Change in Plans
It hadn't taken long for Cloud to collect the last of his things and say goodbye to his mother (though that part easily took the longer time), allowing the now four men to head back to Shinra Manor while it was still dark, though at least it had stopped snowing. A cold wind was blowing, which was a good thing, as it was blowing away their footprints in the snow. It wouldn't take long for Nibelheim to be the next thing to sealed for the winter due to snowfalls and storms, and only the most hardy and adventurous travelers would be coming or going for the next few months. The underground path to the Reactor was something Cloud was grateful for, given the cold and snow above, though they had needed to pause in the Manor long enough to collect their supplies, including a well-protected shoulder-strap bag Tseng wore from left shoulder to right hip.
Once they were in the Reactor, Cloud stopped walking and asked, "Tseng, has Zack gotten his SOLDIER infusions yet?"
"The first one," Tseng replied. "Which means the other two have been set aside to be given to him as he rises in the ranks. Why?"
Turning to look at Vincent, the man-turned-boy said, "Then, because we can both sense Jenova's presence here, our best bet is to destroy her now. Though, this time we won't be stupid enough to drop her remains into the Mako—into the Lifestream."
"Isn't that too soon?" Tseng asked warily.
"If we wait, she may be moved," Cloud replied with a scowl at the Turk.
"I mean, if we do it now, Shinra will be on high alert for anything else we might do, and if they are, we're going to be blocked every way from center," the Turk replied evenly.
Cloud looked at Vincent, who said, "You're both right, and you're both wrong." When both of them stared at him in surprise, he explained, "No matter which way we play things, we're still going to get roadblocked eventually and will have to force our way through. While waiting may give us more time to put things into place, it also leaves us the very real potential of Jenova being moved to an unknown location, especially if we take Deepground away from them in the near future. In terms of how much destroying her would affect things in general...I actually think pissing Hojo off is one of the least detrimental moves to make early in the game. Without my plan for re-introduction—to be bold and blunt about it—the results would probably go a lot worse, but I'm going to very effectively distract the President from Hojo's complaining."
"So what you're saying is that this will become a civil war, no matter what we do, and one of the best first moves is actually to get rid of...the woman who I thought was Sephiroth's mother?" Angeal asked, and the other three turned to look at him in surprise.
"Shouldn't Genesis have said something about that by now?" Vincent asked.
"We can't without the evidence, which was one of the things I came here to get," Tseng answered as he motioned at the bag over his shoulder. "Genesis agreed on that point—that he will explain the situation to Sephiroth, but not until he can show him the truth of the situation."
"So is she his mother?" Angeal asked in surprise.
"No, just a being better defined as a parasite whose cells were infused into him—and you, and Genesis, and in smaller quantities in every SOLDIER," Cloud answered sourly, and Tseng and Vincent both nodded grimly. "And she makes a habit of trying to destroy this world, usually by turning one of our own against the rest of humanity."
"Then it's best to destroy her now," Angeal answered bluntly. "I mean, if she's the reason for a lot of shit in SOLDIER, her being destroyed makes it a lot easier for us to back you. And if you're going to do it, you'd better do it fast, because she's putting actual, noticeable pressure on my mind, telling me to kill you all before you can kill her."
Vincent hissed as Cloud's expression turned pained, then the undead man turned to bolt in the direction of the lab where she was being kept, even as he called back to them, "All of you, stay there!"
The words made Tseng and Cloud turn worried gazes on Angeal, who blinked at them in surprise, then flinched and held a hand to his head. "...I had thought, what could a corpse actually do to us, but...Not so much a corpse, and she can do plenty," the SOLDIER Commander sighed. "That hurts. I'm glad it's me, not Sephiroth or Genesis, standing here right now—at least my sense of honor won't easily let me kill either of you, regardless of what she wants."
"So now we just hope Vincent can kill her before she takes over by force," Tseng sighed faintly. "That should be doable for Chaos."
"Should," Cloud agreed, looking in the direction he knew the lab was in, suddenly thankful it was Vincent and not him. Those memories weren't nice.
