Thanks for the patience folks and before I forget, thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. To the anonymous reviewers, thank you as well. (I usually write back in response to personally thank you all, but since I can't for anonymous reviewers I'll say thank you in general to everyone now.) They really help a Muse smile and stay motivated. :) Thanks again folks!

Chapter Twelve - Guarded Request

Tseng drops a stack of papers on my kitchen table, looking quite possibly the most haggard I've ever seen him. He's either had an incredibly late night, or, judging by the way his blazer is not buttoned with the neatness and precision it usually possesses and the crookedness of his tie, he's been drinking. Something a lot stronger than wine. Hell, he probably went straight for the brandy.

"Don't argue with me today, Cissnei." He sits down with this sort of subdued, yet hostile presence about him. "I don't want to hear it. Just do your damn job so I can get this the hell over with. It has not been a good day."

I really wasn't going to say anything and he's already snapping at me. Must have been one hell of a night. I retrieve the papers from the table and flip through them out of habit. Casualty reports. A good many of infantrymen, possibly a couple of sergeants mixed into the fray. But what am I supposed to do about them?

"Sir, I don't understand what you expect me to do with these." It's a guarded inquiry, for fear he feels compelled to take whatever is pissing him off out on me. One knows it is only common sense that the fox does not provoke the irritated leader of the watchdog pack when he is more than capable of changing his mind about letting me live at any moment. And I don't exactly keep that pistol he gave me within easy reach of the kitchen table like I should.

Tseng gestures to the paperwork, his eyes narrowed in frustration. I've seen that look before, many times. For once, I don't think I'm the one who pissed him off this morning.

"They are the reason I am here, talking to you, at four thirty in the morning when I should be murdering one of my careless subordinates at this hour for complicating the fragile situation even more than it already is."

So someone screwed up. Big surprise there. If what Reno was telling me heralded any indication of what was to come, then I think I know who the party responsible for whatever has Tseng in such a bad mood was. I reread the casualty reports once more, trying to figure out what would inspire him to drop them on my makeshift desk when he knows I'm simply not interested in sorting out Shinra's problems. That's their problem. I've got my own to deal with.

There. Written in dark, sweeping ink, barely visible against the endless ocean of stoic typed font crammed together to detail just how these people died. Most of them were shot in rapid fire succession from the looks of it. A few were crushed by boulders thrown down at them at high rates of speed. Bones broken by what appear to be lethal martial arts moves and claw marks. And the sergeants appear to have been ripped apart by one hell of a sword.

These men belonged to Scarlet.

"Fort Condor, less than twenty four hours ago," Tseng replies. "The entire brigade was decimated. There was no way the citizens of that reactor's makeshift excuse for a fort could have done this on their own. There are too many inconsistencies."

I set the casualty reports onto the table.

"AVALANCHE was involved," is all I say, the get down to business side of me thirsting for more information while the compassionate rebel side tells me to not give up any information to the enemy.

"It is good to see you haven't lost your touch for this, Cissnei."

"Cut to the chase, Tseng," I snap, somewhat annoyed that he chooses me to take his frustrations out on when for once I'm not the one who has done anything to piss him off. "You don't show up here unless you want something from me. And unless you have a job for me that's worth my time, I suggest you get out of here before I kick you out."

"Cissnei…"

Reno's suggestion to run is starting to sound pretty good right about now. No. I have to stand my ground. If this weird, messed up, downright disturbing relationship is going to work out, then it is my right to growl about some things, this being one of them. No one said the fox had to put up with the hound's whims all the time.

"Tseng. It's four thirty in the morning. Last time I checked the rulebook, I was following everything according to the letter. I haven't left this godforsaken apartment since I got here. My neighbors keep me up most of the night as it is. And now you're about to yell at me for something I didn't even do because I just told you who killed the people in these reports."

Tseng looks at me in mild surprise, as though just now remembering that not only did I specialize in hacking and intelligence gathering, but I also spent a good portion of my life learning to read body language and analyzing paperwork. I'm fairly certain I can predict when I'm about to be shouted at.

"I'm sorry, Cissnei. I did not mean to yell."

"You brought me information. Now, what do you need me to do with it?" The sooner we get this over with the better. He runs a hand through his hair and gathers the paperwork into a semi-neat pile.

"Wallace and his crew took out a branch of the Shinra military in one sweep. I need information on everyone present. Since I can't trust a job like this to any of your former comrades, I felt it was in my best interest, as well as yours to give you a little bit more to do. Reno said you might be going stir crazy here."

