AN: Thank you for reading and special thanks to all who have reviewed, and my beta VendettaSmiles.
Chapter 5
Moogleman
Throughout the rest of that day and the next, Yuffie endured a barrage of questions from Cloud and Cid regarding her "relationship" (as Cloud had so delicately put it) with Rufus Shinra. At this implication, she had turned a deep shade of red, and of course denied it furiously. Naturally, this was cause for even further suspicion and a 'definite proof' of a relationship, according to Cid, a logic with which Cloud agreed.
In an effort to escape the interrogation, Yuffie decided to pay Reeve a visit at his Junon office, where the WRO had teamed up with what remaind of Shinra some time ago. Pulling out her phone, she eagerly jabbed at the buttons and hit 'send'.
To: Tuesticles. 13:23, Mon.
I`m outside. Tell your dog to stand down and let me in! Yours truly, Yuffie.
To: Yuffie. 13:25, Mon.
Remember that time you had full access to my office and I caught you sending love messages from my own email to various recipients in my address book? Love, Reeve.
To: Tuesticles. 13:26, Mon.
You`re holding a grudge?! That was ages ago! I`m sure they forgot all about it by now.
To: Yuffie. 13:30, Mon.
I still get dodgy looks from Tseng, and my secretary still flirts with me at every opportunity.
To: Tuesticles. 13:32, Mon.
You`re welcome, baby! Now let me in.
Yuffie waited for a reply. The guard outside had not been notified of her authorization yet… and she waited…and waited…
In fact, Yuffie waited until 13:43 for Reeve`s reply, a whole 11 minutes, before she decided this was completely out of order. She was tired of the texting game, and decided to call Tuesti, because no one, not even cutie pie Reeve, not even for 11 minutes, left the Great Ninja Yuffie hanging. No one.
At the third ring, Reeve finally picked up.
"What?" his impatient baritone voice crackled over the phone. Oh, she inwardly snarled, so he`s the one taking a tone with me?
"Reeve Tuesti!" she shouted into the phone. "You let me in right this instant, or I will tell this guard in front of me exactly how much you love dressing up Cait Sith in doll`s clothes when you think nobody`s watching!"
A brief moment of silence ensued, until Reeve finally spoke.
"Or." Yuffie flinched at the ire in his voice. "You could just tell everyone present at the board meeting which I am currently chairing. Oh, never mind! You just did," snarled Reeve. Yuffie let out a short, nervous laugh and shifted uncomfortably.
"Well… to be honest, Reeve, that wouldn`t have happened if you`d just let me in, now would it?" She tried to reason.
She heard an exasperated sigh over the phone, followed by Reeve excusing himself to whomever was in the room with him.
"Put him on," demanded Reeve. She cocked an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"The guard – put him on."
"Oooh!" She beamed gleefully at the guard in front of her and thrust the phone at him.
"Bossman Reeve wants to talk to ya." She grinned as the guard took the phone gingerly.
"Pullman here," he greeted. "Yes, roger that, Mr Tuesti." He hung up and returned the phone to Yuffie before silently stepping aside for her to enter.
She stuck her tongue out childishly as she entered the building. Ah, Reevie. You`re too easy, she thought fondly as the elevator took her to the executive floor.
Approaching Reeve`s office, Yuffie spotted his young secretary, Leona, and snickered to herself.
"Hey, Leona," she greeted cheerfully. The pretty brunette looked up from her paperwork and offered the ninja a professional smile.
"Hello, Miss Kisaragi. I`m afraid Reeve is in a meeting in the conference room at the moment. Can I leave a message?"
Doing her best impression of an innocent girl with the very best intentions, Yuffie`s smile widened.
"Oh, no, that`s alright. I was just going to give him a very important report, you see. It would be so great if I could just go in and file it for him," she said, twiddling her thumbs. "He`d really appreciate it," she added as an afterthought. Leona bit her lower lip, and Yuffie could have sworn she heard the gears shifting in the woman`s head.
"Uhm, well, which report is it? I thought the deadline for this month`s reports was on Friday. You`re about 3 days late, Miss Kisaragi," Leona said jokingly, a small uncertain smile on her lips. Yuffie inwardly groaned.
"Yeah, uh…this report is special, different deadline," replied Yuffie, quite content to leave it at that, until Leona gave her another hesitant look. Right, thought Yuffie, time to bring in the big guns.
"It`s a report on the uh…" Yuffie glanced to each side before leaning towards Leona. "The device," she said in a hushed tone. Noticing the slight widening of Leona`s eyes, Yuffie knew she was victorious.
"B-but I…you know about that project?"
"Of course I know about it, Leona. Reeve and I have been buddies for over four years now, and he appointed me as Head of Intel at WRO last year, did he not? Come on… just let me in there so I can file it for him."
Leona looked increasingly reassured. Just one more push.
