"Where are they?" Hojo paced in circles, clenching and unclenching his hands. "It's been 4 weeks now, and they still haven't recovered the experiment." He turned to Rufus, eyes narrowing into slits. "I thought you said that the Turks were capable of any task set before them."
The President's son sat calmly in his wheelchair. "They are. It seems to be you that is having difficulty in understanding that these things take time. Remember that Valentine was once a Turk. If he doesn't want to be found, then he won't be found until he makes a mistake." Rufus could practically see the steam coming out of Hojo's ears.
To pacify the fuming scientist, he reached under his concealing robes and pulled out a cell phone. "Just to assure you that they haven't done something silly, like run away from the complex, I'll call Tseng and let you speak to him yourself." He dialed with one hand while motioning Hojo to be silent with the other. The scientist glared at him, but grudgingly complied. Rufus gave a mental sigh as the phone began ringing. How had he ever gotten himself into this?
x-x-x
The four Turks had barely dashed through the wide-flung doors of the church when Tseng's phone rang in his pocket. He fished it out and was about to answer it from force of habit when Reno's hand darted out and snatched it away. "Are you crazy?!" the redhead hissed. "If you're going to make me run an illegal marathon at this inhumane hour, the least you could do is not blow our cover!" Elena waved them silent and pointed to the far row of pews. Standing in among the flowers were two people. Both startled when they noticed the arrival of the Turks.
x-x-x
"I don't suppose you happen to have another Barrier with you?" Speaking without moving his lips, Vincent kept a sharp watch on the intruders. He was quite sure that the Turks would recognize Aerith right away, if not him.
"No," she said quietly. "But I have my ways of protecting those I love."
Vincent at once was amused by the notion of the slender girl protecting him and warmed by her spoken love for him. He glanced down at the pink ribbon tied securely to her braid, noticing how clean it was compared to the first time he'd seen it.
"So do I," he said. "It is time for me to repay my debt to you." Before she could inquire further, he stepped forward, in front of her, towards the four Turks arrayed in a semicircle by the doors.
"Brave of you," Elena said. "Don't sweat it, Vincent. We're not here on official business." At his look of slight surprise, she chuckled. "Did you really think that cutting your hair and changing clothes would hide who you really are? I mean, come on. Who else on the planet has flaming red eyes?" She sobered. "It took us way too long to realize our mistake. But late is better than never, I guess, so here we are." She shrugged expansively, letting her arms fall to her sides with a slap. "I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry" She turned to indicate the other three standing beside her. Tseng stepped forward.
"In light of this serious error in judgment, I ask that you accept our sincere apologies and our service on your behalf," he said quietly.
Vincent stood unmoving beside Aerith. "Explain, please," he said. Tseng hastily recounted the events of the past few weeks. When the Turk finished, Vincent sighed and dipped his head in acceptance. Suddenly, the tension that had hung so thick in the room moments before was gone. Behind Vincent, Aerith let out a little sigh and sat down on a dusty wooden pew.
"Of course, now we have to decide what to do when ShinRa figures out that we're gone," said Elena. "We should lay low for a while, you know, blend in with the common, everyday people." Rude grunted.
"Translation?" Tseng asked.
"I think he said that we aren't exactly common, everyday people, yo," Reno supplied helpfully. "Especially Elena. She's weird enough to stand out in any crowd."
The blonde cuffed Reno in the head. "Oh? I'm not the official ShinRa idiot with a goofy grin and a mop of something unidentifiable on my head."
Reno was about to make a smart remark when Tseng's confiscated phone began ringing in his hand. He stared at it, dazed.
"Who is it?" Vincent asked. Tseng grabbed it from a bewildered Reno and looked at the front readout.
"ShinRa," he mouthed. Vincent reached for the phone, raising his eyebrows in an unspoken question. The Turk leader wore a quizzical frown, but he shrugged and gestured to the phone. Vincent flipped it open.
x-x-x
Hojo paced off eight-step circles in the corner of the bare grey room. Rufus rolled back and forth, wearing a path from the window to the door and back again. Finally, the phone beeped to signal that the call had been connected. "Hello, Tseng?" Rufus said. He flicked the phone to speaker so Hojo could hear as well. The voice that came out was most definitely not Tseng.
"Hello, Rufus, Hojo," Vincent said, his deep voice slightly distorted by the volume at which it was being projected. "I commend your efforts to terminate me, but your charade is over. Unfortunately, you seem to have forgotten the first rule of the Turks: loyalty to one's compatriots comes above all." The phone crackled slightly as Vincent paused. The room seemed to darken when he spoke again.
"Our bond is forged once again," he said. "And this time you will not be able to break it." There came a click from the other end of the line, and the dial tone buzzed loudly until Rufus snapped the phone shut.
Hojo threw up his hands. "What are you doing, just sitting like nothing has happened!?!" Rufus merely looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you see?" Hojo raged. "They're coming to attack the compound! All of them! And you said that they would do their job! Now look what a fine mess you've gotten us into!" He did an abrupt about-face and marched out of the room, yelling for Security to lock down the complex. Rufus sat motionless in his wheelchair, staring impassively out the window. Finally, he reached down and touched the hidden video intercom on the arm of his chair. His father came onto the line immediately.
"What?!" he grumbled, almost hidden by a stack of paperwork. He impatiently pushed it away and stared at the video cam.
"Permission to use Test Project 307?" Rufus asked. "The Turks seem to have changed allegiance and are reputedly on their way. They must be stopped before they can take advantage of their knowledge of this facility."
President Shinra's mustache bristled. "Permission granted," he said gruffly. With that, he stabbed at a button near the corner of his desk and the video feed was abruptly cut off. Rufus smiled grimly.
"Time to see what they're really made of," he said.