Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. It belongs to Square Enix. I do own my original characters and plots, though.

Author's Note: Wow, thanks for all the reviews, everyone! I was delighted. I tried to get Chapter 10 done quicker than last update this time for all my beloved readers. And I finally figured out a much neater way of showing breaks between scenes! I couldn't stand that horizontal ruler. xx I also uploaded a picture I drew of Aphrodite as a Turk on DeviantArt. If you want to see it, check out the link on my profile. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy Chapter 10! Things are gonna get really interesting. Thanks, and I love you all! Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Voices From Within

Aphrodite frowned at his car; the car he was using to drive them to work. It was scratched left to right; its red paint was chipping…and two of the windows were engulfed in bird droppings…

"Uh, Reno," she said, furrowing her brow as the redhead turned his pockets inside out, searching for his car-keys. "Aren't Turks supposed to have sleek, new cars?"

"Says who?" Reno pulled out his keys, finding them in his blazer pocket. "Just 'cause I get a nice pay… I've had this car for years, and it gets the job done, so why change it?" He unlocked his front door.

She shrugged. Well, he had a point. She reached for the handle on the passenger door, but the Turk got there first. He opened it for her, stepping aside so she could slide in.

"Reno, I am very capable of opening a door without your assistance…" She raised her eyebrows at him as she bounced into the passenger seat, smoothing her cerulean suit. She wrinkled her nose at the slight odor of smoke.

"Just bein' a gentleman, 'Dite," he said, slipping into the driver's seat and starting the car. "I figure you're different from other women."

"I'll take it as a compliment," said Aphrodite, and she hardly clicked her seatbelt into place when the engine crackled to life and the car zoomed out of the apartment building's parking lot.

"You're in for a wild ride, babe, so hold on," warned Reno with a grin, and the car sped and swerved through the streets like an ambulance during an emergency. Gads! He didn't even wear a seatbelt!

Aphrodite's eyes widened; she ground her teeth and held on to the edges of her seat for dear life. What a reckless driver! How could he have passed Drivers' Ed…?

"RENO! STOP THE CAR! YOU'RE GONNA RUN OVER THE POOR OLD WOMAN!"

He hit the brakes, and the car squeaked to a halt inches from an elderly woman who crossed the street like a tortoise.

Aphrodite gave the Turk a filthy look, furrowing her brows. "You drive like a drunk driver, and you're sober!"

Reno flipped his bangs and crossed his arms. "Well, do you wanna drive?"

A brief silence fell, but then she digressed, coughing. She hated driving... She stared through the front window at the woman hobbling over the asphalt with a cane. "Why don't help you that old woman across the street so we can just go? We're gonna be late…" She glanced down at her watch in anxiety.

"No."

"Argh!" Aphrodite threw up her hands in frustration. "You're such an ass! Sometimes I just want to—grah!" She finished with the wordless noise, pounding her left fist repeatedly into her right palm. Oh, how she wanted to give Reno a nice blow to the head!

Reno only chuckled at her reaction. At last the ancient pedestrian reached her destination, and the redhead floored the gas pedal.

"Oh, you're just doing it to annoy me!" Aphrodite buried herself deep into her seat, digging her short fingernails into her seatbelt. "This just amuses you! I'm doing exactly what you want me to do, aren't I? Getting angry?"

"Yep."

And that was all she really got from Reno until they arrived at the Shin-Ra building. Aggravating one-word answers.

.----.

The mechanical door before them slid open, a cool female voice droning, "66th floor." She loved the sensation of her stomach rising when the elevator rose. It was like being lifted off the ground.

"Oh… The Turk offices are on this floor?" Her eyes darted about in curiosity.

Reno nodded, sauntering towards a remote hallway. He stuffed a hand into one of his pockets and slouched. "Yeah, s'over here."

Aphrodite followed after him, her posture the exact opposite of Reno's: upright. They strolled down the long hallway, and the redhead stopped at the second door to the left. A brass plate adorned the door, golden letters upon engraved, "Takeshi Tseng." He went ahead and opened it—without knocking! He entered Tseng's office, gesturing at Aphrodite to follow suit.

"Ah, I figured it was you, Reno."

Tseng rose from his seat behind his large desk, and nodded at Aphrodite. "Good morning to you two."

The young woman attempted a smile, not sure what to do. She nodded and bowed, trying to look collected. "Good morning to you as well, sir. I'm sorry about Reno bursting in like that…" She straightened, but she felt her underwear ride up. Oh, dear… What a wonderful time to get a wedgie! She squirmed and tried to ignore it, the smile strained on her face. How embarrassing…

Tseng held up a hand, shaking his head. "No need to apologize. Reno, what do you need? I have a task for Aphrodite."

