Chapter 22. The Mission.

Medina's POV

I tried not to think about it. Really, I tried hard. But sometimes I couldn't help it.

I had seen the blasted footage out of sheer luck. I didn't have the habit of sneaking around Elie's habits, even if all recordings were there, archived in that hard drive that would harvest years and years of audio and video footage, if necessary.

The device was connected through a personal link to the General's computer. And mine. We were the only ones with the ability to watch or hear the damn thing.

I had come to the lab early that day. Elie was still asleep, her room with the blinds closed.

I checked on her from the glass, as usual, and returned to my doings.

And I didn't know why, but I started opening the previous night's folders. The 24 hours of the day were divided hourly - hence, 24 files. And I had just the luck of clicking the one named SSDF3R73_4. SHINRA Science Division Floor three, Room seven, 3 to 4 a.m.

The video showed the General entering Elie's room, the place in the dark. She walked a little confused, and I wondered what was he doing up at that time of the night, and well, why was he there?

I didn't have time to wonder much more, as the image of Elie bumping her head onto the General's chest made me widen my eyes. My mouth was half-open in surprise as they talked… in such an intimate and strange way. It made no sense, it was… crazy, this whole thing.

What the-?

She apologized, and he answered her, and then… I just couldn't believe my eyes at what followed.

It was inconceivable, the way they touched, how bad I felt about the whole thing. It was like I was spying on a private moment, a moment belonging to them and them alone. Elie panted, wrapped around the General's arms, and the way she responded to his questions made my stomach churn.

The tenderness imbibed in her words was something that made my chest hurt. She had never talked to me like that. It felt noxious and wrong, all of it.

She held him in a way…

Uh, man. I hated to feel jealous over something as twisted as this.

I closed the damned file, my chair turning completely. I let the back of my head meet the comfy leather of the chair, and closed my eyes.

I didn't know what to think.

All I knew was that I wished I hadn't seen the file. How could I behave normally after what I had just seen? How, I asked myself, how could I be a rational man when this woman took my rationality away?

I controlled myself for weeks. I summoned whatever I could to remain as neutral as I could.

And I took my time to evaluate Elie's reactions to the General's absence. He was strangely mute, barely in touch since that weird night.

As expected, Elie didn't mention a thing about it. She was also a little introspective since then, but she disguised it pretty well. She and my second-in-hand seemed to hang on pretty well.

Elie spent most of her time in the labs, entertained and learning stuff about investigational procedures. She rarely left the floor - and when that happened, she was heavily guarded by the red-headed Turk.

Strife was also around, but in late hours of night, which meant I didn't see him often.

Eventually, the meeting scheduled to discuss the next mission arrived.

After the last mission in Junon classified as a success, going all according to plan - and hence, the whole thing happening according to Elie's description, Veld was very enthusiastic about the next mission.

He was the first arriving that morning, then the General arrived with a terrible mood - and I wondered if it would have to do with Elie's presence. Or, in this case, absence, since she wasn't around yet.

I was rather expectant to see how they would react to each other.

I didn't know what I wanted to see - if a scene, considering it would be highly improbable, if despise.

So, in the moment Elie got inside the room, to my surprise, I didn't see any of it.

Neutrality was all I could sense.

But Elie… yes, Elie was off. Anxious. With that silly nervousness all over, as she sat in the only available seat… next to the General.

There was no stare exchange, nothing. It was like they were invisible to each other.

Strangely, it didn't make me feel better.

Their strange attitude post-hugging and neck-whispering was as illogical as disturbing.

The meeting went along fine, until the moment I asked for Elie to intercede.

She didn't answer me. Her eyes were lost somewhere else, in a universe far from ours, in a place of her alone.

She's homesick, I concluded.

Yes, she had to be. Her last year in this place had been full of episodes, events and … what else?

This wasn't her habitat, and the General… was the most exotic, disturbing presence making her uncomfortable here.

Everything about Elie screamed discomfort, and yes, I knew it, felt it and knew exactly who was the one responsible for that.

The man elbowing her to 'wake up'.

What followed rendered me speechless. Elie staggered, tried to make amends and then… the General asked for a minute with her. Outside.

Alone.

Veld didn't notice the awkwardness of the situation. My guess was he was so focused on the mission subject he wouldn't notice an elephant in the room.

I saw the General leave the office, leaving the door open. Elie gulped, confused and eyed me in sign of approval - and I, cowardly, didn't allow her anything.

This was outrageous. I felt superfluous and used, when these two were around.

So I decided I would guarantee the minute was exactly made of 60 seconds. No more, no less.

