Wutai Village, the largest settlement on the island, is a beautiful, colorful, and proud place.
What little she knows about Wutai is directly from Tseng, who has always painted a rather rose-tinted and nostalgic picture of the village for her, remembering days spent there before Shinra, before the Turks, before the war. When they were young, he had promised to take her one day after she expressed interest in seeing the massive carvings on the mountain faces and the several-story pagoda that houses Wutai's most effective defenders.
He even speaks the native language, but it had been broken and half-forgotten after so many years away from his homeland. That had made her sad, she remembers, even though she had been thrilled to hear things in a different language, despite not knowing at all what he had been saying to her.
The architecture is unlike anything she's ever seen, so different from the steel beams and buildings and paved expressways in Midgar. The shops and homes and buildings here are all elegant and symmetrical, with carved and colorful and ornate columns outside.
The village itself is built around (and some places are built atop) a dazzling blue and shallow river, the small land masses connected with small bridges that look like they certainly won't collapse under her weight, and in the distance, she can see the pagoda that looms over the other buildings, and the statues carved into the rocky mountainside.
Aerith immediately walks up to a small stand that sells fruit and other wares, bartering with a man who seems to only speak one language.
"Okay," Charlie says to her group as they enter the village proper, attracting quite a bit of staring. "I think we definitely look suspicious."
"Here, Charlie," Aerith answers, walking back over to her with a floppy hat that will certainly make her look like a tourist. "Put this on and tuck your hair into it."
Charlie puts the hat on her head, tucking her light blonde hair up into it and looking around for someone to give her confirmation that she doesn't look like a moron. "Well?" she asks nervously.
"No good," Cait Sith frowns, standing on his moogle's head to adjust her hat anxiously, pulling it down nearly to her eyes. "You still look like a Shinra to me."
"Just keep your head down, kiddo, and you'll be fine." Cid clicks his tongue, flicking the brim of her wide hat. "Vince, why don't you take her to the nearest inn and keep her company? Aerith, Cait, and I will help Cloud find Yuffie."
"You don't have a weapon, Cid," Vincent retorts, sighing heavily.
"I got two bare hands, okay? Take the little lady to the inn, would ya?"
Charlie and Vincent glance at each other, but neither of them decide to argue any further.
As it happens, the inn in Wutai is currently booked up, but judging by the lack of people inside, Charlie thinks it's more likely that they just don't want to sell a room to two very strange looking foreigners.
She can't say she doesn't understand—Vincent looks very much like a walking corpse prepared to kill at the drop of a hat, and Charlie's pale skin, light hair, and blue eyes probably give her away very easily as an outsider, if not as a Shinra. The innkeep shoos them away with physical gestures, yelling something at them in their language, and they have no choice but to leave.
"I guess we should help look for Yuffie, huh?" she sighs as they enter the blinding sunshine.
"I guess so."
They don't look very hard. Charlie wanders towards the pagoda in the distance, surrounded by trees, and Vincent follows without complaint. People stare at them as they walk by, and she's forced to pull her hat down low for fear that someone might recognize her.
"Can I ask you a question?" he says suddenly, as Charlie is looking the pagoda up and down, trying to remember if it's the same as Tseng described it all those years ago. She hums, hardly paying attention. "I hope you don't think me too forward, but I was curious as to your role within your father's company."
"You know, I think that's the most you've spoken at all since I've met you," she teases, despite having really only known him all of two days. "Well, first I was the Head of the Space Exploration Department, but then I was fired from that. And after that, I was the Director of Communications, but I was fired from that, too. And then I became the vice president, and . . . well, if my brother could fire me without causing a PR storm, I'm sure he would."
"I see."
"Not as exciting as a Turk," she replies, smiling at him. "I know."
Vincent is so serious, so sullen. He almost reminds her of Reeve, and the very thought of Reeve makes her heart ache painfully. "Did you know a man by the name of Professor Hojo?"
His question takes her aback. She stiffens at the thought of Hojo, remembering their last conversation. "Yes," she breathes, amazed that they might share this connection. Aerith had mentioned he was an ex-Turk, but he's certainly no Turk that's ever cared for her. "He was the head of our science department."
"'Our'?" Vincent repeats, but his tone is not accusing, merely curious.
