Night had fallen when they finally touched ground on the airfield near Midgar. They had not used a Gelnika on the way back, but a much smaller and more comfortable passenger plane that had also made the trip considerably faster. Although everyone was tired and ready to call it a day, Zack was stopped before he could get on a helicopter shuttle back to the SOLDIER quarters by Reno, who waved him over to where Tseng, Rude and the Vice President were waiting beside one of the helicopters. "Yo, don't you think we have something to discuss?" Zack shrugged in response. "Can't that wait until tomorrow?" He could guess what it was about, although he really was not hiding anything in particular and he had already told them everything he deemed noteworthy. "Or you could read my report once Lazard finishes writing it." But Reno shook his head. "Sorry, no can do. Chief's orders." Zack sighed and agreed: "All right, let's get it over with then." He waved to Sephiroth, who had walked ahead and was waiting beside the helicopter impatiently. "Sorry, got some business to take care of. See you around!", he called out to him and turned to follow Reno, somewhat disappointed that he would not get to spend a few more minutes with Sephiroth, but also somewhat relieved because the events of the previous nights had deeply confused him in more than one way.
Rude took the helicopter controls with Reno by his side as per usual and the other three got into the back. Confused by Rufus joining them, Zack addressed him: "Are they going to question you as well, Mr. Vice President?" Tseng covered his face with his palm in a gesture of disbelief, as Rufus opened his mouth to say something with an amused expression on his face, but he was interrupted by Reno: "Yo, that's none of your business. Don't be so nosy, kiddo!" Rufus shrugged and waved a hand at Reno. "What he says." Zack scratched the back of his head and mumbled: "Sorry!"
The remainder of the trip was spent in awkward silence as the helicopter droned on over the city that was lit up brightly, just like every other night. Little did Zack know the cause of Rufus' forlorn expression as he was watching the scenery, the meaning behind Tseng's sad looks as he was watching him, the reason why Reno was staring at the two of them through the mirror in front of him, or why Rude's focus was on Reno rather than the helicopter controls. Zack thought everyone was simply too tired to talk, but fortunately, the city was crossed rather quickly by helicopter, and within a few minutes, the Turks' headquarters came in sight. Rude landed the helicopter as professionally as always, allowing everyone to get off. Inside, Zack looked around in wonder. It was the first time he came to the Turks' headquarters. Although the location of this building was relatively easy to pinpoint with the frequent helicopters coming and going, everything else about it was supposedly a secret, and outsiders were not allowed beyond the reception area on the ground floor, which was disguised as just a random subdivision of the Shinra company. After entering from the helipad, they got into a spacious and beautifully furnished lounge with leather couches, a long coffee table, a bar and a coffee machine.
"Sir, would you mind waiting here with Rude?", Tseng addressed the vice president, nodding at the leather couch. "This won't take long". At least he had the intention not to keep Zack here longer than absolutely necessary. Rude nodded and made an inviting gesture toward the seating arrangements as if to reinforce Tseng's suggestion and Rufus sighed as he dropped himself down sleazily. "Don't keep me waiting too long then." Tseng nodded and ushered Zack on, closely followed by Reno. Tseng led him into a room that appeared to be his office, which was fitted with a large wooden desk with several computer screens and a phone, an office chair and a visitor chair. Along one wall, there was a counter with yet another coffee machine with a rack of mugs next to it, and along the other, there was a row of large file cabinets. Tseng, still wonky on his legs, stepped around the desk with some effort and fell into the office chair heavily. Zack watched the Turk with some worry. Tseng was just a regular person, and Zack had never before realized just how fragile normal people like him really were. A SOLDIER could get shot several times and lose a lot of blood and would recover within just a few minutes after a curaga spell. Curaga could close the wounds of a normal person, but that would not alleviate the symptoms of blood loss or organ damage, which would take several days or even weeks to go away, or could even impact a person permanently.
