Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, Crisis Core, Before Crisis, or any other part of FFVII.

AN: Well, I'm back. Booyah! Several updates on my stories. BTW, more updates on the "Item Catalogue" in the FFVII fanfic extras section of my forums should be coming soon. Since the BC Turks will be appearing, or at least mentioned, throughout this fic, I'm also going to be putting the names I'm using for each of them there as well. For example, using the one from the previous chapter:

Rod – Sukueni.

Time Passage

Thoughts

As Avalanche was busy bombing Mako Reactor One, some other familiar faces were having an adventure of their own. To be a bit more specific, Tifa was having a few issues with a few crazy old men intent on getting a few more drinks.

"C'mon, jus lemme have one drink?" Why didn't some people just understand that "closed" meant that they were closed? There was a sign and everything…

"I'm sorry sir, but we closed up shop an hour ago. You can come in for a drink tomorrow." Honestly, she'd been standing at the door arguing with the man for nearly fifteen minutes. If he was just some punk, she would have simply tossed him out and been done with it. But she just didn't have the heart to throw a frail looking old man out by force.

"I jus' wan one more. Pleash?" As Tifa closed her eyes and began to massage her forehead, the man hiccupped a few times, and a voice spoke up from the bottom of the steps.

"Come on ma'am. What could it really hurt to let him have one more?" Opening her eyes at the voice, Tifa's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the far too familiar black suit. Yet another face she hadn't seen since Nibelheim.

"Sukueni?"

He grinned. "Long time no see, eh?"

"Why are you here?" A Turk showing up at your door was rarely a good sign. She imagined it would be even worse if he found out that she happened to be hiding one of Shinra's current targets. The old man was already starting to leave, apparently having lost interest in getting a drink at the realization that a Turk was going to be there as well.

"Here for a drink. Got a long trip coming up, and figured I'd stop by. I've heard a lot about the infamous Seventh Heaven." He walked up the steps, and tilted his head to the side with a smile. "So whattya say about that drink?"

"…Yeah, why not." At least if he started something in the bar, they could probably deal with it and not attract attention. Or at least, not as much as fighting it out with a Turk in the middle of the street would.

She stepped away from the doorway, allowing the Turk to step through. As he lazily strolled over to the counter, glancing around the bar with curiosity, Tifa went to grab a glass.

"So what's your order?"

"Strongest you've got. And a lot of it." A little odd. He didn't look like a heavy drinker.

"Stressed?"

"You have no idea." She began fixing a drink she'd come up with in her spare time since starting the bar. It had turned into a quick favorite of the customers, but it was expensive. It wasn't the strongest they had, but if it gave her the chance to overcharge a Turk, she could at least enjoy it.

"So," He spoke up with a more serious expression than before. "Hear the news about those two criminals that escaped Shinra?" She kept preparing the drink, hoping he hadn't noticed the tightening of her fingers at the mention of the "criminals" Shinra was after.

"I'm not that interested in Shinra's business." She set the drink on the counter.

"I can imagine." Picking up the glass, he began to rotate it, watching the liquid swirl around in the cup. "You know, Shinra's been getting edgy about it. Rumor has it they might be in the slums. So the big guys upstairs have been sending out most of what they've got. A nice old manhunt."

"Sounds annoying." He took a drink, and his eyebrows rose slightly.

"This is good." He took another drink, more slowly this time. "Anyway, just thought you might be interested in the news. Apparently the big wigs are sending troops to watch on all of their associates. Y'know, friends, family, and that sorta thing." He quickly finished the rest, setting the glass back down while he stood up. He tossed a handful of gil on the counter, and began to walk off.

"Well, I'd love to stay and have more. But I've got some business to get to." As he reached the door, he added one last comment. "Watch your back, kid." With that, he walked through the door.

"I need to take care of something." She turned towards the stairs in surprise, where Cloud had reached the bottom of the steps.

"What?" But you still seem so tired.

"Have to check on something for Zack."

Check on something? "That girl he was talking about?" Cloud nodded.

"The Turk was warning us. I need to make sure she's safe."

"We should wait for the others to get back." Someone needs to watch Marlene, and you look like a strong breeze could take you down in a fight. He shook his head.

