Chapter 10
Elena could only assume they were taking all that time debating whether or not to trust her. Barret may have been the leader, but she'd watched them; he made most of his decisions only with input from his team. He didn't just dictate orders and expect them to be followed.
And maybe that was ideal in such a small team, where nobody had any training, just a hodgepodge of self-taught skills that didn't amount to expertise in anything. They weren't a military and they couldn't function like one. They were messy.
Elena shouldn't have found any part of that appealing. It wasn't how Shinra did things, after all.
Shinra had a vision for the world, one of unity and security and progress. Midgar and Junon stood as testaments to mechanical engineering, breeding grounds for new ideas and innovations. They'd come so far in such a short time that Elena visited places like this dumpy fishing village and the difference was glaring. Midgar wasn't perfect, but they could bring the whole world along with them into the future, if the world would just let it happen.
And that's what the Turks were for. They were necessary in the transition phase, when you still had idiots clinging to tradition and the way things had always been. People like Barret made themselves obstacles to progress, but Elena wanted to see the world that came after him, the world that built on what they'd already achieved.
She still didn't totally understand why some people weren't on board. Barret and his cronies didn't look at Shinra as a once-great idea that was failing from mismanagement. They saw it as the epitome of human evil.
And maybe, if all its acts of violence weren't in service to a better future, they weren't totally wrong.
They acted so high and mighty though! When they were willing to cause damage for their backwards vision of the future.
If she was going to get her hands dirty, then she was going to do it for the right kind of future. Shinra would listen to her if she made them, and she knew she could make them. Unlike AVALANCHE, she had expertise.
They sure were taking a long damn time in that rundown house, though.
"You're not getting your ID back," said the girl Barret had called Yuffie.
"Excuse me?"
"Or your other stuff," she added. "Whatever it is you're actually here for."
Elena narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Who are you again?"
"Wouldn't you like to know!"
Elena decided not to grace that with a reply. She looked Yuffie over instead: she'd changed out of her stolen uniform and back into her own clothes. There was nothing telling about the clothing itself apart from a bad fashion sense, but that armor... That was Wutain. Did AVALANCHE have Wutain ties now or were they just too stupid to realize who they'd gotten involved with?
She heard the door open at last, and Barret appeared. He nodded to them. "Three of you, inside," he said gruffly. "We'll hear you out."
Was he really counting the dog?
Elena sniffed and walked past him, preceding the others into the house. It smelled like fish, somehow, even though nobody in this town fished anymore, like it just refused to let go of the smell.
Tifa, Jessie, and Wedge occupied all but one available seat, but Elena didn't want that stained armchair to leave her also reeking of fish, so she elected to remain standing. Yuffie entered behind her and claimed it instead, legs stretched out in front of her so as to take up as much space as possible. The dog brushed past her to settle on the rug, and Barret closed the door behind him. He positioned himself in front of it, barring her exit.
"So," he said, "let's hear your important intel."
"You guys want to know who actually killed the President, right?"
"It was Sephiroth," Jessie stated. "We figured that out."
Elena took that unexpected hiccup in stride and pressed on. "But do you have any idea why?"
The group of them exchanged glances, and Barret said, "Why don't you enlighten us?"
"He's after the Promised Land," she said, "and so is Shinra."
"An' does Shinra got any idea where the Promised Land is?'
"Well... Sephiroth's an Ancient, you know. So all they have to do is follow him."
None of them looked as surprised by her revelations as she'd been hoping. But if they were better informed than she'd expected, that just meant she wasn't doing anything traitorous right now, and maybe she didn't have to gain their trust by telling them anything they didn't already know.
"What makes you think he's gonna let 'em?" Barret asked. "Maybe he leads Rufus on a wild goose chase instead."
Elena shook her head. "They've got ways of knowing for sure."
Jessie leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "Aeris," she said. "You're talking about Aeris, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"Before Sephiroth showed up, the Turks brought in a woman from the slums. She was the Ancient you meant to follow, right? But she says she doesn't know where the Promised Land is."
