Disclaimer: I think we get the point by now. And yes, the Jefe that appeared in the last chapter was in fact the same Jefe that you think he is. That's right, he's Myria's Jefe. Her "lovely", "ex"-boyfriend and leader of los Angelitos.

Ugh. You have no idea how hard it was to get this chapter done when I busted my pinky three quarters of the way through writing it. Not only did I loose my pinky moving abilities, thus making it tremendously harder to capitalize anything and save, but I had to curl whatever it is you call the finger next to your pinky in order to do all the things my pinky does while typing…. Let's give a welcome to the new reviewers who have hopped aboard; ZakuReno and Ashulee! Everyone who reviewed the last chapter has earned a free ticket to the Honeybee Inn's He's a Shin-Ra Man special event!

The Fading Skyline
Chapter X: Bonding

Looking at the older man, Reno suddenly felt as though he'd seen the man before. "What did you say your name was?" he asked.

"I didn't. But you…. You my friend, you can call me Jefe."

"Nice to meet you, Jefe. Let's hope we never have to meet again." Both men shook hands. Reno left a few moments later, never getting the chance to hear Jefe's next words.

"Yes, that would be best… for her."

The fall weather that Myria was used to was nothing like this. She was used the hot, sweltering sun accompanied by a cool breeze. She was used to the fevers and heat strokes that she had easily obtained running around beneath the sun when she was younger, so she was also used to her mother having to carry her, kicking and screaming, to the ocean. But now, during the last days of October she was sure her homesick desire to be back on the beach would only intensify as November came. Right now, Myria wished she was the one with the fever instead of her three year old.

High fevers weren't rare of Marisol either when she got sick but in Midgar, there was no ocean to throw a sick child into so that they could cool off quicker. And naturally, there was no way that she could stay home in the Shin-Ra owned apartment they had recently moved into to tend to the sick girl. She was in a panic.

"You're not really going to leave me alone, are you?" Marisol asked with a shiver. She had a migraine as well as the chills and was tucked under the covers of the bed her and Myria shared. All the lights in the room were turned off.

"I have to." Those were always the cold words she was forced to say to her child every day.

"Don't you love me?" And those were the words that continually stabbed at Myria's heart and conscious every time she left work.

She was a terrible mother. She couldn't even look after her own baby girl. Hell, she didn't have the money to either. For some strange reason, "prisoner of war", "indentured servant" and "ex-drug dealer" didn't look very good on a resume. Neither did "Shin-Ra employee" but it wasn't like she would get a chance to work anywhere else the rest of her life. She was getting nauseous herself as she was getting ready to walk out the door.

"I'm writing my cell phone number done and I'm leaving it on the table here. If you feel worse or even if you feel better, call me." One of the things she had taught Marisol in the past week was how to dial the phone. She couldn't quite memorize Myria's cell phone number, but she could at least match up the numbers on the piece of paper to the ones on the phone. For now, that would have to do. "I'll be done before it gets dark outside."

"Can you make me dinner?" Marisol pleaded from within the dark room.

"When I get home," Myria promised. A sharp pain was tearing at her chest and she couldn't bear to be in the same room as her daughter any more. She left the apartment as quickly as she could with the knowledge that she was ruining her daughter's childhood and life.

At this point in her life, the only perk she could see with living in the very same building that she worked at was that by only being an elevator's ride away; she didn't have to wake up as early to go to work. That meant that she didn't have to go to sleep as early to get to work and that meant she had more time to spend with Marisol. Still, as she entered the elevator, she couldn't help but feel the worry and dread that she might not have that much more time with her daughter left bubbled up inside her. Veld hadn't spoken to her outside of group announcements at all since they had returned from Junon some days ago.

Not knowing if she was going to be punished was driving her insane. She could think of at least half a dozen things that went wrong during her first mission that could be pinned on her, all of which surely merited a punishment. Today, she was determined to seek out Veld before her shift officially started. All she had to do was walk that long walk to his office, knock on the door and—

"You and me are working together today."

