Chapter 31: Taken
(Same tags apply as in Chapter 1)
Professor Terrell Onika pushed his glasses higher on his nose as he watched his men lug in boxes. These particular boxes had just been hijacked from a convoy headed for the new Shinra Headquarters. He turned the blond standing next to him and sighed. "It looks like a few of your men are missing, Fraser." He said dryly.
Zade Fraser ran his hand across his beard and rolled his eyes. "Professor, you worry too much. Yes, three of my men had to be left behind. Chase was killed," he said impassively. "Penway and Graham were shot, but were taken as prisoners. They won't give any information away."
Onika sneered at the man at the man. "They were careless. We can't afford to lose men because of stupidity. We had twenty men, now were down to seventeen!"
"Do you think I don't know that? My men and I only agreed to this so you could give us the mako enhancements you promised. In exchange, we would do your dirty work for you."
The russet haired scientist turned away from the men and walked down to the small, dark office in the back of the abandoned South Mythril mine. Few people outside of Shinra knew about the mine and the weapons experiments that went on there. This made it the perfect location for their 'enhancement' experiments. He sat heavily before removing his glasses and tossing them onto the desktop.
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Zade took a seat in the rickety old chair on the other side of the desk. "I've already explained this. I can do the enhancements, but I needed Hojo's research so I can improve upon it. " Onika said as a burly raven haired man brought the first box of notes for him to go over.
"Well, you worked with the man, don't you already know the research that he conducted? You even helped with the damn experiments." Zade stated with a bit of frustration.
"Yes, Yes..." The brown haired man waved his hand dismissively. "I only have a very small quantity of the Jenova cells and purified mako. Since you will be the first to get the enhancements, I would think that you wouldn't want anything to go wrong." He said, his tone condescending. "You've seen what happens when the Jenova cells are not integrated properly.
Fraser shuddered. In fact, he had seen some of the integration failures from Hojo's video logs. The results were...disturbing to say the least. One image in particular would be forever burned into his mind. One of the subjects had been anatomically inverted and the person died a slow and painful death.
"So are we ready for our next move?" Fraser asked, running a hand through his straw colored hair.
"Yes." Onika thumbed through the first folder, not bothering to look up. "Since we are now three men short, you will be accompanying five men to icicle inn. You know that you are to retrieve all of the tapes within the Gast home. Six men will stay here and the remaining will go to the city of the ancients.
"Before Hojo was killed, he wrote that the Cetra girl's white materia fell into the water within the Forgotten City. They will attempt to recover that materia."
Zade stood and turned to the scientist. "I will let my men know. We will leave within three to four hours." He started for the door.
"Yes...you do that, and Zade? Don't screw up this time." The scientist said darkly as his subordinate left the office.
.::-o-::.
Yuffie opened the door to the Gast home and looked around. It was exactly the way that she remembered, only with a little more dust. She let out a sigh of relief. The undisturbed dust meant that no one had entered. The others filed in behind her as she walked over to the only visible stack of tapes near the television.
She read the labels on all of the tapes and only removed two that weren't home videos. "It makes sense that most of these tapes left out would be home video. I mean, who wouldn't take a break from work to be with their new baby?" She said aloud, but was talking more to herself.
Elmyra walked over to the ninja and began reading the labels as well. "My daughter: One hour old...Aeris: One week..." there were at least fifteen more tapes that had the young Cetra's name on them and four tapes labeled 'My Family.' She looked over to the others in the room as they loaded the tapes were removed from various cabinets and closets into two large waterproof duffle bags.
Elmyra walked over to Cloud with the first tape. "Cloud? Will we be heading home today?" She asked quietly.
Mako blue eyes looked out a nearby window and shook his head. "No. By the time we make it back to the airship it'll be dark. We'll stay at the inn tonight." He said as he loaded the last of the tapes from the cabinet that he was looking through.
"Do you mind if I stay here for a while? I would like to watch some of the tapes."
Barret walked over with another stack of videos and had overheard the older woman's question. "Spike, I'll stay with 'Myra while she watches." He said, placing all but three of the home videos in the bag.
