Part III Chapter VIII
Cloud eased back on his makeshift reigns, the wild chocobo dancing impatiently but eventually following his instruction. It circled back around to sidle up beside a large grey lump, half hidden in the lush underbrush. He gathered the thick vines into one hand, loosening one of the knots that would transform the reigns into a lead line. He didn't think the chocobo would bolt, but it was better safe than sorry. The bird seemed content to remain as Cloud slid off, trying to peer back at the weight still leaning against its neck.
Cloud reached up a hand to steady Sephiroth even as he inspected the rock in front of him. Once the thick leafy tropical fronds were removed, he could easily see the familiar lines of a ShinRa trooper, stone grey instead of the usual blue uniform. Cloud sighed, his guess confirmed. He'd come across quite a few of these poor saps along the way. Those had been closer to the road, and he'd left them, remembering the shopkeeper's words of the caravans de-stoning any unlucky travelers they ran across.
These ones though—now that he looked, he could see the rest of the unit scattered among the threes. They must have run into a herd of the gorgon-dragons—were far off the beaten path. Cloud himself had left the road a couple days ago, having seen signs of recent traveling. Given his cargo, he wanted to avoid detection if at all possible.
He shot a glance over his shoulder, at the still out of it passenger. Sephiroth was beginning to worry him. It'd been a week since leaving Gongaga, and no change. SOLDIERs could go far longer without food, and Cloud had managed to get him to drink, but still. It was unnatural. Jenova's cells should have taken care of whatever Hojo used long ago. Not even normal drugs would keep a person down for this long.
At this point he was beginning to wonder if it would ever wear off, or if on arrival to the canyon they'd need to put the general on an IV. He wasn't even sure if Cosmo Canyon had the facilities to do so.
Putting that unpleasant thought out of his mind, Cloud picked out one of the mid-ranked troopers. High enough to be privy to the orders, but low enough to not be in charge. He led the chocobo in the opposite direction and tied the lead-line to a tree. "Stay." He told the bird firmly, getting a cocked head and a 'wark?' in response. It shifted in place but remained, craning it's neck and starting to preen the silver strands spilling from its passenger. Cloud guessed it was Sephiroth's weight keeping the bird from bolting. Most wild birds ran off the second they were dismounted. Regardless, they were out of sight of his chosen trooper. Cloud reached into his bag, fingers finding the feathery edges of his stash of Soft. He plucked out two of them, set them aside, and then dug even deeper for the scarlet of his SOLDIER uniform. He shrugged the jacket back on, snapped the shoulder guards and belts into place.
The picture of a Second Class on a mission, he grabbed the Softs and crossed the distance to the trooper. Crushing the feather in his fingers, he blew the resulting dust gently off his palm. It hung in the air for a moment, before settling gently on the contours of the statues stone face. The change was almost instantaneous, cracks appearing in a spiderweb pattern along the grey stone. Framents began to flake off to reveal pink skin, the only sign that the trooper was even alive. Eventually the stone coating was nothing more than a fine layer of dust, and the trooper shuddered, wobbled in place, and nearly toppled over. Cloud caught him before that happened, taking in the details the stone had smoothed over. This one was a little older than Cloud it looked like. The helmet immediately coming, landing with a thud on the foliage covered ground. The Ex-SOLDIER just waited while the trooper took in shuddering gulps of air, he'd had a similar reaction. SOLDIERs were required to go through Status training, so they were aware of the effects and how to counter them.
Being petrified was one of the most terrifying. You could lose so much time. As soon as the stone spread over the face, the timer reaching 'zero', there was a brief period where the victim was still awake and aware, unable to see, feel, or even hear anything. The same was true for when reversing the process—nothingness, and then suddenly the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped in darkness, suffocating in those seconds that feel like eons as the stone crumbled, letting in sweet, sweet air…
After giving the trooper significant time to collect himself, Cloud cleared his throat, causing an automatic snap to attention upon taking in the uniform and mako eyes. "What happened here?"
"What d-day is it, Sir…?"
