Sorry for taking so long, but me and my mind have finally come to a slight moot point. I also have a TON of post-it notes holding future info and i want to get there. I know what i want to do, but i just need to straighten them out and then get the guts to type it up. Warning right now, if you DO NOT like/mind Yuri or Yaoi I would stop reading right now because they are now in the story from this chapter on. There will be no warnings of when i will happen and i don't want to hear anything from those who won't listen. And also watch out for any grammatical errors. I forgot to use the spell check on WORD before i added this.

(Song by Alanis Morissette)


And all I really want is some patience
A way to calm the angry voice
And all I really want is deliverance
Do I wear you out
You must wonder why I'm so relentless and all strung out
I'm consumed by the chill of solitary
I'm like Estella
I like to reel it in and then spit it out
I'm frustrated by your apathy
And I am frightened by the corrupted ways of this land
If only I could meet the Maker

A low sound of a buttons being pressed could just barely be heard over the sound of passing cars, people talking, heels hitting cement, and all the other sound that resided in Junon. Dark hair shifted in the wind that blew through unsettling several strands that were instantly put back behind the two pierced ears that encased. A sigh escaped the womans mouth as they sat back in the chair that sat around one of the outdoor table sets. An empty plate and half empty cup of coffee sat on the white table before her, but were left untouched as the ringing stopped. A deep confident voice spoke on the others side. From anybody that watched they could just see her body tense and her voice, when she spoke, was also tense, formal with a reigned in politeness in her tone.

MIDGAR

Rufus stopped in mid-writing and turned to the phone he had been speaking to. When the call had come in he had set it on speaker and continued on with his paperwork. Doing two things at once was a specialty of Rufus'. Adding a third would possibly be silencing Tseng as he stepped in with a signal of his non-writing hand. Both men listened as the silence continued, but the distinct sound of a gull was heard, even for a split second, and then nothing. A gurgling noise came from the speaker before it was shut off. A womans voice rang out informing the two to either make sure they had the right number and try again or to call at a later time.

"What the hell?"

JUNON

A dark chuckle bubbled up in my throat and I released it slowly. As I did so the chuckle was low and evil. The action I had just taken was quiet satisfying, but inside I knew it was not enough. He would get his just reward, but right now it was on the waiting list. First, I had a mission to do. Standing straight I released the bar railing that separated the concrete sidewalk from the edge that dropped off ten or more feet right into the deep ocean that bordered this side of Junon. Secondly, I needed to get back to Midgar. After that I would need a new phone. Perhaps something better than the piece of shit they had given me as a temp.

"It's only my first mission and I already need a new phone. Pathetic." I muttered as I walked from the harbor area and deeper into Junon. This was where my mission was to take place. A solo seeing as Rufus wanted to hear how I did when on my own, but then again this was only an assassination. A man had been leaking important information from Shinra. Heidegger had found out and told the President who told Rufus who told Tseng who in turn didn't tell anyone and in the end Rufus picked my ass to do it. One thing came to mind as I thought of that. Opportunistic bastard.

"I'll show him and in the end I'll have him begging me to be his damn bodyguard."

'But I really do need to stop bitching. Must learn patience and anger management.' I thought turning into an alley that would lead me closer to my target, "Need to talk to Rude and see if he's willing to help. Otherwise that punching bag is gonna be replaced real soon.'

"Ne ne ne ne ne."

Blowing a lock of hair away from my eyes I rested my head back down into position and as I did so I felt the crick in my neck start again. Looking through the scopes lense I concentrated as I slowly took aim. Mental cross points came together as my aim locked right onto the side of a grey haired skull. The man was positioned forward a bit letting his shoulders slump causing the gray suit he wore to crinkle in places. His sole focus was on the papers that littered his desk in front of him.

"Guy needs a clothing guide for oldies." I muttered as I pressed my index finger against the stiff trigger, "And this gun needs to be used more often.

