Chapter 32: Watching for the Storm
Summary: Tifa always believed that she was confident and sure of her purpose, whether it was to leave Nibelheim or take down Shinra. However, this trip is causing her to realize she's not as fearless as she thought.
AN: I know it's been a while, but I write much slower than I used to. I also had family come down for their first visit since before the pandemic. (Quarantine kicked in right before their annual spring visit. bummer!) Anyway, I probably won't post again before the holiday season is mostly done, so I hope you all enjoy your celebrations in whatever form they take!
Tifa didn't like the hospital in the Junon base. There were a hundred soldiers, a locked door, and what felt like kilometers of narrow corridors between them and any kind of freedom.
She also didn't like this small box of a room that was long and narrow with one-way glass at the far end, and three uncomfortable chairs looking out through it at the treatment room. It felt like a medical peep-show instead of a waiting room.
They were here because Zack wanted to watch Shinra's doctors treat Kryffin Conway on the other side. "Make sure they don't take out anything he needs or put in anything he doesn't" is what he'd growled.
Shinra's doctors were replacing Conway's tainted SOLDIER blood with normal-person blood. They said it was to replace the cells that had allowed Sephiroth or Jenova or whatever that thing was to take over his body and turn him into a monster. Tifa would bet her bar (the new one she was going to build) that what was coming out of the former-SOLDIER, Sephiroth-copy, Jenova-clone was going straight to Shinra's science department despite Zack's watchful eye.
The old SOLDIER had died, and he would've stayed that way if Cloud hadn't thrown a Phoenix Down at Tifa and told her to use it. She'd done it, because Zack had looked… bad, but she wasn't sure it had been the best thing to do. Not for him. Not in the middle of Junon base with Shinra all around.
On the other hand, it's probably the only reason the Turk wasn't dead right alongside Conway.
It was kind of cynical, but part of Tifa kind of thought that Zack was hoping the doctors would figure out a way to prevent the same thing from happening to him, and that had overruled his desire to protect the old SOLDIER. It didn't seem like something he'd do, but half an hour ago, he hadn't seemed like someone who'd choke to death someone who'd helped them...
The door opened a crack and light from the hall briefly lit the dimness. Only an outline of the figure entering was visible.
"You knew," Zack muttered accusingly at Tseng. He'd turned at the sound of the door opening, but he hadn't moved from his spot at the observation window.
He still radiated anger.
His bright pink overshirt couldn't disguise what he really was: SOLDIER. All the magazines and the promo pieces had made SOLDIERs out to be all these admirable things, when in reality they were unbelievably, unnaturally, dangerous.
She'd thought she'd understood when she'd watched Zack fight in the Deepground labs. He'd cut huge chunks out of all sorts of horrible things – things that could've killed the rest of them with one blow or a bite. He'd always been so cheerful while doing it, as if it couldn't touch his big doofus core, that Tifa had decided that Shinra had exaggerated SOLDIERs' capabilities to make them seem more intimidating to Wutai (and everywhere else they'd taken over).
Meeting Genesis hadn't really changed her mind about the program. The auburn-themed SOLDIER was just so… extravagant and, and fussy!
However, for the first time since she'd gotten to know Zack, she felt truly threatened just by being near him.
The big SOLDIER's arms were crossed in a way that made every muscle seem larger, more menacing. His legs were braced, ready to jump on whoever annoyed him. He seemed to take up all the limited free space by the window. Even Aerith and Cloud had been pushed to the walls by it.
It actually reminded Tifa of some of the more vicious gang members; the ones who'd strut through Sector 7, wanting someone to bump into them so they could start a fight.
She was very carefully not getting close enough for Zack to bump into.
Instead, she was leaning against the wall too close to Genesis, who sat in the uncomfortable chair closest to Tifa's wall. His posture was relaxed but his eyes didn't stop moving, watching, assessing. Cloud and Aerith were on the other side, so if things did go badly – if Zack did flip out again – they had him flanked.
"You expected that," Zack turned and pushed the middle chair out of his way. It would've toppled over, but Cloud caught it.
Zack stalked towards the Turk still standing just inside the door. The SOLDIER had somehow grown even taller, or something, because he seemed closer to the ceiling than before.
"Hardly," Tseng answered calmly, as if 190 centimetres of furious SOLDIER wasn't intimidating at all.
"You had Cissnei take us directly to his shop," Zack shot back. "Instead of the reactor. Like we'd asked."
Cissnei wasn't here. She had her own bed where they were checking her throat for residual damage. Zack had actually picked the Turk up by her neck and shaken her. And not gently. Good thing Genesis had equipped a healing materia.
"You'd also asked to be taken to the area a robed man had been spotted," Tseng pointed out. "And she did that."
Not that Tifa would've mourned the loss of one of Shinra's lapdogs, but Genesis had informed them what the rest of the Turks would've done to them if Cissnei had died. They were assassins and ruthless, he'd said. Their revenge would have been unpleasant. And maybe not survivable.
"You didn't warn me – us!" Zack corrected.
"Warn you of what?" Tseng's voice was sharper. "That there might be a link between these robed men and SOLDIER? That they might be…." Tseng's hand cut through the air as he searched for words. "Infected with Sephiroth?"
"Yes!" Zack shouted.
Tseng came close to shouting back. "Why?"
"Because I have that stuff inside me!" Zack was definitely looming over the Turk. In fact, Zack was taking up almost all the space. "I could turn into that thing!" He was taking all the air. Tifa's head began to pound. "I could hurt the people I care about."
Tifa stared as she realized it was true: Zack could turn into one of those monsters. He could attack all of them, and as strong as he was, only Genesis had any chance of coming out unhurt.
"No," Genesis's voice was calm. "You wouldn't."
Zack whirled to loom over his fellow SOLDIER. "You can't know that!"
"The only stable First ever created, he said." Genesis didn't seem concerned that Zack would transform, but Tifa edged further along the wall. Dividing targets, because relying on the testimony of someone who had transformed sounded stupid.
"Who said?" Tseng asked.
"Angeal. Well before the previous crisis was resolved." Genesis tossed at the Turk. He tipped a little closer to Fair. "A weighted conversation I had nearly forgotten. However, my recall – now I'm no longer degrading – is quite exceptional."
