"Felix?"

My voice rang through the empty hotel, ricocheting off of the walls to come back to me.

"Felix Kester?"

After last night's-or, rather, that morning's-fun at the restaurant, I wanted to thank him, but he was nowhere in sight. I pulled my hair back, wishing I could find someplace with clean enough water to take another shower, and walked around the main lobby.

I spotted a note sloppily tacked to the reception desk. Walking over, I saw that it was addressed to me.

"Miss D.-

Sorry I can't see you this morning. Running errands. See you soon.

Yours, F.K.

P.S. - I hope you had as much fun last night as I did."

I rolled my eyes and tore off the note. He struck me as a sweet guy, really. I turned to leave, going over my day's plan in my mind. I was going to call Reno and find out what was going on with Tseng while making it clear that I had no intention of rejoining the Turks. I wanted to make sure that my old colleague was safe, that's all. Depending on where that went, I would also call Tifa and see how she was doing. I felt bad about blowing her off.

All of those thoughts disappeared when my eyes ran over the door to the back room. It was slightly ajar, and there were no lights on within. Felix obviously hadn't been careful; all of his belongings were in there. With a frown, I approached the door with the intent to lock it.

I couldn't resist a peek, though, curse my old job. Once a spy, always a spy. I pushed the door open and flicked on a light switch.

I made no noise and no sudden moves. As a matter of fact, I don't think I moved at all for about a minute after I hit the lights. There was too much to soak in, too much to see: using any sense other than eyesight would have been a distraction.

When I finally did move, I sat down at the desk and began flipping through papers. Everything was there. Everything.

There was my confidential file from ShinRa, when I was a Turk. There was my application to join the Turks. There was the report of my execution. Photographs, audio clips-even a digitalized model of myself.

Then there was the computer and a log of the past few days. Report after report, detailing my comings and goings-all signed Felix Kester. And who, of course, had they been sent to? Then there was a single email with a single set of coordinates, sent to an address I didn't recognize.

"Hello?"

I stood, very slowly, and walked to the door to the lobby. A man with very long, silver hair was pacing circles on the wood floors.

"Is anyone here?"

I recognized the voice. It sounded like the man who had been on Tseng's phone. This man's tone was more effeminate, though. I nearly laughed when I thought that he sounded a little bit like Rufus when he had been younger.

The intruder was going to find me anyway if I didn't do something. I stepped out of the back room and into the lobby. "Oh, I'm so sorry," I said, rubbing my head. I stood behind the receptionist's desk, acting like I was still getting dressed. "I didn't realize- You see, it's my boyfriend's place." I forced a blush onto my face. "I thought he'd locked up."

The man with the silver hair leaned over the desk and peered at me. "Have we met?"

My eyes went wide. "Oh, no! I would remember meeting you! I-I mean, nothing against my boyfriend or anything, but you're- Oh, well, I, uh… No. I don't think we've met." I leaned over the counter until I was dangerously close to his face. "But I'd like to."

He leaned back, scoffing at me. I probably smelled bad again, seeing as I couldn't brush my teeth after eating all of that Southern food. I drew back, too, acting offended.

"My brothers and I have found a cure for Geostigma," he said. "We're taking patients up to our facility in a few hours. There's a truck at the corner of Avenue X and Cicero. We're taking patients by priority, children having precedence." He smiled at me, but not with his eyes. "If you know anyone who would benefit from our treatment, please send them by."

I watched him leave, his black coat swirling behind him as if it had a life of its own. I leaned back against the wall and heaved a heavy sigh. Disaster averted.

Moving quickly, I returned to Felix's workspace. Sliding the back off of my phone, I checked the tracking terminals. Sure enough, another one had been installed, right next to Veld's old one. This one was painted green. I fashioned a plastic plug out of the end of a rubber band I found and shoved the case back on.

"Signal lost."

My eyes moved to the computer screen. My face was there, as well as the red, flashing words that the computer had just spoken. The old tricks still worked.

I burned all of the papers next to the dumpster behind the hotel while my cellphone uploaded all of the reports Felix had sent during my stay at the Borough, including the mysterious coordinates. Once both processes were done, I smashed the computer screens. When I was finished with that room, all of the information about me was gone.

I packed up my clothes and loaded them into the little basket on the motorcycle. It no longer mattered where I was going, only that I went. I stopped only to get gas and drove straight out of Edge and back into the old ruins of Midgar.

