Final Fantasy VII and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII storyline (such as Astrid and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts.

(Shin-Ra Comes to Rocket Town)

The first few days went by at a slow pace, but the party took their time relaxing and enjoying the break. Other than small excursions out into the wild to keep themselves alert and the training sessions Vincent put Astrid though so she could learn to use her gun (she could finally call it 'hers'), they stuck close to town and wandered around, getting to know the residents and keeping an eye out for Sephiroth and Marcus. After two weeks, though, they were all becoming bored.

In order to compensate for the long break from the journey, Vincent had Astrid out every day from seven in the morning to five in the afternoon, running her though serious and rigorous training courses, both in physical and mental strengthening as well as training her in both gunmanship and swordsmanship.

"You have been using a longsword in battle for the past four months, but you were trained to use a rapier?" Vincent growled, his eyes narrowing, "That is unacceptable."

Astrid had no clue why Vincent was making such a big deal out of her fighting abilities, but when it turned out he was better at her with a sword (and when he was wielding the sword with his right hand), she decided to just give in and let him retrain her completely.

At first, all he had her doing was running, performing pushups and curls, and meditating. Then, things started to get tougher. He tied weights to her arms and legs, forcing her to wear them even when she wasn't training. He even had her fight him with the weights on.

He took away her longsword and gun and gave her a thick wooden stick and a slingshot. When he had given her that, she looked at it with a raised brow, "You have got to be kidding."

Vincent scowled, growling, "If you can learn to aim properly with a slingshot, the most misaligned of projectile weapons, then you will never have problems aiming with a gun."

Astrid had her doubts about this, but when he made her run ten miles for voicing her opinion, she stuck to complaining to herself.

Then, one day, after the second solid week of training, Astrid woke up at five in the morning and slipped out of the hotel room, making a break for the forest beyond the rocket when she was out the front door.

She ran farther and farther into the forest, passing the place where she had gone to the first night and still running. When she reached the other side of the forest, she fell onto the wet grass, panting but smiling. 'Ha. Let's see that psycho find me out here; this is completely in the opposite direction of where he usually trains me.'

When she had stopped panting and her heart had stopped hammering in her ribcage, she sat up and started removing the weights, rubbing her sore muscles underneath. Free of the weights, she then turned to her sword, which she had grabbed as she was walking out the door.

She cradled the weapon like a child, stroking the scabbard, "I'd never thought I'd seriously miss you until I had to start training with that wooden pole. Do you have any idea how hard it is to kill beasts when you don't have a sharp edge?! And all Vincent would do was sit back with his gun strapped to his hip and shout out orders. The meanie."

After sitting around for a few hours staring at the sky and watching the grass grow, Astrid crawled under a large shade tree and curled up on a patch of moss, smiling at her chosen hiding place.

The main branches of the tree only rose a few feet before they spread out, clawing at the air for a good ten foot diameter around the stump. The leaves were nice and thick, and at the outermost rim they skimmed the ground. As long as she didn't move, Vincent would never find her.

Keeping this in mind, Astrid pulled her coat closer to herself and relaxed her body a bit, falling into a light sleep.

She didn't get much shuteye before she was woken by the sound of roaring overhead. She crawled on her stomach over to the edge of the tree, peeking out from underneath the leaves and looking up at the sky in horror. Shin-Ra helicopters had arrived.

"Shit."

Even as more helicopters were passing, she jumped out from underneath the tree and started running, her sheathed sword clenched in her teeth and her hand digging in her pocket for her PHS. Pulling out the mobile, she took her sword from her teeth and began punching in Cloud's number.

It ran for a few minutes, then a recorded message came on. "This is Cloud. I'm unable to reach my PHS at this time, so leave a message and I'll get back to you." Beep

"Cloud!" Astrid shouted, ducking under a branch without breaking her run, "It's Astrid! Cloud, Shin-Ra is on it's way to Rocket Town right now! I'm on my way back, but get yourselves hidden or out of town! I'll find you all eventually! Later." She punched the off button and jammed her mobile back into her pocket, using both of her hands to buckle her sword around her waist.

'This isn't good. If Rufus sees us… I gotta find the others.'

