Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.

A/N—We're going back in time just a bit to find out what was happening aboveground while Vincent and Chaos were destroying New Banora.

(5:00-5:30 am, Mideel—Banora; 3:00-3:30 am, Midgar; 11:00 pm-11:30, Gongaga; 7:00-7:30 pm, Wutai)

The clouds were back, and the moon was setting. Soon, except for the vehicles' headlights, it would be completely dark. Did that mean it would be "darkest before the dawn"? Elena shook her head as she looked at the sky. Jayna! In her short life, she'd never been without her sister. Tseng—what was she going to do about him? Jayna would know what to do about any man, but that strong foundation of Elena's existence was gone. She was nervous, and tired, and very, very scared.

Elena sat on the ground with her arms wrapped about her knees near the center of the circle of RVs and trucks that were waiting to take the survivors of the "Battle of New Banora" someplace else. Elena wasn't sure where they were going, but it had to be better than here. After leaving Tseng in the underground control room, she had gone topside and wandered until she'd found where Jayna and Richard had died. Their bodies were gone now. Truly gone. Now she simply watched, and waited, and remembered, and tried not to fall asleep. She turned her head from looking at the sky and laid her cheek on her arms. She could see Tseng talking and giving instructions nearby, and she knew he would be getting on an RV soon—she just didn't know which one. After her behavior earlier, she hoped he wouldn't be angry, but he might well be disgusted with her. She'd practically grabbed his crotch! Well not precisely, but the difference was certainly miniscule! She just wanted to be with him! She'd said, "I love you" and ran. How did he feel about her?

Tears filled Elena's eyes. "Oh, Jayna! What am I gonna do?" She felt a tear slide across her nose. She wiped at it savagely. Turks didn't cry! Jayna had protected her from their father and had kept her in school when that horrible man had thrown them out on the streets to fend for themselves. The streets of the Midgar slums had been no place for two young girls…

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"I can get us to Apple Town easy enough, but does anyone know how to get to the base from there?" Rude stood nose to nose with Tseng. The five RVs had been brought into the center of the former orchards and circled with the Mideel Base trucks. The New Banora clones were climbing on board the trucks and on a pair of the RVs while the Soldiers, grunts, and Turks had roughly divided the remaining three RVs between them. It would be a tight fit for the trip to Apple Town, but, once there, the clones would be getting off and everyone left would be able to spread out for the rest of the trip to Mideel Base. Vanessa-7 stood near Rude; she didn't seem to want to go with the clones on the trucks, and Rude wasn't about to force her to do so. Rude, however, fully intended to be the driver of one of the RVs to Apple Town—the sooner he was on the road the better. Damn you, Reno. Making me worry about you, man! Don't you die, you sonuvabitch!

Tseng looked about for that Mideel resident, Verdot, or even Verdot's daughter with her lousy sense of direction, but then he remembered that Verdot and Valentine were still below ground, bringing up the rear. Tseng had a general impression that the base was about sixty miles west of Banora, but then what? Follow the signs? Well, military bases in isolated areas were usually huge. They ought to be able to run into it, he supposed. Tseng knew that the grunts driving the trucks from the base would know how to get back, but he wasn't sure he wanted them in the lead—he really only trusted Turks and maybe a few Soldiers. Well, one Soldier. Sephiroth. Suddenly a Soldier leaned out of an RV door—First Class by the color of his turtleneck. Was this Niven, one of Sephiroth's top, Midgar-based officers? Tseng made a mental note to get to know Sephiroth's best people better—just for occasions like this.

"Commander, Col. Malik left me a map to get to his base. When we get closer, I've also got his personal PHS number if we take a wrong turn. We need to go, sir!"

Tseng nodded. "Yes. Let's move." He noted that Niven did not say "if we get lost"—diplomatic fellow.

"I'm drivin'." Rude tried to live up to his codename. Shoulder to shoulder, he attempted to push his way by Niven through the RV door. Niven's shoulder didn't budge. "What?! You drivin'?"

Niven smiled slightly—impulsive Turk. "No, you can drive." Rude looked questioningly at the Soldier. "I'm just giving the directions once we leave Apple Town. Let's go."

