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The Path to Redemption	By : Nakkinomiko Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1095 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. SquareEnix does. I make no money from this…I just like to play with them.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. SquareEnix does. I make no money from this…I just like to play with them.
A/N: Are you folks ready for another fun plot twist? If your answer is yes, then read on! :D Muci, no need to apologize for catching that mistake! I’m grateful you told me…it will keep me from looking like an idiot in future chapters! :-D I’m so happy you are enjoying the story! Kayla, thank you for your review! I’m glad you like the story!
*****
Chapter 9
After Rufus was sure Kadaj would be okay on his own, Rufus retreated to the floor’s waiting room. He wanted Sephiroth and Kadaj to have time to get to know one another without distractions, and there was--as always--a mountain of paperwork that needed his attention. He found an empty corner in the waiting room and started to go through the paperwork he’d stashed in his briefcase. Financial reports, yearly productivity reports, payroll status--Rufus sighed heavily. The company was, surprisingly, doing fairly well--even if they were no longer creating mako energy. The scientific division of Shinra was now focused solely on creating alternate sources of energy that were safe. Financially it was a little tight, but Shinra owned enough plain old-fashioned electrical plants that it would not go out of business. Shinra would rebuild and survive, and Rufus would be able to keep his promise to Cloud. He would right all the wrongs his father and Hojo had done.
“Rufus?”
Rufus glanced at his watch and found nearly two hours had passed. He looked up and found Maggie standing before him.
Rufus frowned slightly. “Is Kadaj alright?”
Maggie smiled. “He’s fine. They’re getting along really well, and Sephiroth is answering all the questions Kadaj is asking. I took them lunch a little bit ago, and they’re acting like they’ve know each other forever. Dr. Winterfell was right about them, I think. They’re going to be good for one another.”
“Good.” Rufus smiled slightly. “Was there something else, then?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. Dr. Graham did further cross referencing of Sephiroth’s genome as you requested, and he has the results. He says there’s something you definitely need to see.”
“Where is he?” Rufus started to gather his paperwork into his briefcase.
“In his office. You know the way?”
“Yes. Thank you, Maggie.” Rufus flashed a smile and closed his briefcase. “Reno and Rude went to lunch. Kindly let them know where I am when they return?”
“Sure.”
Rufus followed her out of the waiting room and made his way to Dr. Graham’s office. He found the man pouring over medical reports, and Rufus had to clear his throat for the man to notice him.
“Ah, President Shinra! Do come in!” Dr. Graham closed the file he was looking at and waved him in.
“Maggie said you had something for me?” Rufus sat in a chair and looked expectantly at the doctor.
“Oh, yes!” The doctor smiled. “I found something rather unexpected.” Dr. Graham handed Rufus a thick file.
Rufus flipped it open. “What am I looking for?”
“I put the pertinent info on the top.” Dr. Graham grinned. “I think that General Sephiroth is going to like what I’ve found.”
Rufus looked down at the genetic reports and after a moment smiled wryly at the doctor.
“I can’t make heads or tails of this. Would you translate?”
Dr. Graham chuckled. “Of course. To make a long story short, Hojo was not Sephiroth’s father.”
Rufus blinked. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent sure,” Dr. Graham said. His grin was wide. “They’re genetic makeup is less than 30 percent compatible. There is absolutely no way that Hojo is his father. Want to hear the rest?”
“There’s more?”
“I know who his father is.”
Rufus blinked again.
“How?”
“Easy, really. He worked for Shinra in the past, so the computer pinged him when I ran a search.” Dr. Graham’s smile was even wider now.
“Who?”
“There’s a picture of him beneath those reports,” Graham said.
Rufus picked up the sheaf of paper and found the picture. He suddenly felt as if someone had thrown cold water over him, because he knew that face.
“Holy Hell,” Rufus breathed as his eyes dropped to the identifying info printed beneath the photo. Sure enough, there it was in print, plain as day.
Vincent Valentine.
*****
Tseng was in his office slogging through his own mountain of paperwork when his cell phone went off. He growled under his breath as he pulled it out and flipped it open.
