"Oh gods, why me?" I groan, stomach lurching as I clutch the toilet bowl and vomit for the second time today. I'm gonna be late. But, I can't ditch Reeve in this effort. If I do, he's fucked.

I drag myself to my feet, brush my teeth, and hurry out the door. The hotel staff nod as I walk past, eyeing me curiously. I flew out to Junon last night under the pretense that I will be here if extra security is needed. I hurry across the town to the section of Junon that Shinra inhabits, slipping inside the research facility when a polite young soldier holds the door for me. Reeve left me an earpiece on his desk yesterday, so I press the button to turn it on, hearing a tune ding into my ear when it connects.

"Hello? Kat?"

"Yeah?" I mutter, standing alone in the stairwell.

"Good. I need you to head to Hojo's lab."

"You disabled the cameras?"

"They're disabled as long as the guard's asleep."

"Reeve, they can watch the footage back!" I hiss, looking around sharply to see if anyone can hear me.

"They're off, Kat. When he wakes up, he'll turn them back on."

"Why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

Rolling my eyes, I climb higher until I reach the door to Hojo's lab, taking a deep breath to my nerves. Feverish, I shudder. Bet Reno gave me this shit.

"There's a man that leaves at eight-thirty every morning."

I check my watch. Two minutes. Huffing, I shake my head. Close call, Reeve. Could've warned me we'd be on a tight schedule. I press my back to the wall, sticking to the shadows of the dim stairwell. Sure enough, just as the clock hits eight-thirty, a soldier steps through the sliding door and hurries down the stairs. I dash through the opening, keeping my head low. Hurrying through the large, dark hallways, I follow the directions Reeve gave me last night. The door he mentioned is slightly ajar, but when I poke my head in, no one's there. This can't be right. Something paces in a large cage, followed by a bright, flickering light. They left him unguarded?

"Hey," I whisper, hurrying into the room. The creature looks up. "You're Red, right?"

"Yes." His golden eye flickers up and down, sizing me up. "And you're a Turk."

"Yeah, well, not right now." I pull my gun out of my pocket, checking to see if my makeshift silencer is secure before firing at the lock. The door of the cage creaks open. Red pokes his head out, his large nose quivering. He frowns up at me, enormous paws hitting the tile floor softly.

"I remember you. You locked us up."

"And?" I tuck my gun back into my waistband, nervous.

"How can I trust you?"

"I just broke you out," I scoff. "Your friend inside sent me."

"Is our friend your authority?"

"Well, no. But he's a friend of mine, too." When he doesn't follow me to the door, I roll my eyes. "Look, cat. I can't stand around waiting. My ass is on the line, Tifa and Barret are up for execution, and I've gotta get Cid's sorry ass out of a prison cell. Sound good?"

"I'm not a cat," he mutters, padding past me and stepping into the hallway.

"Fine."

"There should be a back entrance to the hangar. Go down the elevator and exit there."

"Won't people notice?" I ask, crossing my arms. Red frowns back at me, but I ignore him.

"You're taking another prisoner to the Highwind for transport."

"Okay…" Shaking my head, I turn back to Red.

"What's the plan?"

"Overtake the Highwind. Cait Sith will take care of Tifa and Barret."

"Is there anyone else on board?"

"Vincent and Yuffie."

I pull a set of chains off a nearby cage, shooting the lab-rat-dog-thing an apologetic look before binding him up like an animal that's sorely misbehaved. We hurry to the elevator, earning a few strange looks as I parade past with Hojo's experiment on a leash. Luckily, we make it to the hangar without much issue. Red glances up at me, keeping his voice low.

"Excuse me for prying further, but are you Cait Sith's controller?"

"Wish I was that cool," I scoff, shaking my head. "No, I just help the guy out. Orders from Rufus Shinra, ironically."

"Shinra ordered this?"

"No." I suppress a smile. "And if he finds out I'm part of this, I'm dead. Keep your mouth shut."

"So you're turning against Shinra?"

"No. Well, technically this is betrayal, I guess, but I really just want to help R—Cait's controller." I stare a soldier down when he starts to talk to me, pressing a finger to the earpiece. "Where are the others being held?"

"In the belly of the ship. They aren't technically cells, but they're most definitely locked up. You might want to—"

"We'll be fine."

"Alright."

