Blood: 13
Cloud is a moron
God he looked slovenly. Of all the things to be, why slobbish? The answer to that was simple enough; because he was a slob. Was it too much to ask for him to leave it at home? No. Yet again he had come to work, slobbing in the office, slobbing on assignment and now slobbishly slobbing all over the board table. Of all the thing to slob on!
"Mr. Reilly?"
"Wha?" Evan tore his eyes away from Reno to find Heidegger staring back at him, more in surprise than annoyance. "I'm sorry, Sir. Could you repeat yourself."
"Still hung up on me, Boss?" Reno chuckled, elbowing Rude in the side. Evan shot him a glare, but said nothing. Heidegger did as Evan requested,
"You are to patrol the Sector two plate. Mr. McCarnon will be in Sector one and Miss Jennings has Sector eight. That is okay by you I take it?"
Evan nodded readily, "Of course. It is your decision to make, not mine." That seemed to appease Heidegger, turning his attention on Reno, Rude and Elena.
Tessi nudged Rose with his elbow, rolling his eyes and sticking his fingers down his throat. She flashed a brief half-smile and focused on listening in on Reno and co's orders.
From Heidegger's self-important babbling, she found that the three actives were to go trawling through Midgar's underbelly in search of Cloud and his little band of planet-friendly chums. The spiky-headed clot had become something of a legend in the office recently, Reno moaning about him seemingly all the time, Elena sobbing about how he had brutalised Tseng and Rude being Mr. Stoic and keeping his feelings to himself. He usually felt the same way Reno did, so if that was any indication...
Cloud Strife, another one of Hojo's little experiments gone walkabouts. At least he was trying to do some good, unlike Sephiroth. The whole atmosphere at Shinra had changed since he appeared and did in the President. That was a day Rose could never forget. She and Tessi had taken the fall for that little mishap, though Rufus seemed a little under affected by the whole thing. Perhaps that was a good thing for her and Tessi.
"You do know that ninety per cent of Midgar's population piss in those tunnels, right Sir?" Reno asked Heidegger, a look on his face more sincere than any of his colleagues had seen in a long time. The indifferent grunt he received was answer enough, all three Turks saluting and walking out of the room in single file.
Heidegger turned back to 'Evan's men' as he thought of them, smoothing his beard thoughtfully. "You heard my concerns about AVALANCHE getting involved. In addition to yourselves there will be members of SOLDIER first class stationed on the cannon." The three of them nodded their understanding. He looked at Rose, smoothing his beard once again. A nervous habit? "Miss Jennings, you remember your orders?."
"Sir."
"I want you to go down to stores and pick up a Sniper CR. If in the event AVALANCHE get by the other Turks, I want you to take out Cloud and Barret. The others don't matter so much, but I want those two dead. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
Heidegger breathed a sigh, clasping his hands behind his back and strolling over to the window, looking up at the sister ray. "Sector eight houses the most direct route to the cannon. From the stairs you would have the perfect opportunity to pick them off."
"I am aware of that fact, Sir."
He knew that. A man had to be allowed to revel in his genius once in a while. "Dismissed then."
"Fuckin' jackass!" Tessi exclaimed, punching the boardroom doors, pulling back his hand and shaking it.
"Cool it, Tess." Evan instructed him.
"He drags us out of semi-retirement and tosses us back on the streets in the line of fire without a by your leave. Then issues orders like we should be suckin' his ass and playing puppy."
Admittedly Evan had got the same impression, but had learned to let such things slide off his back and into forgetfulness. He shook his head, stopping beside the stairway security door. "I know, but we have to deal with it. Following orders is what we do. Just remember that."
"I'll remember it all right. How can I forget when it's pounded into my skull by bastards like that all day?"
Rose looked wistful. Evan noticed, focusing on her and leaving Tessi to stew, "What's the matter?"
She shrugged lightly, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder to hang long down her back. "Nothing. Just wondering if a CR is the right gun for the job."
Tessi forgot his gripes at that, looking round at her in disbelief, "Can you think of nothing else but work! We are probably going to be torn limb from limb by an ungrateful public and you're thinking about shooting Cloud Strife?"
