Yamanaka Ino (Iris)

"Sorry to call you like this." She'd thought about it, several times, since Kueng. And each time she'd decided not to. It would only twist the knife.

He deserved that apology.

"I just…," she let her breath out in a sigh. "I don't know if you'll remember this in a few hours. In a day or two. But it's done. What you and Zack and the other me went through… that'll never happen. I've made sure of that."

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Another long silence.

"What changed?"

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"Rather than attempt to take out Sephiroth in my current timeline we went back a few years, to right before Nibelheim, and eliminated every mention of Gast, Hollander, and Hojo's research on everything to do with ancients, genetic mutation, JENOVA, G- and S-cells… everything."

And it sounded a lot better, said that way, like they'd planned it out rather than she and Reno had wound up here and seized the chance.

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Though, really, Tseng wouldn't have been even remotely surprised to hear it said the other way, too.

But what about....

He was silent a few long moments more. Hearing her voice even now still made his heart bleed.

"Thank you for telling me."

What about Kueng?

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"I don't know what that will mean for your timeline," she said, very softly.

Iris didn't need to hear his question, to know some of the questions in that silence.

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"I suppose... we'll find out. One way or another," came his reply.

Too much living.

"I need to go."

He needed to spend time with their son. Needed to find Zack, so that he could do the same.

And didn't intend to tell either that everything they held dear might be gone before nightfall.

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This Tseng made her sad.

"I understand," she said gently. "Go."

But she didn't regret telling him.

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He didn't linger.

Didn't let himself linger.

He hung up.

He had a family to be with.

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And Iris tucked her PHS away, taking a seat on the table they'd put their tools on while they'd worked on Hojo, and just… sat, and thought, and wondered.

Her glee was still there, but muted, and a little apprehensive now too.

She hoped Reno would get done soon.

It was lonely, just her and Hojo.

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She wouldn't have to worry about being lonely for long, at least. It only took Reno a few more minutes to make his way into the room, a grim look on his face that was strangely uncharacteristic on his usual, 'devil may care' face.

"Charges are set," he reported. "We can take this whole damn place down in ten seconds flat." He paused a moment. "Question. There's a guy in the basement we might want to take a crack at gettin' out first. Former Turk. Probably won't be thrilled about a wake-up call, yo."

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Her gaze went distant.

"We have less than an hour before Zack arrives in town," she said, hopping off the table. "That time enough to get him out?"

If not, she really didn't care.

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Reno's lips pursed slightly.

"Depends how bad you want the dust to settle before they get here," he decided. "He's expendable, yo."

Sorry, Valentine.

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"Then let him get himself out," Iris said, with a half-shrug for his fate. "Ain't meant to be such a thing as a former Turk anyhow."

Sorry-not-sorry, Vincent.

"We should check if the reactor has any paperwork we need to destroy anyway."

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"Alright then," Reno said, and he was wearing a shit-eating crooked grin as he nodded toward the doorway back into the mansion proper. "Then let's make one hell of an exit, yo."

It'd be great.

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She laughed, bright and brittle, heading for that doorway.

There were so many things to worry about, and she was sad and anxious and all the potential repercussions of this both made her want to laugh (and not stop) and fret herself into a hole at the same time.

But Reno was around and, despite everything, Iris was his Rookie.

Him being around meant she wasn't, couldn't be, that worried. It would go okay.

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And that was why he was keeping that grin on his face as they walked out the door.

The fact that he was going to be doing so much drinking later was really just coincidence.

"You wanna do the honors, Rookie? PHS, same number I always set for the detonators, yo."

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"If you're sure," she said, surprised. "Would've thought you'd want to do it yourself?"

It was mostly his work, after all, that had gone into this particular firestorm.

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Reno shrugged.

"Ain't my world, ain't my future. This one's your candle to light, Rookie."

Ultimately, it was her call. He handed her his PHS.

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She took his PHS, her lips twisting slightly—somewhere between amused and gods, she didn't know.

"I already made the call," Iris admitted. "Called Tseng. As we speak, he's got the rest trashing everything to do with this."

She still studied the PHS.

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Reno nodded a little at that. Made sense.

"So," he replied, "you gonna do this? Might not make any friggin' difference for you down the road, you know. But it'll make a difference for someone."

Because killing Hojo and his research only went so far if Sephiroth was still out there.

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Iris considered that for a moment longer.

"I mean, it's our best chance," she said, finally. "Takin' out Sephiroth ain't goin' be easy no matter the time on the line and this—this stops a lot of things from happenin'."

It saved Zack. It might erase Kueng, which made her feel strange and twisted, but mostly… mostly, it would save Zack.

And that had always been her first priority. That settled it.

"Get ready to run," she said, punching in the numbers.

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Reno just smirked and spread his hands.

"Always ready, Rookie."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Let's do this, yo."

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Taking a deep breath, she looked around at the mansion. Such a gloomy place, even now.

Her eyes hardened.

"And… go."

She finished the code.

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And, several days before schedule, Shinra Manor went up in flames and dust. A small child who had been standing by the watertower screamed and ran the other way.

Reno smirked as the kid ran by. Threw a, "Boo!" after her.

She was still alive. Kid should be happy.

Nobody here would ever appreciate what this minor disaster might have spared them.

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