Wutai Inn

[Sin]

Sin shrugged. "No worries, your martial arts, my swordsmanship, we can always join a tournament or something." He ordered a decent beer, that was not too expensive, and sat down near a corner. He drank it slowly, closing his ees and leaning against the wall.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

"An option." Rude took a drink.

"But we got others, yo," Reno piped up, having made good his escape while the brothers still felt merciful enough to allow him the possession of his own limbs. "Shelke and what's her name seem pretty loaded. Vin's a pal o' theirs, right, yo?"

"Don't count on it," Rude mumbled, drinking deeply.

Reno gulped. "Uh... why not?"

"Vincent's not happy with you."

"What else is new..." he sighed. "Not like I knocked the girl out myself! She'll come around when she's good an' ready!"

"Vincent still hates you."

"Grr..."

****

Then she stays. If there are any equations to be unbalanced, I'LL unbalance them.

I hope you can hold yourself to that, Kadaj. A heavy weight is descending on you, far heavier than you know.

He gritted his teeth. I can handle it.

Ami stirred lightly and moaned, but her mind was still a dark, vague mist. Kadaj clenched his fists in frustration... and terror. "Why isn't she waking up?!"

"She needs a sign," Yazoo murmured. "She's on her way back, but she's lost."

"You'd think she'd have the Way memorized by now! What is this, the fourth time she's made this trip?"

Yazoo ignored him. "Who will be her guide this time?"

"Third time's the charm," Kadaj muttered. He took her hand and concentrated... and woke up panting. "What--?"

"What's the matter, brother?" Loz whimpered.

"The mist. It's like Kamen's spell, but worse. I can't permeate it!"

Yazoo focused on her face, contorted with weariness. "Then this time, she truly must find her way alone. And we cannot interfere."

Kadaj opened his mouth to protest, but Yazoo cut him off. "Consider the butterfly."

He paused. "Since when were YOU a Buddhist?"

"Not a Buddhist, a biologist," he lobbed back. "Butterflies must fight their way out of their own cocoons for the strength to fly. Understood?"

His brothers reluctantly nodded.

****

Cloud, in another room, was resting uneasily. Tifa wasn't so hostile anymore, but she was still uneasy. And nothing he could say reassured her. And the kids... he didn't even want to think about it.

[Sin]

Sin chuckled, and closed his eyes. "Tell you what, there might be a reward for turning me in, I nearly destroyed the entire town." He muttured softly. "But, that shock stick of your better have some damned good juice to it."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Rude shook his head. "No good."

Reno shrugged. "He's got a point, yo. We're done with blood money. Look, we'll sweet-talk Vincent for a while, convince him to schmooze, we're in the money. Just relax, yo. But, uh... drink that beer a little slower, OK?"

****

Tifa bit her lip. "Do you think... that girl is gonna be OK?"

Cloud opened an eye. "I thought you hated her."

"Well, I certainly don't LIKE her, but I don't want her dead, either," she shrugged. She sat on the bed. "I think that might be the quintessential difference between men and women."

"Nice to see you're in the teasing mood."

"You've been in better spirits lately, yourself."

"Real ironic, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

She coughed. "So... hmm. Where did Vincent and those other girls go?"

"Shelke had to get back to her clinic. When she heard we couldn't afford to pay for real medical treatment, she volunteered to help us out."

She half turned. "How do you mean?"

"Collect some supplies, some money, something like that. I don't really know. Vincent left too fast to give me a real explanation."

There was a knock on the door. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, not again," Tifa whispered. "This is the third time they've tried to kick us out."

"Fourth," Cloud whispered back. "They tried again while you were in the bathroom."

"Crap."

"I know."

****

Ami's eyes fluttered slightly. "Unnnhhh..."

Half asleep, the boys sat bolt upright.

"She's breaking through," Kadaj prompted urgently. "The mist is breaking up!"

"How?"

"Some kind of light source pushing it apart from the inside..."

[Sin]

He shrugged, and went silent. "Have you read the reports on me? I think Shelke has a cpy somewhere, but I have it all in memory."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Rude grunted and shook his head. "Not much for light reading."

Reno finished his beer. "Y'know, I just had an idea. I'm gonna check on the kid, OK?"

"Not a good idea, Reno..."

"Trust me on this, partner."

****

He found himself backed against a wall with three very mean-looking weapons leveled at him. "Now, hang on, guys..."

