Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Spring [ μ ] – εγλ 2000

“Shuriken in position.” I stood on top of the cold, metal ductwork. It wasn’t often I got a job on top of the rotting pizza, but here I was. The Don must be getting paid big bucks for this job. Not that I would see any of that.
“Cissnei…I mean Shuriken…coast is clear. Target ETA 2 minutes.” I heard Leslie stammer in my earpiece. I couldn’t believe it. I was sent to assassinate a clearly high profile target up in Sector 3, and they put a kid as my co-operative.
Kids made good watchers, as people hardly noticed them. But I knew Leslie from my time at leaf orphanage since he had been barely able to walk. I hated that he had gotten roped into the dirty business of the slums, just like the rest of us.
I pressed down on my earpiece, scra“Good work. Now keep out of sight.”
Static garbled what he said next, but I made out, “You got it, boss.” I took the earpiece out and tossed it aside. I needed to focus. I slowed my breathing, and tried to still my racing heart. This was no time to let my adrenaline get the better of me. I’d been the Don’s personal assassin for nearly 4 years now, since I was 16. I had become quite skilled at it. It barely took me three breaths to get my heart to calm.
I looked down at the street below me. It was as good of a setup as I was going to get. The target would passthrough the light of the street lamp beneath my feet, and all it would take was one good throw, and they would be dead. I always brought multiple shuriken with me, but I hadn’t needed more than one in years.
I clung to the shadows around me, invisible. It was late and no one had walked down the street in over 15 minutes. Good, no innocents to get caught in the crossfire. I rarely knew who my target was beforehand, but normally I was given some information about them. But Don Corneo had been particularly cagey about this job. All he had said was, “You’ll know him when you see him.”
I heard a car from down the road. No, it was too large to be a car, the rumbling of the tires paired with the grinding of heavy gears. A military transport? No wonder this job had been so hush hush.
The huge van stopped just outside the ring of light cast by the street lamp, and I held my breath. Seven Shinra troops pooled out of the back of the transport, but I didn’t move. But then I saw him. His silver hair shone in the fluorescent light, as he gracefully descended from the back of the truck. Even far below me, he seemed much larger than I had ever imagined, nearly a head taller than even the next tallest trooper. Whatever calm I had felt before, it was completely lost. My target was fucking Sephiroth?
Suddenly all the pieces started clicking into place. The Don had burnt through his last set of wives, and he had finally been desperate enough to demand I become one. I had refused. I may be an assassin, but there were some lines I wasn’t willing to cross. I’d expected swift retribution. But none had come.
Well, my retribution stood 20 feet below me. Had there ever been a hit called on him? The Don must have known that his own men couldn’t have taken me, but failing a job was a death sentence in the underworld. I would either die at Sephiroth’s hands here and now, or slowly and painfully being chased down by every bounty hunter in the slums. Either way, he got rid of me.
My fist tightened over the blade of my shuriken, until I felt blood welling in my palm from the sharp blade. But it focused me. It didn’t matter now, why I was here. I had a choice to make. I could die fighting the strongest SOLDIER in existence, or by slowly being beat down by an unending tide of thugs. I suppose there was a third option. That I managed to kill him. I wasn’t an idiot, I knew the chances of that were close to nothing. But perhaps the lack of pollution in the air on top of the plate had gone to my head, and I felt like I just might have a chance.
I took one last deep breath, and as Sephiroth walked into the light, I threw my arm back, and then released.
The second the blade left my hand, his eyes snapped up to my exact position. Fuck. Faster than I could see, Masamune was out and he used it to deflect my projectile. I scrambled to get further back into the dark, hoping to make an escape, but it was futile. He took two strides and bounded up the wall beside me. I barely had time to pull Rekka off my back to block him before Masamune crashed down onto it, sparks flying.
In the darkness of the night, his eyes glowed with that eerie green mako energy, and he pushed his weight down through his sword, forcing me to my knees.
“And who might you be, little assassin?” His voice was deep and cold. He pressed into our joined weapons harder, the metal screeching as the blades scraped along each other. He was strong, way too fucking strong. But I hadn’t survived all my years in the slums on nothing.
“No one,” I said, and lurched my body back. He’d been off balance, and he took a moment to correct his stance. It was enough time for me. I’d won all of my fights by being fast, so I used that now. But I knew he was fast too. As he stumbled, I shifted my weight forward again, lurching past him, Rekka extended. I felt the blade connect with his side, but I kept moving.
I jumped for the closest roof and didn’t look back, but I heard him following me. I managed to get Rekka up just in time, again, as his sword collided, the force sending me to the side. I didn’t stop running. I jumped from roof to roof, clinging to the darkness that welcomed me like an old friend. But he didn’t let up. Sparks flew as our blades met over and over again, and with each step he hounded me. But I didn’t have much farther to go. Sharp pain struck between my ribs as my lungs fought for breath, but still, I ran.
My goal was close now. I saw the wall that lined the edge of the plate, red and green lights flashing on its pinnacle. He swung at me again, but I rode the force, letting his blade strike my weapon, and the momentum sent me flying up to the top of the wall. I landed, but the slick metal surface had me stumbling, and I almost topped over the edge, down below the plate.
I heard his feet land softly just a few feet away from me, as I regained my balance. I threw one, two, three of my blades at him, but he knocked them away easily. A menacing grin spread across his face.
“Nowhere left to run.” His grin only grew more deadly as he slowly closed the distance between us.
Classic topsider thinking. That the edge of the plate was the end of the world.
“Then I guess I’ll fly.” I couldn’t help the sarcastic grin as I threw myself over the edge.
I thought I saw his eyes widen with shock, but I fell away too fast to be sure. The wind raced around me, and for just a moment, I thought about letting the ground come up to claim me. It would certainly be a faster death than the one I was about to face for my failure. But the thought passed as I looked back to see him still standing there, outlined by the lights of Sector 1 behind him. I couldn’t see his face, but I felt his eyes following me, as his hand reached to touch his side where I had drawn blood. I reached for the cord on the small pack I wore.
I could still hear Leslie’s small voice in my ear from the beginning of the job tonight. Come on, take it. What if you fall off the plate? Perhaps it had paid to have a child from the slums with a fear of heights as my co-operative. I’d taken it to humor him, but I wasn’t laughing now.
The parachute was small, and my neck snapped painfully as the chute extended above me. The ground was still coming up unnervingly fast, but I managed to roll as I landed, no worse for wear than having the wind knocked out of me. I stood, coughing and covered in dirt, but I was alive. I looked back up to the plate above me. It was much too far for me to see, but some part of me thought I could still feel Sephiroth watching me.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take me long to get back to the apartment I was currently using in the Sector 5 slums. I didn’t stay in one place long. It made it harder for people to find me.

