In like four months it'll be Christmas. Guys, wasn't Christmas last week?!

I don't own anything, anyone or anywhere you recognise. Sapphire, along with a few others who'll crop up every now and then, are mine.

I know it's been a terrible year for everyone, but am I the only one who feels like it's just...evaporated? I think it's because spring was so outrageously nice. The weather, I mean, not the, uh, everything else.

Big thanks to JustAFemaleGeek for dropping me some reviews for the last couple chapters! Cannot emphasise enough how much it helps to know that someone out there is enjoying the story. Stay amazing, girl!

Also, I got far too giddy when I decided Will and Ash were coming back. Expect more from Team Hunting-Down-Not-So-Anonymous-Test-Subject!

For now though, we're back with Team...ugh, I thought about this for like a solid minute and a half and came up with zilch. Never mind. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 10 - Investigation

Travel by chocobo, while not without its pitfalls, was indisputably my wisest idea yet. For conciseness, I was wilfully omitting the fact that it wasn't my idea. While Peeka and I spent less time travelling each day than I had by myself, we crossed at least five times the distance I would have walking. That progress could have been far greater too, except my butt could only handle so much.

Going too hard too fast on the first day really delayed us, because for the next two days my rear end was forbidden from coming into contact with anything else. I limped along while Peeka lost her mind; nudging me forward, dashing forward and back, even running literal circles around me at one point. I felt bad for her, while outwardly blaming her for my pain, and for a couple hours on our fourth day of travel I grinned through the pain and let her tire herself out.

Today marked a full week following our departure from Odale. Late yesterday afternoon found us approaching the lowest section of the mountain range across the breadth of this continent, along with the signposted entrance for the Mythril Mine. Instead of proceeding, I had elected that we get an early night and make our way through the mine the next day. Though Peeka looked like she disagreed (or maybe only characteristically unimpressed by my insistence on speaking to her in a language she didn't understand) she was a bird so she didn't get a vote.

The previous few nights I had struggled to sleep. The nights retained a sticky warm humidity, it being the middle of summer, and I was restless from the abrupt lapse in exercise. Last night I decided it was time to resume the stretches and training exercises from way back around Mount Nibel, and it worked a charm, as I fell asleep barely a minute after lying down, with a belly full of rations.

Peeka and I were raring to go as the sun rose, already looking forward to taking shelter from the blazing heat. I forced myself to take half an hour to do some stretches, certain muscles aching satisfactorily with the previous night's workout, before dipping into the cave. Peeka was close at my heels, noticeably tenser than I was accustomed to her being.

Meryl and Digo, the chocobo wranglers from back in Odale, hadn't seemed to think there was anything wrong with chocobos travelling through the mine, and I was banking on that. I had put her bridle and reins in her saddlebags in case she got spooked and decided to run off. It seemed cruel to force her through here if she really wasn't willing, and I was sure she could find her way out if she felt the need to. Last thing I wanted was for her equipment to get stuck on a rock or something and for her to get trapped or injured.

So far though, she was adorably skittish for being one-and-a-half times my height, and shadowed me closely with occasional trills that wavered in volume with her nerves. I held my left hand up over my shoulder for her to bury her head into for appeasing scratches, while my right remained on my hilt on my left hip. My eyes never stopped moving, scanning, unimpeded by the creeping darkness.

Our first obstacle was a ledge, the path forward maybe fifteen metres below. The sight had Peeka fluttering her wings in displeasure. "Oh please, you can jump down that easy," I berated, though slightly unsure of the drop for myself. "Though… I'll go first." Chocobos couldn't fly, right? She would be fine jumping down, but there wasn't any visible way she could get back up unless she figured out how to use those wings for anything more than decoration. If I injured myself falling, there was no sense in her coming down too, or we'd both be mincemeat.

Peeka tilted her head then, looking at me with her usual exasperation over my insistence on speaking to her in a dialect other than warks. I stuck my tongue out at her, before falling to my hands and knees and looking over the edge.

I would've been fine dropping, probably, but the thought made my stomach churn. Alternatively, those vines on our left seemed solid enough to act as a handhold. The rock wall also looked a little rougher there, so hopefully better for rock climbing. With a nod to myself for encouragement, I crawled over, and once I had assured myself of the vines' sturdiness by giving them a tug, I propped myself over the edge and began my descent.