Cloud nodded and zipped up the bag. He got a nod from Vincent, telling him that the bottom floor was also clear. "Alright. When you're done, just stop by the front desk and grab your keys." He hefted the bag on his shoulder and followed Vincent from the home.
Barret took the first tape and placed it in the VCR while Elmyra took a seat on the couch. The large man came and sat beside her on the couch. As the first images of the beautiful newborn began to play, Elmyra moved closer to Barret and placed her head against his solid arm.
The gun-armed man took her small hand in his as the happy voices of Professor Gast and Ifalna were heard on the tape.
.::-o-::.
A blonde woman, about 5'4" and no more than 115 pounds entered the nearly empty room. A lamp swung from the ceiling shining brightly onto the raven-haired man who sat strapped to a chair. Behind her, a bald man with amethyst eyes standing a little over a very solid six feet tall entered. The dark sunglasses that covered his glowing violet eyes were pushed higher on his nose as he closed the door with an audible click.
The raven-haired man's head shot up and glanced around the room, but saw no one. No breathing or footsteps could be heard, but he knew that he was no longer alone. After a few moments of listening only to the sound of his own breathing, a snarl left his lips. "I know you're there, you fucking cowards!! Show yourselves!"
"Mr. Michael Penway, age 32...arrested many times by the old ShinRa guard for crimes ranging from theft and assault to multiple rapes and six suspected murders." The female voice said sweetly from a corner of the room.
The heavy set man strapped to the chair turned to the direction of the voice. He jumped when the small blonde woman appeared in front of him, instead of behind where the voice had come from. Only her head and shoulders were visible from her position. "You have quite the record Mr. Penway. It's amazing that you avoided the old ShinRa guards for so long...especially since almost all of your crimes were committed on the plate."
"You have no proof of any of that bitch!" He sneered at her. "Who the fuck are you anyway?"
The blond smiled mischievously at Penway. She knew something that he didn't. "My name is Elena," She stepped into the light a bit more, exposing her tailored dark navy blue suit, white blouse and black tie. "And you will answer my questions."
He was about to protest, but she held up her hands to stop him. The blonde pulled a chair out of the shadows and sat in front of him, out of range of any attempt hey may make to attack. It was highly unlikely with his bindings, but better to be safe than sorry.
"Mr. Penway, lets start at the beginning. How did you find out about the convoy?" Elena asked, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable.
Michael snorted. His green eyes narrowing as he glared at her. "If this is your idea of an interrogation, its pathetic! Maybe you shoulda applied at the new honeybee, you'd be much prettier out of that suit with yer legs spread." He said and laughed loudly. "Meteor musta made ya change your job eh?"
Elena was extremely disgusted at what he had just said, but she didn't show it. She smiled in the man's direction but she wasn't smiling at him, she was smiling at the shadow's over his shoulder. "Okay Mr. Penway, since that question seems a bit difficult for you to comprehend, how bout you start by giving me some names?" She asked, giving the man one last chance to answer her questions.
He remained silent, his eyes traveling up her thighs and come to rest on her breasts. "Not a chance, doll."
Elena pushed her short golden locks away from her face and sighed deeply. "I grow tired of your games Penway." She said darkly. "You have information that I want and I will get it by any means necessary."
"I'll tell ya anything ya wanna know if you get on your knees and suck my-"
A crack rang out in the room, causing Michael's head to snap to the right. He cried out at the impact and looked in the direction from which the attack came. He saw nothing. He turned back to the blonde to find her standing close to a six-foot tall bald man. The man cracked his knuckles as Elena placed her hand on his arm.
"Penway, it seems that you've upset my partner. Rude doesn't take too kindly to assholes like you who speak to women in such a manner." She stated, smiling menacingly at him.
"I think he may be ready to answer all of our questions, don't you think so Rude?"
Rude gave a curt nod.
The raven-haired man swallowed hard, but remained defiant. "I won't tell ya a fuckin' thing!"
"..." Rude moved forward ominously, a slight smirk tracing his lips.
"Well, I guess we'll do this the hard way then." Elena voice took on a singsong quality before she repeated her first question.
