Violet's Veil (aka: goodwitch08) posted 2014: I've heavily revised the current chapters of Flux. Thanks to y'all who have reviewed in the past; very helpful during revision. Special thanks to Someone's Charm and Matrineal.

As you read, keep in mind that thoughtful reviews, constructive comments and all manner of random thoughts, questions and theories are always appreciated; I always respond. Feel free to contact me.

Chapter 1: One of Those Weird Days

Reno and Rude finally invited me out to go drinking with them. We're at a bar in Midgar, one of those slightly shady dives that Reno seems to be fond of. Our table is at the back of the bar near a window that looks out onto an alley.

The people in the bar are avoiding us as much as possible, only the bravest giving furtive glances over their shoulders—and I just know it also has nothing to do with me. The new haircut was supposed to help, but I don't think it is enough to make me seem dangerous.

Even if the people around us aren't exactly certain that we're Turks, I think Reno and Rude inspire the right kind of respect—or fear. Rude alone, with the bald head, multiple ear piercings, sunglasses, and broad shouldered, muscular build beneath his inconspicuous-yet-totally-conspicuous ShinRa-issue black suit definitely would make a normal person think twice about approaching.

Rude is staring out of the window, his brow furrowed above those sunglasses. Funny, I don't feel intimidated by him at all. Even when we first met on my first day, I already knew I liked him. He was the one who had to help me get acquainted with the job—well as much as possible. As Tseng says: The real lessons happen in the field.

Then there's Reno, currently leaning back in his seat, working on his second glass of beer and fishing for something in his pocket—his cigarette lighter probably. Reno's different—he's as fit as any Turk would be but svelte. He has a way about him, his casual, unconcerned way that is just a little too unconcerned…a normal person wouldn't want to be cornered by him in a dark alley.

Good thing I'm not normal.

I grab for my half-empty glass of beer and take another sip. I worked at a bar years ago, in the slums no less, during an extreme, rebellious teenage phase, but I've never really warmed up to the taste of beer. I hate it, but they invited me out for drinks and so I'm gonna drink what they drink.

I'd rather Reno not make fun of me for getting a soda instead.

I had been waiting for them to ask me for the past several weeks. Reno'd only just stopped calling me "New Girl" and "Rookie" and was starting to call me by my real name. This might just be a positive step in the right direction.

"Hey guys?"

Reno looks at me from across the table with a lazy look on his face. Rude's still looking out of the window, but I think he's listening too.

"Um…can I ask you something?" I look away from Reno's strange blueish green eyes and stare into my glass. Why do I feel awkward? I'm around them all the time.

"You can ask us anything," Reno says. He picks up his glass and downs the remainder of it, then signals the bartender with a gesture. He's looking at me again. At least he's not mocking me right now.

I didn't know what to make of Reno the first time I met him. I was sure he hated me. I didn't meet him until his injuries from his encounter with Avalanche on the Sector 7 plates had healed enough for him to go back to active duty, and he didn't have much to say to me. I'm still not sure if how he feels about me, though he's a lot friendlier now.

Well, I guess he's being his version of friendly. He always has a new nickname for me every few weeks. I guess we're on better terms since he only rarely calls me "Rookie" these days, and he only called me "Academy Girl" and "Academy Turk" or "Textbook Turk" for a few weeks.

"Do you think Tseng hates me?" I ask.

"What?"

"I mean, so far I've really made him look bad. He chose me to be a Turk for whatever reason, and so far I've completely effed up every single assignment he's let me go on. Especially the one in the Mines—"

"You weren't that bad," Reno waves it off.

"You're just saying that." I lean forward slightly, holding my glass for emphasis. "I told our enemies—known terrorists—about what we were doing and the whereabouts of you-know-who and—"

"Want me to be honest?"

"Please?"

"You're ruining my buzz. We're not at work, so I'd rather not talk about work."

A server, the only one in the bar, comes over and puts a new round of drinks on the table and leaves. I wait until she's gone to continue.

"We can't all be you, Reno." I wish I could be like him and not give two craps, but I'm not him and probably never will be anything like him. I care too much.