Cloud raised an eyebrow, but understood the question. Time was nigh impossible to tell when petrified. He wasn't one hundred percent positive himself, but he had a way to find out. He dug through the pocket of his uniform, pulling out the emergency PHS. He'd kept it off to minimize the chance of the built in GPS giving him away, but a brief look shouldn't hurt.
He waited for the display to warm up, eyes automatically taking in the faint blink that meant unread messages. He'd deal with those later.
"It's the 20th of September." He could see the trooper slump in relief upon hearing that, "What's a squad doing out here, Private…?"
"Only a few days then…" At the question the head snapped up, curly brown hair bobbing, "Johanson. Private Karl Johanson. We were dispatched from the river-ford outpost four days ago. We're carrying important news to the other outposts along the route, sir. We ran afoul of a herd of Gigahandi and well…are the others alright?"
"They'll be fine once Softened. Two or Three days weathering never killed anyone." Cloud saw the trooper relax even more, but the mention of news bothered him… "What news?"
"You haven't heard! General Sephiroth was kidnapped. Word is being spread to be on the lookout for him." The private paused, and Cloud could see suspicion settling in. "What is your name? I need to know who to thank."
"Ryan Grey, Second Class." Cloud responded after a moment, deciding his old roommate was a good enough cover. Grey was also a fellow second, a rather forgettable fellow, and he had been deployed somewhere before the reactor mission. "I've been out of contact. Classified mission in the mountains. I'm finally on my way back to civilization. How the hell did someone kidnap Sephiroth?"
Suspicions allayed, Cloud made up an excuse about how he needed to report in and gave the trooper the remaining Soft so he could wake up the medic, and then went off on his way. He caught up to his chocobo soon enough, it'd settled in to a nap while he was gone. Cloud could hear the groggy voices from behind him and urged the chocobo to move. He wanted to get far enough away before the whole troop came to. Johanson was green enough he wouldn't question 'Classified', but the commander just might.
The grumpy chocobo warbled as Cloud re-tied the reigns, then he leaned Sephiroth back against his chest. The chocobo, happy to finally have the weight off its neck, seemed to be suddenly in a better mood. At least one of them was; Cloud was distinctly unhappy. The fact that the squad came from the river-crossing meant he couldn't afford to take that route. He'd have to find a place to ford the river further upstream then. It was a shame, he'd have to let the chocobo go and traverse the water by foot. Granted, he could catch another bird once on the other side but that sapped precious time.
Cloud steered the chocobo in the direction he knew the river was. His best bet would be to follow it, and just watch for a place shallow enough to ford. Once satisfied the bird was going the correct direction, Cloud shifted his attention back to the PHS. Unread mail. Who would be sending mail to the phone of a dead man? Perhaps it was Vincent, smoldering over the fact that he'd gone behind the ex-turk's back…
What else was he supposed to do? Sure Vincent probably would have helped him—it was almost guaranteed if he'd mentioned exactly who he was going to rescue, but in doing so he would have removed Aeris' best bid for protection. Cloud had no idea what the changes he'd made would do to Hojo's plans for Aeris, and for all he knew Vincent's presence could be the only reason the Turks hadn't snatched her up yet.
He flipped through the first mail. It was dated just after he'd left for that mission.
Sorry about that buddy, I know how tough it is to work after playing pin cushion. How about I take you to get dinner when you finish? –Zack
The next was from a different recipient:
I had no choice.
It wasn't signed, and the number was unlisted, but Cloud had an idea about who it was from. Dated right after the botched mission.
Zack knows. Vincent is furious. Stay safe.
That one was from Aeris' number.
Damnit Cloud! First I have to deal with Sephiroth vanishing, now you too? Don't you dare get yourself killed. Mako poisoning is serious.
He knew that was Zack. But it was a different number than usual. Not his work phone.
The last message was from Aeris' number. But it wasn't Aeris.
Security footage taken care of. I hope you know what you are doing.
'I think I do, Vincent. I think I do.'
He flipped the PHS shut after powering it down, grabbing up the makeshift reigns as the chocobo began to stray.
Singing. More singing. Zack groaned; the pillow over his head did nothing to block it out, though it was fading as he returned to the realm of the living. He didn't think he could take another night like that, waking up every hour or so. Every time he drifted close enough to deep sleep, that haunting lullaby would fade in and out at the edge of his conscience mind. It wasn't even a comforting song. He couldn't make out a word that was being said, but the mere melody alone sent shivers up his spine.
