Switching Places
By: General Quistis
Disclaimer: I neither own Final Fantasy 7 nor the characters. Duh.
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Chapter Two
Heidegger was already beginning to panic. "Gyah! We can't find the boy! The President is going to kill us!" he said frantically as he stomped his feet impatiently.
"Kya~h… and he said that if we return by midnight without Rufus… he's going to…" a much younger-looking Scarlet couldn't go on. She was new at ShinRa and already she would be in trouble…
"…put us in the Gas Chamber in Junon…" Heidegger muttered glumly as they finally got out of the forest. "Hmf… it's 11:30…" then, he remembered the boy with spiky hair. "I've seen this kid awhile ago, I thought he was Rufus but no… He could've fooled me back there…" he told Scarlet.
"What are you planning to do?" Scarlet asked.
A younger-looking, beardless and moustache-less Reeve arrived, panting. "Any sign of him?" he asked.
"Kyah… no, but Heidegger claims to have seen another boy who looks like Rufus." Scarlet said with a sly smile on her face.
Reeve froze. "Oh no… don't tell me you guys are up to something again?" he asked.
"Gyahahahahahahaha! Not really, Reeve, but we need to do something to save our necks!" Heidegger reasoned.
"Where did you see him?" Reeve asked, feeling something bad coming up.
"By the well over there," Heidegger replied as he led the way.
"If it weren't for President ShinRa killing his wife, we wouldn't be out here looking for Rufus!" Reeve muttered.
"Shh! You want anyone to hear you saying that? The President doesn't want this to be known to everyone most especially the goddamn media! It could ruin ShinRa's rep!" Scarlet snapped.
"Isn't ShinRa's reputation already ruined ever since President ShinRa started to womanize and gamble?" Reeve thought silently to himself as he rolled his eyes and just followed silently beside Scarlet.
Finally, they reached the well.
They stood there for a while, looking around. "Don't we look suspicious here or something?" Scarlet asked Heidegger with a ridiculous look on her face.
"Everyone's asleep by now, they wouldn't be going out." Heidegger said.
"If everyone's asleep, how come we're still here? What if Rufus took shelter inside one of those houses?" Reeve asked.
"He wouldn't do that… he knows that if he does that, we'll eventually find him. He could be stuck in the forest or something…" Heidegger muttered.
"Well if he's in the forest… there are wolves and other dangerous animals roaming around there! Kyah! What if…" Scarlet gasped as she covered her mouth.
"Shut up, Scarlet. Gyahahahaha… that's why we're resorting to plan B…" Heidegger said with a mean glint in his eyes.
Scarlet cackled. "Oh yeah! Kyahahahahahaha!" she said happily.
Reeve just rolled his eyes. "Well what are we gonna do here?" he asked.
"We'll just sit here until morning comes and the little boy will come here." Heidegger said.
"How can you be so certain?" Reeve asked.
Scarlet suddenly changed her mind. "Heidegger… if President ShinRa suspects something from the boy, we're gonna be in bigger trouble… kyah…" she said nervously.
"No, we won't get into trouble if we all play our cards right! I'm in charge here, okay? Just leave it to me!" Heidegger snapped.
"If we wait here until morning, the early-risers will see us get the boy. Wouldn't we be accused of kidnapping?" Reeve asked as he crossed his arms.
Heidegger froze.
"Kyah… Reeve is right…" Scarlet said.
"Gyah… okay. We'll…" before Heidegger could continue, he saw one of the houses' front doors open and the little boy with spiky blonde hair stepped out wearing a white sweater.
Heidegger's jaw dropped as he saw the boy. "There he is!" he said, pointing at the boy before pushing Scarlet to proceed.
"KYAH! Why me? You approach him!" Scarlet said as she pushed Heidegger.
Heidegger turned to Reeve but he looked away, pretending not to have seen the little boy. With that, Heidegger sighed miserably as he approached the boy. "Hey, you there!" he called out.
The little boy stopped in his tracks and looked up at Heidegger.
Heidegger smiled at the boy. "Hehehe… how 'ya doin', son?" he asked.
The little boy just stared at him.
Heidegger cleared his throat. "Ahem… eheheh… so, uhm… why are you still up at this hour?" he asked.
"Can't sleep. Bad dreams. I'm taking a walk in the forest," the little boy said.
Heidegger was surprised with this boy. "You? Alone? Walk in the forest? Where are your parents?" he asked.
"They're gone. ShinRa killed 'em. Accused of…" but before the little boy could continue, he suddenly felt so sleepy and he just fell to the ground.
Heidegger was surprised and turned to Scarlet.
Scarlet smiled weakly at him. "Kyah… you're taking so long. I cast some Sleep on that boy. Now let's go!" she said impatiently.
Heidegger picked up the boy and carried him in his arms. "What about his hair?" he asked.
"And his clothes," Reeve reminded.
"We'll just tell the President that he got attacked by nasty wolves and his old clothes got torn into bits so we had to buy him new ones which he's wearing now… and the hair…" Heidegger approached Reeve and let him carry the little boy before getting his Swiss Knife from his pocket.
Heidegger began to cut the boy's hair with the scissors. "Get some water from the well, Scarlet. We'll wet his hair and then brush it back." He instructed.
After a few minutes, all of them examined the little boy who was still asleep in Reeve's arms. They were all in awe upon looking at him. "He really looks like Rufus…" Reeve said in awe.
Heidegger nodded and laughed victoriously. "Gyahahahahahaha! Now let's get back to the Mansion and present this boy to the President!" he said.
"Wait a sec," Scarlet and Reeve both said in unison, stopping Heidegger.
"What now?" he demanded impatiently.
"Kyah… what if that boy wakes up and…" Scarlet trailed off when Heidegger kept on walking. "We'll take him to Professor Hojo for a while…" he said with a sly smile on his face.
Reeve frowned and looked at the boy. "Is this going to be our little secret?" he asked sarcastically.
"Looks like it…" Scarlet muttered before she and Reeve proceeded to follow Heidegger.