~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Ten: Redemption for Sin
A/N: Okay, here we go. This is the correct file now...Sorry about the beta tags in the first file I uploaded! Got them mixed up. Heehee.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She had followed Cloud out of the bar and down the steps into the streets of Edge. He didn't walk briskly this time as she followed him, but merely strolled as if he were waiting for her to catch up once she was able to shove the fussy children back into the house when they attempted to chase after him. Reno quickly agreed to keep watch on them, and she actually trusted him.
"You shouldn't be leaving," she baited, hoping he would question her and actually hold a conversation with her, at least to stall him a little before he inevitably left. But he just walked over to Fenrir which was heeling patiently for her alpha male to return a few yards down. "We need you here." More baiting, and he didn't take it.
He swung his leg over, the bike bobbing under his weight as he sat. His eyes were cast ahead of him down the empty street as if completely and utterly ignoring her.
"I need you here, Cloud," she stressed; even more baiting.
Hook, line and sinker.
"I wasn't lying," he said abruptly, his gaze still ahead of him as if he were speaking to himself.
"What?" She brought her arm up to her chest in that rare instance of vulnerable femininity that Cloud enjoyed seeing her react with on occasion.
She was always so outwardly headstrong – tomboyish, at times, which Cloud was entertained to see. But on the scarce moments that fleetingly passed in his time with her, he was able to see a side of her that he remembered from when they were younger. A side that was breakable; a side that was fragile to pain and turbulence, and she trudged through these instances with a subtle grace of womanliness that made Cloud remember all the reasons why he...
He went pale, frozen. And she saw this, her mind instantly going to every other reason she could think of as to why he became so inanimate all of a sudden. All reasons except for the one that caused the revelation he'd just had over her slight and innocent arm movement towards her chest.
He loved her.
"Cloud?" Her voice was worried. She stretched her arm out to him, touching his wounded shoulder with nothing more than a minute caress.
He felt it, no matter how insignificantly small it was. It was there, and it sent a shocking reminder of his revelation through his entire soul.
He reached up with his left hand and grasped hers, tugging slightly harder than he intended to, and it caused a small gasp of startlement from her. She stumbled forward, but balanced herself as her bewildered eyes scanned over him.
Her mind went to his odd behavior before he left, and she became instantly scared.
"Tifa," he said, and it caused her to relax. His grip loosened a bit, but still held its firmness over her in a dominant way that made her heart flutter.
"Yes?"
"I will come back to you."
These words, the emphasis he put on them, tore through every fiber of her strength, of her entire heart. Her breath hitched in her trembling body. A smile played across her shocked face, softening it into that vulnerability.
"I know you will, Cloud." She felt him squeeze her hand tightly as she spoke, but he continued to look ahead. "I know."
She knew he hadn't been lying before when he spoke to Marlene and Denzel about her, and how he would return.
Cloud's eyes were unmoving, unflinching.
The children had been wrong.
His eyes darted to the left when he lied.
~*~*~
"Can...I ask a question now, kid?" The man looked up at Vincent, who was lifting an eyebrow at the nickname.
"Don't call me kid."
This was ignored. "Who...are ya?"
"Shouldn't you be more concerned with who you are instead?" Vincent's wary eyes trailed the man as he walked over to the edge of the rooftop and sat down, his legs swinging idly over. He leaned back on his hands, his head craning up to the night sky above.
"I...dunno how ta figure that out, kid."
Vincent scoffed, looking up to the moon above.
A moment of silence passed between them, and they could hear a few crickets chirp in the still air, adding an unappreciated sense of comedy to their conversation, or lack-there-of.
"I...get weird memories. Weird images in my head that I ain't sure if I should choose to believe 'em or not."
"What you choose to believe is your decision. You should feel lucky. Not too many people have the opportunity to decide memories for themselves."
The man passed a hand over his brow, pushing a tendril of hair away from sad eyes. "I dunno if I wanna choose. They all seem...so damn fake."
Vincent shrugged slightly. "Then just continue on."
Another pause between them. Vincent reached into his pocket and removed his new phone, which still had the protective plastic on the face of it. Twenty minutes to ten. Something wasn't right.
"Gota cigarette?"
Vincent shook his head, putting the phone back into his pocket.
"Shit."
More silence between them, more chirping in the night.
"You shouldn't talk like that."
"Whatcha mean, kid?" He craned his head back to peer at the ex-Turk with an aura of piqued interest.
