Veld hadn't even made it to the elevator when his phone buzzed once against his chest, then again. Arching a brow, he reached inside his jacket and pulled it out, flipping it open as a third text came through - all from Reeve.

[Reeve] I need to talk to you.

[Reeve] We have a problem.

[Reeve] It's about Rufus.

Veld blinked, feeling a strange shiver of foreboding snake down his spine. He paused in front of the elevator, quickly sending a return text.

[Veld] Where are you?

There wasn't more than a couple seconds' pause, and he could picture him pacing with his phone in hand.

[Reeve] My office. Hurry.

Veld confirmed he was on his way, but didn't ask more. If he wasn't being warned to bring backup, it wasn't necessary yet. Whatever was wrong, Reeve thought it was best to keep quiet. Or leave to his discretion. Either one suited him fine. If there was a problem, he wanted to handle it himself. Especially now.

It wasn't so much that it was a long trip to Reeve's office, as it was that his mind was conjuring up a stream of useless possibilities of what might be wrong. Rufus wasn't hurt, or Charles would have contacted him himself.

…actually, it was rather odd something was up with Rufus and he'd be hearing about it from Reeve, and not Charles. Charles was the one with him. It was clearly implied Reeve had been in his office since he'd left. That severely limited his access to Rufus.

Mind buzzing, he waved absently to Reeve's secretary and let himself in. "Reeve?"

"Close the door," Reeve said quietly. He was in the back by his drafting table, but the lock engaged the moment the door closed.

Veld arched a brow, about to speak, then felt the other join it as a familiar little head popped up from under Reeve's desk. Cait Sith. In the most benign terms, Reeve's little furchild. In practice, a nosy little spy who had a bad habit of getting into the vents, and he highly suspected was more capable with computers than you'd expect. "Reeve…"

Veld bit back a sigh and approached the desk. Cait promptly hid under it like a child expecting to be punished, and he paused. "I'm not angry. But I need to know what happened."

"Play the clip, Cait," Reeve said quietly.

Cait crawled up into Reeve's chair, tipping his head slightly. The audio started abruptly, like the recording had been started belatedly upon realizing what he'd walked in on.

"- paid as soon as I have proof Fuhito is dead. I've provided you the necessary locations and pass codes, this ought to be child's play if you're half as good as they say."

Rufus' voice, he'd know it anywhere, even slightly distorted to a deeper, less precise tone.

"You might even pick up another bounty or two along the way. AVALANCHE hasn't exactly made friends with the rest of Midgar's gang scene. I'm sure there's even a Don or two that would like them out of their territory, and if you cut out the brain, the body is useless."

"Just Fuhito?"

Another man, also one he recognized, from the same mercenary guild they'd gotten Judet from. High quality, but he demanded a steep price for his work. Not that Rufus couldn't pay, but it would be a notable dip into his pocketbook.

"My interest is only with their scientist," Rufus said. "Do what you will with the rest, but I'm paying you for Fuhito."

"Alright. If your intel's good, I should have it done by tomorrow night."

"I should hope so. Contact me with the required proof of his demise and I'll see that you're paid the rest of the fee."

"Deal."

The recording fuzzed out, and Veld took a slow, deep breath, processing it.

Rufus wanted Fuhito dead. Understandable, he wasn't the only one.

Rufus had the means to hire a hitman. Not a surprise, with his paycheck.

Rufus knew where he was, to send a hitman, including 'pass codes' which sounded an awful lot like access codes to at least one AVALANCHE hideout.

Which left him with three questions: Why did Rufus want Fuhito dead, where did he get the pass codes, and why didn't he come to the Turks?

From Reeve's wide-eyed expression, he'd come to the same conclusion Veld was rapidly coming to.

He'd always known there was a leak in the company, and that it had to be fairly high up - Reeve kept a tight grip on the reactor codes. Heidegger, for all his faults, was careful with his security schedules even if he could be unfortunately predictable. But it had never crossed his mind that Rufus -

"I'll need to speak with him," Veld said quietly.

"Veld, if he's betrayed us to AVALANCHE…" Reeve trailed off.

"I'll hear him out," Veld said. He knew Rufus. This was calculated. He just couldn't make the math make sense.

"SOLDIER will rip him to shreds," Reeve said. "And if we put a traitor in the President's chair, we're still in the same boat."

"Only if they find out," Veld said. "Which is why he's gunning for Fuhito. Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead."

"Are you willing to take that risk?" Reeve asked.

That was the million gil question, wasn't it? Was he willing to risk the SOLDIERs finding out Rufus had been in bed with AVALANCHE? Or worse, that he'd known and endorsed him anyway? Could he, in good conscience, endorse him in the first place?