Myria looked up. The young woman she had initially fought with in front of the mako reactor stood in front of her, hands folded behind her back. "You're Myria, right?" the other continued.

"Yeah." She stole a final glance at Veld's office. "You are, uh, Cissnei right?"

Cissnei nodded. "Yup. Come on, lets go."

"Go? I just got here."

"Exactly. Veld said that as soon as you arrive, we should leave." Myria was about to protest when Cissnei cut her off. "Besides, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish and the sooner we can get the hell out of here."

A smile tugged at her lips. She liked the way Cissnei thought—the complete opposite of Jayden. "What are we doing today?" Myria asked as Cissnei lead her back to the elevator.

"Nothing terribly hard," Cissnei replied with a shrug. "It's not an exact mission but the executives just want us patrolling the streets for awhile until the mako reactor in Sector 8 is fully functional again. For some reason, the security system seemed to have been completely wiped out. I'd hate to see the person who was able to do that."

Now a wry smile appeared on Myria's face. She recalled the security system and all the effort it took to shut it down far too clearly. She still had the bruises to prove it. Who would have thought fighting yourself could be so hard? "Neither would I," she agreed as the elevator doors opened. Cissnei started to go in first but she bumped into Jayden as he stepped out.

"Careful, Ciss," he warned, grinning. "Can't do any damage to me before I get out on the field."

Myria blinked. "The field?"

"Uh-huh~. Boss man is having me escort Doctor Laylee and a buncha high tech files on the train today. Oh, don't look at me like that Cissnei; I know it's not so classified that I can't tell you about it."

"Most people would take the company's secrecy and defense a bit more seriously."

"But it's not like you would tell anyone~," he whined. Myria wasn't sure which was more annoying, the sound of Jayden whining or the elevator buzzing at them because they had kept the doors open for too long. With an annoyed sigh she just shoved her way past the blue eyed teen before beckoning for Cissnei to do the same. Jayden swapped 'good luck's with her before Cissnei finally stepped in. As the doors closed, Cissnei offered her a friendly smile.

"It'll be good working with you again," she said. "Especially without the threat of being beaten to death by a shovel."

"Just don't throw your shuriken away this time."

Three hours later, Myria found that Cissnei had in fact been right when she said that their work today was simple. In fact, there was nothing really to it. "They just want us to intimidate them by making our presence known," Cissnei explained.

"Why don't they send us off on another mission?"

Cissnei shrugged. "I guess they just don't have one for us. But that's a good thing. It means things are getting quiet again and everyone is safer."

Nodding, Myria added, "I don't suppose they'd want to have everyone scattered to the winds in case AVALANCHE tried to pull another stunt again."

"Exactly," Cissnei agreed with a smile. Her hands were folded behind her back as if she was hiding something but Myria could see that there was nothing in her hands. Continuing on to walk for a few minutes, the auburn woman stopped eventually to point out another shop. (Giving Myria a tour of Midgar as they went along was the other thing the two women were doing to keep themselves entertained. "See that store over there? The one with the pie painted in the glass?" She glanced over to the other Turk to see Myria nod. "That place is called The Roost. It's the best and the cheapest place to get food, plus it has amazing deserts. An elderly couple owns it; the wife makes all the cakes and sweets they sell."

Myria could already see clear differences between her and Cissnei aside from the obvious ones. Cissnei respected everyone and everything much more than the Costan did—she said the couple was 'elderly' but the politest thing Myria would have said was 'old'. Remembering that her blond co-worker had an affinity towards sweets, she asked, "Must be Jayden's favorite place in the entire city, huh?"

Cissnei only laughed. "Not even close. Haven't you figured out that HQ is his favorite place in the city?"

She recalled the day she had first met the curly haired Turk. One of the first things he had said after introducing himself (and forgetting that he did so) was, "….'Sides, the earlier we get there, the longer the shift lasts, right? That means more fun and adventure for us in the long run…."

Longer shifts. Ugh. She shuddered at the thought. The trip to Junon, on top of her first run in with AVALANCHE, and back was something she never wanted to repeat again. Evidence that she could barely stand the simple eight hour shift she had now been assigned to came in the form of her checking her PHS for the fourth time that hour for the time.

