He saw it with his own microchip eyes. Tseng, the dead Turk, had just dragged an unconscious Reeve by his ankles down the hallway. Luckily, he hadn't seen the stuffed cat lurking in the shadows, but now Cait was racing at top speeds through the hallway to Cloud's room.

He banged on the door that belonged to Cloud and Tifa. "Cloud! Cloud, wake up!"

Inside the room, Cloud lifted his head from where he was sleeping, sitting upright against the bedboard. He cocked an eyebrow when he realized it was Cait Sith that was calling him.

Luckily, Tifa hadn't been awakened, and he slowly slid off the bed and went to open the door. He was greeted with Cait Sith, bouncing and waving his arms around frantically.

"Tseng kidnapped Reeve!"

Cloud looked at Cait strangely. "Huh?"

Cait bounced higher. "Tseng! He just came right now, in Reeve's office, and kidnapped him! He freakin' kidnapped Reeve!"

Cloud scratched his head. "Are you malfunctioning?"

Cait lept off his moogle and started running like hell back and forth in front of Cloud. "I swear, I saw it, Cloud! Tseng's got Reeve and we have to do something!"

"Tseng's dead, Cait," Cloud reminded him.

"Obviously he's not," Cait protested. "I saw him, I-"

Cait was cut off by the sound of a helicopter nearby. Cloud frowned and turned back in his room.

"What in the hell is that?" he thought out loud, walking to the window. He pushed the heavy office window open and looked into the night sky, where a black helicopter with the Shin-Ra logo on it loomed outside the window, it's door open as an all too farmiliar scene played in front of him.

Sure enough, Tseng was standing in the helicopter and Reeve was on the floor next to him. Upon seeing Cloud in the window, Tseng waved and the chopper disappeared into the night.

"Shit!" Cloud cursed.

Tifa stirred. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily, covering her eyes with her hands.

Cait bounced up and down. "I told you! I told you! What are we gonna do?!"

Cloud was about to respond, but was cut off by a scream that came from down the hall.

"What was that?" Tifa asked, finally sitting up.

"Sounded like Yuffie's voice," Cait said.

"Yuffie's not here," Cloud pointed out, grabbing his sword from where it rested against the wall. "Tifa, you might want to get changed. We've got a situation on our hands."

"Right," Tifa said, throwing the blankets off.

Yuffie's attackers fell to the floor under the lightening attack. Kat hit someone in the head with her nunchaku, and Striker was weilding his sword gracefully.

"That *is* Yuffie!" a voice down the hall said.

"Cloud!" Yuffie called. "SOLDIER is attacking!"

Cloud blinked, he, Tifa, and Cait racing towards the battle. What was SOLDIER doing here?

"Cait, go wake up the others!" Tifa instructed. "Tell them to get ready, Reeve's been kidnapped and we're under attack!"

Cait nodded and ran through the hall, banging on everyone's doors to get them up.

In a few minutes, Yuffie, Kat, Striker, Cloud, and Tifa had successfully taken out the five SOLDIER's that attacked. However, they knew more were coming, as they could hear them tearing through the bottom floors of the building.

"What was that all about?!" Yuffie asked, as Cait returned with Aeris, Zack, Cid, Barret, Red XIII, Vincent, Tayeko and Sephiroth.

Everyone looked at Yuffie strangely. "Why are you wearing a Turk uniform?" Cloud finally said.

Yuffie looked down. "Its a long story..."

"And who's this?" Cloud asked, pointing to Kat.

"Mr friend Kat," Yuffie explained. "Another long story."

"What the hell is going on?!" Barret demanded.

"Tseng kidnapped Reeve," Cloud said.

"What the fuck?!" Cid yelled. "Didn't he fucking die in that damn Temple?"

"Tseng is alive?!" Aeris shrieked.

"Tseng....?" Tayeko repeated. "Of... The Turks?"

"Yeah, and he's got Reeve," Cloud said. "And SOLDIER's attacking this building as we speak."

Zack unsheathed his weapon. "So what do we do? How do we save Reeve?"

Cloud was about to respond when he heard stomping in the stairwells. "Shit. They're here."

Immediately, all of AVALANCHE and their additional members took appropriate battle stances.

"I'm afraid, Sephiroth," Tayeko said. "I don't have the experience for this."

