Day Two

[shinra_dog]

Sam wasn't sure why she was doing this. She felt like she was being stupid being here in this city still. She had told herself constantly she needed to leave as soon as possible. She seemed to fail to listen to herself lately. She couldn't keep her mind straight on what she SHOULD be doing. Not seeking out someone she has seen in the past.

There wasn't many out there that are still alive that would recognize her. The ones she want to recognize her anyway. A part of her wanted to find someone that still does, but the other part kept trying to convince her to leave knowing what he actually was.

She let out a sigh and forced herself to climb up on top of a windowsill on the top floor of the place. She went through a lot of trouble and stalking to locate this place. She just wished it was a little, but easier to get too. She could see the window was still cracked just enough for her to put a hand through. Good, she didn't have to break the window open if it ended up being closed or locked. She slowly pulled it open and slid herself into what seemed to be the kitchen. She brought her legs inside and slid herself onto the floor as quietly as she could. She scanned around the place for a moment before taking her first steps. She grit her teeth and tensed when she took a step and the squeaking of the floor sounded. She held her foot back up and placed it back to where it was. She felt like she was in a mine field, but instead of bombs, squeaky locations.

Hearing a squeak, the lightly-sleeping Reno slid his hand under his pillow to where his pistol was concealed. It sounded like the perp was still in the house and hadn't chickened out yet, so he kept his breathing calm and his sleeping facade, planning. What could someone want here? Wasn't this place hard enough to find? Besides, it'd been years -- were there still anti-Shinra extremists out there with a death wish? Reno didn't know, but he was going to find out.

For now, he'd wait with the safety off and see what happened. A squeaky floor was perhaps his best investment in this place.

Sam assumed no matter where she stepped, it was going to make a noise. She looked up at the ceiling and wondered if she could get away with that, but she had no idea if it would even hold her if she were to claw into it. She looked at how far it would be to get to an actual carpeting floor. She could make it in a leap, but the sound she would make if her boots come in contact with the floor. She cursed mentally and decided, oh what the hell, she might as well make her presence known. She spoke up, "Your floor is shitty and old." She pulled off her hood and crossed her arms.

Reno smirked. Well well, if it wasn't that broad from earlier. Gutsy bunny.

"Your presence is audacious an' unexpected," he called in response. He kept his hand on his gun as he rolled over, no longer pretending to be asleep, and propped himself up so he could see her down the hallway from his room. "Whaddaya want?" he asked, lounging easily with his knee raised below the covers, his gun arm slung over it.

Sam responds, "May help you if you turned on a light of some kind. I haven't seen you in a long while...if I am correct on who you are anyway..." Her eyes had a glow to it in he darkness. Kind of eerie now these days since not many people had those sort of eyes except the dark seraph's glowing red eyes that could be easily identified in the darkness.

He could see the Mako in her eyes from down the hallway. Like lighting a cigarette on a pitch black night, that small light cut through the darkness like a knife. She must be related to Shinra somehow, he figured. Whether for good or bad, though, was the question.

"You say you know me?" he asked suspiciously. It was possible, he figured -- he did have a "reputation," apparently. "Alright... You first. C'mere - the switch is on the wall t' yer right." He wasn't about to leave himself vulnerable for a stranger; she wanted light, she could turn it on herself. He knew she could see well enough in the dark with those eyes. Turning on the ceiling light in his room would reveal them both instantly. Fair win-win, as far as he was concerned.

Sam shrugged her shoulders and reached behind her pulling off her sword off her back, "Here, to ease your nerves..." She flipped the sword so that the blade faced behind her and she tossed it across the hall way to land on the floor. She looked to the right to find the switch and slid a finger across it to turn it on. Judging by where the light hit, she could tell what he wanted was her features to only show in the light. That didn't bother her any.

Her sword gone and her attitude compliant, he obliged her by likewise leaning over to turn on the lamp on his nightstand.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" He smirked. "Y'know, if you wanted a date, ya didn't hafta break in, yo." She was pretty, like he'd guessed, but also an obviously hardened warrior. Someone like that he wouldn't be surprised he'd seen before. Maybe she'd been a SOLDIER recruit back in the day, who knew.