When I finally came to a halt, I had reached the old Sector Zero. The remains of the Plate hung above me, barely supporting itself. Above that was the tattered remains of ShinRa HQ.

It was a silly thing, really. I had always believed that ShinRa HQ was impregnable and that everything in it was safe. I remembered joining the Turks and laughed at myself. When I had filled out the application after being contacted by Veld, I had known a few very simple facts.

The world was harsh. The world was cruel. The land didn't want to support you; the Planet didn't even want people in the first place. It was every man or woman for themselves. Your friends were the people you paid, and even then they could still turn on you. Idealists were dangerous, as was everyone else.

The solution to the problem? That was simple, of course. Be ruthless. Be cold. Be dogged, determined, clever, and quick, but never cruel. The Turks could offer you all of those things. You couldn't be fired, you couldn't be touched. Do the job right and you'd be in for the rest of your life. The Turks were a family, an association, and a promise: in a world where every man had to fend for himself, the select few who saw the master plan could play the strings, and, sticking together, endure.

I dialed the number I'd intended to call this morning. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Tanith?" Reno's voice was guarded.

"Reno, listen. We have to talk. Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah, but not over the phone. Are you in Edge?"

"Close enough. Midgar, Sector Zero, ground level. Can you meet me here?"

"It'll be me and Rude. Stay put and don't talk to anyone." I laughed, but he said, "This is serious, Tanith. You're not the only one who's got something to talk about, yo."

It was only a few minutes before I heard the whir of helicopter blades. The chopper still had ShinRa decals on it, though they looked worse for wear. The thing had obviously seen gunfire recently.

The engines were killed and Reno and Rude hopped out of the pilot's seats.

"Tanith," Reno said over the noise of the still-spinning blades. "Lookin' good." Rude nodded as I ran over to them.

"Reno, Rude. We've got to talk. Where's the President? Reeve was trailing me, the son of a bitch. Healen's probably been compromised."

"Those guys were WRO, then?" Rude asked.

"I don't think so, Rude." Reno looked to one side, then said to me, "We don't know where the President is. He's been taken."

"Someone from WRO kidnapped the President?"

Reno shook his head. "He was taken by the same son of a bitch that killed Tseng and Elena! If those are Reeve's people, they're going down!"

"Reno."

Reno looked to Rude, then to me. My breath had hitched. "Tseng," I said. "He's…dead?"

Reno and Rude exchanged a glance. The dark-skinned man said, "Boss had sent them to the Northern Crater to get something important, and Tseng and Elena got ambushed. They beat us like we were nothing."

"Yeah, yo. One of the men who attacked came up here for the President. He must have followed you in somehow, 'cause Tseng and Elena would never talk. We thought at first that you'd brought them there, but…" He looked at me critically. "You can't fake that kind of shock. Anyway, he was some guy with silver hair, black coat. Called himself Kadaj, talked about the Reunion and Mother. He had Tseng's phone and ID; Elena's, too. It's like Sephiroth all over again."

I shut my eyes and flashed back to a few hours before. "I met a man like that earlier today. Long silver hair, mako eyes, black coat." I pulled out my phone. "Does this set of coordinates mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, that's Healen. What happened?"

"I'm not sure. One of Reeve's men was tracking me and sent it to an address I didn't recognize. That's probably how they got the President."

"The man you met today," Rude interjected. "What was he looking for?"

"He claimed that he and his brothers had a cure for Geostigma. They were going to take a load of infected kids to their hospital. He said that there was a truck waiting at Avenue X and Cicero."

"Right. Are you coming with us?"

I felt both Reno and Rude watching me. I bit my lip, then said, "Yeah. Let's go."

We landed the helicopter on top of an unfinished building near the center of the city. I had changed clothes during the ride: if I was going to be running with the Turks, I thought I might as well look like one. My motorcycle and alternate clothing tucked safely in the back, the three of us descended to ground level and started running.

The corner at Avenue X and Cicero wasn't far from where we had landed, but it was already too late. The truck was gone, but plenty of people were milling around, talking about the strange men with the silver hair who had taken a bunch of orphans with them.

"Where were they headed?" I asked desperately. My phone rang once and I ignored it.

"We don't know," a bystander said, glancing nervously at Rude. I, too, glanced at the other Turk: he had always reveled in fear, but now was not the time. "They didn't say where they were headed, only that the kids would be cured."

I turned away. "This is useless. We'll never catch them this way," I said. My phone rang again.

"Who is it, yo?"

I picked it up. "Hello?" I asked snappily.

