My Vietnam
30 July 2014
/\/\/\/\/\
This is a FFVII fic by klepto_maniac0. I own no concepts and no characters except the ones you've never heard of, which means they're ones I've made. I freely admit I will take liberties with the FFVII canon because this is an alternate universe fic (in case you haven't figured that out already.) That's why some details are different, some events are ignored, and some people don't exist or act in a different capacity. Ain't fanfic fun?
"My Vietnam" (henceforth shortened to MYV) is a continuation of "Put Your Lights On" (PYLO), but it is not necessary to have read PYLO before reading this story. Whenever PYLO-specific events are referenced, the pertinent chapter will be indexed in the author's note.
/\/\/\/\/\
As I treated them
/\/\/\/\/\
The first time Rufus had been kidnapped, he had been six years old. It had more to do with him being an Aisling than a Shin-Ra, so as soon as he was extracted, his mother enrolled him in hostage deportment classes. Those had been 'fun'. Most of the other students were at least twelve or older, and it was a signal to all of them that Rufus was a much higher value target than they were. Whatever. Rufus learned to ignore people at an early age, or at least seem like he was ignoring them. He concentrated on his classes, so the next time he was kidnapped (age ten), he was nowhere near as frightened as the first time. He did not cry. He did not curl into a ball. He did not let the kidnappers drag him where they wanted.
Ultimately he ended up kidnapped anyway, and that was how he met Tseng. Rufus didn't end up living in Midgar with his father until he was fourteen, but in the four years before that, Tseng was almost as ubiquitous a presence as Malcolm. Except instead of fixing tea and cookies, Tseng fixed 'problems'.
Tseng also taught Rufus a bit of what was considered 'ungentlemanly fighting', so when the AVALANCHE thugs came, Rufus knew how to grab their oncoming fists and knee them in the back, how to crush noses and gouge eyeballs, and how to never stop shouting for help.
But he ended up kidnapped again anyway. A blow to the back of the head disoriented him too much to resist, and he didn't fully regain control of his senses until after his hands and feet had already been zip-tied around his back. Like his vision, his thoughts swam in and out of focus.
"I should see if there's some sort of commemorative plate for breaking a record... 'Most times successfully kidnapped', that's me."
Snide mental commentary was one way to keep the fear at bay. Rufus still remembered his hostage deportment instructor, with her steel-gray hair and piercingly pale eyes.
"There is never a time where your kidnappers will not hurt or kill you," she had said. "The chances of being returned home after ransom is paid is thin, and if they have something other than ransom in mind, your chances are even thinner."
Tseng's voice faded in, along with the phantom weight of a pistol in a child's hands. It was the first time Rufus had ever held a gun.
"I will always come to get you," he'd said, and that had always been true. "So until I do, I need you to make note of things like how many people there are, where they're taking you, what sort of weaponry do they have. And it's very important that you don't antagonize anyone. No smart remarks, no laughter, definitely no insults. I can't get you and bring you home if they kill you."
Rufus took a calming breath, closed his eyes, and looked around once the worst of the pounding in his head had stopped. He suppressed a grimace when he realized where they were, not because of the cliché of picking such a visible hideout, but because the rocket itself was huge. Too huge.
"How much money and material was spent to give twenty-foot-high ceilings to a vehicle meant to house one man?"
There were five people in the room. Rufus zeroed in on three of them. Two had glowing eyes, but it was not the steady iris-glow of SOLDIERS. Their eyeballs, cornea and all, seemed to give off a faint light, which made Rufus realize that he was looking at some of AVALANCHE's augmented humans. According to the reports, they weren't nearly as tough as SOLDIERS, even Third-Class ones, but AVALANCHE was able to turn them out much faster than the six months it took the Company to convert its superhumans. They were armed with long swords with two materia slots each, though Rufus didn't see if they were filled.
The other person Rufus concentrated on was a tall, musclebound man wearing camouflage that was several years out of date. As though he could sense Rufus's eyes on him, he turned and looked. Rufus didn't like the look on his face. He seemed both intelligent and hardheaded, which suited a criminal but didn't bode well for Rufus's immediate future.
