LEFT BEHIND


Report June 19 – Tseng's Office – 10 AM

He frowned heavily as he looked around the destroyed office. He knew that the woman had done some damage, but he didn't realize that it was that much. He was quite disappointed that Tseng had downplayed the hazard that she was presenting to them.

This Lira woman.

The only thing that was blocking the hole in the wall was a fluttering piece of red tape that warned of caution.

"Sir?"

Rufus turned his head to the Turk that was his bodyguard this month. He was a younger Turk with the name of Dirk; bad name, but a good Turk. A new recruit. Dirk the Turk was adept with guns and knives and had proven him in the past. He was quiet and loyal. Dirk was a good bodyguard to have and he seldom spoke. Dirk was the type of man that he needed to have around him most of the time.

"Contact Tseng, Dirk. Tell him that I need to see him now," he said. Rufus looked at the debris of papers on the floor. He did not look up at the sound of Dirk's voice on the phone.

He needed more information. The take down on that little slum house made the news. He was not pleased to see that they had recruited Strife in this operation. There was no need to bring him back into the organization. Not that he ever really was.

He toed at the debris that was once a very expensive desk with his white shoe and frowned. There was something red in the debris. He toed out a piece of the wood and saw what looked like a red hair ball.

He blinked a few moments.

It was Dirk that said something. "Reno is the only guy I know that has hair like that."

Rufus didn't respond. Yeah. Reno was the only guy that had hair like that. Tseng did not mention to him about this. Who lopped it off? This woman that was a lot more than he had been told and he did not like knowing information.

He left the hair on the floor, despite the urge to pick it up. He knew that Reno was in the Medical Center now. He was alive, if not well. But seeing his vivid red pony tail on the floor was quite disturbing.

"Tseng said he would be here in 10 minutes," Dirk said and taking a few steps back from him.

Rufus just nodded. The office was completely ruined. The building was only 2 years old and already there was a taint on the building. It had made the press too. ShinRa already had enough bad press and this was not helping its resurrection. He sighed heavily. He had still four Turks and 6 infantry in the Medical Center from her actions and the humiliation of her escape from supposedly the most secure building in all of Edge. A secure building where she just walked right up to Tseng desk and was admitted into the head of the Turks.

He saw the video of what she was capable of and was a little unnerved with her skilled used of the spear and claw and destroying his highly trained men as well as her cold demands that she had given Tseng.

"Ten minutes," Rufus whispered and frowned. He didn't want to be kept waiting to find out the information that he was supposed to already know.

So he waited and grew annoyed as he stood in the ruined office. There was not even a chair that was left in tact.

Ten minutes passed and there still was no Tseng. Tseng was not known for being late and was usually earlier than he was every late. He was not liking this side of him. It disturbed him quite a bit.

It was fifteen minutes when Tseng walked in the door with Cloud grumpily walking behind him.

"This meeting is not for outsiders," Rufus said quickly eyeing Cloud.

"Yeah, well. You are stuck with me here now," Cloud said. He tried to hide the shock. Just a few years ago, he wanted nothing to do with them and here he was being all stubborn and refusing to leave. "I don't like it any more than you do."

"I am sorry for being late sir," Tseng said simply and not offering an explanation. From the frown on Cloud's face, he was pretty sure that he knew the reason.

Rufus was silent for a moment. He watched as Dirk and Tseng positioned themselves in between him and Cloud without even realizing it.

"You have been tardy with your updates. I do not like having to interpret the information like I was forced to," Rufus said and stood by the hole in the wall. He could see Cloud eyes sparkle in amusement at the damage in the room.

"I am sorry sir," Tseng said. "I will summarize for you what I know."

"Why don't I summarize what I know, and we shall see if I am missing something?" Rufus said. He saw a glimmer of shock in Tseng's eyes. "These incidents have made a lot of press and there have been a lot of questions coming my way, Tseng. I found out what I could and hoped that the report would be forthcoming. I do not enjoy having to do all this research."

Cloud smirked. Rufus was glad that he was amused. He was pretty sure the reason that Tseng had not got him the much needed information.

"As I understand it, we lost a scout in the town of Bearnin. Upon loosing contact, you decided to send a Turk. Reno. You got an initial report in the form of a picture and a text message and then contact was lost. Upon deciding that the delay in his reporting had become excessive, there was a retrieval mission planned. Before the retrieval was initiated this Militia group leader showed up in your office."

Rufus paused as he looked down at the red hair that was on the floor.

