Disclaimer: FF7 doesn't belong to me. This is an AU using Before Crisis references and characters. There will be "original" characters that interact with the main characters (but I promise to be tactful with them). Mostly, though, this is a story about the established characters, specifically the Shinra executives and the Turks.
On a completely aesthetic note, I greatly dislike how picky fanfiction(dot)net is about symbols in stories. I can't even write double dashes anymore. Ugh.
Started: January 23, 2005
Finished: February 2, 2005
Business Unusual
"One last stop."
Tseng Hideyuki nodded unnecessarily, following his boss closely as she walked through the Junon complex. With the Sister Ray going through its yearly maintenance procedures, surveyor runs to Shinra's Junon branch were more frequent than usual. Scarlet saw to the project personally as much as she could from Midgar, though it was clear that she would rather be more involved than she already was. He had suggested that she ask to be transferred to Junon, but she had waved off the idea; she was still needed in Midgar to oversee weapon development for SOLDIERs as it was.
They walked down into the underwater reactor, passing by saluting guards and reactor workers that were busy gauging the reactor's output. Scarlet would pause from time to time to ask for updates from workers, and Tseng would watch in slight amusement as each man's eyes wandered down to the Head of Weapon Research and Development's low-cut dress. Like clockwork, each man would stare, catch himself staring, and then try - and fail - to concentrate on what Scarlet was saying.
"They just can't keep their eyes away," she quipped casually as they resumed their walk into the heart of the reactor. Her heels clacked against the reinforced steel floorings as they walked, noisy over the constant thrum of the reactor.
"Never mind that you're dressed promiscuously as it is," Tseng replied dryly, keeping stride with the woman.
"After years in a suit, I think I deserve some freedom," Lydia Scarlet defended, letting the younger man's comment slide. She spied a familiar-looking figure already in the reactor, quickening her pace to confirm her suspicions.
The well-dressed young man looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps, lowering the written report he had been reading over. "Ah, Scarlet," he greeted with a nod.
"Mr. Vice President," Scarlet acknowledged, briefly shaking hands with the younger blonde. "If I had known you were going to oversee the testing today, I wouldn't have come out."
Rufus Shinra chuckled, flicking back gelled bangs that fell on the right side of his face. "Even if I was here overseeing the testing, I doubt that would have stopped you." He looked past Scarlet at the black-haired Wutaiian. "It's been awhile, Tseng." Tseng nodded professionally, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited. Rufus cleared his throat and turned to look at the reactor. "Normally I wouldn't bother with coming down here, but Reeve wanted to compare this reactor's output with those in Midgar."
"And you couldn't spare an aid or someone else to do it?" the female executive inquired, raising a brow. "I think it's fair to assume that you were bored, Mr. Vice President."
Feigning a sigh, Rufus turned to look back at the reactor. "You're very astute, Scarlet… But, of course, you already knew that."
"Comes with the reputation, sir," Scarlet replied with a confident smile. "Tseng, if you will keep the Vice President company, I'll start my inspection."
"Yes, ma'am."
Tseng took a step towards the white-clad Vice President as Scarlet slinked away, meeting the younger man's gaze for a moment. It had been several years since he had last seen the President's son, and he had certainly changed in the last few years. He had been a tall youth in his teenage years, but four years had given the younger man a few more inches - just enough to make him taller than his subordinate.
"You look well, Tseng," Rufus said amiably, clearly trying to make conversation with the serious man. "How is Midgar treating you?"
"Fine, sir." He glanced at the pristine blonde, but did not follow through with details.
"I haven't been in Midgar for months. You would think the old man would call me in for at least the board meetings… He clearly thinks I don't need to know what is going on in Midgar."
"To be honest, sir, I wouldn't say anything interesting is happening in the city." The plated city had enjoyed six years of relative peace, pierced by murder cases, political scandals, and gang wars that never reached the severity of AVALANCHE's reign of terror six years ago.
"Sometimes I wonder," Rufus muttered. A fair amount of upper management knew that Rufus was constantly at odds with his father. "These maintenance periods for the Sister Ray are the only things that change the monotony of paperwork around here." He paused, watching Scarlet tap into the computers and scan through numerous filed reports on the Mako reactor. "It's almost a pity that AVALANCHE was laid to waste."
Tseng's stoic expression gave way for a sardonic smile. "A peculiar thing for the Vice President to say."
"Oh, don't get me wrong; AVALANCHE was bad news and quite a hassle for us all," the blue-eyed blonde replied, "but it doesn't change the fact that their pitiful rebellion led to some of the fastest enhancements in Materia growth and weaponry since the war." Rufus smirked at the long-haired man. "Suffice it to say, I think conflict is a very … healthy thing for the company. If I had my way, I would have drawn out the conflict with AVALANCHE as long as possible."