"What would you suggest?" She spat back, "Clucking and running around like a headless chicken? It's doing a lot for you."
"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!"
"She does have a point, Tess." Evan swiped his keycard through the reader beside the door, secretly praying as he always did that it would be accepted. The door slid open without a problem. "The best thing we can do is keep focused. Isn't that what you're supposed to be good at? Besides, everyone's out for this one. Iowa's just below you in the slum, so he'll be in radio range if you need a hand."
Tessi snorted, "Yeah, like I'd need assistance from that little prawn." and started off down the stairs.
Evan almost threw his hands up in defeat. Tessi could be so juvenile sometimes! Why couldn't he just grow up and stay grown up?
Rose appeared to pick up on his feelings, taking his arm, "He's upset. There's nothing more to it. Give him time and he'll get used to it."
"We don't have time, Rose. This evening could be our last."
She shook her head, brushing imaginary dirt from her sleeve, "You always were melodramatic, Evan. Be careful you don't transmit too much of it to Tess, if he hasn't overdosed on it already."
"All right, Rose. I get the idea."
Rose was already waiting in the employee lounge as the clock struck five. She stood at the window, adjusting her starched shirt cuffs so that they peeked out from under her jacket sleeves, just the way she liked them. It had been a long time since she had last worn this uniform, and in truth she preferred it to the black one she wore day to day.
Midgar's darkness could be useful occasionally. She found herself thinking this, checking her reflection in the window. Satisfied, she zipped up her jacket and strode over to the Turk's bench where her Sniper CR was waiting.
Out on assignment and with a sniper rifle. Was it her birthday? It felt good to be doing what she had trained to do. It felt strange thinking about it. For once she was doing something for herself on the record without a whining brat hanging on her sleeve. This had to be done perfectly.
Suddenly torn up with nerves, she paced across the room, halting in front of the 'Wall of shame'. Looking up at it she found it strange to think that there was once just one or two photographs framed up there.
All in all there were eighteen names up there, only two of them without photographs. That really didn't say much for her line of work, but casualties were to be expected. 'All in a day's work' Trey had said once, reminiscing about his time with the Company and how lucky he was to leave with his life, and undamaged.
Every time she was in the lounge she stopped to pay her respects to the wall and its residents. Some of the photographs got a nod when she met their gazes, three got salutes. Browsing the pictures today she found the one she respected the most, staring shyly out into the room beside the much more bubbly picture of Marlon James Kennedy.
Vincent Valentine was renowned as the best marksman Shinra had seen, and thus deserved respect. Rose kept it secret, but she aspired to be as good a shot as he has been, maybe even better. It paid to aim for something in life. It kept you working toward something. She was a good shot by any standards, but not quite up there with Vincent. Not that she would want to be up there with him, seeing as he was dead and not able to get out of that predicament.
He was marked as missing in action, as was Marlon. To this day nobody knew exactly what had happened in the original 'Nibelheim incident'. On more than one occasion Rose had grilled Hojo about it, frustrating him while he tried to record her statistics, or take blood. He always maintained that he had no idea what happened, that the whole thing was a mystery. She had her doubts, finding it hard not to notice how Hojo danced around the subject, started off cool as a cucumber and ended up shouting that he didn't know.
"Setting up clear targets, the Shinra way." She looked round to see Evan and Tessi standing beside the stairs, the former looking upset by his own statement, the latter tugging at his cuffs like some impudent child, uncomfortable in his Sunday best.
"Blue was never my colour." He proclaimed, giving up and slouching.
Rose picked up her rifle from the table and wandered over to them. "We all clear on what we're doing?" Evan and Tessi nodded their answer. "Right. Evan?"
"Move out."
Time ticked by, doing that stupid backwards forwards backwards thing clocks did when you wanted time to fly, Tessi imagined, walking down the street and swinging his nunchucks. He felt better just having them in his hand, warning off the civilians that looked at him cock-eyed. If they were planning something, they soon forgot it, turning their heads to stare straight ahead and ignore the Turk prancing along like a fairy of some sort.
Tessi had to chuckle, prancing a little higher. So what if he wanted to prance? Who's reputation was it on the line anyway? Not his. As far as the general public were concerned, he didn't exist. That was a great feeling. Once this thing was done, he could just melt back into official non-existence and go about his daily business without his weapon to hand.
