Angels' Tears
Chapter Nine: Angel's Delivery
One day.
One day with no sign of AVALANCHE, no thoughts on the Ancient, not a word shared of the happenings at Don Coreno's mansion. Not one word was shared among Shinra about this. Cloud had reported to Hunter, and that was all that was needed of them. Nothing more. No orders, no meetings. The Turks were being sent out to find the Ancient. They had yet to find her. Nothing for the Angels. No orders for them to carry out. No news had been leaked out of letting the Ancient escape, but Cloud felt Hunter knew. The way the man glared at him, he knew.
Rain had fallen the night after the incident. Midgar's streets were filled with puddles of rain droplets and mud from the dirt in the streets. Among this, one person still found himself walking in this weather of chill, his hands in his pockets of a long white trench coat, a cigarette in his mouth. The way he kept fiddling with it, it was remarkable he still had it in his mouth. Slowly, the gloved hand went to the thin strip of white paper, and he slowly let out a breath of smoke from his lips.
Rufus felt sick. He had no idea why he felt so sick. There was no reason for him to be this way. Perhaps it was the fact he was going to be shipped to Junon this night for duties there. Duties... They were not duties but simply a way to rid Shinra of his presence until the Ancient was caught. Cloud had been right. Hunter could tell they had found her, and not brought her into headquarters. Rufus did not know why Hunter had not asked questions of what had happened at Don Coreno's mansion.
Perhaps they thought nothing had happened. He did not care. He was going to be thrown into Junon to deal with whatever things his father and Hunter might throw him into doing without question. Something inside, deep down, past Rufus' cold exterior, this was not what he wanted in life. He wanted to know what other people felt. Not happiness, or sadness, or anger... Just being able to live their lives with no question or anyone to honor in their life.
He had lost his life sometime ago. Nothing happening had caused him to lose it, but simply realizing what was happening in his life. Realizing he was locked back from ever knowing things, with no way out. This he held hidden deep inside of him. By far, neither he nor Cloud could understand the lives they led. Rufus felt as though Cloud had it harder than he. Cloud's memories were shattered into nothing, while he had remained to keep some.
He could do as Reno did when down. Plaster himself at a bar, drown himself in a beer or three, and leave without remembering his own name. Reno was...
"Reno..."
The word came out in a curse rather than a word or name. Reno! How obvious was it? He knew now. Reno had known from that day Rufus had chosen to help Aeris rather than follow his own duties. Reno was not a stupid man, and had made out what would happen, and reported it to either Hunter or Tseng. This was why he would be sent out to Junon tonight.
Rufus dropped his cigarette to the ground, smothering it under the weight of his boot in anger. When he got his hands around that lousy Turk's neck, he would be sure to not let go until he knew Reno was dead. Reno could have caused the loss of his job. Or worse... And Aeris. Rufus knew she could, and would be caught be Shinra now. It was only a matter of time though until they had her in their grasp. Hojo would be thrilled, wouldn't he?
Rufus continued along the sidewalk, his eyes touching the ground whenever possible. He wouldn't bring himself to look at anything other than the tips of his boots and the asphalt. It was only a mistake for him to walk right into another person walking down the street quickly.
His eyes shot up in anger, ready to say something nasty as was his natural reaction to anything and everything. His eyes met a clear color of green with a touch of blue in someone's own eyes. Framing the person's face were folds of locks of silver hair, falling right to the middle of her back, where she wore a dark blue sweater. Glancing to the ground again in a quick instant, he saw she wore a short, black felt skirt and a pair of black boots to accompany it.
"Who the....," his voice trailed off. He didn't feel like getting angry with this person. "What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry," she said quickly and tried to push past him.
Like a flash his hand gripped her arm, and she turned around quickly to him, her eyes momentarily flashing with anger. In the dim light of the lampposts he could not make out her features well, but there was one thing clearly visible. Mako Green/Blue eyes. Almost the same color of Cloud's if not for the fact her eyes were more of green. Just like Aeris, wasn't it?
He shook his head to shake the image of the Ancient and turned his attention back to the stranger. "What's your hurry?"
Somewhat nervously, her eyes looked over him to judge him herself as he had done to her. She knew the uniform despite he had a white trench coat hiding most of it. An Angel. He was her enemy. She had to leave, and leave now.