The second comment was shot at my companion who stood several feet away from me. Pulling on the trigger the next second I watched as the targets forehead hit the desk…dead. Blood leaked from the bullet hole, but not a lot. That's one thing I loved about guns, snipers to be exact. Is that they don't leave a lot of mess. Hell even residue isn't left behind unlike when somebody presses a gun against the skin and fires. Now that leaves residue. Messy. Despite the bullet being traced there's too many snipers and even if they did pinpoint the Turks as the culprits there's nothing they can do.

"Done."

Standing straight I hand the sniper over to the man. He took it, disassembled it, and packed it away.

"You'll have you're payment soon. Should be coming through the banking system." I informed him, shrugging, "Not really sure since it's not my department."

"Eh, just make sure it gets to me. That's all I want." He replied shaking his head.

"Sure."

"So was this your first mission or something?"

We lightly chatted back in forth as we descended the building floors and exited out onto the sidewalk. Saying our farewells we went our own way. I back to the hotel to call Jamie and get a rendezvous point and him to who-knows-where.

MIDGAR – NEXT NIGHT

Baby blue eyes watched as the people around her talked, danced, and traveled around. Some had guest with them or their wives/husbands. Others arrived alone and spent their time chatting with friends and snacking on the buffet bar that sat along one of the inside walls. Almost all the hands, except those of the dancers, held a flute of wine or some other beverage that was given. A troupe of musicians sat in another corner playing the waltz at the moment. Another flash of black swished from the corner of the left eye catching her attention. Almost letting it go as another womans dress she gave a swift glance at it to find that it was not the color of a cloth. It was the black swish of a womans hair. The woman wore a mulberry colored capelet gown with open toed black heels peeking out from under the edge of the near floor length gown.

'She looks just like me.' The woman thought as she caught sight of her almost twins face.

The only thing off about the other woman was that she had her fathers' lighter skin tone and height. The woman watching her only reached five foot two. Her twin stood a height of five foot five. Just a few inches shy of the red headed mans' height. The two chatted as the walked around the outside of the large crowd and seemed to be making a slow beeline for the prim and proper Wutaian man standing several feet away from the open balcony doors.

'Need to catch her alone. She needs to know.'

"Mercy, I see you've finally arrived." Tseng greeted nodding his head to me.

"No excuse for my lateness." I returned simply, "How is being the Vice Presidents bodyguard been?"

"Hm." Tseng mused as the edges of his lips curled up a bit, "Not as bad as you seem to think it would be. Don't worry, you'll get your fair share."

"Right, and speaking of the little Shinra. Why didn't you tell me about the mission when you knew he was going to give it to me? And don't play stupid boss. It doesn't look good on ya."

Tseng raised a brow at my last statement as he calmly took a sip of his wine.

"I simply forgot."

"Bull. Shit."

Reno chuckled from my other side causing me to turn and shoot him a glare which shut him up and sent him skulking off for Rude.

"Maybe I really wanted to see how you would react when you received orders from him and instead of me." Tseng informed as he continued to gaze around at all the people, "In the future you will be getting more orders from him than me when it comes to missions. Those that suddenly appear will be from me seeing as he or any of the others will call me first to issue them."

"Right. So, what's on the menu for tonight?" I queried curiously as I hooked my hands together behind my back and straightened myself as a couple walked back.

"You will be lying low and waiting till one of the higher ups starts the announcement. The others and I will be watching the perimeter from in here while the guards posted outside will watch for any trouble starting there. Just enjoy your night off because starting tomorrow is the true life of being a Turk." He informed calmly, "And be careful tonight. It seems you have a stalker."

Watching him walk away I was left in confused shock at the mere thought of a stalker. Who the hell would want to stalk me? What did they want? Why me?

"Hm, I think I'm gonna go dance the time away." I mused aloud as I caught the eye of hazel eyed man who smiled and nodded to the dance floor.