Thinking about it just made him want it all the more. It was a pain when you wanted something you knew you had to wait for. Determined to get his mind off it, he unclipped his radio from his belt and tuned it to Rose's frequency. "Hello there. What's black and blue and red on top?"
"Tess," Rose's voice came back to him, "I don't care."
"Me in uniform falling down stairs. What are you up to?"
"Waiting. Keeping my eyes open. Doing what you should be. So do it." She switched her radio off, Tessi's one picking up nothing but static in response.
He looked at it, "Fair enough." and put it back on his belt. If Rose was going to be moody, then he didn't want to talk to her anyway.
Halting beside the theatre, he fell back to lean against the wall. Walking round and round the sector was boring. It would be so much easier if he could find somewhere to sit and keep watch. This thought bouncing back and forth in his brain, his eyes settled on the clock tower across the street. Now that would be perfect...
Rose peered over the railings at the alleyway below, narrowing her eyes to see into the gloom. There didn't appear to be anyone around, just her and the SOLDIERs. They ignored her, standing in a closed group, talking amongst themselves. She didn't care; they were welcome to forget she existed if they wanted.
Groaning, she circled her shoulder, grimacing at the stiffness in it. Evan had been able to fix it easily, but that stiffness refused to go away. As long as she didn't need to use her pistols it would be fine.
A spot of rain landed on the back of her hand. 'Great.' She thought, looking up. 'Not only am I stuck out here with these antisocial nitwits, heaven's going to piss on me too.' Could the day get any worse?
The three of them had been on duty about two hours when it happened. Rose idled at the alley entrance, staring up at the clouds massing over the houses. She frowned, a low rumbling reaching her from off towards the Northern continent. There was thunder on its way? That would make standing on the sister ray all the more fun.
Her radio crackled to life suddenly, Evan's static shadowed voice making her jump. "Rose!" She snatched it from her belt and pressed the talk button,
"Evan? Is everything all right?"
"No, Rose, not at all. I have just received a call from Headquarters. We are on alert. "
"Why?" AVALANCHE had announced their presence?
"There was some major seismic activity in the north. Satellites have picked up something big heading this way through the sea. They think it's Weapon."
"Weapon?" Rose almost dropped her radio, "It's coming for Midgar?"
"So it would appear."
This was bad. "Orders?"
"I'm on my way back to headquarters. Where are you?"
"At the sister ray."
"Take cover somewhere. Get to Headquarters as soon as you can. Evan out."
Rose stood still, staring at her radio. Weapon was on it's way, Evan seemed to be lacking his usual judgement and she had to abandon her post. Suddenly the rain didn't seem all that bad.
Without thinking she started along the street to climb down into the train tunnels. Tessi sprung to mind as she clambered down onto the tracks, his being in sector one not a good thing. There were very few places to shelter there, besides the open of course. Her stupidity caught up to her. Of all the places to go, the train tunnels was possibly the most stupid. Did she want to be buried alive?
"Rose?" Tessi's voice reached her over her radio. She answered him,
"Tess? Where are you?"
"The clock tower opposite Goblins. Rose, you are not going to believe this."
"What?"
"Weapon, it's out on the plains."
Worry gripped her, "Tess, for God's sake get down from there!"
"No, no. This is the best part. Cloud's out there too. I think he's going to take it on."
"Excuse me, what?"
"He is! The moron's got his sword out. He's going to fight Weapon!"
Rose started, looking at her radio in disbelief of what she was hearing. "Tess, you had better not be lying-"
"Wait a minute. There's two of his pals there too. Looks like Barret and some little guy. No sorry, I think it's a chick."
"I wish I could see what you're seeing, but get out of that tower, for crying out loud! Find somewhere safe before you get killed. There's a large play park two streets from there. I suggest you find it." She switched her radio off, not giving Tessi the chance to argue or interest her further with what he could see. He had better be all right or there would be trouble. The senselessness of that thought didn't register, Rose glancing into the gloomy tunnel ahead. She could get to Headquarters from here.
