Chapter 4

When Cloud and Vincent returned to their room, Squall was still asleep. They decided to try to sleep for the rest of the night. Vincent had planned on talking to Litta that night about Chaos, but decided it could wait until morning. Squall was the first to wake up, and decided to check on Litta. He found her room empty so went to wake up Cloud and Vincent.

"She's gone! She left again, in the middle of the night!" They went back to check her room.

"I hope she doesn't make a habit of this," Cloud thought aloud.

"Where would she go? Why would she leave?" Squall asked.

"Perhaps, Cloud," Vincent said, "she went to find out about her mother." Cloud thought about this, while Squall continued talking to himself.

"Would she have gone to Shin-Ra?" Cloud asked Vincent.

"I think she might have, but maybe this time we should let her try things on her own. She is probably tired of us running after her."

"You could be right. My concern is what Rufus will do when he finds her. He is a smooth talker, and Litta is very confused right now. He might be able to convince her to believe anything he says."

"Why don't we give her a day or two, and see what happens."

"All right, but what about Squall? He seems to be a little frantic whenever she goes missing or gets hurt. Will he agree to not go after her?"

"I think we can make him see reason." Cloud walked over to Squall while Vincent stood to the side.

"Squall, calm down."

"Calm down! Litta is missing!"

"I know that Squall, but I think she needs some time to herself right now. She needs to sort out the information she has and decide what to do with it."

"So you're just going to leave her out there on her own? What if she gets hurt? She can't heal herself!"

"She'll be fine, you've said so before. Just give her a day or two. After that we'll see what we want to do." Squall calmed down a bit, but still seemed to be against the idea.

"Do you really think she'll be all right?"

"I'm sure of it. Are you ready to come with me and Vincent now?"

"Where are we going?" Cloud hadn't actually talked with Vincent about going anywhere, so he didn't know. He motioned for Vincent to come join them.

"Nice to see you sane again Squall."

"Where were you and Cloud planning to go?" he asked. Vincent looked to Cloud.

"I don't know," Vincent said.

"I think we ought to visit some of our old friends Vincent," Cloud suggested.

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Red XIII."

"Any reason for wanting to see him?"

"I thought he might be able to answer some questions we have about someone." Vincent knew who and what questions he was talking about. Squall had no idea but remained silent. He was still thinking about Litta as he followed them to Cosmo Canyon.

Tseng had taken Litta to her room. She was expecting a cell, but apparently Turks got nicer rooms. I should have known that, she thought. He room was on a different floor, and it was nicer than the cells. It was still plain, but better. It was behind another room, which she was told was her new office.

"Rufus needs to talk to me, so I'll leave you to make yourself at home." Tseng was curt, but polite. He didn't seem angry; maybe I'll be able to get along with him. Or at least avoid getting on his bad side. A few minutes later, Tseng came back in.

"I thought you left."

"Rufus needs to see you." She followed him back up to see Rufus.

"Litta, I have an assignment for you."

"Already?" It's only 5:30 in the morning.

"Yes. Tseng will fill you in on the way. That's all." Litta left with Tseng. When they were outside, Tseng began filling her in.

"We're heading to Cosmo Canyon. We're going there to talk to someone named Red XIII. We are going to ask him some questions concerning Sephiroth."

"What if he doesn't talk?"

"Then you get to break in your guns." She fell silent after that. So my first mission is to find out information about Sephiroth. But if this Red XIII doesn't talk, I have to kill him. I hope it doesn't come to that. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine." She looked up at Tseng.

"Do you do these sorts of missions a lot?"

"Yes. Rufus likes to know what's going on. So if someone knows more than he does, the Turks get sent to get the information and dispose of the body afterwards."

"How long have you been a Turk?"

"A while. Since you seem so interested in asking questions, I think it's only fair you answer some of mine."

"I guess." What kind of questions?

"For starters, how old are you?"

"You don't know that?"

"Rufus doesn't tell us everything."

"I'm nineteen."

"Okay, next questions. What kind of weapon do you enjoy using?" What kind of a question is that?

"I use guns and a blade. That's what I'm good with."

"I see the one gun, but where's the other?" She lifted up her pant leg a little so he could see the gun strapped to her ankle. "Very nice."

"So how far is Cosmo Canyon?"

"We're almost there." Almost there turned out to be another hour. They walked the rest of the way there in silence.

When they arrived, Litta followed Tseng. He led them up to the top of a cliff, where there was a big house. They walked inside and found Red XIII sitting in a chair.

"What are you doing here Tseng?"

"No hello, or nice to see you?" Red XIII said nothing. "Fine. I'm here to ask you some questions about Sephiroth."

"He's alive again."

"I know that."

"What else do you know?"

"I'm here to ask you the question, so start telling me what you know."