Sephiroth stared at her as he held the Masamune in his traditional pose. "I promise to protect you."

Aeris began her white magic, setting up wall, haste, and reflect on the group, just as about a huge group of SOLDIERs poured in the hallway from the stairs.

"There's too fucking many of them!" Cid complained, his spear in hand. "How are we gonna take all of them out?"

"Use your strongest spells that can hit all of them at once," Cloud said. "Who's got the Mime here?"

"I do," Vincent said quietly.

"Use it on our best attack," Cloud told him.

Vincent was about to conceed when Sephiroth rushed foward and sliced through the onslaught of SOLDIERs with the Masamune. Most of them were too horrified to react, seeing General Sephiroth before them.

Cloud immediately shouted "Fire3!", sending wave after wave of flames on the SOLDIERs that were attacking. Aeris and Tayeko stayed in the back, casting spells, while the more brave Tifa and Cid lunged foward and engaged in physical attack. Barret unleashed a barrage of bullets in the group of SOLDIERs prompting many of them to fall. Sephiroth continued to slice through them like a plow through a cornfield, as Red XIII clawed and thrashed at the attackers like a wild animal. Cait Sith cast spells like Mystify and Transform, occasionally knocking one of his confused victims silly with his mega phone.

Together, Striker and Zack were chopping men down with their swords. Striker also tossed daggers at SOLDIERs who approached him from the side, surprising them. Zack smirked, thinking of how he was in once in the elite group of killers.

Cloud spun the Ultima Weapon high in the air and proceed to take another SOLDIER out, swiftly, trying to ignore the inevitable glow in their eyes as they fought. Surprisingly, this fight was easier than he'd thought. Kat stayed in the back, knocking anyone who dared to get close to her out with her nunchaku. Yuffie stood a few feet ahead, slicing enemies with the Conformer and quickly casting spells before the boomerang weapon returned to her.

Vincent stood in the back row as well, Tayeko next to him. The two fired shots, and Tayeko was doing surprisingly well. She checked the materia in her pistol and cast a Ice3 spell on the SOLDIERs, as Aeris blasted them with Fire2.

By this time, the group of SOLDIERs had been reduced to less than a quarter of what it was before, and it seemed no more where coming from the staircase. AVALANCHE was impressed with their skills as they finished off the last of the attackers."

Cloud nodded and marched toward the door. "Come on."

Cloud looked at Barret. "Train. We can't walk, there's just not enough time."

Barret sighed, aggravated.

Sephiroth stepped foward towards Cloud. "How can I possibly ride a train inconspicuously? I will give us away for sure."

"He's right," Barret voiced. "Anybody'll know that damn freak when they see him."

Tifa put a hand on Barret's shoulder to hush him, and Sephiroth looked at the ground painfully. Aeris waved her finger in Barret's face.

"Barret, we have a serious situation on our hands," she told him. "We don't have time for comments like that."

Barret snorted, and Cloud turned away from the group, a finger on his chin.

"There's too many of us to safely take the train anyway," he pointed out. "Plus, I'm sure Shin-Ra's got a high alert out for us. I say we go to the train station and take out everybody there, then operate the train on our own."

"Cloud, that's awful violent, don't you think?" Aeris said.

Tifa cracked her knuckles loudly. "What's got to be done, got's to be done," she murmered, a determined look on her her face. "Shin-Ra's gotten away with too much, for too long."

Tayeko lowered her head. "Ultimately, I don't think our fight is against Shin-Ra," she said quietly.

Aeris ran her fingers through Tayeko's hair tenderly. "I know what you mean."

"What was that?" Cloud questioned.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Aeris answered.

Cloud stared at her strangely for a moment before shrugging. "Well, let's go. Once we get the train to the HQ, we'll storm in and take 'em all down till we find Reeve. And I'm taking Rufus out while I'm at it."

Aeris shook her head. "Fine, let's go."

"Shit! SOLDIER is here?" Cid cursed.

"Just one," Cloud said. "Nothing we can't handle."

Cloud confidently approached the SOLDIER. "Excuse me," he said.

The SOLDIER's eye's popped open. "Cloud?! AVANLANCHE?!"

"Don't worry about them," Cloud said, unsheathing his sword.

