Zack grinned, watching unobtrusively from behind the filing cabinet. If he was not very much mistaken, Taylor was about to get the bollocking of a lifetime.

He watched as the SOLDIER approached the young secretary on duty, handing over a flimsy sheet of stained, barely legible paper. It looked like he'd scrawled it off in half an hour during his lunch break, and then used it to mop up spilt coffee.

The young woman - barely more than a girl - took it with that deer-in-the-headlights look that the vast majority of people always wore when confronted with a SOLDIER - particularly one armed with the good looks and charm Taylor wielded with devastating effect.

'Slimy git.' Zack thought affectionately. 'I taught him well.'

The poor girl was completely out of her depth, blushing as Taylor leant on her desk casually and complemented the neat little clip holding her hair back from her face. Zack snorted, and then ducked further behind the filing cabinet as he spied the young blonde approaching rapidly, the rubber soles of her sensible black shoes squeaking slightly on the plastic tiles of the floor. She carried a stack of files in her arms, and Zack wondered exactly how long she spent ironing her blouse to get the creases that perfect. The cadets could have learned a thing or two. Or maybe the blouse just folded like that in submission the moment she glared at it.

'Is there a problem here?'

Taylor straightened, turning the full effect of gleaming white teeth on her. The blonde looked significantly unimpressed.

'Not at all.' Taylor assured her, winking at the girl behind the desk. 'Marie and I were just having a little chat, weren't we sweetheart?'

Poor Marie looked like she was wishing the floor would swallow her whole as she blushed and stammered, caught between Taylor's megawatt grin and her superior's equally megawatt stare.

'I see.' the blonde said slowly. She glanced sideways, apparently only just catching sight of Taylor's report - but Zack was not fooled. She was a passable actress, but not good enough to fool the master of lies, he thought triumphantly.

She picked up the report between forefinger and thumb, eyeing it with a look more suited to something distasteful caught on her shoe. Corporal, is this your mission report?'

Taylor looked at the paper as if considering it for the first time. 'Why yes, I believe it is.'

She wrinkled her nose, dropping the report through the shredder beside Marie's desk, and silently handing Taylor another form. 'The rules clearly state that all reports must be legible - or else we cannot commit a copy to the computer system. Besides, illegible reports are rather pointless from every point of view. Please redo it. I will expect it before the end of the work today - after all, the deadline was two days ago.'

Taylor gaped at her, grin completely gone.

'But...'

She glanced at the clock. 'I wouldn't waste time if I were you, Corporal. I expect a full, concise, and legible report on my desk by five o'clock. I suggest you hurry. If you have any questions, I'm sure Marie will be perfectly willing to help you. Good day Corporal.'

She turned on her heel and walked off through the cubicles, handing the stack of folders out to various reaching hands. Zack chortled silently behind the filing cabinet as Taylor slunk out with his metaphorical tail between his legs and the rows of admin staff returned to their jobs, day's entertainment over.

He dropped to his knees, about to crawl back out the fire escape - only to find himself nose to nose - or would that be nose to sole? - with a pair of flat, black shoes.

Shit. Zack: 0 - Unknown scary woman: 1

He looked up slowly, doing his best impression of a repentant puppy. The blonde secretary looked down at him with an inscrutable expression - although Zack could have sworn her lips were twitching slightly.

'Can I help you, Lieutenant?'

Zack rose slowly to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck innocently. 'Um, no...I'm fine thanks. Just uh...dropped my pen.'

'Well if I see it, I'll be sure to return it to you.' the secretary smiled pleasantly. 'If there's nothing else...?'

Zack fled. At the doors he paused, sticking his head back round. 'Excuse me!'

The secretary looked up from where she was speaking quietly to the still crimson Marie, a fondly exasperated expression on her face.

'Yes Lieutenant?'

'What's your name?'

A flicker of surprise crossed her face. 'Ren. Ren Wolfe.'

'Zack Fair.' Zack grinned disarmingly. 'Nice to meet you Miss Wolfe.'

He kept his pace to a nonchalant walk, whistling cheerfully as he strode towards the lift.

Zack: 1...Ren Wolfe: 1

When Ren arrived for work three days later, a cream, official looking envelope lay arranged precisely at right angles to her desk, exactly in the middle of it. There was an expectant hush over the cubicles, and Ren frowned, poking the letter gingerly.

She looked up and caught the kohl-ringed eyes of Gina, the department's fount of all information, sordid or not.