Tseng turned away from the scene with a coughing fit that covered the rolling of his eyes. Even after all the fighting and close cooperation between himself and Sephiroth, Turks and Soldiers were still flexing their muscles at each other—so much for internal Shinra cooperation. Turning back, he gazed across the circle of vehicles. Nearly loaded. The orchard grounds were almost empty. He hoped they hadn't left anything important behind. How was he going to close this place off anyway? Explosives followed by bulldozers, he supposed. No, not a good idea—not with all that combustible mako around. Even bulldozers might not be a good idea. Might have to use physical labor—picks and shovels wielded by arms—might be temporary employment for the clones, he supposed. Suddenly from the direction of the main exit tunnel, a lone Turk came running. It was Verdot—by himself. Tseng frowned. Where was Valentine?

"We've got to get out of here now! Get everyone on the road, Tseng!"

"What?! Where's Valentine?"

The former director caught up with his successor. "Don't worry about him. He'll catch up." A bit breathless, Verdot shook his head. "We've got to leave now, Tseng!" He hated cryptic statements himself. You'll be on the receiving end of a piece of my mind, Vince!

"All right." Tseng didn't understand the urgency, but he knew better than to question his former boss further. Valentine was up to something, and Verdot was going along with it though he clearly didn't like it—whatever "it" was. Tseng called to Rude. "Get ready to leave now! You're leading!"

Rude nodded—that suited him just fine—and glanced at Niven. The Soldier retreated into the RV. Rude raised an eyebrow and harrumphed in amusement—good Soldier. Rude climbed on board the RV followed closely by Vanessa-7 and Verdot.

Tseng moved to the center of the RVs and trucks. He supposed he'd just become a traffic cop. "Everyone onto the vehicles now! We're leaving immediately! Follow that RV!" He shouted and pointed to Rude's vehicle. "After that, I want the other RVs, beginning with you," he pointed at an RV nearest the east end of the orchard, "followed by these RVs," he arced his right arm to indicate the order in which he wanted the RVs to move, "then the trucks, beginning with you," and pointed at the truck nearest the orchard's east end. "Let's go! Move!" Tseng headed for Rude's RV. As soon as his foot touched the RV's floor, Tseng could feel Rude put the machine in gear. Tseng headed for an open spot at the back of the RV. He noted that Verdot was sitting on the opposite side of the RV from his daughter, his arms and legs crossed, and was staring with his brows knit at her and Rufus.

Tseng paused for a moment to talk to the First Class Soldier who sat near the still body of Zack Fair and his own remaining medic. That made sense; the First Class probably wanted the poisoned Fair near the best medical help available. "You Niven?" The Soldier gave a jerk of his head in the affirmative. The man seemed uneasy to Tseng. "How are your people?"

"In general, the survivors are all right," Alex Niven shrugged. "They're back in the RV behind us. My biggest problem is Lt. Col. Fair here."

"Understood. I'll send him on to Mideel Base ASAP."

"Thank you, sir." To Tseng's eye, Niven seemed to breathe a bit easier at that assurance. Tseng proceeded on to the spot at the back of the RV.

Rude had only moved the RV a few feet, however, when a blond-headed girl with a face like thunder appeared and pounded on the door. "Rude, let me in!"

Rude slammed on the brakes, and his eyebrows went up. "Kid?!"

"LET ME IN!"

"Ye-ah, o-kay."

Rude opened the door for Elena, and she ran aboard. She didn't stop to look around. Somehow she knew exactly where he was. Elena moved quickly toward the back of the RV where Tseng sat by himself—alone as always.

"Move it, Rude!" Verdot shouted the order, and the RV lurched into motion once again. Elena fell in a heap nowhere near her goal.

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Vanessa-7 sat on the RV's floor near Rude's seat and gazed around her thoughtfully. The vehicle was filled with men and women sitting or standing everywhere; most were dressed like Mr. Lowell. Oops. "Rude," not "Lowell." Rude had just moved the RV a few feet when the vehicle suddenly stopped with a jolt. Vanessa-7 grabbed for Rude's chair to stop herself from tumbling across the floor. Rude opened the door, and a blond girl nearly stumbled over Vanessa-7 in her haste. Soon Rude had the RV moving fast across the orchard. Vanessa-7 wasn't surprised at Rude's speed. Mr. Sinclair was his best friend. Again. "Reno," not "Sinclair," she reminded herself.

