THE ASSAULT BEGINS
"They're here."
Foreman Bennit looked up from the large blueprint laid out on the table in front of him at that declaration. A frown tugged at his lips at the sight of the men in black Soldier uniforms now making their way toward him. He was expecting them, of course, had been told by his boss they would be here tonight, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it. As the Foreman in charge of production he was on a tight schedule. He had quotas to meet, and he didn't think a bunch of Soldiers wandering around throwing their weight around was going to make things run any smoother. No, it was bound to be a huge distraction and he knew full well that wouldn't be an acceptable excuse if production fell off. The fact that the had been told they were here for some kind of secret training exercise and no more details than that had not improved his mood either.
Six of them were making their way toward him across the cavernous room that was the central core of the mako reactor. Only six. Maybe it wasn't so bad. How much mischief could six of them cause?
Looking more closely, his frown deepened for a moment, then his eyes widened in surprise. He didn't know much about Soldier. He didn't pay much attention to that sort of thing. His specialty was mako reactors and he paid little attention to anything beyond that, but even he had seen the tall white haired man who was leading the Soldiers toward him.
"General Sephiroth," he said softly as the man stepped to the table in front of him.
"You are Foreman Bennit?"
Bennit nodded.
"It's an honor to meet you sir," he said.
Sephiroth gave a small nod of acknowledgement. He looked down at the table in front of them
"I see you've already been looking over the layout of the reactor," he said, not wasting any time. His gloved hand jabbed at the blueprint.
"We'll need to have these two areas evacuated of all employees."
Bennit stared down at the area Sephiroth was pointing at and his face fell. A quick calculation in his head resulted in a projection of a 30% drop in power with those areas unmanned. Worse than he had thought.
"For how long?"
"I can't say for sure," Sephiroth replied. "A few hours at least."
Bennit bit his lip, his face making it clear how he felt about this proclamation.
"Don't worry," Sephiroth said, apparently comprehending the man's reluctance. "I'll take full responsibility for any loss in production."
That statement did wonders for Bennit's mood. He had expected some Shinra flack to come in here making demands that he wanted obeyed immediately regardless of the consequences. The General, however, was another story. He was well know and respected as a man of his word. If he told Bennit not to worry, the Foreman wouldn't.
"All right, I'll get the men out of there immediately."
Sephiroth nodded as the Foreman strode quickly away.
"We'll set up a command post here," Sephiroth continued. "Sgt. Daniels, deploy the men and tell them to stand ready for final orders. Tigana, you're with me."
"Yessir," his two subordinates replied. Sgt. Daniels led the others off. Zack looked at Sephiroth, who was carefully studying the blueprint. Zack wasn't sure why. They'd gone over the floor plan of the reactor meticulously back at Shinra headquarters. Zack was certain any one of them could traverse the length of the place blindfolded.
"Any last word from Strife?" the General questioned without looking up.
"No sir," Zack responded. They last time they had talked was two days ago, when Cloud had told him the mako reactor assault was a go, and when and where it was going to happen. They had both agreed that, barring an emergency, further contact was unwarranted. No matter how careful they were, there was always a chance their meeting would somehow be discovered. They didn't want to jeopardize the mission when they were so close to success.
Sephiroth glanced at his watch.
"We've still got almost an hour," he commented. "That's if they're on time or didn't make any last minute changes, of course. We'll see. About the only thing you can say for sure about a mission like this is that somewhere along the line something won't go according to plan."
Zack nodded absently, watching Sephiroth ponder the blueprint. He hadn't brought up any of the things Cloud had mentioned to him in their earlier meeting. He wasn't sure why. For some reason he felt uneasy bringing it up. They had known each other for years and he trusted Sephiroth with his life, but they had never been on a mission quite like this before. He wasn't sure how the General would react.
Still, he was going to have to bring it up eventually, and he was rapidly running out of time.
It was strange. All the missions they'd ever been on they'd fought monsters. They'd never actually fought people before. That job was usually left up to the Turks. Everyone knows monsters do not surrender. They had never had a situation where surrender was a possibility.
"What if they give up?" Zack finally said.
"Hum?"
"What if they give up?" Zack repeated. "What if they take one look at us and realize they don't stand a chance. What are we going to do with them, haul them off to Shinra headquarters? I've just realized we've never been in a situation before where surrender was an option."
