DAY THREE

Cloud woke up late. He never woke up late, so it was a sure sing that whatever had happened took its toll the night before. He swung his legs out of bed hurriedly as he took a glance out of the window. Almost noon. "Tifa?" He called out loudly.

"No need to yell at me," she answered jokingly from the doorway. "I can hear you."

He paused, grabbing for his shirt. "Tifa, what happened last night?"

Her eyes widened in bemusement until she got that look from him that signaled he was not in a playful mood. "You looked a little sick, so I sent you to bed. Well, whatever you have, you gave it to Denzel. He stayed home from school today."

He shrugged that off, strapping his elaborate sword sheath to his back. "He does that a lot lately."

"Not this time. He woke up screaming last night before you got in. He was complaining about a headache and a tingly feeling—like he was being electrocuted or something. He couldn't even get out of bed. I thought about taking him to the clinic, but he said he was feeling a little better."

Cloud's eyes narrowed. The same experience. Silently, he strode past Tifa and into Denzel's room. Denzel was wide awake, watching him silently glide to him. Cloud reached out and touched his head, feeling for fever. "Tifa says you're sick. How are you feeling?"

"Better, now."

He could feel Tifa walk up behind him. "Want to tell me about your nightmare?" Tifa was smiling at him, considering him to be very sympathetic to the child's needs. "Was it about Avera?"

He nodded. "You know her too?" He seemed excited.

Cloud frowned in puzzlement. "No." After a few moments of silence, he stood up. "We'll talk about this when I get back. Walk Marlene home from school if you're feeling better."

Tifa stepped in front of him. "Cloud, you're not leaving now, are you!"

"I have to. This is my last shipment I need to make to Wutai. If I leave now, I can get back here in a few hours."

"But Denzel…."

"He said he was fine. You're feeling fine now, aren't you, Denzel?"

The kid made a face at him, but eventually nodded. "Sure, Cloud." Without another word, he turned over to face the wall and threw the covers over his head.

"Cloud," she began again, " I don't think…."

"I'm fine."

"But you and he both…."

"We'll figure it out later, I promise!" He turned to her. "It's double pay for me if I can get it delivered before two. We need the money. I've got to go." He kissed her on the forehead, taking in a deep whiff of her hair as he did so. He hoped she hadn't noticed. "I'll be home soon."

Rufus Shinra paced before Tseng. "Any word from Rude or Reno?" He seemed angry and impatient. His fingers ticked against his leg every half second as he glared out the window. He had been pacing for over an hour like a caged animal.

"Nothing since they took the two choppers last night." Tseng was reading a newspaper, casually uninterested. He didn't know of anything that happened the night before. Plus, Reno and Rude were in the habit of just taking off for no reason—usually more Reno's idea than Rude's. But wherever the Second Turk went, his partner willingly followed; like a sheep to the slaughter. They were more pals than business partners, which usually got in the way of good business. Oh, well. As long as they functioned well together and did the president's bidding, it was no skin off of his nose. That left him more time alone with Elena.

The president glanced at him. "Find them. Make it your top priority."

Tseng looked up from his newspaper in concern. "They aren't in any kind of trouble, are they, sir?"

"Let's just say I sent Rude to get Reno and he's not back here with him yet."

"But, sir, Elena and I were supposed to…."

The president turned on him like a viper. "Don't argue with me, damn it!" He spat. "Just go get them!"

Tseng snapped to attention, dropping the newspaper onto the desk. "Yes, sir!"

With one last look at his superior, he slinked out of the room with as much dignity as he could muster under the circumstances.

Rufus glowered where Tseng had been standing. He had been suspicious of Turk Two for a few years, now. Actually, it had only been a real confirmed suspicion when NEW SOLDIER returned the first time, saying Reno had shown up and they were afraid of being found out, so they were empty-handed. The next day, Reno had called in sick immediately after Hojo and NEW SOLDIER returned without results again. When the specimen came in wearing Reno's ring, he was almost certain. And when she had called Turk Two by name, and Reno had gotten so angry….He knew. Reno was loyal to one person alone now, and it wasn't Rufus Shinra.

