Chapter 1- Peaceful Beginning

Whatever tomorrow brings,

I'll be there.

With open arms,

And open eyes.

"Drive" -Incubus

"Well, all seems to be going according to plan. It's nice to feel like the efforts have finally payed off, huh?"

Reno nodded at the President of Neo-shinra's comment, his grin glistening ivory in the light of Reeve's office in the Shinra Tower. Adjusting his sunglasses on the top of his head, smothered in a spiky mess of chaotic scarlet hair, he walked over to the window behind Reeve and gazed out. He saw his reflection, and regretted it. Sinister, cocky, aquamarine eyes gazed back at him as a smirk adorned his reflection's thin face, fairly screaming at him:

Hey big shot. You miss me?

Reno held in a sigh and stared into his own ominous face, feeling strangely like…

"It's going good. There are a lot of people done there all too happy to join us." Rude's sharp, gruff voice brought Reno back to the present with a jolt. Looking back at the window, the reflection still mocked him.

Reeve nodded to his stoic employee. "They're full of hope. Most have been broken by the past, but there are a few that still have the strength to reach to the sun."

"I wish we could help them." Elena murmured. Reno noticed with a grin that she had stopped with the almost creepy "sir" thing she always did. That was good, it made him feel…weird. Guilty, at least. He had never been the most delightful partner there was, he wouldn't be surprised if Elena hated him by now. Oh well, that was life for ya.

Reno was definitely not one of those guys who wasted their lives living in self-pity, seeking solitude in alcohol and drugs. Some may think that, but it wasn't true. To the public, his intentions were translucent; he was just a pampered little prick who hated everything and lived in his own beer bottle. Either that, or he was an obnoxious, arrogant bastard who only cared about himself. Equally untrue.

He knew what he was. He was a monkey in a blue suit. But he felt powerful with it, so he wrapped himself in the illusions that he was the ultimate tough, formidable guy you wouldn't mess with. Well, it made him feel good. So what?

Yeah, he enjoyed a drink now and then. He was lucky, years ago he was a die-hard alcoholic with nothing to show for it. And sure, he had woken up with his share of hangovers even after that, but he wasn't some pathetic slob that couldn't handle his own life.

He hated to admit it, it felt weak, but deep down in that craphole they called his Spirit, he was scared. Like a kid, lost and confused in a cruel world. He usually ignored his feelings with a sly remark, but he wasn't made of rock!

He just pretended he was.

"Well, so do I. That's what this is about." Reeve smiled slightly, stroking his chin lightly. He looked just as formidable as Rufus and Shinra, with icy, cold eyes and an emotionless frown. But if you looked in the eyes of the President of Neo-Shinra, there was compassion, a want to help those who needed it.

Elena had it too. Reno respected it.

My, she was a piece of work, that one. Pretty, smart and spirited, she had lightened Reno's mood more than once with her unbreakable optimism. Then again, it was him that had shot her down, again and again right?

Shuttap! Concentrate on what your doing!

"So what's our job?" Rude asked.

Reeve smiled a little broader. "Track down the nine members of AVALANCHE and bring them to me."

"Aww man." Reno groaned. "There's no way they'll come! Why do you need them anyway?" 

"When I was – observing them, they seemed perfectly capable of doing what was necessary. Besides, we need all the help we can get. Don't tell me you still hold a grudge to them."

Reno frowned melodramatically. "But they beat me up really bad, gave me and ouchie booboo."

"Poor little boy." Reeve said, his face a slight smirk of amusement.

Reno flicked a lock of wild red hair from his intense blue eyes, and grinned, still playing his game. "Nobody loves me."

"We're loving you less every second you're holding us up. C'mon, let's go." Rude murmured.

"Was that an attempt at humour, my good man? You're really not very nice, you know."

"Come on Reno, Reeve gave us a job!" Elena said, barely constraining her excitement. Nothing new about that. That girl had a serious crush on her job; to the point of believing it was some glorious inner fulfillment or some crap like that. Perhaps that was why Reno didn't get along with her, he just didn't understand her.

Oh well. With a nod, he walked methodically towards the staircase, his slim physique casting a tall shadow on the wall against the light of the sun. He heard a grunt as Rude followed, his feet agile but still shuffling, which was a bad habit of his. Elena sucked in a breath as they began to leave and he heard her shout after them.

"Guys! Wait up!"

