Final Fantasy VII: Reflections - Book 1: Descent

THIRTY-EIGHT

When I came back out to the clinic's lobby, the guys stood right up from where they'd been sitting and came over to meet me. They'd been busy while I was with Lena—Wedge was holding a small pot of flowers while Biggs waved to Sarah, who smiled and hurried outside, her dark brown ponytail flying behind her.

"How's Lena holding up?" Biggs asked.

I sighed. "Not so good. She's tired, weak, and sick. It's gonna take a long time for her to recover. Could be a month or maybe even two. But she shouldn't be left alone. Stay with her, Biggs."

He nodded. "Sure. Figured it might come to that."

"I don't understand," Wedge blinked.

"It's like Dr. Morris said," I explained. "Lena's gonna need help and support to get through this, a lot of it, and her brother's the best one to give it to her. There are... things I have to do. So I can't stay. Otherwise I would. In a heartbeat. As for you, Wedge, we'll need you on patrol in Sector 7, now more than ever."

He scratched his head. "Because of the Vice gang?"

"Right. They've been getting more and more aggressive lately. A lot more attacks in the past few weeks, to say nothing of the monsters out there. Which means that sooner or later, they'll starting hitting us a lot closer to home unless we can stop them."

"So what's the plan?" Biggs wondered. "Any ideas?"

I folded my arms in front of me. "I'm not sure yet. I'll talk to Barret and Tifa, see if we get some help. The watch does good, but to stop the Vice gang we're gonna need someone with a bit more punch. But in the meantime, Biggs, you've gotta protect Lena. If they find out she's alive, they may try to finish her off."

His eyes narrowed. "The hell they will."

There was another reason I wanted him to stay, but I wasn't gonna tell him about it. As long as he was here looking after Lena and keeping her safe, he wouldn't be out there going after Vice himself. He was mad enough as it was—he'd barely managed to keep his temper in check all day since we'd found Lena—and even without knowing about her rape, he was still close to charging into the outskirts to beat as many of those bastards into a bloody pulp as he could.

Having him protect Lena and help her during her recovery was the only way I could be sure he'd stay out of trouble, and it was something I knew he wouldn't hesitate to do. I doubted Vice would attack her while she was still a patient at the clinic, but once she was released and could go home, she would be vulnerable.

I took his shoulder. "Knew I could count on you."

He nodded. "Damn right."

"One other thing," I went on, looking at him and Wedge. "I think it might be best if we kept all this between us for now. We all know what's coming down the pipe with... what we're working on. But if Barret gets wind of what really happened here, he might call the whole thing off or at least delay it for a while. And Tifa would agree with him. She's not as on board with where we're going as we are."

"What do we tell them, then?" Wedge asked.

I thought for a moment. "We'll say Lena's sick from getting stuck in the mako fumes when she was on her way to Sector 7. That they got to her so badly she passed out before she could get away from them. And then we found her and brought her here."

He sighed. "Are you sure?"

"It's still the truth, Wedge. Just not all of it," I told him. "And about the chip, let me handle it. They don't know Lena was supposed to bring it to me today. Only that she and I've been trying to find one. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere now, though."