The file you are reading is not meant for your eyes; put it down and walk away or I Tseng Director of the Turks, or my successor, will find you and silently and effectively remove you from society, to then slowly starve and torture you to your breaking point. It is as this point that we will bring you do the absolute middle of nowhere where you will be given your freedom of choosing how you would like to die. Should you ever make it back to society the Turks will take this is as you rejecting our kindness of letting you choose your own death, and will be subject to a death at either my, or my successor's, discretion. This is the record of six of my most extraordinary Turks. They came from another world, a world where Final Fantasy 7 is owned by Square Enix but this is their story and theirs alone. For the sake of the future I left a record of their adventures locked deep in the Turk Archives but only if the fate of the world is threatened should this file be opened. You have been warned. Read at your own risk. -Tseng Akira, Director of the General Affairs Department, Shinra Electric Power Company

Chapter 24: Stabilization

"I'm sorry 'Lanna." Gen murmured softly, to her for what felt like the fiftieth time in the last hour alone. Alanna sat up straight.

"You wouldn't happen to have some metal music, would you?" She asked. Gen looked at her curiously.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to hear this." Alanna said, covering her ears with her hands.

"ANGEAL FUCKIN' HEWLEY!" The shout shattered the silence, even through the highly soundproof walls.

"Oh right, on it." Gen said, leaping towards his stereo, and turning it on at full volume. Once that was accomplished, he curled back around her, holding her close.

Mary firmly closed the door behind her, and marched over to where Angeal sat in a chair, with empty vodka bottles surrounding him. Mary walked right up to him, ripped the bottle from his hand, and threw it away from them. It crashed into the closed door.

"ANGEAL FUCKIN' HEWLEY!" She screamed at him. He looked up at her.

"Ge' out of my room, Mary." He slurred.

"Not until I knock some sense into you, by Gaia." She snapped.

"Look at you, Angeal. You're a wreck. How can you do this to yourself? And how can you do this to Zack? You know he hasn't left your door since you locked yourself in here." She asked him.

"Cuz it makezz me feel better." He replied, "NOW ge' OUT." He bellowed. Mary clenched her fists, and then pulled her arm back and delivered a loud slap across his cheek. He stared at her, surprised.

"Did you honestly think we were going to let you self destruct like this? Let you ruin everything you have worked so hard for?" She asked him. He stared at her mutely. She pointed toward his shower.

"You march in there, Angeal, and shower; you smell of body odor and booze." He looked at her, a blank look on his face. He had never seen her this angry. "NOW!" She yelled. He slowly stood, and as if he was a puppet, made his way to the bathroom.

Once Mary heard the shower start, she took a deep breath, and started pacing through the apartment. She tried to let the anger go, knowing that it was no longer needed. She got him to let her in and listen, she didn't need to be angry anymore. It seemed as though the hard part was over, but she knew it wasn't true. Now, she had to be gentle, and understanding, which was not really her forte. Mary still had no idea what she was going to say to him. She hadn't gotten a chance to think about it, she only managed to get angry.

Once she felt that most of the anger was gone, she went into Angeal's room, and sat on his bed, waiting for him to return from his shower.

When he came back he was cleaner, and seemed more aware.

"My honor is no more..." He told her, as he sat.

"For the love of Gaia. So someone died saving your life, that doesn't mean the world is over, or that your Honor is gone." She snapped at him. She sighed.

"So Elena died to save you, but she also died because she believed you were worth it! And here you are proving her wrong. People die every day, and Elena died doing her job. It's not something that you should let ruin you." He hung his head. Mary sighed.

"I know. I have no honor, no pride in myself as a SOLDIER." He said. Mary propped her hands on her hips.

"'Geal, you still have both. The only loss of Honor or Pride is what you are doing right now." She whispered. She crouched by his side, and took his hands in hers.

"Elena's death didn't take them from you. She valued pride and honor too, you know. She was very big on keeping her honor. By saving you, she kept her honor as a Turk. Your honor as a SOLDIER is to live. Live and make her sacrifice mean something, to become an even greater hero. Not for yourself, but because she believed you were important to the world, and her honor as a Turk demanded she save that." She said.