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend? You do still have manners, don't you?"

"My name isn't important. What you know about Sephiroth is," Litta put in.

"You've trained her well, Tseng."

"I never trained her. There wasn't any need."

"I see. Well I have no information for you. I already told you what I know."

"Haven't you talked to anyone, one of your friends?" Tseng inquired.

"I'm afraid not. If that's all you came for, you can show yourself out."

"If that's all you know, I don't believe you. If you are lying, then I still don't believe you. Either way, I think out job here is done. Litta?" He turned towards her and nodded at her gun. She drew out her gun and fired a few shots at Red XIII. Tseng checked him out.

"Is he dead?"

"Yes. We should leave before anyone comes up and finds him." They made their way back down and headed towards Shin-Ra. "You did well."

"I hardly did anything."

"But you didn't argue when I told you to fire. Rufus will be pleased." Litta nodded. They reached Shin-Ra, and Litta went to her room. Wait, she thought, where's my necklace?

Cloud was the first to enter the house. Something's not right. He went around the table and found Red XIII on the ground. He had been shot several times. Vincent came up behind Cloud.

"It had to be a Turk," Vincent commented.

"But who? And why?"

"I don't know. We might be too late." Cloud didn't want to hear that.

"No. He can't be dead. It's not possible. I'll kill Rufus for this, and whoever else was involved." Vincent turned around and saw Squall holding something in his hand.

"What's that Squall?" he asked.

"It's Litta's necklace." Cloud turned around. "I found it here by the door."

"Why would she have been here?" Cloud asked.

"We don't know that she was," Vincent told them. "I think we need to pay a visit to Rufus." They agreed and left, but not until they had placed Red XIII alongside his father.

"It's where he belongs," Cloud muttered. They reached Shin-Ra in a short time, and went straight to Rufus' office.

"Cloud, Vincent, Squall. Is there a problem?"

"You know what happened to Red XIII and I want to know," Cloud demanded.

"I'm afraid that's Turk business."

"Then tell me what Litta was doing there."

"That's also Turk business."

"Litta isn't a Turk," Squall pointed out.

"Litta is no longer a concern of yours. I suggest you leave before I call in one of my Turks."

"We aren't going anywhere. So if you want to stay in one piece, I think you ought to start talking."

"Do you know how many threats I've had in my lifetime? Enough to make me not consider them a real threat. Cloud, if you want to know what happened to Red XIII, talk to Tseng. Now if you don't mind, I would enjoy some privacy so please leave." Cloud left to find Tseng and the others followed him. He spotted Tseng on another floor, half way through a door.

"Tseng!" Cloud shouted. Tseng turned around.

"How nice to see you again Cloud." He shut the door. "What brings you here?"

"What happened to Red XIII?"

"Oh that. We were sent on a mission to get some information out of him and then kill him."

"You and who else?"

"Another Turk."

"Which one?"

"A new Turk. You wouldn't know her."

"What information did you want out of Red XIII?" Vincent asked.

"Information on Sephiroth. He didn't have any, so it was an easy assignment."

"Why would you kill him? He wasn't bothering you. We haven't even talked to him in a few years."

"That's not the point. He had information, we wanted it. It wasn't what we wanted so we got rid of him. Even if he wasn't a problem now, we didn't want to leave open the possibility that he might become one later."

"Tseng, did you shoot him?"

"No."

"Then who was your partner? I want to kill her with my own hands."

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Whose room is this?" Squall asked.

"That's none of your business." Squall, instead of responding, just pushed Tseng aside and walked in. Litta happened to be sitting at her computer and turned around expecting it to be Tseng. She stood up when she saw Squall.

"What are you doing here Litta?"

"What are you doing here Squall?"

"I think it's obvious why I'm here, so answer my question." What should I say? I can't tell him I'm a Turk or he'll die, but then what do I say?

"I was trying to research my history on this computer, but since you're here I guess they know about me." That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, Squall thought, and yet Tseng was coming in here. But then why did she take so long to answer? Something's not right.

"Well we're going now." He moved to leave the room, but Litta didn't. "Come on, I said we're leaving." She said nothing. "Do you want us to leave without you?" At that moment Tseng came in.

"She won't be going anywhere." He put a gun to her head.

"Let her go Tseng," Squall told him.

"I don't think so. Rufus has some unfinished business with her."

"And what would that be?"

"That would be none of your business."

"I think it is my business."

"And why is that?"

"Litta belongs with her friends, not Turks. All you do is hurt people." That isn't completely true Squall, Litta thought.

"I think we ought to leave the decision up to Litta. You can go with them, but I can't be held responsible if something bad happens, or you can stay with us, where I can make sure your friends are safe."

