The Beginning is the End...

 

AN: Hope you guys like this chapter!

Ratings, Disclaimer, and iWarning! are still the same.

Know Your Enemy

(By: Green Day)

Ch 13

*0~0*0~0*0~0*

It was afterhoursand all the cadets were dead to the world, totally exhausted from the brutal training they’d undergone that day. All except one…

“Hey, Cloud, you awake?” Zack asked from the top of their bunk beds, poking a head over the edge and whispering to not wakeup the other boys.

“No. Go away,” Cloud replied tiredly and dug his head further into the blankets. That particular day of training had taken its toll on him, working muscles in areas he never knew even existed.

Zack just smiled at him and reached down to pull at the covers. “If you could be anyone in Shinra, who would it be?”

Cloud’s miserable laugh was the only reply as he looked up at his tormentor. Why would Zack want to do this tonight? He didn’t want to play the game of twenty questions after such a nightmarish day. What he wanted to do was imagine that there was no metal between them so he could kick the other for keeping him awake, but that would probably put more strain on his already sore leg muscles. He sighed, knowing it was better to get it over with faster than try to resist. “Sephiroth.”

When his answer was accepted with silence, Cloud got curious. “Why, who do you want to be?”

Zack hummed in thought and finally replied. “Rude.”

“Rude? A Turk?” Cloud moved the covers off his head and stared incredulously at his dark-haired friend.

“Yeah!”

“Why would you want to be a Turk?”

“No, not just ‘a Turk’… ‘Rude’.” Zack’s eyes glazed over as the other nodded with a grin, imagining something that only a person with the name Zack Fair would think of. “Have you ever wondered what’s going on behind those shades? It’s like he can see everything! It makes me wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“…does he blink?”

Cloud’s only response was to throw a pillow at him.

“Go to sleep!”

*0~0*0~0*0~0*

Cloud’s gaze swept over the empty area of the training field, remembering all the time he spent there as a cadet. The soldiers that were usually training were absent, but he preferred it this way- training alone. The silence was welcomed from the usual rush that daylight brought the area.

His muscles were starting to show a bit more… though he was still a bit on the slim side, but that was something he could handle. What Cloud had trouble adjusting to was his mind; it kept contradicting itself. He was young, only seventeen, and fighting the odd behaviorisms that came with growing into a man. He was twenty-seven, an experienced swordsman in his own right, and was used to kids looking up to him rather than being treated like one.

It didn’t feel as if any part of him died, he was all there, whole… blended, and he hated it. Especially the sudden urges he got –such as inhaling anything that was considered edible, and he wondered just how long it would take before he was accustomed to the feeling of what seemed like two separate selves constantly arguing with himself.

The only good thing that had happened to him recently was the mission. It was now Cloud’s job to go in as backup while Hewley’s team completed the task; an in-and-out operation, and all he had to do was get shipped off. Then it would be considered mission complete: Welcome to Second Class, SOLDIER.

He didn’t want to give Sephiroth credit for giving him a reason to stay, but the man had a point. Mako would make stopping the company a lot easier, and Cloud would make sure it got done whether or not he had to sell his soul to the devil in order to do so.

Then there was the bigger question of where Sephiroth fit into all of it. The General’s loyalties were unknown, and he was sure nothing short of the man killing the alien himself would ever change that. In the end, if Sephiroth did decide to take the monster’s side then they’d have to fight, which wouldn’t be anything knew, but what lay in the other hand was just a different path that led to the same destination. Their blades would still cross if the other continued to be Shinra’s General.

Cloud breathed in deep, clearing his thoughts and beginning the movements Angeal had taught him for unarmed combat. He was going to drill them into his head until they became habit. He supposed this could be counted as the other good thing that the time-lapse brought. The Lieutenant helped him fix small mistakes he hadn’t noticed he’d been doing for years. At first Cloud didn’t like the idea of being retrained, that his way was perfectly fine as it was, but he soon found that the different moves were a bit more logical.

The Lieutenant was an incredibly patient person, held a certain calming presence, and was so mellow that- if not for the fact that Hewley was a great swordsman- Cloud would have questioned whether the man’s decision to become a SOLDIER was the right one. There were jokes about the constant talk of pride and honor, but it wasn’t as often as people made it seem. Cloud got the experience firsthand, but the only time that happened was when Angeal gifted him with a new broadsword. The words spoken afterward held meaning in them, and it was something that he was sure to never forget.

