A/N: Woot! Chapter Three! This is full of humor, FYI.
Also, it transfers between a lot of different people's point of views. It should be fairly obvious who's view it is, but if you can't tell, mail me and I'll explain.
Thank you to all my reviewers/favoritvers/alerters. You guys are awsome!
Special thanks: DreamlessRiver
Read and Review please! Thank you for your support:-)
Nobody's Listening
Chapter Three: Walk It Out
Zel paced back and forth outside of Verdot's, the head of the Turks, office. He was so focused on catching the department head before he left that he'd staked out this spot since lunch.
Yesterday.
Planning on making up the work he missed (which wasn't much, he hoped), he'd paced back and forth, waiting for Verdot to be off the phone with the president, out of whatever meetings via telecom, and done with all his paper work.
Zel was slightly surprised that Verdot didn't take one break during the last 24 hours, for if he did, he would have run right into Zel. But then again, Vincent was known for going weeks without sleep and only taking two minute breaks every 16 hours or so for necessities (food/water/bathroom). That's just how dedicated Vincent was.
This was why it was strange that Vincent hadn't check in with anyone in a week.
This was why Zel was pacing back and forth in front of Verdot's door. He wanted news. Badly.
Because Zel, like so many of the other Turks, owed Vincent his life, only it was different for Zel.
No, dear reader, Zel is not gay.
It was different for Zel because not only did Vincent save his life, he'd been given a home by the Valentine's, and resided there from the age of 12 to 22.
So, Vincent was Zel's older brother, by exactly one year and one hour. (Ironically, they'd been born on the same day, a year and an hour apart.) Though Zel was never legally adopted into the Valentine family, he still considered the late Grimore Valentine his father and the missing Vincent his older brother.
It often confused people when Zel introduced himself as Vincent's brother, for they couldn't be more different from each other. Vincent was tall, dark, silent, and brooding. Zel, on the other hand, had been short (somewhere around 5'3) most of his life until his recent growth spurt allowed him to reach 5'8. He had blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and was always smiling, always in motion, and never thought before he acted.
(Kind of like a blonde Reno.)
Okay, he was working on the whole 'think then act' thing.
Zel was so focused on his pacing that he didn't hear Verdot's door open.
CRACK!
"Zel! Good God, man! Are you alright?" Verdot said, crouching next to the blonde Turk.
"My head! My dignity!" Zel moaned, holding his head. Laughter came from those in the hallway, most of which were fellow Turks. (This was their floor, you know). A crowd had gathered now that Verdot was there. Verdot pretended not to notice them, but he knew why they were all there.
"That had to hurt. You slammed into the door pretty hard." Verdot helped Zel up, smiling. Zel instantly noticed there was no happiness behind that smile.
"Nothing?" he whispered. He knew he wouldn't have to explain to Verdot what that one word meant. Not in this situation.
"As of now, Agent Vincent Valentine is missing in action…" Verdot replied gravely. Zel stared silently at the man.
"What?! No fing way!" a voice called from the crowd of Turks.
"Vinnie's gone? Send out a search party!" yelled another.
"Who's gonna replace him?"
"No one, he was perfect!" Zek noted, to himself, that the person who'd yelled that sounded like a girl. Verdot noted that as well.
"Seriously, search party!" the voice repeated. Verdot looked to see who that voice belong to and grinned slightly when he saw it belonged to Petri, a newer gunner Turk who idolized Vincent and Zel. Petri's persistence brought out new ideas in the others.
"Drop what you're doing, let's go find him!"
"Who needs the paperwork anyway?"
"Let's go get Vinnie!"
"Damn, I hope he's alright…"
"I'd bet my life Hojo's behind this," a softer voice said. Verdot recognized that voice too. It belonged to River, a long-sword wielding Turk who'd come into the force three months after Vincent. If Verdot remembered right, Zel was currently living with her, after his apartment burned down under 'unknown circumstances' (Okay, who gave Zel the lighter???). Her comment brought silence to the whole crowd, a feat not to be taken lightly. Getting the Turks to shut up normally took fifteen minutes.
