Hope you guys are still reading. I haven't had a review in awhile, but I've had hits! Anyway, the plot is just going to thicken in this chapter, so read it, and enjoy.

Chapter 7: The Hospital Hit

It looked as though Rude was vomiting endlessly, constantly sickened with the previous scene with him, Simon, and Damian. The night had completely taken over, and the chilliness of the wind only did worse to Rude's already-sickened condition. He walked back into the vehicle after taking his little break and shut the door, taking dizzying breaths.

Damian finished another cigarette and tossed it outside. "This job is hard on people. I told you that you'd be taken to the fringe."

"We just murdered someone," Rude stated.

With a sigh, Damian pulled out his veteran's badge and showed it to Rude.

"You see this?" Damian said with an increasingly aggressive tone. "This is a VICE badge. It's a license to kill, raid, and plunder. This is a license to do whatever the fuck we want. If you don't respect the license, then you don't respect your job. If you don't respect your job, you don't respect yourself."

"We're supposed to take down bad men," Rude then said. "Not go around killing innocent people."

The veteran chuckled mockingly. "So you think Simon was an innocent person? He's a criminal, rookie. He's killed a lot of men for no particular reason, and he's been convicted of many felonies that we've condoned in exchange for his information. He deserved what was coming to him."

"That's not…" Rude said with some growing anger. "…justice."

"Justice is something heroes have the luxury for," his training officer said. "We're not heroes, remember? We don't have the luxury of sparing someone on a termination protocol. We carry orders."

Rude scoffed and shook his head. "Justice is something that separates good men from bad men."

"I'm going to let you in on a secret," Damian said. "The term 'good' is just a fabrication, a state of mind to comfort innocent bystanders while real work is being done. Good does not always prevail. Sometimes, it takes something bad to destroy something bad. We're in the gray, brother. We're the best of both worlds, unbound by any heroic or villainous rules. I had warned you about this already."

"Fuck that hero bullshit," Rude said.

"Kid, can't you open your damn eyes?" Damian then retorted. "I took down a wanted criminal tonight. I investigated his ass, I went undercover, and now I got him!"

Victor shook his head with some ridicule. "It can't be this way."

"Sorry, rookie, but it is. I'm sorry I showed you this world, but it had to happen some time," Damian said.

"But it's our job to do what's right. I joined this unit to put away the murderers, dealers, and gangsters…not to become one."

After that last statement, the veteran laughed strangely. It seemed as though he had already forgotten about Simon. "You sound just like I did."

"I don't care," Rude said. "I'm not like you."

"No, you don't have to be," Damian replied with a more temperate voice. "But if you really cared about taking down bad men, this is the place to do it. There's no way around this, Victor. I understand what you're going through right now. You're afraid."

"I'm not afraid," Rude said.

"You're terrified," he corrected. "Everyone goes through it the first time. It was hard for me to understand it, too, but I made it through."

Victor looked away and crossed his arms together. Damian's voice seemed to descend to a more personal tone, becoming somewhat easier to listen to.

"In order for you to survive out here…you have to get your hands dirty and do a little wet work. It's the worst part of the job, yes, but once you get through it, then everything will turn out just fine," he said in a mentoring voice.

Rude sat uncomfortably in his seat, but listened to everything Damian had to say. The way Damian spoke honestly felt genuine.

"But," Damian continued patiently. "You have to take your time and let yourself grow a little older, a bit wiser, and a bit stronger. When you're good enough, you can finally change things, but the only way you can truly change the bad is when you have it inside you. My path transcends these crimes, Victor. You'll understand one day."

A moment of silence passed between them, with Rude contemplating quitting VICE after today alone. Damian's words did have an effect, though, and now Rude was confused. He saw the man as good, and he saw the man as bad. He saw many faces that Damian presented, faces that turned into something different with each action. The slope he now walked on was slipperier than anything else. Could this man be trusted? Rude didn't want to think about it.

The rookie sighed. "So what now?"

"I'm calling it a day," Damian said in a gentle tone. "I'll be at the diner again. If you really want to change the city, then show up tomorrow."


Tifa threw some water on her face to clear out the several thoughts lingering around in her head before heading outside with Cloud. He had just arrived this morning, and she told him everything about the crime scene and what Rude has told her so far. Predictably, Cloud offered to help and also expressed a break off work for awhile so he can spend more time at the bar.