9:48…

"Call them," Cissnei said suddenly.

"What?"

Sighing, Cissnei took a few steps in front of Myria and turned to face her, walking backwards in the process. "You've checked your phone at least twelve times since we left HQ, you wince every time you hear someone cough or sneeze. Come on, Myria, you're worried about someone. Call them. I won't tell Tseng or Veld. Plus, that phone is also your personal phone."

She was considering it. "Don't they monitor the calls?"

"Sometimes for the rest of the Departments, but never us. It'd be too risky to let an outsider know the kinds of things we know."

Myria frowned. "What kind of things do we know?"

"Things. Bad things. Like what Jay's doing today."

Escorting the covert files and Doctor Laylee, Myria remembered.

"Anyway, go ahead and call whoever's waiting for you back home. I'm gonna grab an iced coffee. Want something? My treat."

Taking drinks of any sorts from people you barely knew, or thought you knew, was something that Myria could give personal testimony for being bad. "I'll save it for a rainy day." Cissnei shrugged before walking away to a street vendor, just across the way and close enough for Myria to catch her asking for extra milk and sugar. Glancing at her PHS, she sighed before dialing the number of the company apartment she had been given. Its endless ringing tone made her worry that Marisol's fever had taken a turn for the worst. Finally, an answer. No words, just unsteady, labored breaths.

"Hija?" Myria whispered.

There was a sigh of relief on the other end. "Mama? Oh, I was worried it was a bad person calling."

"No bad guys have this number," Myria answered back in Costan. "Just me and my boss."

"Would he ever call here?"

"Not unless he was looking for me." From the corner of her eye, she saw Cissnei hand over some gil to the vendor before taking a seat on the curb of the sideway, stirring her iced coffee idly. She looked like she would give Myria as much time as she wanted. "How are you feeling?"

"Better…. But worse too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been drinking lots of water like you told me too but my tummy started to hurt. I took a cold shower."

"How do you feel now?"

"Better but now I'm cold." Almost to emphasize this, the girl's teeth began to chatter.

"Get under the covers. Can you take your temperature for me?"

Marisol let out a groan. "But you always put it too far down my throat."

"I'm not there," she reminded the girl. "You can do it yourself." Marisol sighed from the other end, but eventually muttered for her to hold on. She waited in silence until she heard the beeping of the thermometer.

"Noventa y cinco." Ninety-five. She was cold but at least her fever and broken. "Mami—"

Cissnei was walking back now. She had downed her coffee like an alcoholic downed part of a six pack. "I have to go. Feel better, my love." She had to hang up after that. "You sure finished that fast," she acknowledge Cissnei.

"Aha~. That's what happens when you've been addicted to it since your were fourteen." The younger woman chuckled sheepishly. Myria expected her to ask a question about the phone call she had just made but instead, all she got was more information about the city. "This Sector is still under heavy construction, you can see more of it on the edge of the Sector. The train station is just ahead though. Come on, I want to teach you about the trains."

"I know how to take a train," Myria snapped, not liking the inclination that Cissnei's words had carried.

"And I'm sure you do," Cissnei mumbled, taking Myria's wrist and tugging her quicker towards the looming dark gray building that lay on the horizon. Instead of pulling Myria inside, the Costan found herself being brought past it. Cissnei was leading her along side the tracks. "It's hard to see from inside there but you see that turn up ahead?" Myria freed her wrist a grumbled in agreement. "See how there are multiple tracks?"

"Uptown and downtown?" she suggested dully.

Cissnei smiled. "Nope~. All trains go one way. But Midgar—the Plate that is—was built within a giant circle. All the trains run parallel to each other, going in and out of some Sectors and not others. In theory, if you had to, you could try and jump from one train to another."

"Who'd be stupid enough to try that?" Myria asked, noting that a train was pulling out of the station a few track sets away. Not even a second later, another began to rush past them. She covered her ears to block out the sound of the train, turning away from the train. As she turned, she had to do a double take to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her when she saw a man on top of the train.