This place was a shit hole. It could practically touch all four walls of the living room/bedroom/kitchen combo when standing in the middle. The only door beside the entrance led to a toilet and shower, and the door barely worked. But I was rarely here anyway, so I didn’t need much. I had actually liked the place. Its single window looked out over the courtyard of the new leaf orphanage. I’d liked being able to hear the children running and playing, and see their scribbles all over the walls. Leaf orphanage had also been a shit hole when I had lived there, but I could see that was changing. A few new faces had turned things around, and I had hope that these kids wouldn’t end up like me.

I thought of Leslie again. He’d saved my life today, and probably didn’t even know it. But he was barely 10, and was already caught up in all this nasty business. I’d tried to convince him to stay in school, but he’d called me on my bullshit immediately.

You didn’t stay Cissnei, and look at you now! I hope to grow up to be just like you! How those words had hurt my heart. Just like me, a pawn for a gross power broker in the Midgar slums. What a life I lived. I’d caught the Don’s eye when I had won a big tournament at the coliseum. Years on the streets had taught me to be a fighter, but apparently a couple of big names had lost a lot of money that night. None had bet that a small, unknown girl would take the whole thing. They’d ordered me killed. But the Don had other plans for me. Until he didn’t.

I locked the door behind me and dumped my pack and weapons on the floor next to my mattress. I had a few hours at least, before they would come looking for me. I probably had a few days, to be honest. Leslie was a good kid at heart, and he wouldn’t run back to Don Corneo right away. He would eventually have to tell him what he knew, which was honestly nothing. They might even assume I was already dead. That gave me even more time. I rarely kept apartments for more than a few weeks for just this reason. If no one knows where you are, no one can hurt you.

But what would I do now? I’d have to leave Midgar. The thought frightened me more than I wanted to admit. As pathetic as it was, this was my home, the only one I had ever known. I could run to Kalm, but one can hardly put ‘assassin’ on one’s resume, so I’d end up working odd jobs or worse.
I ran my hands down my face. How quickly my already pathetic life had fallen apart. I pulled my hands away and saw that they were filthy. A shower. Yes, I could take a shower first. I’d figure out my entire life after.

I fought the broken door, nearly wrenching it off its track to get into the bathroom. I knew I’d have to do the same on the way out, but I closed it anyway. I turned on the shower, and stepped right in, knowing I had three minutes of warm water, at best. I scrubbed the dirt off of me. I could feel tears rising in my eyes, so I scrubbed harder, trying to force them away. But still they fell, mixing with the already tepid water of the shower. I had nothing, and still it was all being ripped away from me. I had nothing but the fear of being hunted down to look forward to. Perhaps it was fair, perhaps this was the goddess’s justice for the hunting, the killing I had done. I’d always told myself that it didn’t matter. They were all slum lords, vying for power. One more dead might actually mean a better life for those of us who had no choice in living here. But it seems destiny didn’t agree with me.

I stayed in the shower, dry sobs racking my body, until the water was painfully cold. I turned off the faucet, and dried off with my ridiculously scratchy towel. At least I wouldn’t be sad to leave that behind. I wrapped it around myself, and grabbed hold of the edge of the bathroom door again. It stuck. I wrestled with it, cursing until it finally flung open, and I stumbled out.

“Quite the mouth you have on you, little assassin.” I froze. They couldn’t have found me, not yet. But it wasn’t them. It was him. He leaned against the entrance door frame, dwarfing it. This apartment was never meant to hold someone of his size and it was painfully obvious, his head nearly reached the ceiling.

“How did you find me?” I didn’t really care, but I needed to buy time. My weapons lay on the floor between us. I could dive for them, but not before he could catch me. I cursed myself for being so pathetic, not keeping one with me.

He let out a long hum, but didn’t answer. He just held me in his stare. For a few more moments we stayed like that, caught on the edge of a precipice. But I saw a muscle in his jaw clench, and the spell was broken. I dove for my bag, the momentum spilling the contents everywhere. I managed to get my hand on a blade, but the next moment he was lifting me back, and had pinned me to the wall. One hand was on my throat, and the other pushed my right wrist into the wall painfully. He pressed on the tendons of my arm until my fist opened and the shuriken fell from my hand with a clatter. My left hand came up to claw at his, as I tried to get free, but it was pointless.

“It’s been a long time since someone has been able to wound me, so tell me, who are you?” He squeezed down on my throat, and my vision started to go black around the edges. But I could just barely make out the green nu-skin that had been placed over the wound at his side. It was new Shinra tech from the Wutai war. Stopped the bleeding of a wound, but didn’t heal it.

“I told you, I’m no one.” I struggled against him, but he just pushed me into the wall harder, until I heard the drywall behind me crack along with my bones.

“Are you from Wutai or—” He doubled over, as I managed to kick him directly on his injury. He released his grip enough for me to struggle free, and I pushed him back. He didn’t topple over, but staggered back enough for me to grab the blade I dropped on the ground. Still clutching his injury, he looked up at me.

“Ferocious thing, aren’t you?” He almost has a smile on his face, the masochist.

“You should have had that taken care of before you came looking for me.” I held the tiny shrunken out between us like it would do me any good against Masamune. Why hadn’t he drawn it yet? But as he stood, I saw the blade in its sheath was almost as long as the room we stood in. My shit hole apartment had saved me just by being too damn small for him to pull it out.

