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14. Cissnei: Covert Operator

"You want me to what?" Cissnei's voice hit a note to shatter glass.

"We've no choice," said Tseng. "They're covering everything up as fast as they can."

"There's always a choice. We make choices if there aren't any. It's what we do." She recalled something Reno once said to Veld. It was typically disrespectful, as was most of what came out of his mouth, but hit the nail on the head in this case – in any situation there was Option A, Option B, Option C and Option Turk. Cissnei remembered how that actually got a smile from Veld. "We're the Department of Administrative Research. Information is what we do." Along with kidnappings, assassinations, clean-ups nobody else wanted and cover-ups nobody else could perform.

Except right now, apparently, when Shinra was doing its best to steal their thunder – and their right to the truth.

"It's all going to be suppressed, Cissnei. Even," Tseng said darkly, "from us. Heidegger is already making noises for us to back off. They don't want any of the real story getting out. Even the fake story is only going to be allowed limited shelf life. It's going to be swept under the carpet as soon as possible – a forcibly forgotten embarrassment."

She didn't know how to respond to that. Anger boiled inside her and she didn't want to say something she'd later regret. She wasn't Reno. Her regrets stuck around longer than it took to escape the occupant of a bed in the morning. Heidegger was a subject that still stuck in the craws of most Turks. On top of what was now going on concerning Nibelheim, the mere mention of him was enough to have Cissnei's blood boiling.

"Hojo's spinning enough lies that Shinra is running scared. They know Zack didn't attack Sephiroth unprovoked, even if the two of them did fight. Our operative gave us an inside view on what really happened out there, but Shinra isn't interested in that anymore. The documents have already been purged. It's all about damage control now – just like in Banora. Sephiroth was so high profile that this is a huge blow for the company. Hojo's using that. To what end, I'm not sure, but he's in the thick of it, controlling them all with their own panic to ensure he gets what he wants."

"Self-seeking son of a -" Cissnei stopped herself, trying to calm down. It wasn't working. The cracks were beginning to show. "Anyone who's met Zack would know this is too ridiculous for words. Next they'll be trying to pass everything off as some giant accident. A stray lightning bolt that torched the whole town, somehow destroyed the most powerful warrior on the planet, and conveniently killed all witnesses."

Tseng regarded her with folded arms. "The witnesses aren't all dead."

Cissnei was confused. She'd been confused when Tseng summoned her alone to see him, confused when he told her what he wanted her to do, and was getting progressively more confused the more he tried to explain. Tseng was shrewd, but he was so busy thinking three steps ahead of the game, other players trying to follow him sometimes tripped over their own feet. In a lot of ways he was still trying to impress Veld, although he'd cut off his tongue before admitting it.

Cissnei centred herself by concentrating on the perfectly straight lines of Tseng's eyebrows. "Nibelheim was torched."

"Yes."

"There were no survivors."

"None listed." He gave her what was for him an arch look, as if to say 'you know better than that'.

And she did. She cursed her own naïveté. "That bastard Hojo." Fury rose inside her like a column of fire.

She sucked in a breath and held it, compelling her inner turmoil to quieten, but it was no use. Nobody who'd met Hojo could possibly like him. Nobody who'd seen him work could be anything but disgusted by him. Cissnei was aware the Turks' ethical code was skewed, but Hojo's was non-existent. He had no concept of loyalty to anyone or anything except his own ego, and possessed the pitilessness of a shark when making sure whatever garbage he dived into, he always ended up at the top of the heap. And now he had Zack, and practically the higher-ups permission to make him disappear …

"That's why you have to go." Tseng was talking again. Cissnei refocused on him.

"No. You can't send me away. Not now."

"I'm not sending you away," Tseng said in a maddeningly reasonable tone. "I'm giving you your orders. This is your assignment. Are you refusing to do your job?"

"You know that's not it."

He just looked at her.

For the first time since she was a little kid, before the Turks recruited her, Cissnei had a powerful urge to stamp her foot. It was almost more shocking than anything else that had happened lately.

"What would you do?" Tseng asked coolly. "Hop a ride to Nibelheim to follow his trail to wherever they've taken him? Maths isn't beyond you, Cissnei."

One Turk plus one injured SOLDIER versus all of Shinra equals …

Cissnei clenched her jaw. "Why me?"

"Because you're the best one for this."

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"I wasn't aware I had to explain my actions to subordinates."

She narrowed her eyes. Do you think I really will run after Zack and get myself killed if you don't keep me occupied? You can't think so little of me. You know me, Tseng. You know me better than that.

Tseng's expression didn't change, but he said, "Because I know you'll do everything in your power to preserve the objective. Nobody else would be more dedicated in this task."