"This Lira gave you a pretty weak ultimatum that dealt with Reno for the health of her sickly son. She gave you a time line to change your mind, but you still refused and hence the damage to your office and I see that you are still sporting the wounds that she gave you in her escape."

Rufus looked at the hole in the wall. He saw the video. She had used a tri-bolt matera to create that hole in the wall and send a few out of it. She was not at all an inexperienced fighter but still, escaping his Turks. He turned back to Tseng who looked slightly ashamed. Good. Maybe he would step up the training protocols.

"You lost track of her."

Tseng visibly winced.

"I heard the recording of the phone call that Lore sent you and allowed you to track the locations. This is where you recruited Cloud. Our reluctant hero."

Rufus looked at Cloud.

"No shit." He heard Cloud mutter under his breath.

Rufus choose to ignore him.

"You raided the shack that they were hiding out, without much fuss, as it seems that her own brother thought her to insane enough to incapacitate her. The press took quite a bit of pictures of the woman being thrown into the back of a van and carted off as well as plastering images of a damaged Turk as well."

Rufus looked back at the hair on the floor.

"The other two, this Lore and Errow were carted out under blankets and placed in the back of an ambulance."

Rufus looked at Tseng.

"I understand the Reno cannot speak and is still going under medical tests and treatments. This Lore fellow is fine, but being kept at the medical center because of the ailing boy. I understand that the woman is in the Detention Center and is hardly being cooperative with the questions."

Tseng nodded.

"Now, that is all that I know."

Cloud made a chuckling noise. "Man, you are in for a surprise."

Tseng glared at Cloud.

"I see. I am still missing quite a bit of information." Rufus said. "So, enlighten me."

Cloud made a small snorting sound. Rufus was not used to this type of behavior around him. He didn't like it, but he also knew there was no way that he could ever get respect from Cloud. There was to much bad history there. Way to much.

"Well sir," Tseng started but Cloud shook his head and took a step forward. Dirk moved to block his way and had a knife in his hand. Cloud looked down at the knife with a small amused smile. Yeah, Cloud had a hell of a knife on his back and it wouldn't take him long to take care of that little knife that Dirk had in his hand.

Cloud glared at the Turk. "Have you seen Errow?"

"No. Why would that matter?' Rufus said.

"Because, sir, Errow looks remarkably like Sephiorth," Tseng said. "We are still running the test to confirm this."

Rufus stopped and forced himself to remain very still. Sephiroth. "What? Did I hear you correctly?"

"Oh yeah. You heard him correctly." Cloud stated. "Scary as hell too."

Now he understood why Cloud was still hovering around them. If Sephiroth were involved, then sooner or later, it would sneak up on him. He was pretty sure the man didn't want to have any more surprises. The last encounter with the remnants had been most … unpleasant.

"At least the kid doesn't act like his father," Cloud muttered. "Lira has not denied who the father was and is quite vocal about how she does not want him to become another lab experiment." Cloud leaned forward and growled at Dirk. "Get that knife out of my gut or I will place mine in yours."

Dirk startled a bit.

Those glowing mako eyes would do that to people. Rufus was glad that there weren't any real SOLDIERS left around. They all were a little unstable.

Dirk did not back down.

"Back down, Dirk," Tseng said in a calm tone. "His fight is not here unless you make it so."

Dirk obeyed and looked to Rufus for confirmation of the order. Rufus nodded. Dirk took a few steps back but still stared fixedly at Cloud. Maybe he was remembering the stories about the man. He was not that imposing of a figure on the surface, but then, he had accomplished more than anyone else could have. Hell, he had looked at Cloud old files. The boy didn't make it into SOLDIER and barely made it in as a grunt, and he someone became the world's savior, on a few occasions.

Even before his enhancements, Cloud took out Sephiroth.

From what he found in a bunch of Hojo's files, it should have been impossible. Even the experimentations failed on Cloud. So badly, that he wasn't given a number. Yet, he was the only one that survived it all. He would have to change his definition of failure.

"I wish to see this boy," Rufus said.

"And what good will that do?" Cloud said simply. "Trust me, the kids father is Sephiroth and the kid is sick. Every couple of hours, pain rips through his body and he screams. I believe the last bout was just an hour or so ago, so he will be passed out again. The kid is going to die." Clouds voice dipped a bit. "He is made up of incompatible cells. S and G. They do not cooperate well together."

"Cells? When did you become a medical expert?" Rufus said a bit more curtly than he meant to.