"So the sleeping prince awakes," said the man mockingly.
Rufus bit back the automatic snark and sat up straight, regarding the man coolly.
"Nothing to say?" The man asked.
"Nobody worth speaking to," thought Rufus, but again he kept that to himself. Aloud, he said, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that AVALANCHE is here."
"And why do you say that?" The man asked, resting a hand cannon his shoulder. He handled it with ease, which again did not bode well. Rufus guessed he was a veteran, one of the many displaced after the war, probably due to2 some of that 'post-traumatic stress' nonsense.
"Because if I were you," said Rufus, "I wouldn't miss a huge, very public opportunity to embarrass the Company either."
"Which I was on track to do, but now everyone will be focused on you jokers again. The best-laid plans... Ugh. I suppose I'll have to derail the Highwind somehow."
The man laughed, as did a few of the other AVALANCHE members. Rufus noticed they were all armed with machine guns, which seemed like a terrible idea in a thin-walled structure strapped to a skyscraper's worth of explosive fuel.
The man walked up to him. His name came to Rufus as he knelt before him, but knowing names only added to the surge of fear that came when the man—Shears—rested his gun on Rufus's knee. Rufus stayed very still but did not break eye contact.
"Ice cold, just like the papers say," said Shears. "I bet you don't even sweat."
Shears lifted his gun and touched Rufus on the cheek, turning his head from side to side with the barrel. Rufus reminded himself to inhale and exhale in a calm manner.
"That look of yours is pissing me off, rich boy," said Shears with a slight edge in his voice.
"It's the only look I have," thought Rufus. Scarlet had once told him about "resting bitch face", which was what people told her she had when she wasn't making any particular expression. He was pretty sure he had it too, though nobody ever said the word 'bitch' to his face.
"So what is it you're after?" Rufus asked, keeping his voice as polite as possible. "Perhaps we could work something out."
Shears actually threw back his head and laughed. "Go on, rich boy. Try and bribe me." He smirked in a singularly unpleasant manner as he added, "Tell me just how much you think your life is worth."
"Don't fuck this up, Rufus. Don't fuck this up."
"Solar power generator," said Rufus as clearly and confidently as he could.
Shears cocked his head. "...Come again?"
"When the Old Man rose to power, he bought out or burned out every other power company and he confiscated all their materials. I've seen plans for hydroelectric generators, biofuel generators—wind generators—even generators that make power from trash."
"Bullshit."
"And they're all yours if you do me a little favor."
"Oh? What sort of favor?"
"Destroy the rocket, but don't take credit."
"Ha!" Shears actually grinned. "Not 'let you go'?"
"That goes without saying," said Rufus evenly. "How else are you going to get the plans if you don't?"
Shears chewed his lip. Rufus waited quietly, hoping he'd played his cards right. Shears was the head of the anti-Company faction, but if he believed the Company could change—that if Rufus could change it—
"Nah," said Shears abruptly. The cold end of the barrel pressed against Rufus's forehead, forcing him back. "Nice try, rich boy. But even if you follow through, we still have to put you with your corrupt, spoiled ass for God knows how long. Not to mention that we can't build any of that shit with the Company still around. We'll find those plans, IF they exist, when we burn your daddy's little empire to the ground."
"Killing me alone isn't going to do much," said Rufus, modulating his voice so he didn't babble. It was more difficult than expected. As a result, he started lying, which was a cheap alternative to his usual mix of omission and half-truths. "And don't think you can leverage me against the Old Man. I have more bastard brothers than I can count, and even a few that look like me." He shrugged, covering his trembling. "It's up to you. Would you rather destroy one Shin-Ra and have the entire weight of the Company come after you, or let me destroy them from within and create a future we're all happy with?"
"That future doesn't exist," said Shears, his voice becoming cold.
"It can," said Rufus. "If you're willing to take a chance."
