Chapter 13
When morning came, a dim light crept into the tunnel, signalling the way out. Wedge looked around at his friends' faces, wondering how much of the night they'd slept, and how much of it they'd spent grappling with their situation. Tifa still looked rough. Barret seemed subdued, but he must have pulled himself together enough, because he was the one to speak up once they'd passed breakfast around.
"Way I see it," he said, looking to Elena, "our options depend a lot on you."
"Me?" she said.
"We wanna talk to Sephiroth, or the guys who almost killed 'im, we need to know where to look. Shinra made an educated guess he was headed west, 'cause you been trackin' sightings of 'im, right?"
"...how did you know about that?"
"We may have gotten a hold of some intelligence reports at Junon," said Jessie. "But they're outdated now."
"So's there a way for us to get to the latest intel?" Barret asked.
Elena frowned at him for a long moment as though he'd caused her some offense, and then at last relented. "Well... If we hike back up to the reactor, I might be able to access the local dispatches from a terminal."
Barret nodded. "Okay. So that gets us Option 1, maybe."
"...you're really okay with making that Option 1?" Aeris asked, sounding surprised.
"Apart from him burnin' down Nibelheim, everything we know about Sephiroth is hearsay, an' most of it from Shinra," said Barret. "I don't know about you all, but I could stand to get some real answers. Maybe he'll talk to another Ancient. If he doesn't, 'least we get to size 'im up for ourselves."
There were nods all around, even, reluctantly, from Tifa.
Wedge spoke up. "But Elena, you said we'd probably have to go back to Midgar to find anything out about the other guys at Nibelheim, right?"
"Probably."
Jessie tapped her lip thoughtfully. "So I guess if we can't figure out where Sephiroth is headed, our other option is to backtrack to Costa del Sol and see what Shinra's up to."
"That's another option," Barret agreed. "But I was thinkin'... We wanna know about the Ancients, maybe we oughtta head to Cosmo Canyon."
Red's ears pricked up. "And consult the scholars there?" he said.
"Yeah. It's the birthplace of modern planetology, an' you can't study that without studyin' the Ancients. Maybe they got some idea what Sephiroth'd be up to."
"Sounds boring," said Yuffie.
"Don't worry," Jessie assured her. "It's Option 3, so you might be spared."
Tifa didn't look at any of them as she spoke. "...well, I guess the first thing is to check out the reactor," she said. She sounded resigned to it, though Wedge was sure part of her hoped they wouldn't turn anything up.
"Yeah, I think most of you oughtta sit that part out," Elena said, looking over the assembled group. "I'll take you and the ninja."
She spoke with such decisiveness that it took Wedge a moment to realize she'd pointed at him. "Me?"
"You're the only one who doesn't stand out," Elena clarified. "Otherwise we've got the AVALANCHE members actively seen blowing up reactors, two people who just got broken out of prison, and a talking dog."
Red huffed, tail lashing. He was probably getting tired of that description.
Wedge scratched his head, throwing Barret a look. "Well..."
"What's the security situation at the Corel reactor?" Barret asked gruffly. "You sure you can manage with three?"
"It's a middle-of-nowhere assignment," said Elena. "Not much security, and we're not there to bomb it. It shouldn't be an issue."
Barret nodded. "...all right."
Yuffie stretched her arms up over her head. "I guess it beats waiting around here," she decided.
Tifa had changed out of her stolen uniform the night before, and she dug it back out to hand off to Elena, who muttered under her breath about the smell. Mostly seawater, probably, but Wedge hoped wherever they were headed next, they could all squeeze in a shower.
As Elena ducked around a bend to change, Wedge caught Barret's attention.
"Are you sure about this?"
"You think we gotta worry about Elena pullin' somethin'?" Barret asked him.
"Well... Not really. It's just, I've never actually been in a reactor. I'm betting Yuffie hasn't either."
Barret shook his head. "You follow Elena's lead. It sounds like it oughtta be an easy in an' out-- but if you get there an' she ain't so confident, if there's more security than she said, you call it off."
"You trust me to make that call?" Wedge wondered.
"You're good at readin' people. An' that's what I want you doin' on this mission: see if you can feel her out. Figure out what's drivin' her."
"I don't think she'll just tell me."
"Nah," Barret agreed. "But if anyone can suss it out, it's you."
With Barret's faith in him buoying him up, Wedge nodded. "Okay."
It was a clear morning as they set out for the reactor, pleasantly chilly in the shade of the mountains. Barret must have been a miner, with a build like that, knowing the area as well as he did. Wedge wondered how many days he'd spent underground, emerging at last to this mountain air. If part of the temptation of the reactor had been a life spent in daylight.
