A/N: All of the Turks from Before Crisis have been hired on, though some of their general dates of hiring I've modified to suit the story line. More about that will be noted later, when they start showing up in the story line. Also, due to the Deepground case, the Turks who had been moved from other departments later in the Before Crisis game have been moved early and are all working out of their main investigative office when not away to investigate something or complete a mission.

More Clues

As Genesis stepped out of the Rui home, two men in uniforms similar to SOLDIER's but in medium blue and with glowing highlights on a bodysuit which replaced the standard harness landed in the middle of the street in front of him. The icon they wore on their belts was also SOLDIER's, but with a modification he'd never seen before, probably the one for the hidden unit who had Shelke. (1) The few civilians who had been on the street pulled back in fear and ran into the nearest houses, and Genesis himself tipped his head slightly in morbid curiosity and complete lack of fear. The two men had drawn blades and were smirking.

"You really should have turned your back on whoever asked you to poke around," one man said. "Because you're no match for us."

"Oh? And who are you?" he asked brazenly, already assessing what the difference in strength may be. He wasn't finding it to be in their favor. "And what makes you think anyone asked me to poke around my birth mother's home?"

"Riiight..." the other man snorted, clearly not believing Genesis' words.

The first said, "Maybe you know, or maybe you don't. Deepground is more than you'll ever be. It won't matter to you soon because you'll be dead."

"...What the Hell is Deepground?" Genesis asked with a raised brow, hand moving to Rapier's hilt.

Both just smirked—and jumped at him. Expecting the attack, Genesis retaliated with a Fire 3 meant more to obscure their vision than to harm them, causing their blows to miss him as he jumped aside. Drawing his sword and sliding his hand along it to activate his Fire Blade, he was immediately moving to attack the two again, striking the first as the man's body erupted in flames. As the man screamed once then died, he moved to attack the other, who managed to strike him and knock him back. The blow hurt, but it didn't actually do him any damage—

But before he could jump forward to attack again, a gunshot rang out and the second Deepground SOLDIER fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his head. Looking up at a nearby rooftop, Genesis caught sight of a Turk, who quickly jumped down so the red haired man could see him clearly.

"Tseng," Genesis blinked as the nineteen-year-old Wutain man (2) with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail at the back of his head moved over to examine the body of the one he'd shot. The man had dark eyes, slender features, and a strange, dark gem in the middle of his forehead called a tilak.

"Why are you here, Genesis?" the Turk asked, facing him with his gun pointed at Genesis' forehead, his eyes hard.

Sighing—and vaguely realizing he now knew how Ed felt when he was being accused of being an experimental subject—Genesis asked, "Are you going to attack me for coming to see my birth mother's home, too?"

"Your—what?" the Wutain man asked in surprise, gaze uncertain but gun not wavering.

"You're a Turk so you should know the name Edward, right?"

"Yes..."

"He found some information that said my birth mother's name was Shalyn Rui. This was her home, so I came to see it, find out if there was any trace of whether or not she had ever wanted me. That's all. If I got caught up in something else, well...Sorry."

Slowly, Tseng's gun went down, but then his head turned as his gun pointed at another nearby rooftop and he shot. Genesis had followed his gaze in time to see another Deepground member dodge the bullet and shoot down at Tseng with a glowing, blue blade—Ice Blade. Since he could, Genesis called on the explosive fire arrays he knew by heart to create a veritable vortex around his blade and jumped to meet the Deepground attacker in the middle. The resulting explosion was fierce enough to damage the nearby homes and leave everyone present with ringing ears and spotty vision. When the light and dust cleared, though, Genesis was left standing near a decidedly calm Tseng and the attacker had collapsed some feet away.

"Impossible..." the man gasped out before he died.

"...Well that was fun," Genesis commented wryly, then turned back to Tseng, who was gazing at him evenly. "I got involved in something by accident, didn't I?"

"Your timing was—eerie. And yes. We can only hope we can sort it out soon, or you'll probably be attacked again. I can't do anything about that except validate your innocence to the Turks so we won't attack you if you get caught in another incident. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes. I think the thing that hurts most is that I wasn't allowed to stay with my own mother, to be raised by her, but I had been wanted. I can't change it now," Genesis answered with a shrug and a sad expression. "I don't know about those guys, though. They gave the impression they were supposed to be really strong, but either I'm stronger than I realized or they're full of themselves. Do you have any idea why they wore an icon like my SOLDIER one?"

Shaking his head, Tseng looked back down at the man he'd shot and said, "I don't know any more than you, unfortunately. It probably ties in to what happened to Ragnarok, though. It's just that this house was under Shinra observation, and I really don't think anyone who knew the situation expected you to ever find out about your birth mother and come looking, so you tripped all the alarms by being unauthorized to be here."