"She was coming around until YOU showed up again, d**n you!" Kadaj looked ready to skin him alive.

"I was just-- gark!"

This was the sound of Loz choking him. "You messed up her focus! Or something!" He tightened his grip. "I don't care! It's your fault!"

A faint groan from the bed. Ami stirred, then opened her eyes.

Loz dropped Reno in a heap on the floor and accompanied the others in a mad rush to her bed. "Are you OK, sister?!"

"I... I think so... what happened to me--?"

THUD.

She glanced behind them to discover Reno had collapsed in a dead faint. She made a face. "What's up with him?"

They all looked at one another and shrugged.

[Sin]

Sin shrugged. "Boils down to is that Vincent is my dad... Ami is related to me as well, and I was designed to be able to beat Sephiroth, and I hold much more of the chaos energy than Vincent is, and for some odd reason my deamon calls out to Vincent's as father."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Rude gave Sin a strange look. "Fancy specs ya got." He suddenly executed a double take. "Partner?"

Loz was carrying Reno out, trundled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Ami's OK," he announced. "You can handle this one." He dumped Reno unceremoniously in a chair.

Rude gave him a look, then drained the last of his drink.

The door opened and Vincent entered. "Come on. We're going."

Rude grunted. Loz gave him an inquiring look. "Where?"

"Shelke and Yuffie have space at the clinic. Apparently, they don't consider us too hazardous for cohabitation." He gave Reno a wan glance. "I take it Amnesty hasn't woken yet."

"Just got up," Rude shrugged.

Vincent was visibly relieved. "Then let's move out. Sin, get the others."

Shelke followed him. "You will share one of the clinic's ICU rooms with one of our other male allies, depending on your preference. Is that sufficient?"

[Sin]

He nodded, downing his glass. He got up and went to grab the others, starting with Cloud and Tifa, the latter being pissed off for most of this trip. After telling them he went for others.

[Sin]

Sin looked at Reno and shook his head. He turned to Shelke and nodded in agreement with Kadaj. "Do you need any help?" He looked at Rude and shrugged about Reno.

[Sin]

Sin nodded. "Thank you Shelke. My only preference is someone quiet... Not Reno...." He ran a hand through his hair, and entered the room. He set his stuff by the side, and sat on the chair.

He looked at her a moment later. "Is there something I can help you with?"

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno's head popped into the room. "Someone say my name?" He grinned.

"No," Shelke deadpanned. "No one I am aware of."

"Whatever, girl," he shrugged. "We got somethin' goin' on in yon common room. Come check it out. Shinra Jr.'s got a press conference on the air!"

[Sin]

Sin arched an eyebrow and followed them to the living room to watch.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Ami was already there in a thin cotton gown provided by the clinic, perched on the couch, sheet white. "F**k us..."

Onscreen stood the Shinra family-- Rufus, Xima, and the two children. The latter three, of course, appeared to be disguised as humans, and Xima sat in a wheelchair, staring into space.

"The ol' sympathy ploy, yo," Reno commented. "Settin' up dollface as a cripple, plus the kids... the public's gotta be eatin' this up."

"You ain't heard nothin' yet," Rude replied.

Reno made a face. "Rolled out the red carpet?"

"Yep."

Reno sighed. "Operation Red Carpet-- it's what you guys were tryin' to prove all along, yo. Shinra had his plan for setting up his company again, but as a defense contractor instead of an energy corporation. It was set to go right before the Battle of New Midgar, but, well... then was the Battle of New Midgar. Then the Deepground Crisis. Then--"

"Shut up, Reno," Ami prompted mechanically.

"Point is, with a few modifications..." Rude muttered.

"BAM! 'Leading the free world into the future', thank y'all very much!" Reno cheered mockingly. "And the icing on the cake-- wedding time for the lovebirds. Don't it just make ya wanna puke?"

Nikky gave him a stink eye. He coughed. "Well, for THEM it is. I mean, they're a**holes, with a**hole children. Um..." He tugged at his collar. "You don't want any of those, right?"

Ami headed off the approaching argument. "Let them do what they want. We have our own future to build." She turned off the TV.

[Sin]

Sin watched and chuckled. "A classic trick, but one that almost never fails." He cracked his knuckles, neck, and back. Afterwards he moved over towards the others to listen to what was being said.