Ironic, considering he'd wound up in Midgar.
They were retracing their steps from yesterday, so no one needed to lead the way. Yuffie walked along one rail, arms outstretched for balance though he was pretty sure she didn't need to. Elena walked across the ties with him, expression hard to read beneath the helmet. If he asked her what was on her mind, she'd probably rebuff him, so he decided to circle back to the one thing they hadn't really given much discussion.
"So," he said, "do you have any ideas about that monster back on the cargo ship?"
"Huh? Why would I know? I didn't even see it."
"Well, Red said it came from the labs. I thought maybe you could've seen something on a manifest."
"What? You guys didn't mention that."
Yuffie spun around, walking backwards along the rail with ease. "The labs? Like the one Sephiroth went through?"
"Yeah," Wedge confirmed. "Red said he recognized the smell from that night."
"But..." Elena was frowning. "That doesn't make sense. The only thing that got broken out was the Jenova specimen."
"Well, that's not true," Yuffie pointed out, "'cause Red got out."
"Ugh. I guess I shouldn't be surprised the report left stuff out. The department's a mess right now."
"So you don't know what it could've been," Wedge concluded.
Elena shook her head. "There's all kinds of weird stuff that goes on in Research and Development, and I don't know the half of it. I only looked up the Jenova Project because of Sephiroth turning up again."
"It seems really stupid to cart around a monster that could take out half your guys," Yuffie remarked.
"...yeah," Elena admitted. "I don't get it. It wouldn't even be Hojo's idea, the guy's been MIA since Sephiroth showed up."
"Missing?" Wedge asked. "He didn't get caught up in what happened at the lab?"
She spread her hands. "Who knows? They didn't find his body anyway."
"Is that important?" Yuffie wondered.
"He's a creep," Elena stated. "I know I'd feel better knowing where he was."
"How do you..." Wedge began, and maybe it was the wrong question, but he went through with it anyway. "You know. Work with people like that?"
"Nobody likes Hojo, but somebody's gotta study the effects of Mako. Supposedly he gets results."
"...the ends justify the means?"
Elena looked sharply in his direction. "What, like you all don't believe that after blowing up the reactors?"
Wedge looked down at the tracks beneath their feet. "...I don't think any of us feels right about what happened. I think we'd do things different, if we could."
Elena didn't say anything. Her head was still turned towards him, eyes hidden beneath the helmet.
"Ugh, if you're gonna start talking about feelings, I'm going on ahead," Yuffie announced, spinning around and running off up the tracks.
They both watched her go, and then Elena said, "So that's what this is all about? You think you're gonna find some other way to save the Planet or whatever?"
"I hope so," said Wedge. "We have to find a way to stop Shinra, but I don't want any more people to die." She scoffed, and he went on quickly before she could say anything. "I'm not naive. I know it won't work out that way. But we can always try to be better, right?"
"...yeah. I guess so."
Wedge offered her a smile. "I think you'll be a big help, for what it's worth."
"Are you hoping if you're nice enough, I might forget when you guys had me tied up?" Elena asked suspiciously.
"I'm sorry about that," he said, and he really did mean it. "Oh!" He fiddled with the materia bangle. "Do you want this back?"
But she just snorted. "Keep it. I got replacements."
"You might wanna keep an eye on those around Yuffie."
"Huh? Why?"
"She seems like she's got an eye out for materia is all. And as long as you're..." He wasn't sure exactly how to put it. "Well, if she still sees you as Shinra, you might be fair game."
"...noted."
They made their way first up to the overlook where the helicopter still sat, seemingly undisturbed, and they had a clear view of the reactor's entrance. There were no exterior guards, no signs of activity at all.
"The outer door takes a code," Elena explained, "but terminal access will need ID. It's logged, so Yuffie, think you can lift one off one of the base soldiers?"
"Oh, easily," Yuffie replied.
"Good," Elena said, and they started back down towards the tracks.
"What do you want me to do?" Wedge asked.
"Honestly? Barret wouldn't have let me do this with just Yuffie."
His heart sank. It felt just like always; there was nothing material he could contribute to the mission, so he'd just wait somewhere out of the way and they'd call it guarding the escape route. Points for participation, but they could have done it without him. "...so I'm here on babysitting duty," he said.
Elena grimaced. "We don't have to call it that. Just stay close, and if anyone asks, you're here for a surprise inspection."
"Is that normal?"
"Pretty normal. It even helps that your uniform's from Junon." Wedge glanced down at himself as she went on, "You wouldn't technically be their superior, but there's a lot more prestige in a Junon posting than a gig out in the sticks. It means you've either got talent, connections, or seniority."
