After an hour of walking, Elena was finally in Garin. Garin was a good sized city, mostly populated by farmers, craftsmen and factory workers. It was surrounded by a river on the north side, and a wall of caves bordered its west boundary. Elena took a quick glance around the city and headed westward. She stopped at the mouth of a large cave where two men were standing guard. Dropping her luggage at her feet, she stared up at them. "I want to talk to someone about AGP."

The first man eyed her suspiciously. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Elena had been going over numerous scripts and scenarios on the plane ride, so there was no hesitation in her answer. "Yes you do. I heard about you from someone at a bar I go to. I wanted to see if the stories I heard were true. If they are, I can supply you with more recruits, weapons, you name it."

The man's suspicious glare did not fall. "Where are you going to get those things?"

"I belong to a small group. It's similar to yours, but underdeveloped. One of my members owns a weapons shop and can equip us with anything we need. Let me talk to someone in charge."

The man tilted his head in thought. The story sounded a little strange, although somewhat realistic. There were many groups that resisted Shinra, though not many had the organization and strength of AGP. "So what, exactly, can you help us with right now?"

Elena quickly scanned her mind; not wanting to slip saying that she knew they had kidnapped Rene Shinra. Tseng had suggested that the story not be made public, and to reveal she had inside information would be as good as pulling out her Shinra ID badge and waving it around.

Looking at him with cold resolve she answered, "I know that Shinra's building a reactor in there." She gestured with a nod towards the cave. "I also know if you want to put up a fight, you'll need snipers stationed at posts." She put a hand on her hip, waiting for his response.

"Are you volunteering to be our sniper?"

"You won't find a better shot than me."

The man flashed a hand signal to his partner, who, upon seeing it, whipped a gun out and trained it at Elena's head. The first man handed her the rifle tucked behind the back of his shirt. "Fine. Show me what you can do, but I wouldn't suggest trying anything funny."

Elena nodded curtly as she took the weapon. Looking for a suitable target, she noticed a chain-link fence a few hundred feet off. Securing the butt of the rifle in her shoulder, she steadied her breath and pulled the trigger back. A small 'ping' could be heard as the bullet stuck one of the poles supporting the fence. She lightly tossed the gun up in the air and caught it by the muzzle. She handed it back to the first guard with a small smile.

The guard was impressed. Deciding the woman standing in front of him could be too valuable for AGP to pass up, he looked at his partner. "Stay here, I'm going to take her to see Roth."

Elena picked up her bags and the two walked back towards the town in an awkward silence. Elena finally spoke up, shattering the silence. "So, is Roth the head of AGP?"

The man stared as the ground as he walked, nodding his head. "Yup. Head, founder, leader, organizer...whatever you want to call him."

Elena nodded. "...I don't think I caught your name..."

"I don't think I mentioned it. It's Gene. And yours?"

"Elena."

Gene nodded as they entered the bustling city. They walked down a street and turned into the middle of the city. There was a large and impressive factory opposite a small shack next to a materia shop. Gene turned and entered into the shack, followed by Elena. Elena set her bags down and glanced around her surroundings while Gene grabbed a blindfold off a table. "Turn around."

Elena did as she was instructed, allowing the thick blindfold to be placed around her eyes. Gene moved a rug out of the way, exposing a small hatch. Turning the combination dial, he opened it up. Gene grabbed Elena's arm and led her to the opening. "Careful, you gotta go down a ladder. It's about 20 feet," he cautioned.

Elena knelt down feeling her way to the opening. She placed her feet on the top rung and began to creep down. Gene pulled the rug over the top of the trapdoor so that the material would cover the hatch when it was closed. He looked down the ladder and saw that Elena was far enough down for him to begin climbing. Pulling the hatch closed behind him, he made his way to the cement floor below them.

Guiding Elena by her elbow, he led her down the dank tunnel. They zigzagged through a network of connected tunnels until Elena had completely lost her bearings. They arrived at a solid metal door. Gene knocked and waited.

A voice from inside the room answered the knock. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Gene. Tell Roth I got a new recruit."

"...you brought a new recruit here?" The voice asked incredulously.

"Yeah, common, let me in."

