Chapter 17

Reno followed Elena and Rude down the street. Junon was quieter than Edge, as always. They had been sent to check out the rumours of a cure coming out of the town. Now, he followed his colleagues toward the town market, whinging as annoyingly as he could.

"I'm just sayin, yo." He complained, "We didn't have to all come out here for this. I think we're wastin' time when we could be findin' out stuff about those punks at The Wandering Weapons."

"They're not going anywhere." Rude replied simply.

"But they are plannin' shit, yo!"

"The Boss thinks this is worth our time." Elena said, "So, it must be."

"Not necessarily true." Reno muttered.

"You're just worried about Aura and that guy." Rude told him. Reno eyed his partner. He had had several conversations recently with Rude about Aura and their life before ShinRa. His friend hadn't been angry with him for keeping the secret for years. He had said he understood. Reno hadn't thought it would be possible for his affections for the bigger man to grow, but they had. He supposed he would never cease to be surprised by how wonderful his partner was. Sometimes, though, he wished Rude saw less than he did.

"Cadan." He growled.

"Yeah."

"She's going to find out info for ShinRa." Elena put in.

"She's not trained." Reno replied, "That's not her job."

"As a ShinRa employee, it is." Rude added.

Reno huffed. He didn't like it. "But if that guy tells her stuff…" Elena began. Reno sighed.

"That's not his interest in her."

"If you would admit your interest in her..." Rude muttered.

"Will you stop sayin' that, yo!" Reno exclaimed, "That's not the kind of friendship we've ever had. I've never wanted her in that way."

"You may not have before." Rude replied, "But you do now."

"I do not." He snapped, "And she'd never look at me like that either." Elena just looked at him, but he cut her off before she could speak, "Can we just do the job?"

"Right." Rude agreed with a sigh, "Find the cure."

Reno turned his eyes on the streets. It was on jobs like this that his past proved useful. He was always the first to be able to find shady deals like backstreet salesmen selling dodgy concoctions. "Yeah, what do you think?" he asked, "Meet back here in fifteen?"

"Sounds like a plan." His partner nodded, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Great." With that, Reno strode away from them and into the quickly thickening crowd. The sooner they found what they were after, the sooner they'd be able to get back to Edge.

It took him barely five minutes to find the joint. He stood, leaning against a high wall, as he eyed the place. It was a small door, cut into the side of a larger building, connected to several on the street. Out of the way. Most people would have missed it if they hadn't been looking for it. Most people weren't Reno. He watched as a tall woman came out, adjusting something in her basket. A moment later a pair of teenagers pushed the door open and went inside. Popping the collar on his jacket up, Reno strode across the street and followed them in.

The room was dim, and he cast a casual glance around at the various objects on display in low glass cases. One of the teenagers he had followed in was being ushered back behind a curtain while the other waited beside the main counter, tapping his fingers idly upon the glass. Reno pretended to be interested in whatever he was standing in front of as the woman behind the counter returned. Only a minute or so had passed when the teenager returned to his friend and they both left the shop.

"May I help you?"

Reno turned and smiled widely. "Hey, yo." He said, raising a hand to his hair and running his fingers through it. "I uh… I heard you have something that can help me…"

"What's the problem?" she asked. He blinked.

"'stigma…"

She gave a single nod and gestured toward the curtain. Reno flicked a glance at it before looking back to her. "Go on…" she told him. Slowly, he headed behind the counter and pushed the curtain aside.

"Really." Elena said, leaning into her seat, "She said that her brother had it and then he was better."

"That's what they're all saying." Rude replied, "I didn't actually see anyone with the Stigma."

"Neither did I…" she mused, "So, doesn't that mean the cure works?"

"It means you didn't see anyone with it." Reno replied from his seat piloting their chopper. "The cure will have to be tested. Don't get excited yet."

"But if it does…"

"Chill, Laney." He said.

Elena huffed and folded her arms across her chest. If they had found a cure that worked, then things would be so different. They would be able to help everyone who was sick in Edge. ShinRa would look good again and regain the favour of the public. The entire dynamic of the city would change. She wouldn't be shot at in the streets…

"You only got one bottle?" Rude asked, and Elena watched as Reno nodded.

"Yeah, yo." He replied, glancing at the bigger man, "I dunno what it was. They were sellin' it out the back of some weird shop. Literally behind the curtain. To teenagers and stuff. I played the rumour for the sick card. Woulda looked weird if I wanted more than one."

"If it works though, Zena and Aura should be able to reverse engineer it, right?" Elena asked.

"That's the idea." Reno replied. She nodded silently and settled back into her seat once again. It would be a while before they were back.

"I dunno…" Rude added after several moments of silence. "Was weird there weren't any sick…"

"Why?" She asked, "Doesn't that mean the cure works and they've had it…?"

"Not everyone can afford medicine." Reno muttered, but offered no further comment, so Elena let the conversation drop. Maybe the people making it had given it freely to people unable to give money. Even in her own mind that sounded stupid. Pushing it aside, she decided that she didn't care. All that she cared about was whether or not the cure was effective.

Aura leaned against the bar, smiling at Cadan. "Nik really did that?" she asked. Cadan nodded.

"He's a sweet kid, really." He replied, "Really strong family morals."

"That's really nice." She said, taking up a seat on one of the stools. "Why aren't you open for dinners tonight?" She asked, "Normally you're filling up with families by now…" She cast a glance around the empty room.

"We're reserved." He answered, wiping the counter down. "There's a meeting and the whole room is sort of needed."

"Oh…" she said, her blood suddenly pounding in her ears. "… Should I go?"

Cadan's honey coloured eyes turned on her and he raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to stay?"