"...internal politics are pretty complicated, huh."
Elena looked over at him. "Are they? It makes sense to me."
"I'm not used to all that hierarchy stuff," he said.
"Yeah. I've noticed."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She waved a hand. "Barret just lets you all do whatever. Every suggestion gets listened to. He's not even sure about me, and he let me lead this mission."
"...I think it probably inspires more loyalty when you trust people," Wedge reasoned, "and listen to them."
They were approaching the entrance to the reactor, and Wedge wasn't sure she was going to bother with a response. "Well, he's sloppy about it," she said at last. "That's all I mean."
"Okay," he said. She was definitely torn about leaving Shinra, he decided. It had to be jarring, going from something with such a rigid structure to a group whose circumstances were constantly changing with no idea what lay ahead for them. Shinra's world was one that made sense; theirs wasn't.
But he thought she liked how important her knowledge was to them. She punched the code into the keypad beside the massive door, the kind of code Jessie and Biggs had spent weeks tracking down through networks of contacts, and she just knew it without hesitation. The door slid open.
Wedge was familiar with the smell of Mako from living in Midgar, but it was so much stronger inside. Suddenly he wasn't worried about anyone smelling the sweat of their unwashed bodies.
They found themselves alone in the entryway, but the approaching echo of footsteps across metal suggested the sound of the heavy door had drawn someone's attention.
He glanced at Elena, who motioned for him to stay put and took up a position slightly in front of him, to his left. Yuffie silently mirrored her, standing to his right.
A pair of soldiers appeared from the corridor ahead and stopped a few paces in front of them, glancing over them in apparent confusion. One of them had a short beard, something Wedge had never seen on an infantryman.
"Is Director Scarlet here already?" asked the clean-shaven one, a touch nervous. "We weren't expecting her until this afternoon."
Wedge fought to keep his expression neutral, wishing he had the benefit of one of those helmets to hide behind. Scarlet was coming?
"Not yet," Elena answered. "She sent us ahead to make sure there won't be any problems here to waste her time."
The two soldiers frowned slightly, and Wedge wondered why she was antagonizing them.
"Typical," muttered the bearded soldier, and then he went on in a stiffly professional tone, "I'm sure everything will meet with her satisfaction. This morning's diagnostics were good, and I'm told the particular outputs she's interested in are looking promising."
"Then you won't mind a second pair of eyes to confirm everything," said Elena.
"...no, of course not."
The two soldiers turned to lead them deeper into the reactor, and Yuffie fell into step first behind them. Wedge watched as she lengthened her stride to sidle up behind one and unclip the ID badge from his belt without him noticing. She fell back a pace and silently passed the ID to Elena, who tucked it into a pocket.
He had no idea how they could be so casual about it. The air was close in here, and there was a thrumming coming from deep within the reactor that made him feel like his own body's rhythms were all wrong, from his gait to the length of his breaths.
The two soldiers brought them to a room with instrument panels and screen readouts where a couple of men in engineer's uniforms were working. They glanced over as Elena strode with confidence to an unoccupied terminal, but they weren't near enough to have a good look at what she was doing.
The soldiers, on the other hand...
"I don't need you two breathing down my neck while I'm skimming through routine diagnostics," Elena stated, and she waved a hand towards Wedge. "Why don't you take our engineer to have a glance at the Director's special project?"
No one else was looking at him, so Wedge shot her a panicked look, but she just gave him a single nod, as if this was something he could handle.
"Sure, all right," the soldiers agreed easily, apparently glad for an excuse to be out of her company.
"Yun, you go with," Elena added, nodding to Yuffie. "Make sure all the proper security protocols are being followed."
"Right," said Yuffie.
If all the security protocols were being followed, wouldn't that mean checking for authorization they definitely didn't have? Wedge hoped she was just getting herself a minute with the terminal and sending Yuffie with to watch his back, but he wasn't sure about any of this.
"Proper security protocols," the bearded soldier muttered once they were back in the corridor and out of earshot. "As if we don't know what we're doing here. You guys on assignment with her often? Is she always such a bitch?"
"She just wants to impress the Director," Wedge offered. "She gets bossy when she's nervous."
The soldier let out a breath. "I guess I can understand that. We don't deal with the bigwigs much here. It's been nerves all morning."
"We hear Scarlet's, um... pretty tough," said the other soldier, diplomatically.
"...yeah," Wedge agreed. He'd only ever seen her on TV, but she definitely had a reputation. "But, it's just one inspection."
"You think we'll survive?" the bearded soldier asked companionably.
"If everything's in order, I'm sure it'll be fine."