It was enough to make Zack deflate a little, which made the room easier to breathe in. Tifa could practically see him thinking about it. Wondering if that really did make everyone (Aerith and Cloud) safe from him.
Cloud had been half watching Conway's treatment and half watching the showdown. "The one you found in Midgar," he asked the Turk. "SOLDIER?"
Tseng turned only slightly. "Yes. Second Class Yurie Ciobanu."
"Yurie?" Zack said. "I knew him. We were Thirds together." He turned to look at Genesis. "I thought he deserted with you?"
Genesis raised an eyebrow. "The name isn't familiar."
"He had the number 2 tattooed on his hand." Tseng told Cloud and Aerith, as if they should recognize it. From the look they exchanged, Tifa figured they did.
"Is he alive?" Aerith asked, hands clasped under her chin in concern. "He wasn't evil."
"We have him somewhere safe. Away from Shinra," he assured her.
"And Marco?" Tifa asked. "He was SOLDIER too?
Tseng nodded, barely looking in her direction. "Azton Namath, Third Class. He also reacted badly to the SOLDIER treatments the last time they were run. According to the records, he required 'intensive intervention' to prevent mutation. He was invalided out with Conway."
"Fuck!" Zack shouted it, but he didn't punch anything (or anyone). He didn't start to glow, or do any of the other things Marco and Conway had done before….
"Is Genesis at risk of turning into…. " Tifa didn't finish the sentence.
"Hardly," Genesis said with a wry smile. "The process that made Angeal and myself used inert cells. Dead, in other words."
From the wink he gave her as he said it, he wasn't telling them everything, but Tifa often thought Genesis wasn't telling them everything. He was so…. His gestures, his language – always quoting that poem. This was sane for him?
"How's that different from what they did to Zack?" Aerith asked.
Tseng looked at her. "Hojo's procedure utilized viable, or 'live' Jenova cells"
Genesis snorted. "As alive as any creature buried for 2,000 years in crystalized mako can be."
"Explains the mutations," Zack said. His teeth were practically grinding. "The thing I saw at the Nibelheim reactor had tentacles, but no arms."
"Odin's fucking balls! That's what they dumped on us?" Cloud had his hands on his hips, and he was looking almost as angry as Fair. It was his turn to pace around the room – though it was so crowded that he could do little more than stomp and turn, stomp and turn.
Zack put a hand on his shoulder, stopping the movement. "Don't worry, Cloud," he said. "You didn't get enough for it to affect you." Cloud glared at his friend, disbelieving. Tifa agreed with that glare, since they didn't know how much Jenova cells was too much.
"Why isn't Genesis going to turn into a Jeniroth?" Aerith asked into the quiet. Everyone except Tseng mouthed 'Jeniroth' to themselves.
Zack said, "The cells aren't compatible." He looked at Genesis. "Your experiment on the Cosmo Canyon highway last year proved that."
Genesis stared at him before chuckling. "Goddess! I'd forgotten about that. I must have seemed very unhinged."
Zack gave him a strange look. "Uh, yeah. That's a way of putting it."
"What'll happen to Conway?" Cloud asked.
"Since we don't know what triggered his transformation, it would be reckless of us to leave him in place."
She was looking right at Tseng, staring even. She wasn't sure if she'd know if he lied but she liked to think so since good bartenders learned to read people. She didn't think the Turk was lying, but Cloud, Zack and Genesis all snorted in denial that Shinra even cared.
Tseng heard the disbelief. "Junon is Shinra's largest military base. It will soon contain its headquarters. All of that will be put at risk if he transforms again."
"Nothing about the people who live here, I notice." Tifa sneered.
Tseng ignored her, addressing himself to Zack. "We will move him out of the city, away from where SOLDIERs usually go. He will be watched by people I trust."
"The Turks that are in hiding," Zack said.
An eyebrow went up. "Indeed."
"Hardly freedom," Tifa pointed out, because they were talking about completely rearranging this guy's life without his consent.
"Better than ending up in a Science Department lab," Tseng replied.
"A salient argument," Genesis said with a sage nod. "I'm sure Zack will agree."
"But what if it's only Zack that triggers the transformation?" Aerith said. "Then you've ruined Mr Conway's life for nothing."
"He didn't transform in the store when they shook hands," Tseng said blandly but Zack didn't respond like it was bland. Instead, he did that thing again. The one where he puffed up and taking all the air again.
Tifa shifted her stance, just in case.
"When did she tell you that?" he asked. "Or was she miked?"
"Cissnei was watching to see what would happen. That's why she came with us?" Tifa asked knowing it was true before she opened her mouth. "But she was really helpful in the fight."
The stupidity of her comment made Zack laugh, and he shrunk back down again. Tifa was grateful the room's dim light hid her blush.
"One doesn't preclude the other," Genesis said kindly. " 'None can full know a Turk's book of secrets.' "
Tifa frowned at him. "That's not Loveless. There weren't any Turks in Loveless."
He smiled. "An apt bastardization, made to fit the current situation."
She'd missed how Cissnei had reported to Tseng, but Tifa supposed Zack wasn't the only person who could slip away to make a phone call, so….
"I know what triggered it," Zack said, crossing his arms. "And I have an idea of what Jenova wants, I think." Cloud stopped his pacing to stare at the SOLDIER.
"You know?" Tseng's voice was lightly disbelieving.
Zack hummed encouragingly.
"How do you know?" Tseng pressed.
"What? Shuriken didn't magically communicate that to you?" He lifted his chin.
"Zack, she can't speak yet," Tseng's voice was hard. "You crushed her larynx and destroyed most of her vocal tissue." He pulled in a deep breath. "I owe your companions much for rescuing her from you." It was a nasty shot, but accurate, Tifa thought.
Zack obviously agreed because he flinched, backing up a step, giving Tseng some space for the first time since the Turk had entered the room.
"He zoned out," Genesis said to the air. "When Conway grabbed Zack's arm after the fight, they both froze."
Zack turned to his fellow SOLDIER and glared. "Jenova's cells are slightly telepathic, did you know that?" he asked. "They like to talk "– he used air quotes –"to each other."
"That's not in the records." Tseng said with a small frown.