They weren't even the good kind of shivers. It was more like something had shoved icy cold claws deep into his chest and was running them along his soul. Lightly. But it was the type of lightly that made him certain that just a little more pressure and they'd leave deep, bloody gouges.
…Oh boy. No sleep wasn't good for his imagination. Get a hold of yourself. It's just stress. You can deal with stress, yeah? Zack let his hand fall on his face, blocking out the blinking red numbers of his clock. It was far too early. He had a habit of not going in to work until at least 11—he had a reputation to maintain after all, but he couldn't sleep. Laying here, listening to that damn creepy song as it drifted in and out of his head like a radio with poor reception was just going to drive him crazy. It'd already been going on for days—and he was sure his body was going to commit mutiny if he didn't find a way to stay asleep for a few hours.
Drugs. Maybe drugs would work. Zack hated the idea of having to drug himself into a stupor, but at this rate it was becoming really the only viable option. He pushed himself up, letting the useless pillow tumble to the floor. He groped for the clock, disabling the alarm and slipped out of the bed. First things first, clothes, and then drugs. Afterwards…he could always swing by the Turk offices on the way up to Seph—his office. He'd been meaning to track down Grant, but he just hadn't had the time. Zack had seen him in the hallway a few days ago, but that was only for a few seconds.
Sometime later had Zack leaving the apartment block; the cool morning air slapping him on the face and clearing away some of the fuzz around his brain. He was able to think a bit more clearly now, and probably didn't look hung-over anymore. It was an odd feeling, catching sight of himself in the mirror before he left. It'd been so long since he'd last experienced one of those…at least a year? Maybe two? That was how he met Vinny and Aeris, actually. Passing out and getting collected. Not that he actually was hung-over, but he sure looked like it before the air woke him up more.
The infirmary was deserted at this time of the morning; only the barest of the midnight shift seemed even coherent. The morning shift was just struggling in, steaming cups of coffee in hand. One came in with Zack, gave him a look behind fogged glasses and groaned. Zack cracked a smile when he heard the muttered, "It's too early for this."
He sauntered up to the check-in sheet and quirked an eyebrow when he saw two other names ahead of him. One was already scratched out, having come and gone. The other was another first class, Edward Jacobs, but everyone called him Ed. Nice enough guy, even if Zack didn't interact with him much outside of First Class thrown social events. He wondered what brought Ed in, in the wee hours of the morning.
He didn't have to wait long, a few minutes after adding his own mark to the page the rough first class was coming out of the clinic-room, a sheet of paper in one hand, a bottle of pills in the other. He was talking to the white-coated doctor along the way, until he noticed Zack sprawled across a couple of the plastic seats against the wall, "Hey! Zack!"
"Eddy! What brings you in this early?"
"Eh, nothing big. Just checking with the Doc. Too many late nights ya'know? Messin up my patterns. You?"
"I want drugs. It's getting to the point I'm contemplating knocking myself out to catch some Zs." Zack grinned when Ed chuckled, the taller man crossing the room and clapping him on the shoulder.
"Stress of the job wearing on ya? I wouldn't take that from you if you paid me, General."
"Oi, don't call me that."
Ed was one of the older SOLDIERS, and had already been well ensconced in the SOLDIER program before Zack came along. Thus Ed tended to be parental to anyone under him. Except Sephiroth. Zack was of the personal opinion that he'd tried once, and Seph snapped at him. Probably with his sword. That was before Zack came along and thawed the ice-cube, of course.
"Yeah sure. Just get Sephiroth back soon so everything can go back to normal. All the spooks hanging around in blue make it difficult to sleep at night." Ed ruffled Zack's black spikes once more before waving at the Doc and heading out. Zack felt a bit better about everything, good natured banter always lifted his spirits. He hadn't had much of a chance for it recently, being required to run here and there whenever the Turks found something. And when he wasn't he tended to be locked up in the office. He was really contemplating saying 'Hell with it' and skipping down under the plate for a while later. Tseng could deal without him for a few hours.
