Change of Profession

She was a lady of ill repute to the fullness extent of the definition. Leaning seductively at the mouth of a seedier back alley, a good portion of her cleavage hanging out to attract potential 'client's attention', this was the height of her evening. Three blocks from her was the Honey Bee Inn and it was closing time. All those wealthy Shinra employees who hadn't been satisfied with the refine taste of the inn would have their eyes open for a piece of meat with the true seasoning of the slums. Here she stood waiting for them so their time and money wouldn't be ill spent before returning home to their wives.

So it was odd her attention was drawn to a familiar pair tromping out of the sector. They were tall, dark, and handsome young men at opposite ends of the spectrum. The one on the right, whose attention she was particularly interest in arising, was the bald man dressed in a plain suit with a pair of trademarked shades over his eyes. To his left was a slightly shorter man with the physique of a military man that observation was skewed with one look at the tangled mess of coarse spikes trailing down his back. No soldier she'd ever meet had hair like that. Against regulations they'd say. Few people knew much about him. She'd heard enough of the rumors to know all she need. He was so far below her she merely spared him a glance to enjoy his physical appeal.

Neither of them where in the market for her type of service but there was more to life than business. Pleasure could be just as important to a woman's health. The inn wasn't closing at the moment so she still had time to make plans for after work activities. Experienced men would be refreshing after an evening of entertaining the inexperience.

She made her way towards them at a leisurely pace breaking their conversation, actually just breaking the want-a-be soldier's conversation with himself, with her usual call. "Hey, boys see something you like."

They halted at the sound of the coo. The glowing eyes found her first, focusing on her assets without a trace of shame. Shades followed suit though they landed on her face. "So Rude, are you busy tomorrow morning."

There was no response from behind the shades. "You can come over if you want." She glanced back to his companion whose eyes had yet to move. Maybe he wasn't as beneath her as she assumed. Rumors were hardly truthful after all. "Your friend can come to," she purred. Her smile widen at the lust mixed in with the mako. Handsome young men were a rarity in the slums. "All though I've heard he prefers tattered flower girls."

"You've heard right." Playfully he winked at her. The lust vanished from his eyes as if it was nothing more than dust. She turned from him in a dramatic fashion allowing the ends of her hair to fly into his face. Men who trifled with her weren't worth their looks.

"I see." Unruffled she left the pair to return to her haunt. In the distance she was beginning to hear the approach of her clients. Turning to face the pair once more she made her final offer. "Remember Rude I'm expecting you."

"Man, how many women do you have?" The dark haired man exclaimed without hesitation when they began to walk again. No consideration to the fact one of the said women was in earshot. Rude did nothing to silence his companion nor did his expression change. His shoulders lowered a fraction in a display of embarrassment. That didn't stop his companion in the least. "You have a girl in every sector. No, you have a girl on every street in every sector. And their not all skanks some of them could almost be respectable. How do you do it?"

Rude continued to shrink in silence. "I mean I have one girl and she is a handful. Just thinking about all your girls gives me the creeps. What do you do on Valentines Day? Do they all soak you in chocolate and-"

The sound of Rude clearing his throat interrupted the dark haired man. "Finally you want to start talking about the job again." Fraction of a frown crossed Rude's face. He clearly hadn't wanted the conversation to turn in that direction. Though the relaxing of his stance revealed he was grateful for the end of the last conversation.

"You'd be working for the Turks. Way up in the main office. So you won't have to worry about seeing me much." Giving Rude a knowing smile, he continued on. "I know you find me embarrassing." A mock hurt expression crossed his face which was answered by typical unresponsiveness. Not that it would ever detour the louder one of the pair.

"I don't see why you're resisting the idea. Shinra would be far better for you than working for the Don. I know it's not a loyalty issue." An eyebrow twitched. "Oh, I see. Afraid you're gang buddies are going to axe you." Rude winced at his companion's use of axe. "Umm, that still is the term their using for that now. People back in Gongaga are still speaking the same langue as their great, great, great, great, great ancestor but here the slang changes with the fashions. I'm still getting used to it." Then he gave a rather wolfish grin. "Or maybe I won't. Aeris thinks my lack of coolness is cute."

Rude didn't seem to appreciate the joke so his companion shrugged unaffected by Rude's lack of humor. "Don't worry. These people down here are nothing compared to Shinra. One squad of SOLDIERs could clean the entire slums out without a casualty. Nothing on the Planet stops SOLDIERs." The last part was spoken in a whisper. There was a lag in the conversation as the loud man appeared to be caught up in thought. Rude glanced at the other man his attention peaked at the silence.

"Anyway," the dark haired man beamed, the moment of reflection ending faster than it began. "You'd practically be doing the same things you've been doing for the Don. Shake downs, murders, maiming, kidnapping, rapping, and looting, all the same with benefits." Benefits, was spoken with an over exaggerated waving of the hands.

Rude didn't appear impressed. Frustration crossed his companion's face followed by an impish grin as his eyes light up. "The pays better." For the first time during the conversation Rude glanced at the other man. "Interest now, huh." Rude frowned. "Okay, I'll tell you."