"I owe Zack my life, and more. This is something I have to do." He gave her a small smile. "I'll make it quick. Don't worry." She looked like she was going to protest again, but eventually gave him a nod.

"Alright, but hold on." She reached under the bar for a moment, opening a small compartment and pulling out one of the older Quicksilvers that they all carried. Holding it out to him, she continued. "But at least take this with you."

He took the weapon, and made his way to the door after a quick half-wave. "I'll be back soon."

As Zack and the others took a moment to recover, he felt he needed to ask something. It hadn't seemed that important at the time, but since they were stuck until Jessie and Biggs were ready to blow out an exit, there wasn't much else to do.

"So, big guy, why'd you push up the timetable? Tifa said you weren't doin' this job for a couple days?"

"Shinra's been all messed up the last coupla days. Don't really know why, but it gave us the chance."

They've been in enough chaos to let stuff like this happen? Oh yeah, I'm good.

"Okay," Jessie called as she and Biggs jogged back to them, though she was limping a little. "Stand back."

Moments later, the wall exploded outward. Ignoring the flames surrounding the newly formed exit, Zack leaped through, Barret and the others following closely behind. After a short episode where they practically had to tackle Wedge to put the flames on his pants out, they split up. There was no sense in staying together. With the sound of all the explosions, even the most oblivious of Shinra's troops would be there soon. As fate would have it, Zack had only been walking through the nearly abandoned streets for a few minutes on the way to the station when he was spotted.

"Hey you, freeze!"

Aw, and here I thought I might get to relax. "Sorry, got a train to catch!" he called back, laughing as the soldiers chased after him. Running through the streets, he picked up about six other soldiers who had apparently heard the calls.

They were only running for a couple minutes before they came to a three way overpass that overlooked the train tracks. Or at least, the soldiers were running. To a SOLDIER, it was a brisk jog at the most. Even as he ran towards the end of the tracks, the train he was supposed to be on had started passing below them. By the time he was at the edge, it had already passed, and was steadily starting to gain distance.

"Dead end, we've got 'em!"

Yeah, right. Got me. "See ya!" He gave them a quick joking salute, and ran a few steps before shoving off as hard as he could, sending himself several dozen feet through the air to the back of the train.

As Zack began calmly walking across the top of the train, looking for the car they were supposed to meet in, the soldiers back at the overpass understood exactly what had just happened.

"H-he was SOLDIER! We have to get back to HQ, now!"

It had taken him nearly an hour and a half to find this Aerith girl. All he'd known was that she had a tendency to spend a lot of time at an old abandoned church somewhere in Sector Five. To make it worse, he wasn't very familiar with the slums, and had to ask directions several times, and had been "accidentally mislead" a few times.

When he arrived, he was glad he'd made the decision to come. A Shinra helicopter was just outside the church, several soldiers standing guard. Not wanting to start a fight until he knew what he was dealing with, Cloud crawled along the buildings and debris around the church, making his way to a large hole he'd seen in the ceiling from a distance.

When he finally got to the top, he heard a very familiar voice speaking in kind, but still quite serious tones.

"Aerith, please don't make this difficult. We need you to come with us."

Tseng? I knew they were watching our friends, but Sukueni didn't say anything about them actually acting on them. Looking over the edge, he could clearly make out Tseng and a young woman dressed in pink, who must have been Aerith. He also made out the two SOLDIER uniforms standing behind Tseng, thankfully with their swords still sheathed.

He quickly checked over the Quicksilver, and took aim at the SOLDIER in the black uniform. He could probably take Tseng or the red-uniformed Second Class, especially if he surprised them, but weak as he still was from the treatments, he doubted he could take a First Class even with the element of surprise on his side. His fingered tightened on the trigger, and he fired.

He wasn't sure what surprised him the most. It was either the fact that he felt almost no kick from the weapon whatsoever, or the fact that the black-uniformed First Class had flashed his blade out and deflected an otherwise perfect headshot in a split second. Knowing any kind of surprise was lost, Cloud jumped down from the ceiling, landing steadily on the ground behind the trio of Shinra agents.

