The door slammed open, making me flinch with such force that I dropped the folder I was leafing through. Its contents scattered onto the floor and I whipped my head up to glare daggers at the man in the doorway.
"Reno!" I exploded, trying to swallow my heart back down from my throat. "Just what the hell do you–"
The look on his face made me cut my rant short. His eyes were serious, his jaw set.
"You said it was just you."
His words made no sense, but the forced, even tone of voice shifted my flare of temper toward unease.
"What are you talking about?"
My attempt to rise became a startled tumble back down when he rushed right up to me and slammed his hands down on the back of couch, trapping me between his arms as he stared me down.
"Were you lyin' to me?"
"Wh-what is this? I don't understand!"
I shrunk back against the upholstery in a vain attempt to put more distance between us. The Turk took a deep measured breath, then slowly pushed himself upright. His hands fell to his sides as he took a step backward.
"Answer the question."
"I haven't lied about anything!" I exclaimed, my voice shrill and shaky compared to his controlled tone. "Why are you acting like this?"
His phone rang. The sharp eyes stayed fixed on me as the Turk fished it out of a pocket and answered the call.
"Yeah?" A few seconds of silence, while I fidgeted under his unflinching gaze. "Got it."
Reno was moving before he had ended the call.
"We gotta move, Fitz. C'mon!"
As taken aback as I was by his behavior, the urgency that had now replaced the cold control convinced me it was best to do as I was told.
"Why? What's going on?" I asked as I scrambled up from the sofa.
"We're under attack. I'll tell ya more on the way."
I froze, but resumed moving at Reno's impatient wave. As soon as I was by the door, he took off at a brisk pace, forcing me into a half-jog in order to keep up with him.
"Where are we going?"
"The executive floor. Reeve's gonna meet us there."
Fresh fear chilled my gut. Reno was taking me up to the very people he had gone through such lengths to keep me hidden from? Something as very wrong here.
"Okay, we're moving now, so will you tell me what this is about already?"
Reno opened a maintenance door and upon going through it, I found myself in a stairwell. I guessed the elevators weren't an option due to the attack.
"Was already on my way home, when I got called back in by security," he explained. "Unknown intruders on floor fifty-eight. They shot the first two guards who went to check it out."
He didn't sound winded at all, despite taking the stairs two or three steps at a time, while I longed for my suit's power-assisted movement. My heart already felt like it might burst out of my chest from the effort of trying to keep up with him, although some of it was no doubt due to the growing apprehension.
"They just showed up outta nowhere," Reno continued, sending me an appraising glance. "Sound familiar? Even better, one of 'em is wearin' armor that looks an awful lot like yours."
This time I stopped dead in my tracks, clinging to the railing. I didn't even breathe.
"What?" I managed to choke out.
A loud buzzing sound, followed by angry shouts and gunfire, made us both snap our heads upward. Reno swore and grabbed my arm, pulling me through the nearest door onto another floor.
"What color?" I asked once the chaos was muffled by the door closing behind us.
"Huh?"
"The suit! What color is it?"
"Dunno, black and white footage only. Hold the questions for now, Doc," he instructed as he led me along another corridor. "We gotta stay quiet. This ain't a safe floor."
Mere minutes later, the Turk was proven right. As we were crossing a large open space, heavy footfalls approached from one of the adjoining corridors at a rapid pace. Reno dragged me along toward another corridor on the opposite side of the room, but before we could reach it, we heard the sounds of more booted feet echoing from its direction. We were surrounded.
"Halt! Hands in the air!"
The intruders came out with their guns raised and pointed at us. There were over a dozen of them, the desert camo of their outfits a sharp contrast to the clean lines of Shinra HQ's interiors. My breath hitched when I saw the Orca insignia on their chests. It was true, then. These soldiers were from Earth.
Reno showed his palms, keeping his hands half-raised, and slowly maneuvered us so that we had both groups within our field of vision. Therefore, I had an excellent view when their leader marched into the room. I instantly recognized the black and blue powered suit. Its wearer came to an abrupt halt as soon as he spotted us and stared at me with widened eyes; gray eyes that I thought I would never gaze into again.
My knees nearly gave out.
"Oh my god," I breathed.
The man took a step forward, but stopped when I matched it with one backward, keeping the distance between us. He removed his helmet, then raked his fingers through his short hair and grabbed the back of his neck, looking just as stunned as I felt.
"I don't believe this," he said, then let out a small laugh and looked at me in wonder. "You haven't aged a day."
"James?" I whispered.