Rude and Reno and their colleagues—it was all so confusing!—as was everything else in her life. Just yesterday Vanessa-7 had worried that Dr. Hollander was going to dispose of her. This morning Dr. Hollander was a prisoner, Rude wanted her near him, and she was helping protect her fellow Banorans. Banora. She smiled slightly. It had been a long time since she'd been able to think of that town. Well, not really so long; after all, she was only a few months passed her first birthday. In fact, she didn't actually have a "birth-day" since clones were "made," not "born." She and all the other clones had anniversaries of their "let-out-of-the-tube" day. Vanessa-7 knew that the memories she had of Banora, that town that had been destroyed by fire bombs, weren't really hers—they belonged to the original Lynette Hiland—but the woman had truly loved that town. So much so, Vanessa-7 couldn't help but think of it fondly as well. Maybe now the clones could establish some sort of community along the lines of the original Banora.

Feeling the RV lurch as it climbed onto the paved roadbed, Vanessa-7 grabbed again for Rude's seat. As the front wheels climbed separately onto the road, the people behind her swayed to one side. What? What was that?! As the bodies cleared from her line of sight, Vanessa-7 had caught a glimpse of a man lying on the RV floor with the Turk medic hovering over him. A huge sword was tilted against the RV's wall at the man's side, but it wasn't the sword Vanessa-7 was concerned about. She wasn't sure, but in the dark the man seemed to have a slight greenish glow about him. Oh no. Please, not that! The back wheels of the RV climbed onto the roadbed, and Vanessa-7 once again caught sight of the man, a Soldier she could see this time. She gasped. It was true—he was glowing—but how?!

Vanessa-7 had to get to the Soldier. She didn't stand; she simply crawled on her hands and knees toward him as the RV swayed about her. The medic had a stethoscope pressed to the man's shirt and was shaking his head slightly. When Vanessa-7 reached a hand toward the Soldier's face, she abruptly felt cold metal pressed to her throat.

"What do you think you're doing?!" A voice growled at the girl. "Who are you anyway?" Alex Niven had reacted quickly to this Banoran threat. The girl was a clone. He wouldn't let her near Zack Fair.

Vanessa-7 slowly raised the hand that had been nearing the Soldier on the floor toward the knife-wielder behind her on his knees; he must be the man's friend. "I'm sorry. I'm Vanessa-7. I'm a friend of the driver. I just wanted to see... I think your friend is dying. I can't hurt him anymore than that, can I?"

Niven leaned back surprised but didn't lower the knife from the girl's throat; the clone hadn't argued with him or tried to defend herself physically. He couldn't argue with her logic, he supposed; Zack was dying, slowly. All the Antidotes and cure materia healings he and the medic had tried had only slowed the process.

"HEY! Whaddaya think you're doin'?!" The RV lurched as Rude caught sight of the threat to Vanessa-7 in his rearview mirror. He kept the vehicle moving, however; they didn't need a ten-car pileup in the middle of goddamn, nowhere Mideel! Glancing again in the mirror, one corner of Rude's lip twitched suddenly; he rather thought she'd be all right.

Suddenly Niven found himself the target of several, Turk-wielded pistols, Verdot's among them; all the guns were aimed for his head. The Turk medic smiled ruefully and shook his head as if to say "idiot." So, the clone had defenders. Even with precog he knew he probably couldn't avoid all the bullets in the close confines of the RV—probably get a lot of people killed too. "Hunh. All right." Niven lowered the knife. "What were you going to do?"

Vanessa-7 gave a small sigh of relief, glanced around, and breathed, "thank you." The guns went back into holsters. Verdot sat back with a smirk to resume his study of his daughter and her new boss, but he also kept half an eye on the First Class. Looking back at the Soldier, Vanessa-7 questioned, "do you know what's wrong with him?"

"No." Alex paused and tilted his head slightly. A possibility struck him. "But you do, don't you?"

The girl shrugged. "Maybe..." She looked back at the Soldier on the floor and raised her hand toward him again. "May I?"

Alex moved nearer Zack's head and watched her closely. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm just checking to see if I'm right." Vanessa-7's wandering hand lifted one of Zack's eyelids. His pupils were not present, but green sparks popped in the whites of his eyes. With a jerk and a gasp, her hand flew away from the Soldier's face. She set both hands on the floor, braced her upper body, and looked at the knife-wielding Soldier. "I'm so sorry."

The girl sounded as though she were about to cry! Mindful of the pistols, Alex stuck his face inches from the clone's. "What is wrong with him?!"

