DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter One

The silence in the room was broken by the shrill, insistent ringing of a PHS handset. After three rings, it was picked up and answered, "Yes?"

"This is President Rufus."

"President Rufus is dead. If you're really him, speak the code-word."

"I am not dead. The code-word is 'conqueror'. Is that proof enough?"

"It'll do. What would you have of me?"

"You are still a member of the group AVALANCHE?"

"Yes."

"They do not suspect you?"

"I have seen no signs of it."

"Then I want you to kill them."

"I see. One by one, or all at once?"

"I don't care how you do it. Just make sure they're dead."

"Very well. What shall my reward be?"

There came the sound of Rufus coughing, then groaning with pain, "I have only a few days left, so I will not be able to deliver it to you in person. Once you have completed your mission, go to what remains of the Shinra building. In the underground vault you will find all the necessary information to access my private bank account. At last account it contained roughly 10 billion gil. That money will be yours to use as you wish. It won't do me any good now, that's for sure. I just want to make sure the AVALANCHE pay for what they have done."

"I understand. I will not fail you."

Ending the call, the AVALANCHE traitor placed the PHS down on the table, and stood in thought for several minutes, trying to plan how it might be done. It would not be easy. Taking them out one by one would probably be easier, but they'd be on their guard once they realised what was happening. Might it be easier to wait until they were all together, and simply set off a bomb? The traitor had no idea when or where the party might next meet up, if ever. For now it would probably be better to go with the 'one by one' plan. Taking a sheet of paper and pencil, the traitor sat down at the table and tried to decide on the first target. Would it be better to take out the weakest party members first and work on up, or go for the strong links while they were unsuspecting? The traitor ran their mind over the seven targets, then came to a decision. Picking up the PHS once more, they dialled a number and waited for an answer.

"Hello, is that the airport? Yes, I would like to book a flight to…"

* * *

In the hospital ward, Rufus had just put down the phone, and looked up as the pretty young nurse entered the room.

"Are you finished on the phone now, Mr Jackson? I've brought your lunch. I'll just leave it on the table beside your bed."

"Thank you."

Rufus had been careful not to reveal his true identity to the medical staff. Besides the fact that the inhabitants of Midgar weren't fond of the Shinras, the last thing he wanted was a famous death. Better that the populace believe he perished in the Shinra building, while a man called Mr 'Jackson' died of his injuries in hospital. Doubtless when performing a post mortem, they'd find out who he really was, but by then Rufus would certainly have quit caring. He reached over to pick up the tray holding his lunch, and allowed himself a smile. It was done now. He'd almost certainly be dead before his agent managed to kill all of the terrorists, but at least he could die secure in the knowledge that he would have vengeance on his enemies.

Cloud sat hunched on the newly-cut grass of his front garden, staring morosely at the ground in front of him. Try as he might, he still couldn't get Aeris out of his head. He'd hoped that holding a formal remembrance for her, might help him to focus his mourning and move on. Seemingly it hadn't. Hopefully it would just be a matter of time. He didn't want to be haunted by his thoughts and memories for the rest of his life.

Tifa looked over at him from where she was tending the flowers, and said, "Cloud? You all right?"

He gave a non-committal grunt. Tifa was his fiancee now and he didn't feel comfortable talking to her about Aeris, for obvious reasons. Still being hung up on another woman would not be the best way to start their marriage.

"If you're thinking about Aeris, I know how you feel," she said. "I'm struggling to let go of her memory as well."

"I just - I just can't help feeling there was something, something more we should have done, to help her, so that she didn't have to go alone and get killed."

"I know," she said. "I'm the same. But we've got to move on. The past has happened, and there's nothing we can do to change it. We've got a new life together and we've got to leave the past behind."

"You're right - but it's not that easy."

"We've got to try. We must be strong."

"I need a drink."

Tifa watched as Cloud got up and went back inside the house. The two of them lived together in Nibelheim, having bought Cloud's old house shortly after the destruction of Meteor, with the intention of settling down together. They still owned the villa in Costa del Sol, which they used as a holiday home. Maybe a holiday would be a good idea now, Tifa thought. They could invite the rest of their friends, and perhaps spending a week or so having a good time might help Cloud take his mind off Aeris. Tifa lay back on the grass, enjoying the glorious sunshine, tilting her hat so it protected her eyes from the sun, and thought happily about the future she had with Cloud.

Inside the house, Cloud headed for the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a can of soft drink. Popping it open, he drank slowly from the can, letting the cold liquid trickle down his parched throat. Working in the garden in this heat certainly built up a thirst. Taking another swallow from the can, he decided to check his computer for any messages from the rest of the party. As much as he was in love with Tifa, it was still a bit lonely with just the two of them, after the eight party members had spent so much time together as a close-knit group. He missed the rough-and-ready, outgoing nature of Cid and Barret; the quiet, caring wisdom of Red XIII, and the chirpy cheerfulness of Cait Sith. As for Vincent and Yuffie - well, Cloud had to admit he didn't particularly miss Vincent or Yuffie. He'd never trusted the ninja girl, and Vincent was - frankly - an emotional vacuum. Either of them was good to have on your side in a fight, but neither of them would have been high on Cloud's list of preferred social companions.

