"Let them go, Rufus. They have done nothing but protect me."
"They're terrorists, and they deserve to be killed, every one of them." Rufus steps closer to her, looking amused. "Tell me, Char, what are you willing to exchange for your friends' lives?"
She expected this from the beginning, and knew that it would not be so easy as only asking nicely. The truth is, Charlie is willing to sacrifice very much if it means her friends are safe.
She may have been responsible for the almost-death of Shera, and she is definitely partially responsible for the casualties suffered from the reactor bombings, but she will not be responsible for the imprisonment and execution of the people she calls her friends. She will not let them die.
Charlie moves closer to Rufus, relatively safe within the confines of an empty cabin. He doesn't move, allowing her to come nearer, stiffening when she places a hand to his chest, her face very close to his.
"I'll stay," she whispers, kissing the corner of his mouth very softly. "I'll stay with you, and it can be you and me, just like we always dreamed of."
With her hand over his heart, she can feel it begin to beat a little harder. He cranes his neck forward, as of hoping for another kiss. That's all it takes for her to know that she's won, and she obliges him, keeping her expression one of remorse, of regret, apologetic.
"I've been so lonely, Rufus," she continues, the tip of his nose bumping against her forehead, nuzzling lightly against her hairline. "Ever since Tseng died, I've been thinking of making my way back to you."
He scowls, eyes flashing with anger. "Don't lie to me—"
"I'm not, I promise." She kisses him again, just barely, just enough to keep him wanting. Wrapping his tie around her hand, she pulls his face closer to her own, trying to make it all sound convincing. "I love you."
Charlie wraps her arms around his middle and puts her cheek to his chest. He's wary, but eventually succumbs, as she knew he would. She won't deny the strange comfort she finds within his arms. He's quite possibly the only person who really understands what she's going through in regards to Tseng.
Perhaps she just feels sorry for lying. Who else does Rufus have, if not her? Is it fair for her to just abandon him during his time of need? Since when did it become her responsibility to hold Rufus's hand?
When she thinks of all the beatings he had taken for her, she softens. He had comforted her when she needed it, given her anything she wanted whenever she wanted it.
If someone had loved him the way Veld and Reeve and Tseng had loved her, Charlie thinks Rufus could have been the brother she needed.
I could have been a better sister, she thinks, feeling sorry for herself. Who would we be if we weren't Shinras?
"If I let your friends go, then you're mine, Char," Rufus murmurs into her hair, holding her close.
"You let them go, and you give Tifa medical attention, and I'm yours, forever."
"I don't care what anyone says. If anyone says anything about us, I'll have them killed. I'll kill them all, if I have to."
The hand between her shoulder blades moves slowly upwards to the nape of her neck, fingers tangling through her hair.
And then, he jerks hard. Charlie opens her mouth to cry out, but stifles it at the last minute. His lips hover inches from her own, and when he speaks, it's soft, just for her.
"And if you're lying to me," Rufus breathes, "then I'll kill you, Charlotte."
He kisses her bottom lip, twisting his hand in her hair to force her to her knees. Her knees slam hard against the metal ground, and this time, she can't help but cry out, her face level with his belt.
"Make it quick, would you? I have to meet with Heidegger."
Charlie hesitates, but thinks of her friends, thinks of Reeve, thinks of Cid, and she raises her hands to unbuckle his belt deftly, her knees screaming in protest.
"Charlotte!" He makes sure it's his voice filtering through the cat, ensuring that his office door is locked, his phones forwarded to avoid any distractions, even from his assistant. "Rude's standing guard—we only have a few minutes, I think—"
Charlie kneels down before the toy, reaching out to touch his arm, squeezing gently as if Reeve could feel it. Phantom fingers seem to curl around his bicep, just like she used to do. "Then listen carefully and don't interrupt me, because I have a lot to tell you."
Reeve instinctively leans closer to the monitor, needing to hear every word, needing to form a solid plan before it's too late and Charlie is lost to them forever. He's only glad that he can still count Rude as another ally, who had come to fetch him off the deck with a sense of urgency, promising him no more than five minutes alone with Charlie.
