Sephiroth clung as tightly to the cable as he could. His hands were slipping very slightly from his grip, and he had to hook his feet around the cable to keep from slipping off. The sides of his feet, and palms were starting to burn with the exertion against the steel cable, but he held on relentlessly. The cable gave a sudden jolt, jarring his hold. Sephiroth yelped, his feet falling off, hands slipping a few feet along the cable, before his grip came back. He hung there, slipping periodically, before he started to realize the cable was ascending slowly, soon coming to a stop. The elevator must have arrived at the first floor. Sephiroth reached a foot back towards the ladder, occupying a foothold before trying to transfer his hands.

He clung to the ladder, panting, eyes looking down the dark shaft. The elevator was nowhere in sight, and nothing could be seen, aside from a very distant light down below. His breaths, in the resulting silence, was almost as blinding as the darkness. Sephiroth waiting on the ladder, for a time, trying to rest his breathing. Who would have thought having to hold onto something could be so tiring?

Sephiroth's hands still stung. He ran his fingers gently across his palms and felt the working of callouses starting to form. With a deep sigh, Sephiroth started to fish in his pockets again, pulling out the small map. What floor was he even on anyway? After messing with the dials a bit, Sephiroth found his location. He had made it up to the fiftieth floor. So much closer, but still not quite there.

After what felt like way too long to catch his breath, Sephiroth started climbing the ladder again; trying very hard to ignore the sting in his hands. Only sixteen more to go. He could do this.

xXx

There were guards on the sixty-first floor, but Vincent didn't need to bother with them. There was only three, and they must have been veteran guards. The kind that had been there long enough to know when they could slack off, but not high enough to have enough access. These types had ranks up to floor sixty-two, but any higher than that was only for special people. As much as he hated it, he really wished he'd run across a Turk.

-or had remembered to ask Eryn for her access card.

Vincent slumped against the stairwell wall, and face-palmed hard, when this thought occurred to him. Damn, he must have been out for too long. Before Hojo fucked him over, he would have thought of that. Vincent sighed deep. Oh well. There was no use worrying about it now. Besides, someone may have realized she didn't have her card, sooner or later.

Vincent emerged on the sixty-second floor, sliding along the walls. Again, knowing just how to avoid the cameras. There was a sound of footsteps coming down the other end of the hall, and Vincent ducked behind a corner, listening intently as he came closer. Once he was in view, Vincent was able to make out that he was just another lower level guard. He groaned, making sure the guard was in the camera's blind spot, and pulled his gun on him. The sound of the hammer being tripped caused the guard to freeze in his steps. "Freeze, where you are, and put your hands on your head."

Slowly, the guard did as he was told. Trying to glance back at his assailant. His eyes widened in horror when he saw who was there. "You're the one they're looking for, aren't you?"

"Face forward. Are you the only one, on this floor?"

"Uh.. y-yea. I am."

At least that was a stroke of luck. "Stay put, and don't try any heroics." Vincent added, creeping closer towards him. "I don't want to have to shoot you."

"I don't believe I want that either." The guard stood completely still, rolling situations around in his head. Searching for some way around this situation. This guy had really scary eyes, but the sound of his voice sounded very familiar. Why was this?

Vincent pressed the gun to the base of his skull and pulled the guard's gun from its holster and unloaded his ammo, then started patting down to see if he had anything else useful on him. He didn't have any other weapons on him, but did have a key-card. Unfortunately, it was for the floor he was on. Vincent rolled his eyes, periodically dropping the items on the floor. There was a set of keys, that he didn't recognize as being for any part of ShinRa. Possibly house or car keys. It probably would be good to have a car, but he had no way to know which one was the guards. It'd just be easier to hot wire one. There was a radio, which Vincent crushed in his hands (still ignoring that he shouldn't be able to do that) and a pack of peanut butter crackers. Probably for a snack later. Vincent hummed thoughtfully and pocketed the crackers.

The guards eyes strained backwards to try and see him, assessing the situation. His hands were settled only a couple inches from where Vincent's gun was. He didn't seem to be paying close attention to this point. The guard slowly backed his hands off of his head, testing how much his assailant would notice. When he was sure he could get away from it, the guard snapped his hand around the barrel of the gun, trying to wrench it from his hand. Vincent grabbed the guard by the neck, and shoved him into the wall, planting the gun in his kidneys. "What did I tell you?"

"Ok, sorry." The guards splayed his hands against the wall, trying to be as innocent as he could. "I just y'know, it's my job. I need to try and stop you."