Something shifted in me as I walked toward him with almost slinky steps. As he delicately took my hand in his and lead me to the floor I felt a purr rumble lowly in my chest as he spun me around smoothly. My free hand slid up his arm and latched onto the back of his shoulder while the hand to that arm hooked onto my waist. His hands soft and light against me as he led me into the current dance. (It's like the dance from Final Fantasy VIII, but without the fireworks) Letting the shifting in me be nervousness I ignored it and dived right into the dance with everything I knew.

Time passed as I danced with my partner and several others before breaking away from the crowd. By the looks it would be another fifteen or so minutes before the announcement of all who joined and gained rank since the last test was given. Slipping away and into the nearby bathroom I came back to the entrance of the ballroom several minutes later only to be grabbed by the wrist and pulled away from the crowd nearby.

"What?!"

"Sh, I need to speak with you before the announcements start."

A hurried female voice. One that I had never heard of in my life. Turning as she released my wrist I found myself staring at a almost perfect copy of myself.

"Who…who are you?"

Suspicion on the tip of my tongue as I narrowed my eyes at her and watched as she swallowed in what I guessed was nervousness before letting out a heavy breath.

"I never meant to give you away. It…it's not of my doing alone on what happened to you, but I could have at least have ignored her." She informed softly, unsure.

"Who? Who should you have ignored? Who the HELL are you, lady?!" I shot back at her in a heated whisper.

Attracting eyes was not something I wanted at the moment…or ever. Keeping my voice low I watched her carefully as she continued to twist her fingers between one another.

"Mercy, I…I am your birth mother. The reason I couldn't keep you and give you the family you wanted was because of my grandmother. With my mother not there to deter the woman I was forced to give you up once she set eyes on you. With your red eyes and markings you didn't look like a Valentine." She informed as she watched me, "My name is Angelina Marie Valentine. I am your mother Devanna Mercy Valentine."

I felt the shift again inside me, but this time it was accompanied by a low feral growl that caused the womans', Angelinas', eyes to widen in both surprise and what seemed to be horror.

"Sorry, Miss, but I do believe you have the wrong person." I replied as calmly as I could, "Have a good evening and try not to have another delusion while you are here."

Stepping and turning away I ignored Angelina as she urgently called after me. Entering the crowd I just felt the tips of her fingers brush against my exposed shoulder, but I was gone from her sight in an instant. My instinctual crowd shifting kicking in as a growl sounded. This one mental instead of verbal. This wasn't the first time in my life I've felt the shifting or heard the growls and purrs. They've been off and on, but really the depended on the circumstances I was in and my mood at times. The sound of the mic being tapped on broke me from thoughts. Angeal stood behind the podium with Zack, Sephiroth, Genesis, President Shinra, Vice President Shinra, and Tseng on either side and behind. The other high up execs stood near the stage either watching or continuing to talk to one another. This was gonna be a loooong night if Zack got ahold of the mic after or while his mentor is talking.

"She was right." I murmured as I stared the information on the computer, "Damn it."

I, in my defiance to what Angelina had told me three days ago, went into the system and looked up the Valentine family up when I finally received time without anybody barging in. I was situated as the fourth child Angelina had given birth to. She married William Valentine when she was only twenty and within a year gave birth to my elder brother, Michael. The other two siblings, one girl and boy, were born two years later as twins, Isabella and Jeremiah. All three were successful in their jobs and had some of the highest positions in them. The last name Valentine comes from Williams side seeing as he is the younger brother of six boys to Grimoire Valentine. He, in return, is the father to Vincent Valentine, the infamous Turk who mysteriously disappeared while on duty, our cousin. Lovely. The Great Grandmother Angelina had been talking about is deceased and has been for the past ten years. So, why didn't she ever try to adopt me when she knew where I was?