Zack turned his glare back on the Turk. "Hojo probably didn't write that down," he said. "He wouldn't want anyone to know he was talking to her – and that she was talking back."
"I beg your pardon."
It was the first time Tifa had ever seen the Turk surprised. His eyes widened, and his dusky skin took on an ashy hue.
Zack laughed, mocking and bitter. "What? You didn't know that either? Never observed Hojo injecting himself with Jenova cells? It's why he 'talks to himself'. You know. That weird quirk he has that everyone was too scared to mention," Zack went on. "He probably thinks him and Jenova are in this thing together; that they'll be together after they achieve 'their goals'." He snorted again. "The way he talked about her in the basement, you'd've thought she was his girlfriend."
An image had formed in Tifa's head – an image of the thing they'd just fought embracing Professor Hojo in its tentacles. It was disgusting, yes, but…. From what Zack, Cloud and Genesis had said for the (quote-unquote) scientist, it wasn't impossible.
Ugh.
"That explains many things about his recent… behaviour." Tifa could hear the Turk's gritted teeth. "You could've told me."
"I told you he had plans that didn't include Shinra," Zack said. "You didn't ask for details, and you made it pretty clear that you'd think anything I said was an exaggeration. Who was I to push?"
It was another petty side of Zack that Tifa didn't expect. Somehow, she'd never pictured the big First as the kind of person to hold onto grudges.
Surprisingly, the Turk didn't call him on it. (Maybe, he thought he'd earned it.) Instead, Tseng closed his eyes, took a breath, and gathered his Turk dignity around him like a shield. "I am asking you now, Zack. What do you know of their plans? What are they looking for?"
Zack gave the Turk a long, considering look. He chewed his lips and then looked at Aerith. At least, Tifa assumed he looked at his girlfriend, because Aerith gave him a nod. He must've given Cloud the same look because, after a short hesitation, Cloud also nodded. Permission asked and given.
"The mako here is different," he said. "Thicker, higher powered, right?"
Tseng nodded.
"Do you know if they found lump of rough, crystallized materia?" Zack asked. "Hand-sized."
At that the Turk's brow's slammed down. "Where did you hear that from?"
"I didn't," Zack said. "It was a guess based on what I picked from Kryffin when he, you know, zapped me."
Genesis leaned forward in the chair. "From your reaction, I think we can assume that they have recovered such a stone." He steepled his fingers under his chin.
For a moment it looked like Tseng wasn't going to say anything – neither confirm nor deny, as Shinra's media branch was fond of saying.
Zack sighed. He dropped the intimidating pose. "It's important, Tseng." The Turk's posture relaxed in response. Small things Tifa would've missed if she hadn't been watching the pair so closely.
"Why is it important?"
"Might not be," Cloud broke in. He gave Zack a weighted look. It was filled with conversation that Tifa could barely understand.
In response to that secret conversation, Zack relaxed even more. He put his weight on one leg, one hand on his hip and the other mussing up his hair. Goof-ball persona in place once again. "Yeah, I guess." He turned to Tseng. "Can you get it here? Will you? We need to see it to know for sure."
It hit Tifa that Zack and Cloud weren't just co-workers and roommates, they were friends. She knew that, of course – hard to be roommates with someone you hate – but they were, like, best friends. It had taken her years and a shared childhood to rebuild her friendship with Cloud, and Zack Fair had done it from scratch (and done it better, a small voice added) in a month and a half. How?!
Something to think about later, when there was less happening in front of her, she decided forcefully. A deep breath held a couple extra seconds then released (just like Master Zangan had taught her) brought her focus back where it belonged – on the possible SOLDIER v. Turk explosion.
Tseng looked between Zack and Cloud, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"They're not being silly about it, Tseng," Aerith pitched in. "We really do need to see it."
Tseng's eyes widened then narrowed back down. Like he knew what Aerith was, understood what Zack wasn't saying. Considering what the Turks were to Shinra, he probably did know.
Everyone was quiet as they let the Turk decide what to do. Zack turned back to watch his friend on the hospital bed. Aerith tucked herself up next to her boyfriend. Genesis rubbed his fingers over his lips and chin, but like Cloud, he didn't take his gaze from the Turk.
It was long moments – the room's clock ticking heavily in the silence – before Tseng took out his PHS. He pushed a button, didn't bother with salutations. "The lump of crystalized mako that was found recently, bring it to me."
Tifa didn't have SOLDIER hearing, but she heard a squawk.
"Then take it off the transport. Highest authority. Urgent."
There was a bark of happy laughter through the PHS before the Turk closed it. "It will take about twenty minutes."
"Thanks." Zack's sober words were echoed more cheerfully by Aerith.
The silence came back and filled the small room. Tifa wanted to say something, but what could she say?
It was the watch-and-wait portion of any medical treatment. The doctors and nurses had gone, leaving the machines in charge of Conway's transfusion. Remote alarms set up in case something went surprisingly wrong.
Normal people tried to sleep in the uncomfortable chairs or grabbed some awful hospital food when they reached this part. Zack stared into the hospital room as if the force of his will could make his friend better sooner. Aerith wrapped herself around his arm as if he needed soothing. (Maybe he did.)
Tseng eventually sat down in a chair near the door. He pulled out a PHS and began typing. Tifa hoped it wasn't a kill order. (It was probably notes for his official report or next week's duty roster. Boring, simple, paperwork – the kind that piled up whenever you stepped away from your office.)
Cloud leaned against the far wall, his position mirroring hers. He gave her an eyeroll in support, and then they both just stood there, arms crossed, waiting for the next thing to happen.
"How many clones do you think are out there?" she finally said, speaking over the hum of the air conditioner. "Marco had the number 49 tattooed on him, and you said the other one –"
"Yurie," Zack supplied.
"Yeah, him," she agreed. "He had the number 2."
"Conway has the number 17," Tseng said. "It's low on his back. He's probably never seen it. We spoke to Anslem Wymer of your Neighbourhood Watch, and he said the other copies he found were numbered 16, 20, 22 and 29. At the time, the descriptions he provided were insufficient to identify who they were, but now we have more information –"
"Now you know they were SOLDIERs, you mean," Zack said coldly.
