The Last of an Elite
Chapter Eight: Invasion of the Short Blonde Girl.
By InterfaceLeader
-~-~-~-
"Whatcha building honey?"
Reeve looked up guiltily. The half built robot-cat sat in front of him, its guts strewn about the worktable.
"A.... personal project is it?" Scarlet allowed her crimson lips to curve into a seductive smile, whilst her mind trying to work out an advantage to finding the usually irreproachable man breaking Shin-Ra policy.
"No- No, it's uh...." Reeve stammered, trying to think of some reason he would be building a cat in the tech lab during the early hours of the morning.
"Shhh" Scarlet moved past him and examined the robot. "A cat? How - cute. I've no doubt it will become a weapon of enormous power."
"It's not a weapon.... It's... just a remote-controlled toy really. I finished late, and I didn't want to go to sleep in my office... I thought I'd...um... improve my practical skills...." Reeve's voice slowly died away. He watched as the woman picked up the control unit and examined it. She tapped one lengthy red nail against it thoughtfully.
"Hmm. No real offensive capabilities here. But..." An idea suggested itself to her, and she turned back to Reeve, holding the control unit towards him "We could extend the range on this thing. It wouldn't be hard to install an auto-pilot of sorts. There's a fair few places Shin-Ra are - less than welcome. We could send this thing in, get it to listen in on the meetings they hold without our representatives."
"Turn Cait Sith into a spy!?" Reeve took a step back, and looked at her with open eyes. "No! He's just an innocent little toy!"
"Nobody and nothing is innocent." Scarlet leaned forward and tapped the nervous man in the centre of his chest. "This 'toy' you've built could be useful... very useful."
Reeve watched blankly as the woman dropped the unit and strolled back out the room, pausing briefly to flick a curly strand of golden hair back over her shoulder and give him an intense look. Shaking his head he looked down at the cogs and wires scattered around.
"Does everything I build end up with a different purpose to what I meant?" He asked the cat. It looked up at him and smiled. "Tell your fortune?"
-~-~-~-
Elena took a deep breath, pulling herself up as straight as she could. She was wearing the closest she could manage to city-camouflage. Loose grey cotton trousers, a darker grey jumper, her blond hair covered with a grey hat. Black gloves and black sneakers finished the outfit. She had traded the hunting rifle for a more utilitarian pistol, a Browning. She was hoping she wouldn't have to use it – she doubted the blanks it was loaded with would scare members of SOLDIER.
She was standing at the foot of a flight of stairs which she knew from studying the building plans led up to the 59th floor. Adrenaline was pumping round her body, but she forced herself to breathe normally, carefully reviewing her plan.
OK. I get up as far as I can without being seen. When I reach the floor with the Turks office I attack some guards, and – hopefully – win the fight, thus showing off my fighting abilities. But without killing any. Then the Turks come out and I explain who I am and why I attacked. They accept me as a Turk, and I'm in. Yeah.
She sighed. It had seemed like a good idea when she'd thought it up. She had even visualised the conversation, her standing there spinning the gun whilst Tseng congratulated her on becoming a member. Now she wasn't so sure.
I could go home and get a cup of tea and end up dreaming away my whole life. Or I can DO this.
She gritted her teeth and started running up the stairs.
-~-~-~-
Reno leant against the door. Tseng had been pretty light on the punishment, all he had to do was patrol the whole damn building checking up on every guard, soldier and monster. He'd had worse.
Lighting a cigarette he reflected on the room he was standing in. It was his favourite room in the building, mainly because it was free of surveillance cameras and no one but him ever seemed to come in here. It also had a good escape route, the flight of stairs that led out the building were always deserted.
He stretched his arms out in front of him, pushing himself back against the door, enjoying the few moments peace.
The door opened.
-~-~-~-
Elena yelled with shock as the person came through the door she had just opened. He fell right into her and she too lost her balance. They went down in a tangle of limbs and she felt herself slip over the edge of the step.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
They tumbled ungracefully down the flight of stairs, landing in a crumpled heap next to the wall. The person let loose a string of profanities that made Elena blush crimson.
"Stop swearing! Shut up! Don't move!" She grabbed her gun and pointed it at him, shaking.