The only problem with being near Angeal was that there was always a redheaded Commander somewhere nearby.

Often times Rhapsodos would stay over for lunch, complaining that a new roommate was eating him out of his paycheck, but Cloud knew better. Hewley was one of the best chefs that ever walked on the face of Gaia.

Of course, the other joke about the Lieutenant was that the only reason why anyone would put themselves into the mentor program was because the trainees would finally get a proper meal.

But Rhapsodos always made him a bit edgy ever since the SOLDIER test. Cloud felt like he was being studied… like how Hojo had watched him while he was incased in the glass tubes at the mansion. Though the Commander was very social, he was also about as hard to read as Vincent was when the gunman was in “let’s-hide-in-the-corner-and-stare-at-everyone” mode. When the redhead wasn’t making the SOLDIER 3rds panic, then he’d be spending his free time punishing cadets.

Cloud wouldn’t put it past the Commander to hand out black marks to anyone that so much as breathed improperly. He knew not to be fooled by Rhapsodos’ appearance. The man might look as if he couldn’t harm a fly, but he had an attitude that spoke otherwise… and it was that of a sadistic carnivore culling out the herd.

The Commander fled from his mind the moment Cloud sensed something off - the General’s presence was somewhere nearby. That was another thing he had to get used to. Sephiroth not only acted different, but felt different… and he just didn’t know if different could be considered good.

--

It was growing dark as the sun began to set in the horizon, and the glowing lamps were illuminating the field where the younger warrior was practicing on.

Training… that was each SOLDIER’s job for when they weren’t on the job. It reassured Sephiroth to know that Cloud and he were no different from each other, no matter what had come to pass to bring them to this moment. They both trained to get stronger, to protect, and fight. Their life was measured in their battle capabilities, and it was also what made them different from the rest of the world.

Sephiroth studied the motions from afar, watching how the blond moved through them with practiced ease. It was almost as if he were watching a dance, and he wondered if this was why everyone was always so mesmerized when he did his own training.

He just didn’t expect Cloud to stop and turn around in the middle of it, and for some reason he felt like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“You’re not going to make it a habit of sneaking up behind me, are you?” Cloud bluntly asked.

“Of course not, this was just a coincidence… you’re training late.” Sephiroth said as he came forward and rested against one of the track posts, thinking of what else to say. “Have you given my proposal any thought?”

Cloud looked a bit nervous at the question. “I have, and… I know you don’t make offers to just anyone. So I want to know what’s in it for you, and I’m not going to buy into the story about wanting a new training partner when we’ve been fighting for years…”

Sephiroth groaned internally. He’d hoped that Cloud would’ve taken that excuse and been done with it. There wasn’t even anything that the other warrior had that would be considered lucrative to him.  There was nothing… really, other than Cloud staying, and the reason he gave wasn’t a total lie. It would be refreshing to train with someone other than Genesis and Angeal, and he wasn’t familiar with every move Cloud made from the limited times they fought.

He noticed Cloud stepping back a bit when he didn’t give an immediate response.  Considering their past, the other’s slight case of paranoia was well within reason, and… of course! There could be things Cloud would know that he didn’t. He could ask what took place during the time he wasn’t actively destroying Gaia and inquire information about Jenova.

“There are some things that I’m curious about. Especially as to what happened while I was crystallized in mako.” For a moment he thought his plan had failed when the blonds’ head shook in refusal.

“I’m not going to tell you any personal details on anyone I used to know, if that’s what you’re asking.”

That was good. Asking about those that were in the group hadn’t even come into mind, but… Sephiroth fought the urge to voice his disgust. Why would he even want to ask that? The idea of wanting to know about Cloud’s lackeys wasn’t even close to being on his priority list. “I couldn’t care less about them.”

Cloud only raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, getting into business. “Ok, so… mako for information. What do you want to know?”

There were lots of questions to ask, but Sephiroth hadn’t planned to meet Cloud here and there were things that the other might consider taboo. So he went with the one that’s been bugging him since he left Angeal’s place. “Why were you so adamant about recreating you’re group? It’s obvious you don’t need them.”

“But I do need them,” the blond countered, causing the General to tilt his head in confusion. Jenova and he were the ones that had attempted to destroy the planet. Cloud saying that he needed the group -but not to destroy Jenova- was the same as him saying that Sephiroth was their target.

 “So they can all keep an eye on me?” Though the suggestion wasn’t callous at all, his voice hinted to what seemed like the obvious plan.