Vincent snorted, leaning in closer to him, whispering in his ear. "That's been the last words for many men."

"Ok, yea. You're right. I shouldn't have tried it. Don't kill me. I just got a promotion."

Vincent drew back and scoffed. "This is some promotion. I'd hate to think of what you were before."

The guard flushed. "I was um... a janitor."

"Oh. Maybe you should have stayed one."

"Yea, I'm thinking the same thing." The guard said with a listless sigh.

Vincent started to feel bad for this guy. It would be in his best interest to incapacitate him, but he really didn't want to hurt him now. Then again, it was never a good idea to let your feelings impair your better judgment. Vincent sighed, swearing under his breath in Wutainese.

The guard's brows furrowed, processing this new knowledge. "Wait a minute."

"What?" Vincent growled, pushing the gun in harder.

The guard cringed against the pain. "A-are you Vincent Valentine?"

"What does that matter?"

"Oh, man. You are him. I didn't recognize you, with your hair so long."

"Um..."

"Where the hell have you been?"

Vincent didn't know if it was the tone in his voice, or some random stranger showing legitimate concern for him, but his grip loosened slightly, on the back of his neck. The guard didn't seem to notice. He continued to talk into the wall.

"I mean, you just disappeared one day." He must have began to realize the relinquish in hold, because he turned his head to look at him. "There were rumors that you finally cracked under the pressure and ran out on your assignment."

"I what!?" Anger instantly flared in Vincent's eyes and the guard recoiled again.

"That's just what I heard." He squeaked, cuddling up to the wall again. "It was buzzing all over ShinRa. Of course, I didn't believe a word of it."

Vincent's anger subsided at this confession, which the guard took as an opportunity to look back at him again.

"You were one of the best." He stated gently, eye nearly sparkling. "You've faced some of the most fucked up stuff, and never even flinched. I wasn't about to believe you were ran off by guard duty. Only a real moron would believe that."

Gently, Vincent's grip loosened more and more, as he spoke, until even the gun fell away.

The realization hit the guard just as slowly, before he finally turned fully to him. "Well, ignoring all the conspiracy theories... where did you go?"

Vincent's eyes, which had been trailing somewhere along the guard's wrists, snapped up to his face. The corner's edged with annoyance. "That's classified."

The guard visibly shuddered. Did they always glow like that? "Of course it is. It's just been so long since anyone saw or heard from you. Jonas and Ruma looked everywhere for you."

Vincent's eyes softened slightly at the mention of his friends' names, before narrowing again. "That's classified. Do you know what happened to them?"

The guard shrugged. "Hell if I know. I wasn't in on any of the juicey stuff. Just vague rumors."

"What kind of rumors?"

The guard smiled, with Vincent showing interest in what he had to say. "Well, it was never confirmed, of course, but there was news that Ruma went postal and actually tried to kill the president."

Vincent's eyes quirked curiously. Shane tried to kill the president? There was no way he'd ever do anything that stupid. He would have been instantly executed for that. AS though to confirm his suspicions, Eryn flashed into his mind. The way she reacted when he had asked her what happened to Shane. It couldn't be possible

That's just what I heard through the grapevine, but I was not able to ever confirm this. Pssht. Who would ever tell a lowly janitor? The only reason I even wanted to work my way up the ShinRa social ladder was to figure out what was going on, but I only feel like I've been downgraded."

"What do you mean?" Vincent really didn't feel like he had time for small talk with this man, but he was still debating on snapping his neck. Plus, it was interesting to find out some things that had happened whilst he was in Hojo's clutches.

"Well, as a janitor, I could occasionally catch snippets of conversations as I cleaned. It was about the closest I'd ever get to the real action." He scoffed, glancing down at the key-card on the ground. "Now, this is as far up as I go."

Something clicked together in Vincent's brain and he felt his heart jump in his chest. "You had access to the whole building?"

The guard shrugged. "I had to. Everything needed to be cleaned."

"So, you would know how to get to the higher floors."

"Yea, sure. Why do you want to get higher?"

Vincent shook his head. "That doesn't concern you. Just tell me."

"Well, there's a janitor's office on every other floor. I'm sure there's a key card in there somewhere." He smiled, shaking his head. "Jordan was always losing his cards. We had to keep spares hidden around, just so he could do his job." The guard leaned in closer, cupping a hand around his mouth. "Sometimes I sneak in there and swipe one. Y'know, to sneak a girl up there." Not really sure why he was whispering. It's not like there was anyone else around to listen. Either way, Vincent re-cocked the hammer of his gun. This guy had no business being so close to him. "Makes me look important."

