Junon, II

Eventually, they found Spike. He was in the barracks, frantically looking for his uniform. With a mouthed 'Follow my lead' Jareth stepped into view.

"How could you do that? Nobody woke me up!"

"Where the fuck were you Spike, you missed the parade!"

"Sorry. Couldn't find the uniform."

"Really? Then why'd you just say 'Nobody woke me up'? God, do you know how much trouble you could've got us in!?"

"..."

"Don't worry about it; we got somebody to cover for you. You might not be so lucky next time." Jareth shot Evan a sharp glance. He hadn't been supposed to say that.

"Look, Spike, we gotta get to the send-off. We'll talk later."

"Hang on, I'll borrow somebody's uniform."

"No time. Sorry, looks like you're gonna have to sit this one out."

"...Okay. Good luck, guys."

They left. Spike stayed, continuing to look for his uniform.

"How much trouble could he have gotten us in?"

"Don't you know? Oh, yeah, you're from Midgar, Sorry. Well not really that much, but he might've got a court–marshal for himself if Mako Eyes hadn't shown up. But for showing up the garrison on Shinra TV might have landed him in the gas chamber, depending on what mood Heidegger was in. Who knows?"

"Hmm...What time is the sendoff?

"About now. Don't worry, we don't have to be there until after, to report on whether Spike's okay or not. I lied."

"Why? Spike was with us when Sephiroth came out of that alley, he'd understand, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah. But he'd want to see for himself, and might have given us away to Mako Eyes."

"Ah."

At this point, they'd almost reached the docks, and could hear Rufus saying "-done. Keep up the good work for Shinra Inc."

Silence for a time, then "Once the word gets out that Sephiroth's here, Cloud and his friends will show up too."

"How did he find out about that?" Jareth whispered, startled.

"Tracked him by the implant, probably." Evan answered without thinking, earning himself a confused stare. They resumed listening as Heidegger said "Leave it up to me, sir! Gya haa ha!"

"I thought I told you to stop that stupid laugh..."

"Gya..."

Evan smiled. Whatever else about Rufey, he had at least one redeeming quality. No tolerance for maniacal laughter. Hojo wouldn't last another day.

A horn blew, and a few seconds later Nic's voice said "Alright! Dismissed."

"That was close." Emma's voice.

"Heidegger's been really edgy lately." James.

"Because Hojo disappeared, leaving a letter of resignation." Emma.

Out of sight, Evan frowned. He hadn't heard that.

"Heidegger's been forced to take care of that investigation too." James.

"Hey! I thought you were dismissed!" Nicole

Running feet, and the door opened, Emma and James came out, stopping when they saw the others. Nic remained for some last words with Mako Eyes, who was the same Spikehead Evan had seen in the train station at the no. 1 reactor. She came out. Spikehead did not. After a count to ten, she re-opened the doors.

"Yep, looks like he's on the boat. Better stay here til it leaves just in case."

"Aren't you going to warn people? The President's on that boat." The voice was similar to Jareth's.

"And how is he going to get anywhere near the Prez? Rufus won't be wandering around unguarded. Now Mako Eyes is out of my hair and Sephiroth has no reason to be pissed off with us. People will be...inquisitive as to why we didn't report it immediately. You got a deathwish?"

"A good answer," said the similar-to-Jareth-voice. Sephiroth suddenly materialized from a shadow Evan could have sworn couldn't hide a chameleon, "and thanks for the service. Sorry Mother tried to kill you, Evan."

"How do you-"

"It's stamped on your uniform. Honestly, the intellect of Shinra soldiers today! Who's in charge of SOLDIER now?"

"A guy named Alexander."

"Alex? Really? That explains that. Hmm...Anyway, thanks again. Come on, Mother."

Sephiroth picked up Jenova and walked aboard. The horn blew again and the ship pulled out.

"Pretty traumatic for a first day, isn't it?" Evan glanced up. Nic was talking to him.

"I guess so. Not every day you perform in a parade, get attacked by an escaped 2,000 year old specimen, talk to a living legend and live to tell the tale. I hope it gets more boring from here-on in?"

"We can hope. Come on, we owe you a drink."