Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. They belong to Square Enix. I do own my original characters and plots, however.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry it took so long, everyone! I kind of lost motivation for a while… but I'm trying my best now to update and keep the story going. Don't get me wrong, I love this fiction to bits, but issues in life just sucked the inspiration out. Once again, I'm terribly sorry for this. I hope you like this chapter, folks! Enjoy.

Chapter 11: Sidetracked

"Thanks for coming with me, Reno," said Aphrodite the next day as the two Turks headed for Aeris Gainsborough's residence. The sun was absent as usual, and a foreboding gray sky of plate-metal hung above, looking as if it could fall any second.

Reno shrugged. Tseng hadn't given him anything important to do today, so he figured, why not accompany her on this little side mission Hojo had put her on? Maybe Aphrodite would do a better job than he did.

"Hey, there's my house!" she blurted out suddenly, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her previous home—the dingy cottage—in a deep niche of the main square of Sector 5's slums.

"Maybe it won't hurt to drop by," said the redhead, and he nudged her ribs playfully. "The Ancient can wait. Let's go bitch at Ares."

He sauntered over to the small cottage, slipping his hands into his pockets. He was ready to argue with 'Dite's brother again. It was a relatively amusing exercise, because Ares was so hotheaded and Reno always seemed to win their rows because of his coolness. A smirk curled the corners of his thin lips.

Aphrodite's unusually high-pitched giggle interrupted his thoughts, and the thud of her heels announced that she had followed him to the door. She suddenly cleared her throat and blushed, scratching her ear. Perhaps that shrill giggle had embarrassed her. "I wonder what he'll think now that I'm a Turk…"

"Dunno," said Reno, shrugging. He lifted a fist to knock on the door. "But he'll probably go through something medical."

She shook her head, pushing his fist away. "Maybe you shouldn't go in, Reno… I'll go by myself."

He opened his mouth to protest, but she had already knocked.

Aphrodite gave him a stern look, and for a moment, Reno had no clue why she was staring at him like that, but after she pointed at someplace over his shoulder, he understood. He grumbled incoherently and stomped off round the corner of the house. He stood close enough, however, so that he could see what was happening.

The door opened just as Reno had distanced himself, and Ares Sorrows stared at his sister in surprise. He blinked several times. "…Sis?"

Aphrodite smiled warmly at her elder brother and held her arms out to him, apparently asking for a hug. "Hi, Ares. It's been a while, hasn't it? I've missed you…"

The look on Ares' face was hard to decipher as he embraced his sister. He looked both happy and sad…and slightly resentful. "I missed you too, sis… But why are you wearing a blue suit…? That Reno loser isn't here with you, is he?"

Said loser twitched at the word.

Aphrodite didn't dare look at the corner where Reno was, but instead smiled up at her brother. "Let's go inside. I'll tell you everything."

Reno watched from afar, feeling out of place. It was a pretty sight, Aphrodite and her brother hugging. She was lucky; at least she had family that loved her… He sighed and lowered his eyes. How could he have taken her away from the only remnant of her family? Ares deserved her more than he did…

He watched the siblings enter the cottage, a hole in his heart. He moved to the side of the house and watched them from the window. They were entering the living room, and on the beat-up black leather couch sat a smiling young woman with a belly the size of a basketball. He arched a brow and watched the Sorrows siblings and the fat-looking lady converse. Aphrodite was patting the woman's belly and grinning, and Ares had that indecipherable look on his face again. He had never seen that woman before; maybe she was a friend of the family, like him?

Wait…Him? Friend of the family? Rubbish. Reno of the Turks was no friend of the Sorrows family.

He was jealous of them. He'd often deny having such feelings, but even subconsciously, he knew that he was jealous of Aphrodite and her brother. His parents never loved him, and he was an only child. Only his mother was alive now, and she was probably still selling herself in Sector 7's slums. "Damn her…" A severe wave of loneliness washed over him and he slumped down the wall of the house, turning his back on the window. He lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and glared at the little green Malboro mascot on the cigarette carton as if it were at fault for his sorrows.

"Forgive me, 'Dite," mumbled the Turk almost half an hour later, clenching his fists. Deep inside, he knew what he was sorry for.

"Forgive you for what, Reno?"

He looked up to see Aphrodite smiling down at him, holding an unusual weapon. It appeared to be an ornate brass-decorated gothic mace with a leather-wrapped handle.

