Recap: Tseng still sat at the entrance to the temple, slowly dying. He began to remember a night that happened four years earlier …

Nighttime was a dangerous time in the Midgar Slums. Even if the place had no real day or night, it seemed all the seediness and in truth the real 'essence' of the city came out to play once the sun set from below the plate. Anything went in the city that never saw a sunrise. It was where he found himself on this cold night in early spring, walking through the red light district in the Sector 3 slums.

The neon lights dazzled and nearly nude women enticed from within filthy glass windows. He walked at a leisurely pace though throngs of pimps and hawkers, the girls were kept behind glass, or at worse behind locked doors. "Five Gil for a peek, fifty for the whole thing!" one hawker invited him in, speaking in a low voice right into his ear as if it was a secret treasure to be had just for him. He just took another drag off of his cigarette and continued on. His pace belied his desperate purpose, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

He stopped at a three-story townhome that was way past its prime, but still bedecked in some of its old glory with cast iron, columns, stucco, and a wrap-around veranda. He saw two guards at the door, almost hidden in the darkness of the night. The house had no outside lights, and indoors was nothing but red light glowing through thin satin curtains. It made the place look deserted, but he knew its true purpose.

He threw his cigarette out onto the wet street and made his way up the steps. The two men eyed him cautiously. He kept his Turk uniform on, not caring if they knew his identity. The more he looked like he was from Shinra the better as Shinra employees were the Slum's best customers. They said nothing as they searched him, not finding any weapon on him they were satisfied, both taking a door from the double doors to open for him.

He stepped inside. He was met with the color red, everywhere. Crimson velvet couches and upholstered chairs, cherry wood floors and crown molding, scarlet Victorian wallpaper, vermilion glass lamps that glowed eerily with yellow light, and everywhere was decorated in red lace, feathers, and beads.

A woman in a see-through red and black lace nightie welcomed him, kissing him sloppily on the cheek. She led him into the large room on the right where there was a fireplace and an oil painting of a completely nude woman with flame red hair spread eagle on a red satin bed that nearly took up the entire back wall. She poured him a glass of red wine the color and consistency of blood. He thanked her and she winked at him, showcasing her generous cleavage for his pleasure. He smiled at her, but his smile did not reach his eyes.

She then backed away and from behind her walked in an older woman dressed in a tight red embroidered velvet dress that covered her entire body from the neck down. She was extremely thin with sleek black hair fashioned in a tight bun on the top of her head, and she wore a lot of makeup with high drawn-in black eyebrows and deep crimson lips. Her face was very rigid and taut looking as though the skin was being held from the back of her head and pulled.

"Good evening kind Sir," the older woman bowed. She examined his face carefully and then his dress. He flashed his hand up as he took a sip of wine, letting her see the gold and jeweled rings he wore on his fingers. He had "borrowed" them from the President for just this occasion.

She gave him an appraising smile as she took a seat in front of him. "What can we do for you this evening?" she asked, not beating around the bush. She had been in this business for a long time, he could tell, seeing how she got right down to business not wasting time for small talk.

He didn't like wasting time either. "I'm looking for a girl," he then replied and before she could say something obvious, like 'we have many girls' he immediately reiterated. "A certain type of girl."

"What does the gentleman prefer?" she asked.

"Brunettes," he replied. "Especially ones with green eyes."

She looked into his eyes, he didn't like those small black beads searching his the way hers did, and fighting the urge to look away he stared back at her.

"Special girls," she said not eyeing him as carefully as before, "carry special prices."

He reached into his pocket withdrawing a bundle of Gil that was clasped with golden Gil clip. Her beady little eyes grew at the sight. Normally, girls cost about 40 Gil an hour or 100 Gil a night, the more beautiful she was the more her value would increase.

He counted out 1000 Gil and placed it on the table in between them. She grabbed the money and then smiled lazily at him. "We do have something very special," she then said. "That I think the gentleman will enjoy. Please, follow me."

He followed her up the stairs to the second floor. Rows of doors lined the hallway on both sides. She led him to a room on the left down the hall. He looked back at the stairwell trying to see if he could see anything on the third floor. That was probably where they kept their 'special' girls. She unlocked the door for him, holding her hand out to the room before them, "Please enter." He walked into the room noticing that it was bare except for a bed and that everything was painted green. He turned around and she abruptly shut and locked the door. He was locked in. Smart witch, he thought.

He immediately sat down on the plush green bed and lifted his right pant leg taking off something wrapped in a cloth that was taped close to his leg; he did the same for his other leg as well and then took something out of his lapel pocket. He quickly and deftly assembled a small pistol the size of a billiard ball, it took him less than 10 seconds, and put six bullets into the chamber. He slipped on a pair of black gloves with the fingers cut out and held his gun up as he waited beside the door.

