Here I am. I figured since I finally got a start on writing chapter 7 of this thing, I had better get chapter 5 posted before my backlog really begins to pile up. Lots of fun to get to in this chapter.

Disclaimers: I don't own Final Fantasy 7, and any grammatical errors when Barret is speaking are made by him, not the author.

Love is Like a War
Chapter 5: Surveillance and Espionage

"Oh come on, let me look!"

Barret Wallace shifted quickly to avoid the seeking hands of Yuffie Kisaragi, who was trying to take his binoculars.

"Shit, how did I end up with a fool like you for a sidekick? How am I supposed to see anything with you pawin' at me?"

The two were hiding in the bushes at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mt. Corel reactor.

"You should be happy for the help you can get! It's not like Cloud and Tifa answered your letter. They're probably too busy making sweet loooooove!"

Barret looked at the little ninja, most emphatically not thinking about how easy it would be to snap one of her skinny ass legs in two.

"Will you shut up?! I thought ninjas was good at stealth. You're gonna get our asses caught!"

"Give me those binoculars, old man! I have better eyesight!"

Barret sighed and relinquished the binoculars. Yuffie had a point, he supposed – at least she was here with him. He hadn't expected word from Cloud and Tifa right away, but it'd been over a month now. He hoped they weren't in trouble. If the Shinra were involved and they'd been captured…

There you go again, he thought, always expecting the worst. He was shaken from his reverie by an exclamation from his partner.

"Huh?? HER?! What is she doing here? Barret, look!"

He took the binoculars and looked where Yuffie indicated.

Oh shit. Scarlet. One of Rufus Shinra's most trusty lapdogs…Looks like this is Shinra's doing…

Barret was starting to think perhaps he was right to fear the worst.

"Come on," he motioned to Yuffie, "let's try to get closer. Might overhear something…"

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Scarlet had been immensely pleased with the inspection. The reactor was as good as new, and the men seemed more than competent. She was so pleased that she gave the OK to start the full activation immediately. She looked around the canyon as the proceeded down the stairs in front of the reactor.

What a desolate place…

She heard the rumble of machinery, felt the shaking ground as the reactor sprang to life. It sounded glorious.

The sooner this thing started extracting mako, the sooner she could refine enough power from it to finish constructing her ultimate weapon. It would be smaller than the Sister Ray, more portable, and 5 times as powerful. Thank God Hojo had stashed away all that old research…

She wasn't sure what she'd call her spectacular weapon. 'President Punisher', perhaps? Or maybe something simpler, like 'Sweet Revenge'…

A soldier was suddenly beside her. "The reactor is fully operational, madam."

She grinned. "Good. That certainly went smoothly. We'll leave a garrison here, but I want you and your men to step up work in Gongaga as soon as possible."

The soldier frowned. "That job will be more difficult. That reactor is a total mess, and my men are tired—"

Scarlet fixed him with a cold stare. "The sooner you start, the sooner your poor men can rest. Now, I'm heading back to New Corel. Lord Dio just hates to wait for his news…"

She flounced away rapidly, the tails of a red trenchcoat streaming out behind her.

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Barret frowned, a deep crease forming in his forehead. Shinra in league with Dio? Something smelled rotten. He'd thought Dio was just a regular jackass, making like he was big with all his money, pretending to the throne without any real power…but if he had Shinra behind him, it could mean serious trouble. He wished he could find out what in Hell was going on.

Barret felt the sting of hopelessness as the reactor rumbled ominously.

Cloud…Tifa…come on, gimme a clue…"

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Tifa considered her surroundings as she trudged up the hill towards what was obviously the new Shinra HQ. Only Shinra could design something so ostentatious…they still dominate the landscape even though the reactors are gone. And the plates…

She sighed, wishing she'd opted to stay on her chocobo instead of leaving it at the inn. She took in the view as she stopped at a busy intersection, shifting the small black satchel she had slung over her shoulder.

She was about three-quarters of the way to the top of the new city's highest hill. She was pretty sure the inn she'd started out from was in Sector 4, but it was somewhat difficult to tell now…the different sectors were named after flowers or dignitaries now, not delineated with cold numbers as in the past. The city was so different…but somehow it had kept the same feel.