"Roth is going to have your butt, boy..." warned the voice as various locks were opened. "Why don't you go stick him in a cell while you talk to Roth?"

"Fine. Get me a key. Oh, it's a 'she' Lou," agreed Gene.

"You had just better know what you're doing..." Lou handed him a key ring.

The AGP underground hideout had a long tunnel leading to a room with a jail cell in it. Remembering that the cell had a person in it, he quickly opened the door and shoved Elena through it, not wanting to be the cause of a jail break. He pulled the door shut and locked it. "Don't worry, Elena. I won't be long. This is just for security purposes."

Elena heard him lock the cell door and then the tunnel door. Deciding it was safe enough to take her blindfold off, she pulled it down around her neck and looked around.

The cell was a small ten by ten foot room, surrounded by concrete on three sides and metal bars in the front. There was a metal toilet and metal sink in the corner, a small mattress and pillow, and...another person?

"...Hello?" Elena cautiously called out, slightly startled.

Sure enough, the person's head lifted up. Elena gasped as she stared at the girl. "...Who are you?" Elena questioned with a feeling that she already knew the answer.

The girl looked at Elena blankly. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hands, she ignored the question. "Did they kidnap you too?"

"Well, no, not really. They kidnapped you?" Elena gently prodded, trying to get the girl to answer her first question.

The girl simply nodded as large tears rolled off her cheeks.

"Do you live around here?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I was staying with my uncle, and I was in the guest house and the door opened and these guys were there and they grabbed me and..."

The girl ran on and on half hysterical. Elena sat down by her. It was definitely Rene Shinra. She desperately wanted to tell the girl who she was and she would be rescued, but she knew that the cell was most likely bugged. She bit her lip and patted the girl's leg.

"You'll be okay. Just don't make these guys mad. It'll be fine. I promise." Elena whispered the last part Rene's ear. Just then, she heard footsteps walking towards the cell room. Elena leapt up and half ran to the other side of the cell, pulling up her blindfold. The outside door opened and Gene entered.

"Alright, Elena. Showtime. The boss wants to see what you got." called Gene as he opened the cell door and led Elena out.

"You can take that blindfold off now."

Elena pulled the cloth over her head and handed it to Gene. "Thanks."

They came back to the large metal door. After knocking, Lou opened up the door again, letting Elena and Gene into a small room with a folding chair and another door in the back. Lou resumed his position on the folding chair after locking the door back up and nodded toward the other door. "Roth is waiting right through there."

The two let themselves into Roth's office and took a seat in front of a large desk. Roth was in his mid forties, with graying hair and intense eyes. He looked Elena up and down and leaned back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. "...Elena. I hear from Gene here you're quite the shot. Tell me about this small group you have."

Elena didn't miss a beat. "There's really not many of us; just five. We're anti-Shinra, anti-mako reactors, and are willing to do anything to stop them. We have equipment, just not enough man power to make a difference."

Roth swiveled his chair side to side. "And where are these other five?"

"I didn't bring them. As the leader of the group, I felt it my responsibility to check out your operation first."

"And what do you think of my operation?"

"If I hadn't been blindfolded, I might be able to answer that better, but you do seem very efficient and organized."

Roth laughed out loud. "You're a blunt one, aren't you?" He sat up in his chair and set his hands on his desk, suddenly very serious. "Where are you staying?"

Elena shifted in her seat. "I just got here today...probably at an inn."

"Did you bring anything with you?"

Gene answered for her. "It's upstairs."

Roth looked at him. "Go have someone take it to the temp quarters." He turned to Elena. "You can stay there for time being. That way, I can keep an eye on you, and you observe our faction all you wish. However, I do have a job for you. I want you on top of the roof across the street every night. I already have one of my best shooters up there, but he can make sure you...do your job. I want you back here by eight o'clock. Gene will show you to your quarters now."

Elena followed Gene back out and around the winding tunnels. Gene stopped at a wooden door with an armed guard patrolling the tunnel. "Here you go. That's Zing," he pointed out the guard. "If you need anything, ask him. You'll have to stay here until eight, I'm afraid. Someone will come and get you then."