"What?" Reno asked, his voice going up a pitch. "Whoa whoa whoa. This is James the Jerkface?"
I groaned internally. Trust Reno to ruin a moment like this.
James was not amused.
"Therèse, who is this?" he asked, giving the Turk a withering look.
I examined his face, focusing on the familiar lines of the angular jaw, the thin lips and the aquiline nose. It was him. It really was James, but he looked twenty years older.
"Hey, I'm right here, asshat. Why dontcha ask me, yo."
"Reno!" I snapped, grabbing his forearm.
"What!"
He glanced at me and I was taken aback by the anger in his eyes. He was fuming. Well, too bad. At the rate he was going, there would be two of us. Or three, rather.
"Will you please not make this worse than it is?" I hissed.
He held my gaze for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Whatever."
And just like that, he slouched into a perfect embodiment of indifference. I still had my palm on his arm, though, and could tell he was tense like a bowstring, ready to snap at a moment's notice. I looked up at him for a second longer, trying to catch his gaze again, but he kept it fixed on the enemy. Gritting my teeth, I too turned back to them.
James had watched the exchange in silence. When our eyes met again, his expression had darkened considerably.
"Friend of yours?" he asked in a frosty tone.
"As a matter of fact, yes." My reply was just as reserved as his, uttered as I glanced at the new symbol on his chest plate, right next to his name. "You're Orca now?"
The muscles in James' jaw tightened, but otherwise he showed no visible reaction to my accusatory tone.
"We have a mutually beneficial agreement."
His impassive way of saying it irked me more than the useless reply itself.
"What the hell does that mean? Are you claiming Cobalt is working with Orca? You expect me to believe Snyder just let you hand over the Gateway to a bunch of paramilitary terrorists?" I asked heatedly, referring to our head of department.
"Cobalt no longer exists. None of the major corporations exist anymore. Orca's running the show now, Thérèse."
That... I didn't expect. I blinked several times, trying to decide if I had actually heard what I thought he had said. Cobalt Industries, the second largest economic power in the world, no longer existed?
"What? How?"
James scoffed.
"Do you really think Orca would have found your precious Gateway project important enough to go up against Cobalt Industries for it alone? Please. That was just one of over a dozen coordinated strikes, aimed at the four largest international corporations. On that day, Orca took control."
"Jesus Christ," I whispered, staring at him in dazed disbelief. "You willingly helped Orca take over the whole damn world?"
"I chose the logically sound option."
I couldn't detect the faintest trace of remorse for what he had done.
"Logically sound?" I cried. "For god's sake, how could you? They don't care about saving Earth! They're just in it for themselves!"
"There's no Earth left to save!" the man snapped and stepped closer, his emotionless facade cracking for a moment. "There never was!"
"Whoa there, pal, keep your distance or this lil' chat is over," Reno warned as he pulled us both backward, taking the chance to position me a little further back than himself.
"What... What are you talking about?"
Noting the way the mercs tensed up as soon as the Turk moved, I had hastily spoken up to keep the situation from escalating further, but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer to my question. What had Orca done?
Thankfully, James decided to heed Reno's warning and stayed put with no more than a brief, annoyed glare at the Turk.
"Earth is lost," was his flat reply. "The last of our crops failed last year. Nothing grows anymore."
"No, that can't be," I objected, shaking my head as if hoping it would disperse the cold sensation that had raised all the hairs on the back of my neck. "All the predictions gave us at least ten years before that happened."
He gave me a strange look.
"Therèse, that was more than ten years ago. You've been missing for fourteen years."
I did a double take.
He was joking. He had to be joking.
"Come on," I said with a nervous laugh. "I've been here for a year."
"Back home, it's the year 2092."
I just stared at him. I couldn't remember how to breathe.
In our theoretical discussions, Victor and I had reflected on the possibilities of differing laws of physics, on hypothetical forms of life fundamentally different from our own, on the long-term biological effects of various types of known phenomena in outer space... Had we ever talked about time?
You haven't aged a day. I thought it an odd comment at the time, but I had been too stunned by James' sudden appearance to dwell on it. I studied his face, taking in the visible gray in his hair and eyebrows, the wrinkles around his eyes.
His lips curved in a sad smile. "Yes, I'm much older than you are now."
"As frickin' weird as all this is, I guess that kinda makes sense," Reno commented. "Couldn't picture ya eager to marry this old fart. He's like a hundred years old, yo."
At least he had muttered it under his breath. Coming from the loudmouthed Turk, that was an admirable show of restraint. He had a point, though. While hardly as old as a hundred, James had aged more than just fourteen years. Twice that might have been my guess.