"I was able to negotiate your release with Rufus. He's willing to let you all go when we land in Junon, and Tifa will be provided with the finest medical care," she whispers very quickly.
"Negotiate?" Reeve asks, a thrill of terror shooting down his spine. "What does that mean? Charlie, what happened? What did he make you do?"
She doesn't answer, only looks steadily at him for a few long moments. That makes Reeve nervous, especially because she isn't denying anything. That is so unlike her that it throws him off, terrifies him. And now that he looks at her, her hair looks a little messy, like someone had been handling it rather roughly, her cheeks are flushed, and her lips are swollen.
Reeve has fucked her more than enough times to know what she looks like afterwards.
"Is he letting you go, as well?"
"Don't worry about me," she assures him, when she seems to feel that too much time has passed, lowering her hand from Cait Sith's arm. "All that matters is that everyone—especially you—is safe." Charlie settles on her knees, continuing without taking a single breath. "Now, listen, Rufus's goal is to destroy Sephiroth and the Weapons. All he asks is that we all sit down with him when we get to Junon and tell him what we know about both of those things, and then you're all free to go."
"He's going to put you in a cell, you know," Reeve tells her. "He's going to imprison you for treason."
Charlie smiles weakly. "Don't worry about me, really. I can handle Rufus. Not all battles need to be fought with weapons, you know."
"What did he do to you?"
"I'll be okay." Her smile fades quickly, her expression changing to a very serious thing he dislikes. "Shinra has the manpower to fight off the Weapons, if need be. While Rufus is distracted with that, you guys need to find Cloud."
He's quiet for a moment. Cait Sith nods. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. I'm sorry for all of this. I should have told you that Rufus was coming, but he threatened to hurt you if I said anything—"
She smiles again, shaking her head. "No, don't apologize. Everything is going to be fine. I'll figure something out."
"We should never have left Icicle Inn. You weren't well enough, and we pushed you. I should have stayed behind with you until—"
"The world can't stop for me," she says softly, not angry in the slightest.
She's changed, but he doesn't have time to address it. He thinks he likes this new-Charlie, but he liked the old-Charlie, too, spoiled brat that she was.
There's a swift knock on the door of Charlie's temporary room (which is no bigger than a closet, but furnished with a bed, sink, mirror, and armchair) and Rude pokes his head in. "Hurry up," he urges them, "the clock is ticking."
Cait Sith nods at him, waiting for the door to close again before Reeve speaks through him once more. "We'll see each other again soon," he tells her, wondering if it's the truth. He wants it to be.
Charlie smiles again. "Right," she says.
Completely of his own accord (or perhaps because the idea sticks out in the forefront of his own mind so vividly), Cait Sith leans forward to wrap his small arms around Charlie. Reeve can't tell if she hugs him back, but it makes his chest tighten to know that he's missed out on so many little moments simply by not being there.
When they pull away from each other, Reeve can think of a million questions he's burning to ask her, unsure if she wants to know the answers to all of them.
"Charlotte, did Rufus hurt you?"
"No," she says, and Reeve can't see any evidence at all that the president has physically assaulted her at all, but he also knows there are other ways for Rufus to hurt Charlie, ways that might hurt her a little more subtly. "Listen, I know you're very good at worrying, but I need you to trust me. I know what I'm doing, and if I'm going to keep you safe, I need leverage."
"No one is expecting you to do anything like this—"
"Reeve," she whispers, an incredulous little smile on her face, eyes shiny with tears. "I would do anything for you."
He feels the wind get knocked out of him. It makes him want to cry, makes him ache for easier days, sweet kisses in the mornings, murmured words of affection as they drift off to sleep together, lost in their own worlds where it's only the two of them.
"But why?" he has to ask, unprompted and juvenile.
Charlie hesitates, looking over his feline friend. Reeve knows her. She knows that she would rather talk to him, not Cait Sith, but perhaps she knows she may not get that chance.