Tseng didn't ruffle. "Exactly. We will look through our records of SOLDIERS missing or dead in the last seven years." He turned to Genesis. "An exact list of all the SOLDIERs who defected with you in εγλ 0000 would be of great assistance."
Genesis just looked at the Turk in horror. "I don't remember their names," which made Zack's shoulders lift and tighten. "Asshole!"
"It was seven years ago," Genesis snarled back. "And forgive me, but my brain was rotting."
"Shinra must have a list of the SOLDIERs who left," Tifa said. "Give it to Genesis."
Genesis turned his snark on her. "How will that help when I just said…?"
She lifted her chin. "Because maybe you'll see a name on it and go 'that guy wouldn't've gone with me'. I mean, you had to've pissed off some of your fellow SOLDIERs before you went crazy."
Zack and Genesis looked at her then looked at each other. A raised eyebrow and a shrug, and the redhead tipped his head towards Tseng. "We'll both look at the list, if it can be procured immediately."
Which is why the two SOLDIERs spent the next twenty minutes going through pages of names while Tifa tried not to resent the fact that they'd both been surprised that it was her idea. She wasn't dumb.
She maybe wasn't as smart as Cloud, but she knew things. She'd managed a big bar with all that had entailed. And sure, there's been less regulation on the ground floor, but Shinra had still collected taxes and charged fees. And supplies had to be ordered and stocks managed. It had been her who'd taken care of all that. Not Barrett. Not Jesse or Biggs or Wedge. She'd done it.
She whispered as much to Cloud when he came over to prop up the wall next to her, adding, "I never would've thought either of them would misjudge me based on my breast size!"
He gave her a soft smile. "Don't think that's it. Neither of 'em are bureaucrats. Neither of 'em did paperwork."
"They were soldiers in the military," she whispered back. "There had to've been paperwork. Requisitions, things like that."
"They were filled in by the director and his eminently capable staff," Genesis said looking up at them. He tapped his ear with the pen. "Sorry. However, I did mention SOLDIER hearing. I'm surprised Tseng didn't think of it, though. Turks absolutely live for paperwork and records."
"They are the Department of Administrative Research," Zack agreed.
"So many dirty secrets can be buried in paperwork," Genesis cooed. "How much money did Hollander and Lazard steal from Shinra's pockets by using the official forms?"
Tseng ignored them, even as he wrote out some report on the tiny side table.
Aerith decided to join her and Cloud against their wall. "There was a drinks machine in the hall. Do you think it has hot chocolate?"
Tifa tried to remember what they'd walked past to get here but couldn't. She'd been too focussed on the barely restrained violence of Aerith's SOLDIER boyfriend as he'd stalked through the halls.
"Wouldn't mind a sandwich," Cloud said.
Aerith insisted they get everyone's orders – even Tseng's – before they left, then she grabbed Tifa's hand and Cloud's hand and dragged them both into the hall with her. Tifa was surprised at how strong Aerith actually was. She was so slim, and delicate. Everything "the flower girl" did – from the pink ribbon in her hair to the flowers on her dresses – said she was feminine and weak.
Even as Tifa thought that she mocked herself for it. Isn't that what many guys thought when they saw her chest? Tifa's boobs didn't define her so why should the other woman's bubbly attitude and delicate colours define Aerith?
"Tifa! Whatya want?" Cloud's voice broke into her thoughts.
Aerith's eyes were big and concerned, and right in front of her face. "Are you okay?"
"Your eyes are very green," she said instead of anything useful.
Aerith just giggled, but Cloud rolled his eyes. "Food, drink or both?" he asked.
She wanted to ask, 'what do we do if Zack transforms?', but Aerith squealed and pointed out some treat she absolutely had to have, and she let the moment past. This was Zack's girlfriend and his best friend. They probably believed Genesis' pronouncement about Zack not changing into a monster.
Tifa moved to examine the offerings. They weren't great. Overly processed meal packs that were probably stale, or candy bars that were essentially flavoured sugar.
Aerith put her hands behind her back while Tifa made her choices. She rocked up on her sensible boots – boots she'd examined carefully for damage even as the med team strapped Conway and the Turk on stretchers. "So, if the stone is another one of those weird materias, what do we do about it?" she asked.
"It's a summon, right?" Cloud asked.
"But not a normal summon," she said. "It was…. It felt like, like using it would call down the power of destruction – obliterate everything, not just the monster in front of you, you know?"
Tifa looked at Cloud, who looked back at her and shrugged. "I didn't get that feeling."
"Did Zack?" Tifa asked, because she knew the First was holding onto the huge red crystal.
Aerith shook her head. "He knows it's powerful; that's it. But he trusts me."
"I trust you, too," Cloud said. " 'specially 'bout this stuff."
Tifa nodded agreement. Aerith might be only part-Cetra, but her awareness of mako and all that Ancient stuff had saved their lives multiple times in the Deepground labs.
"If this one is another stone like the other one, then we can't let Shinra have it," Aerith said.
"Fake your reaction?" Cloud suggested, as he plugged gil into the machine for coffee.
"Tseng would know," Aerith replied sadly. "Any of the Turks would, I think, except Elena. They've all been watching me for years."
They contemplated the dilemma to the beep-beep-beep of the selection buttons.
Cloud, reaching in to remove a thin looking sandwich, paused. "Give it to Genesis."
"Genesis!" Aerith said breathlessly as Tifa asked, "Why him?"
"He won't give it to Shinra either," Aerith answered. "And I can do it under the guise of seeing if his response is the same as Zack's. That's brilliant!" She clasped her hands happily and gave a little bounce.
Tifa wondered how she could be so happy when she'd been through so much. Kidnapped as a baby, mother killed escaping from an evil lab, watched all her life – her boyfriend was declared dead only to suffer years of medical torture…. It had to be fake, right?
Except Tifa really didn't think it was.
Tifa didn't understand Aerith at all.
"You okay?" Aerith looked at her with large, concerned eyes.
Tifa nodded. "Looking forward to leaving." Which was the truth, so Aerith bought it, and that made Tifa feel bad because she'd lied to Aerith, who was the sweetest, most caring person Tifa'd known since her mum died.
Instead of confessing to what a lying liar she was, Tifa dutifully let her arms be filled with bags of chips, chocolate bars, and thin sandwiches. Cloud carried the coffee.