Sam rolled her eyes a bit at that, but her gaze went back to him to examine his feature quite thoroughly then back it to the floor, "You don't remember me? Does Dragonfire or Yagasaki ring a bell?" She listed both in case one rang a bell better than the other.

His brow creased at that, and his eyes narrowed. They did sound familiar, in fact. He studied her features harder, more seriously this time. It was a matter of business.

"They do," he answered, all-business now. "She was a SOLDIER 1st Class. One of Shinra's finest. But she went missing years ago. Last I heard, some punk was usin' her name t' rally up the latest batch of Anti-Shinra insurgents, but the real Dragonfire's gotta be dead by now." He cocked his head to the side suspiciously. "Why?"

Sam couldn't help a laugh at that, "Really now? I have visited you before...over 10 years ago in fact. We have met in person as well as me saving your life when that submarine or whatever it was sunk to the bottom of the sea. Just happen to stumble upon you when fish hunting...you are a good turk, but you have a terrible memory Reno." She joked partially.

Reno stared. 10 years, 10 years... So much had happened. He thought hard. "The submarine... The Gelnika..." he mumbled. He did remember, but it was so fuzzy. Did she save him? Someone did. Where was Rude?

"Are you really sayin' yer Yagasaki? The Samantha Yagasaki?" he asked. "Seriously?"

Sam nodded her head and felt a sense of relief that he did remember her at least somewhat. It wasn't just relief that hit her though. Her hands were shaking and she hid it by grabbing hold of the cloak with her fists, "Yeah." It wasn't because HE recongized her, but to know someone around and alive through this crisis. She wasn't sure why that would make her happy to know that.

Reno's feelings, however, were tumultuous. If this woman really was the real Dragonfire, then it meant that the one who'd sided with the rebellion was likely her, not some phony. And that caused problems, whether she'd saved him in the past or not. The middle of the night was no time to sort these sort of life-changing issues out.

"Get out," he said sternly, a reaction Sam may not have bargained for.

Sam blinked after hearing those words. She really didn't expect to hear that from him, "I just got here, why?" She wasn't sure if she understood why. The other part of her was telling her off that she should of never come here in the first place. She was a fool.

"Are you for real?" he exploded. He couldn't take that innocence, he couldn't. "Yagasaki, you've got three seconds to explain t' me what the hell is goin' on an' why you're here. Otherwise, get out. I ain't harborin' a Rebel, yo."

Sam looked off to the side not able to look at him. She responds, "I am no rebel. I was kicked out over several years ago because of kindness to an enemy. I was only in there just to help out taking down dark seraphs. Only time I ever engaged on attacking ShinRa was to stop them from screwing that up. I am no assassin or any of the source. I just want to know if anyone around is still alive through these harsh years." She tried to hide any emotion on her face, but it showed greatly in her eyes. She seemed to be on the break of actually crying right then and there. She was not the "hard" cold warrior she used to be. It seemed over the years she had been broken of it.

Reno caught a glimpse of it, and thought he could hear it in her voice. Dammit... So he wasn't as hard as he used to be, either.

Letting out an irritated sigh, he replaced the safety on his gun and slipped it back under his pillow. "Kindness to an enemy... heh, that would sound like you," he said dryly, leaning forward and rubbing his face. He stole a glance at the clock -- 3 a.m. Sigh. "Fine," he grunted. "Go get yerself set on the sofa, I'll be out in a sec."

Sam turned herself around and walked over to the sofa. She could smell the hint of ciggrette smoke, but wasn't going to complain. She was a bit used to the scent when she was confined around the rebel fortress as a lot of locations was isolated with multiple people. She took the cloak off of her and placed it over the arm. She wore dark colored pants and a thin white colored shirt that only reached down to the half point of her stomach. She felt if she wore clothes like she used to she would die of a heat stroke being outside in the full heat. She sat herself down on the sofa and closed her eyes. She seemed much too comfortable then how she liked, but couldn't help herself.