The ledge didn't seem as tall now; felt like I was making a big deal about nothing. Until Peeka leapt over the edge that is, with a cheerful cry that echoed off the rock walls and probably caused a rockslide in some other connected cavern. I gasped, holding fast to the vines and rock, and scowled down at the bird, probably a dozen feet below.

"What did I say…?" I muttered to myself, shaking my head as I descended a little more rapidly, meeting the ground before I knew it. Peeka affectionately butted her head into my back, curling her head around to gaze at me innocently. I grumbled, "Note that I'm rewarding this behaviour under protest," as I produced a Gysahl green for the chocobo. Gone as quick as lightning. Dilemma over, so after a few calming strokes to Peeka (exclusively for my benefit) we continued our journey through the mine.

The monsters in these mines, to my immense displeasure, seemed to cluster up and fight together in groups. They didn't seem to realise that bunching together in these tunnels, which were more than just a little compact, resulted in plenty of friendly fire. Purple fanged crabs butted into each other in their scramble, easily the most comical of the groups Peeka and I encountered. Almost entertaining enough to forget how much of my supplies from Odale I was downing between fights.

The crabs were predictable enough, the clicking of their pincers in a certain pattern giving away their intent to attack; when I wasn't able to dodge, my sword acted as a buffer and a shield to keep them from making any serious contact. Peeka retreated to a safe distance, which grew shorter with each encounter.

The blue serpents, which held themselves upright to tower over me by at least a foot, were another matter. Faster and more intelligent, their bites were much more difficult to deflect or dodge as they came in from a much greater range of angles, leaving me with some gnarly wounds. Thankfully their teeth were on the small side, leaving punctures only millimetres deep, though the strength in their jaws would be sure to leave bruises.

I much preferred their bites though, because they also had a capacity for magic, with an icy cold breath. Ones that employed that tactic left themselves open for me to dart behind them and get a couple slashes in before they were able to retreat, but it was exhausting to be so alert and light-footed. Plus the more they did it, the more the cold lingered in my bones. While I had been roasting in the midsummer sun and had thought to be grateful for a trek through the mine, the air from those serpents carried a cold more biting than their actual bites, and left me dizzy and short of breath, each time taking longer to recover from.

I surmised that it was due to lack of exposure to magic attacks before now, so with nothing else to go on, I shrugged it off with the hopes that over time my tolerance for it would build. Granted, I was basing that on nothing but blind optimism, but it was enough for me as I guzzled yet another potion. I smacked my lips and hissed at the bitter taste, but basked in the tingling adrenaline rush from my throat down to my fingers and toes.

Unsure of the size of Mythril Mine but unwilling to stop without some kind of alcove for Peeka and I to take refuge in, we pressed on. Digo and Meryl hadn't given any indication that they'd had excessive trouble travelling through it in their past journeys—

Peeka screeched and dashed ahead, startling me enough to gasp. Dizzier now with the fright, I spun to see what had scared the bird (which really could pretend to be more brave, she's bigger than anything in here) and was met with three of the serpents, their dangerous vertically-slit pupils trained on me.

I reluctantly drew my sword. I wouldn't be able to outrun (out-slither?) these things with my senses dulled as they were, I'd probably trip on something and present my backside for them to have a quick chomp.

Fast. They should go down fast. Peeka ran ahead and I needed to catch up in case she got into trouble. Her frantic chirping echoed off the rock walls.

With a hiss, the one on the right launched forward. Not straight for me, around my right side. Avoiding my sword, aiming for my unprotected left side. I turned ninety degrees and met its approach with my sword held defensively in front of me. It reared back, reaching maybe eight metres. A tempting opening, ripe for a slash at its underbelly, but I didn't trust my speed or accuracy with my pounding headache, and knew I would be exposed from above. I mirrored its retreat with a few steps backward.

Movement from the other two caught my eye, as the one on the right, previously in the middle, took a wide berth as it slunk around my other side. Trying to surround me. Still with eyes on the left serpent, I backed up another few steps and swept my sword to the one on the right, several feet away but enough to discourage it from further approaching. The first settled again to a more manageable height, and we returned to how the fight began.

Except the one in the centre had puffs of white air escaping from its slightly opened mouth. I gritted my teeth, edging to my right, brushing the rock wall. Fractions of seconds before it blew freezing air in my direction, I launched myself to the left, sword poised to stab upwards into its neck.

With impressive spineless contortionism it avoided my attack, and I had gained a paradoxical burning feeling on my outer right arm for nothing. But I was very close to the middle one, which was slow to react, recovering from its icy breath.

