Author`s note: Thank you for reading, I really appreciate the reviews (Desha, CountRenesme and Coffee Bean). I especially want to thank my beta VendettaSmiles for catching all those annoying mistakes!
Disclaimer: I own nothing in FFVII.
CHAPTER 6
Frills and Thrills
Yuffie`s jaw dropped.
"Reno," she muttered.
"Actually, it was Rufus." His smile deepened as her embarrassment turned to shock, which then turned to anger..
"I don`t know what sort of, uh…arrangement you two have going on," Reeve said, barely containing a snicker. "But you should really dig out that other maid`s outfit for next time you pay him a visit. He might enjoy that." Reeve laughed softly at the deepening shade of red in Yuffie`s cheeks.
"I sure enjoyed it when you pranced into my office a year back, demanding a job at the WRO."
Yuffie eyed him dangerously, unblinking, unmoving and unspeaking; definitely not a good combination when it came to Yuffie`s mood.
"What?" Reeve said, shrugging. "It worked, didn`t it?" He laughed. Finally, she relented and offered him a slight grin.
"Yes… yes, it did," she said absentmindedly, seemingly deep in thought - also not a good thing when it came to Yuffie. Suddenly, as if snapping out of her contemplative state, she smiled widely at Reeve.
"Thanks, Reevie!" She hopped off his desk and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before bouncing to the door.
He blinked, dumbfounded."What just happened?"
"Oh, nothing," she said with feigned innocence, grinning impishly in a way that clearly meant it was not nothing. Before he could react to her suspicious demeanor, she waved and disappeared out the door. The last thing Reeve heard before her footsteps disappeared was Yuffie`s very excited voice bidding Leona farewell.
He was unsure whether to pity or envy Rufus for whatever was about to happen involving Yuffie, her little maid-outfit, and the unsuspecting ex-president.
On her way back to Edge, Yuffie decided to confront Rufus, the apparent tattletale. Feeling decidedly safer behind an electronic device, she decided it was in everyone`s best interest to text him. Well, mostly hers. Fairly certain she still had his number from her WRO days, she browsed her contact list and typed in the first thing that came to her mind.
To: Mr Snob. 15:13, Mon.
So, I`m not a sexy maid, huh?!
Yuffie had just put her phone back in her pocket when she felt it vibrate against her thigh. Smirking, she withdrew her phone.
From: Mr Snob. 15:14, Mon.
Chocobo and latex is a difficult combination to pull off. Please don`t feel disheartened.
She tapped furiously at the buttons and paused for a brief second before she pressed 'send', allowing a devilish grin to spread across her features. Let`s see if you can talk your way out of that one, nyuk, nyuk…
Reeve had just managed to placate Leona, who had been distraught at having let someone, especially Yuffie, into Reeve`s office without permission. He was aware of how conniving the ninja could be, as well as his secretary`s crush on him – largely Yuffie`s fault– and therefore he didn`t blame Leona directly. After some effort, he`d managed to convince Leona that when Yuffie had her mind on something, nothing stood in her way. The girl had, after all, conned a ragtag group of terrorists out of all their Materia at the ripe old age of 16.
Happily seated in his executive chair, gazing at his photo of AVALANCHE, Reeve jumped when his phone vibrated loudly against the mahogany desk. The caller ID alerted him to who the caller was.
"Cloud, what`s going on?" Reeve greeted.
"I`d like to ask you the same thing, Reeve. Did you know Yuffie is in some sort of… relationship with Shinra?" Reeve opened his mouth to speak, but no sound escaped. It wasn`t exactly normal for Cloud to call him up for a round of gossip– especially not gossip about Yuffie.
"Uh, well, not relationship, as such, but…" Reeve was unsure how to proceed. Had Tifa put him up to this?
"And what`s this device I hear about?" Cloud asked again, his tone as serious as always. Ah, so that`s his angle.
"How much do you know?" Reeve knew that if Cloud wanted to know the details, it wouldn`t take him long to get them. If confronted by an irritated blond swordsman, Yuffie was bound to blabber.