"Whoo.." Cid muttered, shutting his eyes as he and the others watched Cloud's sword cleave the SOLDIER practically in two.

"He,help..." the ticket collector whispered, backing away from the doorway.

Barret stomped foreward and grabbed the ticket collector by his collar, lifting him up off the ground.

"Where's this damn train headed?" he roared.

The man's veins were popping out of his neck. "Sector 4..." he said nervously.

"Not no more!" Barret ordered, throwing the man to the floor. "Go run and tell the conducter this train's stopping at the new Shin-Ra HQ! Get goin!"

The collector looked nervously at Barret's gunarm as well as Cloud and the slain SOLDIER. "R,right," he affirmed, squirming to stand up. "Yeah! And nobody else gets on this train!" Barret shouted as the man ran to the conductor.

Cloud nodded to his group. "That's taken care of. Let's get on."

Kat blinked in horror as she followed closely to Yuffie as she got on board the train. She'd never seen a person in her life kill so easily with a sword. What kind of people was she traveling with? She was beginning to wonder if she was better off in the boarding school.

Cloud stayed standing while the rest of the group sat. Barret ran to keep an eye on the conductor and ticket collector as the train began moving.

"Alright, some of you've got some explaining to do," he said, grabbing the overhead rail for support. "Let's start with you, Yuffie. Why the HELL are you wearing a Turk's uniform?"

Yuffie blushed and put her head down. "Well...."

"Might as well tell them, Yuffie," Striker said, tapping her leg.

"Reno came to my house a couple weeks ago," Yuffie explained. "I thought he was up to something, but it turned out he wanted to hook up. He pretty much said he'd had a crush on me. Anyway, we started dating, and the next thing I knew, he offered me a position with the Turks."

"And you accepted, I presume?" Cloud finished. "Which is why we couldn't find you in Wutai?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Yes, yes," she said. "I was doing bullshit jobs for the Turks when today I saw Aeris trapped. I let her out, but Rude caught me as soon as she escaped. Reno took me home, not knowing what I'd done, but Rufus had obviously caught on and ordered Reno to kill me on the spot. He tried to, but he couldn't do it."

"Couldn't do it?" Cid repeated, pulling in a drag of his cigarette. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Yuffie looked down at her wrist, admiring the bracelet Reno'd given to her. "I don't know, exactly," She explained. "He said he cared about me... so he let me go."

"Shit, Rufus is gonna have the surprise of his life when he finds out your ass is still alive," Cid commented.

Cloud pointed at Kat. "Now what about this?" He asked.

"*That*, is Kat," Yuffie clarified. "I met her after I left Reno's. She was being attacked, so I helped her out, you know? Then I found out she was running away, so I said, hey, why not tag along with me? We're the same age and I could use a friend who isn't as grumpy as Cid, angry as Barret, smart as Red, or annoying as Striker."

"Fuck you!" Cid spat.

"How am I annoying?" Striker asked.

"Anyway," Yuffie continued. "Striker here was going for a walk when he caught us. Thank goodness, cause he brought us back here. That's all."

"Well, nice to meet you, Kat," Cloud introduced himself. The rest of the group too introduced themselves, shook her hand, all except Sephiroth, who remained seated and simply nodded his head at her."

"Nice to meet you all," Kat exzuberated.

"I still don't see how I'm annoying," Striker said. "Kat, am I annoying to you?"

Kat blushed. "No..." she said, giving him a giggle.

"Good," he said, grinning.

Yuffie frowned and furrowed her brow, exchanging looks between Striker and Kat. She didn't like this at all, but it was exactly what she'd expected.

"Yeah!" she said loudly. "What else is on your mind, Cloudy!"

Cloud looked at Aeris. "How did you get back?"

Aeris smiled. "After Yuffie let me out, I started wandering around, trying to figure out how to get back to Reeve's building. I would have been lost if I hadn't met a young woman who works on the outside for Reeve. She brought me back."

Cloud nodded, some what satified with the explaination.

"I've got some order of business," Zack said, raising his hand.

Cloud frowned. "Yes, what is it?"

Zack looked at Sephiroth, prepared to reveal to the group what Sephiroth had told him on the Highwind's deck about Jenova. He felt it all tied in together with Aeris' sudden worry, especially her own comment about Jenova.