Charlie blushes, looking away from his gaunt face. "I only meant . . . the company's science department, but he resigned after my father died." Curiosity gets the better of her, and she turns to face him. "How do you know Hojo?"
A slight scoff escapes his lips, and he waits for a couple of pale-skinned tourists to take a few pictures of the pagoda before answering. "How old are you, Charlotte?"
She hesitates. "Twenty-seven."
"Then you would be too young to remember."
"To remember what?"
"A woman," he answers softly, "named Lucrecia."
The name is unfamiliar to her, and she tells him so apologetically. It's then that she's able to get a good look at his face, as he pushes his dark hair out of his eyes and adjusts the collar around his throat. "Wait a moment," she murmurs, taking a step backwards and looking at him very critically, tilting her head back and forth. "Did you ever have . . . short hair?"
Vincent pauses, blinking at her. "Yes."
"Vincent Valentine," she says, trying to picture him with healthy-looking skin and short hair, possibly clad in a dark suit as befits the Turks.
"Yes?"
"I know you," she replies breathily, amazed. He looks so completely changed that it might be just her imagination. "I mean, I don't know you, but . . . I've seen you in a picture before."
"You have?"
"Yeah, Veld used to have all of these pictures in his office—"
Vincent's face seems to grow paler, if possible. His eyes fix upon her own, and there's something unsettling about his gaze. It makes her blush, shifting back and forth on her feet. "What did you just say?"
"Um," she answers stupidly, "sorry, I didn't mean to sound . . . it's just that, I spent a lot of time in his office when I was younger and—"
"No, no," he says, looking around and wrapping his metal hand around her upper arm, pulling her out of the open and off to the side, away from the people walking through the courtyard. "How do you know Veld?"
Charlie narrows her eyes. "I'm a Shinra. It's only natural that I'm familiar with the Turks."
"So you were friendly with him, or merely acquainted?"
The idea that she and Veld were merely acquaintances forces a small smile onto her face. "Veld was like a father to me," she explains, watching Vincent's face soften slightly. "He was part of my life for as long as I can remember."
Vincent doesn't seem to know how to respond to this. "What happened to him?"
The smile is wiped clean from her face. "I . . ." She swallows hard, forcing the lump in her throat down. "He's dead. I'm sorry."
"When?"
"I don't know, exactly. I know that he disappeared a few years ago, so it's very probable that he's been dead for years."
"That's not possible," Vincent says, so quickly and casually that it gives Charlie pause.
"What do you mean?"
Vincent looks around again. She's certain that he's checking for eavesdroppers, but it makes her nervous to see him looking so nervous. "It's not possible that he died years ago, because I saw him myself, only a few months ago."
Charlie blinks at him in surprise, her heart fluttering. "What—what do you mean? A few—a few months ago? But that . . . that's impossible, he's—Tseng told me that—"
"A few months ago, Veld found me in the basement of the Shinra Manor while searching for some rare materia," Vincent explains, and Charlie feels dizzy, like she's going to faint. "He was my partner all those years ago."
Can it be true? Is it possible? Had Tseng lied to her, or had he murdered Veld and his poor daughter after Vincent had seen him? "But I—" she begins, unsure of where she was going with that thought. "I have to—I—"
"Are you all right?"
"I don't know—" She can hardly believe it, that this man standing in front of her was Veld's partner, and she can't believe that he has this information, and she can feel her heart breaking all over again, confused and panicked. Her heart beats a violent tattoo against her chest, and she feels used and tricked. "I—I'm going to—I'm going to have a look around, and—"
"I hope I didn't offend you."
"No. No, no, of course not, I—" Charlie inhales deeply. "I think I need to just be alone for a little bit."
"Is that safe?"
"I don't know," she says again.
What does she know? She doesn't know anything. She doesn't know anything about her father's company, she doesn't know anything about what Veld would have been doing in the basement of Shinra Manor looking for materia, she doesn't know what Tseng would have had to gain from lying about the killings to her, and she doesn't know if Veld is still alive or not.
Charlie pulls her hat down low over her head, and Vincent doesn't stop her when she walks away wordlessly.
She quickly gets lost in the maze of the village, crossing over bridges twice before realizing she's already gone that way, and every building looks the same with foreign lettering outside of them that she can't comprehend.