“What?” Cloud’s eyes widened, catching onto what he was thinking. “NO! AVALANCHE is a… pro-planet group.”

Sephiroth frowned and went over the name in his head. “What did they do?”

“Whatever they can to keep the planet from dying.”

The General sighed as the words went full circle again. Cloud’s limited explanations were what caused this frustration in the first place. “But you can kill Jenova on your own?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“Then why is AVALANCHE needed?”

Cloud frowned as the matter was pressed, and gave a huff when it was known that Sephiroth wasn’t going to let the question slide. “If you don’t know about them then it isn’t any of your business!”

“I’ll decide if it’s my business. You’re trying to hide information from me, Cloud.” Sephiroth gave his best glare, but Cloud unfalteringly matched it.

“Don’t think I don’t know that you’re doing the same,” the other accused right back. “I told you, any personal info on my friends isn’t any of your business, and I consider what they do to be a personal matter. Just know that their goal isn’t killing you.”

“That’s a little hard to believe.”

“So are you!” Cloud argued. “You act as if nothing had happened, and that coming back to the past suddenly clears you of fault for everything you’ve done. If you want me to put so much faith in you, then maybe you can prove to me that you’re not going to go insane and get rid of Jenova yourself!”

Thus began their staring match, and Sephiroth cursed as it was just his luck: the only way to get Cloud to stop tiptoeing around him was to do the one thing that he didn’t want to attempt for fear of turning into the one thing that Cloud claimed he might become.

He certainly wasn’t going to make any claims about Jenova unless he knew for sure how she took over him, and if he didn’t have proof then Cloud wasn’t going to believe it. He just needed to keep up the act… just a little longer.

--

Cloud glared back at Sephiroth, knowing the General was using the intimidation tactic that the man was well-known for. He had to stay his ground… he had to know what Sephiroth’s answer was going to be. ‘Look at his eyes,’ Cloud said to himself. ‘The way to know if someone is lying is through their eyes.’

There it was, Sephiroth looked down momentarily, and Cloud knew the man’s reply was going to be mixed in with another lie. He waited, wondering if it would contain a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ and mentally prepared to deal with either one, but then the General smirked.

“Our agreement was that you get mako in return for answering my questions, and I believe you’re getting more out of this arrangement than me. What I decide to do and what not to do is personal. Just know that it isn’t going to kill the planet, and it isn’t any of your business.” The General grinned and began walking away. “Oh, and have a wonderful evening, Cloud.”

Only when the silver-haired man disappeared from sight did Cloud realize that his jaw was left wide open and he quickly snapped it shut with a curse. That wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting to hear! Why couldn’t that man make anything clear?! Sephiroth was an egocentric, inconsiderate, spineless, lying bastard, and it infuriated him!

Cloud sat down in the grass, placing his head in his hands while trying to calm his anger. He hated that man. If Cloud had to destroy the General then he’d already proven to himself that he could do it. He could, and would… over and over again until one of them either died or they were both too shattered to fight anymore.

*0~0*0~0*0~0*

“Mom, Mom! Who’s that?!” a young child being held by his mother pointed at a Shinra poster. The male pictured in it couldn’t have been any older than a teenager and had outlandish silvery-white hair with striking green eyes. The black leather that was fitted to the strong body contrasted with the bright colors of the poster, but what was most intriguing was the sword being held in the other’s left hand.

The mother just chuckled at her son’s insatiable curiosity. “That boy is Sephiroth, Cloud. He works for a company called Shinra. He’s really brave and strong, a warrior among warriors, even at his age.” She rebalanced him on her hip and walked away from the advertisement with their groceries in hand.

The boy turned his head to stare as the poster got further and further away. It was the most amazing thing that he’d ever seen in his life, and every day he wished that he could be as strong as the one in the poster. It’s what he dreamed to become, it was his ultimate goal in life.

*0~0*0~0*0~0*

It was the pain of realizing the one he idolized most didn’t see him as anything but a puppet. The deep scar of betrayal that was left inside him took years to dissipate, but he never forgot. Realizing the man that he once idolized the most in life was the same one to set his world aflame hurt beyond anything he thought capable of feeling, and he’d been the one to kill him again, and again, and again...

Cloud tilted his head back and breathed through his nose. His sight grew bleary from tears while various feelings consumed him. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. It seemed like every time he got a break, it was thrown back in his face. He really, really hated that man, and reminding himself of that had always made the battles a little easier. No one said he had to enjoy it.