'All right, what's going on?' she asked, in her best 'Haven't-had-coffee-yet-so-don't-fuck-with-me- voice.'

Gina looked distinctly upset. 'I'm so sorry Ren.'

Ren sat gingerly on her chair, eyeing the envelope. Half the department seemed to be crammed into her cubicle, or hanging over the walls of the neighbouring ones.

'Why?' she queried.

'That envelope...that's what arrives every time the General needs a new secretary.'

At this, little Rose Thomson burst into tears and fled. Ren nodded at Regulus Damon, the young man with the slight stutter and painfully obvious crush on the girl, and he ran after her.

'Sorry.' Gina murmured. 'Lauren - the General's previous secretary - she was Rose's cousin. They grew up together.'

Lauren Thomson. Age, twenty seven. Hair, brown. Eyes, hazel. Height, average. Weight, average.

Ren's face became distant as she remembered the stunned look on Lauren's face as the bullet hit her between her large, hazel eyes.

'I see.' she said quietly. 'But I still don't understand all this fuss.'

Gina perched on the edge of her desk, careful not to even touch the envelope. She drummed lacquered nails nervously on the wood. Ren half expected her to cross her fingers, or make some other movement to ward off evil.

'It's like a death sentence, Ren.' she said in a hushed voice. 'The record was Karl Voderman. He survived almost a year.'

'Does the General skewer them on that giant toothpick in his office?' Ren asks, corner of her mouth twitching.

'Ren!' Gina scolded, horrified. 'No! It's the assassination attempts. They're almost regular, despite security's best efforts. The General's never even been scratched, but his secretary is almost always killed.'

'That's a shame.' Ren said absently, searching for a storage box to pack her things into. She was sure she'd seen it just the other day...

'Aren't you worried?' Gina asked, torn between fascination and horror.

Ren blinked at her. 'Not really.'

She picked up the envelope and uses her letter-opener to slice it open, reading the bureaucratic drivel inside with a resigned expression - it basically repeated the conversation she had just had.

'Huh. Looks like I get a pay rise.' she said, trying to lighten the mood a little. Gina stared at her as if she was insane.

'But...are you just going to go?' Marie whispered. 'Can't you fight it?'

'Marie, I don't have a reason to fight it.' Ren said gently.

Besides, she added silently, even if I did have a reason, I still couldn't. I'm collared, and Shinra holds my leash.'

'But there must be something!' Marie cried, almost in hysterics. 'Can't you resign? Find a different job somewhere.'

'Some people have done that successfully.' Gina urged. 'There's so many of us, Shinra treats us as throwaway.'

Ren stared distantly at the surface of her desk. 'That's not an option.'

Gina made a discrete gesture, and the other admin staff left, driven away by the force of her glare. She shifted closer, dropping her voice.

'Ren, whatever Shinra has over you, it's not worth throwing your life away.' she hissed fiercely. 'You're still so young, don't waste it!'

Ren screwed her eyes shut.

'Looks like I can't keep it secret any longer.' she said dully. 'I'm kind of amazed no-one noticed before actually.'

'What?'

'Gina.' Ren said, almost inaudibly. 'Look at my eyes.'

Gina frowned, shifting back. 'You're starting to freak me out Ren...'

Ren's head whipped up. 'I said look at my eyes!'

Gina froze, staring deep into twin pools of blue shading into amethyst - each iris glowing minutely at the centre. She began to shake.

'Y...You...'

Ren tore her eyes away, fixing them on the desk again. 'I'm due my next booster in two days - that's why the glow is faint. For a few hours after each booster, they glow even brighter than a SOLDIER's, but it fades very quickly. They go more purple too.'

'Mako poisoning...' Gina breathed.

'Yes.' Ren muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to stave off the headache she could feel brewing. 'You must understand, Gina. I'm living on borrowed time. I shouldn't be alive now. I certainly never expected to reach my twenty second birthday and if I reach my twenty fifth it will be a miracle. As my body becomes more used to the monthly boosters, I will need higher and higher doses or I will go into fatal withdrawal. Eventually, the line between withdrawal and overdose will vanish and I will die of mako poisoning. It's not a pleasant death, and I don't intend to experience it. Dying in an assassination attack would answer my problems.'

Her voice was almost clinical, like she was reeling off facts she had heard far too many times.'

Gina stood shakily, looking like she had no idea what to say.

'Then...I wish you luck.' she said quietly. 'And Ren?'