Elena watched as Reno walked to the elevator, his hands in his pockets nonchalantly and something in his teeth, probably a toothpick. She wasn't sure where he got them, but he always had to be chewing something. It irritated Elena at times, but she was to excited to care.

Rude walked beside his fiery haired friend, which Elena noticed made him look rather clumsy in comparison to the light, sure-footed steps that seemed always tensed, but oh-so casual. Of course, Elena'd seen Rude accomplish acts of dexterity that boggled her mind, but his almost comical shuffling showed nothing of it.

With a small ding, the elevator doors opened. Elena ducked in after her partners as Reno pushed one of the yellow buttons. She was glad the elevator music had been taken out. Reno had somehow learned how to set it to his own music and had had a tendency of singing it loudly to himself. Of course, when he felt like annoying them, he'd sing the normal music too in his smooth, fluent voice, dripping with unintended a cynical tone always.

Soon, they stopped and the doors opened. Rude and Reno stepped out onto the first floor, Reno nodding briefly to the secretary, and they headed out back to the launch pad. Usually, they had coptors ready so they could just go from the top floor, but it was their own choice to use coptors, so Rude would be driving. That was okay; Elena dreaded the thought of the day when Reno took the wheel. She'd never ridden with him, but he'd been the one who taught her how to fly in her training, and that had been a nightmare. Even though he'd been brutally injured by AVALANCHE not long before, he'd managed to take over for her from the seat behind whenever the coptor threatened to run itself into things. It hadn't been fun either, he'd dislocated his wrist and it kept popping out and forcing the wheel sharply sideways.

"What are you grinning about Elena?" Reno asked as he circled around the Shinra-made Coptor.

She shrugged. "Nothing."

Rude waited patiently while she got in the seat behind him, and sat down heavily.

Though the engine had stalled a bit during takeoff (which resulted in some colourful language by Reno,) eventually they were in the air, flying west to Nibelheim, where Cloud, Tifa and Vincent resided.

Cloud couldn't help but smile as Tifa posed in front of a mirror, a big grin on her face as she tested out what she should wear.

"Hmm…green or blue Cloud?"

He shuddered at the sight of the blue dress that so closely resembled the one from Midgar that Aeris and Tifa had wanted to keep so badly.

"Green. Please green."

She looked at it and laughed. "Kinda looks like…"

"Yeah, it does." He frowned. "Stop smiling at me, it wasn't funny!"

"Yes it was! You looked so cute!" She laughed again.

With a grin, he lunged at her and began to tickle her sides. She screamed and tried to wiggle away, only ending up in his arms.

"Hey there." Cloud smiled down at her.

From downstairs, he heard Cid hollering up.

"Yo, doesn't take all day!"

Cloud and Tifa exchanged glances. Cid and Shera Highwind, along with Vincent and Yuffie, were over for a visit and Tifa had taken it very seriously, preparing a large meal and fussing over every little thing. Cloud had tried his best to help, but found that it was more useful if he just got out of the way and let Tifa do her thing. Of course, despite all her work, they still ended up waiting in the living room while she got dressed.

Tifa dropped the blue dress back into her closet, and Cloud wondered downstairs as she began to change, giving her some privacy.

"Hey, about time, Cloud! I thought we were gonna have to come up there and get you!" Yuffie shouted over at him as he walked down.

Cloud and Tifa had ended up living in Nibelheim completely by accident. They had originally wanted to buy a house in Kalm or Mideel, but had found that the owner of a house in Nibelheim was moving away, and the price was surprisingly low, though Cloud had enough money not to worry about price. Coincidentally, the house was the one that had been Tifa's.

"Where is Tifa?" Vincent asked tonelessly.

Cloud smiled. "Putting on a dress."

"I can't believe Shera forced me into one of these!" Yuffie made a face, looking down at the purple kimono Shera had fondly suggested she wore. Cloud was pretty sure that Yuffie secretly liked it, but it was funny to see her deny it.

"Quiet girl, you look good in it." Cid had politely 'decided' not to smoke (due to Shera's firm 'suggestion' that he don't) but seemed like he could use it. Cloud was surprised at how well Shera actually controlled him, simply by making shy little implications of what she wanted.

"I thought it was nice, at least." Shera muttered with a smile.

Vincent remained silent.

"Hey guys, nice to see you all again!" Tifa began down the staircase, adorned in a sleeveless dress of emerald green.

Yuffie beamed up her and cried, "You look great, Teef!"