No one listens to the new girl. I'm lucky enough they even let me come out with them.

I just want them to understand how I feel about the whole Mythril Mines situation. Tseng had never talked to me like that before. I was in mid-sentence, spilling my guts to Cloud and Avalanche when he appeared out of nowhere and told me to shut up and that I talk too much. Now, even our enemies don't take me seriously.

Reno's produces a cigarette and lights it. "Seriously, perk up or something before we never invite you anywhere else again. It isn't that serious, everybody makes mistakes. Am I right big guy?"

He nudges Rude and his partner looks over at him. "Maybe."

I put my glass around the table, nibbling my bottom lip for a quiet moment.

"Maybe it's not that serious for you Reno, but you guys can do whatever you want. You didn't see how he looked at me," I say with a hiss that is low enough not to be heard by strangers. "I told Cloud and Co. about Sephiroth and the Promised Land and where we thought he was going next."

Tseng was probably trying to figure out how I could be so much different from my sister. He's the reason that I'm here now—I don't want to embarrass him.

No response.

"Are you two even listening to me?"

Rude sighs again, but doesn't say anything, he just looks out of the window near him. The ShinRa building is there dominating the skyline. Reno, on the other hand, is leaning back in his seat across from me, flicking his lighter on and off and watching the server walk by. Yes, this is probably a clue that they'll never invite me out again.

"You worry too much. Let it go," Reno says finally. "It isn't the end of the world just because you made a couple of mistakes."

"That's your philosophy?" I glance at Rude for confirmation that this is indeed Reno's philosophy. If he agrees, I know I'm not going to get any real help with this one. Rude, instead of agreeing, does something much worse. He turns his gaze away out of the window again.

"Elena, you didn't do much wrong," Rude says, facing me. I can't see his eyes, but I'll take what I can get.

"Other than blurting out confidential information?"

"Yeah...other than that," Rude replies.

I thought Tseng would have let it go by the time we got back to headquarters, but I guess the more he thought about it the more it got on his nerves. He really let me have it in the middle of the hallway as soon as we got off the elevator on our floor. He didn't yell, but he didn't have to. That would've been fine if the president of the company wasn't happening to walk by.

I can still remember seeing him watching us. His presence had made me so tense, even though he was completely silent, until Tseng finished talking to me. I rarely see President ShinRa, since he hardly leaves his office, and I'm not important enough to talk to him it shouldn't really matter.

But still. He's the heart of ShinRa, and my little screw-up could cost the company.

"He'll probably fire me."

"Who, Rufus?" Reno says.

"Yeah, President—"

"Naaah, he's cool."

"He can't be cool he's our boss."

"So?"

"I heard he doesn't cry or bleed. He wouldn't think twice about firing me—"

Reno laughs and scoffs at the same time. "Where'd you here that?"

My face gets warm, "Well I mean…I know it's probably not true but—"

"No, no," Reno says, suddenly very serious. "It's true."

"What?"

Reno shrugs, "I'm just saying, I ain't ever seen him do either, and as far as I know, nobody has. Anyway, stop whining about it. C'mon, how about a toast."

"To what?" I'm still on the whole crying and bleeding thing.

"How about to you joining us? Even if you can't keep your mouth shut."

"I could drink to that," Rude says with a shrug.

A smile tugs at my lips, Reno and Rude raise their half-empty glasses.

-oooo-

The sound of birds screeching wakes me up. I slide out of bed.

Bad idea.

As soon as my feet hit the floor, my knees buckle, the room slants under me, and pain slashes into my skull, the pain shooting back and forth like a ping pong ball. I stumble for the bathroom, running into walls and doors. I shove the bathroom door open, drop to my knees, and expel the contents of my stomach into the toilet bowl.

When it's over, my skin is sticky and wet and I can barely move. I tear my eyes away from the toilet and manage to stand up. I turn on the sink and wash my face, brush my teeth. Then, I rummage through the medicine cabinet and struggle to open the bottle of pain medication. It slips from my fingers and the whole thing falls into the toilet with a little plop.