"Would putting space between her and me help?" Angeal asked, wincing again.
"Not really, not while she's focused on you," the blond answered, looking up at the large man. "That might work if we were, like—getting in the helicopter and flying away right now, but since we can't...No."
Tseng sighed at that and agreed, "Yes, we noticed that back in that future. Small distances don't help, though large ones could, at least to an extent."
They were interrupted by a black, shadowy energy surging through the hall from the direction of the lab (thankfully, it didn't seem to do much besides make them shiver as it touched them), then they heard an inhuman shriek from the same direction. Angeal gasped and swayed, leaning heavily against the wall, and Cloud instinctively reached over to grab his arm worriedly. When the man looked up at him, his pupils kept shifting between a normal, round one and a slitted one, even as Jenova's green filtered in and out of his irises. Cloud's eyes widened and he stepped back quickly.
At the motion, Tseng stepped between the two, gun drawn and trained warily on Angeal, even as the man slowly straightened. His hands started to lift, but they were shaking and repeatedly lifting, then lowering, then lifting, then lowering—he was obviously struggling against Jenova. A moment later, as the man started to step forward, Tseng shot him in the head, making Cloud jump and Angeal's eyes shut as he crumpled to the ground.
"What the fuck?" Cloud asked, gaping in shock.
"A single shot to the head doesn't kill a SOLDIER," Tseng replied, gun still trained on Angeal's body. "It knocks them out while it heals, which takes five to ten minutes, but that's about it. In the meantime, it gives Vincent a chance to detach her from him, or for him to fight her off himself."
"Or makes him incapable of fighting her off!" Cloud answered in annoyance.
"That's unlikely with how much control she had forced. Her mind was in the fore—she's the one who got knocked out," the Wutain Turk answered flatly. Then he had to amend, "Probably."
"..."
The fact that Cloud's not-reply hung in the air like words had been spoken made Tseng turn to glare at him. Cloud just glared back.
About a minute later, Vincent found them glaring at one another as Angeal lay on the floor just to the side of them, his head still showing traces of the bullet wound. He sighed and commented, "Glaring at each other won't do any of us any good." Without waiting for a reply or reaction, he went to Angeal's side and crouched, hand held over the other man's head as he closed his eyes, clearly focused on something which both of the other two knew was finding Jenova's ties to the SOLDIER and severing them.
Cloud was the one who said, "We had nothing better to do."
"Keeping an eye on the man you shot would have been a good start," the undead man replied dryly, though his tone was clearly distracted.
"I'm quite certain Cloud could see him," Tseng put in, but when Cloud heard amusement in his voice, he turned to glare at the Turk again. "Well, you could, right?"
"...Well, yes," the boy grudgingly admitted.
A sudden burst of black light from Vincent's hand surged over Angeal's head and quickly vanished, taking something like pale strands of something with it as it dissolved, and Cloud found himself glad Vincent and Chaos seemed to be getting along better. Vincent sat back from the man, breathing out a relieved sigh, then waited there until Angeal woke. Cloud and Tseng both also waited for the Commander to wake up, which only took about another minute. When he did, his eyes were clear and lucid, and he just seemed confused as he rubbed his head and sat up. His gaze moved questioningly to Tseng, who just shrugged.
"We aren't exactly equipped to fight Jenova just now, so we needed you to not be able to move for awhile. A bullet to the head normally qualifies," the Wutain offered.
"I get that part," Angeal answered quietly. "But I'd have thought you'd have shot me sooner. If I hadn't been fighting her so hard, that step forward would have put her in range to kill you."
"We usually prefer to give someone who is fighting her a chance to do so," Vincent answered, then rose and offered a hand to the larger man. The Commander took it and let Vincent pull him up. "But we can only wait so long, so Tseng waited as long as he felt he safely could. I only found it annoying that they were more interested in glaring at each other than in watching you."
Angeal's expression became amused, then he asked, "So, she's been eliminated?"
