After she finished weeding, Aerith rose, dusting her hands off again. "How soon will they be here?"

"'nother ten minutes, probably," Rod said.

"Hmm… might as well see what we can do from here," Aerith said. She looked back at Vincent, arching a brow. "You, come with me. Rod, you stay here."

"Nuh-uh, I'm supposed to be watchin' you," he reminded her, getting up off the pew he'd been sprawled on.

"We're just going to the altar, don't fuss." She sighed.

"…the altar?" Rod raised a brow, hesitant. "Uhm."

"Would you like to help?" She asked sweetly.

"I, uh…" He swallowed nervously. "I can watch from here."

"Thought so." She beckoned to Vincent and headed for the altar, kneeling beside it. It was nothing special, hardly even recognizable now after decades of neglect, just a raised wooden dais with faded inscriptions. "Come here, Vincent."

Vincent followed her, kneeling beside her when prompted. "What, exactly, are we doing?"

"Using your connection to the Planet," she said.

He glanced at her sharply. "I'm not."

"Pardon?"

"Connected to the Planet," he clarified. "My mother was a priestess, but the line was matrilineal and broke with me."

"You're still favored and carry the blessing of one of the Powers," she said. "But that's not what I meant."

He arched a brow at her. "Then what?"

"One of your… passengers," she said delicately, kindly not looking at him as he froze.

It took Vincent a moment to find his voice, hearing a low chuckle that wasn't his own. "One of my…"

"He's Planet-Borne," Aerith said. "And he will help us."

Vincent blinked at her, feeling a faint flutter of amusement-not-his and shifting uneasily. He hadn't realized until this moment how quiet his headmates had been since he'd come to Midgar. "You don't know what you ask."

She looked at him then, with a startling depth of knowing in those vibrant green eyes. "I know more than you think."

He felt the dizzying sensation of Presence, the strongest of the spirits bound to him stirring. 'A bold little thing. The trust of a Cetra, and the blind courage of a human. Interesting.'

Vincent arched a brow, frowning. A Cetra? 'I thought they were dead.'

'People said as much about you,' the voice retorted, still rather amused. It was an easier feeling to bear than the overwhelming wrath that had consumed him for so long.

'There's a difference between one man caught in the whims of science, and an entire race that's been unseen for millennia,' Vincent said.

'Perhaps.' He seemed unconcerned with the distinction, merely curious. 'What does she want of me?'

Vincent blinked a few times, refocusing and finding Aerith watching him patiently, with more than a hint of curiosity. "…he wants to know what you want."

"I want to know what the Planet thinks about this particular summon," she said. "You didn't explain much, but you said something about an incomplete summoning, and implied that it's been active for an extended period of time. I would think the Planet might have feelings about something like a summon being misused."

Vincent considered that a moment. "It's hard to think the Planet would notice just one person."

She smiled wryly. "You'd be surprised. And it doesn't hurt to ask."

"I don't know –" he paused, feeling a shift and swell of power, bracing himself at once. 'What are you doing?'

'What the little Cetra has asked. I would rather Minerva than Titan, but this will do.'

"Relax," Aerith said softly, gently touching his arm. "It's okay."

"But -"

'Don't make this difficult when it doesn't have to be. If you calm down, you can see what I'm doing,' he said.

Vincent held his breath, eyes unfocusing as his attention turned inward. For a moment, the world shimmered green, and then went black. He tensed, gasping, and felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Hush." The voice was deeper here, a low rumble just behind him, but he couldn't turn. He couldn't move with the hand on his shoulder, anchoring him in place. "Stay, and be still."

It was an act of sheer willpower to nod, trying to focus as he watched tendrils of green start to creep into his field of vision. Slowly at first, they began to fill in the invisible 'ground' until he was up to his knees in a flow of pulsing green energy. 'What is this?'

His voice echoed oddly, not unlike the Other. Did that mean they were inside his mind?

"A mere projection of the Lifestream." Out of the corner of his eye, he could just make out a figure, taller than him with silver skin and glowing gold eyes. "Listen."

For lack of having any idea what to do, Vincent let his eyes close and listened. There was a low rumble, like rushing water, but he couldn't make out anything coherent.

Then there was a flicker.

His eyes opened automatically and briefly he could make out a distant, familiar figure, a woman in green with a katana on her back. Her hand pulsed red, energy he could feel even at a distance, but… twisted. Corrupted, somehow. As if she felt his gaze, she looked up, staring at him with hollow, exhausted eyes. The rumble got louder.

And then it was all gone, and he was back in the church.

Aerith was staring at him with wide eyes, slightly dilated. "…well?"

"I… don't understand," he said quietly, a little dazed.