Zack watched Ed go before he turned back to the doc, who was checking the clipboard briefly, scratching out Ed's name. The doc glanced up at Zack through thin glasses, "I take it you want sleeping pills?"
"Yeah."
The doctor sighed, muttering something about how "it must be the water." Zack quirked and eyebrow as the doctor motioned him toward the clinic room, "Right this way."
Drugs tucked securely into his uniform, Zack felt a mixture of relief and apprehension. On the one hand, he was thrilled to finally have a chance to catch some sleep. On the other, he absolutely hated the thought of needing to depend on drugs.
Geh. Zack shook his head, thoughts rattling around like material in a tin can. If he needed to make concessions in order to function, so be it. It was better than finding his Sleep material and casting it on himself at least. At least drugs wore off after a few hours. The spell lasted until you got either got hit, or had someone cast Esuna. Not the most pleasant thing in the world.
Putting his night-issues out of his mind for the moment, Zack scratched his head and took a moment to gather his bearings. He didn't often search out the Turks—most SOLDIERs were reluctant to deal with the spooks unless completely necessary. He personally considered himself at least a friendly acquaintance when it came to Tseng, and even Reno, having convinced the latter to go out for drinks a couple times, but that was always off the clock. A phone call was usually enough to find out if either one was feeling social.
Aaah. What was he on now, the 45th floor? He glanced around, taking in the clean, rather utilitarian style. There was a reception desk right in front of the elevator, with a navy-blue suited secretary tapping away at the computer in front of her, absently chewing on something. One stretchy pink bubble and a pop later revealed it to be gum. The suit was a positive, but it was a shade off from the Turk's normal uniform, and the cut was different. While female Terks had a more feminine suit-style than the males (not that he'd seen many) this one right here seemed to be putting off a more fashion-conscious vibe.
He eyed the secretary, debating whether to ask her or not before shrugging and stepping off the elevator. If this was the wrong place he could always get her to pull up the building's floor plan on her computer. It would only take a second, and it wasn't like the secretaries had all THAT much to do. They couldn't, not with the way Sherry on the 49th floor liked to flirt with him when he'd been required to deliver something to Heidegger. Sure, take a few calls, juggle a few schedules, and surf the network, giggling at the updates to the local gossip blog…how hard could it be?
"Hey!" Zack caught the woman's attention with a shout and a wave. She paused in mid type, gave him a look through her thin glasses and popped the bubble she was in the midst of blowing. Using her index finger to push her glasses up on her nose she gave him her full attention.
She seemed to tense as he pulled closer. Probably just recognizing the uniform, and piecing it together with the mako eyes. SOLDIERs didn't stray from their compound unless they were assigned to guard duty on the upper floors, so it was understandable that the unenhanced members of the company were nervous to see one. It was kinda weird though, those in the Department of Public safety should be used to seeing SOLIDERs every once in a while. Zack smiled sheepishly putting one hand on the desk edge and using the other to scratch absently at his black spikes, trying to give off anything but 'dangerous predator'. She didn't relax, but he could see the lines in her face soften minutely. "May I help you?"
"Yeah. Is this the Investigative Division of General Affairs Department? I forgot to check the directory."
"No sir. This is the Department of Urban Development. The 34th floor." Her lips twitched minutely, "Public Safety begins on the 44th."
"Aw crap. Really?" Zack smacked his forehead in irritation. He'd thought it was the 45th. It's not like the big honkin red letters over the doorway would have told him one way or another. In order to salvage his pride, he inwardly rationalized that there was a 4 in both numbers, and that he was tired damnit. This being Urban Planning would explain why she was so nervous. There was pretty much no reason for a SOLDIER to come here. Weapons Development or Public Safety? Yeah there were a couple SOLDIERs around. Science Department? Duh, SOLDIER 3rds held guard shifts from there on up. Her reaction should have clued him in. "Could ya please look up the floor number for me? I'm not exactly which floor the Tur—Investi—damnit—" That name was too fricken' long. And they weren't supposed to use the 'Turks' officially.