"I have to go...," she stated.
"Wait a second," he requested. "You look familiar... Who are you?"
Her heart seemed to skip a short beat. His ice blue eyes were looking right into her own in a gaze should could not break. A Shinra. Her only instinct was to run. She remembered the pain she had felt before when a Shinra had been near her. She did not want to feel it again. To satisfy him, she supposed she would tell him her name and leave with that done.
"Dawn... ," She said quickly. "May I go?"
Rufus looked over her again, now able to see her features in the light. His mood was not the best he could ever be, but he said nothing angry at her. There was some strange things happening lately he had noticed, and meeting mysterious women on the streets was not getting him anywhere with his job and life. If he had any life left to live without wanting anything else.
"You shouldn't be running around the streets like this," Rufus told her shortly, releasing her arm. "You could get in some trouble out here."
She nodded quickly, turning to walk back down the street, careful of where she stepped now. For longer than a moment, Rufus watched her leave with an odd expression on his face. His thoughts were on Aeris. He knew the orders Shinra had been given by his father, and that was for the Sector 7 plate to be dropped down to the earth, blaming it on AVALANCHE, and then capture her in the process. And why? President Shinra thought it would help the people to trust them more than their own self.
Rufus quietly continued down the street himself. The girl... Dawn? An odd name. He had no idea why he had stopped her. It was the Mako eyes possibly, and the longs strands of silver hair much like someone they all wished to think dead. She looked almost exactly like the Great Sephiroth, the one and only greatest SOLDIER, and the one and only greatest fluke of Shinra, Inc. Little details had been told of the 'Nibelheim Incident", and few details were known to even Rufus, except for the fact he knew Hunter had been there with them.
Inside, many people thought it was much more than a plain incident. People had died there, and the age old Jenova had been discovered there. Jenova.... The name was not calming to Rufus. That headless creature he had seen many times in the Lab of the Shinra Building made him feel nervous, one of the only things in the world that could. Hojo had been doing research for years on the creature, and no results had been made, or rather, no results he would reveal to President Shinra.
And Hojo himself. He was an odd, crooked man, much like all the people at Shinra Rufus had known in his life spent there, under the care of caretakers and servants. Heidegger, President Shinra's Head of Safety was an odd person himself. The constant laughings he let out caused Rufus plenty of headaches he wished to forget, but one wouldn't leave his mind. Scarlet. The Head of Weapons. She was by far one of the most flamboyant people Shinra had working there. Of all of the men working at Shinra, Rufus knew she had at least once been in bed with each, including his own father. Often, she had tried her chance at him, but Rufus was a stubborn person, and would not allow her to even come a few steps near him. To his luck, she had found herself more interested with Cloud.
Rising above the city itself, the Shinra Building casted a dark shadow over the city and Rufus as he walked, thoughts drifting through his mind. Ahead stood the vast airport his father had put together, one helicopter taking off, and a small plane setting down. Occasionally, Rufus had to go across the large areas of land to go to Junon, and even across the sea to Rocket Town. A flight to Junon would take him no more than two hours or so.
If not for the sharp scream that echoed in the ally had caught his attention.
He was immediately on his toes, running right back the way he had come. An instinct inside somewhere had given him a reason to run back the way he had come, to whoever it was. It was almost the same as the scream Aeris had let out in Don Coreno's mansion, and caused Rufus to feel as though her being there was his fault, and her being in danger with him caused him worse fault.
On the ground lay the young woman he had nearly knocked to the earth himself, her hair falling over her eyes and hiding her face. Looking up, he saw one of larger monsters lurking in Midgar, a large, twisted looking beast looking more like a house than a creature. Normally, these beasts had never been a match for Rufus when battling, but this one looked.... much larger. Like it had Mako in it...
He quickly reached for the shotgun hidden under his trench coat, instinctually checking for bullets. As always, it was well equipped with both ammo and Materia orbs, though his selection was little. He brought the weapon up to eye level, aiming for the dead center of the beast. His hand tightened upon the trigger, but he did not pull just yet. The 'house beast' needed to see him before he would shoot. He believed in fair battle, even with a creature such as this.
