-Chapter 3-

Knocking, somebody was knocking on the door.

"Who the hell could that be at four A.M.?" Sol grumbled as he lazily rose from his bed and shook the sleep from his eyes. Slowly moving to the door he cracked it open and peered out. "Just what do you think your doing here Desiree?" Sol asked, just a little more than aggravated.

"Heya Sol! Can I come in?" She asked sweetly.

"Mmm… Look, I'm sure you can, but the question is, will I let you?" Sol retorted with a wry smile.

"Okay, okay! Christ, may I come in?"

"Come in, what?" He asked, smile widening.

"May I come in please?"

"Sure." Sol widened the door to allow his friend to enter the apartment.

"You bastard, you only did that to tick me off didn't you?"

"Probably," Sol smirked, "but you deserve it, it's four in the morning. Tea?"

"Any coffee?"

"Never drink the stuff, but I might have some… Lets see… Here it is…" As Sol busied himself with the drinks Desiree sat down at the table and removed a file folder from her bag.

After around five minutes the drinks were ready and Sol brought them over to the table. "Black?"

"Ya… Hey."

"What?"

"You want some tea with your sugar?"

Sol frowned, "I don't have to take that from you. So, what's in the folder?"

Desiree lifted the file, "This just happens to be your first assignment."

"What is it? Rescue the president's cat from a tree at any cost? Better be one expensive kitty.''

"This isn't a laughing matter. Zack has gone MIA."

"Captured…" Sol's face twisted nastily. Damn… We get tossed in there to save him. I'm going to get screwed over if I don't do this right.

"Yes, and now…"Desiree paused, "Our soldiers on the Wutai front are losing ground."

"What about Sephiroth?"

"He can't manage the entire army alone, and besides, he caught pneumonia, he'll be okay but the man is sick as a dog."

"What are our orders?"

"Rook is going to help manage the army, I'm there to make a report, and you… You get to do the actual mission."

"Alone? That's suicide!"

"Don't worry so much! I'll also provide support over radio."

Sol sighed. Like that's going to help.

"The Turks are helping with this one."

"Turks? But they excel in kidnappings don't they?"

"That's the point." Desiree sipped at her coffee, "They'll know the best places to look for him. You'll be going in with Reno and Dyne."

"When are we leaving?"

"We leave a seven hundred hours. So hurry up and get ready, Rook will be here to pick us up in about ten minutes to get us to the airport.

"Damn its cold. Where is that guy?" Sol's teeth were chattering uncontrollably, causing his words to sound like they had been shot out of an AK-74u.

Flipping out her cell phone, Desiree dialed Rook's number.

"Hello?"

"Rook?"

"Oh, Desiree! What is it?"

"…WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ALABASTARD?"

"Oh, sorry. I just got out of a traffic jam. Almost there."

"YOU BETTER BE!" She yelled and hung up, "Any way, Sol, we'll be briefed at the air port and given further instructions. You won't need your weapons so just bring your materia. Shinra Co. will provide you with better equipment."

"All right." He said, backing away slightly after her last out burst.

"…Sol, you Reno and Dyne will enter by fast rope decent from Jilenka. Understood?"

Reno stood, "With all due respect sir, a Jilenka Naval Model Sixty can't hold in one spot. The only way to do it would be from the airship that that Mr. Cid Highwind is working on, besides, one it's in Junion, and two, it isn't finished yet."

"No need to worry," The briefing assistant assured him, "You'll be using the AD-32, a new model made specifically for these types of covert matters."

"Army Division Thirty-Two hmm? All right, no more questions.

Sol finally got his new equipment at the end of the briefing.

"Butterfly Edge and Titan bangle mmm? Nice equipment."

"Ahh, you must be Dyne. Sol Garde, pleased to meet you."

"The same here." Dyne was a tall man of about 6'4" and looked to be about 26 years of age. Red highlighted jet black hair spilling out in a waist length ponytail with bangs that tended to fall in front of his dark green hazel flecked eyes. His body was clothed in the usual Turk uniform of a black suit black tie, etc. For weapons he always wore two Dragon Claw gloves, and lastly a set of materia inserted into the different slots of his equipment.

"We should board soon."

"Right, I'm going to put my things on." With that Sol swiftly towards the loading dock.

"Interesting man eh Reno?"

The red haired Turk stepped out of the shadows, "I guess, but I can't tell what's so interesting about him."

Dyne shrugged.

"So," Reno asked, "What's so interesting about him Dyne?"

"Don't ask me why, but it's his scent…"

"Riight… Lets just get on the plane."