"Use Department of Administrative Research. It's shorter." The secretary responded wryly, having pulled up the building directory. She seemed to have relaxed some more, he could even see some amusement at his little predicament. "Everyone is lobbying to get them to change the title, it's ridiculous. We clerical staff submitted a petition a few weeks back, given we have to type it."
"Ah. Thanks." Zack responded, unsure how to react to the gossip he was suddenly subject to. Well, if it made her feel more comfortable around him, so be it, "So which floor is it, exactly? I kinda don't want to have to check every one between 44 and 54. That'd be sorta embarrassing."
Especially once he got to the bundle of floors frequented by SOLDIERs, and those who would know of his rank. The General, not knowing which floor everything was on? For shame. It didn't matter that he'd been a mere lieutenant prior to that. People called him 2IC but he personally considered himself Sephiroth's assistant more than any sort of authority figure.
"Upper level agents have offices on the 48th, lower levels on the 47th. It depends on who you are looking for, sir."
"Right. Thanks, uh…"
"Angela."
"Angela. Th' name's Zack. You've been a great help."
He smiled widely at her before giving her a wave and heading back to the elevator. After stepping inside he started to fish out his keycard before he realized he didn't need it. Security didn't start stepping up until the 59th. With a sigh he turned around and pressed the button for 47th—Grant was still a newer recruit. He could see Angela through the closing doors and noticed she'd turned back to her computer, in the process of blowing another bubble.
Huh. She hadn't done that once in their conversation.
Foot tapping impatiently, Zack stared up at the red numbers over the doorway. On the way up—the Infirmary was on the 5th floor—he'd just hit the button and turned to stare out the glass enclosure. The lightening sky was more interesting to watch, but he'd barely glanced at the numbers once the elevator stopped. Details. Details. Pay attention to details, Fair.
Once the doors slid open this time, Zack was sure he'd gotten off on the right floor. 47th. The departments weren't labeled outside of the oh-so-secure company network. Zack figured it was to torture employees more than anything else. Official policy was that it was in order to thwart cooperate espionage—or even outright invasion—but that only worked if the invader didn't know what they were doing.
Obviously the guy who kid—took Sephiroth from the Science Department had known what he was doing and where he was going. Then again, if the culprit was indeed one of his SOLDIERs, he could have just asked, exactly the way Zack had just done. Everyone knew only SOLDIERs had mako-eyes. Well, except for Vinny.
He knew that Tseng's reasoning was sound for suspecting a SOLDIER, but Zack didn't want to believe anyone in the organization would harm their boss. Sure, there were some people who didn't like Sephiroth. There were even some that hated him; but everyone respected him.
And most of them probably wouldn't have known Sephiroth had been in the Science Department in the first place. Zack had suspected, due to the timing of the initial disappearance, but he was the only one Sephiroth had trusted with his hospital visits.
Still, he'd done what Tseng had asked and drawn up a list of deployed SOLDIERs. There were plenty that'd requested leave or were currently absent from the city for one reason or another. He'd almost put Cloud down as well before he caught himself. A Turk had been ordered to kill him—Cloud wouldn't be stupid enough to head back into danger. He'd probably slipped out of the city first chance he got, to keep Vinny and Aeris out of it all. It was what he would have done. Clear the city and head for some out of the way place. Maybe Rocket Town, or Mideel. 'sides, Cloud wouldn't hurt the General. The teenager had always been cool around Sephiroth, and Sephiroth had given some of his rare praises to the blonde. They got along well enough, even if they didn't interact much once Cloud had passed his examinations and become a full time SOLDIER.
Cloud was the reason Zack wanted to see Grant, so it was only natural the blonde would occupy his thoughts. He knew it would be stupid to directly confront the Turk in the heart of ShinRa spook central, but he wanted to set-up a meeting. Maybe go for lunch or something later. His mind still recoiled against the idea that Grant was ordered to do Cloud in, but after he'd gotten a chance to think about it, he was kinda proud that Grant had found a way around it. Sure the methods weren't the safest, and if it weren't for a miracle Cloud could have ended up with severe mako poisoning.
Still, Grant had defied his orders to help a squad-mate. It made Zack happy. He could only hope the rest of his squad were just as true to their friends and comrades.
"Can I help you?"
