Carina woke up to hear her phone softly vibrating on the floor. She picked it up and opened it to see that there were four missed calls, and eight new text messages. There was one call from Lazard, one call and two texts from Rufus, two texts from Reno, and two calls and four texts from Sephiroth, all of which told her to get to work ASAP.

She got out of the bed as fast as she could and pulled on her clothes from the night before. She grabbed her phone and shoes from the floor and left as quietly as she could. Thankfully, Zack didn't stir, and she shut the door behind her and sprinted barefoot down the carpeted hallway to her place, shoes in hand.

When she got to her apartment, she went straight to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and changed into her suit for work. She put on her work shoes and went straight to the Dept. of Investigative Research's office.

Zack woke up to silence.

He looked around his room to find nothing, no trace of what had happened, except for a note on his bedside table. He leaned over and read the note, which said:

Hey there.

If you're reading this, and I'm not there, I left for work. I was due in the office this morning, and got about 10 calls and countless texts from everyone practically begging me to go to work.

I'm also supposed to get an assignment too, but I'll call you when I can.

xx Carina.

He smiled at the x's. He knew fully well it could've been platonic, but who cared? He felt like he was on fire, because he was close to promotion, the hottest girl in the company said she loved him, and he was sure he loved her back.

His eyes moved to the clock, which said 11:45.

"Thank God it's a Sunday," he whispered to himself, and got out of bed. He took a long shower, got dressed in a t-shirt and sweats, and sat on the couch to watch TV, like he usually did, but his relaxation came to a close when Kunsel banged on the door.

"What do you want from me on what could be a quiet Sunday morning, bro?" Kunsel ignored him, came inside, and sat on the couch.

"Details. Now."

"On what?" Zack sat beside him.

"Yesterday. The guys saw you skip out last night, so spill it."

"You have never sounded any more feminine before than you do right now."

"Shut up, bro. Talk."

Zack gave Kunsel as little information as he could give on the night before. He blamed the lack of detail on the drinking, of which he didn't do much of, as a half bottle couldn't do much to a SOLDIER operative.

When he finally finished talking, Kunsel was gaping.

"You did NOT. Lucky little devil, you. How'd she even decide to sit by you at the bar?"

"We were talking a little before that."

"You're a dirty little liar," Kunsel said with a grin.

"Nope, ask Reno and Rude."

"Hell, no, I won't talk to them. Fuckin Turks."

"Get out. I gotta get ready."

"For what?"

"I'm going out," Zack lied.

"Where?"

"Can't tell you. Now get out." Kunsel left reluctantly, and Zack triple-locked the door and settled back on the couch to fulfill his Sunday plan.

Carina walked into the office like she would on a normal day, excepting the fact that she was what Tseng would call "obscenely tardy," and that everyone was staring at her.

"Is this elementary school or something? Damn," she muttered under her breath. She went to her cubicle and sat down at the computer. As soon as she virtually "clocked in", a familiar redhead entered and leaned against the computer desk.

"How was the party, Reno?"

"Weren't you there? Or did you skip out?"

"Eh, something like that," she deadpanned as a new temp handed her some thick manila folders. "Please go away. As you can see, I have a LOT of paperwork to take care of."

Reno ignored her. "You left with that SOLDIER, didn't you?"

"Shut up and get out," she said through her teeth. She opened the first folder and skimmed through the files.

His blue-green eyes sparkled mischievously. "You did," he said in a singsong voice. "I can see it in your body language."

Carina angrily slammed the file on the desk. "You really need to leave."

"You regret it, don't you?"

"Well, what the hell would you do if you ruined your one chance of making an old friendship right again?"

"The kid from way back when...that was him?"

"Yeah, I found out last night."

"I take it you two sealed the deal?"

"No. Had a little contest."

"Heh, like we used to do?"

"Always trying to keep my title."

"Egomaniac," Reno said with a grin. The office phone rang, and Carina picked it up.

"Agent Crescent speaking."

"You busy?" Rufus Shinra asked.

"Not really. Why?"

"Up for a mission?"

"After this much of a hiatus, I say it's long overdue. When?"

"Tonight. Stealth mission on the outskirts of Kalm."

"Who's coming?"

"Reno."

"Just him? Or is SOLDIER getting involved?"

"Just him, but if you pass, you make First and we pretend the whole promotion debacle never happened."

