Johnny opened his eyes and frowned. There were weird, sparkly bubbles in the room. The brunette sat up…and the bubbles moved with his line of vision. The bubbles weren't physically in the room, he was hallucinating or something. Johnny closed his eyes, but even then he could still see sparkly bubbles behind his closed lids. The brunette shook his head rapidly. He thought he heard something but it sounded miles away and was muffled.

"Johnny?"

Reno's suddenly clear voice broke into the silence. The man's eyes snapped open, the bubbles were gone.

"Johnny?" Reno repeated. "Are you all right?"

Johnny looked at the clock, 6 A.M. on the dot. He blinked and looked over his shoulder at Reno. The redhead was propped up on his elbows with a sleepy yet concerned look on his face.

"You were shaking the whole bed."

"Sorry. I'm ok. Must've been dreaming…"

Reno nodded and lay back down, patting the space beside him. Johnny lay down again and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"So glad we can sleep for three more hours…" Reno muttered, drifting off to sleep again.

Johnny watched Reno sleep for nearly thirty minutes before he fell asleep once more.

-----------------------------------

When Johnny awoke again at 9 A.M. there were no more sparkly bubbles. There was only Reno sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers having a smoke.

"Morning…" Johnny said with a yawn and a stretch.

"Mmmn…" Reno murmured, exhaling smoke.

"Not a morning person, huh?"

"Not until I've had six or so cups of coffee…" The redhead replied.

Johnny chuckled and got out of bed. "Do I have time to shower?"

"Yeah. The pilot hasn't called me yet."

The brunette dug a clean suit out of his bag then went into the washroom. He turned the shower on and pulled his underwear off. Johnny looked down at his abdomen and frowned. At first he thought there was a smudge on his skin but upon closer inspection he discovered a small, oddly-colored bruise next to his belly button.

"Hmn. Weird."

Johnny stepped into the shower and started to wash himself.

Reno considered joining Johnny in the shower but decided not to tempt himself. The man finished off his smoke then dressed. He was putting his jacket on when his cell rang. Reno flipped his phone open.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Reno."

"Mornin' Mr. President."

"I have some good news for you."

"Oh?"

"Tseng is alive."

Silence. Reno blinked several times, not believing what he just heard. "Forgive me…but…could you run that by me again?"

"Due to the incompetence of the search team Tseng was declared dead. However he managed to walk to one of the beaches before collapsing. He was found by fishermen and brought to the tent city known as Mideel. Tseng was badly injured and fell into a coma. He didn't rouse from this state until a few days ago. When his rescuers finally found out who he was they contacted us. So now…you get to go and pick him up."

"So is Tseng still in charge since he's not dead?"

"No. You're still in charge for now. Tseng is to be brought back to Junon for healing."

"Will do."

"Good boy."

Rufus hung up. Reno sighed softly and closed his mobile. A small smile came to his lips.

"Tseng…you resilient bastard…"

Johnny emerged from the washroom freshly showered and dressed not even ten minutes later.

"Pack your stuff up. We have a new job to do."

Johnny nodded and packed away his stuff. They slung their bags over their shoulders and left their room. Reno knocked on Elena and Rude's door. Elena answered the door in her pajamas and looking tired.

"Time to get moving. We have a new assignment."

Elena yawned and nodded, closing the door again.

"Come on rookie."

Johnny followed Reno to the hotel lobby. The redhead gave the room keys back and his cell phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"We're right outside Wutai, Reno."

"Got enough fuel to make it to Mideel then back to Junon?"

"Yes."

"Good, because that's what we're doing."

Reno hung his cell up and waited for Elena and Rude. The pair entered the lobby a few minutes later.

"Okay. So what's our new mission?" Elena asked.

"We're going to Mideel…to pick up Tseng."

Elena's whole body went rigid, "W-what? Tseng is…is…"

"They just assumed he was dead. They never confirmed it. He's been in a coma all this time, but he woke up a few days ago and was able to say who he was."

"Tseng? Your old boss? He's alive?" Johnny blinked.

"Yeah. Apparently he's really lucky or has nine lives. He's waitin' in Mideel for us."

"How far is it to Mideel?" Elena asked.

"Twelve hour flight."

"Let's get going then."

Rude and Elena gave their room keys back and the Turks checked out. They left Wutai and found the Gelnika II waiting for them. The Turks boarded the plane and they were off.

"Tseng…he's been 'dead' for almost four months. I bet Rufus went completely ape shit on whoever made that mistake." Rude said as the plane lifted into the sky.

Once the plane levelled off Elena unbuckled her seatbelt and stood to pace around the plane. Johnny just kind of sat there looking out into space. He felt a bit nauseous at the moment. Oddly enough he hurt the most where that tiny bruise was. Johnny let out a shaky sigh and swallowed thickly.

"Hey Johnny, are you all right?" Rude asked. "You don't look so good."

"Just feeling a little queasy."

"Yeah. All this flying can get to you." Reno said. "You should go lie down."

Johnny nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt. As he was walking back to the living quarters the sparkly bubbles appeared again and this time they were accompanied by sparkly hexagons. Johnny shook his head and continued forward. He nearly collided with Elena, who was pacing in a circle, then collapsed on the couch.

"Johnny? Are you okay?" She asked.

Elena's voice sounded distorted and muffled to Johnny. He started to wonder if he'd been drugged.

But I haven't had anything to eat or drink yet today. They would've had to sneak passed Reno and drug me in my sleep. That doesn't make any bloody sense though…

"Johnny?" Elena repeated.

Her voice sounded clear this time. The sparkly bubbles and hexagons faded away.