But he looked into Sephiroth's burning, yet icy, green eyes, and suddenly felt choked up. He knew it would not be wise to say anything, as he would not be able to reveal the General's secret without paying a severe price.

"N..nevermind," he said. Cloud looked at him oddly before continuing. "Fine. Now, we need to formulate a plan. Anyone got any ideas?"

Yuffie's hand shot up. "The new Shin-Ra building is made of 3 main areas," she said. "The secretarial, the Lab, and the Administrative. The secretarial area is where all the work is done, all the stuff you *know* about Shin-Ra. The labs, of course, is where all of the science-hojo garbage is being done. And the administration is where all Turks and the higher ups, and Rufus himself are at. Maybe we should split up and each take on an area?"

Cloud put a hand to his chin. "Perhaps, but where would Reeve be located?"

Cait bounced in his seat. "If Tseng has him, they probably took him to the Turk's area!" "That's not likely," Vincent suddenly spoke.

"He's right," Sephiroth agreed in a monotone voice. "They've either got him locked up, in for questioning, or..-"

"In the labs," Vincent finished grimly.

"Labs?" Aeris repeated.

"Shin-Ra is a sick company," Sephiroth explained. "Rufus may have found another use for Reeve."

Cloud shuddered visibly. "Alright, here's the deal. Striker, you take Yuffie, Kat, Red, and Cait throughout the bottom floors and search. There should only be MP's and maybe a few SOLDIERs around there, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. Vincent, Zack, Tayeko, and S,s-sephiroth will sweep the lab floors. I'll take Tifa, Aeris, Cid and Barret, and we'll search the upper floors, and eliminate Rufus-"

"Wait!" Aeris interrupted. "Why can't I be with Zack's party?"

Cloud paled. "Aeris...I don't think it's wise for you to be so close to... to... Sephiroth."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at Cloud and clenched his fists. Tayeko carefully rested her small hand on his armored shoulder.

"Cloud, please!" Aeris argued. "Sephiroth isn't going to do anything to me, he's my friend. And besides, Zack is all the protection I need."

Zack grinned.

Cloud shook his head. "I thought *I* was your body guard, Aeris..."

The room was deadly silent and Aeris was about to respond when Barret came stomping in. "We're here!" he exclaimed, just as the train slowed to a stop. "Time to kick some Shin-Ra ass!"

Tifa looked away from Cloud as she and the others headed quietly towards the exit. Barret scratched his head and gazed at Cloud.

"Whattsa matter? What I miss?"

The group answered with a mixed reaction of nods, "yes's" or no response at all. He nodded and headed towards the main doors.

"Let's show 'em what we've got."

The group stormed inside the front glass doors, alerting several guards and MP's that were milling about. The recepcionist screamed.

"Battle number one," Cid remarked, readying his spear.

"Hey!" an MP called. "AVALANCHE! Get 'em!"

"Too bad it won't be that easy," Zack said as he and Striker advanced on two MP's.

"Attack!" Cloud shouted.

Aeris began to cast her protective magic, setting up wall, haste, and regen on the team. Not that they much needed it, she noted, as Cloud had already hacked his way through three guards, Vincent and Barret were shooting with precision, and Tifa had the receptionist by her neck. Even Kat was knocking enemies out with her nunchaku.

Tayeko made a determined face, and after a nod in Sephiroth's direction, shot an MP square in the head.

Sephiroth smiled. "You're improving," he commented.

Yuffie caught the conformer as it flew back to her, then gawked at the downed MP. "I'd say," she agreed.

"Give me the keycard!" Tifa roared at the receptionist.

"I don't have-"

Tifa snatched the poor woman by her hair. "Where is it?!"
The receptionist was in tears. "The head of the MP squad has one..."

Tifa dropped the girl and turned towards the ensuing battle scene. "Alright, which of you lowlifes is the leader of the MP squad?" Another MP had emerged from the nearest elevator just in time to hear her words, ten other MPs behind him.

"That would be me," he said, a smile on his face.

Cid breathed heavily. "Damn! More of these motherfuckers?"

"Shit!" Barret added.

"Give us the keycard," Tifa demanded.

The MP leader smirked at her. "Make me."

Tifa was about to rush foward and pummel the MP, but instead, Sephiroth stepped foward, making his presence known.