"Is this Tanith Drake?"

The blood must have drained from my face because Reno and Rude looked worried.

"Tanith, who is it, yo?" I held up a finger for Reno to be quiet.

"Who is this?" I asked.

"There's someone who wants to speak to you, Tanith," the man who'd killed Tseng said.

The phone changed hands, and I heard, "Um, Miss?"

"Marlene?" I asked. Fury was boiling in my chest. Reno and Rude were trying to talk to me, but I could barely hear them. "What's going on?"

"Please, you have to help Tifa, I-" Marlene screamed. "Stop it, stop it!" The phone's signal cut in and out, then I heard, "She went to get Cloud where you told her to go but he wasn't there and she got hurt- Please help Tifa."

"I promise," I said. "I promise I'll help her."

"Well, then," the man said, having taken the phone back. "Looks like you've got an extra message."

"What's going on? Who are you?"

"I already told you: I'm a remnant." He laughed. "Now, I'd told the girl to give you a message, but lately you have to do everything yourself. If you want to see your President again, I suggest you do as I say.

"We've taken the children to the Forgotten City. Find our big brother and send him here."

"Big brother?" I asked.

"Oh, you know. The man this little girl here," he said, "wanted you to find. I believe he's called Cloud. Bring him to me, or the girl and the President die."

Reno and Rude flew the three of us back to old Midgar at my behest. I explained what had happened on the phone on the way.

"We have to help the President," Reno said. Rude nodded in agreement. "If that means we have to get Spiky to the Forgotten City, we'll do it."

"I want to make myself clear," I retorted. "I'm not doing this for the President, I'm doing it for the kid."

"We don't care why you're doing it," Reno shot back. "In the Turks, reasons never mattered. All that counted was that you did the job. Don't you remember, Tanith?" I averted my eyes. "Now, what do you think's going to be able to help us in Midgar?"

"Cloud has apparently been keeping to the old Sector Five church," I said. "Miss Lockheart-Tifa-hired me to find him."

"You think she'll still be there?" Rude questioned.

"We'll find out."

We landed the helicopter just within Sector Three and hiked across the dead slums until we came to the church.

I went in first, handgun out in the open. "Hello?" I called tentatively, taking a step in. There was a large dark spot on top of the flowers that I mistook for a monster. I nearly fired, but then I heard a groan.

I took a few more steps inside. From there, I could see that the blob was no animal-it was a person. Gesturing for Reno and Rude to follow me in, I ran to the person's side.

As it happened, it wasn't one person: it was two.

"That's him," Rude said simply.

"Cloud and Tifa. Looks like you can keep your promise to that kid and help us save the President, both at the same time, yo."

Tifa was fairly well beat up. She'd suffered extensive bruising, and a strong surge of electricity had damaged the tissue in one of her arms tremendously. She would be in horrible pain when she woke up.

Cloud, on the other hand, was arguably in worse shape. As I had feared, he had Geostigma. It wasn't just a small patch, like Denzel's, however. The black goo oozed from his shoulder down the majority of his arm like a demonic sleeve. It was a miracle he wasn't dead yet.

Reno and Rude dragged the pair inside and, at my request, checked everywhere for Denzel. He was nowhere to be found. I waited on the street as a lookout in case anyone came looking for trouble while the Turks tried to bring Cloud around. While I waited, I called a number I had never used before.

"I was afraid that I was going to hear from you."

Keep my voice low, I said, "You miserable son of a bitch. You knew I wouldn't cooperate so you had me tracked?"

Reeve said, "Tanith, listen, you don't know the full story. We had to do it."

"Right, like you had to send your boys after me. How long did you have Felix?"

A heavy sigh came across the line. "From the start. We pulled him out of the security department so no one would recognize him. How did you find out? I can explain, Tanith. Can we meet?"

"I'm a little busy. I wouldn't have known if your agent hadn't left the door standing wide open. It takes skill to make a move that dumb. Start talking."

"Have it your way. When I heard rumor that Rufus was still alive, I was horrified. If ShinRa rose to power again, everything we did for the world would be undone."

"You say that like you actually took part," I sneered.

"But I did. I turned traitor, and I'm proud to admit it. I controlled an automated toy, first to infiltrate Cloud's group, then to fight Sephiroth."

I thought back to the picture Tifa had once showed me. "The cat riding the mog?" I asked.