Tseng finally opened his eyes again and leaned his elbows on the table. He pointed at the chair and Zack followed his bid to sit down. Reno closed the door and leaned against the wall next to it, his hands buried in his pockets. "Well?", the redhead asked. Zack scratched his head. "Well what? I think I already told you everything I know." Tseng pulled out his phone, pressed a few buttons and placed it on the desk. "I'm recording, just in case", he explained and looked up. "Please tell us everything you know about Yuffie Kisaragi." Zack sighed. He knew nothing of significance about her, but he could not wait to get home and so he reiterated everything he remembered about how he met her, when and how she began texting him and where he had been with her on "treasure hunts", until he finally got to the point where she tricked him into clearing the monsters from the cave to get the Leviathan materia. Naturally, since the materia was already gone when he got there, he had had no idea at the time what the purpose of that cave was, although he had noticed how odd it was that a random cave would be filled with the strongest of Wutai's bioweapons.
The Turks appeared overall content with the information he gave them, and they interjected only a few times to ask for more details. Finally, Reno growled: "Yo, why didn't you report all of this before? If we'd known that you were in contact with her, we could have set a trap and get to her much sooner." Zack turned to him and defended himself: "I did report everything! I know the rules." Reno stepped forward and kicked the chair Zack was sitting on, making it slide a few centimeters over the floor. "No, you didn't!", he objected. "Hey, I looked through your reports last night and you didn't report any of this." Tseng looked up and raised his hand to calm Reno down. With furrowed brows, he asked: "Did you write and file the reports yourself?" Zack shook his head. "In SOLDIER we only give verbal reports most of the time. Lazard writes and files the reports." Reno and Tseng exchanged glances. "There wasn't anything in the SOLDIER reports, man", Reno repeated. Zack looked back and forth between the two of them cluelessly. Finally, Tseng wanted to know: "Did you tell Lazard her name and that you first met her in Wutai?" Zack nodded vigorously in an attempt to convince them that he did nothing wrong.
Tseng leaned back in his chair and looked at Reno again, who buried his hands deeper in his pockets and said: "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Zack had no idea what he was talking about, but much to his surprise, Tseng picked up his phone, stopped the recording and ordered: "Get a helicopter ready. I'll be there in a minute." Reno finally took his hands out of his pockets, confirmed: "I'm on it!", and sped out. Zack, having no idea what was going on, looked questioningly at Tseng, who stood up and was already on the phone. "Something came up. Get to Lazard's office and put it on lockdown immediately. No one is allowed in or out. If you run into Lazard, keep him there." Were they after Lazard now? After a short pause, he continued: "No, we'll be on our way there immediately. You secure the evidence in his office." He hung up walked around the desk and addressed Zack: "I think we're done here for now. You are free to leave, but remain on standby in case we have more questions." With this order doing nothing to alleviate Zack's confusion, he asked: "What's going on?" Tseng waved him out while calling another number and Zack followed him slowly. "Sorry, I can't tell you anything now and I have to go. I'll let you know as soon as we know for certain."
He was on the phone again, giving more orders and rushed off as quickly as his shaky legs allowed him to without saying anything else, leaving Zack standing by his office in bewilderment. From the way it sounded, they were suspecting Lazard of something, after he himself had unknowingly delivered some crucial piece of information to spark that suspicion. Was this still about Yuffie? Because they could not find those reports? Did Lazard hide the information about her from the company? And why did that matter anyway? He hesitantly made his way back the way he had come until he got to the lounge, where the vice president was staring toward the exit, through which Tseng had just left, and Rude was shifting nervously. When Zack entered the lounge, Rufus' glance wandered toward him, and he raised a hand and said sarcastically: "So you weren't arrested!" Zack really could not get behind the vice president's humor. Getting arrested was nothing to joke about. "I think they're looking for Lazard", he explained, although that was pretty much the extent of what he knew and he really could not tell the vice president anything more, even if he wanted to.
