Her first instinct was to run.
The only thing was that she couldn't think quickly enough to know where to run to, and so she just stared stupidly ahead for a few slow, precious seconds. Fear rooted her feet solidly to the ground, and just as the Turk moved, cutting forward into the dark of Sephiroth's apartment, she moved backward, turned around to run and stumbled into a stand that held three long practice rods.
The stand fell to the floor with her and she got up and made to head towards the bathroom so she could shut herself up in there, maybe until she could figure out what to do. But the Turk was faster, reed-like, and he caught her arm swiftly in one strong, bony hand. She swung around, gracelessly, and struck out at him with the tightest fist she could make, but came into contact with nothing but air. He was unexpectedly quick ducking back, letting her arm free as he stood back on his heels.
Freed up, there was still no where she could run. She looked around, knew it was over unless she could somehow leap out of the bay window into the city below.
"Well, hello to you too." The Turk said, stroking his jaw, smiling.
"Please." she said and the Turk shrugged, fingered his long red ponytail.
"Hey, it's tempting an' all but, bosses orders. You know."
"I won't go." She said, looking into his eyes. It was more terrifying that he still had this levity about him. He clearly didn't take her seriously at all. She frowned, and who could blame him? She wished over the noise of her heart that Sephiroth would walk through the door, but somehow she knew that wasn't going to happen. She wished she was stronger, that she wasn't so quick to rely on the strength of generous men.
Look at where it had gotten her. She stepped back, and the heel of her shoe tapped one of the fallen rods. She stilled, deliberately did not look down at the rod, and kept her eyes on the man before her.
"I've never seen you before." She said, biting her lip. He shrugged, perfectly inclined to make small talk, which was strange, but useful for her.
"Eh, guess I'm just gettin' settled in really," his smile was not quite real, cocky, "you're kinda the first big one."
"Oh." She said, stepping back over the rod. He moved in.
"Does that make you feel special?" he asked, looking at her and then the apartment, so sure of himself. That was the instant she took to swipe up the rod, and swing out. She swung it hard, put every bit of her weight into it, hopefully to make up for her lack of technique, and he was so fast, but not fast enough to move out of the way of her unexpected strike before it hit him squarely in the head. He fell into the coffee table and splintered it on his way down.
For a few seconds she stood there in shock, the rod shaking in her trembling hands. A sudden high beeping sound made her nearly jump out of her skin. It was followed by a low buzzing and she looked around at full attention, found its source was somewhere in the Turk's pocket.
A PHS, she realized, letting out one trembling breath. She looked at the door, knew she should leave while she still had the chance. There was no way he was staying down for long, but she knew that if she could somehow get her hands on that PHS, her chances could be much better.
Quietly and carefully she reached down. Her hand was shaking and she tried to stop it, but she was so wound up, more terrified than she'd been in a long time, thinking to herself that if this didn't work she didn't know what she was supposed to do.
Reaching down, she thought of the sterile labs, something she couldn't really remember by sight but only by the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Even if she managed to get out, how was she supposed to navigate a strange city, how could she escape them if they were actively coming after her now? She didn't have any money with her, or anyone to lead her through.
She felt the cold edge of the phone in his pocket, and brought it out slowly and with the tips of her fingers. Once in hand, she debated with herself on whether or not it would be smart to leave what little certainty she had in Sephiroth's apartment for the enormous unknown territory of the complex.
Maybe if she just hid herself in Sephiroth's room, he might assume she'd run and he'd leave. And maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Looking down at the Turk, she knew staying wasn't an option.
"Sorry." She said, taking the rod and the phone with her as she left through the door.
Once out, she realized with a bit of panic that the lush soldier floor was only just one long corridor with separate quarters. There was one door at the right end of the hallway, and on the hope it led to a stairway she ran to it, looking once over her shoulder before taking off the other side. But when she reached the door, it was locked.
Locked, not matter how hard she pushed and pulled. She tried to calm down and catch her breath, noting with some incredulity that she was winded already. Attributing it partly to terror, she wondered if maybe she should've listened to Sephiroth and done those extra laps. The thought almost made her smile, and she shook her head, admitting to herself that any limited athleticism she had, could not have been helped in one day.