"Say instead that her root body and core have been," the undead man answered. "Which will make it very hard for her to possess anyone who she doesn't already have control of now, and make things easier for us. But we—suspect—Hojo is hosting part of her sentience, and it's likely she's taken refuge in him. There may be others as well. We have to eliminate or sever all of those before we're rid of her completely. On the up side, one of the things which led to the Planet's destruction in the future is now impossible."
"Good," Cloud said. The others looked at him and nodded, so he added, "And if you have a schedule to keep, we should probably go."
They all blinked, then Angeal and Tseng traded looks and said, "That's probably a good idea." They stared at each other in surprise as Vincent and Cloud both gave them amused looks, but then the SOLDIER asked, "So, are you fit to fly, Tseng?"
"I'm fine," Tseng answered.
The four began making their way out of the Reactor, and when they reached the front doors, they realized a light snow was just starting to fall. Cloud stepped outside and looked up, then said, "We'd better get off the ground soon, or we're going to be snowed in."
They ran for the helicopter and climbed in hurriedly, not noticing one extra small set of footprints around the machine as they did. It didn't take long for Tseng to run a couple of very detrimental-to-miss safety checks, then get the chopper running, getting it into the air and above the clouds as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, that caused some turbulence for the three in the back—and a yelp as something fell out from behind a few of the strapped-on supply bags.
Vincent blinked slowly as Cloud gaped at the girl, and Angeal just looked confused. The boy finally asked, "Tifa, what are you doing here?" Well, the only thing Cloud could say was that at least it was a minor distraction from his motion sickness. Of course, though, the sickness wasn't as bad—almost non-existent—because of his natural Mako infusions.
"You were going to leave, so I decided I'm going with you!" she replied as she shoved herself to a sitting position and glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What's going on?" Tseng called from the front, most of his focus on trying to keep them steady in the rapidly-growing storm clouds.
At that, Vincent pinched the bridge of his nose, Angeal tipped his head to the side in confusion, and Cloud sighed before calling back, "Tifa stowed away."
"...Tifa, Cloud?" the Wutain asked warily.
"You know, eleven-year-old girl version of the one who broke your nose one day?" Cloud returned dryly, which produced an amused look from Angeal.
Tseng, on the other hand, cursed softly, then asked, "So, what do we do with her? We can't take her back to Nibelheim with that storm out there."
There was a long silence, then Vincent commented, "Well, like we mentioned about staff specific to the Turks, she could be our new personal chef and bartender."
"At eleven?" Angeal asked in surprise.
"Hey! I can cook!" the girl replied indignantly. "Really well, too!"
"And she likes it," Cloud added in amusement. "That just might work. I think she'll have to re-learn the bartender stuff, though, unless that's part of what her older self managed to pass on to her."
"Sort of? Some of it?" Tifa answered in confusion. "I can try it for sure. And I can learn fast! Just as long as I get to stay with you, Cloud."
The Wutain at the controls cursed softly again, then said, "When we stop to refuel at Costa del Sol, I'll call Veld and tell him the change of plans. We should be there in time for lunch, so over the meal, we'll also discuss what story we're telling to the executives, if they ask, since the plan has now changed, and Tifa needs to be included in it."
"Fair enough," Angeal agreed. Cloud rose from his seat to help Tifa up and to the seat beside his, but as the two were sitting again, he asked, "How did you get up here, anyway, Miss...?"
"Lockhart!" the girl grinned. "Tifa is fine, though. I saw all of you from my bedroom window when you were heading for Shinra Manor while it was still dark out, but then you weren't at the Manor when I followed you. I remembered hearing a helicopter in the mountains, and I already knew Cloud and Vincent had to stop by the Reactor, so I decided to climb the mountains to there, saw the helicopter, and wondered if I should get in or not. Then, it started snowing, so I climbed in and hid so you wouldn't be able to send me back easily!"
"...Those mountain trails? You climbed them?" Angeal gaped at her in surprise. "How did you even find your way?"
"Oh, I hike in the mountains all the time!" she replied cheerfully. "I'm really the only one in the whole village who 'qualifies' to be a guide for the whole range, especially to the Reactor." The men just gaped at her as Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He'd forgotten how early on she'd had that status as a guide.
