- Into the Night -


"Fair? Zack Fair? Are you sure?" Tifa's voice was frantic. She'd ripped the phone away from Marlene the second she'd heard the younger woman say that word.

Denzel couldn't really corroborate if Reeve or Tseng was referring to a Zack Fair in particular, but apparently the name was enough to stir anyone who'd been close to Cloud into a mild frenzy. It was the first and only breakthrough they'd had regarding Cloud's condition. This person, Fair, must've been close to Cloud in the past and had something to do with his time at ShinRa, though nobody wanted to fill Denzel in.

"Let me talk to Reeve," Tifa demanded. Denzel reluctantly handed the phone over. He was still in Reeve's office, watching the man pore over maps of Kalm.

Reeve spoke rapidly to her in a whispered voice. No, this didn't change anything quite yet. Yes, they were sure Tseng hadn't said anymore since. No, there was nothing she could do to help. But once he'd hung up, he sighed and rubbed his temples as though she'd exhausted him even further. Then suddenly an alarm sounded overhead. A perimeter breach. Reeve cursed under his breath and disappeared down the hall. Denzel followed, grabbing his rifle on the way.

The creatures had somehow discovered their base. The alarms only went off when alien cells were detected, but they'd been discovered so quickly this time it seemed impossible. He ascended to the rise overlooking the northern approach and steadied his rifle, looking through the scope for the source of the alarm. There, just along the ridge was Yuffie and Elena, hobbling together towards the base. No creatures. No monsters. Denzel let out a breath and headed down to greet them, puzzled.

The two women were injured, but Elena insisted on seeing Reeve immediately. Medical attention could wait. She relayed their mission fast, ignoring the obvious relief on Reeve's face that she'd returned alive. Being the last active Turk made her especially valuable. Yuffie shoved a stick of gum in her mouth.

The Jenovites were indeed moving the serum into Edge, but it wasn't to deliver it to the alien. They'd somehow been able to re-engineer the serum to mimic the properties of someone under the alien's influence. Using it, they were walking amongst the creatures in peace. "As our god intended," Elena relayed had been the disciple's exact words.

"Unfortunately, he died during questioning," Yuffie interjected dryly.

"But why move it into Edge?" Reeve circled back.

A new encampment was being established, Elena told him, comprised of Jenovites under the altered serum. They're building some sort of church, close to the calamity's crash site. The alien either remained unaware of the serum or it didn't care enough about the Jenovites to take any action.

"Maybe it enjoys having psychopaths around it," Yuffie added.

But everything shortly thereafter had gone to hell. A swarm of creatures patrolling the fields around Edge had attacked Kalm, precisely targeting Elena and Yuffie. The Jenovites stood by, patiently waiting for the monsters to tear them apart. They'd barely escaped, having killed three of the hideous things, then they'd hidden for hours until they were certain the creatures had rejoined Edge.

"So the perimeter alarm" Denzel spoke up, putting the pieces together, "You guys have the altered serum, then, right? The mimicry of alien cells?"

Yuffie smiled wide and retrieved a bundle from her backpack. Inside were several plastic bottles of greenish liquid. Apparently the Jenovites drank the stuff. She retched. Reeve cleared his throat, exhaled, and put a hand on Elena's shoulder then told her how relieved he was that she'd returned.

"Relax, old man." Yuffie stepped next to him, laughing, "Did you really think we'd fail? C'mon, you sent the two best for a reason. I'm upset you even worried at all!"

Reeve straightened his jacket. It was a huge step for them. The altered serum meant they could finally send a task force into Edge like a knife and cut out the heart of the alien in its nest. They had a means and they knew whose face it was wearing now. Elena and Yuffie already knew thanks to Denzel's message, but the news wasn't any less troubling when Reeve confirmed.

"It may mean he won't leave it willingly," Elena deduced at once.

But they couldn't really determine what any of it meant. Not yet. First, Reeve wanted the bottles of altered serum sent down to the labs. If their remaining scientists could duplicate the properties, they could shelter everyone from the alien's thought patterns and detection. Maybe. Tests would need to be done first, to see if both could be present in the human bloodstream at a time without adverse side effects. Then they had to program the drones to search for one particular ex-Soldier in Edge and relay constant locations. Once they had all the fact, then they could move.

"But that would take months!" Denzel protested, "And what about Cloud? I didn't hear you mention him in those plans."

Reeve held Denzel's gaze for a long time. There would be no extraction of Cloud. If the alien was holding this form specifically because of Cloud, then it could change its appearance if Cloud was removed and they couldn't afford to lose track of it now. Denzel glared at Reeve but ultimately nodded in agreement. It was war, after all, not family reunion.

Later that night, he sat alone in his room eating dinner when Yuffie knocked on the door.

"Hey, kiddo." She leaned against the doorframe. "Ready to go?"

Go? Denzel shook his head. Hadn't she heard Reeve? They needed to run tests on the strange new drugs. They couldn't go into Edge yet.

"Relax, I'm taking the new stuff. Not you. And besides, didn't you hear him? There's no extraction plan for Cloud. We're officially on our own."

Denzel realized she was right. If Cloud had a strong link to the alien if and when Reeve's strike team killed it, then… Denzel didn't want to think about it. What it meant was time was running out if they wanted to help Cloud. He quickly finished dinner then gave himself his usual injection before grabbing his rifle and heading out with her. They snuck through the halls carefully, and just as they were about to reach the final doorway, a tall dark shadow stepped in front of them. Yuffie jumped.

"Vincent! You scared me half-to-death!" she berated him.

Two cold red eyes looked from her to Denzel then back. Vincent always gave Denzel the creeps. Even though he'd been Cloud's friend, there was something off about the man. An ex-Turk with the power of an actual monster living inside him. Basically nightmare-fuel. The man was nothing but polite and remained mostly silent unless asked questions, but Denzel had seen the thing inside him take over once. Chaos, he called it. There couldn't have been a better name.

"You two are leaving," Vincent observed softly.

"No. Maybe."

"Please don't, Yuffie," he implored. His voice always sounded so deceptively gentle. Denzel felt the tension rise between them. Vincent could, of course, stop them, and Yuffie's mischievous smile vanished. She suddenly became quite serious.

"Vincent, please." Then she lowered her voice considerably. "We're going to get Cloud out of there. Come with us. Help us bring him home."

The red eyes narrowed a bit. "Cloud is dead, Yuffie. That thing in Edge is not him."

"We don't know that for a fact," she argued, "And now we have a means to get into the city under the radar. We can finally get close to him."

"Tifa had gotten close to him."

"Yeah, and -"

"She practically lost her mind."

"But I have a plan, Vincent! And either you're going to help me or you're going to get out of the way."

The two stared at each other for a long awkward moment. Finally, Yuffie took one finger and pressed it against his chest, moving him back. Amazingly, Vincent didn't resist her, and Denzel got the feeling there was more history between them than he thought. As she stepped by the tall red cape, she pressed a small bottle into his hand. In case you change your mind, she told him. It was a bit of the altered serum so he could enter Edge undetected, too, if he wanted.

"I don't want," he insisted, but as he watched Denzel and Yuffie disappear in the night he remembered with fondness all the old battles they'd endured together. Truthfully, he would have gone with her, but leaving Reeve and the others defenseless was simply not an option. Not this close to the city. Even when her errand to Edge ultimately struck him as foolish, deep in his heart he nevertheless wished her luck.