A few Shinra soldiers comb the streets, but if they're looking for Charlie's new friends, they're having terrible luck. Surely Cloud and his party must be scattered everywhere, and they all stick out like sore thumbs in the tourist town of Wutai village.
She wonders briefly who they're reporting to, but they seem to be wandering around at leisure, unprepared for a fight. Charlie has to hide once as they walk by a gift shop, talking aimlessly of the sights and sounds, clearly enjoying their trip to Wutai.
And then, feeling as if she has nothing left to lose, Charlie decides to follow them. She needs to know why they're here, who dispatched them across the planet, who they're looking for, and how many of them there are.
She's able to hide her face well by keeping her head down, and in clothes that are stained with sweat and mud and dirt and dust, it's unlikely anyone is going to recognize her as the vice president. She looks the complete opposite, like some slum-dwelling gutter rat.
The two troops she's following are headed back to a pub, a place called Turtle's Paradise. Flyers for the place had always been tacked up in the Shinra lounges or on the billboards by the train stations. She doesn't go inside, but waits around the corner, expecting them to be out soon.
It's not three minutes later that they run back through the front door, grumbling to each other. Charlie pretends to read the flyer on the sign outside the pub, stooping slightly to hide her face.
". . . fucking Turks think they're better than everyone else . . ." says one of the soldiers, and Charlie feels an icy hand grip her heart.
". . . whatever. HQ's gonna hear about this . . . 'vacation' my ass . . ."
". . . we'll find him ourselves . . . don't need any Turks to save our asses . . ."
". . . if you say so . . ."
Charlie straightens as the soldiers continue walking out of earshot, heading back towards the pagoda. She doesn't get a moment to think before the doors of the pub open again, and Charlie bends over the flyer as Elena comes strutting out into the sunshine, hip-checking Charlie on her way past.
"Watch it!" Elena snaps at Charlie's back, running after the soldiers.
Charlie straightens once more, watching the back of Elena as she runs away, a real woman on a mission. She's breathing heavily now, knowing that the Turks are in town. Is it possible the rest of them are inside the pub? Is it possible that Tseng is in there?
And who is it that the soldiers are after? Have they found Cloud? Or Barret?
Wanting to put as much distance between herself and the other Turks as possible, Charlie walks off towards the pagoda again, creeping along behind Elena. She can't believe the rush she's getting just from following them, from spying.
Or maybe the adrenaline is from Vincent's confession about Veld.
Elena slips off behind a building and out of sight. Charlie looks around. The streets are busy enough to go relatively unnoticed, and she doesn't see any sign of her friends anywhere. She follows, darting between the shops and down an alleyway.
". . . you asshole! Wait until my boss hears about this! Let me go!"
Charlie's heart rate picks up, and she hustles towards the end of the alley, peeking around the corner.
A heavy, broad-shouldered man all in black has Elena pinned face down to the hard ground, tying her hands behind her back. There's another man watching, one that's repulsive to look upon, greasy and oily with a thick tuft of blond hair upon the top of his head. Draped around his shoulders is an expensive-looking and fur-trimmed coat the color of blood, and a white shirt that's bursting at the buttons and seams, two sizes too small.
Lying dead on the ground are the two soldiers that she had been following.
Charlie watches on, horrified. She should do something—she can't just leave Elena here, but there's nothing she can do. She doesn't have a weapon, and she has no one around to protect her.
Gods, I'm useless.
"You should be honored," the fat man sneers at her, waving a cigar around. The very sight of it makes her nauseous. "You might be the next Mrs. Corneo."
Oh, shit, shit, shit, shit—
She has to get out of here. Don Corneo isn't someone she's particularly keen on crossing. She's heard the stories from Reno, heard about his many brides and their sudden disappearances just days later.
What is he doing in Wutai?
Charlie takes a step backwards, her heart failing when she feels her back press against something—no, someone. She gasps, turning to find herself face to face with another man in black. The only part of him visible is his unremarkable face.
"Hello there." He grins, grabbing her arms with meaty hands, rough fingertips digging painfully into her skin through her sleeves. "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? Hey! Don!"
