Farewell, Jenova

Chapter 1

"Ya know, I shoulda known she'd be trouble. Shoulda seen it from the very start. Blonds always are, ya know, even when they dye it, yo. To be fair, she had let it grow out. I prefer the brunette on her - brings her eyes out better. But hell, I guess in stories like this it's usually a redhead. Heh, in my case it's always a redhead, huh?"

"... you do cause your fair share of it," Rude muttered.

"Get to the point, Philips."

"Yeah, I'm gettin' there, cap," the red-head replied, tapping a lit cigarette absently against the side of an ash tray - the wrong side of the ash tray. Feathered gray ashes shed themselves indiscriminately onto the table. Rude brushed them away with a grunt and pushed the ashtray under the tapping cigarret.

"You may call me either Tseng or captain. We've been over this several times," the man sighed, not entirely willing to humor the other man despite the thick bandage over his eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

"How did you meet Sephiroth?"

"Sephiroth? It didn't start with that guy, he took a little gettin' to. All of this about him and some scum-sucker named Marriot-Shinra and all of that about some rare materia necklace is starting to get real old. They almost got me killed, and I don't particularly care for things that almost get me killed."

"Well you are here to tell us just how that happened."

"Sure am. I'm going to make you wish you had me back on the force."

"I highly doubt that. If you would please begin?"

"Wait. I ain't going to start without a bit more information - just for my peace of mind, you understand. You holding the girl for this too?"

"..."

"Didn't ask you, Rude."

"Philips, you know this isn't personal. There are certain protocols that must follow a homocide, one of which being that potential suspects do not get all of the answers that we have, and I can't get anywhere if you won't answer my questions. You want to start with the daughter, we'll start with the daughter. When did you last see her?"

"Don't recall."

"Must you be this way?" The captain lamented.

"…Always has been, why would he stop now?"

"Reno. Perhaps we have information of which you are unaware."

"Thought that's what you just said a minute ago. Long words and sentences don't work on me anymore, remember?"

"Reno…" the other man sighed, harmonizing frustration, disappointment, and - was that a dash of real concern? - all blended into the symphony of a single sigh. "You know what this looks like, and you and I both know that we have neither of us up to this point been totally forthcoming; an occupational hazard, I know. Still, I'd rather not see you hung. I think that it's for the best if you just tell me everything that you know." Reno sat silent for a moment before his head nodded slightly and he breathed out a thick curl of smoke.

"A'right. Got your stenographer thingy?"

"He's ready when you are," Captain Tseng answered before Rude could offer a correction.

"Right. You want it from the very start, yeah? Not just the final gory details?"

"It would be preferable, yes, especially given that you did not - ehem - see the final details per se."

"Haha. Your jokes still aren't funny. Yeah. Well, it was - I dunno, more than a month ago now when this all started. Had it not turned out this way I never woulda guessed all this was connected. I was workin' late. No reason in particular except that I was hoping that a busy looking office - or at least one with the light on late at night - might drum up some extra business. And I was sleeping in my office that night too. My chair is more comfortable than my bed anyway every since one night a few weeks before that someone got blood all over it when he was trying to kill me. It's really inconvenient for me, the only thing I had left was the frame, so I guess maybe that's the real reason I had stayed at my office."

"Someone tried to kill you?"

"Yeah. Surprising, huh? Starts about, I dunno, about a month further back than this case. You remember, the guy with the mohawk and didn' know how to button his shirt?"

"Don't know anyone like that," Rude added, unprompted.

"Wow, you guys are a riot tonight. Oughta start a comedy skit. I at least button most of 'em. You remember this asshole, it's like he buys a shirt two sizes too small on purpose. You interviewed me about him too, but you probably forgot that. See, I was getting close, almost had 'em - but killing my lead instead of being killed by him ran me into a dead end, and for all that hard work I didn't get a damn red gil. The don has his ways after all. Guess I wouldn't have been able to get him in the end anyway, not even with photographic, physical, and material evidence together. And I had them all. He pays the mayor pretty and they both get to keep their coffers full. Guess as you recall that's why I'm working solo these days. Damn pimp."

"Philips," the captain snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gettin' there, keep your shirt on. Anyways, I was hoping that I would get some business, on account of the rent being due and the fact that I like to eat at least once a month when I can manage it. I should have left those damn lights off."

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Author's note: In the upcoming chapters there will be a mix of italics and normal print. The italics are the 'present day' as there is much less of the present because we are hearing a story told, and the standard print is, well, the story as being told. Hoping against hope that this doesn't confuse anyone.