A/N: So, this chapter is the entire reason I started writing this fic in the first place. I couldn't get a certain scene out of my head - you'll probably know it when you see it ;)

"Oh, Tifa!"

She's really not in the mood for this, not after delving into Hojo's lab with her dad, not after being read the riot act unnecessarily for being an eco-terrorist – she knows blowing up reactors is not the answer now – but she still plasters on a fake smile as she turns to Butch. She would love to tell the bully to leave her alone, perhaps in more colorful language than that (she had learned from the best), but she doesn't want to cause any more problems for her dad. Not when he had just accepted Barret and Cid. "Butch?"

"How does it look?" Butch is all nervous optimism as he gestures to the rusted piece of shit in front of him. Tifa's pretty sure it's supposed to be an automobile, but he's got the exhaust pipe on the wrong end. The words like a goddamn mess run temptingly through her head, but she catches herself just in time, fluttering her eyelashes prettily as she instead opts for, "Wow. Did you build that all by yourself?"

Somehow, he can't detect the mocking undertone to her voice, the teen puffing out his chest, proud, like some sort of preening peacock. What an idiot. Why did she ever associate with him before? "Once I'm finished, we can go anywhere we want!"

Looking down her nose at the pathetic excuse for a car, when she returns her attention to Butch, she's mildly disgusted to find that the large teen looks surprisingly worse than his creation. He can't actually expect her to want to go anywhere with his greasy ass, can he? "It'll need some tires first."

"Oh yeah… right."

She almost feels bad for how embarrassed he gets at her apathy, but she wasn't supposed to be impressed, was she? Cid builds his own airships, for Gaia's sake. Besides, Butch's incessant bullying is a big part of why Cloud is so unsure of himself. It might be childish of her to hold a grudge, but she certainly couldn't see Butch apologizing any time soon. Well, at least she knows how to handle the bully now. "Oh! You remember Cloud, don't you?" He better not have forgotten, he was the entire reason Cloud nearly drowned when they were younger.

"That los—" The anger drains swiftly from his face at the sight of her raised eyebrow, the teen scrambling to hide his slip-up. Apparently not successful, he just chuckles awkwardly, running a filthy hand through his sweaty hair. "Oh… that Cloud. What about him?"

Tifa resists the urge to chuckle evilly – she's so going to enjoy this. "Did you hear he's being trained by Sephiroth now – the Sephiroth?"

Butch looks like he's about to pass out with how quickly the blood drains from his face. She was hoping for that reaction. "…S-S-Sephiroth?"

"Yeah! Sephiroth chose him personally, too. Said Cloud had serious potential." She's really going to need to wash her mouth out after this – maybe her dad has some lye somewhere – but at least the bastard was good for something. "Sephiroth's never taken a student before, either, so Cloud must be really special! He even summoned Bahamut on the second day! Can you believe it?" Butch looks like he, in fact, does not believe it, so Tifa pulls out her PHS for the coup de grâce. "Look at this!"

She's not proud in the slightest to be a member of Sephiroth's fanclub, but how else was she going to keep an eye on Cloud? It's so worth it, though, for how Butch's eyes bug out at the sight of the picture she shows him. The picture that Tifa had very nearly gagged at while the rest of the man's fanclub went absolutely bonkers – 'Kyaa! Look at that smile!'. The one where Sephiroth was hovering almost possessively over her friend, one hand on his back, an almost human-looking smile on the man's face while Cloud blushed rather endearingly up at him.

"T-T-That's…" Poor kid. She thinks she might have broken him with how his mouth opens and closes audibly, no other sound coming out, pure jealously written all over his face.

"Sephiroth! I know! Isn't it so cool?" She thinks she's going to be sick.

"Oh, Butch. There you are." Tifa turns startled at the sound of her father's voice to find the man walking their way. She wasn't entirely done 'bragging' about Cloud, but she guesses it can wait. Especially with the quick wink her father sends her way. She gets the feeling she's going to enjoy this, too, and a vicious smirk crosses over her face – good thing Butch couldn't see her, she doesn't want him having any sort of warning of what's to come. "Would you care to explain why you lied to me?"