Shears's eyes turned black with fury, but he pulled the gun away. A second later, white-hot pain exploded against Rufus's cheek as Shears slammed the end of the gun into his face.
"You don't fucking tell me to turn the other cheek, rich boy," he said, his voice low and vicious. "My father and brothers are dead because of the Company's war against Wutai. My mother died because she couldn't afford the medicine you fuckers monopolize. You seal us in a city-wide coffin and shoot us when we claw our way up."
A white-hot crack against his other cheek made him gasp. Rufus tried to blink the stars from his eyes, but all that did was let him see Shears stand up and draw his leg back. Rufus tightened his core just like Tseng had told him, but the first kick punched the air out of him.
"How dare you tell me that I have to give you a fucking chance?"
Shears kicked him over and over, punctuating his words with impact. It was all Rufus could do to hold onto consciousness, though every self-preservative instinct told him to just pass out and spare himself the agony. He tried to curl up to protect himself, but all that did was make him fall over; Shears didn't stop, just kicked him hard in the kidneys. Rufus gagged on a combination of blood and what he hoped was saliva. His shin hurt really, really badly.
"You don't have anything I want," said Shears as Rufus gasped for air. "Except the location of the safehouse you rat bastards retreat to in times like these. Where are the other Executives? I'll make it quick if you spit it out in the next ten seconds. Come on, speak up. I didn't kick your head." Shears knelt down, cocking his head again. "What was that, rich boy?"
"He's going to kill me," Rufus realized.
Well, let it never be said that Rufus Shin-Ra went out like a bitch.
He swallowed and spoke in a voice that was far stronger than he felt. "You're wasting a great opportunity."
Shears cocked the hammer on his gun. "Shut the fuck up. I am not listening to your cheap pitch any longer."
Rufus opened his eyes and looked at Shears. The man blinked. But his finger tightened on the trigger and Rufus gasped a final breath—
Rainbow light flared over his head and shattered almost instantly. But instead of oblivion, Rufus saw Shears's stunned face.
"What the—" Shears glanced at his gun.
There was a rapid patter of footsteps, like rain on a tin roof.
"Fuck!" One of the other men yelled. A second later there was a floor-shaking impact and the noise of someone retching. The sharp retort of a rifle on full auto made Rufus's head ache as the sound turned to high-pitched thunder in the rocket's dome.
"Who the fuck is that?!" One of the other gunners screamed. "What the fuck?!" Then a hideous, bone-chilling scream.
"Finally," thought Rufus. He lifted his eyes, expecting to see a whirl of blue suits, but instead he saw a gray-green blur racing around the wall of rocket, parallel to the floor. Two pinpoints of properly glowing Mako green seemed to leave trails in the air.
"Oh no," Rufus realized with sinking horror.
There was a burst of motion as one of the augmented AVALANCHE soldiers leapt into the air, his sword drawn back. The cry of panic caught in Rufus's throat as he swung at Toriko, but a rainbow flash seemed to eat the blow, popping the girl into the air instead of letting her be cut in half. Toriko twisted around like a cat as the second Raven leapt up to attack her, lashing out with an explosive kick that bounced him off the wall.
Fire suddenly burst to life around her, a reverse explosion that swarmed in on a target. Rufus's skin crawled at the intensity of the heat ripples in the air, but Toriko dropped to the ground unharmed. The Ravens advanced, but Shears cut them off with a word.
"Wait."
Toriko stood in the middle of the room, as alert and loose as a hunting cat. Rufus stared. Not because she was there—he had no doubt she was physically capable of breaking in. He'd seen her do it in Wutai, as impossible as it had been for him to believe that an eleven-year-old could break through ninjas and spear-wielding madwomen.
No, Rufus stared because Toriko was covered in blood.
"She's hurt. No, she wouldn't move like that if she was hurt. So it's not her blood. Which means she cut someone and they bled, a lot. And her eyes. They only go that green when she's really upset."
