Chapter 22

Somehow, Reno managed to get behind Senna as they walked away from the elevator. The feeling of being cornered intensified as he crowded close. The action was undoubtedly meant as a reminder that she couldn't get away, but she shot him a dirty look anyway. His only response was another sharp grin.

When they made it to the first intersecting hallway, Reno grabbed Senna by the arm and pulled her to a halt. Between her worries and the non-stop voices in her head, she didn't need to affect a glare as she faced him.

Before Senna could say a word, Reno leaned closer and, with a warning undertone, said, "Did you really think faking sick would work? You were told you'd be watched."

A deafening burst of voices caused Senna to wince. The continued bombardment on her brain did not help her response be less waspish. "I was not faking anything. The only reason I am here is because I have no other choice. I need to leave temporarily, but you have my word that I will be back."

Reno scoffed, but it was Rude who said, "Miss Rhodes, we have been given explicit instructions not to allow you to leave the building under any circumstances. I would hate to resort to physically restraining you, but I will bodily carry you back to your room if you do not cooperate."

Despite the distraction of the voices in her head, Senna paused and stared at Rude. With his easy-going demeanor, it was easy to forget that he was still a Turk and everything that went with it. Another burst distracted her from the thought, causing her to grit her teeth. Her tone wasunconsciously raised to be heard over the clamor in her head as she said, "I don't care what your orders are! If I don't take care of this now, I cannot finish my job."

Senna's outburst made Rude lift one brow as he stepped closer. Before he could implement whatever was on his mind, Senna held up a hand to stop him. She put the other over her eyes as if blocking the sight of the two Turks would somehow make thinking easier. "Just wait. Please."

It wasn't clear if Senna's plea worked or not, but at least no one grabbed her. She took those few seconds to try and figure out a way out of her predicament. Before she had much time to do so, a new voice cut across her thoughts.

"And what do we have here? Pray tell, what are Turks doing on the Soldier floor? I don't recall any recent need for slinking shadows."

Senna's hand fell as her eyes widened. She couldn't see who had spoken, as Rude blocked them from her view, but she had a sneaking suspicion she already knew.

Her guess was confirmed when Reno stepped around her, causing Rude to move far enough for her to see the three Soldiers in thehallway.

"Don't worry, Commander Cranky, this has nothin to do with you Soldier boys. We'll slink back into the shadows soon enough." Reno's snide answer had one of the Soldiers frowning.

However, all three sets of eyes were drawn to Senna as she stepped around Rude. The Soldier in the red duster lifted one brow as he said, "Oh? Is this a new Turk? If so, perhaps working with the lot of you won't be so tedious anymore."

Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth. All three of them in front of her at once made Senna realize she had been far too caught up in Rufus and his hold on her life. Not that she hadn't thought of the Soldiers at all, but she certainly hadn't thought of meeting them, and definitely not by chance. What could she even say?

While all of those thoughts raced through Senna's head, Reno stepped in front of her with a frown. "Like I said. This is Turk business. Move on."

Genesis looked as though he was more than willing to get into a snark off with Reno, but before he could respond, Senna's gaze locked onto Sephiroth's. The general's green eyes were glowing, and his face was impassive as their eyes met, but as soon as they connected, the voices in her head began to rage.

What had previously been cacophonous yelling was now a landslide of hatred and verbal anguish. It took Senna by surprise, and she instinctively reached for her head as if she could somehow hold herself together with just her hands.

The onslaught only increased, which caused her to stumble and nearly fall. She would have if Rude had not been right behind her. For one brief moment, Senna dared to open her eyes. Her gaze was drawn directly to Sephiroth as if by amagnet. He was staring wide-eyed but otherwise nonplussed. However, the voices in her head only raged louder. Causing her to squint in pain as her knees went weak.

Thankfully it seemed as though Rude understood something was wrong. It was embarrassing to admit, but Senna was thankful when he leaned down and swept her feet from under her. Being carried by anyone at her age was mortifying, but if she was honest with herself, there was no walking at that point, and she wanted nothing more than to get away from the Soldiers. Those three would have to be dealt with, but not until she could figure out how to handle the lifestream.

The sound of Reno and Genesis still arguing while Angeal tried to figure out what just happened started to fade as Rude headed back toward the elevator with Senna in his arms. She let out a grateful sigh when the elevator doors closed and blocked the last of the noise.

Her relief was short-lived as Rude said, "Ms. Rhodes, unless this fit is a fake, you should not be out of your room. If there is anything you need, we are assigned to assist." And there was the official Turk.

The voices in Senna's head had calmed now that Sephiroth was out of sight, but they were still unbearable. She had to figure something out. Despite how the noise made thinking difficult, something finally occurred to her.

