Chapter Six

The Shera had taken off ten minutes earlier but everyone in Avalanche was feeling sick as they had agreed to let Rufus and the Turks come with them. Yuffie had taken the oppurtunity to confine herself to her room while Barret made sure he was on the bridge at all times to keep and eye on Rufus.

"Where are we going?", Rufus asked.

Cid put the Shera on autopilot and walked over to Rufus. "We're going to pick up Cloud and Tifa."

Rufus walked away and before exiting the bridge whispered something to Tseng.

"What was all that about?"

Tseng smiled and sat down. "Nothing you should be concerned with."

"This is my ship and I will not tolerate any Shinra schemes. Some of us might hesitate to kill you but it doesn't mean we won't hurt you."

Rude and Reno stepped in front of Tseng and Cid laughed. "What the hell is so funny?"

"Don't attempt a mutiny when you are so clearly out numbered."

Red XII, Barret, Reeve and Cait Sith all stood behind Cid and Rude and Reno backed down albeit with a little agitation. "After we pick up Cloud and Tifa, where will we be heading?"

"We don't know yet."

Cloud and Tifa had finally exited the outer gate of Midgar and stood waiting until Cloud saw the outline of a ship. "There they are Tifa."

The Shera landed and it hadn't taken much longer for Cloud and Tifa to be apprised of the situation with Rufus and the Turks.

Cloud was the first to say,"What the hell is going on? I leave you for a few hours and you take that time to recruit Rufus?"

Tifa smiled and said,"I'm sure they have a good reason."

Cid looked at both of them and shook his head. "We figure that the whole keep your friends close but enemies closer rule applies here."

Rufus entered and it had taken only about a second for Cloud to grab his throat. "Why the hell do you have a file on Aeris?! Answer me damn it!"

Rufus struggled for air and Tifa managed to talk Cloud down from killing him. "You might want to watch yourself Rufus. I was here to stop Cloud this time but next time you may not be so lucky. You better tell him what he wants to know."

Rufus sat down and shook his head. "I kept the file for research purposes. After the Lifestream seemed to have saved us from Meteor I imagined that something had intervened on our behalf. I took that time to have divers reclaim Aeris' body from the lake at the City of the Ancients to have some people examine it."

Cloud was about to strike Rufus but Tifa intervened again. "Why would you do that?"

Rufus shook his head again which seemed to annoy Tifa so much that she hit him herself. "My team of researchers came up with nothing. Aeris is indeed dead."

"I'm more concerned about what you did with the body."

"I put it back.", Rufus said with a grin. "What else would I have done?"

Tifa nodded to Cloud and they both walked out.

Vincent couldn't help but be a little shocked to see Rufus onboard the Shera. He was amused that Cloud tried choking Rufus and that Tifa had punched him in the mouth. "Taking a break from hiding Vincent?"

Vincent looked behind him and saw his informant. "Does he suspect anything?"

His informant looked at him and said,"No. The only thing he suspects is that your either dead or in hiding."

"Let's keep it that way." With that said Vincent hopped on a motorcycle and began following the Shera's course. He had a feeling he knew where they were going. The City of the Ancients.