Vanessa-7 shook her head sadly. "I don't know how it could have happened, but your friend has been injected with Dr. Hollander's disposal solution. His body is being eaten—from the inside out."

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(5:00-5:30 am, Mideel—Apple Town; 3:00-3:30 am, Midgar; 11:00 pm-11:30, Gongaga; 7:00-7:30 pm, Wutai)

Finally, Apple Town. With a spray of gravel, Rude jerked the RV to a halt in front of the administration building. He was out the door before anyone could quarrel with his driving. He ran straight into the admin building, through Vanessa-1's reception area and into Vanessa-0's office. He just knew where he'd find Reno—in the middle of the place where he could have caused the most mischief. With a mastered cure materia in hand, the Turk medic followed him.

Rude passed the decomposing body of Vanessa-0 and rounded her desk to see his partner lying on the floor. Reno's upper chest was covered in blood. The sight brought Rude to an abrupt halt. "Gonzo, how is he?" The medic rounded Rude and sank to his knees to examine the injured man.

Gonzales, who had remained near Reno, was sitting in Lynette Hiland's desk chair frowning at the man on the floor. "Rude. He'll be all right now that Wickles is here." Gonzales looked up at Rude. "You know the old lady shot him—nearly killed him. After I put a Cure1 on him, you know what that bastard did?" Rude shook his head once. "Called me by my real name. Bastard. How does he know that?! That sort of information is off limits. It's s'posed to be gone from the face of Gaia!"

Rude laughed softly. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't surprise me. If info's off-limits, then Reno'll find a way to learn it. You can beat it out of his head later if you want. I'll even hold him while you do it."

Wickles, the medic, had placed the materia on Reno's chest near the wound. He curved his hands about the orb, pulled them away from the materia, then turned them down as if pouring the magic into Reno's wound. "Cure3." Light flared then seemed to burrow into the body. When Reno jerked violently, Rude knelt beside the medic. With a huge gulp of air, Reno's eyes flew open, and he half-sat up, only to fall back to the floor, his eyes once again closed. "What the…"

"Here. Outta the way. Let me see him." With a glance at Rude, Wickles backed out of the area behind the desk. Rude bent closer to Reno's body, grabbed Reno by his rubberized suit top, and shook him. Hard. Reno's head lolled on his neck. The tattoos under his eyes stood out in ghastly contrast to his whiter-than-normal skin. Wickles tried to insert an arm between the men, but Rude held on tight to Reno. "Wake up, Reno! You asshole! If you don't wake up, I'm gonna break you in two!"

Reno again pulled in air with a gasp and raised his head. "Whoa, Rude-man. Good to see you too. Glad to know you were concerned."

Rude sneered. "As if. Just don't want you dyin' on me when I already gave an arm to keep you alive once, you bastard."

Reno smiled at the memory. Rude had held onto Reno when the two had fallen toward the mako pool at the Nibelheim reactor. While his action had saved Reno's life, it had also cost Rude his left arm. "Yeah, you won't let me die without payin' you back for that, will ya?"

"Got that right. Now get your ass up, and let's get outta here."

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"What do you mean, 'these people are staying here'?!"

Tseng held his face impassive. He wouldn't let his irritation with the man show. I suppose there are disadvantages to the elimination of the leadership of an enemy party. With Lynette Hiland dead and her secretary missing, Apple Town was now effectively leaderless. There was no one with whom he could treat. A very tall, thick man with wispy blond hair had finally stepped forward—perhaps, a new leader for Apple Town.

John Sandry had never heard of such idiocy. About half the adult population of Apple Town stood about Sandry, but from what these Shinra people had told him, the population of Apple Town was on the verge of more than tripling! Where would they put them? House them? How would they feed them? As he glanced at the people getting out of the trucks, it suddenly struck him—many of them looked alike! What?! Exactly alike! Sandry felt his mouth fall open. Ee-eh, how could that be?!

Suddenly Tseng felt hand on his shoulder, though he didn't take his eyes from the blond man. "Let me handle this." Rufus stepped around Tseng, and, surprisingly, extended his hand. "How do you do? I'm Rufus Shinra. You may have known my father, Londo Shinra. I believe he lived here for the last several years."

Surprise filled the man's face, and he grasped Rufus' hand in something of an automatic reaction. Rufus winced ever so slightly at the feel of callus ridges on the huge hand engulfing his own. "Uh, yes. I did know your father. My condolences. He was well liked in these parts."