Vincent's gaze met the man's from atop a red collar. "Your speech is reserved for old crotchety pilots."
The man wanted to chuckle, but he just turned his head back and watched the peaceful city before him. His eyes would dart to the buildings as lights would turn on and off, or when a car would putt on by and disappear around a corner. He watched with dazed interest as a couple walked past below, huddling together in the brisk air of the night.
A soft breeze trailed past the two men, lifting the spiky raven hair off the shoulders of a weary man. A gloved hand reached up once more and scratched at a scarred jaw line in silent thought.
Vincent let out an inaudible sigh then, not being able to resist saying the next thought that came to his mind. "You shouldn't be here."
"I know," was the quick and mild reply, as if he didn't understand the meaning of Vincent's question or the significance of his answer. He just spoke, as it was the only thing he knew how to do at that moment.
"What do you plan to do?"
A short laugh from the man, and more nonchalant leg swinging off the side of the roof. "I dun even know why I'm here-"
Vincent cut him off coldly. "To assassinate the President of Shin-Ra."
"Old man Shinra, huh?"
"No, his son." Vincent said.
"Rufus?" The man looked back at Vincent with a dubious look to his face. "He's the President now?" He shifted on the rooftop, twisting his body to face the stoic man.
"You've...missed a lot in the past few years."
"I guess I have." He turned back once more. "Funny how I can remember his name and not my own."
"Hm," was Vincent's reply.
"Welp," the man collected himself off the side of the roof and stood, smoothing out a pair of worn uniform trousers, "I suppose I should get goin'."
"Where?"
"I dunno. Ta kill Shinra, maybe?" He joked, but it fell on unamused ears. The man shrugged to himself, walking back over to his sword and removing it from the rooftop with an upward thrust and a soft grunt. He spun it around several times above his head and then holstered it against his back. "My time is running out."
Vincent nodded, his eyes scanning over the silver hairs that were mingling into the dark spikes on his head. "Degradation."
The man hummed a bland reply of acknowledgment, the word falling on uninterested ears.
The sound of a motorcycle purring by caught his attention, and they both turned their heads towards the familiar sound.
Vincent's steady, unwavering eyes trailed along, watching as Cloud drove past on Fenrir.
"There's my ride." The man grinned, his eyes flickering with an insane glow again, his mouth contorting into a twisted rictus once more.
"Let the dead rest, Hait." Vincent pleaded mildly to the man behind the man as Hait once more took control of the faltering psyche of the man. "Do you honestly believe that Eden would want this?"
"What are you talking about? She helped me re-create this man to what he is now."
One last scoff from the ex-Turk tonight. "A puppet creating a puppet. How inappropriate."
The Death Penalty twitched with glee as it was removed from the holster on its owner's hip. It smiled under the glowing moonlight as it was aimed at the strings holding the puppet up.
~*~*~
A gunshot reverberated in the still night, causing Cloud to brake the sprinting wolf to a stop, turning the bike to help slow it down on the empty street. The tires screeched, painting a twin trail of rubber onto the cement below. Several dogs in the area began barking in the still night.
Cloud placed a foot down on the ground, steadying the bike as his eyes glanced around wildly.
It echoed, and echoed.
But he couldn't fixate his sight on the source of the gunshot as he stood there straining his enhanced senses and hearing, trying to pinpoint the area in which it resided from.
And those enhanced senses could still feel Tifa's touch on his shoulder.
After the echo dissipated, he could hear nothing more but the bubbling sounds of the bike running idly beneath him. He frowned, and then decided to head off towards one of the two remaining mako reactors still erect in Midgar that hadn't been completely decimated in Meteor Fall.
This was where Reno was doing his 'recruiting'.
~*~*~
A bald head reflected the headlamp of Fenrir as it neared, alerting the blond driver of the Turk's whereabouts as if it were a beacon in the night. And that bald man was still wearing his sunglasses, oddly enough, in the middle of the night.
Cloud put the restless wolf to sleep, cutting the engine off followed with a graceful dismount. A quick press of a button and a mechanical whirl; the compartment racks to Fenrir opened, revealing the pieces of Cloud's fusion swords.
"What made you change your mind?" Rude said blandly as Cloud unsheathed each sword with care.
"How did you even know I declined?" he said over his shoulder.
Silence was the Turk's reply.
Cloud assembled his sword together faster than the Turk's eyes could follow. Then it was swiftly sheathed into the leather holster on his back faster than the Turk could open his mouth, if he were to make a comment…but he remained his usual cold self as Cloud turned, approaching him.