There's a curious grunting sound from around the corner, and the man drags Charlie around it. She tries to dig her heels into the ground, but it's pointless, and when she tries to scream as loud as she can, a hand is clapped over her mouth. When she tries to bite his hand through the fabric of his bodysuit, he hardly flinches.
"What's this?" Corneo asks, the stench of his cigar filling her nostrils. Charlie almost vomits there and then, but is quickly distracted when she's forced to her knees, her hands being held behind her back by the man who's just finished binding Elena, wrists and ankles. "Don't you know that it's rude to eavesdrop? Someone ought to teach you some manners."
Charlie lifts her head, keeping her lips pursed and her face blank and she looks back at Corneo. "Touch me, and you will die," she snaps at him.
"Hoo boy! She's feisty!" Corneo laughs, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear. "What makes you so sure about that, lovely? Why don't we take a good look at that pretty face, kitten. Let's see what you're hiding underneath that hat of yours."
Corneo reaches down with his free hand, lifting her floppy hat off her head and tossing it to the side. Charlie's hair tumbles down her shoulders and she gives it a shake, her knees screaming against the ground.
"Charlie!" Elena cries right away, and Corneo looks sideways at the Turk on the ground, his eyebrows knitting together, his smile faltering.
"Don't you know who I am, Corneo?" Charlie asks stiffly, looking him in the eyes, her back straight, her chin in the air.
Corneo looks at her for a moment, eyes roving over her face, his breath hot on her face and stinking of his cigar. For a moment, he looks hesitant, slightly disbelieving, and then he smiles again. "You're the vice president," he breathes, right on her mouth. "Oh, ho, ho . . . you're coming with me, my sweet."
"And you will die."
"Oh no," he replies quietly, "no, no, no. I won't die. Not while I have you."
Charlie opens her mouth to protest, but the man behind her reaches around to place a cloth over her face.
It smells sickly sweet.
"Miss Shinra."
"Hm?"
"Charlie."
She moans softly, her cheek pressing against something cool. Her eyes flutter open, only to find Elena's face mere inches from her own, lying on a dark wooden floor. Both their wrists and ankles are still bound, and Charlie can't find the strength to sit up.
"Elena!"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm tied like an animal on the floor," Charlie hisses, blushing. "This is humiliating."
Elena sighs. "Tell me about it. I can't believe this." She sounds angry, but it's directed more towards herself, her eyes closing as she relaxes. "Emma would never have done something so stupid. She would never have gotten caught by some petty criminal."
"Your sister?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, I knew your sister, and if it's any consolation, she was a horrible bodyguard."
Elena opens her eyes again to smile weakly at Charlie.
The room they're in is empty, but full of sparkling gold and ornate statues of foreign deities and past rulers, carved in traditional and decorative outfits. Several scrolls hang on the walls, all in a language she doesn't understand. There's a flight of stairs that leads to one door, and another door that's on the furthest wall from her.
"Don't be afraid, all right?" Charlie tells her, trying to be brave. She will not let Don Corneo see her fear. "Everyone will come for us."
"For you, maybe," Elena murmurs, sighing again.
"Oh, good, you're awake." Corneo kneels down before Charlie as she opens her mouth to speak, grabbing hold of her chin with grubby fingers and forcing her head back. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes, once my boys bring back the last girlie. A young and pretty thing, they said, but . . ." He looks delighted to see her, truly. "She's not the vice president."
"I'll scream."
"Go ahead," Corneo says, laughing in her face. "I like screamers."
"My friends will come for you. The Turks will come for you. Tseng will kill you. My brother will kill you. There won't be anything left of you by the time they're finished."
"Maybe they will come, but they won't kill me if they think I'm going to kill you," he replies, releasing his grip on her and gesturing to one of his men. His free hand holds a gun instead of a cigar this time, waving it around carelessly. "A Turk, a princess, and the vice president. Not a bad haul, Charlie."
"Ugh," Charlie groans, turning her face away from him. "Wait—a princess?"
"Let me go, you creep!"
"Yuffie!" Charlie struggles against the floor as the first floor door opens to reveal another black-clad man holding a bound and squirming Yuffie over his shoulder. "Let her go, Don! She's just a kid!"
"That's Godo Kisaragi's daughter," Corneo tells Charlie excitedly, pointing his gun at her, his finger hovering over the trigger. "A princess. Would make for a nice bride, don't you think?"
