Authors note's: This is an old story I wrote years ago. It was originally a one shot, but I decided to refine it and add to it. I decided to re write it into 3 short chapters. I can't really remember where the idea for this came from but hopefully someone will enjoy it.
English is not my first language, so grammar errors will be present. I do my best and I hope it's not too awful. Here is chapter 1 :)
Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy VII and all its characters. I only borrow them for my little story. I own nothing but the plot nor do I make any money on it.
Chapter 1: So it begins.
Tifa hummed softly as she cleaned the dishes. Her favourite song was playing on the radio, which lifted her spirits. Since Cloud started taking on more jobs, she had been forced to take on more things at home. Barrett usually handled the children during the weekends, but it was still tiring to balance work and family during the week. When hearing the door open, her usual warm smile adorned her face.
''Hello, what can I help you with?'' Tifa sweetly greeted the person whom she believed to be an early customer. Her smile faltered when seeing the leader of the Turks in front of her. ''Um...Tseng?''
''Hello, Miss Lockhart.'' Tseng answered politely. ''I apologise for just barging in here without calling first.''
''It's all right...'' Tifa gestured toward the empty table in the corner. ''What brings you here?''
''I'm here to request your aid for a mission in Nibelheim. My colleges have been injured and I need a capable fighter who has knowledge of the area.'' Tseng's brown eyes gazed straight at her, his voice calm and calculating.
''And you need my help...me of all people?'' Tifa couldn't mask her surprise. ''Wouldn't Cloud or Vincent be a better choice?''
Tseng seemed to pause at her words. Like he carefully considered his own reply. His eyes once again landed on the stunned fist fighter. ''You seemed to be the best option considering your friendship with my fellow colleges. It is hard to find people willing to talk with us, let along work with us.''
''Well, I guess that I could help-'' Tifa started to speak but was interrupted.
''It's settled then, I will pick you up in two hours.'' Tseng nodded curtly before walking towards the door. Not giving her time to react. ''I'm most grateful, miss Lockhart.
The stunned fist fighter just sat there, looking at the closed door. It took her a moment before she realised what she had gotten herself into. A mission with a Turk, and not just any Turk. The stoic leader of the infamous group. A man whom she never seen outside the rush of battle.
Looking at the clock on the wall, she was reminded of the time limit before he came back. She bolted towards the door and flipped the open sign to closed. Her thoughts where solely on what things to bring, as she made her way towards the upstairs. Her fingers quickly danced into her pocked, fishing out her phone.
''Barrett, it's me...'' Tifa spoke softly into her phone, her eyes dancing about her walls. ''Something has come up and I need you to take the kids...''
Tseng let out a deep breath before he stepped into the awaiting car. He had his doubts about this mission, even from the start. It was a gamble to work solo with an ex Avalanche member. If it weren't for the importance of this assignment, then he had preferred to wait. He had agreed to ask Tifa because of his colleagues reassurance, but her pointing him towards Cloud and Vincent was sensible too.
''I assume everything went...well?'' Rude's voice interrupted his thoughts.
''She agreed to cooperate.'' Tseng's cold gaze landed on his college sitting in front of him in the limousine. ''How are you holding up?''
''I'll live...though Reno is being a brat.'' Rude shrugged casually with a tiny smirk on his face.
''When is he not acting like one...'' Tseng answered with a snort, as he signalled for the chauffeur to drive on.
Tseng wondered if he and Tifa would fare any better in those caves. Rufus had worked together with Barrett and a few others to come up with an alternative fuel power. Someone had reported a find of some unusual material in the Nibelheim mountains, but some people had disappeared mysteriously.
Since the second coming of Sephiroth, the Turks work assignments had changed drastically. Before they were assassins, spies and the president's personal guard. Nowadays they were still the president's personal guards, but they were also the top unit for special missions. They had replaced the former elite soldiers and were only called for in delicate or important missions.
They had a lot of growing to do, both in ranks and in the eyes of the people. It was of utmost importance that they redeem themselves to the people of Gaia. The first step had been openly showing the will to change and cooperate with others. That's where working with the ex Avalanche members came into view.
Reno, Rude and Elena had been assigned for this mission at the beginning, but they had been struck with poison during an earlier assignment and were still in various stages of recovering. Since peoples lives had been on the line, the president felt it was urgent to investigate and search for the missing workers.
Tseng's goal was clear, to find the workers dead or alive and find the source of their disappearance. Hopefully with Tifa's help, it would turn out to be a easy mission. She had previously been a guide of the area. Which meant she knew things about the mountains which they did not. Rufus had also made clear to him that nothing were to happen to her during the mission. That was his first priority, keeping her unharmed.
''Do you have any other orders for us, sir?'' Elena's face popped up in the opening window of the front of the car. ''I mean, of course you do, but I was just curious if it was something important or anything-''
''You talk too much...'' Rude interrupted her with a smirk.
Tseng could only smile at his friends. They knew he was concerned about the fact of working with former enemies and they tried to lift his spirits. Even though they got on his nerves more often than was considered healthy, he still saw them as family.
''Rest and regain your strengths.'' Tseng gave them a pointed look when both looked surprised. ''You are no good to me sick. And be on standby. If you have not heard from me in 48 hours, you have my permission to come after us.''
Tifa sat across from Tseng in the small helicopter. He had been true to his word, and had picked her up promptly after two hours had passed. Barrett had not been very pleased about her agreeing on the job since neither one of them had ever worked with the leader of the Turks before. Cloud had also been surprised, but promised to come for her if he had not heard from her in a couple of days. Shelke would look after the bar on her own while she was away.
''Is there anything I should know about the area?'' Tseng suddenly asked her, his piercing gaze directed at her. ''Other than it is monster infested and the caves are like a maze...''
''It is true that the caves are like a maze, but the trick to navigate is the changing light inside the caves. You see, the caves is filled with minerals, raw materia stones and mako springs that reacts to light. Fresh air and sunlight always finds itself inside the many cracks in the stone walls. The color of the walls vary depending on how strong the light is that shines though.'' Tifa explained softly as she went through her equipped materia.
''I see my colleagues made the right choice when they recommended you for this mission.'' Tseng gestured toward the small folder he had beside him. ''The information you just shared...is not within our own records.''
''That's no surprise considering the lack of interest Shinra showed to the area. All they wanted from us, was to extract mako from the mountains. The people sent there never listened nor wanted to learn more about the mountains...'' She gazed cautiously at him, trying to see if her statement had caused a reaction.
Tseng met her gaze head on, while not revealing how her words unsettled him. It was not so much the statement that surprised him. She was right about the old Shinra. It was how her eyes had changed when talking about the past. Her eyes were usually warm and inviting, oozing kindness. But her eyes now had a dangerous edge to them. The carefully chosen words with the factly, but hidden disdain spoke volumes of her self control, and intelligence. She was an interesting person with many different layers under her beautiful appearance.
''I cannot argue with what you say... since it is the truth.'' He spoke carefully, pleased that her eyes once again softened. ''I had concerns before contacting you, but so far you have lead me to believe that we will work well together.''
''You better watch your back, I might yet turn out to be troublesome.'' Tifa grinned playfully at him, hoping to get him to relax. Which did not work at all. If something, he gave her a look which told her not to mess with him. ''Or...um...never mind, better not jinx things.