Rude's eyes, from behind the sunglasses, took in the rather ghastly sight of Cloud's shoulder as it drizzled a small line of blood from the closing wound from beneath a soaked bandage. "Doesn't that bother you?"
Cloud went to answer the Turk, but he was cut off.
"The dumb-ass likes the pain."
A voice from behind. A small smirk twitched across Cloud's face at the voice, and the familiar smell of grease and cigarette smoke once it reached his senses. "What're you doin' here, old man?" Cloud turned slowly, lifting an eyebrow at Cid, who was tossing up a balled up piece of paper in his gloved hand, clenching a cigarette between a barred grin.
"And miss all the fun? Ya gotta be kiddin' me, kid!" A hand moved swiftly to his mouth to remove the cigarette, followed by a haze of smoke. "And by the way, dumb-ass." He chucked the ball of paper at Cloud's head, and it hit him square in the middle of his forehead with a tap. "Dun ya dare toss yer litter 'round in my ship ever again, ya got it?"
Cloud caught the old note in an amused hand. "I'll keep that in mind, old man." He stuffed it into a pocket, shaking his head.
"So we just waitin' for that punk?"
Rude nodded, not bothering to defend Reno from this obvious insult as it was...well, the truth. Rude was a bit entertained, but didn't show it.
"That punk is right here, yo." Reno was emerging from atop a pile of debris. "Had ta find a good spot for reception. This old reactor is emittin' some kinda interference with the phones, yo." He slipped a bit on some loose shambles of a building beneath him and tumbled awkwardly down to his feet. He managed to steady his landing and chuckled triumphantly at this.
Everyone just seemed to either roll their eyes, or had a face as if they wanted to.
"Are they in place?" Rude asked calmly.
"Yep! Boss Number One, Boss Number Two and Blondie are all in place."
Cloud realized he had no idea what was going on at that moment, as he had just appeared simply because he felt inclined to. Or perhaps he was being controlled by that unknown force. Or maybe he was just bored. Or crazy. He had no idea by that point, and was nervous for himself and everyone around him as he then realized that he could lose it again.
Cid noticed the disturbed look in Cloud's eyes and snorted. "Dun worry kid, yer in good hands." And as he said that Reno tripped over a large concrete slab, and clumsily stumbled. The force that was able to stop him from falling was a quiet Rude who just simply reached out and caught him by the scruff of his neck. Reno was flailing as if he were still falling, but then realized he was saved and gave a sheepish, giggle-like laugh.
"I can see that," Cloud flatly put, and Cid chuckled over the bland joke from the stoic man.
~*~*~
With the soft clicking sound of the phone closing, Tseng turned back to Elena and Rufus who stood by the entrance of the Sector 2 Mako Reactor.
There was a calm breeze that surrounded them, reminding them of the lives that were lost in Meteor Fall. With each piece of wreckage that lay beneath their feet, it reflected the unfathomable terror that each human had felt there in Midgar as the impending catastrophe from above lowered itself mercilessly into their lives. With each howl of the wind, it carried the stench of fear, of remorse, of death.
"Sir, are you sure you want to do this?" Elena finally broke the silence, looking at the President as if she were urging him to change his mind.
He was a stubborn man, and no amount of puppy-dog looks, begging or bribing would work on him. "I've got nothing else better to do."
"Sir," she said in a voice that was nothing short of perturbed.
"Elena, don't question him," Tseng somewhat snapped, although he was silently hoping that the man he was sworn to protect with his life would agree to go back to the lodge in Healen, but he knew that he would never agree to do so. If he were to go back to Healen, his life would be in danger. If he were to go with them for the search of Hait and Ravel Mahler, his life would be in danger as well.
As much as Rufus usually sat on the sidelines in the past pulling the strings on the Turks and having them do his dirty work, Rufus had a part of him that longed to see some adventure, some entertainment. He could be a deviously twisted man.
It almost humbled him.
And this almost humble man was loading several shells into his newly cleaned and polished double-barreled sawed-off shotgun.
Maybe not humble enough, as he did this with a slightly crooked grin.
Tseng refrained from shaking a head at these fleeting thoughts in his head, and realized that Rufus Shinra would always be Rufus Shinra.
~*~*~
Intelligence gathering and espionage was always something the Turks excelled in. Aside from scouting for respective SOLDIER recruits and the occasional kidnapping and assassination request, they were quite crafty and stealthy when it came to finding out information they wanted. Ruthless; relentless; tactical; underhanded. All qualities required in a Turk.