"Oh, Gods!" Yuffie shrieks, gagging dramatically. "Kill me!"
"Well," Corneo scoffs, "maybe just for a day."
"Let her go!" Charlie protests, only able to see the back of Yuffie.
"Charlie? Is that you?" Yuffie asks quickly, putting a pause on her struggling and trying to look towards the sound of Charlie's voice to no avail. "Great! I'm gonna die with some Shinra freaks!"
"Are you kidding me?" Charlie snaps, exhaling loudly and looking up at Corneo again. "Let them both go, Corneo! I'll go, I'll go with you, just let them go—"
"Miss Shinra! I can't let you do that, ma'am! The others would have my head!"
"You are so stupid, Charlie!"
"I don't need this from you, Yuffie! I'm trying to save you!"
"I don't need a Shinra to save me, okay!"
"Do you want help or not?"
"Yes, but not from you!"
"Get the girls!" Corneo announces over the both of them, and Charlie grunts as someone lifts her from behind and with ease, picking her up with thick arms around her waist, turning her over and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She turns her face at the sour smell of the man's uniform. "We're getting outta here—"
He's interrupted by the lower door opening again, and a voice that she's very relieved to hear. "Hold it, Corneo!"
Charlie turns her head the other way, looking back towards Yuffie, who continues to struggle against her captor, and Cloud, one hand on the worn pommel of his sword. Corneo giggles delightfully, showing off his pistol.
"Ouch! Hey—don't touch there!" Elena growls, and Charlie hears a thump and grunt like someone's been elbowed, but she can't see what's happening.
"Cloud, help me!" she cries, as the man makes his way up the stairs after Elena's captor. Charlie hates that she has to beg for help, but the idea of Don Corneo running away with her, Elena, and Yuffie absolutely terrifies her.
"Your friends, Madam Vice President? What interesting company you keep!" Corneo chuckles, cocking his gun and turning to face Charlie, halfway up the steps. He smiles, looking over his shoulder at Cloud. "I wouldn't come any closer, if I were you. Not if you value the vice president's life, that is. But . . . I would understand if you don't . . . her name isn't held in the same regard it once was . . ."
"Thanks a lot, Charlie!" Yuffie groans again. "We're all gonna die now 'cause of you!"
Cloud hesitates, never lowering his hand, but keeping a firm grip on the Buster Sword's pommel. With a gun trained on Charlie, he's left with no choice but to watch as Don Corneo and his goons escape with all three women.
"Hey, uh, Vince? Where the hell is Charlie?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"She wanted to be alone."
Cid scoffs, stammering and sputtering for a moment as he runs a hand through his hair. "You were supposed to bring her to the inn and keep her there!"
"We encountered resistance at the inn and couldn't get a room."
He sighs, putting his hands on his hips and looking Vincent up and down. He looks completely indifferent towards the situation, slightly aloof and very out of place among the villagers.
"Okay, I'll admit that it may have been a mistake to send you to the inn with Charlie," Cid concedes, holding his hands up in defeat.
"Where are Aerith and Cait Sith?" Vincent asks, like he doesn't even care about Charlie.
Cid can't help but to feel angry on her behalf. She's risking everything to be here with them, fighting against Sephiroth (or whatever the hell she's doing with Cloud and his friends), and all everyone seems to do around here is shit on her. Sure, he might shit on her last name sometimes, too, but he'll be damned if he lets anyone else do it.
"They went off to go look in another part of town for Yuffie. Couldn't be with 'em anymore. All they wanted to do was ask questions 'bout me and Charlie, like it's any of their goddamn business." Cid gestures towards the main part of town with a quick flick of his neck. "C'mon, Vincent. We gotta find Charlie—"
"No need, we've already found Charlie, Elena, and Yuffie."
Cid hums, crossing his arms over his chest and turning to face the man with the nasally voice that's just spoken to him. He looks young, but that might just be the messy way he's dressed, dressed in a dark suit jacket and a white undershirt that are both unbuttoned to show off more than a healthy glimpse of his pale chest, and his bright red hair makes it even worse.
"Who the hell are you two supposed to be?" Cid asks, looking from the red-haired man to the tall bald one and back again.
"Oh?" the skinny-looking thing asks, cocking an eyebrow. "Charlie's never mentioned us, huh?"