She looked to the elevator doors, and begrudgingly decided she would have to use it regardless of the chance of getting stuck inside of a confined space with unwelcome company, or perhaps meeting it on any given floor.
She realized she would have to wait for the car to come up to the floor. She'd have to wait out in the open. While she still had the darkness of the end of the corridor, she figured it might be her best chance to try using the PHS.
Flipping it open, she looked at it, could see in the middle of the screen a bouncing envelope proclaiming there were two unread messages, one missed call. She ignored them both, and dialed the number she knew by heart, thankful it wasn't one of those inscrutable models Sephiroth had for himself.
She dialed his number as quickly as she could, bringing it up to her ear with a still trembling hand. She kept a close eye on the length of the hall, willing it to stay free of anyone who might see her.
His phone rang once, twice, then three times. It rang two more times before going straight to voicemail. Her blood ran cold, and she listened to the automated message, robbed of hearing his voice even in voicemail. When the beep sounded, she collected herself, knew any second she really might not have the chance to say anything at all.
"Sephiroth…I'm…I'm in trouble." She said, trying to keep her voice firm. And with maybe the biggest understatement of the year, the second beep went off and she flipped the phone closed.
She didn't waste any time then, went quickly over the elevator and pressed the down button, a soft glowing arrow in the dim hall.
She waited for the car to come up, goosebumps spread over her bare arms and legs. She realized offhandedly that her feet hurt, and regretted not wearing the more comfortable pair. She knew she was paying the consequences for her vanity, for her decision to ignore what was clearly dangerous, the decision to surrender to blind faith and infatuation.
She felt like she was waiting for an eternity, and kept on scanning the hallway for anyone coming. She bit her lip, realized the Turk who had accosted her could very well be awake at that very moment.
"Hey!" She nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice from farther down the hall, and started back down towards the other end until she saw that familiar head of black hair.
Zack stopped in front of her and smiled, and she self-consciously gripped the rod, imagining it might look a little suspicious to suddenly be carrying around a quite sizable weapon.
"Hey, what's with the staff? You headed to basic or something?" He laughed, and she meant to laugh along, but found her throat was so dry all that came out was a small, choked sound. He was a friendly face, but she feared his questions would yield answers bound to make him suspicious, and she knew that as much as she wanted to, she couldn't totally rely on him to get her out of her situation. He was a part of ShinRa, and though she believed he might even help her if she asked, she couldn't risk that he wouldn't, couldn't force him to make a choice like that while their friendship was still so new and simple. No doubt he'd also want her to divulge her reasons.
"It's Sephiroth's." She said truthfully, leaving out the why. Zack lifted an eyebrow but for some reason didn't inquire any further, and she was grateful for it. She noticed though, that his smile wasn't nearly as wide.
"So you going home or something? What're you doing out here by yourself?" Zack asked frowning, and she tossed him a sideways glance.
"Oh, I'm…Sephiroth, he got a phone call, and I don't know when he'll be back, but it's getting late so I thought I'd go-"
"By yourself?" Zack asked, incredulous. Aeris resented that it seemed like such a farfetched idea, as if she was so dependent she couldn't at least do that, but she knew there was truth in it. It was strange that she would be taking herself home, without Sephiroth by her side.
"Yes." She said, hoping the elevator car would come soon, and hoping Zack would not get on with her. She couldn't make another man party to her trouble.
"Then you should be careful." Another voice said, familiar and oddly sweet. Cissnei came to stand next to Zack, and Aeris paled.
"What took you so long?" he asked, turning to the curly haired girl.
"I was talking to Angeal." She shrugged, fell into conversation as if Aeris wasn't even standing there.
"What? About what?"
"About you, mostly." She smiled and blushed and Aeris felt distinctly uncomfortable, and more on edge than she thought possible. Zack scratched the back of his head.
"Great." He said, shaking his head. Aeris looked from them to the hallway to the bright numbers lining the top of the elevator. "I know, takes forever on this floor." Zack said, and Aeris wasn't aware her anxiousness was so apparent. When she looked up Cissnei was watching her with hard, still eyes. Zack didn't seem to notice because he was watching the numbers scale up, and it was all the more eerie for it, that he was standing there in between them smiling like that, while Cissnei looked on at her with that almost bottomless stare, bound to change to something else in a moment's notice.