"Tifa, you ready?" Cloud asked. "I'm already getting Fenrir heated up."

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "No, no, no. We're going in the car this time."

Cloud slightly groaned and stuck his tongue out, wandering over to where she was to grab the keys to the car. As he came to her and reached for the keys, he found himself looking at her with a strange affection.

"I missed you," he said innocently. "Sorry I was gone this whole time. I had things to get off my chest."

"I understand, Cloud," she replied, getting used to repeating the same words. "I missed you, too."

The spiky haired blond shot a grin and snatched the keys, returning outside to get into the car. Tifa smiled to herself and followed him outside and got into the tidy 4-door sedan. They were leaving to get to the hospital where they would meet up with the former Turks and converse about Rude's recent investigation. The selfless Cloud was always ready to help others, though he was still taciturn at times. He learned to lighten up a bit now, though, and that was all she enjoyed.

"Think the kids will be alright?" Cloud said as he entered the vehicle, referring to Marlene and Denzel.

Tifa followed him in the passenger seat and nodded. "They'll be alright. This shouldn't take long."

The car turned on and Cloud stepped on the pedal, heading straight towards the hospital.


"Are you connected with VICE in any way, Mr. Huxley?" Rude asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the man in the hospital room. The traumatized man gave the man in sunglasses a worried look.

"Is my wife gone?" was the first thing Mr. Huxley asked.

Rude looked down and swallowed. "She's gone, Mr. Huxley. I'm sorry."

The man didn't break down into tears, and instead had a very dead, emotionless look on his face. "Then I am already dead."

"Please answer my question," Rude continued.

Reno stood there impatiently, tapping his foot with uneasiness. They were still waiting for Tifa and Cloud to arrive, along with Elena and Tseng's call. Before Mr. Huxley could speak again, Reno's cell phone rang and he picked it up.

"This is Sexy speaking," he answered, knowing that it was Elena on the other line.

Right as Reno began to mutter on the phone, Rude signaled for him to step out of the room, which he did. The bald man stood up and looked at the traumatized man who stumbled into Seventh Heaven that other day. Mr. Huxley was breathing heavily.

"VICE is…returning," Huxley finally said.

Rude's attention was recaptured. "By who? The government?"

"No," Huxley said. "It's not the same as it once was. VICE is now a non-profit organization, operated by a few of the former employees that were jobless after its termination. The government sees this as a threat."

"So you're part of it?" Rude asked.

Huxley didn't want to say much to the question. "Only a few people have joined. Both the government and the new VICE are sending operatives to murder all of the previous members of VICE. The new VICE wants to kill off potential threats to their ranks by assassinating former nonparticipating members, while the government wants to get rid of those who have always been associated with VICE. This means they're after you, too, since you don't look like you're part of the new VICE."
"So there's more than one killer," Rude said, almost disappointed.

"Of course," Huxley muttered. "If you've paid attention to the news lately, many people have been killed. The government tries to cover this up as much as possible. Wait a minute…you're a Turk, right?"

Rude nodded with a shrug. "Sort of. I'm still directly serving under the head of Shinra."

"Then the government isn't after you," Huxley then stated. "But the other assassins will come."

"You don't have to worry about me," Rude assured. "I should be fine."

"Not if the one who killed my wife comes after you," Huxley responded.

Rude's attention was drawn to his words. "And who might that be? Do you remember?"

"I'm pretty sure it was a government agent," the older man replied. "He donned a black suit and sunglasses, and his hair was a mix between silver and dark gray. He had a short stubble, too, and it made him look kind of gruffy. In short, he looked like the kind of outsider that government parties would hire. I wouldn't be surprised if there were 10 of them out there working under the same contract."

Damian, indeed. Rude was so sure of it, too. But…Damian was…he…

Before Rude could finish that thought, the door opened and Tifa walked in with Cloud. The blond haired man greeted Rude with a handshake and they all stood there together. Rude subtly noticed how Tifa's attitude was a bit more upbeat now that Cloud was here, likely because of spike's presence alone.

"How's it, Rude?" Cloud said. It was strange to see him in a normal outfit, because Cloud was usually geared in his SOLDIER uniform. "Tifa explained everything already."

"Knowledge is limited," Rude replied. "I'm still waiting on Tseng."

Cloud then turned to Tifa. "Tifa, did you grab the evidence we've collected yet?"