"They're Turks." Cid turns again to find Cloud walking towards them, looking more pissed off than usual. "And Corneo's got one of theirs, too."
"Yep," the redhead replies, popping his 'p'. "He's a slippery thing, ain't he?"
Turks? Cid thinks, staring them down. Oh, shit shit shit shit shit. "We gotta go get the girls back, boss," he says quickly, hoping that Cloud is just as willing to go after them. "Who took 'em again?"
"It's a long story," Cloud answers. "But we have to get them quick, or else we might never see Yuffie or Charlie again."
"You're gonna go after Charlie?" the smaller Turk scoffs, nodding his head slightly. "How 'bout you stick to your girl, and Rude and I will stick to our two? She ain't yours."
"I don't think so," Cloud replies stiffly, stepping up closer to the Turk. He's a few inches shorter, but with his spiky yellow hair, he appears taller. "Charlie's coming with us. No Turk is going to take her back to Midgar unless she wants to go."
"Guess we'll see about that, huh? The president's looking forward to having his sister back."
It's then that Cid remembers the redheaded Turk, the same one who had accompanied Charlie to Rocket Town in response to Oster's plea to keep the Shinra No. 26 standing. He'll be damned if he recalls a name, however.
"She ain't goin' anywhere with you," Cid finally says, now that he's not lost in thought. He can't help but be a little afraid of what might happen to Charlie, especially in the hands of someone the Turks are after, as well. "She's with us now."
The little twig of a Turk laughs in his face. "Aren't you the pilot?" he snickers, moving closer to get a better look at Cid's face. "You're the one the boss beat up, huh? Heard he shattered your jaw, but you're not lookin' too bad. Brave man, to go after Charlie despite gettin' his face bashed in."
"Fuck off," Cid spits, and the left side of his face gives a painful throb.
"Come on, Reno. We're wasting time here," Rude mutters, elbowing his friend in the arm.
"Yeah, yeah, partner, I got it," Reno answers, sighing and giving his head a shake. "Listen, we just wanna see the girls safe, okay? And I don't really feel like doing any more fighting on my day off than I have to. So we won't bother each other in the meantime, got it?"
Cloud gives Cid and Vincent a wary look. There's no choice for him but to agree. "Fine. Now, which way did Corneo go?"
It turns out, Corneo is a theatrical man. Cid can't think of any other reason that he'd drag three women up the side of a carved mountain face with paths that zigzag around the statues—behind their heads and under their arms, looping around their waists and crossing the massive and stony palms of their hands.
The mountain face is full of tunnels and half-collapsed passageways and some passageways that are burning consistently, and it takes some time to reach the place where they find the slimeball that Cloud calls Corneo, a yellow-haired, half-bald, fat fuck that's standing with an arm wrapped around Charlie's neck and a pistol pointed at her head.
"Stay back!" Corneo shouts, sweating profusely in the sunlight. "I'll shoot her!"
To his left, on a carved face, Cid catches sight of Yuffie and the blonde Turk girl bound to its eyes, arms extended on either side of them. Cid can't help but think it's pretty fucking convenient that the Turks haven't yet found them.
Useless pieces of shit, he thinks bitterly about the Turks, meeting Charlie's eyes as she's dragged further and further towards the edge the closer Cloud gets to him.
"Cloud!" Yuffie calls, wriggling nimbly against the rock face. "Cloud, get me down from here!"
"Me too!" the Turk adds hastily.
Corneo takes a small step backwards as Cid follows Cloud and Vincent along the statue's thick arm, careful to walk right in the middle so he doesn't fall off before he's able to rescue Lottie. Wouldn't that be the stupidest fucking thing she's ever seen in the world.
"Let them go, Corneo, or it'll mean trouble," Cloud begins again, pulling the massive fucking sword off his back just as Vincent draws his gun, keeping it pointed away from both Corneo and Charlie. "You're outnumbered."
Cid doesn't really know what he's going to do if it comes down to a fight. He supposes he could just use his fists. He wouldn't mind beating that bold fucker into a pulp, just for holding a gun to Charlie's head.
But fuck if she's not one of the bravest women he's ever met.