Rufus caught the slight emphasis on the "he" the blond man had used. Well, maybe he'd earn a little of the man's respect for himself. There was one other person's respect he wanted to earn too; he could feel Kamui's presence nearby. She was giving him room but watching the situation for any wrong moves. Rufus smiled slightly. Maybe two birds with one stone… "Thank you. My father truly loved Apple Town and left a great deal of money to the Apple Town Foundation. I'm sure you could use it to help house the Banorans."

"Banorans! What Banorans? Banora doesn't exist. Hasn't for years. Several of the people here had relatives in that town, but it was wiped off Mideel by Shinra—by you!"

As if in emphasis, the earth suddenly moved under all their feet, many people fell, and the ground sank in a line. It was as if a large piece of machinery had dug a trench through the middle of the area ending at the Apple Town administration building and had collapsed one side of it. Screaming and cursing commenced—mainly by the Apple Townians, Rufus noted. Guess the Shinra people had become inured to the inexplicable.

Tseng and Verdot's heads snapped over their shoulders then looked at each other. Was this Valentine's doing?! With a growl, Verdot half ran back to the road—the direction of Banora.

"Hm…" Rufus turned back to Sandry who had fallen to the ground with the small earthquake. He extended his hand to help Sandry rise. "I'm sure you can tell this is an unusual night." Sandry looked appalled. A corner of the admin building was a wreck—Ms. Hiland's office to be exact! "I'm afraid that Lynette Hiland is dead, and her secretary, Vanessa, pulled the trigger. For the time being, I'll be leaving one of my men in charge here to help get your place back up and running. He should be here shortly. In the meantime…" Rufus looked over his shoulder for someone. "There's someone I'd like to you meet… Though you already know her, in a weird sort of way…" Rufus took three steps away from Sandry and grasped a woman with strawberry-blond hair by the hand. "Vanessa-7 come with me, please."

The clone raised her eyes questioningly at Rufus Shinra but let him lead her toward Sandry whose face filled with shock.

"But you said Miss Vanessa shot Ms. Hiland…" Sandry shook his head amazed. "How can she be here?"

Vanessa-7 extended a hand to the shaking man. "I'm Vanessa-7, and I'm a clone. We're all clones. Our originals were from Banora." As the man frowned at her, Vanessa-7 smiled gently. "It's okay. We'll be here only a short time while we start our lives. Mr. Shinra will help finance it, but I think most of us will move on, probably back to the site of Banora within a few weeks. Okay?"

"Uh, yeah." Sandry took the clone's hand. "Well, we have room in the cafeteria area, I suppose, for a few nights anyway. That okay?"

Vanessa-7's face lit, and she gave him a dazzling smile. "That'll be great. I think we'll all sleep for a few days now."

Rufus chimed in. "I spent some time on the phone earlier. Trucks will be arriving in the next few hours from Mideel with things the clones will need—food, clothing, even beds and diapers for the babies. Everything will work out."

Vanessa-7 smiled gently at Rufus. If his grandfather had allowed Rufus' father to marry her original, then he might have been her son, in a way. She rose on the balls of her feet and kissed Rufus gently on the cheek, "thank you."

Rufus leaned back, surprised. He suddenly understood what his father had seen in Lynette Hiland, he thought. Vanessa-7 had a gentle, quiet quality that had to have been attractive to the noisy, domineering Londo. Hm. Did his bodyguard fit that profile? Maybe not…

At that point Rude's party emerged from the damaged administration building. Rude had his right arm around Reno's waist, and he had Reno's arm pulled over his shoulder. Rufus introduced the pair to Sandry noting that Rude was the man he intended to leave at Apple Town for the near term to coordinate things. Sandry looked Rude over and noted his solid, though somewhat intimidating, appearance. Clearly, this Rude meant business—this could work.

Vanessa-7 turned to Rufus once again. "I'll have to go on to Mideel Base for a bit, though. The Soldier on the RV who's ill? I think I might be able to help him, but I'll need a lab to do it, and I doubt there's one at New Banora any more."

