Ooooh so much time goes by between updates to this...sooo much time! Oh well, here's your next chapter! Characters go at Enix, plot goes at me of course of course! You should definitely review and stuff, because I like to read those :D And I hope that you enjoy this. Also is it just me or does the beginning to that sentence sound really bad?


Gently easing the control stick to the proper position, Reno checked the various gauges in front of him and then snapped his eyes back and forth while he landed the chopper easily. It took hardly any time at all before he felt the helicopter they were seated in connect with the ground and settle there. As soon as he had everything done that he needed to, Reno cut the power, feeling it start to wind down easily. Removing his headset, Reno turned to start crawling out of his seat when he happened to glance over at his chestnut haired companion.

And the look on her face stilled his movements. Pain, anguish, regret… everything he had seen in her eyes when he'd snagged her off the street, and then later on in her apartment was reflected once more on her face. A moment later he tore his gaze away from her and looked at what she was looking at, however. It wasn't hard to guess where her mind must have gone. It was shitty what had all happened here. Shitty what they'd done to some good people. Shitty, shitty, shitty, but life went on. "You alright Ciss?" She didn't turn to look at him, which didn't set well with Reno, but he could understand where she was coming from if she wanted any solitude. "Do you ever think of what we did?" Overcome with a burst of desire to protect her, Reno laid a hand on her arm. "Not worth it, Ciss. We did what we did, nothin' can change that now." The nod he got in return wasn't very reassuring, but a moment later she seemed to pull herself out of it and that sad little girl he kept seeing glimpses of was replaced by the confident woman she normally was.

"We should get going."

Why were women so damned frustrating?

While following her out of the cockpit – and enjoying the view – Reno was muttering to himself about that. He was going to have to ask Rude about that when he got back. His partner might not have anything to say, but at least he would listen.

As soon as they stepped foot on the actual ground, they were met by an employee that had been sent here from ShinRa to investigate. "Sir! Ma'am.", he said in greeting. Reno took him in and sized him up in one glance. His outfit was a little too well kept, his back a little too straight, and his gaze a little too direct for Reno's taste, especially the appreciative look he sent toward his partner, which Cissnei didn't seem to notice whatsoever. "Tseng said that you have something to show us?", her gentle voice finally asked. "Yes ma'am! We didn't expect any sort of life to be here, so when we found the lab it was somewhat of a shock to us. But you should never not expect weird things here in Nibelheim I suppose." Wasn't that the truth!

"Lead the way, yo!"


"Hot damn, would you look at that Ciss."

As soon as they'd walked through the doors, Reno's 'creepy' radar was going through the roof. "It does look like something Griever would construct." Reno snorted. "You can say that again. If this doesn't say hyperactive, insane psychopath scientist, I'm not quite sure what does." "He was Hojo's protégé, what do you expect?" Reno eyed at some of the files that were scattered on the table, before glancing back at his partner. "Probably secretly his son. You know how children of Hojo turn out." Walking over to the table, Reno reached down to pick up a piece of paper with odd looking scribbles on it. "I do. I would say just about as charming of people as you can find, wouldn't you say Reno?" Reno found himself snorting for the second time that night and sending her a wry grin. "Now see, ya need to smile more, because that's the Ciss I miss." With a snicker, Reno prodded Cissnei with his elbow. "And I'm also a poet, didn'tcha know?"

"The day you become a poet, I'll be a man." Reno pretended to recoil in disgust. "I just knew there was something different about you!" He earned a set of eyes rolling at him. "You caught me, Reno. My big secret is out." Tossing the file back on the table, he eased over and slipped his arms around Cissnei's waist, whispering in her ear quickly. "I'd still like to see those tying skills." Just as easily she slipped out of his arms and gave him a gentle slap upside the head. "Reno! Could you at least act like you're doing something productive?" "Yeah sure, toss the rope over an-" , his teasing voice was quickly cut off. "Reno sometimes I wonder just what level your brain really is." Still, he couldn't help but notice the amusement she had on her features.

Giving him one last exasperated look – which he just sent a wink back toward – Cissnei returned to looking around the lab, which he did as well. Picking back up the file, Reno plopped down in the cushioned chair and started to try and decipher the meaning of the scribbles he was reading. "Yo Ciss, check it out. Mentions something about using the lifestream for experiments." With the chestnut haired woman quickly peering over his shoulder, Reno lifted so she could see it. "Reno, do you think Griever could be…" "Messing shit up by using the lifestream? Can't see why not, he's done some pretty shitty other stuff just like it."