Last night comes back to me. Somewhere around 1 a.m. I decided to try to drink Reno under the table. He offered to pay. I should've known better.

I hit the handle on the toilet at the same time a loud, obnoxious blaring comes down the hall and an annoying ringtone comes from my room.

The fire alarm. My phone alarm.

I've got an hour before I'm late for our meeting. Nothing makes a quite the good impression as arriving to a meeting full of your superiors hung over. Tseng will be beside himself with pride. Maybe I'll throw up on his shoes.

Trying to ignore the pain in my head, reach my phone on the side of the bed, turn the alarm off, then I stumble towards the hallway, grabbing a tennis ball on the edge of my dresser on my way out. In the hall, I take aim and fling the tennis ball at the fire alarm mounted outside of my bedroom. The ball connects, the fire alarm lets out a sad chirp and falls silent.

I head back to the bathroom.

Ten deliciously cold minutes later, I step out, wrap a fluffy blue robe around me, and make my way towards the kitchen. It's located a bit off the living room, partitioned off by a breakfast bar.

My apartment is a marvel of glass, black leather furniture, a large flat-screen floor model television, and hardwood floors, courtesy of ShinRa. There's a balcony that wraps around the living room and bedroom. It's pretty—but all of the apartments in this building look the same. I know this because Reno and Rude live down the hall from me.

My favorite thing about the apartment is the window that looks out on Midgar, even if most days the sky looks overcast and gray. I haven't decorated yet. I guess I'll get around to it. There are no paintings on the walls to lighten things up, and the only personal article I have with me is well…me. I guess that's what happens when you move without notice.

I make my way to the glossy black and silver refrigerator and pull it open, grabbing some frozen toaster pastries from the fridge and popping them into the oven. Then I slide over to the coffeemaker—also courtesy of ShinRa. On my tiptoes, I grab the handles to the cabinet above it and pull it open. My bag of coffee beans is right at the edge. Without thinking, I pull it down. As soon as I do it I realize my mistake: The lid isn't tightly shut. The beans rain down around me, hitting the hardwood like shotgun shells, each one seeming to vibrate in my skull.

Chewing my bottom lip, I look hard at the beans deciding on my next move. The beans look up at me expectantly. I gaze back at their caffeine-enhanced goodness. I could just pick them up. Besides, no one is around, and my floor is pretty clean—I think. I'll just have to pick up another bag of coffee when I have free time. Or maybe just get an instant coffeemaker and have perfection every time without fooling with beans. Maybe make a run to that supermarket off the highway. I've never been there. Maybe I'll meet someone there while contemplating melons.

Nah.

I scoop some up, put them in the coffee maker, and turn it on with a satisfying beep.

Readjusting my robe, I make my way back to my bedroom. Like everywhere else, there is nothing special about it. Four white walls. No paintings. No nothing.

I get a fresh uniform out of the closet and drop my robe. A little while later, I look and feel a bit more like myself. I stand in front of the mirror and button my shirt over my bra — an off-white one with little cherries all over it — and shrug on my blazer. I'm in the middle of zipping it up when I catch my eye in the reflection.

For a strange second, I think it's her looking back at me. My sister, Elyssia. Our eyes are different. Mine are russet brown like Dad's, while hers are seafoam green like Mom's. Maybe it's the hair. Maybe that's why Tseng looked at me strangely the first time he saw me with the new hairstyle. She used to wear her hair short too —she cut it when we were teenagers, said she was tired of looking like a twin.

Funny, I wonder what she would say if she knew I chopped mine off to look...well not more like her...but to be taken more seriously. The schoolgirl tresses aren't a good look a twenty-one year old. Especially not a Turk. The first time I cut it, I did it myself with a pair of dull scissors the night before I started work. I just couldn't stand the thought of showing up looking like...myself. Not like a silly little girl. One side ended up much shorter than the other did, but I like it.

The sound reaches me before the smell does. The fire alarm, blaring through the thin walls of the apartment. I run into the kitchen.

Plumes of smoke are rising up from my breakfast.