"S-Sir?"

"Oh, have you forgotten? Well, that's a shame." Her father crosses his arms over his chest. "Here, let me remind you. Why did you tell me that Cloud forced Tifa to scale Mt. Nibel when you knew it was Tifa's idea the entire time?"

"We're under attack!"

"I beg your pardon?" Cloud must be hearing things. He might have been stationed in Junon the last time, but he's almost positive that was Avalanche – the first coming of it anyway. Rufus should have taken care of that by now. Besides, Cloud's Avalanche is currently working with the President, as crazy as that still sounds.

"Wutai's infiltrated the Tower!"

Cloud blinks stupidly as the words process. How had Wutai infiltrated the Tower? Was this the assassin Zack was talking about? Wait… Wutaian assassin. Cloud nearly snorts – it would be hilarious if that was Yuffie. But, no, she's like 9. She wouldn't really come all this way, would she? …Yes, yes she really would – this was Yuffie he was talking about. But Rufus wouldn't raise the alarm if it was actually her, he was at least smarter than that. No, there has to be more to it. "How many assailants are there?"

The cadet's terrified fidgeting stops as he stares wide-eyed back at Cloud. "I… I don't know." The kid casts a nervous glance around the bathroom as if afraid that Wutaian rebels were lurking in the shadows. "But there must be a lot of them or Director Heidegger wouldn't have called for all hands on deck, right?"

Cloud really hopes the disgust isn't visible on his face – the cadet was cute, he seemed like a nice kid – but that was giving Heidegger way too much credit. The man was a bumbling imbecile on a good day. "Any word where they are?"

"Uh… no. But the Director wants troopers on each floor to flush them out. He's assembling a small, elite team to protect the President."

Cloud sighs – something wasn't right. Heidegger hates Rufus. He wouldn't go out of his way to protect him, would he? And he didn't honestly believe that this 'elite' team of his was better prepared to protect the President than the SOLDIERs or the Turks, did he? "Something just doesn't add up. Nobody knows how many attackers there are or even where they're at, but for some reason we're certain that Wutai's attacking us?"

"Ohh… I…."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Cloud would find out, that is. He had promised Zack that he wouldn't go anywhere, but he's pretty sure that's null and void now. There's no way he would find out anything meaningful by just sitting quietly in his room. And there's no way he would leave Zack alone again. Not when he just got him back. No, he'll just have to be careful and keep an eye out for this assassin – he didn't learn all of Vincent's tricks for nothing.

And if he very specifically drowns out Zack's voice telling him why the assassin would go after him first, then so what?

"Cadet! What do you think you're doing?"

It's probably for the best that the officer walking his way doesn't hear Cloud's exasperated sigh. He'd only just parted ways with the other cadet and grabbed his helmet and rifle – better for disguising and protecting himself if he did run into any Wutaian rebels. He hadn't even pulled his door closed yet and here's this red-faced officer stomping his way. Great. Just what he needs. "Just grabbing my equipment, sir."

The red splotches on the man's lower face only seem to multiply as he yells again, his volume still painfully loud even with their closer proximity. "What took you so long?!"

"Had to throw up, sir. Sorry, sir." Wutai attacking wasn't the reason he threw up, but the man doesn't need to know that.

The officer scoffs, judgement evident in his rough voice when he responds. "You too? Some cadets we have."

Cloud guesses the other cadet must have run into this moron, too – poor kid. "Sorry, sir. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it in and I wasn't exactly sure of the efficacy of projectile vomit in battle. I figured it might be more of a liability than an asset, so I opted to unload in the toilet instead."

The officer's face goes slack at his response – well at least the half Cloud can see – the cogs in his head no doubt having come to a complete and utter stop. When the man manages to pull himself together again, his voice takes on a dangerous edge, his eyes no doubt narrowed behind his helmet. "Don't you talk back to me, Cadet."

"My apologies, sir. I meant no disrespect." Talk back? Really? He was answering his question. Idiot. It's a shame he hasn't put his helmet on yet, he really wants to roll his eyes at this buffoon.