For the first time in their conversation Sephiroth lifted his head and looked at him.
"Funny you should mention that..."
Zack gave him a questioning look.
"I just received word this morning," Sephiroth continued. "There isn't going to be any surrender."
"How do you know that?"
"Because we're not going to let them. This came down straight from the top. Right from President Shinra. He gave me explicit orders. No prisoners."
Zack just stared at him. It took a moment for it to sink in. Did that mean what he thought it meant?
"No prisoners," he repeated slowly.
"That's correct," Sephiroth replied.
Zack frowned, looking at the General's expressionless face.
"Let me get this straight," he said. "Shinra wants us to kill them all?"
Sephiroth gave him a sharp look.
"Does that really surprise you?"
Zack shifted uncomfortably.
"No, I suppose not. I'm just...surprised that you seem to be taking it so calmly. So what are we going to do?"
"We're going to follow our orders," Sephiroth replied.
That didn't sit well with Zack at all.
"So we're just going to do it? We're just going to kill them?" he questioned, not able to keep the edge out of his voice, no matter how disrespectful it might sound.
But Sephiroth seemed to take no offense.
"I'm open to suggestions, if you have an alternative," he replied calmly.
He looked patiently at Zack, who said nothing for a few moments. It was becoming obvious that President Shinra was ruthless. He wasn't really surprised at these orders, but he was surprised Sephiroth was going along. There had to be something they could do, but what?
"I don't know," he said finally. "Can't we just take them into custody in spite of Shinra orders, or something?"
"No we can't," Sephiroth told him. "Look Zack, it's not like I haven't thought this over, or that I'm condoning what we've been ordered to do, but I'm afraid we don't have much in the way of alternatives. For one thing, I'm sure you realize what disobeying orders by bringing them in would mean. I have a lot of friends, but that doesn't mean I don't have enemies as well. People who are jealous of my influence or power. Some of them are pretty powerful themselves and wouldn't hesitate to jump at a chance to discredit me, or the entire Soldier program, for that matter. Disobeying orders would give them the perfect opportunity. We can't afford to have that happen."
He glanced around for a moment. No one was nearby. When he spoke again, his voice was hushed.
"I don't like this any more than you do, but I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do. I can't afford to draw attention to myself, not like that anyway. When we make our move against Shinra it has to be completely unexpected. We're close, but we're not ready yet. Anything we do that will make waves right now will work against us, we can't afford to show our hand yet. There's just too much at stake."
"I understand all that," Zack replied. He wasn't naive, or thought he wasn't. He realized what was at stake. "Still, I joined Soldier to fight against the enemy, against people who could defend themselves, not to slaughter innocent civilians."
"They're not innocent," Sephiroth reminded him. "They've criminals. They're been breaking into power stations, remember?"
"Yes, to steal the electricity and give it to the poor," Zack replied.
Sephiroth frowned.
"What makes you say that?"
"Cloud told me that was what they were doing when they broke into the last substation," Zack replied, looking uncomfortable. He knew full well he should have shared that information with the General sooner.
"I see that I'm not the only one who hasn't been completely forthcoming around here," Sephiroth said tartly.
"I'm sorry sir," Zack said quickly. "I was going to tell you anyway. It just didn't seem all that important before."
"I'll be the judge of what's important or not," Sephiroth told him, for the first time sounding a bit impatient. "That's interesting news, and makes it even more obvious why Shinra is so keen on getting rid of them. Unfortunately, it still doesn't change anything. Shinra wants them gone and, no matter what their motive, it's out job to carry out that order."
Zack didn't have to say anything for Sephiroth to tell he still wasn't happy with the idea, it was plain on his face.
"No matter what their motive, these people are not guiltless," the General went on. "And even if they were, it's a sacrifice we have no choice but to make. Like I said, we can't afford to do anything but obey orders without jeopardizing our future plans. Look at it this way, if we do something now, something that draws attention to us, we may never be able to overthrow Shinra. If that happens, this sort of thing will continue. Who knows how many innocent lives will be lost then, but if all goes according to plan, if we succeed and overthrow Shinra, we can assure that this never happens again. We'd do a lot more good that way, don't you think?"