I attacked with a slice that felt too slow to cut cheese, but yet the beast gave a shriek, attempting to jerk away as my sword found what must've been a weak point. I pushed forward, and eventually the serpent slumped to the floor.

I wouldn't be able to withdraw my sword from its corpse before that one at my right tried to exact revenge, so I changed hands, working to pull out the sword with my left while I held my right arm defensively in front of me.

The serpent all but launched itself at me, a lumbering move that really wasn't suitable for a creature without limbs (I would have to admire how it actually managed to propel itself like that later) so I was able to duck beneath and scuttle to avoid the tackle. It landed roughly and in front of the other, so I took advantage of the distraction and managed to arm myself once again, blue-bloodied sword held at the ready.

Oh, the other was preparing an ice breath—

I leapt awkwardly backwards and to my left, down the way Peeka had fled, to get as far from the sheer cold as I could; dodging towards the source was more risky, and even though I had a chance to dodge it altogether, I wasn't in any shape to recover if I got hit with it full on. The chill hit hard. I clutched my sword all the tighter as my whole body seemed to quake and shiver with the cold. Suddenly I felt very drowsy.

No. Shake it off. What was happening?

While that one recovered, the other at its left side was immobile. Unsure, I elected not to approach, though my weariness was urging me to finish this battle as quickly as I could. I let myself back off another step or two, swapping my sword into my left hand as my right dived into the small pack on my hip, scrounging for a vial.

I produced one, wary eyes still on the left serpent, which was exuding icy white breath. Popping the cap and slugging it as I leisurely stepped backwards, I estimated that I was far enough away from the creatures to not be terribly badly affected by this particular attack. It was fortunate that they seemed to be on the defensive and didn't pursue.

Sure enough, the cold didn't really hit the way the previous ones had (I could still feel the oddest burning, pins-and-needles, crawling over my outer right arm) and with the newfound boost of energy from the potion I dashed forward, returning my sword to my injured but preferred arm.

These serpents, interestingly, seemed to dislike their cold breath almost as much as I did. They needed a few moments to recover, and as the two had been almost huddled together when they both released their breaths, they appeared to be struggling to regain their wits and speed.

They could only really watch, as I felled them both in quick succession. Aware the chill in the air would settle deep in my bones if I lingered too long, and concerned over how far Peeka might have fled in case she had encountered more trouble, I staggered with haste down the tunnel.

The eerie silence didn't help the nerves, nor did the rocking from side to side the cave seemed to be doing. The rock wall I would balance against with my left hand might disappear from my reach after only a moment, only for me to stumble and nearly fall headfirst into it a second later.

Several minutes of semi-conscious staggering later, I happened upon the yellow blur of my bird, which greeted me cheerfully. I slumped over her back, still on my feet, burying my head into her soft plumage. She crooned at me, resting her head on my back, rubbing up and down uncomfortably in a bizarre emulation of a comforting backrub.

It was endearing, until I realised she was dipping closer and closer to the pouch full of greens at my left hip with each rub. With a heavy sigh and shaking, clumsy fingers, I withdrew a leaf for her to snatch and gulp. "Good girl," I mumbled, voice low and words slurred. Huh. I should try that again. "Goood guuurl."

No, that was definitely worse. Even Peeka looked dismayed rather than her usual disgruntled.

"Lehhht'sget ouuuutta here." Maybe more monsters wouldn't appear if we rushed through to the exit of the cave. It couldn't be much farther. Caves weren't that big. I had been in caves before, I knew this.

Peeka trilled.

"Gah, nahso louuuuud."

She nudged me with her beak, which I took as encouragement to climb aboard. A task I'd struggled with even when in full control of my faculties. I was already halfway there though; my upper body was already draped over her back. I just needed to get the rest of me up there. Here we go.

Heave—

…Uh?

Uh…

Okay, so I blacked out for a second there, my head was suuuuuuperspinny, teeter teetering…

But I could see now again and that was ground. Yellow, and skinny chocobo legs, and regular looking ground. That was okay. So I was still kind of on Peeka but not quite. My legs were definitely still lumps of lead on the ground.

That's okay. Heave.