"So the bastard's reinstating me."

"Pretty much."

"Can't be good for anyone."

"They need you back in SOLDIER, Car."

"So I've heard. But-"

"If you fail, you're out. They're scared you'll run off and join Genesis, so they're raising the stakes." By "they," the vice president meant the Board of Directors, which consisted of the President, Rufus, Tseng, Lazard, and some paranoid old men who had stock in the company.

"I see."

"I'll call Reno, and we'll continue this conversation in my office later-"

"No need, he's right here."

"I'll talk to you later then." Rufus sighed. "There's also an event coming up that I need to fill you in about."

"Later, then, Rufus. I should get ready for tonight's mission. Thanks for that, by the way." She hung up the phone.

"What's up-"

"We got ourselves a mission. Stealth mission not too far from Kalm."

"Picked the right ones for the job. We've been training for one for about, what, 6 months now?"

"This mission, if I pass it, they reinstate me into SOLDIER and I get my promotion. If I fail, I'm out."

"SOLDIER or get fired?"

"Fired as in assassinated. They can't have a dropped experiment running amok in Midgar, disturbing their peace, running her mouth about what they did, proving the suspicions true."

"How do-"

"You know why. I had to watch him die THREE TIMES, Reno. Twice by my own hand. I should know this better than anyone. I want the promotion anyway."

"I'll be sure to pass the mission for you."

"Thanks, Reno."

Zack was watching an improv show when he decided to call her.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey yourself. What's up?" Carina answered.

"Nothing much. How about you?"

"Nothing, really. Listen, I was wondering if we could-"

"Talk about yesterday?"

Zack stopped. "Not exactly. Why do you bring that up?"

She sighed. "Because after something like that happens, guys don't usually call me back."

"Girls don't usually send me a note afterwards."

"Touché. So what were you going to ask?"

"Well, are you free later?"

She sucked in a breath. "Not exactly. Why?"

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to hang out or something, but it's fine. I mean, you're busy, so-"

"I have a mission tonight. I really, really couldn't say no. It's a stealth mission, and I've been begging my boss for one for the longest time."

"It's all right. It's not like I asked for an itinerary or anything." Carina laughed.

"Yeah, well, it's good you didn't. I love stealth missions anyway, so even if I had a choice, I'd still go. No offense to you, though."

"It's fine."

"I want to, you know, hang out with you, but I'm not here for a while. After tonight's stealth mission, I'm going to visit a friend of mine, and I won't be able to leave until Wednesday, at the earliest. When I come back, I'll be on mission after mission."

He heard Reno's voice through the phone. "Come on, Rina, we have to get ready." Zack heard her sigh again.

"I have to go, Zack. I'll probably call you when I'm on the way."

"Talk to you later then. Bye."

"Bye." He closed his phone and slumped forward, resting his hands on his knees.

"Why do I have to have the shitty love life?" Zack whispered to himself. His phone rang again. "Zack Fair speaking."

"I need you to go on the mission with Agents Hawthorn and Crescent."

"Lazard?"

"No, it's Rufus Shinra. My apologies about the late introduction; I was hoping you wouldn't ask."

"Sorry about that, sir. What mission?"

"It's a stealth mission to Kalm. Intelligence suggests that Agent Crescent has been destroying and/or withholding evidence and intel from missions. Agent Hawthorn knows nothing about this."

"So only you, Agent Crescent, and myself know about this?"

"Precisely. You are going to tell the two that you were sent to assist them on their mission. You will not stray far from Agent Crescent. Make sure she takes nothing."

Since he was speaking to the vice-president, Zack had no choice but to agree.

"Yes, sir. When is the mission?"

"Tonight, 1830. Be at the helipad no later than 1800. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

/\/\/\

Ohmyfuckinggod, this has taken FOREVER.

I'm sorry.

School, sports, and the huge band weekend were absolute HELL to go through. That, writer's block and too many ideas for later chapters are popping into my head so much that my plot diagram & outline are now completely irrelevant.

Next 3-4 chapters are on my phone [yes I write on my phone; that's what notes are for :P] and my notebooks, so they'll be up in the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Summer's coming, so all of the notebooks are coming home and everything will be typed up and released at somewhat regular intervals, until mid-July, where I have an internship out-of-state.

Dopóki się nie spotkamy ponownie, [Until we meet again]

Kai/TWTS