Yazoo wiped sweat out of his eyes with the back of his hand, smearing grease across his cheek. He blew the shorter stands of silver hair that had fallen across his face from his eyes. The rest was tied into a tail for which he was supremely grateful since he didn't feel like spending the rest of the week trying to get gear oil out of it. He was crouched on top of the beaten Robo-Soldier trying to rewire a part that Loz had practically broken off. He had found spare parts and tools in the sheds and had been at this since early in the morning when he had woken up from a dream only to find that he couldn't fall back asleep.

He knew vaguely that it had something to do with Kadaj but couldn't remember anything else. There had been another fleeting presence that felt so much like Jenova. He hadn't said anything about sensing her again when they had been in the car yesterday. There wasn't any real reason not to accept that he didn't want to lose the small amount of trust that they had. If he told them he could still hear her would they suspect him of trying for another Reunion? To him it was laughable, but it would be pretty hard to explain that to someone like Tseng or Elena who they had tortured to fulfill their cause.

As if summoned by his thoughts he spotted Tseng looking up at him from the ground, a hand shading his eyes against the glaring sun. "How is it coming?" he called. Yazoo quickly finished spicing the last wire and jumped down.

He flipped the controls into Neutral and the machine buzzed to life. "Its finished, accept for the outer plates. Some of those needed to be cut and I didn't think anyone would appreciate me grinding metal early in the morning."

Tseng raised an eyebrow. "A wise choice. I have an assignment for you and Rude." Tseng looked like he was studying his reaction, Yazoo was as unreadable as ever. If Tseng meant to throw him off by separating him from Loz he was mistaken.

"In the old Shinra building there are records and information that we need to continue rebuilding, some needs to be destroyed. Unfortunately the building, as you saw, is in very bad condition and there is a leak in an old underground mako pipe. Its not hazardous to Edge or anyone on the surface but we need someone with a high tolerance for mako to go into the basement and get the encrypted files. That's where you come in. Rude will watch your back and help you with the files. He also has the list of the files we need."

Yazoo nodded in acceptance, filing the objectives away in his mind word for word. "When do we leave?"

Tseng seemed pleased with his reaction and his stance became a little more relaxed. "Tomorrow morning. Any questions?"

The clone shook his head and Tseng turned to leave. There had been something that Yazoo had wanted to say but didn't know how. He decided to throw caution to the wind.

"Tseng.."

The raven haired man turned to face him, waiting. Yazoo bit his lip for a second "I just wanted to say…well about before-"

Tseng raised a hand to cut him off. "Don't apologize. I have done far worse in the name of something I believed in and I don't hold it against you."

Yazoo breathed deep and nodded. "Are you both alright? There was no lasting damage?" In a way he didn't want to know but it seemed a polite question to ask. What was the proper etiquette for apologizing to someone for torturing them? Tseng gave a low, soft chuckle.

"No there was no lasting damage, although you may have to do some work to win over Elena. She can be sensitive at times." With that he walked back towards Healin. Yazoo watched him go for a moment. Tseng had always struck Yazoo as odd. He had a strange kind of serenity about him that seemed to bring things into focus. Even when Kadaj had been trying to gain information from him he had never lost his composure.

Yazoo shook his head to clear the memories. The way Kadaj had twisted his blade just so… the gleam of insane pleasure in his eyes as the blood ran to the ground…

It must have been a truly magnificent sight once. Now the Shinra building was nothing but a crumbling shell. Yazoo and Rude had been pushing through the rubble for awhile now trying to gain entry to the lower levels. Rude's brute strength and Yazoo's ability to crawl into small spaces and make an opening that Rude could widen into a path proved to be invaluable.

Loz had objected to Yazoo going alone (without him) but eventually Yazoo had convinced him that he would be fine. Tseng had arrived then and taken Loz with an assignment of his own. Something to do with surveillance.

Rude moved a particularly large piece of concrete revealing a collapsed out wall of the first level of Shinra HQ. The large lobby and a few backdoor offices were exposed, but more importantly an air vent.

They had brought along blueprints of the building. Their destination was in the almost dead center underneath the building. Through a few twists and turns Yazoo saw a route through the air vents to their destination.

Rude raised his sunglasses to see the route Yazoo traced with his finger.

"If its collapsed or you think its too weak make sure to come back and we can find a different way." Yazoo raised an eyebrow at his concern.