"… Interesting, sir."
Rufus nodded in agreement. "Such a fine opportunity gone to waste. My old man is such a fool."
"So … how's life, Rude?"
Reno never really expected an answer from his drinking buddy and former partner; it was more out of habit than anything that he opened up with that line. Over the last six years, Rude was pretty much the only one he had kept in contact with; he had never really been close to the other Turks, though Fletcher and Malloy had their moments. He had run into Antimony once or twice in the Shinra Building, but the woman had all the personality of a wooden crate - boxy, boring, and good for talking at.
In his completely unbiased opinion, at least.
Rude cracked open a beer, glancing at his friend through his shades. He had been working as a bouncer in Sector 4 for the last two years, after a period of taking odd jobs and a brief stint with the Midgar police. It was far from an easy life, but he had learned how to adapt to new problems early in life.
"How's Shinra, Reno?" he asked in turn, taking a swig. Though he never had anything to say about his day, his redheaded friend usually did.
"Same old, same old," Reno muttered, turning his beer bottle and peering at the scratched up table. "Filing papers, checking out gang inventories for whatever new shit they think they can come up with… Boring stuff. Gotta visit the flower girl in a few hours."
With the Turks disintegrated, Professor Hojo had no one to rely on to regularly check on his precious 'Ancient.' Hojo had been able to snag the cooperation of the Turks before simply because of past connections with Veld, and now the scientist had to specifically ask for Tseng and Reno to help him with whatever project Aeris Gainsborough was a part of. In some ways, it was nice to see one of the department heads still recognizing them as Turks.
That was probably why Reno never turned her in.
"You should stop drinking, then," Rude commented.
Reno made a noncommittal sound, drinking down half of the contents of the bottle. "Ate lunch just awhile ago," he defended himself. "Besides, maybe the Professor will cut me some slack when he finds out I went out while drunk."
Rude raised a skeptical brow.
"Okay, okay. Shit." Reno shook his beer bottle and shook it at the taller man. "Two beers, but you're paying the tab this time, chump."
The older man simply rolled his eyes behind dark shades.
He yawned as he closed up the shop, intent on heading out to a late lunch - or an early dinner, now that he looked at his watch. His blue eyes narrowed as he tapped on the watch, making sure it was indeed working before pausing to look around. The streets were emptying out as people headed home or to the clubs and bars in the area. He noticed a pair of thugs walk past the shop and clenched the doorknob under his hand a bit; he knew the thugs would not target him directly due to a run-in with them a few months back, but a Materia shop - even one that a former Turk worked in - was free game under the rotting pizza.
Wren Malloy stretched and shoved his keys into his pocket, starting down the road with a sigh. Once upon a time, he had been the member of a Midgar gang - one based in Sector 8 and quite formidable by Midgar police standards. He had become a strong candidate for leadership early on, and become the leader of the gang at the age of eighteen. Unfortunately, his reign as leader had been a short one; less than a year later, the Turks were assigned to the "handling" of the infamous gang.
Miraculously, he had not been around when the sting took place, and he survived the massacre.
He had been a brash teenager, foolishly planning his own assassination attempt on the Turks following the destruction of his gang. He snuck into the Shinra Building and stole an employee keycard, managing to get up into the middle levels before security had been called in. SOLDIERs were called in when he managed to disable all the Shinra guards called in, and he had the unique opportunity to meet both General Sephiroth and the later-leader of the Turks on the battlefield.
It was in the middle of that tense atmosphere that Tseng offered him a job with the Turks and a chance to start over. With the only other option opened to him being death, he took the job.
He never regretted it.
Wren shook his head to clear it, realizing he had been standing in front of the store for a good five minutes now. He had only been a recruit when the Turks were broken up; in theory, it should not have been affecting him as much as it was. In theory, he should have hated the Turks for ruining his life in the slums.
But joining the Turks took him out of the slums and onto the upper plate. Joining the Turks allowed him to meet some people he almost called friends. Joining the Turks allowed him to realize he still had the ability to care about others.
Gina…
Blue eyes narrowed. She had died six years ago, and it still haunted him. Despite the fact that he was an experienced killer, her death was still a sore spot in his heart. Veld had betrayed them. Tseng had betrayed them. It was no wonder the Turks were disbanded; with such corrupt leadership, the syndicate was bound to implode sooner or later.
Still, he missed the teamwork. The camaraderie was something he was not familiar with, having grown up in the slums and been in a gang for most of his teenage years. He was able to relax in their presence; there was something disarming about Reno's flippant attitude and Fletcher's colorful diction that contrasted with the job that was able to put him at ease.