Cloud was unfazed though. "Since, I am the only one that has been left alive from all those damn experiments, that is when!" His mako eyes were glowing with a fury that he remembered from seeing him in battle. "I have spent most of my adult life trying to forget all those damn tests and those rats talking, but when that is all that you had for four years of your life, some of that information sinks in."

"Sir, we have strong indications that Lira was injected with G cells when she was a child," Tseng said.

"How?" Rufus demanded.

"It seems that when Lira was young, she fell into the life stream and was hence affected with mako poisoning. It seems that your father sent Hollander to treat her. We believe that is where it came from, sir." Tseng said. "We have not found evidence. She is showing signs of degrading and Lore has stated such. The results from the lab tests will confirm this."

Rufus narrowed his eyes at Tseng. "And how would Lore know about these G cells? I can understand the reasoning with Cloud understanding this information, but how would Lore know?"

"I asked the same thing," Cloud said. "Little bastard won't talk. Won't even look at you when you mention it."

"Have you not properly interrogated the man?" Tseng asked.

"Tseng wouldn't let me," Cloud muttered. That was something new from the man. Cloud was always against anything that remotely was related to Turks. Well, times do change.

"That is next on the plan, sir," Tseng said. "I have a suspicion already of how he knows."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Rufus said. This situation was getting more complex that he thought. The sigh that Tseng gave and how he rubbed his forehead was quite disturbing.

"Lore and Genesis were close friends and remained in contact until his disappearance from ShinRa," Tseng said in a low voice.

Cloud stiffened. "What! Okay. This is wonderful! I am dealing with a mini-Sephiroth and now we may be dealing with Genesis as well!"

"I did not say that! Genesis knew quite a bit about the experiments that occurred on him and Angeal before they defected. He may have passed on the information onto Lore. That is all that I am suggesting." Tseng said quickly.

"Really? Genesis would share that information with a boy such as Lore?" Rufus said.

Tseng pinched his nose again. "He was quite free with his tongue when he talked with Lore."

"And?" Rufus said.

"Sir?" Tseng said.

"What are you leaving out, Tseng?"

"Genesis did take a strong liking to Lore," Tseng said. His voice was stiff as he looked at Rufus. "They were fast friends."

"Fast friends?" Cloud scowled. "That explains him spouting Loveless."

Rufus scowled. So those rumors were true.

"Then why didn't he tell his sister this information?" Cloud asked. "She knew nothing about such things when I questioned her."

Rufus raised an eyebrow. Cloud was doing the questioning and not one of his Turks? The world was turning upside down with the intrusion of the woman.

"I cannot answer that." Tseng said simply.

Rufus crossed his arms. "I do have more things to clarify. It seems that they knew you. They seem quite familiar with you, Tseng. Explain."

Tseng nodded. "I was with them on the scouting mission in Bearnin about 9 years ago. She is the Commander of the Bearnin Militia and Lore was the second in command, even then."

"Even then? This woman does not strike me as that old. How old was she then?" Rufus said. The woman he saw in the video still looked like she was in her early twenties.

"She was sixteen at the time."

"She was in charge of a Militia group and she was a child?" Cloud said mirroring Rufus thoughts exactly.

"Yes. She was a force to contend with then, and she was not nearly as grumpy as she is now. She was not insane," Tseng said. "I personally tried to recruit her to become a Turk, she would have made a fine addition but she refused the invite. Of course, I realize that there was more to that, now."

"Yes, the child," Rufus said and stood trying to sort all the information that he had been fed. Nothing there would be allowed to go public. It could not be allowed. Those past mistakes of his father would not be repeated under him or under the new WRO. There were enough monsters in the world.

Tseng shook his head. "I went back 2 months after that mission to ask them both to join the Turks. I know Lore thought about it but he would not leave his sister who flatly refused without so much of a thought."

"Well, she would have known by then." Cloud said.

"Yes, but she did keep the secret quite well," Tseng said.

"Not that well. She said that Hojo knew and sent some of his rats to see her," Cloud said and rubbed the back of his head. "How did Hojo find out?"

The wind picked up some of the red hair on the floor and twirled it close to his feet. Rufus sighed. "None of that really matters. We are here now dealing with the consequences of the past, yet again." All the stuff that his father did trying to hang on to power, seemed to be set in front of him to try him.

"Sir?" It was Dirk who was by his side asking him the question.

"I still want to see this boy," Rufus said, "And this woman that started this whole mess."

Cloud sniffed. "I believe that it was your father that started this mess."


To Be Continued

Next chapters … Psycho, Pain & Prick