"Nothing," said Reno, and he stood up, staring at the elegant weapon. "Where'd you get that mace?"

She continued to smile, and she held up the mace. "Ares just gave it to me. It was our mother's… It's the only thing we have left of her."

Reno frowned. He didn't know what to say.

"Oh," said Aphrodite suddenly, "and I've told Ares everything that's happened, that I'm living with you and that I'm a Turk and all… He still seems a bit bitter, but he sort of understands that I'm not a child anymore… He still hates you, though."

Reno laughed: a hollow sound. "Who was that fat chick in there?"

Aphrodite's eyes enlarged and her eyebrows shot up. She placed her hands on her wide hips and stared at Reno as if he had grown an arm on his forehead. "You were spying through the window!"

He grinned.

Aphrodite furrowed her brows. "Well, she is not fat!"

"Then what is she?"

"Well, she's human…"

"No, I mean…"

"Oh, I know what you mean!" Aphrodite threw up her arms in frustration, making a "grah" sound. "That was Frances Ann Borges, Ares' girlfriend. She's six months pregnant with my brother's child."

Reno stared.

Aphrodite bent her arms up and shrugged, keeping her shoulders raised. "Why are you staring at me like that? It's not like I'm the pregnant one!"

Reno just gaped. So the fat lady wasn't fat after all. She was just pregnant. With Ares' kid. And Aphrodite was going to be an aunt. Holy crap. "So big ol' Ares is gonna be a dad. And they're not…married?"

"Well," began Aphrodite, twiddling her thumbs. "Ares said he was planning to propose to Frances soon, but we haven't got much money, so…" She shrugged and looked down at her mace. "It's a long story."

Reno's eyes lingered on the mace for a few seconds, and Aphrodite's mother came to mind again. He looked up and gazed into Aphrodite's eyes solemnly.

"What happened to your parents?" He asked.

Her peaceful expression faded. She turned away. "They died, five years ago… Come on, let's go." Tension consumed the somewhat peaceful air.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Reno, and they began to walk again, but rather slowly. He couldn't capture a silly Ancient; he couldn't keep the peace with Ares or even himself; and he couldn't even keep a smile enduring for more than ten seconds on Aphrodite's face. He couldn't do anything right these days.

"Ya know," he began, frowning at the pained expression on 'Dite's freckled face. "My dad died a few years ago, too, but my mum's still alive."

"Really?" said Aphrodite, looking up at the redhead. The look in her gray-green eyes was mournful. "Where is she? Have you spoken to her?"

"Sector 7 slums," replied Reno, shrugging. "Sellin' herself to anyone she can find. I guess that's all she can do for money. I haven't spoken to her in three years."

Aphrodite's frown sunk lower.

Reno sighed. "Forgive me for asking this, but, 'Dite… How'd your parents die?"

"They died…" began Aphrodite, trailing off. She lowered her eyes and quickened her pace. "In a fire."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Aphrodite Sorrows? Is that really you? Dear, what happened to you?" Elmyra Gainsborough stared at the female Turk in alarm, her eyes wide.

Aphrodite and Reno stood in Aeris' house, and Elmyra seemed shocked at the slum-girl's drastic change in appearance and attitude.

"I'm a Turk now, Mrs. Gainsborough," explained Aphrodite, smiling delicately.

"Oh, my word." Elmyra looked ready to faint. She put a hand to her head. "But, Aphrodite, you were such a good girl…"

She digressed. "Mrs. Gainsborough, my partner and I have need to take your daughter, Aeris, to Shin-Ra Headquarters. Would she be here with you?"

"I'm sorry," said Elmyra, "but Aeris left a few hours ago. She went to Sector 6 with a young man named Cloud."

"Cloud…" Reno mumbled suddenly, and all eyes were on him.

"I see…" said Aphrodite, curious at the look on Reno's face. "Well, thank you anyway, Mrs. Gainsborough." She and the redhead turned to leave.

Once they were outside, Aphrodite tilted her head at Reno and gave him an inquisitive look. "Reno, you know Cloud Strife?"

The redhead shrugged as they retraced their steps through Sector 5. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Met the chocobo-head at the church yesterday. He's an Ex-SOLDIER, I think. The pussy ruined my mission."