"Oh. I wish I had known that sooner so I could have asked for authorization," the red haired man answered. "Then again, I probably would have been turned down."

The words caused Tseng to chuckle and admit, "Probably. Let's go, then. I have a report to give." He turned to head away, saying, "We'll give you a lift in our chopper."

With a wry grin, Genesis fell in with him, sheathing Rapier as he did. "Thanks. That'll save me some time. Hey, Tseng, do you think I could convince you guys to let me use your systems to try to find someone?"

"Who's that?"

"Apparently a Shinra employee, either a former Turk or research assistant who was assigned to Shinra Manor twenty to twenty-five years ago."

"...What?"

"Just something Ed said—Sephiroth's mother was apparently a Doctor Lucrecia Crescent, but...he looks nothing like Hojo, so I doubt he's Seph's father. One of those men was apparently having an affair with Lucrecia, so I want to see if I can figure out a potential based on how they look compared to Sephiroth." As much as he'd also like to try finding Kariya, he'd rather take one thing at a time, and he already had Shalua and Shelke to worry about, while Sephiroth really had no one but him and Angeal.

To his surprise, Tseng snorted. (3) "And Ed set you on that path when he apparently has the memory and mindset of a ten-year-old?"

"Hey, the kid's got a good mind. At any age, apparently," Genesis said wryly.

Chuckling faintly, the Wutain man said, "We can do that when we get back. Well, it'll probably have to be tomorrow evening if you expect me to save your skin tonight."

"Great, thanks!" Genesis said as they reached the chopper and got in. "I appreciate it, on both counts."

"Well, I also could have been in trouble with that blade attack the last one was using. If you were really working against Shinra, I doubt you'd have saved me," Tseng answered, knocking on the wall of the chopper's hold between it and the cockpit, then sitting down as it took off. Genesis also sat. "I'm starting to see why Veld wants that boy and why Freyra and Rude respect him so much, though."

"Too true. Did you know he can climb down the north wall of Cosmo Canyon by the town? Without help or any support?"

The man blinked at that and said, "So that's how he got away from Rude's watchful eye. If he was really like that at ten, his parents must have been praying for a miracle that he'd behave—every day."

"I never actually asked him why he left or what caused his memory loss—I mean, from Veld. I just overheard Veld talking with Freyra and asked them to let me be the intermediary because there are some—very critical to his survival—things only I know about him, and I needed to be able to tell him those without having all and sundry know. Could you tell me what happened at Cosmo Canyon?"

"From what I heard, something happened and he passed out cold while mountain climbing above the river ravine, falling head-first into it. The fall killed him, but he somehow survived, and apparently Neo Bahamut appeared and brought him back up to the town. Once he was fully healed, he fell straight to sleep—and woke up missing six years of his memory. Rude had been keeping a close eye on him because of that, but he still managed to give him the slip."

Genesis was silent for several minutes as he pondered the situation, then he realized exactly what had happened. "Oh God. Final Attack—he has Final Attack paired with Revive, and even though it saved his life, it also meant he had just experienced death, probably for the first time. I know from personal experience how traumatizing that is, especially if it's tied in to some past memories of his loved ones and more if his Revive is still only able to access Life, not Life 2." He carefully didn't say that the reason Ed had passed out was because of Neo Bahamut's Materia, which he'd somehow come into direct contact with while climbing.

Tseng eyed Genesis' slightly pale expression for a minute before looking away and saying, "I suppose I can understand that to some degree after some of my own experiences. There are rumors of how hard on the body and mind Final Attack can be, but...How likely is it for some random joe to know anything about that particular pairing? The name it uses often diverts people from its actual value in saving their lives, and it gets taken more as a suicide attack."

"There's that," the SOLDIER agreed. "It can be used effectively that way, but normally only if paired with Mastered Materia or a Summon. No, I knew he had Final Attack on him because he knows the base array—and probably the other functionality control arrays—for it. If some of the things we've discussed are true, then he's truly got a mind anyone could appreciate or envy, and he came to that conclusion himself. He'd do well in the research and science departments in Shinra or in SOLDIER if the Turks decide they don't want him after all."

"Oh, no, Veld wants him so much he's glossing over every rule he's broken—both of them—to keep tabs on the boy," Tseng answered in wry amusement. "And Ed's also apparently interested in the proposition, but the research he was doing when he lost his memory has been holding him back from making that decision."

"Yes. Because the reason for that research is debilitating. That was how he passed out while climbing, actually," Genesis told the Turk with a small smile, and was rewarded with a startled blink.