It was a shame, really. Reno had been the one Turk he could always count on. Effective, if not punctual. He didn't go down easily. If it had been anyone in that chamber except his girlfriend, he might have complied. Why, not long ago he had taken the brunt of Cloud Strife's attack as the rest flew off with a captured Aeris. He had done many un-kosher things for the sake of Shinra and the planet. At the same time, Reno knew when to cut the losses and run, and he was the only Turk that seemed to have a conscience. It was time to cut Reno loose—if necessary, permanently.

Reno was facedown in the dirt. He had circled around the continent for hours, trying to lose the chopper on his tail. When Rude had attacked on the landing bay, he staved him off long enough to get away in Chopper 1. However, Rude wasn't going to let him go that easily. Right about the time he thought he was home free, an array of bullets zinged by his starboard. Two hours of cat and mouse later, he was crash-landed in the middle of Cosmo Canyon. He lost consciousness for a while. When he woke up, he saw Rude's boots walking towards him. He rolled over with a groan. It took all the energy he had to stand up, but he somehow managed. "Rude, don't make me--" He reached into his belt and produced his newly bought revolver. He swallowed, trying to catch his breath. "I don't….want to….but you're not….listening, brother."

He somewhat growled a reply. Reno was a dead shot, even with one functional eye. He didn't dare move.

"I don't care….what I have to do….but I have to….somehow….save her….and the planet….at the same….time!" He wiped sand and blood out of his left eye, but he still couldn't see any better. "Now you better….frickin' back off!"

Rude paused for a moment before backing away a few feet.

Reno put a hand to his side and was relieved to find no sticky wetness of blood there. "you wanna serve and protect….the president? Then listen. He's….planning some….psycho reunion….but with Jenova and….Cetra cells. And he didn't….say that…..but I know. My….girl's….a Jenova candidate….like Kadaj and Cloud….but, good." He grabbed for breath heavily and found a bit more. "A good girl. I ….can't let them change her into some sort of mindless doll. And if….he uses those cells, it could be worse….than anything we ever imagined. What do you think about that, partner?" He waited, gasping for breath, waiting for Rude's reply.

To his relief, he relaxed. "I can't help you." He stated, flatly. Then, without warning, he tossed Reno the chopper keys.

Reno would normally have caught them. Instead, he swung for them and lost his balance, falling to the dirt on his knees. He sensed Rude walking up on him, but he was so tired he barely even cared. He scrambled for the keys, half-blind. He jumped when Rude grabbed his shoulder and jerked him to his feet sharply. To his surprise, however, he began dusting him off. The world was spinning a bit; he slipped in and out of consciousness momentarily. Before he knew it, the keys and his gun was stuffed in his jacket pocket. "Get going, before I change my mind."

He was so dumbfounded, he didn't even say thank you. He staggered slowly to the chopper, wiping more crusty blood seeping into his eye from a split on his hairline. "They'll get wise, you know," Reno told him from the seat of Chopper 2.

"I'll tell them you hit me." He replied slowly. He raised a hand. "I'll watch your back."

He smiled. "See you, partner." When he got himself into the air, he caught a reflection of himself in the glass. "Holy crap…Who hit who?" From the swirling sands below, he caught sight of a black dot that was presumably Rude. He shook his head with a typical chuckle. "Take care of yourself, you big buzzard."

"Where's your buddy?" Cloud asked, keeping his sword level on Reno.

His eyes measured Cloud, but never betrayed his true feelings. If they showed anything, it was independence and determination. He raised his chin in his usual superior way. "I came alone."

The ex-soldier's eyes shifted a bit to cover Reno's appearance, and then he nodded, lowering his sword. "Take a seat."

Tseng found Rude under the awning of a cliff. His jacket was missing, his tie used as a tourniquet for a huge slash on his arm. He was dirty, sweaty, and more than irritable. "Where's Reno?" Tseng demanded. Elena stepped to Rude's side, helping him up.

"He fought me after his chopper went down. Stole my keys."

"Any idea where he's headed?"

Rude made a noise to the back of his throat….a passable disappointed no.