Her face shows absolutely no fear. He's suddenly reminded that she's the vice president of Shinra Inc., and it shows in her expression. Her eyebrows are furrowed, her mouth a straight line, standing tall with as much dignity as she can muster while one arm is wrapped around her neck. Any sane man would cower at the sight of that expression, but Cid knows better, and so does everyone else around them.
"Away or she dies!" Corneo spits, looking flushed as he takes another step backwards, finding himself out of room.
Charlie falters for the first time, catching sight of how close they are to tumbling down the side of the mountain. The barrel of the gun presses to the side of her head.
"And so will they." Corneo puts the gun in his left hand, fishing around in his pocket with his free arm to pull out a small remote. He pushes the only button available, and both girls hanging on the statue face are turned abruptly upside down, screaming for help. "Last chance! Leave now, or I'll drop them and shoot the vice president!"
"I can't believe this!" Yuffie cries.
Say something, you stupid piece of shit, don't just stand there, go get her, go save her, do something for once in your sorry ass life—
"All right, Corneo. Enough dicking around. Let the girls go."
Cid turns, cursing himself silently. Of course the Turks would come to save the day, to save the girl, to bathe in the glory of it, all while he had just stood there looking dumb, not even carrying a weapon.
Reno walks forward, equal parts reckless and arrogant, getting closer to Corneo and Charlie than Cloud had dared. Corneo looks over his shoulder, putting the gun back to Charlie's head and tightening his grip around her neck, her cheeks turning pink.
"The Turks!" Corneo squeals, his gun hand shaking.
"I told you they would come for me," Charlie says through gritted teeth, looking pleased with herself despite the situation.
"You shouldn't have leaked that information to Avalanche, Don. You knew this would happen the minute you spilled," Reno replies, looking completely unaffected by the scene before him. "And now us Turks are gonna take care of you, personally. We'll show you what happens to assholes who kidnap our vice president."
"Not if you want your vice president to live!" Corneo retorts, sounding very much as if he's got the upper hand. To Cid, it sure looks like he does. "If you want to do this the hard way, I'll take them all with me!"
Cid shouts as he watches Corneo's finger move to the trigger of the gun, and he leaps forward as if hoping to get there before the bullet travels the short distance from the barrel into her brain, but before he's able to shoot, several things happen very quickly.
There's a loud thwip! and Corneo cries out in pain, dropping the pistol and releasing his hold on Charlie, who falls to her hands and knees, her face hardening. She moves quickly, picking up the gun and kicking Corneo in the chest as he lunges for her. Corneo falls backwards with the force of it, slipping on the edge of the statue's hand that holds them and falling, catching himself at the last minute.
"Good timing, Rude," Reno says, looking back towards Yuffie and Elena. The bald Turk is standing in the shadows of the face the girls are tied to, holding a smoking gun in his hand. "But you almost killed Charlie."
"I wouldn't have," Rude replies, making his way towards Corneo.
"Step back, Charlie," Reno instructs her, and Charlie does as she's told, but instead of moving towards her new friends, she allows herself to be swept up in Rude's arms as Reno kneels in front of Corneo, breathing heavily as she nuzzles against his chest, trembling.
Cid can't help but feel a flaming rage burn within him at the sight, but is distracted by the sight of Reno pulling Corneo back up from the edge. "What are you doin'?" Cid shouts, meaning to approach, but Vincent takes hold of his arm to hold him back. "Let him fall to his death!"
With Rude and Vincent still aiming their guns at Corneo, the pathetic man lies sweating on the ground, stuttering and begging for his life. Reno puts his foot on Corneo's chest.
"You've got some nerve showin' your face here," Reno spits. "You know what the punishment is for kidnapping the vice president?"
"I don't—I don't—"
"The official punishment would be death," the Turk elaborates.
Cid finds he can't look away, almost eager to see what's going to happen. Even Yuffie and Elena are quiet, still turned upside down, their faces slightly colored from the blood rushing to their heads.
"But see . . . I don't think that's enough, especially for a little rat like you, Corneo. See that little lady right there?" He throws a thumb over his shoulder at Charlie, who continues to cling to Rude. "Not only is she the vice president, but she's the sister of the current president and the daughter of the former president. And my boss . . . well, I don't think he'd be content dropping you from the side of this mountain, either."