“Tseng,” he barked into the phone. “And this had better be good.”
“I’ll try to make it worth your while,” Rufus Shinra’s voice drawled. “It’s definitely interesting.”
Tseng laughed into the phone and sat back in this chair. “Sorry sir. Was working on the backlog, and it’s got me in a mood.”
“I know the feeling,” Rufus said. Tseng could hear the grin in his voice. “Tseng, I need you to find someone for me.”
“Again? I found Sephiroth, and we deserve a trophy for that, by the way. Elena and I were in the skies for hours.” Tseng wasn’t entirely joking.
“Yes, I know, and I do appreciate it,” Rufus said. He sounded serious now, and Tseng sighed lightly.
“Who am I looking for now?”
“Vincent Valentine.”
Tseng sighed again. “Wouldn’t you rather have the moon? I can actually get you that . . .”
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Rufus said. “But it’s important that we find him.”
“I won’t find him,” Tseng said bluntly. “Not if he doesn’t want to be found. The man was a first class Turk in his day, and now he’s got all that genetic engineering working in his favor. It will be like looking for a microscopic needle in a haystack.”
“I know,” Rufus said. “But he needs to be found and brought here, none the less.”
“And what reason should I be giving him when I ask him to come along quietly?” Tseng drawled. It was ridiculous to even think about taking Vincent by force. It’d be damn near impossible, and people would most certainly die.
“Tell him his son lives,” Rufus said.
Tseng almost swallowed the gum he’d been chewing. “Sir?”
“You just tell him that, Tseng. He’ll come.” A soft click followed, and the line went dead.
Tseng swore as he flipped his phone shut and tossed it on his desk. Vincent had a son. And he was alive? In light of recent events, Tseng could make an educated guess as to who that was, and the implications were just this side of mind-blowing.
“Tseng? What’s up?”
He glanced over at Elena, who was at her own desk reading a file. She was looking at him with worried eyes. She’d looked like that a lot over the past few days, and it made him want to comfort her. He refrained…he wasn’t sure she would welcome it, and he wasn’t quite sure he even wanted her to know that the worry he often felt for her went beyond what he would have felt for just any work partner. He often found himself wondering what would happen if he hinted at his feelings for her. He knew Rufus wouldn’t care--hell, Reno and Rude were more than just work partners, and they were his regular bodyguards. He was pretty sure that Rufus knew it, too, so it was logical to think that he probably wouldn’t care if Elena and Tseng had a similar relationship.
But something held him back, and he knew it was nothing but a simple fear of the unknown. He enjoyed working with Elena, and together they’d been through Hell and back again more than once. There was no question in his own mind as to whether or not he loved her--he had for a very long time now, since before Meteor. But he had no idea how she felt for him beyond the fact that she often indicated that she thought him a good friend.
“We’ve been given another mission,” Tseng said with a sigh. “We probably should get right on it.”
“Oh.” Elena sighed and set the file on her desk.
She sounded so tired, and Tseng found himself wanting to call Rufus back to tell him he could find someone else to take care of this mission. He dismissed the thought the minute he had it. He owed Rufus a lot--they all did--and outside of being his boss, the man was also his friend. He’d do it for that reason alone.
“So, if you were a genetically engineered mutant, where would you hide?”
“Excuse me?” Elena looked at him like he was crazy.
“We’re on the hunt again,” Tseng said with a sigh. “Rufus thinks we can find Vincent Valentine.”
The look on Elena’s face was somewhere between disbelief and anger. “Bloody hell,” she swore. “Doesn’t fucking want much, does he?”
Tseng grinned at her profanity. She wasn’t afraid to use it when the situation called for it.
“I tried to offer him the moon, but it just wasn’t good enough for him.”
“Figures.” Elena stood from her desk and concealed her gun in the holster beneath her Turk-issue suit jacket. “Might as well get going. We’ll be old and gray when we finally find him as it is.”