Wildly curly blond hair, pallid skin, dressed in a black suit… completely surrounded soldiers in black and gray uniforms, guns pointed at him.

… Jayden?!

As soon as she had recognized him, the train was around the bend, headed out of sight and leaving the two women in a stunned silence. After a few moments, Cissnei turned to her. "Was that just….?"

Myria nodded. "Uh-uh."

"And he was…?"

"Yeah."

Cissnei blinked. "Should, should we help him?" she began cautiously.

Myria deadpanned. "And what, chase after the train?" She shook her head. "Nah, Jayden's got it all under control."

A wave of nausea rippled through him. Two things swam about the fuzzy thoughts and images his mind was trying to process…. AVALANCHE and Doctor Laylee…. Protect Doctor Laylee; protect the disk containing information about the SOLDIER program—protect it at all costs.

"Don't bother," he heard a voice say, "He's not getting up anytime soon."

That's right. He was doubled over, on his knees. Blue eyes were filled tears that had been forced out of him by a sharp jab to his stomach with the butt of a gun. I… failed…He couldn't protect her. Doctor Laylee would be killed now; AVALANCHE had a hold of the disk…. All those files, all the weaknesses of every life they contained.

He hiccupped back the bile was burning at his throat.

All those lives….

Pinching his blue eyes shut, he never saw the boot come in contact with his back as it kicked him to the floor. He groaned in acknowledgement of the pain but he knew that this could be nothing compared to what would await him when he got back to the barracks—if he got back to the barracks, that is.

What would happen to all those SOLDIERs?

Would they be killed?

The thought sent another wave of nausea through him that forced him to clasp a hand over his pink lips. He had to do something. He had to manage to struggle to his feet. "Let Doctor Laylee go," he commanded in a weary voice. Opening his eyes, he took a step towards the AVALANCHE soldier clad in all black before being knocked flat on his back, the wind being forced out of him. Once again he was unaware of what was happening.

He rolled over to his side, head pounding and eyes swimming. Someone was shouting for him—"Cloud! Cloud!"—and he vaguely realized that it was Doctor Laylee.

"He's just a kid!" the woman shouted, jumping up from where AVALANCHE was holding her captive on the train car.

"He's Shin-Ra scum." A heated argument ensued, allowing Cloud to slowly pull himself to a kneeling position again. He tried to stand up, but the cadet's legs seemed worthless.

"He's going to die."

Feet pounded against the train's thick floors. Throwing open the door to the final train car, Jayden came skidding to a halt, brandishing his Nunchakus. "Freeze!" he shouted, noticing two AVALANCHE operatives advancing towards the cadet who was one of the multiple bodyguards assigned to the doctor. The same bratty blond teenager who had stopped him from protecting the SOLDIER disk.

"The Turks? I thought we got rid of you." They were advancing on him now. Good. It'd get them away from that useless, talentless cadet that was dragging down the entire mission.

Jayden stepped back. "Doctor Laylee?" he called, checking to see that the scientist was still alive.

"I'm fine," he heard. "But the boy…."

Jayden risked looking away from the men advancing on him to look at the useless heap that was Cloud Strife. "Cloud," he began in a frustrated tone. "Don't you dare get in my way this time!" With that, he rushed at his attackers, dropping any showy moves to crack the set of Nunchaku against their necks, effectively snapping their spines and rendering them useless. With the rebels rendered ineffective, he stepped over them and knelt by the fifteen year old. "Can you stand?" he asked, offering a hand to the boy not that younger than he was. There was just a four year difference in their age.

Cloud took his hand, hoisting himself up and grimacing at the disturbing positions that the heads of the AVALANCHE members were at. Looking green and sick, he met Jayden's eyes. "What are you doing here?" the teen demanded quietly. "Here to endanger the Doctor's life again?"

Jayden was taken back. The damn brat didn't understand the mission they had been assigned to at all. It wasn't a pretty mission and it wasn't one he had initially understood until AVALANCHE had hijacked the train. Turning to face his back to Cloud, Jayden sighed. "The data the Doctor has is important to the company. If it gets into AVALANCHE's hands, there's no telling what will happen."