When the rocket was in view, she circled around the town and crept in behind one of the houses, keeping hidden in the shadows. She peeked out from behind a bush, looking around the town. 'A pair of soldiers at every small road and a group of six at the main entrance… way too many for me to handle. And it looks like the others are already hidden. …I wonder.' Crawling back into the bushes, she slinked around to the back of the in and slipped in through the back door, running up the stairs as quietly as she could.

Upon entering their room, she found that the others had already cleared out. On her bed, though, she found a small bundle. She unwrapped it and found her gun and several materia and items inside, as well as a note.

We'll be heading to Wutai next. If you do not find us before we escape town, find a way to get there. I believe you may be able to use one of the materia for that, though you will have to think carefully about which one and where to use it. Keep alert and stick to your training regimen; I expect to see improvements when we meet again.

Vincent Valentine

'Damn.' Astrid scowled, 'Even his handwriting is better than mine, and he's male!' She gathered all of the materia and strapped on the gun holster, shoving the note into her pocket.

Back outside of the inn, Astrid saw that all of the guards had disappeared. On the other side of Shera's house, though, she heard the sounds of battle. 'They're fighting Palmer!' Abandoning subterfuge, she ran across the square and into the house.

"Don't move!"

Astrid pulled to a screeching stop and held up her hands, the muzzle of a shotgun pressed to the back of her head. "Shera," She began slowly, not moving, "It's me. Astrid. The others are in the back fighting Shin-Ra right now, and I'm here to help them."

"Oh, Astrid!" Shera sobbed. The gun fell away and Astrid spun around, pulling the hysterical woman into a comforting hug.

"It's alright, Shera." Astrid said, rubbing the woman's back, "I promise that Cid will be fine. I have to go, now." She pulled away, running to the back door. She heard Shera shout out a "Good luck" before the door slammed.

Outside, the others were trying to get the Tiny Bronco off of the ground, but they were impeded by the heavy fire of the Shin-Ra soldiers. Looking closely at the airplane, Astrid saw that it was already heavily loaded. There was no way she'd be able to get on and have the plane still fly. 'Looks like I'll be playing the part of the distraction.'

"Ahhhh!" She screamed loudly and pulled out her sword, running into the mass of soldiers and swinging it wildly.

Though she did hit and even kill a few soldiers, she was really aiming to draw attention to herself, and it was working. Seeing several of their comrades falling either injured or dead, the rest of the gunmen turned on her and started concentrating their fire on her. She managed to dodge a majority of them and even managed to block the rest with her sword.

'Wow, Vincent did a good job…'

When one of the bullets actually managed to graze her shoulder, though, she immediately turned to the gunman, figuring he was the greatest threat at the time. The person she had turned to face was Rufus Shinra.

"Hey, Astrid." He grinned, firing another shot at her and skimming her arm, "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hey, Rufus." She answered in like, deflecting the next shot that came at her with her sword, "You're looking good. Having fun with your job, I take it?"

"Well," Rufus began, ducking beneath her blade and hitting her in the stomach with the butt of his gun, knocking her back a few steps, "It is a bit demanding, leading a company and a larger part of the world." He grunted when she tripped him, then smirked at her when he tripped her back, "But it does have its," His smirk widened when his next bullet grazed her temple, "Benefits."

"I can imagine." Astrid hissed through clenched teeth, lunging out with a foot and hitting the man squarely in the jaw. She then stood, grinning as the Tiny Bronco rose into the air and took off, skimming the tops of the trees before disappearing from sight. She glanced over at Rufus with a triumphant smirk, "Looks like they got away…"

He scowled, glaring at her, "But you didn't." He then snapped his fingers, "Seize her."

Astrid didn't fight back when she was grabbed by the wrists and her arms were twisted behind her back where they were promptly cuffed, choosing instead to cooperate. 'Less likely to get hurt that way. Besides,' She smiled in the direction the plane had gone, 'They have the Book, so everything is safe.'

After she had been disarmed and thoroughly bound, she was turned to face her captors, smiling genuinely at who she saw, "Hey, you guys. 'Sup?"

Rude nodded, "Hello, Astrid."

Tseng shook his head, "You've really done it now, Astrid." But he couldn't hold back a smile.