"She's just being difficult," Elena said. And Shinra needed to do a better job of keeping its prisoners separate.
Wedge glanced at Jessie. "But you think they're bringing her along for a second opinion, don't you?"
Jessie nodded. "Maybe she doesn't want to cooperate, but you bring her to the place Sephiroth says is the Promised Land, and... maybe you can tell from her reaction."
Elena didn't say anything. Jessie was definitely the brains of this operation, wasn't she?
"I'm right, aren't I?" Jessie prompted.
"Well, it just makes sense, like you said," Elena said, waving a hand dismissively. "But the important thing is, I know where Sephiroth is headed next."
They took the bait easily enough. In actuality, no one was entirely sure where Sephiroth was headed, but people on a journey came to Junon for one main reason: to head west. That was Rufus's plan, trying to anticipate Sephiroth's movements under the guise of his inaugural tour. She explained to AVALANCHE how after the parade, he'd be boarding a cargo ship. All they had to do was make it back to the harbor and slip aboard. She could help with that.
And then she'd have AVALANCHE trapped on a ship in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by Shinra troops. It would be like handing them to Rufus on a silver platter. He'd have to see her worth then.
AVALANCHE talked over the plan with her, and they held out some suspicion. They weren't entirely willing to trust her offer to lead them through Junon to the harbor, instead proposing that some of them swim there, like that was reasonable. Yuffie and Tifa declared themselves able enough, and they tentatively counted the dog, as though they needed to double-check with him later.
That left her with Barret, Jessie, and Wedge, who agreed to take the route that kept them dry. But the parade wasn't until the following day, which seemed to suit them all. Barret gave the order again for Yuffie and the dog to keep an eye on her, and the others left the house.
Maybe they were just loading up on gear, but Elena thought it was strange that they'd trust Yuffie alone to watch her. She was new to the group, and she was a kid, and it didn't take four people to go shopping.
Yuffie seemed to think there was something fishy about it, too. Some minutes after the others had gone, she stretched and hopped to her feet.
"C'mon, let's go see what they're up to."
The dog made a low whining sound in his throat, and she glanced down at him.
"Don't worry about it, Red, we'll still keep an eye on her."
Elena wanted to scoff at the absolute lack of discipline, but she kept it to herself. She wanted to know what they were doing, too.
The old man let them know Barret and the others had gone down towards the harbor, which made Yuffie frown.
"They better not be messin' with my boat," she muttered.
"You mean my boat," the old man corrected.
"Shouldn't you be goin' deaf by now?" Yuffie shot back. He snorted good-naturedly, and she grinned, like it was an inside joke.
They made it halfway down the steps to the shoreline when Yuffie stopped and crouched down behind the low wall. Barret and his friends hadn't walked on to the sad little dock where the disused fishing boats were, but stood in a semicircle on the dingy beach, facing the ocean. The waves lapped up close to their feet, and Elena caught snatches of Barret's voice, his tone solemn though she couldn't make out any of the words.
"The heck're they doin'?" Yuffie wondered. She started to get back to her feet, but Red's teeth closed around the fabric of her sock, anchoring her foot in place. She looked down at him, frowning.
"...it's a funeral," Elena realized.
"A funeral?" Yuffie repeated.
"For the man they lost in Sector 7."
Yuffie's expression sobered. She looked back down at the beach for a moment, and when she stood again, Red let her. "Okay," she said. "Well, they're not here stealing my boat, so we'll let 'em be."
Elena glanced back once before she followed Yuffie up to the house. They were so softhearted, spending time on that. Weren't they supposed to be terrorists?
Spending the night with them in that old man's house made her wish she'd waited another day to approach them, even though she knew that wouldn't have given her much time to convince them. The pungent smell of seawater made the house stuffy, and there were exactly zero beds, so she slept on the floor with everybody but Jessie, whose recent injuries won her the sofa. Barret snored, something the rest of them were apparently just used to, and on the whole she thought it might've been worse than her forced camping experience with her hands tied up and that dumb redhead leering at her.