Tifa remembered about what had happened earlier this morning when she and Cloud entered the crime scene again to search for additional documents.

"You found something?" Rude asked.

"Something you might find useful," she searched her purse, but couldn't find anything. "Oh, no. I must have forgotten it. Give me the keys, I'll go get them."

Cloud handed the keys to her and she walked out of the hospital room, setting her purse down nearby. Right as she exited the room, a familiar voice had just finished talking on the phone. The redhead looked at her and flashed a grin.

"Hello," he said, trying to be as nice as he could.

All his greeting did was somewhat annoy her, but she was nonetheless happy to see Reno. "Hey, you. How have things been?"

"Shitty," Reno commented, his demeanor as profane as ever. "How many times has Rude been at your bar without me?"

She grinned. "Twice."

Reno grumbled. "Yeah. Kind of boring without the guy around."

"I figured you could entertain yourself," she replied playfully. "Or spend time with Elena."

He shrugged. "Yeah, but come on, yo. I need my dude time, too."

"Rude's doing some good for himself," she then said. "At least he's got things to work on besides hanging out with people. This investigation is…interesting, to say the least."

"Pssh, you should see him when he's into other investigations," Reno scoffed, shaking his head. "Something about him…he's just very assertive. Passively, though. But hey, all of the genius things about him are expressed when danger is around. You should be grateful."

"I am," she said with a giggle, turning back around to head towards the elevator. "I'll see you when I come back up."

"Maybe Rude visits for some other reason!" Reno said a bit loudly, causing her to stop in her steps.

Tifa wanted to turn around, but kept walking, ignoring what Reno had said. She made her way past a few nurses and entered the elevator. Inside, her mind kept chewing on what Reno had muttered across the hallway. Her thoughts about Rude were mixed, mainly because she still had a sort of attachment to Cloud. Rude was a nice person, one that paid a great attention to detail, but she had trouble picturing him as an everyman. Could he take care of kids? Could he give up as a Turk?

The elevator door opened as the elevator hit bottom level. Tifa stepped out into the hospital lobby and began walking towards the door. One thing she was intrigued by was Rude's involvement with his case, likely because his past was connected. If only she'd known more, she would be able to help him. She turned her head away in disgust with herself, because she detested moments where she felt useless.

Tifa walked out of the hospital and into the parking lot. On her way over, she was forced to stop at a pedestrian cross section in between two busy patient-and-tram drop offs and pick ups. She slightly groaned because it would be another good five minutes before she would be allowed to cross over to the parking lot.

Just as she looked down to her purse, someone had bumped into her. She looked up to see who it was.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said.

His face was hidden behind sunglasses that matched perfectly with his face, keeping his eyes away from contact. The way his hair was groomed was very businesslike, like a genuinely suave crew cut that was shades of silver and black. The way his light goatee blended in with his faintly stubbly beard was also very attractively cleaned. Legitimately, he was alluring and approachable.

"Uh, no," she said. "It's nothing."

"I should've seen where I was going," he added. "I was foolish."

Her mind was not on his strangely attractive appearance, though, but his urbane conduct. He definitely looked like he wasn't from around here. With some caution, she gave him a nervous smile.

"Please, you're more than forgiven."

He returned a grin. "Don't be too modest."

With some curiosity as to why he was here, she found herself asking, "Are you from around here?"

The man shook his head. "No. I'm just here to visit a relative in the hospital."

His black suit and silver dress shirt underneath made her unsure as to what his profession was, though. This man felt too elegant to be an office worker, yet too refined to be some rich gangster grunt.

"Really?" she then said. "Then where are you from?"

"That would be telling," he replied.

"Telling what?"

He shot her a subtle smirk. "Who I am."

After his words, the cars stopped and pedestrians were allowed to cross again. Tifa was heading towards the parking lot while the mysterious man was making his way into the hospital. She found herself wondering more and more why a person like that would be here, and why he would dance around a conversation like theirs. With a sigh, she continued forward.

As she took a few more steps, a sharp, ear-piercing noise deafened her ears, causing her to drop to her knees. Before she could shut her eyes to bear the pain of that noise, a burning sensation swept her body when she saw the violent cloud of orange spreading throughout her vision.

It was an explosion.

Tifa, finally regaining a sense of composure, stood up and opened her eyes again. Her blurred vision could barely make out the smoke coming from the explosion that had just happened. The car from the detonation was completely totaled when she regained her sight. When her hearing returned, the shouts and cries of civilians rushing to help a few downed individuals filled her ears along with a sharp, high-pitched ring.