Toriko looked different than she had in Wutai, and it wasn't just the blood soaking her skirt, drying across her face and bare knees. There was an air of focus to her that Rufus had never seen before, one that was eerily like Sephiroth's. A long knife edged with gleaming blood was in her left hand.
"Toriko, what have you turned into?"
Toriko had always been smart. She'd always been pragmatic and a little ruthless, but she was reckless like kids were and there was no good reason for her to be here. She wasn't old enough. She wasn't trained enough, not for this. Deeply and acutely, Rufus felt useless.
"Well, shit," Shears said, looking her up and down. "I don't know if I'm really impressed or really disappointed. Did you actually cut your way in here, Princess?"
"You have something I want," she said, nodding her head at Rufus. Her voice was curiously flat. "And your people were in my way."
"Color me impressed, then," said Shears. Behind Toriko, the Ravens exchanged a look and began to sneak forward.
"You're being foolish," said Toriko. "Didn't your comrades tell you what happened the last time you idiots tried to hold President Shin-Ra's son hostage?"
"If you're talking about the Wutai debacle, that wasn't our fault," said Shears. "Fucking hellcats ruined it, and that's what you get when Fuhito runs things." He looked her up and down again and said, "I can see why he's taken with you. Didn't think he was into little girls, though."
Fuhito... Rufus recalled the urbane, bespectacled ringleader of the Wutai incident. He'd never been caught, but the Company had kept tabs on him as much as they were able. Rumor was that he was hiding in Cosmo Canyon, but the independent territory refused all attempts at investigation.
"You're Shears," said Toriko, her eyes narrowing. "Aren't you? I've seen your picture in Father's files."
"Oh?" Shears's brows rose. "Was your old man grooming you to take over or something?"
"Something," she said. "You're here to destroy the rocket, aren't you?"
"Smart girl," said Shears. He gestured and said, "What do you see when you look around?"
"Blinky lights," she said flatly. Rufus looked at her urgently, jerking his head at the two Ravens sneaking up behind her. She didn't seem to notice, which made his heart rate go up another few notches.
"I see a whole lotta waste," said Shears. "Billions of gil just flat-out wasted. All this money could could have been spent on schools, Princess. Feeding the hungry. Goddamn healthcare! Not like you care, though," he said, gesturing at her with his gun. "I bet you don't think of much past clothes and pretty knives."
"They are pretty engaging," said Toriko. "But if you knew anything about me, you'd know that I spent most of my life in squalor, so I care about poverty a bit more than you think."
"Pretty speech, but you actually don't give two shits," said Shears. "Otherwise you'd be doing something with all your money, wouldn't you?"
"Oh yes, all the money that I swim in... You jackass," she said sharply. As Shears blinked, she added, "I'm a minor and unemployed. That's why I need Rufus back, because if Rufus is dead, I go to the Old Man. And I don't think I need to tell you how unpleasant a situation that would be."
The Ravens hesitated. Rufus took a chance. He couldn't very well shout "Watch out!" because they'd hurt her if they saw him moving, but if he distracted them, maybe she'd look around. There was bright light in here and they were standing in just the right place that their shadows would fall into her field of vision. Besides, if Rufus made too much of a fuss, Shears would kill him.
"She's not lying," said Rufus. "Sephiroth found out about it. And now he's dead."
"What?" Shears actually turned to look at him.
"You know better than anyone that AVALANCHE didn't off him," said Rufus. "So who do you think did? Someone who got close. Someone he even trusted."
Shears just stared, his face going tight. Rufus had guessed right; Shears was a veteran, and hate the Company though he might, he had just enough respect for the late General to be upset at this particular news.
"Please," said Toriko, a hint of a quaver in her voice. "Give Rufus back to me."
"...ahhh, fuck," said Shears, scratching his head through his bandana. With a sigh he turned to Toriko and said, "You're making me feel like a bad guy, Princess. But the answer's still no. I got a deal for you, though. You could run."
