So there I was, tied to a goddamn chair in a crummy basement in the Sector 7 Slums.

Barret had gone up to help out his team with some sort of fight after he'd asked me about...back then.

I hadn't thought about my life before Corel Prison in years. But, when Barret brought it up, it all seemed to come rushing back. Sit'n in that shitty basement, I remembered the way things went down back in the day...

Chapter 3: We Aint Innocent

(Corel, twenty years ago)

Samuel Rutherford Lennox was fourteen years old. His mother had died when he was very young, so he lived with his father, Tyler Lennox, in the coal mining town of Corel.

Most of the people in the town didn't trust Sam. He was a troublemaker. Always stealing, lying, cheating and anything else he could do to cause a fuss. People figured it was because his father didn't pay much attention to him, he just wanted to be noticed.

Sam's father, who everyone called Tex, was a skilled miner and gunsmith. Everyone in Corel respected Tex's talents and figured that Sam could never live up. Tex seemed to feel the same way, never really taking much of an interest in his son. In fact, nobody really took much of an interest in Sam, being the problem child that he was.

Sam only had two friends, Barret and Dyne. Barret was only one year older than him, but he was better at everything. His father, Charles, was very proud of him. Sam had always been jealous of the relationship Barret had with his dad, often attempting to prove he was better than Barret in any competition. Sam had wished he might get Tex to show some approval toward him, but he never seemed to be good enough.

That's the way things were for Sam, but he didn't let it bother him. Corel wasn't a bad place to live back in those days and he was happy there. Until one morning, when the sun peeked beautifully over the horizon, and Sam stood in his house having a conversation he will never forget...

"You mean it dad," Sam said eagerly. "We're actually gonna go to the mines together today."

"Sure," Tex said. "But you broke your pick axe screwin around like ya' always do. You'll have to go borrow one. Ya' know what, why don't you run down to Charlie's house, he's got one I'm sure he'll let you use."

"Great," Sam replied, a wide smile on his face. "I'll be back real quick."

Sam ran from his house as fast as he could. He hoped that Charles would be home so that he wouldn't have to snatch the pick from his house without permission. Quickly reaching Barret's house, Sam knocked on the wooden door. Barret was probably out with Dyne as usual and would likely not be in. Charles would probably be home though, since the workers hadn't left for the mines yet.

When nobody answered, Sam knocked again. Still no answer came. Anxious to get back to his father, he opened the door and stepped inside, hoping to find a pick near the door. Sure enough, leaning up against the wall was a small miner's pick. Sam quickly grabbed it and stepped further into the house. As he walked, he noticed that a dark liquid was dripping from the metal point of the tool.

"Mr. Wallace," Sam called, walking slowly through the house. "Are you in here?"

Before he even finished his sentence, he saw someone lying on the floor next to the couch. As he moved closer, he saw that it was Charles Wallace. His torso and neck had several round puncture wounds and his body lay frighteningly motionless. He was dead.

Sam stood frozen in horror as he stared at Barret's dad, lying silently on the wooden floor in a pool of his own blood.

"What the hell," yelled Jacob Bradley from behind him. He was a good friend of Charles and would most likely not be happy to find him murdered.

Sam was dragged out of the house by Jacob, the commotion causing a small crowd to gather. He struggled violently but Will Hamilton, a local merchant, quickly helped Jacob restrain him. It didn't take long before the townspeople were convinced that Sam had murdered Charles in cold blood.

"Charlie's dead," Jacob yelled to the onlookers. "I found Sam in the house holding this."

Jacob held up a bloody pick axe, no doubt in his mind that it was the murder weapon.

"Nothin' but a piece of trash that one," an upset woman said. "It was just a matter of time before he did somethin' like this."

Jacob leaned in close to Sam and said angrily, "We ought to jus' kill you right now."

Barret and Dyne, who had been talking nearby, saw that people were gathering around Sam and quickly ran over to him.

"What's go'n on here?" Barret asked.

"Barret," Will said, hesitating before he spoke again. "...it's...it's your father...he's..."

"What happened to Dad," Barret asked, worry in his voice. "Is he ok?"

"He's dead Barret..." Jacob said softly.

"No," Barret said, a look of horror on his face. "Sam did you...YOU...I'LL KILL YOU YOU BASTARD!"

As Barret rushed toward him, Sam shouted, "NO, I didn't do it!"

SMACK SMACK SMACK

"Barret please," Sam cried as Barret slammed him in the face with ferocious punches. "It wasn't me!"

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT," Barret yelled back at him with tears in his eyes. "WHY! WHY DID YOU KILL HIM!"

Sam was pulled away from his crazed friend by the two men who restrained him. They dragged him out of the crowd and over to where Tex stood.

"Dad," Sam said, relieved by the sight of his father. "Dad, tell 'em I didn't do it. Tell 'em I was just go'n to borrow a pick."