"So you're willing to throw away her life to protect it?" Cloud accused.

Jayden bit his lip. "No one has to die on our side today."

"What are you talking about? You've put her in unnecessary danger! That's the same thing!"

Jayden winced. "That's…" His voice trailed off, unable to find a response.

Behind him, he heard Cloud sigh. "There's got to be a way to protect the Doctor as well as the disk….."

The Turk might have replied, but his PHS vibrated in his pocket. "Veld," he called into the phone. "I've located Doctor Laylee."

"Good job. Is the data safe?"

Listening to Veld speak, Jayden wished Cloud could understand that it was their job to protect the data and not the doctor. "Yeah, the data's safe. … Doc is too."

He could hear Veld whisper something to someone in the room with him before speaking to Jayden. "All right, take the data and get off the train."

"By myself?"

"Those people equipped with the death magic are coming your way."

"Death… magic?" Jayden frowned. At the start of the mission, a rebel dressed in black surplus clothes had approached the group, bringing a dark haze with him that killed anyone it came in contact with. "You mean the dark suited AVALANCHE cronies? Boss, you gotta tell me some more about them. Isn't there a way to get close enough to kill them?" From the corner of his eyes, he saw Cloud's appalled reaction to the way the Turk spoke so plainly about taking another life.

"They're Fuhito's underlings, but that's all we know about them right now. We don't know enough about them to deal with them just yet, so I want you go get that data and get out of there."

"Jayden…" Cloud was tugging on his sleeve. "Look out the window." He pointed a train that was matching their speed, one filled with AVALANCHE and its death-wielding members. They were all climbing to the roof of the train to board the one he and Cloud were on.

They're already here?!

"Jayden? Can you hear me?"

"It's the guys from before," Cloud muttered. "We have to do something."

"Cloud…." Jayden closed his eyes. This boy just did not know how to follow orders. Faintly hearing Veld shouting his name now, the Turk shook his head. "Gotta call ya back, boss. AVALANCHE is already here." He snapped his phone shut, ending the call after that. He was already getting screamed at when he got back to HQ, what difference would it make if Veld was telling him off on top of it?

"Cloud, can you run?"

"What do mean?"

Jayden turned, facing the boy who could have only just started puberty. "Take the doctor. I want you to run to the other car. Hurry! Go! As fast as you can."

Cloud started to protest but the doctor was already pulling them away to the safety of another car. Jayden could see the AVALANCHE troops getting ready to jump. Running a nervous hand through his hair, he knelt and grabbed a gun off the floor before following after Cloud and the doctor. His pace was too calm and serene for a man who was about to die and by the time he reached the outside of the train, Cloud was waiting on the other side of the platform that allowed people to walk between two cars.

"What are you going to do?" Cloud shouted over the roar of the train.

Jayden could only smile. "My job is to protect the Shin-Ra company's secrets. It doesn't matter how I do it." He didn't wait for Cloud to understand that before taken the gun he had gotten off a corpse and emptying the clip of bullets into the panel connecting the cars.

"Wha--?!" Cloud was panicking.

"Heh. I told you, didn't I, kid? My job is to protect the company's interests."

"Jayden!" The panel was beginning to shake and tear apart.

"Take care of Doctor Laylee, Cloud."

"You're mental…."

Still, the Turk showed nothing but a passive arrogance, an inherited trait of the Turks. "The next time I see you," he shouted as the cars began to separate. "I better be the one saluting you—Cloud Strife, future SOLDIER!" Whatever the outcome of this was, Jayden was sure of one thing.

He was never working with the infantry again.

**Ah, I forgot to give you guys the translations to a few spanish phrases used up to this point.

Mi vida = It directly means "my life" but it's something a lot of mothers will call their children, both endearingly and occassionally sarcastically.

Hija= daughter

Jefe= I just wanted to point out that his name sounds nothing like the name "Jeff". Jefe is pronounced HEH-FEH. (J's are pronounced like H's in spanish.) Jefe simply means "boss".