Senna pushed against Rude to try and get him to release her. He hesitated for a moment but finally let her down. Although he did keep a firm grasp on her arm—something she was grateful for as her knees wobbled.

Rude frowned down at her but didn't say anything right away, which Senna took advantage of. "I understand why you have your orders. And trust me, under normal circumstances, I would not be in any hurry to leave my bed feeling like this. But that isn't an option. I have to handle this, and it has to be me."

"Ms. Rhodes—"

That was all Rude got out before Senna cut in. "I know. Trust me. I'm not asking to go alone. If I have to have an escort, so be it. But I still need to go."

Rude's frown eased somewhat, which gave Senna hope that she was getting through. Not that she was happy about her next suggestion. "The only thing I ask is if my escort could please be Tseng."

Senna didn't need to see Rude's eyes to know they had gone round, though his voice barely hinted at his surprise. "Tseng is the second in command of our department. What makes you think he would be any more lenient toward you?"

A frustrated sigh escaped before Senna could stop it. "I don't. However, I believe he would be the best suited to this assignment. I can't tell you why, but if you explain to Rufus that it is imperative I do this in order to move forward with our plans, then I am sure it can be arranged."

Rude appeared to be deliberating her words. He didn't speak until the elevator dinged and the doors opened. With a gesture toward the door, he said, "I will take you to the offices to wait for a response. If Mr. Shinra declines, I will escort you back to your room, where we will place a guard if necessary."

Senna wasn't thrilled with the idea of aguard, but she nodded anyway. The position the voices in her head had put her in was less than desirable, but there was no point in lamenting that now.

With that out of the way, Rude guided Senna through the hallways with a hand on her arm. Once they reached a large room full of desks, he gestured toward an empty one. "Wait there. I will be right back."

Under different circumstances, Senna might have been nervous because half the stations were occupied by people in dark suits, and all of them were staring. That much attention from what was presumably a roomful of Turks was not the best scenario, but she didn't have the capacity to care. She gratefully sank into the chair and rested her elbows on the desk with her head in her hands.

Perhaps it was a matter of minutes that Senna sat there cradling her head, but it could just as well have been hours. She was no longer trying to block out the voices, as that only seemed to make them worse, but she did try to make sense of them while still concentrating on the noises around her. Even so, she jumped in response to a hand as it fell on her shoulder.

Thankfully, her experience with burying her nerves served her well when she looked up and saw Tseng standing next to her with the tiniest of frowns. "Ms. Rhodes."

For a moment, it looked as though he had questions but uttered none of them. Instead, he gestured toward the door. "I was told this could be important. As I have an assignment this evening, it would be best if we finish this quickly."

Senna only wobbled slightly when she stood. More from dizziness than weak knees, but she was thankful that Tseng either didn't see it or ignored it. She was betting it was the latter as he turned to leave without another word.

Awkwardness descended on the two of them as they silently walked to the elevator. At least Senna felt awkward. She did her best to bury it as they stepped through the sliding doors. Her concentration was broken when Tseng pressed the stop button as soon as the doors were closed.

The frown was slightly more pronounced when Tseng turned to face her. "Now that we are alone, I will pass on the other message. I was advised to remind you that if this is an attempt at distraction or a waste of time, there will be consequences."

Perhaps it was because Senna was already overwhelmed, or it could have been one threat too many, but she snapped. "I am sick to death of being threatened. Does no one in this company have any more imagination than to keep repeating, 'Your life is mine' or 'Do this or else'? I mean, seriously—once was enough. Despite what you may think, I am not stupid, nor am I suicidal."

More wanted to come out, but Senna had recovered enough sensibility to clamp her teeth shut. That didn't keep her from glaring at Tseng.

Although, she was sorely tempted to ignore her instincts when he raised one brow and said, "Are you finished?"

Both Senna's fists were clenched by her side, and her jaw ached from how hard she had gritted her teeth, but she managed to count to ten and take a deep breath before she said, "No. But now is not the time or place, and you are not the problem."

One corner of Tseng's mouth tilted up in a hint of a smirk that instantly made Senna think of Rufus. She was well enough aware that her temper was shorter than usual due to the circumstances, so she turned to look out the glass wall as she continued, "I thought you said we needed to hurry."

Tseng didn't respond, but a few moments later, the elevator started to move. It was a matter of minutes before the two of them were out of the building.

Once outside, Senna paused as she looked at the crowded city. It was both jarring and familiar. From where she was on the ground, she could not see the reactors well, but the signs of advanced technology next to brick facades, blocky vehicles, and people wearing all manner of odd clothing really struck home that she was in Midgar. It wasn't the first time she had felt that sense of awed déjà vu, but it wasn't the time to let it get to her.