Well this is uncomfortable, but with my boots dangling an inch off the ground, my fingers buried and clutching at Peeka's belly feathers, and allllll the pressure in the world on my abdomen, we were ready to fly—

Oh, no, nope—

One chocobo stride, one jolt to my stomach, and those burning bitter potions I'd guzzled came burning right back up—

Peeka squawked as I hurled, and crab-walked in disgust away from the puddle, lacking the comprehension required to realise that the source was on her back. With the result that more came up, making a lovely little river of potion-vomit.

Sympathetic to my bird, I leaned my weight forward to spew as far from her as possible, and leaned just a little too far. Thankfully my hands were braced to break my landing, so I wouldn't fall face first into the mouth of the river.

Unfortunately, my arms were much too weak, and they gave way, and I landed face first in the stuff. Oh. Wow.

"This is my lowest point," I murmured dejectedly, once I was sure my stomach got back in line. Peeka trilled sympathetically, though notably didn't attempt the rubbing-back-thing she did before, now that I might actually appreciate it. I sighed, and began the degrading process of mopping myself up.

Relieved of one bottle of water and one shirt (and my dignity) I pulled myself together and picked myself up to continue, thanking my lucky stars that we hadn't been set upon by any more monsters for those few minutes. No more chocobo riding though.

"Oh." Slowly, I gazed around in surprise. "So that's why we haven't been attacked." Quite impressive how I hadn't noticed that we were already outside the cave, given that I spent the last few minutes on my hands and knees in tall grass and sunlight. 'Impressive' being the wrong word, but that went without saying.

With our early departure, the sun was directly overhead now, and positively blazing. I let out a low whistle.

"I think we deserve the rest of today off, don't you?" I proposed to Peeka, the bird warking in what I took to be agreement. "There's bound to be a village nearby. We'll just follow the road."

We walked slowly, Peeka lumbering beside me slowly enough that I could actually feel her dying of boredom. I decided that feeling guilty was dumb since I was the one actually suffering, leaning heavily on her for support, but it didn't make the bad feeling go away.

Something else did though. I noticed her head was unusually high, neck stretched, and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise that it wasn't her attempting to keep lookout. I glared at the back of her head, accusing, "You're actually straining to keep away from me, do I honestly smell that bad?!"

Peeka didn't even let on she heard me, which I found weirdly more offensive than her keeping as far from me as possible while still being my crutch. Not that I could blame her. If I could get my nose that far away from me, I probably would too.

"The next town we get to better have some kind of room I can stay in. If there's an inn then there's bound to be a shower or a bath. I'd even take a cold shower, as long as I have every single kind of smelly bath stuff there is. I need to smell like seven different flowers and fruits I've never even heard of."

Again, my sparkling commentary got no reaction. Also I was starting to feel a little ill from talking too much, so I zipped my lip and let us walk in Peeka's desired silence.

We came across a small town less than an hour after the unfortunate incident, and before I was even asked to pay for a room I was ushered into a bathroom, where I doused myself in bubbles and scrubbed for an hour and a half.

[Click!]

Investigation log, part one. The date is June twenty-seventh, the time is fourteen-twenty-seven. With me is SOLDIER: Third Class Matthias, my partner for this mission.

Do I, uh, have to be professional for this recording?

Nah. It's just a courtesy to set the scene like that beforehand. As long as we disclose everything important it doesn't matter.

Good. Because you sound like a dork.

Maybe, but if this recording's getting listened to by someone important deciding if we did good work or not, I'm okay with sounding like a dork.

…

For the tape, Ash is rolling her eyes.

Get on with it, Will.

I will when you stop being disruptive!

Alright. From now on, I'll only interrupt when you're wrong.

Thanks. Though you could have said if, but that's fine.

I wanted to be accurate. For the tape.

The tape is grateful. Now. Per our instructions, our investigations start in Nibelheim, which is… uh, city girl, what's the term?

Backwater.

Being a country boy, I feel right at home, but Ash is getting some culture shock. First time out of Midgar?

Either you know it's not, or you have a terrible memory. Or you're a terrible listener.

Definitely one of those. But it's quaint, and quiet, and boring. So if anything happened here out of the ordinary, like some escaped test subject on the loose, they'll probably have noticed, and be dying to talk about it.

But they haven't.

Ash! I was getting to that!

Well you were taking your time. Don't you know there's only one-thousand hours you can record on that tape? Just be careful.

