Chapter 7-
The Bodies
"Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood."
~William Shakespeare
Cid swore softly at the sight that greeted his eyes. Behind him, he could hear Barret suck in his breath sharply. Elena turned away, looking like she might be sick.
They had entered Junon to find the city in turmoil. When Cid's party asked questions about the sickness, the answers were sharp and dismissive. People had bigger worries on their minds. Hearing something about "another incident in the junkyard", Cid had decided to take a look in the lab. Now he was sorry he had.
Two bloody carcasses were on the floor of the lab. Once they might have been human, he wasn't sure. And anyway he wasn't about to get close enough to tell.
Reno stepped out from behind him. Apparently such squeamish views didn't bother him. He knelt by the closest body. On closer inspection, Cid could see it had been a young woman, perhaps twenty or so. He thought he might throw up.
"Disemboweled," Reno reported quietly. "Slashed twice across the stomach, once across the throat."
"And they still weren't dead?" It looked to Cid they had been hacked apart, there were so many stabs.
Reno shook his head grimly. "Yes, they were. They'd be dead with the first throat slash. Looks more like whoever did this was…enjoying himself."
Cid put a hand on the laboratory table to support himself. Behind him, he heard a low whine, the kind that was made in the back of the throat, rising in pitch before becoming an all-out wail. He turned to see it was Yuffie, her face deathly pale.
"Get that kid out of here!" he hissed to Elena. The Turk nodded and, putting an arm around the unresisting Yuffie, led her back up the rope.
Nobody moved. Cid was thinking about how glad he was he'd left Shera back in the airship (along with Marlene and Adine) when Reno spoke.
"This was no accident."
"You think?!" Cid snapped, still trying to maintain some control over himself.
Reno's calm eyes flickered to him once, then he continued as though he hadn't been interrupted at all. "Let's reassess the situation. Almost a week ago, we found this place and put it outta action, blowing it out in the open in the process. Stories are all over the news, but no one really knows anything.
"Then, there's news of an explosion- or so we hear. No one knows anything about that, either.
"And now, two dead bodies, obviously not killed in self-defense. Isn't this place getting kinda popular?"
Reno folded his arms and waited for a response. Cid was so angry he just wanted to slug the Turk right there. The callous way he spoke of the two murdered people pissed him off. Reno was right, of course- there was something strange about the whole scenario.
But then, what hasn't turned strange since the Tiny Bronco was shot into the water? Cid thought bitterly. Ever since that spiky-haired kid walked into my kitchen, nothin's been normal.
Steeling himself, he walked over to stand beside Reno in front of the bodies. "What do you think they were doin' here?" he asked reluctantly. He doubted Reno had the slightest idea.
As the red-head opened his mouth, however, Vincent surprised everyone by speaking.
"Perhaps they were looking for something."
"Like what?" Rude asked him.
"I don't know." The dark man shrugged. "But I can't think of another reason they would be here. Other than, of course, simple curiosity."
"Either way, it got 'em killed," Cid muttered to himself. Absently he fingered the Venus Gospel, thinking about what he would do to the killer if they ran into him.
"Just so you know,' Reno said sullenly, interrupting his dark thoughts, "That was what I was going to suggest. Looking for something. My reasoning exactly."
"Shut up!" Cid snapped. He did not find Reno's antics amusing. Not now. Not with two murdered human beings at his feet.
Reno's eyes narrowed as he regarded the pilot's strained composure. "What's the matter, Cid? Never seen a pair of hacked up corpses-"
"Who did this?" Cid demanded, resisting the urge to run the spear through the red-haired bastard. "Why?"
Reno shrugged. "Don't look at me. I wasn't here."
Cid looked down again at the two lifeless bodies. The woman's glasses were knocked askew, her face frozen in a silent expression of terror. One arm was thrown out in front of her, as though to ward off her opponent. The other hand was clenched, held close to her body. Looking at her, Cid suddenly saw Shera there in front of him, Shera lying in a pool of her own blood. His jaw dropped in horror and he blinked- only to see it was a complete stranger there in front of him. Blond hair, younger, smaller.