That twisted smile on his face only grew, “And risk you getting away. No, I couldn’t have that.” But he didn’t move toward me.

“Look, you were just a mark, ok? It’s nothing personal. I didn’t even know it was you when I took the job.”

A strange look came over his face, “So if you had known it was me, you wouldn’t have taken it?” What was he playing at? The smug look he had on his face caused something within me to twist.

“I didn’t say that.”

He kept staring at me with that menacing grin, when the towel around my chest shifted. I couldn’t reach for it as it fell to the floor.

Chapter Text

My towel hit the floor. His reaction was subtle, he was well trained. But I saw as his slit pupils expanded, and his breath hitched. This might be my only chance.

I threw the Shuriken, and he dodged, but I lunged the other way, trying to get past him to the door. My hand grabbed the knob when his full weight came down on top of me. My face slammed into the door frame, and spots danced before my eyes. I willed my body to fight, but I was slow, far too slow, and then he had me pinned to the floor beneath him. I punched him across his jaw, and he hissed. The leather of his jacket and gloves squeaked as he shifted to pin my wrists to the floor. I was still dazed, and all I could hear was his heavy breathing in my ear.

“Don’t tell me that was all the fight you have?” he whispered.

The feel of his lips on my ear, his warm breath ghosting over my skin jolted my mind back, and I was very aware of how very naked I was, pinned beneath his body.

I tried to raise my knee to kick him again, but he anticipated me. He trapped my legs beneath him, and despite the life or death situation, I was very aware of how very…exposed that left me. Think Cissnei!

I twisted my head away from him, and saw more of my blades scattered across the floor. If I could just reach one…but his grip was too strong.

“I’m waiting, little assassin.” His deep voice rumbled his chest against my own, his face only inches from my own. I must have been going into shock as my inevitable death approached, because all I could think about was how I had imagined this scenario countless times before, I just hadn’t been the only one who was naked. I wasn’t treasurer of the Silver Elite fan club for nothing.

But he wasn’t hurting me, just holding me still, and waiting. Waiting for what? I could smash my forehead into his beautiful face, or I could…

I slammed my lips into his, and slipped my tongue between them. I saw his eyes widen in, but he immediately opened to me, and our tongues met with aggression. I bit down on his lip hard, and he hissed and tensed up. It was enough, and I pushed him off, and flipped him over with my knees. I grabbed a blade off the floor, and held it to his throat.

His face still held that cool composure, not giving anything away. But I could see just the slight rise of color in his cheeks now. I pressed my blade down into the pale flesh of his throat, a warning.

It only made him grin. “It seems I am at your mercy now. So what will you do with me?”

I hated mind games. “Don’t play with me,” I pushed my blade into him until a single drop of blood ran down his throat, “Fight me, fight back.”

“Lower those hips and you’ll see exactly how I want to fight you.” My stomach jolted, and heat curled low in my belly. He couldn’t possibly mean…

But like my body was possessed, I lowered myself down. The heat of my core met with the leather of his pants, but below I could feel his impressive hardness straining against them. I felt my cheeks flush, and wetness pooled out of me as my thoughts ran wild. He slowly slid his hands up my bare thighs, so gentle compared to his previous touch, it sent shivers of pleasure through my entire body. But when he reached my hips, his fingers dug in and he pushed me down onto him, so that I was splayed open more, our bodies so tight I could feel him throbbing beneath me. I bit my lip to stop a moan escaping me. He didn’t do the same, as he let out a deep growl. He slid my hips up his length, leaving a mess of my arousal across his pants.

“So what will you do, little assassin?” He ran his tongue over his swollen lip, where I had bit him.

My heart was pounding out of control. I’d already lost everything. Fuck it.

I tossed my blade aside and grabbed his face between my hands. I ran my fingers through his soft, silver hair as I pulled his lips to mine again. Our kiss was a clash of tongues and teeth as he wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me tight to him.

The leather of his gloves tugged at my skin as he easily rose to standing, and I finally let loose my moan as he slammed me back up against the wall, again.

He ran his tongue down my neck, the hot sensation causing my nipples to peak.

“I can taste your fear, little assassin.”

I wrapped my legs around his waist and pushed my hips into his, hard. And I ran my hand over his scalp and pulled back on his hair so our eyes met.

“I’m not afraid of you.”

He chuckled, a low rolling vibration that traveled through my entire body as his weight sunk into me. “Perhaps you should be. But you taste divine. I wonder where else I should taste?” He pushed his weight into me more, pinning me to the wall, as he slid his tongue down my chest. He circled each of my hard nipples slowly, the smooth sensation of him dwarfed by the small nip he placed on each after. I hissed at the slight pain, even as it ratcheted up my arousal even more. But he only chuckled again before looping his hands under my thighs and lifting me higher.

My head hit the ceiling, so he fell to his knees, my thighs spread on either side of his head. I could feel my cunt pounding with need, but still I squirmed, completely revealed to him. But as his lips grazed that soft, sensitive skin on my inner thigh, I stilled. And when I felt his teeth sink into the flesh there, an excruciating mix of pain and pleasure, all thoughts fled my brain.

“Sephiroth, I…” but every word I had ever known was gone as his tongue slipped into my core. I was panting, my hands resting on his head as he held me up by my thighs, spreading them even wider so his feast wasn’t interrupted. He devoured me like a starving man, his lips, teeth and tongue touching every part of me.

I felt his tongue thrust into me, and he groaned in satisfaction, before sliding up and around the sensitive bud of my clit. With each pass he made, he pressed harder and harder, until my legs were shaking uncontrollably.

“I’m going to…I’m going to…” I looked down at him, and his eyes met mine, and I was completely taken by him. I sunk into that deep glowing well, blue and green light dancing behind my eyelids. I pushed his face deeper into me, and he groaned again as my orgasm tore through me.
I was hardly aware, the throbbing of my entire body overwhelming my senses, and he twisted and lay me down on my mattress, face down.