First mental note of the day: Don't multi-task. Doesn't work for you. Only leads to disasters.

With only 5 minutes before I'm late, I open my apartment door and peer into the hall, looking down towards where Reno and Rude's apartment is. I have to be careful because I never know when Reno's going to jump out and scare me. I lock my door and take a sip of my coffee while rushing for the stairs.

-ooooo-

My mom always said that if the day started badly, it was bound to end up pretty good. Well that may work for her, but it doesn't work for me. Otherwise I wouldn't be rushing into the ShinRa parking lot ten minutes late with a big brown coffee stain on my shirt.

I make it to my office, shut the door, and shrug off my blazer and tear off my shirt. Stripping—never thought I'd be doing that here. Good thing I had the foresight to store a couple of dress shirts in my bottom desk drawer. Truth is, that's because the first three weeks here were spent with me staying late, doing work and trying to comb through old personnel files for information about my sister. A change of shirts and washing my face and drinking several cups of coffee could get me through the morning until lunch when I could go home and actually take another bath.

I throw my ruined shirt on the desk, and I'm in the middle of buttoning up a fresh, crisp one when my door swings open.

Reno's standing in the door way with his arms crossed and a small, unreadable smile on his face. He strokes his chin thoughtfully while his gaze takes a third trip up and down me.

"Well, this is…."

"Reno!" I struggle to button up.

He finally looks up at me, a smug smile on his face. "I dunno Elena, I don't think there is enough time to do it right."

"What?"

"Oh this isn't an invitation?"

"Just…leave please?" I feel the heat practically burning my face. I know I'm blushing terribly, I know I'm not gonna be able to live this one down. At least it's just us and Rude's not in here, too. I grab my blazer and put it on.

"You know...you could use those ladies to get on Tseng's good side." Reno says pointing at said ladies and leaning on the door frame.

Am I that obvious? What does he know about Tseng's good side? I don't know why I feel like a schoolgirl when I see our commander—but what does it matter to Reno? And I so wouldn't use my …girls….to get on anyone's good side. No way am I gonna admit to my feelings for Tseng though—denydenydeny.

"What do you want Reno?" I try to give him my best glare while adjusting my stupid tie.

Reno rakes his fingers through his flaming red hair. Most of it is in a ponytail, but the lot of it just hangs loose and has a mind of its own. He can walk in looking like a drunken one night stand and manage to pull it off perfectly. He probably takes more time getting ready in the morning than I do to achieve that look.

"Meeting started like ten minutes ago. Tseng wanted me to come get you."

"But I thought it wasn't until another two minutes?!"

A slight smile twitches on Reno's lips. He's picking on me again. I frown, taking a threatening step towards him.

"Five minutes actually," he says, putting his hands up in defense.

"Well let's go then," I say, managing to control my breathing. I follow him out of my office and down the hall to the conference room.

-ooooo-

The conference room features a long glass table with twelve or thirteen leather chairs around it and a large-screen television at the top of the table along with a map of the planet. It's the only room without windows on this floor.

Reno enters the room first, with me following behind. Rude is already inside and so is Tseng. They're holding a conversation, with Tseng leaning against the wall near the screen and Rude leaned back in his chair somewhat casually talking about who knows what. Tseng's doing most of the talking of course. Rude only offering sound bites, occasionally. I'm sure they could make talking about the weather seem fascinating.

"Found her, boss. She was prancing around her office naked."

Other than a slightly quirked eyebrow and pursed lips, Tseng doesn't react to Reno's inappropriate remark. He's all business as usual with his dark hair brushing his shoulders and his suit perfectly perfect on his frame. And those eyes—

I sit down across from Rude, unfortunately close to the chair at the top of the table. Tseng doesn't bother sitting down. He says good morning to us all in his serious business-like manner, tells us this won't take long, and then gets down to it. We have these meetings the first day of every business week. I think he hates them as much as we do, but he likes routine more than anything. But it's okay because I get to stare at his high cheekbones and chocolate eyes without seeming like a creep.

Until he looks directly at me.