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Verdot stopped aghast at the sight. A brilliant red, bat-winged demon with a head covered in spikes had settled in a grove of trees at the top of a hill just off the road back to Banora. Had it truly been a demon or had the first glow of the sun interfered with his vision? Verdot wasn't sure, but a minute later, his friend, Vincent Valentine, emerged from the trees and began descending the hill. Upon seeing Verdot, Vincent froze.

"Verdot?"

"Vince?" Verdot decided not to question his friend, at least not now. Perhaps he hadn't seen what he thought he'd just seen. He stored the information in his mental, for-future-reference file. "What did you do to New Banora?"

"… It's gone…"

Verdot shook his head slightly. " 'Gone'? As in… what? Gone from the face of Gaia?"

"…Yes…"

"Ah… Well that explains it… I guess." Verdot turned slightly and sighed. Same old Vince. "Come on, we'll be pulling out of Apple Town soon."

"…Fine…"

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After Vanessa-7's announcement, the Shinra forces returned to their vehicles and set out once again for Mideel Base. Rude had refused to stay at Apple Town without Vanessa-7 and insisted on going along with Reno to the base for more possible medical attention. Rude was driving again—one handed, of course. The convalescing Reno had been installed near the medic and Zack Fair.

Tseng looked around him. He had been surprised, and, Sweet Shiva, how he hated surprises! For a man who prided himself on his control of his surroundings and of the happenings around him, the surprises of the last forty-eight hours had been completely unacceptable. Tseng had found the darkest corner on the floor at the back of the RV in which to plant himself in order to recover his composure. At the very back he had not only a view of his people in the RV, but of the other caravan vehicles out a small window above his head. All the vehicles were moving in order and at a ground-eating pace away from Apple Town and toward Mideel Base. Tseng rather thought he'd sleep for a week at the base. Well, maybe not a week. With his arms folded over his chest, his legs crossed at the ankles before him, and his brows knit, Tseng's mind ran through the things he needed to do—most ASAP: first, talk to Cissnei in Midgar—to do that he'd have to get Sephiroth to give him access to the base's real-time com system; second, get back to Midgar, but he rather suspected Sephiroth would want him to continue on to Wutai with the Soldier invasion forces—fine, but that made contacting Cissnei even more imperative; third, check on his people, so many had been lost and the remainder needed his attention—this was something he could do shortly; fourth, weapons check, he hated being in the middle of nowhere without knowing how much ammunition they had, much less the status of their equipment—this job he could give to Rude when they got to the base, if he could peel him away from Reno—of course, Rude might just beat Reno up out of aggravation; fifth, a longer term concern, find another Turk he could trust implicitly, completely—with Cissnei in Midgar, Rude distracted, and Reno recovering from injury, Tseng needed someone to help him, work closely with him. Verdot would be perfect, but he suspected Verdot wouldn't be staying on with the Turks after this adventure.

Sixth—yes, there was a sixth—Elena. Tseng reviewed what he knew of the girl from her files. Jayna had been a street walker—no pimp involved, though—when Richard had discovered the beautiful, young woman stealing and hustling in the Midgaran slums and had recruited her as a Turk. With a kid sister to protect, Jayna had cut a deal that let her bring the girl with her to live at Shinra. In return, Jayna had given the Turks her absolute, complete loyalty. Both women had proven to be highly intelligent, organized, and incredibly beautiful. Jayna had been exemplary Turk. After all, she had owed everything to the Turks. Suddenly a pair of small, black boots appeared in Tseng's line of sight. Without glancing up, he knew the boots belonged to Miss Number Six. Hm. Could she be possibly be Miss Number Five also?

"Commander?"

Yes, it was Miss Number-Six-Maybe-Five, herself. He looked up to see Elena, looking anxious, staring at him. She's too young for you, Tseng. Well, maybe not. From his position on the floor Tseng looked up at the girl and found his gaze tracing the curve of her hips, the holes in her Turk suit, and the uplift of her breasts before they ever got to her face. Tseng, you are a dirty, old man. Dirty-minded, yeah, okay—but not really all that old. Not even thirty yet. Yeah, but she's not that much older than your son… "Elena?"

"Commander, may I speak with you?"

Elena probably wanted to talk about what had happened in the monitor-room back in New Banora. "Of course, have a seat." Tseng looked about and frowned. "If you can squeeze in, that is…" Two male Turks were seated near Tseng, both asleep, one with his head on the other's shoulder. Tseng punched the nearer man in the arm. "Scoot over." Nothing happened. "Oh well." Tseng forced his frame farther into the RV's corner and made a few inches of room for the girl.