"What? Away with you?" Toriko laughed scornfully. Behind her, the Abnormals raised their weapons. One was aiming to cut off her head. The other was preparing for a thrust at her back. Rufus gasped in wordless alarm—
—but Toriko sprinted forward, somehow producing a second long knife, and charged right at Shears. He shot at her, shattering the rainbow-colored Wall, but Toriko dodged every shot. Fire swelled into being around her again, but she rolled through it like a professional, emerging unhurt near the rocket wall. Shears was between them. She charged, dodging through Shear's shots at incredibly close range. Rufus's heart seemed to leap into his throat as she actually caught Shears around the neck with her elbow, raising her other knife to threaten.
"She's trying to take him hostage!"
"Nope," said Shears, punching her in the stomach. Toriko gagged. That blow nearly sent her flying, but the haymaker to the temple smashed her into the rocket wall, the double impact making her vision go white for a second. Toriko staggered, barely managing to keep her feet. Rufus wrenched himself to a sitting position.
"Good try," Shears said, "But you're way too predictable."
"And you're stupid," said Toriko, shaking her head. "Say you kill us. Say you blow up the rocket. I didn't see any transport outside; therefore, you don't have an exit plan."
Toriko looked at the four AVALANCHE thugs now between her and the door, all of them eyeing her with varying degrees of wariness and fear. Rufus saw her take a deep breath. When she spoke, something about her voice seemed to itch his ears.
"He brought you here to die," she said, in a voice that brooked no argument. The AVALANCHE members paled. "He rejected a deal that would have got everyone out alive."
"Bullshit," said Shears, looking at his fighters. "The rich don't keep their promises, the Shin-Ra most of all. The instant we got out, we'd all get shot to pieces."
"He has no exit strategy," she said to them, her voice still throbbing with an authority beyond her years. "Your only chance is to capture him. I will vouch for you. So will the Vice President."
Shears laughed. "That has got to be one of the ballsiest things I've ever seen," he said to Toriko. "They're not gonna turn that easily. Everyone here is ready to die for the cause."
"Your only chance," she repeated slowly, making eye contact with each fighter, "is to capture Shears and surrender him to me."
The normals were sweating now, looking at each other. The Ravens noticed them looking at each other.
"Don't you fucking dare," one of them said to his friend.
"This was a dumb fucking idea," said one of the men. Rufus noticed his right hand was bleeding, all the fingers cut off. When had Toriko done that? "Blow up the rocket, fine. In and out. But kidnapping? Come on. We were not prepared for this shit, not enough. We should have just blown up the goddamn stage!"
"Or sniped them when they were all onstage," said the other gunman, looking at Shears. "Why did we do this?"
"You can't be serious," said Shears, staring at him. Rufus saw Toriko shift her weight slightly.
"Come on, Shears! Why didn't we shoot them during the speech?"
"Because of the Turk problem, dumbass," said one of the Ravens. "Which you'd know about if you were part of the assault team instead of hiding in this tin can all night."
"Because I didn't want to die!" The man started to shake, half from fear and half from blood loss. The severed stumps of his fingers seemed to bleed even harder as his agitation rose. "I don't want to die! Fuck! First we got Turks, then there's the army, then we got Miss Monster over there—"
"Stay cool," said the other Raven. "Come on."
"No! We're gonna fucking die for no reason, no matter what!"
"Confuse," Toriko whispered, looking straight at the sweating, pale, unbalanced, and armed man.
The man started screaming and firing wildly, making everyone scramble for cover. Shears threw himself behind a control console, leaving a gap between Toriko and Rufus.
Toriko lunged at Rufus, severing the zip-ties around his wrists and ankles in two swift, economical motions.
"Can you run?" She asked.
He shook his head. "Can't even stand."
She nodded once and slung him onto her back like he was a sack of potatoes. Rufus felt something pop as she lifted him but bit back the cry of pain. One of the Ravens noticed they were moving.
"Hey, fuck!" He shouted. "No!"
"No yourself," said Toriko. "Your friend has a grenade."
