Even Demons Can Be Saved

Purpose Revealed

The next several weeks were both better and worse for Eve. She had finally decided to quit moping and give everything she had been tasked with her full attention without complaint. It made things more manageable, and she found she was cheerier. At least when she didn't have to deal with her boss. He had not directly reprimanded her after an extensive article had been published by the Silver Elite, but he did take every chance he could to remind her that Turks were supposed to be discreet.

Tseng also took advantage of her newfound drive and started having her go on missions. Most of them were to the slums. Eve hated those, especially after there was an incident on her second visit. They had walked in on their informant in a compromising situation. It wouldn't have been bad if the girl he had been with hadn't been crying. Reno and Rude were the two that she was trailing, and it took a lot of effort from Reno to convince her to leave without shooting the man. They ended up having to take the girl with them. Reno walked them outside and kept Eve distracted while Rude finished gathering the information needed.

After that, Reno was always the one she was assigned to. No one really understood it, but even though the two of them talked to each other in a way that would have most people drawing weapons, they seemed to get along. Some of the Turks that knew them best even went so far as to call them friends; though it was the strangest friendship any of them had ever seen.

That part of her life was what was trying to drive her crazy, but it was balanced by the fact that she and Sephiroth saw each other at least once a week. That wasn't counting the many times they would 'accidentally' run into each other during meals or in the halls. After the debacle with their date, they both agreed that it would be best for them to not go back out in public. At least not for the time being. That meant that the evenings they did spend together were often having a dinner that they made together; usually, they were in Sephiroth's apartment too. Eve was surprised at how quickly he was able to pick up cooking, although she realized it shouldn't have shocked her that much. He was good at anything he put his mind to.

When Eve started going on missions, Genesis agreed that her materia lessons could be cut to twice a week, as long as she practiced every day. That wasn't an issue since she had started using it in her other training as well, especially with firearms.

Eve was still shocked at the drastic change in Genesis, but he was polite and never shirked any of his duties. When she did a little digging, she found that he was still completing everything the same as always. Still, she had a funny feeling that there was something else going on.

She had very little time to worry about the Commander, though, so she rarely thought about it. It wasn't until Tseng called her to his office one day that the feeling grew into outright worry. He had her take a seat before he began. "I am still investigating everything you have told me. More and more, I am finding that the things you have shared are correct. I am not ready to act yet, but given that fact, there is something you have shared that bothers me."

Her brows furrowed. "I've shared a lot. Which thing are you talking about?"

Tseng turned to his computer and pulled up a file to read directly from. "You stated that Commander Rhapsodos was to be injured in late summer and desert in October. It is now the end of September, and I have seen no signs that these are his plans. Do you have any input?"

Eve once again felt her apprehension explode inside her chest. Had his changed attitude been because of his injury and he was biding his time to throw off any questions? He hadn't been active around her during their lessons, so she wouldn't have known if he was in pain. He always just stood and watched. She gave Tseng a worried look. "I'm not sure. He has changed the way he acts towards me, but I thought it was because I threatened him. It's possible that he's hiding his injury."