"Angeal, please don't do this to yourself, or to the rest of us. We all care about you Angeal." She pleaded.

"Why shouldn't I? Even if all you said is true, my heart is not in it." He told her. Mary swallowed, and leaned forward to lightly kiss him.

"Then have mine." She whispered. He stared at her, puzzled, as she blushed and hid behind her hair.

"If I was to take your heart... I fear I would never give it back." He whispered. Mary smiled gently.

"That's fine by me. I don't mind sharing." She told him.

"You don't truly mean..." Mary smiled.

"I know my heart 'Geal, it's been yours for a while now." She told him.

"Mary, why tell me this now?" He asked. She smiled.

"I guess realizing I almost lost you, made me realize I can't wait. I was afraid before, but, sometimes there are things that are more important than protecting yourself." She said. He tugged on her hands and drew her to sit on his lap. He rested his head on top of hers.

"I didn't know you felt that way." He replied.

"And here I thought it was pretty obvious…" Mary said, enjoying the warmth of Angeal's body.

Angeal didn't reply, he just closed his eyes and sat with Mary in his lap. After a while, he began to feel tired, so he moved them to lie on the bed. Mary could feel his exhaustion, and moved to sit on a pillow at the head of the bed. She rested Angeal's head on her lap, and started stroking his hair.

"Huh, that feels good. I've missed that." Angeal muttered, as he started to fall asleep. Mary smiled, and continued playing with his hair.

Once he fell asleep, she gently moved from under him, and lay down on the other side of the bed. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was, but she felt it then, as she quickly drifted into sleep.

Seph entered the Turk's floor. All was quiet in the offices. He would have expected to find Tseng working to hide his grief, but Tseng was with Cloud. The young SOLDEIR had taken the Director firmly in hand. Seph knew he was in good hands and had no worries. Cloud would see Tseng through the mourning period.

He walked down to the spare rooms the Turks had in the building, for if they needed to crash. Each Turk had their own room, well, except the doppelgangers, since they lived in the Shinra building anyways. Only one room had a light on. As he made his way toward it, he realized it was Chloe's room. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door.

"What?" Came the muffled response. It sounded like she had her face in a pillow. Seph opened the door.

"Chloe, how are you feeling?" He asked. She sat up to look at him. Seph was surprised, the only times he'd seen Chloe she'd either been dressed in the Turk uniform and all business, or in the dress she'd worn clubbing. But she was dressed like neither at the moment. She was wearing loose cotton pants and a baggy shirt, her hair was loosely pulled up into a small ponytail, with rebellious strands pulled free. Her eyes were red and puffy; she looked as if she'd been crying for hours.

"Seph, what are you doing here?" She asked, surprised. He hesitantly approached to sit on the end of the bed.

"Rude asked that either myself, or Matti, come down and check on those of you who decided to stay here tonight. Matti is currently helping Piper deal with Zack's depression of Angeal's depression. So I came down. You're the only one who stayed." He told her. Chloe sighed.

"It's hard to believe she's gone." She started. She glanced at him.

"I was supposed to go on that mission, but I refused because of Genesis' bad attitude. That's why Elena went instead of me, because I didn't want to deal with him." She whispered, horrified. Seph bit his lip, and then reached over and gently pulled her toward him, so he could wrap his arms around her. She resisted at first, and then let herself lean against him.

"I don't blame you for not wanting to deal with him. He was in a very foul mood. But there is plenty of guilt going around. Surely you and the others don't need to shoulder it. Tseng's blaming himself for sending her with Angeal. Ryu's blaming herself for not doing what she did. Gen's blaming himself for creating the rift in the first place. Reno's wallowing in grief." He said.

"He slept with her a lot. He probably thinks he should have done better by her, but she liked the arrangement they had. She always did have a soft spot for Tseng, but he never saw her that way." She said. She sighed.

"All the other girls are with Elena's older sister, but I just couldn't bring myself to be around so much sorrow. And look at me; I'm wallowing in my own misery." She said. Seph tightened his arms around her.

"I don't like seeing people sad." He confessed, "I never know what to do, how to make it better." Chloe smiled.

"It's all right Seph, even I don't know what I want right now."She told him, "But your arms do feel comfortable." He smiled.