"That depends how much there is to know. Yuffie was vague, even more so than Nanaki. All I know is that it can summon the dead."
Reeve sighed. "Close, but not quite." He decided it was better to tell Cloud, lest he actually believe the device to be the key to necromancy and spread this rumour around AVALANCHE, potentially causing a bigger outcry than the truth ever could.
"It allows one to speak with the Planet. Gaia, the Planet, can return a soul from the Lifestream, but it doesn`t come cheap." There was a brief silence on the other end. Reeve could practically hear Cloud frown through the receiver.
"Resurrection?" he breathed.
"In a manner of speaking, I suppose," said Reeve, hesitating slightly. "It requires someone alive to die – to take their place." Another brief silence from Cloud ensued.
"Reeve," a cautious voice crackled over the phone. "Don`t tell me Rufus Shinra has this device?"
"Yes," said Reeve with a heavy sigh. "He does."
The implications were becoming more and more obvious to the former Commissioner.
"Reeve, he`s going to kill someone with it. We have to get it back." Reeve considered Cloud`s words for a second, nodding slowly.
"Reeve."
"Yes. Yes, I`m here." He suddenly realised Cloud couldn`t see him nod. "I get what you`re saying, Cloud, but we don`t know for certain that he`ll do anything like that with it." Reeve knew the moment the words escaped his mouth that they were complete and utter bollocks. Rufus was going to use the device for whatever reason, and it would kill an innocent person.
"Come to Edge, Reeve. Bring Yuffie with you. She spent some time around Shinra, so she might have some ideas on how to… steal this thing." Cloud seemed to struggle with the naughty word, possibly because he had been the unfortunate victim to her thieving ways himself. Reeve paused for a moment, trying to assess what he was really doing, what he was getting himself into.
"Yeah. I`ll be there by nightfall. Yuffie should already be on her way back to you guys. She left Junon a while ago." They were going to steal from Rufus Shinra. No matter how justified they made it sound, he couldn`t get comfortable with the thought.
Yuffie had made good progress from Junon, having stolen, no, borrowed Boco from Cloud. He wouldn`t miss this living, breathing, super cute animal nearly as much as he`d miss his bike.
Not in the mood for another round of interrogation by Cloud and Cid, she`d simply snuck into her bedroom in 7th Heaven, undetected. She had come for one thing only, and if memory served her right, it should still be buried in one of the boxes she kept hidden underneath the bed. This would serve her master plan perfectly. She cackled to herself as she stripped out of her miniscule shorts to put on something even more miniscule, if at all possible. Yuffie heard the front door open downstairs and raised voices.
"What`s the 'mergency, spike?" Barret.
"C`mon Vince, take off that goddamn cape, it`s a hundred degrees in here." Cid.
"I`m fine, Cid." Vincent.
Had Cloud invited them all? Had he invited them to gossip about her and Rufus? He wouldn`t dare… Either way, she decided it was time to get out of there. Pronto.
AVALANCHE had been gathered by Cloud, and every eye in the room was turned on Reeve. He knew exactly why they were unhappy with him, but the details about the device weren`t known to him until a few days ago. How was he to know what it could do or what the consequences would be?
"I know what you`re all thinking, and I probably deserve whatever you`re going to say. But please believe me when I say I had no clue what this device could do when we started this project. How could I have known?" Reeve wasn`t sure why he defended himself. After all, they had forgiven him for far worse several years ago when he had been spying on them and even kidnapped Marlene.
"We know that, Reeve, but we need to think of a plan," said Cloud, glancing around at all the former members of the group.
"I think we all understand how tempting it would be to use that thing," said Tifa tentatively, giving Reeve a solemn look. "We all have someone close to our hearts that we`d give anything to see again. Except we can`t allow ourselves to give anything, especially not what the Planet wants in return."