Cloud made a mental note to stop forgetting things like that, especially about Tifa, who would use them to her advantage...But that was sort of besides the point then. All he could do was point out, "Your father is going to kill me."
"I won't let him!" she replied surely, and Cloud gave her a flat look as Vincent sighed.
They fell silent for the rest of the flight to Costa del Sol, most of them taking a nap, but Vincent got up to join Tseng in the front for awhile. Not long after, it was Tseng who joined them, not Vincent. He gave a nod to Tifa after sitting down, then closed his eyes to rest. The only interruption during that part of the flight was when Vincent called back to them to wake Tseng—who had fallen asleep—so he could talk with the people at the Costa del Sol airport. It didn't take long for them to land, for Tseng to complete the flight check, and for the airport staff to start refueling them, so they headed into the resort town to find a place to eat.
When they found one, it was Tseng's choice, and Cloud was suspicious of the location until he realized it offered private dining rooms. Once they had ordered their meals, which Tifa eagerly asked to sample as she started assessing what was in each dish, Tseng put in a call to Veld and put it on speaker phone, letting his PHS sit in the middle of the table.
"What can I do for you, Tseng?" the man asked when he answered the call.
"Are you able to take a private call? Or one with select company?" the Wutain asked in reply.
"Kariya's helping me with some details on a case, but otherwise I can make it private." After a pause, he said, "The door's closed now. Do you need this to be on speaker on my end?"
"Um...Need it, I don't think so, but he may have some valuable input. He usually does," Tseng replied after a thoughtful moment.
There was the sound of some distant speaking, then Veld said, "Phone's on speaker. He's still working, but if he feels he has something to say, he'll be able to, but otherwise...What's the situation?"
"We have Vincent, Cloud, and another girl from Nibelheim named Tifa Lockhart, who apparently climbed Mount Nibel in the snow and stowed away on our chopper. We'd have left her at Nibelheim if it hadn't been about to drop a blizzard on us—we had to get out of the area then or we wouldn't have been able to. Now, we need to know what we're doing with her, since she's another like Reno."
"Who's Reno?" Tifa asked, then frowned and added, "I keep thinking of lots of red."
"That's accurate," Veld answered in mild amusement.
"Anyway, Vincent said the Turks literally used to have all their own staff for everything," Tseng went on, lips quirked faintly in amusement. "Is that doable?"
There was a startled pause, then Kariya said, "By all rights, we should have all our own staff. We handle things way too sensitive for outsiders to be involved. Is there a way you can spin that for the President, Veld? How did we lose that to begin with?"
"We don't have enough funds to hire that kind of staff," Veld said quietly.
The words made Vincent lean forward and say, "Bullshit. That's bullshit and you know it, Verdot. If there aren't enough funds, it's because someone's taking them, and probably illegally."
A long moment of silence followed, then Veld sighed, "Vincent..."
"No. We had a certain base fund which was a percentage of company profits. That would have gone up over time, not down, which in turn would have met the requirements for Turk staff. In theory, other than very rarely, it should have covered pretty much everything but hazard pay for the Turks. If you're not getting it, someone else is taking it. The funds for Security were for everything else in the department, plus our hazard pay—we weren't on their roster, and unless the company passed out of Shinra ownership, that arrangement for our funds was supposed to be in effect. Didn't Lady Shinra ever tell you about that, Verdot?"
"...Well fuck," Kariya's voice came over the line. "Get your best hackers on that, Veld, and find that trail. If that money's going missing, it's an inside job, and whoever's doing it probably has their hands in a lot more than that."
Cloud suddenly blinked and said, "My bet's on Heidegger."
"What?" several voices on both sides of the call asked.
"This is from the future. Well, some of it would be obvious now, too. Heidegger seems to live a lot better than a company executive should be living, other than the President. Between that and his narcissism, and the way he looks down on people and treats them horribly, it adds up. He operates on the basic premise 'buy them or crush them'. Where would he get the money to buy off the President unless he's just handing the President back his own money? Because he's not actually qualified to head Security," Cloud explained. "And he had a—rather large—bank account in the future, with no viable explanation for how he got it, given the sheer excess of how he lives."