--

Reno grumbled as he dragged his feet across the ground. Why did he have to sign the paperwork that made the temporary confiscation of Shinra transportation okay, wasn’t that Cissnei’s job? The redhead grumbled some more as he made his way to the fax room.

So much for the promise of always doing what he loved… Reno wouldn’t even be tied down to the damn company if it wasn’t for the fact that he got caught playing with fire. The Shinra towers in Midgar had so much stuff in them. Fun stuff, like dynamite, and it wasn’t like the company was using it anyways. He decided to try and ‘liberate’ them of some goods that could very well be deadly in incapable hands, and Reno didn’t want the workers to accidentally blow themselves up…

Sneaking inside was easy, for him anyways. He’d always had a natural talent for getting into places he shouldn’t be in. It was when he had the goods in his hands that he felt cold metal touching the back of his neck, and he slowly turned around. There was his future leader giving him a deadly glare with gun in hand. Reno gave his best smile and placed the items back on the ground.

Then he was given the option of choosing either a slow death or he could use his skills for Shinra, and now here he was… with paperwork. The only thing he regretted in life was not making sure that someone wasn’t in the room before he jammed the doors shut.

Reno glared up as the camera followed his movements. He gave the watchers a delicate flip of his finger and entered the cozy little work space. The room was filled with boring electronic equipment. There was a fax, a copier/printer, and an entire wall dedicated to the use of paper. He wasn’t alone. Someone was already using the only computer the small office held, which he heard sucked during the day because there’d be a hold up when more than a few people had to upload data to print.

He did a double take after putting the pages into the fax. The man was obviously a Turk, about 6’ tall, in his late twenties, and had long, dark hair. Reno wondered where Shinra was keeping the cloaks that covered the old-fashioned getup the other was wearing… it looked kinda cool.

“Hey,” Reno greeted the man, only to be ignored as the other’s back was kept turned to him. “Name’s Reno, I’m kinda new here.”

“…”

Reno leaned against the machine and sighed. It sucked being the new guy. “So how long ya been here?” The man said still nothing, but that didn’t deter him from trying. “Been here for a couple months now. Boss-man Tseng wants me to practice with the beating stick. What you use, yo?”

Again there was nothing but silence and the occasional clicking of the mouse. Exactly how did Turks get trained to focus so hard on their tasks? Reno would probably never learn to do that, and he figured that it must be something taught since birth…. Yeah, that must be it.

He took his time to look the other over from the ground up. The combat boots were tipped, meaning that the man could be a close combat fighter, but what was hidden under the red cloak said otherwise. Whenever the cape moved there was a particular outline given that was undoubtedly a gun, but steel tipped shoes and firearms don’t mix well for combat. Reno scratched his head in thought, pondering if the man could possibly be a mix. The other Turk would have to be pretty damn quick to deliver a physical attack and get far enough to make proper use of that big gun.

Yet it wasn’t the only thing Reno noticed. The only movements done by the other was only with the right arm. The left side was kept so still that it wouldn’t be illogical to think that the other lost it in battle, and Reno would have kept assuming as much if not for the fact that the last motion outlined a limb. Maybe the arm was useless, and the other just didn’t want to part with it… or maybe it was cut off and replaced with a synthetic!

“So… have you and Rude done any jobs together?” Reno inquired. The silence that his partner gave was something he was learning to deal with, but something about this man was downright eerie. “Yeah, me and Rude… we’ve been together for like… two days, but I can already tell that he’s going to be fun to hang around… like the life of the party, yo.”

“…”

The fax beeped, signaling that the final page was sent, and the machine gave a hum as it recalibrated. Reno grinned as the other finally turned around. He was going to give another friendly greeting, hoping that maybe the other Turk was going to talk to him, but the pages from the fax were shoved into his chest and he was push out the door. That was definitely the most direct way of getting someone to leave.

Reno cursed; he didn’t even get a good look at the man’s face. The eyes were the only thing not being covered by the cloak, but they were so badly squinted from glaring that Reno couldn’t tell the color.

For shits and giggles, he opened the door to tell the man that he wasn’t done faxing, but the room was empty. There was no way -that Reno knew of- to get out of there besides the door he was just shoved out of… so it was common sense that he immediately determined the older Turk to be the coolest thing since sliced bread.

He couldn’t wait to be taught that trick during his training.

--

Morning came and went as Sephiroth sat in the lab, looking particularly bored while Hojo drew the last blood sample.