"Where'd you get that phone?" she asked, and Aeris stilled, eyes wide. She swallowed. She should've tucked it away somewhere.
"I bought it."
"Yeah, I figured." She laughed. "I know someone with the same model." Cissnei adjusted the strap of her blue dress. "It's a good phone, right?"
Aeris nodded dumbly, looked at the numbers above the elevator. Just before the door for the up elevator opened, Cissnei took out her phone, flipped it open and started texting quietly. She put it back into her pocketbook.
"You sure you don't need help getting home?" Zack asked her and Aeris bit her lip, looked at Cissnei and slowly shook her head.
"I'll…be fine." She said, not entirely sure of it herself. Cissnei gave her a strange, almost pitying look and stepped into the elevator. Zack at the moment finally seemed to sense something not quite right, and his eyes lingered on hers as if asking one last time, and Aeris kept her silence, watched as Cissnei's delicate hand grabbed him in before the doors closed.
Aeris sighed, looking up to see her car was just three floors away. The PHS buzzed in her hand at the same moment the elevator dinged, two floors away. She looked down at the phone, and opened it slowly. It was likely not for her, more likely about her, but her heart stopped on the chance that it might be Sephiroth returning the call.
But when she opened the phone there was one message waiting, a bouncing envelope that seemed almost inappropriate for the gravity of her situation. She wondered what happened to the other messages, the notice for that one call missed. They had just disappeared. She stared at the face of the phone and pressed into the messages, watching as a white window sprung up.
Elevators here routinely malfunction on the fifteenth floor. Stairs don't.
Aeris stared at the cryptic message. She looked to see who the sender was, and strangely there was nothing there. Could she trust it? She was almost certain it wasn't Sephiroth. She doubted he would be so vague, that he wouldn't simply call.
She didn't hear the quiet footsteps until they were directly behind her, and she couldn't even turn around before there was a slim, strong arm around her neck, one hand on her mouth muffling her shout of alarm.
She tried to rip herself out of the hold but it was solid, tight.
"I can't believe you knocked me out like that." There was some laughter. "I'll never live that shit down you know." He tightened the hold and she felt breathless, but could still recognize that it was the voice of the redheaded Turk.
She felt lightheaded, and her vision was spotty when she attempted to pry the arm away. Her legs dangled when he lifted her up in the hold and her vision was wholly black for a few long seconds before it was back again and he said, "Don't worry, not gonna hurt you, not allowed. But when you wake up, you'll be exactly where you need to be."
She really panicked then, and there were tears in her eyes from the constriction as well as the fear. The rod in her other hand was slipping out, and she felt her eyes closing. But just then the elevator doors began to open, and the Turk sucked his teeth and removed his arm, leaving her in a coughing fit. The elevator doors opened to a lone figure, standing with his arms crossed. Aeris wasn't fully back to herself, but she could tell by the Turk's face that he wasn't too pleased to find someone actually in the elevator. With a start, she realized that someone was in fact Commander Rhapsodos.
The Turk walked into the elevator and gave her such a look that she knew she had no choice but to get on. There really was no other way out. If she refused, she knew she risked a painful price, and now, also Genesis' suspicions.
As if she weren't suspicious already, standing the hallway with a Turk, a pilfered weapon in her hand and without Sephiroth at who knows what time at night.
Surprisingly though, Genesis said nothing about it, only looked between them with sharp eyes before turning to stare ahead. It was strange, and Aeris found that more unsettling than if he had spoken.
She glanced from redhead to redhead and stepped in between them, where the Turk had purposefully made a space. She coughed, and tried to inconspicuously catch her breath. She looked up at Genesis' hard profile and imagined that she couldn't have made it a worse situation if she tried. It was clear to her that Genesis did not trust her, if only because he seemed to immediately pick up on her half truths, that there was something she was withholding.
She'd seen it talking to him, and at the table when he looked at her. He lacked all of the natural distance Sephiroth had about him, and something about him quickly got under her skin, made her know he was picking her apart, and that he hoped she knew it.