The reassuring constancy of Reno's blunt sarcasm was like a lifeline to hold on to in my distress. I clung to it, used it to pull myself out of the swirling abyss of conflicting emotions. With considerable effort, I pushed them aside to consider what my former fiancé had told me. While so much was confusing and unclear, one question rose above the others.
"Why did you come here now? If the Gateway still works, why wait fourteen years to come find me?"
James gave me a sour look.
"The Gateway was damaged. It was almost impossible to repair."
So, it had all been for nothing. Despite the sacrifices, the Gateway was now in Orca hands.
"Pity," I remarked with no small amount of bitterness. "We aimed for completely impossible."
As I glared at him, it seemed as if his eyes were... flickering, for lack of a better word. As if the shape of the pupils was unstable. It had to be some trick of the light, but it was still unnerving.
"Hmph. It doesn't matter now," James dismissed me. "The Gateway is functional, and now that I've found you, you're coming with me."
Was he fucking kidding me? After all he had done, he expected me to return to him at the drop of a hat?
"I'm not going anywhere with you," I ground out.
His face fell, but only momentarily, and then it drained of all emotion. The pupils oscillated again and a cruel smile twisted his mouth.
"You don't have a choice, Therèse."
His abrupt change frightened me, but the anger caused by his arrogant demands was more potent.
"You can't order me around like this! If Victor was here–"
"Victor is dead!" he roared.
I recoiled in shock. I had suspected it, but kept hoping against hope it wouldn't be so. To hear it said out loud, confirmed in such a venomous way... My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Instead, I felt a tear roll down my cheek, quickly followed by another.
"You... you killed Victor?"
I wanted to shout it out loud, to accuse him with an intrepidity befitting my old friend, but what came out was barely a whisper.
"Don't be ridiculous," James scoffed. "I didn't kill him. That was Orca's doing."
I must have been mistaken. This couldn't be James. I couldn't have loved this man with callous eyes and the Orca insignia proudly emblazoned over his cold heart.
"You think a fucking technicality makes any difference to me? You're wearing Orca armor, you know. You betrayed us, you brought them to us. You got him killed! You!"
My voice grew stronger with every word until I yelled the last word. Reno's fingers brushed across my hand. Whether it was intended as a warning or comfort I didn't know, but it made me whip my head around and cut my outburst short. The tears were streaming down now, but that wasn't the reason I looked away. I just couldn't stand the sight of the bastard in front of us right now.
"This discussion is irrelevant," James declared. "You're coming with me. Now."
My eyes widened in alarm as he signaled at the closest group of Orca soldiers and two of them moved in on me. Before they could reach me, though, someone else pushed me hard, sending me stumbling backward.
"The hell she is!"
When I had regained my balance and looked up, Reno was a whirlwind of motion among the enemy. Bright red and sparkling blue flashed so rapidly I couldn't quite tell what was happening. An Orca mercenary crumpled, his visor cracked and stained with blood. Another fell to the ground, convulsing. A third raised a pistol, aiming it at the human hurricane.
"Reno!"
The soldier swirled around and suddenly it was I who stared down the barrel of a gun. I gasped and froze in surprise, but Reno must have heard me yell his name, for with an incredible burst of speed he managed to take down the woman in front of him, then spin and deliver a kick to the other merc's arm. The gun went flying and clattered onto the floor just as the Turk struck a second time, giving the soldier a nasty electric shock in the chest with his baton.
The rescue came with a price, though. An Orca merc came up behind Reno and bashed the butt of his rifle into his back. He fell onto his knees with a pained growl. Another attacker kicked him in the gut, and he slumped forward, losing his grip on his weapon.
"No!"
Nobody listened to me. Two of the intruders hoisted Reno onto his feet, restraining his arms, while a third took the chance to smash a fist into his face. Reno grunted and I saw blood gush from his nose.
In a panic, I turned my head to call out to James, but on the way my eyes found something else. The pistol, knocked onto the floor and forgotten in the scuffle. Without thinking, I dove for it, spurred on by another half-stifled sound of pain from the overpowered Turk.
James, whose attention had been focused on Reno's capture, spun around at the sudden motion, but it was too late. When he faced me, I had the gun pointed at his chest.
"Enough!" I yelled.
I must have sounded different this time, for everyone went still. The soldier who had socked Reno stood with his arm in the air, ready to throw another punch, and craned his head back to look at me. In another situation, I might have found the awkward pose funny. At that moment, however, I was too busy trying to keep a firm grip on the pistol.