"What the f.....?" the person glared up at her out of burning turquoise eyes. Elena recognised the Mako influence in them, and then a quick survey of the rest of him caused her to click as to who it was.
"A- Are you Reno Denli?"
"Put that bloody gun away! Who the hell do you think you are trying to take on the whole of Shinra by yourself!?"
"No! Do as I say – you have to take me up to the Turks office!"
-~-~-~-
Reno leapt to his feet, grabbing her wrist and forcing the gun away from him in one swift movement. The girls eyes went wide with shock as she let go of the weapon.
"Ow! That hurt!"
Reno grunted as he turned the gun on her. "Serves you right for trying to give me orders – I'll take you to the Turks office alright you little bitch, but you're not going to like it there."
She looked up at him, and Reno allowed himself to take a wandering glance up and down her. Big blue eyes – filled with frustration and anger at the moment but retaining an innocence that he promptly discounted. He'd seen too many innocent looking psychopaths. A few strands of blond hair that poked out haphazardly from her black hat. She was on the small side, short and slender. A good figure too, Reno let his mind switch away from business for the moment.
"Are you quite done?" She asked icily. Reno smirked.
"We haven't even started yet" He pointed up the stairs, keeping the muzzle of the pistol trained on her "Up you go."
She shook her head "You don't understand! I'm not an enemy!"
"Riiiight. You just snuck in here, armed, trying to kill me in the process, in order to express your undying love and loyalty to us."
"That's it exactly!" She beamed at him. "Will you help me explain to Tseng?"
Reno stared at her. "You have to be kidding! You expect me to buy that?" He rammed the gun into her. "Up the stairs, now!"
She crossed her arms. "No! Not until you accept that everything that happened here was an accident! I wasn't trying to kill anyone!"
"Are you crazy? I'm the one with the gun here, so you don't argue with me! Get up those stairs or I'll blow your kneecaps off or something!"
She blinked. "Oh! It's only got blanks in it. I told you – I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I'm here to see Tseng and I didn't know how else to get into the building."
Reno shoved the gun into a pocket and pulled out his electro-mag rod instead. "See this? It works like a cattle prod. For prodding cows like you! Now get up those stairs!"
Her face turned red at the insult, and she bit back whatever reply she had come up with. Turning on her heel she headed slowly up the stairs. Reno followed her up, keeping in close to her back.
-~-~-~-
Rude sat in the 7th Heaven bar, knowing he looked out of place but not really caring. He drank vodka, waiting patiently for Tifa to return and take over the bar-keeping duties from the little girl that was currently serving him.
Both the man with the gun for an arm and Tifa had been gone for sometime, and Rude began to wonder if he should give up and go home. He had left the Shin-Ra HQ shortly after hearing Reno's description of the man named "Cloud" during his report to Tseng. Despite the fact he was off-duty he still found himself scanning the crowd for signs of spiky blond hair.
His PHS beeped, and he answered it, dropping Gil on the bar and leaving the well-lit room for the darker, colder street outside.
"Rude? This is Tseng. I've just received a report from the guards who were at the reactor that was hit by Avalanche last night. Apparently they all escaped, despite the presence of the Airbuster. They thought they'd got one, but Reno's description of the guy he met in the church matches too well."
"......"
"On the upside we now have a full description of all the terrorists, and there's been a number of matching files found. I want you to come back to HQ and look them over."
"Yes."
Rude snapped his PHS closed and trudged towards the train station. He felt annoyed, it was late and more than anything he just wanted to go to sleep. Or get drunk. He got onto the train, his intimidating figure clearing the carriage out in moments. Even the Shin-Ra employees who knew him left. Nobody wanted to stay around a Turk on business.
When he reached the office he paused for a moment. Some strange intuition nudged the back of his brain. Shaking his head he opened the door.
The Turks main office had been refurbished since Reno had joined a few years back. It had become more modern, a wide open space with minimalist decoration. Large windows looked out over the smoky city. There were several large desks, and towards the back was an armoured door that led into the private armoury.
There were personnel files spread out over one of the desks. The room was currently empty, and Rude moved forward, picked up one of the files and flipped it open, idly.
A photo slipped out, tumbled to the floor. Rude bent automatically and picked it up. No emotion crossed his face as he turned the photo right side up. He looked at it for a moment, then gently replaced it in the file and dropped it on the table.