Sitting back I stared at the computer screen with curious confusion as questions started to form and build up. Squashing them under mental rubble down I pressed the PRINT button and listened as the issued printer clicked on and the machine whirled to life. Paper was tugged in and then slowly spit out on the other end. Words and several tables were printed in black ink dried as it hit the cool air conditioning circulated air. Paper clipping the pile of papers together I slipped them into a brown envelope. The envelope I put under my jacket that was lying on one side of my mahogany desk. Grabbing the small remote that lay under the alcove of my computer monitor and clicking several buttons I smiled as the familiar sound of 'Don't Stop the Music' began.

"Ah, let's forget the past and continue off into the future and right now I have several reports to do before I can sleep." I mused, "But first I need to be comfortable."

Several hours later I finished the reports I was assigned and in that length of time I found myself leaning back in my black computer chair. My feet propped up on my desk and the wireless keyboard I had traded the original wired keyboard for with maintenance on my lap. Now all that was left was the actual paperwork I had to read over and sign. That I would place in the correct folders for their owners to receive from the runners who picked them up around five the next morning.

Runners. I had been one when I first became a recruit. After passing the exam given we are given small jobs, mental and physical training, and mentoring. My small jobs were mainly being a runner, doing little things for the people on the Turks floor, and even doing things for the First Class SOLDIERS.

Mental training wasn't the toughest, but seeing some of the other recruits failed it made me feel weird. It seemed like nothing to me to see people being tortured for information or even shot up. One part of the training was watching those who were injured on missions come into the medical wing and no matter how bad we were ordered to help the nurses and doctors. Blood, gore, and things even beyond that were seen in my time on the medical floor.

Physical training was building muscle, stamina, speed, and learning the different weapons Turks are allowed to use. That was another area that I found easy and even fun at times, depending on how my day was going it could also be relaxation. That perplexed some of the others.

With a mentor than can be several students to one Turk, but I believe I was lucky. By the time we received our mentors there were perhaps five recruits left out of the original ten. Two decided to become SOLDIERS and were transferred while the other three were either killed or dropped out, depending on how long they lasted. With a mentor we learned the deeper part of being a Turk, how to do paper work, and even given a manual that was a guideline of what to do and what not to do while you are a Turk. We were taught how to act around civilians, suspects, our superiors. What to do in the case of failing a mission, whether to continue the mission or report in so we could get an extension on it, and also what to do in the case of being paired with SOLDIERS, whether they be third or even first class.

By the end of my mentoring, which unlike some lasted three years, I completely respected my mentor, Michel, but I didn't trust him completely with my life. I trusted him to be truthful to me, to help me when I asked/needed, and to not drop me directly into trouble without a load of info about what was going on. I also respected him because of what he's done since joining Shinra. Michel had at first been a respected SOLDIER teacher after being transferred from the military academy. Ten years later he joined the Turks and now fifteen years later he's become a bit of a legend like Sephiroth, Tseng, Genesis, Angeal, and Vincent. And like those who completely left their mentor behind I still went back to mine just to talk, ask advice, and other little things. Right now he was thinking of going back to the academy to become a teacher again, but that was still on the back burner right now. The future for both a Turk and SOLDIER is blurry and full of chances. You didn't know if the mission you are assigned will be your last or just the beginning for more. Instinct and what's been shoved into your mind are what's guiding you and along with the company around you all road on whether you come out alive or not.

"Break time!" I smiled as I stood and stretched.

My cramped muscles protested as they extended and some of my joints popped as I pushed my hands toward the ceiling and stood on toes. Putting the paper work into their folders I locked away the envelope from earlier into one of my desk drawers, pocketed the keys, and slipped on my jacket. Fall was coming in and since I was going outside for my break I would need my jacket. Locking my door with another key on my key ring I pocketed the set of keys before making my way down the hall. Most of the doors were closed with either the ceiling light on or off. One office caught my eye. The door was open and the light shown in the dimly lit hallway. Rude and Reno's office. Wonder which one was here late. Peeking inside the large office I found the bald man typing away at his computer with not a hair sight of the rude red head in sight.

"Reno went home?" I queried as I leaned against his doorway as he looked up briefly at me before returning to his work.

