Well, this was an interesting chapter to write. It seemed to go fast, but yet, felt like it took forever to get everything to sound decent. (Stares in realization that I actually got something accomplished this week on this fic) It's actually up on time. Anyway, while I go treat my Muse to ice cream for actually working this week on this fic, enjoy this lengthy update!
Chapter Thirty Eight - Top Dog of AVALANCHE
"Barret! Stop!"
The impossible.
That is exactly what I'm attempting to do right now as I slink across the uneven floorboards of Seventh Heaven's first floor to stand between the pack of pissed off AVALANCHE members and the uneasy infantryman they've managed to corner behind the table closest to the doorway. A pack of ravenous wolves hell bent on tearing him apart. That's what I'm up against.
The mako lights flicker with their own uneasy thoughts, casting the arena in a hazy halo of light tinted with the scent of smoke lingering in the air. Tifa is standing well out of range, looking like a frightened spectator at a crime scene unfolding. Guess we underestimated Barret's reaction to encountering someone like Cloud, if the bullet holes riddling the wall behind him are any indication.
I maneuver between the chairs at a quicker pace, momentarily wishing I didn't leave Rekka downstairs. Right about now I wouldn't mind that extra 'insurance' at my side.
There are two phases to winning an impending dog fight such as this one - fight and flight. A good watchdog must know exactly when and where to attack, as well as when to get the hell out of there before they get killed once the fur starts flying. These particular sort of watchdogs must understand how the combat system works from the ground up and be able to get in the ring quickly, gain control of the situation on the first move, and be able to look terrifying enough to frighten the others away without showing weakness. One wrong move, and the battle turns, ultimately injuring the challenger.
Unfortunately, this time, the challenger is me. And, unlike Tifa, who merely skirted a conflict on her attempt, I don't have the luxury of being immune to being shot at. I've never felt as small as right now and if I had a tail, it would definitely be tucked between my legs in submission.
Hell, Biggs looks absolutely menacing with that .45 of his pointed directly at Cloud's bruised forehead. The added presence of Barret with his automatic gun arm holding him in the sights and Wedge flanking them with a backup pistol make this situation beyond eggshell status.
Rule one for taking on the top dog - know what you're dealing with first and fully understand the consequences before rushing in.
In this case, he's a frustrated, short tempered, eco-terrorist leader with more than a few bones to pick with Shinra. Therefore, since he's the top dog of AVALANCHE, he's the most likely of the trio to shoot first and then ask questions, regardless of who it is doing the talking. He's the one I have to take down if Cloud is going to have even a fraction of a chance of surviving this encounter.
I might be seeing you a little sooner than I think, Zack. Now would be a good time to get your ghostly butt down here to help me out a little bit.
Turks do not fear the occasional high stakes dogfight. We're tough opponents to beat and like my former comrades, I've been privileged to participating in a good quarrel or two over the years where my opponents were not as fortunate to walk away at all. I can only hope that same luck is riding high right now and that Tifa will step in to help if I get in way over my head. My fingertips brush against the rough surface of the leather half gloves as I clench my fists at my sides, trying to calm my racing heart. I have only one chance.
"All of you, knock it off." The words sound foreign to me, drawn up from the deepest recesses of my soul and forged into words tipped with steel barbs. There is a metallic warning click, the first of the three firearms now trained on me. Tifa's eyes hold a new level of surprise, as do the three sets I stand in the sights of.
"Get out of the way, Jessie." Barret's eyes are cold and merciless like the claws of the dragon king Bahamut. But right now I am not Jessie. Jessie would have fled well before the conflict began. I am Cissnei. These people are not 'friends' but mere acquaintances. Turks do not have 'friends'. Never more so than now.
"Put the gun down first and I might consider it." It's a challenge directly to the leader of the pack with the stern hostility of my amber eyes meeting his dark ones. Biggs's trigger finger twitches, ever so briefly in the haunting glow of the atmosphere. A fraction of a centimeter moves the barrel of the .45 within range of my left shoulder, the thick dragging movement of the worn leather sole of his right foot sliding across the grainy floor in a backwards motion. Either way he fires, I'm not going to get out of the way in time to dodge a bullet from that damn gun - and he knows it.
Ancient wool and long softened cotton brush against one another with the stiff creak of leather. The swish of metal making a trail downwards sends a welcomed sense of confidence through my mind. One of the major immediate threats is reconsidering the earlier actions that led to this little standoff.