The officer sizes him up for a long moment before apparently deciding that Cloud wasn't worth the effort. "Come on, Cadet. You're with me now. I can't have you embarrassing Director Heidegger. Just you watch, he'll be the one to save us all."

Save them all? Was he serious? Cloud's so tempted to tell the man not to hold his breath, but he can already guess how well that would be received. "How many assailants are there, sir?" This officer was a complete and total idiot if he thought Heidegger was going to save anybody, much less all of them, but Cloud still needs answers. He could better plan his response if he knew how many people to look out for.

"More than you can count, Cadet."

"Sir?"

"Must have been a hundred of those bastards. Saw them with my own eyes."

"Wow…" Cloud's not really sure what he had been expecting, but he should have known that he wouldn't get anything useful out of this moron. And he honestly can't decide whether he's more offended that this idiot thought he couldn't count higher than 100 or that he actually believed that that many Wutaian rebels managed to make it into Midgar, let alone the Shinra Building, without anyone noticing before now.

"Now, come on, Cadet."

Cloud keeps his face amazingly neutral as he responds, "Yes, sir." The officer buys the whole thing, seemingly pleased with his apparent obedience. Once again, thank Gaia for Vincent. The man doesn't see it coming, doesn't see Cloud coming – he's only just turned around, Cloud's only just scanned the hallway for onlookers, when Cloud has him knocked out before the officer can say more than "This way…"

Catching the man before he clatters to the floor, armor and all, Cloud stashes him in a random room. Not Cloud's room, though, that's disgusting – he sleeps there. He would have preferred to have resolved things without violence, but he couldn't stick around that simpering Heidegger fanboy any longer. He has things to do. Better to ditch the dumbass now. Besides, he's Sephiroth's student, it's not like he'll actually get into trouble for this. Huh. He guesses Sephiroth can be good for something after all. Go figure.

Crash!

The loud thudding from the conference room they had just left has everyone on high alert, the Turks moving instinctually to shield the President, Sephiroth turning, one hand already on Masamune's hilt. As the doors slowly slide open, though, what they find waiting for them is not what Sephiroth expected in the slightest.

"Sephiroth! It's time you answered for your crimes! Ugly Shinra SOLDIER dudes must be PUNISHED!"

Sephiroth will admit that he's rather slow responding to the accusation, he's still not entirely sure what he's seeing. For standing in the doorway of the conference room, glaring at him in what can only be a menacing way, hands on her hips, is an honest-to-Gaia child, the cover to the air ducts lying forgotten on the table behind her. She must have been watching their discussion from above, but how she managed to get to the 64th floor unnoticed, much less get into the air ducts with the giant 4-point shuriken strapped to her back – honestly, that thing was bigger than her – was anybody's guess.

"What have you to say for yourself, Sephiroth?!" The child yells, not intimidated in the slightest by the men in front of her, the fluorescent lighting glinting off her forehead protector as she tilts her head up to glare death at him better.

Before Sephiroth can determine the best course of action – he's at least socially adept enough to know that attacking a child is bad, even if they're the one threatening you first – Zack is squinting at their unexpected companion. "Treasure Princess…?"

Sephiroth raises an eyebrow at the teen, hoping for an explanation, but Reno takes the opportunity to cut in, the red-head apparently knowing their pint-sized infiltrator, too. "Oi, brat! What are you doing here?"

"Why, to kill Sephiroth and avenge Wutai, of course!" The girl stands taller, proud of her declaration, as Sephiroth finally realizes why the green turtleneck and khaki shorts she's wearing seem so familiar – this was another of Cloud's former comrades. She's quite a bit shorter than he remembers, and she was short before.

"Ms. Kisaragi," Rude sighs, pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and looking far more exasperated than surprised at the child's antics, "Is it safe to assume that you're the assassin we've been hearing about? The one who's been trying to assemble a hit team?"

Arms dropping to her side, the girl looks momentarily stunned by Rude's question. "How did you hear about that?"

"Your father warned us." It's Sephiroth's turn to be shocked by Rude's revelation. This was Lord Godo's daughter? Their personalities did not mesh at all. Though, he probably should be more concerned with how she managed to get all the way to Midgar without her father or any of her retainers realizing.