But Yuffie was better.
And this had landed her a position as lead intelligence gatherer at the WRO for the army.
At first, Reeve had been a bit reluctant to indict her into that position. She was impulsive, crude, a bit clumsy and, frankly, loud. Quite the opposite of what one would expect from a self-proclaimed ninja.
But when something interested her, and when she benefited from her mission with materia - as that's how Reeve paid her, mostly - she would transform into an entirely different persona. Tactical, resourceful, cunning. Determined.
The perfect candidate to send out to do a little ninja work on Ravel Mahler's current whereabouts. Reeve had received some tips from Tseng after the Turk had infiltrated the Shin-Ra building and hacked into the computer system. After uncovering several ghost files on Mahler's rather elaborate plans to assassinate Rufus Shinra, Reeve felt it best to collaborate with his old boss to try and put a stop to it - with their own assassination, of course.
After all, Rufus Shinra was the one who was funding the WRO.
Reeve ordered Yuffie to follow Mahler for five days to learn his location, to learn of patterns in his movements and habits. When he left his apartment in Edge, where he went to resume conducting Shin-Ra affairs in the ongoing reconstruction of the city, when he came back home, when he ate dinner, when he took a short walk to the grocery store. Everything.
Yuffie was a bit irked by the small amount of time Reeve gave her to study all of this nonsense, but after some materia was waved in front of her face by that accursed mechanical cat, how could she possibly say no to an old friend?
Finding his residence was rather easy. All Yuffie had to do was locate the tallest, most luxurious building in all of Edge and then head straight to the penthouse above. He was the Vice-President of the world, after all.
Six forty-five...wakes up. Alarm goes off for three minutes before it's shut off. Lights don't come on for another ten minutes after that. He showers for exactly twelve minutes, shaves for exactly six, does his hair in four minutes, uses the same hair spray as Cloud does. Note to self: remind Cloud to change his hair spray when this is all over.
Seven twenty...takes a rather long leak. Ugh.
Seven twenty-five...watches the news channel for thirty minutes, chuckling at the weather reports, gawking at the pretty news anchor and then cursing at the stock ticker at the bottom of the screen. Shin-Ra stock took a dive.
Eight o'clock...heads up to the upper Northeast side of Edge to City Hall.
Eight twenty...stops off at Mooglé Café to order a large non-fat latté with an extra shot of espresso and a shot of hazelnut. He grabs the "Edge Times" newspaper for two gil. It's one gil cheaper down the street, creep.
Eight thirty-three...reaches City Hall three minutes late for work.
Between eight thirty and twelve fifty-nine he does boring menial business crap with the City Council and the WRO representing Shin-Ra in helping rebuild the city. 'Bout time Shin-Ra does something helpful.
One o'clock...boring lunch down at Mooglé Café again on boring old 22nd street. Monday he eats a plain bagel with onion-flavored cream cheese and with a large water. Tuesday it's a sandwich with cheddar chips. Wednesday it's another damn bagel but this time with plain cream cheese and the bagel is onion flavored. Thursday it's...I stopped paying attention...
Two o'clock to six...snoooooorrrreee. I lost interest in his stupid Shin-Ra affairs.
Six twenty...after twenty minutes of shouting rabidly at traffic on the freeway, Mahler heads to...waitafreakinminute.
Yuffie pulled herself from her impressively memorized routine of Mahler's boring life when her eyes trailed the vehicle he drove, passing the exit to the street his penthouse was located on. "Someone have a hot date tonight, perhaps?" Yuffie chimed to herself as she glanced over her shoulder to merge through the traffic in Tifa's sA-37.
She had been watching him for four days now, and he hadn't done a damn thing different each gruelingly boring day. Each day he exited the freeway on 6th street, stopping off at the post office next to an antique shop Tifa often liked to frequent in search of picture frames and little things to fill the children's room with.
Mahler had taken the exit for the old remains of Midgar.
Yuffie cursed to herself. She was going to have to track him on foot now, as following him into the deserted shambles would raise too much suspicion. She slowed her vehicle and watched him pull off onto the dirt road, picking up speed as he drove away.
So on foot she followed. His pace was significantly reduced as he had to dart and weave his way through massive amounts of wreckage and debris overrunning what were the old bypasses of the freeways. As the building development over in Edge still continued, construction workers were recycling as much as they could from the former city giant, and things were constantly being moved around in the areas that were once clear of debris. Each day it was different, and each day one had to find a new way to enter the heart of Midgar.