Oh Cloud. An inward flinch stings my muscles from the brief glimpse I caught of him as he went down beneath a well-aimed strike from Biggs within the first several seconds of the fight. He's leaning somewhat heavily against an overturned chair, his heavy breathing painful to the ears. We shouldn't have let this happen like this. We could have prevented this.
"He's with those goddamn Shinra bastards!" Barret's words rake the air with fiery coals. "Goddamn Shinra, Always finding a way to corner us right when we're about to get one up on them. Not this time."
Biggs's eyes flash from the corner of my eye, the renewed anger washing back into the area with brutal force. That's not a good thing.
"Yeah," he gestures to the infantryman quivering behind me, finger on the trigger. "This bastard's one of them mako enhanced freaks. What's the name for them-"
"SOLDIERs," Wedges answers for his comrade, straying slightly further behind to observe. This isn't working in my favor anymore. I have got to get Barret alone and away from Cloud. But how am I going to do that without giving myself away. Yeah, finding out who I am will make things really interesting.
Slow down. I'm not losing yet. Don't break eye contact yet.
A hail of bullets shatter the wood behind me, sending chills down my spine. A coarse sense of rage wells at the back of my mind, materializing into the feral being I've been trained to be. It's there, waiting attentively for any command I dare to give it. A small shroud of confidence.
"Wait," I hold my hands up in mock surrender in an effort to drive them further away. "Are you sure he's with Shinra?"
"That's a goddamn SOLDIER uniform ain't it?"
"Yes, but are you sure he's really one of them?" I point to Biggs's .45 and back to Cloud. "He fell pretty hard with one strike. Aren't SOLDIERs pseudo-immortal beings with god-like powers incapable of being brought down by the common man?"
"Hey!"
"I'm not wrong about that. That's supposedly a SOLDIER first class uniform." I look toward Wedge in an attempt to play naïve on what I know about Shinra's military protocol. "Right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"How many SOLDIER firsts do you know of?" Once again, I've got the ring to myself, the boys thinking about this. Tifa creeps a little bit closer to the fringe, something unreadable in her eyes as she looks from me to Cloud. Somehow, I think I've said something wrong, but I can't back down now. Too much depends upon this.
Wedge scratches his chin and studies the floorboards, uncertain if he really wants to do this. Whatever he knows will piss Barret off even more, as he no doubt would have worked for Shinra himself at some point if he knew Reeve. Suddenly, Barret's got bigger problems than just Cloud.
And what of Tifa? Didn't she lead the expedition to the Nibelheim Mako Reactor four years ago? That makes her one of Shinra's acquaintances now too. And Holy knows what I've done under the Shinra legacy. Now he's got only Biggs.
More importantly, with the things I know about Mr. Wallace and his involvement with Shinra…
If I wanted to, I could rip AVALANCHE apart and leave it shivering like a little chocobo without suffering a scratch. Right now though, I just don't feel like it.
"There are four are there not?"
Wedge nods, albeit grudgingly. Biggs's eyebrow twitches as he looks to Barret in search of his answer. He knows of them as well.
"Four major SOLDIER first classes. The cream of the crop. Shinra's pride. Who doesn't know their names and quiver in fear?"
Barret's giving me that look again that tells me I really need to shut the hell up right now. That's not my style though.
"I ain't afraid of no damn SOLDIER!"
Right there. Right there is the weakness I've been looking for. Perfect.
"You cannot honestly say that you wouldn't be the least bit scared if Sephiroth himself walked through that door with his katana and pointed it at your throat?"
Tifa takes a hesitant step to put a table between herself and Barret. She knows exactly what I am talking about. Sephiroth was an imposing man who even scared the shit out of Tseng and Commander Verdot on many occasions. And if they were scared, how do you think the rest of us felt? SOLDIER commanded respect, and fear. They were the one department that was not disposable.
A twitch at the corner of Barret's mouth as he grits his teeth and lowers his weapon a fraction of a centimeter. Holy I feel like I'm staring at a giant who doesn't quite know whether or not to kill me or let me go.
"That damn silver haired freak don't scare me." Confident as he sounds, the fire just is not there to back it up.
"But they scared the people before you. SOLDIER scared Sears and the others more than any Turk ever could. I have the old files on that computer downstairs to prove it."