And see him it did. The creature began to walk swiftly in Rufus' direction as a loud crack of energy let off such as it had done in the Don's mansion. The beast was thrown back by the shock of the bullet hitting it, but it still came forth. Another crack was heard, barely phasing the beast again. At last, Rufus gave in and channeled power from the Materia orbs in his shotgun.
"Fire!," he yelled loudly.
The flames rose around the creature's body, torching its sides well, but still having little affect. It's tolerance was lowering for Rufus by the moment, and it would strike soon. Rufus saw the attack coming, and managed skillfully to avoid much of the attack, until he realized he would be caught off guard now, as the beast struck him in the legs. The force of the attack sent him to the ground flat on his face, and a low curse escaped his mouth in pain.
"Tornado...," he said softly, still on the ground as almost a sign of submission.
A black void appeared from no where before the creature, whirling into the shape a tornado made. The beast looked at it curiously, until it realized it was an attack, not something to be looked at in wonder. Before it could react, the spell struck, sending it to an early death.
A smile slowly crossed onto Rufus' face, but quickly faded as his pain would not. He had little thought of his own pain as he walked over to Dawn, kneeling beside her. He knew she would not be dead from such a weak attack the monster had put forth, but could be in more pain than usual. Silently, he again channeled power from one of his Materia orbs, this time the Restore orb.
"Mm...," she murmured quietly.
Rufus leaned back against the side of one of the buildings they were surrounded by, grimacing as a short pain shot up his legs to his ribs. Dawn seemed hardly damaged as she pulled herself into a sitting position. Rufus watched her for a moment, then returned to reloading his shotgun without any thought of healing himself right now. Dawn noticed him seated there, and she felt slightly worried with herself to be in his presence again.
"You didn't have to help me," she said quickly. "I can handle myself."
Rufus frown became worse. "Really? Is that why I found you on the ground to be that thing's meal?"
She bit her lower lip. Rufus nodded slowly, again busying himself with his weapon. He expected the girl to leave now, but she seemed to be making no move in anyway to leave now. As quietly as before, his eyes again drifted to her, waiting for something. Her reply to his sarcastic remark was what he was expecting mostly, but again nothing left her mouth.
"What?," he asked. "I thought you had to go."
"I...," her voice trailed off. "Well... I do. But... I mean, thank you. For helping me."
Rufus said nothing. He rose to his feet, returning his shotgun to his side under his coat where it usually stood. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, but nothing would come. It was easy to tell both of these people were stubborn, and each waiting for the other's answer or reply.
"What kind of name is Dawn anyway?," he asked.
".... My mother named me that," she said quickly. "And what sort of name is Rufus Shinra?"
Rufus turned around from beginning to walk away, glancing over his shoulder to the girl. It was strange to find people on the streets that knew him as a Shinra, for his father had always kept him from interaction with anyone when he had given up the job of being Vice-President of Shinra, Inc. She most of had some connection with Shinra, one time or another. What, was the question in his mind.
Mako. Perhaps she was a SOLDIER, but Rufus knew very little women ever had the chance to be in SOLDIER, and any SOLDIER could have handled such a brief battle with something such as he had just killed. A research specimen that escaped, was the next thought in his mind. But she did not seem like the type Hojo would have as a specimen. Even now, all Hojo wanted was the Ancient, and that strange wolf-lion-like beast Rufus had seen one day in the Shinra Building.
"Mine," he replied to her question. "If you'll excuse me, I have a ride to Junon to catch."
There was not another word said as he walked back the way he had come. His thoughts were not anything now but to get to Junon before it became very dark and his father realized he was not yet there. With his back still to everything behind him, he continued down the street.
A loud slam was heard as a body impacted with the wall in the lounge area of the Shinra Building on the 60th floor. The red headed man now pressed against the wall choked out for breath, his green eyes still narrowed to slits as he watched the other man who held him gruffly by the neck. His suit jacket had been torn at the collar when the other had beaten him seriously across the face, and then thrown him against the wall.
Reno continued to try to breath as he looked into the furious blue Mako eyes of one Cloud Strife, one of the very Angels he hated most as a Turk. Cloud fist tightened on Reno's neck as though he would not release him for some time, and angry was visible on his face. He did not look as best as he could either; his jacket was thrown to the ground and his top shirt buttons were undone. His hair was shaggy, hanging over his left eye only.
"You little bastard, Reno!," he cursed. "Why the hell did you go and tell Hunter that fucking stuff that happened?!"