She raised her eyebrows. A task?

The red-haired Turk shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "Just droppin' her off."

"Well, don't forget to file your report, Reno," said Tseng.

She noticed a grimace tugging at the corners of Reno's thin lips. He only nodded briefly, and turned to leave. "See ya, Reno." She waved after him, attempting a smile. He nodded again—this time at her—and left the office.

He was acting a little strange… Too silent. Almost like Rude! Or was that just the way he acted at work?

Aphrodite turned her attention back to Tseng. "What is my first assignment, sir?"

"Have you heard about the explosion of Mako Reactor No. 1 that occurred around 3 AM earlier?"

She nodded, silently exploding, like the reactor, with curiosity. She was itching to know what he wanted her to do. "Yes. What of it?"

Tseng cleared his throat and thumbed through a stack of paper on his desk. "This assignment won't be very dangerous. Investigate the bombsite. Gather any evidence you find there; observe the situation. Take notes. And then write a double-spaced report on what you found. I want it at my office before you leave for the day."

Aphrodite's eyes widened. What a mission! And so early! "But…"

"Don't question your duty, Aphrodite. Just follow orders." Tseng cut her off, peering at her with solemn, dark eyes.

"I'm sorry, I will… alright, then, Tseng… may I call you Tseng?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay. Well, Tseng, will I need a partner for this partner for this mission?" She tilted her head.

Tseng was silent a moment, but then cleared his throat again. "Two Shin-Ra SOLDIERs shall accompany you to ensure your safety. They await you in the lobby. If you encounter members from AVALANCHE, don't hesitate to use force."

Two bubbles, one of excitement, and the other of guilt-filled fear welled up in her chest. The two bubbles of emotion fought each other in a fierce battle, and Aphrodite felt both excited and guiltily afraid. But she hid those emotions behind a nod and Turk salute. She was a Turk now: these emotions could not keep her from her duty. She lived a new life now, and nothing barred her from it.

"Yes, sir! I'll be sure of that." Aphrodite said, the bubble of excitement conquering the other. Her first mission!

.----.

"So, you're the new Turk, eh?" said one of the two Shin-Ra soldiers accompanying Aphrodite on the mission. The three sat in the backseats of a company truck.

The young woman—who had been staring out the window as the truck traveled up the No.1 Reactor road—turned her face and blinked at the soldier. "Indeed."

"Hm, well, I'll be! Shin-Ra hasn't had a woman in the Turks for years." The SOLDIER crossed his arms. If he didn't have that SOLDIER mask on, Aphrodite could probably see him raising his eyebrows. "I'm Alfred Baxter. Just call me Baxter."

She nodded vaguely. "Pleasure. I'm Aphrodite…Sorrows."

"Aphrodite?" he repeated, tilting his head. "Sounds familiar."

"She's the Goddess of Love, if that's how you think my name is familiar."

Baxter shrugged. "I know that. But I don't think that's it."

Aphrodite shrugged as well, shoving that issue aside. She had an important mission ahead of her, and she couldn't brood on presently trivial matters. But she couldn't help asking, "How many years has it been since Shin-Ra had a female Turk?"

"A few. Around…Hmm… hey, Cole! How many was it again?"

"Thirty-ish," replied the other SOLDIER, who had been quietly sitting by.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Wow! That's a lot of time."

"Yeah. The company was all caught up in the Jenova Project at the time."

Aphrodite stared. "Jenova Project?"

Baxter shook his head and held up his hands. "Nevermind. You'll learn eventually."

She shook her head as well. "No! Tell me! And who was the female Turk?"

"Don't worry about that now," said Baxter. "You've got a mission ahead. Best not to occupy your young mind with that stuff."

Aphrodite frowned, knowing she had been defeated. She sighed and turned away.

Suddenly the truck's wheels squealed to a stop.

"We're here," said Cole, the other Shin-Ra SOLDIER.

"Up, now," said Baxter, and they stood.

Aphrodite shifted her holstered gun and stretched her arms. The truck's doors slid open, and the female Turk hopped off. She almost lost her balance, but straightened, looking over her shoulder. "Let's go."

The trio moved along the rubble-littered street, and Aphrodite looked up at the site where the No. 1 Mako Reactor once stood. Mission time!

"Oh, dear… those AVALANCHE are quite the motley crew," mumbled Aphrodite, scribbling furiously on a notepad. The smell of rubble wafted from the ruins. Crouched in the midst of dangerous metal-sheets and debris, the slum-girl jotted down messy notes and ignored the ache in her left hand from all the writing. "They can really bomb a reactor…"

"Hey, Aphrodite! I found something! Come look at it!"