“Did you experience any symptoms with the last mako injection?” Hojo asked the routine questions and placed the tube into a device, separating the blood cells and proteins. “Drowsiness, headaches, muscle pains?”

“No,” Sephiroth responded.

“Good, good.” The lab assistant quickly jotted notes down onto paper while Hojo shut off the centrifuge and grabbed the flashlight. “Pupils are responsive. No excess glowing or color distortion to the iris.”

Sephiroth allowed the examination to continue only because he knew firsthand what happened to someone that was caught too late with mako poisoning. They slowly became trapped inside their own minds, unseeing and unaware of what was going on around them. Their eyes would be accompanied by a bright, luminous glow while the pigment would gradually change in the iris.

The checkup was disturbed as a crash came from near the doorway. Two of the assistants ran into each other, causing a mess of mako when the container shattered onto the floor.

“Get out,” Hojo hissed at the two that were attempting to clean it up. “Get out, the both of you! You three, clean that up.”

As the two quietly left the scenery, the others surrounded the area and began to clean. Sephiroth knew that he wouldn’t be seeing the other two around here again. Hojo expected top performance, and anything less than perfect wasn’t worthy of being inside the lab.

It was like this all the time with new assistants. If someone was caught in the mistake of another then both were considered to also be at fault for not getting it fixed, or in this case… not getting out of the way.

Hojo didn’t look too happy as he spotted one of the tools covered in mako, and left to go get a sterile replacement.

The silence was broken as one of the assistants got the nerve to speak, though quietly, now that the professor was away. “This is just great… first Slarky leaves to go play doctor with Scarlet, and now we’re even more behind in help! She wasn’t even that good.”

“Did you hear that they’ve already selected someone to be their first test subject?”

“Really? Who?”

“It’s a male who just recently passed the SOLDIER test. He’s already trying to make it to Second Class with just a booster shot!”

Sephiroth realized that it was Cloud they were talking about. A frown came with this sudden new knowledge, not liking that someone so inexperienced would want to be testing mako on anyone. Then his thoughts did a one-eighty as a smile tugged at his lips. Cloud was accepting his offer, not some green assistants’ that just recently decided to break off from the teacher. This meant that while the other might not think of Sephiroth as the most trustworthy person, at least he was trusted more than them.

They all fell silent again as Hojo’s footsteps were heard echoing down the hall.

“Now where were we?” the professor talked to himself as he entered the room and immediately went back to work.

Though Sephiroth thought that Hojo was a crass individual and was not what one would call social by any means, at least the man knew his work. The problem was that Hojo wouldn’t take Cloud as a subject since the other hadn’t shown any remarkable ability yet.

Cloud would just have to get it the same way all the others did, and if for some reason Shinra was withholding mako then Sephiroth would be there to make sure the nurses gave it to the other warrior.

--

“So…”

“Silence, Reno.”

“…”

“… … …”

“…”

The newest Turk finally gave up making conversation and began squirming in the soft cushion of the seat. Rude knew Reno was trouble the moment Tseng caught the little sneak snooping around in Midgar headquarters. Back then Rude was ready to snipe the kid, and he had an excellent shot from atop the next building. He was just waiting for the signal, but Tseng never gave the order. Lucky kid.

He couldn’t argue with Tseng’s decision on giving the kid the choice of becoming a Turk, Reno turned out to be surprisingly good at his job. If only that mouth wasn’t on him.

“Why are you wearing shades indoors?” Reno asked, sitting in the chair across from Rude.

“…”

“I mean, the room isn’t bright. Kinda like a soft… orange-y yellow glow.”

“…”

Tseng was about ready to open his mouth and tell Reno yet again to keep quiet when Cissnei came through the door with an armful of folders.

“Hey, guys, sorry I got here so late! Someone sent the fax to the wrong office so I had to fix it real quick.”

Reno looked down at the black numbers on his hand. “Oh, so that was a four.” That was a lie, he never looked at the numbers that Cissnei had written on his hand. He wanted to make sure he never got that job again.

She looked grossed out. “Ew, that’s been on your hand all night? Don’t you wash?”

“Only after handling unstable chemicals, yo,” Reno replied and Cissnei rolled her eyes.

“Well, anyways, there were quite a few on the list.” Cissnei motioned to the items in her possession. “So I only printed out the inactive ones that seemed relevant.”

“What about the ones that have gone AWOL?” Reno asked as he looked at the papers containing information on non-active Turks. “Or the guys that quit Shinra?”