Zack didn't reply. Didn't reply because he didn't have an answer. Everything that Sephiroth was saying made sense. He didn't have any argument to refute it. Still, he wished he did. No matter how good the reasons this didn't sit well with him. He had been proud when he had graduated from Soldier, proud of what he had accomplished and proud of what Soldier represented. To serve with honor, that had been his goal, the goal of all of them, he supposed. He never in his wildest dreams thought that serving with honor would include something like this.
"I understand what you're saying," he finally said. "You're right, I can't argue with you, but...but if those people see us and lay down their arms, I don't know...I don't know if I can follow those orders."
Sephiroth looked at him critically, but it was not an unfriendly look. He had been young and idealistic once too, when he had first joined the Soldier program, before the Wutai Midgar war. He had fought for a cause then, for glory and honor on the battlefield. He soon found out war wasn't pleasant, or fair, or about glory or honor at all. Instead he found out it was about doing whatever it took to stay alive and kill the enemy. For some reason honor lost a lot of it's luster when you were sitting in a foxhole with shells whistling over your head, knowing that it was just a matter of luck or God's grace whether or not one of them landed on top of you. He had done some things that would probably curl the hair of his young companion during that war, but he felt, at least at the time, that it had been necessary, and they had won. There might not be a war going on anymore but this was no different. He had seen too much to think Shinra would behave any differently.
Sephiroth reached out and patted Zack's shoulder, a move that startled him more than anything the General has said. He never touched anyone.
"It's all right, I'm sure you'll do what you have to."
"It's time."
Cloud pushed himself to his feet. He had been sitting in his room playing cards, hopefully for the last time, waiting impatiently for the call.
"I'm ready," he announced.
No more words were needed. He followed Merlot out of his room and out of the house, a determined look on both their faces. Cloud had butterflies in his stomach. He couldn't help it. This was it. All he had worked for the last two months culminated tonight. If all went well, tomorrow he'd be back at Zack's place sleeping in his own bed.
If all went well. There was so much that could still go wrong. He didn't think he'd been found out. Merlot and the others still seemed to trust him, but one never knew what was going to happen. Even if he wasn't discovered, there was no saying how it would all go down. He had seen the Nighthawks in action. Though he knew they were no match for fully trained Soldiers they were still dangerous.
It was cold out, below freezing. Had been for the last week. The air stung his cheeks, made his breath feel like it was freezing in his throat. It don't bother him though. Instead it felt refreshing. The adrenaline rush of what he was about to do made the cold inconsequential.
They met up with the others at a small warehouse, near, but not the same place, where the meeting had occurred last time.
"Are we all here?" Merlot questioned when he and Cloud arrived. Cloud looked around. Marcus and Riley were there, as well as all the people from the meeting when he had been introduced to Marcus. Altogether there were eight of them now.
"Everyone but Mouse," Marcus stated.
"Figured she'd be late," Riley muttered. He had recovered from his injuries from the battle with Shinra forces and now looked more than ready to get back to work.
They waited almost a half hour, most of them impatiently, Riley the most impatient of all. He kept pacing back and forth, muttering to himself.
"All right, let's get going. Mouse knows where we're going. She can catch up to us at the reactor," Marcus eventually announced, although Cloud couldn't be sure whether he said that because he was afraid of falling behind schedule or just to shut Riley up.
They made their way quickly through the darkened streets, moving single file, in silence. They met no one. It was too cold for even the most die hard thief or thug to be prowling the streets. Anyone with any sense had long ago sought shelter from the cold.
Eventually blinking red and white lights revealed the outline of a huge structure down the road ahead of them. The mako reactors were the largest buildings in Midgar, barring the actual Shinra tower itself. All of them, as well as the plate itself, had been part of a massive construction project started by Shinra twenty years ago, soon after Hojo discovered the capability of mako to be used as a power source. Before that Midgar had been a moderate sized city nestled on the plains along a trading route that had been used by caravans for a thousand years to travel along from the northern reaches of the continent to the south, then later on as a base for miners seeking Mythril in the caves in the nearby mountains.
Eventually they came to a concrete wall, well over ten feet high, that surrounded the reactor. Riley looked up at it with a sour expression on his face.
"Great, more wall climbing?" he muttered.