Rekka lay against the wall, within my reach. It’s shiny red metal calling out to me. You still have a chance. You don’t have to run. You don’t have to always be running. I could kill him. I would become the most sought after assassin in Midgar, maybe the world. The Don wouldn’t be able to control me any more, I would be free.

Free to kill. Free to serve the denizens of this haunted underworld. What freedom was that? I twisted the sheets in my hands, because I already knew the truth.

I felt him kneel behind me on the mattress, and his hands caressed the slides of my thighs and ribs as he leaned over me.

He lowered his lips so they grazed the shell of my ear, “Have you had enough, or is there still some fight in you?”

I twisted so I could meet his gaze, “And if I said I was done?”

His eyes flickered with disappointment, but he pulled his weight back, and said, “Then we would be done.” He shifted his weight again, to pull away from me, but I twisted more and reached out for him, grabbing his jaw in my hand. He froze, and our eyes met. His long hair framed his perfect face, and I couldn’t help running my finger over the plump, soft flesh of his lips. I was at a crossroads, but it had never been a choice. Since the moment he had stepped out of that transport, I had known I wouldn’t be able to kill him, and it had nothing to do with his strength.

I pulled him back down to me, and our lips met, in a kiss that was softer than before. He tasted of me, and it rekindled the fire deep inside me. I lifted my hips so my ass pressed directly into him, and he groaned. Our kiss went back to being a clash of tongues, before he pulled away. As he rose up, he looped a hand over the top of my thigh, pulling my hips with him.

I couldn’t resist looking back as I heard him unzip his pants. He chuckled, seeing the look on my face as he revealed himself. This couldn’t be real? Every depraved prediction I’d ever read about him had been grossly underestimated. I wanted to make a snarky comment, something something Masamune, but instead it just came out as a very needy moan.

That arrogant smirk spread across his face again, as he stroked his hand down his length once, twice. I was practically panting at this point, and pushed my hips back into him aggressively. “Don’t worry, you can have as much as you like.”
He pushed me forward to create enough space between us for him to place the head of his massive cock at my entrance. He pressed into me, and I really was panting. He stretched me in every direction and it was glorious. I twisted the sheets in my fingers until I felt them rip, the pressure of him more painful and more sublime than anything I could remember.

“Oh, fuck…” He whimpered, pulling out again and pushing himself in further and further with each thrust. He was controlled, gentle even, but I could tell that wouldn’t last long, as his fingers dug so hard into my hips I knew I would bruise.

After what seemed like an eternity, I had taken his whole length, and I could feel him pushing on the very end of me. And that was when his control snapped. He thrust, over and over again, faster and faster. My whole body shook with him and he held my hips tight, each strike of him taking me one step closer to oblivion. My sheets were nothing but scraps now, as I moan his name over and over again.

“Oh fuck, Sephiroth…” I felt his hand wrap around my hair, and pulled me head back with a snap, my back arching so I could look back at him. My scalp ached in the perfect way, and I was whimpering for him.

“Say my name again,” he commanded. I was too far gone to resist.

“Sephiroth.” I locked eyes with him, and he tugged my hair again, arching me back up against his chest. It sent me over the edge and my orgasm consumed me. I felt him shudder as my cunt clamped down on him, and he sunk his teeth into the muscle at the base of my neck. I hissed, and he grabbed my breast with his free hand, squeezing down with all the power he could. He shuddered, and I felt him find his own release.

We both collapsed onto the bed, his full weight pressing into me for a few moments while we caught our breath. But then he pulled away from me, leaving me feeling unbearably empty. He sat up, zipped up his pants, and leaned back against the wall. He closed his eyes, his face still flushed from his orgasm, and he was truly a vision.

I sat up next to him, unsure of what to do next.

“So, I guess we have a truce then?” I was panting, trying to recover my breath. He opened his eyes and turned to me, a light sheen of sweat over his chest and forehead, but otherwise calm.

“I suppose we do, at least until the next time we meet.” He shot me a grin that was so at odds with the cold, malevolent face I had seen in all the propaganda posters. His eyes gleamed. It wasn’t a threat. Was he…teasing me?
“Well you don’t have to worry about that, I’ll be long gone by tomorrow.” The grin vanished from his face.

“Why?”

I raised my eyebrow at him, “I failed the job. I’ll have a bounty on my head now. Every low life in the slums with a pulse will come crawling out of the woodwork to find me. A bounty for a failed assassination is too good to pass up.”

His face was back to that cold, unreadable stare. I felt a shiver run down my spine as those glowing, alien eyes assessed me. Did he ever blink? Despite our very intimate previous activity, now I wanted to cover up and hide.

“You could just kill them. It’s obvious you have the skill. Why run?” That was the last thing I expected him to say. But I suppose when you were Shinra’s number one SOLDIER, the thought of killing came easy.

“I don’t want to do that. I don’t enjoy killing.”

“You chose a strange profession then.” My heart started to race. Who was he to judge me?

“You think I chose this? Not all of us have been Shinra’s Golden, or should I say Silver, Boy since we were young. I’ve had to fight my whole life, just to survive. You wouldn’t know what that’s like.”

His body shifted, and I saw something rise to his face. Something that I now realized I hadn’t seen before. Anger. Not when I had attacked him, not once during our fight had he been angry. But now he was, and I think I was finally truly afraid.

He closed the distance between us, his hand circling my neck again. He bared his teeth, and his voice was gravely as he snarled, “You think I haven’t had to fight? I’ve fought every day until I knew no one could defeat me.”

I looked deep into his eyes. I realized they might be the last thing I saw. His fingers started to squeeze down around my throat. The anger in them was palpable, but something deep below called to me in a familiar way. Like calls to like, and I could feel that bottomless void of sadness I knew all too well.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t fight him, not this time. I only had a few moments, but I ran my hand over his cheek, pushing a long, beautiful strand of silver hair out of his face. “Aren’t you tired of fighting?”