She stared. The same Cloud Strife from Nibelheim? Could it be? He was still alive? Her eyes were wide and she suddenly remembered. "Oh, about that mission you had yesterday! What happened?"

Reno heaved a sigh, popping a cigarette from his Malboro carton into his mouth. He lit it, took a drag, and then pulled the cigarette gently from his lips. "I had to find and capture the sole surviving Ancient, that Aeris chick. She was at the church—and I almost had her!—but that damn spiky-ass helped her escape."

"Sole surviving Ancient…" Aphrodite's eyes widened as Reno inhaled another puff of his cigarette. She stopped walking and was now gaping at him.

"She's the only one left; the last one of her race, the Cetra, according to all the higher-ups at Shin-Ra," said Reno, and he arched an eyebrow at her shocked look. "Why, 'Dite?"

Aphrodite shook her head and her short curls flicked about. "Nothing. Nevermind. Hey, are we gonna follow 'em to Sector 6?"

"Nah. I'm tired. Let's go up the plate. I'm sick of this slum crap."

"Okay," said Aphrodite, concurring with a nod. "I'm tired, too. I worked tirelessly yesterday, and I need a shower…"

"Speakin' o' which, what was that 'task' Tseng had for you?"

The Turks headed for the niche that Reno had parked his car in, catching shocked and fearful stares from the slum-dwellers. Some pointed fingers at Aphrodite with wide eyes and whispered to themselves, but she tried her hardest to ignore them.

"He sent me with two SOLDIERS to the Mako Reactor No. 1 wreckage site to investigate the scene and write a report on what I saw."

Reno's eyebrows rose. "Whadja find?"

As they hopped into his rundown car, Aphrodite hesitated to answer while she strapped on her seatbelt. She did this very quickly, because now she knew about Reno's speedy, reckless way of driving. "Remains of the Guard Scorpion and…and…"

Should she tell Reno about the other…find? What would he think of her if she told him…? Surely he'd think her a bit wrong in the head…

"And what?" said the redhead, starting the engine and flipping the radio to some rap station. Erk, that repulsive noise…!

The annoying synthesizers, beat, and worst of all, the pointless rapping and cursing of tone-deaf voices pounded in Aphrodite's head. What a headache. She decided to change the subject ("Reno, how can you listen to that crap?") and switch to a random station. Once she saw the redhead open his mouth to protest, she popped her own mouth open with this evasive exclamation: "Oh, I love this song!"

And with that, she began to deliberately sing to the music.

"In my field of paper flowwweeers!"

Reno heaved a sigh as he zipped through the narrow roads and up a street ramp to the upper plate. He watched Aphrodite through the corner of his eye with arched eyebrows as the young woman sang at the top of her lungs.

"And candy clouds of lullaby!" Aphrodite slapped her left knee in rhythm with the music. As long as Reno didn't try to ask her about what else she saw, she'd keep on singing, living in her own little world…

"I lie inside myself for hoouurrrrs! And watch my purple sky fly over me…!"

This deliberate singing continued as Reno zoomed his car through a labyrinth of streets, skillfully avoiding about ten crashes. He mumbled under his breath, "Geez, she's got some loose screws…"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"'Dite, you're either crazy or there was something you really didn't wanna talk about back in the car," said Reno, giving the woman a bamboozled look. He watched her forage in his fridge, looking like an ostrich as her behind stuck out, rather emphasized by the boxers she had borrowed from him. "If I didn't know better, I'd have thought you were drunk… By the way, you have a really big ass."

"Shut up, Reno!"

The redhead didn't know what hit him, because right after Aphrodite's exclamation, he felt something sticky on his face.

"What the—" Reno ran to the living room mirror to see what Aphrodite had thrown at him. Giggles and taunts erupted from her general direction. Hopefully she hadn't done like a monkey and flung feces or something at his face… But where would she get that from, anyway?

Oh Lord.

Squishy pasta elbows and a gooey yellow substance clung to his face for dear life.

"Damnit, 'Dite! It's that macaroni n' cheese you made the other day! Man, that stuff tasted like shit!"

Aphrodite bounced over, grinning. "Get a taste of your own medicine! I know I can't cook, and I'm well aware that my butt is about the size of your head—"

"Hey!" Reno protested. Oh, come on. His head couldn't be that big…

"—but you needn't be so blunt and rude," finished Aphrodite.

