Disclaimer – I don't own FF7

Coeurl

By Crimson Skies

Chapter Eleven – Theft

Cloud frowned at the monster of a man sitting behind the desk. By looking at him, one would never guess the muscle head had the brains to run and underground arena, let alone being mastermind behind a whole criminal organization. Then again, this was Midgar. You could only survive so long on physical power. Cloud glanced at his partner who was frowning thoughtfully.

"So what you're saying," Reno began, "is that you'll let us go free, no strings, if we do a job for you."

"That's right. And don't even think about sneaking off without holding up your end. I have connections all over this city. I'll find you." And you'll regret it. Cloud and Reno got the message loud and clear.

"And what is this job supposed to be?" the redhead inquired. The man folded his hand and leaned forward on the desk. A wicked smile crossed his face.

"I want you to steal some materia from a Shinra warehouse on the plate."

"That's crazy!" Cloud gasped.

"A Shinra warehouse? On the plate? You nuts?" Reno exclaimed simultaneously.

"Possibly. But this is your only option. I won't give such an offer again."

"Why us?" Reno wondered.

"If you get caught it's no skin off my back, but I think you're capable enough. You seem relatively skilled for a couple of punks."

"Right, we'll do it." Reno's voice was filled with reluctant resignation. Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but his partner slapped a hand over it. "Give us the details."

Later, as they walked out of the building, Cloud gave Reno a significant look. "You realize he had no intention of letting us go. Half of everything he said was a lie!"

"I thought as much," Reno agreed. "What else can we do? Roll over and die? Don't worry, we'll figure something out." Reno shook his head wearily. Cloud sighed in defeat.

"This is your fault."

"Thirty-seven."

COEURLBYCRIMSONSKIESCHAPTERELEVENTHEFT

"Reno, you realize this is absolutely insane, right?" Cloud whispered harshly. Reno glanced around the corner before turning back and replying.

"And you're going along with it?" the redhead responded.

"Yeah, but I have every reason to be mentally unstable. What's your excuse?" Even as he spoke, he was paying close attention to their surroundings. It wouldn't do to be caught here. The citizens living on the plate didn't take kindly to visits from slum dwellers.

"Well it's not like we had any choice. If we hadn't, we would have withered away in a cell. Or worse. Don't you care at all about me? And I thought we were friends." Reno faked a sob.

"Enough with the dramatics. I still can't believe we're doing this," Cloud muttered, but gestured for Reno to follow him anyway. Silent as the dead, they made their way through the streets of the plate.

"But just think of the alternative."

"Yeah, and this way we get a nice, hospitable cell in Shinra's prison. Or better yet, a position as a test subject. Trust me when I say that's not pleasant."

"I'll take your word for it. But, we're not going to be caught," Reno assured him.

"Reno, we're sneaking into a Shinra warehouse to steal materia."

"So?"

"And it just happens to be guarded by a whole lot of Shinra lackeys as well as several SOLDIERs of both Third and Second Class?"

"And your point?"

"Vincent is going to just love hearing about this when I see him again," Cloud grumbled. They carefully avoided the light of the street lamps as they neared the warehouse. Waiting for the guards to look away, they dashed to a section of fence suitably shadowed. Cloud had to admit, security was somewhat lax. Shinra didn't take as much care of their lesser warehouses as they did their headquarters.

"Are you ready?" Reno asked him. "I know you don't like doing this."

"It doesn't really hurt. I just hate the pins and needles sensation. And my whole body buzzes for hours afterwards." Cloud eyed the electric fence and let out a soft sigh.

"Take your time," his partner in crime said, very real sympathy in his voice. Whether the sympathy was for what Cloud was about to do, or just why he was able to do it, Cloud wasn't sure. It was probably both.

Cloud braced himself. He slowly reached out with both hands to grasp the fence. A gasp left his lips when his bare skin made contact with the charged metal. His teeth clenched tightly together. Gradually he pulled the power from the fence. Small streaks of blue electricity danced along his arms. Splitting his concentration, he reached he reached out with his second ability. A section of barbed wire atop the ten-foot fence was coated with a thick layer of smooth ice, dulling the sharp edges. After a moment he gave Reno a nod. The other boy clamored up the fence and over the other side. With grateful breath Cloud loosed his hold over the current and leapt over, landing softly on the other side.

"We'll find somewhere you can discharge when we're finished," Reno whispered. Cloud nodded acknowledgement, still unable to speak. It one thing for him to come in contact with that much electricity, and another thing entirely to pull it into himself. Carefully scanning the empty yard, they scurried over to a less used doorway. Cloud stood watch as Reno eyed the control panel with a critical eye.

"It's an older model," he declared finally. He then proceeded to hotwire it. Cloud was rather interested in knowing where Reno had picked up that skill. Before they knew each other, that was for sure. Not long after, he and Cloud were sneaking through the halls of the building. Whenever they passed a security camera, Cloud would momentarily ice over the lens. Done so fast it could be called a glitch.

They used Cloud's nose and ears to find the hallways less traveled and avoid patrols. There was a close call where they had to knock out a guard and stow him in the janitor's closet. Cloud was a little concerned that the guard might have gotten a clear look at them. Maybe he was paranoid, but he was terrified of his description somehow making it back to Hojo and the man recognizing it.

They were badly outfitted for this kind of job. They didn't have any kind of equipment or anything. After all, they certainly didn't have the money for that stuff, and their new boss had refused to supply anything. Not even masks! So there was a good chance the guard had seen his face. But even with the threat of Hojo, he couldn't just kill him. That idea grated on his conscious. And he knew Reno wouldn't kill the unfortunate lackey, if only for Cloud's sake. It was just lucky that it hadn't been a SOLDIER. Cloud didn't know how he'd fare against one of them. Besides, fighting would alert the rest of the guards.