Morning came, and Elena was eager to be off. Barret and his gang didn't move as fast as she would have liked, but they didn't dawdle either, so she swallowed her impatience and accepted the toast Tifa offered her. A quick breakfast, uniforms on, bags packed, and they were on their way with Barret reiterating his thanks to their stooping host.
Tifa, Yuffie, and the dog peeled off immediately to head down to the water, while Elena marched the others up to the elevator and presented her freshly-issued ID badge to the guards. They let her in with hardly a glance at the two men in maintenance uniforms and Jessie dressed as an infantryman, and kept any speculation to themselves. The rank-and-file didn't chitchat with Turks, and Elena was glad at least some people understood respect.
The parade hadn't started yet, but preparations made the base chaotic. The muffled sounds of the marching band warming up reached them through the corridors, and soldiers hurried past, paying them little mind. As she'd suspected, it wasn't any trouble guiding her charges out of the air base and along a backstreet that would get them to the harbor without getting tangled up in the parade.
They could hear it when it started, a swell of music some blocks behind them. Through a few open windows, she heard the radio and TV broadcast coverage of the parade. The entire city was watching as Rufus declared his ascension.
And Elena would meet him at the end of this triumph with these pests all wrapped up for him in a tidy package. They could put all the hiccups AVALANCHE had caused behind them and get on with the business of building a better world.
"What a racket," Jessie remarked, though they were moving along faster than the parade, the music falling farther behind. "Rufus sure thinks a lot of himself."
"He's President of the most powerful company on the Planet," said Elena. They all looked at her. "What? It's true."
"That just makes him the biggest jackass on the Planet," said Barret.
"So what would you do, in his position?"
Barret snorted. "Can't imagine bein' in his position, makin' billions o' gil off the backs of the entire world. If you handed me that, I'd just give it all away. Let everybody own their own shit."
"Everybody equal to each other?" Elena asked, doing her best to keep her skepticism out of her voice. Most people needed someone in charge, or they'd never get anything done.
"Yeah," said Barret. "Ain't nobody better than anybody else."
Elena kept her mouth shut, with effort. They sure thought they were better than other people, some kind of moral authority to decide which was the right way to live. Most people wanted Mako and modernity, and those who didn't just didn't realize how much better it would be.
They reached the harbor at last, the marching band faint on the sea breeze. A squad waited before the gangway to greet Rufus when he arrived, but Elena led the others to the rear of the ship, where dock workers were still stowing a last few provisions in the cargo hold. A few more workers didn't merit much attention.
"You all go ahead," said Elena. "I'll keep an eye out for the others."
She didn't miss the skeptical glances that passed between them.
"I'll keep you company," said Wedge. "Two sets of eyes are better than one."
Barret nodded. "Jess an' I'll get the lay o' the ship. We'll circle back before launch."
Elena let it happen. She wanted them all safely on the ship, so if Wedge wanted to babysit her, that was fine. He wouldn't see anything counter to the plan.
Though she did have her doubts about Tifa and Yuffie successfully swimming all the way here. What kind of a plan was that?
"Are you disappointed not to see it?" Wedge asked her.
"What?"
"The parade," he clarified. "I guess Turks would be working security so maybe you'd only catch it from the sidelines, but it sounds like a big to-do."
Elena tossed her head. "This kind of public display is a logistical nightmare. It's important for morale, of course, but doing security for it is a pain in the ass. Nobody's where they're supposed to be."
"I thought you hadn't been in the Turks that long."
"You can't just use the Turks for this kind of thing."
"Oh, so you were promoted out of the military?" Wedge wondered.
Elena threw him a look. "You think Shinra's going to tap random civilians?"