----Two hours later---
"That's all I know, I swear!" The raven-haired man cried out before spitting blood onto the cement floor. The red liquid flowed freely from the man's nose as he stared into the dark sunglasses of a bald man.
A female voice rang out from the corner. "You've made a very wise decision Mr. Penway." Elena said holding out a handkerchief as Rude walked over to her side. He wiped the blood from his knuckles onto the fabric before straightening his suite and leading the blonde towards the door.
Rage boiled over in the bound man as he struggled futilely to get free. "You bitch! You whore! I'll kill you!"
Elena eye twitched a bit and in the blink of an eye, the sound of a single gunshot resonated in the room followed by a howl of pain. Brown eyes of a trained killer locked onto his pain and tear filled green irises. "Aww!! Did that hurt? Don't worry, it was only your foot..." She said with mock sympathy before giving him a feral grin and kissing the sleek black handgun.
They left the room and the bald man turned to the uniformed guards, nodding slightly. "... ...Lock him up."
The two Turks watched as the guards dragged the injured man to the infirmary and then to his cell. Rude turned his amethyst gaze to the small blonde.
She gave him an innocent look and tilted her head to the side. "What?" She asked moving close and wrapping his arms around his waist. He shook his head as arms encircled her small form before kissing her on the top of her head.
Elena let out a pleased sigh before smirking up at her silent partner. "Come on Rude, lets go check with Reno."
.::-o-::.
Reno walked out of the cell with a wide smile on his lips. Aquamarine eyes glanced back in to the cell at the man who was still twitching on the cold cement floor. Rude and Elena approached from the north corridor also glancing at the man on the floor.
"Nothin' like good ol' fashion electricity when it comes to gettin' information durin' an interrogation." Reno said and pressed a button on his electromag rod. A small bolt of electricity danced across the tip before he deactivated it.
Reno looped the rod around his wrist and ran his free hand through his unruly red hair. He led the couple down the hall to the plush trio of office that was known as Turk territory. Elena led them into her office and closed the door behind them. The red-headed Turk plopped on the couch and stretched. Rude sat on one end of the love seat and Elena sat on the other, her feet resting in his lap.
Once comfortable, Reno glanced over to his partners. "So what did you get from Penway?"
"Well, other than seeing more of the more...'charming' aspects of his personality, we were able to get a bit information. Of course, he had to be motivated by Rude's 'special' method of persuasion."
Rude nodded as Elena went to her desk and grabbed her laptop before returning to the couch. She tapped a few keys before speaking. "Penway said that they work for a man named Terrell Onika. Lets see...here he is, Terrell Onika, age 48, 5'8", 179 pounds, brown hair with hazel eyes. He was a former scientist that worked with Hojo." She turned the screen to face the men, showing them his picture.
"Apparently, he was able to smuggle a small vial of Jenova cells. Penway said that he was able to clone a small quantity of the cells that he stole." She turned the computer so that it was facing her once more and began reading. "Hojo reported a vial of the cells missing six moths before his death. Hojo suspected that Onika was behind the theft, but President Shinra didn't follow up on it because Hojo had no proof."
Reno let out a huff and placed his hands behind his head as he lay on the couch. "That just proves how much of a dumb ass the fat bastard Shinra was. If he had told us about the missing Jenova, we coulda dealt with this problem before it got this far." Reno sneered slightly at the ceiling before turning to his partners on the other couch.
Rude nodded in agreement as Elena continued to tap at the keyboard and read. "According to Hojo's logs, he confronted Onika about the missing vial, but he denied it. Two days later, he resigned and disappeared.
"Only to show up once Hojo got turned to worm food by Avalanche." Reno finished for her, gaining a smirk from Rude.
The corners of Elena's lips turned upwards. In the short time that she had been a Turk before the meteor incident, she had come to hate Hojo with a passion. The man disgusted her even though when ordered, she had to protect him. "Penway says that Onika eventually wants to create a being stronger than Sephiroth was and encode something into its DNA to control him. In order to do that, he needs more Jenova. Penway and a small group of men found out about this from a man named Zade Fraser."