Cid can't argue with that. Any man who comes to Rocket Town with the sole purpose of beating him black and blue for merely contacting Charlie over the phone would probably do much worse to a man that kidnapped her.
"See, Corneo, my boss . . . the vice president's kinda his personal responsibility, not to mention he's responsible for the wellbeing of his other Turks." Cid can only see the back of Reno, and doesn't know the Turk very well at all, but he can tell that Reno is sneering. "And I don't think he'd be too happy with me if I didn't, y'know, rough ya up a bit."
"Wait—wait—I can explain—I have information I can—please—"
Reno doesn't give Corneo a chance to explain. Within seconds, the Turk drops to his knees, straddling Corneo's legs and pulling a metal baton out from the back of his uniform, slamming the butt end of it into Corneo's face while he screams in pain like a dying animal.
It's brutal to watch, even for him. Reno continues to hit him until Corneo's face is nearly unrecognizable, awash in bright red blood, and the screams subside the longer the Turk beats him. It's far more brutal than the beating Cid had received, and he can't help but feel lucky that Reno hadn't been the one to visit him.
Cid isn't certain how long it's going to go on for. His eyes are drawn to it, unable to look away despite how much he wants to, and then—
"Reno! Stop! Stop it!"
Charlie pushes her gun against Rude's chest and breaks free from him, running up to Reno's back and throwing herself at him. She wraps her arms around his neck, her chest fitted against the curve of his stupid fucking spine, burying her face in the nape of his neck.
Cid has to look away. Cloud seems uncomfortable, as well, and suggests that the three of them get Yuffie and Elena down from the statue's face. Vincent follows without question, but Cid hesitates, watching as Reno stops his brutality the moment Charlie touches him, holding him against her.
The sight is enough to remind him again of who Lottie really is.
Reno's baton has dropped to his side, and he's turned against Charlie completely, speaking quietly to her as he cradles her head against his chest, urging her not to look at Corneo, who seems very dead, until Cid sees his fingers twitching and his eyes opening and closing very slowly.
"C'mon, Cid," Cloud tells him again, pointing up towards Yuffie and Elena. Even Rude has joined them, helping to rescue his fellow Turk. "Charlie's okay for now."
"Oh, thank you!" Elena says hoarsely, sighing to herself.
She doesn't look okay, and Cid doesn't trust the dumbass Turk with her at all, but Charlie doesn't seem afraid of him in the slightest.
Fucking useless, he mentally scolds himself. You're fucking useless, you stupid piece of shit.
She can't look at Corneo's face. It's nauseating, and part of her can't believe that Reno has done such damage to his fat face, while the other part of her has no trouble believing it at all.
With Reno's hand holding the back of her head, Charlie cries into his chest, her heart still racing from the thought of falling to her death while being held by Don Corneo.
"Hey, hey, hey," Reno murmurs against her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You were real brave, kiddo. Just like a vice president should be. You okay?"
Charlie nods against his opened jacket, trying to control her breathing. It comes in short and deep gasps, her temple still burning from where she had felt the barrel of the gun against her skin. Is that how Reeve had felt? Had he been terrified the entire time, forced to conceal it to maintain his dignity?
As Cloud and the others help untie Yuffie and Elena, Reno's phone goes off. With one arm still around Charlie, he digs around in his back pocket to pull it out, holding it up to his ear.
"This is Reno." There's a long pause. "Yep. Yeah. Sure. We'll get on it right away, boss."
Charlie's heart flutters and she pulls her head back to look into Reno's face. He's already looking right back at her, and she can hear Tseng's muffled voice coming through the phone. When Reno hangs up, he still never looks away from her face.
"Company wants us to capture Cloud and the others . . . along with you, little miss Vice President."
He speaks lowly enough that no one else will hear. Charlie looks into his face with pleading and wide eyes. "Please don't bring me back," she whispers, putting her hands on either side of his face to impress her point. "I can't go back there, Reno. I know what happened to Veld. Tseng told me. I can't go back there."
Reno takes hold of her hands, lowering them from his face, but squeezing gently. "We're off duty today," he answers, helping Charlie to her feet before letting go of her hands. "You have one hour, got it?"
Charlie smiles, her eyes stinging painfully with tears. She kisses his cheek, and runs back to her friends.