Reno appeared a minute later, having put on a pair of pants, and sat at the furthest seat from her, still unsure where this was going. "So," he began, "what's these 'dark seraphs' you been takin' down, eh?" He'd barely had time to be briefed on a strange disease spreading and strange "angel" sightings. He figured Sam would probably know more.

Sam opened her eyes when she sensed him walk into the room. Listening to his question she responds, "Dark Seraphs...seems that ShinRa only knows their true name. I am sure your asking because you want to know how to stop them right?...I saw what happened with the body of that woman. ShinRa didn't burn it, but took it in for experiements now didn't they?" She sounded a bit annoyed when she spoke. She wished they would of listened to her words for once.

"If Shinra knows about it, it's outta my reach," Reno admitted. He couldn't even stop Rufus from being kidnapped, and that guy was Shinra too. "Doubt it's higher up, but just... a splinter, y'know?" He shook his head. "I almost can't believe Shinra would be involved. I mean, really, have you seen us lately? There's nothing left!"

After he calmed down, he scratched his head. "But I guess it's not impossible," he grumbled.

As to the body... "Yeah, we took it in. Just t' see what it was. I'd heard rumors of weird shit goin' on, but all we'd find were burned corpses. Can't find anythin' out that way, had ta' see what it was to try an' figure it out."

Sam decided to answer his question, "That woman was changing into a Dark Seraph. She must of been attacked 3-7 days ago by one and got infected. The creatures know how to infect others and are wanting to spread their numbers quite desperately to take complete take over...You need to be careful when dealing with them. There is no cure for this infection. There are symptoms...You will start to hear voices in your head...you may even see images or visions that don't even exist, you may lose memory or have added in memory that doesn't even exist, you may look as if you are insane before any physical changes occur. Physical change doesn't occur till the last 12 hours of your life before the creature fully takes over the body."

Reno stared at her. "So that's it then? You get infected, no cure, you die? That's it?"

Sam nodded her head and lowered her gaze back to the floor, "No cure...you die...this infection has ruined everything for me. If humans screw up once more, they may cause the whole human race to fully die and these creatures may take our place on this planet..."

Reno froze. "Oh shit."

He leapt up and grabbed his suit jacket, fumbling with it as he shoved his bare feet into his shoes. "We gotta go. Right now."

Sam stood up wondering what that is about, "What's wrong?" She asked as she went to the hallway to grab her sword that was on the floor. She sheathed it once more.

The woman's corpse that was left behind had finally stopped thrashing once it got to the location it was brought too. Around this time, it's hands began to twitch once more.

"That body's still at the lab," Reno answered over his shoulder. "If it ain't dead, then all them people in there are gonna be."

Sam snapped a glare at him, "What the hell, didn't you tell them they needed to dispose it properly not study it?" Apart of her really didn't want to help ShinRa. It was all their fault this all happened in the first place.

The body began to thrash until it turned over onto it's stomach on the lab table. Blood began to gush out of the neck onto the table and floor. The darkness in the room it's in slowly began to climb up the table and began to form a woman's head for the body. The body gasped as it was capable of breathing again. The creature stared at the table for a moment before using it's twitching hands to push itself up. The small feather's on it's back suddenly brust into full blown wings sending multiple feathers across the room.

"Why you yellin' at me for, I didn't know!" Reno flung open the door to his apartment and jogged out, assuming Sam would follow. "You need a ride?

Sam followed him out and gave him an odd look, "A ride? What you trust to take me where ever your going?" She said somewhat surprised by that.

The creature got up off the lab table and the features resembling the dark seraph began to show. The shadows rose up it's body and formed armor that covered most of it's body. The creature looked at it's claws for a moment and smirked devilishly. It seemed very pleased to have finally gained control of the body in time before it was disposed of. It formed a sword in hand using the darkness and began to find it's way out to have a little fun before it decided to leave this location.

"You're the only one who's had real experience with these things. I don't have much of a choice but trust you, now do I?" Reno asked. He jumped down the last few stairs of every floor and quickly made it to his bike. "Hop on," he barked, tossing her his spare helmet.