On their way back to the observation room, the redheaded Turk, the one with the snarky attitude and the slum rat accent, caught up with them. He slouched down the hall, looking lazy but moving fast.
"Well, well, well. The gang's halfway here." He held a long, thick stick weapon resting on his shoulder and had the other one stuffed into a pocket. His shirt was more than halfway unbuttoned giving all of them a display of his thin, but surprisingly muscled, chest.
Aerith tsked. "Be nice, Reno."
He smirked. "I'm never nice, yo."
To prove it, his hand darted creepily close to Tifa's chest. The target could've been the candy she was holding, or it could've been an attempt to cop a feel. Either way, Tifa aimed a foot at his ankle. She glared at him too.
He winked back. Then grinned at Aerith. "So, how's the mercenary life suitin' you, mizzz Aerith? I hear you had an adventure just this morning."
Tifa took the opportunity to back away closer to Cloud. From here she could watch the Turk, but he'd have a harder time seeing (or touching) her.
"It's much more exciting than being a virtual prisoner!" Aerith answered with a skip in her step. Her smile widened when the Turk winced. "I'm a pretty good spellcaster, too! Aren't I, Tifa?"
Tifa frowned a little at being dragged back into the conversation. "I just punch things!" she blurted.
"Ya don't say." For some reason, her response had made Reno's smile turn sly and mocking, though Tifa thought it wasn't aimed at her. "Tifa Lockhart punches things. That explains a lot, actually."
"Explains what?" she asked.
Verbally, he said, "Nothin'," but his smile said something else. It was like he was daring her to ask, so Tifa shrugged and backed off. As long as it didn't involve being dragged off to a Shinra lab (or prison), the Turk could keep his secret.
"Got the rock?" Cloud asked.
Reno turned his smirk to Cloud, where it morphed into something a little flirtier. "Not just a pretty face, are you, Strife." He leaned in too, just like an old lover wanting a redo.
Cloud leaned away. "You're not dumb as you're acting either. Still an ass, though."
That caused the redheaded Turk to grin. "Mine's still available, if you're ever, y'know, interested."
Instead of Cloud shrugging or turning down Reno in his usual off-hand manner, Cloud gave the Turk a flat, and rather scary, look. "Already know the answer's no."
Oh. They hadn't been lovers. Reno had maybe offered – and was still offering, Tifa thought – but Cloud hadn't said yes. Tifa tried to assess the Turk objectively. Slim, muscled.… He kind of looked like the kind of guy Cloud might go for, she thought. Not that Tifa had more than a couple points of reference, but she could sort of see how Cloud could be attracted to Reno. Except for the assholery.
"Y'know, I'm just lookin' out for mizz Aerith," he said, smirking. "Gotta make sure she's only exposed to the most upstandin' citizens."
"If that was true, she wouldna been surrounded by Turks."
The Turk clutched his chest dramatically. "That hurts, Strife. And here I was hopin' we could get together for a beer later."
Cloud frowned. "Not gonna be friends with you, Turk. Not gonna get drunk in front of you. Not gonna sex you up. Definitely not gonna reveal 'secrets' –" he air-quoted "– just because you flash titties at me."
"Cloud!" Tifa said over Aerith's giggles. "You can't just say things like that."
He shrugged. "Did say it."
"Yeah, but…" She huffed. "It's not polite."
Now both Aerith and the Turk were giggling at her. Why she'd bothered she didn't know. Well, she did now. All those years of giving in and being the 'good girl'.
She still didn't want to deal with it.
"Fine. Insult away," she sighed. "But if he decides to… to poke you with his mag-rod, you'll deserve it."
That made the Turk laugh outright and even Cloud was smiling. Which was the reaction she'd expected when she'd said it, but it still made her feel small town and hick-ish.
At least they'd arrived back at the room. "Cloud, would you please get the door?" Since her hands were full.
Reno turned to put his back to the wall beside the door. Still smirking, he reached out with his free hand, grabbed the door handle, and twisted. A little push, and it swung open. Then he stood there, looking superior, until they'd all filed past him into the room.
"Look who we found wandering the halls!" Aerith said cheerfully and with complete disregard for the truth. Zack looked up as they entered. He looked happy to see the treats, but his eyes became more cautious when he saw the Turk come in after them.
"You were delayed." It was a question and an accusation in one short sentence.
Reno didn't seem concerned. "It was already crated up and on the truck for Scarlett's lab."
Tseng tipped his head slightly. "They were obstructionist?"
"Nah." Reno drawled it with his voice and with the way he slumped his body against the wall. "Just wonderin' who they should be more scared of. I made it clear."
"Good." A short nod. Tseng lifted his hand and Reno dug in his trouser pocket. The stone he brought out was slightly larger than the red one they'd taken from Marco. It was also rounder and smoother. It glowed a deep twilight blue, and it still didn't look like materia.
Tseng looked at it, concentrating.
"I can't see how that's materia," Reno said, proving Tseng had been communicating with him in secret. "I ain't no slouch when it comes to castin', and I couldn't get it to do nothin'."
"Couldn't get it to do anything, or could get it to do nothing," Tseng corrected absently. Reno smiled, and Tifa felt like this was an old argument between them.
"When was it found?" Zack asked.
"Is that significant?" Tseng finally looked up from the stone.
Zack shrugged. "We don't know enough to know what's significant yet."
It was an answer the Turk understood. He handed over the stone and nodded at Reno.
"It was in the filtration system when they cleaned it couple days ago," the redhead responded. "Coulda come up anytime since they last cleaned it, though."
"And that was… when?" Genesis lifted a brow.
Reno's sneer turned mean. "Two weeks, maybe? I don't got their schedule memorized, yo!"
"Reno." Tseng's reprimand was soft.
With a sigh and an eye-roll, Reno expanded his answer. "Visual inspection's supposed to be done every week, but they don't take nothin' apart 'less they think somethin's wrong, 'cause it means shuttin' everything down, and everybody gets real unhappy when they do that. So," he continued. "Techs looked at it last week, nothin'. This week, somethin' was off." He twisted to look at his boss. "An' I ain't just paraphrasin' that, yo," he said. "The senior tech actually said 'somethin' was off'."
