Chapter 44: The Plan

Denzel, who had been sitting at the kitchen table, turned to see Yuffie and Sage returning to the apartment.

"Did you find Zack?" he asked.

Yuffie closed her eyes and sadly shook her head.

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Denzel assured her.

"I hope so," sighed.

An hour later, Denzel found himself laying on his back on his bed. He was sorely hoping Zack was okay; he was not ready to take another loss.

Especially after his most recent one was supposed to have been averted.

FLASHBACK…..

Chloe began to lose her grip on life as her monitor beeped more slowly. She was isolated, as she was in the final stages of Geostigma. Her husband had succumbed two days earlier.

Her son, soon to be an orphan, stood on the other side of the glass, as safe from infection as humanly possible.

"Can't I at least say good-bye to her?" Denzel sniffled.

The nurse shook his head.

"It's completely unsafe," he said. "There's a high risk you'll be infected yourself."

Denzel sobbed and collapsed to the floor.

The nurse ran to poor Denzel and helped him to his feet.

"It's not fair!" Denzel shouted as he ran to the window and began to kick the wall.

"It never is," the nurse said in an attempt to console him. "Geostigma doesn't care what age, race, or religion you are. It can't be reasoned with, and it shows no mercy."

"You don't understand!" Denzel sobbed. "My parents were supposed to get crushed by the Sector Seven Plate. But they had premonitions, and got us out of there in time. But now, it was all in vain!"

"Son," the nurse began.

And then, his mother flatlined.

Denzel burst into tears as he saw the nurses behind the glass put her in a body bag.

….END FLASHBACK

At that moment, Denzel heard the sound of a motorcycle.

"Zack!" he whispered loudly as he sprang out of his bed and ran over to the window.

But it wasn't Zack.

It was Yazoo.

He was riding his motorcycle well above the speed limit, causing pedestrians to jump for their lives.

He then skidded to a stop, and looked up.

Denzel and Yazoo made eye-contact.

Yazoo grinned.

Denzel gasped, darted back to his bed, and hid under the covers.

"Hmm," muttered Yazoo before he rode off again.

"Hey!" exclaimed a pedestrian he nearly ran over.

MEANWHILE…..

"I didn't do it!" sobbed the 0007 Elena hysterically as her eyes became bright red as the tank top she was wearing. Tears continued to stream down her face. "I swear I didn't do it!"

The 0007 Tseng immediately ran over to his wife and held her close, stroking her back and rocking her gently.

"I know," he whispered. "I believe you."

Elena rested her head sideways on his chest.

"I mean, that was us," she whispered. "That was no forgery. But I know I didn't do it. Neither did you."

"I know," Tseng repeated. "This is what we talked about."

"There's an explanation for this?" Elena asked as she looked up at her husband.

Tseng nodded.

"Please tell me," she requested.

"Okay," Tseng agreed.

"Kiss me first?" she requested.

Tseng pressed his lips against hers.

She was still amazed how much better a simple kiss from him made her feel.

AN HOUR LATER…

Despite her condition, Elena paced around the room, waddling the entire time.

"So let me get this straight," she said. "Rufus came back from 0016, along with Reno, Rude, you, and me?"

"That's what it looks like," Tseng replied.

"And, right now, there's two of you, two of me, two of Reno, and two of Rude."

"That's right."

Elena sighed as she rubbed her eyes.

"We need to come up with a way to tell us all apart," she said.

"We will," Tseng assured her.

"I mean now," Elena said. "I want a virtual meeting with the four of us."

Tseng sighed, preparing to explain to her why that wasn't such a good idea at the moment.

And then, Elena suddenly waddled quickly to the sofa, climbed on it, doubled over.

"Ooooh!" she groaned. "I think I'm having a contraction. Fuck!"

Tseng quickly ran to her side.

MEANWHILE….

"Gentlemen," Rufus said, "may I present to you Ada Lockhart Strife, First Daughter of the Western Continent."

He was displaying a picture of her on his tablet.

"We know who she is," Jack Balen said. "Her mom's the bitch who stole my presidency."

"And this is how your going to steal it back," Rufus announced.

"How?" Sumner asked sarcastically. "By changing her diapers?"

"Technically, yes," Rufus answered, "if you don't want to deal with the smell. But, also, as I was about to say, take her hostage and hold her for ransom. You'll release her on three conditions: that the vice president resigns, that the president appoints you as the new vice president, and, finally, she resigns herself."

"You want us to kidnap a one-year-old toddler?" Sumner inquired.

Rufus nodded.

"And possibly worse?" Jack added.

Rufus nodded again.

"We're honored," the brothers said in unison.

Just then, the three of them heard a thud coming from the other room.

"What the hell is that?" Rufus demanded.