"I can stay holding you as long as you need." He told her.

"Please stay." She whispered, closing her eyes as she settled her head more comfortably against him.

"All right, I'll stay." He told her, happy that he could do something to make someone feel better. He had been feeling rather useless this past week.

Chloe slowly opened her eyes. She was incredibly warm, because someone was holding her. With a quick twist of her body, she rolled on top of them, with a knife to his throat. He opened his Mako green, slitted eyes, and raised one silver blonde eyebrow.

"Huh. Chloe, what are you doing?" Seph asked mildly. He wasn't all too worried about the knife at his throat. He was more worried about the frightened look in her eyes.

"If we become friends, will I have to always worry about your knife coming at me?" He asked. Chloe slowly relaxed and withdrew the blade. Seph stayed lying prone, since she had made no move to let him up yet.

"Hell Seph, I almost just killed you." She whispered. He shrugged and slowly eased himself up to a sitting position.

His heart was pounding, not from fear but from excitement. She was the first person in a long time to overpower him. She must have made her move within half a second of waking, or he would have known she was awake, and might have reacted. He gave her a grin.

"Well, it's not every day someone gets a knife to my throat. You're incredibly fast, Chloe." He said. She looked at him askew.

"You're not freaked out I had a knife to your throat, and I would have killed you." She snapped, flinging herself from the bed. Seph slowly got up. He let Chloe pace, and instead walked over to her stereo and flipped through her music, until he found something he liked.

"What are you doing?" She asked him. Seph turned grinning.

"One thing I have learned from Zack, is that the best way to relieve tension, is to be utterly silly." He said, grabbing her and dancing her around the room. At first she resisted, but then she smiled and then giggled at his clumsy dancing.

"You really can't dance." She said. He winked at her.

"Other than Gen's birthday, I've never really gotten a chance to dance." He told her. Chloe smiled.

"I would never have thought..." She said.

"Thought what?"

"Well, you've always seemed so formal and haughty, but you're really not any different than the rest of us." She confessed, looking down at her bare feet. He grinned.

"I've been learning from the others." He told her.

"You really don't care about the whole thing with the knife?" She asked him, as they slowed down to dance to a ballad that came on. He shook his head.

"Nah, it's the first time in a long time anyone's gotten the jump on me. Maybe I should try to sneak up on you more often. It would keep us both on our toes." He told her. Chloe smiled at the thought of spending more time with him.

"I'd like that." She admitted. She reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him.

"You're an amazing person, Seph." She told him. He gave her a puzzled look, as if saying 'what was that for'? But he just grinned.

"You're a special person too, Chloe." He agreed.

With a sigh, Ryu entered the apartment the next morning. She'd ended up crashing at Reno's on the couch, for fear he'd try to go drinking again once she'd left. That, and she'd been up until late in the morning cleaning the place. It had been a health hazard.

Once he'd sobered up in the morning, he'd assured her he wouldn't do it again. He'd had a pretty bad headache, and once she'd made sure he would be okay, she'd left to seek her own bed. He'd tried to convince her to stay, worried that she hadn't slept much, worried that she hadn't taken the time to mourn. She'd run from his apartment before he forced her to cry, to let go of her grief.

Ryu kicked off her shoes, and with her eyes half closed, entered her room. Morgan was sprawled out on the bed, still in his uniform from the night before. She gently shook his shoulder. He grumbled, but slowly woke up.

"If you're going to stay asleep you should change, I know I am going to bed." She told him. He sighed and stood to find comfier clothes.

"How long do you think Tseng can let us all mourn before we have to go back to work?" He asked. Ryu shook her head.

"I don't know." She told him. A loud knock sounded on the door.

"What? But don't come in, I'm changing!" Ryu called.

"Well, let me in once you're changed."Piper called. Morgan and Ryu traded looks and scrambled into comfy clothes.

"We're decent!" Ryu called, as Morgan yawned and pulled the covers over his head.

"I am not here." he muttered. Piper entered slowly.

"You weren't doing anything were you?" She asked. Ryu shook her head,

"I just got home from looking after Reno, I was hoping for some sleep, but what's up?" Ryu said, sitting on the bed her back against Morgan's side. Piper stole the desk chair.