Tseng frowned – maybe at the imprecision. He looked like the kind of guy who wanted details.
"Did they notice anything… weird about it?" Zack asked. He wasn't looking at the stone, wasn't trying to activate it the way Tseng had done. Instead, he was tossing it and catching it like a toy. Tifa wasn't sure that was better.
"Yeaah! They noticed it was 'weird'," Reno laughed. "So they decided to send it up the line in case pocketin' it got them killed."
Tseng sat back, steepling his fingers. "Do they often 'pocket' what they find in Shinra's pipes?"
Reno lifted a shoulder. "I think they maybe find ordinary materia that don't make it into Shinra stores – least not directly. They probably sell it to a middleman who sells it to Shinra."
"Still…." Tseng said in disapproval.
Reno looked down at his boss. "We could maybe scare 'em straight for a while, but it won't last," he said. "They're dealin' with raw mako, yo. Their life expectancy is already shit, and they know it."
"We won't be able to scare them enough," Tseng summarized.
"Not unless we kill one. An' that'd make the whole team real unhappy with Shinra, and they deal with a lotta very important and very expensive equipment."
They talked about killing so easily, Tifa was shocked and then furious. It was just some poor guy working an awful job trying to get something for his family so they could pay the bills after they died of mako poisoning.
"You could try paying them decent," she spat. "And swapping them out every couple months since the job is literally killing them. Then maybe they wouldn't feel the need to steal from you."
Both Turks looked at her with blank faces. Any thoughts hidden behind narrowed eyes and still lips.
"It's an admirable idea, Miss Lockhart," Tseng said placidly. "Unfortunately, we don't have any control over the wage structure or work schedules put in place by other departments."
"Ya could always write a letter," Reno said with a smirk. "Send it to Reeve Tuesti. He might actually bring it up at a board meeting."
"Yes, yes. Where it will promptly be ridiculed and ignored," Genesis said with his own sneer. "Let us forget about the poor technicians and get on with the reason we are in this dreary room. Zack, what are your impressions of it."
Zack gave it another toss, rolled it around on his palm, then shrugged. "It's not as rough as the other one. Aerith?" He held it out. Tifa could see how Aerith had to steel herself. As if it was somehow going to hurt her to touch it.
Tifa dug her fingernails into her palms to stop herself from reaching out to the Cetra. Not that she would've had time. Zack moved close to his girlfriend, shielding her with his strength and his height in a way Tifa would never be able to. Aerith's breath stuttered, her skin paled, before she tucked her head against Zack's chest.
"I see," Tseng said softly. "And she had the same reaction to the red stone you took from Clone 49?"
"Marco," Tifa spat. "His name was Marco."
"His name was Azton Namoth," Tseng corrected, but he dipped his head. "However, point taken."
"It wasn't this bad," Zack said answering the Turk's question.
"Because it's fresher?" Cloud asked. He too looked like he was holding in his impulse to wrap Aerith up, keep her safe from things they couldn't protect her from. Only Genesis didn't look strained, arms draped over chair arms and legs elegantly crossed.
"When was the other one recovered?" Zack asked. "I don't remember any of Hojo's lab rats talking about its delivery, so it probably predated my… acquisition."
The redheaded Turk braced at the soft threat in Zack's voice, but Tseng just narrowed his eyes. Tifa figured he was going through Turk files in his memory. "July εγλ 0004. In Corel."
"That wasn't when the reactor blew," Tifa said. She knew it wasn't because Barrett had moved to Midgar in '03.
"The unfinished Corel reactor was destroyed in May εγλ 0003," Tseng said. "In the months following the explosion, the ruins were searched very thoroughly."
"And you didn't find the stone then," Genesis said.
"We did not," the Turk confirmed. "The search was hampered by a mako pool that grew in the ruins. Not a large or deep one, but it was thick mako – impenetrable. Shinra set up an outpost to monitor it – two or three scientists only. It was never shut down. In January εγλ 0007, materia described as 'oversize and lumpen' was covertly offered for sale by a local to one of the scientists. When asked, the boy said he had found it the previous year in October."
"I escaped the Nibelheim lab in October '06," Zack said.
"I hardly think you gettin' out would make the planet pop out a huge magic rock." The redheaded Turk giggled, and Zack turned in his direction. The SOLDIER looked ready to punch Reno for the tasteless joke. The Turk's giggle shifted into battle-readiness, and his grin turned feral: if Zack started a fight, he would enjoy the contest.
Tseng stopped it with a quiet, "Reno."
The snarky asshole (who made Genesis's attitude look good) tipped his head. "I like you well enough, Fair. I'm not sorry you escaped."
Zack rolled his shoulders. "Nice apology," he growled. Reno shrugged, unconcerned (or faking it).
Another snort, this time with a rueful head shake, and Zack turned back to Tseng. "So, this scientist, figuring it was a ticket out of a shitty assignment turned the huge materia over to Hojo–"
"To Director Scarlett."
"What?" Zack asked sharply.
"From what we can ascertain, a month after the stone's delivery, the scientist received an unexpected promotion. One that took them out of the Science Department and into R&D."
"Smart," Cloud commented. Zack grunted in agreement.
"There are records of attempts to use it, from the descriptions, those experiments did not classify the stone as materia, but as a way to manipulate energy."
"It's materia," Zack said. He took the blue materia from Aerith and tossed it at Genesis. "Here. See if you have a reaction to it."
Genesis caught it, held it for a moment. "Goddess," he murmured. "That's an interesting sensation."
Tifa held her breath, wondering if Cloud's assessment of Genesis was right: would he keep the materia? Or toss it back to the Turks? Would he turn into a monster?
Genesis stared into the stone's dim glow. "Tell me, that scientist, did they, by any chance, end up in Deepground?"
Tseng turned to look at the former SOLDIER First Class, the one who had betrayed Shinra so spectacularly. His lip lifted. "I am not certain."
Might be true, Tifa thought. If it was, it wouldn't be for long. By the end of the day, the Turks would probably know how many freckles that poor scientist had. Although, she reminded herself. They weren't a "poor" anything – they were Shinra. And they'd probably experimented on – tortured – people. They didn't deserve her concern.