"Go," she urges him kindly, giving the cat a gentle push. "Tell the others what I've just said. I'll see you soon."
He hasn't been to Junon in a long time, and can't say whether or not he's pleased that it looks the same as it did when he left.
He's been inside Shinra's Junon Command Center a few times, only when he had been an active part of the military. The interior of it is a little dated and beginning rust in some places, the entire building made of steel, a cold and imposing place.
He, and the rest of his companions (except for Charlie and Tifa, who still hasn't woken after her tumble aboard the deck of the Highwind), are escorted by four armed infantrymen to a gaudy fucking conference room with fancy carpets and computer screens and furniture.
There's no one else inside, and they're told to sit and wait quietly. Cid sits down between Vincent and Cait Sith. It seems as if everyone is painfully aware of the absence of their other friends, one of them having been their leader.
They're only waiting five minutes, not daring to speak with the guards standing watch at each corner of the room. The door opens very swiftly, revealing the bald Turk that had been in Wutai, holding the door open for the two people who trail after him.
Rufus and Charlie walk in together. She's seemingly freshened up a little bit, changed her clothes and brushed her hair and put some makeup on, looking more like the vice president than she has in weeks.
They sit down at the end of the table, side-by-side. Charlie doesn't even look at him, preferring to look everywhere but.
"I think we can all agree that, given the current circumstances, it would be beneficial for us all to cooperate." Rufus looks around the room, looking curiously at Cid and smiling smugly behind his fingers before continuing. "We all share the same goal, and Shinra has no desire to stand by while Sephiroth attempts to destroy the planet, nor do we intend to allow these . . . Weapons to wreak havoc on our cities, killing our people, destroying livelihoods."
Barret seems the most skeptical, but Cid is impressed with the fact that he decides to keep his mouth shut. Though, it may be because Cait Sith had warned them all not to do anything that might incite harm against Charlie.
"Let's not pretend that you all are severely weakened by the loss of your . . . SOLDIER," Rufus says slowly, raising his eyebrows at the mention of Cloud. Cid doesn't think he's ever heard the arrogant brat talk so much. "If you think to save the world on your own, you're delusional. My company has an entire military at its back, and weapons like you've never seen."
Everyone looks around at each other. Charlie keeps her eyes fixed on her brother.
"If Shinra is to defeat Sephiroth once and for all, however, Char and I need to know everything."
Char, Cid thinks, like her father used to call her.
"Now, my lovely sister and I have discussed it, and once I'm satisfied with the information you have given me, you are all free to go. Your other friend, Tifa, will stay here to receive the best medical care Shinra has to offer. So long as you stay out of Shinra's way, then you are free to do as you wish. Is that agreeable?"
Everyone looks around again. Cid thinks it's perfectly fucking agreeable, but there's one more thing on his mind. "And what about the vice president?"
Rufus smiles wider. It is malicious and very, very unsettling. He's suddenly very afraid for Charlie. "My sweet sister will not be joining you, wherever it is you decide to go. But I am very grateful, Captain, for your help in returning her to me."
For the first time, Charlie looks right at him. She doesn't look half as afraid as he is.
Rufus speaks directly to Cid, oblivious to everyone else in the room. "It is because of the love I bear for her that I have agreed to these requests of hers, and I think it would be very irresponsible to not take advantage of the pardon I am offering you, Captain Highwind. If you have grievances with my offer, then perhaps you might consider the leverage I currently hold over you."
Cid exhales loudly, frustrated that no one else speaks up on behalf of Charlie. She doesn't even speak up for herself. Is she really just going to sit there while her own brother makes thinly veiled threats against her?
Don't make it worse for her, you fucking idiot. Don't be the reason she gets hurt. Don't fuck this up for her.
"Don't look so uncomfortable, Cid," Rufus chortles, shrugging his shoulders and giving his neck a sharp flick to rid the hair from his eyes. "You have nothing to fear, so long as you turn around and walk away the moment we're done here. If you think I desire to hurt my sister, then I fear you desperately wrong me."