Her mind immediately remembered the strange man, so mysterious in his demeanor, and very sophisticated. Perhaps he was too comfortable, and that was what she suspected. Before she could think any more, she instinctively sprinted back the way she came, towards the hospital. The adrenaline that had taken over her allowed her to quickly traverse people in the way and back into the hospital lobby.

Without thinking, Tifa rushed towards the stairs, trying to avoid panicking civilians along the way. She sprinted up to the third level, which was where Mr. Huxley was located, and began rushing down the hall towards his room at the end of the hallway. Nearly out of breath, she noticed the opened door to the room and saw that Huxley was still safe, but Rude, Cloud, and Reno were gone, either to find her or patrol the area.

Before she could enter the room, she felt a lingering presence in the near-empty hallway, so she jumped into the empty room across, holding the door open just slightly to see what would happen.

The man in the suit walked by and removed his tie, unbuttoning the first button on his dress shirt. It was the same exact man Tifa had spoken to before the car explosion. She watched as he reached towards his waist to grab a black handgun. Without noticing her, he screwed on the suppressor at the tip, and entered the room. Tifa wanted to jump out and fight the suited man, but it looked as though he was about to talk to Huxley.

"I knew you'd find me," Huxley huffed out. "I just didn't know it would be this fast."

"You shouldn't be surprised," the man said, taking off his glasses and folding them. He placed them inside his suit. "After your wife…"

"Do you find humor in that…?" Mr. Huxley asked, terrified by the man's indifference. "I thought you were dead."

The man sighed. "I am death, Huxley."

"Then you're not the same man I once knew. What do you want from me then, Hunter?" the weakened man had said.

"If you know who the other members are, I suggest you tell me," the suited man said. "That way, I won't have to plow through innocent lives before killing these…defects."

Tifa, too, was afraid of the man because of the way his tone changed. It was much different than when they spoke outside. Somehow, the command in his voice reminded her of Rude.

"I thought you were killing all former VICE members…"

Damian shook his head. "You underestimate my contractor's intelligence networks. We don't go around wasting innocent lives like your associates."

"Innocent people?! You didn't have to kill my wife!" Huxley said with a weak struggle.

She saw him gripping his pistol, ready to shoot at any moment. "You should've thought about her before you decided to collaborate with them. I'm just following my contract, Mr. Huxley. Now tell me who the other members are so my contractor can sleep easy."

"Raven," Huxley stated, tears streaming down his eyes. "And Wolfe. Kill them, and the new VICE will crumble."

"Very good," the man said. "But, if you've lied to me, I'll happily volunteer to kill the rest of your family. That's how this information system works, you see…"

Huxley shook his head. "Don't! It's the real thing. They are the only two left."

"Alright, Agent Huxley," the man complimented, slightly chuckling. "I'll take your word on that."

The older man's breathing was becoming heavier. "And what of me?"

The man in the suit gave him a piercing glare. "You can join your wife…and Kent."

Tifa's eyes widened as the suited man lifted up his pistol and fired two shots at Mr. Huxley, both hitting the chest. When the bullets had hit the lungs, Mr. Huxley's breathing had halted completely, but the man in the suit fired one last shot into the forehead, finishing off the weakened patient. She turned away with a hand to her mouth and tears watering up her eyes. After he had finished firing the silenced rounds, the suited man grabbed his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Termination protocol complete," the man said. "Request whereabouts of former Agents Scott Raven and Karen Wolfe. Proceeding extraction."

The suited man looked at Huxley's dead body for a few seconds, then turned around and headed out the hospital room. For a moment, it seemed as though he was a bit angry with himself for leaving the hospital room door open. It was rightfully so, because Tifa, from the room across, heard and saw everything that happened. He was getting away, and no one else was here to stop him.

She took a deep breath and waited for him to take a few more steps before charging out of the room to fight him. Reaching into one of her back pockets, she grabbed her gloves there and slipped them on, the leather showing definite signs of use. Tifa took one last deep breath and opened the door, heading down the hallway to confront the killer.

Uh oh. What will happen next? I'm sure you guys know who this mysterious killer is, already. Heh, only in the next chapter, people. Review if you have any thoughts to express, and I'll see you guys next chapter.