Instead, she turned to Tseng. "Which way to the closest train station that will get us to the slums? Sector 5 specifically."

There was a nearly imperceptible pause in Tseng's movements before his face dropped into the eerily still mask he often wore. "Visiting the slums is not an activity I would recommend. Perhaps there is somewhere else you would rather go?"

Senna subconsciously rubbed her temple as she looked away from his prying stare. "I understand it might be dangerous, but that is where we need to go."

Tseng's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "If you are aware of the dangers, then you must know I cannot allow anything to happen to you."

The stony tone of Tseng's voice was a reminder that she would have to tell him something. That was the whole reason she had suggested Tseng in the first place, but they had too many people around for her to do more than face him with one brow raised. "Which is why I asked for you to accompany me. I am not a fighter, so please lead the way."

There was a slight twitch in Tseng's brow that Senna might have missed if she wasn't so on guard, but thankfully, he didn't press and instead gestured toward their right. "The closest train station is a block from here. We will need to change trains once we get to sector five."

Senna only nodded as she followed Tseng toward the trains.

There was a slight delay when they boarded, as Senna did not have her ID on her, but all it took was Tseng interrupting with his own ID to have the conductor stepping back quickly with a nervous bow as he let them on the train.

The ride to sector five was tense and silent. Enough so that everyone else in the train car had not so subtly moved to give them a wide berth. The transfer to the sector five train to the slums went more smoothly as Tseng preempted any questions about Senna's lack of ID. However, the ride down was just as tense, if not more so.

By the time they arrived at the sector five slums, Senna's shoulders were so tense that the pressure in her head had blown into a full-on ache. Not that she was given a chance to worry about it.

As soon as they disembarked, Tseng took Senna's arm in a firm grasp and led her to an empty section of the platform. His voice was barely audible, but the threat was still clear as he said, "Now, Ms. Rhodes, I believe I am due an explanation. Why are we here?"

Senna had known she would have to tell him something. There was no way she could find Aerith without his help, but she didn't want to cause more trouble than necessary. At least the train ride had given her time to think of something despite the constant noise in her head.

"I don't know how much Rufus has shared with you, so I cannot tell you everything. But I will state that I am looking for a person."

She paused at that point. She still had no idea how to explain who she was looking for without making her position even more precarious. A slight tensing of Tseng's fingers on her arm reminded her that she didn't have much of a choice. The best she could do would be to keep things vague enough to make it seem like she didn't know exactly who it was but with enough details that Tseng would understand.

Senna's jaw clenched once before she said, "I need to find a girl. She is in her early teens and lives in this sector. She should be—"

The sentence cut off abruptly as Senna realized there was only one way to describe who she needed, but it would void her attempts at vagueness.

Senna's eyes snapped up to Tseng's as his grip tightened. He stepped closer until Senna had to fight the urge to lean away from him as his voice dropped into a harsh whisper. "This girl that you are looking for. The one you specifically request me to help you find. Would she be the one that often spends time in a dilapidated church?"

Of course, he had figured it out. Senna should have known that Tseng would pick up on the clues and how cagey she was about their destination. But did it make a difference? He was the rock, and the voices thrumming in her head were a constant reminder of the hard choice that had started the whole trip.

There was nowhere for Senna to go to create space, but she looked over his shoulder instead of straight into his eyes as she said, "That could be one of the places she frequents. I don't know when she will go there, though."

Senna steeled herself to focus on Tseng's eyes again as she continued, "But you do."

For a split second, Tseng's grip tightened painfully before he released her and took a step back. There still wasn't enough space between them for Senna to feel relieved. Especially when she noticed a hint of a frown as he said, "Why?"

It took all that was left of Senna's concentration to focus on keeping a straight face as she answered, "Ask Rufus. I already told you I can't say more."

Tseng was much better at hiding his irritation than Rufus, but it was still visible as he digested her answer. It took a few seconds before he stepped back and, with a clipped tone, said, "She will not let you approach if she sees me. I will take you as close as I can,"

That was as good as Senna could expect. Better, really, than it could have been. "Thank you."

She had barely uttered the thanks before Tseng closed the distance again. His expression was blank, but there was no mistaking the underlying threat in his words as he said, "Do not think for a moment that you are free. You will not see me, but trust that you will have no opportunity to run."

Only Senna's certainty that Tseng would not hesitate to follow through kept her from snapping back. Instead, she nodded as she said, "I figured as much." She then gestured toward the platform stairs. "After you."

A/N: I will quit apologizing for my sporadic update schedule, but I still hope you all enjoy what I am sharing. Feel free to drop a line if you like it, but if you don't feel like, I at least hope it brought you a smile. Thanks for reading!