"I'm fine." Johnny finally replied. "Flying just seems to take it out of me."

"Ah." Elena nodded. "Well don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually."

"Yeah."

Elena went back to pacing. Johnny lay there feeling nauseous until he fell asleep.

-------------------------

When Johnny awakened he felt much better. Nothing hurt and he didn't feel like throwing up anymore.

"Feeling better?"

Johnny looked up to see Reno standing in the little snack area, making himself some lunch.

"Much better." Johnny replied. "What time is it?"

"About half passed noon. Want some noodles?"

"Sure."

Johnny sat up and Reno sat beside him, two forks and a cup of noodles in hand.

"Still got a long way to go." Reno sighed. "Almost nine more hours."

"I wish we could go faster." Johnny said, accepting a fork from Reno.

"If we still had the Highwind we could've knocked three or four hours off our flight but…Cloud and his merry band have the Highwind."

"Stole it, huh?"

"More like stole it back."

Johnny nodded and the pair went about eating the cup of noodles. Johnny was starved but decided not to eat too much just in case. Once the noodles were done Reno threw the carton away and put the forks in the sink.

"Reno, will you look at something for me?"

"What is it?"

"There's this weird bruise on my abdomen. I just want to make sure it isn't…too weird."

"All right sweetness, lift your shirt up."

Johnny did as Reno asked and the redhead leaned down close to examine the bruise. "You're right, it's weird. It's an odd color…but it doesn't look like anything major."

At that moment Elena walked into the living quarters. "Ugh. Couldn't wait, huh Reno?"

Reno laughed. "I'm looking at a bruise. Come and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

Elena walked over and looked over her boss' shoulder. "Hmn. Weird color."

"Yeah, I know." Johnny said, letting his shirt drop back down.

"Don't worry about it." Reno said. "It's just a little bruise."

"All right."

The Turks spent the remaining nine hours of their flight drinking (one) beer, sleeping, reading magazines, and staring into space. Once in a while Reno would grumble about a TV.

When they landed outside Mideel it was 9:05 P.M. The sun had set and the Lifestream was an eerie green glow on the horizon.

"Mideel is practically squashed into one little corner of the island now. I wonder why they moved so far away." Rude murmured.

"I don't know. We can brainstorm about that after we have Tseng." Elena replied.

"Stop acting like an over zealous school girl, Elena." Reno said.

Elena shot Reno a glare. The co-pilot walked up to them then looked up at the Gelnika II.

"It'll take us about two hours to pump enough fuel into the tanks to get us to Junon."

Reno nodded, "Okay. Let's go then."

The Turks headed into Mideel, Elena in the lead. A small crowd was waiting for them when they entered the tent city.

"You are from Shin-Ra?" A woman asked.

"Yeah." Reno replied. "We're here to pick up Tseng."

The woman pointed to the only building in the entire 'town', a little shack at the edge of the tents.

"Your friend is there at the clinic."

Elena took off again, speed walking towards the clinic.

"Brace yourself, Elena. Tseng was badly injured and had only the magic this podunk little village has to cure him." Reno said.

"Yeah, yeah."

The Turks entered the shack. It was only one large room. A very pale and frail-looking Tseng lay on a cot at the back of the room. Beside the cot stood a man in a lab coat.

"Tseng?" Elena asked, moving to her former boss' side.

"He can't respond right now." The doctor said, looking up at her. "I gave him a sedative so he could sleep."

"What's his condition doc?" Reno asked.

"When Tseng first came to us he lost a lot of blood through a massive wound in his side. He was also bruised and had a few broken bones. He must've fallen a few times when walking through the woods. Because of his injuries and the great loss of blood Tseng slipped into a coma. We only have Potions here to heal people so he was really lucky he didn't pass away. Tseng's condition now is all right but it could be better. His muscles are very weak because they haven't been used for nearly four months. He also lost a lot of weight. We can only do so much to keep the patient nourished."

"Can we transport him to Junon without incident?" Elena wanted to know.

The doctor nodded, "He'll be fine."

"Great…well…we can't go anywhere until the plane is refuelled." Reno said. "Johnny, walk with me."

Johnny nodded. He and Reno left the clinic, Rude followed them. Elena moved to sit beside Tseng's bed. Once he was outside Reno flipped his cell open and phoned Rufus.

"Do you have him, Reno?"

"Yessir."

"What is his condition."

"Shitty, but he should improve quickly once he's in our care."

"Why did you phone, Reno?"

"If it weren't for these people Tseng would be dead…for real. I think we should give them some kind of reward."

"I'll take that into consideration."

Rufus hung up. Reno hung up too and sighed.

"Hey Reno…we're on display…"

The redhead looked up see that most everyone in the tent town was staring at them. There was an underlying fear there though. Everyone was still wary of Shin-Ra, not that Reno blamed them.

"Well since they're already staring at us let's ask why they moved so far away from the old site."

Rude nodded and the three men walked over to the nearest villager, an old woman standing in the entrance way of a large, purple tent.

"Want to tell us why Mideel is now squished into this tiny little corner of the island now?" Reno asked.

The elderly woman looked at the faint green glow in the distance then looked back at Reno. "The Lifestream used to be a comforting presence but…not anymore. It has changed somehow. There is…something wrong with it."

The woman shivered and without another word vanished into her tent. Johnny, Rude, and Reno turned to the faint glow in the distance.

"Something wrong with the Lifestream…?" Reno murmured.

TBC

Ooo, ahh…suspense. Well not really…oh well. Cut me some slack, I have the flu and can't think properly XD;; R&R Please :)