"Now Veld's behavior is really starting to make sense. Here's to hoping Edward gets his head on straight again soon."

"Agreed."

CA

The next day, it was evening when Genesis made his way into Sector 2 to meet Shalua. It didn't take her long to find him as she asked, "So, how did it go?"

He turned to face her as he smiled. "I had a rather interesting trip. Deepground showed their faces—those are the ones who I think took Shelke. Three of them attacked me when I stepped outside after. Well, two attacked me, and one of the Turks showed up to shoot one of those, then the third tried to attack him and I intercepted. I was able to pass off my trip there as exactly what it was—me visiting my birth mother's home. Tseng—the Turk—covered for me after I accidentally went there without knowing I had to get clearance to be there."

"Holy..." Shalua stared. "I had no idea we were being watched so closely. Did you find anything about yourself?"

"Yes, that as well," Genesis agreed. "I haven't had time to read the diary yet, but the last page sort of said it all. There was a photo album with pictures of our parents, and one of me as a baby, too. We can look through it if you want—only two pictures had writing on the back, and one of those said my birth name."

"And? What should your name have been?" she asked eagerly.

"Sheridan Rui," he smiled. "By the way—it seems Rui isn't our father's family name, it's our mother's. Shinra was apparently not allowing them to marry, even though I guess they didn't care if they had kids together."

"Our father?" Shalua gasped. "She really had pictures of him, and never showed us?"

"There was probably a reason for that," Genesis answered dryly. "Now, let's find a place to sit and look at the pictures."

"Sure!"

The girl quickly led the way to a secluded dead end where several crates had been piled like steps—high enough to get over the alley wall, in fact—and they sat down side-by-side so the young man could pull out the album and hold it between them. They flipped through the pictures, Shalua in avid curiosity and joy, and Genesis with the same sentimentality and awareness as the first time. The two pictures with writing on the backs, he took out to let the girl read them, and she was saddened by their parents' inability to marry but amused by the notes about baby Sheridan.

When they were done, the girl leaned back against the crate behind them and looked at him thoughtfully as she asked, "Will you change your name back to Sheridan Rui, or will you just keep Genesis Rhapsodos?"

Lifting his shoulders in a shrug, he answered, "I don't actually know. I've been Genesis forever—for as far back as I can remember—and there are definite benefits at the moment for maintaining that. Maybe something will change later and I'd be better off changing it back to my birth name, but...I'm not Sheridan Rui. I haven't been since I was taken away from our mother. Nothing can change that fact. What I won't do is cast aside my past and my family now, no matter what name I actively use, okay, Shalua?"

She was quiet for a minute, then nodded and said, "I guess I understand. I grew up as Shalua Rui, but even if I was told I'd had another name when I was born, I'd still be Shalua. I guess Sephiroth is right and the name doesn't actually matter, because you're still my brother anyway. Do you think we could try to find our father, too? Shelke first because she's definitely in danger and she's only nine, but it would be nice to know if he's still alive now and if we could have one of our parents at least..."

"I had thought of that, too. The strange thing is that I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't put my finger on it. I just wish I could remember, since that would tell us where to look, at least to start a search for him. In the meantime, I've been thinking about your situation, and I was wondering if you'd let me pay for a home here in the city for you. Food, clothing, bills—I have lots of money and can afford to take care of you while we're looking for Shelke."

"I've been taking care of myself and Shelke since our mother died!"

"Yes, I'm aware of that, and you've done very well. I'm not questioning your ability to do so, otherwise I'd insist you move in with me. What I'm saying is that the bills and food, and the cost of your living space, shouldn't have to be your responsibility. Also, it gives us a feasible reason to meet, and a private place to talk."

At first, Shalua seemed upset about what he was saying, but then she calmed down and asked slowly, "Would you be choosing everything for me, or would I have say?"

"I would hope to get your opinions and preferences so I know what I'm covering and why, and so we can compromise something if I can't see a logical reason for you to have it. For example, if you wanted forty thousand gil a month for clothes, I'd say you were off your rocker, and unless you could give me a very good reason for that—and not so you could get everything tailor-made and decked out in gems—I'd work with you to find a moderate allowance for you to get clothes you like," Genesis chuckled, poking her side with one finger.

Chuckling and batting his hand away, the fourteen-year-old said, "Well, you could always suck it up and come shopping with me when I want to actually shop for clothes, because I only do that once or twice a year. The most expensive year was one where Mom spent five thousand gil on both me and Shelke because we both grew almost half a foot in six months. I don't need a huge allowance, just a good estimate for food, maybe a little higher than the budget Mom had for us." She then jumped down from the crate and said, "Come with me."

