Author's Note: Hisashibura da na! Wait, this is the assasin's chapter...I should've saved that for Sephiroth's appearance. anyway, I'm back after my month of funky internet and flaky text uploads and midterms, so here, as promised, is the assassin's chapter. I'm backing off on the Next Time On section because I'm going back to chapter a day for a little while. Also, I do listen to my readers, and things will begin to make sense...mind you, everything looses sense at about the same time as I pull on some strings that nobody has touched on yet, one's that I thought I'd be jumped on for "leaving out". Kudos (and maybe a cameo?) to the first person to figure out what it is!

Chapter 17

He sighed. He was out of practice, too old…no matter what he said, it was still just excuses. He had failed an easy kill. Rufus was a weak man, under guarded for a man of his rank. Still, he had failed to anticipate the movement of the Turks. The attack from behind had caught him off guard…it shouldn't have. He should've known, should've anticipated. He had failed in every possible way on this mission, ignoring the fact that he made it to Rufus.

He shook his head. Feeling sorry for himself was not going to bring Rufus to his end any quicker, nor would it help his cause, nor would it help those who were counting on him. His first thought was to escape. Everything came second, to include the decision to stay and find Rufus or to escape with his own life.

He looked around the room. There were no defining features, and as near as he could tell, the only door was behind him. That was the entrance that Rufus had used at the very least. He listened carefully for the sound of breathing, but only his was present. The Turks were not there. If they were, they were likely keeping watch outside, which wouldn't matter. As long as he got to the door…

Their method of tying him down was quite crude; simple rope held him to a simple chair. Both his arms and legs were bound, both to each other and to the chair. They had, of course, taken the dagger that he had used against Rufus, in addition to a few of the more obvious ones that he kept, but while it had been a while, he was still a good assassin, and every good assassin keeps extra weapons handy.

He almost chuckled at how easy escape would be. The incompetent Turks had failed to search him properly; if they had, it might have taken effort to escape. Instead, however, they had neglected a small shuriken had kept at his wrist under his sleeve. He worked it into his palm slowly and carefully.

Slicing the ropes, he returned the shuriken to its hidden pocket; he didn't have many, so holding on to the one he knew he kept was imperative. He proceeded quickly and silently to the door. He paused for a moment, then pulled a dagger out from his pants. Opening the door, he reached around and slit the throats of his two guards.

Stepping out, he noticed that the guards were not Turks after all; they were mere SOLDIER grunts. Part of him was disappointed; he was looking forward to rewarding incompetence.

"Looking for us?" a vaguely familiar voice asked as the door he had just left shut behind him.

He leapt forward and spun around. Now standing before him were a pair of Turks, one of which was holding a metal staff; he guessed it was the same type of weapon that was used to stun him earlier, perhaps even the same Turk.

"We knew you'd try to escape," the bald Turk scoffed. "You should've known that we'd be expecting you."

The assassin readied his dagger, making it apparent to the Turks. "You should've known that I'd be expecting you," he growled. He lunged at the bald Turk, who bent out of the way, but only barely. The dagger managed to place a small cut in his chin.

The other Turk ran forward recklessly, and the assassin easily parried the blow, countering with a crippling slice on the Turks arm, rendering his weapon arm useless, at least for the duration of the fight. The brief moment that had taken, however, gave the bald Turk time to punch the assassin in the side of the head, knocking him into a wall.

The assassin groaned internally. This hallway was much too narrow for the type of battle that was beginning, and he wondered if he could make use of it. He decided that battle was not the preferable choice, mostly due to the conditions, and that escape would be simpler.

The injured Turk stood and began to run. "Hold him, Rude!" he shouted. "I'm getting help!"

Rude went to hit him again, but the assassin dodged the blow and rolled aside. Pulling a shuriken out from each wrist, he launched his brief offensive at the Turk. Both shuriken hit him in the shoulder, but he flicked them away, as though they were more of a nuisance than a serious threat.

Rude began his offensive, leaning in for punches, only one of which hit, but this plan was also short lived. He attempted to kick the assassin, but the assassin brought his dagger around and cut the back of Rude's leg; he dropped in an instant.

The assassin moved in for the kill, but Rude pulled a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at the assassin, finger resting on the trigger. "Not another step," Rude threatened.