"What the hell are you doing?" James demanded.
What the hell was I doing indeed? I hadn't exactly had a chance to plan this far ahead. The only thing I knew was that I wasn't going anywhere with this man.
"I'm giving myself a choice," I said, mustering a remarkable calm considering the circumstances.
The gun was heavy and solid in my hands. Point the muzzle away from people. Keep fingers off the trigger. Somewhere along the road, even I had managed to pick up on a couple of rules on gun safety. Not that it mattered much. I was already breaking them both.
The soldiers exchanged uncertain glances, waiting for a signal from their leader. Those who had their rifles raised, were pointing them at Reno, not me. I was very grateful for that small mercy, but decided the situation could be further improved.
"Guns on the ground. Now!" I shouted.
They hesitated. Some of them gripped their rifles even tighter, I noticed.
"I've got this," James said to them. "Do as she says."
He had always been a confident man, bordering on arrogant, and this time it worked in my favor. Reluctantly, the soldiers obeyed.
"What do you think this will accomplish?" James asked, sounding more irritated than anything.
"I'm not sure, but I'm working on it."
I was dimly aware of a toothy grin on Reno's bloody face.
James scoffed. "Come on, Tess. This is ridiculous. You've never fired a gun in your life."
"There's a first time for everything, Jamie."
He leveled a stern gaze on me, the condescending one he always used when he felt I was being childish.
"You're not going to shoot me."
I pulled the trigger. It was almost like a petulant reflex, an action that I was barely aware of on a conscious level, but the bang ringing in my ears made it clear I had done it. It was just a warning shot, but it had the desired effect. The shock plain on James' white face both frightened me and egged me on. I was in control now.
I had learned a thing or two about intimidation at the mercy of the Turks. It was time to put it to use.
"Oops," I said with my best imitation of Reno's cocky smirk. "Missed."
James' mouth fell open, but no words came out. I recognized that look, knew all too well how it felt. I knew where I had him now.
After a few false starts, he found his voice again.
"You weren't really trying to aim at me."
My mind was racing, trying to come up with a resolution, some kind of plan to get both Reno and myself out of this, but my thoughts were scattered and elusive. I needed more time.
"Are you willing to bet on that, James?"
"You're not going to shoot me."
The tone wasn't quite as confident as the words themselves, but he seemed to be recovering quicker than I had hoped. My heart was pounding and I couldn't keep my hands from trembling. They could all see how nervous I was. I was losing my advantage.
"I've never pointed a gun at someone before," I admitted, managing to keep my voice low and even. "My hands are unsteady. Fingers... twitchy. I'm under considerable stress. It makes things rather unpredictable, don't you think?"
My target's facial expression remained composed, but I noticed the way his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
"I might miss again. I might get lucky and shoot you through the heart." My lips twisted into a grim approximation of a smile. "Now wouldn't that be appropriate."
"Tess, there's no need for this unpleasantness. Just give me the gun and we can talk about this."
"I don't think so."
I was speaking with a confidence I didn't feel. I couldn't see a happy ending to this tale.
"You must come with me." James was losing his composure, begging and making demands at the same time. "For heaven's sake, you must help me!"
"I don't think I have to do a single damn thing for you, James."
How easily I could say it. How easily I could dismiss the man I once loved.
The whole situation was ridiculous. I was in what should have been an impossible world, aiming a gun at my former fiancé – a gun that I had already fired, for crying out loud – in order to stop him from kidnapping me back to our so-called home. Best of all, the only help I could hope for came from the people who had imprisoned me and kept me in this place against my will for months on end.
The absurdity of it all was getting to me. I felt giddy. I managed to transform the hysterical giggling that threatened to bubble forth into a maniacal grin and addressed the man who had betrayed me and Victor for his own gain.
"Dr. Hartley, after careful thought and consideration, I hereby officially resign my position as senior researcher on the Gateway project, effective immediately."
As soon as I had finished the sentence, all hell broke loose. The room erupted in smoke and gunfire, and within seconds I was knocked down, sending the gun tumbling out of my hands. My head hit the floor and a billion white stars overwhelmed my vision, while a heavy weight pinned me down from behind. Instinctively, I tried to push myself free.
"Stay down, for fuck's sake," Reno hissed by my ear. "D'ya have a fuckin' death wish?"
Bullets flew overhead, making his point abundantly clear. I reversed my actions, instead pressing myself flat against the floor and flinging my arms around my head. All I knew was the sound of shouting and gunfire, the smell of smoke and the weight of Reno's body on mine.