"Fine. Get in the chopper. We're going to find him right now. We have orders."

Rude nodded. "Yes, we do."

DAY FOUR

I told him everything about what happened. Well, except the fact that she was a Sephiroth clone. Oh, and the fact that the president was chock full of Jenova cells. And I kind of skipped over the fact that the Turks were hunting me. But I did tell him Hojo was still alive, and he had some crazy plan to assault my girlfriend with Jenova and Cetra cells. Oh, and I topped it off by saying he had some elaborate scheme to take over the world or something like that.

At first, he didn't want to help. Of course not! What guy in their right mind would want competition like me around? But Tifa—I always liked her—gave him some speech about what he would want me to do if the roles were reversed and how much the planet needed him…yak, yak, yak. To make a long story short, we were standing outside of New Shinra headquarters at midnight, waiting for whatever hell came our way.

Personally, I didn't care. I just wanted to get Avera out without killing the president. I don't know why my loyalties were still divided like that. It wasn't going to last forever, though…

The I.D. card in Reno's hand gave an unpleasant beep. "Oh," he replied sarcastically. "I sure wish this wasn't so easy. I live for a challenge, you know."

Tifa's brown head popped out from behind Cloud's shoulder. "What is it?" She whispered to him. He couldn't figure out why she was whispering. It wasn't like they were inside, and besides, the doors were soundproof.

"Cut my security. I can't get in."

Cloud swung his head around to the back entrance of the lab, peeking through the window. "Then we'll just have to find another way in," he muttered. "They're not going to let us in the nice way."

"Why don't you try your magic?" Reno asked Tifa. She gazed at him in bewildered curiosity. He smirked at her. "Worked on Cloud."

He got a very meaningful scowl from her fiancé. He couldn't shut up, though. That was his nature. He was good at being a smart-aleck pain in the butt. It was his forte. "Worked on Rude, too. Maybe that's why he hates you so much, Cloud."

The scowl took a deadly edge. "If I were you," Cloud threateningly retorted, "I'd shut up."

Yeah, shut up, Reno. You need him to get Avera out, remember? "Sorry," he added quickly. He glanced at his watch. "Shift changes in two minutes. They go through a series of reboots in order to ensure the system is running smoothly. The door will unlock and relock then. We have ten seconds to get in before an alarm sounds to notify the door is ajar."

"You sure it will work?" Tifa asked.

"Ah, sure. Me and Rude sneak in here when we party all night and don't want to admit we're tardy the next morning. Oh, and when we don't want to pay for pay-per-view. We get it free here. The president also has surround sound; it's a late-night party Turk's dream come true."

"Are you finished?" Cloud snapped.

He raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, sure, buddy." Well he sure is touchy. Of course, Reno realized he wasn't Cloud's favorite character. He had done a lot to tick him off. But he was hoping he had changed his reputation with last year's fight-Kadaj-and-save-the-world scheme. "Stand by…now!" He grabbed the door handle and swung it open, diving in. He was followed quickly by Tifa and then Cloud. He slammed the door shut with only a few seconds to spare. He chuckled, tossing a brief grin at them. "Fun, huh? Come on, this way. We need to access the main computer."

They snuck up on the lone guard from behind. Reno pulled his electro-rod quickly and gave him a quick hit on the back of the skull. He looked down at the hapless victim, pulling his boots out from under the limp body. "Sorry about that, buddy. You'll get a formal apology in my resignation letter."

"Computer?" Cloud asked, as if he really needed to remind him that his girlfriend needed to be rescued in the first place.

He sighed. Cloud was such a pain in the butt. Way to serious! He was going to die before he was thirty. Reno was two years older than him and still he planned to take life as insincerely and recklessly as possible. Then again, when you needed to save your girlfriend in a high-alert facility, it wasn't exactly the time to be insincere or reckless. "Over here." He slid smoothly into the chair, until he realized he had rolled over a foot further than he was supposed to go. "Damn wheels." He slid back, tapping the screen.

"Can you figure it out?" Tifa asked him.

"Oh, please. I'm a Turk."

"Thought you were fired."