"Yeah." He returned calmly.

"Hm. If you need me I'll be out getting something to eat. Thirty minutes should give me more than enough time with traffic being light at this time of night" I informed as he looked up at me, this time stopping in mid-type, "I'll be staying after I get back incase anything happens so if you wanna go home then you can. Tseng's probably still here along with several of the others. Get some rest if you want to."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go home big guy. I'll make sure the runner gets your work in the morning." I replied mock saluting him before pushing off of the doorway and back into the hallway.

Taking the elevator down to the ground floor I headed out the side way to the garage and hopped onto my bike which sat in the middle of the first floor in the motorcycle assigned area. Revving the engine I twisted the throttle and grinned as I took off out of the car garage. Hitting the street pavement I shot down the deserted road and headed west.

Stumbling from the alley Reno scratched the top of his head as he dodged around a drunk. Taking a spot on a nearby wall he watched as the night crowd walked past him. Scantily dressed girls and women approached him at times, but he easily shook them off. He was about to accept the fifth womans' offer, this one a brunette, but something caught his attention. Well more like someone. A certain dark haired woman he hadn't seen since around three today which had been two or so hours before he finally left for the day. She stood outside of the restaurant just feet from him with a blonde woman next to her. The two too close for just friends and it didn't help that he knew the girl from somewhere. Watching the two as they talked he concentrated on the unknown woman as it slowly came to him. She worked at the high end strip joint on the Plate he often visited, but because it was higher up he only went there so often. Plus, there were girls just as good at all the others under the Plate. Her stripper name was Fae after the fairy look she had while she was dancing or acting. Her real name he didn't know, but it seemed that maybe Mercy knew her when she was off the clock.

'Wonder if she knows what Fae really does?' Reno mused as he carefully crept through the crowd to get closer and learn what they were talking of.

Keeping to the shadows and against the building Reno leaned back and listened in as Mercy opened her mouth. Hopefully they weren't about to part. It seemed to Reno that Mercy was going to pull another all-nighter, again.

"Sounds good Bell. I'll call you before I come to see you again and then we can get together at my place." She said as Fae, or Bell as Mercy called her, smiled sweetly with hands clasped in front of her chest, "But right now I need to get back before Rude thinks I took off or something happened. Here's your dinner. Share it with Ricky if you run into him and make sure you or both of you finish that off. You need to eat more. If you don't eat then you won't have any energy for work and you know Susan and Matt are gonna get onto for it."

"Yes mom!" Bell shot back sweetly as she took the Styrofoam box from Mercy.

"So now I'm the adult?" Mercy queried with a raised brow. A smirk on her face as she looked at Bell who blushed under the womans gaze. "Doesn't sound too bad, but we'll see who the dominant one is when I call you, right?"

"Yep!" Bell replied as she and Mercy moved toward one another.

Jaw dropped Reno watched in shock as Mercy kissed the stripper full on with tongue in front of all these people and it seemed that nobody had a problem as several grinned and tapped their friends to get their attention on the women before them. Breaking away the two smiled at one another softly. Their chest moving more than normal as Mercy kissed the blonde woman on the forehead before murmuring something in her ear. Walking away Bell and Reno watched as Mercy disappeared into the crowd. Several minutes later the sound of a motor being revved sounded from the street before it took off leaving the two along in the crowded sidewalk. Looking over to Bell he found the woman walking away with a sashay and a skip in her step with her dinner in hand.

'Holy. Shit.'

Looking around at some of the prostitutes Reno quickly made up his mind. Following after Fae he decided on one thing since he wasn't getting smashed that night.

"I'm getting laid, at least."

Looking away from the book in hand Rude watched as Mercy waved to him as she passed. She looked like she had when she left except that her hair was wind swept, but then as she disappeared past his wall of windows he noticed one thing was out of order. Her lips. They were not in her normal flat line, like Tseng, or the frown she usually had on when thinking or watching. She was smiling. Smiling softly.

