."
"Sounds good, yo." Reno agreed, "Where do you wanna start?"
Tseng looked back at the picture of the Wutaian girl he was still holding in his hand. It was also a bit for selfish reasons he wanted to seek her out, but at least he had a good excuse. Besides, they needed to start somewhere, so why not with her.
"Let's start with his most recent victims first."
Reno nodded in agreement, thinking nothing special of his boss's decision and following him out of the office.
0o0o0
A/N: And the hunt for trying to find the murderer is on! Next up is their investigation of Yuffie. Let's see if our favourite ninja makes for a possible killer.
I also wanted to have a bit of character development for Tseng. It just didn't feel right to have him be the stoic professional all the time. I hope you all liked it, as well as Cissnei getting a bit overwhelmed. Oh and Reno…*sigh*…he actually has a sense of decency though I like him as a ladies man.
Until next time!
