Even Demons Can Be Saved

Deployment

Eve didn't move from the floor of her apartment until the door opened again. By the time Tseng had come to look for her, she had been there for several hours. He sighed at the sight of her sitting despondently before he held out a hand to help her up. Once she was on her feet, he frowned slightly. "No matter what has happened, it is no excuse for you to shirk your duties. You have missed your lessons with Ruluf, and I expect you to make it up."

Eve grimaced for a moment, but it soon fell into a blank mask. She eyed him for several seconds before she responded. "I know you aren't as heartless as you act. You may have decided to hide behind that mask after your first real slip, but you are still human. You care." She gave a mirthless laugh. "Maybe not about me so much, but I know you understand more than you let on."

She wiped at her face before she gave him a nod. "I will do as you ask, but I want to warn you right now, that I almost told Sephiroth everything. I plan on coming clean at the first available opportunity. Now that Genesis has left, he needs to know why, so he doesn't feel like it is a personal betrayal."

Tseng was shocked. He already knew that she had knowledge of many things, but never had he considered his own life would be among them. He could tell by her eyes that she knew. She knew of his own refusal to follow orders in the past, and despite how much he had tried to bury that, he understood. He didn't like it, but he could sympathize. Still, he didn't plan on letting her off easy.

"It is presently a moot point. He was admitted to the Science Department and is anticipated to be there for the next several days."

Eve felt like she had been punched. She remembered Hojo's parting remarks, but until now, she had been too devastated by Sephiroth's last words for it to register. She tried to fight it but ended up having to rush to the bathroom. She didn't have much on her stomach to begin with, but the last of its contents refused to stay down. It was several minutes before she was able to rejoin Tseng.

He was still standing near the door where he had been. She thought she saw something like sympathy pass through his eyes, but his voice didn't show it. "If you are done, Rude is waiting for you."

She glared at him but only nodded. She could already feel her hysteria creeping back in and slugging it out with the large Turk was as good a way as any to release her frustration and impotent rage at Hojo and his sick whims.

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The next three days passed both too quickly and too slowly for Eve. She wanted to lay eyes on Sephiroth, to be able to see for herself that he was not broken by Hojo's latest urge. She was also worried about what she would tell him. She had already decided that she was done keeping secrets, at least from him, but she still had no idea what to say to him. There was a small part of her that was terrified that he would reject her completely when she finally told him everything. She tried to ignore it as she knew that telling him was now unavoidable.

The afternoon he was expected to be released; Eve was barely able to concentrate on her Wutainese. She felt that she was already reasonably good, but Tseng insisted that she continue to practice her pronunciation. After trying to read the same line for the tenth time she sighed in frustration and threw the offending paper on her desk. She ran her hands down her face before she looked up.

She caught Reno's concerned gaze and nearly grimaced again. The redhead had been after her for the last couple of days to spill whatever it was that was eating her up. She had to find inventive ways to keep from being cornered. She had to admit that she was touched that he cared, but she still almost raised a prayer of thanks when Tseng stepped out of his office and asked to see her. At least she didn't have to worry about Reno.