Reeve gazed into her hazel eyes, and admired that a person like Tifa, having lost so much – her mother, then her father by Sephiroth`s hands – would not be swayed by the temptations of the device. She was right, they all had lost something. Reeve`s thoughts wandered for a moment, and an image of his late mother flashed in his mind.
"I used to say there ain`t nothin` I wouldn`t do to get Myrna back," said Barret, his usual powerful voice cracked at the mention of his late wife. "But I was wrong. I wouldn`t do this. It ain`t right!" As an added emphasis, Barret slammed his gun arm into the table he was seated by. Instinctively, everyone ducked in fear of the gun accidentally going off.
"We have all lost someone dear to us." Vincent leaned against one of the bar`s corners, arms crossed. Cloud approached Reeve. "I also have some people I… I wouldn`t mind seeing again. But it`s not for me to pick who dies. We have to get that device," said Cloud, locking eyes with each person in the group as he spoke. He glanced around the room once more, looking increasingly confused. "Where`s Yuffie?"
"She is not here yet." Vincent emerged from the corner.
"Well, she should have been here ages ago. She left Junon hours ago on a gold chocobo." Reeve checked the time on his watch before catching Cloud`s eye, which started twitching.
"Chocobo? Yuffie doesn`t have a chocobo, let alone a gold one," said Cloud, looking to Tifa for answers. The martial artist shrugged in response.
Riding Boco towards Healen, Yuffie pondered her reasons for planning to take the device. It wasn`t exactly difficult for her to convince herself it was in the wrong hands with Rufus, and she was fairly certain this would have been AVALANCHE`s thought, too, if they had known about the device.
Having grown up with her father, Yuffie only had a few memories of her mother. Vague and few as they were, they were good memories, and the void that appeared after losing her could never be filled, not even by her friends. If she could just bring her mother back, she could fill that void. However, indirectly killing someone to achieve this was pretty much a deal-breaker for Yuffie.
But what if there was a way to get her mother back and not kill an innocent person in the process? Ahah! Yuffie grinned at her own eureka moment. Obviously, she could just go find some mean old murdering rapist off the streets, right? No… No, she couldn`t think like that. Innocent or not, she had no right to decide who lived or died, unless it was self-defence, like with Sephiroth. She basically needed another Sephiroth to sacrifice, so she wouldn`t need to live with a guilty conscience for the rest of her life. Then again, she had to concede that Sephiroths didn`t exactly grow on trees. Well, he kind of used to – at least it seemed that way with all the clones and remnants and whatnot– but as for right now, she was pretty screwed. She cursed her morality for having the worst possible timing. Despite her slightly questionable morals, she was no murderer.
After she had managed to sneak into Rufus`s abode so easily a few days ago, Yuffie assumed he and his Turks would be more alert this time. Luckily, she had already thought of something a little craftier than simply scaling the wall and sneaking in through a partially opened window.
Of course, she had already thought of the various possibilities and impossibilities of infiltrating unseen and unheard. Yuffie might be a super sneaky sneak, the master of sneakiness, but sometimes it was better to 'bust on in', as Barret would so eloquently put it. Well, she wouldn`t 'bust on in' as much as she`d simply ring the doorbell and get invited in. This was where her master plan would come in.
She secured the belt on the beige trench coat she was wearing, and with the air of someone who was not up to anything suspicious – or so she convinced herself – she trotted up the steps towards the front door. Right on cue, the curtains in the house shifted slightly to the side, no doubt checking who was there. Before she could knock, the door swung open. Yuffie and her fist, ready to knock the door`s surface, met a pair of aquamarine eyes.
"Whaddya want?" demanded Reno, eyes narrowed.
"Hey, is that any way to treat an old friend?" Yuffie said, punching his shoulder playfully.
"What ya want, brat?" He repeated, unamused by her antics. Yuffie rolled her eyes. So, he wasn`t going to play ball.
"Just thought I`d stop by to see how Sir Suits-a-lot is holdin' up." She flashed him a toothy grin. Reno`s eyebrow shot up, and she was certain he would slam the door in her face if it weren`t for the smooth, dark voice gliding in from behind the Turk.