Elena nodded and entered the room. She snapped on the light, filling the room with bright fluorescent light. She walked over to the bed and waited for her luggage to come. A few minutes later, a knock came from her door and a man she did not recognize handed Elena her two bags. Closing her door, she pulled the pager from her pocket and turned it on. Typing frantically, she sent a page to her boss.

Dr. Com had called Tseng earlier that morning, saying the lab tests were complete. There were no fingerprints or any other traces of Rene Shinra's kidnappers. However, Dr. Com had analyzed the paper and confirmed that it was paper specifically from Garin.

Tseng sat at the head of a large conference table with Rude and Reno, trying to work out some sort of game plan.

He looked at Rude and Reno, silently asking them if they had any ideas. Neither one of them answered. The three sat in silence until Tseng suddenly jumped in his chair. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a pager. "It's from Elena."

Both Rude and Reno looked up, waiting to hear what it said. Tseng's eyes scanned over the page before clearing his throat. "It says 'In. Am sniper. All underground. Am guarding entrance at night with someone else. Found her. Okay. Number unknown. Know of 7 so far. E.'" Tseng quickly transferred Elena's page to the pad of paper in front of him. After he finished, he looked up.

Reno was the first to speak up. "So there are seven for sure...."

Tseng shook his head. "She's only been there a few hours. We need to wait until she can make a better estimate."

Rude looked at the message on the paper. "She's a sniper in front of the building, but she has a partner, so we can't contact her in person."

Tseng sat deep in thought. "...'all underground'..." he repeated. Suddenly he stood up. "Garin must have city plans. If we get those, Reeve might be able to help us. We might be able to find another way in."

Rude stood up. "The Shinra archive has city blueprints for all the cities where there are reactors. I'll go get them."

Tseng nodded. "Good. I'll go find Reeve. Meet us back here. Reno, page back Elena and ask if she knows which building is the main entrance to their headquarters."

Rude and Tseng left, leaving Reno by himself in the large conference room. He picked up the pager and punched in his message, cursing loudly as his fingers ended up mashing the buttons surrounding the one he was really trying to press. Finally, he picked up Tseng's pen and used the tip to punch in his message. Sending it, he set the pager back down and waited for the answer.

Reno didn't wait long. Five minutes after he sent his page, the pager slid across the table as it vibrated. He picked it up and wrote down the message: "Small shack. Near center of city. Next door to a materia shop. E."

Just then, Rude entered with a large piece of blue paper rolled up under his arm. He laid the blueprint on the table and smoothed it out.

"So that's Garin, huh?" pondered Reno.

"That's Garin. Tseng back yet?"

"Nope. But Elena just paged with more information." He scrawled the new page under the first one on Tseng's notepad and slid it over to Rude.

As Rude tried to make out the messy handwriting, Reeve and Tseng entered the room.

Reeve sat in a chair and pulled the city plans in front of him. "So what am I looking for?"

"Elena said it's a small shack in the middle of the city. It's next door to a materia shop."

Reeve ran his finger across the blueprint as he scanned the paper. His finger stopped near the center and he tapped the spot a few times while clumsily reaching for the highlighter in his pocket. Making a yellow circle, he looked up at the three Turks. "This is probably the place. This block, right here, is a material shop, and this block is a little smaller, so I assume this is the 'small shack' she's talking about."

Tseng, Reno and Rude peered down at the paper. "Where would be the best place for a sniper to guard the entrance of that shack?" Tseng pondered out loud.

Reeve continued to stare down at the city plan. "Probably from the top of a building across the street. My guess would be this one." He pointed to the square opposite the shack. "Not only would that give a sniper a head on shot, it's also the top of some sort of factory, which would be taller than the other one-story buildings on either side." He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the Turks. "That's about all I can tell you for now. There's no way to know how big or how far this underground tunnel goes."

Tseng nodded. "Thank you, at least we have a little bit better idea of where we need to be."

Reeve walked to the door. "Anytime. Just call me if you need anything else."

The three sat back down and mentally went over the situation again. Reno looked up. "Hey, we know there are two snipers up there, and we know there they are, why don't we just snipe the snipers? We could use a tranquilizer gun on Elena, and Tseng, you could take out the other one, no problem."

Tseng looked at Reno. "That's not a bad idea, Reno. But, we're still going to have to wait until we're better informed of how many we're up against."