Even Demons Can Be Saved

Captured

Sephiroth had not stayed long with the Director. Despite all the plans they needed to line out, they still had work to do. Not only was one of their objectives to keep the company running as smoothly as possible, but they also needed to make sure no one suspected that all was not as it was before. He also needed to distribute the tale they had concocted about Genesis' absence. He had told Captain Hawl that Genesis had been sent deep undercover. It was a weak cover story, but it would have to be good enough. Hopefully, it would work long enough for them to accomplish their goals.

He had not even been at his desk for an hour before his worry distracted him to the point that he couldn't concentrate. He sighed in frustration. He had never been so lax, but he could not bring himself to regret the reason why. He knew it would only put Eve in danger if he tried to see that she was settled, so he shut off his computer with another sigh and turned in for the night. He just hoped that sleep would come.

----------

Tseng was sitting at his desk with a scowl. The previous night he had gone to Veld with the file that he had compiled on one Dr. Evelyn Marx. It held everything she had ever shared with him along with notations on which things had played out after she shared and those things that he had been able to verify independently.

Veld had looked through everything in silence. At least until he got to the last one. The one about Vincent. Veld didn't show his anger often, but Tseng hoped to never have to live through an upbraiding like that again. He grimaced at the memory.

Veld had been livid that he had not only kept most of Eve's personal history a secret but also that he had knowingly harbored a Cetra and not let anyone else know. Veld was aware that Tseng knew where Aerith was and had not brought her in, but he didn't hold it against him. It was a standing mission, but the higher-ups had not really pushed for it to be completed yet. Bringing a Cetra into the company as an employee was another matter entirely.

Luckily, Veld dismissed him before he lost it entirely. He had also kept the file. Tseng knew his Director well enough to know that the man probably wanted to calm himself before he read through it all again. Tseng had no doubt that once he did, he would come around. Tseng was not an easy man to convince, but even he had to admit that Eve was what she claimed to be. He didn't like what that meant for his workload, but it was unavoidable.

He was drawn from his thoughts when his door burst open, and Sephiroth strode in with a frown. He slammed the door shut and glared at Tseng. "Where is she?"

Tseng was already in a horrid mood, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was an overprotective hormonal Soldier. His voice was biting when he glared back. "My guess would be that she is enjoying her opportunity to slack off. She couldn't even be bothered to get her paperwork in last night."

Sephiroth leaned down with his hands on the desk, and his voice dropped into a dangerous tone. "Soldier Fair was sent on an errand to talk to a certain infantry captain and found that there was a certain infantryman that never made it to the barracks last night. Now, where is she?"

Tseng felt a sliver of worry crawl up his spine. Despite his irritation at the position Eve had put him in, he had not been lying when he told Sephiroth that she was a Turk and Turks took care of their own. His voice didn't betray his thoughts, though. "Have you checked the video feeds since last night?"

Sephiroth stood with a growl. "Of course I have. There is a large section of the feed missing from right after she left Lazard's office."

Tseng gave him a confused look. "Missing?"