For some reason that hurt. She trusted Tseng with her life – had done so on many occasions, and vice versa. Now he was unapologetically manoeuvring her into a position she didn't want to be in, insulting her into the bargain, and she suspected at least one layer of his personal motives for doing all this. He was using her feelings against her, which was worse than the fact he'd figured them out in the first place. She'd never covered up her flirting with Zack, but to everyone else that was all it had been; just harmless flirting, forgotten as soon as the handsome First Class was out of sight. Tseng, however, had seen through that. Now he was using it like any other weapon in their arsenal of information.

It was that rat bastard cunning of his at work again – the reason behind him setting her on that initial surveillance detail, and sending her to that whorehouse when Aerith went missing. Of course Tseng had known it was an all-female place, and of course he'd known the make-up of personalities and histories of the women there would make them hostile towards men like Reno and Rude. Reno was known to frequent establishments like that off the clock, though still in the suit, and taciturn men like Rude couldn't help but generate a brutish reputation after a while of not bothering to correct people. Tseng had also known how those women would be much more receptive to a woman, and especially to a woman whom Reno and Rude deferred to – a woman whose outfit said she was too competent not to be taken seriously, but whose hair and breathy voice bespoke approachability. Cissnei admired Tseng's craftiness as much as she disliked it being used on her. No wonder he was leader of the Turks at such a relatively young age.

"Preserve the objective?" she echoed. "Can we at least do away with the policy-speak?"

"All right. I know you'll do everything in your power to keep her safe. You're smart, committed, and experienced. You've been in this department for a long time, and you're still alive. I know that you, of all people, won't hesitate to take any steps necessary to protect her. And I know that you know the reason why, too."

Cissnei was stunned. Tseng wasn't given to compliments, especially when there was no need. He was her boss. She had to either obey him or get the hell out, and there was only one way people left the Turks. You rarely got the chance to be bored in their line of work, because things were always different, you met lots of people, and you generally weren't working long enough for boredom to set in.

"Whatever's left of Zack isn't coming back." Tseng's voice was like a cudgel – hard, blunt, and it hurt like hell.

Cissnei stared hard at him. It was almost a glare. Almost. "Aerith said he's still alive."

She recalled Aerith, so different in the disguise given to her by the whorehouse madam. The woman hated Midgar, but hated Shinra even more. She'd been all too happy to hide the girl if the company wanted her, and to make problems for them. Not knowing the truth about Aerith, just that she was wanted by Shinra, the madam hadn't realised exactly what she was doing. Cissnei hadn't set her straight, either. The fewer people knew about the living Ancient, at this point, the better. Apparently there was little love lost between Lady Keshoohin and key members of the Shinra executives – all from the male half, Cissnei had noted. As long as the madam had enough plausible deniability to keep her place running if she was found out, she was gung-ho about causing problems by hiding he sweet little Flower Girl of Sector Five in a boudoir that made bra, panties and a feather boa feel overdressed.

Aerith had barely resembled herself in that strange scanty outfit, but when she spoke to Cissnei there had been no mistaking her voice. Not the timbre so much as the intonation – way too adult for a teenager, even one who'd been through as much as this one had.

"I'd feel it if he was dead. He isn't. He's alive, out there, somewhere."

Cissnei trusted her word.

Unfortunately, so did Tseng. "I know she said that."

"She isn't a liar."

"No, she isn't."

Cissnei processed that. The fire scorching her insides dimmed, and then died. Her heart sank and a terrible cold started where it hit the bottom of her stomach. There were worse things than death, and many ways to keep a person alive when dying would be preferable. She'd seen the inside of Hojo's labs here in Midgar before. Some of the 'specimens' made even her, with all her memories of the things she'd done, wince and taste bile.

"Oh God …"

"Do you understand why you have to go?"

No. Yes. This is wrong. This is unfair. Turks look after their own. Zack is a SOLDIER, not one of ours. He's not even part of a mission – not one that wouldn't get us all killed, at least. I get that, but … but still, I … this is … Damn it! Why is this so hard?

Cissnei looked down at her own palms, cut with half-moons where her nails had dug in. She already knew what she'd do next. It hadn't been preordained, but for someone who wore a suit that'd had more than one set of bloodstains dry-cleaned out, there could be no option but to follow orders. Her body knew it, even if her brain and, yes, her heart were only just catching up.

She shut her eyes. Hojo you bastard. Then she held out her hand, palm up. "Give me the brief."

Tseng didn't comment on the reddening marks. "There isn't one."

"What?"

"Covert ops, Cissnei. Shinra's not letting their story get out. Neither are we. You're about to go undercover tracking a lead on AVALANCHE, and won't be heard from in a long time. Shinra still wants AVALANCHE wiped out. They won't question the methods, or the timeframe. They've got too much else to worry about right now."