The Sector 5 slums were just as dingy as any other area of the slums, but a few nice homes had managed to sprout in the area against all odds. A reservoir of clean drinking water let out into a small waterfall in the sector, creating a creek, which ran through part of the area and muddied the earth.
Reno tracked through the mud with three burly guards in Shinra military attire and guns strapped to their backs. They weren't a talkative bunch and even though Reno spoke to them occasionally, they replied with one-word answers. They seemed to think focusing on a task involved a complete lack of personality.
By the time they reached the church in Sector 5, Reno's scuffed black boots were caked with mud, squelching as he moved. He rubbed the mud off on the side of the dilapidated building and frowned. The church was falling apart, positioned almost directly beneath the former location of the mako reactor against the wall of the city. A very thin trickle of sunlight somehow reached through a hole in the roof of the church. A few unlikely flowers sprouted around the door.
Reno opened the door and quietly slipped into the darkened church. Large pillars supported the crumbling ceiling and where the light came in at the altar, a thick patch of beautiful yellow flowers bloomed. Standing in the light was an attractive young woman in a light pink dress. Her long chestnut hair was braided and held back with a bright red ribbon. She wore thick work boots and a metal staff rested on her back. Next to her was something unexpected: a thin, but muscular man with spiky blonde hair and an enormous buster sword strapped to his back.
Reno stepped forward softly and both Aerith and the blonde man looked up at him.
"Hope I'm not interrupting a romantic moment," Reno stood a few feet from them and watched them.
Aerith whispered something to the blonde man. Reno took a few steps closer and then something struck him. The blonde man had the most piercing blue eyes he'd ever seen. He knew those eyes.
"Hey, sis, this one's a little weird, isn't he?" Reno narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you?"
"Cloud, let's go…" Aerith said quietly.
The blonde man's eyes flashed. "You're a Turk," he spat at Reno.
One of the guards behind Reno spoke up. "You want him taken out, boss?"
Reno held up his hand. "I haven't decided yet." He placed a hand on the tazer rod at his waist and took another step forward.
The man called Cloud reached behind him to the handle of his buster sword, but Aerith stepped forward quickly.
"Please! Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers."
Reno and Cloud both looked down at the unbelievably beautiful flowers growing in the most unlikely place. It would be a shame to trample the things, he knew. He didn't think he could take on a man with a buster sword anyway. He hesitated and Aerith tugged Cloud's arm.
"The exit is back there!"
The two of them took off and Reno sighed. Nothing ever went his way. Cloud's eyes were what had really made him take pause, more so than the buster sword. They were mako eyes, no doubt about it. Cloud was a former SOLDIER. Maybe even the SOLDIER involved with AVALANCHE.
"All right, get to work!" Reno said to the guards. He tramped through the flower patch to the door at the back of the church where Aerith and Cloud had made their escape. "Oh!" he turned around quickly. "Don't step on the flowers!"
"But you just stepped on them, boss…"
"They're all trampled…"
Reno ignored the guards and stepped into the adjacent room. Aerith and Cloud had already scrambled up several flights of stairs. The guards hurried in to back up Reno and he groaned. "They're up there you idiots!"
The guards struggled to ready their guns and Reno shook his head. "Shoot at the SOLDIER not the girl. We need her unharmed. Well hurry up, you morons!"
They cocked their guns and began to fire, but their aim was unspeakably terrible. They didn't even come close to striking anything but the side of the church and by the time Reno had managed to scramble up one flight of the rickety stairs, Aerith and Cloud were long gone, escaped through another hole in the roof.
Reno sat down on the stairs and tried to catch his breath. "God almighty if I'm not out of shape," he huffed. "You fucking idiots!" he turned his anger on the guards. "Where'd you learn to fire a gun? I've seen chocobos with better aim! Unbelievable! Get out of my sight. Go on. You better believe I'll be reporting your incompetence to Heidegger. You'll all be out of jobs by tomorrow morning. You worthless sacks of shit."
The guards stared at him until he pointed his tazer rod at them. They took off quickly and he remained seated on the stairs in the church. He had not expected the mission to be such a complete and utter failure, but then he had not expected a SOLDIER to be accompanying the flower girl. Tseng wouldn't be pleased, but his punishment might be less severe with the information that she had a SOLDIER with him.
Regardless, he didn't look forward to returning to headquarters without the girl. He reached into his pocket for a cigarette to take the edge off only to remember he had run out the night before. He cursed under his breath and rose slowly to his feet.
He made the muddy walk back to the train station alone and bought a pack of cigarettes at a small kiosk on the platform. As he waited for the next train, he sat and smoked and picked at the dried mud on his boots unhappily. It had been a while since a mission had gone well for him. He kept running into dead ends and escapees. He didn't think Tseng would ever actually demote him, but the thought still lingered in the back of his mind. He couldn't handle being a grunt again. He had to get something right soon or he was going to drive himself mad worrying about it.
Thirty minutes later, he arrived back at headquarters. Tseng wasn't in his office or in the break room, so he dialed Rude first. It took several rings before he picked up.
"Yeah?"
"Hey man, do you know where Tseng is?"
"He was in another meeting with Heidegger I think. Did you get the girl?"
"No," Reno spat. "I don't want to tell him."
"You better do it soon. What happened?"
"There was a SOLDIER. What was I supposed to do? It didn't help that the guards he gave me were completely incompetent. They couldn't shoot the broad side of a barn, the idiots."
"Call Tseng and tell him."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Reno hung up and slumped down onto the couch in the break room. The television was set on Shinra News Network reporting continuously on AVALANCHE's activity and the explosion in Sector 5. He tuned it out and stared at the ceiling.
"I don't want to tell him," he sighed. "I don't want to. I'll just rest my eyes a minute…"
For the second time that day, Reno's phone awoke him from his slumber. It startled him awake and he rushed to open it. "Hullo? Huh? This is Reno."
"Reno," Tseng's sharp voice sounded on the other end.
"Boss. Hey. Um, listen…"
"Rude already told me you didn't manage to capture the flower girl. Don Corneo also informed me that a girl matching her description attempted to attack him with a SOLDIER and another woman."
"So then you know she's got a SOLDIER with her! I couldn't match that, boss. I didn't have a chance!"
"I'm not questioning your competence, Reno. A former SOLDIER is a difficult match. We believe Aerith is working with AVALANCHE now. I need you to assist me in a plan while Rude and Elena are carrying out their own projects."
"What's the plan, boss?"
"We're going to collapse the Sector 7 plate."