He hopped off the crate as well and followed her as he said in amusement, "Don't worry, I like shopping." He then asked, "Where are we going?" He was rather curious about that, as she seemed to have a definite destination in mind.

"There's an apartment building I've always looked at, a place I'd like to live. If that's not good enough for you, the most you could do is pick a random amount for an allowance and let me handle things myself from there."

"I see," Genesis blinked, then smiled. "I guess that's fair. We'll have a look, then."

Not too long after, Shalua led them to the front doors of a moderate apartment building whose owners weren't Shinra employees and who kept a clean living space. Unlike the plain, gray Shinra buildings, this one was red brick with flowering vines creeping up trellises on the building walls, and there was about fifteen feet of garden space—enough for a trail winding slightly through gardens of flowers, bushes, and trees—around it. It had four floors, one, two, and three bedroom apartments, stairs and an elevator, and even allowed pets as long as the owners could check every now and then to make sure the place and the pets were both being taken care of for the first year. All-in-all, it was a nice building, and Genesis didn't immediately see any problem with it.

"This is the place?" he asked Shalua.

"Yes. There are only two in this Sector and one or two in the other Sectors which aren't owned by Shinra, but I've looked at all of them, and most of them are...more like slum buildings. Sector 4 seems to be the only one with half-decent condition buildings and shops which aren't the property of Shinra," Shalua said. "This is the one I like best of the two here. They sometimes also come furnished, and almost every apartment has a small bed in all the bedrooms and a couch in the living room. If you're willing, though, I'll need furniture unless someone moved out last month and left all their furniture behind for the next person."

Chuckling, Genesis answered, "I gathered I'd have to furnish your home when I offered. Let's go see what the manager has to say." He led the way to the office and knocked on the door.

A man who was slightly portly opened the door, blinked at them, then gaped as he gasped, "Commander Rhapsodos, I hope no one here has committed a crime!"

There was a shocked silence, then Shalua giggled, prompting Genesis to chuckle and shake his head. The manager (or the owner) blinked at the giggling girl, then turned his gaze back to Genesis, who said, "No, no one's in trouble. I've just found out I have siblings from my birth mother, though, and Shalua needs a place to stay while we look for our baby sister. I'd like to ask some questions so I can hopefully set her up with a secure home."

"Oh!" the man gasped, giving a relieved smile. "Come in, then! Sit, ask anything you'd like. I was honestly worried for a minute there. Of course, I'd have done what I could to help you, but still—that would have been bad for business." He led them to his office desk and pulled some files out of a filing cabinet beside the desk chair on his side. Shalua and Genesis sat across from him as he flipped quickly through the files and said, "It looks like we have one three bedroom apartment available, and a few one and two bedroom ones—what are you looking for?"

"The average monthly cost of each would be a good start," Genesis said dryly.

Nodding, the man agreed, "Yes, there's that. The one bedrooms are about three hundred gil, the two bedrooms are three fifty, and the three bedrooms are four hundred. Sometimes we adjust those—a pet, for example, will increase the cost by fifty gil. If you want us to make sure your other bills are covered, we modify the price for that, as well, since it all runs through our mainframe. That changes depending on what bills you want us to cover. Anything else has to based on the size of suite you want."

Looking at Shalua, Genesis asked, "How likely are you to want to stay in Midgar with Shelke once we have her back?"

The girl frowned as she thought about it, then said, "Being at the house was—depressing after Mom died. I guess...depending on how things go...we might just stay here. It'll give Shelke a lot more to do with her affinity to technology. And it would be nice if you could stay here sometime, too, so we can get to know you."

"Three bedrooms, then?" Genesis confirmed, and she nodded, so the manager pulled out the file for the apartment in question. "And do you think you'd want to pay the bills separately or do it the easy way and make it into one payment? You'd only have to worry about food, clothes, and entertainment with the latter."

"...Well, how much would it cost to combine them?" Shalua asked curiously.

Notes:

(1) Yes, I'm having them in their Deepground uniforms, not the only slightly modified SOLDIER First uniforms they usually left Deepground wearing in the original.

(2) We don't know his age—I couldn't find anything which said anything about his age at any point during the story line, only what year he joined the Turks and so on, so I'm making him the age I want him to be, which corresponds (in my mind) with his looks in Before Crisis. Because he looks like a pretty young adult in that one.

(3) Tseng's discipline usually has him come across rather flat, but in Before Crisis (and Last Order, even), his behavioral patterns weren't as flat as in the FFVII main game or later ones, so on occasion, he's going to do things which are more 'emotional' than his usual. No, I'm not making Tseng very openly emotional—though Ed seems to prompt him into expressing emotion more often than he normally would—but he's still a human being, discipline aside.