Just as I reach the base of the hovering ship, I hear a click and something hits the space between my shoulder blades. Rolling my eyes, I shoot Red a sharp look and turn around, impatient.

"Do I look like I'm about to shit on your party?" I demand. The soldier, really just a boy, lowers his weapon, nervous under my stare. "I'm under orders, kid. You want me to report you to the President?"

"N-no, ma'am. I'm sorry, I didn't realize—"

"Stand straight," I snap, scowling. "And stop jumping at shadows before you get someone killed."

"Y-yes ma'am."

"Now, where's the entrance for this hunk-a-junk?"

"There's a ramp over there, ma'am."

"Move," I command, yanking on Red's chains and hurrying toward the ramp. Guards that watched the scene stand down, nodding respectfully as I pass by. One opens a locked door for me, allowing me to enter a long hallway of doors.

"Where are they?" I ask under my breath. Red raises his nose and sniffs, closing his eye.

"I can smell them," he says, frowning. I pause at the door and lock eyes with a passing guard. He looks considerably older than the rest, but I figure I'll give it a go.

"You. Open this door. Got a delivery."

"Who the hell are you?" he demands, stopping to scowl at us. Fuck.

"Kat. Open—"

"Kat who?"

"Kat from the Turks. Ruf—the President sent me to lock this oversized cat up."

"If you don't have the authorization to open that door with your ID, I'll take him and you can leave. The President should have told me his bootlickers were coming."

"Excuse me?" I snap. Red shifts uncomfortably by my feet. "I was sent, not you. Let me in." He doesn't budge, working his jaw irritably. "How do I know you're not one of Highwind's lackeys?"

"How do I know you're not? Turks don't deal with this shit."

"I'm new, shithead. I get to do the delivery work."

"Well then, shithead, deliver him to me and I'll take care of the rest." His eyes are sharp, angry. "I'm not opening that door for you, so either drag your sorry ass back to Rufus or hand the cat over."

"I don't have time for this," I huff, pulling my gun and shooting him through the head point-blank. Red jumpsd, blinking down at the guard's body as I dig through his pockets for a keycard.

"Was that necessary? I could have—"

"What, done the deed for me? I'm a big girl, Red. I can handle myself."

"He'd done nothing wrong."

"He was in my way." I swipe the card through the slot by the lock, reveling in its echoing click. "I may be helping you, but that doesn't mean I'm a good guy."

"Someone heard that gunshot," Reeve warns in my ear.

"Shit," I hiss, waiting for the door to ever so slowly slide open. "Red, keep an eye out for guards."

Red nods, sitting and facing the end of the hallway. I glance in the other direction, nearly shitting my pants when I turn back to stare down the barrel of a loaded gun. Instinctively, I point mine right back, fumbling. Then I pause, frowning and using a single finger to push the gun aside to see a pair of crimson eyes locked on the grinning cat-dog thing at my side.

"They didn't take your fucking weapons? Idiots." I shake my head, tucking the gun away and peaking into the room. "No one else in here?" Valentine redirects his weapon, deadpan.

"Who are you?"

"Name's Kat. Cait Sith sent me." He doesn't move. "I'm here to get your ass out of this cell, so you might want to—"

"No."

"Really, Vincent, she's helping us." Red's prickly fur stabs my skin through the fabric of my pants and I wince. "She's a Turk."

"She's Shinra."

"You know what?" Fearless, I bat the gun out of my face and scowl up at him. "Stay in the fucking cage then, Valentine. I have to get Cid and Yuffie before reinforcements see me helping you."

The ex-Turk frowns, watching me leave to open the doors of his friends. A young girl nearly knocks her face into mine when she pokes her head out, eyes brightening upon seeing Valentine emerging from his cell.

"Vinnie!" she squeals, running at him. Huffing, I shake my head, unlocking the last door to see Cid Highwind twiddling his thumbs on the edge of the room's bed. He jerks his head up sharply, grinning.

"Oh, hell yeah." Standing, he saunters up to me, clamping a hand down on my shoulder. "See ya finally made it in."

"See you finally made it back to your ship," I retort. "We've gotta take control of this baby. Cait's saving Barret and Tifa from a gas chamber."

"Hell of a day," Cid scoffs, shaking his head and motioning for the other three to follow him. "Unchain Red. Let's get these sons of bitches."