Even from this angle, it was easy to see that Genesis didn't believe Tseng at all. He twirled the globe around on his palm. "I believe I shall keep this," he said putting it in an inner pocket. "Just in case the lovely Scarlett or the doltish Heidegger get any ideas about restarting that project.
Reno stood up as the materia disappeared. His lip lifted in a snarl. "Fuck that, asshole!"
Genesis recrossed his legs and let his hands drape over the edge of the arm rests. "Try me, Turk."
Tifa wasn't the only one who shivered as if the room had dropped several degrees. Zack and Cloud surrounded Aerith as if to lend her their body heat (and protection if a fight did break out.)
Tseng mirrored Genesis's position of relaxation. "It's fine, Reno. At least we will know where it is – which will be away from Shinra properties and personnel in case it explodes."
Genesis dipped his head. "Touché."
The senior Turk turned dark eyes back to Zack. "So if these stones are materia – and I'm willing to concede to Aerith's expertise – then what kind of materia are they?"
"Destruction," Aerith whispered, eyes wide. "The end of the planet."
Tifa wasn't enhanced, not like Genesis, but even she heard Reno mutter, "Fuck, another Zirconiade?" at his boss. And she didn't miss Tseng's very slight wince in response.
"How many other 'special' mako reactors are there?" Tifa asked. "How many of these stones are we going to find?
"That's a good question," Zack said with a nod. "No point in us going to the Northern Continent if there's no rich mako refining happening. Which there isn't, because Shinra never finished Modeoheim."
"Maybe it only had regular mako," Cloud said. "Why bother with it when Corel's closer to the market."
It was Cloud's turn to get a narrow-eyed assessing look from the Turks.
"Fort Condor has one," Tseng finally responded. "It's not currently in production however, so there's no guarantee that a large materia has been… ejected."
"No guarantees of much on this job," Cloud said.
"Still a place to start," Tifa said in support.
Zack nodded. "Any others?"
Tseng transferred his deeply dark considering look to the SOLDIER First. "One," he said slowly. "It's in Nibelheim."
"Aw, Odin's sweaty fucking balls!"
.o0|0o.
Tifa didn't enjoy being escorted through Junon by the redheaded, sharp-tongued, Turk, but at least they were getting out.
Before allowing them to leave the observation room, the head Turk had offered to fly them down to Fort Condor. Cloud had shaken his head before the Turk had finished speaking.
"Shinra's not popular down there, and if locals see us arrive in Shinra transport, we won't get through the blockade."
Tseng had just nodded before gesturing his underling over for some last-minute instructions. Tifa hoped they hadn't been about behaving nicely because they'd barely turned the corner past the food dispensers before the redheaded Turk had started needling Cloud.
"So how you gonna get past the blockade, Blondie?" he'd sneered. "You gotta magic teleport stone?"
Cloud had sneered back. "Know someone, Reddie."
Zack had burst out laughing, but he'd also taken Cloud by the arm while Aerith had moved up beside the Turk and started filling him in on what they'd been doing for the last couple days and how exciting it had all been, and did Turks get to do this all the time? He was trying to keep up his sneer, but Aerith was just so relentlessly cheerful that it wasn't long before he just looked hunted.
It was great.
However, that meant Tifa was stuck in the middle with Genesis, who made her feel… unkempt. And uneducated and uncultured, and a whole lot of other things that she maybe was (since she'd grown up in Nibelheim) but that had never bothered her under the plate.
She snuck another look at her companion. He seemed to be humming.
"Is that from Loveless, too?" she asked.
He lifted an eyebrow at her. "What? This tune?" She nodded. He smiled at her. (It wasn't condescending, probably, but it felt like it.) "No, but it is a show tune. About a hero who has to travel to the realm of the dead to rescue his love."
"Why didn't she rescue herself?"
Genesis blinked. "Well, because she was dead?"
"So, she hadn't been kidnapped."
"No, no." He laughed "She died in a tragic accident, and he couldn't let her go."
"Oh." It sounded vaguely familiar. Like she'd been taught it at school and promptly forgotten it.
"It reminded me of our current situation, actually," he went on. "All us SOLDIERs dying, and yet always coming back to life."
"Not all SOLDIERs have revived," she pointed out.
His smile dropped away. "You mean Angeal."
"I mean all the SOLDIERs that died fighting in Wutai. And the ones that followed you when you…." She twirled a finger around her temple.
"Ah. Yes. Those." He sounded bashful.
They'd joined one of the main thoroughfares if the increasing crowd was any indication. Aerith and the Turk would've been lost to view if it hadn't been for Reno's bright red hair. So bright and so red it had to be fake, she decided. She looked at Genesis's rich red-brown locks. He hadn't cut it since they'd rescued him from Deepground and it was nearly past his shoulders now.
"They weren't as enhanced as the four of us," he answered. She'd nearly forgotten the question.
"How d'you mean?"
"No Jenova cells, if I remember correctly," he said with a self-deprecating twirl near his temple. "People think SOLDIER started with us, but we were just extensions of existing experiments. Inspired, I believe, by the survival of a construction worker who'd fallen into a mako pool, and his subsequent increase in strength and speed."
"I didn't know that."
"Not many people do," he said with a lop-sided smile. "Not a very glorious beginning for Shinra's Greatest Weapons."
They caught up with Aerith and the Turk at the checkpoint. Reno, tapping his mag-rod impatiently on his shoulder, waited for her and Genesis, and then Zack and Cloud before waving them all past the security guards. Three steps later they were out on the promenade, under the sun and blue sky. Tifa had tipped her head up to feel it without even realizing it.
"It does feel nice, doesn't it?"
She opened her eyes to see Genesis doing the same thing. "I didn't think nature was your thing."
"In the times I was conscious during my incarceration in Deepground, I never once believed I'd see the sky again," he said. "I hadn't valued it when I had free access, of course. Who does? But now…?"
"If you're finished getting your tans, can we move along," Reno drawled. Tifa jumped. She'd almost forgotten about their unwanted escort. Cloud obviously hadn't because he crossed his arms and glowered.
"Okay, last checkpoint," Reno said loudly. "Before you all scurry off to the village to pack your bags, I got one last thing to say. Over here." He waved them to the side, away from the crowds to an almost private corner of the promenade. Cloud looked extremely sceptical and refused to budge.