I look away, and accidentally catch Reno's eye and bump my knee under the desk at the same time. Reno winks. I look away and stare at the ShinRa logo on the wall instead. It's mounted on a glass slate. I stare at it until it blurs into my vision while listening to what is being said and taking mental notes about any potential missions while trying to seem as professional as possible.

Next thing I know, the meeting's over and Reno is at me.

"You're so sprung," Reno whispers in my ear. He squeezes my shoulder with more force than is necessary.

"You can't prove that," I say, standing up from the table and rising to my full height, facing him. "You know nothing."

"Please, you couldn't keep a secret if you tried," Reno says, pursing his lips in disbelief. "Go ahead, seize the day. Ask him out. He could use the attention."

Tseng's still at the head of the table, putting together the files he had referred to and who knows what else. He's tucking strands of loose hair behind his ears like he can't be bothered with their free-falling. Why he doesn't just wear it pulled back I don't know, but I like it.

"What?" I hiss, "No. You're out of your mind."

"Crazy, I am not. Though, the jury is still out on that one for you, rookie," Reno says with a scoff and then pats me on the shoulder.

Then he leaves me alone with Tseng. I adjust my suit and dust myself off. I had a dream that started like this….

"Elena."

I stop in my tracks and rearrange my face before turning around. He's picking up the files off the table and pushing his hair out of his face. If I had the nerve, I would joke about him needing a hair tie, but I can't manage to get it out.

"Sir?" I clasp my hands together and nibble my bottom lip

"Are you okay?" He makes it across the room in a few easy strides, and walks past, motioning for me to follow.

'Of course I'm okay sir', I want to say, 'I just have a crippling crush on you that you seem totally oblivious to, as well as the fact that I keep staring at you more often than anyone should. Oh yeah, and I'm a little uncomfortable right now because I had a weird dream about you, and I really don't know why I like you so much.'

I nod. "Yessir. Why?"

"Hmm, are you sure?"

I follow him. "Yes, sir. So...what are we doing today?"

We walk past his office and down the other end of the corridor. The halls are empty. Maybe this'll be a good time to grovel and make him forget about what I did the other day. It's been long enough time that he can't possibly still be annoyed about it, but I don't want him to think "idiot" every time he sees me.

"We aren't doing anything."

"What do you mean?" I imagined that he wasn't going to be accompanying us on our next assignment at least; I hope that's what it meant. If he was going to stick me in my office with paperwork again, that would only be yet another reason to hate today. "We aren't going on assignment? What about following-"

"What I mean is you're not coming along." Tseng states simply.

"Why sir?" I'm not sick or anything. I just have a bit of a headache…"

"It's not that, Elena," he says. He hands me the stack of files. "It's just that it's not necessary to send you. It's just field research. No need for three Turks to be there."

"But sir-"

"Elena. Part of being a Turk—or doing any job—is doing what is asked of you no matter how small you think the task may be."

I would argue the point, but I can hear the irritation creeping into his tone. He's too polite to be outright rude sometimes unless he's unbelievably annoyed, but I know he wants me to shut up. At least about that subject. Maybe I should slap him on the butt and tell him he looks great as always. Hah. No.

I hug the files to my chest, knowing this will keep me confined to my office for at least three hours. Three horrible hours. No.

"But sir," I start, a light bulb turns on in my head—I know how to convince him.

"Yes?"

Whatever genius that is about to come out of my mouth never comes. The light bulb explodes and leaves my mind in darkness as the elevator nearby opens.

The someone is none other than the president of ShinRa himself, Rufus ShinRa. He looks straight through me and turns his attention to Tseng as he approaches.

"Well, this is unexpected, what brings you down from your perch?" Tseng says conversationally, yet still with that businesslike air to him.

Rufus manages a slight smirk, "Even I need to get out of the office sometimes, Tseng."

They begin to talk about something—about business. Something he needs Tseng to handle for him as soon as possible. They're completely ignoring me in spite of the fact that I'm right beside them. I detach myself from the conversation, knowing that I won't be able to interrupt, and even if I did, they probably wouldn't hear me or would be annoyed.

