Whoa, it really has been a while since I posted any updates. Sorry about that folks. I've been a busy Muse lately. But that's okay, because throughout February, I actually have free time to work on this fic and the other one, so you should be seeing semi-regular updates. While I go work on them, enjoy this chapter. :)

Chapter Ten - Bait and Trace

This place is driving me stir crazy already. One can only sweep the same floor so many times before considering throwing the battered broom I found in the closet out the window. Forget the damn window. I can't even look outside for fear of there being a sniper or something somewhere in the wings of a building just waiting for me to walk into range. I can't even draw back the layers of thick, moth-eaten blackout curtains and the blinds to let the cloudy excuse for outside light in.

Curtains stay shut. No light gets in or out. Tseng's orders, not mine.

If I want to stay alive, I have no choice but to obey his commands. And the final verdict is, I'm stuck cleaning this place with little more than the dying light from an exposed, flickering ceiling light bulb. No one is supposed to be living in the abandoned apartment 5 D7 after all.

It's really not that bad of a place with the floor swept and the cobwebs disposed of. So long as there are no remaining spiders holding out, I might even learn to call this place home eventually. That is if that damn Wutainese woman down the hallway ever stops yelling at her washing machine's rinse cycle and the newlyweds in the apartment above this one ever stop their explicit activities.

With a sigh of semi-accomplishment at managing to get most of the kitchen-living room-bedroom-closet area swept for the time being, I set the broom back in its place. It's probably not going to get much cleaner than this. After all, it's not like there is much else to do around here aside from clean and listen to the sounds of the apartment complex through wafer-thin walls, all while hoping for the best.

It's been three days since my confrontation with Tseng. Three long, bitter days. I don't understand what leaving me here with a task that he of all people should be well aware would take me only one day to complete accomplishes, but he's definitely punishing me. Two days with so little to do is Tseng's way of reminding me where I rank in the pack.

I guess I should be happy I still have somewhat of a pack to call my family. He could have done away with me for good, but no. Tseng's too damn nice for his own good. And now I'm going to pay for my screw up. This must be how Zack felt when they sent him on extended 'vacation' all those times.

The only problem is that when Turks get bored, we become destructive. One need not look much farther than Reno to see what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, I've never actually had days off that weren't part of some sort of intermission between missions reserved for traveling or paperwork. Even in AVALANCHE I don't know what it's really like to have nothing to do. It's the not knowing what is coming that has me bothered. Sure, I've been through the motions of an unknown mission before. But I've never felt this blind about it.

The PHS shrills with the harshness of a bolt spell being unleashed, shattering the brief quiet of the room. Speak of the devil. And here I was starting to enjoy being bored. Might as well see what he wants.

"Cissnei."

"Tseng." I reply, still bitter about the last confrontation with this man. I'm done trying to negotiate my way out of things.

"I have a mission for you."

"Yeah, well I haven't got much of a choice to accept now do I?"

There is rustling on the opposite side of the line, as though he is sitting at his desk with a packet of papers in front of him. Probably still wading through the chaos Sephiroth caused no doubt.

"Listen to me," he sighs in notable defeat. "I know you are not happy with the arrangement. I do not like this either, but this is how it has to be done. If you want to go fight the entire Shinra infantry and get yourself killed, there's nothing I can really do to stop you. But I will not come to your aid either. If you want any chance at getting away from Shinra alive, then you are going to have meet me half way here."

Half way? How is keeping me locked up in some apartment complex meeting anyone halfway?

You're being irrational again, that inner watchdog reminds me. Tseng is just trying to make this whole transition go a lot easier for the both of us. I'm the one making this out to be worse than it already is.

"Cissnei?"

I should just hang up this phone right now and take my chances. But that distant part of me prevents me from doing so. This could be my only chance at finding out just who else got away when Sephiroth murdered President Shinra. It sounds like Barret might have been one of them. If I can find out who all escaped, I might just have a chance to get out of this mess.

"What do you need me to do?"

"A simple bait and trace mission." The sound of papers shuffling. "One of your specialties."

Bait and trace eh? I hate those sort of missions. No one ever talks about anything interesting anyway.

"No offense sir, but how exactly do you intend on me gaining a trace on anything in this place? Last time I checked, you took the power cord and the backup battery from that laptop so that I could not hack into the Shinra database to reprogram this PHS to resemble my old one, delete my file, change my identity, and flee the country while you were not babysitting me."

Not what Tseng wants to hear, but this is my way of being an ass about this. Half way without the proper tools to meet him half way. Typical Department of Administrative Research way of handling things when Shinra is involved.

"No doubt you still intend on fleeing when we're not looking." There is a minor hint of amusement to his words.

"Damn straight. First chance I get, I'm out of here." He knows I am more than capable of doing it too. All I need is a semi-clear path and a place to go where they would never look, if such a place exists, which it doesn't.

"I figured as much," he replies. "Which is why I want you to be prepared before I turn you loose into the big world outside of Midgar."

"You're lying." I can't help but call him on this one. No well respecting Turk lets another go without first getting something in return.

"I see you haven't forgotten then. Good. We're going to make a trade. I'll drop off the battery to that computer this afternoon so you may set up what you need to, and you get me a trace on the PHS number I am holding in my hand."

"You're not afraid that I'll take the chance and run?"

"Not at all. In fact, I would like to see you try." He's being way too casual about this for being leader of the Turks considering how our meeting the other day went. He's got some form of leash. He has to. The moment I run, he'll find some way to stop me in my tracks and bring me back here. Something tells me I'm about to regret ever answering this phone.