"The trick is not standing out," Yuffie added, as if she knew any more about dealing with Scarlet than he did. "Let the overachievers take the heat."
The soldiers chuckled at that, exchanging looks. They seemed to like that idea, and Wedge felt a little sorry for them that Elena wasn't actually going to be part of Scarlet's entourage later.
The sense of camaraderie died quickly as they entered an elevator and the doors sealed shut, closing them in together. These soldiers were so personable when they thought you were one of them, and as much as Wedge wanted to believe they couldn't really have turned around and shot him if they'd known, he knew better. A person could justify a lot as long as they believed the alternative was worse. Kill the enemy or they'd kill you.
Blow up the reactors or the Planet would die.
He figured there were two ways you could go, after something like that. You could admit it had been a mistake and back down, or you could double down, convincing yourself it was the only way.
Wedge watched the soldiers in front of him and wondered which he really was. His beliefs hadn't changed. It was the whole world! If the reactors persisted, then no one had a future. In the abstract, he could tell himself a few lives were worth the balance. Actually talking to those lives, he couldn't make himself say it was right. If they had been here to blow the place, he couldn't have done it himself, but he wondered if he would have had the conviction to speak against his friends. Maybe he would have just stood by and let them do it. Who would he have been failing, then?
He didn't think the others wanted to go back to that, but it wasn't a sure thing. If they couldn't find any other options, Barret could weigh the lives of these soldiers against Marlene's future, and he'd be able to put more blood on his hands... and Wedge wouldn't think any worse of him.
The elevator ran for a long time, finally coming to a stop deep in the bowels of the reactor. The smell of Mako was even stronger when they stepped out. Yuffie gagged, but the thrumming was louder, too, and the soldiers didn't hear her.
They'd come out onto a platform on the edge of a massive open space that seemed lit from below, and Wedge realized from his memory of the Midgar reactor schematics that they were probably skirting the edge of the Mako pit. No wonder the smell was so bad.
But the soldiers led them around the side without ever drawing near enough to see, and ushered them into a chamber that took another code to enter.
"I don't know how it is in Junon," said the bearded soldier, who seemed to be the senior officer, making Wedge glad Yuffie had stolen the other one's ID, "but the local engineers are mostly recruited out of the civilian population, so they're never allowed into materia production without an escort. Proper protocol, and all," he added, and Wedge could imagine him rolling his eyes beneath his helmet.
"That's good," said Yuffie. "We wouldn't want the wrong people getting their hands on the stuff."
If she sounded a little too eager, the soldiers didn't remark on it.
Wedge just hoped they didn't ask him any questions, because he wouldn't have been able to identify this room as having anything to do with materia production if they hadn't said anything. A maze of tubing overhead fed into a series of narrow glass tanks lining either wall, with metal tubes jutting out the bottom as if to dispense something. Terminals flashed readouts he wasn't sure even Jessie could have made sense of.
At the far end of the room was another secure door with a terminal positioned directly beside it.
"Even we don't know what the special project is," the senior soldier admitted. "Only the lead engineer has clearance to check up on it. But you're welcome to have a look."
Wedge absolutely didn't have clearance to a project he couldn't name. He cast Yuffie a look as he passed her, slowly approaching the terminal as though there were something he could do with it.
"So," said Yuffie from behind him, and it sounded like her voice was moving back towards the entrance. "How often are engineers coming in to run checks? It's all on schedule?"
Glancing over his shoulder, Wedge was relieved to find the soldiers had turned their backs on him. He stepped up to the terminal, blocking the screen with his body and letting his hands hover over the keys so he'd look like he was doing something if they glanced his way. He stared at the ID prompt while Yuffie chatted with the soldiers. Would Elena know what this project was?
After some minutes had passed, he turned around. "Well, I think your engineer's right. The Director should be pleased."
"Glad to hear it," said the lead soldier. "Let's get you back, she oughtta be done looking over the readouts soon enough."
Wedge nodded. Hopefully they'd bought Elena enough time.
It was another long elevator ride back up, and a short walk through the corridors to reunite with Elena, who turned at their approach to put an impatient hand on her hip. "Well?"
"Everything looks good," Wedge said.
"Good. Then let's report back."
She strode out of the room, walking so brusquely that she shoved through everyone before they could move aside. It was only when Wedge turned to the two soldiers to offer them a quick thanks that he realized Elena had used the opportunity to pass the stolen ID back to Yuffie, who clipped it back onto the guy's belt while their attention was on Wedge.
They made it back outside without incident, and only once the door had shut behind them did Wedge breathe a sigh of relief. "And you made it sound like I wouldn't have to do anything," he said.