Rude put his shades back and stiffened. "It would be unproductive to have to dig you out" he grumbled. Yazoo rolled the blueprints and handed them back to the bald man with a smirk.

He climbed the rubble and crawled into the vent. Behind him Rude said something under his breath that Yazoo was sure he wasn't supposed to have heard. Besides Reno would kill me if something happened….

Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness he made his way down the vent. Rude would be setting up a laptop and connecting with Rufus back at Healin through it. Yazoo had already memorized the list of the files they were looking for. The files on the Jenova Project that had been stored at Junon, Mako mutations, Long term affects of mako on the environment and genetic analysis. Yazoo wasn't sure why the files were needed or what was in them but he didn't really care. If doing this would keep Loz safe then it was worth it, even if it seemed like menial work.

It was cramped quarters and slow going, hindered even more so by places where sections of the vents had broken away and he was forced to pull some interesting maneuvers to reach the other side.

A green glow ahead of him told him he had come to his destination. A grate beneath him revealed a dark room lit by the glow from where the mako was seeping into the wall from the leak behind it. Yazoo kicked the vent down to fall on the floor and jumped down after it. A kind of tingling burn crept over his skin from his close proximity to the raw mako.

To a normal person the feeling would have been unbearable, to Yazoo it was merely an annoyance. There was a console of computers that were long dead, some of the monitors were cracked and broken while other towers had been crushed. To the side of these was a cabinet labeled 'archives'.

Rude had explained that in the in any building owned by Shinra the security feed was passed on to this HQ then sorted into these files. Yazoo used a piece of shrapnel he found behind a metal desk to crack the lock off of the cabinet. The drawer was full of data disks. Yazoo sorted through them finding what he was looking for. The files on the Jenova project were extensive, there were five from Junon alone. What really surprised him was the last file he was to retrieve. Genetic analysis had 20 disks to its name with no other designation on them.

Yazoo had not brought anything with him to carry the disks back through the vents. In the end he removed a smaller drawer at one of the computer consoles that held pens and paper. Dumping the old contents onto the floor he placed the disks in it and pulled an old chair underneath the air vent entrance. He pushed the drawer holding the disks up and into it ahead of him. He would have to push it ahead of him on his way back. It was awkward but he managed.

Rude was waiting for him at the end. Yazoo handed him the drawer and jumped down. Rude was already loading the files into the laptop. He scanned through them quickly. Yazoo was surprised at how much time had passed while he had been crawling through the vents. It had been around noon when they had finally found the vent and now the sun was almost ready to set.

Rude was loading in the last of the files and a picture flitting across the screen caught Yazoo's eye. When he realized what it was he reached out and stopped Rude's hand from pressing forward through it so fast.

It was his own face, about ten years younger but still himself. At his side was Kadaj, barely out of being a toddler. The background was the labs they had been raised in. Cold shock passed through Yazoo at the sight. This was the security feed from the labs where they had been raised, that meant that ever torturous experiment, every bone breaking training session and sanity shredding test was captured here. Yazoo thought he would be sick.

He turned to Rude, the question written plain on his face. The larger man just shook his head. He didn't have any answers. Yazoo sighed and left him to sort through the rest. He walked away for a little space but not so far that Rude couldn't spot him. Mixed emotions flitted through him at the thought that Rufus wanted those files. Everything that was in there that was important Yazoo and Loz could tell him.

His worst memories and most painful moments of weakness were on that tape. The thought of Rufus having the ability to file through them at his whim made him feel incredibly vulnerable. He heard Rude moving behind him gathering the laptop and data disks together.

Yazoo went back to help him. When they had everything together and were back in the car Rude broke the silence.

"It must have been rough, growing up in a place like that."

Yazoo leaned his head back against the seat "Why does Rufus want those files?"

Rude shrugged. "You would have to ask him"

Rufus remained expressionless in the face of Yazoo's questions. The clone had come straight to him when they had gotten back asking why he needed files on their time in the labs.

"They are to be destroyed." Rufus was unruffled despite the clones bristling and his voice was smooth as ever. "The other files you obtained are all on Sephiroth and other things that would be better forgotten."

Yazoo's relief was written on his face. Rufus almost laughed. "What did you think would be done with them? Is there something on these disks I should know about?"