"I think," he said firmly, "It is in your best interests to give the woman the keycard."

The MP's jaw nearly hit the floor. "S,s..seph..-"

"Attack!" Cloud called again.

And, the battle raged on.

Tseng turned towards the tiny barred window in the cell Reeve was chained up in. "I want nothing from you. Its Rufus who desires you."

"For what?"

"That's none of my, and especially your concern."

Reeve sighed, wishing he could take his hands from the binding handcuffs that were constricting his wrists.

"Why are you doing this, Tseng? I would have thought, that, even if you would have survived Sephiroth's attack in the Temple of the Ancients, you'd never go back to Shin-Ra."

"I am Rufus' bodyguard," Tseng replied. "It is my responisiblity to protect him as well as carry out his orders to a T. You know this, Reeve. Or at lease you should."

Reeve closed his eyes and shook his head. "You have been brainwaashed, haven't you?" he muttered. "What a shame. Being a Turk is the worst job in the world, you can't think for yourself."

"Shut up," Tseng said. "The President is coming."

As if on cue, Rufus appeared on the other side of the glass door of Reeve's cell. Tseng opened it, and Rufus stepped inside, walking to stand directly above Reeve.

"My, Reeve. What a pleasant surprise."

Reeve was about to give a smart reply when an MP ran up to the cell, tapping on the glass.

"What is it?" Rufus snapped, clearly annoyed.

The MP huffed out of breath. "AVALANCHE is attacking the building, Sir," he said.

Rufus' eyes narrowed. "Hmm, Reeve. Seems like your lackeys have come to rescue you."

"Don't worry, President Rufus," Tseng said. "I will gather the Turks and take care of the situation."

"Good," Rufus said, nodding as Tseng and the MP left the cell and jogged down the hall.

Rufus turned back to Reeve, kicking him violently in the shin. "Like I was saying..."

"What do you want from me?!" Reeve said, crying out in pain.

Rufus chuckled. "Oh, you know, the usual," he said conversationaly. "A cetra here, a Sephiroth there... some information and maybe a few Materia orbs to fatten the deal."

Reeve groaned.

AVALANCHE had successfully taken care of the MP's which threatened their access to the building. Tifa'd finally gotten hold of the key card as well, and used it to make all the floors accessible through the receptionist's computer.

"Alright, lets split up now," Cloud said. "Remember your teams? Take the stairways to get to your area because the elevators really aren't safe. If you find any sign of Reeve, call me on the PHS.

The group nodded their agreements.

"Alright, let's go."

"Where is AVALANCHE?" Rude asked.

"Oh, my god!" Elena exclaimed. "They practically took out the whole MP squad!"

"Compose yourself, Elena," Reno ordered, stepping through the broken glass and bloodied bodies.

"How can I compose myself, Reno?!" Elena yelled. "First I find out Tseng is alive, and now all these MP's are dead?! It's too much!"

"If you can't handle the pressure, the door is open," Tseng said quietly.

Elena swallowed.

"Well, there's nothing going on down here," Reno said.

Tseng looked up at the ceiling. "I hear sounds upstairs. They are attacking the building."

"So what do we do?" Reno asked. "We can't take on all of them."

"Dispatch SOLDIER," Tseng answered.

"Where's Reeve?"

The receptionist swallowed. "No, Reeve. This SOLDIER application floor."

Striker shook his head. "I don't think they've got him here."

"So what?" Yuffie said, frightening a woman who was holding a file folder, waving the Conformer in her face. "Let's see if any of these losers are carrying Materia."

Red nudged Yuffie's leg. "We can't. We've got to find Reeve, and get on with this mission."

Yuffie frowned. "Fine, fine." Striker nodded at Red and led the team up the next stairwell, leading to a floor full of copy machines where people in suits were walking back and forth.

"I don't think there's much here either," Kat said.

Striker was skeptical. "I agree, but Cloud said we should check each floor throughoughly, just to be safe."

"I don't think so."

Striker whirled around, where behind his party were two dark suited people - the Turks. Behind them were seven members of SOLDIER.

"Uh-oh" Cait whispered.

"Elena! Rude!" Yuffie half yelped, half snarled.

The group got into a fighting stance, prepared to battle the two Turks.

"Ha!" Elena cheered. "We got 'em!"