"Let her in, Reno."
The Turk spun to face Rufus.
"But boss, she-,"
"It`s all right," Rufus reassured him.
Reno shot Yuffie a mistrustful look before stepping aside to let her pass. She stumbled in on the only pair of heels she owned, grinning up at Reno as they came shoulder to shoulder.
"I received your message," Rufus said cryptically as they stepped into his office. "I must confess, I am intrigued by this maid`s uniform you mentioned in your text," he said as he poured himself a drink. "Particularly its relation to why Tuesti hired you as his head of intelligence at the WRO the second you demanded a job."
Yuffie closed the door behind her and scanned the room – as she suspected, Rufus still had the device displayed on his desk. She grinned to herself. Like taking sweets from a child.
"New coat?" he asked casually as he watched her approach him elegantly. She sat down gracefully on his desk and crossed her legs slowly, watching his eyes trail up her thigh to where the edge of the coat blocked his view. The device was mere inches away from her right hand…it would be so easy. But no, she`d have to be more careful if she wanted at least a head start.
"Your ginger doorman out there didn`t even offer to hang it up for me, though..." she pouted, hoping she looked more sensual than childish. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards.
"I do apologise, Reno has dreadful manners. May I take your coat?"
Increasingly smug, Yuffie smiled and slowly untied the belt, watching Rufus`s expression intently. It would have been easy to confuse the hungry look in his eyes with his usual arrogant expression, but Yuffie knew better. She had him now, which meant she would soon have it. She let him take her coat, and tried not to blush furiously as his blue eyes scanned her lithe figure in the frilly, barely-there outfit. As she had hoped, he made the "long" walk over to his office door to hang it up, and Yuffie leapt at her chance. Covertly pulling a thin vial from her skirt`s pocket, she tipped its contents into Rufus`s cognac, and poured herself her own glass as he returned to his desk.
"To housekeepers," Yuffie held out her own glass in a mock toast. "Your house would be a mess without one."
Rufus obeyed and raised his glass to hers, eyeing her intently as he downed its contents. Knowing said contents would soon work their magic, Yuffie did little to dissuade his hands from snaking their way around her waist, letting him pull her close. Gazing into his eyes, she noticed they were becoming increasingly unfocused. Suddenly, he leaned in a bit too close for comfort, steadying himself with one hand on his desk, one arm firmly around Yuffie`s middle.
"Gosh, you`re heavy."
"Yuffie…" Before his eyes could find hers, he slumped against the petite ninja, the weight of his entire frame dragging her down with him. Sprawled on the floor with his face buried in the frills that adorned her chest, she rolled the unconscious Shinra president off her, letting him land with a 'thump' on the floor. She glanced at him and noticed a few of his blond locks had draped themselves over his closed eyes. He looked quite peaceful when he wasn`t staring people into the ground. Yuffie stood, straightened her peculiar clothing, and downed the rest of her own cognac. Time to roll.
"Rude." Reno's face contorted in thought, "If you were an annoying ninja brat with kleptomania who needed to hide from the Shinra... where would you go?"
Rude turned to look at the redhead, frowning.
Reno clicked his fingers, presumably having a moment of revelation. "Yes, yes, Rude, you`re right, of course, Wutai!"
Rude uttered a nonchalant grunt in response to the excited redhead.
"I`ll get the Shinra chopper ready. You tell the boss, and get him the wheelchair if he`s still unsteady." Reno called from half way out the door. Rude sighed in defeat.
"I won`t need the wheelchair, Rude." The bald Turk turned at the sound of his name. Rufus entered the room, peering at him calmly.
Rufus nodded towards the front door. "Does the Turtle`s Paradise have anything to do with Reno`s excitement, by chance?"
Rude grunted awkwardly. "Possibly."
Rufus let a faint smile grace his features. "To Wutai, then."
Author`s note: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you can. I will try to update in the next few days.