"You know…" Yuffie said, eyes glinting. "He keeps telling me how he loves it when you wear those short skirts."
Leona`s face brightened, before blushing furiously. "Really?" she squeaked.
"Absolutely. I can put in a good word for ya. But right now, I really need to file this report for him so I can get going. Wouldn`t wanna interrupt his board meeting, would I?"
Leona nodded excitedly, and handed Yuffie the keycard to Reeve`s office.
"Mr Tuesti is such a great man… handsome, too." Leona smiled coyly.
"He sure is," Yuffie called over her shoulder, already swiping her way into Reeve`s office.
"There`s gotta be something here about that gawd damn thingybob," Yuffie mumbled to herself, as she searched frantically through Reeve`s filing cabinet. She turned her attention towards his computer screen, staring longingly at her from atop Reeve`s mahogany desk. Rolling across the floor on his executive chair, she turned on the screen and was met with a login prompt. Reeve`s password, she grumbled. Eagerly, she typed in 'moogles'.
'Incorrect password', the red text taunted her. Damn. It occurred to her that she may only have three attempts to unlock his PC, which means she now only had two left...
"Fine, 'Regenesis'," she attempted, almost randomly. No dice – the red text of doom was back; 'incorrect password'.
Scanning his room frantically, as if the password would just pop up and say hello, Yuffie cursed her unprepared self. Just then, her eyes landed on something on Reeve`s desk. A photo something, in a frame something. Picking it up, she inspected the photo fondly; it was a picture of the entire AVALANCHE gang, sans Aerith of course, taken a couple of years ago after Geostigma had been cured. Everyone looked genuinely happy. Cloud too; even Vincent`s eyes seemed to crinkle in that smiling way. She could only assume Vincent was smiling, since she couldn`t see his mouth behind that red cape. Then it hit her: AVALANCHE.
It was worth a shot, her final attempt. Cautiously, she turned her attention back on the stubborn computer screen.
"Avalanche," she whispered as she typed it out. Beautiful green text greeted her; 'password accepted'. Yuffie almost woop`ed, then remembered Leona outside the door; she`d have to act fast.
She sifted through Reeve`s inbox, whilst simultaneously pushing aside the nagging thought that she was definitely in big trouble if he caught her, she kept her eyes peeled for anything on the device. Frustratingly, the email subjects were all named using codenames or numbers. Yuffie tried her luck by opening several emails, scanning through their contents one by one, until one finally caught her attention. It was an email from Rufus Shinra to Reeve. A whole chain of such emails, in fact. Jackpot.
From: R. Shinra
To: Moogleman
Yuffie had to snicker at Reeve`s shameless pen-name. He could pretend to be professional all he liked, but Yuffie was well aware he was just a big goof at heart. She scrolled down for the contents of the email…
Reeve,
In addition to my previous inquiry regarding your architectural planning for Neo-Midgar`s construction, I would like to confirm some facts regarding the properties of Item Zero.
1. Research indicates device was made by Cetra, and is powered by the planet`s natural fuel.
2. Report no. 16 suggests 2.4 megatonnes of Mako needed for one charge.
3. Research indicates a specific subject from the Lifestream can be returned to mortal coil by entity known as Gaia.
Please confirm these details at your earliest opportunity.
Regards,
Rufus Shinra.
"What the…?" Yuffie`s brow furrowed, as she scrolled through the emails, desperately searching for Reeve`s reply.
From: Moogleman
To: R. Shinra
Dear Rufus,
I have sent my architectural plans through to the relevant channels, and we await approval. Currently, floors 0-23 have been approved for the new Shinra building.
As for the details you requested, we have made tremendous efforts in collaboration with the Elders at Cosmo Canyon and have further updates with which to supply you. It seems there are a few catches to using this device, aside from the huge amount of Mako needed.
1. Device needs a full moon to activate. No, this is not some werewolf baloney. It would seem the lunar power connects the device with the planet, Gaia.
2. The planet requires 'balance'. Apparently, pulling someone out of the Lifestream doesn`t come cheap. The problematic ethical aspect of this is-
"Yuffie!"
She nearly swallowed her tongue at the sudden booming voice of Reeve Tuesti. Taking long strides, he marched towards her, an apologetic looking Leona appeared in the doorway. The goateed man waved a careless hand behind him at the secretary.
"Close the door, Leona. I have something to discuss with Yuffie."
The ninja leapt out of Reeve`s leather chair and tried to look as innocent as possible, though she strongly suspected she`d failed in this regard. Reeve finally took a seat in his own chair once Leona had closed the door behind them, leaving Yuffie completely alone with Reeve.
He nodded curtly to the chair opposite his desk, and she sat down without any objections. Biting her lip, she finally dared to meet his eyes.
He rested his elbows on his desk and laced his fingers together ominously, peering at her from across his desk, daring her to explain herself.
"Reeve…dearest," she pleaded in her usual teasing way. He cocked a cynical eyebrow.