He released me immediately and stood up. Without a word he grabbed his coat and flung open the front door. But just as he passed through the threshold, he paused, turning his head to the side so I could see his profile against the light of the hallway.

“What’s your name, little assassin?” He paused, waiting for me to answer. I suppose it didn’t matter now.

“Cissnei.”

He said nothing, but left, closing the door behind him.

I flung myself down onto my decimated mattress. The apartment was in shambles, huge chunks of the wall peeling away, the glass on the window shattered. I sighed. I was not getting my deposit back.

Chapter Text

Against my better judgement, I had fallen asleep. Despite the eminent danger of me staying still, my body had overridden my brain. All the activities of the previous day had left me exhausted, and I’d passed out naked on my disheveled bed.

The early morning sun now peaked through my shattered window. I rose and walked over to pull a misguided shuriken out of the glass. It came free with a crunch, and I threw it in the pile with the others.

I sighed. I was just putting off the inevitable. Procrastinating. But I’d wasted enough time. I pulled on some clothes and grabbed my PHS tablet. I scrolled through the underground bounty boards, and my name wasn’t there…yet. So I still had time to leave Midgard without a fight, if I hurried.

A notification for an email from Chairwoman H appeared on the screen. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. She was a real pain in my ass, but as president of the Silver Elite fan club, I had to cater to her.

As I stood there, my aching body throbbed. It wasn’t unusual after a job, but today it throbbed in a very different way. My mind rushed back to the night before. It felt like a dream. Sephiroth, right here in my shitty apartment with me. If his scent wasn't still on me, I might have thought it was a dream. A very good dream. Somehow I had survived the night, but with the new day came reality, and I had to move.

I gathered up my few belongings and stuffed them in a sack. Rekka and my shurikens, a few spare pairs of clothes, and my PHS tablet. It had been the first thing I had bought after my first job for the Don. Bought with blood money, but I had long gotten over that fact. I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed for the door. No one to say goodbye to, although I hoped Leslie had gotten home safe.

I pulled open my front door but froze as a tall man with long, dark hair blocked my path. He was typing on his PHS when he looked up at me.

“Cissnei, I presume?”

He wore a dark blue suit and that could only mean one thing. But the Turks rarely bothered themselves with the crimes of the slums, unless they were the ones committing them or having a wild night in Wall Market. What was he doing here? I pulled Rekka out of my bag and held it between us.

“There is no need for that,” he said in a monotone voice. “I’m not interested in the bounty on your head. Although it is quite tempting.” He held up his PHS. My face stared back at me, with bright blue letters declaring BOUNTY: 100,000,000 gil.

It hadn’t been there a few minutes ago, and the number even shocked me. Shit. With a reward like that, everyone would be on the prowl. I had to move now.

“Well, if you aren’t here to kill me, I’ll just be on my way.” I tried to press past him, but he blocked me.

“I think you’ll want to hear my offer.”

I kept trying to push past him, “I highly doubt that, now if you will excuse me.”

“Your skills make you a strong candidate to become a Turk.” Of all the things he could have said, that was not one of them.

“Is that your offer, to become a Shinra lackey?”

The man didn’t flinch, didn’t react at all, really.

“Your skills are wasted down here in the slums. The salary you could make at Shinra would certainly outweigh any doubts you have about your status as a lackey. Not to mention the bonuses.”

Did I detect a hint of a smile in his eyes? No, it didn’t matter. I’d already made the choice. I was ready to leave this life behind.

“Thanks, but no thanks, Mister. Now if you’ll excuse me. I’ve got to get out of this town.” I tried to push past him, but despite his size, he was immovable.

Do you honestly believe that leaving Midgar will bring an end to all of this, considering the bounty? They will come after you. You will never know peace.”

My fists clenched until my nails cut into my palm. I knew he was right.

“But we could make this go away. Come with me. You’ll have a new life.”

“A new life chained to a different master.”

“True, but if one must be chained, best to be chained to the most powerful there is. Aren’t you tired of running, Cissnei?”

It was too similar to what I had said last night. It was unsurprising that he found me, considering the Turks' reputation. But I suddenly wondered why.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Sometime the illusion of choice is all that fate allows.”