"Well, you should probably know that Alanna and Mary have been in Gen and 'Geal's rooms..."She said. Ryu nodded.

"I knew Alanna would be in Gen's room, and I figured Mary might corner Angeal at some point." Morgan chuckled from under the covers.

"From what Matti said, she screamed at him for a while." He said. Piper nodded her head.

"He's right. Oh, and Seph has been gone for a while." She added. Ryu nodded her head.

"He's with Chloe. She took Elena's death pretty hard, since she was supposed to be on the mission but switched with Elena. Oh, and someone should tell Angeal that whatever happened last night, Mary agreed to, since I doubt he'll listen to her." Ryu said. Piper grinned.

"Why do we bother keeping you informed? You're usually better informed than we are. And I'll make sure to do that." She said, slightly disgusted. Ryu grinned.

"Because it's the nice thing to do. And I don't know everything, and half the time I don't know I know something until you say something that triggers the data." Ryu told her, and then promptly yawned. Piper stood.

"Go to sleep Ryu." Ryu smiled sleepily as she left. She let herself flop backwards on top of Morgan. He gave a grunt of discomfort.

"Ryu..." He protested.

"Short of a catastrophe, don't wake me up." She murmured, yawning as she spoke. Morgan wormed his way out from under her, and threw the covers over her.

"What about for coffee?" he asked. She gave him no reply, her eyes already closed, tears leaking under her eyelids as she left herself cry before falling asleep. He gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and curled around her protectively.

We so need a vacation He thought, noting the dark circles under her eyes from stress. He stayed awake for several minutes, watching for any sign of tears.

Angeal slowly opened his eyes. Mary was sprawled out next to him on the bed. He sat up and rubbed his forehead, trying to remember the previous night. Mary had yelled at him, that much he knew. She had said a lot of things, things he'd needed to hear. How she had ended up sleeping in the same bed as him...He flushed red. Mentally he swore off all booze forever, since it seemed to rid him of his honor. Quietly he slipped from the bed, before she woke up, and went to take a shower.

Mary woke to an empty bed. When they'd finally fallen asleep, Angeal had been right next to her. Now he was gone. With a frustrated sigh, she threw back the covers, and headed to his bathroom. As she opened the door, she realized the shower was running. With a sly grin, she realized it meant he couldn't run from her. She opened the door, and then stood with her back to him.

"Bloody Hell, Mary! Would you please get out?" He yelped. Mary snickered. It seemed someone was feeling modest.

"Nope. Since you're cornered in the shower, and sober, I figured we should talk." She said. She heard him drop the soap.

"About last night..." He began nervously, as he bent to pick it up. Mary grinned.

"You don't remember much do you?"

"No, other than that you yelled a lot." He said, ashamed. She giggled.

"'Geal, nothing bad happened. We just talked a lot; about Elena, you, us, and then we fell asleep." She told him, taking pity on the poor guy.

"We didn't...?" He said, surprised. She laughed.

"No, we didn't, I wouldn't take advantage of you like that. But we could if you'd like, it's not like I'd object. In fact, I suppose you could say I'm for the idea, if you are." She said, shrugging her shoulders, her face turning a pretty shade of pink. Angeal dropped the soap again as he choked, shocked.

"Mary...!" He sputtered.

"'Geal, where I'm from, there aren't ideals about that, not anymore. In my mind, there is nothing wrong with it, as long as you aren't being promiscuous." She told him.

"But... But... your honor, it would..." He stammered, trying to gather his thoughts.

"It wouldn't be damaged. There is nothing wrong with it, and so it has no connection to my honor." She snapped. Her and Angeal's values of honor were very different, she noted.

"My body is mine to give to who I choose."

"But you shouldn't give it causally." He protested. She sighed.

"It wouldn't exactly be casual, 'Geal. Not with you." She whispered. He remained silent as the shower turned off. As the door opened, Mary realized she too was trapped with him now. She couldn't leave. Well, she could, but she'd have to turn around to get to the door, and she wouldn't, because he would be embarrassed beyond words.

She jumped when his hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"What do you mean, not exactly casual with me?" He asked. She swallowed.

