Reno coughed as he inhaled a large quantity of the dust that Sherry was stirring up as they crawled through the vents, trying to ignore the painful sounding gunshots that sounded below them. Sherry seemed to have no problems with the dust and Reno scowled as he choked on more, the gray substance coating his tongue and giving it a furry feel. He finally managed to scrape enough of the gunk out of his mouth to form the question that was beating against the inside of his skull. "Sherry what the hell gave us away?"

Sherry spoke over her shoulder as she squirmed through the narrow passage, her voice crisp and patronizing. "Every last thing you did gave you away! The cross-dressing, the meeting, the sex, everything! You weren't ratted out by a gang member, you were ratted out by a benefactor who Sephiroth pissed off. It didn't take much for him to convince Yaiv that you two were fakes and liars."

"Yaiv?" Reno raised an eyebrow as he continued to cough out small clouds of dust. He hated dirty air vents and had no clue why anyone would let so much dust accumulate in one place. He supposed it might be one of those out of sight out of mind things, but he still wanted clean air vents to crawl through. Even if no one wanted their vents used as a quick means of transportation Reno considered it common courtesy to keep them clean.

He could almost hear Sherry roll her eyes. "Gang lord, that guy who's screwing us all over? Anyways, Yaiv was convinced pretty easy that I was part of your lot too because I tried ta defend you guys. I told that jackass of a benefactor that just 'cause he's a homophobe doesn't mean you two aren't the real deal. Once I started talkin' for ya the shit hit the fan and the bastard recognized me from a short stint he did with Shneider. I had ta scram pretty fast just ta keep my head on my shoulders and as you mighta noticed I got you guys out of here first thing even though I didn't have to. Ya owe me big Turk-boy!"

Reno rolled his eyes and snapped back through a mouthful of dust. "Turk-boy has a name ya know! It's Reno!"

Sherry laughed and coughed slightly, her struggle to breathe making Reno feel vindictively better. "Listen, all ya gotta do ta get outta my debt is help me die okay?"

Reno stopped his cramped shuffling with a loud curse. "What the fuck! You still wanna die? I thought you were unemployed now?"

Sherry looked at him over her shoulder, anger crossing her grubby features. "I've got nothing left to live for Turk. Shneider wasn't just my boss, he was my husband and the love of my life. He was my soul and without him I'm nothing. That's why I was prepared to die, why I need to die."

Reno's jaw dropped and he stammered to get an apology out of his dust clogged throat as they resumed shuffling forward. "I'm sorry."

She laughed again and Reno felt his confusion rise. "Listen, just torch this place to the ground with me in it alright? If people find out Jeff's wife went to a whore house his memory would be spit on. I refuse to let anyone know that I was here."

Reno sighed and agreed to her grim request as they neared the end of the vent. "Fine, I'll snuff you. Quick question though, if you're supposed to be a whore, how come you don't dress like one?"

Sherry shivered noticeably as she pushed the cover off of their exit point. "Yaiv likes the naughty librarian thing." She looked up at him expectantly as he hovered over the exit. "You comin' or what?"

"Don't look or you're gonna get an eyeful of man meat!" Reno sniggered and lowered himself out of the vent as Sherry tactfully averted her eyes.

Sherry coughed and looked back at Reno when he had repositioned his dress so that the skirt covered him. "We're right next to the room that holds all the info. You're gonna hafta get your hands dirty 'cause they never leave it unguarded, think ya can handle it?"

Reno scoffed and pulled his EMR out of his dress. "What the hell makes you think I can't?"

Sherry shrugged and placed her hands on the door. "Ready Turk?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Reno flicked on his EMR with a wicked grin, rushing forward as Sherry wrenched the door open. He charged in with a loud yell. "Surprise bitches!"

Sephiroth shot and killed without discrimination, expertly dodging the inconsistent stream of bullets sent his way. A few of his bolder attackers tried to take him in hand to hand combat, but the arrogant fools were quickly and somewhat messily disposed of. Sephiroth really wished he had his sword, bashing a skull in with the butt of a gun wasn't nearly as satisfying as simply chopping it off. You're running out of bullets. Sephiroth frowned as he realized his antagonizing inner voice was correct. He had only brought a small amount of ammunition as he hadn't been expecting to take on the entire gang by himself. He fired carefully, wasting none of the precious projectiles as he continued to duck and weave around bullets that seemed to move slowly as if they were swimming through syrup instead of air.

