ShinRa Manor, Nibelheim, Gaia, Thursday Afternoon

[intraspective]

Iris settled back on her heels, taking a few snapshots of their Hojo and Smoochy masterpiece for her own safe keeping (though she'd get a copy of the video from Reno too, later, since she needed that in all sorts of ways). She felt tired, but… happy.

In an ugly, wrung out sort of way.

She'd done her work in setting the charges they were using to burn the mansion to the ground and Reno was off adding, he'd said, a few special touches. Since, of the two of them, he was the explosives expert, Iris let him be.

Tseng (any Tseng) hadn't replied to their selfie yet. It had been a bit.

From most of them, she could wait.

From the one here, though, she needed to contact him. Iris didn't know Sephiroth or Cloud's minds well enough to feel them at great distances.

But she knew Zack's mind—any Zack—enough to know exactly where he was and he was close. They were running out of time.

She huffed out a breath, set her elbows on her knees, looking up at their handiwork, and then hit the speed dial for the boss.

[NOTE: Second verse, same as the first. Talk of torture, actual murder, torture, and blowing up a building in it.]

Comments

[turk_mailman]

He didn't linger.

Didn't let himself linger.

He hung up.

He had a family to be with.

[intraspective]

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.

[raspberryturk]

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."

[intraspective]

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.

[raspberryturk]

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.

[intraspective]

"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."

[raspberryturk]

"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.

[intraspective]

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.

[raspberryturk]

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."

[intraspective]

"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.

[raspberryturk]

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.

[intraspective]

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.

[raspberryturk]

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.

[intraspective]

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.

[raspberryturk]

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."

[intraspective]

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.

[raspberryturk]

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.

[intraspective]

"Can you not?" Iris said, though she was amused as she crossed her arms. "Just makin' more work for me to hide us."

Just them, though. The manor going up was perfect.

[raspberryturk]

Reno grinned faintly in reply.

"What, me? I'm bein' a perfect friggin' saint." He nodded toward the town's outskirts. "Now let's double-check that reactor for notes, just to be good and sure, yo. I think there were some tanks in there with Hojo's sick experiments, too. We'll wanna put 'em outta their misery."

Odds were, after all, that they used to be SOLDIER.

[intraspective]

"It's too bad we ain't got time to do a nice and tidy job on the reactor like this here," she said, "but yeah, let's at least get the experiments good and dead."

Iris considered that, and the distance from the town to the reactor.

"Race you?" she offered, then took off before he could agree.

She needed the head start.

[raspberryturk]

With a laugh that had no place on a backdrop like the one they were leaving behind, Reno took off after her.

He'd catch up by the time they hit the reactor.

He always did.