Aerith was kidnapped three hours ago from outside her home in the Sector 5 slums. Time was of the essence.

It took about five minutes and then the door slowly creaked open. He waited in the darkness as a busty brown haired prostitute walked into the room. "Hello!" she crooned loudly, smacking her gums as she went to check the bed. In one swift movement he came out from his hiding place and grabbed her from behind. He held his hand tightly around her mouth and pointed his gun at her temple. In the scuffle, her wig fell off revealing that she wasn't even a brunette. He almost laughed out loud about not getting his money's worth, but this was not the time or place for that.

"Tell me," he whispered in her ear as she whimpered pitifully under his grip. "Where the new girls are kept. If you scream, I will kill you." He looked straight into her eyes as he said the last part his eyes devoid of any emotion. "Understand?"

Her maroon eyes widened and she nodded. He loosened his grip. "Up…pppp…stairs," she stuttered, perhaps out of fear.

"Good girl," he consoled her and then knocked her on the head with the butt of his gun. She fell to the floor. She would be out for at least a few minutes and he had to hurry.

He walked out the door. It was quiet and still, belying the true nature of what was happening behind those locked doors. He climbed the stairs as stealthily as a cat until he reached the third floor. He peeked out into the hallway before him. It was dark and dimly lit by the same vermilion lamps as the rest of the house. There were several doors on this floor as well, but at the end stood a bulky guard and in his arms was an automatic rifle. Shit!He was out gunned. And it was a pretty good guess to say that that was where Aerith was being held.

He steadied himself. It wasn't so much his life he was worried about, but Aerith's. If he failed, she would never be rescued from this hellhole. He needed a distraction. He took a long drawn in breath of air and kissed his gun. Old friend be good to me tonight.

He went stealthily back down the stairs but then started to walk up them, very loudly. He threw himself onto the floor as he reached the top. He looked up at the guard who hadn't budged, his hand still holding the gun across his chest. "Ow," he winced as he picked himself back up and then stumbled forward. "Where's the bathroom," he blurted, trying to act like a drunk who had lost his way.

"Downstairs," the guard just replied not amused.

"Ah, okay, okay," he waved his hand at the man and turned around like he was going back down the stair, but in an instant he grabbed his gun and twirled around shooting and aiming at the guard's head but he missed and shot his shoulder instead. The man screamed, "Little shit!"

and started firing. The bullets whirled all around him. Tseng ducked and rolled back down the stairs to the second floor.

Doors flung open all around him. There was screaming and panic once they saw him there, gun in his hands and the burly brute from upstairs barging down the stairs yelling that he was going to kill him. Tseng knocked a man out who was the closest to him and flew in the open room. The girl inside screamed and ran out but as she was leaving she was shot multiple times by the guard who had come after Tseng. She fell dead onto the floor. This caused everyone else to panic even more. Some thought that they would be safer inside and slammed their doors shut, while others started running trying to get out. The two guards from outside, now realizing the situation, were trying to get up the stairs but couldn't with all the people running down them screaming.

Tseng ran to the wall as bullets sprayed across the room. The guard barged in, shooting his way into the room, but Tseng was waiting for him and kicked him hard in the gut once his clip was spent. The large man fell back slightly and went to change his clip but Tseng delivered a swift kick to his head. The man fell backwards and Tseng grabbed his gun, but first changed the clip. Now it was a real fight, he had real firepower now.

The two guards from downstairs had now made their way up. Tseng took refuge behind the door shooting them one by one as they appeared. When the firing stopped he peeked out from the door. Several bodies lined the staircase. He could hear sirens in the distance.

He bounded up the stairs like a mountain lion and found it empty. He tried the door at the end, and of course it was locked. He shot the lock and kicked the door open. He burst into the room and saw a single bed with metal posts and attached to one of those posts was Aerith, sitting on the tiled floor, chained by her hands. She stared wide-eyed at him. Without a word he ran over to her and tried to undo her chains but they were thick and padlocked. It was too delicate of a situation to shoot the lock. He then looked at the bedpost itself. It was flimsy and shoddily made.

Without a word she knew what he was going to do and she positioned herself as far away from the bed as she could. He grabbed a hold of one of the posts and put his leg against the metal bed frame. With great exertion he pulled the bedpost off of the bed frame and Aerith slipped her chains down the post freeing her hands from the post but her wrists were still chained. He broke the lock with the butt of his gun. He wordlessly took her by the hand and led her to the door. He heard footsteps and voices from down stairs. It sounded like the authorities.

"We have to get out of here," he told her. She nodded. He got his gun and stood up.