Elena shrugged. "I didn't expect them to wanna hang around, but the thing with Scarlet's making them edgy. Sounds like you did just fine though."
"Yeah... Do you know what the special project is?"
"Didn't you see it?"
"They took us to some sealed door inside materia production."
"Probably special materia then," Elena reasoned. "There's one like that that powers the Junon cannon, but they take a while to make."
"Special materia, huh," said Yuffie. "It's too bad we couldn't get to it."
Wedge threw her a wry look and then asked Elena, "So did you find anything out?"
"Yeah," she said, "but we should get a move on; we don't actually want to run into Scarlet."
Wedge didn't object to the quick pace; he was eager to get back to the others, and it felt good to be out of the reactor. The mountain peaks rising up around them made the sky feel higher somehow, the air vaster. He inhaled deep.
Back in the mine tunnel, the others waited for them at the exit, gear already packed.
"Lemme change out of this thing," Elena said first, "and then we can talk on the go."
Wedge took the opportunity, too, to finally change out of the stolen maintenance uniform and back into his own clothes. He left his bandana tied loosely around his neck rather than try to wrangle his already greasy hair under it in the rising heat of the day.
"You pick up any heat?" Barret asked them at Elena's haste.
"Not yet," Wedge said. "But Scarlet's scheduled to visit the reactor this afternoon, so they're gonna know something's up when she has no idea another team was there first."
"Scarlet...!" Barret repeated the name like a curse. "Sounds like we still got a few hours' head start, though."
"It's not just about Scarlet," said Elena.
"What do you mean?" Wedge asked.
"I found the latest sightings," she went on. "Some of the crew saw Sephiroth get off the same ship we came in on. He apparently talked to some civilians afterwards: he wanted to know how to get to Gold Saucer."
"What?" said Tifa, incredulous. "The amusement park?"
"Hmm," Aeris hummed. "I could use a vacation after the past few days."
"...maybe he's meeting someone," Jessie suggested. "Gold Saucer's expensive. There are a lot of wealthy and important people who vacation there."
"Could be some wealthy an' important targets, too," said Barret.
"Maybe," Jessie acknowledged.
"Shouldn't we have a head start on him, too?" Wedge asked. "Unless he's got his own helicopter, we came pretty far yesterday."
"But we don't know the route he's taking," said Elena.
"...so the easiest thing is to try meeting him at the entrance," Aeris concluded.
"Are we certain it's wise," Red spoke up, "in a location with so many people?"
"He's goin' there anyway," Barret reasoned. "If he's plannin' to kill anyone, don't see how we could make that any worse."
Wedge glanced at Tifa, who only frowned. He didn't think she had any idea how Sephiroth would react either.
Barret let out a breath. "Anyhow... We got a little time to think it over, if anyone's got a better idea. But where we're headed... There's some things I gotta tell y'all."
"...do you wanna stop for a minute?" Wedge asked him. Barret was walking a little ahead, and Wedge couldn't see his face. He didn't know exactly where the town of Corel had been, but he could guess these tracks had passed through it. Somewhere ahead of them lay what was left of it.
Barret shook his head. "I'm okay."
"What's going on?" asked Yuffie.
"We wanna get to Gold Saucer from here, we gotta go through North Corel," said Barret. "An' none of us're gonna get a warm welcome there, on account o' me."
His voice had gotten rougher, and Wedge fought the urge to step forward, to reach for his hand and take it. He knew Barret wouldn't accept comfort over this. He thought bearing the guilt and toughing it out on his own was what he deserved.
But the urge didn't go away as Barret went on to tell the others what he'd confided in Wedge back in Junon, about how he'd advocated for the reactor and how Shinra had turned on his town. How he'd lost everything, and how the survivors blamed him.
The others were sympathetic, but he shoved them off-- even Tifa. Wedge kept pace a step behind him, within reach of him, sneaking glimpses of the side of his face and wondering if it would be any different in private. He'd let Wedge stick close all yesterday. He hadn't pushed him away in Junon, not at first. If Barret thought Wedge was good at reading people, then was he right to think that Barret might accept a word of kindness, if it was from him?
Oh.
Oh no. That couldn't be what this was. Barret was completely out of his league. Not to mention Wedge was pretty sure he was straight, or at least not interested. Maybe he was one of those people who believed in soul mates, and his was already gone. Wedge could not have a crush on a widower.
He swallowed, and didn't let himself drop any farther back. Crush or no, Barret deserved a friend. Wedge just needed to give himself a reality check and not read into things. If Barret was opening up to him in ways he hadn't before, it didn't mean anything except that they'd been through a lot more together. And Wedge would keep supporting his friends through all of it, if he could.