"Lay off!," Reno protested between gasps. "I said... lay off!"
Cloud released him, causing the angry Turk to fall flat to the ground from the position Cloud had been holding him. He turned around slowly, almost ready to walk away as he turned back on his heel suddenly as Reno rose to his feet, bringing his tight fist across the Turk's face furiously. Reno's eyes locked on Cloud with much hate filled in them as he brought a sleeve over his mouth, wiping away the blood there.
Cloud turned to leave with that done, until he felt a heavy weight of a body shove against his own body. He almost lost his balance to regain himself, finding himself staring at the angry Reno who was still trying to catch his breath.
"You wanna fight?," Reno asked. "C'mon... I'm right here."
Cloud had little time to react before Reno brought his own fist over Cloud's face, which was followed by another to his jaw. If Cloud had his weapon, he would have been sure to strike Reno down for once and for all, but for now, he only brought his own fist back to its mark at Reno's face. He found himself repeatedly striking Reno full in the face as the Turk tried to regain himself, but Cloud's attacks against him only came on further until someone took Cloud gruffly by the shoulder, almost lifting Cloud right off his own feet.
As Reno struggled to his feet as another man helped him up, Cloud looked up to see the face of Hunter looking down at him with no expression held on his face. Cloud's face was hidden by his hair, sweat, and his own blood from Reno's attacks, making him look worse before the Angels' leader. Nearby stood Tseng, watching Hunter with steady eyes. Reno's expression was more of fury as his long time friend Rude took him by the shoulders as he tried to walk forth to Cloud.
For a long, dull silence nothing was said until Hunter said shortly, "I am sorry about this, Tseng. I will talk with Cloud and see if we can avoid these happenings further in time."
Tseng nodded slowly. It was true Hunter held no liking for him, and it was also true he held no liking for Hunter. For the longest time, neither had been able to behave around the other such as Reno and Cloud were doing, but in time they had given up the quarrels to simple hidden hate. Without a word, he turned back to his two Turks, leading both away from the lounge as the executives of Shinra watched them with much curiosity.
Hunter's large hand tightened on Cloud's shoulder as he turned the young Angel away from the spectators' eyes. Cloud had come out of the battle with little damage, but above his eye and under his eyebrow he had a gash, above his right eyebrow was another gash or scratch, and there was a slight drip of blood from the left side of his mouth. With his mangled hair and messed up suit, he was a sight to see.
As the two walked toward the elevators, Hunter took a moment to pick up Cloud's wrinkled black suit jacket and pressed it into Cloud's hands. With that done the two of them boarded the elevator in silence. Cloud's eyes were locked upon the floor while Hunter stood as straight as ever, watching the doors to the elevator. Cloud had been thinking he would get a lesson once in the elevator and away from the people's eyes, but nothing was said.
The elevator came to a short stop on one the higher levels where the doors opened before the two of them. Again Hunter led Cloud by his shoulder into one of the rooms there that Cloud recognized as the medic room. A nurse came out shortly, a look Cloud couldn't place coming over her face as she saw the two of them. Quietly, she asked him to follow her while she cleaned up his wounds from the fight.
Hunter waited patiently while she was gone until Cloud came back from the back room, looking cleaned up with his suit jacket back on and his hair away from his face. The wounds still remained, but were now cleaned up. Hunter nodded a quick thanks to the woman, and continued to lead Cloud away from there. Cloud was curious as to of where Hunter was leading him to, which turned out to be another room, this one fairly larger than the nurse's office.
"Better?," he asked.
"Yeah...," Cloud replied slowly.
"Good," Hunter said. "As for your little fight with Reno... I do not want to see that again around here, no matter what has happened between the two of you. You want to fight, you take it away from here, got it?"
"Yes."
"As for the reason... It was President Shinra's decision to send Rufus to Junon, and yes, Reno did tell me of what happened. That is why I did not question you or Rufus. He is a arrogant person, but I would have rather heard it from him than one of the Angels. Rufus' acts were against Shinra, and he is going unpunished for them simply because he is President Shinra's son. You are not to get involved with these affairs, understand?"
"Yes."
Cloud waited for something more to be said, but Hunter simply left the room, leaving him there to think over whatever it was Hunter was expecting him to do.