Cait Sith's foot suddenly connects with Cid's knee. He turns away from Rufus, scowling at the cat.
"Now . . ." Rufus smiles warmly at everyone seated around the table. "Shall we begin?"
Charlie isn't surprised when Rufus forces her into a cell after hearing everything he needed to from her friends—about Sephiroth, about Cloud, about Weapon, about Meteor and the Black Materia, about Aerith claiming she was the only one who could stop Sephiroth, and how Aerith is dead now and it may all be for nothing.
She had almost been sick when Barret recounted where it all began—for Tifa and Cloud, anyway. He had told them all about the terrible disaster at Nibelheim, about Sephiroth's descent into madness, about the human experiments being kept within the reactor.
All she could think about was Angeal, and yet, she could almost hear his voice very faintly in the back of her head.
It wasn't your fault. None of it was ever your fault.
The cell isn't really a cell, by any means. It's really a cell meant for political rivals or high-ranking criminals, so it offers every comfort, just like the cell in Midgar, but this one has windows. Granted, Charlie isn't tall enough to see out of them and they're too small for her to crawl through, but she's able to see the sky.
There's a bed and a private bathroom and a television, as well as several books on military strategy and planetology. Charlie resigns herself to the idea that there will be no escape from this cell on her own, but time is running short with Sephiroth in control of the Black Materia, and it's difficult to discern who she might still be able to trust within Shinra Inc.
Barret had decided to stay here with Tifa until she was awake again, and then they would leave together the moment she was well enough. Knowing that she at least has two friends still in the city with her is a reassuring thought, and Rude may still be wandering about Junon, as well, but she'll have to tread carefully around a Turk, without knowing how involved Rufus is with them at the moment.
Rufus slams the door shut as Charlie is looking around. With her back to him, it sends a chill down her spine, and she whirls around as quickly as possible. "How does it feel to know that your friends have abandoned you, Char?" he sneers, moving closer to her. "Do you regret it now, ever calling them your friends?"
Charlie decides not to rise to the bait, ignoring him to cross the room again, pretending to be interested in the many books on the shelves.
"I thought for certain that your pilot would try to steal you away. I even put precautions in place, having been expecting him to do something so incredibly stupid, and he just . . . left without a word." Rufus laughs, genuine laughter, like it's funny. "Who would have thought it would be so easy? Though . . . it didn't stop me from roughing him up a little bit."
She stiffens, her imagination running wild. "What did you do to Cid?" she asks in a level voice.
"What does it matter to you?" Rufus approaches her, placing his hands on her upper arms, his chest against her back, kissing the scar on her neck. "Do you love him, Char?"
Charlie doesn't answer, realizing too late that she should have just lied.
Rufus grabs her roughly, spinning her around and curling his fingers around her throat, pushing her violently backwards into the shelves, so hard that it makes the books rattle. Charlie gasps, but his hand doesn't stay at her throat for long.
"Slut," Rufus hisses through his perfect teeth, looking and sounding just like their father. "You're pathetic, always wanting attention from anyone who will give it to you, every man that even glances your way. You're so pathetic that you would even seek affection from that inbred fuck."
"Leave him be, Rufus," she says quietly.
"Did you fuck him just like you fucked all the rest of them?" he continues, looking very much like he did the night he beat her at Costa del Sol. "That SOLDIER, and Tseng. Reeve. Gods, you spread your legs for everyone, don't you? Everyone except for me—"
"You're my brother—"
"I loved you more than any of them ever could—"
"Please get away from me," she interrupts him, squirming against his chest as he traps her against the bookshelves. "Rufus, please stop. You're scaring me."
Rufus scoffs right in her face. "Don't tell me you actually want to go back to them." That makes him laugh again, her lack of an answer. She doesn't want to give him the satisfaction. "Do you honestly believe that I would just let you run around with a sorry band of vigilantes?"
Charlotte doesn't falter, standing tall to look her brother in the eyes.