"Hey, Cid!" The voice was Barret's. "You awright?"
He shook his head, deciding he was getting old. His mind was playing tricks on him.
"What about this other guy?" he said abruptly, moving around the lab table to get a better look at him. Death had frozen a kind of grim smile on the man's face, as though he knew something others didn't.
Or maybe cuz he knows his fate is better than others, Cid thought, thinking of the Sresla and all they'd heard of it. Maybe he had the easy way out.
"He's in some kind of uniform." Elena said, having, unnoticed by Cid, returned. "I don't recognize it, though." She looked to Reno, but he could only shake his head.
"I don't either. Maybe he's not from around here?"
"Or maybe he's part of some new organization." Rude's deep baritone echoed the thoughts of most of the others.
"We should search them."
No one had really expected Vincent to say anything else, and heads turned toward him. The former Turk looked back at them calmly.
Then Elena nodded and stepped out of the way to let Vincent get to the bodies. Systematically, Vincent, Reno, Rude and Elena began to search the two bodies, pawing through the personals of the dead.
Seeing this, Cid was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was with four experienced killers- people who had sold their values, what beliefs they may had possessed…for what? For a fat paycheck?
No, it wasn't just the money, he decided, though he had seen what it could drive a man to do. No, there was something else about the "Turks" organization, something that made the loathsome job somehow alluring, though few would admit it.
Power. The look of fear in people's eyes, the intoxicating sense that screamed: I have control over your lives! I decide whether you live or die!
But that wasn't true, not quite. Shinra held the power. It was up to the company to decide who lived and who died. The Turks just did the dirty work.
And now I have to depend on three very smart Turks, he thought. (Vincent he wasn't worried about) They're all alright bunch, I guess. True, Elena was a chatterbox, Reno was too sarcastic, and Rude's perpetual silence infuriated the hell out of him, but he come to respect and even like the three of them. Same for Vincent. Truth to tell, he admired the dark man, especially his devotion to Lucrecia. The very thought of openly expressing affection made Cid shudder; he couldn't imagine sleeping in a coffin for years for the unrequited love of anyone.
"Cid!" It was Barret. "Look at this."
Cid looked but didn't see the big man at first, Barret being halfway-crouched on the other side of the lab table. "What the hell do you think you're doin' there?" he demanded crankily, walking over to join him. Barret was holding something in his large hand.
"Lookit this," he said, holding the sparkling object up to the light. "What does it look like to you?"
Cid shrugged, uninterested. "So it's a piece of glass. Big @#$%^&* whoop."
Barret held his gaze. "Where d'you think it came from? An' why's it scattered all over the floor?"
Piqued by now, Cid looked and saw Barret was right. In this one area, thick shards of glass literally covered the floor, glittering among the dust and grime. Wondering where the source was, Cid looked up…
And stopped.
"SHIT" he yelled, so loudly even the Turks looked up. Cid ignored them, so furious he didn't trust himself to say anything other than profanity.
"Shit, shit, shit!" He mumbled to himself over and over. "Goddammit!"
"What is it?" Barret demanded, slightly alarmed. "What's wrong?"
Cid threw his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with a vengeance. Immediately lighting up another, he waved an irritable arm at Barret. "Don't you get it? You've been here before! You know where this glass comes from!"
"It coulda come from anything, Cid," Barret countered, frustrated and thoroughly puzzled. "What-"
"@#$%!" Cid exploded, ripping the cigarette from his mouth. Then the experienced smoker inhaled a lungful of his own smoke and doubled over, hacking furiously. Barret waited impatiently until Cid got some breath back.
"Jenova," was all the pilot could get out between coughs (other than more cursing). Barret's eyes widened as he let out a soft curse of his own.
"Damn! You're right," the big man said, after a moment's reflection. "So this is how it happened. It coming loose, I mean."
"No shit!" Cid snapped. Then, hearing Reno give a vicious oath that surprised even him, whirled around.
Reno and the other Turks had been searching the bodies without much hope of finding anything. The search was standard Turk procedure, strict routine.
Elena and Rude, neither wanting to work with cold, silent Vincent, had wisely moved off, sifting through the man's pockets. Reno, therefore, was forced to search the woman with Vincent.