Yuffie took an impressive leap onto, she assumed, what used to be a supermarket on top of another supermarket from the upper plate. Her feet dug into the weathered concrete of the old building, kicking up dust as she landed with a muted thud. It was her highest vantage point in the area without having to clamber up the Shin-Ra building itself. Her eyes narrowed, scanning the city for any signs of movement from Mahler's vehicle.
She spotted him heading towards the Sector 2 Mako Reactor, eventually pulling the car to a stop before he climbed out. She observed that even though the city was deserted, he still glanced around nervously as he entered.
"Funny place to invite your date to, creep!" She leapt off the building, soaring gracefully down onto the ground where she landed slightly less gracefully with a grunt and a small stumble. She stood, smirking to herself as she flipped open her phone.
"Reeve, it's me," she spoke to the voice that finally answered. "Mahler went to the old Mako Reactor in Sector 2. I'll see what dirt I can scrounge up when he leaves."
"Just be careful, Yuffie. He may not be a SOLDIER or a Turk, but looks can be deceiving."
"Yeah, yeah. Just like you. I can't tell half the time when it's really you, or Cait in a costume of you."
Reeve chuckled, his voice carried through the ear-piece very coolly. "Do not infiltrate the building until after he leaves. We can't risk having you blow this wide open. Call me once he leaves and I'll guide you through the reactor to investigate. Just don't do anything stupid."
She scoffed, hanging the phone up and slipping it inside her pocket. "'Don't do anything stupid' he says."
~*~*~
However, Yuffie was unable to do anything stupid, at least for a while, as Ravel Mahler was in there for quite some time.
She grumbled to herself, concealing herself behind a large steel girder that was standing erect in a pile of rubble only fifty feet from the mako reactor. Boredom was long experienced and was leaving a rather peculiar taste in her mouth that she knew wasn't going to go away unless she saw some action. But working for Reeve meant that she had to play by his rules and follow his direct orders. She didn't care too much for that as she enjoyed being her own dictator, but he was a very intelligent man and knew what he was doing.
Or at least she hoped so.
She had actually jumped down and poked her interest around in Mahler's car for a bit, uncovering nothing but a few cigarette butts in the ashtray and a rolled up newspaper from this morning in the passenger seat. He was unnervingly organized at home and in his car. She frowned, realizing he had taken his briefcase into the reactor with him.
And what the hell could Mahler possibly be doing in a mako reactor? There really wasn't anything to them but machinery, monsters and metal ladders. They would house a few maintenance rooms, a security office for the Shin-Ra guards and sometimes a lounge room for the workers depending on the size of the reactor.
Nothing that the Vice-President of Shin-Ra would want to physically concern himself with on any given day, basically.
Yuffie pressed herself up against the steel girder as a second car finally pulled up about twenty minutes into her stake out. She waited until she heard the door close before she peeked around to see a slender, middle-aged man, possibly in his fifties, slightly hunched over. Yuffie made a face at the man's uncanny resemblance to Hojo. The only difference was this man had a slightly smaller forehead than Hojo, didn't wear those nerdy glasses, and his hair was shorter and combed back. But still, he was as gross and creepy as Hojo was. Yuffie cringed to herself.
Her eyes trailed him as he entered the mako reactor silently carrying nothing but a knapsack in his hands.
She couldn't take it any longer. Mahler had been in there for a while now, and now Hait had appeared. She knew crucial pieces of information were about to be lost if she didn't follow. So after five minutes of debating on whether or not the materia Cait Sith had been waving around in front of her face would be worth breaking a few little WRO rules over, she decided that what Reeve didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
But somehow that man seemed to know everything, as her pants pocket suddenly emitted a short vibration, and in her hand was dipped to retrieve her phone. Reeve had sent her a map of the mako reactor. She had always been fairly easy to predict, despite her stealthy abilities.
So she slipped inside.
The ambient teal hues of light that were normally cast upon the insides of the Reactor were gone, and left nothing but the dull flood lights to light the way. The air was stagnant and hazy from the remnants of the mako fumes that once dominated the area with its distinguished earthy aroma. The building was quiet, with only the sound of the air reverberating against the dormant machinery, flowing through in a low droning hum.