"No," Cloud responded. "We can't got that way. There are sensors along the top of the wall that will detect any intrusion."
"Oh," Riley replied, not sounding particularly relieved. "So how are we going to get past it?"
"By going underneath," Cloud answered.
Riley looked down at the pavement under their feet.
"What, we going to burrow through the concrete?"
"Not exactly. C'mon."
Cloud led them to the left, following the wall. They reached an intersection and Cloud stepped off the curb and into the street, stooping beside a covered manhole.
"Help me get this cover off."
Two of the Nighthawks stepped forward and helped him push the cover aside. It was pitch black in the darkness below, though they could see the first few rungs of a ladder leading down into the darkness. Without hesitation Cloud started down. The others looked at each other for a moment, but then a light suddenly appeared below them, it's beam pointing up at them, illuminating the full length of the ladder.
"Hurry up!"
They all quickly clambered down the ladder, finding themselves in a wide tunnel. Ankle deep water filled a channel down the center of it, but there was a narrow walkway on either side. Cloud led the way, walking swiftly now. He didn't think there would be any chance of discovery down here. Not that there was any chance to begin with. He had planned the route out carefully, and Zack was well aware of exactly where he was going to go and had cleared it beforehand. But of course, the Nighthawks didn't know that, and just like last mission, he had to keep up appearances. He didn't want to tip his companions off that this was a trap by making it too easy.
A short way down the tunnel they spilled out into an even larger cavern. This one held a railroad track down the middle instead of water. Riley looked nervously at the walls. He couldn't help but notice there wasn't enough room for them to get out of the way should a train appear.
"What do we do if a train comes?" he questioned.
"Run," Cloud replied. This was an old line running from Sector three to four, little used now because of a more modern above ground route that had been built a few years ago. Still, the trains did occasionally run here. Zack had made sure none would run tonight, of course, but Riley didn't need to know that.
"Run? Run where?" Riley said, looking around.
"Off to the side," Cloud responded.
"There's not enough room on the side for the train to go by," Riley pointed out. "It would still get us."
"Not if you climb the wall," Cloud said calmly. "This is an old line, it's not kept in good repair." He shone his light on the nearest wall. "Look at those cracks in the wall. They'd make fine handholds. You could get up above the train."
Riley stared at the wall. Cloud was well aware the 'fine handholds' he was referring to were barely visible cracks. He wasn't really sure if even he could climb them.
"I can't climb up that!" Riley snapped.
Cloud shrugged.
"Well, then you only have one other choice."
"And what might that be?"
"If a train comes, you can kiss your ass goodbye."
Riley stared at him for a minute, then turned away, muttering something under his breath. Cloud found it hard to suppress a grin.
"Let's just get on with it!" Marcus's voice came from behind him.
A little farther down Cloud led them to the side of the tunnel. There was a metal grate covering a small passage that led to the left and down at a forty five degree angle. It was much smaller than the tunnel they were in.
"We have to get that off," Cloud said. "It leads to an old maintenance tunnel under the reactor. I don't think too many people even know it exists. We should be able to get in that way without too much trouble."
One of the men with him stepped forward, opening a black case he had brought with him that held some tools. In minutes the grate was off.
"All right, not too much farther now," Cloud said with satisfaction.
He led them into the tunnel. This one was too small to walk in and they had to proceed in single file, on hands and knees. In that position, it took them a long time to cover a short distance. It seemed like they were crawling through the tunnel forever before Cloud saw light ahead. He shut off his flashlight, continuing down the tunnel. He could see the end of it clearly now. It opened up into what looked like a large room, though he couldn't see much yet from the narrow confines of the tunnel he was in. It was well lit, however and he soon could see more. He reached the end and found himself high up near the ceiling of a huge room. It was filled with large machines, reaching almost up to the ceiling themselves. He supposed they were some kind of generators, though he was hardly an expert on that sort of thing. A small metal platform hug suspended from the wall here, with a metal runged ladder leading down to the floor.
They all stepped out onto the platform, gratefully to finally be out of that narrow tunnel. Cloud looked around carefully, searching the floor below for any sign of movement, but he saw nothing. The others all looked around as well, some with obvious awe written on their faces.
"So this is what the inside of a mako reactor looks like," Marcus said slowly. "I've always wondered."