Vincent took a step back. That was more information than he needed. "Where's the nearest janitor's office?"

"Oh, just around the corner there." He pointed down to the end of the hall, he just came from. "Any access card, to this floor should open it."

Vincent smirked. "Thanks... and sorry."

"For wha-AH" He was dropped to the ground by Vincent kicking his sharply in the side of the knee cap. It may or may not have broken, but it was definitely dislocated. "What the hell?"

"It's for your own good. I can't have it look like you just let me go." Vincent dropped down to cushion his fall. "Just be thankful I can't risk shooting you."

"Oh yea. This is much better."

"It is. Trust me." Vincent stood, surveying the area. "Word of advice, if you want to be in on the information, then don't be so easy to divulge it." He started up the hallway, still slinking in the shadows.

The guard watched him, till he was out of sight, and scoffed. "Yea, sure." He shifted, his knees twinging from the pain. "Maybe you should take your own advice." He raised a hand to his collar, checking the little two holed button installed there. "Hey, you there?"

"Yea, I heard." Terry's voice rang in his ear.

"He's heading up, for some reason, and I saw a radio antenna hanging out of his pocket."

"He must be using that to listening in for updates."

"Where do you think the kid is?"

"It's hard to say. Maybe he was hiding."

"Or, they got separated."

"Yea, sure." Terry scoffed, but the guard wasn't even listening. He was too proud of himself.

"So'd I do good? Think I can be a Turk?"

"Uh... yea, sure. I'll put in a word for you." Without giving a chance to respond, Terry cut off the line, and slumped back in his chair. "Yea right. Like I need more problems on my hands. " He rolled his eyes, dialing Hojo's personal frequency.

xXx

-Forty-five minutes earlier-

"How's the search going?" Eryn inquired, walking into a room with a wall full of camera footage.

Terry leaned back in his chair, spinning slightly to see her. "Not good." He groaned, rubbing his sore neck. A flash of Vincent seeming to teleport flashed in his head. Along with the pressure of him grabbing his neck. Still, it was better to pretend he wasn't fazed. "There was a black out here, but all I see are guards failing at their jobs." He waved vaguely to the screens, and rocked the swivel chair back, arms folded across his chest. "Don't know why I'm surprised."

Eryn inched closer, dropping a hand on the side of the row of screens, eying them intently. "That's the fifty-ninth floor." She commented inquisitively, her hand slipping a small black nub on the edge of the screen. Pushing the center of it in. "I saw him run downstairs." She glanced back at Terry. "How'd he get all the way up there?"

Terry shrugged. "Hell if I know. Maybe he can fly now." He laughed off the notion in a bitter-sweet manner; remembering how Vincent had seemed to transform before him the last time they met up.

"Strange." Eryn commented, turning back to the screens.

"And worst of all, I'm stuck here at the screens, until I spot one of them."

"You?" The nub made a small clicking noise. One that wouldn't be heard, unless she had been listening for it, and blocked by the humming of the modems. "Why not get one of the peons on it?"

Terry sighed, dropping his head in his hands. "Professor Hojo said he wants a trained Turk's eye at the helm. Said peons could miss something."

Eryn inwardly scoffed. Not sure whether to be appalled or amused at the notion of Terry being able to spot Vincent. Oh sure, Terry was good, in his own right. Vincent was just far better. She slipped the black nub back between her fingers, leaving her hand still propped on the edge of the screen.

"Hey. You wanna do me a big favor?" Terry asked, scrubbing his hands over his face.

Eryn cocked a half-caring brow at him. "Do I?"

"Yea. Get some of that surveillance equipment from the tech department and hook up the guards."

Eryn's brows furrowed. Half unsure, half annoyed that he was ordering her around. He may have been her best friend's partner, but that gave him no say in the matter. "What?"

"Just some of those two way radios we use on recon. Give it to some of the guards and send them to the upper levels. Something not even a Turk would be able to spot."

Eryn scoffed, waving a hand at him. "You're just lucky I was gonna head up there anyway." She mocked, sauntering out of the room. "No one tricks me, and gets away with it."

"Yea, whatever." Terry propped his elbows up on the table, dropping his chin in it. "Ever the proud woman."