"Wow. He's smarter than I give him credit for…"

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Rufus turns an entirely unimpressed look Tseng's way. "Tseng. I thought you said she didn't remember."

Tseng, to his credit, looks far more embarrassed than Sephiroth has ever seen him – which is saying something – even if it's just the slightest reddening of his ears. "I managed to get close to her during peace negotiations, sir. She did not react when I mentioned the names of her former comrades nor did she even seem to recognize me."

"Haw haw haw! Of course I recognized you! But you were working with the enemy!" Sephiroth doesn't need to be a genius to know that he's the enemy she's referring to. "You didn't forget me and Vincent were best buds, did you? I learned allll his tricks!" And she winks at Tseng, sending the man a toothy grin and looking entirely too pleased about having out-Turked the Turk.

Reno apparently doesn't think better of it – or doesn't think at all – and cackles at his boss. From the way Tseng's eye twitches almost imperceptibly, Sephiroth knows the red-head will answer for that later. "She got you good, Boss! Oh man, trolled by a 5-year-old!"

As if a switch was flipped, the girl is indignant again, hands back on her hips. "I'm 9, thanks!"

"Same difference." Reno scoffs, waving a hand dismissively.

"I forgot how annoying you are, Carrot Top!"

"Ditto, Pipsqueak!"

A hand lands on Reno's shoulder, Rude looking at his partner disapprovingly. "Reno. She's a child. You're not."

Reno grumbles, brushing off his friend's hand and appearing to be doing his best to ignore the girl's taunting "Ohhh, burn!" After a very long moment, he finally huffs out a sigh and crosses his arms in front of him. "Fine. But what's with the gauntlet, brat? I thought you gave that up?"

"I knew I needed some protection if I was gonna go up against this guy," she responds, pointing her gauntleted arm at Sephiroth. Sephiroth, for his part, blinks at her confused – he's not sure why she thought that that would be adequate protection while still leaving her midriff bare, but who was he to talk? "I've been waiting, biding my time since remembering. But then when I saw this creep getting all handsy with Cloud, I knew I had to act!" And though she levels him with the best disgruntled look she can manage, it doesn't have nearly the same weight that Cloud's would. "I tried getting some support, yeah, but Sephiroth has everybody in Wutai fooled! Not me, though! I know who he really is!"

And with that assertion, the girl dashes forward, hands behind her, the conference room doors sliding silently shut. Sephiroth's still half-frozen from his confusion as she comes to a stop, stomping a foot and punching the air in front of him. "You're trying to lure Cloud over to the dark side, aren't you?"

Brain still failing him, Zack comes to his defense, hands raised in front of him in what can only be his attempt at a calming gesture. "Whoa, kid. Sephiroth's not going to hurt Cloud. He's trying to help him."

The sneer falls from the girl's face the moment she gets a good look at Zack, the child looking the teen up and down thoughtfully before replying. "Hey, I remember you… What'd you do with my treasure, pretty boy?" At Zack's puzzled look, she sighs and shakes her head. "Nevermind. Can't get distracted now. He's got you fooled, pretty boy!" She claims, pointing at Sephiroth once more. "This wouldn't be the first time that he's tried to seduce Cloud to his side! What did you offer him this time?" She finishes, returning her glare to him and punching his way once more. "Take that, bad guy!"

"By the Goddess, Sephiroth," Genesis exclaims, looking and sounding entirely too entertained for the current situation. "Do we have to worry about any other tiny terrors coming to take their revenge against you?" A smirk has made its way onto the man's face as he continues, "And pray tell, what does she mean by seducing Cloud to the dark side?"

Sephiroth has only just sighed in response when the girl turns her irritation to Genesis, stomping her foot and punching in his direction this time. "Tiny? You're one to talk with those heels you're wearing! Upset that all your friends are taller than you?" As expected, Genesis does not take the taunting well, his smirk melting into a sneer. The girl does not give him any more time to react, though, either not noticing Genesis's worsening mood or just not caring. "Those eyes… You're another one of those ugly SOLDIER dudes, aren't you?"