"Looks like you've been doing well for yourself, kid." Reno commented, grinning and throwing an arm over her shoulders, "I haven't seen you skin that healthy since… well… hell, ever. Even back when I first met you, you were still pretty pale."

"Not now, though." Astrid countered, letting them lead her to a helicopter, "When you're traveling the world and sleeping outside half of the time, you can't help but get a bit of a tan."

"You're still against us, though." Elena commented as she began to search Astrid's pockets for any materia or items.

"Afraid that's the way it's got to be Elena." Astrid said, sitting back calmly as her materia was pulled out. "As long as Shin-Ra is after Sephiroth, my brother is in danger, and no amount of friendship can stop me from stopping you."

Elena sighed and turned away, organizing Astrid's items in a large box with a lock on it. When she turned, her arm brushed up against Astrid's and knocked a paper out of her sleeve and onto the floor of the helicopter. Astrid started to panic when she saw it.

'Vincent's note… if they see that, then they'll go after them.' She tried to make a move to cover the note, but a hand grabbed it before she could reach. Astrid looked up in horror as the hand lifted the note to the face of its owner, and Reno read the note.

He looked at it curiously at first, then in shock, and finally his face went blank. Reno's eyes read the note several times before he folded it neatly and stuck it in his suit pocket, lifting his eyes to stare at her wordlessly.

Astrid was sweating bullets. Would Reno hand the note over to Tseng? or worse, Rufus? If he didn't, would Reno tell anyone else? Or would he ignore it?

When the combined voices of Tseng and Rufus were heard, gradually growing louder as the men drew nearer, Astrid looked at Reno desperately, her eye wide and pleading. He just looked at her with an expressionless face, then stood back as Rufus and Tseng climbed into the helicopter, taking their seats. Rude and Elena followed, and Reno stepped in last, grabbing Astrid under her armpits and hoisting her into a seat.

As he was buckling her in, he leaned in a bit and whispered, "Don't worry." He then backed away and sat in his own seat, pulling the safety belt over his chest.

Astrid let out a mental sigh of relief. So, Reno wasn't planning on doing anything. He was going to keep quiet and probably dispose of the letter later. The party was safe.

The helicopter blades whirred loudly and the whole machine jolted, shuddering for a moment before it stabilized and continued to lift into the air. Once everything was smooth, Astrid sighed loudly and leaned back as much as she could in her seat, crossing her legs, "So, where to?"

"A bit presumptuous for a prisoner, aren't you?" Rufus asked, his brow quirked.

Astrid shrugged casually, "Getting better treatment than most prisoners, aren't I?"

Rufus scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he answered nevertheless. "First to Midgar." He said, crossing his arms and staring out his window, "Then to Junon."

"And I take it I'll be accompanying as a prisoner on both rides, then?" Astrid asked, sighing.

"Essentially," The young president answered, "Though you won't be nearly as uncomfortable as most prisoners." He glanced at her, smirking, "We like you too much for that."

"Aw, I'm touched." Astrid cooed, rolling her eyes, "So, what do you want from me? Information or character battle stats?"

"Actually," Tseng cut in, pulling something colorful and glossy out of his pocket, "We'd like to know about this." He leaned across the floor and held out the glossy thing, which turned out to be a picture. It was a close-up of the Book, which was clearly being held in Aerith's arms. They must have taken it during the attack back in Rocket Town.

Astrid leaned back, closing her eyes, "I know nothing of that."

"I don't buy that, Astrid." Rufus said, his eyes glinting, "From what I've noticed, there are few things you don't know about Gaia. I get the feeling you know more than you let on, and I want to know what you know about this book."

"What I know of that book is less than nothing!" Astrid hissed, slitting on eye to glare at the young president, "You're grabbing at information that is far out of your reach, Rufus. I suggest that you stick to what you know and are capable of understanding before you get yourself hurt; no threat intended." She closed her eyes again, leaning back in her seat.

The rest of the flight went by in uncomfortable silence, but Astrid fell asleep quickly and managed to avoid the flames that were shooting from Rufus's eyes. Being told 'no' was one thing Rufus had refused to tolerate as a child, as a teenager, and as a young adult; there was no way he was going to tolerate it as the President of Shin-Ra. Oh no, he was not done questioning Astrid just yet.