'Wonder what happened?' Rude questioned as he stood and set his book inside the drawer he had drawn it from twenty minutes earlier.

Checking his drawers to make sure they were locked, that being the first defense against his red headed partner, he grabbed his jacket from the hook on the wall. Unlike the other Turks and maybe like a few he left his door closed and unlocked. The light off and the blinds to the wall of windows that separated his office from the hallway were down for privacy. Looking over at Mercy's office he found the blinds closed and drawn with her door closed.

"Hm." Rude hummed as he took note that one of the smaller lights were on instead of her ceiling light, "I better check on Reno."

Putting the bits of info on Mercy's room away Rude started on a calm even pace to the elevators that Mercy had only left five minutes earlier. With Tseng already knowing he was going home and Mercy staying he had no other reason to stay. Now he just needed to call his partner and make sure he was alright before heading home where he knew he was going to collapse on his bed.

The next morning came early for some and others not. Elevators started up once again as the crowd slowly started to trickle into the Shinra building. Footsteps slapped, clapped, and jogged across tile and plush carpet. Locks were released. Knobs turned. Computers turned on for another day of work. Piles of paperwork was noticed/sighed at/tossed/cussed/shifted through. Chairs were shifted. And finally calls were started. Soon the doors to the barracks would started opening, but that wouldn't start for another hour or so.

Up on the SOLDIER floor light blue eyes traveled over the deserted halls as the elevator doors shut behind him. Taking calm slow steps toward the meeting room to set up the days information Lazard stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of a familiar blue black suit. A Turk was on the floor. Not something unusual, but not something he saw everyday. Taking slow steps toward the lounge area he found the newly instated Turk sitting on the wrap around blue couch. Her back to him a she kneeled on one of the seats with her elbows on the window sill. The blinds pulled up allowed the both of them the sight of Midgar both below and beyond them as the early morning sun slowly rose casting light over the Mako dependent city. The smell of coffee drifted to Lazards senses as he then caught sight of a mug of coffee sitting on the table. A second mug warming Mercy's thin fingers and palms.

"And what might I ask is the reason for your visit?" Lazard asked smiling as she stood from couch.

"Nothing in particular. Just needed to get away from the other Turks. Tseng's doing his early morning run while some of the others switch out with the day Turks." She responded as she grabbed the first mug and walked over to him. The mug offered to him and he graciously took it, "I remembered how you liked your coffee and decided to bring you some seeing as you and several other of the first class have meetings in the next hours or so."

"Thank you." Lazard replied nodding his head, "Are you going to join me while I work or are you going to your office for the day. Tseng probably has a mission or something for you to do."

"I'll be joining you, but only for a little while. Then I'll be heading home for some time. I took Rude's shift last night to let him sleep and stayed here. And Tseng's already told me he has no current missions for him right now. He mainly has us on bodyguard for the President and Vice." She informed as she followed him into the SOLDIER meeting room, "AVALANCHE hasn't been causing many problems right now and the last mission I had cut off what was the last leak for the moment."

"Hm, doesn't sound too bad. At least you have a slow time." Lazard responded as he thought about what she had said.

It was true. AVALANCHE, at the moment was on the down low and quiet. The war front with Wutai was calming down, but Lazard was on the edge of his seat waiting for another resistance from the island people. Sephiroth would be deployed in several weeks to make another scan of the camp grounds and possibly end the war on this go. Angeal and Genesis would be staying here seeing as Angeal was in the middle of teaching his student, Zack, about summons and other Materia. A new group of cadets would be coming in from the academy in the next week or so. That would cause another slow down as teachers would be taken from the army and tossed back into the classrooms, probably much to their dismay.

"I'd much rather not have slow days." Mercy informed as she took a seat nearby, "I think too much when it's slow."

"And what would have you thinking so much? Trouble with the family?" Lazard queried as he took a glance at her to find a look of disgust on her face.