Sephiroth grimaces – here we go. If there was one thing you didn't insult, it was the man's appearance. And before anybody can remind Genesis that he's the adult in this confrontation – or reassure him that yes, he is rather handsome – the man scoffs, offended, fire burning in his eyes. "Ugly? I beg your pardon?" All Sephiroth can do is hope that the girl doesn't take a jab at Loveless, too. He has no real desire to find out how good she is at dodging fire.

"Are you deaf, too?"

Genesis's bracer has only just started to glow in warning, when Angeal has a hand clamped down on their friend's arm. "Genesis. She's a child." The you're not goes unspoken this time, but Genesis hears it anyway, yanking his arm free, a scowl set deep on his face. He doesn't make any more move to retaliate, though, and Angeal takes that as permission to turn to their intruder and drop down to her eye level – while none of them have any experience with children, Angeal was no doubt the most qualified to handle this situation. "Ms. Kisaragi, was it? My name is Angeal Hewley." He lays a hand over his heart as he continues, "You have my solemn promise that Sephiroth has no ulterior motive. Nobody's trying to hurt Cloud."

The girl glares at him, glares at all of them, little arms crossed over her chest. "As if I would believe the jerks that made Cloud cry!"

"Cloud didn't cry, though…"

"Not in front of you jerks, he didn't! But he had the same look on his face that he did when that asshole killed Aerith!" she yells, pointing her gauntleted arm at Sephiroth once more.

"I…" Sephiroth tries to apologize, to explain himself, to say anything that would help the guilt clawing through him, but is almost immediately drowned out by Zack's heartbroken "Cloudy…"

"You meanies are just taking advantage of Cloud not remembering!"

"Ms. Kisaragi – " Tseng tries his hand at calming her, but is almost immediately interrupted.

"Now, I know everybody's dyin' to talk to a babe like me – " Sephiroth still has absolutely no idea what's going on " – but I have a mission to complete!" And much faster than Sephiroth was expecting, the girl has jumped back several feet, unstrapping the shuriken in the process, and thrown her weapon at him. Even with her diminutive size and the fact that she was still moving when she attacked, her aim is flawless, and Sephiroth finds that he barely has the time to dodge – "Hey! Don't move!" – several strands of silver hair lost as the shuriken whizzes past. It probably wouldn't have done that much damage if the hit had landed, but perhaps he should start taking this seriously.

Unfortunately, the moment the weapon goes zooming past is also the exact moment that the doors behind them slide open. "Mr. President, we need to talk!" But that is as far as Heidegger gets before the giant shuriken is lodged firmly in the doorframe next to him. No longer interested in explaining why he was there or even how he knew the President was there, the large, bearded man squawks affronted at the apparent 'attempt' on his life, his face reddening unattractively. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Rufus grumbles for only them to hear, before striding forward to intercept the troopers flanking Heidegger, the troopers who look a second away from searching for the mysterious assailant. "Stand down. There is no danger here."

But the girl doesn't get the message, and she runs forward past them to get a better look at the newcomers. Pointing an accusing finger at Heidegger, she then proceeds to make everything worse. "GROSS-NESS! You're still alive, fatso?!"

"Fatso?! Just who do you think you are?!"

"Don't – " Rufus tries to warn her, he really does. But the child doesn't listen – or doesn't care – puffing out her chest again, tiny fists back on tiny hips. "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! Wutai's greatest warrior!"

Sephiroth has only had the time to curse Heidegger's poor timing – how did he know they were on the 64th floor? – when the man's face changes color again. "Wutai?!"

"That's right! I've come to avenge Wutai for everything Shinra has done!" The girl – Yuffie – tilts her head to the side, thinking. "Hmm. Might as well add you to the list, too, fatso! I'll make you pay for what you've done and what you would have done!"

"Avenge Wutai?! Just how many of you are there?!"

"Hundreds! …No, thousands! You might as well give up now, it'll be easier!"