"You are a Shinra, and you belong in Midgar, with me," he continues, his eyes alight with fury, "You are the vice president of Shinra Incorporated, and I need you to act like it." Rufus sneers at her, lip curled. "But you've always loved giving false hope to the underdogs, haven't you?"
She isn't quite sure how to respond. He's completely mad, unhinged, hysterical, and there's no stopping him now. Rufus has always loved to hear himself speak.
"Always passing information to those anti-Shinra newspapers, funding orphanages in an attempt to gain public favor, building bombs to destroy your fucking boyfriend's precious reactors." He takes hold of her face, fingertips digging into her cheeks. Squeezing hard for a few seconds seems to relieve some of his mounting frustrations, because he lets go. "You think I didn't know? You think we all didn't know? And Tseng, covering your tracks every step of the way."
Charlie's jaw clenches shut, chest heaving. She's prepared for the worst, but that doesn't mean she's excited about it. She would almost prefer he just hit her and get it over with.
"You've always been against us, Char. Ever since the beginning. You've always wanted to see us fail . . . to see Father fail." Rufus tilts his head back and lets out a bark of laughter. "But I've succeeded where Father did not. I found the Promised Land, after that fat bastard had been searching for nearly his entire life!"
"Didn't you listen to Professor Hojo?" she asks, wondering if Rufus is completely gone to her now. "The Promised Land is only a legend."
"Call it what you will, then, if not the Promised Land," he replies flippantly, his eyes unfocused as he continues to look into her face. "What would Father say if he knew that I did the one thing he could never do?"
Rufus smiles triumphantly, but the smile does not extend to his cold, pale eyes.
"I always knew, ever since I was young, that I would be great. I always knew that I would be a better president by far than Father—"
Charlie shakes her head. "You're not better than Father, Rufus."
Rufus snaps to attention, cheeks flushed and his smile fading. He waits patiently for her to elaborate.
"You and Father . . . you're the same." She can't believe she's saying this. She can't believe that the words come so easily. "Greedy, power-hungry, without empathy. The both of you went mad with power."
He takes in her words, scoffing right in her face, his breath hot. "You've always been jealous, Char," he snarls, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "Jealous that Father chose me as his vice president over you. Jealous that Father preferred his son over his daughter. Who wouldn't have been jealous in your position?"
She thinks of the letters left behind by her father, wondering if Rufus had found anything addressed to him.
Rufus grins again, lowering his voice and moving a few more inches closer, until his face is directly in front of hers. "Can you keep a secret, sweet sister?"
Charlie is suddenly very uncomfortable with their closeness.
"I was jealous once, too. Or perhaps I was bitter." His teeth are blindingly white. Perfect, just like the rest of him. "Charlotte Shinra, the young, beautiful, charming, funny, genius heiress. Charlotte Shinra, heading the company's most ambitious project since the construction of Midgar."
Rufus sighs almost wistfully, like he derives great pleasure from the memory.
"The Shinra No. 26 was incredible, I'll grant you that. Between your genius and work-ethic, and the nearly unlimited funds provided you, there was no denying that your rocket launch would be successful and groundbreaking." He pauses, delighted in her discomfort. "But I always thought that the company's money would be better spent on . . . other things."
"What are you talking about? What does my rocket have anything to do with this?" A feeling of dread settles within her chest, tightening around her heart.
He looks far too eager. "I was an Avalanche informant, as well, many years ago, as well as their primary benefactor." Another pause, and Charlie knows that she will not like whatever comes out of his mouth next. "I was the one who gave the command for Avalanche to sabotage the rocket launch. The oxygen tank? It wasn't missing. It was lying in the grass about a mile away from base camp."
"What . . . ?"
"If you had succeeded that day, Father would have named you his new vice president," Rufus growls, putting a hand to her shoulder and slamming her back against the shelves again, "and that wasn't your position to take!"
Charlie's heart stops. Her lungs fail her, and her blood runs icy cold all throughout her body. She can't breathe, and the room is spinning, and her knees are weak.
"You're lying," she chokes out.