"Zade told them of the experiment with the Jenova cells and the need that Onika had for volunteers to test the cloned Jenova cells in without the encoding just to make sure they were viable." The blonde woman sighed as she pulled up the picture of Zade Fraser.
"I guess the possibility of enhanced strength, stamina and mental abilities outweigh the fact that those same cells can mutate and possibly kill them. The risk would probably be increased with cloned cells." The chocolate-eyed woman said dryly, showing them Fraser's mug shot.
"Penway also gave us the names of six other men, not including the man that was killed; Daniel Chase. He didn't know of any other plans or how they found out about the convoy.
"We couldn't get the location of their base. I guess he feared the wrath of his associates more than he feared what we would have done to him. Right now, the guards are collecting DNA samples to test for any traces of Jenova and it will also be compared to the evidence that was left behind at the scenes of the crimes he's been accused of."
Rude nodded before looking in the red head's direction. "... Graham?"
Reno snickered and toed of his shoes, making himself more comfortable. "He was a bit reluctant to give me any information but a few well placed shocks to the family jewels...His lips kinda loosened up."
Rude winced as Elena let out a small chuckle.
"Basically, he told me what Penway told you, but I know where they are heading to next and a few more names. Graham said that Onika also wanted to have some sort of materia in the Forgotten City of the Northern Continent." Reno said, pausing for the split second it took for his colleagues to make the connection.
"...Aeris..." Rude said simply as Elena's head lowered a bit.
After the events of meteor, the Turks had watched the data that had been stored in Cait Sith's memory. They had all seen the death of the Cetra and knew that the white materia had come to rest in the waters of the Forgotten City.
"Just another death caused by Hojo's madness. If he would have never screwed with Sephiroth's body, none of that would have happened." The blonde woman said quietly.
The jade-eyed man nodded. "We know that Reeve and Avalanche are already retrieving the materia. So that is being taken care of personally by the President."
"Elena You know about this part..." He snickered. "They're also heading to icicle inn to get the tapes at Professor Gast's home."
The woman blushed a bright crimson at the memory of her tumble down the snowy path when she had tried to punch Cloud. "Shut up Reno..." She grumbled as Rude rubbed her leg comfortingly.
"Graham didn't know why Onika wanted the tapes or even what was on them, but he was sure that those were their next two targets. I also managed to get a tid bit of information about how they got the information about the convoy.
"Elena, look up the name Dean Jeter." Reno commanded as he sat up and examining his electromag rod. He already knew what she would find. Dean Jeter was a name that he knew well.
A blonde brow furrowed as an employee file popped up. "Dean Jeter age 26. Employee of Shinra for four years as an elite guard and has been disciplined on five separate occasions for various infractions. He took a one week vacation..." keys were tapped. " That was three days ago..."
Reno nodded and looked up to meet his colleagues' eyes. "And he won't be returning. He was supposed to be one of the guards of the convoy. Graham confirms that Jeter is the one that has been feeding them information about the convoy.
"I know Dean well...I committed one of those 'infractions' with him. Rufus wasn't to happy when he saw what we had done either..." He thought for a moment.
"After that, Dean started spending more time down in the slums and one time I found him passed out near the train platform to the slums...he had overdosed and I had to get him to the hospital. After that, he had supposedly cleaned up and was rehired after going through rehab...that's probably how he got connected with one of Fraser's men."
Reno shook his head and pulled out his PHS. "Time to call the boss."
.::-o-::.
Cid walked into the restaurant area of the inn. He sat with a huff at the large table where the remaining members of Avalanche were waiting. "The Highwind just went back to tha landing area. The tapes are locked up in a safe place and tha dumb asses know not let even Jenova her fuckin' self on my ship." He said to the group, taking a sip of his coffee.
Yuffie placed her head on Tifa's shoulder and closed her eyes. They were all exhausted and Yuffie was to the point where she was to the point where she was steadily dozing. The fighter shook her head as the ninja began to fall forward, only to have Vincent place his organic hand in front of her forehead. He then pushed away the empty dishes with his claw and slowly lowered her head to the tabletop where she began to snore lightly.