Twenty minutes later, two shadows slipped from the compound and into the night, packs bulging with their spoils. And none the wiser, except for one unfortunate security guard.

COEURLBYCRIMSONSKIESCHAPTERELEVENTHEFT

Vincent studied the map laid before him. He'd searched nearly everywhere on the continent for his missing ward, but had reached no luck so far. He'd even taken a boat to the jungle island of Mideel. Only two places remained. The first was Kalm. Vincent was hoping beyond hope that Cloud was there. If Cloud had ended up in the other place, well, Vincent didn't even want to think about that possibility.

Midgar was quite literally the last place he'd want Cloud to be, for several good reasons. One, Shinra headquarters was located in Midgar, which meant Hojo would probably be there. Secondly, Midgar was not a safe place for anyone. And finally, Midgar was huge! How was he supposed to find one kid somewhere like that? It was a task that could take months! Years even, if he was unlucky. Vincent grimaced.

"Definitely years," he muttered. A rustle in the grass alerted him to the presence of several wolfish monsters. They looked a little too happy to see him. "Years indeed." He rose to his feet and drew his gun in one smooth motion.

At least now he had a way to vent.

COEURLBYCRIMSONSKIESCHAPTERELEVENTHEFT

"So, Sephiroth, did you hear? Who am I kidding? I'm pretty sure the report hasn't made it to you yet, and I'm the only one who tells you anything of interest. And I'm pretty sure I haven't told you yet."

"Congratulations Zackary, you can actually keep track of your own actions. Impressive," the General stated dryly.

"Not funny. Seriously though, I think you'll be interested in this little bit of information. It's a real mystery," his second in command stated.

"Oh?"

"Yup. Found out this morning that a warehouse was broken into last night. A bunch of materia was missing and there was a guard tied up in the janitor's closet. Now, the security was lax, but that doesn't explain some of the weird stuff."

"Like?" Sephiroth's curiosity had finally gotten the better of him.

"Well, we found their point of entry into the building. Someone hotwired the control panel. It was a messy job, but efficient. How they got past the fence was another matter. They couldn't have come in the front, as they'd have been easy to spot. Weird thing? The fence and the grounds weren't disturbed in any way. The electric fence I might add. That thing is charged enough to fry a SOLDIER. The cameras don't seem to be tampered with, but the security tapes show a whole lot of split-second blurs but nothing else. But you know what the biggest surprise was?"

"Enlighten me."

"It was done by a couple of kids," Zack stated dryly and waited for Sephiroth's reaction. He wasn't disappointed.

"Come again?" The General blinked (Actually blinked!) in surprise and pinned him with a sharp look.

"It was done by a couple of kids, slum kids actually. The guard's testimony and the footprints we found outside confirm it. He was sure they couldn't have been older than fourteen, thought his guess was between eleven and thirteen."

"So a couple of children stole materia from a Shinra warehouse? Beautiful." Sephiroth raised one hand to cover his eyes. He could feel the headache starting.

"Yeah. There's going to be a huge fuss over this from the higher-ups. Which of course, means a bigger workload for us," Zack said with false good cheer.

"Joy."

ENDCHAPTERELEVEN

So, what did you think? Good, bad, or borderline? Whatever the case, please review. I'll appreciate it very much.

Kaoru – Well, I'm sorry it took so long, but there was reason why it took a month. I spent about a week preparing for the holidays, two weeks out of town, and another week which was very busy after the holidays. I'm so sick of celebrating things right now. Thanks for the review.

kk – Thanks for the review. Pretty soon you'll begin to see the separate stories being drawn together. I think anyway. I'm still not quite sure. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too.

Narcissistic FruitCake – Glad you like it. And it is a beautiful friendship indeed.

Meanae – Thank you for reviewing again. Hehe. I'll write an e-mail later, so I won't bother to say a lot here.

azure – I know it was short. I was working on a time constraint, so it was the best I could do. In any case, I'll try to make the chapters longer, but there's a limit depending on my schedule, especially if I'm going to keep updating about every week. Anyway, thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like it.

Elysha and the Bluegayle – Hehe. I perfect score huh? I hope I don't disappoint you in later chapters. Thanks much for reviewing.

Crystaline-Dragon – I'm happy to see you're still enjoying this. Sorry there wasn't too much of Vincent in this chapter. There will be chapters focused almost entirely on him in the future though. However, nothing of particular interest is happening to him at the moment.

Cendrillo – It's always fun getting your reviews. I've actually begun looking forward to them. I'm getting pretty spoiled, huh? I'm glad to hear you think I've got talent. By the way, I read some of your lj. I was really flattered that you mentioned my story. I have to say, I think your life is a lot more interesting than mine. But I really am glad you think I've got writing talent since writing is a huge part of my life. Oh, one more thing. I thought your first flame was pretty funny. Let me know when you find out what a 'mook' is, would you? The first person who ever flamed me seriously needed a dictionary. Anyway, thanks again for your continuing reviews.

rei – Lol. That would be funny. Actually, I thought of using something like that, but it doesn't quite fit the storyline…yet. Maybe, maybe not.

rurouniturtle – I'm glad to no longer be targeted by the soul-sucking mutant bunnies. Though, perhaps you should consider not setting them on poor, unsuspecting authors. I mean, then how could they update? O.O Hehe. Thanks much for your review.