It felt like half an eternity passed this way, but in reality it must have been over within a minute or two. The Turk slowly pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around. I tried to move too, but again he stopped me, this time using the gentler approach of a hand on my shoulder. I glanced up at him sideways, frowning, but he was peering into the wispy smoke.
"Slow down, Doc," he mumbled. "We dunno who's still standin'. Better safe than sorry."
While he scanned the surroundings, I tried to make sense of what the hell had just happened. We had been attacked, that much was clear. By Shinra's people? It must have started with a smoke grenade or something similar, and Reno had used the surprise and confusion to free himself. Was he the one who had knocked me down? He must have, and then...
I blinked as the realization sank in. Reno had likely saved my life. In fact, he had shielded me using his own freaking body. He was still doing it, hovering over me until the coast was clear. His hand remained on my shoulder, its warmth seeping through the fabric of my shirt. For some reason, the simple touch made heat rise to my cheeks, too.
Before I could contemplate this unexpected turn of events, someone called the man's name.
"Alive and kickin', yo!"
He hopped off of me and straightened up, finally giving me the chance to push myself up to a sitting position and look around unhindered. The smoke was dissipating. Most of James' people were on the floor, unmoving – whether dead or unconscious, I didn't know. At that point, I didn't much care either. I felt numb. Dazed, really.
A petite blonde woman in a Turk suit approached us, holding a gun in each hand. She gave me a brief inspection with alert eyes, then turned her attention to Reno and handed him one of the weapons.
"Some of them got away," she reported while reloading her own pistol. "Security went after them."
"They're after the Doc here," Reno said and nodded toward me, using a commanding tone that sounded out of place coming from him. "You go hunt the fuckers down with security. Keep a cool head tho', the poor bastards ain't trained for fuckin' urban warfare. I'll stay with the target, call in the infantry. Go!"
"Yes sir!"
I stared after the blonde as she disappeared down the corridor. The concept of anyone calling Reno "sir" was even more baffling than hearing the man himself bark orders.
"Do I sound like I fuckin' care?" he snarled into the phone he had produced as soon as the female Turk took off. "We've got armed intruders on several floors of our goddamn HQ. Get. Here. Now!" A brief pause, in which I could barely make out an agitated voice on the other end of the line. "Heidegger ain't here and Tseng's down, which means I'm in charge, dumbass! Now get your lazy asses down here already!"
He slammed the phone shut, then wiped his nose on his sleeve and grimaced when he saw the blood staining the fabric an even darker shade.
"Fuckin' meathead soldier boy jerkface fuckers," he grumbled under his breath.
His ill-tempered griping was such a comforting return to normalcy after the long string of inconceivable, impossible events in a world gone completely topsy-turvy.
"Are you okay?" I finally had the presence of mind to ask.
"Fuckin' peachy," he growled, probing his jaw with careful fingers.
I drew a deep, unsteady breath and ran my hands through my hair, looking around at the bodies on the ground. I could have been one of them. So could Reno.
"What the hell where you thinking?" I exploded. "Attacking them like that? Alone? "
"Just had to buy some time, is all," he shrugged, checking the gun before tucking it into his belt. "I knew Laney was on her way."
He said it as if taking on a bunch of armed mercenaries by himself was no big deal.
"They could have killed you!"
"Aw, so you do care, babe," he smirked. "I've told ya, I got your back. Nice to know you got mine."
It took me a few moments to realize what he meant, and then the full weight of the stunt I had pulled hit me. I buried my face in my hands, then dragged them down in slow-motion until only my fingers covered my mouth. My eyes must have been comically wide.
"Oh god. What the hell was I thinking?"
Reno's smile widened until he was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"You're tougher than you look, Fitz. Never thought you'd be one to pull a gun on someone and look good while doin' it. Jerkface nearly pissed himself."
"Ugh, don't remind me," I groaned. "I'm still shaking like a leaf."
"'Oops. Missed'," he mimicked, then sniggered with delight. "Damn, girl! Where'd all that come from? Ya sneaky badass. Tho' next time ya might wanna be quicker about gettin' to the part where you tell the bad guys to let us go. Just sayin'."
"Reno–"
"Hey, you're out of a job now, right? Maybe you should join the Turks. You'd get to pull shit like that all the time, yo."
"Reno! Shut. Up."
The shakiness of my voice ruined the ring of authority I was aiming for. He laughed, and strangely enough, I didn't mind. It was a relieved, wholehearted laugh; a pleasant sound, and much too rare. Before I knew it, I had joined in with an unsteady giggle of my own.