"You're going to regret this, Tseng."

"I already do."

True to his word, he drops the battery off three hours later through the mail slot in the center of the door. We don't make any eye contact. Hell. I don't even bother to answer the door. He knows I'm 'following' orders, even though I'm just being spiteful about it. If anyone in this godforsaken building ever found out about what was going on here, everything could be jeopardized more than it already is.

I retrieve the brown paper wrapped battery and pry the small envelop from its surface. Looks like Tseng gave me the number I'm supposed to find a trace on. Good. That's one less phone call I need to make.

The laptop flickers to life with the annoying hum of the inner fan. It doesn't take long to hack past the password and into the main hard drive to access the wireless satellite connection. Looks like I'm invisible at least, once again streamlining along the Shinra Information Highway alongside ten thousand other Shinra employees across the global network. Unfortunately, what I need is only accessible by, well, specialized 'informants.'

I make short work of the firewalls and access my account, keeping careful eye at the number of people on the executive web. Heh, just a bunch of so called tech gurus who think they know what they're doing. Let's see how a well-placed virus in their program files go. I send the standard disabling virus directly to their computer, watching their network go down before proceeding.

Ten minutes. That's all I'll have before they figure out something is going on, if they do at all. I'll be long gone without a trace by then.

Let's see. I click on the information I need. Good thing I organized these files years ago, or else I'd be here forever. Phone records. Perfect.

The name that returns on my search makes my fingers stop cold above the keyboard. This is not possible, right? There has to be some sort of mistake here. I mean, no… damn it, Tseng.

I dial the number out of frustration, rereading the text on the screen.

"You did this on purpose." Is all I say before he can get one word in otherwise.

"I need that trace, Cissnei."

"Zack's gonna haunt you from the grave, you know that?" A part of me wonders if somewhere the raven-haired SOLDIER is watching this, plotting some way to prevent me from pressing the code on my own PHS to sync it with the number on the screen.

"Cissnei." It's that lethal warning that lets me know that I am still in Tseng's grasp. With a sigh, I type in the code and sync the devices, watching the screen light up as I log out of the system and cover my tracks.

"There. I got your trace. Should I upload it to your PHS now or should I wait?"

"Actually, that is the second part of your assignment."

"You have to be kidding me. I can't listen in on this."

"Do not make me have to remind you of the fragile fence you are currently trying to walk, Cissnei. Call me when you get a location."

I press the button to activate the trace. Now, I just have to wait for the target to place a phone call.

And half of an hour later, I get what I dread - the PHS emits a low level ring I've assigned it. Without hesitation, I press the answer button and remain silent, letting the interior GPS tell me all I need to know while I wait for verbal confirmation.

"What do you need, Barret?"

"The hell, Tifa. You said this damn farm was only two days away. We ain't anywhere close."

I can't help but allow a rare smile at the exasperation behind the words. Typical Barret, lost somewhere in the Midgar outer wastelands. So Barret and Tifa got off the pillar. Way to go guys. Well done.

"How can you be lost?" Tifa sounds irritated. "Aerith and I got here no problem."

"Well I ain't Aerith and these two ain't got no sense of direction! You can ask a tree or something for help. We gotta read a map."

So, Aerith is with Tifa. Okay. That makes me feel a little bit better. At least she's not in any immediate danger of being killed by some random animal. Tifa can take care of her.

There is a growl of protest somewhere in the background on what sounds like Barret's line, as if some sort of animal is traveling with them.

"We didn't ask any trees for help. We read the map and followed it."

Now I hear Aerith snickering somewhere in the background. Typical males. They must have split the group somewhere along the line.

There is a mad scuffle, the sound of a PHS being knocked out of one very cranky leader's hands.

"God damn it, spike. I'm the leader. I get to talk on the phone."

"Admit it. We're lost." The voice makes my heart skip a few beats.

Cloud. He's alive. He's really alive. The three of them, survived, and escaped. I-I can't believe this. After all of this, he made it. And he and Barret are coexisting together.

I sit deeper into the chair, unable to write anything down at the moment. For a moment, I merely listen with mixed feelings. Tseng knew about this. He had to have known.

"Alright, look you three." Tifa sighs. "Chocobo Billy's should be five miles to the north. You reach the marshes, you went too far. We'll wait for you here. Try to hurry guys. We'll never catch up at this rate."

There is mixed grumbling from the boys that sounds something like an agreement and the line goes dead.

They're chasing someone. This is just getting worse and worse by the second. Sephiroth. I can't imagine it would be anyone else.

Zack, please forgive me. I write down the location. Now I've got two people to worry about. Stay safe guys. Please don't get killed.

"Did you get the location?" Tseng asks with that darkness in his tone.

"Yes," I reply, circling the names one by one.

"And?"

With a sigh, I scratch out a few numbers. Thanks to Aerith's PHS, I now have whatever one Barret is using too.

"They're heading to the marshes, sir. Mythril Mines more than likely."

"Is Aerith amongst them?"

"Yes."

"And Strife?"

For a moment, I am silent, not ready to respond to Tseng's inquiry. I'll catch hell for it, but right now, I don't feel like talking.

"Cissnei. I'm going to offer you an ultimatum. If you run or interfere with this mission, I will make sure that every one of them ends up dead. The longer you cooperate, the longer I'll keep you on this mission. Do you understand?"

After what I've heard, I don't think I can run. "Yes sir."

"You did well. We'll be in touch."

I click the PHS onto silent and set it aside.

From now on, every time one of them makes a call, my own PHS will ring, allowing me to hear everything. I just hope I'm doing the right thing.