And yet they were all silent.
Because everyone knew she was right.
"That son of a…" Zel started, but was cut off by…
"What's going on here?" Half the crowd of Turks groaned. Verdot almost did himself, but held back.
Because walking down the hallway at that very moment was the last person on the Planet that any of the Turks wanted to see.
"It's…nothing, President," Zel said quickly, trying to quiet the groaning group. He failed.
"Then what are you all doing, hmm?" President ShinRa asked his tone anything BUT friendly.
"Organizing an intel mission on the whereabouts of Agent V. Valentine, with all respect, Sir," Zel replied cordially. Verdot had to admit, Zel could put on an act if he had to.
"Why?" The President sneered. Gasps and mutters spread through the group. River, who'd moved up to stand next to Zel, exchanged a look with Verdot. Her eyebrow was raised in the silent question "Can I kill him now, please?"
"Because, Sir, he hasn't reported in since-"
"Turks go missing or die all the time, Zel. Why is this any different than the other times?" The President interrupted. For a moment, Zel was speechless.
So River jumped in.
"Actually, Sir, no Turks have been reported missing and/or died in the last six years," she pointed out. "The worst causality was broken bones, and one of us-remaining nameless, of course- was hospitalized for about a week. There have been no deaths or disappearances since Agent Valentine entered the force, Sir." Zel grinned. River and her statistics always came through…where and what would he be without her?
Well, very lonely, for one, but that's beside the point…
"Do you have any concrete proof of this?" ShinRa retorted, crossing his arms.
"I put it on your desk this morning," was River's curt reply, followed by a few snickers.
"Did you now?"
"Yes, Sir, I did. So can we-"
"No." Verdot and Zel did everything they could to hold back the crowd of Turks and keep them from attacking the President.
"What's wrong with you?!"
"We've got to find Vincent!"
"We're assassins, right? Take him out!" Those were just some of the shouts…the more appropriate ones, at least.
"SHUT UP!" The President yelled. Shocked silence followed. (Verdot sneered. How come everyone could shut these people up so easily, but he couldn't get them to sit still for longer than a minute?!)
That silence? It was deafening. So Zel broke it.
"You can't stop us."
"What did you just…?"
"You can't stop us, Sir," Zel sneered. Smiles appeared on his fellows' faces. They all knew what was coming.
"I bet I can, Turk," ShinRa replied.
"Nu-uh, not me. I quit, ass wipe." The look on the President's face was priceless.
"You wha…"
"And you know what? I'm gonna tell you something I've wanted to say ever since I walked into this hell hole…" With all the pride he could muster, (Which was a lot, Zel has an ego) he lifted both of his hands and gave ShinRa the bird. "Fuck you, ShinRa! Have a nice life in hell!"
"HOORAY!" yelled the Turks, in perfect unison. Zel turned and ran down the hall, laughing manically. He stopped at the elevators and looked to his comrades.
"One last order, for Vincent!" he called, "Walk it out, Turks!" He then decided to take the stairs and disappeared down the dark stairwell.
Fameos, one of the only sane scientists ShinRa Inc. had employed, (the others being the previous Department Head, Grimore Valentine…and he was dead, and Professor Gast, who was MIA.), yawned and looked around the empty lab. Something had woken him up from his nap. Well, he was supposed to be working, but…well, a nap sounded better.
Bzzzt.
"Huh? Oh, it's my phone!" he reached over and picked it up. "Hello, last sane scientist left alive at ShinRa, how can I help you?"
"Hey dude, it's River."
"Hi River! How are you?" Fameos replied brightly.
"Just delivering a message from Zel."
"Oh? And that is?" He felt a smile grow.
"Walk it out!" River hung up with a laugh. Fameos laughed too, closing his phone and standing up. He quickly walked to the neighboring lab, where all the other scientists were eating lunch.