At second 55 I walked towards the door, opened it and found the General with his hand on Elie's shoulder. Her expression didn't exhale happiness, but something else instead.

And the General was basically himself the whole time.

Unbiased.

We returned to the meeting with a different spirit. Elie was more focused and behaved neatly.

Veld and the General made their points and the reunion ended sooner than later, and Elie took the lead to take off.

And as predicted, the General dismissed himself rather quickly.

I didn't know why or how, but eventually I overheard a conversation with some of my co-workers, commenting on how they had seen the General talking with Elie next to her bedroom door.

I didn't like the way the subject affected me. They were talking, that was only it… but thing was, nothing could be the same after what I had saw that night - that little sharing moment of them was like a permanent memento, always there in the corner of my mind.

Every damn day. Plaguing me.

And today wasn't exception.

"John."

I turned, knowing it was her. I had grown fond of her voice, her tone as she called my name. There was nothing intimate about it, it was only the sound - soothing and calming. Which was great, since I was starting to feel I would lose the friendship I had with Elie if I kept like this - behaving like an antisocial guinea pig.

"What." I answered, returning to the graphics on the lab computer screen. I tried very hard to focus on those lines, but my mind was somewhere else.

"John, I…"

I removed my glasses and turned completely, my arms crossed as my back rested by the counter, Elie by the door, staring at me with her sad eyes wide open.

"In case you're wondering, yes, I know what happened."

My words had been harsh, and cruel and I saw her gulp at my words. And then blush. Damn, she enjoyed it!

"It's not-"

Her rushed denial made me snap.

"I'm not stupid, Elie."

My tone had been unwise and improper but this was indeed a touchy subject. And it was a fact we had to discuss the damn thing or an abyss would be created among us.

"Nothing happened… between me and the General."

Her voice sounded gloomy - which was understandable, to a point. She wanted things to evolve differently - what didn't happen at all. She felt rejected, I got it. I felt rejected myself as well.

"You know…" I started, our stare locked, "You actually should tell me what is really going on between you two. It seems like everyone is extra when you two are close. Talking, that way."

Elie sighed, got inside the lab and closed the door behind her. She took her time answering me.

"You are… You are not seeing things straight. I'm not…" Elie stopped, her hands on her face, as in shock. "You know, it's ridiculous to even consider it!"

I rose my eyebrows at her little explosion of childish anger. But Elie kept on.

"I know things about him that makes me behave like this. It's like… I can't explain. It's like knowing someone but… not knowing a thing at all, it's… fascination and dread all mixed up, it's-"

"Insane." I interrupted her, nodding.

"Very, but there aren't… feelings. Not the way you're thinking."

I let out a very ironic laugh. Really, was she playing me?

"How do you know what I am thinking, Elie?"

Her face changed suddenly and in those brownish eyes I saw fury.

"You're suggesting I have some sort of sick infatuation over the General, and that is so not true!"

Oh, come on!

"You fancy the man!"

"I admire him. That's different." She clarified, "The man fascinates me because of what he is, but at the same time, he… frightens me."

Please!

"Really." I said, irony all over me. "You seem pretty much at ease holding him and cuddling your face all over his neck."

Elie closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head.

"We were both out of our damned minds. Trust me on that one."

"You can deny it all you want, Elie." I said, speaking my mind. "There's something going on between you two."

But my statement made her snap in a way I had never seen.

"It's called knowing shit I shouldn't know of!" She said, almost screaming. "It's called sharing that kind of secrets that bind people together in a sick way." Her eyes became teary and her voice rasped. "That's not a healthy connection, John. Honestly… I wish I didn't know the shit I do. That way I would live way happier. "

I sighed at the despaired woman I had in front of me. Her sincerity struck me and I wondered, for brief moments, if I wasn't being unfair with her.

"I'm sorry." I said, my tone low.

"Forget it." She declared, wiping her eyes. "It doesn't matter. As soon as this whole… Nibelheim thing is done, we can finally breathe out in relief, all of us!"

"Elie."

Okay, she was really out of herself. She paced with her arms crossed, visibly nervous with our little disagreement.

"I mean it, really, I-"

"Elie."

She finally stopped and I decided to give it a rest.

"I won't mention the General again, if that's what bothers you."

She eyed me with disappointment on her eyes and opened the door, preparing to leave.

"Thank you."

After her words, the door finally closed with an acute click.

Sephiroth's POV

I had to admit I was curious.

This time I would be involved in the mission that would play an important part in the Company's history.

The dawn of June, 17th 0002 had finally arrived, and needless to say, nobody slept one bit the previous hours.

Since midnight that Turks and SOLDIER had been preparing the field, gathering tactics and projecting every move of AVALANCHE.