For some untold reason, Heidegger seems to believe her, his face so red, Sephiroth's afraid that steam will come out of his ears – or at least, he thinks that's the phrase Genesis would use. "Men! Seize her!"

Heidegger must have brought the boot-lickingly loyal troopers today, all of them moving forward together as one, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that their target is a small child. As Rufus orders them to stand down once more, and as Angeal and Zack move to protect the girl, Yuffie finally seems to realize the trouble she's in – "Uh oh. Time to bounce." – and she pulls a small sphere from a hidden pocket, throwing it on the ground and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"What the – Ow!" It's only when the smoke clears and Sephiroth gets a good look at Heidegger's hunched over form, that he realizes Yuffie probably got a good kick in on her way out, her and her shuriken missing, only a large gash in the door frame and Heidegger's (superficial) injury to prove that she was there. "Find her, you idiots!"

"Gentlemen." Rufus's voice is even, controlled, but there's no mistaking the power behind it, nor the way the troopers stop immediately in their tracks, turning to face their now angry President. "Did you not hear me the first two times? I said. Stand. Down."

There's a grumbling and then Heidegger is pulling himself to his feet again. "But Mr. President, you cannot ignore this!"

"I'm not ignoring this. But you will not get involved. Do you understand?"

"Not get involved?! You heard that little rat! She said there were hundreds of them!"

Rufus rolls his eyes, a sentiment Sephiroth feels he shares – was Heidegger really this stupid? "She was obviously lying." Before Heidegger can do more than grunt in protest, Rufus has raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "Or are you telling me that hundreds of Wutaian militants have managed to infiltrate the Tower – my Tower – without you or your department noticing?" Heidegger's fists ball up at his sides, but he doesn't answer. "Are you saying that you've failed me that badly?"

"…No."

"Pardon me?"

"No…sir." Heidegger grits his teeth, struggling to show deference to somebody he so clearly hates. "But I must insist that we do something with this intruder! We cannot let them mock Shinra like this!"

"Oh? And what would you suggest?"

Heidegger's beady eyes flash disturbingly, the man slamming a meaty fist into the palm of his other hand. "We must crush them! Thoroughly and completely, without hesitation or mercy!"

Rufus sighs. "And that is exactly why you won't be doing anything."

Growling, Heidegger glares daggers at the President. "Have you already forgotten the war? If we spare our enemies, they'll repay our 'kindness' with blood!"

"Are you so stupid that you've already forgotten that this 'enemy' you speak of is a child?" The President waves a hand dismissively before Heidegger can do more than curl his lip upwards in anger. "Don't mistake me, Director. I do not plan to do nothing as you claim. But I will not incite another pointless war by 'crushing' a little girl."

"But sir – "

"No buts. As I said before, you are not to get involved. My Turks will be more than enough for this."

"But sir!"

"Heidegger." Sephiroth can practically feel the irritation rolling off the President in waves – Heidegger did have quite the knack for riling him up. "Who is in charge here?"

"The President, sir."

"And who is the President?"

Heidegger practically sneers. "You…sir."

"Exactly. And as the President, I give the orders. Not you. Is that understood?" Rufus's voice is low, dangerous, and very, very condescending – he had obviously had more than his fill of this idiot.

Heidegger looks like he's one insult away from a temper tantrum as he bites out, "Yes…sir."

"Good." Turning away from Heidegger and his troopers, Rufus addresses the rest of them. "Come on, we'll talk more upstairs."

As they file out, Sephiroth doesn't miss the way Heidegger shakes with barely-concealed anger, the man glaring at the spot where Rufus had been standing. Nor does his miss the way Heidegger bellows at his subordinates – "GET AWAY FROM ME!" – the loud clattering that follows very evidently the result of Heidegger throwing something. Well, Sephiroth has the feeling they haven't heard the last of the volatile man just yet.

"Cadet!"

Cloud nearly sighs again – why was there somebody guarding the elevator bay? Sure, he knows that there's this supposed 'invasion', but what use would Wutaian rebels have for the cadet floor? They would go straight for the top of the Tower. Granted, there's still this business of some assassin that may or may not come after him for being Sephiroth's apparent – nope, not thinking about that. That's why he brought his helmet, to not have to worry about this 'assassin'. "Yes, sir?"