His eyes wandered to a pair walking by across the street. They were the only other ones still out, and they looked ready to head somewhere together. The male was talking seriously to the young female, his face grim and serious.
He stared at the familiar-looking man, all thoughts scattering as he recognized the gruff face and intense green eyes. It had been a long time since he had seen him in pictures, and even longer since he had had the pleasure of seeing him in person…
Sears, the leader of AVALANCHE.
Sector 5 was like all the other sectors – well-maintained and relatively clean up top, a cesspool of corruption underneath. A regular shithole.
Unlike any of the other sectors though, there was a small paradise hidden amongst the garbage and junk. That was where Reno found himself heading, as that was where he would find Aeris.
According to "orders" from Professor Hojo, he was supposed to persuade the young woman to go back to Shinra. Of course, with his work ethic, he found it easy to brush aside Hojo's orders and instead spend some time with the proclaimed "Ancient." Hojo would sometimes send out soldiers to find Aeris and detain her, but those grunts only knew how to hit things and make a lot of noise. It was sad to listen to Aeris' escapades while dodging the Shinra guards, as it only proved the incompetence of the hired help that did not reach the SOLDIER program.
If he or Tseng wanted to capture Aeris Gainsborough, they would have done it a long time ago.
Aeris was in the church - her church, as far as he was concerned - taking care of her flowers. He took a seat in one of the more decent pews, watching her. "Out late again, little lady?"
The brunette looked up, smiling briefly. "Hello, Reno."
He gave a faint, sloppy salute in greeting. "Another week, another meeting," he said casually. "How's your mom?"
It was fairly routine for them to trade pleasantries and make small talk when they met; as far as Aeris was concerned, Reno and Tseng were no longer strongly affiliated to Shinra and borderline disloyal to the company. From time to time, she would voice her worries that they would be punished for not turning her in. Tseng would cut her concerns off short with a few words of comfort and simply continue the conversation, while Reno tended to become overly sarcastic in the face of a woman's worry.
It did not take Aeris long to learn not to bring up those topics.
"She is well," Aeris replied, methodically weeding and watering her flowers. "How is Tseng?"
"Last time I saw him, he was fine," Reno yawned, raking a hand through his messy red locks. "He's in Junon right now."
"Tell him I said hello." The pink-dressed young woman did not move from her spot in the middle of her flowers, still tending to the delicate blooms. "And you, Reno? How are you?"
"Bored," the older man admitted. He scratched his chin wryly. "I've thought about quitting."
"Hitting mid-life crisis already?" teased the flower girl, tilting her head at the man.
The redhead rolled his eyes. "Hardly; I'm only 26. But I think about joining Rude in bodyguarding or, hell, going back to crime."
Aeris frowned slightly at the idea. "Tseng's trying to keep you out of trouble."
"'Trouble?'" snorted the former Turk in disdain. "Don't forget what I was, Aeris."
The young woman had the decency to grimace at the reminder of Reno's past profession. "Still… Was it really a job you enjoyed? Murder, thievery?"
"You wouldn't understand," Reno grumbled, leaning forward and resting his chin in his hands.
This was not an uncommon topic between the two; Reno refused to voice thoughts of quitting to Tseng and Reeve, so typically Rude and Aeris were the ones left to listen. Every time, Aeris would guilt Reno into rethinking the idea by pointing out how ungrateful he would seem to Tseng. It was usually enough to stop the redhead from doing anything rash.
Their talk was interrupted by the blaring sounds of far-off alarms. Reno's brows shot up as he heard the piercing sounds, and he stood up immediately. Aeris followed softly, looking up at the high ceiling in genuine confusion. "Something's wrong…"
"You think? Those are security alarms." Reno gestured to the young woman. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."
Aeris' gaze trailed to her flowers, but she followed the redhead out of the church. Reno was looking around warily, pulling a collapsible nightstick from his jacket pocket. "I'm going up to the reactor."
"Why? You're not even part of Shinra," Aeris murmured, her hands clasped and her eyes looking past the church to where Mako Reactor No. 4 was erected.
The former Turk shrugged. "Call it curiosity," he replied with a dry laugh. "Go home, Aeris."
Aeris frowned outright at the order. "But I can help. Let me come."
Reno set his nightstick against his shoulder, raising a brow at the brunette. "Yeah right; Tseng would have my head if I took you up there. First off, it's dangerous … and I bet they'll send SOLDIERs up there if there's a security breach."
She knew he had a point, but she still had to bite back the urge to be immature and fight Reno. With a ragged sigh, she slipped her bangle off and offered it to the older man. "There's a Restore and an Ice slotted in it."
"Where'd you get Materia?" Reno inquired, not attempting to hide his surprise. "You don't make that kind of money… Not on one gil a flower."