It was somehow entertaining knowing what they planned to do.

And the most hilarious thing about it was leaving Hojo in the dark about the whole thing. Yes, he would have an important part - and we all knew the man would have the guts of selling his own mother for a chance of avant-garde investigation.

I remained in the upper floor, in constant communication with the teams spread all over the company.

Obviously, the President was absent - far away, safe and sound from HD.

We left Hojo's lab unguarded - as usual, since we already knew AVALANCHE would start there. Creating a diversion was only logical - and we needed things to happen according to plan. If AVALANCHE got there and found the place heavily guarded, their tactic would change - and we would be left in the dark.

And, truth be told, we were getting used to advantage lately. Stevens provided us with advantage that allowed us to excel - in almost every level.

As expected, AVALANCHE showed up early.

At 7.00h sharp the freak show was freed from Hojo's lab and the fun finally begun. The unnatural noise of those creatures on the loose echoed in the building, and I smiled at myself. My muscles twitched in anticipation and I grasped my sword tight.

"It's game time." I whispered, my words taken away by the cool morning breeze.

The day would be sunny - and I would guarantee the mission would be successful.

-/-

"The bird has left the floor."

The rasped voice of that Red-headed Turk through the communicator woke me up from deep thinking.

Things were developing pretty fine until now and I knew I would be necessary in the next phase of the plan.

Thoughts hadn't abandoned my head and the noise of the roof door opening abruptly made me turn to see who I was expecting already.

Hojo and those filthy elements from Avalanche - who seemed shocked to see me there, waiting for them, in the place where the helicopter rested and in which they hoped to escape.

"You're here." Hojo declared, narrowing his eyes at me.

I smiled ironically.

"Surprised?" I asked, as I stepped towards the conglomerate of persons by the roof door. "You shouldn't. You, better than anyone, know what I'm capable of."

Hojo's answer, although, was immediate.

"Yes, indeed I do." He smirked, but got serious all of the sudden. "But it does not include foretelling."

My face grew sterner, and I didn't know how the conversation would end, if we hadn't been rudely interrupted.

A loud thump and roaring noise was heard out of nothing, and I knew a creature of sorts would be coming up.

Steven's words suddenly came to mind "The dragon you'll face won't stand a chance against you and your modest sword", her smiley voice echoing in my head, those alien eyes of her soothing worries that I didn't have.

"Let's see if you're right, Stevens." I muttered to myself, and before I knew it the roof door structure was destroyed by a very gigantic creature - and that took the deed.

The surprise factor wasn't much, since I was already prepared for a rather horrific thing. And Stevens was right indeed - that thing looked a lot like a dragon of sorts.

The creature made a sudden move to attack me, I got suddenly very busy and in that moment I knew Hojo and his captors would take advantage of it to get away from the roof and escape.

So after a powerful blow and a howl that shoved the creature away for some moments, I informed the Turks of the latest development.

"Hojo and his captors will leave using the helicopter, as expected. They are five in number. Take all the necessary precautions."

And after that, my Masamune and I became one.

Tseng's POV

We chased the helicopter via truck using the highway. I'd been informed this morning of the suspicions considering Hojo escaping with AVALANCHE elements using one of our devices on the roof. So, according to that, the helicopter had been modified to impede the getaway.

I found it all too obvious and certain. I mean, suspicions were hypothesis, right? Theories, probabilities of what would happen, but thing was… the way the General had informed us hadn't sounded like that at all. Those were certainties.

They sounded like that. Felt like that.

And I hated to be left in the dark about it - about something I was about to get involved as well.

Veld didn't disclose a thing, except there was an informant whose identity they kept at bay.

I've been attentive the whole day and it was a fact all developed as told - which was not only surprising - it was almost offending. How could an informant know this much of AVALANCHE's plan? And in such detail?

The thought was disturbing.

"How's things going?"

The General's voice was rasped and fast, and I wondered if the fight had been difficult or what.

"They're on their way. They know we're on them down here."

The General's answer was swift.

"Take them down."

And with a sign, I ordered the team to neutralize the helicopter. We all looked up, expecting to see the helicopter coming down, soft and calmly as the hacking team back in the HD took cover of the situation.

However, nothing like that happened.

The helicopter speeded and there was no sign of coming down. Minutes passed and the stillness of the situation started to mess with all of us inside the truck.

I rushed to communicate with HD.

"Whatever you're doing, it's not working." I warned.

"The signal is jammed. They figured us out."

I took a deep breath and changed channels.

"Not working, General." I declared, a little worried. "AVALANCHE still is taking the lead."

But his answer was fast and furious.

"I'll take care of that."