"What were you doing on my PC, Yuffie?" he asked. Yuffie felt shivers run through her body at his calm outward demeanor.
"Playing solitaire?" she squeaked. His brow furrowed, and he leaned closer.
"Oh, really?"
"Uhm, yup?" She knew he didn`t believe her. He turned towards his computer screen and squinted at the text for a moment. He then turned his face back to Yuffie, and to her astonishment, his serious expression started to dissipate. Finally, a slow grin appeared on his face.
"Yuffie, if you were so desperate for information on this ancient relic we`ve found, it probably would`ve been easier to seduce it out of me," he chuckled softly. She stared at him, completely unimpressed.
"That was actually my first choice! But, you decided to be in a meeting just when I decided to grace you with my awesome presence. Talk about ungrateful…" she crossed her arms. Reeve smiled.
"Rufus was at the meeting today. He already informed me that you are aware of the device."
Yuffie paled at this information, but kept quiet, allowing Reeve to continue.
"I don`t know how you know about it, Rufus wouldn`t divulge… however, I suppose the proverbial cat is out of the bag now that you`ve read these emails." He glanced wistfully at the chain of emails open on his screen before turning his gaze back on a shocked Yuffie.
She frantically tried to gather her thoughts; so Rufus hadn`t ratted her out this time either, despite having told her he wouldn`t lie for her again… It also seemed as if Reeve assumed she had read the entire chain of emails, when he had in fact interrupted her right before the juicy part. She could definitely use this to her advantage, to learn more.
"Yeah, so I saw the emails, obviously, since I was, you know, sitting there and reading them. Sorry, by the way." Her voice indicated she wasn`t sorry.
"You`re forgiven, Yuffie." Reeve`s voice indicated she wasn`t forgiven.
"So, maybe we could just chat about what you said to Rufus in those emails?" She was on dangerous ground, she knew it, she had to tread carefully, or he`d see right through it. Leaning back, Reeve exhaled in defeat.
"I suppose the end result with this project is rather disappointing," said Reeve somberly.
"How so?" she asked, sounding far too interested. Tone it down, she urged herself. One of Reeve`s sharp eyebrows found his hairline.
"Well, due to the ethical issue with using this device, of course. Then again, simply having discovered something so unique and interpreting its purpose should be reward enough in itself, I suppose. At least if you`re an historian or an archaeologist. Or, even a scientist. But for me, and I`m sure Rufus feels the same way, it`s a great disappointment." Yuffie nodded along to his explanation, trying to glean some new piece of information on the device.
"You mean the Mako. It would be unethical to use so much of it," she supplied, hoping he`d reveal more. He looked at her and shook his head.
"No…well, yes, that too," he said thoughtfully. "But personally, I`d have a bigger problem with sacrificing a human being than to sucking out some Mako. I suppose you`re right though, in a way... Using Mako like that could have far greater repercussions in the long run than the loss of a human life," said Reeve, looking grim. Yuffie sputtered.
"Wait, wait, what? Sacrifice?" she shrieked. Reeve frowned curiously at her.
"Well, yes. Somehow I can`t think of a more fitting word for trading a living person for a dead one in the Lifestream. We all have people we`d like to bring back, but not at the cost of an innocent life. That is certainly where we should draw the line."
Yuffie stared in shock, mouth agape. Reeve studied her face for a moment before his eyes widened in horror; in realization.
"You didn`t know!" he barked, seething. "You conniving, little-"
"Hey, now, Reevie. I didn`t force you to say anything!" She held up her hands in defence. Reeve`s eyes narrowed as he scrutinised her. Debating when and how to kill her, Yuffie was certain. Finally, he broke the stare, and heaved a weary sigh, running both hands through his hair.
"I suppose not," he said, gazing down on his desk. With a sudden pang of guilt, Yuffie hopped out of the chair and snaked her way over to him. Plopping herself onto his desk right in front of him, she playfully tousled his black mane. He half-heartedly tried to bat her hand away, and chuckled softly as he looked up at her.
"Don`t beat yourself up, Reeve. I would`ve got it out of you eventually," said Yuffie, gazing earnestly into his tired eyes. "You just saved me the trouble of digging out my skimpy maid`s costume from my closet, is all." She grinned at him, and was pleased to see him smile. A devious glint flashed in Reeve`s eyes, all of a sudden.
"Well, I don`t know, Yuffs…" his smile turned into a fox like grin as he spoke. "Last I heard, you don`t make a very sexy maid. What with questionably patterned aprons, latex gloves, and sweaty headscarves," said Reeve with a wink, his grin deepening.
Yuffie`s jaw dropped, nostrils flaring at Reeve, who quickly scouted his office for possible hiding places.
"Reno…" She glared at Reeve through narrow eyes. That…that ginger jerkface!
AN: Thanks for reading guys, please leave a review if you can :D Chapter 6 is now up.