With you interrupting, I'm sure we'll make good time. Anyway, as the impatient SOLDIER pointed out, no one's been especially forthcoming with the gossip, so we'll split up and interview everyone. Hopefully it's just a matter of finding the right person. Supposedly the subject wouldn't have been able to get out of the town without help, so counting on that, there'll be someone here who knows something that they should've told to Shinra a long time ago. Everyone's super nice and gossipy so I'm pretty sure we'll get some kind of information. They've even set us up in their inn which is… full of grandma rugs and lace curtains, so it's a struggle.

I won't feel as bad about playing the silent threatening SOLDIER role anymore, because of those lace curtains.

That's right, Ash. Channel your hatred for boring interior decoration into something useful, like interrogating a bunch of innocent small town folks.

Still not loving the assignment, I see.

And you are? Pfft, that's a good one. But yeah, we've got set up in town, we'll start now. Don't know if it was really worth the log, but whatever.

[Click!]

Part two. Date is June twenty-seventh, time is twenty-one-eighteen. After we got set up in our room, we headed out to do some initial interviews with the locals. Generally speaking, I think we got a good idea of what we'll be dealing with. I would say… reluctant? But forthcoming. Ash looking generally grumpy probably helped with that, since they don't know that she just looks like that all the time.

…

Hah. Well anyway, important thing is we have a bit of a lead. Folks know exactly what we're talking about the second we get into it, and we have the name of someone who supposedly helped our target out. We'll start tomorrow by asking around a little more about this woman and her relationship with the target, and then probably interview her in the afternoon if she's around.

If she's loyal to, the target, then that interview might not be too productive. We have the authority to charge her for withholding evidence, since we know from multiple witnesses that they're associated, so hopefully that'll be enough to convince her to cooperate.

Great point, Ash. Hopefully we'll be able to find more out about our target, and where they were going next.

We would only need to find out one of those two things if our source for this mission was even the slightest bit detailed. We didn't even know the target was a person until this afternoon. It was just lucky that the first person we spoke to was astute enough to know what we were asking about.

Yeah… well, let's be grateful for the luck, and do a good job from now on so we won't have to rely on it, right? We would have got that info anyway.

I guess.

That's the attitude. For the tape, I'm being sarcastic.

Shut up, Will.

[Cli-]

"I thought SOLDIERs didn't get sick," I complained, scowling. I poked at the punctures and slashes on my arms, some of which I expected would scar. At least they wouldn't be lonely, I thought as I traced a finger around familiar markings on my upper arms and shoulders from old fights, even as far back as Mount Nibel.

One auburn-coloured eyebrow raised in my direction. "Not the first time I've heard that question from you. Memory loss? Did you recently bump your head?"

"What? No way. That doesn't sound like me at all," I drawled, rolling my eyes.

"I could ask which…" He sounded smug, but then he always sounded at least a little bit smug. Which? Oh, memory loss, or a bump on the noggin…

I dryly replied, "Try both," before feeling at my forehead in curiosity. I didn't remember bumping my head, but if I discovered that I had, it would probably be the least surprising thing that happened to me all day. What a day.

My old tutor chuckled at my less-than-subtle investigation. "You're fine."

"Yeah, well you would say that," I replied with another of my patented lazy retorts, though dropped my hands, assured that I was injury-free. Not from him, of course. He lies.

"You wound me." A gloved hand to his chest over his heart, he let out a breath, eyes closing and brow furrowing in dramatic fashion. I sniggered at his over-acting.

"Eh, you deserve it."

"As did you." I shot him a look, unsure what to make of his tone, but… yep, he was glaring at me. My arms folded defensively, blindsided by his mercurial state-shift. "You weren't ready for those mines; ill equipped and worse prepared. Storming in as you did, neither assessing what you might face nor devising a strategy, was foolhardy. You survived by luck and nothing more."

Scowling, I fired back, "I don't remember you ever drip-feeding me in any of your lessons before! Prep is good, but adaptability is better. I won't always get the chance to scope out my opponents before they're coming to slice me up, you know!"

"Perhaps you won't get that opportunity every time, which is why you take advantage of it when you can. Survival isn't about winning the most fights, it's about fighting as little as possible."

"That's rich, coming from you," I scoffed. "I don't know a single person more prone to picking fights where there are none than you!"

He barked a cruel laugh, "Remind me again how many people you know?"

Stunned by the low blow but unwilling to give an inch, my glare intensified, my teeth bared as I spat, "One more than I wish I did right about now!"

The SOLDIER matched my glare in ferocity for a moment, but then the fire waned. His eyes slid closed, and he let out a deep breath, turning his head so his auburn hair hung between us.