He was shaken out of his thoughts by the female voice, not missing a beat as he took in the cool gaze sizing him up over the desk. She wasn't a full blown Turk, if the uniform was any evidence, but a Turk-hopeful? It was possible. There were internships, and there was no way the paranoid spooks would let someone unrelated work on their floors without a bajillion non-disclosure contract froms. "Oh, yeah. I'm looking for Grant. Herne Grant."
"Appointment?"
He stared blankly at her, which she just returned, "I don't have one. I'm—"
"General Zackary Fair. SOLDIER 1st class. I know. Still, I am not allowed to let you into the offices without an official reason."
"Oh! I have a reason!" He was just making this up as he went. It was worth a shot at least. "I wanted to ask his opinion regarding an investigation I'm working on. I wanted to run the results by him before I submitted them to Tseng. Quality check, you know?"
She gave him a searching look, during which Zack tried to look as innocent as possible. He was sure it failed.
"Fine. I'll see if he's free." Just as Zack was about to do a victory dance, she added, "And remember, I'm only doing this because you are the General. Next time CALL and make an official request."
Bah, stupid Turks. Why should he have to make an appointment anyway? They could—and did—pop into his office quite unannounced. Most of those appearances were just dumping more work on top of whatever he had to do, as well. So it was far more disruptive than he was being. Only the Turks could be unpredictable huh? Cause they probably felt they had to control everything, given their work.
Typing stopped and he focused on the intern. She turned in her chair to meet his gaze—huh, most non-SOLDIERs avoided looking at the mako. "I'm sorry but Herne Grant was deployed yesterday on a long-term mission involving ShinRa interests in the Nibelhiem area. You can't meet with him unless you can catch up with an airship that is half-way over the Central Sea."
The last statement was quite obviously sarcastic. Zack nearly twitched at the mention of Nibelhiem. That town was popping up all over the place. He really needed to grill Vincent on the area's significance. He'd tried to prod Heidegger some more, but the Executive had his mouth firmly shut.
"Is there anyone else you'd like to see instead, General?"
"No. It's fine. Not much to do about it." Zack waved his hand dismissively, "Do you have his number so I can leave him a message?"
"He is flagged as being out of contact for long periods of time. The Nibelhiem area in general has a distinctly unreliable signal coverage. Besides, we have a policy about not disclosing our agents contact information."
Now she was just being unhelpful. She was being far more talkative about things that didn't really matter, and then shutting down about those that did. Was she really that annoyed about his unannounced arrival? Or was she just one of those ones. A good number of the Turks looked down on SOLDIERs as "mako-addicted muscle-bound barbarians." Zack would know, he'd run into one at a bar once, back when he was a green 3rd. He'd managed to dodge the follow-up blow when he'd taken offence to the comment, but the drunk Turk had just spun and then collapsed on the floor, to be gathered up by his slightly more sober comrades. Zack watched in confusion amid the dirty looks before one of the older SOLDIERs had explained things.
"—if you would like, you can submit a request for the information. It would take 5-8 days to get approved, but then I could release the number—"
"It's FINE." Frustrated, Zack wanted to rub his temple, but didn't want to show the sign of his waning temper to the instigator before him. "I'll just get it from Tseng. Later."
"Have a good day!" was singsonged after him as Zack stomped—made his way toward the elevator. He just wanted to get back to the SOLDIER compound where things made sense. And forget Heidegger, he was nipping out of work early tonight. 'sides, he wanted to talk to Vinny about Nibelhiem, so it technically counted as work, right?
The lights would be dimming soon. He was both looking forward to it, and dreading it. The dimming of the lights meant the day would be done. Dreading it, because that meant that he couldn't see as well, which meant he would have to be more alert.
His 'well' and a normal person's well was far different, a fact that did little to comfort him.
Vincent shifted, the faint sound of cloth scraping across roofing tiles the only indication. He brought his leg around, angling himself so that he could see both the gate—the obvious path up to the house—and the recently discovered entry. He'd found it after Tseng had used it, going up and over the garden and hedges to get around to the house.
Tseng. Turk Leader. What did the Turks want? With Aeris no less? She was one of the kindest persons he'd ever met, a decent fighter, and had a remarkable way with plants but that wasn't anything Hojo would be interested in.