I sighed, “Lead the way.”

~~~~~~~

The sun was blinding top side. I rarely came up here during the day. It was always said those born in the slums feared the light, and I had to agree.

“You’ll get used to it,” was all Tseng said as he led me to a block of apartments in Sector 8. They may not have been grand, but they were bigger than any place I'd lived before.

Tseng led me up a flight of stairs and to a door marked by a number 57. “This one will be yours. You’re welcome to live elsewhere if you wish, but the rate of corporate housing is almost impossible to pass up. Most of the Turks live in Sector 8, right here.”

“And where do you live?” I couldn’t help but ask. He kept his face schooled in a neutral look, but I saw the slightest glimmer of a smile at the corner of his lips.

“When you can figure that out, I’ll give you a promotion.” He opened the door. The apartment was clean. No dangling wires or dripping pipes. It was sparsely furnished, but it was furnished. The front room contained a small kitchen and seating area, a door in the back leading to what must have been the bedroom. It was complete and safe, and it was mine. I could feel tears rising in my eyes, but I squashed them down as I had some many times in my life. I couldn’t let the new boss know just an apartment could affect me so much. But despite me controlling my face, I got the impression that Tseng knew.

He handed me the key. “Be at the office tomorrow at 8 am sharp.” He said nothing else and left.

I walked into the apartment, set my filthy bag down on the floor, and flopped onto the cloud-soft couch. The cushions enveloped me like a warm hug, and it made it very hard for me to feel like I had made the wrong choice.

Chapter Text

I stood outside the building. The great monolith stretched into the sky, blocking the sun. Shinra HQ, the closest thing to a religious institution in Midgar. A great looming reminder of the powers that be, who either blessed us or cursed us, depending on their whims.

People streamed around me, entering the building for their daily grind. Suits and fine blouses avoided me with an even wider berth than I had received in the slums. It was the blue suit I’d found hanging in my closet last night. It fit me perfectly. How the Turks had gotten my measurements was beyond me, but I wasn’t surprised. I doubted there was much about me they didn’t know. I’d been grateful for the starched collar of button down shirt, It had easily hidden the very obviously bite shaped bruise that sat at the base of my neck.

I couldn’t turn back now. There wasn’t anything to be done. But my feet remained glued to the floor, unmoving. That great looming presence stared back at me. The hum of electric lights and mako was everywhere. Everything was so bright, so loud. I hated it. You can still run, I lied to myself.

“Yo, you lost new girl?”

A man with long, vivid red hair stood behind me, grinning with a lopsided expression. His suit was the perfect twin of mine.

“Something like that…” I mumbled back. His not friendly smile grew.

“Don’t worry, Rude and I can help you find home base. Let’s go.” He slung his arm around my shoulder and immediately started pulling me into the building. A second Turk joined on my other side. He was tall with a bald head and oval-shaped sunglasses he continued to wear as we entered the building. He didn’t say a word, unlike my embracer, who was still talking.

I didn’t hear a word as the great glass coffin that was the front atrium of the building enveloped me. Sunlight streamed in through the tall glass windows, mixing with the florescent light of the modern fixtures that hung suspended from the ceiling. The red-haired Turk steered me to the elevators on the far side of the lobby. He walked past a group of people waiting and shoved me into the first one that opened. No one complained, or even tried to join us in our elevator, despite the queue being several bodies deep at this point. The doors slid shut with an soundless, precision burst of air, and the elevator took off.

“One bonus of being a Turk, no waiting in line around headquarters.” The red head flashed me another of those mocking grins. I didn’t return it. It didn’t seem to phase him, and he finally let go of my shoulders. “I’m Reno, by the way. First day, right? I should have been ready for everyone to know me, but it still felt strange. I nodded my head and said nothing.

“Yo, between you and Rude, should I consider myself lucky if I get any verbal interaction?”

Reno, you talk enough for all of us. He tilted his head down slightly so our eyes met—I assumed as he still wore his sunglasses—and he said, “Don’t worry, we aren’t all as chatty as Reno.”

A hint of a smile passed between us. Then the elevator slowed and a soft chime sounded as the door opened on our floor. Reno and Rude stepped out, and I took one more steadying breath before following them.

It was all very…corporate. The floor was filled with cubicles and a few doors leading to offices. The drop ceiling was littered with dim rectangular lights, a few that buzzed sporadically when the bulb glitched. It was clean, but nothing fancy. I could see sunlight and the far wall where windows looked out over the city. Reno waved me over to a cubicle very close to that set of windows, and I approached cautiously, keeping my eyes off that endless view. He motioned me into the cube and then plopped himself down on my desk. It had a small filling cabinet and a computer terminal, not much else, but the whole thing might have been bigger than my last apartment.

“All yours, new girl. Don’t get too uppity just because you got a cube near the window.” The sunlight from the window streamed over my computer screen, and I hated it. It was too warm, too bright. I’d grown up with the sunlamps under the plate, and I found more comfort in the flickering overhead lights than that burning ball up in the sky. Not to mention, we had a clear view of our height, with no barriers to prevent us from falling into the infinite sky.

“Reno, don’t you have a report to finish?” Tseng appeared from nowhere and scolded the red head. Reno popped up and gave the man a sarcastic salute. “You got it, boss.”

Tseng turned to me. “You found your way here.” I wasn’t sure if it was a question. I just nodded. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from that endless sky. Tseng followed my gaze out the window.

“I had a hard time getting used to it, too. All that emptiness,” he said in a complete monotone. I looked at his face, and it was equally blank, giving nothing away.

“How did you get used to it?”

“Who says I have?” There it was, that slight smile at the corner of his lips. But I was gone so quickly, maybe I had just imagined it. Tseng handed me a folder full of paperwork before turning and exiting without a word. Guess it was time to get to work.

~~~~~~

Hunting men through the slums was less daunting than this paperwork. It asked me for all kinds of information I didn’t have. Bank account numbers, social identification, copies of my ID. Someone had probably stolen the ID I currently held from some poor sap in the last week. It would be canceled within a few days, no doubt. Practically half my pay had gone to gaining new IDs to travel around the city for jobs. But…that wouldn’t work anymore. I didn’t have a real identity. I never had. I’d always been a shadow. And now, the harsh light of the sun threatened to burn me away.

I hated it. I could feel my palms sweating, and I fought tears. I was a goddamn assassin, one of the best, and I felt like a child playing dress up in a blue suit. No, this had all been a mistake. I could still run. The bounty was gone, at least for now. I could get out of here.

Stupid. I couldn't escape if the Turks were after me. But I couldn’t stand it, couldn’t stand this place. I stood so rapidly my chair shot back across my cube. But as I made to leave, and grinning face blocked me.

“Yo, going somewhere?” Reno had his elbows propped on the low wall of my cube.

“Just getting some water.”

“Uh, huh?” He looked me up and down in a way I wasn’t used to. It wasn’t lecherous, but calculating. Then he looked at my desk, and his grin grew.

“I see you got your first assignment.”

I frowned. “No, just some paperwork.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh, yeah? And could you fill it all out?” What was I supposed to do here? Lie and say yes? To what end? I just stared at him. He released a long sigh.

“Look, it’s your first day, so I’ll give you a little clue.” He pushed me back into my chair and swung it around so he and I were both facing my terminal.

“Ok, so you're logged in, right? Your Turk credentials? Ok, so let’s pull up your ID profile.” He waited for me to pull it up, which I didn’t. He sighed again.

“Are you dumb? Pull it up.” My insecurity flared, and I did the only thing I knew how. I shoved him back, hard.

“YO!”

“Look, I don’t need your help. You think I can’t fill out some simple paperwork?”

“I don’t know, you're from the slums, maybe you never learned how to read.” Oh fuck him. I reached for the shuriken in my pocket, and I saw him flick his wrist and a long rod extended in his hand. He grinned again.