"That's an easy choice. Come on Litta." Squall held the door open for her. "Aren't you coming?" There was a trace of hurt in his voice.

"I...can't. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"We can protect ourselves from Turks, we've done it before. You don't have to worry about us."

"I'm sorry Squall, but I don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt. Just leave while you can." Squall hid his hurt quickly, but not before Tseng noticed it.

"Fine." Squall turned and got ready to walk out the door. Before he was out all the way, he changed his mind and walked back in.

"Forget something?" Tseng asked.

"I'm not going to let you run Litta's life." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out with him. Cloud and Vincent had remained outside during this time. Cloud now led the way to the stairs.

"What's wrong with the elevators?" Squall asked.

"It will be easier to avoid Turks if we take the stairs," Cloud told him. No one argued.

"Squall, let go of my wrist." Squall realized he had been holding it since he took her from Tseng upstairs.

"Sorry." He let go.

"Why did you take me from up there?" Now you're all in more danger than if you had left me with Tseng. Hopefully I'll be able to get away and keep you safe.

"Aren't you glad to be away from Tseng?"

"That's not what I asked you."

"I thought you'd be happy to be away from him. Would you like me to take you back up to him?" He seemed to be a little angry.

"No, it's just-" At that moment, the door next to them opened and Tseng came out. The door had swung open right into Squall and Litta, knocking them off balance. Squall went tumbling down the stairs. Litta would have followed except Tseng caught her before she fell.

"Looks to me Squall like you need to work on your balance." Squall was standing by now, and wasn't in a good mood.

"I have plenty of balance Tseng. I just can't predict when doors will suddenly swing open."

"That would be my fault, but I can't say I'm sorry about it."

"Of course you can't. You're a Turk. Your goal in life is to inflict damage upon others."

"That's not entirely true. There is occasional paperwork involved, but it rarely gets done."

"Or you bring in people so you can experiment on them."

"One of the few perks of the job."

"Well I'm afraid I won't allow you to inflict any pain on Litta, so would you mind letting her go?" Litta suddenly became aware that Tseng was still holding her.

"If I do that she might get away, and I can't have that."

"I thought you were going to let her decide which group she wanted to be with."

"I did. She chose to stay with me. If you remember, it was you who grabbed her arm and pulled her away."

"It doesn't matter, she belongs with us. Now let her go."

"I don't think so."

"Now!" Instead of continuing the argument, Tseng calmly walked back through the door with Litta. He shut and locked the door behind him.

"It's a good thing I saved you, or you might have told them what you were really doing here."

"Yeah. You can let go of me now, I'm not going to run away." Tseng released his grip around her waist. "Thanks."

"No problem. We wouldn't want our newest Turk falling down a flight of steps." Litta returned his smile.

"Thank you also for not shooting anyone."

"Since you didn't tell them about becoming a Turk, you're friends are supposed to stay safe. Rufus wants to talk to you about your last mission."

"Right now?"

"Yes." Litta nodded and headed back up to see Rufus.

"Squall, we have to let her go for now," Cloud told him. Squall had been reduced to banging against the door, trying to get it open. "We can come back for her another time."

"How do we know nothing will happen to her? Something did not seem right. She decided to stay with Tseng instead of coming with me."

"Is that all she said?"

"Well she said she didn't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt. Ow!" Squall had finally made a dent in the door, but his shoulder was in a lot of pain.

"Just leave her here for now then. We have to keep going." Squall gave up on the door and they continued down the stairs. When they were back in their hotel in Midgar, Squall locked himself in his room.

"What is with him?" Cloud asked.

"Can't you guess?" Vincent smiled.

"I wondered. Does Litta know?"

"You know Squall better than that. He doesn't share his feelings willingly or often." Cloud nodded.

"So what do you think happened between Litta and the Turks?"

"I've been wondering about that, and haven't yet come up with an answer. Any number of things could have happened, but none seem to fit."

"I know what you mean. For now, I think we need to keep Squall away from her. I don't want to give him a chance to do anything rash." Vincent agreed.

"I'll see if I can find out anything while you keep an eye on Squall."

"I thought you'd say that. We'll be here when you come back, hopefully with information." Vincent left and Cloud went to see how Squall was doing. He was shocked to find the window open and the room empty.

Great, now what am I going to do? I told Vincent to meet us here, but I can't let Squall go after Litta. I know that's where he went; there isn't anywhere else he would go. I guess I don't have a choice. He grabbed his sword and left the hotel.

"Tseng said you wanted to talk to me about the mission?"

"Yes," Rufus said calmly. "Tell me what happened." She told him about what was said and what she did. "So you didn't argue when Tseng told you to shoot." It wasn't a question, but Litta answered anyway.

"No."

"Did you hesitate?"

"No."