He held his breath, trying not to get angry at Cloud again. He muttered a comeback under his breath as he tapped the screen again. His face glowed a blue color as the screen came to life: PASSWORD.

He chuckled. "Oh, too easy. Shinra gave us codes for everything from covert missions to ma's cookie recipe. This will be cake." He tapped the keys confidently, humming a bit as he didHang on, Avera, you're almost out.

Cloud stepped up to the holding tank while Reno worked on it, gazing at her thoughtfully. She was covered in a white bodysuit that ran from her chest to her thighs. Her long, pale blonde hair gently swayed in the water. Her bottom lip hung open just slightly, her eyes pinched tight in some type of distress. Cloud recognized her immediately. "Wait a minute….I know her. She's…."

Reno had hit the enter key with a feeling of great exuberance and fell back in the chair, gazing up at her in boyish anticipation. It was short-lived. As soon as he hit the back of the chair, Rufus' voice came over the intercom. "Intruder alert," He came up so fast the chair slid out from under him and he had to catch his balance awkwardly. "Really, Reno. For being the second in command, you should have been smarter."

"They changed the frickin' password!" He spat irritably. His left hand grabbed the electro-rod, ready for battle. "We have about three seconds."

"Let's make them count," Tifa replied, running up to the entryway. Cloud followed suit, coming along the other side. Right about that time, the doors opened.

Rufus' voice faded out with: "The Turks are on their way, now."

"Hey, fellas. Long time no see," Reno said, almost nervously to the two in front. They charged, failing to realize Cloud and Tifa were on each side of the door. The first four were taken down before the rest realized what was going on.

"Find a way to get that tank open, or we're leaving without her!" Cloud yelled over the commotion of gunfire and Tifa's right hooks.

Reno ducked a swing at his head from one of the soldiers. He grinned, casually kicking straight out. It caught him in the chest and he flew backwards. Under different circumstances, he would have considered the battle fun. But he could already tell that they were soon about to be outnumbered and outmaneuvered. He would have to think of something right away. He turned to the canister just as he heard the same alarm he had heard before. She was coming to, and the signal was alerting them to the possibility. "Alright, Bright Eyes. I'm coming." He could almost hear his name with the thrum of the alarm: Reno, Reno, Reno… He muttered as he sidestepped another soldier neatly. Fine. Can't do it the easy way, we'll just have to do it the easier way. Without a second thought, he kicked the power supply.

The already-dim lights flickered and then turned off. The alarm went dead. A few seconds later, red emergency lights came to life; just in time for him to see two coming at him from different directions. He jumped to the left, crashing into Avera's holding tank, and the two collided. He could hear a hiss of the tank; it was nearly over.

The seal broke just as Reno dove in. She fell limply, and he barely had time to catch her before she hit the floor. He was barely conscious of the battle going on about him. Her head slumped to the crook of his arm. He thought for a moment she might be waking up, but the shock of the normal environment weakened her attempt at that. "Avera," he called, his voice trembling just a bit. He hoped Cloud hadn't heard it. If she had heard, it wasn't enough to pull her from her slumber. It took a few moments to register that her skin was freezing to the touch. She was blue; her hair was brittle. It was like she had been carved from a block of ice.

"Reno!" Tifa screamed at him. "We've got to go, now!" She tackled a soldier running past her and drove him to the ground with a crazed yell.

Quickly, he stripped off his jacket and wrapped it around her bare shoulders. He hoped this plan of Cloud's would work. He had a thought for a moment that it might just have been Cloud's way of getting rid of him. "Okay, ready!" He called. On cue, Cloud ran out and slashed through the remaining guards by the window. "Hope your guy's ready," Reno warned him, drawing her close. With a prolonged yell, he dashed out of the window and straight into gravity.

His life flashed before his eyes as he tumbled two stories without a parachute. But just as he was ready to hit the ground, Shera 2 slipped under he and his two companions. He rolled to his back and almost lost hold of Avera. He managed to flip over a couple of times on his elbows and knees, so he wouldn't injure her any more than necessary. Soon, he was flat on his back, staring up at the stars, Avera snugged up close to him. "Y'all hold on to yer britches!" He heard Cid call out over the loudspeaker. "We'll be out o' here real quick!"

