Made some big changes to this chapter, the original was too wordy and I feel was trying to set up too much character details too early on. This is supposed to be a journey seeing how they grow and/or possibly change and I was just not happy with what I was reading. I want you to be enjoying each chapter so please let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or its characters.


"I believe Rude is missing." Reno said in a matter of fact tone.

Tifa froze afraid to put down the wash cloth in her hand; the silence that was in the room was deafening. "Missing?" Tifa finally whispered. Reno just stared at the bar. "He normally keeps in contact every couple of days but it has been over a week and I haven't heard from him."

Tifa managed to set down her wash cloth and sit down next to Reno; she tried to cover her shaking hands by retying her hair. "If I didn't know that he was working on something…without permission I wouldn't have given his silence a second thought." Reno said, half to himself, half to Tifa.

"So his vacation was a front to work on something not approved by your boss?" Tifa said it more as a statement than a question but deep down she was in disbelief Rude would go rogue from the Turks; he seemed to be a person who lived the job.

"No he really was on vacation, he just can never really let go of work and so he decided to investigate while he wasn't under Tseng or Rufus' microscope." Reno let out a large sigh, Tifa noticed his aqua eyes looked dim, and there wasn't any hint of the vibrant personality that she was used to seeing.

"You were aware that the Turks have been recruiting lately right?" Tifa nodded yes. "It's just been the four of us for so long, I'm really looking forward to vet these new guys. I have to admit that it's been kinda nice that instead of the Turks causing fear and disorder, we are now the ones keeping order. We've helped the local law enforcement when they were short handed or handled the bit more shady affairs that the public had no business knowing. Rufus has really been working to change how we are viewed. He's really big on this whole redemption idea.

Tifa tentatively spoke. " The Turks; the WRO...it's nice to see so many stepping up to make the planet better. And selfishly it's taken the spotlight off the rest of us and that's been helpful."

" I bet, hero boy especially must love not being swarmed all the time by all those fangirls, Oh CLOUD YOUR SPIKEY HAIR IS SO DREAMY AND THAT WINNING PERSONALITY IS JUST SO AMAZING...HAVE MY BABY!" Reno did his best impression of a teenage girl, playing with his ponytail and fanning himself. Tifa rolled her eyes, even when he was having a serious conversation, he never missed a chance to take a shot at Cloud.

Reno was up and he grabbed the whisky bottle and ice and brought it with him back to his seat. He had also brought a second glass. Tifa knew his story about Rude was bound to be less than pleasant and decided to embrace what she hoped with be the numbing affect of the whisky. As the whisky splashed over the ice Reno continued. "Anyway I won't pretend that everything is perfect with the Turks but let me explain how all this came about. Some of the new recruits came from some pretty small towns with obviously small shops. Most crime was really small stuff. Yet more than one would talk about how their materia and item shops had been stolen from. If we hadn't all been together chatting these robberies may have seemed random. But it began to look as though they were targeting small towns just so it would look like a drifter or maybe even some local punk kids did it. The focus also seemed to be cure supplies and spells."

"Another virus you think?" Tifa asked nervously. "No, that was our first concern too but we've there has been no real evidence to support that." Reno responded.

"So what would be the need for all those materials?"

Before Reno could answer they both suddenly hear glass shattering and a woman's shrill scream coming from outside.