He chuckles at the look of horror on her face. "Cheer up, sweet sister," he says, tapping the tip of her nose lightly with his index finger. "Isn't it almost . . . cathartic to know that your rocket would have gone to space, had it not been sabotaged?" He laughs to himself again. "And if it had launched, who knows? Maybe your pilot would still be in love with you."
Her pulse pounds in her ears. She wants to hurt him. She wants to hit him, to scream at him. His words, and the casual way he had spoken them, light a raging fire within her, and she's quiet for a long time as she allows herself to digest the reality of what he's saying.
And then, Charlie spits very loudly. A fat glob of saliva lands on the bridge of her brother's nose, flecks of it in his eyebrows and eyelashes and on his cheeks. It drips down the tip of his nose as he blinks a few times, registering what's just happened.
Very calmly, Rufus drags a hand down his face and wipes the spit off. He meets her eyes for a split second again and, without warning, he strikes Charlie across the face with all the force he can muster.
Charlie drops immediately upon contact, the force of his hand turning her head. Her cheek feels like it's beginning to swell already, stinging and throbbing very painfully. Tears spring to her eyes, and it takes her a moment to compose herself again, breathing heavily as she sits crumpled on the floor.
Rufus kneels down in front of her, grabbing her by the hair (just like Sephiroth did, and the memory makes her panic) and pulling her into a sitting position, his eyes settling on her cheek for a moment.
"How dare you?" he snaps at her, the back of his neck and his ears red, his skin still shiny from the remaining spit he hadn't wiped off. "I'm going to give you one chance. One chance to put all of this behind us and move on, for the love I bear you."
Charlie drops all pretense. She isn't going to allow Rufus to forget about this. He had sabotaged her dream, having known what that meant to her. He's the reason that her life had begun to spiral following the failed launch (or had it begun before that?), he's the reason that she can't let go of her past, he's the reason for everything.
Inhaling deeply and trying to forget the aching pain in her face, Charlie is able to get situated on her knees as Rufus releases her hair, seemingly hopeful that he'll get the answer he wants. But she is in no mood to compromise with him, in no mood even to lie to him. She wants him to hurt.
"I would rather die than go back to Midgar with you," she states very calmly, watching a muscle twitch in Rufus's cheek.
His face hardens, and Charlie knows that something within him has snapped. Taking hold of her chin again, he tightens his fingers around her face so painfully that she's sure there will be bruises.
"I loved you more than anyone could have ever loved you," he snarls in her face. "I gave you everything. I made sure you never lacked for or wanted anything. I made sure you were able to live your perfect little life . . . and did I ever receive any of your gratitude? Did you ever think to thank me? No." He pulls her face closer. "You repaid my kindness by trying to destroy the company—our father's company . . . you would have had that good-for-nothing pilot kill me if it meant you could be in my place . . . sitting in my chair . . . filling shoes that will always be too big for you. Do you regret it now? All the information you passed?"
"The only thing I regret is you," she spits, and Rufus flinches as if she's struck him. "Shame on me for ever letting you touch me."
"Don't pretend now that you never begged me for it."
"I shouldn't have. You weren't worth it."
Rufus looks fully prepared to kill her right now. "I hope you're willing to die by those words."
Charlie purses her lips tight, giving him a curt nod. Let him kill her—or, let him try. Even if he succeeds, death would be a mercy compared to what may await her in Midgar, if she chooses to return with Rufus.
"I'll give you until the girl wakes up, and all three of you will be executed as the eco-terrorists that wished such destruction upon our great city of Midgar."
She smiles cruelly, surprisingly unafraid. Killing her means sending her back to Mother, back to Tseng and Angeal. "You would make me a martyr."
Rufus raises his eyebrows, skeptical. "You have a lot of faith in the people, sister. Do you really believe you have their full-blown support? You think they will rally behind someone who was responsible for the deaths of their friends and families and loved ones?"
"It doesn't matter," she replies. "My friends will come for me."
"If they want you to live, they'll be smart enough to stay far, far away from here."