A brief bout of fear overtook the assassin, and he stopped in his tracks. Rude continued to glare at him. "Rufus doesn't want you dead," he said. "Not yet. So why don't you cooperate and get back into your room?"

The assassin scoffed. "Bold words for a man who hides behind a gun. Are you afraid to fight?"

Rude scoffed as well. "I'm smarter than that. I'm in no condition to fight; you've seen to that," he added, indicating his leg. "As long as I have the upper hand, you'll do as I say."

The assassin took in his surroundings briefly. The hallway was long and bright, but less than 50 yards behind Rude was another hallway, a darker one off to the left. He thought quickly on how to make it there before the other Turk could return.

"You seem confident that I'll comply," the assassin noted. "Presumption is a mistake."

The assassin raised his leg and kicked the gun out of Rude's hand. Rude leapt for it, but the assassin kicked it down the hall; he didn't need to kill Rude now, he only had to escape and find Rufus. Using Rude as a springboard, he leapt several feet and sprinted for the hallway, turning into the shadows of the unlit corridor, knowing that Rude would be unable to follow in a timely manner.

He followed the halls, carefully avoiding any that were well lit, until at last he found an air vent that he could crawl through. It was a tight fit, but he slowly maneuvered his way around, carefully listening for signs of Rufus. With any luck, he would overhear a conversation that would lead him straight to this deranged man.

He topped at one, and cursed internally when he noticed that the vent was too small for him to escape through; he had found Rufus. He pressed his ear to the air vent, listening closely to the conversation that Rufus was having.

"And my data? We did have an agreement, Dr. Odine."

"Yes, yes," a voice said over a speaker. "You shall have ze data, just not now…"

"Why not? I was hoping to have Materia capable of reproducing the Eidolons before the war began. Do you have anything for me?"

"Ven shall ze first battle commence? I shall have ze data there!"

"You had best, Odine. Don't forget, you work for me now, and I won't hesitate to have you killed if you fail me."

"Do not prezume to threaten me, Rufus! You can do nutzing!"

"We will see," Rufus said as he pressed a button, a small grin on his face.

Suddenly, the Turk from before burst into the room. "Sir, the assassin escaped!"

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you and Rude supposed to stop him before he got anywhere?"

"Well…um…that didn't work. He sorta…overpowered us, boss."

"He's one man. You are two of the best trained fighters in the Turks."

"Well, we weren't expecting to meet our equal, sir."

Rufus thought. "Has security been notified?"

"Of course! First thing I did! I went back to see if Rude had caught him or not, but I found him laying there with his leg cut and his gun down the hall. He's in the care of our medical teams now."

Rufus nodded at this, and the assassin pondered the situation for a moment. Was Rufus so cold that he cared not for what had just happened to one of his self-proclaimed "best trained Turks"?

"I want the assassin found," he said finally. "If you can't catch him, kill him. You have fifteen minutes to have this whole building searched."

The Turk nodded and ran off. The assassin backtracked slightly, wondering if he could use the vent that he had used earlier to attack Rufus, which was on the other side of the room, but as he did, a pair of armed soldiers entered the room. He slowed his movement down slightly, noticing that they weren't using SOLDIER uniforms or weapons.

"Reporting!" one of them said. "We are assembled and ready for deployment."

"Good," Rufus nodded. The assassin continued backing away, and he was glad that he hadn't stopped. Although the voices were becoming faint, he heard Rufus talking to the two soldiers. "There is an assassin loose. Last time, he used the air vents…"

Shortly afterwards, without warning, the vent in front of him was filled with bullets. The new holes allowed him to hear the rest of the conversation: "A bit more direct than I would have liked, but it will do. The cost of repairs will, of course, be deducted from your agreed upon salary. Now then, let's see if everything is in order. You two, accompany me for the rest of the day."

Now realizing where he was, the assassin returned to the duct that he had used before to enter the office and followed his path back out the ShinRa building, knowing that he would remain unseen as long as he remained in the shadows. Shadow was his element, his territory. He was familiar with shadow, while most people feared it. Perhaps it came with the trade, perhaps he was simply dark by nature. In either case, the shadows would save his life as he escaped.