Ren looked up. Gina met her eyes steadily, despite the fear that made her hands tremble. Suddenly the younger woman's distant attitude, obsessive orderliness and cryptic comments all made sense, and despite herself Gina felt more than a little sorry for the girl she had come to consider a friend.

'You probably won't believe me when I say this.' she whispered. 'But I won't tell anyone. I doubt you'll be able to hide this a lot longer - what you've told me has made a lot of things suddenly click together, and there are a lot of people a heck of a lot smarter than I am in this building. But I won't speed the process up.'

Despite herself, Ren felt her throat tighten. '...Thank you.'

Gina shifted awkwardly, making as if to leave.

'Gina?'

She paused. 'Yes?'

Ren was looking at the envelope again, her neat business clothes suddenly making her look small and frail. 'Look after Marie.'

Gina nodded quietly. 'Of course.'

She left. Half an hour later Ren had packed all of her personal effects into a box and cleared her desk. She considered her fountain pen - she'd seen Marie admiring it earlier, and it wouldn't be hard to buy herself a new one. She set it down on top of a sheet of paper and wrote 'Marie - for luck. Ren' underneath it.

She waited until everyone had left for the day, sitting immobile in her chair. The sun was setting by the time the door banged behind the very last person, filling the department with filtered golden light, streaming through the too-narrow windows that needed three people to open them.

Ren pushed her chair back suddenly, a little harshly, and left without looking back, box under her arm,

She eased open the door to the outer office, and pushed her box under the desk out of the way. The sound of voices in the General's office made her hesitate, and she pulled the transfer letter from her pocket, smoothing it out unnecessarily and knocking twice.

'Enter.'

Ren opened the door.

'Sorry to interrupt sir.' she said respectfully. 'My name is Ren Wolfe - I'll be your secretary starting from tomorrow.'

The General frowned. 'Haven't I met you before?'

'Yes sir. I was here when your last secretary was killed.'

His expression cleared. 'Yes, I remember.'

He held out a hand. 'Your papers?'

Ren gave him the letter. 'This is all I received.'

'Yes, these are all in order.' the General murmured. 'Then I will see you tomorrow Miss Wolfe.'

Ren nodded politely and left, closing the door softly behind her. Sephiroth glared at the man reclining on the couch under the window.

'Zackary, why do I have this strange feeling you are somehow involved in this?' he asked sourly.

Zack winced. 'I hate it when you use my full name. How did you even find that out anyway? I never use it, even on paperwork.'

'You told me one night when you were...inebriated.' Sephiroth replied dryly. 'And don't change the subject.'

'Damn, I did? I need to stop drinking around you. Alright, I admit it. I recommended her to Heidegger. He doesn't exactly have a very rigorous selection process - I think he just points at the first poor sod to cross his path.'

'But why her?' Sephiroth persisted doggedly. 'It's unlike you to put someone directly in the firing line.'

'Because she can take care of herself.' Zack said seriously. 'She killed two of those goons last time. Have you seen her profile? She's perfect for the job.'

He twiddled his thumbs, adding more softly. 'And because I'm sick of seeing you writing bereavement letters to the families of each new throwaway every couple of months.'

Sephiroth typed Ren's full name into his computer, using his clearance code to bypass several security protocols that popped up. Zack came round the desk to view it over his shoulder.

'Your concern is unnecessary.' Sephiroth told him quietly, green eyes fixed on the screen.

'Like hell it is.' Zack replied just as quietly. 'Someone's got to worry about you boss - specially seeing as you don't. Take care of yourself, I mean.'

Sephiroth was apparently absorbed in the facts scrolling past on his screen, but Zack felt the muscles in his shoulder relax slightly under his hand. He smiled a little to himself. Getting Sephiroth close to halfway normal was hard work - he wasn't going to even think about fully normal until after at least six strong beers - but it was worth it.

'This is...unusual.' Sephiroth murmured. 'Mako poisoning? It's amazing she isn't dead.'

'This one's a fighter, boss. Not only that, but she's strong and fast - enhanced. Not as strong as a SOLDIER, but enough to give her an advantage. You saw her with those freaky fan things. And she's got a good work record.'

Sephiroth didn't reply. Zack grinned gleefully, resisting the urge to tousle the General's hair. He was cheerful, not insane. 'Come on, say it. Say I was right.'

'I don't believe I ever insinuated otherwise.' Sephiroth said blandly.

'Damn! You look so much like a cat when you do that! All bristle and wounded pride.' Zack laughed, falling back onto the couch.

'Zackary?'

'Yes?'

'Get out of my office.'