"Where's Stevens?"

"Uh…" Stevens? Was that that dumbass officer he ran into? Well, he can't exactly tell him that he had knocked the idiot out and hid the body. He better come up with something. And quick. "He thought he saw some Wutaian rebels, sir! He sent me to call for backup!"

"What?!" Cloud almost feels bad for tricking him, almost, but he has work to do. "But we've been guarding the elevators!"

Cloud shrugs. "Perhaps they've been hiding this entire time, sir." He doesn't point out that they're not guarding the stairwell – knowing his luck, he might end up needing to use it.

"You're right!"

Well, that was easier than he thought, but he's not going to look a gift Chocobo in the mouth. And like with his idiotic counterpart, Cloud has the trooper knocked out in no time flat, stowing the body in an alcove behind a large potted plant – he definitely doesn't have the time (nor desire) to lug the body back to the dorms.

The elevator is empty when he finally gets on and starts his slow ascent up. He just hopes that his luck will hold out this time, that he'll make it to the top of the Tower before things take a turn for the worse.

"I insist that you take this threat seriously, sir."

While Rufus had made it quite clear that he would be taking no more visitors for the rest of the day, between a red-faced Heidegger and all the troopers he brought – honestly, there must be close to 40 of them – nobody could blame the poor secretary for letting them through.

"We've been over this before, Heidegger." Rufus pinches the bridge of his nose, appearing to be rather tired with this interruption. Sephiroth finds he understands – he's not sure how long Heidegger has been here, grilling the President, but it already feels like an eternity. He's very tempted to silence the man himself, permanently… but that would create an unnecessary scene. Rufus had already ordered them not to provoke the Director – "The fates are truly cruel if I have to listen to your incessant drivel twice in one day." – and that probably extends to trying to kill him, too. "There is no threat, just a little girl who seems to be operating under a huge misunderstanding."

"She nearly killed me!"

Sephiroth keeps the 'if only' to himself as Rufus answers once more, the President's level of patience while dealing with this buffoon rather impressive, though the condescension is still there. "It was an accident. Nobody knew you would be coming through that door."

"An accident?! She said herself that she was working for Wutai! And she put me on her hit list!"

Sephiroth's not sure how much more of this he can take. He would almost prefer Jenova to this. Almost. Before he can do something inadvisable, though, Tseng speaks up, hands behind his back, the man expertly placed to protect his President. "Not once did she say she was working for or with Wutai. Just that she needed to 'avenge' Wutai. Do you have any idea where she got that idea, Director?" Sephiroth has to hand it to Tseng – leave it to a Turk to subtly implicate Heidegger's involvement in all this.

Whether the troopers take the bait is anyone's guess, but subtlety flies right over Heidegger's head. "You!" Heidegger snarls, pointing a fat finger Tseng's way. "This must be your fault!"

Rude's offended grunt and Reno's outraged "What did you say?!" are silenced with a wave of Rufus's hand, Heidegger getting in one last barb – "You need to muzzle your pets!" – before the President acts.

"Make no mistake, Director." Rufus voice is deadly as he slowly rises from his chair. If there was one way to wear through Rufus's patience, it was by insulting what he considered his – and the Turks, he very much considered his. "Insulting my Turks is very much the same as insulting me." He glares at Heidegger for a very long moment, letting his words sink in before continuing, "Tseng's heritage has nothing to do with this. He was caught just as unawares as the rest of us." The President's eyes narrow as he looks the Director up and down reproachfully. "While we are pointing fingers, though, would you care to explain how this child managed to make it all the way to the top of the Tower without anybody noticing? That is your job as head of Public Security, isn't it? Making sure no unauthorized individual makes it past the lobby?"

Heidegger's mouth twitches as he tries to come up with a suitable excuse. "…It must have been an inside job."

"Oh? Please tell me you're not about to accuse my Turks again."