Stir crazy is an understatement and a half. Thanks Reno. I owe you one for giving me something to do. With a sigh, I rest my chin against my hand and merely study my former boss.

"No offense meant, but what do you need me for? It's not like you don't already have information on everyone who might have been present. All you need to do is delegate it to someone for a quick look over and go from there. It's not exactly like Scarlet's troops didn't have this coming to them. Fort Condor's been at war for years since that bird set up a nest on top of the reactor."

"What did I tell you about arguing with me today?"

"I'm not arguing." And somewhere in the back of my mind, I want to believe I'm actually holding my ground, however small it be. "Hell, I don't even want a fight today, Tseng. I was merely stating a fact."

Tseng drums his fingers against the surface of the table with that look about him. I'm about to catch all holy hell now. So much for trying to fend off the watchdog.

"Listen to me and listen well. I do not like what happened out at Fort Condor any more than you do. I'm even less enthused that I cannot entrust this to just anyone in my department. I need your cooperation in this matter and unless you want off the case, you're going to give that much to me."

I don't need to be told what 'off the case' entails. Must be a rather high security mission if he can't even give this one to my former comrades. That, or there is a greater than average chance of dying involved.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Thanks to a miscommunication on our end, I have reason to believe that AVALANCHE is going to make a reappearance in Junon sometime around Rufus's inauguration. Much as I would like to see that man succumb to the presence of a terrorist organization's vigilante views on Shinra, it is the Department of Administrative Research's obligation to defend the current man in charge. You should know that better than anyone."

Yeah. I've guarded that ass and his father a few times over the years. It's nerve-wracking as hell and makes you want to turn in your weapon immediately after the assignment is over. Guess I know why Tseng looks so haggard today. He must be on deck to keep Rufus from taking a bullet from a rebel sniper. And with Barret roaming around… Guess I do owe him the benefit of the doubt.

"Well don't look at me," I defend. "I wasn't responsible for whatever information got out."

And I wasn't. The last time I checked the computer, it was to see what phone lines were activated and still had a trace on them. I haven't heard much on the lines since they reached the Mythril Mines either, which means they must have reconvened right after making it through. Probably encountered Turks along the way. Just as Tseng has his pack, Barret has his way of running things. And the universal rule is, safety in numbers.

"I was there when it happened. Trust me. You're not the one I'm angry with."

Ouch. I would hate to be whichever Turk that was at the time.

"That's why I'm assigning you the responsibility of monitoring AVALANCHE to ensure they do not get close enough to assassinate Mr. Shinra. Rufus does not take their presence seriously and merely considers them nuisances. But, well, you have the proof in front of you. Wallace and his crew are dangerous criminals."

Is that rationalized fear I'm sensing? Tseng, oh so fearless Tseng of the Turks, is second guessing a direct confrontation with Barret and his pack? Holy the world is going to end.

"So I'm supposed to be a neutral party then?" Does Tseng even understand what side I'm supposed to be on? I'm not a Turk anymore.

"If you would like to think of it that way, yes. I want you to get into the security system via computer and monitor the events of Junon over the next couple of days. Look for things out of the ordinary. Any communications between AVALANCHE members that could be taken as a threat, I want to hear about."

"And if I choose not to tell you if I do hear anything?"

"Let's make this simple. You're going to do whatever you have to do to ensure Strife, Wallace, and their band of rebels do not tangle with the infantry or any branch of the Shinra military so long as Rufus is accepting the oath of office. If by some chance, Rufus is assassinated over the next three days, this is going to be the first place Scarlet and Heidegger come with their military. Fortunately for you, the Turks need AVALANCHE alive until we can get a better grasp on Sephiroth's location. I trust you are more than capable of keeping them on radar long enough to allow us to follow them."

"Unfortunately." I reply with a less than enthusiastic joy for such a mission. I've gone from fox in hiding, to fox in hiding moonlighting as a tracking spy for the watchdogs.

"Cissnei. You know I do not like doing this to you on such short notice, and I wouldn't if I had another option."

"I understand. You need information, and I'm the only person you've got." Oddly enough, I really do understand the importance of better understanding just what it is Cloud and the rest of them are chasing. I'm curious myself why they took Aerith with them, not that the answer isn't already there. It would be convenient at the time I suppose, but where would they go with such urgency? What is it they know that Tseng is so eager to find out?

With a sigh of defeat, Tseng moves to gather his paperwork, but thinks better of it at the last moment. For a moment, he merely looks at me, as if about to say something. But again, he doesn't, and simply leaves my apartment.