Tifa grunted a bit with effort as Cloud helped her to her feet. She found Reno upright, holding Avera tightly in his lap. She couldn't help thinking he looked very un-Reno like then. He must have been pretty scared. She walked up to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder as Cloud watched apprehensively. He didn't look at her. His eyes were glued to the stars.

-----

"You're not telling me everything." The door Reno had just come out of slammed shut behind him. He instinctively jumped, whirling about to his said assailant. He had just come out of the back room, where Shera and Yuffie were hovering over Avera. They shooed him out when they wanted to put her old clothes back on her. They were supposed to let him know if she woke up during the process. The door had slammed by an unseen hand, and he was sure Tseng had found him. Instead, he came face-to-face with Cloud.

His eyes twinkled at him. He drew back in a playful gesture of having a heart attack. "Remember I'm two years older than you, Cloud. Be careful with my fragile old heart, man."

"What aren't you telling me?" Cloud snapped.

He looked weary, but it was genuine this time. "What do you mean?"

"That girl is the same one I saved in Wutai two days ago. NEW SOLDIER had an ambush ready for us. Rufus says he's sending in the Turks. This is either an elaborate attempt to weave us into one of your little Shinra schemes, or you've neglected to tell me everything." Cloud pointed to Cid's kitchen table almost aggressively. "Tell me. Now."

"Fine." Reno dropped into a chair, putting his hand over his injured left eye. "But you're not gonna like it. Come to think of it—where's Tifa? She always takes up for me."

"Sorry. She's going get the kids before they're caught in your stupid Shinra trap."

He gave him a defensive stare, raising his hands. "Hey, yo! I have nothing to do with this one, whatever it is!" He shrugged. "I'll tell you what I know, but the minute you try to retaliate against the president, you know I'll have to stop you. I'd rather us be allies."

Cloud gave him a half-grin. "Tell me what you know and I'll consider it. Besides, I thought you were fired."

He shot him a look. "Would you stop saying that, already?" He sighed irritably. "Okay. First of all, Shinra found great healing potential in both Jenova and Cetra cells. The Jenova cells helped him walk, and the Cetra gave him the cure for geostigma; He's got this weird plan to combine the two to achieve ultimate power. For the betterment of the world, of course."

"Of course." Cloud frowned. "But he's already healed. Besides, it would never work. The cells would kill each other off, possibly killing him as well."

"Ah, that's what I said. But they think it will work. That's why they got my girl as a lab rat. I guess they were a little too yellow to try it on themselves. Add that to the fact that he doesn't want healing, anymore. He wants….you know I'm not sure what he wants."

"The betterment of humanity?"

"Yeah, that."

The other smiled to himself ironically. "Knowing Rufus, it could be anything." He frowned again suddenly at a thought. "I thought the Jenova cells were destroyed in Kadaj. Was it Jenova's finger that…?"

"Oh please! That thing? It's so old you can't get a sample of dust, much less cells."

"Then where…?"

"You, Hojo, Rufus Shinra, you all have the Jenova cells already, remember? The geostigma?" Reno chuckled. "They were all destroyed in Kadaj. I guess that's a lucky thing; no more stray cells to worry with. But as soon as Rufus got Jenova's head a year ago, he drew samples off and stored them, 'just in case'. He injected himself with them shortly after Kadaj's death. It finished off what the lifestream couldn't."

"Then where are they getting the cells to inject Avera?"

Reno squirmed in his seat. "Ah….when did you say Tifa would be back?"

"Spill it."

He sighed again, staring at the front door. He was really hoping she would walk in. She could always seem to soothe the savage beast in Cloud. "Tell me you didn't feel it, Cloud, and I'll be glad. Then I'll know it was a lie."

He raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, waiting.

"They say the clones have a connection. Not immediately accessible, but there. They say if you dig deep enough, you can find your brethren." He turned his blue eyes to Cloud, sure that anyone could detect the pleading gaze in them. "Please tell me you didn't feel it."