Cissnei nodded in agreement. "Say anything else?" Quickly skimming it, Reno shook his head. "Just a lot more nonsense, but nothin' that seems to be important." Placing it down, Reno picked up another piece of paper that was down on the table and started to read it while Cissnei started walking around the small lab. "This doesn't seem right, Reno. Griever almost always had as big of a lab space as he could get his grubby hands on. Doesn't this seem a bit cramped to you?" When he finally looked up, Reno could see what she was talking about. "Yeah yeah, well this guy isn't exactly stable anyway." With a frustrated sigh, Reno slapped the piece of paper back on the others and started to ruffle them together. "We should at least take these back to Tseng, see if he can make anything else out of them." Reno was paying too close of attention on his partner walking back toward him to notice anything odd about the papers, but fortunately for them, Cissnei wasn't. "Reno!" Her sharp voice caused him to pause in his drawing back of the papers. "What?"

Before he knew what was happening, she'd snatched the papers out of his hand and set them back down under the light, all piled on top of each other like he had swept them together. Curious, Reno popped his head over Cissnei's shoulder to see what the hell she was up to. "Well damn!" Through each of the scribbles on each page that Reno had thought was nonsense, came a picture of something else. Looked like some two headed alien, but next to the…whatever the hell that was, was a picture of three swords, all tipped upward. Reno didn't quite understand, but Cissnei's mind was apparently working faster. While he was still digesting the image the pieces of paper had given them, she thrust them back in his hands and was suddenly moving again. It was then that he noticed each wall had a sword, though all were currently tipped down, though it didn't quite click until she got to the nearest one and rotated it until it was pointing upward.

Which jumpstarted his brain. So that he trotted over to the third while she got the second one. Careful not to slice his fingers off, Reno grunted while he twisted the sword until it was pointing upward. As if on cue, there was a series of loud clicks and hisses, before a portion of the wall slid back from the far side. "What the...", he muttered out in surprise, before tossing the papers back on the desk and following his companion through the portion of the wall that had just been sucked backward, and then down the spiral staircase leading further into the old reactor.

And he'd thought the other section of this lab was creepy.

As soon as he stepped off the staircase and into this second room, Reno seriously wanted to turn on his heel and run back up. This had led to a very large space, oddly glowing from the lighting of the various tanks that littered the room. "Holy shit.", he finally got out. When Cissnei started toward one of the tanks, however, another surge of protective instinct kicked in and he grabbed her arm to yank her back. "I'll look first.", he said. The odd look she gave him was probably a reflection of his questioning himself, but he shrugged it off and inched forward until he could peer into the tanks. Almost instantly he wanted to recoil. There, floating in the odd liquid substance was…what were they? Cissnei peeked in a moment later, and when he glanced at her and her to him, it was pretty clear that she was wondering the same thing he was. "The hell are those?"

"I…I'm not sure, Reno. That liquid though…it glows green." Braving another look into the tanks, Reno gulped and tried to look at the liquid instead of the sunken eyes of the being floating in there, looking as if it were being…grown inside that tank. He's seen some weird shit in his life, sure, but this might just take the cake. "You…should probably call Tseng." Nodding almost dumbly, Reno gulped and backed away from the tanks. "I'll walk outside; probably don't get that great of reception down here." Or he just needed to get away from these damned…whatever they were so their sunken eyes weren't staring at him. "You'll be okay down here by yourself?" "Yeah, Reno. I'm sure they won't crawl out of their tanks and kill me to suck out my brains." Despite the tease, Reno didn't feel any better about that.

But he did feel better once he was outside again. Grabbing out his PHS, Reno slipped it up to his ear and waited until he felt the familiar voice on the other end.

"Yeah, boss? We've got some pretty creepy shit down here…"


With his report to Tseng done for the moment, Reno hesitated at the door that led to the creepy underground dungeon. He'd rather not go down there, but he knew he had to. Rubbing at the back of his neck nervously, Reno finally chided himself and started back down the stairway. On light feet he padded back down, and when nearing the end, he nearly called out to Cissnei. Her voice, however, cut off the thought of doing so. Instead, he pressed himself back up against the wall and peered at her while she talked in light tones on the phone.

"…good, tomorrow at six I'll meet you at the church."