Aura chewed her lip. "I…" This was it. She could play the card she knew would keep her here and enable her to possibly overhear something ShinRa could use, or she could go. She could be manipulative and learn something that could protect Reno, or she could back out and go home. "I… was kinda hoping we could have dinner together…" She watched those honey eyes grow warmer.

"I'm sure I can accommodate that desire."

Aura forced a smile. "This meeting… it's to do with the anti-ShinRa stuff…?"

"Yeah." He replied, "Needs a bit of privacy."

"… and you lose a night's business for that?" she asked, "That doesn't seem fair." She watched him give a light shrug.

"We won't be closed for the whole night. Just the dinner period, really. I'll open the doors again around nine."

"I see." She smiled at him again, "So what are you feeding me for dinner?"

"What would you like?"

"That depends on what's on offer." He cast a glance over his shoulder, "I should actually ask Kera what she wants… Excuse me for a sec…"

Aura nodded and watched him turn and head off to find his sister. She then let out a sigh, a little disgusted with herself. She had no interest in Cadan. Not the way that she was leading him to believe she did. Sure, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but she was manipulating him in order to get information out of him. It was wrong. She wasn't a Turk. Why was she trying to act like one? She wasn't, she determined. She was simply after information that could help protect her friends. If she found out something about another planned attack on ShinRa employees she could possibly save lives. Possibly even those of people she cared about. Was that worth leading Cadan on? Well, she and Reno had done worse to survive in the past. At least, Reno had. She wondered vaguely what else he had done as a Turk. Wrinkling her nose, she decided that she probably didn't want to know. She knew he'd killed people. She figured she could be friendlier with this guy than she wanted to be. Nothing had to come of it, other than information. When he came back, Aura determined to ask him if she could help behind the bar after dinner. That way she could be privy to any discussions held during this meeting.

Aura stood before Rufus Shinra, the small bottle she had been handed by Reno in her hands.

"Are you clear on what I want from you, Aura?" Rufus asked. She nodded.

"You want me to work out what is in it…"

"And if you can make more." He replied, "If it proves effective, I want to be able to mass produce."

"Are… has it been tested?" she asked, glancing at the four Turks standing nearby.

"It is being tested as we speak." Rufus said simply, "That's why this task falls to you. Zena is taking charge of the… experiments."

Aura blinked. Human testing, she realised. Had they been volunteers? "Okay." She hesitated.

"Was there anything else?" He asked her, "I had a message this morning that you had information for me?"

"Yes."

"Is this in regard to The Wandering Weapons?"

She nodded again, glancing at Reno before looking back to the President. "I was there last night when a meeting was held."

"What did you learn?" Rufus asked, gesturing at Tseng who had moved to take notes before Rufus had thought to give the order.

"There's talk of increased ShinRa brutality in other towns… Junon was mentioned." She watched as confusion crossed Rufus' face for a moment, but she continued, "They feel the need to … increase…their resistance." She said, "They know the areas patrolled by ShinRa employees. They're doing more than just random attacks on people. They're forming gangs. Well, I suppose they are already gangs… Units" she looked at the blonde man nodding in understanding before her. "They're forming units to attack. These units are going to have patrols of their own. They're going to specifically hunt down ShinRa employees. They're not just looking to hurt." She looked around at Elena, "It's not going to be a one-off bullet into a crowd in hopes of hitting a suit." She slipped the bottle carefully into her coat pocket, "They mean to kill."

"This was to be expected." Tseng put in, and Rufus nodded at the dark haired man.

"Anything else, Aura?"

Aura shook her head silently.

"Are you friendly enough with these people to continue to get information from them?" Tseng asked, Aura looked at him for a moment before nodding again.

"Hold on, yo." Reno put in, stepping forward. "We just made a point of 'they mean to kill'. What do you think they'll do to her if they find out she works for ShinRa?"

"I'm sure Aura is clever enough to keep that information to herself." Rufus said drily.

"She's not a Turk." Reno replied sharply enough to earn a frown from the President. Aura watched Rufus push his irritation aside as Reno continued, "She hasn't been trained for this, it's not fair to send her in there. We've had training for this kind of thing for a reason. She's not equipped… Sir."

"Aura doesn't wear a uniform out of this Lodge." Rufus said flatly, "There's no reason at all for them to tie her to ShinRa."

"They're obviously not dumb." Reno ground out, and Aura knew he was struggling to maintain his cool, "If something happens… If she slips… They'll kill her."

"Tseng will give her a rundown on how to conduct herself." Rufus waved his hand.

"That's not enough…" Reno protested.

Aura knew when Rufus had had enough when his eyes went icy. "Reno, might I remind you that I am the President? You follow my orders. I do not have to run what I want past you. I give the orders and you follow them. Without question."

Reno closed his mouth and Aura watched him fight to swallow the retort that had been about to come out. She hadn't ever really seen such self control in him before. The tight way he held himself told her that he was about to explode, however. Rufus apparently also saw this as he waved his hand once more. "Get out." Reno turned and walked stiffly toward the door. "The rest of you, too." The President added, "Tseng, stay."

Aura turned and walked quickly to the door. Reno was already gone when she got out into the hallway. She sighed. Elena gave a low whistle once the door was closed behind them.

"I've seen Reno express his opinion on ideas he thought were stupid before." The blonde woman said, "But not like that."

"Really?" Aura asked.

"Looked like he wanted to punch the Boss." She replied, her eyes wide. "Where do you suppose he's gone?"

"To cool off." Rude said, starting off down the hall. "I suggest we get to work."

Aura pulled the tiny bottle out of her pocket and looked at it. She hadn't ever really tried to reverse engineer something like this before. She supposed the challenge would prove a great distraction, however. With one last look at President Shinra's door, she turned and headed up to the lab.