He laughed. "Yes. Cait Sith, I was, and still am, called. But that's beside the point. I had to get to Rufus first, before anyone else did. He could be used as leverage against the Turks, who I knew would still be loyal. After all, he had saved your lives with his little stunt all those years ago."

Biting back a retort, I asked, "You knew?"

"Of course I knew. I was an Executive, for Gaia's sake. Rufus thought he was covering his tracks perfectly, but I knew. Scarlet did, too. She wanted to obliterate all of you. How else do you think some of the more extreme weapons-Proud Clod, for example, if you heard about that mess-came into production? That woman was a master at blackmail."

"Did anyone else know?"

"About you all being alive? I don't think so." He fell silent for a short moment. "But, back to the matter at hand. Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine helped evacuate Midgar in the aftermath of Meteor, and both of them reported seeing a man in a white suit being taken into an ambulance by men who looked like the Turks. That was my first chance, but I missed it. From then on, I was just looking for openings. The sooner I could talk to Rufus, the better off we would be."

"Why? I still don't follow your reasoning."

"The world cannot be rebuilt without money," Reeve shot back angrily. "Without the money to buy uniforms, guns, ammunition, you name it, we could do nothing. Rufus has all of the security codes, all of the money, all of the resources at his fingertips. Without him we can only do what we've been doing-scavenging for scraps in a dead city." His laugh was mirthless and colder than Rufus's had been. The President was wrong: Reeve had changed.

"When you popped up on the radar, I couldn't believe my luck. You know, when you first showed up in Edge and came to Seventh Heaven, you stuck out like a sore thumb, wearing that damn Turk uniform. One of my men reported to me where you were going, and I sent Felix off to your hotel of choice. Of course, he couldn't get there until the next morning."

"What about the other receptionist?" I questioned. "The woman."

"Relax. She's in Costa del Sol, enjoying a little sunshine and fresh air in a very nice apartment paid for by…you, as a matter of fact. You certainly were willing to pay an exorbitant amount for a dingy hotel room. I can give you her number, if you'd like."

"She didn't look well when last I saw her," I said. "Are you lying, Mr. Tuesti?"

"Still with the 'Mr. Tuesti'. No, I am not lying. She had been evicted from her home and had been robbed of most of her retirement. She's fine, Tanith. I swear it."

I took a deep breath and Reeve continued talking. "Felix works for me, yes. At first, I wanted him to just watch you to see if Rufus was planning something. There have been disturbances, disappearances-worrying occurrences that reminded me of ShinRa's doing. The more I watched, though, the more I saw that you lacked the direction of a Turk-you were just a loose cannon.

"It wasn't until you accessed the Worldwide Network looking for Cloud that I began to take you seriously. You had come across something, and I didn't know what it was. That frightened me, Tanith. I had to bring you in to make sure."

"To make sure that I wasn't what?" I demanded.

"That you weren't planning on assassinating Cloud Strife," Reeve said honestly. "That was my first thought.

"But then there was Valentine. He didn't want to see a fellow ex-Turk killed without reason. He wouldn't come anywhere near the WRO HQ until I told him exactly who you were and what you were doing. He wanted to protect you, good man."

"Did he know about the tracking chip?"

"No." Reeve sounded like he was telling the truth. "He didn't know about that. He wanted you turned loose, no strings attached. But I couldn't do that, Tanith. Not when there was so much to gain. I'm sorry. I never meant to make an enemy out of you."

"No, you're not sorry," I said. The pieces were flying together in my mind. "One of Sephiroth's remnants came looking for Felix this morning. Why do you think that would happen?"

"What?" Reeve asked, aghast. "There are still remnants around?"

"A group of remnants has kidnapped President ShinRa. You know what I think?" I had to fight to keep my voice under control. "I think your boy sold everyone out. He used the trace you put on me and sold the President's location. Do you even know where he is now?"

Reeve's voice was strangled. "No, that's not…" He shouted something at someone else. "Listen, Tanith, we haven't been able to contact Felix since early this morning. These remnants… Are they dangerous?"

"…They've killed Tseng and Elena," I breathed. "They're threatening to kill more if we don't comply with their demands."

Reeve muttered something that sounded a lot like, "Gaia help us all."

Author's Note: Well, we've made it to chapter ten, at long last. I've gone back and fixed all of the little typographical and stylistic errors (including the rogue "insert break" in chapter nine-sorry guys!) so that there aren't any stray marks. I've been doing this on the fly and without a beta, so please forgive all of the errors.

As usual, I would love to hear from you guys. Thanks so much for reading!