Reno saw it and rolled his eyes. "Fuck, Strife. It's just a last bit of info, yo. I ain't gonna kill ya."
Cloud huffed something about "trying" but he followed the rest of them into the corner.
Reno stretched up to make sure nobody was close enough to eavesdrop before dropping back down. He leaned forward conspiratorially. Despite knowing who he was, what he was, Tifa found herself leaning forward to match. Her and Aerith were the only two that did, though, which made Tifa (once again) feel like a gullible, unsophisticated hick.
He looked around at them, and his face was as serious as Tifa had ever seen it. There was no trace of smirk or arrogant superiority, and suddenly leaning forward to listen better didn't seem like it had been a bad idea after all.
"Okay, so the last bit of info you guys need," Reno said in a whisper. "One thing you shouldn't forget."
"Get on with it," Zack said with a universal 'speed it up' finger twirl.
Reno glared at the former First. "I don't know why Tseng's backing you on this, but he is. And that support could kill him if you fuck up. So don't fuck up." He looked around at all of them. "If you guys get him killed, I will personal hunt you down and explode your bodies into pieces so small not even the Lifestream will find them. Got it?"
Tifa's heart was pounding. She felt cold despite the sunshine.
"Oh, that was good," Genesis applauded. "A dramatic but plausible threat – I absolutely believe you would do it. Plus that touch of loyalty: 'I will defend you to the death, my liege!' It was… masterful."
Tifa heard Genesis gently mock the Turk. She saw Cloud and Zack's flat unconcern. She looked at Aerith and knew it was real.
Reno would kill them.
The Turk ignored Genesis. He ignored Cloud and Zack. He winked at Tifa and swept an arm out in invitation at Aerith. "Shall we mosey?"
He got them through the final checkpoint into the nexus: road to the outside to the left, stairs to other levels straight ahead, and the elevator on the right. Only the elevator went to the beach, but it was as empty going down as it had been going up.
They entered in a clump, and despite the size of the big elevator, they didn't spread out much. Zack had Aerith tucked under a protective arm. Cloud had his arms crossed and was facing the exit like a man waiting for execution, but he was close enough to bump Tifa's shoulder reassuringly. Only Genesis turned to face them, assuming a nonchalant pose leaning against the wall.
Tifa didn't want to talk about Reno's threat and all the different ways this stupid mission could go very, very wrong.
"So, what did you pick up from the materia?" Aerith asked, possibly because she felt the same way as Tifa.
The First took the stone out of his pocket. Even in the elevator's dim, industrial lighting, it shone.
"Absolutely nothing," he replied. He tossed it at Zack, who tossed it back.
"Seriously?"
Genesis shrugged, putting it back in his pocket. "If the Turks believed I had some affinity to it, they'd be more likely to let me keep it. Is that not what you wanted?"
Cloud snorted. "Not just a pretty face."
Genesis lifted a hand to his face. "You think I'm pretty! This has been one of my best days ever."
Beside her, Cloud's mouth lifted in a reluctant smile.
Tifa didn't understand it at all.
.o0|0o.
Tseng's office in Midgar wasn't large, and it wasn't plush. He hadn't changed much since he'd taken over the Turks after Verdot's dramatic "death". A new chair, a different plant, a better computer. All were results from time wearing down the old and demanding change. Even the sofa was the one Verdot had had. Perhaps it was the same one that Verdot's predecessor had chosen. Tseng didn't know. He barely looked at it when he was in his office.
He wasn't in his office now, and for once, he was glad of it.
It was uncomfortable to realize he was just as stagnant and out of date as the ugly sofa he hadn't noticed in years.
He'd known Zack Fair hadn't died that day in the Nibelheim reactor. Zack hadn't been breathing, but he hadn't been dead, and that had been enough for Hojo to… They weren't experiments – at least not experiments with a designed purpose or planned outcome.
He had done nothing to rescue Zack Fair because (he'd told himself) there hadn't been time.
In the moment, a split-second decision to save Shotgun's life over the SOLDIER. Since then, the buildup of Wutaian and domestic terrorists threatened to pull Shinra into another war. The discovery that Rufus Shinra was working with Avalanche to assassinate his father threatened to destabilize the world's governments. The Zirconiade summon threatened the planet. After Ziconiade's destruction, protecting the Turks who'd gone with Verdot into hiding and walking the tightrope of forced loyalty to a man he'd (quite frankly) despised.
All of them excuses, justified because Turks didn't have friends outside the Turks.
To protect the Turks who'd hidden from Roman Shinra's vengeance, Tseng had let himself settle into the same patterns of behaviour that he'd had when he'd vaguely believed Shinra was a force for good in the world. To protect the others, he had buried any disillusionment and anger deep under the dirt of efficiency.
Also buried in that garden of bitter seeds, was the knowledge that he had traded the life of a good man for his personal safety.
Turks didn't have friends outside of other Turks. Except….
Zack Fair had seen Tseng, known some of what he was (ruthless, efficient, dedicated, secretive and many other traits that repelled most people) and had laughed with him and teased him and treated him as a fellow human being. It had been surprising, and annoying, and refreshing.
Eventually they had met outside of missions and business. Nothing much: a meal together because they'd met in the halls at lunch; coffee because Zack could always get the baristas on the 63rd floor to add a little extra to his order; Zack dropping into his office because he was bored and Sephiroth had kicked him out.
It hadn't meant they were friends, because Turks didn't have friends who weren't also Turks. Except….
He'd been wrong.
Zack Fair had been a friend.
And once again he was failing his friend.
"Thank the Goddess that's over!" Rufus strode into his suite with all the suppressed anger of a young man forced to be nice to his elders for far too long. "If I had to fake one more smile at one more lying, sycophantic pissant, I swear I would've set Dark Nation on them." Hearing his name, the hound lifted his head. He got the ear scratch he was expecting.
He turned to face the new head of Shinra and wondered how much Rufus would like an excuse to replace certain executives. After all, it wasn't like Scarlett and Heidegger weren't plotting to assassinate him.
Tseng wondered how dangerous it would be to try and convince the young president, and knew he'd have to try anyway.