The photo had been that of Tifa Lockheart, the woman he had been silently admiring for the past 5 years.
-~-~-~-
Elena moved back up the stairs slowly. She had no doubt that the Turk behind her had mastered the strange weapon he was holding. However, walking into the Turks office as a captive, unable to even make it into the main building before being discovered, did not figure in her plan.
She reached the door, still hanging open. She paused for a second, took a deep breath.
"Speed it up sweetheart." The man behind her drawled, and she could imagine the cocky smirk on his face. It gave her an added spurt of anger.
She jumped forward through the door, spinning round and slamming it shut in the suprised Turks face. He hit it a second later, and it took all her strength leaning on it to prevent it from springing back open. He slammed into it again, and she gasped as her body absorbed the shock. She looked round the room quickly and spied the chair next to the large computer system. She hooked it in with her foot and placed it in front of the door. After adding the wastepaper bin, the monitor (she was careful to unplug it first) and a number of unidentifiable objects she found scattered about, she breathed easier.
Peeking round the opposite door she saw a number of Shinra Guards. Behind, the door was being repeatably hammered, and already the chair was being moved bit by bit across the floor. She had no time, so she threw caution to the winds and ran.
She shot past the guards at top speed, their suprised yells punctuating the air behind her. She pushed a suprised secretary out of the way as she stood by the entrance to the stairs. A keycard was in the slot and Elena grabbed it as she sped past.
"Stop her!"
The Turk had managed to break through. Already he was hot on her tail, the guards falling into place behind him. One of them fired a gun and the bullets slammed into the stair below her. She turned the corner, out of sight for the moment, and ran on.
-~-~-~-
Tseng entered the office, noticing that Rude was looking through the files already. He placed the disposable cup of coffee on the edge of the table, watching the bald man thoughtfully. Tseng had learnt to read Rude's silences, and this was a heavy brooding silence that suggested he had a problem.
"Looked at Cloud Strife's file yet?"
".....no."
"His is the most interesting. And possibly the most dangerous. Apart from anything else he's a random factor – we can't predict his motives or actions."
Rude picked up Cloud's file dutifully and glanced through the brief history. ".......Involved in the Nibelheim incident?"
"Yes. And nothing good came out of that."
"...... and Hojo ....."
"Hmm. Yes. That might explain the Mako eyes that Reno spotted. Unfortunately all of the files relating to that experiment are in Nibelheim. All we know at the moment is that it used Mako."
"What doesn't?"
"Good point. Anyway, I'd rather dispose of him quickly. The rest shouldn't be too much of a problem."
"..........I......."
Tseng raised an eyebrow as Rude struggled to find the words. Although he had never been a wordsmith he didn't usually have this much trouble.
"....I......know.....I think... I know where they are."
"You do?" Tseng felt a flicker of hope. Maybe this mission would be easier than he had first thought.
"Yes." Rude stared unseeing at the file. "Sector Seven."
The door crashed open. Tseng was on his feet even as the woman leapt into the room. He registered blonde hair in wild disarray, blue eyes wide with suprise and terror, a small, compact body in unassuming grey, before his reflexes kicked in and he sent her flying to the floor. She landed hard.
An entire squad of Shinra Guards, led by a furious looking Reno and followed by one of the secretaries demanding to know what was going on, spilled into the room. For a few seconds chaos reigned. Tseng had to stop Reno from mauling the floored blonde. The guards raced around, certain the building was under attack, setting up defensive posts at each window. The secretary started screaming that someone had stolen her keycard and then fainted into Rude's arms, which didn't amuse the retiring man at all.
"Everyone SHUT UP!" Tseng's voice thundered, cutting off the background noise. The secretary opened her eyes and stood up hastily. The guards took a look at Tseng's face and quickly and silently withdrew from the room. Silence descended.
"Hi Tseng! I'm Elena!" The blonde turned her face up to his with a look of pure infatuation in her eyes.
-~-~-~-
A/N: Some story, some drama, some slapstick ^_^ Hope you liked it. Next up: the plate drops, Rude battles his inner demons, and Elena gets mad. Plus I should finally get around to scanning (and plugging) the cover art I did for this fic. Stay tuned!