“Good, I prefer this to being nice, anyway.”

“That was you being nice?”

“Reno.” The deep voice of the man named Rude sounded across the office. He approached us at a leisurely pace, but kept his eyes locked on Reno.

“What? I just came here to help her. She started it!” He looked at Rude with big puppy eyes I was sure had won him over a few admirers. I still couldn’t see Rude’s eyes, but I practically felt them roll.

“She’ll figure it out. Come help me with our assignment.” Reno pouted, and shot me another dirty look, but left my cube. Rude turned to follow him, but turned back for just a moment to say, “You’re a Turk now. Think like one.”

I slumped back down into my chair. What the hell was all that? I looked back at the luminescent screen, very devoid of my ID profile. I clicked around the site aimlessly, when Reno’s words struck me again. Your first assignment. No, I didn’t have a profile…not yet, at least.

I clicked around the site some more. My Turk credentials gave me an insane amount of access. In less than 5 minutes, I’d created a whole new entry, my face calmly staring back at me. The cursor blinked on the screen in the field marked “NAME” Reno and Rude couldn’t be their real names. Had they done the same thing when they joined? Given themselves a whole new identity? A few options crossed my mind, but then a deep voice in my mind asked me, “What’s your name, little assassin?” I guess I could hold on to one thing from my former life.

It took me the rest of the day, but I had made a whole new me, at least in Shinra’s eyes. It hadn’t been hard to create everything after I’d started messing around in their computer system. I grabbed the last of my papers from the printer, slipped them into my folder, and headed for Tseng’s office. The open door prompted me to walk in.

He looked up and held his hand out silently. I handed him the folder and felt my heart accelerate as he flipped through all my forged information. He raised an eyebrow at something for a moment, then flipped on his terminal, and clicked around for a few moments longer. When he seemed satisfied, he slipped the folder into his desk and simply said, “Welcome to the Turks, Cissnei.”

I nodded and exited his office. It seems I had passed. As I walked to the elevators, I ran into Reno and Rude again.

“Yo, so you figured it out?” Reno’s voice wasn’t exactly friendly, but he had tried to help me today. Perhaps I could sheathe my claws.

“Yes. Thank you…for your clue.” His eyebrows shot up, but then faster than I could react, he had his arm around my shoulders again and was hauling me to the elevators.

“Alright! Let’s go out and celebrate your first day, new girl!”

“It’s Cissnei.”

“And you're sticking with that?” He smirked at me.

I smirked back, “Yeah, I think I am.”

Chapter Text

Turns out celebrating was heading down into the slums. I didn't question it and followed my usual routine, going back home. But the slums weren’t my home anymore. As the train circled around the great pillar supporting the plate, and we dove into the pitch black of a tunnel, my hands shook. It had been less than 48 hours since I had left, but in my stiff blue suit and clean shoes, I felt like an outsider.

It didn’t help when I realized Reno was taking us to Wall Market. Tseng said my contract with Don Corneo was taken care of, but I knew that reality was often different. My nerves were obviously showing as we walked through the gates.

“What, you owe somebody money here?” Reno asked.

“Something like that.”

He threw his hands behind his head, elbows pointed towards the sky. He waltzed through the gates like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Stop worrying,” he called back to me, “most people aren’t stupid enough to mess with a Turk. And if they are, we’ve got your back.” He turned back to me and winked. He was really getting on my nerves.

Unlikely, I thought, but I wouldn't stand here scared. I followed Reno, and Rude stayed at my side.

“Good, now let’s get drunk, yo.”

He pulled us into one of the noisier establishments. Time didn't matter in Wall Market, the town that never slept. Just after getting off work, we found the bar already filled with intoxicated patrons. I knew there was a coliseum match tonight, which only made everyone rowdier. Rude pushed his way through the crowd and grabbed us a small table. I made to follow him when the now familiar sensation of an arm around my shoulder pulled me to the bar.

“Help me grab drinks.”

I was going to complain that he do it himself when I saw two trays of drinks waiting for us.

“How many people are we expecting tonight?”

He gave me a smarmy smile, “This is just for us, yo. What, you aren’t one of those weirdos who doesn’t drink, are ya?”

“Oh, I drink. I grew up down here, remember?”

“Good, it would be fuckin’ stupid for you to kill people but not drink.” He laughed and trotted off with the first tray, not realizing he had left me stunned. What the hell was with this guy? But I grabbed my tray and followed. The little table Rude had snagged barely fit the two trays on it, one cantilevered precariously off the side. But it didn’t stop Reno from handing Rude and me shots, and forcing us to cheers.

“To Cissnei, the newest Turk!” We clinked our glasses, and the alcohol burned familiarly as it poured down my throat.

I slammed the glass down on the tray, and I saw Rude give me a concerned stare. Reno handed us another round, and I shot it down. Rude’s expression didn’t change.

“Rude, stop staring at her like she’s going to melt. She may be cute, but she caught Tseng’s attention. Clearly she can take care of herself,” Reno said before he took another shot. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave me another lopsided smirk. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. I was used to being underestimated. It was…refreshing to be seen.

Rude continued to give me that concerned look, so I followed Reno’s lead and downed another shot, hitting Rude with a cloying, sweet smile after. He shrugged his shoulders and took his own drink.

Reno laughed and slapped me on the back. “Yeah, tougher than you look, huh? I heard a rumor that you put the smack down on—” but before he could finish his thought, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the bar.

A vast group of men pushed their way in. SOLDIERs, all in uniform. The majority were third class, with a few second class scattered about. There were too many of them to fit in, but they kept shoving anyway.

“Bah, SOLDIERS, always acting like they own the place. So high and mighty, while we do all the real work.” Reno downed another shot. Rude grunted in agreement and followed suit.

“Don’t you work with them?” I asked.

Reno huffed a laugh. “We work with them, but those assholes think they’re the ones in charge. Don’t have half a brain cell between the lot of them.” Another affirming grunt from Rude. But the SOLDIERs settled in, and my companions were happy to ignore them.