"I have another assignment for you. You will be with Reno this time. Tseng has other duties he has to tend to." Reno came up at that moment and Litta followed him out.

"Where are we going?"

"Wutai." Please not Yuffie, Litta thought. "We have to eliminate someone that's getting in our way."

"Who is it?"

"Someone by the name of Yuffie." No. I can't kill her. Maybe I won't have to.

"Are we only going to kill her?"

"There may be ways of avoiding that, but I know her personally. She won't cooperate."

"I'm sure there are ways of making everyone cooperate, even her."

"We'll see." They continued on their way, unaware of anyone listening.

Squall reached Shin-Ra and saw Litta heading out the door, accompanied by Reno. He followed them without making any noise. He was curious as to where they were going, and why Litta was with Reno.

When he heard about what they were doing, he ran ahead to Wutai. If I can get there fast enough I can warn Yuffie. Then I'll double back and take Litta. Hopefully she's come to her senses by now. But why didn't she argue when Reno told her they were going to kill Yuffie. But what if, he didn't finish the sentence. Instead he ran off towards Wutai. When he reached Yuffie's house he walked right in.

"Yuffie!" She came into the living room.

"Squall! What are you doing here?"

"Reno is coming to kill you!"

"Finally! I've been waiting for a rematch against him for so long!"

"I don't think you want to stay around for this. Just leave now. I'm going back now to deal with him."

"Oh fine." She walked out with him and watched him run off. "You wish I would leave him to you," she muttered. She walked back into her house and waited for Reno to come. She didn't have to wait long.

"You seem to have been expecting us Yuffie," Reno said as he walked in.

"Us?" Reno stepped aside to reveal Litta. "Litta!"

"Yes. She's the newest member of the Turks."

"Litta, what does he mean you're a Turk?"

"That's right, I'm a Turk," she said a bit angrily. If I sound angry and mean, maybe Reno won't know how I really feel. "What of it?"

"Don't you know what they do?"

"I know perfectly well what they do. What I don't know is what brings us to you."

"Yuffie," Reno started, "there's been a rumor-"

"You should know better than to believe rumors."

"-that you know information concerning Sephiroth," Reno continued. "Is that true?"

"Maybe. Why do you want to know?"

"We have our reasons. What do you know?"

"I didn't say I knew anything. But let's say I do know something. What are you willing to give me in return for it?"

"Your life."

"I've heard that before. I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that."

"I don't need to. And it doesn't matter if you know anything or not, so your life no longer matters. I'm afraid you're only in Shin-Ra's way, so we are going to have to remove you." He turned to Litta. "Do it." Litta froze. I can't. I can't shoot Yuffie.

"Is it really necessary?"

"I said do it." He was angry, and she knew it. She pulled out her gun, although slowly.

"You don't have to listen to him Litta. Stay with me and you'll never have to deal with this creep again!"

"I'm sorry Yuffie." She aimed and fired. Litta turned around; the look on Yuffie's face was too much.

"Let's go." Litta reluctantly followed Reno out. When they were half way back to Shin-Ra, he backed her up against a tree and pushed his arm against her neck. "What happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Why did you freeze? Why the apology?" What do I tell him? I can't tell him she was my friend. Rufus would find out and then what would happen to my other friends? What would happen to Cloud, Vincent, and Squall?

"Answer me!"

Squall didn't find Reno or Litta. He figured they wouldn't find Yuffie, so he headed back to Midgar. He passed by Shin-Ra, and noticed Reno a little ways off. He was holding his arm to Litta's throat, obviously not letting her breathe. Suddenly he pulled his arm off. Litta slid to the ground gasping for air. Reno kicked her in the stomach and then dragged her up by her hair.

"Tell me what happened!" he screamed at her.

"Let go of my hair!" Reno did, and again she fell to the ground.

"Get up, or I'll do it again for you." Litta got up. "Now tell me why you froze!" She didn't answer right away, so he slapped her across the face.

"Reno, leave her alone!" Squall shouted. He came out from behind the trees and walked over.

"This is Turk business Squall."

"She is not Turk business."

"What Turks do does not concern you."

"She isn't a Turk so she is my concern."

"She is a Turk!" Squall took a step back. "Didn't know that, did you?" Reno was smiling. "But I'll leave you two love birds alone while I go inform Rufus of Litta's mistake." He ran off a little too happy for Squall.

"Litta, are you okay?" She didn't answer. She was curled up in a ball on the ground, shaking. Squall walked over and tilted her head so he could see it. Her eyes were shining with tears, but none had fallen yet.

"No, I'm not." He voice was barely audible.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" She shook her head. She's obviously not in the mood to talk. I don't blame her. I better get her away from Shin-Ra, before they come looking for her. He picked her up and carried her back to Midgar.