Tifa laughed quietly at the ninja. "You would think that with things going so well now, people would want things to stay this way. I mean, who in their right mind would want anything to do with the ways of the past, let alone anything related to Jenova?"
Reeve's PHS rang loudly, causing Yuffie to jump with a startled yelp. Cloud laughed, earning a glare from the ninja.
Reeve laughed and flipped open the device. "Reeve...Yes Reno..." The smile disappeared as he listened. He pulled out a small note pad and started taking down notes.
"Okay Reno, assemble a team of soldiers and elite guards and get them to the city and have them in place BEFORE they get there. Arrest them and only use lethal force if necessary. You know what to do once you get them back to HQ. We'll handle the others. There's probably not enough time to send a team from Rocket town but we need to know where their base is."
"You got it boss." Reno said on the other end.
"Reno, don't call me that..."
"Okay Reeve. Be careful. We'll see you when you guys get back, boss." He said with a chuckle before disconnecting the line.
Reeve closed his phone and tossed it on the table. He rubbed his temples in an attempt to ward off the headache that was beginning to form. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed before turning to the others at the table and standing. "We shouldn't talk about this here."
The group walked up the staircase and just as they were about to enter Reeve's room, the sound of a loud scream and a single gunshot was heard followed by another shortly afterwards.
"Elmyra and Barret!" Yuffie cried as she darted to her room and grabbed her weapon. Everyone grabbed their weapons and ran from the hotel.
---Meanwhile---
The sound of a woman singing to a baby crying quietly filled the Gast home. Barret was gently rubbing the back of Elmyra's hand as they listened to Ifalna sing to baby Aeris in the beautiful Cetran language. The baby quieted when the song ended and fell asleep in her mother's arms as the camera zoomed in on her.
"Lets put Aeris in her crib, honey." A warm tenor voice whispered from behind the camera causing the auburn haired woman to look to the camera and nod happily. The couple walked down the stairs and to the crib. Ifalna kissed the baby's forehead gently and held her up slightly so Gast could do the same. The stood by the crib for a moment and a content sigh was heard.
"That's our beautiful Aeris...we are truly blessed." The woman said in a hushed tone.
"Yes we are, love..."
The tape ended at this point.
Elmyra wiped away a few stray tears before looking up to Barret's brown eyes. "I am blessed too...I had the chance to see my adopted daughter's first week of life."
Barret only nodded in agreement. He had a chance to see his Marlene once right after her birth when he had went with Dyne to the hospital. Dyne had given him the honor of being her godfather and it was a role that he takes seriously. There wasn't a day that he didn't treasure having Dyne's little angel in his life.
He looked over to the clock and saw that the head been there for about an hour and thirty minutes since the rest of the group had returned to the hotel. Barret gazed down at the woman who was still curled up next to him. After a moment's hesitation, he kissed the top of her head gently before the heat began to rise in his dark cheeks. They had been living together, taking care of his daughter for months now. She knew more about him that he new about himself and at times, she knew what he wanted or needed before he even asked. He simply loved spending time with her.
Barret stood from his spot on the couch and walked over to the VCR, and removed the tape. He offered the woman his hand which she took gratefully and allowed him to pull her up off the couch. She looked up into his eyes with a smile before kissing him on the cheek and hugging him tightly.
"Thank you for staying with me Barret."
"Aw 'Myra, ain't no need to thank me." He said wrapping his arms around her small form.
Suddenly the sound of splintering wood accompanied the door flying open and armed men rushing into the home. Elmyra let out a strangled gasp, too afraid to scream as Barret pushed her behind his large frame. A blond man smirked at the two as his men began searching the cabinets and closets for the tapes.
"Who in tha hell are you!?" Barret roared. He had is gun arm pointed at the men, but he was outnumbered. He couldn't risk firing, no doubt they would fire back and Elmyra would get hurt.
Zade Fraser ignored the dark man and watched as his men opened nothing but empty cabinets and closets. He walked over to the table and read the labels on the tapes. One of the men ran up from the lower level of the home and stopped before Zade.