A silence followed, then Veld said, "We can track one thing by the time you get back—the profit percentage we're supposed to get. Once I have that data, I can take it to the President, have him give the money to me directly to rebuild our staff, and ask him for the time to track the trail further. That would mean nothing would change on the surface, until I tell him we've found as much as we can and present him with everything we found. Tseng, that means getting you out in your undercover mission almost as soon as you get back, otherwise Heidegger will force my hand. Do you think you'll be fit to move tomorrow?"
"If there's a place for me to go to, I should be able to," the Wutain agreed, his expression grim as his eyes lifted to Cloud's. "That means you have a lot of details to fill in for me in a very short time."
"You'll have a shop and home in Midgar, yes. Actually, the sudden change in plans may well make the whole story more believable, so getting you placed sooner rather than later is good. I'm finalizing a few points yet, but otherwise...Now, if we can have our own staff back, what would Mr. Strife and Miss Lockhart do on that staff?" Veld asked.
"Cloud as an engineer—weapons especially if what he did to Vincent's gun is any indication—and Tifa as a chef and bartender."
Kariya snorted and commented, "Good pair to start with—essentials first!"
"Alcohol isn't an essential!" Tifa retorted in annoyance.
"I meant the food, sweetheart, not the alcohol, though that's a definite bonus," Kariya replied dryly.
"Okay, get back to work, Kariya..." Veld sighed into the discussion. That resulted in a chuckle, but he then added, "I agree that those two are a good way to start. What was the plan with Vincent?"
"What plan?" Vincent asked blandly. "I'm just going to march in there and demand my job back, and reparations from the Science Department for what Hojo did to me. What better kind of Turk to have than one who pretty much can't die? Also, it should be a sufficient distraction from—other things."
Stunned silence followed the statement, then Veld just said dryly, "I'll leave that in your hands, then. It'll be good to have you back. Otherwise, what story are you putting in your reports?"
"We landed outside town, stayed at Shinra Manor or cleared the mountains of monsters, found Cloud and Tifa—and their babysitter, who followed them—breaking into the Manor on a dare, and were impressed enough with their gall and skills to think they would work well with the Turks," Tseng recited. "Hopefully, that means we won't be blamed for...er...the destruction in the Reactor lab..."
"And Tifa also knows that's the story she's supposed to give?" Veld asked in a dry tone, sounding partially amused.
"She does now," Tseng answered, and Cloud had to smile faintly at that as Tifa giggled. "I have the paperwork, too. If you're fine with it, I'll give Angeal the copies of the parts I made for Genesis, rather than waiting to give them to Genesis directly...?"
After a pause, the other man agreed, "That will work. Make sure your story is ironed out between all of you, and we'll work on getting the funds here. Take your time to get back, too—you aren't scheduled to return until about eight or nine this evening."
"Thank you," Tseng agreed, then they quickly said farewells and ended the call. The Wutain looked at Angeal and offered, "I'll grab those papers for you when we're ready to go."
"Sure," Angeal agreed, the first thing he'd said during the whole discussion. "You Turks sure work fast. I wouldn't even know where to start..."
"That's largely because we're taught to work on those kinds of cases," Tseng answered. "Don't make it a big deal when it's not—it's all just training and experience."
"And Genesis can do it, too," Vincent added blandly. "So...I'm not one for the beach, but I'm sure Cloud and especially Tifa wouldn't mind a visit now that we have some time to kill..."
Tseng's shoulders sagged in surprise, but Angeal grinned and offered, "Then I'll keep an eye on them while they enjoy the beach. It would be nice if the two of you would join me, but that's not necessary if you're really not up to it."
"Good," Vincent said flatly. "Just keep in mind that Cloud attracts trouble, so count yourself lucky if you actually have a peaceful time out there."
"I may join you later, but not at first," Tseng added. "I need a rest."
That decided, they paid for their meals and made plans to meet somewhere else for supper, then Angeal, a happy Tifa, and an annoyed Cloud made their way to the beach while Vincent and Tseng found themselves in...other places. Gathering news was always good...