The female Turk jumped up, tucking the pen behind her ear and gripping the notepad in her right hand. "I'm coming!" She jogged over to a large pile of rubble, where Cole stood. "What did you find?"

The SOLDIER held up a useless looking piece of junk.

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow. "It's just trash…"

"No, look closer," said Cole, and he shoved the piece of crimson metal into her arms.

At first it did not look special, but after she scrutinized the chunk of red-painted metal, she noticed something odd about it…

"AVALANCHE destroyed the Guard Scorpion."

Aphrodite looked up when she heard Baxter's voice; the SOLDIER had jogged over to observe the find as well. Curious… What was he talking about? "Guard Scorpion…?" She tilted her head slightly.

"Mechanical soldier from the Weapons Development Department," explained Cole. "Was on a mission to guard the reactor from intruders… They toasted it."

Aphrodite's dark eyebrows shot up. "They must be strong, that crew." She couldn't help thinking aloud, stroking the dented metal. "Shin-Ra shouldn't underestimate them." She set the remains on the ground and crouched again to take notes.

"You needn't worry," said Baxter. "The company will crush them like cockroaches in no time."

"I don't know about that…" she trailed off, once again scribbling vehemently into her notepad. A silence had hovered over the wreckage site, but now something was different… Voices…? Aphrodite lifted her head and stared straight ahead. Her eyes widened, and she began to point wildly, hopping up. "Look at that!"

A pale-green, sparkling cloud rose from a gash in the ground ahead.

And from that gash, ethereal voices whispered to Aphrodite. She ran towards the spectacle and kneeled, straining her ears to understand what the voices told her. Her eyes widened as she felt the voices resonating inside of her.

"Mistake?" She repeated to herself the words the voices whispered. They sounded somewhat familiar… "I've made a mistake…? What do you mean? Salvation…? What are you talking about? Planet…dying…? I don't understand!" Aphrodite threw up her arms in frustration.

"Who're you talking to, miss?" Cole's voice broke through the female Turk's agitated attempts at listening and understanding the voices. Baxter just stood, staring in bewilderment.

"I hear…voices…but I don't understand!" She extended her hand to touch the pale-green substance rising from the gash. A strange energy vibrated from it, tingling the nerves in her hand.

"Voices? What voices?" Baxter scratched his mask. "I don't hear anything besides us."

"Neither do I," said Cole, and he stepped towards the cloud. "What's the green stuff? Are you okay, Aphrodite?"

She furrowed her brows, confused. Aphrodite shook her head, and her short curls flicked about. "Nevermind. Let's go in a minute. We're finished here." She picked up her notepad and once again jotted down a series of messy notes.

.----.

Tseng looked over the three double-spaced pages of Aphrodite's report. A concentrated expression of scrutiny tightened his face.

"Is it good? Did I do it right?" She gazed expectantly at the Wutain man, twiddling her thumbs in anxiety. She had decided to include everything in her report, along with the strange occurrence of the voices and the pale-green energy-cloud. She felt she had to; Aphrodite had been brooding on that all day: from her return to Shin-Ra HQ to this very moment. She didn't even take her lunch break; her appetite had evaporated.

"Not bad… Did anyone help you?" Tseng's lightly accented voice roused the female Turk out of her thoughts.

She nodded. "Rude helped a little… out of reluctance, might I add. It was my first time using a word processor…"

He nodded. "And you heard voices speaking to you, Aphrodite?"

She bit her lower lip. Tseng looked suspicious and just a smidgen concerned. She lowered her eyes in regret. Oh, she shouldn't have put that in her report… Why were the voices speaking to her again? Who did these voices belong to? Why, after so long…? It had been five years since Aphrodite had last heard them outside of Midgar…and in Nibelheim, no one ever told her what they meant… Not even Mother, Father, or Ares… Did Ares ever hear them, too?

She cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes, Tseng, sir. I…heard voices from that cloud, and I seemed to hear them inside of me… But Baxter and Cole, the SOLDIERs, did not hear them."

Now his face tightened even more. He set the report on his desk and his cold-coffee eyes focused on Aphrodite in a long, thoughtful gaze. "Have you heard them before?"

Should she tell the truth…?

"No," she fibbed. She struggled to keep a straight face and not look guilty.

But it failed.

"You lie," said Tseng, narrowing his eyes.