"It's huge," Riley stated.
"Yeah," Cloud replied. "Looks like we're in."
"Good job," Marcus said.
Cloud didn't reply. It was done. They were here. Again he looked around. He hadn't been given specific instructions on just what would happen once he arrived. He assumed he would just wait until the trap was sprung, then help fight anyone who resisted. He felt his muscles tighten as they started down the ladder. It would all be over soon now. He had done his job, and he had done well. He was delivering the Nighthawks just like he had promised. So why did doubts still knaw at him? He really didn't want to fight these people. He really didn't want to see them get hurt. They might be misguided, but was it really so bad what they were doing?
They reached the bottom of the ladder, fanning out and starting over toward the generators. They didn't need him to guide them anymore.
It didn't matter. It didn't matter what he thought. He had a job to do. That was all he should be thinking about. Besides, it was too late to turn back. He was committed, whether he liked it or not. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder how the endgame would play out.
Clink
Aeris didn't need to wake up to hear the projectile hit her window, she was lying in bed fully clothed, her eyes wide open. She hadn't even tried to sleep, knowing it would be unlikely, knowing, probably because of Zack's warning, that for some reason she wasn't going to be getting much sleep tonight.
She got up and walked over to the window. Though it was close to midnight and the streets were dark, it wasn't hard to make out he diminutive figure of Mouse standing in the street below. She didn't find that particularly surprising. She waved an acknowledgement and left the window. She opened her door and stopped to listen. All was quiet. Elmyra, no late nighter, was sure to be fast asleep by now. She made her way down the stairs, being sure to avoid the creaky step near the top. She didn't turn on any lights. She had found out a long time ago that her vision in the dark was better than most and she could see fairly clearly even on the darkest night. Even so, she hardly needed even that as the house was so familiar to her after living here all these years she could have navigated through it with ease even in complete darkness.
She opened the closet and slipped on her coat, then made her way over to the door. Any vestige of fatigue she may have felt vanished at the feel of the frigid air on her face as she opened it. She stepped outside.
"What do you want?" she questioned. "If my mom finds me out here I'll catch hell for it."
"Come with us," Mouse said without preamble.
"Us who?" Aeris replied, though she was well aware of the answer. "Go where?"
Mouse stepped closer to her. Aeris couldn't help but notice there was holes in the knees of her jeans. She only wore a thin leather jacket. She must be freezing.
"The Nighthawks," Mouse replied. "We're doing a job tonight. An important one. It's not like all the other jobs. We need your help."
Aeris frowned.
"Where?" Aeris repeated.
Mouse hesitated of a moment.
"Mako reactor five," she said finally.
Aeris eyes widened.
"The mako reactor?"
"Yes. I told you it was big. That's why we need you. If Marcus finds out I told you that, he'll beat the stuffing out of me.
"Is someone hurt?"
"No, no one's hurt," Mouse replied. "Not yet anyway. But...it's really dangerous, what we're doing. If something happens, I think it would be better if you were there."
Aeris shoved her hands in her coat pockets. She wasn't wearing any gloves. She had only been out here for a minute and already she was freezing. She hadn't seen Mouse since the last time, when she had healed Riley. She had thought she might have seen the last of the girl, until Zack had told her about tonight. Ever since she had had a feeling it would come to this, that they would somehow manage to involve her again, or try to.
"Did Marcus put you up to this?" she questioned.
"Marcus would kick my ass if he knew I was here," Mouse replied. "No one knows. They don't even want you around."
"So what's the point of asking me then?" Aeris questioned. "If I go with you, they'll probably just try to kill me again."
"No they won't," Mouse replied. "They're not stupid. They've already seen how useful you can be. They know you're not going to betray us. If you wanted to, you would have already."
"Why should I help when they don't even want me there?" Aeris said.
"They're just being stubborn," Mouse responded. "You know Shinra is heartless, I can tell just by looking at you. You know what we're doing. We're helping people. I know you want to help too."
Aeris hesitated. She looked at Mouse, who was standing there looking at her with pleading eyes. Whatever she thought of the rest of the Nighthawks, she believed Mouse was telling her the truth. Still, what was she supposed to do now? She did want to help, but what was it going to cost? She couldn't forget Zack's warning. She didn't think of herself as a criminal, she wasn't one of the Nighthawks, but if someone from Soldier found her with them, she didn't think they'd make any distinction. Was she willing to risk her life to walk with open eyes into a trap?