"Hey guys! Good news! I quit!" he announced. The scientists stared at him, wondering what the heck was going on. "Someone tell Hojo that I hope he gets eaten by one of his experiments, would ya?" He turned and started to leave to go pack up his things when someone stopped him.
"Are the Turks rebelling, Sir?" Fameos grinned wolfishly.
"Of course! Why else would I quit?" The scientist who'd spoken smiled too. Fameos knew at that moment that he wasn't leaving here alone.
Verdot slipped back into his office, shutting his door to the chaos outside. He stared out at the city of Midgar, breathing deeply.
Everyone was leaving.
Everyone but him.
He looked around mournfully and then walked behind his desk, sitting down in the chair. He rolled up the left sleeve of his jacket and looked at the small scar on his wrist. Implanted there was a tracker. ShinRa could monitor Verdot's ever move, if he wanted to. If Verdot left now, he- and everyone he made contact to- was dead.
Or worse, he'd go "missing," like Vincent.
"Damn it, Valentine…You better not be dead…" he muttered, rubbing his eyes and sighing. He looked at his wrist again and then opened his desk drawer, pulling out a sharp knife and gazed at it.
If a fox was caught in a hunter's trap, the animal would gnaw it's own foot off to escape, rather than die of starvation or by the hunter himself. The fox would forever be crippled, but lives.
Verdot raised the knife up above his left wrist, thinking about this way of nature. He thrust it downward…
…and stabbed it into the desk.
How he wished he could be a fox.
All around her, hell was breaking loose. River grinned as she gathered up her weapons and other personal belongings and hurried to catch up to Zel. He'd forgotten his house key in all the excitement, which meant he'd be locked out until she got there. That idiot.
But he was her idiot, and that was all that mattered.
And he'd have to wait a little longer, for she had one last place to stop.
"Verdot?" River said, slipping quietly into her ex-boss's office. Verdot had his head in his hands, a knife sticking out of his desk, and random potted plants strewn across the floor.
"Aren't you leaving, River?" he murmured, not looking up. She smiled sadly.
"Yes sir. Just wanted to say something first…." That got Verdot's attention. He looked up, staring her straight in the eyes.
"We'll come back for you." His eyes widened.
"Wha?"
"I know about that tracker, and about how ShinRa has your life in a box. Zel's been working on a way to hack the system and deactivate the tracking system. When that happens, we'll be back. And you'll be free….I promise."
"River…"
"See ya around sometime, Verdot," River smiled, bowing her head slightly and then walking away from his office forever.
Reeve instantly knew he'd picked the wrong day to find Zel. He, his father, Cid, Shera, and Captain Highwind had all walked into the building only to find all hell breaking loose.
People were everywhere, many taking all of their belongings and bolting out the door. Others were trying to get people to stay. Everywhere you looked, there were arguments. And no one had any idea what had started.
And then they'd found Zel.
"Hey, Tuesti! Highwind!" Zel called, smiling and walking over to them. "Like what I've done with the place?"
"And what exactly have you done, Zel?" Reeve's father asked. Zel smiled, as he walked over and picked up Shera, giving her a quick hug before answering.
"Got my revenge."
"For what?" Cid asked, grinning.
"My brother went missing. ShinRa wouldn't let me go look for him, so I'm going on my own…and taking half the company with me!" Zel laughed. "Wanna come?" Captain Highwind and Reeve's father exchanged worried looks. Zel's smile faltered.
"Not you guys too…" he said, setting Shera down. Shera looked up at Zel, worried expression on her face. Reeve's face mirrored that look.
"'fraid so…" Captain Highwind muttered.
"No…no…shit no! You guys…you have kids. You've got lives! You've got…"
"No way out…" Tuesti replied. Cid and Shera looked at each other, visibly confused. No way out of what?
But Reeve had stopped listening. His attention was focused on the door. Or, more importantly, what had walked through the door.
Hojo.
Hojo was here. Right now.
And he'd seen Reeve.