Wandering through into the study, he powered up the computer and checked for messages. There were in fact several, all from the other party members. Cloud read through each of them: Barret and Marlene had just moved into their new house in Kalm; Yuffie had heard a rumour about a stash of Materia in a sunken ship off the north-west coast of Wutai, and had set out to investigate; Cid was planning to take out the submarine and try to salvage some of the wreckage of the No. 29 rocket; Cait Sith had been appointed Assistant Manager of the Gold Saucer; and Red had begun researching the life cycle of the Ancients. Nothing from Vincent - nobody was exactly sure where he was right now.

"They all seem to be getting on with life and trying to make a new start," Cloud said to himself. "I really have to do the same. Tifa and I have agreed to be married - I've got to concentrate on that and stop thinking about Aeris. I mustn't ever forget her, but I must focus on the present, specifically Tifa. In fact, I think I'll take her down to Cosmo Canyon for dinner tonight. There's a new restaurant just opened there, and if we're lucky we might bump into Red."

* * *

Red XIII pushed the wooden door closed with his hind paw, and trotted forward to the desk where his research papers were laid out. With the flame on the end of his tail, he lit the candles that sat on the four corners of his desk. He preferred candle-light to any other kind of light; it was more peaceful in a way, more natural than electrical light. He settled himself in the stuffed armchair in front of his desk, and set his mind to work. It was a fascinating yet very difficult research topic which he had chosen. With the information stored in the basement library of the Shinra mansion, he'd made a number of breakthroughs, yet there was so much he still didn't know about the Ancients. He'd made a lot of hypotheses, and was following several different lines of inquiry to try and see if any of his theories were correct. He really needed better scientific equipment for the kind of experiments he wanted to do. Perhaps he would take a trip to the Shinra building and have a look around the labs there, to see what kind of apparatus he might be able to use. Most beings would not have been keen to return to a place after they had suffered what had happened to Red in the Shinra labs, but his was a logical, methodical mind, which had no place for such superstitions or irrational fears.

He was so engrossed in his work that when the knock on the door came, he almost didn't hear it. Too preoccupied to get up and open the door, Red said, "Come in."

The door did not open. The knock repeated itself. Thinking he hadn't spoken loud enough, Red called loudly, "Come in!"

Still nobody entered. Perhaps the door was too thick for his voice to penetrate. Red sighed, got up out of his chair, and padded over to nudge the door open with his front paw.

"Yes, who is - "

He was cut off by the loud explosion of the gun, as he was shot from point blank range. Taken completely by surprise, Red had no chance. He was thrown backwards and fell on to his side, killed instantly by the bullet entering his brain.

* * *

Cloud and Tifa had just begun the second course of their meal, when they heard the sound of the shot. At first they paid it no heed, thinking it was most likely noise from some chemical experiment going on in Bugenhagen's labs. After all, there was no conceivable reason why anybody would be firing a weapon in Cosmo Canyon.

However, when a scream sounded, then another, they knew something was wrong. Rising from the table, they headed towards the source of the noises to investigate. Once they got outside the restaurant, they saw a crowd of people gathering around a building at the other side of the compound. They hurried over, pushing their way through the crowd to see what had happened.

"He's dead!" a voice screamed from somewhere in the crowd. "He's dead!"

"He's been shot!" came another voice.

Cloud shoved his way to the front, steeling himself for whatever grisly spectacle might present himself, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight of the unmistakable figure of Red XIII, lying motionless in a pool of his own blood. Cloud gasped. He wanted to move towards his fallen friend, but he found himself rooted to the spot in shock, unable to move. He could only watch as Tifa ran forward to kneel by Red's side, checking his vital signs. She looked up at Cloud with her unhappiness and resignation plain to see.

"He's dead," she said in a flat tone. "He's been shot."

Cloud's legs were working again, and he hurried over towards Red. The lion's eyes and mouth were still open as if in surprise, suggesting he had been killed before he'd had a chance to defend himself. Cloud reached out and gently closed Red's eyes, allowing his hand to rest on the lion's mane.

"Shot?" he repeated. "But who - who would want to kill Red?"

"I have no idea," said Tifa. "We had better warn the others, in case anyone else gets attacked."

"You think somebody is after us?"

She shrugged, "I hope not. But I can't think of any other reason to kill Red. He didn't have any personal enemies - not that we knew of, anyway."

Cloud touched Red's face once more, then let his hand drop to his side. Never, never in all his wildest imaginings, would he have expected Red to be the first of the eight party members to die. Barret or Cid were easy to picture dying heroically in a last-ditch defence, but Red, with his vastly longer life-expectancy, should have outlived the rest of them by a century or more. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right, it wasn't just, and it wasn't fair. Red had so much of his life ahead of him, a life that should have been full of happiness and learning, but it had been taken from him. Just like Aeris. Red was the last of his kind and he had died. Just like Aeris.

Cloud felt a single tear drop from his eyes and heard the barely audible sound of it dropping on to the wooden floor. He vowed, there and then, to find the person responsible for Red's death and bring them to justice. He'd seen too many friends die already, and he wouldn't let any more go the same way. He got to his feet and headed to the exit. Tifa lingered for a moment or two to take one last look at the lifeless form of their good and faithful friend, then she too stood and followed Cloud to the door.

There were only seven in the party now.