And what of Mouse? In spite of the young girl's tough talk, she thought of Mouse as a friend. Was she willing to just let her walk right into a trap? She certainly didn't want to, but what choice did she have? She couldn't tell Mouse anything, even if she wanted to. Maybe if she told Mouse it was a trap the Nighthawks would call it off. That would probably be the reasonable thing to do, but she knew from experience they didn't always act reasonably. What if, instead, they decided to fight? What if they decided if they knew about the trap they'd be able to avoid it, or spring a trap of their own? She didn't want anything to happen to Mouse but she didn't want anything to happen to Zack either. What if some Soldiers got killed because she gave their ambush away? Would Zack ever forgive her? Would she be able to forgive herself?
On the other hand, would she be able to forgive herself if she let Mouse go without any warning, knowing full well she was walking straight into a ambush?
"I do want to help but..."
"But what?" Mouse questioned. "You still don't believe what we're really doing? I know you probably don't trust me. I know I've said some nasty things to you and for that I'm sorry. But I'm not lying!"
"No, it's not that," Aeris replied. "I believe you."
"Then what?"
Aeris hesitated again. What could she say?
"No matter what your reasons for doing what you're doing, it's still wrong," she said finally. "Marcus wanted to kill me when we first met. He may not feel that way now but I haven't forgotten about it. You don't go around killing innocent people and then say you're just trying to help."
"It was a mistake, okay?" Mouse said. "We're being hunted by Shinra. Any wrong move we make could get us all killed. Can you blame us for not trusting anyone?"
"There's a difference between not trusting someone and trying to kill them," Aeris pointed out.
"I told you, that was a mistake!"
"And how many other mistakes are you willing to make?" Aeris asked. "I know what Shinra is doing is wrong, but that doesn't mean you have to steal from them to put it right. There has to be some other way."
"There is no other way!" Mouse exclaimed. "What do you expect us to do, go up to them and ask them politely to stop?"
"Have you ever tried that?"
Mouse gave her a look.
"Of course not!' she snapped. "Do you really think they'd listen for a minute?"
"I don't know," Aeris replied. "No, probably not. Not to just you anyway, but there are plenty of people affected by this. I'm sure there are plenty of people who realize what Shinra is doing. If enough of them speak out, someone will have to listen."
Mouse just glared at her.
"What are you crazy? Don't you know anything at all? Anyone who speaks out against Shinra one day disappears the next."
"They can't make everyone disappear," Aeris countered.
"Don't be too sure about that," Mouse replied.
"They may be powerful but they can't do anything they want!"
"Are you sure?"
For a moment they just glared at one another.
"Look, all I'm saying is, if enough people protest they'll have to do something. They can't wipe out the entire city without someone noticing. There are other means of resistance besides stealing and violence. You could organize a protest. You could meet with Shinra to iron out the problems. You could start a boycott."
"None of that will work!" Mouse said, exasperated.
"How do you know? Have you ever even tried?"
"No we haven't tried!' Mouse said, he voice rising. "We haven't tried because we're not idiots! Shinra isn't going to listen to reason! They only understand one thing, and that's brute force. You think they'd listen to anyone down here in the slums? Do you think anyone would care if they sent their soldiers down here to kill all of us? I don't know why I'm even talking to you. I thought you would help, I thought you cared, I thought you knew the score, but you don't. You don't know anything! You're just as stupid as I thought you were when I first met you."
Aeris flushed, nonplussed by this sudden tirade. Anger welled up inside her, but she resisted the urge to snap back. It wouldn't do any good.
"You say talking will get you killed, but it looks to me that doing what you are doing now will have the same result."
"Well, that may be, but at least we'll have accomplished something in the meantime," Mouse said bitterly. "I've got to go. I'm already late. You don't want to come, fine. Stay here and bury your head in the sand. Go to your stupid church and tend your stupid flowers. I hope they all die!"
The young girl turned and started to walk away.
In spite of the angry things she had said, Aeris didn't want Mouse to leave, didn't want her to go to the reactor.