Instantly all heads swiveled to the still wildly-firing gunman, but Toriko was already running for the door. Rufus hissed in pain as every step jolted his bruised body, but he had the good sense to simply grit his teeth and hold on tighter. The Ravens were between them and the door; Toriko ran around the outside edge of the room, her boots thudding against the metal floor.
"Shit!" she half-yelled as a four-gunman team stepped inside.
"Shit," Rufus echoed as they sighted her and raised their weapons.
Toriko violently changed direction, somehow running even faster. Her hair whipped Rufus in the face, scoring his cheeks with thin lines of fiery pain as she looked for a way out. Her movements were erratic.
"Calm down," Rufus breathed in her ear. "We'll be fine. Rush the door team."
"I don't have enough to cast another Wall on you," she said, dodging a couple of very close shots. "You'll get shot. We both will."
"I trust you."
She made a noise that was half despair and half disbelief, but charged at the door. Rufus held on tight. He couldn't do anything else.
"That door is literally the only way out."
Rufus heard Toriko exhale hard as she ran them to the door. His blood chilled with horror as he saw the hallway team aim at them.
But then almost as one, the muzzles of the guns swung to the right. Two of them fired. Rufus stared. Why had they done that? It was like they'd anticipated her movement, but very, very badly.
Suddenly one of the gunmen in the doorway screamed and collapsed into a twitching, lightning-covered pile. At the same time, a Barrier flared to golden reality over Toriko and Rufus. Furious barking added to the gunfire cacophany as Dark Nation exploded out of the doorway in a whirlwind of indigo fur and flashing teeth, ablaze with electricity.
"Good boy," called Rufus. "Good boy, Nation."
Another gunner went flying and Rufus saw that his eyes were half-rolled back, already unconscious. Reno and Rude stepped in, their fists blazing with materia. Rufus spotted claw marks on Rude's shoulders; Nation had apparently hitched a ride somehow. As fire and lightning magic turned the control room into a scene from hell, Tseng and Miranda, a blonde female Turk, gestured madly for Toriko to come to them in the hallway. Rufus heard Toriko's breathing turn shaky with relief as she ran to them.
"He can't walk," she said to Tseng as she ran into the hall. They retreated a few steps back, where it was relatively dark, but she saw Tseng's eyes widen with fear.
"I'm not paralyzed, but something's broken," said Rufus. "My leg."
Miranda's eyes temporarily glowed as she Sensed his condition. "Three fractures. No internal bleeding," she said. "He'll hold until we get to a hospital." She looked at Toriko. "Drained, but physically alright."
"The area from here until the safehouse is clear," said Tseng to Toriko. He seemed apologetic as he said, "Miss Shin-Ra, can you carry him there?"
"As long as you got the gunmen and the snipers up top."
Tseng nodded. It was then that Rufus noticed there were dark stains on his arms and knees, copper-scented ones that were nearly invisible against his suit. Miranda had a thin line of wiped-away blood near her hairline and under her nose. Reno and Rude seemed fit enough, but they were moving very stiffly.
"We're Turks," said Tseng, giving her a push. "Go. Run like hell."
Toriko and ran. Rufus looked over his shoulder just in time to see Tseng looking back at him, his brow creased with a concern that he imagined to be fatherly. Rufus didn't have time to smile even faintly before he lost sight of the man.
Toriko ran out the front door, breezing past scenes of carnage that made Rufus wince. Speeding down the launch tower stairs, she ran even faster once she hit the grass, each stride so swift and long that it almost felt comfortable. Ahead of them, Dark Nation loped with uninjured grace, glancing back at them every few steps to make sure they were close.
"I'm sorry," Toriko said to Rufus. "I know it hurts when we run."
"I'll live," he said. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," she said, but he felt her shudder.
They ran into an army squad on the search not long after that. Toriko handed Rufus off to competent, prepared medics who set him on a stretcher and instantly covered him in a thick application of Restore spells that almost hurt for her to look at. They worked on him and retreated, and since Toriko seemed fine, she walked alongside them. Rufus shut his eyes and let the medics work, though feeling his bones rearrange into their proper place felt like ice worms were slithering underneath his skin. Fortunately, the very nature of healing magic meant that even this uncomfortable sensation was painless.