Evan had told her to get there as soon as she could; if AVALANCHE were distracting Weapon, then now was the time to make a run for it.
"Fuckin' moron." Tessi murmured to himself, peeking at Cloud through his binoculars. So, blondie boy had worked out that magic was more effective than weaponry? Good call for him.
It turned out the little guy with him was a chick. She just had short hair and no boobs. Tessi frowned, watching her cast ultima. She used a shuriken? He didn't know AVALANCHE had picked up a ninja on their travels. It would be interesting to fight her. If, of course, she didn't get fried or stamped on by Weapon.
Kudos to Cloud and Captain planet out there for taking something that size on. If roles were reversed, Tessi knew that he would be hiding behind that rock.
He shook his head, dropping his binoculars to hang around his neck. He had lingered long enough. Rose had sounded worried about him, and he didn't particularly want to die, so he hopped over the clock tower guard rail onto the ladder and slid down to the ground.
The sector was in turmoil, Midgar's citizens running for cover in blind panic. Tessi cleared his throat, dusting himself down and starting on his way at a leisurely walk towards the local playground.
Rose ground to a halt in front of the Shinra building, bending double to catch her breath. She had never run so fast in her life, and it looked as though her exertion had paid off. She just had to pray Tessi had listened to her for the first time in his life. He had to be safe...
She froze, a low humming catching her ear, metal grating on metal above. Unnerved, she looked up, stepping back to stare at the Sister ray. Why was it humming?
Her radio crackled, interference getting through from somewhere. A cold feeling manifested itself in the pit of her stomach, forcing her to step back further, each step taking her away from the entrance to the Shinra building.
An explosion behind forced her to look round. Green vapour burst out the top of the number two reactor, closely followed by the numbers three, four, five, six, seven and eight. Rose croaked in surprise, looking up at the cannon. Was this supposed to happen?
Her heart skipped a beat as the street lamps went out, leaving her in darkness. The silence was eerie, seemingly everyone in the city stopping and staring at the Sister ray. What had Scarlet created?
The lights flicked back on, crackling noisily in their glass shades, Rose gasping in surprise and throwing her hands over her ears as the Sister ray pulled back and fired. Every window in the Shinra building shattered, cascading glass down in a hail of debris, straight towards the main entrance and Rose.
She ran for the doors, the first shards of glass hitting the ground behind her and splintering in all directions. Rose found herself falling, pain searing through her heel. She hit the ground hard, covering her ears against the deafening crash of glass all around her.
Warm blood pooled in her boot, soaking through her sock. Her whole left leg burned. She moved to look round at it, screaming suddenly as glass sliced her forehead and nose, hitting the ground and throwing splinters into her hands.
Blood was trickling down her face and into her mouth. It was strange, but she found herself thinking about something her father used to say. He was wrong, blood certainly did not taste like strawberry jam. She shook her head gently, laying it on the ground, glad of the relief brought by cold concrete.
What were Evan and Tessi doing now? Were they safe? Faring better than she was in this crisis? It felt like everybody was doing better than her right then.
It took a moment for her to realise the glass had stopped falling. Grimacing, she lifted her head, finding a small patch of blood where her forehead had rested.
"He's on his way."
Rose looked up, finding Hojo standing over her, watching her over his glasses. "Wha... What?"
"Valentine. He'll be heading here with his new friends, to deal with his old friends. He can't avoid a chance to be a goody goody recently."
"I don't understand."
Hojo sighed, adjusting his glasses thoughtfully. "You always asked about him, wanted to see him for yourself. Now's your chance."
Rose was silent, Hojo leaving her to her own devices and walking off down the steps. She had no idea what he meant, but realised that she had to do something with herself, find some kind of medical attention.
With some difficulty she started to crawl towards the doors, reaching up and taking hold of the handle. Crying out, Rose pulled herself to stand, immediately taking her weight off her injured leg. She could see it now, red and pink peering back up at her from between shreds of dark blue material. The heel of her ankle boot had been ripped open, blood running out of there in alarming quantities.
There was no time to think about it now. She just had to favour it and find someone who could help her, preferably Evan.