A scowl finds its way onto Heidegger's face as he shakes uncontrollably. "This company is going to shit with you at the helm! You're nothing compared to your father!"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Heidegger is the one to narrow his eyes this time, the man apparently at his limit. "The rumors were true, weren't they? It was you." Rufus's raised brow is apparently all the confirmation he needs, the man shaking a fist and yelling for all to hear. "I knew something was wrong about your father's death! You killed him!"

Rufus's expression remains neutral as he stares down his opponent. "The Turks found he died of natural causes. You do realize that me killing him isn't a natural cause, right?"

"The Turks are in your pocket! What's natural about a bullet to the head?!"

The President braces his hands against his desk as he leans closer to the fuming man. Sephiroth knows that whatever he's about to say won't be enough to deescalate the situation, not with that raving buffoon in the middle of the room. But he can only hope that it'll be enough to convince the troopers with him not to take part in this mutiny. There's no way four 1st Class SOLDIERs, three Turks, and the President would lose to a platoon of troopers, but he would prefer to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed and the scandal it would undoubtedly create. He's sure they all would.

"That's the last straw, Heidegger." There's no mistaking the venom in the President's voice as he speaks. "I will not stand idly by while you slander my name. How dare you accuse me of murdering my father – " even though he did " – and how dare you imply that my Turks covered the whole thing up - " even though they did. "I have tried to be patient with you and your thinly veiled hatred for me. But your flagrant disrespect has gone too far this time. This. Is. Sedition." Sephiroth doesn't think that's enough to stop Heidegger, and Rufus must agree, the man waving to the troopers in the room, addressing them now instead. "Would somebody please show the Director to the holding cells?"

Heidegger turns a sickening shade of burgundy as he points a shaking finger at Rufus's face. "You… These are my men! I tell them what to do!" And as he turns his own attention to the troopers, some of them wilt under his heated gaze – they must be intimately familiar with the Director's penchant for violence. "MEN! SEIZE THE PRESIDENT!" Crossing his arms over his chest, he turns back to Rufus. "FOR THE MURDER OF HIS PREDECESSOR AND THE BETRAYAL OF HIS COUNTRY!"

The troopers don't show the same blind loyalty as the few from the 64th floor, the men shaking where they stand, looking back and forth between one another nervously, unsure what to do. Though, whether their reluctance stems from a disinclination to move against the President or fear of death at the hands of the SOLDIERs and Turks in the room, Sephiroth is unsure. Their hesitance to follow orders doesn't stop Zack from tensing, though, Angeal having to come to his former student's defense. "Zack, breathe."

"Sorry, 'geal. Bad memories."

"I won't let anything happen to you."

Neither would Sephiroth, not after he was responsible for the teen's death the first time around. No, he won't fail him again. Not so soon, at least. And ever so casually, he takes the few steps needed to position himself directly in front of Zack, his hand on Masamune's hilt. "Stand down, Director. You are the only one here betraying your country." He could try to write his movement off as getting closer to the raging threat in the middle of the room – Zack would probably buy it. Angeal and Genesis, though… probably not.

Those beady, fury-filled eyes are then on him, Heidegger sneering his way. "You too, Sephiroth? You always were the President's little lapdog." Little? No. Lapdog? Definitely not. But he would gladly gut Heidegger where he stood with or without the President's permission. Lucky for the idiot, he's more concerned about having the willpower to resist Jenova than reacting to every taunting jibe. His silence and arched brow do little for Heidegger's mood, and the rebellious Director is roaring once more. "IF THEY RESIST, YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SHOOT!"

"But, sir, that's Sephiroth… He'll kill us…"

Well, at least somebody has some common sense. That doesn't stop Heidegger, though. "SO? YOU OUTNUMBER HIM! PUT A BULLET THROUGH HIS BRAIN!"

"But, sir…"

"SO HARD TO FIND GOOD HELP!" Sephiroth is already unsheathing Masamune, Tseng is already throwing himself in front of the President, the man reaching for his holster, as Heidegger rips the rifle from the trooper's hands, shoving the poor boy to the ground in the process. "I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

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Bang!

A/N: I'm sorry to everybody I misled or tried to mislead (even if you didn't believe me) - Yuffie is the assassin XD