The window creaked behind him; squeaks easily audible as the glass-in-wooden-frame was pushed open behind him. He caught the smell of fish frying, the night's dinner wafting from the house into the mako-smell laced air of the slums.
"Mou, you really need to stop skulking out here. What'll the neighbors think?" Aeris leaned out of the frame, the outside wind tugging at slightly curled bangs. Vincent could see her out of his peripheral vision and considered not reacting—it would be a remiss in his guard duties to look away—but decided he didn't need her climbing out on the loose roofing tiles. It wasn't that the house was poorly maintained, it was just—old. He gave her his attention; certain she would pick up on the unasked question.
"I just want to know what's up. You've either been on the roof or stalking me since—Well—Tseng visited."
How did she know that?
"You passed my window. I'm not blind silly."
At that Vincent merely inclined his head. Her light had been on. He considered; she knew the Turk leader's name. There was a history there. "How did you two become acquainted?"
"Oh, it was a long time ago. I've—Well—Back then—I just felt like I needed to get away a lot. Away from Mom, because she was still here while my Mother wasn't…" Aeris paused, apparently picking up on his silent confusion. She was rather good at that. She tilted her head, leaning it against her palm, "I don't think I've mentioned it before, have I? My Mother, Ilfalna died when I was…I think Mom said it was six? Seven? I—I don't like to remember much."
"Mom says I was a bit of a brat back then, always running off. I ended up finding the church—it felt like Mother, I guess. And I liked it there. Mom was worried about me walking in the slums alone, but when she forbid me from going anywhere, I just ran off anyway…" Aeris was turning the faintest bit pink, a blush staining her nose and cheeks. Vincent watched in amusement as it darkened. She was embarrassed? Of course he had difficulty imagining the Aeris he knew disobeying her mother and just being a brat. He briefly wondered what it was that caused her to change before he focused on her story again.
"One day I was walking back from the church—I'd managed to get my first batch of flowers to bloom, I was so happy!—and Tseng ended up saving me from some trouble. I invited him home to dinner, though Mom took one look at his suit and turned pale as a ghost and kicked him out right there. He'd come by the church and watch over me after that, and when he wasn't one of the other Turks was there. They hung around until you began to live with us. I found a letter on my desk asking if I trusted you. I responded yes, and they just kind of disappeared after that."
That long? They'd been watching her for that long? Tseng had told him as much of course, but all the Turk had said was that Aeris was special. Since then, every time Vincent had gone out with Aeris he'd watched her. What was special? Did she know? She'd been so calm when talking about someone her mother had kicked out without prejudice, and seemed almost—fond?—when she spoke of the Turk.
"They are still there." Vincent's eyes left her face, narrowing in on the visible top of the next building over. Once he started looking he'd caught blue up there nearly all the time. Since Tseng none had tried to approach the house but…
He'd wondered; back when he first got here, why this girl asked him to be a bodyguard. In the end he'd put it down to a convenient excuse, a favor to her pen-pal, Cloud, that later turned into a legitimate role when he realized how much the slums had decayed. Back when he was stationed in Midgar the Slums were poorer than the Plate, yes, but an establishment like the Honey Bee Inn would have never been suffered. Back then ShinRa Electric Company hadn't been so entrenched in society and they people had options. The battle between mako and coal had been a hard fought one, and ShinRa needed public opinion to win it. Which they had.
He'd done some research since his awakening, and most of the coal mines had been shut down over the past decade leaving the people with no one left to turn to. The last functioning mine was located at the Base of Mt. Corel, but the newspaper he'd found claimed ShinRa was building a reactor there now. It wouldn't be too long before they shut that one down too.
Vincent kept his eyes pinned on the suit he could just barely see, twitching ever so slightly when he saw the red-head—the bright red above the blob of blue was either hair or a hat, and given uniform policy looked down on head-gear…—raised an arm and waved at him. "Do you know why?"
The silence was pretty telling, in and of itself.
The floor boards creaked, and Vincent was aware of her pulling away from the window.
"Aeris." The sounds stopped, her breathing coming slightly shallower, but she was listening, "The Turks don't normally stalk teenager girls."