Vincent nodded in agreement.

"Thanks Yuffie!" She sat down on the couch of her living room beside Cloud. "So, what's new guys?"

"Not much. My dad has been gushing over me ever since I got home, so I needed a break from the old geezer." Yuffie's grin widened, and it seemed to tell them she was lying, and she was glad to see her dad.

"Yeah. We finally got that damn Highwind back in the air. Jesus holy, that thing was being a pain in the ass." Cid grumbled. "Oh well."

Just then, there was a loud knocking on the door. Tifa raised an eyebrow and walked over.

From outside, someone said. "Hey Tifa, long time no see, eh?"

Tifa frowned and replied. "What the heck are you guys doing here?"

Cloud, a little worried and more than a little curious, walked over, and was surprised to see Reno leaning heavily on the doorframe and smirking at them.

"Oh, hey Cloud. Reeve sends his best." Reno said, turning his deep, extreme blue eyes over to him.

"Can we come in?" Elena asked.

"Hey Cloud. Who the hell is it?" Cid demanded from the living room.

"Turks." Cloud muttered, a little confused at seeing his ex-enemies at his doorstep.

The three of them walked in, and Tifa closed the door behind them. Elena and Rude just watched as Reno explained about Reeve's wishes.

"Yah, well Reeve was all busy about restoring Midgar or some crap like that. So he's spent the last…dunno…last while, tryin' to find people willing to join Neo-Shinra and such and such. So of course, he sent us guys to see if you could help him with it. I think he just wants to see ya, but why he doesn't just use his cell, I'll never know."

Cloud nodded, trying and hoping his eyes didn't reveal his emotions. In the few times he'd spoken to Reeve, the man had mentioned some Neo-Shinra thing, and that the Turks had become very important to his plans. He'd also said they promised they wouldn't be doing the hunt-and-kill business anymore, which relieved everyone, but Cloud still didn't trust them, for reasons of his own.

But, though she looked surprised, Tifa still ushered them to sit down. "How'd you guys get here?"

"Helicopter." Elena said. Rude said nothing, and Reno looked at him and grinned. Slipping off their black boots, the three walked over to the living room, following Tifa and Cloud.

"Hey, it's the screwballs! Nice to see you're sorry asses again, Reeve's told us so much about you!" Cid sneered sarcastically.

"Whatever, Highwind." Reno said, glaring for a moment, then returning to his fairly neutral expression. The ever-present smirk had left his face.

"Um…" Tifa looked confused on what to do, but to Cloud's disappointment, she said, "Do you want something to eat? We were just about to eat."

Reno, much more talkative than his companions, shook his head. "I dunno. We wouldn't wanna bug you; we're just here on business. We all know you guys still aren't great on our being around, even though our jobs have gotten a lot more…tame lately."

"We are willing to forget though. I have a feeling we'll be forced to get used to each other sooner than we thought, if Reeve is wanting our help." Tifa smiled uncomfortably and shrugged.

"Weeell, if you guys don't mind." Cloud could tell by the look on the taller man's face that he didn't really mind their company, as long as food was available. He was surprised the self-acclaimed leader of the Turks was being so polite. It sent a shiver up his spine.

"Have we met?" Elena asked suddenly, glancing at Shera.

"I don't think so. I'm Shera." She held out a hand shyly. "I'm Cid's wife."

Elena shook her hand with a grateful look on her face. Cloud really had nothing against Elena. She'd been a pest a times, but she wasn't a bad person as far as he could tell, and due to Reeve's word.

"Wow, Cid's smarter than he looks. Congrats." Reno laughed lightly, and Rude, as usual, said nothing.

"Well." Yuffie said for all of them. "This is uncomfortable."

"Yeah, it really is." Elena muttered. "Too bad really, you guys aren't as bad as Reno's said."

"Shut-up Elena!" Reno cried, giving her a pitiful look. "I only said that because they had just knocked the stuffing out of me!"

"Sorry sir." She said, trying to conceal her own grin.

"Aw man, don't start with the sir thing again! My name is Reno, just stick to that, okay?"

Cloud shuffled in his seat uncomfortably and sighed. It would be a long night.

Authors note: Hehe, yeah, I know this chapter was kinda boring, but the next chapter is gonna be the one where stuff starts happening, so please stay tuned! And if you have any comments or suggestions, the review box is right there in the bottom left side of the screen, fire away. ;)