Maybe it was the booze, but I was relaxing too. I had seen none of the thugs I knew. No one bothered me. I settled in and listened to Reno’s prattling.

That was until the drinks really started flowing, and the matches at the coliseum started. The bar had them on screens overhead, and the crowd was getting even louder. Despite our small table, the three of us were crowded. My companions didn’t seem to mind. Reno had a woman on either side of him, one unabashedly pushing her hand underneath his jacket and shirt on his chest, and the other was whispering something in his ear. He laughed obnoxiously, and both women smiled.

Rude sat straight-backed with his arms crossed. I move to ask him something and bumped him, and his head lolled. He was fast asleep. I chuckled and held my last shot up to him before I downed it. “Who needs to worry about whom, huh?”

I gasped after the burn of the alcohol wore off when I heard, “Well, look who we have here.”

A face I recognized emerged next to me out of the crowd. He lurched, obviously drunk. Scotch, or was his name Kotch? I could never remember. He leered at me.

“I’d heard you were dead.”

“It seems those rumors have been exaggerated.” I leered back at him and took another shot.

He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, when I heard you’d been killed on some mission, I couldn’t believe it. The great Shuriken, taken down by a topsider. You were always the best. What a pathetic way to go.” He smiled at me, all teeth.

“You’re right,” I said to him, and he looked surprised.

“I am?” He asked stupidly.

“Yes, I was the best.” Now his eyes narrowed.

“Uppity bitch. Don said he was done with you either way, but maybe I’m not. I owe you for all those bounties you stole from me.”

“Can’t steal something that was never yours, Scotch.” I hit him with an innocent smile. He turned beet red.

“You were always so brave with the Don at your back. Now your alone. Let’s see how you fare.” He pulled out a knife, and I almost laughed, but then a saw a few men behind him, coming to back him up.

Five to one. Not the worst odds I’d ever taken. If no one else joined in, then I should be ok. I pulled Rekka out and held it out between us. I stood up, and the floor tried to slip out from underneath me. Shit, maybe I was more drunk than I realized. But it made me stupid. I waved Rekka at Scotch. “Let’s see if you’re all talk as usual.” I tightened my grip on Rekka, ready for the fight. He kept splitting into two versions of himself as my eyes lost focus. I shook my head. Damn, I was in for a world of hurt in this state, but I'd endured worse.

Then I felt someone step up on either side of me. “Yeah, let’s see if you have the skills to back up that big mouth, yo.” Reno was on my left, his mag-rod extended. A grunt told me Rude was on my right.

I turned, glancing at Rude and then Reno. He gave me that lopsided grin, “Told ya I preferred this to being nice.” Then, with a long grryyyaaaa, he lunged at the closest man.

Reno smacked into the man hard, who crashed into the crowd at the bar. Everything after that was a blur. Fists flew from all directions, everyone in the bar shouting and pushing. Scotch tried to circle around back of me, but as he swung, I came down with Rekka blocking him. But I quickly lost my balance, and he overpowered me. I fell to the floor. He swung down again, and I was too slow to block him. Next thing I knew Scotch was laid out on the floor, stone cold, Rude standing over him. He extended a hand to me and helped me rise as my head spun. Someone else shoved me from behind, and I turned, the mass of bodies overwhelming. Rude and I stood back-to-back when a shout silenced the bar.

“ENOUGH!” The crowd pushed back from the culprit. He was a large, tall man with swept back black hair and a small goatee. He dressed like a second class SOLDIER, but he carried an enormous sword on his back that told me he wasn’t. Dangling from his outstretched hand was Reno, swinging his arms wildly.

“Set me down, asshole!” The man ignored him.

I pushed through the crowd until I faced the man. “Let him go.” I was drunk, sticking my neck out for Reno like this. This man wasn’t some slum thug. I had no chance against him in my state, but I held my weapon up between us nonetheless. He narrowed his eyes at me, and I returned the expression.

But then a firm hand landed on my shoulder, calming me. “Angeal,” was all that Rude said, but an understanding passed between them. Angeal looked at Reno one more time before he dropped him, and he stumbled into my arms.

“Enough fun for one night, don’t you think?” I wasn’t sure who the question was aimed at, but Rude grunted and locked his arm around Reno, dragging him out of the bar.

“Hey, I didn’t finish my drinks!” Reno yelled, but Rude ignored him. I followed them.

The cool night air hit my face as we exited the sweltering bar. It wasn’t enough to sober me up, but it helped. Reno shoved out of Rude’s tight embrace, stumbling. He straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. “Man, those chicks were hot. SOLDIERs always ruin everything. Yo! A little warning next time before you pick a fight, ok, Cissnei?”

I made to argue with him it wasn’t my fault, but stopped myself. “You guys really had my back?”

Reno chuckled, “Of course we do. Turks always stick together.”

“I’m not really used to that idea.” The idea of a team, of having other people to support you.

“I don’t know, Cissnei,” Rude chimed in, “you looked ready to take down a First Class just to help this idiot. It seems like you get it.” I didn’t know what to say.

Luckily, Reno just grabbed my shoulders again and steered me down the narrow path.

“Night is still young. I need more drinks!”

~~~~~~

“Who started it?” Tseng had called us into his office first thing in the morning. My head was pounding. I hadn’t drunk that much in a very long time. The morning sun had a vendetta against me, and was shining directly into my eyes, making my brain feel about ready to melt out of my nose. It almost distracted me from the deep shit I was obviously in.

“Cissnei did.” Reno happily ratted me out.

“Hey!” I swiveled to Reno, but the fast motion had my stomach churning, and I would not throw up in Tseng’s clean office if it killed me. Tseng continued to stare at me with that completely blank expression.

“Yes. And who finished it?”

“Cissnei,” Rude chimed in. Not exactly true, but I was in no state to argue.

Tseng continued to shuffle the papers on his desk, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and he said, “You’re dismissed.”