No, he thought grimly. He really couldn't. "I need to talk to him, find out what he was thinking."

"But if this is what it looks like?" Reeve prompted gently.

"Then I have to make sure the job's done myself," Veld said. "And have a long talk with Anya."

Reeve nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, and it's better I know." Veld sighed. "But I'm sorry too."

Rufus was not expecting to see Veld again that evening, but welcomed him in with a smile. "I don't suppose you're here to wait for news?"

"No."

Something in his tone tipped him off, the flatness, maybe. "…Veld?"

"How long did you think you could keep a secret from the Turks, Rufus?" Veld asked.

Rufus blinked at him. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean."

"Putting a hit out on one of AVALANCHE's leaders is one thing, I've been trying to take them down for over a year," Veld said. "But practically having the keys to their hideouts to send the hitman with? Rufus."

It was like watching a transformation, the innocent confusion fading under a small, dark smile. Those blue eyes were hard, guarded, and Veld wondered how he hadn't seen it happening. "Well, bravo, Veld. Watching me a bit closer than you did the bastard, hm? Maybe you just learned your lesson."

"Why, Rufus?" Veld asked.

"Why do you think, Veld? I'm a Shinra." He shrugged carelessly. "I tired of waiting for an inheritance he was wasting."

"So you leaked information to people who would like nothing more than to destroy it?" Veld said. "You're smarter than that."

"Carefully calculated, I assure you," Rufus said.

"Do you have any idea how many people have died?" Veld asked.

"Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made for progress," Rufus said lightly. His smile turned mocking. "You taught me that."

Veld refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing how deep that cut. "Here I'd thought I'd taught you better."

"Better than what? You were going to kill the old man too," Rufus said. "We literally just talked about it."

"Your old man is getting what's coming to him," Veld said. "There are innocent people -"

"Nibelheim," Rufus snapped, narrowing his eyes. "Banora, for that matter. I may have enabled them to attack some ShinRa bases, but I didn't cover up the destruction of entire towns. Or does their middling size mean they don't count? Tell me, Veld, are your hands clean because it was sanctioned? Execution is still murder."

"I've never pretended my hands were clean," Veld said. "But you know damn well this is different."

"Why is it different? Why is it any different from every time you send a Turk out on an objective to take out someone who's been deemed a threat?" Rufus demanded. "Why is it worse than us bulldozing an innocent nation because they wouldn't lick the old man's boots and let him put in a reactor?"

"Because we trusted you," Veld said. "We weren't your enemies, Rufus. Killing off your own people is exactly what's getting your father shot tonight."

Rufus pressed his lips tight. "I see. Planning to make a clean sweep and start over, then?"

"I should," Veld said darkly, grimly satisfied to see Rufus' bravado falter. "That would be the practical, responsible thing to do to someone who thinks it's acceptable to just throw his own people away."

Rufus was silent a long moment, until the weight of it was suffocating. "But?"

"Maybe I'm getting sentimental," Veld said quietly. "Maybe I just care too much."

Rufus winced, and looked away. "Veld, I -"

"Don't you dare apologize unless you mean it," Veld said.

"I'm not sorry for what I did," Rufus said. "I won't apologize for that. But I… am sorry it hurt you. That was never my intention."

Veld smiled bitterly. "No, I was never supposed to know, was I? In your mind, you would use them to get what you wanted, then… what, feed us intel to get them killed?"

"It was understood that we were using each other," Rufus said, going to take a seat with a sigh. "Even as blind with delusions of grandeur as he is, Fuhito's not so stupid as to think I actually cared for his cause. It was an alliance of convenience, and the second we didn't need each other we'd have turned on each other. He just doesn't know he's expendable already."

Veld shook his head. "I want you to tell me everything you know."

Rufus arched a brow. "…what?"

"I'll handle AVALANCHE," Veld said. "Give me what you've got, and we'll clean up your mess. Keep this quiet."

Rufus' eyes widened. "You're serious? Just like that?"

"I'm not letting you get yourself killed over taking a belated teenage rebellion too seriously," Veld said. "But I'm not putting you in the President's chair yet, either."

"What?" Rufus caught himself, straightening stiffly. "I'll be expected to take the chair. You can't deny me my inheritance without a damn good excuse."

"Please, the board watched you grow up. They still see you as too young for this," Veld said.

"And just who do you think they'd accept as a replacement? You?" Rufus snorted.

"Someone who's already proven he can run Midgar and Junon with very little help." Veld smiled. "Reeve."