The Last of an Elite

Chapter Twenty Seven: You're Stupid Too!

By InterfaceLeader

-~-~-~-

"Tea twice a day? Are you outta your mind? I don't have time for making bloody pots of tea all day!" Reno threw the list of demands Elena had drawn up onto the desk, glowering at the slender blonde lady who was standing behind it, a cheerful smile on her face.

"Well I thought about that, and I saw that you actually get two breaks a day. Which is why I reduced it from three times a day," she responded. "So you are able to do that."

"I'm busy on my breaks!"

"I'm sure the bar will cope without your custom," Elena tapped the paper. "Now can I draw your attention to this clause here about swearing at, or around me..."

Reno made a choking noise. "You've got bitch and crap here! They're not swearwords!"

"Well they should be! They're degrading."

"I don't give a fu – "

"Do you know what the punishment for lying to the Turk boss is? I looked it up and it involves – "

"I know what it involves!" Reno was feeling an overwhelming urge to throttle the other Turk. "This is blackmail dammit! And why the hell aren't you putting Rude through this?"

"'Hell' and 'damn' is off limits Reno." Elena said, tutting. "And Rude is okay... he's been fairly nice to me, unlike some people."

"I've been nice!" Reno noted the expression on Elena's face and rephrased his statement. "I haven't been as bad as I could have been!"

"And now you'll be as good as you can be," Elena pushed the paper over to him. "Now sign!"

"You can't do this to me!"

"OK, let me just contact Tseng..." Elena started to pull out her PHS.

"I'm signing, I'm signing!"

-~-~-~-

Marlene was terrified. First she had been kidnapped, then she had been taken to the top-plate, where there was no familiar metal ceiling, just horrible swirling colours and shapes above that made her feel ill. They had entered a tall building and gone into a glass lift and taken up a huge number of floors, the city below getting further and further away, until she thought she would faint from the height. And now she was in a cluttered, dark office with models of machines and buildings all around her whilst the 'evil' man and another man with a goatee were having a tense conversation about things she didn't understand.

"The Temple of the Ancients is beyond a legend, no one has ever found it. Of course there's rumours, but..."

"I'm telling you they're after the 'keystone', which supposedly opens it! It's at the Gold Saucer right now, and that's were they're heading!" Reeve sat down, trying to avoid looking at the little girl who was staring at him with wide eyes. He had no idea who she was, he had contacted Tseng as soon as he had found out the information from Cait Sith and the Turk had come straight to his office along with the child.

"...." Tseng frowned, trying to think up a plan. There was no way he could reach the Gold Saucer before Avalanche, but if the keystone did open the Temple of the Ancients...

"Could this be the way to the Promised Land?" Tseng asked, a feeling of frustration welling up in him. After escaping from the fundamentalist religion of his childhood the last thing he wanted was to go hunting through temples for the very belief he had rejected.

"I don't see what else it could be," Reeve sat down in his chair, staring at the Cait Sith control module. It occurred to him suddenly that if he rewired a certain section he could halve its size.

"Reeve, I have an idea but I'm going to need your – or rather Cait Sith's – help," Tseng said, trying to work out how long it would take him to reach the Gold Saucer by helicopter. He'd have to stop for refuelling in Junon.

Reeve continued to stare at the control module. One part of his brain was warning him not to do this, to get involved in Turk work was foolish, but as he opened his mouth he found himself asking;

"What do you need me to do?"

-~-~-~-

The Shinra Guard was somewhat suprised to see one of the Turks come down to the corridor that turned into the jail-cells. He saluted automatically, and was even more surprised when the Turk indicated for him to come to the end of the corridor, away from the cells. He complied, noting that whilst the sunglasses hid the Turks expression, a slight frown was embedded in his forehead.

"Yes sir?"

"........... Do you have prisoner named Joanna Gramercy?"

"We do sir. Would you like to see her?" The Guard started to reach for the keys, but the Turk stopped him.

"No! ...... I don't"

The Guard waited, but the Turk didn't elaborate so he prompted. "Did you need anything else...?"

"......." The Turk studied him, then he turned abruptly, shaking his head. The Guard watched him leave with confusion, but then he stopped and looked back.

"Treat her well."

"Um... Yes sir!" The Guard saluted again and the Turk walked out of sight.

-~-~-~-

Reno unlocked the door to his apartment with irritation. He had had a very bad day, and the pile of mail that had been shoved through the letter-box during his absence didn't help his mood. He flicked through them quickly, bills, car adverts, a letter from some chick who hadn't worked out 'I love you' meant 'screw me', more bills, a letter of resignation from his cleaner and yet more bills. He screwed the lot up and chucked them in the general direction of the bin. Then he headed for the shower, resolving to get cleaned up before going out and getting hammered.

