Chapter 7: King of the Road

The night shift was mind numbingly dull, which was just the way Ren liked it. There was never anything that remotely resembled action or excitement. Even the weather was plain. Not too hot, not too cold. Nobody much came up here at this time and the weather was supposed to be nice and cool. He already was on relatively good terms with the shift chief as well. Granted, it's not like they were going to be friends anytime soon, but he could usually talk to him without any real formalities. That was a major plus in this line of work.

Ren lit a cigarette. He wasn't supposed to smoke on duty, but didn't care much. His shift partner was taking a nap as well, so there would be nobody around to yell at him for it. That's how they worked. One would sleep and the other would stay up and make sure nothing happened. Right now it was Ren's turn to be awake.

"Hello," a voice cut though the silence. Ren jumped in surprise. He dropped his cigarette on his jacket. Still alarmed, he quickly brushed it off and stopped it out. He hadn't seen or heard anyone approaching in the dark. Quickly and panicked, He fumbled for his pistol for a second before remembering that he wasn't authorized to shoot on this post. Besides, he had no real reason to. Even if he hadn't been caught smoking on duty, he couldn't for the life of him remember the protocol for this kind of situation.

"Sir, I'm sorry. This area is off limits," the said in his most authoritive voice.

"And?" The man said. Ren was now able to get a good view of him. He was wearing a ball cap and a well-worn brown leather coat. He couldn't have been trying any harder to look casual.

"Sir, you're not allowed in this area, I'm afraid you're going to have to turn around and go back." His plan was to have the guy start to walk away and follow him until he got back to the guard shack. Then he's wake his partner. Tagu would know what to do. Let him handle things.

Ren looked again. The man wasn't moving. That was good and bad. It meant he wasn't actively trying to cause trouble, but it also meant he wasn't following orders either.

The man reached up and tipped the brim of his hat up and out of the way revealing his face. He was a middle-aged man with a well-trimmed black goatee.

"Sir, you're going to have to leave. This area is restricted." Ren seriously considered reaching for his gun. The shock had worn off and now he was just angry and embarrassed at being caught off guard. Still, He wouldn't shoot the man. He just planned on giving him the scare of his life. Throwing him in lockup overnight wouldn't be a bad idea either.

The man in the coat sighed. "Hold up for a second," he said. Ren watched as he reached into a top coat pocket and produced his wallet. He opened it up and, after flipping though several credit card, the man handed his ID to Ren.

Ren didn't even have to look at the name on the card. It was obvious from first glance that it was a class A ID card. Only the Heads of the Divisions had those.

"Reeve, pleased to meet you," the man introduced himself without a hint of vexation. "Can I have my ID back now? I'm rather in a hurry."

Ren was breathless for a moment. He had been trying to boss around the head of the urban division, or whatever they called the guy who actually ran the city. Reeve reached over and plucked the ID out of Ren's hand.

"I didn't recognize you. Sorry, Sir" he mumbled. There was nothing he would have liked better than crawling into a gutter and dying right now.

"Don't worry. No harm done." Reeve smiled at him. It was a generally good natured smile.

"Actually there is," another voice said.

"Shit," Ren muttered unable to contain himself. Of course he couldn't have got away with slacking on duty. He was going to be in so much trouble now that it wasn't even funny. He turned his back on Reeve to see who the new comer was. The visage was unmistakable. It was Tseng of the TURKS. "shit," he muttered again.

"I don't appreciate seeing people slack off on their duties," he addressed the guard. Then he turned to Reeve. "The helicopter is ready. This better be as important as you say."

Reeve started to speak and then looked over at Ren. "I'll let you know on the way." He walked past Ren. "One more thing, he addressed the guard, "Forget you saw us for now. If you have to write it up, just say that authorized personnel were here. For now, this stays off record." Ren gulped as he watched the two men walk off into the dark towards the helipads. He was so far over hi head he didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to write it up, or dismiss it. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to wake his partner up. Eventually he decided to ignore everything and hope it worked out for the best.

……………………………….......

Tifa looked out her window. She was having a hard time sleeping with her brace on, so she couldn't really do anything but lie there. She watched the stars. Stars had always meant so much to her, like magic, a gateway to another world perhaps. She smiled and rested her head back down on the pillow. She wondered how Cloud was sleeping tonight.

……………………………….....

It had been about an hour since Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Red XIII, and Yuffie bedded down for the night, and an hour and a half since Reeve left the conference room, the remaining member of AVALANCHE that followed Cait Sith were still following him though the tunnels with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

"We just about there yet?" Barret grumped again. Vincent smiled inside and he entertained the fantasy of just taking his gun out and shooting the man. At this rate, they'd all kill each other by the time they got where they were going anyway.

"Just about," Cait said.

"'Bout damned time" Cid mumbled.

………………………………....

As Tseng piloted the helicopter, Reeve relayed the information to him. He edited it down to the very basic need to know information. Several members of AVALANCHE were invading the Junon facilities in effort to steal the airship Highwind.

"Interesting," was Tseng's only reply. He had enough experience to read between the lines of what people said. Reeve hadn't been lying, but he hadn't told him everything. Tseng knew this much. He just didn't care. He was used to it.

Tseng studied Reeve's expressions and body language. He seemed rather nervous. Tseng guessed that it involved Reeve's personal viewpoints conflicting with his duties. Honestly none of it was Tseng's business. Tseng had his own personal involvement. In part, he hoped that Aeris would be part of the group. It had been quite a while since they had met on pleasant terms. If she was there, however, it meant that he would have to take her into custody, whether she wanted to go peacefully or not. A long time ago, he placed business over his personal life.

"Why, if I may be so bold to ask, sir, did you choose me?" Tseng asked. "You could have gotten half a battalion down there in the time it took to contact me and have us fly into the city.

"Half a battalion would be far too eager to shoot and make a name for themselves." Reeve replied. "I wanted the best man for the job," Reeve said the words, but even he knew that it was more than half a lie. "How long?"

"We arrive in another half hour."

Next Chapter: Saturday Night's alright for fighting