"I...I..." she flushed, "Its not casual if you have feelings for the person, if you care about them. I care about you 'Geal, and I want more. I'm tired of being alone. Do you know how hard it is to be around, Piper and Matti, or Ryu and Morgan, or Alanna and her last boyfriend, and you're always alone?" She blinked back tears of frustration.

"You want a relationship?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes!" She snapped, throwing her hands up into the air. "Is that so hard for people to believe? Is it so bad?"

"No." he replied, "I just don't understand why me?" He asked.

"Put clothes on, and maybe I'll tell you." She told him, fumbling for time. He chuckled.

"I am wearing pants." He told her.

"Oh." She muttered, "Well put a shirt on!" She snapped. He obliged her.

"Because, you're the first guy to treat me like a girl, and not be scared of my strength or personality." She told him, still not facing him. Angeal moved to stand in front of her. "And, it's not like you are bad looking, you are quite attractive….And, I don't know, I feel like there is something here, I just don't know how to explain it." She said, with a little frustration in her voice.

"You're scared." He noted. Mary rolled her eyes.

"I am not. I just don't really know what to say. I've never gotten this far. Usually, when I ask someone out, they just reject me, so I've never had to explain myself before…" She said, with a little pain in her voice, while lowering her head to look at the floor.

"I could never reject you." Angeal said, pulling up her chin so that she would look at him. "But, I don't know what I'm doing either. It has been a long time since I have thought about being in a relationship."

"You know this is awkward, right? We're having the relationship talk in your bathroom." She told him. He smiled, and scooped her up.

"Well, you were the one who trapped me there."He said, as he turned from the bathroom.

"Your bedroom isn't any better!" She shrieked, slapping her hands against his back, laughing. He set her down.

"Well, it seemed a better place than the bathroom." He told her, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Mary paused. She'd never seen pure boyish mischief in his eyes before.

"It all depends on what you're planning." She told him, regaining her balance. He grinned.

"Not that Mary." he told her. She punched him hard in the chest, and then shook her hand, wincing.

"I forgot you feel like you're made out of steel." She told him. He smiled slightly, the mischief fading from his eyes.

"I am a flesh and blood man, with wishes and desires." He told her. She jumped on the opening he gave her.

"And what do you want?" She asked. He smiled sadly, and shook his head.

"You." He admitted, "But..." He didn't get any farther, because Mary jumped on him, and kissed him.

"Forget the honor, and go after what you want, for once in your life." She snapped at him.

Mary was curled up with Angeal on his bed, when his stomach growled loudly. "We should probably go get something to eat; it has been a while for you." She said, as she started to get up. She smelled her clothes, and made a face. "But I should go shower first. On second thought, you should too, you still stink a little, and Alanna has a really good nose." She said, as she started for the door. After a moment of hesitation, she turned back and walked over to Angeal, pulling him into a hug.

"I meant everything I said 'Geal. Please don't forget any of it."She said, as she gave him a soft kiss, and turned to leave the room.

Angeal had a sad look on his face as he watched her leave, then he turned and headed to his shower. Once Mary was no longer by his side, his mind started racing, and he started feeling guilty about the whole thing.

It was lunchtime when they were both done showering, and had finished getting some food. Mary had made a large brunch type meal, and was waiting for Angeal when he emerged. They didn't talk during the meal, but Mary let it slide, she didn't want to push things too hard. Once they had picked up the dishes, Mary turned to Angeal.

"I have to go talk with Tseng. You should probably report in to Sephiroth at some point. But, I think you should talk to Zack first." She said, as she started toward the hallway. Before he could respond, her heard her yelling "Puppy, I have a present for you."

"What is it? Did you make muffins?"He heard, along with the thumping of his puppy racing down the hall.

"Even better." Mary said, before she walked towards the door of the apartment.

When Zack made it to the kitchen, his eyes grew wide and he jumped on Angeal. "ANGEAL! You're back. I've missed you so much."He said, while still clinging to his mentor.

"I missed you too Zack. But if you don't mind, I'd like to breathe." He replied.

"Sorry. Are you really back? Are you okay?" Zack asked, after nervously scratching his head.

"Yes, how about we talk about it in a training room. It's been awhile. I could use some help getting back into the swing of things." Angeal said.