More than that though, he didn't necessarily seem to care for her relationship with Sephiroth. She wasn't so young that she didn't know what venom sounded like in polite words, and it seemed he was especially good at it. She imagined maybe he simply wanted the best for his friend, to protect him. She knew there were better women without such ridiculous problems, and she supposed it was plausible that could be it.
But then times she'd seen them interact, she wondered if he and Sephiroth were even friends at all. Did she actually have anything to do with it?
Maybe she was just paranoid, it certainly wouldn't be a stretch what with the way her heart was beating, and the way she felt as if the planet was orchestrating things in the worst possible way, leading her right to the consequences she knew she deserved for being so stupid.
She thought about her mother, and felt a heavy heat behind her eyes. No, this was not the time.
"You goin' down?" The Turk asked, and Genesis gave him a flat look.
"Obviously." Genesis pushed the button for the twentieth floor, and the Turk smiled and pressed for floor fifteen. She froze, thought about her message.
If anything was clear now, it was that somehow she needed to get off the elevator before the fifteenth floor. She didn't know what was happening there, but she knew it couldn't be anything good.
The Turk hadn't yet taken his phone back, probably waiting until they were alone to finish knocking her out to do whatever he needed to do after that.
And then it occurred to her. Her wellbeing depended on keeping her secret contained, and clearly so did the Turk's job. There was no other reason he would be standing next to her like that, as if things were completely normal, like they just happened to be taking the same elevator.
Neither one of them could risk a display outside of the very few who knew the details. The Turk wasn't going to do anything rash while Genesis was around, taking into account his apparent status and more importantly his closeness to Sephiroth. Mistakes around Genesis weren't ones that could be erased. The Turk had taken for granted she wouldn't do anything rash either. But maybe he was wrong.
She bit her lip. Lesser of two evils, she guessed.
"I'm getting off at twenty." She said, and the Turk stilled beside her. Genesis gave her a curious look.
"No you're not." The Turk said. "Just out there, you said fifteen." He said, and Aeris took a deep breath and looked him right in his blue eyes.
"No I didn't."
There was a millisecond long frown before he laughed, shrugging his shoulders in feigned nonchalance.
"Alright. If that's what you want." She was realizing that tonight, that Turks were almost frighteningly good at saying things that seemed well meaning, but were anything but.
"I can escort you, wherever it is you are going. If you like." Genesis said, looking down on her with a challenging look in his eye. Aeris froze, knew there had to be some kind of catch. But it was perfect, insurance that she would not be followed out. At least not immediately.
She stared up at Genesis, and there was a ghost of a smile on his face that made her skin itch.
"Yes, thankyou." She said, turning to stare ahead.
When she and Genesis left the elevator and stepped out into the cool, dim twentieth floor she knew her time was fast running out. She'd managed to buy some time and freedom, but she knew keeping that freedom depended completely on how she used her time now.
She looked around for any doors leading to stairs.
"Can you help me get to the entrance?" she asked, and Genesis smiled.
"Certainly, but-" she froze, the catch was coming. "First I want to know what it is you are trying so valiantly to hide." She couldn't believe him, tried walking around him but he put a strong hand on her shoulder. In the spare fluorescent lights scattered farther down the hall it seemed as if his hair was graying, and she figured it must be a trick of the light.
"Not so fast." He said and she turned away from his eyes.
"There's nothing." She said, bowing her head.
"Don't lie to me, do you think me blind?" She couldn't say anything, kept thinking about the time wasting away. "Does Sephiroth know about this trouble that you are in?" She was silent, and he smiled, had a suddenly hungry look. "Really? Very interesting." She looked up at him.
"I-he...doesn't have to know."
"Indeed. I imagine he would be furious to find that you could be simply using him to solve your problems. Do you actually think that because of your connection to him, that you will be safe?"
Aeris felt the déjà vu of his words, felt insulted that he would accuse her of something like that. But there was a mutinous voice in her head saying that it was exactly what she had done, just tonight. Used Sephiroth's power as an excuse to do as she pleased, even though it was dangerous.
For the both of them.
She shook her head.
"I care about him. I wouldn't-"
"Please, you have yet to even see what monstrous things he is capable of. I'm sure you do care for him. I'm sure you care for him as much as any sycophant in the Silver Elite." She stood still, totally aghast. What terrible thing to say. She balled her fist, angry. She was angry. She looked up at him.