Once all of the bullets were drained from his reserved ammunition Sephiroth tossed the useless guns aside and searched for a more practical weapon. That one has a crowbar. Sephiroth smirked and yanked the object from the hands of a foolish gangster who rushed at him from the side, thinking that he would be caught off guard. The second Sephiroth held the crowbar in his hands he sent it crashing through the bones and flesh of the insignificant obstacles blocking his path. He had no intentions of leaving Reno in this building while there were meddlesome gangsters milling around, no matter what plans that Sherry woman had for him. Sephiroth didn't trust the prostitute as far as he could throw her, and even though he could probably throw the small woman out of the solar system it didn't leave much room for him to have much confidence in anything she said.

Sephiroth crashed through the now fearful press of gangsters that were either running or half-heartedly trying to kill him. He could hear screams coming from a hall to his left, notifying him of Reno's presence. The smell of burnt flesh reached his nostrils and Sephiroth headed towards it, knowing that Reno had drawn his EMR and was putting it to good use. Sephiroth walked past the charred and bloody bodies of several gangsters, searching for the familiar red of his happy Turk. He seems to be taking care of himself fairly well. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow as he watched Reno wipe his EMR off on the trousers of a downed gangster, his dress tattered and bloody. He searched the room and soon spotted Sherry bent double over a box of papers, frantically searching for something.

Reno stood up and straightened his dress, shutting his EMR off with a flick of his wrist. He turned and grinned happily as he spotted Sephiroth watching him with interest. Reno shoved his EMR back into his dress and stomped towards Sephiroth, still wearing the cumbersome heels he had fought in. He had managed to fend for himself despite the balance inhibiting footwear, using the pointy stilettos at the bottom to his advantage. He had cringed in sympathy pain while shoving the sharp point into the groin area of his attackers, but it had made them easier to defeat so he didn't feel too bad about it.

Reno gave the crowbar in Sephiroth's hands a quick confused glance. "I thought you had guns?"

Sephiroth shrugged and wiped a small dot of blood from Reno's cheek. "Ran out of bullets."

Reno smirked and pulled Sephiroth's hand from his face and held it tightly. "I hate when that happens." He turned towards Sherry, noting that she was up to her elbows in paper. He dragged Sephiroth behind him as he approached her, wondering just what she was up to. Sherry had been sifting through the boxes since they entered the room, leaving most of the fighting to Reno and she looked like she had been grazed by a few bullets that had ricocheted off of Reno's EMR or the walls. He tapped her shoulder carefully to get her attention. "Sherry? What the hell are you doing?"

She glanced up at him and he saw evidence that she had been more than grazed, a hole running the length of her cheek keeping her from speaking. She wiped a few tears from behind her glasses and pulled a small picture out of the box. Reno vaguely recognized the ambassador, noting that the man must be her now deceased husband. Sherry held the picture tightly in one hand, bloody rain falling from her face as she pulled a small box of matches from her pocket. She pointed to the papers and then the matches, and then to herself, miming out what she wanted him to do. Reno felt guilt tear at his insides as he watched blood pour from her face, wondering how she was still standing. "You sure?" She nodded and closed the box up before resolutely sitting herself on top of it, the picture dangling from her fingertips. Reno sighed and pulled his hand form Sephiroth's as he pulled a few small explosives out of his dress and handed them to her with a heavy sigh.

Sephiroth looked at the small bombs in disbelief. "She wants to get blown up?"

Sherry nodded as extreme blood loss made her sway slightly. Reno let out a shaky breath and gave the dying woman a quick hug which she just as quickly pushed away. He turned to Sephiroth, new blood smeared onto his dress. "Yeah, she wants to blow herself up. It's the only way to make sure none of this stuff sees the light of day again. We need to leave before she starts lighting them or we won't get out."

Sephiroth gaped at the thin and bloody woman with awe as Reno tried to pull him from the room. "You are a brave and honorable woman. I am glad to have met you."

A few tears spilled from her eyes and she pointed towards the door as she gripped the matches in her hand, letting them know it was time to leave. She painfully opened her mouth and issued a farewell from what was left of her mouth as she continued staring at the picture settled safely on her lap. "Leave."

Reno nodded and ran for the door, Sephiroth following behind as the unmistakable flick of a match seemed to flood their ears. They had just reached the exit when the bombs went off in Sherry's hands, crumbling the architecture behind them as they fled the massive heat wave that billowed out and kissed their exposed skin. Sephiroth gathered Reno up in his arms as the red-head stumbled with a choked sob, taking off at a full sprint that only a car would've been able to match. Once they were far enough away he stopped, clinging to Reno just as desperately as Reno clung to him as they watched the smoke and ash billow up from the building in a wispy cloud.