The gun arm lowers a little bit more. He's considering this. That is something to regard with respect. If the people before him feared SOLDIER and certain aspects of Shinra, then he probably should be thinking about those particular aspects too. His dark eyes wander to Cloud in accusation.
"What about him then? Which one of them bastards is he supposed to be?"
Not a single one. He's only an infantryman.
"My name is Cloud Strife, ex-SOLDIER First Class."
The blunt force of his words coupled with the scratching sound of him climbing to his feet, using the chair for support, have caught even me by surprise. Wasn't he nearly out of it seconds ago? When did he - a rough hand touches my shoulder, the towering infantryman seeming a lot taller than I remember him. That's my cue to get out of the way and let him handle it.
There's frigid, raw determination in those mako drenched eyes this time. This is not the Cloud I remember. Something darker, much darker lurks behind them. A sense of hatred, be it for Barret or something more radiates from it.
Zack, what did they do down in that basement to him? What in the hell did Biggs do when he clobbered him on the head with that firearm of his? My muscles ache from standing stiff for so long as I painstakingly limp away from the makeshift arena.
I never thought I'd actually be worried about Barret for a change. That's not Cloud. It can't be.
Barret's eyes narrow and he raises the gun arm again in warning.
"Ex-SOLDIER eh? There is no such thing." The click of the ammunition sliding into place in preparation of being fired. "Once with Shinra, always with Shinra."
Those words hurt more than any bullet can. Being with Shinra does not mean staying with them once you leave. You can never go back there when you leave. Never.
Cloud remains intimidating, boldly crossing his arms across his chest and surveying his opponent. Zack did that a lot when he was facing someone new. He's confident, if not a little arrogant that he can easily best the top dog of AVALANCHE.
"I don't work for Shinra anymore. I'm a work for hire mercenary now."
What in the hell? This doesn't sound right at all. Mercenaries? There's no way Tifa and I put this idea into his head. I rest a hand against the table and lean slightly forward to listen closer. From the looks I'm getting from the boys, they're surprised by this whole revelation as well. Work for hire mercenary. Just our luck.
Barret looks like he's going to have a coronary right about now.
"AVALANCHE don't need no mother f-"
"Wait a second Barret."
"Stay out of this, Jessie."
"Strife." I pretend to be thinking about this aloud. "I saw his name listed under SOLDIER earlier. He'd just been promoted when something big happened at Shinra involving SOLDIER, the Turks, and the Science Department."
It is a glorified lie and a half, but that should suit the purpose I need it for. Cloud looks at me with a look of semi-interest and bewilderment, as though he's, dare I say it, offended that I don't seem to know who he is despite taking care of him with Tifa for so long.
"What in the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"A lot." I gesture to Cloud and begin pacing along the fringe of the danger zone. "It certainly would not be a burden to have extra help when we go through with this plan of ours. Having someone of such…interesting background might benefit us, seeming that we are four people trying to pull off a plan that if one gets killed or something goes wrong, we're pretty much screwed."
Tifa, much to her favor, chooses this time to finally step in and help me out. Not that I need it, but she holds more clout with her words to Barret than I ever could.
"Jessie brings up a good point, Barret. You can't fault her for worrying about the what-ifs of this mission, especially since I won't be accompanying you and we're running behind."
His dark eyes fall upon me with that sense of really not wanting to hear this from me right now sort of frustration. Hey, I didn't say it, Tifa did. I merely implied a concern of mine, even if I don't care either way. Still, I might as well add my two cents to the pot because I can.
"Shinra initiated new security measures during that week we lost." It's not a lie, they really did change some things according to the memo sent out to everyone on Tseng's mailing list. "There's going to be more security forces than originally anticipated, and because they're working off of a new shift-change schedule, they can call for reinforcements a lot quicker than before. How are we supposed to decipher codes when people are shooting at us every couple of seconds? Worst yet, what if one of us gets killed during the attempt?"
Yeah, if I die out there, you're all fundamentally screwed, because I'm the only one who knows how to hack the system to get you back out of there once we get in.
"Having a mercenary on our side might not be a bad thing," Tifa suggests, obviously comfortable with the situation as it stands. Not that Barret might not consider shooting us all again, but for now, I'd say go for it.
"I don't want no goddamn Shinra SOLDIER, ex, or not, in AVALANCHE. End of story."