"Is there anything but hate in your heart? I saw the way you look at him, and you're…you're envious. I'm envious of him too. He's so powerful, and I have always wondered what it would be like…to be strong. If he's a monster, then there are other parts too, parts that are just human and want…happiness. Maybe I am infatuated, but you are too. And I don't think it matters to you what I hide, all you want is to find something to ruin this, and…I won't let you. I won't let anybody." She said, looking into his eyes. The anger she felt was unfamiliar but powerful, fuelled ever more by the fear still roiling in her gut. "You are a monster, for having nothing but hate. For having no other sides. And even if it was just fear, if I'm foolish because of a…naive infatuation, it would be better. It would be better than to have a friend like you."
Aeris stepped back.
"I don't need your help, I'll find my own way."
With that she turned and ran off into the dark end of the hall, and prayed to find stairs. She was trembling again, and when she reached the door at the end of the hall, she found that it was open.
Before stepping in she checked her phone. There were no other messages, but the one she opened was gone from the folder. She wondered if they were self-deleting. Closing the phone and gripping her rod, she opened the door, and started down the stairs.
She ran down the long flights and didn't stop for anything, hair flying back, feet burning, and arms aching. She didn't even stop when her lungs burned, and she could barely breathe. She needed to reach the lobby, that was her mission.
But on the twelfth floor heading to the eleventh, a hand reached out of the dark stairwell and grabbed her. Jerked back, she fell backwards, and the phone clattered down the next flight of stairs. She looked up into the face of the Turk she knew the best, the one that had been watching her for so many years.
He offered her his hand to help stand back up and she crawled back, got up by herself. She struggled to catch her breath.
"Forgive me, I did not mean to knock you down." He said, face pale in the dark shadow of the stairwell. Aeris felt suddenly hopeless, swallowed over her heaving. She had a feeling, looking at his face, that she wasn't going to make it to the lobby.
"But you'll do anything else." She said, breathlessly. His eyes were hard.
"It is something that must be done." He said, and she shook her head.
"No, you don't have to-"
"I do." He said and they just stared for a few silent seconds. "I warned you." He said, and his expression looked especially tired.
"You told me what I should do." She said.
"Is this what it's about? Defiance?" he asked, standing stiffly in his dark, well pressed suit.
"No. I feel as if I've said it so many times." She bowed her head, once again taken by how often she apparently had to defend her decision.
"What?"
"That I believe in him." The Turk's dark eyes seemed to harden, so much so that they stood distinctly apart from the shadow.
"Then you are a fool." He said curtly and she nodded.
"Yes, and you've done so much to make me know it. You've threatened, intimidated, and even torn away from the little freedom I had to begin with. But I won't bend."
"It would be better for the both of you if you did. Have you considered the damage you could cause by having him protect you in his ignorance? He may be powerful, but the forces you consistently evade and defy are infinitely moreso, and infact have a direct influence on Sephiroth's life."
Aeris felt the hope draining out of her. His eyes stayed on her. "And if you are so bothered by the minimization of your allowed perimeter, you ought to talk to Sephiroth. It was his idea." He said, and Aeris froze, disbelieving.
She didn't believe it, Sephiroth wouldn't do that, wouldn't betray her trust like that. He knew that the smallness of her world caused her pain like no other thing did. She looked at the man before her, stared at him and off into space.
"You're lying." She said, and he looked her steadily in the eyes.
"I think, that you know I'm not."
Aeris stepped away from him, shook her head. The Turk stepped in towards her.
"Do you believe in him now?"
Author's Note: So first off, I'm so sorry this took so long. I just couldn't get it together for the longest. Second off, I'm really sorry about Sephiroth's absence from this chapter, but I still think this is an important one for Aeris. I hope that you enjoyed this anyway. Sephiroth will be back next chapter, which will hopefully come sooner. Thanks again for the support, I really appreciate you guys taking the time out to tell me your thoughts. Til next time! Oh, and when Genesis references the 'Silver Elite' it's the Sephiroth Fan Club you learn about in Crisis Core. You all probs already knew that, but I just wanted to say anyway.