Yuffie had lowered herself off a ladder to the lower level of the reactor, making little noise as she landed. She crouched, her eyes scanning through the darkness, trying to spot any movement that could possibly lead to trouble. The area was still, unnerving. Not even a stir from any monsters that might have been lurking around, feasting on the rats that crawled deep within the reactor to escape the harsh terrain of the city. Silence.
Straining her hearing, she could pick up a faint murmuring noise, which at first she wasn't even sure if she had actually heard herself. She crept along, moving very steadily, fluent in controlling the muscles in her legs with precision so as to not misstep or cause a spasm from over tension. If she were to stumble as she moved, it would send the small noise striking through the silence as if a gun had been fired.
There was a maintenance room ahead on the upper level that she could finally confirm voices were coming from. She crept up to a large cylindrical air duct at the far end of the scaffold she was on and she pressed her ear up to it, hoping that it was connected to the room above.
After a moment of adjusting her hearing through the sound of the air flowing through, she could begin to make out a conversation.
"...put the Jenova sample to good use, of course."
"I should hope so. A chunk that large wasn't easy to obtain. A lot of Shin-Ra men were lost because of it down in the Northern Crater." Yuffie was straining to distinguish the owner of the voices between the two men.
"Their deaths shall not be in vain. It is for science, after all. However, I was finally able to release her from the mako chamber a few nights ago. It has been such a daunting process."
Her?
A businesslike chuckle from one of the men. "Daunting? For you? Bringing back someone from the dead should be a cakewalk for you by now, Hait."
And then a Hojo-like cackle that threatened to convulse Yuffie's spine with revulsion. "Unfortunately her brain was severely damaged from the head trauma. I'm afraid she's not the same."
A short scoff from Mahler. "After an experiment like that, there's not many who would be the same in the end."
A moment of silence between them, or the conversation became quiet at least through the air duct.
"Have you been able to come into contact with 'Z' properly?" Mahler spoke once more.
"Hi...whe...uts......bee...ard...to loca...."
Yuffie cursed to herself as a gust of wind from outside flowed through the duct, bringing in fresh air into the room the men were in. Breathing in the fumes from Mako over an extended period of time could eventually begin to cause the body harm, so air ducts were installed in the maintenance rooms to keep the employees relatively safe. However, the industrial fans were no longer in use since the shutdown of the reactors, and only the occasional gust of wind would find its way through.
"And he's...ven...to be.....diff..t......control at times."
Shut up, wind! she pleaded in her head. She didn't want to have to crawl through the air ducts above the room to be able to hear their conversation.
She could only make out faint murmurs now as they conversed through the wind, and through her brain screaming at said , the wind began to soften. Yuffie took in a deep breath and held it in, removing the sound of her breathing from the still air around. One less noise to obstruct her hearing. Her mind cleared.
"......ation continues, Z will become easier to control."
Yuffie - 1; Weather – 0
"Just how long do you expect the subject to last during the degradation?"
"Long enough to complete his purpose, rest assured. But without Jenova cells to slow the process, he'll fall to degradation rapidly."
"And these Jenova samples I've brought you will allow you the control of 'Z' again?"
"With the extensive research Hojo and I have accumulated over the years, it is conclusive that an individual injected with Jenova cells can assume control over another being that carries the same cells. This case was proven with the Reunion of Sephiroth two years ago. It was not Sephiroth who walked this Planet, but Jenova herself."
"Jenova? You mean the person who murdered Shinra wasn't actually Sephiroth? Palmer saw him with his own two eyes!" Mahler sounded completely dubious.
"Sephiroth's physical body is dead and has been for seven years. However, his will lived on in the Lifestream and was strong enough to overpower Jenova herself with the cells implanted in him during his gestation in Lucrecia."
"So the incident at the Shin-Ra building two years ago, when that creature's body went missing-"
Hait cut Mahler off. "Sephiroth was controlling it from the Lifestream. With Jenova's mimicry traits, he was able to manifest his image through it with sheer will alone."
"Absurd."
That Hojo-like cackle once more. "How do you think I'm able to control 'Z'? It's the same way Sephiroth controlled Jenova. It's a simple battle of wits and power."
Tifa was right; it's just like Cloud. Someone must be controlling him again.
"My appearances at the base in Junon have been raising suspicions. I cannot continue to supply you with Jenova samples so easily any longer. This has to get done, and get done quickly."
"I need more Jenova cells to complete the connection with 'Z'."
Mahler began to get angry, and his booming voice rattled through the air duct, causing Yuffie to recoil back. "I will bring you more samples tomorrow. But you have two days to kill Shinra, Hait! Rufus must be dead by Saturday night, do you understand?"