He closed his eyes as the water hissed down around him, splashing over his body, refreshing and relaxing.

It rushed over him, a great unnatural river that fell from the plate above. Everyone had spilled out of their homes, first suspicious then delighted. The general opinion had been that it was a break in a pipe that ran through the structure that stretched over them.

The ones old enough to remember the time before the plate had spoken affectionately of rain, telling tales of water that fell from the sky as far as the eye could see. They taught him and his contemporaries how to have water-fights, and drip-races. People jumped from puddle to puddle, sending up sprays and splashing everyone nearby.

He was soaked, laughing. For a short time everyone had forgotten the grim reality of their lives and were simply enjoying the suprise for as long as it lasted.

He had scooped up great handfuls of water, most of it cascading through his fingers but enough left to splash his brother, who splashed back, whooping and making mock-threats –

Brother?

Reno yanked the dial round, the water freezing for a second before cutting off. He fell back against the wall of the shower, shivering, arms wrapped round himself. The memory was already fading, slipping through his mind like quick-silver. He was left with a whirlpool of emotions. Shock, a fading feeling of happiness, a desperate desire to memorise every detail of the image, fear of the sudden lucid vision, and an almost unbearable sense of loss.

-~-~-~-

The five Shinra Guards and the pilot were once again grouped round the table. The materia and weapons were still hidden away around the room.

"He's back". The pilot looked at each Guard. "Are we ready?"

They nodded, as one.

"Then I propose we strike as soon as possible. Tomorrow, after he leaves the building."

A second nod, as one.

-~-~-~-

Reeve sat and listened to the conversation issuing from the tiny speaker. Every now and then he twisted his hands together and shot a glance towards the small girl still in his room, sat on the floor and listening to the voices with a sad expression on her face. Tseng had left her with some comment about how she might be useful. Reeve had no idea what he could mean.

Avalanche had been discussing Sephiroth, the Promised Land, and something about a Black Materia. Reeve had probed as far as he dared, but discovered little to help Shinra. And every time Barret or Tifa had spoken the little girl had looked as though she wanted to burst into tears which made Reeve feel very strange.

The group dispersed, and Reeve switched the auto-pilot back on. The worst part was yet to come, but he would have to wait a while for everyone to go to sleep.

"Why are you helping the evil man?" The little girl looked up at him.

"Evil man?" Reeve had no idea what the girl could mean. He never met children for any length of time and had a vague idea that they spent most of the their time throwing tantrums. He hoped this one wouldn't.

"Yes. With the long hair."

"You mean Tseng? He's not evil."

She frowned. "Yes he is. He took the flower lady."

"That's because it was his job. I don't think he really wanted to."

"It's his job to be evil?" Marlene wrinkled her nose. "That's stupid."

"It's not his job to be evil... not really... But sometimes people have to do bad things in order for good things to happen."

"What good thing happened because he took the flower lady?" Marlene demanded.

"Well, nothing, because she escaped."

"My Papa escaped her," Marlene said, having followed the news fairly closely. "And what good thing would have happened if she hadn't?"

"Well... we would have found the Promised Land."

"Pfft. I know where the Promised Land is!"

"You do?" Reeve said, somewhat blankly.

"Yes. It's Aeris' garden!"

"No...We're after a different Promised Land."

"What's wrong with that one? It's pretty and smells nice."

"Well... It is a nice place, but it won't be for much longer."

"Why not?"

"Because it needs Mako. And we're running out."

"Why?"

"Because people like to use it on other things, like electricity. And that uses it up."

"My Papa said we can make electricity from water." Marlene said, knowing that anything Barret said was gospel truth.

"We can, but it's not as reliable and..." Reeve hesitated, trying to work out some way of explaining why Shinra had chosen Mako.

"You're stupid too," Marlene turned her back on the man. "If Mako was reliable there wouldn't be power-cuts all the time!"

"We're only getting power-cuts because 'Papa' blew up two of our reactors." Reeve said, somewhat offended.

"He's not your Papa." Marlene turned back round. "And anyway, if Mako was reliable it wouldn't be running out!"

"Well when we find the Promised Land it won't be running out!"

"But you haven't found it yet." Marlene said swiftly.

"Yes, well... that's about to change!" Reeve turned back to the controller.

-~-~-~-

A/N: Anyone confused yet? No? Good, because all those separate plot-lines are going to have to start coming together soon. Well, 'soon' is an exaggeration since I have no idea how long this fic is going to end up ^^;; Anyway, hope you enjoyed the last 3 chapters and you're not bored yet. Let me know what you thought of them – and I hope I wrote Marlene like a 6-year old. An intelligent 6-year old.