Charlie suddenly feels very powerful in front of him. She may not have the public's full support, but she has a hard time believing they would approve of Rufus's decision to execute his own sister. It will not be a popular decision, and the idea of the population turning their backs on Shinra seems a dream.
"Even if you kill me, my friends will come to return the favor," she continues, speaking very quietly, very confident. "Vincent would tear you apart, and Cid would put your head on a spike. They will come to save me, or to avenge me, just as I would do for them."
Rufus hums. "Then I suggest you start making your peace." He gets back to his feet, brushing himself off. "Tseng isn't here to save you from me this time."
When he leaves, Rufus slams the door behind him, and Charlie hears the tell-tale sound of a clicking lock.
He sees it for the first time while he's in the backyard of the house in Kalm, distractedly kicking a soccer ball back-and-forth with Marlene.
It causes the sky to turn orange, like a permanent sunset. There's no telling how big it is or how far away it is, but it seems very close, like the impact will come within days. Until then, Meteor will continue to hover, a threatening and foreboding presence in the sky, a second sun.
It frightens Marlene, who clutches to his leg as they both look up at it, unable to look away despite how badly he wants to. "Get inside, Marlene," he urges her a little shortly, just as his phone begins to ring. She obeys without question, and Reeve puts the phone up to his ear, trying to determine how much longer he'll be alive. "Hello?"
"What the hell is going on?"
He hesitates, sighing. "I can explain," he tells Tseng, glancing back towards the house, where Marlene watches him from the kitchen window, her face appearing between the drapes. "I'll be there in two hours. I think I'm going to need your help."
"We can't just leave Lottie behind."
No one argues against it, which seems to calm Cid. He thinks for a moment, knowing that the idea of a rescue mission is incredibly risky. With Rufus so close to her, any botched attempt at a discreet extraction will surely result in harm to her, if not death.
And with Tifa and Barret still in Junon (and with Tifa in a very vulnerable position), Cid knows that they're going to be sacrificing a lot if they fuck things up. But, if they don't try, Meteor will probably kill them all within a few days anyway, so isn't it worth it to try?
They had all decided to regroup in a small village a few miles southeast of Junon, a village where many off-duty Shinra infantrymen come to drink and fuck, far enough away from the steel city to be considered a vacation, but close enough that they don't have to worry about securing long-distance travel to return to their posts if needed.
Without Cloud, Charlie, Barret, or Tifa, there is no proper leader, no one to put them in their place or offer suggestions, even if they're bad ones. No one is confident enough with a plan to speak up, and even Cid has to admit defeat. He has no idea what they could do to help Charlie at this point, but he desperately wants to try.
Sitting around a table in the corner of the local pub, Cait Sith is the first one to speak up. "We're only gonna get one chance at this, so we need to make it count," he says, lacking his signature moogle to better fit into the booth. "If we get it wrong, Charlie's as good as dead. We're gonna need to make sure Barret and Tifa are all right, too. Now, we're gonna need to secure transportation in order to—"
"Wait a minute!" Yuffie interrupts him, too young to drink, nursing a glass of water after they had all laughed at her. "Who the hell made you the leader?"
Cait Sith seemingly bristles, for as much as a toy can. "'Cause I know a little more 'bout the inner workings of Shinra than any of you do—"
"Let him talk, brat," Cid snaps at her, wanting to hear Cait Sith's suggestion. He'll take any suggestion at this point. "I wanna hear."
"Well . . ." Cait Sith looks around the table. Everyone leans forward. "I have an idea, but it's crazy, and it'll only work if everyone's on board."
"I can handle crazy," Cid answers with a shrug.
"Good. First, we're gonna steal the Highwind."
Cid claps his hands together, whistling. "That's what's I'm talkin' 'bout!"
"How do you expect us all to just walk into Junon again?" Nanaki asks. "They'll never let us get so close to Shinra's most prized airship. Besides, we'll attract too much attention."
"Don't worry . . ." Cait Sith lowers his voice conspiratorially. "I have a plan . . ."