"How interesting!", Rufus exclaimed sarcastically. "Looks like he's not yet done for tonight after all. I wonder if he forgot I'm still sitting here." Zack could only assume that by "he" he meant Tseng, who apparently had some business with the vice president as well, but was now gone, and whatever he was out doing in the middle of the night would probably take a bit longer than just a few minutes. Zack shrugged, not quite knowing what to say. "Why don't you go home then? I don't think he'll come back any time soon." Rufus turned around to Rude, who was standing behind the couch, listening to the conversation. "What about you? Shouldn't you hurry after your boyfriend?" Rude cleared his throat and made an expression that was hard to interpret, but Zack could tell that he would much rather be in on the action than standing around in the lounge with the vice president. "I see", Rufus continued. "I'm sure Zack will keep me company for a moment. Why don't you go get Veld? I'm sure he can help me with the predicament of me having to sit in a lounge all by myself on such a wonderful evening." Rude hesitated for a moment, but Zack simply shrugged and sat down across from Rufus. He did not feel like staying here, and even less so with the vice president, but if doing so was a favor to Rude, a few minutes more or less would not make a difference to him.
Rude nodded and said: "Stay here until I get back" and turned around to disappear in another hallway. Rufus looked after him, apparently lost in thought. When Zack asked: "How did you know?", he turned his head in surprise and responded softly: "Know what?" Zack pointed toward the hallway by which Rude had just left. "Are they really dating?" Not that he cared in particular, but he was certain that Cloud would ask him about that again in the future. Rufus leaned back his head as he explained: "Oh, I was just guessing. They do look good together, don't they?" Zack had no particular opinion about whether two men looked good together or not, but to him, Rude and Reno were polar opposites, and he did not even have an idea why they were always together or why they got along so well in the first place. "And he didn't deny it", Rufus pointed out sheepishly.
Being alone with the vice president now made Zack remember what he had threatened to do back in Wutai. "Sir, can I ask you something?", he began. Rufus spread his arms and said: "Sure. Do you want a raise?" And then he leaned forward and whispered as if he was telling a secret: "Talk to Lazard. If you can find him, that is." Zack's dumfounded expression was gratified with a disdainful smirk that made him even less likeable than before. But Zack still brought forward his question tensely: "Were you really going to destroy Wutai City?" Rufus folded his arms and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds before he answered: "You should always believe that I'm going to do the worst thing you can imagine."
They were relieved of each other's company when the quick footsteps of two people approached. Zack did not recognize the formal-looking middle-aged man walking in front, but assumed that this was Veld, the chief of the General Affairs Investigative Department. His tall figure was clad in the same type of black zip-up suit that the other Turks sported, and there was nothing that told apart his rank from theirs, but the deep-set lines in his face and the grey streaks in his hair that gave away his age. Rufus turned his head as he heard the two approaching and rose from the couch and stretched, suddenly with an exhausted expression on his face. "Finally! The man with the key!", he sighed. Zack had no idea what he meant by that, but he was glad to be rid of the cynical vice president of the Shinra Electric Power Company. "Good evening, Mr. Vice President", Veld greeted him, and as he raised his hand in greeting, Zack noticed his mechanical left arm showing up from the end of his sleeve. "Sorry to keep you waiting." He turned to Zack and said: "Good job today. You're dismissed. Have a good night!"
Zack, too, rose and saluted quickly as Rufus began to walk off down the first hallway where Zack had just been with Tseng and Reno. Veld nodded at Zack in response to the salute and followed the Vice President. Rude adjusted his shades and waved at Zack to follow him as he rushed off toward the exit to the helipad. "Come, I'll send you home." Zack picked up his bag and hurried after Rude, who could not wait to get on a helicopter. Zack sat in co-pilot's chair although he had no idea about flying, but he was quite certain that Rude was perfectly capable of steering it without anyone's help. His forced stoic demeanor from before hade made way to unrest that gave away his concern for his partner. As they took off, Zack began to wonder if it really mattered whether they were dating or not. They were not called the Turks' strongest team for no reason, and Zack could very well understand where the rumors about them being together came from, but he had also not seen anything from them that would indicate that there was any romance between them, aside from Cloud's witness testimonial. They were clearly very concerned about each other literally all the time and had complete trust in one another, and perhaps that was what mattered the most.