He narrowed his eyes, then jumped up, hand on his sword hilt. "Impossible! She's a girl!"

"They say she's the prototype. They altered Sephiroth's genes somehow to make her."

"You knew about this!" He bellowed. With one swift move, he grabbed him by his jacket and hauled him to his feet. "You Shinra spy! You led her right to us!" He turned on his heel and went for her door, drawing his sword.

"No!" Reno yelled angrily. He launched himself at Cloud. Within seconds, he had him on the ground, his knee between his shoulder blades. "Touch her and I'll kill you!"

Cloud twisted, knocking him over. The battle was on. Cloud flashed out his sword. Reno caught it with his electro-rod and kicked out. Surprisingly, it met its mark—square in his jaw. Cloud stepped back and lashed out again. Reno ducked. "Never should have trusted you!" Cloud shouted, landing an even punch.

Reno reeled. There had been a lot of anger in that swing. "Makes two of us!" He sneered back. As he struck out, Cloud sidestepped neatly. Reno's head rammed the wall, and he immediately fell to the floor, head spinning. He groaned, getting on all fours. The other waited patiently, watching him. Only Reno now saw four foes instead of one. "And that's….only a warm-up!" Reno coolly panted, standing for the next blow.

But Tifa—lovely, sweet, wonderful Tifa—entered the room, Denzel and Marlene in tow. "Cloud! Reno!" She barked. "What are you two doing?" Reno stared at them for a moment in cross-eyed fascination, wondering where she found six kids.

"She's a Sephiroth experiment," Cloud snapped. "Nothing but Shinra's evil trap."

"Takes one to know one, I guess," Reno popped off, again touching the hollow of his injured left eye.

"You brought her here to murder us all, is that it?"

"Oh, please. You're not worth the trouble!" He glared, the swimmy sensation dying off a bit as he talked. "You know, it's a bit disappointing to me, too, don't you think? I've had a hell of a week: girlfriend nearly killed twice, kidnapped, I find out she's a Sephiroth clone, I get fired, my best friend shoots me out of the sky, and I have to ask you of all people to help me; Now she won't even wake up! God knows what they've done to her! You don't even know her! So don't talk to me about planning anything this frickin' stupid. You are not worth her life, capish?" He advanced, staring Cloud right in the face. "You were a Sephiroth clone too, you know?"

The room went dead silent for a brief moment. All eyes were on Cloud. Even Denzel and Marlene stood hand-in-hand, watching him quietly. Reno had just challenged him in the best way possible. He opened his mouth to say something when Yuffie burst in. "Reno! She's awake!"

Reno literally ran for the door. There was heard a loud, "Out, out, out!" And Shera backed out of the room in bewilderment. With a meaningful look at Tifa, Cloud watched the proceedings from the doorway.

"Hey, Bright Eyes," Reno said cheerfully as he sat next to her.

Her strange new eyes shifted towards him as her head turned ever so slowly. "Oh, Reno," Her hand stretched towards him so slightly that he almost missed it; it collapsed back onto her stomach. "It hurts so much."

He frowned deeply, swallowing down a huge lump in his throat. She had never complained before. Not even when her drunken dad had nearly killed her the night Yuffie returned home from stopping meteor a few years ago. When she didn't show at the bar, he went looking for her. Her father had slammed her head into a door. Of course, that's when he tried to kill her father. She had to pull him off and she did remarkably well, considering the fact that she could barely move a few moments before then. She never said another word about it, although he knew she must have been in great pain. So, naturally, it was shocking for him to hear anything about pain now. That wasn't her way. It must have been terrible for her to mention anything of it at all. He licked his lips, finding his voice. "Where?"

Her eyelids fluttered closed as she drew a sharp breath. "Everywhere." She paused, taking a deep slow breath. Even the mumbles she spoke were somewhat difficult for her. "And there are voices. So many voices….Reno….what did they do to me?"

He tried to crack a flippant smile. "Not so much at once, huh? Get some sleep."

"They'll find me."

"Nah. And if they do, I'll give them both fists."

"He will. He can hear me, now."