"Actually boss-" Much to my surprise it is actually Biggs stepping up to the plate this time. "You saw what happened last time we tried something like this. Maybe it might be good to go in with an extra person, just in case. He might know the reactor a little bit better than we do."
"Or he might be one of them sent to get in our ranks to get us all killed."
Can't fault him for that logic. That is his job after all - to keep the rest of us from getting killed. Anything after that is our own problem.
"Barret," Tifa chimes in with a pleading tone. "Could you just give it some thought? Please?"
The grumbling we're receiving right now is none too pleasant as it is and she asks him to give this some thought. That's how we keep losing this particular argument. Don't give the top dog the option of thinking this through without having rules to follow. Otherwise he'll just shoot Cloud and be pissed at us for the rest of the week. Neither of which are productive in the long run. Step aside Tifa and let me show you how this is done - Turk style.
"Isn't that being a little bit unreasonable?"
Both members of AVALANCHE look at me, one in horror and the other in minor surprise, gun arm still aimed for Cloud's chest. Not even bothering to act like I even care that I'm treading a very fine plank between glory and perdition, I cross my arms across my chest and lean against the wall, keeping one eye on them both to gauge their reactions.
"Jessie," Tifa growls at me, thoroughly offended that I'm switching sides.
"Stay out of this, Tifa." A simple warning with enough force to effectively remove her as an obstacle that could hinder me here. Biggs and Wedge exchange looks of confusion, trying to read my next moves and possible motive for becoming so cold towards them all. Unfortunately, you can't read a Turk like a book. We're a whole other language. "You two as well."
The earlier spat was the warm up. This is the real thing this time.
Barret scowls and gives Cloud a warning look, unmoving like a dark, sinister mountain about to erupt with hellish fury. "What the hell's gotten into you all of a sudden, Jessie?"
"Go ahead," I gesture to the lowly infantryman. Holy he looks so innocent standing there as though I've just slapped him across the face. I'm sorry, Cloud. That look tears at my soul with the bitter blade of betrayal. Please understand that this has to be this way. I'm doing my job to help you. I have to be this way. "You obviously intend on shooting him regardless of whatever any of us suggest that might be beneficial to AVALANCHE."
"Having the enemy with us ain't beneficial!"
"And shooting him is?" I take a casual stroll around the fringe of the danger-zone, daring to put on foot over the invisible line drawn in front of the bar and the overturned chairs fencing Cloud in. "Really, Barret, what do you do if you're wrong and he's not with Shinra?"
"He's with Shinra. He's got the uniform and that look in his eyes."
"Yes," I study Cloud's mako glowing eyes and step away, feeling like a scrapper faced with opportunity, but uncertain if I really want to take the battle to that level. The Turk in me itches to be called upon for a more, vengeful role. "The mark of SOLDIER. The mark of Shinra. But is he one of them?"
"Of course he is. Once with them, always with them."
"Think about that, Mr. Wallace." I pretend to be looking out the window at the dreary landscape beyond. "Is that always true?"
There, all of my cards are face up on the table for everyone to see.
"Goddamn it, Jessie, you're a pain in the ass sometimes."
It's in my nature. Well Barret. Now what are you going to do? I've got you cornered and didn't even need to bark and growl all that loud to get you there.
"One mission." Two words spoken matter-of-factly with a hint of smugness behind them. "Give him one mission. If he shows any signs of deflecting back to Shinra or jeopardizing the mission, you shoot to kill."
Cloud's eyes are wide with surprise at the words, his silence unnerving. He's a smart kid, knowing when to keep his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself. So long as that intelligence is not limited to thought alone, he should be fine.
"Ex-SOLDIER. I don't like this at all," the top dog of AVALANCHE lowers his gun arm with a wary look towards Cloud. "You better not try anything."
"I told you, I don't work for Shinra anymore."
Simply shaking his head in defeat, Barret lumbers out of Seventh Heaven, pausing to look at me before gesturing to Biggs and Wedge to follow him on his rounds. I've seen that look a few times before between Commander Verdot and Tseng before the latter vanished under 'mysterious' circumstances. It is a look of disappointment, a question of judgment, a warning.
The door clicks as it returns to its frame at the boys' departures, Tifa stepping gingerly across the floor with Cloud in tow. For a moment, there is only silence, permeated by the dull buzz of a fly somewhere along the ceiling.
"Thank you, Jessie."
Sometimes, I wonder if I made the right choice.