"Zade, there ain't no tapes here." A man with red hair said before glancing at Barret.
The blond nodded to the redhead. "I figured that Kason. That's because they've already taken the tapes." He gestured to Barret and turned his attention to him. "Where are the tapes, Mr. Wallace?"
"I don't know what yer talkin' bout man." Barret said, wrapping his arm around his back and pulling the woman closer to his back.
"You're lying. These tapes," he picked up one of the home videos. "Prove that."
A startled yelp was heard followed by protest as Kason yanked Elmyra away from the gun-armed man. She glared defiantly at Kason and Fraser when she made to stand next to him. Two men came behind Barret and held his arms firmly as the blond grabbed Elmyra's arm tightly.
Brown eyes narrowed. "You hurt her, I will kill you."
Zade laughed and moved behind Elmyra. "Oh, I won't hurt her...I can think of much better things to do with her..." he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and jerking her against his chest and grinned at the restrained man.
The woman elbowed Zade as hard as she could in the ribs, which made him grunt, but it didn't hurt him. He tightened his arm around her painfully causing her to whimper and jerked her chin to meet his arms.
"Do NOT try that again, bitch." He growled in her ear before licking the skin below it, earning a sound of disgust from her.
Barret struggled even harder at seeing him do such a thing to her. He was not going to let that man touch her like that. "You take your hands off her!"
Zade trailed her hand down the side of her neck and down her chest. Her face remained set in stone though a tear of anger were slowly trailing down her cheek. "Now tell me, where did you hide the tapes? With Mr. Wallace's presence, we know that Avalanche has them hidden." He asked in a calm tone.
"He doesn't know where they are, you bastards!" Elmyra cried loudly. "They're not here obviously and-" Zade covered her mouth with his hand.
Kason moved in front of Barret and punched him hard in the stomach and then knocked him across the face. The dark skinned man struggled against his captors as Elmyra bit the hand that covering her mouth and screamed as loud as she could.
Fraser slapped her across the face, knocking her to the ground. Barret got his gun arm free and fired a single shot at the person closest to him, Kason.
The large caliber bullet tore through Kason's leg causing him to scream and fall to the ground, writhing in pain. Zade pulled out his own gun and aimed it at Barret.
"NO!" Elmyra cried and knocked the gun upward as he fired. The bullet struck the gun-armed man in the shoulder causing him to reel backwards, landing on one of his captors. "Barret!" She screeched.
Zade pulled something out of his pocket and stabbed it into Elmyra's shoulder. Her lips moved soundlessly as the tranquilizer took affect and caused her to slump in his arms. He drug her limp form over to the injured man and looked down to him with a sneer as Barret attempted to move.
"It's no use, Wallace. That bullet was coated in a paralytic agent so you won't be able to move until the bullet is removed. I gave you the chance to just tell me what I needed to know, but you didn't. You tell your Avalanche buddies that I'll give her back once I get what I want. I will contact you to organize a fair trade." Zade kissed Elmyra's jaw and smirked at the man who was glaring at him.
"So, the longer it takes for you to respond when I contact you, the more fun I'll get to have with her. She may be a bit more mature than I usually like them, but I think she's still pretty sexy." Fraser tossed Elmyra's body over his shoulder.
"You fuckin' bastard! If you hurt her in any way, you better not let me get my hands on you." Barret growled causing Zade to chuckle at his paralyzed form.
"Hey boss! What do we do with Kason?"
"Leave him Tyler, we gotta get outta her before his 'friends' show up. LETS GO!"
Barret lay on the floor as the sound of footsteps pounded on the hardwood floor, cursing his carelessness. Now one of the two people he cared about most was in danger...
And it was his fault.
.::-o-::.
"Hey! STOP!" Yuffie yelled and fell to the ground as one of the men running from the Gast home fired at them. Vincent lifted his Death Penalty and fired, striking one man in the arm, nearly blasting it from his body.
"Tifa, Yuffie! Go check on Barret, We'll go after them!" Cloud said as the chased after the men.
The two women ran into the house and found Barret lying on the floor in a slowly growing pool of blood. "Barret!" Tifa cried as the rushed over to him.