"Mouse, wait!"
Mouse stopped and turned around again. Aeris stood there for a moment, thinking desperately for something to say, some way she could keep Mouse from leaving without giving away the fact that she was walking into a trap if she did.
"What?" Mouse spat out. "If you're not coming, we have nothing more to discuss."
Still Aeris hesitated. She had to say something...
"I don't want you to go."
Mouse just looked at her.
"It's dangerous," Aeris continued hesitantly. "I've got...a feeling something bad will happen."
Mouse frowned.
"A feeling?" she questioned. "What is this, one of those voodoo Cetra things?"
"Yes," Aeris said quickly. "That's exactly what it is. It happens sometimes."
For a moment Mouse just looked at her, her expression slowly turning from surprise to suspicion.
"I've never heard you say anything like that before," she said slowly.
"Well...you don't know all that much about me, now do you?" Aeris replied. Immediately she wished she hadn't said it. The lack of conviction in her words was obvious even to her.
Mouse's eyes narrowed.
"No," she said slowly. "There's more to it than that..."
Mouse stared at her, and Aeris found she couldn't look her companion in the eyes.
"You're not telling me something," Mouse said. "What is it?"
"It...it's nothing," Aeris stammered. She didn't want to say anything at all. She didn't want to answer. She knew Mouse would be able to tell she was lying, but she had to say something. "It's like I said, just a feeling."
"No it's not!" Mouse snapped. The more hesitant Aeris was with her answers, the more sure Mouse became. "You know something. Something you're not telling me. Why is this job so much more dangerous than the others?"
"I told you, it's just a feeling," Aeris insisted. "You've never tackled a mako reactor before. It's bound to be a lot more dangerous. I just thought..."
Her voice faded as she saw the look on Mouse's face.
"It's a trap," Mouse said slowly.
"No!" Aeris said, much more vehemently than she intended.
"Yes!" Mouse accused. "It's a trap. Shinra is going to spring a trap for us, and you weren't even going to tell me!"
"It's not true!"
"It is!"
Mouse turned away but before she could run Aeris grabbed her arm. She didn't know what else to do. Mouse's words stung her life a knife, but what could she do? What could she say?
"Mouse! Please don't go!"
Mouse jerked her arm away, staring at Aeris, her eyes smoldering.
"What do you care?" she snarled. "You live in a nice home. Your mother has plenty of gil. You've never had to worry about where your next meal would come from, or whether you'd freeze to death from the cold because you couldn't afford heat! You say you care but you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself! You're just a hypocritical bitch. Well, you can stand here all you want, or go back to your cozy little home. I'm going to go help my friends!"
With that she spun around and ran off into the darkness.
"Mouse! Mouse!" Aeris cried out, her heart wrenching. She had suffered too. She had been a prisoner of Hojo for years. She knew first hand just how vicious Shinra could be, but it she didn't think it would do any good to tell Mouse any of that now, even if she could. She stared off into the darkness. She had done it all wrong. Nothing was turning out as she intended. She cursed herself for being so transparent, for not being able to lie. She had wanted to help, but what good had she done? Mouse knew. Mouse knew it was a trap. She was going to go tell the Nighthawks and then what would happen? What would happen to the Soldiers there, and to Zack? She hadn't wanted it to come to this. All she wanted was for them all to listen to reason, to find some common ground, some way to solve this without violence. Instead she had just made things infinitely worse. If something happened to Zack, or to the other Soldiers, it would be her fault. What was she going to do now?
She turned back to look at her house. It was still quiet, in spite of their shouting match, it seemed Elymra hadn't awakened. She could be thankful for that at least. She had no time to waste trying to explain this all to her mother.
No time to waste, but what was she going to do? She couldn't leave it like this. She had to try to right her mistake, though she hadn't the slightest idea how to accomplish that. She knew, however, that she couldn't do anything here.
The mako reactor was about a half hour away. Who knows how long she would spend there. It might be almost dawn before she got back. Elmyra was an early riser. If her mother found out she was out all night she'd be grounded for the rest of her life.
If that was the price she had to pay, then so be it. She had no choice. She had to go to the reactor. She had made a fine mess of everything. She wasn't sure what she could do, but she had to try.
Her mind made up, she quickly ran into the darkness.