It was brighter, yes, perhaps less squalid. There was still a lot of construction going on, since so much of the old city had been razed to the ground to make way for the new. So why did it still feel like the 'rotting pizza' of old?

But then again, why shouldn't it feel the same, she rationalized as she reached the top of the hill and got her first full view of the new Shinra building. After all, some of the worst culprits are still here…

Sure, she'd seen the fancy, environmentally friendly, high powered Shinra Windmills all around the perimeter of the city. She'd heard the stories of how they'd reformed and given so much back to the citizens of Midgar. But when it sounds too good to be true…

She just didn't buy Shinra as the newest members of the 'good guys' club. Especially not with Rufus still running things. Could anyone blame her for not thinking that the man who had been at least partially responsible for destroying her home, killing her friends, and trying to have her publicly executed for image purposes could suddenly be a shoe-in for sainthood?

Not unless he sustained some major head trauma when Weapon attacked…

As she observed the building's main entrance from a reasonable distance, she realized she had no clue exactly what she should do here. If only she could gain entrance to the building…find Reeve…surely he would know something. She'd have to do this without being seen. If Shinra was up to something, it could be dangerous for her to be found here.

Time to use some of those old espionage skills. She smiled sadly as she pulled her dark hair back into a loose ponytail and adjusted her gloves. She thought of the old days, digging up dirt on Shinra with Barret and the rest of AVALANCHE before everything went crazy with Cloud and Sephiroth and Meteor. Back when things were simpler.

Doesn't seem like security is as tight now…

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An hour later, Tifa was walking down a narrow, deserted hallway on the 27th floor. This building was quite a bit smaller than the previous headquarters, having only 30 floors. But that didn't make finding Reeve an easy task. He was important enough that he might have his office on one of the upper floors, for which she'd need an access card. Nice to see that some things haven't changed, she mused.

She looked up, noticing an air duct which seemed to connect with the elevator shaft. Maybe the shaft connects to the air ducts on the floors above… She suppressed her claustrophobic tendencies. Haven't done this sort of thing in awhile…

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Rufus looked up from his paperwork as Reeve entered his office.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

Reeve tugged at a few scruffy strands of his goatee, which seemed to be a nervous habit of his.

Why does he always do that? Rufus wondered.

"Ah, Reeve. Good. Listen, you know I've sent the Turks to try and find out what Dio is up to. There's something I'd like you to look into for me in the meantime."

Rufus leaned back in his leather office chair and lifted one boot-clad foot to rest atop his desk. His hands were steepled elegantly below his chin. Reeve sat down in one of the chairs opposite him.

"Does this have to do with the reactors also?"

Rufus creased his fine brows thoughtfully, considering his reply.

"In a manner of speaking, yes—"

Suddenly there was a tremendous crash from above, and the last thing either man had been expecting occurred.

Amidst a rain of plaster and metal and accompanied by a brief scream, a beautiful woman fell out of the ceiling.

Reeve jumped out of his seat, startled, as the woman landed with a thud.

A slight flinching of his eyes was all that belied Rufus' considerable surprise. One corner of his mouth twitched slightly, whether in amusement or anger Reeve couldn't say for certain.

"It seems we have a visitor."

Rufus rolled in his office chair over to the unconscious woman. He knelt down beside her and examined her for injury. He removed his outer jacket and wedged it under her head like a pillow.

"She doesn't appear to be badly damaged. Just took a little knock to the head. Does she look familiar to you, Reeve?"

Reeve couldn't believe his eyes. The days just got weirder and weirder. What was Tifa Lockhart doing here?

"She does seem to resemble someone, yes," he commented dryly.

Rufus smirked and moved a lock of dark hair away from the woman's face.

"Silly woman. I guess after all that sneaking around she used to do with AVALANCHE, she forgot how to use a door."

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Yay! I finally got Rufus and Tifa into the same room! If only that meant it would be easy to make them love each other now. Ha! Well, there's one thing that I can do for them, and that's make them attracted to each other. It's a start! They'll have a lovely little chat in the next chapter. We'll also see where Cloud has got to. Please r & r!