Yazoo was staring out the window, his face unreadable. "Not unless you are making a study in the art of torture."

A haughty noise came from the back of the room. Elena the blonde Turk was standing there, she was on guard with the President. The look on her face was pleased. Yazoo didn't want to dwell on that.

Rufus tapped his fingers on the drawer of files. "How were you and your brothers created Yazoo? I ask only out of curiosity."

There was a moment of silence while Yazoo debated on answering. There really wasn't any harm in it and it wasn't a particular source of pain really.

"We were created in the labs. Most if it isn't really clear but we were created on a cellular level rather than being changed from a former human body." Yazoo had seen the files and the long maps of gene's that had made up he and his brothers.

"You were raised in the labs from infancy?"

Yazoo nodded. "Yes, but not necessarily by Shinra scientists. Jenova influenced the minds of the scientists, she gave them the knowledge they needed and they worked for her. Loz was the first, she designed us specifically for her purpose of bringing back Sephiroth." This was all like something he had read out of a text book for all the meaning it had for him. He couldn't care less what Jenova wanted.

"I see. Would it ease your mind to be the one to dispose of these?" Rufus indicated the data disks.

Yazoo shook his head. "No, it alright. I apologize for bursting in on you." He felt a little embarrassed now at how he had blown things out of proportion.

Rufus nodded in acknowledgment and Yazoo made a hasty retreat.

When the door clicked shut behind him Rufus sighed. "Elena, will you take these with you to the incinerator when your shift is over? The information I need isn't here."

"Yes sir." Behind the President his one female Turk smiled with the devious cruelty that only an offended woman can muster. One hand rubbed at the leftover scars from her first encounter with the clones. She did not so easily forget.

He was restless. This wasn't unusual for the redhead but it had been coming up more and more since Shinra didn't need them busting knee caps quite so often any more. Cleaning up their image and all. He was stalking around outside Healin having a cigarette. Rude never objected to him smoking in their apartment but he just needed some space. The place had been practically empty all day with Yazoo and Rude over at the old HQ, Tseng having dragged Loz off somewhere and Elena guarding Rufus. They are all probably back by now. He made to go back inside when something caught his eye.

A shadow moving amongst the others in the pale moonlight. Reno saw the shape of a person and followed with silent steps.

Yazoo was trying to get his mind off of the labs. He had slipped out of Healin and down the road toward the waterfalls. He didn't really know where he was going, just that it felt good to be moving. There was a small breeze that tossed his hair across his face and made the air just a little chill.

He stopped, there was a ledge ahead of him that fell into a steep drop, the waterfalls were just across from him on the other side of the rock face. The sound of the falling water was muted by the stone surrounding its long drop, enough so that Yazoo was able to hear someone behind him. Who would be out here so late?

The wind carried a scent to him. Cinnamon, cigarettes and that nameless musk. Reno.

"You never struck me as the type to go out for a walk in the woods Reno."

There was a laughing curse behind him and the footsteps came closer. "And here I thought I was being stealthy and shit."

Yazoo turned to face the Turk. The moonlight colored him dark, purple black hair, indigo eyes accented by pale skin. He looked good.

"Why would you want to be stealthy?" Reno stalked forward at his words. Yazoo was reminded of a panther with the way he moved.

"Maybe I just wanted to get you alone." The heat in the redheads voice was a sharp contrast to the wind and Yazoo had to fight back a shiver. The look on Reno's face told him he had seen it anyway. He was close now, so close Yazoo could feel the warmth of him.

"Well?" Yazoo's voice concealed the tension just underneath his skin. There was something about the redhead that just made him want to steal a taste of that pale skin.

"Well what?" he asked whispering into silver hair.

"What are you waiting for?" Yazoo whispered back. Reno growled low in his throat and pulled Yazoo close by his thin shoulders. The kiss was almost savage. Yazoo would have smiled if he hadn't been otherwise occupied, Reno learned fast.


AN- Okay guys, I hate to do this to ya but in order to comply with what ff net does and doesn't allow the rest of this chapter is posted at my livejournal. www.phoenix647. The only thing I cut out was the smut so if you arent interested in that anyway then you are fine, you wont miss out on anything to do with the plot if you dont see the rest of the chapter.

PS. Sorry if the scenes with Rufus seem awkward, they just didn't flow as well as I wanted them to.