"Of course, that sounds awesome!" Zack exclaimed. It had been quite some time since he had trained with his mentor, and he was glad that it meant he was really back, and hopefully he was okay. He was so excited, that he didn't even think to ask how Mary had managed to get him out of his room.

By the time dinner came around, everyone was in enough of a 'good' mood to come out and eat together. Since Angeal had been out for more than a week, they had ordered take-out food, which no one complained about. But, everyone was still tired, and so they all returned to their rooms without any further socializing.

Mary followed Angeal to his room, hoping to get to spend more time with him. As he walked into his apartment, he quickly closed the door before Mary could follow. "Angeal." Mary said, a little annoyed, and a little confused.

"Goodnight Mary." He said, without opening the door.

Mary's heart sank into her chest for a moment, and she didn't know what to do. She decided to go sit on the balcony, which always seemed to be a calming place for her. She didn't know why, but once she was out there, she began lightly crying. After a few minutes, she resolved to stop, and went to her room. She decided that she should not be so upset, that Angeal just needed a little more time. She hoped that by morning he would be willing to talk to her.

The next morning, after breakfast, she ran into Angeal. She had hoped that he would be more willing to talk. "You will be training with Cloud today." Was all that he said, as he walked past her into the kitchen.

"Yes sir." She replied, as she walked away, feeling even worse than she had the night before.

"On second thought, let's just go to our room." Matti said to Piper, as they walked through the living room. They had planned on spending some time with the group in the living room, but there was such a negative atmosphere, that Matti changed his mind.

"What is going on with them all?" Piper asked, once they had made it back to the room and were snuggling on the couch. "It seems like they all hate each other. What happened?"

"They don't hate each other; they are just going through a tough time." Matti replied. "And as for what exactly happened, I'll tell you when you're older."

"But, but… does this have something to do with them liking each other. When are they going to realize it and just be together?" Piper asked.

"Like you are one to talk. It took me how many years to get you to stop being oblivious?" Matti asked.

"Hey, not fair, butthead." She replied, but she let it go, and snuggled against Matti and began to fall asleep.

"I'm surrounded by idiots."Ryu said dramatically, as she sighed to herself. She was hiding behind her book and watching the awkward dance between Mary and Angeal, and Genesis and Alanna. It seemed that Angeal and Mary had had some kind of intense moment he regretted, and she was hurt by it. Because he was avoiding her, he was spending a lot of time with Zack, much to the puppy's delight. Genesis was still in the dog house with Alanna, and desperately trying to make up for it. And Seph was happy as a lark, all of a sudden. Cloud and Tseng were, she snorted at the pun, still stuck in cloud nine.

"What was that?" Mary asked her. Ryu put the book down and nailed all four of them with a glare.

"I said, I am surrounded by idiots."

"Whatever makes you say that?" Alanna asked sweetly. Ryu rolled her eyes, and pointed to Mary and Angeal.

"You two, kiss and make up already, jeez. I never thought I'd be actually wishing I had to tell you to get a room. But seriously, so you slept with her. Man up and admit you want to date her! It won't kill you to be happy for once in your life Angeal." She snapped. She turned her gaze on Alanna and Genesis.

"As for you two, would you please just forgive him already, Alanna? How many times does the poor schmuck have to say he's sorry for being an idiot? He had a momentary lapse of judgment. I know he can make you angry as hell, but you love him. So forgive him already, before he dies of old age... or worse." She said. They all flushed. Ryu snapped her book closed.

"My work here is done." She said, and turned and marched out of the room. Angeal looked at Mary, Alanna took pity on them.

"Come on Gen, let's go talk in your room." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him after her. Angeal let out a sigh, and ran a hand through his hair.

"It's not that I don't like you." he said. She scowled at him. He shrugged awkwardly, "It's just, I've never felt like this about anyone before." He said.

"Oh get a room, you two." Morgan muttered, as he walked by them, leaving the kitchen. He dodged the pillow Mary threw at him, and laughing, left the living room.

"Maybe we should. At least to talk alone." Angeal said.

A/N: Sorry that it has been so long, but here you go. And with that awkward period out of the way… we can move on. THANK THE GODDDESS!