'The Planet is displeased,' the voice rumbled. 'The summons were a gift, and this one has been corrupted. It's a threat.'

"What did he say?" Aerith asked softly. At his confused look, she gestured to his face. "Your eyes change when he's speaking. What did he say?"

"He said the Planet is 'displeased' and sees the summon as a threat," Vincent said.

Aerith made a quiet, concerned sound. "Then we have to hurry, before it does something about it."

"…what can it do?" Vincent asked.

Aerith arched a brow. "Chaos isn't the only WEAPON."

"Chaos?" The name resonated with him. He remembered stories of Chaos, from when his father had been studying Omega.

'Had your father a little more restraint, we wouldn't be in this situation, my host,' the dark voice said.

Vincent considered that. 'You're Chaos, then.'

'I am,' he said simply, as if a mortal being bound to a demi-WEAPON was something of no consequence.

He was going to need to think about that. Maybe he should have read his own files before Felicia's…

"The fun has arrived, yo," Reno announced, slipping into the church with Rude a step behind. "Let's get the ball rollin' yeah? We're on a time limit."

"Of course." Aerith rose, smoothing out her dress and picking up a staff from behind the altar. "We're ready."

"This is your show, Valentine," Reno said. "Where're we goin'?"

Vincent was silent a moment. "Where are the exits?"

Reno hummed. "You think they're bookin' it outta town, huh? Not a bad idea. I'll give you a list. They'll have t' take a road out, there's no gettin' a group that big through the cracks with any kind of speed. Not if they've got stuff with 'em."

Vincent nodded, glancing at Aerith. "Go with them. Don't engage, if you locate them, just track."

"Damn good idea, we'll do that," Reno said. "Rod, you go with Valentine. Been a while since he's run these grounds, yeah? A little familiarity with the status quo'd help out."

"You got it, boss," Rod said, nodding.

Vincent glanced at the rookie, smiling faintly behind his collar. "Just keep up."

"Pft, I got it, don't you worry. Let's rock." He tossed a lazy salute. "I got my phone, you need somethin'."

"Same. Keep in touch," Reno said. "You guys check the west end, first. It's closer to Junon."

Vincent nodded. He glanced at Aerith one more time, not sure what to say, and in the end said nothing. He hurried out, Rod hot on his heels.

In the end, they both found signs of AVALANCHE headed out of Midgar - moving in smaller groups, to avoid detection. Unfortunately, there was no way to move in on them without the troopers Heidegger happened to have on patrol noticing, and no sign of Elfé in either group. Which meant they had already made it further out into the Wastes, disappearing into canyons and crevices on the way to Junon. That would take some searching.

They returned back to the church, Reno briefly on the phone with Veld. "Chief's callin' us back in to regroup, see about how we're gonna move forward with this."

Vincent nodded. "That makes sense."

"I assume I'm gonna finish out my shift?" Rod said. "I mean, 'less Aerith's comin' with us."

Aerith bristled. "I've already told you, I'm not joining ShinRa."

Reno shrugged, tapping his EMR against his leg. "Dunno anybody's gonna be askin' that anymore. Hojo's dead. So is the President. An' Reeve an' Rufus don't care."

Aerith startled. "…what?"

"Valentine's work, neat as you please," Reno said, smirking. "They ain't gonna bother anybody anymore."

Aerith stared at Vincent in shock.

Vincent shrugged. "There were many reasons."

"I don't doubt," she said dryly. "It's just… unexpected, to think the Turks would go from protecting them, to…"

"Hey we're lookin' real hard for the assassin, y'know. There just weren't any clues. They were real good. Trained." Reno grinned lazily. "Can't find somethin' if there's nothin' to see."

"Like a ghost," Vincent deadpanned, though his eyes gleamed at Reno's laughter.

"Yeah, like a ghost." He smirked, shaking his head. "So yeah, you do what you want, Aerith, but I don't think anybody's gonna be botherin' you. Chief might even let up on the guard, eventually."

"I see." She made a thoughtful sound, watching them. "You're sure they're gone?"

"Yeaaah, old man was very dead, an' if Valentine hadn't finished off the Professor, SOLDIER would have," Reno said. "They're very, very dead."

Aerith nodded. "And I suppose, with all this going on, there's no way to talk to Veld or Tseng down here?"

"I mean, I could give you my phone for a minute, but not in person," Reno said. "Why?"

Aerith twirled her staff slowly. "I think I'd like to have a word."

Reno's brows rose and he glanced at Rude, who had gone rather still in that telling sort of incredulous way he had. He looked back at her, watching the very deliberate way she handled her staff, and grinned. "Y'know what? I'm game."