Damn! She could hardly ever pull off a fib… She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry…"

"Come along, Aphrodite," Tseng opened his door. "You must be tired. Go on home now. Remember to be here at nine tomorrow morning. I've set up your office across the hall from Rude's."

She nodded, feeling put out from her unsuccessful lie. To cover it up, she performed the Turk salute. "Good day, then, sir."

He only nodded as she left, closing his door.

"Hey, 'Dite."

Aphrodite looked up as she walked down the hallway. Reno was leaning on the wall, fiddling with his lighter. "Oh, hi, Reno. Let's go. I'm done…"

When the two Turks waited in the elevator on their way out of the building, the contraption went up and stopped on the 67th floor. Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.

"Ergh," growled Reno at the man who entered the elevator.

Aphrodite stared at the man in shock, her jaw dropping. Long black hair, a white lab-coat…

"You're…Professor Hojo."

The man looked at her curiously for a moment, but then a smug smirk curled the corners of his pale lips. "Indeed." Reno was silent as the scientist sized up Aphrodite, observing her as if she were one of his specimens. "You're the new Turk recruit Heidegger told me about, aren't you?"

Aphrodite nodded, but she was not smiling. That man… She knew for sure that she remembered him… But from where? She couldn't quite place her finger on it. She exchanged glances with Reno, who shrugged indifferently.

The elevator was around the 43rd floor when Hojo touched his chin, leaning forward to examine Aphrodite's face. "You look familiar, girl. You are Abigail Sanchez, correct?"

She stared. "Did Heidegger tell you that, Professor?"

Reno snorted, stifling a chuckle. "It's Aphrodite Sorrows, not Abigail Sanchez."

"Ah, I see… Aphrodite. A familiar name."

She felt uncomfortable under Hojo's belittling, scrutinizing gaze. He kept observing her as if she were his experiment. She wished he would just stop that!

Reno seemed to notice this as well, and he squeezed Aphrodite's shoulder. "I couldn't capture the Ancient, Hojo."

This statement diverted the scientist's attention, and he stared at the redhead. "No? Why?"

"She got away…" Reno sighed. Aphrodite stared. Ancient? "Some ex-SOLDIER helped her escape. I almost had her, mind you." He sounded bitter… She could hear the knives in his voice.

"Well, I suppose that only adds to your incompetence, hmm?" Hojo's deep voice took on a slightly amused tone. He stroked his chin.

A long silence followed.

Reno sulked with his hands in his pockets, looking ready to beat up the old scientist. But he did nothing, and Aphrodite knew why. Hojo was their superior… And still she stared, her curiosity aroused. "Ancient?"

The redhead leaned over to her and whispered, "I'll tell you later."

Hojo smirked. "Do you not know of the Ancients, girl?"

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose at the scientist's usage of the word "girl." It bothered her; she was not a girl anymore! Then again, compared to Hojo, she probably was a child. "Yes, I do know of the Ancients, Professor."

Hojo's smirk remained. "Did you ever know one?"

She was silent a moment, and again exchanged glances with Reno, who looked somewhat curious. "I… No."

Hojo looked suspicious, but said nothing of it. "Where are you from, girl?"

Aphrodite glanced nervously at the elevator display. 19th floor. "T-The slums, Professor. Sector 5."

"Sector 5, you say?" Hojo's coffee-colored eyes widened. He leaned closer, folding his pale, wrinkly hands behind his back.

She only nodded.

"Girl, did you know an Ancient that lived in the slums of your sector?"

Did he mean that woman who always wore pink…? Aeris Gainsborough, if she remembered correctly… Aphrodite had known her since she and Ares escaped to Midgar, but she had never attempted to befriend her. She sometimes found Aeris by chance tending the flowers at the Church, and Aphrodite had felt a strange, spiritual connection to her.

"Do you mean…Aeris Gainsborough?" she said uncertainly. Reno stared in surprise, his blue-green eyes wide.

"Yes, yes, her," said Hojo. His eyebrows shot up, his eyes twinkling in excitement. "Reno obviously didn't do a good enough job of capturing her…" At this the redhead looked sour, grounding his teeth. "Girl, I want you to capture her for me. You know her, so you might be able to coax her to come to Headquarters…"

Both Aphrodite and Reno's eyebrows shot up. Hojo? Giving her orders?

"Why do you want her here, sir…?" The young woman stared. She couldn't help asking…

"Don't question me!" snapped Hojo. "Just bring her here safely."

The elevator door finally opened, signaling the end of their conversation. Hojo only nodded, striding away in an almost frightening manner, his back crooked.

"Creepy old bastard, eh?" said Reno, smirking as Aphrodite gaped after the scientist.

"Definetely."