When Eryn was out of range, she rolled her eyes. "Yea, like you're one to talk."

xXx

Ten minutes later: every camera monitor went dead.

xXx

It took a lot of time, but Sephiroth finally reached where his little map indicated was the sixty-sixth floor. He finally made it... but how was he going to get onto the floor? He'd learned some things about mechanics, but nothing that could help him in this instance. On the other side of the shaft was what looked like a set of doors. It's very possible he could pry them open somehow. There were steel girders tracing the walls, and Sephiroth slowly inched his way along them; around to the doors. He tried to squeeze his fingers in the crease, and pry it open that way, but there was no way he was going to working his fingers in there. The crack was just too thin.

Briefly, he considered knocking, and hoping Vincent was already out there.

Very briefly.

It was difficult to hold onto the thin beams, so Sephiroth's eyes skimmed his surroundings very quickly. It was very dark, but his eyes had adjusted to it. So, there was very broad generalizations made of the area. After a while, and with great difficulty, Sephiroth finally had to fish out the digital map he had been using to light up the area. At this new addition, Sephiroth spotted a series of wires coming from the bottom of the door. It was then that Sephiroth remember something Vincent had said.

"There should be a fail-safe mechanism to open the door from the inside."

He climbed down below the door, and held the little light up to the array of wires along the bottom of the door. He could figure this out. He always had a good perceptive comprehension, and he had seen Vincent do this. Sephiroth put the technological map in his mouth, still managing to arrange it so the light was facing the wires. Now, all he had to do was follow the ex-Turk's previous actions. Simple enough.

Sephiroth's fingers skated over the three wires, trying to identify which one was the right one. He remembered green. The middle wire was green, so he grabbed one end and pulled it out. Surprisingly, the wire just slid out. Almost like it wasn't connected, or just kind of plugged it. There were other areas, which looked vaguely like ports, near the wires. It had to be one of these. Sephiroth took the exposed end of the wire, and wedged it into one of the ports. It sparked, the way he remembered it doing before, but nothing happened. There was a good chance the wrong ports did something, but nothing that would matter, or be noticeable to the immediate area. Sephiroth disconnected the wire and tried another port.

There was a spark, and the elevator shaft shuddered. Sephiroth glanced back and noticed the cables were moving. Drawing the elevator back towards him. "Whoa, no!" He quickly pulled it out, taking note of this. The elevator appeared to return to its factory setting. Ok, it could do something. There were a few other ports, and there was no telling which would work. If only he had paid closer attention.

Well, third times a charm. A bit more hesitantly, Sephiroth picked a third port, and inserted the wire. The wall gave another shudder, but this time the door opened above him.

Sephiroth had to stop himself from squealing in excitement, and climbed in through the door. It wasn't until he settled down against the wall that he realized how exhausted he was. Finally, he was here – but where was Vincent? Had he actually gotten here before him?

xXx

-Now-

"So, Sephiroth isn't with him?" Hojo inquired through his intercom.

"No, sir." Terry responded, from the earpiece. Persistent typing could be heard accompanying his voice. "It also might interest you to know, that he seemed very interested on the whereabouts of Ruma and Jonas."

Hojo's brows creased in contemplation. He definitely knew both of them. They were Turks that worked with Vincent. They'd come to pester him many times. Very persistent, and annoying. A snide sneer slid across his face, at the thought of Shane Ruma. If only Vincent knew what had happened to his old partner.

The typing stopped, and Terry groaned in aggravation. "But someone's knocked out all the camera's. I can't even get a peg on either of them, even if they were in frame."

Hojo scowled. That incompetent fool. Didn't know why he was surprised. It's not like he expected much from him, in the first place. Vincent must have found some way to take out the camera feeds. "Fine then. Get your ass back out there and search."

"Yes, Sir."

Hojo cut the connection, in frustration, punching at the wall. The hard plaster dented against his fist. "I'm going to be so happy to finally get my hands on him." As if by habit, he pulled out the tracking device, checking over it. The orange dot he had been tracking had stopped again. Somewhere on the sixty-sixth floor. He was actually surprised that it had gotten there so fast. Upon further inspection, Hojo realized the dot was moving again... just not up. It was moving along the schematic for the sixty-sixth floor.

The sneer slid across Hojo's face again; much deeper. It didn't make much sense for them to head up, when Vincent wanted to get Sephiroth out of ShinRa, but Hojo knew what kind of area there was available to them up there. Pocketing the tracking device, Hojo pressed a button, on his collar, to call Terry back. "Change of plans. Gather as much competence, as is possible, and meet me on the sixty-fifth floor. I know where they're heading."