The determination Elena was famous for was etched on her features, and she smiled up at him lightly. Tseng felt his breath hitch slightly as he met her gaze. What was the matter with him today? Usually he could put aside his personal feelings and act somewhat normal around her, whatever normal was. But today, for some reason, he was having trouble keeping his feelings from showing. Maybe it was the fact that Kadaj and his brothers had nearly killed them both. Tseng hadn’t been nearly as bad as Elena, though. They’d almost lost her, and that had nearly broke Tseng. But she’d survived, and amazingly had forgiven Kadaj for it. She’d barely blinked when Rufus had put them both on a conference call and told them that he was taking Kadaj in. Tseng couldn’t really bring himself to hold it against Kadaj, either. The situation had been extremely volatile, and he and Elena had taken something from Kadaj that, at the time, had been of utmost importance to the young man.
“Tseng? What’s wrong?” Elena looked concerned again. “You’re staring at me.”
Tseng shook his head slightly, trying to bring his thoughts back to the present. He looked into her eyes, and said the first thing that came to mind.
“Elena, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” He winced inwardly as he said the words, but for some reason, the time had seemed right.
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped slightly, and for a moment Tseng thought he might have made a horrible mistake. But after a moment, Elena’s expression softened and she gave him a slow smile that reached her eyes and made his heart thump hard in his chest.
“No,” Elena said softly. She stepped closer to him. “And just how long have you been noticing this?”
“Years,” Tseng admitted. He felt his face flush as he made the admission.
“That’s cute,” Elena said with a soft giggle. She reached up to touch his face. Her fingers were cool against his blushing cheek. “I didn’t think you could do something as normal as blush. You always struck me as too cool for something like that. Always so perfect and serious and debonair. And handsome. Did I mention handsome?”
She stepped closer to him, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to reach out and wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer. She lifted her arms and laced her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and looked up at him with bright eyes.
“Elena, I love you,” Tseng whispered. His heart was in his throat as he made the confession, but he went on anyway. It was now or never. “I have for a very, very long time.”
“Good,” Elena said. She was smiling now, and her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “Because I’ve felt the same about you for years now. I just . . .I just didn’t want to ruin things if you didn’t feel the same. I know I was being a coward for not saying so before now . . .”
“No more than I,” Tseng said. He gave her a wry smile. “Can we stop pretending then?”
“Yeah,” Elena whispered.
He bent his head and pressed their lips together, slow and soft, until they both needed air. He broke the kiss slowly, and opened his eyes to look down at her. Radiant was the only word he could think of to describe her in that moment. She was beautiful, and for the first time in a very long time, she looked happy.
She’ll look like that for the rest of her life if I have any say in the matter, Tseng thought. He kissed her again.
“We picked a very bad time to confess to one another,” Tseng said with a breathless laugh. “It’s probably going to be at least 24 hours before we can really do anything but exchange heated glances.”
“I’m okay with that,” Elena said with a laugh. “Anticipation makes things better, anyway. And I’ve waited years to have you. . .another day isn’t going to kill me. Ne, Tseng? Why does Rufus want us to find Vincent? I know he wouldn’t ask unless it was important.”
Tseng released her and stepped away to find his suit jacket.
“He didn’t say, but I can guess,” Tseng said quietly. He pulled his jacket on and adjusted his shoulder holster and turned to face her. “Hojo wasn’t really Sephiroth’s father, and I suspect that Rufus and Dr. Graham have discovered that Vincent was.”
“Holy shit,” Elena breathed.
“Yeah,” Tseng said. “Just when I think we’re done uncovering Hojo’s lies . . .”
“I’m glad I never met him,” Elena said with a shudder.
“Yes, you are,” Tseng said. He stepped close to her again and lay his palm on her cheek. His thumb brushed softly over her lips before he bent over and pressed a chaste kiss against them. “Ready, partner?”
“Yeah, ready,” Elena said. She leaned into his touch and gave him a breathtaking smile, a smile that Tseng knew he would be the only one to ever see.
“Then let’s go.”
*****
TBC
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The Path to Redemption