Reeve's body froze up. The air around him felt like lead. It was hard to move, hard to breath. He knew he was dead. Hojo would probably shoot him right now and blame it on Zel or something. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, reaching for Cid and Shera, but both were too far away for him to reach.
He was surrounded by people, but oh so very alone.
Or so he thought.
What Reeve didn't notice was that, as Hojo made his slow approach, Zel had also been moving towards him. He didn't notice Zel watching Reeve's every move, every facial expression. He didn't even notice Zel was right behind him until he spoke.
"Nobody listening, little one? 'Cause, if that's the case…I will…" Reeve had no chance to respond, because before he knew it, he'd found himself lifted off the ground and thrown over Zel's shoulder. Then Zel grabbed Shera and held her tightly to his chest.
"Hehe…hostages…" Zel muttered, before bolting towards the door, knocking a bewildered Hojo out of the way.
Cid was the first to react. He sprung from his father's side and bolted after Zel, swearing enough to make even a sailor cry. Samuel and Takota tried to follow but were blocked by Hojo, who was yelling curses after the fleeting ex-Turk.
"Zel!" Samuel yelled, in vain. The Turk didn't stop. He didn't even look back. He just escaped into the streets, Cid on his heels. They were all soon out of view.
Ten minutes later, Hojo sat in President ShinRa's office, scowling angrily. Firstly, he was called here for no apparent reason and taken away from his very important work. And then, when he'd gotten here, he'd found the witness to his past…deeds. He'd been just about to confront the little runt when a blonde haired nutcase had ruined everything.
So he was in a bad mood, and was prepared to take it out on anyone.
Unfortunately for him, so was the person he was meeting.
"Explain. Now!" ShinRa ordered.
"I've eradicated my problems and am now continuing with my research on the JENOVA project," Hojo replied snootily.
"Then what happened to Valentine?"
"He was one of the 'problems'."
"I know that! Where's his body?!" ShinRa yelled. Hojo grinned.
"Somewhere…"
"Have you thought about this yet? How are you going to cover this up?!"
"Oh, I have that covered."
"Really?" ShinRa was not impressed. So Hojo demonstrated.
"I really don't understand what happed, sir," Hojo said, feigning innocence. "One minute, Agent Valentine and I where talking, and the next moment he had a gun in his hands. By the time I realized what he was doing, I was too late. It seems our respected gunman has taken his own life, sir…" Hojo smiled at this statement. "Blew a hole clean through his head."
ShinRa couldn't help it. He smiled too.
"What about him missing a heart?" he asked. He wasn't surprised to see Hojo already had that covered too.
Hojo threw a file onto the President's desk. "27 year old male, blood type A , organ donor. Never smoked, drank only occasionally, perfect health and rarely ever got sick. Perfect cover up, set up by Vincent's own hands." He laughed. ShinRa looked over the file-Vincent's medical records- and laughed slightly too.
"Who would have thought the man was setting up his own demise. So, you are just going to say you donated his organs?"
"It's what he wanted," Hojo responded. Suddenly, ShinRa laughed. "What?"
"Look, last line." He threw the file back to Hojo. Hojo opened it and looked at the last line. The question was: Upon death, would you allow your body to be donated to science?
Vincent's reply?
Not even in death, Hojo.
Hojo laughed at the irony.
Vincent smiled. He knew Hojo couldn't see him, and neither could that lard-ass ShinRa. This made it even more entertaining as they basically laid out their whole plan, totally unaware that Vincent was listening in to the whole thing.
And Vincent knew something Hojo didn't.
Dead men could still talk.
Vincent cracked his knuckles, chuckling darkly to himself. He glared at Hojo, a glare that, later in his life, would be given so much to a group of rag-tag terrorists.
I'll get my revenge, Hojo. Just you wait.
With that thought, Vincent disappeared from the room, going to catch up to his fleeing brother and little Reeve Tuesti.
A/N: Forgot to mention: Cid's two years older than Reeve...shoulda said that. Sorry. Review please:-) I'll try and update as soon as I can. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Contact me:-)