The confidence on his voice was something I couldn't actually classify. I didn't know if it was smugness or plain notion he was actually the best around.

And I didn't have much time to think about it either.

An enormous blow coming out of nowhere almost deafened me and made the truck swivel for moments.

"Shit, what was that?"

The Turk driving took his time focusing and, right in front of our eyes, an uncontrolled helicopter came down, part of it on fire, before landing hard on the road ahead of us.

"Where did that come from?"

I blinked at the sight, and tried to do the math.

Man, that had been a long range attack - something like that shouldn't have even been possible… how on the Planet did he manage to do that?

And as the truck decelerated to meet the shredded, landing helicopter, someone talked again.

"It is down?"

The voice of the General through the communicator took me back to reality, but I took my time gathering coherence to answer the man.

"Yes," I declared. "Yes, it is."

"Good. Cover the situation, I'll be right there as soon as possible." He informed. "And try not to let anyone escape, namely Hojo and someone named Fuhito who will try and sneak his way out."

I blinked at his words. No way, he had got to be kidding me.

"No one must have survived the crash, General, I doubt-"

But the General interrupted me mercilessly.

"Do not presume, Tseng. I assure you there are survivors amongst the crash and I want them on hold until I get there."

The communication was off automatically and I tried to gather coherency.

Man. This was too much, in all aspects.

As soon as the truck stopped, me and my team swiftly got out, armed 'till our ears, surrounding the helicopter, still alight with fire here and there.

"Kill the fire," I ordered one of my men, avidly searching for survivors. "Seal the perimeter. I want every passenger checked, dead or alive."

"Sir-"

"Do it." I insisted, my stare hard on my men.

And as one of them killed what was left of the fire, in the middle of that cloud of grey smoke, we heard something.

A white coat whimpering.

"Hojo." I whispered, and silently I ordered one of my men to retrieve the injured scientist.

One down, one to go.

There were several dead bodies, but there was someone missing - I was willing to bet it was the Fuhito guy.

I took some distance from the team. My instinct was screaming and yet, in the middle of such bright day, I didn't see anything - not even a bloody mark that would give away the presence of someone injured.

Until a muffled groan gave my suspect away.

I narrowed my eyes and I found the man - hiding in very convenient topographic hole. I approached the man silently and disarmed him silently.

"Who are you?"

I've got no response. Not from him, anyway.

"He's Fuhito."

I turned to see who was right behind me. General?

"I told you he would try to escape."

I blinked at the man, as several SOLDIER took the injured man from the ground, headed to a black, huge helicopter.

"Are you taking him to HD?"

The General nodded.

"For proper interrogation."

I took a moment to look at the General, in the eye. There was something wrong about all this and I needed to know what on the Planet was going on.

But before I got the chance of saying a word, Hojo passed by us, secured in a medical gurney. The stare of the scientist met Sephiroth's and something hateful flew between them.

"You don't fool me, boy." Hojo said, with a bloodied mouth. "That woman held in your premises is the responsible for this. She knows it all, doesn't she?"

The General took his time answering and I had to admit, I was very curious to hear the answer as well.

"I'm not your boy, old man."The General said, stepping towards Hojo. "And about the woman," Sephiroth paused, laughing ironically before speaking again. "you'll never know what she is and what she does. Her capacity. Her will."

I blinked, amazed at his answer. What the-? Was the informant a woman they had kept inside SHinra HD all this time?

"She's mortal, boy." Hojo smiled, stealing the smile from Sephiroth.

But the man didn't quaver.

"Aren't we all?"

Heavy silence fell upon us, as SOLDIER and Turks took the injured ones, the dead ones and tried to clean up the area, which seemed more like a war zone.

The smell of smoke and crashed metal was in the air and as I saw the General preparing to leave, I had to take the chance.

"I'll need to talk to her."

The General stopped but did not turn to face me, and I assumed he was considering my words.

"Veld has it covered."

"Why are you keeping me out of it?"

"Not my problem." He said, his voice now lost as he walked away.

I sighed, feeling a little frustrated. The mission had succeeded, it was a fact - but there was something inside me telling me something was wrong.

So, I would have to do something about it.

A/N - Sorry for the delay, but work slurped my days and nights and believe me, my hands have been off the keyboard for almost a damn month!

But here's the chapter, hope you like it, and review it will all your will! I took some time describing the mission, 'cause the plot needed some action that didn't involve Elie, John and Sephiroth directly .

Okay, so… we're almost there, people!

How will Elie try to stop and/or prevent the General from going mad? Any ideas? The plot is on the way but I'd be delighted to hear your opinions :)

See you next chapt! :)