"What family? The only family I know is the one at the orphanage and that's a good family right there."

"What about the Turks? Wouldn't you consider them a second family, in the least?"

The tapping of the keyboard filled the silence as Lazard started to work leaving Mercy to her thoughts as she mused about his family.

"I think I can consider them a surogate family." She informed several minutes later causing Lazard to smile at her answer.

SOLDIER to him was considered a family seeing as his first wasn't really there. He cared about all the men working under him. Even the cadets who weren't even ranked. Those men depended on him for information on what was going on and he depended on them to get the job done as quickly and efficently as they could.

"SOLDIER is mine." Lazard confessed to her and out of the corner of his eye he saw Mercy smile a soft smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle and her eyes to soften.

That was something he had rarely seen from the woman the few times they ran into one another or she sat with him in the meeting room. Going back to his work silence drifted over them like the fog that drifted down on the Plate that morning as the sun continued to rise from the edge of Gaia and into the cloud riddled sky above them.

"Mercy, you said you think too much when you are having a slow day." Lazard started, "What do you think about exactly?"

"Hm, I think about what I would be doing if I wasn't a Turk. What my future would have been had I had a family in the beginning. And…" She drifted off slowly as something seemed to accure to her.

"Something wrong?" Lazard queried as he looked up to find her staring at the monitor in front of her, "Mercy?"

"Lazard, where would I be able to see Hojo right now?" Mercy asked as she looked up at him seriously.

"Um, down in the labs, but not for another two or so hours really. Why?"

Worry washed over him as she stood finishing off her coffee and held the empty mug at her side limply. A look of wonder and curiosity replacing the seriousness that once covered her face.

"Just curious."

"You know what he does Mercy. Even if you are a Turk you know that if gets his hands on you you're his." Lazard informed as he spun the chair around, following her as she walked towards the door, "Don't go down there. You are asking for a death wish if you go down there Mercy."

"Like I said Laz, I'm only curious about the guy." She replied as the door opened, "Just curious is all."

With that the door closed behind her leaving him with a growing pit of worry in him. Grabbing his phone from his jacket pocket Lazard flipped the cell open. Thank god he had Tseng's number on speed dial. Lazard knew that Turks were crazy, but nobody truly knew how far Mercy would go. Especially when it came to somebody like Hojo and a case of what Lazard guessed wasn't curiosity. Instead of curiosity it was probably determination to find something out that it seemed nobody else but Mercy knew. That wasn't good.

"Yes."

"Tseng, I think we are going to have a problem with Mercy." Lazard informed as calmly as he could depite the worry in him for the woman and what could happen, "She's curious about Hojo and I have a feeling she's going to do something about it."

I waited four hours instead of two seeing as I also had a sixth sense Tseng and the others were looking for me since Lazard had most likely alerted them about my curiosity. That was something I both wanted and didn't. I wanted someone there that would come barging into the labs should they come (after getting over their fear of the man), but then I wanted at least enough time to talk to the man before they did come to my supposed rescue. If I wanted to I could have waited longer to make them slow their search, but then sleep was also catching up to me. I hadn't slept the night before after getting back from ordering dinner and seeing Bell. Emergency missions were on the spot and there was not excuse for sleepiness when orders were being handed out left and right.

But I shoved that all away from my mind as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Stepping out I shivered as the cold assaulted my body, but I shook that off seeing as the cold would slow viruses and other evil bodies from killing the specimens and plus it kept the blood going fast in the body. Fast blood meant faster results. Damn I sounded like a scientist. Now I know why I never went into science and only dipped into it from time to time. It was only needed when it came to chemistry and that class I passed with straight A's all the way through because of my eagerness to learn all I could. Coming up on the door to the main lab I knocked on the swinging doors before slipping in as an angry yell sounded from inside. Inside the cold was even lower than in the halls, but I didn't let it bother me as I came face to face with my target. The man who could probably tell me what I wanted.

"What do you want Turk?"