"Slow down, Elena," Rude said.

The squad of SOLDIERs behind them drew their swords and marched foward, Rude and Elena stepping out of the way.

"Damn..." Striker muttered quietly. "I don't think we can take them..."

"I guess you're giving up, huh?" Elena said, waving her hands in the air. "Well, good. saves us work. Let's go, I'm sure Rufus would love to see you all."

Red looked up at Striker. "Are you sure about this?"

Striker shook his head as the SOLDIER came and began cuffing him and his party.

Tifa shook her head, looking around Rufus' new office. "They're not up here," she told Cloud.

Barret banged on Rufus' desk with his gunarm. "Shit! Where he take Reeve off to?"

Cid took in a drag of his cigarette. "I think old Sephiroth was right about the fucking labs," he said. We ought to head down there."

Cloud sheathed his sword and nodded. "Let's go."

"Labs.." Sephiroth whispered. "This place..."

Tayeko wrapped her arms around her body, looking down.

Aeris shook her head. "Come on, guys. We've got to look for Reeve."

"Yeah," Zack added. "Why's everybody so down anyways?"

Nobody responded.

"Look, it doesn't matter right now," Aeris continued. "All that matters is we've got a mission to - "

She was interrupted by the ring of Zack's PHS.

"Yeah?"

Cloud was on the other end. "Zack, have you found anything on the lab floors?"

"Not yet," Zack answered. "Nobody wants to get a move on."

"Well, be careful down there. We're coming down cause Rufus isn't up here. Wait for us by the stairway."

"Will do," Zack said before hanging up.

"What was that about?" Aeris asked.

"Cloud said for us to wait right here," Zack told her. "They're coming, because supposedly he thinks they've got Reeve here."

"Well well, well," he snickered. "What have we he here?"

"Caught 'em, boss," Rude said.

"Yeah! They were trying to attack everybody downstairs!" Elena quipped.

Cait shook his head. "I'm sorry I didn't help you before, Reeve," he said in a small voice.

Reeve smiled in spite of himself. "Its alright, Cait. You did your best."

SOLDIER began handcuffing the party, putting shackles on Red's legs and heavy amounts of duct tape on Cait's mouth.

"Right now," Rufus explained, "Reno and Tseng are looking for the rest of your pathetic enterage." He brushed a tiny peice of lint off of his white coat and grinned down at Reeve. "This should be fun."

"I guess we should go check it out," Cloud prompted, his hand on his sword.

Sephiroth nodded and pulled the door open, prepared to march into the lab, slicing through lab technitions as he went. Instead, he came face to face with a rather unpleasant surprise.

Reno, Tseng, and about twenty members of SOLDIER.

Tseng turned deathly white upon making eye contact with Sephiroth. Cid cursed a bluestreak in the background.

"Cloud," Tifa whispered. "I..I don't think we can take on all of them at once."

Cloud didn't want to agree, but slowly nodded his head.

"What's our other option?" Zack asked, hearing Tifa's comment.

"Surrender," Vincent said quietly.

"Tseng!!"

Everyone save Vincent turned to look at Tayeko, who's violet eyes were wide open, her hands clasped over her face.

Tseng gazed at her, taking his eyes off Sephiroth for a moment. He focused on her for several moments before his eyes too grew wide.

"T...Tayeko..? You're alive... impossible!"

Tayeko ran foward abruptly and embraced Tseng, startling everyone.

"What the fuck does she think she's doing?!" Cid growled.

Barret waved his hands in the air. "Ain't no time for lovey dovey stuff!"

Aeris quietly took a few steps foward, as Tayeko let go of Tseng. She gazed at him, then took his hand in hers.

"Tseng... what are you going to do?"

Tseng looked away from Aeris painfully. "I have orders to bring all of you to the lab immediately... Rufus wants all of you dead, except Sephiroth and the Cetra."

Zack's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Why?!"

Tseng dropped Aeris' hand and looked at Reno. "Its time."

Reno nodded and turned to the brigade of SOLDIERs behind him. "Get them."

"What are you up to?" Cloud shouted at Rufus, rattling his chains.

Rufus smiled, nodded at his four Turks, and turned to walk away from the cell.

"You'll find out in due time," he said. He flipped his hair back, and he and the Turks left AVALANCHE alone.