I tapped my foot impatiently. Childish maybe, but if he went digging for a reaction from me, he'd get one.

"Forgive me," he murmured, soft and muffled by his collar. I couldn't help noticing that he skipped the 'sorry' part. I took a breath to mention my observation, but he continued, "I was worried."

"Eh?"

Our eyes met again, no less filled with emotion now than they had been, just a different kind. "You need to be more cautious. Make haste as you will, but do not become rash. Do I need to state the obvious?" At my lack of response, he sighed and clarified, "Regardless of how time-sensitive your goals are, they must be delayed if the alternative means they are never achieved."

"That is not the obvious— Wait, is that your rendition of 'better late than never'?" Grimacing, I shook my head in pretend disgrace. "So unnecessary…"

"Sapphire." Hearing my name had me snapping to attention. "I'm sorry for my anger, but I am serious. You must slow down and think about what's at stake if you're not cautious enough."

The intensity of his warning had me looking away first this time, hiding behind my grey curtain. "I know, you're right," I relented, deciding that was as much apology as I felt like giving. "I'm just…"

The boat's approach to Junon appeared in my mind's eye, for the first time since it happened, and all that I had felt then. The trepidation, the desperation, the all-consuming hopelessness. The conviction that I had set myself the impossible task. The disbelief that it had only just occurred to me then, at the sight of this behemoth of a cannon facing out from Junon and trained on me. Little, insignificant me, with impossible dreams and wilful blindness to that fact.

I felt so hard-done-by. I had months of my life taken from me, and I was dead set on rectifying that. But who was I, to Shinra? They didn't even know I existed. I had been so convinced I'd be set upon the second I broke out of their manor in Nibelheim, but if I was so important to my captor, I wouldn't have been placed there in the first place. I wouldn't have spent months recovering only to flee, not if they were even remotely bothered.

This company could make rockets to touch the stars. They could make cannons larger than human minds could comprehend, for no published reason. They could destroy a train, their train on their tracks, just to take one insignificant person who would be forgotten about in a few short months. And I thought I could stop them doing this to someone else?

"I can't stop," I admitted in a whisper. "If I stop and think about what I'm doing, I won't start again."

With no hesitation, he scoffed challengingly, "Really?"

Owlishly, I blinked at him. "I'm serious."

"Oh," the SOLDIER nodded in consideration. "Well you're wrong."

Sighing, I raised a hand to him. This should be good.

"All this time, have you done anything but think about what you're doing?"

"I…" I trailed off, brow furrowed. "That's it? I was expecting a soliloquy, of sorts."

"Monologue," he corrected. "Soliloquy is one speaking one's thoughts to themselves, a monologue is—"

"It doesn't matter!" I interrupted loudly, hiding my face in my hands.

"I disagree, but alright. So? Answer my question."

"Do I think about what I'm doing?" I paraphrased his question to me, and contemplated when he nodded. "Not… big picture. Obviously I've been thinking about my route, how to keep safe along the way, but not the… long term." In full disclosure, most of the plan had been winging it, picking up Peeka and the ride from the rocket base to Costa del Sol as examples.

I had set rules for myself along the way though, as I discovered my weaknesses. No trains. No more acting as a SOLDIER, after what happened at the rocket base and in Costa del Sol. No using my real name, and changing up the alias every once in a while. Even if Shinra didn't actually care about my disappearance, because it was really starting to seem like I'd been forgotten about, it didn't cost me anything to be careful.

"I know what I'm aiming for, what I'm trying to do," I offered for further clarification when the SOLDIER didn't respond, "but I'm avoiding thinking through specifics. It's not like I'm going to know how to bust into the Shinra building without seeing it first, I hardly know it at all, and certainly not as an intruder. Let alone how to get to Hojo…"

Even saying his name made my skin crawl. As if able to tell, the redhead's eyes narrowed and his mouth quirked in a dangerous smirk. "So you are thinking about it?"

"Not… thinking it through!" I corrected with exasperation.

"Just about the outcome." The professor made unable to hurt anyone else, and any captives released, able to return to their lives. "Focusing on the outcome, on your motivation, and uncaring what you have to do to get there. Sound familiar?"

His rising inflection, lilting tone curling around the tease of the last two words had me glaring. Despite how nice I found it sounded.

"You are thinking about it, but you need to think about it more strategically. After all, Midgar can't be more than a week's ride away."

A week.

Oh boy…