They worked silently, neither having anything to say. Reno had actually been fairly startled when Vincent spoke.
"She's holding something in her hand."
Reno followed the ex-Turk's gaze to the woman's clenched fist held close to her heart. Now that he thought about it, the position looked a pretty unnatural one to die in.
Something Vampy must've noticed right away, he realized. So that's why he wanted to search 'em.
He grabbed the girl's hand and almost instantly dropped it. The feel of it was cold, limp. Dead.
Setting his jaw, he pried open the fingers that had stiffened in death. It was a crumbled piece of paper.
The fate of all who stand in the way of the Hunters
It was then Reno let out the oath.
* * * * * * *
"Wait, wait, wait," Cid said, holding up a hand. "Let me get this straight. These guys are convinced Rufus Shinra's still alive and are trying to find him to kill him?"
Not a smile, not the slightest hint of a smirk touched Reno's lips. He didn't find it that amusing. Of course, that was mainly due to the small fact that Darryn had tried to kill him. "Yes."
Cid, apparently, thought it was hilarious. He bowed his head, shoulders quivering with suppressed mirth. Reno obviously didn't find it funny and the pilot was making a valiant effort not to burst out laughing.
The effort was wasted on Reno, however, who had been in a black mood ever since finding the note. They were out of the lab now, having a short meeting in the Operation Room in the Apocalypse.
"If you ask me, they're retarded," Yuffie snarled, in a foul mood as well. Seeing the bodies had shaken her, and she was ashamed of not being able to handle herself. She made up for it by being as loud and as obstreperous as possible.
Reno gave Elena a piercing look. "Did you ever get my message?"
She looked perplexed. "What message?"
"Dammit, Elena, you should check your answering machine more often!" he snapped, then shut his mouth. Yelling at Elena might vent his feelings, but it certainly wouldn't help their situation.
"Well, I'm sorry," she sniffed, not sounding sorry at all. "What was so important, anyway?"
He sighed. "Darryn paid me a little 'visit' last night. I barely got out alive."
"He's that good?" Vincent's eyebrows were raised just a bit. "I should think a Turk ought to be capable of handling a lone man."
Reno flushed, scowling. "I was off guard. Anyway, I thought he might go after you, Elena, or Rude next, but I guess I was wrong. I guess," he said, his mind back on the note, "he came here."
"Wonder why?" Barret muttered, not that interested. He was half in the conversation, half keeping a watchful eye on Marlene.
Reno shrugged. "He mentioned something about Shinra being spotted last in Junon, or something like that."
"I wonder what it was about that poor girl and the man that made it essential to eliminate them?" Shera said thoughtfully, quietly, as though wary of breaking into the conversation. "Maybe they knew something?"
Suddenly remembering the odd vision he'd had in the lab- of the dead girl being Shera- Cid was unexpectedly and inexplicably angry with her. As was his habit, he lashed out.
"Shut up! Keep your damn fool mouth shut! When I want your opinion, which will probably be never, I'll ask for it! Who wanted you along anyway? All you are is dead weight!"
Shocked at this outburst, Shera could do nothing except stare at Cid for several moments. Then she got up without a word, and left the room.
The strained silence went on for almost a minute before Vincent broke it. "That wasn't necessary, Cid."
Slowly Cid sat back down, then rested his aching head in his hands. He couldn't believe how tense he was. "I know," he murmured, then stopped, not having any excuse. "I know," he repeated softly.
Air. He needed some air. This damn Operation Room was suffocating him. He stood up again.
"I'm going to lift off," he said, going to the door. "We ought to be going, anyways."
N one said anything after Cid left. Then, Yuffie announced what they were all thinking.
"We're toast," she said grimly. "Burnt toast."
Yep, I finally got another one done. Um….reviews would be much appreciated. My e-mail is Turkgal200@aol.com (hey, most of you know it anyway, I think, considering its on my profile) if anyone cares. (Yes, I'm lonely) I'm in the midst of a very enjoyable vacation, which is probably why I actually got another chap finished. I shall continue to enjoy it! Bye!
~Lila