"Get a taste of my own medicine, huh?" snapped Reno, furrowing his brows. Gah! She was being such a damn nuisance! "Well, why don't you get a taste of yours!"

And with that, he wiped half the cheesy substance off his face and smeared it all over hers.

Her eyes grew to about the size of grapefruit. Her jaw dropped.

"YOU COCKHEAD!"

The woman chased Reno around his apartment, shouting similar insults and incoherent run-on sentences. This went on for about five minutes before the Turk duo collapsed on top of each other on the living room, overcome with stomach-weakening laughter.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

Their laughing fits promptly died and Reno looked up to see Rude staring at them from the doorway. The bald man's eyebrows were twitching at their strange position on the floor.

"How'd you get in?" Reno was staring as well. So was Aphrodite, but she was blushing furiously. The redhead rolled off of her, grinning sheepishly.

"You left your door unlocked. Again. And you two have got some cheesy-looking stuff on your faces." Reno could see the slightest of scowls tugging at Rude's thin lips.

"Um, it's not what you see or think, Rude," squeaked Aphrodite, shrinking. She and Reno exchanged glances, and the redhead wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Aphrodite blushed and furrowed her brows at this. He just loved teasing her like that.

"We were playing 'Tag,'" said Reno, winking at Rude. He helped Aphrodite up and flipped his bangs. He turned for a moment and yanked several tissues out of the tissue box. He handed some to Aphrodite, and proceeded in wiping the macaroni and cheese off his face. The young woman followed suit. "S'up, Rude. Come on in."

"I can't stay long," said the bald man. He crossed his arms and cleared his throat. "They've got a mission for you, Reno."

Aphrodite only hovered by, quiet as a mouse. Reno raised his eyebrows, heaving a sigh. "Another one so soon?"

Rude was holding a manila folder with the Shin-Ra logo as he stepped into the living room. He shoved the folder into the redhead's arms and nodded. "They wanted me to bring it myself. They're too busy, and it's urgent, they say."

"Urgent? Whoop-de-freakin' doo," mumbled Reno, wrinkling his nose down at the folder. Damn it. The life-threatening jobs just loved him, didn't they? He and Aphrodite exchanged glances again, and the curly-haired Turk opened her mouth to speak.

"Y-You don't want to stay a while, Rude? Have some t-tea or something?" She sounded frightened. Her vain efforts in straining to sound normal made it all the more obvious to Reno. Aphrodite tried too hard… Did she fear Rude? Hmm, pretty odd if she did. Rude would never hurt his coworkers, despite his cold, stoic exterior… Reno knew him well enough to deduce that. How long had they known each other, anyway? About five or six years?

"No." Rude adjusted his dark glasses and turned his head to look at Reno's Shin-Ra clock. "Should go now."

The redhead noticed a glint from Rude's ear. His various earrings caught the light and they shimmered like diamonds. Aphrodite was watching that, too, and she seemed entranced. Man, that woman liked shiny things.

After Rude left, Reno and Aphrodite plopped onto the couch, and the redhead opened the manila folder. "Wonder what kinda mission they're sending me on now…" he mumbled to himself, flipping past a page with the Shin-Ra logo.

"Shin-Ra Electric Power Company," Aphrodite read aloud the letters on the logo.

Reno stared. "You can read?"

"Duh." She rolled her eyes. "I did have an education before I came to Midgar, you know. Go on, I wanna read your mission briefing."

An education, did she say? In Nibelheim, probably. Why did she have to be so mysterious sometimes? She never spoke of her past, and it bothered him, in a way. Then again, he never said much about his, so they were sort of even… Reno stared down at the next few pages. They were illustrated with photographs of Midgar from above and of the Sector 7 Plate Support System. The two were quiet for a few minutes as they silently read the briefing.

The silence was deafening, but then Reno broke it with the softest of whispers.

"…They want me to drop the plate."

Aphrodite's eyes were wide with shock. "I…I can't believe it…! Why…!"

Reno shook his head. "Best not to question. According to the briefing, AVALANCHE's hideout is in Sector 7. In the slums. But why they'd wanna destroy the entire sector is beyond me…"

The slums… Sector 7… His home for years before his Turk days. His apartment. Mom. The people. They were all going to die.

They were all, as his neighbor—Johnny—used to say, going to go boom.