AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. This is the first of several chapters that take place in Junon. And Rufus is back.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9
What a Waste of Time and Money...

Rufus mechanically waved at the cheering people. He did not want to be here, but Heidegger had wanted to show off the might of his army and the look Scarlet had given him had said she was closely watching him. Not wanting to come any further under their scrutiny, Rufus had agreed to go.

What he really wanted to be doing was looking over Hojo's research with the Turks. Back when his father had placed him in the Turks' custody, it was on of the few branches of Shin-Ra that he did not have complete access to. It didn't look like his father had blocked him from it either. That that could only mean that Hojo had been up to something he did not want Shin-Ra to know about. Rufus wondered if that was now coming back to haunt them.

For now though, he had to content himself with making sure Scarlet didn't suspect him or the Turks and if that meant putting himself forward as his former spoiled self and suffering through a parade in Junon, so be it. As it was, it turned out Sephiroth had been headed towards Junon when he was last seen so the trip was not a complete waste.

Fortunately, the parade ended at the mako canon. Back in Midgar, Heidegger had claimed that the Highwind, the largest airship Shin-Ra had produced would be waiting for them. Predictably, nothing was there. Rufus wasn't surprised; he had heard from the Turks how Heidegger had handled the last Junon crisis and had prepared accordingly. Still, it was annoying.

Rufus sighed and climbed out of the car. I might as well get this over with. As he turned around, the last squad of troopers ran up. Rufus frowned at the last trooper in line. Something's... off... It took him a second to see everything. The most obvious discrepancy was that the trooper was on the short side. By itself, it didn't mean much, but when taken with the fact that the trooper had accidentally swung his gun over his back before holding it correctly, it made for a very disturbing picture. It became more disturbing when Rufus realized the way the trooper swung his gun over his back was nearly identical to the way Cloud Strife swung his sword over his shoulder in the security footage Rufus had seen. Rufus made a mental note to compare the parade footage with the security footage. It could very well be that it was Cloud Strife under the trooper uniform; the Turks had used the exact same ruse to get between their base in the Shin-Ra Tower and the hanger and it had worked every time.

Rufus got to observe the trooper much more closely as Heidegger ran the troopers through several pointless drills. While the trooper didn't accidentally put his gun on his back again, he was far sloppier then the other troopers.

Finally the commander gave Heidegger one last salute and Heidegger faced Rufus. "Gya haa haa! All units present and accounted for!"

Rufus's eyes narrowed and he decided to start out the nice way. "How's the job?" He raised an eyebrow and waited for Heidegger to tell him why the airship wasn't there. When Heidegger didn't answer, Rufus turned around and looked out over the harbor. It's time to start letting him know I am not my father. Maybe not all at once, but in bits and pieces... He turned around and looked directly at Heidegger. "What happened to the Airship?" he asked in a quiet, low voice that demanded an answer.

Heidegger scratched the back of his head. "The long range airship is still being prepared," he bellowed out. "It should be ready in about three more days. Gya haa haa!"

Rufus sighed. What did my father ever see in this idiot. Reeve, Rufus understood; even Scarlet had a place. Heidegger had none."Even the Air Force's Gelnika?" he supplied. Unlike the Highwind, which was one of a kind, the Gelnika had been mass-produced back in the Wutai war. It wouldn't take that long to ready it for travel.

"...Gya haa haa!" Heidegger burst out.

Furious at not being taken seriously, Rufus walked up to Heidegger. "Stop that stupid horse laugh," Rufus ordered. At the moment, he didn't care what Scarlet would do with the incident. "Things are different then when father was in charge." And it would do you well to remember that although it probably doesn't matter at this point.

"Gya..." Heidegger stopped mid-laugh when Rufus's words finally hit him.

Rufus turned around and walked towards the harbor. He had one more suggestion and he hoped Heidegger was smart enough to take it. He turned around and gave Heidegger a pointed glare. "Is the ship ready?"

Finally Heidegger got the hint. He bowed and nodded vigorously. "Yes Sir, we'll get it ready quickly."

Rufus curtly nodded and tucked his hair behind his ear. He climbed up the ladder to the elevator that would take him to the presidential residence on top of the mako cannon. When Heidegger didn't follow him, he looked out the window. Heidegger was punching the trooper Rufus suspected was Cloud Strife. Unlike most troopers who passed out only after a few of Heidegger's punches, this one didn't. One more piece of evidence that it could be Strife, Rufus thought. Quickly, he dialed Tseng's number and scowled when he got Tseng's voice-mail. It couldn't be helped; for all he knew, Tseng was being grilled by Scarlet. At least Tseng checked his phone for messages often. "When you get the chance, send me the security footage of AVALANCHE's break-in and the live TV broadcast of the parade." Rufus shut the PHS. He did not have to say anymore. By now he knew the Turks better then his own family or rather, he was now part of their family. Tseng would look over the footage himself before sending it to Rufus and would know exactly what Rufus had seen.

A moment after Rufus put away his PHS, Heidegger stormed into the elevator and burst out laughing while he flipped a switch. The elevator groaned up towards the top of the cannon. Rufus grit his teen and bore it; as bad as Heidegger was, Scarlet was worse. Like Heidegger, she was annoying; unlike Heidegger, she actually had a head on her shoulders. Rufus had to be much more careful around her.

End

AN: For some reason, Chapters 10 and 11 are taking a long time. However Chapters 12, 13 and 14 are already done. I really don't know why my muse is like this.

Thanks for reading!