"I don't really know how it works," Wedge admitted easily. "There's rumors the Turks scout for SOLDIER, so why not other Turks? You wouldn't want everybody to have the exact same background."
Elena couldn't decide if he'd hit on that by accident or if AVALANCHE had intel to back it up. "Well, you still need to train them, anyhow," she said.
"So security was part of your training?"
"Why does it matter to you?"
"Sorry," said Wedge. "Maybe it's a touchy subject, since you quit and all."
Elena eyed him, trying to figure out if he was sincere or just playing dumb about the fact that he was trying to suss her out. Unassuming as he was, maybe that was the point of him. He was the one they'd sent into Kalm for intel.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "There's Yuffie."
He didn't make any obvious gestures, but she followed his glance to the side of the cargo bay, where a slight figure in a sopping blue uniform was peering her head around. They'd need a distraction to get that lot aboard, because even if the workers decided they were going to be too polite to comment on two soaking wet soldiers who must've fallen off a pier, the bright orange wet dog would definitely attract notice.
Couldn't they have just left the damn dog behind?
"Hey!" Elena said authoritatively, approaching two dock workers who were strolling away from the cargo hold, probably done with their work. The important thing was that berating them would draw the attention of the other workers away from the open hold behind them. "What do you think you're doing?"
She positioned herself to block their path, making sure they weren't watching the hold either, and made up some regulations about how with the President himself coming, they couldn't be so sloppy as to wander away before the work was finished. What if it wasn't up to standard on final inspection? Were they just going to abandon their colleagues to fixing everything without them?
Behind them, she watched as Wedge ushered Yuffie, Tifa, and the dog into the cargo hold. Once they were all safely hidden among the crates, Elena finished her tirade and ordered the hapless workers to stay put until they were properly dismissed. Then she marched onto the ship after the others.
Amid the cargo, Tifa was wringing water out of her hair, while Yuffie had stripped down to her undershirt to do the same with her uniform top. The dog sat dripping onto the floor.
"Was this really necessary?" Elena asked them.
"I guess not," Tifa admitted. "Wedge says you all made it all right."
"I dunno if Red would've," Yuffie put in, and Elena rolled her eyes.
"We're all here," said Wedge. "That's what matters."
Elena let it drop. She wasn't walking around with her clothes stuck to her and smelling like seawater. If they'd wanted to be stupid and make themselves even more uncomfortable for their upcoming arrest, that was their problem.
Barret and Jessie circled back before the ship disembarked, as they'd promised, affirming everyone was on board, but they split up again after that, not wanting to be so conspicuous as a group. The cargo hatch was sealed, the announcement of departure kicked on over the intercom, and Elena made her way up onto the deck.
Junon was receding slowly behind them, military prowess gleaming in the sun, accented by the red banners that had been hung throughout the city in honor of Rufus's arrival. It was a shame she hadn't gotten to spend much time in the city proper; she hadn't been since her training had taken her to Midgar.
Elena waited until the city grew distant enough that she was sure even these idiots would agree it was too far to swim, and then she turned from the sight to head for the bridge.
As she approached, she made out figures beyond the tinted windows, and voices from within. She pressed herself to the wall beside the door, where they wouldn't be able to see her.
"...to be expected where Sephiroth is involved," Rufus was saying, "but I didn't like that AVALANCHE took advantage."
"I'll inform Heidegger," came Tseng's level reply.
"Keep tabs on them, but they aren't a priority. My father made a mess of dealing with what should have been nothing but a nuisance."
"Yes, sir."
Elena took a deep breath, reaching for the door handle.
"...was there something else?" she caught Rufus asking.
"Regarding Elena..."
She froze.
"Oh, yes," said Rufus. "What will we do with Elena? It certainly seems she was promoted too soon. She has a pretty face; I expect Heidegger wasn't thinking with his brain."
Her teeth ground, and her hand tightened around the door handle before she forced herself to let it go. She couldn't go barging in now, they'd know she'd been eavesdropping.
