Disclaimer: I don't own any of FFVII's characters or places, but I do have a shiny watch!

A/N: This being my first fan-fic, combined with the fact that I haven't played the game in a good long while, means characters might be a bit OOC. If it gets to bad, yell at me.

Prolog: Missing Persons Report

Two words would always greet Vincent when he went to visit Lucrecia.

"Get Out."

He never understood why she said that to him every week. Didn't she love him? She used to. Did she blame him? She never used to. In his days with her in Nibelheim, she would always reassure him that what was happening to her wasn't his fault. She wanted it all, in the name of science. What had changed?

She's finally done it.... she's finally realized that I'm a monster...

He never understood why he kept returning to her, every week. Did he love her? Possibly. He used to, that's for sure. He loved her more than his mind could handle. But what about now? Had her constant rejection finally affected him? No, rejection no longer phased him. No, he no longer felt the love he felt those three decades ago because monsters couldn't love. Back then, he still had some part of a man living inside him, but no longer. Hojo had made certain that Vincent was a full-fledged monster back in Nibelheim.

Nevertheless, Vincent always returned, just like today. The mountain climb was no longer a challenge to him after the months of visiting her. Months? Maybe years. After Cid had dropped him off a month after the destruction of Meteor, Vincent lost all perception of time. At first he would try to count his weekly visits to tell him what time of year it was, but he gave up. He didn't care. Now he wasn't even sure if his visits were weekly anymore.

But that didn't matter. Lucrecia's health was fading. Vincent didn't know what illness had befallen her; she never told him her symptoms and never permitted him to come close enough to examine her. He would return to her with various items for her to use at her disposal - hi-potions, antidotes, hypers, etc. He had let her die once already, he would not fail her again.

His mind traveled back in time as he entered her hidden cavern, as it always did. He recalled a fairly young Turk. His pale white face was framed with short ebony hair. In his arms the Turk held a short scientist. Her glasses didn't hide her understated beauty well. With her hand in his, she would look up into his eyes and speak those four words he longed to hear.

"I love you, Vincent..."

Vincent's head was suddenly cleared of the memory, just like it always was when he walked in Lucrecia's cave. Usually, before his mind could conjure up those four sweet words, two harsh ones would take their place. Those words never came; that is what shook Vincent out of his reverie this time. As much as he wished Lucrecia would refrain from telling him to "get out," now he longed for her to speak those words to him. He longed for her to speak any words to him.

"Lucrecia?"

The only response Vincent received was his own voice echoing back at him. Lucrecia was gone.

****************

"I'd like to start things off today by extending a heartfelt thank you to all of you. You, the citizens of Midgar, have been the key to this project. Without all of your efforts, no matter how big or how small, I would not be able to stand before you today doing what I'm doing. But now, thanks to you, I am here with a shovel in my hand, ready to break ground for Neo-Midgar! A Midgar without Mako! A Midgar without plates! A new Midgar - our new home!"

Towards the end of his speech, President Reeve couldn't contain his excitement. On the other end of the makeshift stage, Reno couldn't contain his boredom. In one short year, the Turks, his Turks had been turned into nothing more than bodyguards for the president and a clean up crew. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy helping his president. Over the past year, he managed to see Reeve for what he truly is. Reeve wasn't the backstabbing AVALANCHE terrorist Reno thought he was. He had helped Cloud and his friends because, in the long run, it was in the best interests of Midgar. And Reno, like most children of the slums, had always loved their city. They weren't like the higher-ups on the plate that took Midgar's graces for granted. Reno never cared much for Shinra, Inc., but he had nothing but respect for Midgar.

No, Reno didn't dislike his new President, or the Turks' new purposes, but he disliked speeches and hated cleaning, which is just what he, along with everyone else in the city, had been doing for the past year. With Reeve being virtually the only surviving Shinra executive, therefore making him heir to the Shinra "throne," he could finally put into action his ideas for the Neo-Midgar he dreamed up so many years ago. It was a clean, happy Midgar, unlike the Neo-Midgar envisioned by the former presidents. So, for the past year, the President, the Turks, and the citizens of Midgar have been cleaning out the rubble left in the wake of Meteor. Now it was time to rebuild.

Surprisingly, everything went off without a hitch and a quiet, peaceful night followed the ceremonies. Reno had been on guard the whole time. Despite him leaving his spying days behind him, he was still a Turk; he had his eyes and ears on everyone. In the past few months he could feel a bit of unrest within some of the citizens. Talk of rebellion started a few weeks ago. Most of the talk came from former plate dwellers, unhappy that they had been put to work. But Reno had his doubts.

They're too stupid to organize a rebellion. They were always just pawns in the fat-bastard's chess game of power. But who's controlling the pieces now?

"Reno!" The Turk nearly fell out of his chair with surprise as Reeve came running practically over the door of the makeshift shanty that served as a temporary home for the Turks.

Reno took his chance to get a few words in while the President was waiting for his breath to return. "Who lit your panties on fire, Reevey-poo?"

"There's a fight! A big one. Some little squabble blown out of proportion..." Reno was about to ask whether or not he really thought stopping a fight was worth a Turk's time, before Reeve stumbled over his next words. "And Elena... she got separated from Rude when they went in. I don't know if she's hurt, but the crowd doesn't seem too friendly to her."

Reno nearly knocked Reeve down as he darted out of the door. He honestly wasn't surprised, he knew something would happen. He wasn't all that shocked that Elena was caught in the middle. Over the year she had become somewhat of President Reeve's right hand "man." But, just because he had expected something like this to happen didn't mean he wasn't royally pissed.

With attack rod extended (but not charged, thankfully), he made his way into the crowd. Without care for who was in his way, he beat and pushed his way towards his downed partner. A man stood in front of the huddled form of Elena yelling to the crowd. Reno didn't hesitate to take down the instigator. Electricity coursed through the tall man's veins as Reno discharged his rod into the man's ribcage. With the leader fallen, another man, about Reno's height and build stepped up, but was quickly subdued when Reno shot him his patented Don't-Fuck-With-A-Turk glare.

A smile crept across Reno's face as he heard the nervous, fearful whispers spread through the quickly diminishing group. Behind him Rude bent down to pick up Elena, who was clutching her ankle.

"Brake a heal, 'Lena?" Elena quietly responded with her patented glare - the I-Hate-You-Reno. "What's that sour face for, babe? C'mon, let's go wrap that thing up." He patted her dangling shin, being sure not to hurt her ankle further, before heading back to where he had left Reeve.

Did I leave the door open? I didn't think so. Maybe Reeve opened it? It does get a little warm in there sometimes. That Reeve, he always...

Reno thoughts were cut short by a surprised yell from Elena's lips. "Damn, Laney. Is Rude feeling you up back there?" Suddenly, Reno let out a lower yell to match Elena's. Between his legs, a trail of blood lead out the opened door. "Reeve?!"

A/N: Sorry to leave you all hanging like that. Please review, so I know whether I should commit this little story in my head to writing, or just leave it. Don't worry, AVALANCHE will their appearances soon enough...