Tex simply shook his head, as if disgusted by his son, and said, "Take him away."

"Dad please!" Sam cried, tears streaming from his face as the men dragged him away from his father.

"I hope you like sand kid," Jacob said to him, obvious hatred in his tone. "...cause that's all you gonna see where you're go'n."

"Please dad," Sam desperately yelled back to his father. "Help me. I didn't do it. I swear. Don't let 'em take me away dad."

Tex just turned his back and walked away, not saying a word. Sam watched his father disappear from his sight. He didn't know why his dad had abandoned him, but he knew that he was in serious trouble and that he was all alone.

(Midgar, Three weeks before the destruction of Reactor No. 1)

Sam was enraged by the flood of memories that Barret had triggered. He wanted to get out of there and finish the mission. He knew he wouldn't be getting paid, but some missions aren't about the money.

Only his arms had been tied, so Sam leaned forward and stood up, lifting the chair that was attached to his arms. Then, he jumped backward keeping the chair between himself and the ground. The cheap wooden chair was crushed by his weight, freeing his tied arms.

Back on his feet again, Sam patted himself down finding that he was completely unarmed. They had even taken his bullets, including the Mako rounds he had gotten from the ShinRa. He looked around the room again, hoping to see some of his weapons. Nothing.

I guess they know who they are deal'n with after all, Sam thought.

As he surveyed his surroundings, he realized his bullet wounds were no longer bleeding. He had apparently been treated by AVALANCHE. They must not have wanted him to bleed to death before Barret had a chance to 'catch up'.

The noises of fighting had stopped but he continued to hear raised voices. Whatever was going on up there, Sam hoped that Barret would live long enough so that he could properly thank him for the hospitality.

"Check that thing out," a voice called from upstairs. "It looks like it leads to the basement."

AVALANCHE had apparently lost the fight. In seconds, a soldier would be coming down on the lift to secure the hideout. Sam knew that only one of them would be leaving the basement alive. Sam walked over to the shattered chair and picked up one of its legs, which had been split into a sharp point at one end. Again he heard a loud rumbling as the large platform descended down the metal track.

The lift was nearly halfway down when Sam reached up and grabbed the soldier by the leg. He then yanked him off of the platform and onto the hard floor beneath. The surprised soldier landed hard on his back, knocking the air from his lungs. Before the soldier could recover from the fall, Sam shoved the chair leg into his throat, with one quick stabbing motion.

"Hey James," a soldier called from upstairs. "Is everything alright down there?"

The concerned soldier walked over to the edge of the opening that his friend had descended into. He leaned over to look down into the basement and found himself staring into the barrel of an assault rifle.

BAM

With one precise shot, Sam had splattered the soldiers brains on the roof of the bar. The curious soldier's lifeless body crumpled and fell through the hole into the basement.

THUD

Two dead ShinRa soldiers lay on the floor at Sam's feet. Anyone who stood between him and Barret would soon join them. Armed with the first soldier's rifle, Sam stepped onto the lift platform and flipped the lever. He was then raised by the mechanism into an obviously low income restaurant, the only kind that existed in the slums of Midgar.

Jackpot, Sam thought as he spotted his belt and hat laying on one of the tables. He quickly walked over to his equipment, finding that his revolver was missing from its holster, but his ammo and grenades were still in their place on his belt. To his relief, one of his knifes was also laying on the table.

Sam strapped his belt around his waist, slid the knife into its place on his left leg and placed his trusty black hat on top of his head. Once he had put all his equipment into its proper location, he readied the dead soldier's assault rifle and walked slowly to the bar's exit. He carefully peered out the saloon style doorway, completely unnoticed by his enemies.

Four ShinRa soldiers were gathered outside with their guns trained on the small band of AVALANCHE members. Barret was standing there like the fool that he was with his arms raised in surrender. His cowardice would not save him, however, because Sam didn't plan on taking prisoners. He quickly raised the assault rifle and sighted Barret with his good eye.

As Sam aimed his weapon at Barret through the bar doorway, he saw Barret lower his gun arm and discharge a large metal box from the bottom. It was a high capacity ammo clip that fit smoothly into his metal forearm, where it could feed the machine gun high caliber shells at a phenomenal speed, a brilliant design.

Wait a second, Sam thought, confused by his old friend's willingness to accept defeat. If he still got bullets, why is he surrendering? He don't seem like the type to...

Sam was shocked to see that the reason they were surrendering was a young girl who was being held captive by one of the ShinRa soldiers. He restrained her with one arm and held a large knife against her throat with the other.

"Papa!" the young girl cried.

"It'll be ok," Barret said to her. "Don't worry Marlene, everything's gonna be ok."

Sam was struck by the sudden realization of what he was seeing. Barret is a...father, Sam thought. He's giving up because he's a father.