"…my father. M-mother told me he'd been the head scientist. But he quit and…"
"…enough. My apologies."
Quit. Scientists didn't just quit. They retired under ShinRa's thumb or…were dealt with. Too many secrets locked up in their heads.
Head scientist. Vincent added up the years…and then twitched. He didn't quite whirl around, but he did take his eyes off Mr. Red-head to study Aeris. She was staring out the window, eyes distant. The spark of cheerfulness was missing. But she was strong, and Vincent watched as she shook it off, noting the change in her demeanor as she worked through old memories and feelings. She focused on him again, bright and cheery, but that moment of distance was enough for memories to slide into place. That face, those eyes with the faint hint of a wutaian tilt.
Gast. He hadn't been looking. Why would he? Why would he think of Gast? The Science Department head of the time, whose sudden departure for Midgar had left Hojo in charge of Sephiroth's project. Hojo hadn't begun the invasive, human experiments until then, because Gast was in charge, and Gast had this silly idea about human experimentation…
He had no proof. Nor an answer for Aeris when she asked him why he was staring at her. Maybe he was just seeing ghosts. He saw Lucrecia in Sephiroth—but he was her child. That name, how could he forget the name?—and now Gast in Aeris. She'd said head scientist, and the timing would fit. It would even explain the interest. Hojo had loathed Professor Gast.
But no, he wouldn't assume.
"I'm starting to get worried. Why are you staring?"
"…nothing." He turned away.
"Viiiiincent." There was that tone, the one she got before she turned on The Look. The look that showed that she was extremely disappointed, and that was very effective at making just about everyone guilty. Her mother was the only one immune.
He kept from looking at her, pointedly watching the path to the house. It was perfect timing too, because his sudden attention caught the figure walking up the walk, hands in his pockets and a huge buster sword on his back.
"Heeeeeey! Vinny! What're you doin up there? I almost thought Aeris had brought home one of the gargoyles from the church!"
Zack's greeting easily traveled up to the porch roof. It was sufficient distraction for Aeris, who heard the voice, leaned dangerously out of her window to see before bolting back inside. Vincent could hear her down the stairs, calling to her mom that Zack was here and "do we have enough food?"
Vincent felt strangely relieved as he slid to the edge of the roof and dropped down. He owed Zack for that one.
Besides, he hadn't seen the SOLDIER in nearly a month. Not since…
"You're late." He ended up saying, eyeing the SOLDIER. No 'it's been a while's or 'good to see you's. This was Zack. "Dinner's almost done."
"Hey! I'm rather important now. Got a lotta work to do." Zack responded rather indignantly, puffing himself up in order to seem more imposing. Supposedly. Vincent just stared, waiting for it…
Then Zack deflated, looking longingly toward the lit windows, "Dinner?"
Predictable. Vincent snorted, turning and waving the SOLDIER to follow. "Come in."
A/N: Well…that wasn't so long a wait, was it? *ducks possible projectiles*
There was more to this chapter, but I felt this was a nice ending point so it's been relegated to the next. Sorry for Zack kinda taking over…he's being the loudest of the three currently conscious characters. And really the only one who has much going on right now. Cloud 'n Seph are on the way to Cosmo Canyon, but they have to get there before anything can really happen. Vinny's pretty much stalking Aeris and keeping an eye on the Turks. Anywho, I hope Zack's okay. He's actually rather easy to write at the moment.
Didja know? With this chapter this story is officially over 100,000 words. I'm exceedingly proud of how this story has gone. Not that it's perfect—it's far from it, and I WILL rewrite the beginning chapters at some point—but I'd never expected for it to have gotten this far to be honest. I am horribly apt to start and then later drop things, so my (relative) consistency with this story has been surprising. Granted, I highly doubt a certain friend of mine would allow me to even if I tried.
Right, um, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and haven't given up on me yet. This'll get done, if only to say I've finished a long-fic. My only other completed things were dinky little oneshots.
Leave a review to let me know what you think, or if you spotted any errors/inconsistencies or even just anything you have questions about.
Title to be added when I think of it. And there isn't a hockey game on. *distracted*