Instead, I get a better look at Rufus ShinRa. It's always like this when he's around. He never actually speaks to me, or acknowledges me whatsoever. We've never actually even talked to each other, not really.

Once, I bothered to say hello when we walked past each other for a big board meeting, and he managed to take the time to nod in acknowledgement—he didn't even look up at me. It was probably completely automatic with no regard of who was scrambling for his attention. Completely distracted.

He's got an air about him, a presence, that's not so easy to ignore. Other than obviously being endowed with some great genes, his sense of style sort of makes you look at him. All-white suit with a black vest today, and those black fingerless gloves he's always wearing and a stylish, long white suit coat. I wish I could command attention like that.

Those pale blue eyes, golden blonde hair that is slicked back, with only a few perfectly-placed strands hanging in his face—just…wow just great. He's perfect.

Maybe I should just leave. They won't even notice. Tseng gave me these files to deal with—I have no reason to follow him around like a lost puppy, and they clearly don't even know I'm here anymore. They won't even notice that I'm gone.

With that thought in my head, I take a step forward. Rufus looks in my direction, his gaze meeting mine. The next second every single file slips from my grasp, scatters, and floats to the ground in a spiral.

"I'm sorry..." I quickly say, all the while I can feel them both looking at me. I hear Tseng sigh, and I can feel them staring at me. Face burning in embarrassment, I drop down to my knees and start gathering up the mess.

The files are disappearing faster than they should. I look up, and get a shock. Rufus has gracefully stooped down, and picking up the files faster than I was. It is over before it started. Rufus stands up, holding the rest of the files. I look up at him from the floor, confused. A distinct cough in the background tells me to stand up too. My tongue is tangled between a "thank you" and an apology.

"I...thank you, sir," I mumble. Is this a trick?

"You're welcome," he replies smoothly. He closes the space between us, and I catch a hint of his cologne. He slips the folders in my hands, and meets my gaze. "Don't look so surprised. I don't bite…." He replaces the final file seamlessly without even touching me.

"I..."

He takes a final step closer that simply can't be appropriate. He places a hand on my shoulder, and leans in slightly near my ear. "Unless asked."

I bite down on my lip, drawing blood. He doesn't linger, instead he steps away from me, with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, and then turns away, heading back to Tseng. Did that just happen?

"I'll see you later," Tseng says from somewhere nearby, behind me. Oh gosh he saw that didn't he?

"Okay, sir..."

I watch, vaguely unaware of my surroundings, as the two men enter the elevator.

"Bye..." I wave feebly while trying to hold the files in one arm.

Rufus raises an eyebrow as the silver doors began to close. "Have a good day, Edna."

The files fall from my grasp again but don't scatter, but instead hit the ground with a loud smack. The last thing I hear before the doors close is a chuckle from Rufus.

Alone now, the normalcy of my surroundings return along with a desire to put my hands around Rufus' neck until he turns blue. I snatch up the files and storm down the hall heading for my office. My anger fades into irritated disappointment. Edna? Edna was the woman at the desk on the first floor that signed in all visitors and new employees who didn't have security badges yet. We look nothing alike! She has weird hair, wears too much make-up, and probably has never even stepped into a gym. She's two and a half of me, easily.

"And here I was thinking he was actually paying me any real attention. He could have just left me on the floor if he wasn't even going to attempt to get my name right." I slam the files on my desk. "Edna. C'mon, Edna?"

I let the files drop onto my desk and slump down in my chair.

"Who are you kidding, Elena? He doesn't care who you are, let alone what your name is."

He is kinda cute though.

Okay fine. Not kinda cute. He's gorgeous, well-dressed and …hot. Gosh, he's so hot it is almost painful.

And also my boss. What was he playing at saying that to me anyway? Talking about he doesn't bite unless asked?

"Who cares? He probably was just messing with me," I say to myself, not believing a word of it, while looking at the mount of unorganized files on my desk.

Rufus ShinRa's little jokes don't matter, but I definitely need to make sure he doesn't mistake me for someone else again.