"Wait!" she cried. "There's a lift. It's how they bought me up here." She walked over to the wall on her left and started searching it. "I was blindfolded but brought straight up here, in this room. So there must be a secret compartment somewhere."

He went over and tested the wall, pushing on it but nothing happened. He then looked at a red lamp in the corner, it was the same as the others throughout the house. He pulled on it and behind them a wall opened. It was the lift. They quickly went inside just in time as there were voices shouting at them from the hallway. Tseng closed the door to the lift and since there was only one button he pressed it and they started to go down.

The ride was slow and it made creaking sounds as they went down. "I think it leads to the basement," Aerith told him. "I couldn't see but it was damp and dusty."

She went through an ordeal, he knew, even if she was putting on brave face now. He reached over and embraced her, holding his hand on her head. "You're safe now," he softly spoke to her, comforting himself by those words as well as her. He had her now, and he would fight to the death, come that may.

The lift then came to a stop. He looked at her "Stay here," he told her. Her eyes were still wide and watery - she had been crying, a lot. She just nodded silently at him. He opened the door. It was eerily quiet and empty. He took a step forward and all of the sudden he felt dizzy the air was being filled with a green gas. He slumped to the floor gasping for breath. His gun fell at his side as his hands flew up to his mouth and eyes trying to keep out the poisonous air. Then the strangest thing happened, the gas dissipated and a cleansing wash spread over him. He looked up to see Aerith hovering over him. She had done something and it cleared the poison from him. He knew she didn't have any materia on her, especially heal materia. It must have come from somewhere within her. He didn't have time to ask her about that though. "Thank you," he then told her as he got back up on his feet again.

She smiled weakly, "No, Tseng, thank you."

"How touching."

Tseng whirled around, drawing his gun, and placing Aerith behind him. The Madam walked out from behind some old crates. "I knew something was off about you," she then tisked at him. "Just look what you did to my beautiful place, and my lovely guards." She held a poison gas gun in her hands.

"It's no more than what you deserve you bitch!" Tseng shouted at her. "Kidnapping young girls from the streets and forcing them into prostitution."

The old woman just snorted, "Lowly wretches," she hissed, "it's not as if anyone loves them and no one will miss them when they're gone. They are dispensable."

"That's where you're wrong," Tseng growled. He held his gun up.

"Oh," the old woman sighed. "You're going to kill me now. I think not. One push of my finger and you'll have extra concentrated poisoned gas straight into your lungs. What you witnessed before was just a tease."

Tseng didn't move and kept his hand steady, his gun aimed at her head in between the eyes. Aerith then stepped forward. "Aerith get back," he yelled at her, not wanting her in danger.

Aerith looked over at him and smiled as if telling him, 'let me handle this, okay.' She then held out her arms and cast Shell over both herself and him.

Tseng then started to laugh. "Such a clever girl you are Aerith," he said and walked closer to the old witch.

"What, what did she do," the Madam stammered. She pressed the trigger on her gun but the poison just dissipated once it reached the shell around Tseng's body. "What does this mean?" she asked, trying it again but to no avail.

"It mean's you're dead," Tseng replied pointedly and shot her in the head. Her head flew back from the blow. She slumped onto the floor and was no more.

Tseng and Aerith fled out the back. The authorities were still searching the place, trying to piece together what had happened, but they would never find out because they were both out of sight before anyone noticed.

They stopped running and took refuge in a deserted alley. Tseng collapsed, taking deep breaths. His side hurt he looked down and saw blood running down his arm dripping from his fingers onto the wet street. He had been shot and didn't realize it until just now. "Oh no," Aerith sighed and knelt down beside him, "you're injured."

He took off his jacket and saw that the bullet had hit him in the shoulder. He saw an exit wound so at least the bullet wasn't still inside. "Let me help you," Aerith spoke. He looked up at her curiously but let her help him without resisting. He watched as a soft green glow emanated from her hands. She cast Cure on his shoulder and the wound cleared immediately. He regarded her thoughtfully. All of her help tonight was done without the use of materia. She really was amazing.

If my life's work is protecting this magnificent creature, then it is a life well spent.

They sat there in the alley huddled together for a while. In the distance a tomcat out on the prowl crooned his lovesick heart out and a husband and wife started their day off by bickering. It was the only way the could tell that the sun had risen.

"I have to get home, my mother is probably sick with worry," Aerith then said.

Tseng took her hand, "I'll walk you home." She took his hand and they walked hand in hand all they way to her home in Sector 5. He saw her to her door.

"Thank you, again Tseng," she said softly. Her voice was strained - she was very tired.

He kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep," he said and then turned to walk away.

"You too!" she called out. He couldn't help but smile the entire way as he walked back to his apartment. He was taking the day off today.