"He will be dead."
Mahler let out a rather frustrated sigh through his nose, carrying the scented breath of venom. "Shinra stays at the Healen Lodge not far from here. I'm assuming 'Z' will be there to complete his task."
A strong vibration coursed through Yuffie's shorts at that moment, and she flinched roughly against the air duct. She let out a muted cry, gripping her hands against the duct to brace herself from falling. A rattling noise reverberated up through the air duct from her movement, and she could hear the men above falling silent.
She grimaced, her heart pounding in her heaving chest. She could feel a bead of sweat forming behind her neck and trailing down her spine. She refrained from trembling from the sensation and causing more noise to erupt through the silence. She waited with bated breath.
Another rough gust of wind fought through the duct, creating a similar noise to the rattling she'd just created, and it blended together quite conveniently.
Okay wind, we're even.
She strained her hearing once more, growing nervous over the silence of the men above once the wind subsided.
After a few excruciating moments, the men began conversing once more, their tone shrouded in a sense of unease, but nonetheless still confident.
Yuffie relaxed, steadying herself again, and then made a mental note to smash her cell phone into tiny little bits of technology when she got out of there.
"The assassination will commence at ten p.m. as planned. I will be seen in the lobby of my apartment complex entering my penthouse as an alibi. There's not much left of Shin-Ra to investigate further even if I were to be under suspicion, but I am a cautious man, as you know."
Not so cautious to be completely oblivious to the fact that you've been followed for the past four days, idiot.
There were two distinctive snapping noises, and the sound of a briefcase being opened. "I will bring more tomorrow. Which reactor will you be in?"
"Reactor 3 tomorrow. But for the assassination...I'd rather not say."
The sound of the briefcase closing filled the air duct and then the sound of bodies moving and shuffling above in the room.
"After Rufus dies, I will assume the Presidency and will restore the company to its former glory." This voice was no longer in the air duct, but directly above Yuffie as Mahler exited the maintenance room.
Yuffie crouched down very slowly, moving to her left to hide in the shadow of the scaffolding above where he stood. Her breath was held once more, her heart beginning to race from what was either excitement, or apprehension. The blood roared in her veins, her muscles beginning to twitch with the urge to just spring out on Mahler and end it right there. But orders were orders, after all, and Reeve would have that mechanical cat take away her prize if she were to disobey.
The men began to cross to the platform at the entrance, the sound of their footsteps echoing on the walkway filling the stilled silence around.
The phone in Yuffie's pants vibrated again, reminding her that she had a message waiting, as if she had forgotten already. She froze.
And so did the men.
Hait turned around and looked directly at Yuffie's location through the darkness.
"Something the matter Hait?" Mahler looked to him, and then glanced back as well.
"Acclimating to the mako and Jenova injections I've been administering to myself has been a very intriguing process. The changes in my sensory abilities has increased, and it makes hearing every small noise around rather cumbersome."
Mahler scoffed shortly. "So it's nothing?"
"Most likely."
They shared a chuckle together and turned, exiting the reactor.
Yuffie waited for the entrance door to close with a reassuring thud before she fell back onto her bottom, releasing the breath she had been holding for more than a minute.
She was definitely going to smash the phone into bits, and then force feed said bits to whomever had attempted to contact her.
Of course Yuffie wasn't aware that it was a personal alarm she set on her phone to remind her to turn it to silent. She would be eating technology that night.
~*~*~
"So the boss ain't safe in Healen, yo. He's over with Tseng and Elena at the other reactor. Our source tells us that yesterday Mahler supplied Hait with more samples at this reactor, so now we ain't sure which one he's in tonight for the assassination, yo. So both teams are ta jump on in and do a little searchin' for the bastard before he can act." Reno chuckled a little, motioning over to Rude. "We took a bet ta see who'd find the guy first, yo. Anyone else want in? 1500 Gil, yo."
"I never agreed to the bet," Rude said stiffly. "And how do you have that kind of money?"
Reno just flashed Rude a suspiciously innocent grin, and this commenced the usually hardened Turk to ask an array of pressing questions to his partner as to how he could possibly afford such a bet to begin with. Reno always seemed so strapped for cash.
An irked breath came from the blond man as he turned his head away from the two Turks who stood there bantering amongst themselves like a pair of siblings.
"And as fer Mahler," Cid continued, "Yuffie's gonna pay him a personal visit at his place at ten." Cid chucked a cigarette off to the side. "Lesse what that little chickadee can do."