The walk to the rocket workshop was short and blessedly calm. Now that his pain and injuries were being addressed, Rufus wondered what to do next. And what to do about Toriko.
"She seems fine now, but this on top of the breakdown she had yesterday... She's not right. Not in the least. I need to get her out of Midgar for a while longer, but where could we go? Besides, it's not like she'll stop missing her father if we change locations. Or needing him. Goddamnit, what business did he have teaching her to be like this?"
Because there was absolutely no doubt in Rufus's mind that Sephiroth was to blame for Toriko's training. No normal child took up a sword and grievously wounded people. Rufus gritted his teeth and in the privacy of his own mind, thought very unkind thoughts about the dead.
There was a commotion as soon as they came into the rocket workshop. "Toriko!" Reeve gasped in horror. Rufus was pointed the wrong way to see everyone's reactions, but he could imagine them all except the Old Man's. Which was annoying, because that was the only one he needed to see.
"Not mine," Toriko mumbled. She sounded exhausted and Rufus didn't blame her. The adrenaline was wearing off and she was no doubt feeling the pain of being cast at and beaten. Even with a Wall, getting slammed with two Fira (or maybe Firaga) spells was no joke, and Shears had looked like a heavy hitter too.
"What happened?" Reeve demanded, running to Toriko. He grabbed her face, staring into her eyes, and patted her head. It took Rufus a moment to realize he was fussing over her for injury and he nearly laughed. It didn't escape him that his own father was nowhere to be seen.
"I... I was stupid," Toriko said, a shudder going over her. "When you all disappeared, I got worried and I went up, and they caught me and Rufus."
Rufus lifted his head from the stretcher. Their eyes met briefly as he propped himself up on his elbows, much to the consternation of the medics.
"Fine. If she wants to lie, she has her reasons."
"They wanted the safehouse location," said Rufus, turning around to look at his father. The Old Man looked back at him with narrowed eyes, which Rufus read as both suspicion and deep displeasure. "Fortunately, the Turks arrived."
"Fat lot of good they did," grumbled Heidegger. "Or you two wouldn't have gotten snatched in the first place."
"Is that Rufus's blood?" Scarlet asked, staring at the dark spatters all over Toriko's clothes. "Or yours?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Um... Turks. Doing their job. I want to sit down."
Reeve grabbed a nearby chair and all but forced her into it. Toriko put her head on her knees, effectively refusing to communicate. Rufus nearly reached out to her, but Reeve was already there, his hand on her back in wordless comfort. He was older and a family man; no one would look at him twice or think him weak for showing concern. Rufus turned his attention to the other Executives.
"What a disaster," Palmer fretted. "An utter disaster! My beautiful rocket...!"
"Have it back online as soon as possible," said President Shin-Ra. To Heidegger, he said, "Find out how AVALANCHE broke our security and made this entire mess."
"I'd like to revisit the Adamantine Project again," said Scarlet, eyeing Rufus and Toriko. "If we're likely to deal with this sort of problem in the future, lightweight full-body armor could save our lives."
"We'll talk when we're back in Midgar," said President Shin-Ra.
They packed up and shipped out later that day. There was no question that the rocket would launch later, but honestly Rufus didn't care if it took off at this point. AVALANCHE's unexpected interference had put another black smear on the Company's image and specifically, the Old Man's leadership. Having his best fighter die, his son come back injured, and the darling Princess appear shellshocked and covered in blood, well... The Company's media outlets could say whatever they wanted, but the unaffiliated states would be running with this hard. It was time to start planting whispers in certain peoples' ears.
"Five years," Rufus decided. "I'm going to be the President in five years."
/\/\/\/\/\
a/n: I've decided that the military uses Fire, Fire2, Fire3 as per the original game translation, but colloquial usage has the spells as Fire, Fira, Firaga.
/\/\/\/\/\