Please let Rose and Tessi be all right. That was all Evan wanted, running down flight after flight of stairs. Neither of them were answering him. Whether they were just out of range or too busy, he couldn't be sure. There was always the possibility that they could be hurt.
He didn't want to think about that. They were both skilled Turks, able to look after themselves. They would be fine.
He took the elevator down to reception, stepping out beside the shop. The acid test would be if Rose had made it. If she was waiting for him down there, then everything would be all right. When Tessi called in, his world would be right again.
Evan's step faltered, his foot almost missing the next stair. Rose was in reception, leaning against the doors. She looked awful, pouring blood from every visible patch of skin. He broke into a run, reaching the floor as an explosion rocked the building.
Rose tottered on her feet, her injured heel not supporting her weight, leaving her to collapse. Evan started towards her, halting in his tracks to see more debris falling outside, landing in a heap of screeching, twisted metal on the other side of the door.
"Evan." Rose was looking at him, swaying back and forth as she struggled to sit upright.
"Oh God, Rose." He helped her up, supporting her over to the staircase to sit. "What happened?"
"The Sister ray. I'm fine. Where's Tess?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Look at you."
"Where's Tess?"
Evan hesitated, seeing her in such a state, but he had to tell her the truth. "I don't know."
"What was that explosion just now?"
"I don't know." He didn't know anything, and he hated himself for it.
"It sounded like it was above. Find out."
"Rose-"
"I'll be fine. Go and find out."
Though he was reluctant to leave her, Evan did as he was told, trailing away past her up the stairs. "Keep trying Tess." He instructed her as he went, "If you can't get him on radio, try his phone."
Rose breathed out hard, taking her radio from her belt and laying it on the step beside her. Before she tried Tessi, there was something she had to do. Drawing her knife, she cut away the left leg of her uniform, dropping the blade to the ground with a clatter at what she found.
Her skin was slashed and lacerated almost beyond recognition. Splinters of glass had embedded themselves in her muscle tissue and her kneecap had split, more glass stuck in there. She decided against cutting off her boot, fearful of what she would find.
Laying her head against the banister, she closed her eyes. Everything hurt so much, it was all she could do to take her mind off it; let her imagination run wild. She was shocked out of it by her PHS vibrating in her pocket.
Tessi's name came up on the display. "Tess?"
"Rose? You sound nasty."
"Thank you. Where are you? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I did what you suggested and went to the playground." He chuckled, "I'm sitting on a swing, looking at the sky, and there are some kids playing with my nunchucks."
"Sounds Painful."
"Where's Evan?"
"He's fine and with me."
Rose frowned, shaking her PHS hard. Tessi was breaking up. With a sigh she flipped it closed, dropping it on the stair beside her radio. At least Tessi was all right. He must have a lucky plus on him or something.
"Did you get hold of Tess?" Evan asked, walking down the stairs and taking a seat beside Rose. She nodded,
"Yeah. He's fine." She shifted her weight, looking round at him, "What happened up there?"
Evan shook his head wearily, "Weapon must have retaliated. The seventieth and sixty-ninth floor are wrecked. Rufus is dead. Reeve is locked in the Science department and Scarlet and Heidegger are nowhere to be seen."
"An average day at the office then?" Rose shrugged her slight shoulders, remembering her leg suddenly, "What about the medical bay?"
"I already thought of that. The place is trashed. Looks like someone looted it. There's nothing left. I couldn't even find anything to stitch your face with. We're going to have to go to Junon."
"What about Tess? I lost the signal with his phone,and he's out of range."
"We'll work something out and get him over to Junon somehow. For now, it's you I'm worried about."
Rose said nothing to that. There was no denying it, she needed help this time.
(NOTE: A long chapter this time around. Montenegro never really happened. We got as far as Italy before monnies ran low. We did cross nine countries (including Wales and England) though. These last two chapters were lumped together without a past break in between because of the length. If I put them both as one chapter, they would have been ridiculously long. No fear, more Vinny next chapter. The real action's going to begin from here on. A little something about the chain of command with Evan, Rose and Tessi. Evan is the boss, but the three of them don't really define it like that. He's always the one to give the go ahead, but the other two will ask if everybody's clear on things and give orders in battle when necessary.)