Cloud stood up straight. He? Was she referring to Sephiroth?

Reno argued with her for a while, but she was extremely agitated and couldn't seem to shake her fears of someone finding her. It seemed like twenty minutes, but it was probably sooner, when Denzel snuck past Cloud and next to Reno. "Hey, kid. Go play with Tifa, okay?" Reno told him, irritably.

At the sight of Denzel, Avera calmed down. Her eyes went soft and she smiled. "Denzel?"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

"It's okay, Avera. Me and Reno'll watch with you. Right, Reno?" He put his hand on hers and gave her a sweet, boyish smile.

Reno blinked. "Huh? What? Oh….yeah. Yeah, Avera. Me and the kid will be here."

"Denzel." She smiled and finally sank back onto the pillows. "It's good to see you."

Denzel nodded solemnly.

"Hey, don't forget the man in your life!" The Turk irritably griped. He didn't like the whole idea of a kid calming her down more than him.

Her eyes turned to Reno again. He was still astounded at how blue they were. They were lighter than his, lighter than Cloud's. They were the color of the edge of the sky on the brightest, clearest day possible. A pale, soft, glimmering blue. He took her hand as she held it out to him. Those eyes, though beautiful, were scaring the heck out of him. "They're coming," she whispered, and then dropped off to peaceful slumber.

The Turk and the kid looked at each other as if saying, "huh. This is new." Denzel blinked. "You know what she means, don't you?" Reno didn't say anything, so he took it as license to continue. "The Turks are coming. She's warning you."

"Hey kid. Uh…how do you know that?"

He shrugged matter-of-factly. "I just do."

Cloud met Reno's gaze from the doorway. He didn't trust Reno; never would. However, they had to get lost, one way or another. If Reno was working with the Turks, he had to throw them off the trail. If he wasn't, he had to get all of them out of harm's way. Either way, it required leaving. "Pack up. We've got to go." His gaze turned to Denzel as he was walking away. Why were Denzel and Avera connected? Denzel had always been an orphan, as long as Cloud knew him. Could he have been more? What was his past? What was his future? "Now."

Memory:The first inspection I had seen her. This time I got to talk to her. I, as the recently-appointed Turk rookie, made it a point to look for her. Hey, I was nineteen and completely enamored with pretty girls. I figured she had to be around there somewhere; after all, she was the Head of Scientific Diagnostics at the Junon reactor—even at sixteen. That made her smart…I was very into smart women. I strayed a little bit away from Shinra, Sr., spinning about in an effort to recognize her somewhere.

When we went past a door, I strayed a little close and she ran straight into me as I was looking up. She stumbled back a bit and scrambled for her diagnostic lenses. I grabbed for them, too, and handed them back before I even realized who I was standing in front of. She smiled at me, and my jaw dropped slightly. "Reno, right?"

"Oh, yeah…uh… Avera."

"Yes. Sorry I ran into you."

"Ah, well. That's me. Magnetic personality." I put my hand in my pocket.

She smiled briefly. Part of me wanted to kick myself for being so arrogantly stupid, the other part was so turned on that she didn't giggle the snot out of herself like all the other girls I had known did. I noticed, however, that she had a fresh scar right above her eyebrow. It was red and swollen. It didn't detract from her looks, however. She readjusted the diagnostic glasses on her nose. Reno noticed all too well that the bridge wrinkled cutely when she did that. "Well, I gotta get back to work. Take it easy, okay? No more blind turns!"

"Sure." I tilted my head slightly as she walked out, getting a good look at her from the back. I smirked at myself before I realized what I was doing. Getting the jitters, I shook myself out of it and jogged to catch up with the president.

Two weeks later I heard that the Gongaga reactor blew. I couldn't sleep for a week. That pretty girl…that smart pretty girl…was probably dead because of Shinra's materialistic, power-hungry personality. When Rude finally drug it out of me why I was not myself, he shrugged. "It's Shinra. You'll get used to it. It's your job."

I think….that's when I started hating Shinra. Somewhere deep down inside, a conscience long lost stirred up inside of me. This rebellion….it all started with her, six years ago.