"...she does have training, sir," Tseng said mildly.
"And it would be a shame to waste it," Rufus acknowledged. A second passed before he went on. "When she turns up again, put her on desk duty where she can't cause any trouble. Tell her it's her last chance to fall in line. Otherwise, I don't see how we'll have any use for her."
Desk duty! As if that was all she was good for--
"Understood, sir."
Elena caught the tone that marked the end of their conversation. Hurriedly she drew back from the door, and only then did she notice that there was a Shinra soldier standing across from her, back to the wall of the ship. She'd been so absorbed in what Rufus had to say about her that she hadn't noticed Jessie approach.
They looked at each other, but before either of them could speak, the door opened.
Tseng stepped out, casting a cool glance first on Jessie and then, dismissing her, on Elena.
She straightened up and made a hasty salute. "Sir."
"...your uniform is rumpled," he observed.
"The cleaners didn't have my spare ready in time to change before departure," she lied. When his expression didn't change, she added, "I'll change immediately, sir."
"See that you do. I want you to keep an eye on the Ancient."
"Sir?" That wasn't what Rufus had told him. Sure, there wasn't any desk duty to be had aboard the ship, but to assign her to guard one of Shinra's most important assets...
"It's a straightforward assignment," Tseng said coolly. "You should be able to handle it."
There was something about the look in his eye... Was she imagining things? He couldn't really mean what she thought he meant. He was the one who'd picked up the Ancient in the first place.
"...yes, sir," she said carefully.
Tseng nodded, glanced once more at Jessie, and then walked away.
Elena looked to Jessie. Could he have known who she was? The helmet obscured most of her face, but not all of it. Even if someone in AVALANCHE must have had a Restore materia and healed her injuries, Tseng had taken over custody from Reno and brought her in personally. A mouth and a silhouette could be enough for him to recognize her.
"...I guess you weren't going to report us after all," said Jessie.
"Of course not," Elena snapped. Of course she'd been going to report them.
Desk duty! Rufus wanted her on desk duty. He thought she'd been promoted for her looks when almost in the same breath he was complaining about AVALANCHE's infiltration of Junon base, something she'd been the one to warn him about!
Rufus could go fuck himself. He wasn't the leader he thought he was, the man to lead Shinra into a new era. Maybe no one was. Maybe Shinra had already lost sight of its aims, if it couldn't see that someone like her was both important to and worthy of its grand future.
"...should we go find Aeris?" Jessie suggested. "You know where they're keeping her, right?"
Elena nodded absently. "Yeah. I know."
Leading the way across the deck, she was struck by how even this ship was emblematic of the problem. It wasn't designed for passengers, and certainly not one for one as prestigious as the President of Shinra, but even with advance notice, none of Shinra's nicer vessels would have been ready in time for this trip. They'd been tied up already, en route in the middle of the ocean, and rerouting them would have been a waste of resources.
Rufus was rushing because he wanted the glory of direct involvement. He could have just sent the Turks ahead and followed in a style more appropriate to his position, or even contacted the base at Costa del Sol. He wasn't wrong about the mess the late President had made, but Rufus didn't know how to use his empire either.
AVALANCHE's priorities were out of whack in their own way. She'd assumed they'd be willing to write off the deaths of their members as martyrs to the cause. Instead she'd watched them drop everything to get one little kid to safety and then pour their energy into the rescue of a comrade they weren't even sure was alive.
Shinra would never do that for her. Elena had been promised the Turks looked after their own, but she knew that if she messed up one more time, what that actually meant was putting a bullet in her head. If she understood Tseng correctly, he was giving her two options: she could fall in line and be the good little girl Rufus wanted, or she could go rogue, severing ties with Shinra entirely.
She didn't believe in AVALANCHE. From what she'd seen, they didn't believe in half the things they said either. But what they did believe in was getting back at Shinra.
And a Shinra that wasn't on the right track didn't deserve anyone falling in line, least of all her.