The two stopped bickering, as the word 'chickadee' brought Reno's attention back to the conversation. He was seen glancing around the area as if in search of a good looking woman, but he frowned briefly, realizing that he'd been duped unintentionally by the word. "Anyways, yer friend is prolly miles away right now at Healen. He's gonna find nothin' but an empty Lodge, yo. That's when we'll get Hait and hopefully break the guy free."
Reno continued to talk, but Cloud was no longer listening as the realization of the situation was beginning to settle into his busy mind. His limbs began to tingle in his body over the thought that he could be running into...
...him...
His face was easily readable and the men fell into sympathetic expressions for him.
"You don't have to be here, Cloud." Rude surprisingly spoke, and everyone turned to look at him. "Let us handle this."
Cloud's lost eyes gathered up to meet Rude's calm face. "No, this is my fight. What Hait did to...to him...And what I couldn't do for him..." He trailed off, those lost eyes finally falling to the littered ground below. "...I have to find redemption for my sin."
"Sin?" Cid scoffed, his arms folding across the blue shirt he wore. His eyes narrowed at Cloud as he cocked his head to the side. His voice came out annoyed and almost offended at his friend's words. "What the hell are ya talkin' 'bout?"
His own words were echoing in his mind.
"...I'm the evidence that you lived..."
Cloud gave a small nod. "...My sin...for existing."
~*~*~
Metal armor scaping against the cement sounded as Vincent landed on the ground in a hunch. He straightened immediately, his long legs carrying him through a darkened alley way in pursuit of the mysterious man.
They had exchanged several strikes against each other and the man's strength was unreal; it had sent a jarring shock down into Vincent's core. He had little time to react as once he fired his gun, the man side stepped the bullet as if he were simply dodging a fluttering moth beating its wings past him. He had approached Vincent in a swift movement that even the ex-Turk had trouble following with his trained eyes.
And soon Vincent found yet another uncomfortably pointy sword to be trailing along his body, reopening the wound Cloud had just given him a day prior on his chin.
Two more shots of his gun and the man jumped off of the rooftop and began running towards the outskirts of the town - towards Midgar.
Vincent dodged a few trash cans in the alleyway, watching as the man moved with incredible speed and confidence. The man had his sword sheathed against his back as he ran, as if sending a message that Vincent posed no threat to him whatsoever.
Something was incredibly wrong. It was ten minutes to ten now. This man should have been in Healen, miles away, to assassinate Rufus Shinra according to the information Yuffie obtained several days prior. He decided to attempt to stall the man long enough, as Vincent was unsure as to what was going on, so Yuffie could at least carry out her own assassination on Ravel Mahler at his penthouse. And while the others searched for Hait in the mako reactors, he hoped to keep this man away from Cloud specifically, until they were able to kill Hait and stop him from controlling his puppet.
Hait was apparently having some difficulties in controlling him at times, but still managed to have a steady grip on the majority of the man's erratic actions. There was a constant struggle that was to be seen between the two faltering forces that battled each other in the hopeless dominance of this man's soul. A feeling that Vincent knew all too well at times.
But what confused Vincent was that Hait was still regardless in control of him as a whole, and if this man was supposed to be in Healen to kill Rufus as planned, why was he suddenly making a dash towards Midgar where everyone was...
Vincent narrowed his eyes.
They'd been had.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
...To be continued in Chapter Eleven: My Faded Time
Ending Author's Note: Admiral Ackbar: IT'S A TRAP!
Thank you Admiral Akbar. ¬_¬*
Whee!!! I am proud to say that this chapter was so lovingly beta-ed by the oh-so-wonderful Nekotsuki. Neko is the author of the fic "Misconduct" which you will now search for it and read it as soon as you're done with this one. It's an amazing story and must get your undivided attention!!! GO.
Hmm...things are still crazy over on this end so expect the next chapter to be posted two weeks from now (thank you all for being so patient, by the way!) on October 2nd! *scratches head* October...2nd...why does that date seem important in my head? _ *walks off pondering this* Something to do with work maybe...? *mutters to her Ziggy self as she drags Ackbar with her*
OCTOBER 2ND = ZOMBIE LAND!! I JUST REMEMBERED!!! WEWTS!!!!
AND HAHAHAHA! I originally posted the wrong file where Nekotsuki's edits were still in there. So sorry everyone who started to read that one first. **is blushing** I'm a dork. XD