Aeris stifled a laugh at the look on Reno's face. "Occasionally Materia grows in my gardens back home. Those two grew in my gardens a few months ago."
Experienced green eyes inspected the iron bangle before Reno slipped it on. The two green Materia glittered in the slots. "Thanks. I'll get it back to you."
Aeris smiled, already past her impulse to join Reno. "Good. That means you plan on coming back." She looked over the redhead in his torn jeans and black jacket, taking in his casual stance and weaponry. "Just put you in a black suit and you'll look like a Turk again."
Reno had to smirk at the comment.
Wren was careful following Sears and the woman he had been with; he stayed to the shadows and kept quiet, maintaining a safe distance between himself and the two the entire time. He had gone back into the shop upon recognizing Sears, fishing out a few magic Materia anxiously while keeping an eye out on the two through a window.
It was shocking to see Sears alive. The bandana-wearing man had been presumed dead after the destruction of AVALANCHE's base, especially with the six-year period of relative peace that followed. He had briefly entertained the thought that Sears had started a new life, but quickly squelched that; Sears was far too dedicated to the destruction of Shinra to lie down and allow the company to continue on while he was still breathing.
That was why he was not surprised to find Sears and the unfamiliar young woman heading for the Mako reactor. What he was surprised about was the fact that the reactor seemed completely empty.
He hesitated when he saw Sears and the young woman slip inside the facility without so much as tripping an alarm, as if finally realizing his position in this entire matter. Why am I sticking my neck out for Shinra now? I'm not even affiliated with them anymore…
Despite the urge to walk away, he found himself unable to move. Part of him yearned to go after the terrorists and take them down by any means necessary, like he had done as a Turk. That part of him fought for dominance, forcing him to take a step forward. He shut his eyes and shook his head wearily. It's been six years. Get over it…
The sound of alarms made him tense immediately, and he jumped in shock. The entire reactor was on alert now, and he could only imagine what had happened inside the facility to trigger the sirens. Throwing caution and doubt to the wind, the former Turk ran to follow the terrorists. He hurried through the broken gates and ran past what he could only surmise had been security cameras, surrounded by flashing red lights and blaring sounds that deafened him to the thudding of his anxious heart.
Only once he was inside the complex was he able to shake his head to clear it. He warily looked around the empty reactor, his nerves on edge and his eyes sharp as he noticed a huge security gateway that blocked his path. His breathing slightly erratic, the former Turk spent several moments trying to figure out the control panel.
Shit, I don't know this kind of stuff…
He tensed when the door opened with a whirr and a rumble, watching Sears and the female appear from behind the sliding gates. Suppressing a grimace, Wren pulled the metal rod he held onto for protection from his jacket pocket. "Sears."
The older man's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Turks? … No, the Turks don't exist anymore."
"Neither does AVALANCHE," Wren hissed, sizing up the two rebels carefully. They both appeared ready to fight if necessary. "What the hell did you do in the reactor?"
"There's no time for this," snorted the brown-haired man. "There's a bomb in the core and we've got four minutes to clear out." Wren gritted his teeth at the declaration, watching the woman fall into a battle stance. "Get out of the way, Turk; you're wasting our time."
Wren was about to reply when the young brunette raced forward and took a swing at him. He barely heard the shout from Sears as he lifted his weapon to deflect the blow, cursing when the young woman followed through with a roundhouse kick that connected with his midriff. Knocked off-balance, he began invoking the power of the Materia in his bangle in a counterattack.
"C'mon, Tifa, we've gotta move," he heard Sears growl. The AVALANCHE leader grabbed hold of the younger woman and ran past Wren, heading back towards the entry gates.
He shook his head dazedly, focusing on the two fleeing rebels as he lost his concentration of the spell. The former Turk took off after them, running past the broken entry gates and down the street away from the reactor. He was a considerable distance away from the reactor when he realized he had lost the two AVALANCHE members.
He said … four minutes, didn't he?
That was the last thought to cross his mind before Mako Reactor No. 4 blew up behind him.
Whoo, that was longer than I thought it would be… Hope I didn't scare away readers with so much coverage on Wren. Believe me, I can relate with readers that balk at the sight of original characters.
Next chapter, there will be more coverage of the Shinra executives, as well as Tseng, Reno, and Wren Malloy. Wren seemed to get a lot of 'screen time' this chapter, so I think I'll even it all out with more Rufus and Tseng. Heh heh, just thinking about writing about Rufus again makes me giddy.
If you're curious who Wren is based off of in Before Crisis, he's the Turk that uses a rod (like Reno) and has spiky hair (… like Reno). I'll probably be playing off Malloy and Reno's similarities in the future. Additionally, Sears is a character from Before Crisis; he was an influential member of AVALANCHE and I'm assuming he was the leader.