Grinning like a child his companion whispered the payment in Rude's ear. Both eyebrows rose to an unnatural height. He stopped walking and faced the dark haired man shock clear on his face. "People get paid that much." Nodding sagely, still smiling crazily, "Yes they do. Glad I didn't tell you my salary or you'd be trying for my job. Well."

"…how do you apply?" His companion's face brightened more than could be healthy for a normal individual. "Don't know exactly. It's not like SOLDIER where you turn in an application and take a physical. I heard you have to impress one of them."

Rude considered this for a moment. "How would you impress them?" Shrugging the other man's smile faltered. "I'm not exactly sure. Do something that would impress you." After a moment of contemplation Rude gave what could almost be considered a smirk. "Zack is AVALANCHE still a problem." Puzzled Zack nodded. "Yeah, why-" Then realization dawned as he saw the looked on Rude's face. "See you at work."

Lucas arrived to his office exactly on time. Not of course for reasons of punctuality he allowed Tseng that virtue but because a little birdie told him interesting things were happening. That and the security system but he wouldn't have been so eager to check the system without the tip. And boy did things look interesting.

He had to spend a moment whipping the smirk off his face before opening the door. Good things didn't happen to Lucas often when they did he took a great deal of pleasure from the experience. With his features schooled in their typical mask he walled into his office. Nearly dying with glee from what he saw inside.

Sitting in front of his desk was a mysterious youth in a suit, which was true as it was funny; patiently waiting for an interview he had no appointment for. On Lucas's desk were several glossy though armature photos of well-placed detonation devices. The pictures didn't do much to reveal how ingénues they'd been place. No, Lucas knew of their genius because he'd found bits of their remains in what was left, not much by the way, of an AVALANCHE headquarters. The ruins of the warehouse/base nearly brought tears to his eyes.

The current batch of Turks didn't understand the simple concept of stealth and secrecy, with the exception of Tseng but he was technically old school. They were trained to be thugs because thugs were much easier to find in Midgar than artists. To see a potential Turk recruit use such explosive methods without even attempting to persuade the target was truly a monumental occasion.

It would have made him giddy if not for the terminal sentence hanging over his head. Three weeks from now he'd be dead. There was nothing left for him but to leave a lasting impression on the Turks. Like many desperate men before him, he chose to leave his make with a protégé. The people up for Turk recruitment this year made the task nearly impossible. So the high ups who didn't want his talents to be wasted before they inflicted death upon him were going to give him the hostage.

The idea of having a hostage was enough to gage him. A spoiled little rich brat whose family had developed to much influence for Shinra's liking so the family in question 'offered' one of their children, never the intelligent, ambitious children who could actually have some sort of usefulness, in a job as a Turk because despite the glamour Turks were expendable. As Lucas was discovering after a little slip up involving leaking information to a rival corporation, it was just a one-time deal their offer had been too good to pass up. If by chance the parents went against Shinra's interest their children could be neatly removed without any questions asked. Not that many people would question Shinra in the first place, but it was tradition and all.

This year's hostage was the worse he'd ever meet. The hostage had an attitude as bad as his dye job. The hair killed Lucas. Bright red, it screamed rebellion. Rebellion for a Turk was death. So Lucas had no hopes for the punk or his own legacy. Until now, if the mysterious person in his office was half as good as he estimated then the hostage would be handed over to Tseng. Weak vengeance of a sort, for Tseng was the one who revealed Lucas's flaw of morals but it was all Lucas was going to get.

"You know if a friend hadn't told me you were passing by I wouldn't have deactivated the lethal security measures." The bald man had faced Lucas as soon as the door opened. A nice pair of shades blocked his eyes from view. His expression was a complete blank neither a hint of acceptance or denial. There was no response but with an expression like that Lucas hadn't been expecting one.

Casual he stepped over to the desk making an appearance of examining the photos. "You do realize if you're not accepted then AVALANCHE will most likely come after you." A predatorily smile graced his face as he continued. "I've heard the Don's already looking for you." The response was more than desired. No trace of any emotion crossed his face. The youth didn't even appear to have heard the comment. Lack of response was a difficult skill to master and one few Turks tried anymore. At least he wouldn't have to waste time with the basics.

There he was sold no need for an interview. Lucas never like giving them in the first place, to pretentious when all you really need to see was their resume. This Rude fellow, that was the name Zack had given him, didn't need a resume. His cover letter had been enough.

Still, it all felt rather unfinished. Lucas was sure the responsibility of welcoming Rude into his new life sentence fell on his shoulders. Not that the Turks were much of a welcoming group. If not for this AVALANCHE mess a good hazing would be in order. What a shame. Rude looked like just the type to enjoy something like that. That was if he remembered what happened. Lucas still couldn't remember the details of his own hazing all those years ago. Something to do with ducks and firecrackers or was it plastics…

Since the fun option was out Lucas settled for the norm. "You're in." There no need for big frilly words or warm fuzzies. Rude nodded and for just a moment Lucas had a feeling there would be a bit of fun in his final days. After all Rude seemed to have a thing for explosives so mayhem couldn't be far away.

Not an original concept but after seeing the last advent children screen shots I was inspired. Sorry about having the orginal character of Lucas, named after my current star wars obession, but Tseng wouldn't fit in with the idea so I had to have someone.