He lowered the ShinRa rifle, nearly letting it drop from his hands. Barret was a strong, talented fighter with a gun arm to back him up. With his AVALANCHE team at his side, he wielded some incredible influence and power. But, he was willing to give it all up to save his daughter. Barret was actually a good father.

Boo fuckin hoo, Sam thought, raising his rifle again. Don't shed as many tears when ya lose an eye in Corel Prison.

Sam sighted Barret with the assault rifle and started to squeeze the trigger. He was stopped by the sound of someone softly weeping. The young girl who was held captive had started to cry. Sam knew how to block out most of his meaningless emotions, but anger was one that he never quite had a handle on.

As he heard the helpless child crying, Sam felt a burning rage fill his heart that quickly washed away the anger he felt towards Barret. He recognized the emotions that the read on the young girl's face. He didn't know why, but it pissed him off, whether or not she was kin to his enemies.

BAM

The unsuspecting soldier's head jerked violently to the right as a large rifle shell pierced his left temple. The dead kidnapper crumpled to the ground, the knife falling away from the young girl's neck.

As quickly as she was freed, the girl ran frantically toward her father, sprinting as fast as her small legs could carry her. One of the soldiers reached out for the girl as she ran past, but was knocked from his feet by a kick from the brunette that Sam had encountered earlier. Knowing that she would take care of him, Sam turned his attention to the two armed soldiers.

BAM

With a perfect head shot, Sam took out the closest soldier. But before he could turn his attention, the last armed soldier opened fire on the doorway.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM CLICK

The stupid soldier had burnt an entire clip firing blindly at the bar's doorway. He frantically attempted to reload as Sam burst through the door and leapt over the wooden railing of the bar's porch. Not feeling it was necessary to waste ammo on him, Sam slammed the stock of his rifle into the soldier's face sending him toppling to the ground with a cracked skull. He wouldn't be waking up.

Sam then turned his attention to AVALANCHE. The last soldier standing was holding his nightstick, preparing to swing it at the long haired woman who had apparently disarmed him. He lunged forward, swinging his weapon with all his strength. In response, the woman gracefully sidestepped his attack, grabbed his wrist, and slammed her other hand into the back of his elbow.

CRACK

The attacking soldier's elbow bent inward, causing him to cry out in pain and drop helplessly to his knees.

"Ouch," Sam said to himself, again impressed by the woman's abilities.

She stood in front of the whimpering man, apparently feeling mercy for him when...

BAM

...his blood was splattered on her face, courtesy of Sam.

Keeping his gun raised, Sam scanned the members of AVALANCHE, preparing himself to fight them if the need, or the desire, arose. The woman stood a few meters away, wiping the soldiers blood from her face. Two men and one woman, with red bandanas on their heads, stood frozen with their gazes fixed on Sam. And Barret stood holding his terrified daughter, his arms tightly wrapped around her. They were no threat.

"My revolver," Sam said, lowering the rifle.

Barret turned to the brown haired man who stood behind him and said, "Biggs."

"Aw man," Biggs mumbled in disappointment as he removed a black revolver from his belt.

"Tifa," Barret said, addressing the beautiful fighter. "Take Marlene inside."

Barret lowered his daughter to the ground and kept his eyes on her until she was completely inside the bar. He then turned to Biggs and took the old revolver from his hands. With a serious look on his face, Barret silently walked over to Sam and held out the antique weapon.

Sam met Barret's intense gaze, and after what seemed like an eternity, he stepped closer and claimed his trusty revolver.

"You're lucky," Sam said, breaking the long silence. "None of 'em escaped, or survived for that matter, so your hideout's still a secret."

"Killed 'em all, did ya?" Barret asked. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Cause you'da done the same thing, Mr. Family Man." Sam replied, twirling his revolver into the holster on his belt.

"How do we know you aint gonna sell us out to the ShinRa?" Barret asked. "See'n as how you came here to cash in my head."

In response to that question, Sam simply walked past Barret toward the Sector 7 train station, not saying a word. After Sam had walked a ways down the dirt path, Barret turned to face him.

"Sam," Barret said, his tone had softened somewhat. "Back then...were you really...innocent?"

Sam stopped walking but didn't turn, he just silently stood in the path. After a moment, he started to walk again.

"Yeah," Sam answered before he was out of Barret's earshot. "But, I aint no more."

"No," Barret said to himself as Sam disappeared from sight. "We aint innocent no more."

(Present)

Sure I could'a fought AVALANCHE, maybe even killed 'em, but...I didn't.

Instead, I crashed in Midgar for a while, healin up and gettin my strength back. I knew that I couldn't let the ShinRa Corporation double cross me and get away with it.

If I was smart I would'a just let ShinRa get away with it, the way they get away with all the other terrible things they do. If I was smart I would'a just went on with my life and never look'd back. If I was smart I wouldn't have gone and got my self in this goddamn wooden tomb.

But I aint smart.