"They took 'Myra! Teef, you gotta get the bullet out! That son of a bitch coated it with something, I can't move."
"I'll find something, Teef, tie up that guy." She said rushing over to the drawers. The ninja remembered seeing packaged surgical tools in one of them. The bottom drawer was opened to reveal the tools that she had found earlier. "Yes!"
She rushed back over to Barret's side and ripped the package open. "I really hope you won't able to feel this Marsha..." She mumbled as she dug a pair of forceps into the gunshot wound. It took a moment of digging, but she finally managed to find the bullet lodged inside a bone.
The rest of Avalanche came into the house with Vincent and Cid carrying the man that Vincent had shot. Cloud slammed his fist on a tabletop. "They got away."
Reeve healed the unconscious man that Tifa hand bound and then the man that Vincent shot to keep them from bleeding out, but they would need more help than they could provide to repair the wounds fully. "We'll need the information that they have. Reno had called to say that one of the groups was headed here for the tapes, the other, to the Forgotten City. Solider should be waiting for their arrival and any prisoners are going to be transferred to Junon. Cid, we'll need to head back to Junon as soon as possible. We can find out more information then." He said, tying one of the man's legs tightly.
Cid walked over to the window. "We still won't be able to leave until morning."
Cloud nodded and sighed before walking to the man who was staring at the ceiling. He grimaced as the ninja yanked hard, finally dislodging the bullet and giving him a remedy.
"You'll have to be careful with that arm until the bone heals more. Full cure." Yuffie said quietly before helping him into a sitting position. "Barret what happened?"
Brown eyes closed as he relayed what had occurred in the Gast home. Feeling was beginning to return to his body as the remedy took effect. "He said that he would contact us to arrange a 'trade.'"
Reeve shook his head. "We may not have to wait that long. One of the men captured is bound to crack and tell us the location of their base. We'll be able to arrange a rescue soon." He said firmly. "Come on, we gotta get Barret to the hotel. We'll bring 'those'" he pointed to the two barely conscious men on the floor. "With us and take turns watching them."
.::-o-::.
Tifa sat on Barret's bed as he lay with his eyes closed. "Barret?"
"Teef...it'll be my fault if she gets hurt...I don't want her to get hurt because..."
Tifa smiled, her suspicions confirmed. She took his hand and gave it a gentle pat. "You care about her deeply, maybe even love. Don't worry; we'll get her back safe and sound. For now, you have to rest." The fighter said before leaving the room.
Barret sighed but nodded. His paralysis had left him weak and the ache coming from the healing bone in his arm was throbbing. Even if he wanted to go out and find the green-eyed woman, he couldn't. 'Please 'Myra, stay safe...' He thought before attempting to do as Tifa suggested.
o-o-Author's Notes-o-o
-Sigh- I deeply apologize if the scene changes in this chapter were a bit confusing. Heehee! My Turky boys (and girl) make an appearance!!!
-Crawls into Vincent's lap with a fleece blanket-
Well, I'm back :)
As you all know, I've had more than my share of death and all that good stuff, but I think I'm getting back into the swing of things. My concentration is a bit skewed but I'm trying to get it back.
I'm gonna make this short. I appreciate every one of your well wishes and encouragement. You just don't realize how much how much your words meant to me. It has taken me so long just to get these chapters written that it was insane so, you have my apologies.
I just...thank you all...
That's all I really can say and I really mean it.
Special thanks to Angel, Pingy, Pyro, Gracie and Torahiko for keeping me sane during these past few months.
Happy belated birthday to October Breeze and Gracie, and an early happy birthday to Pingy.
I love ya all and I'll see ya'll later!
Byebye!!!
Oh yeah...I don't own final fantasy or any of its characters...I do own Zade Fraser, Terrell Onika, Chase, Graham, and all those charries of whom you have NO idea of who they are.
I wonder if anyone can figure out where the name Onika came from? It's an anagram for something... :)
Edited 1/19/07
10/04/07
Edited because of change in formatting. Also re-numbering chapters. Minor content edits.