The First Class stepped forward to engage him, and he saw the Second Class grab Aerith and run for the exit. Tseng stayed behind, a modified Quicksilver aimed at Cloud from behind the SOLDIER. Cloud returned the favor, training his weapon on the Turk.

"What do you want with her?" Damn. Zack isn't gonna like this.

"We're not going to hurt her. We'll even try to keep Hojo from getting his hands on her. But we needed some bait for Zack."

"I won't let you do that." He knew it was an empty claim. Even as they spoke, he could see the helicopter rising into the air, undoubtedly returning to Shinra.

"We're going to have to bring you back as well, Cloud."

"Not happening." I need to warn Zack.

"Luxiere, I'll leave this to you."

Tseng's voice was drowned out, as Cloud's vision suddenly went blurry, and his head felt as though it was about to split open. What is this? The other SOLDIER, Luxiere, also looked slightly off balance, but not nearly as much as Cloud. As the SOLDIER charged forward, Cloud barely blocked a downward strike of the other man's sword with the Quicksilver, the force of the attack cracking the handgun, rendering it practically useless. The struggle only went on for a few more moments before the pain in his head became too much, and he passed out.

"Luxiere." The SOLDIER looked back at Tseng, rubbing his forehead beneath the helmet. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, sir. My head just feels…Strange."

Tseng looked at him with a slightly curious expression. "Strange? How so?"

"A headache, but…" He paused, thinking of how to describe it. "It feels almost like someone's talking to me. Calling me."

Tseng looked concerned, or at least what Luxiere assumed was his concerned look, but turned towards the entrance and began to walk away.

"Bring him with us. And make sure to see either Professor Rayleigh or Hojo when we're back at headquarters. We don't need something going wrong with SOLDIER personnel right now."

"Yes sir." Picking up the young blond and lifting him over his shoulder, he followed in Tseng's footsteps, wondering what was wrong with them. The blond man had obviously felt something as well, though it was clearly more powerful than what he'd felt. When Tseng had given him the report on the two "prisoners" who'd escaped, he'd learned that one had Mako Poisoning. Maybe that's why it was worse?

He shook his head. He would see Professor Rayleigh when he got back to Shinra, and ask around the SOLDIER quarters to see if it was just him.

In the Mythril Mines, a young woman with reddish-brown hair in a black suit answered her phone, a grim expression on her face. Her two companions, a black-haired man wearing glasses and a woman with dark blonde hair, turned to here, waiting to hear the latest news.

"Cissnei here." She listened in for a few more seconds, making short replies, and sometimes an "affirmative" or a "negative." Finally, the conversation seemed to end.

"Understood. Cissnei out." Turning to her companions, she filled them in. "Yuuko and Sukueni are done with their business in Midgar. They're going to meet up with Mayuko at the Chocobo Farm out past the marshes, and we'll rendezvous at Fort Condor."

The black-haired man glanced towards one of the various cavern entrances before asking her a question. "Have they heard from the others?"

Cissnei shook her head. "Sorry Ōtsuka." I'm not too worried about them. Shinra is too busy with Zack. Now him I'm worried about.

The young blonde woman spoke up a moment later, voicing the same thoughts Cissnei going through Cissnei's mind. "I think they'll be fine. Shinra has been busy lately, and I'm sure Tseng will cover for them long enough for them to get away."

The man spoke up again, a half-smile on his face. "Yes, I'm sure you're right Megumi. Mr. Fair is bound to keep Shinra busy for a while."

They'd all met Zack on at least one occasion, and all of them were aware of how well he could handle himself, despite his somewhat comical personality. Cissnei turned away from them, looking towards the exit leading to the marshes.

"You two go on ahead. I'm going to wait here for the others."

"Understood," Ōtsuka gaver her a respectful nod, as he and Megumi began walking for the exit leading to the plains where Fort Condor resided. "Take care of yourself, Cissnei. We'll call you if we meet any of the others."

She returned the nod. "I'll do the same. Good luck."

AN: Love to hear what y'all think. Especially your opinions on the "Turk" segments. The Turks will appear in the "main" story at points, but would you like those to be their only appearances, or would you like me to keep giving you the little segments showing what they're up to during the times when they aren't in the main story?