She glared, putting a hand on her hip and looking all-knowing. “There’s no such thing as an AWOL Turk.”

“Why?”

“Because all the ones that get listed as AWOL become dead,” Tseng answered forebodingly.

“Oh.”

The three of them followed Tseng into Genesis’ office. The Commander had requested information about any missing Turks, stating that one was in the slums of Midgar. If anyone else were to make that claim then it would have been ignored, but Genesis wasn’t stupid. Tseng would have loved to make a Turk out of Rhapsodos if not for the fact that the other was already the Commander of SOLDIER.

“We have what you requested.” Tseng nodded and passed the documents to Genesis, who politely accepted the papers.

“Thank you. I guess I’ll owe you one then.”

“If there’s someone out there with Turk training then it’s our duty to find them,” Tseng stated. “If what you saw is true, then we’ll be the ones who will be indebted you.”

“How many did you get?” The Commander asked as he flipped through the pages. It was a bit more than what he was expecting.

“Fifty-seven,” Cissnei said as she helped Genesis spread the files across his table. “I only printed off the Turks or people who had Turk training within the last ten years. Some of these don’t match up with your description, but I wanted to broaden our search to include changeable qualities.”

The Commander noticed the date of employment and deceased on the top few pages. “Your people certainly don’t last long.”

“I assure you that our survival rates are better than yours.”

‘Touché,’ Genesis thought as he carefully studied each of the faces. He took longer on others, mentally imaging what some would look like without so much weight or facial hair. In the end, he gave a dejected sigh. “None of these are him.”

“Are you sure?” Cissnei asked.

“Positive. Even with the bar light, I got a good look at most of his face. Are you sure these are all of them?”

“Yes, though it wouldn’t hurt if we had a name to go with it.”

Genesis sat down with a groan. “It was so obviously a pseudonym that I can’t even remember it.”

“That good?” Cissnei smirked at the SOLDIER Commander, clearly thinking the man was underestimating a Turks’ training- that even a name could be eluded.

“No,” Genesis grunted. “That bad.”

Cissnei crossed her arms and frowned, certain that the man just didn’t realize a good cover when he heard one. Then she felt Reno’s presence getting a bit too close for her liking. She looked over her shoulder and was about to tell him off when she saw that he was staring down her shirt... again, which explained why the younger Turk had been so quiet.

Rude didn’t have time to react before Reno, who bodily jumped back to avoid being hit, smacked him in the face with a stray hand. His shades broke in two, one half falling to the floor followed by the other, and he bent down to pick them up from where they landed. The room was momentarily silent.

“Um… uh… sorry, yo,” Reno apologized, for once seeming sincere about it. “Please don’t kill me.”

Rude carefully put the pieces inside his pocket and kept his gaze focused on the irritating redhead.

Thankfully Tseng broke the moment. “Can you mention anything else about his appearance… something our huntsmen can spot onto? A tall, pointy-nosed Turk with black hair doesn’t exactly pop out.”

Genesis grinned as he remembered giving the description. He was in the middle of a… ‘business date’ with a pretty brunette when he’d given the call. It was a bit rushed since he didn’t want her to know there was some weird guy somewhere out there. “He was about 6’, in his late twenties, athletic build… long, dark hair… wore a black suit-”

Reno held in his urge to snicker, that description left about a third of the people working for Shinra and plus some.

“His eyes glowed red,” Genesis declared. That description would definitely single a man out. “At first I thought they were contacts, but they were too real… like a SOLDIERs’, and he had this really torn up red cloak.”

That got Reno’s attention. He searched around the shops all night last night and couldn’t find one anywhere. He really needed to ask where they were sold. Maybe Tseng knew.

“Right-handed. His left was covered by some type of gauntlet, but it was hidden. He didn’t appear to be comfortable with it.” And the more the Commander spoke, the deeper every word sunk into Reno. His stomach was starting to tighten as the description was beginning to sound much too familiar.

“The cloak had a tall neck that hid most of his face. He had a red cloth wrapped around his forehead, and- Reno?” Genesis stopped as he noticed the blood draining from the younger Turks’ face.

Reno hesitantly licked his lips as he looked the Commander in the eye. “Pale skin, steel tipped shoes, and carried a long gun?”

The other’s look confirmed that he finished the description accurately. “Guys, I saw him yesterday in the fax room. I thought he was a Turk, yo.”

To be continued…

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