Elena wiggled into the space and leaned a shoulder against the RV's back wall, their faces just inches apart. "Commander, about earlier..." Now that she was on the floor, shoulder to shoulder with Tseng, Elena found she couldn't look at him. "I owe you an apology…"

"Elena!" Tseng cut her off. "You're a Turk. Never apologize. Others will see it as a sign of weakness."

"Sir?" Elena hung her head.

Tseng sighed. This wasn't how he wanted her to look. "Here." He snaked his arm behind her head and pulled her into his side. "Better?" The girl nodded rather reluctantly, Tseng thought, but she felt good leaning against him. "You should know that I have feelings for you, Elena, but this has all happened so fast…" Tseng shook his head. "When I saw you wounded earlier, I got a little carried away. I hope you understand."

Elena stiffened and looked up in alarm. "Then, what did you think when I told you I loved you?"

Tseng raised a finger and tapped the girl on the nose. "You were out the door before the words were out of my mouth." At her puzzled expression, Tseng relented, pulled her closer to him, and bent his head to hers. He breathed the words into her mouth. "What you didn't hear, and what you should have heard, was… I love you, too." With that he kissed her passionately and ran his fingers to the webbings in her hair. Elena's free arm snaked behind Tseng's head.

"Wait!" Elena pulled back, startled. "You did say you loved me, right?!"

Tseng smiled, laughed slightly, then nodded. "Yes, I said it. Do you want to hear it again?"

"Yes! Please!"

Tseng nodded, and his face lit with a smile. "Elena, Turk-trainee, I, your befuddled boss…" he kissed her lightly on the lips, "love," another light kiss, "you," a deep, passionate kiss. "You do know I'm considerably older than you, right?" Elena shrugged and nodded. "And that doesn't bother you?"

With an impish grin and a spark in her eyes Tseng wasn't sure he liked—a portent of things to come, perhaps?—Elena answered his question. "No. Just means you'll find me fascinating for years to come."

"Oh-h." He gave Elena an eyebrow arch. "Hm. Maybe so." Tseng hugged Elena close, kissed her in earnest, and thought to himself. Maybe he had finally found that dear friend, lover, and assistant he'd always wished for. Time would tell. For now, this was really good…

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(5:30 am, Mideel—Mideel Base; 3:00 am, Midgar; 11:00 pm, Gongaga; 7:00 pm, Wutai)

"Jack, could you come over here and look at this for a minute?" Private "Wally" Walters had just sat at the console of the new surveillance equipment for monitoring the grounds outside Mideel Base. He'd heard that the Turks had been installing the equipment at all the Soldier bases worldwide, though at Wutai it'd still been in the shipping crates when the war broke out. Here at Mideel Base, it was Walters' first chance to try out the new equipment. Procedure said if you didn't recognize something to sound the alarm, but Walters knew that he didn't know the surrounding area, so he called his cohort, Private Jack Cubbins over to look too. "Jack, is this something in the picture? Can you tell?"

"What?" Cubbins tilted his head at the image. "Well, it looks like a helicopter, but there could be a chopper out there, I suppose." It didn't look like a military helicopter, much less a civilian Shinra chopper either. It did look dark, hidden.

Suddenly, a large—large as in flabby—man walked across the scene and momentarily blocked out the helicopter. "Now that's just wrong! Nobody should be outside the perimeter! Jack, call the MPs! I'm getting the officer of the watch on the horn!"

A/N—I've noticed something about Bjanik and Angeal Valentine and how they write. They both identify closely with a particular FFVII character—for Bjanik, it's (usually) Sephiroth, for AV it's Vincent Valentine—and both have inserted OCs in their stories (and mine!) that represent themselves—Tessa and Kamui, respectively. My assumption was that I would probably do something similar, but it took me a long time to realize just which FFVII character it was that I identified with. Turns out, it's Tseng! Truly fascinating—I think it's his analytical mind I really like. I'm not sure though if I have an OC who's really me. I'm afraid it may be either or both the Dr. Caperton character or Vanessa-7 and that has me a bit puzzled, even concerned. Well, at least Vanessa-7 is no longer the ditz she was when she first entered the story…

Anyway… I was just wondering if any of you have noticed similar occurrences in any of your writings. I'd appreciate your comments on the subject. Thanks for reading.